:: cawleyblog ::

my del.icio.us world

-my naked pastor?
-Exegeting Vick's "I found Jesus"
-Get the "PERFECT" EQ setting for iTunes
-Is Web 2.0 an "ocean of drivel?" (check out Keen's blog)
-Is productivity contagious?
-What "default settings" (personally, culturally, systemically) would you change?
-drunk rednecks + bulldozers = gargantuan slip n slide

my del.icio.us

New Music in My World

I realize I haven't updated any of my BOOKS or MUSIC lists since before my blog hiatus in April. For that I can only apologize and say that there are two reasons behind this: 1) laziness/indifference 2) I have been working on an alternative to those side bars that will actually have an RSS feed. This is almost ready to roll. In the meantime, I thought I would give a run down of some of the music that has gotten me through the summer.

Spurgeon on 'would-be' eloquence

"The art of saying commonplace things elegantly, pompously, grandiloquently, bombastically, is not lost among us, although its utter extinction were 'a consummation devoutly to be wished.'"

(Lectures to My Students, 84)

Technorati Tags: Spurgeon

FREE Robbie Seay Album

(via McCoy)

How Culture Exploits Men

I have recently noticed an article that several people have been tagging on del.icio.us under the general tag "gender." The article is Dr. Roy Baumeister's recent address to the APA, interestingly titled: Is There Anything Good About Men? I'm surprised that I haven't seen this appear on digg, but I did notice that the NYT blog has picked it up here.

Essentially, Baumeister explores how cultural systems shape action with respect to gender. I found his thesis fascinating and enjoyed reading the whole article.

What I found particularly interesting about his argument is that he rejects contemporary theories of gender (overwhelmingly shaped by feminist ideology) in favor of a complementary view of gender:

Hence this is not about the “battle of the sexes,” and in fact I think one unfortunate legacy of feminism has been the idea that men and women are basically enemies. I shall suggest, instead, that most often men and women have been partners, supporting each other rather than exploiting or manipulating each other.

[...]

Let’s return to the three main theories we’ve had about gender: Men are better, no difference, and women are better. What’s missing from that list? Different but equal. Let me propose that as a rival theory that deserves to be considered. I think it’s actually the most plausible one. Natural selection will preserve innate differences between men and women as long as the different traits are beneficial in different circumstances or for different tasks.

Ultimately, Baumeister argues that gender inequality cannot be adequately explained by feminist theories of patriarchy (which he rejects as conspiracy theories). Instead, he suggests that the proliferation of gender inequality can be explained by the way in which men's larger, more shallow social networks have progressed culturally while women have concentrated on close relationships that have enabled the species to survive.

I have re-posted his conclusion below and would commend the whole article to you.

Technorati Tags: gender

Ed Stetzer on Contextual Preaching

Ed Stetzer writes an excellent piece on preaching so your audience can hear. He summarizes his thoughts on contextual preaching in this way:

Too often we say, “I want to make the Bible relevant.”  No need.  It already is.  Our job is to present it in ways that help the hearer see that it is relevant—in this and in every culture.  We do so by starting at their understanding and taking them to Scripture for the whole answer.

(read the article here)

The Beautiful Marriage of Juggling & The Beatles

(direct link to google video)

Kansas City: Modest Metropolis in Midst of Mighty Renewal

Kansas City: Modest Metropolis in Midst of Mighty Renewal (Gene Sloan / USA Today)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Reed Cordish has watched one city center after another make a comeback over the past two decades. Indeed, his family's firm, the Cordish Co., is credited with reviving several of them, including downtown Baltimore, where it developed the now-vibrant Inner Harbor.

But he has never seen a city blossom quite like this one.

"What's remarkable is it's all happening so quickly," says Cordish, looking across a sea of construction cranes from his company's 30th-floor offices. "What you see happening this year in Kansas City is what you'd see happening in other cities over 20 years."

Early next year, the Cordish Co. will cut the ribbon on the Power & Light District, a massive redevelopment of a nine-square-block chunk of Kansas City's long-dilapidated downtown. Like Baltimore's Inner Harbor, it will feature restaurants, bars, shops and live entertainment.

But the $850 million project is only one piece of a citywide makeover that is adding to the allure of a destination already well known for jazz clubs and barbecue... (read more)

For more information about our strategy to reach those living in Kansas City's rapidly changing urban core through church planting, contact me: kevin [at] reachkansascity.org. Or, check out our website, Reach Kansas City.

Technorati Tags: KansasCity

Evangelicals and the Arts

Forbes.com // Religion Today (Eric Gorski)

There are no crosses in Makoto Fujimura's paintings. No images of Jesus gazing into the distance, or serene scenes of churches in a snow-cloaked wood.

Fujimura's abstract works speak to his evangelical Christian faith. But to find it takes some digging.

After the 2001 terrorist strikes on the World Trade Center, three blocks from Fujimura's home, his work explored the power of fire to both destroy and purify, themes drawn from the Christian Gospels and Dante's "The Divine Comedy."

"I am a Christian," says Fujimura, 46, who founded the nonprofit International Arts Movement to help bridge the gap between the religious and art communities. "I am also an artist and creative, and what I do is driven by my faith experience.

"But I am also a human being living in the 21st century, struggling with a lot of brokenness - my own, as well as the world's. I don't want to use the term 'Christian' to shield me away from the suffering or evil that I see, or to escape in some nice ghetto where everyone thinks the same."

By making a name for himself in the secular art world, Fujimura has become a role model for creatively wired evangelicals. They believe that their churches have forsaken the visual arts for too long - and that a renaissance has begun.

On the grass-roots and institutional level, evidence is mounting to support that view: Art galleries are opening in churches; prominent seminaries are investing in new centers exploring theology and the arts; and, graduates from evangelical film schools are making Hollywood movies.
(read more)

FRIDAY PHOTOS

I'm heading out of town this afternoon, so I'm posting these early. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

ALL MY PHOTOS | FRIDAY PHOTO GROUP