Middle Range

saturday scooter ride

2009-01-20T13:40:00.000-08:00

a scooter ride

2009-01-10T18:28:00.001-08:00

Our 2nd Race

2008-11-19T15:38:00.000-08:00

Stacy and I got to run in our second race a few Sundays past. The weather cleared and we got to see what it was like running with 500 other people. The final mile was my fastest mile...and Stacy had a bit of a problem with her knees. So we are back in the gym and working on warming up quite a bit more. It's tough to knock out all the kinks after sitting in a car for 1 1/2 hours and then suddenly stepping out into the cold. We're learning, and having a blast.

our 1st race

2008-10-07T11:50:00.001-07:00

Stacy and I ran in our first race this past Sunday. It was a bunch of fun, and we finished closer to the top than the bottom overall. We each got 2nd place in our age categories. It feels great to get out and run together. Next month were on to the Almond Bowl and a bit longer race.

I simply love her...

2008-09-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

DG Bar-B-Q

2008-08-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

Contact Don Betrus

2008-08-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

Views from the Igo-Ono Church

2008-07-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

Redding is under the smokey part...
Image Acquired: July 22, 2008 by NASA

electronic chuch

2008-07-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

If you have taken the time to read this...
You should post a comment here.

Let them know you are alive...and reading.

a cartoon

2008-07-16T18:45:00.000-07:00

So what do you think?

2008-07-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

with permission...

2008-06-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

David,

So, it's Sunday and I'm home channel surfing. I landed on KQED. The show was dubed a California Documentary. So, I was interested. It was about Lonnie Frisbie. I had never heard of him. Turns out he was a hippie turned Christian who was piviatal in the growth of the Vineyard Church. He was also a closet or not no closet at times homosexual. Apparently his work in the growth of the Vineyard has been down played or erased because of his sexual orientation. I wondered if you had heard of him.

This weekend is Gay Pride weekend in San Francisco. The significance that Gay Pride is celebrated the weekend before 4th of July is not lost on me. We all long for freedom when we feel trapped. We also forget that with freedom comes it's friend, responsibility.

I'll be the first to admit that since my babtism I have fallen away from going to church and walking with Jesus. I decided that "it" really wasn't for me. I became turned off by the notion that the only way to God was through Jesus. Is that what we are to believe? I guess now that I am baptized I am now a hypocrite since I do not walk the walk. Prior to baptism I could walk through my life guilt free. Now I get to wonder about my sins. Is the wonder and/or concern simply Jesus calling?

According to the documentary I just watched the church is really concerned with our sexual sins. If that's the case, then I guess I'll be burning in hell. Ha! All joking aside, I wonder what your thoughts are on the passing of gay marriage in our state. I'm finding that I have a problem with it, which is causing a problem for me. I have always considered myself a open minded Liberal. But, I take issue with the idea that homosexuals can legally marry in our state. I read an article that the state was changing the marriage form from Bride and Groom to Party A and Party B because Bride and Groom suggests woman and man. That pisses me off. When I marry, I want it to be known that I am a woman about to marry a man.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with all this (so many topics in one email), but the documentary touched a cord. Thoughts?

wanna buy a watch?

2008-06-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

I am often asked, “So who does most of the cooking?’
An innocent question really.
“We both do.” I generally answer.

There are deeper questions, but for the most part, they aren’t asked. Newly married you are offered the convenience of learning…and to some degree distance. Those married remember the early months, and those unmarried can’t really understand.

Do you endure or enjoy? Is it one or the other, somewhere in between, or a marvelous mix? Can you understand that indescribable entrance of God, when invited, into your relationships? What does it look like as you allow Him entrance into those parts of your life you ‘had a handle on’ (hey…I’m feelin’ more mature this decade).

Communication. How long have you been in conversation with your best of friends? I can only assume you’ve learned one another…or at least what you’ve chose to expose. The timing and entrance into those unique qualities take time, effort and openness. And they are simply wonderful places to see Jesus show up and laugh. I love my wife dearly, and learning to be the husband I was made to be, with and for her, is a pleasure I never knew existed.

So do we endure one another’s differences as we force our perceptions and expectation upon each other? No. Do we come to enjoy the covenant of marriage, and allow for His work in both of each other and us? Yes. Is it difficult? Not ‘if’, but rather ‘when’…the loss of the choices of a single life in the privileged western world…that will allow you to see love and relationship in a different way. Not to simply endure, but to enjoy.

Have you ever had an old watch? One you’ve enjoyed for years on end…and then it began to fail – it still told time, but the watch ‘thought’ the 24 hour day measured 24 hours and 15 minutes. If you were like me, you’d take note, and reset your old friend each morning as you moved through your familiar and regular routine. You (and I) can endure it. But then you are asked for the time, throughout the day, and its important. Do you guess, or do you collect a new watch? Do you gain a growing perspective in the enjoyment of walking together? I think you do.

George Carlin (May 12, 1937-June 22, 2008)

2008-06-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

George Carlin

lookin' for a new pony

2008-06-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

Yamaha V-Star 250

Native plant enthusiast dies

2008-06-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

Farmer, rancher, teacher Dave DuBose was north state fixture

By Rob Rogers (Contact) - Record Searchlight
Wednesday, June 25, 2008

If you wanted to know anything about north state plants, you talked to Dave DuBose.

He was a past president of the California Native Plant Society, a farmer and rancher, and also a former instructor of agriculture and environmental conservation at Shasta College.

"He loved his job," said his wife, Sandy. "It was his total identity."

If you wanted to know anything about north state history, you talked to Dave DuBose.

"He was my No. 1 favorite history person," said Dottie Smith, former curator of the Shasta College Museum. "I'm gonna miss Dave."

Clyde "David" DuBose, 70, died Tuesday of complications with pneumonia. He had Alzheimer's disease and was showing symptoms of Parkinson's disease, Sandy DuBose said.

"He never complained about it," she said.

It wasn't his style.

Family and friends remembered his sharp and sometimes stinging wit, and his ability to laugh in almost any situation.

"He was just very vital, interested in everything" Sandy DuBose said.

And he wasn't afraid to speak his mind.

"He had opinions on everything," she said. "He was not religious at all -- it annoyed him."

Both he and Sandy were 30 when they married in 1968 -- they met at Shasta College -- and later had three children. Matt, 36, lives in Connecticut; Rebecca, 34, lives in Seattle; and Nathan, 30, lives in Mountain Gate.

An outdoorsman all his life, DuBose grew up on a dairy farm in Nelson just south of Chico. He earned his bachelor's degree in general agriculture from Chico State University and earned his teaching and administrative credentials at the University of California at Davis. He taught for two years at Red Bluff High School and two years at Etna Junior/Senior High School.

In 1965, Shasta College called him with a job offer. He began that year, building the first natural resources department in the California community college system. He retired in 1999.

Over the course of his professional life, DuBose served on the Natural Science Council at what was then Turtle Bay Museums and Arboretum on the River, helped with the arboretum's native plant program, gave history lectures around town, volunteered at the Sacramento River Discovery Center in Red Bluff and was a member of the Native Grass Society.

Sandy DuBose said her husband had been working on writing a book about the history of agriculture in Shasta County. She said it would likely go unfinished.

They bought a 300-acre ranch in 1970, one of the oldest in the county, and worked it for years. It sits near Parkville Cemetery where Dave DuBose's cremated remains will be laid to rest, Sandy DuBose said.

perspective

2008-06-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

Have a look at the flood issues in China.

Kyle and I traveled through here on train...thanks Kyle.

Remembering the steep canyon walls, winding rail, rich wet country-side and amazing terraced rice fields...there is a light sense of what this looks likes on the ground.

It's a long process of recovery in so many ways...to reconstruct the agricultural base lost, and so many other efforts. Pray.

Food & Gas

2008-06-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

This past Christmas season through the community at the Vineyard City Church, I had the opportunity to give through an organization called HEIFER International. These guys do some really great sustainable agricultural industry projects among the worlds poor.

Occasionally I receive updates from HEIFER, and this past month a few of the articles really hit home. As I find myself immersed in the conservation industry I tend to look at global environmental issues with a dull sense of ‘business as usual.’ People tend to want to do the right thing, but they often want to do it from their couch with a click or two on the internet. I am no different, and often fall into the daily groove of what’s quick and easy for me. But I do know, when I take the time to think (much less pray), what is easy for me isn’t always best for the community at large. To work together with other people, in what has become a global mess of connectivity, I often need to do what appears harder for me…and this becomes easier for them. My inner-Frankenstein tells me, ‘Change bad…bacon double cheese burger good.’ You got to love those fun little paradoxes.

I was asked a few weeks ago what were things people could do or begin to think about to influence some beneficial change toward sustainable environmental practices (conservation). With the rising price of fuel we now recognize in more detail how much we drive…but for many of us it has not impacted greatly other portion of our lives (e.g. cable teevee)…yet. That’s not to say entertainment is bad, but it holds a great deal of our attention and resources. Interestingly, for many people, what they EAT has a greater environmental impact than what they DRIVE.

Globally, agriculture may contribute up to one third of the worlds greenhouse-gas emissions, with livestock production alone contributing 18 percent – just 13 percent comes from trucks, cars and other transportation. And to make it complicated…Livestock often provide the only source of nutrition and income for millions of the world’s poor. Have look at these two short articles, and let me know what you think:

The Carbon Hoofprint
From the Farm to Your Table

What can you do?

Buy less, waste less.

Avoid air-freighted and hothouse-grown foods.

Eat less meat.

Learn more.

...getting deeper...

2008-06-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

The ancient city of Syene (today known as أسوان ''Aswān'' or Assouan) is located due south of Alexandria at a distance of 5000 Greek stades.

In Syene there is a very deep well. Every year at noon on the day of the summer solstice (21 June) the sunlight illuminates the water at the bottom of this well. At that moment, the sun is directly overhead and there are no shadows in the city of Syene.

some random pics...

2008-05-29T20:20:00.001-07:00

this morning

2008-05-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. —Romans 8:28

One of God’s purposes in pain is to brand the image of Jesus in our hearts. Can we weep with those who weep? God may need to stain our cheeks with our own tears so that we can genuinely empathize with others as Jesus did. Are we self-sufficient? God may need to strip away our security to conform us to the God-sufficiency that Christ displayed. Are we faithless? It may require a tragedy to teach us to trust the Father as Jesus did.

Sunday Morning...

2008-04-27T07:08:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 55:10-11

10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

God's Word is to a soul what water is to barren land.

The Onion Radio News

2008-04-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

With Doyle Redland

Man With Hammer-Induced Thumb Injury Appeals To Christ Almighty

Mr. & Mrs. DeMar - P.V. Mexico

2008-04-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Vineyard Idol #6 - remixed

2008-04-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

Vineyard City Church - Men's Retreat Promo Trailer #6 (take two)

The Vineyard Men's Retreat
April 18-20, 2008

Woodleaf Retreat Center
11359 La Porte Road
Challenge, CA 95925

All done...bye bye now!

Vineyard Idol - Week 6

2008-03-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

Vineyard City Church - Men's Retreat Promo Trailer #6

The Vineyard Men's Retreat
April 18-20, 2008

Woodleaf Retreat Center
11359 La Porte Road
Challenge, CA 95925

He is risen

2008-03-23T06:28:00.001-07:00

Eugene Peterson - Holy Saturday

2008-03-22T18:24:00.000-07:00

Prettyfeather placed two buffalo-head nickels on the countertop for her Holy Saturday purchase: smoked ham hocks; two for a nickel. In the descending hierarchy of Holy Saturday foods, ham hocks were at the bottom.

Large hickory-smoked hams held center position in the displays in my father's butcher shop. Colorful cardboard cutouts provided by salesmen from the meat-packing companies of Armour, Hormel, and Silverbow all showed variations on a theme: a father at an Easter Sunday dinner table carving a ham, surrounded by an approving wife and scrubbed, expectant children.

Off to the side of these displays were stacks of the smaller and cheaper picnic hams (though a picnic ham is not, properly speaking, a ham at all, but the shoulder of the pig). There were no company-supplied pictures, nor even brand names on them. On Holy Saturday customers crowded into our store, responding to the sale signs painted on the plate-glass windows fronting Main Street and sorting themselves into upper and lower socio-economic strata: the affluent buying honey-cured, hickory-smoked hams, and the less-than-affluent buying unadjectived picnics.

Prettyfeather was the only person I ever remember buying ham hocks—gristly on the inside and leathery on the outside, but smoked and therefore emanating the aroma of a feast—on Holy Saturday. She was the only Indian I knew by name in the years of my childhood and youth, although I grew up in Indian country. Every Saturday she came into our store to make a small purchase: pickled pig's feet, chitlins, blood sausage, head cheese, pork liver.

She was always by herself. She wore moccasins and was wrapped in a blanket, even in the warmest weather. The coins she used for her purchases were in a leather pouch that hung like a goiter at her neck. Her face was the color and texture of the moccasins on her feet.

Indian was a near-mythological word for me, full of nobility and beauty, filled out with stories of the hunt and sacred ceremony. Somehow it never occurred to me that this Indian squaw who came into our store every Saturday and bought barely edible meats belonged to that nobility.

While she made her purchases from us, and did whatever other shopping she did on these Saturdays in town, her husband and seven or eight other Indian braves sat on apple boxes in the alley behind the Pastime Bar and passed a jug of Thunderbird wine. Several jugs, actually. As I made back-door deliveries of steaks and hamburger to the restaurants along Main Street, I passed up and down the alley several times each Saturday and watched the empty jugs accumulate. Late in the evening, Bennie Odegaard, son of one of the bar owners and a little older than me, would pull the braves into his dad's pickup truck and drive them out south of town to their encampment along the Stillwater River and dump them out.

I don't know how Prettyfeather got back to that small cluster of tarpaper shacks and teepees. She walked, I guess. Carrying her small purchases. On Holy Saturday she carried four ham hocks.

I had never heard of any Saturday designated as holy. It was simply Saturday. If, once a year, precision was required, it was "the Saturday before Easter." It was one of the heaviest workdays of the year. Beginning early in the morning, I carried the great, fragrant hams shipped from Armour in Spokane, Hormel in Missoula, and Silverbow in Butte, and arranged them symmetrically in pyramids. We had advertised all week long. Saturday was the commercial climax to the week. Holiness was put on hold till Sunday. Saturday was for working hard and making money.

It was a day when the evidence of hard work and its consequence—money—became publicly apparent. The evidence was especially clear on that particular Saturday, when we sold hundreds of hams to deserving Christians, and four ham hocks to an Indian squaw and her pickup load of drunks.

The Saturday pinned between Good Friday and Easter was one of the high-energy workdays of the year, with no thought of holiness. I grew up in a religious home that believed devoutly in the saving benefits of the death of Jesus and the glorious life of resurrection. But between these two polar events of the faith, we worked a long and lucrative day.

I would have been very surprised, and somewhat unbelieving, to have known that in the very town in which I worked furiously all those unholy Saturdays, there were people besides the Indians who were not working at all, nor spend ing, but were remembering the despair of a world disappointed in its grandest hopes, entering into the emptiness of death by deliberately emptying the self of illusion and indulgence and self-importance. Keeping vigil for Easter. Watching for the dawn.

Something strange is happening on earth today, a great silence, and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captive Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: "My Lord be with you all." Christ answered him: "And with your spirit." He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: "Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light."
—The reading for Holy Saturday in the Liturgy of the Hours

As it turned out I interpreted the meaning of the world and the people around me far more in terms of the hard working on Saturday than anything said or sung on Friday and Sunday. Whatever was told me in those years (and I have no reason to doubt that I heard truth), what I absorbed in my bones was a liturgical rhythm in which the week reached its climax in a human workday, the results of which were enjoyed on Easter.

Those assumptions provided the grid for a social interpretation of the world around me: Saturday was the day for hard work, or for displaying its results, namely, money. If someone appeared neither working nor spending on Saturday, there was something wrong, catastrophically wrong. The Indians attempting a hungover Easter feast on ham hocks were the most prominent exhibit.

It was a view of life shaped by "The Gospel According to America." The rewards were obvious, and I enjoyed them. I still do. Hard work pays off. I learned much in those years that I will never relinquish.

Yet, there was one large omission that set all other truth dangerously at risk: the omission of holy rest. The refusal to be silent. The obsessive avoidance of emptiness. The denial of any experience and any people in the least bit suggestive of godforsakenness.

It was far more than an annual ignorance on Holy Saturday; it was religiously fueled, weekly arrogance. Not only was the Good Friday crucifixion bridged to the Easter resurrection by this day furious with energy and lucrative with reward, but all the gospel truths were likewise set as either introductions or conclusions to the human action that displayed our prowess and our virtue every week of the year. God was background to our business. Every gospel truth was maintained intact and all the human energy was wholly admirable, but the rhythms were all wrong, the proportions wildly skewed. Desolation—and with it companionship with the desolate, from first-century Semites to twentieth-century Indians—was all but wiped from consciousness.

But there came a point at which I was convinced that it was critically important to pay more attention to what God does than what I do; to find daily, weekly, yearly rhythms that would get that awareness into my bones. Holy Saturday for a start. And then, times to visit people in despair, and learn their names, and wait for resurrection.

Embedded in my memory now is this most poignant irony: those seven or eight Indians, with the Thunderbird empties lying around, drunk in the alley behind the Pastime Baron Saturday afternoon, while we Scandinavian Christians worked diligently late into the night, oblivious to the holiness of the day. The Indians were in despair, religious despair, something very much like the Holy Saturday despair narrated in the Gospels. Their way of life had come to nothing, the only buffalo left to them engraved on nickels, a couple of which one of their squaws had paid out that morning for four bony ham hocks. The early sacredness of their lives was a wasteland; and they, godforsaken as they supposed, drugged their despair with Thunderbird and buried their dead visions and dreams in the alley behind the Pastime, ignorant of the God at work beneath their emptiness.

Holy Week - Fasting

2008-03-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

Check out Ben Witherington's Blog on Mandatum Thursday.

Vineyard Idol - Week 5

2008-03-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

Vineyard City Church - Men's Retreat Promo Trailer #5

The Vineyard Men's Retreat
April 18-20, 2008

Woodleaf Retreat Center
11359 La Porte Road
Challenge, CA 95925

Vineyard Idol - Week 4

2008-03-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

Vineyard City Church - Men's Retreat Promo Trailer #4

The Vineyard Men's Retreat
April 18-20, 2008

Woodleaf Retreat Center
11359 La Porte Road
Challenge, CA 95925

Vineyard Idol - Week 3

2008-02-29T17:16:00.000-08:00

Vineyard City Church - Men's Retreat Promo Trailer #3

The Vineyard Men's Retreat
April 18-20, 2008

Woodleaf Retreat Center
11359 La Porte Road
Challenge, CA 95925

Cultivating the Soul

2008-02-25T22:32:00.000-08:00

Spiritual formation can happen, without saying a word.

Thirty years ago, when real estate in this part of New Hampshire was cheap, my wife, Gail, and I purchased an old farm and called it Peace Ledge. During the 1800s the land’s valuable timber had been clear-cut and transformed into pasture where enormous workhorses could be bred and raised. Then around 1900 the farm went belly-up, was abandoned, and, after seventy years, became a forest again.

Occasionally, Gail and I select a small piece of this woodland and clear it. We eliminate unhealthy trees. We rip out the kind of ground vegetation that makes for fire danger. And we dig away the ubiquitous boulders (the gift of ancient glaciers) that might create havoc with the blades of our tractor mower.

Gail and I enjoy our accomplishments—for a little while—until our eyes begin to spot more work begging attention in adjoining areas we’d not considered before.

This refreshing of our land is a lifelong task. And when we die, our descendents, presumably, will continue the job.

For me this outdoor labor mirrors the discipline of spiritual formation, for just as one cultivates the land, so one must regularly, systematically even, cultivate the deepest parts of the interior life where God is most likely to whisper (not shout) the everlasting promises into one’s life.

To be candid, I’ve gone through periods where I neglected spiritual formation. I had all the reasons I hear from others: too busy, not practical, unable to concentrate, no clear sense that spiritual formation gets results. My neglect in those moments was pure foolishness.

Spiritual formation involves cutting, weeding, digging, raking, and planting—not with a chainsaw or shovel, of course, but through the work of worship, reflection, prayer, study, and a score of other soul-oriented activities described in books by Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and Henri Nouwen, to name a few.

When a piece of our land is renewed, Gail and I are always surprised at the beauty that occurs almost overnight. Wild flowers appear; forest animals visit; good trees mature. The virtues of creation just seem to appear. And when the soul is similarly attended to, there appear the virtues of godly character.

A frank opinion? I don’t think a lot of men and women in leadership know this. I mean really know it. What drives my opinion are these impressions.

First, the primary subject matter of most training and motivational conferences on leadership seems to be all about vision, about clever, well-researched programs, about growing large, successful institutions. Admittedly good stuff. But missing is the recognition that soul cultivation goes before institution building. How do you grow large, healthy, and authentic churches (the current rage) without growing the soul of a leader, which sustains the effort over the long haul?

A second impression: the dreadful casualty list of men and women who do not make it to a tenth anniversary in Christian ministry. Burnout, failure, disillusionment are exacting a terrible toll. I’m amazed how many ministers just disappear, drop off the edge.

A third: the constant conversations I have with younger men and women who confide that they are spiritually dry, unmotivated, despairing, and wondering what to do about it.

And maybe there’s a fourth: I never forget how close—how really close—I myself came to missing the cut. Though my own defining moment of personal crisis came twenty years ago, the memory is always fresh.

Saint Paul’s words to Timothy are too easily ignored in this high-pitched, high-casualty leadership lifestyle of ours: “Train yourself to be godly … godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Tim. 4:7–8). I smell spiritual formation in these remarks.

The forming of the soul that it might be a dwelling place for God is the primary work of the Christian leader. This is not an add-on, an option, or a third-level priority. Without this core activity, one almost guarantees that he/she will not last in leadership for a lifetime or that what work is accomplished will become less and less reflective of God’s honor and God’s purposes.

In his twenties, William Booth (founder of the Salvation Army) wrote a letter to his wife, describing his feelings of discouragement and ineffectiveness. He was close to quitting, he said.
Catherine, a remarkable woman, wrote back:

“I know how possible it is to preach and pray and sing, and even shout, while the heart is not right with God. I know how popularity and prosperity have a tendency to elate and exalt self, if the heart is not humble before God. I know how Satan takes advantage of these things to work out the destruction (if possible) of one whom the Lord uses to pull down strongholds of his kingdom, and all these considerations make me tremble, and weep, and pray for you, my dearest love, that you may be able to overcome all his devices, and having done all to stand, not in your own strength but in humble dependence on Him who worketh ‘all in all.’”

As far as I can tell, Catherine was 23 when she wrote these words. But she was not too young to “get it.” William’s spiritual core, she understood, was the key to everything.

I shall leave the techniques of spiritual formation to other, more qualified spiritual directors. What occupies my thoughts presently are the evidential virtues that spring—like wildflowers—out of a soul aligned with heaven.

Anthony Bloom writes of a desert father who was invited to preach at a mass where a visiting bishop would be in attendance. The monastic refused saying, “If my silence doesn’t speak to him, my words will be useless.”

The monk’s point provokes me because I spend a large part of my life depending upon words, social skills, and an ability to think quickly on my feet to communicate with people. But how should I communicate if I were limited to silence? It could only happen if there were virtues growing out of my soul like flowers erupting from a renewed piece of ground.

What virtues might those be? With caution I nominate five that are all too often in short supply and which, if long neglected, will signal our demise. The list is neither exhaustive nor guaranteed to be the best. But it’s mine.

Harvested humility
If I was bound to silence, I would wish that people would see that, as a result of my soul work, I have made progress in humility. Humility is not something one achieves; it is the result of other pursuits.

To be frank, people who knew me in the earlier years would never have associated me with humility. I fear such people would remember me as full of self, perhaps over-confident, endlessly in motion. Talented, a bit gifted, perhaps: but not a humble man.

“A humble man,” Isaak of Syria said, “is never hurried, hasty, or perturbed, but at all times remains calm. Nothing can ever surprise, disturb, or dismay him, for he suffers neither fear nor change in tribulations, neither surprise nor elation in enjoyment. All his joy and gladness are in what is pleasing to the Lord.”

If even a sliver of the virtue of humility grows out of the ground of my soul today, it is only because I am old enough to be well acquainted with the overpowering effects of sin, the realities of personal limits and liabilities, and the corrosive effects of perpetual accomplishment. Beyond that it is because I have slowly(!) come to appreciate the grandeur of God and my place before him as a small child.

“The way of the Christian leader,” wrote Henri Nouwen, “is not the way of upward mobility in which the world has invested so much, but the way of downward mobility ending on the cross. … It is not a leadership of power and control, but a leadership of powerlessness and humility in which the suffering servant of God, Jesus Christ, is made manifest.”

Nouwen’s words drip with mystery. They make little sense in the life where planning, promotion, creativity, and charisma seem to mean everything. But this is the direction for the leader who lasts and who, in the end, may not produce large institutions but will eventually produce great saints.

Productive compassion
If I were forced into silence, I would wish, secondly, that people would see the evidence of compassion as a product of my soul work. Compassion: the ability to identify at heart-level with the vulnerabilities, fears, and sorrows of others. And to identify in such a way that one is not paralyzed but energized with great love.

An e-mail came to me from someone who wished to know whether or not they would really be welcomed in our congregation if certain secrets in their life were revealed. “I don’t want to be somebody’s project,” this person wrote.

Those words bored into my soul because I realize how easy it is to slot people, as projects, into programs and bypass the taxing experience of authentic identification with struggle.

I’ll be frank with my opinion. The larger world is not picking up the signals of compassion from the branch of Christianity of which I am a part. While Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times often applauds our movement for its far flung programs in AIDS, home building, hospitals, and disaster response, we are not known as compassionate people as we do these things. All our good efforts are covered by the sense that we are proud, angry, and vindictive in our selective approaches to those needing some form of redemption.

I don’t want to be perceived as a hard person with an accusatory message who occasionally does good deeds. Much better to be perceived as the wounded healer who exchanges his bandages with the one who has none to offer back.

Steadfastness, not stubbornness
If I were to live in total silence, I would wish, thirdly, that spiritual formation would produce steadfastness in me. Steadfastness is not stubbornness, nor is it a resistance to change. Instead it is a ceaseless embrace of certain purposes and commitments from which one will never retreat.

Steadfastness means reliability of character, fulfillment of promises, faithfulness to key relationships, and (most important) living in obedience to Jesus.

Such steadfastness has not been a part of my nature. If it is part of me today, it is because I have had to acquire it. The impulse to quit, to avoid, to cut and run comes naturally to me, and were it not for some mentors and a very strong wife who challenged me to face this, I have no idea where I’d be today.

It was in the process of spiritual formation that I faced down the “quitter’s gene” that lives in me. Through rebuke, through the inspiration of the lives of the biblical greats (and the saints beyond them), and through the encouragement of my personal community, I acquired something of the discipline of steadfastness. Today I like to think that I’m a pretty good “sticker,” but without the continuous restoring of the soul, it just wouldn’t have happened.

“Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding,” Paul wrote to the Corinthians. He was obviously driving at something important. Perhaps he was speaking to people who were habitually undependable, short-lived in their commitments, caving in to pressure—people like the natural me.

Faith beyond sight
If words were taken from me, I would hope that others would see faith in me. Faith: an ability to trust in and draw upon the power God beyond my rationality, my instinctive pessimism, my willingness to settle for less than best.

I love to read about and observe faith-driven people, and this is part of my spiritual formation activities. Faithful people inspire me. I can’t get enough of John Wesley, William Wilberforce, the Countess of Huntingdon, and Charles Simeon: all 18th century evangelicals who had the temerity to believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ could alter the social fabric of England. When I finish with any of them in my books, I’m ready to spring into motion believing God for such transformations today.

I’m often drawn to the Bible story of the poor widow who put her two “mites” in the Temple treasury and gave, according to Jesus, “all that she had.” That’s faith in a nutshell: a calm, quiet, unostentatious offering of all her assets believing that God would provide for her needs.

Spiritual formation means building a heart that is comfortable in asking for and believing in God to do the seemingly impossible. Praying for healing of the sick, transformation of the wicked, the lifting of the hand of the oppressor.

There is an intimate connection between faith and vision. I see a lot of both when it comes to building institutions and buildings. I guess I would like to demonstrate my own faith and vision less in institutions and more in the possibilities that God has for people.

Self-control
If my life, like the monk in Anthony Bloom’s story, were to be lived in silence, I would hope that the spiritual fruit of self-control would be in evidence.

This, of course, has a lot to do with discipline and one’s willingness to cultivate the ability to say no to wrong as well as yes to the right things in life. Not a popular subject, really.

Self-control is in play when a leader is opposed, slandered, unappreciated, ignored, or required to go the second mile. How does he/she respond? Self-control speaks to our use of money, our handling of power and influence, and our response to inflated adulation. How do we bring healthy limits to our lives?

The Older Testament offers several portraits of individuals who lacked self-control: Samson, Saul, and Solomon come to mind. And the champions? Joseph, of course. And Daniel. And Esther.

When I imagine self-control at its fullest, I picture Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane surrounded by failing friends, cruel soldiers who have come to arrest him, and the scurrilous Judas Iscariot. What a time to lose one’s cool. But he didn’t. He kept his dignity and became the calm center of a wildly chaotic situation. That’s self-control.

“It is the quality of leaders that they can bear to be sat on, absorb shocks, act as a buffer, bear being much plagued,” wrote Fred Mitchell, a one-time leader in the old China Inland Mission. “The wear and tear and the continual friction and trials which come to the servants of God are the greatest test of character.”

Outside the window of the little study I maintain here at Peace Ledge is a large boulder. It would probably take a box four feet high, wide and deep if I were going to ship it someplace. Many years ago the boulder was buried in the ground, and only an inch or two of it poked through the soil. My wife, Gail, thinking it to be a minor task, began to dig it up.

The more she dug, the more she realized how big a project she’d undertaken. But there was no going back now. Two days later we (now she had me involved) were removing this gargantuan piece of stone from a hole big enough for a swimming pool (I exaggerate to make my point). As I write this piece, I see the once-submerged boulder out my window.

The stone remains a constant reminder of spiritual formation. Some things need to be dug out. Still more things need to be cut away. Other things need to be planted. Then in the long run, you have something beautiful. Really beautiful.

And you don’t need words to tell other people what they’re seeing. They observe God at work in one’s life—even if there is only silence. Spiritual formation can happen, without saying a word.

—Gordon MacDonald is editor at large of LEADERSHIP and chair of World Relief.
“Cultivating the Soul,” by Gordon MacDonald,
LEADERSHIP, Summer 2005, Vol. XXVI, No. 3, Page 50.

Vineyard Idol - Week 2

2008-02-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

Vineyard City Church - Men's Retreat Promo Trailer #2

The Vineyard Men's Retreat
April 18-20, 2008
Woodleaf, CA

Vineyard Idol - Week 1

2008-02-09T20:24:00.000-08:00

Vineyard City Church - Men's Retreat Promo Trailer

April 18-20, 2008
Woodleaf, CA

a prayer

2008-02-07T15:34:00.000-08:00

In exploring the spiritual discipline of submission, helping to create space for the 'with-God' life, I recently came across some interesting materials at the Renovaré website. We recently walked through some of this material in small group.

The 'with-God' life
The life Jesus refers to as "life more abundantly."
It is a life of unhurried peace and power.
It is solid.
It is serene.
It is simple.
It is radiant.
It takes no time, though it permeates all of our time.

Submission
A constant mutual subordination out of a reverence for Christ within the Christian fellowship, which opens the way for particular subordination to those who are qualified to direct our efforts toward Christlikeness and who then add weight of their wise authority on the side of our willing spirit to help us do things we would like to do and refrain from things we don't want to do.

A Prayer - Freedoms that Submission Brings
O God, we ask you to show us all what it would look like to:

not have our own way
be released to drop matters
distinquish between genuine issues and stubborn self-will
be free to value other people with their dreams and plans
give up the right to demand that others return our love
understand that it's better to serve our neighbor than to have our own way

Help us to say, 'God has done great things for me and holy is his name.'

Legos for Jesus

2008-01-28T12:25:00.000-08:00

I saw today on Google's search page that it's the 50th anneversery of the Lego building blocks. I used to play with Legos a lot when I was younger. I still get a kick out of seeing the new fangled outer-space Legos they come out with these days. I ran across an illustrated version of the Bible that uses Legos. Check it out.

The Brick Testament

Stuff

2008-01-17T14:52:00.000-08:00

Guess what percentage of 'total material flow' in the 'consumer system' is still in product or use 6 months after their sale in North America. Fifty percent? Twenty? NO. One percent. One! In other words, 99 percent of the stuff we harvest, mine, process, transport—99 percent of the stuff we run through this system is trashed within 6 months. Now how can we run a planet with that rate of materials throughput?

It wasn’t always like this.

The average U.S. person now consumes twice as much as they did 50 years ago. Ask your grandma. In her day, stewardship and resourcefulness and thrift were valued. So, how did this happen? Well, it didn’t just happen. It was designed.

Shortly after the World War 2, these guys were figuring out how to ramp up the [U.S.] economy. Retailing analyst Victor Lebow articulated the solution that has become the norm for the whole system. He said: “Our enormously productive economy . . . demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption . . . we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.”

The Story of Stuff

Check it out, and spend the time watching the video. I would love to read any comments.

short of 24 hours

2008-01-12T21:55:00.000-08:00

Life is that stuff that happens between our planned events. And knowing this, I thank God for letting me respond to His creation around me. I had the pleasure of meeting with several of the neighbors in my life over the past day or so…how we are all so different. Meeting in eateries with breakfast for dinner, sitting on sofas, downtown sharing coffee, praying in missions, and eating soup up on the plains...and then back…I wish I could convey the different faces, and ranges of emotion from either side of my eyes – inside and outside, received and reaction. But reaction isn’t the right word. It is that response offered to God modeling lives right before the gift that is our eyes.

In one instance I watch the sarcasm of ‘meeting purposefully’ fall away to become expectant desires of being real about Jesus in the company of others…sharing heartfelt observations and seeking direction…beginning conversations where there had been none.

There are also the pale faces of humility unwanted. We are not tragically unique in our struggles with God’s desire for our entire heart…but sometimes it feels we are alone. To sit and listen, pray and visit – while the color returns to faces – and see the opportunity God places before us to build and shape our character together is an honor.

Visiting with old friends, now with transformed lives – both of us recognizing this process active in each others heart…knowing the wonder and miracle God is in one another. Understanding the deep truth that we could both be dead and lost, and would have been, if left to our own hands.

There was then the celebration of accomplishments with good friends missed of late, and their families. And even more – healing apparent both physical and emotional, and joyful family-wide friendships. To be a part of an extended community of family visiting over news of coming events, and including one another in our lives.

It’s been a wonderful 24 hours. Not to mention the newfound ‘here and now’ in my own life…and blessing beyond the words I have at hand. God loved me first; so that I may then love another…of this I am certain.

The tension in these places - the life between planned events – rises and falls in rhythm. It isn’t that there is concern over the low places; rather an understanding that our response should reflect the heart of the whole song.

Video Games - poison for your soul?

2008-01-07T21:45:00.000-08:00

Or possibly art to the Swiss?

The tree is gone.

2007-12-27T18:33:00.000-08:00

Christmas appears to have come and gone. And as I sit here, I note the speed to which the tree has been stripped of decoration and rendered to the cold night air out on the front yard…be gone tree. It’s not so much sad as it is quick in transition. To combat this abrupt change of pace I’ve put leftover eggnog in my coffee…and I’m not even a big fan of eggnog.

I do enjoy the holidays. They mean so many different things to such a varied audience. I imagine only God can truly appreciate the subtle complexities and nuance. To be sure, the heightened expectation and emotion tend to drive the bus…I have yet to remember a Christmas that ever passed by as a mellow autumn day of hookie down at the beach with a kite and a lawn chair.

It’s been a wild time of pruning, growth, changes and relationship. In all of it, the present has been the hearts of others offered freely. That my friends, has a newness and surprise that would put even G.I. Joe with kung fu grip to shame. Walking in those experiences as they are now expressed in my life constantly give me pause to laugh…enjoying the wonders God places before us.

This evening is truly the first in many weeks I’ve found a quiet moment to sit and write…sit and ponder over a cup of eggnog laced coffee. I saw a video today showing Jesus alone at his own birthday party…I’d hoped it would be funny, but it was sad. There was the classic movie - outdoor birthday party scene – streamers, balloons, cake, magician, enclosed trampoline –Jesus was alone at his party, and in the end, as the sun went down, Jesus sat at the curb as a stranger walked by. Happy Birthday. I was that stranger that for years.

I still can’t quite digest the Christmas-Jesus Birthday continuum, but I’ve begun to have an appreciation for celebrating an awareness of His arrival into the world. For that I am simply thankful. Thankful under the tension of the time, and perceived expectations of the season. It’s hard not to have a feeling that what we walk through, often well intended, is so much more about ourselves than about welcoming Him...even into our own lives. The doings (as doings do) overshadow the being…being with Him as you would a friend and father you loved and desired to be close to.

As I understand it. As I know from my readings back in the ivory towers of information and knowledge – Jesus wasn’t born in December. Now that in itself isn’t a reason not to pursue the celebration of Christmas those few days after the winter solstice. But it might offer a peaceful and private opportunity to walk in the hope of Christmas. It could be an un-Christmas, not unlike the 364 un-birthdays of Alice in her Wonderland. A time to spend with kite and lawn chair along the beach with my father.

What would that look like? To pick an odd day (or several) and celebrate and worship Jesus completely free of pretense…simply as you are compelled by his Spirit. Give to those in need, and then don’t tell anyone.

‘Reverend’ Billy

2007-12-27T16:22:00.000-08:00

What would Jesus buy?

Hip Hop Violin and DJ

2007-12-22T00:55:00.000-08:00

A Pictorial Essay - Mexico

2007-12-06T10:00:00.001-08:00

As a follow-up from my gastronomical diary, here is a 'ken burns' video a la iphoto.
These are Chris' pictures from our quasi-Mission time down in Vicente Guerrero, Baja California this past Thanksgiving. It was a blast...blown-out tires, turkeys and all! Don and Tammy have quite a blessing in their lives through this community...

Going Deeper

2007-12-04T13:08:00.000-08:00

Tired of a surface-y Christianity?
Dive into the deeper waters of spiritual formation.

By Dieter Zander

There was a time when everyone knew what the word discipleship meant—studying the Bible, praying, and learning the doctrines of Christian faith. But the church’s understanding and language of discipleship are changing. Today we are hearing the new language of “spiritual formation” everywhere. But this new language can cause confusion. What is spiritual formation, and how do we do it?

As I have investigated these things, I’ve discovered that spiritual formation isn’t as new and mysterious as I had thought. In fact, there are examples of formation everywhere we look, and many simple ways of understanding how spiritual formation takes place. Dallas Willard has compared the process of spiritual formation to that of learning a foreign language. I have found another metaphor most helpful.

Stuart Cove is one of the world’s premier scuba diving instructors. His dive shop in the Bahamas has certified more than 10,000 people over the past 25 years. From observing Stuart, and his team of divemasters, I discovered that the scuba certification process parallels the experience of Christian spiritual formation. If, like me, the new understanding of discipleship that is emerging has intrigued you, I hope this exploration of scuba diving and spiritual formation brings you new clarity.

In our world there is widespread longing for a spiritual life. People are eager to hear about others’ spiritual discoveries and experiences. Some try “snorkeling” in various forms of spirituality, even Christianity, but they never get beyond the surface—they are left with a longing for more.

Jesus of Nazareth comes to spiritual “snorkelers” with a simple invitation, the same one he proclaimed 2,000 years ago: “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news. Come to me, and I will teach you how to live life to the fullest in my Father’s kingdom.” Jesus is the Divemaster who teaches us how to go beyond the surface to experience the full reality of life in God’s kingdom.

In scuba certification, Stuart Cove teaches truths about atmospheric pressure, the effect of breathing compressed air at different depths, indicators of dangers under the water, etc. His students must believe this information and remember it if they hope to enjoy, and survive, the diving experience.

Like learning to scuba dive, learning to live in the kingdom of God requires students of Jesus to master basic information. The Scriptures, and particularly the teachings of Christ, give us the vital truths that we must believe and remember in order to enjoy, and survive, the spiritual life. But, possessing knowledge from the Scriptures alone does not result in experiencing the kingdom of God, just as grasping scuba theory does not qualify a person to dive. Most scuba instruction occurs in the water. To learn how to live in God’s kingdom we must also be willing to get wet.

Only when students enter the water do they discover that Stuart, the divemaster, has real knowledge and experience about diving. He demonstrates how to breathe through the regulator and clear the mask when it fills with water—which it surely will. He demonstrates how to communicate under water, and how to handle emergencies. He demonstrates all that will be necessary in order to live under the water. Stuart’s teaching process requires students to then imitate him—to do the same thing he did, just as he did it.

Like the divemaster, Jesus’ instruction also begins with demonstration. His life shows us how to exist in the kingdom of God. He demonstrates how to be obedient, faithful, humble, and submissive. He shows us how to access the power of God and bring it to bear on the afflictions of the people around us.

After Jesus demonstrates some aspect of kingdom living, we are invited to imitate him, to do the same thing he did, just as he did it, in the context of our own lives. This is where spiritual formation often differs from previous methods of discipleship. Spiritual formation equips us to do what Jesus did through practice and discipline—not simply the learning of truth.

Although Jesus, the Lifemaster, easily demonstrated skills such as loving an enemy, not being anxious, or speaking the truth, for us these new skills may seem unnatural and awkward. But with practice under the watchful eye of the Master we can learn to perform the skill just as he did.

After receiving certification and enjoying life under water for the first time, new scuba divers soon discover that there is more to learn. There is specialized information and instruction for deep water diving, fresh water diving, high altitude diving, and wreck diving. Some people never progress beyond basic scuba certification, but once they experience the beauty of the underwater world, many are compelled to keep learning and explore even deeper. To continue this learning they must stay connected with a divemaster.

This is how living in the kingdom of God works as well. Once we’ve begun to learn how to live in the kingdom we quickly discover that there is so much more to learn. And we realize that our unique gifts and calling may require very specific instruction that goes beyond basic certification in the spiritual life. Jesus, the Lifemaster, is qualified to teach us all that we need to know and do.

—Dieter Zander is pastor of arts and spiritual formation at Bay Marin Community Church in Navato, California, and founder of the church planting ministry ReImagine.

A Gastronomical Diary – Mexico

2007-11-26T14:32:00.000-08:00

Saturday - Nov 17th – 6am (heading south)
Coffee from home in Redding
Two breakfast biscuits @ Wendy’s along I-5
Double-double @ In & Out along I-5
Spray cheese on ritz crackers – road snack (quite a hit with the 20-somethings)
2 fish tacos @ Del Taco in San Diego

Sunday – Nov 18th (entering baja)
Comfort Suits hotel breakfast – 3 sausage paddies, 2 egg disks and a waffle
Fish, yard-bird, and carne tacos in Ensenada
Quesa-taco grande w/ lime soda @ Ruben’s in Vicente Guerrero

Monday – Nov 19th
Flavored coffee and worship
4 carne tacos en todo con frijoles @ the white house
vanilla latte @ Mikazza Café
Quesa-taco and two tostada deals @ Rolley’s

Tuesday – Nov 20th
Flavored coffee and worship
Three Pescado tacos @ the mermaid
Pepperoni & Ham w/ pineapple pizza @ california’s

Wednesday – Nov 21st
Oaxacan coffee and cold pizza with worship
3 Pescado tacos & 2 Camarón tacos @ la panadila (yum!)
Quesa-taco and 1 tostada deal @ Rolley’s

Thanksgiving – Nov 22nd
Oaxacan coffee and worship
Turkey Almuerzo with the fixins
Turkey Cena w/ more fixins

Friday – Nov 23rd
Oaxacan coffee w/ Nequik (chocolate puffballs) and worship
Sharon’s homemade cinnamon scones
Five Pescado tacos @ la panadila (extra yum!)
Rib-eye & boxing @ Don Diego’s

Saturday – Nov 24th
Oaxacan coffee, turkey tamales and worship
Rice, egg, and bean burritos on the road (headed north)
Burger & curley fries @ Jack in the box in San Diego

Sunday – Nov 25th
Comfort Suits hotel breakfast –sausage & egg scramble and a waffle
Banana/Strawberry smoothie & fried zucchini @ Carl Jr’s
Foot-long Spicy Italian @ Subway

What Are They Really Asking?

2007-11-12T15:15:00.000-08:00

by Judson Poling, from Leadership Journal, Fall 2002

One of my colleagues told me the story of a professor, a brilliant man, whose father couldn’t support the family. As a boy, this professor listened as the extended family argued over who was going to get stuck with raising him. In the middle of their arguing, feeling abandoned and unwanted, he slipped away to his room. There he found solace and escape in books.

His initial reaction to Christianity was to ask skeptical questions. He’s not the only one for whom intellectualism becomes a way to mask pain. More than he needed his thinking corrected, he needed his heart mended. That brilliant boy did find healing in Christ, and today teaches seminary courses.

My ministry has brought me into contact with thousands of curious, questioning people. I’ve discovered that people ask spiritual questions because something in their lives isn’t working. Uncertainty, fear, and pain provoke their questions. What they really want isn’t information, but relief.

Most seekers’ questions, whether intellectual or emotional, indicate underlying issues. Choosing to believe in Christ carries major internal ramifications. Snappy, pat answers don’t satisfy these inner struggles. Nobody wants a two-cent answer to a million-dollar question.

Behind every question is a person asking that question, and we need to minister to that person—if we can find him.

What do you think?

A great irony in Scripture prompted me to rethink how I answer seekers’ questions. When the Son of God walked the earth, people came to him with dilemmas, doubts, and questions. He had all answers available to him. And yet he met their questions with questions of his own.

In Luke 10:25–26, “An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’”

Jesus didn’t give the answer. Instead, he asked a question in return. “‘What is written in the Law?’ he replied. ‘How do you read it?’”

In Matthew 18:12, Jesus asked, “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go look for the one that wandered off?” The heart of the parable is nothing but two questions!

In Matthew 22:41–46, Jesus conducted a little Bible study on Psalm 110 with the Pharisees. “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” Through this conversation Jesus affirmed that the Christ would be more than an earthly son of David, but also the Son of God. Jesus’ answer was to recite one verse and ask four questions.

He responded not to the question, but to the person behind the question.

I remember overhearing a college professor talking to a student about spiritual matters. The student claimed she didn’t believe in God. Rather than argue, the professor asked a probing question. “What is this god like, the god you don’t believe in?”

The student described a vengeful god, a god who looked to punish her as soon as she steps a little out of line.

By asking a probing question, the professor uncovered the underlying fears that caused the student’s doubt. She wasn’t looking for proof of God’s existence. She was looking for relief from condemnation. Up to this point, only her claim that God didn’t exist provided that relief.

“Well, I don’t believe in that god either,” said the professor. “Let me tell you about the God I do believe in, the God of Jesus Christ.”

What to ask

I’ve found several specific questions effective at reaching the underlying issues. Now, when someone asks me a spiritual question, I almost always reply, “That’s an interesting question. What do you think?”

This is the approach Jesus used when he asked, “What’s written in the Law? How do you read it?” It gives me an opportunity to understand the person. It also affirms that I care for him or her, even more than I do about having the “right” answer.

Often, exhibiting care for the questioner is a greater ministry than answering the question.

Another good question: “What situation in your life makes you wonder about that?”

Kathy had tried Christianity before. It didn’t work out. Her husband, Jim, was raised in a secular Jewish home. When I met them, they had lots of pointed questions about God, Christianity, and faith.

Jim, a logical man, said he wanted proof of Christianity’s claims. How should I answer his skeptical and sometimes antagonistic questions? I thought. Is he really after more information? Why is he asking in the first place?

We could have spent our entire evening lost in theology. Instead, I asked what situation prompted their questions. That’s when we discovered they were uncertain about their children’s upbringing. Should they be brought up Christian, Jewish, nothing, or a little bit of each? Knowing the key issue directed our conversation toward cooperation rather than theological debate.

Sometimes, however, a seeker’s questions and thoughts do require challenge. For instance, many seekers today are struggling with Jesus’ claim to be the way, the truth, and the life. “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

They ask, “Does Jesus really mean he’s the only way? Isn’t that kind of narrow-minded?”

“If I were to say that he really meant it,” I reply, “would you rule out the possibility that it’s true? Why won’t you even consider that a possibility?” Such questions help them examine their skepticism.

When I was in college, students often boasted phantom objections and rationalizations to discount Jesus. Cutting through these smokescreens, I sometimes asked: “If you found out you were wrong, what would be at risk?”

Many times what keeps people from faith is fear of the consequences. Many of my college friends were living with their girlfriends. They knew if they accepted Christianity, they’d have to stop. So they put up diversions. As long as they could keep God looking silly and Jesus looking less than divine they could continue their unexamined lives. Their doubts had little to do with theology and everything to do with morality.

Once the objection is uncovered, it can be addressed with compassion and truth. “In Hebrews 11,” I might say to one who fears what God will demand, “it says they who seek God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder. He rewards, not tramples, those that serve him. His character is not to make you miserable, but to give.”

evening chapel

2007-11-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

Our discipleship group has walked through a second year of chapel services over at the Good News Rescue Mission. I always get a kick out of the services down there. If you aren’t coming across, they will let you know…or simply speak among themselves, ignoring you and all your good intentions.

That particular night I thought I had an interesting message sewn together with so many little bits and pieces – historical details, and what I thought were interesting ideas. Per usual all that material was thrown out the window to share from the heart, remembering who I am in God’s eyes, rather than how I might desire to be perceived. It’s an odd way to prepare, but I imagine God enjoys my particular brand of humble pie.

Each time I am offered the opportunity to speak there I remember the little old man from Shingletown that God used in my own life. I had been at the mission for several months, and still enjoyed the chapel services like some strange spiritual circus. ‘Oh here come tonight’s whackos from the distant moon of Jesus…’, I would think to myself. They weren’t bad people, just goofy and out of their minds, and certainly not in touch with my particular brand of self pity.

Worship time was particularly difficult. Is it going to be more like Barry Manilow or Lawrence Welk? Will we be singing another one of those hymns – hot off the hand crank printing press from 1843? But that particular night, with that particular little old man from Shingletown, God showed up…or better, I was finally at a place that I was willing and able to receive.

This gentleman had that kind of energy that offered electricity you could see from your chair. It more than commanded my attention. I don’t remember exactly what he preached on (I assume it had something to do with Jesus), but it felt like he was speaking right to me. As I perceived it, the room became quiet and I could hear only him…and then God let me know in a slight whisper, “…it’s going to be okay…I really do love you…”

Not having a grid for this sort of thing, I kept it to myself. But as I would find out, the folks around me, and particularly those raising me up, could see a change. A few short years later, at least one idea has become a reality – if you have it…and want to keep it…you ought to give it away. As we offered our particular brand of chapel service that night, I could only pray God was doing that same work. It would seem that He is.

gifts

2007-10-28T18:08:00.000-07:00

So it looks like I will be off to Mexico this Thanksgiving. I’ll have the opportunity to head out on another road trip, and there are plans for Colorado in late January 2008. This, all coming off recent trips to both Idaho and Arizona. It would appear safe to assume that I have entered well into a ‘season’ of travel. But in this, I discover the strange realization that roots have begun to be planted. I highly recommend the view.

The travel is not so much ‘doings,’ as it is exploring the extent of God’s Kingdom in that funny little thing we call the Vineyard Movement…that place I call my spiritual home. It’s larger and more varied than the wonderful snapshot we get to see here in Redding. I am reminded of the song, Alice’s Restaurant – “…and if you get enough people singing, then you’ll have a movement…” I got to see Arlo Guthrie in Farmington, NM years ago. Twice.

This afternoon at lunch I had occasion to remember my initial transplant to New Mexico – all the while dodging the ongoing commentary of the impending loss of my sharp edges though both relationship, and God’s divine framing hammer…anyway – travel to NM.

I had arrived to the four-corners, sight unseen, in 1990-ish. Hair well below my beltline, a goatee, and political-agitator sunglasses all enclosed in a bright yellow VW bug with California plates. I certainly fit the profile. I had no job, no place to live, a ¼ tank of gas and 10 lbs of dried red beans.

I knew no one, and only had the vague idea I supposed to be there. At that time I had not fully developed my, now patented, ‘on the bus – off the bus’ social philosophy; but we were well into the 2nd draft. Although, I did know, that the best way to get to where I felt I needed to be, was to actually show up 1st. As I rethink my personal history through the lenses of today, I like to believe that I would not have been unkind if you were to suggest this was an act of faith. But you’d need not describe the nature of the faith - it’s true residence and ownership. Certainly, there was something behind my valvoline, gasoline and 13mm box-end wrench…but in my mind of those years, it was not Jesus as I’ve come to know Him. The faith I had, the trust I had been so graciously gifted for all those years, that was His…His grace so wonderful, I have yet to hear a whisper of, “I told you so…”

I see this gift so much clearly now that I have been given eyes to see, and my heart and mind have been wrung out, and in turn, to be filled. I image this will be repeated over the years of my life – I have grand designs that one day I will grow up to be a wonderful loofah. Whatever it may be, it beats the hard bathroom sponge relegated to the dark recesses under the bathroom sink.

Within a week of arriving to Farmington I was gainfully employed, and my journey to archaeological conquest was quickly underway. What would those years have looked like if I’d been following Jesus? I find my romantic memories of these years seldom shared, but they give me pause regarding the potential of gifts unrealized - The reality that God’s dreams for us are so much larger than we have for ourselves. If we could only hold His dreams for us as our own.

Reaching the Post-Christian

2007-10-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

The scene was surreal. In the middle of a busy rush at Starbucks, one of my fellow baristas discovered that my “real job” was working at a church down the street. Acting as if she had never come in contact with a live pastor before, she began squealing with delight, telling every customer and employee of her discovery.

This revelation caused a spontaneous spiritual combustion at the store, and I listened as a group of people circled around the espresso bar and regaled me with stories of their spiritual history.
Selma went first: “I think Christianity has an important place in society. I don’t personally follow it, but I figure, whatever makes you happy, do it.”

Matt quickly followed, revealing the painful interactions he had experienced: “Christianity is for simple-minded people. When they talk to you, they act as if you are a robot. They have an agenda to promote, and if you don’t agree with them, they’re done with you.”

Tatia thought about Matt’s comments for a moment, and then added her own. “I don’t know if that’s what bothers me so much. What really gets under my skin is that all the church really wants from you is your money.”

Justin put the finishing touches on the conversation, and seemed to summarize everyone’s feelings when he said: “Look, we all know that ‘God’ is out there at some level, but no one has a right to tell another person what ‘God’ looks like for them. Each person is free to express that however they want, but they should keep their opinions to themselves.”

Such was my baptism by fire into the emerging culture. In that moment I realized most of the training I had received in “evangelism” didn’t fit my Starbucks friends. The biggest barrier wasn’t their lack of information; it was their attitude. They were biased against Christianity. How could I engage these people in a way that bridged the gap between their current spiritual condition and a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ?

This encounter happened in the late 1990s while I was working at Willow Creek in Axis (the ministry for 20-somethings). Willow had been on the front lines of evangelism since its inception in the 1970s, but as the church aged, we began to notice a trend: the attitudes of the not-yet-Christians in the emerging generation were changing. Amid increasing interest in spirituality, fewer and fewer 20-somethings were translating that spiritual interest into church attendance.
Axis was born in 1996 to wrestle with the question: “What does it take to effectively engage the emerging generation with the message and life of Jesus?”

I was privileged to work with Axis for five years. To speed up my learning, I also took a part-time job at Starbucks. Since I had grown up as a pastor’s kid, I thought I understood evangelism. But my three years at Starbucks taught me that simple formulas and canned presentations were woefully incomplete if we were to connect with this generation.

So Selma, Tatia, Matt, Justin, and others at Starbucks became my new instructors on evangelism. I began to re-think the whole process of engaging the emerging culture for Christ. This journey has since led me to leave Willow Creek and plant River City, a new church in inner-city Chicago. Here we continue to experiment with ways to introduce this generation to Jesus.
Pre- and Post-Christians

People are way too complex to put into boxes, but it helps to describe two very different spiritual portraits, and then ask which portrait best describes your friends who don’t yet know Christ.

First, “Pre-Christians.” These are individuals who at some level are open to the idea of Christianity and, given the right circumstances, could see themselves embracing it. Maybe this is a man who grew up in a Catholic home but had never grasped the message of grace. Maybe this is a woman who grew up in a church youth group, lived the crazy party scene in college, and after graduation begins looking again for spiritual roots. Maybe this is a person who had no church experience, or at least no negative impressions.

There are a variety of hues in the Pre-Christian portrait, but the common element is a relative openness to the gospel that, with the right approach, could be cultivated.

Second, “Post-Christians.” These are people who have seen Christianity somewhere along the way and have decided they are not interested. For example, a young man who grew up in a Christian home and was disillusioned by his parents’ messy divorce. Or someone who had attended church but witnessed something as painful as a nasty split or as subtle (yet subversive) as hypocritical Christians who said one thing and did another.

Other Post-Christians have no church experience at all, but their experiences with Christians, even if only through the media, have been negative—they consider Christians preachy or legalistic or untrustworthy.

Sometimes it’s as simple as negative interaction with the idea of Christianity; after seeing public scandals and watching a diminishing reputation, they decided they didn’t want to be associated with it.

The common element is that they, rightly or wrongly, feel like they already understand Christianity and are not interested.

After explaining these two categories, we ask people at our church to identify which portrait more aptly describes their friends who are not Christians. About 25 percent will say their friends are Pre-Christian. Yes, there are plenty of Pre-Christians out there, and they matter to Christ as much as anyone.

But 75 percent indicate their friends are Post-Christian, with a huge trust crater that needs to be overcome in the journey toward Christ. The 75 percent seem almost relieved to have a lens by which to understand their friends. They are grateful to discover that the slow trust-rebuilding process is no reflection of their doing something wrong, but is actually the only way to engage a Post-Christian.

These differences require distinct approaches. Pre-Christians tend to be open to the idea of going to church if it is relevant and they can meet other people their age. The absence of Christ in their lives is not usually out of anger at God or broken trust with Christians. God just hasn’t been a priority so far.

Post-Christians, on the other hand, have a decided bias against organized religion. A well-meaning River City person might say, “Hey, I’d love to invite you to my church this weekend to hear a great message and meet other cool Christians. It’s a very powerful service and very relevant to our lives.” The Post-Christian would just shrug and say, “That’s cool that you’ve found something that works for you. I’m not into Christianity though.”

How are we to reach this person?

“Awake and Invite”

For friends who are Post-Christian (we emphasize this group not because they are more important, but because traditional methods of evangelism have missed them), we suggest an approach we call “Awake and Invite.” It parallels the vivid imagery Jesus used to describe contagious evangelists: salt and light.

Salt is a powerful metaphor, because it is all about proximity and time. For salt to cure something, it needs to be right up against the surface, and it takes time to have its desired affect.
We often teach the truth from Ecclesiastes that “eternity is in the heart of every man and woman.” For that eternal center to be awakened and connected to the truth of Jesus, however, someone has to be salt in that friend’s life. Through skilled question asking, the witness of a transformed life, powerful love, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, every Christian has the ability to be a powerful salt-carrier that helps each of his or her friends awaken to spiritual realities.

Light, on the other hand, is that force that breaks through the darkness and calls people to itself. Light is an environment you invite your friends to in the hope that something will happen to open their soul to a spiritual moment where God can meet them in a powerful way.

This is our philosophical framework. We need both contagious Christians and creative environments to make up our church’s “Awake and Invite” opportunities. Here are some of those opportunities:

Serving/Social Justice. It’s interesting that Jesus never once called someone to become a Christian. He simply laid out a powerful two-word invitation: “Follow Me.” This is important to remember, because if our Post-Christian friend declines an invitation to church, this isn’t the end of the road in our spiritual friendship. There are lots of ways to invite someone to experience Jesus besides attending a church service.

One of the most powerful of these opportunities is when we invite friends to discover God’s heart for the poor, disadvantaged, and oppressed. These experiences are often reserved for the already-convinced in church life, but we emphasize that many times a Post-Christian’s problem is with church, not with the activities of a Jesus-follower.

This kind of thinking shapes almost everything we do. For instance, in April 2004 we put all of our collective energies into an event hosting Princess Kasune Zulu, an international spokeswoman for the hiv/aids crisis.

Princess lost both of her parents to aids, and then contracted hiv from her husband before losing him as well. Instead of getting knocked out by this, she made it her life mission to let people know about Jesus, and to raise awareness around the world of the aids pandemic.

An event like this would normally galvanize Christians to respond in mercy to this crisis, but it would often be overlooked for its evangelistic potential.

We made this event a rallying point for all of our Post-Christian friends. Not only did we invite them in force, we even invited our Post-Christian friends to the pre-event training with World Vision (the sponsoring organization for Princess). We gathered as believers and not-yet-believers to learn how the child sponsorship program worked in Zambia.

We estimate that at least 20 percent of the 500 participating in the Princess Zulu event were not Christians, but they all accepted badges designating them as River City/World Vision Ambassadors.

It was an important point of contact, a common cause, and a trust-building experience.
We also do monthly serving projects through River City, ranging from neighborhood street cleaning to hanging out with the elderly, and we urge our people to use these as opportunities to awaken their Post-Christian friends to the civic responsibilities of “spirituality” and to invite them into an environment where they will interact with Jesus followers (and, we hope, to have an encounter with Jesus himself).

The Spoken Word. I quickly learned that many approaches we’d used in a suburban environment didn’t cross over to the urban context. We had to start over. As we looked for things that were already attracting the emerging generation and carried some sort of spiritual element, we discovered a movement that was particularly successful in the hip-hop community: the Spoken Word (also called Soul Poetry Café).

This is a place where creative minds gather to artistically express everyday realities like politics, relationships, and spirituality through the spoken medium. Anything goes at a Spoken Word café, and attendees are ready to hear artists’ opinions on everything from current policy to spiritual convictions.

After attending several of these, we felt that doing our own Spoken Word was a great way to reach Post-Christian friends. Our worship pastor began actively recruiting artists and mainline acts from other events. He then used those commitments to publicize our event. Spoken Word now happens on the fourth Friday of every month. We bring together anywhere from 50-80 people from our community, most of them strongly Post-Christian.

Trans-ethnic Community. This one is more of a “feel” than an activity, but we are strongly committed to a multi-ethnic effort to reach lost friends. Simple logic now dictates that if we are going to reach the full spectrum of our Post-Christian friends, we need a ministry that can reach people from a variety of backgrounds.

Chicago is one of the most diverse, yet segregated, cities in the country. This means that despite the fact you live among myriad nationalities, chances are low that you will ever share life with them in a meaningful way.

At River City we’ve seen that you can produce all kinds of programs to reach people, but if the ministry is not bathed in love, it will be, as the apostle Paul said, “a clanging cymbal.” We also are committed to the prayer of Jesus in John 17 that His body would be “One” as the Trinity is One, so that the watching world may know of the power of Christ.

Many of our Post-Christian friends have commented that this racial reconciliation is what drew them to River City well before the desire to be a part of any kind of organized church.

Sunday Services. Emphasizing the need to be “salt” to our Post-Christian friends does not downplay the role of the Sunday services. The truth is, if the outside-the-church stuff is working, the Post-Christians, at some point, will reconsider the idea of Christianity. When that happens, it is crucial that they experience God when they visit the church.

Here we’ve learned from one of the greatest “worship” leaders of our generation: Bono. In an interview in the early days of U2, he was asked what made their band unique among all of the others.

“Our goal,” he said, “is to blur the line between the stage and the audience. We want to create a shared experience for everyone there.”

That’s our desire for those who visit River City. We hope that through engaging worship, authentic teaching, and a primal sense of the presence of God in our community, they will have a shared spiritual experience.

They may not be able to put it into words, but we hope the service touches their spiritual center in a way that draws them back again.

—Daniel Hill is pastor of River City Community Church in Chicago, Illinois.
“Reaching the Post-Christian,” by Daniel Hill, Leadership Journal, 2004

Images in our mind's eye...

2007-10-09T19:58:00.000-07:00

The following image is shocking.

We spent some tome today speaking about the need for 'cultural intelligence' when working as a Long Term Cross Cultural Worker (LTCCW [aka missionary]).

What images come to mind when you see the term 'Fundamentalist Muslim'?
If you are an American they are not pleasant. More than likely visions of 9/11. Further, you probably didn't even need the modifier of fundamentalist to conjure these ideas in your mind.

What about Fundamentalist Christian?
And what if this was asked of a Muslim person?

The following is the image that comes to mind in Indonesia...a tortured prisoner at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq.

How would you choose to respond to the knowledge that this is the way you are perceived?

Arizona or bust

2007-10-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

Well we made it to San Diego last night, 8 miles north of the boarder. Sunday is the best day to navigate through Los Angeles. A flat 10 hour drive from door to door. After the travel to Boise, this is seeming real familiar. It certainly felt like I'd been here before. I worked on a fiber-optic trunk like along this cooridor years back, and the odd and funny stories came poring back as I past what used to be familiar landmarks. Good stuff.

Don and I spoke every few hours on the phone to make sure the bus was running well...or rather not broke down. As luck would have it I had never seen the bus, so I didn't have the same level of concern Don had as he plugged along in front of me...all went quite well.

Got to have supper with Juan and his 'American' pastor Ken...they are real excited to have the bus. It was great to have some conversation about their church plant down in Mexico. We did however forget about Columbus Day...the DMV is closed. So they have an extra day in San Diego.

Off to breakfast and some errands, then it's off to the desert southwest...that my friends, will break loose some old stories...

UPDATE: no breakfast, and off to the border as Don is the only one that can 'legally' drive the bus. But the nice Mexican officals turned us around and wouldn't let the bus into the country. So we went to a second crossing, and tried...the American side is closed for Columbus Day...and then as we waited, the paper-work monster has collected us in his sticky hands. It won't get across today. It's funny that the vehicle broker at the boarder is the same guy that owns the storage lot. We're still talking and praying about the mess...you talk alot when there is paperwork to do...especially internatonal paperwork.

Keynote Speakers

2007-09-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

The main sessions of the Environmental Stewardship Conference in Boise, Idaho are now on-line - Rediscovering the church's responsibility to lead my example in Creation Care.

Ken Wilson
"The Evangelical Awakening to Environmental Concern: A Pastor's Perspective"
Senior Pastor at the Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ken is a recent participant in Scientists and Evangelicals United to Protect Creation. In collaboration with Dr. Joel Hunter, Ken has compiled “Creation Care: An Introduction for Busy Pastors,” a resource to assist pastors in equipping their congregations to care for creation.

Richard Cizik
"For God’s Sake: Caring for Creation"
Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella organization that represents over 60 evangelical denominations nationwide. He has become a leading proponent of Creation Care since 2002.

Tri Robinson
"The Advent-ure"
Senior Pastor of Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Boise. He is also the founder of "Let’s Tend the Garden", an environmental stewardship ministry that serves as a model for churches across the country. He is the author of two books, Saving God’s Green Earth and Revolutionary Leadership, published by Ampelon Publishing.

Scott Sabin
"Creation Care in Service to the Least of These"
Executive Director of Floresta, a Christian nonprofit organization, which reverses deforestation and poverty by transforming the lives of the rural poor in Mexico, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Tanzania. Scott has held this position for ten years, and has worked with Floresta for fourteen years, after beginning as a volunteer. Floresta has planted over 3.2 million trees, offered over 3500 small business loans, and advanced the gospel in over 120 communities.

These are four quite different speakers, all of which I enjoyed. If you needed to look at only one, I would pick the presentation by either Ken Wilson or Scott Sabin's.

To see the videos click here.

Please have a look, and please comment...

Tending the garden

2007-09-23T19:18:00.000-07:00

This past week I had the pleasure of attending an Environmental Stewardship conference at the Vineyard in Boise, Idaho. I got to do one of my favorite things on my birthday, travel solo hundreds on miles along vacant roads through the open and remote countryside of the west. There was rain, snow, more rain and a full ten hours alone with God – as if we had set it up together [or had He corralled me for a long listen?], rather than me only offering him the leftovers and pridefully tiny pieces of my day. Wonderfully adept at finding myself the hypocrite, I pondered my singular use of gasoline along the way…this would fade to the realization that I had offered Jesus my heart, and was simply seeking His.

I come to the discipleship in Jesus from one of many disciplines in “-ology”. And as such, those things environmental and scientific are familiar. I don’t so much struggle with reconciling science with faith, or faith with science - but rather look for insight into the toolkit God has gifted me (both expertise and desire), and how that might be used. Can I really be a part of reforesting China for the glory of God?

Reforesting the eroding hillsides of the world is more about the poor, widows and orphans than what could be viewed as tree worship, or environmental idolatry. If I received one thing though my travels north, it was conformation and validation from the Spirit that I was in the right place…to glorify God through the stewardship of his stuff; this was simply being obedient to his command.

The environment is composed of dirt, water, air, plants and animals. This is true, but not the whole story. The stewardship of these natural resources is about people, and specifically the poor. The poor of the world are the first and hardest hit by the degradation of God’s environment…the Creation, in which we are blessed to walk out our lives. This is difficult for us to see here. We are so insulated from the earth, that often people see water coming from plastic bottles, and food from the store.

We are continually able to buy our way through shortage, drought and disaster. Eventually (as is true in our hearts and mind if we have the eyes to see), we can no longer buy off our sin. We must confront the pride, greed and indifference that has caused us the consequences of our sin. Eventually, though Jesus and a repentant heart, will not only turn from the consequences of our sin, but the sin itself…we will transform into the new creation that God has planned us to become before creation.

The conversations of atheist scientists studying the physical environment begin with stories of early concerns about pollution and the development of technology to solve these issues. Thirty years later, these same atheist scientists come to find the root of environmental degradation is not pollution, but greed, pride and apathy. Technology will not offer a solution, but rather, there is a need for a cultural and spiritual transformation. A transformation they are not capable of bottling, branding and distributing like so much fertilizer. But the church, the hope of the world, they are in the ‘business’ of such transformation.

More to follow…but a few links for now.
Floresta
Sierra Club - faith partnerships

A FIRST STEP - Use a energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL)
Over half of the electricity in the U.S. is generated by coal-fired power plants. The abundance of coal in the U.S. makes it one of the cheapest energy sources for power plants. The problem is that in addition to generating cheap electricity, coal-fired power plants also release massive amounts of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas linked to global warming.

By replacing a few incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs, you have an important role to play in the fight against global warming. Let's work backwards:

If you replace incandescent light bulbs with CFL light bulbs....
....then you'll consume less electricity
.....then less coal-based power will have to be generated to meet your demand
....then less coal will be burned
....then less greenhouse gas will be released into the atmosphere

if every one of 110 million American households bought just one ice-cream-cone bulb, took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people. One bulb swapped out, enough electricity saved to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads.

That's the law of large numbers--a small action, multiplied by 110 million.

The single greatest source of greenhouse gases in the United States is power plants--half our electricity comes from coal plants. One bulb swapped out: enough electricity saved to turn off two entire power plants--or skip building the next two.

Creation Care

2007-09-21T22:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a great time in Idaho. My head is full and my heart is broken. It's the first time I've sat in a room full of folks (just less than 100) that spoke about deforestation, poverty, watersheds, Jesus and the glory of God together. Blessed are small beginnings.

I'll have to process a bit before I can really comment. But, a new friend has a great play by play posting on his blog about the Environmental Stewardship Conference.

TLAPD

2007-09-18T09:20:00.001-07:00

Before we go any further, there's something we need to be clear about. Pirates were and are bad people. Really reprehensible. Even the most casual exploration of the history of pirates (and believe us, casual is an accurate description of our research) leaves you hip deep in blood and barbarity. We recognize this, all right? We aren't for one minute suggesting that real, honest-to-God pirates were in any way, shape or form worth emulating.

So what is it exactly that we're celebrating here, if not pirates? What, you're wondering, is the point?

We're going to be painfully honest here, perhaps fatally so.
The point is, there is no point.

And that's what's fun about Talk Like a Pirate Day specifically, and talking like a pirate in general.

My pirate name is:

Iron Davy Read

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. Even through many pirates have a reputation for not being the brightest souls on earth, you defy the sterotypes. You've got taste and education. Arr!

Get your own Pirate Name

Pirate Lingo

Square Watermelons

2007-09-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

A round watermelon can take up a lot of room in a refrigerator and the usually round fruit often sits awkwardly on refrigerator shelves. Smart Japanese farmers have forced their watermelons to grow into a square shape by inserting the melons into square, tempered glass cases while the fruit is still growing on the vine.

I love this stuff...

Moving through it…settling in

2007-09-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

I don’t know about you, but it takes me a year or so of being still to see the here and now. Prior to this I wait for the other shoe to drop…Given to my natural state I tend to react as things appear to come at me. And per usual, the reaction often looks like a duck on the water – smooth o the surface, and nothing but flailing little legs below the surface. Weeks ago, after returning from a weekend-long spiritually-led eating tour of Reno, NV [all you can eat Sushi by the hour – no joke], I found myself in field up in Big Valley days later having myself a ponder…well, the beginnings of a ponder – let’s call it an emergent ponder. This was not unlike the changing landscape I found myself standing in that beautiful day.

If you cultivated it, it would grow. If you left it to the seasons, it’d fade away – only brought back from a memory through some grand act. But over these past weeks I’ve cultivated my ponder - Placing a handful of the recent past’s still moments together so I could see a rhythm in those things before me as I tried to listen to God. This was added to by the images of the ever changing present, and became more than a rhythm, there was a kind of comfort just this side of predictable.

Have you ever known a piece of road - known it really well? Not simply, “Oh yea, I’ve driven there a bunch of times…” - Rather, the kind of knowing that comes with actually participating with the seen and unseen, both about you and along the way. The kind of knowing that leaves you wondering when something has been altered [as if your perceived ownership should have warranted a letter prior to flattening out that particular stretch of highway], and provides you the ability to see the faint scars of the past through the primer veneer of the present. The kind of knowing that can accompany well aged whiskey-dents and a fondness for corn-nuts.

It isn’t often that I spend time with Christian men older than myself, much less near my age. I do enjoy it. I find there is often a kind of calm not found in the younger – the difference between brook trout and sturgeon. They are both wonderful, but one appears to have looked down the road and gained some patience.

So what’s all the rambling about? More than anything, simply recognition that through a simple few relationships there can be such a strong sense of belonging, and appreciation of accidental discipleship. A realization that who you have become is part of a community greater than yourself, that God lives, breaths and speaks through. You turn around and find you haven’t so much made yourself a place, but rather God has offered you something beyond contentment and purpose…His Kingdom.

Climate Change Redraws World Maps

2007-09-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

By Andrea Thompson, LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 06 September 2007 09:03 am ET

Drastic changes to land and water wrought by climate change are forcing cartographers to redraw their maps of the world.

Evidence of the effects of human activities on the Earth's features--through climate change and construction efforts, such as irrigation projects—can clearly be seen in the new edition of The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, its editors say. (The atlas is one of the world's oldest and most authoritative atlases; the new edition was published on Sept. 3.)

"We can literally see environmental disasters unfolding before our eyes," said Mick Ashworth, editor-in-chief of the atlas. "We have a real fear that in the near future famous geographical features will disappear forever."

Shrinking lakes

Many of the changes the map-makers have had to make involve the shrinking of lakes and seas and changes to coastlines:
· The Aral Sea in Central Asia has shrunk by 75 percent since 1967 (before/after).
· Lake Chad in Africa has shrunk by 95 percent since 1963 (before/after).
· The Dead Sea is 82 feet (25 meters) lower than it was 50 years ago.
· Sections of the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers in North America, the Yellow River in Asia and the Tigris River in the Middle East now dry out in the summer and at some times of the year the rivers don't even reach the sea.
· The coastline of Bangladesh had to be redrawn because heavier monsoons and rising sea levels are causing more land to be lost to the ocean.
· Some Pacific Islands are also under threat from rising sea levels, including Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Tokelau, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Melting ice, rising seas

Future editions of the atlas, which typically is researched by a team of more than 50 cartographers, will take into account changes in Arctic sea ice cover and other changes to lake, river, ocean and forest boundaries, as they are affected by the changing climate.

Experts with the atlas are keeping a close watch on the Inupiat village of Shishmaref, Alaska, where temperatures have steadily risen over the last three decades and the sea is encroaching at the rate of about 10 feet (3 meters) per year, which could make it the first U.S. community forced to move due to a warming climate, the atlas makers say.

Villages on the low-lying islands of southeast India and south Bangladesh, called the Sundarbans, are also at risk, and some of the islands have already disappeared under rising seas.

The new edition of the atlas also notes that 40 percent of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed or degraded in recent decades, and that more than 1 percent of tropical forest is cleared every year to make way for farmland.

On a more positive note, the atlas shows that 13 percent of the world's land surface is now within designated protected areas worldwide.

Scientology faces criminal charges

2007-09-04T12:31:00.000-07:00

By CONSTANT BRAND, Associated Press WriterTue Sep 4, 10:40 AM ET

A Belgian prosecutor on Tuesday recommended that the U.S.-based Church of Scientology stand trial for fraud and extortion, following a 10-year investigation that concluded the group should be labeled a criminal organization.

Scientology said it would fight the criminal charges recommended by investigating prosecutor Jean-Claude Van Espen, who said that up to 12 unidentified people should face charges.

Van Espen's probe also concluded that Scientology's Brussels-based Europe office and its Belgian missions conducted unlawful practices in medicine, violated privacy laws and used illegal business contracts, said Lieve Pellens, a spokeswoman at the Federal Prosecutors Office.

"They also face charges of being ... a criminal organization," Pellens said in a telephone interview.

An administrative court will decide whether to press charges against the Scientologists.

In a statement, Scientology's Europe office accused the prosecutor of hounding the organization and said it would contest the charges.

"For the last 10 years, the prosecutor has been using the media, trying to damage the reputation of the Church of Scientology and not being able to put a case in court," Scientology said. "As a consequence, this created a climate of intolerance and discrimination" in Belgium.

It added that the prosecutor's recommendations suggested Scientology was guilty even before a court could hear the charges, making it "difficult for the Church of Scientology to recover and properly defend (itself) before the court."

Scientology has been active in Belgium for nearly three decades. In 2003, it opened an international office near the headquarters of the European Union to lobby for its right to be recognized as an official religious group, a status it does not enjoy in Belgium.

A Belgian parliamentary committee report in 1997 labeled Scientology a sect and investigations were launched into the group's finances and practices, such as the personality tests conducted on new members.

Investigators have spent the past decade trying to determine how far Scientology went in recruiting converts after numerous complaints were filed with police by ex-members alleging they'd been the victims of intimidation and extortion.

Justice officials seized financial records, correspondence, bank statements and other papers in their decade-long probe to track the flow of money to Scientology. Police also raided the offices of several consultancy firms linked to the Church of Scientology.

Pellens said that prosecutors expect Scientology to mount a strong legal challenge to the charges at a court hearing, which could come in the next two to three months. She acknowledged that could delay the case for years.

Belgium, Germany and other European countries have been criticized by the State Department for labeling Scientology as a cult or sect and enacting laws to restrict its operations.

The German government considers Scientology a commercial enterprise that takes advantage of vulnerable people.

The Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology, which is seeking to expand in Europe and be recognized as a legitimate religion, teaches that technology can expand the mind and help solve problems. The church, founded in 1954, counts actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its 10 million members.

A Sunday BBQ

2007-08-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a little slide show of the Monday DG hangin' out this past Sunday at a Bar-B-Que outreach.

thanks Tanya

a public service announcement

2007-08-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

On September 20-21, 2007 I'll be heading to the Vineyard in Boise, Idaho for an Environmental Stewardship Conference. From Redding it's about a 10 hour drive, and I'll be heading out the Wednesday prior (9/19)...this also happens to be International Talks Like a Pirate Day - So be prepared!

If stewardship of this gift from our creator is something that compels you, drop me a line.

If you what to see what this might look like locally, there are things going on right in your own back yard. Check it out...Redding Creek Clean Up on September 15th - Bar-B-Que to follow! This event coinsides with the California Coastal Clean up day that began in 1985, and has been hailed by the Guinness Book of World Records as "the largest garbage collection".

For general interest in conservation in our local community have a look here for some works currently developing. You may find some fellowship with other people that have heart for one of God's gifts to us...we are simply His creations in His creation.

At the heart of prayer

2007-08-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

A culture escaping from silence

At no time in history have we had more to fill our time—more gadgets, more television shows, more Internet blogs, chat rooms, and search engines than we will ever need—all competing for our time with God and with our families. The news is filled with stories of how we are all multitasking, how our children are becoming “wired”—in short, how the entire world is busy from first light of dawn until the last dying flicker of every day.

In an article in Time magazine, Stanford professor Donald Roberts said of his students, “There’s almost a discomfort with not being stimulated—a kind of ‘I can’t stand the silence.’” Are we, as Christians, any different? Many environmental and cultural factors seem to be leading people, and even whole churches, away from an inviting, personal union with God.

Too often, the endless barrage of information and noise leaves little, if any, space for contemplation. Prayer either has been neglected or has become an item to check off the to-do list. When time is short, prayer can easily become ritualistic and empty. These factors are just a few of the reasons why contemplative prayer strikes a chord with many evangelicals today. What does this ancient form of prayer have to do with modern Christians? And how does it change how we regard the silence?

The value of contemplation

The practice of contemplative prayer—of drawing near to God, of listening for his voice, of practicing his presence—has filled books and inspired sermons for centuries. It often involves spiritual retreats, silence, and praying over passages of Scripture. Prayers of the heart, or the recitation of a biblical word or phrase, are often used in this form of prayer to help “create an inner stillness and thus to listen to the voice of God,” explains the contemplative writer, Henri Nouwen.

Wheaton Professor James Wilhoit, who teaches a class on the Dynamics of Spiritual Growth, explains: “Contemplative prayer is built around an expectation of hearing from God. There is a quiet waiting to enjoy friendship with God.” And while contemplative practices differ for each individual, at the heart of it all, Dr. Wilhoit says, “There is a sense of the need for divine perspective. There is a realization that despite all of your thinking and imagining, you don’t have a way to solve all of your problems—that you need the discernment and wisdom that comes from on high.”

Modern examples of contemplation

For Dr. Lon Allison, Director of the Billy Graham Center, the practice of contemplative prayer came at a critical life’s juncture. “I was the pastor of a brand new church and I was working my head off…. I was trying to win the world for Jesus…but I desperately needed to remember that Jesus was in charge.” He says that God brought him to the realization that “apart from Christ, I can do nothing. And even more, apart from Christ, I am nothing.”

Dr. Allison began setting aside time for spiritual retreats. “My goal is still to set aside one day a month to get into creation with my Bible and a journal and hang out with God for six to ten hours.” He says about these times, “We are never apart from God, but sometimes we get so busy that we don’t hear him knocking.”

The second practice he continues today is that of lectio divina, or divine reading. “For instance, this week, every day I’m reading slowly and praying through Psalm 19,” he explains. The purpose of divine reading is not to get through the Bible quickly, but to slow down and let each passage speak on a personal level. The practice consists of not just reading, but reflecting, responding, praying, and resting in God’s Word.

Historic examples of contemplation

Many find the examples of contemplative Christians who have gone before helpful. Brother Lawrence, for instance, was a 17th-century lay member of a monastery who sought to practice the presence of God while scrubbing pots and going about his kitchen duties. From his example, as well as the example of Job, who kept a conversation with God flowing no matter what the circumstances, Dr. Jerry Root, assistant professor at the Billy Graham Center’s Institute for Strategic Evangelism, draws application for living a prayer-filled life. He says, “As I speak to God in my joys with thanksgiving, and when I come to him with questions in the midst of adverse times, I am mindful of him and turning my thoughts to him. I am practicing his presence.”

But most instructive is the model of Jesus’ own life. “I think if we look at Jesus’ patterns, we see a person who practiced solitude and who practiced retreats. We see a model of intentional disengagement for spiritual purposes…a man in continual communion with God,” says Dr. Wilhoit. He says that for many students in our performance-oriented society, the notion of resting in their identity as children of God is not only refreshing—but life changing.

As the pace of our culture becomes increasingly frenetic and harried, the contemplative movement reminds us that perhaps what we as Christians need is not to join the mad rush—but to embrace the silence. Or, in the words of the Psalmist, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

KATHERIN HALBERSTADT-ANDERSON, adapted from “At the Heart of Prayer,” from the spring 2006 issue of Wheaton magazine.

work life

2007-08-09T11:01:00.001-07:00

I was given a moment of pause the other day after a small emotional-work victory. You know those types of victories. The ones that offer you some sense of completion and show both yourself and others that you are, in fact, doing your job. At work we have been struggling to get people involved in the neighborhoods in which they live. Not surprising given the modern desire for anonymity. But the folks holding the purse strings are really hoping for better results, and truth be told, so am I. There is simply little value in cultivating the environment at hand to maintain its unique qualities and character.

Anyway, I get out of this meeting (which, in proper fashion, I took over and directed) and I feel good about our progress. We not only had good ideas, but they were assigned to individuals to actually follow them through. Good stuff, small victories. I started thinking about my small group and God convicted me. I often try and run my group like a technical advisory committee meeting. It’s certainly easier to do it that way, and in a sense, there are similarities in urging people onward. But they are not the same.

I have been in meetings off and on for decades, and my patented blend of iconoclasm and humor have served me well in these contexts. I’d get things done, and pull off a minor miracle or two – thus perpetuating the form. It hit my heart, that this is what I’ve been trying to do in my small group…and not actively. This programmatic way of proceeding is just so ingrained that I was there without effort or awareness. So for this I repent.

In this same week I had been more connected (struggles and fun) with both old friends and pals from my small group throughout the week through a series of lunch meetings and emails. I have resigned myself to eating out often – and I justify the “extra expense” as part of my single guy toolkit. The email connection is simply part of the age – not unlike the cell phone I have that I was never going to purchase unless a ski park opened up in hell.

These connections throughout my week made it difficult to ignore the degree to which I was working at swapping hats between people groups…often leaving residue from the old hat in place, and not quite settling in with one good hat (that would be an odd metaphor for Jesus) – consistency in belief and action. What a trip...more to follow...

A Parable of Devout Indifference

2007-08-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

EUGENE PETERSON, adapted from Eat This Book: A conversation in the art of spiritual reading

My wife picked up our seven-year-old grandson at noon on an Octo¬ber Saturday at Holy Nativity Church. Hans had been attending a class in preparation for his First Communion. They drove off, heading to a local museum that was featuring a special children’s exhibit on gemstones. On the way, they stopped at a city park to eat their lunches.

The two of them ate while sitting on a park bench, Hans chattering all the while—he had been chattering nonstop ever since leaving the church. Lunch completed—his was a lettuce and mayonnaise sand¬wich that he had made himself (“I’m trying to eat more healthy, Grandma”)—Hans shifted away from his grandmother, faced out into the park, took from his bookbag a New Testament that he had just been given by his pastor, opened it, held it up before his eyes, and proceeded to read, moving his eyes back and forth across the page in a devout but uncharacteristic silence. After a long minute, he closed the Testament and returned it to his bookbag. “Okay, Grandma, I’m ready—let’s go to the museum.”

His grandmother was impressed. She was also amused because Hans cannot yet read. He wants to read. His sister can read. Some of his friends can read. But Hans can’t read. And he knows he can’t read, sometimes announcing to us, “I can’t read,” as if to reinforce our awareness of what he is missing. So what was he doing “reading” his New Testament on the park bench that autumn Saturday?

When my wife later told me the story, I also was impressed and amused. But after a few days, the story developed in my imagination into a parable. At the time I was immersed in writing [Eat This Book], an extended conversation in the practice of spiritual reading; I was finding it hard to keep my hoped-for readers in focus. They kept blurring into a faceless crowd of Bible-readers, Bible-nonreaders, Bible teachers, and Bible preachers. Is there an impediment, a difficulty, that we all share in common when we pick up our Bibles and open them? I think there is. Hans gave me my focus.

I have been at this business of reading the Bible ever since I was not much older than Hans. Twenty years after I first started reading it, I became a pastor and a professor. For over 50 years now, I have been vo¬cationally involved in getting the Christian Scriptures into the minds and hearts, arms and legs, ears and mouths of men and women. And I haven’t found it easy. Why isn’t it easy?

Simply this. The challenge, never negligible, regarding the Christian Scriptures is getting them read, but read on their own terms, as God’s revelation. It seems as if it would be the easiest thing in the world. After five or six years of schooling, most of us can read most of what is written in the Bible. If you don’t own one and can’t afford to buy one, you can steal a Bible from nearly any hotel or motel in the country.

But as it turns out, in this business of living the Christian life, ranking high among the most neglected aspects is one having to do with the reading of the Christian Scriptures. Not that Christians don’t own and read their Bibles. And not that Christians don’t believe that their Bibles are the Word of God. What is neglected is reading the Scrip¬tures formatively—reading in order to live.

Hans on that park bench, his eyes moving back and forth across the pages of his Bible, “reading” but not reading, reverent and devout but uncomprehending, honoring in a most precious way this book but without awareness that it has anything to do with either the lettuce and mayonnaise sandwich he has just eaten or the museum he is about to visit, oblivious to his grandmother next to him: Hans “reading” his Bible. A parable.

A parable of the Scriptures depersonalized into an object to be honored; the Scriptures detached from precedence and consequence, from lunch and museum; the Scriptures in a park elevated over life on the street, a book-on-a-pedestal text, buffered by an expansive and manicured lawn from the noise and stink of diesel-fueled 18-wheelers.

It is the devil’s own work to take what is presently endearing and innocent in Hans and perpetuate it into a lifetime of reading marked by devout indifference.

What I want to say, countering the devil, is that in order to read the Scriptures adequately and accurately, it is necessary at the same time to live them. Not to live them as a prerequisite to reading them, and not to live them in consequence of reading them, but to live them as we read them, the living and reading reciprocal, body language and spoken words, the back-and-forthness assimilating the reading to the living, the living to the reading.

Reading the Scriptures is not an activity discrete from living the gospel, but one integral to it. It means letting Another have a say in everything we are saying and doing.

It is as easy as that. And as hard.

is this the party to whom I am speaking?

2007-07-18T20:18:00.000-07:00

And so it continues in the land of email…

Is this the same Dave Demar that I know? Either way could you let me know?

Greetings,
I'm looking for David E. DeMar, formerly of Farmington, New Mexico. If you are he, I'd love to hear from you and catch up a bit. If not, many apologies for bothering you.
Regards,

…fun stuff.

An old buddy from way back in the day came through town a week or so ago. We had not seen or heard from one another in just short of ten years. We were pretty tight back in the college days. The day after we graduated from undergrad I had moved out to New Mexico by way of northern Nevada. Eventually, during a chilly winter on the high plains, having found myself surrounded by angry middle-aged divorcées in my place of employment, I split town for Japan.

I showed up at Dave’s little apartment and took up teaching English as an accidental roadside attraction between day tours and ferry rides across the sea to Pusan, South Korea. Those were interesting days that require time to offer adequate adjective and metaphor in expressing the wonder and adventure of my early 20’s.

My pal Dave had found me on that new-fangled-internet-deal that everyone’s always talking about. It seems, when slid through a search engine, my name has circled around to being attached to a legit email address and job description…this searching appears a common practice when old friends fall off the radar for decades at a time. As evidenced by today’s entry into “is dave there?” files.

Tim, a braver man than I, and one whom stayed put while surrounded by the angry middle-aged divorcées, contacted me today. His son is 14. I remember making his ever so pregnant wife banana cream pies when I landed at their home on my return from Japan. Those were some interesting days in the little town of Aztec.

It is odd to respond to emails asking me if I am who I am, from a friend that knows me as I was…I laugh, and respond in a resounding, “Yes I am the party to whom you are speaking…” [can an email resound?] This eventually leads to phone calls, chatting, and in the case of Dave D, a quick visit in the 100-plus heat afforded to us by the month of July.

Trying to condense the years past into informational blurbles was awkward at best, so I quit trying. He knew where I’d been, and could see where I was now…the “what happened” part could be told slowly over the next few years. I had sent out the “what happened” letters years before during my time at the mission. From these handfuls of letters I received only one response…so it goes with our pursuit of the Lord.

Last time we talked I was running million-dollar jobs and flying all over the west, and now I live in my buddies garage…we laugh, as there is agreement of being in a better place (the ‘spoken’ witness of God’s role in this left for visits down the road). After a cup of coffee, a good supper, seeing the sights of Redding and some ice cream - I get the look. “You know I was worried after hearing about this ‘big’ change in your life that you may have gotten all weird…like the moonies or something. But it seems like you and your friends have your heads on straight.”

The next morning my friend is off to Santa Rosa, leaving with plans of my visit to his family in the fall. And now I see reason for another good stop for the ever impending trip to my storage unit…Taken back that my old friend’s children are almost driving – I see God pulling His community together in His time, through treads I would have thought dried up and blown away long ago.

Sanitized Travel Journal - Part IV

2007-07-05T12:38:00.000-07:00

On the train from Kunming to Beijing...early June 2007...
Finished reading The way in is the Way On…some random thoughts, not sure where Wimber ends, and I start…

To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feel the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God and to devote the will to the purpose of God.
- William Temple (19th century Archbishop of Canterbury)

*if you want to know what you worship, ask yourself, ‘where do I spend my time? my money? my energy?’, that will tell you what you worship.

There’s nothing more practical that a good idea.
- G.K. Chesterton

Train people to continue the kingdom ministry of Jesus (Luke 4:18-19).
Our primary aim in life is to love and glorify God, participating in the expansion of His kingdom in relevant way in the time allotted us.

The Spirit empowers for a purpose – not just an experience.
Our passion to imitate the ministry of Jesus in the power of the Spirit remains. This requires that we follow Jesus out of baptismal waters, through our personal deserts, and into the harvest.

balanced evangelical theology & mainstream Pentecostal practice
---> a biblical target of making and nurturing disciples.

The Art of Listening (as Jesus modeled) ---> John 5:19,30

My hope is to remain a Christ-centered group focused on the main teachings of scripture…following Augustine’s advice, “In essentials unity, in nonessentials diversity, in all things charity.”

Have you noticed the zeal of converts?...
They are blind to flaws and see only the beauty of the vision of their leader (whether historic or contemporary) and the truth within the teachings and practices of their group.

The natural tendency is to think that what you commit to is best, and if it nurtures you, then it obviously is the best, right?

Groups easily take on a “true church” attitude even if they formally deny it, and begin expending their energy defining who is “in and out.”

All too often, groups evolve from a loose, casual association to rigid adherence to insight from a set theory.

Our purpose is to evangelize the lost, enfold them in new churches, equip them to know and exalt Jesus in every area of life, expanding God’s Kingdom through continuing God’s ministry.

Sanitized Travel Journal – Part III

2007-07-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

As a local 4th of July aside: So it finally got hot - 113 degrees yesterday, down to 112 today, and a cold front of 105 by Sunday…FYI - 106 is ‘hot’, but 105 only rates ‘sunny’ [or so says the weather-guy].

June 8th
Spent yesterday building Franken-Pulpit at the foreign fellowship…lots of brackets, drill bits and glue. The Spirit showed up, and the clear plastic pulpit imploded the Sunday prior during service while Todd was acting as MC, and just prior to Mike offering a message. We felt the least we could do was to try and repair what was broke.

Late night chatting about those things missionary…good stuff.

This morning Todd’s daughter taught me how to turn on the stove top to make coffee…I just asked her…it really surprised Todd that she knew how to do that. Then she started to teach me some Chinese:

Nee hun bun...........................you are stupid
Eda pee jew hund ah..............your butt’s so big
Nee chur fung la ma...............have you eaten?
Nee hun piao liang..................you are pretty

The impromptu Chinese class is then interrupted by ‘naked Bible-man’.
Eli is running around the house playing superhero in his Bible-man cape, and that’s pretty much all he’s wearing.

“Hey look, it’s naked Bible-man” - me
“No I’m not! I’m the good guy! I’m Bible-man!” - Eli
“Okay, you’re good naked Bible-man.” - me
“He may be good bible-man, but he’s also naked bible-man” Makayla

Kid’s are fun…
Off to the Play Center to un-Christian 130 shoeboxes full of gifts for delivery at a school out near the ‘dreamers’ village…all in hope to open the way to Jesus, and the reservoir project

ERYKAH BADU - Didn't Cha Know

2007-07-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

Oh hey...

Ooh hey

I'm trying to decide
Which way to go

I think I made a wrong turn back there somewhere

Didn't cha know, didn't cha know

Tried to move but I lost my way

Didn't cha know, didn't cha know

Stopped to watch my emotions sway

Didn't cha know, didn't cha know

Knew the toll, but I would not pay

Didn't cha know, didn't cha know

Cause you never know where the cards may lay

Time to save the world

Where in the world is all the time

So many things I still don't know

So many times I've changed my mind

Guess I was born to make mistakes

But I ain't scared to take the weight

So when I stumble off the path

I know my heart will guide me back

Love is life, and life is free

Take a ride on life with me

Free your mind and find your way

There will be a brighter day

Sanitized Travel Journal – Part II

2007-07-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

Early June…

…and then there is ministry time. Interesting evenings of small groups with varied direction toward invitation in what the Spirit may [or may not] be doing here and now. How do concepts of the Kingdom translate, and when are you hung up on the ‘physical manifestations’ of God? Having been trained in anthropology for so many years, I really get a kick out of this whole ‘culture’ discussion when it comes to Christian ideas. What does the cultural context of Kingdom theology look like? When is my metaphor the same one as yours?

Sometimes I feel like I’m just watching a show. There are roles being played, but the depth of knowledge & understanding in God’s work seems off kilter. I really don’t think I even need to be here. God, I pray you “soften my heart” [christianese for, make me less of a wiener]. Just allow me to stay out of my own way, so that I will be available for your use.

Sometimes we are so weak in faith – a faith in a manipulated and diluted gospel that conforms to our lives, rather than changing our lives for God & Jesus. How do we walk out our faith, instead of simply following the culture we interact in about us?

When times get bad, people cry out for help.
They cry for relief from being kicked around, but never give God a thought when things go well, when God puts spontaneous songs in their hearts, when God sets out the entire creation as a science classroom, using birds and beasts to teach wisdom.People are arrogantly indifferent to God— until, of course, they're in trouble, and then God is indifferent to them.
There's nothing behind such prayers except panic; the Almighty pays them no mind.
So why would he notice you just because you say you're tired of waiting to be heard, or waiting for him to get good and angry and do something about the world's problems?
Job 35:9-15 (MSG)

the Great Wall w/the gals

2007-06-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

These are some pics from the one working camera we were able to return with from China. Kyle and I had just returned to Beijing, where we met back up with Juniper and Kim. We took our last day to have a 'look-see' at the Wall. The slide down was real fun.

in transit

2007-06-27T16:21:00.000-07:00

MB 13/2.16 CTO: WHITE

Z0ET
Custom configuration

2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB

160GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm

Superdrive 8x

No Modem

No Optional Software

Keyboard/Mac OS

Country Kit
Recycling Fee

Ships by: Jun 28 - Jul 2
Delivers by: Jul 2 - Jul 9

35mm Slides

2007-06-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

So I bought a Pentax K1000 to have some fun taking some 'old school' slides while I was in China. I bought it used [they don't make 'em anymore] from some outfit in New York City. I then tried to collect some Kodachrome film...no can do in this day and age. Only one place in Kansas (or was it Texas?) that will still use the environmentally unfriendly chemicals and compounds to develop that particular film. So I went with some Fuji ASA 100 stuff. And the fun part about that - I notice in China that all the film I bought in Redding had expired. Manual slide photography is a dying art. It gets better. After loading my second roll of film I notice my camera had exploded. The lens-seat had actually torn off the body of the camera. I have n idea how it broke...but over the next two weeks I smashed the rest of my fiolm through the camera just for giggles. I figured I was just pretending to be 'el photographer guy'.

So if you don't think God still does miracles, I got news for you - I picked up my film from the drug store today, and it all came out. I scanned a few on a flatbed here at the office just to show you...check it out. We ain't in Beijing any more.

Sanitized Travel Journal - Part I

2007-06-23T14:12:00.000-07:00

Pollution over East China

It is late May 2007 (in route to China), I find myself sitting next to Kyle as we cross the Atlantic to Beijing. We had been separated this morning in SFO, but in nothing short of a miraculous turn of events, we reconvened in Vancouver for the long, seated portion of our trip. I have been reading for a few hours, and just finished ‘Saving God’s Green Earth’ à lots of good ideas.

I spent this past weekend at the discipleship group retreat. I really could have cared less about being there. And truth be told, I’d of rather not been there, as I thought I had so much to do prior to leaving for China. The weeks leading up to leaving were extra hectic at work, and I was feeling overloaded. Within moments of arriving at the retreat I realized I was in the right place. God does have a sense of humor. Though there has been some fun [and a moment of rest], these past weeks are all sort of an extra busy blur.

Back to the book - I have plans to head up to Boise in Sept for an environmental stewardship conference. God really does seem to be speaking to me there, but I’m not totally sure what that looks like in the context of the church or what I’ll walk through in China…ought to be interesting.

Daydreaming and remembering…So why in the heck did I get into archaeology? Other than enjoying the lifestyle [a story in itself – ask me one day when you have some time], I remember I had an appreciation for the outdoors, a value for what had been left before us, a sense of history, even a passion for the use of history to tell our story and link us to the places we live. To cultivate those roots before they were destroyed or forgotten.

Standing alone in the De-Na-Zin Wilderness, Bisti Badlands in spring winds - describing the landscape, taking photos and drawing maps. I was so often the last person to see an area before the bulldozers came and changed it…It did become depressing as I saw the ideal of conservation turned into a simple hurdle of development. There never seemed to be a long view of planning for the future, but just a desire to promote production the development of short-term economic gain.
Private gain through Public Lands…
Public Lands for Private Profit…

In regard to CONSERVATION, we generally fall into false categories and argument to justify both cultural and worldly approaches to the earth’s resources. As I read and do, I find we ARE called to tend the garden. Not to destroy or degrade it. Not to fearfully leave it untouched. But to experience the creator in His creation.

Can we take ‘environmentalism’ out of the box? It’s as charged a word as ‘Christian’ in my day to day. It isn’t actually diametrically opposed to conservative policies – this has always been a manufactured argument, and it’s simply not real.

We are tied to the land. Most folks just don’t see it in their day to day, so there’s no value in it to them. Do you compartmentalize your understanding of pro-life to include only those parts of creation that look most like yourself? We are so good at that sort of rationalization, aren’t we? The loaded question: Are you pro-life, or just anti-abortion?

Bar-B-Q

2007-06-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

So I made it back from China just in time to meet up with my Discipleship Group for our second annual Bar-B-Q and 'who's the neighbors?' festival. As I was away during the planning stages, I was assigned all of the on-site cooking duties [I'm taking a well deserved break below].

We started with some wieners [not to be confused with hot dogs], moved into hamburgers and finished with some fine smoked chicken breast. I counted numerous varieties of beans and potato salad, as well as at least two cheesecakes and a ring of 'monkey brain' cinnamon bread that Misty made.

I could go on...but it just makes me hungry...And even better than the hot day and fine food, was 30 or so folks that decided to share part of their day [and a meal] with us. Check out Todd sportin' the new goat...

Hangin' out in the AC...

T62 Train Route - 1972 miles

2007-06-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I found only one person in all of China that offered anything remotely resembling encouragement regarding the pending train ride. Other than Henrik, all the expats (and a few well meaning local Chinese) looked as if something painful had just happened to them when I offered the suggestion on train travel. It would soon follow that most of these folks hadn't actually been on the train in the past 10 years.

1972 miles over a period of 38 hours.
Left Kunming at 8:49pm 6/8 ... Arrived Beijing 11:30am 6/10.
I highly recommend the trip if you want to get a little idea on the extent and variability of the Chinese landscape. The first two days are simply awesome mountains, bridges, rivers, fields and crazy little villages. The third day is moving toward the center of the flat smog-filled industrial complex that is Beijing. There is no sun visible in the sky, and I wonder when (and how far and wide?) they will switch off the factories for the benefit of the Olympic tourists?

A Gastronomical Diary...

2007-06-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

May 28
Road food - Honey Pepper Beef Jerky
Jack in the Box (Hercules, CA) - The [not so] ‘ultimate’ bacon cheese burger, curly fries & blackberry shake

May 29
Stacy’s apartment - Coffee & scones
SFO to YVR flight - Coffee & biscotti
Vancouver Airport - Triple hazelnut latte & Kim’s leftover Pizza Hut
YVR to PEK flight - ‘Maized and Confused’ corn chips; Beef w/ rice, salad & real ice cream; Chicken w/ rice & melon; Cup o’noodle & tea

May 30
Beijing (Phoenix Apartments #2) – beef jerky snack w/ ‘homemade’ Marathon Bar (ground flax seed for the ‘omegas’)
Apt #2 group dinner – Rice, bell peppers, chicken, egg plant, greens & ham/bacon

May 31
French Press Coffee
Street Vendor – crepe w/ egg, green onion sausage and chili paste [sounds like ‘Jim bean’]
Honey pepper beef jerky break
Lido Starbucks – Hazelnut latte
Szechwan House lunch – Sweet & sour chicken, rice, lemon chicken, sesame asparagus, spicy beef, catfish soup w/ numbing peppers, chicken w/ nuts, fragrant spicy fried string potato, strange sausage slices & hot toffee covered banana
Apt #2 dinner – Rice, carrots, mushrooms, spicy beef w/ onion & bell peppers, pork w/ garlic, greens & shoots. ** We lost the cheesecake!!

June 1
French Press Coffee
Street Vendor – pot stickers
PEK to KMG flight - Jerky snack; Rice & bean porridge w/ pickled veggies, tea sandwiches, fruit cup & ‘café’
Kunming ‘Teriyaki’– Rice, tender beef w/ wasabi, spicy beef w/ red pepper, crispy chicken, greens, sprout filled egg.
Road food – market bananas, Stacy’s sugar cookie brick & beef jerky
KFC late nite – spicy chicken sandwich, fries & coke

June 2
French Press Coffee
Wicker Basket – All American Breakfast (2 eggs, 2 pancakes, potato, sausage & coffee)
Henrik’s Apt – ‘Homemade’ Marathon bar & Chocolate covered ice-cream balls [Walls brand]
‘Cantonese’ Chinese – flowers w/ garlic, beef kebabs w/ peppered fries, greens, ground meat w/ celery, chicken w/ onion, anise soup, rice, fried beans
Late nite – Dark Chocolate MAGNUM ice-cream bar

June 3
French Press Coffee
Henrik’s Apt – Oatmeal w/ local fermenting honey & milk, egg-sunny side up, toast w/ gouda cheese
Orange Garden [across from fellowship] – curried beef, mushroom meatballs, celery and onion potato, bok choy, peppers w/ bacon, yams, hash browns & sweet-sour chicken
Snack – watermelon, Yumbar & banana Corny (a sad memory of the Corny Big)
Yitianyuan [Muslim food] – lamb kebabs, greens, sautéed avocado, sesame bread w/ sweet bean filling, breaded shrimp (?), fried rice, goat cheese w/ MSG, lamb w/ peppers, chicken w/ veggies

June 4
French Press Coffee
Chinese Noodle Joint [around corner from Wicker B.] – blocky rice noodle w/ beef (sounds like ‘are-su’)
Jerky on the road
Laozhiqing (Dia people food) – sour pork/meat/fish with noodle-cabbage, greens, spicy eggplant, bar-b-que beef, chicken w/ green peppers, hot peanuts, ‘taquitos’, red/green peppers, stinky tofu, purple pineapple sweet rice, rice
Late nite – Cappuccino MAGNUM

June 5
French Press Coffee
Henrik’s Apt – cinnamon toast w/ gouda cheese
Wicker Basket – House special w/ coffee [toast, scrabbled egg w/ onion & ‘hash browns’]
Bird & Flower Market – four mini scoops of florescent colored Nikeai ice-cream in a waffle cone
Chang Long Yuan [Muslim place near Henrik] – Goat cheese, greens, rice, eggplant, beef w/ peppers, pumpkin patty, thin sliced cold ‘beef’, sweet sesame bread w/ beef & walnuts
Late nite – Cappuccino MAGNUM w/ nuts

June 6
French Press Coffee
Henrik’s Apt – Oatmeal & toast w/ strawberry flavored jam
Street Side Café [near play center] – egg w/ tomato, green beans w/ garlic, hash brown, eggplant, fried chicken skin, rice, soy ‘cheese’ w/ hot pepper sauce, pork w/ onion, green, corn w/ peas
Cantonese Dinner – Greens, rice, eggplant, seasoned pork w/ peanuts & radish, lotus root w/ snow peas, green beans, peppers w/ beef, flat noodles, corn w/ garlic
Late nite – melted cappuccino MAGNUM

June 7
French Press Coffee [the last of the YAKS coffee!!]
Henrik’s Apt – muslix w/ yogurt, toast
Jerky snack
KFC – Spicy chicken sandwich w/ corn salad & orange drink
Walk from Metro to Todd’s – 2 MAGNUMs
Todd’s house – creepy peepers chocolate
Nasty noodle shop – ‘Are-su’ noodles

June 8
French Press Coffee [Yunnan Garden Coffee, 'Italy Flavor']
Todd’s House – Seeds & dried fruit
Training Center [Jahling cooked] – sliced potato w/ tomato soup, hot peanuts, chicken w/ onion, tofu w/ red chili sauce, duck w/ sauce, green beans, cabbage, hot pickled mixture (kim chee ?), thin sliced squash, rice & tea
Wicker Basket – salad, beef tacos & chocolate shake

June 9
French Press Coffee [Yunnan]
Train breakfast – apple/apricot cereal bar from France, banana, ‘banana-like’ bread with plum pits
Train lunch – cellophane noodles w/ beef and chili pepper, 3+2 crackers w/ Skippy peanut butter, wheat crackers
Snack – Dove dark chocolate and peanut cereal bar from France
Train dinner – Black rice in a can, Teriyaki cellophane noodles, dove chocolate & 3+2 crackers

June 10
French Press Coffee [Yunnan]
Train breakfast - apple/apricot cereal bar from France, banana, ‘banana-like’ bread with plum pits
Yageshi Coffee, Beijing – Iced ‘chocolate’ mocha & Super Supreme Pizza
Muslim Place on campus [Mike’s favorite] – Tea, naan, lamb kebabs, naan w/ lamb & carrots, pasta w/ corn & lamb, curry chicken, beef w/ cabbage, cucumber & tomato salad
Late Nite – dark chocolate & vanilla ice cream MAGNUM, grapefruit juice, cacao biscuit & coco pocky

June 11
French Press Coffee [Yunnan]
Shang Yuan Restaurant (at the hotel) – nice fried rice, carrots, greens w/ butter, broccoli w/ beef, pork dumplings, picked cabbage w/ red pepper
State-Run Mu Tian Yu [At the Great Wall] – Noodles w/ beef, sweet & sour chicken, chicken w/ carrots & red peppers, rice, shredded spicy cabbage, ‘beef’ w/ tomato, green tea
Snack Time – MAGNUM; Kittyland – milk cream sandwich biscuits; Sweet & Delicious – peanut brittle & sesame cracker; Lotte (Cacao) Dream Pie
Korean Bar-B-Que – Eight (8) types of kim chee, lettuce leaves, sliced yam, beef lenque, ‘bacon’, two types of marinated meat, nice tender beef, garlic sauce, ginger sauce, sesame sauce, tea

June 12
French Press Coffee [last of the Yunnan]
Shang Yuan Restaurant – hash brown patties, wonton soup, pale sausage, bacon, chocolate biscuit, oil-fried egg, pear juice & coffee
John & Maggie’s Apt. – BLTs, watermelon, bar-b-q shrimp chips, tomato chips & Dorritos
Beijing Airport – Cappuccino & Cheesecake
PEK to YVR flight – ‘Maized and Confused’ corn chips; Pork noodles w/ broccoli, cellophane noodle salad, brownie & coffee; egg ‘omelet’, ham, tater tots, roll, melon & coffee
Stacy’s Apt – Salami sandwich, spicy tuna roll & Klondike ice-cream bar

June 13
percolated coffee
In-n-out Burger [Vacaville, CA] – two double-doubles w/ onions, fries & ice tea

Train to Beijing...

2007-06-08T02:28:00.000-07:00

So we are off tonight at 8:49pm.
To arrive in Beijing on the third day at 11am.
We got noodles and peanut butter...it's gonna be cool.

Ps 131

2007-06-02T00:14:00.000-07:00

My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things wonderful to me.
But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.

grandpa

2007-05-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

I was remembering my grandpa the other day. What a great man - patient and kind - the sort of man that never really reacted to the mood and pace of others around him…unless he really had to. When I was younger he would offer me correction, but it seemed okay when he said it - almost like you ought to follow his instruction because it was going to be even more fun than the goofy trouble you were going to get yourself in.

I had a range of interesting male role models patterned in front of me, when I was still too young to choose with whom I would cultivate relationship. On one end was total absence…this, occasionally dotted with crazy moments of interaction like bailing dad out of jail so we could continue getting an old El Camino road-worthy for a late night drive back to New Mexico, and then burying him to drug and alcohol addiction a short time later.

In the middle…there were other men, often quick to offer discipline of solitude. My sister and I would leave notes for one another in the bathroom, and when we dared, chat on the walkie-talkies. It was our act of defiance, and regardless of being ‘grounded’, we were going to have some fun.

And on the other end…was grandpa. For years I would look through the garage for this magical ‘electric paddling machine’ I was so often told about. I was intent on somehow disabling it, so I could do what I wanted without threat of mechanical spanking. I never found it, so I was always weary of grandpa mysterious contraption. But, I had imagined it as some wondrous collection of steam driven wheels, pulleys, belts, and vacuum tubes, all accompanied by the occasional crack of arcing electricity. Whatever it was, it was cool – if not simply ‘cause grandpa had one, and no one had ever seen it.

For me, the best part of staying with my grandparents was breakfast. Grandma usually slept until just before noon. And this was good after an evening of arguing the finer points of any social injustice that may have taken root in grandma’s mind. She liked to read the dictionary, and she enjoyed the excitement of exploring disagreement. So unlike the evening, morning was a quiet time. It was a quiet time with breakfast.

Now no one ever really knew when grandpa got up. But when ever it was, it was always before you. And when you made the decision to visit with him early in the morning, it was always going to be good. The cupboards would have emptied their breads and cereal boxes onto the yellow deco table, and hot water would be simmering on the stove top. If there wasn’t a bowl on fruit on the table, there was some at arms reach (grandpa reach, not mine). He would sit looking at the paper having a cup of instant coffee. [in retrospect, I like to think the instant coffee wasn’t for the taste, but rather utilizing the space-age technology of freeze-dried food – right there in your own home.]

Soon you’d be filled, and he would be offering more. And eventually, he would get to helping you plan your day, occasionally asking a question that might have answers for times farther down the road. And what ever you entered into, however your day unfolded, it was going to be better than what you would have dreamed up on you own.

the 'news'

2007-05-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

So I’m heading off to China in a few days and thought I’d have a look at the AP lines...

Farmers riot against Chinese government

China a top violator of US food standards

Pollution, chemicals blamed for China's cancer rise

And in other news...

China Releases House Church Leaders Following International Pressure

Thousands planning to bring the Gospel to China during the Olympic Games

lectio divina

2007-05-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

In his Tenth Conference, St. John Cassian (ca. 360 – 433) tells us how he and his companion, Germanus, approached the man who was reputed to be at that time the holiest, oldest, and wisest Father of the Desert [during seven years in Egypt ca. 380-400]. In seeking a word of life they asked him specifically for a word on prayer. Adda Isaac responded to them most generously:

I must give you a word for contemplation. If you dutifully keep this word before you and learn to recollect it at all time, it will help you to mount to contemplation of high truth…The word is this: “O God, come to my assistance. O, Lord, make haste to help me.” [Ps.69]

Rightly has this verse been selected from the whole Bible to serve this purpose. It still suits every mood and temper of human nature, every temptation, every circumstance. It contains an invocation of God, a humble confession of faith, s reverent watchfulness, a meditation on human frailty, an act of confidence in God’s response, an assurance of his ever-present support. The one who continuously invokes God as his protector in aware that God is ever at hand.

I repeat: each to one of us, whatever one’s condition in the spiritual life, needs to use this verse.

Perhaps wandering thoughts surge about my soul like boiling water and I cannot control them. I cannot offer prayer without it being interrupted by silly images. I feel so dry that I am incapable of spiritual feelings. Many sighs and groans save me from dreariness. I must need say: “O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.”

The mind should go on grasping this word until it can cast away the abundance and multiplicity of other thoughts and restrict itself to the poverty of a single word. And thus in will attain with ease that Gospel beatitude which states: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Thus by God’s light the mind mounts to the manifold knowledge of God and thereafter on mysteries loftier and more sacred.

John received from the lectio of a Spiritual Father a word of life, as well as a deep and beautiful sharing on the part of a Father who had already experienced the rich potential of this word in his own life.

From reading Lectio Divina – M. Basil Pennington (1998)

a short visit

2007-05-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

Got to buzz down to the bay for the weekend to visit with sis' and mom. Made great time (3hrs 15min). It's really not how fast you got, but rather trying not to slow down. The only mess was the bit of highway that burned and melted...that's made a slow spot for my communting brethren in the east bay. Sort of a bummer, but the trip has to be short 'cause I need to be in Chico on Monday morning for work, much less tying up all those loose ends prior to heading out to China at the end of the month. I've been so busy I haven't had time to think about going, much less get really excited and think about what to pack for travel snacks.

I hope to get out to El Paso when I return from China...I got a line on a truck, and I think I can pull it off. The only requirement would be some bbq at Stateline down at the border. That's good food, and after 1000 miles or so, it would be a loss not to get a fist full of ribs.

I get to visit my sister's church on Sunday. She's getting baptized in early June while I'm out of country. She's excited, and I'm just amazed at where we're all at compared with years past. It used to be that I'd just see the difference in my own choices. Now I get a better view of the Father's work, a bit of a vista if you will. Great stuff.

When I return from El Paso, it'll be off to Idaho. That's the plan anyway. I've been reading Saving God's Green Earth, and getting some insight into the church's responsibility to environmental stewardship:

Let all regard themselves as the stewards of God in all things which they possess. Then they will neither conduct themselves dissolutely, nor corrupt by abuse those things which God requires to be preserved - John Calvin

It's a busy season for a fellow livin' in a garage...not to mention the deaths, births and marriages I get to brush up against in a community I've never experienced. This, and the odd social goings on and mis-steps, lead to a fuller appreciation of God in my own life. Finding how my feelings often win for pulling the train that is my life, I often laugh when He asks me just to be still and actually have a good look at all His creation (not mine)...

An unformed thought - It's good to be Holy, but not if it's structured with a 'kind' of subtle legalism that cuts off or perverts the humanity in the here and know. In this life-body-existence, I am held to humanity...in a fashion. I think it would be a sad state to lose (or deny) this connection to the world, and those that live in it. We try and believe that we do good works, and hopefully not because we've been given a reward, but rather we are compelled to do from a change in our heart. Truth be told, I don't have a grid for the here after...just an unformed feeling that it ought to be really good. It doesn't compel me. And if it did, if it was the reason that motivated my choices, it would seem to be odd. Sort of like trying to train your dog by describing the possibility of everlasting scoody-snacks if he'd just quit peeing on the carpet. It's good to be Holy with the right heart, but we are human, here and now, for a purpose. Hmm, like I mentioned - a thought, not fully formed.

Some crazy movies

2007-05-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

The Meatrix
Take the red pill and watch the critically-acclaimed, award-winning first episode of The Meatrix Trilogy.

The Backwards Hamburger
Do you want lies with that? After seeing this animated short you’ll think twice about eating that fast food hamburger. (US, 2006, Animation, 2:40min)

The True Cost of Food
Learn the truth behind your weekly grocery bills. The hidden environmental, health, and social costs of agribusiness food is scary, to say the least. This great animated piece shows that anything but local organic food is unaffordable. (US, 2004,15 min.)

journalizing

2007-04-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

As I wait for my hard drive to compress, I find I have moment to blog…
In my own odd perspective, I’ve been writing in the evenings of those things around me. I found years ago that this helps me sleep; as I can get my thoughts onto a piece of paper, and let the paper do the remembering for me. Not wanting to ‘emotionally streak’ through the internet, suffice it to say that most of these scribblings are slowly filed away as personal and confidential. At first I’ll carry them around, as if they might be of some use, occasionally working them into an essay or particular point of view. I often journal simply to get my personal dialogue out of the way before I pray…it helps me get out of my own way when I looking to listen to the Lord.

The topics of late range from accidental discipleship and the finer points of cheese-making to sexism, resentment and pride. The accidental discipleship topic has potential, and I’ll have fun trying to further describe my thoughts and ideas. The cheese-making will fall away, quickly replaced by the next flavor of the moment, like so many idols. But the other topics lay flat – almost staining the paper, and moving me to simply throw them out.

I don’t throw them out. I have found that as I read them over, they often point to some wonderful nodule (boulder?) of deficiency in my character. That, or some reaction to either a misunderstanding or gossip. The deficiency in my character I am okay with. That is not to say, “hey, I’ve got enough Jesus for now, you can send some off to someone that really needs it.” It is more in the sense that I am ‘okay’ with accepting my responsibility for my state of being. I am more than flawed, and if you know me, you are aware of the veritable cornucopia of junk I can draw from here on ‘rationalization island’. Given to my own powers, I’d have been voted off the island years ago.

As of yet, the misunderstanding and gossip, do not offer any insight – but rather road blocks. But out of the two, I’d buy all your misunderstanding if you’d take a table spoon of my ‘he said she said.” Any takers? At least with misunderstanding, there is the possibility of finding common ground over a green-chili cheese burger…and I like green-chili. And with misunderstanding, you have some social coordinates to navigate by, so you might eventual arrive, at least, on a common seaboard.

Gossip has not afforded me these opportunities. It is an icy blow in the mind’s eye to the character of all involved. Even in the mildest forms there is a dissolving of trust that breaks ties in relationship and alters attitude. I had occasion to think on this the other evening, and remembered vividly the gossip of years past – the sort that fuels the building of strongholds, and in those that don’t know Jesus, ruins relationship and marriage. Those were rough years, and in them, if I have received anything, it is a warehouse of hazard signs.

road trip

2007-04-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

more info...

old and new

2007-04-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

So I came into work today to update an old PC given to me a year or so ago. I haven’t been on-line with it in some time so I knew the updates would be a mess, and I’d be better off at work on the broadband. I hooked it all up yesterday, and had know luck…goofy reg problems. So here I am today It’s now after 3pm [I got here about 8:30am], and the beast is now finally on update 20 of 27. I’m buying a mac.

It’s sort of like me and my truck. I like my truck, and I enjoy tinkering with it. But now I also have a VW. This is what I drive daily if I don’t want so much ‘adventure’ along the road. If I want to test my ‘road side repair’ abilities…I drive my truck [alone]. Which reminds me…

A wonderful little Volvo, entrusted to me by the Lord [and through many other previous owners] has finally found a home. My friends have been the first to follow through with both the appropriate paperwork, and the requirements of the grand state of California, to make it their own. Since its previous earthly owners ‘abandoned’ the vehicle to persons in my general sphere of influence some time ago, no one has been able to command such efforts as these newly registered and smogged pals. Simply following the chain of sale, as no exchange was fully validated by the State, would have made the best genealogist cringe. I applaud you!

four-letter words

2007-04-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

“If you give me the power to nominate, you can vote for whomever you please.”
– Benito Mussolini

I was reading an opinion on public education while I navigated through a wonderful pastrami and cheese covered hamburger and curly fries yesterday. The quote seemed to fall in line with my thoughts this past week. I thought I had been looking at perceptions of hope in the people around me. And in a sense I was. But underlying these perceptions was the context from which they were derived.

What are you expert at? Baking, wrench turning, a church-going technician – butcher, baker, candle-stick maker? When you hear about something familiar, do you fall in ‘mental neutral’ as if there’s nothing for you in this place? – Yes, yes, that’s great tell me something I don’t already [feel] I know…

Do you have a desire for something to happen? Are you expectant or confident that it will come true? Are you willing to persevere, believing that something is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary? Is hope more than another four-letter word to you?

I listened on the phone – No one I ever was with in the past loved me. And considering that, I’m not jaded. I think that’s God. I have hope that God has someone for me. I still actually trust people. The other day my bible opened up to that part about love…you probably know where that is…I need to read that some more…

Hope to me is one of those dynamic and wonderful action-filled attitudes…and so much more. Hope is so much deeper than a trust in the mechanics of people, places and things. I trust that if I feed my car valvoline it’ll run gooder than without it…but this is not hope. Hope is not simply another word for trust. Hope is that green field I lay in, watching birds dip now and then to catch their breakfast…not quite the garden, but near it.

Hope is my response to a faithfulness not my own that is simply supernatural…and it moves like a dance – again and again and again offering my opportunity to play…to dance. Hope is that solvent for sharp and hardened, jaded ideas. Hope is gratefulness for the simplest of opportunity. Hope is not ‘I want’ – people, places and things.

I have a ‘faith’ in the human condition. A jaded pessimism shaped and formed in the sterile foundries of higher education – the human condition…it will continue to fall. But in that, I know with my heart of hearts that not all will…most will struggle. And for those, things will work out in a way that is so well, they will have times of both joy and happiness.

Entitlement is the killer of hope. It is a barbed hook, painful to remove – even for those that come to a place that may have the eyes to see it hanging from their hand. I have sold my hope and dreams in the past to those that would offer me tantalizing choices. As if to say, I’m not using my freedom, give me some extra bacon and dollar more an hour…that ought to make me happy, filled with joy, and complete.

“The Chinese...speak of a great thing (the greatest thing) called the Tao. It is the reality beyond all predicates, the abyss that was before the Creator Himself. It is Nature, it is the Way, the Road. It is the Way in which the universe goes on, the Way in which things everlastingly emerge, stilly and tranquilly, into space and time. It is also the Way which every man should tread in imitation of that cosmic and supercosmic progression, conforming all activities to that great exemplar. "In ritual," say the Analects, "it is harmony with Nature that is prized." The ancient Jews likewise praise the Law as being "true" (Psalm 119:151)…

…Those who know the Tao can hold that to call children delightful or old men venerable is not simply to record a psychological fact about our own parental or filial emotions at the moment, but to recognize a quality which demands a certain response from us whether we make it or not.”
-C.S. Lewis

A 3rd step

2007-03-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

Made a decision (became willing) to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God…

Year’s back, when I first read this simple instruction my brain received, “became willing to make a deal.” And at the time, that was all I was capable of. I would hear that I only had to change one thing – everything. This seemed foolish. It doesn’t now. To become willing, to submit our will…to become obedient. That’s sure is just one thing. It’s just a big thing when you start walking it out.

But before I could turn over my will, I needed God. And more than that, it had to be God, rather than a god. Who’s fool am I going to be? So early on, my version of God made deals; and more often than not, my will was still in charge. Although I’ve found that my will hurts, and His, though occasionally difficult, doesn’t leave so many unsightly scars. So before you can give it away, you need God. You have to have it to give it away.

I was reminded the other evening about how simple it is. I didn’t have an anger problem after the cell door slammed shut. No, those things I was wrapped up in were no longer empowered to rule my life. If I could only have trusted in Him before I trusted in only me. I so often trusted in Him to get me home; a faith of sorts, but always leaving my needs piled high in the center. Realizing why ‘this or that’ month is a bad time for me…not because God’s different, but because I haven’t given up the weight of my past reflected in memory – my father’s death, marriages gone south, childhood, allowing other’s to be a ‘god’s will’ in my life, pride and vanity.

I was back in the right place the other evening, and God gave me what I needed to hear. So often we feel like we’ve got better - I don’t need this. I’ve got a handle on my sin. I don’t need to become obedient to the Lord - I’ve got stuff, I can read and I know which way is north. The truth is I’ll always be broken. I will never be whole and complete on my own. No, for that I need God. To have it I need to give it away.

So often I feel entitled. And I’m not. But I can seek the Lord, and His community with others so that I am filled. How can I move on to do something new (something I feel entitled to do), if I don’t have a handle on what’s in front of me? I was asked the other day, “How did you ever submit?” You know, it never crossed my mind. When you’re smashed flat, being obedient is the only path left outside of madness and physical death.

So over late-night chorizo con huevos, with some apparently like minded fellows, we spoke of making amends for our self-will run riot. Paying any cost to be free. The hardships and freedom, and the life long pursuit of real and true freedom in, and with God. What a great evening. All trying to be Jesus where we found ourselves, and some of us not even aware of it.

milk crates

2007-03-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

Things I don't remember…How the hell'd we get here?
–Sharpen your teeth, by Ugly Casanova (2002)

Again, I’ve been laughing. I do that. It’s usually broken up by brief fits of serious, (occasionally lingering) but mostly I am in awe of how dang goofy things can be. I find that what was the case years ago, holds true in the now and here (nowhere). Milk crates…the one material possession you can generally count on; and as I do - use as furniture.

So I slinked into town some 3 years ago…and at the time, I made a deal with the God I understood at that moment. Back then he made deals. Anyway, we had this deal I would stay in town for no less than five years. That was my end. Certainly there was some fine print in there about this and that, but the ‘spirit’ of the deal was to stay put. His part was to lay off with the mighty framing hammer of righteousness long enough that I might transform from a suspect to a citizen. I was totally cool with the deal…I just didn’t know at the time I had been speaking for him (in my head) as well.

I had what I thought was nothing…except a primer gray ’71 Chevy C10. Yes, that was my treasure. So with this general ‘nothing’ I had in my possession, I figured I’d need to hunker down and wait for the okay to leave town and get back to business. I realized this was foolish when I found myself standing in Hong Kong with tears running down my face muttering like a crazy man. And prior to this I recall a phone call I received when I accidentally-on-purpose found myself in Ohio at a well populated conference, and someone from the Mission needed my measurements. For a guy with nothing I was quite well traveled. And folks, it appeared, wanted to dress me up so I might chat with them about what I thought was my deal with God.

I’ve moved a lot. I hear about people moving a lot, but I really did – several third grades. And after I grew up moving a lot, I cultivated a lack of accountability in my roaming about the world. I often referred to it as ‘mingling’. And in this, I found milk crates a viable solution to furniture. I was fond of my milk crates. I had favorite ones. I thought I’d put the crates away. Sort of a crate-free stability…get married, have enough kids to field a baseball team, and then let them run off with milk crates…I though I had a deal.

Recently I have been moving again. Or so it seemed. And in my generally simple state of need, I’ve meandered through opportunity, rather than focusing on personal desire (as it relates to housing). And, as I sat on my recent ‘I have nothing, but I’m off to Seattle’ trip, I noted I have never stopped moving…this perceived stability never had anything to do with housing. As it turns out, it’s more of heart matter…if I may be so bold.

I moved back to Northern California to put my past moving behind me. From this initial move (and entrance into a heavily structured discipleship terrarium), I moved to a home that allowed too little accountability and too much access to the past, and shortly moved to a smaller apartment and direct relationship. From here, while discovering accountability and access are not wholly related to housing, I moved into a purposeful setting of discipleship and moderate structure. This then led to less structured discipleship with a larger yard and garage. Then it was on to a sofa, with milk crate filled vehicles I didn’t show up with, and quickly off to my most recent temporary housing with pals on the Westside.

I thought it was funny anyway.

back on the train

2007-03-05T11:42:00.001-08:00

10am and back on the train…new Erykah Badu album. In the not so back of my mind, I’m putting together another mixed tape in my head…quite a bit more soul.

What a great visit…

I was thinking about my comment to myself regarding what may be my lack of trust in people. Not simply the ‘can I count on you to be here’ kind of trust. Though this certainly speaks to the fuller context in my mind…What is that odd thing we/I really mean when we lean forward and ask, “Can I trust you?” Does it presuppose I should trust you? What am I trusting you with?

Fields of putting greens off to the right just south of Seattle.

Do I really mean – are you going to distance yourself in some way when I show you I’m bent, cracked, broken, fractured and quite simply wrong? Do I not allow that sort of trust in others simply because we need to keep the carousel turning? There are always those few folks you can count on, and then there are those few that don’t make it on your mental sticky-note. An almost trust-worthy cadre by default, keeping the muddy waters of the mechanics moving. What would the bottom of the pond look like if we let the silts and clays settle out – Seattle Muck?

I’m quickly thinking of leadership, sharing upward, and the genetic bottleneck effect. As people trust in you/me, you/I trust ever so deeply in fewer (the bottleneck). Or at least only in parts of those varied interactions and thoughts that reflect a whole character. And in all of this, knowing it is nothing short of an enormous compliment to be on the receiving end of other’s struggles and concerns. As if to say, ‘I trust you. You can read the warning stickers on the packaging (this end up, fragile [pronounced fra-gee-lee], not for distribution…).’ Those subtle (and not so subtle) techniques one navigates through the psycho-social-emotional landscape, floating atop the spiritual waters.

You use old maps from those that came before. Some collected in person, others beautiful exemplary works on museum walls and in dusty books, that don’t quite fit the here – right now. You haven’t been there yourself, but it appears you can read a compass; and you’ve seen the bad lands to the south, the sharp peaks to the west, and the cold icy flats up north. When asked, you’ll tell about the calm waters turned typhoon to the east. You can find a bearing and locate snacks.

I remember ab ol’ bit from a comic on cable in my hotel-road show years (decade)…”You know who I ask for directions?...the one legged guy. He knows how to get places, and will give you the low down on icy steps, puddles and places to sit and lean.”

Five days into my visit I finally got to the apology part. Knowing in my heart that this exchange had happened without words in the days previous…but I added my own wax stamp to mark the portrait of our moment together. Not so much to detract (like cumin on a blt), but to call out to our love for one another.

Emily, the treasure of mi hombre Jason’s life, smiling with so much more than her bright eyes – ‘I was worried for you the last time we saw you.’ Jason spoke the same in the not odd triple hug at the train depot upon my arrival days earlier.
I was so much more than content. And that is what trust can be. Not a technical manual for human resource role-playing – but the long waves of love beating from a shared heart. That place where we are different, and so much the same. A visit to old friends/loved ones to see who you are, and what you’ve become. Not to mention the food. And being Irish, ready to get ‘deep’, have a conversation and tell stories, leaving the obligatory salutation driven conversation behind.

Mud flats and weathered pilings just out of Tacoma…meandering streams, water birds, and thick mud bound by the ocean and trees. Coming into Centennial with calls for those with lunch reservations. I’m cool. Emily’s chocolate chip cookies and sea-weed covered wiener dog crackers from the markets of Seattle…shaka!

looking at mud

2007-03-03T15:30:00.000-08:00

life - if even held up - cannot be held back, and neither can we.
Vedela Vida - And now you can go

Sitting listening to a ‘new to me’ Erykah Badu album I collected here in town. I’m told I actually even look smarter after my training workshop out and about the woods and marshes of the area...

it wont let go
a good book and I got all in it
a little yoga for a minute
It wont let go
to turn the Sana up to hotter
a whole jar of Holy water
it wont let go

In my commonly shared im(un)perfect and most excellent manner I fall back into laughing at myself. As if falling back into a reflective state of one’s life will result in even a half step (momentum) in a resolution you don’t have control over; rather you only have choice through character. I’ve always been a pessimistic optimist, bipolar [is that term redundant? - if you have one pole, isn’t the opposite understood, given out/my preoccupation with the curves of circles and spheres when interpreting things larger than ourselves.] Thank God for his grace...I wonder how the discipleship group went?

Though I missed my own group, I did not want for my fill of small group dynamics. By the end of the class, as we stood in the peat bog filled with Seattle Muck {a quite scientific and proper ‘soil designation’}, the wife of a Belgian shepherd finally caught my humor...
She offers, “Shouldn’t we move. That tree looks dangerous.”
I mention “They call those widow makers where I’m from.”
“So why don’t you and your group move?”
“I’m single.”

Four long days of training and meal times are certainly long enough time for a small group to polarize (bi-polarize?) - and this is generally related to individuals ‘magnetic charge’ as it corresponds to el professor. Given the level of misogyny, combined with constant allusions to some phantom screenplay project, I was surprised I never saw a verbal retort...much less a thrown chair. Given the frequency of vegans in the immediate vicinity, I was not surprised that the weapon of choice was optical daggers and background banter (aka gossip)...and herein lay the small-group dynamic.

thoughts along the rails

2007-03-01T21:23:00.000-08:00

I sat quietly...waiting...and eventually succomed to my generally self centered laundry list of what my life looks like from the inside out. That place that is piled high with half written papers, partially filled out forms with coffe stains, chimiganga wrappers, chocolate wrappers, a few uneatten oranges (for when I feel healthy), and a full calendar I wish I had a handler to walk me through...you know the view. From here the list begins - among them are worship, discipleship group, pouring in, pouring out, moving out, moving in, too many cars, engagement at work, China, women, health, co-workers, friends, my ‘lost’ brothers, El Paso and my own place...from here I notice the people heading to Portland and make a mental note about the tatoos up this way.

I sit quietly...waiting... eventually I’m filling in the blanks left along each line, giving body to the self important bullets to make them truly my own. Eventually there are details I could show someone else. And the good one’s, the ones I’d like to ignore, are the most difficult to describe...I want to write around them with euphamisms. Soon I jot doen some some hard words, prentend to be comfortable wit them and it’s all on paper.

I sit quietly...waiting...listening now to Erika Badu...and the questions come. Is it that I’m a reluctant leader, or am I simply selfish to a certain degree? When friends looking for direction fall, does it hurt because they fall, or because I feel I’ve failed? What a vain, prideful and controlling man. Does my heart break, or is it just conversation with people in the environment I find myself? I’m struck with what I note as a real thought. Something anthropological that I could argue with myself about as I place it up on the pedistal on my mind for observation - most of my involvement at church feels/appears more like process/matriculation than heartfelt bonding and walking through life...my bad? I feel few reach out to me looking for my real heart. I this my lack of trust?

We’re moving out of the snow, but into thicker trees. I stop and check my notes, time to re-read, sit quietly and wait...I really don’t think I can get anymore jaded about the nature of the human condition. Oakbridge, Oregon - a beautiful covered bridge just out the window...I’m told it’s the longest in the state. Am I a good man simply too critical of himself...looking to work off his past, and not possessing some percieved worth of real love. Rather just feeling good as a reward now and again? There’s a large dam and lake off to the right (east), and I wonder if I’m still in the Willamette Forest? I sit and pray...we’re leaving Eugen and I watch the open fields pass as Boz Skag sings the dirty low down.

Looking back to my last arrival to Seattle 3 plus years ago on a very differnt version of this same train, I begin to laugh at the comparision between then and now. I get to offer an apology for who and how I was, and simply have become not so much more aware, but just aware I still have far to go. That, and I realize I’d really like to get off this train as the darkness has stolen my views of the country side. So I sit and pray...To the Lord let the paises be, it’s time for dinner now, let’s go eat - Lyle Lovette.

the train

2007-02-28T18:14:00.000-08:00

On the train to seattle.
It is simply a beautiful ride...even though it started out 3 hours late (a ‘big’ deal at 3am). The great white north. It had snowed last week, and everything is blanketed in white...a painters paradise.
The train is definitely for people that can hang out. A great deal more conversation and interaction than on a tightly packed plane flight.
I knew when getting to the station that the train was at least 1 and a half hours late, and was dropped off at 4am after staying up all night packing one of three cars. It was here in the depot that I met the 1st of my new travel pals...a little bright eyed 18 year old girl (she made sure to tell me) looking for a safe guy, so she could sleep her way to Klamath Falls, Oregon. It’s certainly not the 1st time, but I always get a kick out of the young lady sleeping on my shoulder in the sea of empty chairs.
An older German woman across the isle saw my predicament, and offered to get me a cup of coffee and breakfast so I wouldn’t have to get up an wake my quasi-travel companion.
At Klamath it was,”goodbye and see you around.” Then 87 new passangers...most from an elderly tour group having a gander at the Oregon country side. As they fill the empty seats I watch the hard boys from L.A. out the window. They don’t really smoke, so much as they try to pull the entire cigarette through their face into their lungs in the 10 minute stop.
Eventually the fishing guide from Dunsmire id showing off this multi-colored collection of fishing hats, and serenading the ladies. I chat forestry with my new travel buddy and remember (so many years ago) when going to Klamath Falls was going to town.
The man from Sacramento tries to speak about politics. But when he compares the President to the W.W.II Japanese Emperor, the elderly ladies politely ignore him. I hold my tongue about having lived in Japan.
Not being an avid train traveler I soon made my first mistake. The steward asks me if I want a lunch reservation and I answer, “I don’t know?” I don’t recommend this response as a request for clarity. She moved on, and I ended up with a bag of pretzels.
What amazing views...stolen away with the odd tunnel...
The 62 year old fishing guide from Dunsmire has collected a 2 year old girl from a few rows up...this ought to be good, “Hey, I know a good looking girl when I see one” and they ‘dance’ in the isle. The woods become thick now. Dunsmire man has relinquished his baby-prop, and conversations are small and quiet as we move to the 2pm siesta time.
I begin to ask myself, ‘what am I doing?’ But with more of a capitol D. Here’s where my long awaited ‘free time with God’ begins to kick in. I listen, and begin to scribble away...

catching a train to seattle...

2007-02-23T14:46:00.000-08:00

I really like the hamburgers...

a quite day in paris

2007-02-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

A brief look at main findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report:

THE CAUSE: Global warming is "very likely" caused by man — the strongest conclusion to date. Concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the planet's atmosphere "have increased markedly as a result of human activities since 1750," mainly from the use of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal, and because of agriculture.

THE OUTLOOK: Hotter temperatures and rises in sea level "would continue for centuries" no matter how much humans control their pollution. It is "very likely" that heat waves, hot weather, and heavy rainfalls could become more frequent. Toward the end of the century, sea ice in the Arctic may disappear "almost entirely" in summer.

TEMPERATURE CHANGE: Predicted temperature rises of 2-11.5 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2100. That was a wider range than in the 2001 report.
However, the panel also said its best estimate was for temperature rises of 3.2-7.1 degrees Fahrenheit. In 2001, all the panel gave was a range of 2.5-10.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

SEA LEVELS: Projects rises of 7-23 inches by the end of the century. An additional 3.9-7.8 inches are possible if recent, surprising melting of polar ice sheets continues.

HURRICANES: An increase in hurricane and tropical cyclone strength since 1970 "more likely than not" can be attributed to man-made global warming. Scientists said global warming's connection varies with storms in different parts of the world, but that it influences the storms that strike the Americas.

Man-made factors have "likely" contributed to changes in wind patterns. It also is "likely" that typhoons and hurricanes will become more intense, with stronger winds and heavier rains.

free time

2007-01-31T09:01:00.000-08:00

I have been re-reading Dante’s Divine Comedy and perusing some of the thinkers just prior to the ‘rediscovery’ of Aristotle…odd I know, but it is what I do when I have some ‘free’ time. I started my new-fangled book-learning with St. Augustine’s famous prayer, “Oh Lord, make me chaste, but not yet.” I’ve always enjoyed the idea of viewing our concerns with freedom, evil and good through incongruity. Eventually I wandered though some of the controversy about ‘the nature of reality’ in the early-ish church – it was here that I found my old friend, and heretic, Dante.

His concept of sin and hell, though certainly and simply conceptual, speak to me. Sin, and its consequences are muddy waters in a selfish mind and heart. It could be cigarettes, or some matter of [insert your idol here]. But for now, let’s just call it smokes…

At first, with cigarettes, the individual is ignorant, with no first hand knowledge of the pleasures or problems of smoking. Even after a person smokes a cigarette the act itself is not sinful, nor are subsequent smoking experiences. There comes a time, however, when the smoker has lost the power to say no. One aspect of the freedom of choice has been sacrificed and this, for Dante, is sin. Free will is the ability to say yes, no, or anything in between. Sin is loss of that ability; in Dante’s hell the degree of sin is gauged by the deviation from free will. Those who can no longer choose freely are destined for hell.

Over the mouth of hell Dante envisions the words “abandon hope all ye who enter,” which express the irreversible state of the condemned. The punishments inflicted on the souls in hell symbolize what they have made themselves to be. Step by descending step we traverse the cone of hell, in each lower level viewing the souls ever deeper in sin. Step by descending step we see these souls increasingly enslaved until, at the bottom of the pit, we find satan immobilized by his sins, forever frozen in ice.

Jesus, I pray you keep my heart from hardening…allow me to reach out to my brothers to offer love, and to be loved.

Facing global warming, are people like frogs?

2007-01-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

OSLO (Reuters) -Confronted by new evidence of global warming, will people react like frogs?

According to an often-told story, a frog will try to jump out if you drop it into hot water but the hapless creature will stay, and eventually die, if you put it in a pan of cool water and slowly bring it to a boil.

A United Nations report to be released in Paris on February 2 will include the strongest warning yet that humans are stoking global warming that may cause colossal damage to nature if, like the doomed frog, they ignore rising temperatures.

Ex-U.S. Vice President Al Gore tells the story with croaking cartoon frogs in his movie 'An Inconvenient Truth' to urge more action to save the planet. In his version, a hand dips in and rescues a swooning frog just as the water starts to bubble.

"It's important to rescue the frog," he says. And U.N. officials also sometimes mention the boiled frog as a cautionary tale of the dangers of human complacency about global warming.

There is only one problem -- it's not true.

"The 'boiled frog'...is definitely an urban myth," said Victor Hutchison, a professor emeritus at the zoology department at the University of Oklahoma in the United States.

"I have investigated the thermal tolerance in reptiles and amphibians for many years. If one places the animal in a container and slowly heats it, the animal will at some point invariably try to escape," he told Reuters.

FLOODS, HEATWAVES

The U.N. report, by 2,500 scientists, will say there is at least a 90 percent chance that human activities led by burning fossil fuels are the main cause of warming in the past 50 years.

The warming may cause ever more floods, heatwaves, droughts and rising sea levels by 2100.

Strengthening the conclusions of a 2001 report that blamed humans for warming, it will guide governments seeking to extend the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol for fighting warming beyond 2012.

Will the world's governments hop? If the much-maligned frog is smart enough to jump when the mercury rises, there must surely be hope for humans too?

Scientists' warnings about the risks of carbon dioxide have often gone unheeded. Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius, a Nobel chemistry laureate, first pointed to a likely link between warming and industrial carbon dioxide emissions a century ago.

"This is a problem we have been aware of for a very long time and action on it is way overdue," said Naomi Oreskes, a history and science professor who specializes in climate change at the University of California in San Diego.

She said she liked asking friends, colleagues and family which leading U.S. politician said: "This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through radioactive materials and a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels."

1965

"Almost invariably people guess Al Gore," she said. The right answer was President Lyndon Johnson, in a special message to Congress about pollution -- on February 8, 1965.

President George W. Bush, who acknowledges a link between rising temperatures and mounting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, pulled out in 2001 from Kyoto under which most industrial nations have capped emissions.

He said caps would curb economic growth and Kyoto wrongly excluded developing nations from its first phase, to 2012. He is instead investing heavily in new clean energy technologies, from biofuels to hydrogen.

Kyoto obliges 35 developed nations to cut emissions of greenhouse gases -- from factories, power plants and vehicles -- by 5 percent of 1990 levels by 2008-12. The United States emits about a quarter of all industrial greenhouse gases.

The U.N. climate panel's reports have spurred action in the past: the way to the 1997 Kyoto pact was paved by a 1995 report which concluded that the "balance of evidence" suggested humans were affecting the climate.

Most Kyoto nations agree that tougher action is now needed.

Yet in a world where millions of individuals are unable to quit smoking or avoid obesity, action to curb global warming seems a tall order, partly since it will affect future generations hardest.

And, like the fabled boiled frog, people may find it hard to tackle an invisible threat.

"Our evolutionary biology ... equips us to respond far more easily and naturally to a threat from a snake, or a fang, or a claw or a spider than from a threat that can only be understood by the use of abstract reasoning," Gore said in a presentation in Oslo in 2006.

"It's not impossible, but it does take more time," he said.

Wetland Delineation Training

2007-01-22T14:42:00.000-08:00

Congress authorized (mandated) the US Army Corps of Engineers to develop the Wetland Delineator Certification Program for the training and certification of individuals as wetland delineators.

The intent of the Wetland Delineator Certification Program (WDCP) is: (1) To improve the quality and consistency of wetland delineations submitted to the Corps, and (2) to streamline the regulatory process by developing procedures for expediting review and consideration of delineations submitted by certified delineators.

The Corps routinely receives inaccurate and inconsistent wetland delineations from applicants and/or their representatives which necessitate modification(s) or redelineation(s). When this occurs, the Corps must spend a greater amount of time in making a determination of wetlands jurisdiction. By relying more on private sector delineations the Corps will be able to more efficiently utilize its limiited staff for permit evaluations and compliance .

Although there will be no requirement for wetland for wetland delineators to be certified under the WDCP in order to submit wetland delineations to the Corps; however, the Corps will handle wetland delineations performed by wetland delineators it has certified more expeditiously.

***

It's been years since I've seen my old friend. The last time was on the 'rough end' of hitching from a survey job in Boise, then a few days in Portland and a short train ride to Seattle. He was one of the few that responded to a letter from my time at the Mission - and so began our slow conversation about Jesus these last few years...

***

Aloha Capt...

The scoop is that I may be coming to Seattle (the one in Washington - State) for a week of training.
This should happen at the end of Feb through the beginning of Mar.
Wanna hang out?

I'm morphing into a wetland habitat - archeology - computer and diesel mechanic - forester and invasive weed specialist.
It makes for a really big buisness card.

Lay low, and Hello to Em, D

***

I've been demoted since last we talked spoke, now just a corporal.Sigh...But anyhooot, you're coming up this way! Far-fooking-out! We couldhang out...but even better is we hang out and you stay with us forsome quality hang-out time. We got a spare bedroom with a real bed(none of that Foo-ton crap), cold AND hot running water, indoortoilet, super easy access to downtown--catch the bus outside ourbuilding easy. Oh yeah baby, we're all metropolitan and shit. Don'tgo no cable TV though, but we do have wireless cable internet accessso if ya have a laptop with a wireless card you're in business, if yadon't you can use one of ours. Pretty nifty offer, eh? Hell yes itis! However if your trip's sponsor is offering you lodging at theWestin Hotel or some other pretty damn nice facility downtown wewould understand you declining our humble abode in favor of a super-super-super-duper comfy bed and magnificent view of the Seattlearea. On the other hand we can offer you nightly wonderful bisto-style cuisine, Noel Coward-esque repartee, wonderful music....and weget four channels kind of fuzzy on the TV. In a pinch Emily can puton one hell of a floor show featuring soul music of the '60's andseveral costume changes. In any event we are looking forward to seeing you no matter whereyou hang your hat. In the event you don't bring a hat, a hat will beoffered to you compliments of the house so that you may hang itwherever you like, provided you stay here with us. I don't believethe Westin or any other hotel offers that particular service! Also be happy to pick-up/drop off as needed, just lemme know! yr pal,
J

***

Alrighty then...
I've just filed the purchase order for my training, and simply need to collect my train tickets. I decided to take the train, on account of that's my favorite manner of entrance into the the City Emerald.

I thought long and hard regarding your invitation. ...a pause to denote thinking... I must say I am intrigued by the Noel Coward reference. Do you have a large cast and hydraulic stage? Am I black-listed by the Germans too? I would have you know that is was the sweet and subtle combination of the metropolitan amenities and the 60's soul music review that moved me to accept your offer.

I would arrive at 8:45ish pm, and leave at 9:45am...the dates will loosely blanket the funded desires for matriculation by my sponsors. I hope to leave more than enough time to catch up and 'bistro-style cuisine' ourselves into the warm hum of a fine food coma.

I will contact you with the particulars as they are know to me. From the Henry Holyoak Lightcap days walking along side Warren Zevon to where I find myself now - but in search of the perfect burrito none the less. I look forward with anticipation to seeing you both.

Sanitation

2007-01-18T12:59:00.000-08:00

Greatest medical milestone since 1840

Sanitation was voted the most important medical milestone in the past century and a half on Thursday in a poll conducted by a leading medical journal.

Improved sewage disposal and clean water supply systems, which have reduced diseases such as cholera, was the overwhelming favorite of 11,341 people worldwide who voted in the survey conducted by the British Medical Journal.

It surpassed antibiotics, the discovery of DNA, and anesthesia, which were among the top five milestones in the poll. Participants were asked what they thought was the biggest medical advance since the journal was established in 1840.

"I'm delighted that sanitation is recognized by so many people as such an important milestone," said Professor Johan Mackenbach, of Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam who championed the sanitation choice.

"The general lesson which still holds is that passive protection against health hazards is often the best way to improve population health," he added.

"Clearly, sanitation still plays a vital role in improving public health now and in the future," he said.

Other important milestones recommended for the top prize included the development of imaging techniques, the contraceptive pill, immunology and computers.

London was one of first cities of modern times to seriously tackle the problem of poor sanitation after a British doctor, John Snow, discovered in 1854 that cholera was water-borne and not air-borne as had previously being thought.