#heartofmidtown

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

#pubtheology in the #heartofmidtown discussed storms, weather, climate and stewardship. (at Alley Kat Bar & Lounge) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2UIj2TBiyk/?igshid=kyj39io2ktgb

[tedgecombe]

Such a pretty street - deep in the #heartofmidtown the things u find when u miss your destination! #9thand55th (at Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan)

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

#pubtheology discussed Jobs, work and success. #LaborDay #heartofmidtown (at Alley Kat Bar & Lounge) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2B5vkEBuYE/?igshid=10htszyg6j5re

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

Join us tomorrow evening for #pubtheology in the #heartofmidtown from 7-8pm at the Alley Kat (3718 Main Street) where we will discuss: How successful would you need to be to retire before the age of 40? Would you want to be in that position? Andrew Luck, quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL, just retired at age 29. He had a history of injuries, yet was entering a season where the Colts were deemed a Super Bowl contender. “I haven’t been able to live the life I want to live,” he said, referring to both the pain of his injuries and the degree of dedication required to recover from them. “It’s taken the joy out of this game.” Discuss his decision to walk away from millions of dollars and a situation he had prepared his whole career to be in. If you were a Colts fan how do you think you would react to this news? A study in 2006 found that people who wrote down their positive experiences in a diary reported greater feelings of life satisfaction, and the effect lasted for up to two weeks afterwards. This was to counterbalance our natural tendency to hold on to negative moments more than positive ones. If you practiced this, do you think it would make you happier? In the Book of Ecclesiastes, there is a proverb: “Better one hand full of quiet than two hands full of striving after wind.” Discuss. How do you define whether something is “good”? Is there such a thing as a capital-G “Good”? What is the biblical sense of this? The opening chapter of the Bible says, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31). Do you believe this goodness remains at the foundation of creation and the universe? What is your take on how and when things became “less good”? (at Alley Kat Bar & Lounge) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1rWx0dB-si/?igshid=erqgcgt8cx5z

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

#pubtheology discussed Music, God-talk and stages of spiritual growth. #heartofmidtown (at Alley Kat Bar & Lounge) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1eXuYvBGIG/?igshid=1hic4maq5kw44

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

Join us for #pubtheology tomorrow night from 7-8pm at the Alley Kat (3718 Main St.) where we will discuss: What is the best flavor of licorice? How important is the theological message of a song or hymn to you in a worship setting? When someone uses language like, “God told me…” or “God is at work in the situation…” — what does that bring up for you, and how do you respond? If you use this language yourself, share about that experience. In his book, M. Scott Peck speaks of four stages of spiritual growth. While oversimplified, discuss these stages: Stage 1: Self-obsessed; Stage 2: Conformist; Stage 3: Individualist; Stage 4: Integrated. How have you seen or experienced these stages yourself? In others? Please note that the model is not pejorative, it describes stages we all (potentially) pass through, but makes no claims about the rightness or wrongness of a particular stage. Peck assesses that most believers are churchgoers are in Stage 2. How does that strike you? At its annual meeting earlier this month, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) not only passed statements condemning patriarchy and white supremacy, but made national news for declaring itself a “sanctuary church body.” Hundreds of delegates joined Lutheran activists in marching a mile to the Milwaukee office of the federal office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where they held a prayer vigil and posted 9.5 theses on care for refugees and other immigrants. Is this a case of a church being “too political” or doing the right thing? #heartofmidtown (at Alley Kat Bar & Lounge) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1Z5SoFhT5Q/?igshid=1rrd0v5pze10y

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

Trinity Youth kicked off the fall semester with fun in the sun! #heartofmidtown (at Houston, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1Wtu3nB0MA/?igshid=1vb1dk9ijxe4s

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

#pubtheology discussed back to school, education and faith. #heartofmidtown (at Alley Kat Bar & Lounge) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1MAbHsBrWe/?igshid=6niu4kmoju41

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

Join us for #pubtheology in the #heartofmidtown tomorrow night from 7-8pm at the Alley Kat (3718 Main St.) where we will discuss: When is the right time to think about ‘back to school’? What was your favorite subject when you were in school? What would be your favorite subject if you went back to school now? Discuss the role that ‘adult education’ has had in your experience in church or another faith community? What has helped/challenged/nourished you? What is lacking that you’d like to see more of? “Church is too often the most risky place to be spiritually honest.” ~ Peter Enns. Discuss your experience around this." “Ours is a historical faith, and to uproot the Bible from its historical contexts is self-contradictory.” ~Peter Enns. Discuss how pay attention to the Bible’s historical/geographical/cultural/literary context has helped you understand it better. “The first question we should ask about what we are reading is not “How does this apply to me?” Rather, it is “What is this passage saying in the context of the book I am reading, and how would it have been heard in the ancient world?” ~Peter Enns. How have you seen this done well? Poorly? What are the risks in going immediately to “Here’s what the Bible said to me today?” https://www.instagram.com/p/B1HN6A_hbfB/?igshid=hgtcw0nkcjf6

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

Join us tomorrow at Noon for #middaymusicmidtown featuring Trinity’s own April Sloan-Hubert #heartofmidtown (at Trinity Episcopal Church, Houston) https://www.instagram.com/p/B06H4fRBN2G/?igshid=166yl1xg6ajtp

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

#pubtheology discussed Mass shootings, motivation, and moving forward. (A couple of people not pictured. Missed ya Theresa and Magdiel!) #heartofmidtown https://www.instagram.com/p/B04osSHBQ-5/?igshid=1ivkbwdvbp9qu

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

Trinity’s youth were only 30 seconds away from victory! #escapetheroomhouston #heartofmidtown (at Escape the Room Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0wNzKlBqFu/?igshid=10l5niudc4hp9

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

Join us tomorrow at Noon for #middaymusicmidtown featuring organist, Joe Russel #heartofmidtown (at Trinity Episcopal Church, Houston) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0okdbkBWEA/?igshid=17jqfnqmqko1i

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

#pubtheology in the #heartofmidtown discussed scary movies, fear and faith. https://www.instagram.com/p/B0n9FXiBlVL/?igshid=3gtimh5cimpj

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

Join us for #pubtheology tomorrow evening from 7-8pm at the Alley Kat (3718 Main St.) where we will discuss: Fireworks? Yes or No / Memories? In a world of serious realities (i.e. economic trouble, poverty, abuse, natural disasters, etc.), what is the role of light-hearted amusements? (i.e., games, sports, hobbies, movies, circus peanuts, etc.) “Art is continually working . . . to take the crust of familiarity off everyday objects . . .” —Rudolf Arnheim, in Divine Sparks. Describe such an experience you’ve had with a work of art. Dostoevsky: “Man, in the end, will be saved by beauty—or nothing.” What is he getting at? What is the difference between music and noise? One definition is that music is ‘organized sound’. Could the sound of a waterfall be called ‘music’? “All forms of art are different ways of trying to appreciate the Beautiful, which is also an aspect of the eternal.” —Anthony Damiani, Looking into Mind. Explore his statement. “Truth in art is not imitation, but reincarnation.” —Ursula K. LeGuin, The Wave in the Mind. Discuss. “Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does, the better.” —André Gide, in Divine Sparks. Discuss the role of the muse or inspiration in art. #heartofmidtown (at Trinity Episcopal Church, Houston) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzbc8QfhJqJ/?igshid=1u1ask2hw6k2e

[trinityhoustonmidtown-blog]

Ice water, snacks, and a listening ear. #midtownlisteningpost is open until 2pm. #heartofmidtown (at Trinity Episcopal Church, Houston) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzQutZiBi_r/?igshid=u09yoynpkqui