More Podcasts...

I'm really surprised about some of the response that I got on my last post about podcasts (and who the responses came from!) Below you'll find a list of more of the great podcasts I listen to (and you should too.) These aren't really in any order, cause they're all great.

1) The Bleeding Purple Podcast - I meant to put this one in the last post, but got confused and ended up writing about another podcast, yet linking to the BPP (Sorry Leif!) The recent interview with Brian Mclaren was awesome, though I couldn't really get into the Showercast (I'm sure Leif appreciated that fact.) Overall it's a podcast about trying to understand faith outside of the traditional box. Plus, the guy lives near Seattle (around four months till I move there!)
2) Diggnation - Who doesn't listen to Diggnation. What? You don't? Well where have you been for the last 34 weeks? Alex and Kevin discuss the latest stories from Digg.com. It's mostly about tech stuff, but often has just really cool stories and lots of goofing off. The show isn't too long, usually around 45 min. Check out Digg.com and check out Diggnation.
3) Dirty Little Secrets with Craig Gross and Mike Foster - The official podcast of xxxchurch.com. Mike and Craig are two pastors battling porn with love. I really dig their message and the topics they discuss (not all are about porn). Apparently they record this show to be a live stream, then cut out the adverts and release it as a podcast, so it's around 45 minutes long.
4) Ebert and Roeper - Ok, so this is just an audio recording of their syndicated tv show, but I'm a movie fan and enjoy hearing about movies that will never get played in my local theater (cause they just suck.) The show is about 20 minutes long.
5) Hi My Name Is Mark - Podcast from the former Blink 182 band member. It's a music show where he plays a lot of the music he produces in addition to some really good punk/alternative/screamo/etc stuff. He recently went on like a 3 month hiatus, but he seems to be back. I haven't gotten a chance to listen to his new show, but it's probably pretty good.
6) Joe Cartoon - It's a video podcast, one of the few that I subscribe to. Joe has always produced great cartoons that you can't play in front of your momma. Just know that it's probably not "work-safe or kid-safe," if you get my drift. A Poodle Story is still my favorite.
7) KW Leslie's AudioRants - Ok, so I haven't listened to this show since last October. Why you ask? Well, it was in October that KW decided to stop doing the podcast. I encourage you to go check out the audio archived if they're still up, he had some great stuff to say about life and faith. KW, I still don't forgive you for ending the podcast =-)
8) Masters of Horror - So I love horror movies. Rarely do they scare me or disturb me, but I definitely enjoy them. That's why I was so excited that Showtime was doing a series called Masters of Horror, getting the best horror directors to do a one-hour no-holds-barred (well, Miike showed us that some holds are barred) horror show. So far, the ones I've seen have been alright (Incident on and off a mountain road was probably the best, but I haven't seen Sick Girl or Cigarette Burns yet,) but the podcast is great in that it profiles music from the soundtrack and interviews with the directors. They haven't put out a new one in a while though, I fear like many people they jumped at podcasting cause it was fresh and new and now they've gotten tired of doing it. Oh well, the stuff they've got up is pretty good.
9) Mobility Today - Formerly Dave's iPaq, now they profile a ton of mobile gadgets and handheld devices. Personally I own an Axim x30 hi, so I'm into the mobile stuff. This show can sometimes go long and sometimes they talk about stuff I just don't care about, but it's pretty good.
And finally for today:
10) Out of Fellowship - Another podcast that deals with being a Christ-follower but doing so outside the walls of a formal church. This guy knows how to make you think, his last podcast about Post-Congregational Liturgy was great. His shows don't run too long either, usually around 15 minutes, but it's great stuff. It's one of my favorites on the topic of being Christ-like but not making the church our god (others include: Bleeding Purple, Outchurched, As Evidence that I Exists [RIP], Godscrum, and Stupid Church People.) Oh yeah, nice boots.

That's all about podcasts for today, I really hope you check out and enjoy these podcasts. And no, you don't need an iPod to listen to podcasts, I listen on my Axim or on my laptop.

To any podcasters: If you happen to Technorati yourself and my lowley blog pops up and you don't agree with what I've said about your podcast (or heck, if you do agree!) let me know. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Pieces.

Amazon.com: Mega Church: Networked Special Edition (PC Game): Computer & Video Games

Amazon.com: Mega Church: Networked Special Edition (PC Game): Computer & Video Games

I'm really scared this is the kind of thing that, if it really existed, would stroke the ego of many wanna-be-Bill-Hybels preachers.

It actually sounds like it'd be fun though. I'd buy it.

Welcome to my life...

So what's been going on with me? I'm staying busy with my two jobs with very little free time. Well since we're on the topic of jobs...
One of my jobs (my main job? actually it's becoming less and less my main job) is that I'm the youth leader (pastor, director, journey designer...) at my church. I'm paid around 16 thou a year to do this, which I guess is alright for part-time work. I've been working at the church (I used to say "my church," but not so much anymore,) for about 4 years now and I enjoy it for the most part. I enjoy the kids, but overall I feel like a failure as a youth pastor (I'm not really a pastor either, I'm not ordained or anything.) But anyway...

This morning my boss (I used to say "my Pastor, but not so much anymore,) comes in and hands me 3 pages which start out with a nice Valentine's Day wish. He then proceeds to say, "I'm writing you today in an attempt to clarify my expectations for you as you transition from **** (church name removed to protect privacy) into the next exciting season of your life." That next season? I'm moving in 4 1/2 months to Seattle for grad school.

On the surface this seems nice, he wants to help me transition, he wants to clarify his expectations of me, he wants to give me a job description so I know what it is I'm expected to accomplish. It really seems like he cares about me, except that I don't believe it. I don't believe that he cares about me. I don't think he's cared about me for a long time. I mean I think he did at one time, but that all changed somewhere. I think he cares too much about himself and his own goings on, mainly building our church to be like one of the mega churches (ala Willow Creek or North Point.) He's a business kind of guy, he wants the biggest bang for his dollar. He doesn't really care about people, at least those are my impressions of working with him for 4 years and knowing him for 10-12 years.

My big question is...he knows that I'm leaving in 4 months, so why am I getting a job description now? He wants me to "finish well here and leave at the top of [my] game." He wants me to finish well, but I guess he didn't want me to do well the last 4 years I've been working here. Why haven't we been meeting weekly for the last 4 years? Why hasn't he taken more of an interest in the youth group in the last 4 years? Why hasn't he taken more of an interest in me in the last 4 years?

I used to want him to disciple me like he promised he would, I used to want weekly meetings, quarterly evaluations, and a clear job description, now I just don't care about it all. I just want to survive and get out, not to thrive and continue on. I guess I'm numb to his new requests and requirements on me and my schedule. I just don't care. I'm not really that mad about all of this, I just think it's dumb and I don't care.

Podcasts

Ok, so here's where you get to know your lovely host just a little bit more - Today I talk about the podcasts I listen to and why.

We'll start with the best, then the rest are in no particular order:
1) The CarCast - Chris Cochran drives around Seattle and documents his life, what he sees, and what he happens to find lying in the middle of the road. Some of you know that I'm moving to Seattle this summer, so my wife and I started e-mailing Chris a while back to talk about Seattle. We struck up a friendship and when we visited Seattle last week we hung out with Chris and his family and even were guests on The CarCast (episode 100!, check it out). Definitely check it out, even if you don't care about Seattle
2) The Mungles on Movies - Husband and wife watch movies and give their reviews. It's cool cause they're regular people, not professional critics.
3) Adam Curry's Daily Source Code - It actually annoys me that I listen to this show. I generally think it's too long, Adam's very pompous, and I don't know why I listen but I do. Everyone else does...
5) American Cliche - This guy's got a great cynical outlook on life. Includes segments The Dirtbag of the Week, One Man's Opinion, and the Mighty Minute. It's only like 30 minutes long, which is great.
6) Catholic Mormon Podcast - Way too long (often 80 min), but good thoughts from a born and bred Catholic husband and a Mormon turned Catholic wife. They discuss their kids, their church, and their spiritual journeys past and prestent.
8) Fried Eggs Podcast - Kevin Firstl's life and times. He's an offshoot of the CarCast, he drives around Wichita and documents his life. Not as good as the CarCast, but still entertaining.
9) Godscrum - More thoughts about the current state of the Church and how Christians are and should be. Zeke has great and challenging thoughts. I just started listening, but I'm looking forward to more.
10) Illinoise - Just Pete and Nasa Janet do crazy music and movie reviews. They also play some really cool indie music.

10 is enough for now, I listen to a lot of podcasts, so maybe more later on...for now check these out.

Did you miss me?

So, nearly 3 months without a post? What's up with that? I guess I've just been feeling uninspired. But that's going to change, I think. I just got back from Seattle where I interviewed with a grad school. I'm pumped about moving there, I can't wait. Until then, I hope to post a little more often, so stay tuned.

Below you'll find a reply I put on a friend's blog. Enjoy and please leave your thoughts.
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You said: "With all that said, how do we incorporate this type of evangelism into our churches?"

I say let's scrap the current church model we have. Stop meeting every Sunday, maybe meet only one Sunday a month for a corporate worship service. The other Sundays (and Mondays, Tuesdays, etc.) should be spent getting in community and building relationships with others. Pastors should not be paid, but should hold secular jobs where they have interactions with non-Christians (not to convert them, but to understand them and love them as Christ did while he was on Earth.) Christians need to lessen their devotion to their specific church (little "c") and raise their devotion to being the Church (big "C"), which means they need to love God and love others. Instead of putting so much emphasis on the church service (or worship experience, corporate gathering, or whatever one likes to call it,) put emphasis on believers engaging non-believers with the intent not to convert them put to serve them and show them Christ's love the best way we can. But that's too tough for most of us...

You said: "Let's go beyond that. How do we get other believers to buy into this form of sharing Christ?"

Stop babying them and teaching them that their greatest devotion in life should be to their church. Instead of teaching them that they should love their church with their heart, soul, mind, and strength teach them to start loving God that way. Instead of asking someone how many times they've been to church in the past month, ask them how many people's worlds they've entered into. Instead of chastizing someone for missing a church service, applaud them for loving their neighbor, serving the single mother down the street, or working at a homeless mission. Too many churches today would rather raise a stink about a member missing a service (or God forbid a tithe) and not give a flying crap that that person was home taking care of a dying family member, serving them until their dying breath or that they took their tithe and bought groceries for a needing family. Requiring believers to wipe noses, wipe butts, feed, house, and give money to those who need it is how we're going to change this world...not by going to another church service about how we can fix our marriages or raise our kids better.
I don't mean to ruffle cages or rattle feathers, but something has to change with our current system.