All posts by mjfelker1980

Faith in Action, Ministry

Saddle Up Your Horses

Ad-ven-ture noun

an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity

Out of the 50 top grossing films of all time roughly 46 of them would be considered action adventure movies. Haven’t we all longed to join up with Frodo to journey into the darkest realms of Middle Earth? Who hasn’t imagined what it would be like to spend the afternoon with Indiana Jones deep inside an Egyptian tomb or swing through the streets of New York with Peter Parker? Personally I would love to accompany Luke and Han Solo as they rescue the Princess. That is as long as I get my own light saber!

Everyone one of us longs for true adventure. We get bored with the everyday and grow listless by being strapped to our desks. This boredom can turn to criticism and selfish behavior. The truth is that we long for adventure because we were created for adventure. We were created to live an unusual and exciting life with our Creator.

Matthew 28: 18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The last words that Jesus spoke on this earth tell us that we are to take the glory of the gospel into the world around us.

We have been invited on an incredible journey. Gary Haugen, of International Justice Mission, reminds us that “Jesus is waiting for us. He is strapping on his boots. He is gathering his gear and He is headed out into the wild.”

I don’t want to miss this adventure and I don’t want you to miss it either.

This Sunday I’ll be preaching on the adventure of community. The greatest thing about our adventure is that were aren’t going at it alone. We’re a team and its high time that the church understands that fact. The adventure’s on. Let head out. Together.

Ethos, Faith in Action, Ministry, Popular Culture

The Way I See It #4180

As I sit here at my desk typing this, the radio in my office is tuned to the satilite station XM 75: Hear Music. The mood in my office is always rich and smooth, just like a certain hot beverage. The soothing voice of the on-air personality wispers, “The sound of Starbucks” as the latest David Grey tune gently begins and I feel like I’m right there at the coffee shop- sans the sounds of coffee grinders and foaming milk, of course. Then, when I hear a new artist or a great new song, I can just pick it up at the register the next time I’m ordering a tall White Chocolate Mocha.

The bottom line for Starbucks is that it is first and foremost selling coffee but they are more interested in selling a lifestyle of laid back, hipster cool. And guess what? It works. It works because it seems to be a natural occurance. Starbucks isn’t trying hard to force you into buying their coffee and then thrusting the lifestyle on you. It happens almost organically.

You walk in to buy a cup of joe. The atmosphere is warm and inviting. The cashier asks for your name and scribbles it on to your cup. While you wait for your Carmel Machiatto you peruse the CDs, mugs, coasters, and brewing machines. You walk out with your drink, a tumbler with “Starry Night”, and that ultra-cool Sam Cooke compilation. You climb into your SUV and flip the channel to 75. Tracy Chapman sings to you as you travel to work where you can buy a cold frapachino from the vending machine near your cubicle. That night you head out to go see the latest flick with your favorite actor, Larry “Cowboy Curtis” Fishburn. On the way home you pop that Sam Cooke compilation in the dash and smile. What a day.

Starbucks not only sells Coffee but Music, Movies, and Mood. Starbucks is branded as a lifestyle more than a beverage. And that got me thinking…

I posted this back in April with a promise to write a second chapter expounding on my “Starbucks-as-lifestyle” belief. My theory is that there is something about the way Starbucks does buisness that can help us in the church help reach our communities. The problem is that I kept hitting dead ends. My thoughts and feelings kept getting derailed by commerce. There are enough chuches selling things whether they know it or not and I don’t want to turn Jesus into some sort of trinket that is this year’s must buy. Consumerism is killing our churches and I didn’t want to add to that.

However, I knew that there had to be something else. Something deeper. There was truth to be found beyond the coffee, books, and music but I found myself unable to connect the dots.

Then I found out the Len Sweet, theologian and futurist, would be releasing a book early next year entitled, “The Gospel According to Starbucks.” I knew that if Sweet was writing about the coffee giant than I was surely on to something. I had to connect the dots.

But where to begin? Commerce had been a dead end and the growth patterns seemed just as helpful. That’s when I found it.

The Green Apron Book.
Be Welcoming. Be Genuine. Be Knowledgable. Be Considerate. Be Involved.

Everything I had believed to be true about how the church should be more like Starbucks was contained within that tiny book given to partners (employees) no bigger than a passport.

I am trying to get a copy of one for keeps. I found one manager that allowed me to read the book while in he store but wouldn’t allow me to keep it.

My fingers brushed along the pages. My mind raced as I gazed through my incredible find. My heart pounded like a bass drum and I took in the entire experience.

The answer isn’t in books and coffee beans. The answer is in the ethos. In the heart.

More to come…

General

Happy Birthday, iPod!

Everybody’s favorite music player turns 5 today.

I know that many of you are aware of the loss I experienced a few weeks ago but there have been some incredible developments that have happened since I posted my tribute to my U2 iPod. Listen to the podcast later this week for the full story.

Happy Birthday, iPod.

Popular Culture

I’m a Nerd

Ok, so the wife and I went and saw Marie Antoinette tonight. There is a scene in the film where the king’s advisors encourage Louis to send aid and troops to asist the Americans with their revolution. When the king asks them if France can afford to send money his question is met with a frank,

“Taxes will be raised slightly.”

I laughed. Out loud.

Nobody else laughed. Not one other person.

It is official.

Parenthood, Questions

New Wineskin

Have you ever seen the show Clean Sweep? I don’t even know if they are making new episodes or not but every time I’ve seen it I am reminded again and again of how the small incremental choices in life quickly get out of hand leaving you and your loved ones with a huge mess to clean up.

For the record I had a wonderful childhood. I grew up in a loving home with my parents and sister where we participated in a wonderful version of the American dream. So anything I say in this post from this point on doesn’t come from a poor experience from my past or some cynicism that was thrust upon me at an early age. No, this is just a random question about the small incremental choices that we make.

My wife and I have been married for five wonderful years. If all goes according to plan we are looking to add to our little family sometime within the next 12-18 months. (We’ll see.) Due to this fact I have been thinking a lot about how I am going to raise my little boy (Hewson) or girl (Allison). I’ve been assessing my parental philosophy, if you will, and have come to at least one conclusion that really bothers my wife, my parents, my in-laws, and the friends that I have discussed this conclusion with.

Here it goes:

I do not want to lie to my child. Thus, I do not want to tell my kid(s) about Santa Claus. I think that the whole idea about Santa does more harm than good.

Who says I have to tell my kid about Santa? My wife and my mom say that I have to but beyond that? No one. Someone somewhere made the choice to push Santa on us and I, personally, resent it.

I don’t believe that Santa is evil and I’m not anti-holidays or anything like that. I just think that we miss a great opportunity every year to teach our kids about the joys of giving and receiving.

If there were no Santa, what would you really have missed out on? Think about it. You would have missed out on:

$20 dollar mall photos
Writing a wish list to the North Pole
Finding out that your parents have lied to you all those years
The haughty pride of telling some kid that Santa isn’t real

That’s it. End of story.

But think about what you can gain by leaving Santa out of the equation.

No tricks or secrets about who the gifts come from.
An open dialogue with your kids about giving.
Giving your kids a early start in understanding about sacrifice.
Your kids can see how you sacrificed something for them.
Watching your kids and family members connect without the help of some 1000 year old sprite with a red cap.

The list is endless.

Now, I haven’t quite figured out how to not make my kid the “weird kid that hates Santa.” Nor have I come up with a plan on how to put out angry parent fires when my kid spills the beans to his entire k-4 class about the Santa reality. One step at a time.

I just don’t feel comfortable lying to my children. Once you choose the Santa route you can’t look back. If it is ok for you to lie to them about Santa then it’s ok for them to lie too.

Imagine being truly honest with your kids. Instead of using Santa as a cop-out- “Oh, I guess Santa forgot” or “Santa must have been too busy”- you can bite the bullet and say, “It was sold out” or “We couldn’t afford it this year.” Your kid isn’t going to freak out because… their love for you isn’t based on gifts! You are their parent and if you get wrapped up in the rat race of “tickle me elmo” and whatever Christmas toy is hot this year than you will have a harder time teaching your kid not to get wrapped up in the madness later on.

Our whole idea of Santa is an emotional one. Whenever someone on Clean Sweep refuses to give up some dirty sock puppet with one eye and moth damage that was given to them by their great-grandfather the host will remind them that they aren’t giving up the memories, they’re giving up the item to make room for some added memories.

Santa is the dirty sock puppet with one eye and moth damage that was given to us by our great-great-grandfathers. Getting rid of him won’t mess up your holidays.

I guess all I’m saying is that I just want to be a different parent.

Now, use the comments below to tell me that I’ve lost my mind.

Podcasts

Show Notes

2 Comments

After quite a number of trials I was finially able to post the first episode of Kicking at the Podcast. You can listen to the podcast by clicking on the link in the post below or subscribing to the broadcast feed in your iTunes browser. The first episode is a little rough but hopefully you will enjoy it. Here is a brief synopsis of this week’s show.

Kicking at the Podcast is the audio supplement to Kicking at the Darkness//www.MichealFelker.com.

This week’s episode: 10.16.2006
Confessions of a Pastor by Craig Groeschel
LifeChurch.tv
High School Confidential by Jeremy Iverson
Catalyst 2006

Music:
Move Along- All-American Rejects
Chaos- Mute Math
Trouble Sleeping- Corrine Bailey Rae
Ain’t That Right- G.Love
Bones- the Killers
Everlasting God- Chris Tomlin
Last Goodbye- Jeff Buckley
Dead Man (Carry Me)- Jars of Clay
One- U2 & Mary J Blige