My Top Five Albums

Over at Jesus Creed, Scot got me thinking. He asked what are your top five greatest albums of all time? Here is what I said:
Top Five? Tough. So many artists albums are uneven. But I would say:
1-U2 Joshua Tree (Why has no one else mentioned this? It should be on everyone's top five--it's a given.)
2-Bob Dylan Time Out of Mind Underappreciated, but full of Dylan soul.
3-Moby Play The only CD you really need.
4-Bruce Springsteen The Rising Full of gems. Full.
5-Jeff Johnson Brendan's Prayer (or Patrick--both great--as is everything else Johnson and his cohorts record)

Was Jesus Like Stewie Griffin?

How did this thing of Jesus being God AND human work? When did he come to consciousness of his divinity? I think a lot of us imagine Jesus was like Stewie. Stewie is extremely intelligent and has great powers of speech, but he is a baby. Is that how Jesus was? Almighty God in the body of a baby? Or did Jesus become the Son of God at some point? His baptism?
These questions of how the natures of Jesus worked are hard to answer. Why did this come up? Well, this Sunday, I am preaching on Mark 14.32-42, The Garden of Gethsemane. At Gethsemane, we see the human nature of Jesus come through more clearly than anywhere else. At Gethsemane, the struggle between the natures of Christ are revealed. Jesus did pray NOT to have to go to the cross. That prayer was not granted. Jesus did come to the point of praying "not MY will, but THY WILL be done." This Sunday, we will consider two important issues Gethsemane brings up: 1-The nature of Jesus as the Christ, and 2-How does prayer work? (Or did it not work in this case?). We will look at the Nicene Creed, since it was formulated in response to discussion and debate about the nature of Jesus. The worship bulletin is here. Join us Sunday!

Health Care Reform Would Benefit American Business

During the 8 years that George W. Bush was president, the cost to an American employer to employ an American worker rose 25%. In other words, if it cost an employer $16/hour to employ a worker in 2000, it cost them $20 in 2008. And this is not inflation cost. It is a real increase in the cost to do business. Now, this was not President Bush's fault, and his policies did not cause this. And this increase was not due to tax increases, nor were the employees just making more money. This increase was due to rising health care costs. In other words, rising health care costs are hurting American employers. Health care reform will not just make liberals feel good. It is not to benefit those who can't or won't work. HEALTH CARE REFORM IS GOOD FOR AMERICAN BUSINESS. Who knows, if we could reform health care, maybe businesses wouldn't be forced by economic realities to outsource jobs overseas.

Obama Deserves the Nobel Peace Prize

The U.S. is the most powerful country in the world. Barack Obama has chosen to reject the in-your-face-it's-my-way-or-the-highway attitude of former U.S. leaders. He has moved America from a position of aggressive international bullying to a position of conciliation and dialog. He holds the position of ultimate power in the world, yet he has chosen dialog and negotiation over threats. This shows great restraint and great wisdom.

Who Wants the Kingdom of God? Not Us

http://networkedblogs.com/p13764475 Follow the link to a blog post by Steven Burleson. Good stuff. It makes me think. The Kierkegaard quote is right on. And I spelled Kierkegaard right the first time without looking it up.

God's Top Ten #3

This link is to a sermon text by Don Heatley. It is part of his series on the Ten Commandments. It is about "Don't take God's name in vain". And he hits it out of the park. Read.
http://www.donheatley.com/2009/10/what.html

Seven Mistakes Every Church Should Avoid

This is a good article posted on The Ooze.

http://www.theooze.com/articles/article.cfm?id=2203

A convicting article

A convicting article for World Communion Sunday: New and Improved Dark Ages « United Methodeviations - http://shar.es/1hPog

Read it all, but to me, the money quote is at the end:
"I guess I just can’t understand why anyone would choose to wallow in the acid and poison and bile of judgment over the cleansing, living water of grace that we have received through Jesus Christ."

Amen.

The Nature of the Bible

Good thoughts! _awakening: Reading Scripture Today. - http://shar.es/16mG0

Read, worriers!

JASON BOYETT: author of the Pocket Guides: Will the World End in 2012? A Conversation - http://shar.es/16mlx

Video from Last Sunday

This is a link to a video recording of "All Hail the Power" from The Refuge last Sunday. Thanks, Matt!

http://64.156.56.12/fs/v.aspx?v=896e67875a5f7079b197

World Communion Sunday

This Sunday, October 4, 2009, is World Communion Sunday. The point of this annual observance is to get at what the Apostles' Creed calls "the communion of the saints"--the fact that all believers throughout the whole world and throughout all time are united in Jesus Christ.
We will use a communion liturgy from the United Methodist Book of Worship prepared specifically for World Communion Sunday. We will consider the Apostles' Creed. The meaning and experience of communion will be our focus. Join us for this meaningful service.
According to a tradition at Catalina, we will use small pieces of bread for communion that are colored "red, yellow, black, and white".
Of course, in my mind, a take away from World Communion Sunday is this: if we are going to be unified with other believers, let it start in our own church. Amen.

The worship bulletin is here.

Methodists and Lutherans and Catholics, oh my!

Read this article. Pretty interesting. And short. I should mention that it is short, too.

Press Center - UMC.org

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The Spiritual Discipline of Serving on Vimeo

Watch this video!

The Spiritual Discipline of Serving on Vimeo

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Gays in the Church Part 8: Inclusion or Exclusion | Finding Rhythm

This is the last post in a series by Zach Lind. I would encourage you to read them all. You may or may not change your mind about the issue (that is not MY intent-to try to change your mind), but you might find yourself thinking more deeply about issues instead of just blowing people off.

Gays in the Church Part 8: Inclusion or Exclusion | Finding Rhythm

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No Impact Project

You may have heard this story: a guy and his family attempt to live one year with no environmental impact--leaving no carbon footprint--or any other kind for that matter. What can we learn?

No Impact Project

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Treehouse Monastic

Good post on why doubt is important to faith.

Treehouse Monastic

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RELEVANT Magazine - Exploring One Hell of a Place

This is a pretty interesting article. Give it a read and let me know what you think.

RELEVANT Magazine - Exploring One Hell of a Place

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Sunday September 27, 2009

I will be out of town this Sunday at the National Youth Workers Convention in Los Angeles. This event is hosted by Youth Specialties.
Seth will be preaching. The title of his message is "What It Means to Believe in God".
The Scriptures are:
Hebrews 11.6
Psalm 62.8
Deuteronomy 6.4

Don't miss the postlude! We will have a great arrangement of "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name", featuring Cornerstone band AND:
Cello: Bob Hutson and Ryan Zamora
Flute: Nancy Hutson
Trumpet: Jordan Dansdill
Vocals: Doug Wingert, Judy Wingert, Dean Wingert, Laura Kadous, Mindy Jones, Brenda Halferty, Jean Mundy, Kevin Lange, Bob Stauffacher, and Karla Zamora

The worship bulletin is here.

Set up Twitter on Your Phone

You can see all the action at www.twitter.com without setting it up on your phone.

You need to have a Twitter account to begin. Go to twitter.com and click "Sign Up Now".

Here are a couple of links to help you set up Twitter on your phone:

http://www.amitbhawani.com/blog/setup-twitter-mobile-phone-sms/

http://www.butterscotch.com/tutorial/Getting-Twitter-Setup-On-Your-Mobile-Phone (video tutorial)

Or you could just phone Tyler.

Here are youth group-ers I know who are on Twitter:
Richard Jones richardinaz
Tyler Jones TJdrumcaptain
Chris Nellett WhatTheNell
Cody Melcher codymelcher