Friday, October 15, 2004
Honestly I have given up on having my own ideas
It's true. I realized the other day I spend more time reading other folks thoughts and trying to synthesize them into my own perspective than I do coming up with my own. Maybe that isn't so bad. Call it meta-thought. The process of trying to take an overview of the obscene quantity of blog-thoughts posted out there and spin them into a coherent whole is nearly too huge to consider. But I keep coming back to this little blog and posting gems that stand out to me. Cyberpunk authors call those little gems that seem to reveal a significant thought "nodes" and since I like geekspeak I think that's what Ima gonna call 'em. So I have a node for you today from Next-Wave. com. I won't post the whole darn thing, just follow the link to read the rest. It seemed to speak to me in a way about where the church is going.
"(Editor's Note: The following article was written on 1 October 2043 by Eutychus Bailey, author and former North American pastor. Because of amazingly quick internet access and the exponential growth of micro-processing speeds, we are now able to publish this column forty years before it was actually written. This gives us the chance to get an unknowingly futurist perspective on where things are heading from this pragmatist writer observing his own times.)
Today was the last day of a conference I went to for northern mid-west area called NextChurch Conference It was a great time.I learned a ton in my old age at this thing and I want to give you a personal first-hand report of the conference.Here are my top 10 observations about it: "
Click here for the rest 
Posted by 1fuzzylogic at 9:57 AM
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Thursday, October 14, 2004
This is a test
All of life fits somewhere in this category. This is just a test.
Posted by 1fuzzylogic at 2:35 PM
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Wednesday, October 13, 2004
What does the "BS" in CBS stand for.... really?
Taken from The Coffeehouse at the end of days.
"What am I missing?
If CBS (a broadcast organization) wants to broadcast a show on Bush in the National Guard, they are entitled to do so.
If another network wants to broadcast a show on Kerry's military service, they are compromising their license?
The best my little brain can grasp is that the CBS show is considered 'objective journalism' about a 'real issue' while a show about Kerry's military service is judged, a priori, sight unseen, to be 'biased' and a 'political advertisement'.
Meditating on fair-mindedness ...."
I can't wait for November 3rd. What a long strange trip it has been children.
Posted by 1fuzzylogic at 11:25 AM
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The iMonk nails my thougths on this one
The internetMonk has a great article laying it on the line about the nature of human brokenness. I love his passion and honesty, read what he has to write, but only do it if you are willing to be honest with yourself:
"The voice on the other end of the phone told a story that has become so familiar to me, I could have almost finished it from the third sentence. A respected and admired Christian leader, carrying the secret burden of depression, had finally broken under the crushing load of holding it all together. As prayer networks in our area begin to make calls and send e-mails, the same questions are asked again and again. "How could this happen? How could someone who spoke so confidently of God, someone whose life gave such evidence of Jesus' presence, come to the point of a complete breakdown? How can someone who has the answers for everyone one moment, have no answers for themselves the next?" See the full article here.
Posted by 1fuzzylogic at 10:03 AM
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An article by Brian Orme that caught my eye.
Is there anything more sacred about a church building than there is about the tavern down the street? I don't think so; hear me out. I think sacred space is something moving in conjunction with our hearts and our bodies. I believe that someone who has Christ living in them is more sacred than the elegant church cathedrals in Aberdeen, more holy than the holy land, more sanctified than the latent church structures in a hundred cities. What makes something sacred: the very presence of God. Just like Moses, who was asked to take his sandals off because he was stepping into the presence of the Holy God. The beauty of God's plan is that he now dwells within the hearts of people.
There is a notion that is prevalent today that tells us that church buildings are holy ground. Since this is true for so many - we are asked to change the way we dress, and the way we conduct ourselves while we are within the church walls. Many scholars would say that this view comes from the institution of Christendom by Constantine. When Constantine made Christianity the official religion the church developed into an institution; the time of persecution was over and the church enjoyed a time of importance in society and here we are hundreds of years later with holy buildings and professional pastors.
We even allocate our church meetings to the more reverenced rooms. I have a friend that has been a pastor for many years that told me a story from his past. He was asked to conduct the ceremony for a young couple in the church, but the girl had become pregnant before the wedding day. In view of the circumstances my friend told them that he would do the ceremony but he would not conduct it in the sanctuary, it would have to be done in another room. My friend was upset to think that he ever had this perspective. Why would we ever place a building before the repentant person, as if the building would cry out in protest?
Why do people even want to get married in church buildings anyway? For many it’s because they see the church building as a place that will provide a sacred space for their ceremony. There are couples that come from our local community that want to have their wedding in our sanctuary even though they have no connection with our church; tradition tells them that the church will make their wedding holy. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with having a wedding in a church, for many it symbolically represents what they hold dear, but when we look to the actual building to find the sacred we are missing the point. I love the fact that I don't have to rely on a building to immerse myself in something sacred. The sacred space is within me where God dwells, where my spirit lives, where my body breathes.
There is a church in L.A. that meets in a nightclub. During the week everything that goes on in the actual building is worldly, the pastor tells stories about cleaning up vomit before the morning service, there is nothing sacred about that; but on the weekends the people of God invade that space and it becomes sacred. It isn't sacred because of the building but because God’s people come together in that building. I believe that my living room becomes sacred when others from our church community come together in it.
Still, today there are so many cathedrals and opulent places of worship that we conclude are holy, sacred space, as if God still dwelt in a building and not in hearts. The wildness of God never wanted a building; that was man's idea. God's plan was to find the sacred space within the hearts of men and women. The truly sacred can only be something that God designs, something in his image, something beautiful.
I think we all should get an unsettled feeling when we point to buildings as sacred and not to our own lives. God's plan, his wonderful mystery, is revealed in his life within us, those who call him Lord. No longer do we look to the external for the sacred, we look no further than our own hearts. The command to be holy, to be set apart, was never asked of a building, it is only asked of those who would follow Jesus Christ. We are his sacred space.
(Brian Orme is a pastor and writer in Ohio with his wife, Jenna, and three boys. You can contact him at www.brianorme.com)
Posted by 1fuzzylogic at 7:23 AM
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Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Cat got his tongue, no wait, he is the cat, and the ice has HIS tongue
Posted by 1fuzzylogic at 10:14 PM
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And today, my head got to explode too!
Ok, here is the thing, I have to start investing in duct tape or my skull is going to blow into 100000000000 pieces. Worse yet, I am not even talking about the VP debate.
This afternoon I decided that I aught to check on some leads for locations that I might just want to do a one year interimship in. I know I have to leave here in March, and I know that NC may want me to come and do a mission start in 2006, or at least they did before they did their re-staffing. So..... I need to start finding a way to fill up the next year.
I called Florida/Bahamas Synod to ask about possible interimships and talked to a staffing person who asked me a VERY thorough set of interview questions. Then she said that she would have to run it all past a staff meeting before she could get in contact with me. Soooooo I am thinking, "She'll call me back in a month." But no, she calls me back in an hour and a half, they've had their staff meeting. They want me to come to FL post haste to chat with the Bishop. So, in less than two weeks I will be in Tampa talking to the Bish. And hold on to your skulls folks.... they want me to come and talk about: mission starts, mission re-starts, traditional congregations, etc. Apparently they are interested in looking at me across the board. Now, how did that happen?
Posted by 1fuzzylogic at 6:50 PM
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Saturday, October 02, 2004
Rainy days and Sundays (lately) always bring me down...
(An actual pic from close to home)
That is the song lyric at least, though lately it has been a fine descriptor of me. I have always had a wee touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder, though I usually don't talk about it. I hate to sound like I am whining, "Oh woe is me, it's cloudy, the world is coming to an end". But I have to level with you, lately it has been coming at me full strength. I don't know why, but I assume it is because I am particularly vulnerable right now with everything up in the air like it is. The Devil loves to kick us when we are down. But what really burns my butt is that Sundays are a downer for me, and my family, anymore. By focusing on everything but the church's mission (ie finances, worship time, music style, etc, etc, etc...) they have stolen all the joy out of worship for us. How sad is that. My four year old complains about the organ music and lousy 17th century hymns. And why shouldn't she, I feel the same way. Sigh, I know we will all weather this fine, but it is killing me to feel so dang helpless and ineffective.
Posted by 1fuzzylogic at 1:14 PM
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Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Dan Rather pulls lowest ratings in CBS history
Hmmm... well this seems to prove what I have always thought, the free market can police itself when it's consumers are presented with sufficient information to make an informed decision.
Posted by 1fuzzylogic at 6:41 AM
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Tuesday, September 28, 2004
My Week-at-a-Glance
Posted by 1fuzzylogic at 10:37 AM
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Formerly the site: "Confessions of a small furry cleric."
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| I am a Gen Xer trying to restart an old Boomer church in Huntington WV. I am married to my best friend, and I have 2 trully beautiful and brilliant daughters, I play a 12 string, hand made, seagull guitar, and I have no idea what I am doing half the time, but it seems to work out. |
Vita Sheet:
Name: Rev. Rus Yoak
Age: 35
Wife: Kristie
Kids: Katie and Hannah
Dogs: Jake and Molly(RETIRED)
Hobbys: Guitar and Sport Kites
Birth: 01/31/69 send presents;-P
Favortie Book of the Moment:
Fastfood Nation
(You don't really want to know what you are eating) |
| .:Random Thoughts:. |
| When did the main thrust of the American Women's movement stop being all about redifining womanhood and become about redefining manhood? |
| Is there actually anyone on the planet who actually thinks reality tv is real? |
| The top two uses for the internet are porn and religion, scarily enough I just heard about a site that combines both. The world is gettin' scary boys and girls. |
| 58% of Christians polled believe that "Hezechiah" is a book of the Bible. |
| The mainline churches are not shrinking, they are refining. |
| I predict that the TV show Joey will jump the shark merely by airing. |
| Whis is it most folks insist on making 90% of life an either or decision, when, as far as I can tell, 90% is a both and. |
| So someone tell me, is or is not, this election about Viet Nam, cause as far as I can tell it is, or maybe it isn't, it just depends on the day. |
| Apparently most folks are shocked by the notion that history cannot be re-written to make it more PC |
| Meme of the Moment: "If George Bush is elected he will bring back the draft" = an example of a dangerous thought virus, since it has no backing in reality. In reality it is the Democrats who have pushed for a draft, and the Republicans who have voted it down. Truth is the only innoculation. |
Books you must read. 
Music you gotta listen to.
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