church

been thinking a lot about church lately and a whole boatload of things related to it, but what i want to talk about today is assumptions in church. what are the assumptions we have about church? about the people that go to church? what are these assumptions based on or formed off of? when we talk about assumptions we realize there's a subjective component to them, ie someone has to form an assumption. if its based on empirical research or fact, it's not an assumption, it is what it is.

whether the assumption is true or not is not entirely relevant, the more important thing is to realize that yes, we are making assumptions and then determine if these assumptions are beneficial or harmful.

some assumptions i've noticed at church, we'll just talk about our regular worship service:
- our church is not a singing church, we just dont get energetic for worship
- christians in general SHOULD enjoy musical worship
- congregants respond better to contemporary music as opposed to hymns
- people can only sit through about 4 or 5 songs
- we need 4 or 5 songs to really engage people
- our church isnt ready for other artistic expressions of worship (art, dance, etc)
- our churchgoers don't read the bulletin
- congregants should respond in some way to the sermon
- a response song is necessary after the sermon to help people respond

now obviously some of these assumptions may be dead right or wrong, but these are the questions we should be asking ourselves. within your own church's context, what are the assumptions that are made? not just in worship, what about with your children's program? what about with finding leaders to serve? what are the assumptions in sports ministries? identify the assumptions, and challenge them to see if they are helpful or harmful in achieving your church's mission and goal.

teehee we got you again! :)

this ones from alex, random artists doing covers of other random artist's songs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Live_Lounge_covers

look some of them up on utube, there's some pretty hilarious (bad) but also some ridiculous (good) stuff up there. ie the fray covering shakira's hips don't lie, as well as travis doing hit me baby one more time.

nyc in less than a week!

:'(

bigfoot is rubber, c/o alli.

BOLT.



HOW TO WIN A RACE:

Wake up at 11.
Watch TV.
Eat some nuggets.
Go back to sleep.
Eat some more nuggets.
Find a baggy shirt and get dressed.
Untie your left shoe.
Warm up by posing and doing the robot.
Jog the last stretch.
Look back at your opponents.
Pump your chest.

The food that fueled Bolt's record run left much to be desired. He skipped breakfast and snacked on fried chicken meat. "I woke up at 11, sat around and watched some TV," Bolt said. "I ate some lunch, had some (chicken) nuggets, went back to my room, slept again, went back, got some more nuggets and went to the track."

OLYMPIC GOLD!!!!!!!!!!



leave it to an asian to win it bahaha!

in other related news, you gotta love yang wei. is it possible to face any more pressure than what this guy must have gone through?



also of note, bigfoot is still alive and out there.



the DNA results for the supposed "bigfoot" came back 97% possum.

josh



the story.

I AM SO RED!!

i guess that is what happens when you lie out on a dock for 3 days in a row bahahha wicked weekend!

just got home from the brooke fraser show, she is hella good!



GTG/FTL:
$13.75 tickets = GTG
paying $1 extra for parking b/c we arrived 2 minutes too early = FTL
seeing lots of friends = GTG
seeing so many asians = FTL
grabbing three chairs = GTG
waiting for the show to begin = FTL
the show beginning = GTG
listening to the yeti whisper songs about his failed marriage = FTL
brooke = GTG
sweaty brooke = FTL
irish accents = GTG
crappy sound and ppl talking = FTL
arithmetic and shadowfeet = GTG
more yeti ruining the encore = FTL
yelling for brooke to sing hosanna = GTFG

BIRCH RUN!!!

almost two years since our last trip down and 2 cast members have been replaced but this year is looking to be the shizzle. we head down tonight and we're staying overnight in detroit tomorrow. not quite detroit actually its a suburb called dearborn which has one of the largest arab-american populations in the usa. GTG. here's hoping we come back alive!

music that is good

found my old stash of cds been listening to moist and olp omg

its all about lyrics that dont make sense but you sing them out loud and proud anyways:

from moist resurrection = animal the way you cut them might be, animal the way i cut you from below

uhhh okay... wtf are you talking about david? who are you trying to cut from below?? and another one:

olp automatic flowers = a pop-up book of flowers from grade four are driving her insane

wtf does that even mean?! that is so messed

regardless the music is still awesome lol and i will continue to blast it in my car to confuse and befuddle passengers!

today at work we had a really awkward meeting where the organizer kept asking questions and no one answered her, it was amazing. she asked very behavioural type questions that a shrink would ask, like asking 'why' really quickly even after you give an answer as to probe further, or saying things like 'im sensing blah blah blah'.. a bit uncomfortable but totally unintentionally hilarious, what a complete waste of time especially when we're so busy at work.

sexyback

from scl: omg1 and omg2

Father's Day

One of my favourite ESPN articles of all time: holy ground.

MY LIFE IS COMPLETE



okay glendon was there too but hes taking the picture. we saw shane and shane (see link on left) last friday, they were playing with some guys called starfield or something, who knows. they said i was old school when i had them autograph salvation still remains and rocks wont cry, and shane e signed as 'caleb' on ssr bahahaah. even though they opened for starfield (what a travesty) they were about twenty times better than them, like a totally different level of musicianship.



and then we met shane b's wife, bethany dillon who is friggn awesome too. glendon took a picture of her ring rofl

stuff christians like. just about the greatest blog ever.

open thoughts:

1. here's an interesting idea: to get what you want in life you need to be a jerk. if you're too nice, you inevitably end up getting screwed by people who have no problems being jerkish. if you want something, you better be prepared to be unaccommodating, selfish, and narrow-minded - that's the best way to accomplish your goal. if you're too kind, flexible, and unaggressive, you'll end up with the short end of the stick.

2. sometimes christians fail to use simple logic, it continues to amaze me how utterly stupid some ideas are. use some bloody common sense. if it doesnt make sense in any other aspect of life, why would it make sense simply because its a ministry setting? along those same lines, dont use ministry as an excuse to treat people poorly.

3. we need more business principles in the church, or at least people who know what they're talking about. im not saying that if you're not in business you're an idiot, but there's so many things you learn in a business/commerce undergrad that would be so useful in a church setting. how to undergo change transformation, for example, and using appropriate change agents.

4. no more open mics at church. better to dictate what is being said than to have a lunatic up there ranting about this and that.

5. practice what you preach.

Sunday's Coming

UPDATE!!!

3 cny dinners in bad traffic = gtg
8 bbh + 12 za = best raps game ever
canoe w/ shar - parking = great!

did you lent anything? is lent even a verb? to lent..

i started school again and i handed in my first assignment late. amazing!

A very merry Christmas to you and yours, from Mavs Man!