God is big, man is small

March 17, 2011March 17, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

1 The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty ;
The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength ;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
2 Your throne is established from of old ; You are from everlasting.

3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD,
The floods have lifted up their voice,
The floods lift up their pounding waves.
4 More than the sounds of many waters,
Than the mighty breakers of the sea,
The LORD on high is mighty.
5 Your testimonies are fully confirmed ;
Holiness befits Your house,
O LORD, forevermore .
~Psalm 93 NASB

Manic Monday: We are small

March 14, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

The tragedies in Japan should remind us of how small and finite we are. It should also remind us of how precious life is.

We are small and at the mercy of God.

(especially on Monday)

Discovery!!

March 10, 2011March 10, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

A good friend of my, Frank, found the author. The essay was from a book: “The Frontier In American History” by Frederick Jackson Turner. Here is the link for all interested.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/TURNER/

Why not Wednesday? Discovery

March 9, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

We are a nation of the frontier. In middle school I remember reading an essay defending that idea. Without a frontier our nation is lost. I wish I had the foresight to keep the essay.

Discovery landed for the last time today. I remember many people blasting the idea of funding things like NASA. Thinking of the article, we can’t afford not to fund the frontier.

Think of this. Most came to this country as a frontier. Once established, there was the West. Step by step our country innovated and discovered.

While we have over-emphasized the individual, we have also brought something else out: That we are free. As a nation our record isn’t perfect. We have grown, though. But, without a frontier, will we continue to grow toward our ideals of life, liberty and justice?

Discovery carried the dreams of many, as did the other shuttle. The program showed triumph and at the same time the frailty of humanity. Watch children at a space or flight museum and you’ll see what I mean.

The bottom line:
The frontier is key to enjoying God and His creation. In the frontier we test our limits and from it we learn and benefit others. It’s slow. It’s arduous. It’s dangerous. But, the frontier is key to who we are as a nation.

Manic Monday: My Social Media rules of thumbs

March 7, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

How do I engage in social media? My rule of thumb is be discerning and intentional. Everyone engages differently, and that is a cool aspect of it. Here are some to the conventions I follow:

Social media is public no matter how closely I guard privacy settings. Facebook is most personal, twitter is in-between leaning towards my vocation, this blog is vocational.

I re-whatever based primarily on ministry interests or for things to consider. A re-whatever does not mean I agree or disagree with something. Discernment should always be exercised.

I do not re-whatever on hallmark comments (emotional and often well stated comments). This doesn’t mean I disagree with them, but I’m content with being a part of the 97% that don’t. One exception- I do on occasion re-whatever comments that make fun of hallmark comment’s thirst for re-whatever-ing the comment.

I’m more inclined to re-whatever things that do not contain the nefarious 3% guilt trip. Justsayin.

I talk tons about my kids because of their grandparents. Grandparents and family are part of my audience. And, let’s face it, as much as they love my wife and I, they want to hear about the grand kids, and that’s totally ok.

I am very cautious about negative comments. I do post them on occasion as it’s part of being real. Life isn’t Disneyland. Even these I try to put in a humorous tone. Praise in public, criticize in private is a great rule of thumb to follow.

I prefer to be a-political. While one may guess or otherwise already know my political leanings, the Gospel is most important to me. I chose to not have politics as part of my public discourse.

I think social media is give and take, Contribute and engage with others. I like that. I do not think it replaces human interaction, but it does help in one key aspect: it allows human interaction to focus on what can only happen in person, making the sharing of coffee that much better.

The bottom line is to be discerning in how you engage in whatever you engage in.

(especially on Monday)

Lynx & Stuff

March 4, 2011September 15, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

5 Distortions of the Gospel
http://jamesmacdonald.com/blog/?p=3897

Social Media tools
http://socialfresh.com/10-community-manager-tools-you-might-not-know/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Church & Internet
http://churchcrunch.com/how-internet-users-feel-the-need-to-belong-infographic/

Don’t try to be clever…

March 3, 2011March 3, 2011 · 1 Comment ·

A retired pastor gave me this advice: Don’t try to be clever, you can make things worse and people won’t hear what you are saying. This post is part confessional. When you’re involved in teaching, communication and writing you crave being unique. Given our culture, cleverness seems more a vice than a helpful tactic. I’m not saying cleverness is wrong. I am saying the tactic is overplayed. What I’m writing is easier said than done.

Delivery vs substance: Democracy in America (Published 1835-1840)
Alexis de Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America about his observations and predictions of America. One key prediction as I read is book was this: Soon the appearance or things will be more important than the quality of things. This prediction has very much come true. The vice of cleverness is the appearance vs substance. In the end substance endures. Cleverness, once figured out, carries potential to be dismissed.

Action vs silence: The Pensées (Published 1600’s)
Blaise Pascal wrote The Pensees near the end of his life and did not complete it. We often think of his wager, but the central focus of his apologetic was silence from distraction. Pascal endeavored to bring people to the point of silence where they would be forced to listen to their soul and deal with aspects of life that one would rather avoid. We fear solitary confinement for this reason, he states. In America, our greatest fear is being bored, for in boredom we are forced to think and listen. Our thirst from cleverness comes from this.

Complexity vs simplicity: The Scewtape Letters (Published 1942)
C. S. Lewis described in The Screwtape Letters that distraction and complexity is one of the best tools and tactics against people. My wife brought this up to me as we discussed the protection from leaving and acting with simplicity. This theme is prevalent throughout church history and too often is ignored. Business is the vaccine against intimacy. Cleverness often takes what can be simple and makes it overtly complex.

Captivating vs seriousness: First Corinthians (Published 1st century)
Saint Paul in First Corinthians juxtaposed man’s wisdom vs God’s. Paul’s focus was to speak the Gospel with clarity. He was not defending being uneducated. Things of a serious nature are best spoken with absolute clarity, leaving as little room for misinterpretation. Clarity sometimes is quite complex, as in the book of Romans, or simple an in the letter to Philemon. Cleverness distracts one to the speaker instead of engaging one in the message.

Fleeting vs steadfast: A friend (Still being written)
Harold H. Comings delights me with his wit. Is wit a form of cleverness? Yes. What surprises me about my friend and others who have wit-ability, is they mastered the art of substance, silence, simplicity and seriousness. The foundation of these things lend itself to being witty, and the discernment on how to engage in proper discourse. The question of discernment is this: How can I say something in a way that it will withstand the test of time? Cleverness often focuses on the now at the cost of life down the road.

The bottom line:
Focus on substance, silence, simplicity, seriousness and steadfastness. These will carry you to the finish-line. You do not need to be a salesmen or a showman to be an excellent communicator. Enduring works and messages contain most of these elements. If God graced you with the abilities of cleverness, humor, charm or the ability to be poetic- use it to glorify God. But, don’t try to be these things and let us not make them the standard of good vs bad discourse. Perhaps conflict in public discourse would be more civil if we ceased trying to be clever. This would allow us to listen to and hear each other.

Civil Discourse, Conflict and Social Media

March 1, 2011March 1, 2011 · 1 Comment ·

Civil discourse does not mean the lack of confrontation, and social media brings a new avenue it. Quite a few social media stints caught my attention. The most recent was discussion about a book coming out by Pastor Rob Bell. He is not the point of this post, but the discussion did instigate this post.

Social media is public discourse
While some may disagree with this, it is true: Social media is a public face. One reality we are facing is many people do not know how to engage well in public discourse. The quip “Politics will be getting very interesting in the next 20 years because of social media” carries my point well. A good rule of thumb on social media is this: What do I want my public face to look like?

Conflict can bring clarity or collision
You cannot avoid conflict, and that is true within social media as well. Disagreements exist and there are times when public disagreement is proper and times when such is not. At the founding of our country there was vehement debate on our constitution. The book “The Federalist Papers” resulted from the collections of articles from the debate. It is wise to engage in conflict with the goal of clarity. Such is prudent, helpful and benefits all. Engaging in conflict to win or gain one’s own rights is often foolish and brings collision.

Civil discourse can be spirited
Civil discourse focuses on courtesy and politeness regardless of emotion. Civil discourse does not mean one is dull or trite. One can be quite spirited in their discourse and be polite as well. Third person is often used to support objectivity. It lacks poignancy or cheer of first or second person and is quite dry. Given our culture’s tendency towards rash speech, a little dryness may be in order, or we can chose to be polite in our discussions. Be polite. Be gracious. If you cannot, do not engage in public discourse.

The social media variable
The variable that social media brings to civil discourse, especially on conflict, is speed. This is known as trending or going viral. The problem with going viral is people often do not ‘listen’(read) and speak past each other. Discussion quickly turns to raw emotion and a mess ensues. Regarding discourse, often in the form of reposting articles, keep this in mind:

A posted article or a retweet without comment can mean many things from agreement to disagreement, from seriously!? to interesting. A reposting of something with comment also means many things from gained context, topic, or one’s view. If an article goes viral it doesn’t mean people agree with that post. Sometimes it can mean shock, anger, humor, etc. When something goes viral its best to listen more carefully and exercise far more discernment.

Christianity and social media
We should not be afraid of disagreement or conflict. Christianity is damaged more by trying to look and be perfect than being real. Silliness in public discourse comes when civility is dropped. We are family and we will disagree. Part of disagreement is resolution. In the meantime there may be fear as how the conflict will end is unknown. Such fear should not cause us to avoid conflict, even if it goes public. It is part of being authentic.

Remember that the heroes in the Bible were not perfect and their flaws are quite public. We preach about them, discuss them and even debate them. Our lives, just as those in Scripture, are open books. Social media makes this a greater reality. But, acting like there is nothing wrong is just another form of hypocrisy. Grace, wisdom and discernment should govern our public discourse. At the same time we shouldn’t be afraid when our debates become public. It’s part of ‘iron sharpening iron.’ The Gospel moved forward despite the very public mistakes of our heroes in the faith.

The bottom line:
Be civil in public discourse, especially in times of conflict. Remember that social media moves rapidly. In all things we should exercise grace, wisdom and discernment. If you cannot do that, say nothing ‘for even a fool is considered wise when he is silent.’

For Christians, do not be afraid when conflict goes public. The growth and promotion of the Gospel rests in God. We will make mistakes, but those mistakes are covered by the cross. Remember, the same man who shamed the cause of Christ also became the focus of a beautiful story of reconciliation, he gave the first sermon of the Church, was publicly rebuked, and died a hero. His name is Peter.

Manic Monday: Appreciate the little things…

February 28, 2011 · 1 Comment ·

Monday is a huge day in my household. It’s garbage truck day… Seriously.

I smile at people’s reaction to what has become bigger than football at our house. (Of note pretty much anything that makes your kids smile makes you smile- other than fine china being dropped and shattering in slow motion.) The oft-repeated phrase “you need a life.” is stated. Ok, here’s the lesson…

Kids appreciate the little things in life. What we take for granted, they see as wonders of science. The garbage truck has what every boy loves: horsepower, noise, banging sounds and it’s big. (The garbage truck is also a significant support actor in the movie Toy Story 3,)

Imagine a world without garbage trucks, plumbing, electricity or Toy Story 3, and you’ll gain an appreciation for what we consider a little thing in life.

(especially on Monday)