web space

if you’re like me you need a little storage space on the web every now and then. i usually use a directory on the tapestry website for doing this. not everyone has that option. today lifehacker posted about windows sky drive that allows you 5 gigs of space for data. i’m not usually the biggest micro$oft fan but i am trying this out. i’ve tried box.net, another data storage facility, but i decided that i preferred my directory on the tapestry website. i’m intrigued by the rss option that sky drive offers and thus i’m going to give it a shot (in spite of it being micro$oft). the rss feature could come in handy with digital stuff for tapestry.

of course, i’ll probably swap to google’s version once they have one.

d.min

after searching through my options i have finally started applying to new orleans seminary to be a part of their d.min program. i would actually prefer to work on a ph.d because of it’s focus on research rather than the d.min’s focus on practicality but i simply can’t find an option that is viable with the amount of work required to plant tapestry. the closest ph.d program is two hours one way, would require me driving down to madison at least twice a week, and would cost us $10,000 a year for a minimum of two years. all the other ph.d programs i have looked into are completely on site and to far away. that’s not very realistic for for the reasons that i am wanting to further my education. i really enjoyed my seminary education. my years at southwestern seminary were wonderful. if you wanted it there was always an opportunity to go deeper. i don’t have any desire to try and teach at a school (for that i would need a ph.d) because it would take me away from doing what i really feel called to do – planting and pastoring tapestry. i just want a little more education and the d.min’s nature of 24/7 class for a solid week.

i have to admit that this has actually been a bit of a struggle for me because my pride is such that i actually want the harder more prestigious degree. plain and simple a ph.d. is viewed more favorably than a d.min. in truth it should be. my problem has been that i have a tendency to view professional degrees as “ego” degrees. yes, i know this is my problem. my masters is a professional degree (an m.div). my issue with professional degrees is that they are usually not as academic as their mainly teaching/research focused counterpart degrees (m.th). professional degrees are obviously focused on practice rather than theory. an example of this are the m.d’s and ph.d’s found at medical schools. the m.d.’s are for people who want to practice medicine while the ph.d’s are focused more on research (though m.d’s are involved in a great deal of research also). of course, the purpose of professional degrees is to help practice and therefore they should be inherently more practical. i know this but it’s always been a little bit of an issue for me. those of you who know me know that i can be a prideful guy. this is one stupid example of that pride.

i’ve finally reached the point where i’ve realized that my pride on this issue is stupid. my desire to study in a theological environment again is more important to me than the abbreviation of the degree. so i’m now in the process of applying to new orleans seminary to be a student in the fall trimester.

if some of y’all are interested i may try something different during my application process. i love the collaborative of so much of what happens on the net. i have to write a couple of things for my application. i haven’t read everything yet so i can’t say i can really do anything with the help of others but if i can i think it would be fun to try. so be ready, i may ask some of you to join me on google documents in writing some stuff together. it would be fun to try something new.

jubilee

one place
the biblical concept of jubilee is amazing. of course, if it was done within our present economic system it would throw it into chaos. a little chaos though is a good thing so i thought i would throw jubileeUSA everyone’s way. it’s an organization that was developed by two CHRISTian evangelists who saw the biblical lifestyle of jubilee as an excellent way of dealing with extreme poverty within the world. the jubilee act was spawned from this and is presently seeking co-sponsors within the house and the senate. the act basically would forgive debt owed to the united states from some of the poorest nations. i called my representatives today asking them to co-sponsor the act and i would encourage you to do the same. jubileeUSA has a page to walk you through what to do here.

lies and the lying liars who tell them

i’ve been listening to al franken’s audiobook “lies and the lying liars who tell them: a fair and balanced look at the right” and it’s been pretty funny. of course, it’s by no means “fair and balanced.” he pretty much does the same thing that his opponents on the right do – take something, consider all the “facts” that support their case, and then present it as though it is the only sane way of interpreting things. as a moderate i find myself enjoying franken the same way i enjoy rush limbaugh – i laugh at what’s funny and then laugh at him when he is just being partisan and stupid. thankfully franken is funny a good bit within this book. i didn’t think that franken was very good when he was on air america radio (in fact, i quit listening to him because i thought he just wasn’t very funny) but he really was funny in this audiobook. it wasn’t as enjoyable as stephen colbert’s “i am america … and so can you” but it was still pretty good.

the most ironic thing for me within the book was the chapter in which franken tells about his visit to bob jones university. the entire visit is a farce and franken and his colleague have come up with an entire back story so as to effectively coordinate their lies concerning why they are really at bob jones university. i’m no fan of bob jones, in fact i think many of their believes have been embarrassments to my LORD, but i do think it’s pretty low to go and lie to a group just so you can make fun of their religious beliefs (even if they are misguided). i think jehovah’s witnesses and mormons are off base on their beliefs but i would never go into their churches just to make fun of them. anyhow franken ends the chapter by saying how beaten down all the lying he had done during his visit and he wondered how all the “real liars” (he means by this “republicans”) could handle doing it. i guess this is supposed to show that he’s not really on the same level with them.

even with the lying chapter it was pretty funny overall.

two other chapters stood out:

  • supply side jesus versus new testament JESUS was money. i’ll probably end up using it sometime because it was really good.
  • imho, the story of franken doing a “w” impression and “joking” that he would lose the election to barabara bush while on a place together is just plain rude. if someone, even jokingly, trashed on one of my sons in my presence i would quite possibly punch them in the face. i’m a little surprised mrs. bush didn’t.

there are a few chapters with some pretty serious language in them that i would have been very happy if he had left out. the language that is.

danger zone

since the library has reminded me that “the year of living biblically” by a.j. jacobs is due on the 22nd and they won’t let me renew it (it’s on a waiting list) i have had to swap it from the “yet to read” pile to the “currently reading” pile. this means i’ve had to stop reading “house of leaves” by mark danielewski so i can finish “the year of living biblically” (btw, brad you’re right “house of leaves” is interesting – hard to follow sometimes but interesting).

anyhow “the year of living biblically” is about a.j. jacobs’ attempt to live out literally all the rules he can find within scripture. since jacobs is a professed agnostic this makes for an interesting story. i was glad to read early on that one of the spiritual advisors he approached dealt with grace and therefore the fact that the CHRISTian faith is not about following a set of rules. still that’s not what this book is about and therefore jacobs’ is trying to live out the rules that he has found within the old and new testaments.

while i am really just starting the book i have already been struck by the following statement.

to follow the bible literally – at face value, at its word, according to its plain meaning – isn’t just a daunting proposition. it’s a dangerous one.

it just caught my attention. it should be true. i wonder how often it is.

a brit that understands

i promise i will soon stop posting things concerning politics. i hold no hope for politics solving the main problems of our world. that’s why i’ve never really understood why the religious right (of which some would wrongly say i was a part)have pushed so hard for political power – even when gained for “pure” reasons political power seems to just lead to a desire for more power. service & sacrifice are the way of JESUS and if we would struggle with living out that way we would see GOD do remarkable things in our world.

with the above said i thought i would post this article from the times. it’s a pretty good description on at least one issue concerning why i feel that our country will have a good choice no matter what if mccain and obama end up facing off for the presidential election.

now, mcCain pledges to stay in iraq for a hundred years if necessary and claims that the surge has altered the cost-benefit analysis. obama argues that the surge has not solved the fundamental problem and promises to begin withdrawing troops next year. unlike hillary clinton, and unlike this columnist, neither man has actually changed his fundamental position. and so there is now a path for americans either to fully own this misbegotten Mesopotamian adventure or fully disown it.

of course, it is a brit paper and therefore the whole thing could be some kind of joke that went straight over my head.

false hope?

we have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics. they will only grow louder and more dissonant. we’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. we’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

but in the unlikely story that is america, there has never been anything false about hope.” senator barack obama, january 8th, 2008

i don’t care what your politics are, that line (“there has never been anything false about hope”) is a butt kicking line.

i may not end up voting for him (though i would like the chance) but i stand amazed at that line.

safe running

so i finally have gotten back into the swing of things with my running. late december and january killed my desire to run. part of it was the weather (i didn’t have cold weather running gear) and part of it was a little fear. the fear came from a few bad experiences that had never before happened to me while running. first, the side walks around me were too clean for me to wear my yaktrax. running on straight concrete with with the yaktrax is not much fun. so i ran without them and that’s when i discovered that the side walks weren’t as clean as they looked. they still had spots of black ice on them. over a couple of runs i discovered that i had a great way of finding these spots … slipping on them. i busted it several times. this wasn’t too terrible because my body quickly came up with a manner of handling these falls. my body decided that it would be best for both of us when i was falling if i simply landed on the hard concrete with the side of my hip. it sounded like a good idea but didn’t feel very good.

so i came up with the great idea of using the yaktrax to run on the road where their is a little snow next to the snow berm on the side of the road. that’s when my other new fear was discovered. the problem within january in central wisconsin is that the sun sets at 4:15 p.m. this meant i was running at dusk or in the dark on the side of the road. did you know that not everyone recognizes it when there is a runner on the side of the road? one evening i came within a couple of inches of being hit by a driver who was talking on his cell phone. it was close enough that i actually would have been splattered if i hadn’t of dove head first into the berm. it wasn’t cool. so i stopped running for a little while.

that’s all changed now because 1)i’ve figured out the weather and ice thing, and 2)it doesn’t get dark until 6 p.m. i’m back to running on my sidewalks and i like it.

i’m no expert but i thought i would post the gear that is working for this southern boy as i run in 0º weather.

  • base layer running shirt – technical shirts with wicking ability are the sure fire way to make sure you don’t freeze once you start sweating. thankfully most of the shirts i have received from races fit this category.
  • second layer fleece – i can tell a difference in warmth between the microfleece and regular fleece & therefore would choose this based on the temp outside.
  • 3rd layer wind breaker – the wind chill is the killer. i want to get a better wind breaker for next year. the one i have is bulky. something lite and flexible would be perfect.
  • smartwool socks – my feet have frozen in the cotton socks i have worn.
  • yaktrax pro – snow chains for your running shoes
  • running tights – i have a thin pair and they do well but i think thicker tights would probably enable me to skip the wind pants.
  • wind pants – the running tights i have do not block the wind very well
  • balaclava or face mask – i wear this when the temp is below 10º.
  • lined skull cap – one that covers your ears if possible.
  • lined gloves – i ran with non-lined gloved a couple of times and my hands were ice after i was through with my run.
  • road id – it’s an id wristband. (i just received an email with a coupon code for the road id stuff. if you buy anything from them over the next 30 days enter “ThanksRobert351868>” at the appropriate coupon code time and you’ll get a dollar off. the email said it could be used 20 times so anyone who wants the dollar off should be able to use it. unfortunately i get nothing for this advertising – but i do like the product.)
  • firefly flasher – that’s my fix for autos seeing me.
  • leg reflectors bands – once again to make sure they can see me.

my run for the day
distance – 7.0 miles
time – 1:09:02
pace – 9:52/mile
weather – 28º/perfect day

hope

has anyone else notice how often the word hope is occurring within popular culture? obviously barak obama is mentioning hope a lot but i’ve also been seeing hope pop up in commercials and various writings. i’ve always heard that karl barth said that a sermon should be written “with the bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other” (i have no reference for this). his point was that if we really believed that JESUS is the answer then we should be constantly searching for what questions the culture was asking that HE would be the answer to. i’m not preaching anywhere right now but if i was the newspaper in my “other hand” seems to indicate that hope would be a good thing to discuss.

the one thing

sometimes i post things just so i can remember them. this may not be true for you but i somehow remember things better when i write them down. it’s not so much that i remember where i wrote the thing down, rather it’s the very act of writing something down that helps me to remember it. just look at one of my scratch journals and you’ll suddenly understand that i write a lot of things down with no hope of every seeing that scribble again. the act of writing is a wonderful memory tool for me. therefore, i’m adding this entry.

church marketing sucks posted concerning an advertising age article (that i unfortunately can’t see without a registration). while i can’t read the entire article the main jest is apparently about considering what one word your organization owns within the minds of those who view your company. church marketing sucks asked this same question concerning the church. i want to remember to ask it of tapestry.