an interview with the devil
July 5, 2008
I was skeptical but this is pretty darn funny:
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today’s tweets
July 4, 2008
- headed to the depot and to get some kid-friendly fireworks. love it! #
- @mattekelly you got it already? #
- concrete tiles down for grill. oh, but wait. i broke one. doh! headed back to the depot after lunch. gonna pick up a grill while i’m at it. #
- wow. what a beautifual fourth so far. 63 degrees now. high of 80. great day to work on yard, play with fam outside, blow up things… #
- tonight, date night. watching one of the better shyamalan movies imho: lady in the water. his best? “the village.” top 5 all-time. yep… #
- tomorrow, pruning and planting in the garden. also, completing the grilling station with concrete tiles…oh, and snap pops, sparklers, etc. #
- just got back from home depot. bought some new additions for garden: spinach, yellow squash, cilantro, basil, oregano… #
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today’s tweets
July 3, 2008
- @toddrho firefox. totally. #
- this is crazy. my wife want’s to try the salad for supper. i’m gonna join her. yes, it was that good. the same salad twice in a day. … #
- btw, i think i had the best salad at a franchise ever today @ the ‘bees: the grilled shrimp ‘n spinach salad. wow… #
- had a great time @ the ‘bees with nathan smith. good man & convo. talked alot about our deconstruciton and hopeful reconstruction of church #
- headed to lunch with good buddy nathan smith. check out his blog: http://home.2riverschurch.com/nathansmith #
- need to go through my applications and prune. too much junk. also need to delve deeper into .mac. backup particularly… #
- @markallister love that stuff. i’m a nerd when it comes to this stuff too… #
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dusting off: fireworks in a ghost town
July 3, 2008
One of my favorite pieces to appear on relevintage. From last year’s Fourth of July:
Tonight, my family and I - my wife and our 3 children who are all under 5 - went down the road to an interesting spot to view some 4th of July fireworks. A spot that has an intriguing history.
Back in the late 90’s, St. Louis’ Lambert Airport was promised a lucrative contract with a major airline. And with this deal, Lambert would need to expand - extra runways and concourses, etc. So they bought out some land southwest of their facility which in turn meant that neighborhoods, churches, businesses, etc. in that area would need to be demolished and folks would have to relocate.
Well, the contract didn’t meet it desired expectations. Lambert did a partial expansion [although in February of this year, the city announced plans to continue the expansion]. And acres and acres of land now sit empty as thousands of people had to leave.
The Riverfront Times stated in 2002 that over 1925 homes were demolished and in January of this year, the USA Today reported that ,” … the runway displaced 6,000 residents of suburban Bridgeton from their homes. And John Krekeler, one of 16 Lambert airport commissioners, estimates that only 5% of flights at Lambert use the new runway.”
So today, only a few empty houses and a church remain. A veritable ‘ghost town’ in the middle of a major metropolitan city. But in the very back of this ‘ghost town’ sits a park that is a part of the Bridgeton park system. The park still has a certain level of maintenance. And even though there is virtually nothing around it, I think it was made for a night like tonight.
I saw - no joke - probably 20-25 major fireworks displays west down the I-40 corridor - St. Charles, St. Peters, O’Fallon, Lake St. Louis, Wentzville, etc. - north up the I-270 corridor - Bridgeton, Florrisant, Ferguson, etc. - and northwest into Elsberry, Louisiana, etc. Our kids were mesmerized. And so were their parents.
And there were other families there. Ones that I’m sure remember when this community was a fledgling neighborhood. Now all that’s left are empty lots and the occasional home whose windows are broken and shrubs are overgrown.
As we drove out of the ‘ghost town,’ I couldn’t help but think of all the people who were uprooted from these neighborhoods for nothing. They are now scattered all over St. Louis and St. Charles counties. The band director at my church and his family used to live in one of the neighborhoods. They now live in St. Charles.
But I was also reminded as my family and I left the park that home isn’t a structure. Home truly is where the heart resides. And as I looked at my exhausted kids in the rear view mirror and my pregnant wife to the right of me, I realized no one can take your home from you.
Even if they take your house from you.
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today’s tweets
July 2, 2008
- mayer’s cover of petty’s “free fallin’” is ridonkulous… #
- digging: john mayer’s “where is the light - live in l.a.” #
- downloading john mayer’s new live album. can’t wait to listen to it with some headphones. mayer: the greatest gen-x singer-songwriter… #
- @theblogstar albertine is amazing! first song “shadowfeet” is ridonkulous… #
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noisetrade
July 2, 2008
From the mind of Derek Webb:
It was through the support and success you gave the Mockingbird experiment that inspired Derek, with the help of a few friends, to start NoiseTrade. Now any artist can freely distribute their music online, via NoiseTrade’s remarkable and embeddable widget, offering fans the choice to tell 3 friends or to pay any amount in exchange for an immediate download.
Derek concludes, “If artists and fans realized how they could help each other and started making direct connections, without a middleman, the whole industry would change overnight. It would start a revolution.”
Rather than over-charging for music, we want to let you choose your price or will give you the record for free in exchange for a little help. NoiseTrade believes it’s time to stop applying the old rules to a new world. If we can work together, an environment is created for the long-term benefit of both fans and artists.
Posted in music, relationships, web, web 2.0 1 Comment »
the 7
July 2, 2008
1. Great thoughts from Ed Stetzer on how multi-ethnic our churches really are. In short, there not but I’m encouraged to read of those who are trying to get the conversation rolling…
2. Brian of Semper Reformanda Records continues to pump out great posts. These [here and here] center on the danger of inauthentic ‘marketing’ to our congregants. And the jumping off point is Jack in the Box tacos. Yes, you heard me right…
3. A.J. Vanderhorst has been doing a great series on “Planting With Small Groups,” which refreshingly sounds very similar to the missional communities conversation happening in church planting circles today. His most recent entry, “Connect the Dots,” unpacks the subtlety of how to build an organic “church of small groups” rather than a “church with small groups.”
4. Dan Kimball’s ruminations on preaching. He’s pro-preaching, but with a few caveats…
5. Couldn’t agree more. From Jordan @ Northwood Church: Why I Hate Patriotic Songs (in Worship)
6. I thought Tony Morgan hit this out of the park. He talks about do’s and don’ts regarding ministry growth. i.e., #1: You don’t need a logo, you need life change. Love it…
7. And finally, Bob Robert’s encouragement to young pastors: Keep Movin’ Forward…
Posted in Bible, Bible study, Christianity, authenticity, church, church planting, culture, emerging culture, hermeneutics, incarnational, leadership, ministry, missional church, multi-ethnic, preaching, sermons, theology, worship 2 Comments »
third coast university tour to close out abandoned: worship as life seminar 2008
July 2, 2008
It is with great excitement that I announce that the Third Coast University Tour - featuring The Afters, Matt Maher, and Matthew Paul Turner - will be on the Missouri Baptist University campus, Saturday, September 27 to close out the Abandoned: Worship as Life seminar. Time is TBD…
Here is a little more info:
THIRD COAST UNIVERSITY TOUR
Sponsored by WorldVision, it’s a concert, worship, multimedia, humor, and ministry rolled into one event and features:
(www.theafters.com; myspace.com/theafters)
* 2006 Dove Award for New Artists of the Year
* current single “Keeping Me Alive” is #29 on Christian AC formats
(www.mattmahermusic.com; myspace.com/mattmahermusic)
* Chris Tomlin made his song “Your Grace is Enough” well known
* current single “Your Grace is Enough” is #2 on Christian AC formats
* was just @ MBU in April; very popular with area Catholic youth
(www.matthewpaulturner.com; myspace.com/matthewpaulturner)
* has spoken in chapel at MBU before
* author of just released Hokey Pokey, also Provactive Faith and The Coffehouse Gospel
*great blog @ www.matthewpaulturner.com
________
And remember, Dan Kimball, pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, CA, conference speaker, and author of The Emerging Church, Emerging Worship, and , They Like Jesus, But Not the Church and co-author of Listening to the Beliefs of the Emerging Church, has agreed to be our keynote speaker for the Abandoned: Worship As Life Seminar as well!
Dan will speak in four sessions on various issues such as the emerging church, emerging worship, the future of worship in the church, etc.
_____________
For more information on registration for the Abandoned seminar and/or tickets for the TCU concert, you can:
1) Contact me in the comment section of this blog entry
2) Contact me via my work email: andrewsb [at] mobap.edu
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today’s tweets
July 1, 2008
- “in your eyes” need i to say more? #
- listening to “sledgehammer.” peter gabriel is one of the greatest singer-songwriters of the 80’s and beyond… #
- @thejode :) and vicariously everyone folllowing my tweets… #
- listening to hilllsong united’s “lead me to the cross.” makes me raise my hands in worship every time. just me and the lord in my office #
- @bobbygilles looks great bobby! will pick it up for our kids. love gospel-centered children’s books. have enjoyed sproul/lloyd-jones/etc #
- feeling horrible today. can’t stay awake. usually a sign i’m getting sick. please no… #
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fingertip knowledge
July 1, 2008
I’m amazed at the blogosphere. I know, it’s a unique place. The bad: Lots of self-promotion, uncensored thoughts, and stream-of-consciousness. But the good. Oh, the good. I was reminded of this today as I sifted through my 150+ feeds. So much amazing information at my fingertips. It all feels like such great ‘insider’ info. Some of it is. Just check this out from my feeds today:
-Bob Hyatt links to Ben Witherington’s wise words regarding the controverisal “Pagan Christianity”
-Bob Roberts gives us four resources to help preachers for their 4th of July weekend sermon, which typically revolves around love of country. He focuses instead on resources that will help you speak to religious freedom and why it matters…
-Kent Shaffer gives specifics on how to deal with a mean pastor…
-Tony Rienke of Sovereign Grace links to 9Marks recent ejournal on containing a number of resources on marriage, helpful for pastors and for all married couples. The eJournal includes a chart of 30 books on marriage, manhood, and womanhood all ranked and compared to one another.
If anything, the blogosphere promotes information overload. I’m wading through how to use it to promote information edification. Maybe less feeds? Better organization of things I want to read again? What do you do?
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