MLK Day Post

I have beena bit out of pocket today and thus too busy to really bang out a good post about the man, mission and vision of Martin Luther King Jr.

I can say that I am learning a lot about the divisions in the civil rights movement as I have been doing some side-by-side reading of MLK and Malcolm X.  Both men had unique and difficult visions for the future.  I encourage you to do some reading of your own.

Otherwise, I will link you to a post from two years ago, enjoy.

I am glad that this year I was able to continue my MLK Day tadition in listening to these two speeches.

“I have A Dream” 

“Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam”

Clean and Unclean

There are two stories (or maybe two versions of the same story) that I love in the Bible.  They can be found in Matthew 8 and Mark 1 respectively.  It’s the story of Jesus and the leper.  The story is powerful for a lot of reasons.  Some of those reasons were covered in a good Wednesday night talk by Adam Smart and Steve Norman that you can find here but I am interested in a different aspect of things.

Let them ask…

I remember being really impressed a few years ago when I was listening to a couple of sermons online.  Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, said that he was going to do a ten part sermon in which he answered the questions that his congregation texted in.  The texts would be posted to a website and the congregation would vote on which questions they wanted to hear Mark address.

The series covered everything from humor to evolution to how we know the Bible is inspired.  It was a cool way to hear the needs of the congregation and discuss them.

Barefoot in the Church

In doing my work for Elevate Detroit, Mike gave me a couple books to read up on that were inspirational in the formation and work of Elevate.  Several of them I had read before, which should be no surprise since Mike and I have very similar feelings about the poverty, community that the Christian response to those things.

Too Long for a Tweet

I am reading The Hole in Our Gospel right now.  The book is written by Richard Stearns, the current president of World Vision.  It is a book that we as a church at Kensington Community Church are reading and that I will be leading discussions on for the teenagers at Edge.

I Started Writing A Book Today

I day dreamed for a while about writing a book today.  This isn’t new or uncommon.  I do this often.

Sometimes I even start, but for every start there is a stop. Sometimes that is ten pages in, other times it is eighty or ninety.

Elevate Detroit, Tacky Christmas Party

If you didn’t see it on Elevate Detroit’s blog, we are having a tacky Christmas party to celebrate our friends and family who support the work that we are doing in the South East Michigan region through various initiatives, including communi-D barbecues.

Comos has been nice enough to host us for the evening and give us 10% of the profits that night as well.

The party is from 6-10 on December 20th with an early visit from Santa that night for our families!  All are welcome, please come join us!

Mike, The Tow Truck Muslim

I think that most people know by now that much of my time up here has been one large calamite after another. Being broke, switching jobs, switching homes, crashing my car in an empty parking lot–in less than three months. Last night was another doozie. I was down in the city, leaving Dan Sadlier‘s when I heard a pop in my drivers side wheel. I thought it was odd, but kept going, eventually I took a turn and my tires locked up, both facing inward at a solid 45-degree angle. I broke a tie-rod.

Alzheimer’s and My Grandmother

My grandmother, Maxine (Page) Snell, died this week.

This brings a long-time fight against Alzheimer’s to its only conclusion. She passed away in hospice care with my mother and cousin by her side. In true form I have some thoughts to put out there, few really connected, but worth thinking about anyway.

- My grandmother was kind of a rock star in her day.  She was the first woman to enlist in the Women’s Air Force in the state of Maine.  She raised three daughters and a grandchild, often while her husband was stationed elsewhere in the Air Force.  She was a killer card player.

New Posts at Elevate Detroit

You may have noticed I have not updated in a little while. I have been saying pretty busy with other things, but wanted to let you know that Elevate Detroit has been very busy this past week. Read the two newest posts here: http://elevatedetroit.wordpress.com/