Financial Crisis

So, unless you've been living on another planet, everyone is well aware of the "financial crisis" that is currently upon our country and many others. Words and phrases get thrown around like "credit crunch"..."subprime loans"..."deregulation" and "government bailout" to explain the factors and possible solution to this mess. Democrats want to blame Republicans and vice versa. Its George W. Bush and the "failed economic policies of the last eight years" that has gotten us where we are. Or... maybe we'll blame the evil mortgage companies that gave the mortgages to the innocent homebuyer who didn't know any better. Really, it sounds like a lot of blaming but no owning up to it. Here's what I think.

We are to blame!

Yeah, thats exactly right. When it comes down to it, we signed our names on the bottom line of whatever mortgage we got. (I can say this out of experience!) The greed that was in our heart manifested itself because we wanted a bigger, better, newer house. "No, honey, lets get the one with a three car garage and two extra bedrooms, with a den and a living room. It'll be so great!" Don't mention the fact that you only have two people living in a house built for eight. Nevermind the fact that you can afford a $150,000 house, NOT A $400,000 one. Or maybe you can't afford one at all, but you can rent. But that doesn't look responsible and successful. Don't worry about that extra car you're g0ing to buy because you feel you need three sense you have a three car garage.

Are there problems with the system? Of course. Would a mortgage broker knowingly sell you a deal he/she knows you probably can't afford just to make a percentage of the deal? Probably. But we have seen the enemy. And he is us! Thats what I want to hear somebody say. Stop blaming everyone else and understand the real problem:

We are greedy!

Loaded... Beware!

So... I've had this thought brewing around in my mind the last few weeks. I've been reading Jesus for President, just finished it actually. I enjoyed it immensely and may include a later post on it, but that is not the point here. As many may know, I am fairly versed on the pomo/emerging/missional church stuff. I wrote my sr. thesis for seminary on comparing/contrasting emerging (i'm including missional, emerging and emergent in that... I know, I'll get stoned for it, sorry to this guy) and classical pentecostal theologies and worldviews. So, here's whats been stirring around:

When I read something like Jesus for President, or a book on some new style or dev't in church, I often think that the thought processes for developing that looks very Pentecostal to me. Maybe I read alot into the discussions, but it always just occurs to me that this (whatever this happens to be) could have very easily originated in a Pentecostal community. However, all to often, it seems we in the classical Pentecostal tradition are being left behind in the creative church culture. Yet, it seems obvious to me that the two are not unrelated. In fact, we should be the ones pioneering new, creative efforts; promoting racial and gender equality; pushing for a more environmentally sound technology; open to various methods of preaching/teaching; culturally relevant, etc. It is in our DNA!

Without going into it too much, the early Pentecostal mov't saw tremendous growth in racial unity. It has been said that "the color line was washed away in the blood." I think this was to be only the beginning. Have we, as Pentecostals, sold our heritage? The way the questioned formulated in my mind went more like this: Have we spent so much time defending the experience that we have neglected the responsibilities that came with the experience? While we were trying to defend the experience of speaking in tongues, did we miss much of the civil rights movement? (Granted, Pentecostals were involved, but I'm speaking more as an organized movement.) While we were buying our plane tickets for the latest REVIVAL, did we miss the technology explosion? While we were (are) shouting in the aisles of our churches, did (is) our planet slowly (or quickly) die (dying)? Did the ones who challenged the status quo simply adopt a new status quo? Did the change agents of the past become the static sitters of the present and future?

What can we do?

Last Night

So, last night was a great night at Oxygen. We had 28 students! Combined with our 6 adult leaders, that means we had 34 total. Thats exciting. Better than that, we had a really good prayer time at the end. I had expected something, but was pleasantly surprised. The message was a little more intense than usual, which may have scared a few students. Tried to curb that with some humor at the front end and in the middle, but I'm still ok with how the message went, which is pretty good for a preacher the day after :) The music went good too. The last song was "Carried to the Table" by Leeland. If you haven't listened to Leeland, you really need to. They are a really great band.

My Take So Far...

So, for the past two weeks I've kinda been enamored with the party conventions and the whole presidential election drama. I have several opinions, most of which I choose to keep to myself because I am in a dual-polar context... meaning that in most cases, regardless which party/candidate is up for discussion, odds are someone in the group will be completely opposed to them. For that reason, I usually just smile and nod, not wanting to be drawn into a discussion where others are so decided and I yet have seen or heard enough to make a decision.

So, both conventions were entertaining, mostly appealing to their party's base, which is what a convention should be doing. Obama wowed people with his Thursday night glam-speech at Mile High, but Gov. Palin's Wednesday night speech at the RNC garnered only slightly less TV viewers (both more than the Olympic opening ceremony). Obviously, large audiences and speeches are strong points for Obama and not so much for McCain. However, even McCain did a decent enough job.

So, my take so far is basically based on the picks for VP. Both Obama and McCain are running on the idea of change; Obama the New Kid and McCain the Maverick. When it came time to pick a VP, one chose a Washington insider and the other chose a reformer no one had really heard of... I do think that is significant. Now, I am in NO WAY declaring an allegiance to McCain, all I am saying is that I found the picks VERY interesting. Actually, I'll probably write in my vote... JESUS!

If He gets 5% of the popular vote, Jesus can have a spot at the next elections presidential debates!

So... VOTE FOR JESUS!

feel good story

Have you seen The Dark Knight? If you haven't, you really should. It is an awesome movie. I came across this article today about Heath Ledger, the actor who (awesomely) played the Joker in the above mentioned movie. Apparently he had not updated his will to include his daughter. The article explains the rest.