The Newest Evangalism Tool

If you ask me how I prefer to do evangelism, you will hear a lot about building relationships and loving people like Jesus would. If you ask me what evangelism method I, well, let's say 'less than love', you'll see me give a little laugh and immediately answer "the evangacube". Don't get me wrong. The evangacube is good for some contexts, but in mine it would probably get me laughed out of the room.
Today at the religious community information fair on campus, I came across what I believe to be the new hot evangelism tool...

...evangacups!
Our Mormon neighbors used this method to explain their beliefs to anyone with about five minutes to spare. While I didn't agree with everything they said (obviously), it made me strangely happy that other faiths have their own cheesy ways of sharing what they believe. Anyway, I have no doubt that the evangelical version of Evangacups will be hitting the Lifeway shelves any day now :)

Here are a few other pictures from my day. Enjoy!

Here We Go Again

It's that time again. The time when students come back and classes start. This is the time of the year that I love. I'm looking at my calendar for this week and see lots to do. There are campus events that my organization is going to have a table at. There are teach-ins, birthdays, and times that I just get to hang out with some really cool people. After a summer of not doing much, it's time for me to kick into gear and start building relationships with a new set of students. If you could see my geeked out smile right now, you could tell that I'm thinking "Man, I love this job!"

Anti-Top Three Thursday

Not much has made me stand up and pay attention lately, but there sure have been some things that make me want to throw shoes at them. Here are a few...

1. "Burn After Reading". I'm a fan of the Coen brothers, George Clooney, and Brad Pitt. Yet this movie made me feel like I had wasted my time, money, and brain cells. At the end of the movie, I had to laugh because the entire thing had been so confusing and pointless.

2. Google Chrome. Can I say that on a Google-owned blog? Understanding that I'm not a tech geek...After hearing how it was going to be a completely different kind of browser that was going to do everything a user would want, I was very disappointed. I was especially disappointed that it kept freezing while I was trying to watch a show on hulu.com. Honestly, I'm more impressed by Flock than Chrome. Maybe when the bugs get worked out and they introduce a few new features I'll give it a try again.

3. Cable News Networks. This is nothing new, but it's been much more pronounced lately. With the election right around the corner (but not soon enough), every news network in America is giving their time to (over)analyzing the candidates and politics. When I turn on the TV, I want to see someone in India talking about the recent bombings or how (insert your favorite oppressed people group here) is struggling to gain equal rights. Cable News Networks, give me all my news and not your overplayed opinions on a small segment on it.

Toodles!

For Christian Communities

Be careful not to create a Christian ghetto. Our ultimate purpose is to invite others into our lives of faith, not to keep people out. We live in Christian community, first, for encouragement within the body of Christ, and second, so that others can see a different way of life and want the same.

Top Three Thursday

1. "God of gods" video. My church recently started a new series that is going verse-by-verse through the book of Daniel. As part of the introduction to the series, a few of the people from the church made a video. All I can say is IT'S AMAZING. Check it out here. It's a few minutes long but it's worth sticking with it to the end.

2. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. I feel so girly putting that on here, but it's the truth. A friend and I used free movie tickets that we got at American Eagle to see it. I thought it was going to be lame, but it's as good as the first one if not better in some ways. Parents be warned: may not be suitable for all children. It deals with some adult issues that I wouldn't want my 7-year-old cousin thinking about.

3. California dreamin'. Unless God hits me over the head and tells me 'no' in the next few months, that's where I'll be moving next August. I've found a grad program that I'm psyched about and can somewhat (as much as you can in California) afford without going completely broke. If everybody wants to start chipping in on Lindsay's Christmas Travel Fund now, though, I may have enough money to come home sometime during grad school :)

Toodles!

Jesus is...

Forgive me if this doesn't make any sense. It's kind of late :)

After I came back from India, I wrote about satsang. If you don't remember what satsang is or just want to review the post, click here. Anyway, I've been thinking about the beautiful contextualization of communion with coconut products instead of bread and wine. That's led to the thought: what would communion look like if Jesus had been part of the campus scene today instead of a Jew 2,000 years ago? Would he say that he is the pizza of life? Would he compare his blood to the beer that flows so freely around here? What analogy would best convey who Jesus is and what he has done to the college realm? Maybe it would be bread and wine. That's not too far from our own culture in America.
Does Jesus even need to be compared to food (even though I have to admit it's tastier if he is)? Can he be described as the 'Cell Phone of Life'? Our only true and constant connection to God, get it, ha ha...maybe not...
What do you think? Would Jesus compare himself to different elements if he were living in modern day Seattle?

Top Three Tuesday

1. Hey Marseilles. I first heard them at UW's Lawnapalooza and have been hooked ever since. They're a band from the Seattle area that just put out their first CD, "To Travels And Trunks." Thanks to a wonderful friend that went to the release party I got my very own copy of it. You can hear a sampling of Hey Marseilles' music here.

2. Tennessee Soybean Festival. Once again, I'm going to miss what is arguably the most exciting week of the year in my hometown. There's great food, music, and a parade. If I were there this week, it would most definitely be rocking my socks off.

3. The Impossible Quiz. Okay. I have to admit that I put this one on here because I ran out of stuff for this week. The Impossible Quiz is a really good way to waste time though. Thank you to my newest co-worker for showing me yet another way to avoid being productive.

Toodles!