Archives for September, 2004
Today
It snowed and sleeted today. The wind was (and is) blowing and it isn’t a lot of fun to be outside. So much for our nice fall.
We made the best of a cold situation today. I had planned to take Mark to the park today but instead we went looking at tents. We have been looking all summer. I have been tenting exactly three times in my life and only once since I was a lad. Wendy has been only once or twice so it isn’t exactly an area of expertise. I have been pestering Jayson, Leighton, Lorne, and Todd Peters all summer about how one goes about tenting and we finally made up our mind that we would get a tent.
We settled on a 12×10 dome tent that will sleep 6. Not top of the line by any means but I am not exactly planning to take Wendy and Mark up Mt. Everest either.
Earlier this summer Safeway had some Fiesta grills and stoves on for an absurdly low blowout price of $15 so our camping outfitting has been cheap so far which is pretty cool.
While we were getting the tent, we bought Mark one of those mini remote control cars that were flooding our inboxes last Christmas. For a four year old, they are pretty amazing and cool. For the last couple of hours he has been running into me with it. At least he is learning something.
The Gospel Experiment
Some thoughts that lead to praxis by Mike Todd. Cool stuff.
Google Local Searches
Very cool. via
Mount St. Helens hears wake-up call
A volcano awakes or just stirs?
Resonate Studio
Coming in February 2005. More details coming later this week.
DOS box on a LAN
This looks like a great way to blow an otherwise productive weekend.
Sick
Wendy and Mark were sick all day. Not just a little sick. Really, really sick. The house smells of cleaner and that is a lot nicer than the rest of the house. The funny thing (and it is only funny because I am not sick) is that I got a phone call from someone in the church tonight and almost the entire church is sick. Only a couple of them are not. I hope I don’t get it. It sure didn’t sound fun.
Joi Ito’s Web: I’m investing in flickr too
Joi Ito is investing in flickr, which may be the coolest site on the web now. The freaky thing is that it keeps getting better with new features almost every week. Good for Joi and flickr!
Tacoma elementaries enforce ban on recess
Okay, I have worked in creative workplaces. They are allowed to take breaks. I can’t believe a school district could be so stupid. These are children, not sweat shop employees, unless that is what they are preparing them for a career in.
Bioethical Decisions
A free 13 week study on bioethics by the Free Methodist Church.
Review of The Shaping of Things to Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch
Len Hjalmarson reviews the book over at Allelon.
Ten Mistakes Writers Don’t See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do)
I think I make all of these. Doh!
If Howard Dean Were the Candidate …
Second guessing in Time Magazine about what the race would look like if Howard Dean was the candidate.
Nine Years
Yesterday was nine years as pastor of Lakeland Community Church. We have a picture at home of my grandfather, Gordon S. Jenner, celebrating his fortieth year in ministry. I remember thinking that it was an unbelievable amount of time to be a pastor. Now that I have been a pastor for nine years, I can’t believe it has seemed so short of an amount of time. It probably means that my church has been very good to my family and myself (and they have).
I preached yesterday the final series on the Acts of the Apostles. My series theme has been that God’s call on ordinary people is one of action, not just belief. Christianity has become a religion because it has focused so much on proper beliefs. Beliefs are not connected to action. God’s call is a call to movement, not sentiment. I got off topic and said that I enjoy the long drive to church (now well over 128,000 kms) and back. I don’t get to Spiritwood by accident and very rarely does one stumble into God’s will.
After church, we celebrated Jonathon Mundell’s 40th birthday. Jonathon is a huge Edmonton Eskimo and Edmonton Oilers fan. On the way home I started thinking that we should plan a church road trip to Edmonton for an Oiler game this winter. Then I remember that we are in day 12 of 600 of the NHL lockout so probably not this year (or next year).
Jonathon’s wife is an amazing cook and there was so much food. She had a roast that was part deer and part beef. I have mentioned this before but growing up I hated deer meat. Then I come to Spiritwood and it is offered to me. It was amazing. I later found out that many people don’t know how to cook deer meat. All of the people that have served it to me in Spiritwood have definately know how to cook it correctly. Then after we all ate until we were full, all of these gourmet desserts came out of no where. Two cheesecakes, three pies (apple, peach, mixed berry), pudding, a carrot cake, and a huge birthday cake. I tried my best but all I was able to eat was two slices of cheese cake (which were amazing)
This was kind of like training camp for people in the church. Not only was there an amazing amount of food for lunch, there is what is called “fall suppers” (or fowl suppers) every Sunday night for the next five or six weeks. Organizations and even towns that no longer exists gather together, invite all of their friends, and literally hold massive feasts. Some are free, others designate profits to charity or other projects. They are a lot of fun but there is a lot of food. I was joking that the community gets a couple weeks off and then there are the Christmas dinners and parties.
Since we are talking about the church. Deer hunting season is about to start. Several hunters from the west coast come out. Often they have gifts for people that give them permission to hunt on their land. So deer hunting season could mean that you could be eating lobster or salmon or something.
Finally, the church decided to purchase the lot next to us. The offer hasn’t been accepted and is conditional on a lot of things but it will give us a lot more parking (and the smallest house I have ever seen).
In Search of an Alternative Future for American Evangelicalism
By Tom Sine
As I mentioned in the last issue of PRISM, nowhere else in the world have I ever heard evangelicals spouting the mantra common on Christian radio in America that a ?sinister elite of secular humanists, liberals, and feminists in Washington, D.C., are out to destroy the Christian family, take away our liberties, take away our guns, and get us ready for a one-world socialist takeover.?This type of polarizing analysis makes of those on the other end of the political spectrum cosmic enemies instead of just people with whom the religious right disagrees with politically. Listen to the fearful warnings of one Presbyterian pastor in Portland, Oregon, who has obviously embraced this conspiratorial fiction: ?Western European socialists and their American supporters want to dominate the world as much as militant Muslims want Islam to. Their vehicles are the United Nations, the European Union, and international institutions such as the International Court.?
This kind of fear mongering has not only been remarkably effective at galvanizing evangelicals around a very conservative political agenda but it also makes an evangelical voting for a Democratic candidate an unthinkable possibility as we approach the 2004 election.
So how should Christians who do not subscribe to either this very conspiratorial view of what has gone wrong or a very politically conservative advocacy seek to have a Christian influence in the complex world in which we live?
You can read the whole article over at TheOoze.com. It is worth reading and rereading.
Our Cabin Weblog- Recently listened to music
- David Gray – Be Mine October 19, 2008
- David Gray – December October 19, 2008
- David Gray – Knowhere October 19, 2008
- David Gray – Real Love October 19, 2008
- David Gray – Last Boat To America October 19, 2008
- Recently additions to my library
- Messy Faith: Daring to Live by Grace by A. J. Gregory October 28, 2008
- Rediscovering Church: The Story and Vision of Willow Creek Community Church by Lynne Hybels October 26, 2008
- The Teeth of the Tiger, A Novel by Tom Clancy October 26, 2008
- The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell October 26, 2008
- The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy October 26, 2008
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