Ian: "Die!"

Bobby: "I think Ian just prophecied over me" as Staven was hunting his prey (Bobby) on Halo2.

There is something about late night Halo 2 fun. Staven instilling fear and anger into Bobby and Ian. Good times...

I once posed the question: When exactly does the post modern church become the church of yesterday? I came across this article in Relevant magazine. There were a few of quotes at the end that really stuck out to me.

"Let’s not forget though that in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he called the church both to fluidity and order. To truly be effective we need a blend of both the modernist and postmodernist perspective, we need to be transformists—both fixed and fluid."

"The postmodern mindset has brought with it much freedom. Many churches are in desperate need of more involvement, story, community and round table discussions. However, as with any movement, we can go to the other extreme."

"The modernist needs to focus a bit more on packaging. They need to loosen up a little more on form and method. The postmodernist needs to remember substance. They need to remember that the message never changes."

"It’s kind of funny, but Christ was all about packaging and substance. In fact, He went back to that whole love God love people thing. That was the substance. As far as the packaging, we’re it. He said by our love, all people would know we’re His disciples. "

This was a great article and answered my question pretty well. As long as the Church is always changing with the culture while never changing the message then we will always be the "postmodern church." It's only when we stop being relevant to the community that we will be the "Church of yesterday."

I have never posted any pics from our Russia trip. Actually to tell you the truth I didn't say much about it at all on my blog. I will have to take a few posts and tell you about some of it. There is something about Russia that tugs on my heart. It has to be God because you have no idea how much I hate cold weather. I keep asking Jen if God is calling us to start a ministry in Hawaii yet. Her answer is always no...Oh well. Anyways, here are a few pics from our trip.

There's something that most of you might not know about me. I love military stuff. All kinds of military stuff. And when I found out that Todd Mcfarlane created a military series I got all giddy inside. So I went out and started my collection last night. Now to some of you this might seem kind of childish...yeah I know but ain't they cool. They are so realistic. I didn't even realize that these exsisted so I have some catching up to do. Thanks to tax time I might be able to accomplish that. And no they are not dolls...they're figurines! I thought I would share my first two with you.

I went to Cedarville University yesterday to hear Dave Rahn speak. He said so many things that hit home with my life right now. One thing he talked about was leaving a natural legacy.

We've all answered the question: "What legacy do you want to leave behind?" Dave put a different spin on it though. He called it "the camera's eye" Think of it this way: There is something behind our eyes that operates like a continuous video camera...capturing images and video clips of everything we experience. If I mention someone we all know...let's say Prozac for instance. Those who know him will automatically begin to play clips of him in our mind. Experiences that we have had with him. Some may be good and some may be bad. Some clips may cause us to laugh uncontrollably (most of them do in his case) and others may stir emotions that bring us to tears. Either way the clips play in our minds without our control most of the time.

What clips are played in the minds of those who know us? How will we be remembered if we were to leave this earth tomorrow? Man, that was a hard nugget to swallow.

"Lord, I want to leave a natural legacy where you are evident in my life. Forgive me for my apathy, harshness and unforgiveness. Move in me and create a life that is molded by your Spirit. Let me see people through your eyes and love them with your heart."

Time Magazine selects Michelin Tweel One of the most amazing inventions of 2005." That is quite a hefty claim to make but this is pretty cool stuff. Michelin has created an airless tire. It looks pretty odd but I am intrigued by it. It has been given all kinds of awards so far and they are looking into applications for them. The website had mentioned wheel chairs, construction equipment, and military vehicles. Check out this video to see the tweel in action. Pretty freaky stuff!

Staple has a new website and I love it. I am a big fan of WWII stuff as it is so this just really clicked for me when I saw it. It definately fits with the theme of the album. And I would have to say that this is my favorite album from them so far. It definately pierces my heart when I listen to it. Great stuff!

I am so thankful to God for the friends that I have. And now I have friends that span the globe...from Russia to Guatemala. My friends Andy and Bobby came over last night for dinner. I am wishing more and more that Andy would not go back to Guatemala. I wish he could stay and work for us in AE. I love hanging out with him. He is so real. I love it when a christian is confident enough in his walk to be real around people. I'm not saying perfect...I am saying confident. There is a big difference. I would love to get to know him better and find out more about what makes him tick. He has a warped sense of humor which fits in great with our warped crowd. He loves the Lord but is not religious in his thoughts. And best of all, he is true to himself. I can see God doing some amazing things through him. Aquí está a los buenos amigos.

I decided that it was time to retire my other template. I like this one. What do you think? I actually used a template not created for Blogger but I made it work. It would even be nicer if one of my graphic designer friends would make me a cool header to jazz it up a bit. Don't make me beg...it's unbecoming of me.

It's great when you can have friends that will agree to disagree with you. Case in point: We were discussing the inner workings of D&D the other night, which I used to play. Hey, don't blame me for being a product of the 80's. Anyways, I came across this video that just cracked me up. Dedicated D&D players have been known to be a bit over the edge at times and this proves it. So I am dedicatiing this video clip to Prozac. I hope you like it!

I was recently faced with the question: "what is your holy discontent?" When I heard this question I had to sit and think about it. Why? I am a pastor. I run a ministry. I should just be able to spout this out without even thinking about it. If I can't then why am I in ministry? (I tend to beat myself up about things like this) But as I thought about it I began to remember why I am in ministry in the first place. I am not perfect (far from it as a matter of fact.) I posed this to our staff the other night and got some great answers.
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Ok, let ME begin with sexuality in movies and tv. This drives me nuts. It's everywhere and in everything. The one that gets on my nerves the most is that stupid commercial about the male enhancement drug. You know the commercial you love to hate. The one where the guy has this big cheesy smile on his face all of the time. What is that all about? Let's see...there's Nip Tuck, Sex in the City, The L Word. Should I go on? OK, then you have The OC, Temptation Island, The Love Cruise, Charmed (a show about sexy witches??? Come on)

This paralyzes us men because we are drawn towards sex whether we want to be or not. This is where we need to be guarding our hearts. If networks put boobs on the screen we either choose to turn the channel or stare at it in amazement as if we have never seen them before, drooling the whole time. If you don't look at it that way then you are either very very very holy...or you're lying! That is just me venting.

So I was thinking about the holy discontent thing. Mine is that the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy...and he is doing a good job at it. All the while packaging it in a pretty box called the mass media. As a result, Our teens are drawn into a world of sex, violence, and deceit. And we sit by and mutter the words: "Do not be conformed to to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind," not understanding its meaning. We as the church (meaning individuals) need to combat this by packaging God in a way that is real and life changing. Don't get religious on me. I am not trying to be blasphemous. What do you think Jesus meant when He said, "I have become all things to all men?" So I ask you...What is your holy discontent? What is the one thing that drives you to say "something has to change."