kinnon.tv

Dash Blog Missing - No Need to Panic

Yes.

It's true.

The family of blogs that reside @ Dashhouse.com - including that of the famous blogger, Triple D (Darryl Dash to those of you not part of the cognescenti), comes up with a rather ugly screen from GoDaddy right now - if it appears at all.

It seems that Brother Dash has left Movable Type to place his blog(s) within the confines of TypePad, MT's ugly step child. (Where this blog resides.)

Triple D said on Twitter yesterday, that we'd all have to wait 'til the new DNS pointer propagates - whatever that means. (Triple D can be found as @dashhouse on Twitter. And I'm @kinnon, in case you were wondering.)

Well.

We are still waiting.

But. At some point soon, Dashhouse.com will reappear in all it's TypePad glory. (Now if only we'd all just copy jonny baker's new look and feel - TypePad hosting could be a beautiful thing.)

Darryl Dash, TypePad, Movable Type, jonny baker

kinnon.tv's Top 13.5 Bloggers List with whom to Begin 2009

I'm sorry, Top Ten lists are soooo 2008. Here are kinnon.tv's top 13.5 Bloggers with whom to begin 2009.

13.5  Jordon Cooper is one of the Canadian Blogfathers in our corner of Blogdom. He's at this end of the list only because he hasn't been blogging quite as much as he once did. Now, if this was a Top 13.5 Twitter list - he'd be right at the top. Where blogging was once described by Jordon as a little like conversations on your front porch, Twitter is the new front porch.

13  Sonja @ Calacirian is one of the Missional Tribe Instigators and a very good blogger. Her Best Posts of 2008 will introduce you to some of the premier female voices in the wonderful world of blogging - if you haven't already met them. Sonja should be in your Feed Reader.

12  Another of the MT Instigators, Brad Sargent is a futurist you need to be reading. Brad plays with words in a manner not dissimilar to Robert Frost, and his insight into the state of the church and the direction it must go is second to none. A true son of Issachar.

11 And the MTI's just keep on coming. Brother Maynard, I would hazard to say, is one of the key voices in the missional conversation. Perhaps, '09 will be the year he steps out from behind the curtain and reveals the actual identity of the fine mind behind the blog. "Live your faith. Share your life" is one of the great BroMayn lines.

10 David Hayward's cartoons are a lifeline for many of us. But he's also a gifted writer. Read the iMonk's interview with him - and some of the "interesting" comments on that post.

9  The oft-mentioned Triple D (Doctor Darryl Dash) is the most gracious blogger, at least amongst the men on this list. His blog has changed to be focused exclusively on the church this year and is another must read. (Follow him on Twitter for more of the front porch stuff.) Stay tuned for podcasts coming from Triple D, Dan MacDonald and yours truly. And if you need to hear Darryl in action, listen here - he's joined by Drew Marshall, the iMonk and moi.

8 Ed Stetzer, who really needs to have a Superman costume - but with an M on the chest, is the energizer bunny of missiologists - whether tweeting, blogging, writing books, speaking to a few or thousands. Primarily employed by Lifeway Research, an SBC affiliate organization, Double Dr. Ed works with everyone and anyone who names the name of Jesus. He's committed to seeing the entire church grow missionally. (And no, we don't always agree on everything, but he's one of my favourite guys in this conversation.)

7 What can one say about a lanky Kiwi who seems to have lived just about everywhere - other than, "wow Maggie's a way cool truck you're going to travel Europe and the world with, Andrew." The Tall Skinny Kiwi still vies with the iMonk and Scot McKnight for King of the Hill in our corner of the blog world. He is an example of someone who, with his family, lives out the BroMayn statement above. (Note: In '09, I'm going to ask you join with me in supporting the purchase of a good video package for TSK and his family as they begin their missional trekking.)

6 kathy escobar is someone that I only seriously began to read this year. She is a gifted writer and an important voice in the conversation - even though she writes on multiple computers that have broken shift keys. I'm praying for healing for those computers.

5 Dave Fitch may not be an MT Instigator - but he's certainly an instigator of many conversations. My first long chat with Dave prompted the post that I'm best known for - a little rant on the People Formerly known as. Dave doesn't blog anywhere often enough - but every post he writes is worth reading. I think you'll enjoy Dave in conversation with Ed Stetzer - part one of the videos will be up next week (the first full week of January).

4 Erika Haub is, quite simply, one of the finest writers in the blog world. Whether sharing her joys and struggles as a mother or church leader in the inner city, Erika captivates her audience. Read this post (that Sonja points to) as an example. Erika and her family are in the process of moving from LA to the Pacific Northwest - so her blog has been a little quieter - but do expect more great writing from this gifted church leader.

3 Jared Wilson, he of the Gospel-driven Church, is one of my favourite agent provocateurs. He's a gifted writer - even if Driscoll questions his masculinity. (Jared not onlly leads a church, but is a stay at home Dad.) And Jared's church community should be a leader in how Christian gatherings handle money.

2  First as Emerging Grace and now Kingdom Grace, my friend and fellow Missional Tribe Instigator has taken the blog world by storm. Creative, articulate, insightful, funny and serious, Grace provokes more conversation than most of the rest of the folk on this list. And, though I doubt you missed them, her Emerging/Missional Posters effectively and lovingly skewered some little-boys-with-a-big-box-of-matches.

1 Michael Spencer, the InternetMonk, and owner of that lovely virtual pub, the Boar's Head Tavern. He's also the mind behind Jesus Shaped Spirituality.

I would argue that Michael is the most important voice in post-evangelicalism. Hidden away in the hills of Kentucky, Michael pushes pixels onto tens of thousands of screens - in every corner of the Christian world. He writes often and he writes well. And his podcasts are always worth listening to. Transparent to a fault, Michael opens a vein and bleeds when he writes and speaks. This post from mere moments ago would be a perfect example. He may well be the Martin Luther of the internet generation - in the very center of this 2nd Reformation.

Honourable mentions to two more of the Missional Tribe Instigators - Peggy Brown, the Virtual Abbess and sheriff over @ Scot McKnight's - and Rick Meigs, the Blind Beggar.

And a big shout out to Julie Clawson, One Hand Clapping, another must read blogger. As is the View from Her's Jan, who I've pointed to numerous times this year.

May 2009 be a year the Church better follows the Lord back into the neighbourhood's where He has strategically placed us all.

Bloggers Worth Reading, Not a Top 10 List, Top 13.5 lists

Slow Return to Blogging

I'm sitting in the kitchen of good friends in Surrey, UK. I'm attempting to catch up on the blogs I like to read. I have about 2000 posts to weed through.

Now. In case you're concerned by the volume of blog pixels to consume. I won't read them all. Google Reader makes it easy to quickly move through the posts - using either the "j" key or space bar to move down the page. (For this process I've reversed the flow of GR - with oldest posts first.)

'Twould appear I've missed a lot of great stuff. Jared Wilson, Michael Spencer, Darryl Dash and Brant Hansen have been hitting the ball out of the park, whilst I've been completely out of the game. Grace has been starting and guiding some of the best conversations in the entire Christian blog world. Robby Mac has announced the publication of his book, Post-Charismatic (only available in the UK at the moment. I'm going to buy a few copies) as well as revealing some of the life transitions he's experiencing. And Brother Maynard is being as Subversive as ever.

Q has come and gone and I didn't make one snarky comment. (I did last year.) My friend, Mark Petersen talks both about what he got out of Q and what didn't impress him. Jan has a positive perspective on her Q experience.

Bene has been following the trails of "Dr." Charles McVety. 'Twould seem Charles is rather insistent that he is the voice of conservative evangelicalism in the Great White North. Annoying to a lot of us. I've done my own research on the institution from which Charles recieved his "doctorate" and will blog on that shortly. Would that the media do a little more research themselves and recognize that this is little man with a loud voice. One needs to learn to ignore that kind of noise.

I'm working on a post called The Long View, based on Imbi's and my interviews here in the UK and our own discussions. It will be up sometime in the next 36 hours. Tomorrow we return the rental car to Heathrow and take the Tube into the city to interview Jonny Baker...err...jonny baker. I'm looking forward to that. And then we hope to relax for a few days. (As a true "I" in the MB designation, I'm a little peopled out.)

And now back to my favourite blogs.

UPDATE: Six hours later, I'm down to only 626 in the Christian folder. Haven't touched any others, yet. Good grief. Would have been nice if y'all had been writing poorly whilst I wasn't reading you. Would have been easier to skip posts then!

UPDATE 2: 10 hours later. Yes, I do need to get a life but this IS relaxing for me. One of the overarching themes - Tim Keller is a great guy and a very important voice (and even quotes BMcL) - but if you've been reading me for a while you know I already knew that - Rigolletto or not.

A Link or Two

I'm really, really busy. (Which is not a bad thing - I'm really thankful that Imbi's and my company, MKPL is getting busy again.) I've promised to respond to BD on the post below - and, after working 'til 3am this morning, I realize that I don't have the needed mental horsepower to engage in an argument with someone I highly value. (But I will respond in the next day or so.)

I have thousands of unread posts in GR, and had over 400 unread posts in my "christian" category of the feed reader. I'm down to 243. (I'm very thankful for the J key shortcut in GR that lets you skim, mark as read and advance to the next post.) Unread #243, (well, actually, now read) is a Thinklings post from Jared, from a couple of days ago. It's a great quote from Eugene Peterson on leaders being Augustianian in the pulpit and fully Pelagian the rest of the time. Here's an excert (please read the entire quote),

 

Pelagius was an unlikely heretic; Augustine an unlikely saint. By all accounts, Pelagius was urbane, courteous, convincing. Everyone seems to have liked him immensely. Augustine squandered away his youth in immorality, had some kind of Freudian thing with his mother, and made a lot of enemies. But all our theological and pastoral masters agree that Augustine started from God's grace and therefore had it right, and Pelagius started from human effort and therefore got it wrong . . . How did it happen that Pelagius became our master?
 
  Our closet Pelagianism will not get us excommunicated or burned at the stake, but it cripples our pastoral work severely . . . it is catastrophic to the church's wholeness and health.

This past weekend I was at an urban church leadership conference for a half day in another Canadian city. I walked in as the morning worship drew to a close. It was more than I could handle - I walked back out again (and retrieved my coffee that I'd set down - as food and drink were not allowed in the "sanctuary". Only JIMB worship done manically and guilt-producting scriptures were allowed that morning. There ought to be a law.) Bob Hyatt identifies some of my discomfort.

 

...I'm beginning to realize just how far removed I am from the experiential side of evangelical worship.
 
  Honestly, it's begun to feel downright cross-cultural to me...
 
  Yesterday was rough on that front. It's been a while since I did the smoke-machine, colored lights moving, everyone clap your hands if you love Jesus kind of worship... since this conference last year, in fact.
 
  And every year, it's gotten harder to engage with that aspect of things. I'd get cynical, or just not really participate... [Bob does not trash the entire experience in the post - as I am wont to do.]

I'm a Jonathan Brink blog fan and he has a good post on Love in the Burbs that I would commend. He ends it with this,

 

It’s actually quite easy to go down and serve the homeless or at a soup kitchen. We can arrive with our lattes and leave when we want to. We’re in control and can look like a hero. But loving our neighbor next door, when every time he looks at us with an angry stare, is another matter. Our neighbor isn’t likely to leave tomorrow, meaning we have to love over a long period of time. Our flaws are likely to show and then we’re no longer the hero. We’re simply human called to love. And the question isn’t which is better. The question is, where God is calling us to? And what if God is calling us right back to the space we find ourselves in? What if God is calling us to address the poor right next door?

And a final link to my blog buddy, Susan Arnold. She has an interesting post that deals with the "where to next" issue for graduating seminarians,

 

...the fact remains that the movement of God’s Spirit in up-and-coming-leadership is very often at “odds” with the existing ethos and modus operandi of the local church. Lets face it. Lots of churches are led by old poops in my age group who don’t have a clue how to disciple anyone because they were told they were supposed to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and be CEO’s in order to “grow the church.” I’ve seen more than one exceptionally gifted young leader get barfed out of the local church for reasons as simple as they just don’t “fit,” don’t have the “chemistry” and so on. Fresh leadership is not all that welcome: it’s rather threatening, actually. It reminds the old guard that they are, well, old, and are supposed to be multiplying and empowering others in their maturity… but they haven’t a clue how and apparently see nothing immoral about such a refusal to be fathers and mothers of a new generation of leaders who will lead in ways they never dreamed of…

I think the answer to Susan's questions (around seminary students and their vocation) is answered well by Eddie Gibbs in this Allelon interview I shot just over a year ago (with Alan Roxburgh.)

A Few Random Posts worth Reading

My friend Susan, the Philosophical Pastor, came out briefly from her blog sabbatical to write Survey Says

First, come out with a “study” that shows that X is good for you. You must have X. X has been shown to prevent cancer and diabetes too and studies have shown almost all of us are at risk for cancer and diabetes. So buy books on how to get more X in your diet. Attend a conference on 27 ways to get your family to eat X.

Then, once the market has been saturated with X (and before it becomes too obvious that X never really did anything for you anyway except drain your pocketbook), come out with another “study” that says X has been found to increase the risk of heart disease.

Oh, but that’s okay because studies show that Y decreases the chances of heart disease! Just add Y, and you’ll be okay.

You’ll probably need some books on Y. And have you heard that exciting new speaker coming to town on “Y eat Y?” Doesn’t that sound great? You know my neighbor eats Y every day and she looks great…..

It was one of the triggers for the It isn't all about Me post of mine, below. And I meant to link to it before I wrote that post.

Brother Maynard has written a great post on writing which you should read (or write about). This video is a good view after reading BroMayn's post. And remember to purchase a copy of BroMayn's new book, That You Might Believe - Praying Advent with the Gospel of John. A hard cover will be available from Lulu shortly and a pdf will be available from BroMayn's site.

Len Hjalmarson (another Canadian blogger who is as prolific as BroMayn) has written embodiment trumps intention.

How is it that we mistake the forms for the essence, the menu for the meal? It is a religious dynamic that revolves around the need for security. Practice is critical. But when we look to external things rather than God’s gift — when we measure our sanctity by our practices, rituals, rules and behaviors, we are no longer walking in faith. When we begin to shake loose of that place in a growing understanding of the standing given to us — hidden in Christ — the whole world is transformed. For many it is like a new birth or a second conversion.

And, in recognition of my own consumeristic tendencies, I confess that I would really like one of these, and one of these and maybe even one of these in black, please. I'm a sinner. Forgive me Lord.

However, if you want to support the great work being done by One Laptop Per Child, you can give one and get one for six more days - consumerism with a bit more of a heart.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our Americans friends. Can anyone say, Tryptophan .

Grace Emerges

Emerging Grace has emerged. Her blog is now Kingdom Grace - she's left Blogger for Wordpress and the world is a better place for it. I've updated her link in my blog roll. Check out her *Recommend* page for some great links.

UPDATE: Let me also point you to a blog I've just begun to read (today), accidental blog. Sarah is a gifted writer. Particularly, read her latest post, Traveling and Pondering.

Man in need of Dressing

David Hayward is an artist, a writer, a humourist, a wine-bibber and has a penchant for fine cigars. He's also a Vineyard pastor who blogs under the moniker, Naked Pastor (thus the title of the post.) Below is an example of David's humour at work. I've added David to both my Google Reader and my "Blogs I Read" list in the right sidebar.

Thinking Bloggers

John Smulo tagged me for the Thinking Bloggers meme - which I do appreciate - but I tend to agree with my friend, Brother Maynard, who says:

...I’m going to break the chain and not name any further thinking bloggers. It certainly isn’t that I don’t have a number of good bloggers who make me think — naming five (or more!) would be quite easy (check my blogroll). This time though, I followed the thinking blogger meme up, down, and sideways a bit, watching who Jamie named and who several other bloggers have named… and I think the five I would name have already been tagged. I’ll leave it to you to follow the links through and see if you can guess who they would have been…

Like he said! (There are a bunch of great bloggers linked to in The People formerly known as The Congregation post - both those who agree and those who disagree with me.)

My recommended bloggers are in the right column. (New ones to be added later this week - including John Smulo. Updated!)

UPDATE: Erika Haub, one of the finest blog writers I know, has also tagged me. She is very, very difficult to resist, but...

Let me just say that Brant Hansen is the funniest, Thinking Blogger (please note the comma) I know. That is, of course, when he's not playing stupid internet games. He can consider himself tagged. Meme is here.

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