by Lon on January 11, 2010
A friend was recently commenting on how Eminem sucks now because his latest releases have been garbage and nothing has ever compared to his second album.
While it’s debatable by some whether Eminem’s work is ‘art’, it bothers me when we treat people like products.
What we produce is a part of who we are, but it’s far from the sum total.
It’s a sick world when we’re valued solely by what we’ve accomplished last.
Whatever you do, don’t live for the crowds. They’ll consume, critique, and discard you as soon as you’re not hiting it out of the park again.
I’ve always been an advocate of integrating faith and technology , but after reading Shane Hipps Flickering Pixels, I definitely need to re-evaluate.
Hipps suggests that technology has already shaped our faith and the way we see the world more than we realize. He borrows a lot from Marshall McLuhan’s theory that “We shape our tools and afterward our tools shape us”.
If you suspect that technology is leading us towards a more fragmented faith, extreme individualism, increased social awkwardness, distorted views on beauty, and taking our imaginations captive… while wondering if there’s anything redemptive in all of this, check out Flickering Pixels.
As one small way of leveraging technology while participating in community, a group of us are co-blogging chapter by chapter reviews of the book on ChurchCrunch. You can see my more in-depth reflections on chapter four here.
Six months ago when my back snapped and I was confined to bed, I read through the entire twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Actually I listened to the audiobook, but still, I had to endure the endless teeniebopper descriptions of Edward Cullen’s great physique. (ie. ‘his body shone like diamonds in the sun’, enough to make just about any adult of any sexual-orientation gag).
I doubt many other 30 year old males, especially ministry leaders, or church planters have read through this.
Originally, I just wanted to see what the hype was all about. But, after getting past some of the cheesy writing, I actually liked it.
For parents wondering if they should let their kids read it, I think I’d even encourage my teenage daughter to read it if she was interested. They don’t “do-it” till they’re married in the forth book if you must know.
The whole series provokes lots of great questions for conversation. ie. Whether it is by a vampire or werewolf, why is it that there’s something deeply human about sacrifical love? Can there be something noble about repressing one’s innate desires? Or simply, what is natural?
So yes, I’m a 30 year old male, I’ve read the entire twilight saga, and I enjoyed it.
I haven’t seen the film yet, part of me just wants to leave the story to my imagination.
What do you think?
I’ve got a bit too many notes from the conference, but here’s a few random thoughts.
- Kudos to the Willow Creek Association for risking and attempting a new type of conference. I’ve been avoiding conferences for quite a while, but I still do see an incredible need for leaders being continually equipped and inspired.
- It wasn’t a dramatic departure from your typical ‘premiere’ conference but there were some differences such as personalized workshops, regional content, and more interactive moments.
- We had about a quarter of our church attended – and it was helpful in providing some common language and metaphor to work with as a team.
- I was racially profiled, somewhat. I was asked to do a recorded interview on the event, and when I suggested someone else do it, I was told they needed an ‘asian male’.
- Jason Hildebrand delivered one of the best solo performances I’ve ever seen in the church context
- I read Mark Batterson’s “in a pit’ when it first came out (actually Mark sent it to me free as part of his reverse-birthday initiative), but somehow his session on it seemed even more powerful and fresh as it seemed to be hitting me in all the right places.
- What is up with Erwin’s latest hairstyle?
by Lon on February 6, 2008
With his building engulfed in flames a man in Germany threw his nine-month old nephew out of his apartment window four-stories down to a police officer. The parents screamed for him not to do it. The toddler is doing fine, but five other children were killed in the blaze. (Full article and more photos)
Some leadership reflections on this…
- Are we willing to make choices that could cause the death of what we love?
- What does it take to be the one who acts when no one else is willing to?
- Are we willing to do what’s right contrary to what well-meaning people might be screaming?
- Are we willing to trust others, even strangers at times, with our decisions and the lives of our loved ones?
What else might we be able to learn from this?
Blogging Powers
by Lon on March 20, 2009
I’ll hoping to be doing my first real live-blogging event tomorrow at “Evolving Church: Amidst the Powers“.
I’m going to try using ScribbleLive for each session, partly because it’s developed by some guys in Toronto, Canada.
Also, it allows me to embed live updates to posts here, directly follow my twitter account which will contain highlights, and other select tweets by the hashtag (#ep09), without overwhelming my twitter followers.
What I’m thinking about before heading into “amidst the powers”
{ 0 comments }