:: eric michael bryant ::

Check out this crazy cool looking building that is going in up in Dubai. It is supposed to be the “‘world’s first building in motion,’ an 80-story tower with revolving floors that give it an ever-shifting shape.”

“The spinning floors, hung like rings around an immobile cement core, would offer residents a constantly changing view of the Persian Gulf and the Dubai’s futuristic skyline.” Read the entire article here.

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According to the National Scotsman: “Falling exam passes blamed on wikipedia.”

“WIKIPEDIA and other online research sources were yesterday blamed for Scotland’s falling exam pass rates.

The Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC) said pupils are turning to websites and internet resources that contain inaccurate or deliberately misleading information before passing it off as their own work. The group singled out online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which allows entries to be logged or updated by anyone and is not verified by researchers, as the main source of information.”

Do you mean to tell me that wikipedia is not accurate?!?! What a shocker!

Unless you have received a check from Microsoft’s chairman Bill Gates after forwarding an email to 10 of your friends, you know that not everything you read on the Internet is true.

Two other recent examples of untrue stories: A tribe that wasn’t truly lost and a pact among teen girls in Massachusetts to get pregnant that apparently never happened.

I guess we need to read everything with a bit of healthy skepticism. I will hold to this until I receive that check from Bill Gates.

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The irony isn’t lost on me that the day after posting “Avoiding Being Super-Sized,” I am posting a reminder that today is World Refugee Day. As we struggle to stop eating more than we should, many struggle to even eat at all. I always think of the passage from Genesis 12:1-3 in which God blesses Abram to be a blessing to the nations and the phrase from the New Testament: “To much is given, much is required.”

According to the United Nations, by the end of 2007, there were more than 11 million refugees worldwide and 26 million internally displaced people.

Another important statistic: The world population will grow to 7 billion by 2012.

Finally, China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Iraq, Kenya, Russia, Sudan and Europe have been identified as among the worst violators of refugees’ rights in a global survey.

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Erwin’s newest book, Wide Awake: The Future is Waiting Within You is coming to a store near you June 17th!

To catch a glimpse of this powerful book about making your dreams a reality, read a chapter here for free.

Check out the short films preview here!

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When asked about how to keep a pulse on culture, Scott Hodge had some good insights I thought you would enjoy.

I cannot vouch for these blogs, books, or churches, and I could think of a few others to include - perhaps I will put a list together sometime soon which would include PFP , but here is Scott’s answer:

1. Read blogs! Subscribe to a number of blogs that seem in touch with culture (and not just ministry blogs…): Ragamuffin Soul, Eric Bryant, Ethur Blog, Joe Thorn, Steve McCoy, Arts & Letters Daily, Boing Boing, Jordon Cooper, Seth Godin, Tim Stevens, Church Marketing Sucks, Tony Morgan, Dave Ferguson, Kem Meyer, Tallskinnykiwi, Johnny Baker, Catalyst Leader Feeder. (Gosh, there are so many more….but there’s a start.)
2. Subscribe to some magazines that are in touch with current culture. Here are a few I subscribe to: Fast Company, Wired Magazine, Relevant Magazine, Collide Magazine
3. Subscribe to some podcasts. Here are a few of my favorites: This American Life, VH1 Best Week Ever, The Relevant Podcast, TED.
4. Get rid of the PC and buy a Mac. Ok, I’m sort of kidding. (keyword: sort of…)
5. Twitter and Facebook. Everyone’s doing it and it’s a great way to keep a pulse on a lot of different cultural conversations.
6. Read a lot of books. A few recommendations:Pop Goes The Church by Tim Stevens
   The Reason for God by Tim Keller
   Everything Must Change by Brian McLaren
   A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren
   Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
   Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
   Prophetic Untimeliness by Oz Guinness
   The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch
   unChristian by Gabe Lyons
   They Like Jesus, But Not The Church by Dan Kimball
7. Browse new and most popular music in iTunes. This is a great way to hear what’s happening musically in our culture. The 30-second snippets are great!
8. Go to some conferences that will stretch and challenge you. A few recommendations:Catalyst Conference - it’s BIG, but you’ll get a good feel for what’s happening among young leaders.
   Innovate - none will be as good as last year’s (that’s when I spoke, ha, ha…), but this is a great conference put on by my friends from Granger Community Church in Granger, Indiana.
   Q - Expensive, but DEFINITELY a unique conference that asks the question, “How can the church begin INFLUENCING culture?”
9. Visit some churches who are DOING IT. A few that I have my eye on:Imago Dei - A beautiful missional church in Portland.
   Community Christian Church - Naperville, IL (The best at reproducing I’ve ever seen)
   Granger Community Church - Granger, IN - Using pop culture to their advantage in a HUGE way.
   Mosaic - LA - Creating culture.
   NewSong Church - LA - Love the global thinking at NewSong. The more I learn about Dave Gibbons, the more I want to crawl inside his brain.Dang, there are so many… I can’t even begin to list out all the ones who are making it happen. These are just a few.
10. Listen to teenagers. Like you mentioned, he will keep you up on what’s happening. Since teens CRANK at technology and media, they are up on what’s going on culturally better than anyone.
11. Be yourself. No matter what, be yourself. Don’t TRY to be like anybody else. Our culture can sniff that a million miles away. Doesn’t mean there won’t be room for improvement or opportunity to have a better grasp on culture, but you will be at your best when you are being who God made you to be.

The question I’m asking right now is how do we move BEYOND imitating culture and into CREATING culture? That’s my dream. To create, impact and move culture in a way that makes our churches irreplaceable.

BUT….before we can do that, we have to make sure we are in tune with where culture is at right now. The church hasn’t always done a great job at that - proven by the fact that MOST churches are CHASING culture (because MOST are years BEHIND it.) But the church’s best days are when we are no longer chasing or imitating culture, but actually shaping it!

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No matter which side of the aisle you are on, this has been and will continue to be an historic presidential campaign.

Barack Obama is the first African-American presidential nominee.
An article by Frank Sesno points out: “It has been 145 years since the Emancipation Proclamation, but in the span of a single lifetime much has changed. The military has been integrated. The schools have been desegregated. There was the King march and his assassination. There have been riots in the streets and breakthroughs in the ranks.”
Ironically, his nomination came exactly 40 years after Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. Both were known voices for civil rights.  (By the way, Obama would also be considered our 14th Scot/Irish President).

Hillary Clinton was the first woman to get this close to becoming a presidential nominee.

John McCain is the oldest person to be nominated for president.
Now some have made fun of him for being older than Alaska, Snow White, and Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, but we live in a time when people are retiring later and living longer than ever.

Finally, the choice of a Vice Presidential candidate could be historic as well. McCain has been rumored to consider Bobby Jindal, the Indian-American governor of Louisiana and before that Condoleeza Rice, and Obama may choose Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of Kansas.

For a lighter side to this historic campaign, check out this clip from “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” which includes Abraham Lincoln’s response to Obama’s nomination.

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With breakthroughs in science happening every day, it shouldn’t have surprised me to run across an article about the possibillity of ending baldness through cloning. Check out the article here.

If the scientists figure out a way to clone hair follicles and replicate them in 5 years, I have two questions to consider:

1. Would I still want to try some new scientific experiment on my perfectly round head?
2. Will I have any hair left to clone in 5 years?

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For more details on the time change for the gatherings at the Mayan, Broke (the show on Friday Night), and Futura (experimental music and art), go to www.mosaic.org.

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(For more on this graph, check out the Business Resonance blog)

On my recent travels I have been enjoying the BusinessWeek podcasts. In a recent one about the possible recession we are experiencing, the analysts discussed the options businesses have:

1. Cut back all research and development funding and focus on what must be in the short-term.

2. Make short-term sacrifices in order to gain long-term results by working to expand market share.

Option #2 is a brilliant idea!

Politically, President Bush called for Congress to pass a bill approving $700 million in food aid to offset the skyrocketing cost of food such as corn, wheat, and bread. This move provides help to those who might see us as enemies and may alleviate potential unrest in places such as Egypt. More importantly, it is the right thing to do. Could the US gain “market share” in terms of the way others perceive us around the world?

In our churches, as finances are tight, we need to re-evaluate our spending and make sure we don’t neglect those with the greatest need physically (usually the ones who are affected first and the most when the economy is hurting) and spiritually (it is easier to invest in ourselves rather than investing in those who don’t yet contribute).

With this in mind, appreciate your prayers as our community at Mosaic looks to serve people this weekend at Big Sunday and as we seek to love, serve, and reach out through ambitious events (“Love Letters” from She Community), new gatherings (South Bay starting June 22nd), and new relationships.

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Earlier today I had the opportunity to share a few thoughts on leadership, being a Navigator at Mosaic, lessons I’ve learned, etc. via a live teleseminar. A recording is available below. Thanks to all who were able to participate with me on the call. It was great hearing and interacting with so many of you before and during the call. Special thanks to those who were on from Australia (Mark - 4am Australia time!) and China (Mitch). I know we also had someone from Germany as well.

Download MP3 Here

We’ll schedule another teleseminar in the next few months and make it a bit more live Q&A style. Stay tuned for details…

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