Last night I typed up a Facebook status, hit “post,” and went to bed. As I was lying there, I immediately thought of a few things that I would change/add if I could go back and repost it. Unfortunately, I don’t have that chance, so I want to clarify them here and maybe open up some discussion. Here’s my original post:
“Every day I get on FB and see a bunch of Christian's statuses that say what amounts to "This is why Atheists and liberals SUCK!" I'm as conservative as the next guy, but have you people considered what that communicates about the gospel long term? What's more important, building bridges to people or telling the FB world your opinion about something? Not to mention FB has to be the worst medium of all time to host an argument, and if you post articles constantly, it's honestly all just white noise after a while. If you really have a cause you believe in, why not start a FB group or a blog-or post them on Twitter instead (a social network that's made to be more of an information mover than a way to connect friends)? At the very least, just examine how the content and spirit of your posts portray the gospel to people who are watching.”
I believe in the core message of what I posed, but there are a couple of things I want to clarify:
(1) My statement was not directed at any one person or group of people, and it was not a reaction to anything that was posted last night. I’ve been thinking about posting something like this for a few weeks. If you took it personally, I’m sorry. Know that it was not my intent to be personal at all.
(2) Full disclosure: I used to be the “I post political articles on FB twice a day” guy, especially early in Obama’s term when he was ramming his stimulus bill and Obamacare through Congress and I was listening to Mark Levin every night. So I have been “that guy,” and I really wish the post showed that I have been a part of what I think is a problem instead of making it seem like I have always been above it, because I haven’t. But since I went through this experience, I do know how annoying it can be, how little it accomplishes, and how far away from the gospel it can take people.
(3) Also, I want to help create dialogue about this kind of thing as we work out what it means to be a Christian in America. So I wish I had written more in a spirit of “Hey, we’re all in this together, and let’s think about ways we can do this better,” instead of “Hey, let me tell you all how it is.” Basically, I think I could have phrased my comment in a way that would be more inviting for people to come along and talk about the effect of Christians using Facebook for political purposes. Instead, because I was so forceful, I may have pushed people away from wanting to talk about it at all. That was not my intent, and I apologize if it had that effect.
(4) With all of these qualifications in mind, I do think Christians need to be held accountable for the way they portray the gospel. The Religious Right has created enough confusion about Christianity in our country that you have to constantly fight through socio-political issues when trying to share the core of the gospel with people just because of all the connotations it brings up. I think we are largely viewed as close-minded nymphs that won’t set our opinions aside for the sake of a listening to a person. The core of the gospel is what we’re fighting for, and that has nothing to do with how someone votes, what they believe about a given socio-political issue, or what they do or don’t do in general. It has to do with a person acknowledging they can’t save themselves and that the only hope they have is in Jesus who became sin to give them a new life, something he did only because of his grace. I’ve found that when non-Christians find out that’s the core of the Christian gospel, they are surprised more often than not. So this speaks to what I think is a larger problem in American culture. It has to do with what cause we champion and where we find our purpose and identity.
Ultimately, this discussion leads to bigger questions of what a Christian’s relationship is to the political world and how effective Facebook can be as a medium for messages, and those discussions are ongoing. The tension between gospel-living and American politics isn’t something I’m claiming to have all neatly ironed out. I’m also not intending to say we should just ignore our responsibility to this world and have no political causes or aspirations; far from it. But to a world that already thinks Christianity is about voting Republican and hating gay people, our choice of words, their frequency, and our intent with them-even Facebook words, can either reinforce that assumption or challenge it. Our words can also have a negative effect on our ability to build bridges to people outside of “our camp” and push people away from what they are falsely assuming the gospel to be. This is the world we live in and must minister to; we have no choice in the matter. So vote, blog, and discuss away-please! But let each of us be aware of how our words and actions portray the gospel to others as we do.
I hope that I have thought and written all this with gospel motivations, and I invite dialogue on areas you think I may be wrong so we can all handle these things in a more godly way and honor the gospel in the public square.
Almost 7 years ago, I was hired as the janitor at a small church in Chicago. During that time I discovered Mars Hill Church in Seattle (no affiliation with Mars Hill in Grand Rapids) and Mark Driscoll. I would spend my hours of dusting, moping, and cleaning toilets listening to his sermons. His series on the cross is what initially interested me, but over time, I listened to just about everything he put online (he gives away all of his content for free). Over these years, I learned a great deal from Mark about leadership, culture, biblical sexuality, and most importantly, what it means to put the gospel at the center of my life. These insights have had a profound impact on everything from my philosophy of ministry, teaching and counseling, to how I eat my breakfast or exercise. Mark’s teaching was a great help to me when I was going through my own crisis of faith and realizing that even in the sanitary environment of academia, satan was at work in my life to keep me from the gospel. Although I have never met him, I cannot be thankful enough for Mark’s gospel-centered teaching, and I'm sure it will mark my life and ministry forever. I have my gripes with some of the new Reformed thinkers, especially with regard to their use of the Old Testament, and some of Driscoll's exegesis in particular. But I am also thankful for the good I have been given and how it has changed me.
Some of you may have seen Mark on a Youtube clip that your Egalitarian friend showed you (or read about him on crazy blogs). Please don’t judge him only by that. You don’t get to know someone by something they said one time, but by who they are all the time. There is something sick in people who are constantly trying to tear down those in leadership, and it is, unfortunately, very contagious. In listening to Mark (and others), I think it's only fair to consider his context (Seattle). He has explained this time and again, but it is often ignored by his critics. Ministries, like any Bible verse, should always be viewed in their context. When you just pull them out and examine them on their own, they may not seem to make sense or could be completely misunderstood. I think Mark would be the first one to tell you that he has taken things too far and has made plenty of mistakes-but so have you and I. Preference is one thing, but f you are someone that tends to be overly critical in general, I would urge you to examine your heart and understand that, if you're a Christian, ultimately Mark loves Jesus and is on your team. Please listen with an open mind and humble spirit-not just to be critical, but to learn something.
Here’s a video Mars Hill Church recently put together that will give some background to what ministry is like in Seattle, and some of the struggles Mark and his wife have faced in trying to plant a church there. It is well worth watching; the story of Mars Hill is pretty incredible. Just keep in mind the primary intended audience was the church (you can download it here):
In July, CT’s “her.meneutics” page (CT's blog for women) ran an article on Driscoll and came to the following helpful conclusion:
“I may not always agree with Mark Driscoll, but I believe in the Holy Spirit who works through him. If I find myself totally unable to learn from Driscoll or any other Christ-preaching teacher in the church, that probably would say less about the preacher than it would my own faith in the power of God.”
And just one more important caveat-don’t ever deify any speaker or teacher. If you’re getting all your information from one source, that’s always a bad idea (It’s also a good idea to use more than one Bible translation by the way). I have been guilty of that so many times in my life. So in sharing this, I don’t mean to imply Driscoll’s the only guy you should listen to or the only guy I listen to. But in so far as his teaching has pointed me toward Christ, I want to share it also with you.
Something like a "top 5" list is always subjective. You may not like all of them or think others should be on the list, but these have resonated with me in some way. There is also a chance I may have missed some that I either have not listened to or listened to and then forgot. So, here are my top 5 Driscoll sermons:
5. Humble Christians (I Peter 5:6-14)
This is the final sermon for a series in I Peter, and it focuses on the great virtue of the Christian life-humility. In it, MD says there is no such thing as a humble person, only people working toward humility by the grace of God. As soon as you say that you are humble, you have disqualified yourself from being humble! This is a wonderful text, and Mark does a great job of unpacking it. This sermon has been convicting for me, and I think it will be for you too. Audio and video available for d/l here. Or view it below:
4. Reverse Engineering your life
This message was given at a men’s conference, so the ladies will find it a bit cumbersome to listen through, although it will expose you to a guy's perspective. The premise is this: we should look down the road to the end of our lives, see where we want to go, and with God’s help, move our lives in that direction. So, you are engineering your life in reverse-hence the name. At the turn of the new year, this should be helpful to listen through as you plan your priorities. Whenever I feel out of whack and I take time to evaluate it, it's generally because I either do not know what my priorities are or because I am not sticking to them. To accomplish anything significant in life, this is a must. There is no video available, but the audio can be downloaded here. I also found a PDF of the notes, if you like.
3. Christ, Controversy and Cutting Words
The Bible seems to say a lot of things that are not that nice. Is it okay for us to say those things too? If so, when should we say them, and who should we say them to? In this message, Mark addresses these questions as he reads through some of the more cutting verses in the Bible. His answer is, the Bible has all kinds of things to say to all kinds of people, but we have to use wisdom and give the right kind of response to each person. This is a refreshing look at some difficult and obscure biblical passages, and some helpful thoughts for leaders/teachers. Audio/Video available for download, or view it below:
2. Good Sex, Bad Sex
This is a classic, and it’s the first sermon I refer people to who ask about Mark. This is a frank, honest, and humorous look at I Cor. 6:12-7:7. MD talks firstly about "bad sex" in all of its forms (all sex outside of marriage), before moving to "good sex" (all expressions of sex within marriage). It’s probably not one you’ll want your children to hear (!), but when I was a youth pastor, I did show it to my high school group. I think the vodcast is funnier than the audio. You can grab a bucket of popcorn and watch it on Google Videos or below (unfortunately Mars Hill removed the video for download). The audio is available for download here.
1. Death by Love: Reflections on the Cross
From the time I first listened to this (in, I think 2007) until today, this has been my favorite Driscoll sermon. This is a phenomenal explanation of the gospel that includes about a 10 minute detailed discussion of crucifixion. He explains why the cross is so important and why it must stand at the center of our faith (make sure the resurrection is there too!). I couldn’t find it online anymore, so I uploaded it to my Youtube channel. It is not downloadable, but you can view it below (or here) until Youtube probably flags and removes it:
Honorable Mentions:
*11 Things God Does for Church Leaders
Sometimes it’s easy to put it all on ourselves in ministry. Here MD talks about 11 things that we never should take responsibility for because God already said he will. It is short by hist standards (35 minutes), but refreshing for Christian leaders. There is no video available for d/l, but you can get the audio here.
*Diversion and Deception: Nehemiah 6:1-4
There were a lot of things I found frustrating and confusing about the Nehemiah series (for example, Nehemiah is not going to Jerusalem to build a church as a city within the city), but this is one sermon that has always stood out to me. In it, MD talks frankly about the opposition Nehemiah faced and how we should respond when we face opposition.
*Leadership Coaching
Another helpful resource MD offers is leadership coaching. These are short videos recorded on MD's webcam at his house, but they are insightful and challenging. If you are a parent, in business, ministry, or leadership of any kind, I think you will find this series helpful. You can see them at theresurgence.com (you have to sign up to view them).
*The Truth and the Lie Conference:
We were made with a spiritual capacity, and we long to worship; however, instead of bringing our worship to the creator God, we often worship created things, which is idolatry. At this conference, MD helpfully shows the theological foundation for idolatry (part 1), how it works itself out through celebrity culture (part 2), before bringing it to bear on counseling techniques (part 3). I think anyone working with youth would find this series particularly helpful, but it is a great listen for anyone interested in the issues of how idolatry works itself out practically in culture. I think Driscoll has fantastic cultural insight.
Part 1- The Truth and the Lie in Marriage
The title is deceiving because he changed the content of his sermon before the conference. In this section, MD argues that all worldviews can be boiled down to “the truth” and “the lie.” All people, including atheists, are very spiritual as can be shown by how they worship unceasingly. He calls this worldview “oneism,” the idea that behind idolatry is the belief that god and the universe are one. But he says the God of the Bible is a God who makes distinctions-distinctions between man and woman, man and animals, God and the universe, etc. This “twoism” is the belief that God is separate from the world and therefore has a right to be worshiped as creator. Video and audio d/l here or watch below:
Part 2- The Truth and the Lie in Worship
In this section, MD takes the theology he showed in part 1 and works it through pop culture. What he shows is the narcissism (self-obsession) that is prevalent in celebrity culture and how it affects our children. He points out a drive among youth to become famous using by doing extreme things (like celebrities) and using technology (Youtube, FB, Twitter, etc.) as a vehicle to communicate them. He does a masterful job of viewing our culture through the lens of the theology he laid out in part 1. His only mistake is calling Ben Rothlisberger Ben Rothwell, which is strange because he is such a big football fan! Video and audio available for d/l here or watch below:
Part 3- The Truth and the Lie in Counseling
And lastly, Mark works this practically into counseling. Video/Audio d/l here; vid below:
At the end of the semester, my Egypt & the Bible class toured Egypt for 8 days-what an 8 days it was. We saw the entire country, including places in the Sinai. This meant 6:00am-6:30am bus calls and traveling quickly to make the most of the sunlight. In this time, we hit all the major stuff you could think of plus some extra stuff. Here I have given you my top 5 best and worst of my time in Egypt. If you want to see more pictures, you should be able to get to my album on Facebook here. Additional videos are available at my Youtube channel here. I will continue to upload videos throughout my time in Israel as I am able.
WORST:
Okay, let’s get the top 5 worst out of the way first:
(5) Cairo
To put it lightly, Cairo isn’t exactly a resort spot. I could elaborate, but this picture is a good enough representation of the city:
A typical street in Cairo
(4) Traffic
Traffic in Cairo made I-94 in Chicago look like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
(3) Water
Simply put-you shouldn’t drink the water. This includes avoiding all salads and fresh fruits because they might have been washed in the tap water. I even brushed my teeth with bottled water. It paid off-me no get sick!
(2) Egyptian Antiquities Authority
OK, just about anyone who has dealt seriously with Egyptian antiquities has a problem with Egypt’s entire approach to them. A few highlights are (1) Djoser’s Stepped Pyramid from the 4th Dynasty that the EAA is spending money to completely reface with new brick. In other words, they are ruining a 4,600 piece of human history. Preserving something ancient is one thing, but rebuilding it is totally another. The project was underway while we were there:
Djoser's Stepped Pyramid under "renovation"
Secondly, at several of the sites, like the Cairo Museum, workman’s tombs at Deir el-medina, Valley of the Kings, and all the pyramids (even those where there is no paint left on the walls), and others, you aren’t allowed to bring your camera in or take photography of any kind. OK-bring me my soapbox. Ahem, first of all-the reason most of these sites are protected from photography, as far as I can tell, is because they want to sell the pictures and make money off of them. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any high resolution digital pictures for sale on site-which is what I want. Many of my friends brought cameras into tombs at the Valley of the Kings or pyramids and sneakily took pictures anyway.
Also, from what I understand-there is no evidence that photography of any sort or kind (including flash photography) destroys antiquities. Everyone, please go back and read that sentence again. I am perennially frustrated that I can’t take pictures of, for example, an inscription on a piece of rock, because of the absurd claim that my flash might destroy it. To quote White Goodman of Dodgeball (make sure to read in your Ben Stiller voice), "This is pure poppycock!" White, you are correct! This is why the curator of the British Museum has lifted the ban on flash photography. That’s right, you can run through the British Museum like I did in August, taking pictures of whatever you want, even using flash (90% of the time I don’t use flash anyway). It was great! I stood in front of an Assyrian inscription for an hour taking careful pictures of it for my buddy with no problems at all. Then I ran through the rest of the museum like a monkey and took pictures of whatever else I could in the time I had. This open approach allows people to take home a part of the antiquities with them to use them for teaching, study, or whatever. I also believe if people were allowed to take pictures, they would take less than you think. Thumbs up to the Brits; thumbs way down to the EAA. Shame, shame, shame on you! I’m not really concerned about Flem and Earl getting their picture together next to a monument they’ll forget the moment they end their trip; I’m concerned about taking quality pictures of whatever I can use to help people understand the world of the Bible and for personal study. Any time I’m prevented from doing this for a reason that doesn’t make sense, it bothers me.
Lastly, the EAA visited us while we were at a site in the Nile Delta (Tell el-Yehudiya). The site is unmarked and unkept. Thousands of people pass it every day without any knowledge of how important it was in Egyptian history. There are no signs, no brochures with historical information, no bathrooms, or even merchants trying to sell stuff. Yet within 40 minutes of us being there, the EAA showed up with the police and kicked us off because we didn’t pay to be there. Considering the state of the country, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say there are better ways they could be using their time.
The EAA and police kicking us off Tell el-Yehudiya
(1) Baksheesh
Baksheesh is the Arabic word for ‘tip,’ (quite a different substance than the “hasheesh” which I was offered numerous times on the trip) and everywhere we went, people were constantly asking for it. Baksheesh to use the dirty bathrooms, baksheesh to get directions, baksheesh to answer a question, baksheesh to (insert any action here). A frequent move of the “baksheeshers” is to grab your bag as you exit the train, “help” you carry it, and then charge you for the privilege. There were also people at the bottom of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings who would use their flashlight to point out different things that were painted on the wall (although no flash photography was permitted, they could point at stuff with their flashlights-go figure). So, as you’re standing there trying to take in the tomb of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, you’ve got a guy pointing at stuff and saying, “Here’s a lion,” “Here’s an eye,” “Here’s a camel.” I asked them to stop, but they just kept going on and on. Of course, that conversation ended with a request for baksheesh as repayment for their helpful “explanation” of the tomb. As a lovely addition to the “baksheeshers,” everywhere we went in the Valley of the Kings, we were assaulted by merchants wanting to pawn stuff off to us. More than a few of us left that site angry, and at the time I felt like they ruined my experience there. Another example of “spontaneous baksheeshing” occurred when people would see my camera, puff out their chest really big, and tell me to take a picture. Of course every time I refused, knowing the call for baksheesh was eminent. This probably happened to me 5 times throughout the trip. Also, a group of kids stopped me in Luxor and were very excited at the prospect of taking pictures with my camera. I was hesitant, since I was alone and worried they might try to steal it, but eventually I caved and let them. I figured using a fancy camera would have been enough for them, but when we were all done, they wanted-you guessed it-baksheesh.
Let me simply say this, if you come to Egypt, get what the Jews call some Hutzpah. Learn the art of completely ignoring people and saying ‘no’ without feeling badly. If you don’t, you’ll end up in a 5 minute conversation every time you use the bathroom. If you hear the word “baksheesh”-run.
The kids who wanted baksheesh after using my camera. I think I'm the most excited for this picture
BEST:
OK, enough being negative! Now on to the top five best things about my Egypt trip!
(5) Karnak Temple
We saw a lot of Egyptian temples (and pyramids) from many different periods, but to me, none of it compared to the pillared room at the Karnak Temple. Standing at modern Luxor, on the east bank of the Nile, this temple was built during the Egyptian New Kingdom Period by several Pharaohs. Its mammoth size shows why we refer to this kingdom as an empire. The pillared room alone has over 150, 200 ft. pillars, and looking up at them you feel like an infant (I almost caught myself saying, “What is this-a temple for ants?!”). There is nothing like this anywhere in Israel, from any period, and it really puts in perspective what the “empire” of David and Solomon would have been like by comparison. I remember standing in awe and wondering at the manpower it took to build something like this. If you’re in Egypt, you have to go-it is simply incredible. Pictures won't do it justice, but here are a couple:
(4) Sleeper Train
As a part of our constant movement to save time, we rode a sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan and back. Until about two weeks ago, I had no idea sleeper trains existed. What? You can sleep and travel at the same time-on a train?! Yes, yes you can! I thought it was the coolest thing through the whole experience. They pack you into a 3’ x 6’ room with two chairs where they feed you dinner (similar to an airplane dinner-pictured below). Then when you’re ready to sleep, they fold down the beds for you, and you can fall asleep to the clankity-clank of the train running all night. There is a lounge where Egyptian Arabs smoke and talk the night away; I sat in there for a while just for the ambiance. Also, the bathroom is interesting. The toilet is an open hole, so you are literally peeing on the train tracks while you try to keep your balance-almost a full contact sport! All in all, the sleeper train definitely created a new category for travel in my mind, although I wouldn’t want to ride it every night! I haven’t read it, but I hear the sleeper train is the main setting in Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (her husband was an archaeologist in Mesopotamia, so most of her books have a Near Eastern flavor). I suppose you can check that out for more if you like.
My meal on the sleeper train
(3) Nubians
While we were in Aswan, as far south as we would get to Sudan, we took a boat across the Nile to a Nubian village. Nubians are African peoples, descendants of whom show up in ancient Egyptian literature as enemies of Egypt. Here, a Nubian family welcomed us in to their mudbrick hut, gave us tea, and let us hold their pet crocodiles. Their little kids know Arabic, Nubian, French, Spanish, and German. These kids are sitting a mudbrick hut in Africa speaking 5 languages. I live in America and can’t even speak two-I am a joke. Also, they brought in the village musician who entertained us for a while. He picked one of us at a time and incorporated our names into his song. While he sang your song, he expected you to dance to it; definitely an interesting experience. The family was wonderful, and they were happy to meet us.
A Nubian villager holding his pet baby crocodiles
(2) Bedouin
My first interaction with Bedouin came on our second day in Egypt. After taking a boat across the Nile, we met up with a group of them, each one with his camel. They helped our entire group onto their camels and walked us across a part of the desert to a monastery and back. This was so flippin’ cool. I now think camels are awesome; what a bizarre animal. If you haven’t ridden one, you need to. The only downside was my guy wanted baksheesh after the ride. Go figure.
Me with my camel (it's an Avila jersey shirt, if you're wondering)
On one of the last days of our trip, we all piled into about 6 Land Cruisers driven by Arab Bedouin and tore into the Sinai desert. We off-roaded for about an hour through the desert sand until we arrived at the base of a mountain in-literally-the middle of nowhere. After a quick hike, we found evidence of ancient Egyptian mining activity and a temple to Hathor, the goddess of mining (among other things). It was in this obscure place that the alphabet was first invented (as far as we know) if you can believe it! I remember thinking afterward “Are you freaking kidding me that I was riding with a fleet of Bedouin Jeep drivers into the Sinai desert to find a New Kingdom Egyptian Temple?! Unreal.”
After the climb down the mountain and another Jeep ride, we arrived at a Bedouin tent (made of goat hair) where we had an awesome meal and tea afterward. Sitting under the stars in the Sinai desert reminded me of camping in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was a return to the simple life, the way things ought to be-a communal meal and singing/storytelling around the fire. The Bedouin are also the closest analogy we have for the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) who were also semi-nomadic desert dwellers. If you have the chance to hang out with Bedouin-do it! They rock.
Arab Bedouin making us tea
(1) Sinai at sunrise
On the last day of our trip, we woke up at 2:30am (after going to bed at around 10:30) and climbed the traditional site of Mt. Sinai by moonlight. It was cold, and I had Bon Iver in my earbuds most of the way. I will never forget being halfway up the mountain and looking down in the valley below. One time when I stopped to star gaze, I could see the Bedouin fires blazing away in caves on the other side.
Every so often, there was a tent where you could buy a hot drink or some goodies and rest a bit. I was excited because I had been told there was coffee at these stations. When I asked for coffee, the shopkeeper informed me that they had Nescafe. I want to clear up a common misconception here, so permit me just one moment-Nescafe is not coffee!! Coffee is a drink made with beans that are grown, picked, specially roasted, and ground, before the drink is even brewed. Nescafe is powder that dissolves into hot water-and it tastes disgusting. Please, please, don’t call it coffee! I’m proud to say I’ve only had one sip of it this whole semester which I promptly spit into the garbage where it belongs. I’m a human being, for crying out loud-with dignity!! So, I had a hot chocolate as I sat with my group at the last stop before the final climb to the peak.
My group waiting to make the final climb
Me with my hot chocolate
We arrived on top just before the sun crested over the mountains in front of us at about 6:30. It was very cold; I had a long sleeve T-shirt, two hoodies, and gloves on as we waited for the sun to come up. After we watched the sunrise, our group gathered together to read several passages of Scripture and talk about the significance of the giving of the Law. Where the actual spot of Mt. Sinai is, no one will ever know, but it was powerful to stand in the tradition of Moses at Jebel Musa. The site is a major pilgrim spot, and there are several hotels nearby, so it’s easily accessible. If this is something you’re interested in doing, it’s worth it.
Of course, this was the cap to our 8 day trip in Egypt, which meant that if you got sick, the most likely place to leave evidence of it was on the rocky paths up Mt. Sinai. The group from our school that went to Egypt last year told us so many horror stories about their stomachs taking vengeance on them during their climb. So I wasn’t really looking forward to it. But, the more I look back on my hike up the mountain, the more I think I enjoyed it. I wasn’t sick or cold while I was hiking, and there was such an epicness to everything that made it almost larger than life. All that to say, I cannot imagine a better way to end the trip.
Sunrise on Mt. Sinai
Thanks for reading! All feedback is greatly appreciated! I will try to keep you posted on my experiences as I am able.
Yesterday, I woke up to about 40 Facebook notifications (followed by many more throughout the day) and numerous messages that said I was on ABC News. Befuddled, I made my way down my wall until I found a link to the video, and it was true! Son of a gun. ABC was doing a special on Tim Tebow, and, of course, they mentioned the phenomenon known as "Tebowing," where people imitate Timmy T's post-touchdown prayer position. The Tebower gets down on one knee and puts one hand on his forehead, usually in the most ridiculous, unconventional place he can find. This comes in the wake of cultural phenomena like "planking," "coneing," "batmanning," and probably many others I've never heard of. Anyways, I was at the Great Pyramids in Egypt last week and figured why not? Here's the original picture I posted to Facebook, sent to Tebowing.com, and Tweeted:
(Props to my buddy Brock Orlowski, a pure-bred, Grand Rapids native who gave me the idea to do this in the first place and Max Moser who took this picture and is a stud at photography in general)
I'm not sure when the picture was posted on Tebowing.com, but just after I sent it in, I looked through some of the pictures on the site and noticed what looked like a father and sun Tebowing at-you guessed it-the Great Pyramids. Come on! So I thought there was no way they were even going to post my picture, but to my surprise, they did, a few days later. In the meantime, right after I tweeted the picture, fancite.com retweeted it and posted it on their "Best Tebowing of the Week" page. So presumably, ABC News grabbed it off there since I don't think it was up on Tebowing.com in time for their special. They only showed three pictures in the special, so it's insane that they picked mine, of the thousands that are out there. What's the lesson? It pays to tweet! Twitter is an information mover, and you never know where your information is going to end up-maybe on ABC Nightly News:
(Thanks to Gary Archer who grabbed a screen shot of this for me)
You can watch the full video here if you haven't seen it. Youtube removed the embedding feature, so I can't post it here.
I received word today of an Imax movie Jerusalem to be released worldwide in 2013. The production aims to highlight"historical, spiritual, cultural and artistic uniqueness, as well as highlighting some of the intersections between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam." From the preview, this 3D experience will do justice to the city that for many centuries as stood at the center of the world. You can read more about the project here and view the preview below. I'm pumped.
