The Wired Wanderings of a Postmodern Pilgrim
Oct 23rd, 2012 by Tom Lyberg
So much for the one to two day response to re-verifying a web site after bad code has been removed. Its been more than a week and Google is still showing wired jesus as being a malicious web site. Now, of course, they only way you are reading this is if you were brave and ignored the warning. So for the brave, this at least lets you know what is going on. I’m not going to do much until this gets corrected but watch facebook and twitter for updates.
Oct 14th, 2012 by Tom Lyberg
Well, it was bound to happen. With a couple family health crises and an upswing at the church requiring some extra senior pastor time, Wired Jesus got neglected with postings for a month and no podcasts for two. So two weeks ago the site got hacked and I didn’t catch it until today when I had some free time. In all likelihood, you won’t read this unless to push through the google warning not to. But everything is fixed and I’ll do a podcast this week to let everyone know as well.
Good thing I talked to Bluehost as I got some direction on some upgrades I have been wanting to do to the podcast feed to itunes to reseed the directory, which has been a problem for a year. So hopefully that can be fixed.
The whole situation has me thinking about a WJP 2.0 relaunch for the new year. But thanks for your patience and hope you see this soon.
tom
Sep 7th, 2012 by Tom Lyberg
A Growing Church is a Dying Church « The Theological Wanderings of a Street Pastor.
For those of us involved in organized congregations, there is the one reality that we all face in a new congregation – what are you going to do to grow the church? Like Puff the Magic Pastor, whatever has gone wrong in a congregation, you are expected to make it all better. That is be like the old pastor that led in the golden years; be better than the jerk who just left; bring back the people who left/the new people who aren’t here.
Pastors know the drill. You get about four weeks of honeymoon and then comes the rope-a-dope as people take shots at you for not being good enough. Most don’t do it maliciously or realize that what they are doing is hurtful – unresolved grief over past junk comes out sooner or later and that is part of transitional pastoring. But it takes time and more often than not, your years of ministry are not really appreciated or have a chance of being considered golden until you are gone.
Most congregations don’t know or recognize this pattern this blog post brilliantly points out the reality that when a pastor leaves and new one arrives, a congregation dies. It has to in order to grow again. This is a must read for every pastor and anyone who is involved in a search for a pastor or a congregation welcoming a new pastor. Its that good
Aug 13th, 2012 by Tom Lyberg
Jay Michaelson: When Jesus Healed a Same-Sex Partner.
Yeah, I’ve been silent for a while. Life and ministry got a little crazy for the summer but this is far too interesting not to post. My Greek is lousy but if the premise here is correct, there is an element to the story that we have overlooked even though the practice was widely known. The headline is innaccurate – the servant was not a partner per se but part of a culturally conditioned same sex relationship. Got to get more details and other responses.
Jul 8th, 2012 by Tom Lyberg
Rachel Held Evans | Christian bookstores and their chokehold on the industry.
Once again, Rachel Held Evans hits the nail on the head, re-enforcing for me why I find Christian book stores to be as creepy as mimes, puppet shows, and Barney.
Check out the entire post but here is the quote that resonates for me: “What most people don’t realize, however, is that the problem of sanitized Christian bookstores extends far beyond the inventory on the shelves to create an entire Christian subculture that is so sanitized and safe it often fails to produce art that is relevant to our culture or our lives.”
By extention, it is an indictment of our congregations who do much the same thing to the art in our buildings and the art of preaching.
Jun 24th, 2012 by Tom Lyberg
Podcasting was so much easier back in the day when Apple cared enough to leave well enough alone and let third parties create directories. A change in May by Apple has hosed my directory listing so its only showing the most current podcast and nothing else. Looks like I may have to create a new feed as a work around. More to come but not to fear, all the previous episodes are still available here on the blog under “Wired Jesus Podcast” in the catagories list.
Jun 21st, 2012 by Tom Lyberg
Ask Pastor Matt–â€How Do You Read So Much?†| Pastor Matt.
I found this a good reminder today that, in light of my podcast, I do need to read more and its not that hard to find the time to do it.
Jun 21st, 2012 by Tom Lyberg
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One of the things I enjoy about a week at church camp is the chance to unwind and read. Yesterday I experienced the luxury of reading a book cover to cover – Evolving In Monkeytown by Rachel Held Evans. As a long time reader of her blog, I was a slacker in getting around to reading my Kindle version languishing on my iPad. Not only is it a wonderful story, but her insights were an exciting and renewing experience for me as well. With the old world of denominationalism and evangelicalism collapsing, its people like Rachel that not only give me hope for the future of the church – it makes me glad that I am still an active part of what God is doing right now. Enjoy the podcast and go buy the book!
And here is a plug for Camp Mowana.
Just so you can share in the experience, here’s a view of Flemming Falls at Camp Mowana, just outside of Mansfield, Ohio. Who would guess that such beauty lies in the shadows of steel mills and the some of the last US rust belt industries. A little bit of trivia – about 6 miles from here is the Mansfield Reformatory, the site where The Shawshank Redemption was filmed as well as a creepy Ghost Hunters episode. If you want to check out the camp, click on the Camp Mowana link. A cool place to go retreat and reconnect.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Jun 10th, 2012 by Tom Lyberg
Will Churches Go The Way of Bookstores? | …In the Meantime.
More on this later but wanted to get this up on the blog this morning before I head off to lead Sunday morning worship. But perspectives are changing, the religious monopoly is over. On a day when because of a broken AC we are worshipping in a gym, have two adult baptisms, and recognizing our graduating seniors, its something of a vision of things to come if the church is going to be relevant to emerging generations. Thanks to David Lose for the article and be sure to check it out.