What's Brian Doing Next Year?

Several people have expressed interest in knowing what I'll be up to this coming year. It is a most busy time -- not so unusually for me. I'll traveling to Malta, South Africa, Switzerland, China, and Uganda -- and that is just work related international trips through June!

For a a full list of my activities, you can check out the REACT Services website.

Kitchen Remodel #2

Christine, the artist, here hard at work in bringing the next phase of the kitchen to some semblance of order!

John and Joe at 20 Years

Here they are, Joe and John getting past the teenage years. Still can't believe I'm old enough to have kids that old!
We went to a Gonzaga basketball game today in Seattle on their birthday which was a fun adventure. They are majoring in engineering at Gonzaga and enjoying life. I am proud of these men and what they are becoming.

No Dreaming Required

Well, no dreaming for us this year! For one of the few times in Seattle history, we have a white Christmas Day!

A Kitchen Remodel -- #1

Here is our kitchen -- now in hiding as we try to put a major remodel together.

Anniversary Dinner

Christine and I celebrated 24 fabulous years of marriage last night and today (a bit earlier than our December 17th date). Our usual scenario is to stay in downtown Seattle to enjoy the Christmas ambiance. This is a picture of us after dinner at Tulio's restaurant.

Snow before the rain

We had a fairly major snow storm this weekend -- right before the announced big rain and wind storm coming up on Monday.

Here is the front of the O'Connell house in the middle of it!!

Snow Dusting

Here is what last night's snow dusting looked like on our deck! Some got much less, but because we're in the convergent zone, we usually get a bit more.

Christine and Mosiac Choir

Christine had a concert last night (she's in the middle of the back row). The community choir she is in had their annual Christmas event. The choir -- which has members from about 28 churches -- was awesome!

Unfortunately, winter arrived with some snow dusting which limited the numbers. They still had a good crowd for the two shows.

In Thailand - Teaching with Arrie

Here is the group as I am helping to lead them through their regional training plans.

We had people from virtually every continent represented in these discussions.

In Thailand - teambuilding

Here is a picture of one of our team building exercises. The group is learning how to trust the person behind them to be a chair!

In Thailand - Africa

Each evening has a continental celebration. To no one's surprise, the Africans had the best show!

In Thailand - worship

One of my responsibilities at the conference was to stage manage (or produce) the plenaries. Here is one of the Thai worship band leading us.

In Thailand - Koko

Here is one of my good friends, Koko, who is working in northern India. He is an amazingly good soccer player -- and coach.

In Thailand

Just a few shots from my time in Thailand with the sports network. This one is me doing some teaching.

REACT Board Retreat

We held a retreat with the Board of Directors for REACT Services this week. A very successful time of reclarifying our purpose and progras.

We confirmed that:

REACT Services is a Christian ministry that guides and equips churches and organizations to harness the power of partnership for more effective Kingdom impact among people least reached by the gospel. http://www.reactservices.com/

Christians and Climate Change

One of the key meetings I had this week in Washington, DC was with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Our small group of Christian leaders talked with her about climate change and some of the legislation being proposed. It was fun to be able to communicate that some Christians really are interested in the environment. However, we weren't necessarily too high on some of the ways in which the government is talking about being involved!

In DC

Participated in two conferences in Washington, DC this week. One on climate change and the other a global leaders forum. The latter was sponsored by the National Association of Evangelicals -- on whose Board of Directors I serve. The main speaker was Ban Ki-Moon the General Secretary of the United Nations.

Interesting story in the Washington Post the next day, asking the question about Guess Who Came to Dinner? They wondered if it was the anti-Christ! You can check out the article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/11/AR2007101102537.html

I am now officially part of the Mission Exchange's Professional Services Network. Mission Exchange used to be called the Evangelical Fellowship of Mission Agencies (EFMA). I serve as the network as their consultant on partnerships (naturally!).

Check them out at: http://efma.gospelcom.net/index.php You can see Professional Services Network under their "Get Involved" section.

God Approved

Though rain began the day, God provided the light show for the evening.

Dancing in Celebration

Can anyone tell that Christine has fun when she dances? No need to answer that question. . . .

The party after the wedding certainly was a blast!

Dutch and the Bride

Proud papa, Dutch, and daughter Jessica coming down the aisle as he gets the honor of giving her away. It looks like Jess has some natural anticipation as well!

The Happy Couple!

Scott and Jessica now embarking on their life together!

The weather cooperated

The race was on as the sun was also with us! John (in the foreground) and Chris eventually overtook me and Joe.

Kayaking on Lake Union

Departure on a little family adventure on the water.

Finishing touches

No rest for the weary -- oh, I guess there is!

Finish Line in sight!

Main deck done, now for the sides.

Details, Details, Details

Christine, master of the saw.

Taking Shape

Framing is done

The Work Begins

Brian and Dan pounding some nails.

A New Deck is Coming!

The beginning of the project -- delivery number one is coming in!

Speaking on World Refugee Sunday

Today is World Refugee Sunday, a project of the Refugee Highway Partnership. The goal is to have the Christian community pray for refugees and the situation they are often in. I spoke at a local church here in the seattle area (North Seattle Church of the Nazarene) on the responsibilities we have to assist the poor and marginalized.

Refugee Highway Partnership

I am here in Amsterdam working with the Refugee Highway Partnership (RHP). The leadership of this partnership is meeting in this fabulous city to discuss strategies to work together better, as well as getting a better sense of the refugee situation here in Holland. This country has a large number of refugees that have been resettled here and thus a great opportunity to bring good news. This is a picture of me with Moses, a Nigerian who pastors one of the largest refugee churches in the city. He also has put together a Bible training school that is a partnership with a number of other churches in the area -- a good example of partnering. They are able to do together what they could not do seperately!



This is a picture of some of the apartment housing that the refugees are living in in one region of Amsterdam. Though the government gives some financial assistance, it is not much and the places are small for what often can be large familes.




This is a picture of the RHP leadership team -- a great group of folks that are dedicated to helping those who often have lost everything because of war, disaster or religious persecution.

You can check out the Refugee Highway Partnership at http://www.refugeehighway.net/ or at:http://www.refugeehighway.com/

Sunset

A sunset from the other side of our condo. It was well positioned!

From the Condo

The view from the balcolny of the condo we stayed in -- so nicely provided by one of our good friends.

In the Water

Getting a swim in the blue waters off Buck Island -- one of the best snorkling destinations in the caribbean.

April St. Croix Adventure!

We are enjoying wonderful St. Croix in the Caribbean.
This picture is Christian and I enjoying one of the pool restaurants at a resort close to where we were staying .

In Malta

I am working in Malta this week with groups seeking to be more effective in North Africa and the Middle East. First time I've been here -- a cool little island. Though, sadly, I'm in meetings most of the time (story of my life) and have little ability to get out and actually see much of it. It is located just south of Sicily in the Medditerranean Sea and has a cultural mix of North Africa, Italy, and British influences. Given that they have nearly 7,000 years of history, it does have its awesome places! I was able to see the shipwreched church of St. Paul, as well as the old capitol city of Mdina, which is where this picture is from.

Studio 60

The following from Brett McCracken from RELEVANT Magazine about one of my favorite shows.

"Before Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip started this September, TV critics were anticipating a tour de force. This was Aaron Sorkin—post West Wing, post drug scandals—making the show he was meant to make: a self-reflexive, behind-the-scenes exposé of Hollywood and the politics at work in modern-day network television. Everyone knew the show was likely to be smart (which it is), well-written (which it is, almost to a fault) and well-cast (which it is, at least in the biggest roles). In short, people expected The West Wing on a TV show set. This is more or less what Studio 60 has turned out to be.

So why is the show earning abysmal ratings and lackluster word of mouth? The near failure of Studio 60 ("near" because NBC just announced it has ordered a full season rather than canceling) has something to do with the fact that it is tackling—in seemingly earnest ways—subjects that are by nature divisive: red vs. blue states, art vs. economics, hegemony vs. dissent, Hollywood vs. Christians. Studio 60 is less about life on the set of a live comedy show than it is about the culture wars.

From the very beginning of the show, Christians have been a core conceptual strand. The pilot began with a tirade against network censorship after, supposedly, a comedy sketch titled "Crazy Christians" was cut by NBS (aka NBC) standards and practices. Following episodes explored the war between the show's creative forces (who want to run skits that satirize Christians and red-state America) and mediating network execs (who realize the economic fallout of alienating the middle-of-the-country affiliates). Not every episode of the show is explicitly about boycott-happy Christianity, but Christianity does make its way into every episode, in the form of one of the show's main characters.

Meet Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson). She's the radiant, likable star of the trouble-making SNL-like variety show from which Studio 60 gets its name. She's intelligent, quick-witted, funny, tolerant, moderate, benevolent and a little bit feisty. Oh, and she's a devout, Bible-believing Christian.

Last week, Harriet's "aw shucks" born-againisms caused conflict in the show's arc, much like they have in most of the other episodes. You see, Harriet was quoted in some gossip column as saying that "the Bible says homosexuality is a sin …," which in Hollywood is nearly on par with Mel Gibson's loudmouth insensitivities at Moonshadows in Malibu. Of course, it turns out the quote was taken out of context, and the rest of Harriet's sentence was "… but [the Bible] also says 'Judge not lest ye be judged.'" And so Harriet is a "cool" Hollywood Christian: She thinks gays are sinners, but hey, who is she to judge?

As we all know, those sorts of platitudes can be more offensive than the ridiculously hateful quips of ignorant people like Fred Phelps. But Harriet knows no better—she's just doing what she does best: walking the line between faith and Hollywood credibility with tenuous self-deprecation and "I'm just a good little Baptist girl from the South who can act" coyness. She, like many people of faith working in the entertainment industry, is much less afraid of calling herself a Christian than of the death sentence that is aligning oneself with the political and social values of the evangelical "right."

Christian reaction to Studio 60 in general and the portrayal of Harriet Hayes in particular has been interesting to watch. Many have reacted positively that Harriet's character is (finally!) a Christian character on TV who is not constantly the butt of jokes. Of course, she is the butt of jokes (most often from Matthew Perry's character Matt Albie, her on-screen romantic interest and a vocally secular anti-Christian), but only in the wink-and-nod sense because Harriet has a sense of humor and is mature enough to make fun of herself—like everyone else on the show.

But is a Christian character who is "not constantly the butt of jokes" really a good thing? It is at least a step in the right direction. But whereas the show makes it clear that Harriet owns the label "Christian," it has yet to convince viewers that she (or Sorkin, rather) has a deep sense of just what that means.

Harriet Hayes is clearly modeled after actress Kristin Chenoweth, a Christian from Oklahoma who dated Aaron Sorkin and appeared regularly on The West Wing in its final season. It is entirely possible that Chenoweth was the only real Christian contact that Sorkin had to work with in shaping his "Christian character" on Studio 60. The problem with this is that one Christian does not a faith make, and if Sorkin really wants to deepen Harriet's character and make her more than just two-dimensionally Christian, he'll have to reach out and talk to a few more.

Whether Sorkin takes up efforts like this will likely determine the integrity of his show. As daring as Studio 60 is in its efforts to explore the mysteries of complex issues like faith and entertainment, it will not appeal to broader audiences unless it makes more of an effort to understand Christians, not just portray them. "

www.relevantmagazine.com