LukeDooley.com

Last night Jenessa and I watched the documentary Food Inc. via our newly available Amazon Prime unlimited streaming account. (Off Topic: For what it’s worth, it was a great viewing experience in terms of ease of use, quality, etc… Just hope they ramp up the content soon!) I know, we’re a year or so behind the curve on the hype of the movie. In a way, I’m happy that we didn’t watch it amid all of the promotion and controversy… it made the viewing experience and our response less emotionally charged.

A few things about the film. First off, it was a wonderfully made documentary. It’s no wonder that it was an Academy Award nominee. It was everything you’d hope a documentary to be: informative, engaging, and inspiring of change.

If you’re not familiar, the movie essentially tells the story of how America has become slave to the fast/junk food industry. The movie peels back the layers of an onion showing how nearly every american family is negatively affected by a food production and marketing system that is controlled in every way imaginable by a few key multi-billion dollar corporations. It was simultaneously stunning to see the connections, and discouraging to see just how manipulated the system is.

The difficult part to manage is the reality that it is decidedly more expensive to avoid participating in “the system”. Whether that means eating organic, shopping locally, or avoiding cheap calories. It is seemingly easier and cheaper* to grab a double cheeseburger at McDonalds than to whip up a whole food alternative. *(The idea of “hidden cost” explored in the film would argue otherwise. Here is a great article discussing this issue in brief form.)

After finishing the movie and before going to bed, I convinced myself that my eating habits would change. Then I woke up, accomplished a few tasks, and enjoyed a ridiculously unhealthy nacho dish at a local burrito joint that was likely loaded with ingredients I was unaware of, and were referenced in the documentary. Ashamed of my behavior, I come to confess to my blog readers and ask for you thoughts.

So I pose a few questions:

• Why is it so difficult to change out eating habits? I suppose it’s really no different than other habits we wish to change/add/subtract, but it would seem that our eating has a special hold on us due to the natural and unnatural “drugs” involved. Namely, the big 3: sugar, salt, & fat.
• Have you seen the movie Food Inc?
• If so, has it changed your eating habits? Your grocery buying habits?
• Finally, for you parents out there: Do your kids regularly eat fast/junk food? If so, viewing this film may curb some of those dining habits. The statistics about teenage obesity and type 2 diabetes are beyond alarming.

So, what are your thoughts? Are you the type to just chalk it up to “liberal agenda” that should be ignored, or are these real issues affecting countless generations? Please share…

The word adventure has been on my mind a lot for the past 2-3 months. Not just on my mind… but in my soul. I can feel myself longing for adventure in a way that I never have before. Am currently reading a wonderful book by Donald Miller that is feeding this fire. In the book he waxes poetically about taking in the world around you. This year, I hope to widen my horizon and take in much more of the world around me.

The beauty of thinking about past and future adventures is the realization that most often don’t unfold alone. Adventure happens in community. My adventures have and will happen with my wonderful wife, and the wonderful group of friends who surround me and serve as co-adventurers.

In this vein, I stumbled upon this photo essay (here for slide show. here for list.) that I linked to off of the Cincinnati Enquirer’s website. It’s a collection of 101 things to try in 2011 in the Greater Cincinnati area. I thought it would be a fun blog and/or Facebook exercise for everyone to share the list of the things they’ve done, and the things they’d like to do in 2011. After all, if you can’t adventure in your own backyard, how will you do so in any other context?

Here’s both of my lists and a quick nod to the friends whom accompanied me on the journey.

The things I’ve always wanted to do, and hope to make happen in 2011.

If you follow me on Twitter, you have been inundated with tweets marked with a hashtag that reads: #story10. Some of you may be wondering: 1.) When will he stop doing that. and 2.) What does it mean? Allow me to explain.

I am in Chicago Wednesday – Friday of this week to participate in a really cool event simply known as STORY. I am actually leading a team of 11 volunteers that are handling the outdoor logistics (parking, greeting, etc…) of the 2010 edition of STORY.

Several have asked something like: “What is this STORY thing all about.” To answer that, I’m going to transpose some words written by my friend and STORY founder Ben Arment. These are the first words in the STORY conference book:

As a member of the creative class in ministry, you have the challenge of telling others about an invisible kingdom, an unseen God and a hidden underworld. This is no small feat – communicating the unseen. The greatest story ever told can be the hardest to tell. But when you consider the possibilities, they’re limitless. This is why STORY exists… to provide fuel for the creative class. STORY is not about fomulaic creativity. There are no blanks to fill-in, no how-to instructions, and no stock videos to download. Our goal is to inspire and equip you with the highest level of creative possibilities.

Now my words: STORY is unlike any other “church conference” in the country. It’s simultaneously incredibly creative and highly personal. Each attendee is treated like an honorable guest from arrival to exit. The communicators are not pastors from big churches. They are filmmakers and authors and brilliant minds from the “secular” marketplace. STORY pushes the limit of heart, mind, and soul through stunning technological visuals, powerful moments of worship, and challenge talks.

To find out more about STORY and to see one of the coolest websites you’ll ever run across, go here: www.storychicago.com

To follow the event on Twitter, follow the #story10 hashtag.

To watch exclusive backstage content as it unfolds, visit here: www.storyunfolding.com

These things are connected: A conference, a magazine, a flight, and dogsitting.

This Fall I attended (actually served at) a brand new conference/event called STORY. I volunteered for 2 reasons: 1.) Then digital (now real life) friend of mine named Ben Arment was the founder and architect of the event. 2.) There is something about the word ‘story’, and the concept of stories that stirs something deep within my soul. I knew I needed to be at this event.

At the conference everyone received a bag with all kinds of promo, conference info, and a free issue of a magazine called Collide. This particular issue of collide had the word ‘STORY’ written on the front in a very cool font (liken it to dangling a shiny object in front of me). I liked it, but apparently not enough to read it.

I’m typing this blog on a plane via the WordPress app on my iPhone (I love technology). Up until now, my iPhone and all of its marevelous apps has merely served as means of providing a soundtrack (John Mayer, Switchfoot, Johsua Radin). This is primarily because I have been reading the afformentioned magazine. Turns out this issue contained all sorts of articles that captured my attention, and directly addressed a topic that I’ve found myself engrossed in lately: The idea of leveraging our lives to tell a story, and our participation in a Grand Story.

I think that it is no coincidence that I have chosen to read this 6 month old magazine while on a plane travelling to Florida where I’m spending the next 7 days primarily alone, at my friends house in Bradenton caring for his dogs while he is out of town. I have a full plate of work planned for these 7 days, but I’ve made the commitment to myself, to others, and to God that a primary purpose of this trip will be focused dreaming, thinking, and listening.

I’m listening to, observing, and participating in The Story. I’m confident the next 7 days will be providential for my life, ministry, and future.

Yep… I bought some new shoes. Ten pairs of shoes actually. I have no idea what they look like. I doubt they’d actually fit my feet. But that’s all okay… they aren’t for me. They are for a child somewhere that I will never meet. I bought 10 pairs of shoes for $25… quite a bargain if you ask me.

You too can buy some shoes. Here’s what you do. Just go over to the website for Souls4Soles and buy some shoes. It’s super easy to do, and instantly makes you a part of something bigger. If 720 more pairs of shoes are donated before December 14th, a donor will kick in an additional 500 shoes. Not to mention you can win all kinds of cool stuff like: an Amy Grant signed guitar (yea, not that cool, but come on…), a trip to Mexico (very cool), a keychain (spend $10), or some soothing foot cream (spend $25).

Go buy shoes! Oh, and if you need some motivation… watch this video… it’s the most motivational video ever created!

I gave birth to a sermon this past Sunday morning. I realize if there are any ladies that read my blog, you may be offended, and tempted to write me flaming comments about how I “Don’t even begin to understand…” and you’re right, I don’t. It’s probably a bad analogy, but the only one I can think of.

The short story is that God has been doing some remodeling of my heart the past few months. It’s pretty easy to trace the starting point back to my trip to Guatemala with Journey Church in August. That was the beginning. Another key landmark on this journey has been the reading of Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love. It rattled me to my core… I still haven’t dealt with all of the ramifications from this book. More recently, I came across the Advent Conspiracy video which I’ve posted on this blog twice in the past couple of weeks. I was inspired by the words, imagery, and music. I was shaken by the keynote statistic that Americans spend $450 Billion Dollars on Christmas each year, and it would only take $10 Billion Dollars to provide clean drinking water to all of earth inhabitants. The lack of clean drinking water is the #1 killer of human life in our world today. I actually planned to use this statistic as one of the primary illustrations of my talk on Sunday, and completely forgot about it. When I realized that Monday afternoon, I wished I had a time machine so I could go back and share it.

So basically, God has been working on me in this area of poverty, wealth, America vs. the world, rich & poor, and my place in all of that. This past Sunday I had the opportunity to give birth to some of what I’m wrestling with, and what God is teaching me. If you were not

 at Journey Church on Sunday, I encourage you to listen to this talk. Not because it’s me, but because the Message God is sharing with me, and wants to share with you is so important. It could change everything…

Click here to visit the CincyJourney media page and listen to the talk. You’ll find it as the uppermost link in the list of talks. You can also search for “Journey Church West Chester” in iTunes and subscribe to our podcast.