#1 christian porn site

A while back I heard this place existed. Finally got around to checking it out today: xxxchurch.com. (If your browser blocks porn sites, you can find them with "X3 Church.") Believe it or not, it's a "church" devoted to helping persons addicted to pornography find freedom in Christ. I first heard about them a few years ago--they apparently go to adult film festivals and set up a booth, casually offering the freedom from bondage found only in Christ.

Some of their FAQs make me giggle, and are very intriguing:

Why do you call yourselves the "#1 Christian Porn Site?"
Our site is dedicated to porn and how it is affecting people. It's a porn site because that's what we are talking about. Nude pictures are so predictable and passé don't you think? The truth is so much more interesting and satisfying. And by the way, we are number one because we are the only one!

What is your doctrinal statement?
Uhhhhhhhhhhhh. We believe what Billy Graham believes?!!?!

What is your mission?
Our mission is to make people aware of all the issues about porn and for Christians to be accountable and to get their crap cleaned up. We also want to help and give hope to those who feel like there is no way out and are drowning in porn.

Check out the site... if you dare. (Or, if you're not afraid of someone looking at your browser history and wondering: "What in the world...?)

epicentre

Had an interesting session in our Worship ABC class yesterday. We discussed "worship" in the Old Testament. It's great to get a perspective of "where" you come from... the epicentre of why we do the things we do. I was encouraged by the questions and responses of the class--a very rewarding dialogue.

divine moments

Just finished Erwin McManus' Seizing Your Divine Moment. Great exposition of 1 Samuel 14 (the "Jonathan Factor" as McManus calls it). I recommend it for anyone who feels "stuck in a moment" (gotta quote Bono!) or who feels that their moment has passed them by. It can also benefit someone who feels they have a moment waiting to dawn, but don't know how to discover it. It's all "truth"... nothing new. We all know this stuff. It's just repackaged in a way that is accessible and applicable.

This is a quote from toward the end of the book...

Prayer is not about informing God of your needs, nor is it even about trying to convince God to help you.... God is eager to give us both His gifts and Himself if we ask Him, yet there is an even greater and more subtle danger in the arena of prayer. It is when prayer is reactive rather than proactive. It is the way we subtly use prayer not to seek God's will, but to delay our obedience to His will.

Then...

Prayer can be a religious form of rebellion. While feigning a need to get clarity from God, we are actually avoiding what God has made clear.

I think about my own spiritual journey. How often have I said, "I'll pray about that," and meant it as a stall tactic to justify my disobedience...?

ncaa

geez... college football season hasn't even started and Greg (UT fan) and Jay (UGA fan... with no smarmy blog to link to) have already sent me "hate" (I use that word EXTREMELY loosely) comments about the Tide. (Check out the political humor post and the info overload post to catch some of the dialogue.)

Just remember guys, you started it.

TGS7

Teen girl squad 7 is out on homestarrunner.com:
Diaper School Grads.

info overload

There are so many "good" blogs out there... so much "good" conversation on online zines, etc. I am overloaded with too much "good" stuff. I could easily spend all day reading blogs and posting comments. (The blogs I've listed in my table to the left are way more than enough!) I don't even have time to give a thorough reading to all the blogs I frequent!! What's a blogger to do.......?

Sometimes I wonder if the conversation is too cumbersome?

film

If you haven't seen it yet, check out Napoleon Dynamite (official site). I don't know why this movie is so "dang" hysterical. My pal, Tim, told me that it was one of his "top 5 favorite movies." I'm usually skeptical when I hear someone say that... but he's not the kind of person who would just say something like that. He also warned me (and it's pretty good advice) that within the first 60 seconds you'll know if you want to walk out of the movie theater or stay for the long haul.

It grows on you, too... I find myself giggling at bizarre moments... like during a time of prayer at our Church service yesterday...

You can see the trailer HERE.

reminder

Had a reminder this weekend that my blog is public. I met someone at a party who, through various connections with mutual friends, has been to my blog. It was a bit bizzare to meet someone who has already, in a sense, "met" me.

a little political humor (i couldn't resist...)

This is why GW will win the South...

worship abc

Crosspointe has an educational component called "ABCs" (Adult Bible Classes). Anyway, I'm co-leading an ABC for the next 9 weeks on the topic of Worship. Dwayne (the other leader) and I started a blog (Worship ABC) hoping to get folks interested in online dialogue. If you're a regular on this site, you might find some of the topics we address on the Worship ABC blog to be of similar content/interest to [ex]changed.life. Just thought I'd LINK to it to open the dialogue up to a broader community.

Open invitation...
By the way, if you live in the North Fulton/North Metro area of Atlanta, you are more than welcome to join us in the class (it's free!). Consider this your official invitation! We meet Sundays, 5PM-6PM at Crosspointe. You can register: HERE.

same-sex marriage

Interesting article on Leadership Journal's website called Same-Sex Marriage: What Can I Say? (click to view the article). Four pastors are interviewed on the subject of same-sex marriage (Phil Busbee, Tony Campolo, Cheryl Sanders, and John Yates). They range in where they land on the subject, so it's not a canned one-sided presentation.

I really dig what Tony Campolo has to say in the article. Here are a few quotes from the article (they are out of context, so be sure to read the actual article to understand where/how they fit into the discussion):

There's great antagonism toward the church because it's seen as an oppressive, homophobic institution. I love the church, but it's important to admit that at times the church has been homophobic, unjust, and downright mean.

A "biblical model" [of marriage] is harder to establish than you think. A colleague of mine has identified, I think, 16 models of marriage in the Hebrew Bible, including polygamy, concubinage, handmaidens, levirate arrangements, purchasing of wives, and spouses that accompany political alliances. It's so pious to say "the biblical model of marriage." Which of those forms of marriage do you mean?

I also appreciate the wisdom of Phil Busbee (pastor of First Baptist Church in San Fransisco) in regards to what you "say" about homosexuality:

I want to say about as much about that issue as the Bible does. And about as often as it comes up in the Scripture. Communicating redemption and God's mercy, regardless of the situation, is more critical. I mean, homosexual offenses are listed in 1 Corinthians 6 alongside all kinds of other immoral behaviors that we've managed to deal with, by the grace of God—the greedy, drunkards, slanderers, swindlers...

Cheryl Sanders (pastor of Third Street Church of God in Washington D.C.) has an eye-opening perspective on the whole issue of "I'm right, you're wrong" in Biblical interpretation:

The Bible warns us against those who are proud of being right, even when they claim Scripture as their authority. Jesus rejects that self-justifying, judgmental attitude.
Based on history, the African-American perspective would suggest that white evangelicals are not to be readily trusted on biblical interpretation. It goes back to what they said about slavery. That's why black people didn't get too excited about debates over inerrancy and the authority of Scripture, because you look at the behavior of the people carrying on the conversation. Are they using the Bible to justify themselves?
I'm learning from Jesus that it's more important to be righteous than to be right. Our attitudes and actions speak louder than any position we articulate.

Over all, I think the article does a great job balancing the authority of Scripture and what it says about homosexuality, and the love, mercy and acceptance Christ demands of those who claim to be his followers.

Check it out... HERE

ends of the earth

Members from our Church, Crosspointe headed to South Africa this summer. Crosspointe established a relationship with El Shaddai Church in Soshanguve, S.A. roughly five years ago. Soshanguve is a “shanty town,” full of 100,000s’ of squatters living in shacks made of whatever material they can find.

This year, our team met physical, economic and spiritual needs. The team fed over 300 children meals for the duration of their visit (almost 2 weeks). They also taught them some general hygiene principles. The team purchased much needed materials and supplies to help several residents of Soshanguve to begin businesses or to be more effective in their current craft. (For instance, one of the ways the South African government is keeping these people impoverished is by demanding that students wear uniforms to school. If you can’t afford the material to make the uniforms or do not have the skill to sew them, you cannot go to school. Our team purchased five sewing machines to help a handful of ladies to sew school uniforms so that more children could attend school. The fabric is provided by the leadership of El Shaddai. Now more children will be able to receive an education!)

Perhaps the most beneficial thing the team did was to encourage the spiritual leadership of El Shaddai... not to mention the 120+ children that prayed to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ.

To see some pictures, click HERE or on one of the pictures above.

numbing

just got a root canal...

mosaic atl

Kim and I visited Mosaic Church (Atlanta) last night. They meet in Little Five Points at IF Coffeehouse. The atmosphere was great--typical urban coffeehouse feel. The gathering was informal and friendly. We were greeted by many of the folks there, by tacos, free bottled water and cake. A guy performed 3 songs (2 of which were originals), and a gal covered in tatoos shared with us an original poem coupled with an interpretive dance. Then, one of the leaders shared with us a short homily on a passage from the sermon on the mount. I especially enjoyed the original video, which sampled a Brad Pitt monologue from Fight Club ("You're not your khakis...").

The interesting thing is that most of the folks there are not from Little Five. They drive from as far away as Conyers (which is about a 20-30 minute drive) and Stone Mountain. That made me wonder how affective (if that's a word I can use here) they are in reaching Little Five Points--the community they meet in--if so many of their core drive in from such distances.

sad to admit it

but, I'm quickly becoming an Arrested Development fan.

I'm sick. I know.

alt.worship conversation

I feel the need to finally post some of my observations on the differences in approach to "alt.worship" in the States and UK. (Wow. That sentence was an English major's nightmare.) Most of what I'll be writting about are my ruminations from a "chance" meeting with Steve Collins(small ritual) at Vaux whilst my brother and I were in the UK (see the journal posting here).

Thought #1
We have a tendancy to over-program everything about "Church" here in the States. Most of what I am currently reading about alt.worship State-side is not in fact what Steve Collins was telling me about. It seems that what I am reading about is a USAmerican "pop/cultural" programed-phenomina. Alt.worship in the States takes on the form of a sanctioned program by a larger community of faith, and in many cases is led by a paid staff person. (Usually this takes the form of an "alternative worship service" geared for Gen-Xers or whatever.) In the UK, alt.worship is grassroots initiated. In many cases it's a result of a lack of the paid leadership recognizing the need for true, culturally-relevant worship of God. In the States, we target demographics of people (artists, Gen-Xers, etc.). In the UK, it's targeted to souls.

Most of this I have noticed in comparing what I was reading about alt.worship on-line several years ago before it was talked about in Christian circles in the States with what I am currently reading in Christian mags/websites in the States.

Follow up questions to this thought:
[.] Can alt.worship be reduced to "experiential worship?"
[.] Can alt.worship be programmed by "us" staffers?
[.] Is alt.worship happening, but not in the way we are looking for?? (i.e. Not in the same "UK" way?)

Thought #2
I'm still developing my thoughts on all this. And, in the process, I'm wondering if we can actually see a mirrored expression of alt.worship in the States. As much as I hate to admit it, it may not happen. Or, if it does happen--and is happening--then we won't be reading about it in a mainstream publication...

Then, when we do, it'll probrably become another program.

Europe '04

In May/June of '04 my brother and I crossed the pond and spent some time in France and the UK...

Journals from the Journey
Europe.1
Europe.2
Europe.3
Europe.4
Europe.5

Photo links
France
England.1
Scotland
England.2

Enjoy.

one-legged-dog

*sigh* A little Monday morning humor to start off the week. I know I'm behind in my Homestar Runner viewing, but if you missed last week's SB E-mail, now's the time to catch it: Lil Brudder.

Oh, and check out the new game, Peasant's Quest. Brings back memories of King's Quest (all 6 or 7 of them) and Space Quest...