Viral Dis-Marketing

After a quick visit to John's blog, I became intrigued by a book he was reviewing called Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders, and on the amazon page for this book, there is a collection of some posts by the author to those who I guess bought the book off of Amazon? A little confusing, but I really enjoyed the following post of his.

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I was delighted to learn recently that my local Borders converted its coffee shop area into a Seattle’s Best, one of my favorite caffeineries.

But my first visit was a tragedy. The tall drip (no-room) I ordered was two-third’s fresh and one-third dregs from a container that had only 10 minutes left on its digital timer, lending it the flavor of burning tires.

In a conversation with Paul Martinez, our seminary’s director of development, the disturbing feelings generated by such disappoints began to acquire some vocabulary. (Good friends, and good sermons, help us articulate what we’ve been sensing, but may not have ever expressed.)

What is really bothering me about the declining quality of my visits to ‘Bucks (and now SB) is not the brew, but the baristas. There was a time when the best part of a coffee stop was watching the brilliant people behind the counter, people who could be doing lots of other things, doing this. I often wondered about their personal stories: what brought them to ‘Bucks, why did they seem to treat their job as a calling, what were their dreams of the future?

These over-achievers sold me on the brew, not the other way around. It was viral marketing at its best: a good impression formed one person at a time. They made every visit a form of theater, starring the evangelists of caffeine, coffee missionaries commanding attention and respect. Watching baristas in the “zone” became the most important part of the trip to their store, making it worth going inside when the drive-through would have been more convenient.

Things have changed. This is not to say that the staffer who handed me the bad cup of Seattle’s Best (who also had to check a price list before using the register) is a loser. It’s just that she did not have the same high level of ownership in the experience as did the old-school barista.

A couple of conclusions that Paul and I kicked around about some things that seem to be forgotten in the “viral un-marketing” that now plagues Starbucks:

1. People are crucial to the value of product: There is no coffee good enough to replace an outstanding barista show. Watching someone who probably ought to be in medical school concoct a world class cappuccino and then call your name right out loud is the best two minutes in the business. Without this little immersion in Starbuck’s culture, I might as well grind their beans at home.
I am reminded of ministries that spend so much time on the “production” side of bringing the message to their community that they assume the quality of their people will just take care of itself as long as the show goes on Sunday morning. A well-trained, fully-invested person of integrity is the ultimate message and the ultimate production value.

2. Quality is crucial to the meaning of growth: Starbuck’s astronomical expansion in the last few years seems to have outstripped the pool of suitable talent. Are there only so many folks on the planet who have the temperament to become a coffee missionary, or is ‘Bucks now lacking some key trait needed to attract these people? I once overheard one of their store managers interviewing (and being interviewed by) a prospective employee. It was clear that the manager was not looking for a worker, but for a certain kind of person. Is that interview still happening?

I recall the many unenthusiastic greeters I have met in my church travels, and the sermons delivered by people who do not have a primary communication gift, and the deacons elected mainly because they manage a hardware store, and the mania for growth at almost any price. In a recent email, for example, one minister confessed that his rapidly expanding ministry is being almost completely driven by transfers from other churches, but this fact is off-limits among the leadership. So what does that kind of “growth” really mean?

While the new Reduced-Fat Orange Crème Coffee Cake does cover a multitude of sins, Starbucks better start paying attention to its people again. Are they still the kind of organization to which great people want to belong?

That’s an important question for Christian organizations, too. It’s not about being better or worse, ordinary or extraordinary, but about discipleship, personal investment, and accountability. In other words, featuring gifted people doing things in a way so compelling that others would not only want to be where they are, but might even consider putting on the green apron themselves.

Fix You.

Normally, if someone would tell me that there is a YouTube video of some senior citizens singing a Coldplay song, I would probably laugh like crazy at something that sounds so idiotic. However, if you go here, you will get the opportunity to see such a thing. There's a group out there called Young At Heart, and they learn all kinds of rather "modern" songs, from Sonic Youth to the Ramones, to...Coldplay.

The man who sings the song suffers from congestive heart failure. It was supposed to be a duet, but the man who was supposed to sing it with him passed away before this performance. The deceased man's family is in the audience. The words to the song take a somewhat different meaning for me now that I've experienced this.

I think it might be one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

Today.

Another Nooma video is coming out this week - if you go to nooma's myspace today, tomorrow, or Wednesday, you can preview it for free.

Of course, it's really good. As if any of them haven't been.

My favorite quote from this one:

"When we're still holding on to how things were, our arms aren't free to embrace today."

By the way, it's called Today. Hence the blog title, also called Today.

Perhaps The Most Bizarre Video I've Ever Seen...

And here you have it.

This is a video of inmates of a Phllipine prison reenacting Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video. They did a great job in my opinion. Now if I can only reclaim the minutes I spent watching it...

"Thriller" as performed by inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center


p.s. - the girl is not a girl. :^)

The Risk Taker

On July 29th, I will be preaching my first message since Palm Sunday of last year. I've decided to preach on the life of Peter, because it's someone who I've been reading about (I'm reading through the book of Acts) and someone I haven't really focused on. I think it's because he has always reminded me of a manly man type of man, and I'm not sure I really relate to that. But the more I study Peter, the more I'm amazed at how gutsy he was and how he took risks, even looking like a fool at times. I'm excited to study more about him and to talk about him as the risk taker.

A Peaceful Night

I've been under a lot of stress in my life in the past six months or so, so a night like tonight was exactly what I needed.

First, a neighbor of mine let us borrow her Jeep Rubicon for the night and tomorrow. We've built a pretty good friendship with her, and tonight I guess she was feeling charitable! It looks like the below picture except it's black.



Then, as we were getting ready to go get ice cream in her Jeep, a young deer came through our back yard, through our side yard, walked about six feet by us, and then saw us and ran off. Unfortunately, I had no camera so this one will have to do.



Then, after our ice cream adventure in our borrowed Jeep with the top off (a beautiful night to do this by the way), my daughter and I went out looking for fireflies (or lightning bugs, as you will see makes more sense), and we caught one. Noelle named him "McQueen" after Lightning McQueen from the movie cars. (I'm letting him go after she goes to sleep).

A very peaceful night. Thanks, God!

Re:Unite - July 29th

The Shame Of Widows In India

I read this article on the CNN website today, and it really disturbed me. I knew about the oppressive caste system in India, where 250 million people live as "untouchables", but I had no idea that the Indian culture treats the widows of their society in this way.

It breaks my heart to think of all these mothers who are shunned by their children because they are considered bad luck. After all these women have done for their children, you would think that some compassion would come into play.

I don't know what else to say, other than a few verses:

Deuteronomy 27:19
19 "Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow."
Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

Psalm 68:5
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.

Isaiah 1:17
17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

1 Timothy 5:4
4But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.

James 1:27
27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Walk On

I read on Yahoo News today that the U.S. is starting to pressure the Myanmar (Burma) government to release Aung San Suu Kyi from what seems to be permanent house arrest. She is the Myanmar leader who won the general election in the early '90's, yet the military of Myanmar, who was (and still is) governing, refused to accept the election results.

Aung San Suu Kyi is the subject of the U2 song, Walk On. Here are some of the lyrics:

And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage you can bring
And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind

And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for one second you turn back
Oh no, be strong

Walk on, walk on
What you got they can't steal it
No, they can't even feel it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight

You're packing a suitcase for a place none of has been
A place that has to be believed to be seen
You could have flown away
A singing bird in an open cage
Who will only fly, only fly for freedom

Walk on, walk on
What you've got they can't deny it
Can't sell it or buy it
Walk on, walk on
You stay safe tonight

And I know it aches, how your heart it breaks
You can only take so much
Walk on, walk on

Home, hard to know what it is if you've never had one
Home, I can't say where it is but I know I'm going home
That's where the hurt is

And I know it aches and your heart it breaks
And you can only take so much
Walk on


I hope the U.S. continues to do things like this, to seek justice for wrongdoings. The Darfur situation would be another great place to start.

Here is the full article.

Trust In Organized Religion At Near Record Low

Americans trust the military and the police force significantly more than the church and organized religion, a new Gallup Poll says.

Only 46 percent of respondents said they had either a "great deal"
or "quite a lot" of confidence in the church, compared with 69 percent who said they trusted the military and 54 percent who trust police officers.

The figures are among the lowest for institutionalized religion in the three and a half decades that Gallup has conducted the poll. Peaking at 68 percent in May 1975, the numbers bottomed out at 45 percent in June of 2003.

But while confidence is waning for organized religion, the numbers are even bleaker for other American institutions. Just 25 percent expressed confidence in the presidency, while a mere 14 percent say they trust Congress.

Other findings suggest the nation is focused more on political issues than morality issues.

In the monthly pulse-check poll, Gallup asked Americans what they believed was the most important problem facing the country. An overwhelming 34 percent cited the war in Iraq, followed by illegal immigration at 15 percent. The nation's religious and moral decline was fifth among the concerns, with 6 percent.

The poll was conducted by telephone from June 14-17. The margin of error is three percentage points.

(Here's the link to the actual story.)

Prayer For The Simple Way

The Simple Way is a community of Christians who live in the Kensington area of Philadelphia. One of its most "famous" residents is Shane Claiborne, who wrote the book The Irresistible Revolution. Most of their work and housing was destroyed by a fire this morning. Shane lost everything. Their community center was lost in the fire. This is a sad tragedy.

You can read more about it at their website.

Please be in prayer for this community and perhaps think about donating money to help them out.

Willow Creek Conference: Day Three (Part Two)

The conference ended in a great way.

Erwin McManus and Mosaic did an amazing presentation called "Scribbles" - it involved some saxophone playing, professional dancing, comedy, the spoken word, and more. Now some of those elements I'm not the hugest fan of. However, the presentation blew me away. I'm not sure that I can even do it justice trying to describe it, so you will just have to imagine it. However, as usual, I leave you with some quotes from McManus:

- "When you live your life through the eyes of God, you will see something new everyday."

- "Create a future. What kind of church should we become is a wrong question to ask. What kind of future do we need to create - now that's the right one."

- "I was once asked, 'Erwin, if you were stranded on a desert island and only could have one book besides the Bible, which book would you take?' I told this person, 'An empty book - so I could write in it my adventure.'"

Erwin quoted Isaiah 43, a passage that has been very interesting to me and I felt confirmed many things within my own heart (or should I say, my amygdala). Here is the passage:

18 "Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.

I would break into Nu Thang by DC Talk, but then I would be very angry at myself.

All in all, a great conference. Learned a lot, experienced a lot, missed my family a lot. Didn't get to see a Cubs game, but that's okay, I'll live.

Willow Creek Conference: Day Three (Part One)

It's very hard to explain what took place today. I am completely overwhelmed and amazed!

The first session of the day started out with me not being there on time as usual. So I sat in the coffee bar area for a few minutes before sauntering in. I wish I would have gone in on time, because it started out with a very moving story of a couple of worship leaders from Willow Creek and who are married to each other. They have a child who I believe was born deaf. But through some implants in the baby's ears, he could hear his parents' voices for the first time. Boy did I sniffle at that one. It was very moving, and then they sang the song "You Never Let Go" which of course brought a whole new meaning to the song for all of us.

Don Miller came up and spoke next. I got to hear him speak a couple of nights ago, and I was hoping he didn't speak on the same thing. He didn't, which was good. The basic theme of his message was that when the Enlightenment happened, truth and meaning got separated, mystery was abolished or abandoned, and the written word became the only vehicle by which truth was given and understood. The brain, which consists of three main parts - the left brain, the right brain, and the amygdalae, which is the emotional center of the brain - were separated by placing the emotional center, not physically, but in every other way, in the heart.

The problem with all this, according to Miller, is that the artistic part of Christianity was relegated to the background, and narrative expressed through creative expression no longer held a prime spot in how truth was "learned". Donald Miller was the second person this week to talk about the book Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton (the other person was the worship leader from Mars Hill Bible Church, Aaron Niequist), and the basic idea of what Chesterton talks about in the first chapter of the book is that mathematicians are the ones who go insane, not poets. "A mathematician tries to build a bridge to the infinte, the poet swims in the sea. The mathematician tries to fit heaven in his head, the poet is trying to fit his head in heaven." My amygdalae tell me that he's right.

His last part is about Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (not the movie, the actual play), and how the play is an allegory of the Protestant/Catholic war that was happening during the time that Shakespeare wrote it. It was a very interesting point, and it climaxed with the balcony scene (it didn't end with the balcony scene, that's plot for you.) with the fact that Romeo during the balcony scene "switches from iambic pentameter to free verse because what he's saying IS TRUE."

Willow Creek Conference: Day Two

This is going to be a short one. Day Two consisted of four breakout sessions, and I chose sessions that were very practical to what I'm doing now. Here's the brief synopsis of each:

Session #1 - Basic Lighting

- I learned a lot about lighting and where to place lights and stuff. This is practical for the new building.

Session #2 - Programming Moving Lighting

- I realized quickly that this session really wasn't for me. So I went and updated my blog, and did some praying and reading.

Session #3 - Advanced Scenery Design

- This was not what I expected, because it was mostly about fabric and stuff, but it was certainly interesting. I got a CD with a lot of pictures of what Willow has done in the past.

Session #4 - More Than The Service: Designing The Guest Experience

- some interesting quotes from this session:

"Research shows that emotions are as twice as important as facts when making a decision. Emotion leads to action; reason leads to conclusions."

"Get everything telling the same story."

"Don't invite them to the experience - begin the experience."

The speaker had some interesting thoughts on color and on using the five senses in order to design a great guest experience.


That was about it. I'm looking forward to hearing what Don Miller and Erwin McManus have to say tomorrow.

Willow Creek Conference: Day One (Part Three)

I went into session three, very excited. Excited for several reasons. First, Dan Kimball was going to be the speaker for the session. I really appreciated his two books "Emerging Churches" and "Emerging Worship", because not only did each book help me get on this "missional/incarnational" ministry path, but also because each book helped me understand what the usual church's foundation is built on (the Sunday morning service(s)) and what a missional church's foundation should be built on (the mission that Jesus calls us to live out as both individuals and as an ecclesia (gathering of Christ-followers). I touched on this concept, based on what I read, here and here.

Secondly, I knew that after Dan spoke, that there was going to be a panel of people to discuss some of what is in Dan's new book "They Like Jesus But Not The Church" as well as implications in our churches today. The panel was made up of the following people: Dan Kimball, Nancy Beach (Willow Creek), Efrem Smith (a church pastor in Minnesota), David Loveless (pastor of Discovery Church in Orlando), Shauna Niequist (on staff at Mars Hill Bible Church and wife of aforementioned worship leader Aaron Niequist), Sally Morganthaler (author of Worship Evangelism), and the one and only Brian McLaren. I knew that this was going to be an interesting conversation.

Let's go back to Dan. He was a little different than I expected, not in a bad way - I just thought he was more of a "tough surfer" type of guy based on his picture than what he really is. He's definitely more artsy in his speaking approach. Again, not in a bad way, just different. Dan talked mostly about things that are in his book, and I thought he made a really good point. He showed a slide that illustrated two present circles in our culture - the modern circle, which we're all used to and which is in some ways slowly eroding and in other ways quickly eroding - and this is the circle where the church was mostly at until the last forty years or so. The first circle is what I'll call the "Judeo-Christian values" circle, which means that in the past, even if someone was agnostic, they knew about church, they knew about Christian values, etc. The second circle is the postmodern/emerging generations circle, and in this circle there is a growing percentage of people who did not grow up in church and who do not share the same "core values" as those in the first circle. The problem, according to Kimball, is that in the last forty years (or even perhaps less time), the church has made its own subculture bubble that it is hiding in and has been hiding in - a culture with different music, language, ways of approaching life, etc.

The good news, according to Kimball, is that there is a growing interest in Jesus. The bad news is that there is a growing disinterest in the church and "Christianity." Kimball says that one of the reasons this is happening is because the only voices that this second circle - the postmodern circle - are hearing, are those who are the most vocal, the most confrontational, and the most controversial. These would include street preachers, T.V. evangelists, etc. They aren't hearing from the rest of Christendom, because the rest of the church is hiding in this subculture bubble that has been created and does not know how to relate, converse with, and do life with the postmodern culture. Kimball showed a video that his church did where they went out and asked ordinary people what they felt about Jesus and what they felt about the church. The comments were very encouraging about Jesus and were very discouraging about the church. However, fourteen of the sixteen people interviewed did not have any significant relationships with Christians. Which means that their impressions of the church are again based on those confrontational, vocal Christians. I thought this was a great observation and one that made me think for a long time last night.

Kimball listed six things that came out of these conversations with regular people - six common thoughts about the church:

1. The church is all into right-winged politics.

2. The church is judgmental and negative.

3. The church is male-dominated and oppresses females.

4. The church is homophobic. (the comments that Dan had on the screen based on this theme were heart-breaking.)

5. The church arrogantly believes that they are right and all other religions are wrong.

6. The church is full of fundamentalists who take the whole Bible literally.

Of course, some of these things aren't that bad, really. Some might actually be good things. However, the way that Christiaan represent some of these thoughts might be what hurts people the most.

Then he listed some things that these people wished about the church:

- I wish churches were not just about the sermon.

- I wish the church would respect my intelligence.

- I wish the church was less programmed.

- I wish the church was a loving place.

- I wish the church cared for the poor and the needy.

- I wish the church taught more about Jesus.

As I said, after this there was the panel. Unfortunately, I didn't write down much of what was said, but I know someone who captured it on audio, so sometime in the future, I will list some of what was said. However, I did write down two things: one was something that David Loveless said:

"In Ephesians 2, it talks about how Jesus removed the walls of hostility between us and Him. I need to ask myself, 'Where am I rebuilding those walls? Where is my church rebuilding those walls of hostility? And how can we tear them down again?"

And then something that Brian McLaren said at the end of the panel was great. It was something to the effect that Dan's next book could be titled "The Church Likes Jesus, But Not Us" - obviously referring to the fact that churches aren't very good at loving others.

After the session was done, I went to heaven. First, I went to Claim Jumper Restaurant and had my favorite pizza, and then went back to Willow Creek for their New Community Service. The David Crowder Band led worship, and Don Miller (author of Blue Like Jazz, To Own A Dragon, and other books) spoke. Which means that my whole evening was heaven. Claim Jumper, David Crowder, and Don Miller? Excellent!

Willow Creek Conference: Day One (Part Two)

Session 2 started with a whimper (in my opinion) and ended up with a bang.

The first part of the session was an urban dance troup. I didn't mind the whole urban dance troup idea, but when one of the vocalists starts the song out by saying, "Let's get the party started", and the only thing I can understand for the rest of the song is the phrase "freak show", I start thinking, is this supposed to be worship? Performance? Breakdancing for Jesus? I didn't get it. But that's okay, it's not all about me. Maybe 92% about me, but not all.

Anyway, Nancy Beach came on after to speak on "The Audacity of Hope". She admitted she stole the title from a certain Barack Obama, but since this was a Christian conference, no one has probably read a book by a Democrat, so...

Okay, so I'm watching Last Comic Standing right now, which is why I'm trying to tell a lot of jokes. I'm going to stop now.

One of my favorite parts of Nancy Beach's message was the excerpt they showed from Bill Hybels' interview with Bono. And I became extremely jealous of Nancy as she described going to Ireland and sitting down with Bono at dinner and stuff.

Here are some of the quotes I wrote down:

- "We must not gloss over the difficult questions. We need to live in the contradiction."

- "Life is not problem to be solved, but a mystery to be entered into."

- "Cynicism lacks courage."

- "If we don't cling to hope, our souls will die."

And then, Nancy almost lost me because she mentioned she was going to play a Nickelback video. I hate Nickelback. Actually, I only hate one of their songs, which would be all of their songs, because they all sound the same. But the video was actually really good.

But the best part of the session (except for maybe the Bono part) was the last song of the session, which was written and performed by the worship leader at Mars Hill. Some of the lyrics say:

O God give us new eyes to see
Give us new skin to feel
Give us new lungs to breathe
The wonder underneath

Faith like a mustard seed
A holy naievete
To swim in Your mystery
We need to be free

It is a great song, and it was a great song to end the session with.

Willow Creek Conference: Day One (Part One)

Well, the conference started out with a bang.

First, David Crowder came out and he and his band sang a few songs. Here are the songs they played:

1. Coming Toward (instrumental)

2. Here Is Our King

3. I Saw The Light

4. (a new song, pretty good)

5. O Praise Him.

They then left the stage, leaving me wanting more.


But the first speaker for this conference was amazing! His name is DeWitt Jones, and he was a photographer for National Geographic for over twenty years. He had some amazing stories, and then of course showed us some of his stunning photographs. Here are some of the notes I took during his session:

- "The best way to give of ourselves to God is to give of ourselves to one another."

- "Creativity is that moment when we look at the ordinary yet what we see is extraordinary this time."

- "I could either do what I love, or I could love what I do."

He told a story of how he was asked to speak on creativity to some workers in New Jersey, people who only thought of the bottom line - money. It wasn't going that well, and then he had them do an activity. He had them take out a piece of paper and write down five things that fill their cups up, in other words things that give them joy. Then he had them write down the last time that they did any of them. One man stared at his piece of paper for fifteen minutes and then just broke down sobbing. He didn't have anything to put down.

He told another great story of a photo shoot for a scotch company in Ireland where he went out to the "Highland Games" and took photos of these big Irish men throwing stones. The biggest man of all was actually just sitting there, and so he started a conversation with this man. He found out that he used to win the Highland Games all the time. DeWitt asked if he could take some pictures of him at his house, so they went and he took a picture of him throwing a stone, the first time he had done that in many years. Well, that picture became one of the advertisements for this scotch company, and underneath the picture it talked about how this guy still practiced throwing stones all the time (which of course he didn't). It became an award-winning advertisement. Well, this old Irish stone-thrower asked DeWitt to come out again and he showed him that advertisement that he had framed, and on the back were all these signatures. DeWitt asked him where they were from, and the man replied "Well, all these people started calling and writing me to see if that really was me throwing the stone. They wanted to see me in action, so they all showed up, and we had our first family reunion in 200 years!"

Next post will be about the second session, which was some weird urban dance number, Nancy Beach (she works at Willow) and a great song from the worship leader at Mars Hill Bible Church.

Willow Creek Conference: Day Zero

I will be reporting on the Willow Creek Arts Conference - mostly for Rochelle, but also in case anyone else wants to know what I learned and what I experienced here in Chicago.

Today is Day Zero, which means the conference hasn't started yet. However, there were two cool things that took place.

First, the car rental company messed up my reservation, so at first they were going to give me a PT Cruiser for the same price as my economy car, but they didn't have that, so they gave me what you see below:



Yep, a Chrysler Sebring Convertible.

So, I had the top down tonight as I drove to eat (I forgot a hat, so I had to buy one), blaring some music and enjoying myself immensely.

And then I got lost. But in getting lost, I found something that made me very happy:



One of my favorite restaurants has made its way to Chicago. I will be going there, most definitely (shhh - don't tell Debby, it's one of her favorites, too!)

Tomorrow I'll report on actual conference stuff, but I'm a pretty happy guy right now.

Jim and Casper's Church Visit #4: Willow Creek (Part One)

It's been a little while since the last church visit, but there's a reason for that. Next week, I will actually be at the fourth church that Jim and Casper visit and talk about in their book "Jim and Casper Go To Church." That church is Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois (a Chicago suburb) and I will be there for an worship arts conference. I went last year and thought it was pretty good, but this year I'm really excited because of the main speakers (and the Wednesday morning worship band - that would be David Crowder). I have not been at a church service there, however - and there is an opportunity during the conference to go to their Wednesday night "believer" service. Which is an interesting discussion point in the first place. What is the purpose of having two separate services for a church? According to Willow Creek, the weekend services are "seeker-sensitive", which means essentially that they are designed for those who aren't churchgoers. Thus, the music, message, dramas, etc. will all be seeker-sensitive and will be relatable (or is the right word relevant) to those who are seeking God for perhaps the first time. The Wednesday night service is for those who are already churchgoers and who perhaps want something a little deeper message-wise, more worship, etc.

An interesting strategy, and it seems to be working at Willow, but it begs a couple of questions:

- It seems that when you look at NT passages that are related to ecclesiology (church structure, mission and instruction), you would be hard pressed to find anything that talks about having two separate church meetings: one for the unbeliever, and one for the believer. In fact, there are a few passages that describe the impact that having everyone together for worship has on someone who does not know Christ (1 Corinthians 14 being one of those passages). I agree with Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost that Christology should determine our mission, and then our mission should determine how our church is structured and operates. With what we know of who Jesus is and what he did while he was here on earth (although you have to factor in the concept that while he was here on earth, his "mission" was mostly to the Jewish people, and that he commissioned his disciples in Acts 1:8 to expand that mission to the Gentiles), and then letting that determine our own mission, would that mean a church structure based on Christology and missiology would produce two separate services for two "target audiences"?

- Secondly, something I've really been thinking about is something that I've been reading in an incredible book by Hirsch called "The Forgotten Ways". Does right thinking produce right behavior? Does the dispensing of information produce change? Let me quote from the book:

"If our starting point is old thinking and old behavior in a person or church, and we see it as our task to change that situation, taking the Hellenistic approach will mean that we provide information through books and classrooms, to try and get the person/church to a new way of thinking, and hopefully from there to a new way of acting. The problem is that by merely addressing intellectual aspects of a person, we fail to be able to change behavior. The assumption in Hellenistic thinking is that if people get the right ideas, they will simply change their behavior. The Hellenistic approach therefore can be characterized as an attempt to try to think our way into a new way of acting. Both experience and history show the fallacy of such thinking. And it certainly does not make disciples. All we do is change the way a person thinks; the problem is that his or her behaviors remain largely unaffected."

This concept of the Hellenistic approach to change vs. the Hebraic approach to change is definitely a huge topic for another post (or five), but this is why I brought it up: it seems like one of the reasons to separate your church into two target audiences (seeker and believer) would be because you subscribe to this Hellenistic approach to change (which would be right thinking leads to right acting which leads to change). Because you want to produce a different change in your seeker audience (changing from someone who has not accepted Jesus to someone who has) than your believer audience (continual change/transformation to become more like Christ), you separate them so that the different information processed (through sermons, music, and the arts) will produce the correct needed "change" in the person.

However, if you subscribe to the Hebraic approach to change (right acting leads to right thinking which leads to change), then you would want both groups of people, seeker and believer, in the same room, in the same setting, because your believers would be the example you would want the seekers to follow. And as those seekers saw the "right behavior" demonstrated in the lives of the believers (hopefully through more than just sitting in a worship service, i.e. relationship building/mentoring/modeling), this would produce lasting change.

I hope this makes sense. I'm not sure if this is exactly the way I was planning on this post to go, but it really has opened up some thoughts within my own head. Hopefully yours as well.

The next part of visit #4 will be posted during the conference, after I have had the opportunity to actually experience a worship service at Willow.

Brian McLaren on the "Worship Industry"

The video below is really good - Brian McLaren talks about worship, art, propaganda and more. Even if you think McLaren is a bad, bad man (I don't), his words on worship should at least make you think. I especially like what he has to say about worship leaders, since I am one. And I agree that there is a pressure there to please people at church with what I do every week. There's a line somewhere between experiencing God and making sure people are there with you doing the same. Anyway, check out the video. If you can't see the video, go here to see it.

On The Move by Bono

As if I didn't have enough reading material to last a couple of months (at least), I picked up a book called On The Move today. It's by Bono from U2 of course, and it's actually some of the remarks that he made at the National Prayer Breakfast this past year (I think, it may have been the year before that). You can watch all of what he said here.

All proceeds of the sale of this book go to the One Campaign, which makes it a worthy purchase. (I almost put "in my book" at the end of that sentence, but that would have been silly.)

What I'm Reading and Listening To

Just in case you don't look at the sidebar of my blog, I wanted to let you know that I've finally updated it after several months.

Just in case you still won't look at the sidebar, here is the music I'm listening to and what I'm reading. By the way, in case you didn't know, I read a lot of books at the same time. I don't know why. I just do.

What I'm reading:

Jim & Casper Go to Church: Frank Conversation About Faith, Churches, and Well-meaning Christians
- I've read through it, but I'm still blogging on each chapter. I'll get back to it, don't worry.

The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church
- The author of this book (Alan Hirsch) co-authored a favorite book of mine called The Shaping Of Things To Come. So far this book is really good. It's one of those books where you read a few pages, and then you have to close the book and chew on what you read for awhile.

The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus
- I love Brennan Manning's books. All of them. I started reading them when I was in college (The Ragamuffin Gospel and The Signature Of Jesus), and have continued to buy his books as he comes out with a new one. It's a lot easier to swallow the concept of grace from someone who was a priest, squandered away everything on alcohol, and then sobered up and started writing about grace.

Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples
- Simple church. Who would have thunk it? This is something that I've been thinking about for at least a year, the idea that less is actually more, and that when you have a million things going on in your church, it doesn't necessarily mean your church is growing. It just means the church is really busy. It's better to do a few things well then to do several things really poorly.

The Passionate Church
- This book is written by a couple of pastors at a church in Arizona that was really close geographically to the church that planted a church that I worked at. I love their concept of "LifeShapes". Perhaps I'll blog about this book next.

Your God Is Too Safe
- Get this book. Now. I'm serious. This is like the twentieth time for me in reading this book.


What I'm listening to:

9
- Damien Rice. Nothing like an acoustic playing Irishman, in my book. His songs, in the words of Chris Elliott from Groundhog Day, "move me, man."

Sam's Town
- I didn't really listen to The Killers's first CD (Hot Fuss), but this CD is great. It's kind of like Bruce Springsteen and M83 getting together. Okay, not exactly. But it's good.

Twilight
- Future of Forestry is a worship band out of San Diego. They are really good. Buy this CD. And if you live in the Cincinnati/Dayton OH area, go to the FoF concert at The Garage at the end of August!

The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Of Me
- Listening to this right now. Thanks Pat for introducing me to this CD. It makes me happy. (and sad. and mad.)

All of the Above
- This is the first Hillsong United CD to be recorded in studio, and I'm not sure if I like that. It has some good songs, however. We're doing "Take Me To The Cross" on Sunday. When I say "we", I mean "me", because it will be just me on acoustic this Sunday.

A Beautiful Lie
- I really like this band (30 Seconds To Mars). Sure, it has that actor guy Jared Leto in it. But they are good. I only wish my daughter would like more than just one of their songs, though, because I have to hear that song (From Yesterday) at least ten times a day.

Neon Bible
- I actually like this Arcade Fire CD better than their first one. And that's quite an achievement, because I really like their first one.

EDIT: I also just purchased The Fountain Soundtrack. Amazing. Truly, amazing.


Well, that's about it. Comments? Questions about my sanity? Let me know.

American Idol

Not a big fan. At all. I haven't watched any night of any season, although last night my brother-in-law showed me a couple of the songs from the finale.

But, I was surprised to hear of all of the Christian connections that some of the top twelve finalists have. From GMA contests to songwriting, I was surprised. As for Paula Abdul's strange behavior (although I heard she was sick or something), not surprised.

---

On Wednesday night, Jordin Sparks, who is just three years removed from winning the Spotlight Overall title at the GMA Academy in D.C. event, was crowned this year's "American Idol" in front of a live audience of 4,000 in the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, and the 30 million people who were watching on FOX. A record 74 million votes were cast to determine Sparks as the winner over Blake Lewis. And in a storybook ending that could only be appreciated by those involved in the Christian/gospel music community, Sparks, a 17-year-old from Glendale, Ariz., capped the evening by performing "This Is My Now," the winning song in the "American Idol" songwriter competition, which was co-written by veteran Christian artist/songwriter Scott Krippayne. The GMA has followed Sparks' journey, along with several other contestants, during an "American Idol" season that seemed to be filled with Christian/gospel music connections. Besides winning at GMA Academy in D.C. in 2004, Sparks also competed at GMA Music in the Rockies that summer where she placed second in the Southern Gospel vocal category. She also befriended Michael W. Smith and family and traveled as a singer with his Christmastime tour. When she became a finalist for "American Idol," she included her GMA Academy win as one of her proudest moments in her life. Sparks was not alone among the Top 10 "American Idol" finalists with such ties to he GMA. Chris Sligh also competed at GMA Music in the Rockies, placing first in the Pop-Adult Contemporary/Inspirational song category in 2003. He also served as the worship pastor at his South Carolina church, the same position held by Phil Stacey at his church in Jacksonville, Fla. There also was Melinda Doolittle, from Brentwood, Tenn., a long-time background vocalist for many Christian/gospel artists, never betraying her own powerful vocal skills. Even LaKisha Jones, while having no "professional" ties to Christian/gospel music, often declared her love for it and the influence it had on her life. So, while only Sparks won the title of "American Idol," all five of the finalists that GMA followed throughout the competition returned for Wednesday's finale, all five will participate on the "American Idol" tour this summer and all will most likely be offered the opportunity to record their own projects. As the winner, Sparks is already confirmed to sign a recording contract with Sony/BMG. In addition to Krippayne's song, which he wrote with his pastor and friend Jeff Peabody and is already among the top downloads on iTunes, Wednesday's finale featured an on-stage reunion of BeBe and CeCe Winans, who joined Doolittle, one of their former back-up singers, for an electrifying performance of "Hold Up The Light." The finale also served as a reunion of sorts for previous seasons' winners and finalists with Mandisa and George Huff among the many in attendance.

Great Quote on Pastor Professionalism

"Pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry. The mentality is not the mentality of the prophet. It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ. Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry. Brothers, we are not professionals! We are outcast. We are aliens and exiles in the world (1 Pet. 2:11)...You cannot professionalize the love for His appearing without killing it. And it is being killed."

- John Piper, as quoted in "The Passionate Church"

Element - Re:flect (05/20/07)

Here are some pictures from the latest Element worship service we had. We did a prayer labyrinth, and I think it turned out really great.

Jim and Casper's Church Visit #3: Mosaic

Before we begin, I need to tell you: I'm a big fan of Erwin McManus and his books. An Unstoppable Force is probably in my top ten "Emerging Church" books. If Mosaic was around when I was in college in Southern California, I would have most definitely wanted to go and be part of an artist community like that. I'm excited because I get to hear him speak this summer.

Mosaic has several locations I believe, but their main "facility" is actually the Mayan Theater, a bar.

I thought it was very interesting to get an atheist's perspective on how they feel when they tell a Christian that they don't believe the same as them. At first, Casper describes it as having a different poker hand than what everyone else at the table is expecting, but then later changes it to what it would feel like if everyone thought he was a man, when actually they find out that he's a woman disguised as a man. At Mosaic, it actually wasn't a big deal, in fact the person that he told actually went and got the man himself, McManus. I thought it was cool that this "celebrity" pastor actually was available to talk. In my experience, when you have celebrity pastors or pastors of large megachurches, they are pretty much unavailable to the general public. I think part of it is because there is no way in a large church that this one person can meet everyone, know everyone's name, or be friends with everyone in the church. But I also think, and this is just an opinion, that when someone gets that well-known or famous or whatever, that a huge distance begins to separate them from the common people, and that in some cases, this pastor actually begins to think that they are better or more spiritual or whatever than everyone else. It was good to see that McManus is not that way.

However, it was interesting that Casper's perspective was that he really wasn't listening to him during the conversation (which was an interesting one, with a discussion about whether an atheist has a belief system or not and whether Casper would understand what's taking place because he was an atheist) but rather trying to control the conversation. This made me pause and really think about the conversations I have with people, especially at church. Do I try to control the conversation, or am I generally trying to listen to what people have to say? I remember hearing someone say once that most of the time when we are talking to people, we aren't really listening to what they have to say, we're thinking about what we want to say next.

I thought that Casper's comments about Mosaic's offering time was really profound, and I want to include it here (along with Jim's comments):

"It was both laid back and insistent. First, I thought it might not be coming. After all, these are mostly kids here with little cash. But he did it with an unusual approach."

I wasn't sure what had been unusual about the offering at Mosaic. "What did you think was unusual about it?"

"Well, he said that for those of us just visiting today, we didn't have to give anything. Then he said that the congregation only gives because they love Jesus and this church. I wondered what that implies then about those of us who didn't give: We don't love Jesus? We don't like this church? Although it seemed so lackadaisical, I think it was actually one of the most aggressive solicitations yet."

It can be dangerous to equate someone's love for God with how or what they give. Perhaps a person gives to the church, but also gives to outside organizations because they feel that those outside organizations do a better job of distributing the money to the poor and needy. Perhaps a person would give to a church but because of things that have happened in their life, they just don't have the resources available to do so. Of course you could counter with the idea that if someone gives to God first, that they will always be blessed financially. I know that has happened to people, but I also know people who have given financially and have been essentially screwed financially because of it. What was the difference? Their lack of faith? Their heart? I don't think it has to do with their love for God.

Anyway, this was an interesting chapter. I would really like to visit Mosaic. I think it would be kind of like the Element worship service that we put together every other month at my church, except probably a lot better and even more artistic.

"Psst...President Putin...here's a breath mint for you."

After 80 years, the Russian Orthodox Church reunited, bringing together factions torn apart by communism. You can read the article here.

If these two groups of Christians can be united, what does that say for churches who split and stay apart over the color of carpet in the worship center or the way communion is served or worship styles or whatever?

And we wonder why they call it the Idiot Box...

I love my T.V. shows as much as the next person (those shows would be Lost, 24, Heroes and The Office), but these statistics were rather disturbing to me. A recent America Online poll revealed these statistics:

77% of Americans can name the Seven Dwarfs,
24% can name two Supreme Court Justices.

60% identified Homer as the father of Bart Simpson,
21% could name one of Homer's epic Greek poems.

73% could name all Three Stooges,
42% could name all three branches of government.

60% knew Krypton was Superman's home planet,
37% knew Mercury was the closest planet to the sun.

23% could name Taylor Hicks as the last winner of American Idol,
11% could name Samuel Alito as the last Supreme Court justice to be confirmed.

Jim and Casper's Church Visit #2: The Dream Center

I had never heard of the second church that Jim and Casper visited, although I remember studying in some class in college (which I graduated from fourteen years ago sometime this month - yikes) the founder of The Dream Center (also known as Angelus Temple), Aimee Semple McPherson as well as the Azusa Street revivals. I had no idea that this McPherson person had that large of a congregation, but it's still going strong.

This chapter brings up several interesting questions, in my opinion. The first question is "How much money that comes into a church should go towards things for the church, and how much money should go to impact the community?" Matt Casper seems to struggle in this chapter; on one hand, he loves the fact that the Dream Center used a lot of its offerings to start programs for the poor and needy in Los Angeles. On the other hand, he bemoans the fact that obviously a lot of money was spent on what seems (to an unchurched mind) to be frivolous items, like a camera crane and fog machines and stuff. I thought it was interesting that Casper struggled with these items, because most churches would think that the opposite is true: that to really reach the unchurched person in America today who is used to high quality "entertainment", that you have to spend oodles of money to try and imitate high quality, at least the best you can. I personally think this is an incorrect viewpoint for a church to have. I'm not sure that the average unchurched person really cares about all the bells and whistles that churches try to copy - I think they care more about how they are treated when they are at church and if anything is authentic and relevant to their lives. It also reminds me of a statement I heard when I was a youth minister: if you win someone with , that's how you have to keep them. If your ministry is all about entertainment and that makes someone join your church, then that's what you will continue to have to do in order to keep them at your church.

Another interesting question that is brought up in my mind in this chapter is the balance between what I call orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right behavior). There is a lot about Pentacostalism that I don't agree with, although I am probably closer to the center than most people like me who have grown up in the Christian Church movement when it comes to the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts. There are things about The Dream Center that I certainly don't agree with theologically. And I'm a little creeped out by the founder and some of her stunts. Yet they are serving the poor and needy in their community. They are doing what Jesus has called us all to do - and yet some of their theology is kind of whacked. What's more important? Is it more important to know all the right things (or at least think you know all the right things) yet not really act upon what you know, or is it more important to act, even though you may be kind of wrong theologically? To me, Matthew 25 and the parable of the sheep and goats goes a long way to answer the question for me, but I still struggle with this.

The last question that I have is found at the very end of the chapter, where Casper talks about the good and bad of the message. He liked the message (it was Father's Day) because he felt that it was very applicable for him, since he was a Father. But he didn't like the "on cue" emotionalism that was displayed by the minister at the appropriate times. I've always wondered what is more important: the substance of the message or the delivery of the message? I still don't know, but from what I remember, this area is discussed some more in the upcoming chapters.

Jim And Casper's Church Visit #1: Saddleback

If you don't understand what the title means, look down at the post below this one - it should help explain. I want to encourage everyone to buy the book "Jim And Casper Go To Church" - it is a refreshing perspective on churches and what we should be focusing on. Now, on with chapter one!

I thought it was interesting that the first church that Jim and Casper visit together was Saddleback. This church is kind of the poster child these days (along with Willow Creek) for the megachurch movement that has swept North American Christianity. It seems like everywhere you go, new megachurches are popping up. Even in places as obscure as Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.

The reason I bring up Idaho is because my wife's uncle and his wife attend a megachurch there. This particular church got its beginnings less than ten years ago, and this Easter they had over 12,000 people in attendance. More about them when Willow Creek comes up (fourth chapter I believe), because I want to look at the whole megachurch explosion.

I have been to Saddleback twice, both times for conferences. The first time I went, I was a youth minister at my homechurch in Colorado (presently at 3,500 attenders, which makes it a megachurch), and our entire staff went to the Purpose Driven Conference, which is essentially what Saddleback is most known for - and of course they're also known for their pastor Rick Warren and his affinity for wearing Hawaiian shirts. The purpose-driven church idea really has revolutionized the church - for good and for bad. The good is that it has given churches both big and small a structure that they can organize their ministry and mission around. The bad is that churches take the concept and make it their own without adapting it to their own demographic and culture, despite Rick Warren saying not to do so. I swear I've heard of churches that have adopted the Purpose-Driven style so "religiously", that even the senior ministers of those churches started wearing Hawaiian shirts. Scary.

The second time I went to Saddleback was for a worship conference, which I enjoyed because Saddleback is in Southern California, and since I miss the ocean (went to school out there), it gave me a lot of opportunities to reconnect with the ocean and the beach. The conference was pretty good as well.

Anyway, let's go back to Jim and Casper's visit. I thought it was very humorous that they talked about the "gauntlet" of happy greeters, because that was my very first impression. They do the exact same thing at their conferences, which made me wonder: 1) Why do pastors and church staff members need to be greeted seventeen times from the parking lot to Saddleback's front door when we're just attending a conference, and 2) Do these people have regular jobs? I mean, it was like a Thursday morning and there were people greeting. As a visitor attending Saddleback for the first time, I'm not sure I would want to be greeted by that many happy faces before getting into the worship service. When I have attended churches for the first time, I have wanted to just blend in and sneak into the door. Maybe it's just my personality or something.

I also thought it was interesting about what Jim and Casper had to say about the music at Saddleback, and this is what I want to focus on. As a worship minister, when I go to a different church, I naturally grade the music and the worship style. I wish I could just sit or stand there and enjoy the music and connect with God through the worship, but I just can't. Every once in awhile I have the opportunity to go to another church in the Dayton area, and I find myself rating the music with the same type of rating that Jim and Casper used to rate the different aspects of their experience at Saddleback (and the other churches). Here is a sample of my rating of other churches I have visited (this should be interesting, I'll star out some of the letters so you don't know what church it is, wink wink):

Sou**roo* - I gave them a 2 out of 5 when I visited them, because although I felt the worship band did pretty well musically, I felt that the worship leaders (there was a guy and a girl who alternated) were trying to be someone they really weren't style-wise (they seemed to be K-Love type worship leaders trying to be more edgy.)

**ngha*sburg - I went at a bad time because it was right before Christmas, and they had this guest worship performer-type person who sounded a lot like James Taylor, and since I don't like James Taylor, I tuned out. So a N/A out of 5 I guess.

Dayton *ine*a*d - 1 out of 5. I didn't know the songs, the worship leader was off key most of the time. Yeah, I can be cruel sometimes.

A**x - 4.5 out of 5. I liked them a lot. I think style-wise, they were the closest to our style, the band was tight, and I knew the songs.

When I went to Saddleback, I had some of the same observations as Jim and Casper regarding the music. Although it was very professionally done, it seemed too slick, too produced.

But here's the thing: Saddleback has a specific target audience. They are primarily targeting the Boomer upper-class business professional, and so it makes sense I guess that the worship style is very slick, very professional, very structured. It also makes sense why I wouldn't prefer it, because I'm not their target. Which brings us to another issue - is it right to have a target audience? (Not an issue to discuss today, however.)

Music is one of those things that is deeply personal to everyone. Churches fight all the time about worship styles and worship preferences. However, I think that Jim and Casper really hit on the main issue of worship: is it authentic and real, or is it showy? I'm not sure if that's an issue with the older generations, but I'm pretty sure that's a huge issue with my generation and the emerging generations who are younger than me. Here are a couple of quotes from this chapter about worship/music that resonated with me:

- "It's awesome. I can see Nick Lachey from here. Well, it's not really Jessica Simpson's ex, but the guy singing looks an awful lot like him."

- "That should attract people, right?" "Maybe people who like American Idol. I mean, don't get me wrong. I see the entertainment value, but when it comes to music, I like it pure. Too much polish and you lose the heartfelt power, you lose the soul of the music, and you're not gonna move anyone."

- "And the lyrics? 'Hope Changes Everything?' What does that mean? Hope changes nothing except your own feelings. Action changes everything."

We showed a video this past Sunday that pretty much encapsulated everything I ever want to say about worship. You can preview it here. It's hard to not be a critic of music when it comes to style, but I think we should be critical when it comes to authenticity and heartfeltness (if that's a word). Saddleback has the performance part down. The question is: how do you combine performance with authenticity in front of 10,000 people?

Jim and Casper Go To Church

I bought this little book the other day, and I'm really excited about reading it. It's called (as the title above suggests) "Jim and Casper Go To Church". It's about a believer and an atheist who decide to visit churches around North America and write about their experiences and perspectives on what they witnessed. I've read the first three chapters, and it's been very intriguing reading, especially considering that two of the three are really big names in churches these days: Saddleback Church and Mosaic.

I would like to talk about a certain aspect of each chapter, but before I start down that road, let me give you a few excerpts from the introduction that I thought were interesting:

- "In spite of my desire for people to encounter Jesus, I spent most of my time functioning as a moral policeman."

- "I was so busy chasing the elusive Three B's of pastoral success (buildings, budgets, and butts in the seats) that I hardly had time to focus on anything else. In fact, I outright ignored the people that Jesus himself primarily came to connect with - the people Jesus misses the most."

- "Too often, conversations we have about our beliefs are too much like debates, and we spend our time looking for chinks in the conversational armor, spaces where we can insert an argument or launch a rejoinder."

- "Generally speaking, ordinary Christians don't like arguing their friends into becoming Christians. It just doesn't feel right. To be sure, we buy the books and really do want someone doing this kind of work. But the idea that we should demand a verdict from non-Christians seems like an approach a lawyer would take - and you know how people feel like lawyers. Ordinary Christians like me know that when you start defending the faith, you also start losing your friends."

Why Oh Why?

If you have never heard of Fred Phelps and his hate-mongering, be very very happy. For the rest of us who cringe every time there is a major tragedy in this country, knowing that Phelps and his band of idiots will be picketing funerals and spreading their unholy view of a God who hates anyone who does not agree with them, it's a sad day indeed.

If you want a visual example of the hate that Phelps spreads, watch the video off of Zach's blog. It will make you appreciate the original song so much more.

I have never listened...

to a Drew Marshall radio show, but after he appeared on some religious T.V. show and kind of ripped them and then talked about how he didn't really like "churchianity" and religious t.v. shows, I might start listening to his show.

Saying #7: Everything

Saying Seven: Everything

After Jesus drank the wine, he said, "Everything is done!" He bowed his head and died.
John 19:30

That's all folks! Show's over! Let's clear the area, please, nothing left to see. Jesus has left the building.

(Who'd have thought it would come to this? History colliding with mystery.)

In the beginning was the Word and the Word is now sentenced. Full stop. Close quotes. New paragraph.

Whatever "everything" is, "everything" is now complete. Things seen, things unseen. Everything that was started has finished. Every beginning has found its loose end, all thoughts have been taken to their logical conclusion. And any others.

At this moment, on this day, we have seen it all.

God bows his head respectfully and dies.

Everything dies.

Life dies.

Death dies.

Everything is done...

... except love.

Only love is not done.

Only love will not die.


To see the flash animation, go here.

Saying #6: Anger

Saying Six: Anger

Jesus shouted, "Father, I put myself in your hands!" Then he died.
Luke 23:46

He's not beaten, even when he's defeated.

Abandoned, desperate, parched, dying... but still, with his final breath, angry at the gulf between the way things are and the way things might be. Shouting at the invisible.

Forget gentle Jesus, if you ever remembered him. What can you do but shout when you see the distance between the way things are and the way things might be - and find yourself being strung from one side to the other?

Howling your prayers. Yelling your psalms. Life screaming at death, hope screaming at cynicism. If you can't shout at God, who can you shout at?

And if you think that your decibels can climb across the unknown, can be heard by Love and that Love will answer, then you jump. And fall into darkness. Trusting only the hands of the unseen, the hands of mercy, the hands that always made everything from nothing. Always do, always will.

What other hands dare you fall into?

Perhaps we are not abandoned. Perhaps we are not beaten, even when we are defeated.

Go here to see the flash animation.

Saying #5: Thirst

Saying Five: Thirst

Jesus knew that he had now finished his work. And in order to make the Scriptures come true, he said, "I am thirsty!"
John 19:28

Everybody is dying for a drink. None of us can survive without it.

We live on a blue planet holding 326 million cubic miles of water, each of those a gigantic overflowing cup holding more than a trillion gallons.

Our bodies are mainly made of water and without it we shrivel up and cease to be. Our life runs dry.

But water is not the only thing that brings us life. Each of us is thirsty for something more, something else, refreshment to transcend our physical needs, to sustain us way down deep inside..

Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, he had said. But now even this spring of life is drying up.

Sweating, struggling to breathe, bent over and bleeding.

Thirstier than he has ever been.

Because we are all dying of thirst.


To see the flash animation of this saying, go here.

Saying #4: Godforsaken

Saying Four: Godforsaken

Then about that time Jesus shouted, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you deserted me?"
Mark 15:34

Not a word we use very often: Godforsaken. Is there a time and place when even God has had enough of us, when even the immortal invisible needs to take some personal time.

Was God now hiding from Jesus... or was it just that Jesus lost sight of God? When it feels like that, what’s the difference?

And if you believe that Jesus, somehow, was also God, this is a kind of self-abandonment - God taking leave of himself, forgetting himself. A kind of madness.

As darkness falls, confusion rises. Voices nearby drop away, disappear. Spectators lose interest. Now just the silent sound of hearts breaking, hope evaporating.

"Hello?" No reply.

"Anyone there?" Nothing answers.

Just you and nothing. Forsaken.

Jesus Christ abandoned to his fate in the middle of history. Foolishness. The mad epicentre of all things. Losing it. Always losing it. You have to lose your life in order to find it. He had said.


Go here to see the flash animation.

Saying #3: Others

Saying Three: Others

When Jesus saw his mother and his favourite disciple with her, he said to his mother, "This man is now your son." Then he said to the disciple, "She is now your mother."
John 19:26-27

What was his mother thinking? Watching her son dying, slowly, by degrees.

"I wish it had never come to this"?
"I wish I could wake from this nightmare"?
"I wish I'd never had him"?

And what about the favourite follower? What’s the point of being a disciple when there’s no master? So much for being in the inner circle, when the circle is being bent and broken before you. So much for being special when all your hopes and dreams are being drained of life in front of your very eyes.

And what were the onlookers thinking? The ones whose curiosity had slowed them down to a halt, to check out this first century car-crash? Event-seekers, intrigued by what the small crowd were looking at over there on Skull Hill, what was going through their minds? Interesting piece of action by the looks of it, always good to get the news firsthand. Nothing like fresh gossip to add a bit of kudos.

Which of us knows what any of the rest of us is really thinking? We can barely read our own minds, let alone those of others. None of us can predict the significance of any of our moments. None of us knows the role we are playing in the invisible grand narrative.

Take the squaddies, dicing for a dying man's clothes, salivating at the market resale value. Ringside seats for the cosmic drama... but too busy living to notice.

We only know for sure what Jesus was thinking of. He was thinking of others. As usual.


To see the flash animation of this, go here.

The Lookout

I don't get a chance to see too many movies - at least movies on the big screen, so I have to pick and choose carefully. Unless I'm with the "brotherhood of the four" (Chad, Seth, Jeff when he's in town, Dave, Mike), when we tend to watch really silly movies together.

I'm excited about a movie coming out today, called The Lookout. It stars Joseph Gorden-Leavett, who is probably best known as the kid on Third Rock From The Sun - but he's actually a very talented young actor. The last movie I saw him in was one of my favorites from last year, Brick.

Anyway, this movie is about a former hockey player who has an accident and has trouble remembering things (sounds kind of like another favorite movie of mine, Memento). He gets recruited to be The Lookout (hence the name) of a bank heist. I'm sure things go wrong, they tend to do so in movies. Jeff Daniels (Dumb and Dumber) and Isla Fischer (Wedding Crashers and right now the girlfriend of Borat, also known as Sacha Baron Cohen) also star. It looks really good.

To see more information, and the theatrical trailer, go here.

Just an observation from Sunday, and I don't really...

have a theory about it, and I'm not even sure if I can come up with anything more than a brief paragraph about it, but I thought it was very interesting Sunday morning when the senior minister of the church I work at had all the guys who were firstborn sons stand up, and a huge majority of the guys in the congregation stood up.

Interesting.

Saying #2: Remember

Saying Two: Remember

Then the criminal said to Jesus, "Remember me when you come into power!" Jesus replied, "I promise that today you will be with me in paradise."
Luke 23:43

Talk about a death-bed conversion! What a chancer! Hanging, said Dr Johnson, wonderfully concentrates the mind and this is one concentrated criminal.

Life has come into focus.

Deep inside, something is finally understood.

He doesn't join the soldiers in humiliating the broken God on the cross next door. After a life spent trying to be noticed, to be someone, he knows he is about to be no one, to be forgotten for good. A dying fly, swatted onto the floor of history.

Yet some mysterious instinct tells him that maybe if this one life on the next cross will notice him, will remember him... he will never be forgotten again. How did he know that weakness and vulnerability are invisibly tied to strength, to another kind of power?

You will be with me today, in a place of unimaginable harmony, a place where this strange passage called life will be known for what it is, a place we sometimes called paradise. You will be with me today, says Jesus Christ, as if there was no doubt about it, as if we can take him at his word.

When we remember someone, we give them extra life. When Jesus Christ remembers us, we can never be forgotten again.

Go here to see the flash animation of this saying.

Saying #1: Forgive

Saying One: Forgive

When the soldiers came to the place called "The Skull" they nailed Jesus to a cross. They also nailed the two criminals to crosses, one on each side of Jesus. Jesus said, "Father, forgive these people! They don't know what they're doing."
Luke 23:34

Who decided on the order? Which of the soldiers thought Jesus would look best in the middle? Maybe the two criminals, caught red-handed on their last job, had fallen out with each other. Perhaps the only way to shut them up was to put the quiet guy with the messiah complex in between.

Soldiers, thieves, spectators, those hammering in the nails, those gasping at the visual spectacle: no one in this first Easter scene knows quite what they are doing. Forgive them, says Jesus, as the nails bite, forgive them. They don't get it.

Of all the low-life rogues to find the long arm of the law thumping down on their shoulders, these two nobodies get to hang right in the middle of history. They had never lived with Jesus, like Peter or Mary or Judas. Instead they get to die with him. No chance to give him their lives. Only their deaths.

Which of us aren't as thick as thieves until Jesus Christ enters our field of vision. All of us watching, gasping, averting our eyes, wishing these weren't real nails, that this had not been our shift, hoping we can put this behind us, can move on. Trying to find our words. Not quite sure what we are doing. Not knowing we could ask for forgiveness. Not knowing someone else has.


To see a nifty flash animation of this saying, go here.

The Seven Sayings Of Jesus On The Cross

So, I finally upgraded my blogger account to Google - I've been holding out for a long time, but today I thought "What the heck."

I found this really neat resource while I was looking for Element resources. It's very timely - since it deals with the death of Jesus on the cross. Over the next several posts, I'm going to share with you the text from this resource, as well as link you to a pretty neat flash file for each one.

Or you can go here and check it all out for yourself.