:: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 ::
Busy day today -- working on getting out this week's Good News Bulletin, trying to focus a bit more on the Search Party presentations, and meanwhile, back at the day job, I've got a visit scheduled this afternoon from one of our campus' friendly environmental management system auditors. O frabjous day! So I'll be brief. To the blogs...
"Me" time for mom. I found this article interesting: Mothers stay online longer than the kids. For many mothers, getting online equates to "modern-day me time," according to an AOL spokeswoman.
Somehow, and very soon, I've got to get my hands on Thomas Hohstadt's latest book. Especially now that I know what's in store for us.
Christianity's future. The future of Christianity is solid, even though we see declines in Europe and North America. But look to the south, and you'll see a church that is thriving. We in the "Christianized" West are quickly becoming less and less of a force in global Christian culture. From this article, Fall and rise of Christianity, comes this interesting projection: By the year 2050, six nations will each have over 100 million Christians, Jenkins projects. Only one, the United States, represents the "advanced industrialized world." The other countries are Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). Link via ChristianityToday's weblog.
Would a good Christian listen to the Buzzcocks? I love this list of favourite records of British minister Richard Hall. I can't imagine my pastor listening to the Buzzcocks, though -- unless the Buzzcocks covered a Gaithers tune. :-)
:: Andrew 09:30 + ::
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Almost famous. One of my newsletters was featured in this week's issue of the Internet for Christians Newsletter. The only problem is a broken image link on the review. Thank you, editor Peggie, for the mention.
Spider-Man as Christian superhero? Since the release of the movie Spider-Man last weekend (I haven't seen it yet), some folks at The Ooze, good postmodern preachers all, have been discussing ways to mine the movie for redemptive analogies. A poster who goes by Frankenberry, who likes U2 and Groucho Marx and therefore can't be all bad, has come up with the best post so far:
Spiderman's life IS the life of a Christian.
This is what I never liked about Superman. That guy was freakin' PERFECT! He never did anything wrong. If he did, it wasn't his fault, really. He had every power in the world. WHERE'S THE FUN IN THAT?!?!
Spiderman, though... he's one of us. He's a ball of paradox. At times, he revels in the qualities that distinguish him and make him different, but then he recognizes them for being a curse at times. He can "do" so much more than so many people, yet he always has this nagging feeling that he can't get things right. He's insecure. He constantly gives of himself, despite the existence of those who misunderstand him or, worse, hate him for who he is. He carries with him the guilt of his past mistakes... but instead of letting it get him down, he grows from it. He knows that no matter how hard he tries, things will never be right, but he doesn't give up.
God help us... we are both men of La Mancha.
I just joined the fray by sharing this cartoon with the Oozers. (Link via Alt-Log.)
:: Andrew 08:30 + ::
... :: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 ::
:: Monday, May 06, 2002 ::
Shaving by candlelight. Thunderstorms killed our electrical power early this morning. Fortunately, Dyann has plenty of Yankee Candles to light up the house. It was still difficult to shave by candlelight, with tepid water.
From Holy Weblog comes this story about StandUP, the latest spectacle from Teen Mania Ministries. StandUP is old-time religion, supersized. It's the big-league venue, packed to the rafters, with headliner acts and superslick packaging. It moves at channel-surfing speed, its production sophisticated, its message driven home on – among other things – sweatshirts, visors, CDs, videos, and books. But what might look like x-treme evangelism is at heart a new-millennium packaging of an old-millennium message: The world and its vices may seem like salves for life's wounds, but only a friendship with Jesus saves.
It's been a few years since Teen Mania's Acquire the Fire conferences have been to St. Louis, the nearest and most practical locale for our youth group. But I always like to take the teens to these events whenever possible. I realize that Ron Luce, the president of Tean Mania, uses the power of spectacle to tug on teens' heartstrings and get as many of them as he can to sign up for a short-term mission trip, but I figure everybody needs a bit of spectacle in their lives every now and then.
Speaking of spectacles, my ambitious plans for a knock-their-socks-off presentation at Search Party 2002 may be scaled back. I'll be presenting to something like 20 people in each session. Do I really need a big screen and a sound system for a workshop for 20 people?
:: Andrew 12:09 + ::
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I can't think of a snappy title for this blog entry, so let's just dive right in, shall we? This morning I decided to start a reading of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) with a sort of beginner's mind. I'm trying to read these words as though for the first time -- trying to rid my mind of everything I already know, or think I know, about the gospels, based on previous readings and studies, sermons, songs, church plays, movies, and all other forms of mediation and interpretation. I got the idea after reading this article about the Bible, written by Brian McLaren. So I read Matthew 1 this morning from the Contemporary English Version.
On a somewhat related note, I finished reading McLaren's book A New Kind of Christian over the weekend. (I wanted to have it read before meeting McLaren at SearchParty later this month. I'm rather obsessive about trying to learn something about people I wish to meet before I meet them; a vestige from my days as a reporter, I'm sure.) It was the first book by McLaren I've ever read, and I understand he took a different approach with this book.
I also did some more work with G-Force, learning on the fly how to use it as presentation software. I was putzing with it on my laptop at church Sunday afternoon and showed it to my pastor, who was amazed with it. I suggested we use it for our overheads in the near future -- whenever we get a projector and a computer connected with our sound system. We're in a transition from being a "contemporary" church (as in what was contemporary in the late 70s/early 80s, when the church was just starting) into whatever it is we're moving toward. We got rid of the old overhead projector with the transparencies a couple of years ago, but haven't replaced it with anything, feeling that it was more important to invest in some other projects at the time (the food distribution center, local mission, etc.). But now we're at the point where we can afford a system to integrate with our music -- to bring visualization to sound and music to image.
:: Andrew 10:54 + ::
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Simon Dawes, 
