of greed and falling morality

Work is keeping me busy, but I'll be back blogging with something in a day or two, or three... basically, hang tight!

In the interim, sometimes I wonder if there is something fundamentally wrong with American society and morals. Check out this story about one guy's Black Friday Nintendo Wii story.

Now, I saw all the news about the Playstation 3 and the violence that ensued with its release. Believe me, that made me question some people's sanity. I could never see myself standing in line overnight to purchase electronics, I don't need them that badly; let alone robbing someone at gun point, or beating them up and stealing $600 worth of electronics from them. However, I think the story above is even worse, this woman had the gall to prey upon someone's generous nature in order to cheat someone else out of money! The Nintendo Wii had the fortune of being a video game console that did not suffer from the ills of violence and extortion upon release, until I read this story. I honestly think that place like eBay should start cracking down on this kind of predatory auctioning of newly released, high demand consumer products -- especially leading up to a holiday that should be about generosity, family, and love (yes, I know, and Jesus). However, since I know that eBay will never do such a thing, I would hope that at least people would let go of the greed and violence... it is after all, just a video game.

I debated about jumping on the trend after I saw last year's debacle with the Xbox360, but I didn't; I'm just not that kind of guy. Plus, I don't think it helps the situation... companies get free press from these situations (the old, there's no such thing as bad press), and it promotes instant gratification at any cost. Am I interested in the Nintendo Wii, yes; am I willing to wait until they are actually available from any store on any given day if I buy one, yes.

Enough ranting... more on spiritual stuff later.

the un-meeting

In this instance, "un-meeting" does not refer to some interesting aspect of how ReGroup is different from other types of groups that exist out there. No, last night we had an non-meeting; or to put simply, there was no meeting. Due to some extenuating circumstances, the couple who had offered their home to host ReGroup for the evening had to cancel. The good news, is that things just like this -- life getting in the way -- are to be expected and must be given room. Sometimes other things just have to take priority, which can be a good thing. So, I'll be looking to reschedule this postponed kickoff for sometime after Thanksgiving when schedules allow. I hope to have at least one meeting, preferably two, before people start to disappear for Christmas.

So for those who were waiting on word, there it is... I appreciate your thoughts and prayers, hopefully it won't be much longer.

the saga begins

Nope, this isn't a random post about Star Wars, though I have been known to throw a couple of those in from time to time. This is about mustering the troops and circling the wagons. In other words, the very first ReGroup gathering is happening this weekend. Obviously, the first ever meeting will be a bit structured since there is some housekeeping to take care of -- primarily explaining what exactly is going on.

You see, the people who are going to be a part of this pilot experiment don't really know what to expect because they came to me with concerns and requests, from which I cobbled together this concept. From one person came the concern about lack of faith and lack of answers to tough questions, while another is fed up with the lack of meaning in an existing church community. I was asked to put together a Bible study by one, and told that I should start a new church by yet another. I will be pulling together these people, with widely varying stories and stages of faith, and nurturing a community. However, I have to first explain to everyone what crackpot ideas I came up with and what exactly this "ReGroup" thing is. I have some book excerpts to read, some scriptures to share, some questions to discuss, and in the end an informal poll to take. The idea is to introduce the idea of what our community is going to be and the limitless possibilities for where we can take it. Once that is covered, I can finish up by asking each person some of their specific questions they'd like to explore, topics they'd like to discuss, and activities they'd like to organize... you get the idea. Basically, the first meeting is really an introduction and information gathering session. But, don't get me wrong, if some of the exploratory discussion questions really ramp up, then we can throw away script and riff.

I'm excited and just a little nervous -- the nerves are mostly because I hope they don't all think I'm nuts when I unveil this rather unconventional idea instead of some other expectation they might have. We shall see...

group flexibility

A semi-quick word on flexibility, seeing as I haven't posted much lately.

There are many ways to interpret flexibility, especially as it relates to church and spiritual matters. There is flexibility in doctrine; while in some instances this can be useful for maintaining unity and avoiding judgmentalism, as they say, there can be too much of a good thing. There is flexibility in meeting; I touched on this earlier, mostly from the frame of reference that gathering together is not limited to a single time and place. There is flexibility in format; again, this topic I touched on before, maintaining the position that changing up the content and activities of a meeting is a good thing. Lastly (for now), there is flexibility in the medium. This is what I'd like to elaborate on.

Medium: singular of media, the format through which communication is achieved. Since ReGroup is by its very definition something that must emerge from its surrounding cultural and societal context, the medium or media used for communication within and for the group will range widely. However, as with flexibility in doctrine, there is a limitation to how flexible a group can be with the media used to communicate. First and foremost, there is one aspect of ReGroup that is fundamental and unchangeable for it to function and succeed. People who join ReGroup must be located geographically near each other so they can meet face-to-face on a regular basis. This personal contact is a must, especially in a time when digital interactions are a major part of mainstream communication - instant messaging, texting, chat rooms, blogs, myspace pages, cell phones, etc. This is not to say that any of those technologies are bad, they have their uses. However, to truly know someone and be a part of each other's lives requires that fundamental human need -- to be with others, not be alone, and know you are loved.

Now, the flexibility in medium comes from the communication that takes place between meetings. Sure one could go so far as to say that meaningful conversation should only ever take place face-to-face, which might lead to many impromptu calls to meet for coffee, but there obviously are other options. If the group so decides, they could choose any one or more (or none) of the myriad communication technologies to keep each other up to date, or perhaps discuss ideas for future meetings. Anything goes, so long as it works for everyone: a private or public group blog, a group website (like Yahoo! or MSN Groups), myspace, a mailed newsletter, phone calls, text messages, etc. How a group communicates will emerge from within the context of how they live their lives. There is no defined template of how a ReGroup should be formatted, and thusly there is no template as to how a ReGroup will communicate.

Cheers!

Reminder: Keep that feedback coming, as much as it might help you to have questions or concerns addressed, it helps me even more by forcing me to think about things that I might never have thought of...