This is a line illustration I did to illustrate one of my son’s limericks he wrote when he was younger and being home-schooled. It was quite funny and I decided to illustrate the theme of it just for kicks. This is what came out.

Boy Kicking Cheese

A friend named Jake Bland mentioned this blog site and post in a report he recently wrote, that I had an opportunity to scan. The post is called “Nobody Cares About Your Website” and was written by Eric Murrell. Media Salt’s tagline is: God isn’t bland. The Church shouldn’t be, either. Looks like a really interesting site worth checking out.

In the recent issue of Christianity Today Magazine, there is an interesting quiz that helps one determine their “ministry age” by answering a series of 25 multiple choice questions. It was developed by Jimmy Long of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship to foster dialog between younger and older leaders about diverse views and to contribute to better understanding.

I just completed the quiz and my score was 39.

The possible meanings are listed as:

• Ages 25 – 41 Younger Leaders
• Ages 42 – 58 Pragmatic Leaders
• Ages 59 – 75 Traditional Leaders

Which makes me a “Younger Leader” even though I am 55 years old. If you know me, I guess that explains a lot!

What’s your score?

I work in a high-rise skyscraper in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The Men’s Restroom is shared by all the men on our floor in typical commercial office building fashion. Recently I noticed that the toilet paper rolls had a new little label on them as seen here:

Toilet Paper Rolls

If you take the time to read the label this is what is says:

“Help Reduce Waste Of Our Natural Resources, Please Use The Other Roll First. Thank You.”

Here is a close-up for your verification:

The toilet paper roll label that I just don't understand!

Now, I don’t get this. How does using one roll before starting the next one “Reduce Waste Of Our Natural Resources?” The building janitorial service comes into the restroom at least twice a day to fill empty toilet paper rolls because they are all used up. The same amount of toilet paper is used either way. Who cares which roll is used first, or if one is finished before the other? Where is the waste?

It seems to me that there is more waste created by printing up thousands of little white labels with adhesive backing, using green ink (get it, “GREEN” ink!) than in just leaving well enough alone! Hasn’t anyone thought about the additional trees it took to produce the labels, and the chemicals required in making the ink and the adhesives?

I am just as concerned about our environment and energy shortages as the next person. But, can we have a little more sanity about it? I mean, it takes huge amounts of energy and resources to produce a hybrid, energy efficient automobile. Has anyone ever asked if the energy used to make the car “energy efficient” is ever “saved” by the few extra miles per gallon it gets on the highway? We need to be asking about the NET energy and environmental impact on the ideas we dream up, BEFORE we implement them as policy or as a product! Consumers need to be asking and demanding answers to the NET effect of green technologies.

I used to work with a nuclear physicist from Argonne National Laboratory in the late 70’s and early 80’s named Dr. John Martin. We would sit at lunch and talk about these issues and “do the math” on the so called “energy savings” of various high-tech answers to the energy crisis. Invariably it would not take long to see that there is actually a NET energy loss or a negative environmental impact on most of the things people dream up… as illustrated by this toilet paper “green” label. This was not the case with most “low-tech” approaches or with conservation measures.

In closing, why is every word on the green label capitalized and why is there a comma at the end of “Resources?”? If you’re going to add waste and negative environmental impact, you might as well do it with correct grammar.

Sunshine Gospel Ministries serves the inner city Woodlawn neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. Like many Christian non-profit ministries, they rely heavily on funds donated by supporters. Usually, this means putting on a big fund-raising event like a banquet in the fall of the year, in order to raise the funds they need for the coming year.

This year, Sunshine has done something unique and different. They decided TO NOT HAVE A BANQUET! They came up with the idea of a virtual fund-raiser that would take place online, saving thousands of dollars, loads of time and energy, and make it more convenient to reach more people by extending the event over a three-day period.

Headstand Media created the virtual benefit website at www.dreambenefit.org using Flash technology and other state-of-the-art web 2.0 techniques. The site features great music performances, rich graphics, videos and social networking tools that enable anyone to share and follow the news about the event and the organization in Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

I personally vouch for the trustworthiness of this organization. I encourage you to check out the site, explore this urban ministry and consider making a donation. The money you give may change the life of a young person.

At the very least, share the site with your friends within your social networks. Let’s encourage more organizations to use the money given to them in these kinds of more creative, informative, efficient and effective ways.

As mentioned in an earlier post, a good friend recently gave me a book to read by Dr. Larry Crabb entitled: “Real Church: Does it Exist? Can I Find It?” I have finished reading the book and have been reflecting on it and discussing it with good friends since then.

Dr. Crabb spends the first 20 chapters or so outlining his own personal struggle with “church” – why he doesn’t want to go, why he feels the way he does about it, things he observes about it, ways that it is strong and ways that it is weak. He doesn’t really get into any “solutions” until late in the book. When he gets into the solutions, I especially liked chapter 23… “Let the Conversation Continue.”

In this chapter, Larry sums up his journey with 5 main thoughts that he believes if they could be realized, would make a huge difference in his life, his experience of “church” and they would impact the way we do and experience “church” in 21st century North American culture.

Thought #1: Truth is a Two-Way Street

Some evangelicals will have a hard time with this statement. It sounds like there is more than one Truth, or that there are more ways to find it than one way. This seems to go against the grain of orthodox Christian doctrine that believes there is only one source of Truth and only one way to find and know it based upon the claim of Christ:

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father, except through me.” – John 14:6

However, this is not the way Larry means it. He stipulates that it is true that there is God’s Truth. It stands: unchanging, solid, immoveable. He reveals that Truth to us through the Word and the Spirit. Agreed.

However, in order to experientially receive that Truth, we must also find out and admit what is true about ourselves.

To illustrate, Larry writes about a time when he tried to pour water into a glass, not realizing that it was upside down. The water fell all over the place outside of the glass and made a big mess. It was only after he turned the glass right side up, that it was able to receive the water and fulfill its intended purpose. He rightly observes that so often we are upside down when it comes to God’s Truth. We don’t and can’t receive it because we are not in the right position. We are upside down.

Instead, Larry suggests that we need the red dot approach to truth. His example is that of a shopping mall. We want to buy some new running shoes, so we stop at the mall directory. On the map we are drawn to the red dot labelled: “You Are Here.” This is the truth where we must all begin.

Then we find the location of the running shoe store. There is a distance between where we are and where we must go. There is a path and a journey we must make to get there. This is the truth we are now ready to receive.

“God meets us where we are, not where we pretend or wish to be.”

Our job is to pay attention to where we really are and to enter into that reality. Only when we do that can God enter our reality with His Truth and bring about the needed spiritual transformation.

In light of this thought, perhaps “church” needs to start with a “red dot” personal assessment. Perhaps we need to focus first on turning ourselves right-side up before we go on pretending we are someplace or somebody we really aren’t. Perhaps God would be able to actually transform us and the world around us if we were more willing and able to admit who and where we really are and reposition ourselves to receive what He wants to do in us and through us.

I wonder why “church” isn’t the safest place for this approach to take place? How have we allowed it to often be a dangerous place for real transparency and authenticity? I myself and many others I know long for a red dot experience in church. We have a sense that this is what “church” was intended to be. We are tired of pretending and leading largely unchanged and untransformed lives.

I see a “red dot group” in my future. How about you?

Dinesh D’Souza writing in “What’s So Great About Christianity?”

Some Western analysts describe the religious revivals around the world in terms of the growth of “fundamentalism.” This is the fallacy of ethnocentrism, of seeing the world through the lens of our own homegrown prejudices. Remember that fundamentalism is a term drawn from Protestant Christianity. It is an American coinage that refers to a group of early twentieth-century Protestant activists who organized against Darwinian evolution and who championed the literal reading of the Bible. Fundamentalism is a meaningless term outside of this context.

I couldn’t agree more. So, can someone please explain to me what this word has to do with the Taliban or any other militant religious extremist? Can we agree to stop using this term indiscriminately and focus on what we are really meaning to say?

Well, Dotster didn’t give us the big award, but we did get an honorable mention in their “Next Big Small Business Contest.” I still think Headstand Media did pretty good, and I personally like our submission best. I just think we didn’t gush all about “Dotster” like the others…. so we didn’t win.

Special thanks to my team: Matt Ritsman and Taylor Birkley for writing and producing the video, Benjamin Nelson for acting and helping with direction, Louis Parks for his cameo role, and Kyle Williams for moral support.

We couldn’t have done this without each other! You guys are good!

I just saw this Public Service Announcement (PSA) video posted on Michael Hyatt’s Blog. Warning, this video is graphic and SOBERING!

Recently my company (Headstand Media) was selected as a finalist in Dotster’s Next Big Small Business contest. As a final step in that process, contestants were asked to create and post a video about themselves online at Vimeo. The creative minds on my team put together a video spoof based upon a typical “National Geographic” style documentary. Enjoy!

Headstand Media – Dotster’s Next Big Small Business Entry from Headstand Media on Vimeo.