Author: mike

Another catch-up week with lots of links (I actually cut out a few that would have been included in a “normal” week):

Smashing Magazine: How to Make an eBook Don’t know what I’d ever write a book about, but I like the whole idea that whole new platforms are opening up to those seeking to self-publish and destribute their ideas.

Haven’t checked this out yet, but I like the idea – Fleetly iPhone App turns exercise into a game (via Lifehacker).

Semi-related: John Piper on Exercise. I’m not one to often agree with Piper, but I think he does make a couple good points in this one – I especially appreciate the note he makes that obesity isn’t the same as gluttony.

Jen Lemen: 10 Ways to Become the One You Were Made to Be. Also from Jen, 15 Things That Can Happen When You Keep Your Truth In A Hidden Place. Too often I feel like Jen is constantly peeking into my brain.

Upcoming legislation allowing cell-phone robocalls and what you can do about it. (via Lifehacker).

Daniel So: Pastor, Present and Future.

“Cassette Tape” Cut From the Oxford English Dictionary. Further confirmation I’m old.

From the Personal MBA Blog: Are You an Implementor or an Enabler?

Stephen Colbert on God and Hell (taken from a Fresh Air interview):

Dan Dick on Christi-inanity. I think Dan’s making a good point, but also I don’t think it’s quite as “black and white” as he makes it. Do we need to raise the bar on theological understanding and conversation within the church? Absolutely. But when you are dealing with congregations with a wide diversity of age, educational and theological backgrounds it’s hard to get good systems in place that can meet the different populations at different points of need. Even using words like “antinomianism” or “theodicy” has to be done differntly when I’m preaching to the university church where a majority are college graduates and many have post-grad degrees versus the rural congregations where less than 10% of the population has a college degree. One isn’t better than the other – they just have a different set of demands, and a different style of communication, even if the content is the same. Likewise, I feel like even with my seminary education, I lack a certain amount of critical theological discourse. I know I’m lacking in this area, myself, and yet I know I’m probably better than most in terms of on-going reading and education on these topics. In the midst of all the demands of ministry, reading to stay on top of topics like systematic theology, unfortunately, doesn’t fall on many people’s priority list. It needs to be fixed, but I’m not even sure where you might really begin.

Semi-related: David Kinnaman on Prodigals, Nomads, and Exiles.

Greg Boyd on Kingdom of God vs. Religion. Greg’s work is something I’ve not very familiar with (another admission of my limited theological depth, perhaps), but I’ve seen Roger Olson make reference to him on occasion in terms of his take on open theism, and he says some interesting things here, so maybe it’s worth checking out:

Teddy Wayne: Occupy Main Street!

For the science-nerd in you: Hubble Telescope Picture of the Center of the Galaxy.

Sherman Haywood Cox II: Naming Your Sermon. I always dread having to come up with titles/names for my sermons, but there are some good ideas is this post.

Budgeting with Cash Envelopes. Great tip that made a big difference for my household (unfortunately we’ve fallen off the wagon); make sure you check it out, though, because they include a template so that you can print your own envelopes. We had always used the Dave Ramsey envelopes that come with the Financial Peace University kit, and the trouble we’d have is that they would wear out fairly quickly with use – so a nice template to make your own as needed is a good thing.

Guy Kawasaki: What I Learned from Steve Jobs.

Related: My friend from college, Scott Heiferman, went on to make it big in the digital world (he’s founder and CEO of MeetUp.com). Here’s video of him asking Steve Jobs a question on how technology can change the world. Steve’s answer is okay, but I think Scott was hoping for more. Scott’s really gotten into the idea of using tech to bring people together in real face-to-face interactions (the whole idea behind MeetUp), and I think he’s on to something. Tech isn’t a tool in itself, only in it’s ability to connect and help facilitate real change to take happen:

Jamie the Very Worst Missionary: Missionary Positions: How a Wife Does It.

Seth Godin: Which Are You? Also from Godin: Open Conversations.

Lifehacker: How to Turn Any Song into a Ringtone for Android or iPhone. I knew how to do this for my old Android G1, but had no idea how to do it for the iPhone. Great tip.

Donald Miller: Intimacy With God Comes When We Accept His Kindness.

Jay Voorhees: Rebuilding Trust – The DS and Bishop Dilemna. I feel badly that this is falling near the bottom of an already long post, because it is important and needs to be read (but I’m also too lazy to move it closer to the beginning). I think Jay is hitting some important points, but I’m also trying to fight my own cynicism around this area. Yes, there is a breakdown of trust especially among clergy, congregations and the Cabinet in the UMC, and it is an “occupational hazard” of the system, but the post seems to suggest that the necessary change needs to primarily come from the Cabinet. Maybe we need to start assuming that they are doing the best they can and everything they can, and instead focus on what we do have the capacity to change about ourselves. Instead of waiting for a DS to set up a regular process for fellowship and conversation with clergy, maybe the clergy need to initiate it and invite the DS into the process. We need to stop blaming and stop complaining and start finding ways to improve the system under our own initiative. (Of course, that is much easier said than done).

Semi-related: Bill Dobbs (assistant to the Bishop in the Michigan Episcopal Area) on The Appointment Process.

Music: The Civil War’s covering Michael Jackson.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life…”

Too good to just plug it in at the end of a round-up…

God Makes Lemonade – love this concept!

Seth Godin on Talker’s Block – great post about working through writer’s block; of course the mild irony, for me, is that I frequently do have “talker’s block” and tend to keep silent if I don’t have anything to say. Also from Godin: Marketing the Placebo – When Everyone Gets Their Own Belief.

Lifehacker: Upgrade Your Health & Fitness Routines.

Donald Miller: Leaders Lead People Through Fear.

Dan Dick: Take Time to be Holy.

Jamie, the Very Worst Missionary: Using Your Poor Kid to Teach My Rich Kid a Lesson. Raises an important point to consider about the unintended messages of mission trips.

Cameron Conant (via Rethink Church): Live the Best Case Scenario.

Christian Piatt (via Huffington Post): Why Young Adults Are Walking Away From Church.

Michael Hyatt: What Drives You As A Leader?

Chad Missildine: 8 Dos and Don’ts of Transformational Leadership.

I’d forgotten about the whole “Playing for Change” project, so I had no idea they had new songs out. Here’s their latest, and it’s a good one:

I don’t really fit the theological camp that Good News Magazine is written for, but I do try to read it when it arrives in my mailbox to broaden my theology and to better be in dialogue with other United Methodists; and the fact is, frequently there are good articles in the pages. The article by Jason Vickers “Renewal in an age of Anxiety” has some great stuff in it (it doesn’t look like the on-line version is available yet, otherwise I’d link to it). I especially appreciated these thoughts:

“The truth is that we do not need more demographic or generational studies to figure out what people are looking for. In the midst of workplaces full of resentment and hostility, people are searching for love. Surrounded by anxiety and depression, people are looking for joy. Amid the violence and insanity of city streets and war-torn countries, people are searching high and low for peace. Faced with spouses and co-workers who lose their tempers at a moment’s notice, people are looking for self-control. Amid rampant road rage, people are in desperate need of patience. Against the backdrop that is the harshness and cruelty of the evening news, people will inevitably be drawn to churches that exhibit gentleness and kindness in every aspect of their lives. Over against the gospel of pervasive pessimism about human nature and human communities, people will be drawn to church that proclaim and embody a gospel of transformation and holiness.

 “Conceived along these lines, the real question for the church is not whether we can get people to come to church in the first place. The real question is whether, upon coming, they will find compelling reasons to return time and time again.

“People will not be drawn to and held captive by the church simply because it carefully preserves and maintains its long-standing structures. Nor will they be drawn to and held captive by the church simply because it is part of a prophetic movement aimed at renewal or reform. Rather, people will ultimately be drawn to and help captive by the church when they discover in the church something they cannot readily get anywhere else, namely a community that embodies in readily discernible ways the mind of Christ, the theological virtues, and the fruits of the Spirit. In other words, they will be drawn to and held captive by those churches that bear the marks of incorporation into the Trinitarian life of God. Short of this, people may come to the church for a season, but they will ultimately look elsewhere for their salvation.” 

I have the bad habit of trying to read several books at the same time. I’ll start one, get half-way through, set it on my bookshelf, get distracted by another book, then a couple chapters in, go back to the first, etc. Unfortunately that’s been the case with Dirty Word: The Vulgar, Offensive Language of the Kingdom of God by Jim Walker; unfortunate, because while the whole book is good, the last couple chapters are exceptional.

Jim’s words here, really spoke to me:

“In talking with the young adults who are part of our community, I have noticed that many of them are paralyzed by life. With so many choices and expectations, they freeze and don’t do anything at all. I think part of the problem is that our culture demands that we do something ‘big’ with our lives. In the face of that expectation, we go into a coma. There is a strong undercurrent in our culture, which makes its want into the church, that pulls us into thinking that we have to change the world somehow. This expectation leaves many young people who want to follow Christ trying to figure out how they can be a disciple of Jesus, the sufferer, and a big rock star at the same time. The result is an epidemic of Christian rock stars. Instead of finding places to serve, these Christian rock stars will only serve when the work is cool or sexy, or they get to climb up on the roof and take their shirt off. Or when there’s a camera around. Instead of being honest about their struggles, they push their dirty laundry under their beds and pretend that they have it all together. Instead of running toward the cross, they run away from the cross, all the while talking about their plans to change the world. We need less Christian rock stars and more heroes, people willing to surrender and sacrifice so that the kingdom of God will be near.
“I believe that we are at a critical point in church history. There is a conflict going on, and we need losers like Jeremiah to stand in the fray and be torn to shreds. The outcome of this conflict will affect the future of the church. The conflict within the church and between those who call themselves Christians. The conflict is between those who are surrendered and those who use fear as a weapon. It is between those who humble themselves and wash feet and those who use rejection to conquer and control. It is between those who share in compassion and those who guard their luxury. It is between those who pursue the truth, the Word of God, and those who abide behind fake veneer or superficialities and disillusion. It is obvious who will win and who will lose this conflict. The winners will take the spoils – the beautiful buildings, the large endowments, and the places of position and power. The losers will quietly go their own way, back into the catacombs from which they came. They will go back underground, to the tattoo-shop basements and dark, dirty holes of this world where they share little pieces of body and little drops of blood with one another, and they sing quiet hymns of praise. We need heroes who are ready to go and lose that battle for the sake of the kingdom of God, ready to be losers for Christ, and for the sake of those who do not yet know of the awesome love and grace of Jesus.” (pgs. 244-246)

Roger Olsen: Is Hell Part of the Gospel? Also Olsen asks the question, do we really think of the people of America as family? (his answer in short, only when it suits us).

Rick Dake: Moving Out. Rick’s a good friend & colleague and I appreciate his thoughts on choosing isolation, or choosing to learn a new language and embrace a new culture.

Chad Holtz: After the Storm

ChurchLeaders.com: More Christians are Developing a ‘Designer Faith’

Philip Bewer: Social Security is Not a Ponzi Scheme

Jonathan Martin: What Does it Mean to be a Preacher? Some great stuff in there (I’d encourage you to read the whole thing):

“It is understandable why we would pretend to be something different than what we are, because to put it mildly, preachers have limitations. We are compared to poets, but we generally lack their precision with language, using words with clumsy brute force as often as not. We are sometimes called prophets, but we are not generally so courageous, especially since our livelihood generally depends on the people we prophesy to. We are not precisely artists, since we lack the artist’s originality. The preacher’s job is not to paint new things but to repeat old things…

 “I am a preacher… I live under the weight of words. I carry words in my pockets, words in my satchel, words in my heart. Words, always the words. Words as pitiable weapons in a world when there are guns for sale at Wal Mart, words as medicine in a world where prescriptions are all we seem to need. Carrying my words to places where they are impractical and words to places where they are inept. Delivering words that make some people look at me with the superstitious fear of a witch doctor, a shaman, the village medicine man who has all the answers—words that make people look like the village idiot, a man out of time, a man that won’t move on with the world.

“And I know that words cannot always be the answer. But that sometimes they can, and that words can create galaxies and words can burn cities down. All this damnation and hope at my disposal, all this absurd power—living under the weight of the words. I wish that I could live up to the greatness of the words, to have a soul big enough and a life noble enough to be worthy of them. But don’t you see by now—I’m a preacher? There is nothing greater than the words, they are the stars that light up the night. Isn’t Jesus Himself called the Word of God? Only He could bear up under the weight of so many words, only he could exceed the expectation that words create and surpass the reality of what words signify. 

“I don’t live up to the words, create the words, own the words. I gaze at them, I gibber with them. I consume them, I choke on them, I vomit them. I am a preacher. Words are all I’ve got, words will have to be enough.”

Lifehacker: Forget the Standing Desk – Move. Too bad, I always thought the idea of a standing desk seemed kind of cool (although also somewhat impractical).

Donald Miller: The Best Writing Advice I Ever Received.

Seth Godin: Lousy Tomatoes and the Rare Search for Wonder. While Godin’s critique crosses all institutions and industries, it seems especially apt for the church – we are the boring supermarket – there when people need us, more often than not, offering visitors “good enough” instead of remarkable. It’s possible the church can swing too far in one direction and go overboard with trying to get the “wow!” factor, especially when you set the expectation that each week you need to top the previous one – before too long, the pastor will have to be juggling flaming batons, while a trapeze act flies over the pews, or you end up with this. We can be reliable, let us also aim to be remarkable.

Jay Voorhees: Get the Churches to do it, They’ll do Anything! Great post from Jay, questioning one of the key arguments of those seeing to limit government assistance to people in need. The argument is that churches will pick up the slack, and that they are precisely the institutions with the missional foundation to best help those in need. You can back the argument up by showing how it was churches that built the key social structures in this country, hospitals, colleges, even public schools have their roots in religious institutions and are the result of faith-based leadership. The problem is the world has changed since then. Many hospitals and colleges are now only loosely affiliated with the religious bodies that founded them. I haven’t studied the reasons behind that shift, but I’m guess there were a few elements behind it – the institutions were adapting to a more secular culture and  the churches shifted their focus to congregational life instead of social service. But my guess is the primary reason has to do with the professionalization of the fields – the business of running a hospital has become so complex that it no longer makes sense for pastoral authority to hold supervision over the institution. It might have worked 50 or 100 years ago when clergy were among the best educated people in the community, but that is no longer the case.

In Jay’s blog, he addresses a different point. Based on current conditions, most congregations are in no place to address the groundswell of needs that are happening in our nation right now. And the notion that a tax cut would produce a sharp increase in charitable giving to help churches provide for the new needs is questionable at best. The reality is, it would need to be basically a one-to-one ratio, not to mention the increase in inefficiency due to a lack of coordinated authority.

Jen Lemen: How to be Happy (Part 5).

Will Willimon: Using Dashboard to Understand the Church’s Story.

The end of R.E.M. I know I should feel sad, and I wish I had seen them perform live, but honestly they had pretty much dropped off my music radar for the last decade.

My DS, Eugene Blair, writes on cross-racial appointments and urban ministry here (and no, I’m not posting that just to “kiss up”).

One of my former professors, Rabbi Jay Holstein, is featured in a recent documentary. Unfortunately I don’t have the channel the program is being broadcast on, but he was a fascinating professor. (I’d especially love to go back and sit on one of his classes now).

Michael Hyatt: How to Write a Blog Post in 70 Minutes or Less. Good ideas in there, especially since at some point I’d like to break away from the pure “round-up” nature of this blog. Related: 13 Idea-Starters for Stuck Bloggers.

Derek Thompson: Who’s Had the Worst Recession: Boomers, Millennials, or Gen-Xers?

This week – new music from Gungor – “When Death Dies.” Anytime you have a guy beat-boxing AND playing cello simultaneously, you know something awesome (or awful) is happening (fortunately, I file this under “awesome”).
 

I knew I’d been off for a couple weeks… didn’t realize it has been close to a month since my last post. Time to play catch-up:

Damon Lindelof on Raiders of the Lost Ark

Unexpected ways the library can save you money. Actually these are all pretty standard and obvious in my opinion, but then again, I’m a cheap nerd who loves the library (and I especially love my current local library because they do have an excellent music, movie, and magazine selection in addition to a great book collection).

Why 99% of Pastors are Universalists… at Funerals. Love the last line, “Maybe if Rob Bell had spoken his thoughts at a funeral, nobody would have had a problem with it.”

Donald Miller: Learning to Love Your Flaws.

Jen Lemen: What If…

Amy Valdez Barker has a few thoughts about churches failing to do the most basic of outreach efforts I think she is a little “off” in directing her criticism at the pastors; anyone can build a church website or facebook page, ordination isn’t a requirement, even though I know the main point is it takes pastoral leadership to get the church to even consider those things. Amy’s also quick to affirm when churches get it right.

My good friend, Eric, is back blogging at Operation Nu-U, great thoughts on the battle with food addiction, and the efforts he’s making towards living a healthier lifestyle. Eric’s an awesome guy, and I wish him the best in his efforts.

Another good friend, Jeff, tells of the 10 things he snuck into his son’s backpack before he starts kindergarten.

How to Shave 10 Hours Off Your Ministry Work Week.

Dan Dick on Accountability Ability nice post on a tough topic – at what point do we take membership vows seriously enough to remove “Christians” blatantly exhibiting un-Christ-like behavior?

Roger Olsen: Was Kierkegaard an evangelical? Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Also from Olsen: Why “evangelical” is a label I won’t surrender; while “evangelical” is not a label I grew up with, I’ve been interesting in finding ways to reclaim it, because it is part of the Wesleyan heritage. Just recently I was taking part in a phone survey where the question was asked, “Do you consider yourself evangelical or mainline?” and I wanted to answer both, but not in the way “evangelical” has been commonly understood in the last 30 years.

Fred Clark on Neuhaus and “Dominonism”. Just prior to labor day, I heard something on NPR about Bachmann, Perry and Palin’s connection to this theological arena (movement?) I worry that connections, and beliefs like this can be overblown and overstated, but I also think this is something worth keeping an eye on. Fred offers a follow-up post here. Also interesting stuff on the ACLJ, I had always been a little weary of the organization’s efforts, I had no idea about the financial aspects of the organization. One more from Fred to plug: Refusing to Bow Before the Beast, on understanding the Book of Revelation.

Lifehacker: People Who Get Malware, Also Get Mugged More Often.

What If Steve Jobs Made Disciples? 

Who Said It? God, MLK Jr. or Captain America?

Six Key Tasks of Pastors Who Make a Difference.

Jeremy Smith: I Could Sing of Your Love on Sundays. Great video if you haven’t already seen it. On a much more serious note from Jeremy: Do We Seek Success or Significance?

The Post I Shouldn’t Have Posted, and How It Changed Me.

Several college friends were living in NYC ten years ago. Here an IM chat my friend Rudy posted from that day.

McSweeney’s: You Look At Me Like You’ve Never Seen a Neo-Hipster Before and Do You Like Me, Click Yes or No.

3 Blogging Experiments That Might Make You a Better Writer. I’ve wondered about trying to do something with video, but I know I’d make myself crazy with wanting it to be “perfect” – I’m okay with a misspelled word, but the idea of stumbling over spoken words, or even poor sound or video quality would make me nuts.

Michael Moore on what it felt like to be the most hated man in America. Moore has always interested me, especially since I’ve moved to Michigan, and can now see areas like Flint up close, that 22 years ago seemed like a very far away place.

Using John Wesley’s words in regard to the Global Leadership Summit. (Actually a good quote for a variety of learning experiences).

With all the attention given to this being the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind, I’d forgotten that it is also the 20th anniversary of Fugazi’s Steady Diet of Nothing, an album that I not only purchased before Nirvana, but also understood much more immediately than Nevermind.

Jeremy Smith on Outsourcing the Message – Jeremy brings up some good points about something I’ve been interested in – using video streaming to bring sermons to remote congregations. While I’ve been generally in favor of at least exploring or experimenting with the possibilities, and how it can be a way to support small membership and rural congregations that might otherwise lack regular preaching (especially as the number of active clergy drops and the associated personnel costs rise), I appreciate Jeremy’s critique of how it undervalues contextual, community based messages and undermines leadership development. Good stuff to consider.

Bill Hybels responds to Starbuck’s ceo withdrawing from Willow Creek’s Leadership Summit. Regardless of what you might think of Willow Creek or the “controversy” that surrounded this, I think Hybels response is excellent; he addressed it with a lot of grace… and actually made me pick up Howard Schultz’s book Onward when I saw it at the library this week. (I’m only about 1/3 of the way into the book, but already agree with Hybels that it is excellent).

Roger Olson on Process Theology – it’s interesting in that I’ve always considered myself in or near the process theology “camp” , but based on Olson’s definition, I’m not (because I don’t see God and the world as being ontologically interdependent). I also enjoyed Olson’s post on Something Protestants should borrow from Catholics.

Four signs you are becoming an irrelevant church leader.

Fred Clark on Is Rick Perry a ‘sucker’ or is he just lying, unlike Fred I am likely to give the benefit of the doubt and believe that most politicians err on the side of stupid rather than malicious, but I always appreciate Fred’s analysis. Also from Fred on the theme of truth telling, this time from the pulpit: Glurge and Ghost Stories I don’t think I’ve ever been as egregious of the violations Fred cites – I’ve never tried to sell another’s story as my own, and there have been a couple cases where I have tried to fact-check or explain a sermon illustration that falls more into the “metaphor” rather than “history” category, but I can see where it is an easy trap to fall into.

Top 10 Tips for Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse. Always good information to know.

I’m falling in love with Spotify – it’s a great site for finding and listening to music, new and old, with some great social networking features. Their music catalogue is pretty deep allowing me to reconnect with music I used to have on cassettes that have been lost though the ages (and I’ve never managed to replace on CD or MP3); The Sundays are one of those bands – Reading, Writing & Arithmetic – was a big part of my soundtrack in the summer of 1990:

Paul Steinbrueck: What Church Members Want in an App.

Roger Olsen: Folk Religion and Life After Death (Part 2). Excellent article! One of my adult Sunday School teachers is going to be doing a study on “heaven” this fall, and (I think) will be addressing some of these “folk religion” aspects that Olsen mentions.

Fred Clark: You might be an evangelical…

Jen Lemen: 10 Things That Are True About You.

Dan Dick: Running Out of Options. Dan makes that case that the greatest threat to the future of the United Methodist Church is:

“… a self-centered, selfish, consumeristic, privileged entitlement mentality that puts the comfort of the individual ahead of the integrity of the community of faith and the will and vision of God. My-way-or-the-highway, take-my-ball-and-go-home immature coercion is becoming the norm rather than the exception. This, and this alone, has the power to kill us.”

make sure you follow the link to read the full article.

Wil Wheaton writes about the 25th anniversary of Stand By Me.


From Mike Slaughter’s blog: Why Methodist? (Good to be reminded that sometimes we do get it right).

From Christianity Today: Should We Still Give Out Tracts?

From ProBlogger: The 5 Must-read Books for Bloggers in 2011. Haven’t read any of these, but I was interested in the second one on the list: Curation Nation: How to Win in a World Where Consumers are Creators – I didn’t realize that curation (basically what I’ve been doing each week) was really a “thing” – this was really about finding a way for me to catalog the stuff I found interesting as a personal study discipline, and to possibly bring some benefit to the handful of friends interested in similar subjects. I’ve always felt a little like I was cheating by pointing to other people’s blogs while not offering very much in terms of my own content, but maybe there really is value in just doing this.

Personal MBA: 7 Tools to Manage Social Media Overload.

My family got our picture in the Detroit Free Press this week (fortunately not for doing anything illegal).