May, 2010 | Robert's Blog

May 15, 2010

the week in tweets – 2010-05-16

@alkinnu – that's funny in reply to alkinnu #
@labdollegs – yeah for waco! in reply to labdollegs #
i hate it when a book is not compelling enough that i desperately want to read it but not awful enough to no longer care about the story. #
@stevekmccoy – shine JESUS shine 😉 in reply to stevekmccoy #
church palahniuk, sometimes you wow me and others times you disappoint. #
@stevekmccoy i was sure i would be the only one to say it. my day has been ruined now. i change my vote to "pass it on" in reply to stevekmccoy #
@dhaltom7 – he's an author – he wrote "fight club" which was amazing. i just finished "pygmy" which wasn't so amazing. in reply to dhaltom7 #
@IAmJacksBot – thanks tyler that helps. of course, it could just be that "pygmy" wasn't a very good novel. in reply to IAmJacksBot #
N1 want 2 go 2 UWSP Stu for Freethought "JESUS Camp" viewing/discuss with me? Should be interesting 2 hear their thoughts on it. 5/12 @ 7pm #
@joshcausey – 🙂 in reply to joshcausey #
@jonathanbailes – lebron's awesome. my celtics love how he plays! 🙂 in reply to jonathanbailes #
CELTICS!!!!!!!! #
CELTICS!!!!!!!! now we need one more and then we can move on to slap orlando. #
@Jwill193 – i'm guessing this customer wasn't please with travelguard? did you strand him in thailand? in reply to Jwill193 #
grabbing lunch at the green tea with eric & drew – not a bad day. #
i just registered for grandma's marathon in duluth on june 19th. anyone else running it? #
@Jwill193 – well vegas is like a different country or world. a bright, neon, take your money and throw it away world. in reply to Jwill193 #
I'm watching "JESUS Camp" with the UWSP Students for Freethought. Interesting where people are laughing. #
@allisonrichmond – thanks allison. it was a wonderful evening of hearing from people with a really negative view of people of faith & … in reply to allisonrichmond #
@allisonrichmond – … then being a different picture for them. if you liked that tweet you should love the 1 i will do in about 2 hours. in reply to allisonrichmond #
guess who now proclaims that she is a follower of JESUS? http://twitpic.com/1ngdzd the angels are now partying because of jan. #
come on celtics!!!!!!! 3:30 left in the dismantling of the wanna be king! #
yes! yes! yes! #celtics #
how sweet it is! #celtics #conferencefinalsbound #
@jonathanbailes-kobe had nothing to do with lebron choking-it was a healthy & fantastic celtic team. bryant should be scared if it continues in reply to jonathanbailes #
what is a music missionary? i'm about to meet with a guy who describes himself with that title. i picture singing and walking into jungles. #
@mcschobert – make sure and grab a potato … AND STOP TWEETING WHILE YOU DRIVE! we want you back here safe. in reply to mcschobert #
@natebyrd3 – amen and amen! in reply to natebyrd3 #

May 12, 2010

JESUS camp and the student for freethought

tonight i watched the movie “JESUS camp” for at least the third time. the uwsp “students for freethought” showed it at the dreyfus university center’s theater. i wanted to see how they would respond to the documentary.

if you have never seen “JESUS camp” i would recommend watching it. it is an interesting look at a far right fundamentalist approach to evangelical CHRISTianity and its indoctrination of its children. if you are a follower of JESUS CHRIST and you have watched “JESUS camp” but never watched it with a group of non-evangelicals then i would highly recommend going to tomorrow night’s re-showing of the film.

i enjoyed hearing the “students forfreethought” responses concerning the documentary and most particularly their thoughts concerning some of the language used by the main character of the documentary. the children’s minister who is the main subject of the film uses some pretty extreme military language in describing faith. since i am a part of the evangelical world i understand the metaphorical nature of this language. those outside the evangelical world don’t filter this talk through the same filter that evangelicals do and therefore often find the language a little scary. i can’t always say i disagree with such fears. i think it is really important for those of us who claim to follow CHRIST to know how our language may be interpreted or misinterpreted by those outside of the church culture. therefore, if you’ve never watched the movie before or have never watched it with people unfamiliar with the evangelical culture i would highly recommend that you go to uwsp’s dreyfus university center theater at 7 p.m. tomorrow and then stay for the discussion afterward. listen to what they say and consider why they may be saying it. do they have reason to be scared? have we communicated things that we never really meant to communicate?

SIDE NOTE – i talked to some members of the “student for freethought” group concerning the possibility of them doing something like this with tapestry. they were all for it. therefore we are going to discuss the possibility of doing a showing together next year with a little more formal debate afterward. i think it will be fun.

May 9, 2010

the week in tweets – 2010-05-09

@allisonrichmond – how old is your car? with older paid off cars it doesn't make sense to have comprehensive/collision. in reply to allisonrichmond #
@theboy1der – hey they might possibly win that game 😉 in reply to theboy1der #
CHRISTianaudio.com free book of the month – "the hole in our gospel" http://shar.es/mGw39 – WOOHOO! also a great deal on sider's classic! #
@meganckelly – i think i found the right one. is it an ARC video? pretty funny. in reply to meganckelly #
@joecausey – thinking of you and nicole right now. i hope and pray you guys are managing. if you need a break we have room for you in WI #
tonight noah asked if i wanted @sptapestry to become a megachurch. when i said nope but i wanted to grow & split it he was VERY relieved. #
there is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching – francis of assisi #
my reward for riding my bike around town today is that i am now eating lunch at "green tea". hello egg roll! #
@edstetzer – though unfortunately many seem to try. 🙂 in reply to edstetzer #
@calvinb – as usual calvin it is like you are reading my mind. i was just thinking the same thing. stupid #Ruby regex #
yep it is snowing in may! #
@dhaltom7 – but then i would died of heat and humidity. in reply to dhaltom7 #
@dhaltom7 – pam has heard that a couple of years ago it snowed during the uwsp graduation -their ceremony is ALWAYS outside 🙂 in reply to dhaltom7 #

May 9, 2010

happy mother’s day

the above video is a wonderful little animation concerning an interview that a 12 year old boy with asperger’s syndrome did with his mom. it is wonderful. it made pam cry and made me smile. happy mother’s day.

May 8, 2010

growtivation

wow – this is spot on satire of many contemporary/modern worship services. i’ve been to quite a few such services and they are surprising close to this video.

the irony is that several people in the ministerial association to which i belong think this is what tapestry is all about. they see tapestry connecting with younger unchurched people and since they seem convinced that you can only connect this group by edgier music, video, and lights they assume that’s what we do. instead we are pretty boring.

we do have stage lights but that is to hide the utter ugliness of the gym in which we meet. the closest thing we have to a laser show is the laser pointer on my honeywell powerpresenter RF (in my opinion the best wireless presentation tool) and it doesn’t seem to work half the time. every now and then i do try to hit eric, our music leader, in the eye with my lasrer pointer but i don’t think that really counts as a laser show. our music is around 90% classic hymns with drums and an acoustic guitar. it’s good stuff because eric, joel, brad, and drew are awesome but it’s rarely very edgy.

also, our “hipness factor” is incredibly low because … well … i’m involved. eric doesn’t help much with the “hipness factor” either. you can tell this by the way natalie, his wife, introduces herself to people. she says she is married to the guy who looks like a hobo. we all know that hobos are known for their unhipness -(btw if you have not seen john hodgman’s piece called “hobo matters” you should watch it right now).

anyhow if y9ou have ever been to a “relevant” worship gathering you should watch the above video. you’ll find it very diverting.

ht ed stetzer on the video.

May 7, 2010

two movies & a show

first, it snowed this evening in the point area and it is predicted that we may get as much as 1-3” before it is through. i love living in point where spring can change into winter in a matter of minutes.

second, i grabbed the boys after they got back home from school and took them to see “iron man 2.” i loved the original “iron man” mainly because of robert downey jr’.’s narcissistic portrayal of tony stark. downey may not be one of the world’s better people but he is perfect for tony stark. i was a little concerned that the sequel would not be any good. thankfully it was a great film. i would say it was just as good as the first one and maybe even just a little better. i love a good superhero flick.

third, it was homemade pizza and movie night at the terrell house. we watched “the fantastic mr. fox” and i am now wondering how i have missed the wonderful little movie. it was amazing. pam, noah, and i laughed the whole way through. now i know that beagles love blueberries and that has made my life better.

finally, i really like nbc’s show “community.” i look forward to all the movie and television show references within it. this week’s paintball war was a great homage to apocalyptic films.

May 6, 2010

branding?

i’m not a big fan of the term “branding” when used by churches. i understand what is meant and i am definitely not opposed to churches having good looking logos, fonts, and colors but the term “branding” really rubs me the wrong way. part of the reason for this is the apparent view of “branding” by some churches as the ultimate way of attracting people to their church. this blows my mind. why in the world would a non-follower of CHRIST go to a church because of a cool logo (most of which in my opinion predictably shout “hip CHRISTian”). i’m betting that they wouldn’t. CHRISTians, on the other hand, well we are pretty much idiots for new logos and such.

richard reising has a great post on the issue of “re-banding on momentum.” he hits pretty hard on the tendency of some churches to think that a new logo and look are what they really need to reach people and therefore they change their look without changing anything beyond the surface. reising states:

What this represents is surface re-branding. It is an epidemic. It is the concept that if we are not attracting people, it is because we do not have the right name or image, and therefore, we need to change it and re-design our look. With all the love I can muster, if you are not growing what you have, it is not because of your logo. If you are not connecting with people that come through your doors in a way that causes them to come back and bring others, no amount of design can create a long term fix. If you do have momentum however, the right brand can be a catalyst to new levels of growth.

it’s a pretty good post and worth the read. i’m not sure that our “branding” (oh how i hate this word) says much to the world outside the church other than someone in the organization likes graphic design. since i like graphic design i’m ok with that but i’m not going to waste a lot of tapestry’s resources on it.

May 6, 2010

kavi

the above trailer is for the short film “kavi.” it is a student film that ended up being nominated for a 2010 oscar in the short film category. i saw it at the q conference i went to last week and i immediately ordered a screening kit. i’ve already talked to guy over at emy j’s coffee house concerning tapestry doing a screening of the film and a discussion concerning modern day slavery afterward. i’m not sure when we will do this yet. if you have any suggestions on a date please let me know. anyhow it is a wonderful film that i will gladly loan out.

May 2, 2010

the week in tweets – 2010-05-02

since mentioning him tonight at @sptapestry the whole family has been discussing how much we miss johnny b. #
the mohel circumcised my finger! #
i just got the phone call! my bike has come into the shop! i'll go pick it up in a little while! #
@meganckelly – you would know how wonderful the scenery is if you would come up 🙂 if u could bring johnny b with u we would appreciate it. in reply to meganckelly #
@Jwill193 – you have surgery tomorrow? in reply to Jwill193 #
just picked up my bike from campus cycle. now it is time to go for a ride and prepare for tonight's small group – http://twitpic.com/1iox8q #
@meganckelly – YEAH for @jwilmore. btw why is your profile pic still green? #
Eating at Green Tea with Pam and the advice on my placemat is "Watch out for Dragons!" Sound advice. #
And Q begins! #
Looking around #QIdeas I am constantly reminded how unhip I am. #
i just ran back to the hotel because i forgot my phone so i'm missing a little of #qideas at the moment. i want to say WOW to this morn #
alister mcgrath really is amazing! i loved the lunch that he just spoke at. @Qideas #
i was going to wake up early this morning and run in downtown chicago and along the lake once again. the key word here is "was." #
there's such a thing as the "lifeway pastoral leadership award"? really? please tell me this is a joke. please. pretty please. #
i am now home so Q 2010 is officially over for me. next year in portland! #
@Jwill193 – i would love to stay with you and tom if y'all have have room at that time. of course @pamelaaugust maybe coming too. in reply to Jwill193 #
@mike_shipp – you should plan on going to @Qideas next year. you would love it. no matter what i'll make sure and get you when there. in reply to mike_shipp #