Robert's Blog

January 23, 2005

i hate it when that happenns

i love my sunday school class. i know that sunday school is supposed to be outdated and useless. according to some it’s supposed to be a waste of time. yet i love my class. i also know that some would say that i, as the youth minister, should not lead a sunday school class because by leading that group i might end up leaving my other teens out. i know all of that stuff, yet i absolutely love my class. i’ve loved it for the past two to three years. it just seems to get better and better each year.

that’s why today was disappointing. i was really excited about what we were going to talk about. the problem is that we didn’t get to talk about it. you see every so often we take a group trip to cc’s coffee house and today just so happened to be the day for the cc’s run. usually when we make the cc’s run we still have plenty of time to discuss whatever it is we are discussing. yet two we faced two challenges 1)cc’s was slower than normal and 2)it was dang cold outside for south louisiana. we usually go outside so we can really get into our conversation but there just wasn’t room inside for us to sit and going outside wasn’t an option for most of the teens in the group. the long and short of it was that we only had ten minutes left to talk before we needed to leave. this wasn’t much time.

so we headed back to church. i was really looking forward to the dialogue. now i have to wait a week to get into it.

January 23, 2005

goodbyyyyyyeeeee johnny!

at the age of 79 johnny carson has died of emphysema. for my younger readers i would explain who johnny carson was, but i know that i don’t have any younger readers because the only people who actually read this blog are my parents and pam, my wife (all the comments made by other people are just me faking it).

carson was the greatest, the king of late night. he didn’t originate the late night experience but he perfected it. i remember watching from my childhood till i was a young married guy (1992). as a kid i remember hoping that he would do “carnack” or that jim fowler would be on the show with some of his animals. i loved it when carson had animals on the show. as an adult i remember watching his last show and seeing bette midler sing “wind benigth my wings” to carson. ah, good times.

carson should have been succeded on the tonight show by david letterman but no nbc thought it could do better with jay leno. how stupid can you get. who would actually think that leno was funnier than letterman? funnier looking maybe, but that’s about it. even carson recognized that letterman was better than leno because after carson retired he still wrote jokes every now and then for letterman’s monologue. nbc’s stupidity in bringing in leno to succeed carson still floors me.

anyways a popular culture icon passed away today and that makes me sad. you can read more about carson here.

January 22, 2005

god’s politics

i receive updates from sojurners, an evangelical CHRISTian political website with a leftward lean to it. in some of the recent email updates sojo has been pushing the book of it’s editor-in-chief jim wallis. i haven’t read the book yet so it’s hard for me to recommend it BUT i have seen an interview with jim wallis on the daily show (go to the site and look under “celebrity interviews”). i liked what he said to jon stewart.

in the interview jim wallis states that he doesn’t think that JESUS first concern would be a capital gains tax cut. some would say that the capital gains tax cut is something that will help the economy and others would disagree with that. i of course, i have my view on the subject but i think the point jim wallis was making is great. why are so many evangelical CHRISTians confusing the republican parties’ agenda with the principals of CHRIST. as follower of JESUS we would be concerned about what and who JESUS was concerned with. JESUS was concerned with the weak (and HE realized that we all are basically weak).

why have we turned JESUS into the GOD of the rich and powerful? seems to me that we CHRISTians don’t do very good when we have power or connections with powerful people. we are believers in the MESSIAH of the marginalized. we do so much better when we are on the side of those who would get pushed out of the picture otherwise.

January 22, 2005

license to sit

here is some interesting conceptual art dealing with the growing fear of “rent wear” which is where a company reaches into your home, through the use of technology, and bills you based on the household goods you use. it’s not happening yet but it is a fear that some worry about based on where we are right now with internet usage within our homes. the artist behind “license to sit” is cyborg researcher steve mann and here’s how he describes the piece:

the internet chair has magnetic stripe card reader and spikes that retract when a seating license is downloaded from a license server in response to input from the card reader incoroprated into the chair. the license server is in the 19 inch relay rack behind the internet chair. the license to sit last five seconds and then a buzzer goes off warning the person seated to get up. after the buzzer the spikes re-deploy.

interesting world huh?

link

January 21, 2005

signs

pamela and i are presently watching signs by m. night shyamalan. i love this movie. in fact i really like all of shyamalan’s movies. i watched the village earlier this week. i love the fact that so many people were perturbed by knowing so early in the movie that the “monster” is fake. of course, the movie wasn’t about the monster, it was about the fact that they were trying to “hide away” from the evils of the world outside the village. the movie was a discussion of the nature of evil and the nature of humanity. the “elders” of the village had to deal with the fact that they had brought evil with them into the village when they brought humans who had the GOD given freedom to choose evil.

of course, my favorite m. night shyamalan movie is unbreakable. the development of a hero. now that’s a good movie.

January 20, 2005

wilderness time

i just finished wilderness time: a guide for spiritual retreat by emilie griffin. i started it for our sabbath retreat but i really only read the parts that dealt with groups so that i could focus on other books that lent more to the sabbath retreat itself. since the retreat i’ve finished the book. it was quite good. it is definitely about personal spiritual retreats but it did have some good suggestions that helped formulate the sabbath. i’m going to use some of it’s suggestions for my personal sabbath retreat. the best part about the book is actually an appendix that has outlines for 1 day, 3 day, and 7 days spiritual retreats. it’s a very good basic plan to an organized spiritual retreat.

January 20, 2005

liar, liar , liar? maybe?

donald trump - the world's worst hair? it’s thursday night and the the aprentice 3 is on so pamela and i are watching it. i love the show but i think donald trump is probably a jerk (i mean he wants people to refer to him as “the donald”. what type of joke is that). tonight he was asked by one of the contestants on the “net worth” team about an urban legend concerning trump paying off the mortgage of a good samaritan’s house to thank him for helping trump while his limo was stranded. trump was asked to his face if this was true and trump said it was with out giving any details.

for years similar legends have gone around concerning several celebrities. it’s a good story but snopes has debunk the story again and again. snopes has listed an article concern this story about trump since july 30, 2001. a full three and a half years before trump’s words tonight. according to snopes the legend is false. i guess the event could have happened since 2001, thus moving it from legend to fact, but i personally figure trump is trying to get some free good publicity.

January 20, 2005

i need your shoes

i need your shoes.

well not really any old shoes. i need specific shoes. you see this is not a shoe collection or gathering. nope this is an act of worship. i need shoes that you were wearing when you experienced GOD in a significant manner. it could be that you were wearing those shoes during an incredible moment of worship, or maybe when you felt completely alone and didn’t even feel GOD’s presence yet still you knew HE was there, or maybe you were wearing those shoes when you felt HIS comfort. it doesn’t matter what the story involves as long an experience of GOD is at the center of it. if the shoes weren’t worn by you during an experience with the LORD then i will gladly give them to the salvation army for you but i don’t need them for this worship service. it’s the stories that are most important.

if you have shoes that fit the above category and wouldn’t mind giving them to me for a worship service in march i would greatly appreciate it. i need the shoes and the story of the experience. after we use the shoes within the worship service we will take them with us on our beautiful feet mission trip so other people can experience GOD in those same shoes.

anyways, thanks!

January 20, 2005

shoes for the journey

johnny baker is doing an “instillation” that is pure genius . he asking for shoes from all around the world that have experiences of GOD linked to them. it’s an amazing idea. in fact, it is so amazing that after i agreed to send a pair of shoes of my own to the cause i quickly sent out an email to all those associated with the parkview youth ministry asking them to send me their shoes and the stories of encounters with GOD that are associated with those shoes. we will use them as part of a worship service in march and then pass those shoes on to others at beautiful feet, a homeless ministry that we work with every spring, in hopes that the recipients will also have amazing encounters with GOD while wearing those same shoes.

you can read johnny baker’s idea on this for yourself here.

January 20, 2005

i want one

pure and simple – i want one of these puppies. the macmini is just dang cool. i don’t usually go for buying something just because it is cool – but this is cool and cheap and that makes up for allot (costs $499). i’ve fallen in love with my powerbook and i would love to have one or two of these “minis” hooked up around the house. if i ever get around to buying another computer before they come out with something better than the mini then i will purchase one of these little buggers.