Bastions Of Boredom from The Work Of The People on Vimeo.

This great video done by Work of the People is a great summary of why too many existing congregations and denominations are dying. We have forgotten our mission and what God has given us and made it boring and a club. The weird part is that it is increasingly generational. The split between what Len calls the Guttenbergers and Googlers is increasingly Baby Boomers versus everyone else. The Flower Children who wanted to choose their own thing and have it their way increasingly sound like their parents – do church our way and talk our way. And guess what, their kids and grandkids are walking away and going to new congregations that don’t have the Guttenberg baggage. So while denominations print out new irrelevant hymnals instead of considering how googlers communicate and worship and congregations dither more about having the right faith statements and faithful living like Jesus, the church as we know it dies and a new, reborn one is taking its place.

I still contend it doesn’t have to be that way and Len is making that case too.

Download the podcast here.

Links:

The Work of The People

The Work of the People – Bastions of Boredom

Leonard Sweet’s Napkin Scribbles Podcast

“Kasey McMahon’s self-portrait called “Connected” is made from steel, CAT5 and other data cables. It could be a few things: a bemoaning of the hyper-connected, digitally reliant evolution of humans in the recent generation, or a surrender to that, or perhaps a declaration of independence from it entirely. Regardless, it’s an impressive and powerful and just straight-up cool sculpture.”

I find this sculpture and the quoted reflection fascinating. Have we become so reliant on being connected that we have reduced ourselves to those connections, much like the South Park episode about friends and facebook? Interesting thought and picture. Probably worth a podcast.

I’d like to say you can’t make this up but on the net anything is possible and not always real. But this seems to be for real. If not, its pretty funny.

Either way, there is something inherently wrong with this picture, not to mention the story. Somewhere the idea of stewardship and service in the name of Jesus took a very wrong turn in Austria.

Find the entire story here.

This is a first – a book review. Wired Jesus has been largely about the net but as we have all seen in the last five years, the distinctions have disappeared and nearly everything points back to the web anymore. Your Church Is Too Small is a book that speaks to me and I think will speak to many of you, Christian and non Christian alike. John Armstrong’s journey to a clearer vision of Christian unity I think speaks to a great longing of postmoderns – a connection to something older and deeper than boomer choice and right, a Jesus alive in the whole world, not just one particular tribe’s definition.

Download the podcast here.

Links
Your Church Is Too Small website

Your Church Is Too Small facebook page

Act3 Ministries

Something interesting happened Sunday in worship. I was down in Florida and hearing my dad preach for the first time in years. He had a great point in his sermon that gave me an idea, so I pulled out my blackberry, clicked on notes, and typed in the idea. It wasn’t long before I realized that my mom was staring at me like I was 8 again, as if I was playing a game.

Actually she thought I was facebooking but it does raise the question of what is or is not appropriate in worship. On one hand, I think worship is a time to move off the grid, cut the wires and focus in on God alone. However, this blog post makes you think about tweeting in worship being a good thing. Make you wonder… what if one of our teens were to tweet their friends about how awesome worship was? Food for thought.

Thou Shall Twitter In Church by Scott Williams

FYI – the graphic comes from a very interesting e-book on twitter and congregational health and outreach. Got to check it out.

Wired Jesus On the Road – U2 Eucharist, April 20, 9PM
Capital University Campus Crusade, Columbus, Ohio

Sing To the Lord A New Song: Learning The Worship Language of Emerging Generations
Tuesday, April 27, 6PM @ All Saints Lutheran Church, Lutz, Florida

Its unmistakeable, the language of worship is changing and Lutheran congregations are trying to understand what is happening. The outward signs of projection screens, praise and worship songs, and band led worship are only the tip of the iceberg that goes beyond your local community church that seems to be growing while denominational churches are standing still. At the heart of the change is not style but a missionary understanding of a new culture in our midst. Emerging Generations (born since 1964) are the product of a shift in language, culture, and faith as dramatic as that of the Reformation and, like Luther, we are called to speak the Gospel in the language of the people, all people. Join Pastor Tom Lyberg, the Emerging Worship columnist for The Lutheran, host of the Wired Jesus Podcast (www.wiredjesus.com) and senior pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Findlay, Ohio, for a casual, interactive seminar on emerging worship. We will explore understanding the differences and spiritual yearnings of emerging generations, get a taste of what an alternative, emerging service is like, and then dialog on how these ideas can take on real life in a congregation.

Register here on Facebook.

Holy Week seemed like a rough one for Christians this year. As we remembered the suffering and death of Jesus, the news seemed to focus on abuses of the name of Jesus rather than the Lord of Love.

The lawsuit against Westboro Baptist Church by the father of a slain soldier because they protest the funeral got front page news. Likewise the scandal involving the Pope, the Pope’s brother, and pedophile priest just made matter worst. So at the time when the Church is saying Jesus is risen, you get these headlines and responses that people don’t care because of how his supposed followers behave.

Then I found this video by Jason Connell on YouTube and it just was a reminder that just in the same way you couldn’t keep Jesus in the tomb back then, it doesn’t work today. No matter how wack people might be in the name of Jesus, the real Jesus shows up and, as Rob Bell puts it, loves win. In light of this video, the other side of Easter look pretty good. A young guy who never mentions Jesus once understands the cross better than the “Christians” across the street.

Download the podcast here.

Links:

Jason’s follow up video.

Rob Bell’s Nooma Video Bullhorn

Wired Jesus On the Road – U2 Eucharist, April 20, 9PM
Capital University Campus Crusade, Columbus, Ohio

Wired Jesus On the Road – Sing To the Lord A New Song: Learning The Worship Language of Emerging
Generations
Tuesday, April 27, 6PM @ All Saints Lutheran Church, Lutz, Florida

Resurrection: Rob Bell from The Work of Rob Bell on Vimeo.

Here is one of the new shorts coming out of The Work of Rob Bell called Resurrection. I’ve asked for permission to embed it but in the meantime you can watch it here on Vimeo Visually and in pace, its different than most of Nooma but its a good telling of Easter then and now.

Happy Easter!

And yes, podcast tomorrow.

Once again, I’ve been lax in paying attention to the Wired Jesus Podcast but happily doing more with Wired Jesus on the Road. As I have been getting ready for a coaching event on introducing alternative worship in traditional/existing congregations, I came across this very helpful article by Karen Ward that reinforces the key point: the mission world has changed and just because you don’t see it in your pews doesn’t mean it isn’t real. It just means no one is seeking you out or coming back.

Check out this article here.

Now that being said, yes, I am not out of the podcasting business. I just need to get my act together and get it done.