i'm rubber, you're glue: letting go of the negative
Wed, Jul 21 2010 07:58 AM
| general life, personal, church, eikon, confessions, family
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it's 5th grade. you're on the playground. you see billy mcgee—the class bully—coming your direction. billy doesn't beat people up with his fists. but billy knows how to beat people up with his words. you know it's coming.
"hey you. yeah, you. your mom's so dumb she brought a spoon to the super bowl."
his entourage—little eddie hankins and robby smits—laughs devilishly. "this kid's good," you think, trying to avoid eye contact.
"your mom's so fat that when she wears a malcolm x t-shirt, a helicopter lands on her."
you've gotta do something as the laughter mounts. think fast.
"yeah? well…i'm rubber, you're glue. whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you!"
like kryptonite to superman, big bad billy mcgee and his weasely entourage shrinks away, knowing that he's lost this battle of pre-teen wits.
ah yes, back in 5th grade, the "rubber/glue"—much like "sticks & stones…"—held great power and were deep words of wisdom.
the world was simple.
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praise the lord!: in pursuit of the american dream
Tue, Apr 20 2010 07:57 AM
| personal, church, emergent, jesus, confessions, christian subculture, theology, popular culture, politics
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a couple days, i had a twitter conversation (or as much as you can possibly have on twitter) with a good friend about the concept of amassing wealth and living "comfortably". specifically, the following values (in the context of "personal responsibility") were offered by him: "saving for retirement, living comfortably w/in means, & taking care of the poor." my response was twofold. the first:
sounds good in theory. problem, though, is 2 of those are american values & only 1 is a jesus value.
his response:
so you're going to give away ALL your $ & not pay bills or for food or shelter? Our difference of opinion is bible interpretation.
to which i replied:
poor interpretation is what has led hordes of really well-intentioned people to chase the american dream instead of jesus.
ding! ding! ding! fighters return to your corners! ;)
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letting go: jennifer knapp confirms she's gay to christianity today
Wed, Apr 14 2010 07:58 AM
| news, emergent, confessions, eikon, christian subculture, theology, music you should know, favorites, church, jesus, music, popular culture, current events
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on a fateful day in 1999, fragile, protected-from-the-evils-of-the-world christians learned of the shock and horror they previously thought unimaginable: amy grant, darling of contemporary christian music, got divorced.
gasp!
shockwaves (yes, i too wish i was exaggerating) rippled through baptist churches from sea to shining sea. after cd-burning parties, a healthy dose of potluck dinner gossip and legions of once-diehard fans disowning their christian pop princess, the lingering effects of a fallen angel still remain in some corners of christendom today.
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i do confess: a big eikon announcement
Thu, Feb 4 2010 07:54 AM
| personal, church, little rock, jesus, eikon, confessions, worship
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last june, this thing called eikon kicked off, publicly, with a little cookout with some burgers, some beers and a handful of sorted people. since that time, we've connected with new friends and grown over the course of informational meetings, guided conversations and, over the last few months, a handful of worship gatherings. in just the last 6 or 7 months, we've come a long way in the initial phases of forming this thing we call a church.
what your pastor will (likely) never say publicly or to you privately
Wed, Feb 3 2010 12:46 PM
| general life, personal, church, jesus, eikon, confessions, christian subculture, theology
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life rarely offers those moments where the world literally fades away, blurring at the peripheral edges, and you're left with just you and one other person speaking words directly into your innermost places that no one sees. at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, that very scenario transpired last july in a performance hall in grand rapids, michigan. sitting in a crowd of a couple thousand people, words, thoughts, ideas floated in space and settled somewhere deep within me and unlocked something that would continue to resonate half a year later.
an open letter to those who have been burned by church
Tue, Sep 1 2009 08:56 PM
| rant, personal, church, emergent, eikon, confessions, christian subculture, theology, popular culture
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thanks to a tweet from @emergentvillage, i came across a great blog post from curtis honeycutt (@curtishoneycutt) today speaking to—as the title suggests—those who have been burned by church. it's a beautiful, vulnerable, honest conversation with an ever-growing group of people. so, if you've ever felt put off, not by jesus, but by the church, take a minute to read this. curtis, no doubt, shares
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tired, worn |||amp; haggard: our brother ted
Tue, Feb 3 2009 09:46 PM
| church, emergent, confessions, christian subculture, theology, politics
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before the current 15 minutes of media attention of ted haggard disappears, i might as well jump on the blog bandwagon...no, actually, while the blogosphere (and media, in general) have been abuzz about ted haggard and last week's premiere of alexandra's pelosi's hbo documentary, the trials of ted haggard (which, unfortunately, i haven't seen), i've wanted to spend a little time in some serious reflection
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saying no to therapeutic self-help theism
worship, in its truest form, has little to do with outward & physical things. certainly, I'm a big believer that our physical senses play a crucial role in engaging a time with god, but those things don't create worship. worship is a state of heart & mind & soul.so, it's with that acknowledgement that I currently sit in the commons area at our church, blogging away on the ol' iphone. after
good copy bad copy and the great confession, pt.2
Sat, Jan 10 2009 05:49 PM
| recommendations, reviews, personal, movies, confessions, music
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just in case you didn't read my last post, you probably want to back up and give it a quick once-over. this is part 2, so it will assume that you've read the previous post.in my unfolding discovery of girl talk's feed the animals (along with the jaydiohead album), i came across a 2007 documentary called good copy bad copy. the film takes a look at the very issues that i prefaced in part 1 of this post:
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good copy bad copy and the great confession, pt.1
Sat, Jan 10 2009 12:10 AM
| recommendations, reviews, personal, movies, confessions, music
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(editorial note: i didn't intend for this to be multiple parts, but when my introduction to what i was going to actually blog about became 5 long paragraphs, i thought it might be a good idea to chop this thing up. this first post will set the stage for the second post, which will more adequately fulfill the promise of the post title, good copy bad copy and the great confession.)a couple weeks ago,
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you listen to what??: an unlikely list
Sun, Nov 16 2008 07:18 PM
| recommendations, personal, confessions, music
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as most of you faithful blog readers know, i have music on the brain very often. (obsessive may be the appropriate word.) and, you may have observed that i tend to swim in the waters of folk/indie/acoustic/alt country kind of stuff. and you also may know that while i have these tendencies, i have a pretty diverse assortment of tastes. but, what you may not know is that my variances are truly deep and
confessions of an olympic profiler
Tue, Aug 19 2008 09:50 PM
| sports, confessions, humor
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is it just me, or do you, when you see that one white dude in the blocks before the race, assume that this guy is not only going to come in last, but he's going to somehow get lapped even though it's not a race that has multiple laps...?? then, when you actually see a white person win a race (like him), you're either thinking, "make him pee in a cup immediately," or that he must have sold his soul
