Isolation

The Christian life is one that is often lived out in unintentional isolation. We go to church, mid-week Bible study, and hopefully connect with fellow Christians. From that, we create our own little Christian bubbles filled with like-minded individuals. Now I think that it is great to attend church, Bible study, and get to know other believers. However, I think that we are isolating ourselves from those that we have been called to reach out to, those outside the church.

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, – Matthew 28:19 (NIV)

Yesterday, I attended a meeting for a ministry that is seeking to teach a weekly Bible study at a local homeless shelter. The study would meet every week and would be taught by teams of two guys who would rotate with other teaching teams. The commitment is very low; the potential to share our lives with these guys is huge!

One of the requirements for being a part of this ministry is that you have to be willing to give your cell phone number to these guys. That way if one of them needs to talk or needs prayer, they can give you call. Now I have to admit that I was going along with the whole thing until giving out my cell phone number was mentioned. COMFORT ZONE ALERT! Which then made me ask myself a few questions:

  • What are my motives in wanting to do this homeless ministry?
  • Are they to further Christ’s kingdom or to maintain my false sense of cell phone number security?
  • Do I really want to live in communion/ open my life up to these guys, many of who are ex-cons?
  • Am I happy living in isolation and ignoring Christ’s Great Commission?
My wife and I read this morning, during our devotional time, about how Christ wants us to have open hands. Often though we clutch our hands together, holding onto something we don’t want to give up. We think that somehow we can do better holding onto whatever it is versus giving it to the Creator of the universe. I know that I need to see the bigger picture, to push past the comforts of isolation…I also know that I need Christ’s help to do so.

PlayStation Store Strikes Back May 24th

Barring any additional problems, Sony plans to bring the PlayStation Store back online next Tuesday, May 24, according to a memo sent to the console’s publishing partners. – Gamasutra

I am honestly not sure how I feel about this, especially in light of yesterday’s news of Sony being hacked again. Sony has not won back my trust just yet.

Relevance

While there’s little inherently wrong with learning how to help yourself or take care of our planet, more and more churches are serving up the issues du jour with such fervency and flair that they compete with or even drown out God’s word.That’s not cultural relevance. That’s elevating the temporal above a timeless God, relegating Him to back burner status. – Reverence vs. Relevance…at Church

Chump Change

On June 24th, Disney-Pixar’s Cars 2 skids into theaters. This time, Lightening and Mater have accelerated past Radiator Springs on their way to a road trip around the globe. The movie’s trailer (found here) exhibits racing, travel jokes, and a spy-theme overlay. Will Cars 2 signal the end of the Pixar-touch?

Take a look at Pixar’s current release schedule:

  • Cars 2 – June 24, 2011
  • Brave – June 22, 2012
  • Newt – 2012 – Cancelled
  • Monsters University – June 21, 2013
Notice that there is only one new storyline/ concept being offered. The other two films are sequels. For awhile now, Pixar has seemed to be interested in delving deeper into the sequel goldmine. Perhaps they have found a rich vein of creativity they think they can tap into? More power to them. However, who made the decision to make a sequel to Cars? Cars, which is an average Pixar film in my opinion, was not deserving of a sequel. Especially when the previous film released by Pixar, The Incredibles, almost screamed for one. I personally think that Pixar is not being driven by creativity and imagination anymore; No, I think that Pixar is being driven by the almighty dollar. Do you disagree? Check this out:
Estimates from the New York Daily News indicate that sales of Cars merchandise two weeks out from the release of the film amounted to US$600 million. Estimates put out in November by the Walt Disney Company peg total sales for the brand at around $1 billion.[27] 
Cars merchandising is huge! Who wouldn’t want to capitalize on such a thing? In the midst of all this branding and merchandising business, who is profiting? Disney. So, is Pixar really the driving force behind the sequel-itis it seems to suffer from or is it Disney? Either way, on life’s highway, I can only hope that Pixar doesn’t lose it’s soul.
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