News from Houston . . .

No pictures yet. I'm just updating the blog from the computer at our hosts' home in Houston (that's just a little alliteration for ya!). Things are going really well, albeit at a pretty hectic pace. We (Matt Scholl and I) are staying with the Twining family. The whole family has been gracious to us in our very brief moments here.

Here's the skinny:

• When we arrived in Houston we immediately met with a minister who operates with a cell church model and then a minister who leads a house church.
• Then, for the evening, we went to Faithbridge (a Methodist Community) to meet with a group of ministers (most of them are Beeson grads) who have planted churches here in Houston.
• This morning (Friday) we met with Dave Peterson, the minister of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church to pick his brain about the mens inistry at that he oversees. He has seen it bear much fruit in the lives of the men of this area and it has reproduced itself in surrounding churches.
• Then we spent an hour with Ed Young, minister of Second Baptist Church, which is (we are told) the second largest church in the US. This was an interesting hour. He is big on Sunday School and remains anti-cell group.
• Then we spent time with Kirbyjon Caldwell. He pastors a Methodist church in Houston that is mainly African-American. This guy is something else! He has done an amazing job of bringing new life to his community. He is also the minister who prayed at the first inauguration of President Bush.
• We ended the evening at Gateway Community Church where we heard the minister, Randy Hageman, recount for us how the church handled a difficult situation (his predecessor had an affair).

That's a quick snapshot. I'll post more later.