Check out this video.  A little truth brought to you by satire.

Found at Jesus Needs New PR.

A big week in the news (Republican presidential debate, Obama’s speech, 9/11 anniversary, etc) has me thinking about the way people who disagree speak to one another.  This is not some novel idea of mine, in fact, nearly every talk show, magazine, and blog has already discussed our nations nasty “tone of discourse.”  My addition to the fray is based around the idea of conversion.  For people of faith (any faith) conversion is often spoken of as the moment when our arguments “win”.  If my argument is the most logical and I can convince those around me I am right, they will have no choice but to convert.

This mode of thinking is arrogance on steroids and makes me feel like a jerk.   Instead, when you hope to change opinions, thinking, actions, feelings, etc you must come to the conversation open to conversion.  This obviously goes in the face of our current political world where stubbornness has become a virtue.  When we are open to conversion we are 1. practicing humility, 2. treating our neighbor as we wish to be treated, and 3. being open to positive outcomes we cannot reach on our own. [Read more →]

As noted in several blog post before this one I have been setting up all sorts of routines in my life to help me be creative and productive.  This morning as I tried to tackle my study time I realized, today, those routines just weren’t working.  This is kind of a big week for me, we are kicking off a new weekly worship service on Sunday evenings at 5:30pm this week, and my mind is swimming with task for preparation.  As I struggled to read the articles on my blogroll this morning I remembered something Jesus said that was repeated last Sunday during the sermon at church, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath.” [Read more →]

The history of evangelism is super interesting.  The first 2000 years of evangelist shows an ebb and flow of faithful believers reacting to those who have gone before them and adjusting practices to fit their culture (not always successfully or respectfully).  In more recent times we’ve seen a generation of arrogant evangelism with preachers emphasizing hell and tarnation for those who don’t believe.  In reaction to this movement my generation has swung so far the other direction that many of my peers squirm at the sound of the “E word.”  Many churches doing great things are shrinking because they’ve never learned how to effectively invite people to join them.

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In the last few weeks I have been transforming my study habits (with help from a great book) and have been extremely happy to find pockets of conversation within my fields of interest that I didn’t even know existed.  New ideas have built on old ones and my notebooks and blog post have been filled with insight I gained because of my new habits.  For many the practice of continual study sounds nice, but the reality of busy schedules means it doesn’t happen.  This was me about a month ago, and this post is me urging you from the other side.

Invest in yourself! When you do we all benefit.  When you are more informed, more inspired, and more knowledgeable you are far more valuable a friend, colleague, or acquaintance and I would venture to say you’ll be even more productive than before.

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Found a really cool website today.  The RSA.org  (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts) has taken to animating brief lectures.  For a visual learner like me it is a cognitive party.  The one below I found especially interesting.  A little science could really enhance the debate within the church over humanity as inherently good or inherently sinful.  Plus, the video agrees with me.  For more of their videos go here.

There is a new conversation in some Christian circles about how we modify our faith with adjectives. Many are being identified as conservative Christians, liberal Christians, progressive Christians, evangelical Christians and more whether they want to or not. So, author Tony Jones decided to have a poll to decide on a adjective that reflects what kind of faith he and his conversation partners advocate for.

Quickly his comment stream filled with complaints about “branding” and the desire to be the “body of Christ”. I share that sentiment, and also realize branding and stereotyping is a way of life in our culture. If we have some control over it, we may as well take it.

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As religious people love to say, “today I was blessed” with one of the funniest videos I’ve seen in a long time.  The sad part is that not only am I fairly religious I am also interested in several of the “standard nerdy” activities mentioned in the video.  It is amazing I found a wife.

My hope as a pastor is that the church could stop creating “Religious People” and start encouraging people to live in the Kingdom of God.  Kingdom People may still be obsessed but with less killing, judgment, ugliness, Bible-thumping, etc.  If you want to be a Kingdom Person you should come check out our new community.  Find us online at www.churchanew.net or visit one of our worship services weekly Sunday nights at 5:30pm starting September 11th.

Found at: Jesus Needs New PR

Who found it at: http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6583358/why-religious-people-are-nerds

Ashley and I continue to creep ever closer towards adopting our first children (view our adoption page here).  There are endless hoops in this process and last night we jumped through another one.  We attended a mandatory training on how to discipline children at United Methodist Youthville.   The social worker teaching the class gave several tips and strategies for developing a discipline plan for kids who have experienced trauma.  My favorite tip was keep it short.

Her theory was this: adults love to lecture, and kids can only pay attention for 2 minutes.  I love the keep it short mantra….and not for just kids.  Unnecessarily complicating things does not make you sound smarter, and it does not help get your point across.  When I was in seminary I always turned in papers that were shorter than the required minimum pages.  Not because I was lazy, but because if I could say it with fewer words it forced me to refine my point.  And if I did it well, the proffessors would never mark me down for turning in 12 pages on a 15 page minimum.

So next time you are communicating write down your most important point in one sentence.  Then go back and make the sentence shorter.  And then do it again.  If you are able to be concise people will love you and you’ll be way more effective.  I’ve said too much.

Man reading scripture is tough.  I recently watched a documentary For the Bible Tells Me So which addressed the difficulty around interpretation of scriptures dealing with homosexuality.  Today I read an article discussing the incredibly difficult task of determining what the Bible means when it talks about hell.  And then I was challenged on something I thought was an interpretive slam dunk when I learned “abba” may be mistranslated when it is used as “daddy”.

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