Life begins anew...

     This past Sunday we spoke a little bit about seeds and yeast from our reading in Luke. The funny thing is that yeast has been on my brain for the last few months since my friend Andy and I have started brewing beer. I've fed it, nurtured it, listened to it, saved it, poured it, and tasted it. Our yeast has yet to do us wrong. It has consistently done it's job, consume sugar and produce CO2 and alcohol. Yeast is an amazing creature. In fact, one of the crazy things about yeast is that unless you try really hard (extreme heat or environments) it's hard to kill. It might produce some funky flavors that you don't want to drink, but it keeps doing its job, consuming sugar and reproducing. In fact even when the sugar is gone, yeast just goes dormant and sleeps until more sugar appears.
     That's a little like how I feel about this blog. Fresh Breath has had it's ups and downs. When I was able to devote serious time to it (without having to work 50 hours a week), I really felt it was doing something. Promoting discussion, encouraging people, and giving me an outlet for all the random thoughts which went through my brain. Once I started managing at BJ's, Mike White graciously stepped in and continued the conversation for more then a year, with my posts coming less and less often. However, due to a variety of issues, both Mike and I have allowed the blog to go dormant. Perhaps there just wasn't enough sugar around for us to consume... 
     But now, with the launch of a new website, some new stirrings in my heart, and some serious considerations going on about the next steps for the Pneuma Project (Jr. High camp anyone?), I think the yeast is waking up, and when one yeast starts eating again, it gets busy fast. So, here is my initial attempt to throw some sugar in the water. To create a space ripe for consumption and reproduction of the Kingdom of God. To revive my brain (and maybe a bit of my heart). And hopefully to say something that creates some kind of emotion in those of you who read this, to inspire you, to encourage you, maybe even to piss you off. But most of all to help us all realize that there is a Creator out there that hasn't given up on the world or on You. That sometimes works through an institution that many have labeled as "church", but is present (and active) in each bit of grace, beauty, love, and/or truth that you give or receive each day. Pneuma is about looking for and celebrating those small breaths of the Spirit that beckon all of us into something more each day; that call us to partner with God no matter where our background or beliefs may lie, and that most of all following the wind that pushes us into all that we were created to be.

     I'm looking forward to my next post, but most of all I'm looking forward to you comments and questions. So get excited, share this with those you know have given up on us in our dormancy, and join us as we seek to discover Jesus all around us. Until the next bit bubbles up, Cheers...