Missional Living

 Poll Everywhere. You know on American Idol when Seacrest says something to the effect of ‘Text your vote to 5555 to vote for Ginny Wannabe as the new Idol."? Now you can use that technology in your ministry, sermon, youth camp, whatever. Your group can send anonymous texts to ask questions, vote, or answer polls. The possibilities for interactive creativity are limitless. Results can be displayed for your group in real time. Set up an account and try it for free.

How Much Caffeine Would It Take To Kill You? I’ve been told I’m an addict. But I don’t agree (denial?). Either way, it’s good to know just how much Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Monster, or other caffeinated energy drinks it would take to put you six feet under. Energy Fiend is a neat little site (and Facebook app) where you plug in your weight and your caffeinated drink of choice and calculate how far you have to go… 

Live Web. Insert live websites into your PowerPoint presentations (for those of you who still use ppt). Rather than using a stale screenshot (which usually don’t fit and have to be rescaled), Live Web provides a plug-in that does the job seamlessly. (Mac and PC available)

Bibliomania. After I bought a copy of The Brothers Karamazov, I realized I could read it in it’s entirety for free online. Along with a truckload of other literary classics. 

Abort73. With the recent anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the team at Loxofamosity has redesigned the Abort73 site. It’s not your typical ‘we hate abortion’ site (it’s never been), but they’ve raised the bar with some great resources, articles, etc. that cover everything from scientific and biological embryonic research to scriptural perspectives for the preservation and respect of ALL life. Good stuff. 

XXXChurch. If you’re not familiar with Craig Gross and the guys at XXXChurch, shame on you. The porn business has a greater gross revenue than the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, MLS, and the X Games combined. Each spring, our student ministry hosts a month-long purity/dating study called Sex Camp, and I spotlight their resources when covering sexual addiction, pornography, browser software and the infamous No Ho Pledge.

If you’ve seen this, you know I’m a closet word freak. (Of course, by making that public, I’m pretty sure it’s no longer in the closet…). Nevertheless, there are certain words that need to be banned from usage. Blacklisted. Deleted. Put down like an old mare with a broken leg. Why? Because (1) everything has a shelf life and expires at some point, and (2) we can do better. Especially because of #2. 

So, for your consideration, here are five words that, IMHO, we should immediately walk away from: 

1. Awesome. Unless you’re a Valley Girl from 1982, you can surely do better. We toss ‘awesome’ around as if everything we see and experience is ‘awesome’. If that’s the case, then by sheer relativity, everything can’t be awesome (it would become ‘mediocre’ by default). In addition, if I am filled with ‘hope’, I become ‘hopeful’. If I am filled with ‘care’, I become ‘careful’. So? If I something fills me with ‘awe’, wouldn’t we describe it as ‘aweful’? And wouldn’t something that only partially fills me with awe (or fills me with ’some’ awe), be described as ‘awesome’? In that case, I suppose the Dallas Cowboys have been truly awesome this season.

2. Obamanyms. You know, the obsession to create new, obnoxious words with the following formula: (Obama) + (whatever is on my mind) = Cleverness. You know what I mean. Obamamania. Obamanation. Franklin DelanObama. Fidel CastrObama. Obamessiah. Ok…maybe we can squeeze a little more outta that last one (at least until I finish writing the Obamessiah song to the tune of Tomlin’s ‘Jesus Messiah’. But then we’re done.) It’s just gotten Obamanoxious. 

3. Change. The great thing about any politician is his or her ability to take the simplest word and redefine it. Even un-define it to the point that no one really knows what it means anymore. We can make just about any slogan mean anything we want it to mean, as long as we stand on the right pedestal and parse our language in that direction. The only thing we have to fear is CHANGE itself…especially when it’s undefined. Granted, my spiritual gifts are cynicism and sarcasm. So, you can keep the change. I’m good. 

4. ‘The Bomb’. Despite what you’ve heard, I am not ‘the bomb’ like I might have been back in ’92. None of us are. Unless you’re an Al Queda sleeper-cell terrorist with 30 lbs of C4 strapped to your chest. In that case, you are the bomb. 

5. FAIL, and it’s cousin, EPIC FAIL. Go ahead. Right now. Put it in the clearance bin with ‘pwned’, ‘bailout’,  and ’staycation’. My prediction is that we are already weary of FAIL because of it’s overexposure and short shelf-life and was doomed from the start. Just like Britney and K-Fed. 

Am I too harsh? Too cynical? What words would you add? Delete? 

Hmmm….I wonder if we need a list of evangelical Christianese words that need to be walked away from as well. Thoughts? 

1. Because (in the words of Kyle Campos) "semi-instant messaging/micro-blogging is hip and so am I." Together we become a force to be reckoned with. And that’s a beautiful thing you don’t want to miss. 

2. 170 friends follow me on Twitter. Theologians, writers, singers, Ragamuffins, Sinners, Saints, and Infidels. They can’t ALL be wrong…

3. Twitter is a great personal communication tool. Instantly pass on anything from theological revelations to traffic reports. How else would you have seen the video of Russell Crowe enrolling in seminary? 

4. Iron sharpens iron, and Twitter helps you communicate with like-minded people. If there’s any mind to be like-minded with…you can find it in my followers.

5. Your involvement can only make the conversations more valuable. Find and follow me here.

I ran across the following quote over the weekend while perusing the blog of a fellow Ragamuffin. It comes from Paul Tillich on Romans 5:20. In speaking of Paul’s description of grace, he says:

 

“’Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound’, says Paul in the same letter in which he describes the unimaginable power of separation and self-destruction within society and the individual soul. He does not say these words because sentimental interests demand a happy ending for everything tragic. He says them because they describe the most overwhelming and determining experience of his life. In the picture of Jesus as the Christ, which appeared to him at the moment of his greatest separation from other men, from himself and God, he found himself accepted in spite of his being rejected. And when he found that he was accepted, he was able to accept himself and to be reconciled to others. The moment in which grace struck him and overwhelmed him, he was reunited with that to which he belonged, and from which he was estranged in utter strangeness.” 

If you have never been overwhelmed by Grace, you may read the above and respond with "yeah…i get it".

If, in fact, there has been a time when you have been utterly and completely seized by a great affection, your reaction is altogether different.

HT: Thanks, Howie, for the stupidity! 

Brian ‘Head’ Wilson  of KORN

NASCAR’s Darrell Waltrip.

NFL coaching legend Joe Gibbs.

My fellow pirate-monk Nate Larkin  of the Samson Society.

MLB All-Star Josh Hamilton.

American Idol heartthrob Jason Castro.

Speaker Tony Evans.

Even my weekend, Cheesecake Factory-buddy (long story) Stephen ‘Stevie-B’ Baldwin. 

An online video collaboration called I Am Second. 

Each one, along with many others, is involved in a very well-done collaboration called I Am Second, in which they each give a personal account of their spiritual journey leading to Christ. 

Although Head’s and Stevie B’s are my favorite interviews, they are all worth watching and passing along! 

Check out the Struggles and the How to Become Second links. Find/start an I Am Second group.

*thanks to @janagrimes for reminding me that, at best, I am second. 

"The Spirit of Jesus is continual Forgiveness of Sin: he who waits to be righteous before he enters into the Saviour’s Kingdom, the Divine Body, will never enter there. I am perhaps the most sinful of men: I pretend not to holiness; yet I pretend to love, to see, to converse with daily, as man with man, and the more to have an interest in the Friend of Sinners."

-Yeats, Sheep to the Public Goats

When the Israel Defense Forces use Twitter to hold a first-ever governmental press conference, things are a-changin’. Not only was the dialogue open to anyone with a Twitter account, but common text abbreviations were used to stay under Twitter’s 140 character limit.

For example: 

Question from peoplesworld: 40 years of military confrontation hasn’t brought security to Israel, why is this different?

Answer from israelconsulate: We hav 2 prtct R ctzens 2, only way fwd through neogtiations, & left Gaza in 05. y Hamas launch missiles not peace?

EhsanAhmad: you didn’t get my point that Hammas is an elected govt and if u keep attacking them they got right to attack you

israelconsulate: if hamas’s goal were 2 btr the lives of its cit. they wouldn’t target IL. they would invest in edu/hlth not in bombs

explore4corners: How many attacks have there been against IS in the last 6 months? How many casualties? The MSM doesn’t report that here.

israelconsulate: ovr 500 rockts Hit IL in the 6 mts of CF. per the last 72 hrs mre thn 300 hit IL. kiling 4 ppl & injuring hndrds

carrotderek: On what conditions would Israel consider a ceasefire?

israelconsulate: CF must ensure no more rockets on IL+ no arms smuggling. btw crossings for Human Aid r open and trucks are entering

backlotops: 1 side has to stop. Why continue what hasn’t worked (mass arial/grnd retaliation)? Arab Peace Initiative?

israelconsulate: we R pro nego. crntly tlks r held w the PA + tlks on the 2 state soln. we talk only w/ ppl who accept R rt 2 live.

shahidkamal: Your nation has been disgraced on Twitter. This inverted Nuremberg Trial will not rescue your image.

israelconsulate: the point of this was to hear what ppl say and to share our POV with fellow twitters.

Read more, then follow me on Twitter.