Kicking at the Darkness » Awesomenessness http://www.michealfelker.com www.MichealFelker.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:40:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 1 Corinthians 13 & Bob Dylan http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/08/28/1-corinthians-13-bob-dylan/ http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/08/28/1-corinthians-13-bob-dylan/#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:30:59 +0000 Micheal http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/08/28/1-corinthians-13-bob-dylan/ A few weeks ago I purchased the Bob Dylan Collection, a digital box set, from iTunes. The collection includes every Bob Dylan release from Bob Dylan (‘62) to Modern Times (‘06). I have found so many great Dylan songs that I have never had the chance to hear before now. One of my new favorites is Watered-Down Love from the 1981 album Shot of Love. The lyrics seemed instantly familiar to me. They sound an awful lot like what Paul had to say about pure love to the church in Corinth.

Watered-Down Love
Shot of Love
Bob Dylan

Love that’s pure hopes all things,
Believes all things, won’t pull no strings,
Won’t sneak up into your room, tall, dark and handsome,
Capture your heart and hold it for ransom.

You don’t want a love that’s pure
You wanna drown love
You want a watered-down love

Love that’s pure, it don’t make no claims,
Intercedes for you ’stead of casting you blame,
Will not deceive you or lead you to transgression,
Won’t write it up and make you sign a false confession.

You don’t want a love that’s pure
You wanna drown love
You want a watered-down love

Love that’s pure won’t lead you astray,
Won’t hold you back, won’t mess up your day,
Won’t pervert you, corrupt you with stupid wishes,
It don’t make you envious, it don’t make you suspicious.

You don’t want a love that’s pure
You wanna drown love
You want a watered-down love

Love that’s pure ain’t no accident,
Always on time, is always content,
An eternal flame, quietly burning,
Never needs to be proud, restlessly yearning.

You don’t want a love that’s pure
You wanna drown love
You want a watered-down love

I hope that no one would ever dedicate this song to you or me. Jesus said that people would know that we were his disciples by the way we loved others. Let’s live everyday loving those around us with pure and unadulterated love.

No watered-down love around here.

“If I speak in human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self–seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1Corinthians 13:1-8 TNIV)

]]> http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/08/28/1-corinthians-13-bob-dylan/feed/ 0 Mission Trip 09 Part 2 http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/08/17/mission-trip-09-part-2/ http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/08/17/mission-trip-09-part-2/#comments Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:33:41 +0000 Micheal http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/08/17/mission-trip-09-part-2/ So I had just found out that the homeless shelter that we had planned to serve while on our mission trip was broke and on the brink of closing. We would no longer have a place to serve. That’s it. End of story. This was creating a giant black hole right in the middle of our mission trip.

When I was scheduling places for us to serve, a food bank in Atlanta had given me a list of non-profits that could host our group. I called the first one on the list: Project Open Hand.

Within 20 minutes we had scheduled time to deliver meals on Friday and Saturday and to pack meals on Monday for the clients of Open Hand.

Remember when I had prayed to God to step in a save our trip? He was about to deliver… big time.

On Friday & Saturday we delivered meals all over the city of Atlanta. We were welcomed into apartments and homes and we were able to pray with many of the families. It was an eye opening experience for all of us. We saw men and women of all shapes and sizes, backgrounds and classes. We met disabled people and we met the terminally ill. It seemed that no matter what the circumstance, these people were thankful for the little bit that they had. Some even offered to pray for us! It was such a blessing. Of course, we met difficult people and some simply reached a hand out the door, snatched the bags of food, and were gone. These were few and far between though.

We overwhelmingly had an incredible few days at Open Hand. On that Monday, I think we pack closed to 3000 meals. That is not a typo – Three thousand meals for people in Atlanta. Only by the grace of God!

The whole focus of our trip had started out to be aimed directly at ministering and serving the homeless of Atlanta. We were still scheduled to do this on Saturday night and Sunday morning. However by Saturday afternoon I had begun to wonder whether or not we would still be able to do this in a meaningful way. Again, I guess I underestimated how God would answer our prayers.

To Be Concluded in part 3

]]> http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/08/17/mission-trip-09-part-2/feed/ 0 The Best of How the Mighty Fall http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/06/05/the-best-of-how-the-mighty-fall/ http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/06/05/the-best-of-how-the-mighty-fall/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:34:08 +0000 Micheal http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/06/05/the-best-of-how-the-mighty-fall/ I finished How the Mighty Fall by Jim Collins last night. What a fantastic read! I took a ton of notes and almost went through an entire highlighter. Collins builds upon his previous two masterworks, Built to Last & Good to Great, to paint a compelling and relevant picture of once great companies who at the crossroads chose poorly, lead unwisely, and with foolhardy ambition allowed their organizations to fail.

I loved this book! To be honest I have loved just about everything I’ve heard from Collins.

</div>The man knows his stuff and is an amazing storyteller. It is hard to argue with his methods and even harder to ignore his findings.<p> </p> <p>The main idea behind the book is that companies/organizations move through <strong>5 stages of decline</strong>: arrogance, undisciplined pursuit of more, denial of risk, grasping for the silver bullet salvation, and capitulation to irrelevance or death. Collins argues that decline can be avoided or reversed but only when organizations get back to basic principles and values.</p> <p><strong>I think this book can speak truth into the life of any leader or organization that seeks not just to avoid failure but who truly desires to make a difference in the lives of those they serve.</strong></p> <p><strong>Here are some of my favorite takeaways from <a mce_href=”http://www.amazon.com/How-Mighty-Fall-Companies-Never/dp/0977326411/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1244219257&amp;sr=8-1″ target=”new” xhref=”http://www.amazon.com/How-Mighty-Fall-Companies-Never/dp/0977326411/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1244219257&amp;sr=8-1″>How the Mighty Fall</a></strong>:</p> <p><em>A core business that meets a fundamental human need- and one at which you’ve become best in the world- rarely becomes obsolete.</em></p> <p><em>The best corporate leaders we’ve researched remain students of their work, relentlessly asking questions- why, why, why?- and <strong>have an incurable compulsion to vacuum the brains of people they meet</strong>.</em></p> <p><em>Innovation can fuel growth, but frenetic innovation- growth that erodes consistent tactical excellence- can just as easily send a company (organization) through the stages of decline. </em></p> <p><em>The greatest leaders do seek growth- <strong>growth in performance, growth in distinctive impact, growth in creativity, growth in people</strong>- but they do not succumb to growth that undermines long-term value. And they certainly do not confuse growth with excellence. Big does not equal great, and <strong>great does not equal big</strong>.</em></p> <p><em>Any exceptional enterprise depends first and foremost upon having <strong>self-managed and self-motivated people</strong>- the number one ingredient for a <strong>culture of discipline</strong>.</em></p> <p><em>Audacious goals stimulate progress, but big bets without empirical validation, or that fly in the face of mounting evidence can bring companies down…</em></p> <p><em>The greatest danger comes not in ignoring clear and unassailable facts, but in misinterpreting ambiguous data in situations when you face severe or catastrophic consequences if the ambiguity resolves itself in a way that’s not in your favor.</em> (Collins powerfully discusses the lead up and failures surrounding the Challenger explosion- the fateful decisions to proceed with the launch- to illustrate this point)</p> <p><em>When making risky bets and decisions in the face of ambiguous or conflicting data, ask three questions: <strong>1) What’s the upside, if events turn out well? 2) What’s the downside, if events go very badly? 3) Can you live with the downside?</strong> Truly?</em></p> <p><em>You can be profitable and bankrupt</em></p> <p><em>Institutional self-perpetuation holds no legitimate place in a world of scarce resources; <strong>institutional mediocrity should be terminated</strong>, or transformed into excellence.</em></p> <p><em>If you cannot marshal a compelling answer to the question, “What would be lost, and how would the world be worse off, if we ceased to exist?” then perhaps capitulation is the wise path. But if you have a <strong>clear</strong> and <strong>inspired purpose</strong> built upon <strong>solid core values</strong>, then the noble course may be to <strong>fight on</strong>, to <strong>reverse decline</strong>, and try to <strong>rekindle greatness</strong>.</em></p> <p><em><strong>The point of the struggle is</strong> not just to survive, but <strong>to build an enterprise that makes such a distinctive impact on the world it touches, and does so with such superior performance, that it would leave a gaping hole- a hole that could not be easily filled by any other institution- if it ceased to exist.</strong></em></p> <p><em>To accomplish this requires leaders who retain faith that they can find a way to prevail in pursuit of a cause larger than mere survival (and larger than themselves), while also maintaining the stoic will needed to <strong>take whatever actions must be taken</strong>, however excruciating for the sake of that cause.</em></p> <p><em>Lack of management discipline correlates with decline, and passionate adherence to management discipline correlates with recovery and ascent.</em></p> <p><em>If you’ve fallen into decline, get back to solid… disciplines- NOW!</em></p> <p><em>We all need <strong>beacons of light</strong> as we struggle with the inevitable setbacks of life and work.</em></p> <p><em>“This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never- in nothing, great or small, large or petty- <strong>never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense</strong>. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” -Winston Churchill </em></p> <p><em>Failure is not so much a physical state as a state of mind; success is falling down, and getting up one more time, without end.</em></p&gt
]]> http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/06/05/the-best-of-how-the-mighty-fall/feed/ 0 Hewson Micheal Felker http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/05/20/hewson-micheal-felker/ http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/05/20/hewson-micheal-felker/#comments Wed, 20 May 2009 06:36:38 +0000 Micheal http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/05/20/hewson-micheal-felker/ IMG_2917

Weighing in at 7lbs 8oz. Born May 19, 2009 at 9:37pm.

Magnificent
“I was born

I was born to sing for you 

I didn’t have a choice
But to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry
It was a joyful noise”

]]> http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/05/20/hewson-micheal-felker/feed/ 2 Ille qui nos omnes servabit http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/05/14/ille-qui-nos-omnes-servabit/ http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/05/14/ille-qui-nos-omnes-servabit/#comments Thu, 14 May 2009 16:41:50 +0000 Micheal http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/05/14/ille-qui-nos-omnes-servabit/ “He who shall protect/save us all.”

The fifth season of “LOST” is in the history books… or the future books… or something. What a great season! We got some answers to old questions and, of course, we got a whole big bunch of brand spankin’ new questions to contend with. After the final scene in last night’s season finale I just sat there dumbfounded. I on one hand didn’t like the ending at all but on the other found myself loving every single white pixel on the screen. Such is the case with every episode of “LOST”. It is love/hate, enlightened/confused, Dharma/Others back and forth that few shows match.

Now we find ourselves with one final season. Is the future rewritten or has what’s been done, been done? The only hint about where we are going that we got last night was a teaser for the sixth season with the tagline Destiny Found. Last week Doc Jensen, Entertainment Weekly’s LOST Guru, asked the all important question for every LOST fan.

Which mysteries do you feel must be resolved during the sixth and final season?

That is the 4 8 15 16 23 42 million dollar question isn’t it?

For me, here is what I absolutely want resolved once and for all:

1) What (and now I wonder Who) exactly is Smokezilla?
2) Was that Jacob visiting our Castaways last night or was that Mr. Nameless from the beach?
3) What ever happened to Claire?
4) Who is Richard and Where/When did he come from?
5) What ever happened to the Oceanic 815 castaways kidnapped by the Others?
6) Why the fertility experiments?
7) For a show about Good and Evil, Black and White we haven’t been given a clear picture of who is who. I need to know who is on which side.

Right now, these are the 7 burning questions I need to find the answers to. Did I miss anything?

I want to hear from you. What questions do you need answered? What mysteries do you need resolved?

In the words of Jacob, “What about you?

]]> http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/05/14/ille-qui-nos-omnes-servabit/feed/ 7 Stand Up 360 http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/03/09/stand-up-360/ http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/03/09/stand-up-360/#comments Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:08:48 +0000 Micheal http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/03/09/stand-up-360/ So the official tour announcement was released today for U2360. The STADIUM tour kicks off in Europe at the end of July and will make its way around these parts in September and October. Take a look at the stage configurations that U2.com revealed today.

U23601

U23602

Is this not SICK?!?! I can’t wait to see some live shots of what it looks like in the real world. I am intrigued and, needless to say, pretty stoked. The only question I’m wrestling with is whether I get tickets up close to this monster or do I hang out in the back and take everything in? I really want to get into the thick of the crowd though. I’ve spent my time in the back! I guess only time (and ticket prices) will tell what I do.

BTW, Word around my house is that my wife will actually try and join me for a U2 concert. Hey, fourth times the charm I guess.

I am also totally digging on the following song. It has a great hook and some really great lyrics. My favorite is “Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady.” BOOM! That line is a great challenge to me. God doesn’t need my help. He is fully capable and thankfully he has invited me to follow him. It is more like He walks this blind man across the street which I must always remember and gladly comply with. I hope you enjoy the song.

Love love love love love
Love love love love love

I got to stand up and take a step
You and I have been asleep for hours
I got to stand up
The wire is stretched
In between our two towers
Stand up in this dizzy world
Where a lovesick eye can steal the view
I’m gonna fall down if I can’t stand up
For your love

Love love love love love

Stand up, this is comedy
The DNA lotto may have left you smart
But can you stand up to beauty
Dictator of the heart
I can stand up for hope, faith, love
But while I’m getting over certainty
Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady

Oh, oh
Out from under your beds
C’mon, ye people
Stand up for your love

Love love love love love
Love love love love love

I gotta stand up to ego but my ego’s not really the enemy
It’s like a small child crossing an eight lane highway
On a voyage of discovery

Stand up to rock stars
Napolean is in high heels
Josephine, be careful
Of small men with big ideas

Oh, oh
Out from under your beds
C’mon, ye people
Stand up for your love

Love love love love love
Love love love love love

God is love
And love is evolution’s very best day

Soul rockin’ people moving on
Soul rockin’ people on and on
C’mon, ye people
We’re made of stars
C’mon, ye people
Stand up then sit down for your love

Love love love love love
Love love love love love
Love love love love love
Love love love love love

Stand Up Comedy
U2
No Line On the Horizon

]]> http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/03/09/stand-up-360/feed/ 0 Looking Forward http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/02/03/looking-forward/ http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/02/03/looking-forward/#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:10:19 +0000 Micheal http://www.michealfelker.com/2009/02/03/looking-forward/ I am so excited about an opportunity I’ve been given. At the end of the month I’ll be teaching a seminar class at Harding University for the youth ministry department. My seminar will focus on weighing the differences between Campus Ministry and traditional Church Youth Ministry. I’ve titled the class Bringing the Big Man to Campus.

I am super excited about this. It has been a goal of mine to pursue opportunities in public speaking and teaching. This opportunity fell in my lap and I am running with it. One day I would love to travel and speak. I love inspiring people and discussing issues of ministry, leadership, and development. This is a chance to do something different and to work on my skills. This also lets me meet and interact with students who are about to set out and serve teens and their families. This is promising to be a great weekend.

Please keep me in your prayers as I am preparing to teach this class. I’ll be sure to post some content for the weekend here soon. Thanks for your prayers!

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