From the mailbag

Since I've been out for over a month I decided that I should check the hotmail account today and see if the readers had any questions...or at the very least wondered what had happened to me.

Sure enough there was a letter waiting for me:

NATIONAL LIVERWOOD LOTTERY INC.
18 Herbert Road,Sol hall,West Midlands,
B91 3QEUnited Kingdom
NATIONAL LIVERWOOD LOTTERY WINNERS NOTICE

Dear Prize winner,

Congratulations Category A prize winner! You have been selected as one of two winners of the NATIONAL LIVERWOOD LOTTERY,computer ballot draws ofthe 2008 first edition promotion and thus will be a privileged recipient of the grand draw prize of £1,500,000,000 (One million five hundred thousandGreat Britain Pounds only).You/Your company, attached to Winning File Reference number LIUK/5020/0261/20; ticket number 219-8IO-97/A. Please contact our agent by email with your full contact details and please find full contact details below; Mr Mark WilliamsCLAIMS DIRECTOREXTOL FINANCE INC. U.K.Email:extol_linkagent@yahoo.com.hk Also find all other relevant winning lottery information below:

Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program.

Sincerely,
THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR,NATIONAL LIVERWOOD LOTTERY INC.
United Kingdom.

He works in mysterious ways!!!

Christian Values?

So after a brief hiatus I'm back. Last month was pretty rough. There were two deaths that hit pretty close to home and I took a new job that I'll start a little later this year and I wasn't able to dedicate any time to blogging. However, things have slowed down some and I'd like to introduce you to a new website...http://www.blogger.com/www.metrospy.com.

Metrospy is a website dedicated to ultra cool stuff such as spreading ultra conservative messages through the selling of t-shirts, posters and bumper stickers. It's much the same type of website as christianswag.com that I posted on a few months ago.

Typically I prefer to stay out of the political arena. It's my feeling that most politicians are human...save Barack...have you heard that man speak?...tell me that velvety smooth voice isn't the voice of an angel...Uhm anyways..yes voting is important, but ultimately my hope is in something bigger.

Well I'm making the exception for Metrospy in large part because of this bumper sticker in which they state their values:

Let's see how I line up:

The Cross: Check...I love Jesus.

Family: Even though this isn't a picture of my family and is instead a picture of the bathroom gender identifier people (congrats on the two kids by the way) I still support families.

Lake Michigan: I'm all for it. Once my own family vacationed there when I was in middle school. It was great!

The Flag: God Bless it...In the immortal words of Lee Greenwood...I'll proudly stand up next to you. Despite our faults I still think America is capable of great things.

A Gun: Well three out of four isn't bad I guess...Unless there was a question that went with the bumper sticker...something along the lines of "Which of the following is least like the others". After a double take I'm pretty sure the fetus is holding a toy gun.

I'll give Metrospy the benefit of the doubt though...let's look at their mission statement and see.

• Our creative team designs all t-shirts, jackets and caps you see on this site. Many of our creations include edgy, often controversial political slogans. As a company, we don't believe in needless recycling programs and we don't go out of our way to to use 'Earth-Friendly' materials during our manufacturing processes. Some of our pre-manufactured raw goods are produced in overseas sweatshops where the workers make only ten cents a day. We're 'OK' with that. At MetroSpy, our most important considerations have to do with our customers. Our customers want value and service for their hard earned money.

Let's try one more time:

• Human beings are not destroying the planet. In a 100,000 years the Earth will still be here. Over the next hundred years however, things may get warmer and things may get cooler. Either way, we don't care. During the next ice-age we expect to sell more sweatshirts than t-shirts and more beanies than baseball caps. Overall, future sales look pretty good. On a daily basis, we drive gas guzzling SUVs to make deliveries, we have bar-b-ques on Fridays and we use all manner of canned aerosols to clean and disinfect after a liberal leaves our office.

Maybe not. Thanks for representing Jesus oh so well!

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried to.

What's in a Name (pt. 2)

Once upon a time a pastor and his congregation embarked on a journey to change their name...for Third Presbytarian Church would be the TPC no more. In order to offer help during this tumultuous time the pastor created the following powerpoint presentation identyifing the categories and possible names available along with the pros and cons of each:

Read this doc on Scribd: On Choosing a New Church Name

The congregation settled upon three names:

• Windsor Church
• Trinity Church.
• Gracepoint Church

Join in the drama and read through the powerpoint...what you'll find is an intersting take on the post-modern struggles faced by the church...as well as a completely unbiased view of the benefits of each of the names. Feel free to vote for your favorite on the side bar!!!

Want to know what Third Pres. finally went with click here.

Product of the Week

You're at work, you reach into the file cabinet to grab a document, OUCH!!! you yell out, you are the recipient of a paper cut and you're bleeding all over important papers...man if someone could heal you. How unfortunate for you that you don't live in the time of Jesus...fortunately I've found what may be the next best thing:

Jesus Band aids...available for $14.95 on Amazon.com ... with free toy inside!!!

What's in a name (pt. 1)

Back when I was a kid churches had really creative names. There were the Firsts such as the First United Methodist Church or First Evangelical Free Church. Also, I remember the Denominationaly Recognized Unusually Long Names like Beth Haven Independent Baptist Church or Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church. The third category I can recall were the Our Ladies…Our Ladies Immaculate Heart Church or Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church.

Before my childhood way before the separation of Church and State churches had names showing off their how they were intertwined: The Roman Catholic Church, The Church of England. Before this, waaayyy back in the day church was just called Ecclesia.

Today’s churches have different names and I like to place them into three categories:

The edgy:
-Scum of the Earth
-Pierced Chapel
-Hot Rod Church for Sinners
-Guts Church

The throwback:
-Ecclesia
-Imago Dei
-Mars Hill (Seattle, Michigan, OK City)
-Flood Church

The Communal:
-Mosaic
-New Life
-Life Church
-Crossings Community
-The Dialogue Church

Needless to say church names have evolved quite a bit. So have church websites which will be a future post I’m sure (click the links). I've gone to a few of these churches and like all churches they have they're makes and breaks. What I did not know was how hard coming up with a cool "rockin" new church name was.

Just take a look at churchcommunicationpro.com’s article on Seven Ideas for Naming Your Church:

1. Pray about it…and then pray some more. Jesus is the CEO and we need to take our requests to Him. When I decided on Element 3 Church for my church name it became clear through prayer and a vision. There was a lot of meaning behind it and I knew this was the one. Maybe it won’t happen that way for you but I do believe that prayer is essential for discovering your church name.

2. Play with words and ideas. Start writing down all the ideas that come to mind. Don’t hold back any possibilities even if you think it’s stupid. Use a Thesaurus or a website like Nameboy.com to kick around word alternatives and see what piques your interest. Explore and play around.

3. Ask yourself if the idea or name fits. Does the name flow with your vision? Is it too conservative, too edgy, or too abstract for your church’s vision? It’s important for the name to fit your style, belief, and image or it will never grow roots. You gotta be passionate about it as a leader or it will die on the vine.

4. Avoid generic names. Choosing a name like First Denomination Church of My Town is boring and lacks originality. Generic names usually just don’t create excitement and are harder to brand. Break out of the mold and think different.

5. Avoid difficult names. Names taken from Hebrew or other languages are not always the best choice either. They might be cool to seminary grads and artistic types but if it’s hard to understand or pronounce people may feel stupid trying to say it. Please don’t make people feel stupid…you’ll only get negative buzz or press.

6. Don’t go with public opinion. If you ask 10 people you will usually get 10 different answers. Some people will think you are nuts and others will think you are a genius. Go with your gut feeling first and then the advice of no more than three people. Focus groups thought Amazon was a dumb name…you draw the conclusion here.

7. Own it and promote it. Once you have decided on a name move forward and don’t second guess it. If you think it rocks then it will rock! Your passion will be contagious and you can brand and promote it. You will be criticized by some, no doubt - but move on and keep promoting it and your vision.

Is it ok for church names to change? Do you like the new names better? Are they too trendy? Are they "rockin"? Does it even matter? Discuss...

In part 2 of the series join us as we take a look at the dramatic journey of the Third Presbyterian Church of Dubuque as they contemplate a name change.

convert this...

Convert: to cause to adopt a different religion, political doctrine, opinion, etc.: to convert the heathen.

...and typically thought of as a pretty bad thing. I read a blog article about a Christian talking about their faith and the negative response that followed. Not long ago my pastor gave a sermon in which he talked about whether or not it was ok to convert people in a post-modern era that shunned absolute truths. The point he kept coming back to was that everyone tries to convert others to something. I wondered if this was true and I did a quick you.tube search...here's what I found:

These examples are subtle so watch closely:

These are obviously extreme examples of people trying to persuade you, but aren't we faced with conversion all the time? I've got three people trying to convince me to vote for them for president...I've got Pepsi trying to win me over from Coke...should I shop local or buy organic?

Everyone has an opinion...how do Christians convert without offering a sales pitch? Is it wrong for Christians to convert? Why does Left Behind (a movie that I didn't enjoy) catch flak for trying to convert people by people who salute Al Gore for his attempts?

I don't have answers just questions...discuss...

Product of the Week

At times I fear that I won't be able to find a suitable Christian Product of the week. Sometimes it keeps me up at night and I consider giving up on this segment (which is scary because this is only the second entry). Though just when I feel like giving up all hope I'm presented with just the right thing...so if you haven't been introduced already then let me be the first to turn you on to a product that will turn your life upside down:

Moses Wasn't Fat is available on Amazon.com for the get out of town price of $19.95 and comes with the description:

-

Moses Wasn't Fat is a powerful, new diet and health book based on the wisdom of the Bible. If you've been on a diet merry-go-round and are ready to finally get off, here's a book that will teach you a safe, healthy, effective and Godly way to conquer your weight problems once and for all. No gimmicks, no unhealthy diet programs, no quackery. Just sound weight loss and health-building advice straight from the Bible.

***

I'd be lying if I said I'd read the book because I haven't, but I am intrigued because of the picture on the cover. Here we have a mystical, almost Santa Clausish (minus the tummy), fairly Caucasian Moses offering up a pretty decent fruit basket on a starry night. I'm not sure if this is an accurate portrayal of Moses, but I'll agree that this Moses isn't fat and I find myself wondering, "What's his secret?".

Though I wondered if I could find out what Moses ate just by reading some Old Testament...what I found was that Moses walked in a desert for 40 years and ate a lot of manna until he died at the age of 120..which by my calculations is pretty old. I wonder if the book says that I should wake up extra early tomorrow collect some the food God leaves me on the ground, sell my car and walk everywhere until I get old. Because if that's the case I find the fruit basket truly misleading.