the fun theory
have you heard of this theory? it goes something like: whatever activity people have the most fun doing, they will choose, all other things being equal. companies have known this for years, trying to make their advertisements the most fun, in order to win customers. shoot, chuckie cheese has always known this! hehe
i'm pretty sure i agree with this theory, and what i really like is the idea that people can be trained to do good things, simply by making good things fun. can you imagine if you could make eating broccoli more fun than french fries? (i mean, isn't that why we put cheese on it?!). we could all lose a few pounds this year! can you imagine what would happen if we could make giving money away to the poor more fun then spending it on the movies? we could make poverty disappear as fast as the electric toothbrush has made sweater-teeth (plaque) disappear! or we could start cleaning up the environment--like the electric car attempted to do--through alternative fun incentives to recycle.
in february, a group of 10th and 11th graders from the youth group here at the crossing are planning to have the most fun by putting on a concert for our friends. and instead of collecting the money for themselves they're giving it away to Living Water, an organization that builds clean water wells. the students are all helping out in some way. some are playing in the band, performing original music. some are making their own food and selling it. some are using their organizational skills to administrate the event, while others are using their math skills to make sure we break even. some are using their hospitality gifts to welcome people at the doors and get the word out for folks to come. some are using their design talents to make up flyers and create a colorful set-design.
erwin mcmanus says that "creativity is the natural result of spirituality." obviously, i think that's true, and i would add that 'fun is the process of creating something from nothing" (and i think that is spiritual). after all, that's what we are: something from nothing.
and the scriptures say after God created you and me, "God saw what He created, and it was good". i can just read the subtext of this as God looking at us with a smile saying to Himself "now, that was fun." :-)
what do you create from nothing, just cause it's fun?
"Who Killed the Electric Car?" EV-1
about 15 years ago now, the EV-1--an electric car--was made and distributed to select
owners under the condition that at any time the cars could be recalled, no questions asked. when the calls were recalled in 2002, to an owner, everyone wanted to keep their car. the cars were obviously run on electricity, and could go for 50 miles without re-charge. the cars could be re-charged in less than 3 minutes, and the cars carried 50 gallons of gas in reserve in case the electricity ran out, and the owner needed to re-charge before they could return home (or wherever there was a specialized charger). so why aren't these cars on the road? where did they all go? who killed the electric car?
and no, it's not conspiracy-theory-monday. i've just been more and more curious about this movie "who killed the electric guitar?," since i received my latest quote for my car repair ($550+yikes!). every time i need a repair, i think about where i could cut back on other costs and gas would be an obvious one. every time i fill up, i wonder if i'm being duped by gas giants like exxon, mobile and car companies galore. couldn't someone have created a car that gets more than 35 miles per gallon without being a hybrid? or couldn't they have invented a car that runs on something cleaner and less costly than gasoline? and the answer is "yes someone did it"...in 1996 and the cars were good...until they were taken away and destroyed to be talked about no more.
this weekend greg spoke about the nasty habit of concealing the truth that exists in our culture, in our workplaces, and in our own hearts. simply put, we all lie. and just like the consequences we are seeing in our own environment from unclean air emissions--(anybody notice it's 75 degrees in st. louis in the second week of novemeber?)--we also see our own unclean hearts slowly kill us and those around us when we live for appearances rather than honestly admitting our brokenness. we're all hypocrites, no doubt i'm included, but that's not the problem. the problem is that the solution to hypocrisy, like the solution to unclean emissions, is also concealed. it's simple, the electric car for us is honesty. so why is it so hard for us to admit that we are unclean, broken, full of lies, full of jealous competitiveness, ripe with hatred towards someone like our boss or that person who stabbed us in the back or that neighbor who doesn't do things the way we do? our struggle chokes us because we can't fix ourselves, we can't stop doing the things we don't want to do, and even those who have tremendous will-power end up doing the thing they don't want to do by becoming arrogant and self-righteous.
if the solution is honesty, we can own the truth "i'm the mess, and i can't be fixed on my own." then maybe we can try out a new vehicle that runs on blood red, amazing grace, the clean energy that is poured out for us in Yeshua, Messiah, the Passover Lamb, the Christ, God-in-skin. why is it that we suppress His fuel for us, a relationship with God? why would we rather try to fix ourselves than accept that we are broken-beyond repair, but forgiven for a new life walking beside Him? who continues to kill this Jesus, concealing His pure love from our hearts?
owners under the condition that at any time the cars could be recalled, no questions asked. when the calls were recalled in 2002, to an owner, everyone wanted to keep their car. the cars were obviously run on electricity, and could go for 50 miles without re-charge. the cars could be re-charged in less than 3 minutes, and the cars carried 50 gallons of gas in reserve in case the electricity ran out, and the owner needed to re-charge before they could return home (or wherever there was a specialized charger). so why aren't these cars on the road? where did they all go? who killed the electric car?
and no, it's not conspiracy-theory-monday. i've just been more and more curious about this movie "who killed the electric guitar?," since i received my latest quote for my car repair ($550+yikes!). every time i need a repair, i think about where i could cut back on other costs and gas would be an obvious one. every time i fill up, i wonder if i'm being duped by gas giants like exxon, mobile and car companies galore. couldn't someone have created a car that gets more than 35 miles per gallon without being a hybrid? or couldn't they have invented a car that runs on something cleaner and less costly than gasoline? and the answer is "yes someone did it"...in 1996 and the cars were good...until they were taken away and destroyed to be talked about no more.
this weekend greg spoke about the nasty habit of concealing the truth that exists in our culture, in our workplaces, and in our own hearts. simply put, we all lie. and just like the consequences we are seeing in our own environment from unclean air emissions--(anybody notice it's 75 degrees in st. louis in the second week of novemeber?)--we also see our own unclean hearts slowly kill us and those around us when we live for appearances rather than honestly admitting our brokenness. we're all hypocrites, no doubt i'm included, but that's not the problem. the problem is that the solution to hypocrisy, like the solution to unclean emissions, is also concealed. it's simple, the electric car for us is honesty. so why is it so hard for us to admit that we are unclean, broken, full of lies, full of jealous competitiveness, ripe with hatred towards someone like our boss or that person who stabbed us in the back or that neighbor who doesn't do things the way we do? our struggle chokes us because we can't fix ourselves, we can't stop doing the things we don't want to do, and even those who have tremendous will-power end up doing the thing they don't want to do by becoming arrogant and self-righteous.
if the solution is honesty, we can own the truth "i'm the mess, and i can't be fixed on my own." then maybe we can try out a new vehicle that runs on blood red, amazing grace, the clean energy that is poured out for us in Yeshua, Messiah, the Passover Lamb, the Christ, God-in-skin. why is it that we suppress His fuel for us, a relationship with God? why would we rather try to fix ourselves than accept that we are broken-beyond repair, but forgiven for a new life walking beside Him? who continues to kill this Jesus, concealing His pure love from our hearts?
personality testing
found this really cool site through our leadership pastor, and wanted to pass it on. there's tons of great tests here to find out more about how you're wired. i just took one called the Cattell 16 Factor Test. and the weekend is here!
Cattell 16 Factor Test Results
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Hulk Hogan
i used to watch WWF (now WWE) wrestling every sunday as a kid. mom took us to church and i usually couldn't wait to get out of there. of course mom would stay to go to "big church" but as soon as sunday-school was over, i bolted on my roller-blades and usually got home just in time to make myself a PB&J sandwhich with milk and sit in front of one of the great entertainers of all time. sure, the Undertaker, Brutas the Barber-Beefcake, Randy Macho Man Savage, and the Ultimate Warrior all had better finishing moves, but no one could get a crowd more revved up than Hulk Hogan.
and yesterday, my lucky sister got to meet the Hulkster at KMOX!
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