Droid Day

at the risk of sounding like every other christian person on the planet i’m going to be ironic…

today is droid day.  translation: motorola droid is being released as the so-called iphone killer.  we all know this is going to fail.  even the most optimistic person knows that down deep the droid won’t be able to compete, really.  nothing can beat the original.  trying to recreate something never really works out.  look at the zune for instance.  even if it is equally as awesome as the ipod (which, beleive me, it’s not) why would someone buy one over the ipod.  if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  the key to having a truly successful market for an item is originality.  the radio was awesome, but something was missing.  you couldn’t put a face with the voice.  the black and white television was awesome, but you couldn’t see the colors.  color television was awesome, but it’s just so bulky… you get my drift.  what the droid brings to the table doesn’t exploit what the iphone lacks.  it’s a carbon copy of the original. there are two obvious conclusions:

1) the church will never work as a copy of culture. when the church is attempting to recreate what it sees in the “real world” no one is going to bite because, well, why go for the fake when you can stick with the original.  personally i would never buy the droid, simply because it’s letting it be known that they are simply imitating the iphone.  when the church uses this method people will ultimately be turned away.  imitation is the highest form of flattery, after all.
2) the world will never work as a copy of the gospel. this is the more important of the two points.  since the first sin, man has tried to find it’s fulfillment elsewhere.  everywhere we turn someone is telling us what we need to be satisfied.  of course, if you’ve ever bought that thing that you “needed” you soon found out that you didn’t need it at all.  in fact you probably don’t even want it anymore because it’s just not fulfilling you like the new thing will.  this isn’t just for material things, of course, but for relationships, social stance, political party, etc.  the good news is this: christ’s grace is sufficient for you.

so…
as the church let’s be original, authentic – be family.  what you have is better than this world, in fact it’s what the world has always wanted to be.

disclaimer

iPhone to Verizon…

…oh I hope so.
http://tinyurl.com/dagx4w

Homeless Count

Last night I had the opportunity to participate in the 2009 Homeless Count.  It’s something that’s done every couple of years and it’s mandated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  There’s a lot that goes into the process and a lot that comes out as a result of the count.  More interestingly, though, is the look you see in someone’s eyes when they are actually telling you about their homeless situation.  Sure, this count is used in some ways to simply quantify the Homeless, but it ends up being a much different experience for the counters.
As I was talking over my experience with my supervisor this morning, she told me that no matter how long she’s been working with the homeless population, it never ceases to shake her when someone is litterally living outside. 
There is great frustration in speaking to a homeless gentleman and him telling you that he doesn’t want to participate in the count because he’s been on the street for 15 years, filled out innumerable surveys and his situation hasn’t changed in the least.  That’s terribe, but the fact remains that after talking to that guy, I went home, got in my bed, checked my email on my $200 handheld ipod touch, and fell asleep warm and comfortable.  Meanwhile, he slept in the stairwell of a parking garage less than 5 miles away.
I can’t begin to understand his frustrations.

Tax Return

I’m expecting to receive a sizible tax return this year.  I want to save part of it, but I want to buy something too.  Any suggestions?

Means to an End

my friend jeff just told me that he heard a sermon where jesus was a means to an end.  jesus isn’t a means to an end, he is the end.  he’s what we get.  he’s enough.  he’s sufficient.

Clausmas

As we all know, Christmas comes this time each year.  Though I’m not married and don’t have any kids at the moment, I wonder about a time when I might.  I have been wrestling with the question of whether or not I will tell my kids the lie of Christmas – that is Clausmas.  I know, I know that’s kind of harsh, but be honest, it is a lie.  One of the most significant moments in history seems to be distorted year after year with the fairy-tale of Ole St. Nick.  Now, my parents still haven’t admitted to the falsehoods of my youth, and as a result, it was  much later that I got the full meaning of Christmas.  Lauren’s sister cried this week when her family finally told her the truth.  She said something like “I thought Christmas was 100% about Jesus, and 50% about Santa.”  In some ways she had it right.  It is 100% about Jesus, so anything above that is just added on.  There in lies my question.  How do we allow our children to participate in culture, but not be of it?  I know many of my subscribers/loyal readers (ha) probably don’t have kids yet, but what will you choose to do when that time comes?

*Before you answer, remember your kids would love to spoil the fun of Santa for everyone else who falsely believes…my cousins of little faith tried that on me.

I now have a computer…

…so I can return to semi-regular postings.  That’s exciting, but I’m mainly excited about having my computer back.  Oh and I’m getting an iPod Touch!

The Beast and the Easy

I walked on the beach last night for a really long time.  Actually, I can’t think of a time where I walked anywhere longer – ever.  As I was walking South along the coast I noticed something very interesting.  If I looked to the right I saw multi-million dollar homes with people sitting comfortably inside.  Lights were shining from every opening.  TVs were flickering blue and red.  It was the easy life, I guess, but I don’t know if you could call it life.  It was just the easy.  But, as I looked to my right I saw the ocean.  It’s waves beating against the sand.  The black sky mixing with the black waters.  It went on for eternity.  The only lights it saw were the billions of stars overhead.  It was so much more dangerous than the easy, but I imagined life there.  The Beast was full of life, nothing but life.  It’s tentacles stretching out to me with every step wanting to devour me, but not knowing it.  It reminded me of every quotation I had ever heard about the safe harbor.  I realized that life is for living.  It maybe hard, but it still has to be alive.

Missing

No, nothing is missing.  I haven’t lost my puppy or anything.  One day, a few months ago, I realized that I never had really missed anyone before.  I mean I’ve experienced it temporarily.  When it comes down to it, maybe I have never let anyone close enough to me for me to miss them.  No one has ever really been irreplaceable (besides my family of course, but I guess subconsciously I think that they will always be there).  I’m really happy that I’m finally meeting people and knowing people on such a level that when I’m not around them, I miss them.

*What brought this to the forefront of my mind is the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  I just watched it for the first time tonight.  I liked it.

The Two Idiots

There was an idiot walking about his town.  He wasn’t much of a bother to anyone because most of his antics were ignored by the towns people.  Furthermore, many things that made him an idiot were internal.  One day he became aware of how idiotic he was and decided to change.  He began to change his ways little by little until one day he met another idiot.  They hit it off.  Ironically this idiot had just had a similar enlightenment and had also decided to make some changes.  Unfortunately for both idiots they began to see how each other acted and reacted and they concluded that neither were idiots, just normal.  They were both wrong.