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!

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!

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.

Video Worth Considering

This video has been out for awhile, but I was reminded of it today as I read a blog post from my friend Jeff.  He was reflecting on a documentary that he had just watched about the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  If yo have never investigated stories from those bombings I suggest it.  It will absolutely change how casually we often talk about dropping "the bomb" on all the people we don't like. (I must say that it is entirely disturbing how many Christians I hear say things like this - some of them ministers).  After you read up on that watch this video and ask yourself- "What could possibly be the point?"

Alter on our priorities and Norman Borlaug

I recommend this article by Jonathan Alter about our national priorities and the lack of coverage for Norman Borlaug's receiving of the Congressional Gold Medal.  Norman Borlaug (father of the Green Revolution)is credited with probably saving the lives of a billion people with his work, and yet I had never really heard that much about him.  Alter unpacks what it means to have someone like Borlaug as an unknown figure in our society.  It is pretty sad when you think about it.

quote from article... "Great scientists and humanitarians were once heroes and cover boys. No more. For Borlaug, still vital at 93, to win more notice, he would have to make his next trip to Africa in the company of Angelina Jolie."

Funny (sad?) Quote of the Day

I was listening to a Christian call in talk show on the radio today... I rarely listen to shows like that but happened upon it.  Here is an exact quote from a caller expressing concerns about the presidential election. 
"I hear that Mitt Romney is running as a Republican, but isn't he actually a Mormon?"

There is so much wrong with that question, and the fact that they answered it without calling her on it's insanity.  Since when is Republican a theological position incompatible with Mormonism? These are mutually exclusive terms are they not?

"I hear that Joe Johnson has brown hair, but doesn't he actually own a weed-eater?"

I worry about us Christians sometimes....

Videos from Lower Ninth

I was checking out the PBS site and found these video clips from the Tavis Smiley show.  They are home video interviews from the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans.  I recommend them as a reminder of what all still has to be done there.

Quotes from Gordon Brown

I got these snippets from Jim Wallis' Blog. They are quotes from a speech this week from the new prime minister of England,Gordon Brown. who grew up as a pastor's kid and apparently has deeply felt Biblically influenced ideas on Justice issues.  I personally take all quotes from politicians with a grain of salt, but if he really means all of this he could be an interesting leader to watch in the coming years...

First on his values and moral compass:

All I believe and all I try to do comes from the values that I grew up with: duty, honesty, hard work, family, and respect for others.

And this is what my parents taught me and will never leave me: that each and everyone of us has a talent, each and everyone of us should have the chance to develop their talent, and that each of us should use whatever talents we have to enable people least able to help themselves.

And so I say honestly: I am a conviction politician. My conviction that everyone deserves a fair chance in life. My conviction that each of us has a responsibility to each other. And my conviction that when the strong help the weak, it makes us all stronger. Call it ‘the driving power of social conscience’, call it 'the better angels of our nature’, call it ‘our moral sense’, call it a belief in ‘civic duty’.

I joined this party as a teenager because I believed in these values. They guide my work, they are my moral compass. This is who I am. And because these are the values of our party, too, the party I lead must have more than a set of policies – we must have a soul.

On children in poverty:

... let me say also that in the fourth richest country in the world it is simply wrong – wrong that any child should grow up in poverty. To address this poverty of income and to address also the poverty of aspirations by better parenting, better schools, and more one-to-one support, I want to bring together all the forces of compassion – charities, voluntary sector, local councils, so that at the heart of building a better Britain is the cause of ending child poverty.

On foreign policy:

Our foreign policy in years ahead will reflect the truth that to isolate and defeat terrorist extremism now involves more than military force – it is also a struggle of ideas and ideals that in the coming years will be waged and won for hearts and minds here at home and round the world. And an essential contribution to this will be what becomes daily more urgent – a Middle East settlement upholding a two state solution, that protects the security of Israel and the legitimate enduring desire for a Palestinian state.

Because we all want to address the roots of injustice, I can tell you today that we will strengthen and enhance the work of the department of international development and align aid, debt relief and trade policies to wage an unremitting battle against the poverty, illiteracy, disease and environmental degradation that it has fallen to our generation to eradicate.

Letter from Shane Claiborne re:fire at simple way

you can click this link to see an open letter regarding the simple way fire.