A few days late because of Annual Conference. Time to bask in some introvert time, and watch the end of LOST (hoping, hoping, hoping not to be disappointed – which means, I for one, DON’T want all the questions answered – leaving us with a little mystery is absolutely necessary to the beauty of the story, in my mind).
Of interest this week:
Cigarette vending machine repurposed to sell books.
Wendell Berry – The Mad Farmer Liberation Front
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Guy Kawasaki on Mission Statements vs. Mantras:
Ed Stetzer has a great article on embracing the congregation’s unique identity. It’s a good warning against the temptation to create “copycat” churches where you just try to do whatever the flavor of the month is doing. Overall, I think I do pretty well, but I understand the temptation to try and be more like Mike Slaughter, instead of being the best Mike Mayo-Moyle I can be.
Falwell: Measurements in Ministry Success are Messed Up interesting data: 50% of pastors would quit if they could, 70% are fighting depression, 90% can’t cope with the challenges of ministry. Those numbers seem high to be, but his larger point is good – success isn’t about building the next mega-church, our focus needs to be on just one person at a time.
I’ve mentioned my friend Marcus, and his family, before – he’s an amazing guy (in general), but what I really appreciate is how he genuinely lives out his Christian faith. One of the ways he’s been doing it has been by opening his home to a group of students had when he taught in Mississippi. This past week the last of those students moved back. As Marcus notes in his blog this has been a tough week as he’s had to face the seeming insurmountable obstacles of poverty, culture and poor education. It’s hard reading, but it’s honest, and reminder that the change we hope for doesn’t always come.
Another Annual Conference is finished. Good times “holy conferencing” especially outside the spaces of sessions. I had the chance to have lunch with Lovett Weems who is both funny and insightful. I need to add his books to my reading list. One of his presentations on change can be found below. (I’ll also plan to add video of a spoken word piece I collaborated on later this week).
In a similar vein, I liked this reminder to Get Excited and Change Things.
Music for this week – Jonsi Go Do. This one is a little on the strange side, Jonsi is from Iceland (also the lead singer of Sigur Ros), and his music isn’t in the realm of mainstream pop, but I enjoy it.