I’ve Been Everywhere, Man…
ready to roll?
Summer Round-Up
This past July and August represent for me the most restful summer I’ve had in a long time. Lots of beach time, lots of people in and out of our house, lots of bbq’s and of course, this.
Genesis Reading
As a church community, theStory is going to spend the next 8 months or so wrapped up in the stories of Genesis. To be honest, it’s been the most fulfilling and informative study of the scriptures that I’ve ever done. Genesis truly establishes a framework for how we understand God, humanity and the scriptures themselves.
Here are the excellent books that have helped along the way:
Genesis: Walter Brueggmann
Old Testament Theology Vol. 1: Israel’s Gospel: John Goldingay
Dominion and Dynasty: Stephen Dempster
Genesis: Laurence A. Turner
The Search for Order: William Dumbrell
Other Reading
The Sacrament of the Present Moment: Best line so far, “there is nothing easier, more ordinary, more available to all than saintliness.”
A Profound Weakness: Christians and Kitsch: I’ve got this thing with what I call ‘Jesus Junk.’ I’m fascinated by its allure and cultural saturation while at the same time horrified at the same time by the fact that it devalues the image of God rendering it as cheap as the plastic these knick-knacks are made from.
Sanctuary Pocket Liturgies: This looked rad, so I ordered it. First time buying from Lulu. I’ll let you know how it goes once it’s delivered.
Mind Mapping
Any time I flesh out an idea, I Mind Map - my whiteboards are my best friends. And since we are truly endeavouring to work in team at theStory we’re testing out the Mind Map thing online. Below I’ve pasted one of the first drafts of the map from our October series “What Does it mean to be Human?” I think it works. Nathan’s not convinced…yet. This, btw, is the web based program we’re currently toying with. You can’t tell from the jpg, but on the real thing you can embed notes, pictures and url’s. It appears to be a great online collaboration tool.
People
This week was so great. In the world of early church planting where you’re ’selling’ the idea and slugging it out trying to infect people with the church planting bug, it is so great, I repeat, so great, when the right people begin to fall in the right place. To Heather and John: Thanks. I’m so glad you’re finding your place.
theStory.ca
We retooled the site. Check it out.
Goodbye Powerpoint
…Hello Keynote. Thanks to my good buddy Chris for purchasing a copy for theStory. For me, it’s so much easier to use than PPT and in conjunction with the other Mac programs, its seamless. On a side note, back in the day I downloaded Remote Buddy (an excellent, inexpensive [$15] application that I highly recommend) so that I could use the remote that came with my Mac for Powerpoint…but now, of course, it automatically works with Keynote. Seamless.
Quotes
I can’t remember where I read this, but that doesn’t really matter I suppose:
“In a flat, wiki-world, Reformation is not likely to happen through large movements or charismatic leaders. It’s going to happen as small groups of revolutionaries begin meeting locally to begin plotting together how to change the world with God’s love.” (Mark Clawson)
And this one’s a keeper…
“…preaching is building a bridge from the world of biblical truth into the world where real people live. I find that helpful because it’s not starting in the world where people live. There are a lot of preachers and people who talk about preaching who begin in the world where people live, and you deal with issues in real life, where people struggle, and then eventually you build a bridge back to biblical truth and demonstrate the relevance of the bible to their particular need. I struggle with that… I see preaching beginning in the world of the bible, and then you build a bridge into the world where people live. It lets me know where I need to begin and where I end up…” (Ed Dobson)
Documentary
This week on the doc blog I’m going to post info on the next 11 churches we’re going to hit up in Ontario and Quebec this October. Also of note, I was contacted this weekend by Cam Roxburgh the president of Church Planting Canada. They’re interested in the doc and showing pieces of it at their upcoming conference in November. I think this could be good for the project.
SomaState
My buddy Jason, formerly the music guy for student ministries at WKC, is fronting a new band. They’re called SomaSate - check ‘em out.
For the Record
I’m in a good place these days: Favourite place to be in my favourite season of the year.
Filed by Joe at September 16th, 2007 under Church Planting, Quotes, Documentary, Current Reads