Rejoicing in what matters

Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel; the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition.... What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice.

Philippians 1:15-18

Though my inbox gets cluttered with “Verse and Voice” daily emails from Sojourners, I consider it more than worth it because I am so often challenged by the verses they select to send out. Regarding this passage from Philippians chapter 1, I was humbled to recall how often I’ve judged televangelists, mega-church pastors, and rebellious emerging types based on my interpretations of their motives. What Paul writes here convicts me not only of my judgments of others (clearly denounced as wrong throughout the Bible) but even more exposes my lack of conviction regarding the power of the message and the life-changing implications of the Good News. False motives, bad theology, lack of cultural understanding, even lies, are not enough to blunt the message or to stop the mission. As flawed and irresponsible people, we are all great at pointing the finger … but the truth is that we are all competitive, we are all selfish, and we are all a mixture of goodwill and bad intentions. Paul calls us to rejoice in the message regardless of the delivery. I am going to pray that God allows me to have a large heart for all his people and to focus attention on the things that I can control.    

 

Ryan Townsend

Young Adults/College Pastor

Northpark Community Church

2297 E. Shepherd Ave

Fresno, CA 93720

559-322-7200 ext. 19

 

it's a wonderful life

a friend sent me this video in a mass email. i normally read mass emails about two weeks after they are sent, in case you were wondering. but this one caught my eye...

Apparently Whitestone Motion Pictures is a relatively new company and they shot this video in three days. For more info, whitestone mp website

consumerism: the musical

bye bye Giants...see you next year

Like a particularly bad Pentecostal Christian summer camp experience, this season will leave SF Giants like myself with a bad taste in our mouths but the dangled carrot of “better luck next year kid, maybe you’ll get to kiss your secret crush and the camp speaker won’t try to make you cough up demons,” will likely keep us coming back year after painful year. Sure, our collective minds WANT to believe that things are going to be fine and the young players are going to get us right back to the World Series but seriously, what are the chances? Of course, I did end up marrying a secret crush from a Christian camp.

movies worth mentioning?

I'm not a big fan of movie companies reaching out to churches for $$ and buzz, however, it does seem like this might be a pretty special movie based on the story behind the film and the film's story. Bella opens October 26th and I'll probably go see it that weekend. for more info bella the movie website...



Bella

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bicycle crash

 

Monday evening I crashed my bicycle on my ride home from work. I was riding along the sidewalk in front of Centennial park on Shepherd Ave. and hit a rock or something that caused me to spin out of control, fly headfirst into the concrete, and roll onto my back into the bushes. I’m very fortunate and blessed to have walked away with a mild concussion, bruises and scrapes, a head wound (pictures to follow when I can get them off bekah’s camera phone) and a bruised wrist. Several lessons can certainly be taken away from this incident…

 

Lesson #1: Always wear a helmet.

Lesson #2: Remember your cell phone so you don’t have to stumble, bleeding profusely, all the way back to work to call your wife.

Lesson #3: Don’t make fun of your venerable boss, Bob Willis, for falling off his bike or you might just fall off yours. Only one hour earlier I had yelled as he peddled away from Northpark, “Don’t fall off your bike!” Turns out that was a pretty foolish move.

Lesson #4: All joking aside, it was a pretty intense, high speed collision with the ground and I am so thankful not to be injured worse…no guitar or video games for a week or two but otherwise…no serious harm.

 

Related song: Bicycle by Plankeye, off the album Commonwealth.

 

 

 

list of reasons to watch/not watch tv

Often the two are one and the same. My observations from Sunday night.

 

1. Comments like “I’m smart. I read books. I play beer pong. I party with the boys.” From America’s Top Model Season 903.
2. Hilary Clinton’s hairstyle: consistently bland/inoffensive since 2002.
3. All the SPIN you can handle in the alleged NO SPIN ZONE.
4. Endless SNL reruns.
5. Tony Romo acting all suave and etc.

 

 

 

the living room comp #1

Last night we were up until one and then amelia decided to get up around four-thirty but we did have an excellent small group at our house last night and I made the following mix which I thought I'd share. the accompanying project playlist has most of the songs plus a couple of bonus tracks...

i'm alone in the house for a couple of days starting today at 2:00 pm so you may hear a lot from me this weekend, both here and at theoverdubs.com, myspace.com/theoverdubs and myspace.com/ryantownsend.

the national "all the wine"
rogue wave "chicago x 12"
tokyo police club "your english is good"
beck "time bomb"
jose gonzalez "down the line"
birds and batteries "ocarina"
matt hopper "head to feet"
lucinda williams "make me a pallet on your floor"
minus the bear "ice monster"
the postal service "grow old with me (john lennon)"
dashboard confessional "thick as thieves"
modest mouse "we've got everything"

playlist exclusions/inclusions:
someone needs to give matt hopper some mp3 love, no songs available
included the john lennon version of "grow old with me"
emmylou harris is nice for babies and wives
modest mouse is playing live