roykeely

Video

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 19:07:25 -0400

I knew I shouldn't have listened to Christian radio...but I did

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:51:39 -0400

I was in the Orlando area last week for some work and had a rental car….going through the stations and I stopped on a station mid-song and i knew….it was the local Christian radio station.

The song they were playing was followed with one of those sentinmental grunts as they introduced the couple the song was about.

Get ready for this……

This couple, tragically, had a child they knew would die as soon as they had it. Her name was Audry….i couldn’t imagine that. Basically they picked her grave plot before she gave birth to her. The song was about her road to recovery, etc. Sad story and sounds they have worked through some things….BUT here is where my mouth dropped at the craziness that spewed out of their mouths.

In summary;

The host asked ‘how are you making it through’

Statement 1:

She proceeded to say - the comfort of knowing that I will be with her again. That after she dies (mother) I hope to hear ‘well done good and faithful servant and then I am going to ask ‘Where is she?’.

So she is saying right after ‘she gets in’ she is going to go look for her daughter and what gives her solice in this life is the thought of spending eternity with her daughter. Wow is this not the gospel in the slightest.

Statement 2:

Host: So this put’s stress on couples and so many end in divorce…how did y’all make it through?

Her: Because our faith was strong and…… diamonds. (mild laugh)

Yes you read that right…diamonds. She was joking, but not really kind of joking. Literally she mentioned diamonds.

Statement 3:

She urged listeners to face the pain and suffering (agree) and that you can know you will see your loved ones in Heaven that you have tragically lost…that will ease your pain (DIS-agree). All summarized but that was the jist.

In summary;

That was my once every 5 or so years stint of listening to Christian Radio
If you hear this tenet taught at Church question it’s validity via looking at scripture

Finally a photo I can share without ridicule. Windows gives me...

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 21:07:00 -0400

Finally a photo I can share without ridicule. Windows gives me the family nature never could -starting at :18

These words should alarm us as we post ‘pretty pictures’ to Facebook to share a life we want people to think we are living.

Stop fooling yourself with your Facebook status updates and profile pictures. It’s tired and so are you. rest.

Baking Cakes & getting $#!^ done at work!

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:13:00 -0400

Ever bake a cake? Ever bake a cake with people?

Certain projects are like baking cakes.

The more people the more complicated it gets. When baking a cake with people you have to learn, organize, communicate, organize, communicate, then do. And most likely repeat some parts of that process.

Some things in business are more like cakes than they are like these ‘scalable systems’ that we are always striving for. In the end your guests won’t be able to tell if the cake was made by one or by many. And when looking at internal costs it will be far cheaper to let a baker go solo on their effort. May take a little longer, but in the end less time/$ spent as a whole.

But what happens if that baker quits or gets hit by a preverbal bus? It’s a cake…not a 5 course meal with fancy sauces. Some projects are like potluck dinners (collaborative) or like a cafeteria line (assembly line style). The worst thing we can do is apply ‘potluck mentality’ on the whole of our projects. Perhaps thats why we have so many meetings.

What now? another christian or leadership conference

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:03:55 -0400

another conference?
another awakening?
another emotional moment?
another pep rally for Jesus or leadership meeting?
really. is that what you need? is that what I need?

no.

i feel a tension living in Atlanta and half the christians I know are addicted to these conferences and some build their lively hood around them. the tension increases because i like the people that work for these meetings/conferences. However i find a growing irritation with the productization of ‘christian experiences’ in a context (coupled with mediums) that does not lead (as a normative experience) to life change and/or life ____fill in the blank___. Am I the only one?

#FeelLikeAnAss

"Would it be honest to believe what you thought to be false? Would you rather believe a lie that..."

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:02:10 -0400

“

Would it be honest to believe what you thought to be false?

Would you rather believe a lie that made you happy or the truth even if it made you unhappy?

”

- Peter Kreeft as CS Lewis in ‘Between Heaven & Hell’

A CW Lewis-ism

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 02:00:00 -0400

I was just enlightened that the whole Narnia series is not meant to be an allegory…but a ‘what if’ story, a thought experiment. What if Christ came as a lion to a made up land, Narnia, and how would that story go down. Thanks Peter Kreeft for giving me some sense where I lacked. As Kreeft states: “the Narnia series is an imaginative supposition.” A great way to put it.

I am not sure if I thought of the difference between an allegory and a ‘thought experiment’ but I should have. I have misled many and told them the Narnia series is an allegory.

"Read not the Times. Read the Eternities. Conventionalities are at length as bad as impurities...."

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 08:01:17 -0400

“

Read not the Times. Read the Eternities. Conventionalities are at length as bad as impurities.

Even the facts of science may dust the mind by their dryness, unless they are in a sense effaced each morning, or rather rendered fertile by the dews of fresh and living truth. Knowledge does not come to us by details, but in flashes of light from heaven. Yes, every thought that passes through the mind helps to wear and tear it, and to deepen the ruts, which, as in the streets of Pompeii, evince how much it has been used. How many things there are concerning which we might well deliberate, whether we had better know them, — had better let their peddling-carts be driven, even at the slowest trot or walk, over that bridge of glorious span by which we trust to pass at last from the farthest brink of time to the nearest shore of eternity! Have we no culture, no refinement, — but skill only to live coarsely and serve the Devil? — to acquire a little worldly wealth, or fame, or liberty, and make a false show with it, as if we were all husk and shell, with no tender and living kernel to us? Shall our institutions be like those chestnut-burs which contain abortive nuts, perfect only to prick the fingers?

”

- Henry David Thoreau -brought to mind by Peter Kreeft

Term of the day: Vincible Ignorance

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:34:26 -0400

I was exposed to this term through a recent read of Peter Kreeft. He introduces the term to bring out an aspect of our faith (be it theism, pantheism, atheism, etc) that is willfully ignorant. The exact, shortened definition reads:

a moral or doctrinal matter that could have been removed by diligence reasonable to the circumstances

or easier stated: the intentional refusal to understand or consider a particular point of doctrine (not necessarily Christian) - wikipedia

I am astonished at myself when I glaze over the foundational elements of my world view and do not question them. By question I mean wrestle, meditate, dialogue on, etc. This is largely the ‘status update’ of us at large. That we live fed, entertained, & fattened lives that rarely have any meat, or substance, on the bones. Our substance is just fat and filling that can be described as ‘vincible ignorance’.

Help me. Help us.

Worth our time to watch. not sure what the film will tell us...

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 08:48:52 -0400

Worth our time to watch. not sure what the film will tell us will be anything new or pose a solution to a larger systemic issue…however it’s worth a few dinner discussions.

At Dragon Cons Got Talent —-um

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:48:37 -0400

At Dragon Cons Got Talent —-um

Lovely day for a Belgium brew

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:50:46 -0400

Lovely day for a Belgium brew

good vid. good message. learning myself.

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:36:48 -0400

good vid. good message. learning myself.

What is reformed theology?

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 07:39:00 -0400

Great question. Here is a great post from Ray Ortlund discussing what it means to be truly reformed. Link Here—>

The Perils of Introspection: Some things learned over the last 30 days

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 07:42:54 -0400

Those close to me over the last couple of months have known it has been a season, though brief, of struggle. Where faith basics seemed beyond my comprehension and I could not conjure up what I would call ‘right desires’. I have read and listened to a few things over the last 30 days that have been a great help and I would strongly recommend looking into them. (noted below).

One of these faith basics is/was/will be ‘self absorption’. There tends to be a balance (actually I somewhat hate that word because I can never seem to strike it) or shall I say paradox about understanding self and also relating to God. I have noticed in me, that as I dive in to the depth’s of Roy I become acutely aware of my self. So it worked…but the attempt at what I was trying to produce through the exercise of self understanding didn’t work. In short, 2 things:

1) I couldn’t cure, or conjure up the right emotion, what ailed me

2) The attempt to understand my self just made me more aware of self which did not produce in me the desired outcome that I intended with the self discovery process

Yes I know, introspection can’t all together be bad. There is need of some self assessment yet I would argue that many of us struggle being consumed with our self in that endeavor called ‘introspection’.

Books/Other that I recommend: (Links in the title)

Spiritual Depression by Martin Lloyd Jones
When I don’t Desire God by John Piper
Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul by John Piper - It’s an MP3, or you can watch it or read it…basically 7 things CS Lewis taught John Piper. It’s beautiful.

Notes from John Piper below:

Lewis’s experience in the pursuit of Joy and the mistakes he made has had a huge effect on the way I think about the assurance of salvation in relationship to introspection and self-examination. What he discovered is that the effort to know the experience of Joy by looking at Joy is self-defeating. He wrote, “I saw that all my waitings and watchings for Joy, all my vain hopes to find some mental content on which I could, so to speak, lay my finger and say, ‘This is it,’ had been a futile attempt contemplate the enjoyed.” 41 It can’t be done, for the moment we step outside ourselves to contemplate our enjoying, we are no longer enjoying, but contemplating. The implication of this for knowing that we are believing God by trying to look at our believing is enormous.

This is our dilemma … as thinkers we are cut off from what we think about; as tasting, touching, willing, loving, hating, we do not clearly understand. The more lucidly we think, the more we are cut off: the more deeply we enter into reality, the less we can think. You cannot study Pleasure in the moment of the nuptial embrace, nor repentance while repenting, nor analyze the nature of humor while roaring with laughter. But when else can you really know these things? -CS Lewis

You cannot hope and also think about hoping at the same moment; for in hope we look to hope’s object and we interrupt this by (so to speak) turning around to look at the hope itself… . Introspection is in one respect misleading. In introspection we try to look inside ourselves and see what is going on. But nearly everything that was going on a moment before is stopped by the very act of our turning to look at it. Unfortunately this does not mean that introspection finds nothing. On the contrary, it finds precisely what is left behind by the suspension of all our normal activities; and what is left behind is mainly mental images and physical sensations. The great error is to mistake this mere sediment or track or by product for the activities themselves. -CS Lewis

What this has meant for me is, first, that I see now that the pursuit of Joy must always be indirect—focusing not on the experience but the object to be enjoyed. And, second, I see that faith in Jesus, in its most authentic experience is suspended when it is being analyzed to see if its real. Which means this analysis always ends in discouragement. When we are trusting Christ most authentically, we are not thinking about trusting, but about Christ. When we step out of the moment to examine it, we cease what we were doing, and therefore cannot see it. My counsel for strugglers therefore is relentlessly: Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus in his word. And pray for eyes to see.

Concert Review: Arcade Fire

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:40:58 -0400

I have seen Arcade Fire twice now, once at the Variety Playhouse and once at the Verzon Wireless Theater in Alpharetta. Both times have been good…but one time the experience was great.

The difference between the two experiences was clearly, to me, the venue. Some bands are ‘big arena bands’, some are not….Arcade Fire is not a big arena band, thats what I came away with.

Of course I enjoyed myself and sang loud and moved my hips, however was disappointed with the money i spent due to the lack of an intimate environment that Arcade Fire seems to fit well in. A few other bits:

First song was flat, needed more punch out of the gates
The 9 piece band played very well together
When they crowd the front of the stage to attempt an intimate feel it felt contrived because of the sheer size of the event…should maybe stop that
They played for about 90 or so minutes
The encore stuff is just weak all around, bands should stop..play till you don’t want to anymore.
Wake Up was amazing and they delivered to end the show well
People had a hard time listening to the songs of their new album ‘Suburbs’ without getting bored.

In summary, go see them…just don’t pay $50 to see them at a big venue, you will be let down. Pay $50 or more to see them at a 2,000ish seat place but not a 7,000ish seat place.

A great video regarding the current age of information and the...

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:49:35 -0400

A great video regarding the current age of information and the possible next age.

My current heart condition & Why I am saying goodbye to Facebook forever

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:00:53 -0400

Things. Toys. Technology. And so our hearts and our affections are formed by these things. They compress the void in our heart into shapes like toys. The result is that we are easily moved and excited by things - computers, cars, appliances, entertainment media. They seem to the fit the shapes in our hearts. They feel good in the tiny spaces they have made. But in this readiness to receive pleasure from things, we are ill-shaped for Christ. He seems unreal, unattractive. The eyes of our heart grow dull.

The above words are from John Piper in his book “When I Don’t Desire God.” It has been a timely read and the title is the current synopsis of my heart. As I was journaling the other day I wrote ‘Distracted: the current one word descriptor for my life’. While I can’t blame the actual mediums or the messages my heart runs to, I can change my consumption. I am Lactose intolerant therefore my body doesn’t contain enough Lactase to be able to process the Lactose in foods. I must refrain or partake & get sick. Same holds true I am finding with certain pieces of technology and social conventions. My soul just can’t handle, I get sick. This sickness looks like narcism, jealousy, a contentious heart, and more.

I am not writing this to guilt you, but writing this to inform that this soul, mine, is on the wrong trajectory. I must change course and modify my diet in what seems to be the habits of the times, the accepted norms.

So if our ‘lives’ cross paths only in this online world (Facebook), I am saying Goodbye. Joy is from but one source and I pray that for you, and myself, we drink it up.

Suggested Readings are below if you are looking to investigate more as it pertains to how media effects the soul in both positive and negative ways. (some are obviously more media focused while others spiritually focused)

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan
The Disappearance of Childhood by Neil Postman
Bible - Various Authors
When I Don’t Desire God by John Piper (Free PDF download of the book)
Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan

It is the cult of self that is killing the United States.

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:49:29 -0400

We have a right, in the cult of the self, to get whatever we desire. We can do anything, even belittle and destroy those around us, including our friends, to make money, to be happy and to become famous. Once fame and wealth are achieved, they become their own justification, their own morality. How one gets there is irrelevant. It is this perverted ethic that gave us investment houses like Goldman Sachs … that willfully trashed the global economy and stole money from tens of millions of small shareholders who had bought stock in these corporations for retirement or college. The heads of these corporations, like the winners on a reality television program who lied and manipulated others to succeed, walked away with hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses and compensation. The ethic of Wall Street is the ethic of celebrity. It is fused into one bizarre, perverted belief system and it has banished the possibility of the country returning to a reality-based world or avoiding internal collapse. A society that cannot distinguish reality from illusion dies.

This is from this article in Adbusters. The only end to the scenario in this article is when the Gospel is realized…period. There is no restored humanity and dignity without. I really ‘enjoyed’ the article, realizing that I, perhaps more than most get caught in the cult of self.

ATL Art - Krog Tunnel

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 09:55:39 -0400

ATL Art - Krog Tunnel