wiredparish.com

it slices, it dices

when one has spent enough time blogging all by his or her lonesome in a basement, it’s no wonder when the mind begins to play tricks.

one such trick caught me off guard recently when my life-size lego replica of edward james olmos broke his expected silence to pose to me a question - “what good can wiredparish accomplish in our world?” ever since watching blade runner as a youngster, i knew that senior olmos was a man of wisdom, so such a philosophical question only seemed appropriate. after giving due pause to such an extraordinary interrogative, my idealistic side got the better of me, and i offered the following justification for the existence of wp … first, i stated that if used properly, it’s more than reasonable to believe that wp could easily disarm a fanatical dictator, such as kim jong il. next, i surmised that if used for good and not for evil, wp could reverse global warming. finally, i proposed that, properly utilized, wiredparish could once and for all convince def leppard that songs such as armageddon it should not be forced on a new generation of listeners, and that it’s time to retire.

my answers must have been sufficient, because edward james olmos had no further comment. but, if there’s anyone who still wonders how wiredparish can be of benefit, there are some great ideas on the wp website for how individuals, small groups, and ministry leaders can utilize the vast array of resource we call wiredparish.com.

in the basement,
the fo
wiredparish

street spirit and reggie mcneal

a couple things stuck with me as i was listening to reggie mcneal’s newest podcast.

-millennials’ (those born between 1984 and 2000) spiritual lives play out on the street. our formulaic structures for spiritual formation just don’t cut it when a millennial sees spiritual fulfillment in terms of changing the world. wow, what a novel idea … spiritual maturity equating to making a difference.

-reggie also makes a comment about how hungry millennials are for relationships with older people. the generational segregation that happens within churches robs younger people of insane amounts of wisdom that they are more than willing to embrace.

this is the fourth of reggie’s podcasts in a series called generational cultures.

in the basement,
the fo
wiredparish

sir dallas willard

wiredparish.com president jay kelly interviews dallas willard in his latest podcast. listening to dallas speak is kind of like watching anthony hopkins act – you kind of just have the feeling it doesn’t get any better than this. jay talks with dallas about his new book the great omission, and the conversation runs the gamut from discipleship to the gospel to the kingdom of god. so much of the writing and thought that’s coming out of the emerging church today owes a huge debt to dallas. on a side note, i wish i could enunciate like him. he could order a happy meal at mcdonald’s and it would sound like the sermon on the mount.

in the basement,
the fo
wiredparish

the curvy road to rome

tim conder really had my attention with his latest podcast. he and jason byassee (assistant editor at the christian century) have a great conversation that kind of centers around an article jason wrote about some high level protestant academics converting to catholicism.

after tim and jason throw around some of the things that might pull someone towards catholicism or push someone away from protestantism, jason drops this fantastic quote … “the best way to be catholic is to be faithful to that tradition in which you were baptized.” wow, there’s a huge tension in that statement because essentially he’s saying that an act of conversion (i.e., protestant to catholic) may be detrimental to a central ethic of the catholic (little “c”) church. How does the act of conversion relate to jesus’ hope of the church being one? jason finishes things off by talking about some pros and cons to the idea that the reformation could be over.

in the basement,
the fo
wiredparish