quote

It is difficult
to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.

Source: Asphodel, That Greeny Flower

via inward outward

new staff positions

Michael at oak leaf church asks some questions about church staff positions:

I wonder if the organized church gets too hung up on titles, and I wonder if the local church boxes herself in by hiring for certain positions. I mean... where in the Bible does is say that there must be a minister of music or a preschool director. Those are certainly normal positions, but are they really the best way to do things?

And what if we hire a bunch of normal positions when some abnormal positions would be a better fit? What if there are crazy sounding positions that might help our church go to the next level? Things like..

Chief Experience Officer - someone to make sure every environment is functioning on all levels. A person with an aesthetic eye…not limited to adults or the lobby, but a person who works across all ministries.

Prayer strategist - someone to pray, get others praying, teach on prayer. Isn’t prayer important in the church? What if we hired someone to lead this rather than tack it on to someone’s job description.

What about a Bible scholar who would bring a whole different dynamic to helping us focus on truth. Someone who would help people read the Bible…kids, students, adults. Someone passionate about getting the Bible to the world, and into the hands of people.

What about a Social Media Director. Not IT or websites…social media…connecting media.

What about a chief encouragement officer? A glass-half-full person who made sure the church was encouraging the community, the staff was being encouraged, volunteers were being encouraged. Not just thanked, but encouraged.

Some of his thinking is moving in the right direction - i.e. get out of the box... but why are so reliant on staff?

quote

the amateur can afford to lose.
the expert is the man who stays put

marshall macluhan, the book of probes

via jonnt baker

this is make you smile

at least smile... probably laugh

Cadbury Eyebrows from Nils-Petter Lovgren on Vimeo.

via ragamuffin soul

video

my friend Vera posted this on facebook...

I am not going crazy

A study reported on in a NY Times article suggests that:

Drinking coffee may do more than just keep you awake. A new study suggests an intriguing potential link to mental health later in life, as well.

A team of Swedish and Danish researchers tracked coffee consumption in a group of 1,409 middle-age men and women for an average of 21 years. During that time, 61 participants developed dementia, 48 with Alzheimer’s disease.

After controlling for numerous socioeconomic and health factors, including high cholesterol and high blood pressure, the scientists found that the subjects who had reported drinking three to five cups of coffee daily were 65 percent less likely to have developed dementia, compared with those who drank two cups or less. People who drank more than five cups a day also were at reduced risk of dementia, the researchers said, but there were not enough people in this group to draw statistically significant conclusions.

Warning:
listen to this song... and it will be stuck in your mind for the rest of the day... maybe longer...
& even worse... coffee will NOT help!

Jeopardy

Someone [sorry, I fortget who], years ago, wrote a book entitled something like: "If Jesus is the Answer, What is the Question?" In a similar vein, Len Sweet talks about Jeopardy churches: churches that think their job is to answer every question.

I know people like that... they have to have the answer to every question... they are also very annoying!

Because life isn't like that.
& I know because I said that there will be some people who will be very upset with me... some probably no longer read my blog... other may just get steamed.

But I believe that most people in our culture are not looking for someone who will give them answers to all their questions. They don’t need to be given a thousand answers. They need to be invited to follow the One who is himself the Answer/the Way. They need to be invited to a life that is other than self-obsession, self-preoccupation, and self-preservation. This is the way of the cross. That is the answer.

Some people have put it this way: "it’s not about knowing the answers to all the questions, it’s about knowing Him." More than anything I want to know God more. I’ve found that everything else - mission, fruit, acts of love and kindness - come out of this one thing, intimacy with the Father.

I am not saying that we dumb down the gospel. That we reduce the gospel to a simplistic: be people of compassion; be kind.

But that we as limited human beings are on a journey. We can know God... but we are learning more of him & his ways. Jesus is the way, the truth & the life. But we are learning and growing all the time what this means.

I don't have the Father or the Son or the Spirit all figured out... because God is God and I'm not.

All Star Game

I caught the last 5minutes, the 5minute overtime and the shootout of the NHL All Star game last night. What was that? 11-10 sounds more like a football game than hockey. So there were a bunch of goal, and some great saves - but it was just some guys throwing the puck around without anyone trying to stop them. Whatever it was - it was not real hockey. I can go down to the arena... actually the community centre is closed in Orillia & the local OJHL team - The Couchiching Terriers - plays in Rama [that's another story] - but that is better hockey than what passed for All Star hockey last night.

The Toronto Star quotes from The Ultimate Book of Hockey Lists By The Hockey News, edited by Sam McCaig (Transcontinental, 262 pages, $19.95)

"It has been suggested that hockey is a religion and not a sport in Montreal. Fans dissect every game, practice and transaction as though their lives depended on it; at the same time Canadiens fans have more fun at a game than anybody on the planet. Oh yeah, they lead the universe in Stanley Cup celebrations, too."

And this wonderful line:

No.2? Yup, it's Toronto. "All you need to know about the Leafs is, they have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967 and have not had an unsold seat since Moby Dick was a minnow."

And just for those who are counting

Stanley Cup appearances & wins

• Montreal Canadians 34 / 24
• Jean Béliveau / 17
• Toronto Maple Leafs 21 / 13

relevance

“Be still and know. Civilization is littered with unsolved problems, baffling impasses. The best minds of the world are at the end of their tether. The most knowledgeable observers of our condition are badly frightened. The most relevant contribution that Christians make at these points of impasse is the act of prayer—determined, repeated, leisurely meetings with the personal and living God. New life is conceived in these meetings. Prayer is not all we do. Patterns and behaviors develop out of the prayers…. There is intelligence to be exercised, behavior to be shaped, moral decisions and responsible courage. ”

Eugene Peterson, Psalm 46, Unself Help

via dayetime

habs

sportsnet has an article on the 10 greatest Habs.

Can't argue much with the selection... there will always be debate about the order... and who was left off... Geoffrion & Moore & Mahovlich & Dryden & Lach & Savard & of course, Cournoyer.


Newsy Lalonde

Larry Robinson

Henri Richard

Jacques Plante

Patrick Roy

Guy Lafleur

Howie Morenz

Doug Harvey

Jean Beliveau

Maurice "Rocket" Richard

time to go back to college

College athlete at 73

73-year-old goes back to college to play hoops.

the sling shot man

this guy is good!


via the blazing center

a friday giggle

A wonderful song by the splendid Richard Stilgoe & Peter Skellern.

If this bears resemblance to you... I'll sorry!

Random 79

The Golden Age of Animated TV Opening Titles
quite a collection of clips: from Anatomy of a Murder to My Three Sons, The Lucy Show, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Wild, Wild West, Batman, The Carol Burnett Show, Monty Python, The Partridge Family and Rhoda.
via fan boy

theologyvia christ is deeper still

anthems
an interesting site that has coutries singing the national anthems of other countries. link

south pole markers
a photo collection of south pole markers/a>

star trek is down the tubesA clear sign that J.J. Abrams Star Trek is not going to be very good... Mattel is selling barbie dolls.
via scifi wire


wii-motes
If you thought your flying Wiimotes weren't harmful enough stock, perhaps you'd like to add a little more inertia into the mix? Additional danger is probably not the idea behind Riiflex, snap-on weights for your controller that will come in 2- and 5-pound increments, but we think that will probably be the net result in many cases. After all, if a flimsy plastic Wiimote can pierce a television or mortally wound a small dog, what kind of damage could a 5-pound version inflict? We look forward to seeing pictures of the aftermath if and when these ever ship.

via engadget

A Theology of Hope

Prophetic imagination, or prophetic dreaming, keeping visions alive, is what stimulates diverse groups forming society into becoming a culture of life, a biophilic, life-loving culture, to use an ecological term. It is also an authentic dimension of being and becoming Church. Together with the power of dangerous memory, these two activities are at the heart of a theology of hope. For prophetic imagination is outrageous—not merely in dreaming the dream, but in already living out of the dream before it has come to pass, and in embodying this dream in concrete actions.

"The Outrageous Pursuit of Hope" Mary Grey

conferences

Here are a couple of interesting look conferences in Ontario.
The Evolving Church: Amidst the Powers will seek to identify and wrestle with the powers, and forces of oppression in the world. Inspired by Ephesians 6 and Paul’s claim that our battle is not against flesh and blood, we will seek to answer the question: how can the Church exist as a distinct faith community that does not succumb to the powers that surround her, but instead offers a different way of being amidst the powers?
21 March @ The Meeting House, Oakville



Reimaging Church: Canadians House Church Conference
26-27 June @ Newmarket

the USA has a new president

So the ceremony went off without too many problems... except the minor flub over the oath of office.

The media are all scrambling now to boil things down to a few seconds of sound bite.

I don't want to minimize in any way what a big step this for the States to have a black president, but like so many political things in our western culture, the hype is so high. And in this case, the expectations are so great. Enhanced, I might add, by the speech Obama gave.

The real work begins now... we need to pray for leaders...

Links

• Rick Warren's Inaugaral Invocation
• Oath of office
• Barack Obama's Inaugural Address
• video of Joseph Lowery benediction
• new Whitehouse blog

pete seeger & bruce springsteen

this land is your land
from the obama inaugural celebration concert



via the corner

consensus

tony morgan posts a great article on consensus: I'd love to hear your response.

I’m growing more and more convinced that the worst thing an organization can do is try to reach a consenus about something. Think government. Think church committee meetings. Think declining big business.

On the surface, reaching a consensus seems like a positive thing because it means people have agreed to move in the same direction. That’s a good thing isn’t it?

Actually, I’m not convinced that’s the case. For example, here are:

5 Reasons Why Consensus Sucks

1. It embraces the status quo. Change, whether positive or not, is not human nature. We would prefer for things to remain the way they are today. So, when people get together to discuss the possibility of doing something a little different in the future, it’s normal for the majority to avoid making changes.
2. It gives the malcontents an equal voice in your decision. Reaching consensus gives everyone a voice at the table. When that happens, even the negative, bitter folks that don’t really embrace the vision have the opportunity to pull the rest of the group away from what could really be the most desirable outcome.
3. It short circuits the radical ideas that lead to the biggest breakthroughs. The big, bold ideas won’t see the light of day. Yet those are the ideas that could potentially lead to the best innovations. Consensus brings people back to the middle where the majority approves but mediocrity reigns.
4. It leaves unresolved conflict on the table. At the opposite ends of a decision are distinct opinions which, if left unresolved, could potentially lead to division. Consensus prevents tough conversations from happening. It gives people the freedom to jump to compromise without engaging a healthy debate.
5. It discourages people from dreaming big dreams. Want to neuter the creative-thinkers and entrepreneurs and visionaries in your organization? Force them to reach consensus with the rest of the crowd. These are the people that make you uncomfortable. They can drive you crazy. That’s OK. They’ll just go work someplace else if you keep forcing them to compromise their dreams.

What do you think? Do you agree? Or, have you actually seen consensus work? What would you add or delete from the list?

quote

If our hearts were our outside bodies, we would see crippled bodies transform into ballet dancers under the gaze and in the embrace of Love.*

When you are touched by Love, it reaches down into your deepest fiber. When you are loved, your heart rushes forth in the joy of the dance of life.*

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Love one another.

Love comes from God.

God is love.

*(Eternal Echoes, John O’Donohue)

via mending shift
thanks for the heads up from dave wainscott

emerging church

Over at next wave Stephen Shields has posted an encyclopedic meditation/restrospective on where the emerging church has been and is now. If you want to understand this "movement" you should read this article.

What Massive Stones You Have (Mark 13)

I'm not a total church building hater, I think they are over-rated - however, in our cold climate it's nice having a place where we can gather. I'm one of the, "Whatever it takes to advance the kingdom" kind of guys. If a church building really is the path to help the most possible people know God, then I'm in favor of a church building. But at the same time it's impossible for me to justify spending millions of dollars churches on buildings.

In Mark 13 (Mark 13) as the disciples point out the amazing "church" buildings to Jesus, it's easy for me to imagine modern day church goers giving Jesus a tour of their architectural feats and saying, "Look Jesus, what massive stones." (Awkward pause!) "What magnificent buildings."

And Jesus would scoff and start talking about how the end is coming, and these buildings will be turned to rubble, but will people be ready for His return? And then someone will probably say, "But, don't you know how much I gave to that freakin' building campaign!?"

At OCC, we had plans to build a nice building out in the country.

• The drawings look real nice.
• The property was nice.
• It was away from anything to do with the city.

And so, we are selling the land (part has already been sold.)

No, we are not giving up on the idea of a building. But we have rethought what a building is for. So, we are in the process of puchasing an unused 4-plex movie theatre in the core of the city.
We are reusng & repurposing an existing building.

• We are in the centre of the city.
• We are in a needy section of town.
• We are linking with other ministries in town.
• We will have a non-churchy look.
• We want to be a place that is used for the church... the community... the kingdom.
  

More later

quote

"The righteous man is the one who lives for the next generation."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

via Len Sweet

Understanding how metrosexual your worship leader is.

"metrosexual" is a word that floats around... often somewhat undefined. In a way very much like "emerging" or "missional". So stuff christians like has come up with:

Understanding how metrosexual your worship leader is. (A handy guide)

There are some things in life that are concrete and true. For instance, it is a fact that "You're all I want for Christmas" by Mariah Carey and "Christmas in Hollis" by Run DMC are fantastic songs. No argument there. But when you tell someone about your church, there's not a standard system to describe the degree of metrosexuality your worship leader possesses. Wouldn't it be awesome to say, "You'll love my church and the music. Our worship leader scored a 78 on the SCL Metro Test."

Don't answer that last question. It was rhetorical. As a service to churches around the world, here is an easy rating system by which to analyze to what degree your worship leader is a metrosexual.

1. Has a faux hawk hair style = +1

2. Has more product in his hair than your wife = +1

3. Has Rob Bell, black rimmed glasses = +1

4. They are not prescription, but just for effect = +2

5. Attends the Catalyst Conference = +3

6. Performs at the Catalyst Conference = +10

7. Owns Puma, Vans or Diesel sneakers = +2 per each pair

8. Wears jeans on stage = +1

9. Wears designer jeans on stage = +2

10. Wears Wrangler or Rustler jeans on stage = -3

11. Has a goatee = +2

12. Wears one of those Castro revolution looking hats = +2

13. Drinks coffee on stage = +1

14. Drinks some kind of coffee you did not know existed = +2

15. Brings a French Press on stage and makes his own coffee during service = +5

16. Has a handlebar mustache = -3

17. Good at Frisbee but hates getting all "sweaty" = +1

18. Has a haircut that covers one of his eyes while singing = +1

19. Owns a white belt = +2

20. Owns suspenders = -3

21. Wears a scarf with a t-shirt = +1

22. Wears a winter knit hat even in the summer = +2

23. You think he covered a My Chemical Romance song last week = +3

24. Drives an Audi or VW, silver of course = +2

25. Uses the words, "postmodern, relevant" or "emergent" nonstop = +2

26. Cringes a little when people say the "H word." (Hymnal) = +3

27. Has ever said some form of the phrase, "That song is so 1990s" = +1

28. Owns a Grizzly Adams red and black flannel shirt = -2

29. Named his kid after a color or a number = +2

30. References Norwegian punk bands you've never heard of = +2

31. Wears a tie = -1

32. Wears a tie as a belt = +2

33. Looks as if he might exfoliate = +2

34. Has a man bag or European Carry All = +2

35. Brings said bag on stage with him = +2

36. Has a tattoo = +2

37. Has a visible tattoo = +4

38. Wife accompanies him on stage and plays tambourine = -4

39. Was formerly in a punk new wave band = +2

40. Knows the names of all the people on the scripted MTV show, "the Hills" = +3

41. Refuses to drink anything but Vitamin Water = +2

42. Your wife ever says, "he needs a barrette for his hair." = +2

43. Has a nickname with "the" in it, as in "the edge," = +2

44. Owns every Nooma video = +2

45. Has a soul patch = +3

46. Won't play barefoot on stage until he gets a pedicure = +2

47. Refers to California as "the left coast" = +2

48. Currently subscribes to Dwell or Details magazine = +2

49. Owns a pair of lady jeans = +2

50. Twitters you from his iPhone = +2

51. His toddler dresses cooler than you = +2

52. He wears graphic t-shirts over button down, long sleeve shirts = +2

53. Ever says "we got a hot mic here" = -4

54. Shops at the Gap = 0

55. Shops at Urban Outfitters = +2

What does your worship leader score?

random 78

apple
some people take apple-fan-dom a long way.
via weird asian news










inaugaration day in 2 minutes
click on the link for the video: bbc

global warming

via nasa

weirdly morphyed leadbelly
A photo of Leadbelly "singing" using some weird morph animation technique. The result isn't just entirely unreal, it's completely freaky.

via boing boing

unusual degrees/courses
The Art of Walking; Centre College Danville, KY
via university of phoenix

buried neighbourhoods
there used to be a lot more streams and valleys in Toronto
via spacing

advice for theology students
good for a giggle
via faith theology

C&W & fishing

this is for my C&W and/or fishing friends...
link

posters

There is a new set of emerging / missional posters.

Here is a link to a post describing the posters.

God of this City

God of this City is a powerful worship song. Here's the background to it.

"We were recently in Belfast, Northern Ireland for a concert. The night consisted of a great line-up of worship bands. One of the bands that night was local, and they were called Bluetree. Daniel was thankfully paying close attention when they went into this song, “God of This City.” He immediately came to me and said that I had to hear it. When I did hear it, I knew that it was a timely song and that it would be perfect for the journey we were about to undertake with Passion. And after hearing how the boys of Bluetree wrote the song, it is no wonder why this song is full of power. Turns out the song was written in a bar/brothel in Padia, Thailand. When the owner of the bar found out the lads were a band, he asked if they wanted to play, and the Bluetree boys were up for it. Now that’s worship leading! Proclaiming the grace of God in the middle of a brothel... Sounds a lot like Jesus to me. Aaron Boyd of Bluetree told me that in the middle of their set of songs, this song just spontaneously birthed. God put this powerful lyric on their lips in that moment…"greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city." They graciously allowed me to record it, and it became the title track to the current Passion CD and the name of our 17-city Passion World Tour. What a statement to proclaim in the cities of the world!"

Chris Tomlin

via ccmmagazine/com

Chris Tomlin's version


Here's a version by Bluetree

God of This City
Written by Bluetree
You’re the God of this city
You’re the King of these people
You’re the Lord of this nation
You are

You’re the light in this darkness
You’re the hope to the hopeless
You’re the peace to the restless
You are

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this city
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here

We believe, we believe in You, God

© 2006 worshiptogether.com
Songs (admin. by EMI CMG Publishing) / sixsteps Music (admin. by EMI CMG Publishing) (ASCAP

random 77

first few minutes of heavenvia naked pastor

slow motion of water drop into sand


management secrets
darth vader style
link

personal annual report
feltron annual report: an individual annual report... interesting

if movie posters were honest
here is one from the site
link
heavy metal band names
link to a graphic showing band names

some interesting links

Carl F. H. Henry center
Carl F. H. Henry was one of those theologians who I could only read or listen to with a dictionary in hand.

top 100 theology blogs
a list of what they call the top 100 theology blogs... although there are a number of good ones missing

morning bell
rhythm of prayer

shift: 21 days of prayer and fasting

prayerscapes
a number of mp3s and videos on prayer and meditation... as well as a number of pages of links.
Here's a sample: 'Disturb Us Lord', a contemporary dance interpretation of a 16th century prayer attributed to Sir Francis Drake.

song for gaza

via justice and compassion

random 76

HAL
On 12 January 1992 or 1997, HAL, from 2001: A Space Odessy, became operational. The difference in dates depends on whether you are reading the novel based on the movie (1997) or watching the movie (1992) which was based on an earlier short story "The Sentinal".
via wired

is it my 2nd cousin or my 1st cousin twice removed
A nice chart to figure out all those weird relationships.
wikipedia

wattzon
This is another graphical free online tool to quantify, track, compare and understand the total amount of energy needed to support all of the facets of your lifestyle.
wattzon

northern lights / aurora borealis
boing boing has links to some excellent photos.

iTable
this looks better than Microsoft Surface, and no it's not for the Mac, despite the name.
via crunchgear

quite the staircase
flickr

quote

I had book marked this CT article to read, but hadn't got around to it yet. Scot Mcnight quoted from the article:

"People who live in the moral-performance narrative use sarcastic, self-righteous putdown humor, or have no sense of humor at all. Lewis speaks of "the unsmiling concentration upon Self, which is the mark of hell." The gospel, however, creates a gentle sense of irony. We find a lot to laugh at, starting with our own weaknesses. They don't threaten us anymore because our ultimate worth is not based on our record or performance."

The whole CT article is worth readin.

instead of a show

Instead of A Show - Jon Foreman


I hate all your show and pretense
The hypocrisy of your praise
The hypocrisy of your festivals
I hate all your show
Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stomp on my ears when you’re singing ‘em
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show

Your eyes are closed when you’re praying
You sing right along with the band
You shine up your shoes for services
There’s blood on your hands
You turned your back on the homeless
And the ones that don’t fit in your plan
Quit playing religion games
There’s blood on your hands

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

Let’s argue this out
If your sins are blood red
Let’s argue this out
You’ll be one of the clouds
Let’s argue this out
Quit fooling around
Give love to the ones who can’t love at all
Give hope to the ones who got no hope at all
Stand up for the ones who can’t stand at all, all
I hate all your show
I hate all your show
I hate all your show
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

quote

Some men are born leaders.

Some leaders are born women.

via the view from her

joke

I'm not sure where I came across this one:

Augustine, Calvin and Barth find themselves waiting outside the throne room on the Day of Judgement.

Augustine goes in first, and after half an hour comes out and says to the others: 'It was wonderful! I had all the mysteries of sin, grace and salvation explained to me!'

Next, Calvin goes in, comes out an hour later and says to the others: 'It was wonderful! I had all the mysteries of election, predestination and divine sovereignty explained to me!'

Finally, Barth goes in.
After two hours, God comes out and says to the others: 'I've still got no idea what he is talking about!'

quote

I used to say that our budget included food and books... not necessarily in that order.

Frank Viola gives credit to the following similar quote to Erasmus.... good to know I'm in good company.

"When I have a little money, I buy books. If any is left over, I buy food and clothes." ~ Erasmus

persecution

Jim Elliot (along with fellow missionaries Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint and Roger Youderian, were martyred in Ecuador 53 years ago today.

Elliot may be as as well known for a famous quote as for his martyrdom:

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.

video clip from Beyond the Gates of Splendour


persecution blog reminds us that there is still much persecution in the world.

On Dec. 23., several pastors and prayer group leaders in Hyderabad were attacked and severely beaten by Hindu extremists, VOM [Voice of the Martyrs] contacts report.
In August 2008 attacks resulted in more than 116 believers killed and more than 50,000 believers displaced.

by your side

a great song by 10th avenue north

question

this walk asks the question:

Have you grown so much in the knowledge of God
that you have forgotten the truth of God?

Unnamed, complete, unanswerable

I would not have been a poet
except that I have been in love
alive in this mortal world,
or an essayist except that I
have been bewildered and afraid,
or a storyteller had I not heard
stories passing to me through the air,
or a writer at all except
I have been wakeful at night
and words have come to me
out of their deep caves
needing to be remembered.
But on the days I am lucky
or blessed, I am silent.
I go into the one body
that two make in making marriage
that for all our trying, all
our deaf-and-dumb of speech,
has no tongue. Or I give myself
to gravity, light, and air
and am carried back
to solitary work in fields
and woods, where my hands
rest upon a world unnamed,
complete, unanswerable, and final
as our daily bread and meat.
The way of love leads all ways
to life beyond words, silent
and secret. To serve that triumph
I have done all the rest.

Wendell Berry - from the poem 1994

quote

Actualizing the Kingdom

The early church did not seek to formulate a theory of illness; instead, it healed the sick. It did not attempt to explain how the demonic could exist in a good world made by a good God; instead, they cast out demons. They had no hypotheses about how prayer works. They simply prayed…. Their attitude was not anti-rational or anti-theological, but merely concrete. They looked, not for adequate ways to conceptualize the Kingdom, but for ways to actualize it.

Engaging the Powers: Walter Wink

via inward / outward

leadership

There are a zillion books and blogs on leadership. Many are more about management than leadership. Many are more about the status quo than leading. One exception of Tribes by Seth Godin.

link
blog
book
audio Free

I've been listening to the audio version as I work out - it's a good read/listen. If you're looking for details on change leadership - look elsewhere. Godin challenges his reader/listener to accept full responsibility for becoming a tribal leader of principled and productive agents of positive change. "No one gives you permission or approval or a permit to lead, You can just do it. The only one who can say no is you."

random 75

how to lace your shoes
runner's world has an article and video on how to lace you shoes - and you thought it was simple

ISS
Construction history of the international space station in photos.

the price of books
This list of the most expensive books of 2008 from abebooks makes my book habit seem a little more affordable.

Hawaiian Shirt Pioneer Dies

The man who gave the world a colorful style loved by everyone from Guy Kawasaki to Jimmy Buffett [and Rick Warren] fans has died. Alfred Shaheen, a pioneering textile manufacturer and the man credited with bringing Hawaiian shirts into the mainstream, passed away December 22 at the age of 86. Shaheen’s aloha shirts debuted in 1948 and even made the cover of Elvis Presley’s 1961 “Blue Hawaii” soundtrack album.

via truemors

space elevator
In December the private firm Eurospaceward hosted the Second International Conference on Space Elevator and Tether Design in Luxembourg to discuss schemes for a space elevator. One of the presentations was by Age-Raymond Riise of the European Space Agency, with a markedly simple idea. He proposed sending power mechanically - effectively by providing a carefully timed jerk of the cable at its base. See the bbc article for a video.

al franken

al franken could be a senator

al franken and ann coulter

via boing boing

al franken and tom davis

via boing boing

earning money

The Canadian Press carries this story:

A new analysis by the left-leaning Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives concludes the country's richest corporate executives will have pocketed an average of $40,237 by 9:04 a.m. Friday morning.

"By the time your computer has finished booting up on your first day back after the New Year's holiday, the average CEO would have already banked what took the average Canadian worker an entire year's worth of work to earn," the report states.

"Many of the top 100 include Canada's big bank CEOs, who recently received billions in federal government bailout money to purchase mortgage loans."

Prepared by economist Hugh Mackenzie, the report finds the top 100 CEOs of publicly traded corporations averaged more than $10 million in pay apiece in 2007, the last full year for which figures are available.

Some facts about the top 100 Canadian CEO earnings (figures based on 2007 unless otherwise noted):

• Average annual CEO earnings: $10,408,054
• Increase over previous year: 22 per cent
• Average annual pay for Canadians: $40,237
• Number of CEOs to earn total income of Nunavut: 25
• Point at which CEO earns annual salary of average Canadian: Jan. 2, 9:04 a.m.

Quote:

"A lot of the CEOs have a compensation formula that still compensates them wonderfully while they're not creating value or even destroying value - laying off people and the like."

Roger Martin, dean of Rotman School of Management.

Kind of makes me sick... I gues we should start paying more for bank service fees, and telecom fees and all sorts of fees... only 22% salary increase... what a shame!

It's time to start speaking out, time to do something... this is criminal.

quote

A good reminder at the beginning of a new year

The Word was first,
the Word present to God,
God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
in readiness for God from day one.

Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out.

The Life-Light was the real thing:
Every person entering Life
he brings into Light.

The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory…
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.

Source: John 1, The Message

lars and the real girl

We watched Lars and the Real Girl last night. It's a fascinating movie about a young man, Lars Lindstrom [Ryan Gosling] lives in the converted garage behind the house he and his brother Gus [Paul Schneider] inherited from their father. Lars finds it difficult to interact with his brother and sister-in-law Karin [Emily Mortimer], his co-workers, and people at Holy Grace Lutheran Church.

One day he buys a life-size doll - a wheelchair-bound missionary of Brazilian and Danish descent named Bianca - from an adult website, and presents her to his family as his girlfriend. After a consultation with their family doctor [Patricia Clarkson], his brother and sister-in-law decide to go along with it (his brother begrudgingly) and carefully tell co-workers, church members, and others about Lars’ delusion.

Part of the tension in the film is wondering who the jerk is going to be. Where are the teenaged boys to whistle and tease? Where’s the insensitive cad at the party? The jerk coming out of a bar?

When Lars’ brother and sister-in-law have a meeting with people at church (on folding chairs, in a circle, in the basement) one woman points out that other people in the church have problems, too, so what’s the big deal. She rattles off a few faults of relatives of the people in the circle and then points to one older man and finishes, ”...and your wife was a klepto.” “She was not!” the man retorts. “Then why is she buried in my earrings?” says the woman, not in an accusing way, but in a way that communicates that she simply absorbed this woman’s failings as part of being in a relationship with her. The church then simply accepts Lars and Bianca for Lars' sake.

It is obvious that in this small town, people aren’t just going along to get along. They are going along in love. In one of the early scenes, before Bianca arrives, Lars is in church and is playing with action figures while the pastor drones on that God is love, and when we love we can be God in action.

And that really is the key to the film. And it's right here that far too often we, the church, blow it. If a young man came into your congregation pushing a life-sized doll in a wheelchair and introduced her as his girlfriend, how would you react? Your children? Your board? I can hear the uncomfortable laughter from here.

How far would you go to include someone else who seemed left out? That question gets torn up and thrown away by Jesus, whose very life was given up to make outsiders insiders. Those separated from the love of God can find redemption in Jesus' death on the cross, and truly come alive. We're all socially inept, unable to talk with or be with God, but God creates community for us, opening the door through Jesus' sacrifice. And that love itself makes us all real boys and girls.

God is love.
When we love, we get to be God in action.
Sounds like gospel to me.


links

• IMDB
• Roger Ebert
• wikipedia
• Official site

strange fruit

Here's Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit"... lyrics are posted below

"Strange Fruit" began as a poem written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish high-school teacher from the Bronx, about the lynching of two black men. He published under the pen name Lewis Allan. Meeropol and his wife adopted Robert and Michael, sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of espionage and executed by the United States. via wikipedia

The photo below was the inspiration for the poem

So why did I post this song?

1. It's a beautiful, haunting song that cleanses the palette after the pop in the previous post.
2. It's a needed reminder that despite all the hype south of the border around Obama's election, there is still deep seated racism... and despite our claims otherwise, it exists here in Canada as well.
3. I wonder... are we as the church producing "strange fruit" rather than "peculiar people"? Are we producing stuff [and I think that's an appropriate term] instead of being a missional people?

Just some things to think about?

Strange Fruit lyrics

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

via boing boing

top 25 songs of 2008

I don't keep up on my pop songs. So here is...

DJ Earworm's mashup of Billboard's top 25 tunes of 2008—called The United State of Pop 2008—will catch you up on the biggest pop hits of this past year in under five minutes.

Songs in the mashup include:

• Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain - Low
• Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
• Alicia Keys - No One
• Lil Wayne Featuring Static Major - Lollipop
• Timbaland Featuring OneRepublic - Apologize
• Jordin Sparks Duet With Chris Brown - No Air
• Sara Bareilles - Love Song
• Usher Featuring Young Jeezy - Love in This Club
• Chris Brown - With You
• Chris Brown - Forever
• Ray J & Yung Berg - Sexy Can I
• Rihanna - Take a Bow
• Coldplay - Viva La Vida
• Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl
• T.I. - Whatever You Like
• Rihanna - Disturbia
• Rihanna - Don’t Stop the Music
• Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful of Sunshine
• Chris Brown Featuring T-Pain - Kiss Kiss
• Ne-Yo - Closer
• Colbie Caillat - Bubbly
• Mariah Carey - Touch My Body
• Madonna Featuring Justin Timberlake - 4 Minutes
• Pink - So What
• Finger Eleven - Paralyzer

If you really want it, there is a downloadable version at the link.

A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort,
at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger,
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

My God bless you with tears,
to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their
pain to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness,
to believe that you can make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

Amen.

via backyard missionary