vote time

so i know election time is here, it's been driving most of us nuts. and we're all burned out on it and ready to be done with it. true story. but, here are some things to think about. and these aren't mine so i take no credit for any genius there is in them. the first is this, a blog about why NOT VOTING is an act of violence. regardless of whether or not you agree, i think it is some very worthy brain food, and something to make you think whether or not you think things are or aren't worth being a part of. 

here's the link.

and i will tell you to go vote for whoever you want to vote for, but this blog is a lot of why/how i feel about my vote, so disagree & hate me if you want to, that's cool. but this resonates with me a LOT, to the degree that i'm going to bum it from my friend josh and say it's more well explained than i could try to explain the whole thing myself. so, here's some interesting brain food on why a vote for this guy is okay.

oh, and starbucks is giving away coffee if you go vote. so go do that for the coffee if nothing else.

and finally, i leave you with one last piece of fun: (if you can't see it, here's the link)

what a bailout SHOULD look like

Good old AIG took their help from the government and went and did this with it...

But, then there's stuff like this:

my own Jesus Junk...

So, here's a couple things for you all who actually read this. (I think there's 2 of you if I'm lucky)

My buddy Marko does this thing called the "Jesus Junk of the Month" (great/most recent example here) and I think it's pretty funny stuff. Well, I got this "awesome" product email from a company that will remain anonymous since I'm bad mouthing them, but I'm sure you can google them if you're really that curious about it. Basically this is the "christian marketing machine's" version of a barbie or bratz doll I think. And I like that it's "new for christmas." 

So maybe this is more of a rant than I thought, but I have a lot of trouble reconciling that this kind of thing is what the world needs. I don't think that reducing the amazing work of Jesus to a t-shirt - or a t-shirt on a doll which is even worse - is what we should be doing with the story of Jesus. It seems very belittling of us to do so. Honestly, deep inside me it feels like we're being sold crap in the name of Jesus. It REALLY offends me. I actually emailed them back and said "thanks for selling trite crap in the name of the Savior!" It REALLY, REALLY offends me deeply.

I don't know why the "Christian subculture" feels a need to do this stuff. (Don't even get me started on why that subculture even exists. I'll get mad) But I think this kind of stuff is DIRECTLY correlated to why Christianity has lost it's impact. It's why people don't believe us anymore, or believe IN Jesus anymore. It's like everything we offer is a gimmick. And Jesus is ANYTHING but a gimmick. I wish someone would've stopped this machine before it ever got started.

See I think we need to learn to see Jesus in other places. Take this guy's video of Boston for example. If we could learn to see Jesus through people and places and not in tacky dolls & shirts, our lives would be infinitely deeper. Watch this video (if you're on facebook and it isn't here, read the original post please!) and look for glimpses of truth. Glimpses of love or hope or beauty. Jesus is "hiding in plain sight" in these moments. Not in crappy, overpriced dolls.

Boston. Through my eyes. from Nick Keating on Vimeo.

Live deeper.

a little something for inspiration

I found this today, thinking about using it for fall retreat somehow, (even though it's flash and I"m not sure how to download it). I really like the visual though. Thought I'd pass along. The guy who shot this stuff is actually full of all sorts of amazing stuff.

brushfire from Charlie McCarthy on Vimeo.

in a much lighter note

So, now that I've gone and made you think, allow me to undo what I just did. You HAVE to check this out: kung-fu election

where has jesus gone?

so, in my daily web searching, i generally check a few "regulars." One is a site I recently referenced in a blog called ASBO Jesus. If you don't know what ASBO means, here's Jon's descrpition:

btw. for the non british among you… an ‘asbo’ is an ‘anti-social behaviour order’… the courts here 

award them to people who are deemed to be constant trouble in their neighbourhoods… 

presumably according to their neighbours!

So, long story short, I think it's some REALLY great stuff. This one really caught my attention though, the one at the top. And its got me wondering, where has Jesus gone? Let me go ahead and make sure you know I don't think Jesus moved out of the neighborhood or anything like that, just that I don't know where we see Him anymore. I wonder if this response in the cartoon is too real, and we meet Jesus and don't even know it. If we meet a poor or homeless guy and he says life is so hard, and we tell him he needs Jesus. What does that mean anyways? "Believe in Jesus and you'll have all the money and love and stuff you'll ever need!" Is that really the offer? Because I think I could believe in the lottery and pull the same thing off.  

This cartoon inspires me really. In the line of work I'm in, we don't exactly roll in the cash. Not without going to a seminary and becoming a "professional" at least. And I don't live in poverty at all, but I don't live in a house I own either, or a fancy, dressed up neighborhood either. And I kind of like that. I don't mean that in a snobby way, I just like that I don't live in a place where everything is so clean and wrapped up in a bow. I think life is messy, and to try and live otherwise is like trying to stop a wave in the ocean. Very Stepford, if you will. But there are days that I would love to leave it all and go make a crap ton of money, drive a nice new car (this or this would be fun for around $50K-$124K) and work in a trendy glass covered office and go home to some cool place in OkC. But then I see something like this in my own life, and I realize that this isn't how I'm going to live. And I'm really pretty okay with that. 

So for me, I hope and long more to be made into the image of Jesus. And that the things that would make him weep for a thousand years are the things that make me weep too. And I feel like in all of this, that by trying to be in that place, that I'm close to God. And that He is close to me too, that He lets me be close and be a part of the things on His heart. And THAT is the thing that I want more than anything. I don't feel like I'm always close to God like I want, and honestly, my heart is really broken because I feel like God wants closeness but I can't find where He's hiding out. 

In my search though, the thing I find true is the need for simplicity. For things to not be so complex, mostly because things are naturally messy. I don't need more things to do, more places to go. All I need to is to know who I am, Who's I am, and to be that person. For me, that means loving Jesus, loving my wife and my son, my friends, and having deep friendships with everyone in that list. And to be on mission to see where God is at work, and to do that work. I've found a place in town, and a place or two overseas. I just want to see more of this though. That is where my heart is. Looking for God's.

live deeper.

random tuesday...

I feel like I've been off the radar too long. There's a lot stirring in the waters, but I don't think I'm really up for talking much. So, I leave you with this to ponder in the mean time:

Oh, and let's make this a poll, good idea or complete stupidity? Seems like you should know where wind originates, and it's not underwater.