>>juxtapositions<<

Movies I saw in 2011

2011-12-28T11:14:00.007-05:00

So 2011 ended up being a great year for me getting to see a lot more films, and many of them classics. I finally took the plunge and signed up for Netflix - a week after the price hike....yeah, great timing I know but I had been meaning to do it so I just did it and opted out of streaming. I also found myself wanting to consume more films because I was reading more about them in my subscription to Entertainment Weekly. But I saw a whole range of films this year. Here's a snapshot of some of them and my thoughts/reactions to them.

The Tree of Life. I wanted to see this due to a couple of friends' recommendations. It was beautiful imagery, shot uniquely but naturally, and the story was told and movie edited in a way that is similar to how we think on our lives, jumping from memory to memory. This film made me think more than any other film this year.

Among the classics I saw was Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I have to admit I always thought this was the third movie in a trilogy until I rented it this year. A great Spielberg film and cool to see what he did early in his career with aliens and family and spaceships - also cool to see/hear one of his first collaborations with Williams - the score was spot on and stuck with me for weeks.

Super 8 - The best film I saw this year, and it was the reason I rented Close Encounters. There were so many "quotes" from Speilbergs' E.T. and Goonies, I had to see Close Encounters to see what influence it had on Abrams' making of Super 8. It was well acted and had cool effects, but it was the characters and the kids and the story that drove it. That's why I love everything those guys create, because they- unlike Michael Bay and others - get that effects serve the story, not vice versa. Nostalgia I suspect too played a big part in why I loved this film so much, too. I most likely watched E.T. several dozen times growing up...

Assassination of Jesse James Probably the best-acted film I saw this year, and not really Brad Pitt. He is great, but it's Casey Affleck's performance that is the stand out. And the heavy themes of jealousy and unhealthy obsession/worship of a person were portrayed humanly and in a way that was easy to relate to.

We watched a lot of movies over the Christmas holiday, too. Two holiday classics with singing and dancing and stuff Rach and I love - Holiday Inn and Christmas in Connecticut. I recommend both, but probably not until the season comes again. We also watched Midnight in Paris, which was a superb Woody Allen film about the nature of nostalgia and idealizing people and times of the past. You also get to see literary greats like Hemingway, Fitzgerald and others interacting and living life which is a real treat.

I gave Rachel The Help for Christmas although neither of us had seen it. I had heard enough about it to know I would most likely like it. I did, but was a little disappointed. It seemed a little forced and contrived at times, I didn't think the acting of Bryce Dallas Howard was very believable, and many of the characters were 1 dimensional. I may need to read the book, though. I hear it's better and the characters are more fleshed out:)

What movies did you see last year? Any I should add to my Netflix que? Let me know!

The places I've been - 2011

2011-12-28T11:13:00.001-05:00

Here at the end of the year, I tend to get in a reflective mood, thinking over the year that was and the year to come. Lately I've been thinking about all the amazing places I got to go over this past year to 14 months. Starting with last November here are the trips and what we (or I) got to do and see on each of them:

Philadelphia, PA -- We visited here at the beginning of last November with Rachel's company. They had a conference and so I tagged along while she worked most of the time. We got to visit all of the historic sites in the city, including Independence Hall and that whole historic square. We also had a dinner in Constitution Hall, complete with amazing lighting and a real American Revolution-era drumming band - the whole occasion was very cool. We also saw the house where Susan B Anthony lived and the place where TJ wrote the Declaration (the original house burned). Also Benjamin Franklin's stomping grounds and printing press. We also ran up the Rocky Steps and went to a college performance of Rent. Oh, and did I mention we stayed at the Ritz Carlton at a reduced rate? It was quite a trip! I thoroughly enjoyed soaking in all of the history and learning more of Rachel's job. We also had a dinner in the Eagles' locker room at Lincoln Financial Stadium and had one of the conference sessions in Christ Church where Washington and Franklin worshipped. That was quite a treat!

Highlands, NC - Later that month we redeemed a wedding present and stayed one night at Old Edward's Inn in this quaint mountain town. I had visited there with my family, but it was very enjoyable to visit with my wife. The inn is rich with history and quite luxurious. We enjoyed the atmosphere of the hotel which was already decorated for the holidays and relished hob-nobbing with the elite in the great room with drinks and a live piano player one evening. We also hiked in the area, window-shopped and after checking out hung around in the great room and read for the afternoon.

Copper Mountain, CO - Early last February some good friends of mine took a guy's trip to go skiing out west. I especially savored it because I hadn't been skiing in 7 years, and I knew it wasn't something I could afford to do again real soon; but with a free place to stay in a friends' family's condo, I couldn't pass it up. It was an excellent 2-3 days of skiing and an even better time with some of my best friends. I owe my wife big time for this trip! She had her college roommates over to our house that weekend, so it was a good time of fellowship with her best friends as well.

Asheville, NC - A few days after returning from skiing, Rachel and I packed up our car and drove a couple of hours for our anniversary weekend in a very romantic locale. We stayed in Applewood Manor, a Bed & Breakfast in a historic home on the outskirts of town. It was perfect place to celebrate our wonderful first year. The weather was great, clear and just slightly cool, so we spent a lot of time outside, walking through downtown visiting the galleries and eating at Honeysuckle Cafe. Didn't get to see the famous drum circle - we were there the wrong time of year - but we did do the Biltmore home tour and did a wine tasting at the winery there - quite busy as it was Valentine's weekend. All in all a perfect weekend to reflect on our first year, and dream about the second.

One reflection Rach and I had on our anniversary trip was that due to all of our travel, community as newlyweds was not really happening. If we're not in town, it's hard to invest and develop friendships. So from late February to June aside from a couple of work trips for Rachel and a retreat we sang at with our church friends, we really didn't go anywhere. Until June...

Chicago/Bloomington/Peoria/Springfield, IL - The first weekend in June we flew up to Illinois to attend a wedding of one of Rachel's friends. I thoroughly enjoyed this trip. I had never been to Illinois and loved driving through and seeing all of the corn fields and flat area. We flew into Bloomington/Normal which is a market I buy print, radio and tv ads in for work so it was cool to see the lay of the land there. Rachel had wedding activities most of the weekend, so I drove around discovering historic sites. On Friday when we flew in, I drove down to Springfield and visited the new Lincoln museum, just finished for his 200th birthday. The museum was amazing, very interactive with a replica of his boyhood log cabin, a couple of shows and a cool exhibit on his Presidency. I also took time to visit his grave, his home in Springfield, and his old law office. The wedding was actually in Peoria and it was neat to visit there as well as Lincoln gave a speech there and there's a statue to mark that. It's a small town and I explored it all in a couple of hours with my friends the Dunbars who were also in town for the wedding. After the wedding, Rachel and I went up and visited Chicago and her aunt and uncle that live in the suburbs there. We actually didn't explore the town a whole lot as we were there for less than a day total, but visited the art museum and a couple of the parks downtown, and also did an architectural walking tour getting to see highlights of some of the famous buildings there.

Charleston, SC - Spent 4th of July weekend there and spent most of the time visiting a good childhood friend of mine who is in residency there at the hospital. Enjoyed eating and seeing some historic sites downtown, as well as touring Fort Sumter during this 150th anniversary year, but the highlight was the relational time with Travis and his friends. Also got to see my cousin and her gorgeous new home there. Beach time was not great unfortunately because it was very windy and cool; but we did visit Folly Beach on the 4th before driving back - talk about rednecks! It was an experience, and I've never seen quite that many people on one beach. We did see some military planes fly over to celebrate the holiday, which was a first.

Seagrove, FL - I like to travel you may be able to tell by now -- I like to mix up the mundane this way -- and part of that is how I was raised. We were always going or planning a trip if we weren't. For my wife though her upbringing was different. So this has definitely been an adjustment for her, and believe it or not we've traveled less than I would have preferred :). But anyway, we did want one more beach trip this year and settled on this locale as she vacationed there with her family growing up. It was a perfect trip after the busy season in late August - reading, relaxing, movie watching, plenty of beach time, and eating. Plus one of my work clients is in Destin, so I got to see them and learn the market a bit. Biking through Seaside where The Truman Show was filmed was also a plus.

Minneapolis, MN - Another guys weekend over Labor Day with many of the same guys that were on the CO trip. One of the guys got a job up there, so we went to visit and hung at his family's lakehouse for the weekend. The trip can be summed up with one word: Cornhole (or Baaags as they call it up there). We played probably 30 total hours of the game over the 4 days, but it was again great bonding time with my friends. In my bible reading that weekend I read Psalm 133 and it summed up my feelings towards the time very well.

Chattanooga, TN - In late October we visited one of Rachel's college friends and also attended a NeedtoBreathe concert at a cool new venue there. Fun fellowship weekend again and enjoyed seeing the couples' house they purchased recently.

There are other places we've been this year, Birmingham for my sister's wedding, a few weekend trips to my parents, Cleveland, GA a couple of times, a couple of trips to N GA for hiking and wine-tasting. I guess we haven't really changed our ways and stayed in town to develop friendships, have we? Maybe in 2012 - but we have plans already for next year - maybe Europe? and we'll do another anniversary trip, this time to a North Ga resort. But another perk of all these travels besides the awesome memories and relational times, is I've been able to see many of the markets I buy ads in for work. I didn't realize that this media buying job would require so much geography, but it really does as each market a client is in we need to know it and driving distances and populations and demographics. I really enjoy that aspect of it - and it's another excuse to travel next year - as if I needed one!

Year of reading, turns out....

2011-12-15T13:00:00.000-05:00

Although I originally expected this year to be the year of writing, it has ended up being the year of reading. Despite having less time during the day with this new job, I somehow have found more time to read than I ever have. I am enjoying it so much -- funny how you find time to do the things you enjoy. I usually do it during lunch...and it's amazing when that's your only break during the day, it does seem so long! That's my experience anyway. But I wanted to summarize what I've read so far this year, mainly to collect my thoughts and see what I've learned...but also to impress you with all my learning!

Finished: Lincoln - Biography of a Writer by Fred Kaplan. I started this last fall and thoroughly enjoyed it. Was a different vantage point to see Abe through what he wrote, from poems and stories in his youth, to letters during his courtships, and of course his speeches. Makes sense though as there is perhaps no other American who is as famous for their words.

Finished: Picture Windows -- How the Suburbs Happened by Rosalyn Baxandall and Elizabeth Ewen. Again this is a book I started in the summer of 2010, but I read slowly as I was reading other books, too. Plus it read slower as it was full of data, research and history from the 1920s through modern day. It is actually a book I bought for an American History class I took in college but did not read it then:). But with my recent interest in suburbia and consumer culture, it fit right in line with my research.

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson: First book I started and finished this year and only novel I read (so far). Great story about a relationship between a father and son and striving for reconciliation. It's written as a journal from father to his young son. Also had some of the most beautiful prose I've read since Peace Like a River by Leif Enger a few years back. Happens to be one of Obama's favorite books.

Radical by David Platt. I heard about this book from friends and the idea intrigued me because the tagline "Taking your life back from the American Dream" is in line with my recent thoughts on the fallacies in our aspirations as Americans. It was a quick read but Platt is often harsh and abrupt with his reader...but he has to be. As Christians in our comfy culture we need to be jarred out of self-focused thinking with stats like 26 thousand children die every day from lack of access to clean water. My friend started a non-profit as a result of reading it. Most influential book in my world this year by far. In fact it inspired the choice of the next book(s) I read.

The Bible (24 or so books so far). After reading Radical I was challenged to read the Bible through as I've mentioned on here before. Never done it before (that's one of Platt's points..we claim to live by the book, but most of us haven't read it all!) and it's been great to soak in the story. Theme I'm noticing is that the whole story of the Bible is really a story of God's people CONTINUALLY worshiping others beside the ONE true God and Him loving them back to Himself. Also God's judgment and punishment towards disobedience and idol worship is undeniable...only makes sense when understood in context of His jealous and passionate pursuit of His people. Enjoying it especially because of The Daily Bible I've been using with manageable readings in chronological order. It does limit time I'm able to spend on other books, but I figured time in the Good Book is time well spent, right!?!

The Silence of Adam - by Larry Crabb. Got this one for Easter and offered great insight into our post-fall thinking as men. We opt to not speak rather than enter in to hard conversations. Silence is easy; speaking is godly.

Also read Good to Great by Jim Collins in the spring. It's been on my list since I heard him speak at my wife's company's event spring of 2010. It's a great business book with insight into what makes CEOs and companies extraordinarily successful. And the findings are often surprising and even biblical.

Technopoly by Neil Postman. Since reading Amusing Ourselves to Death last summer I've decided I'm going to read something by Postman every year. I just *love so much how he thinks, how he writes, and what he writes about. This book is about how our culture has developed a worship of technology to a point where it dictates all realms of our world at a great cost seemingly unbeknownst to us. He covers the whole gamut of technology from language and numbers & statistics to the printing press and modern-day management methods. Written in 1990 before the dawn (really) of the internet, I found his insight prophetic and applicable to our modern day of gadgets and social media. I savored this book and read it slowly. I did not want it to end.

On Paradise Drive by David Brooks. Just finished this one and really enjoyed it as well. Part cultural criticism, part celebration, Brooks looks at the American mindset past and present and reveals how the whole idea of our country is set around the possibility and imagining of a better future. The downfall is you miss out on the present in your longing for the future, (and Brooks is more forgiving on that front that I am); but I savored this book as well especially it's historic scope with quotes from the likes of deToqueville, Whitman and Emerson.

That brings me to today. I just started Quitter by Jon Acuff about closing the gap between your day job and dream job. I enjoy how he writes, having followed his blog some. I think I may read a novel too around the holidays, most likely Till We Have Faces as it got the most recommendations when I asked for some on Facebook.

I have enjoyed all these books and hope you have enjoyed my "book report" of sorts. I am aware that most likely there will be no other time in my life where I'll have so much time for it. And although I opted for more reading than writing this year, several of these books fall into categories that are relevant research for my own book. Now I need to use my lunch breaks for writing instead in 2012
and focus on how this knowledge is helping me love others. But it does satisfy me to think and develop these ideas. Thanks for reading!

Consuming vs. Creating

2011-11-10T08:36:00.007-05:00

Every day we have an opportunity to consume or to create.

Consuming promises to satisfy the desire that only living out our original design as mini-creators can really do. Will we use our faculties to create something new? or just ingest someone else's ingenuity? One requires action & intention that pays off - the other passivity that only leads to more laziness and malaise.

These thoughts have been rumbling around in my old noggin' for the last year or so.

It really is quite amazing what little we can be satisfied with...I'll spend hours reading magazines & status updates, watching mediocre shows or movies chock full of stuff I don't even like, just undiscerningly eating whatever's placed before me; and then mere minutes on writing or creating something new and I like to think that's a passion of mine. Are we just that prone to walk the easiest path?

Our culture certainly doesn't help me cultivate my creativity -- we are wired to want and the catalogs and ads and signage all feed on that. American ad world (of which-full disclosure- I am guilty in my profession of advancing) is structured around all of us believing that our core identity is consumer. Life plus product or service being sold is better. That's what I have to believe, but it's never couched that way...it's couched as the 'good life' will be realized through buying the product-nay, the dream being sold. The reality is that even if we are consuming, we DO end up creating in our minds as we imagine a world that is perfect here.

I was thinking more on this the other day because of the book I've been reading lately On Paradise Drive by David Brooks. I'm continuing with my American cultural criticism "pseudo class" of sorts. In it Brooks discusses what makes Americans and their spirit unique, from life in the suburbs, to higher learning, spirituality and our shopping sprees - and through it all he discovers our uniqueness lies in our striving, our desiring to move forward and improve. There's something engrained in our spirit, our American psyche that says "Life can be better, we can improve" and that drives us...but we rarely notice that it robs us of contentment in the present. We don't think about how life is only lived in the now, not tomorrow.

This passage was especially enlightening - He's speaking on what happens as we do something as simple as read a magazine:

"What people are doing as they page through these magazines is this: They are enjoying the longing. They are constructing fantasies of what their lives might be like, using the goods and images they see in these magazines. They are not there yet, and in truth they may never get there, but they get pleasure from bathing in the possibility of what might be, of sloshing about in the golden waters of some future happiness. They achieve a transubstantiation of goods, using products and gear to create a magical realm in which all is harmony, happiness, and contentment, in which they can finally relax, in which their best and most admirable self will emerge at last."

Because we have eternity in our hearts, our coveting is limitless, and our imaginations only help further this. The key is realizing how overactive your imagination is and to try and reign in the longing and desires before they develop....but our world plays on that, and our hearts are so deceitful.

Beauty in Dying

2011-10-17T07:57:00.004-04:00

A thought struck me today...I've been eager to go hiking to see the beauty of the leaves -- the vibrant colors that this season brings, especially in the North Georgia Mountains. We ended up at Stone Mountain instead yesterday afternoon and saw some colors. But I was thinking more about what we're enjoying and the reason we even see those beautiful colors -- because the leaves are dying. I don't know the science behind it (I feel like I once learned in elementary school science why the greens turn to orange, brown and yellow), but I do know that something's dying to display that beauty.

What an unusual thing to savor; and it's such a contrast to what we celebrate in spring, new life and birth. But it displays the creativity of God that both display such color and beautiful scenes in nature. Perhaps it's because he sees equal beauty in both life and death. We certainly know the beauty of the cross and His son's perfect sacrifice, that although horrific in display was beautiful in the purposes it accomplished. And as I think on the cross, I wonder, Is my dying beautiful? As His son's follower, I'm called to take up my own cross, and die daily. Am I doing that, dying to me so that His colors can seep through, or is my pride still on display? May I die to me, and be raised to life again in him, and may my dying be beautiful.

"I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." - Jesus

Why I play tennis

2011-09-25T22:14:00.005-04:00

Reasons in no particular order:

1) It's a game I can play my whole life: As exemplified by the septuagenarians who have beaten me as of late. Seriously. If you have a great serve and are good at the net, you will continue to beat young, cocky whipper-snappers well into your golden years. Well, at least in doubles. And you must keep healthy knees, too.

2) It's great exercise. Speaking of getting older, not having daily pick-up games of ultimate like in college, or what's more, being at a job where I'm always sedentary, the struggle becomes finding time to sweat where I'm not thinking about the sweating. Scurrying around the court chasing down those hard to get shots has proven an excellent way to get the blood pumping.

3) Losing is humbling, and I need plenty of that. I got back into tennis back in March after having played it back in high school for a bit and taking lessons growing up. I had played some off and on while in Atlanta just with friends, but it was tough to get regular practice or any experience playing games without joining a league. So I did. But I evaluated myself a bit* too high (plus, I was limited on options of teams to join since my neighborhood does not have courts), and the team I joined was a few notches above my level of play. Ok - a LOT of notches. So I played the weakest line when* I could get on the lineup, and lost - a lot. Between the ALTA team, and the USTA I believe I played a total of 9 matches, and didn't so much as win even a set! Actually, I did win one match in straight sets, but later our win was reversed because my partner got disqualified for rating himself at too low a level. So that was a Loss, too. 9 straight losses does a number to your pride; but when in this life we are striving for less of us and more of Him in our hearts, any means necessary to humble us, even tennis, is welcome.

4) It's an awesome way to enjoy this weather. We've been having pretty spectacular weather in the ATL these last few weeks, so for practice during the week and matches on Saturdays, it's pretty awesome to have an excuse to get out in it. It may have been the weather, but I finally got my first win this past Saturday!

5) It's so good for me mentally. This time around more than ever, I'm realizing tennis is such a mental game. It's definitely physical, but the mental game is a huge part of it, especially "self-talk." If you double fault, you have to fight the thoughts of "You can't serve...you're going to double fault this whole game." Even if you're doing well, you have to mentally keep looking to the next point. Getting back into it, I think that actually surprised me and was the reason I lost so many matches -- I would get ahead 4-2 or 4-3 and think "I've got this" and then wouldn't win another game. You have to get to 6 to win the set, but there were so many times that I act like 4 was enough and I could just cruise from that point on. But you have to play every point. There are lots of lessons that translate into my Christian walk...forget what's behind and strive to what's ahead, take captive every thought, set your mind on things above, etc. etc. because the reality is the Christian life is a mental game. I'm enjoying the practice I'm getting on the court and striving to apply these mental tactics in my life.

September 11th - thoughts a decade later

2011-09-20T21:51:00.009-04:00

...and 10 days later. Better late than never, right? But something I've been meaning to write about the last few weeks is my reflections on this life-changing day. Actually I've been thinking a lot about the last decade; haven't really thought in terms of decades before in my life, but as I'm in my 30th year, and the last decade has flown by so and that's the first time I've experienced that in my life, I'm thinking in these terms now.

A lot has happened since that day...I graduated college, moved to Atlanta, got a job, and another one, and another one. I joined a church, made incredible friends, traveled to China, and London, and Guatemala. I met Rachel, got married to her, journeyed to Mexico for the honeymoon and several other fun weekend trips in the Southeast, too. I was in a band. I portrayed onstage a young Grecian, a Shakespearean king, and a time-traveling scientist. I was addicted to Lost. I've acquired a taste for Thai food, and hummus, and beer. I lost both of my grandmothers, have lived with 14 different roommates and now have a permanent one! I've learned to sell, to buy, and how to keep it all organized in a spreadsheet. I've applied for screenwriting school, gotten rejected twice, and participated in a workshop instead. I now have in-laws.

Hard to summarize a decade of life in one paragraph. Through all of this I know I most certainly have been changed. But as I think on all that's transpired, I wonder: How did I live my last decade differently because of what happened on that day?
What else can I still learn from that day? Or have I forgotten it all?

Right after that day, I remember being in shock; that this had even happened and to America. It was so incredibly awful. I was grappling at the time with the sovereignty of God having first been introduced to some not-so-Baptist concepts my freshman year; so this event, along with the passing of my grandmother just a few days before really had me questioning and wrestling...if God was sovereign, then why did he allow all this? After a semester or two of questions, I came to some precious lessons, that He always wants to make us aware of our dependence on Him, to experience that He's dependable, and this all comes out of His love.

But did I just take those lessons and forget them and go back to life for me? Yes, daily. It's still a struggle for my heart to believe the truth and not use tragedy as an excuse for self-pity. But each year, as this anniversary comes around, I'm reminded again of those lessons and ultimately our need of Him.

This year was somewhat different as it was the 10th anniversary. I watched some specials, listened to those phone call tapes on NY Times' website,, watched some of the original news coverage on youtube. But the most moving thing I did on that day this year was go to church. We had a guest speaker that day, Bryan Chappell, and he spoke on Romans 5 and the purpose of suffering. Of course he wove in references to this historic event on that day and how those family members who suffered who know God can have hope because they peace and access and the love of God in their hearts. But something he didn't say actually stuck with me even more. He emphasized in the gospel the significance of Jesus dying for and rescuing us when we were sinners, still his enemies, adamantly against God. I've heard this many times before, but hearing this on 9/11 the Spirit took my heart further....The equivalent of Jesus rescuing us his enemies would be like us being those hijackers that day, converting those jets into destructive missiles and crashing them into God's city...yet he sought us out and rescued us, and died for us when we were still hellbent on killing him and his people. This gospel thought shook me and shaped the rest of my day. Hopefully it's a truth and lesson I won't soon forget. When we were still hijackers, Christ loved us and died for us.

I can't move my phantom arm.

2011-09-20T21:35:00.002-04:00

This is a phrase I heard on the radio the other night. I only got a bit of the context, something about a former soldier who lost his arm in war, but then had a dream/believed that his arm was paralyzed and still there. But the phrase got me thinking....what "parts" of me do I still think are parts of me and to what degree does that illusion that they are a part of me control me? Parts like fear, and the flesh, which is still a part of me...but I reckon it too large along with shame and self. Still there, but overcome-able.

You can't move your phantom arm; only He can.

And it's not there. But it is, but it might as well not be compared to the Reality and realness of the truth and spirit you now have within.

That was fun, wasn't it? Thanks for indulging me....

Reading Through.

2011-07-22T08:18:00.005-04:00

I'm currently reading through the Bible after reading a book earlier this year that challenged me to do so. I've never done it and I'm really enjoying it thus far. I got a Bible called "The Daily Bible" and it's set up chronologically for the most part. So the editor sliced and diced the books up a bit, ie. "The Law" portion of the Torah was taken out of the story parts, categorized and put in later. So I read parts of Deuteronomy and Leviticus and Exodus all right next to each other (I've got to be honest "The Law" was hard to get through....). But I started on May 1 as my Jan 1, so I'm currently in mid March (I wanted to start at the beginning!).

I've found this to be a refreshing and new experience of the Word. It reads a lot faster now..and reads more like it was originally intended..as a book, a story. Chapter numbers and verses are taken out, so I'm not trying to get to end of the chapter which makes a big difference. Just finish that days' reading (usually 5 pgs or so) and the story flows and develops naturally, referencing earlier parts of the journey. Plus there are aside paragraphs which the editor included between key chapters to connect the story and which give a summary of what you're about to read. I like it. You should try it.

I just finished Joshua, and have noticed quite a few things. God's people like to pile up mounds of stones...often writing on them either their names or portions of The Law. That's how they commemorate God's work in their lives. Best I remember, they did that at least 3 times in the book. Brought to mind this wedding we sang at earlier this year...the couple had everyone who attended the wedding write their own name on a stone and put it in this vase at the end of the ceremony. Kinda weird at the time, but makes more sense now.

I've also noticed that the people of God like to sing (this isn't particular to the book of Joshua). They frequently write songs to signify the importance of an event, to celebrate together, or to sum up their own history. Remembering where they came from and what He has done is important...it is for us too... and whether the means is singing a song or piling up rocks, that's the end.

I just started Judges and the fighting will be brutal in this portion...a fat guy has already been stabbed through with his fat sucking the dagger in, and a woman hammered a spike through a guy's temple, and i'm only a few days in!

"We become tools of our tools"

2011-06-22T08:00:00.004-04:00

Each new tool that is introduced into our world really does change us because as I said in the post before, they bring in a worldview, intentionally or unintentionally. Another quote from this book was from Thoreau: "We become tools of our tools" meaning that instead of us using the technology, in a sense the technology starts using us, and making huge demands on our time and our souls. And the scary thing is we often don't realize it. We just focus on the benefits, not on the debits and how these tools have had a detrimental effect on our human existence. Reading this book's got me thinking about this more, and here is what I think many of the detrimental affects have been on our human condition, specifically as it regards to communication:

Telephone: Made disruptive communication normative..with my new job I now know what's it's like for your day to be disrupted by a pushy, unwelcome sales person on the other end. We don't/didn't interrupt before as much in communication, but now it's acceptable and when the phone rings, I feel compelled to answer and give whoever is on the other end my time whether they are worthy or not.

Email: I believe email has taken disruptive communication to an unhealthy extreme. Because it pops into my inbox, and is there at the top, I'm compelled to stop what I'm doing and read, irrespective of worthiness...it can be a huge time suck and difficult to manage. Plus it's extremely difficult to communicate fully and clearly through this medium, most significantly because you can't be sure if your message is even received and understood.
Cell Phones - Disruptive too, but I think what they've taken from us is independence. We're never alone now and can always be reached or "connect" easily with those in our world via the touch of a few buttons.

In short, I think phones and email have been detrimenial to our souls because they have limited the actual connection and interaction of communication, specifically as it occurs face-to-face, and replaced it with a superficial even artificial connection. It's not just that communication changes in these mediums, but we change and our relationships change (weaken) as we communicate through these mediums instead of in person.

DVR: Just on TV, but it's given us the illusion that we can now pause and resume life when we want, when we have time to deal with it. I've found that I try to do that sometimes, whether with putting off something at work, or "pausing" a conversation with my wife (sorry babe..blame it on the DVR!)

Facebook: no true communication occurs there, we can catch up without catching up now. How many times have you seen someone around town that you haven't seen for awhile that you don't end up speaking to because you know what's going on in their lives because of facebook? True of twitter and others...turns out Social media isn't social at all!

Blogging: Writing for an audience vs. journaling and writing for yourself and thinking about what you're writing. It's too easy to be "published" for all to read..I fear I may be doing that now just to get this out there bc I've been brewing on this for a month.

Post thoughts if you've got 'em.

Affects of Technology

2011-06-21T21:22:00.001-04:00

I'm reading an excellent book, Neil Postman's Technopoly about how much technology affects our lives, especially in America; it borders on a religion, really. I'm reading it to think on and decide whether to get an iPhone. Lots more to that discussion, and I'll post more on that, but here's a quote from the book that has really been rummaging around in my brain the last week:

"One [must] grasp that technological competition ignites total war, which means it is not possible to contain the effects of a new technology to a limited sphere of human activity...Technological change is neither additive nor subtractive. It is ecological. I mean 'ecological' in the same sense as the word is used by environmental scientists. One significant change generates total change. If you remove the caterpillars from a given habitat, you are not left with the same environment minus caterpillars: you have a new environment, and you have reconstituted the conditions of survival; the same is true if you add caterpillars to an environment that has had none. This is how ecology of media works as well. A new technology does not add or subtract something. It changes everything.

In the year 1500, fifty years after the printing press was invented, we did not have old Europe plus the printing press. We had a different Europe. After television, the US was not America plus television; television gave a new coloration to every political campaign, to every home, to every school, to every church, to every industry. And that is why the competition among media is so fierce. Surrounding every technology are institutions whose organization -- not to mention their reason for being-- reflects the world-view promoted by the technology. Therefore, when an old technology is assaulted by a new one, institutions are threatened. When institutions are threatened, a culture finds itself in crisis."

I eat this stuff up! And it's been changing/affecting my thoughts not just with technology and how it changes our behavior and whether it's healthy for our souls and how it affects our environment, which the Luddite in me loves dwelling on. But I've been taking this ecological framework to other arenas. For instance, if I have a rough conversation with a vendor at work, it's not my day + an annoying conversation...it changes the whole ecology of the day. Or if I have an argument with my wife, my relationship my wife is not what it was before + an argument, at that time the whole dynamic of the relationship changes. Or outside of relationship, say with a budget for a marketing plan. If I add a line item for digital advertising to it, it's no longer just the marketing plan + display banners online, it's a completely new marketing plan. I really think this quote applies to lots of areas of our lives where we have simplified it with addition and subtraction. Our lives are much more nuanced and lots more complex than that. What do you think?

Newlywed Advice continued

2011-04-15T12:48:00.000-04:00

Here's part two. Hope you like :)

Marriage Advice from Newlyweds

2011-04-13T09:26:00.000-04:00

The first of a series of videos from my lovely wife and I... cuz we know what's up when it comes to being married. Enjoy!

A Theology of The River

2011-04-08T12:49:00.004-04:00

"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells." Ps 46:4

A pattern of thought has evolved in me the last couple of years as I think on God and my relationship with Him. It revolves around this idea and imagery of stepping into the river, which represents my dream or calling, rather than sitting and wandering around on the side. This first emerged about 2 years ago as I was asked to do a dramatic reading of a text for a sermon at my church. The scripture was from Joshua 3, where God asks his priest to take the ark of the cov't across the rising river. But he assures them to not be afraid, the river will stand up in a heap when they step in with the ark, and all of Israel will be able to cross behind on dry land. If they obey, this is what they will experience, and it will be a tangible example to them of how God will go before them and hand their enemies over to them.

Preparing the reading and hearing the sermon a few times that weekend, I ended up wrestling with this text a great deal...because I could relate. I sensed God leading me to step into the river, make some risky moves, pursue some passions and go to scary places. But the promise of standing on dry ground in the middle of the river part did not seem possible and I could not bring myself to expect that, much less believe it. So I remained firmly planted on the shore, where my logic and the realm of possibility comfortably coexist.

I'm thinking on rivers again today because I took the day off to rest and write a bit; but started the day off hiking by the river that runs through my city. Even as I write this, I am rocking by the river at a coffee shop, one of my favorite spots to occasionally retreat. A blue heron greeted me as I strolled up, it's breezy and there is a wide open view of the Chattahoochee...it's soothing and restorative listening to the river rush along.

I've always enjoyed rivers, really. Hiking through them in NC or after a rain storm in Africa, strolling along one in Savannah. There is power there and steadiness within them. And God uses them a lot in his word to demonstrate his power and forgiveness. But lately because of this calling to write and abandon all else to go after that in faith, I've acquired a fear-laden perspective of rivers. And not yet the faith to step in knowing He'll walk with me through.

Some kayakers just rowed by and some ducks came "in for a landing"....

A few years back, a friend of mine was on the mission field. He happens to be one of my favorite writers so I loved to get his email updates. In them he would depict a recent events of fairly standard things happening in the field and in him; but his stories were so dramatic and gripping in the way that he crafted them. He was the main character and referred to himself as Trustin' Skywalker, because he was trusting the Spirit, the one who walks the skys. Yeah, a little cheesy, but with my love for story and movies, I'm a sucker for that sorta thing.

I began to imagine if I wrote a email update, how would I depict my life? Who would I be? I came up with the name, Wanderer the Warrior. Why? I had seen years back one of those name cards in a Christian book stores that said the name "Scott" means: the wanderer. Not very flattering. But an apt description of me on my worse days, I must say. In college when I took Greek, I discovered what Christopher means; to bear up Christ. Certainly something to strive for, displaying his glory with intention. Quite the juxtaposition of a name, a wanderer who bears up Christ. Oh, but I said I picked Wanderer the Warrior, well that was mostly for the alliteration I suppose. And also to remember my true, new identity, a warrior for God, to put on my new armor and fight for Him and bear Him up.

A bit of an aside there, but it relates in that I view myself a lot in those terms lately. Today will I wander along the side of the river? Will I unintentionally just go with the flow? Or will I go where He's calling me and keep in step with His spirit and step into the river, believing He's gone before me as He promised?

what keeps me on the side? what keeps you? Fear of unknown...not wanting to lose control...fear of failure....fear of What else? And what does stepping into the river actually look like in real life? what steps is he leading me to take? dare I even ask?

I could overanalyze and Overintellectualize and overspiritualize this to death (and I do), but the reality is if we're called to step into the river and He's leading us there, wandering or staying on the side is disobedience. It's really very black and white. But I don't like to view it that way...I have less excuses that way. Another reality is that if He wants me in the river, and He loves me, then it's a better place for me than the shore, even if I get swept away.

I Love Rob Bell

2011-03-16T20:38:00.002-04:00

Catchy/controversial title for a reformed evangelical blogger don't you think? I'm hoping it gets me more traffic :) Anyway, I'm a little late to the game on this, but I wanted to chime in one this conversation that's been happening regarding Rob Bell and his recent book, Love Wins. You know what happened, you've seen the trailer if you're still reading, so you know the uproar that has happened in the last 2+ weeks. Accusations of heresy and universalism abound, tweets flying left and right like bird shot against this guy that’s always espoused some edgy teaching and never claimed to be mainstream. It’s been pretty wacky to say the least, trending on twitter, getting evangelicals and pastors on CNN and the like, and causing every Christian (myself included now) to weigh in on the subject.*

So why all the hoop-la? Well the subject matter is eternity, heaven and hell, who goes where and why, so that’s of course going to attract some attention. But Bell’s other questions (he doesn’t actually make any claims that I can tell) in the video get to deeper issues on the nature of God and if He is Good and subsequently if the news we preach is Good. [He notedly doesn’t ask about the nature of man & whether we are good, and what we deserve -- at least in the 3 minute trailor]. Good questions. And many would quickly answer them. But in the last few weeks as I’ve read and thought on this, I’ve realized the issue of hell has been an evolving theology and some “heroes” of our faith fall on all sides of the issue. [Providentially I just came across some studies on heaven and hell and what the Bible says, so I’m looking forward to digging into those.]

Now I should say, I do have issues with Bell’s implications in his questions, that God’s design for eternity is somehow unfair to men and that love equals blind acceptance, but I’ll save those criticisms til after I’ve actually read the book, (if I do—I’ve got a long list). This flogging of Bell was what my friend, Chris, took issue with. And I can see what he means, especially since at the point when most were tweeting and blogging, they had not read the book. It is sad that our Christian culture reacts this way, not being of sober mind and thinking critically before we judge as it seems most were doing. But on the other hand, because this is a subject that matters so deeply and Bell has such a wide influence, people do want to guard against false teaching and make sure the Gospel is represented correctly. But there is something to be said for doing that with gentleness and love, and Paul’s words at the end of the 2nd chapter of 2 Timothy could serve as good guidance in this regard. We shouldn’t be scared of this conversation and we shouldn’t shy away of thinking deeply about it and communicating our views clearly. We do fail in this regard a good bit as a Church I believe.

Anyway, I do think this book is going to be a good thing for our community, precisely because it will and already has brought this conversation about eternity to the forefront. There are some wacky things Bell could be saying in his book, but at this point, based on the trailer, there could be some legit stuff as well. He could be saying that the biblical view of eternal life is actually knowing God. I think a lot of people miss the boat on this, thinking that heaven is a good place where we’ll fish all day and hang out with loved ones. But the Bible says those who enter in are those who know Him and live according to His teaching, and thus will spend forever worshipping His glory. In that view of heaven, people who don’t know God will not want to be there.

Bell could also bring out the point that our preoccupation shouldn’t be with getting saved and making sure we won’t burn forever, but rather interacting with God day-to-day and our knowing Him affecting our hearts and changing how we live, bringing heaven to earth. They will know us by our fruit and how we live our lives each day.

I know it’s not very reformed of me to say I like Rob Bell, but I am thankful for the questions this book is provoking and the discovery that will come with it. I hope he’s not just stirring up controversy for it’s sake by writing this book. Or just trying to sell books by releasing the trailor (but of course he is…I doubt they expected all of the attention though, but I did note that they moved up the release date 2 weeks after all the buzz…excellent marketing if you ask me).

I’m hopeful about the possibilities at this point, and know if we don’t shrink back from this conversation, it could be the means to communicate hope for the here and now to a lot of hurting people. Here’s hoping civility wins.

BTW: I also found Justin's blog helpful in thinking this through.
* As a side note, I happened across a quote today that said most believers feel they have to defend the Bible, but it’s a like a lion. You need only release it…who ever heard of defending a lion? It can defend itself….good thought.

Working

2011-02-11T10:55:00.003-05:00

So i'm enjoying my new job, in case you were wondering. Learning to buy TV ads right now, and while reading a training manual my media director wrote today I came across the term PRIZM -- so I googled it and came across this. Check out the "You are where you live" section on the right. Plug in your zip code and it'll show a snapshot of the area where you live. It was dead on for us -- the "New Beginnings" segment. That kinda data is fascinating to me, which is why I do what I do I suppose. Anyway, wanted to share.

Brad Sherrill - Prophets

2011-01-29T16:18:00.002-05:00

If you are a fan of theater at all, you should check out this guy. He's an actor here in Atlanta, and my wife and I got to see him perform a couple of weeks ago. He has a couple of Scripture-based, one-man shows that he tours with, and we saw him perform his latest show, "Prophets"-- a multimedia presentation including large portions of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Amos.

It was very well done and very powerful. He is very passionate, a great actor, and the passages he chose and how he weaves them together leaves an impact. When you hear God's word spoken aloud it affects you and you really hear his heartbeat. I encourage you to check out his website and catch one of his performances if he comes to your neck of the woods. You won't be sorry.

The Year of Writing

2011-01-01T23:33:00.003-05:00

Here we are, 2011. And along with everyone else, i have goals and aspirations for this year. Not too many; I've made that mistake in the past. Just a couple; but one of them is to write more, at least 3-4 pages a day. Now they may actually look like less blogging as I save my best thoughts to be published. Yes, I've got a book idea, and I put some more thoughts to paper today in my new moleskin my wife gave me for Christmas. Very refreshing to get these thoughts out of me. And I discovered so much more in the 3+ hours I wrote this morning.

I found this affirming though: as I'm finishing up the Lincoln biography tonight I've been reading (Lincoln: the biography of a writer by Fred Kaplan) I came across this passage from a lecture he gave on Discoveries and Inventions in 1859:

"Writing -- the art of communicating thoughts to the mind, through the eye--is the great invention of the world. Great in the astonishing range of analysis and combination which necessarily underlies the most crude and general conception of it -- great, very great in enabling us to converse with the dead, the absent, and the unborn, at all distances of time and of space; and great, not only in its direct benefits, but greatest help, to all other inventions . . . Its utility may be conceived, by the reflection, that to it we owe everything which distinguishes us from savages. Take it from us, and the Bible, all history, all science, all government, all commerce, and nearly all social intercourse go with it."

Good stuff. And he mentions too that speech is the other great invention. Confirms how I've decided to spend my time this year in continuing in Toastmasters along with writing. And it goes along with what I've learned lately about the power of words, spoken and written; perhaps why Christ is referred to as the Word, the expression of God in John 1? More thoughts on that later...

Happy New Year!

Commuting Thoughts 2

2010-12-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

Enjoy this from my new commute to work....

On Christmas productions

2010-12-23T15:22:00.003-05:00

During one of the Advent services the other week we were singing What Child is this?, I believe, and this phrase popped up at the bottom of the screen:

"Will the parents of Noah Frankfurt please come to KidsQuest and retrieve their child?"

It reminded me of this blog that I wrote a few years back. I said it better then when I was single and bored and had time to blog, but basically it makes me think about how one reality of Christmas is that God becam a humble, needy, maybe sometime disruptive child. And we celebrate that through well-rehearsed, fully choreographed and orchestrated Christmas productions while our disruptive kids are in the nursery. The important thing is that we produce something we can boast in and be proud of to fully celebrate the day when our God humbled himself and lay in a manger as a lowly baby.

Seems like we're missing a few things in our Western Christian Christmas celebrations....

Commuting Thoughts

2010-10-13T23:24:00.000-04:00

Some recent thoughts while commuting home...on America, our dreams and the trap of pursuing happiness.

Have I really been married that long?

2010-09-23T21:50:00.002-04:00

We celebrated 7 months of marriage this past Monday, and judging from our "surprise gifts" for one another (we really didn't know the other was getting us something) we're settling in just fine. I got her a water bottle (with a straw!) and she got me a nose-hair trimmer. Boring, practical, everyday item gifts....which we both really appreciated receiving from the other!

I guess we're already to that point?!??

Oh well, I like it here.

Culture Wars

2010-08-30T19:05:00.003-04:00

"Everyone believes...and we're not going quietly..." - John Mayer

So there has been lots lately in the public arena about Islam in America, the hottest topic of course being the Mosque controversy at Ground Zero. If you've watched the news or been on any social media the last month or so, you've heard loads about it. There was a lively discussion over at Justin's blog last week where some great points were made in the post and comments.

But I've read some disturbing things lately about how non-Muslim Americans are responding to Muslims. This about a recent knifing in NYC against an Muslim cabdriver; and this about an arson case at the site of a mosque being built in TN. It's concerning because not only is this ineffective, but it also reminds me of the abortion clinic bombings of years ago. Sure, you can disagree with someone, but is killing them or any type of violence against their group the most persuasive means to change them? Is meeting hate with hate a good route to go? When faced with differing beliefs, how are we to live?

I'm certainly not advocating for tolerance or being wishy-washy on our beliefs. But I'm asking what is decent? What is civil? I read in a book by Os Guiness last year on this subject of bringing civility back into the public square, that it gets so heated in this realm of these two religions especially because these beliefs systems are embedded in a centuries-long battle. It goes back beyond the crusades, but he pointed out that the recent violence can be tied to that time as a deciding battle was won by Christians on September 11th during the crusades. So much blood has been spilled on these deeply rooted belief systems, it's hard to imagine it's even possible that we can discuss with civility now instead of continue to take up arms.

Reading this now on CNN and it's an interesting approach; this journalists seems to be having some good conversations.

The average American watching the news and believing the hype and letting it feed their fears is one thing. But my main question is what is the proper response from the Church? How should we who follow Christ respond to the advance of Islam in our communities? This post is mostly questions, still thinking this all through -- What do you think?

read recently

2010-08-24T17:28:00.005-04:00

this summer I've taken a course of sorts on our consumer culture and its' affect on our souls and our faith. I say "of sorts" because it hasn't been official by any means, just books I've happened to be reading all on the same subject. And I've read a lot, a lot for me anyway. Here is a sampling:
Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment by Richard Winter
Flickering Pixels by Shane Hipps
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
The Church of Facebook by Jesse Rice
Also listened to Huxley's Brave New World on our road trips this summer, but need to get back on that.

I've also seen a few great movies, Wall-E again which fits in line with all of this that I'm learning; and we also watched Annie Hall on our vacation. Great film!

In all of this though I've been thinking a lot about technology's role in our world and the affect it has on our soul and our view of God. Technology is not neutral. For instance I learned in Flickering Pixels how much the printing press has affected our thinking over the last 4 centuries, how we're linear thinkers because of it and how we value individual rights in America to some extent because of this invention. It even affected the architecture in it's day as inside of churches came to resemble the pages of a book with one center aisle and rows of pews that resembled lines of texts. The Church of Facebook is less about this latest invention and more of a cultural study of how other inventions have affected us and how we've adapted and what we've learned from that; and then how we can apply those lessons to this latest invention that's shaping our culture. Fascinating stuff! I can't communicate how much reading and thinking on and learning this stuff really excites me. If you want to hear more, you and I should just talk sometime. I think we'd both probably learn something from it.

Now I am reading another book called Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman that I bought solely because of the cover. So much for not judging a book by its' cover, right? I got it because from the summary on the back it seems to be an analysis of culture from a worldly perspective, and three chapters in, I'm enjoying it. It's kinda stream-of-consciousness style and the author is around my age so I can appreciate his outlook and cultural references. This from the first chapter on the topic of love:

"Pundits are always blaming TV for making people stupid, movies for desensitizing the world to violence, and rock music for making kids take drugs and kill themselves. These things should be the least of our worries. The main problem with mass media is that it makes it impossible to fall in love with any acumen of normalcy. There is no 'normal,' because everybody is being twisted by the same sources simultaneously. You can't compare your relationship with the playful couple who lives next door, because they're probably modeling themselves after Chandler Bing and Monica Geller. Real people are actively trying to live like fake people, so real people are no less fake. Every comparison becomes impractical. This is why the impractical has become totally acceptable; impracticality almost seems cool."

That gave a lot of insight into my dating years; as much Friends and Seinfeld we all consume, it can't help but color our expectations and perspective on love.

Next will be some pleasure reading, Gilead, which i discovered on Arnold's blog back when he used to blog....have been planning on reading since then. And then I may go back to a cultural study and read a book about the suburbs that I bought back in college. I'm sure I'll write and think more about this soon.

TV's affects on kids

2010-08-17T11:32:00.002-04:00

Came across this yesterday when I was searching for a TV viewing picture. Disturbing affects it seems to have on kids, and adults I'm sure too. Have you ever sat back and watched a room full of folks who are watching TV?

Also, I love that it's of the kids watching DUMBO....tehehee

On TV news

2010-08-16T14:01:00.004-04:00

This quote is making me rethink how I spend the half hour when I get home from work (and even my morning commute...and my workday...and whether to vote or not):

"How often does it occur that information provided you on morning radio or television, or in the morning newspaper, causes you to alter your plans for the day, or to take some action you would not otherwise have taken or provides insight into some problem you are required to solve?...most of our daily news is inert, consisting of information that gives us something to talk about but cannot lead to any meaningful action. This fact is the principal legacy of the telegraph: By generating an abundance of irrelevant information, it dramatically altered what may be called the 'information-action ration.'

"You may get a sense of what this means by asking yourself another series of questions: What steps do you plan to take to reduce the conflict in the Middle East? Or the rates of inflation, crime or unemployment? ...What do you plan to do about NATO, OPEC, the CIA, affirmative action, and the monstrous treatment of Baha'is in Iran? I shall take the liberty of answering for you: You plan to do nothing about them. You may, of course, cast a ballot for someone who claims to have some plans, as well as the power to act. But this you can do only once every 2 to four year by giving one hour of your time, hardly a satisfying means of expressing the broad range of opinions you hold. Voting, we might even say, is the next to last refuge of the politically impotent. The last refuge is, of course, giving your opinion to a pollster, who will get a version of it through a desiccated question, and then will submerge it in a Niagara of similar opinions, and convert them into--what else?--another piece of news. Thus, we have here a great loop of impotence: The news elicits from you a variety of opinions about which you can do nothing except to offer them as more news, about which you can do nothing."

-- from Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman, pgs 68-69

Meaningless, it's all meaningless!? I just finished this book, and it was full of quotes like this one that I find fascinating about how technology, that most of find neutral, has affected how we think, or if we think at all. Starting with the telegraph, we daily are subjected to an onslaught of information so that we now can't even decipher what's important and what's not, and turned us into what Postman calls apathetic "information gluts."

This and other things read in the book are making me wonder the purpose of consuming all this information of our age and using this and other technologies. What is the answer? Specifically, regarding news, do you find it useful to know what's happening on the other side of the world if we can't do anything about it? What do you think? and if you've read Postman's book, what thoughts did you have when reading? Please comment and let me know your thoughts (unless it's in Chinese-- i haven't quite learned that language, yet, fyi...).

by the way, looking forward to discussing this and other related topics with old roomies at The Areopagus Forum at Perimeter this Thursday. Come if you can

Everything is Providential

2010-08-01T21:35:00.008-04:00

So if there has been a recurring theme in my life in the last decade, it would have to be this wrestling with God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. When I first entered college, I was introduced to what some call the "Doctrines of Grace," other's Calvinism, which speaks specifically to God's role in our salvation-- you know, election, predestination and all that jazz. While that was certainly a topic this Southern Baptist-raised, youth-camp-attending teenager had to grapple with, that aspect of this truth is not the subject of this post. Because as I settled into this notion of God being sovereign over our lives, even in the minute details, I saw that this doesn't just affect our view of salvation, but has much greater implications on all of life.

Yes, a lot of my college years were spent reading and stewing on this subject. After several events (Sept 11th, my grandmother's death -- the person I saw myself closest to in this life) I began to question even harder God's sovereignty in all things. I was a brooding mess of a 19-year-old and many of my relationships suffered. I deemed my doubts and wrestling as abnormal, so I excluded myself from the very community that would have helped me recognize just how normal I was. I finally sought help in professional counseling.

I learned a lot in those counseling sessions during my sophomore year but one of the most memorable take aways was what he said regarding this crisis of [theology] and faith I was having. If I grew up believing one thing, that I decided, I walked the aisle, but now I was realizing that apparently all of that was wrong and I had nothing to do with it, then which was it? I couldn't figure it out! My counselor said in all his studies he had settled with "It's both" and then he said "don't forget it's a relationship."

I've been confronted with it again as I wrestle with some decisions and try to discern "God's will." And most recently the best explanation of this idea of God's Providence and man's role within came up in the writings of Mark Twain, specifically his short essay, "The Turning Point of my Life." In it, Twain writes on what event in his life contributed to his becoming a successful writer, and in it he links it back to Ceasar's crossing of the Rubicon and the beginning of western civilization. He explains that to regard anything in our lives as THE turning-point:

gives it too much distinction, too much prominence, too much credit. It is only the LAST link in a very long chain of turning-points commissioned to produce the cardinal result; it is not any more important than the humblest of its ten thousand predecessors. Each of the ten thousand did its appointed share, on its appointed date, in forwarding the scheme, and they were all necessary; to have left out any one of them would have defeated the scheme and brought about SOME OTHER result.

He goes on to tell of how different "Circumstances" interplayed and caused a certain response in him because of his "Temperament;" and I think it's a beautiful description of the realities of this life. God in his Providence provides the right circumstances, opportunities, introductions to the right people, and because we have certain desires, a personality, and temperament (which God created in us) we respond a certain way, and continue down the path God has for us. It's God orchestrating the events, but nothing happens, one may argue, unless we act on the opportunity that His ordained Circumstance provides. But since God created us and in Him we live and move and have our being, it's really Him behind it all.

Even this recent interest in Twain in my life is a hallmark example. It developed after hearing an ad on NPR (which I just randomly started listening to in June to make my commute more bearable) for a PBA special by Ken Burns on Twain's life. That night I went home and recorded it and watched bits and pieces of it over the next several weeks. Then when I was at my brother- and sister-in-laws place, I noticed they had some writings of Twain's. It was there that I read this piece by Twain and was encouraged. Some would explain this all as "happenstance." I know it as His happy Providence.

Finally I learned a great deal about this recently from my favorite film, Forrest Gump. After watching it again, I forgot why I like it so much; and in this most recent viewing I noticed that this theme of our actions vs. a set destiny for our lives is one of the themes of the film. Those are great movies, that you watch and discover another line, or a layer of a theme there. I can't believe I wasn't even aware of was this theme as signified most blatantly in the metaphor of the floating feather. Near the end, Forrest sums up his thoughts as he visits Jenny's grave. He confesses that he doesn't know if Lt. Dan is right or Mama, that he doesn't know if we have a set destiny, or if we are just floating along on a breeze "accidental-like". But then he decides that: "I think maybe, it's both."

So at this point in my life, trying to make sense of things and wondering what's next, I must live without regret, move forward, continue to relate with God and remember, that it's "both."

I don't have time to blog

2010-07-21T06:00:00.002-04:00

and it really is a shame. Because I've been learning and thinking on some cool things. About technology and it's affect on our soul. I read yesterday (yes, i'm actually reading Flickering Pixels again, not just keeping that in my sidebar) that one of the largest affects of the printing press was the rise of individuality, because people could read, study and think on their own. Who da thunk that's one of the big reasons we are so independent nowadays? What other "unintended" side effects do the media we consume have on us.

I also have been thinking a lot about words, specifically the power of the spoken word. It's rhythm and impact, it's power to leave a legacy, like with MLK and Mark Twain.
Too bad I don't have time to post. It would've be a profound one.

Luckily my friends do have time. Read Roy's for some more thoughts on technology, he sums up well some of my thinking. And read Sandra's for a great summary on my thoughts lately about words..(ok, she's not really a friend, but I feel like she is because her words and lyrics have such an impact on me) seems she's been learning the same things.

So enjoy their blogs, and enjoy mine again soon. Or perhaps we can just have a conversation like old times? that's one sad overextension I believe of this medium...we just read one another's blogs and thoughts rather than sharing them face to face. How to change that? hmmmm.....i guess it's good I don't have time to blog!

On productivity

2010-07-10T21:21:00.005-04:00

It's overrated...especially in our culture. I thought some about this today, and I'm tempted to evaluate my Saturday based on what I checked off my to-do list. But that thinking just reinforces self-reliance, and puts the value on production instead of living, savoring; it's evaluating by quantity over quality, and we should strive to have a rich experience over just getting things done. But I continually battle with this. Reality is time does not equal money, time is more valuable than that and how we spend it should be watched much more than how we spend our money.

"The true measure of a man is how he spends his time when he doesn’t have to do anything."

I read this quote the other day and it was mis-attributed to Franklin; he said time is money, but after researching I found this quote was said by David O. McKay. Don't know who that is but I think he has a point. How we spend our "free time" does reveal a good bit about who we are. One would think we spend that time doing what we truly want to do. As we self-examine, that can be a scary thing or a great thing.

I read a insightful passage in a book I finished today that I've been reading lately: Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment by Richard Winter (that was one thing I did do on this open day I had:) He draws a connection between our consumer culture focused on getter more things and the cost it has on our souls:

"As people become increasingly materialistic, their sensitivity to other reward begins to atrophy. They become bored with things that are not immediately connected to making or spending money. Friendship, art, literature, natural beauty, religion and philosophy become less and less interesting. The Swedish economist Stephen Linder was the first to point out that as income and, therefore, the value of one's time increases, it becomes less and less 'rational' to spend it on anything besides making money -- or on spending it conspicuously. The economic cost of playing with one's child, reading poetry or attending a family reunion become too high, and so one stops doing such irrational things. Eventually a person who only responds to material rewards becomes blind to any other kind and loses the ability to derive happiness from other sources."

We need to trade the world's economy for God's. The two are diametrically opposed and we can only serve one.

2 Things

2010-06-27T21:37:00.006-04:00

We went to see the Lasershow here at Stone Mountain last night. My wife and I love to be "tourists" in our own city during the summer and try to catch an attraction or two during the summer months. Well, it had been years since I had even been to the it, and if you don't know what it is, there is a huge granite mountain just East of Atlanta. On one face of the mountain, there is a carving of three prominent figures of the South in the Civil War. Each summer night, families gather on the huge lawn in front of the carving and after sunset, lasers project cartoons and a movie type show up onto the carving for an entertaining show complete with a redneck/patriotic soundtrack. As I sat back in the summer night, reclining on the lawn with my beautiful wife, I just had one thought:

We sure are silly.

I mean, the fact that there is a huge, granite mountain in the middle of our city isn't impressive to us....no we go and carve profiles of people from a war the south lost onto the side of it. Now, it's impressive. And then, we don't even marvel at that carving, we need to project some colorful lasers forming goofy images up on the mountain onto our manmade carving of men we idolize, while we recline with bellies full of overpriced junk food -- then we really oooh and ahh!

I just thought it was really the epitome of how we tend to worship the created thing rather than the Creator. We're not satisfied with one thing, we just add to it to make it worthy of our worship. Rather than marveling at the One who created it all, we--with our short attention spans and fickle appetites-- we celebrate the creation. Yes, we are far too easily pleased.

Now the other thing. My sister-in-law recently moved to Peru to participate in the PeaceCorp for 27 months. We are all really proud of her, and here is her blog to keep up with what's she's doing. She's quite the amusing writer, so enjoy.

That's all for now.

Facebook is neither a face nor a book....discuss! Part 2

2010-06-25T07:41:00.003-04:00

I thought about how Facebook has changed our lives again recently when I read a short story that was referenced in the book, Free by Chris Andersen. The short story called "The Machine Stops," was written in 1909, but it is very eerie how dead on it is regarding our world today.

In it E.M. Forster describes a post-apocalyptic-esque world in which people live in rooms deep under the surface of the earth, and their only contact with others and outside is through a lit-up video box in their room. (sound familiar?) They've come to prefer isolation and a life dependent on "The Machine," rather than real life. Everything from a fresh bath, to a meal and soft mattress is available at the touch of a button. It's a world in which contact with sunlight is avoided, people shriek at human touch and interaction, and a respirator is required to breath fresh air because outside air has become toxic to them. The wonders of nature are a bore to most inhabitants of the earth now, for they have advanced beyond marveling at such, "thanks to the Machine." When passing over the Himalayas in an "air-ship," Vashti, Forster's main character says, "Cover the window, please. These mountains give me no ideas."

The people in the story fill their days by sitting in their rooms and sharing ideas through lectures. They log on to each other's lectures on various topics and give feedback through commentary and applause. Vashti is the mother to Kuno, who lives on the other side of the world and early in the story, he expresses concern about humanity's dependence on the Machine. He pleads with his mom to come visit him so he can see and speak to her "not through the wearisome Machine." Their conversation is poignantly relevant today regarding all the gadgets and websites, including Facebook, that we rely on:
When his mom defends the Machine, Kuno says,

"You talk as if a god had made the Machine...I believe that you pray to it when you are unhappy. Men made it, do not forget that. Great men, but men. The Machine is much, but it is not everything. I see something like you in this plate, but I do not see you. I hear something like you through this telephone, but I do not hear you. That is why I want you to come...Pay me a visit, so that we can meet face to face, and talk about the hopes that are in my mind."

Vashti listens to her sons pleadings but

"...he broke off and she fancied that he looked sad. She could not be sure, for the Machine did not transmit nuances of expression. It only gave a general idea of people--an idea that was good enough for all practical purposes....Something 'good enough' had long since been accepted by our race."

Eventually we learn Kuno's inclinations about the Machine were right...I don't think I'm giving away too much given the title of the story. But because the society has become so dependent on the Machine, its' failing becomes their downfall, too. You should definitely read it though, especially if reliance on our Machines is a weakness for you.

Although written 100 years ago, I think this story serves as a warning today.
Batteries will die, iPhone service will be limited, twitter will be overcapacitated, show you the blue whale. And Facebook may be shut down, who knows?....Thus, We should take Forster's century-old prophecy to heart and limit our dependence on "the machine" now. We don't have to settle for something "good enough."

Now I gotta go update my status and tell my wife (who is in the room) that I love her by writing on her wall.

Facebook is neither a face nor a book....discuss!

2010-06-19T11:37:00.003-04:00

So I've had a lot of conversations over the last week or so about Facebook. Some of it stemmed from the Time cover story I was reading on the growing social network and it's battles with it's users and privacy: "How far is too far?" I was reading this the other weekend while at the lake with friends, so we chatted a lot about this subject; how now grandparents are on there, and ex-girlfriends -- should they be friended? I've had discussions with clients as they consider how to market on the free network and whether they can grow their business by growing their fanbase there. I've had other conversations on the ethics of status updates -- if what we say reflects what's in our heart, does that apply to these simple posts? If so, how do you convince a 16-year-old that the colorful language he's broadcasting to the world there matters and reflects upon who he is?

I've had some fairly entertaining discussions with extended family, watching the learning curve of the generational gap as young try to teach old: "Peta...How do you tag a pick-tah? I don't understand!" I caught up with some old High school friends last week at a wedding and the subject came up again. Regarding folks at the wedding we didn't feel the need to speak with, one friend quipped: "I haven't spoken with her in 10 years, but I've seen the pictures from her kid's first birthday party." Another friend made the comment too that Facebook had made the need for attending this year's high school reunion "obsolete." Now we are able to keep up with, at a fairly safe distance, the folks we want to and even the ones we don't really want to. But is that really "keeping up?" I've even heard recently of how Facebook adversely affected a friend's relationship when he defriended his girlfriend's mom after false accusations were made because of things she saw on his profile. The mom was subsequently "hurt," and there was substantial fallout over this virtual relationship!

No matter what your thoughts about this invention, or how much time you spend on there a day, there is no doubt Facebook has changed our society and how we interact. Although we've grown in our capacity to stay connected numbers-wise, this extension, as McLuhan might have argued, has cost us in other ways, in deficiency of human interaction, and shallowness of relationship. Indeed, I wonder what Dunbar with his number, has to say about Facebook?

Now, I mentioned the Time article, which is a good read if you have, the um, ...time. wow, that was bad. Anyway, in it they do discuss how Facebook has always struggled with how much of users' information to share with other users and most debateably, advertisers. In it CEO Zuckerberg makes the point that he's realized that people don't really want complete privacy, but rather control over what info gets shared and what doesn't. If they wanted complete privacy, they wouldn't be on Facebook, right? He also makes the point that they feel they are doing a lot of good in connecting ethnic groups and others who are historically at odds -- check out www.peace.facebook.com for more.

What I found most facinating about the article though, was the description of how Facebook ropes in new users:

"When a newcomer logs in, the experience is designed to generate something Facebook calls the aha! moment. This is an observable emotional connection, gleaned by videotaping the expressions of test users navigating the site for the first time.

It goes on to describe how it tries to achieve these aha moments as quickly as possible by connecting you with folks in your email box, showing you old high school friends, photos of co-worker's children, literally bombarding you with all of this until there is an emotional connection and you realize you need Facebook to stay connected, and life is better with it. This formula has worked....for nearly half a billion people. Reading some of the quotes in the sidebar of the article, it's sad how dependent people are on it: "My life without facebook would be like the sky without stars" That seems crazy! but I bet if you're honest, you may say the same. Sad but true.

What struck me about this is that although it's shameful, it's not that surprising that this has worked. We tend to settle for the counterfeit rather than strive to experience the real thing, broken cisterns over fountains, idolatry verses worship. We settle. And why? Because we believe these things are adding much, when they are in fact taking away something much more valuable.

….more thoughts to come.

Catching up

2010-05-17T22:59:00.003-04:00

Finally getting back to the blog-o-sphere, and reading some good stuff that is getting me thinking. Don't know quite what to make of it all, yet, but I wanted to share.

Lots of friends have been writing about the sex industry and pornography, but not in the traditional sense. There's this from Roy on "Emotional Porngraphy", it'll make you reconsider what you think about romantic comedies... And then this from a blog I randomly came across that also is redefining porn and how we usually view it along gender lines. Seems although more acceptable, these social and emotional addictions prove to be just as devastating. What do you think?

I also read this from Justin about the correlation between feminism and the sex industry and how this has played out in the real world in Iceland. Haven't read any of the comments there, but it seems he started quite a conversation.

Speaking of Iceland, I'll leave you with something from Taylor. Remember the volcano from last month? Check out this time-lapse of the eruption...pretty nifty.

Overcoming

2010-05-16T22:52:00.002-04:00

Being that I've been absent for so long from this space, there is quite a bit I could write about late on this Sunday evening. I have missed it, expressing myself here, putting thoughts together, and honestly I find myself a bit "congested" because I've been away. But I won't do what I've often done over the last few weeks and shut the laptop because I can't decide which subject to tackle.

I will just write.

It's been one of those weekends, without much activity, really; more reflection, reading, and thinking. Some about history --I picked up my wife's textbook from college that actually was written by my college president, (which was cool, had heard of it, but never seen it) and read some about the Federalist era, Hamilton, the bill of rights, and the young republic.

I also thought some on life and purpose and "what's next" -- does it really take all of your twenties to figure that out? I'm ready to take some steps and live with more answers than questions.

I also thought some about death. My mom's mom, MamaNette we call her, was moved into hospice care Friday after she declined a good deal since Wednesday. We decided to take a trip today up to visit her and mostly go to support my mom as she begins to grieve and settle in the reality that this is goodbye. It was a sweet visit (I love seeing my wife love family, my famiy, our family now. So tender, empathetic and compassionate and this was only her second visit with Mamanette). We hadn't seen her since we got married, so we tried to show her some of our wedding pictures, tried because she was very lethargic and kept falling back asleep. I should note that MamaNette has suffered from dimentia and Alzhiemer's for over 13 years now, and can't even speak now, only mumble a few things and occasionally respond with a smile when we sing to her or hug her. That's how she was today. But we sat there in her hospice room, and remembered how she was. My mom, you may know, is an avid scrapbooker, and she had at least 6 scrapbooks and/or photo albums from MamaNette's life there by her bed. Flipping through those pages, I learned a lot about who she was. There were pictures from her childhood, details about her college days, a story of her broken engagement to one soldier, that led to her marriage after the war to another, our grandfather, Daddy Jim. I learned that she loved writing, and won awards, including one 1970 essay contest with the Anderson Independent Newspaper in which she explained the problems and pitfalls of a disturbing new fashion trend: the mini-skirt. I was ashamed to say I didn't know these stories, but I was happy to learn them today, and appreciative to my mom for her time and energy spent preserving these memories. We read and laughed and talked to MamaNette and reminisced. We were beginning to celebrate the life that she's lived.

It was a good day. Always good to reckon with the reality of death because it makes us grapple with how we're living our lives. God in these times makes us ask the right questions, examine who we are becoming, how we are loving, and urges us to not just exist, but "redeem" or purchase the time (another meaning of that verse as I heard preached this wknd) and count our days and live them well.

Speaking of not just existing/wasting our lives, it is a bit shameful that I've spent over 100 hours of my life watching "Lost," more if you count that at least 20 episodes I've rewatched with my wife as she is getting up to speed. But I have, He uses all things, and honestly He's spoken to me a great deal through the characters and themes within the show. I have been enjoying, for the most part, this final season and some of the deeper themes they have revealed. I can't give too much away on here, since my wife will most likely read this and as I type she's watching the third episode of this season; but I've enjoyed seeing the interplay of good vs evil and the characters that represent them. That Richard backstory episode was ridiculous! lots revealed about the island, and that the main question really revolves around "Is humanity all bad?" "Can evil be kept at bay?" and "Can man, once corrupted, ever be redeemed?" This season has made me think a lot about Romans 12:21 where Paul writes "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good;" and it's a good to remember that even tonight, at the end of this thoughtful weekend.

I'm really tempted to try to tie this all up really nicely to impress you and sound clever. But the bottom line, is that tonight, and every night, I need to remember that because He came, death is swallowed up in eternal victory, light has shone in the darkness, all questions will have answers, and redemption is a possibility. Evil is overcome by good in the real story, the one that matters.

Amen.
Good Night.

Hello

2010-03-30T13:11:00.002-04:00

I'm still around.

Marriage is awesome.

Lost is crazy!!

More thoughts later...just wanted to say whatsup

Love and Weddings

2010-02-17T19:17:00.004-05:00

As you gave the ring to one another and have now
received it a second time from the hand of the pastor,
so love comes from you, but marriage from above,
from God. As high as God is above man,
so high are the sanctity, the rights, and the promise of love.
It is not your love that sustains the marriage,
but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love.

DietrichBonhoeffer,
Letters and Papers from Prison, 27–28

So I started this blog this past week four years ago, and 3 years ago in February I wrote a series of blogs uncovering the true message of Love, the good news of how despite our unworthiness, Christ died for us and loves us. And these few years later, I'm still marveling at that Truth.

In fact, it's especially sweet this week, here at the precipice of marriage. Having some context for Love, much moreso than I did then, I know all the more that forgiving, sacrificial love shown to a willful sinner like me is humbling and mind- boggling. And from what I hear, that awareness of how undeserving you are of love will grow all the more within marriage.

yes, I've experienced through Rachel much of this godly, patient, forgiving, encouraging, accepting, unconditional love, and it has made it all the sweeter and more real. and it has changed me.

I knew it before, had experienced it even with God, but still a lot was heady theology that had not worked it's way into my heart. Yes, there's something about a real, visible person that you're in relationship with that sees your mess, over and over again, and chooses to forgive because she knows and understands the gospel, and obeys and loves God. Something about that helps you "get it" and believe it; which in turn changes the way you live because of it.

Indeed I've learned a lot during engagement, and not all about love. I've learned that there are A LOT of little decisions to make, which is great practice for marriage because you learn to pick your battles. And each of those decisions affects the other decisions, like the type of venue you want your wedding at determines the number of guests you can have. And for that same reason, I've learned why people plan their weddings on Memorial Day weekend....in fields....with bar-beque:) But, I've been reminded though that your wedding is one day, and the important thing is that people share your lives with you.

Anticipation is a crazy thing...not much of a sleep aid, especially in the final days and hours, anxious and excited, full of possibility. In many ways, I hate to see this time go; and in many more I bid it a hardy adieu. It will be good to trade the wonderings for certainties, the expectations for reality, the possibilities for actuality. It will be good for me to settle in to a new normal

Yes, marriage will stretch me. I know, as all things are in the life of a child of God, that He will use it all to conform Rachel and I to the image of our elder brother, His Son. It will be good for me to not just read about and talk about dying to self, but daily have to do it in service and love to my wife. And it's with that perspective, a few days out, I walk into marriage.

As hopeful and as excited as I feel, and as beautiful as she'll be, and as much as I'll cry when I first see her at the other end of that aisle...as joyful I will be to see and fellowship with old family and friends, and as good as that night will be, I've got to remember and hang on to this: Christ is better. It's all a shadow compared to him, and really all points to him. It's possible because of him and his blood, and it's really his love that she and I are both experiencing and enjoying mysteriously...and that will make us both worship all the more through it all.

Sunday morning thoughts

2010-01-17T11:53:00.003-05:00

Just got back from church and lots of thoughts rumbling around in my head...and I haven't written in awhile and my soul needs to. So here they are in random, s-o-c style

1. God is not a contract breaker-- All of this talk about NBC and the raw deal they are giving Conan, reneging on their contract, kicking him out all for the almighty dollar, forgetting the legacy that they have and that the Tonight Show is...it really is sad to watch. But this morning in church the pastor at the church I went to shared from Jeremiah 31. In the passage, God describes how he will restore his relationship to Israel after her whoring, after she's disobeyed and hasn't "kept the terms" of the marriage contract, chasing other lovers and turning from God. God isn't going to reject her and divorce her, although he would be justified in doing so...but he describes how He will draw her in, woo her again, restore her virginity even, rebuild her, and love her tenderly. So forgiving, so humbling, he truly doesn't treat us as our sins deserve... Anyway, He goes on in that chapter to speak some of the new covenant, where He will put His law on our hearts....we couldn't keep up the terms, so in the new order he'll import His spirit into us and He'll do it. How different is that contract, that covenant with the Lord? He will not try to buy out of it once it goes wrong, as He knows it will (we are extremely risky investments); but He continues to forgive us, "hemmorage money" on us (lavish gifts/grace/blessings that we squander or don't appreciate), and not blame us but rather take the blame and punishment on Himself...mind-boggling, and so different than how we interact as humans, especially in corporate world as seen in this NBC situation.

2. "Friends are worth their weight in gold." My dad said that last night at a wedding shower that he and some of our family's friends hosted in Rachel and I's honor. That was his marriage advice (we had the priveldge of hearing from all those present, many 30+ years in) to us as we set out on this journey. Yes, invest in one another, but also invest in friendships and they will give you a great return. And we experienced that yesterday...with two showers back in my hometown, the whole day seemed like a virtual embrace and an outpouring of love. Friends of our families from years back loving us and giving us gifts, and sharing stories, and laughing with us, and telling us how they've been praying for us and Rachel our whole lives. It was just a great time. Rachel remarked a few times that it was so fun because although most of the folks she was meeting for their first time, it was like an instant friendship. And so far in this process I've seen that that really is one of the best things about getting married, sharing your life long friendships ( with one another; and getting instant family as well. You do see and experience that life is about relationships and loving one another.

3. God is disruptive...in a loving kind of way. He's never acts as we expect, never cooperates with us on our terms(such pride that we should even demand that...but we do), all to build our faith and trust in Him. Case in pt...finding a place for us to live. This is still unfolding as I type, but suffice it to say it's been faith building for me.

4. All that God asks us to do, he's already done for us. Draw Near. Humble ourselves. Give. Love others. Forgive. And the list goes on and on...He doesn't ask anything of us in obedience what He hasn't already done for us...and that truth should empower our obedience.

That's all for now..let me know your response to these thoughts.

A tale of Two Quarterbacks

2010-01-08T16:46:00.003-05:00

Although I only caught the second half, it was quite a game last night. And this guy sums it up nicely. I thought Gilbert did well considering, esp in the 3rd quarter and most of the 4th. But in the end it was his inexperience that got him. Remember that hit and the end? And then how Alabama scored 13 pts in 3 minutes of play? And all the interceptions...but keep in mind as my friend said last night, Gilbert was at prom 6 months ago. Anyway, all of it made for a great game. And don't you love how that guy writes about it?

Are you Kidding me?

2010-01-04T20:25:00.003-05:00

This is ridiculous. Can't believe a site called Beatifulpeople.com actually exists and that they did that....but actually, knowing the capacity of humans to be so self-involved and narcissistic, I can believe it. But it's no wonder these folks are single, right? Some of the quotes from that managing director are crazy though....

anticipation

2010-01-03T08:55:00.002-05:00

Now although there is some fear as I face marriage (next month!); there is more of me that is very excited. I'm scared, as I said, really of the unknown...but of what I do know to expect, I'm ready for and greatly anticipate. What I know of Rachel -- her beauty, mature level-headedness, her humor/goofiness, how she values and loves her family, and more -- I know that in her as a wife I'm getting tons more that I hoped for or imagined in a wife. God has been good to me through her. But I was thinking, as each day passes and I get to know Rachel a little more, I love her all the more; and that right now in engagement, I barely know her, relatively speaking of course. I've only known her about 2 years, and we've dated just 20 months or so, so compared to spending our lives together, at this pt I hardly know her :) But what I know I love, and I know what I'll find as I get to know her even better I'll love and accept too. So I am uber excited about that discovery process, uncovering more and more of her and she of me over a lifetime until we fully know one another. It's what God designed marriage to be, a picture of his relationship with us, loving and knowing us fully. I know it won't always be a smooth ride, but I'm ready to start the journey...

PS -- Check out our wedding website: www.thenewchristophers.com. HT to Justin for helping us get it up and running!

Changes Approaching

2010-01-02T11:27:00.004-05:00

I recently went to dinner with Rachel's family and her sister's in-laws (so would that be my future in-laws, in-laws?? so confusing). But anyway, it was at a Chinese place so of course we ended dinner with everyone grabbing a fortune cookie and sharing what their future held according to their dessert. Mine said: "There are big changes ahead for you." I won't spend this post to explain my usual disappointment with fortune cookies not actually being "fortunes," but more "advice"...or the issues of a believer in God and His word relying on his dessert for insight into his life...but I have from time to time found what I've read on this little slip of paper after chowing down on some General Tso quite timely to what's happening in my life (and I do happen to believe God speaks to us in a variety of ways outside of His word that is congruent with His word...but again, that's another post). This fortune was no less appropriate -- I mean the fact that I was eating with my in-laws, in-laws or that I will even soon have in-laws speaks to these impending "big changes." And there's a lot in me that's excited about that. But there's a lot that is just friggin' scared.

I really do appreciate the heads up from my post-dinner delicacy, because historically I haven't been crazy about changes in life. A lot recently has helped me um..change in that area of my character, the multiple changes at my job this past year is not the least of which. But with marriage coming up there's a lot in my life that will change A LOT, and I've been thinking recently how I don't even realize how much my life is going to change. Making decisions together, merging bank accounts, another's family affecting my time and our decisions, and LOTS more -- we've experienced some of this to a very small degree in just the wedding planning (You married folks reading this now are chuckling, I'm sure). We've taken the premarital classes, are reading the books, have had conversations with wise counsel, but the wisest counselors tell us nothing really can prepare you for marriage. Of course, I know marrying Rachel is what I want, and will be the best thing for me, and what I'm called to and all the change will be totally worth it, and MORE! But I also realize how ill-prepared I am for the changes about to come.

I think it's just natural to resist change -- bc as humans we value comfort and being in control and independent...but as children of God we know He is in control and we are dependent on Him. So although ill-prepared and not knowing fully what to expect, I think this is exactly where God wants me. Marriage is going to require and demand more faith than I have because of the changes and challenges that come with it...but I'm claiming the promise that He is strong when I'm weak and His grace is sufficient.

More on this later...still processing...

GPS

2010-01-02T10:43:00.002-05:00

Just got one of these for Christmas...but I'm hoping this doesn't happen. And what about further down in the article where it says some folks followed their GPS to the edge of a cliff!! Reminds me of "The Office" episode where Michael ends up in the lake. It really is amazing how trusting people are of these things, and that they don't exercise common sense with them. Does this speak to people's need for "direction(s)" in their life that they are willing to listen and follow blindly whoever or whatever is offering them? Has it gotten that bad? Well, as believers we have an internal GPS', don't we? And God offers that to our world in such dire need for direction. (Ok--forgive me, that was bad -- sometimes I just get carried away)

Thoughts on Time

2009-12-02T22:13:00.003-05:00

Over the last few weeks I've been thinking about the mystery of time..it really is mind boggling to think about sometimes. We know God is beyond time, that to him a day is a thousand years, etc. so it's unique to our human experience. But it's also different in our experience of it each day depending on when it is in our life. For example a year when I'm five is one whole 1/5th of my life so it's a really long time from my subjective view. However at 55, a year is a much smaller part of my life. This explains why as you get older it seems the years go by faster. However mysteriously a year is still a year, 365 days, 12 months, 52 weeks -- it's a set unit of time, but not in our subjective perspective -- it changes. But time is only experienced/exists? through our subjective experience of it. AAhhhh! I don't know!!

This brings up some questions:

If God is beyond time, then right Now is both the beginning of time and the end of the world, right? Then again 'right now' is a unit of time which He is beyond too, so we can't even phathom that. We're on different plains here...can't use same terms, or can we?

Also, I wonder if our experience of time is that it goes faster as we age, as life goes on, is time speeding up then?

don't know if that makes sense..just sharing what's in my brain tonight

But I mulled over these thoughts as I ran on a treadmill last night. Good thing about this is that a 30 minute run today is "shorter" than it was yesterday in my experience because it's a smaller portion of my life, relatively speaking. Does that mean I need to run longer? Also, with each passing day as the BIG DAY approaches, each day seems to go faster as time seems to be speeding up. Come to think of it, that exciting day on the near horizon could be coloring this whole recent experience of time...and I don't mind.

What do you think?

Truth is a Moving Target

2009-11-28T10:24:00.004-05:00

I recently read the classic by George Orwell, 1984. In it, Orwell paints a vivid and intriguing picture of the “future,” in which the government, “The Great Party” ruled by “Big Brother” is quite the oppressive presence, even policing people’s thoughts and invading every sphere of life through the ever-watching “telescreens.” It follows the life of Winston Smith as he attempts to live and love in this society in which truth is no longer an absolute, but rather whatever The Party says it is. It truly is a gripping read and I recommend it if you haven’t yet read it.

As I’ve already implied, perhaps what was most insightful, and even prophetic about this book is its’ commentary on truth as it relates to one’s beliefs and thoughts. In Oceania, the country where they lived, if The Party can control an individual’s thoughts and get them to believe what they want them to, then they have conquered their soul. Smith works for the Ministry of Truth, literally rewriting history, destroying articles and books that don’t support the Party and inserting stories that speak of it’s power and rightness. A new language, “Newspeak” is employed to limit language and further control minds. History, human experience, even the hard facts of math and science are not immune to this reworking and retooling. In their world, truth is a manufactured good, used to serve the purpose of the Party, more of a propaganda than an absolute.

None of this ever sits well with Smith. He knows what he has experienced, so to be told to forget that and to believe otherwise is clearly an affront on his humanity. He sees it for the hegemony that it truly is, a means to control and oppress his society. In this passage he explains the Newspeak concept of “doublethink” and the mental gymnastics it requires:

“The Party said that Oceania had never been in alliance with Eurasia. He, Winston Smith, knew that Oceania had been in alliance with Eurasia as short a time as four years ago. But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his own consciousness, which in any case must soon be annihilated. And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed – if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’ And yet the past, though of its nature alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true now was true from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple. All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory. ‘Reality control,’ they called it; in Newspeak, ‘doublethink.’

Winston sank his arms to his sides and slowly refilled his lungs with air. His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink. To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again, and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself—that was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to be unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word ‘doublethink’ involved the use of doublethink.”

Isn’t that dizzying? But it happens everyday in the battle for our minds and hearts. What one believes is at the heart of who they are, and it starts with what they think on. Just as the Party does, our enemy seeks to get us to un-believe what we have experienced and know to be true. That was his first attack and it’s his tactic every day, to onslaught us with lies and brainwash us into mistrusting God and His Truth. That’s why Paul speaks so much of dwelling on things above and thinking on things praiseworthy and excellent, and putting on the helmet of salvation. The battle starts in the mind and leads to actions, habits, words and lifestyles that can either be hurtful or helpful for us and others. We must guard what we think and get to know the Truth who is more than an absolute Reality; He's a person.

I think this too has ramifications in our society today where truth is a moving target. We must be careful what is implied as truth in our world, who is saying it and what their motives are. There is a cost when truth moves from an objective absolute to a relative circumstantial thing. As I said, it’s more than an absolute, it’s a Person, and we must be careful to measure what we hear against the Bible. Moving away from that can, will, and has been costly to our society. Should we value being politically correct over protecting human lives? And where is this notion of being politically coming from? More on that in subsequent posts...but we must question and analyze what is given to us a truth...it may too just be a packaged good serving as propaganda to sway us into believing that 2+2 does in fact equal 5.

For more thoughts on this book, read my roommate, David's post on it. We happened to be reading it at the same time, and for similar reasons.

Great Post

2009-11-27T13:53:00.002-05:00

from my roommate, Roy. Check it out...have you prayed this way ever? Do you think this way, looking down on the "less fortunate." He asks great questions, and makes you wonder about why we say "they" are less fortunate...according to what standard? Me, and all the great stuff I have? How does that make me fortunate? and them not? What are God's standards? Knowing God + anything for a standard of good living is idolatry last time I checked....what are your thoughts?

contentment

2009-11-16T23:26:00.002-05:00

Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, {Though} the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls,

Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds' {feet,} And makes me walk on my high places. -- Habakkuk 3:17-19

When you have nothing else, are you still rejoicing? When nothing that should produce is not producing, are you exulting in God? Good thoughts to dwell on...

NEW STRONGEST KID IN THE WORLD - RIPPED ABS - RIPPED CHEST - WORLD'S STRONGEST KID

2009-11-13T23:54:00.001-05:00

Wicked. What kind of parent drives their kid like this...and what kinda person watches it and then posts on their blog?

Getting a degree

2009-11-08T09:50:00.007-05:00

This has definitely been a learning season in my life, which has been cool because I've been hungry to learn. I am taking two classes at my church, and have a weekly bible study of men I meet with... but it's not all been book learning. Additionally I'm learning how to and planning a wedding, not to mention learning how to love R and get ready to be married. There's been plenty I've been learning at work too, and in some personal reading, and also on a recent trip we took to DC. I'm truly enjoying this season of life, and how He's feeding me and preparing me and I know there's lots more to learn. But here are a few things I gained:

.Lessons Learned.
--Don't buy the Plane for the Peanuts. We've been taking a class at church called, RightStart. It's basically premarital counseling in a classroom setting -- we take a different topic each week and discuss it from a biblical and practical perspective. We've covered the topics of money, in-laws, conflict resolution, communication...all the other areas you should cover before getting married. It's been great, because it's brought up questions and topics we hadn't necessarily discussed indepth yet, so that's been helpful.

--Invest Wisely. Didn't mention this above but God's been teaching me a good deal about money lately. With things at work sorta drying up in October for a bit, I found my faith tested and lots of sin in my heart was exposed. It's easy to be content and trust the Lord for provision when things are fine. Not so much when times are tight plus you're thinking about providing for another in a few short months. But He's been faithful to change my heart. He brought to mind a quote I heard from a sermon awhile back: "The danger isn't making a lot of money--it's keeping a lot of money" and helped me realized that I hadn't really applied that yet. So, Rachel and I have been talking more about giving and setting that prescedent in our marriage...and it's been cool to watch God work when we obey in that area.

--Older and Wiser. Learning tons in my discipleship group. With two 50 somethings, three 40 somethings, 2 30 somethings, a couple other 20 somethings and a guy in his sixties leading it, it certainly looks different than groups I've been in the past. Also socio-economically it's pretty diverse -- a couple of the guys are docs, one owns his own company, and most are pretty established in their careers; so needless to say us 20somethings are learning a good bit from them on that front. But it's been cool to hear them discuss the passages and topics from their perspectives as parents, married guys with in-laws, and coaches of 7-year-old football teams. Sometimes I just sit back and listen...it's certainly a Harvard education on married life. And their prayer requests aren't about their personal struggles like most of the groups I've been in before...they are about their wives, kids, co-workers kids and such. It's helping me so much in this transition into marriage.

--With Rachel I'm learning further who she is and the incredible person I get to marry and spend the rest of my life with. Engagement is cool in that it gives girls that ever present sense of security they need and want but you can't always effectively communicate as a guy. Buy a ring, though and it'll do that :) [I'm not saying buying stuff solves problems, just keep tracking...] Anyway, it seems though to have a different effect on the guy...now we get into this "omg, i'm gonna be married, have to provide for, love and cherish fully this woman, like Christ the church no matter what life brings...am I ready?" And I've found the answer is no; or rather, I shouldn't be asking that question anyway. God knows and determines what I'm ready for, and as I'm seeing, He's constantly humbling and preparing me for this next step. Anyway, though, back to Rachel...We got to go up to DC back in September and hang with/meet some of her family. We stayed with her sister and bro-in-law that live basically 3 blocks from the Capital.

Then we went and hung with her grandparents a couple of times and also I met all her aunts and uncles that live in MD when they had an engagement party for us. It's a strange yet very cool feeling to meet someone for the first time knowing that very soon you'll be related. They were all so welcoming, and interesting people with cool jobs. Can't wait to get to know them better. We also drove by the house Rachel grew up in (she lived up there the first 6 years of her life) and also her first school...you just get to know a person better when you see some of their roots. I did and am even more excited about marrying her and being a part of this family.

This is getting long, so I'll just sum up what else I am learning. We went to the Newseum in DC too, I should mention, and it was a very educational day. Learned the roots of newspapers, saw some good quotes about them and journalism, and also about how technology has effected news...we spent like 4 hours there and only saw half of it. I came back with a sense that what I do is important, being part of the "Fourth Estate" in our nation. At work though, I have been humbled a lot through some different interactions with managers and clients. Definitely learning a lot there and seeking to honor God through my work. I mentioned that I'm taking another class at my church. Well, it's on the culture wars here in America and where the roots of modern liberalism and conservatism came from. Did you know that the whole movement of Politically Correctness is actually rooted in Marxism? I'll write a post on that soon, but needless to say it's been an eye opening experience with some interesting reading. I'm so thankful for my church that they offer such opportunities for further education.

So that's been my world lately...it feels like I'm getting a degree, actually several of them right now...in critical cultural thought, money management, and husbandry (?) and others. It's a treat being in school again, especially when the classmates and Teacher are so significant to me, and will be lifelong.

that's all for now. L'chaim!

Autumn from my view

2009-11-07T16:41:00.002-05:00

I've had a quintessentially fall day...driving up the winding roads of North Georgia to a trail head; breathing deeply the mountain air as the final vibrant orange leaves cascade down to join their brothers in the shuffle under my feet; feeling the mist of the waterfall on my face as I stand in the mountain shade and wonder why I'm wearing only a t-shirt. Back to my car at the trail head and down the bumpy dirt road to "ford" the stream again in my Camry (luckily only a few inches deep); then over, through, and to another mountain town as the masses congregate and congest the roads to enjoy the only dry autumn weekend in recent memory.

Wedding.
Literary Festival.
Photographs.
10-piece bluegrass band on the town square.
Pottery and Patty Griffin.
Decaf and WiFi.

I've needed this.

A good day, but not great...she's not with me.

Sin Was Necessary

2009-11-02T08:04:00.003-05:00

This passage from a Piper book has been shaking up my world lately. I read it a few months ago when a friend gave me this book, Spectacular Sins and their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ. But after a recent conversation with Rachel, I had to look up this paragraph again. I want to dwell on the Truth revealed here, because it's very powerful and will ever change how you view your sin, and the true purpose of it in our lives.

"Or consider 2 Timothy 1:9: '[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.' Saving grace was given to us before the ages began. That is, it was given to us before there was any human sin to save us from. Therefore, grace was planned before human sin was there to need it. This means that God's plan to save us through grace was not a response to human decisions to sin. Saving grace was the plan that made sin necessary. God did not find sin in the world and then make a plan to remedy it. he had the plan before the ages, and that plan was for the glory of sin-conquering grace through the deaht of Jesus Christ."

It really challenges the traditional view that Christ and redemption were "Plan B," because we screwed it up in the garden. Rather, the Truth is that before the world God was gracious and loving and redemptive, and sin was necessary for Him to display those aspects of His character to us. And sin still has a purpose for us in our walk; He convicts, we repent and are forgiven and love Him more because we're forgiven much and become more like Him in the process.

What do you think about this??

We're asking the wrong questions

2009-10-17T08:24:00.002-04:00

<>What am I going to do with my life?
<>How much money do I need to be making?
<>When can I get the next new gadget/car/trendy item of clothing?

It's subtle but these questions invoke the gospel of the kingdom of this world. The enemy would have us stay there, shackled unaware, not asking the Kingdom Questions:

.Who am I going to be?
.What cause can I give my money to?
.Who do I belong to?

he would have us preoccupied with productivity rather than purpose, prospecting for business rather than nurturing souls...the former distracts from significance and leads to wasting of a life; the latter leads to lasting impact and fulfillment.

What ?s are you asking? and do you know who they're coming from?

do I need to start looking

2009-10-06T07:34:00.003-04:00

this and this make me think so

Or I could follow these guys

Lord Save us From your Followers

2009-10-03T09:53:00.003-04:00

I went to see this documentary last night with Rachel and we quite enjoyed it. Revealed a lot of disturbing realities about how Christians are perceived, because of well, how they/we act in society...so we kinda already knew or expected some of it, but it was still hard to swallow. Known for hate rather than love, dividing instead of uniting, and as one guy on the street said, for "being nice people, but crazy wild behind closed doors, and that's a fact."* Yep, we really have missed the mark of what Christ modeled and desired for the Church to be. Luckily though for the average joes and janes in the movie, our behavior hasn't marred their view of who Jesus was.

The director of this documentary, Dan Merchant, through his interviews and the scenarios he sets up, reveals a lot of important facts about the state of the church in America: for one, that the average person on the right is not as educated, well-read, or just plainly aware of what's going on in the world, much less what the "other side" even believes. And his whole argument, (and I left convinced), is that we need to start having conversations where humility and understanding rule, not polarizing arguments in which we remain defensive and leave angry and worse off. It's not an argument for tolerance and acceptance of the other side, but rather civil debate and discussion on issues we feel are important; with an understanding that we are talking with (not dogmatically to) people with stories and reasons why and we need to seek to know them so we can love them.

There are a lot of cool situations where Merchant models that humility and shows it being displayed through Christian service; but I won't spoil that -- you need to go see it! Overall, it was humbling to watch, but very important for us to realize this so we can start learning to love and more fully align with God's purposes verses pushing our own agenda. It does start with humility, perhaps the church apologizing to those they have hated that Christ loves, and that might be a better way to fight this "culture war." Are those the weapons Paul spoke of that we have?
Anyways, go see this movie if it's in your city. It's at Regal near Perimeter Church in GA (only theatre in the state!) and looks like a few places in TX, NC, CA and Oregon where Merchant is from. Start engaging in the conversation!!

*my paraphrase :)

It wasn't me...

2009-09-24T17:39:00.000-04:00

I promise!!

(my old roommate thought this guy was me from his picture...but i don't mess with those WMDs....anymore:)

Please pray!

2009-09-22T10:15:00.001-04:00

Just got this email from my friend that lives in Venz. Please pray for him today and through the weekend

Please pray! Tomorrow I am driving to our secondary camp, taking lots of things in my pick up. Thursday I am driving back. It is completely a bad idea drive outside the city without your passport since I do not have a visa. Friday I am flying outside the country, which is impossible to pull off without a passport! For 6 years I have been praying for a visa. As we speak, my passport is in process for a visa. It was supposedly going to be ready 2 weeks ago. I am praying like crazy that my passport and visa come out ready today. PLEASE pray pray pray! And get your friends praying!!!!!

...how you Play the Game

2009-09-18T06:00:00.001-04:00

That's been the lesson lately. Whether it's with
Serena Williams and her outburst last weekend that cost her the match...or

Michael Jordan and his tearful, yet bitter and vindictive Hall of Fame acceptance speech, I've been reminded that that old cliche is true. These are sports' greats, but in these moments they've revealed their heart as their mouth overflowed from it...and it wasn't pretty.

And when I've been squeezed lately, I haven't liked what's come out either...

I also was reminded of this last weekend when I watched "Frost/Nixon." Great film, and in it you see the a former president who's out for the almighty dollar at every turn, attracted to the allure of style and celebrity, but there's no price that will make him do the one thing which the American people value above everything else: apologize. Must've been early on in his life that he developed that habit of sweeping things under the rug, justifying it to himself, and lying however he needs to for it to remain in the dark. But as we all know, the truth eventually came out...and it cost him everything. You'll pay now or you'll pay later as we know...and later it usually costs more.

Yes, winning and losing doesn't matter as much, but character, who you are, matters. It's amazing how easily we delude ourselves into thinking we'll be fine, no one will find out, and that we deserve this or owe it to ourselves. When we believe those things, we are listening to the lies of the enemy! We are entitled to nothing, except hell, and anything other than that is grace. Yes, how much one sells doesn't matter as much as *how* ones sells it, and how they interacted with their clients and their team. Those things are more eternal, my heart is eternal, and that's what matters to God.

Healthcare

2009-09-15T02:11:00.003-04:00

The debate has died down a bit after last week's speech...or maybe I've just stopped watching the news about it. But I thought it was worth posting here the Republican side (they're not all crazy Joe Wilsons afterall). This is from one of our reps from Georgia, Tom Price. He's been one of the leaders on the HR 3400, which at first glance to me, seems to be less radical, more affordable option. What do you think?

Something does need to be done on this, apparently... but I personally think there are more urgent problems right now.

Tim Hawkins - Corporate Worship Songs

2009-09-04T07:46:00.001-04:00

Funny

Headed to DC

2009-09-03T19:28:00.001-04:00

Yep, we're headed up there for the weekend for some family visiting and sight seeing. Have you been lately? We've both been a few times, so have seen lots of the normal main sights. Is there anything up there you would recommend us seeing or a place we should eat? Comment if so (and I'm expecting to hear from a certain Hyde Park Hero 'cause you lived up there so long--guess we missed you by one week!)
Happy Labor Day

in other news

2009-08-25T22:51:00.003-04:00

I'm engaged!

God is gracious, and loving, and is a miracle-working, always working redemption in our lives...He's certainly done that through Rachel. I'll have to share the proposal story with you sometime soon...it's cheesy and sappy and "us." We love it. you will too.

But for now, to God be the glory...and may He grant grace as we plan this event :)

"even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist." -- Romans 4:17

City of God

2009-08-25T20:01:00.002-04:00

I came across this blog the other day....thought it was an interesting read, and I plan on reading to see what the other two parts are. Seems like he's basing a lot on what Tim Keller says ( I haven't checked out the Resurgence as the footnote says) but I think it is extrapolating a lot to say "Be fruitful and multiply...rule the earth and subdue it" means God was telling Adam to create culture and build a city. But I'll have to look into that. fascinating topic.
What do you think?

I know, I know

2009-08-11T12:37:00.002-04:00

I need to blog. I've got lots of ideas but not lots of time to sit down and write. That's not good for my soul-- honestly, I'm getting a little congested. Carving out time this weekend at some point to write is a must.

But I've been doing some exciting things, which I'll write about soon. Like camping last weekend and caving! My roommate went too (read about it here) and it ended up being quite the adventure. Hours of trekking, sliding, and army-crawling through muck and mud deep below the earth's surface-- can you imagine a more fun time?

Thanks for checking in, though. I'll be sure to write some more thoughts soon. In the meantime, check out this site on a conference coming up in October. It's speakers and workshops all focused around the idea of "story."

"Hey -- We're all human"

2009-08-04T15:36:00.006-04:00

If I'm hearing it, you're forgiving me of a shortcoming.

If I'm saying it, then I'm forgiving you...

but if I'm honest, I'm really saying you didn't meet my standards of what humans should be. Perfect, like me, or like I perceive myself to be.

There are two standards working here. Mine for myself, and mine for you, the latter being much higher. I can slip up and most of time give myself more grace; but you, oh no...you should've known what I wanted, when you should've shown up, that I needed you to do x by y time. Plenty of benefit of doubt for me, not so much for you.

Just a hunch, but I bet this sounds familiar.

Nobody's perfect, right? especially me. Yet, I still hope and expect you to be in your actions towards me.

yes, although often unspoken, these expectations of Eden linger....

Christian Art

2009-08-01T09:54:00.002-04:00

I read this article this week too, thanks to Arnold's posting about it. Even though it was written 25 years ago, it still speak to the struggle and development and mission of artists...something I believe to some degree is timeless. Here's a few excerpts:

A warfare is presently under way in society... In the culture of the Western world we are witnessing the sterilization of the visual arts to a degree unprecedented in civilization. The art of our times is already despiritualized; now it is becoming dehumanized as well, as life itself is dehumanized...The decline of culture is alarming, for our culture most clearly reveals us to ourselves and to the world. Grants will not pump life back when the spirit has fled.

As the creation of a human life demands everything of the mother-creator, so too the artist dies and is reborn again in every true act of making. It would be a narcissistic and ultimately self-defeating journey if it were made merely to increase a hoard of private treasure. But invariably where there is vision the artist has understood that his hard-won victories are gifts to be shared with the rest of humanity, fire carried back from the unknown country of his quest. The artist is all idealist, and for him the ideal is the real, capable of transforming his world into what it should be. For Western man it is difficult to grasp this curious vocation. He misreads art as decoration, entertainment, or a tool for imparting information.

And I can't find the quote right now, but he writes about the artists struggle to create through his art what cannot be seen except with spiritual eyes, a redeemed beautiful world. And before he can create that through his art, he must be taken to the "desert" and God must birth that in him first. You can't create, or give away what is not been worked into your own life first.

This is my heart beat too, discovering how to use creative arts to show the world the beauty unseen, the world not yet revealed. But I'm right now experiencing that humbling, dying, and hollowing out of the desert...waiting for the rebirth.

This affected me today

2009-07-26T23:13:00.002-04:00

Link

Don't know how I feel about the dream stuff (in the second video on this page), but I know God spoke to me through it mainly because of the topic. I happen to be passionate about it. What do you think?

Car Time

2009-07-21T23:59:00.002-04:00

When in a relationship, I've found that getting that "car time" is so crucial, just to get those extended conversations and really catch up.* It's hard in the busy-ness of life, to fit that in otherwise; so when you get the chance to go on a long trip or go drive across town together, it is so great to get that chance to catch up, but also discuss deeper issues or ideas. With Rachel and I, this has been the case. I look forward sometimes to the drive more than the actual place or event we're going to, because I know we'll get to the bottom of some things, or discuss a topic for an extended period of time, unlike our normal quick phone calls interrupting each others' work days. It's helpful, too because when you are in "close quarters" like that, as my mom used to say, and an issue or conflict comes up, you can't really avoid it, you have to deal with it:) Someday I'll learn to carve out some time to have these important conversations, but for now I'll make use of our car time and take what I can get.

*this was even key back when i started dating in high school. I remember once I asked a girl out on a date to a movie, and she said she'd "meet me there"..."Meet me there?" then what's the point? We're gonna have no "car time," thus no conversation or even debriefing of the movie afterwards, so might as well just call this what it is--a free movie night for you. Wasn't thrilled about that, but I think I did it anyway, 'cause a meet-at-the-movie date was better than no date, right?

What do you think this verse is about?

2009-07-15T13:03:00.002-04:00

Proverbs 13:5

My footnote implied something "stinky"

Recent Thoughts

2009-07-14T12:05:00.002-04:00

Has anyone else noticed that all of TNT's shows fit into just two categories? Apparently "We Know Drama" = shows about cops or hospitals. Is that all people care about watching? Seems to be plenty of drama at my office, but maybe people wouldn't want to watch that. Guess that's what happened to "Trust Me." Stick with what works, eh?

Speaking of work (sort of), I've realized recently that in America it seems like we really only have a 3-day work week. Mondays seems to be full of meetings, which although intended to help organize, actually keep you tied up and keep you from getting things done; plus you leave the meeting with more "action points" but less time to do it. Then we work Tues-Thursday for the most part. Then on Friday everybody works a half day at most, checking out early (esp. during the summer) so it's hard to get business done then. Do you agree with this? Seems like even if your office or you decide to work a full week, it might not even matter because most offices are structured this way, thus the decision makers are not available and you can't get things done even though you want to. Am I right or no?

I need to learn to play guitar. Or even just piano. Seriously. Depending on others to provide instrumentation is really hindering my rockstar career. I gotta get on this or I'll never take off.

I have great friends

2009-07-09T20:24:00.003-04:00

My bday was last wk, and my friends showed me lots of love -- they always do. Went to a pub with the guys one night, some of whom I hadn't caught up with in awhile -- always good to do that.

And one particular young lady treated me especially well with some unique and special gifts over several days.

Isn't this little photoshop wonder awesome? It came with the caption "I would jump out of a cake for you anyday!" cracked me up...had to share it with ya'll.

Thanks Rachel and everyone for all the gifts and birthday wishes.

Big Red Commercial

2009-07-04T01:37:00.001-04:00

Here's a blast from the past...remember these commercials?

Proverbs for Sanford

2009-07-02T17:26:00.001-04:00

So we've all heard about the drama swirling around South Carolina's governor, Mr. Mark Sanford. I must say I was bummed out hearing that, especially because he's a Furman Alum...

but what was interesting last week was that as I watched all of this play out, I just happened to be in my Bible study around Proverbs chapters 5-7. Don't know if you've read it lately, but it's all about warning again the "strange foreign woman" and her scandalous eyelids. It's pretty strong language, and rightfully so...Sanford's probably wishing he had hidden it in his heart instead of these lies about his Argentenian mistress, who was also married, i think. Anyway, check it out yourself...first from Chapter 5:

For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;
but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.
She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths are crooked, but she knows it not

and...what Sanford must be thinking now...(from Chapter 5, starting at vs 11)

At the end of your life you will groan,
when your flesh and body are spent.
You will say, "How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!
I would not obey my teachers
or listen to my instructors.
I have come to the brink of utter ruin
in the midst of the whole assembly.

there's no larger assembly than a nationally televised press conference...

Then another stern warning from Chapter 6, vs 25

Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes,
for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread,
and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without his clothes being burned?
Can a man walk on hot coals
without his feet being scorched?
So is he who sleeps with another man's wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished....
But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment;
whoever does so destroys himself.

I told you it was strong...but fitting isn't it? Didn't Sanford's weepy, bumbling, press conference (in which he first apologized to his mistress, then South Carolinians, THEN his family) make him look like a fool? He truly had been reduced to a loaf of bread.

But what I also noticed there and in some of the news coverage was the destructive nature of adultery...obviously it destroys the marriage and lives involved around it. But one psychologist interviewed mentioned how men involved in adultery have lots of deeper issues of self-hatred, and cheating is one of many destructive habits they have. Think about that, and take for instance Ephesians 5 that speaks of healthy marriage and love...quite a juxtaposition to these verses and habits in Proverbs. There Paul writes, and God says "He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church..." So does it follow that if one is not loving his wife, and even committing adultery, it's because he doesn't care for and love himself? I don't know, just noticing these things...what are your thoughts?

I'll leave you with one final admonishment...
God says, and Solomon in Chapter 7 writes:

Do not let your heart turn to her way,
or stray into her paths.
Many are the victims she has brought down;
her slain are a mighty throng.
Her house is a highway to the grave,
leading down to the chambers of death.

Sadly, we must add Sanford to her list of victims...

On Twitter

2009-07-02T09:24:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned in my MJ post the other day, this has been a big week for the intraweb...specifically twitter. Check out what the creator of twitter said about it;) I'm especially interested in this because I've been thinking about it some for work and how we can use it to stay connected to clients; but also I just signed up for my own account; you can follow me here. Let the tweeting begin!

A Day in the life

2009-07-01T16:25:00.004-04:00

I need to vent.

Every week (sometimes a few times each week) I'm required to go pick up a check from some of my clients for their ads. It's just part of the job. Well, as of late (you might've heard something about the state of our economy on those news stations) most folks are not especially excited about paying their bills. Also, because the economy's in the crapper and hardly anyone is buying, we greatly reduced rates and increased options to encourage people to buy. Some have...but often the smallest ad at the best rate, which is great for them, because their marketing payment is smaller...but it's not so great for me. We've helped them out that way, and you think they'd repay us, well...by paying us, quickly, or on time at least. Not the case. This little situation usually leaves me trapesing all over town for these measly little peon clients and then waiting and waiting to get them to give me a check.

You'd be amazed at how people act when you come in to get money....they'll scoot out the back, hop in the car and drive away! What...have I got the plague or something? Or worse, they'll make you wait and wait forever til they "find their checkbook." My favorite thing to do then is walk around their store "shopping," feigning interest in their birdseed, or cat litter, or whatever widgets they are selling. Eventually I get a check though, and then I'm on my way to sell another little ad to another little client.

Oh for the good ol' days of big ticket clients who were billed and paid their bills on time; and if they didn't they were our accounting department's problem.

I'm too young to be wishing for the good ol' days....

the pursuit continues...

2009-06-30T23:16:00.002-04:00

got this little gem of a resource today from a client's son of all people. Click around there; great idea because those Hollywood execs are looking for good scripts too, and this site is connecting the dreamers to them. The client's son actually got a call from an agent! I need to look into this once I've got a script written.

nice gift on a special day.

If you were thinking about flying in an Airbus...

2009-06-29T23:03:00.003-04:00

don't. Looks like another one has done a disappearing act.

Barrett & Jessa's slidesho'

2009-06-29T21:17:00.002-04:00

This is why I haven't been blogging lately...spent some time working on this with Rachel for our friends' wedding rehearsal dinner last week. And I had a great time creating this with her...the best parts of it were her idea, including the photoshopped pictures...plus Barrett and Jessa are fun folks with fun lives so we enjoyed working on it and doing this for them. Hope you enjoy!

The Curious Case of Michael Jackson

2009-06-28T18:42:00.005-04:00

So, I know you've all been waiting for it --my reaction to Michael Jackson's passing. (or just my return to blogging --it's been too long) Well, in all the news coverage (which has been quite sad that a pop star's passing can distract us from more pressing issues like what's happening in Iran, what does that say about us?... but also strangely fascinating at the same time -- I've watched/read more of it than I care to admit:) there's something I noticed about him: the enigmatic way in which he aged.

There's of course always been a lot of talk about his lack of childhood, and the problems that caused...but I've heard a couple of industry people's perspectives on that that knew him early on and they said that was his own choice. His talent, passion, and ambition drove him to want more than most kids want and to do something with the gifts he had, so he pursued it, and with much success because he was dedicated and smart and savvy about it. I even heard one of his producers say that as a boy he seemed like a middle-aged business man; and I heard a quote from Michael himself on the radio yesterday alluding to people saying to him when he was young that he seemed like a 42-year-old man trapped in a boy's body.

Fast forward to when he actually was middle-aged, and we are all familiar with who he had become; buying Neverland, hanging around children, acting irresponsible with his finances and impulsive spending. Even his voice and the types of strange things he did as he got older, from wearing masks for no reason to palling around and throwing water balloons with Macauley Culkin; it was all so childish and backwards. He became a child now trapped in a grown man's body. He was the original Benjamin Button, curiously aging backwards...

But why did he digress so? He must have regretted the choices he made early on to not be a normal child but rather pursue success, and thinking he missed out and sought after it. Or the world and it's success was not all it cracked up to be and he longed for that simpler life that alluded him now that the spotlight of fame was on him. But whatever his motivation, these bizarre behaviors later in his life were his choice; he was not a victim. It's still sad though because he was a man searching for more from life, and along with his ambiguous age, his sexuality and race also seemed to be ever-changing and morphing. This is fascinating because although he was seeking so desperately to be fully human and alive, he changed the most naturally human things about himself.

In other thoughts, MJ's death along with the Iran situation made for quite a week online and with social media. Searches when his death was announced nearly brought the internet down, which is crazy in and of itself. But these two events alone have shown the capacity of social media, twitter specifically, to help disseminate news and even rally a revolution...fascinating stuff. That's all for now

A little too wild at heart...

2009-06-15T20:32:00.002-04:00

Did you hear about this? Crazy, you never know how people are going to take what you write. That makes it all the more important that you make sure it's anchored in Scripture, especially if you purport to be a Christian author.

What's your take on Eldredge? This scenario?

Kiss A Girl

2009-06-12T23:31:00.004-04:00

There's a song I've really been enjoying a lot lately...Keith Urban's "Kiss a Girl." It's a great tune, good melody and pep to it; but I think I'm loving it because it reminds me of what I felt about a year ago when I had my first kiss. She had just helped me pack up some boxes as I was moving later that weekend...we were out in the parking lot, standing by her car, under the moonlight, and she was irresistible. I, nervously doodling in the condensation on her back window, working up the nerve, and then...

It's that moment when
You start closing in
First you're holding back
Then surrendering

It can start a fire
Light up the sky
Such a simple thing
Do you wanna try?

Are you ready to
Say goodbye
To all these blues?

I wanna kiss a girl
I wanna hold her tight
And maybe make a little magic in the moonlight

Don't wanna go too far
Just to take it slow
But I shouldn't be lonely in this big ol' world
I wanna kiss a girl

and after a year, and many kisses later:) she still makes me feel that way...

Sunday service

2009-06-09T12:37:00.002-04:00

We began with thoughts on his Holiness, the goodness and beauty of it, and how it leaves us in wonder, in awe, revering and fearing Him.
Then we commenced in singing some fitting and perfect oldies but goodies...God of Wonders, Holy Holy Holy, We Bow Down...the theme of wonder at His holiness continued.
And the natural next response at regarding His perfection is confession our imperfections...so we did. "We've fallen short, we've loved other things...We would rather have You!" (What a beautiful way to phrase that) And we were assured of our forgiveness, as He is just in granting it as He died for the unjust to secure it.
On we went in hearing the word, and responding again later in Song, his people together worshipping Him, declaring His goodness and holiness. And pleading to change us so we reflect Him to the watching world.

It was a special service; not sure why or what about it was unique this week, but I encountered God. And that was enough.

A Plug

2009-06-06T11:35:00.003-04:00

I've been meaning to give a plug on here to a friend who's starting her own company. It's called Edit By Lauren, and she is a personal shopper. I actually used her a while back and she helped me find some great deals and "up my style" a bit--I def. needed it...who knew that button-up short sleeve shirts weren't cool? um...me, but I do now.
I've been helping her some with her marketing, getting her some columns in our women's magazine at work, and encouraging her to start a blog. Well, the blog has taken off, getting her hits from California and beyond. Check it out here for some great advice, links and ideas.
She's about to launch a cool website too...stay tuned for that.

on Acupuncture

2009-06-06T09:50:00.002-04:00

I came across this this morning. This topic of acupuncture has come up some recently as a client of mine told me she had started using laser acupuncture on patients and it's really working -- for everything from rheumatory arthritus to autism. It's based on the principle that sickness and ailments in our bodies are there because there are disruptions to our balance and flow of energy in our bodies, and acupuncture and other Eastern practices restores that balance. Well, this got me intrigued, and I've been asking different friends about it. My medical student friends seem to say there is undeniably something to it. But I was wondering about the Christian perspective on it. Just seems a little hokie and mystical, my client even admitted that. Well apparently the Resurgence is writing some thoughts on it now, so I'm interested to see what conclusions they come to. What are you thoughts? Have you had any experiences with it?

Bizarre Brazilian Plane Episode

2009-06-02T10:12:00.005-04:00

Have you heard about this? Well here is the latest. Seems they found some debris, but not much. Still only have theories as to where it went...this is so bizarre. Makes me think of Lost, and they are back in 1977 now. Or maybe the Bermuda Triangle was a factor here. A true mystery. What do you think happened?

reading (and planting)

2009-05-31T22:53:00.002-04:00

finally doing more of the former -- specifically Flannery O'Connor. My roommate is too, check out his post here for some of his reactions/responses to her short stories. I plan to write some of my own soon. Meanwhile I'll keep reading.

But wanted to post some quick thoughts as I got to visit a church plant nearby tonight. Over the last few years, through singing at my church, I've had the privilege of visiting several different young ones in North Georgia to help with worship, and I always leave blessed. By the faith of the "planters"--both the pastors and core groups; by the genuine community I observe; by the stories I hear of how God is working; by their generosity and appreciation as well as their cooking (they always feed us:). It really is always a sweet and refreshing time, leaving an amply-resourced, well-oiled machine of a church, and going and beholding a new thing God is doing, in all it's fledgling, fumbling, feedback-y, faith-filled, "I-guess-I'll-do-the-announcements-because-our-youth-minister-is-not-here-because-he-was-out-late-camping-with-the-youth-and-got-sick"-nicity. It's like cracking open an acorn and glancing inside, thinking about how within that dirt-looking stuff, there's the makings of a grand oak tree. It's a hopeful, exciting chance to look at what's He's doing on this side of accomplishing the specific vision for each church plant.

So folks, go visit a young church plant in your city. You'll be glad you did.

"The more I seek, the more I'm sought"

2009-05-27T22:35:00.003-04:00

So I started my Saturday catching up on some blogs, and read one of my favorites from my girlfriend's brother-in-law. It's one of my favorite blogs because he always has great thoughts on politics or spirituality and more; links to articles about stuff i'm interested in but don't know about yet, or he introduces music or websites that I don't know about yet but end up loving. Plus he's a good writer. It literally has changed my life (seriously--his blog was the first place that I heard about mint.com and it has really helped me keep my finances in order this year).

Anyway, one of the posts I read on Saturday morning from Justin did not disappoint. He blogged about his experience going to hear Joe Pug at a concert in DC. As you'll see from his description, he is a talented musician, as well as a raw and honest lyricist, that performs with courage. There is even an embedded recording of his song Hymn 101 here on his blog (did I mention his blog rocks? I mean, I don't even know how to do that) and I think you should go give it a listen and enjoy. It's good music--reminds you of other greats, and it'll get you thinking...

More on Cycles

2009-05-26T16:54:00.004-04:00

continuing my thoughts from last week, we don't only learn a lot about ourselves in our reaction to these repetitive cycles in life -- we also learn a bit about God. As Arnold commented, it shows us His constancy -- that as the sun rises each day, and the seasons consistently come the same time each year, we can rely on Him and expect Him to be faithful every morning. But as we look at Jesus, the one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, we see how God lowered Himself, forfeiting all priveledges of status, and condescended to become human. In the Incarnation we see the humility of God, that he was willing to subject himself to the even mundane cycles of human life to show us how to live and redeem the mundane. Imagine Jesus doing his chores for Mary, or paying bills, or cooking as God.

But perhaps that teaches us about who we are to be--how to be fully human. We are designed for that rhythm, a schedule, not to be wanderers looking for purpose. Jesus modeled that, as God didn't just ask us to do all things fully to the glory of God, but He sent Jesus to show us what that looks like. He lived it out before us -- in humility and out of his love.

The Mighty became weak. So must we.

American Idol Winner

2009-05-20T15:22:00.002-04:00

Who will it be??

My pick is Kris...Although Adam is more polished and has a strong voice, I just prefer Kris' style. Plus, this is supposed to be about discovering a star, but Adam was already touring with Wicked and sorta had already made it. This will definitely boost his career, but I don't like how AI has done this the last few years, letting folks audition and get through who have been discovered already and even had previous recording deals. Anyway, Kris is talented, has a great voice, and I'll definitely get his album.
That's my 2 cents, but we'll see tonight...

Circle of Life

2009-05-20T10:21:00.002-04:00

As I was shaving this morning, I started thinking about the cyclical nature of life. You wake up every morning, and need to shave and shower again. Then you eat, then you drive to work, open your email, start the day. After you go through it all it's time to brush your teeth and go to bed again. The trash needs to be put out every Monday night. The laundry needs to be done again (didn't i JUST do that?). The client needs their ad changed yet again. Time for another haircut. To every season, turn, turn, turn...

The rhythm of it all can be nice, if you embrace it, but it can also be annoying. Because with each trip to the gas pump or grocery store or dentist, we are reminded of our dependence. On God, on others, on sleep, on good hygiene. We can't do it on our own. We are in need and our prideful, self-worshipping parts of us that want to be God do not like that. But in humility we can accept that this rhythm and cycle is a very a beautiful reminder of who we are, and Who upholds us...

more to come...

My cousin

2009-05-18T12:42:00.002-04:00

Autumn Christopher, recently was featured as a part of her church's Mother's Day service. She is a single mother, and they picked a few in the church to bless in a special way this year. Check out the video on her blog to see her story. It's a beautiful picture of the gospel, and how God's love for us is extravagant and overwhelming. He is good! (oh, and she ain't kidding about grabbing a klennex--it's a tear-jerker!)

The Way I see it # 76

2009-05-15T08:34:00.002-04:00

You don't often read great quotes on your starbucks cup, but I thought this one was a good thought:

"The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating -- in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life."

-- Anne Morriss, starbucks customer in NYC. She describes herself as an "organization builder, restless American citizen, optimist."

I think that's true. The allure of possibility is something I've written about before here and here, but it's shackling in a way because it cripples you from actually deciding and living any of the options. Committing and deciding is freeing though...what are your thoughts on this? especially that last line of her quote...

Small Hinges

2009-05-13T11:29:00.005-04:00

...swing big doors. That's a saying a heard once, and it's a thought I've been brewing over the last few days as I've noticed how a single thought or mistake can affect so much. Take for example Louis Caldera. He's the White House military aide who was responsible for the huge gaff that was the $300k+ Air Force One flyover in NYC that caused panic for everyone in lower Manhattan on April 27. Nevermind that no one thought of photoshopping a new pic in front of Lady Liberty, the apparent whole debacle was not stopped nor the public appropriately warned bc Caldera didn't read his email!! He also was on quite a bit of pain meds, I guess, but now after embarrassing the administration, and wasting quite a chunk of taxpayer's money, he's out of a job!

Or take for example the goof up at a recent big event my girlfriend's company held the other week. At a event with over a thousand business executives and leaders, they were having a VIP luncheon just for the folks that had registered for it and paid an extra 200 bucks. It included a nice hot lunch with the event's speakers, and a bundle of books and other gifts. Well, when it came to lunchtime, over 70 extra people showed up for this exclusive lunch, making for long lines, not enough seats or lunches, grumpy VIPs and pretty much mass choas. After lunch they accessed the problem and realized that the person entering the registerations had for whatever reason, failed to fill in a column on the spread sheet so the VIP numbers were off. A simple oversight had had a major affect.

Or how about the story of James Andrews, the consultant that quickly offended his companies biggest client through a thoughtless "tweet"? The online world has certainly compounded the affect of these thoughtless deeds -- someone can always google your name to read about your mistakes if largescale enough.

This is true in life-- that those simple, seemingly miniscule decisions can affect things greatly. The short email with a questionable tone quickly escalates into a feud between co-workers. The insensitive joke on a talk show causes an uprising among the group offended. And Every affair starts with a simple glance, or a little joke, or a playful touch...and the ramifications are huge -- lost marriages, hurt children -- entire lifetimes are affected. These choices will cause an effect at some point down the line -- you reap what you sow. So we must battle and redeem every moment.

But on the flip side of this, a simple positive word or thought has a great effect for the good too. A smile or thoughtful word redeems a persons day. A kind letter for your spouse brightens their week. An inspirational speech propels a movement for decades until the dream is accomplished.

You can be a thought leader. You can redeem or ruin each moment. The choice is yours.

Plymouth Rock Reenactment

2009-05-05T10:48:00.001-04:00

Some fun with my friends on our recent New England tour

Today

2009-05-04T17:56:00.002-04:00

sometimes Mondays do feel like Mondays
the weather has more of an effect on me than i'd like to admit. so do circumstances. and emotions. my hope is more secure than all of that, all the time, but sometimes....

keep on, keeping on, right? it'll all come out in the wash. slow and steady wins the race...cliches are of little comfort now; need something with more substance, meaning.
I know that'll come, and it'll be sweet when it does.

ps. don't be worried, just needed to let some air out

Happy Birthday, Shakespeare

2009-04-23T23:17:00.001-04:00

He's 445 today, and to commemorate that, here's a video of Piper doing some Shakespeare. It starts with just a bit of a normal performance of Alonso's speech from Act 3 of The Tempest, and then goes into the Piper interpretation of it. Enjoy

A Font Story

2009-04-19T22:30:00.003-04:00

Funny story about a movement to ban a font that designers feel is too cliche and overused. Good, interesting read to me, because I was just wondering the other day about how fonts are created, who designs them, etc. This is about Comic Sans, and the new group that's seeking now to ban it. Here's a quote:

"Typefaces convey meaning, typographers say. Helvetica is an industry standard, plain and reliable. Times New Roman is classic. Depending on your point of view, Comic Sans is fun, breezy, silly or vulgar and lazy. It can be 'analogous to showing up for a black-tie event in a clown costume,' warns the Ban Comic Sans movement's manifesto."

Holy Week

2009-04-06T16:29:00.002-04:00

It's here. What is God teaching you about Himself this Easter? I can tell you, the cross looks a lot different this year because of what I've been learning about how much Jesus accomplished there, and what I've been reading. Once and for all, it is finished.

What are you learning?

Worthy Causes

2009-04-04T14:36:00.001-04:00

Raising funds during a recession? Sounds like a juxtaposition our gracious God who raises the dead and does the impossible would love to take on. And you can get involved! Watch this video below from a friend of mine who's in Caracas, Venezula leading a Christian school there.

The campaign is called TenBucks and you can find out more info at the link to the right or here.

Tenbucks

2009-04-04T14:35:00.001-04:00

I did it

2009-04-02T22:03:00.006-04:00

I ran a half marathon. 13.1 miles! in under 2 hrs (by 30 seconds :) And it felt great!! Well, during the race, anyway...the few days after were a different story. Oh, my knees...but during the race I had a little extra pep in my step, and I really think I can attribute that to the sprints I did one day each week during my training. It really makes a world of difference--you've got that extra boost when you need it, and it does wonders for your breathing too.
a little pump up music
and I'm ready to hop on Marta...

So what did I learn in this process of training for & completing a half-marathon? My body does what I tell it to do.

The morning of the race (at about 4:30--had to get up to catch Marta, plus it was hard to sleep, i was stoked!!), God led me to read 1 Cor 9:19-27 (the passage I later realized was on our Justice Team shirt we all wore). These are the verses that talk about becoming all things to all people in order to win some; and about running the race in such a way that you may win; and then running with purpose and aim. Then it goes on to say "I bruise my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified."
I mulled over these verses a lot as I ran...you get in that zone, you know, where you can do some good thinking. Besides, the scenery was amazing -- nifty neighborhoods I had seen and had some fond memories in; and others I hadn't yet discovered. But as I kept going, I realized, we often become victims of our wills, or our emotions, or our circumstances even and follow them and succomb to them; rather than "exercising self-control," as this passage says to, and willing ourselves to do the right thing. Now, I'm not talking about self-reliance here, or mustering up righteousness that we don't have; I'm talking about simple obedience. He tells us he'll give us an out in every scenario, and that we now have His Spirit within us to empower us. We have no excuse.

Hopefully these thoughts will pervade other areas of my life, not just running. Because I make a lot of excuses: when I can't get up in the morning. when I miss my quota. when I don't feel like loving that annoying guy. Then I must beat my body, I must speak truth to my spirit, and obey. It will do what I tell it to.

A strong weekly newspaper

2009-03-29T17:59:00.004-04:00

Read about this the other day.

The Austin Chronicle, a weekly newspaper as funky and idiosyncratic as the town it covers, continues to thrive with a relentlessly local news agenda — state government, the school board and the City Council, along with deep coverage of the arts — and a willingness to lead, as opposed to simply criticize, in artistic matters.

And did you know that this famous film, art, and technology festival was started by a weekly newspaper? At a time when everyone keeps talking about print being dead and newspapers not be viable anymore, this gives me hope. Afterall, we need the accountability and investigative reporting; we need the local coverage; put simply, we need good journalism. Who's gonna do it instead? bloggers? We don't to live in a world where journalism is watered down to a blogger with an axe to grind, and no credentials save an opinion and the ability to type.

Anyway, back to the Austin Chronicle, makes me wish we thought of something like this, and had the staff to support it; but I think with the shrinking and dying dailies, an unprecedented opportunity awaits the free weekly world...
We'll see soon...