Lon Wong :: Blog

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SolarCrash/~3/336303665/

Yesterday we had live painting during our gathering. I love what my friend Phil created on the spot.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SolarCrash/~3/335338487/

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SolarCrash/~3/331023875/

Been on a bit of a hiatus recently… hiding out with my in-laws in Ottawa the past two weeks.

Had a great conversation with Sam Radford yesterday via Skype.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I need to leverage technology more on a personal level.  Quite often when friends move out of town, I find we often lose touch so easily.  There’s no reason to really when most of us have high speed connections.

I’ve always tried to integrate technology on an organizational level, but there’s no reason I shouldn’t be leveraging it on a personal level as well.  I think the future will be highly local and highly virtual.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SolarCrash/~3/331017790/

Some random links from the past while…

• Re:Lit | A Book You’ll Actually Read | Mark Driscoll -


• Lively - Experience another dimension of the web -


• Video: Church of England votes to ordain women bishops - Times Online -


• World leaders enjoy 18-course banquet… then discuss how to solve global food crisis | Mail Online -


• Amuso - Next Generation Game Show Network -


• Watch to Learn Chinese -


• Jenny McCarthy Loans Boyfriend Jim Carrey Her Bathing Suit (PHOTOS) - Entertainment on The Huffington Post -


• 20+ Must-Have WordPress 2.5 Compatible Plugins -


• The Commentary Project - Front Page -


• The Letter to the Hebrews -


• Zondervan - Phyllis Tickle -


• Artists Together | Catalyst -


• “Want to Plant a Church?” : Articles : HEARTLIGHT® Magazine -


• Hey!Spread - Video Distributing Web Service -


• CYWC 2008 | campusfire -


• Canadian Church Documentary -


• Tyndale Alumni -


• CBC Ottawa | Ottawa 150 -


• TheStar.com | News | Exodus II a test for churches -


• Reimagining Church by Frank Viola -


• Introduction to Creative Spirituality -


• Joey Chestnut Defeats Takeru Kobayashi In Hot Dog Contest After Eat-Off - The Huffington Post -


• The Daily Star - Opinion Articles - Barack Obama’s way: When vulnerable, go on the offensive -


• Politics | How Obama is courting the new evangelicals | Seattle Times Newspaper -

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SolarCrash/~3/325408215/

This summer we’ll be taking Solar Crash offline for a night.

I just secured a night club for an evening celebrating creativity and spirituality.

All proceeds will be going to drilling a well and providing clean water.

I still need help of every type imaginable.  Artists, thinkers, musicians, organizers, designers, talent scouts, poets, planners, craftspeople, you name it.

If you can help, or know someone who might be able to, drop me a note.

You can find some more preliminary info on the event here.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SolarCrash/~3/322088178/

… I guess they still happen

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SolarCrash/~3/322082145/

Some random noteworthy bookmarks from the past week

• Free Beverage w/Starbucks Card Registration -


• Barack Obama: More Popular Than Jesus, Angelina Jolie -


• Free online web templates generator -


• neue. - Rob Bell Q&A -


• 30+ Must-Have Updated Firefox 3 Extensions -


• House Church Resource.org -


• McCain and Obama on Patriotism - TIME -


• Greatest Man of Honor Speech EVER! Video -


• How to Find Motivation for the Things You Hate Doing -


• Big Ideas (don’t get any) on Vimeo -


• McCain vs. Obama: Ten Reasons Why Age Matters -


• Can You Live With Just 100 Things? -


• Put Things Off : Free, laid-back productivity advice -


• Google, @ 10 years, is looking for more | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press -


• James Dobson Doesn’t Speak For Me -


• Create a free website | Free Myspace layouts | Flash Myspace layouts -


• The Top 20 Firefox 3.0 Compatible Themes Worth Upgrading For -


• hoodeo – find neighborhood matches -


• Online Real Estate - Homes for Sale and Experienced Real Estate Agents | Redfin -

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SolarCrash/~3/318193639/

Yesterday was a preaching bomb.

Ever have everything prepared, really know your material, and still fail to deliver?

I wanted it over as soon as I got up… and I just pushed through it.

I love preaching, even though I question it’s role, I’m thrilled whenever I can engage hearts and minds with the Scriptures and the Spirit of God is working… but this was my most uncomfortable preaching moment by far.

I’m still processing through what happened.  I know I’ve been going through some spiritual unsteadiness.  There has been family-oriented strains and lots of mixed feelings lately.  I had not slept much and I woke up just feeling weak.

I was tasked with sharing about my own personal visions in life.  This is important stuff, for myself personally and our lives going forward of course.  But, I felt like I was talking more about me, than Jesus.  Something about that felt powerless.

I need to crawl somewhere and hide for awhile.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SolarCrash/~3/315436474/

Before I begin, I need to say that I’ve never been a fan of any schooling system I’ve ever been a part of.

- In high school, I was a 90s student but on academic probation for missing too many classes.

- I scraped by university, passionless for my engineering degree, and was probably in the bottom five of my graduating class.

- I wasn’t at the very bottom of the barrel because after my third year I had decided to go to seminary, and realized they didn’t just let you in by grace.  I had to work my butt off in my final year just to raise my overall mark to a C+

So here’s the bottom line now that I’m done seminary

- 27 classes - not all of my choosing

- over a thousand hours in class

- at least two thousand hours spent reading and writing papers

- 440 hours of supervised ministry experience for the internship requirements

- $30,000 on tuition and books

- I left a corporate job I loved - Where I worked from home most of the time, had opportunities to travel, and interacted with people every single day.

- I made 60-70k+ a year depending on bonuses/commission - it’s been two years now so that’s $140,000… gone.  I don’t even want to think about what might have been over the course of a lifetime.

So was it worth it?

Is each lecture really worth $80 to (for the most part) passively listen to?  Is it worth the drive and the time away from family?  Is it worth the stress and uncertainty placed upon loved ones?

Could over a hundred thousand dollars be given elsewhere, that could have produced far greater kingdom impact?  Could I have used all that time to better engage the world rather than other seminarians?

There was a lot of assigned reading, but I probably read more and learned more from personal readings than class readings.  Could I have learned and grown to where I am today, without seminary?

I guess the other question is, would I have?

I really don’t know if I would have done something nobler with my time or money.  If you’re at a stage where you’re deeply engaging God, the Scriptures, His people, His mission, and His calling in your life, my goodness, don’t go to seminary.

At least I wouldn’t.  Not with where I am today.

Note that I am indebted and incredibly thankful that I had the opportunity to be in a seminary.  Who on earth has the luxury to sit around and contemplate the things of God?

I still feel like a noobie follower of Jesus, but I got an idea of where I’m going and where to go for help and what I need to get there.  But seminary, at least in its traditional sense, is definitely not a requirement on the journey going forward.

Seminary’s will always have their place.  Go if you feel God’s calling you in that direction (but realize it’s only a structure/form/place of learning, and typically God calls us to deeper things than that).

When I get some time I’ll probably compile a list of books, articles, experiences, resources that I think could just about replace the traditional seminary.

With all that being said, a price just cannot be placed upon time and space to grow, friendship, an environment that fosters learning, divine encounters, and wisdom from local prophets.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SolarCrash/~3/314704011/

jesus did not come to buffy’s party empty-handed…

Originally uploaded by ! ten-forty-seven

Just testing out flickr’s blogging feature… and I thought this was a brilliant photo.

It’s amazing how often we find Jesus engaging people over a meal throughout the gospels. Who are you having your next meal with?

up next: some thoughts I’ve been mulling over on whether seminary was worth it all.