Category Archives: Comics

I’ve always wanted to do a comic strip. The biggest problem was, I can’t actually draw. When I got an iPhone and some apps, however, a comic strip named after my blog was born.

Weird Ministry

Posted on March 25, 2012 | 2 Comments
Weird ministry comic

Yesterday I was at ABCNJ’s annual COAL event. It was a great time, and I was able to connect with many people from around the region. I did not, however go to any of the sessions I had signed up for – I had work to do.

A video was scheduled to play during the lunch sessions which posed two problems. First, there person who had the movie didn’t have their adapter to connect the MacBook to the projector (they did have it on DVD, but I don’t trust removable media). Second, the hall would be filled with about 200 people and the only speakers we had were those in the projector. There was a sound system present, but It wasn’t hooked up. After digging around the equipment, I found a 200 watt speaker with stereo RCA jack inputs – but having left my laptop at home I didn’t have my full compliment of cables with me! So, off to target we went – to get an SD card to transfer the video and a 3.5mm to stereo RCA media cable. I never got the SD card to work for the transfer (we ended up using Dropbox, thank goodness it was installed), but the media cable worked wonders.

This is the oddness of my particular ministry. I don’t often get to participate in events because I’m running around hacking together solutions to unforeseen problems. On the other hand, by bopping around I get to meet some interesting people.

 

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A special message

Posted on December 22, 2011 | 2 Comments

Whatever holiday you celebrate, have a good one.

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Privileged

Posted on December 14, 2011 | Leave a comment
Yesterday, at ABCNJ’s staff party, we all went around a circle sharing some of our thoughts on our experiences the previous year. Folks joked that I didn’t use a projector to share my thoughts, so I turned them into comic strip characters.

I don’t enjoy making people feeling overwhelmed as they wrestle with a new reality, but I am privileged to be there when the fear and insecurity is washed away by discovery. I’m just subversive that way.

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Journey theme

Posted on December 8, 2011 | Leave a comment
I love the metaphor of a “spiritual journey.”  We move from one place – be it physical, spiritual, or a combination of the two – and wind up somewhere else entirely.  This sense of journey is present in a good many pastors (and other Christians) who come into a church and quickly discover that they are going to have to move on from their original expectations, and though dark waters, in order to come to uncharted shores (which appearto be friendly).  Many refuse to make the journey.  Instead they establish themselves as caretakers – never daring to hope for more, but never really challenging anyone else either.  More, sadly, get lost in the caves of bitterness.  Unable to reconcile their original hopes and expectations with reality, they turn inward and become toxic to both the institution and themselves.  Some, however, manage to navigate the course and land in a sunnier space, which I’ve labeled “cynicism.”

Now, cynicism often gets a bad rap as being a destructive and toxic influence in it’s own right.  I disagree.  Cynicism is actually a constructive impulse which enables a person to look at the foibles of a group (in which they invariably include themselves), compare them to how a group thinks of itself, and laughs.  The laughter is important because it says, “Oh just go look in the mirror at that zit, already, hiding from it won’t solve anything!”  Cynicism is, in fact, what often causes me to not only point out the elephant in the room, but also invite it up to the table in order to do a show for the crowd.  Then we can see how silly we are, how big our God is, and perhaps journey to a healthier place – together.

You have to love any impulse, after all, which leads a speaker to attribute a quote, “We’re doomed” to “C-3P0 Human-Cyborg Relations.”  Right?

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The right tools

Posted on December 8, 2011 | Leave a comment

I love this iconic image of my wife and son doing some homework on his iPad.  Looking at it got me thinking about how we can use the massive amount of information found on Internet to communicate, to research some noble endeavor, shop, and to find out that, “Beam me up Scotty” was never actually used in ST:TOS.

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Connection

Posted on December 6, 2011 | 1 Comment
People who see me as a “computer guy” often make the assumption I am of the opinion, “Old is bad.” They are inevitably surprised this is not the case.  I love Tradition.  I love the connection it gives me to the long history of God’s people gathering in community and experiencing the presence of the Kingdom through worship.  Tradition is, to me, a mystical connection with both the Savior and those who have followed him before I existed.  Things which happen to be “old” are notbad.  They may be different, but there is a richness in that different-ness which I appreciate. I do have a problem, however, with “tradition.” This is the impulse which beats questioners into submission because it fears change. Contrary to popular opinion, both Tradition and tradition will utter the phrase, “We’ve always done it that way.” The difference between the two comes out only when you ask, “Why?” Tradition will embrace the moment to draw the questioner into the story.  In contrast, tradition will respond with statements like, “Why can’t you just do what you’re told?”

Of course, my Roman Catholic and Orthodox friends chuckle any time I call a 150 year old hymn “old.”

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Aftermath

Posted on December 4, 2011 | 1 Comment
Let me be clear, I love worship and I am compelled to preach and teach – but by Sunday afternoon it’s usually all I can do to get changed and take a nap.  Worship is an emotionally powerful experience for me, and while I love to preach it does wipe this introvert out.  Throw in another presentation during a church meeting and, well, I feel like I’ve been pummeled.

Thankfully, the folks at Central (who are not trolls, get your mind out of the gutter), are very gracious to me and accept the fact that my mental and emotional facilities are at low ebb once the benediction has been said.

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Revelations

Posted on August 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

I love this photo from our Williamsburg trip, so I made a comic about it. It gave me a chance to play with a new release of Strip Designer.

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Posted

Posted on May 28, 2011 | 1 Comment

Painfully Hopeful PosterI was playing around with a new iPad app the other night and made up this poster for my blog. It’s mostly just for fun, but if anyone wants to link back here by using this image I don’t mind!

This was made in Phoster, in case you were wondering.

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Insight

Posted on April 22, 2011 | 3 Comments

I will often appear to be “out of it.” Sometimes I’m just wiped out from worship, allergies, or illness. Sometimes I’m just “out there” pondering the existence of the universe (or pretending certain household items are spaceships in a battle for survival – don’t ask). It’s usually difficult to figure out the reason why I’m not mentally present. One thing, however, is certain. If I’m lucid it means coffee has recently been ingested.

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