October 2011
9 posts
Oh yes, it’s dental cleaning time! Can I get a woot-woot?
Fun hanging with the Bread Mafia last night!
What an amazing sunset! Where is nature’s like button?
RT @mclanea: If you don’t send your kids to a local public school, don’t talk to me about incarnational living. Deal?
Heading out to Choinard Winery with some friends for a school event. Wine, snacks and conversation - what a great way to raise funds!
RT @hwinkler4real: “We hang petty thieves and appoint the great thieves to public office”
Aesop
“I’m down on bended knee…*PIANO RIFF DUMMM*” - Repeat. x5000.
Looking back, it seems like #SteveJobs was the Walt Disney of our time.
RT @markknoller: In 2010, at event marking National Mentoring Month, Pres Obama spoke of Steve Jobs being set straight by his 4th grade …
May 2011
4 posts
Unbelievable Christianity?
From the still-smoldering debates over hell, to the ordination of homosexuals, to the relative importance of one’s position on Ronald Regan’s legacy, if the evidence points overwhelmingly to any fact it’s this: Christianity is a big tent with a diverse voices and views.
Or is it?
While there are many perspectives on the theology and practice of Christianity, what seems to be...
5 tags
Huckabee Unveils Bias-Free Animated History Video... →
From the website: “Many of our schools and teachers today haven’t found ways to make history for kids fun. Instead, they’re teaching with political bias that distorts facts for the sake of political correctness. As a result, our national pride and patriotism are in jeopardy.”
And what, might you ask, is Huck’s solution for combatting this creeping political bias that...
GODO: Call for GODO Contributors | Spring 2011 →
godomag:
Calling all bloggers, poets, writers, photographers, filmmakers and storytellers! The GODO theme for Spring 2011 is WE ARE THE BELOVED!
We are looking for original work that explores the theme of love discovered. Love is the most powerful force in the universe, and speaks to the core of our…
April 2011
0 posts
March 2011
9 posts
Hope
Hope is channeling despair into proactive transformation.
We hope when things are not okay. When things fall apart. When we lose something we can’t imagine living without. When we hope, we do things that may seem erratic or out of character. We pace. We plead. We bargain. Sometimes we even pray.
But true hope is also a step beyond all that. Hope doesn’t stop with wishing and praying...
7 tags
Slate
The world is aching.
Last week’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan sent shock waves throughout the earth as we marveled over images of nature’s awesome power to destroy. In an instant, entire villages were wiped from the earth and swept into a vengeful, untamed ocean.
Even as we grapple with the very real and immediate issues of economic, energy and humanitarian crises, it appears that...
Rage Against the Machine Guitarist Tom Morello on... →
4 tags
Chewing On...
I’ve been thinking a lot about how churches were the primary engine of cultural synchronicity during a critical period of European/American history, mostly because of advances in printing technology. With every subsequent advance, churches have tried to keep up with technology without changing their role as cultural hub. Now technology allows niche markets and cultures to thrive - take...
February 2011
1 post
December 2010
2 posts
November 2010
2 posts
October 2010
3 posts
Faith Like an Avocado Pit
Once upon a time, there was a young, better-than-average-looking family with a planter box and a dream. They wanted to learn the art of backyard agriculture, so when making guacamole with a delicious California avocado one day they had the brilliant presence of mind to produce their own plant from the pit. And so, the family painstakingly went through the process of immersing the pre-avocado in...
July 2010
2 posts
Gandhi rollin' through Larkspur
2 Legit 2 Quit nonviolent civil disobedience. John Thumb-typed via iPhone Posted via email from John O’Hara is… | Comment »
Eat This Flag!
Serena came up with this great idea of making American flags out of waffles, fruit and whipped cream. Is it a federal crime to eat the flag? Happy Independence Day! Posted via email from John O’Hara is… | Comment »
May 2010
1 post
I broke down
Long day. Posted via email from John O’Hara is… | Comment »
April 2010
6 posts
Be Here Now!
Be here now!In this time and placeIn this dance of graceIn the lines and contoursOf your neighbor’s face -Be here now!In the beatIn the heat Move your feetHit the streetBreak breadBow your headCome on, let’s eat,Be here now! For the lost ones,For the wayward sons, For the daughters caged and filled with rage,For children with guns -Be here now! With this bodyWith this blood,Be a torrent of...
Simple: what we do
It’s a blind date kind of question, isn’t it? When asked to talk about ourselves, we usually default to the topic of our work. “I’m a such- and-such working for so-and-so.” That we tend to identify ourselves by what we do is a result of the industrialization - and dehumanization - of our culture. After leaving ChurchWorld, the biggest and most difficult question I...
Simple: Why We Left ChurchWorld
My decade-long career in professional church work could be divided cleanly into two parts. Part I of the story would be called “Living the Dream,” in which the character played by me is found writing sermons, preparing slide show presentations, putting together volunteer teams and enjoying the fringe benefits of pastoral ministry: long, meandering lunch meetings, followed by long...
New Series: Why We Do Stuff
So I was having lunch recently with an old friend who is wise and has the guts to tell it like it is. He told me, “John, there are plenty of people who believe in you, and they want to believe in what you’re doing. They just don’t understand it.” This friend wasn’t the first to hint at my tendency to be obscure with my language. Part of it is intentional on my part;...
The Great iPad Invitation
Almost as a lark, I tweeted earlier today that I would write an entire book using an iPad for the first person to deliver a new device to me. And the more I thought about it, the more serious I became about the proposition. The iPad is allegedly going to revolutionize personal computing and the way we interact with the Web. If this is truly the case, then our reading habits — and writing...
Punk'd By God
I should begin with an April Fool’s disclaimer: this is a true story. Years ago, before I became an idealistic, slightly confused adrenaline-seeking spiritual artist, I was an idealistic, slightly confused adrenaline-seeking teenager. A very generous portion of my teen experience was immersed in what is known in the evangelical church world as a “drama team,” an evangelistic band of willing...
March 2010
8 posts
Team Dogs
Serena and Pam came up with these very impressive placemats for the kids to use for post-game snacks. Based on the respose from coaches, I think they may have a new business in team snack accessories. Posted via email from John O’Hara is… | Comment »
Playground
Posted via email from John O’Hara is… | Comment »
Reading to Grandma
Posted via email from John O’Hara is… | Comment »
Gym
Posted via email from John O’Hara is… | Comment »
Untitled
Posted via email from John O’Hara is… | Comment »
Be Here Now: Multifaceted Leadership
“So, do I still call you ‘Pastor’ John?” My eclectic and unorthodox friend stood across from me in the church’s crowded breezeway. We were surrounded by people who, only six months ago, registered my name and face with an Associate Pastor at the place I now occasionally visit when not working at Starbucks. Just as I was about to offer an over-analyzed response, my...
Consider the Monkey: Big Ideas
The other day I suggested that Influence = Big Ideas + Multifaceted Leadership + Strategic Connectivity
Let’s start with big ideas. There are plenty of interesting ideas, and even a few good ideas. But the difference between a good idea and a Big Idea is how effectively it seeds real, lasting transformation.
TEN LITTLE MONKEYS: A CAUTIONARY TALE
If you’ve ever been a parent...
How YouTube Killed the MegaChurch
Many of today’s large evangelical churches gained prominence on a wave of video technology. Programming, lighting, dress, behavior - even the language of these churches (and by extension, those they influence) have been deeply marked by the medium. In my own experience on church staffs, a high priority was consistently placed on the audience experience: entertaining segments, clean and crisp...
February 2010
5 posts
Great quote on tribal leadership in the digital...
“The Beatles did not invent teenagers! They merely decided to lead them. Most movements, most leadership that we’re doing is about finding a group that’s disconnected but already has a yearning, not persuading people to want something they don’t have yet.” - Seth Godin at TED2009 Posted via email from oharaville’s posterous | Comment »
