Category: community

Sabatage

I tried posting this on Facebook but I was blocked for some reason… crazy – never got any warnings from them before.

GAME RULES:

1. Put your music player on shuffle (ALL MUSIC).
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the game from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OK” YOU SAY:
War Driving

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
10,000 Children

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Wake Up

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
So Long, Marianne

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Beautiful

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
Amen, Amen

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Burning Love

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
I Will Never See the Sun

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Heaven’s Son

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Blessed

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
I Hear Your Voice

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
I’ve Got You

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Gone (New Mix)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Angels

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Brainfreeze

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
The Other Side

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Tips for Sweet-Talking a Caribou

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Everybody’s Singing Now

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Why Don’t You Smile

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Be Coo Mix

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
I am Free

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Say it Right and F the World

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
I Walk the Line

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Give My Love to Rose

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Sabatage

I’m too lazy to link to folks on the blog … but I tag Laurie, Dollye, Chris Allman, Trucker Frank, Thomas, Olwyn, Johny Laird, Tim Ellcey, Kara, Sara, B and for the heck of it — Shaun Groves.

How would you respond?

dong-yun-yoon

Dong Yun Yoon [English name is Don Yoon], 37, was at work at his cafe when he discovered the horrible news of a F/A-18 jet crashing into a residential home – his home. His wife, two young babies, and his mother-in-law who had recently arrived from Korea to help take care of the babies [a Korean custom] all were killed in this tragedy.

Eugene C Cho shares Yoon’s story on his blog. And you can watch video on CNN.

And I’ll be honest, had it not been for Cho, I’d have no idea this even happened.

Yoon married his wife, Young Mi Yoon [a nurse], four years ago and had two children: Grace [15 months] and Rachel [2 months]. They had just moved into this house one month ago.

“My wife — it was God’s blessing that I met her about four years ago, and we got married,” he said quietly. “She’s just such a lovely wife and mother, who always loves me, and (the) babies. I just miss her so much.”

r3741291903

So, your entire family has been taken from you. The pilot of the F-18 that crashed into your house walked away — he ejected just before the crash.

How would you respond?

Yoon responds with grace that can only come from an almighty God.

“…I believe my wife and two babies and mother-in-law are in heaven with God,” he said. “And I know God is taking care of them.”

as for the pilot…

“Please pray for him not to suffer from this accident,” Yoon said. “I know he’s one of our treasures, for the country, and I … don’t blame him. I don’t have any hard feelings. I know he did everything he could.”

Sure makes my petty issues with others seem even more so.

God may we love like you love. May we treasures others like you treasure them. May we see your image in them all. May we conspire to live differently this season and live our lives differently from this point forward.

“Grace, grace, God’s grace. Grace that is greater than all our sins.”

Human Rights Day


The Universal Declaration of Human Rights from Seth Brau on Vimeo.
(embedded video)

Today is the day we celebrate the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (December 10, 1948).

Heard anything about it today?

My wall calendar mentions Human Rights Day – but that’s all I’ve seen. Not even a Google Doodle today. 🙁

Wonder if its because we’re just to swept up in the Advent/Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza spirit to notice? Seems like Human Rights Day would be a great holiday for Followers of the Way.

I am currently reading “On the Side of Angels” and it talks extensively about human rights, justice, kingdom mission and the like. They seem to make a similar point to one I made back in September, and raise issue with the term “human rights.”

But that despite that issue, I don’t believe that means we stop recognizing the hurting, the oppressed, the poor, the sick, the needy among us. I think it should give us greater cause for pause and give us greater reason to fight for the rights of others — those of fellow Christians, as well as believers in other faiths and those who choose not to believe.

So take pause and consider what you can do to help join the fight for your fellow man. And may we choose compassion over anger and love over hate and may we see all humans as the living image of God.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

info from the UN
pdf copy of the declaration
voice of the martyrs
thoughts from this fragile tent

What kids really want this Christmas

christmas village
christmas village

The Simple Dollar shares several pointers on how to make Christmas much more meaningful this year.

First off they note, that the really meaningful Christmas gifts don’t come from MegaMart.

My wife and I take pleasure in creating homemade Christmas gifts, as do many of our friends. But even these are secondary to the time we spend “playing Santa”, driving around making holiday deliveries to the people we know. As we chat on porches or sit in living rooms, sipping hot cocoa and fawning over children, it’s the bonds of friendship that are important — not the gifts.

The post then shares several pointers from the book, Unplugging the Christmas Machine.

Robinson and Staeheli (the book’s authors) argue that children don’t really want clothes and toys and games. The four things they actually want are:

  • A relaxed and loving time with the family. Children need relaxed attention. During the holidays, normal family routines are temporarily set aside for parties, shopping, and special events. It’s important to slow down and spend quality time with your kids.
  • Realistic expectations about gifts. Kids enjoy looking forward to gifts and then having their expectations met. The key is to manage their expectations. By educating them about what “Santa” can afford, and is willing to give, it’s possible to prevent disappointment on Christmas morning.
  • An evenly-paced holiday season. The modern Christmas season starts months before December 25th, when the first store displays go up. Things end with a bang on Christmas day. The authors suggest beginning the season late in the year instead. Get out the Christmas music on December 15th. Pick out a tree on the following weekend. Schedule some low-key family events during Christmas week. Stretch the season to New Years Day.
  • Reliable family traditions. When I talk to my friends about what Christmas was like when we were Children, it’s not the gifts that we remember. We recall the things we did as a family. I remember sleeping next to the tree every Christmas eve, but never being able to catch Santa in the act. I remember seeing the cousins. I remember decorating the trailer house. Your kids will remember the traditions, not the gifts.

That last point is so important: it’s the traditions that make this season special, not the gifts.

I shared with our small group Saturday night that the idea of giving and receiving “material gifts” has become a lot more trivial to me in recent years. Maybe I’m ungrateful and expect everyone else to feel the same way — I dunno. I just feel like a gift card or a last minute gift says nothing about how you might really feel about that person.

Spending an hour over coffee at Starbucks, or a bowl of popcorn seems to say so much more.

What about you? What are you thinking, doing differently this year?

A day of fasting

This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’

Isaiah 55:6-9

For those interested or curious, you can listen to the message I shared with my tribe yesterday.

Rethinking church

Neil Cole writes ::

We must transition from seeing church as a once-a-week worship event to an ongoing spiritual family on mission together. Then people will see church as something worth giving your life for. Honestly, people need one another more then they need another inspiring message. You would be surprised what people will do for Jesus, or for a brother or sister, that they will not do for a vision statement and a capital giving campaign.

(HT @emergentvillage)