Archive for June, 2008
I have an announcement
Well guys, I am very sorry to be holding out on you, but I have a very important announcement to make, and I really need your support. In effort to make this as widespread as possible, I have chosen this video to help share this:
More to come later! Have a great day!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Un-Christian
Un-Christian is a book that came out around a year ago or so, and it is written by a guy named Gabe Lyons who is the founder of the Q conference. Experts, feel free to correct me, but I think he also does Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Ga every year as well. One of his most recent accomplishments is a book that he wrote called Un-Christian. I haven’t read the book, but it is on my list of books to read in the next year. The underlying message of the book (Again, experts feel free to correct me here) is that Christians often times do a lot of things that are very unchristian in effort to “Win souls” or to try to change people. I think a lot of times their intentions are good, but they have no idea how great the power of words is, and more often than not, they end up offending someone. Now, don’t get me wrong here, I know that there are some things in the bible that because of what they say, may be offensive to someone who struggle with something the bible says not to do. For example, I know many people who would think be offended if I told them that gossip is a sin. But we know from the book of James that it is. All I am saying is that in effort to be a Christ -like example, we often times don’t mirror Christ at all.
One shining example of this today is when James Dobson lashed out at Barrack Obama saying that he “distorted the word of God.” Maybe he did, I don’t know. My question is this: Is that the most appropriate way to teach people wanting to be like Christ? To call say that the senator has “Fruitcake theology?” Fruitcake theology can only come from a fruitcake, so in my opinion, he was calling Obama a fruitcake. It seems like every time I get a chance to listen to Dobson, he is always lashing out at someone, for something that he doesn’t approve of. I don’t understand this, and it frustrates me to no end. He may be the biggest voice for Christians in the US except for Billy Graham, and now everyone in America who hears him gets there view of Christianity from him. This bothers me.
What can we do? Continue to spread the news of jesus in a way that’s relational. That all I can think of.
Today’s lesson in Christianese presented in Foxworthian:
You might speak Christianese if your view of the King James bible is: “If it was good enough for Paul, it’s good enough for me!”
On this random day in history:
The U.S. Air Force released The Roswell Report, closing the case on the 1947 Roswell, N.M. incident concerning UFOs and alien bodies.
Well, that’s all for today!
Have a good one.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )In a hurry
Christianese word of the day- Old man/ New man or Old woman/new woman
FYI- If you are talking to someone who doesn’t go to church, they don’t know what the heck you mean when you say this, and if you have to explain it, you’ve probably already lost their attention. So, word to the wise, instead of:
“I found Jesus, and I crucified my old man, and now I’m a new man!”
Try:
“Wanna get some coffee?”
Then, using language they understand, tell them about the great thing God has done in your life.
Thoughts?
******************************************************************************************************************
This day in history-
1934- The FCC was created. Howard stern probably hates this day.
The good thing- It’s my Mamaw’s Birthday. Yay Mamaw! Happy birthday.
Other than that- That’s it.
Now- Go apply what you have learned.
Bye!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )My blogging niche?
People find their niche in very different ways. Stevie Wonder, for example, never gave music a thought until a teacher he knew called him one day when she lost a mouse in her room. She absolutely could not find it. Being a very witty woman, she knew she could call on Stevie to help her find that mouse. You see she appreciated the fact that because he had lost one of his senses, he had four more that were heightened. He may not be able to see the mouse, but he could definitely hear it. Needless to say, He found the mouse. When he himself began to grow in awareness of this heightened sense, he very quickly picked up piano and became one of the biggest American pop sensations in history. He found his niche.
The moral of the story: There isn’t one. But isn’t it inspiring? I’m not a professional blogger, but I am looking to find something that sets my blog apart. So, I thought about it. What are two things that set me apart? Number one, I’m A.D.D. Not just a little, I mean chronic. It’s a wonder I can function sometimes. I have more crazy ideas running through my head than a 14 year old A.G. kid at the inventor’s convention. Seriously. I’m really spastic and random. What else sets me apart? I hate, hate, HATE it when Christians live in Christianville, USA. That’s where they live in their Christian homes, driving their Christian vehicles, wearing their t-shirts (not that I REALLY have much against those, it’s more how they’re worn), they go to the first presbamethabapticostalic church, and oh….. You guessed it… They speak my favorite language… Christianese!! Again, if you want to know what Christianese is, you can view a real life, uncensored, written by the world, there you have it definition right here. I hate Christianese. Why? It excludes people who don’t know God, or don’t go to church. (It’s what makes people hate “Christians.”) So how does this all come together? Let me bring this plane in for a landing.
My good buddy (For anonymity reasons, we’ll call him Bob,) helped me find my blogging niche. What’s my niche, you ask? The random, Christianese blog. Yes that’s right. I’m going to try an experiment. Every weekday for the next month, I am going to write about two things in addition to my other thoughts. It will be the Christianese word (or phrase) of the day, and “This random day in history.” Yes Bob suggested this to me today after discussing my blog. Now before we go any further, I want to say this. I am going to be exposing, and discussing some real life terms and phrases that all of us church goers just love to say. Problem is, this “language” in which we’ve invented, could hurt your influence on a non-Christian. I often times may link to pages, which contain examples of these “Christianese” words and/or phrases that could be offensive. No more offensive than what you would find on network TV past nine o’ clock at night, and I know you watch that. So don’t blast me for doing this. If you would blast me over my Christianese busting, and then turn around and watch your favorite weekly drama, I would question your authenticity as a person anyways. And if you don’t keep up with culture through some form of media like the internet, radio or TV, WAKE UP! How do you plan on influencing people who are far from God if you can’t even relate to them? Also know that I don’t endorse the major networks, MTV, Urban Dictionary, or the like. However, you better believe I’ll use one as an example!
So, that being said, enjoy. Hope this stretches you, as well as entertains you. Thanks again Bob for your valuable insight!
“Random Christianese” © 2008, “BOB” All rights reserved.
Twitter, and other random thoughts.
Twitter… Is it the new wave sweeping the nation, or merely a short lived urban trend that will die in less than a year? Is it both? You decide. Before you say anything. Check this video out here about Twitter. Then click on the red highlighted bar near the top right hand side of the page that says “watch video.” It’s not a waste of time. It’s a new way to get to know people in a deeper manner. You can even update it from your cell phone… for free…. Not a waste of time… It’s an investment into the lives of your friends. They will see the real you. Just watch the video and you will see..
Also… I can’t decide on a blog template that is right for me. Do you like this one? Does it make me look fat? Just kidding… But in all seriousness: does anyone know of a good place to get a decent blog layout?
In other news- Saturday, June 21st, there is going to be a concert at the Asheville Civic Center. Playing there will be Jeremy Camp, Avalon, and the ever popular Jaci Valesquez. I have to be honest. Although I am a worship leader, I am not the biggest fan of Christian music. I think a lot of it stinks, but on the other hand… Who I am I to judge? I don’t have a record deal….. yet. But anyways, I think these three are pretty dang good. Not all my favorites, but they are definitely good. There is no doubt about that. Why am I exited about this concert? Well the thing is, clear channel is hosting this event. While they are in charge, they aren’t making any money on this. The concert is to benefit my friends at the WNC Rescue Mission. During the concert, they are going to be showing a special video of a project that they are working on called “My night in a box.” It is the opportunity for people to spend one night outdoors, sleeping in a box, so that they can fully appreciate what a homeless person would go through on a cold night alone. What a great idea. Cool thing about the video is that the song in the background is “broken,” which is the title track off my new CD. If you haven’t heard the CD, you can check it out by going here. It’s also available on iTunes by searching “Josh Fowler.” That may not excite you very much, but as a new artist, anywhere I can get my music out is a win for me! I’m absolutely thrilled.
So what’s been the highlight of your week? Anything good going on in your neck of the woods? Let me know I would love to hear.
By the way did you get the book yet?
Have a great day!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )How to Win Friends & Influence People, Part II
Ok, so here’s the deal. I can’t say this enough when I am talking to people: This book is changing my life! It is absolutely a must read for anyone who is a leader, aspires to be a great one, or just wants to be a better person. Please, go right now to Amazon, or your local book store and get this book now! The title, one more time, is “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. If I can only master a small fraction of the qualities that this book challenges me to do, I know that I will become a better leader, and a more likable person. I look around me at all the great people whom I come in contact with on a day to day basis, and I often find myself saying such statements as these: “Why aren’t they at the top of their game?” or “Why aren’t they a huge success?” I even find myself asking similar questions about myself. I think through the reading of this book, that I am beginning to find out some of those answers. I’m finding out what separates the good from the great, and hopefully, I am taking the right steps to go in that same direction. So, enough on that… Just go get the book!
Yesterday… Was awesome. Here was our set:
Broadcast……….Fee
Forever………….Tomlin
Glorious one…..Fee
The way I was made…. Tomlin
Undo………………………Rush of Fools
My wife was singing BGV’s and she did a phenomenal job!
The band yesterday was Brian Barnett, Joel Sellers, Danny Jackson, Danny Buckner, Mike McGrew, and me on the keys. We had a great time, and the sound was awesome! (Props to Ryan Riddle)
Well that’s all I’ve got for right now… Hope you have a great day.
P.S. Pray for this guy’s family. He had a lot of friends and a lot of influence on politics.
Tim Russert 1950-2008
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )So I was curious
What my score was. What score, you asked? My theological worldview, that is. I have seen this on a lot of folk’s MySpace pages and blogs, and so I thought I would give it a shot. I think that there are a few small dicrepencies, but overall, it’s right on. You should try it. Just click on the picture below to try it out yourself:
So other than that, it’s been a pretty busy day. Got a couple of ends to tie up before Sunday, so I gotta run.
Have a great day!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )The real me
I have found myself to be in a horrible pattern lately. Actually, for about the past two years. I have found that I am quite the politician. (Hear me when I say this. Politicians are great just keep reading.) Some of our politicians we trust. others we do not. They pander. They lie, and they try to please everyone. All this to get votes. To stay in office. To feel important. In my time in ministry, I have fond out that everyone wants to be important. They want to feel significant, to be a part of something great. Well, I have news for you. I have been a little political in my time. I have known the right people, (Name dropper) read the right books (Does skimming count? I actually only started reading them all the way through about a month ago), and knew the right things to say. (Cultural chameleon) So here’s what I have to say now…
God has called me to a new level of authenticity. To be unapologetic about who I am. So what if I haven’t read the latest Maxwell book, or I don’t know every last bit of new technology available? It’s OK. For too long, I have been the name dropping, know it all, cookie cutter worship leader, and it’s gone on long enough. I want to be man enough to tell you who I am and what I think. I want to learn to be honest enough to tell you that a lot of the time, I don’t know what the right answer is, or how I feel about a certain political view. I am me. I am young. I am growing, and I think the first step to being great is just to be myself. That’s what I intend to do. If you’ll notice, I updated my “about me” section to express more of really who I am, not who I want the internet world to perceive me as. One day, I want to be an expert in my field. I honestly hope that I’m a top 40 recording artist, or maybe get the privilege to lead tens of thousands of people in the worship of a holy God. Who knows? But for now, I am not going to pretend to know it all. I am going to focus on honing in on the abilities that God has given me. I am going to learn how to be a better leader, husband, son, worker, co-worker, brother, professional, singer, musician, worship leader, listener, and most importantly, a better follower of Christ. So for the next few months, I am going to be reinventing my method of social interaction. I might not talk as much. You may find me being very quiet just so I can listen and learn from the people around me.
This isn’t something that I woke up this morning and decided to do. I’ve been trying to shift to this mindset for a couple of weeks, and it’s been very liberating. I have blogged more. Said what I really thought. Learned to value friendships more, and give more away. Spent less time wasting time, and more with my wife. (I’m getting there) It’s felt great. I think what God wants us to be next to being sold out for him, is to be exactly what he created us to be- ourselves.
For whoever read this- Thanks for not wanting to cut yourself as a result of this post. If you read this whole thing- I count you as a true friend. So here I come.. Just me, the real Josh. Good or bad, pretty or ugly, dorky or not, I want you to know me. I hope I get to know who you really are too.
Cheers,
Josh
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )I’m a magnet
Good. I thought the title would get your attention. Yes, I am a magnet. Not a chick magnet. I am married to the hottest chick in the world, see:
So, I already have that under control. No, I am a magnet for drunk and homeless people. Not sure why, but I am. Now, if you are the type of person who revels in the fact that you the perfect person, with the perfect family, who drives the perfect car, who goes to the perfect church, with the prettiest pews, who has the best relationship with God, who, when it comes down to it, would take or leave Grace cause it’s basically just a cool thing to have, you are probably not gonna like this post. I don’t write posts like these to intentionally piss people off, but just hear me out on this.
For some reason, God puts a lot of homeless and drunk people in my path. Perhaps he does that to us all and we simply ignore it. I don’t know. Regardless, I encounter a lot of them. Last night, as I was finishing my evening of delivering Pizzas, (Yes I deliver pizzas on the side) a man approached the store after we were closed asking if there were any more pizzas left. He was hungry. We told him that there were no more pizzas, and that we were sorry. The other people I was there with left, and then I tried to do the same. I drove off, all the while hearing the still small voice deep down inside that said “feed him.” What? I asked God. “Feed him” he said. So, I turned around in the parking lot, drove up to the gentleman, and rolled down the window. The next words that came out of my mouth were without question the dumbest words I could have said all night. “You still hungry?” I asked.. Well what the heck was he supposed to say? “Nope. Somewhere in the past 45 feet I was walking, and the good Lord dropped a big mac and fries in my stomach, so I’m good… Take it easy!!!” Yeah right. Dude was starving. “Brother, I’m bout starved ta death” he said. So I looked around, thought about what I was doing, and said “get in the car.” He then looked at me like I was some serial killer, and he said “no, son, I better not do that.” I realized that my demeanor might have been a bit off, so I gently reassured him that all I wanted to do what get him something to eat. “I can only get in if the Lord says it’s ok..” He said. I still don’t know what he meant by that. But I just looked at him and said “God told me it’s all good, so get in the car.” In he got, and off we drove. Now… Here is the part where my wife will kill me. First of all, she hasn’t even heard this story, because I forgot to tell her. (I do that a lot… Thank God she still puts up with me!) Second of all, she gave me some really good advice a while back: “If someone is hungry, don’t take them to get them fast food! Take them to the store, so you can spend less money, and feed them more food. Beyond that, it’s way healthier for them anyways..” So baby, as you read this, I must apologize because I didn’t take your advice. And as a disclaimer to everyone; not because I didn’t want to, but I just didn’t think about it. In the heat of the moment, and all I cared about was feeding this guy. Back to the story… So we drove up the road to McDonald’s and I bought him a value meal. He really appreciated it. He was blown away by the fact that I would buy him a meal. He told me that he hadn’t had a meal in three days… As we were driving down the road to the spot where he asked me to drop him off, he told me where he was at in life, and where he was heading. His name was Rick, and he was heading to Arkansas. I asked him how he was getting there, and he said “My thumb!” He asked what I did, and I told him that I did the music for a church. (I have a feeling that he would have looked at me like I was a complete idiot if I told him that I was a Creative Arts Pastor.) He thought that was pretty cool. He really liked music, and told me that he was a follower of Christ. “Great” I said. I was at a loss for words, because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that that this man was very drunk, and if you’ve ever had a conversation with a drunk man, you know how hard that can be. So as we pulled into the Bi-lo parking lot in Waynesville, I stopped the car, and asked him him if I could pray for him before I left. He said sure, and then he held out hid dirty hand. I looked down at it, messy with dirt and what looked like a scab or two, and then back up at him. I didn’t know what to do, so I just held his hand and began to pray for him. Who knows how long it had been since Rick felt the physical touch of another human being. I prayed a very simple prayer, asking God to protect Rick in his travels, and when I was done, he looked like he was going to cry. I don’t think he knew quite what to think, and really, neither did I. One thing I do know, though. We were both blessed. Immensely… I drove off, and I still don’t know why, but I wanted to cry. I’m not sure how, but I know, even if in some very small way, God used that situation to impact both of us. I was reminded of how blessed I was. I was reminded that all of us have probably been one decision away from heading down the path that Rick was on.
So this is what I have to say about this: You have no idea how much this happens to me. I encounter these people all the time, and they are so badly in need of real human interaction, and even more, interaction with their Heavenly Father. The sad thing, is that they will never have either one of those unless we as the body of Christ can have the courage to MEET them where THEY are at. This comes full circle back to what I said at the beginning of the blog. If your life involves you living in the perfect “Christianese” world where we wear our Christian T-shirts, and hang out with our Christian Friends, and Listen to our Christian music, and go in our Christian Churches, sitting on our Christian seats, driving our Christian cars and never encountering the lost where they are, haven’t we fallen severely short of the Mark? Have we not given our lives to Christ only to get our fire insurance card, never daring to enter in to the world of a non-believer, or better yet, a believer who is hurting. We walk in a world full of hurting, jaded people. These people haven’t been hurt by God, but by the church.
Listen… if you know me, you know I have a long way to go in my faith. I’m certainly not the picture perfect Christian. But one thing God has challenged me to do is to get out of my box, and get into someone else’s world. I would challenge you to do the same. Don’t worry about your car seat getting dirty, or your reputation being put on the line because one of your friends saw you with an individual out of your social class. Reach out. That’s what our Jesus did for us. He entered our world.
I am reminded of something that I heard Andy Stanley say one time. “God, give me the wisdom to do what’s right, the courage to do what’s right, even when it’s hard.” If only we would all pray that. Yes, I think God would put amazing opportunities in our path. So as you read this, I hope you feel Challenged.
Have a great day, and don’t be shy. Let me know what you think.
Josh
P.S. If you want a real, uncensored view of what the world calls Christianese, you can view that definition here.
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Joshfowler.net - Thinking it over 