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September 29, 2007
My life in song...this week
This is a song (Better Way) which is really connecting with my life right now...passionate...honest...visionary. People are looking for a better way. May we help them find it..even as we discover it.
thanks Ben.
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)
September 28, 2007
Thanks Nicholas
Nicholas gave me a heads up on this site. And he is getting to see this movie this weekend. As Napoleon would say, 'LUCKY!!'
THANKS NICHOLAS.
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:32 PM | Comments (1)
September 27, 2007
for the BIBLE tells me so
My friend Buddy sent me this link to this movie. Interesting. I had not heard of this film yet. Anyone else?
wow...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:09 AM | Comments (2)
September 26, 2007
A new musical discovery for a new season
Later this week I will be blogging about Brian McLaren's upcoming book, 'Everything Must Change'. Like several others, I have been reading an advanced copy. wow. For now, I'll just say wow.
If you visit the new website Brian has developed for the release of this book (and more), you will find a link to this group: 'The Cobalt Season'. My friends Nick and Josh Interviewed Ryan. There is a link on there site from a last year.
Like Iron and Wine, they really seem to speak in a language i get. A musical pace that connects with my heart and longings.
check them out.
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:49 AM | Comments (2)
September 25, 2007
This winks for you....
(ht: Dogma)
So, I can't resist. It's hilarious. Maybe pointless. But hilarious.
I am joining in with Josh Brown and countless others to offer a wink to Mark Driscol. Though not I shalll wink, but Christ shall wink within me.
Thanks Josh and Doug for the laugh you are having at this. It's good to laugh. Not to take ourselves too seriously. Even if, I am not sure about the war metaphor...
winking....
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:52 AM | Comments (3)
September 20, 2007
iphone gets closer....YES!!!
The iphone is getting closer and closer!! England. Germany. YES! I can't wait...and yes, I've been saving since the rumors!!
HOP SUISSE! HOP SUISSE!!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 08:10 AM | Comments (5)
September 19, 2007
Doug P vs. J MacArthur- Yoga anyone?
Lammert told me about this video today. And while he did not give it the greatest review. I thought it was worthy of a post.
Did others see this? Thoughts?
All i know is, stretching is good for golf..and contemplative prayer is good for the soul. Anything else?
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:50 PM | Comments (1)
September 18, 2007
Where does your faith lie?
Pete Rollins is a friend. More than just i read his books, he is a friend. And Ikon, the community he is a part of, its my community as well. Or at least i feel that way.
Here is a poem written from that community, posted on their page here.
Where does your Faith lie?
Where does your faith lie?
Does your faith lie in the belief that the universe was created in six 24-hour days?
Does your faith lie in there being an ark on Mount Ararat?
Does your faith lie in the account that God once made a donkey talk?
Does your faith lie in the belief that miracles don’t happen?
Does your faith lie in God once wiping out a city of thousands because it had homosexuals living in it?
Does your faith lie in the belief that everything the Bible says about ancient Israel is directly applicable to the modern state of Israel?
Does your faith lie in the belief that you will beat the odds and your smoking will not lead to a long and very painful death due to emphysema?
Does your faith lie in the research of the Royal College of Physicians or in the research funded by the tobacco industry?
Does your faith lie in the notion that the next politician you vote for will not support the next war?
Does your faith lie in Jesus having brothers and sisters?
Does your faith lie in the hope that heaven is full of people like you?
Does your faith lie in the free market?
Does your faith lie in the postcards that Christian Aid has you sent to the Prime Minister?
Does your faith lie in making poverty history?
Does your faith lie in the next president of the United States?
Does your faith lie in the United Nations?
Does your faith lie in scientific rationalism?
Does your faith lie in Northern Ireland remaining part of the UK?
Does your faith lie in the belief that there must be a good reason for why your government is detaining people indefinitely without trial?
Does your faith lie in your own ability to discern the mind of God?
Does your faith lie in the physical resurrection of Jesus?
Does your faith lie in the belief that civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are unavoidable?
Does your faith lie in the hope that a nineteen year-old Iraqi man whose sister and mother were killed by an errant allied cruise missile will not hold you responsible because you once carried a sign that read ‘Not in My Name’?
Does your faith lie in the belief that God does not punish sin?
Does your faith lie in the belief that there was nothing more that you could have done?
Does your faith lie in your tradition being closer to the truth than another?
Does your faith lie in the virgin birth?
Does your faith lie in a balanced diet and exercising?
Does your faith lie in your own body image?
Does your faith lie in the belief that anyone who shoots back is a terrorist?
Does your faith lie in maintenance of the status quo?
Does your faith lie in he (or she) eventually coming to their senses and taking you back?
Does your faith lie in a hell beyond this life for those who didn’t accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and saviour?
Does your faith lie in an endless supply of cheap energy?
Does your faith lie in the Stormont Assembly?
Does your faith lie in the words ‘peacemaker’ and ‘peace supporter’ being synonymous?
Does your faith lie in the belief that ‘follower of Jesus’ and ‘member of a church’ being synonymous?
Does your faith lie in your job?
Does your faith lie in financial savings?
Does your faith lie in the belief that sectarianism has nothing to do with you?
Does your faith lie in liberalism?
Does your faith lie in your own good intentions?
Does your faith lie in the belief that the investment and development coming into Belfast City Centre is significantly improving the lives of those living in the estates in Shankill, Ballymurphy, New Lodge, Ballysillan, Glencairn, Dundonald, Ballymacarrat, the Village, Finaghy, and the Markets?
Does your faith lie in Loving God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind and loving your neighbor as yourself?
Does your faith lie in God loving the world so much that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not die, but have eternal life?
Where does you faith… Where does your faith… lie?
(Written and performed by Jon Hatch)
thanks Ikon. Thanks Pete.
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:28 PM | Comments (1)
Tuesday is for Thomas
From 'No Man is An Island', by Thomas Merton:
'I must go beyond the limits of my narrow egoism. In order to save my live, I must lose it. For my life in God is and can only be a life of unselfish charity.
When Jesus said, 'He that would save his life will lose it, and he that would lose his life for my sake would find it' He was teaching us the great truth that God's will for us is, before all else, that we should find ourselves, find our true life, or our true souls. God's will for us is not only that we should be the persons He means us to be, but that we should share in His work of creation and help him to make us into the persons He means us to be. Always, in all things, God's will for me is that i should shape my own destiny, work out my own salvation, forge my own eternal happiness in the way he has planned it for me. And since no man is an island, since we all depend on one another, I cannot work out God's will in my life unless I consciously help other men to work out His will in theirs. His will, then, is our sanctification, our transformation in Christ, our deeper and fuller integration with other men. And this integration results not in the absorption and disappearance of our own personality, but in its affirmation and its perfection'.
help each other...help yourself...create with God..
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:36 AM | Comments (0)
September 16, 2007
Shema Community Today.
Here’s a recap of today’s Shema gathering. We had a great time of being together.
Opening Prayer:
All: I should like a great lake of finest ale, for the King of Kings
I should like a table of the choicest food, for the family of heaven.
Let the ale be made from the fruits of faith, and the food be forgiving love.
I should welcome the poor to my feast, for they are God’s children.
I should welcome the sick to my feast, for they are God’s joy.
Let the poor sit with Jesus at the highest place, and the sick dance with the angels
God bless the poor, God bless the sick, and bless our human race.
God bless our food, God bless our drink, all homes, O God, embrace.
---Brigit the fifth-century Irish saint
Song: Surrender (Marc James – Vineyard Songs UK)
I’m giving You my heart
and all that is within
I lay it all down
for the sake of You, my King
I’m giving You my dreams
I’m laying down my rights
I’m giving up my pride
for the promise of new life
And I surrender all to You, all to You
And I surrender all to You, all to You
I’m singing You this song
I’m waiting at the cross
And all the world holds dear
I count it all as loss
For the sake of knowing You
the glory of Your name
To know the lasting joy
even sharing in Your pain
And I surrender all to You, all to You
And I surrender all to You, all to You
Observation: Don’t you find it difficult (at times) to sing a song like this? Do you realize what it is you are singing? Do you realize following Jesus means giving your dreams and rights to Him? Giving up your rights? Sing it once more…
Question: do you miss the thread of God’s compassion for the poor?
Christianity Today magazine reported in 2005 on Rick Warren's experience of poverty in Africa: "Around this time", Warren says, he was driven to re-examine scripture with "new eyes". What he found humbled him. "I found those 2,000 verses on the poor. How did I miss that? I went to Bible college, two seminaries, and I got a doctorate. How did I miss God's compassion for the poor?
Read Passage:
Psalm 14.2-3, 6-7: God sticks his head out of heaven. He looks around. He’s looking for someone not stupid— one man, even, God-expectant, just one God-ready woman. He comes up empty. A string of zeros. Useless, unshepherded Sheep, taking turns pretending to be Shepherd. The ninety and nine follow their fellow. […] Do you think you can mess with the dreams of the poor? You can’t, for God makes their dreams come true. [in TNIV: You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge.].
Is there anyone around to save Israel? Yes. God is around; God turns life around. Turned-around Jacob skips rope, turned-around Israel sings laughter.
Answer: Most of not all miss it!
Question: Was Sodom destroyed because of sexual immorality?
Passage: Ezekiel 16:49-52: The sin of your sister Sodom was this: She lived with her daughters in the lap of luxury—proud, gluttonous, and lazy. They ignored the oppressed and the poor. They put on airs and lived obscene lives. And you know what happened: I did away with them. And Samaria. Samaria didn’t sin half as much as you. You’ve committed far more obscenities than she ever did. Why, you make your two sisters look good in comparison with what you’ve done! Face it, your sisters look mighty good compared with you. Because you’ve outsinned them so completely, you’ve actually made them look righteous. Aren’t you ashamed? But you're going to have to live with it. What a reputation to carry into history: outsinning your two sisters!
Answer: No. Sodom was destroyed because it “was arrogant, overfed and unconcerned (a strangely correct description of the western world); they did not help the poor and needy! (Ezekiel 16.49, NIV)
Passage: Mark 10: 17-31: “Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?” Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. You know the commandments: Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie, don't cheat, honor your father and mother.” He said, “Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!” Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.” The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go. Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God's kingdom?” The disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: “You can't imagine how difficult. I’d say it's easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God's kingdom.” That set the disciples back on their heels. “Then who has any chance at all?” they asked. Jesus was blunt: “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.”
Peter tried another angle: “We left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land—whatever—because of me and the Message will lose out. They’ll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—but also in troubles. And then the bonus of eternal life! This is once again the Great Reversal: Many who are first will end up last, and the last first.”
Theme: God's concern for the poor
1. What do you think about when you think of poverty (think local, national and global)
2. Who do you know that suffers these kinds of poverty (write down all people by name)
3. What can you/we do to engage with people who live in poverty?
If we do not know them by name and know how they live we will have no idea how to have compassion. Take this week to work on these questions. If we do not engage, we will not know; if we do not know, we will not care; if we do not care, we do not fully live. Following Jesus is surrendering everything. “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose” – Jim Elliot
Prayer:
Open Prayer for selves (familial)
Ending each prayer with: Teach us Christ to love ourselves as you love us.
Open Prayer for others, systems, and creation (local)
Ending each prayer with: Teach us Christ to act justly, to live kindly, and to love all as you love them.
Open Prayer for others, systems and creation (global)
Ending each prayer with: Teach us Christ to love, serve, and protect your creation as your stewards in this age.
Announcements and Blessing
Prayer for the poor – Body Prayer (Doug Pagitt and Kathryn Prill)
I ask that you bless those who are needy
With roofs when it rains,
With food and drink when wants arise,
With care when it cannot be bought.
I ask for our friends who have less than the world’s standards
To know that they are loved,
To rest in knowing that they are not alone in figuring out life,
To be surrounded by your tireless, guarding love.
See you all next week same place, same time!
PS: if you find yourself struggling to care…
Read “under the overpass: a journey of faith on the streets of America" by Mike Yankoski.
Posted by joshuacase at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2007
Shema community, Geneva, and the poor
You can see the details about our upcoming gathering this Sunday here. We'll be asking ourselves the question 'are we missing the Bible's thread when it comes to the poor?' And reflecting about what it means to really be Christ in culture, among the poor of every kind.
Here is a video we posted on the Shema blog to get people thinking:
If you are in Geneva and able to help tomorrow am, we are helping a group called Voix Libres unload a shipment of quinoa for sale. They work on behalf of children working in the mines of Bolivia; a really tragic situation. If you are available, please drop me a line here so that I can give you the details for meeting to help unload this shipment. Basically, we need to help from about 10:00am until we get it unloaded (depending on how many of us there are, 2 hours+/-)
let me know..serve the world..
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 08:46 AM | Comments (0)
September 13, 2007
Tuesday was for Thomas and Wednesday was for Bourne
Thomas Merton amazes me. Really, he does. The timeless capacity of his ideas to connect with the real world some 40 years after he wrote is amazing. This week I have been going back and forth over this one writing that I came across. It's simple, and yet profound. Its honest and somehow deeply truthful. It reads as follows:
'I believe I have the right and the duty to try to go on to a more pure and simple and primitive form of life. I believe that I have the right to appeal to a higher superior for permission to make this trial. I can ask and wait and see what happens. On the one hand, I have to be really sincere about looking for a simpler poorer, more solitary life, more abandoned to Providence. On the other hand, there are still things that enter into this and spoil this: desire of liberty, desire to be out from under a stupid form of authority, desire to travel-to go to a more beautiful and primitive country. All these things are there, unfortunately, and they are strong.
The one thing necessary is a true interior and spiritual life, true growth, on my own, in depth, in a new direction. Whatever new direction God opens up for me. My job is to press forward, to grown interiorly, to pray, to break away from attachements and to defy fears, to grow in faith, which has its own solitude, to seek an entirely new perspective and a new dimension in my life. To open up new horizons at any cost. To let the Holy Spirit take care of the rest. But really to desire to know and love God more fully, and to let the Holy Spirit do the rest.'
I am Jason Bourne...
Last night Laura, Leslie, and myself went and saw the 'Bourne Ultimatum'. (REFLECTIONS WHICH MIGHT BE A SPOILER TO COME) It was a good action Bourne flick which didn't disappoint. As the movie neared its end and we began to get the details of who made Jason Bourne, Jason Bourne, it was somewhat amazing to me how it got turned around. For three years, Jason has been trying to find out who took his life away from him, who made him into this machine, and who erased his memory of himself and who he had been previously..his dreams, his passions, his life, his name.
The twist is this: who made Jason Bourne, Jason Bourne? Jason Bourne's original self (David Webb) did. He is the one who so desired to be a part of the program he joined- this elite force for 'good' of his people (and all) which would give direction and passion and training and equipping for the rest of his life. But once he had died to the man he was, once he was out there doing what he had been trained to do, once he was in the thick of things, he began to struggle with the reality of becoming whom his self-sacrifice, submission to the institution, and training had made him. What he thought had been missions for good, didn't always seem that way to the person inside. The person he really was. The team he had thought he was fighting for seemed just as tainted and bass ackwards and flawed as the enemies he sought to militantly convert to the way of good for which he stood. And then, there were his memories. Why could he not remember the names of the people he had conquered, only thier faces in his head? And why, did he not care about peoples' past or future lives; only that he completed his mission with them as he was trained to do? It was almost as if none of that had mattered..just what he had for them?
Yes, Bourne Ultimatum is a good movie. But it does make you reflect on why you are who you are. It made me reflect on my own expression of faith and Christianity and mission. It made ask the question, 'who is joshua case and who made him who he is today'? For good and for bad. And maybe more importantly: 'is who I really am, lined up with the missions I am on? The missions I take? Does it all fit together? Or am I, are you, just doing what you've been trained to do as the person you died to become?'
Ouch...tough for me!
Well, I hope i didn't spoil the movie. But i do hope when you see it, you'll reflect back here. And if you've seen it, reflect here, I'd love to hear if you had the same experience with the ending.
gracefully...
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 11:21 AM
September 10, 2007
Another Tiger Monday
Yep, that right Tiger Woods has won again.
After trailing on day three by one shot, Tiger Woods came from behind to win at COG Hill, breaking the course record, and the record pace to 60 wins. Yes, with this win, Tiger became the youngest player to win 60. In fact, it has happened so fast, it has even surprised him.
And, well it wasn't like the others played bad. No, as one reporter put it, 'Tiger turns 60 with clinical BMW triumph'.
Well done Tiger. Now finish the thing! Win the FedEx, and pledge to donate the 10 MILLION they plan to pay you when you are 45 (collecting all kinds of growth depending on how you tell them to invest it) to charity!!! Jeez...
golf is good...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)
September 09, 2007
For you Darryl Delamont!
This one is for you Darryl, my friend!
ht to Nicholas.
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:50 AM | Comments (1)
September 08, 2007
USA vs. England: UPDATE and FINAL
The Rugby World cup is underway.
Final score: 28-10 England.
Good job guys. Played hard at the end. All in the US watch sportscenter for the tackle of the day, which was slightly illegal for Rugby, unless you are playing 'backyard tackle football'.
Ahhh..sports!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 07:44 PM | Comments (2)
USA vs. England: UPDATE!!
The Rugby World cup is underway.
At the half: 21-3 England. We looked strong to start and have turned the ball over too many times. Dude with the pony tail needs some work on how to carry the ball!!!
c'mon boys!
jc
In other news, Tiger is could put up a really low number today at the BMW championship. Lots of guys are scoring 3 to 5 under through nine. Watch for it!
Posted by joshuacase at 06:45 PM | Comments (0)
USA vs. England
So America is about to play England at the Rugby World cup.
I just watched Japan get destroyed by the Australians. My only hope, its not that bad.
I mean really, how many people in America knew we had a rugby team competing at the international level?
good luck boys!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 05:57 PM | Comments (0)
Little Hoeltje and Nicolas Sarkozy
Our friends Olli and Lauren Hoeltje just had a baby. Always quite moving to see new life come into being.
Congrats Olli and Lauren! Welcome dear Lukas David to real world;)
To continue the theme of excitement in life, I thought I would also include this funny video of the French President Sarkozy who arrived late to a press conference because his meeting with Vladamir Putin went long. Needless to say, the wine or vodka must have been good;)
live, love, laugh...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)
September 06, 2007
Tonight at Shema meeting...
We had a good Shema team meeting tonight. Its always a moving time of conversation, exploration of what it means to be church, prayer and communion.
Tonight, Sebastien, who has been working on his memoir for daily for a while now, played this song by Joseph Arthur. This probably isn't the best Arthur ever played it, but its quite moving song.
Enjoy. And if you are in Geneva, join us this Sunday for Shema at 12.30 at Ave d'Aire, 75. You'll be glad you did!
peace...
jc
Here is another one Sebastien has done with us before. Again, not best quality. But words..powerful.
Posted by joshuacase at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)
September 05, 2007
Refill..Recharge...Reuse!
Thank you Treehugger for this article on 'pee powered' batteries!
Yes, they are available!!
"When we last looked at pee powered batteries, they were still experimental; now they are on the shelves in AA and AAA sizes in Japan. It can be recharged with a variety of liquids including urine and other precious bodily fluids, is supposed to last 10 years, and pumps out 500 milliamp-hours (mAh), which is equivalent to zinc-carbon batteries but a third of what an alkaline does.
Commenter Nick had a good idea in the last post: Imagine a Tesla filled with these. "Pile the family in, hook everyone up, and go. Oh, and cancel the old mantra of every parent, "Go before you go." Now, you'll load the kids up with as much kool aid as possible so that you'll be able to go."
YES!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:58 PM | Comments (1)
September 04, 2007
Shema Community..a few changes...
You can read more over at the Shema blog; however, the low down is this: as a community, we've felt that we were seeing each other so infrequently, that we needed more regular rhythm in order to really practice what we were dreaming and hoping and striving to be about. It was almost like we were beginning to spend so much time re-inspiring ourselves every other week, that we were not making the time to go and, as Ghandi said, 'be the change we want to see in the world'.
So, we changed in order to change. A New time. A New place. A New frequency. 12:30. 75 Avenue d'Aire. Every week.
This is going to be fun. It's going to be an experience. It's going to be good news for everyone!
Watch here for the developments to come as we explore, quite literally, for the next couple of years: The Path of Restoration. Good news for us. Good news for Geneva. Good news for the World.
peace...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:18 AM
Tuesday is for Thomas
Merton wrote in September 1949:
'And yet it seems that writing, far from being an obstacle to spiritual perfection in my own life, has become one of the conditions on which my perfection will depend. [...] If I am to be a saint, I have not only to be a monk, which is what all monks must do to become a saint, but i must also put down on paper what i have become. It may sound easy, but it is not an easy vocation.
To be good a monk as I can be, and to remain myself, and to write about it: to put myself down on paper, in such situations, with the most complete simplicity and integrity, masking nothing, confusing no issue: this is very hard because I am all mixed up in illusions and attachments. These, too, have to be put down. But without exaggeration, repitition, useles emphasis. To be frank without being boring: it is a kind of crucifixion. Not a very dramatic or painful one. But it requires much honesty that is beyond my nature. It must somehow come from the Holy Spirit.
A complete and holy transparency: living, praying, and writing in the light of the Holy Spirit, losing myself entirely by becoming public property just as Jesus is public property in the Mass. Perhaps this is an important aspect of my priesthood- my living of my Mass: to become as plain as a Host in the hands of everybody. Perhaps it is this, after all, that is to be my way to solitude. One of the strangest ways so far devised, but it is the way of the Word of God.'
May we each choose this day who we will serve. May we each get better at living without the illusion and attachments which so often drive us to become people we genuinely want not to become. May we each make ourselves as open to the other as Christ is to all. May we love.
Become who you are in Christ. Be with Christ. Become you in Christ. Let Christ become in you.
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 09:29 AM | Comments (0)
September 03, 2007
Team Building and famous people...
Tonight, as part of a team building exercise, a group of us went to a local pub for a pub quiz. You know, where you get to test your knowledge against everyone else in the place about everything (tonight the topics ranged from horses to rugby, to 'where in the world' to the 80's to magic and superstition). It was a fun night.
Capped by the fact that William Mapother, aka Ethan on Lost, was at the Mr. Pickwick pub in Geneva with us.
It was good fun. He, as many seemed to say, was a 'normal guy'. And by the way, his team did not win!! We had fun despite finishing near the middle and the team was..well...built.
Oh, for life in Geneva. What fun. And what of those we meet along the way. Who knew you could get lost in Geneva. Not I!
peace...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:40 PM | Comments (2)