Joe Manafo

updates and then some

here’s a smattering of what’s been going on in my orbit…

what a day
we hit 23 celsius in sarnia today, and i had the the privilege of spending most of the day outside with my kids. 4 different parks, some bike riding, backyard play, helping daddy clean the car and a loooong walk. what a gift.

theStory
for those who are cheering (or jeering…ask me about this sometime) us on from afar, it’s my pleasure to inform you that things are going well as we’re beginning to find our own groove. this past sunday in particular, it seemed that all the pieces were working together…imagery, message, dialogue, kids, the vibe…it just fit, not to mention we had 40 adults & 7 kids present…a new record. that’s secondary though. what’s jazzing me is the people that are showing up and beginning to connect. a beautiful thing it is.

driscoll interview
like him or not, there are things to learn from mark driscoll’s experience. listen to an interview here on the topic of church planting. some interesting stuff despite the annoying interviewer and the fact that driscoll sounds like he’s bagged. items of note…”we had 800 people coming to the church and were having a hard time making ends meet”…”i spend a full 24 hour day in silence and solitude each week”…”i’m the greatest”…(haha that one was between the lines)

drivingoncitysidewalks
congrats to barry who’s hooked up with red plane records (an indie lable out of france! freakin’ myspace) he’ll be on a compilation and ep out this summer. if you’re unaware, barry’s written original stuff that’s been used for the short films we’ve put together for theStory/thinkerlabs.ca. way to go barry!

300
saw the spartan saga on sunday night (yay for the weekly lent break). neat flick. i liked the colours especially. i’d describe it as gritty and red. jer tipped me off that some of the dialogue and screen shots were directly lifted from the comic. you can see some of the comparisons here.

stupid church signs
i’ve seen some misguided signage on church lawns in the past (my favourite: someone call 911 - this church is on fire!) but last night i saw one that left me disheartened. it read something like this: ’spiritually empty? come in for a refill’. where do you want me to start with this one? i’ll forgo you the pain and just say this: when we turn Jesus and the gospel into a product that is consumed we’ve not only missed the point of his death entirely, but we also cheapen the good news and rank it amongst other band-aids and quick-fix-it schemes. deplorable is what it is.

my street
my street is experiencing a rebirth. most of its residents have been hanging their hats here for 30+ years, but now, new, young families are starting to move in. in lieu of the beautiful day (and march break), the road hockey gear was out, kids on bikes and scooters…what a neat site for this otherwise quiet crescent. in addition, we’ve made friends with the family across the street. they have two boys the same age as ethan and ella. we often chat about neighbourly things, our kids play together, and we had them over for dinner recently. look at me all grown up…

sex god
i’m just about done rob bell’s latest offering, sex god. not bad, but for me not as important a read as velvet elvis. google it and you’ll find a variety of opinions and reviews. my viewpoint: bell is who he is. take him for what he is and what he does best, and that’s connecting thoughts, ideas, images and stories and using them to illuminate biblical truth. essentially the book is a nooma without video. incidentally, when the neighbours came over for dinner last week, we gave them a tour of the house which included the bedroom. i wonder if they saw the book face up on my night table. i wonder if that will ever come up in our neighbourly conversations…

restoring justice
march 24th, epiphanea will put on their second conference in oakville, ontario. i’m hosting the event, and am most looking forward to hearing ron sider and sylvia keesmat. if you’re in the area, do yourself a favour and be a part of things.

new forms of church documentary
some travel plans are beginning to materialize…this is more work than i thought….

anyway…

i hope this post finds you well.

Filed by Joe at March 13th, 2007 under Rants