Kens Therapy

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Friday, May 16, 2008

Currently Watching Strange Wilderness By Steve Zahn, Allen Covert, Jonah Hill, Kevin Heffernan, Ashley Scott (II) see related

You knew it was coming

Some of you have noticed most haven't.  It is true, I have crossed over. I am now using blogger.  It was a mix of different of issues I have been having with Xanga lately.  I will still leave my Xanga up for those who wish to search old entries.  But from here on out my blog will be found at http://kenstherapy.blogspot.com/ 

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

Lost about Church

Wow!  This is such an amazing concept, wait a minute haven't I seen this somewhere before? 

Instead of copying and redoing what the world gets right why not try redoing what the world gets wrong?  Guess what a church is never going to produce as high of quality entertainment as Hollywood so why try? Why not instead try to see something which the world does poorly and do it but with better quality?

Take Public School Transportation.....Imagine if a church sent out flyer's and release forms to parents, then the church used its buses and vans to go pick up students from the schools in the afternoons, take them home, in the buses the church can provide an afternoon snack for the students and have mentors sitting the buses with the students.  A great way for the students to get to know adults in the church and to get comfortable with the church. 

Or what if a church used its grounds as a public park during the week.  Imagine if a church took the resources used to make these bumper videos so commonly used in churches today and instead began an online video blog of the needs of the community.  Instead of going to the beach and making a cheesy version of Lost, why not go down to the inner city area of Tampa.  Interview homeless people, interview people being kicked out and losing their homes, interview kids being raised on the streets.  Why not have a social awareness aspect of every service, verses just filling 5 mins with cool bumper videos?

The church as whole in America feels that it needs to compete against the media of our day.  It doesn't.  People do not place church and MTV in the same category or expect the same thing from it.  I have encountered more people turned off by this than on by it.  I visit the local Buddhist whenever I need to meditate.  If I went there and there were no shrines, no alters, no Buddha statues, no symbols of Buddhism I would turn around a leave.  And this my friends is whats happening in the modern church. The pendulum has swung so far from the ritual side that it is now as much of a problem to have no rituals.

On Wednesday evening I attended a service that a new group of people are trying to get a Christian community going.  It is a local group of gay men who are seeking a church that is welcoming to them.  The pastor held the service in his garage.  It is a more high church denomination so there were candles, the Lords Supper, read and response and hymns.  Even with the mosquitoes and the lack of AC it was a refreshing service.  An average church or pastor would never been seen holding a service in a half full garage but this group, with its lack of funds and few people, knew that this would work.  The service was full of ritual yet the focus was still on God, there was no doubt why we were there. 

At the end of the service an offering was taken and it was announced that a large part of this small offering will be given to a local charity that helps Aids victims find resources to pay for the medical and housing bills since many lose their housing due to the lack of being able to work during treatment. 

Instead of filling church info guides with names of staff members why not take the last page and list local charities members can volunteer at?

I am wanting to see churchs live the missional mindset they claim to have, yet I rarely see it.  I am amazed at the passage in Acts 2 where it says the first believers sold everything and gave as there was need, having everything in common with one another.  I want to see that type of church.  I was more drawn to the garage church tonight than the multi-million dollar campuses I have seen all across the world. 

Instead of just hosting services in churches, why not host educational lectures in them during the week.  Free classes, even if just one class at a time.  Classes on anything from ancient history to biology to cool hunting.

I dream of being a part of church that finally gets it, a part of a community that has everything in common.  A group that eats together not because they are trying to be the church but because they gave so much away its their only option.  A group that gives to the homeless not because Jesus commanded us too but because its what we're supposed to do.  Imagine a church that wherever you go in a city you see them, you tell them by the smiles on their faces.  no matching t-shirts needed because the shine and joy coming from them sets them apart. 

We can have the miracles that Jesus promised fill our cities, we can have the miracles and wonders, but instead we choose power point and plasmas.

I see churches that somewhat get it but its never quite right.  See the first century Christians got together to seek after God, to serve each other, to serve their community.  No big church services, no buildings, most didn't even have a set time to meet each week, because they didn't need it.  They were living life together in such a way that these things weren't needed.

All this has been said before by thousands of others before me, what can I do though, how can I change the cycle.  I can begin, however small, to live that life.  you can begin to live that life.  I am so screwed up, so far from this.  But over the last few weeks God has been working on me. 

I have come to realize that no matter how well we plan, how much we preach, how much we hope all churches eventually turn out the same.  So now I have given up on church, given up on plans and programs.  I am now in the process of trading plans for dreams, programs for visions.  I am now trading in church for authentic community, trading it in one small slow step at a time. 

A real life Wall-E

Wall-E spotted in LA.  Wall-E is by far the coolest Pixar character to date.  I love Cars, but Wall-E can so easily transfer from the screen to real life.  Imagine when Wall-E rolls down the red carpet to his own premier! 


Expect to see these characters rolling around Disney theme parks very soon (mostly Tomorrowland and Hollywood Studios, though I personally think that he would fit in at Epcot just fine).  Is it just me or does he sound exactly like Number 5 from Short Circuit?

The Wall-E character can even go by itself, imagine these robot playing with kids in a daycare or at home.  These could be huge furbies, but with so much interaction and programming capabilities.  I hope that Wall-E is as popular as it needs to be, if this movie is hit I expect to see these characters rolling around malls, theme parks, and all kinds of other populated spaces. 

This movie will be great too, by far the boldest statement made through a Pixar film.  I expect to see some people complaining about this movie, but overall this will be a true classic!

Currently Reading Openings: A Daybook of Saints, Psalms, and Prayer By Larry J. Peacock see related

Actions and Reactions (church)

It dawned on me last night while watching this video that American Christians are afraid.  We are reacting to the culture.  Whenever there is a little flare up (say a gay high school opens or maybe a state is discussing evolution) all these Christians run over to it and try to put it out.  So all we have now are a bunch of people running around trying to put out flames. 

Our call is to 'GO' into the world.  This is the action, instead though most Christians are reacting.  Reacting to what the schools teach, reacting to what city sculptures say, reacting to what businesses do.  If we were doing the action it would be the businesses, politicians, and schools doing the reaction.  We have given others the lead. 

A game of tic tac toe is always determined by the person who makes the first move.  (You go for the corner, then the one directly across, then your next move is one of the other two corners and boom you won or tied the game every time).  I am not one who views the Great Commission as a military call.  See we are supposed to Go and preach, go and tell and help those who you tell.  It is no mistake that Jesus tells them to take the lead, do the action. 

The first century Christians went out like there was no tomorrow (most of them believed there wasn't so that might have had something to do with it) and told everyone about the things that happened.  Fast forward to today and we’re stuck  fighting against the FCC, the Dept of Education, the health clinics, etc etc.  Can't we see, all of us, see that we spend so much time fighting these battles that we spend little to no time telling the world the greatest story ever told.  (Maybe, just maybe, this the plan that someone/something wants us to fall into.)

We are called to do more than just live our lives; we are called to tell others, show others.  Not some cheesy turn or burn track on the beach but to go out, live lives that are filled with miracles, filled with hope, filled with Jesus.  One of the reasons I hope the Lakeland Revival is real (though I seriously doubt it) is because I dream of the day when our lives and Christian communities are filled with prophecies, visions, dreams and the miracles Jesus promised.  I can never read Acts 2 without getting excited, it usually even makes me cry.  Imagine communities that lived like that!  Mark 16 and Acts 2 combined will shake the world like nothing before!  

When we focus on what is important, that is following Jesus in such way that it causes us to go into all the world, then the problems of society will be improved.  The greatest thing that can happen to crime filled neighborhood is a group of caring individuals moving in. 

When we pull away from society we become disconnected to world around us.  God wants us connected, Jesus commanded us to go into the world, to live among those in it.  I got an email this morning that stated 42% of music listened to by Protestants is Christian music.  We are pulling away from society, when you’re away from society it is easy to become more and more disconnected even to the point of being disconnected from reality. 

The average American Christian believes that society is getting worst.  If you step back and look at the big picture this is very false.  Take for instance the recent exposure of the Mormon group that was having sex and marriages to underage girls.  Now 50 years ago it was common for a girl of 15 to be married, 200 years ago it was common to have a girl of 15 to be a lady of the night, 1000 years ago it was common to have a 15 be a sex slave.  Now it is an outrageous world wide front page news story.  Or take crime.  A shooting today makes the news for 100 miles around the incident, 100 years ago it was common to see a man shot in the streets, 200 years ago children shot each other, 1000 years ago killing people was the main form of entertainment.  I could go on and on. 

The whole idea of the world falling apart and society going down the drain is newer idea.  It came about around the time of the Industrial Revolution.  (If you really want to study this whole idea a good place to start is the study of Eschatology.  The whole rapture and pre-millennial idea stems from the idea of the world growing worst.) See the Industrial Revolution put all this pollution and large masses of people together.  For the first time people could see the affect they had nature, for the first time in many centuries people could communicate over long distances and lived in huge urban areas.  So they became more aware of the crime happening around them.  Today this trend continues, 50 years ago you would have never known of the Austrian case of a guy keeping his daughter in the basement as a sex toy, today its around the world in a matter of seconds.   It is not that the world is getting worst it is we are becoming more aware of the world. (20/20 tackles this misunderstanding in one of their top 10 list and one of my favorite episodes.) Crime is not on the rise globally, it is just there are more people.  Yes more people have died in the last century than all the others combined, but more people lived also. 

I say all this to show how we shouldn't pull out of society, dare we become a cult of misinformed fools (as some churches already have become), but we should be trying to pull into society.  We shouldn't force our ways in the schools, but provide other venues to teach the values we believe in.  I find it amazing that American Christians want to force their views into the schools and have society raise all children the way Christians do, yet 70-75% of children raised by Christian parents don't live Christian lives as adults.  Maybe Christians should look at how society is raising its children and take a few ideas back home.  

Instead of knocking all the ways of the world, why can’t we use them a mutual meeting point?  Just as Paul did throughout his letters.  Instead of boycotting a company why not embrace it, buy it products and pray for it.  Why can’t GayDays (an unofficial gathering of the GBLT community at Disney) and Night of Joy (the Disney sponsored Christian after hours event at Disney) happen on the same day?  Each can help inform the other.  Instead of creating more and more private Christian schools, imagine if all those great Christian teachers filled our public schools!  Instead of going to more prayer meetings, imagine if Christians instead hosted block parties at their house each Wednesday night. 

 "Instead of crusading and picketing against all of the perceived evils in our culture, believers would better glorify Christ by leading the way in concrete acts of kindness and love. Instead of complaining about our government's tendency to waste money on useless programs, believers should open their hearts and their purses to care for the poor and needy. Instead of blocking the doors to abortion clinics (or worse), they should open the doors of their homes to pregnant women who don't need a “Pro-life” lecture, but a clear presentation of the gospel and loving assistance in carrying their babies to term. Instead of fighting to have “prayer in the classrooms” of our public schools, believers should be spending more time in prayer themselves. Instead of suing for the right to display a nativity scene in the public square believers should be “using the, public square” to tell anyone who will listen about the grace of God in Jesus Christ. These are but a few of the practical ways believers can demonstrate the love of Christ instead of becoming objects of ridicule by constantly engaging in all of the negative rhetoric about how bad our society is." 

Jon Tyson- Sr Pastor of Origins NYC Church

 

 

To read more about the idea of Christians in culture check this article out

All statistics taken from the Church Leaders.com weekly newsletter

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Currently Watching The Air I Breathe By Kevin Bacon, Julie Delpy, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Forest Whitaker see related

Random links and thoughts

In a perfect city I would have....

the mass transit of London, the parks and sculptures of Frankfurt, the unique architecture and museums of Newport, the cleanliness of Indianapolis, the beaches and shoppes of Naples, the art of Sarasota, the friendliness and in-touch culture of Spokane. 

After spending the last few weeks with multiple families from Long Island, NY I think I would enjoy living there (if I could afford it).  They seem to have some great schools (lacrosse is like religion there, so much better than southern football).  They seem to have plenty of malls and shopping.  Then they are close to the city also (the restaurants alone make me crave this!). 

Wherever I go I want plenty of restaurants, parks, art, and a celebration of unique cultures.  I would love to live near a China Town or a similar district.

   

What's Your Signature City?

My Result: Austin

Like your signature city, you're vibrant and have a spicy flair. Whether you're hanging out at a café or catching a new band, you're a friendly, people person who no doubt enjoys being out and about, but who also knows how to take it slow when the time is right.

You've got a genuine interest in experimenting, and Austin's a town to satisfy all your senses. This hub of music, art, and food is the perfect place to sample the sights. Where else can you choose from over 100 bands, see a million bats on their nightly flight through a park, and taste some of the best BBQ around all in one night? But if you need to get away to enjoy the Great Outdoors, Austin can offer you that kind of escape as well. When it comes right down to it, partner, this extra-sensory city is your match made in Heaven.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=signaturecityogt&c=50652

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And now some random links and news....

Is cleaning walls illegal?  It is England! Cleaning as a new graffiti.  Finally a gorilla marketing campaign that both cities and businesses can agree on, oh wait, the cities don't even like it when you clean up for them, go figure!

Why not try building an island?  Check out this NEW Spiral Island.

The reasons why fat people can't lose weight.  See I told it wasn't because I eat Taco Bell 5 times a week, see its all my childhoods fault! 

The all time worst church marketing campaign.  Well I would rather have this than those stupid huge crosses that are just really poorly disguised cell phone towers!

The blogs are buzzing. The biggest (over 125,000 people) GayDays ever is quickly approaching!  I have never been to Disney during GayDays.  This year I might attend (sure I'm not gay but it would be interesting to go).  I hope to also attend some of the evening events at Parliament House (Orlando's premier gay club complex, actually the largest in the nation!)  As a gay supporting Christian I think it would be great to make friends at these events, meet new people, check out the latest in the GBLT community.  I'm not going to any of the expos or events that cost money, but the city is filled with free fun events all week long.

What Google knows about Spam

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And a random video from Youtube that brings the inequality to those in the homosexual community

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