scotthodge.org

Orlando...Austin...Atlanta.....and next, Uganda.

Ok, I'm diving back in to the blog.  It's been way too long.  My lame excuse: I've been running 200MPH since a few weeks before Easter with writing, travel, etc... and blogging just hasn't been that high on my priority list.  Sorry faithful folks.

So anyway...  Rather than try to knock out a bunch of amazing blog posts, I thought I'd throw out a few random thoughts of what's been happening over these past few weeks.  Here we go:

• Easter.  This year's Easter weekend The Orchard was a record-breaking weekend!  Our teams did an amazing job and I think my head is still spinning after a HUGELY successful Helicopter Easter Egg Drop.  All I can say is WOW.  If you missed the video review, click here.
  
  
• Orlando.  Had a great time at Exponential in Orlando.  Exponential is sort of a like a big family reunion (but without the weird uncle and the funky potato salad).  This is actually the largest church planting conference in North America and one that I would definitely encourage all church planters to attend in 2010.  Had fun teaching a session with Gary Lamb (did he really say "wanker"??) and then participating in some great conversations in the Exponential Lounge with guys like Erwin McManus, Francis Chan, Dave Ferguson, Craig Groeschel, Matt Chandler, and others. 
  
  
• Austin. After a couple of days home I found myself in the amazing city of Austin, TX to be a part of Q.  Q is one of my favorite gatherings of the year.  It's small and all about influencing and changing culture.  Think TED format.  Loved connecting with a bunch of friends - both new and old.  People like Kem Meyer, Mike Foster, Jeff Shinabarger, Tim Stevens, Alan Hirsch, Kyle Zimmerman, John Burke, Rick McKinley, Chris Seay, Gabe Lyons, Mel McGowan, Charles Lee, and a bunch of other amazing people. Next year, Q will be here - in Chicago!
  
  
• Austin II.  All I can say is - what a cool city.  And with a slogan that's all about keeping it "weird" what do you expect??  Check out a few photos I posted in Facebook.
  
  
• Jackie Huba.  Writer, Author, Speaker, Blogger, Marketing Guru-ess, co-founder of the Society for Word of Mouth.  Forbes calls her work "the word of mouth gospel."  Anyway....  Had a chance to grab lunch with Jackie while in Austin.  That was worth the trip alone.  If you don't follow her twitter you need to. 
  
  
• Atlanta.  Orange.  It's THE premier and the BEST family ministry conference in the flippin' universe.  Loved being a part of this and having the opportunity to share The Orchard's story and some thoughts/ideas on the topic of navigating change with a room full of Lead Pastors and Senior Leaders.  Just wish I could have stuck around for more than a few hours, but was glad to be able to hang with a few of our staff who were attending and introduce them to some killer Korean BBQ. 
  
  
• Uganda.  In a couple of weeks.  More on this later, but looking forward to getting my heart messed up by this trip. 
  
  
• Study.  It's what I should be doing right now.  So I'm done.  Hopefully back in the groove of blogging.  We'll see.  Thanks for the encouragement folks.

I'm back.

It's a  bit dusty around here at scotthodge.org.  But I'm back and ready to get this place moving again! 

BTW......had a great time in Las Vegas with Amanda.  I was there to officiate a wedding ceremony, so we took advantage of the time away and extended it out to celebrate her birthday.....VEGAS style!  :)  Whatever that means....

Anyway.....my I'm going to vomit some A.D.D. all over this post with a bunch of thoughts/links/etc....  Here it goes:

Thanks to DJ Chuang, just found out that past talks from "Q" are available for online for free.  DJ has posted the details and link here.  This is probably my favorite conference of the year because it's all about influencing culture.  Go watch 'em.

Barton Damer at Already Been Chewed recently shared a video link featuring Shepard Fairey - the "OBEY" guy.  I LOVE his work and have a few shirts featuring his designs.  Interesting to see & hear how he works. 

While you're at it, check out this video about Fairey's work on the Obama campaign.  It's interesting and cool - regardless of what you might think of Obama.  Also, check out this this screenshot of my desktop.  It's an "OBEY" style design by Barton Damer.  LOVE IT!  Thanks Barton!

I think I need to get this iPhone app.  It's like Tetris on LSD!  Or something like that.  But anyway....here is Kevin Rose from digg.com showing it off.

Have you seen the lineup of speakers for Exponential?  Holy smokes!  Francis Chan, Matt Chandler, Craig Groeschel, Alan Hirsch, Tim Keller, Erwin McManus.  Check out the entire list here.  Exponential is one of the largest gatherings of church planters in the US.  I'll be there!  Hope you will be too!

Last but not least....  Do you have a tattoo?  Check out MyTatStory.com - a new site that we've launched in conjunction with our new fall series called "INKED."  We're asking people to snap photos of their tats and share the stories behind them.

That's it.  I'm done.

For now.

Q Shortcuts

Here's a list of quick-access links for Q sessions that I blogged...

Jon Tyson | The Re-urbanization of the Church

Gabe Lyons | Fermi Project, Co-founder of Q.

Bill McKibben | More vs. Better

Q: Culture Shaping Projects

Michael Lagocki | Qscribing

Francis Collins | Human Genome Project

Chuck Colson | Cultural Commission

Leroy Barber | Beloved Community

Eboo Patel | Interfaith Youth Core

Scott Harrison | cleanwater.org

Michael Lagocki | Qscribing 2

Andy Crouch | Why We Can[t] Change the World

Tim Keller | Grace and The City

Jamie Tworkowski | To Write Love on Her Arms

Jim Wallis | Social Movements

Michael Luo | Reporting Faith and Politics

The Fray

Jeff Shinabarger | Fermi Project, Co-founder of Q

Q: Culture Shaping Projects 2

Shane Hipps | Downside of the Digital Age

Os Guinness | Trinity Foundation

Jud Wilhite | Expression

Q: Jud Wilhite | Expression

Jud Wilhite
Pastor, Central Christian Church, Las Vegas

Spending time in NY...  Felt really small.  In LV, feels the same way....

Standing in front of huge casino......realized.....the culture war is over.  WE LOST! 

It was so liberating because began to envision new ways of engaging culture...impacting people.

Culture war - as defined in 80’s and 90’s by religious conseravtives was a posture towards/against our culture.  That bred moral superiority....  “We’re right - you're wrong” attitude.

The posture we take towards culture:

A posture of grace over judgment. 

Religious leaders were the ones that ultimately put boundaries and walls up...

To be spiritual and mature is to be approachable.  And to the level I am approachable to those outside the faith defines the level of my maturity.

Jesus was MOVED w/ compassion.  Posture yourself......in all channels of influence....grace over judgment as you interact w/ other people.

Began seeing himself as a dream champion.  Finding entrepreneurs, artists, etc... And releasing them!  To GO into the culture where they work and live in and transform it from the inside out....

It’s relational....life on life.

Do you know the dreams of the people in your church?

A posture of love over inaction.

1 Cor 13 - love, defined not so much as a feeling, but as an action.

Not so much love against hate, but love against inaction.

Are you empowering people to love?

Incredible stories of business leaders in his church who are having powerful impact on local culture.  It took a church community that would release and empower him.

A posture of truth over inauthenticity.

Bible talks about being TRUE.  “in the truth”  “Living in the truth”  “being FILLED with truth”

If you give people GRACE and then show them love, they begin to trust you and once they trust you, you can tell them the truth.  And once you give them truth, they trust you more and more.

The world is looking for people who will be authentic in a COMPLETE way and make a difference with their actions.

Biblical truth over inauthenticity.

The Bible is clear that there is such a thing as truth.  We can wrestle w/ how we apply it, wrestle w/ it, etc...  But at the end of the day, my goal is to lead people to the truth - Jesus Christ.

Conversation doesn’t end here.  Keep it going....  Let’s find new ways to help people experience that door and be changed from the inside out.

Q: Os Guinness

Os Guinness (bio)
Author (The Case of Civility), Social Critic, Co-Founder of Trinity Forum

Os is the grandson of Guinness founder.  (Upon hearing this, the room erupted in applause.)

One of the features of our time is the challenges we face have never come from more directions...  Both outside the church but also due to deep erosions and craziness INSIDE the church.

Not a pessimist, but want to look at the challenges.  Incredible opportunities...

On level of invention of wheel and printing. A massive change...

We have to discern, engage, assess.

Shift from singular modernity to multiple modernities - different ways of being modern.

Whoever was the great power of the west was the great power of thew world.

Now- polycentric powers, no single superpowers can stand it’s will on the world.

Used to be that globalization  = westernization.  Now, not so....

The US policy is a failure to recognize this.

We (the church) need to tell the story of our failure.

Our world is as furiously religious as ever.

More world views clashing w/ other world views than the world has ever seen.

Growing wars of the spirit - Christians responding not well.

3 assumptions...

That the affirmation of life is that counts.

That what blocks the affirmation of life is religion.

That the first step of any critical person is to critique religion and see it removed from the world.

The secular world - a profoundly anti-Christian attitude.  We don't’ engage in this in culture waring....we have to win people and not win battles in that sense.

That you make sure you have all the needed tools needed for cultural engagement.

Not just correct "beliefs" - but that our beliefs will truly affect our behavior.

Make sure you and your people really understand the history of ideas.

The genealogy of ideal of morals - where do they come from?

If you trace the ancestry, pedigree....you usually have a very good understanding of where it’s coming from and what it’s likely to be.

Appalled at how uncritical people under age 40 are of post-modernism.  60’s - did not flourish in Europe...  70’s - flourished in universitys....America.  90’s - flourished in churches after not in fashion in univeristys.  And many plunged in hook, line and sinker....

Part of reformation of culture will be reformation of time.

Can’t see this by looking at ideas....  We have to observe social world around us.

Gospel exploding Africa, East....but doing worst in west. 

3 tasks we have:

• To restore the integrity of faith.
• To restore credibility of gospel.
• To restore civility in public life. (so that we and others are free to engage public life from the vantage point of our faith.)

There is no movement in the west that is taking on these three in a way that shows a chance of prevailing. 
Luke 18:8 - When son of man returns to earth, will he find faith?

Our faith is unrecognizable....

Our goal of followers of Jesus is to "know him more clearly, love him more dearly and to follow him more nearly."

Always however far you go....make sure that by God’s grace you keep the faith and He will be able to say “well done.”

Back Home.

Arrived back home this morning from Q in NYC.   Had a great day with my family along with a nice nap this afternoon.  NYC is an absolutely amazing city but it's good to be home!  (I'll be posting some photos from around the city too...)

Had a blast at Q and I'll look forward to sharing some of my personal thoughts in the next few days.  I'll also be posting the rest of my notes from the sessions.  Thanks for your patience but I REALLY needed a blogging break as my eyeballs were starting to protrude out of their sockets while at the same time having hallucinations that I was on the set of I Am Legend. 

Ok, maybe not.  But I sure am tired...  Even skipped out being at The Orchard tonight so I could stay home and rest. 

Back to family.

Q: Shane Hipps | Downside of the Digital Age

Shane Hipps
Downside of Digital Age
Pastor of Trinity Mennonite Church, Author of The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture

Student of media and culture...Worked w/ Porsche...

"Gospel of Porsche"

“The medium is the message.”

“The content or message of any particular medium has about as much importance as the stenciling on the casing of an atomic bomb.”  Marshall McLuhan

The medium IS the message.

Christianity is FUNDAMENTALLY a communication event....God revealing himself to the world.

How you understand communication is how you understand God.

Printing Press - assembly line....from how we make cookies to build cars.

Affected everything that followed - including architecture.  Why pews were invented after printing press....

Didn’t just affect our physical space, radically altered our imagination.  Changed to a very simple linear sequential formula. 

Apologies for sin + Believe in Jesus = Go to heaven.

What is the impact of the DIGITAL AGE?  HUGE question....

Between 1840-1890 - slew of uninterrupted inventions that changed the communication structure of the west.  They all harnessed power of electricity.  Electronic age. 

Chief invention - photograph. Gave birth to image based culture in the west.

Image reduces our capacity for abstract thought.

“The boy is sad” - words on screen.  What is the affect?  Not much....

Image of little boy crying - what is the affect?  If you’re human, you’d say it makes me sad.

Same content - 2 different media.  Radically different influence.

Pictures worth a thousand words - problem w/ statement assumes that these two mediums are interchangeable.  They’re not - fundamentally different forms of discourse. 

“The boy is sad” - a sequential statement., rational, abstract, left-brain

Image - intuitive, concrete, right-brain

What happens if we move to image mode of communicating?  It begins to reshape consciousness of our civilization.  We become right-brained.  From left brain linear sequence to holistic intuitive experience.

CT asking...  “Is our gospel too small?”

That question would have been unthinkable in print age.  Is it too compressed?  Too small?  Now, we start using words like “holistic” “concrete incarnation”.....  All of this is a consequence of image based culture.

None of this is a surprise to God.

Reason God used so many creative medium to convey his revelation - Burning bush, donkey, etc...  Ultimate medium for God’s revelation found in the person of Jesus Christ.

In Jesus Christ, the medium and message are perfectly united.  If Christ is perfect medium and we are the body of Christ, what does that say about us?

It says that YOU are the message.  Not what you say, but who you are.

We are the gospel message.

This gospel, this message can reach through the darkest suffering to bring about infinite reconciliation and redemption.

Numbering Posts

I'm giving up on numbering posts for now.  I started each one out with a number after the "Q".  I'm behind on blogging some sessions and have no idea what number I'm on. 

So forgive me.

And love me. 

Shane Hipps starting now.

Q | 3 Minute Presentations

Q opened up 3 minute sharing from attendees who are sharing their ideas, projects, etc... 

Mel McGowen | Visioneering Studios

We shape our buildings and our buildings shape us.
Winston Churchill

We need to talk about reshaping our church walls because they tend to separate Christians from culture...

Traditional tries to recreate the temple, etc... Jesus wasn’t impressed w/ the temple.  When you leave the bldg you are leaving God’s presence. 

We’re doubling the hundreds of millions of dollars, but we’re losing the gain in breaking down walls between Christ & culture.

Visioneering Studios is an urban design architecture group that is focused on tearing down walls. Redefining church architecture...  Africa, Cambodia, LA, rural GA.

Karl Martin | MBC (Morningside Baptist Church)

Edinburgh Scotland - capital city....  Incredible spiritual heritage but has turned it’s back on God.

Our present in Scotland is your future (US).

5% church attendance would be incredible for them.

But good thing is that no one is pretending anymore.  Everyone is rethinking...reengaging w/ culture.

Incredible opportunity in Scotland and Britain. 

Baptist church - transitioned....  Culture creating, transformation, Word spirit truth...

250-750.

Q - last year...  Established debt counseling ministry....  Advent Conspiracy - “Just Christmas”.  Street pastor network...  Talked about in local media in big way.

It wasn’t because he programed it.  God did it.

Donna Wiederkehr | Rwanda Homes

10,000 people butchered for 100 days, 90+% personally witnessed killing of parents.

Today, 1 million orphans in street....  Goal is to give these kids hope.

Scott Hackman | One Village Coffee

Birthed around a table...

One family and a few friends to impact the world.  To support children, wells, human trafficking, etc...

Charles Lee | Just One
Laundry Love

Create simple tangible initiatives that anybody can run with.

Started year and a half ago...

Creates partnerships w/ laundromats where for a couple hours a week groups of people sponsor laundry for a couple of hours.  Tutoring, basic medical check up, job placement, wireless access, Christmas giveaways, etc...

Trash Can Make a Difference - highlights organizations that already do great work w/ the poor and asks people to buy trashcans w/ stickers where you place it in your home, church or business - you collect goods that a particular organization needs that month.  Decentralized to where you deliver the goods yourself to these organizations.

worship @ Q

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