Pomomusings

15% Off Advertising on Pomomusings!

Adam — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:40:17 +0000

Since last March, I’ve been offering some unique advertising opportunities on Pomomusings and it’s been great to get to work with some really wonderful sponsors and organizations. Being aware of the current economy, I’d like to offer anyone interested in advertising with Pomomusings a special holiday discount for November & December: If you book your ad during November and December and purchase at least a two month ad, you will receive a 15% discount (that’s $81 off the 2-month price!).

I’d encourage you to share this post with anyone you think might be interested in advertising on this blog. For all of the details, analytics and other helpful information about advertising, check out our Advertise page here.

It’s Really All About God: A Review

Adam — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:01:19 +0000

While I’m sure many of you have already heard about this book, I wanted to add my $0.02 about Samir Selmanovic’s new book, “It’s Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian.” A couple years ago, I ran into Samir at the Everything Must Change event and had a great conversation about the work that he does as a part of Faith House Manhattan. I think the interfaith work and service that they are doing is really amazing and truly an example of the working out of the kingdom of God in the here and now. But that’s not a very popular idea with some. The blog post I wrote about that idea actually caused a job possibility to not work out (which, not that I can look back on the situation, truly was an unexpected gift – I would not have been happy serving at that particular church).

All of that is just to say that I admire and respect Samir for the work he’s doing and was very excited to read his book. Below are just a few thoughts about why you should pick up this book.

One of the things I first appreciated about the book is the way in which Samir owns his story. He has a very unique story – and it has clearly impacted his view of the world and his spiritual journey. I think back to some of my experiences at Whitworth, an evangelical Presbyterian liberal arts college, and I remember being told things like “we can’t trust our experiences.” Or being told that we shouldn’t try to read our experiences into the Bible. Perhaps they have moved away from that a bit – I don’t know – but it’s pretty naïve to believe we can (or even should) come to the Bible or our spirituality pretending we are a clean slate.

Our life experiences, family’s beliefs, relationships with friends, sexuality, experiences with poverty in the world, worldviews – all of these things can and should impact how we live out our spirituality in the world and I think Samir is quite clear about that as well in his book. I want to share with you my two favorite quotes from the book:

“I will try to show that for religion to recapture human imagination, the theology and practice of finding God in the other will have to move from the outskirts of our religious experience to its center. The heart of a religion that will bless the world is going to beat at its edges” (13)

Sarah, my wife, often preaches and writes about our current failure of imagination. I tease her that it’s a phrase and idea that makes it into EVERY sermon she preaches – but if you’re going to have one theme throughout your writing, it’s a good one to have. As is the practice of finding God in the other. I think for many that is easy to do when “the other” shares the same religious tradition, but what does it mean for a Christian to find God in a Muslim? Or a Jew to find God in an Atheist? Or a Hindu to find God in a Christian?

“So herein lies the choice for those of us who are Christians. We can either stay within the Christianity we have mastered with the Jesus we have domesticated, or we can leave Christianity as a destination, embrace Christianity as a way of life, and then journey to reality, where God is present and living in every person, every human community, and all creation” (63).

Again – does that make you uncomfortable to read that God is present and living in every person, community and all of creation? Is that a different picture of God and God’s activity in the world than you are used to? It’s definitely a different picture of God than I had growing up – and one which I find much more comfort in today.

Samir is tapping into an emerging theology for the church today that I think helps bring us one step closer to working on our developing and deepening relationships with others and other religious in our pluralistic world today. There is much more I could say about this book and many more money quotes from the book I could share – but I’ll let you explore it on your own. I’d highly recommend grabbing a copy of “It’s Really All About God” today. It’s also available for the Kindle here.

Three Short Videos

Adam — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:31:01 +0000

I’ve been enjoying playing around with my iPhone’s video capabilities and just snapping some random stuff from time to time and making short videos. They’re not amazing but it is helping me work on my video editing skills (which I really need). It’s been fun and thought I would share three of them with you – you may have missed these because I did them during my Twitter-hiatus. This is the type of stuff I’m now primarily posting over on my Posterous site at www.AdamWC.me. If you want to keep up with that site, you should follow the RSS Feed here.

Credo: Humanity & Sin

Adam — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:27:07 +0000

This post is part of the Credo Blog Series (which has been a little slow coming – but I hope to get back into the groove of writing on these important theological topics). For some basic information about the series, go here. Photo Credit.

I believe that man is made in God’s image and that God created man to live in perfect communion with himself. However, God gave man free will. It was because of this that man chose the knowledge of good and evil over his creator God. Thus, sin entered the world. Because of the sin of the first Adam, all are affected by it. Humans are inherently morally corrupt by nature and can only do good by the grace of God. The sinful nature of man keeps us from wanting or even having the ability to know God. Therefore, God wanted to restore the broken relationship between himself and man. He accomplished this by condescending himself to his created world.

While I entitled this section “Humanity & Sin” – it certainly is mostly about the sinfulness of “man” [sic]. Let’s see what we have:

Man [sic] chose the knowledge of good and evil over his [sic] creator.
Because of the sin of the first Adam, all are affected by it.
Humans are inherently morally corrupt by nature
The sinful nature of man [sic] keeps us from wanting or even having the ability to know God.

Sounds like I covered it all there – wow. In a nutshell: “man [sic] is screwed.” Seems like kind of a bleak picture, if you ask me.

Since the section was entitled “humanity” – you’d think I would have spent at least a few sentences discussing how humanity was created in the imago dei, the image of God, and what that means. People have written whole books about the implication of what it means that we were all created in the image of God, but I tend to focus on the idea that it means we are called to be relational beings. Since before the creation of the world, God existed in perfect communion, love & relationship – humanity being created in the image of God means that we too are created for communion and relationship. We experience that with the others in our lives, and ultimately with God in some way.

I don’t know if I had just recently been reading some Augustine that semester, but the “original sin” element creeped into my Credo in a major way: “inherently morally corrupt.” Wow – now that’s a positive view of humanity. While it’s still evident in our world today to see the evil and brokenness in our world – I don’t want to say that humanity is inherently morally corrupt. I think that we have a deep vulnerability and knowledge that all is not well in the world – but as to our inherent nature? I believe that humanity inherently desires connection and relationship both with others, with the world and with the sacred. Yes we are broken – but I don’t see the benefit for humanity to constantly be focusing on the negative. But I also don’t want to be naïvely hopeful about humanity and fall into the modern sin of the idea of progress.

Perhaps it’s more that I think we ought to focus our discussion of sin not on the individual, per se, but on the structures of sin and systemic sin that is pervasive in our world today. Any good theology of sin will include both the individual and the corporate idea of sin; to focus solely on the individual is to avoid obvious social evils and forces of tyranny and oppression and to focus solely on the social aspect is to lose any type of human culpability and responsibility for the evil that is taking place, often times in social institutions because of individuals. Many times this occurs because of humanity’s desire to stop looking outside of themselves: “Man is tempted to make himself existentially the center of himself and his world” (Tillich, Systematic Theology II). Theologian Paul Tillich does a good job of recognizing the similarities and links between both the individual and the social and more universal aspects of sin: “Sin is a universal fact before it becomes an individual act, or more precisely, sin as an individual act actualizes the universal fact of estrangement.”

I also just recently read Barbara Brown Taylor’s book, “Speaking of Sin.” In her book, she argues that we must use sin language. She thinks that too often both conservatives and liberals have used different language for sin, and that has taken away some of the deep meanings and paradox of the term. Both the Hebrew and Greek words for sin have so many variations – it is such a rich term. And she believes that sin is our only hope.

She writes, “Sin is our only hope, because recognition that something is wrong is the first step toward setting it right again.” She believes that sin, at its very core, is anything that takes us “out of sync” with God. I really resonate with that language about being “out of sync.” There could be individual or corporate actions, big or small things, that could all contribute to our being “out of sync” with God.

Humanity & Sin – 2009

God’s act of creating culminated with the creation of humanity: beings made in the imago dei – the image of God. As we are created in the image of God, we have deep inclinations toward community and relationship. When we are at our very best, we are striving to be in sync with God, others and the created world. However, it’s clear when we look at our world today – things are not always in sync. This comes from humanity’s individual actions, corporate structures of sin and a world that groans for the day when we are able to experience the New Heavens and New Earth. While these imperfections exist in the world, women and men and creation are constantly on a journey toward restoration and sanctification throughout this life.

Chase Prepares to Lose Customers Over Crappy Website

Adam — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:45:35 +0000

So I went to log into my Wamu bank online banking today and realized that the switchover had occurred. I was now going to be a Chase.com Online Banker. After putting in my username/password and clicking a few agreements, I was greeted with a screen that said, “Same Service. Great Benefits. Stronger than ever.”

Beneath that image was a LONG page filled with screenshots and examples of “You USED to do it this way on Wamu, now, this is how you do it on Chase.”

And then I clicked through to their Online Banking. And within minutes, I was ready to switch banks.

Chase.com has an absolutely HORRIBLE online banking website. It’s hard to navigate, the user interface is extremely confusing…it took me 2-3 minutes and way more clicks than necessary to transfer funds between accounts. I noticed myself getting actually angry at the website because it was so frustrating. I decided to see if I was the only one. And found page after page of other frustrated users. Some examples of the tweets are below:

Wamu.com actually had a pretty great interface for viewing bank accounts. In contrast, Chase.com totally stinks. It’s cumbersome & annoying. (@ericabiz)
I wish in acquiring WAMU, Chase hired their web team. Chase.com is atrocious!!!!! #usabilityFAIL (@jwilker)
Wamu Online Banking > Chase Online Banking (@soadman)
wow, thank you Chase, you took WaMu’s perfectly great online banking and f’d it up by switching to your shoddy system… #fail (@CountXero)
Why can’t chase make their website look more like their iphone app? It hurts my eyes, I want my wamu dashboard back! (@parabuzzle)

The frustrating thing is that they actually have an iPhone App that’s fairly decent. Why DIDN’T they hire Wamu’s web design team? It doesn’t take a lot of online experience, design sense or otherwise to figure out that Wamu’s Online Banking system was SO much easier to navigate and use. If you’re going to take over a bank – why not at least use what’s GOOD that they have to offer? Why not realize where they DID get it right?

I don’t even want to think about dealing with switching banks – but for the amount of banking I do online – it’s pretty frustrating to have to deal with such an inferior online banking system. Anyone else switch over from Wamu to Chase and find Chase’s online banking an extremely poor experience?

Pomomusings is now on Facebook!

Adam — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:53:05 +0000

Pomomusings.com is now on Facebook.

Why a Facebook page for Pomomusings? Is it really necessary?

Maybe not – but it is one more way that you can stay connected with other readers of Pomomusings and share information about the site with your friends on Facebook as well. There are already some discussions setup on the FB page and chances for you to interact with the page. The current challenge is to post a 30-second video about one reason you LOVE Pomomusings or one thing you really HATE about Pomomusings. Bring it on – I can take it!

Also – I have a book bundle that I’m prepared to give away to one of the first 100 fans of Pomomusings. So, become a fan and you might be one of the lucky winners!

Guest Blog: What If a Church Had an Expiration Date?

Adam — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:52:11 +0000

Today’s guest post is written by author and pastor Russell Rathbun. I got to meet Russell at Princeton Seminary a few years ago, and really enjoyed hearing him preach. Russell is a founding minister with Debbie Blue of House of Mercy, a pioneering emergent church in St. Paul, Minnesota. He’s the author of a brand new book called nuChristian: Finding Faith in a New Generation. nuChristian responds to recent reports of Christianity’s image problem. In nuChristian, Russell offers practical suggestions for leaders who want to reach out to the new generation with a Christlike community that is transparent, holistic, loving, engaged, just and humble. I asked Russell to write a guest post today for his stop at Pomomusings on his Virtual Book Tour. I hope you enjoy his post, “What if a Church Had an Expiration Date?”

What If a Church Had an Expiration Date?

I have talked to a lot of people who are starting churches and a lot more people who are trying to keep churches from dying. Both missions are very hard to accomplish. So, I had an idea. What if you started a church with an expiration date? Say, five years. That would be just enough time for an energized core group to get together and build a unique community—an incarnation of the Body of Christ that addresses a particular time and place, the context in which they are living. They could welcome friends and newcomers who are interested, intrigued, and drawn in by the body’s particular vision, worship, service, study, and creativity, inviting the visitor to become part of the life of the community. Finally this expanded group of believers would begin to articulate new visions for changing contexts and to develop new core groups around those visions, groups who would then go out and start several new churches with new expiration dates.

This could solve some of the major quandaries that arise in starting and sustaining churches. The greatest help would be giving a particular incarnation of the Body of Christ permission to be done—to say that our mission in this time and place, in this specific context is finished. To say, “We may not have done everything we wanted, but we have been faithful to our vision.” Or to say, “We did everything we hoped to do. Now let’s go do something else.” If this permission to say “It is finished” caught on, then maybe churches that have been around for a long time could close up shop without feeling like they have failed. It would give any small group of folks with no resources but an emerging vision of what God could do in their context, the permission to do something for just awhile—perhaps for only a year or two. And they wouldn’t have to feel bad for not building the next Solomon’s Porch or Jacob’s Well.

The church of Jesus Christ is not closing its doors. Only particular contextual expressions of that church will do so. Is the church in Ephesus still going strong with the same vitality and vision it began with? Contexts, people, visions, and relationships change, but the charge to go into all the world making disciples does not.

The Church with an Expiration Date would guard against our human tendency toward idolatry—to idolize dynamic leaders or our ability to build institutions. It would staunch our pretenses to power and require a continual refocus on how we proclaim the gospel for the transformation of this particular group of people, in this particular cultural context. The Expiring Church could produce two, three, or ten new vital, living, unique incarnations of the Body of Christ—and you would never have to start that building fund.

WIN A FREE COPY Contest Over

You can win a free copy of Russell’s new book nuChristian. The first 3 people to email me the answer to the below Christian AS WELL AS their mailing address will get a free copy. But it MUST be emailed to me here.

Question: What is the name of Russell Rathbun’s alter-ego?

Next Step in my Ordination Process

Adam — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:28:21 +0000

I know many of you have been following my ordination process, which was brought to a halt almost a year ago because I invited one of my best friends, Tony, to be the ordination preacher. There were some people who had an issue with Tony being gay and the problems began. It’s been an interesting year to say the least, and tomorrow, October 7, I meet with the CPM of the Presbytery of San Francisco (along with representatives from Kendall Presbytery) to determine what happens next.

I feel good about the meeting and am looking forward to where God is leading me in all of this. If you are a praying person, I’d appreciate any prayers between 3:30-5:00pm PST. I’m not sure when a decision will be reached, but I will update everyone when things are more clear about the way forward.

Subscribe to AdamWC.me Posterous today

Adam — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 07:01:16 +0000

If you haven’t read it yet, I’d encourage you to check out my post about why I think Posterous is a really important addition to the world of blogging & media sharing. It’s been a lot of fun to play around with, and the ease with which I can post anything from video to audio posts to photo galleries is just really great.

If you haven’t done so yet – I’d really encourage you to subscribe to my Posterous RSS feed today. You can do so here. You can also subscribe via email here. This way you’ll be able to keep updated with all of the lifestreaming that happens on that site.

I am Fahim Qaiser from Pakistan.

Adam — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:30:56 +0000

I’d say I don’t really understand people who work on creating spam, or who try and hack into people’s Facebook accounts or take down Twitter – but…I kind of do. There is a thrill involved with it – a rush. I still remember when I was a sophomore or junior in high school, I used to play around on a local BBS (bulletin board system). I remember one night I was able to get admin rights from one of the other admins, and then I kicked everyone off. Within a minute, someone called my home asking to speak to my parents, and I was busted. But I still remember getting an adrenaline rush from having that power…

So, maybe that’s part of why people love hacking and creating spam. Spam has to be one of the most annoying things with email. I think I have about 1540 Spam messages right now in my Gmail account, but I actually go in and clean those out occasionally. And of course they have really fun subject lines like:

Boost Your Love Power
The most advanced PE pill available today
Congratulations! Your email address has qualified for an amazing drawing!

Anyway – you know what it’s like. Of course, spam comments on blogs and getting sites hacked is a lot of *fun* too. Recently I’ve been getting a lot of spam emails sent through my Contact Form on my website, and some of them…well, I actually enjoy reading some of them. And I’m always just a little bit amazed at how they are getting smarter and smarter…making them tailored to your specific content on your site, etc.

Spam sucks, and it’s annoying, but it’s part of the web and maybe we just need to find ways to enjoy it. I thought I’d share with you some of my favorites:

Informative, but not convincing. Something is missing, and what do not understand. But I will say frankly: – light and benevolent thoughts.

Nicely written, so have you any other information on that, if yes, then please send it to me, I am hungry to read your next post.

I am Fahim Qaiser from Pakistan. I have studied your web site, and I found it the most wonderful site to get right to the True Word of God. For that purpose I as a translator will bring your material into Urdu languages and into Punjabi language as well.

Fully agree with you, about a week ago wrote about the same in his blog!

I am theologian doing my ph.D in theology and I needed help financially to pay my fees. would you assist me any philanthropist who love to help people like in Africa Ghana precisely.

Posterous: The Perfect Solution for Blogging & Sharing Your Media Everywhere

Adam — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:52:34 +0000

Anyone who has been blogging recently could probably tell you that the world of blogging has been going through some shifts in the recent past. Some say that blogging is dead. Others say that people just aren’t as interested anymore. And I can see that in some of my own habits related to blogging. I used to blog a LOT more. For those of us wanting to have a “web presence” that was the best way to do it. But now with Facebook, Twitter and any number of other online social networking sites – there are many more ways to establish a web presence than by having a blog – and many that are probably more effective.

I certainly don’t plan on shutting down Pomomusings. I love to write longer posts, love the chance to reflect theologically about things and rock the boat with certain issues. I also like the recent income that it has provided now that I’ve moved toward working with specific advertisers on the site.

But what do I do when I want to post a few photos of a more personal nature (but that I still want to share with my readers)? Or that YouTube video that is just hilarious and I know others would enjoy. Back in 2003 when I started Pomomusings, I used to post things like that. But my blog doesn’t really serve as the appropriate space for that anymore. Up until this point, I’ve used Facebook & Twitter for micro-blogging these random finds: including photos, videos, links, etc. Which is great – until I want to find some of that information and have to search back through tweets or Status Updates.

Enter Posterous. I’ve seen a few folks using this over the past year – but I haven’t really taken any time to get to know what it’s really about until now. And it’s amazing.

I think Posterous can explain it better than I can, so you should read their FAQ and help section. I also found Mashable’s “HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Posterous” really helpful. But basically, Posterous can serve as the hub for all of your web presences and social networks. And it’s all super easy and so smart.

Want to setup an account? All you have to do is send a photo, video, link, anything really, to post@posterous.com. It will automagically create your account and post your content. Want to have an image gallery? Just email multiple photos to Posterous and they’ll make a cool slideshow gallery for you. Find a YouTube video that’s hilarious? Email the link to Posterous and they’ll do all the work and the embedded video will be on your Posterous site waiting for you.

I’ve only had my Posterous account for a week or so – but it’s great. If I have a photo I want to share, I email it to Posterous and within moments, it’s on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. I took a video last week, emailed it, and then the video showed up on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and my YouTube Channel (I *did* have some issues with the syncing of the audio not matching the video but their support staff got in touch with my very quickly).

I can totally see using this as the archive for all of the photos/video/links and other media that I post through Twitter, Facebook, Flickr. It also saves me time having to post things in multiple locations. The fact that it does it all for me, makes sure that the most amount of people see my stuff as possible and makes it all look good is great!

I have also decided to secure a new domain name for my Posterous site (www.adamwc.me) and will begin to view this more as my “personal blog” where I can share some of the more random stuff that I find, and keep the content at Pomomusings geared more toward longer articles. This makes sense for me and for the hopes that I have for Pomomusings.

It’s not full-on blogging – but it’s definitely more than 140-character micro-blogging. Posterous. Some of you may have heard of Tumblr before – and this is similar. However, I’ll take Mashable’s word for it when they say that Posterous is the better of the two services.

And for you iPhone users out there, Posterous has a really fabulous iPhone App called PicPosterous.

Posterous is an amazing supplement to your current blog and social media needs, but it’s also a really robust service that could work as your primary blog as well. In just the week that I’ve been using Posterous – I’m sold. I think it’s great! I know this sounds like a sponsored post or something (and you can check – these links to Posterous aren’t referral links) but I’m not getting out of this. It’s a free service and one which I think you’ll really love. Check it out here!

An Experiment in Keeping Our Trash

Adam — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 07:01:19 +0000

This morning an experiment began.

Our theme for the month of September is “Creation” and tonight at youth group we talked about our Christian responsibility to care for creation. Often it can seem quite daunting to think about how a single individual can help care for the planet…so tonight we ended middle school and high school youth group with a challenge: keep all your trash this week.

The idea came from Sustainable Dave. You may have heard him on NPR or seen him on the news – but he didn’t throw anything away for one year! He kept it all – and by keeping it all – it really taught him how much waste he was creating and helped him to live a new way (you can see the rules he followed here).

So I’m not sure how many youth will do it (or how man parents will be down with the idea) but that was the challenge for them this week. And it’s also challenge for me as well.

Everything that people collect over this week will be brought to church next Sunday and we’ll display all of our trash in the courtyard at Coffee Fellowship after church. My hope is that this challenge will both create AWARENESS as to how much trash we produce each week – and hopefully will help create some ideas on how to limit the amount of trash we produce. If you want to watch a short Good Morning American clip about Sustainable Dave, you can watch it below.

FlashForward: A Show about Fate and Free Will

Adam — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:35:32 +0000

I watched the series premiere of FlashForward this afternoon – and I’m very hopeful that this is going to be a really great TV series. Here is the premise in a nutshell: for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, the entire world blacked out and gets a glimpse of their future. Obviously – once the 2 minutes and 17 seconds are up, the world is in mass chaos, people are dead, injured and it seems that everyone had a flash forward to the exact same moment in time about 6 months in the future.

Already there are some major issues as some people see themselves in relationships with different people, some don’t have any flash forwards (does that mean they are dead in 6 months) and others are now beginning to try and piece together how this could have happened. And for you Losties out there, there is one scene in the show where you can see a billboard advertising for Oceanic Airlines. Whether that means there is some sort of crossover to Lost, or ABC just did it for fun…who knows.

But more than just being an entertaining and engaging show, FlashForward proves to essentially be a show about fate and free will. One of the age old questions: do we have control over our lives? Can we change fate? And for those from a Judeo-Christian background, how does God fit into all of that? Has God planned out our lives for us? Are we simply puppets? Can we change God’s plans…?

And the creators of FlashForward are well aware that their show is posing those questions – and hopes that viewers will really wrestle with those ideas and questions. They put together a short 15min documentary called “What is the Meaning of Fate” that is really interesting to watch, as the writers, producers and directors interact with that question themselves. You can watch it below:

I hope this show does well – because I would love to see where they’re going with this idea. I love shows with a twist and I think FlashForward could be a great one. Not only that – but I think they’re really addressing some deep questions about fate and free will, and I am looking forward to seeing where they go with it.

Pocket Guides to the Bible, to the Afterlife and to Sainthood

Adam — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:20:21 +0000

I’ve had a chance to flip through a couple books recently, and wanted to share them with you. Jason Boyett is not a professional theologian, but he does live in Amarillo, TX (I’ll have to forgive him for that one…). He’s written a series of “Pocket Guide” books that are pretty clever. I mean, I can’t tell you how many times in my ministry this year, I’ve been asked a random question about the afterlife or saints, and thought to myself, “Dang! If only there was a simple, pocket-sized guide to the afterlife I could flip through to find the answer…”

Enter Jason Boyett and his Pocket Guide series of books.

For example, the Pocket Guide to the Bible has a handy “Cast of Characters” section so you could flip to Ehud, and find out rather quickly that he’s a “left-handed Israelite hero who assassinates Eglon, the super-fat king of Moab who holds the Israelites under his chubby thumb” (43). Or learn that the Nephilim were described as the “unnatural offspring of naughty liaisons between ’sons of God’ (identity unknown) and hot young human females” (70). And for the real noobs out there, you could learn that Noah was “mostly known as the cute bearded guy who wrangles cute hippos and lions and doves while on a cute boat in all the children’s cute Bible stories. Whiteh conveniently leave out the part about the entire rest of the world drowning to death” (70). The Pocked Guide to the Bible ends with a list of “biblical flotsam and jetsam” which includes:

Five Health Conditions that Sound Absolutely Awful, as Described in the King James
The Four Best Moments for Donkeys
Nine Miscellaneous Things You Must Not Do, According to the Law of Moses
Seven Biblical Suicides
One Statement by Paul That, When Taken Out of Context, Makes Him Sound Relatively Hip
Four Biblical Excuses That No Longer Work Very Well
and many more

And who doesn’t want a Pocket Guide to the Afterlife? Now when kids come in with vexing questions about “Where am I going to go after I die?” I can just say, “Here – flip through this book – and let me know what you think.” It covers information about heaven, hell and other ultimate destinations – including some I had never heard of before, for example:

Chinvat Bridge: This is the place of final judgment in Zoroastrianism. I guess if you’re good, a hot woman is there waiting for you. And if you’re not…you got a shriveled old hag. Huh.
Duat: This is the ancient Egyptian underworld…it’s a parallel dimension, accessible only by the soul. Sounds interesting…
Naraka: Yah – you don’t want to end up here…this is the Hindu underworld…it’s at the bottom of the universe.

My favorite part was probably some of the sections in the “Afterlists” in which he shares with us Eight Surprises About Hell, as described by Bill Wiese in 23 Minutes in Hell (I always loved those books…wow).

The last one I had to look through was the Pocket Guide to Sainthood. It is described as a “field manual for the super-virtous life.” If you’re new to the world of saints, this book should come in very handy. It starts off with a helpful glossary of terms, including beatification, canonization, chastity and the fourteen holy helpers. Next it runs through a long, long list of Saints we should all know. There are some pretty famous ones listed like St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Nicholas. But also lists lesser-known saints like St. Martin de Porres and St. Clare of Assisi.

Next we get a chapter entitled “There’s a Saint for That” which is really handy if you are trying to find someone a gift for a certain occasion or need to know what saint to pray to. For example, St. Benedict Joseph of Labré is the saint for rejects. St. Frances of Paola is the saints for naval officers and of course, St. Isidore is the saint for the Internet because he wrote a huge twenty-volume compendium of “universal knowledge.”

So, if you know someone who is just starting their first year of seminary – these would be very good additions sitting next to Calvin’s Institutes or Barth’s Dogmatics (probably much more fun and worthwhile reading). Of if you know someone who enjoys some good Christian/biblical humor, these would also be good books to pick up for them. And if you want to keep up with Jason, you can read his blog, follow him on Twitter or be his friend on Facebook.

Group Discernment: Watch the Spirit Show Up!

Adam — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:52:36 +0000

This past week, I had the privilege of working together with the Youth Council to make an important decision for our youth ministry program. I had recommended changing something that I soon found out was probably one of the church’s biggest “sacred cows.” I felt fairly strongly about my recommendation, had good theological reasons behind it, and was hoping that the change could come about.

There were some who were supportive – others who did not want to see the change happen. What I found were people who had very strong personal opinions about this issue. I told them that it’s great they were so passionate about it; better to have passionate people than folks who couldn’t care less what you’re doing.

So we met as a Youth Council to make the decision and I was able to lead the group through a Group Discernment process, something which I was given by my Spiritual Director. I was a bit ambivalent about the process, having never led something like this before, but the end result was amazing. What happened in the room and between everyone present could only be explained by the Spirit’s guidance and direction.

Now, I get goosebumps VERY easily (you can ask me wife) and very often. For example, during every single episode of Friday Night Lights and whenever I hear Glee’s version of Don’t Stop Believin’. It’s odd (and slightly embarrassing), but I’m okay with that. However, as I shared with the group what my sense of our direction was at the end of the meeting, and as everyone was able to get behind the decision and vision (and not just get behind it – but really able to own it), I totally got goosebumps.

I think that this Group Discernment model really revolutionized the way we discussed this significant issue. If we had tried to go another route or have a 51% majority vote, there is no way we would have had the kind of unity we experienced.

If you’d like to download a document that can guide you through the Group Discernment process we used, click here. This section below is what we did yesterday, as we had already held our first meeting in which I shared my recommendation for the group, and asked that they spend some time thinking and praying about it until our next meeting. Here is what we did this past week:

Opening Prayer/Song/Silence: Choose a call story from Scripture followed by quiet reflection and sharing of what was stirred as one listened to the Word. The opening prayer is a way of rooting the process in God’s word. Take your time!
Clarification of the Purpose and Process of the Meeting: The purpose is to gather together and make the decision that was presented at your first meeting. The process is one of prayerful discernment which will unfold through several steps.
Testing for Openness and Freedom: Check in with the group about the first focus of personal prayer: openness to God’s call and recognition of bias or attachments. Some may say they are open. Others may share obstacles to inner freedom. “I’m having trouble letting go of my agenda.” All statements should be honored as honest statements of concerned and struggling people. After each person has spoken, the group can proceed. Freedom may grow as the process unfolds.
Exploring the “Cons”: Allow time for each person to present the fruits of their prayer and reflection on the cons, concerning whatever it is your decision is about. The cons are recorded. Allow time to discuss their relative weight and feelings the group may have about them.
Exploring the “Pros”: When the group reconvenes each person presents the fruits of their reflection on the pros, concerning whatever it is your decision is about. These are recorded and discussion takes place regarding the weight of the pros and the feelings associated with them.
Individual discernment of God’s call: Break for quiet, prayerful reflection on both the pros and cons and what each person senses as God’s call.
Sharing individual discernments with the group: Each person shares his or her perception of God’s call for the community. A clear consensus may emerge at this time. This is ordinarily confirmed by a sense of peace, rightness, joy, freedom, enthusiasm, etc. If this is so, the session ends with prayers of thanks.
If there is conflict or division or uneasiness about the decision, there are several possible options: try to identify the underlying obstacle; take time for further prayer and reflection; meet again at a later time; appoint one person to decide for the group; decide by a vote with a predetermined majority rule. (simple, 2/3, ¾)
Rest in the decision for a day or two and see if it continues to bring peace and consolation and a sense of being “of God.”

I encourage you that if your group is needing to make a big decision in the near future, you should try out this Group Discernment Model. It worked really well for our group, and I had never even had any experience leading such a discernment process before. Hope this comes in handy for someone.

An Open Letter to Church Marketing Sucks Defending Rick Warren

Adam — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:14:01 +0000

Dear Church Marketing Sucks,

I saw your recent “An Open Letter to Rick Warren about Spec Work” concerning his contest to design a cover for his new book. I get where you’re coming from – I’m a freelance web & graphic designer myself, so I understand the time that goes into designs and working with a client.

But…come on. I think the whole no-spec deal makes sense for corporations, businesses, etc., but when people are just having fun contests that NO ONE IS UNDER ANY OBLIGATION TO COMPETE IN, turning it into such a big deal is ridiculous. John Saddington’s fun contest to design him a business card was also hijacked by the no-spec crew who poo-pooed the idea until he eventually shut it down.

Again – I get the fact that if a professional designer sees this and spends a whole day coming up with a killer design, and it’s not chosen, they’re out hundreds of dollars and precious time. But to host a contest to spark creativity and open it up to anyone – with the possibility of getting their name out for a sweet business card for Human3rror or a book cover for one of the most well-known evangelical pastors in the world, what is wrong with that?

You ended your Open Letter by citing the fact that “spec requires the designer to invest time and resources with no guarantee of payment.” I know – I get that. But you know…? It’s absolutely and totally optional and up to the designer whether or not they enter into such a contest or competition.

The no-spec conversation is an incredibly hot debate – but I think people just need to get over it. If designers and freelancers and amateur folk want to enter into a design contest like this – and if they find it a fun creative outlet for themselves (regardless of the end result) – why do we need to try and stop that from happening?

Thanks for your time Church Marketing Sucks guys.

Photo Contest: Caption Needed

Adam — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:00:38 +0000

The contest is over: congrats to Drew Ludwig for winning the Photo Caption contest. What a creative re-writing of a hymn – check it out below!

The above sculpture is by Kris Kukski. Please submit your caption for this photo. I will select a winner at 1pm PST and they will receive a copy of Pocket Guide to Sainthood.

Credo: Creation

Adam — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 07:01:02 +0000

This post is part of the Credo Blog Series. For some basic information about the series, go here. Photo Credit.

I believe that God created everything that exists. We cannot say that this was done in six literal days, but it is clear that God accomplished the task of creation in his perfect timing and according to his holy will. God created the heavens and the earth and he has sustained and will continue to sustain all of his creation until the day when he has set forth as the end. Creation itself is the first grace we see coming from the Father. God did not need to create the universe; nothing necessitated God’s creation. But according to his mercy and grace, he created the world, as we know it. The pinnacle of God’s creative work was the creation of man. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them…God saw all that he made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:27,31).

I’m not entirely sure about the reasoning for the order of my 2000 Credo, but the next section was entitled “Creation.” The first thing that stands out to me in the above ideas concerning God are my overwhelming use of masculine language for God. That just seems so bad when I read it now. Also, while I appreciate my openness to the fact that creation may not have been done in six literal days, I’d want to make a stronger statement about that now. Certainly it is clear that what happened in the cosmos was not a six-day creation – but more importantly, it doesn’t matter whether it was or not. While some may take issue with the classic liberal stance, “I take the Bible seriously – not literally,” I think that’s a solid way to approach scripture. There needn’t be such a strong desire to prove scripture with facts or archaeological evidence, etc. There is so much more to the importance of scripture in our lives today than making sure that people view it as “literal.”

Aside from my continual use of masculine words (i.e. “the creation of man”), the last thing that troubles me in this section is my lack of saying anything about what humanity’s response to creation is. What is our call as to how we are to interact with all of God’s creations (animals, plants, environment, etc.). The “traditional” idea is that we are “stewards” of God’s creation; and I was quite comfortable with that idea until I heard Barbara Brown Taylor preach at Columbia Theological Seminary (you can read about some of her thoughts in depth here). Essentially, Taylor said that “We will not fight to save what we do not love.” So this idea that we should be “stewards” of God’s creation makes it sound too much like it’s something we have to do – it’s a duty, and not something that feel called to – not something that is borne out of love.

Taylor works from the idea of being stewards, to priest, neighbor, kin and finally…lovers. We are made in the image of the divine lover and so we are called to strive to love what God loves – what God has created and continues to create – God’s creation. I don’t see anything at all like that in my former statement.

Credo 2009: Creation

In the beginning, before the dawn of time, God began to create. Out of love, God created the cosmos, our world, all living things and humanity. God declared all of God’s creation to be good and thus humans were given the opportunity and command to be lovers of all of God’s creation. As children of God, it is our responsibility to love, care for and contribute to creation. Out of all the amazing creations of God, humanity was blessed with being created in the image of God, and thus has the potential and ability to be creative and relational.

Where were you on 9/11?

Adam — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:25:15 +0000

I’ve seen a few of these posts around today – I think it’s an important part of remembering. Not in the Darryl Worley way though, please no….

I was a senior at Whitworth University. I just woke up and turned on my computer. I always used to check the news first thing in the morning. When I went to CNN.com that morning, the website looked way different than normal. And there was something on the website about terrorists and a plane crashing into the Twin Towers. My first reaction was that their website had been hacked.

And then I turned on the radio – and couldn’t believe what I was hearing…I ran over to the HUB (the Student Union Building) and there was a cafe area with a bunch of TVs. Everyone was there watching the news. I think most professors canceled classes and it seems like everyone was just there…watching…unbelieving…

I remember how angry I felt – watching the planes, I just remember getting angry and thinking things like “We need to go GET those damn terrorists.” I had to check myself there (pacifist that I was/am). But it does help me remember how easy it was for Bush to do whatever he wanted after that…we were an angry, angry country.

That night we held a Prayer Vigil at Whitworth…

Where were you on 9/11?

No related posts.

Why You Should Convert your Facebook Groups to Pages

Adam — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:45:41 +0000

Over the past few weeks, it’s safe to say that I’ve become slightly obsessed with Facebook Pages. I love them – and in the course of two weeks, I have made and worked on 6 pages. Most of the pages that I made were formerly Facebook Groups, and so it’s been a bit of a slow process of getting everyone to move over to the page, but it’s been well worth it.

The first page I made was for Presbymergent. I wasn’t sure if people would all come on over to the new Page, but within a week – we had everyone over on the Page. Before the group had about 960 members – but we are sitting pretty with about 1,214 Fans of Presbymergent right now. One of the first things we noticed almost immediately after creating the page was the level of interaction shot WAY up on the page. People were “liking” and commenting on almost all of our Status Updates and people were engaging with one another. That rarely happened in the Facebook Group, and so that was the most encouraging thing as we began.

After seeing the success of moving from a Group to a Page, I’ve been working on converting other Groups that I use for our church to pages. I’ll admit that I’ve been quite obsessive with gaining enough Fans to grab a custom username (so much so that I asked one of my youth to become a Fan of the Young Adults group so that we could hit the magic number of 25 fans in order to get the username). I’m pretty happy with the URLs that I’ve been able to secure:

facebook.com/Presbymergent
facebook.com/CovNetPres
facebook.com/AsburyUMC (there are a LOT of Asbury United Methodist Churches…but we got Asbury UMC first on Facebook!)
facebook.com/AsburyYouth
facebook.com/AsburyYoungAdults
facebook.com/Tweetup (yes, that’s right. We got Tweetup for the Tri-Valley Tweetup page – that was a major score!)
And lastly, I’m working on getting 25 fans so I can secure facebook.com/TheologyPub next

Some wonder why you’d want a custom username for your page. Well – there are a couple reasons:

When I advertise for our Theology Pub, I want to be able to put www.facebook.com/TheologyPub on a poster, instead of http://www.facebook.com/pages/Livermore-CA/Theology-Pub/173984462976
Google likes it better
It’s easier for people to remember so they can tell their friends
It’s just cool

So, if you’re wondering why you should convert your group (whether it’s a very active group or not), here is why you should:

Greater interaction from fans
Easier way of getting information to them (anything you post as a status update, video, link, etc.) will show up in their Newsfeed (don’t abuse this though)
You can target Updates to Fans (based on location/gender/age) when you send out updates
Ability to have a custom username
Ability to connect your Facebook Page to Twitter (anything you post on the Facebook Page will get posted on Twitter as well)
Facebook is putting energy into Pages now – not groups. Better to get on board early with Pages!

Now – the question is: Why are you still reading this post? Hurry up and convert those old, boring Facebook Groups to Facebook Fan Pages! Start creating here!