It seems John Travolta’s vintage Mercedes sports car has been stolen. It happened in Santa Monica, California. Travolta parked the car on a residential street Sunday afternoon and stopped in at a nearby Jaguar dealership for about 10 minutes. When he returned, he found an empty parking spot and no sign of the car, a 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280-SL. You can read about it at ajc.com. There, you can also read about the efforts to have Troy Davis’ execution stopped, a shooting at a preschool, deals on travel packages to Canada, a 3-year-old who fired a shotgun inside a automobile, a review of the first night of Dancing with the Stars, the latest on Charlie Sheen and Ashton Kutcher, and plenty of talk about the Atlanta Braves’ recent woes.
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Rev. Hagan Archive
Arab Spring
What started with one man’s protest over his vegetable cart being unlawfully seized in the small Mediterranean nation of Tunisia, almost identical in size and population to Georgia, has blossomed into a movement of young and old alike, who are pushing for some of the largest human rights reforms the world has ever seen. First in Tunisia, then later in Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, to name a few, a wave of public demonstrations and protests call for everything from granting basic human rights to total regime change (here is an interactive timeline). The protests have in common the use of social media, such as Facebook,Twitter, and YouTube, to organize, communicate, and raise awareness in the face of state attempts at repression and internet censorship. Many of us are watching this week as rebels in Egypt have pressed in on Muammar Gaddafi’s position and power in Libya in an effort to deport or detain him for trial.
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One last word is not enough
I was blessed and humbled to be present as Ben Gosden walked across the sanctuary on the campus of Emory University this week and receive his diploma from seminary. I was blessed to return to a place that meant so much to me, and to so many before me, and to watch the joy on the faces of graduates and their loved ones as they experience the achievement of dreams, goals, and callings. I was equally humbled to sit there as one who represents many: for our church rightly takes pride in Ben’s ministry and the ways God is using him even now to advance the Kingdom. Sitting alongside Ben’s mom, his wife, and other family, it was a great day.
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In the good and bad, where do you turn?
It is now easier than ever to stay connected. Through the advances of technology, specifically telecommunications and high-speed transmission of data and signals, we are able to see and hear the news from nearly corner of the world and even out into the galaxies. This new ability to connect has opened up amazing new possibilities that we are just beginning to explore. We are now able to peer over the fences of the world to see and learn and know even more.
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Getting past the past
What happens when things start going the wrong direction? Take, for example, conversations. We have a sense of direction when talking with others and can feel them going up or down. What happens when we feel a conversation going down a path we did not intend because the “other” wants to go backward and talk about the past?
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Is Easter tardy?
Despite all of the admonitions from mothers everywhere to rise and shine, or that the early bird gets the worm, sometimes great things happen more late than early. That can be said this year for Easter. Easter 2011 will be celebrated at an unprecedented late date. Let me explain …
The date for Easter in Western churches has been set based on when the full moon crosses the celestial equator since the year 326 AD. This is the date when day and night are equal in length everywhere. Easter Sunday can fall from March 22 to April 25. This year it will be April 24. Easter has not been celebrated on the 24th since 1859! What is even more significant is that it will only occur this late on the calendar twice in again in the next 150 years.
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The Grand Ole Opry
There in the center of the stage is a circle of hardwood, stained a lighter color than the rest of the floor, on which the performer stands and entertains. It is a section of the floor of the Ryman Auditorium, where the Opry called home for 31 years, that was moved to the new home back in 1974 in order to expand and allow for more people to enjoy this national treasure. It is one of the ways the leadership of the Opry House sought to keep traditions while keeping up with the times.
Julie and I attended the Grand Ole Opry for their Friday show this past weekend, and were treated to amazing performances and timeless acts. The show is still essentially a radio program, like its first days 85 years ago. We sat in pews, like every audience has since 1943 when it moved to a converted worship center. We saw country stars like Vince Gill and Terri Clark and the legend Little Jimmy Dickens. He joined the Opry in 1948 and turned 90 a couple of months ago!
Apart from the great music, the thing I found most interesting was how the Opry’s love of tradition has not prevented innovation from adding to the experience. There are lots of examples:
- Three large projection screens are found prominently on stage
- HD lighting along the back wall to enhance video-taping and the TV broadcasts
- State of the art audio-visual equipment so the sound is always first-class
- Every radio commercial ended the same way – pointing people to the website of whichever sponsor was hosting that half hour.
The timeless value of the Grand Ole Opry is not that things have stayed exactly the same for 85 years — it is that for 85 years they have kept the vision of entertaining audiences and selling radio commercials in exactly the center of what they do. They will add and take away whatever is not working to keep that vision from dying which has meant that the Opry remains as alive as ever throughout the massive changes in society and our world.
These are the very things I was thinking about sitting in that hallowed hall in Nashville on Friday night. In truth, I could not get my mind off the church and God’s great desires for it. You see, I believe we are also called to cling tightly to what is most important, while adding and subtracting the other parts that are intended only to enhance and not detract. What is most important? We are making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
God adding to universe
We’ve talked before about the size of God’s creation. It is overwhelming in its scope. I suggest that is it a lie for any of us to focus on scarcity, when God has created so very much and wants to provide for us. Yet, that is the very fear every one of us faces.
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Everyone should be on Facebook
Experience is the greatest teacher.
Thomas Taylor in the year 1617,
quoting an ancient Latin saying
We know this to be true. We learn best by doing. We can grasp the nuances, and get a hold of the concepts better when we are a part of the action. Books are amazing tools, and conversations with wise persons are priceless gifts – but there is something unparalleled about the lessons learned from actually experiencing something.
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Campaigning for healthy marriages
As I type this, polls are open across our country. People are voting here in of Epworth, as we host our neighborhood polling precinct for the first time. But we know elections are larger than one day, with monies and months spent gaining support, getting out the vote, garnering endorsements, and even a little time spent going over the issues. State records show that as of today, contributions of $174,125 were made to campaigns from within the bounds of our local zip code, 31904, alone.
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