We are building a whole new site for CQMissional. Check it out: www.cqmissional.com

We have 11 different people who will be contributing posts that range in topics from justice to current culture. It’s going to be fun to see what comes of it!

There is a lot of content up already, here are a few posts to check out to get started on:

Scott on the motivation the tragedy brings, and the question of the rest of the everyday tragedies: http://www.cqmissional.com/2010/01/14/motivation-x-tragedy/

Ardelle on how taking care of ourselves allows us to have something to give: http://www.cqmissional.com/2010/01/21/centered-or-self-centered/

A few thoughts on CQMissional: http://www.cqmissional.com/2010/01/17/what-we-do-and-why-that-can-be-weird/

I hope you find something interesting on this new site, and even engage some ideas. If  you like what you see and want to spread the word we would appreciate it!

last thing, if you want to just jump here is the RSS feed for the site: http://feeds.feedburner.com/CQMissional

There is a CQMissional Facebook page also..if your interested.

Short Film – Levi’s “Go Forth” from John Carl on Vimeo.

Thanks Justin

We just got back from visiting family, it was good to get to see my cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents, and get to be there for Shawn’s wedding.

We were talking to my aunt and uncle about Garnett Church and its involvement in the community around them, and they said something interesting. The church that they are part of has asked themselves a question: “If the church went away today would anybody in the community notice? Would they be sad? Happy? Relieved?” The decided that irrespective of a person in the communities faith (or lack of…) they should be sad to see a church leave. This is an interesting way to think about how the church should relate to the people around it.

we did not take very many pictures, but here are a few:

I went hiking a bit on top of the mountain…it was super foggy, which was a actually really cool.

The obligatory feet shot.

There is a reason that the remote lock for the car did not work on top of the mountain. I can feel my body mutating already.

Of course the big event was a wedding. It rained for most of the outdoor ceremony…so no pictures of that, but there was a pinata and dancing…

That was our trip to New Mexico…well, there was more then that, but that’s all we have pictures of, sorry you have to miss out on the Big Texin, the worlds largest cross in the western hemisphere and the Cadillacs.

A few random things to consider:

A fun video: Joe’s Dance (im just plugging this everywhere so my neighbor can get lots of views, so…you should watch it and pass it on…you know, in one of those annoying email forward things).

Something to consider about the current health care debate: Jesus’ Health Care Plan from Barna

For the cooks: 100 ways to crack an egg

This weekend we ate lunch with some of the elders at Garnett Church of Christ where we will be working during our time with CQMissional. Greg Taylor, the pastor said something I thought was very insightful…I don’t remember exactly what he said, but here is the idea:

“When we relate to the poor we cannot use our money to have power over them, but to put power under them”

I think this is a beautiful picture, and there are lots of conversations that could come out of this one statement.

Last night we watched The Garden, which you should watch. The gist of the documentary is that due to politics and money a huge community garden in downtown LA was destroyed to build a warehouse. It’s hard to know the real story, and there were faults on lots of sides, but in the end it is a true example of people with influence holding power over people, when they had an amazing opportunity to put power under people.

Cool pictures from www.telegraph.co.uk

I just started reading Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw. I have no idea what i think of the book, all i have read is the introduction.

but…I really like the layout. Its not just straight text, the designer used a lot of pictures, illustration, and typography throughout the book. It reminds me of The Ragamuffin Gospel Visual Edition (which i really like). Now, don’t get me wrong, i think a well set (and traditionally set) book is beautiful, and hard to do, but at the same time it’s refreshing to read a book that is a full and serious text, but breaks completely with the norms.

now, if its a good book, all the better.

From xkcd.com

I had seen a video or two from www.ted.com, but the other night i had some time to actaully visit the site and watch some. The vides are short, so there nice and easy to digest, but they are full of ideas and new things to think about. Im working through the ones on poverty right now (im only about 3 in…).