Coming Alive

Went downtown to The Burro tonight.  I really wish I would have spent more of my college years hanging out in places like that.  There was like 7 of us in the back room playing Halo and talking some.  I love being a part of church where we can go to a bar and hang out with people who have very different worldviews than our own. 

Not to mention I kicked some tail in Halo 2!

I’m really not resistant to new fads, technology, etc.  In fact, if you are a fan of movies or music you should really check thissite out…I dig it and I have only given it a trial run.  Also, I was an early adopter to the blog thing…then I quit for a few years before picking it back up with this account. 

I say all that just so I can express the following without being thought to be simply out of touch…

Twitter kinda sucks.  Unless you have it connected with your phone or you are on your computer constantly it isn’t even realistic.  I am a creature of habit with my Internet use, meaning that I find out what my “friends” are doing around 9am, 1pm, and anytime after 10pm.  So my page is always filled with:
- Sitting in Starbucks preparing for the first meeting of the day
- Having lunch with this guy and this guy who both rock my face
- Going to sleep after watching Prison Break (Tadd) or Project Runway (Josh)

If it were connected to my phone it would be a whole different story.  But it’s not. 

The other thing is that most people simply aren’t interesting enough to earn the followings they get.  I jumped on Twitter about 3 weeks ago and got up to like 5 people following me…yea 5.  That was at least 3 too many!  I can’t imagine why more than my wife and a few people at The Patio would want to know who I am meeting with or when I have a bowel movement.  The funny thing is my posts aren’t ANY different from some guys who have like 3000 people following there every move.  Seriously, when one of these guys has a Cappuccino 3000 phones beep around the world.  Wow. 

So.  I’m done.  Mainly I wanted to make fun of some friends who love it on my way out.  It’s cool that it works for you guys in your environment, but it’s definatly not for me. 

However, if you end up having your face especially rocked in a meeting just shoot me an email!

I’ve read before that Vision should move you.  People should be challenged and changed by a great vision.  It’s a powerful idea.  If it’s true there is something about that concept that is gripping.  Whenever I have read about the all consuming fire of a great vision I have always applied it to the internal…to the heart.

Moved.  Challenged.  Changed.

Those are words that, in our society, apply almost entirely to a person’s inner self.  Jason is in the ballpark of what I am getting at here.

“To see the community of Reedy Fork Ranch come alive through authentic relationships”
- That’s the vision statement of The Patio

For a really long time that phrase has captured my heart.  It has moved and challenged my internal self.  Over the past two years I have been changed in my soul by this vision. 

The problem is that after a while if the external isn’t changed by the vision the internal will cease to be as well.  In other words, you can have a great worldview, but if your world doesn’t begin to match you will eventually abandon it. 

There are some things in The Patio’s world that really match up with it’s worldview: our mission field, community dinners, our evangelism strategy.

Then there are some things that were never changedby the vision.  We were content to be inconsistent.  Now, we are finding ourselves being challenged.  Not by inconvenience, nor by lack of opportunity.  We are being challenged by a GREAT vision! 

Over the next two or three weeks details we be released here (and elsewhere) on how The Patio is being moved by our vision.  Keep up!  You don’t want to miss what’s going to happen next!

There are a few things I know quite a lot about (relative to average): Baseball, Movies, The Bible, Christian books, Romantic era poets to name a few.  One of the most fun things in life is when two people get into a discussion about something you know a lot about, only they don’t know you know a lot about it.  If the conversation turns into a debate it can be completely hysterical.  Usually people don’t know what they don’t know.

 ”Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
- Abe Lincoln

This very well known quote has somehow been ignored more and more as the election approaches.  Notice, politics (specifically the candidates in the upcoming election) are not on my list of things I know a lot about.  Now, I am a VERY opinionated person who enjoys being right as much as the next guy, but for the first time in my life I have really tried to listen to my friends as they have expressed their opinions (sometimes quite arrogantly).  I have also read a number of blogs designed to encourage people to get in line behind the blogger for their Messiah…I mean candidate.

This is what I have learned through the whole thing – This only applies to people I know:
1.  I have not come across ANYONE who has convinced me that they have any idea what they are talking about.  I don’t know a lot about politics, but I can spot other people who don’t a lot about politics pretty well – The more  you have said or blogged about your opinion the more sure I am that you are NOT the person anyone should be listening to. 

2.  The longer ago you made your mind up on who you were voting for is in direct conflict with your ability to make a truly educated decision. 

3.  If you are going to tell people “facts” about the “bad” party first, see point number 1, and come to grips with the reality that you don’t know as much as you think you do.  Second, at least cite your source, post a link, or give me a candy bar to distract me from what is blatantly opinion being sold to me as fact.  That’s just messed up.

Everyone – happy pursuit of information in the next few days.  Learn something, be fair, and if you vote be respectful of those who don’t see things the same way you do.  There are smart people on both sides. 

Above all else let me quote from a friend the greatest truth a Christian can remember during this election: “Being a citizen in the Kingdom of God, my Leader has already been elected (before the foundation of the world).”
- Gene S