Soy Bacon
What’s all this about giving people a “Christian alternative?” Makes Jesus sound like soy bacon.
Posts from the ‘church’ Category
Mar 3
Found at 62
It took 62 years for somebody to find me, but I thank God. Some people never get found.
As a young man, Charles Bradley saw James Brown perform at the Apollo Theatre. From that moment, Bradley’s heart was captured by the sounds of soul. And he knew he was destined to sing.
That dream was kindled in a moment. The destiny took decades to materialize.
He wrote. He sang in seedy night clubs. Sold his belongings. Hitch-hiked across the country. Supported his passion with odd jobs. For 40 some years.
How sweet it was when he was finally discovered. A record label exec heard Charles perform a James Brown tribute show in a Brooklyn night club…and the years of frustration and unfulfilled dreams were history.
The musician was unlocked from his unappreciated toil. Unfettered. Unmuzzled. Unchained. No longer playing a character in a dingy dive. Now he writes his on songs. Now he’s pouring out his own heart through his own voice.
Found.
Kind of like what happens when God discoveres us. The Son of Man came to “seek and to save.” Roaming the sidewalks and side streets like sheep without a shepherd, we have a notion of what we’re really mean to do. Until we are discovered.
When we are discovered, God releases from the burden of what we’ve become so that we can become what couldn’t be on our own. The faint dream becomes destiny. No longer putting on an act, we’re empowered to love and live from an unfettered heart.
Found.
Thank God. Some people never get found.
Bono on Karma and Grace
Bono talks about Karma and Grace:
You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics; in physical laws every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It’s clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that “as you reap, so you will sow” stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.
We have a thing or two to learn from Bono about how to interact with a doubting world. He doesn’t call secular and pagan ideas “stupid” — he merely says they are in incomplete picture of the whole story. He doesn’t attack the notion of karma as foolish. Instead, Bono just describes it as another term for the laws of nature. Laws of nature suspended by the miracle of grace.
To me, that’s how we make friends with — and make sense to — our friends and neighbors. Don’t call names, offer a wider perspective. Give our world a way to make sense of the fractured pieces sin has left in its path of devastation across history.
More from his fascinating conversation about Christ and religion right here. It’s well worth reading.
Thanks to seancom for posting this article.
Getting crafty
When the weather gets tough, Sarah gets creative.
Happy Transformation Day!
The Transformer
Why choose either Halloween or Reformation Day when you can have both?
Oct 21
Video: DSLR Calendar Shoot
Funny story. We were working on this resource promo video for a wall calendar called “The Dawn of a Church Awakening.” And the name of the music pastor at our church is named Don. And he’s like 65. And he’s obsessed with Baroque music.
During the production process, I told Sarah that I was working on the “Dawn” calendar.
“What?” she said. “Who in the world is going to want that on their wall?”
“What do you mean? It’s nice. It has nice pictures…quotes from Chuck…people like that stuff.”
She wrinkled her nose: “There is no way I’d want 12 big, glossy photos of Don on hanging up in my house!”
“Ok, then just think of them as sunsets instead,” I offered. “Don’t you like sunsets?”
Horror turned relief. “Oh, ‘Dawn‘ not ‘Don‘! Wow, I was picturing Don draped over a harpsichord with flowers and candles or something.”
“No, sweetheart…It’s not that kind of calendar shoot.”
Once in a while, it’s fun to give you a peak at a recent project from IFL. This one is a resource promo for our 2011 wall calendar.
I’m really enjoying working with the DSLR format because it let’s me think like a photographer.
Disclosure: I am an IFL employee, but I’m sharing this video of my own free will for illustrative purposes only.
