Catalyst is going on this weekend. They had a guest appearance by Jeff Foxworthy, below is a blog wrap-up of the first day. Today was the conference’s first full day, and in addition to a solid lineup of speakers (Andy Stanley, Marcus Buckingham, George Barna, John Maxwell, and Gary Haugen), the hit of the day, at least for me since my momma was raised in the hills of eastern Tennessee, was the surprise appearance of comedian Jeff Foxworthy (“If you put your TV that works on top of your TV that doesn’t work, you may be a redneck”). Foxworthy had traveled to Kenya this past spring with Andy Stanley and some others to visit various ministries. He had fun with the audience pointing out that his definition of “redneck” is “a glorious absence of sophistication,” which applies to many of the key characters in the Bible: Samson, who grew “the mother of all mullets” and who caught 300 foxes, tied them in pairs with tails tied to a burning torch, and set them loose to burn the fields of their despised neighbors, the Philistines? “Redneck.” How about David, who killed somebody with a slingshot, sneaked into a cave to play a trick on somebody who was going to the bathroom in there, and then spied over the fence on a naked neighbor. “That’s as redneck as it gets.”
Just saw this over at Josh Griffin’s Blog. The scary thing is I can relate to this guy! White and Nerdy.
I pulled out of my garage this morning and saw white plastic forks sticking out of the ground every few feet in my front yard. Somebody took some serious time sticking forks in the ground. I must say that in a weird sort of way that it is cool that someone took that much time. I wanted to get a picture of it, but Emma and Luke pulled them all out before Jennifer took one. They thought it was really cool.
I’m just glad the teens aren’t into rolling houses now. I’ve spent plenty of Sunday afternoons with trashbags in hand getting up TP. Getting it off the roof is a serious pain. I’ve never seen cleaning up TP from your yard, house, and trees on a Job Description for a youth pastor, but it needs to be added! I guess you know you are connecting with youth, or maybe just pissing them off, when they take time to mess with your yard.
I read this over on Kurt Johnston’s blog. I like the practical way in which he thinks. Sometimes we get too caught up in the terminology and structure and just forget to be content and serve. The church is broken, but one day in heaven it will be perfect!
A good friend of mine asked me yesterday, “Do you think the church is broken?”He wasn’t talking about any church in particular, but THE church.My answer: “Yes, but…..”
Yes, the church is broken…or at least parts of it are. It really doesn’t take long to identify lots of broken parts in the church. But, the church has always been broken…or at least parts of it. I have a strange feeling that if we re-designed church the way we think it should be (simple church, authentic community, socially active, Acts 2, new leadership paradigm, etc.) it would still be broken, just broken in different ways. If we got rid of all the big buildings and met in homes, I bet it would be about six months before we started saying “Wow, wouldn’t it be nice to have a big room somewhere so we could all get together once in a while?” If we flattened the leadership paradigm, I bet it would be about six months before we started saying “Gee, it sure would be nice if somebody was in charge around here!” Yes, the church is broken…but.
I’ve been using Google Reader the last few weeks to view all the blogs and news feeds that I keep up with. It’s a pretty cool web-based RSS reader. First, in Google Reader you subscribe to all the blogs you normally read. Then from any computer I can login and check out any new blog entries. If you typically read several blogs, then check out using a RSS reader like this. It saves a ton of time as well. If you are using Firefox as your browser, then you might want to read more about active bookmarks, which does the same thing.
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. I’ve been swamped at work and busy every night. I was reading a familiar passage last night in Jeremiah 18 about how God is the potter and we are the clay. I just stopped and reflected on it a while. Am I being “moldable” right now? Am I letting God shape me and mold me in his image? It made me think about a message I heard Mark Matlock give during the PlanetWisdom Youth Conference a few years back. I dug up the book from the conference this morning before work and looked at his main points. It was pretty cool during the conference because he actually had a potter’s wheel and turned some pottery during the conference as he was explaining it. This could be an awesome series to do in church sometime. Unfortunately, all I know about turning pottery I learned from Patrick Swazye.
Here is Mark’s outline of the steps involved in making a good pot. Of course he had a ton of info to go along with the outline.
- Centering - the clay must be centered on the wheel so that it will spin symmetrically. Spiritual Application: Are we centered in our lives around God’s Will? Do we allow God to move us to the center of His will?
- Opening - the clay must be opened from just a blob of clay in order to start forming a hole. Spiritual Application: Are we open to God’s will and ready to be crafted and shaped.
- Pulling - After the clay is opened, the wall thickness must be reduced and the walls pulled up higher. Spiritual Application: Are we allowing God to stretch us and grow us.
- Trimming - As the shaping takes place, the pot often goes off-center and must be corrected and trimmed. As clay is removed the pot loses some of its potential size and shape. Spiritual Application: As we go off-center in life, God will correct us and discipline us in order to re-center our lives on His will. We lose some of our potential usefulness each time this happens.
- Shaping - This is where the pot becomes both useful and beautiful. The potter decides whether he will make a bowl, a cup, a pitcher, a jar, or something else. Spiritual Application: God wants to shape us and use us in a way that is a reflection of His character and glory.
- Glazing - After the pot dries, glazes can be added to the surface to prepare it for a beautiful finish during the firing process. Spiritual Application: God knows that certain situations we face in life will produce beautiful results later in our lives.
- Supporting Clay - Extra clay is needed at the bottom to support it and keep it from collapsing while it dries. Spiritual Application: God places others in our lives to support us. That is why the church is so important in the life of a believer.
- Firing - After the pot has dried, it is ready to be put into the fire. Only the potter is familiar enough with the pot to know if it is ready and can withstand the fire. Spiritual Application: Scripture reminds us that our deeds in life will be tested by fire to judge our own inner integrity.
How moldable are you in your life right now? At what point in the list do you find yourself?
