Much of what I had to say on this topic was said on my review of Pagan Christianity so I won’t repeat it all here.

I must say, though, that I think Frank Viola makes many points that Christians who attend meetings in a building should seriously consider. I really think that just the cost of owning and maintaining these buildings is typically unjustifiable for the Christian. Viola (using Barna research) states that between 9 to 11 billion dollars are spent by the Church on buildings each year. That is truly wrong. Even if people decide to meet in buildings, it is wrong that we are wasting so much money on something that has no significance whatsoever to our Christian faith.

Thanks to Present Testimony Ministries for giving me this book to review.

So I’ve been thinking a fair bit about possibly the central thing we do as pastors – at least in terms of time spent on any single thing (research, preparation and delivery). We would take a half-day as a preaching team to work through a message, then I would take a day to write it and then about another half day spent marinating on it before delivery. So all up we’re looking at about fifteen hours of preparation and delivery for one message. Which I think is probably about average.

Recently I read Pagan Christianity by Viola and Barna, which was a really good read and instrumental in helping the church move beyond its institutionalization. They claim that preaching was never central to the church until a couple hundred years after Christ and really came into primacy with Luther who claimed it was the central part of the sunday service. He changed the term “priest” to “preacher”. Understandably preaching the word for Luther, who was putting reformed theology into the hands of hungry hordes of protesting catholics departing the catholic church in utter ignorance, was of utmost importance.

Viola claims that preaching in the NT was only done by apostles – church planters/workers in the process of establishing churches and on special occasions (Solomon’s temple etc.). They also claim that the office of Pastor is not an office, but a function and pastors didn’t preach.

I kinda disagree. I think pastors did preach because I believe Timothy was a pastor (Viola suggests he was “apostolic” because he obviously wasn’t an apostle, but his theory about pastors would fall over) and Timothy was urged by Paul to preach. Furthermore in Acts where it says the early disciples met from house to house and in the temple, would suggest it was a weekly occurrence.

Here’s where I get really creative now. Try and keep up.

Public teaching was done in the synagogue for centuries, so was embedded in Jewish culture. Furthermore, rhetoric was one of the most popular of entertainment of the day among the Greeks. Rhetoricians were public speakers who became famous and well paid for speaking eloquently (subject matter was inconsequential). So culturally in Judea, public speaking was the best form of communication and entertainment – infotainment would be a good word to describe it in today’s parlance. So it seems Jesus and his followers were using the best and most modern forms of communication that was most effective for their culture and the people of the day – preaching and teaching.

Translate that into today’s culture which is neither Greek nor Jewish. Preaching like we live in 100 A.D. in Judea simply isn’t cutting it. I even had trouble remembering what I preached the week before let alone thinking anyone else remembered (and I’m a good preacher). Which is why I resorted to The Big Idea which is simply one singular idea that I wanted people to leave the building with (there were other reasons to adopt it, primarily to use a preaching team and being able to keep a multi-site church moving in the same direction). I mean, how many sermons have you heard and actually implemented? It’s a completely modernist idea to think that simply giving people information will change their lives. We all know it doesn’t work like that, yet we continue doing it because it’s part of the consumer contract we have with our congregants (search this blog for consumerism).

Researchers on adult eduction have found that while teaching children “by rote” – in other words, I tell-you listen-you learn works, it doesn’t work with adults. And because preachers have all been to school and know nothing about educating adults, we use the only model we’ve known. Adult education doesn’t work like that. In fact when it comes down to it, experts concede that adult educators can only “facilitate” another adults learning. I won’t go into all the reasons for that. But bottom line, you can’t teach someone anything until they are ready to learn it. Kinda sounds like that old chinese saying “when the student is ready, the master will appear” – except we’re not masters… but you get the point.

The other thing that complicates the issue is that we live in the information age. No-one knows how vast the internet is. It’s not measurable. That’s how much information is out there. I can download the best preachers in the world hours after they deliver the sermon. And they’re way better communicators that you or I. I can download theology, christian books, magazines and blogs. I can even check the lexicons and commentaries while you’re preaching to see if your exegesis and hermeneutics are up to scratch. So that’s what we’re up against. So if we’re going to trade in information, I guarantee you, your congregation can get better information any day of the week.

So where does that leave us? It leaves us reaching for the best communication forms available to us for today’s culture and not simply dishing out information because adults don’t learn like that (and neither do you by the way so don’t be surprised that no-one else does either), but rather facilitating an experience. How’s that for radical? I’ll let you think about that for a bit, and I’ll unpack my conclusions later.

Mercoledì 25 novembre la Sala Rocksound di Barcellona ospiterà il concerto di un promettente gruppo italiano. Si tratta dei To ed Gein, hardcore band proveniente da Olbia, Sardegna.
Il gruppo è composto da 6 elementi: Maurizio Pisciottu (Voce), Fabrizio Spano (Voce), Raffaele Manca (Chitarra), Luca Molinas (Chitarra), Michele Derosas (Basso), Salvatore Desini (Batteria).
La band ha da poco pubblicato l’album d’esordio, omonimo, ricevendo buoni riscontri da parte di pubblico e critica. I To Ed Gein sono una formazione giovane ma già ampiamente rodata. Dopo una seria gavetta in Sardegna, la band si è distinta per le proprie performance in più parti d’Italia. Nell’estate del 2008 i ragazzi hanno avuto l’onore di partecipare all’Heineken Jammin Festival, in qualità di gruppo d’apertura.
Attualmente la formazione è impegnata in un tour che prevede date in Italia, Svizzera, Germania, Francia, Spagna e Portogallo. Un giro dell’Europa reso possibile grazie al progetto “Brinca”, finanziato dalla Regione Sardegna con l’obiettivo di promuovere i gruppi underground al di fuori dell’isola e dell’Italia stessa.

Il valore aggiunto dei To Ed Gein rimane la grande presenza scenica: i loro live sono solitamente esplosivi, degni di una vera hardcore band.

Assieme a loro il mercoledì si esibiranno i Waiting For Better Days, anch’essi italiani (Bari), anch’essi autori di un hardcore rapido e potente. Una band molto valida, in continua crescita.
A fare gli onori di casa saranno gli Answer, hardcore band catalana. Il tour dei To Ed Gein in Spagna proseguirà con altre due date a Madrid e Vigo.

La Sala Rocksound di Barcellona si trova in Calle Almogàvers, 116, con Calle Pamplona (tra Barceloneta e Poblenou).

Vi presento la mia nuova bici.

O meglio, la mia nuova bicing. Ho infatti deciso di cominciare ad utilizzare il servizio di “noleggio pubblico” di bici presente qua a Barcellona (appunto, il bicing!). Provarlo di persona mi permetterà di comprendere meglio il suo funzionamento e valutarne pregi e difetti.

In sostanza, da oggi potrete vedermi sfrecciare per le strade della città catalana come una saetta rossa e bianca.

O raccogliermi dall’asfalto dopo uno scontro con un SUV.

Vedremo un po’.

Har sovit uruselt i natt. Sprutan fick jag ju i vänstra armen då jag är högerhänt och det är min “sovsida”. Hade svårt att somna och sen har det värkt ganska så mycket under natten. Kan inte lyfta upp armen högt idag inte. Då värker det. Känns nästan som om det domnar neråt handen.

Idag ska jag möta upp en R från jobbet. Han har frukosten idag och numera finns det ingen handkassa på jobbet och han har inget AMEX så jag lovade att möta honom så handlar vi på mitt. En frukost utan riktigt färskt bröd är ju ingen frukost, eller hur? Vi har ju frukost varje fredag och det är så tråkigt när folk inte lägger ner den lilla tiden det tar att gå och handla färskt bröd. Alltså det handlar ju om knappt 1 ggr per år man har frukosten.

Ikväll ska jag och barna till Yvonne. Dom ska bli klippta och hon och jag ska ta ett glas vin. Mums! Perre ska iväg på bowling med jobbarkompisarna.

Én hiszek a mesékben..

Hiszem, hogy valahol rám is vár egy szőke herceg -vagy akár barna, fekete, vörös.. fehér lovon -vagy ló nélkül, két lábbal a földön állva; aki igenis engem akar és nem mást és ha majd egyszer eljön azt mondja, soha nem enged el és ez így is lesz.. és boldogan élünk, míg meg nem halunk, lesz egy rakat gyerekünk, fizetjük az adót, törlesztjük a kölcsönöket és lesz egy kacsalábon forgó palotánk -vagy panel, vagy kertes ház.. tökhintón utazunk majd -vagy autóval, villamossal, busszal.. és ami lesz, az úgy lesz jó, mert szeretni fog és becsülni, ahogy én is őt..

Hiszek abban, hogy majd együtt öregszünk meg és a gyermekeink gyermekei majd körülzsongnak minket és mi majd elmeséljük életünk történetét, azt, hogyan talált rá a Nagypapa a Nagymamára, hogy leküzdötte a sárkányt és elrabolta a toronyszobából, ahova a gonosz boszorkány bezárta.

Hiszek abban, hogy halálunk napján majd ha egymásra nézünk, bele a másik szemébe, látni fogjuk, hogy semmit nem bántunk meg, utoljára elsuttogjuk egymásnak, hogy “szeretlek” és tudni fogjuk, hogy még találkozunk..

Igen.. én hiszek a mesékben.. hinni akarok..

For five years I was the Collegiate Ministries Pastor at Elmbrook Church. In my work area (affectionately known as the West Wing) also resided the Middle School Pastor and the Senior High Pastor. Across the building, there was the 20-Somethings Pastor and the Children’s Pastor. We also had a 30-Somethings ministry for awhile, not to mention the Seniors Ministry Pastor and those who gave attention to Middle Adults.

Dividing up people into age segments is natural and helpful in a lot of ways. It has become the standard way to focus in on the specific needs of certain groups of people, while also insuring that the entire group is taken care of.

Large churches are not the only churches to do this sort of thing. Smaller churches tend to do the same thing, although they have less staff power behind more specific endeavors.

However, in recent years, there has been a lot of questioning of this age segmentation within the church. The word ‘intergenerational’ has become a popular buzz-word in ministry settings, particularly in student or youth ministry settings. The reaction to age segmented ministry has arisen in large part due to recent studies that show that many students simply abandon their faith during their college years and never come back, not even when they have kids. You can see this sort of research from the Barna Group, as well as in the work of sociologists of religion like Christian Smith in his book Soul Searching and the National Study of Youth and Religion.

Leadership interviewed Kara Powell, a researcher on these topics, in their most recent issue and you can read the interview online here. I appreciated this article because Powell does not offer trite answers on this topic, but does dig deep into how this should impact church structures, student ministry, senior pastoral leadership, as well as the family and parents’ role in the discipleship of children and students.

With 50 to 70% of students who were actively involved in church student ministries leaving the faith in their early twenties, we need to give careful attention to what we are doing as a whole church to develop a family of faith.

Some stats say more than 70% of children and youth leave the Church by the age of 18.Of those who stay approximately 90% of those leave by the age of 25. If these numbers are true we have lost 97% of all the children, youth, and young adults who have either grown up or attended Church.

Barna states “That young adults between 17 and 35 make up approximately 35% of our population nationally, but within our churches, most are lucky if they average 10%. This is not a foundation upon which to build the future of our ministries! Echo-Boomers are abandoning the institutional churches they were raised in.

Goodbye Generation is not about the study of numbers but rather an attempt to understand people.  The truth is we are losing people we have poured our lives into, kids are walking away from the faith of their parents, people have left hurt and disillusioned.  We are asking you to be part of turning the tide.

Join us, Wednesday November 4th at Point Grey Community Church with David Sawler for a one day seminar with David for campus ministry/youth ministry/anyone wanting to engage with young adults.

Micsoda napok ezek, atyaég..:D vasárnap óta a feje tetejére állt kicsiny világom..

Ma 8kor keltem és átmentem TBre, azonban egy félreértés miatt megváltozott a program.. meg a hisztim miatt, igen, elismerem, hisztiztem..:/ de szerencsére nemrég megbeszéltünk mindent, és most már minden OK..:)

Hazabuszoztam, felmentem Szandy mamájához, ahol körmöztek Zsu-val; majd miután végeztek, elmentünk Szandyval szoliba.. itt kezdődtek a bajok..xD 10percre mentem, nos, sok volt..:’D eleinte szép barna voltam.. aztán piros.. aztán vörös..:D most már újra rendes színem van..:’D

Nálunk volt papám és nagyon aranyos volt.. kicsit kikészültem a délelőtt miatt és papa ölelgetett..:) pedig neki nem szokása..:) aztán apáék is felhívtak /bár apa délelőtt is hívott/ és hallottam, ahogy Hugi sikongat és nevet.. összeszorult a szívem..:( annyira nagyon hiányzik.. ezért jövő pénteken felutazom hozzájuk..:)

Közben Zsuzsival megbeszéltem, hogy este elmegyünk pizzázni, bemutatja nekem a barátját, Sanyit..:) 8körül jönnek értem oké, lelépett készülni..:)

Én addig anyáékkal ültem a nagyszobában; itt volt Icus, anya barátnője és beszélgettünk.. közben érzelemingadozásaim nézték, miközben msn-en beszéltem.. aztán az arcomra végül mosoly terült és most tényleg állíthatom, minden rendben..:)

Negyed 9re jöttek értem, és nemrég értem haza..:) a 4Remetében a pincérlány, aki kiszolgált minket a Niki volt; beszélgettünk,ugyanolyan aranyos, mint régen..:) volt egy kisebb kavarodás a pizzákat illetően, de remekül éreztük magunkat; Sanyi 2falatot evett, mi Zsuval fél-fél pizzát bevágtunk..:’D kicsit lelkiismeret furdalásom van miatta..:/:/ de max majd holnap nem eszem annyit.. vagy semennyit..:P:D:D

Amúgy Sanyi egy nagyon szimpatikus srác; gratulálok Zsu(L) maradjon is minden így..:)

Holnap 3 Halloween partyra vagyok hivatalos..:’D BBár, Randi és Veresegyháza..:D:D még nem tudom, merre leszek; de  biztos vagyok benne, bárhol kötök ki, az remek lesz, remek emberekkel..:) majd holnap eldől minden..:):)

Most megyek, még alkotnom kell; nem rajz, valami teljesen más, ami már napok óta a fejemben van.. írogatni fogok, mint régen.. Mya; Te talán emlékszel rá.. a Füzet, ennyit írok és ezt csak mi ketten tudtuk akkor és most is..:)

Meseszép álmokat mindenkinek(K)

Ciao a tutti,

benvenuti sul blog dell’associazione dei sardi in Spagna (a Barcellona), l’ennesimo blog che vi dice cosa succede in questa splendida cittá.

Ma prima, le presentazioni. Chi siamo? Siamo dei collaboratori dell’associazione sardi in Spagna (a Barcellona), appunto. Un’associazione che si occupa di promuovere la Sardegna in Spagna ed aiutare coloro che dalla Sardegna decidono di vivere un’esperienza in terra iberico/catalana. Una viaggio alla ricerca di qualcosa di nuovo e/o una riscoperta delle proprie radici (la Sardegna già dal 1300 ha vissuto una forte influenza spagnola e catalana, arrivata sino ai nostri giorni). Per chi volesse maggiori informazioni sull’associazione rimandiamo alle pagine Chi siamo, cosa facciamo, contatti ecc, presenti nell’intestazione del blog.

Abbiamo deciso di aprire questo spazio per fornire tutte le informazioni che possono essere utili alla vostra esperienza catalana. Quando si decide di muoversi e spostarsi in uno spazio che non si conosce, più cose si sanno meglio è. Ecco un esempio di quanto troverete su questo blog.

Siete giá alla disperata ricerca di un alloggio? Scovare una stanza si riveva un’impresa più difficile del previsto?
Non sapete come trovare lavoro o più semplicemente non avete idea di cosa fare stanotte o nel weekend?
Se vi trovate qua, siete sulla strada giusta. Il nostro spazio cercherà di fornire le risposte a tutte le vostre domande,  con in più tutte le informazioni riguardanti curiositá, aneddoti, cinema, sport, eventi teatrali e novitá di tutti i tipi.

Inoltre, aggiorneremo queste pagine con curiosità, approfondimenti storici, speciali culturali. E, tema fondamentale, interviste a chi ha scelto di spostarsi dalla Sardegna ed attualmente vive un’esperienza in Spagna. Avremo modo di conoscere le opinioni e le storie di chi ha scelto di cambiare davvero, scoprendo il come, quando, perchè.

Siamo appena all’inizio. Seguiteci, abbiamo tante cose da dire.

Hasta luego!

     Regardless of which generation you belong too chances are you hold the Bible as a sacred book. The Barna Group reported yesterday how generations view and use the Bible. They found that in general views of the Bible unite people from different generations.

     They hold that most Americans, regardless of age, think of the Bible as sacred scripture and that a good number of those actually read their Bibles outside of church. Their data also shows similar ratios across the generations of views held of the Bible. The youngest of Americans, however, start a new direction of the trend to viewing the Bible with more skepticism and seeing the Bible as more equal with other sacred texts such as the Koran and the Book of Mormon.

     Americans 18-25 years of age as a whole question the relevance of the Bible to their lives and are open to seeking other sacred texts. Barna gives no indication as to whether other sacred texts fall under the same scrutiny, but they do report this youngest generation to believe less in the uniqueness and accuracy of the Bible and even to question its origins more than previous generations. Interestingly, though, is the youngest generation showed the most interest in gaining more knowledge of the Bible and what it teaches.

     We just started Bible Drill on Wednesday nights for children. Talk about your basics. These first two weeks we have been focusing on the books of the Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy).  How foundational to know not just the order they come in, but what the “Books of the Law” means and how they fit into the text of the Bible. I hope that each child will come away with a knowledge of the construction of the Bible and how to study and apply it to their lives. For our Adult 1 singles I am challenged to engage them in digging into the Bible and not just teach it to them on Sunday mornings.

Read the Barna article here.

In “The Disciplines of a Godly Man” (Crossway, 2001), R. Kent Hughes compares Americans’ conditional loyalty to the church with hitchhiking: “The hitchhiker’s thumb says, ‘You buy the car, pay for repairs and upkeep and insurance, fill the car with gas–and I’ll ride with you. But if you have an accident, you are on your own! And I’ll probably sue.’ So it is with the credo of some church attenders: ‘You go to the meetings and serve on the boards and committees, you grapple with the issues and do the work of the church and pay the bills–and I’ll come along for the ride. But if things do not suit me, I’ll criticize and complain and probably bail out–my thumb is always out for a better ride.”

Hughes’ indictment stings, but he’s put his finge on a real problem with American church involvement. Pollster George Barna chimes in with, “The average adult thinks that belonging to a church is good for other people, but represents unnecessay bondage and baggage for himself.” Can you see a pattern? The problem isn’t so much church membership as it is self.

TO BE CONTINUED

A Barcellona è tutto strano. Davvero. Ti accorgi della particolarità di questo posto sin dall’inizio, quando ti trovi nelle sue vicinanze. Cominciano ad accaderti cose assurde, fuori dal normale. O almeno è quanto capitato a me ad iniziare dalla partenza dal piccolo aeroporto di Alghero, destinazione Girona.

Già durante il viaggio si sono succeduti eventi degni di un’ottima sceneggiatura dove si mescolano commedia, demenzialità ed eventi paradossali. Oltre ad un pizzico di “sana disperazione”.

Prima o poi descriverò tutto. Per il momento basta elencare un po’ del le strane persone che ho incontrato.

Il nostro piccolo eroe, durante il viaggio e nei pochi giorni successivi, ha conosciuto:

uno steward gigantesco, completamente fuori di testa. E completamente gay.
uno spagnolo, escort abituale. Per uomini. E durante il volo abbordava lo steward.
una ragazza messicana di assoluto fascino, dalla parlantina fluente ed in piena crisi esistenziale.
un ragazzo di Genova ex Erasmus a Barcellona che tutto sapeva della città.
un ragazzo di Istanbul detto “il cranio”, dall’inglese invidiabile e prossimo al conseguimento della sua seconda laurea.
una ragazza tedesca innamorata dell’italiano che cantava continuamente “Gelato al limone” di Paolo Conte. E cercava di chiudersi con me nella mia camera.
una ragazza tedesca allibita per quanto accade in Italia. Dal look perfetto, intelligente, simpatica, bionda, occhi verdi. E nessuna intenzione di chiudersi con me nella mia camera.
un ragazzo italiano emigrato a Barcellona da due anni, saltuariamente escort. Per uomini. Un altro.
tre ragazze ungheresi addette alla reception che solo a vederle avrebbero fatto entrare in ostello anche chi ha otto case e due yacht. Modelle da seguire. Degne di un servizio su Playboy, di un lavoro in uno strip club, di un seggio al Parlamento Europeo.
una ragazza spagnola curiosa curiosa curiosa.
un affittacamere ispanico detto “el Gato” che per soli 350 euro al mese voleva affittare una stanza da 2 metri quadri in un appartamento da 40 dove andare a vivere con lui, una sua amica e la sua “esposa”.
la “esposa” de “el Gato”. Età presupposta: 19 anni e mezzo. Pelle color Jessica Alba, sorriso magnifico, fascino inebriante. El Gato si è rivelato più furbo di quanto pensassi.
un fotografo che cercava di affittare una stanza con un materasso buttato per terra, senza rete. E mentre descriveva la sua casa continuava a grattarsi. Non un buon segno.
un artista (pittore) dall’aspetto malinconico, che proponeva una stanza umida e buia al modico prezzo di 350 euro. Quasi furbo quanto El Gato.
un professore spagnolo che affittava una stanza con materasso singolo poggiato su una sorta di tappetino in gommapiuma. Quello a suo dire doveva essere un letto. Ma perchè tutti vogliono farmi vivere come uno squatter?
due ragazze di Bologna in festosa vacanza, allucinate dalla “cordialità” di alcuni impiegati dell’ostello.
due ragazze spagnole collezionatrici di bottiglie di Vodka Absolut. Dall’arancia alla vaniglia.
una signora cilena che affittava una stanza microscopica, in un appartamento da condividere con lei, la sorella e le figlie della sorella. Di 2 e 4 anni.

E così via.

Esto es lo que hay.. E siamo appena all’inizio.

Finalmente ho trovato un appartamento nella mia nuova città. O almeno quella che lo sarà per i prossimi mesi. Quale? Un indizio nella foto qui sopra.. =)

Where is everybody?  That’s a good question, and I’ve found myself asking it almost every Sunday morning for the past year and a half.  While we are holding our own at Curryville, it’s pretty easy to see a change in overall attendance, which peaked for us several years ago.   It seems that a national trend has finally made its way out here into the more rural areas. 

We haven’t seen large numbers of people completely disappear, but we have seen many change the regularity of their  attendance.  Is once or twice a month the “new normal” for church attendance?  If so, what does that say of our Spiritual condition.

 Last weekend’s Parade magazine in the Nation’s newspapers probed the issue of church attendance. They conducted a poll of over 1000 Americans.  In brief, here are some results: 

‘Twenty-seven percent said they do not practice any kind of religion. Fifty percent said they rarely or never attend religious services. Twenty percent said they attend religious services anywhere from once a month to a few times a year. Thirty percent said they attend religious services once or more in a given week.” 

If you happen to take a look at more conservative, Christian research organizations like the Barna group, you can pretty much chop that 30% in half. 

Why?  The reasons are legion:   Bad experiences within the institutional church,   More demanding careers, More options like:  home church groups,  media based Spirituality {internet & Television} . . . or, just plain slacking off. 

It takes only 3 weeks to develop a habit.  Once you miss worship for 3 weeks in a row, it becomes much easier to drift away and disengage.   In these troubling times, the one place where we can turn for help and encouragement is the place to which we are becoming less connected, in too many cases. 

Those of you who know me understand that I am very big on making our message Biblically solid and culturally relevant, but I think we face an even bigger challenge.

The challenge would be Spiritual anemia.  In the past decade, no matter whose research you look at, church attendance has been in a steady decline. 

We can ponder the bells and whistles of new programs, music and technology, but I think it’s time to move beyond that and pray like never before for revival in America’s churches.  It has to start with us, before we can let it flow into our communities.

Ősszel, mikor megjellenek a gesztenyék, keresni egy szép példányt és miután eldobtad, figyelni hogyan pattog az úton.

(chestnut by kainna)

Some stats say more than 70% of children and youth leave the Church by the age of 18.Of those who stay approximately 90% of those leave by the age of 25. If these numbers are true we have lost 97% of all the children, youth, and young adults who have either grown up or attended Church.

Barna states “That young adults between 17 and 35 make up approximately 35% of our population nationally, but within our churches, most are lucky if they average 10%. This is not a foundation upon which to build the future of our ministries! Echo-Boomers are abandoning the institutional churches they were raised in.

Goodbye Generation is not about the study of numbers but rather an attempt to understand people. The truth is we are losing people we have poured our lives into, kids are walking away from the faith of their parents, people have left hurt and disillusioned. We are asking you to be part of turning the tide.

Join us, Wednesday November 4th at Point Grey Community Church with David Sawler for a one day seminar with David for campus ministry/youth ministry/anyone wanting to engage with todays generation.

Breaking news from the Sacred Sandwich –

Revealing further evidence that American churches are sinking deeper into apostasy, a new nationwide survey by The Barna Group discovered that almost 23% of U.S. churches are now using Papyrus typeface in their logos and church bulletins.

According to Barna’s polling data acquired by a random sampling of churches around the country: 57% of American churches continue to use the traditional Times Roman typeface, while 23% have succumbed to Papyrus, 15% have abandoned written language altogether and only communicate with YouTube videos, and the remaining 5% use Old English font because “that’s what King James used.”

“I think it’s safe to say that the Apocalypse is very, very near,” said Bob Vincent, spokesman for The Barna Group. “We thought things were bad when our past research showed that a large number of professing Christians didn’t believe in Jesus, but this insidious Papyrus lettering fad is clearly a sign of the end times.”

Remember: you read it here first!

For those unfamiliar with this controversy, the font at issue appears below (PARENTAL ADVISORY: MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY) –

I’m sure that many readers — those who naively don’t keep up with threats to God’s kingdom — fail to see the wickedness in the Papyrus font, but true believers, those who deeply love the Lord and don’t follow the winds of fashion, that is, those who seek to please God rather than themselves — have joined in the fight.

One God-fearing soul has set up a website to warn about the devastating consquences of Papyrus called “Papyrus Watch.” I’m sure loyal readers will want to add this one to their RSS feeds!

Another Godly soul has sounded the warning at “5 Terrible Fonts You Should Not Use in Print Design.” And I quote,

Despite looking like a cheap, gimmicky single-use font, Papyrus has the dubious honour of cropping up everywhere – in the high street, in menus, banners and leaflets. Particularly popular amongst gift shops.

The pernicious nature of the font has been exposed at the “Stuff Christian Culture Likes” site.

Papyrus runs rampant amongst church websites, bulletin handouts, and most particularly with women’s ministries. Papyrus font is to women’s ministries what grunge fonts are to youth ministries.

This is not what we meant by “counter-cultural”!!!!

The “I ♥ Papyrus” website is, of course, sarcastic. And the wickedness of this font has even been reported in the Boise Weekly.

Please — I BEG you — warn your church secretary that Papyrus is a sign of the Anti-Christ. Do not let your congregation fall to this dreadful abomination. Indeed, recent scholarship has shown that “666″ will be written in Papyrus!

(Just show me — book, chapter, and verse — where Papyrus is authorized by Holy Writ!)

Det er en slik dag som like gjerne kunne vært om våren. Løvet som rasler langs bakken kunne vært fjorårets. Draget i luften bærer bud om endring, men ikke i hvilken retning. I stedet for skarp ville vi sagt at luften var mild. Lyset hadde vært det samme. Men de rustnende løvkronene, de er nå og bare nå.

Det har vært en drepende hektisk uke og helgen er en langstrukken pustepause. Ingenting haster i dag. Barna har vært inn og ut. Jeg har vært perleassistent med strykeansvar. Noen overskap som skal festes oppunder taket på det nye soverommet, er nå i det minste båret inn dit. Jeg har strøket min nye iPhone 3GS medhårs og hørt den male som en katt. Jeg har gått med langsomme skritt til butikken og tilbake. Fyrt opp grillen og stekt hamburgere, kanskje for siste gang denne sesongen.

En nær samtale med Eldstemann. Han er opptatt av forurensning og har hørt om hydrogendrevne biler, og jeg forteller om hvor energikrevende det er å framstille hydrogen og om eksplosjonsfaren om man skulle kollidere med full hydrogentank. Jeg forteller om eksperimenter med knallgass i kjemitimene for mange år siden, og om hydrogenfusjon på solen. Om hva som vil skje når solen en gang går tom for hydrogen og begynner å brenne helium. At den kommer til å ese ut og antakelig sluke Jorden mens heliumet fusjonerer til karbon, livets byggestein. At de aller fleste tyngre atomene vi har i kroppene våre, er skapt i kjernereaksjoner i stjerner som ikke finnes lenger. At alt jernet vi omgir oss med, ble skapt i massive stjerner som eksploderte for milliarder av år siden. Han peker på jernlysestaken på bordet mellom oss og spør om det gjelder den også. Jeg svarer bekreftende og legger en hånd på brystet hans og gjentar at nesten alle atomene som han har i seg, er blitt til i stjerner som ikke finnes lenger.

Han ser på meg med strålende øyne og reiser seg og sier at nå vil han ut og leke, men først må jeg få en klem, og det får jeg, og jeg kjenner at en varm rose av tilfredshet og tilhørighet har slått rot i brystet. Jeg går inn til Minstejenta som sitter i badekaret. Hun lurer på hva vi har snakket om, og jeg gir henne en noe forenklet versjon, for hun har snappet opp noen ord og lurer på hva kroppen vår har med biler og brann å gjøre.

Mens barna løper til og fra, sitter jeg i solen på terrassen med en kopp kaffe og dagens avis.

Hjemme igjen. Barna.

Jeg kjenner jeg har færre ord enn jeg har hatt. De er kanskje ikke like ivrige etter å komme ut, heller.

Jeg har satt meg selv på vannvogna. Jeg er han underveis og jeg er en kommentar- og statistikk-junkie! Jeg skal prøve å være på som han underveis bare én gang i døgnet. Ut over det skal jeg bare være meg og la den andre hvile.

I dag. Eldstemanns lekseseanser kan være tåredryppende, bokstavelig talt. Mye indre motstand som må overvinnes. Men i dag. Minstejenta skulle begynne på turn midt i leksetiden, og han gikk med på å gjøre lekser alene mens jeg tok henne og den lille venninnen hennes bort til gymsalen på skolen der det hele skulle foregå.

Vanligvis må foreldrene vente utenfor, fikk jeg vite, men siden det var første gang for henne, fikk jeg være til stede. Det ble stadig flere. Til slutt 30-40 småjenter i rosa ballettantrekk. Overalt var de. En rosa sky. Instruktøren et sted i førtiårene. Fem-seks assisterende tenåringsjenter. Og én mann.

På et tidspunkt: Den rosa skyen hvirvlende i begeistrede sirkler langs veggene i gymsalen. Fra høyttalerne Øystein Sundes «Barkebilleboogie». Småjentenes ansikter som glitrende juveler hvert eneste ett. Pur glede i fri utfoldelse. Minner som bobler opp, av ufortynnet, barnlig glede. Solen som legger seg diagonalt over gulvet og den rosa skyen der. De små kroppene som glimtvis tar fyr når de farer gjennom lysstripen. Lyset som trekker inn i meg og løfter meg, og jeg husker at det finnes noe som heter lykke.

Og hjemme hadde Eldstemann gjort ferdig leksene og ropte gledesstrålende til meg fra toppen av et tre da han så meg.

Ahora que se ha puesto de moda el Mercado de la Boquería, por sus manjares nocturnos, que los que no hayan pasado por allí, en horario diurno, no piensen que es un espacio degradado, un lugar de encuentro con prostitutas durante todo el día. El Mercado de la Boquería es uno de los sitios más especiales de Barcelona, más auténticos, más coloridos y llenos de gran ambiente.

Fotografía: Original en Blanco y Negro.
Lugar: Mercado de la Boquería, Barcelona.
Tamaño de la Fotografía: 30 cm x 20 cm (Posibilidad de otros tamaños).
Tirada: 50 copias máximo enmarcadas y numeradas.

Precio: 50 € (30 cm x 20 cm)