Category: Uncategorized

Normally, I’d add something like this into a round-up, but this needs to stand on it’s own.

Another round-up… I just got tired of using the same old title (especially as they have become less “weekly” over the past couple months…

My pal (and Ben’s good friend), Casey has a big heart. (via friends Jeff and Bridget). On the other end, another good friend, Diane, tells of a profound lack of compassion she experienced while shopping recently.

Donald Miller: Why Scripture Includes So Much Poetry. Love the line about how “becoming a Christian looks more like falling in love than baking cookies.”

Anne Jackson (via Donald Miller’s blog): From a Rainy Day to a Starry Night.

Dan Dick: Simplicity Itself – from a Call to Action to a Call to Integrity. And the follow-up posts: Simple Isn’t Easy and Diss-cipleship.

101 Ways to “Level Up” Your Life. Semi-related: Burn-out Is Real.

Jay Voorhees developed a great series of posts over the past couple weeks on A Letter to an Incoming D.S. – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6. Don’t know how many of the District Superintendents in my conference have stumbled upon this blog (my guess is not many), but it’s definitely worth the read for everyone in the Methodist connection.

This made the rounds on Facebook, but it’s worth sharing again for anyone who missed it: Nadia Bolz-Weber – I Love Jesus, But I Swear a Little.

Speaking of swearing a little – another funny post via McSweeney’s – I’ll Be Knocking Out Poetry This Whole… Flight.

David Carr: My Dinner with Clay Shirky and What I Learned About Friendship; great reminder that now matter how important social media is, those face-to-face encounters are essential. (The importance of bread in that story should especially speak to the church).

Jim Palmer: 18 Mistakes I Made As A Senior Pastor.

Paul Stewart: The Celebrity Pastor.

From Wired Magazine: High School Debate at 350 Words a Minute. I had just been thinking about my times in high school debate, sneaking into college libraries (getting kicked out of the Drake Law Library on account of my friend “looking too young to be here”), and all the cutting, pasting and photocopying for our files, and wondered how all that might change with smart-phones, laptops and tablets; this article totally answered my questions. (If you follow the link and view the video just know that I could never speak quite as fast as those in the video, but I did speak in that same fashion).

Any chance I could get a job here? Or anyone up for redecorating my office to match this? I need LEGOS… and a slide.

Michael Hyatt: The Secret to Happiness as You Get Older – I remember in my Pastoral Care class we were studying Erikson who (basically) said at the last stage of life you can “get better or get bitter”.

Music from David Byrne (covering Whitney Houston):

 Last I came across an article posted in the Mental Floss twitter feed on 11 New Uses for Old Churches which shows some of the ways closed church buildings have been reconverted into restaurants, indoor playgrounds, homes, offices, etc. I retweeted it and also posted it to Facebook simply because I thought it was interesting, but it did get me thinking again about a subject that I have wrestled with in years past.

 A couple years ago a church I was serving, and another United Methodist congregation (literally located three blocks away), began talking about the possibility of merging the two chuches. Historically, one church had been a part of the Evangelical United Brethren branch of our tradition and the other was part of the Methodist Episcopal, and from 1968 until about 10 years ago both congregations remained theologically different from each other and numerically strong enough to justify remaining independent entities. With aging congregations at both churches and some leadership shifts at the other church, an exploration of merger team was formed between the two congregations to explore the possibilities, and (unfortunately) it fell on me to lead that process.

 In the midst of our meetings it seemed quite clear that the two congregations now shared the same values and theological differences we not nearly as pressing as they had been a generation prior… but the committee got stuck over what building they would use as a merged congregation. Obviously the ideal situation would be to sell both buildings and construct a new one, but given the demographics of the larger community that wasn’t feasible (we would have been lucky to sell one building in a reasonable amount of time given the economic climate). As much as everyone around the table knew the idea that “the church is not a building” they simply couldn’t move past the idea of sacrificing “their” place of worship. Looking back, as a leader I should have done more to push the issue and explore ways to think creatively about the theology of place and the opportunities before us, but I think I was feeling stuck like everyone else.

 In that moment I because very sensitive to this issue of “building idolatry” – how our values, our perceptions of God, and how ministry itself is shaped by the collection of bricks and mortar we call “church.” All too often, congregations are so focused on maintaining the physical structure, so much energy and money is put into things like curtains, carpet, boilers and leaky roofs that the things that should be our real focus get lost.

 I don’t know anything about the backstory of those 11 churches that have been converted, but I really wonder if that congregation in England had done a better job of intentionally reaching out to the kids who liked to skate, and had not been so worried of them skating in the parking lot; if they still might have been a worshipping congregation today, instead of a skatepark. And the congregation in Pennsylvania – is it possible they were too concerned with kids running around the church, making too much noise in the sanctuary, and spilling punch on the carpets that that building was no longer a friendly place for children, or their families? Now that it has been turned into a playground I bet there is more life, laughter, and love happening within those walls than there has been for the last 40 years.

 It’s heartbreaking when a congregation has to close it doors. I am someone who understands the sentimental attraction of architecture and space – I still frequently dream of returning to my grandparent’s home and to my elementary school, though I no longer can – ironically because both those places have been converted into churches. I know it is hard to see (or even consider) that the place where you grew up, were married, had your kids baptized, and your parents buried, could ever be changed, sold, or even demolished. But at the end of the day, what we all need to realize is that a church building is only a building – sacred things happen there – but that’s only because of the people and God’s Spirit at work. The physical structure is merely a tool meant to make ministry happen. And when ministry doesn’t happen; when all our energy goes into preserving the windows and walls, then before too long, we’re going to lose it.

 Maybe instead of worrying about the day our church buildings might be converted into charter schools, restaurants, office space, homes, skateparks, libraries, or play grounds, we should start thinking about ways that the buildings might be better utilized to meet some of those needs right now. The reality is a building that gets used for only a few hours a week is incredibly poor stewardship. How can we make better use of space, on our own, or by inviting outside groups in? How might we make the church building into a community resource, a community gathering point that embraces the sacred and the secular and makes room for all? And yes, if we were really willing to embrace this kind of change it would mean more work for the custodians, more headaches for the Trustees, it would mean all sorts of negotiations, communication, and there would even be misunderstandings and fights along the way, but I have to believe that in the end it would leave us with something more faithful and sustainable than the situation many congregations find themselves in now.

Fred Clark: Who Decides Who is a Minister? I still haven’t figured out completely where I stand on the recent “Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School vs. EEOC” decision. While I think it is good that the Supreme Court has made the decision not to interfere with the operation of religious organizations, I don’t like how this opens the door for abuse – call someone a “minister” and suddenly you are free from many employment laws.

Julie Clawson: What It Is Is Beautiful. Love the LEGO advertisement graphic and Julie’s words are great, too.

Shane Claiborne: 12 Hopes for 2012.

LaRae Quy: Do You Lead Your Own Life?

Mark Engler: Iowa: The People’s Caucus. As I’ve mentioned before, Mark and I used to play ultimate frisbee together (about 20 years ago), and I find him writing some pretty interesting stuff on international politics today.

Seth Godin: Simple Thoughts on Fair Use.
Semi-related: Congress Considers Paywalling Science You’ve Already Paid For.
In general, there is a major need to shift how we approach, consider and deal with intellectual property.

This wins simply for the Robotron 2012 reference. Love old school arcade games.

iKeepm webapp to inventory all your stuff. I haven’t tried it, but something like this could have some real promise.

Dale Wasserman: Look Always Forward. Fantastic line: “In last year’s nest, there are no birds this year.”

Mike Vardy: Best Way to Kick the Soda Pop Habit.

Friend from college and music guru, Rudy Grahn has put together his list of favorite albums of 2011.

John Rogers: Leverage #404 “The Van Gogh Job” I’ve gotten into the show Leverage over the past year (or maybe two), but even if you are not a fan, I’d encourage you to check out this post. John has some great thoughts on story writing and creation, and really, ultimately about the world views we hold on to (it’s a great companion piece to Donald Miller’s book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, but Rogers offers an amazing insight when he says:

“Every criticism is the tragic result of an unmet need.”

Good stuff to consider.

From Jesus Needs New PR: Choir Sings “Give Me Jesus” on a Plane. In my opinion it would have been better if they sang “Nearer My God to Thee” ; )

Mentalfloss: Who Wrote the Pledge of Allegiance?

Derek Webb: On Alcohol and Liberty – great thoughts about a difficult subject.

Lovett Weems: Will Mainline Denominations Get in Right in 2012?

Really interesting tool for ministry – The Church Online Platform – from Lifechurch.tv. I continue to be amazed on Craig Groshel and his team stove to extend their resources (for FREE!!!) to other congregations. If you are a pastor interested in online streaming, check this new resource out. (It also kills me to remember that Craig originally sought ordination in the United Methodist Church, but “the system” essentially kept him out because of the slow nature of the process and an unwillingness to embrace his vision of ministry).

Enrique Fiallo (vía Michael Hyatt’s blog): 10 Mistakes Leaders Should Avoid at All Costs.

Based on Rudy’s recommendation, I’m checking out the M83 album, here’s one of the songs off it…

Blessed are the un-cool. Important reminder that churches should choose to be faithful instead of fashionable.

How Luther Went Viral. Interesting article suggesting the use of pamphlets and the printing press helped fuel the Protestant Reformation in much the same way the modern social media (ie Twitter) fueled the Arab Spring, both tapped into widespread social discontent through relatively new, decentralized that the status quo couldn’t effectively leverage.

2011: The Year Intellectual Property Trumped Civil Liberties.

The guy who gave me my first real job in commercial radio, Dennis Green, has some thoughts on recent changes in the Cedar Rapids market and the slow decline of good radio.

Before there was the iPhone, there was the iLandline.

The Psychology of Home: Why Where We Live Means So Much. From the article:

“No one is ever free from their social or physical environment. And whether or not we are always aware of it, a home is a home because it blurs the line between the self and the surroundings, and challenges the line we try to draw between who we are and where we are.”

Do we take “place” seriously enough? Are there implications for itinerant ministry somewhere in here?

10 Brand Building Steps for Beginners. I just did an interview this week from someone researching how “the church” uses social media; this is a pretty good guide to some first steps.

Why Best Buy is Going Out of Business… Gradually. There was a time when I looked forward to going into a Best Buy, now I almost dread it. While the article is specific to the business and culture of Best Buy, there are probably some good lessons for the church in there as well. How often have we delivered bad customer service and what are we doing about it?

Donald Miller: A Parable About the Church.

I’m not a big fan of classical music and so I’ve never really followed Yo-Yo Ma, but I did catch the end of the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors, where his work was recognized, and then stumbled upon this performance of the Silk Road Ensemble on the NPR All Songs Considered Blog. I like it, hopefully you will too…

I seem to have lost that weekly rhythm of blog posts… maybe in the new year I’ll get on a better schedule. Anyway, here’s what has caught my attention over the past few weeks:

Seth Godin: Tools vs. Insight. Often we don’t need new tools, we just need to find creative ways to use what we’ve already got. Also check out Insulate Yourself…

Marcus Zumwalt: We are the 99%. Marcus is a friend I had the great privilege of getting to know when our lives briefly crossed in Ann Arbor. This post is a powerful reminder that even with the issues around the gap between the rich and the poor here in the US, highlighted by the “Occupy” movement, the issue is even more profound on a global scale. Are we really the 99%, or are we, in fact, the 1%?

Donald Miller: It’s not what you do that scares me, it’s what you hide.; What would change if you believed people actually wanted to talk to you?; and Do you believe in your own power to shape the world? (Side note: I’m really interested in the shift Don has taken from the usual typed blog posts to photos of handwritten messages – there is an element of beauty and authenticity in handwritten messages that I really appreciate).

When Animals Run Attack Ads.

Dan Dick: Christmas Affluenza. Also: The Nice Curse.

EmergingUMC: What Brings People to Church?

Fred Clark: Millennials Will Change the Future of the Church.

The Economist: How Luther Went Viral. Fascinating article about social media and church history and how about “new” advances in communication and collective action aren’t really new at all.

Dear Congress, It’s No Longer OK To Not Know How The Internet Works.

How to Live Better on 24 Hours a Day.

2011 – The Year in (Lego) Pictures.

Nerd Porn – 47 Year Old Television Signals Are Bouncing Back to Earth. Fascinating article about how “something” approximately 25 light years away is reflecting TV signals back to earth, which means that some “lost” programs, like episodes of Doctor Who, can be recovered and recorded.

Insiders and Outsiders and the future of the Church.

Forget Planes and Cars: The Beginners Guide to Traveling by Bike.

DIY Star Wars Snowflakes. I tried a couple of these and they actually came out pretty good.

Brian Owen (via Michael Hyatt’s blog): What an Acting Coach Taught Me About Public Speaking. Also from Hyatt: 5 Ways You Can Be an Everyday Hero and How a Shift in Your Vocabular can Instantly Change Your Attitude – the “have to” vs. “get to” thing has already been a help for me.

This came to me last year in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve and I used it for worship then (and think I shared it here as well). Thought I’d put it up again for anyone who might find a use for it in worship this Christmas; feel free to use or adapt as you see fit (there in info at the bottom of the blog about Creative Commons – if you do use, I prefer attribution and that any derivative works retain the “share alike” philosophy).

We come excited,
We come exhausted,
Welcome to this place.

We come hopeful,
We come humble,
Welcome to this place.

We come with deepest longing,
We come distracted,
Welcome to this place.

We come compassionate,
We come confused,
Welcome to this place.

We come joyful,
We come just-happy-to-have-made-it-through-another-day,
Welcome to this place.

We come faithful,
We come fearful,
Welcome to this place.

Welcome,
to one and all,
to this place,
where we can be who we are,
confident that God meets us,
as we are.

Welcome to this night:
Welcome to the Marys pregnant with possibilities,
Welcome to the Josephs returning to their hometowns,
Welcome to the travelers, weary after a long journey,
Welcome to the inn-keepers, making room for one more, wherever they can.
Welcome to this place
Where angels sing
and shepherds seek
welcoming a King
born in Bethlehem, long ago
called Emmanuel:
 God-Is-With-Us
and Still Is With Us
Welcoming us,
 receiving us,
  redeeming us,
even on this Holy Night.
Welcome Christmas people.

Ouch… I’ve gotten really behind on maintaining this thing; apologies to the handful who actually follow this…

Here we go:

Ever want to try to break open a door just like in the movies? Here’s how to do it (without hurting yourself).

Glen Bickford: How I Lost a Vocal Cord and Found My Voice.

Roger Olson: Should Christian organizations adopt the business model? Certainly there are practices and techniques that we can learn from an adapt, but when do we cross the line from being a body that changes the world through our values and practices to being one that simply assimilates the inherent brokenness of the purely secular world. I think I see this most clearly around employment practices – should the church pay, provide benefits, and treat employees like every other business does (which generally means strive for the lowest common denominator), or should we aim to do better, striving to really embody a belief that every person is of sacred worth and deserves the best the organization is able to offer? Obviously this same line of thinking can be applied to the whole discussion around church metrics and congregational vitality as well.

Related to that last point – Jeremy Smith has a whole round-up of Call to Action-related posts. Tim McClendon on Restructuring is bad medicine for the UMC. Also, from another perspective, check out Bishop Scott Jones: 1972 No Longer, and Bishops, Conference, Mission.

Another post from Olson worth checking out – Our Founding Fathers, Christians or What?

Mark Engler – a guy I used to play ultimate frisbee with back in high school, now writes some great stuff at Democracy Uprising, has a excellent post on Occupy the Pulpit. I’ve been paying attention (and intrigued) by the whole “Reverend Billy” thing for a while, and how his act essentially mocks stereotypes of preachers, while at the same time putting forth some very valid points about community building and not being lost in an overly materialistic culture. As Mark makes note maybe it is time for real preachers to make a prophetic stand so that Reverend Billy is no longer necessary.

Megan Phelps-Roper of Westboro Baptist Church: An Heir to Hate. When I read this, I realized it was most likely was Megan that I shared a plane with a few years ago (I was going to guess that her cousin mentioned in the article, Libby, was the other young woman on the flight, but according to the article, Libby had already left the church by then). Much light that flight, the article on Megan simply reminds me how tragic her situation is. I know I’m a victim to my own biases and prejudices, but it doesn’t isolate me. It also made me really reflect on the compromises we all make – I’m really curious how Megan can reconcile protesting Steve Job’s funeral while also using an iPhone… and I know if I looked hard enough I could find similar hypocrisy in my own life, but at least I’m willing to acknowledge the grey areas of life and my own imperfections. When you make everything so very black-and-white you can’t help but expose the flaws in your own philosophy.

Zombie Outreach for Churches. From Halloween, but still good. PS – How amazing was this season of The Walking Dead? Loved the ending, and I can’t wait for the series to resume.

Dan Dick: C is for…

Jay Voorhees: Using the Common English Bible in Worship. I do have a couple copies of the CEB (both physical, but also on my phone), and have been using it a little in worship and in Bible studies. I’m not sure I’m totally comfortable with making a big commitment to it, but I do like the way some of it reads.

Drive Old or Buy New?

Perry Noble: My Wife Had a Bad Experience at Chick-Fil-A. Does one unusual experience, or one bad encounter get in the way of all the good ones? (That question has nothing to do with Chick-Fil-A).

Fred Clark: Richard Land to Newt Gingrich – Strike a Pose

Derek Webb has an excellent piece of the future of the music business in terms of distribution, generating revenue, and building community: Giving It Away – How Free Music Makes More Sense. Although I’m not involved in the industry, I’ve been thinking along the same lines for a while now (see my discussion about Prince from a few months ago – near the bottom of the page). Back to the idea of what churches can learn from business, I think there might be something here – give it away, and build those personal, long-term relationships.

Rupert Murdoch now controls 50% of the Christian book market.

The Easter Island “Heads” Have Bodies! By the way, I’ve noticed Mental Floss magazine in the stores for a couple years now, but I never really stopped to look at it – turns out I LOVE it, it totally speaks to my inner geek – if anyone wants to give me a subscription, or a shirt feel free (I especially like the “I’m no rocket surgeon” and “I avoid cliches like the plague” ones).

Sometimes you just have the learn the hard way: Maybe our apartment is too small for a bald eagle.

Still prefer the original, but Billy Bragg has a new version of Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards out…

I know I’m overdue for another round-up… I might have some time to crank one out tomorrow, in the meantime check out the clip from Stephen Colbert from a few nights ago…