2008 May «

PhotoHunt: Self

31 May 08 at 6:57 am | In PhotoHunt | 5 Comments

Here’s where my feet had to be …

… in order to get this shot.

Technorati Tag: PhotoHunt

Busy again …

30 May 08 at 6:12 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

I don’t know what it is about this time of year, but things just seem to take off at a ridiculous rate of speed. Sometime within the next 48 hours, I have to …

Clean a corner of the spouting so the rain that’s predicted doesn’t run into the house.
Watch a nephew play basketball.
Go to a graduation party
Read library books that are due soon.
Put some plants into the currently empty garden.
Prepare materials for the mission trip meeting on Sunday.

Of course, I absolutely don’t consider any of these activities a burden. I love each one. It’s just that they all crowd together.

I’m especially excited about the mission trip, which is only 21 days (give or take) away. We’re taking 21 people from the church — youth and adults — to Lakeshore, Mississippi to help with the work at Lakeshore Baptist Church. Thanks to the wonder that is Twitter, I have discovered not only what we are doing but also the name of the person (family?) for whom we are doing it.

But it wouldn’t be fair to say it here before the team finds out, would it?

We have a big carbon footprint …

29 May 08 at 4:51 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

An article in today’s local newspaper reveals that lovely southcentral PA hides a dirty, little not-so-secret. Despite the beautiful mountains and criss-crossing creeks and streams, we have a mighty large carbon footprint.

According to a recent study, the region’s residents generate about 3.19 tons of carbon emissions per year to maintain their lifestyles. The study does not include commercial sources so the overall impact of carbon emission must be much higher. Certainly, there are folks in this area who are devoted to driving their large SUVs to work by themselves Development is also such that there are communities located far from grocery stores, gas stations and other basic shopping. Even transporting our students to rural schools factors into the whole equation.

But, to defend the locals, it’s not just us …

My opinion — which the article addresses only peripherally — is that the carbon footprint of my region is inextricably tied to the interstate highways that pass through here. If you are going north to New England, you pass through here. If you are taking goods west from New Jersey, you are using the highways that adjoin our backyards. Let’s not forget the numerous warehouses in the area and the truckstops. Stop by either at any time of the day and find diesel trucks idling.

With this study in hand, activists are hoping to influence lawmakers to focus attention on areas such as ours with policies intended to lower carbon emissions.

This is what scares me.

That may not be the exact right phrase, but it is what comes to mind just now. Who exactly is going to bear the brunt of any proposed policy revisions? I’m guessing that it’s going to be me and my neighbors — not the trucking companies. Of course, even if those companies were to bear further restrictions, the cost will inevitably be passed on to consumers.

Again, me and my neighbors.

What’s the solution? I don’t know. It’s unfair to have the locals bear the brunt of policy changes in consideration of the millions of cars and trucks that are just passing through. Yet, it’s hardly feasible to create some sort of restrictions on those drivers.

We can’t change the fact that high levels of traffic pass through our area. We can, however, take individual steps to lessen our carbon footprints. Little steps taken individually create a greater impact in the world around us.

And that’s the only fair thing … to take care of God’s creation.

everyday::images

28 May 08 at 4:43 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

I posted some thoughts on Psalm 25:3-5 on the photoblog.

Two videos on Tuesday …

27 May 08 at 4:57 pm | In Video Fun | No Comments

Who’s leading who?

The Passion World Tour continues. Last weekend Sao Paulo, Brazil. Next weekend, Kampala.

Take a look at this video from Sao Paulo. Apparently, the students were ready to sing with or without Tomlin. His reaction cracks me up. How can you not love that spontaneity and enthusiasm?

The Orange Bracelet

If you read Friday’s post, you have figured out by now that I preferred Cook over Archuleta. Here’s a video of an interview Cook did with Charley Belcher, the father of Lindsay Rose, the little girl in Florida who has leukemia and for whom Cook wore an orange wristband. The interview with Cook is cool, but stick with it through the interaction between the anchors and Charley to see how important a simple act can be to a family struggling through cancer.

BookTrek: The Reason for God … Chapter 3

26 May 08 at 6:58 am | In Books, youth ministry | 1 Comment

“Christianity is a Straitjacket”

First, let’s explain the title of the chapter. It comes from a quote from social activist Emma Goldman who called Christianity “an iron net, a straitjacket which does not let him to expand or grow.”

This argument is based on the idea that freedom comes from creating our own meaning and purpose — it’s an argument that Keller says is based on mistaken notions of “truth, community, Christianity, and of liberty itself.”

To those who make the claim that any truth-claim is a power play in which the one claiming the truth are attempting to gain power and control over others, Keller responds that such statements themselves are truth claims in themselves, making that position untenable.

To the question of community and inclusivity, Keller points out that every community has its codes for behavior, using an illustration from both ends of the liberal-conservative spectrum. In one case, a board member of a Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Community Center has a religious experience and comes to believe that homosexuality is a sin. In the other case, a board member of the Alliance Against Same-Sex Marriage discovers that his child is gay and believes the child should have the opportunity to marry his partner. The day will come when both will be asked to resign, no matter how accepting the organization claims to be. Yet, the first has the reputation for being inclusive and the second has the reputation for being exclusive.

Keller counters the claim that Christianity forces its adherents into rigid cultural roles by pointing its different expressions among the nations of the world.

Finally, freedom as it is commonly defined is in Keller’s terms too simple as looks to the absence of restrictions. More accurately, true freedom is a matter of finding the right restrictions that allow the individual to flourish.

YM Focus

Honest, how often have you seen older students wander away, saying, “I just want to have fun.”? Keller’s idea of defining freedom is a difficult one to translate to students as they are at that juncture of life when they are trying to break away from the restrictions of their childhood and find themselves as adults. All too often, finding themselves as adults becomes mixed in with the elusive idea of “just having fun” and sets students up for potentially harmful consequences. (Let’s get real. Doesn’t “just have fun” coming from the mouth of a senior walking away from the church really mean … more often than not … that they want to party — alcohol included. Maybe not. Maybe I’m just a cynic.)

So what do we do? I’m open to suggestions, frankly. I would say, however, that we need to open our students’ eyes to the true nature of freedom long before they hit that magical senior year.

On devotion …

25 May 08 at 5:52 am | In Uncategorized | No Comments

“If we’re going to follow Jesus, let’s do this thing 100 percent.”
Francis Chan, Passion::DC, 23 February 200

PhotoHunt: Shoes

24 May 08 at 6:57 am | In Uncategorized | 2 Comments

My new best friends … hiking boots … and the debris they leave on the floor of my car.

Technorati Tag: PhotoHunt

Music Monday (Friday edition)

23 May 08 at 12:30 pm | In Music | No Comments

Thanks to Mere for playing along with last week’s edition and guessing on which track from the playlist was not on my iPod. However, you were wrong. It was the Daughtry track.

This week, we’re going to take a trip to the iTunes store and see what I downloaded over the past few weeks. It should also tell you who I wanted to win American Idol. So click the middle box to see the player ….

…. or, if you’re reluctant to click, here’s a hint: Cookies hot from the oven are the best!

…. or look at this … very cool …. click to see it better …

Snopes checks out Laminin

22 May 08 at 5:06 am | In Uncategorized | No Comments

If you’ve seen Louie Giglio’s “How Great is Our God” talk, you know all about laminin. Here’s the Snopes (the great catalog of urban legend) take on it.

I will note, for the record, that some of their observations fall a little short for me. For example, they say that laminin’s structure predates the accounts of the life of Christ. And? Is it not possible that an omniscient God knew the whole story and planted this structure in the very cells of our beings that one day we would find it and gain some sort of strength from it?

They also note that the cross shape is a simple structure that occurs naturally or by accident. Again, an obvious disconnect from the Christian viewpoint that all things are under the control of God.

Anyway, there’s more. Have fun reading. I guess this makes Louie famous now. Only he doesn’t want to be famous. God’s supposed to be the Famous One.