Christian Con Queso | by Keith Jennings

The Difference Between Being and Doing

Here's a tip I'm still learning about how to become the things I want to be.

"I want to be a good husband and dad."

"I want to be a poet."

"I want to be a better marketer."

The list could go on.  Do you find yourself talking like this?  I say these kinds of things all the time.

The problem is that being something is abstract.  When will I be a good husband and dad?  When can I consider myself a poet or a better marketer?  Probably never, based upon my standards.

The goal is to move "be" into the "do" category as fast as possible.

So...being a good dad means doing certain things: eating breakfast and dinner together, playing outside most evenings, reading books together before bed, having nerf blaster wars in the house, giving lots of hugs and kisses and "I love yous" each day, etc.

If you're a "be" person like me:

1. Write down all the things you want to BE.

2. Write down all the things you must DO to allow yourself to be those things you wrote down.

3. Acknowledge you're accomplishments by admitting, "I am a good dad.  I am a poet.  I am a better marketer than I was last year."

Bonus tip: remember this is an ongoing process, so make sure you rinse and repeat.

Can Christians Be Great Postmodern Poets and Writers?

Here's a bias I somehow picked up along the way: Christians make terrible postmodern writers and poets.

It seemed to me that the most recent great writing by Christians died with the last of the Inklings.  And now, to be taken seriously as a writer and/or poet, we must keep these two fussy siblings (faith and literature) in separate rooms of our house.

Then, on a random vacation to a random beach, I meandered into a bookstore and walked out with a copy of Image Journal.  My opinion and aforementioned bias started to change.

Then I found my way to Leland Ryken's book, The Christian Imagination.

And since about 2002, I've continued to discover high quality poetry, fiction and essays written by respected (and award winning) poets and writers.  These are not literary personalities published in Christian-only publications.  These are talented individuals published in the world's most respected literary journals.

I've put together a Squidoo lens that collects the best resources and publications I can find for Christians who want to pursue serious literary writing.  Instead of providing links within the body of this post, I would appreciate it if you would use this lens as your starting point.  Your use of it will benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

[Outside the literary tradition, I've quite enjoyed the work of Marva Dawn, Rob Bell, Donald Miller, John Eldredge, Henry Nouwen and John Ortberg, to name a few.]

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If you liked this post (or any others you find on this site), you can receive new posts by email or RSS.  Look for upcoming articles on 1) How to Live the Literary Life and Not Suck at Christianity, 2) The Anatomy of Today's Poems and 3) The Best Christian Blogs and Why You Should Feed Them.

Farrah, Michael, You & Me

                   

Farrah Fawcett was the 1970s.  Michael Jackson was the 1980s.  I think their deaths are symbolic, with roots deeper than we're willing to accept and admit.

I'm writing this blog post to the 30-somethings and 40-somethings out there.  Whether you are/were a fan, has nothing to do with this post.  Because this post is really about you and me.

Wednesday night, I walked around the White House.  At the fence on the south lawn, there were a few wanderers poking their cameras through the fence snapping photos.  However, on the north lawn (i.e. the Pennsylvania Ave. side), there were a couple of handful of "protesters" walking around in a circle with handmade signs chanting something.  They were taking photos of themselves.

What caught my attention was how much fun they were having.  And I realized that it wasn't about the "protest".  It was about them.  Even those I had seen quietly snapping photos on the south lawn weren't taking photos for historical purposes.  It was about them too.  Snapshots of moments in their life.

I awoke yesterday to a day with the Center for Health Transformation.  During one of the breaks, I overheard someone say Farrah Fawcett had died.  I arrived at the airport a few hours later to hear that Michael Jackson had died.  Wow.

First of all, my heart goes out to those close to Michael and Farrah who have to deal with the loss of someone they love so much.  At this point in our lives, we too are familiar with the taste of tears shed for individuals torn from the fabric of our life.

But to many of us, Farrah and Michael are symbols of our childhood.  Our coming of age.  However, like the protesters and photographers I saw in DC, these symbols from our past are really about us.  Their passing reminds us that our childhood is gone.  We are now our parents.  And our time is finite.  For many of us, we have lived half our lives now.  Again, wow.

Are you proud of who you have become?  Are those who love you proud of who you are?

Are you looking up every once in a while from the distractions of adulthood, taking a breath, noticing the clouds, feeling the air, smelling, tasting, hugging, kissing this crazy, insane, complex, contradictory world we are blessed and cursed to live in?

Are you seeing the familiar in unfamiliar ways?  Or the extraordinary in the ordinary?  

Are you really looking?

I'm not asking you to see the good and ignore the bad.  And I'm not asking you to let the bad water down the good.  That's too easy.

Are you really seeing what's around you?  And accepting the reality of what it is?

Angels and Demons (Questions and Lies)

We saw the movie Angels and Demons this past weekend.  It was a great ride.  That said, it raised an interesting series of questions.

Is it okay to lie to save lives?

Is it okay to withhold information that risks hundreds of lives to protect one life (of, say, an important leader)?

Is a distinguished person more valuable than a commoner?

Is it okay to lie if it serves God?

Can a lie serve God?

If you were a physician who knew your patient didn't want to know they were dying, would you tell them the truth or honor their request?

If you were a church leader and knew that certain information would split the church, would you share it or protect the church?

Father's Day Gift Ideas for Your Renaissance Man

Gadgets and golf balls are for boys.

What about the men who defy definition?  Who have found their own unique walk in their metaphorical Fat Albert gang?

Here are some obscure gift ideas for the soul and mind.  Go on...take a risk!

1. Rent a cabin in the woods for him to spend a weekend writing and doing the Thoreau thing.

2. Get him the new Phoenix album.  Think pop transcendence.

3. Any Billy Collins book.  But, if you have to choose, start with The Trouble with Poetry and work forward or backward.  It doesn't matter.

4. Let him pick a weekend to backpack a piece of the Appalachian Trail.

5. Buy him a case of V. Sattui wine.

6. Order a one year subscription to Five Points or Poetry.  Or both.

7. Schedule those guitar or jazz piano or singing lessons he's always mentioned in passing.

8. Get the Ulrich Schnauss album A Strangely Isolated Place.  Pure shoegaze electronica sonic bliss.

9. Or, if you want to go jazz, try Nicholas Payton.

10. There's always Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck for those wanting to rediscover America from its highways and small towns.

11. Or you could take that road trip to rediscover America.

12. U2 is gearing up for their world tour.  So general admission tickets on the floor would allow him to jump and scream like a crazed holy man.  A stranger in a strange land.

13. There are millions of orphans around the world.  You could adopt one!  Or do something to make their lives more tolerable.

14. Or you could send a donation to his favorite foundation in his name.  If you're blank, take a look at Acumen Fund and Compassion International.

15. Nothing beats a sincere and genuine hug and kiss!

Confessions of a Music Snob

Like a junkie looking for an angry fix, I need music.  This has fueled a lifelong obsession with finding and acquiring new music from every nook and cranny of the known world.  (Currently looking for great electronica music from China if you happen to have any recommendations.)

I grew up on Motown, punk and post punk music, including electronic derivatives.  And I acquired a passion for jazz, blues and its offspring over the years.

As anyone knows who has seriously studied the Bible, the deeper I go into the music world, the less I realize I know.  The less I know I've heard.  The more I battle the depressing reality that I won't even scrape the surface of what musicians in the world have to offer.

There's a lot of crap out there.  No doubt.  But there's a lot of head-defying, soul-stirring songs and musicians.  Most living invisible and obscure lives way outside the spotlight.  (I was excited to stumble upon Brody Harper's "Music You've Never Heard" section last year.  Check it out.)

Here's what life as a music snob has revealed so far.

I steal songs.

All fans are thieves.  I'm not talking about illegal downloads or anything like that.  I'm talking about who really owns the songs.  Fans do.

The moment a song is presented to the world, it's a gift.  And we take this gift, which is essentially an emotion, and we make it part of our lives.

Big Country was a Scot rock group best known to Americans for the songs "In a Big Country" and "Fields of Fire" in the early 1980s.  But for me they were a primary sound in the palette of Dalton, Georgia, where I grew up.  And their later work is associated with Florida.  I stole their songs (and many others) and made them part of my life.

You do too.

I know you by your songs.

Your taste in music sucks.  Your taste in music also rocks.  So does mine.

Because we steal songs and make them part of our own little private worlds, there's no possible way any song can be heard in the same way by two different people.  It's not possible.

What this means is, even though I sometimes do, I can't fairly judge you by your taste in music.  Because I can't hear the songs the way you do.  I can't relate.  I can't experience them as you.  And you can't experience songs as me.

That means we need each other.  We need to search for ways to share and convey what certain music means to us.  Maybe we can experience the familiar in unfamiliar ways.

What this also means, though, is that birds of a feather indeed flock together.

It's a tribe thang.

During my high school years, I remember Tears for Fears coming to our local arena in Tampa, Florida.  In PE, some guys in their metal head t-shirts were "debating" how big of "fags" Tears for Fears actually were.  (I loved Songs from the Big Chair.  Still do.)

I learned sometime later that these tough guys actually went to the Tears for Fears concert.  Why?  Because, it's a tribe thang.  There's something spiritual about being crammed into a place with thousands of strangers who gather around a common purpose.  There's also something energizing about being part of something (like it or not) that's a big deal.  That's why Twitter and Facebook and MySpace and every other site that's hit the big time has hit the big time.

I'm not the only music snob out there.  What about you?

How do you experience music?  How do you share it with others?  How do you feel when others don't "get it" the way you do?

[I even stole the line "looking for an angry fix" from Allen Ginsberg's masterpiece "Howl."]

Social Objects vs. Church Programs (Where is Your Church's Focus?)

Churches are activities focused and people driven.  Church revolves around events (worship, retreats, etc.) and programs (classes, outreach, etc.).

Events and programs cost money and time.

For a church to grow and sustain that growth, it requires more money and active people.

But in most churches, only a few dedicated members form the backbone of the congregation.  Only a few wind up doing all the work.  Sure some floaters float in and out on a per event basis, but there are rarely enough of them to fuel growth.

So two things tend to happen:

1. Active members burn out and leave.

2. Active members settle into a predictable routine in order to cope with the burden of church membership having become another job.

In both cases, the church loses.

So how can your church offer more than another job for busy members who already have jobs and family priorities?

I believe it starts with identifying the key social objects in your church.  Social objects are things around which people gather and/or connect.  As Hugh MacLeod so eloquently wrote, "social networks form around social objects, not the other way around."

Yet churches try to built social networks without the gravitational pull of social objects.  Instead of finding THE Bible study people are requesting taught by THE teacher they most request, churches launch the most convenient Bible study with whomever is willing to teach it.  Then wonder why attendance remains predictably mediocre.

More is not always better.  But better tends to breed more.

The social object, though critical, is not what ultimately matters.  The relationships that are built and the conversations that are had, are what ultimately matter.  The social object is merely a tool.

Maybe its time to focus on social objects in the church (in addition to, of course, God).

Everyday Eden

First there was Eden.  Then the "fall of man" (which would make a great name for a alternative Christian band).

It seems in everything we do, we put a lot of effort into returning to Eden.  

Heaven is an Eden.

Home is an Eden.

Success is an Eden.

Even substance abuse is an Eden.

And we live out the cycle of Eden.  We're happy in the garden.  Or so we think until we try to be like God.  The we find ourselves wandering around exhausted and frustrated trying to recreate that little moment of Eden we tasted.

Our days seem designed this way.  We wake up each day to a fresh start.  We get battered and bruised.  We die to bed at night, only to start fresh again.  Morning is an Eden.

We confess and repent and purge and Spring clean.  We set goals and get organized and make schedules.  We connect with others and get busy.  Then we get stressed and overwhelmed and unorganized.  Then we burn-out or crash, only to repent and start over.  Fresh starts are an Eden.

Why do we chase the very thing we cannot have - Eden?  Yet we're Eden junkies looking desperately for the next fix, the next escape, from the reality we've chosen.

Christianity points to a cross, not a garden.  It's road is hard and narrow.  It's not about us in a garden.  Never was.

The 3 Types of Bloggers (and Twitterers)

As I’ve followed hundreds of world-class, good and not-so-good blogs over the years I’ve found there to be three categories of great bloggers: journalists, experts and entertainers.

Journalists are bloggers who report on what’s happening in the world.  They’re not thought leaders, but they excel at discovering interesting people, best practices and industry trends.  We read them because they solve a need we have: reliable, actionable information with the least time investment.  Publishers Lunch is a world-class example.

Experts are our thought leaders.  They offer new frames through which to interpret the world.  We read them because they challenge our beliefs and habits.  They make us feel smarter.  Great examples of expert bloggers are Seth Godin and Kevin Kelly.

Entertainers are our release valve.  We go to them because they provide escape from our daily grind.  Examples include everything from Post Secret to individual’s personal journals.

Of course there are hybrid bloggers too.  Guy Kawasaki blogs (and tweets) as an expert and journalist.  But hybrid bloggers still leverage the three categories.

An interesting trend I’m seeing on Twitter is that these same three categories are taking shape.  The best Twitterers either report, challenge or entertain (in addition to connecting with others).  The rest tweet without focus and/or over-follow to manipulate their numbers.

There's a fine line between being relevant and engaging, or being robotic and/or arrogant.

Where are you finding success?  Where are you struggling?  

I'll admit, I'm still trying to figure this out.

What is love anyway?

"...a condition in which the happiness of another is essential to one's own happiness."

Saw this listed as a definition in the Wiktionary.  I thought it was the most aligned with Christian love.

It was paraphrased from Robert Heinlein in Stranger in a Strange Land.

Love the juxtaposition!