Author: mike

Jon Stewart on the O’Reilly Factor here. Absolutely brilliant. As much as I enjoy the more comedic stuff he does, I love it when he just straight up challenges people in a honest, reasonable way.

Thinking about a DMin? I’ve actually kicked around the idea for a couple years now, but haven’t made any serious movement towards it. Chuck Warnock offers 5 questions to consider here. (Should the time ever come when I get a DMin, I will fully expect everyone from then on to simply call me “The Doctor.”

How architecture relates to how we do church has been a source of fascination for me for quite a while. This week I came upon this article which is a interview with Mel McGowan about how sacred space needs to foster both horizontal and vertical relationships (ie with others and with God).

Andy Alexis-Baker has a post on “Goshen College: Hurting the Church Bit by Bit” which looks a the recent decision by the college to begin singing the National Anthem at sporting events, after a 114 year history of not singing it in accordance with their Mennonite roots. The primary reason for the change? Public pressure from the press and about 300 people in the community. I can’t come close to holding a self-righteous view on this one, I’ll admit that in the face of pressure and conflict the temptation to compromise comes too quickly for me; but the article does raise some interesting questions about the compromises we are tempted to make, especially when that relate to issues central to our identity and core values.

I also got sucked into the discussion/controversy surrounding Ed Young and Fellowship Church. Over at Church Marketing Sucks they posted a piece looking at the issue in a general sense of how congregations should respond when they are the target of a media investigation. As I looked deeper into the issue what caught my attention the most was:
*First, how my own envy clouded by perspective of the issue. It was very easy to develop this self-righteous attitude about Ed’s seeming “excess” (salary, size of parsonage, access to a private jet) and how that money could be better used for mission, without considering the very real issue that even I, too, could be sacrificing more.
*Second, the issue of transparency. Granted I can’t even begin to get my head around the size and scope of Fellowship Church, but the fact that things like a church budget (which includes pastor’s salaries) isn’t readily available to everyone, is outside my whole concept of church administration. If it were out there in the open, there might be more little nit-picking, but my guess is it wouldn’t develop into the issue that it has become.
*Third, the issue of administration and governance. In this video Ed “sets the record straight” with his congregation, but what jumped out at me is that the members of the governing board of the church who speak on his behalf are OTHER CLERGY from DIFFERENT CHURCHES. Again, this is a difference in polity and ecclesiastical understanding, but I can’t really comprehend the governing board not being members of the congregation (although I think I could rationally understand the counter-case of having “outsiders” for a balanced perspective).
I don’t know the whole situation and don’t really have any interest in the specifics, but the issues it raises are interesting.

A couple gems from Lifehacker this week – Re-Create a Fancy Steakhouse Dinner at Home on the Cheap and Learn to Snag Stuff with a Whip. Of the two, there’s only one I’m likely to ever try, but I’ll let you guess which one that might be.

I’m not sure I fully get Google Buzz yet (or why it would get me to switch away from Twitter), but I have added it to my Google account. Information about Buzz can be found here and here.

Finally finished Malcolm Gladwell’s book What the Dog Saw which I though was really good; I’ve also just read Thy Kingdom Connected by Dwight Friesen which I should be posting a review of soon.

I heard this on the radio yesterday driving into work, and it was stuck in my head the rest of the day, so I’ll share it with you. Classic Squeeze:

Pastor/author Chris Seay has a video blog on LOST:

Keeping on the LOST theme there are a couple great posts I stumbled upon – “What Churches Can Learn From LOST” Part 1 and Part 2. The bottom line: How do we take creative risks to produce something so thoroughly engaging that it keeps people coming back for more and carrying the important questions with them throughout the week?

Mike Slaughter wrote on “The Church and Partisan Politics” here.
In it he says:

Too many allow their political ideology to determine their theology rather than a careful study of biblical theology informing their politic. This partisan spirit of disdain and exclusion prevents many outsiders from experiencing the resurrected Christ and drives seekers from the church. Jesus pointed out a critical deficiency in the biblical interpretation of the religious leaders of his day that continues to threaten the church today: “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human tradition” (Mark 7:8). Each of us brings a blend of political ideology, personal prejudice and folk religion together and then mix in some biblical truth to form a personalized system of life doctrines. We must repent of our worldly ways of thinking and seek the mind of Christ. A commitment to follow Jesus is a commitment to a higher politic that places one’s allegiance above party platform.

I appreciate his acknowledgement that we each, in our own way are guilty of this; it’s an important confession that both sides of the church need to make.

For the past year (maybe more) I’ve really enjoyed Mike Todd’s insight into issues of faith and culture. He recently traveled to Israel & Palestine and has started to unpack what he experienced there. Check out his first post in the series addressing how stereotypes can be broken down just by taking the time in getting to know the people.

Another highlight from Seth Godin here, on “What’s expected vs. what’s amazing.” Mike Todd’s blog also pointed me to this video by Nic Askew featuring Godin talking about curiosity vs. fundamentalism:

‘curiosity’ from Nic Askew on Vimeo.

Jonny Baker offers another “Worship Trick” here. I know putting something like that together is a lot harder than it looks, but it would be really cool to incorporate something like that into worship.

Finally, some Midnight Oil for your listening pleasure:

(and if you’ve ever seen me dance, you’ll know right away that Peter Garrett is my inspiration).

Things that have caught my attention this week:

Seth Godin’s new book Linchpin came out this week, and in conjunction there are a lot of blog interviews and supporting material floating around. Two sites in particular I’d recommend are 43 Folders and Godin’s own site – his post this week on “The Lizard Brain” is one I’ve especially been thinking about – how that voice in the back of our heads is sometimes the worst form of sabotage we can experience.

Interesting post on the Tebow/Focus on the Family ad here. As the author notes:

“Mostly, there seems to be an overwhelming group in the middle that doesn’t care about Tebow’s affiliation with Focus on the Family, one way or the other… Some will love seeing the ad. Some will hate seeing the ad. But how about most people?

“Most will watch it, take 5 seconds to have an opinion about how it made them feel — I’m predicting mostly “what was the fuss all about?” — and then they will either (a) hush the other people in the living room because the next commercial is on, (b) forget about the ad because the game is back on, or (c) hustle out to go to the bathroom or to the snacks table.”

Although I’m a gadget geek and mac-fanboy I haven’t found myself getting too excited about the iPad. Scott Heiferman (via twitter) pointed me to this posting that asks some interesting questions about the implications of the new device. A couple key quotes, which Scott hits on:

“Apple is marketing the iPad as a computer, when really it’s nothing more than a media-consumption device – a convergence television, if you will.”

“…the iPad isn’t so much new technology as it is a shiny, pretty doorway to a mall where you can buy everything from books to movies.
The iPad hasn’t brought us forward into the future. It’s taken us backward to a world of strip malls and televisions.”

The consume vs create distinction is something that I’ve been thinking about for a while now, even as I confess that I spend far more of my time reading, watching and consuming rather than flexing my own creative muscles. And while I’d like to think that people will find ways to make the iPad a device that allows for creative expression, I wonder about it being just one more way to feed our media consumption.

I know Scott from my days in college radio, and another friend from that same time and place, Ryan (“root for the home team”) Nelson, just posted a series of photos from a treasure trove of vinyl albums he found in a crawlspace in his house. I’m a little jealous. You can check out his collection here.

Finally, this week, I’ve been in love with this quote from Mark Batterson – this is his Lion Chasers Manifesto:

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Criticize by creating. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.
Chase the lion.

And though I’ve gotten off track with the whole Friday afternoon playlist idea, I’ll bring this one to a close with a song from Matisyahu:

and sometimes you just need to pause and watch something as cool as this.

OK Go – This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.

OK Go’s new album is available here.

Every year Bishop Woodie White writes a letter to Dr. King reflecting on the accomplishments and disappointments he sees in our nation as we try to work toward the dream King articulated so powerfully. You can find this year’s letter here.
Dr. King-I Have A Dream by bigddonblack

the folks at work of the people have put together this amazing video…

pray. listen. respond in love.

information on supporting recovery work in haiti via umcor, which gives 100% of contributions to relief work (ie no administrative costs) – can be found here

great segment on the daily show last night…

Another year, another playlist…

Seth Godin offers these thoughts on social media:

The reason social media is so difficult for most organizations

It’s a process, not an event.

Dating is a process. So is losing weight, being a public company and building a brand.

On the other hand, putting up a trade show booth is an event. So are going public and having surgery.

Events are easier to manage, pay for and get excited about. Processes build results for the long haul. (From Seth’s Blog)

I think he is right in terms of social media – using it as a tool to connect means that it takes time to develop and build those meaningful relationships. But I immediately started asking about how we do “church” in regard to this process vs. event framework. How often do we approach the work of the church as an event instead of an ever-evolving process? Within United Methodism we have this concept of “sanctifying grace” and “moving on to perfection” by which we understand discipleship as a process, but too often I think we are still locked into an event mentality – where people are perfectly content to keep coming week after week (to the “event” of public worship), with no meaningful transformation or growth in their lives. Are we offering a process or just a series of events? It’s a good question to wrestle with.

P.S. After I had posted this I came across Julie Clawson’s most recent blog post which is a somewhat tangential take on the same question. In it she offers this thought:

“…it amuses me that the faith tradition that taught me to pity and ridicule those that say “I’m a good person, why do I need to follow Jesus?” are now the one’s saying “I’ve said a prayer to Jesus, why should I follow him?” Fully embracing the Incarnation means that we actually let it transform us – not just in some brief moment of salvation but in the entirety of our lives. A flesh and blood incarnate Jesus calls us to follow him in tangible flesh and blood ways. Plastic figures and cheezy slogans are insubstantial next to this incarnate God. This transformation makes us the hands and feet of Jesus in such a way that we can no longer ask why we should bother caring but instead accept that this is the only possible way we can live as true Christ followers. Incarnation isn’t a cheap decoration that adorns the veneer of our lives, it’s earthy and messy and complex and demanding. The incarnate Jesus grabs hold of our lives and wakes us up from our complacency.”

Donald Miller – from the Relevant Magazine website

“We are a conflict avoiding culture. One of the things I love about our source text as Christians, the Bible is that it teaches us not to avoid conflict. And it teaches us that before the fall of man, in Paradise, there was conflict. God wants conflict to be a part of your life. Most churches don’t teach that. “