words are not enough

[Scene Stealer]

Joe Kennedy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:00:31 +0000

I needed a few photos of myself, so I went to the backyard for a little photoshoot. What I didn’t realize is that Daisy was behind me stealing the scene.

Self-Portraits in Mobile, Alabama | July 3, 2009

Praying through the News…

Joe Kennedy — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:00:31 +0000

Some people read the newspaper with the Bible in their other hand, reading the Bible into the news, trying to make the times more significant. When the media becomes the lens through which you view the Scriptures, you’re bound to end up in some gun-running cult in a rural Texas town. On the other hand, the media plays an extremely important role in a Christian life. The news can’t be our lens for the Bible, but it can be a guide for our prayer. That’s one of the reasons I read Foreign Policy on a daily basis. For the last five years, Foreign Policy and The Fund for Peace have offered a Failed States Index. In no way is this list the absolute truth with regard to national stability, but it sure is helpful. (Read the FAQ here.)

The label “failed” remains a powerful way to describe those states that no longer serve their people. That harsh term sharpens the attention of policymakers and helps single out countries that should be of utmost concern. The threat of such state failure also focuses attention on the soon-to-crumble; it is those countries that need the most external help. … Failed states have two defining criteria: They deliver very low quantities and qualities of political goods to their citizens, and they have lost their monopoly on violence. Nation-states on the cusp of failure are either “weak” or “failing”—but not “failed.” “Collapsed” ought to be reserved for geographical expressions without governments, such as Somalia. [Disorder in the Ranks, ForeignPolicy.com]

You’ll be surprised to know that, in the midst of the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays, and Michael Jackson, millions of lives are in danger every day. It is not the Christian’s responsibility to save the world. That role belongs solely to God. It is our responsibility, however, to intercede in prayer on behalf of those who do not know Christ. We pray with the news as our guide. I encourage you to read through the Failed States articles and learn more about what’s happening in the world.

Do Something Good Today…

Joe Kennedy — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:05:09 +0000

This began as an effort to spice up my “In Support” page, and now I’m grabbing the most common, reputable, and helpful charities and non-profit organizations across the country and world. (And a few started by friends.) Now, after half a day of researching, I’m asking you to help me fill in the white space. Read a list of the ones I already have after the break.

So help me eliminate the white space and put your favorite charity, non-profit organization, or philanthropic society in the comments.

[Kakish's Last Stand]

Joe Kennedy — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:00:01 +0000

My friends Dave and Ashley are getting married this weekend. To each other. A couple weeks ago we held Dave’s bachelor party. He threw out the first pitch at the Mobile BayBears game, then got selected to play in a little game at the bottom of the 6th inning. After the game we all went back to his parents’ house, donned the sumo suits, and proceeded to have a throwdown. The following pictures document the debauchery.

I didn’t get a very good shot of the first pitch. I need to check my auto focus next time.

Kakish’s Last Stand in Mobile, Alabama | June 5, 2009

[The Elephant Brunch]

Joe Kennedy — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:45:19 +0000

The Ringling Bros. Circus is in Mobile for the next few days (the shows are June 18-21) at the Mobile Civic Center. A friend of mine who works at the Civic Center tipped me off to the Elephant Brunch this morning. The elephants were fed lettuce, carrots, bananas, apples, and other good stuff. Enjoy the photos, and be sure to hit “read more” to see the rest.

The Elephant Brunch at the Mobile Civic Center, Mobile, Alabama | June 18, 2009

[Virginia Burning]

Joe Kennedy — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:00:29 +0000

Spring 2008 I took a trip up to Annapolis to scout the city for a potential church plant. On my way back to New Orleans I drove the scenic route, running down the Blue Ridge Parkway through Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee’s Smokey Mountains before heading to Knoxville and I-40 West. I spent nights in Roanoke, Virginia and Columbia, Tennessee. Before I got to Roanoke, though, I came across forest fires in the Shenandoah Valley off of I-81 near Steeles Tavern. Being curious (and probably a little stupid), I got off the main roads and drove up into the hills to get better photos.

Fires in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia | April 2008

The morning I left Roanoke led me to the Blue Ridge Parkway on a dreary, foggy morning. The road was slow driving, but the scenery made me feel like I was in the thick Scottish Highlands. I’ve never been there, so I have no idea if it’s an accurate description. In the same way I pretend that I’m on an African safari, moments away from seeing herds of wild exotic animals when I’m driving the back roads of Texas, I figured I’d make an adventure of it. I know I sound crazy (I probably am), but sometimes it pays to have an imagination when you’re driving long distances day after day.

Fog on the Blue Ridge Parkway outside Roanoke, Virginia | April 2008

[Britton and Michaela]

Joe Kennedy — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:00:06 +0000

Britt, my roommate in New Orleans before Katrina, moved to Fort Worth, Texas in 2006 where he met Michaela. By October he’d proposed and on April 14, 2007 they were married. A year later I moved up there and last September we decided to have a photo day. Hurricane Ike was sitting in traffic somewhere on I-45 between Houston and DFW the day we went out, so we drove west. After driving through a few small towns, we settled on Dublin, Texas, home of the Dublin Dr Pepper.

Britton and Michaela in Dublin, Texas | September 2008

[The Ruins of New Mexico]

Joe Kennedy — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:00:24 +0000

I took a road trip to New Mexico in November 2008. While I stayed at the Glorieta Conference Center, I spent most of my days visiting the historic sites of north-central New Mexico.

Pecos National Historical Monument at Pecos, New Mexico | November 2008

Pecos is just about ten miles down the road from Glorieta, my base of operations. It’s the site of old Native American ruins, and the Spanish built a mission church there. The photo of Pecos shows the remains of the church. After I left Pecos, I drove up I-25 north about 70 miles (through Las Vegas- apparently, the real one) to Fort Union National Monument. The monument has the ruins of three old Fort Unions- the second of which is the most interesting. Should you visit either monument, you’ll find the park rangers are incredibly nice… make sure to talk to them. One $3 ticket gets you into both monuments for a week.

The View from Fort Union, New Mexico | November 2008

My second day in New Mexico I drove south about 90 miles to the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. I saw three ruins at three locations: Gran Quivera, Quarai, and Abo. I don’t think New Mexico has bad weather, because every day I was there it was gorgeous.

The Ruins at Gran Quivera, New Mexico | November, 2008

The Ruins at Quarai, near Mountainair, New Mexico | November 2008

The Ruins at Abo, New Mexico | November 2008

The Gospel Immunization…

Joe Kennedy — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:54:13 +0000

[This post is a rewrite of one previously published in 2005.]

About four years ago I went on a youth mission trip to AtlantaFest. On the first afternoon, we went out to a few neighborhoods to throw an impromptu backyard bible club event. My group visited a Hispanic neighborhood. Most of the kids understood English, and the student minister led a bible study time, followed by an invitation. During the short message, the kids ignored the student minister and played their games, but during the invitation most were silent. About seven or eight kids prayed the magic prayer* and raised their hands when asked if they prayed.

A few weeks later, I spoke with my roommate Mark about that, in light of Bobby Welsh’s “baptize one million in a year” campaign. We both saw it as asinine, and expressed concern that the means don’t produce the desired ends. I said, “There are three problems with that whole deal. One, nobody was paying attention. Two, they prayed a ridiculous prayer that didn’t do any good because they didn’t know what they were doing or saying. And now we’re going to go back and tell the church that seven kids came to Christ. Give me a break.”

Mark responded, “And four, we’ve inoculated them. Like when you give someone an inoculation for a disease, you usually give them a dead or very mild version of the same virus. That allows them to be immune to the real disease when it comes.”

It’s amazing to me that often we refer to the old story, “if someone had the cure for cancer, wouldn’t you want to share the cure for it with them?” in response to evangelism. And here what we offer is a mild and often dead version of a very live Christianity, which immunizes them from the real thing later in life. And one day, someone will say, “did you pray this prayer?” because evangelistic styles will never change in the SBC, and those kids will say, “yes, we did.” And likely, they will die without knowing their Creator.

The Gospel we preach produces the churches we get. When we preach a false Gospel we can expect false Christians.

[Update: Read this post by Alan Cross for further discussion on the topic. He's a thousand times more thoughtful than I am.]

*It is my opinion that just as there is no such thing as the Catholic “magic bread and wine,” there is no such thing as the Baptist “magic prayer.”

[Fort Worth Metal Works]

Joe Kennedy — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:00:38 +0000

On Monday I posted photos of the glass art I saw at the Main Street Arts Festival in downtown Fort Worth in April. Wednesday showed photos of downtown architecture. Today I’m posting photos of metal art seen at the Arts Festival. It wouldn’t be Fort Worth or Texas without a large metal longhorn or two. (Fort Worth’s city logo looks conspicuously similar to the Texas Longhorns logo.) I call photo below “Iron Bovine.”

These were pretty interesting. I especially loved the small metal monsters. The same artist created larger animals, including a working giraffe about five feet tall.

I call this one “Abstract Chicken.”

Metal Art at the Main Street Arts Festival in Fort Worth, Texas | April 2009