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.

Olympics

So, I've become an Olympic junkie. I'm loving it. Watched every Michael Phelps race (or as I imagine Pres. Bush calls him, "Phelpsy"... Beavis is our president! Rock on Beavis!!!) I've watched Phil Dahlhausser and Todd Rogers annihilate their beach volleyball competition (or as P.B. calls them "Toddly and the Big Guy"... did I mention Beavis?). Diving, water polo, equestrian, steeplechase, track and field, marathon... anything and everything on the NBC networks. But, I came across this article on yahoo that sums up the events where judging is involved... mainly, gymnastics. If you've watched any, you know exactly what I mean. C'mon... something smells fishy there, and its not the seafood restaurants. Read this article and you'll know what I mean.

A girl landing two faults on her feet HAS to be better than a girl landing her second fault on her knees... I'm not a gymnastics expert, but really... it's an easy call.

sorry

so, yeah, haven't been nearly as consistent doing this thing as I had hoped. sorry. here are some highlights from the past couple of weeks.

• talked to Dr. Greg Sloop today at the Lee University Charlotte Center. Hoping to do some adjunct teaching there, most likely this spring.
• I have to develop a new resume/c.v. for the above.
• Been married for four years this Thursday. YAY!
• Attendance was solid again Sunday at church. Don't know the final count, but the sanctuary looked about 60 % full, and we were missing several families.
• God moved in a great way Sunday morning. Good stuff. I've heard one pastor say he still believes in "suddenlies". Its good to experience that sort of thing.
• Just watched the new NOOMA video. If you haven't seen it, go here and watch it. It's awesome. not sure if you need a facebook account, but those are free.
• We kick off OXYGEN next Wednesday. I'm believing that God wants to save nearly 50 teens over the next 10 months. That's daring, considering thats twice as many as we currently have.
  
• The teen ministry team is going great. Kids are asking to be involved, growing in their walk with Jesus, and looking forward to small group time. Its been a great first four months.

Thats all for now. Hopefully I'll actually update more often. Oh yeah, the guy who commented on the ProPresenter thing saying to export EasyWorship songs as text files, I found out thats not possible. But I did find a couple of plugins that allow me to play .mp4 and .mov files in EasyWorship. That helps alot!

10 yr. reunion

So, last weekend I went to my 10 yr. high school reunion. It went well. Not much to say about it. You know, the pretty girls weren't so pretty after all. Some have taken advantage of every opportunity, others have not. Many of us have kids and are a little larger than we were in high school. I did have the opportunity to play golf with my friend Scotty Dingess. He pastors the Gilbert Church of God. I shot pretty well, a 91 isn't too bad (considering I play MAYBE once every two months). Anyway, here are a few pics I've scammed off of some classmates myspace pages. Enjoy!

wednesday rewind

So, I thought that since I'm doing a Sunday Wind Down, I should also do a Wednesday Rewind, seeing as I am a youth pastor and my main experience time is on Wednesday. So, here it is... my perception of Wednesday...

• the food was awesome. Mary does an excellent job.
  
• last week I was running behind and the kids started arriving early... this week was just the opposite. When we kick off oxygen, I'm gonna set a time when the doors open. I think that'll be 6.15, with the music starting at 6.45. Of course, people can eat before that.
  
• Music could have gone a little smoother. We were minus a drummer tonight.
• We had alot of people out tonight. I'll be glad when vacations are over.
• I'm excited about some of the changes that we'll be making over the next few weeks. Just trying to prepare for whatever God's got planned this year.
  
• Shared just a bit about Chapter 2. I really hope it will be a turning point for our student ministry.
• Talked about how Isaiah's vision gives us a look into God's dream for our own lives and how we should respond. Good stuff. Don't think I communicated it too well, but can't blame the material.
• Had a good time hanging out with a couple of friends afterward.
  

I've got to get my stuff together now and get ready to leave for WV tomorrow. I'm looking fwd to the 10 yr high school reunion. I'm playing golf Friday with the pastor of the Gilbert Church of God (we graduated together). He's good... I'm not so good... but it'll be a fun time.

Sunday Wind-down

So, I've seen several people do these posts where they talk about their Sunday services. I thought I would join in and do one each week about Sunday and the previous week. Hopefully, it'll keep me blogging.

• We had a guest worship leader this morning. He really flowed well with the music and prayer times. It was sweet.
• I'm pretty tired of using EasyWorship and am fully ready to convert to ProPresenter. The only thing holding me back is the huge database of songs that I would have to convert or, more likely, retype.
• It was great to see my Pastor and his wife, together, in the altar. They are a great team and it really touched me to see them minister in the altar together.
• I am amazed at what God is doing in our church. I have rarely seen so many on the same page, hearing the same things from God. Call it foolish optimism, but I really believe God is going to do something amazing in Knoxville.
• Ate at Qdoba with the fam. It was nice, a little chaotic, but nice.
• CAT training went well. We were missing several students because of vacations, camps and various other summer activities. I really like our new theme and think the last Sunday night in August is going to be an important night.
  
• SNOTE was also tonight. Nothing like Sonic on a humid Sunday night in East Tennessee. The Reese's Blast helped comfort the body!
  

the return

So, I'm giving it a go again. This comes after much scorning from my friend Jamie about my lack of blogging. I hadn't given it much thought, especially since I don't find that I have very much to say, but I guess thats not really the point. Anyway, I thought I would return with an interesting story that happened on a recent missions trip to St. Louis.

So, I'm sitting at Shogun (a Japanese restaurant) with the rest of our St. Louis group. We were also there with the pastor of
St. Louis Harvest Church of God, the church we were working at. Anyway, so my cook guy starts pointing a bottle at me and yelling something that indicated he wanted me to open my mouth. Well, if you've ever been to a Japanese steak house, you know how they just throw food at you, open mouth or not. So, I opened my mouth, and he squirted this clear fluid into it, filling my mouth. He moved on to the person sitting next to me when I realized he wasn't squirting water... BUT SAKI--- JAPANESE WHISKEY!!!

Needless to say, when my church takes a missions trip, we go all out.