history unfolding right now

this image brought me to tears.



Look here for more pics

twitter is reporting live on the ground accounts from people and the world cheering them on. here

I have no words..

a moment of sanity from Fox news

America less Christian..

I saw this article this evening. It states that America is less Christian than 20 years ago. I'm not sure this is news. It was interesting that the article pointed to a rise in individualism as part of the cause. Again, not really news.

Here's my take.

The article is extremely generous. It's worse than this.

Why?
Because in growing segments of the evangelical church there is fundamentally no difference between the individualism of those who deny being Christian, and the individualism that many evangelical churches preach. This will not last because it is empty. An individualism, me first mentality, wrapped in the language and ideas of Jesus, isn't the way of Christ, because it makes Jesus an accessory and the programs of the church a way to keep my kids out of trouble and help me become a better educated individual. So Bible Studies and programs fill our calendars, and we sit in pews of large churches, and maybe watch our pastor on a screen, while we learn more about Jesus, then we walk out as isolated and alone as we were before.

There has never been a time in history where church has been done better for the individual. Ever. Attending a church with more choices for me and my family. A cafeteria from which I can consume.

It's not done getting better for these churches either. They are still on the upswing and will be for the next 3-5 or so years. But after that they will collapse under their own empty weight.

don't hear me wishing the death of churches. I'm not. I'm simply stating what I see.
Church leaders are free to make their own choices about what kind of churches they are leading and building. They will also have to live with the consequences of life after the bubble bursts. And it will.

All this to say, the article is understating the issue.
the problem for the evangelical church is that it will read the article and think it demands more of the same from them.

But there's more to the story...and there are good things happening in the church as well. I believe the best days are ahead of us and the more I work with church leaders around the country the more encouraged I am by their resolve to think outside of this individualistic, american faith. The risk of breaking off of this american gospel doesn't seem to be one denomination or movement. Southern Baptists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Churches of Christ all have leaders workout out what leadership looks like. It seems to me additionally that all of our hands are dirty in this too. We are all effected/affected by this. This should bring humility to lives, not judgement.

I have a lot more to say about this and there are certainly some flaws in my thinking, but this is what I thought of when I saw the article.

What do you think? To you see hope? How do you read the article?

Entrepreneurs and Juvenile Delinquents

Loved this CNN article about entrepreneurs. Ask my wife if I'm stubborn, delusionally optimistic, creative, fearless and focused... and ignorant. some of you already know the answer to that.

When to quit -- said Kamen, also the inventor of health care technologies and the Slingshot water purifier -- is "the toughest question there is" for any entrepreneur who survives on creativity and instinct.

"It's not nearly as glamorous as people think to keep working on something and to keep hitting roadblocks and to keep going," he said.

Stubborn, delusionally optimistic, creative, fearless, flexible and focused are some of the ways psychologists and business people describe the personality of an entrepreneur. Surprisingly, another word is ignorant.

"You need to be in denial or in ignorance about the huge challenges you face," laughs Guy Kawasaki, a former Apple executive and entrepreneur who's starting the self-described "magazine rack" alltop.com. "You have to believe that it wouldn't be hard for you to succeed."

Research by Harvard Business School psychology professor emeritus Abraham Zaleznik has unveiled a darker side to the entrepreneur's psyche.

"Entrepreneurs tend to have a singular weakness that allows them to do things without checking their conscience," Zaleznik said. "Juvenile delinquents act and then try to sort things out afterward. I think entrepreneurs have this tendency."

Another academic researcher on the topic, professor Kelly Shaver of the College of William & Mary, told Forbes magazine in 2002 that successful entrepreneurs "really don't care as much" about what other people think. "They're just happy to go ahead and do what they're doing."

Link

Genetically test children for sports aptitudes

Unbelievable.

When Donna Campiglia learned recently that a genetic test might be able to determine which sports suit the talents of her 2 ½-year-old son, Noah, she instantly said, Where can I get it and how much does it cost?

"I could see how some people might think the test would pigeonhole your child into doing fewer sports or being exposed to fewer things, but I still think it's good to match them with the right activity," Campiglia, 36, said as she watched a toddler class at Boulder Indoor Soccer in which Noah struggled to take direction from the coach between juice and potty breaks.

"I think it would prevent a lot of parental frustration," she said.

In health-conscious, sports-oriented Boulder, Atlas Sports Genetics is playing into the obsessions of parents by offering a $149 test that aims to predict a child's natural athletic strengths. The process is simple. Swab inside the child's cheek and along the gums to collect DNA and return it to a lab for analysis of ACTN3, one gene among more than 20,000 in the human genome.

Link here

(Thanks to Bevan)

The Man who Called it

Peter Schiff called it back in early 07. His outlook for us is not good. I makes me think of Greenspan's interview from earlier in the year where he said, we need to let the bottom fall out (which to him was tied directly to the housing market) and it the video from Barnett I recently posted (which was shot 5 years ago) in which he has America as a second tier citizen of the world compared to China.

This video is worth your time. But it's not pretty, and it's not what you want to hear.

Parents don;t take your teens to Nebraska

This is really happening. It's unbelievable and heartbreaking. Parent's are using the vague language of a bill enabling parents to abandon their infants, to abandon their teens.

Link

Love is against the Grain

Do you remember the Dime Store Prophets from the 90's? Their lead singer Justin Stevens (aka Justin Dillon) is front and center in the "call + response" to the issue of sex trafficing.

Sex /slave trade film from Justin Dillon. Here's the link to the video on CNN .

Well worth investing a few minutes into if you ask me.
Here's the trailer for the movie on Apple.com

Brandon Grissom's Brighter

People are starting to notice. Brandon Grissom is the real deal.

Link

I liked this part in particular:

There a some seriously horrible worship albums out there. I want let you in on a secret. A diamond in the rough. His name is Brandon Grissom … and he’s the the real deal.

Living in the Chicago area, I get to meet some very creative and talented people. Living in the back yard of Willow Creek Community Church–I am friends with many young, shiny faces that come to Willow from around the world because of their gifting. Often these folks, while talented, seem to be on the fast track to become minor “Christian celebrities” and, to be brutally honest, lack a collaborative heart. The bright lights of the mega church (and the notoriety and salary that come with it) have drawn them like moths to a flame … and some hearts just get burnt up.

Grissom seems to have escaped all this nonsense. Why is all this important for a music review? It’s really simple, if you are going to make real worship music what’s in your heart is 99% of the battle.

Out of a man’s heart flows his music. Out of a man’s heart flows his lyrics. You should investigate Brandon Grissom’s heart.

Great job B!

From the Eyes of a Youth Pastor

Watching Rick Warren last week lead the forum with the two presidential candidates I had an ugh moment.
Warren and Obama were talking about "What is rich?"
and Obama stated that $150,000 a year or less would be considered middle class.
To which Warren said, "In this region you're poor." Followed by loud applause.

He may be right with housing prices etc. But it made me think, (and this is part of my psychosis i think). I wonder what his youth pastors make? (and the rest of his staff)

I wonder if by saying such a thing on his church's stage he hurt someone on his staff. Because if he's paying them less than $150,000 a year, he is knowingly paying them less that it takes to live in their context.

(I don't know what Saddleback pays their youth staff.) But it's one of those moments that might leave a staff person feeling a bit distant from their churches leader.

Can you relate?

Zach Lind on Prayer at the DNC

Zach Lind may know a thing to two about living in a world in which you don't connect or believe all the same things as those around you. He's the drummer for a rock band and all. With this in mind, he take on the rational for Cameron Strang not praying at the DNC was interesting to me.


Link

Teen Gun give-a-way at Church Cancelled

Here's the text:

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma church canceled a controversial gun giveaway for teenagers at a weekend youth conference.

Windsor Hills Baptist had planned to give away a semiautomatic assault rifle until one of the event's organizers was unable to attend.

The church’s youth pastor, Bob Ross, said it’s a way of trying to encourage young people to attend the event. The church expected hundreds of teenagers from as far away as Canada.

“We have 21 hours of preaching and teaching throughout the week,” Ross said.

A video on the church Web site shows the shooting competition from last year’s conference. A gun giveaway was part of the event last year. This year, organizers included it in their marketing.

“I don’t want people thinking ‘My goodness, we’re putting a weapon in the hand of somebody that doesn’t respect it who are then going to go out and kill,'” said Ross. “That’s not at all what we’re trying to do.”

Ross said the conference isn’t all about guns, but rather about teens finding faith.

“You make a lot of new friends down here,” said Vikki Goncharenko, who attended the conference. “You get to meet new people. There's a bunch of things that are going on. It's just, you have a wonderful time.”

Friday evening, Ross said the gun giveaway had been canceled. Pastor emeritus Jim Vineyard, who ran the event, injured his foot and wouldn’t be able to attend. The gun giveaway was also removed from the church Web site.

Ross said the church would give the gun away next year instead. He said the church spent $800 buying the gun for the promotion.

Cancelled? Come on! How could someone get upset with this? I mean don't semi-automatic assault rifles and Jesus go hand in hand?

Link

Still more thoughts on T Boone's idea

I'm a bit intrigued by something over the past few days.

Very few people are talking about it. T. Boone is talking about it. a lot. the guy is everywhere. on all the stations. but i haven't heard any commentary, real commentary on it. obama, mccain, and all the other politicians are all silent.

crickets.

even the radio folks seem to be silent.
it may be that i just haven't been listening well.

but the most interesting thing about this, aside from a business man fronting the money, time, resources into almost single handedly turning the us toward a new energy in a significant way, is that it is as if no one knows what to do about it.

no one really knows if T Boone is right. or wrong. or how right and how wrong.

am i missing something?

Isn't this the kind of thing environmentalists have been talking about?
Isn't this an answer to both the right and the left?

I'm guessing the "wind lobby" isn't too strong, (again i could be wrong) so the presidential candidates may be left wondering if they should support it or not.

i'm certain that people will find holes in it soon. probably in the next couple days.
we'll see the people really interested in getting us off foreign oil, and those intrested in oil. there will be naysayers etc.

but right now, it's as if the world doesn't know what it should believe about this idea....

to me... that's fascinating.

Dobson and Obama

You knew this was coming right? Dobson blasting Obama. The problem for Dobson is that America has changed and he hasn't. I'll go further. The church has changed and he hasn't. Before Dubbya's 8 years in office, Dobson, Falwell and Pat Robertson all decided they would speak for everyone in America who follows Jesus. It worked. Just ask John McCain. It was his justified words against these guys that cost him the bid that election year. (Dobson has said he won't vote for McCain either... even thought the straight talk express snuggled up to Falwell 8-10 months ago for this new election.)

Dobson and the like, have lost their grip on the power they once held. I think this is a good thing. Dobson doesn't speak for me. I don't know what Obama said, or the context of what he said, and chances are I won't fully agree with him, but I do know that I don't agree with Dobson and his blast against Obama is nothing more than fear mongering, something most of my friends are ready to leave behind. This is the same kind of rhetoric that talks about Obama being a closet muslim and such. It's actually hate, smearing and ugliness. But this is par for many of Dobson's ilk isn't it. Fear mongering, slandering others, saying they don't believe the bible, calling them liberal, saying that they are relativist or pluralist or some other thing. Again, I don't know what Obama believes about anything, but I know smoke when i see it blowing.

So while we knew it was coming, and has now come, it's still not much fun. Watch over the next few days and see what happens.

Update: McKnight says it better than I do.

Oklahoma and the price of oil

Oklahoma's not ready for the oil prices according to Money Magazine.

Not too important..

I think this speaks for itself.

Bill Mallonee in Tulsa

one of my favorite songwriters will be performing in tulsa on June 29th. Eikon meets this night. I don't know how this will work out.
I wonder what eikon folks would think of Bill....

Link

Homeless Running club

For some reason this story came to my mind driving home from my workout today so I thought I'd post a link and part of the piece here. Maybe one day when I'm in better shape , and can actually run more than around the block something like this will materialize.

Anne Mahlum is a 27-year-old marathoner. And on her predawn runs in Philadelphia, she kept passing a group of homeless men.

An ex-football player is walking cross-country to raise money for 9/11 heroes.

"They would say, 'Hi' or they would say 'Hi Anne' or 'There's the crazy runner.' 'How many miles are you doing?'" Mahlum recalled. "And they would smile and sort of applaud and cheer for me, while I would start my day."

But one day in May, Mahlum said, "I looked back, and I was like, 'I am cheating these guys. Why am I just running past them and leaving them there?'"

"Running is so simple you know. You really only need a pair of shoes. You don't need a lot of equipment. You need heart and dedication," Mahlum said.

Anne thought to herself, "Maybe running could make these guys feel as good as it makes me feel."

So she decided to start a running club for the homeless and started asking businesses for help.

"I sent out an e-mail to a bunch of people, and I just said, 'I'm starting Philadelphia's first homeless running club. I need your shoes. I need your clothes,'" Mahlum said. "And the support that I received back is so astonishing."

Nine homeless men signed up right away.

"The guys had so many questions. They were so curious," Mahlum said.

The men didn't know what to expect, and they asked questions about how to stretch and what to do. But they were willing to give it a shot.

Mahlum was not intimidated by the men.

"I wasn't scared. People are people. And I feel like if you treat them the way you want to be treated, that's the best you can do."

"If anything would happen," she joked, "I figure, you know, they can't catch me anyway."

Mahlum's group, called Back on My Feet, has grown since then. They were out on the Philadelphia streets this morning at 5 a.m.

"People started showing up in the morning," Mahlum said. "This circle that we had just kept growing and growing, and the smiles got bigger, the hugs got tighter, and we started to develop this team, this family."

This story makes sense to me on so many levels. My hope for Tulsa is that people will take their passions and make a difference in peoples lives like this. It doesn't need to be a running club. But religion that is institutional and controling in nature must be abandoned for more life giving experiences like this.

Beauty in Action...

Jolting the Brain: Sorta cool... sorta creepy

This is amazing stuff. It blurs the between humanity and machine in interesting ways. We really are redefining what it means to be human on some level. It's the word "normal" that gives me the creeps a bit. This feels a bit different than a pace maker to me... but I'm not sure why.

Imagine what a pacemaker does to your heart -- its electrical impulses regulate a heartbeat that's out of whack.

In deep brain stimulation for depression, tiny electrodes are implanted into a specific node of the cerebral cortex.

Now picture a pacemaker-type device that jolts the brain and regulates mood circuits -- potentially easing deep depression no other treatments can touch.

In what some are hailing as a brave new use of existing technology, researchers presented evidence this week at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons' annual scientific meeting that deep brain stimulation (DBS) does just that -- improving both severe depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, a frequent companion disorder.

"Depression is a physiological disorder, and basically we are regulating the abnormal signals to brain causing the depression," says Dr. Ali Rezai, director of the Center for Neurological Restoration at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Rezai conducted the research along with scientists from Butler Hospital/Brown Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Researchers used deep brain stimulation on 17 severely depressed patients. Those treated with DBS had a 50 percent decrease in depressive symptoms after 12 months. Patients also reported a better ability to function, improved short-term memory and improved quality of life.

Link