« June 2007 | Main | August 2007 »
July 24, 2007
Seriously good conversations...
Here are a few conversations from last week. As i am traveling across the US, I hope to be able to find more wifi; however, no promises. Also, I will be transfering my blog over to a different space (though keeping joshuacase.net) in the next couple of weeks. Just can't handle all the spam...
Fernando Gros' 'Action and Beliefs Part Two: Virtual Beliefs'
Emerging Grace's 'Modus Operandi'
Josh Brown's 'The Evolutionary Trajectory of the Story of God: Inerrancy and Inspiration'
Open Source Theology's 'Gehenna'
Obama.com's 'How can a country like this allow it?'
A Peter Rollins' inspired (so i think) article from the WSJ entitled 'In Europe, God is (Not) Dead' ht to Nicholas Fiedler.
enjoy...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 04:43 PM | Comments (3)
July 23, 2007
Brian McLaren, Youth Ministry, Willow Creek
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 05:26 PM | Comments (2)
July 19, 2007
You leave, and look what you miss!
So here i have left the country for just a little bit of time, and look what i am missing.
A naked photo shoot on a Swiss glacier to highlight global warming! Jeez!
Read more and take action...if you can!
hehe..
jc
Oh wait...I am back for it! Its on the 18-19 August!! And of course, its being sponsored by Greenpeace;)
And ht to Lauren for the link. She knew I'd want to be kept a breast of such activities;)
Posted by joshuacase at 08:44 AM | Comments (2)
July 18, 2007
Stupid Hollywood...
So, I like Isaiah Washington. But more importantly, I like Preston Burke. As one of the most balanced characters on the show Grey's Anantomy, of which i have not see all of season three living in Europe, he does a good job despite having to be the boy friend of a pretty bad actress.
But here's the thing: Isaiah Washington was fired from his acting role at Grey's Anatmony for supposedly making 'gay slurs'. And yet, ABC doesn't pay him to be Isaish Washington, they pay him to be Preston Burke. And, as an essential part of the team, Preston Burke makes Grey's Anatomy real.
Now, as my friends would know, I am in no way condoning any sort of comments that Washington may have made, but what i am saying is that the company doesn't pay him to be himself, they pay him to be someone else, but they are firing him for being who he is?
Does this not make sense to anyone else?
stupid hollywood....
jc
ps. NBC, the rival station, is giving him another go on another show. You can see the details here.
Posted by joshuacase at 03:25 PM | Comments (1)
July 16, 2007
America, the Beautiful...
Well, I am in the US for the next few weeks. A bit of break, a bit of family, a bit of time with my lovely and loving wife. Can't wait, as we've been away for the last three weeks! Jeez!
I saw an article in USA Today as soon as I arrived about Walmart carrying Bible character toys. Apparently there are a couple of different types that hoping to carry (to improve overall sales). But these two seem rather fun. You can also click here to see the Jesus doll from the maker's 'Tales of Glory, Spirit Warriors'. Oh fun!
Man, its good to be in Umerica...hehe
more reflections to come...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:27 PM | Comments (4)
July 14, 2007
Seriously good conversations...
Josh Brown's "Negativity, Baptists, and Homosexuals'
Jim Wallis' "Peace Cannot Simply Exist as an Ideal'
LeRon Shults' 'The Problem of Good(s) II'
InternetMonk's 'Thomas Merton and the green grass that wasn't'
enjoy....
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:26 PM | Comments (2)
July 12, 2007
More engage photos
more engage photos...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:51 PM | Comments (0)
Engage Geneva Photos
Here are a few photos including several from last night's Stop the Traffik event where we had volunteers moving all over Geneva in search of signatures and raising awareness for the Chocolate campaign.
talk to you more soon...engage!!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 07:36 AM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2007
Engage Geneva Photos
Here are a few photos from Engage Geneva from the last couple of days.
Things continue to go great. The ripple effect continues to happen. People continue to get involve. Energy continues to build, and maybe most importantly, people continue to be impacted by their service of others.
Here are some photos....
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:21 AM | Comments (1)
July 09, 2007
Engage-Geneva day one photos
Here are just a few photos from Engage's day one. Golf & Basketball clinics for kids, construction and cleaning at a local residence and out first day of getting signatures for Stop the Traffik's 'Chocolate campaign'. All went really well! And these photos just show some of the project that went one in the city. There were several more!!! Well done to all! Keep on engaging!
enjoy...
jc
ps.
thanks to starbucks for our morning coffee and tea. it makes all the difference!
Posted by joshuacase at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)
Seriously good conversations...
So i am all out of wack with all this traveling around and planning for engage and other bits. Here are a few Seriously good conversations. Also be sure to check out the meme at Smulo space. I've been tagged by Jason Clark. Response is pending...;)
This is a mid-week SGC. More to come on Saturday.
Father Kevin's 'Christian Ethics and Life in the 22nd Century'
Politicker's report on Obama's 'Close Guantanamo'.
Goodmason's 'Re-thinking Work- he Need for the Church to reclaim the Cultural Mandate'.
Mike Clawson's 'Ambition and True "Cynicism"'
Nicholas Fiedler's '4.1 Podcast is Up, The Dominican Republic, and Mission Discovery'
enjoy....
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:04 PM | Comments (1)
Al Gore on AVAAZ and Live Earth
I wrote about this yesterday, but here is Al himself talking about Live Earth. And don't miss this article about the band that played on Antartica. Jeez. Literally, all seven continents.
engage....
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 08:55 AM | Comments (0)
July 08, 2007
Engage-Geneva begins well!!
Here are a few photos from tonight's Engage kick-off. What a great time. What momentum to built. What a chance at making a positive difference in Geneva! Alas, what an opportunity.
enjoy the photos with many more to come this week as we seek to make a positive difference in Geneva by 'blooming where we are planted'!
peace....
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:47 PM | Comments (0)
Engage starts today!
Well, after loads of preparation, promotion, searching out projects and organizing them, asking for volunteers, and finding them, engage Geneva starts today!
The team of Shema has done an amazing job of bringing this stuff together. Particularly, Conny Vrieling (engage Coordinator), Lammert Vrieling (video master extraordinare), and Todd Dallanegra ('woo' master flash).
Currently we have over 130 volunteers, 11 main projects, and sponsorship from Startbucks (free coffee in the mornings), HSBC, UBS, Pickwicks Pub (hosting our kick-off and closing events), Throssel Golf (hosting golf clinics), Migros (donating sporting goods), and several others.
If engage happens the way we think it will, it will be good for the whole city. Expatriots will engage with locals, locals will engage with internationals, and together, goodness and unity will blossom in the city. For us, this is great news, especially as Shema. The prophet Jeremiah teaches us, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."
May engage bring prosperity and peace to Geneva. May those of us who have good news share it with those with whom we serve. And may those who serve for different reasons experience grace and community and peace with those of us who desire as much as anything to resist the evils of this world that divide and displace humanity.
Please engage with us this week via engage-geneva.com, or if you pray, pray with us as the week goes on. We are seeking the prosperity of our city: joy, peace, patience, reconciliation, equality, justice, and love. Pray that we who serve would model these and that the City in which we dwell will be renewed...
there once was a reformation in Geneva...someday, it could happen again.....
joshua c
Posted by joshuacase at 11:01 AM | Comments (2)
So I am 30...
Please excuse the brief self-indulgence...
While racing around at Serve the City kept me from blogging for a few days, yesterday was blog free as it was my birthday.
Yeah, Yeah you might think, 'how was it that joshua managed to get Al Gore to throw a party on all seven continents for him?' Well, I wonder the same thing. Not to mention in Geneva, there was also a lake party on my birthday (rather scandalous) and an initial celebration for the repeat Americas Cup winner Alinghi (a Swiss boat).
Yes, my birthday was a good one with two parties of friends making it special. With a homemade carrot cake from my wife (who is in Oklahoma now) and a few calls from a few good friends.
And while I am not exactly sure what the next 30 will have for me, I do hope that some how the first thirty will serve as something of a jumping off point. A place to not merely reflect back on, but to work out of. Yeah yeah, isn't all of life that way? Sure, but there is something about, as my dad put it, 'leaving your twenties' that is different. So, off i go into another decade of life. Hoping to live life more fully. Hoping to understand things more clearly. Hoping to choose more wisely. Hoping to be more healthy.
Thanks for staying in touch. I should be back online now for a while.
blessings....
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:40 AM | Comments (5)
July 04, 2007
R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S Team Building
Last night I did a pretty ridiculous thing as far as team building goes. And yes Darryl, I am expecting you to comment on this. I went with our team from SPU to a free concert. FREE.
Now free can be good, or it can be bad. As a experience it was great for team life. We laughed, some of us sang, all of us danced, and inevitably, most left shocked that the lead act played merely six songs and that Chris, the other guy in the group, knew them all.
Who you might be asking was this free concert in honor of an American movie day in Brussels? Who was it? Avril Lavigne.
All in all, it was good fun. Here's a sign from a couple of guys who were very excited about the show, and one of the many photos I have of Avril. I was thinking of trying to sell them to a teenie magazine. Any one have any contacts?
So how about you? What is the most ridiculous thing you've ever done to build team or community? Can you top a free Avril Lavigne concert?
have a great day!!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:47 AM | Comments (5)
July 03, 2007
Tuesday is for Thomas and Sister Monia
There is something interesting about community with the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity order. I am not sure what it is really, but whatever Mother Teresa had, so have many of these women world-wide.
As I said yesterday, we were to spend an hour in prayer with the sisters before serving the homeless or hungry. What we did not know was that Monday's are their one hour in silence day. So, we arrived, ready for prayer, and then had the privilege of sharing pregenant silence with the sisters. It was rich.
As we served the food, several of the men and women were asking why we weren't having certain things and the sisters had let them know that those things hadn't been given for this day. That they could only serve what had been provided. So they did, and they served abundantly. Everyone left... fed and encouraged by the sisters. Encouraged, yes..you can't be with these ladies and not be encouraged, or inspired by the trust in God and love of people.
As we left we Sister Monia handed us a bag with sandwiches and said, 'give these to my friends at the train station, you'll know them when you see them.' Sure we thought..then we saw them. More on this experience later.
Well I'll now leave you with a thought from Merton which I think also kind of ties together some of these thoughts. In evitably, we all need each other. And inevitably, we all need God.
'We must be willing to accept the bitter truth that, in the end, we may have to become a burden to those who love us. But it is necessary that we face this also. The full acceptance of our abjection and uselessness is the virtue that can make us and others rich in the grace of God. It takes heroic charity and humility to let others sustain us when we are absolutely incapable of sustaining ourselves. We cannot suffer well unless we see Christ everywhere, both in suffering and in the charity of those who come to the aid of our affliction.'
be loved. love. be.....
jc
ps.
today we are back with the sisters. We're painting and serving their friends again.
Posted by joshuacase at 09:36 AM | Comments (0)
July 02, 2007
Serving the City...
Things are going well here in Brussels. Been good to process this experience in comparison to preparation for engage.
Things will be different in Geneva, but in a good kind of way.
My service opportunity this week is working with Mother Teresa's 'Missionaries of Charity' here in Brussels. Prayer every day at 14h, then serving food to the local homeless population along side the nuns from 15-18.
I'll have more reflecting on it later this evening hopefully when I get some more space. Just discovering the places where wifi will be.
serve, love, live...
jc
ps.
There is still room to sign-up for engage. See video below. Pass on the message. Engage!
Posted by joshuacase at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)