Monday Morning Brief – July 6, 2009

(sorry my links seem to not be working).

What’s going on – Susan and I drove out to Grand Rapids (“the epicenter of progressive culture”) to attend the Poets, Prophets, & Preachers Conference. It’s about reclaiming the art of the sermon. We decided this was a great chance for us to get away as a couple. Susan’s parents were wonderful enough to fly up from FL to watch Nathan. We stopped for the night in Cleveland, visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (which is very cool if you are ever nearby). Hit the road, arrived in time to watch the fireworks in Grand Rapids, worshipped at Mars Hill, Shane Hipps preached the first part of a two week series on fasting. He began by talking about “feasting”. You can stream the audio here or subscribe to their sermon podcast via iTunes.

What I Enjoyed this Week – 1. Aside from the aforementioned, our VBS went really well. Grateful for all of our volunteers, grateful for all the kids who came, loved that we raised over $1000 for the “Shoe Me” Project (every $10 gets a pair of shoes to children in the Congo). We have a lot of follow up and and other children’s ministry needs but this was a good week. 2. Liked that our church allows us to get away. 3. While I am critical of those that confuse patriotism and Christianity, I am grateful to be an American. Hoping to do my share in being a part of a better world and a better nation while pledging my allegiance to the kingdom of Christ. 4. I enjoyed Transformers 2. Much better than what people said. Hey, it’s a movie about shape changing alien robots, it’s not supposed to be Shakespeare. If you liked the first one, I think you’ll like the second. Indeed such a movie does not need profanity, crude humor, or sexual gratuity, but if you’ve been a movie-goer for the last 20 years, you shouldn’t be surprised. 5. Grateful that one of our youth leaders arrived home safely from Honduras.  Hope she doesn’t bring the same “luck” on our mission trip. All I know is that she entered the country when it was peaceful and left it in shambles.  ;-)

What I Didn’t Enjoy – 1. The Iranian government (or Ayatollah or the “Guardian Council”) saying, “Yeah we re-checked the votes, we were right the first time, Ahmadinejad won by 62%.”  I am admiring, praying and rooting for Moussavi and his plan for a new party.  He’s among the bravest in the world right now.  2. The Iranian govt, arresting British embassy workers. 3. While I am moved by the death of Michael Jackson, I can’t handle the 24-7 coverage and the constant biopic.

What I Couldn’t Care Less About – Bruno and those that are offended by it. Forget the boycotts, forget creating controversy for it, just ignore it. It’s about as appealing to me as the next Left Behind again and again book.