weekend worship: reflections on the west memphis 3 rally
Tue, Aug 31 2010 07:51 AM
| personal, emergent, eikon, little rock, christian subculture, theology, favorites, arkansas, church, jesus, music, popular culture, current events, politics
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sunday night, we had one of my favorite worship gatherings to date at eikon church. there was a good energy, the music was unquestionably the best it's ever been and i think we really tapped into the heart of what it means to be a community of people connected by jesus. it was truly a beautiful night of worship.
and then there was that other worship gathering.
no, not the one i attended on sunday morning. and no, not some other church event i participated in some other time during the weekend.
i'm talking about the one saturday. at robinson center music hall.
yeah, that one.
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the tweet heard 'round the world: a few words about segregation and educational options
Mon, Aug 23 2010 09:04 AM
| christen, general life, personal, little rock, olive, christian subculture, theology, arkansas, lucy, family, popular culture, children, current events, max, politics
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By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard 'round the world.
so begin's ralph waldo's emerson 1837 masterpiece, concord hymn. the line that closes the stanza, of course, has become a cultural idiom. the shot heard 'round the world is in reference to the american revolutionary war, specifically the battles of lexington and concord. indeed, those shots reverberated around the globe and set our nation on a new course.
and then—on august 21, 2010—there was this:
worth not just a read, but extended reflection for LR people / RT @GOOD: Are students pre-segregated before high school? http://su.pr/9msbx1
ryanByrd
ryanbyrd
which was immediately followed by this:
in addition to what the @GOOD article says, it's also worth reflecting on "self-segregation" (parents who put their kids in private school).ryanByrd
ryanbyrd
ah yes, the tweet heard 'round the world.
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some exciting new eikon church updates
Fri, Aug 13 2010 02:04 PM
| general life, personal, church, news, emergent, little rock, jesus, eikon, worship
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it's been awhile since i've offered a substantial (or any, really) update about what's going on with eikon church. well, big things are happening, so i thought i'd pause the ryan-blog-rants-and-ramblings train and get us all on the same page.
so i'm the dude who crashed little rock family's mommy blogger story
Tue, Jun 29 2010 08:03 AM
| christen, general life, personal, olive, little rock, work, lucy, family, max, blog stuff
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greetings. welcome to the blog. maybe you're here because you saw me in a little rock family story about the top local bloggers. i'm the large, hairy woman in the middle. you know, the one who looks like the offspring of a lumberjack and a grizzly bear. yeah, that's me.
the lone dude.
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what my neighborhood grocery store has taught me about stereotypes
Mon, Jun 14 2010 07:57 AM
| general life, personal, little rock, popular culture, food
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a brief note: i'm particularly sensitive to issues of race. i believe racism is still very much a plague on our society in many forms. with that, i realize that this post is the blogging equivalent to trying to tip-toe through a minefield. i hope to use some introductory candor and humor to talk about a serious and often hurtful topic. i hope, in the end, to segue into some commentary that will shed some helpful light on the issue.
now back to your regularly scheduled program.
i love our neighborhood grocery store. its prices aren't the lowest. its produce is suspect. it's missing some of the brands i prefer. it (bizarrely) plays country music over the speakers. the parking lot floods with the slightest hint of rain.
and i love it.
why? because i'm the white guy. yep. at any given time, the store's population is made up of about 99% black people and then me. now, if i just happen to hit it at a crazy white person rush, there may be a whole 1 or 2 other white people.
and i love it.
you see, there's so much to learn—as a white person—being the vast minority. when the tables are turned, one's perspective becomes much different. one begins to see many things much more clearly, particularly, in regards to stereotypes.
when heritage is hate: virginia governor declares "confederate history month"
Wed, Apr 7 2010 02:42 PM
| rant, personal, arkansas, little rock, jesus, christian subculture, popular culture, politics, current events
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i grew up here in arkansas. in the south. in one of the so-called confederate states of america. growing up, these things were quite self-evident. from confederate flags waving proudly on bubba's chevy stepside truck to the idolization of the dukes of hazard's general lee to—on the very serious end of things—seeing nooses hung at church camp one year when a black student attended. yes, indeed, i grew up in arkansas.
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i do confess: a big eikon announcement
Thu, Feb 4 2010 07:54 AM
| personal, church, little rock, jesus, eikon, confessions, worship
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last june, this thing called eikon kicked off, publicly, with a little cookout with some burgers, some beers and a handful of sorted people. since that time, we've connected with new friends and grown over the course of informational meetings, guided conversations and, over the last few months, a handful of worship gatherings. in just the last 6 or 7 months, we've come a long way in the initial phases of forming this thing we call a church.
7 big ideas for little rock
Sat, Jan 9 2010 10:12 AM
| art, general life, personal, arkansas, church, little rock, christian subculture, favorites, lists
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a couple days ago, i picked up the current issue of the arkansas times, which is their annual natives guide to pulaski county. the cover story was a series of "big ideas" written by various people of (quasi-) prominence in little rock and surrounding areas. the list included some ideas i love (bringing a nice independent movie theater downtown, churches without barriers), some good ideas that could use some tweaking/fleshing out (creating a light rail system, increased revenue sources for parks) and ideas that are just plain unfeasible (tearing down i-630, which is an excessive solution to a real problem). after reading their list, i put myself to the task of coming up with my own list of "big ideas" for little rock. here's what i came up with.
a few thoughts concerning the shane montgomery arrest
Fri, Dec 11 2009 08:06 PM
| personal, church, news, little rock, jesus, eikon, christian subculture, theology, current events
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today has been a day full of assorted and disparate emotions. this morning, like many of you, i learned of yesterday's arrest of shane montgomery, the now-resigned church planter/pastor of the river church. while most people know the story at this point, in essence, shane has been accused of (and, according to some sources citing the arrest report, admitted to) sexual contact with a 15-year old male who he met online this past summer.
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pulaski academy, marching bands |||amp; the new racism
Fri, Nov 13 2009 08:11 AM
| rant, general life, personal, little rock, theology, family, popular culture
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when i saw, on the arkansas blog, the teaser, "A local blogger has written—unhappily—that Pulaski Academy won't send its band to a football playoff game in Helena-West Helena", i thought this was going to be a flashback to 1993 when the conway high school football team lost to pine bluff in the state championship game. after a searing defeat, some conway fans looked for a direction in which their finger could point. of all places, they found the band, saying that their minimal playing caused the team to lose. yes, you read that correctly: the band's lack of horns and drums and cymbals. so when i saw this headline, i thought i was in for the same disbelief from nearly 16 years ago.
that, though, is not what i discovered.
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anne pressly |||amp; curtis vance: the uncomfortable unspoken reality
Thu, Nov 12 2009 08:00 AM
| news, little rock, theology
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for this post, i'm working under the assumption that most of you know the story of the rape and murder of little rock news anchor anne pressly. it's a heartbreaking and deeply saddening story that received a little closure today with the announcement that vance was found guilty of all charges.
as a father to two daughters, i can't begin to imagine what it would be like to be anne pressly's parents and family. the deep, deep pain would be unbearable and it would be difficult to maintain any semblance of a normal life. it's honestly hard for me to think about it as i write this.
on the other hand, though, as i watch all the coverage of the trial, i keep coming back to one particular thing: i have a deep sense of sorrow that goes out to curtis vance and his family.
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a solution to the little rock homeless problem: let them die
on any given day, there are thousands of people living in the streets of little rock. we have to walk by them. we have to hear them ask for money. we have to cross to the other side of the street when we see them ahead. we have to feel guilty when we drive by in our hard-earned suv.
it's a real problem.
so, i'm offering a solution: let them die.
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my piece in little rock soirée: a day in little rock
let's do some word association, shall we?what words pop into your mind when you hear 'ryan'? if you said sophisticated, upper class city magazine, then you would have been the literally only person in this world to make that connection.well, that connection, in fact, has been made. several months ago, i was approached by the fine people at little rock soirée about writing a piece called a day in little
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an ethic of fear and muslim baby-making
Sat, May 2 2009 08:30 PM
| videos, church, little rock, christian subculture, theology
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i've had plenty of gripe moments on twitter about this issue, but i thought—after being sent a link to a youtube video—that i might explore it a little more closely (more on the video ahead). specifically, it's what i'm calling an "ethic of fear". by that, i mean living life in a way that fear makes your decisions. fear sets your agenda. it tells you where to go and where not to go. it determines
evangelicalism smackdown: the battle for the bible belt
Sun, Jan 11 2009 12:20 PM
| personal, arkansas, church, emergent, little rock, humor, christian subculture, theology, politics
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there's always those cliché types of comments that people make that lay claim to various assertions. for instance, you'll hear something to the effect of, "oh my gosh, i saw the most hilarious thing last night!" really? it was the most hilarious thing that exists in the pantheon of hilarious things? or, you'll hear people lay claim to such things as, "things have never been this bad, so we must be
the rainbow connection
Sat, Dec 27 2008 09:16 PM
| photography, personal, little rock, iphone
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i don't do a lot of overlap with twitter, but it seemed like something worthy of both twitter and the blog.no exaggeration, this thing was in the sky for less than a minute. i literally took the picture, looked down at my iphone, looked back up to take another picture and it was gone. it was really amazing and i thought it was worth sharing here.
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theology on tap
Fri, Dec 19 2008 12:29 AM
| church, emergent, little rock, christian subculture, theology
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if you've been following me on twitter lately, you may have noticed that i've been obsessive with vino's lately. in the last 10 days, i have either eaten there or taken out food 4 times. this is great for my social life, but not so great for the ol' love handles... there's no reason why i've been on this kick, other than once i get something i like, i tend to be drawn there often until i get burned
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little rock: come here and you will die
Tue, Oct 21 2008 10:06 PM
| general life, personal, little rock, family
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as i indicated a few posts ago, we've been back to arkansas for almost a year now. growing up in conway, little rock was always a regular part of my life. living here, though, i have a whole new perspective on little rock—especially with living in midtown and working in downtown. i don't just live in little rock. i really do love little rock now.given this fact, there is something that's been absolutely
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