Category: Uncategorized

Neglected for about three weeks… quite a bit to catch up on… so less commentary, more links:

Seth Godin: The Overwhelming Fear of Being Wrong. Also: Naive or Professional, and via the Domino Project: The Evolution of Pop Culture.

Dan Dick: An Unlucky Parable. Also: Tough Love/Tough Luck.

Mike Slaughter: Vital Signs.

Teresa Cho: 10 Ways to Revive a Dying Church.

Jay Voorhees: Have the Courage to be the First Follower.

Donald Miller: Your Friends Don’t Really Matter.

Will Willimon: By The Numbers.

Brian Dodd: 10 Signs Your Christianity Has Become Too Comfortable.

Ben Reed: Preaching and Self-Discovery.

Jason Hood: Why Theology? It was interesting that this came up in my news feed when it did, because a couple weeks ago I was walking over to an event where Peter Rollins was speaking; on the way the group I was with was stopped by a couple of college-aged women, who handed us some postcards and invited us to this “great Bible study” they were a part of. One of the people in our group offered a similar invitation to join us to hear Rollins speak. We tried to explain who he was as a philosopher and theologian, I even compared him to Rob Bell thinking that might be a point of connection, but they hadn’t heard of Bell, either. They left saying, “We are more about reading the Bible, we don’t really do theology.” I so badly wanted to explain that theology fundamentally is about understanding, interpreting, and applying Scripture into practical life – if they only read the Bible but don’t do theology, then they are just reading an empty book, but I held my tongue. (By the way, Peter was AWESOME – I even got to hang out with him after the event, even though I always feel a little stupid and intimidated to be in someone like Peter’s presence, he was very cool, approachable, and funny).

Roger Olsen: What is “theological liberalism”?

Lifehacker: Why You Think You’re Never Wrong and What To Do About It.

David Crumm: Farewell Borders – The Book is Dead, Long Live the Book.

Amy Valdez Baker: A Different Way of Doing Church.

Andrew Conrad: Snippets and Smidges of Faith.

Amy Julia Becker: Why We Don’t Invite Our Friends to Church. Not sure I completely agree, but she does raise some good points.

Chad Holtz: I Really [M]ucked It Up This Time. I’ve mentioned Chad’s honesty about his addiction before; this in another very painful chapter in his story. There is language some might find offensive in this post, but also a deeper truth that many need to understand and hear. Prayers for Chad and his family. (A side note: for the past month or so, I’ve really been listening to the Mumford & Sons album, and really wondering about the spiritual dimensions, or simply references, behind the album and Chad does a nice job of highlighting them).

Des Moines is the best city for young professionals. (Note: I won the “Take Pride in Des Moines” essay contest in 1987-ish. Also note: I no longer live there).

With the discussion about Prince and the changing music industry in my last round-up, I thought it was interesting to find this piece about Morrissey, and how he has a new album written, but can’t get it recorded because he can’t find a music label to record and distribute it. I think he makes some valid points – most labels aren’t interested in legacy artists (although ANTI- seems like it could be a good fit), and at least he’s honest about not being interested in self-releasing (although his comment about “not wanting to be innovative” misses the mark a little – it’s no longer innovative at this point, it’s really just a case of not doing work in that direction). I don’t buy music like I did 20 years ago, but I’m also not as interested as listening to the “latest and greatest” sensation like I did back then. Someone like Morrissey now has an advantage (for me personally) because of name recognition, but the music needs to mature with the artist as well – they need to create something that connects with their changing demographic; and I believe that market is out there, they (music labels, artists) just need to be more creative and dedicated in rediscovering it and connecting with it.

The Onion: 97-Year-Old Dies Unaware of Being a Violin Prodigy. Obviously satirical, but raises an interesting question of what talents go undiscovered in our lives and in our communities.

Music this week from William Elliott Whitmore (don’t know much about him, other than he is on the Anti- label and apparently from Iowa):

And how about one more for good measure – They Might Be Giants are certainly one of those bands that could fall into the “legacy” category, but they continue to find ways to connect with an audience (going into children’s music was a brilliant move). This is from their latest album for adults, Join Us; for the video they put a challenge out to their fans to make their own. Here’s the one John Hodgman selected as the winner:

Donald Miller – Be Secretly Incredible.

Interesting comments on Scot McKnight’s post The New Mission Field: The Rural Church – I don’t think it’s quite a simple telling people to come and open a doctor’s office or a grocery store; there are significant economic and cultural factors that have led the the situation rural communities currently find themselves in, but I do agree with the overall spirit of the piece. Just like he need to remember the “places abandoned by the empire” like Detroit, we also need to recognize that rural communities aren’t without their own set of challenges.

Preaching Hell Without Fire and Brimstone.

A Court Ordered Letter from Dora the Explorer’s Mother. (A couple objectionable words in there for the sensitive, but still a pretty funny article).

Dan Dick reflects on his Annual Conference in The Unforgiving, but I imagine his comments apply to most Annual Conferences. It wasn’t quite this bad in Detroit, but there were hints of the “everyone’s a victim” mentality – and there is a definite need for grace and forgiveness on both sides.

Related: Great quote from Henri Nouwen on Forgiveness.

Lifehacker’s guide to Maintaining Facebook Privacy.

Andrew Conrad outlines 6 Options for Church Online. Option 4 is the one I find myself most interested in at the moment – especially in terms of how the larger, regional churches can help resource rural congregations through things like streaming sermons (or full worship experiences). This has the option to provide solid preaching at low cost to congregations that are struggling to pay a full-time salary in a denomination that is experiencing a dramatic wave of retiring clergy. Of course, when I consider it in the context of the Scot McKnight post above, it makes that consideration a little more difficult – it’s a temporary solution to a problem caused by a larger cultural shift, but I could also see how it could be interpreted as “giving up” on the smaller rural churches. I suspect there is a “third way” in all this that is more akin to our Methodist roots of itinerant preachers and congregations that were primarily lay led while the elder served the other churches of the circuit, but I still don’t have a clear idea of what that might look like.

Teresa Cho – 10 Ways Pastors Muck it Up. Powerful, honest accounting of the mistakes we make in pastoral leadership.

Interesting video on a church that uses texting as an interactive tool in worship to ask questions & get feedback. It was also interesting when I saw this same video posted on facebook, and the initial wave of responses to it were very negative – how this is just one more distraction, and preaching shouldn’t involve answering questions, etc. I get that there is a potential downside to this, but overall I see it as a creative way to engage the congregation.

I’ve really enjoyed Fred Clark’s Slactivist blog since I discovered it a couple years ago, and my thoughts and prayers go out to him now that he’s been laid off in Gannett’s recent cutbacks.

Warning: This will raise your blood pressure: Draw a circle around the one God loves the most. (I’d choose the cat).

In terms of the song itself, I like Matt & Kim’s “Cameras” better, but this is a great video – “Block After Block”:

The Prompt:

Another extended look back (which turns out to be a really long posting for me), covering the past couple weeks…

Dan Dick on clergy self-care:

 “We live in an interactive culture where people are attending not just to what they see and hear, but to the meta-messages of behavior and values.  What is our witness as church leaders if we are constantly sick, tired, stressed, depressed, or dealing with less significant details?  What happens to our capacity to lead in a visionary and creative way when we are constantly engaged in the management aspects of leadership?  Where is our authenticity and credibility when we ask people to do things we do not do ourselves — like pray, give, serve, play, rest, exercise, and learn?  The “average” pastor in The United Methodist Church reads 2-5 books A YEAR, only three of them related to their faith or profession…  Only 1-in-3 of our ordained clergy read the Bible apart from sermon, class, or small group preparation.  Only 2-in-4 have a regular prayer/devotional discipline, and only 1-in-7 have a regular exercise routine.  7-out-of-9 report that they do not eat as well as they should.  8-in-10 say they do not get enough rest, and a similar number report that they do not take all their allotted vacation and personal days each year.  What we do speaks more loudly than what we say.  We are communicating to those we lead that these things aren’t very important.  Is that the message we truly wish to send?

I’m doing okay with regular reading, prayer, study of Scripture (although there is always room for improvement), vacation and sleep, but am pretty bad in terms of eating and exercise. Definitely disciplines to work on.

(Make sure you also check out Dan’s post on Failing to Succeed = Succeeding to Fail).

Back to the topic of healthy living – Losing Weight with Gratitude – maybe there is something to be said to being intentional about praying and counting your blessings before every meal. Also Saddleback Loses 200,000 Pounds.

Rob Rynders highlights an important issue: Should Annual Conference Require You to Let Them Monitor Your Social Media Activity? The question arises out of a recent move by the Board of Ordained Ministry in the Kentucky Annual Conference that candidates for ministry and provisional members will “friend” the Annual Conference on Facebook, and likewise give them permissions on Twitter, blogs, etc. to review postings. Even though I am already “Facebook friends” with several District Superintendents, and both my Twitter feed and this blog and publicly accessible, the idea of a person (or group) actively monitoring posts makes me nervous.

The Chad Holtz case and now this one, really force us into a position where we have to be clear around what is “public space” and “private space” and where one is a “representative of the church” and one is simply an ordinary individual venting the same frustrations, and opinions as anyone else. Certainly there is a need for accountability, and a measure of discretion among what clergy post, knowing the “fishbowl” is always there; but at the same time there needs to be room for “safe spaces” where I can offer up a idea or link to a page or post a video that might not fit the Social Principles or Doctrinal Standards of the United Methodist Church, and know that charges won’t be brought against me for it.

For the past couple of months I’ve been dreaming of an event/conference/discussion that can be both a basic training exercise in social media etiquette (for there have been situations in this conference where clergy (and clergy spouses) haven’t always kept the best boundaries around Facebook posts), but also to have a more general discussion, ideally with UM bloggers from across the denomination, where we can figure out some of these basic guiding principles around maintaining a social media presence that allows free expression, but also recognizes our mutual obligation in covenant relationship with each other. So it would be both a “how to” primer on using social media, but also an academic and philosophical event (maybe with seminary support?) to help guide a “big picture” around tools and appropriate expression; which could then be brought to Cabinets and Boards of Ordained Ministry to help guide their work given that this stuff is still foreign to a large number of their members. Naturally, because I’m lazy, I’d love for this to happen in or near Detroit. Anyone with the $$ or skills to pull something like this off?? (Yes I’m looking at you, Methodist Union; also ye’ olde stomping grounds, GETS, and friends down in Ohio – United and MTSO).

Chad Holtz on being a Crappy Dad.

Julie Clawson on Acedia and the Church.

Shane Claiborne on Pentecost Living.

Really interesting video and discussion around Jim Gilliam’s recent talk at the Personal Democracy Forum, on “The Internet is my Religion” here. Really struck by is last comment: “I have faith in people, I believe in God, and the internet is my religion.” In its very best moments, the internet, as a tool for connection can “out church” the church – as a place to bring people together, but at the same time, we must be mindful that vital relationships aren’t virtual relationships, I believe there still has to be an incarnational aspect to ministry, of flesh and bone, hugs, laughter and tears that is a fundamental human need and the place where a real-world gathering of believers is still necessary.

Related: Andrew Conrad on the Pros and Cons of Web-casting a Funeral. As Andrew notes, I like the idea of making the funeral accessible to people who can’t be physically present, but I can see how it could promote people to disengage from that incarnational community at a time when it is especially needed. (As a practical matter, I’d also assume that you’d want to put a funeral webcast of a private link, limited to specific people, but then it becomes one more thing that has to be planned and communicated in the midst of everything else the grieving family is dealing with in that short 3 or 4 day span).

Great video about ministry happening in Hull, England. I spent a year living in Hull, so a lot of the sights resonate with me, although part of the university community I was also sheltered from much of what is depicted here. Still would love to go back for a visit sometime.

Jeremy Smith on Tampa UMC: First casualty of ‘vital congregations’? On a less serious note, via Jeremy Smith, Calvinists confuse God with Megatron.

I’d love to try something like this for my office at church. Also from Lifehacker – How to Photograph Star Trails – I remember my Earth Science teacher in High School did this and brought the photos in to class one time, which I thought was the coolest thing ever.

Interesting article on Moving from Church Membership to Mission Partnership – switching over isn’t quite that easy in a UMC context, but I think there are some really good points in that “membership” language is problematic, and we need to rethink our very conception and understanding of what we are really about as a body of believers.

Fred Clark on immigration – For you were aliens in the land of Egypt. Related: Wil Willimon addresses immigration legislation in Alabama.

Also from Fred Clark – Use Words if Necessary – thoughts on evangelism.

Seth Godin on Organization vs. Movement vs. Philosophy – once you’ve changed from movement to organization, can you go back again? As Godin says, “The trouble kicks in when you think you have one and you actually have the other.”


Teresa Cho – 10 Problems of a Dying Church & How to Fix Them – for United Methodists, #2 need to be tweaked a little bit to simply address anxiety with the SPRC, and a renewed commitment to work with the DS/Cabinet and newly appointed pastors. Otherwise, some good points to consider.


Don’t necessarily agree with it, but still an interesting article – Why We Don’t Allow Children in Worship. I can get on board with offering excellence in children’s programming, and giving adults space to worship without distraction, but when the two come together, seemingly to exclude, I’ve uncomfortable.


Once again Jen Lemen’s writing is beautiful, powerful and speaks to the heart. Please check this one out: Absolutely Seen and Loved.


Why You Can’t Win that Argument on the Internet.

This made the rounds a couple weeks ago, but in case you missed it, George Lucas strikes back…

Music this week from long-time favorites, Belle & Sebastian:

Prompt:
Travel by Chris Guillebeau

If we live truly, we shall see truly. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?

(Author: Chris Guillebeau)

The Prompt:
Five Years by Corbett Barr

There will be an agreement in whatever variety of actions, so they be each honest and natural in their hour. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

What would you say to the person you were five years ago? What will you say to the person you’ll be in five years?

(Author: Corbett Barr)

Prompt:

Prompt:
Liz Danzico – Today
Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing. The force of character is cumulative. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

If ‘the voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tracks,’ then it is more genuine to be present today than to recount yesterdays. How would you describe today using only one sentence? Tell today’s sentence to one other person. Repeat each day.

(Author: Liz Danzico)

Post:

Dan Dick on the consumer culture we carry with us into the church – You Need to Understand.

Bishop Wil Willimon on the topic of suffering.

Matthew Paul Turner has a really great take on the group (groups?) speculating that this Saturday will bring the end of the world, and how it impacts the faith of the “least of these.” Certainly worth reading.

Church Marketing Sucks provides an overview of how some churches celebrated Mother’s Day. Some really great ideas on that list.

Jordon Cooper reminds us the best resumes don’t necessarily make the best leaders. Also, from a tweet Jordon sent out – read this next time you assume an unemployed (or homeless) person could just get a job at McDonalds – in their most recent hiring blitz they filled 62,000 positions… but received 1 MILLION applications.

The sales pitch for a great little place on Hoth.

Donald Miller on the enneagram, personality types and theological world-views. If you’ve been through seminary, you probably already have a pretty good handle on this, but it’s still interesting to consider.

Jen Lemen’s always brilliant words (especially when you are feeling low) – It’s Never Too Late.

The One Minute Review of Thor

One Minute Review: Thor from Thomas McKenzie on Vimeo.

Seth Godin on What People Want and The Future of the Library. On the library post, I wonder how much is equally applicable to the church:

The next library  church is a place, still. A place where people come together to do co-working and coordinate and invent projects worth working on together. Aided by a librarian pastor who understands the Mesh, a librarian pastor who can bring domain knowledge and people knowledge and access to information to bear.

In a digital age, access to great preaching, Biblical scholarship and theological inspiration are just a couple mouse clicks away. On some levels, the local church can no longer compete in that regard. What the local church has to offer is the opportunity to connect people with each other and with information that will equip them to serve and be the people God calls them to be.

Jay Voorhees – Conversation with a Young Methodist. Also from Jay, The Young Clergy Question – I’m not sure I’m completely on-board with everything he brings up in this post; but I think there is a danger of wanting “young clergy” simply for the idea that they are “young” – especially when the Conference/District/Local Church doesn’t have systems in place to adequately support them. He’s completely right on when he says:

“The problem is not one of age — it’s a system that values conformity to institutional norms above that of leading congregations to a vibrant and living faith that is relevant to people of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences. We have a process that lifts up those who say the right answers or who calm the boat in the storm, and does what it can to stamp out those with an entrepreneurial spirit. The issue isn’t age — it’s values.”

Nice post from Jeremy Smith on some basic Facebook “how-to’s” for pastors. I’ve been in conversation with colleagues that something like this, but even more specific needs to be distributed, as District Superintendents, clergy, and clergy spouses have sometimes pushed the limits of appropriate boundaries of sharing and interaction on Facebook. There is still a lot of gray area with social media in general, but there are some clear needs for basic education as well.

Thom Rainer on The Introverted Leader.

Laurie Haller on Church Bullies another “must read”.

Great post from my friend Jeff Nelson on Resurrection, the Counter, and Mickey Mouse Pancakes.

Jump day, tomorrow… looking forward to it, but I’m sure I’ll be making a deal, too:

Lovett Weems on membership, finances and the future of Methodism; some sobering stuff in there, especially regarding the coming “death tsunami”.

Lovett H. Weems, Jr. – UMC Realities from Lewis Center on Vimeo.

Really interesting TED Talk from Eli Pariser on the “filter bubble” – how the personalization features built into facebook, google, etc. keep us from seeing a broader worldview. (It’s also cool that Eli uses a screenshot from my old college friend, Scott, as part of his presentation). As Eli talks about the filter that operates “behind the scenes” in the algorithms, I found myself also wondering about the filters we create ourselves – this whole “round-up” thing I do every week is basically a filter, and there are pretty clear patterns about my thoughts on church, theology, social media, and music…

Then from Jesus Needs New PR – Joel Olsteen has never heard of Mark Driscoll – interesting to read in context of Eli Parsier’s talk on “filters.” Where do we place our attention? How does it distract? How does it keep us isolated? How does it inform? How does it broaden our worldview?

Roger Olsen on Deep Church – I love that idea of “urban Amish.”

An account of a return to Methodist covenant groups.

Another hard-hitting post from Dan Dick on Wethodism:

“It is time to take the “me” out of Methodism and replace it with “we”.  Somewhere we lost touch with the fact that this is God’s church and that each of us is fortunate and blessed to be allowed to be a part of it.  The church does not exist to serve our individual needs.  It doesn’t exist to make us happy.  It doesn’t exist to make us feel good about ourselves.  It exists to do God’s work and will in the world, and we are invited to be active participants in the glorious creative miracle of God’s unfolding vision.  We have got to get over ourselves.  At the very limited extreme, church may be about “us” as a whole, but never about us merely as individuals.  The whole “me and my buddy Jesus” mentality that pervades our culture has virtually nothing to do with church, Christianity, or the Bible.  Our boiling everything down to a personal and private religion has a historical name — heresy.  It isn’t all about me — and our denomination is suffering an acute case of “me”-thodism.”

Steven Furtick on Charlie Sheen, Tiger Woods and What it Means to Fall From Grace: “The quickest way to fall from grace is to think that there is an ounce of your life that isn’t dependent on it.”


Craig Groeshel on Being Weird:

Fred Clark on Lawnmowers and $40 Nachos – when do we make allowance for the community good?

Jen Lemen on How to Be Happy (Part 2)

A lot was posted on the whole situation surrounding ben Laden, among the many good and thoughtful posts, I appreciated this one from Becca Clark.

From Julie Clawson on being the Body of Christ:

“Is it possible to call people to be living sacrifices when they can’t even be bothered to know who it is they follow? It’s hard enough to talk about turning the other cheek when there are celebratory flash mobs in the streets because we finally killed our enemy. Or to call the church to love their neighbor when people see giving to others as an infringement on their entitlements. But this goes even deeper. It’s a mentality utterly at odds with the entire way of Christ and yet its adherents still claim to be Christian. I struggle with knowing how to respond. I know this issue is nothing new; it’s just difficult to be reminded of its extreme in such a blatant way. But I keep wondering how can the body of Christ ever be healthy when so many of its members are non-functioning?”

I’m Finite, How Are You? 

Michael Hyatt on The Benefits of Playing Full Out

Maybe Hyatt’s post is an appropriate segway to let my friends know this is going to happen on the Wednesday before Annual Conference at 6:00 – feel free to come and watch.

And I do apologize for embedding this…