Megachurch, Marathon, and Mencia

This weekend I experienced 3 things I have never experienced before. Here are my thoughts on these events and how they affected my life...


Megachurch - I went to Willow Creek Community Church this weekend and it was intense. It was on a Saturday, so there were a few less people, but I still was in a building with so many folks that I didn't know what to do. I went in very critical of the megachurch concept, and I came out intrigued. I wanted to see what they would do and I realized that a lot falls on the congregation. These people get themselves involved in different ministries, and they really are into outreach and inviting friends to their very seeker friendly largegroup service. Is the building gaudy?...you bet your sweet cheeks it is. But that's what it's supposed to be. This is South Barrington, Illinois. This is a rich community and they are all about their jumbotrons and their orchestral worship bands. It's pretty sweet. This is the part of the capital 'C' Church that belongs in this part of the world. It would not make sense to people in other parts of the world, but I think it works great for the people there. They provided a lot of real, relevant thoughts, and put them out there in fun ways. These involved thought provoking powerpoint slides, an entertaining skit, and a sermont hat pointed right to Christ. I get the impression that in a seeker friendly service, the Gospel gets preached each week, and that's how it should be. I did leave the place curious as to how their smaller groups work and how in community people feel. It can be easy to get lost in a large group like that, but maybe tat makes it ok to just show up. I also am seeing an analogy between the megachurch idea and a large public university. I think it can be very easy to get lost and be a number and being there to check things out and get in, do your thing, and get out. But if you really want to, you can plug in, get involved, and really experience it to it's full.

Marathon - So just about 48000 people ran 26.2 miles yesterday and that totals to about 1.25 millions miles logged on runners shoes, just in that race. That's pretty intense. It was an incredible spectacle seeing people in a herd mentality. People were part of something. They were all doing this together. And it didn't matter who you were. There were world class runners, old men, recovering cancer patients, wheelchairs, and many more competing. But they all had the same goal of finishing that race. That's nuts, and I'm not gonna lie. I didn't like the idea. It seems retarded to just put that pain on your body. To go through that kind of stress seems ludicrous. On top of that, there are a few hundred thousand spectators and racers and that just isn't pleasant seeing that many people crammed into one place. As the race went on though, I began to see things. And that is the belonging as well as the human spirit. People ran longer distances than they'd ever run before because they were spurred on by other runners that wouldn't quit. They were pushed on by fans that cheered for them even though they didn't know their name. People want to love...people want to cheer. I saw that today. Runners with no personal supporters were cheered on, smiled at, and given water. When 'the wall' came, people were supported, having their backs patted by fellow runners. The last .2 miles showed some of the most amazing raw human moments I've seen in a while. I saw a father pick his daughter, probably about three years old, up out of the crowd, and she finished the race with her daddy. I saw couples holding hands finishing the race together. There were people limping, hobbling, and sprinting to the finish. There was a man who was letting out an intense scream that there was no doubt he was loving it and loving the competition, the drive, and the triumph. I am utterly astounded that these people loved this, but at the same point...it hits just the right string in my heart that I can hear the tune. I know what's going on, and I wanted to join in. I cheered in my head, I prayed for their safe finishes, and I smiled at their goofy outfits. I see my girlfriend (who finished in 4:32...well under her goal. CONGRATS!) in pain today and I know just a bit how that feels from my days as a high school athlete and realizing how good pain can feel. It makes you feel alive and gives you a hint of life to it's full.

Mencia - So I got back to Champaign from the marathon just in time to make it to the show that my roomates and I had bought tickets for so many months ago. We went to see Carlos Mencia in The Punisher Tour. It was an interesting spectacle to be sure. I had never seen a comedy show live, and to be honest, I wasn't incredibly excited about it. But I went, as I had spent the 30 dollars, and had never been to a comedy show, so why not see a popular and controversial comedian. I took my seat in anticipation of it being kind of short, full of witty jokes about race and things of that nature, but it showed up as so much more. It was something I wouldn't have gone to if I had known what it was going to be, but what the heck. It started off with silhouttes of girls dancing on the sides while videos from his tv show, The Mind of Mencia, played on a center screen. They Carlos (born Ned) had his brother come out and fire up the crowd telling us about a slew of basic race commentary jokes before a female comic came out complaining about the usual, "skinny bitches", men and their sex, and other things that would make a parent cringe. She was defintely meant to be an opening act. Then a comedian by the name of Jo Koy came out and wamed the crowd a bit more. He pulled his asian card out and made a slew of jokes on people having assumptions about asians. That struck hilarity with me, going to school on this campus and seeing a lot of the stereotypes he mentioned either confirmed or dealt with. Finally, the last act before Mencia was a dwarf, whose name I cannot recall. This guy was also hilarious. He spoke a bit of his childhood growing up with dwarfism as well as other jokes about being short and a few other thoughts. This all set the stage for the main act...Carlos Mencia. Mencia covered a lot in an hour and about forty-five minutes. He started off with his basic act of racial commentary and jokes and it slowly turned into 'white guilt.' White people feel guilty about things their race has done and feel like they can't loosen up due to fear of offending others. But what about the people that are offended and get violent? Interesting thought to me. Then he moved on to a social commentary in the form of talking about issues beyond race and even up to his upbringing. Finally, Mencia held and Q&A session where people could ask anything. He ended with breaking down how he builds an act. The show ended with him mooning the crowd and sitting on a girl's lap. It was an intense show with plenty of vulgarity and controversy. There were protesters outside and the show definitely brought up some interesting thoughts. I really think that Mencia is a guy that I would love to sit and eat a meal with and just talk about social issues. He sounds like he's got some interesting points, although his idea of God seems to be far different from mine and I'd love to hear what shapes his.



OK, that was my weekend. Enough is enough.