wins and losses

a few random thoughts for today ...

losses:

1. our volleyball team ... the "beach bums" ... have not won a set yet, and can easily play well enough to be a contender ... frustrated yet hopeful.
2. tried to get the republic involved in providing free drinks for the barrie new music festival (newmusicfest.ca) or even colour-sorted m&m's for the band green rooms ... no dice. the organizer said that while appreciated, the effort would undermine the sponsor venues' potential beverage sales (drat - capitalism wins out again). still - be sure to check this out and support our local artists!
   
3. approached the local out-of-the-cold program with the idea of hosting free(!) bi-weekly coffeehouses at the shelter locations ... once again, organizers felt that it wasn't a practical contribution to their efforts. still - do what you can to help those who are going to struggle through a difficult and dangerous season ahead.

wins:

1. the bears! took on philly last night and held their ground ... i'm always proud to pull for the blue and orange.
2. the connexus small group that we're a part of is going to help sponsor me to go and be a part of the IMN 7-day immersion by helping to cover my flight and perhaps even accommodation costs! you guys rock and we love you.
3. i spoke briefly with my wife's hairdresser, who's interested in being part of the phoenix art project that the republic is planning for next easter. all that she knows is that it's going to be a guerilla art event, involving a shared canvas around the theme of 'resurrection'. how cool is that ...
   

wins and losses

i'm going to disney world! ... ok, not really - but close ....

first off, i'm still giving pernell goodyear a run for his money as world's worst blogger ... but definitely check his stuff out. i'm so rooting for him.


secondly, this week i got word from my friend alex mcmanus that i've received a scholarship (ergo acceptance?) to be part of the 2009 international mentoring network 7-day immersion in orlando, florida. these guys are the pioneers of the culture pub movement, and i am super stoked to get to pray and plot with these would-be heroes. i'm still working on figuring out how to pull together the pennies to get me there, but i'm treating it as a non-negotiable. i believe that this is going to be absolutely integral to the republic gaining momentum.

in the meantime, here's the second part to the video interview with sir ken:

i'm going to disney world! ... ok, not really - but close ....

artsy-fartsy, eh?

i came across this video on garr reynolds' blog. i'm persuaded that he's onto something in what he says about the model of education (and measurement of intelligence) being based on an outdated system. part of me also wonders if there isn't an element of that in how most of us in north america approach the faith institution that we know of as church. is it not in large part a specialized model of education (don't we call the community part for kids, 'sunday school')? and is there a kind of partitioning of leaders based on the scales of intelligence? are we even encouraging (by some of the existing, even trendy models of ministry) a high degree of conformity?

lots of questions, no presumed answers. but if sir ken can posit that perhaps education is killing creativity, could it be that certain approaches to church are more outdated than they think - and even squashing the human spirit?

artsy-fartsy, eh?