Wednesday, December 31, 2003

Offended Church People

This is funny and it isn't. Mosaic is a very cool church and I suspect the people involved in this were immature believers doing what they thought was best.

Enjoy the excerpts here or read the whole article.
[Editor’s note: Author Craig Gross is cofounder of XXXChurch.com, a website created to make people aware of all the issues about porn and provide Christians with accountability and hope. The organization has recently completely covered a Toyota Scion xB in a graphic containing their website and slogan: “Porn site for the entire family.” They affectionately refer to this car as the “porn mobile.”]

...

I stayed behind, and she headed to the porn mobile. When she arrived, she found three people surrounding the vehicle and a note on the car. The note read: “You are more than welcome to come back to this church, but please do not park the car here or bring the car at all.” She tried to enter the car and was harassed by one of the three people. He kept telling her that XXX is a dirty word and should be taken out of the slogan. She kept telling him that it was a good thing and that the website targeted people struggling with pornographic issues. He kept mumbling and wouldn’t leave. So, she got into the car and proceeded to feed our son.

...

I wrapped up my discussion and headed to the car to meet my wife, unaware of all that had gone on. My wife was visibly upset and got more upset when I started laughing at the stupidity of the whole situation.

As I walked toward the car, the parking attendant informed me that the police were on their way, and we should take the car and leave.

“This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard,” I said to him. “Why am I going to leave and try to escape?” We stuck around for a few minutes, and sure enough, the police car entered the parking lot. I started taking pictures of the whole scene and was hoping he was going to try to handcuff the vehicle.

...
Why Good People Quit Seminary

Not as bad as it sounds, but I thought Lance might be interested. Off-the-map

Tuesday, December 30, 2003

Gracious Living

Here is a blog that might be an interesting read. It says it is written by Elaine Ness, Life Coach. Life would be great with a coach.

This subsection on handwriting analysis will probably be interesting to my wife.

Saturday, December 27, 2003

Friday Five

1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year? Transitioning to Mr Mom.

2. What was your biggest disappointment? Having to cut salaries at The Crossover.

3. What do you hope the new year brings? Joy, clarity, fruit.

4. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions? If yes, what will they be? Be more humble. Try to go with God's flow more rather trying to create flow. Work harder in the areas where God is flowing.

5. What are your plans for New Year's Eve? Go to Josh and Shawna's house. Probably do a live blogging broadcast.
True Reflections

By Dave Matthews Band

When you look into a mirror
Do you like what's looking at you?
Now that you've seen your true reflections
What on earth are you gonna do?

Find some inspiration
It's down deep inside you
Amend your situation, yeah
Your whole life is ahead of you
Your whole life is ahead of you

Remember the time you hung out with the boys, now
Remember the things you used to say
I thought by now you'd be the president
But after all that was yesterday
But you've had time to go out in the world now
But you chose to run away

Well, people ask you what you're doing now
You don't even know what to say

Find some inspiration
It's down deep inside you
Amend your situation, yeah
Your whole life is ahead of you
Your whole life is ahead of you

Find some inspiration (yeah)
It's down deep inside you
Amend your situation, yeah
Your whole life is ahead of you
Your whole life is ahead of you

You think your life is like a movie
Where it all works out in the end
I think your life is like a desert
Where does it go, where does it begin?
When you look into a mirror
(When you look into a mirror)
Do you like what's looking at you?
(Do you like it?)
Now that you've seen your true reflection
What on earth are you gonna do?

Find some inspiration
It's down deep inside you
Amend your situation, yeah
Your whole life is ahead of you
Your whole life is ahead of you

Find some inspiration (yeah)
It's down deep inside you
Amend your situation, yeah
Your whole life is ahead of you
Your whole life is ahead of you

Find some inspiration
It's down deep inside you
Find some inspiration
It's down deep inside you
Find some inspiration (inspiration)
It's down deep inside you
Find some inspiration (inspiration)
It's down deep inside you
Find some inspiration
It's down deep inside you
Find some inspiration...
It's down deep inside of you.
What is the Emerging Church

The question started this morning via Cooper at PoMoMuSiNgS questioning whether Mars Hill is an Emerging Church.

Creech had some good stuff:

The question for me and for many church planters - people who have jumped out of the boat to find another island - are doing is trying to get to the heart of the matter - what IS the church? Why is it here? All the answers we have EVER been given are on the chopping block - they won't do simply because they are there. So, we lay them all down and we pick them up one by one and ask, "why is this here?" - "is this legitimate?" - "does this harm or help?" - and the big one - "does this or that help to effectively form me and those whom I am bound together with into the image of Jesus Christ?" The answer to this question is what causes me to "be the church" how I be it. The question, you understand me, is NOT, "does this or that effectively communicate the gospel to the postmodern generation around me?" If that were the question, I would not be asking deeply enough. I would be asking within my former framework of thinking. I would still be wondering how best to get people to come to church and how to make that church service relevant to them when they do come.


and

But don't just look to find things that seem cool and copy them! Jump off the cliff and hit the freakin' rocks below and die a bloody death to everything before! Do it now!!! If you do not, you will never ever know if any of it is good and healthy and formational or not. You will not know because you will have stayed in the land of assumptions. So, you may come back alive from that death and realize, for instance, that liturgy IS good and DOES help to form people effectively into the image of Christ - and then you will do it because of that and not because you never questioned it and you assumed it was just good. And you will not do it because you were desperate to reach the young people and you found out they like that cool, mystical crap and so you cranked up some candles and incense and did it, and they came, and declared, "it is cool."

Friday, December 26, 2003

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was much better than I expected, mainly due to my wife, who made it so.

She was very sneaky about giving me an MP3 player. I love it! I'm listening to Dave Matthews Band right now. I downloaded some Brian McLaren sermons for later. This might just get me walking again. Danelle also got me some much needed clothes. Very nice.

I bought Danelle season tickets to the Little Theatre on the Square. Not so much a surprise, since I just renewed last years tickets. I also got her a JC Penney gift card. She has lost some weight and is dying for new clothes, but I wouldn't want to pick them out. The newest Jan Karon Mitford book and a teacher desk calendar rounded out her loot from me.

The kids, again due to Danelle, all did pretty well. Danelle's self-sacrifice reminds me more of Christ than anything but Jesus himself in my life.

This post makes it sound like I think Christmas is about stuff. I know it isn't. What Christmas is about even more than stuff to most people is about expectations. Did my gifts and my family live up to my expectations? The answer is usually doubtful.

Jesus was about humbleness and graciousness and Christmas seems to demand the opposite in so many situations. But Danelle rescued me out of it with her humbleness and her graciousness. I may be the luckiest man in the world.

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Friday Five

A little late... again! I would have forgot except for Shawna.

1. List your five favorite beverages.
A. Coke
B. Coffee
C. Water
D. Cappuccino
E. Kool-Aid (except blue)

Once again a question shows my incredible lack of depth. Actually, I need another favorite. Coke doesn't settle as well as I slowly approach 40.

2. List your five favorite websites.
A. Jordon Cooper
B. The Living Room
C. John Porcaro
D. Jon Reid
E. Thinking

See my sidebar for links.

Alright, those are all blogs. Let's try again without blogs. This next list isn't in any order.

A. Internet Movie Database
B. Mars Hill
C. Yahoo - for email and news
D. Google - for web search and image search
E. Cnet - all things computer

3. List your five favorite snack foods.
A. Reese's Cup
B. Crunch Bar
C. M&M's
D. Pizza
E. Snickers

4. List your five favorite board and/or card games.
A. Axis and Allies
B. Chess
C. Eucre
D. Nerts
E. Hearts

5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games.
A. Civilization II
B. SNES Donkey Kong
C. SNES Super Mario
D. SNES NBA Jam
E. SNES Donkey Kong II

I'm old school.

Monday, December 22, 2003

Christmas Service

Last night we had our Christmas service. We do it about the same each year. We sing some Christmas carols, we read some Scripture, we take communion, and then we light candles. It was well attended last night, especially noting a lot of non-regular attenders. I really felt God's presence there.

Thursday, December 18, 2003

Summer Walk

This orisinal game is now my favorite: Summer walk. You'll think I'm prissy, but the James Taylorish music is the hook for me. And the creativity. No clicking. Clever, clever.
God speaks in Pictures

I subscribe to clipart.com. For preaching, I need a database of quality photos to use for my powerpoint. Clipart does ok, but it isn't always the best, especially to capture emotion in a face. It is also more than I want to pay.

Istockphoto.com lets you download what you want for .50 per photo. If I used 5 photos a week for a year that would cost $130, cheaper than the $150 per year for Clipart.

At least I should use it for that exceptional photo that will convey more than my words.
Spiderman is getting into the Holiday Spirit

I was able to edit Spidey's picture on the left and add a little santa hat. Now if I can just get myself into the holiday mood. I'm getting there.

Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Bohemian Christmas

From Jon Reid:

A good friend and former co-worker (the last of my 4 managers, actually) has been working on a recording studio in his garage that's, shall we say, a cut above your average hobbyist. He did the guitars and most of the engineering on Christmas Rhapsody, a frighteningly accurate parody of Bohemian Rhapsody. Check it out.


I did. It is an incredibly accurate parody. Worth a check.

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Great Advertising Idea

Download your free Spiderman blog template. Very cool.

It was fun adding this template to my blog. But the tediousness of keeping everything looking just so, just to add a link might be more than I'm interested in.
Surprising Day

I went to bed last night complaining about today. Today was overscheduled and undertimed (not enough time in the day). I was to be running here and then to there and then with the very few free minutes I had, I needed to be instantly creative. Ychh!

But that isn't the way the day went. I was able to spend some time with God (he met me at Hardees) this morning. I thought he clearly said: "Are you where I want you to be right now?" I answered, "Yes. I believe so." He added: "Do you think I have given you enough time in where I want you to be to do what I want you to do?" I answered, "Yes." Then he added: "Be of good spirit." So I have.

A teen from my church called me this morning and suggested we meet this afternoon just to chat. Very cool. I had lunch with Gil Rowe. And except for the fact that our local Burger King (not part of the chain) does not do drink refills (huh!), it was a great time. My mom watches our kids on Tuesdays, usually at her house, but she called this morning and suggested she come here, which saved me two hours driving time. Thanks mom!

So thanks God, mom, Gil, and TJ for a good day.

Monday, December 15, 2003

Sermon Hook

I've been preaching at The Crossover for almost 4 years. People seem to like my preaching but when pushed to come up with what they like, they often mention the Survivor series. That was almost 4 years ago.

The part that was most grabbing was that I took two groups of people on a Sunday night, gave them a video camera, and told them to go help someone. I edited the tape, made it look like Survivor and made it a serial for the next several weeks. People still remember it.

I've been trying to think of another hook. Survivor isn't as popular now. American Idol was big, but I didn't watch it, and how would you use that. But I had a thought.

Joe Christian. Kind of based on Joe Schmo. The hook in Joe Schmo was that one guy, actually named Matt not Joe, was the only real person in the reality show. Everyone else was an actor.

In Joe Christian, Joe is the only Christian and not a very good one at that and is surrounded by the people in his house and has to react to different situations. I assume we would play it much more funny than serious.

Then in my preaching I would play off, what should Joe Christian have done there?

Good idea? Bad idea? It isn't to water down the content, but to make the deep content more memorable.
Spiderman II

I just watched a trailer of the new Spiderman movie coming out in July. It looks great. The villain is Doc Octopus. Very cool.
Saddam Captured!

Sunday morning, I said to our congregation at church, "Did you hear the news?" To my surprise, they let out a whoop and applauded. Our congregation isn't the noisiest so it kind of surprised me.
Survivor Winner

Shawna got me hooked on Survivor again. I don't know if it was because we took a break or this series was simply better than previous ones, but Danelle and I got hooked.

Thanks for the video copies Shawna!

Saturday, December 13, 2003

Time Waster

I mentioned one specific game before, but there is a slew of really cool, really well done games at Orsinal. My favorite is probably this spider game. There are 47 games and I'm amazed at how original they look.

Carpal tunnel awaits.

They are so not shootem ups. Check out this "Milk the Cows" game! No kidding.

They seem great for kids. Aghh. Maybe not. The guest book looks like snotty teens got a hold of it.
Simple Personality Quiz

I had been looking for a simple personality quiz. I found one at Personalitytype.com.

Here is mine:

Life as an ENTP
(Extravert, Intuitive, Thinker, Perceiver)

People of this type tend to be: friendly, charming, and outgoing; quick-witted, energetic, and irreverent; ingenious, imaginative, and creative; curious, flexible, and unpredictable; logical and analytical.

The most important thing to ENTPs is being creative, seeing possibilities, and always having new challenges.
Postmodern Crackup III

Thinking more about Colson's article and discussing it a bit at breakfast with Tom, I wanted to reflect on one major issue with postmodernity.

As I began to explore different voices, especially Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, I was really surprised by how conservative they were. Their doctrine, their belief in Christ, their reliance on the Biblical text, their understanding of the whole of church history, their theology of God, their view of the role of men and women, ... all very, very conservative.

From Mars Hill Doctrinal Statement (sounds modern)

The scriptures ~ we believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed (II Tim 3:16, 17; II Peter 1:20,21; Matt 5:18;John 16:12,13).


From Mars Hill Core Value - Beauty (sounds postmodern)

The Gospel is the story of God told from His perspective, to His glory. Only God is bigger than the Gospel. At first it sounds like a foolish paradoxical mystery. And so we try to make it sound more rational, believable and sane. It is not. The Gospel is neither rational nor irrational, but trans-rational.


They are often liberal in their speech, using words we would consider curse words, even in their preaching. Some, like Cooper (which may be partly because he is Canadian), are a bit more liberal politically. Some, like Hopkins, much more.

So Colson looks at some demographics, talks to some college students, and finds that they are more conservative about sex and marriage than their parents, and he assumes that since they aren't liberal, they also aren't postmodern.

Not so. It is just that it doesn't look like we thought it would. But they are definitely postmodern (or at the very least -- not modern).
Breakfast with Tom Toner

Thanks for breakfast this morning Tom. Tom is one of those great guys that makes you a better person for knowing them. Tom brought his son Aaron with him who is the same age as my daughter. Got a feeling they are going to start IM chatting soon. Well, if it has to be someone, he's not the worst choice. Blessings to you and your family Tom.
Postmodern Crackup II

Cooper linked to a website that tracked charges being placed against two theologians, trying to kick them out of the Evangelical Theological Society.

At the ETS Annual Meeting on November 21, 2002, Dr. Roger Nicole presented charges against fellow ETS members, Dr. Clark Pinnock and Dr. John Sanders, arguing that their writings on open theism were incompatible with the inerrancy provision of the ETS' Doctrinal Basis.


The charges were not upheld and the two theologians maintain their membership.

Friday, December 12, 2003

Fun Game

Way too much blogging. Critical Zone
Wireless Video

My mom just got a TV for her kitchen. She has always had a TV in her kitchen. This one doesn't pick up local stations well at all. They have no cable outlet in the kitchen. So I was thinking about getting her a wireless video receiver from Bestbuy.
Color Quiz

It isn't far off and I would usually choose blue as a color.

you are dodgerblue
#1E90FF

Your dominant hues are cyan and blue. You like people and enjoy making friends. You're conservative and like to make sure things make sense before you step into them, especially in relationships. You are curious but respected for your opinions by people who you sometimes wouldn't even suspect.

Your saturation level is high - you get into life and have a strong personality. Everyone you meet will either love you or hate you - either way, your goal is to get them to change the world with you. You are very hard working and don't have much patience for people without your initiative.

Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.
the spacefem.com html color quiz
A Good Christmas Gift List

My wife has asked me what I want for Christmas. She doesn't like my answer, so I'll steal a list from Peachwater.

I have it now. The Christmas list at this point reads,

* Peace on earth
* Good will toward men
* Glad tidings of comfort and joy
* Comfort and joy
* Chestnuts roasting (fire optional)
* An iPod (20GB model)
* Pa rum pum pum pum on my drum
A Christmas Present For Dad

I'm thinking of taking dad to the Korean Veterans Museum and Dinner as his Christmas gift. Maybe we could go over Christmas break.
JI Packer on the Image of God

I thought this was a bunch of good stuff at another CT article by JI Packer.

Image means representative likeness?which tells us at once that we should be reflecting, at our creaturely level, what Genesis 1 shows God is and does. Therefore we should always act with resourceful rationality and wise love, making and executing praiseworthy plans just as God did in creation. He generated value by producing what was truly good; so should we. We should be showing love and goodwill toward all other persons, as God did when he blessed Adam and Eve (1:28). And in fellowship with God, we should directly honor and obey him by the way we manage and care for that bit of the created order that he gives us to look after, according to his dominion mandate (26, 28).

...

So a distinction has to be drawn. We still bear the image of God formally—that is, we still have in us the abilities that, if rightly harnessed, would achieve a fully righteous, Godlike life—and so the unique dignity of each human being must still be recognized and respected (Gen. 9:6; James 3:9), as a gesture of honor to our maker. But we have lost the image substantially, and it takes God's grace-gift of union with Christ to restore it fully. Through this gift we share his resurrection life in regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.

...

God's work of restoring the image starts in the heart, with inward illumination, our embrace of Christ, and motivational change at the core of our being (2 Cor. 4:4, 6, 5:17). Born-again believers want God more than they want anything else. In daily life our strongest desire is to love and worship and serve and please and honor and glorify the Father and the Son, who saved us.

...

Two humans, living in God's image, were the crown of God's creation. Our fallen race, acting out the image of Satan, ruins his creation. A new humanity, the company of believers recreated in Christ's image, will adorn and enjoy the new heaven and earth that are promised. Praise God!


Post-modernity Gasping for Last Breath

Chuck Colson wrote a recent article in Christianity Today called The Postmodern Crackup.

Here are the last two paragraphs:

... just as there seem to be encouraging signs in the culture, there are also signs that the church is dumbing down, moving from a Word-driven message to an image- and emotion-driven message (note how many Christian radio stations have recently converted from talk and preaching to all music).

It would be the supreme irony—and a terrible tragedy—if we found ourselves slipping into postmodernity just when the broader culture has figured out it's a dead end.


Brian McLaren has written an open letter back to Chuck Colson.

I haven't thoroughly read McLaren's response (it is 8 to 10 times longer than Colson's article), but I have skimmed it, which is entirely inadequate. But here are a couple paragraphs near the end:

Years ago, a colleague of yours was asked about postmodern thought. He replied that it should be opposed at all costs. When asked why, he replied, “Because it destroys our apologetic.” I thought about him, then, and you, now, the same way: “Thank God he’s over 55. He can afford to think the postmodern culture can be opposed. He can afford to stick with the status quo apologetic.” But for those of us who are either younger or more engaged with the true issues of postmodernity (in which sense was I using the word true in the previous clause?), we can’t afford that luxury.

The postmodern culture is the world in which many of us live and work and minister, sharing the good news and following the good ways of Jesus Christ. The old modern apologetic simply doesn’t work for us, or our children, or their friends. It’s not just that it doesn’t work: I’m not just being pragmatic. The modern apologetic doesn’t even address the questions that are being raised. So for us, the hard questions raised by real, thoughtful postmodern people (not the cartoon caricatures you present in this column) require good answers, and those answers require better, deeper, more careful, less simplistic thinking than you provided in your column, or in your other writings I have read on this subject, as good as they are in many other ways.

You may find a thousand flaws in my thinking, Chuck, but I hope you’ll give these matters a second thought, and I hope you’ll pray for me and others rather than portraying all “postmoderns” as cartoons, because with all our flaws, at least we’re trying to deal with a world you apparently don’t understand and hope is just going to crack up and go away. If it doesn’t crack up and go away, you’ll be glad some of us took it more seriously and engaged it more thoughtfully for the sake of the gospel.


This issue concerns me deeply. I am somewhat afraid that an uncrossable chasm is going to appear between me and some of my colleagues. Colson has just painted away the work of Brian McLaren and Len Sweet with an easy stroke of his pen. Because the culture is moving back to understanding morality, Colson can only figure that it is because the culture has realized he is right. I don't think so.

I don't want to be cold about this. And I don't want to be overconfident. A lot is at stake, including many ministry relationships that I hold dear. This is going to require some processing.
Friday Five

1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays? As a kid I did. Then not really. But since I have kids, I have started enjoying it more.

2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect? By accident, we had Christmas Eve at our house with just our family. It was very cold and snowy last year. It was a very special time as we opened our gifts to each other.

3. Do you do have any holiday traditions? No. Oh, I guess. We put up a tree.

4. Do you do anything to help the needy? We've been involved in Habitat for Humanity.

5. What one gift would you like for yourself? MP3 player.
Flu Vaccine Shortage

From Yahoo News:

Last year the vaccine makers had to throw away 12 million doses of flu vaccine that were never used, so this year they made less.

Thursday, December 11, 2003

A Pronounciation Dictionary

I have a friend who reads constantly. So sometimes he will use a word that I won't recognize and then he'll spell it because he isn't sure how to pronounce it and neither am I. The current online dictionary I use doesn't give audio pronounciations unless you pay for membership.

But my daughter (8 years old) showed me another dictionary that does. Dictionary - Yahooligans! Reference - So now we know how to pronounce Essenes.

Update: I'll keep the link in my sidebar for the other dictionary because the one failing of American Heritage at yahooligans is that if you misspell the word (a likely problem if you are in need of a dictionary), it doesn't give any suggestions or at least it didn't on "fahrenheit" which I spelled "farenheit". The other dictionary however does and did.

I just looked up "maladroit" for clarification and pronounciation.
If you build it, they will argue

Title of an article in Leadership magazine. Made me giggle.
Flu Shots

Grandparents insisted that we get our kids vaccinated for the flu this year. There have been several child deaths already this year, and one here in Illinois. The only facility that still had any vaccine was an hour away. Our schedule wouldn't work to get us all there at the same time, so we made two trips yesterday. Ice cream seemed to be the only remedy for the trauma. We pretty much had Dairy Queen to ourselves as the temperature were in the low 20's (fahrenheit).
Another Rough Week

A pastor friend of mine lost his wife on Saturday. She was baking cookies and her heart stopped. She was 55 years old and seemed in great health. People lined up for hours to say goodbye at the visitation on Tuesday and the church was packed for the funeral on Wednesday morning.

Two preachers both preached full funeral sermons back to back. Normally that would be excessive, but it was very well done, glorified God, and was an appropriate tribute to her.

One of the most moving things to me was that she had taught high school for 33 years and a huge troop of students and teachers drove over for the funeral. Please pray for my friend Kenny as he goes on, which will probably be the toughest journey he has ever made.

Monday, December 08, 2003

Control

John Porcaro heard a speech by Bob Rosner.

Here was a sample of what he heard:

He cited a study that showed that in office buildings, most thermostats aren’t hooked up to anything. People like the feeling of control, even if it’s an illusion. He said “don’t even get me started about the close button on elevators…”

He said everyone’s frustration comes down to two missing things: Simplicity and Control. Bob adds Community.

The five biggest headaches at work: Losing your job; Office politics; Stress; Trying to motivate others; Getting things done.


Go over to John's site for a bit more.

Saturday, December 06, 2003

Reproducing DNA

More than any other tool, I am becoming convinced that Core Values are the essential navigational tool for this murky time in which we live. Our denomination has produced a book with our core values. Nobody (obvious exaggeration) is reading it. The production of it was very important, but now they must start the process of reproducing it. I would suggest they hire a Director of Reproducing DNA or a Director of Midwivery.

Our group, Midwest Church Planting (which has a beautiful, well thought out website... though it is still only in my head), may take on that task of reproducing core values so that we will have a place to stand. Some see our group as simply tasked -- plant new churches. But the soil is miserable for planting denominational churches. One critical thing that the denomination can provide is a base of Core Values.

Leonard Sweet has written a book (which I have not read) called "11 Genetic Gateways to Spiritual Awakening," which I think is what he would consider the core values of the United Methodist Church. Then they created this website to encourage discussion. An excellent beginning for a denomination that drastically needs a firm foundation.

Here are the final words of Sweet's introduction to his book:

For quite some time I have been arguing that "the postmodernist always rings twice;" that in postmodern culture, in both/and (not either/or) fashion, we must get more ancient and more future at the same time. This book is my attempt to work out this ancientfuture methodology on my own tribe, the Wesleyan movement in general and the United Methodist Church in particular. I shall attempt to analyze the Wesleyan movement both in retrospect and in prospect, looking into the past while launching into the future at the same time, functioning as both historian and futurist.

In short, just call me the "repo man" of Methodism. This book is my attempt to repossess the Wesleyan heritage for the new world, to make its soul fresh and singable again among a rising generation, and in a deeper repossession to harness its energies once more for the day in which we live.

Friday, December 05, 2003

Favorite Christmas Movies

Doing a series of sermons for December called Christmas Stories, so I wanted to be able to tie in favorite Christmas movies.

Epinions.com - MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIES OF ALL TIME! I didn't check them all, but all that I checked we had rights to use.

1. WHITE CHRISTMAS
2. I’T’S A WONDERFUL LIFE rights
3. MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET
4. SCROOGE
5. HOLIDAY INN
6. THE SANTA CLAUSE rights
7. CHRISTMAS VACATION rights
8. JINGLE ALL THE WAY
9. HOME ALONE
10 HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS rights

HONORABLE MENTION LIST OR BUBBLING BELOW THE TOP TEN

THE BELLS OF ST. MARY’S – 1945
I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS – 1998
A CHRISTMAS CAROL – 1997
SCROOGED – 1988 rights
EARNEST SAVES CHRISTMAS – 1988 rights
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS – 1995
A CHRISTMAS STORY – 1983 rights
A CHRISTMAS CAROL – 1951
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET – 1994
THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL – 1992
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS – 1991
SANTA CLAUS: THE MOVIE – 1985
THE MAN IN THE SANTA CLAUS SUIT – 1979
A Matrix Review I Agree With

I read the Matrix Revolutions review over at Next Wave, written by Mike Gunn.

He put to words much of what I thought about the movie. It appears we are actually disappointed that the ultimate meaning to life is choosing to love and the willingness to sacrifice your life for another.

Here is a sample of the review:

This message doesn’t fall apart, it actually grows through all three movies and made evident in the final scene where evil (The true evil here. Not the machines, they were merely being manipulated by Agent Smith’s ability to replicate himself in the Matrix) is defeated by Neo taking on the likeness of Agent Smith for the sake of defeating evil and setting Zion free. Sound familiar? “He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf…” Sure there are many other layers surrounding it, sure the story is convoluted with images of Hollywood gloss, and it certainly isn’t closed ended with all the answer of the universe revealed, but its message is clear, and I think it did deliver what it promised. It is truly a progressive revelation that gets larger as the characters encounter Neo (“The One”), who progressively recognizes that his journey is moving him from a self centered existence in the Matrix world to a sacrificial existence in the “Real” world. It is quite possibly a message that we no longer believe. This may be our problem with this movie; we have placed our hope in Hollywood, and have come away a bit disappointed.
A Slower Day

Ahhhh... a slower day. I don't have anything scheduled for the rest of the day. I had a 6:15AM appointment with some leaders. I woke up at 6:11AM. Yikes! No shower. Wear a hat. I wasn't that late.

There is a beautiful light snow falling. I usually don't like snow, but it feels more like a warm beautiful blanket today. It has been a killer week. I know everybody is busy and I'm not looking for a competition, but just to let you know how much I appreciate today.

Monday: My wife and I work for my father-in-law. We take care of his payables and invoicing. He was having a meeting with his foremen Monday morning and wanted me there. I also scheduled high speed internet to be hooked up at his house that morning. My gracious friend Shawna watched my kids (including my sick 8 year old) until noon when she had to leave for a doctor's appointment. So the kids and I went back to Papaws and finished up the internet work. The kids were great.

That night, Danelle and I usually go to our small group where we are reading John Eldredge's Waking the Dead. Our baby sitter was sick so I stayed home and let Danelle facilitate the group.

Tuesday: Alyssa was still sick, though I did get her to school for half a day. Laundry and cleaning the house were on the agenda. That evening I had premarital counseling with a couple getting married on Christmas Eve.

Wednesday: My mom watched the kids at her house so I drive them about 30 minutes and mom meets me there. Alyssa was still sick so I took her to the doctor and waited most of the morning. She didn't have an ear infection which was good, so I drove her to school and she got in another half day.

BTW, I love my doctor. I would never switch, but what is the deal with prescribing antibiotics. Do they get a kickback? Every time I go to the doctor, they give me a prescription to which I respond, "Do we really need it?" Over half the time, they say "No." The Physcians Assistant actually gave me a prescription for a different antibiotic because they are having problems with resistance! This is because they are prescribing antibiotic unnecessarily. We didn't fill the prescription.

Wednesday afternoon, I met with the new owners of the Ramada Inn where our church meets.

Wednesday night: Premarital counseling for a couple getting married in early January.

Thursday: Mom came up to watch the kids today. I hurried to get some music ready for band practice that night. Alyssa stayed home all day. Then in the morning I ran to Springfield (about 2 hours away) because a guy from our church was having surgery. I stayed for a while, then turned around and drove home, made some copies, grabbed a sandwich (thanks honey) and drove to band practice.

Friday: God woke me up just in time for my leadership meeting. But the rest of the day is mine. Alyssa is home sick today. I might get a chance to look at the computer Tom Toner gave me for my mom. I downloaded moveabletype blog software to see if I can get that to work. Maybe I'll have some time to do a little cyber Christmas shopping. We'll see.
A Beautiful Woman

I asked for comments about this statement: "A man wants to be found worthy. A woman wants to be found beautiful. "

Shawna recently commented:

I have thought a lot about this since you posted it and I would have to agree with the statement. At first I didn't, but after much thought I really do believe the desire of my heart as a woman is to be found beautiful. Not just in the physical sense, but the inner me as well and maybe even more so. With all the "feminism" that abounds in my generation, I think that we have tried to cover up our basic need. After Adam & Eve sinned, one of the consequences of Eve's actions was that she would desire her husband and that he would be over her. I think part of that desiring, is that she wants him to see her as beautiful, as innocent, but since she sinned, she is tainted and no longer is "innocent" to her husband and she desires more than anything to gain that back.


Good stuff. Any more comments? I'm really interested. I want to preach some men/women sermons early next year.

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

I Got Linked

Thomas Williams linked to my blog. I didn't see any info on who exactly he is. It appears he lives downunder, is a Christian, and a programmer. His blog looks interesting to me. A mix of Christianity and IT (Information Technology).

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

Friday Five
1. Do you like to shop? Why or why not? No. I get irritated by not finding what I want. But as I get older, I am more in tune with some longer term thinking, and looking around and seeing if I can run across a good deal on something I've been looking for. But still... no.

2. What was the last thing you purchased? This shouldn't be a tough question, but... I mean I bought my lunch yesterday, but... does anybody care? I don't remember the last major or even semi-major purchase I have made, at least for me personally or for my family.

3. Do you prefer shopping online or at an actual store? Why? Online. Less crowding. One year I did ALL of my Christmas shopping online. The problem was that it was more expensive. But much more enjoyable.

4. Did you get an allowance as a child? How much was it? Yes. I don't remember. $1. $5/week. ???

5. What was the last thing you regret purchasing? Nothing really. Our Mazda MPV is not lasting like we thought it would, but I don't regret the purchase. We did our homework. We just got a lemon. I don't use my palm pilot as much as I thought I would, but I do use it every day.
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