On the verge of something big

distributed christianity

Boy if there’s ever a week that things really seem to be aligning this might be it. Maybe it’s just my limited perspective.

I’m not sure where this post is going so bear with me.

More and more across our country – and around the world – groups are coming together to declare their independence. There’s a restlessness afoot. People are growing weary of institutions of all shapes and sizes.

And the Internet seems to be bringing many of these forces together in ways not seen before.

Just like the invention of the printing press – when suddenly every person could own a copy of Scripture, or the latest pamphlet or newspaper – now everyone can own those things, as well as create and distribute their own versions.

You’ve likely heard much said about how Obama should credit much of his success to his campaign’s use of new media and the Internet. And putting great tools like my.barackobama.com to use gave every Joe Democrat with a computer a voice and a platform to share it on.

People had grown tired of the institution/administration that was in place and they saw Obama as their savior (we’ll leave that up for later debate).

And now, on the other side of the aisle, tea parties or tea baggers (depending on which side you’re on) mounted protests around the country to declare they’re no longer interested in paying taxes that bailout Fortune 500 Countries or social welfare programs. They organized via the Internet and social networks with no clear leadership. They even refused the “professional politicians” opportunities to speak at the protest rallies.

When Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele asked to speak at the Chicago tea party, his request was politely refused by the organizers: “With regards to stage time, we respectfully must inform Chairman Steele that RNC officials are welcome to participate in the rally itself, but we prefer to limit stage time to those who are not elected officials, both in Government as well as political parties. This is an opportunity for Americans to speak, and elected officials to listen, not the other way around.” – WSJ

Alongside the tea parties, Gov. McDreamy jumped in and told folks he supports a bill that would lead Texas to succeed from the Union. Could be an interesting idea – as long as we don’t simply replace Washington D.C. with Austin, Texas.

(And BTW – I’m with Mike Morrell, in asking “Where were these folks during the last eight years when the government continued to rack up ginormous debt for a war in Iraq and took away our personal freedoms and securities in the name of ‘National Security?'” Why aren’t they also calling foul when we’re about to send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan? But I digress…. be sure and read Mike’s great post on this topic as well.)

Today, I saw news about two new local Farmer’s Markets in the Dallas area. One is opening in Mockingbird Station, the other has already started in Oak Cliff.

And in that spirit, I also watched a trailer for Food Inc. That seems to discuss the institutionalizing of our food supply. (see also Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma)

Of course if you’ve followed this blog or my podcast for long you know I’m a fan of organic churches and the empowerment of the priesthood of believers.

I was told this week that a group of youth from our tribe discussed the future of the church during their weekly gathering and after dividing up into separate groups they each came back with very similar ideas…

  • small groups meeting in homes
  • no church buildings
  • very relational
  • reaching out to the community
  • “contemporary” music without the big band or production
  • elational music with one or two guitars

Sounds pretty anti-institutional to me. Love it! I hope they start seeing that as they move into “leadership positions.”

And this theme just continues to grow in more and more areas. It’s exciting and scary at the same time. I can’t wait to see where it all ends up. Something big is coming down the pipe. Are you ready?

What about you? Do you see other stories that line up with this realm of thinking? Do you think its a good course? Dangerous course? What side do you want to be standing on?

Lessons from Britain’s Got Talent

susan-boyle-pic-itv-113257880

Eugene Cho shares the story of Susan Boyle this week on his blog.

Susan’s a 47 year old charity worker, who’s never been kissed or on a date. She’s currently unemployed and her previous singing experience has been limited to the church choir and karaoke.

She was starved of oxygen at birth and has learning difficulties as a result. At school she was slow and had frizzy hair. She was bullied, mostly verbally. She told one newspaper that her classmates’ jibes left behind the kind of scars that don’t heal.

Yet she recently blew folks away with her performance on Britain’s Got Talent.

Eugene writes:

Notice the sneers, looks, judgments, and assumptions that nearly everyone makes – including the respective judges. The change of “perception” (judgment? -> wonder) in the faces of the judges – especially Simon Cowell – are a sight to see. And to be fair to them, I get it…

Why?

It’s pretty simple – she isn’t pretty. She doesn’t look the part. She doesn’t look like an entertainer. She doesn’t look charismatic. And so it begs the questions:

  • Why do we trust our perception and judgment so much?
  • Why are we so married to looks?
  • Why are we enamored and at times, fooled by “dress for success” or “look the part?” [Think of the film, Catch me if You Can…]
  • What is the balance?

How quickly do I cast out judgment based on a person’s dress, or look, or obnoxious laugh? How often do I throw a label on someone without looking at the whole package and hearing their story? I want to put people in a box and label them and define them by my standards – ignoring the person they are – ignoring that they are the Imago Dei.

Watch the video for yourself and then read the rest of Eugene’s post. Then share your thoughts below.

What lessons can you learn from Susan? What does her story tell you about God? Life? Yourself?

update: Vimeo took the original video down, here’s the full video from YouTube

But God told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7

Tuesday Briefs

tuesdaybriefs

The late Tuesday edition…

Seems I’m getting later and later with this each week. Before long we may have to call it the Wednesday briefs. But then if I keep it up we might make it full circle and get back to the Monday briefs eventually :-). I guess we can only hope.

I was trying to find the motivation to do this yesterday, as well as today but I guess writing about my week doesn’t seem near as interesting to me as it might to someone else. I’d much rather tell someone else’s story than my own.

highlight(s) of the week:
On Monday morning I took the day off of work and attending an adoption ceremony for my friends Todd and Monja’s new daughter. It was a small ceremony with candle’s lit in honor of those who made the day possible. Reminded me how valuable and important each and every person – and child – really are.

I was glad they invited us to attend and glad that I was able to take some time off of work to be there. It’s been a lot of fun getting to know Todd and Monja over the last year or so at encounter and even more so over the last six months or so as they’ve been a part of our Saturday night group. Their new daughter will be well taken care of and spoiled by the entire family I’m sure!

quote(s) i’m digging:
“People of faith claim to know the Artist but lack any compunction for protecting the artwork.”
“The closer we are walking with the Creator, the more beauty we will see in life.” – Michael Abbate’ in Gardening Eden

books i’m reading:
I’ve put The New Conspirators on hold for a bit while I try out some new books. Tom Sine’s book is great, its just taking me a long time to read for some reason. So I’m currently (as you might have guessed) reading Gardening Eden by Michael Abbate’. So far its great! Really enjoying what he’s saying and how he’s saying it. So far some great reasons for being good stewards of creation that I think any right-wing-republican-conservative-evangelical person should be able to agree with (or at least find very little to argue about) — it just makes sense.

job update:
Well, I was turned down for the job I applied for. It was a bit of a bummer but when they told me they really wanted someone with great copy editing skills and they told me one of the applicants had worked as a copy editor for 20 years at the local paper – I figured they made the best decision. I’ll be the first to admit that copy editing is not my forte’ or something I strive to excell in.

However, the good news is that they’re still really interested in bringing me on to their team and my current boss is still happy to see me advance in my career so they’re trying a few things to see if they can bring me on in a similar position as the one I applied for. It might be a few months down the road still, so I’m not expecting anything soon but if it happens – wonderful – if not, no biggie.

things you should be listening to:
Our last two podcasts (with Adele Sakler) have added some fuel for the fire of some (or so they think) but that’s OK. Don’t let them (or us) tell you what to think. Listen to the show and think for yourself. As Flobots say, “There’s a war going on for your mind – if you’re thinking – you’re winning.” Listen to Adele’s story, chew on it, think about how you typically respond, how you would want someone to respond to you and then how you think Jesus would respond. And then share your thougths with us and others.

things I’m looking forward to:
I don’t think I’ve read an entire book this whole year yet. Geeze! I’m looking forward to checking at least one off my list. Don’t know how much longer it will be – but I’ll be glad when it comes.

Kingdom (social) media done well

Wanted to highlight a few folks/groups that have really impressed me as of late in putting social media to great use for The Kingdom.

The first is Trinity Wall Street.

While their site itself is not full of social media tools – @headphonaught passed along a great way they’re telling the story of Jesus the Messiah today.

From noon to 3 p.m. today they twittered the entire passion story of Jesus’ last hours on the cross via GroupTweet.

friend

via @tc226: This man befriends prostitutes, washes the feet of the poor – surely he is not a King but a blasphemer.

and the part of the story I’ve been meditating on today…

curtain

via @ServingGirl: Darkness and earthquake. I heard the curtain in the temple was torn in two. I wonder…

If you missed the story/play visit their twitter stream and scroll back to follow the story from the beginning.

Next, Church in the Cliff, which is just north of me in Oak Cliff has launched their new site built around lots of great social media tools.

citc

The site itself is limited in wordy information. Other than the blog on the site, there’s only one other page on the site itself, a brief about us page.

The front page highlights their Flickr group, a tab/link to their Facebook group and one to their Twitter feed as well. They’re also using YouTube and a weekly Lifestream.

As a side note, Church in the Cliff has also come up with a great creative, transformative way to share God’s story this Resurrection season as well. They’ve put together an entire Stations of the Cross, using DART rail stations in Dallas. There’s a meditation guide on their site for folks and they’ll have their folks stationed at different areas to help add in the process. (although at the moment I can’t seem to find the PDF for downloading 🙁) .

Finally, I’d be amiss if I didn’t mention Mark Horvath (aka @hardlynormal and @invisiblepeople). We had Mark on our show a few weeks back. He’s putting social media to use in big ways, telling the stories of “invisible people” and the homeless and the media. Just look at his list of accounts:

So there are a few folks who are doing Kingdom (social) media well. Follow them, get inspiration and then find your own unique ways to tell God’s story.

Who else have you seen that’s putting social media to great use?

Los wonders

I wonder.
I wonder how many people, if we actually asked them, keep coming back to our churches because of our stellar Sunday productions.
I wonder if we ask the right people.
I wonder if we stopped, for a while, if people would keep coming.
I wonder if we turned off the lights and pulled the band if more people would come or go.
I wonder if we flipped the teaching time and music time, if it would matter.
I wonder if first time visitors are more concerned with what happens outside the auditorium than what happens inside it.
I wonder if the things we’ve rebelled against are the exact things we’ve become.
I wonder if church buildings will ever be used more than 2% a week.
I wonder if there has been more energy put into our Easter weekend services than our neighbors on the left and right.

I wonder with all the talk of social justice, why those friends keep walking by homeless people without even a smile.
I wonder when we will stop arguing about how to run the church and begin to start running our families.
I wonder how disrespected my dad feels by my generation of preachers saying his way is the wrong way.
I wonder how disrespected my generation of preachers will feel when our kids say our way is the wrong way.
I wonder when church envy will be replaced with prayer for others to succeed.
I wonder if churches without buildings will ever realize how good they have it.
I wonder when church planting became an industry.
I wonder if we know that our opinions are just that, opinions.
I wonder if those who say my church is an inch deep and a mile wide know that they would actually drown in the inch we provide.

Excellent. I join him.