Takiego wydarzenia jeszcze w Lublinie nie było. Przez 9 dni Kozi Gród był prawdziwą stolicą europejskiej kultury - różnego rodzaju wystawy, warsztaty, panele dyskusyjne oraz przede wszystkim koncerty wpisały się w codzienny rytm Lublina. Pierwsza edycja festiwalu „Strefa Inne Brzmienia. Lublin-Lwów" przeszła do historii. Teraz czas na wnioski.

Po pierwsze organizacja. Billboardy, reklama w prasie, Internet itd. - tu bez zarzutu. Trzeba było naprawdę złej woli będąc na miejscu w Lublinie, by nie zauważyć festiwalu. W przyszłości warto zawalczyć o większą reklamę, ale już w skali kraju, tym bardziej, że jest się czym chwalić. Dobrym pomysłem byłoby wprowadzenie karnetów na koncerty, bo po podliczeniu cen wszystkich biletów w tym roku, wychodzi jednak dość spory koszt zwłaszcza jak dla mieszkańca wschodniej części Polski. Wydaje się, że karnety zbiłyby choć w jakimś stopniu te ponad 250 zł. Lokalizacja występów jest silną stroną organizatorów, bo wyróżnia festiwal spośród innych odbywających się w naszym kraju, ale tu też pojawiają się wątpliwości, np. kwestia otwartego dla wszystkich koncertu finałowego. Zakładając, że w przyszłości „Inne Brzmienia" będą cieszyć się większym zainteresowaniem, należy się zastanowić nad ograniczeniem ilości wpuszczanych widzów albo po prostu biletowaniem wszystkich koncertów. To jednak zbyt mała przestrzeń, by pomieścić wszystkich chętnych. Inna sprawa, to „kwiatki" pokroju okoliczni mieszkańcy próbujący z okien zakłócić ludziom odbiór muzyki.

Po drugie koncerty. Warto się trzymać obranej formuły, tzn. zapraszać artystów reprezentujących różne, acz nie tak znowu odległe gatunki (festiwal chyba jak żaden inny w Polsce zrealizował postulat „muzyki ponad podziałami"), bo jest to rzecz wyróżniająca „Inne Brzmienia". Wykonawcy, na koncertach których byłem (Morcheeba, Maciej Maleńczuk, Wojciech Waglewski, Fisz, Emade, Haydamaky, Voo Voo) pokazali się z dobrej strony i niektórzy będą musieli poważnie zweryfikować tezę o „zaścianku Polski" w kontekście Lublina, bo nikt tu nikogo nie traktował po macoszemu. Póki co organizatorzy zapunktowali pomysłowością organizując koncert otwarcia na szczycie Wieży Trynitarskiej oraz kilka innych na dziedzińcu u Dominikanów (żałuję, że ominął mnie występ Marcina Maseckiego, Raphaela Rogińskiego oraz Macio Morettiego, wg obiegowej opinii najlepszy na festiwalu). Zapewne za rok czy dwa nie będą to już tak świeże pomysły, ale to już melodia przyszłości podobnie, jak dobór wykonawców (zastanawiam się, czy eksplorując specyficzną jednak estetykę będzie kogo zapraszać bez ryzyka powtarzania artystów).

Po trzecie przyszłość. Taki festiwal musi być kontynuowany, to nie ulega wątpliwości. Tym bardziej, jeśli wziąć pod uwagę starania Lublina o uzyskanie tytułu Europejskiej Stolicy Kultury 2016. Jak wielkie jest zapotrzebowanie na wydarzenia tego typu pokazały koncerty. Uśmiechy na twarzach artystów nie brały się wyłącznie z czystej kurtuazji - musi być przyjemnie grać dla tak entuzjastycznie reagującej publiczności, co też się nie bierze znikąd. Zwyczajnie takiego wydarzenia brakowało i ludzie są spragnieni podobnych doznań, tym samym nie są zmanierowani, co często się zdarza w większych miastach. Choćby tylko dla tego faktu „Strefa Inne Brzmienia. Lublin-Lwów" musi mieć swój ciąg dalszy.

I have just returned from an on-campus session at seminary and thought you all might like an update on your seminarian.   As most of you know, I am a Candidate for Holy Orders in the Diocese of West Texas (partway through the process that leads to ordination).  I am attending Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.  My program focuses on Global Leadership in the Church as well as traditional Scripture and Theology classes.  It is a special program designed for in-service church leaders who want to remain engaged in ministry while they study, so some of the work is done in on-campus intensives in Pasadena and some is done through a sophisticated on-line classroom system. My cohort includes pastors, denominational staff and executives, missionaries, youth workers, and others from 15 denominations from North and South America (from Ecuador to Alberta), Asia, and the Pacific Islands.  I have gotten to know the 22 people in my cohort very well.

These two weeks focused on urban church mission and on organizational dynamics. We did a day of field work in Los Angeles with one of my classmates, an emergent-church planter who began his study of his congregation by voluntarily living on the streets with the homeless and sleeping behind dumpsters for a week.  His congregation partners with another church in the same renovated church building. They now feed excellent hot meals (I know – I ate one – scrambled eggs with fresh tomatoes and herbs, thick slices of ham, organic granola,  grapefruit juice, and Starbucks pastries!) to the homeless twice a day, five days a week. Once a week they hand out about 100 bags of groceries, toiletries, and clothes, in partnership with another organization. They have a wooden box in front of the church that says “free bread” where they distribute hundreds of pounds of donated bread (the city bus driver will stop for people outside the church so they can run out a grab a loaf).  They provide Christmas gifts, $100 worth per child, to needy community children – last year they provided for one thousand children.  Besides this amazing hands-on study, we also spent a week studying organizational dynamics and systems, reading such authors as Peter Senge, Jim Collins, and Ichak Adizes, exploring ways to be more effective in bringing the Gospel to the world and building interlocking communities of faith.

All of our gatherings are grounded in Scripture study and intense prayer.  We spent a week on the Book of Haggai, and a week exploring worship traditions that we all bring to the mix.   We used part of the Halftime liturgy last Monday morning!

I am greatly enjoying the academic and spiritual adventure.  I am pleased to share with you that I have so far maintained a 4.0 grade point average – I want to tell you while it’s still the case!   I have one more year of study.  I plan to finish classes by the end of June of 2009.  This academic year I will also be adding clinical pastoral education and the General Ordination Exams to the mix, along with another weekend retreat with the diocesan Examining Chaplains. It will be a busy time but I look forward to all the projects  - and to being finished with them.

I am most grateful for your prayers and the support of the parish. 

Yours faithfully,

Jennifer

Z nieskrywaną satysfakcją zapowiadam i polecam Wam festiwal w moim rodzinnym Lublinie. W ciągu kilku dni wystąpią polscy i zagraniczni wykonawcy z największą gwiazdą na czele, zespołem Morcheeba. Na sam koniec zaś dubeltowy finał - darmowy koncert Voo Voo, Kairos i Haydamaky w Kozim Grodzie oraz dzień później we Lwowie.

Festiwal wpisuje się idealnie w dążenia Lublina do zdobycia tytułu Europejskiej Stolicy Kultury w 2016 roku. Publiczność będzie miała okazję zobaczyć występy wielu świetnych polskich wykonawców. Wystąpią: Voo Voo, Wojciech Waglewski wraz z synami Fiszem i Emade oraz w oddzielnym koncercie z Maciejem Maleńczukiem, Martyna Jakubowicz, Osjan, Marcin Masecki Trio, Kroke, EMPE3, Motion Trio, Trebunie-Tutki i Kairos. Barwy międzynarodowe będą reprezentować: Jamajczycy z The Twinkle Brothers, nujazzowy Club des Belugas z Niemiec, Haydamaky oraz największa gwiazda festiwalu, Morcheeba.

Myślę, że czytelnikom mojego bloga nie muszę przybliżać sylwetki tego zespołu i krótką wzmiankę czynię jedynie z dziennikarskiego obowiązku. Londyński band, to dziecko braci Godfrey, Paula i Rossa. W latach 90 tworzyli oni wraz z m.in. Portishead czy Massive Attack nurt, który zapisał się w historii muzyki pod nazwą trip-hop. Na trzeciej płycie nastąpił radykalny zwrot w twórczości kapeli i pierwszy tak wielki sukces na skalę światową - pogodny utwór „Rome Wasn't Built in a Day" szturmował listy przebojów. Czwarta płyta „Charango", to jeden z najlepszych albumów pop XXI wieku. Trzeba uczciwie zaznaczyć, że znakiem rozpoznawczym Morcheeby przez wiele lat była obdarzona niebiańskim głosem wokalistka Skye Edwards, która jednak odeszła z zespołu w 2003 roku. Przez następne lata i albumy jej miejsce próbowały zastąpić różne artystki, ostatnio Francuzka Manda.

Koncerty odbędą się na Rynku Starego Miasta i dziedzińcu u Dominikanów. Bilety w cenach 22 i 99 zł (Morcheeba) do nabycia m.in. w Empikach, Media Markt lub przez www.ticketpro.pl . Więcej szczegółów (m.in. program warsztatów towarzyszących imprezie, wystaw i paneli dyskusyjnych) na http://www.innebrzmienia.pl/ .

Kairos empezó el 23 de Junio de 1995 en Venezuela. Después de 10 años tiene un proyecto discográfico avanzado creando mñusica basada en el espíritu y en las experiencia vividas

Actualmente Kairos son: María José Russo (Voz), Tomas Gálvez (Guitarra), Carlos Estévez (Bajo) y Daniel Del Val (Bateria).

myspace.com/kairos1995

Kairos - Rescatame

"If we really want prayer, we'll have to give it time. We must slow down to a human tempo and we'll begin to have time to listen. As as soon as we listen to what's going on, things will begin to take shape by themselves. But for this we have to experience time in a new way .... The reason why we don't take time is a feeling that we have to keep moving. This is a real sickness. Today time is a commodity, and for each one of us time is mortgaged. ... we must approach the whole idea of time in a new way.

"... The whole things boils down to giving ourselves in prayer a chance to realise that we have what we seek. We don't have to rush after it. It is there all the time, and if we give it time it will makes itself known to us."

source: In: de Waal, E. (1992). A seven-day journey with Thomas Merton (self-retreat). Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Publ., p.40.

Let's see, I have just a few very cryptic notes from Jay David Bolter's keynote speech on May 23, 2008.  I'll jot them down here, and maybe if someone has better notes, they can tell me why I wrote down these notes....

May 23, 2008

• "augmented reality"
• "YouTube as postmodern television"
• combine physical and virtual
• "casual gaming"
• "locative poetry"

Then, I have some notes about books/software/other things I wanted to check out:

1. Ian Bogust, Persuasive Games
2. Fatworld (games created by Bogust)
3. September 12, http://newsgaming.com (political game by Georgia Tech Student?)
4. Jerome McGann, Radiant Technology (literature after the WWW?)
5. Game: Facade (AR Facade), by Michael Mateas, Andrew Stern, Blair MacIntyre, Steven Dow

Hmmm, there's also a reminder here that Charlie Lowe promised to meet me and my students via Skype sometime in the fall to talk about open source issues.  And, oh, yeah, I promised to email Kathi Yancey with information about

1. Advertising in the 2009 Graduate Research Network program, and
2. The Georgia Conference on Information Literacy.

Hmmm, I better do that right now.  BRB....

* * *

Okay, I'm back.  I attended a session during the afternoon about digital scholarship.  Cheryl Ball presented an interesting continuum that I drew in my notes, but I have NO idea how to draw it here....  I liked the way she contrasted print and multimodal; private and public; scholarly and creative; and social and personal.  Maybe, if anyone is reading this, they could ask her to send me a copy of her diagram to post here?  Or maybe not--it will probably be published (soon?) in the online journal, Kairos, anyway!

So, then Virginia Kuhn presented a rubric, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was a rubric for:

• Controlling idea
• Research component
• form//content
• creative realization

Anyone?  Well, luckily, I also wrote down a URL from her talk:  http://immersiveflow.org.  Hopefully, there's more information there!  Virginia Kuhn has been working with the Institute for the Future of the Book (http://www.futureofthebook.org though the Web site appears to be down at this time--let me know if anyone can find it!), developers of Sophie (http://www.sophieproject.org/), "software for writing and reading rich media documents in a networked environment."

So, then I attended Annette Vee's presentation on "proceduracy" and literacy (defining literacy as technologically mediated, e.g., writing itself is a technology.  Of course, this is a subject near and dear to my heart, so I made a cryptic note to myself to try and find that TV show I saw the other day where a 65-year-old couple got cochlear implants and could hear for the first time in their lives.(1)  Although they were both extremely literate in "English" textually, in ASL, and lip reading, they were unable to even repeat what they heard (let alone understand it) when people talked if they couldn't see their lips, even though post-op, they could now hear.  It would take years, they said, for them to develop the ability to recognize heard language.  What does this say about oral/aural literacies? 

Anyway, so Vee sees the "computer as more than just a black box" I had to think a moment about age-ism here; computers were ALWAYS beige--until recently!  This 21st century color change.... Hmmm.... How does our age reflect how we envision a "computer" in our imagination?  I have a little "game" I play with students sometimes, when I'm encouraging them to write with more concrete language, that seems apropos here.  I tell them "I see a bird."  Then I ask them to tell me what the bird looks like, what kind of bird it is.  Finally, I tell them "I see a big, yellow bird"--and those who are old enough to remember Sesame Street (is it still around?) finally see Big Bird, too!  (No, I'm NOT on drugs...).  So, when we envision a "computer," what do we see?  (I see a big, beige, metal and plastic monstrosity? Or I see a sleek and thin laptop? Or I see a chip implanted in someone's brain?  Or....?)

Okay, this blog is long enough.  Maybe I'll post more of my notes from the conference later.  Or maybe not.  :)

1.  Dir. Irene Taylor Brodsky.  "Hear and Now."  2007. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0912587/

O humor inocente, a poesia simples, o jeito de falar que a gente reconhece bem. Que gênio, o senhor Luiz Gonzaga! Tantos anos depois de sua morte, sua obra está ai, atual, viva, na boca do povo. No nordeste você puxa o coro fácil com canções como: “Olha pro céu, meu amor, vê como ele está lindo…” Ouvir Gonzagão é lembrar da infância, da quadrilha dançada de improviso na rua nos dias de São João, dos passeios em Maribondo com a minha família pra visitar o vovô e a vovó. Luiz Gonzaga fala como meu avô falava. Essa identidade nordestina tão exposta, essa alegria mesmo tendo pouco. Aqui alguns álbuns dele pra baixar:

http://gonzagao.4shared.com

Agora estou ouvindo o filho, Gonzaguinha. Me identifico com algumas canções, em outras lembro das pessoas que amo. Ouvindo “Bom Dia”, lembrei de Cléa, lembrei de Luna, Kesia e do povo do Kairós, porque nós atravessamos mil saaras!

Apesar de tudo estamos vivos
Pro que der e vier prosseguir
Com a alma cheia de esperanças
Enfrentando a herança que taí
(meu Deus do céu)
Nós atravessamos mil saaras
E eu nunca vi gente melhor pra resistir
A tanta avidez, a triste estupidez
Ao cada um por si, ao brilho da ilusão
Digo na maior - melhores dias virão
É um desejo deste enorme coração
E vamos cuidar da úlceras
E vamos tratar dos pústulas
Justiça remédio sensacional
Para levantar nossa moral
E pra encrementar o ânimo
E pra fortalecer o fôlego
Um vinho constituinte bem popular

para reforçar a saúde nacional
Bom dia, bom dia, bom dia
Alegria, alegria, alegria
Bom dia, bom dia, bom dia
Taí o que a gente merecia
(pra começar).

Apesar de tudo estamos vivos
Pro que der e vier

Cibele (a princesa e o guerreiro)

]]> http://blogdosobreiros.wordpress.com/?p=3 Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:49:21 +0000 blogdosobreiros http://blogdosobreiros.wordpress.com/?p=3 Olá obreiro amigo, seja bem-vindo ao Blog dos Obreiros!! O nosso canal de comunicação online!

Aqui, poderemos colocar piadas, notícias, informações, recados, o abaixo assinado para bombinhas....hahahaha....

Sabe aquela piada que você ouve durante a semana e pensa: Puxa, preciso contar essa no lanche do CCC Teen, mas depois acaba esquecendo?? Sabe aquele comentário que você fica com vontade de fazer no email, mas fica meio assim porque o email é sério? Pois bem, SEUS PROBLEMAS ACABARAM!! Chegou o revolucionário BLOG DOS OBREIROS!!!

Mas como funciona?

É muito simples, querendo comentar é só colocar sua mensagem, sem nehuma burocracia.

Querendo fazer um novo post, é só mandar o texto/foto/video seja lá o que for para o email: blogdosobreiros@gmail.com

MUITO FÁCIL!!!!

Tá esperando o que? Comente!!! Envie seu post!! Vamos bombar esse blog, afinal: ELE É NOSSO!!!!

DACĂ:

• ai o inima nascută din nou,
• eşti deschis faţă de călăuzirea Duhului lui Dumnezeu;
• ai abilităţi de artă mimetică (cu relative experienţe anterioare),şi
• părinţii tăi, precum şi cineva cu autoritate din biserica ta te recomandă,

EŞTI BINEVENIT SĂ TE ALĂTURI ECHIPEI NOASTRE.

Menţionăm că această evanghelizare transculturală nu reprezintă o bună ocazie de turism, ci un eveniment care solicită şi testează intens credinţa voluntarilor.

Implică-te tu însuţi prin:
- participare la această acţiune;
- informarea celor interesaţi dintre prietenii sau apropiaţii tăi de încredere;
- rugăciune (la cerere, vom trimite şi motivele specifice de rugăciune).

Pentru contact, foloseşte adresa de e-mail sau numărul de telefon de mai jos:
officekairos@gmail.com
0763.663.605 (Gabi Lerca)

Kairos

Scop: simularea contextului de misiune transculturală.
Obiective:

MEDITERRANEO
XIII EDIZIONE
Kairos: la nostra diversità creativa

PUGLIA 2008
Fiera del Levante di Bari
dal 22 al 31 maggio 2008
esposizioni fino al 30 giugno

www.biennalepuglia2008.org
info@biennalepuglia2008.org

Torna la Biennale dei Giovani Artisti dell’Europa e del Mediterraneo, che festeggia a Bari, dal 22 al 31 maggio 2008, la sua XIII edizione.

La Regione Puglia ospita la più importante manifestazione euromediterranea dedicata alla creatività giovanile.
La manifestazione è promossa dalla Regione Puglia e dall'Associazione Internazionale BJCEM e realizzata dal Teatro Pubblico Pugliese.

La Biennale è considerata oggi la più importante vetrina mediterranea ed europea per la creatività giovanile: una manifestazione profondamente multidisciplinare che propone creazioni che vanno dalla musica alle arti visive, dal teatro al video, dalle arti applicate alla letteratura sino alla gastronomia: una visione multiforme, senza barriere tra le discipline artistiche che favorisce le contaminazioni reciproche fra gli artisti e ha un impatto travolgente sulla città che l’accoglie e sul pubblico.
E sarà questa volta Bari, con il suo fascino di città del passato e la sua felice progressione nel futuro, vera e propria porta dell’Europa verso il Medio Oriente e i Balcani, ad ospitare i 700 artisti fra i 18 e i 30 anni, provenienti da 46 diversi paesi europei e mediterranei, le cui opere animeranno lo spazio unico della Fiera
del Levante di Bari creando un vero meticciato di forme diverse d’arte contemporanea. Dieci giorni di pacifica invasione di artisti, di differenti culture e linguaggi espressi attraverso oltre 400 produzioni artistiche, 1200 opere esposte fra arti visive e plastiche, 25 appuntamenti dedicati a poesia e letteratura, 40 film, medio e
cortometraggi, 13 collezioni di stilisti emergenti, 60 spettacoli di musica/teatro/danza.
12 padiglioni intorno alla grande fontana di “Piazza della Pace”.

Contenitore privilegiato della XIII Biennale sarà la Fiera del Levante di Bari, luogo deputato da sempre agli scambi cultuali e commerciali, che per l’occasione si trasformerà in una vera e propria “cittadella della creatività”. Due padiglioni di circa 10.000 metri quadri quadrati l’uno saranno lo spazio per le esposizioni di arti visive a arti applicate, due teatri da circa 300 posti ospiteranno gli spettacoli di teatro e danza,ci saranno due sale da concerto e le sfilate di moda, uno spazio per i reading e le performance, infine due sale per la sezione immagini, per la proiezione dei cortometraggi. Cuore pulsante della manifestazione sarà poi il Meeting point che rappresenterà il luogo principale in cui i giovani artisti avranno l’opportunità di entrare in contatto fra loro e con critici d’arte ed operatori culturali nazionali ed internazionali.
Si incroceranno le storie e le speranze di artisti diversi, diverse forme di esprimere se stessi, diversa creatività ma stesso vitale entusiasmo. Biennale significa soprattutto entrare in un mondo dove le regole sono completamente nuove e costruite su collaborazione e creatività. La Biennale sarà, come sempre, un essere pulsante e complesso, attraverso il quale segnare percorsi e tematiche.
Tutte le informazioni e l’elenco dettagliato degli artisti selezionati si possono trovare in rete all’indirizzo www.bjcem.org, www.biennalepuglia2008.org dove è anche disponibile il catalogo on line degli artisti e delle produzioni.

BARI – FIERA DEL LEVANTE – INGRESSO MONUMENTALE
22-31 MAGGIO – INGRESSO GRATUITO

www.biennalepuglia2008.org
info@biennalepuglia2008.org
infotel Segreteria Organizzativa 0805351536

Duminica, 25 mai, grupul de tineri al Agentiei Kairos va participa dimineata la programul Bisericii Creştine Agape din Bucuresti, iar dupa-amiaza va avea o seara de misiune la Biserica Crestina dupa Evanghelie "Antiohia" din str. Episcop Radu. Daca sunteti interesati de misiunea transculturala, va asteptam cu drag!

Daca nu s-a organizat nici o conferinta de misiune in zona unde locuiesti, dar ti-ai dori acest lucru (si sunt si altii interesati), contacteaza Agentia Kairos.

Echipa Kairos http://agentiakairos.ro

I missed Evelyne like crazy, though, so I'm glad to be back....even though she's tired and fussy and whiney... Oh well.  That's my girl! 

AND, if you ask me, it offers ideas for teaching with technology:

the technology of Scrabble Tiles.  Try 'em.

It was a tremendous blessing to be the leader for Pendleton Correctional Facility Kairos #1 held at PCF last Fall with several of the offenders coming to know the Lord for the first time and many renewing their commitment. Most of the offenders from PCF Kairos #1 have continued to meet in weekly Share and Prayer Fellowship Groups on their own then meet once a month with our outside team that goes in on the second Saturday each month for joint team and offender Share and Prayer Fellowship Groups. We will host 42 inmates for a 72 hour “mountain top experience” during this Spring weekend. Prison Officials and the Prison Chaplains are once again excited and supportive. The Holy Spirit is truly at work.

This past year, we have been blessed that several other Central Indiana correctional facilities have welcomed Kairos to come into their facilities including Pendleton Correctional Facility (maximum security), Pendleton Correctional Industrial Facility (minimum security) Kairos #3, Miami Correctional Facility Kairos #2, Plainfield Correctional Facility Kairos #2 and Indiana Women's Prison #8. We will conduct 2 weekends a year (Spring and Fall) at each of the Pendleton facilities. Kairos Torch also started their weekends at the Juvenile Correctional Facility in Pendleton last Fall. That’s 3 facilities in Pendleton, with 6 combined weekends per year, bringing the Love of God to over 250 men and boys a year (just a few miles away from us).

Some of the most spiritual moments of my life have been inside prison walls with the Kairos Prison Ministry. A spirit of peace comes over me as I look at walls covered with Agape…to the utter amazement of the inmates. I see the children inside these men come alive as 3,500 dozen cookies are wheeled in…and given away in God’s love. It’s truly amazing to see how simple chocolate chip cookies can impact a big, tough inmate. Most have never experienced God’s love…face to face…hand to hand…heart to heart. Some cry…all smile and laugh…and many are changed forever by the Holy Spirit. They come to Him as small children…broken by their choices…desperate for grace. They leave having been given a message that is theirs to keep if they so choose: “Welcome Home”.

(March 31, 2008 e-mail from Bill Farrar)
----------------------------------

Excerpts from Morgan Young's (Kokomo Great Banquet) blog:

I finally did it. For years I said I’d never go. But I did. I went through the Kokomo Great Banquet...The level of servitude exemplified at the KGB is totally unique and unlike anything I’ve seen at a local level. It is one of the subtle yet powerful aspects of the weekend...As I thought about the weekend I was wowed by the great people who led it. By the hundreds of volunteers. By the amazing amount of behind-the-scenes prayer that is before, during, and after everything at the KGB. By how many guys were rocked by the power, love, grace and mercy of Christ. By guys who accepted Christ. Guy’s who recommitted to Christ. By guys who willingly told remarkably revealing stories of how God met them in their shortcomings and darkest days.

Read the rest of Morgan's heartfelt blog here.

These excerpts were used with permission of the authors. Thanks to both Bill and Morgan for allowing me to reprint them here. DE COLORES!

New York Times columnist David Brooks has likened them to Hare-Krishna people and to Moonies — "Soon they'll be selling flowers at airports and arranging mass weddings." Joe Klein of Time has dubbed their "mass messianism" to be "just a wee bit creepy." And William Lowther, Washington correspondent for the Telegraph (United Kingdom), reported something "unnervingly akin to the hysteria of a cult, or the fervour of a religious revival" at Obama events.

Picking up on the hysteria theme, syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker has dismissed their "New Age glossolalia" as spiritual hunger gone terribly wrong, seduced by Obama's rhetoric, which "drips with hints of resurrection, redemption, second comings." MSNBC's Chris Matthews, going Parker one better, was quoted in Australia's The Age as saying, "I've never seen anything like this. This is bigger than Kennedy. Obama comes along and he seems to have the answers. This is New Testament."

Zeiss agrees with what Parker and Matthews allude to, if not what they might have meant:

It has to do with two concepts that are deeply embedded in the Protestant theology that derives from the New Testament. And these concepts go a long way toward accounting for what is going on at Obama rallies.

The first is kairos (in the biblical Greek), which refers to an "opening" in ordinary time, a historical moment when a collective sense of deeply meaningful change is in the air. The other is metanoia (another Greek term), which refers to a radical change of mind or consciousness.

Paul Tillich, the great 20th century German theologian of culture, whose thinking was shaped by the upheaval of World War I and the subsequent rise of Nazism (he emigrated to the USA in 1933), applied these concepts to politics, and to what Obama, echoing Martin Luther King Jr., would call the "fierce urgency of now." Kairos, a transformational moment presenting an opportunity to literally turn things around, is the kind of opening that comes around, at best, only once every generation or two. The last time U.S. politics witnessed such a time was arguably in 1968, during the presidential campaign — tragically cut short — of Robert F. Kennedy.

When Bobby Kenneedy ran 40 years ago, I had been supporting Gene McCarthy. That changed after they debated before the California primary. Bobby Kennedy, it was clear, was operating on a level of lucidness, command of the facts, and vision that McCarthy -- as certainly Humphrey and Nixon -- didn't touch.

1968 was an electoral kairos moment for the USA, and we blew it. 1932 and 1860 were electoral kairos moments for us also, but on those occasions we did not. In all cases the old ways of doing things have brought the nation to some kind of material or spiritual bankruptcy. The time has ripened. The fruit of our past is picked or it rots.

Just because kairos moments can be framed Biblically does not mean the change agent is blessed. When Germany responded to its kairos moment as it did on January 30th, 1933, it opened an inter-dimensional crack into hell.

Kairos times thus call for another theological construct -- discernment. Who comes to divide? Who comes to unite? Who protects and lifts up the vulnerable? Who disregards or disdains them? Who is speaking truthfully, as opposed to selling convincingly?

The conversation is open to any cursillistas, pilgrims or pescadores, so come and share your story. Go down to the comments section and post your weekend or 4th day experience. You don’t need a login or Wordpress account, just your name and an e-mail address (which won’t be posted, by the way).

Whether you made Cursillo, Great Banquet, Kairos Outside, Tres Dias, Via de Cristo, Walk to Emmaus or any other type of Christian Renewal weekend, we want to hear your story–good, bad or indifferent. And if you want to become a regular contributor to this blog, BY ALL MEANS, send me an e-mail.

I’d like for everyone to start their post with this standard “rank-and-serial” intro (i.e. "Chris Doyle, North Florida Tres Dias #1, Table of John), then just tell us what’s on your mind. If you’d like, you can just link us to your blog, but do so in the comments section below. Okay, who’s going to start the convo?

Additionally, we've updated the Kairos Retreat page (which someone took upon themselves to remove, so now there's a small paragraph on this page) and added one for Tres Dias on Wikipedia. We've reached out to most of the 4th-day communities in Indiana, offering site links, palanca and other assistance.

About two weeks ago, we created MySpace and Facebook pages, as well. Anyone with an account should stop by and consider adding us as friends. We belong to a number of 4th-day community groups on both sites, which you can link to from our profile page(s).

We've been quite busy the last 30 days, and we're happy to continue.

Our web hosting service is StartLogic and they are very inexpensive. And so far, they've provided adequate support. Any communities thinking of making a move, should look into them or contact me and I'll walk you though the process. You should also offer your community a blog, like this one hosted by Wordpress, so that people can stay connected, make comments/suggestions, leave palanca, etc. I can help there, too.

Well, that's it for a one-month update. We hope to make many more connections over the coming months. If you have something to share, please leave a comment or e-mail me (info@indyretreats.org). De Colores!

Mas cumpre-se o que foi dito pelo profeta Joel:

Derramarei do meu Espírito sobre todo ser vivo:

O que era Pentecostes ?

Do grego 50 dias (depois da Páscoa), chamado também no Antigo Testamento "festa das semanas", era uma das festas em que os israelitas deviam "apresentar-se diante do Senhor", isto é, peregrinar a Jerusalém. Foi também chamado de festa da colheita e festa das primícias (cf. Ex 23, 26; 24, 23; Dt 16, 16; Nm 28, 26). No Novo Testamento, Pentecostes é o grande dia da vinda do Espírito Santo e do lançamento da Igreja de Cristo na Terra, segundo vem narrado nos Atos dos apóstolos (2, 1-14). Pentecostes marca o final da festa Pascal. Com a chegada do Espírito Santo, inicia-se o tempo da Igreja o "Kairos", pois a missão de Cristo continua se realizando na ação dos apóstolos na história da Igreja. Na celebração atual da Festa de Pentecostes, realiza-se a plenitude do mistério Pascal de nossa fé, pois após a celebração da paixão, morte e ressurreição de Jesus, a Igreja celebra a ascensão de Jesus Cristo e a vinda do Espírito Santo.

O que eu poderia dizer sobre Pentecostes ?

Vendo a figura acima nos lembramos daquele campo de trigo já pronto para a colheita, se Jesus foi o Semeador também será o ceifador.

Certa vez Jesus perguntou a seus discipulos:

Quando Eu voltar acaso encotrarei fé na Terra ?

É uma pergunta imperativa, quase respondendo a si mesma, mas na verdade ela nos mostra que precisamos analizar nossa fé dia apos dia, a fim de darmos uma resposta positiva para Jesus.

Em Atos 2,42 vemos o cumprimento da promessa do Pai anunciada no antigo testamento para os dicipulos ali reunidos, e podemos afirmar com certeza foi exatamente a colheita dos frutos da evangelização feita por Jesus.

Pedro afirmou que esta promessa não seria apenas para eles, mas para todos aqueles que viessem a ouvir e aceitar a palavra de Deus pelos seculos afora, incluíndo voce que neste momento lê esta frase, pois a promessa é para todos nós e ainda nem começou a se cumprir em plenitude, mas virá o dia em que toda a Terra estará repleta da Ciência do Senhor, assim como as aguas recobrem o fundo do mar.

Em uma outra ocasião Jesus estava indo em direção à uma cidade quando deparou no caminho com uma linda figueira cheia de folhas verdes, porém Jesus não encontrou nenhum Fruto, disse a ela: Jamais nasça fruto de ti, e voltando no dia seguinte pelo mesmo caminho observaram que ela havia secado completamente.

Poderiamos pensar então, que na verdade não existe uma solução para o mundo e que nosso destino realmente é a perdição e o inferno eterno.

Da mesma forma que Jesus fez esta pergunta, quase como uma cobrança do resultado da nossa evangelização, afirmando que os homens preferem mais as trevas do que a luz. Ele afirma com uma palavra totalmente digna de fé, que as portas do inferno não prevalecerão contra a Igreja de Deus. Nós não conhecemos o futuro, mas Jesus sim, porque Ele é eterno e pode afirmar com certaza o resultado final de sua obra neste mundo.

Quanto à figueira que secou-se, Jesus conta outra parábola se referindo a este episódio, dizendo que; O dono da vinha plantou uma figueira em sua vinha, chegando o tempo de frutificar não produzira fruto algum, no ano seguinte, na mesma época o dono procurou frutos e não encontrou, mais um ano e de novo ela não produziu seu fruto. O Dono da vinha então chamou seu servo e lhe mandou arrancar aquela figueira infrutífera e plantasse uma outra arvoré naquele local, no que o servo lhe disse, não faça isso meu Senhor, deixa á mais um ano, vou podá-la, revolver a terra em seu redor e adubá-la, sei que na proxima temporada ela produzirá seu fruto, caso não produza, eu a arrancarei e plantarei uma outra figueira.

Este servo quem seria ele ?

Porque este servo tão pretativo não havia feito o que dissera a seu Senhor nos anos em que a figueira não produzira Fruto ?

A culpa da falta de frutos na figueira realmente seria da propria figueira ?

O Senhor da vinha não teria dito indiretamente ao servo que estaria faltando com suas responsabilidades no tratamento com as plantações de sua vinha ?

As respostas para estas perguntas, me faz lembrar do Profeta Jonas, que foi chamado por Deus para levar sua palavra a uma grande cidade pecadora.

Jonas imediatamente se dispós, fez as malas e pegou o primeiro navio que zarpou do porto, só que na direção oposta ao objetivo proposto por Deus, achando que fugindo de suas responsabilidades, Deus convocaria uma outra pessoa para fazer o seu Trabalho, logo percebeu que não, passando por diversas tribulações pediu perdão ao Senhor e cumpriu seu propósito de uma maneira surpreendente em apenas tres dias.

Após ter executado exatamente o que Deus lhe mandara, ficou aguardando que o pior acontececse e que realmente seu trabalho tivesse sido em vão, dando razões para que Deus destruisse toda a cidade. Mas o fruto de seu exelente trabalho foi colhido, aquela imensa cidade se converteu por completo e no final de 40 dias uma nova cidade havia renascido das cinzas.

E agora ? poderiamos perguntar;

Como um homem tão pessimista, conseguiu um resultado tão perfeito ?

A Resposta é muito simples !

Ele executou exatamente o que Deus havia Mandado, pois em seu íntimo, segundo suas expectativas, ele achava que jamais alcançaria algum resultado satisfatório, por isso não interferiu com suas proprias maneiras de executar o propósito Divino. O resultado final mostrou que; quanto menos interferirmos naquilo que Deus nos pede, mais rápido e mais frutífero será o resultado de nosso trabalho, porque na verdade, quem opera e age executando a obra de Deus é o Proprio Espírito de Deus, e não nós.

Pentecostes pode ser a festa da colheita, mas para nós anunciadores da palavra de Deus, seria enfim um mundo novo totalmente transformado pelo amor de Deus, sendo que João viu para o futuro, um novo céu e uma nova Terra totalmente transformados, assim como Jonas havia visto uma nova Nínivi após aqueles 40 dias, podemos dizer então, que a figueira adubada não foi efetivamente arrancada pelo servo, porque o mesmo servo havia feito seu trabalho perfeito alcançando o resultado esperado pelo Senhor, Uma figueira repleta de figos.

Retornamos então à pergunta inicial:

Quando Eu voltar acaso encotrarei fé na Terra ?

Jesus ainda não voltou e apesar de vermos um mundo tão longe de Deus, não podemos afirmar que não exista fé na terra, assim também como não podemos afirmar que a fé existente hoje neste mundo seria satisfatória para uma boa colheita de bons filhos para o Pai, logo nosso trabalho continua, e o Pentecostes que começou naquele dia em Jerusalém ainda não chegou à sua plenitude ou a seu final, portanto, esta chama continua acesa e continuará repousando sobre todos aqueles que creem e esperam em Jesus, como Maria e os Discipulos reunidos em Jerusalém.

Veja também:

Apresentação

Novena do Espírito Santo.

Orações ao Espírito Santo.

Os Dons do Espírito Santo.

Os Frutos do Espírito Santo

Fui um Cara que se perdeu nas Drogas…

O Que é Renovação Carismática Catolica?

Vinho, muito vinho, primeiro Milágre de Jesus um presente prá você.

A Missão do Espírito Santo no Mundo de Hoje.