spitbox

The Parasitic Church

dustinbryson — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:50:22 -0600

yes, parasitic - not paralytic.

or, for an alternate title: can Christians NOT have a ministry?

so, i’ve been thinking about this: to EACH is given a spiritual gift to serve the Body…

1) EACH Christian is given a spiritual gift.
2) the gift is for the Body - not the person.

so, if we’re IN the body, we should be serving the Body. there’s a piece of His Spirit that only we can give to the rest of us. otherwise we’re just taking in the benefits without contributing. can i be so bold as to say we’re actually robbing the Body of what only we can give? there, i said it.

i’m not talking about new Christians, the ones that Paul alludes to that should be drinking spiritual milk. i’m talking about the grown-up meat-eater Christians, that can stomach the real stuff. and, yes, part of maturing is realizing and utilizing your spiritual gifts.

example: how crazy would it be for bands to have talented members who just stood there & didn’t sing/dance/play, but they still received ALL the perks of being in the band?

OR - think about how crazy it would be for my healthy right arm to decide it wanted to survive off the benefits of my body, but not contribute anything. we call those types of entities parasites.

par·a·site /ˈpærəˌsaɪt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[par-uh-sahyt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun

1. an organism that lives on or in an organism of another species, known as the host, from the body of which it obtains nutriment.

2. a person who receives support, advantage, or the like, from another or others without giving any useful or proper return, as one who lives on the hospitality of others.

3. (in ancient Greece) a person who received free meals in return for amusing or impudent conversation, flattering remarks, etc.

—Synonyms 2. sycophant, toady, leech, sponge, hanger-on.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

if we’re not giving, we’re just taking.

here’s a personal example: i greatly value those with the gift of encouragement. especially when i find myself serving in ministry capacities that involve drama or frustration or grumbling… but, if those encouragers don’t bless me with their gift, then my ability to lead can be greatly hindered by extreme discouragement and weariness. but, they get to sing and worship every sunday.

what do you think about this? too harsh? too cynical?

By Mandy Thompson

More Confessions

dustinbryson — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:18:00 -0600

After admitting that I enjoy two pretty cheesy shows, I had a great conversation with a mentor of mine last night.

What is the Christian assessment of entertainment?

Entertainment is probably the biggest idol in our culture (pun somewhat intended), and I'm afraid that I buy into it a lot, and I don't really like to think about that.

I could sit down and watch 3 NFL games in a row EASY. I could play Halo for 6 consecutive hours EASY (and, last week, I might have come close!). But then I talk about not being to find time for people like my mentor, or I talk about how worn out I am, or I talk about how it's difficult to find time to devote to prayer and study.

That's crap, I just choose having fun over doing stuff that matters!

So there we have sort of the first principal in the question, how do we balance work and entertainment?

The second, and I think more difficult question, is what sort of things are innappropriate to be entertained by? If I believe that war is wrong, should I really be spending hours shooting at pretend spacemen on Halo? If I believe that marriage should be the context in which two people become one through sex, is it wrong to watch The Office; where Michael Scott and Jan have a sexual relationship outside of marriage? Am I in a really small way, lending support to these views that are not what I say I believe? Am I being honest with myself in saying that I enjoy the commradery of playing online with my bros, and love the witty humor in the office apart from the afforementioned issues? Or is that like the classic: "I don't listen to the words, just the beat" that no body ever believes?

Worst of all, I feel like such an old fogey saying all this!!!! Help!

By Adam Mustoe

Living with Freaks

dustinbryson — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:13:23 -0600

Before you let out a sigh and “Crap here’s another person talking about “community” I think I’ll barf and go read something else more interesting” I just want to say…I probably have nothing new to add but I hope its interesting! Just don’t barf at the end of this post

“This most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: Life is a story about me.”

Community is such a tricky thing because it can mean so many different things in this tech savvy world we live in. The line between our neighbors/friends/acquaintances/contacts are all very blurred. Just yesterday one of the coolest things happened to me that came from this blog. Out of the blue, I got a phone call from someone who reads this blog! People ask me all the time, “Why do you blog? I don’t get it.” For reasons of community I say. Which is true. If you don’t get blogging, goodness let me blow your mind with this thing called Twittering :) And then I laugh and they have a puzzled look on their face.

But I think in a grander sense of the word, community is sharing life together and there is just so much we can share here together online. I am feverishly waiting to hear of Fred’s son’s condition. I’m scared to get over to Los‘ blog and check out the Compassion update because I know I’ll dive into the content and get lost for the entire day and I have to just wait until I have more time this evening. But sharing life with those around us who we can touch, see, laugh, and cry with requires work. It’s hard most times. I think it really boils down to the offspring of pride. Sharing my story with someone can return me with ridicule or worse yet: complete apathy. When the story’s all about ME, those two responses are unacceptable! Someone who is disgusting to work with, rubs me the wrong way, voted for Clinton and eats Hot Pockets can be someone else’s project today, I have enough friends to keep up with without having to work hard for another one. Or perhaps it’s the example in the closing of Don’s chapter that rings out in my gut: Those people are so ungrateful every time I do something good for them why would I even bother sharing my time and energy with them?

Community certainly can happen all by it’s self but I’ve noticed that often times it requires us to be intentional with those around us. It’s awkward and uncomfortable at times. It doesn’t always end in friendship. However, our story isn’t all about ME. We aren’t center stage in the play about ME, MYSELF, and CONNER. I think I need to be better about this.

If we are not willing to wake up in the morning and die to ourselves, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether or not we are really following Jesus.
-Don Miller, Blue Like Jazz

By Conner of Worship City

Bloggers Take Over Uganda

dustinbryson — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:59:00 -0600

Chances are, you have already heard about this but it would be odd for the Blog started for bloggers by bloggers didn't actually report on it ...

So, here is the scoop:
Fifteen(ish) bloggers from around the nation are being flown to Uganda by Compassion International to raise awareness of the plight of others.

But your like "bro, we already know about Compassion & hungry kids in third world countries."

Really? I don't think you do, because if you did, you would sponsor like 6 of them and not go to Starbucks, but I digress.

These awesome souls will be live blogging from the country for an extended stay. They are asking (so in turn we are asking) that you read all their blogs. We want you to smack them upside the dome with hits, and comments, and trackbacks, and love.

This will hopefully cause a blogosphere frenzy like no one has ever seen. Below is the list, start hitting them up, watch the videos, repost the videos on your blog, and make this thing happen.

Your blog could be a part of the change we want to see in this world.

Do it.

Joe Carter http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com and http://www.frcblog.com/
David Kuo http://blog.beliefnet.com/jwalking/
Randy Elrod http://randyelrod.typepad.com/
Chris Elrod http://www.seekersolutions.typepad.com
Carlos Whittaker http://www.ragamuffinsoul.com/
Heather Whittaker http://whittakerwoman.typepad.com/
Shannon http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/
Sophie “Boomama” http://www.boomama.net/
Anne Jackson http://www.flowerdust.net,
Phil Ware http://blogs.heartlight.org/phil/
Doug Van Pelt http://www.hmmagazine.com/blogs/doug
Shaun Groves http://www.shaungroves.com/shlog/

Compassion Staff

Spence Smith http://spencesmith.typepad.com/spence
Brian Seay http://brianseay.wordpress.com/

Photographer

Keely Scott - http://keelymariescott.blogspot.com/

Cluttered People

dustinbryson — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:32:07 -0600

Feeling way to busy? Is your mind, body and soul tired? Here are some good thoughts I came across from Charles Swindoll:

Uncluttering Our Minds. 5 sources of mind-clutter common to the 21st century. (1). Most of us say yes to far too many things. (2). Most of us do not plan time for leisure and rejuvenation. (3). Most of us rarely experience the joy of accomplishment. (4). Most people living in wealthy countries owe more than they can hope to repay. (5). Most of us fool ourselves into thinking that with our modern technology, we have simplified our lives.

Clutter as the enemy of simplicity. Too much clutter in your minds leaves insufficient room for devotion to Christ.

Maintaining an uncluttered private life. (1). Do you spend adequate time with God. In order to do this you have to make one tiny yet powerful word as a regular part of your vocabulary. The word is no. (2). Have you become a cluttered person within?

Maintaining an uncluttered public life. (1). Are good things keeping you about God's best? (2). Are too many material possessions draining your energy and leaving you exhausted? (3). Are activities outside your home stealing time from those within the home?

Silence and Solitude: Slowing our pace. May not the inadequacy of much of our spiritual experience be traced back to our habit of skipping through the corridors of the Kingdom like children in a market place, chattering about everything, but pausing to learn the value of nothing (A.W. Tozer).

By Jamey Johnson

My Struggle With Being Significant

dustinbryson — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:30:03 -0600

The struggle of wanting to be significant is something that i battle with quite often. i have desires in my heart to be a world changer…to have something to say…something worth listening to…something that will influence, inspire, move, & change people. i see other peoples writings & think that mine is sub-par compared to theirs. I hear a great musician & i’m either moved to quit playing all together or practice even more. i see a photographers photos & i want to put my camera up for sell on ebay. i see a husband that has a wonderful family, and it makes me think i need marriage counseling. all of these thoughts in my head…day in & day out. i struggle with being significant.

the definition of significant is this
significant |sigˈnifikənt| adjective 1: sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention; noteworthy

why do i do this? i’m not sure. some days it’s there & some days it’s not. are my motives pure? or are they self-centered? is my drive to honor God? or is it to honor Bush? i want to believe that my drive & motives are pure…and i think most of the time they are. But i also know there are times when my motives are not…and that kills me. i was reading in Luke this morning, and the words jumped off the page at me. Jesus defined significant & what it means to be great. these words have resounded in my heart, and they give me hope. they give me hope to fight the struggle with wanting to be significant.

Luke 9: 46 An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. 47 But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side 48 and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

By Steven Bush

Mobilizing Pastors by Steven Bush

dustinbryson — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:19:01 -0600

world meet Kite Kasim. a muslim that accepted Christ, and gave his live to preaching the gospel here in Shashamene in one of the most muslim populated areas. his family is muslim,and they disowned him when he became a believer. they beat him up…stole his hair-cutting tools & camera that he used to make money for his family…and threatened to kill him. he said, ‘if you kill me…then i go to Jesus.’ he has dedicated his life to ministering to his family & muslim community. he walks 8-10 miles each day to do ministry in this part of town. Innovative bought him a bike on this trip to help mobilize the work that he was doing. you would have thought we gave him a million dollars…when in reality it was a $100 dollar bike. he loved it…the gratitude he had was something i have never seen. it was amazing to see the joy on his face. you too can mobilize pastors…

by Steven Bush

When Nougat is More Meaningful than God

dustinbryson — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:10:24 -0600

By The Prodigal Jon

I read a lot of advertising magazines right now. Part of the reason I do is that I work in that industry, but I also read because I think advertising is an interesting mirror on our society.

Nothing is accidental anymore when it comes to creating messages. It’s all calculated with research and focus groups and persona studies and traffic reports and ROI. Knowing that, when you see an ad it’s fairly safe to assume that something in our culture has created a need for that ad. That is, an ad that talks about how easy it is to get carpet installed was created because a lot of consumers told the advertisers that getting carpet installed was difficult. So that need was met with a new message.

This is why a recent quote in the magazine Communication Arts, frustrated me a little. It wasn’t necessarily the words they used. It was more that their words reflected back on the church and in some ways, me. Here is what they said:

“As traditional institutions, such as government, the church and the schools, fail to provide meaning, consumers will increasingly turn to products and services to find meaning in their lives. Savvy companies that can align themselves with the core values their customers find meaningful, and do so authentically, will prosper in an economy that’s increasingly based on meaning.”

It’s not surprising that advertisers try to create meaning with their customers. Meaning or as the CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi calls it, a “lovemark,” with a customer means they won’t leave your brand. Even if you mess up, as Apple did with their recent iPhone price drop, people will feel too attached to your brand to go somewhere else.

The difficult part of that quote is the idea that the church is failing to provide meaning. As a result, consumers are looking to other products and services for meaning. Like the Luna candy bar. Instead of saying, “Hey, come eat some nougat,” Luna’s website says, “Food feeds our souls …” which is a bit of a stretch. I love Willy’s burritos in Atlanta (don’t mention Moe’s in the same breath) but rarely has a meal there fed my soul.

So then, if the church is failing to provide meaning, what does that mean? What does that look like, why does it matter that millions of dollars is spent every year telling people nougat is more meaningful than God?

The answer to those questions and many others is longer than this post could ever be, but I will say this –sometimes the creative work we develop for the Lord is horrible. The easy example of this is all the milk rip offs, “Got God?, Got Destiny?, Got Jesus?” Imagine if in the Old Testament Solomon had said to God, “Hey, the new temple is about to open and there’s this really popular local advertising campaign called ‘Got Camel Juice?’ I was thinking about changing that to ‘Got Temple?’ Nice right?”

That is such a dumb example but it does reflect a bigger problem. The creator of the universe deserves to be represented creatively. He deserves a web site better than the one the son of a staff member at a church can create. He deserves postcards that don’t have typos and bumper stickers that herald his splendor instead of amplifying our own shame, e.g. “Real Men Love Jesus.”

This might be a pet peeve of mine, but in Malachi I felt like God called into question the creativity I offer him. Forget for a minute your monetary tithe. How are you, as a Christian, tithing of your time and your talent? Lots of people get treasure right, but time and talent are a challenge.

I confess that often, God gets my scraps. He gets my leftovers. My creative throw aways that I would be embarrassed to give to my boss at work. He gets my 15 minutes in the morning and maybe a few minutes of prayer in the car on the ride home. How does that make him feel? Here is what Malachi 1:13 says,

“When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the Lord.

I confess that my time and talent are often injured, crippled and diseased.

Why does that matter? Because creatively speaking, God designed me for so much more.

In Exodus, we get a pretty detailed picture of how important creative people are to God. In fact, the artists and craftsmen were the second group of people God consecrated. After Aaron and the priests, God focused on the designers. Imagine if churches did that? Imagine if the second person hired after the senior minister was the senior designer? Would that shift in focus change the way the church and God are represented in this country?

And in Exodus 36:2 we see an even more direct description of how the tabernacle and ark were built:

“Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work.”

When I first read that, I thought about what an amazing opportunity it must have been to be able to build the ark, the very temple of God. And in a heartbeat, God convicted me that I have that same opportunity to build his temple every day. When I expressed confusion he reminded me of 1 Corinthians 6:19 which says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,”

Foof. That was like a punch in my creative face and is why I honestly try to make these posts as insightful and creative as possible. (Minus that horrible camel juice reference above.)

I hate when people treat the church like a piñata. It’s such an easy thing to do, to pick on the cheesy stuff we do, or the bad materials we create with budgets that are admittedly microscopic compared to the Luna bar folks. But it can be better. I have friends that are using their creativity to the fullest. They are giving God the firstfruits of their artistry. Carlos Whitaker at www.ragamuffinsoul.com, Tim Challies at www.challies.com, Julie at North Point Community Church, Gabe with Catalyst, Donald Miller and countless others. God has blessed me with friends that sharpen how I reflect His glory.

Today, I want to challenge you to look at your creative offering to the Lord. Is it crippled and damaged, like mine all too often is? Or is it choice and pure and beautiful, deserving of the father of the world?

What's So Special

dustinbryson — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:34:02 -0500

Where is the special effect?

I've been workig on a movie for about a year now. I wrote the original script in December of last year, and I've been pecking away at the thing ever since. In the last few months Jim and Scott have been helping me shoot it. The other day we finished a scene that takes place at a gas station. It's a montage of me pumping gas, and one of the shots shows the credit card reader as I swipe my Visa. The white outline of a visa insignia set against the black metal of the card reader is visible in the shot, and I got to thinking about what I would need to do if I had to remove the symbol. Technically, it wouldn't be that difficult; it would just take a lot of time (for me, at least. I know some kid half my age could probably do it in 15 minutes, but it would take me a few hours, as I would have to take each frame into Photoshop and paint the thing out).

If I did that, I feel confident you wouldn't be able to tell. It would be as if there never had been any insignia visible in the shot. So in this case, the special effect is not designed to draw attention to some detail, but to make the shot nondescript.

It got me thinking that the best special effects are those that don't draw attention to themselves. They're special not because they look special, but because they look real. They fool you into thinking that no sleight of hand has taken place.

An example: The two images shown above both contain special effects. In the photo at right from Matrix Reloaded, Neo fights a few Agent Smiths, and while it's some nice eye candy, we all know it's fake. Our suspension of disbelief (if it's still intact in this case) compels us to forget that it's fake. On the left we have a single frame from Citizen Kane. In this case, it looks as if nothing much is going on: no CG, no gliding through the air with keyed-out wires, but there is a special effect. In actuality, Orson Welles in the foreground is not even in the room at the same time as Joseph Cotten and Everett Sloane in the background. They had a scheduling conflict that prevented all three actors from being present at the same time, so in this case the special effect was used to make it look like they were all there together. And for me it worked. I would not have ever known that the three actors weren't together if I hadn't been the uber film nerd that listens to Roger Ebert's commentary on the film.

It may seem like a leap, but my next thought deals with God. I thought it was interesting that we always hear people demanding signs from God. We want to see something special that will prove He exists. We want miracles. It all of a sudden seemed a bit ironic that we demand flashy signs from God, when (if He is as creative and powerful as the Bible says He is) there should be no hint of unreality in His work. What's special about His creation and His work is not so much the miracles of healing or walking on water, but the miracle that the human body works in the first place or the incredible wonder of the laws of physics and hydrodynamics that make things like reflections in a lake or the grandeur of pitching barrels at Pipeline possible.

These "mundane" things-the chemical, physical and biological processes that make things work-are so special, so miraculous, because in spite of all their complexity and intricacy, we take them for granted as being normal.

ht: Ford, like the car

A Response to SpitBox & Fake Pastors

dustinbryson — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:52:17 -0500

i read a blog post today over at spitbox called "blog honesty". this guy is talking about how he reads a lot of christian bloggers, specifically pastors, and that they appear perfect because they never struggle with anything. i can see his point. i know that i struggle with being fake myself as a pastor. the problem is, people only want authenticity when it agrees with them. i don't know about the people over at caffeinated faith.com but i've had several conversations this week where i felt inauthentic.

i listened to a woman tell me that the music in our sunday morning church gatherings is too loud and that she doesn't want to have to leave the church, but that all her friends are mad and they might have to leave if the music doesn't get quieter.

that's garbage. she doesn't have to do anything. she and her friends can choose to leave the church because the volume of the music is more important than the relationships, teaching and other things the church has to offer. that's fine. just don't tell me you have to leave. that's a copout. (my language there was edited by me for public consumption. after all, i am a pastor)

but what did i actually say? "that's tough. i don't want to downplay the seriousness of your concern, but it's a very complicated issue where live instruments blah blah blah. and we'll never make everybody happy so we've chosen to focus on blah blah blah."

of course she didn't hear a word i said. she simply reinstated her plea as she left to be picked up by her husband who wouldn't even speak to me (being one of the main people who is offended by the loud music)

and then earlier this week a fella i know from around town who's a part of our church casually came into the office to reserve a space for a baby shower for he and his girlfriend's upcoming baby. I congratulated him excitedly because that's exactly what i was supposed to do.

what i really wanted to say was, " are you crazy? you weren't even sure how into this woman you were last time we talked. are you even gonna be around to raise this baby? she's already got another son you're gonna have to raise and, no offense, but i'm not sure you've thought this through." and of course they hadn't thought it through, it was an accident.

by the way, this isn't to say that i appreciate authenticity that i disagree with any more than the next person. i'm just acknowledging that this whole "emerging" or "emergent" or whatever-the-hell-you-wanna-call-it movement is extremely concerned with authenticity and yet, in my personal, totally fallible estimation, has neglected to count the cost of such open honesty. that's not to say that we shouldn't go there, let's just try not to romanticize it so much. i mean, what's romantic about a more complicated life, lots of hard conversations and a lot of hurt feelings that will, hopefully, with the holy spirit's involvement, lead to some growth in the long term?

ht: emanation