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sabbath retreat – final report (maybe)

we got back from the sabbath weekend and things went very well. for an experiment this thing turned out wonderful. all the reports i have received from the kids who went have ben fantastic. to the point of having the majority of the teens who went ask me if we could start doing “mini-sabbaths” every month or every other month. of course, the purpose of the weekend was not to start another program so i don’t know if i’ll start something regular from this. here are some basic thoughts on the weekend:

  • the time periods of silence were very well received. the last about 45 minutes each time. i do think that if i do this again i will probably stretch this out some more. a couple of the teens made the very good point that they felt like it took them a good fifteen minutes to really get going with the silence. they said that they wished they had more silence each time. i think next time i will probably go for periods of 1 1/2 hours of silence.
  • the parable of the lost sheep was a HUGE hit. it really brought up some deep seated issues for some of the participants within the weekend. i divided the parable into three periods of contemplation 1) in the pasture with the other sheep, 2) being lost, 3) being found. each time we focused on what it would be like to be within the parable as the lost sheep during that time. the danger of reading scripture is to think it is about other people. so we focused on the parable knowing that it was about us. this was not a bible study per se, rather it was a discussion of what would be running through our minds at the various points within the parable. i didn’t try to then connect this to the kids’ lives. they figured out how it connected on their own. it was amazing to hear some of their comments.
  • cooking our own meals. i did not bring or hire someone else to cook the meals for us. instead the kids and adults did it. they were not allow to cook just hamburgers and such. instead the meals were decent meals – homemade chicken noodle soup, french dip sandwiches, etc.
  • spiritual autobiographies. each person discussed where they had been, where they were presently, and where they were going with CHRIST. they were deeply personal and very moving.
  • the free time. everyone loved the fact that we had a ton of free time.

it was a fantastic weekend and i’m so glad that it went well. if you’re interested in doing anything like this i’ll gladly send you all the stuff we did which you can then adapt any manner in which you want.

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my lame attempt at copying

i figured y’all would get a kick out of this. yesterday, i posted about a guy named micon who is taking a picture of every meal he fixes for himself. i was very impressed by the time and effort he had put into each meal. since i am a hugely pathetic human being i of course tried to make my lunch as nice as possible. here’s my sad, pathetic picture.

my lunch - 1 13 2005

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blue like jazz

i’m presently reading “blue like jazz” by donald miller. thus far it IS really good.

reading the book has brought one thing to the forefront of my mind and that thought that has come to the front of my mind is that i have become sick of the word “story“. i love the fact that so many have begun to focus on the importance of conveying truth through stories. i love that we have begun to recognize that JESUS was and is the master story teller and that HE conveyed real truth not through propositions but through the use of metaphor, allegories, and well … stories. i’m not feed up with the concept of stories, rather it is the word itself that i have become feed up with. it seems like presently you see it everywhere within ministry. the word “transparent” was the same awhile back. “story” is simply one of the hot words right now and therefore it just seems like people say it as much as possible.

the good thing is that the truths of telling metaphors, allegories, and “tales” as a way of conveying truth and becoming better story tellers are here to stay. that’s a good thing. i just wish the word “story” would not come out of everyone’s mouth 90% of the time.

that’s my story and i’m sticking to it. 🙂

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about time

i’m a “johnny come lately”. i’m never on the cutting edge of anything. rather, i hear about things that are supposed great, i then usually ignore those great things or think up reasons why they aren’t really very good at all, and then eventually i come around to try whatever it was that everyone was saying was so good before hand. this is my usual mode of operation. sometimes i love those things that i initially ignored.

i’m sadden to admit that it has happened again. this time it occurred with a television shows that i have been hearing was great for two years. the show is “24” and i have been ignoring it for awhile. i heard wonderful comments concerning it. several people i know have brag about. i’ve heard stories about people having marathon “24” weekends in which they watched an entire season in one to three sittings.

yet i ignored the television show even though i knew it sounded like one that i would like. that’s all changed now. tuesday night i saw my first episode of 24 and was blown away by it. it was incredible. so incredible in fact that i went out today and rented the first 8 hours of the first season. i watched the first four hours of the show earlier today while i was working on the material for the “sabbath” retreat that we are doing this weekend. it was great t.v. i can’t wait to watch the next four hours tomorrow while i finalize the last minute details for the retreat. the problem is that i’ll then have to figure out how to watch the remaining 16 hours of video and still have a semi-normal life. actually if anyone has the first series on dvd and can loan me the remaining four discs you would save me about twenty bucks and i would be very much appreciative.

then i have to get the next two seasons of “24” in somehow. that’s allot of video to watch.

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set up for the view – january 12, 2005

below is the set-up for the view for wednesday, january 12, 2005. we setup for “worship in the round”. it’s been awhile since we have done this. we basically do this by setting the band in the middle of a circle of 70 to 100 chairs or so. we set up three “isles” for movement and for purposes of viewing the three screens. we use our one stationary projector and hook up two additional lcd projectors on the floor so that you can view a screen from all angles.

tonight i continued talking about the “kingdom of heaven” by focusing on matthew 13:31-33. this is JESUS parables of the mustard seed and the yeast. we talk about letting GOD invade all areas of our lives rather than just compartmentalizing HIM.

worship in the round #1

worship in the round #2

worship in the round #1

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caring about the little things

in december i learned about the world of flickr, a photoblogging community. it’s fascinating to look around and see everyone’s photos and thereby see different aspects of people’s lives. one of the coolest parts of the flickr community is seeing different themes in some of the member’s lives. one example of this is what i would like to talk about now.

a flickr member named “micon” has decided to take a photo of every meal that he eats. his meals are amazing. not because of him making anything fancy (though some of his meals look incredibly gourmet) rather it is the presentation of his meal that impresses me so much. it would appear from his pictures that micon wants each meal that he fixes for himself to be a thing of beauty. one of his meals is titled “whatever is left in the freezer” which is just fish sticks, french fires, and garbonzo beans (i think). this is definitely nothing fancy yet look at the way he has it set up. it’s amazing.

this impresses me. i love the fact that this guy wants his meals to be a thing of beauty. too often when i fix something i just do it merely for sustenance rather than as an enjoyable moment of my day. when i come home for lunch i’ll fix myself a sandwich, eat it off of a paper towel, and eat some chips straight from the bag. it wouldn’t take much more effort to arrange my food on a plate in an appealing fashion. that little bit of effort would change the whole meal.

we don’t enjoy enough beauty in life because we don’t focus on it.

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the great guy in blue

a while back pamela gave me the complete tick live action series on dvd. “the tick” was this great, odd comic book that was turned into an animated series and had such a strong cult following that it was converted into the live action series. unufortunately, the live action series only lasted one year. that’s the problem with television, it never notices when it has a truly brillant show and therefore drops the great stuff for drivel.

actually “the tick” was a series that based on quirky humor. you either loved the jokes or simply didn’t get them. most people didn’t get them and therefore it passed off of the television schedule. yet the people who loved the series have continued to love it and it has maintained good sales on the dvd market. hurray for cult followings (pass the cool-aide please).

but what about the animated series? i haven’t been able to find the complete thing and that was frustrating. yet now thanks be to abe haley and his brother micah i have now been able to borrow the entire series. micah found a copy of the entire series that someone had recorded off of t.v. they’re not the greatest quality but they are at least visible and audible. i’ll put up with poor quality audio & video as long as the content is truly great. “the tick” is truly great. so for the past three days i have been watching 3 twenty minute segments a day. i love it. the animated series is so completely stupid.

the whole series reminds me of danger mouse – the greatest of all cult television shows.

thanks abe and micah for the loan of the dvds. y’all are the best.

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sabbath retreat schedule

here’s the schedule i’m using for the sabbath retreat we doing this weekend.

    friday

    6:00 p.m. meet at the church and leave for rosemound (we will eat on the way)

    9:00 p.m. arrive @ rosemound

    9:10 p.m. evening gathering

    • worship

    • spiritual autobiography

    • 1st prayer journal assignment

    11:00 p.m. free time

    12:00 midnight lights out

    saturday

    8:00 a.m. breakfast

    8:45 a.m. worship

    9:00 a.m. solitude

    10:00 a.m. morning gathering

    • worship

    • 1st part of the lost sheep

    • 2nd prayer journal assignment

    12:00 noon lunch

    1:00 p.m. recreation – free time

    3:00 p.m. worship

    3:15 p.m. solitude

    4:00 p.m. afternoon gathering

    • worship

    • 2nd part of the lost sheep

    • 3rd prayer journal assignment

    6:00 p.m. supper

    7:00 p.m. group movie

    9:30 p.m. worship

    9:45 p.m. solitude

    10:30 p.m. free time

    12:00 midnight lights out

    sunday

    8:00 a.m. breakfast

    8:45 a.m. worship

    9:00 a.m. solitude

    10:00 a.m. morning gathering

    • worship

    • 3rd part of the lost sheep

    • 4th prayer journal assignment

    12:00 noon lunch

    1:00 p.m. clean up

the previous posts on sabbath were – sabbath post #1 and sabbath post #2.

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not missing this point

i’m presently reading “adventures in “missing the point” by brian mclaren and tony campolo (along with several other books that are in various stages of being read). as always i love tony campolo. he is in a class by himself and while i don’t always agree with what he says i am at least always challenged by it.

i’ve also enjoyed brian mclaren’s words within the book. i have to admit that i typically have an aversion to author’s who become the “thing” at any given time. brian mclaren is the “thing” in some circles right now. he is referred to and quoted allot. that’s enough to usually turn me off and keep me from reading an author’s work. if an author is really good i’ll come back and read their work later. i know this is a sad statement concerning my nature. even with this automatic “popularity” aversion to mclaren’s work i’ve enjoyed the few things i read from him. i’ll have to read more.

of course, campolo is still the main course of the meal of this book as far as i am concerned. the whole thing reminds me of his books “twenty hot potatoes CHRISTians are afraid to touch” and “is JESUS a republican or a democrat?“. i love it when campolo tackles hard issues. of course, that happens almost every time he speaks or writes.

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i love my group & other people making me feel bad

first

    i delivered the message this week for our 9:30 worship service. the 9:30 service is our “contemporary service” which means that the music is different (led by our college minister a very cool guy) and bill (another very cool guy) preaches the same message delivers to the other two services but does it in a “hipper” way (if that’s even a word). truthfully the service is still very much like the other two services just with fewer coats and ties in the audience. it was fun doing the message but it really made me realize that i love working with our youth and the ones who love them. on wednesday at the view we experiment allot. i wouldn’t go so far as to say we are “emergent” because often i’m not entirely sure that i know what the term means. i would say that our kids, adults, and college students are working on loving GOD, trying desperately to love each other, and enjoy being in the midst of a question, mystery or experiment. every wednesday night is another chance to worship GOD together in such away that we affirm the worship of our LORD we’ve have done together through our lives during the rest of the week. i love that group because they jump on board and are willing to work their way through another gathering that is supposed to be based on being e.p.i.c. but often fails.

    please don’t get me wrong – i love our church and i love the 9:30 service. i’m just saying that “big church” is not where i want to be leading. i’ll gladly follow there.

second

    i was reading andrew jones’ blog recently and ran across his post on his blog being dumb. he goes on to describe various ways that his blog has improved over the years but then hits on failures that he sees in his blog presently. i of course, am sitting there thinking “you can do that with a blog?” here he is thinking his blog is dumb and i begin wondering what my blog must be then. if his blog is dumb then what level of stupidity would my blog rate? i hate it when smart or talented people think they are dumb or untalented. it always just makes me feel worse about myself.

    anyways, in an attempt to improve upon my truly dumb blog i will now attempt to do my first ever trackback “ping” on andrew jones’ site. this is a small step for most people but for me it means i step one level up out of the extreme stupidity that is my blog. here goes.

APPENDUM – i just checked the trackback on andrew jones’ blog and it worked. i suddenly feel as though i have stepped up to a slightly less stupid level. 🙂 now if i could only figure out the other stuff he was talking about or at least figure out how to get rid of the line on top of my blog.