"My sermons are good, but I doubt they're in that big of demand," said the pastor.
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August 2006
August 30, 2006
August 29, 2006
open hearts, open minds, closed doors to activists
i alluded to this article already, but feel like flushing out some thoughts.
so on sunday an immigration activist (a minuteman) showed up at adalberto united methodist church to go to services.. or to start some trouble??
that article reads that this man asked permission to attend sundays service. the pastor gave no official answer. the man took this as ok to show up. upon showing up at the church he was told he could not enter and a shoulder to shoulder man blockade was made to keep the man out. i suppose this is where the fun really started. i'd be agitated too, someone keeping me out of services, but the actions (or words) showed that the true intent was not worship but to make some scene or statement.
"Behold I stand at the door and knock," Hayes called out repeatedly, his hand pumping in the air with a single pointed finger. "May I come to church please?" said the man
so i can quote some from revelations and be totally out of context. honestly i'm not sure what this has to do with the situation but to take a common phrasing of scripture and use it to some dramatic advantage.
With his arguments wending through discussions of slavery, the 14th Amendment and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Hayes said he came from California to protest because "what this woman, these people are doing is killing my people."
"They're taking our heritage," said Hayes, who is black. "They're taking my civil rights. They're taking my icons, like Rosa Parks and Dr. King.
"These people were citizens. This lady's no citizen. She's a criminal."
it is mentioned that arellano (the woman in sanctuary) had mentioned herself as being a Rosa Parks. i'd affirm that this is not the same, but someone is way off base to start claiming that she "is killing my people." she's sleeping in a storefront church.. honestly man, get a grip. she is technically a criminal/fugitive, she's certainly not a citizen (otherwise this wouldn't be news), but there is a legal process in action to keep her in the states on behalf of her son, who is a citizen & not a criminal. sad to say though, minutemen, from my vantage point, don't seem to have faith enough to let the justice system do their things, so maybe it's systemic to usurp the authority.. soon they may be the criminals.
so back to the church...
After the two-hour service, Coleman said he didn't want Hayes at the service because he didn't want to create more volatility.
"He's a provocateur," Coleman said, "and his aim and the aim of the Minutemen is to create a violent situation inside the church."
i'd have to agree with pastor coleman's assessment. this man was not out to find God in worship with their community. he wanted to create a scene within the church or to approach mrs. arellano. to this i'd say it was well within the rights to protect the congregation from such a person. was it the right thing to do?
we could find teachings from the scriptures that could argue to both sides. we welcome our enemy with love and charity, blessed are the peacemakers. then again, we protect the sheep, we do not bring false idols (even if they are in the name of justice)...
note: that is a picture of mr. hayes, apparently he's quite popular
August 28, 2006
family resemblance?
poor guy, life has to be tough when you are the spitting image of a fumbling cartoon character. ran across this pic on one of my youth's myspace pages.. couldn't believe it
August 27, 2006
August 26, 2006
friday night lights
tonight was the big rivalry game between beech high school and hendersonville high school. true to the town we have youth on both sides of the field, so i spent the evening walking in circles stopping to talk & take pictures.
the game was great, it looked like beech was going to handle hhs easily, but towards the end of the 2nd half hhs almost tied the score (missing an extra point) 14-13. then a little (and i mean little) skat back broke out for a 60 some yard run to the goal line. beech poked it in from there 21-13. however, after that hhs scored and sent the game into overtime. beech scored on their first possession with 2 point conversion 28-21. hhs took over after that, but was picked off by a beech defender. game over.. lots of energy, lots of shouting, i got a play by play on a fight, but a lot of people walking around hanging out with friends. this is friday night lights in tennessee
August 25, 2006
interesting...
even the good kids can be bad sometimes
is this the epitome of a church showing grace or a safe sanctuaries violation to upmost degree? both?
some nice words about the episcopal church from the wanna be orthodox anglican communion folks
you just don't see this every day. teenagers and young adults protesting in support for their polygamist families. thanks rev mom
August 24, 2006
your heretic thoughts
[speaking of Christianity in the world] The question, however, becomes whether or not we regard it as important that the peoples of the world call themselves Christian or that they benefit from the teachings of Christ, whether they embrace Christianity or not.
Maybe the greatest gift the Christian religion can offer the world right now is to remove itself from the battle for God. Perhaps it's time to release the claim to universal privilege it grants itself as the only "true religion."
your thoughts?
methodist youth bloggers
i've been really excited about the growth of methodist youth blogging. they don't necessarily deconstruct the church (which is what a number of us methobloggers do) but they reflect on their lives which i think is a wonderful practice of their faith. natalie is one girl whom i love to read out of georgia. locally we've got three bloggers in emily, johnathan, and kyle.
August 23, 2006
t-minus one month and counting
let the countdown begin, one month to go
the Wedding of Erin Elizabeth & Gavin Edward
September 23rd at 6:00pm
McKendree United Methodist Church
Nashville, Tennessee
everyone is invited (bloggers too) to the wedding ceremony for erin & myself. you're welcome to create your own reception at sports bar at the downtown hilton in nashville, we'll join you after the reception ends and i have thrown on my flip flops.
my inner geek says, visit our updated site. www.erinandgavin.com
August 22, 2006
giving sanctuary
in a modern clash of government and church, many of you may have heard of Elvira Arellano, a woman who is seeking sanctuary in a united methodist church since last tuesday from imminent deportation. found this interesting, a radio show did an interview with her and the pastor, walter coleman. you can read the transcript or listen to it.
tuesday randomness
- the sbc thwarts a plot to put real wine in communion sippie cups
- pretty sure i am glad i don't have to think about voting for this guy
- iranian president ahmadinejad apparently has a blog...
- on the postive note, these are future sumo wrestlers
- could it be, a security flaw in myspace. say it ain't so!
- ut is the top party school in nation.. wrong ut local readers
- i love how the worldwide anglican communion sees the u.s. as a mission field in need of saving
- wasn't this Christian reporter just doing their job?
- i want to know where jennifer and emily are seeing these church signs in smyrna
my favorite sign.. 
August 21, 2006
my new pj's
in the category of "what were they thinking" armor of god pj's??
thanks john, i wet the bed
you can't get away from it
my sister sent me some pictures of one of her business trips to china. this trip she apparently had a side trip to the great wall. apparently even within the great wall you can get a caramel macchiato.
he forgot how to be a worship leader
he forgot he was a worship leader, which makes him a great worship leader. taking a moment to give some love to a new friend in my life. jeff morrison is a friend who i got hooked up through my old mountain top connections. he and his wife moved here with their children with a heart whisper from God to come to nashville, that there was something for them to do here.
since coming to town we met up within his first two months in town. i immediately liked jeff and found a friend in ministry. we plugged him into our youth ministry institute retreat which was just awesome. jonathon and i were tired without ideas and jeff shared a song he wrote inspired by a prayer of Saint Ignatius. "rich enough" is the song, i wish i could put a plug in of it on here, maybe later.
so coming back to him being a worship leader that forgot he was a worship leader. this is how i've described him to others. from many of the worship leaders i've been around, more than some less than others, he's one of those folks whom i never notice. he sings and plays beautifully, but it's never so much that i cannot join the singing of songs without confidence. i loose myself within his leadership much like i do when i just sit around and play by myself. there is never a presence of 'stage presence' (or as eric has said before "worshiptainment"). another blessing came last weekend when we had our youth ministers retreat & training at hfumc. i asked if he could lead some songs for our small group of gathered clowns. all who were there can share the same that we were truly blessed by his gifts and ability to let us find our voice in worship, some old hymns a few new songs, awesome.
so i gushed on about my friend here. if you'd like to meet or chat with him check out his website for info, to read his blog, or listen to his music.
Bishop Rhymes H. Moncure Jr
sad to report that Bishop Rhymes H. Moncure Jr. passed away this weekend. i never knew the man, but i never take lightly the death of church leaders who show what it means to be Christian.
Though Bishop Moncure had considerable administrative duties supervising 325 congregations, he still responded to requests for pastoral care. One came earlier this year from Willie Tichenor, a 19-year-old from Highland Park who was dying of cancer.
rest in peace bishop, apparently you'll be giving Jesus a big hug in heaven. we will lift up your family and congregants in our prayers.
August 20, 2006
when churches seek to do the right thing
i am really proud of my church this weekend. some weeks ago our congregation was visited by some missionaries from Uganda. they spoke of the growing aids crisis and the rise of numbers of orphaned children due to the death from aids.
our church, which really is full of compassionate people, asked the question of "how can we help?" to this the response was expressed a need for more orphanages and support in taking care of the children.
so, as good southerners we know that people in the south cannot resist a good yard sale. a crew of people organized and promoted for a month a church wide yard sale. folks dropped off items to donate on thursday, the group sorted and organized it out for sale. peeps showed up early on friday morning, set up, and the sale was on (even before the official start time to the sale or before they were done setting up). i checked in friday noon shortly after taking this picture and we had already raised over 4k dollars. i contributed a bit, buying a nice mirror for our new home, and then going to pick up a computer desk from a home. mostly though, i've been a smiling observer to this endeavor. in the end over 7k dollars was raised which is just 2k short of funds needed for a new orphanage building. it brings a smile to my face as that our church responded to a need in taking care of the worlds children. no, it's not all the world, but it's a start and maybe our little part.
it's one of those moments in time that i'm proud to be a part of the church.
however, as a member of the church and in relationship with the people making this run, i'll claim that we have done a great thing here.
August 19, 2006
an evening with the girls
this past wednesday i spent an evening with some of my girls participating in what has become a ritual gathering for them. last year they got together in mondays, this year it's wednesday, where they descend upon one of my dad's man-room (over developed tv room with leather couches, you get the idea) to watch laguna beach.
apparently this is quite the phenomenon of a show. cynic would say that this is a teenage reality show with little teenage reality. the teens are real, the relationships are real if you are okay with producers saying "go call this person" "invite these people to this party" "go ask so-and-so about their relationship." oh, and it's in laguna beach orange county which is like no other persons reality in the world. this all frames some odd scenes of conversation & physical encounters that create uncomfortable moments that wouldn't necessarily happen in real life.
to my girls credit, they were very aware and emphasized their disgust with certain personalities that were mean spirited. a gasp for a scene where some of the girls used some mean passive aggressiveness to show they didn't accept other girls. a few laughs at some "bushism" type grammar, in the effort to sound smarter. the guys, other than being the next top model are pretty regular teenage guys. you can tell some of them don't care to get caught in some of these conversations where the girls ask pointed questions, that stuff only gets them in trouble or shows true intent.
why this is such a phenomenon of a show? i have no idea. surely youth cannot relate to these people. the drama possibly, every teen has their own drama that is the end of the world for them, but not the surrounding set. i say the surrounding set is important because at the end of the show they did a cribs type tour around all the teens homes.
my fear is that this becomes a reality that our teenagers will continue to perpetuate false pretenses on life, body image (fear this more as these are teenagers, not adult supermodels), status of success, and healthy conflict resolution. my hope is that this is a transparent reality show that youth see as being far from real.
otherwise, it was nice to hang out with some of the girls
August 18, 2006
blast from the past
this i think is the last time i wore a black tux (wore some gimmick tuxes a few years ago), my senior prom in '93.. i look a little different now. wonder what i'll look like for the upcoming wedding.
youthworkermovement project
pleased to announce that jonathon and myself are going to be developing and putting on a new youth ministry podcast through the YouthWorkerMovement. we're hoping to put together a series of podcasts to help ym's gain a greater understanding of solid theological & spiritual ministries as well as practical nuts and bolts in implementing.
youthworkermovement is a networking and resourcing initiative of the united methodist church & the foundation for evangelism.
August 16, 2006
August 15, 2006
jill carroll story
the christian science monitor is doing an 11 part series with jill carroll about her experiences being a hostage within the war in iraq. not sure about you but i'm finding it fascinating.
August 14, 2006
hidden power of electronic culture
recently i finished reading shane hipps new book "the hidden power of electronic culture." due to a busy summer it took me all summer but i must say it's one of the best books i've read over the past few years. i was expecting some real general thought on recent technology and effects on culture specifically circled around church. however, i was blown away with some deep probing into history to uncover behaviors and truths. i found myself saying over and over again things like; "hey i've wondered why we do that? never thought that this was why i was so frustrated."
great for me is that the book is accessible for us non-academics. this is a great read for laity and clergy in laying out the groundwork for approaching ministry. reading this will give one a new lens that sees why we'd do certain things in our lives & ministry and gives reason for asking questions to faithfully move forward in ministry that is of the gospel and not of our culture norms.
one of my fav short excerpts comes relevant to a previous post.
Spectacle is not an entirely bad thing; there are clearly elements of worship that call for excellence and are rooted in performance, drama, and reenactment. However, left unchecked, spectacles actually work against the creation of authentic, missional community. Spectacle creates publics, not communities. credited to
another thought that i take away from his shared thoughts are that power of the parable will become more influential in the postmodern era as multiple messages are carried through a parable versus the modern teachings of a linear path, found in the letters or Saint Paul or the book of John.
my one critique would be a general mention of the emerging church conversation. you can get the impression that this feeds the promotion of the emerging church, but if you look closer it's under the same critique, but it is illustrated a bit more how they are adapting to this power of technology to be relevant as church.
highly suggest making this one of your reads in the coming year
church sign idea
if this were our church sign i'm sure i'd have a picture very similar to this. wonder if this idea packs the pews? tip: kairos
a spectacle for "ministry"
jamey attended a service at one of the larger churches in the area. apparently as part of a spectacle for amusement to the children the pastor had different barnyard animals run around the church and then gave money to the children for capturing some of the animals. people scrambling to pick up poop before it got treaded over and into the lines of comfy chairs. suffice to say people on his blog are not too happy, but one guy hit it right that this is a spectacle event. jamey admits that this had nothing to do with the message, the cheerleaders that tumbled down the aisle did, but not the animals. this was just a stunt to get people into lines of comfy chairs (having trouble calling them pews). i understand the role of the 'seeker sensitive' church in the evangelical community, but this doesn't help to build the Kingdom of God.
Pastor Maury Davis has been known to have an unorthodox preaching style. Davis grabbed two chickens and threw them into the congregation and choir, offering $20 to any student who could catch them. Davis wasn't finished, after the chickens were safely back in their cage, he turned ten little pigs loose in the sanctuary and more than a hundred kids squealed after them,...
...turning the church into a barnyard. Sheldon Fiddler thought it was cool. It was all for attention and after word spread of what Pastor Davis had planned, the church was packed. No one wanted to miss this. But do these extreme measures belong in church? Isn't worship supposed to be reverent and sacred? Davis says, that's just a matter of opinion. While the message may not necessarily be what these kids will talk about in school, Davis believes what they heard may somehow have a bigger impact on their lives than what they witnessed.
to give some thought to this. 1. it cannot be given creedence of being preaching when there isn't a tie into the gospel message. this is marketing. so i'd give the pastor props for being an unorthodox marketer, but then again, it's not unorthodox marketing, except for the scene of the spectacle. in my opinion worship should be reverent ushering in transformation and sacred centered on God, not a distraction to the cultural norms of the world. being in my role i can resonate with davis's emphasis for being relevant to the children, but his tactic is "of the world" not set apart as Christ calls us to be.
again, i'm reminded of this quote shared from a friend. "what you win them with is what you win them too." which makes it a struggle for me to understand these pastoral thoughts of "what they heard may somehow have a bigger impact on their lives than what they witnessed" because what they heard had little to do with what they witnessed and we know that remember more of the images we see than the exact wording or phrasing of a full talk.
as a youth minister in my area, conerstone is one of those 'competition' churches that i frequently interact with. i claim that i don't compete as a youth minister, and so far, my church doesn't put an emphasis on "the numbers" we've come to the point that to be fullfill a gospel message and live a Christ like life we are counter cultural in practice & praise, which doesn't do spectacle for the sake of spectacle. to me this is kingdom building and the place where the people of cornerstone and other spectacle churches will find their way too when the church can't do anything more exciting to get people into church except maybe to blow up the church.
note: if this is rambling or disjointed, more than normal, make note of prior post...
August 13, 2006
August 10, 2006
new book to review
in my perpetual punishment of my "multiple book disorder" i've engaged in previewing "a heretic's guide to eternity." thanks to the free copy from the ooze folks. i'll give some thoughts in the coming weeks. this is authored by spencer burke, who is a founder of the ooze. i used to read his blog until he stopped writing on it.. it's still there though.
things gavin
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