Dream Awakener

Top Posts and Top Cities from April

You can make a guess of what the picture represents on the left.  In today's post I am sharing the five most popular posts this past month, in case you missed one of them.  Also, I have found that some of you who follow this blog enjoy learning about the other people who visit this site, so I try to give a monthly report of the top 50 cities that have visited this blog in the past month.  So here are the top five posts and top 50 cities.

TOP FIVE POSTS IN APRIL
Is Conversion a Four-Letter Word? Series
Finding Truth in a Sound Bite Society
Why We're Not Emergent By Two Guys Who Should Be - Literary Review
Need Inspiration?
A Celtic Prayer

TOP 50 CITIES VISITING THIS BLOG IN APRIL
Richmond, VA
Los Angeles
Amsterdam
Herdon, VA
Vancouver, BC
New York
London
Atlanta
Dallas
Fayetteville, NC

Boston
Plano, TX
Chicago
Mt. Laurel, NJ
Ann Arbor, MI
San Francisco
Bronx, NY
Snohomish, WA
Irvine, CA
Grass Valley, CA

Blacksburg, VA
Bethpage, NY
Sydney, Australia
Tulsa, OK
Washington D.C.
Marysville, WA
Columbia, MO
Sanford, FL
San Jose, CA
Waterford, MI

Houston
Redmond, WA
Columbus, OH
Toronto, Canada
Austin
Portland
St. Louis
Seattle
West Palm Beach, FL
Phoenix

Roanoke, TX
Overland Park, KS
Media, PN
Minnipeg, Canada
Auckland, New Zealand
Singapore
Calgary, Canada
Bangkok, Thailand
Pasadena, CA
Miami, FL

Invisible Children Roadies This Saturday at Artist @ the Fountain

This Saturday, April 19th at 7:30 p.m.  Artist @ the Fountain presents a screening of Black is for Sunday.  There is no cover.
 

A four person road crew from Invisible Children will be hosting this event.  They will be giving updates on what is happening with Invisible Children as well as showing the film. If you are in the LA area and want to come to this film screening, the Fountain Room is located at 4903 Fountain Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90029.

ABOUT "BLACK IS FOR SUNDAY"
Invisible Children's filmmaker Bobby Bailey went back to northern Uganda in March 2007 to spend 10 days living among and like the people displaced for 10 years in one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time.  His adventure took him to the heart of the longest running war in Africa and into the life of a child that would change his life forever.

In this film, you will meet Sunday.  Only 15 years old, there isn't a part of his life that hasn't been affected by the war.  Orphaned at a young age, he lives in a displacement camp and struggles to survive amid the affects of poverty, disease, and malnutrition.  Having no family left to depend on, he must try to provide for himself.

But without enough time to work and go to class, Sunday can't make the money needed to pay his fees and is asked to leave school.  The war that has already taken so much from him now threatens to take the most valuable thing he has left: a future.

Come check out the screening.  Spread the word.  This Saturday, April 19th at 7:30 p.m. The Fountain Room 4903 Fountain Avenue  Hollywood, CA 90029  There is no cover, but you can buy black bracelets to help the children in Uganda.

Easter Weekend Events

Spiritual Mentoring Part VII

I'm continuing to review Keith Anderson and Randy Reese's book entitled  Spiritual Mentoring. Here is a short paragraph of what I gleaned, and what was important to me from chapter six.

CHAPTER SIX
If a mentoree is going to persevere and experience empowerment to live a Christ-like life, this means that the mentor and mentoree need a kind of relationship in which the mentor helps the mentoree engage in spiritual exercises in such a way that allows the Holy Spirit to fill the sails of the mentoree and blow them past the finish line well.  These exercises include the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius that I have mentioned earlier as well as the lectio divina and as Dallas Willard prescribes, solitude and silence as well as study and worship.

Monday Morning Medicine

  american cities 
  Originally uploaded by dream awakener

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."  Proverbs 17:22 NLT

A GHETTO CHRISTMAS
'Twas da night befo' Christmas and all in the hood,
Not a homie was stirrin cuz it was all good.
The tube socks was hung on the window sill,
And we all had smiles up on our grill.

Mookie and BeBe was snug in the crib,
In the back bedroom, cuz that's how we live.
And Moms in her do-rag and me with my nine,
Had just gotten busy cuz my girlfriend is fine.

All of a sudden a lowrider rolled by,
Bumpin' phat beats cuz the system be fly.
I bounced to the window at a quarter pas',
'Bout ready to pop a cap in somebody's .......!

I yelled to my lady, Yo peep this!
She said, Stop frontin' and just mind yo' bidness.
I said, for real doe, come check dis out.
We weren't even buggin', no worries, no doubt.

Cuz bumpin' an thumpin' from around da way,
Was Santa, eight reindeer and a sleigh.
Da beats was kickin', da ride was phat,
I said, "Yo red Dawg, you all that!"

He threw up a sign and yelled to his boyz,
"Ay yo, give it up, let's make some noise!"
To the top of the projects & across the strip mall,
We gots ta go, I got a booty call!"

He pulled up his ride on the top a da roof,
And sippin' on a 40, he busted a move.
I yelled up to Santa, "Yo ain't got no stack!"
He said, "Damn homie, deese projects is wack!

But don't worry black, cuz I gots da skillz,
I learnt back when I hadda pay da billz."
Out from his bag he pulled 3 small tings,
A credit card, a knife, and a bobby pin.

He slid down the fire exscape smoove as a cat,
And busted the window wit' a b-ball bat.
I said, "Whassup, Santa? Whydya bust my place?"
He said, "You best get on up out my face!"

His threads was all leatha, his chains was all gold,
His sneaks was Puma and they was 5 years old.
He dropped down the duffle, Clippers logo on the side.
Santa broke out da loot and my mouf popped open wide.

A wink of his eye and a shine off his gold toof,
He cabbage patched his way back onto the roof.
He jumped in his hooptie wit' rims made of chrome,
To tap that booty waitin' at home.

And all I heard as he cruised outta sight,
Was a loud and hearty.....
"WEEESST SIIIIDE!!!!!!"

Artist @ the Fountain: This Saturday

About once a month, we have what we call Artist @ the Fountain here in Hollywood, where we appreciate and enjoy some of the local and trans-local artists as well as bring awareness of and raise funds for social justice issues, both locally and internationally.  This coming Saturday is our next installment of Artists @ the Fountain at the Fountain Room.  Our opening band is Feminique, an all female acappella group from the Musician's Institute here in Hollywood.  Our headline band is beautifulcriminal, which is based here in Los Angeles.  You can find some of their music here as well as see a recent video just above this paragraph. Details of the event are here below in this flyer. If you are in the area, we would love to have you come out and join us.  All proceeds are going to help with an annual event we do here in East Hollywood for needy kids around Christmas.  Last year over 700 kids participated.  This year we are expecting close to a 1,000.

An Interview with Ron Osborn about Los Angeles 88

Recently we hosted some training with the Salvation Army and the SDA on how to spot and assist victims of human trafficking.  During the training time I had the chance to meet Ronald Osborn, who is working to help people become more aware of the on-going crises in Burma (Myanmar).  He with others have organized a group called the Los Angeles 88 which in various ways tries to bring a greater awareness and redemptive actions to this crisis.  Ryan Bell and I met with him today to talk about some things we can do in the future to bring a greater awareness of this crises.  Early I sent Ron some interview questions via e-mail and here is his response:

INTERVIEW WITH RON OSBORN
JR: Tell us a little about yourself and how you first got involved in being an activist on behalf of the people of Burma (Myanmar)?

Ron: I actually don't feel like I can honestly claim the title of "Burma activist".  I'm a PhD student in politics and international relations at the University of Southern California and was once accused by a friend of being an "armchair activist".  But when I discovered that there is no Burma campaign at USC and that very few students know about what has been happening there I felt compelled to step outside of my comfort zone and start a campaign to try to help raise awareness and take concrete action.  Maybe one of the reasons why Burma roused me from my inertia is that I taught English in Thailand for several years and visited refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border.

JR: Why did you decide to organize the event - Los Angeles 88: In Solidarity with Burma, this coming Saturday?

Ron: I'm not the organizer of the event but one of several individuals involved in a network that includes Burmese and other students,members of the interfaith community, and human rights activists.  Our goal is to maintain attention to the ongoing crisis in Burma, to show our solidarity with the courageous monks and people of Burma, and to urge Congress to pass legislation that will force western corporations--and especially Chevron--to stop funding oppression by doing business with the military regime.

JR: What are you hoping happens as a result of this Solidarity Rally?

Ron: We hope that area media will pay attention to this event and that we can raise awareness among the people of Los Angeles about the struggle for human rights in Burma.  We that through various communication channels word of what we are doing will filter back to Burma and encourage people there to continue to resist the military regime.  We hope that countries and corporations that continue to do business with the generals realize that we are on to their game.  And we hope to gather hundreds of names for a petition letter that will be sent to key members of Congress urging them to support the Saffron Revolution Support Act introduced by Senator John McCain, which would force Chevron to end its ties with the generals.

JR: How can someone learn more about the atrocities in Burma as well as this upcoming event in Los Angeles?

We have a webpage up and running that describes the goals of the Saturday rally and provides information on the role of Chevron and Total in financing brutality in the country. Anyone with a facebook account can also join our Los Angeles 88 group, which includes regular updates of Burma events in the LA area including rallies, film screenings, campaigns, and lectures.

Thank you Ron for what you are doing to help us be more aware of this crises.  Just last week I had the chance to see Total Denial, which was a moving documentary on the Burmese crises.  It is playing this week at various Indy theaters around Los Angeles.

East Hollywood Election Results

  That's Hollywood 
  Originally uploaded by tata_aka_T

So, some of you have asked how the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council Elections went.  I just wanted to let you know that I did get elected and that each of the candidates that I endorsed were elected, aside from one candidate who was a write in running against others who were on the ballot.  He only lost by two votes.

Now comes the hard work, transforming the neighborhood.

This Week with Henri Nouwen - Going to the Margins

"Those who are marginal in the world are central in the Church, and that is how it is supposed to be! Thus we are called as members of the Church to keep going to the margins of our society. The homeless, the starving, parentless children, people with AIDS, our emotionally disturbed brothers and sisters - they require our first attention.

We can trust that when we reach out with all our energy to the margins of our society we will discover that petty disagreements, fruitless debates, and paralysing rivalries will recede and gradually vanish. The Church will always be renewed when our attention shifts from ourselves to those who need our care. The blessing of Jesus always comes to us through the poor. The most remarkable experience of those who work with the poor is that, in the end, the poor give more than they receive. They give food to us." - Henri Nouwen

Halloween in Hollywood

  something scary in Los Angeles 
  Originally uploaded by incendiarymind

It is interesting to me that the biggest party time of the year here in Los Angeles is not New Year's Eve, not Christmas, not Easter, but HALLOWEEN.  There are huge parties everywhere, especially in West Hollywood.  People come from all around to celebrate Halloween here.

Today my friend Chris and I went to lunch down the road and on the way back decided to stop by this costume place right down the road from where I live (I live on Hollywood Blvd in East Hollywood).  While we were at the costume shop it turns out that Ricky Martin was picking up his costume for the night.  My friend's cousin really likes Ricky so he asked him if he could have his picture with him.  I snapped it on my iphone.  Just another day here in Hollywood. 

I called my friend in the paparazzi, but it was too late, for by the time I got a hold of her, Ricky was gone. One of the interesting ministries I get to engage in by living in Hollywood is connecting with people who have the most interesting vocations.  In my desire to live incarnationally and to build bridges with people so that Jesus might walk from my heart to theirs,  I sometimes hang with people at their jobs.  Last week I did that with a guy in the paparazzi.  It made for a very interesting day.  Who said ministry couldn't be fun.  Sometimes it is too fun to be legal.

I enjoyed this little piece by Richard Mouw (Pres. of Fuller) on Halloween.  Here is a portion of it: 

"I’m not a hardline Christian critic of Halloween. For the most part it strikes me as fairly innocent fun. I was even quoted in USA TODAY a few years ago as wishing that the Christians who warn against the celebration of Halloween would lighten up a bit.

But I will not be doing any trick-or-treating or going to any Halloween parties again this year. I do plan, however, to have my own quiet observance of the Protestant Reformation. Even though Reformation Day seems to be getting less attention each year, it does happen around the same time as Halloween.

Actually, the Reformation and Halloween have some things in common. At their origins both were addressed to the power of evil in the world.

Halloween traces back to a time when folks believed that this is a time of the year when the spirits of the dead are roaming the earth, and they need to be placated by treats in order to ward off their malevolent tricks..." Check here if you want to read the rest.

Monday Morning Medicine

  Los Angeles - Marathon 
  Originally uploaded by Chris&Steve

“A cheerful heart is good medicine.” Proverbs 17:22 NLT

LASTING IN MINISTRY
John Ortberg tells about the time that he was watching a friend of his run in the Los Angeles Marathon.  Have you ever run in a marathon before?  Even if you haven’t run in a marathon, I think you’ll enjoy this.  This humorous story also gives you a little glimpse into the crazy city in which I currently serve.

There were 18,000 runners – 18,000 brave, motivated, skinny, overachieving, masochistic people.  With the event being held in California, some of the runners were a little out of the ordinary.  One guy ran in full circus makeup and called himself “T-bone the Clown.”  Another contestant ran as “Flower Man.”  Thirteen people draped themselves in a specially designed costume and competed as a human centipede.

The starting line was a sight to behold.  T-bone was shaking hands with the crowd and laughing and waving.  The centipede looked friskier than a centipede has a right to be.

Then the race began.  The first phase of such a race might be called the pleasure stage.  At this point running is fun.  Your body is loose, your heart is pumping, you are “one with the cosmos”:  The blood is flowing, the head is clear, the lungs are breathing deeply, the birds are singing, the sun is shining, the fish are jumping, the cotton is high, Daddy’s rich, and Momma’s good-looking.  You are functioning like a well-oiled machine. 

Now how long this stage lasts depends on the runner’s conditioning.  If I were running a marathon, this stage would last about twelve or thirteen feet.  Not too long.

After the initial rush of pleasure, running becomes drudgery.  After drudgery it becomes effortful and laborious.  And if you keep going long enough, you reach the point when the temptation to stop is overwhelming.  Your feet are protesting vigorously, knives of pain are stabbing your calves; your lungs have burning coals at the bottom of them.  Runners speak of this experience as “hitting the wall.”

At this stage, the LA marathon really became interesting.  John describes it:  T-bone wasn’t laughing with the crowd anymore.  The human centipede was hanging over the fence, and it didn’t look good – all thirteen centipedal stomachs united in collective revolt.  At the finish line, people came dribbling in one at a time.  Some didn’t make it at all.

The start of a race is enjoyable.  It is easy.  Finishing is hard work.  To finish well – that’s glory.  Finishing well is what counts.

Your life is like a marathon, more than a sprint.  And that is why we are encouraged to run the race with endurance. Heb. 12:1  NIV says, “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”   Once you discover your life purpose and begin to live it out, you will experience all kinds of difficulties and you will be tempted to quit.  You will have times in your life where you will just want to throw in the towel. We need to be people who learn the art of perseverance.

Southern California Fires - Thanks for Your Prayers

I wanted to thank those of you who have called me, sent me e-mails and messages with your prayers of concern, in regard to the fires that are popping up all around Southern California.  A neighbor of mine who was  traveling to San Deigo, has not been able to come back to LA yet because of the fires, the road closes, and so forth.

My friend Dustin just sent me these pictures, so I thought I would post them as a public service and ask you for prayer.  I'm not sure where he got them, but here they are:

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Please pray for those who have lost their homes or been effected in some way, and thanks again for the phone calls, the e-mails and messages.  Just so you know, the fires haven't sparked up here in East Hollywood. (We got real close the last time.)  Our congregation in West LA  was camping this past weekend and most of them headed home Saturday night when the wind gusted up to 111 mph at times and was steadily over 55 mph. While some of them may have lost their tents, none of them were injured.  But we obviously have many neighbors going through rough times.  Thanks for your prayers of concern.

NBC Moving From Burbank back to Los Angeles

  NBC Studios, Burbank 
  Originally uploaded by dogwelder

The LA Times reports that NBC Studios is moving from Burbank where it has been for more than 50 years , back to Los Angeles.  Here are a few clips from the article:

"The studio has a rich history, as home to such iconic programs as "The Tonight Show," first with Johnny Carson and now with Jay Leno, as well as "Hollywood Squares," "To Tell the Truth" and "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In." Elvis Presley taped his 1968 Christmas special there, and Tom Brokaw started his NBC career at KNBC-TV Channel 4, which shares the premises."

"The company intends to relocate the network and local news operations from Burbank to a new headquarters in a massive complex planned a couple of miles away on Lankershim Boulevard, across the street from Universal Studios.

A Red Line subway station and a sprawling parking lot now occupy the proposed site next to the 101 Freeway. The subway stop will remain and be part of the new complex.

The new "green" facility, with its high-definition news headquarters, is scheduled to house NBC News' West Coast operations and the local news staffs of KNBC and Spanish-language Telemundo KVEA-TV Channel 52. NBC's syndicated entertainment show "Access Hollywood" would also be located there.

NBC Universal expects to move into the new center in 2011. The sale of the Burbank property was necessary in part to pay for the elaborate new facility.

The project is not NBC Universal's only ambitious expansion at Universal Studios. It is separately seeking approval for a $3-billion development plan for Universal City that would add 2,900 homes to the area, as well as new production facilities and retail space. The project, which must get county and city approval, could take several years to get off the ground.

NBC Universal also confirmed Wednesday that "The Tonight Show" would remain in Los Angeles when Conan O'Brien, who now shoots his "Late Night" show in New York, takes over from Leno in 2009."

The Impact of Centralized Power of Missions Part VI

  ocean colour scene #3 
  Originally uploaded by macca

A guest post by Andy Bleyer

Andy has taken the time to demonstrate that maintaining power exhausts people's energy and causes a fortress mentality and that God's people are energized for mission in proportion to the degree which the power and resources of that people are decentralized.

He demonstrated his thesis by comparing the missionary activity of the people of God during Solomon's reign with the missionary activity of the exile as illustrated in the story of Daniel.  Then he compared the missionary activity of the early church in Jerusalem with the Church in Antioch.  Now he is getting down to the practicals.

APPLICATION
In comparing these episodes from the Old and New Testaments, there are two glaring similarities.  First, when the leaders of God’s people try to centralize power, the people do not participate in God’s mission to the nations.  Second, and conversely, when power is decentralized, God’s people thrive in mission.  Not only that, but, although it is not in the purview of this paper, a cursory glance at the history of the church seems to reveal the same conclusions are true beyond the biblical examples.  Whether it is the centralization of Constantine, or the decentralization of the church in twentieth century China, God’s people participate in his mission to the nations inasmuch as they are empowered to do so.

If this is true, what are the implications for a Church attempting to live missionally in Los Angeles?  The obvious starting point must be (if we want our Church to be missional) pushing power out from the center instead of hoarding it.  However, with the CEO-bloated-bureaucracy style of leadership so prevalent from Catholic to Seeker Churches in Western culture, it is difficult to know where to start.  As we have wrestled with these issues in our young Church, we have found several ways to decentralize power which seem to be inspiring missional activity.

First, we are trying to decentralize that stalwart of power; the pulpit.  We started this process by integrating a time of open story-telling into each service, which I like to refer to as the living liturgy.  During this time, everyone is encouraged to report on where they have seen God’s kingdom intersect with earth.  This is done with the belief that the Gospel is good news and news is happening right now.  We started this living liturgy with some trepidation, but after a few months, we have more stories than time and many people report this as the highlight of worship each week.  Also, we are trying to make our teaching more dialectic than didactic.  Depending on the topic, we might do this by reading a scripture and asking for people to reflect on it, or simply starting by asking a question and slowly moving toward an answer together.

Second, we are trying to decentralize the way in which our Church spends its money.  We started this process by setting aside ten percent of our local giving to be used missionally for works of mercy through our home groups.  There is no centralized approval system for how this money is to be spent, the home groups must decide by themselves.  This, of course, involves some risks and it is taking people a while to get used to the idea.  Last week, for example, I was talking to a young lady in our Church who wanted to sponsor a monthly barbecue at a nearby homeless shelter, but did not know how to fund it.  When I reminded her of her home group’s mercy fund, she was surprised and excited. 

Andy shares three more points of application in the next post.

Top 25 Cities

  Hong Kong Sunrise 
  Originally uploaded by dream awakener

I have found that many who visit this blog on a regular basis enjoy learning more about the other people who visit this blog site.  So I try and give a monthly report of the 25 top cities that have visited this blog in the past month.  So here are the top cities for September of 2007.

TOP 25 CITIES VISITING THIS BLOG LAST MONTH

1.  Los Angeles, CA
2.  Irvine, CA
3.  Milwaukee, WI
4.  London, England
5.  Orlando, FL
6.  Plano, TX
7.  Fayetteville, NC
8.  Sydney, Australia
9.  Chicago, IL
10. New York, NY
11. Toronto, Canada
12. Pasadena, CA
13. Austin, TX
14. Mt. Laurel, NJ
15. Atlanta, GA
16. Roanoke, VA
17. Miami, FL
18. Ames, IO
19. Boston, MA
20. Long Beach, CA
21. San Jose, CA
22. Indianapolis, IN
23. Amsterdam, Netherlands
24. Rochester, NY
25. Owosso, MI

A SHORT ANALYSIS
Five cities in the top 25 are in California, which makes sense, since that is the state in which I live.  There are cities from each of the major sections of the U.S. in the top 25, cities from the North East, from the South, from the Midwest and the West Coast.  There were two cities from New York and Texas in the top 25, and there were four cities from other countries in the top 25.  Two of the cities from other countries landed in the top ten - London and Sydney.

More Training to Assist Victims of Human Trafficking

Last week we co-sponsored some training to recognize and assist victims of human trafficking here in Hollywood.  As a follow up to that initial training, there will be some follow up training on how to join the direct street outreach team in the area.  Here are the details for that training.  Click the image to enlargen.

Here is the map.

I hope you can join us for this important training.

All About LA

People on mission ought to always be "reading their city" and keeping up  with what is happening, in order to best  contextualize and embody the good news.  This one one of the reasons why I post entries about Los Angeles. I enjoyed reading the article in the LA Times about a famous city planner - Jamie Lerner who recently dropped by city hall to give a few pointers for LA.

Here is a clip from the article:

Lerner is also known in planning circles as a guru of "sustainability" -- as someone who took a growing city and helped it build a new transit system and new parks. His message, in short, is that cities can be environment-friendly, pleasant places to live and work and walk. . . .

If what?

If everyone can get on the same page. Here are a few excerpts from his hourlong speech in council chambers:

On turning cities around: "Is it possible to make a city better and improve its quality of life? Every city in the world can make it better in less than three years. All you need is a shared dream."

On the automobile: "He is the kind of person you invite to a party and he never leaves. . . . He's very demanding. . . . The car is like our mother-in-law. We have to have a good relationship, but we can't let it ruin our lives."

On his commandments of sustainability: "Provide a good transport system within a decade that allows most people to use mass transit to get where they're going on a routine day. . . . Improve downtown so that it's not empty half the time -- it should be the city's heartbeat."

But isn't that just the same ol' feel-good, "Let's make it happen" stuff we often hear from local politicians?

Yes, but Lerner said it better than most.

Any other intriguing ideas from him?

Yes, there was one we really liked: At one point, Lerner talked about something he called "urban acupuncture."

The idea is that a city can tremendously improve its appearance by installing a few exceptionally well-designed buildings or street-scape-type features that either make everything else around it look good or, at the least, distract from how bad everything else looks.

Among the examples he pointed to were the stylish entrances to the Paris and Bilbao, Spain, subways. Anything, he said, would do the trick -- even sleek newsstands.

If you have an interest, feel free to read the rest of the article.

Artist @ the Fountain: A Night of Soul

Click to Enlargen

If you are in the Los Angeles area and enjoy Soul, R&B and Jazz, then you won't want to miss this special evening at the Fountain Room.

If you want to hear a bit of their sound, here are their MySpace links:

The Breezy LoveJoy Band: Check out the songs Marco Polo and Shake the Ground

Elson and the Soul Barkada:  Check out the songs Invisible and Highrise.

This is a benefit concert for needy kids in East Hollywood as well as a time to bring awareness to the new East Hollywood Neighborhood Council and upcoming events.  All donations go toward an event in December, where we give toys, school supplies, backpacks and clothes to over 700 kids in the neighborhood.  The doors open at 6:30 and the first act is up at 7:30 p.m. 

If you are in the area, DON'T MISS A NIGHT OF SOUL!