The 95 Thesis

On this day in 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther nailed these thesis to the Wittenburg door...

Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.

In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.
2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.
3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh.
4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons.
6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.
7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest.
8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.
9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.
10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory.
11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept.
12. In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.
13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them.
14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.
15. This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.
16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair, and the assurance of safety.
17. With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase.
18. It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love.
19. Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it.
20. Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by himself.
21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;
22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life.
23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest.
24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.
25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.
26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.
27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].
28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.
29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal.
30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission.
31. Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare.
32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon.
33. Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him;
34. For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man.
35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia.
36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.
37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.
38. Nevertheless, the remission and participation [in the blessings of the Church] which are granted by the pope are in no way to be despised, for they are, as I have said, the declaration of divine remission.
39. It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition.
40. True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them].
41. Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love.
42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy.
43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons;
44. Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty.
45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God.
46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.
47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment.
48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring.
49. Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them; but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God.
50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.
51. Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold.
52. The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.
53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others.
54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word.
55. It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.
56. The "treasures of the Church," out of which the pope. grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ.
57. That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them.
58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the Saints, for even without the pope, these always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outward man.
59. St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.
60. Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ's merit, are that treasure;
61. For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient.
62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.
63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last.
64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.
65. Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches.
66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.
67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain.
68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross.
69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence.
70. But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the pope.
71. He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed!
72. But he who guards against the lust and license of the pardon-preachers, let him be blessed!
73. The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art, contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons.
74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love and truth.
75. To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness.
76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned.
77. It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope.
78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I. Corinthians xii.
79. To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.
80. The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render.
81. This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity.
82. To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."
83. Again: -- "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"
84. Again: -- "What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?"
85. Again: -- "Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?"
86. Again: -- "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?"
87. Again: -- "What is it that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?"
88. Again: -- "What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?"
89. "Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?"
90. To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy.
91. If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist.
92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace!
93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!
94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell;
95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.

John O'Keefe published his own 95 Postmodern Thesis a couple of years ago as we move on past the reformation and move on from quoting what the Reformers said and start doing the same thing that they did and that is deconstruct and reconstruct the church of Jesus Christ.

TheOOZE gets featured in Christian Science Monitor

From the article, "What he did know was that the institutional church wasn't attuned to the world he lived in; open to theological questioning; or responding to the challenge of a postmodern culture in which institutional authority, absolute truth, and even a rationalistic world view no longer hold sway. And young people in particular are staying away from churches in droves. Today, working out of his garage in Newport Beach, Calif., Mr. Burke runs THE OOZE, a Web-based community for some 50,000 Christian leaders in 60 countries who are part of a new "emerging church" movement aimed at reinventing the church for the 21st century. They are responding to what many consider the most dramatic cultural shift since the Enlightenment."

McDonald's Future and Present Looking Bleak

But even more confounding is the choice of spokespeople. Does anyone associate Donald Trump with value? Or Johnnie Cochran? Are we to believe that either of the �ber-athletic Williams sisters regularly eats a Big N' Tasty burger, at any price? And how does pairing any of these folks with mysterious fuzzy characters help get the word out? It all feels like another desperate experiment in a long line of desperate experiments (McCafes, a McKids clothing line, a McDonald's ketchup brand, the Golden Arch Hotel in Switzerland, the Chipotle Mexican Grill and Donatos Pizzeria, and on and on). McDonald's difficulties -- market oversaturation, increasing competition, menu problems, disgruntled franchise owners, and more -- are too big for a quick marketing fix, no matter who, or what, is doing the persuading.

Beliefnet emerges from bankruptcy

Scaling back from 69 employees to five, depending mostly on reprints, massively cutting original material, and scrubbing their own toilets, mutifaith website Beliefnet has pulled out of bankruptcy, reports USA Today. CEO Stephen Waldman says it's unclear "if it's a reincarnation, a resurrection, or just good fortune. But we do know we're alive and feeling very blessed!" But all those cuts apparently came at a steep price. USA Today calls Beliefnet "the Net's most popular religion site," but then says it "drew 1 million visitors a month."

Into Africa

Friends of Wendy and mine, Jason and Brooke Evans are planning a pilgrimage to Africa. Moments ago I received a very moving e-mail from Jason that talks about their journey. You will be able to find out more information at Jason's blog but while you are there, make a donation via PayPal or Amazon.com towards Jason and Brooke's trip.

Domain For Sale

In addition to jordoncooper.com being for sale (first million dollars walks away with it), John Campea is selling www.studentministry.net which was one of the first really cool student ministry sites. If you are interested in buying it, talk John. If you have a million dollars, talk to me. If you haven't heard the news, John has left Lakeview to be the Sr. Pastor and Grande Fromage at Lakewood Baptist Church. John is also the proud new owner of a really sweet notebook computer which he had to phone me last night just to gloat. (I would have done the same thing to him)

Job Opening...

Lakeview Free Methodist Church, Saskatoon, SK is currently accepting application for the position of Administrative Pastor. The Administrative Pastor would be responsible for the overall administrative operations of Lakeview Church. The ideal candidate would have functioned in a senior management position and/or director position in a multi-staff church organization for 7+ years, providing leadership in areas of organizational development, change and overall church management and administration. Training in current management skills and organizational development theories are preferred. A full job description is available upon request. Resumes can be submitted to the attention of Pastor Dean Angell, Lakeview FM Church, 130 Kingsmere Place, Saskatoon, SK S7J 3V7 or emailed to dean@lakeviewchurch.com. All application must be received by November 15, 2002. I have no details other than that you would be living in Saskatoon which is a huge bonus (seriously, it is a great place to live)

Command and Control Spam

Before anymore of you flame me for using the phrase, "command and control", the phrase comes from Dee Hock's, The Birth of the Chaordic Age, and is used to describe a traditional heirarchical organization (like banks and many companies). Everyone step back from their keyboards and calm down.

Steve Case Pulls the old, "I'm leaving and taking my ball AOL home with me" trick.

Case is thinking of spinning AOL off from Time Warner and regaining control

School's Out (from the Washington Post)

2.5 million American high school seniors enrolled in either a two-year or a four-year college. Almost a million did not. They were overwhelmingly poor, male and white. Much to the surprise of social scientists who traditionally have looked for educational problems among minorities, low-income black and Hispanic men are more likely to go to college right out of high school than white males.

Today in Saskatoon

I was going to comment on our snowfall but Karen Neudorf did it way cooler than I would have. Since Saskatoon snow is just Calgary snow that didn't fall you will get the drift (a little pun there).

Beyond Magazine's Blog

Karen Neudorf and the gang over at Beyond Magazine have relaunched their website (best use of Flash animations I have seen in a long time) and have added a fun filled blog while they were at it. Go and visit and then sign up for a subscription as they prepare to relaunch the mayhem that is Beyond Magazine...

My job here is done...

We went out with Lorne and Sherri Cornish last night to our new favorite restaurant, J.D. Peppercorn's for coffee when I managed to get Mark in trouble for getting him to smear some sour cream on Wendy. I have corrupted my son. I shall now call him "Mini-me". He has now joined the dark and obnoxious side of the Force. Next week: I teach Mark the power of the whoopee cushion.

Scott Williams' New Blog

Scott has changed the location of his blog and is now at www.newheights.bc.ca/blogger.htm. He has some great thoughts on intellectual property and the church for his first new post.

AKMA's Disseminary

Not only has AKMA moved to Moveable Type but he has a new web project on the go (called the Disseminary) and a new web address for his his blog at http://akma.disseminary.org/. I am going to be honest, anything project coming out a seminary called the "Disseminary" has me interested. I am a long time fan and learner of AKMA's site and I think AKMA is one of the few theologians and scholars that church has that understands the web (even if I do agree with his writing from time to time). I can't wait to see what he does with the idea of the Disseminary. If you link to him, you may want to update your bookmarks and if you don't, your blogroll is poorer for it.

Sunday

Took today off. Spiritwood will be fine without me. Wendy and I picked up Mark who spent the night at Jerry and Gloria's and then went out for brunch. Spending the day hanging out and doing nothing other than watching some DVD's. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed and left a comment. Everyone has been great.

Wendy had a miscarriage today. Not much else I can say.

Why Blogger?

With all the press this week about Blogger.com getting hacked there has been a major outcry about how lax the service and security is and at the end of seemingly every story and blog post is, "you should move to Movable Type" because it is decentralized. We seem to forget that websites get hacked. GeoCities (when it was still cool) got hacked, Netscape (when all the smart people still worked there) got hacked, Nike, FOX TV, Microsoft, TheForce.Net, Whitehouse.gov, CIA and countless other sites all get hacked and we move on. When Blogger gets hacked, people seem to lose all perspective and forget that high profile sites are constantly under attack.
I pay $50 CDN a year for Blogger Pro. It hasn't been a perfectly smooth ride. For the first couple of months the new code of Blogger Pro wouldn't publish to my server and even now it flakes out when they are tinkering with things. Each of my e-mail to them was answered and they did a good job of keeping me up to date about the problem. Until they had it fixed the backup server worked nicely. All along the service has been reliable, fast and has been worth it. The customer support has been excellent when I have had a question and the service has worked as well as any of my other web services that I use. CI HOST took months to get a timeout feature on our POP3's at Lakeview fixed. Amazon.com has lost a book or two in shipping to my house and took a week to get their e-book servers up recently when I had bought one. Blogger responsed to the hack as fast as they could and had everything resolved within a couple of hours. What more could you ask. Did they screw up? Yes. Did they fix it as soon as they could. It appears that way. Yes I know Moveable Type will install in 20 minutes and has a commenting feature that is faster than YACCS but for now Blogger has lived up to their promises to me and has delivered on what they have said they would which makes for an excellent business relationship.
The regular Blogger may be the greatest of all web services ever. Wendy uses it for her blog and it is as reliable as the Pro servers. We use the free service and the API for Hockey Pundits and I haven't heard a complaint for months. After a day of criticism and controversy, Blogger is still one of the greatest web services of all time and I can't recommend them enough.

The Authority of Compassion

The Church often wounds us deeply. People with religious authority often wound us by their words, attitudes, and demands. Precisely because our religion brings us in touch with the questions of life and death, our religious sensibilities can get hurt most easily. Ministers and priests seldom fully realize how a critical remark, a gesture of rejection, or an act of impatience can be remembered for life by those to whom it is directed.
There is such an enormous hunger for meaning in life, for comfort and consolation, for forgiveness and reconciliation, for restoration and healing, that anyone who has any authority in the Church should constantly be reminded that the best word to characterize religious authority is compassion. Let's keep looking at Jesus whose authority was expressed in compassion.
- Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey

Notre Dame beats Florida State 34-24

I am a Notre Dame fan. I jumped on the bandwagon back in 1988 and never jumped off despite the Bob Davie era. I was really shocked they beat Florida State in a high scoring game on the road. By prevailing in its first visit to Tallahassee, Notre Dame's quest for its first national championship since 1988 could gain even more momentum. The Irish are third in the BCS standings due to their strength of schedule and face Boston College, Navy and Rutgers in their next three games, meaning they could be 11-0 heading into the regular season finale at Southern California. Notre Dame came in ranked 109th in total offense in Division I-A and was a 10-point underdog to the Seminoles. But the defense has created big plays all year, and Saturday was no different. The Fighting Irish have converted 22 takeaways into 88 points.

Snow Day

Not really but it snowed for the first time today. We live on a bus route but not a busy street and have seen two fender benders already. It happens all over but every year on the first snow fall people who have lived here for years forget how to drive when it is icy out for the first week or so. We haven't had an offical close down the schools snow day for something like 15 years and since we lived near the school we walked over their anyways. It was grade 5 and there was like 15 of us there with our teacher. I can't remember the entire day well but I remember it being a lot of fun for a day spent at the school.

Mark and I managed to shovel the walk and kick a pile of leaves that Wendy had piled up so our work is done. I can't wait for a little more snow so we can take Mark downhill on the sled. It brings back fun memories of my GT Snowracer (make a really fast sled with a really high centre of gravity and watch kids almost die on a hill).

5

A week ago Wendy and I celebrated five years of marriage. It wasn't the most romantic of days, we were returning home from Soularize and she spent most of it in the van seat in front of me sleeping but it still was a big day. We managed to use the week away as a fun way to celebrate things and we had a blast. It has been a lot of fun and I love Wendy more and more each day. There has been some dark times as well. Mom's brain cancer and death seemed to dominate the first six months of our marriage and there has been other struggles as well (any conversation ever with her side of the family... I'm serious) but all in all it has been a great five years.

CHURCH SIGNS ARE STUPID Day - November 17

Mark Riddle is starting a worthwhile movement against one of the great sins against humanity. Church signs. Please spread the word. From Mark's blog,
Let the declaration ring out across this great land.
On Sunday November 17th let churches with Marquee's signs shout a message in one accord. Using their all UPPER CASE letters wisely for once in an ecumenical anthem. Let the mega-churches use their electronic time and temperature signs responsably. Let us declare what the world already know but what we are afraid to admit! On the morning of Sunday November 17th the movement begins as we all proclaim the truth together

CHURCH
SIGNS
ARE
STUPID

Aiptek Pocket DV II

As you read earlier, the beloved PenCam died a horrible death in Minneapolis. After replacing it with a new and improved Pen Cam that had a scratched viewer, I exchanged that for a Aiptek Pocket DV II that is the smallest camera I have ever seen yet still takes a decent digital picture. Am very happy with it. If you are looking for a cheap 1.3 megapixel camera that takes web quality video, make sure you check this out. Pen Cam.org gives you an idea of the quality of picture you can take with our camera.

Len Sweet interview with Relevant Magazine

Relevant Magazine's interview with Leonard Sweet.
[RM:] I want to know about the "wussification" of the church, as you call it ...
[LS:] I'll give you one example of it: Street evangelism. You think about a typical street evangelist on a soapbox, with some kind of megaphone and he's handing out tracts. I mean, Wesley and some early Methodists in the late 18th, early 19th century invented street evangelism and they would attract these huge crowds; people were getting converted and there were these huge revivals! We do it today and it drives people away! It's not turning people to Christ, it's driving them away from Christ. Why? It's the wussification of the church, and the wussification of the church's mind and mission.
In the 1790's, a book was equivalent to one month's salary, so people didn't have books. And they didn't have literature in their homes. So pamphlets and tracts were the cutting edge hardware of the 18th century. Literally, a book is one month's salary, and you're on a street evangelism team giving out books and tracts and pamphlets. Well, hello! In the 1990's the computer was equivalent to one month's salary! And here we are still giving out tracts, which our ancestor's did, but if we were doing what they did, we'd be standing on street corners passing out Palm Pilots, PCs. You want to talk about crowds that would wait in line and listen to what we have to say? Now, of course, that hardware would have to come with spiritual software. The early street evangelists just didn't have pamphlets, they had chapters from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, or Fox's Book of Martyrs, or Thomas A Kempis' Imitation of Christ. So you just don't pass out Palm Pilots, you put Bible software on them, if you're passing out PCs, you put the whole Scriptures in there! We're such wusses! We're still passing out tracts. I mean, in the men's room they put tracts on the urinals. And this is evangelism?! Who's gonna pick it up? It's the wussification of the church's mind and mission, and it's embarrassing. Let's do for our day what our ancestors did for their day � is that too much to ask?

Patent Holder Suing E-Commerce Sites

An obscure patent holder is suing small e-commerce sites according to Infoweek. Opinions are mixed on their motive but by picking on the small business user, they are creating a lot of ill-will towards them. I hope they get squashed.

Planning

Wendy bought Authentic Faith: The Power of a Fire Tested Life while down at Soularize and it is a worthwhile read and is one of the better books Gary Thomas has written. Rather than discussing the traditional spiritual disciplines (e.g., fasting, prayer or Bible study), Thomas focuses on the spiritual disciplines that are initiated by God rather than by believers: selflessness, waiting, endurance, persecution, social mercy, forgiveness, mourning, contentment, sacrifice, and rewards and punishments. Each chapter explores a discipline with memorable illustrations, Scriptural foundations, insights from classical Christian writers and references to current life situations and struggles. Thomas's discussion of mourning as a spiritual discipline is particularly insightful: "Mourning invites us to a deeper life," he explains. "It takes us beyond the surface to give us a glimpse of the world as God sees it." Despite the difficult nature of many of the topics, the book offers an overarching sense of a deep joy and meaning that can be obtained by seeking God through life's darkest times. Thomas provides an unusually compassionate discussion of many painful circumstances, offering a fresh perspective of wisdom and hope.

Hockey Pundits Redesign

Hockey Pundits has been redesigned. Take a look around and leave a comment if you see any bugs or anything abnormal or just let us know how you like it!

So true it hurts...

Business 2.0 wonders if management is possible. Uncertainty challenges management to become one of the humanities. Companies won't succeed if people cannot improvise, ad lib, make do, and override procedures. Nor will they survive if they're out of control. Becoming both resilient and consistent will take more than decentralization or programs to empower people. It will require new thinking about how to design organizations, compensate employees, and link suppliers and customers; new technologies to support those connections; and good, old-fashioned commitment to the belief that management can make a profound difference in the lives of people and the fortunes of the places they work.

'I Didn't Want to Be Cute'

Eugene Peterson sits down and talks about what drove him to write The Message.

At a recent concert, Don Henley encouraging everyone to "Download all you want". "The record companies have been ripping artists off for years", he said. "Go ahead. I'd rather lose money to you than them. I don't have a contract with you." from brushstroke

Spam Fighter

Cloudmark has a great tool for Outlook 2000/XP that you may want to check out. It is user related and moves spam to a special "spam" folder for you to review and if needed delete. Have been using it for a couple of week and I like it.

Adam McIntyre, who I met at Soularize has launched his own blog. Welcome to the club, secret handshake is in the mail.

Travelling Cheap While Overseas
Never know when you need to know this stuff.

Dan Gilmour gives us the some frightening opinions on Microsoft. As of Sept. 30, Microsoft had gone over the $40 billion mark in cash and short-term investments (effectively the same). Think about that -- $40 billion. What is Microsoft going to do with this money? They can't spend it fast enough internally, and the top shareholders, who control the company, refuse to issue dividends (this saves Bill Gates et al billions in taxes). Prediction: Once Microsoft is out from under what's left of the antitrust case, it'll go on a strategic investment and acquisition spree the likes of which you cannot even imagine. The monopoly continues, unabated, and could even grow stronger. Innovation is almost dead in desktop software, where Microsoft has sucked the financial oxygen out of the system. The company's behavior doesn't improve. It's no coincidence. Too bad we no longer have a government that's willing to enforce the antitrust laws, and technology buyers who feel so trapped they won't even consider alternatives. Life, circa 2002.

Mark Riddle has compiled the 25 worst ways to start a sermon.

TheOOZE is online with a new look!

TheOOZE's long awaited redesign is now online. Take a look around and spread the word that the site is better than ever. TheOOZE has been one of my favorite sites online for years and its new design brings even more joy to my world.

Q & A with Dallas Willard
Interview with Dallas Willard from Relevant Magazine.

At what point does the world start questioning what is happening to people being illegally deported from the United States. I wish someone in the Canadian government would have the courage to speak out against this .There were rumours he had been sent to Jordan, but the Jordanians say they don't have him. Human rights groups like Amnesty International have condemned the actions of the US, and say it has violated international law and put Mr Arar's life in danger. Of course, there remains the possibility that Mr Arar did have links to the terrorist network, which would explain why he hasn't contacted his family. But in the absence of any evidence from the United States, the Canadian government doesn't buy that conclusion. It seems more likely that Mr Arar's story is a cautionary tale for the post September 11 2001 world, where a whisper of suspicion may be enough to destroy a man's life.

Doonebury on the Blog

Yeah, I have to admit it is true...

Christianity's New Center

Philip Jenkins, the author of "The Next Christianity" in the October Atlantic, argues that most Americans and Europeans are blind to Christianity's real future

Nouwen on Christian Leadership

It is not enough for the priests and ministers of the future to be moral people, well trained, eager to help their fellow humans, and able to respond creatively to the burning issues of their time. All of that is very valuable and important, but it is not the heart of Christian leadership. The central question is, are the leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God's presence, to listen to God's voice, to look at God's beauty, to touch God's incarnate Word and to taste fully God's infinite goodness?

Henri Nouwen
In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership

alt.worship.saskatoon

Spent some time talking with Todd on the way back from Soularize about doing a worship experience like we saw there but from our local context at the end of November... it should be good but who knows. If people hate it, at least we will have a good time putting it on.

Mark Riddle is online

For those of you who can't get enough of Mark's rants on TheOOZE, you can find him now at his own blog.

The sure way to success for any commercial venture is to suggest that th ose people who buy things from it, or gamble on its terms, are members of a "club", a "circle". Study the advertisements in any popular magazine: people are "invited to apply for membership"; "members will receive a catalogue"; they are even offered "rules", which they gladly accept because the need for authority lies heavily upon them; they then receive a card admitting them to the circle, with the "President's signature" printed on it. In the need for belonging, the acknowledgement of dependence, may lie the greatest opportunity of the Christian evangelist. It is not unlike the conditions under which the early Church worked. In the later Roman Empire, crumbling under its own size, its communications and resources stretched to the utmost, the mystery-religions came
into their own. Rites of initiation, the sharing of secret knowledge, offered to people of all classes an escape from the perplexities of life, a retreat into a closed circle of the
elect where they might feel that their transformed personalities had some significance. Who can know how many weary souls there were who strayed into the Church through rumours of a secret rite of purification, of a shared meal that conferred wisdom, and who remained to comprehend the fullness of the Godhead, a belonging greater than they had ever imagined
Raymond Chapman, The Ruined Tower [1961]

When we OOZEing along at Soularize, Todd and Corina came up after a workshop and were blown away by the worship leading of the worship team of the Bridge in Portland. After listening to them lead some of the worship this weekend, I agree. You can buy their CD's here or listen to an amazing MP3 here. I stupidly didn't buy it while down there so I will have to pick it up online. I did manage to pick the Spirit Garage band's, Free Parking and am enjoying it quite a bit.

Jason Evans has a great look at Soularize from his perspective. I loved his comments on Bernice King.

BELOIT COLLEGE "MINDSET LIST" FOR THE CLASS OF 2006

Most students entering college this fall were born in 1984.
1. A Southerner has always been President of the United States.
2. Richard Burton, Ricky Nelson and Truman Capote have always been dead.
3. South Africa's official policy of apartheid has not existed during their lifetime.
4. Cars have always had eye-level rear stop lights, CD players, and air bags.
5. We have always been able to choose our long distance carriers.
6. Weather reports have always been available 24-hours a day on television.
7. The "evil empire" has moved from Moscow to a setting in some distant galaxy.
8. "Big Brother" is merely a television show.
9. Cyberspace has always existed.
10. Bruce Springsteen's new hit, Born in the USA, could have been played to celebrate their birth.
11. Barbie has always had a job.
12. Telephone bills have always been totally incomprehensible.
13. Prom dresses have always come in basic black.
14. A "Hair Band" is some sort of fashion accessory.
15. George Foreman has always been a barbecue grill salesman
16. Afghanistan has always been a front page story.
17. There has always been an heir to the heir to the British throne.
18. They have no recollection of Connie Chung or Geraldo Rivera as serious journalists.
19. Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, and Tom Brokaw have always anchored the evening news.
20. China has always been a market-based reforming regime.
21. The United States has always been trying to put nuclear waste in Nevada.
22. The U.S. and the Soviets have always been partners in space.
23. Mrs. Fields' cookies and Swatch watches have always been favorites.
24. Nicholas Cage, Daryll Hannah, Eddie Murphy, and John Malkovich made their first major film impressions the year they were born.
25. The GM Saturn has always been on the road.
26. The "Fab Four" are not a male rock group, but four women enjoying "Sex and the City."
27. Fox has always been a television network choice.
28. Males do not carry a handkerchief in a back pocket.
29. This generation has never wanted to "be a Pepper too."
30. Ozzy's lifestyle has nothing to do with the Nelson family.
31. Women have always had tattoos.
32. Vanessa Williams and Madonna are aging singers.
33. Perrier has always come in flavors.
34. Cherry Coke has always come in cans.
35. A "hotline" is a consumer service rather than a phone used to avoid accidental nuclear war.
36. The drug "ecstasy" has always been around.
37. Genetic testing and DNA screening have always been available.
38. Electronic filing of federal income taxes has always been an option.
39. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has always been available to doctors.
40. Trivial Pursuit may have been played by their parents the night before they were born.
41. The U.S. has always maintained that it has a "clear right to use force against terrorism."
42. The drinking age has always been 21 throughout the country.
43. Women have always been members of the Jaycees.
44. The center of chic has shifted from Studio 54 to Liza's living room, live!
45. Julian Lennon had his only hit the year they were born.
46. Sylvan Learning Centers have always been an after-school option.
47. Hip-hop and rap have always been popular musical forms.
48. They grew up in minivans.
49. Scientists have always recognized the impact of acid rain.
50. The Coen Brothers have always been making films.

And in 1984, perhaps it was "Too Soon to Tell"...
Technology analysts questioned the need for briefcase-sized computers.
The National Children and Youth Fitness Study announced that children were overweight and underactive.
A CPA organization heralded that computerized audit systems were being used to avoid errors and they were doing much better at spotting mistakes and providing internal audit controls.
Film critics declared that George Lucas was looking for new directions because Star Wars interest was waning.
Videotape technology was said to be killing the film industry and slowing cable network development.
Analysts stated there was no market for Direct Broadcast Satellite systems.
The U.S. Supreme Court declared sleeping to be a form of free speech.

Blogarize

Rudy is blogging down from me (and talking about the possibility of "Hooters Airlines"), Wendy has just finished it up and just down from me too, Jeremiah Smith of elusive.lucidity is blogging away. Ted (of Ted and Lee) has his iBook with Rudy now talking about video editing. Speaking of video, Rudy showed some great videos he created with iMovie of taking some of the Haramee kids. I hope he posts them online.