Jobless Minister

So I may be immature, but.....

who thinks this is a good idea for a book title....
So many jokes, so few I don't feel dumb writing..
I might buy it for fun.

two months isn't that long is it? Profound truths for you.

Ok, so maybe a good blogger doesn't take almost two months in between posts, but maybe having a job make this blog illegitimate by name...  Whichever the case may be I am feeling badly abut leaving this thing n the vine when countless (6) people were depending on me to deliver the goods (useless wastes of time).  So a lot of important things have happened in the past couple of months.  I have learned some profound truths that I will now begin listing (maybe even without 2 months between them) for the benefit of the lives of both people reading this.

Truth #1 - padding your resume is fun!
    As a formerly jobless minister I was feeling the need to pad the old resume so that I might appear more important and talented than I am (you know how it works)  For instance thus far I have these things I can technically claim, but really mean nothing.

1. I am a professional athlete - (translation) I once won 1/4 of a $200 prize in a bowling tournament.  I was asked at the last minute to join a team of serious bowlers who carries me and my pathetic score all the way to a second place finish. this technically makes me a professional since at the time I was in seminary and making no money.  Webster defines professional as "a person engaged in a specific activity as their main paid occupation" *** sidenote*** I was always made to believe that professional athletes get special perks and girl's phone numbers - surprisingly I received neither after our glorious victory.  It seems this triumph played absolutely no role in my wife's initial interest in me..
2. I am a professional Ballet dancer - (translation) In college I was deemed qualified (I was over 6'2) to fill the role of the King's guard in the world renown London Royal Ballet's performance of Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky.  I was paid $50 a show to stand next to the king in tights and body armor that made me look buff (quite the opposite visual effect that the tights produced)  Given my state of financial vacuousness  this was the only thing I was getting paid to do at the time, this was by definition (for a week) my profession.
3. I am now a professional writer - No I am not claiming that anyone who be dumb enough to give me money for this blog.  I did, however, get the chance to write an article for Christian Single magazine - yes it is a real magazine not open I am writing form my house .  Being paid to write an article on doubt makes me (as a man otherwise unemployed at the time) a Professional Writer!  Now you and I know that doesn't  mean much but it won't keep me from padding my resume with it.  Oh...and don't tell my mom it is not a big deal because she thinks I am famous now. of course Webster defines famous as "known about by many people".  Known is defined as "recognized, familiar with..." 

I, Michael Dixon, am in fact, a Famous professional athlete, ballet dancer, and author!  Who wouldn't want to hire that guy!

Worst Christian T-shirt ever???

This doesn't need too much commentary I am sure.  I believe this shirt is from a group that is evangelizing among American troops that are out abroad.   I am not asking you to make a decision about the work they are doing, but can we just agree that this shirt is breaking new ground is "Christian" paraphernalia...

First, it is just nice to see Jesus finally tap into the full contact martial arts market.  Second, Ultimate fighting character?  Is a fighting character one of the fruits of the Spirit I missed? (love , peace, patience, rabbit punches, and self control....)  Third, half naked wrestling men are never a good idea for t-shirts in the Christian book store...never.  Apparently having Jesus in you makes you able to beat the stew out of someone else while pulling their hair.  Therefore I assume this picture is of one concerned follower of Christ attempting to see if Jesus really is living "in" someone else....after all how can you know if Jesus lives in someone if you don't open them up.  Think of the lives (and facial structures) that will be changed.

p.s. if you have one of these shirts in medium I will pay shipping and handling to own one!!!!

p.s.s. - this one might be the 2nd worst... I am not sure it makes sense enough to poke fun at...

Open Letter about what is happening next

There are some new things happening in my life and I wanted to let all of you in on it.  I have posted an open letter below that should explain just about everything... I hope.  Let the fun begin.

I think I told most of you, after my resignation from FBC, that I was wanting to stay active in serving in our community.  To that end I formed a ministry (originally called Charis Community Ministries) that would give me a place to accept some funds to attend some conferences and organize some work around Hattiesburg.  I also set up some bi-monthly meetings with others in town who were interested in talking through theology, ministry, etc.  We had ministers from other churches plus lay people who wanted to take part in the talks.  This group proved to be invaluable to my growth during this time.

I learned a ton in my time at FBC and am extremely thankful for the experiences I had with the community and Christ at my job there.  On the other hand I felt certain there was something else I was supposed to be doing next.  I felt that I was suppose to find a new expression of community that might represent a different part of the same Body of Christ in Hattiesburg.  I feel that this desire has become more focused through my time away from vocational ministry, and now I am ready to begin whatever comes next.

Enter Ekklesia Hattiesburg.  Last month a group of people (some of whom where a part of those bi-monthly meetings) and myself decided to take the next step.  We have adopted the name Ekklesia (translated in the Bible as “church” literally means “Called Out Ones”) and started organizing ourselves into a simple ministry that will attempt to give a new expression of Christian community in Hattiesburg.  We are organizing ourselves around our perceived call to serve those in need, and have chosen Hawkins Elementary to be the focus of our attentions during this time, in order to avoid talking about ministry in such broad terms that we don’t make a difference anyplace in particular.  We are going to try to organize an ongoing relationship with the school and (hopefully) partnering with others to change the lives of the students and faculty there.

Additionally we have decided to begin gathering together weekly for a small worship service in each other's homes.  This public meeting is not the focus of the community, but will hopefully serve to be a place from which we are sent out.   We are by no means recruiting for our Sunday meetings, but I know that there are no secrets in Hattiesburg and wanted to put this out before people start talking.  I also know that once we begin meeting weekly, we are then talking about the "C" word (church) that everyone has been dying to gossip about.  I know that the entire town is a little sensitive to the whole church split idea because of recent local church history and I consequently felt like it would be wise to try and explain what is happening to whoever is interested in knowing.

It feels important for me to say very clearly that I love FBC.  I love the people I served with and worshipped with there.  I would not be doing what I am doing now if I had not been at FBC.  It helped give birth to what I consider (rightly or wrongly) to be my call in life right now.  In my mind FBC helped give birth to this new work (although there is no official connection).  In my mind we are different parts of the same body and as such are partners in the overarching call to all followers of Christ.  I know that ultimately I can not control what people think about this, or what anyone else says about it.  I guess I just wanted to go on record saying that I love FBC and pray that God continues to work there.  I hold no ill feeling towards FBC and If I can help at FBC I will.  This next step for me is not a reactionary one and I will try to be careful to make sure people know that.

The last thing I want is to for people to have the impression that we are trying to draw attention, resources, or people from anyone else’s flock. We are not trying to compete with any of our brothers and sister’s in Christ.  We are just trying to do our part in building the Kingdom of God here as it is in heaven. If you have any further questions, or if you are interested in putting your name in the hat to help out at Hawkins Elementary this year then you can email me.  Additionally any information you might need should be available at www.ekklesiahattiesburg.com (or at least it should be there soon)

Peace,
Mike

A Watershed Moment

I try not to be too heavy handed in these entries about Spiritual matters.  I probably temper my feelings on things a little bit sometimes to make sure that I am not overstating something or misrepresenting what I am writing about.  However I experienced something this past week in Phoenix that was nothing short of life changing.  This experience was so powerful to me that it lit a fire of conviction in me that I simply can not hide under a bushel (ohhh no – I am going to let it shine)

There is something beautiful happening in Phoenix that I hope spreads to our neck of the woods in Mississippi.  My friend Dave and I were going to catch a movie and found ourselves with only about 10 minutes to try and eat before the movie began.  As we went to the pizza place to order a couple of slices, Dave said to me, “Why don’t we just take the pizza into the movie.”  I laughed the way someone who has been oppressed for so long laughs when something so wonderful, yet unattainable, is mentioned.  But Dave did not laugh.  He just took his pizza to the AMC theater and entered.  (I made him go first because I was sure he was playing a joke on me)  But it was true…they actually allow you to bring in outside food and drinks to the AMC Theaters in Arizona.

Can it be true?  Can a new day be on the horizon?  For those lucky phoenixettes (err phonecians…err whatever you call them) – gone are the days of stopping by the gas station for pocket sized foods that can be smuggled across the border.  Gone are the days when I wear a jacket to a movie when it is 95 degrees out.  Gone are the days of stuffing my jeans pockets like a hamster’s cheeks in order to survive whatever epic 3 hour movie I am viewing without being gouged for the remaining balance of my savings to buy popcorn swimming in butter that is both liquid and not refrigerated (that cant be good and that must be a run on sentence)   No more cold 20 oz soda bottle in uncomfortable places while I try and walk naturally to the safety of the dark theater where I can unpack the 7 course junk food extravaganza that made me look a little heavier and lumpier han normal when I entered.

I sat in the movie and ate 2 giant pieces of pepperoni pizza and a 40 oz coke that cost less than $45.  My life will never be the same!  God Bless Phoenix… if someone wants to start a petition here I will sign it!

Theology of the Bridge Collapse: Greg Boyd

I am on the road this week (in oven hot Arizona) so I may not get a chance to post again for awhile.  I did catch this post from Greg Boyd (whose book Myth of a Christian Nation I highly recommend) regarding the Bridge collapse in Minnesota.  It is essentially a response to this post by John Piper.  For those of you who get into these kinds of debates it is worth checking out. 

Dont let the Lord's door hit ya, where the good Lord split ya

I am constantly challenged as a person who wants to help others to grow towards faith, when I sense so many people not wanting any part of the thing I have found most important.  I hesitate to make sweeping generalizations about why so many are leaving faith communities and what that says about the leaver and the "leave-ee".  I hope it is just a new reality that followers of Christ can adapt to and be challenged to grow with, but I guess that remains to be seen.  Anyways here is an article about why people are leaving church I thought you might be interested to check out.  It probably won't shock you, but the results of the study mentioned are worth considering.

What a Teacher Wants

Here are some of the things that teachers said would be of help to them if they had volunteers.
(this is as best as I can tell by all of your handwriting)  Keep coming back to this page as we will begin putting specific opportunities there.

1. rewards for good kids (i.e popcorn once a week or once a month)
2. adopt a family at Christmas - classes collect can goods, another gets a turkey
3. someone to make copies or just float around and help for teachers w/o assistants
4. chaperons for feild trips
5. Room Mother
6. Someone to read to Special Ed students
7. activities during Black History Month
8. Doing lunch duty for teachers so they have a break for lunch
9. uniforms/clothes closet - some kids where the same thing every day
10. school supplies, sanitizers, tissues
11. Reading with individual kids that need help
12. help monitoring (homework etc.) in classrooms for teachers without assistants
13. special speakers for math and sciences
14. materials for science fair projects
15. helping teach organizational skills/ interpersonal skills
16. drug - alcohol - gang education
17. tutors
18. kids needs belts
19. PE groups
20. donations/treats/candy etc for Fall Festival
21. role models/mentors/big brothers/big sisters
22. playing board games with kids to teach building character
23. Coats when it gets cold out

The Kids are Back!

We got the chance to be there when the kids came in to the new cafeteria on their first day of school Wednesday.  It was fun to get to see the room being used, although I think I had over blown expectations of kid's reactions.  After all it was the first day of their freedom ending and they were in there at 7:30am for breakfast.  I would kick a puppy if it looked at me wrong at 7:30 am, so I guess I can't expect kids to run around screaming in excitement at our murals.  Although they did seem to like it as much as a semi-comatose group of elementary school children could.
I did get a stronger sense of anticipation regarding our attempts this year to serve this school throughout the year.  If you are in the Hattiesburg area, please be thinking about how you might be able to help this year, and you will hear more from me on it later on!

Building the McKingdom

(most menacing McDonald's picture I could find)

A study hit the news today that is really funny, revealing, and creepy at the same time.  Apparently some scientists wanted to test the connection between marketing and the kiddies tastebuds.
"The study had youngsters sample identical McDonald's foods in name-brand and unmarked wrappers. The unmarked foods always lost the taste test."

Even carrots somehow magically tasted better when marked with the big "M" .  Seems to me to be a pretty clear window into our infatuation with branding.  As long as something looks like something we are supposed to like then we will like it -right?  There is remarkably little discrimination when something is branded well.  It doesn't have to be good when it is marketed well. (not unlike the other report I heard of that now says that Baby Einstein videos actually make your kids dumber not smarter... "but, Mike, the packages look so infantelligent")

This branding seems to be a trend in church as well.  We know how to wrap everything in the right label so that it is unquestionably appetizing.  We know to wrap ourselves up in terms like, Grace, unconditional love, evangelism, etc - you know the list.  As long as we dress ourselves up, we can keep serving up the gut wrenching faux food.  I catch myself doing it a lot and it gives me heart burn.  I am ready to be a part of something that doesn't have to brand itself as anything except what it's content dictates.  But, maybe it's just me.