Bad Posture: I flipped a guy off! - Hugh Halter - Wet Mud... musings from the Street
I have recently begun participating in an online collaboration called MCAP, run by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay. Hugh recently wrote a great blog post about maintaining a proper missionary posture towards the culture. There is a great part about where he flipped a guy off, but you should read it for yourself. Enjoy! (You gotta love how I just made it sound so juicy that now you have to read the article!)
What should followers of Christ say about watching horror films? Something? Nothing? The stereotypical response would be to boycott the genre and judge all who do see it. However, there are some interesting considerations given by the Engaging Culture Blog regarding the amount of "horror" content unmistakably present in the bible. If Christains really knew how much blog, gore, and sexuality was in the Bible, would they really complain as much about horror films? Definitely worth a read.
Cnn.com recently posted a great video that is a microcosm of what is happening in Northeast Ohio. A Johnson Rubber Factory recently closed in Middlefield, OH leaving 500 people on the street. In one worker's words, "Northeast Ohio is a tough place to work, its a tough place to get a job right now." Certainly, blue-collar jobs are not as prevalent as they used to be all across the country. But Northeast Ohio is a region that was founded on those jobs. Nicknamed, "The Rust Belt" cities all along the great lakes are no where near recovering from the jobs lost to cheaper labor over seas. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won the state of Ohio without winning Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. How can she win a state primary without winning its three largest cities!? Simply because many people believe that she is the answer to the job crisis and will fight the hardest for poor working class families. Throughout Ohio, many factory jobs are the main draw to live in their cities. Cleveland has an industrial wasteland of factories that housed thousands of blue-collar jobs which have now vanished pushing many people further away from Cleveland and other major cities to look for factory jobs in smaller more rural areas. Note to John McCain and Barack Obama, if you want to win Ohio, figure out a plan to bring blue-collar jobs back to Ohio. Good luck.
Expelled is a new movie by Ben Stein. He is most known for his Clear Eyes commercials and his game show, Win Ben Stein's Money. However, his new movie takes a much more serious tone. Go watch the trailer and see for yourself. Evidently, the premise of the movie is to expose the out-right persecution of scientist who believe in some for of creation that does not fall in line with Darwin's theory of evolution.
I believe Ben is Jewish and therefore somewhat partial to the creation story in Genesis. But the trailer indicates that he is not necessarily promoting intelligent design as a theory to replace evolution, but more concerned with the overt inability to question evolution at all. A great line from the trailer points out that most people who are confident in their beliefs are actually welcoming of criticisms. The assumption is that if one is confident in their beliefs, it is because they have understood some of the basic criticisms and have answers for them. Therefore, when people hold to a belief and are not willing to answer critics and engage in dialogue, it appears that they do not have great answers to the criticisms. It should be a great movie and good for dialogue.
Southern Seminary Student Arts Organization
There is a new student art organization at Southern Seminary (where I go to school via the internet). I am really excited about this because it is not often that seminary education remains so closely faithful to biblical Christianity and yet still has a passion to be relevant to the culture. Usually, seminaries get side-tracked by one or the other; a preoccupation with the bible but no appreciation for cultural engagement, or so preoccupied with culture that they see less of a need for the bible. Ideally, we should spend an equal amount of time studying our culture and our Bible. As I learn to study the Bible, I find it fascinating how easy it becomes to relate the culture of the bible to the culture I live in. If I still lived near campus, I would attend this group in a heart-beat.
I took three courses in art history and graduated with a degree in graphic design and web-design. Having a knowledge of how art has changed over the years is almost better than an anthropology class. It is one thing to study people through statistics and other empirical data, however, studying what people described as beautiful in a given area can yield equally satisfying results. Mainly, because a greater appreciation of an art piece grows with a greater understanding of the culture in which it was created. The church as a whole would do well to understand the role of art in culture and to identify its close connection to what appeals to people.
For example, Apple computers are beginning to make significant gains in the technology market. If you have ever thought it was solely because they work really well and there operating system is stable, you are wrong. Apple takes great pride in its presentation of their computers. In terms of construction. they all have wide curves around their edges, minimal screws exposed, and no endorsement stickers slapped all over it. Their operating system is designed so that is gives the appearance of simplicity. At times, it can be a real pain in the teeth to get it to do what you want, but who cares....it looks well-made and therefore makes the average user feel like its easily accessible. This is what good art does. Whether its a painting or music, at some level you can enter the piece and understand the basic shape and form. However, great art always keeps you looking and listening, noticing things you had not seen before. Check out the video to see a great (sarcastic) example of what I am talking about.
When credit cards put you in jeopardy by cnn.com
I have become increasingly convinced that the church in the United States is captive to the greatest sin plaguing our country, consumerism. While easy to spot, defining it will always be tough. Lately, I feel consumerism is defined as the philosophy that sees the possessing of things as a right to be exercised rather than a gift to be enjoyed. Certainly, this is up for debate in terms of clarity and accuracy, but this latest cnn.com article is yet another warning bell to be sounded for our nation.
And it's become a habit for them to spend more than they have. The overall credit card debt grew by 315 percent from 1989 to 2006, according to public policy research firm Demos.
To compound the problem, fewer people are paying their credit cards bills on time. The percentage of people delinquent on their credit cards is the highest it's been in three years, according to CardTrack.com.
Unbelievable. In 17, the US grew its credit card debt by 315 percent. Surely, this period of outrageous spending will be looked down upon in light of history. But perhaps a greater question will be asked, "Where was the church when this was happening?" Sure we preach sermons on money and offer classes on financial how-tos, but obviously its not enough. The problem is not slowing down, but growing exponentially. This stat has to be one of the largest contributers to the massive foreclosure crisis plaguing our nation (in particular Ohio). When we lose all restraint on our spending habits and feel that we are owed things rather than earn the right to buy them, we will realize that there is no amount of "stuff" that will satisfy our craving. Jesus warned that we could not serve two masters; God and money. The church has perhaps the greatest message to counteract this type of rampant individualism in the life and death of Jesus Christ. God chose to forsake all comforts and pleasures beyond what money could buy, to become a poor, blue-color carpenter and eventually be executed by the very people he was called to help. Financially speaking, God made a poor investment in sending his only son to a people he knew would kill him. But in doing so, he showed us that in giving us Christ he showed us that the greatest of sacrifices for God's purposes cannot be bought with silver and gold (in this case to bring people back into a loving relationship with their God).
I pray we can all reflect on this and grasp the freedom offered in Jesus Christ to liberate us from the enslavement of stuff and allow us to experience the joy in giving. "It is better to give than to receive."
The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry
This is a great article outlining the evolution of the iPhone. There are some great lessons in learning on when to hold 'em and fold 'em. Apple has forever affected the way we will use cell phones in the next decade. Its interesting how many factors came together to make it happen. Read on!
HT: arstechnica
The Church of Stop Shopping from Out of Ur
This article highlights what should be an interesting film for the holidays. What Would Jesus Buy? is a documentary by Reverend Billy that pokes fun at the world of consumerism that has America, particularly at Christmas time. The controversy comes in the medium chosen to bash America. Reverend Billy and his "Church of Stop Shopping" are not an actual church in the Christian sense, but masquerade as an over the top televangelist and his congregation sent to preach a message of "stop shopping" to everyday people like you and me.
The trailer is hilarious and shows that this film will certainly go for laughs over poignancy, but the jab at the Christian church is more of a stab in the back rather than a punch to the face. In choosing the tile of the movie and stereotype of mainstream Christianity, it seems obvious that Reverend Billy, someone who does not profess to be a Christian in real life, sees the church as having a role of some sort to play in the stop shopping message. But perhaps his point is that the church has no power to convince people to change when it is known itself as a money hungry and self satisfying religion itself? In an age where the church is even being challenged by the government on its money spending issues, with what serious can it be taken if it were to speak against consumerism and materialism? I think this would relate to having a log in our own eye while pointing out the speck in someone else's.
I encourage you to check out the movie if you can. A recent Christianity Today review is a good read and states it is having trouble being seen since it cannot get corporate sponsors...surprise surprise.
Cleveland Foreclosure Factors This article highlights some of the factors that contribute to the state of the housing market in Cleveland.
Foreclosures=Crime This article highlights how the rising foreclosure rate has created a heaven for crime in Slavic Village.
This article is by a Sally Morganthaler who wrote the book Worship Evangelism. The article basically is her confession, that the contemporary worship movement that she so actively followed has not really reached the unchurched. In fact, she even shut down her website designed to equip churches implementing contemporary worship. I highly encourage you to read the whole thing since it outlines this woman's journey from the beginning of the contemporary worship movement in the late 80's early 90's to its present state.
HT: House Church Blog
