Sisu!
Feb 29, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Very Very Tired | NOISE: Children }
HELSINKI, Finland - Hundreds of trucks prepared to roll onto frozen roads at midnight Sunday, stocked with beer and hard cider for a population that eagerly awaits a historic government measure that will cut alcohol prices by nearly 40 percent.
Passion
Feb 28, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Tired | ITUNES: “Let You Know” - Hoobastank }
I have not had the chance to see the movie yet, nor do I forsee it in the near future, but I thought you might want to read my friend Jimi’s perspective.
The AM
Feb 28, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Peaceful | NOISE: None }
I am spending some time this morning reading and thinking about life, busyness, etc. I am somebody who tends to fill up my schedule pretty quickly. I think I need to set a few more fencelines around my calendar. This occurs to me for two reasons:
1) I have had my time alone with God squeezed out a lot the last several weeks. Other appointments have been the priority over the appointment I have with God.
2) Grace’s mom is having surgery this week so we may go to Chicago for the next week or two and I have to clear my schedule. Looking over the people I need to cancel, it occurs to me that I have cancelled on a lot of them many times. That tells me my schedule is too full. I need to set my schedule priorities a little closer to stone (not that I will never change them, but that certain set appointments would have to take a meteor to change).
It has been refreshing to read and just slow down this morning. I need this in my schedule.
Well, off to my jam-packed day.
Sidewalk Art
Feb 27, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Suprisingly Good | ITUNES: “If You Leave” - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark }
I have no idea where these come from, but thanks to my friend Knight for sending me these pictures of sidewalk art. Remember, these are all drawn on a flat surface.
Blah!
Feb 26, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Stressed, Yet Optimistic | ITUNES: “Swing Street” - Bruce Hornsby” }
Yesterday was the crappiest day! I don’t have time to list it all except with bullet points:
* The van died in my driveway with a trailer full of trash hitched to it, luckily it eventually started so I drove it to my mechanic
* A “15 minute” household project took me two hours
* A friend’s borrowed truck had the muffler and exhaust assembly fall off while I was driving it
* My Geo (which I am driving now because Grace is in Chicago with the Camry and the aforementioned van is dead) completely wears it’s brake=pads out, so I replaced them
* I came home to work last night and I could not focus because of all of this
Now, I work on my message for this weekend. And I am teaching on every pastors’ least favorite topic. Any guesses?
Sacrifice
Feb 23, 2004 Uncategorized
We talked this week at Riv about sacrifice. A lot of people have asked for the collection of quotes we showed, so I am posting them here. If you have not seen these, take a few minutes and read them over. It will be worth your time.
Top 10
Feb 23, 2004 Uncategorized
GCM was just listed as one of the top ten campus ministries in the nation by Boundless Webzine Very cool.
Changes
Feb 22, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Bi-Polar | MUSIC: “The Wonderful Cross” by Riv Band at Rehearsal }
Well, we tried something new last night. We changed our stage and seating configuration slightly (and we are leaving it that way for this morning’s services as well). I got a chance through this to observe a good lesson in human behavior.
Almost no one had no reaction to what we did. It seemed to go along some very predictible lines. Structured people who do not like change or take a long time to embrace change had a hard time. This included people on our teams and people coming to the service alike. Then, there were those who love unpredictibility. They, as a rule, loved the change. It was interesting.
I think we need to learn how to, as a church, help both of these people have a good learning environment. I think the church (as a whole) tends to lean toward those who don’t like change. That leaves many creative types, right brainers, etc., without their learning styles taken into consideration. At the same time, if you change too fast or drastically, it can be to the detriment of those who do not like change. For instance, I was super suprised that change as minor as a stage and seating configuration cause so much tension for some people.
A Change
Feb 20, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: On Mission | ITUNES: “Come What May” - Nicole Kidman & Ewan McGregor (From the MOULIN ROUGE Soundtrack) }
The last several days I have had the hardest time writing my message for this weekend. It has seriously felt like “work.” And, yes, I know it is work. But I felt like a college student trying to write a paper. No passion, just an assignment.
This morning after I got up, I watched the last 40 minutes of “Tears of the Sun,” looking for a clip. By the time it was done, I was weeping. “Tears of the Noel,” so to speak. I was so moved and I remembered why I do what I do. I remembered that there are people out there dying without Christ and that I am on mission to “rescue the refugees.” And if this weekend I can cast that vision to those at Riv and they can get excited about sacrificing for the cause of Christ, man, what God can do. I mean, yeah I know he can do whatever he wants whether or not we are “excited,” but you know what I mean.
iTunes Roulette
Feb 19, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Um…dunno | ITUNES: “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” - The Police }
Thanks to Sean for this idea:
Step 1: Open your iTunes or other music player.
Step 2: Put all of your music on random.
Step 3: Write down the first 20 songs it plays no matter how embarrassing
“Fast as you can” - Fiona Apple
“Shout to the North” - Delirious?
“She Dances In Love” - Stone Pavement
“Hallelujah Chorus” - Handel
“We Are All Made of Stars” - Moby
“Panama” - Van Halen
“Rear View Mirror” - Alicia Keyes
“Don’t Worry Be Happy” - Bobby McFerrin
“Losing My Religion” - Tori Amos
“You Walk Away” - Filter
“Lion Wilson” - Relient K
“Money” - Velvet Revolver
“Forever in Blue Jeans” - Neil Diamond
“Rapture” - AJ Mora
“In The Air Tonight” - Phil Collins
“The Distance” - Cake
“Playing for Keeps” - Switchfoot
“N’Kosi Sikeleli Afrika” - Ladysmith Black Mambazo
“Pinball Wizard” - The Who
“Crazy Train” - Pat Boone
Empowered
Feb 18, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Jive | ITUNES: “Livin’ On A Prayer” - Bon Jovi }
I’ve been thinking a lot about empowering people in ministry. This has a lot to do with what we think about “doing church.” On one hand, Jesus said “the gates of hell would not prevail” against the church. But that doesn’t mean the church cannot die here in USAmerica (look at Europe). I think if the church is going to survive in our culture, we need to empower people to do ministry in creative and innovative ways and we need to remove any barriers we can in order to help them succeed. Yes, we all need to learn from those who have come before, but we must also let good things run wild.
Dog Training
Feb 18, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Contemplative | ITUNES: “You Are My Sunshine” - Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan }
So two of my friends that I trust have recommended this book to me. Unfortunately, I disagree with the very first thing he writes:
“The church worldwide is healthier today than it has ever been. There are more Christians than ever before…There’s no doubt in my mind: The church is working.”
Thoughts?
Passion Thoughts
Feb 16, 2004 Uncategorized
MOOD: Chill | MUSIC: Emma singing “My Girl”
My friend Mark has posted his first wave of thoughts on the Passion movie. I thought they were great. Here they are:
*******
Values concerning The Passion:
1. The Passion is a movie which graphically portrays the Roman process of execution on a cross which Jesus endured. The story holds eternal meaning and value on its own, whether a film is made of it or not. A film, in any format, graphic or sterile, is merely an artistic attempt to tell the story. Of utmost importance is Jesus: His life, suffering, death, and resurrection.
2. The people who have seen the movie have been deeply emotionally touched. Seeing the movie may be so emotive, so visceral, that speaking about it immediately following may be difficult or impossible. Time may be needed to take it in. Of importance is honoring the faith process – honoring the sacred moments of a person’s journey; whether it be your journey or the journey of anyone with whom you choose to attend the movie.
3. The invitation to see The Passion with an unchurched person or spiritual friend is one that will take Spirit-led discernment. Seeing this movie is not about targeting a person for THE spiritual conversationtion of his/her life. It is not about manipulating him/her into a decision of any type. Any invitation to see the movie together should be bathed in prayer and be about continuing the normal patterns of relating with him/her. If you have attended movies previously with this person, then attend. If you have discussed movies in the past with this person, then discuss. Of importance is the authencity of the journey which is guided by the Spirit, not a human agenda.
Gaming
Feb 15, 2004 Uncategorized
MOOD: Nostalgic | MUSIC: Sesame Street Theme Song
Well, Grace and I have never had a gaming system (except when we borrowed my brother’s for a few months). And being Mac users there are not a lot of gaming options. There are two primary reasons we have not had one:
1) We can’t justify the expense.
2) We have addictive personalities and would play all night. That’s just how we are.
Today, we broke. Yes, we bought a gaming system. Here it is:
It features 5 exciting games, including the cutting edge Pac-Man and Dig-Dug. Now that’s family fun.
Music
Feb 14, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed | ITUNES: Sixpence “Brighten My Heart” }
So I am not only teaching this weekend, but I am playing piano during a cover tune tonight. It’s kinda weird. I miss music and drama more than anything in my life. Drama, I sorta get to do while I am teaching, but music I don’t do very often. I haven’t played the piano in 10 years or so, so this is surreal. It’s fun but I am a little nervous. I guess that’s a good thing. Dan is stretching me by asking me do this. I have had a lot of fun practicing this week (although I still haven’t played with the band) and it has made me want to play music more, if only for my own amusement.
Ya know, I almost did drama and music as a career. I wonder how my life would be different…
Jimi’s Masters Thesis
Feb 13, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Mellow | TV: Monk }
My friend Jimi is now set to defend his thesis. Here is an excerpt:
Religious congregations have considerable influence in the lives of many
people. Despite this importance, we know little about what accounts for the
observed growth of some congregations while others stagnate or even
decline. In this paper, I show that organizational connectivity plays an
important role in shaping congregational growth. I examine the effects of
three levels of connectivity on growth: internal cohesion, ties to other
religious organizations, and ties to a congregation’s surrounding
community. I use data from the National Congregations Study to analyze
growth separately for conservative Protestant, liberal Protestant, and
Roman Catholic congregations. I find that while connectivity influences
growth, it does so in fundamentally different ways for the different types
of congregations. My findings inform literature on congregational growth
and will improve our understanding of the factors that determine people’s
affiliations with particular religious organizations.
Feb 11, 2004 Uncategorized
Check out this interesting article about Mel Gibson’s beliefs. Here is an excerpt:
Mel Gibson has come under fire for being hard on Jews in his film “The Passion of the Christ” — but apparently, he feels that Protestants are also doomed to damnation. In fact, it looks like Gibson, a conservative Catholic, believes that his Episcopalian wife could be going to hell.
Gibson was interviewed by the Herald Sun in Australia, and the reporter asked the star if Protestants are denied eternal salvation. “There is no salvation for those outside the Church,” Gibson replied. “I believe it.”
He elaborated: “Put it this way. My wife is a saint. She’s a much better person than I am. Honestly. She’s, like, Episcopalian, Church of England. She prays, she believes in God, she knows Jesus, she believes in that stuff. And it’s just not fair if she doesn’t make it, she’s better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair. I go with it.”
