Wired Jesus Podcast

Had this podcast ready a week ago but didn’t have time to get it posted. If you haven’t had a chance to play on a Wii, you are in for a surprising treat… even if you can’t blow anything up. What I found this past Easter is that the Wii may be an emerging venue for the re-formation of family and community.

I know, its sounds wack but take a listen.

Download the podcast here.

Featured Congregation
Check out Jacob’ Porch, the Lutheran Campus Ministry at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. Pastor Jay Gamelin is very real about creating authentic community not only for the students on campus but in ways that “regular” congregations could learn from. They are even doing a U2charist next month! Its good enough almost to make of Michigan fan like me give a little love toward the Scarlet and Gray.

Almost.

Program note: I had some issues with Audacity on my Macbook Pro while recording this podcast, so I’m not completely happy with it. However, with a temporary lock up that almost cost me all the data, I just burned the mp3 and posted it, minus some level editing and some background music I didn’t intend, so its a little rougher than normal. I figured you rather have the podcast than none at all this week..

 Wired Jesus Podcast 42 - When Wii = We [16:52m]: Download

Have you ever wanted to the chance to just talk with Tom directly or have your pastor listen to Wired Jesus? Pastors, have you been looking for someone on the onside to come into your congregation to introduce your leadership to the emerging culture that is all around them? Have you wanted to explore the world of experiential worship but believe you need a guide to get you started or take you to the next level?

Now you have the chance with Wired Jesus On the Road. For the next few months, I’m available to preach, teach, and coach leaders and congregations personally and on site. For an agreed honorarium and travel costs, I can bring what you love best about
Wired Jesus live to you and your congregation. Here are just some of the possibilities:

Supply Preaching:
I’m available to come and preach in your congregation, either to cover a pastor on vacation or to preach on emerging culture in support of the vision of your leadership. If you are in a denomination in full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (PCUSA, RCA, UCC, ECUSA, ECLIC to use the tribal codes), I can also preside at Communion.

Adult Forums:
If you have already invited me to preach, options can be expanded out from there to a Sunday morning adult forum. Interested in an adult midweek series, if you are in the Chicagoland area, that is a possibility as well. Topics can range from understanding postmodern/emerging culture, to guided book studies that are tailored to your congregation’s needs and direction.

Leadership Consultation
Would you like an opportunity for your congregational leadership to better understand the mission field of the 21st Century and their opportunities to engage it? Are there challenges involving a community transition, such as a rural congregation now experiencing suburban sprawl and a new culture on their doorstep? Is your leadership looking to transition from a committee-based form of governance to a team-based model? All these are areas of expertise that have been shared in personal consultations with other congregations and are now available to you through Wired Jesus On the Road.

Worship Consultation
Congregation worship stands at the core of any Christian community and therefore is often a difficult area to introduce change. Often, having someone from the outside coach a worship team or even come in to share a new style of worship for a single Sunday as “an experiment” can open the door for change. Wired Jesus On the Road can make that possible, from meetings with worship teams to cover the basics of experiential worship to helping you host your own U2 Eucharist.

Pastoral Coaching
Often times, being a parish pastor can be a very lonely place, particularly if you have a connection to the emerging generations who are increasingly missing from Christian congregations. Even other pastors may not understand where you are coming from and question your beliefs. That is where having the accountability of a personal pastoral coach can make a tremendous difference. While Wired Jesus is always there for conversation, an intentional coaching relationship is one step beyond. Via email, Skype, or even face to face, Wired Jesus On the Road can offer the opportunity for a contracted coaching relationship for helping pastors understand their leadership choices and navigate change management, personal spirituality, and pastoral growth.

A Flexible Alternative
Wired Jesus has been about exploring the edges and wandering where the Spirit leads. Wired Jesus On the Road is aimed at being a flexible alternative for pastors for continuing education and an affordable resource for congregations for learning and leadership. If you would like to discuss working with Wired Jesus On the Road, just email Tom Lyberg at tom@wiredjesus.com or call at 630.888.8093. You can always learn more at the Wired Jesus Podcast website at www.wiredjesus.com.

Download the audio promo here.

 Wired Jesus On the Road Promo [8:34m]: Download

Okay, I’m really getting tired of reality shows. Even a foodie like me has a hard time watching the third season of Top Chef… and its here in Chicago. However, my wife and boys like American Idol, so I took a break from fragging demons in Hellgate: London and came downstairs to watch the finale of the Idol benefit concert. It was cool to see the Wilson sisters (always been a heart fan) and was pleasantly surprised by Fergie’s contribution to Barracuda.

But then came the closing and I was left puzzled. Okay, “Shout to the Lord” (along with “Awesome God”) is a catching song but its the late 20th Century “Amazing Grace” - nice to since once a year but any more than that and its “oh, no, not that again.” A nice song but so over used its become tiresome.

Yes, I picked up leaving the name of Jesus and despite some of the blog buzz, no big deal. Its PC network television - I expected no less. What I didn’t expect was this nod to the Christian music scene that frankly had no connection with the ending montage, or seemingly to the rest of the show.

I guess I came away from the performance thinking it was a lot like the Church today, at least in the West. Nice tune, doesn’t really say a whole lot, and disconnected from the rest of the show. If the Time-Life Worship collections are any indication, Praise and Worship is stuck in a rut - three collections of CDs with virtually the same songs, just different artists (and often not even that.)

Perhaps its just that old cycle of life that was talked about in Ecclesiastes (”there is a time for every season). I think Idol/reality shows are getting tired and disconnected, and so is Praise & Worship and a fair number of our congregations.

Maybe its time to sing a new song…

Personally, I don’t think pastors do enough biblical preaching. I don’t mean taking a verse, word by word, old style expository preaching. I mean that we don’t do what Jesus did and connect the Bible with real life and realize that we are part of God’s story, that there is still a conversation going on.

Thanks to David Fredin for his Garageband help, I checked out his blog and podcast and found this little gem. Now even though the Lybergs are Swedish, I don’t speak the language but this clip is in English. Somehow, I don’t think this is what Biblical preaching is about.

No information on who this preacher is or where this sermon happened and probably just as well. It certainly is way too much information for his congregation and it doesn’t do any favors for taking either Christians or the Bible with any seriousness. God save us from ourselves.

I’ve been working on an online worship resource for our denomination’s publishing house, Augsburg Fortress, for the past two weeks. The goal is to get pastors and worship planners to contribute sermons, worship service elements, music, and media resources that will be indexed and available by subscription. I’m just finishing up the worship service and media resources for a sermon series on the Ten Commandments called Dreaming Big. I was cruising YouTube and came across this movie trailer called 10 Things I Hate About Commandments and felt the need to share it. Its ancient Egypt as Pharoah High School and Pharoah and Moses vying for the love of a girl. God is Samuel L. Jackson as Principal Firebush. I love it.

I’m actually recommending it for the resource that could be used with a high school group discussion on the commandments and connecting it with real life. If it wasn’t for the f-bomb at the very end, it would considering using it in a worship service with a congregation that has an open sense of humor.

Yes, there are some out there.

Enjoy.

Judging from all the emails, straight mp3 is what folks want. So here it is.

Download #41 - MP3 format - here.

 

 Wired Jesus Podcast 41 - MP3 Format [16:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I have received several emails from listeners who don’t have Ipods but use different mp3 players about Podcast #41, namely, they can’t listen to it. Garageband only generates ACC files, apparently and Audacity won’t import them.

I’ll try and get a straight mp3 version up later today.

Let me know if you prefer just a straight mp3. If enough of you want that, I’ll drop the enhanced podcast experiment.

My good friend and pastor, John Armstrong is launching a new book with his writing partner, Fr. Thomas A. Baima, this Sunday and I wanted to let everyone in the Chicago area to come join the discussion. If you have ever wondered what the differences and similarities are between the major Christian tribes regarding Communion, this is the place to be. I led the last forum on postmodern mission and this should be a good one as well. Here are the details and a link.

Understanding Four Views on the Lord’s Supper

at a discussion between the editor

Dr. John H. Armstrong

and one of the authors,

Fr. Thomas A. Baima

Join us at

Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church

905 South Kent Ave.

Elmhurst, Illinois 60126

March 30, 2008

6:00 PM

John H. Armstrong
Who should participate in the Lord’s Supper?

What happens when we eat the bread and drink from the cup?

What do Christians dis agree about and what do they hold in common?

These and other ques tions are explored in this thought-provoking book

President of ACT-3: Accessing the Christian Tradition in the Third Millennium

Thomas A. Baima
Provost of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake / Mundelein Seminary

Click here for more information from Act 3.

Questions or comments? E-mail us at tbaima@usml.edu or call 847-970-4866

As promised, a podcast on some wired wanderings linking the previous letter, a mashup from Daily Source Code, and Footloose.

Sometimes life just gets a little weird is this is one of those times. Perhaps the uncertainty of the economy, politics, and daily life is starting to get to some folks, so we opt to try and find control in other ways, including trying to control God.

The featured congregation for you today is Vox, located in Archbold, Ohio, my old stomping grounds. Vox is a postmodern worshipping community that is part of a local Mennonite church that meetings in an old factory in the village industrial park. Archbold is where I served as pastor from 1998 to 2006 and met Drew Moser, the pastor who started Vox. Archbold is the home to Sauder Woodworking – they make ready to assemble furniture – and has a population of 4500 people. Yet Vox is there, still doing well in a town that might look a little like the set for Footloose at first glance. But Vox is reaching postmoderns who live in small town Ohio, proof positive that we have met the wired world and it is us. So check out Vox, a postmodern church in small town.

As I mention in the podcast, this is the first podcast I have tried since learning to use Garageband on my macbook pro. I’m not sure I like it better than Audacity but I’ll do a few more tries and see what happens. The sound for this podcast is a little rough for my tastes but I work on it some more for next week’s podcast. Yes, its already written, I will just have to record it. Amazing.

Download podcast here.

Oh, if you want to hear the Daily Source Code episode with the mashup, its show number #737 Daily Source Code for Friday March 21st 2008 and the mashup is Queen vs Satan by DJ Lobsterdust, who has some great mashups for download.

 Wired Jesus Podcast 41 [26:21m]: Download

Ok, I know folks who home school or have home schooled their kids and they turned out just fine. However, just like churches, you always have a few folks who give the rest a bad name, or at least a weird one. I’m not into home schooling, but this home schooling doesn’t need.

When I found this, I just couldn’t resist sharing it it. I have altered names, the state and city where this happened, the Christian organization that was responding to this heathen event and let you read the rest.

Dear Parents

Please join us for a community forum at our house to share ideas and reshape the mission of the next dance event. We need Christian families and your students to come to our meetings to help us take the lead in providing a safe and fun alternative to the illicit dance events of the past.

“No sex on the dance floor?” You need to announce that before a “Christian dance?” They don’t make that announcement at my son’s public high school here in the Chicago suburbs. His thought was that no sex on the dance floor or anywhere else in the school was pretty much a given. Must be some pretty pent up libidos to have 20% of your home schooled dancers having hetero and gay sex on the dance floor to Christian music.

Seriously, its sad to see letters like this, for a multitude of reasons.

Reason enough for a podcast, now that I think about it.

Tomorrow.

Consider this a teaser.