Joe Manafo

ticked

at the office. iMovie just crashed. lost the last 2 hrs of work on the stewardship video for december. dismayed and unmotivated to start again for the third time (yes this already happened once today), maybe i’ll let you into my headspace for a bit instead.

arrested development

just finished watching the 3rd season - hilarious. in many ways, my kind of humour: awkward, erratic, dry and sarcastic. what could be funnier?

in addition, one of the greatest things about this short lived comedy is the way each of the episodes are connected…the back stories, the overlapping themes, the seamless sequences and storyline, the well developed characters. most episodes were strong on their own and in the context of the larger picture. there’s something to be learned here i think by church communicators/teachers/overseers. i’m going to think about this some more…

incidentally, tony hale (the actor who plays the neurotic buster bluth) is apparently a jesus follower and has played a part in starting a church community in new york for artists and the like called the haven.

steve holt!

phil’s perdicament

as previously mentioned, i spent the weekend with my friend phil and some of his sr. high students at a retreat near london, ontario. now check this scenario out scholars, practitioners and other leadership types: because of the location and size of the church (outskirts of london, ~1000 weekend participants) there are students in his group who faithfully attend and are connected to their small groups
who have never even set foot on the church campus. how interesting is that? in the ever changing spiritual landscape of our age this is my first experience with such a phenomenon. maybe i’m late to this party, but nonetheless, what an crazy dynamic.

keys

in each of my church experiences my key ring could easily have been confused for that of a janitors: lots. but now as a church planter i’ve only 3 keys: car, house, blank (which carries sentimental value and belongs to no lock).

theStory

this past week we took a second stab at a ‘formal’ gathering outside my home. i felt really good about it. while meeting in our home does have its advantages, neutral space seems more conducive to our vibe. creating sacred space, if you will, for people to connect with God and each other…maybe more on this tomorrow.

.com

though bandwidth for this blog is graciously provided for my thinkerlabs.ca, i’ve finally given in - say hello to www.joemanafo.com. if you feel like, please point your browser in this direction the next time you want to waste some time.

quote

from the late neil postman:

“We can make the human tale larger only by making ourselves a little smaller-by seeing that the vision each of us is granted is but a tiny fragment of a much greater Truth not given to mortals to know. It is the technology-god that promises you can have it all. My own limited reading of Scripture tells me that that was never a promise made by God-only that we should have such understanding as is sufficient-for each one, and for a time. For people who believe that promise, the challenge of retelling our tale for new and changing times is a test not of our wisdom but of our faith.”

check out the full article over at first things.

Filed by Joe at November 29th, 2006 under Cool Links, Church Planting, Quotes, Office Stories