What do we talk about?

Ben, we have so many things that we can talk about!
Well, I guess there are an infinite number of topics but do they all pertain to the purpose of our blog?
I suppose that the number of topics that relate to our blog is a finite thing, but today even that finite number is not so small.
Yeah, and so many things have happened since we last talked. We saw a movie, had a vice/discussions night... a lot of good things came out of those events and they're just two of many!
It's true Ben, these are both worthy topics of discussion, but what I am really hoping will happen is that we will take some time to flesh out and better describe our pilgrimage.
We should tell people about our plans and goals: our mission statement.
A mission statement... really?
All good organizations and endeavours have a mission statement of sorts. Even the Simple Way has a mission statement and they're just a bunch Christians who live together in a house.
This may be true, but I hardly would consider ourselves a good organization. May I make a proposal?
sure. Why not?
I can see no reason why not. I propose that instead of mission statement we call it, "A Set of Excessively Lofty Goals, Aims, and Aspirations."
I want to make it as much of a spiritual experience as an experiment. I want to see how hospitable the churches and their congregations will be as we travel through. I know that we'll also have a spiritual experience , but I'm a curious person to begin with, so this is my hope for the pilgrimage.
Well, we discussed this with Steve Weatherford last night. Perhaps we will rehash this conversation. Steve wanted to know what our pilgrimage was. So, I started by telling him that it is an evolving idea. It is different than it was when we first came up with the idea, it will continue to grow and change into something else. That being said, the pilgrimage began as a joke. Ben and I were talking late at night, as we typically do, and for some reason I said something about us going on a pilgrimage to Branson. Shortly after this, it dawned on me that this was something that I actually wanted to do. It began as a mocking of our heritage in the evangelical church, or "christendom". We also wanted it to be an actual pilgrimage though. We want this to be a spiritual journey that causes us to experience life and God in new ways. A chat with Nana Jill helped us realize how this might work. We want to seek out Christ amongst the mess of consumeristic "christianity" that is Branson and we also want to be Christ to the people that we interact with on this trip. And we want to interact with a lot of people.
So we will seek out Jesus in the people. We will hitchhike so that we will meet people. We will knock on church doors and ask for places to sleep and meals to eat. We will seek communion with people. We will put ourself in positions that make us share life with other people.
So, our Set of Excessively Lofty Goals, Aims, and Aspirations may be:
1) To experience and critique Evangelical Christianity in Branson, MO through the medium of a pilgrimage, or spiritual journey
2) To seek out Christ in relationships
and
3) To create one awesome story
I'm also looking forward to how our personal differences affect what we'll get out of it and how we interact with the people and places of the Ozarks. We've both had different experience with churches and ideas from out families towards spirituality. That is what will be the most interesting to me.
To come in future posts, some specific things that we will be doing!

Blogging Again

Hi Ben, what's up?
...
Ben apparently isn't in the mood for blogging, are you Ben?
eh...
Oh, but Ben, we don't even have dedicated readers yet, you can't give up!
I'm not giving up, I'm just resting before the big party.
Well, there is no reason that you can't contribute to the blog, you are just sitting there.
People are going to think we are so popular, because we are always about to go to some party or something.
Ben, that just isn't true!
Jake! I got raw milk today. I mean, organic, unpasteurized milk, not raw.
Is there a difference?
Raw milk has the connotation that it is straight out of the cow. This milk has been filtered and chilled.
Ben, I only care about denotations. For what reason do you have this milk?
I am doing a speech on it, and I'd never tried it before.
That seems like a silly reason to try it. For example, I have done a presentation on capital punishment, but I didn't feel that trying it out would improve this presentation.
Good thing too...
How was the milk?
What did it taste like, how do I describe it. It's hard to describe.
Did you like it?
Yes, I did, and I would buy more.
Hmm, it sounds like a risky business, drinking milk straight out of a cow. Anyway, I have a story for you.
Oh! What is it?
I don't know yet.
Oh...
Well, here is one. I talked with Steve Weatherford this week! I like him. And odd circumstances had me attending a speaker on why youth are leaving the church with him and the youth pastors from OBC. It was at Kansas City Christian.
"Come to the dark side, we have cookies."
What does that have to do with anything? Do you not even care about my story?
I do care! All the OBC youth kids are going to Life, and that's a problem.
That really isn't what the speaker was addressing. He was addressing the issue that people leave their faith when they go to college.
I think because, um, kids who grow up in churches like that think that it is a lifestyle, but when they go to college they try new things, like not going to church.
The guy talked a lot about worldview. And how we don't give kids enough worldview. I think this is a load of bull. I've gotten enough speeches on the "Christian Worldview" and my parents still think I've left God. He also went on a tangent about abortion that had nothing to do with people leaving the church. I was disappointed in the talk. He got a roaring round of applause from all the KCC parents.
Nice alliteration Jake.
Oh, well thank you. I feel like he completely missed some major reasons that people leave the church when it is no longer forced on them. For example, the fact that it is inappropriate to question the church or beliefs held by the church. In my personal experience, questioning these beliefs has led me to actual belief. Or, I think that there is a cultural difference between my parents generation and mine.
This will have to be continued later, we are going to a party!

Jake Upsets Ben, Pt. 1

Hi,
I decided I wanted to write.
Ben is not here.
This entry may upset him, but we never established any kind of rules about blogging with or without each other so he can just deal with it.
There are a couple of things I would like to address here. The first is story involving a bike and the second is the purpose of this blog from my perspective.
So.
I love to bike. I like fixing bikes almost as much as like riding them. I fixed Brett's bike and decided to take it on a test run. It was Friday night and it was raining, but it had been an hour or so since the tornado sirens and it had died down a decent bit. This was perhaps one of the most glorious bike rides I have ever been on. It felt wonderful. Then a thunderous, husky bark came from behind me. I turn my head to find a pair of rottweilers that are conveniently not chained up trotting in the middle of the street. The one in front quickly breaks into a full run. It is time to find out how fast I can go on Brett's bike. I am just booking it in this sketchy neighborhood as the duo of hulking, monstrous beasts pursue and I am just praying to God that I don't wipe out and the only thing I am really thinking of is that I no longer have health insurance. Brett's bike did well. I got home and stiffened up and realized I am not really in shape, but I felt excellent.
That is the end of my story without a point, except to say that dangerous animals really need to be kept under control.
This blog. Ben and I are going on a pilgrimage. We are excited. We are going to Branson, MO; to what is perhaps the heart of what we will refer to as "christendom". Christendom is the culture that is evangelical christianity, in case you were wondering. We both come from evangelical backgrounds and that way of life doesn't really work for us. The way I see it, our little adventure is 66.6% actual spiritual journey, in which we seek Christ amongst the mess of a consumeristic evangelical world in the people. We will push the boundaries of hospitality, and we are bringing a tent in case we find that those boundaries aren't very wide. This is also 66.6% exploring the evangelical culture and our problems with it, perhaps sometimes mocking it, and hopeful sometimes realizing that it has good things that we can learn from. And finally, it is 66.6% making an incredibly awesome story to tell people. That's right, it will be 199.9% adventure.
More on this to come in later posts, including Ben's views on the whole thing and more specifics as to what we will be doing.

A Multi-Media Event Brought to you by The Pilgrims!

Ben, Dinosaur Comics is awesome. T-Rex is everything I want to be in life; a big manly dinosaur that is all about smooching the ladies and exploring life. Plus, he talks to God.
But Jake, T-Rex usually comes across as inconsiderate and very not knowledgeable on about almost every topic he discusses.
False. T-Rex is merely misunderstood. Regardless, Ben, more important matters are at hand. Do you have a friendship crush on me?
Well, as T-Rex put it, "I have a friendship crush on all my friends. They're great!"
I do not know how I feel about this, Ben. It just isn't right to joke about having sexual relations with all your friends. It's inappropriate.
It was your idea to put that comic in here.
I thought, simply, it might apply. We are friends, after all. Plus, Dinosaur Comics.
I think you have a friendship crush on me.
Well, Ben, maybe, but perhaps we shouldn't discuss this in front of our friends.
That's a lot of commas, Jake.
I was often criticized in English classes for using too many commas. I like them.
I once wrote a story about a girl who used too many commas based on a girl in one of my high school English classes. It was a literary masterpiece because it used, besides too many commas, a large amount of grammatical and spelling errors that earned me a good grade.
Ok. Let's introduce The Mexican.
Yes! If anyone is familiar with my Facebook, I made a photo album with pictures I took the day I moved into our shared room and one such picture was of The Mexican.
I hope said picture doesn't include me.
One of them does, but fortunately that one is safe and secure on Facebook and will not appear in this blog.
Well Ben, let's show the The Mexican.





I think we should explain how he came into existence...
Well, let me exp....
Why do you always get to tell the stories?! Secondly, why do you always start your statements with "well"?
Would you like to explain The Mexican?
I was going to anyway, but thanks for offering. It all began while we were cleaning the room and preparing it for my arrival. We found an old Mexican style blanket that had, at one time, belonged to your former roommate, Ben A. and we thought it would look nice on your old chest.
We were right.
Oh, totally. he is an enlightening addition to the room and he also makes us more culturally aware. We are also not racist because we only call him The Mexican because he truly is from Mexico and we accept his cultural differences.
Ben, we do not know this to be true, that he is from Mexico. Also, we make racist jokes about him all the time. So this is The Mexican. He is our friend. He is so short.
Because he's actually very short, and not because it's a stereotype. I don't make these jokes. Jake is just a bad person.
You lie, we both make the jokes.
Possibly, but you do it more.

ABRUPT BLOG ENDING?

The Introduction to This/That one Pilgrimage with These Two Pilgrims and The Mexican

Hello, and welcome.
This is the blog of two roommates, Ben and Jake. We have decided to address the hard-hitting questions right off the bat.

Question #1: Are you copying Katie and Amanda's blog (a blog written by two roommates)?
Answer #1: The simple answer is no. The complex answer is no, and the reasons are threefold: because we are guys, because this blog will kind of focus around an event in the future, and because we are completely original.

Question #2: What is the purpose of this blog?
Answer #2: We will get to that later.

Question #3: For whom will you be voting, Jake?
Answer #3: Ben, excellent question. And good use of grammar and spelling. However, you have failed to specify. For whom will I be voting for which position? I refuse to answer.

Question #4: How do we tell people we have started a blog?
Answer #4: I think that the first two sentences, that you wrote so well, explain everything. We're here to hit the issues in a matter most hard.
Ben, what does this response have to do with my question?
Well, to answer my own question, I feel as if we should tell people, in person. And perhaps adjust our facebook statuses to inform people that we have started a blog. Do you have anything else to add?
Oh, I thought you needed to know how we were to explain why we had created this blog. My reply made no sense.
Indeed, it made no sense because I asked how to tell people we had started a blog. I feel as if we can tell people why we started a blog, but like we said in Answer #2, we will get to that later.

Ben I feel as if we have done enough blogging for today, do you?
Yes Jake, I think we have gotten a good part of our point across. That, and we need to get going to Nana Jill's for movies and chips.
There will be chips? I love Nana Jill's!

Sincerely,
The Pilgrims