blog one another

Economic rant

Today the Dow had its biggest single-day drop. Or did it? Yes, if you look at the 777 point drop. But it's percentage that matters, and we're talking about 7%. Now that is still bad, but I learned this stuff in 6th grade when I read How to Lie with Statistics. Didn't anyone else? In terms of percentage drop, this is in the top 20.

I don't know the details of the bill that failed today, but it seems pretty clear that it didn't pass because of the outcry from constituents complaining that that government is bailing out the fat cats. People, people. This is why we have a republic, not a direct democracy: because folks who don't understand economics should not determine economic policy. And I'm no economic expert, I'm just going off the one year of economics I took in college. But I do know this: if money stops moving, we are all in deep, deep doo-doo.

"Don't bail out Wall Street," you cry. Well, today's sharp drop is a shot across the bow: If you don't let your representatives vote yes, you will get your wish and the system will self-correct. And once you've lost your job, and entires companies have gone under, maybe you'll ask yourself if it was worth it.

Missional geek gathering

Last night I met Andrew Jones at Michael Toy's house. It turned out to be a random gathering of some 25 missional-types who want to explore how to be ambassadors of the kingdom in our still-nascent digital world. I have searched for anybody in this area who shares my missional passion, and suddenly there were 25 people! And very dissimilar, with a variety of callings. Quite a few geeks. There were even some pastors present!

It also turned out to be Bilbo and Frodo's birthday, September 22nd.

I am just a hobbit in the Fellowship of the King.

I miss the Vineyard

Kay & I first encountered Vineyard ideas around 1989 through books passed around a little ad-hoc group of missionaries in Japan desperately seeking God's presence. When we moved to the United States in 1991, we found a Vineyard church. I remember the excitement of learning that they actually had classes on how to pray for healing.

From 1991 to 2006, we were active in a few different Vineyard churches. And this year, the Vineyard movement celebrates 25 years, so Kay & I have been mixed up with this strange group for a good chunk of its history. Here's an 18-minute video that does a nice job of capturing the heart of this movement:

There used to be several Vineyards in San Jose. Today, that number is zero. But we're still Vineyard people at heart.

Facebook status for 1 month

One of the things I enjoy about Facebook is the status updates. Twitter started it, I suppose, but you can think of it as micro-blogging: one-line updates about your activities or mood. So for you non-Facebook people, here's a snapshot of my past month. Well, more like a sequence of snapshots. Like a flip-book.

Intentional, not accidental

(Posted on the Journey's website:)

Dr. Kent,

Thank you for your encouraging comments. I will reply over here just to keep things grouped by topic.

First, you are right to point out that the “big C” Church is making some impact. God’s kingdom continues to move forward — with or without us.

But I believe that, flowing from worship (and as an act of worship) an outward missional focus is essential. I want it to be prayerfully intentional, not accidental. I’m sure there are inspiring stories within our church of, as you say, individuals making an impact; I want these to be our central defining stories, not stay behind the scenes. I want us to go to those outside the church, not try to get them to come to us. (That is, after all, what Jesus did for us.) And to reach our post-Christian society, in which the church is starting from a position of distrust and resentment, it will take more than lone disciples to soften their hearts toward Jesus — it will take groups praying and creatively reaching out, giving visible witness to the gospel as a communal reality, not just a personal preference.

I do not expect the Journey to suddenly say, “This is our new defining center.” But I do hope for some receptivity, especially in light of the strong declarations that Jeff made at the time about the now-forgotten “church, why bother” series and in light of the strategic initiative that the Journey’s denomination is attempting, the effort to turn its churches outward. I feel a bit of a pest, but I cannot avoid this call of God and the need to be an advocate for my non-church friends, who are representative of a larger world. God is inviting us!

Thank you again for responding to me. I hope that some in leadership in the Journey would do the same. As I said, I would welcome the chance to do so face-to-face.

Sincerely His,
Jon

Sprinkler Rainbow Conspiracy

I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.

Church Basement Roadshow video

For those of you who wanted to see the Church Basement Roadshow but couldn't make it to any of the shows: here's a video of the whole show at Disciples' Fellowship Birmingham!

(Looks like a couple of people took up their invitation to dress up, and one boldly joined in.)

The Republican Hater's Ball