A Snowy Day in Eugene
January 28th, 2008 Posted in life, faith, family, noah, emma, oregon |
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Snowy Day in Eugene Oregon from dave.merwin on Vimeo.
Simply wonderful.
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iGTD 2 is Coming
November 25th, 2007 Posted in faith, emma, software, development |Say Something!
But when dang it?
Leonard Sweet - 5 Things That Will Shape The Christian Church
October 8th, 2007 Posted in creativity, culture, ideas, faith, art |1 Comment »
Last week, I went with some good friends to George Fox Seminary in Portland to hear a talk by Leonard Sweet. The topic was 5 things that will/are shaping the church.
Leonard is a fascinating speaker. In some ways, I really enjoy hearing what he has to say, but to some of us, we are already living what he says is coming. I felt totally affirmed as a creative person and as a believer after hearing him. I often feel alone in my understanding of culture and faith and he recent talk helped me better understand my place.
I promised several folks the notes form the talk. So, in all there unedited glory, here they are. Please ask questions. I am happy to go over the ideas and better flesh out my thoughts.
Notes - Leonard Sweet Talk
is and will be
google search images in background
make sure search safety is on!
modern christianity is more modern than christian
pre modern - modern - post modern
linear - modern
post modern church - greatest nightmare
world economic forum
5 - not on WEF list
change in past 50 years
electrification
internet
nuclear
materials
from horse and buggies
grin
genetic engineering
robotics
information technology
nano technology
2025 - 50 billion robots
all ages are equidistant from eternity
1. Size Does Matter - do little large - little things mean a lot - the next big thing is the next small thing
2. The well Curve replaces the Bell curve - give up middles - don't think via media - be able to hold opposite things in your head - not contradict
3. epic - post - modern interface - MRI church - missional - relational - incarnational - the operating system
for the body of Christ - interface is epic - nintendo wii - epic interface - participation - not the quality of the performance but the quality of the participation - knickelback - i wanna be a rock star - karaoke culture - internet - created an interactive culture
preacher - as a garth brooks - wikilinks - preaching.com
in the moment business - music camp
epic - experiential - participatory - interactive -
organize learning
blahguy.com ? .org - ajswaboda
what does it mean - missional facebook
anything that is working is becoming more epic - image rich - in the image and metaphor business -
not pay for content - how can I teach my kids this? how can I be with them in this?
pay for a relationship - consulting - pay for relationship - not for the content
Oxford Club experiences - monastic - eating together -
Jesus - ate good food with bad people - dinner party
genesis 2 - eat freely - drink freely - image rich - so much - the future belongs to Pentecostals and the high church
the internet is a utility -
classic bell curve - distribution curve
well curve - forget the bell curve - new normal distribution curve - the well curve - opposite of the bell curve - all the middle class is falling out - ends are getting huge - opposite things are happening at the same time and they are not contradictory
gospel is made for this culture - our world is so ready for this - don't - orthodoxy is paradoxy - God is one and God is three - God is Holy Other - God is transcendent - God is imminent - I know all I need to know because I know Jesus - what makes a battery work - the opposite poles - bringing together of polar opposites - build a bridge and get over it -
lee gyu - slow cities movement
slow - cafe culture - the key is not to lampoon the fast lane - more you know how to use the accelerator the more you need to know how to use the brake - metaphor of balance - live harmonious life - everything fits together - fast slow - well curve - the more global we get - the more tribal we are becoming - tribes -
truthtribe - don't talk about christianity - will there be any Christians in heaven?
a new kind of christina? a new kind of Human?
Jesus as the second Adam - the way, the truth, the life - all about Jesus - more tribal and more global
tribal - ethos - build a bridge and get over it - cross - the vertical and the horizontal
double ring - expression of paradox in a single sentence and having it express truth
good friday and easter sunday - redemption story about creation -
Islam - 917 - baghdad - palaces 0 thousands of riches -
all existed peaceful - sent to negotiate a cease fire - treated each other and dignity -
it is easy to forget that these religions have worked together - in 20th century it was Christian and Communism - islamism - declared holy war against the west - bridge ethic - world economic forum -
bond - define problems
bind - joint solutions
build - build new structures and platforms
islamism -
4. Size does Matter - day of small things - small still voice
day of small things - the triumph of the Nano - renewable energy - can do all great things
also - the gray goo - the real danger of toxic sludge that can biologically affect the environment
us not even in the top 10 - celebrating the small, the spare, the simple - one camera -
proliferating choices - embracing simple - a move toward simplification - feng shui - down size - avoid clutter - small is the new big !!! Read it again !!!
the economic levers are the movers - hunger for sacred space -
the big bulky sweater scenario - brand mega church - a suicide bomb - massive casualties - massive death - only place where security is absent - something very different - will change - the services - sacred spaces - build - 40 days of purpose - the sacred space - sarah is doing it - host hospitality - format that is user friendly - building a home that has sacred space - future is getting bigger and smaller at the same time.
pluto - global village - a global small town
largest most powerful neighborhood is CHina - the wild wild east - China - India
if you speak three languagse - Spanish - English - Chinese
New York, London, Shanghai
Medical tourism -
if you are poor - china is the best medical care in the world
ballywood - kids watch bolly movies?
east to west - heir - foreign brands
technotribes - rights are violated - needs to be net - dominated by an urban complex - 2 cars and what two homes were
city and rural - more well curve - STAY IN EUGENE
confessional cultures - we understand there can be no secrets anymore - how you handle that transparency -backs the idea of endorsements and reputation
small town news - the petty and the small is elevated the the grand -
if big think small - if small think big
small is beautiful - simple is beautiful - stop fighting it
st brendon's cross - google it
incarnating the simplicity - how to design into the space we live - do little large - aesthetics -
the future belongs to right brained people
don't let the church press you into it's mold
joel meyers - search to belong - organic community
5. The United States
a country of the mind - the cure is spiritual
was the gold standard - now the plastic standard
1. Iran
2. Isreal
3. US
Top three hated
ravenous appetite - tourists aren't coming here any more?
customs?
2/3 of foreign tourists did not find us welcoming
the us is not on any good top 10 lists
economic lead has disappeared - ability to fight wars and pop culture
WEF - Us is 6th
worst personal economic
very high infant mortality - poor rankings -
more capitalist than we
economics comes first - then government
2nd worst in new born deaths among developed nations
america the beautiful - it will need to be a transformation -
highest esteem - beauty truth goodness
three transidentals of being - find it
the voice - genesis - tend - conserve and conceive - to continue gods creativity - culture of conception - what did you conceive
what beauty did you conceive
what truth did you conceive
what goodness did you conceive
My Kids
September 17th, 2007 Posted in faith, family, noah, emma |2 Comments »
This morning my son called me.
Called me at work to ask if I would pick him up after school. To buy Sarah flowers.
He’s 6.
6.
Faith can now say….
“I luf OO! Hurray!” At which point she throws her hands above her head and dances.
And Emma can sing the scale from Little Mermaid. She sat on the couch and practiced yesterday with Sarah.
I have enough.
Where Othar the Giant Lives
November 27th, 2006 Posted in life, faith, family, noah, emma, oregon |Say Something!
This past holiday was sort of magical. The kids and I spent a great deal of time outside, despite the weather. Sarah was in Seattle tending to new babies with Faith.
Noah, Emma and I hiked into the fort and had lunch. Elk and deer used the trail with us and the kids enjoyed figuring who was going where. Our jaunt ended at the fort where Othar the Giant lived. Eagle’s Rest lean-to is reconstructed stop over for the local mule supply trains. The story is here.
On the way back down the hill, we stopped at the Goodman Creek outflow. The valley’s connection with the reservoir is cut off by highway 58, but is not stopped. So the outflow is a valley and this time of year shines in many shades of green and brown. Stunning.
We played in the mud, and tracked the herds of elk prints. Emma fell into the streams several times and was none the worse. Getting stuck provided constant threat/amusement.
The kids are sponges. They learn with every step, and if provided the opportunity will quickly out pace you with their depth of knowledge. To that end, Noah and Emma have begun to construct their own world, complete with private stories and games.
While leaving the evil pizza parlor, (Pappa’s charges $30 for a large pizza. WHY DO WE KEEP GOING? Because they put kid crack in the pizza and it calls out to children at regular intervals. CURSE THEM!) I was surprised by a moment between Noah and Emma. I had asked that they get their shoes on, there is an indoor playground. I peaked into the play area to check on them and Noah was at Emma’s feet, helping her put her shoes on.
I could not have been more proud.
You Can’t Be Serious - Faith Turns ONE!
November 13th, 2006 Posted in faith, family, news |1 Comment »
Faith turns one today.
A year ago today I was going out of my mind, trying to keep the kids going (Emma & Noah) and take of my wife and the house and all the people that were coming and going, wanting to know about Faith. Family and friends did amazing job taking care of the craziness and me and Sarah.
Faith was a preme… and she was a perfect one. She had no real troubles, and was out of the hospital in a week. Sarah looks back on that time with fond memories and I look back with a slight chill running down my spine.
She is perfect. Cute as a button and she ADORES me. I guess we’ll keep her. 
Happy First Birthday Faith.
300
October 18th, 2006 Posted in culture, ideas, life, faith, family |1 Comment »
This is sending chills down my spine. I am extremely excited about this movie. The cinematography looks astounding, just beautiful. I have probably already watched the clip a dozen times.
I have a sort of love/hate relationship with Frank Miller. I love his work. As dark and twisted as it is. There is something completely honest about it. The hate part comes from watching Sin City. Probably one of the best movies I have ever seen, but, like the movie Seven, I will never watch it again.
The story behind 300 is pretty well documented in wikipedia . What I LOVE about it is the idea of small, potent, and agile overcoming huge and sophisticated. The Spartans vs the Phoenicians. What a story for our time. As a father, a church goer, and a small business man, isn’t that what it is all about?
I stand against the masses in defiance of what is wrong and that which tries to steal my heart from me. That is what stirs me so deeply about the ideas behind this movie. The complete defiance of it. In my romantic vision, the Spartans never even flinched. They went to war. They were defiant to the odds from the get go.
MUTEMATH
September 26th, 2006 Posted in creativity, design, music, faith |Say Something!
A friend turned me onto these guys and they are awesome. The new album is out today and just as soon as I can I will be getting it.
MuteMath is a very different mix of styles that results in something unique. They are one of those bands that the first time you hear you know that there is something very authentic about where they are musically. I look forward to the album and *GASP* might even go see them the next time they come around.
On Photography, Bach, and Being a Creative Director
July 11th, 2006 Posted in creativity, design, culture, music, eugene, portfolio, faith |Say Something!
Last night several worlds came together for me in a very exciting way. A lot of my time is spent working in isolation. I design, code and be creative in the vacuum of my office or a coffee shop. But last night was very different.
Through AGI, I got to work with Steve Smith and the team from PhotOregon. You can read about that experience on the Pure Blue site. It was wonderful to work with a creative team that was SO good. I got to be creative with other creatives in a creative place listening to a creative masterpiece.
We were photographing a designed solution that AGI supplied for First Baptist Church for the Oregon Bach Festival as it performed Mass in B Minor conducted by Helmuth Rilling.
So, AGI designed the facility, Bach design the music, I am designing the concept for future AGI elements, and Steve Smith is designing the photography. It was a creative love fest involving the physical and the elemental. Imagine doing what you love while a choir sings praises to God. I actually got tears in my eyes in gratitude for what God has appointed me to do with my life.
I’m a little giddy today.
