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Jeanene's Jewelry is Back

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:50:13 -0600

Some of you may remember that my wife Jeanene makes jewelry and prayer beads. Last year she sold some online. She had a great time, but there was no time to keep it going. Every piece she makes is a unique creation. It's not like this is mass marketing stuff. Now that Jeanene has left the hospital, she's getting back into making jewelry and prayer beads. She now makes both Anglican and Catholic rosaries, as well as necklaces. She has 9 new pieces for sale, all one-of-a-kind things. We're looking for ways to make a living, so this will be one piece of the puzzle.

This time around she has some crosses and bead selections online, so you can look through her gallery and if you see something she once made, you could choose a cross and some colors and she'll make something custom for you.

Here's three of her new things:

Turquoise Cross
Necklace
$65

Crown of Thorns
Anglican Rosary/Necklace
$80

San Damiano Cross
Anglican Rosary or Necklace
$50

There is a retail store here in town that wants to carry her stuff. But the markup will be huge. So our first choice would be online where it's probably 50% cheaper than it will be in the store.

rlp

ps - you've got to check out the "about" link. There's a precious picture of Jeanene as a girl in Colorado. That's where she first fell in love with the rocks she now uses in her jewelry. Cutest picture EVER.

New Blog Networks

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:40:25 -0600

I want to tell you about something new that I'm involved with. I'm currently helping two organizations setup their own network of blogs. In each case I'm acting as a kind of shepherd, mentor, and advisor. Both organizations hope to form something like the Salon.com blog community where Real Live Preacher was launched back in 2002. I loved that community. I was saddened when Salon ran out of energy for promoting it. But it gave a lot of good bloggers a great start. One of the organizations I'm working with is the Christian Century. That network will be primarily for serious theological writers, though we'll be looking for laypersons as well. I'll give you more information about that one in a week or two.

For today, I want to talk to you about the High Calling blog network. The High Calling is a non-profit organization in San Antonio. They have one basic message, and it is a good one. It is perhaps the most important message that modern, first-world Christians need to hear.

You should live like Christ in the workplace. If you are a Christian, your faith should be more than words. Your faith ought to change the way you live and act in your professional life.

That message is why I'm proud to write for these folks from time to time.

I've developed some friendships within the organization, and we had a conversation that ended with the High Calling deciding to offer blogs to Christians who are living and working in the real world. These blogs are not primarily for clergypersons, though we will have some clergy involved too. What we want most are blogs written by Christian men and women trying to live authentic lives at work. Let me be clear about a three things. First, we're not telling you what to write about. You can write about anything you want. But if you are a person who is attempting to live an authentic Christian life in the workplace, we feel that issue is going to come out naturally in your writing. Second, we're not looking for "churchy" writers. We want people who write about real life and real living. Third, you don't have to be a great writer to be in this network. Not at all. This is a network of blogs. Some of the people might be talented writers, but that's not the focus of this network. We want to hear from regular people about their lives and jobs.

What will being in this network do for you? Two things: Your site will be promoted at the High Calling Website. People will find you. And, I'll be reading the High Calling Bloggers, leaving comments, and writing reviews of their work. If you produce something good, it might get featured at the High Calling site, which would be cool, right?

Look, I know what it is like to be a blogger. You pour your heart out into your writing. It's nice when someone reads it. This is a chance to be in a network that can get your blog noticed. No risk. No cost. Why not give it a try?

You can join the network in two ways. If you don't have a blog but have been thinking about starting one, we'll host it for you and set you up with WordPress. No charge. If you already have a blog, you can put the High Calling Blog Network logo on your site, linked back to the High Calling.

Check it out - HighCallingBlogs.com

Notice the various professional categories on the right. If you know of a blogger who might like being in this network, let them know about us.

rlp

SWIM - Water International Mobilization

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 14:05:56 -0500

I'm about to make a plea for an important cause. You who come here often know that I rarely do that. I think that a site like this only gets to plug a few causes before people get numb. So I pick mine carefully.

Hey, I know what it's like for you. You want to be a good person; you want to help in the world. But every time you turn around there's another cause popping up. You can't fix everything, and you're not even sure how to get started. I know. Me too.

What you have to do is listen carefully to the world's needs. And you have to seek diligently to find an outlet for your own efforts. Then pick a few things and get involved. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. Learn about the needs of the world. Find a way to help. You will feel better, but more importantly, you will be a part of goodness in this world.

So there is this thing happening, and I believe in it. So I'm going to tell you about it.

My dear friend Darrell Adams recently brought an issue to my attention. People are dying all over the world for lack of clean water. I mean, I knew that people in some countries didn't have clean water, but I didn't realize how bad the situation is. We take clean water for granted, of course. But in many parts of the world, there is none. Children drink whatever water is at hand. Sometimes their immune systems can handle it. Sometimes they get diarrhea and die from dehydration. As it turns out diarrhea is a huge killer of children in underdeveloped countries. 1.8 million children died from diarrhea last year, just because they couldn't get a glass of clean water. The World Health Organization says that about 80% of the sickness around the world comes from impure water.

Darrell is a part of SWIM, a movement of people who are trying to bring simple, easy-to-install and maintain water purifying equipment to people who desperately need it. (If you want to see the system they use, click here)

In 2008 Jeanene and I plan to go on one of their trips and be a part of installing some of these water purifiers ourselves. That's cool of course, and I'll tell you more about it later. Heck, maybe some of you can go with us. But you can help right now by getting the word out about the world's need for clean water.

Do me a favor. Take a moment and check out SWIM's website. The current thrust of the movement is to mobilize college students, but that's not the only way they work. This organization is for all of us.

Take a look. Read a little bit. They did a good job of keeping the message short. Consider joining or even donating a small amount. Like $10 or something. I'm telling you, these are good people. The organization is honest and it has only one purpose. Getting water to people who need it.

SWIM - Student Water International Mobilization

Thanks,

rlp

Virtual Pastor

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 11:57:33 -0500

"Virtual Pastors please picky church-goers"

BRILLIANT!

NOTE Added 8-18-07: This is satire. The Lark News is like the Onion. Some comments made me realize that not everyone knows about Lark News.

Finding Clarity

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:02:18 -0500

My friend Cynthia and I have conversations about clarity in writing. She is mostly a poet, so clarity is not her main goal, though she needs a measure of it. I am an essayist and story-teller, so clarity is a serious goal for my writing. If you want something really good, combine simplicity with your clarity. Now you're starting to discover quality.

I came across this video, which I love for its simple clarity. It makes things clear.

The main point of this video - when it comes to global warming, we need to be making column choices and not spending all of our time arguing about rows. Check it out and pass it on to others if you like it.

HINT: If you are watching a video online and it keeps stopping, pause it for a short time, and let the download get ahead of you.

rlp

Hugh Elliott on the Gadarene Demoniac(s)

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 10:44:56 -0500

Hugh Elliott is reading through the New Testament and writing about it over at Bible Versus. I'm mentioned him before. It's a fascinating thing because Hugh is not a Christian and is purposefully not reading commentaries or any of that. We talked on the phone about this whole project. He could call me and talk about the stories, but he doesn't so that I don't pollute the experiment with my interpretations. I'm the polar opposite of Hugh. Raised in the church, seminary degree, and spent the last 20 years wrestling with the gospels and reading commentaries.

His latest entry is his reaction to one of the strangest stories in the gospels. It is sometimes called the story of the Gadarene Demoniac(s). As is often the case, his opening line is hilarious. Hugh is reacting to Matthew's version. If you are interested, I once wrote a dramatic account of Mark's version of this story, which is longer and has more details.

rlp

God on a Milk Carton

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:22:30 -0500

This is what blogs were meant to be, in my humble opinion. Deep thoughts from people you would never have heard of before the network of blogs came into existence. This is about as authentic and gripping as any spiritual journey I've read lately.

"I was in a pickle. Hell sounded miserable, so I didn’t want to go there. My family and I had gone occasionally to a Methodist church, and THAT was miserable too. I didn’t want to go there either. In fact, on the misery scale in my 10-year-old head, church and hell were a dead heat. Church won because the misery lasted only a half a day, whereas hell was supposedly a lot longer. On the other hand, hell was a long way off and church was coming up in a few days."

Click here to read the rest...

rlp

The Gospel of Health & Wealth Moves To Africa

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 13:22:19 -0500

It's interesting to observe Christianity's movement around the globe. Christianity thrives in cultures of oppressed people, but soon Christians rise in the social order and gain power. They then structure the Church into organizations and forms that match up with their culture. After that the faith becomes stale and seemingly irrelevant, and Christianity moves on. I once read that Christianity began as a religious movement in Judea, moved to Greece and became a philosophy, moved to Europe and became a feudalistic government, then came to America and became a business. That's a bit simplistic, but the idea behind it is true.

And of course in America, Christianity has taken on a business model based on growth and material success. The gospel of health and wealth was born right here in the USA. If God loves you, OF COURSE God will heal you of all your diseases, fix your problems, and shower you with material blessings. Amen and God bless America.

This month's Christian Century has a fascinating article that points to a disturbing trend. Apparently, the prosperity gospel has now moved into Africa, where it is quickly taking hold. And why not? Some of the poorest people in the world live in Africa. They are eager to hear how God might make them rich and successful.

The gospel of success does little to challenge this dysfunctional political structure. For one thing, many preachers openly claim that the political-economic system simply doesn't matter, because a born-again Christian will prosper under any political or economic regime... I've heard a Winners pastor in Ghana even tell his congregation to stop complaining about the collapse of the currency...

Among the large churches promoting the prosperity gospel is the Nigerian multinational Living Faith Church Worldwide Inc., better known as Winners Chapel, founded in Lagos by David Oyedepo in 1983. Winners has over 400 branches in Nigeria and can be found in 40 African countries. It boasts that its facility in Lagos, which seats 50,400, is the biggest church auditorium in the world...

Winners exemplifies the emphasis on success. Last year Oyedepo made this pledge to all church members: "In 2006, everything that shall make your laughter complete and total shall be added unto you. The desires of everyone's heart shall be delivered. Every trial shall be turned to testimonies. Every struggle shall be turned to miracles. Every form of barrenness shall be turned to fruitfulness. Every frustration shall be turned to celebration. Every humiliation shall be turned into honor. Every shame shall be turned to glory. And every curse shall be turned into blessings."

Paul Gifford - Christian Century July 10, 2007

I don't know what to say about this. It's so terribly sad to me that my own faith tradition is so frequently warped and skewed, becoming hurtful to powerless people. I try to remind myself of one of our central doctrines - humanity is screwed up. And everything we get involved with - including religion, maybe especially religion - gets screwed up too.

Take a look at the article and let me know what you think. I'd like to hear your thoughts.

This is the sort of thing that authentic Christians around the world should publicly and loudly denounce.

rlp

Brainstorm

Mon, 14 May 2007 15:59:53 -0500

United Church of Christ minister Norman Bendroth describes depression as a "Brainstorm" in the latest online issue of Christian Century. I've written extensively about my own depression - so much that I'm probably going to give it a rest for a time. But I am intrigued by his description of this condition. Remember that depression is just a word we use to describe something that needs a label. It may be a term that needs retiring. Perhaps it has become too loaded and narrow. Others have suggested "depletion" as an alternative. "Irrational Despair and Uncontrollable Thoughts" might be another possibility. Certainly Brainstorm is a term to consider.

a Christian Magazine
Christian Writing

rlp

Some Funny Stuff

Thu, 03 May 2007 20:59:08 -0500

If you like Dilbert at all, you don't want to miss this. Scott Adams has inserted himself into his own comic strip. The first two in the series have been created. I don't know where this is going, but it's going to be good.

One Two

These SNL Digital Shorts are incredibly funny. Real LMAO material.

Enjoy!

Lazy Sunday

Andy Popping Into Frame

Lettuce

Business Meeting
(If only for mounted tiger head and captain pajama shark)

rlp

John John

Tue, 01 May 2007 09:31:55 -0500

Hugh takes a crack at understanding one of the more mysterious characters from the New Testament - John the B. In the process he imagines teen-age Jesus dropping a hilarious line. "Mom, why do we have frankincense in the house?"

rlp

Bible Versus

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 08:13:17 -0500

There is a very exciting and promising new blog out there. If you check it out, you will be among the first to read it. But before I tell you where it is and what it's about, please allow me a moment or two to talk about my friendship with Hugh Elliott, the writer behind Standing Room Only, a blog currently on hiatus.

Hugh and I were both a part of the Salon blog community. We started our blogs in 2002, he in July and me in December. When I began Real Live Preacher I was touched by how quickly and completely the Salon bloggers accepted me into their community. No one was more welcoming than Hugh Elliott. And that's really something if you consider that he is a gay man living with AIDS in Los Angeles. We're not the sort of people who generally hang out together, if you know what I mean?

Hugh was the first person to comment on the second post ever at Real Live Preacher. The original comments are still online at the salon server, and you can hear his welcoming voice even before he knew if I would welcome him back. If you keeping reading the comments, you'll see that Hugh jumped in to defend me when Raven asked a very straightforward question. It was a mild confrontation, but there was Hugh - he had my back.

I didn't know how to work the Salon blog software very well, so I decided I should ask someone. I can see now why I chose Hugh. He was delighted to help me, and I think our friendship began in earnest there. I'm a Christian, as you know. Hugh was...uh...well, let's see - a man of the world, you might say. Been a lot of places and done a lot stuff. Seen a lot of things. We became friends because we respected each other. And in time we even came to love one another. I've never met Hugh face-to-face, but I do love him and cherish his friendship.

It's interesting to me that when I turn off my conscious mind and write from the gut, Hugh often appears as a symbol of some kind. He is in this post and is the friend I write about in this post, though he is not named. He plays a major role in this two-part fantasy piece. It ended up in my book.

So that's the story of Hugh and me. Here's the story of his new blog:

Hugh watched my "How to Read The Bible" video series and decided he was going to read the New Testament and Psalms for himself. And now he's decided to blog his way through this little adventure.

Do you get this? Do you know how interesting and rare this is? A man with no real adult connection to the Christian Church is going to read our scriptures and write about what he finds there. This is a spiritual experience/quest for Hugh, who now calls himself a "Christianist." (He explains what he means by that on the new blog) He and I are going to email and talk on the phone during this journey. I guess I'm a kind of guide or mentor for him in this, but I will definitely only be there to give careful feedback when asked. I don't want my insider views getting in the way of his honest writing.

He's no Biblical scholar, so I'm sure there will be many times when he is very unorthodox. So what? Good! That's what I want to hear. I want to hear what a gay man in Los Angeles has to say about this collection of writings that is so precious to us. I'm looking forward to it. I think you'll enjoy it too.

And now, let's give a big blogosphere welcome to Bible Versus

rlp

My Dad Quotes William Blake?

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:13:10 -0500

My dad has posted something on his blog about our oldest daughter turning 18 and preparing to leave home. And he quotes William Blake, which impresses me to no end. He was an English major, so I don't know why I'm surprised.

No More Jesus Discoveries, Please!

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:52:00 -0500

Christian Century has launched a blog for the magazine. The idea is to connect their readers with their writers and start some conversations. That's always a good thing.

Anyway, I was nosing around Theolog and noticed a good article by James Howell on the latest ridiculous craze about Jesus, bones, bone boxes, and all of that. None of it has any credibility, but it does bring up some interesting issues. I think James hits it on the head.

a Christian Magazine
Christian Writing

rlp

Credo

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:59:27 -0500

I present to you, a short film called "Credo" by director Keith Snyder and starring Larry Picard. Keith describes this film as "yet another 9-minute screen opera about God and religious violence."

But first a quick story about how I discovered Credo. Keith Snyder emailed me a long time ago. Then he came to hear the sermon I did last Spring at Cornell. He handed me a copy of his short film, "Credo." I took it home and lost it. Then I was embarrassed to admit that I had lost it, so I just said nothing. Finally he wrote to see if I had watched it. The truth came out, but he was kind and sent me another copy, which I sat on my desk at the church, where I looked at the cover day after day.

I have a strange way about me. There are certain things I don't do until the right time. I have no way of explaining to anyone how I know it is the right time, but I feel it. A number of weeks went by and then one day, not too long ago, I decided it was time to watch Credo.

I loved it. It's lovely, precious, and endearing. And it's certain to spark some pretty intense conversations. As you watch it, remember this: It is a work of art, not a theological treatise. Don't pick the theology apart. Also, you should remember that in the Jewish scriptures (Old Testament) God repents several times. In Genesis God repents and is sorry that he created humankind. In First Samuel God repented that he made Saul king. And, most stunningly, in Exodus God is angry and about to destroy the children of Israel. Moses intervenes and demands that he repent of this anger.

"Why are you angry with Your people, which you brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand? . . .Turn from your fierce wrath and repent of this evil against your people...And the Lord repented of the evil which He said He would do unto his people." (32:11-14)

This notion of God experiencing regret is only a problem if you are into the whole omniscient and omnipotent thing. And since those ideas are NOT IN THE BIBLE, I don't feel obligated to believe them myself.

Yeah, not in the Bible. The omni concept is more of a Greek, philosophical thing. Surprised aren't you? Here's a little article about this by Tony Campolo, who is a huge hero of mine.

Keith Synder explores the idea of God, evil, and repentance in this wonderful little film. And if you can let go of the omni stuff, then you make room for the idea that Larry Picard's God character might actually be possible. Which is cool because I absolutely adore Larry in this film. I wish he was my friend in real life, but I'd have a hard time not always wanting to pray to him. ;-)

Follow the link below and you can watch it online. Enjoy!

The website has the lyrics, which are worth reading
to make sure you didn't miss anything