Thanks Art and los! This is AmandaSims' husband, Paul; the artist formerly known as towncrier86!

There are far too many reasons why the broader church appears to be dying in the United States, not the least of which is that those outside the church don't see any tangible reason to enter it. That goes back, unfortunately, to how Christ's representatives live out their everyday lives.
There are a couple things we can do to stem the tide. First, move further in the direction of authenticity, first internally (being real with the Lord and each other), then externally. People smell fake a mile away.
Second, we should work in the broader church to reduce the barriers between us; not discarding essential viewpoints, but rather understanding that we can do more together than apart. This means, especially, ridding ourselves of the notion that the time when churches meet on Sunday is "the most segregated hour in America."

I grew up in Montgomery, Ala., also known as the Gump, Monkeytown, Fungomery; the cradle of the Confederacy and the birthplace of the civil rights movement (hey they're both on the seal: see the city's Wiki page and the bar with maps and various images) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery,_Alabama

They told us we had too much stuff and we and our stuff had to leave.

Wow, um. Wow. I could not tell if it was CG or real. I guess it had to be real to some extent. If it was entirely real imagine the practice that took to pull off. The thought of it makes me tired.

The three amigos (not sure how to make "amigo" plural and gender-inclusive) are hosting an event called "Off the Blog" at Fellowship Bible Church in Alpharetta, Ga. Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. It will be after an event going on as part of NorthPoint (sorry I don't have details on that). The best way to describe "Off the Blog" is that it will be an attempt to make to transfer authentic community started online into the tangible world.
Hopefully more details will follow and hopefully I did the explanation some justice.

I was reaching for my pencil as it rolled behind my chair and this is how I ended up. Also, I wanted to get four people involved in getting me out of the situation when it probably only should take two.

We were in an uncertain position with this situation as it unfolded initially. Friends of ours in Tennessee contacted us because the Walls' friends in the community where they lived did not know how to contact their next of kin, but all our Tennessee friends were told is that we needed to find their parents, not why. (The call came well after 10 p.m. so we knew it wasn't good even when the phone rang.) So, while we were not told anything officially initially - for obvious reasons - we wound up involved in providing information which helped authorities find and ultimately contact their parents. Otherwise, what we had to deduce was what media outlets in the area where they lived were reporting - and that was that there were four people dead in the van and that this was them. That was a very long night as we hoped some confirmation would come. It came later that next afternoon in the form of an Associated Press brief.
We learned it's always good to provide emergency contact information to close friends in the area where you live, especially if the rest of your family is scattered, and do the ICE (In Case of Emergency) listing on your cell phone "ICE John Smith XXX-XXX-XXXX" to have emergency contacts clearly identified on your phone in case your phone is intact and locatable if something happens.
I too miss Chris and Leah terribly and wish we could talk to them about so many things - music, art, parenting and faith among them. And therein lies our hope, that we'll see those who have gone on to be with Him again one day.
May this hope help guide, you, Los, and others here who have experienced loss.

Los: I am sorry to learn of the loss of your good friend and struck by the way you involved yourself directly, deeply and personally in Rachel's pain. May God's mercy reign in both situations.
To answer your question succinctly, a number of my relatives have passed away over the years. My parents in particular are deceased and I am an only child.
Ten years ago this past September, my mother died unexpectedly (We discovered her about two days, we think, after she'd passed away) in my hometown in Alabama. Amanda and I weren't married yet. It took us several years to deal with the physical aftermath of her death. I'm not sure I've ever completely dealt with it emotionally. But I do believe the Lord did attempt to prepare us for it. I do believe that somehow, the Lord uses these times to help us to minister to others.
It's a fairly lengthy read, but I posted a blog on the 10th anniversary of the day we found my Mom.
The link is: http://crawlspace5.blogspot.com/2008/09/ten-years...
I hope it is somehow of some help to others.

I feel the same way, and I'm a few years ahead of you. What color is this magic bus and when does it arrive? Or do we just try to be excellent in the ordinary and let that be the legacy? Let's continue to contemplate in an active sense - not simply ponder and do nothing at all.