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Introduction To The House of Carr
Introduction To The House of Carr

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Digital Playground

When I have my day off with Kaelyn, I quickly figure out what tasks I can accomplish with a fifteen pound five-month-old in my hands. For instance, since there are times when she's fussy or needs a bottle that can only be done when I'm standing, watching television is a must. Fortunately, we have cable, so I spent a couple of hours watching Dog The Bounty Hunter. Heard good things about it, but I never watched it until today. It was rather entertaining. I might have to make it a frequent view.

While holding Kaelyn it's tough to work on the laptop, unless it requires no typing. Usually that means surfing the web to read my RSS feeds. But today I felt motivated to mess around with my Adobe Photoshop Elements software.

Photoshop Elements is the less frills, cheaper version of regular Photoshop, but it still allows you to kick some serious butt. I had the program a few months before I started to learn it and used today as a chance to experiment and see what I could do.

Thought I'd share, so here's some of the stuff I came up with:

Union Terminal

Fort Washington Way on-ramp

Cincinnati Skyline

Dan Beard Bridge

More later.

Not So Poisonous

The last time Aaron and I were at Annie's, we were rocking out to Brett Michaels. Tonight, a mere week before they were welcoming Girls Gone Wild [no joke], we went to her Echo's worship leader play. Tye and Andrea VonAllmen are Artists and Authors, trying to do music and make a difference. They had the chance to open up for Seabird tonight [who Aaron kept calling "Seabass"] and played a great set. They'll be cutting an EP soon that should be most excellent.

We're incredibly blessed to have Tye and Andrea help as we get Echo up and running. Be sure to check out their music at Myspace.

My Entire Planet Is Blue

I have ideas, friends. Crazy ideas. Sometimes they haunt me. In fact, they haunt me so bitterly that I'm sometimes compelled to do something about them. Recently I've been mulling a particular idea. Even yesterday I made reference to my Tetris obsession. As I've been playing the Gameboy version the past few months I envisioned a book that would draw practical leadership applications from playing the game.

For instance, take risks, but take controlled risks. Sure it might yield huge points to clear four lines, but who's to say that illustrious four blocker will even appear? Or how about this simple one: never give up. Just when you're ready to reset the game, things can fall into place without you even doing anything.

There's plenty more where that came from. I'm a veritable fount of Russian leadership fundamentals.

And there are compelling reasons, I believe, that would cause people to purchase such a book such as:

  • The twentieth anniversary of the game is coming next year, so the cross-promotion timing would be perfect.
  • Leadership books are still a desired commodity, but few present themselves as "outside of the box." Yet those are the exact books that sell well. A Tetris leadership book? Way outside that there box.
  • A book like this also appeals to the legions of Tetris fans who've spent hours playing [as well as dreaming about] this geometric masterpiece.

I was feeling it, folks.

So before I wasted time working a manuscript or contacting publishing companies I decided to see if it was even feasible. You see, a company called Blue Planet Software owns all copyright powers for the game of Tetris [there's even a fascinating article on their site about how the game took off]. My book would be impossible without their complete approval, so I wrote a wonderfully descriptive email stating my idea/case, asking them if a book would even be a possibility.

I held my breath and, two days later, I received this:

Hi Steve, WOW, thank you for sharing your "Tetris" experience and your request for permission to publish a "leadership skills of Tetris" book. Unfortunately, we respectfully decline your request.

All the best to you,
David Kwock

Business Development Blue Planet Software Denied. Very sad.

It's still a good idea, people. I'll store this one in the vaults until they come around. But until them, if you see a Tetris leadership book on the market in the next couple of years, call my lawyers 'cause you heard it here first.

Lost Respects

Quick, what is this a picture of? If you answered a video game funeral, you'd be correct.

I still don't get the fascination with these online role-play games. Never played Dungeons and Dragons, dabbled in War Craft but I sucked at it, so I figured I should stick to Tetris and be content. Good move. I could've cost me a wife . . . and a life.

Today's gamers are hardcore crazy. They spend hours developing whole virtual societies that they take very seriously. Hence, the afore mentioned virtual funeral. I can't fathom that people would play a video game to pay respects to another character. Can you imagine the conversation some guy had to have:

Friend: "Hey man, wanna go catch a movie later?" Gamer: "Can't. I have to go to a funeral." Friend: "Sorry about that. Is the ceremony in town?" Gamer: "Not really. It will take place beside the Lake of Gobblegrand in Gnomeworld. Friend: "Uh, O.K. Who died? Gamer: "Geldolf, Enchanter of the Harland Woods." Friend: "Um . . . right. How old was he?" Gamer: "1,999 years old. It's rather unfortunate. He was a few weeks shy of his 2,000th birthday." Friend: "Yeah . . . I don't think we should hang out anymore."

Truly sad.

The only thing funnier than that funeral would be this:

A video game funeral killing spree.

Seems some guys decided to hijack the funeral and started killing all who attended. Priceless. Maybe gaming isn't as dorky as I thought.

I'm going to put a link to the video here for those interested, but must warn you that it contains explicit language. If you prefer not to observe potty language, then this video isn't for you. With that warning in place, here it is.

Need To Waste Ten Minutes?

Then here's a fascinating read. You ever get those spam emails telling you of a great investment opportunity in Africa? You know, the one that claims that, if you'll only mail some poor sap $3,000, you'll gain access to millions of dollars in a king's Swiss bank account?

Well this guy did and decided to play a game with the spammer. What follows is an amazing two month ordeal where the potential victim ends up duping the guy for custom-made stuff.

Like I warned, it takes awhile to read, but I found it worth it in the end.

HT: Two Worlds

I Cannot Tell A Lie:

Right now, I'm watching Pee Wee's Playhouse on Comedy Central. Before there was Sponge Bob, there was Pee-Wee. A quick synopsis of what's going on:

-The foil ball is huge.

-The goalie from the movie The Mighty Ducks is on. But he's like 7 years old.

-A pre-Neo Laurence Fishburne is Cowboy Curtis.

-A pre-SNL Phil Hartman is Captain Carl [RIP].

-A scene with Tito, the lifeguard of Pee-Wee's pool, made me feel icky.

-The King of Cartoons is a fascist dictator.

-Wonder what happened to Penny during the recession?

-Randy, the bully, is doing ten to twenty in the state pen for stabbing a guy.

-And the secret word is "door."

I believe, in the next episode, he leads a field trip to a movie theatre in East LA.

No wonder so many in my generation reverted to pot. It's probably the only way that this show makes any sense.

"Mecka-lecka-hi, mecka-hinee-ho."

Headbutt Heard Round The World

Italy wins. Too bad. What on earth could possibly cause Zidane to head but this guy? Perhaps the fact that he's one of the dirtiest players in Europe [see video].

I hope Zidane comes out with what exactly Materazzi said that set him off. Early reports are it was a racial slur. I guess that whole "end racism" campaign FIFA ran this year was all for naught. Regardless, it's a shame to see such a great player go out like that. Zidane needs to know better to go the distance and then seek restitution after the match.

And penalty kicks are no way to decide a championship. But I might still be bitter after losing one on PKs a few years back.

Wha-chu Gonna Do?

Define "irony."While getting ready to go to bed, I'm hoping to catch the late version of Best Week Ever on VH1. Instead, they're playing a behind the scenes look at Cops. While the infamous theme music is playing, I hear sirens coming over Kaelyn's baby monitor. I glance out the window to see this:

Eight cop cars, officers with guns drawn, ordering the suspect to come out. I grab Kaelyn out of her nursery, hand her to Kelly in our room, and then grab a camera so I can digitally gawk.

You can't see it well, but it's an older Cadillac with what appears to be a mattress on top. Not quite sure what was going on but the guy must've had an accomplice because, within seconds, all but two of the police cars left and zoomed back up the street.

Even more entertaining than the TV show.

NACC Part Three [My Complaint]

I didn't forget about my final installment about the NACC, I was just waiting to see how it all played out. See, while I thoroughly enjoyed the week, something didn't sit well with me. Instead of keeping it to myself, I felt obligated to send an email to some people "in charge" of this and future conventions.

Before the Friday night session, embattled Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher was invited to read Scripture. Fletcher is not affiliated with any branch of the Restoration Movement but was, at one time, a Baptist minister. He was introduced by the lovable Wayne Smith, formerly of Southland Christian Church in Lexington; from the stage Wayne basically endorsed his reelection campaign.

I should note that earlier in the week, the deputy mayor of Louisville read Scripture, but he is a member of a local non-instrumental Church of Christ, the very churches we were talking about unity with. I saw the two incidents as different. I could explain that better.

But I think my email best describes my feelings:

Gentlemen,

The NACC is one of my favorite events. I have had the privilege of attending 16 North Americans in my life, some while a child, others as a student, and now as a minister. I value greatly our movement and long to see the continued spread of Restoration principles throughout churches worldwide.

While I enjoyed much about the past week in Louisville, from the great preaching to the incredible reaction to the call for unity, there was something that bothered me. I was hesitant to voice my opinion considering there's no shortage of criticism of the NACC; I'm leery of being branded as a negative soul, so I considered not even sending this. Yet I feel compelled to say this as someone from the next generation who is striving for unity in his own context. So as an advocate of the convention, and as a friend, I pray that you take my words as nothing more than constructive criticism.

I found the decision to allow Governor Ernie Fletcher to read Scripture before the Wednesday night sermon disturbing. My opinion of this incident has nothing to do with the Governor's current political situation but is focused on the message that his appearance sent.

On Thursday, the Louisville Courier Journal ran an article entitled "Christian Convention Welcomes Fletcher." It was the only story the paper ran about the convention during our time there. For an average reader unfamiliar with our convention or fellowship, the message of unity was overshadowed by the celebrity appearance of a politician. While we understand this wasn't an endorsement in any way, it could easily be misconstrued as such by an unknowledgable public; most church conventions that invite a politician to speak usually wish to identify themselves with that person's political values. Of course, this isn't the kind of message the NACC wants to portray (I assume), but that's what it appears to be.

Also, I understand that Wayne Smith's comments are not necessarily those of the NACC, but they can be easily misinterpreted as such. In our world of highly-charged political discussions, the ramifications of this appearance should have been thought out in advance by the stewards of the convention. Was Fletcher's appearance necessary to make the convention better? No. Are we seeking validation to make our message viable? I hope not. So I find myself struggling to find the positives here.

My church is located in urban Cincinnati. The majority of my community is socially liberal and votes Democrat. These are people our Restoration Movement churches have struggled to reach with the gospel. We're doing our best to teach them about the love of Jesus. If they heard about this Fletcher appearance at the NACC and then discovered our church's affiliation with the convention, it could provide an unnecessary stumbling block in their path and hurt their chances of responding to our message. You might think this a stretch, but it's true.

In two years, when the NACC returns to Cincinnati, I plan on encouraging my congregation to attend and will use it as an opportunity to explain where our church/theology came from. I'm proud of the NACC, our heritage, and our plea. I would be saddened if a dispensable political appearance drowned out our preaching.

I sincerely appreciate all you do to make this convention a success. And I believe your intentions were noble and not malicious. But if allowing local elected officials to take the NACC stage to speak is an accepted precedent, it should definitely be reconsidered. May God bless you as you continue to serve in His Kingdom.

Blessings, Steve Carr

Half the people that I contacted responded to the email, all agreeing with my concerns and promising to see that this kind of thing doesn't happen again. I should add that I was corrected by one of the respondents: the Louisville Courier Journal did print another article [released after I had left town] concerning the unity efforts of the convention.

So now I've officially wrapped up all my lose ends about the North American. You can view the other posts here and here.

Help Echo Church

This article in Leadership Journal is a sad indictment on the state of the American church. Like never before we have the opportunity to reach people around the globe but we're neglecting to wield the most powerful weapon in our arsenal: Prayer.

When we started Echo, we made a commitment to making prayer a foundation of our church. We usually meet on Wednesday nights in order to lift up our city before God in prayer.

As we approach our relaunch, we're trying to get a group of people praying for Echo and the desired expansion of our ministry. Beginning Saturday July 8th, this time of petition will last four weeks culminating in a prayer service during our Sunday gathering on August 6th.

We're asking for people like you to join is in four weeks of prayer for our church, our community, and our mission. As we seek 100 prayer partners, there are three things we need from you:

1) Email us at info@echochurch.org to confirm that you will be praying with us. 2) Refer to this site: http://agentemily.googlepages.com/home, our prayer webpage. 3) Forward this request to people who would be interested in joining our prayer time.

With God all things are possible, so we're giving it up to Him.

Please join us.

Superstar!

Rockstar, the summer show where a band does American Idol to find a frontman to their group, is back. INXS was good. They had some great tunes and were always cordial to the contestants. And they ended up picking out a great replacement for the very talented Michael Hutchinson. I even downloaded their single "Pretty Vegas" on iTunes.

Supernova, however, will be way better.

Tommy Lee is classic. Jason Newsted [Metallica] is well known for speaking exactly what's on his mind. And I was a big Guns N Roses fan but had no idea who Gilby Clarke was. Two out of three ain't bad.

Note for interested viewers: ignore the women. There's no way in Hades that these guys are picking a chick to front their band.

And Dilana scares me.

The Beginning Of The End

It might not be as impactful as July 4th, but July 1st might end up being a benchmark date for the future of the evangelical church in the United States. Last Saturday night Gene Appel, a glorious son of the Restoration Movement and lead pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, announced that Willow is eliminating Axis, their "Generation X" worship service. Why is this important? Because no matter how hard we want to deny it, as goes Willow Creek so goes the majority of cutting edge/hip churches in the country.

Willow Creek started their Axis service in 1995 with the intention of attracting an ever-dwindling group of twenty-somethings. It originally proved to be a successful model and was emulated at churches around the country. The two main reasons cited for pulling the plug was 1) the change that Axis had on the church as a whole, blurring the worship differences thus eliminating the need for Axis and 2) the desire for the church to reclaim an intergenerational focus.

Dan Kimball, author of Emerging Worship, is surprised this didn't happen long ago. He cited the difference between generational and worldview differences as to why Axis met its demise: "But when these new worship gatherings within a church are only generational and not considering the worldview changes - what mainly happens is that they then cater to those who grew up in that church or another church. People come to where they have better music, cooler environment and be around people their age and can do the healthy single flirt with others. Because of the power structure, they report to the senior pastor or Executive Pastor at a church. To some degree, and I say this with respect, it is somewhat of a glorified youth ministry in most cases. So these are generational changes and catering ministry to a generational change. However, if the changes in culture are bigger than that though - then it is absurd to think that creating a different aesthetic environment and changing the music is really being missional."

A few of my thoughts about all this. First, I would say that one thing I really appreciate about Willow is their willingness to admit when something needs to change. Instead of holding onto to something for the sake of "being right," they have no qualms about questioning everything they do in order to accomplish their mission. If more churches were honest about their mistakes, I imagine the Kingdom as a whole would benefit. But I'm not holding my breath waiting for this to happen.

Second, I think this reinforces the idea that we need many different churches [new churches at that] in order to reach people of different worldviews. Cincinnati is a great example of this as different neighborhoods have different worldviews. Instead of churches that meet everyone's needs, we need to improve at being missional. Sure, I'd love for Echo to be a place that could reach out to every kind of person, but it's just not going to happen. I have to be willing to be honest about our church and not fear when people don't click with the way we do ministry.

Finally, I really believe that intergenerational ministry is where it's at. I know there are young guys like me out there starting churches because they're ticked-off at the old ways of doing things. Because of this, our churches are beginning to be social clubs for people of like backgrounds. I recently heard one church planting "expert" who asserted that the church planter can best reach out to people who are just like him. If this is true, then the power of the gospel is neutered. A Biblical church should have people of various backgrounds that are drawn to gather together because of Jesus. I'd love to have older people be a part of Echo.

All this might not seem like much to you but, trust me, it's more significant than you realize.

Don't Let It End

So back to the Styx concert. For the first time ever we left Kaelyn with non-family as we went out for the night . . . well, if you don't count the three weeks when she was in the NICU it was the first time ever. Ed and Sheryl offered to watch her [THANKS AGAIN, GUYS!] so Kelly, Larry and I met up with Tim at Corwin Nixon Park and found a good place to watch the concert.

Spending three years in Mason gave me a good community sense, so I feel I can authoritatively offer that it was a good mixture of residents and non-residents alike. Masonic influence was present as people instinctively lined up their lawn chairs in meticulously ordered rows without being directed. But the non-Mason goyim were there as well, identifiable by their denim cut-off shorts and fishing coolers lined with beer. Yes, friends, you could sense a good time was to be had by all.

It was great to run into some people from Christ's Church who were there. The crowd was so large, there were probably some there we didn't get to see. I'll bet the seniors group was somewhere near the front, showing some skin in the hope of getting called backstage.

Beyond the actual concert, the city did well to be as lame as possible. The "opening act" was selected individuals singing the same patriotic songs in different forms. Then the city officials felt obligated to milk the opportunity for some free face time. I will say that the mayor's remarks were so laughable I'm not going to repeat them here suffice to say that, according to her, I think Styx won our freedom from the British.

And then the band played.

The band opened with "Blue Collar Man" which I found ironic since the city is rather white collar. A quick transition to "Grand Illusion" and, before I knew it, we were singing the tribute to my niece. Of course, they finally decided to play the notorious "Obscure Song From The First Album That No One Knows Except Die-Hard Fans." I looked around the crowd, wondering if anyone was familiar with the song, and I saw him. "He" was the ultimate Styx fan. I was impressed. Very impressed, in fact. I'm just saying that he knew the verses to songs the band didn't even remember. I had to take a photograph of him so Tim and Larry parted the waters so I could snap this:

It wasn't a good pic, but something to remember him by. He was absolutely amazing. I shall never forget him and his devotion to Styx-ism.

The ninety minutes flew by. Before we knew it, it was over. But we didn't go far, knowing that an encore was in store. There was but one song that remained. A little "Renegade" to serenade us home. They did not disappoint. Oh mama, they brought it home.

As we walked away, the fireworks exploding above our heads was the exclamation point on the perfect night. We rocked out friends. And freedom rang.

For a little more, refer to this post or gaze longingly at this picture:

I'm Kilroy!

Only one thing could cause me to rock out as hard as this: A concert by an 80's band.

Yep, we got to see Styx in concert tonight in Mason.

More on the experience tomorrow, but how about a teaser? So that you at home can, in some small way, experience what it's like to rock out with me, here's some video that Kelly took with our digital camera. Do enjoy.