Help a Fellow Juggler

Steve Thompson has a question that he would like to see discussed. Please add your input if you think you can help. The only stipulation in responding is to please be Christlike towards people with different views than yourself. Here's Steve:

"Basically, I have been asked to do my 1hr Gospel Juggling Show which I perform regularly, but this is the first time I will be doing it in a Catholic setting (always performed my shows for Protestant outreaches up til now but a Catholic Church has asked me to perform a 1hr show at their Youth Festival (summer camp). I am sure that Christian performers regularly perform with many different Christian denominations and maybe they have certain things they keep in mind for what particular subjects to avoid (such as not talking about Baptisms at a non-Baptist type Church as a very loose example!) There are many subtle (and not so subtle) differences between all the Protestant denominations so if anyone also has little bits of advice for dealing with performing for each of those settings, it will be useful also. I imagine that this topic could be quite a debate if we can get other Jugglers involved in coming up with suggestions and hints/advice!" -Steve Thompson, England

CJA Newsletter #47, Spring 2009

In this newsletter (click on each link to go to that article OR just scroll down and read the articles in succession):

1. President's Message from Jesse Joyner

2. 2nd Annual Christian Jugglers' Conference - July 11-12, 2009, High Point, NC

3. An Interview with World Champion Juggler Dana Tison

President's Message

Hello all!

Exciting things are happening in the Christian Jugglers' Association as we head into this new season of Spring. As Christians, we get to celebrate Spring as the season of Lent, which is the period of days leading up to Easter. During this time, we get to reflect on the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. I wrote a Biblical study on Paul's resurrection creed in 1 Corinthians 15 on my personal blog. Check it out by clicking here and let me know what you think.

About a year ago, the active membership list of the Christian Jugglers' Association was somewhere around 60 or 70 people. Since then, we have almost doubled in size, as our current membership roster lists 139 people. While the economy is in recession, the Christian Jugglers' Association is rapidly growing! Maybe one reason is because there is no cost to join. On that note, we do have money in our organization's account, which helps to fund the hosting of our website and the few costs we have for running the Christian Jugglers' Conference each July. Keep telling your friends and family about our organization, as we are open to all skill levels (even people who do not know how to juggle, but might like to learn how). All people need to do is send in an e-mail to christianjuggling at gmail dot com (spelled out to avoid spam) and indicate that they want to join.

Finally, I want to close my remarks with an important issue for Christian jugglers that came up in my phone conversation with Dana Tison a few weeks ago:

To be both a juggler and a Christian can look a lot of different ways. Let's take something like art, for example. One artist who is a Christian can paint a wonderful city skyline or fruit still-life, while another artist who is a Christian can paint an image of the empty tomb following the resurrection of Jesus. Is one work of art more "Christian" than the other? Is one artist better at proclaiming their faith through their art than the other? No and no. Similarly, we are no more or less spiritual with our art of juggling whether we use our juggling as an allegory for Christian messages or not. As Christians who are also artists/athletes in the field of juggling, we ultimately glorify God through pursuing excellence in our craft.

Dana said that when he ministers in churches, he will perform his juggling act, and then close with an explanation of the Gospel message without juggling anything. Furthermore, Dana will perform with excellence on secular cruise ships, and then perhaps later find himself in a casual conversation with a cruise ship patron that turns spiritual. I, on the other hand, usually present the Gospel message throughout my juggling routine, using objects to represent various characters or things in Bible stories. Is either way more holy than the other? No way. Remember Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire? He would run his heart out (and glorify God by doing so) and then speak with interested people about his faith after he was done running.

I want to also add that being a Christian Juggler doesn't mean you have to have a polished juggling routine so you can either share the Gospel during or after your show. Remember, the key word here is excellence. You can be a hobbyist juggler and glorify God through doing your very best (whatever level that is) at the art of juggling. People notice excellence, but God is ultimately your only audience. It is every Christian's call to share the news about Jesus Christ, through both word and deed (which is the Great Commission - Matthew 28:18-20). But Jesus also spelled out the most important commandments, which are (1) love God with our whole beings and (2) love others selflessly.

This coming Lent season, think of ways that you can (1) glorify and love God through simply learning a new juggling trick or practicing something challenging (He sees your effort) and (2) help someone else with the selfless love of Christ (such as patiently teaching someone else how to juggle or making a someone sick in bed smile because you juggled 3 balls for them).

-Jesse Joyner
President, Christian Jugglers' Association
Lent 2009

2nd Annual Christian Jugglers' Conference - July 11-12, 2009, High Point, NC

Mark your calendars! Sign up TODAY!

The time is coming for the 2nd annual Christian Jugglers' Conference on July 11th-12th, 2009 in High Point, North Carolina. This conference is FREE (voluntary donations will be accepted) and we will be meeting on the weekend before the International Jugglers' Festival just 20 miles down the road in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. So you can attend both conventions back-to-back if you wish.

We had a great time last year with the first annual conference. To watch a video of last year's conference, click here. The format will be similar, where we will have workshops, open gym time, a business meeting, special presentations, and a closing show for the weekend. Community Bible Church in High Point, NC has graciously allowed us to use their gym and facilities in exchange for us providing a Christian Juggling show for their community on the second night of the conference. Anyone who attends the conference can participate in the show, and all you have to do is show up that weekend and indicate that you would like to be a part of the show. Then we will place you in the repertoire accordingly.

For planning purposes, all we ask is that you RSVP if you are coming to the conference. You can do that by sending an e-mail by clicking here and indicating that you will attend the CJA conference in July.

For a weekend schedule and a more full list of details, visit http://www.christianjuggling.com/2009_CJA_Conference.html

Food and lodging will not be provided. But remember, the conference is FREE! For the best lodging, I would suggest searching on google and looking for your preferred accommodations for either the High Point, NC area or (for people staying on for the IJA Festival) the Winston-Salem, NC area (or somewhere in between).