I was plugging away at work yesterday when, seemingly out of nowhere, a random thought popped in my head.  I wondered to myself; “I wonder why coffee, in my opinion, tastes better hot than it does cold?” I like Iced coffee, but I find that I need to put more Splenda in my cold coffee than in my hot coffee. Why? So, I did what most people 40 and under do when we have a question, we Google it! As I started typing in the question into Google I noticed the “advanced search” tool kicking into action.  The advanced search tool is the when Google tries to finish your search for you, as you are typing, based on all the previous searches and the key words you are entering. So, by the time I enter the phrase; “Why does coffee…” it gave me several search options based on the most searched phrases that start with “Why does coffee…” Please see the screen shot below with the phrases that were the most popular ending to the beginning phrase; “Why does coffee…”

The advanced search tool, if you think about it, is an amazing little device.  It is a way for us to tap into the collective thoughts of everyone who uses the Google search engine, and since the advanced search tool finishes your thoughts, based on what phrase is searched the most, we are given an unexpected peek into the collective thoughts of the Googleverse.   After I had this realization I started typing random things into Google to see what interesting insights I could find.  By far the most interesting advanced search results I came across was when I typed in the phrase “Why are Christians so…”. Take a look at the results below.

These results continue to remind me that Jesus is often misrepresented by his followers and subsequently misunderstood by seekers and cynics.  As followers of Jesus our challenge today is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself! I have a feeling that if we were able to get this greatest commandment down that these Google results would look a lot different! What do you think? How would you finish this sentence? Why are Christians so…?

Hey everyone,

I wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and I hope that your Jesus-birth celebration is filled with family, fun and the presence of God. I know many of you have already been among the 3.5 million people who have viewed this first video… but for those of you who haven’t it’s well worth it.  I hope it brings a smile or two.

The second video has only been seen by 750,000 people but I think it’s a better video… I hope you like them.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2.0- A Digital Nativity

A Social Network Christmas:

OK, I’ll be honest with you, I am a sucker for Cracker Barrel. I don’t know what it is about Cracker Barrel, but I’m a fan. Maybe it’s because as soon as I walk into the place I immediately feel like the youngest adult in the place, by like 20 years.  Or, maybe it’s all the cool-retro snacks and toys from days gone-bye. (Heck, I got 2 packs of Pop-Rocks the other day. Didn’t they kill Mikey?) I know some people may think I am crazy, but I also think their food is pretty good.  Maybe it’s because when you travel your standards are lower than normal, but I have always liked whatever I have ordered at The Barrel.

We have been doing some traveling recently and the Hill-Circus stopped at Cracker Barrel to take a rest and get some dinner.  I had placed my order, got the kids situated playing checkers and headed into the men’s room. (Oh, and on an aside, this is another reason that I love cracker Barrel; they have THE cleanest bathrooms on the highway.)

As soon as I walked into the stall I saw a little pamphlet resting on the toilet paper dispenser that implored me to STOP! But, I didn’t want the Cracker Barrel staff to have to clean up a mess in stall #3, so I paid little immediate attention. It turns out, after further investigation, that the pamphlet that was left for my bathroom reading pleasure was indeed a gospel “tract” that wanted to know who I thought Jesus was.

What is a gospel tract? A tract is a little pamphlet that Christians use to grab your attention and then to explain the gospel (good-news) of Jesus.  Now, I understand the reason why someone would leave a tract in the bathroom at Cracker Barrel, I mean let’s be honest, the average age of customer at Cracker Barrel is like 132 years-old, and people who leave tracts in the bathroom at Cracker Barrel are just hitting their prime target audience.  But, I have never really been a fan of gospel tracts if they are used outside the context of relationship, but I know that there are people out there somewhere that have heard about the grace of the cross through good-news tracts. Right?

What do you think when you see a tract? Have you, or anyone you know, ever been affected by a tract? do you think they are good ministry tool or not? What are some of the tracts that you remember? (I once found a tract on the ground that was the shaped like a folded $20.00 bill, and when I picked up it was only a tract telling me about Jesus.  I was really ticked about that incident because I already had Jesus but could have used $20..00 bucks. That was a joke.) I wonder if tracts send more people in the other direction? But, if they are used to communicate the gospel (the good-news of Jesus) to even one person are they worth it?  I wonder if they are a generational thing too? I don’t think there is any way that a post-modern generation uses them because they lack authenticity.  Anyway, would love to get some input on this one!

Believe in What?

Even though Advent starts today, and Christmas is still 27 days away, the consumer “machine” is already out in full force in order to separate you from your cash. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like presents just as much as the next guy, but businesses spend billions (Yes, billions with a “B”) to convey a message to you in order to get you to purchase their product. What is their message? Glad you asked.

Rachel and I were in the 5 Points Mall, in Nashville, TN, when we saw this sign dangling, in a Christmas display, outside the entrance to Macy’s.  It’s a simple sign, really, that just has one word. Believe. I thought to myself, that is exactly what products and stores want you to do….”believe”! Believe that their product will bring you joy, happiness, fulfillment, and love.  They want you to believe that their product will make you skinnier, prettier, and that it will bring you happiness, fulfillment. and will save you. And, sometimes it does… but only for a little while.

So, as we head into the Christmas season I am trying to keep in mind what it is that I really “believe” in. Will you join me?

⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10: 9-10

What do you think Macy’s wants us to believe in?

What is faith?

I was scrolling through the “#Jesus” twitter feed when an unexpected tweet caught my eye.  This tweet read; “Faith = 1/4 wishful thinking, 1/2 willful ignorance, & 1/4 gullibility.” Now, I usually don’t get into conversations with people online, because it rarely changes any-ones opinion or ends well.   And, the fact that this guy “hash-tagged” Jesus, (#Jesus- for my non-twitter people out there, #hash-tags are simply the way to make any topic search-able through the powerful twitter search engine) and compared him to a leprechaun, just meant he was looking to argue/tick-off some Jesus followers. 

My response to tekphreak, and atheists/agnostics who argue against the idea of faith, is that atheist do believe in the practical reality of faith, like it or not! Mariam Websters defines faith as this:

“ (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof

(2) : complete trust”

Here is my argument against Tekphreak.

1. Atheists have a firm belief that God does not exist

2. They can not prove that God does not exist.

3. Therefore, they have faith that God does not exist…. but, they still have faith! It might be faith in their own understanding, and not God, but it’s still faith! “A firm belief in something they can not prove!”

As a believer in Jesus my faith is described in Hebrews 11:1

¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

What do you think? Read my conversation and tell me how would you have responded to Tekphreak? Do you believe a person can have NO faith? …In anything?

#5 Vs. The City of Brotherly Love

A few weeks ago I wrote a highly trafficked blog post entitled “You are One of Them!” This post centered around the infamous reputation haunting Philadelphia sports fans, and how a handful of poor choices, made by a relatively small group of Philadelphia sports fans, have galvanized the nations collective opinion on Philadelphia sports “fan-dumb”.  I went on to make the assertion that we, as Christians, are often painted in a negative light because of a relatively small group of “Christians” who do and say some really dumb things. What? It’s true.

Well, this Sunday Philadelphia will get an opportunity to give its image a much needed make-over.  At 4:05 EST Donovan McNabb, the face of the Philadelphia Eagles franchise for more than a decade, will return to Lincoln Financial field as a Washington Redskin. Donovan holds a ton of records as a quarterback, but here are just a few of his Philadelphia Eagle franchise records:

• Most Career Attempts (4,303)
• Most Pass Completions (2534)
• Most Passing Yards (29,320)
• Most Passing Touchdowns (203)
• Most Single-Season Completions (345, 2008 season)
• Most Single-Season Yards (3,916, 2008 season)
• Most NFC Championship Appearances (5)

Like him or not, you can’t argue with the fact that Donovan has made it a lot of fun to be an Eagles fan for the last 10 years.  My hope is that when he returns that Philadelphia will welcome him with arms wide open, and then they will turn around and Crush the Skins by 2 touchdowns, at least.  What about you? Do you think Donovan will get more boos or cheers? Do you think Philadelphia owes him anything?

“You stay classy, Philadelphia.”

Rachel and the kids came home barely able to contain their excitement over an item that they found for me at a local yard sale.   They even asked me to take a few guesses as to what the treasure that they found could possibly be.  I wasn’t even close!  What was it?  Well, actually, it was a Moses action figure! Yes, a Moses action figure equipped with Ten Commandments, snake and even a burning bush! Disappointingly, they said the only thing that they couldn’t find was his staff/rod.  So Harrison, my 7 year old, replaced the staff with a Star Wars light-saber from one of his Lego Star Wars sets. ~”Pharaoh, Turn from the dark side!”

On a side note, I also found these cool Jesus band-aids a few weeks ago at a different yard sale for 25 cents.  I haven’t opened it up yet to see what the mystery prize is. Do you have any guesses? Hey, maybe it’s Moses’ staff?

Have you ever seen this video?  What you are about to see is the actual patrol car video footage of a SEVEN year old boy who stole his parents car, and avoided local law officials for several miles, in order to get away from doing something.  Do you know why he stole the car? Can you guess what he was trying to avoid? Watch this short video to find out.

Continue Reading…

Thank you!

• Thank You!

First, I wanted to thank everyone for the great feedback (Thanks Scott P. and Eric G.!) and helpful suggestions (Yes, I know the audio was week) on Part 1 of my interview with, author, Brian McLaren.  In the future I am going to set-up 12 Ounce Interviews as a podcast, as well, so that people can listen in their car or on the treadmill (Thanks Ed R.!) .  I realize the first interview was really long, so “Part Two” has been divided up by individual questions/topics.  Each question/answer lasts about 3-4 minutes and is well worth the time! One of the outcomes that Part One generated was a lot of thoughtful questions for me, which I thought was great.

• Ask The Ordained Barista

Ask The Ordained Barista

So, I am starting a new TOB segment called “Ask The Ordained Barista”.  I will answer any questions you have for me in either audio (podcast) and/or blog format. So, If you have a question please click on the email button at the top of the page (Please, do not ask questions in the comments section) and ask me a question on…. Well, anything. …The Ordained Barista, ministry, publishing hopes, being a father of 6, marriage, The Church, theology, sports, culture, coffee, the oil spill, Tiger woods, internet marketing,  Starbucks, teens, web-stuff, parenting, social justice… OK, You get the point. If you wish to remain anonymous please mention that in your email!

These Question/topics links (below the first video)  will take you to my interview with Brian McLaren on The Ordained Barista You-Tube channel.

1. Evangelicalism.

2. Emergent? Emerging? The Emergence?

3. How should we treat people of other faith traditions?

4. Questions on faith.

By now you have heard that there are plans to build a $100,000,000 Islamic community center, Mosque, 2 blocks from Ground-Zero.  So, what do you think? Should the city of New York allow the Mosque to be built? If you don’t know enough about the subject I have included the most objective video clip on the topic, that I could find, at the bottom of this post. Please come back at the end of the day to see how the voting turned out.

I have closed the “comments” section for this post because I want your vote to be the commentary! Thank you! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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