I got to keep my job at CATALYST! YAY! YAY! YAY! And I’ve been really busy with that and I blog everyday now at work, so I don’t feel like it at the end of the day or in the evenings.

Actually, I have been trying to put together a new, more professional blog: http://www.churchology.org but it’s not quite ready yet. I was waiting to resume blogging there, but … yeah.

So, sorry for not blogging. Probably won’t continue here, will eventually continue at churchology.org/churchinnovation.com

Thanks for following. – speaking of, you can follow my tweets at http://www.twitter.com/jessephillips

I have way too many boxes in the van, it’s a big mess in the back. And getting to my clothes is like solving a puzzle. I’m going to consolidate.

Last night I parked near the Tannery in Historic Buford. 3 very loud trains came by during the night, and once it rained and lightninged so that water was coming in the van through the side windows.

How do I feel: When I was going to bed last night and when I woke up I was like “THIS IS RIDICULOUS! What am I doing!?” Because it’s annoying with all those boxes in the back, and it was a little difficult to sleep (although very comfortable).

I think I’m going to get used to it.

We are different. She’s an extrovert, I’m an introvert. She loves people and talking, me, not so much. I like to read, she doesn’t. I’m shy, she’s outgoing. I’m a nerd, she’s not.

Can this work? Any married folks have input on this? How different can you be and still make it work? What differences are deal breakers? What are the necessary ingredients for a good marriage?

“WHOA, marriage? You just met the girl!”
OK, I know. I’m evaluating her for marriage. If it won’t work, it’s not worth pursuing. Is this the wrong attitude?

I’m not a big global warming guy. Despite all the evidence, it still seems fishy to me. But this video really grabs my interest. I immediately went to 350.org when it was done.

Why?

Is it because there were no words? Is it because it was all graphics? Is it because the animation was so fun, good and compelling? Is it because there’s an element of getting everyone together and creating a buzz, creating a social movement? Is it because they propose a measurable goal?

I don’t know, but it’s a compelling video. Is it compelling to you? Why?

Thnku redemptiovox.

So I chickened out and haven’t moved into the van yet. I’m staying one more week at my house and then the van.

But, I did tint the windows last week. Here’s picture of the beauty (and a picture of how messy it is in the back!)

What causes the connotation of a word to differ from the denotation? In your opinion?

Connotation is a really imprtant idea! People don’t realize this idea, and that is bad, a shame, and leads to TONS of miscommunication.

Not only do words have connotations, but situations, idioms, colors, brands have connotations (not sure if I’m using the word properly, but you get the idea).

“Cool” is actually a bad example for what I’m talking about. “The Gospel,” has a bad connotation to the American culture – same with “Christian,” “church,” “prayer in schools,” “pro life.” Or here’s another example:

To say something is “okay,” that usually means it’s bad, or unsatisfactory. Although saying it’s “okay” should literally mean that it’s acceptable, it usually means that it’s not.

Maybe a more interesting phrase would be saying “I’m Better Than You at cooking”. (this is on the fly, so bear with). The phrase “better than you” has bad connotations for our culture. Although we totally agree with the idea that people are better than me at cooking, or whatever, and we’re fine with that, for someone to say the explicit phrase “I’m better than you …” – it sounds arrogant, and is very off putting – to our cultural ears. Although they’re simply stating a fact, it is rude to say it like that. So you rephrase, “I like cooking.”

Unfortunately, I don’t know what my point is. I think one possible point is this: be careful how you say what you’re saying (I suck at this). I’ve seen how many times someone has said something that’s technically right, but their word choice made it sound wrong/bad – or their tone, or whatever.

Well, a semi-interesting question might be: Where do connotations come from? How are connotations created and attached to a word?

Ben Arment, paid me a HUGE compliment on his blog the other day. Coincidentally, the next day, LifeChurch featured Ben’s blog on their blog saying how awesome he is – so maybe I’ll get some name recognition from that. Really, he is way too kind and I’m totally humbled and encouraged by his compliments. But I’m going to link to it anyway, I’m proud, what can I say?

Also, I have a new blog – this blog is just a shadow of things to come, my practice run. I hope to have a much cooler theme (not up yet) and much cooler posts at http://www.churchology.org or http://www.churchinnovation.com . In the future, but not yet … soon.

thank you for reading.

I LOVE WHAT Cornerstone Simi is doing, and I think their project REEKS! of biblicalness and good stewardship.

Instead of building a $50 Million building, they’re saving money, building a park and amphitheatre, interacting with their community, giving away a lot of their money to help people. And they’re influencing a lot of other churches, too. I think this is very, VERY, VERY biblical and wonderful (as you know, if you’ve read my other posts!) and I am beyond fired up about it!

Here’s what they said on their website:

“On a practical level, Cornerstone has been unable to grow numerically for the past seven years. This is due to lack of space. While many would be content to keep our church at the current size, our mission statement reads that we seek to reach “every individual” in our community.

The obvious solution would be to buy more property and build a bigger building. However, this would require spending an amount of money that none of the leaders feel peace about spending. This lack of peace primarily springs from a desire to give more to the poor who are suffering around the world.

The idea of building an outdoor sanctuary rather than an auditorium sprung from a desire to save millions of dollars. It came from a belief that God would rather we spend that money in other ways. It comes from a thought that God would receive more glory from seeing His children sacrifice for others- namely, those around the world who lack basic necessities. The idea then evolved into developing the property into more of a park-like setting that could be enjoyed by the church and community throughout the week. In this way, we would be giving to our community as well as to the needy around the world. “

Here’s the video explaining more:

thnku Church Relevance for reminding me.

What do you think? What do you agree with? What do you disagree with? No doubt many will disagree, I’d love to hear opposing view points =D !

While the world’s heart may be hard, trying to reach people using street evangelism is almost impossible – because of an interesting phenomenon recognized in psychology, branding, and cognitive science disciplines – basically it’s stereotyping.

It’s not that people don’t want to hear the gospel, it’s that the method being used to communicate it is psychologically impossible for them to receive. Does that make sense? The message may be great, and if it were communicated in another way, it may get across, but there is such a negative stereotype of the street evangelism method that noone is open to it.

This is a similar deal with telemarketing. Is it possible that companies are calling me to give me a good deal, to let me know about a product or service that I want? Yes, it’s very possible. However, because telemarketing has such a negative perception by people (for good reason, right?) – noone likes calls from telemarketers. They hang-up in the telemarketer’s face (I’ve done Christian telemarketing for an AWESOME brand, Catalyst, and it still happens!).

So, telemarketing is a good example. Most of us consider it “impossible” that telemarketers have anything good to tell us. Some of us stick through the call, but we still believe that it’s a waste of our time, and nonsense. This is how street evangelism is perceived (mostly). So, not only do people not get to hear the message, they become “immunized” against the gospel – their negative experience with the gospel via Street Evang makes them resistant to the gospel in other forms, even from friends and stuff.

SO, to sum up, I believe that because of the, now, very negative public attitude toward street evangelism, we should stop employing that tactic for communicating the gospel, as, I believe, it is actually digging us deeper in the hole – not because it’s a wrong tactic, but it’s made wrong by the fact that it’s now 95% repulsive to non-Christians. It worked for Jesus and Paul’s day, but our culture is repulsed by it.

I feel we should focus on engaging outsiders, loving them and sharing with them across a bridge of friendship.