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Introduction To The House of Carr
Introduction To The House of Carr

Strange Bedfellows Revisited

Tim over at The Blurred Brain had some thoughts about my Narnia post. While I can understand [and even agree with] some of the points he made, I'm not sure that he fully understood the main thrust of my posting. So allow me to take another wack at it here. I'm going to try to explain what I think he thinks I was thinking . . . or something like that.

What I think Tim's point is:
We need to support/encourage good Christian art, lest we lose it all together.

My response:
I agree. We should put our money where our mouths are and support high-quality, wholesome art [such as Narnia and Lord of The Rings]. If we don't, we shouldn't complain when all Hollywood produces is crap. I'm with Tim here.

My continued qualm:
What role should the church play in this? I'm all for individual Christians using word of mouth to spread positive reviews. I'm even for pastors making recommendations of movies in the pulpit. But do we need to have our churches publicly endorse films? You might not think there is a difference between individual and pastor support verses church support, but I think there is.

When churches allow themselves to be an extension of a studio's marketing campaign, who's using whom? Sure, we might "get what we want" when it comes to quality media, but are we selling ourselves out? Connect the dots: Disney owns ABC who produces Desperate Housewives. You see any churches encouraging parishioners [twice in two days, YES!] to join a "Gospel According To Wisteria Lane" Bible Study? Despite never have seeing Housewives, I don't have a problem with this. But I doubt Zondervan has such a Bible study in the works.

Regardless of the good intentions of the artists, studios have but one use for churches: to make them money. Sad, but true. We just need to accept it.

My desire:
Not that we Christians merely react to culture, but transform it. The late Bob Briner wrote a book called Roaring Lambs [how about that for an Aslan connection?] in which he encouraged believers to avoid the Christian sub-culture, step out and make a difference in the "secular" world. It's a good read and coincides with this conversation.

Your thoughts? Let us know.

Yikes! [theologically speaking]

Bear with me, friends, as I feel the need to wade into a pool of theological debate.

Years ago I started reading books about the impact postmodern thought is having on society and how that effects the way we spread the message of Christ. It's been an enlightening journey as I have learned a lot about philosophy, theology, and people in general. About two years ago, Kelly and I attended the second ever Emergent Convention, sponsored by Youth Specialties. Emergent was a group of younger evangelical Christians who were proclaiming the need to try new things to reach out to the changing culture for Christ. Seemed like our kind of people. While at the convention, we encountered some crazy/wack stuff: spitting into jars, yoga, and bicycle labyrinths all done in the name of experiential faith.

Even though this stuff was a doobie short of a Dead concert, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I've met so many weird conservative Christians that I had to grant some latitude to those on the other side of the tracks. But what I couldn't accept was some of the theology that began to "emerge" from the Emergent folk. For instance, some there have begun to propose that there is no literal hell. I find this hard to swallow. As a Christian, I believe Jesus was/is God and was/is perfect. And Jesus believed in hell [example: Matthew 5:22-30, 10:28, 23:33]. Therefore I believe in hell. Sure, hell isn't popular, but you have to teach it as being Biblical.

Well it's getting worse with Emergent, as their most press release has me ready to dismiss them altogether. This month they announced a dialogue with Jewish leaders [Synagogue 3000] concerning the possibilities of elevating social justice issues among their groups. I'm all for friendly relations between Jews and Christians but, I swear, this press release makes it sound like were all on the same side. Check out this quote from an Emergent leader about the collaboration:

"As emerging Christian leaders have been pushing through the polarities of left and right in an effort to find a new, third way, we've been desperate to find partners for that quest. It's with great joy and promise that we partner with the leaders of S3K to talk about the future and God's Kingdom."

You might not be disturbed by this, so I'll explain why I am. Not to sound like Captain Obvious here, but the difference between Christians and Jews is a belief that Jesus of Nazareth was Messiah. Yeah, this one little fact has cause somewhat of a rift between our two faiths for about 2,000 years. Because of Jesus, we view things differently. When we as Christians elevate the cause social justice [or any cause for that matter] higher than that of the teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, we are missing the point of why we follow Jesus in the first place. Detractors cite Jesus ministry of needs as the reason we should aim for social justice, but the main reason Jesus came was the cross . . . so that people could be saved from hell . . . which isn't important if you don't think it exists . . . which frees up plenty of time to work for social justice.

I'm just saying that this move by the Emergent group might just be the thing that causes a new break off group of people who are interested in understanding the changing culture but are interested in clinging to Biblical values.

But in response to this, I must utter a YIKES!

Strange Bedfellows

One of my favorite Simpson's episode is one where the church is destroyed. Reverend Lovejoy, facing the fact that there isn't enough money to rebuild the church, takes the advice of a marketing expert to seek corporate sponsorships for the church. The result is money changers in the lobby and a homily by The Noid.

Fortunately, in these my post-megachurch days, I was able to avoid the church mass-marketing campaign that Disney created for the new Narnia movie. Following in the footsteps of The Passion Of The Christ, Disney partnered with Outreach Marketing to get churches to encourage their parishioners [love that word] to go see the movie. Churches throughout the country participated, renting out theaters and preaching sermon series about the movie based on C.S. Lewis' literary masterpiece. It seemed like a win-win situation.

I hate to break ranks here, but I find it frightening that churches are now consistently partnering with movie studios to market movies to their congregation. It all started innocently enough with The Passion of The Christ. This opportunity presented itself and churches everywhere embraced it. I mean, it was a movie all about Jesus' death. Why wouldn't churches be into it? One pastor went as far to proclaim it "one of the greatest evangelistic tools in modern day history." While many would claim this partnership a success, I think we need to objectively evaluate how all these marketing efforts movie payed off. Were masses won to Christ because of this movie? Not that I remember. But the one undeniable success was the take at the box office: Mel Gibson The Passion grossed over $600 million worldwide.

To be fair, Gibson produced The Passion with an independent production company, fronting his own money see it become a reality. It was a major risk. I honestly don't believe that Gibson did it for money's sake. Fast forward to today as multiple movie studios are trying to follow The Passion path. But there are some major differences between marketing of The Passion and Narnia. First, The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe was made by a major movie studio. Also, there was some major money on the film. Disney dropped over $250 million to make and market the flick, compared to Gibson's $45 million for The Passion.

And is it just me, or does anyone find it ironic that the producers of this film embraced by Christians everywhere is the same conglomerate that Southern Baptists voted to boycott eight years ago? Interesting . . .

Friends, let's not fool ourselves here: ultimately these movies aren't about faith, it's about business. The purpose of a motion picture is not to be faithful to a book, nor is it to proselytize. The purpose of a movie is to make money. I highly doubt that the movie adaptation of Wardrobe would've been created had it not been for the highly successful Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter franchises. This quote from a Yahoo News article explained it all, "Disney's fantasy came true with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The film debuted as the top weekend film with $65.6 million." The only sacred verse that rules Hollywood is found in the gospel according to Jerry Maguire, spoken by Brother Rod Tidwell: "Show Me The Money."

I'm not saying that churches shouldn't use movies as an opportunity to illustrate and teach Biblical concepts; we should be all about using culture for good. But it seems icky to me that churches work for the studios and do marketing for them. We pastors need to be careful what we peddle to our people, and avoid the Noid.

Quick Weekend Recap

Thoughts from my weekend:
  • Got home early Friday afternoon as the snow kept people home. Kelly was able to work at home, so I brought home Chipotle and some videos from Blockbuster. Watched Fantastic Four [not so fantastic] and Mr and Mrs Smith [better than I thought it would be].
  • Woke up at 4:30 Friday morning to pack 1,300 bagels for a marathon. Got paid extra for it, so it was worth the lost sleep. I made it back home by 7:00, but I couldn't get back to sleep.
  • Went to see The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe at the Levee. I thought it was a great flick. I've read stuff by some hardcore Narnia fans that didn't think it was good enough, but it was rather enjoyable. I don't think they'll be able to do any sequels because none of the other six books is as good as the first. But money talks, so it'll happen.
  • While at the Levee we saw Ryan Cabrera [a.k.a Ashlee Simpson's old boyfriend] there with KISS 107FM. Scott had some great thoughts about this guy's jettison to fame here on his blog. I cracked up that there were only like forty teeny-boppers there. Poor Ryan.
  • Watched UK play horrible basketball against IU, followed by UC playing some great basketball against Vandy. At least one person in the Carr household was happy with their team on Saturday night.
  • Preached out at Amelia this morning from Luke 2. I felt bad that it wasn't my best stuff, but when you preach out of the Bible, at least God's words are good. Plus I used four pictures from our Israel trip and, once again, justified the expense.
  • Nervously watched the Bengals almost blow the game this afternoon, suffering through two phone calls from my old college roommate Aaron Levering, a Browns fan who thought this was his day. Sorry Aaron.
  • Taught tonight at Echo [God Remembered from Genesis 8&9] and then went to Buffalo Wings afterward. I enjoyed our community's worship service but felt a certain worship-like experience in the music at BW's with music by U2, Van Morrison, and En Vogue. I need to do some karaoke soon.
Overall, this was a good weekend. As Brett Michaels would say, "It don't get better than this."

Whew!

Good thing the Bengals didn't have a let down after the Pittsburgh game [sarcasm implied]. Way to almost lose to Cleveland. Bob Bratkowski's offensive play calling is maddening. He's coordinator of the number one offense in the NFL and seems to hinder them from victory. This might not be the year to go all the way, but it's the best we've had here in Cincy.

Sure a win's a win, but this one was ugly.

A Theological Mulligan

Here's my theological musing for a Friday evening. Feel free to skip it if it's not your flavor.

The snow kept people away from Panera today, which left us with some down time at work. I got into a conversation about faith with a girl who works there. Alisa is a nursing student with a good sense of humor. She was raised Catholic, so she was asking me about what kind of church I ministered to. After I explained it to her she said, "I'm sorry to inform you this, but you know that because you're not Catholic you're going to hell." She was totally joking with me, and I got a good laugh about it. She admitted after being raised in the Catholic church, she is now turned off to churches of all kinds. Unfortunately it would take a long time for her return to a faith that she could very much use in her life.

It's sad to see all these bitter Catholics, but I'm always running into them. A few days ago I posted about the Roman Catholic church and their distorted view of Jesus' mother Mary. I'm not trying to dump here, but I ran into another story that shows some flaws in their teachings. As I was listening to the NPR Religion Podcast this week, they reported a story out of Rome that the Catholic church might be repealing their doctrine on limbo. No, this has nothing to do with the lowering of a pole so people can maneuver their bodies underneath. Sorry if this disappoints.

Limbo was a belief developed in medieval times by Catholic theologians to explain what happened to the souls of good people who died before Jesus lived. But more relevant than that, being "in limbo" describes the state of infants who passed away before they were baptized. Catholics hold to the belief of original sin- that all human beings inherit the guilt of sin committed by Adam in the garden of Eden. Believing that it is necessary to be baptized to receive forgiveness from those sins, Catholics practice infant baptism a few days after a baby's birth. If a baby dies before he/she can be baptized, the baby cannot go to heaven or hell, so it is in limbo- a sterile middle ground. I would envision it as the waiting room of your doctor's office, but I've never been there so don't hold me to that.

So now advisors of the pope are recommending that they abolish limbo and come up with a better explanation of what happens to these babies. The problem I have with this is that it conflicts with the Catholic Church's doctrine of infallibility. Catholicism teaches that the church is incapable of being wrong. This is why the sex-abuse scandal has been so damaging to the state of Catholicism: because they were undeniably wrong.

I swear I'm not trying to kick a guy when he's down, but this is another place where Catholicism is messed up. There's an important lesson to be learned here: leave room for do-overs. I don't object to the Catholic Church admitting that they want a second chance at some of their theology. I actually love that. It's refreshing to be able to admit that you don't have everything figured out [hence a core value of Echo being "mystery"]. But Catholicism left no wiggle room for being wrong. When you start off claiming infallibility, you've got nowhere else to go. So when something doesn't click the bar gets lower and lower until you're scraping your butt off the floor.

Here's where I stand on the subject: the church is comprised of flawed people therefore the church is flawed. It always has been, and it always will be. Our job is to admit that we're a work in progress and not feel the pressure to know everything about everything. To be fair, it's not only the Catholic Church that has made this error. But that's a whole 'nother post.

So congrats Pope Benedict, no longer must babies be forced to do the limbo rock. What a relief.

Making Friends

We lived in Landen for three years and met six of our neighbors. Ironically, we finally met the people who lived directly behind us three weeks before we moved out.

So as we made our urban transition to start Echo, we decided to make a concerted effort to meet the people who lived around us. I suggested to Kelly that we should have a condo "get-to-know-each-other" party so we could connect with our new neighbors. That's about as far as I took it. Kelly, however, was passionate about making this dream a reality. She printed up flyers and taped them to the doors of everyone who lived in our complex, inviting them over tonight for a get together. She put a 7-9pm window on there, to give people a flexible opportunity to stop in. About 7:15 we were sitting on our couch alone, resigned to the fact that we would have to eat all the chocolate-chip cookies Kelly made ourselves.

But then there was a knock at the door.

The girls who live next door stopped in. I thought to myself, "at least there are two people here," and then there was another knock at the door. And fifteen minutes after that there was another. By the end of the night there were eight of us. Of course, everyone was single but Kelly and me, but I think we do a good job of not letting our married status be obnoxious. We had a great time of talking about our condos [they all have the same basic layout] and finding out a little bit more about each other. We had a great night. I'm sure we'll get together again sometime soon.

I'm so proud of my wife for getting this to happen. In things like this, I'm all talk and no action. I come up with some good ideas that I too often leave by the wayside. But Kelly came through. When we picked up and moved into the city, we knew we would have to meet people one-by-one and make a difference through relationships. We might have just started some of those relationships tonight.

Good job, wife. If only I were more like you.

Broken Arm Alert

Not half an hour into the ten o'clock news on Fox 19 and they can't stop congratulating themselves for predicting this snow storm. Come on, people, it's not like you cured cancer. You checked out your Doppler radar and told people what it said. And the fact that it snowed in Kansas City yesterday might have tipped you off that a storm was coming, but what do I know?

Revelation 13:18

I can't make-up stuff like this. This week at work has been one huge illustration file.

So this lady, a priest and a nun walk in this morning [you see, that sentence right there would be the beginning of a great joke all by itself, but it really happened]. By the way, I didn't call them "Father" or "Sister." I just don't like doing that. Why would I call the priest that? I reserve that title for Ken Carr and God. Not that my dad is God but, as Luke Skywalker asserted, "You're not my father," and . . . well, you get my point.

Anyway, they placed an order, one that I don't think I ever entered in before: two bagels and three coffees. I type their order into the computer and begin saying, "Your order comes to . . . " and then, as I look down on my cash register screen, I'm horrified. It reads:

$6.66

Yes friends, the cost of the priest and the nun's order was the mark of the beast.

So now I'm in a pickle. I always pronounce the order sans dollars and cents. So if the order came to $7.77 I would say, "Seven seventy-seven." I don't want to tell the clergy that their meal is fit for Damien. By the way, the movie The Omen always used to freak me out. That guy stuck under the ice still gives me the heebee-geebees. And while I'm there, you can't talk priests/Satan movies without The Exorcist. But once again, I digress.

So I cough and spit out " . . . um, that'll be six DOLLARS and sixty . . . six CENTS" [the words in bold were the ones I emphasized]. I don't think they noticed, but I did. Good thing I was there to save them.

And no, we weren't serving pea soup for lunch today.

Even Sadder

The news hit the wire tonight. It looks like Sean Casey is no longer a Cincinnati Red.

Apparently Casey has been traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for 26-year old left-handed pitcher Dave Williams. If there's anything the Reds desperately need, it's pitching.

I don't think I've been this sad about a Reds player being moved since Paul O'Neil was traded to Yankees. I had a chance to meet Casey in the leukemia ward at Children's Hospital during his rookie year. His was very gracious, willing to sacrifice his time to make a difference in people's lives. I was impressed with him as a man, and also as a ball player.

Thanks for seven great years, Sean. You will surely be missed.

Sad But True

Let's say that you live to be the ripe old age of 100. We'll even bump that up a year: let's say you live to be 101. What would you want to do on your birthday, perhaps your last, before you die? Maybe visit an exotic location, have a huge birthday party, or even get a tattoo.

Well, a Canadian woman who turned 101 this week had but one wish for her 101st birthday:

Caress the mullet of a hockey player.

I wish I could make this stuff up, but I can't. Here's a link to the ESPN story. Lilian Hosking received her wish as she got to meet Edmonton Oiler Ryan Smyth and touch his glorious Canadian Neck Warmer.

Now that's what I call living.

Yet Another True Story

Panera always has bread samples out. If you wonder how I keep from eating food all day, I watch people go at the samples. The best are the people who make a special trip into the store, grab a handful of samples and leave. When it was slow a couple weeks ago, I watched a person come in the store, get a few samples and leave. They were driving a new Mercedes Benz. I guess that's how you afford it: leech off samples and bank your food money.

I digress.

Today a mother came in with her kid. She made a b-line for the samples and came to a sudden stop. It was as if our three-cheese bread had attacked her.

She frantically yelled out to me, "Is this your cheese bread?"

I calmly responded, "Yes it is, ma'am."

Half-stunned she replied, "Well it's a good thing I asked then. He's allergic"

Puzzled I asked, "Isn't it labeled there on that card?" [note: that's why we have to label all our samples, in addition to posting a disclaimer on them, so no one dies by the bearclaws].

And the woman responded, "Yeah it was labeled, but I wasn't sure."

I'm still a little confused as to what this woman was thinking. If the boy was allergic to cheese, and it looked like cheese bread, and it was labeled cheese bread, wouldn't you assume that it was, in fact, cheese bread? I could understand if it was labeled "sourdough" and she thought it was cheese bread that she might be unsure. But everything pointed to it being cheese. Are you getting this? It made absolutely no sense at all.

The only thing I can figure out is that she was crazy. I think I'm going to suggest more cheese bread samples tomorrow.

The Bengals and Me

Is this the day that the Bengals finally step up and get it done? Watching a game with me is an exhausting exercise [ask Kelly], so I wanted you to have the opportunity to see what it's like. I've decided to do a real time update of today's game against Pittsburgh.

12:50pm- Pre-game show. Boomer Esiason picks the Bengals to win. I used to wear a Boomer baseball hat back when the Bengals were good. Maybe I need to get a set of Chad Johnson gold teeth. My mood: chipper.

1:00pm- Kickoff. Totally optimistic that the Bengals will get it done. My mood: upbeat.

1:20pm- Steelers touchdown. WHY, WHY DOES OUR DEFENSE SUCK SO BAD? If Jerome Bettis could've played the Bengals every game, he would've been Jim Brown. My mood: angry.

1:30pm- Touchdown, Bengals! Good catch, TJ! Our defense might suck, but at least our offense rocks! My mood: relieved.

1:40pm- Steelers Touchdown. It's just not going to happen. OUR DEFENSE SUCKS TOO MUCH!! My mood: angry again.

1:52pm- Touchdown, Bengals! Good offensive sequence [again]. But can the defense respond??? My mood: somewhat calm.

2:00pm- Bengals Interception! I guess they were listening. Those are the kind of big plays we need to win this thing. I think Ben Roethlisberger's hand might be bothering him. My mood: happy.

2:07pm- Touchdown, Bengals! Houshmandzadeh's second. Roethlisberger and Houshmandzadeh? What kind of spelling test is this? My mood: happier still.

2:15pm- Bengals Fumble Recovery! That's two defensive takeaways. But they're still not stopping the Steelers. Of course the offense went three and out, but we'll see if they win the field position battle. My mood: mellow.

2:30pm- Steelers Field Goal. Halftime score: Bengals 21, Steelers 17. Thirty more minutes of football to go. My mood: somewhat reserved.

2:50pm- Bengals Field Goal. Good drive to start the second half. It still is going to come down to the defense making a stop. How about a three-and-out, defense? My mood: gotta pee.

2:56pm- Steelers Touchdown. And Hines Ward does the Ickey Shuffle. OH, NO HE DI-N'T! IS HE SERIOUS? They will pay. You wait and see. Don't mess with the Shuffle. My mood: vindictive. And as I finish typing that last sentence, Tab Perry runs the kickoff to the Steeler two-yard line. And then Rudi Johnson scores the Touchdown, Bengals. Thanks for the mojo, Hines. My mood: justified.

3:17pm- Bengals Interception! Deltha O'Neal returns it just short of midfield. They are doing everything they need to do to win this game. Unfortunately, another three-and-out by the offense. But remember that battle for field position. And where has Chad Johnson been this half? It's your time! My mood: reservedly optimistic.

3:26pm- Bengals Defense Steps Up! It's the fourth quarter and Pittsburgh fumbles the ball three times in the same drive. We need the offense to score here and they can start up the bus [not Bettis, the real bus]. I predict the Chad touchdown pass. My mood: pumped up.

3:41pm- Bengals Interception! Odell Thurman is Rookie-of-the-Year! Now it's the offense that's stagnant. How about a touchdown? ["Paging Chad . . . "] My mood: hyperactive.

3:46pm- Touchdown, Bengals! Wrong Johnson. I meant, Rudi! A two touchdown lead with six minutes left . . . this game is over. The Bengals are going to win the division. My mood: incredibly confident.

3:55pm- Steelers Touchdown. Well, I didn't know the Bengals would play the prevent defense that drive. Fortunately there's only three minutes left. My mood: not quite as confident as eleven minutes ago.

4:05pm- Two minute Warning. Steelers have the ball, but are shooting themselves in the foot. A touchdown ties the game up. My mood: anxious.

4:09pm- Bengals sack! Steelers take a timeout. Next play brings up fourth down and thirteen yards to go. My mood: kill me, please.

4:12pm- Bengals sack! GAME OVER! Bengals are 9-3. My mood: smug.

What's left to say? Oh, yeah . . .

WHO-DEY!

Live From Lexington

I had mentioned earlier in the week that Kelly was going to get to go to the UK basketball game today against North Carolina. I really didn't want for her to have to drive all the way down and back all by herself, so I decided to drive her down. Kel was a little worried that I wouldn't find enough to keep busy while they were at the game, but I knew it wouldn't be any problem. So last night I checked to see where there was a Panera in town, and I found one.

Yes, on my day off I'm spending the day in a Panera.

Come on people, refillable coffee and fountain drinks, free Wi-fi, it can't get much better. You wonder why I wanted to work there in the first place. I've been able to get a lot of church work done, finishing up tomorrow's Power Point and working on my sermon for tomorrow morning at Amelia. All the while I'm able to check up on the UK score to see when I'll need to meet up with Kel [at half-time, North Carolina is up by twelve].

Just a quick observation: this Panera is WAY nicer than the one I work at. Makes the one in Hyde Park look like a dump. Everything is newer looking here, from machinery, to decor, to the layout. I'm not sure that I want to go back in on Monday.

Despite the Wildcats playing, this place is absolutely packed. I guess not everyone here in town are basketball fans. So I'm camped out in a corner of the restaurant, listening to iTunes, sipping my coffee. And Kelly was worried I'd find something to do.

By the way, I've used the bathroom three times in two-and-a-half hours. Just thought you should know.

About Success

I like to watch ABC's 20/20 on Friday nights, which probably testifies to the fact that I'm officially uninteresting because I'm in watching TV instead of out having a good time. Tonight they broadcast a show called, "The New Rich: Secrets, Strategies and What You Can Learn." Two stories from the episode stuck out to me.

First, the report about Costco and their CEO Jim Sinegal. Sinegal founded the company in 1983. Costco went from zero to $3 billion in sales in six years. He's done a phenomenal job of spurring the company onto success. One contributing factor to Costco's success is product simplicity. Costco only shelves about 4,000 products compared to Wal-Mart's 100,000 items. Another factor is employee loyalty. They pay their employees an average of $17 an hour, which leads to the lowest employee turnover in the industry. But perhaps the most effective asset the company has in their CEO.

Sinegal is a blue-collar-type guy who visits hundreds of stores each year. Despite having a skyrocketing company, he accepts only a $350,000 salary, a fraction of what other CEOs make. His employment contract is one page, and says that Sinegal could be terminated if he isn't getting the job done. He truly believes in Costco and will do whatever it takes to see it succeed.

The only people critical of the company is Wall Street. Investors think that Costco could make greater profits if they didn't pay their employees so much. But this is an area where Sinegal is unwavering. He understands that taking care of his employees will take Costco a lot further than a little more money now.

The other story I enjoyed was that of Jeff Skoll, founder of eBay. The billioniare who started the company with a friend in the mid-1990's now has more money than he knows what to do with. It would be understandable if he flushed money into meaningless escapades, but Skoll has donated huge amounts of money into charitable organizations trying to make a positive impact in the world. He's all about philanthropy

Just a few of my observations on principles to apply:

1) Simplicity
Why try to do too much? We've started Echo Church to be as simple as possible. Right now we have two foci: the worship gathering and prayer meeting. Sure, as the years go by we'll have to add additional structures, but I hope we're always avoid becoming too diversified in what we try to do. The more complicated you make your operation, the more things that can get screwed up. Costco has figured this out with their products. Oh, and eBay is a billion dollar organization and only has a little over 8,000 employees.

2) Loyalty
You can't build established success by using people; you have to invest in them and want them to succeed as well. When you invest in people, you create something that will last long after you're gone.

3) Down-to-Earth Leadership
The days from leading from on high is over. People want a leader they can relate to. That's why I think blogging is transforming the way we view leadership [related article here]. Followers don't care if their leader has some foibles as long as he/she is down to earth.

4) The Goal
With both these leaders, money is not necessarily their goal. The world is full of people who have figured out how to make money. But can money really buy happiness [don't answer]. I honestly believe that those who set out to build something significant will find that the money will take care of itself.

Whether it's a business or a church you're building, there's some good stuff here. Check out the articles above for more.

There's Something About Mary

This is what it sounds like . . . when Mary cries.

Yep friends, the virgin mother is at it again. This time it's in Sacramento as a Mary Statue seems to be spewing tears of blood. I remember that there was a Mary appearance in northern Kentucky back in the 1990's, but we've never met.

Growing up on Cincinnati's westside, I'm rather familiar with Roman Catholicism. Conversations about Catholicism are usually polarizing: either you love it or you hate it. As for me, I'm sorta lukewarm. I think that the Catholic Church [capital "c"] has gotten a bad rap among Protestants. Those who "went the way of Martin Luther" like to cite the atrocities committed throughout the Catholicism's history, but we neglect to admit that it's also our history. Don't discriminate and ignore all the good in this world that Catholicism has brought. Just drive through the city past all the hospitals and social services with "Saint," "Mother" and "Lady" in their titles. And there are even some sacraments that we evangelical types have neglected [see "confession"], that might be useful to growth in the Christian community.

But one thing I just cannot stomach is their deification of Mary. A poor interpretation of the birth narrative of Jesus in Luke resulted in Catholicism elevating Mary to a status that is unhealthy. While I'm not sure their Mary theology absolves any of the positives that come from the Catholic Church, I know it doesn't help.

During this time of year we focus on the birth of Christ, accomplished through a young girl [most likely Mary was in her early teens when Jesus was born]. Her faithfulness to the Lord at such a young age is admirable. Imagine the blessings awarded her in all that her eyes were allowed to see in her son. Isn't it enough to appreciate that and let her be a normal woman who was used by God?

My advice for Sacramento: Johnson and Johnson Baby Shampoo. That should fix up that statue.

True Story

A lady walks into Panera this morning, inquiring about our bacon and egg souffles.

"Do these things keep well?" she asked.

"For a day or so they do," I replied.

Her response: "Then wrap one up. My dog would love one."

Yes, friends. She wanted a souflee for her dog. And then she asked a great follow up question:

"Do you think it will stay warm in my car?"

Hmmmm. That's a tough one. True, it was 32 degrees outside, but I was so dumbfounded at our earlier dialogue that I think I told her it would indeed stay warm. The nagging thought that I still have about our conversation twelve hours later has nothing to do with her internal thermometer. I'm still wondering about her dog's dietary habits.

Did the lady really think the dog cared what she fed it? Did she really need to drop $3 and get her canine some higher-quality cuisine? Call me crazy, but I think Puppy Chow is cheaper.

Don't call PETA on me, but IT'S A DOG FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! A dog will eat it's own vomit . . . nay, it's own feeces, if allowed. He sniffs one area and licks another. Would Fido really care whether or not his souffle was warm enough?

And that's all I have to say about that.