blog one another

Not one of us

I haven't heard this song in years. I don't know why it's in my head today. Maybe it's a pathological reflection of my state of mind.

You may look like we do, talk like we do
But you know how it is:
You're not one of us, not one of us
No, you're not one of us

Peter Gabriel - Not One of Us

Kay sez

"Even my Greek chorus has a Greek chorus."

Christian spam

Oh gosh. There is so much wrong with this, it's hard to keep count.

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Kay sez

"Well, at least the plant's not crawling around anymore."

Gravity

Feeling greater freedom during our church's gathering this past Sunday, I took some time during the discussion to write a poem. It's unrefined, but honest. Maybe I'll read it this next Sunday, right into the microphone.
Maybe not.
(Parental advisory lyrics)

Changes in worship

This past Sunday, my mandate for leading worship was "be different." In fairness, I should say that none of the ideas were original, but I pulled them together to create a change for The Journey:

• The band was arranged in a broad circle, with the people who came sitting between band members. I wanted to communicate that the music was not something to be performed by one group and consumed by another, but that we were all in this together.
• Art supplies were set up for people to participate in art-worship. Only a few people went for it, but it was a start.
• I tried to make a break from "happy clappy plastic songs". The tone we created was more intense and moody.
• In the biggest break from established pattern, I used the middle of a song to teach about prayers of complaint, reading Psalm 13 as an example. Then with the music still going underneath, I invited people to come to the microphone, begin with the words "How long," and state a complaint against God -- to which everyone would respond by saying, "How long, O Lord?" I made a point of pushing the microphone away from me to communicate that I was yielding control. Here too, only a few people went for it, and there were moments of awkwardness. But it was a start.

People's reactions to the morning seem pretty polarized: some loved it, some hated it. There were complaints that "it didn't feel like church." Excellent.

Al Gore, preacher

"The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."

Amen!

Places of prayer

Well, it took me all day to upload my first-ever YouTube video. I kept getting an Internal Server Error with the message, "A team of highly trained monkeys has been dispatched to deal with this situation."

It turns out the problem was caused by my choosing to respond to another YouTube video by uploading my own. I finally worked around it by just uploading my video, then making it a response.

What helps you get into a heart-position of prayer? Where are your places?

This is my contribution to an experiment in collaborative teaching we have begun at The Journey.

Missional musical

Kay & I ditched the kids at home last night and went out to see Guys & Dolls. What a great show! I had forgotten how complex the music is, and just plain funny.

It is billed as a "musical fable of broadway". I remembered that a Christian worker is one of the lead roles, but I was still surprised to find that it was a powerful missional fable! (The strongest lines are missing from the film version; watch the play instead for the full missional punch.)

Technorati Tags: missional

Unconference preparation

I was just explaining tomorrow morning's unconference to Erin, our youngest, and told her the topic I plan to raise…

Me: "Take my friends. Even if we make a bunch of changes, do you think they'll come on a Sunday morning?"
Erin: "No, and I kind of agree with them. I mean, why would anyone want to get out of bed on Sunday morning for something they don't believe in?"

Come on, people. Even a 9-year-old gets it.