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/

the changing face of the music industry

Terry Gross did a great show recently on the ways in which the music industry is changing. I know that this is a topic that we have discussed at different times. For both artists and lovers of art, this is a very insightful program. Hope you enjoy. click here xx

Funny link of the day

Guys,

Here is a link that was passed along to me recently. It is hilarious but can sting a little if you find something here that matches yourself a little too closely. I have felt the pain of being a demographic, and it stings, oh, it stings.

www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com

Laugh at your own risk.

The Allusion of Race

My friend Ariah had a link on his blog to a PBS series he has been watching called "The Allusion of Race." Only since 1954 could anyone who wasn't "white" apply for American citizenship. The crazier thing is that the surpeme court always changed the definition of "white" so it fit whatever they wanted it to, depending on the civil rights case they were hearing. Our current ideas about race are actually pretty new, in relationship to the history of humans.

Mel's Passion

I was inspired by our meeting last Sunday evening at Henry's to dig up some reviews of Mel's $25 million endeavor. I thought I'd share what I found.

David Edelstein review as heard on Fresh Air


From Kenneth Turan's review as heard on Morning Edition:

'What is profoundly disheartening is that men and women of good will will see a different film than I have. They will be as oblivious to what I see as its dangers and drawbacks, as they say that I am to its strengths. Where I see sadistic violence, they see transcendence. Where I see blame, they see truth.'

'...what's immediately evident about the Passion is its complete sincerity. This is Gibson's personal vision, a look inside his heart and soul-- an act of faith-- which makes it even sadder that the Passion of the Christ offers only glimpses into Jesus's whole life and teachings. It creates a one-dimensional view of him as only someone who was willing to absorb unspeakable punishment for our sins.'


From Bob Mondello's review as heard on All Things Considered:

'The director so wants to bring cinematic realism to Christ's suffering that he has filmed what is quite possibly the bloodiest story ever told. I won't be alone in noting a specifically spiritual distance between "bloodiest story" and "greatest story." Screen sadism this relentless is almost inevitably numbing...'

(There's an interesting comparison in this review to A Clockwork Orange.)

'...a sincere, heartfelt attempt to spin a story long regarded as one of sacrifice, compassion, and forgiveness into a story that is largely about enduring cruelty. That, to my mind, is a reduction. Hate the spin, love the spinner.'

FBA

That's Fussball Attic. It's gonna be Zap. Friday - 6:30 at Paul and Amy's. They have dessert and beverages. Bring a snacky appetizer thingy to share. We are lining up a sitter to watch the kids at our house (Joshua and Elizabeth). Feel free to bring pajamas and we'll find a bed for them.

Call me or Paul if you need directions.

Did anybody catch Bill Clinton at the Grand Wayne tonight?

Just curious...

With tongue planted firmly in cheek, I dived headfirst into the blogosphere this evening with up-to-the-minute coverage.

It was zap.

Click on me.

Judas

interesting thoughts from a blog i receive. http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1133/

Being Human

Hey Guys,

Hope everyone is well. Check this out.

It says it all. I mean it. All. Everything. Put an exclamation mark after it and then say no more.

Jordan, I can't put Affluenza down. I love it. It's messing me up forever.

Community = $

I think Paul's on to something. Yes, the whole christian website thing has been going on for years but an actual christian myspace... that's a great thought. I'm not seeing any ideological issues with it. It's not marketing Jesus, it's bringing people of common purpose together in community. I have to admit that I'm already sick of the word community so I'm going to use a thesaurical replacement (co@#$%^&*ty). That seems to create a buzz of activity in my head when I read that as opposed to thinking, blah...blah... community. It's kinda like talking about post-modernism. As soon as it's tagged by the church it's over, eh? How about post-co@#$%^&*ty gatherings?

New subject.

I got a "friend" request from the Dwell Co@#$%^&*ty I belong to (Dwell Mag.) and the guy was a D-Star fan'ish who had a friend on the Bravo show Top Design. He wanted me to check out the website of the company he works for who designs super high end edgy rugs. I responded to him by saying that the rugs were "zap"... way fresh! The term "zap" to my knowledge is not currently (nor has it ever been) used by anyone as a synonym for cool. I just figured I'd start using some of my own lingo to see if I could start something with my celebrity status. No good reason... it just came to mind so I tried it. Well, when he responded to my statement he said he had checked out my website and that it too was "zap". Yea... I'm an innovator! Ok maybe I'm overstating my case but damn it feels good to be the inspiration for a movement as significant as "zap"... oh, hey gotta go. I've got Al Gore on the line wanting to brainstorm about some worldwide thing where you can find all kinds of info and access it from your computer anywhere in the world. Great minds... right?

anti-abortion horton

take a look or listen. interesting.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88189147

Nashville Update 2

For three brief snapshots of my trip, consider visiting my blog. Cheers. xx

(well, look who's becoming quite the blogger)

Do Not Read This Post-until you read the new idea post below

Please read the new ministry idea post below first or this won't make any sense!!!

OK, last night was an equally bad night's sleep around the McComas household. I was in and out of dreaming and sleeping so much that the characters in my dreams were getting annoyed. But again I was struck with several additional ideas during the night that I wanted to get into words before they were lost forever. These ramblings are not designed to be anything profound, and I don't really think I have stumbled onto anything close to alchemy, but this is just an idea for discussion like Tym's design website, Josh's beard growing, and Stuart's hemp-powered car.

Church Netwoking Idea update #1-

The idea has already morphed into a multi million dollar enterprise whereby we "christianize" the whole myspace/facebook phenomenon for easy access for churches. We would design (read that steal) software that would be a starting point and then for free allow churches to use it to generate an online directory of their members. Churches already have directories, so this won't be a huge leap, but many of the older generation are scared of new technology so it would need to be very user friendly, etc. This database would include email and phone texting capabilities and would be searchable and churches could use it for prayer chains, mass emails, cancellations, activity reminders, etc. Each church would pay a flat fee for the software and data entry piece. Once we have the directory done, this is where things could get fun.

Certain churchgoers might be interested in having their own page within the database/site where they can edit their information, post photos of whatever, display their interests, post music/verses, etc. and this might be a fee for service thing. They could choose if it was available to just their church, all churches in the city, state, or all, or to the web in general. Family safe!

Then we could implement the idea below where interested couples/families/singles could fill out specific demographic and other information and allow their information to be crunched with certain other families/couples/singles returning as matches for potential friendships within just their church or within a searchable geographic area. Essentially allowing for community building to happen across denomination lines as people are paired with people with whom they are likely to forge friendships through common interests, etc. This could be a fee for service piece as well or we could just let the thing blow up and then sell ad space to specific church related companies. "Try Johnson communion wafers for that sweet but dry "Jesus" taste".

Again, I do not think this is genious, and this has already probably been done by someone else, so it is just in keeping with our crazy ideas that we discuss that will not go anywhere thing that we do. But maybe if this is a new idea, or we think we can sell it better than anyone else (remember Bill Gates did not develop the QDOS program he sold to IBM, he just bought it from someone else and pitched it better). Something to think about. There are hundreds of churches in Fort Wayne who are looking to stay "edgier" and try to reach out in new ways. We could pitch it as a way for church members to stay in touch during the week by allowing for message boards and blogs within the site to discuss the sermon that week, etc. This would be a way to meet that need and yes maybe unfortunatly make some money possibly in the process. We could have church volunteers help with the data entry, etc. we would just need to design the software/get a website domain for the whole thing/ and start pitching the idea to get our first customer. Some initial domain name suggestions would be mychurch.org or churchbook.org (see what I did there?) or ironfinder.org OK, I am definitely off the deep end with this idea, someone please shoot it down and throw me a lifepreserver!!!

New ministry idea... (<--are the elipses always necessary?)

So last night after our meeting I went home and caught the tail end of a documtary about how we do our best thinking while we are dreaming. It talked about how many of they greatest discoveries are done while our brains are busy processing while we are sleeing. I then proceeded to have the worst night's sleep ever as both my wife and daughter have the flu and were up many, many, many times during the night. These events together created the perfect storm of neural activity, and somewhere in the night, I was struck with the best new ministry idea since the invention of indulgences.

Problem statement:

Many church going individuals get only a taste of what it is like to live in community as they are around other believers for such a short time in a non-interactive setting. This leaves many feeling that there has to be more to living the Christian life, but they don't know how to go about creating community in such a top-down power/money heirarchy such as the church is today.

Solution:

Have interested persons and couples fill out questionairres pertaining to their spiritual backgrounds, interests, recent books they have read,etc. as well as demographic information such as family, job, educational background, etc. Then use this information to create community mashup groups made up of persons who are highly likely to find eachother interesting. This can be done by committee or by a complex computer algorithm, prayer, whatever. Then plan sort of "blind date"-no pressure- events to get everyone together to see if their is a "community connection". If so , then guidance on taking their community group to new levels of spiritual growth and accountability could be provided. It is Match.com meets Sunday school. The excitement for the persons and couples is the not knowing who they will be paired with. Also it creates an exclusivity factor as you fill out your information and then wait for the call. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, I think we have found a match for you!!" It takes the excitement around dating (I was told there is some) and puts it in the context of friendship/community building with the church playing matchmaker. The church then loosly guides these groups through email updates, outing suggestions (group rates on tickets, etc), providing child care for groups to go out, hosting evenings in with theme nights (book reviews, concerts, etc.) The church could really claim to be building community from within without messing things up by marketing a church service. Instead the ministry would be facilitating relationships among "applicants", making friendship matches and then letting the iron-sharpening begin with a little guidance. You could put a time limit so people could go back into the system if the group wasn't quite clicking without the pressure of having to confront or reject anyone.

Feedback:

OK, I am expecting some good comments and feedback on this idea. Tym, this could be a website idea where people pay to post their bio and people pay to search to find friendships, etc. I believe that the bulk of people who are on the web looking to meet new people are doing so from the excitement that new friendships bring. Why can't this be done as couples??? The whole "romantic" spin that is put on it is one way to go, but there could really be a need for a sort of couples match.com where people are just looking for other couples to connect with and develop community. It is the meeting people that is that hardest part. This could be the niche market we find. IDEAS, PLEASE!!!

Nashville Update...

Greetings boys. At the moment you guys are ping pong-ing and I'm in Nashville schmoozing with a lot of folks who are making alot of money on the gospel. Yuck. Wish I were ping pong-ing...

I actually saw a booth for a Christian travel agent who pasted the verse about going into all the world under their logo-- with a sub-heading that read, 'it's not ONLY for missionaries!'

George W. is scheduled to speak Tuesday but there's a big fat asterisk behind his name which indicates that he may have better things to do. We'll see... If not him, at least there's Dr. Dobson (who is also speaking Tuesday-- no asterisk.) As I always say, Dr. D. is great when he actually focuses on the FAMILY and not, say, politics.

On the upside, we've started a dialogue with a broadcasting company who wants to translate our show into Russian and broadcast it throughout Asia. So that's cool, potentially...

Be well, mates. Speak soon. xx

A Snapshot

Some years ago, in my youth, I had the opportunity to record some music with some friends. At the time it was a great experience on so many levels. It was great to work on a project with friends, to navigate relationships through that time, it was awesome to be able to be creative and to collborate. In the end, I still listen to that music from time to time because I enjoy it but also because those cd's have become, in effect, sort of photographs of those times in my life. I remember the lyrical references and conversations about musical arrangements and all that. So this blog we journey on together might serve some similar purposes in few years, a conceptual photograph of our time spent together ping-ponging, eating, talking, and journeying together. It also might help connect our conversations throughout the week.
Peace my brothas!
Jordan

green, green, green

gents, here is a link to the book discussed (plus some other relevant titles that may be of interest) on sunday at amazon.com plus the author's website. enjoy.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/105-4243068-4081211?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=serve+god%2C+save+the+planet&x=19&y=18

http://www.servegodsavetheplanet.org/

First Post to Retraction in Record Time

First of all, Sellouot is Paul. Secondly, allow me this explanation. I am finally excited about blogging because I am doing it with a group of guys who I know will challenge me and bring to my attention thoughts and links that force me to grow, the whole iron sharpening thing. I needed to write that first post and select that moniker as a confessional because I was preparing to jump in with both feet into a medium that I once ridiculed. So it was more of a soul cleansing exercise for me. I will never apologize however for my word selection. Anyone can keep thesaurus.com open as they write, just like I do. OK, thanks for allowing me the room to purge my hypocrisy. I am excited about our blogging experiment and just needed to begin with some honesty.

Sellout?

First off who's Sellout and watch the vocab. I need to be able to read this thing and form some kind of imagery without keeping an extra window opened for dictionary.com. Sorry, couldn't help that. In fact I may just become a belligerent bastard on this thing... yeah I kinda like the sudo-anonymity of it all. I mean, of course we all know who each other are, (x*%#@! Sellout?) but at least I'm assured it would take you a half an hour or so to read my insensitive post about you and get in your car to come beat me to a pulp... right? Yeah this is good.
Now my really bloggy thought for today.
Jesus reminds me of a Stiga *** ping pong ball:
Hard to keep on the table-lily white at first, (till u start rollin' it/him around the floor)-(nearly) seamless-certainly the brunt of abuse if the game goes arie(?)-clean shaven (contrary to sunday school room paintings)-destined to be left in the bowl on the piano when a new one comes along.

So this is what selling out feels like...

I missed the meeting where this blog was initiated, which is the only fact which is allowing me now to even participate here. (backstory alert) I have railed against the blog as the death knell of meaningful friendships everywhere, whenever given the chance. I have for some time sat smugly watching people at Starbucks sitting at different tables each on their next generation Eniac machines using only 10% of their communicating ability while they 1's and 0's their way into the lives of people who only live in their head. I thought how nice it would be if there were a serendipitous power outage and these individuals would suddenly have to interact with the world and people around them. Surely hilarity would ensue as the awkward conversations about avitars and video cards would evolve into long, very long pauses. So this is what blogging feels like. Writing things while imagining what imaginary people will surely think when they come across my musings. How is this any different from graffiti? Please allow me to wear my hypocrisy on my sleave for some time. I will mature out of it as I learn what an effective way this is to make friends and influence people. See, I just imagined who of our group would get that reference and who wouldn't. I am advancing our friendships now more rapidly as I get to know the imaginary versions of each of you that now live in my head. Meeting together now just has the purpose of referencing my versions of each of you against the actual versions of you, and in case there is a discrepancy, guess which one will win. It is so cold here. No immediate feedback or laughter. No facial expressions. No body language to read. No physical closeness. No handshakes or hugs. No spontaneity. I will grow to be comfortable in this medium, but it will take some time. The imaginary versions of each of you and all our future readers are telling me that it will be all right. I like them. They are so much like me.

some sundry cultural reference points from the second of march

Jordan: that band's song (and also the lyrics, if you're interested)

Tym: Here's the link from the UK group: http://www.artisaninitiatives.org

Gerald: http://www.hillside.com/Who/hwsc.htm

Eric: Here's the link I was talking about: http://lifehacker.com

I took the liberty to include a link to a Mosaic podcast that Josh mentioned (and I have since listened to) and also one to the episode of This American Life with the Cambodian pajamas (entitled 'David and Goliath'.) You can stream for free or pay $0.95 for a download.