Conversation of the Day: Cutting-Edge Conservative Thought

I went downtown to buy envelopes this morning, and one of our deacons came up to me in his hoveraround wheelchair. This was our conversation:

Ronnie: I have an email to send to you, do you have an email address?
Me: I do. The easiest way to get to it is to read it out of the bulliten. Do you have one.
Ronnie: No I don't. Have any of you got the H1N1 vaccine yet?
Thrift Store Owner: I don't plan to.
Church Pianist: No I haven't
Ronnie: Don't get it. It has microchips in it.
Church Pianist: Ohhhh. Why?
Ronnie: It is in the book of Revelation. The number of the Beast. All that stuff.
Me: Ronnie....there are no microchips in the Bible!
Church Pianist: (Laughs)
Ronnie: Yes, but the Bible talks about the end times, and those that number of the beast will not go to heaven
Me: Ronnie, I think the mark of the beast is something that we choose
Ronnie: You ever watch Glen Beck?
Thrift Store Lady: Oh I love watching him. He is entertaining. He gets so excited everyday I think he is going to have a heart attack in the middle of the show.
Ronnie:Well. That is how we know it is true. My email is from Glen Beck.
Me: Well...I need to go get those envelopes...see you all soon (walks into grocery store)

Technology Video

Beloit Mindset List

I have always thought the Beloit mindset list is interesting and thought provoking. This year is no different.

Check out the information about this year's seniors and this years freshmen in high school.

Social Networking Info

ht ElShaddai Edwards

Should I say it or not? Your input needed...

My new mantra about communication. I wimped out in sharing it at my last public communication to church people. I think I might include it in my presentation to pastors about social networking. What do you think?

Communication is like foreplay. About the time we think we might be overdoing it is about the time we are doing it right--Clint Walker

A Spiritual Place

Tonight I was watching Property Virgins on HGTV. Fantasizing about buying a home someday is one of our guilty pleasures. Our viewing tonight was especially interesting, because the prospective buyer was talking about finding a place that was "spiritual" for her. I found this interesting because her definition of a spiritual place was not anywhere near what any spiritual tradition would call a holy place. For the woman on the show a "spiritual" place was a place that was cozy, move-in ready, and at an affordable price.

This woman seemed to be a very flighty new-agey sort. But this snippet of her life showed her to be an example of much of contemporary America. I think many folks in the United States and the Western world are not that much different than this woman. We think of a place that ministers to our spirit as luxurious, comfortable, and aestetically pleasing. Christians build retreat centers in beautiful places in the mountains these days, or next to beautiful beaches to walk on. These places have wi-fi, laundry service, a cozy bed in a comfortable room, sometimes you even recieve a mint on your pillow.

Our contemporary idea of spiritual as comfortable, safe, easy, and cozy has nothing to do with what people have thought of as sacred spaces throughout history. The sacred places of Hebrew culture are barren wilderness one can die in, and remote mountains that most people were scared to climb. The Buddha left the comfort of the palace to embrace poverty and near starvation in order find spiritual enlightenment. Early Christian places of spiritual enlightenment were found in small "cells" in the desert of Northern Africa. The monasteries of Europe were drafty rooms in stone built structures, and beauty was only created in these places through the backbreaking work that accompanied monastic contemplation. Holy places throughout the world are dank and smelly barns and caves, in places that scared the average person, and made them overcome their longings for finer foods, temprate climates, and more jovial company.

In short, throughout religious history and tradition, from Islam to Christianity to the Native Spiritualities of North America, spiritual places were not comfortable places. They were places that required work and strength to survive in. They were places that inspired mystery and confusion. They required scarcity and relinquishment. Too bad we have redefined "spiritual places" as all-inclusive resorts, move-in ready homes with massive amounts of square footage, or a night at the Hilton with a bubble bath.

Best of What's Around

Don Miller's Post on Fatigue of Self

Eric Lundy's Manscaping Adventure for Charity

Amy Seeking Discernment

Becca on "Writer's Crushes"

Scot McKnight's review of Tim Keller's newest

Thought Provoking Political Cartoon

Got this from Tony Jones blog via Steve Breen at the San Diego Tribune

Book Review: A Million Miles in A Thousand Years

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years is the latest offering by Christian lit rock star Donald Miller. I have read all of the books that Miller has put out (though I have avoided that expensive movie/DVD that is also out), and enjoyed each of them. Fans of Donald Miller should know this is BY FAR his best offering so far.

This memoir works on so many levels. The book begins with Steve Taylor and his movie making partner contact Donald Miller about making a movie about the book Blue Like Jazz. The problem with Blue Like Jazz....there is really no plot or direction. So they start making a story about Don for the movie that is partly fictional and partly real. He is uncomfortable with this at first, but then they tell him how much money he is being offered to have the movie be made about him, and he decides he will agree to the movie.

At the beginning of the book he wonders aloud if lives really have a plot, a clear direction, or if as Forrest Gump says, "we just float around accidental-like" with a few moments that really make what our lives about. Do lives have a direction, or are they just a mish/mash of experiences that are disconnected?

In Miller's life, he is challenged to gain direction for his life as he begins to recreate/edit his life story. He goes to a seminar to learn the elements of story, and learns a lot from the moviemakers Steve and Ben along the way. Slowly, as he begins to understand that he has the opportunity to write his life's story instead of just letting life happen to him, his life begins to change. He begins to deal with the difficult issues of his life through applying the tools of writing a movie to his life. He creates "inciting incidents" that force him to act. In the process, he begins the journey of reconciliation wiht his father he has not seen for thirty years, loses a bunch of weight because he commits to a hike in the Andes and commits to ride a bike cross country. And he finds that he can use some of the elements of writing a script to write the script of his life.

I like this book on many levels. First, it is a first hand example of what I believe about "narrative-driven" discipleship. Second, the story--besides being a fun memoir of growing spiritually--s actually a page-turning drama. The "meta" quality of the book is funny--it is a story about writting a story that becomes a story in and of itself. I kept thinking that the movie should be about this book. That they should make the movie about making the movie, and then throw in all the Blue Like Jazz stuff in flashback form.

I have been reading that Miller says that this is the last memoir he will write for some time. I certainly understand this. There is only so long you can talk about yourself before you just get bored with yourself, and feel like a professional, perpetual flasher of one's soul. But what so many of us love about Miller is this: he gives us a model of what is means to be a growing Christian. I shared Blue Like Jazz with our church book club, made up of midwestern conservative folk, most of whom are Republicans. They loved the book because they could identify with Miller, and because it left open the possibility for them to grow as Christians. The church that many of us grew up in has a culture that seems to encourage us to act as if we have it all together, and then wait to grow into what everyone sees us act like. Miller comes to audience as his raw and honest self, grows in the faith, and then gives his readers to live as an honest, raw, growing Christian who needs to learn and grow as well. There is something about a teachable spirit that speaks to many of us. And this book takes one from simply being a teachable Christian, to a Christian who is also purposeful and living on purpose. A Million Miles in A Thousand Years is brilliant and inspirational. A must read for anybody, but especially for those who feel stuck and wonder what is next.

Books I Finished

I had several resources as I worked on my recent study of the book of James. But the following two are books that I finished.

The Life Application Commentary gave me some good tools to pass on to the Bible Study I was listening. The commentary by Moo was full of good interpretive insights. Both were very helpful as I retaught the book of James, this time with Fowlerites.

Scot McKnight's Commentary recommendations

In a series called the Pastor's Bookshelf

My BCS Bowl-Playoff Hybrid

I have been thinking about how to resolve the playoff bowl controversy in NCAA football. I like the bowl system, but am sympathetic to the plight of non-BCS teams that deserve a shot like Boise State and TCU. Here is my plan:

6 BCS Conference get automatic bids--Pac 10, Big East, SEC, Big 12, ACC, Big 10

Best of 3 Independents if over 8 wins, Sun Belt, WAC, MAC, Mountain West, Conference USA, and 2-3 highest ranked at large teams playoff. These games will be played regionally.

Week 1--Dec 12

North--MAC v. Ind/At-large--@ Detroit (Little Ceasars bowl)
West--MWC v. WAC--in Alb, NM as the New Mexico Bowl
East--Conf. USA v. At-Large--@ St. Petersburg
South--Sun Belt v. At-Large--@ New Orleans (r and l carriers bowl)

Week 2--Dec 19

South v. East @ Eagle Bank Bowl @ DC
West v. North @ Las Vegas Bowl

OR

Seed these teams for 10 Team BCS games

AND

Seed remaining two teams after game for 8 team BCS

Why do this?

For Mid-Majors--Allows two weeks for mid-majors to climb in bcs rankings through games with stronger competition. Make more money through winning for your program.

For Bowl people--let your bowl games mean something!

For Independents--you will have at least one automatic bid out of three teams

For Conferences--Will not have to argue for your conference favorite vs. mid major schools. Will allow your second place conference team to prove itself and play in verses quality competition. Will allow second place team in conference to add money to its program

What this would look like today

BCS--Cincinatti, Iowa, USC, Florida/Alabama, Texas, Georgia Tech

Play in games--Dec 12
TCU v. Boise State
Central Michigan v Notre Dame
La-Monroe v Miami
Tulsa v Alabama/Florida

Dec 19
la-monroe/miami v. tulsa/alabama/florida winner
Central/ND v. tcu/boise state