30+ Resources For US Politics On The Web

24 October 2007 | Chris Ediger

One of my favorite sites, Mashable, ran a story today listing over thirty online resources to help you sift through the U.S. election for President (yeah, I know, it’s still a year away :-) ). They’ve listed links to sites that let you do everything from find out how much money candidates have raised/spent, news on the race, political social networks, and a good sized list of information on political parties/candidates/issues.

read on

Free Rice--Interesting Concept

21 October 2007 | Chris Ediger

Found this web site via Digg this morning while checking my email. It is a site set-up through the folks at poverty.com to help raise awareness and support for world hunger. On the face of it, I have to admit I was a little unsure about the whole prospect. It just comes off as a little cheap to me. How in the world are 10 grains of rice really going to make a difference? But then I realized that just might be the point. Here’s what I think the site accomplishes…

read on

@ Catalyst--First Day Thoughts

03 October 2007 | Chris Ediger

The first day of Catalyst was great! Listened in on four sessions total - all from amazing guys. Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church in Highland Village, TX, was incredible!

The story of The Village is one that is amazing in and of itself - growing by nearly 5000 people in about five years time. This is one of those churches that people look at and want to tap into whatever it is that they can draw from the pastor (Chandler in this case) - most of the time in an effort to try & duplicate it in order to hopefully see the same numerical growth in their own ministries/churches.

I knew I was going to like Matt from what he had to say right out of the gate…

read on

Rick Warren Should Be in Prison

18 September 2007 | Chris Ediger

That’s the subject line of an email I received this morning in my Inbox. It was from a group trying to rally support against library censorship efforts in our federal prison system. Beyond the political action of the email, the topic is one that is intriguing at best and potentially disturbing at worst.

Beginning last spring the Bureau of Prisons began systematically telling chaplains to remove books & resources which didn’t make a pre-approved list. The list was compiled with the help of religious experts, according to the Bureau, and the move was designed to help curb violence and religious extremism brewing in the prison system.

read on

All I Want Is…

29 August 2007 | Chris Ediger

Is it too much to ask for a travel mug that doesn’t break, leak, burn my hand, etc.? I’ve gone through about four travel mugs in the last three weeks - am I really that hard on my coffee-holding friends? Not asking for much - well, maybe a little sympathy, or a place to vent…

read on

No Members, Only Missionaries

16 August 2007 | Chris Ediger

I have always respected Erwin McManus. He’s a guy that has a heart to reach the lost, to bridge the nations & to have kingdom impact in place of ‘church growth.’ I’ve heard him say before that they have actually shut the church doors, change strategy &/or moved to a new location at times when they felt like the ratio of Christians to non-Christians in their services was getting too lopsided. I doubt you’d find many pastors willing to go that far.

Just got finished flipping through the latest Catalyst Monthly newsletter and read a great feature article entitled “No Members, Only Missionaries” by McManus. I’ll leave you to read the whole article by yourself (it’s excellent), but here’s an excerpt. I can almost see his voice raising and his adrenaline flowing when he gets to this point in the article. Good stuff…

read on

A Conversation From Taiwan

23 July 2007 | Chris Ediger

One of the amazing things that I love about my work with Threads is that I know the things I work on here are having an international impact. Threads is far reaching beyond just the United States - helping churches all over the world reach out to young adults for Christ.

I’ve been blessed to carry on a conversation with a new friend from Taiwan this week. She found me on Facebook through the Threads Facebook group, and proceeded to send me a message through my profile there. We’ve been able to talk about what young adult ministry looks like here in America vs Taiwan. It’s been interesting to see both the similarities & the differences.

Here’s part of our conversation…

read on

Firework Burns & Sparkler Bombs

03 July 2007 | Chris Ediger

I remember as a kid stretching the bounds of what was ‘appropriate firework enjoyment.’ I would sit on my front porch with my sling shot in hand & punk in mouth. I’d stick a firecracker in the slingshot, pull it back, light it with my mouth & shoot away. Needless to say, those errant ones in the batch (the ones that seem to go off almost as soon as you light them) caused many a burned finger & holes in my shirt.

As a teenager I participated in more than one roman candle fight. I’d stand in grand western ‘showdown’ fashion with another buddy some distance apart. We’d light our roman candles and proceeds to run around and try and avoid being hit by the flaming balls flying at us from the other person.

read on

Cynical, Yet Hopeful

13 June 2007 | Chris Ediger

I had a birthday recently. It seems like as each year passes these days become more and more reflective - looking back over where I’ve been and who I’ve become. It seems like life is shifting into higher gears the older I get, and the days are beginning to blur a little as I stick my head out the window and enjoy the flurry of the wind as it speeds on by.

read on

Hello, my name is Chris and I’m an iPhone Addict.

03 May 2007 | Chris Ediger

Now, mind you, I don’t have some kind of in-road with the big man himself (Steve Jobs, that is) - my fascination is merely a hypothetical one, one that may or may not become reality next month with the launch of the much-anticipated “Phone 2.0.” What’s wrong with my current Treo 650? Nothing. It’s just not an iPhone. Go ahead & say it: I’m pathetic (I know).

read on

American Idol (& You?) Gives Back

25 April 2007 | Chris Ediger

It seems like my week has been focused on just that very question. Being “people who care” is a focus for up/rooted, our young adults ministry, in this season - looking how to move forward in making an impact on culture & the Kingdom at the same time. We just ran an article this week here on the Threads site entitled, “Beyond ‘Hit & Run’ Servanthood” (considering how to approach service & volunteerism in a way that be a lifestyle choice, not just a trendy act), and finished recording the raw audio on the same subject for our upcoming Threads podcast. Then watching one of my favorite shows step out of character for 48 hours in an effort to raise awareness & money for ‘difference making’ organizations both here & abroad.

read on

March Madness Connectedness

27 March 2007 | Chris Ediger

I’m sad. Just one week from today (even less depending on when you are actually reading this) my sports universe will go into hibernation until the fall when the pigskins start to fly again. I’ve never been much of a baseball fan, nor a professional basketball fan, which means that April to August my sports world consists only of my two son’s soccer games on the weekends. The drive & intensity of March Madness suddenly halts and I’m left with a noticeable void in my life.

read on

The Source of Community

11 January 2007 | Chris Ediger

If you’re like me you place a high value on relationships in your life. Friends are family, and we couldn’t & really don’t want to pursue life on our own. And yet, if we’re honest, we look around ourselves and our lives (in spite of how much we talk about community) are really void of very many truly meaningful relationships. Sometimes the few that we can count on have come from work relationships, sports/hobbies we pursue, and even friendships we’ve managed to hold onto through the years from our past.

How would we rate the importance of the relationships we have within the Body of Christ?

read on

Christmas-ed out?

18 December 2006 | Chris Ediger

Okay, I have to admit it. Up until this past week I’ve really been feeling the “I’m already burnt out on Christmas” feeling pretty much 24-7. I’m normally not the humbug type, so the prospect of finding myself dragging through the Christmas season was equally depressing as much as it was cynical. I think all of the ‘getting ready’ for Christmas and the lack of let down in busyness had just added up to this feeling that I was going to find myself on the other side of the holidays wondering what happened.

read on