Aaron Loy's Ragamuffin Blog

Some Creative Inspiration

Alright, so it's the end of the quarter and I'm up late with seeds and a Red Bull writing a final paper and I need a break, so...confession time. The older I get (and I'm not very old mind you), the less I find myself wanting to read the latest and greatest Christian book to come out and the more I find myself gleaning from the progressives and innovators from other spheres of influence. 

I mean, I still learn from the "top dogs" of mainstream Christianity and others out on the fringes, but it' is hard to find Christian leaders who are doing anything new. I find that to be more than a little frustrating. I mean, the church should be the most creative place on the planet! We should be pioneering on all types of fronts. But too often it seems we just "copy and paste" from others. And there is a lot of recycled junk floating around out there, don't you think?

Well, in that spirit, here are some fun things to get your creative juices flowing! Much love!

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What moves you?

This past week the proteges and I had to create a piece of art in response to the questions "What moves you?" and "What do you desire?" It was fun. Some did spoken word pieces, some created videos, some wrote songs and some of us created photography pieces. The poster below was my piece. All of the photos are of Lincoln, NE and can be found here. 

Admittedly, the real work of my piece had little to do with my fine motor skills. (I used a really cool free program called Shape Collage and printed through my new favorite online printing company: Poster Brain.) No, the real work came as I paged through over 8,000 photos of the city of Lincoln. As I perused the work of so many talented photographers, I found myself captivated by the city to which Megan and I have been called. And as I paged through picture after picture for hours on end, I began to pray for the city.

I prayed for the people of Lincoln who today find themselves without hope. I prayed for those trapped by poverty. I prayed for those drowning in religion. I prayed for those who have succumbed to the apathy of a life without dreams. I prayed for those who will join us in creating a new movement in the city of Lincoln. And I prayed for those who will shape the spiritual landscape of Lincoln's future, many of which do not yet know Christ.

Father, may your spirit blow like a mighty rushing wind throughout the city of Lincoln. Prepare us and the city of Lincoln for all you are preparing to do.

"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below...And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." - Acts 2:17-21

Crave Lounge

This last week I was a part of an experience put on by various Mosaic artisans called the Crave Lounge. It was beautiful. We lounged, we shared, we reflected, we dreamt and we jumped off of trampolines (see below). I walked away from the experience and thought, you know, just about any church could pull off an experience like this, but few actually do. You see, I think the thing that really sets Mosaic apart from so many faith communities is not its location, its lead pastor, or its talent, but rather its willingness to continually risk in creating things that are new, beautiful and transformational.

I love my community.

Skip 1, Jump on 2

My daughter is fearless.

Sometimes I really wish she wasn't, but she is. Despite hitting her head more times than I can count, she just refuses to come to grips with her frailty. Her favorite game is when I launch her into oblivion and she comes crashing down onto our couch on the other side of the room. The induced whip lash causes her to explode into laughter. She bounces onto the floor, picks herself up and runs right back to me begging for more. She’d do it for hours if I’d let her. She has no fear.

Year of the Disney

So far, 2009 has been the year of Disney for the Loy household. In January, we used some Christmas money to purchase annual passes to Disneyland (go twice and they're paid for). We've gone a couple times so far. Last month we got to join my parents in Orlando for a few days at Disney World. And today we are heading back to Disneyland with Megan's parents. That is a lot of Disney! Here are a few of my favorite shots, but for friends and family who are interested, here is a link to the rest of our pics. Now, off to enjoy another day at Disney!

 

Top 5 Most Ridiculous Church Signs

Call me cynical, call me vulgar, call me whatever you will, but here are my Top 5 Most Ridiculous Church Signs! (Signs were unfairly judged at my discretion on the basis of hilarity, irony and/or just plain ridiculousness.) Enjoy!

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Flakey Bloggers Unite

**Has it really been 9 weeks since my last post?! Something tells me that isn't too good for one's readership (my statcounter, for one). My apologies. These last couple months of silence have been busy and have involved a lot of inner turmoil. I have been wrestling with expectations, confronting some of my own shortcomings, questioning whether or not I desire to be in vocational ministry again someday, (and just in case the answer to that question turns out to be "no") playing with some other possibilities, trying to figure out how to be a better husband, and engaging the age old practice of having fun. But all that to say that I think I have finally come out the other end - in a much better place than where I started - and ready to get back in the blogging saddle again.**

And just what would a triumphant re-entry into bloggerdome be without some snapshots of my last couple months? If you answered "lame", you'd be exactly right. So here goes...

In mid November we headed back to Lincoln for my brother Jake's wedding. The first order of business was the bachelor party. We rented a limo, dressed up in our finest pirate garb and headed out on the town for a night of pillaging and rock'n roll. For anyone looking for bachelor party ideas, I highly recommend this one. From the impromptu sidewalk sword fights, to the epic limo gun battles, to the autographs and stares at Yia Yia's downtown, this was one for the ages. (I am not liable for expletive gestures.)

The next night was the night of the rehearsal dinner. We didn't really have any ideas for an after party. Then we found out that the State Theater was at our disposal, if we wanted it. After a quick brainstorming session, we ran out and got a dozen assorted nerf guns and headed to the theater for an epic nerf battle. No would could have guessed this night would turn out to be even better than the previous one. Perhaps it was the drunk pub patrons pasionately cheering us on through the windows, the incredible layout of twisted hallways and bases, or the opportunity for all of us to be 12 again, but whatever the case, most of us agree it was one of the funnest nights of our lives.

The following day was the big one. It was a beautiful wedding filled with both moving and hilarious moments (the hilarious ones I can't really share on here, so you'll have to use your imagination). 

After the ceremony, the wedding party hopped on a party bus to celebrate before rejoining everyone at the Lodge at Wilderness Ridge for the dance party to end all dance parties. We figuratively and literally tore the dance floor up!

 

It was a fitting way to celebrate Jake & Allie's new marriage and it wrapped up what was easily one of the funnest three days stretches of my life.

I spent most of the last week of November at beautiful Point Loma in San Diego for Strengths Coach training with Gallup. All I gotta say is that it is a good thing I didn't visit this school while I was in high school because it just might have inspired me to become a Nazarene. It also turned out that my good buddy Derick was in town celebrating his birthday, so I got to crash with him in a suite at the Hard Rock Hotel (easily the coolest hotel I've ever stayed at) and hang with some of his fellow firefighters (great guys) in SD's gas lamp district (which absolutely shames downtown L.A.) The training? Oh yea, that was good too. Really.

Last month I had the wonderful opportunity of spending some time with Dan Kimball while he was in town. He and his lead pastor, Josh (great guy!), met with us to talk about the protege program. (For anyone interested, they will be launching their own protege program at Vintage Faith in Santa Cruz this fall!) Dan has been an instrumental and influential voice of clarity in the emerging church movement for some time now. His Emerging Worship was one of my favorite resources for ideas and discussion when I served as a worship pastor. I have to say that I was so impressed and encouraged by Dan's kind and humble spirit, his hunger for understanding, and his interest in little people (like myself). Although he is a bonafide rock star in many circles, he still comes off as someone who is genuinely accessible and endlessly loyal. Spending time with him was truly an honor.

 

Since Megan is relatively new to her job and we just took time off for the wedding in November, we spent Christmas here in L.A. with my sister-in-law's family. It was a really good time and very relaxing. (Notice picture of me toting the video camera like a good dad.) Also, just in case you were wondering, Amy Grant was right: Christmas in L.A. does make for a warm holiday.

We had roughly a dozen people staying in our apartment for New Year's. It was filled with much dancing, rocking out, cranium (guy's won), and shouting at the church group camping underneath our balcony. The next morning we got up, watched the Rose Bowl Parade from our balcony (very cool), and then cheered on our Husker's as they beat out Clemson in the Gator Bowl! It was a great way to ring in the new year!!

Alright, I think I am finally caught up! Now, lets move on to some substance...

photo friday

Go Time

Wow, there is a lot going on in our world right now. Here are some of the biggies:

* This last week I had surgery on my knee. I am thankful this op was less intrusive than the last one. No opening me up or replacing anything. Just a scope removing 50% of the meniscus in my left knee. I spent most of the last week hopped up on hydrocodone playing Super Tecmo Bowl and watching Planet Earth. I found myself barely awake and drowsy during the days, and lying awake in bed itching during the nights. It made for a long and unproductive week. The weird blessing in all of this was that the meds actually helped me to relax a little and the idle time spent lying in bed allowed me to spend hours in prayer - something I haven't done in a while.

* We found an apartment! This was one of those pink elephants that has been hanging over our heads for a while. We were looking, but everything we pursued seemed to fall through. But yesterday, we finally received word that we had landed a place in Pasadena. It is much bigger and nicer than we anticipated - and it is just over a mile from both the Mosaic offices and one of the couples in the Protege program that are willing to watch Paige! Here are some pics of our place:

* Speaking of Paige, her birthday is a week from today! My mom is making her a birthday cake that sits up and looks just like a teddy bear. I doubt anyone other than parents and grandparents ever really care about these things, but I will probably post a video of her demolishing it anyway.

* Headed to Bethel! About a month ago, I asked the-powers-that-be to consider allowing me to go to Bethel, instead of Golden Gate while I do the progete program. Initially, they didn't like the idea so I conceded to go to GG. However, through a number of circumstances that could never have been orchestrated by human hands, I asked again and they are going to allow me to go to Bethel! I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about this! I feel like I am getting the best of both worlds - a great internship with an innovative, missional, leading church AND the program I wanted to do more than any other from the school I wanted to go to more than any other! Lord, you are too good!

* Final preparations. Megan and I are officially down to crunch time. We both work our final shifts in less than a week. Then we've got a going away shindig downtown, Paige's bday party, and then we're out of here. Today we said some of our first 'goodbyes'. It is getting to be about that time and I think we are both just as scared as we are excited. We are leaving some tremendous family support here in Lincoln to raise our little girl on our own. We know just a couple people in the L.A. area. We still don't have jobs. I am about to embark on a 2 year unpaid internship while simultaneously starting a pricey seminary program. Needless to say, the stress levels are high. But the reality is, on a practical level, there is no way the next couple years could be more difficult than this last year was for us. We both have been working so hard and so much over the last 12 months that it was not uncommon for us to go without seeing each other three days out of every week. Subtract Paige from this last year and I'm not sure we would have made it as long as we have. We both love to work and to work hard - but we also love to play - and we haven't done that near enough this last year. We are anxious to stop working ridiculous, unhealthy amounts of time on opposite shifts and get back to doing life together and playing often.

On a spiritual level, we both know in our hearts that this is the right thing to do. No guarantees of an easy ride, but assurance that God is leading us into this. We really can't ask for any more than that. One by one things have fallen into place. So much of what has transpired over the last several months has been crazy and unforeseen. But in hindsight, we can see God leading us step by step. And that is really all we can ask for. This last week we received an encouraging card from some loved ones that included a check that will help cover all of our moving expenses and then some!  This was such a huge blessing and it just reassured us that God is going to continue to take care of our needs in unexpected ways as we seek to honor him with our lives.

My Trek to Mosaic

This last weekend I had the privilege of heading out to L.A. to check out Mosaic and interview for their protege program. It was a great trip. I got to connect with my old friend Julia the night I flew in, hit up three Mosaic worship gatherings and tackled three interviews the next day, and then enjoyed that night bonfiring on Huntington Beach with my buddy Kurtis before flying out early the next morning. It was packed couple days, but it was great! After following Erwin and Mosaic for the last five years or so, it was a huge blessing to be able to be out there and experience the community first hand. I love their heartbeat and the culture of creativity, love and passion that has been nurtured there. If God would see fit to make it possible, I would love to be able to serve, train and grow alongside Mosaic for the next couple years. Megan and I continue to pray about where God will have us this fall. And we hope to FINALLY make a decision really soon!

Here's a look at Mosaic's downtown campus which meets at the night club pictured above:

While I was there, I managed to get some video of a crazy thirty minute performance done at Mosaic. They are currently going through their core values. This last week was: "Love is the Context for all Mission." The performance was pretty unreal in scope and content - check it out. (Also, if you get a chance once the message gets posted, the message Erwin preached was powerful!) Enjoy!