Month: August 2005 (page 4 of 5)

…and as he picks his brain, this falls out…

Beautiful cathedrals throughout the UK stand empty, the scene of culturally obligatory weddings and funerals in post-Christian Britain. Is the US far behind?

I’m not so sure why this sentence from Staub reminded me of the news I heard today about a church in Atlanta, not far from where I used to serve, that has just sold its property for a million bucks. Their building is in the center of several thousand people who are moving closer into town. They’re closing up shop. I’m not sure what they’re going to do with the million bucks. I know they haven’t been involved in any significant culturally-relevant ministry in years. (But of course, who I am to cast a stone? I served in the same general area for 6+ years, and may have left too soon.)

I wonder how prophetic Staub’s take is…

As usual, some things I found on the way to somewhere else, that never made it past the “draft” stage…

• What sets Starbucks apart
• Fibs we tell about premarital sex
• Nine reasons we don’t get things done
• And the follow-up: Do one or two things very well
• Building great cities – not great churches
• American pastors’ lowest priority
• My family’s fine. But I’m worried about yours
• PowerPoint image sources
• I love lists! Like this one…
• Ryan Shupe, Mormon country singer “Dreams Big”

OK, just go ahead and take a little trip right over here and find out why it is I like hanging out with Ken Miller! I’m hoping some of that thinking/writing stuff will rub off on me.

All good things must come to an end, they say – whoever “they” are. And so it is that I’m bidding a reluctant and sad farewell to a dear old friend.

This friend has been a trusted and dependable companion for almost six years. This friend has stood by me and has been at the ready at any time of the day or night. This friend has taken some of my goofiest ideas and turned them into reality. This friend has endured more than its share of sometimes not-so-great treatment and has kept on going faithfully. This old friend has done everything I’ve asked it to do and much more. But sadly, this old friend has seen its better days and so it’s time to say good-bye.

I’m talking about my HP DeskJet 990Cse printer. I got it at the very end of 1999 as part of a package with our second Gateway computer. What a great printer it has been! Until last Friday, it has worked perfectly. But something happened, and now it looks like it’s fading fast.

I’m going to have to retire it and replace it with something else. I’ll miss the brilliant colors. I’ll miss the pleasant whir of it working. And I’ll miss the automatic two-sided printing that made church bulletins a snap. I’ll even miss the sometimes-annoying error messages that try to convince you to replace the ink cartridges even though there’s still plenty of brilliance left in them.

I know it’s “old” technology now. I know that six years is a long, long time in these times in which we live. But I’m not sure how I’ll make it without my old friend.

I’m trying to decide between one of the newer inkjet printers or one of the “personal” color laser printers. It needs to be relatively inexpensive – to buy and to maintain. Ideally, it will do automatic two-sided prints. And it needs to be a loyal and faithful friend.

Any suggestions?

Oh…au revoir, mon ami.

Tony Morgan (one of the Simply Strategic Guys!) posted this quote from Jonathan Schwartz, President and COO of Sun Microsystems…

You get a different perspective on the world when you go out and participate in it.

Thanks, Tony! That is quotable!

Found over at To-Done…

• You need focus.
• You need to rid yourself of fear.
• Sometimes �great� is simply really good.
• Treat every idea like it�s got possibilities.
• Starting is the hardest part.
• Doing something great requires a plan.
• An idea is only as good as its execution.
• You have to want it. Whatever it is.

That’s the basic list. Click the link for the “annotated” list.

This quote was the first line in today’s Daily Meditation from the Henri Nouwen Society…

What finally counts is not whether we know Jesus and his words but whether we live our lives in the Spirit of Jesus.

Some things just make you shake your head and wonder. I like the last line…

The newspaper did not say whether or not Akin’s wife left him.

…but it doesn’t shape my mission and methods, I am nothing.

Good – no, great – stuff in Marty Duren’s response to an interview he conducted with Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Read the interview here, and then check out Marty’s incisive and challenging comments, like this one, my favorite among favorites in the post…

Dr. Akin said several times that we need to continually settle theology, “again and again articulate who we are and what we believe.” It is only then that we are ready to move on to the question of methodology. No. Using that paradigm, we would never be able to move on to the question of methodology. No one among the younger leaders has said that theology or the Word are unimportant; on the contrary, we have said, written and believe that it is of utmost importance. But if no methodology flows from our theology, then we have not fulfilled our calling.

Thanks, Marty…for asking the questions, reporting the answers, and helping focus the issues before us.