The Following is a sample chapter from a book I’m Working on… Please let me know what you think!-Billy It all started with a goat. At least that’s how the legend goes. A herder in Eastern Ethiopia noticed members of the herd had an extra bounce to their step. The goats had been doing what goats do best, eating whatever they find. And what they found were coffee cherries. Soon the goats were prancing around like the cast of Riverdance,… Read more

This morning I was supposed to teach at my old home congregation. I woke up dug my car out of a pile of snow and skidded into Ann Arbor where my suspicions were confirmed that church was cancelled. There was however a small remnant there that had come to prepare the morning meal for the Youth Group, which it didn’t look like would have the critical mass present to proceed. This created a bit of a quandary. There were stacks… Read more

Joy is an elusive shadow. It is not a tangible substance, but rather aura that seems to surround certain, people, experiences, or achievements. I long for it in the morning, strive for it in the day, and more often then I’d like sleep without it at night. So many things can cause joy. Just the other day while waking down the side walk I was overcome with the joy of skating across the concrete on a fresh sheet of Ice…. Read more

For the last few years a number of us in Ann Arbor Michigan have been meeting periodically discussing what it means to be followers of Jesus in the world that surrounds us. There have been a lot of insights and benefits to these discussions. We’ve been frustrated somewhat by the silence of the church as a whole on many of the issues and philosophies that most effect us in our day to day lives.Epoch is an attempt to create a… Read more

Last week at mission we jumped into boxes.it was fun.Check out the videohttp://www.stage6.com/user/BillyKangas/video/1885891/Box-jump Read more

After World War II there was a great divide between western democracy and the eastern communism. It seemed that the world had become split into two powerful sides, and that a great divide had split them. As Churchill stated in his famous speech “Sinews of Peace,” “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe…. Read more

Here in Michigan there is a new coffee shop that just opened up called The Common Cup. This is the brain child of my good friend Wendy Eason with a lot of input from me and the good folks at the Ugly Mug Café. This is really exciting for me. I’ve been working in the coffee industry for some time now, (more as hobby then a career over the last year or so). This shop is the first place I’ve… Read more

John 18:33-36 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?” “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent… Read more

I recently heard an interview with Phyllis Tickle in which she used the term “Orthonomy.” Listen Here Then I ran into a panel discussion where she used the word again in the following statement. “The Anglicans have this notion of Orthonomy the following of the law in order to make the music. Most of the world is divided between Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy.” (General Session 2—Thursday March 11, 2004—Phyllis Tickle etc… Found Here) Then I was reading an old LA Times… Read more

Last night I spoke to the great folks at Mission Christ in Ann Arbor. It was a really fun time. The subject was on hope. With the release of the new book on mother Theresa’s crisis of faith, and reading through A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis I was reminded of how my life with God can be the most excruciatingly difficult thing. If you want to listen to the talk just click on the little triangle below! It’ll be… Read more