Because I'm boring...

...here's some more interesting stuff on the web.

Michael Kruse asks "Are you a Road-Rager?" and points to the driver test at RoadRagers.com. Just so you know, "I'm a very good driver" - Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man.

Twice recently, Gary Means has pointed to Subversive Underground. I have liked what I've read, check it out.

Addison Road has ressurected Wiggling Her Butt From Side to Side. I don't think I've posted on it before, so here it is. Oh, be SURE to read the comments over there, too. Swallow your food, vist the bathroom, and then click the link.

Moved Mountains has posted twice recently on the subject of Church - The new Exodus? Here and Here.

Bad, Bad, BAD!

I discovered Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Squares.

I'm supposed to be a diabetic and I am SUPPOSED to avoid crap like this.

**Sigh**

I can see where we're going with this. and I don't like it one stinkin' bit. Cottonpickin'flippin' Christmas candy. Bad, bad, BAD!

Video Games? Think about it.

My friend Cindy posted today about anger and violent video games. In my comment, I said that my kids don't play violent games and they still get violently angry, even when playing something as benign as Super Monkey Ball or Mario Kart Double Dash. This usually results in suspension for hours or even days, depending on the offense.

I grew up with an Atari. We had a 5200, and it was the greatest. My Dad and I were especially addicted. Even then, while playing nothing more sinister than Frogger, Pac-Man or Missile Command in all their 8-bit glory, we became terribly angry from time to time, yelling, throwing the controller, and sometimes a bad word would slip out of my Dad's mouth during an especially tense round of Breakout.

I was a teen when the Atari came to our house, so I lost interest after a few years, having much better things to do with my time, like date. But being the oldest of 4 children assured that there were always video games around - Nintendo, SuperNES, N64, and first generation Gameboys all lived in my parents house. About that time, my youngest sibling began to get into computer gaming, and the consoles began collecting dust. But there was always that anger that went along with video games.

I won't apologize, we are still video game people - I love Pitfall on the Gamecube. My husband loves GranTurismo 3 on the PS2. We also have two Gameboys.

There is definitely concern about what some of these games put into kids heads. I have seen some of the games that my son's friends have brought over. If a friend brings a game, I will first study the back of the box, then if I'm in doubt I will supervise play for a while to see what's what. Sometimes I'm appalled. I was thoroughly disappointed to find that Tony Hawk had lent his name to games that had blood, violence, bad words and suggestive themes. Some of this stuff belongs in R-rated movies. To see/rent an R-rated movie, you have to show ID that you are at least 17. Not so for video games.

I do want to touch on one thing here: the ESRB ratings. Take it from an experienced game-renting mom, the ratings are a great guideline, but they are often wrong as far as an individual family is concerned. I have seen rated E (everyone) games that I was unhappy with and rated T (teen) games that were fully appropriate for my kids.That's not the fault of the ratings system, it simply has to do with how each parent has different values for their kids. So I highly stress that just reading the rating on the back of the box is no substitute for good parental involvement and awareness.

A recommendation if you're not a console-owning family - PopCap games. I have been using them for years for great PC games. They promise no spyware or spam, and in my experience that is entirely true. The games, to the best of my knowledge, are all family friendly, and each game I've tried caters to everyone, from the little tykes that are just getting good at using a mouse, all the way up to adults. At our house we especially like Insaniquairum, Zuma, and Bejeweled 2. I also like NingPo MahJong and Pixelus. Fair warning: these games can be addictive, even to adults. ;-)

Back on the subject; who hasn't flipped the board in anger at a game of Monopoly or Life? OK, maybe not everyone has done that, but we all have gotten angry. We even see professional athletes lose their cool, big time on a regular basis, so it's not limited to board or video games. We used to call it being a poor-sport, but I think it was the same animal that manifests itself in today's video game play.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there's no difference between Monopoly and Mortal Kombat. I'm just wondering what we can do about this anger that springs up - and I'm not saying I'm innocent - when we lose a game?

Games give us a sense of accomplishment, probably a somewhat misplaced sense of success. They give us bragging rights, so a sense of pride. Because for many kids today, as for kids throughout the video game generations and beyond, game skill is a measure of personal value. Even back during the Pinball Wizard days, it was extraordinarily cool to beat a game. I'm not sure how best to combat this problem, all I know at this time is how to respond to it. That's with game suspension, just like in the NBA or NFL.

In the end, I told my son that "anger at a video game is useless: the game doesn't feel bad when you lose and can't be punished for it; so all anger gets you is suspension from the games you enjoy, all anger hurts is you. If you're angry, take a short voluntary break, otherwise the result will be a longer forced break."

Oh and I missed one other important point - time limits. I think that's something that has to be judged on a case-by-case basis, but it's never a good thing to allow kids unlimited access to video games. Then the games become their world, and I think this, more than anything, leads to the real problem with violence. So my kids - in the summer they have to play outside four hours for every hour of video games. I'm not legalistic about it, that's just the guide. In the winter - it depends on the weather, but they have to trade off with board games, chores, homework and screen time.

I'm not saying I know everything and I'm perfect parent. It may be hard out here for a pimp, but they got absolutely nothin' on being a parent. Just like every generation before us, our kids are facing things we didn't face and all we can do is just try to be reasonable. I don't think video games are evil. I don't even think that a good amount of play once in awhile is evil. I do think that parents that are oblivious to the impact video games have in their kids lives, parents who are ignorant or apathetic about what their kids see - even if it is animated - in video games, are, well .... part of the problem.

Be sure to check out Mediawise's 2006 Video Game Report Card. Scroll down and there are lists of the top 10 games to avoid and the top 10 recommended games.

So, my 5th grader came home yesterday and told me that kids were making fun of him because he wasn't allowed to watch some TV show (I honestly don't remember which one) or play Resident Evil . We had a very interesting discussion about peer pressure that is off subject, so I won't get into it right now. It makes me sad, even though I know peer pressure is as old as humankind.

This makes me sad, too, to think of all those kids whose parents don't know or don't care what their kids see. I know as a parent you can't much control what your kids do at other kids' houses. I'm not a Video-Content-Nazi or a Hand-Sanitizer-Hyper kind of parent. But I do believe you can be as involved and proactive as possible. It does make you wonder where the parent's are at the other kids houses, but I do know not all these kids are *just* seeing this stuff at other people's houses.

I guess my point? Let's not just blame the games. I do think some of what goes into these games is exceedingly unnecessary, to say the least, even for an adult. But then again, we've been seeing crap in movies forever - so it's not just video games, it's the entire entertainment industry, and it has to be monitored.

We need to take responsibility, to the best of our ability, for where our child's sense of self-worth lies. Is their greatest achievement *beating* a video game? Do they feel worthless when they lose? Or do they know how valuable they are to us as people?

Likewise, we need to be aware of whose responsibility it really is if your child is seeing gore, sex and demons in their video games. Think about it.

I DID IT !!!!!!!

It's official:

50,000 words!


A day early, and I still have about 2000 words left in me to *finish*


We don't actually *win* anything, other than the recognition.
It's still well worth it to me!


I might sneak you guys a peek or two if I ever get it polished up. We'll see.

Around the Neighborhood

Sine I am furiously trying to reach that magic number of 50,000, I haven't posted much of substance lately.

Here's some other stuff that's going on in the neighborhood.

A good laugh at In His Courts - "How would the different traditions of Christianity attempt to save Anakin from turning to the Dark Side of the force?"

Steve Sensenig - Election: Individual or Corporate?

Food for thought at CECL - Going off Mission - "It only takes 3-5 years for virtually every new church to begin to revert to familiar patterns of becoming self focused and consumed with issues of institutional development."

Dan Horwedel - Knowing God vs. Obeying Him and Legalism vs. Grace

Jason Clark - Left and Right Brained World: The Postmodern Turn "The modern world has been very left brained, whilst the post-modern turn has been recovering the right brain. "

And something I'm keeping my eye on - In a post titled "One Phone Number to Rule them All", Lifehacker talks about Grand Central.


See you soon.

"Don't you wish...

... life was as simple as a 5 gallon plastic bucket?" Todd Irving of FunkPlastic.

I saw this guy yesterday on AMNW, a local morning TV show; he drums on 5 gallon plastic paint buckets. I know he's not the first person to do that, but I liked his style. I couldn't remember his name, so I e-mailed the show, and lo and behold, they got back to me the very next day, today (kudos AMNW).

The reason this interested me, of course, is that my husband is a drummer. So we can usually appreciate all things "beat", especially people who are original. Alas, hubby was at work when this show aired, so he was unable to see it. So this morning we looked him up.

He's got a MySpace and a website, though it seems the website is down. You can also find him on YouTube, search for FunkPlastic. Last summer, he opened here for Erykah Badu. He also mentioned that he has an audition with Stomp next year.

From the Portland Trailblazers website interview (he plays at Blazer games from time to time) :

"I was trained in the Pentecostal church as a drummer. Our gift is natural. My grandfather prayed for my Dad when he was 11. My Dad has been playing the piano every since. I have three brothers that are musicians. My Dad prayed for us and we picked up our designated instruments and we’ve been playing every since."

From Willamette Week:

"He's a 38-year-old father, a former business and theology student, son of a long-rooted Portland family, active in the church where his father's the Pastor."

Anyhow... check out this vid if you're so inclined. Oh, and did I mention he's a believer?

72 hours and counting...

43,768

Which leaves about 6232 to go.

Cheer me on!!

Now you CAN (theoretically) take it with you

As of today, in the U.S., you are now *allowed* to take your mobile phone to other carriers. Gone are the days of proprietary wireless phone service.

Here's the deal: normally when you purchase a new wireless phone, you will get a *locked* phone at a discount price as long you enter into a one-or-two year contract with a particular carrier at a certain service price level, often you will have to commit to a plan that costs a minimum amount per month, i.e. $29.99. At the end of your contract, you can usually reduce your service to a cheaper plan if it suits you. However, many times you've still only been able to use your phone with that carrier, even after your contract is up.

Otherwise, you have had to pay a premium price for an "unlocked" and non-contractual phone, in order to have one that is usable with any carrier that supports the network (GSM or CDMA) of the model phone you choose.

[Note:There have always been some workarounds to this issue, but until now those *workarounds* have been illegal.]

You will still have to pay through the nose for a new *unlocked* non-contractual phone. However, any phone you get at a discount with a contract is now able to be legally unlocked when your contract ends. You will still have to fulfill your contractual obligations (or pay the early cancellation penalty), but you no longer are tethered to your carrier until the end of all time, or at least until you buy a new phone.

Truly, this only half the issue; carriers are still not required to activate *any* phone on their system, because it's far more lucrative for the carrier to sell you a new *locked* phone at an extreme discount and get you to commit to a contract with a certain monthly cost of service, than it is for you to get cheaper service on a month-to-month basis with a phone you already own.

Two questions:
a) I don't know if this will be retroactive to phones that people currently own, or only on newly issued phones.
b) If it is retroactive, I don't know if carriers or manufacturers will be *required* to provide the necessary unlocking procedures to customers.

I do wonder if this will be the end of deep discounts on wireless products, because the carrier is no longer able to guarantee that you will be *locked* in to using their service at the end of your contract.

However, this new legislation is a small step towards freedom for the people.

"Rulemaking on Exemptions from Prohibition on Circumvention of Technological Measures that Control Access to Copyrighted Works:

The Librarian of Congress, on the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, has announced the classes of works subject to the exemption from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. Persons making noninfringing uses of the following six classes of works will not be subject to the prohibition against circumventing access controls (17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1)) during the next three years.

---

5. Computer programs in the form of firmware that enable wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telephone communication network, when circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless telephone communication network.

---

These exemptions went into effect upon publication in the Federal Register on November 27, 2006, and will remain in effect through October 27, 2009."

Some commentary and discussion on the subject:

TreoCentral
Engadget
Brighthand
CNet
Yahoo!

The Gender of Inanimate Objects

Rated PG-13

From Backyard Missionary

FREEZER BAGS: They are male, because they hold everything in, but you can see right through them.

PHOTOCOPIERS: These are female, because once turned off, it takes a while to warm them up again.They are an effective reproductive device if the right buttons are pushed, but can also wreak havoc if you push the wrong buttons.

TYRES: Tyres are male, because they go bald easily and are often over inflated.

HOT AIR BALLOONS: Also a male object, because to get them to go anywhere, you have to light a fire under their arse

SPONGES: These are female, because they are soft, squeezable and retain water.

WEB PAGES: Female, because they’re constantly being looked at and frequently getting hit on.

TRAINS: Definitely male, because they always use the same old lines for picking up people.

EGG TIMERS: Egg timers are female because, over time, all the weight shifts to the bottom.

HAMMERS: Male, because in the last 5000 years, they’ve hardly changed at all, and are occasionally handy to have around.

THE REMOTE CONTROL: Female. Ha! You probably thought it would be male, but consider this: It easily gives a man pleasure, he’d be lost without it, and while he doesn’t always know which buttons to push, he just keeps trying

Disillusioned with Christmas?

There is a popular Christmas-type song that has always bothered me. I've always liked it, it's a beautiful song, but I've never really understood it. You've probably heard it - Greg Lake's (of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer) "I Believe in Father Christmas". It goes like this:

They said there'd be snow at Christmas, they said there'd be peace on earth
But instead it just kept on raining, a veil of tears for the Virgin Birth
I remember one Christmas morning, a winter's light and a distant choir
And the peal of a bell and that Christmas tree smell, and their eyes full of tinsel and fire

They sold me a dream of Christmas, they sold me a Silent Night
And they told me a fairy story 'till I believed in the Israelite
And I believed in Father Christmas, and I looked to the sky with excited eyes
And I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn, and I saw him and through his disguise

I wish you a hopeful Christmas, I wish you a brave new year
All anguish pain and sadness leave your heart and let your road be clear
They said there'd be snow at Christmas, they said there'd be peace on earth
Hallelujah Noel, be it heaven or hell, the Christmas we get we deserve

I've always thought, "How sad that someone is so feels so manipulated when it comes to faith and so bitter about Christmas that they would refer to Jesus as a fairy tale and Christmas as an illusion".

So I finally did some checking, and this is what I found.

On Greg Lake's website there is a recording of Greg commenting on this song. This is what he says:

"'I Believe in Father Christmas' has become something of a Christmas classic, which, I'm very happy to say, is a nice thing. It brings sometimes some strange reactions, people who'd say it's anti-religious and all of this, when in reality, it's really about objecting to the commerciality of Christmas, and trying to sort-of, remind people that the Christmas you get you deserve. It's all about giving, it's the joy of giving, and that was the real intention behind the song."

There is also an interesting quote on Wikipedia:

"I find it appalling when people say it's politically incorrect to talk about Christmas, you've got to talk about 'The Holiday Season.' Christmas was a time of family warmth and love. There was a feeling of forgiveness, acceptance. And I do believe in Father Christmas."

However, also on Wikipedia:

"The video for this song contains shots of the Vietnam War which has led to complaints from some that it should not be shown with light-hearted Christmas songs. These images (such as dozens of rockets being launched from an apache helicopter) are a violent backdrop to a peaceful sounding song - creating a hard-hitting message.

I'm not sure where to go with the idea that "the Christmas we get we deserve." I'm not sure that it is simply about the "joy of giving". It's not really a very joyful song. I understand the reference to the naughty-nice list that Santa Claus (a.k.a Father Christmas) is said to have, but I have always wondered if it's not really just a thinly veiled and sarcastic allusion to the writer's bitterness at the concepts of Jesus and salvation and heaven and hell.

Not that it's an issue of any importance, but what do you think?

Have you ever noticed ...

... Microsoft Word wants to force the capitalization of 'satan' but not 'God'?

That's good ol' spellcheck for you.

Oh, and I broke 40K today.

Fabulous Gifts that Won't Break Your Budget...

... or the tension between Black Friday and Buy Nothing Day as Christmas season perspectives.

The Black Friday Hysteria:

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, is historically the busiest retail shopping day of the year. Many consider it the "official" beginning to the Christmas season. Most retailers open very early and usually provide massive discounts on their products, and offer doorbuster deals to draw people to their stores.

The Buy Nothing Day Idealism:

Buy Nothing Day is an informal day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. It was founded by Vancouver artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by the Canadian Adbusters magazine. Participants refrain from purchasing anything for 24 hours in a concentrated display of consumer power. The event is intended to raise awareness of what some see as the wasteful consumption habits of First World countries. Activists may also participate in culture jamming activities like the Whirl-Mart and other forms of radical expression. It is also used to protest materialism and bandwagon appeals.

We Christians talk a great deal about keeping the point of Christmas. I think we know it's not about the spending, instead it's about the giving. I think we have all hashed that out sufficiently. We've all heard all about how to have an inexpensive Christmas, how to keep the meaning and all that jazz. I hear about how we should give our Christmas budget $$ to the poor rather than giving our family and friends things we can't afford and they don't need. I understand those who rail against the consumeristic disease we all seem to get this time of year. I have seen it get ugly, we all have.

I don't think it's wrong to want to give, I don't think anyone does. However, I also don't think it's wrong to shop or buy during this season. I don't even think it's wrong to get pleasure out of it. Christmas is a celebration of the Ultimate Gift, and I don't think God has a problem with us wanting to celebrate by buying or giving, as long as we have planned ahead for it and can manage it without debt.

What 's your perspective on buying and giving during this season? And on a sidenote, what do you think about Wal-Mart's decision to use "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays" this year? Does it matter to you? Do you even shop at Wal-Mart?

Who let the dogs out?

Well, actually, my 10 year old son did.

So now they are all off on their bikes (hubby, both boys, and a neighbor boy) trying to catch them.

Huskies are particularly stinky in this respect. They adore being in wide open spaces, and they give us a run for our money, big time, whenever they escape. They don't just run halfway up the block. Today they went 3/4 of a mile straight east, through traffic across a really busy 5 lane street, until hubby finally cornered them in an apartment complex.

There is actually a web page that says "What to do WHEN your Siberian Husky gets loose". Not IF. WHEN.

Anyhow, I think there is a spiritual lesson in this, as I ponder it.

Here's what I see. For a Sibe, being confined goes against their nature. Now, they love us, they adore our company, they have no problem with being part of our family. We feed them and groom them and love them.

However, something in them is activated when they see the opportunity to be free. They can't resist. They can't help themselves. It's a primal instinct, God made them that way. It fulfills their intended purpose in life, to be working dogs, sled dogs, ranging free in the wild. It's their destiny. Still, sled dogs are always under the leadership of someone, who while facilitating their ability to be free, also makes sure there is some direction in where they are going.

So for this breed, when freedom presents itself, they take that opportunity and run with it. They don't look back. They don't stop to think. They don't watch for cars. They aren't afraid of strangers. They don't care if we chase them, they just run faster.

Maybe the same is true of some of us, at least in a spiritual way. We love the church, we love the people, the family, the sense of having a home. But there is some instinct in us, there is this sense of freedom calling us. We don't really understand it or expect it, it lies dormant, waiting for the right moment. Then one day, someone inadvertently leaves the back door open (giving us permission to run) and we just can't help ourselves. We probably don't even think about the right or the wrong of it, or at least not for long. We run.

There are dangers lurking along the way, but somehow we don't have any fear, we trust that we will find our way. We don't like for people to chase us, asking us to "come home". We will run faster.

It's not so much that we are running away from something as it is we just long to be free. We can't ignore or dismiss the longing to experience the wide open spaces of our faith.

I think there are many different "breeds" of people, of Christians. Some are naturally inclined to like organization, they like the relative safety and predictability. Others are more prone to desiring freedom, to wandering and running.

I know some people will see there being a problem in the desire to lead a wandering life of faith. I wonder, maybe God just made us that way, maybe it's part of our purpose, our destiny. We want to work and to serve the other people who live life in the wide open because that is their purpose. There is always the One who is guiding us, even in our freedom, making sure there is some direction in our purpose, but still allowing a wide swath of ground to cover.

Or something like that.

For your Shopping Frenzy

Were you in the stores at 5 AM today? I wasn't this year, thank goodness, but I have been many years in the past.

In light of the fact that hubby and I will be seeing the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in less than two short weeks (Yay!) , I wanted to post this video. It made the rounds last year, you probably have seen it, but I think it's a fitting opener for the spirit of the holiday shopping season frenzy.

It's to the tune of "Wizards in Winter" by the TSO.



It's wildly entertaining, even if it is 'shopped'. You have to respect the creativity.

Prepare

Prepare your heart, oh my friend
a thankful soul and ear to lend
a peaceful spirit, grateful prose
a gentle loving gather grows

Prepare your heart, oh my dear
candles shine and loved ones near
a feast of bounty set upon
a table graced in lace and fawn

Prepare your heart, my companion
for when the celebration's done
remember in dim winter light
be thankful beyond just this night

Prepare your heart, oh love of mine
ne'er forget oh once in time
a Man who died to give you rest
at His expense you now are blessed.


Have a Blessed and Peaceful Thanksgiving Celebration.

Seven Reasons...

...why Jesus could not have been a Pastor in many Churches:

#1 - He Obviously Cared About Numbers!

In reading the Gospels it does not take a rocket scientist to discover that “great crowds” were always gathering around Him…there are even instances where the crowds nearly crushed Him…and not once did He ever get mad about it & tell those people to go to hell so that He could “go deep” with those closest to Him.

#2 - He Was Not An Expository Preacher!

Jesus simply did not preach line by line, verse by verse, through the Old Testament. There are SOME instances where He uses Scripture; however, the overwhelming majority of the time He tells stories…in other words–He was a creative communicator!!! (I am so sure the bloggers of that time period probably accused Him of watering down God’s word!

Read the rest at Perry Noble's blog.


HT Brian Orme

35143

Still keeping up. 8 days to go.

One World Religion or Tolerance?

I'm not generally an alarmist, I'm too busy to worry much about tomorrow.

However, I've been thinking about this a lot. The United Religions Initiative.

It was more-or-less created by the UN [Edit: Ok, I missspoke there. What I meant to say was it's endorsed by the UN, not created by] , to be to religion what the UN is to politics. Just to be clear, this isn't some grassroots thing. It's official. This is for real.

I'll provide some background, but if you want to know more, please visit their site and check it out.

From their "About" page:

"The seed for the URI was planted in 1993 when the United Nations invited William Swing, Episcopal Bishop of California, to host an interfaith service in San Francisco. That night the Bishop found it hard to sleep … he told himself, “If the nations of the world are working together for peace through the UN, then where are the religions of the world?” From this inspiration, a vision took shape to create an organization whereby people of diverse faiths and from all sectors of society would cooperate for peace and justice for all.

From the first global summit in 1996 to the Charter signing in 2000, URI engaged thousands of people from diverse religions, spiritual expressions and indigenous traditions to create the URI Charter. Five global summits and numerous gatherings and consultations took place in different regions of the world. URI used a highly effective methodology for positive change, Appreciative Inquiry, pioneered by Dr. David Cooperrider of Case Western Reserve University and the revolutionary insights for organizing offered by Dee Hock, founder of VISA international.

The results of this process are a URI Charter, interfaith action projects in over 50 countries, and an unprecedented network of Cooperation Circles and supporting members and Affiliates dedicated to making the Charter a lived reality all over the world. Today, millions of people are bringing their unique talents to URI and organizing profound acts of care, compassion, cooperation, education and peacebuilding."

Here's a excerpt from their Charter:

"We, people of diverse religions, spiritual expressions and indigenous traditions throughout the world, hereby establish the United Religions Initiative to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings.

• We respect the uniqueness of each tradition, and differences of practice or belief.
• We value voices that respect others, and believe that sharing our values and wisdom can lead us to act for the good of all.
• We believe that our religious, spiritual lives, rather than dividing us, guide us to build community and respect for one another.
• Therefore, as interdependent people rooted in our traditions, we now unite for the benefit of our Earth community.
• We unite to build cultures of peace and justice.
• We unite to heal and protect the Earth.
• We unite to build safe places for conflict resolution, healing and reconciliation.
• We unite to support freedom of religion and spiritual expression, and the rights of all individuals and peoples as set forth in international law.
• We unite in responsible cooperative action to bring the wisdom and values of our religions, spiritual expressions and indigenous traditions to bear on the economic, environmental, political and social challenges facing our Earth community.
• We unite to provide a global opportunity for participation by all people, especially by those whose voices are not often heard.
• We unite to celebrate the joy of blessings and the light of wisdom in both movement and stillness.
• We unite to use our combined resources only for nonviolent, compassionate action, to awaken to our deepest truths, and to manifest love and justice among all life in our Earth community.
  

If you have a chance, check out the North American Cooperation Circle News, just for some highlights.

What do you think? I mean, it all sounds well and good. But honestly, does this bother anyone else, or have I just read too much Tim LaHaye? Please tell me I'm being paranoid.

I mean, I'm no longer into all the end-times stuff. Five years ago I seriously was (I was an evangelical, fercryinoutloud), but I decided whatever God's plan was, it was HIS plan and not ours and that He would do whatever He wanted. In the meantime, I have a job to do as long as we're still here, which I think we will be for a very long time.

So it's not that I'm worried about it, per se, but I can't help wondering ... oh, whatever.

Any comments?

What do you listen to?

Especially when you write? If you don't write, tell me what you like to listen to anyhow. I'm always looking for new tunes.

Lately I have been streaming Sky.fm's world channel. I love it's widely varied flavors, it doesn't distract me, and it makes me *feel* like summer in these the pacific northwest's duck days of winter.

How about you?

Furiously writing...

...just not here.

I'm noveling away hours a day, but neglecting my blog a bit.

So if you're bored, check out my friend Pam's blog - she's started talking about Hell, tough chick that she is.

Catcha soon.

Vewy Eentresting

Foursquare is now recommending books by Len Sweet, Brian McLaren, and Dan Kimball.

They are also recommending The Ooze, Faithmaps, and Nextwave as youth resources.

Signs of institutional evolution, bandwagon-jumping, or last ditch efforts to stem the exodus tide?

Anyhow, The Ooze...hm...wonder what would happen if they heard some of the things we heard Spencer Burke say at his RevCon workshop?

Shhh. Think we should tell them?

I think not. Let it be our little secret.

Sorry

[sheepish grin] I just couldn't help myself. OK, well, I could but I chose not to.

That was meant to be one part sarcasm and one part satire. So feel free to cry or laugh. Laughing at ourselves is supposed to be good medicine, right?

For the record, I am just as irritated (if not more so) with my own attitude about all this as I am with the original offending subject matter; which was not the R&E Newsweekly article, just to be clear.

I think I need to go to bed now.

Braveheart and Little Women

I apologize in advance for this.

PBS's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly reports on Men in Church. Some of my "favorite" quotes, in order but not necessarily contiguous:

"A darkened room. On the screen, a film about Scottish warriors. A movie theater? No. Try Sunday worship. This is the Grove Community Church in Peoria, Illinois, a self-described "men's church." Mark Doebler, the bongo-playing pastor, says Christian men have been "neutered."

I can hear the rush of testosterone now.

"We're not saying that we shouldn't be gentle and humble and serve people. But there's a flip side to that, which says we have to be aggressive in the world when it's appropriate. We are warriors.

Let's not put TOO much emphasis on being aggressive, please.

"I think it's really important to get the guys here because if you get the guys, you get the rest of the family.

Says who?

"Over the years there's been a gradual feminization of a lot of our practices. There's been an emphasis on relationships, nurturing, close-knit communities. Men are into challenge, adventure. Men, especially young men, like conflict and change, and these are the sorts of things that are downplayed in church today.

Speechless.

"The early Christian church was dominated by men.

Does that make it right?

"In other religions, men play a prominent, even dominant role. Christianity has been described as a case of male generals leading an army of women.

Lovely. Well, my combat boots are on.

"Women, by default of men's participation and leadership, have been forced into leadership, and they have simply created an environment that is friendly to them, and they don't understand why men don't want to draw into that.

Women? In Leadership? Where?

"It is so vitally important that men step up as leaders, as husbands, as fathers, and involved in the church itself in leadership positions.

Who is leading the church now if not men and not women?

"The real challenge here is not calling men back to the church. It's calling churches back to men. We need to create the types of experiences where men can come alive.

Aside from playing Braveheart in Church.

**********************

And the clincher:

"Some mainline churches are starting to reassess their practices, asking, where have the men gone?"

Oh, they all went to have sexually satisfying conversations with their heterosexual male assistants.

It's just us submissive Little Women here.

*Sigh*

In light of recent events, I'm just a little testy and sarcastic about this....Oh wait, that's just hormones. Please excuse me, I need to adjust my panties. They seem to be twisted.

Anyone care to comment?

You guys are so cool.

Over 50% of my visitors use Firefox or Mozilla.

I'm so proud.

The Count

27940.

Sigh.

This gives me shivers, geek that I am

I know this probably won't interest anyone else but me, but I have to post it.

Over at TreoCentral, I read about Jeff Hawkins of Palm talking about a "secret" device they are developing, due for unveiling sometime in 2007 [emphasis mine]:

"I’ll give you a couple clues. I always think of mobile computing as personal computing. This long-term vision has led us through everything — first the organizers and now through the smart phone space. It’s like everything a personal computer is. Continue down that path. What are the implications of a world where everyone has a super high-speed Internet connection in their pocket and many gigabytes of storage, super-fast processors, audio, visual and multimedia? What are the consequences of that? How will that change computing when you have all that stuff available to you all the time? I try to think into the future. That’s how we come up with new products. So I’m not going to tell you what it is, but it’s following the consequences of mobile computing."

Whoo-hoo! That just gives me the techie chills! Hubba-hubba!

Latest word count

21,432

That's roughly 43% of the words, with roughly 43% of the month over. How's that for on?

Protest? Or Protest Protesting?

Interesting discussion at Helen Mildenhall's blog Conversation at the Edge about the proposed protest of Mars Hill, scheduled to take place December 3rd (date change from Nov. 19). EndFundamentlism.org, the organizers of the protest, have a blog up now addressing people's questions and concerns about the protest. Discussion on this subject is also taking place at Bob Hyatt's blog. Emerging Grace has a post that began as a discussion of Pastor Driscoll's statements, but the comments have delved into the pros/cons of the protest.

I initially thought this protest was a good thing. After reading a variety of opinions, I have seriously *rethunk* that position, and have came to the same conclusion. I think it could be a good thing.

Maybe I'm swimming against the tide or being immature in my opinion, but I'm just being honest:

• I understand those who say protest is not Christlike, or even that it's downright dangerous. I can agree with those perspectives to a point. Often protests of every variety become ugly. Let's pray that doesn't happen.
  
• Some people say that having gentle conversation with Pastor Driscoll is the best way to handle this. However, some people who wish to have gentle converstion on the matter seem to run into inexplicable roadblocks.
• I'm not saying Pastor Driscoll is all bad. I don't argue that his blog post in question is full of good, sound, godly advice of ways for Pastor's to avoid sin. There are many excellent points there. But that post certainly is only the tip of the iceberg of the controversial things he has said about women.
• It seems that not only does he prefer to be particularly assertive about his beliefs concerning the role/responsibilities of women, he also chooses abusive and derogatory language to describe those beliefs. If he really wanted people to take him seriously, he could speak on those subjects using words of humility and grace ("It seems good to me...") rather than the "fightin' words" ("frigid, lazy Pastor's wives") he seems to prefer.
• Is it entirely wrong for us to stand in a defensive posture towards those who would purposefully promote the subjugation and objectification of women? I'm not suggesting throwing punches but simply standing up for what we believe.
• Matthew 18:15-19: "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector."I don't know what these verses mean for this situation, but I think we need to consider how they might apply.

Anyhow, let's see how this protest is carried out. I know this could be bad and ugly, but it also could be good. This will be an excellent opportunity, for all the world to see, of how or how not to handle our disagreements as Christians.

Will it be done with peace and love or anger and hate? Time will tell.

Peace on it's Feet

I want to point you guys to something else I really enjoyed about the RevCon:

Agents of Future (MySpace)

These guys are part of the worship team at The Bridge, and at the conference they did a song called "Peace on it's Feet":

Some things are worth the fight
So I won't walk away
I won't walk away this time
Your majesty
Is plain as day
but you choose the small and weak
So I can say that

My joy is my peace on it's feet
Your Spirit makes us
All the same underneath

Help me believe, help me believe in you
Help me believe, help me believe in you

It was one of the most passionate worship experiences I have witnessed in a long time, and I'm a charismatic. So that's saying something. These guys (and gals) were just full on into it. I guess I have to qualify that by saying I was trying to recover from a raging migraine that afternoon, and this song really calmed my spirit and helped me tune in to God. In any case, I really needed this, I know worship, real worship and not choruses, is something I am really missing. Maybe that's a clue to something going on in me. I have had an almost physical aversion to worship music for well over a year. Maybe that's ending. Maybe this song ushered in something new.

Please check them out at Soundclick - try "Peace on it's Feet", the third one down I think. It's a little rough because it's live, but I don't think that detracts from the impact. It's my favorite. I could be wrong, but I wonder if it's based on something Anne Lamott said, "peace is joy at rest and joy is peace on it's feet".

Heck, try them all.

Stand up and be counted

Hi all!

Since I got my sitemeter up and running, now I want to know who everyone is! I know some of you guys and where you're at, but there are some mystery visitors too.



I want to meet you! I would love it if you would say hello! Care to introduce yourself, tell me where you live? Especially if you've never commented here before.

Anyone...anyone?

Don't be a stranger - we're all friends here!

I debated about posting this...

... but I think the issue is too important to ignore. I don't want to be overly opinionated here (well, OK, I guess I do). I was frustrated by the issue, but especially after reading Gary's three posts ( here, here, here) on the subject, which include quotes I had never heard before, I can't keep silent. I especially liked Gary's comparative analogy using race, instead of gender, as the issue.

People Against Fundamentalism will be picketing Mars Hill on November 19.

"We are not seeking an explosive confrontation or a shouting match. We simply want to show Mars Hill congregants and the rest of Seattle that we will no longer tolerate Driscoll’s view of women."

It really is sad that it's bad enough for people to want to picket, but maybe it needs to be done. I'm not into divisiveness in the church (well...), but this is about the equality of all people, which I believe is pretty well covered in the New Teatament.

Via Helen.

Here's Helen's post on the subject.

In the end I will pray fervently for Pastor Driscoll, that he will see how damaging his positions are to women.

Warning: unnecessary disparging remark ahead:

Next thing you know, he'll be promoting slavery. Because, after all, it IS biblical.

Hey, a favor

Anyone clicked my Clustr map yet?

If so, were there dots on the big map at Clustr? Cause when I do it, the big map is blank.

If anyone wants to answer this, also tell me what browser you use. Trying to determine if this is Firefox problem.

Clustr seems baffled so I'm trying to get some data for them.

Thanks.

Truthseekers

One thing I didn't expect at the RevCon weekend was having the opportunity to meet Pam and Sunil Sardar. They have a ministry called TruthSeekers, an organization that is fighting the caste system in India.

There was a OTM blogger dinner Thursday night before the RevCon, and because I was tagging along with Pam H., (I included the H so you don't get the two Pam's mixed up here) I got to go to this dinner even though I'm not an OTM blogger.

I spent much of that evening visiting with Pam Sardar, Sunil's wife. Pam is American, from Indianapolis, and I inevitably asked her how she ended up married to Sunil. She shared with me the story, which I want to share here. I'm sure I won't get all the details right, but it is interesting.

Pam's mother knew Sunil, I can't remember if it was through missions or what, but they kept in touch via letter. Sunil was keeping Pam's mom informed about his ministry in India. One day he wrote to say, among other things, that He was praying for a wife. Without Pam's knowledge, Pam's mother began to tell Sunil about Pam.

At the same time, Pam got a word from the Lord that she was supposed to go to India. When she told her Mom about this revelation, it became apparent that she was to marry Sunil. They've been married...um...25 or so?? years, anyhow quite awhile, and have 4 children.

Chris Marshall (who's blog is new to me) has blogged about how deeply meeting the Sardar's affected him, and he's posted an interview with Sunil from Off The Map.

I, too, was affected by their story. I was ignorant of the issue of the caste system until talking with the Sardar's. I loved visiting with Pam, it was cool to hear a woman's perspective, especially an American woman. She was gracious and humble and I thoroughly loved visiting with her.

Sunil also spoke at the conference. I'm going to post a quote:

"All truthseekers will become Christians, but not all Christians are truthseekers."

This is making the rounds ...

... and I don't want to be left out. I heard it a week or two ago, can't remember whose blog it was linked from.

I don't know if it's true or not, but it's not inappropriate, FYI. In fact, it gives new meaning to the words "Bible beater". [Edit: OK, upon relistening, I realized there are a couple of bad words: one he** and one OMG. I think that's all. Fair warning.]

A guy witneses an accident

It really is worth a listen, but be sure you've gone to the bathroom beforehand.

Curly has left the bulding

Jack Palance died today of natural causes. He was 87.

Jack Palance as Curly Washburn:
"Do you know what the secret of life is? One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don't mean shit."

Billy Crystal as Mitch Robbins:
"Yeah, but what's that one thing?"

Curly:
"That's what you've got to figure out."

-- City Slickers, 1991

Goodbye, oh wise one.

Is the Treo the Emerging Tool? On Connectedness.

Just an observation:

While at the Revolution Conference, there was a large number of people sporting laptops, mostly bloggers who were covering the conference. They were hogging the electrical outlets, lugging around big heavy bags, monkeying with a plethora of cords and cables, and the light from their screens was negatively impacting my enjoyment of the conference; not to mention how they all were choking the Wi-Fi there at Overlake.

You know I'm only kidding - my incredible envy is showing, because I don't have a laptop. ;) I have not until now had any justification for wanting one, but now that I'm becoming a famous novelist, that may soon change.

But it's no secret that I'm a Treo fan, and I saw no less than 14 people at the conference who had Treo's, including several "bigwigs". This is just the people who I saw using them, so there likely were more. This is the ultimate in-between tool - not a PC, not a cell-phone, not a laptop. It's all of the above, though it's better at some things than others.

The fact that so many people had them - the ultimate portable communication device - seems evident to me of how the relational landscape is changing with the emerging church. We are connected in so many different ways - and I don't mean connected in the sense of always-on internet, I mean we are connected with people in so many different ways that we now find it necessary to have all those different types of connections at our fingertips at all times.

The net is nothing new, and even using the net as a spiritual tool is not a new concept. But the way we "do church" has evolved, because today the brick-and-mortar church is no longer our only spiritual outlet. At this conference, there were so many people who had relationships but who had never met. People who had blogged together and gotten to know each other over great distances, but had never been in the same room. I actually met several bloggers who I read on a regular basis. It's interesting because when you meet someone new you usually have to find common ground for conversation, but when it's someone you are already relational with in some way, you already know what your common ground is.

I am observing how the net is changing church culture, it's fascinating to me. When I was a girl I had a pen pal. She lived in New York. You have to know this was the 70's, there was no electronic communication widely available to the public, so our friendship was pen and paper. This went on for maybe a year, but we got tired of waiting for each other's letters to come via snail-mail, and it kind of faded.

Today, we have such a variety of communication methods available to us, not the least of which (in the emerging church) is the blog. When you think about it, doesn't this seem strange? I'm not knocking it, I think it's great to be able to relate online with people you would otherwise never meet.

This conference was my first official foray into the emerging church culture. It was amazing to be in a place where people didn't when I told them I had been taking a break from church for about 2 years. Usually they had a similar personal story to relate, some were still on hiatus and some had interesting stories of how they are "doing" church now. They didn't balk at my issues with big-church, they didn't tell me not the "throw the baby out with the bathwater". They were kind and unassuming and thoroughly encouraging, every one. The cool thing for me was knowing that I could communicate, via blog if nothing else, with almost everyone I met at this conference, no matter where they lived.

We in the emerging church are so wired. In fact, when Jim Henderson was doing interviews, people in the "audience" could e-mail, text , or IM their questions to him at his laptop that he had "on stage" with him. There's nothing like being interactive!

This is kinda a disjointed post, please realize I'm writing my fingers off lately, so it's kind of hard to pull cohesive thoughts together. But I think you get my drift.

Do you think all this is a good thing? A bad thing? Indifferent? Do you feel like your spirituality or even your life is difference because of modern connectivity?

Free Will, Creation and Sacrifice?

Want to make a contribution to my NaNoWriMo Novel? Here's what I want your thoughts on:

1) Why did God give us free will? I'm looking for an explanation that goes beyond "He wants us to have to choose to love Him", or "He didn't want us to be robots". I understand those two things, I'm looking deeper than that. Why did the sovereign God of the universe want us to have a choice when He knew it would wreck things? Why did it make a difference to him? What do you suppose His thought process was on the matter (assuming God "thinks") ?

2) Why did God create? I've heard that He was lonely or had love to give. Got anything deeper than that?

3) Why did God require sacrifice? I know that it served a purpose for us much more than it served God - hence the word "sacrifice". What else?

Anyone care to chime in? You don't have to stay directly on topic, I'm dancing around all kinds of related stuff. So fire away.

10,416

Or 20.82%. Well on my way.

That's what I want

David Fitch's "What not to expect at a missional church". Ht Jordan, Church of the Exiles.

That's what I want. I know it's out there somewhere.

The truth is there is stuff like this in Portland, but not anywhere near where we live, that I know about. Yes, we could drive 30-40 minutes to be part of a missional community like this, but how realistic is that in the long term with two grade-school age kids?

People keep saying, "Well start it yourself, then!" Which is fine and dandy but we are an island right now - don't know anyone who would attend, let alone partner with us. I know it's not likely an endeavor that a couple of parents with young kids could do it all alone.

If we build it, will they come?
("Build", of course being a figurative, I never intend to "build" a church building.)

Or should we start commuting?

I can stop blogging now.

It's all been said.

I know this has been around awhile, like since 98. Although I have heard of him before, today was my first introduction to Wolfgang Simson, and I can finally say that everything I've been trying to say for a year is summed up in 15 short theses. Talk about concise.

I can retire now.

Of course I'm kidding, but if you aren't familiar with the theses, please visit TSK and read them.

The Map

Well, I signed up for a Clustr map awhile back, but never entered the code because I didn't want people to know how few visitors I have. Oh the shame of it... ;)

That was long months ago, and I have now changed my mind. Cindy inspired me by her show of hands, and I too want my own map.

So there it is. Won't show much for awhile, but as you pop in you should get a dot.

Thanks for coming.

Lily.

7805

I'm officially 15% complete.

Seduction

I knew that would get your attention.

In light of recent events, which I don't feel compelled to comment on, I had a discussion with a friend about sexual morality and faith. In this discussion, I got to thinking about what God's purpose for sex was in the first place. Procreation, obviously, right?

Is there more to it than that?

I think healthy sexuality within marriage is meant by God to be the most powerful spiritual experience available to us on earth. It's my understanding that this is how we best *see* God. It unites a man and woman in body, mind, soul and spirit. I'm not focusing on the physiological response to sex, but the intimacy that will naturally grow within this context between two people, with the physiological response being just one aspect of it.

I'm going to quote a resource I don't frequently use, because I know it is a highly respected, if not ultimately conservative, resource.

From Christianity Today (emphasis mine) :

"To appreciate how sex points us to God, it may help to understand how the ancient Jews viewed sex. The Holy Letter (written by Nahmanides in the thirteenth century) sees sex as a mystical experience of meeting with God: "Through the act [of intercourse] they become partners with God in the act of creation. This is the mystery of what the sages said, 'When a man unites with his wife in holiness, the Shekinah is between them in the mystery of man and woman.'" The breadth of this statement is sobering when you consider that this shekinah glory is the same presence Moses experienced when God met with him face-to-face (Exodus 24:15-18)."

How's that for interesting? Sexua intimacy and spiritual intimacy are deliberately intertwined.

So the problem? Simply put, why do we have nearly equal instance of sexual immorality within the church than the secular world? You can see this trend in a 2003 Barna report "Morality Continues to Decay". I don't want to waste time argue about statistics, I just see the obvious reality that Christians of all types are not immune to immorality; in this case "immorality" being sex outside of marriage, which to the best of my knowledge is a subject most christians still agree on.

I see the answer being in having a healthy respect for the spiritual power of sexuality. God created it to be powerful, and humanity has almost since day one twisted and distorted sexuality in every imaginable way, and many unfathomable ways, abusing that power.

We are spiritual beings. I don't think there is any doubt about that. Even my new-age sister admits it. So the powerful spiritual experience of sexuality, within or without the context of marriage or christianity, can be a dangerous experience if not treated with whole-hearted respect.

Shared spirituality breeds intimacy. In a place where spiritual acts like joint prayer and worship are typical, we will run into problems. There are no two ways about it, it is natural and unavoidable that when two people pray together, a spiritual bond develops. We become one in voice, one in heart as we turn towards God. Prayer also breeds love. It's Godly rather than romantic love; nonetheless, it can easily be mistaken for something altogether human.

For men and women who are not married to each other to avoid sharing spiritually intimate situations is in everyone's best interest. It's not about temptation, blame, woundedness, inappropriateness, gender inequality, the fall of Eve or anything else. It's about the intimacy that naturally develops between people in spiritual situations because God created it that way. I'm not suggesting that men and women should never pray together, never serve in ministry together, never counsel together. I'm suggesting that they NEVER do these things alone. Especially where the issues being prayed for or counselled are intimate issues: marriage, sexual abuse, love. I don't care how righteous or pure you are, you are human and therefore at risk. I'm also suggesting that unless it's unavoidable, the most intimate issues be left to be prayed for and discussed only in same-gender arenas, or ideally only within marriage when possible.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and relate a personal story. Aa married female friend of mine had a "moral failure". This couple were friends of ours, good christian people who sadly and unexpectedly found themselves in a decidedly difficult situation. During the season of fallout from this situation, her husband began calling me and looking for guidance, support and prayer. Initially it didn't bother me, I wanted to be a good friend to him, indicating that I was not "taking sides". The first time he called me we talked for maybe 15 minutes. It seemed innocent enough. The second time it was closer to an hour. I was naive and didn't see it for what it was. From my perspective I was simply being supportive, and it seemed the right thing to do. From his perspective, he was unknowingly transferring to me the spiritual intimacy usually reserved for marriage. In retrospect of the second call, even though I didn't consider myself to be at any risk, I realized the potential in this situation to become awkward at best, dangerous at worst. So the third time he called, I handed the phone to my husband. I realized that polite or not, friends or not, it was not appropriate for me to be talking or praying with him about the state of his marriage, even on the phone. He was informed as gently as possible that my husband was supportive and perfectly willing to pray with him, but that I would be unable to take his calls.

This is just one example about how we must guard ourselves. We are all - regardless of faith or even belief in spirituality - on a search for the "ultimate" spirituality. This is not what charismatics call the "mountaintop" experience - a moment of extraordinary closeness to God. Instead, in our life as a whole, we are looking for the ideal expression of our spiritual nature. This is intrinsic in our humanness; whether we like it or not, whether we admit it or not. Hopefully we will find that expression in God, but I know this is entirely too idealistic. We are not perfect, we at risk of temptation, even when we don't consider ourselves to be. Especially in the church, where we are all on that search together, all seeking that spiritual connection. Because we are human and have bad aim, our yearning can easily be misdirected from God onto another person. We are fooling ourselves if we believe it could never happen to us. In fact, it's not difficult at all, it's alarmingly easy, often rather sudden. I've seen it happen.

I don't know if I've made any sense here, and I hope I haven't stepped on any feminist's toes. Contrary to what one popular leader has said in the last day or so, I don't believe it's "all the woman's fault". Attributing a married man's sins to his wife's perceived lack of physical beauty (or anything else) is asinine, to me this is in the same ballfield as saying a rape victim was "asking for it", or a woman who is the victim of domestic violence "drove" a man to it. We need to learn not to be insulted in the name of gender equality when the opposite sex exerts boundaries on our christian relationships, we need instead to be thankful.

I believe we are equally fallible, men and women alike. We must choose to guard ourselves. This doesn't mean be rude or legalistic about it, it means using good sense and listening to the Holy Spirit to alert us to situations that might be better avoided. It means seeking to invite a third person into these situations, if these situations are necessary in our ministry. There are just some places we need not go.

Anyone want to comment? I'm interested in dialogue on this.






[Footnote: In this post, I am focusing on male-female sexuality because of the statistical reality that most people in the church, married or not, are heterosexual.]

Transformation

One thing that came out in the conference that was news to a number of people I spoke with: George Barna has left the building. In other words, he is out of organized church, been doing house church for (I think he said) about a year and a half. This (I believe) is a new revelation since Revolution was published.

Basically there were 9 points that were the catalysts for George's decision to "join the revolution" (quote) . At the Revolution blog there is a post by Todd Hiestand which highlights all this, so I won't rehash it here.

This is an interesting development to me. I felt, when reading "Revolution", that George Barna was concerned with finding ways to keep people in church. Now maybe that was just my impression, nonetheless it was surprising to me to hear that when he "discovered there really was a revolution going on, he decided to join that which he measured" (quote).

But the point that got me most was when he said, "transformation doesn't happen in the church." Just for clarification, in this case he meant church with a "little c", the organized or institutional church; not Church with a "Big C", the Body of Christ.

I could wax philosophical here, but I won't.

I'm trying to avoid the discussion that "It's Jesus who transforms, not the church." I think we all know without a doubt that Jesus is who transforms lives, so I'm not suggesting that it's the church's responsibility or that the church can transform lives without Jesus' involvement. I'm not trying to separate Jesus from the church on this issue.

What I'm looking for is the question of why transformation by Jesus (according to George barna) seems to happen more outside the church (little c) than inside it.

So questions for you:

• Do you think transformation happens in the church? Why?
  
• If you don't believe transformation happens in the church, why not?
• What are we doing right/wrong in the church in discipling people's relationships with Jesus that does/does not transform their life?

Back...

Just got home from the conference a few minutes ago. Hubby and kids aren't home from the beach yet, so I have a few quiet minutes to reflect.

I hope any of you who have dropped by here recently took the time to check out some of what went on at the conference. Sometimes I know it's hard to be interested if you're not there but it really was an amazing thing.

I'm just going to post some random reflection/highlights, hope to go through my notes more thoroughly this week.

Revolution Conference: Day 2

The day started out great. Felt great (although a little tired) . Brian McLaren spoke first thing in the morning, and one thing he said that really got me (and this is not a word-for-word quote but just the gist of the idea):

The bible is like a puzzle where the box you have with the picture on it isn't the picture that the pieces really make. In other words, we have a box with a picture of one thing, but the pieces don't match the box at all. So we have to try to figure out what the pieces will look like when put together. This is essentially about preconceived notions.

We later heard Nancy Murphy from Northwest Family Life. NWFL deals with counseling people who have experienced familial abuse. Nancy wanted to play a recording for us of a 911 (911 the emergency phone number, not 9/11) recording of a 6 year old girl who was at that moment witnessing violence in her home.

Before Nancy played it, she asked that anyone who had children at the conference (there were a few) take them out of the room. She said the tape was about 3 1/2 minutes long.

This is going to be one of the most talked about moments from the entire weekend ... the girl was screaming and almost incoherent. You have to imagine her wailing. Her words were long and drawn out screams.

"Don't! Stop it! Stop fighting!!!! Don't hurt her!!! DON'T HURT HER!!

In between phrases she was sobbing and wailing.

And then her most anguished cry ... I've never heard anything like this out of a child, both the words and the incredible, overwhelming terror in her voice ...

"Please don't touch the baby! PLEASE don't touch the baby ... not the BABY...!!!!!

The 911 operator was trying to draw bits and pieces of information out of her, but finally, I assume because the operator could hear the sounds in the background, she just said "we're sending someone to help you right now".

The tape suddenly ended there, after only about 1 minute. The audio people said that was all they were able to play because of technical difficulties. I believe God intervened for some reason, maybe there was someone in the room who would not have been able to deal with the rest of it. Nonetheless, in a short minute, we all got the message.

We sat in stunned silence, only the sound of someone weeping close by me could be heard.

I think it was one of the most powerful moments in my life.

OK. Deep breath.



About 10:30 AM, guess what? I got a migraine! What nasty timing! I immediately took one on my new prescription pills, though, and was fairly well able to cope. But for awhile, I was pretty checked out, with little notes or memory of what went on during that time.

I did go to a workshop by Ken and Deborah Loyd, pastors of The Bridge here in Portland. I wasn't able to take any notes ( the light was bothering me so I had to keep my eyes closed) , but I did really enjoy hearing about their experiences as church planters and working with homeless youth.

After lunch, by about 1:30, I was much better.

There was an afternoon wrap-up panel, and one thing that (from everyone I talked to) that was really powerful and moving was Jason Clark's brief and transparent comment about being a survivor of domestic violence. He spoke of how thankful he was that Jesus found him, and then he recounted a story of returning home from some travels, getting off the plane, and seeing his kids running towards him yelling "Daddy Daddy!", and how that moment was healing for him.

I have to say that attending a conference like this is usually out of my element. I told Pam that I would probably tag along with her quite a bit, and I did. But I have to say that tagging along with someone as outgoing as she is, I had the opportunity to meet a number of great people. I did meet a few of the speakers, but more importantly I met quite a few fascinating "ordinary" people. I gleaned more encouragement from these people than from the keynote speakers. Not because there was anything wrong with the speaking, but because it's easier to relate with someone who is just like me than someone who is famous.

This afternoon Pam and I visited the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. This was an experience in itself, and I fairly felt like meditating afterwords. To see in person some of these historic and sacred documents was nearly overwhelming. To see in printed script, on a document that is over 2000 years old, the name of God "I AM who I AM" left me speechless. One thing that was a stark contrast for me: that these people who wrote/scribed these texts lived such a reverent, holy life. It's strange to examine habits like ritual cleansing after coming from a conference where people say "fuck". I don't mean anything by that except it was somewhat conflicting.

Well my brain is fried for the night. I know my impressions and AHA moments will come out in fragments over the next week or two, please bear with me as I process.

Goodnight.

Comments

I know there have been some comments posted here since I left for the conference. I'm sorry I can't easily reply to them, but I promise to catch up with you next week.

Thanks for reading.

Revolution!

(Note: This post may duplicate due to technical difficulties. I apologize for any inconvenience.)

Conference - Day 1

My head is spinning and I decided early on that it would be my goal to get as much out of this experience as I possibly can, because I think my next step will "emerge" from what I learn this weekend. Therefore, I am trying to avoid blogging so I can focus. I will be brief here, only covering the highlights.

For more information about the speakers I mention, go to Revolutionconference.com. I don't have the easy ability to post links from my Treo, but I'm sure you can figure it out.

For the morning workshop, Pam and I and about 42 million other people heard (more like "experienced" ) the phenomenon that is Spencer Burke. All I can say after hearing his ideas about "opting out" vs. "opting in" is that I felt like I had just rode the Viper at Magic Mountain - a little bit exhilarated and a little bit sick - but sick in quite an exhilarating way. How's that for a descriptive?

In the afternoon, George Barna shared about why he "joined the revolution". It was encouraging to hear his testimony about this subject.

In the afternoon workshop we heard Christine Wicker, who is self-proclaimed "almost atheist". Truly fascinating.

After the afternoon workshops, Sunil Sardar spoke about his passion for ending the caste system in India. I had the great opportunity not only to meet Sunil and his wife Pam at dinner Thursday evening, but had quite the conversation with them, and this girl (me) learned a lot about a country that I am mostly ignorant of. I will post more about that conversation later.

We just heard Christine Wicker and Helen Mildenhall, and now Brian is speaking again.

If you're dying to know more juicy detail right now, there are a number of talented bloggers posting their thoughts at the Revolution Conference blog (revolutionconference.com/blog).

Also Bob Hyatt (bobhyatt.typepad.com) and Justin Baeder (radicalcongruency.com) are blogging from here, as are a number of other bloggers.

Catchya later.

Lily.

Just testing e-mail blogging from my Treo, in case I have time to post from the conference.

[Edit: Cool, it worked.]

From the Stupid Files

I couldn't resist ...

Duct tape no substitute for babysitter, Police say

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (AP) -- A woman accused of duct-taping her two children together and leaving them home alone has been charged with child abuse, the sheriff's office said.

Agla Nadia Vincent, 25, was arrested Monday following a seven-month investigation into whether she left her two boys, then aged 2 and 3, taped to each other while she went to work, said Lt. Annie Smith of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Vincent was a four-year naval officer at the time and worked at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station. She completed her service and was discharged in August, naval base spokesman Rick Cruz said.

In March, a witness heard the children crying and called the police. When military police arrived, they found the children taped in a bedroom with feces and cereal scattered on play mats on the floor, investigators said.

The children were taken into custody by the Florida Department of Children & Families and Vincent was free pending an investigation.

An officer who arrested Vincent said she denied leaving the children home alone all day.

Vincent was being held Tuesday on a $5,000 bond, the Florida Times-Union reported for Wednesday's editions. It was not clear whether she had an attorney."

Umm ... she was NAVAL OFFICER. I guess at Annapolis they teach that duct tape solves everything.

Or, as Tim Allen used to say,

"If you can't fix it, duct it."

You say you want a Revolution?

Well, in about 25 1/2 hours, I will be on the road with Pam. We are on pilgrimage to the Revolution Conference.

I am tremendously looking forward to this. I wouldn't have been able to go if it wasn't for a connection that God graciously provided and I'm really thankful.

I don't really know what to expect, but I know it will be amazing. I am really looking forward to hearing Brian McLaren. I know people jokingly call him the "guru" of the emerging church and he doesn't like having that "title", but in some ways his thoughts in the ANKOC books blazed a trail for me to feel free to think outside the box, and I'm thankful for it. There are many other exciting speakers, of course. I imagine I won't be able to hear them all, but I'm certainly gonna try.

The conference is Friday-Saturday, but we are going up tomorrow to get our bearings and settle into the hotel. On Sunday we are going to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit.

So this blog will be on hiatus Thursday-Sunday. I might pop in again later today if the mood strikes me, but otherwise I have homestead preparations to attend to. My hubby is taking the kids to the beach for the weekend all by himself, so I have to work on that.

So please pray for safe travels and all for everyone, and I'll see you Sunday night or Monday.