Not As Hip As I Thought?

OK, maybe I am not as hip as I originally thought. I came to this conclusion today when I went to get my hair cut.

It had been some time since I had gotten my hair cut and it was driving me crazy. So, I went to my usual place. When I got there my usual girl was not in for the day. I looked around and the only person available was this very young and very pierced girl with purple hair. My options at this point where to turn around and come back another day, which I didn't want to do, or stay and let my new friend have at it. I opted for the later.

As she began, I was very nervous about it and somewhat uncomfortable in my conversation with her (realizing we had very little in common). However, the longer I sat there I began to think about my uneasiness and wondered why I was feeling this way about the situation. I mean she was a professional, right? Plus, in spiritual terms, she wasn't much different than me. Was I somehow revealing my prejudice against people who aren't like me? I lead worship on Sunday mornings and talk about how Christ was accepting of all persons and the need for us to do the same. Yet, here I was pre-judging this poor girl.

The reality is that she ended up being what seemed like a very nice person (as if I am the jury on that) and did a great job with my cut. I continue to learn things about my self, from the smallest of moments.

An Inconvenient Spirituality

This is a great article on Gen Y and some of their thoughts on religion. I found the article at mondaymorninginsight.com.

We had several surprises during a recent interview at Starbucks with “Katie” and “Josh” (twentysomething siblings). During an unplanned discussion comparing Gen X with the burgeoning popularity of Gen Y, for example, Katie described her cohort in these stark words: “we’re not likeable.” I probably surprised her with my comment that a lot of Boomers I’ve met (not all) would agree with that assessment, and that we are in general planning on “skipping” X’ers from here on out to concentrate on Millennials. Our conversation careened into another subject from there. Katie described three spiritual subcultures she has observed in age group (her own) that has witnessed the “dark side of church”...

1. Hokey Christians: These believers are heavily invested in the pop culture side of conservative evangelicalism and can be spotted easily at the mall wearing “Jesus” T-shirts featuring logos borrowed from the Sopranos or Reece’s Pieces. For Katie and Josh, this subculture regards Jesus as a “homeboy,” but lives the faith out cartoon-style, heavy on affectations, lite on the substance.

2. Bitter Christians: Harmed by the misuse of authority in local congregations, these disciples have just seen too much. Pain and disappointment have led them to declare a sort of spiritual free agency. Still devoted to Jesus, they recoil at the way the Church becomes a vehicle for the exercise of personal power. To this person, the idea of a purpose-driven life seems like just another infomercial.

3. Non-Christians: These young adults will “consider themselves spiritual,” but have minimal interest in what evangelicals have to offer. Their preference for the open architecture of compound spiritualities (those formed by personal choice from a menu of options) seems to immunize them against our standard Sunday morning offering. Katie noted that, “you can’t reach them with anything like church.” In contrast, she recalled a backyard pig roast (which Jan and I attended) that used the simple grace of hospitality to pack the place with her unbelieving neighbors.

These subcultures are fairly well-known to all of us. But then came another surprise: Josh commented that his friends may live in all three subcultural envelopes at different times (or perhaps simultaneously), moving through them like phases. They start with that “church camp feeling,” but drift toward the unbelieving end, and then may drift back again.

I concluded from Josh’s observation that at least some young adult spirituality is less of a static state of mind and more of a more of a floating experience of faith.

Some of this trait is doubtless a product of the pre-adult life phase, but that doesn’t change the responsibilities of Christian leaders to connect with them. The three subcultures Katie and Josh described are not destinations; they are pit stops which may be visited and revisited over and over. This kind of spiritual journey does not fit neatly into our programs and events.

It is inconvenient. And the temptation for leaders will be to focus mainly on those whose faith (or lack of it) fits more efficiently into our ministry molds, or to use power on the inconvenient until they assume the shape that we desire.

Katie asked the defining question in this regard: “We are kind of like a cross between doubting Thomas and Judas. We may betray you…We are not sure we believe…We are not sure we believe you…but will you accept us?”

About the Author: Earl Creps has spent several years visiting congregations that are attempting to engage emerging culture. He directs doctoral studies for the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri (http://www.agts.edu). Earl and his wife Janet have pastored three churches, one Boomer, one Builder, and one GenX. He speaks, trains, and consults with ministries around the country. Earl’s book, Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders, was published by Jossey-Bass/Leadership Network in 2006. Connect with Earl at http://www.earlcreps.com .

Soccer & Tubing

Another busy weekend in the Carleton household. We spent the early morning hours of Saturday heading to Brandon for Jimmy's first Super Y League match, his Flames FC vs. Florida Soccer Alliance. Jimmy played very well during his first league match. He scored the first goal of the game (which was also his teams first goal of the season). The match ended in a 4-4 draw.

After the match we headed back to Lakeland where we attended Ben's 15th birthday celebration at Lake Hollingsworth. The above picture is of Drew just prior to his first ever tubing experience behind a boat. His words after riding, "That was awesome!" You can see more photos at my Flickr account.

On the way home from Ben's party we stop for a moment to walk through the Mayfair art exhibits around Lake Morton. It was a fun time looking at some nice artwork.

Sunday morning we head to church. It was Mother's Day and we celebrated our mothers and their example of faithfulness. After that, we rushed back to Brandon for another Super Y match against Clearwater International. Jimmy played very well again, and his team easily took the match 7-0.

Wow, I am tired.

Jimmy's Academic Award

This picture is of Jimmy and his girlfriend Taylor at his Academic Achievement Awards. Jimmy received an award for maintaining a 3.9 GPA for the year. You can check out a couple more pictures from the event at my Flickr account.

Christian Film Niche Market

The following article was taken from Christianity Today's blog. As person in the industry I found it an interesting shift in thinking by some "Christian" film makers.

May 1, 2007

Lights…Camera…MISSION!

The pros and cons of Hollywood marketing more movies at Christians.

Films have been a popular subject on Out of Ur. That might seem odd for a blog devoted to issues facing church leaders. But in recent years films have become a testing ground for evangelical engagement with popular culture—a topic ripe with implications for our philosophy of ministry and approach to mission.

Our colleagues at Christianity Today Movies have a thought provoking article about the lucrative niche market for Christian films. Some of Hollywood’s evangelical insiders gathered for a conference in Los Angeles recently to discuss the trend, and CT’s Jeffery Overstreet was there. His full report can be read on the CT Movies site, but we’ve included a few excerpts below.

It is a complicated, difficult, exciting time for Christians involved in movies, TV, and digital media. As Hollywood rushes to capitalize on money to be made in the "faith market," each of the panel's experts has been caught up in the action.

The panelists agreed that Christians must overcome many challenges in order to make faith an acceptable topic in American art and entertainment again. But how should Christians go about that? And are these new "faith-based entertainment" divisions at major studios going to help us?

Some envision the Christian film industry following the trend of Christian music—an industry whose products are largely produced by Christians, for Christians.

Even if Christian filmmakers produce powerful movies, they face difficult choices about how to proceed. Should they allow their projects to be swept up by the new faith-based media divisions and marketed primarily to churchgoers? Or do they want to fight for a mainstream spotlight alongside Hollywood's heavy hitters?

The idea of marketing "faith-based" entertainment specifically to Christians has inspired a wave of new "niche market" ideas, many of which were discussed by conference guests. Some even spoke about the possibility of a new movie theater chain: separate cinemas for Christians, built within churches.

This would represent an interesting shift for Hollywood. Up to now big-budget productions have been marketed through churches as an outreach tool. Films like The Passion of the Christ, Narnia, and even The DaVinci Code were pushed on pastors with the promise that the church could leverage the film to advance its own mission to spread the good news. But films developed strictly for Christians—do we need that? Apparently we do.

"We live in a world of niche content," says Cooke. "We have outdoors channels, gay channels, women's channels, men's channels, sports channels, movie channels. There's no reason in the world that the Christian audience should not be a niche market. If people feel called to make stuff for an explicitly Christian audience, I say 'Go for it.'"

McKay sees value in entertainment designed specifically for the churchgoing audience. "There's still a market to write movies that only Christians will enjoy. And what's wrong with that? Christians need entertainment, too."

Read the rest of "Christians as a 'Niche' Market?" here, and share your thoughts with us.

Corporate Retreat

For lack of a better term, we had a NFocus corporate family retreat a few weekends ago at Innisbrook. Basically, our families stayed over for sometime together following a Publix event the night before. It was a fun little break for us all. Maybe this is the start of an annual volleyball game for us. (left to right: Jimmy, Drew, Joe, Ben, Jim, Rob, I think Mac is hidden behind Joe). You can check out a few more images from the game at my Flickr account.

Purpose Of The Body

We had a great day today at our church. Ed spoke a great word to us as we looked at the importance of our church the body of Christ - an interdependent and unique group united with the purpose of sharing His light. May it be so in me this week.

Dance With Joy

We had a great day this past Sunday at our Church. Ed gave a wonderful message on the "Purpose Of The Resurrection". Christ resurrection gives power to the believer and hope to the unbeliever.

My greatest point during the day came somewhere between the Lima Bean greenhouses and the Songsters beautiful rendition of Here, Am I. It was during the praise teams leading of That's Why We Praise Him, when I looked down and saw two very young girls dancing to the music. It was great.

Today, may I be empowered by His resurrection to dance with joy.