Podcast Adventure 1

First, some clarification. I wasn't blasting podcasts, just talking about personal preference. This is an adventure for me, since I'm going from nothing to a marathon. Lecture is not always the best way for me, so by combining them, well, we'll see. And how do I feel about podcasts, so far? For me it helps to hear more than one speaker. Speaking of segwaying nicely into my topic, here's the first two messages.

I'm not a fan of older theologians, so I gave one a shot. Actually he had nine shots due to the wonders of technology. Thanks for the extra blessings, iTunes.

The message I wanted to hear was about the book of James and being a respector of persons. I liked what he had to say about dignity, but there was that aforementioned comment about dressing your best to show repsect to God. Yeah, that one never sat well with me. However, this is a minor issue as the rest of the message was good. Do Christians still pay more attention to the church members with deep pockets and try to impress them? Why yes, we do. Is it wrong? Of course.

I like how he uses stories to make his point. Several people he knew, including himself, were looked down upon for doing dirty jobs. Using personal experience is a nice touch.

Okay, my issues. It breaks my heart to hear a great message tainted by a lack of humility. This had compassion, but where did he go with it? He lamented about donars in churches controlling the churches, but quickly dismissed it as an illustration rather than a problem to solve. What can we do about it? Idunno.

I've talked about ministry and how it has overlooked physical needs in the past. We're seeing this change these days, and that's great. But why don't people make a mention of it? The speaker ends with "just treat the poor like everyone else" and leaves us there. You could argue that's in another passage in James, so maybe he'll talk about that later. So give an aside, a quick shout-out. Even at the beginning of a message. Acknowledge there was a problem, and we're actually doing something about it. Silence on the issue ignores a real problem that we've only begun to address.

I listened to another sermon given by two speakers. One was in slow-motion, and the other sounded more caffeinated than me somehow, which gave an interesting affect. Their source material was the Acts early church passage about breaking bread together and giving to those in need.

I learned something I hadn't thought about before about why so many pirates came out of Somalia. Starvation can do that to a person. I'm reading a book about missionaries living in a poor African country, so thoughts like this are on the brain.

I guess that was a nice fun fact, and it makes you think, but what difference does it make?

The speakers went on to discuss those in their congregation who were "leaping for joy", that is, finacially well off, and those who were "limping." The discussion ended with buckets being brought to the front of the room. Those who were blessed were encouraged to share money with those who were not. When the audience caught on to the fact that they'd be giving to those in need, they cheered.

In the end, people gave and others came forward to receive. The latter is harder than the former, I can tell you that. Still, we can be thankful for those who give.

So, which message did I like better? Yes. We need to be reminded to treat people as people, and to respect their dignity, so don't think I was blasting that sermon. It was a good reminder that stuck with me. But we can't end there. Needs are still there, and have been ignored.

Also, it's awesome to see a need and go about meeting it. But more often than not the emphasis is on giving. That's good, but we can't forget the other part either. These are people, not just opportunities to show generosity. I'm not saying they were saying that, but unchecked, we could be going there. A quick shout out, like I said, and the confusion is cleared.

Adventures with Podcasts: Intro

I don't do podcasts. When we decided it was reasonable to get iPods, I obtained it with several sacred truths in mind. One of these being, iPods, CD players, etc, are for music. If I wanted to listen to someone talk, I'd, well, usually I don't, so I don't know what I'd do. Anyway, you get the idea.

We were getting ready for our long flight to the US for summer break, so we decided to load some videos and other goodies on our iPods for the journey. Out of curiosity, we browsed and loaded a handful of podcasts from different sermons and Christian radio broadcasts. I figured if I had trouble sleeping, this would do the trick. If not, maybe I'd learn a thing or two.

A handful turned out to be more than I originally thought, and one or two casts turned out to be videos. By the way, the Nano (or iPod slim, as I like to call it, as it makes it sounds like a woman's cigarrette, the thought of me with a woman's cigarrette is funny and we need laughter in the world) doesn't like video especially. The batteries don't, anyway. Yet, the handful of casts I managed to hear/see gave me an idea. Good or bad, I'll leave to you to decide.

As an outsider to the podcast trend, I decided to run a marathon and post a series on it. Each post will have thoughts on at least two different speakers' takes on a topic. For example, one considerably aged speaker addressed the importance of dressing your best for church, while the video I watched right after that showed another pastor in jeans, cowboy boots and a sensibly casual shirt preaching about Biblical truth. There is no doubt in my mind this second fellow dresses up in a suit every morning, looks in the mirror and smiles as it transforms istelf into a sensibly casual shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. Then he grabs his Bible, ready to go.

There will be no name-dropping, as that's not the point. In the end, maybe we'll learn something. At the very least, we'll learn how to turn suits into jeans. That's just too cool.

Texting the Bible

I've thought a lot lately about technology and the dumbing down of... what do you call them again? People? Oh, right, humanity. I read a good blog post about how it affects our attention span, and I posted it on Facebook. It was funny, but a bit long. I've got quizzes to take, people!

I wanted to write about this issue, whatever it was, but it seems other people already have in a much better way than I could. Here's another piece that made me laugh, sorry, I mean, LOL. It's much shorter than whatever I was talking about, too, so I liked it.

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2009/6/3quatro.html

It's Not You It's Me, 2: Culture Wars and You

If you are past this stage and have moved on to a new issue, please bear with me. I'm still trudging through and trying to find a gracious way to deal with it. To be honest, I'm tired.

The culture war issue disturbs me. Often it's a matter of a preacher ranting about the ultimate evils of homosexuality and such. Those are apparently bigger issues these days than dishonesty and greed, which never seem to make the list. The rant continues with a lament that Christians can't tell non-Christians how to live. Whyever would some one have a problem with that?

If someone takes away your freedom to live in obedience to Christ and to encourage fellow Christians to do the same, by all means resist by continuing to do the right thing. Commit your lives of integrity to Him. No whining required.

The cross and lives of obedience to Christ should be the offense. Shouting down others to create enemies is not the way. Unfortunately, I've lived in this world and I've only learned to argue. I've become offensive before the message could even come out.

I apologize to any who read this who may not share my faith. I've shouted out the need to teach creation while living out survival of the fittest. I've talked about morality while my mind has been anything but. I've said, "You need to deal with the speck, too," when the log is nowhere close to chipped away. And most unfortunately, I neglected to pray for wisdom regarding when to speak and when to shut up. Lord, help me to listen and serve, then the boldness. In Your Name.

It's Not You, It's Me

I wanted to do a post on the danger of being driven by fear, and how it's an immature act many of us Christians never overcome. Scripture speaks against being driven by fear, unless it's fear of God which isn't anywhere near the same thing. But when fear of _______ takes that place, hatred gets a foot in the door and it gets worse from there. Throw in some clever and/or gently snarky comments (can those two words go together?), leave with a good line or some sort of question, and that would be that. Or so I thought.

I don't worry. Tell me my house is on fire, and I'll mentally work through replacing everything as I grab buckets of water to put it out. Tell me a burglar is in the house, and I'll calmly nod as I try to remember where I left the closest blunt object. It may end up being my head, but that's another story. The point is, I thought I was a reasonably fearless guy. Reality is a funny thing.

Tensions in the North recently got to the point they actually made South Koreans a bit nervous. Since I know God will continue to protect us, and I still think the Republic of Korea is the safest place to be right now, fears of physical danger aren't what get to me. The thought of a reality outside of this country does. I'm so used to living here, it feels like a part of me. It's hard to explain, but after five years of living here I really had to struggle with the fact that this may not be it.

I guess there could be worse fear idols, but that's not the point. It's like saying armed robbery isn't so bad as long as you don't kill anyone. Wrong is wrong.

Insecurity and too much interest in others' opinions of me? Those are still present and accounted for as well. Never think you've already attained.

In my last post, I mentioned struggling with impatience as people aren't where (I think) they need to be. I need these little reminders every now and then to keep myself honest. I have my idols too, and they need to go.