My soup

church_online_beta in stealth mode

Fri, 11 May 2012 03:08:15 GMT

church_online_beta in stealth mode

orange8

Fri, 11 May 2012 02:18:07 GMT

orange8

My Random Life: A Work In Progress

Tue, 08 May 2012 03:43:38 GMT

I’m authoring a book about episodes in my life and thought I’d share the work in progress while it’s in progress. The idea of the book is to honestly share about (some of the) struggles in my life in a transparent and vulnerable way so that people, especially Asian Americans, can know that they’re not alone in their struggles. I also intend for this to be an example of how to come out from hiding behind shame and to finding courage to be vulnerable, getting healing, and helping others.

Though I wasn’t able to list it on Amazon as a free ebook (but I did list my eBook there for easier download), I can post it here as a free download.

Download ebook in .MOBI format - for Kindle [instructions]
Download ebook in .EPUB format - for iBook on iOS (iPad), Nook, Sony, etc [instructions]
Read it online via Issuu or Slideshare

For me, it’s about the speed to publish. (so not everything is perfectly formatted; and this also gives me an opportunity for me to experiment and to learn digital publishing on different platforms)

The e-book that’s I’ve just published is a compilation of blog posts from my 12 years of blogging that will serve as the starting point for telling more about my life. I’ve dubbed it a “chronological edition” because the blog posts are ordered chronologically, and the book title is tentative. In the final edition, I think the ebook’s length will more than double in size, as I’ll be expanding on a number of issues, including: depression, bipolar disorder, career choices, and identity formation. As a bunch of blog posts, the ebook is obviously disjointed and not an easy read.

I realize that I don’t have a most sensational life story like some others who’ve been published, be it a courageous battle with disease, growing up in adverse circumstances, turning from a life of drugs and/or crime, or going from rags to riches. On the one hand, I see myself as an average guy, and yet, I also know I’m terribly unconventional so it’s taken many years to begin to feel comfortable in my own skin.

My thinking about the book is to just tell the story and avoid being prescriptive. In that sense, it won’t be in the genre of self-help nor inspirational. The telling of the story itself is the point. Maybe this is a new genre? But I am eager to hear feedback from you readers as to how I can better shape this ebook to be of more help to people.

In the ebook, I explain more of why I’m writing this ebook and what’s prompted me to author at this stage in my life. So, please do download it, read it, and provide much needed feedback. Your voice matters!

Whether the final edition will be published by a traditional publisher or if I’ll be self-publishing is yet to be determined. Either way, it will be published and not perish.

In the 21st century, what ought to be published is no longer is prohibited by the market. (others who have self published: Ben Franklin, Ezra Pound, Emily Dickinson, Thomas Paine, Jane Austen, Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Virginia Woolf) And, I will make the final edition available in digital and print formats.

a List of Churches on Pinterest

Wed, 02 May 2012 14:16:36 GMT

While there are articles (here, here, here, here, there) that give great ideas for how a church could be using Pinterest, right now it’s kinda elusive to find churches actually actively using Pinterest.

Aside: I myself have 624 pins and my dear wife has over 2,127 pins.

Here’s a list of churches on Pinterest I’d found, with a current count of pins when this list was compiled (please do add more) ::

At the moment, Pinterest is invite-only. Add a comment and I’d be more than happy to give you an invite.

What’s Next in Church Innnovations

Tue, 01 May 2012 15:38:01 GMT

“What’s Next? A Look Over the Next Hill for Innovative Churches and Their Leaders” is a new mini-book by Dave Travis of Leadership Network. The book appears to be a report or white paper that was written to inform executive-type leaders of larger churches and that same kind of intel’ is now being made available to the public. And this kind of insider info may well be a glimpse of things to come, in some way like a self-fulfilling prophecy. I was very eager to read this 64-pager (print edition) and devoured it all in 1 sitting.

Dave notes that innovations could happen on the fringe or in smaller contexts that are nimble to try new things (“some would insist that innovation happens at the edges… smaller churches often seed new ideas and innovations into the Christian ecosystem…”) but asserts how an innovative idea spreads requires influentials and influencers on a larger scale — “… pushing an idea across the broad expanse, from an obscure starting point… there is a need for ‘opinion leaders’ to get on board… the diffusers of innovation…” And those influencers are by and large leaders in very large churches. Size attracts attention.

Yet, once an influencer doesn’t mean always an influencer. Dave noticed this: “Old conference notebooks reveal to us that many of the 2002 thought leaders are no longer at the center of our ecosystem. Yet they built the steps to this year’s platform.”

And Dave explains why large churches are valuable to our society: “… large churches are the most effective and efficient bundlers of social capital in a community… the best equipped to mobilize large groups of people to use their time, talent, and treasures for purposes that make the neighborhoods better places to live… [even] across the world…”

The book anticipates a number of trends and even some speculations about the future of the American church. And even researchers of global Christianity acknowledge that what happens in the United States still has (disproportionate) influence around the world, even though the center of Christianity has shifted to the south and to the east. I’d interpret that as more people are becoming Christians in parts of Asia, Africa, and South America, but the financial capital is here in the US for the time being, and that can make things happen for a time. In the long run, sheer numbers of people will outlast sheer number of dollars, just a matter of time. Consider, what could Christianity look like in 1000 years, and with that kind of perspective, we won’t be looking just at quarterly numbers or annual reports.

I did want to react to 2 things mentioned in the book.

Firstly, financial transparency in the church. This one is a toughie in the church, and in the non-profit world for that matter. And there may well be a bunch of factors for this, some for bad reasons and some out of fear and ignorance. I believe that if we are truly children of the light and the light of the world that the church can be leading the way in showing how to disclosure finances more than any typical non-profit. In so doing, the church can show how to avoid jealousy about staff salaries and being above reproach in its use of finances. Perhaps I am being too idealistic, but I believe more in the power of good over evil, truth over silence, honesty over hiddenness. Criticism will surface anyways, and even more so, now that everyone has a (potential) voice over the Internet. And I’d counter misperception with hard data rather than hiding data any day.

Secondly, what about the next Billy Graham? Dave writes, “Billy Graham, the Sequel: Who will be the next great evangelist with a worldwide impact? I’ve predicted for years that we’re likely to see a native of India or some other Asian country, fluent in English, who can appeal to the West.” I wonder if s/he would really emerge from the the East? History tells us that there have been great evangelists from the East, like Watchman Nee or Bakht Singh.

I’d say someone from China might have a better chance at being a global evangelist, and not just because I happen to be of Chinese descent. From sheer numbers, India and China will dominate the population numbers. And so much of the world economy and cash flow is finding a home in China, so much of the clothes and furniture and technology we use today is made in China (including this MacBook Pro I’m typing on.) Yes, that next global evangelist will be internet-savvy, and I’d say more than event-savvy or media-savvy, s/he has got to be social-media-savvy, so it’d look a lot more like reality-tv live-streaming than an on-stage inspirational speaker, tho’ s/he’d have to be quite the motivational speaker too.

[disclosure: I work with Leadership Network]

AfterFocus Photo

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 04:55:55 GMT

AfterFocus Photo
Created with #AfterFocus for Android

No One Turns Down the Blessing – e-book and contest

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 05:03:03 GMT

Charles Wear has published his faith journey as an e-book on Kindle = “No One Turns Down the Blessing.” It’s a fascinating read of an ex-pastor’s faith adventure with many unexpected and unconventional turns. Here’s what people are saying:

“You’re about to read a dangerous book…” — Steve Sjogren, author, Conspiracy of Kindness, Kindness.com.

“Can our churches have an impact on the community around them? What does it look like to be Jesus to a group of skateboarders? In his first e-book, Charlie Wear–ex-pastor, editor, lawyer–shares his fascinating insights and experience of what it looks like to be church outside the walls, to “be Jesus” to people without the religious trappings. If you want to maintain the status quo, don’t bother to read this book…” — Felicity Dale, simplychurch.com, co-author Small is Big.

This is Charlie’s story about himself, a “recovering pharisee”, and his adventures from being a burned out, divorced, depressed church dropout; more church life in which he accidentally became a pastor, trying to look good as a preacher; another miserable failure; then how, out of the ashes of his attempt at church, true ministry was birthed. … It’s about how God uses a broken man with a broken heart to take the gospel to places the traditional church could never go. If you’re tired of normal ordinary “church”, this will inspire you. — Robby Charters, author of Pepe

One particular quote sticks with me and keeps me searching my own heart: “I used to think I was a Christian, because of what I believed, how I behaved and perhaps, because of how my associates thought of me.” If you’re interested in being liberated from this brand of “Christianity,” get Charlie’s book. — Scott Bane

But you’ll need a Kindle to read the e-book (or you could use a Kindle app, I suppose.) How about this: Win a brand new Kindle e-reader by entering the contest below. Odds are really good that you’d win a copy of the e-book (100 winners). But you don’t have to take a chance and just go buy it for 99 cents.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway.

[this is a sponsored post + contest by Charles Wear]

HopeMob.org launches to help people one at a time

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:05:23 GMT

Is this a great idea or what?! People coming together online and raising money to help one person (or a group of people) with a specific need and in a matter of hours or a few days, that’s take care of via the power of crowdsourcing over the internet! Called HopeMob, this could become the kickstarter of fundraising to meet a need. Simple. Plus, the incorporating of game mechanics (aka gamification) could make this quite an engaging online community. The founder Shaun King was interviewed by Soledad O’Brien this morning on CNN Starting Point.

Another thing that’s amazing is that Shaun lives right in my neighborhood. Not every day that something like this grows so close to where I live. Honored.

I logged-in earlier and gave my points to boost the story of the cause to raise $$ to give hope to 2,000 kids via Joy Jars. You may have heard of Joy Jars, the inspiration of Jessie Rees who wanted to get 50,000 fans on her Facebook page to raise awareness and bring joy to other kids who have cancer. That page now has over 147,000 fans. So join in and use your free starter points and let’s brighten the lives of a couple thousand kids with joy and hope!

Made with Paper

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:14:39 GMT

Made with Paper

Rob Jacobs: Campus Pastor Manifesto- Part 3- Mission of Commissioned

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:53:16 GMT

robjacobs:

I was a campus pastor for 1 night…this is my manifesto

Create a mission that creates value for the entire church. One way is to be a place that experiments on with ideas that can be scaled up for use in larger venues and campuses.

The Idea- “Commissioned Campus”… A hybrid campus/venue…

http://robjacobs.tv/post/19702773665/campus-pastor-manifesto-part-3-mission-of

Rick Warren interview aired on Easter Sunday 2012

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:42:28 GMT

ABC News’ This Week featured on Easter Sunday 2012 this 18-minute exclusive interview with Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church and a shorter interview with Kay Warren, wife of Pastor Rick, with mention of her new book, Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn’t Enough. Interviewer was Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) described Pastor Rick as the “most powerful religious leader in America.” While good to interview a pastor on Easter Sunday, the millions of Christians were at worship services around the country would not have seen the interview on television that aired on Sunday morning. So who woulda watched it? Good thing it’s available online for on-demand viewing too. And I’ve added links to portions of interview transcript after the jump. // [update 4/9] watch entire episode of This Week + full transcript //

Partial transcripts – text of interview with Rick Warren at ABC News Blogs:

‘Coarsening of our Culture’ Concerns Me – “We don’t know how to disagree without being disagreeable… you can walk hand-in-hand without seeing eye-to-eye. And what we need in our country is unity, not uniformity.”
Rick Warren’s Easter Message: ‘When You’re Going Through Hell, You Keep Going’
Fundamental Differences Between Mormons and Christians
‘Inability to Delay Gratification’ at Heart of Economic Woes
Uproar Over Tim Tebow a Sign of Regression
‘Newsweek’ Exploiting Easter With Religious Cover
‘God Hates War, but God Loves Every Soldier’
Ministering to Trayvon Martin Community
Contraception Debate About ‘Greater Principle’ of Religious Freedom
Our Church Has Lost Over 250,000 Pounds
Don’t Worry, Dogs Go to Heaven

[disclosure: I attend Saddleback Church @ Rancho Capistrano]

(Taken with picplz.)

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 05:17:58 GMT

(Taken with picplz.)

Innovative ethnic Asian churches in America

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:08:05 GMT

Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the past decade, cf. Census 2010. This situation ought to prompt new activities among the over 7,000 Asian American churches in the United States. While a majority of these primarily have Asian-language worship services & ministries, there’s bound to be some level of innovation, churches breaking stereotypes of focusing on immigrants only, and realizing that Gospel mandate to take an actively intentional role in extending ministry to English-speaking and non-Asian-language speaking in its community and around the world.

Running on the assumption that good news travels fast, this is a short list of “successful” ethnic Chinese churches that I hear about out of an estimated 1,200 Chinese churches [need your help! add a comment + add to this list]:

River of Life Christian Church (Santa Clara, CA) and New Life Christian Church of OC (Irvine) [! even Celebrate Recovery in Chinese !]
Bay Area Chinese Bible Church (Alameda and San Leandro, CA)
Chinese Church in Christ (6 locations in San Francisco Bay area) – one of them being Jeremy Lin’s home church
First Evangelical Church Association
West Houston Chinese Church
Chinese Bible Church of San Diego (multi-site church with 6 campuses)
Mandarin Baptist Church of LA (they have a mobile app!)
Crosspoint Church of Silicon Valley
First Chinese Baptist Church, Walnut (Calif)

And I’ll call upon my colleagues, KAMR and KCCD, who are much more knowledgeable about the Korean American church world, to make a similar note about their context, since I’m not Korean, and I wouldn’t want to shortchange all the good things that may be happening among some 4,000 Korean American churches.

Innovation happens everywhere. And going across the pond, there are things stirring in mainland China too. Influential Chinese economist Zhao Xiao reported that there’s a church in China with 100,000 congregations, each consisting of average 50 people, so the total combined size is over five million. Though that’s not the normal way of counting church size, it’s worth noting as a different “innovative” model of church in our fast-changing world.

On a broader perspective, also glean from John Kao‘s series about the state of innovation in China (posted at CNN’s Global Public Square) –

China as an Innovation Nation - provided a portrait of China’s innovation drive, describing its scale and success model
Why is innovation so important to China? - the historical context for the centrality of innovation in China’s national strategy; the country that invented the compass, gunpowder and printing
Chinese innovation – paper tiger or king of the hill? - beyond the “black or white” rhetoric that characterizes much of the current debate on how real and significant China’s innovation drive
In search of the Chinese entrepreneur - ” with profiles of Aigo’s Feng Jun and Sundia’s Xiochuan Wang
Innovation war or innovation peace?” – potential for both conflict and cooperation in the U.S.-China innovation relationship
Engage China with guarded openness - be open to sharing information and to collaboration, but exercise prudence and caution

How to embed a YouTube video into WordPress in a minute

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 02:28:02 GMT

How to embed a YouTube video into WordPress in a minute

1st time @kogibbq (Taken with picplz.)

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 05:05:19 GMT

1st time @kogibbq (Taken with picplz.)

If I were half a billionaire

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:31:21 GMT

Today’s humongous $540 million jackpot for the Mega Millions lottery could really mess with someone’s or a group of someones’ finances. The odds are slightly better that several people will split the winning rather than one solitary person; even though it’s statistically impossible to win, someone does.

And what if I were to win the lottery and a large chunk of change? Here’s what I’d do (and by blogging it I’m going on the record, so that means you could call me on it if I deviate off plan) –

Set aside half for tax purposes
Set aside 10% for as my faith expression of obedience of giving to God’s kingdom. It would go into a charitable fund and I wouldn’t give it all at once
Do the math with a financial advisor to set me and family on a course of financial independence based on the standard of living we currently have (debt payoff implied)
Set aside a world travel fund to go to 20 world-class cities around the world
Set aside a hospitality fund for local & regional gatherings of all sorts – conversations change the world
Launch a web-based webcast/netcast network for next generation voices– Asian, Latino, African American, Middle Eastern, multi-racial — to delve into real-life issues of family, race relations, mental health, vulnerability/shame, vocational empowerment, think pieces, social commentaries, globalization (not entertainment, not fashion, not celebrity gossip, not tech, not gaming, not politics)
Launch a R&D “skunk works” lab for non-profit innovation with a bias for long-term impact over short-term results
Start a publishing digital imprint for next gen leaders that need to be heard, not (only) those who can sell books
Establish a giving circle / community fund for the dreams of next gen Asian Americans
Host annual summits for gathering thought leaders that can advance needed change in: faith & race issues for evangelicals; next gen faith for minorities; minority philanthropy

Am I idealistic? You betcha!

Here’s the thing. You gotta play to win. I didn’t buy a lottery ticket. So this blog post is entirely hypothetical. What would you do if you won a large amount of money, hypothetically?

Invitation for Asian American women to get empowered for the long haul

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 02:53:51 GMT

Invitation for Asian American women to get empowered for the long haul

Why men should go to a women's conference

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 02:49:40 GMT

Why men should go to a women's conference

How many Asian American women say they're leaders?

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 02:35:44 GMT

How many Asian American women say they're leaders?

Invite to Asian American Women - extended version

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 01:29:59 GMT

Invite to Asian American Women - extended version

"Go away. You're boring."

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:44:47 GMT

"Go away. You're boring."

how we desperately need to break the power of shame…

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 17:01:42 GMT

how we desperately need to break the power of shame…

Freedom of speech, journalism, and artistic license

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:42:59 GMT

When public communications veer off the path of truth, and enters the domain of artistic expression, not only are lines blurred, because both journalism and art/ entertainment are forms of public communications, the confusion of fuzzy logic and the gullible naivite of the undiscerning casts a cloud of anxiety over the masses.

This week the journalistically-styled NPR-ish radio show (and podcast) This American Life retracted its most popular episode, Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory, because it mixed fiction and truth in a story that was regretably aired without more thorough fact-checking. The statement of retraction stated:

This American Life has retracted this story because we learned that many of Mike Daisey’s experiences in China were fabricated. We have removed the audio from our site, and have left this transcript up only for reference. We produced an entire new episode about the retraction, featuring Marketplace reporter Rob Schmitz, who interviewed Mike’s translator Cathy and discovered discrepancies between her account and Mike’s, and New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg, who has reported extensively on Apple. Ira also re-interviewed Mike Daisey to learn why he misled us.

As a journalistic genre, This American Life is committed to certain journalistic standards, and this one episode got away. On their blog with the press release, the Executive Producer and Host Ira Glass wrote:

I have difficult news. We’ve learned that Mike Daisey’s story about Apple in China – which we broadcast in January – contained significant fabrications. We’re retracting the story because we can’t vouch for its truth. This is not a story we commissioned. It was an excerpt of Mike Daisey’s acclaimed one-man show “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” in which he talks about visiting a factory in China that makes iPhones and other Apple products.

Episode #460 explained more about the fact-checking after the airing of the original episode, its retraction, and an interview with Mike Daisey to seek an apology and explanation. I’ve listened to both episodes. Painful. (And what might Apple’s legal department be plotting?)

Daisey felt justified in doing what he does as a storyteller and believes his work is a legitimate exercise of artistic license. Sure, a scriptwriter has the freedom to create a work of art as movie or play or book by rendering a dramatization based on a true story. There’s a place for that. That place is not a journalistic-style radio show. Maybe Garrison Keillor? Or Jon Stewart? Stephen Colbert?

This kind of problem will keep aggravating the world of journalism as social media enables anyone and everyone to have a public voice. Everything is looking more like op-ed pieces. Journalism perhaps isn’t able to uphold as high a standard as it used to because of an accelerated news cycle in a 24/7 communication world, or maybe new media is revealing the subjective biases and inaccuracies of the reporters’ work.

I’ve had a few encounters with journalism, and news reporters (with news involving people I knew) did not get the facts nor details right. This recently happened in the OC Register and its February 23rd article Rick Warren builds bridge to Muslims. Rick Warren was forced to respond amidst an already busy highly-demanding schedule. First to clear up theological issues, in an interview with Brandon A. Cox and The Christian Post. Secondly, a line-by-line documentation of the factual errors in News & Views 3/10/12: ON RESPONDING TO FALSE ACCUSATIONS (also posted at ocregister.com), the Saddleback Church email newsletter. Some of the damage may be irreparable, as OC Register noted on 3/9/12 in Effort to reach out to Muslims stirs outcry. And media representative A. Larry Ross wrote up this article, Saddleback Church: Setting the record straight on outreach to Muslims, published at ocregister.com .

My hunch is that as media technologies keeps developing and maturing, the lines will only get more blurred. And, these situations are indicators of a shift of trust away from faceless institutions towards individuals in one’s social network.

Oh, and the dust hasn’t settled yet on Mike Daisey and his American Life episode. There’s more.

On March 19th, “… at a long-scheduled appearance at Georgetown University, Mike Daisey gave his first public talk since the news broke last Friday that This American Life was retracting the now-infamous episode featuring his work. Daisey is a complicated and conflicted figure, and, it’s hard not to feel complicated and conflicted about him and about his work. His talk last night provides a new dimension to the story that is now at the center of a scandal.” —The Atlantic Wire

Why isn’t Easter bigger than Christmas?

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 01:55:26 GMT

The 2 most powerful things about the Christian faith get celebrated year after year: Easter for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from death to life, and Christmas for the incarnation of Jesus Christ born as a baby from a virgin. Both supernatural and miraculous. And being raised from the dead is a far bigger miracle than a baby’s birth, and so much so that The Apostle Paul rightly argued that the Christian faith is practically null and void if not for the reality of the resurrection: “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.“

So why does it seem like Christmas is a bigger deal than Easter? I have my own speculations and theories as to the reasons why, but I sure want to hear from you. Add a comment. Is it the presents? Is it the snow? Is it the holiday movies?

From this unofficial tally of worship services at 20 larger churches in Orange County, California, there were 99 for Christmas vs. 113 for Easter. So maybe Easter is bigger than Christmas for church-goers, and Christmas is bigger for American culture at large?

My family joyously celebrated Christmas at 10 churches this past December. Not sure how many churches we’ll celebrate Easter with just yet. But I am putting a spreadsheet together to begin scheming…

Anxiety and Christians don’t mix, usually

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:42:10 GMT

A timely book arrived in the mail last week and I happen to have some time to read it all in one day. The book? Rhett Smith‘s The Anxious Christian: Can God Use Your Anxiety for Good? What I love about this book is how Rhett vulnerably and honestly reveals his own life story, how anxiety has been a traveling companion throughout much of his life, even how it showed up as stuttering and near-paralysis before public speaking.

All too often well-intentioned Christian ministry leaders / preachers / teachers / people give encouragement with pithy sayings and the quoting the Bible verses, without the demands of genuine compassion that requires entering in and walking alongside someone’s pain and confusion. (cf. Overcoming Anxiety: Dealing with Anxiety and Worry) If you’d not been schooled in the right-of-center flavor of Christianity, the answer to life is always: Jesus, Bible and prayer, not necessarily in that order.

Thank you Rhett for taking a whole different approach, a very personal one at that. By sharing your life and the things you’ve learned along the way, it draws me relationally and I’m freed to know that my own anxiety is not necessarily coming from a place of doubting God and I’m not someone to be fixed per se. And more than that, anxiety can be invitation from God towards a more rewarding faith.

My confession: This book came timely for me as I’d been simmering about anxiety in my life, not in a paralyzing manner from an overwhelming number of choices, but more of an annoying nagging feeling. My anxiety seems to be recurring about performance, and the discomfort of having to evaluate my work, or worse, to have others evaluate it. Whether I success or not, or could do better, or am celebrated for excellence, there’s that thing about performance evaluation that I just plain don’t like. That’s all I got to say about that right now.

[disclosure: I received a complementary review copy]

DJ Chuang exhibition at the Museum of Me

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 02:43:37 GMT

DJ Chuang exhibition at the Museum of Me

tweet for my 1st time eating Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Tacos

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 22:12:49 GMT

tweet for my 1st time eating Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Tacos

why Knicks are losing after Jeremy Lin led a winning streak

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:04:24 GMT

why Knicks are losing after Jeremy Lin led a winning streak

A friend’s weekend project (Taken with picplz.)

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 01:51:14 GMT

A friend’s weekend project (Taken with picplz.)

Color Combinations | Color Schemes | Color Palettes

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:11:21 GMT

http://www.colorcombos.com/

apologies for crazy overload of duplicate posts

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:28:35 GMT

Sorry about that. Not sure what caused all these duplicate posts from the rss feed import. Entering troubleshooting mode to stop it…. (just revoked access to Rss Importer app)

what being missional is about

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 06:56:33 GMT

Being missional is the topic du jour in the mainstream American church, and there’s no sign of the momentum slowing down. Last week in Austin, Texas, I participated at the Verge Conference 2012 with ~ 2,500+ others in attendance to get invigorated about missional communities + missional churches + being missional, and even getting our “faces melted off” (quoting the emcee’s words verbatim.) What’s stuck with me (on this go around) is how being missional intersects with other circles of Christian efforts: cross-cultural missions, urban ministry, social justice, discipleship, organic church, and more. Missional has moved from being a hot buzz word to being more about an activistic kind of lifestyle.

The annual Verge Conference is just one of many efforts from Verge Network to constantly resource the church at large, in America and all over the world, to be more about living as followers of Christ and serving people at their obvious point of need as a genuine and sincere act of love and service (not so much about the business aspects of running & leading church as an organization, where many other resources in America are readily available.) Stay connected to the Verge Network year round, because they’re always at work in gathering and sharing resources, at times even every day.

Get all the recorded talks (plus bonus content) from Verge 2012 for just $49 before Saturday 3/10. Rich and insightful messages you’ll want to digest and discuss with your group of like-minded zealous Christ-followers.

what being missional is about

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 06:56:33 GMT

what being missional is about

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 04:55:42 GMT

what being missional is about

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 04:55:42 GMT

what being missional is about

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 02:55:11 GMT

what being missional is about

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 02:55:11 GMT

Inspired by @soverpeck

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:48:15 GMT

Inspired by @soverpeck

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:47:42 GMT

Inspired by @soverpeck

what being missional is about

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 00:55:39 GMT