Again, off topic, I know a few of you guys get the mars hill podcast. i listened to the March 30 talk by a guest at mars hill, Shane Hipps, called "the spirituality of the cellphone." It was a really great talk., it was outstanding actually, otherwise i wouldn't post it. he has some very 'prophetic' things to say about faith in the digital age. and I know that many of us are into technology and the implications of it on our lives as people of faith. Thought you'd all dig it.

If you have the podcast check it out, if you don't get it, here's the link:

http://www.marshill.org/teaching/index.php

I'd be interested to hear other thoughts on it.

Peace3

i hate to stray off topic, but...

I think you should see this.

In My Mynd...

While I prefer to be conscious about what I consume and generally look down on those who shamelessly drive Hummers and build mcmansions, I believe I'm coming to a crossroads of sorts with the money, work, consumption issue. I'm starting to view it as a heart issue, rather than accessing by the appearance of the situation. Looking at it Biblically, it seems that wealth was not the issue, (obviously) and that the balance of one's life was. I'm still wanting to build eco-friendly everything but realizing that not everyone is me... pity, isn't it.

What if this was our job?

After further reflection, I'd like to apologize for this quote, "what if this was our job?" spoken by me on Sunday night. I am thoroughly enjoying our time together, the conversations, the relationships that are forming, the intentional effort to dream and challenge each other, the potential future, and of course, the ping pong.

Elizabeth and I haven't "formally" gone to church for almost two years. While this is our choice, our souls still long for that connection, to be a part of a community that is pushing each other forward, challenging each other to look at Jesus's invitation to be truly human, while creatively advancing the Kingdom of God. There have been various occasions in our time together when I step back and look at the big picture of what is happening with us, and I get very excited, because it just feels right. It's not perfect, we aren't always sure what we are doing, but there is a similar heart, and we stumble along together, and I love it.

That being said, I feel like, if we intentionally made choices to try to make this our job, an income making venture, I think we would kill what we have going. I mean, isn't that one of the biggest reasons why we are frustrated by church - decisions being made that are motivated by making money to pay the staff, to take care of the building, or build a new one?

If we do have an event, or an opportunity to make money, then of course we should be wise stewards of that opportunity. Not as income for us, but as resources to reinvest into what we are doing, or whatever our next project is.

I really appreciate you guys, and I'm excited about what the future holds. Once the motivation becomes about making money as income, then it changes everything. I lived that nightmare at Sonrise, and again in Nashville with Mosaic. So, once again, I apologize taking us down that path for a few minutes.

Obey

Shepherd Fairey Propaganda poster sighting in Fort Wayne. Very cool. I think this is by Instant Copy. Is that on Main?

Intrigue

So keeping the dialogue going...the "taking care of people/pastor thing in me had an idea the other night on the way home with Paul. What if our measuring stick, for our ideas with P3 (pret anyone...great ideas Paul) could also be applied to our individual trying to follow Jesus lives (referencing our conversation a few weeks back about being a little more transparent with each other). For example, Paul thought of the word "intriguing" as a word that could be used as a measuing stick guideline - meaning, any ideas we have of things to do would have to create intrigue -

"1. to arouse the curiosity or interest of by unusual, new, or otherwise fascinating or compelling qualities; appeal strongly to; captivate:"

We could then apply this to our own individual lives as Jesus followers - are you living an intriguing life?

Completely unrelated - tomorrow night at the library at 6:00 there is an event called "Beyond the Square" Anyone interested?

The Pret concept

I had a thought after our meeting last night. I like the juxtaposition of french high culture and ping pong and the concept of "savior-vivre" would definitely capture that, but I also thought that the "pret" concept might be another way to go. In french, "pret" means "ready", and it is used in english in phrases such as pret-a-manger "ready to eat", pret-a-porter "ready to wear", etc. It is technically spelled with an accent circumflex (carrot) over the "e" in pret. P3 could morph from ping pong patio to pret..., pret..., pret... with the concepts filled in as maybe "pret-a-jouer" ready to play, pret-a-servir "ready to serve" (double entendre with ready to serve as in ping pong but also as ready to serve others), "pret-a-intriguer" ready to intrigue. What do you guys think. I don't want to lose ping pong patio as the 3P's, but this would give us more latitude with concepts and still captures the french culture with a logo including a ping pong paddle or ball juxtaposition. Also the circumflex over the "e" could be part of the logo. We could grab just the pret-a-servir concept because of the double meaning. Picture ping pong paddle and ball and P3- Pret-A-Servir. Ready to serve...Thoughts?

Ping Pong in the Sky?...

so i saw this this morning and of course i could only think of replacing the dinner table with a ping pong table. this is seriously crazy and Tym, i think you should look into it for P3 at 3 rivers...
check it:

http://dinnerinthesky.com/pictures.php

Peace

Have the Editors at NPR been reading our mail?

So guess whose name I heard today on NPR? Shepard Fairey, the artist to whom I was introduced last evening at P3. That's right. Timely and interesting story.

A Tipping Point

So we've been talking about this tipping point idea/book for a while now, though I've not read it yet i have been thinking about it. I'm not sure if this example is in there or not, it probably is, but the reformation that we all know of the one with Luther et al, was not the first attempt at an uprising or reform in or away from the dominant Catholic church of the day. others tried but the means of communication were too limited. the thing that most separated Luther's attempt was the printing press, the ability to spread mass info to many people in various places quite quickly and concretely in the form of the written word.
like i said, that is such a major one that it is probably in there, but i was thinking about it.

Health and Wealth

I watched a very interesting show on PBS last week. It is a series that is exploring the connections between socioeconomic status and health. there are obvious connections but there were some interesting biological connections as well. apparently, stress and other related problems can actually release a chemical in your bloodstream that causes buildup in your arteries and has direct affects on heart disease, etc. especially in the lower income demographics. being in complete control of your environment really changes your biology.
it especially hit me because two of our nieces really have had to grow up fast, their mom has struggled for years and they have been bounced around between family and around the country. the older one really stresses about it all and already has ulcers at 11! it's tragic.


some very interesting stuff though. the series is three more weeks on thursday nights at 10 and here is a link to it, there is a trailer there and other info. check it out.
peace




http://www.pbs.org/unnaturalcauses/