347 A fresh look at the good book

Our church has been having a mission fair for two weeks. The booths are rotated between two of the three campuses so members can meet the various ministry leaders. I noticed one called "168 Hour Film Project" that I didn't remember from the last fair. This mission was founded by John Ware, a former UALC member, and he now lives in Burbank, CA. The idea is that a short film is made based on a Bible verse and it is completed in 168 hours--or one week. For instance, one of the verses for 2006 is 2 Timothy 4:7: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness…" I'll bet you're already seeing a little film clip forming in your mind. Read the FAQ on how this is done.

The idea of this ministry is to help young Christian film makers. There was a screening on March 11 in Glendale of these entries for 2006 awards.

346 Bill, Hillary and Al

Usually, I don't pass along jokes, but I thought this one was sort of cute. I saw it at Magesterial Fidelity.

God addresses Al first. "Al, what do you believe in?"

Al replies, "Well, I believe I won that election, but that it was your will that I did not serve. And I've come to understand that now."

God thinks for a second and says, "Okay, very good. Come and sit at my left."

God then addresses Bill. "Bill, what do you believe in?"

Bill replies, "I believe in forgiveness. I've sinned, but I've never held a grudge against my fellow man, and I hope no grudges are held against me."

God thinks for a second and says, "You are forgiven, my son. Come and sit at my right."

Then God addresses Hillary. "Hillary, what do you believe in?"

"I believe you're in my chair."

345 Upper Arlington Art League Spring Show

was hung today at The Church at Mill Run, 3500 Mill Run Drive, Hilliard, OH 43026. That is one of the three campuses of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church. This looks like it has an addition, but it doesn't. That's modern design.

There is a city park next to the church so I was walking there this morning before I went inside to help with the show. Arranging a show is an art by itself, and my husband is our master arranger. There are 79 pieces in the show and the building is open 8 a.m.-8 p.m. every day. We'd love to have you stop by.
Check in time

Discussions with the juror

My favorite is the purple cows

344 Thou shall not

I just tried unsuccessfully to download some software from my service provider. I read through all the instructions, inserted the secret password it e-mailed me, and waited through a long download, only to have a message pop-up that it had been interrupted. Well, nice try, but no thanks. I won't sit through that again. However, the "I agree" statement was instructive. It made me wish that Christians had to sign something like this about the Bible and the basic beliefs of whatever Christian group they are joining:

You may not

• decompile
  
• reverse engineer
  
• disassemble
  
• reduce
  
• modify
  
• sell
  
• rent
  
• lease
  
• transfer
  
• resell for profit
  
• distribute or create derivative works

Holy Scripture or the Christian faith.

And have you seen the rules Verizon is developing for Wireless content? I know churches who aren't that strict! The list of prohibited words is up to 83. (See the Wall Street Journal story, April 27, 2006)

343 Advertising: Wal-Mart and UALC

Wal-Mart is changing its advertising tactics and quietly dropping the yellow smiley in favor of low-key smiles that induce warm feelings and memories. The Smiley had taken on a life of its own and had become a distraction, according to Tuesday's WSJ. Wal-Mart is very successful, so I'm not sure why the change was needed.

Nor do I understand why our church is changing the name of Vacation Bible School (VBS) to "Adventure Week." It's not like we need to attract a bigger crowd of kids. Anyone I've asked is baffled. But since I'm not one of the volunteers, I'll just throw it into the orange barrel category along with other programs that come and go that I don't understand. Our VBS draws 2500-3000 children from toddler through 5th grade and many people plan their own vacations around it. It must be a nightmare of logistics of morning and afternoon and evening sessions in three locations. It is staffed by members of many churches, and the support group (snacks, materials, scheduling, t-shirts, registration, parking attendants, babysitting for teachers) is enormous. I think the planning starts in October.

342 Wishing. . .

I saw this at Father Hollywood, a Lutheran Pastor's blog:
". . . during the War Between the States. As the Confederate Army marched through Maryland, a couple Yankee ladies were watching the gray column marching through, led by the gallant General Lee on horseback. One woman said to the other: "Oh how I wish he were one of ours!"

He was writing about Pope Benedict's Good Friday message.

341 Preaching to the Choir

is the title of a new movie starring a few folks you'll recognize and some you won't. I remember Eartha Kitt and Patti LaBelle, but you may know some of the others. The credits say Ben Vereen, but I didn't see him in the bios. It is a story to two brothers who take different paths in life--one becomes a preacher the other a criminal. A story of redemption with music. It was reviewed in one of our local free-circs by Chad Dull who liked it, but thought the writing was weak. Still, when was a reviewer right or happy with the writing? Here's how he concluded his generally positive review:

". . .if you feel a little out of touch with the man upstairs but don't feel like getting up early on Sunday morning and throwing out your back by sitting on wooden benches for a few hours, make amends by grabbing a comfy theater seat at your earliest convenience and taking in "Choir" as a substitute."

Where's he been attending church? At our church he could have the choice of 12 services (more tomorrow which is Easter) at three locations, with 4 different worship styles (traditional, blended, praise/contemporary and ear blasting loud/progressive), and for the loudest service, he'll get hard, plastic chairs. Our sanctuary pews at Lytham Rd. are padded, as are the kneelers. The sanctuary chairs at Mill Run are cushioned, however, the floor slopes like a theater which makes standing for the Gospel reading and praise songs very uncomfortable, unless you're wearing athletic shoes.

Many church plants do worship in theaters not only because they need space to rent, but because young people can relate to that environment. They are often located in malls with good parking and restaurants near-by for lunch with friends after the service. At the price of real estate, I think a young church is smart to go this direction.

Preaching to the Choir is also the name of a Christian blog, who is probably getting a lot of pings from folks looking for this movie. That's how I found her.