America's pursuit of happiness

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jul 2, 2006 in Culture | 2 comments

In the spirit of the 4th of July, this is a must read from The Economist, America’s pursuit of happiness. It provides this from a European perspective:

One of the most striking things about the document that Americans celebrate with such gusto on July 4 is that so much of it is dull – hardly worthy of the tons of fireworks and barbecue that are sacrificed in its honor.

The Founding Fathers were the first politicians to produce the explosive combination of individual rights and the pursuit of happiness. It remains equally remarkable today, still the best statement, 230 years after it was written, of what makes America American. There are lists of complaints about the administration of the courts and the quartering of British troops. There is an angry passage about King George’s habit of summoning legislators ‚Äúat places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records.‚Äù But all this tedium is more than made up for by a single sentence ‚Äì the one about ‚Äúlife, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.‚Äù

The sentence was remarkable at the time – a perfect summary, in a few pithy words, of exactly what was new about the new republic. Previous countries had been based on common traditions and a collective identity. Previous statesmen had been exercised by things like the common good and public virtue (which usually meant making sure that people played their allotted roles in the divinely established order).

The Founding Fathers were the first politicians to produce the explosive combination of individual rights and the pursuit of happiness. It remains equally remarkable today, still the best statement, 230 years after it was written, of what makes America American.

The Book of Job gives warning that “man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Americans, for all their overt religiosity, have dedicated their civilization to proving Job wrong.

Acts 29 Church Plants

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jul 2, 2006 in Church | 13 comments

I saw this at REFORMING MY MIND. I don’t know if it’s exhaustive, but here’s a list of Acts 29 Church Plants:

Acts 29 Network Link
2 Rivers Church – Wentzville, MO
Alathia Community Church – Issaquah, WA
All Saints – Seattle, WA
City View Church - Keller, TX
Coram Deo Church – Bremerton, Wa
Core Community Church – Omaha, NE
Crosscurrent Church – Virginia Beach, VA
Crosspointe Church – Orlando, FL
Doxa Church – Seattle, WA
Ecclesia Church – Houston, TX
Edgeworth Church – Malden, MA
Grace Community Church – Auburn, WA
Grace Fellowship Church – Lynnwood, WA
Harambee Church – Renton, WA
Kaleo Church – Houston, TX
Kaleo Church – San Diego, CA
Liberti Church – Philadelphia, PA
Mars Hill Church – Ballard and Shoreline, WA
Matthias Lot Church – St. Charles, MO
Metro Community Church – Edwardsville, IL
Northpointe Church – North Chelmsford , MA
Oasis Christian Fellowship Church – Bend, OR
Oikos Fellowship Church – Bellingham, WA
Poiema Church – Phoenix, AZ
Portico Church – Charlottesville, VA
Praxis Church – Tempe, AZ
Providence Church – The Colony, TX
Providence Community Church – Plano, TX
Red Sea Church – Portland, OR
Seaside Church – Bremerton, WA
Seed Church – Bothell, WA
Soma Church – Tacoma, WA
Summit Community Church – Ofallon, MO
Terra Nova Church – Troy, NY
The Fields Church - Carlsbad, CA
The Journey Church – St. Louis MO
The Master’s Church – Denver, CO
The Resolved Church – San Diego, CA
River of Grace Church – Concord, NH
The Table Church – Portland, OR
The Vine Church – Redmond, WA
The Side of the Rock Church – Fortuna, CA
The Village Church – Highland Village, TX
Vintage 21 Church – Raleigh, NC

Happy Blogday

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jul 1, 2006 in Church, Church Technology, Culture | 1 comment

It was two-years ago that I began this tiny idea called Goodmanson.com. It’s now 100′s of posts and comments later…

Metro Church Alliance

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jun 30, 2006 in Church, Culture | 2 comments

Metro Church Alliance is launching. Metro Church Alliance is a city-centered community of churches who are committed to serving and renewing cities through a movement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that nothing promotes the peace and health of the city like the spread of faith in the gospel. It renews both individual lives and reweaves the fabric of whole neighborhoods. We believe that nothing moves Christians to humbly serve, live with, and love all the diverse people of the city like the gospel does.

Join a relational community of church planters seeking to spread the gospel by being invested in and redeeming cities.

Church Website Designs

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jun 29, 2006 in Church, Church Technology, Ekklesia, Monk Dev | 2 comments

Ekklesia 360 relaunched our website and we’re proud to announce that we have six design companies that are now partners. If your church needs a website here are the companies to contact:

Church Plant Media specializes in creating custom web sites for church plants. Through the process of working with many church planters, they recognized that the majority do not have the financial resources to create a custom web site. Church Plant Media was born to help church planters in this situation.

Aaron McClung Design is an award-winning design firm specializing in high-end custom designs. AM Design often integrates flash and cutting edge web design for churches.

316 Design is a design firm with many years of experience designing high quality professional graphics and advertising material. Their experience and professionalism can deliver for any church’s need.

MindLightning Design Group In today’s progressive society, successful churches are deploying culturally-relevant websites to create a response and impact lives. This process reaches beyond graphic design. MindLightning offers web design, print production, outreach planning, brand management services, and photography to aid churches in conveying their message of hope. The words and images you use to communicate should be bridging the gap between your church and your community. What are you showing them?

Rockbeatspaper is a design consultancy that creates simple, elegant and intuitive websites for churches and corporate clients. Rockbeatspaper has deep knowledge about web standards and modern design.

Direct Steps is spearheaded by Matt Heerema. Entering the field as a programmer, Matt has six years of experience in the Web design business. He has background in each aspect of the Web development process, and is currently obsessed with user friendliness in graphic and interface design.

Interested in becoming a Design Partner?

We continue to seek excellent partners to build the best websites for churches. If you would like to offer your church clients a state-of-the-art Content Management System and more or if you have tremendous church design experience, please contact Monk Development.