Month: April 2010

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illustration FAIL

my diagram

i’ll talk about the q conference later. right now i want to talk about the above photo. last night i had the privilege of eating a meal with 3 of the 4 members of the pierce family. the peirces are people that we know from when i was the youth minister at the first baptist church of carthage, missouri. pam and i love them. they are some of my favorite people. so when it worked out that they were going to be in chicago on the same day that i was going to be in town for q we all wanted to grab a meal.

the above stick drawing is something i drew out as a part of the discussion that bart and i where having during supper. some of you know that i love to draw things that illustrate what i am thinking. it’s how my mind works and i believe it helps me to better wrap my mind around things. so naturally when bart and i began talking i pulled out a pen and started drawing things on the paper table clothe that our table was covered with. i drew out a basic stick diagram of a mountain pass that bart, matt (his son), i, and some other friends had walked through during a backpacking trip in 2001. i used the diagram and experience to connect with what we were talking about at the moment.

i would say that i did a pretty good job of visually connecting a very hypothetical discussion except for one thing …

BART IS LEGALLY BLIND!

that’s right, i drew out a diagram for a friend who is legally blind and has been legally blind for quite sometime. it’s not like i didn’t realize that bart is legally blind. nope. i just never stopped to think “why am i drawing something for bart?” matt sat right beside me and just laughed at me. thanks matt.

to quote my boys – EPIC FAIL!

of course, perry has picked up on spiritual issues concerning this.

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precious

2009_precious_based_on_the_novel_push_by_sapphire_wall_001

pam and i watched “precious” saturday night and wow. before watching it i wasn’t real sure about it before because i’m not a huge fan of much of the stuff that oprah winfrey outs out – typically they are way too lifetime t.v. moviesh for me. when i put this in our netflix que i thought this might be just another one of those movies. of course, the great thing about netflix is that if i hate the movie it doesn’t really cost me anything. i have other movies on the que and instant movies too. all i have to do is send the bad movies back and forget about them.

i’m not sure that i would recommend this movie for everyone. it is rough. i mean real rough. through some of the counseling situations i’ve been in i would say that for some people this movie may hit far too close to home and they might not want to watch it. for others it might be a bit of an eye opener. yes, the events and circumstances that precious has to face are on the extreme side but for some people parenting and childhoods like this are their reality. how can we expect a “normal” human to come out of such treatment? most importantly how can we as a society act to help such children?

i’m not sure i will ever want to watch this film again because i’m not sure that i would want to put myself through that again. still … wow!

SIDE NOTE – i completely understand why mo’nique won the academy award for best supporting actress for her role in this film.

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the week in tweets – 2010-04-25

  • A 2 hour half marathon goal? That's so yesterday. Finished the Oshkosh 1/2 with a new personal best. 1:59:13. #
  • now i'm considering running grandma's marathon (http://bit.ly/9ykP3b). i just think it would be fun to run a race named "grandma's" #
  • i'm going try to running with the group that meets at the @uwstevenspoint track on wenesdays at 5 pm. anyone from @sptapestry want to join? #
  • i will NEVER buy another micro$oft product again! cosutmer service SUCKS! hey microsoft, i'll pay the mac hiptax to avoid you! or go linux. #
  • @thegsides – what's up with your broncos? tebow? really? #

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you have to run fast to run faster

noah-running

tapestry seems to be a church of runners. we have a lot of threads who are passionate runners. several of our college students are members of the uwsp cross country and track teams. when i ran the oshkosh half marathon last sunday i ran into three threads who were also running the race. we have several within our small group who have run marathons and one of our number has even run the boston marathon (a feat that i will never be able to copy). so it was no surprise a few weeks ago when one of those involved within tapestry suggested we start a running group. i thought it was a great idea but then remembered that there is a group that meets at the uwsp outdoor track on wednesday afternoons. one of the things we feel at tapestry is that if you like something it is best to join a group that is already doing it outside the church community rather than starting a “CHRISTian” group for the same purpose.

i’m sure you know this but just in case you don’t i’ll tell you that there is a “CHRISTian” cultural ghetto that tries to get believers in JESUS CHRIST to stay within it. you want to watch movies? well the “CHRISTian” cultural bubble will create a “CHRISTian” movie group that you can watch those movies with. you want to read books with people and discuss the books you’ve read? the ghetto will develop a “CHRISTian” book club for you and others to read "CHRISTian” literature and discuss them. you want to exercise? well the bubble will create a “CHRISTian” exercise group for you and you can listen to “CHRISTian” music while you sweat with others just like you. the ghetto makes it where you never have to be around people who aren’t like you. it makes things safe and warm and it sets up a place for you to bring your friends to. this is key – the ghetto tries to get people to come to it rather than encouraging believers to go out into the world.

those involved in tapestry typically try to stay as far as possible from the “CHRISTian” cultural ghetto. our goal is to constantly “go out” rather than asking people to come to us. so when someone has an idea for the group to be involved in something new the first question typically is “what groups are there already in our community doing this that we can join?” that’s what the running group conversation turned to. there is already a group doing what we would like to do so why not just join it instead of creating a “CHRISTian” one? therefore i decided i would go run with this group this past wednesday night.

now i know and accept that i am not a fast runner. all the same i still usually finish firmly in the middle of the races i am involved in. typically about 49% of the people involved in the race are faster than me and 49% are slower. i’ve grown used to this. so when i went to the running group wednesday night and realized that the oldest member of the group was running a pace that was a full minute and a half faster than my best pace i knew i was in trouble. the group was incredibly nice and FAST. i mean really fast. several of the 12-15 people there had run ncaa division-i cross country when they were in school. three of the guys there had just finished the boston marathon on monday and all had finished in under 3 hours. heck one of the guys had finished the boston in 2:35 – THAT’S FAST.

they were too fast for me. i hung with them for 2 miles and then had to give up and run at my own pace before i began violently vomiting. ironically it was great. i figure running a couple of miles with them each wednesday will dramatically help my speed even though it will be killing me. so i will be sticking with them (at least for a couple of miles each week). i won’t be there this week because of the q conference in chicago but i will running with them as often as possible. i hope many other threads will be joining me. don’t worry if you are slow. i’ll be there to make you feel better about yourself 🙂

SIDE NOTE – many threads are running the tiger trek 5k that is put on by washington elementary school. here’s the signup form. you can turn it in on sunday night if you are interested.

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that’s a CHRISTian argument & we’re not CHRISTians

gardeners

monday a group of point citizens and students started gardening on some land owned by the city. today after a couple of meetings between the group and the mayor that gardening was forcibly ended. you can read the stevens point journal article concerning the matter here. my post here is not to argue for the gardeners or the city (i have mixed feelings – i don’t think anyone has the right to trespass on someone else’s property unless it is an emergency but i don’t really understand why the city won’t allow an interested group to beautify a city owned lot that has been vacant for as long as i have lived in point – thus i am squarely in the middle). instead i want to talk about something eric g told me about.

eric knows that i am fascinated by groups like these rogue gardeners. i like people who are passionate about something. actually i prefer being around someone who is passionate about something that i disagree with than being around someone who is blasé on pretty much everything. passionate people do things and i like that.

so eric called me about the group just to make sure that i knew about them and then to ask if i wanted to go over with him and listen to the group for awhile. unfortunately for me i wasn’t able to. eric went there anyway. when he got there he saw i guy that he knew from a local church talking/debating with the gardeners. he drew close to the group and heard one of rogue gardeners say to the guy he knew,

what you are saying is a CHRISTian argument and the problem with it is that WE AREN’T CHRISTIANS!

i would love to know how the guy responded but unfortunately i don’t.

i have been around when people tried to prove something from the bible to a person who didn’t believe that the bible has any special authority. it’s like trying to prove a point while speaking spanish to a group that only speaks english. so that you know where i come from i believe that the bible is GOD’s word and i believe that it is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” still i recognize that others do not and since i believe that JESUS is “the way, the truth, and the life” and that all truth, no matter the subject, comes from HIM i am therefore convinced that we should be able to communicate with people who do not believe that scripture comes from GOD. paul found truth that pointed to GOD at mars hill and used it to proclaim CHRIST (acts 17:16-34) and since then many have followed his example and found elements of truth in the culture around them that helped point people to the good news of JESUS’ kingdom. this is part of what the study of CHRISTian apologetics is about. this DOES NOT mean that we who are believers in JESUS should look to other sources for the bedrock authority of our lives but it does mean that we need to be prepared “to give an answer for the reason of [our] hope” to those who do not hold scripture as authoritative and our answer needs to be in a language that they understand.

SIDE NOTE – you get one chance to guess which person in the above photo is the mayor. if you get it wrong please do us all a favor and slap yourself repeatedly in the head.

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the boys bathroom & bikes

DSC_0048_edited-1

i just hung these skateboards in adam & noah’s bathroom. the guys have been pretty proud of the boards they have broken and i thought this was as good of a way as any for displaying the abuse they have put on their boards. i think it looks pretty good and pam has agreed that she can live with it until the boys move off to college.

today i order the platinum version of the trek fx 7.2 that i mentioned yesterday. part of my goal has been to save up enough to buy the entire family good bikes. the plan has been to buy pam and i new ones (pam needs a comfort bike because of her back) and find good used ones for the boys. as of this week i hadve saved enough money with some good buys to accomplished this goal. a month ago i found noah a used trek 800 antelope for $55 (an excellent deal) and i snatched it up. i’ve been looking for one for adam but i haven’t had any luck yet. i was able to order pam’s bike today. it is a raliegh venture comfort bike that should keep her from having to bend very much. my bike should get to the shop tuesday and pam’s should be there thursday. now i just have to find adam a decent bike that i’m not afraid of him beating to death. another trek antelope would be great. the problem is that adam is now almost as tall as i am (6’1”). he needs around a 20” frame. people my size tend to keep their bikes. i’m presently bidding on a trek 800 on ebay but i’m sure it is going to go for more than i am willing to pay. i’ll find one eventually and then the whole family can ride bikes around the green circle trail.

of course the real problem here is that in my mind i have built up the idea of the family riding around the green circle trail. i have pictured a wondrous time of family togetherness full of butterflies and unicorns. when it happens the actual trip around the green circle trail will probably have more in common with national lampoons’ vacation than it does the day dream i have built it up to be. this could be really bad. yet for now i still get to live in the dream.

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dancing with the stars?????

dancing

pam has convinced me once again to take a ballroom dancing class. we tried this once before and i failed miserably (of course pam did great). i love trying new things. i’m not afraid to experiment with things that i have never done before and i am definitely not afraid to struggle and fail at something new. it is pretty much impossible to embarrass me so i’m not afraid of looking stupid in the class. i am however terribly scared of stepping on one of pam’s feet, losing my balance and accidentally smashing pam into the floor. i’m a pretty clumsy person and this is a legitimate fear. ask anyone who knows me – i am a bodily disaster waiting to happen. pam has already been through one back surgery, i couldn’t live with myself if she had to go through surgery again because i have two left feet.

let’s all hope and pray that i don’t accidentally damage pam through my klutzy attempts at rhythmic movements. adam and heidi holte are in the class with us so there will be witnesses if i injury pam.

btw, in the above photo you can find pam and heidi in the back row.

SIDE NOTE – after months of scrimping and saving i have enough money to buy bikes for pam and i. i don’t splurge on big things often. when i do i tend to want it to be something that i have to save and work for. therefore i have been saving to set enough money aside for the purpose of pam and i getting decent bikes. this way the whole family will finally have good bikes and we can start hitting the green circle trail. i think i have decided on the trek fx 7.2. it seems to be a good bike and eric glaze recommends it. now i have to decide between the candy apple red and the platinum. they both look pretty awesome.

72fx_red 72fx_platinum

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4 books

great-emergence-2 end_zone.large counterfeit-gods only_revolutions

here are the book that i have gone through in the last couple of weeks

  • i finished phyllis tickle’s “the great emergence: how CHRISTianity is changing and why” last week and i found it to be a very enjoyable and enlightening book. i went into the book expecting it to be focused primarily on what is presently happening within the church. instead the first 2/3’s of the book dealt with the history that has lead to to this point in history. it was an excellent reminder of some of the primary events within the history of the church. i particularly enjoyed tickel’s theory of the church going through a “garage sale” every 500 years.
  • next came don delillo’s “end zone.” i really enjoy delillo’s writing. “white noise” is an excellent example of postmodern literature and a book that i enjoyed greatly. “end zone” is about a football player and i was looking forward to a pomo approach to the grid iron. sadly “end zone” is not as good as “white noise.” it was an ok read and one that i’m not disappointed that i finished.  it just wasn’t great and that is what i was hoping for. again it’s worth reading but if i had to chose i would read “white noise” instead.
  • yesterday i finished the book that our small group has been working through, tim keller’s "counterfeit gods: the empty promises of money, sex, and power, and the only hope that matters." technically we don’t finish the study until next week but i went ahead and finished the book yesterday. i like keller’s writing and i think he made some excellent points in this book. keller’s discussion concerning success, power and politics being being false gods within the modern church is something that is very much needed. pretty good stuff for an easy read.
  • i wouldn’t normally discuss a book that i decided to stop reading but i will make an exception for mark danielewski’s "only revolutions." i quite reading it because it i simply couldn’t get into the story. it is a very difficult book to read. i am still very impressed with the effort danielewski put into the book. “only revolutions” is two stories in one book – one going in one direction and then you flip the book over and read the other story. there are 90 words from each story on each page. this means that each page has 180 words on it and every two pages has 360 words on it – a revolution of 360 words. danielewski placed a lot of constraints on the writing of this book and the end product was interesting for awhile. though i didn’t finish it i am still impressed with what he tried. sometimes it is worth trying something difficult even if it fails. sometimes experimentation just for the sake of trying new things is a really good thing regardless of the results.

so those are the books i’ve read recently.