Dynamic Yet Consistent

ABSTRACT: Conservative pundits (especially those on talk radio) bash the mainstream media; but what is the alternative they offer? Should we get our news from them with their unapologetic partisanism?

Many of you know that I generally split my radio listening between Conservative Talk Radio and NPR when I am driving. Occasionally I get so disgusted I would rather sit in silence than listen to a bunch of arrogant talking heads.

Well anyway, I have been thinking quite a bit about a term often thrown around by the conservative pundits: The Mainstream Media. If you listen to Hannity, Ingram, or especially Limbaugh, you will notice they speak of “The Mainstream Media” (MSM for short) with the same level of contempt as they do when speaking of terrorists, criminals or illegal immigrants. While they never say it, it can be assumed the MSM refers to traditional news sources other than Fox News. The big 3, CNN, and of course the New York Times and Washington Post.

Now, I have a bit of experience in this discussion. My capstone project for my Mass Comm undergrad degree was on bias in the media and the quest for objectivity. I am willing to admit (for the sake of discussion) that in general, the media leans slightly to the left. However, I will qualify that by saying the reason it does so has more to do with the type of people drawn to media rather than conscious effort (just like most economists are conservative). I would also remind people that the idea of objectivity in the news is a relatively new concept. In fact, it only became mainstream (no pun intended) in the last 75 years with the invention of the television – when only a few diverse people had access to your broadcast you wanted to make sure you did not alienate them. In fact, our country was not founded on the notion of an objective press, but quite the opposite. The press protected by our constitution is a partisan press. When the Bill of Rights was signed, nearly ever media outlet (newspapers of course) served as the mouthpiece of a political party…

But anyway, I digress…

I want to comment on the disdain expressed by conservative pundits towards the MSM. So here is my question: What option are you offering that is better?? Rather than watching CNN or MSNBC are people actually advocating that we should get all of our news from conservative talk radio? Is Rush a better news source than Anderson Cooper or Larry King? Sure there might be some liberal bias in the news stories covered by Brian Williams on the Nightly News, but should we instead turn to people who serve as resounding mouthpieces for their political ideologies? Is Hannity offering a more objective analysis of the president than Bill Russert? Should we get our news from people who have obviously sold out — and by sold out, I am refering to every pundit’s willingness to endorse x product right along side y ideology. Laura Ingram talks about “Go to my PC” with the same enthusiasm as she does about fiscal conservatism and Rush endorses “Cryptonite” as adamantly as he does stricter standards for immigrants. If they are willing to say those things just for the money, why not assume they are willing to spout their political ideology for similar reasons. I don’t blame those guys (and girls), you have to make money some how… but back to my question. If in your ideological ranting you bash the MSM, what is the alternative??

Now I think Nancy Grace is way out there and Olberman has his issues and is obviously speaking from a specific political standpoint. You have just as much right to reject the ramblings of liberal ideologues as I do to reject the rhetoric of conservative talk radio – both extremes are obviously bias. But what does that leave? By my count, it seems to be the “Mainstream Media.”

I am not saying we have a perfect system, but I really do wonder what sources those that bemoan the MSM think we should follow? Can anyone help me out with this?

First, the mandatory confession: I suck at blogging.  There, I said, it now I can continue with my post without having to promise I will do better this time.  Lets face it, chances are this will be my only blog post for six months.  Now on to the good stuff.

The last 2 months have by far been the most transitional of my life.  Mikayla was born, I graduated from seminary, the distillery I work at had its grand opening, Kaleidoscope is undergoing a major transition… the list goes on.  In reflecting on these months I have grown to appreciate the tension of my life (some would call it chaos).  I love having my hands in a bunch of different pots (although I will admit I am not the best multi-tasker).

Right now, my primary job is that of stay-at-home dad.  This is the first week Mikayla and I have been home together alone on a regular basis.  I gotta say I love it.  She is sleeping right next to me on the bed as I type this.  I had someone urge me yesterday to apply for a full time job with great benefits and an excellent salary.  I turned it down.  I would not trade these hours with my daughter for any amount of money.

My primary source of income now comes from Corsair Distillery.  We make top shelf craft spirits.  Right now we are selling a gin, absinthe, spiced rum and vanilla bean vodka.  We are also working on several varieties of whiskey.  I love it because my job is different everyday: run the still, do tours and tastings, clean up, manage press releases, work with distributors, label, bottle, package….  I also enjoy the mix between science and craft.  We basically use science to create a craft product.  I guess you could say my artistic medium of choice is ethanol.

Speaking of Art, that brings me to my next job: Kaleidoscope.  Things really have changed since I came on in 2007.  Instead of a 250K budget, we now have about 5K in our account and no regular source of income.  I used to work more with community development, now I work with development.  Basically I am a (near) volunteer grant writer.  Right now we have well over a million dollars in outstanding grants.  It is crazy just waiting around to hear back on these.  We could live the next 3 years in feast or famine.

Finally, I work as UMC local pastor.  While my appointment is currently to Broadway UMC in Bowling Green, I have spent the last 6 months in Russelville at a small rural church.  They have been awesome to us and it has been great to have a chance to shape my seminary education into messages relevant to the church.  I am sure some of them are sick hearing about the Old Testament and importance of understanding the trajectory of redemptive history, but I am confident our time together has resulted in a better understanding of how we fit into the bigger picture.

Each of these four areas are so diverse, yet capture a small part of who I am.  I am a husband/father/distiller/grant writter/community developer/pastor who doesn’t seek to reconcile his existence, but instead find comfort in the tension.

So I have been thinking about homosexuality recently. I find in discussions about Christianity and the appropriate response to homosexuality, there are never easy conversations. It is rare to find someone who agonizes over the issue without first pre-judging the various camps. That being said, I must admit I am undecided. First, I have found scripture is not as clear as we would like it to be. Second, there is the human factor – it is impossible to flesh out an understanding of the issue in a vacuum with interacting with the real people and real consequences of your decisions. I find this youtube video helpful in reminding us of the human side:

For now, I can affirm the trajectory of redemptive history that seems to err on the side of inclusion.  What that means, I am not yet sure.

I have friends that are bloggers.  I don’t consider myself part of their ranks.  I have some friends who use their blogs to connect with friends and family.  I have some friends who use their blogs to encourage debate and critical thinking.  I have some friends who use their blogs to project an image.  I have a whole lot of friends who have blogs, but never update them.  None of those categories have ever suited me.

That being said, occasionally I come across a blog post that really gets me thinking or gives me a glimpse into a person’s true self.  Those are the posts I am drawn to – the ones that are written for no audience other than the author, where an electronic medium is used as a pathway for self reflection.  If I am going to blog, that is why – to reflect on my thoughts and work through my own understandings.

I have entitled this blog “Dynamic yet Consistent.”  That title comes from a paper I wrote a few years ago about approaches to theology.  It is my contention that in our quest to understand theology and even life itself, we must always allow a fluidity in our thinking, but that fluidity should be taking us someplace – refining our thoughts and our understandings.  I think blogs can reflect that.  We can look back on our pondering years later and see how we have changed.  At the same time, blogs allow for the helpful influence of community in this thought process.

That then undergirds this blog: it is merely my thoughts, but they are presented to you so you can help shape me in my thinking.  I have included a quotes page as well as writings page.  The later is for my own vanity while the former is illustrate the thoughts of those who are shaping me.

You will find several posts precceed this introductory post.  Those were written by me on the now defunct Emergent-BG blog.  I found in reading over them that many express deep thoughts and insights that I have not projected anywhere else.  Some are fitting, others are not.  Feel free to ignore them all.

enjoy…

Stations of the Cross

• Flash version Facilitated by Father David Ward
• Walkthrough of the 14 classic images of the Stations of the Cross

Lectio Divina

•  Intro to Lectio Divina – great resource for individual or group practice.

Labyrinths

• Information about the Labyrinth at Christ Episcopal in Bowling Green
• Information about the Labyrinth at First Christian in Bowling Green
• Labyrinth Finder – This is provided by the Labyrinth Society which has great resources on labyrinths.

A friend of mine works with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and has forwarded this flyer about the Coal to Liquid process which is currently before Kentucky’s legistlature (except of course the House has already adjurned, so the issue may be moot). Since we have discussed the Christian responce to the environment before, I thought this may be of interest to you.

Coal to Liquid Flyer

The modern church has dedicated itself to finding and offering answers when at times I think the question as a whole needs to be revised, or added to.  To overly compartmentalize: Baptists are asking “how is a person saved” [or at times, simply “how do I keep from going to hell”].  Mega churches are asking “How do we reach the most people” [or at times, simply “how can we get more people in our doors”].  Traditional liberals are asking “How can we be agents of social change” [or at times, “how can we make everyone feel good about themselves”].

***obviously I am being a bit simplistic and perhaps a tad cynical, but you get the point***

The problem is that Methodists (and mainline churches in general) aren’t really sure what question to ask.  All of the above questions have merit, but none of them seem to ring entirely true.  So then, what question(s) should we be asking?  I tend to think a good way to determine that is to look at Jesus.  Throughout his life he gave a few examples of “mission statements” which really point to the questions he was asking.  For example:  “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly” -or- “I have come to seek and save the lost” -or- “to preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  If you put all that together, I think Jesus was asking “How do I bring about the Kingdom of God?”

So what happens when our churches start asking this as the primary question?  I think all of the above get answered!  We begin to understand the gospel as something holistic that keeps in tension salvation for the here and now as well as salvation for eternity.  I think it inseparably links discipleship with the ministry of reconciliation.  I think it moves us from an individual understanding of Christianity and salvation into a communal understanding of it.  It also forces us to be an centrifugal church: the dominate force is out from the center.  The only time Jesus asked people to come to him was to a.) minister to them or b.) help him minister to others.

The look and feel and atmosphere of our churches is a direct reflection of the questions they are primarily asking.  There has been tons of research into systems theory and the bulk of it tells us that systems always produce what they were designed to produce.  The problem is they are not always designed like we think they are.

The future of your church and my church, and honestly most of Methodism, is going to be determined by how we understand the role of the church.  I love the question that Rob Bell poses:  If your church were removed from your neighborhood, would anyone besides members notice?  Wow, how is that for convicting.  What is also illustrates is that besides the need to revise our questions, we must also revise our metrics – those things by which we measure the success of the church.

At many churches the numbers we look at are Sunday worship, offering, conversions, and attendance at various other programs.  Don’t get me wrong, those are important because it does show the breadth of our reach, but tell me, does it really measure how well we are bringing about the Kingdom?  The shift to postmodern thinking focuses more on qualitative data than quantitative data.  That is frustrating to those of us entrenched in modernity; however, I can’t help but believe it leads to a better understanding of the impact of a church.  Brian McLaren talks about the need to count conversations rather than conversions.  I think that too is a bit simplistic, but it really forces us to look at things differently.

I believe the church will thrive when it is released from confines of Sunday-centrism.  My wife and I are investigating some intentional community options with other couples (similar to Simple Way in Philly and Communality in Lexington).  Where we stand now, I feel called to go here because I believe it is where I can best minister to the community.  Obviously not everyone can take the step of selling their home to live in a neighborhood with the expressed desire to change “the forgotten places of the Empire” (12 Marks of new monasticism language).  However, I hope that our churches can allow this to be a part of their ministry.  That is what I am struggling with now.  I am ready to sell everything I have to be with the poor and marginalized, I just hope that I can do that because I am Christian connected to the Methodist church rather than in spite of the fact.

We all have lots of questions to ask and I am afraid it is going to lead us to some uncomfortable places.  I however have come to the place where I can no longer go about church as usual.

Let me know your thoughts.

-bk

I had the opportunity to present at a session of the Kentucky Annual Conference of Methodism this past week. During one of our lunch break out sessions, I was a part of a conversation on “Emerging Ministries.” With our denomination in its fourth decade (!!) of decline, people are worried about the future and the near complete lack of 20-30 year olds shows there is reason for concern.

So what is the answer? I will submit to you this: We need to be less concerned about the answers until we start asking the right questions. That is where I believe the emerging church holds promise: not with answers, but with questions.

If church ask the question “How do we get 20 and 30 somethings into our doors?” I believe we will fail miserable. Instead, we should inquire “What questions are these new generations asking?” This generation is no longer primarily asking “How do I get to heaven when I die?” or “What church is best for me?” Instead, we find a generation who is asking things like:

• What does salvation look like here on earth?
• How can we experience holistic worship and restoration?
• What does it mean to pray ‘Thy Kingdom come?’
• Where can I find authentic community?

These questions are more than just a shift in focus, they are a shift in thinking. This postmodern generation now thinks narratively in a non-lineal fashion and approaches issues holistically. Spiritual restoration cannot happen apart from physical and emotional restoration.

To say these things is not to deny the importance of other’s questions. I am convinced that disagreements in the church are less about different answers once we realize the questions we each are asking.

Here are the first set of pictures from our Freedom Day:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1369&l=c932b&id=504187490

http://wku.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074349&l=59ff1&id=41116538

Use the following links to contact  people in power to let them know you are concerned about the labor practices in the chocolate industry.  Ask them to pursue Fair Trade designations and to pass legislation that will combat human trafficking on all fronts:

State Legislature:

• Senate District 32- Senator Brett Guthrie (R)
  
• House District 22 – Representative Rob Wilkey (D)
  
• House District 20 – Representative Jody Richards (D)
  
• House District 21 – Representative Jim DeCesare (R)
  
• House District 23 – Representative Johnny Bell (D)
  
• Contact the Governor

National Legislature:

• U.S. Senator Jim Bunning
• Senator Mitch McConnell – Contact Form
• Contact your Congressperson in the U.S. House of Representatives
• House Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight
• Senate Foreign Relations subcommittees

“Big Chocolate”

• Contact Us – HERSHEY’S
• Nestlé – Contact Us