My Dad took this of me in Chicago

"The Pursuit of HappYness"...worth a few bucks

My parents and I went to see Will Smith in "Pursuit of HappYness" tonight at the local theatre. As I saw the previews a month back I knew this would be a thought-provoking flick, and I was excited to check it out. It's interesting to watch an american movie on a very american subject looking at this idea from two different extremes. What is happYness anyway? Is the pursuit of it like chasing after the wind? Will Smith grapples with this idea from both the top and bottom of the American caste system. I like a movie that, for one, is based on a true story of a real dude and can fit soup kitchens, wall street, homeless shelters, and 49ers skyboxes into the same scene. In the midst of a season driven by buyng and getting, it is definitely worth your time and money to take a break from the shopping rush to go check it out. Question... what is happiness to you? What does success look like? You might just tweak your answer a little after seeing this movie. I give this film a B, a solid B, for a realistic look into the battle to keep life together in the midst of financial struggles. I like the ideals of sacrifice and following your purpose that often get pushed away into an awkward corner. If not viewed through a careful lens the movie can be misinterprited as a holiday prosperity wish that makes rich and happy into long lost buddies. Watch this one with a careful eye and let me know what you think.

Emergent Church..what is emerging?

Have you ever gone out for a walk and not known where you were going? Or taken a Sunday drive just to cruise in your car with your windows down and your favorite CD pumping? I hope you have. Those are some of the greatest joys for me in life, and I need to make a point never to get too busy for them. Lately I've had thoughts doing that in my head- thoughts about the Church. Christ's bride, the Body, the organism that will exist until we see Jesus face to face, the hands and feet of God on this earth- thoughts about her have been stewing a little bit. The specific thoughts I have are regarding the idea of the emergent Church. I've bantered with many of you about this subject...is it appropriate to call it that? Is there something distinctly happening in the Church now that never has before? Are we over-doing it on ideas, books, and new philosophies about the age old topic? So here's what I've been thinking... If the Church truly is changing in a big enough way to get a new title I hope we are not focusing on the title more than the emphasis behind it. In other words, I hope we are not so caught up in it that we lose the point. I see this season of the Body of Christ like a marriage- I can see many people (me included sometimes) so focused on the wedding that we forget about what lies beyond- a life of sacrifice and service. While the wedding is fun, a kind of party even, it lasts only for a short time. SO WHAT LIES BEYOND FOR THE CHURCH? Only God knows, but I do wonder how long we can call it emergent church...when will it stop emerging from the cacoon and turn into something, anything, a butterfly maybe? We can't call it emergent forever because IT IS HEADING SOMEWHERE. Humans like movements. We like following a new band, watching a friend grow and devellop, and political movements surely have their sway. I'm a little afraid that in the midst of following some new emergent idea we lose sight of the God behind the movement. If we are going to be caught up in a movement I hope it is a change that has found us and not a change that we are dragging behind us with all our might. The emergent church movement will die at some point, all movements do, but the Church will not. I challenge you to fall on your knees and worship God and remain attentive to the changes that He might have in store for His Body. Change is normal, healthy even; we just need guidance to remain reactive to God's pulse here on this globe. I hope the Church is doing more than just taking a joyride around the block in the 21st century... I am curious to see what this journey will look like down the road. I'd love to hear your comments about this! God, may we have the wisdom to know what is of YOU and what is of us as we question how your bride shall be respresented in the times ahead...

Bored?

Besides the phrases "Why"and "No" the phrase I hear most from kids is "I'm bored". I hate to hear kids say this, I hated hearing friends say this as a kid, and frankly I don't ever remember being bored. Our culture seems deeply focused on the idea of being entertained. It's early Friday evening...you're home from work...and you pick up the phone to call a friend. The first thing that comes out of your mouth- What are you up to tonight? What are we gonna do? Our constant entertainment is growing up generations of people who are entertained for moments but for the rest of life they are...bored. What about you- are you bored? Be honest for a second- Do you like your life, your 40+ hours a week working for the man or woman? A while back my brother JR and I saw the Will Ferrell flick "Stranger than Fiction" and had various discussions about it. I loved it. It didn't bore me at all in fact. The story revolves around the idea of a guy working a boring job living a boring life around boring people. I don't know if you've seen this flick, but I'd recommend it now or sometime in the future when you happen to be bored and you're at Blockbuster. Is there more than a zombie walking through a monotonous life doing some dead-end job in some cubicle somewhere? The only thing worse than little ankle-biting zombies running around are grown up zombies stumbling around through life. Is there more beneath the predictable routine...I think so.