Hey everyone -- for those who are interested, here are the unfiltered notes from Q yesterday. A lot of this is just quick notes to myself so it may not all make sense to you. But if you want to see some of what the Q content looks like, this should give you an idea:
Andy Crouch: Power
A "good news to good news" story in scripture
(including the first two chapters of the Bible and the last two)
How does this relate to power?
Power as "the imperative"
Geeky Jean Luc Picard reference
"let there be" as jussive rather than imperative
deepest power is not force but creation, deepest corruption
of power is not violence but misapplied creativity, which is idolatry
Every idol promises two things: You shall not surely die
(you are not contingent or bound by other forces); You will be like God
Misusing our creative power to "play God" is
Injustice (when we as idolaters pretend to be God)
"Poverty is the result of someone playing God in the
lives of someone else." Some guy in India
NOTE: Steve Jobs looks like an owl.
NOTE: It's funny when people say things like
"Q for you."
Mark Batterson: Church and Place
5 convictions:
1.
there are ways of doing church that no one has
thought of yet
2.
we need lots of different kinds of churches
because there are lots of different kinds of people
3.
the church ought to be the most creative place
on the planet
4.
we ought to be more known for what we're
"for" than what we're against
a.
paul didn't go into the aeropogus and denounce
the false philosophies, he competed for the truth
b.
Michelangelo: critique by creating
5.
the church belongs in the middle of the
marketplace
movie theatre "business" as outreach in DC area
Mel McGowan: visioneering
David Brooks: Humility
Bing Crosby on VJ Day said, "We don't feel proud, we
feel humble, we feel glad we got through it."
A bigger victory dance for a "two yard gain" than
for winning World War 2.
Traits that we no longer teach to people:
1)
There is a battle within ourselves. "he
that conquereth his own soul is more powerful than he who conquers a city"
2)
A bias against self-preoccupation
3)
A sense of vocation
4)
An element of "seemliness" (a
commitment to social equality)
Shift happened: people started to be told that self
esteem/self love was important
Narcissicm test: 30 percent increase in narcissim score over
the last several decades
3. risk
4. rise of polarization
5. moral inarticulateness
* raised a
generation to find their own opinions about moral issues
* in the
absence of the
What can help?
1. Examplars: finding and celebrating people who are humble
2. Philosophy: rediscovering philosophers who believe in the
depravity of humanity
3. manners (public-spirited): suppressing passions in order
to achieve the greater good
4. a better viewpoint:
Reducing Abortion – panel with Rebekah
Lyons, Jenell Williams Paris, Sarah Brown, Angie Weszely, Johnny Carr
Jenell Williams Paris:
Sarah brown: making contraception a bigger part of the
conversation; not only trying to push abstinence (75% of young evangelicals
having sex before marriage) but also saying, if you do have sex you should use
contraception to prevent pregnancy
Angie Weszely: statistics show that the vast majority of
women will continue to have their baby if they feel love and support rather
than shame and shunning; create a culture in our churches that is all about
acceptance and support
Johnny Carr: normalization of adoption decreases the number
of abortions; taking the shame of adoption and abortion off the table…
Q question: Do you believe that churches should advocate
contraception for their single 20-somethings?
Yes 66%
No 34%
Jonathan Merritt: A faith of our own
The new shape of Christian political Engagement
Culture war characteristics:
1.
highly partisan
2.
narrow agenda (i.e. abortion and gay marriage
for conservatives; social issues for liberals)
3.
divisive
New generation:
1.
independent
2.
broad agenda
3.
civil
4.
Sherry Turkle: Alone Together (@sturkle)
Story one: Should students keep their cell phones under the
desk; "we are not as strong as technology's pull"
Story two: on a panel for "etiquette on the
internet"… can I ignore the checker at the supermarket to text? Etiquette
people said yes, Sherry said, let's treat the checker like a human being
Story three: on a radio panel about Siri; expert on the
panel says that Siri could take the place of a psychiatrist, let the machine
take the place of the person, if you can't tell the difference then let the
machine do the job… a machine as
psychiatrist…
we're "alone together"… we're distancing ourselves
from each other to be closer to our technology
we're here but we're also "somewhere else"… we
want to control where we put our attention;
we run from conversation, we think that "little
sips" from twitter are the same as interacting in "real life"
can robots really take the place of people with empathy and
so on?
Note: alarmist?
Warning us about artificial intelligence and "fog of technology"; she
thinks there is a difference between conversation and connection
13 year old, when told his grandfather could have a robotic
companion, "Don't we have people to do those jobs?"
steps to get us to a better place:
·
conversation that takes time and involves
solitude as a should be a value; create sacred spaces in your home that are
technology free
·
MOST IMPORTANT: take the time to really listen
to each other, even the boring bits because when we hesitate and stutter that's
when we reveal ourselves to each other
Hans Hess: organic
Entrepreneurship
People receiving sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotics in
their meat, giving them an immunity to the antibiotic when they became sick,
leading to innefectual antibiotics when they became sick
Communion is with bread and wine, not wheat stalks and grape
juice… how we prepare food matters
2.5% of food consumption is "sustainable"
food price and oil price linked
we've interrupted the natural cycle… using petroleum based
fertilizer to reinvigorate soil
farmers do not make money on "commodity crops";
government subsidies necessary; about 20% of cost goes to GM seeds, the other
20% to modified fertilizer
polycultural farming is local, sustainable, has robust value
chain and resilient ecosystem free of petrochemicals
Bittersweet Zine.
Bitterwseetzine.com
How can we engage with good things happening in the
community and inspire people to engage alongside people of faith and teach them
that God is not dead, the church is not idle
Chidi Achara: Fashion Imagery
Works for a major American fashion brand
He's a "creative salesman" whose job is to show
you images that make you want to buy and become a loyal customer for that
company
Three (uh oh make that two) brief observations:
·
as a society we worship youth
o even
organizations like Levis which has a lot of middle aged people in its consumer
base
·
fashion imagery will always challenge taboos and
what is happening in the world and society
o united
benneton's "unhate" campaign
fashion speaks to the pursuit of freedom and democratic
ideals in all areas of life
Gideon Strauss: Principled Pluralism
How do we live together given our deep differences?
"an impossible task:
conviviality and "convicted civility" (from Mouw)
lacking in Christian culture
"we live in a time of God's patience and we are not
called to coerce our neighbors to conviction, but instead to invite them
through our coexistence"
"because we confess that Christ is risen we can engage
in our public life in a mode that is not anxious."
Pluralism is our reality, that does not mean that we have to
surrender our principles, instead it enables us to practice a principled
pluralism.
Immanentize the eschatron (? What the heck? Awesome
picture…) center of public justice
"Symphonic justice"
Roberta Ahmanson: The civic duty of arts patronage
"we become what we worship"
Discussion: Richard Land and Jim Wallis
Wallis: how do Christians change the world? Christians
should not worship at the altar of politics.
3 things kindom people do: serve the common good and seek
the welfare of the city we are in; seek a civil discourse; find common ground
(five "common ground" areas to discuss with people: what does this
policy impact fr the poorest and most vulnerable, undocumented immigrants,
abortion reduction as a goal in the society and supporting strong families,
supporting liberty; a foreign policy that creates peace rather than warfare)
Land: agrees that politics are not where we worship. We're
citizens fo two kingdoms, the US and the kingdom of God; the church is the
colony of Heaven. Political parties are
human invnetions that will manipulate and exploit you if you let them. Churches
and religious leaders should not be endorsing candidates, we must look for
candidates who endorse us. Big changes
in the two parties over the years (both have become more ideological than
geographical). Bi-partisanship getting more difficult as dems and repubs are
moving away fromone another ideologically. Must have civility in disagreement.
Immigration reform
Wallis: two signs at the border: no trespassing and help
wanted. How do we help people caught between these signs?
Land: Secure the workplace, then secure the border. We have
an obligation to those we have already allowed into the US. We need to allow
them to come out of the shadows and let them become full legal citizens. The
immigration system is broken in every way it can be broken. It's virtually
impossible to immigrate legally. Need to overhaul it completely all at once
with bipartisan support. Comprehensive immigration reform will likely increase
bottom of the scale wages by as much as 12%.
Budget
Wallis:
Conversation: Glen Paauw and
Phil Chen: Anew way of engaging
scriptures
Glen: Removing "helps"… chapter headings and call
outs and notes and put the emphasis back on the TEXT. Just allow the reader to
see the scripture on its own terms. Took out columns, red letters. A
"Bible restoration project"
Phil: "Glo"… two things that come to mind, the
first would be that the generation that I grew up in we think of the medium
differently, not about paper. Paper is a metaphor. Glo is a visual Bible.
Virtual tours, 3d, animators to rebuild 1st century Jerusalem.
SPOKEN BIBLE project: crowdsourcing an audio Bible
First century vs 21st century Bible
CHAI LING – GENDERCIDE
NOTE: Cute. She called Gabe "gabby."
Allgirlsallowed.org In Jesus' name, simply love her.
The Heavenly Man…
Cultural lessons: how she came to America and listened to
Madonna and watched Sex and the City and thought "this is cool"
without realizing the issues it would create spiritually
Johnny Carr – Adoption Journey
Has 5 kids, three adopted; two adopted from China, all three
adopted are deaf
If we're going to preach and teach adoption, we're going to
have to support and minister to the families who have adopted. If it's tough
for a church to take care of kids with medical disabilities, imagine the
families 24 hours, 7 days a week. Privilege and honor to minister to these
children.
Adoptionjourney.com
Ed Stetzer –
the Future of Discipleship
What does discipleship look like? How do we see changed
people become change agents?
I;m no t a prophet, I'm not the son of a prophet, I actually
work at a non-profit organization.
There is a discipleship deficiency: only 47% say they have
been discipled; 39% have never been disciple, 43% have done neither
Moving people from behavioral modification to gospel-based
living
From good people to servants
·
primarily about the gospel
·
leads to practical living
·
determined to see transformation
8 attributes of discipleship
1. Wow. He is going fast. No way I can get all those.
where truth, leaders and posture overlap, robust
discipleship takes place
BYRON BORGER – Why Books Matter
"The Apostle Paul didn't order his books from
Amazon." Ha ha ha
books are gifts from the body of Christ to the body of
Christ
Amy Julia Becker
"perfect" children… how people describe their
babies; how the technician describes the baby's measurements on an ultrasound
Down's babies…
Cameron Doolittle – Jill's
House
Children with severe mental difficulties
Jill's house: having a night or two off a month
Michael Cromartie interviews Ross Douthat – Media,
Faith and Politics
His new book "Bad Religion"looks awesome, great interview...
PRAXIS
Rare genomics
Matchbook Learning
Sinapsis
Thank you for doing this.
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