EricNentrup.com

I was talking with Bill Reid via email this week, and told him I promised to write on my blog about the pitch I was sellin’ him.

Podcasts. You know I’m into them. I dig listening to “audio on demand.” It’s like Tivo for Radio. BUT you get the selection of like, Satellite Radio.

It’s SO great to be able to turn on some thought provoking content while out for a walk or ride.

I listen mostly to sermons which are delivered live before the local crowd, then the recordings are uploaded to a server where I can subscribe to them to have them automagically appear on my iPod a day or two after they’re delivered.

I realized something in the midst of my listening that I think is crucial. Never before in the history of the world, has an individual had so much access to current, relevant preaching for so little effort and expense, relatively speaking. I know that an iPod costs more than the annual per capita of some developing country households. But in our culture, and especially for our generation and younger , it’s seeming like more people have an iPod than don’t.

For the record, you don’t even HAVE to have an iPod to listen to Podcasts. You can listen on your computer, or even burn a CD of the content to take with you in the car or pop into your home stereo. Also, realize that Podcasts are more about the “delivery system” than the content itself. It’s about your computer KNOWING to go looking for updates to that “title” and automatically copying them off of that remote server to your local computer. That’s the convenience that has led to a phenomenon.

Now, back to the content and it’s potential. I’ve been listening to at least 1 sometimes 3 or 4 sermons a weeks by way of podcast, BEYOND what I hear on Sunday at our church.

You couldn’t have done that so easily a few years ago. I’m hearing from preachers all over the country and it’s really impacting my thinking, my yearning for God, how I actually live my life.

So, I wanted to put a post up on my website that could encourage you to get in on the sweet preachin’ action, even if you don’t have an iPod. The only real requisite is that you have a decent internet connection.

And there are MANY ways to accomplish this, but I’m taking the tried and true route here to explain to you how to get listening even yet today for that drive home.

Your Computer.

1. Download and install iTunes from Apple.
2. Open iTunes and click on “iTunes Store” in the left hand pane
3. With the iTunes Store open in the main window of iTunes, look for “Podcasts” on the left.
4. Browse the selections that iTunes has put up front, or if nothing catches your fancy, try clicking ‘Browse’ on the right, or searching for a particular church or personality by typing in the name in the search field in the upper right corner of iTunes itself.
5. You SHOULD see the “Downloads” icon pop up under “iTunes Store” in the left hand pane of iTunes.

Also, if you look above that under “Library” you’ll see the “Podcasts” category. This will reveal any subscriptions that you have chosen. Also, when they’re done downloading , you’ll be able to select the title and listen to it right here, on your computer (if you have speakers or headphones).

1. IF YOU HAVE AN iPod, but haven’t been using it to listen to Podcasts, you’ll have to configure the preferences for it in iTunes>Preferences, and also on the iPod itself, which you can do from iTunes if you have it plugged in.
2. If you DON’T have an iPod, but you DO have a blank CD, you can create a playlist in iTunes with your newly downloaded Podcasts, and burn away…I’m presuming you know how to do that or can figure it out on your own.

The Goods.

Okay…now that the geeky stuff is over with, let me make a few suggestions for your listening pleasure:

Mars Hill Bible Church – Grand Rapids, Michigan

Featuring the teaching of Rob Bell, this is definitely my favorite Podcast. If you haven’t read Rob’s “Velvet Elvis,” I emplore you to do so…it’s a wonderful book.

Imago Dei

Featuring Rick McKinley, pastor to Don Miller

Mosaic

Featuring Erwin McManus, author of The Barbarian Way. I don’t listen to this one all that often, but I’m going to give you several options for solid infectious teaching from the Word, and this definitely qualifies…but only if I get through the above two first.

Pathways CHurch

Lastly…I have to plug our own church. The bulk of the teaching is split between our teaching team, and I figured you just might be curious to learn more about where we go to church now.

Well, I hope that’s helpful. Leave a comment if I’ve forgotten something or left you in the middle, confused and bewildered. And write back so perhaps if we’re listening to the same content, we can start some discussion. OR if you have some Podcasts to share, please let me know!

It’s funny…I thought as soon as Kim and I got to work at KBM and had regular high speed internet access again for the first time in over 6 months, we’d be posting to our blogs more often! Wrong! At least so far. But to be fair to ourselves, we’re STILL getting settled.

Our ministry partnership newsletter will go out next week and Kim’s written plenty of information about our move and our new jobs.

The short of it is: I’m lovin’ it. I have been going hardcore all day long for the past week or two now, but getting the blessed privilege of being on a staff of talented sharp people who are passionate about pursuing what we believe God has called us to do together at KBM. Exciting stuff for me.

So far, lovin’ our neighborhood, learning to love suburban life and find the really neat things about this wild city off Denver. I’ve yet to experience such a “starting over.”

Kim and I celebrated 8 years of marriage today and can’t believe it. Moreso than that, Kim figured out that in July, we’ll have been together for 5,000 days since our first date!! Amazing. God has blessed us SO much.

Other late news is that we’re getting connected with Compassion International. One of our speakers at KBM has recently reconnected with them and challenged us each to pray about sponsoring a kid. I got on my knees in front of the packets he had brought for us to all to look at and felt God leading us to sponsor two lovely South American teenage girls. Their names are Heira (Ay-EER-a) and Carmen.

We’ll let you know what we learn about them as we get plugged in–but it’s interesting–I didn’t expect it, but I’m totally excited about making this commitment to them. Perhaps it’s a paternal thing, perhaps it’s the excitement of taking a step (or another step) in faith. Not sure. But our lives are getting affected by this move out here in ways we never imagined. Again, more later.

We are incredibly thankful for the provision of God through our team of supporters and look forward to what lies ahead. I’ll keep you posted, and hopefully with more frequency.

Much Love…

As many of you know, Kim and I have been in a time of transition from Indiana to Colorado, working to raise a team of prayer and financial supporters that would allow us to begin work at Kingdom Building Ministries.

Well, it’s our joy to tell you that we have enough support to make the move and get started!

After a year of preparation, support-raising meetings, selling our house, and our cars, living for 6 months with my gracious parents, we have set a moving date. April 26th, Kim and I are packing up a truck and carting our belongings 1,100 miles west to Aurora, Colorado.

As you can imagine, we’re thrilled, yet also feeling the pressure of all the details needing to come together. The most noteworthy of which is CLEARLY communicating to our family and friends that our needs are FAR from being met to sustain us at KBM long-term.

Even though we have been given the “green light” from the KBM Executive committee to begin work , we are STILL a long way from having a big enough support base to stay put with KBM past November of THIS year. We truly need more financial support to make this a reality. In addition to our full-time work during the week, we’ll be striving to build that support to meet our ultimate goal.

And I just know God is big enough to make it work if He wants us at KBM, and I’m QUITE affirmed that He does!

So…I just wanted to clarify and also make the announcement “official” today!

HOW YOU CAN HELP

If you haven’t yet made a decision about joining our support team, you can follow these two links for our letter and our pledge card.

God has shown us that it’s “par for the course” for us to leave the safety of all things we know in Indiana and WALK BY FAITH, trusting that the rest of our monthly pledges and special financial gifts will come in before November. I mean, it’s just obviously HIS hand at work. We believe it. And that’s why we’re making our needs known.

If you have friends, family members, and/or church families that you think need to hear about our work with KBM, please let us know. We would be thrilled to meet these connections of yours and make them aware of what God is doing through this small but potent ministry.

If you’re the more practical type, you can pray about and/or offer some advice towards these particular needs we MUST lock down in the next couple of weeks:

• A Place To Live: 2-3 bedrooms, we have two 25lb. dogs, within 20 minutes of the office, around $800/mo.
• A Truck To Get Us There: I have some very conventional services lined up, but for all I know, SOMEONE that I know knows SOMEONE who has a big ole’ box truck that we could use and save money on our move….please let me know if you have any ideas!
• A New Home Church in the Denver area: We’re being VERY open-minded about this–with an area as diverse as Denver, we want to take the opportunity to be a part of something we wouldn’t have the chance to in Indiana. We’re looking forward to settling down, and serving at a new church!

As I look back over the difference a YEAR can make, I believe God has been chiseling away at me for some serious amount of time…well, serious relative to my thirty years. And I’m incredibly happy with Him caring so much to do so. And for that work, that process, to bring us to the point where we’re heading off to do what we’ve been planning to do for so long, and to get the joy of having my wife experience the same amount of heart-match simultaneously. It’s rare.

Thanks to all who have, who are, and who will be making it possible for me and Kim to serve God in this way, at KBM.

For the King…For the Kingdom.

Zhang Dan falls after attempt at Quadruple Salchow in Olympics

Last night, I watched the Olympics pairs figure-skating medal event last night and saw Chinese skater, Zhang Dan fall during a gutsy quadruple salchow attempt.

Even though she got right up, it still made me wince. I could feel the unforgiving ice on my own knees seeing how hard she landed. In fact, I couldn’t believe she got up–I’ve seen pansy overpaid pro football players stay on the ground over a significantly lesser impact.

Then I couldn’t believe what came next–she and her partner RESUMED their performance, and executed it so flawlessly and with such grace that they were awarded the Silver Medal. Amazing. Even with such a HUGE and upsetting mistake, they still found their way to the podium.

And all I could think about the whole time was, “Wow. I can’t believe she got back up, shrugged off the physical pain, disappointment, even embarrassment and continued.” And not just that they continued eventually (“we’ll try again NEXT Olympics!”)–but that they continued IMMEDIATELY.

I have to think that there are MANY opportunities for such a redemptive experience in my own life that I forfeit because I think I need to nurse my wounds and the “punitive damages” I’ve encountered psychologically in an experience, trauma, or tragedy. I lay off of the work or task at hand, lest I fail even more. And granted, many times, I regroup, and try again, and do so with a modicum of success.

But mostly, after seeing an approximately 115 pound Chinese figure skater get up and get back in the saddle again, I realize that some healing happens best when encountered or administered immediately. Some grace need not be delayed. Maybe MOST grace need not be delayed.

I’m going to experiment a bit with the notion of doing “Book Reviews” periodically at EricNentrup.com. A good chunk of these are books that either one of my readers, peers, or mentors has recommended to me or I’ve come across by way of the other blogs I read. The actual task itself helps me to glean more from the book and the commitment to posting my findings as a “book review” on my site is the accountability I need in order to follow through. Plus, I’d like to think I might be able to offer some insight towards your next reading choice!

So, without further ado…

BOOK REVIEW “Revolution” by George Barna – Tyndale, 2005 Reviewed by Eric Nentrup (eric@ericnentrup.com)

THE FACTS.

In “Revolution” (Tyndale, 2005), George Barna brings his statistician’s expertise to the topic most are calling “The Emerging Church.” But to Barna, “emerging church” is too small a descriptor to capture what he claims is an historic movement. He prefers to call it a “Revolution,” and sets out to define what type of Christ-followers are playing active roles as “Revolutionaries,” reshaping the institution of church and doing so in a grass-roots fashion: > “…the Revolution is about recognizing that we are not called to go to church. We are called to be the church.” Barna reminds us: > “…the Bible neither describes nor promotes the local church as we know it today.” And that conventional church as we know it, “is neither Biblical nor unbiblical. It is abiblical–that is, such an organization is not addressed in the Bible…We made it up. It may be healthy or helpful, but it is not sacrosanct.” Barna spends most of the book describing this Revolution subjectively, not focusing on the data of his research, but rather on the data’s implications. And Barna’s interpretation is that people seeking to follow Christ in the present are eschewing modern methods in favor of returning to a first-century lifestyle. The result, eventually, will be a DECREASE of emphasis upon the established local church for filling the need of spiritual community and growth. Later, Barna substantiates the Revolution with benchmarks that align with Jesus’ teaching and example, quoted chapter and verse. Barna is both convinced and convincing in this quick read, posing a credible forecast that the landscape of the church is undergoing considerable, if not monumental change.

THE OPINION.

All in all, I’ve found another log to toss on the fire that started with McLaren and Miller’s core texts for the church that is emerging. Another reviewer of “Revolution” in the latest issue of Christianity Today panned Revolution, citing Bonhoeffer’s “Life Together” as not only more edifying but more relevant (and even more revolutionary). My thoughts are still more towards the “fix what needs broken” regarding local church, as I believe there’s TONS broken. And thereby, I don’t feel the need to be “glass half-full” with comments towards denominational church. That’s just too much like sticking your fingers in your ears and la-la-la-ing our way through the things we don’t want to hear. So, like McLaren’s books, I think Revolution is an essential missive in understanding just WHAT it is that we’re currently experiencing and soon to experience. That said, I’m working HARD on not being “anti-institutional.” I’ve taken to heart the truth (which I THINK I got from McLaren’s “Generous Orthodoxy, but I’m too lazy to fact check this tonight) that it “takes an individual to start a movement, but an institution to sustain it.” That helps me spend less time curling my lip towards institutions, corporations, denominations, and the like. I’m more intrigued with “new growth” in the midst of so much dead wood, and Revolution doesn’t disagree with that thought. So…Rudy lent me Rob Bell’s “Velvet Elvis” and I think I might weigh in on it next. So, if you get an Amazon.com gift certificate for Christmas, and are curious enough about Revolution, McLaren’s books, or “Velvet Elvis,” do me a favor and click through the link above to snag a copy for yourself. Merry Christmas, everyone….Christ is born!

I’m continuing to be compelled with the the single notion (and invitation) to “follow Jesus.” To desperately work at being a follower of Jesus’ teachings, lifestyle, the way He interacted in the Gospels with others. The Way. That’s really the crux of it.

Just exactly, where’s He going? One of the neat things made known to me this year was that Jesus doesn’t set up camp too often. In all He taught, “staying put” wasn’t ever one of His lessons. He’s a long-distance hiker. And yet for each of us, He sets a pace. Not necessarily a comfortable pace, but a pace we have the capacity and ability to keep. The past few years, I have felt like I haven’t been keeping up. Much like the dawdling toddler at the mall who doesn’t get his way, I’ve dragged my feet way too often.

A sense of “Urgency” is an issue of being called to follow Christ, for certain. When dragging my feet, I’m not tuned into that. And as I’ve learned that Jesus isn’t “sedentary” in relationship with us, but always on the move with His command “follow me,” I’ve found myself wondering where He is here at a moment where I need Him most. The answer is, He’s always WHERE HE’S CALLING ME. His voice is always my beacon–that’s His intent, at very least.

Now, if only I’d obey and FOLLOW, I might find him there! And He’s called me to be in process, not setup and established somewhere, planting roots and building some sort of spiritual homestead. And yet I’m tempted to do that–especially with a group of others who are like-minded, and try to build some sort of Jesus Colony or village. Just gather together, claim a piece of property and declare permanence.

Now that I’m aware of that, I realize that those places which ARE more settled are like visitor’s centers along the way, there for a quick break and stretch before heading back out. Base camp, the Holiday Inn, a Guest Home, a Jellystone campground.

But our calling is on the road, the path, the trail, the WAY–not at or “to” any one of these temporary stopping points.

Personally speaking, Kim and I have learned that by eventually moving to Denver to work at Kingdom Building Ministries, we are simply acting upon our call that we have ALREADY answered. We are in process, we are progressing, we are ON THE WAY, and therefore we’re doing our best to follow Jesus by interpreting what He’s asked us to do. And so, for the past 7 weeks, we’ve been without a permanent residence of our own. We are in a state of transit more than in a state of transition, and I’m convinced that seeing that and living with that understanding for a period of weeks is essential to our growth. It surely is needed for me.

We don’t know when we’re moving to Denver. We do know we have a long way still before we have enough financial support from partners to afford to move and live there. We aren’t complacent, and we have to keep our attitudes and patience in check, and we have to stay present in what God is doing in the lives of those around us. We have to be content with where we ARE, which always takes precedence over any anxiety about what the future holds.

And I’d hate to be too simplistic, but “Follow Me” doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for making Jesus’ teaching complicated. So, that’s my intent. To keep on following Jesus.

I’m watching TV, and just before “My Name Is Earl” starts at 9:30 there’s a John Hancock Financial commercial. And the concept of the ad is “Think of your family as a company with assets to build, develop, and protect.” That voiceover accompanies scenes all to familiar with our finance-obsessed culture: soundbytes from CNBC style finance shows where the reporter gives a byte such as, “The Peterson family ended on a positive note today, up this quarter a full 15% over last quarter.” Over and over they use that example, with the narrator cutting in and continuing the metaphor. And YES, it’s a metaphor. Problem is, a LOT of folks live as though it isn’t. And you don’t have to SEE the commercial to realize this.

If this were true, I could fire my wife for not pulling her weight, or I could promote a cousin to the prestigious position of first born son for doing such a remarkable job cleaning his bedroom.

And I feel just a bit like a tail-wagged dog if I buy into that. I’m not too keen about using business rhetoric in places where it doesn’t belong, and this certainly qualifies. Granted, advertisers wrote that commercial, and being a hack-advertising writer of sorts, I know how easy it is to toss around phrases, metaphors, and imagery to connect with an audience.

On a slight tangent, if you TRULY listen to the advertising that’s in current rotation, you’ll begin to seed a deep skepticism that can very quickly sprout and sprawl. My skepticism in general is both my blessing and curse.

So. Can families be run like a business? Can ministry? Can my personal life? How about art? Not to say that there isn’t overlap, or that due to the fact that a good many of us spend at LEAST 33% of our lives in “business mode” it’s an easy shift to applying it to other interactions and activities.

Maybe it’s just semantics, and my sensitivity towards such things. Maybe not.

Such an awful phrase. I’d wager most of the time we use it, we mean an event of severe negative consequence. As I write this, I’m watching coverage of Hurricane Katrina’s decimation to the New Orleans area.

Two years ago, we vacationed on Alabama’s Dauphin Island with my extended family. One day, we drove to New Orleans. I think about going into the cigar shop (on Canal St. maybe?) watching as they rolled cigars. And that now, it’s gone. I think about the Café Du Monde store when I look at the can I now use to hold odds and ends, and that it certainly was slammed when the levee broke. And Kim reminded me today about how I ran up the concrete steps of the levee to see the Mississippi.

I don’t mean to try and conjure a sentimental pseudo-personal connection to New Orleans. I honestly didn’t care much for the town. Not my kind of place. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t meaningful to thousands if not millions of people not just in the south, but around the world.

Michael Heilleman, a developer who wrote the code for the theme I use here at my site, recently posted a response to the catastrophe that’s worth reading. Make sure you follow the link to MP3 he has posted with the interview from the Mayor of New Orleans.

And then pray for the people who are destitute, homeless, penniless and grieving.

The Lark reports in this article a way for some of us to make the most of our Sunday morning Worship experiences.

Sounds like an incentive to me!

I’m a creative content creator, which is a fancy name for multimedia producer. I will continue in this career as Kim and I move to Denver in the not too distant future to go to work for Kingdom Building Ministries.

After responding to the Pat Robertson debacle in my previous post, I’ve been thinking about the question:

Is Television a VALID medium for sharing the story of Jesus?

I’d love to hear your thoughts to this impromptu survey. Click the little icon to the right of the title above to get to the COMMENTS page.