Random

• PRESIDENT OBAMA plans to visit Guam in March. I hope he's there on a Wednesday night so he can get some BBQ and join in the cha-cha at Chamorro village. He should probably stop by "the world's largest" Kmart to pick up some cheap Guam t-shirts for the girls. ~ link

• JAY PHELAN on Facebook: "A great line from conservative writer Suzanne Fields on James Cameron: 'who else but an American could spend $400 million making a heavily computerized movie that condemns modernity and capitalism?'"

• IN DENVER several people asked about the size of our lot because they know that I've planted so many trees -- 18 citrus, plus mango, pomegranate, date palm, and guava... The lot is slightly bigger than normal but the trees are all smaller than normal -- almost all are growing on dwarf root stock. That means, even when they're mature most will not require a ladder to pick the fruit. And they don't take up as much room as regular trees. Even though the trees themselves are dwarfs the fruit is full-size and full-flavored.

• THE INTRO TO THE OLD TESTAMENT seminar went pretty well tonight. Now I can throw myself back into grading for the Spiritual Formation class. I haven't forgotten you guys!

• I'M SEEING all these blow-by-blow tweets haranguing the Grammys. I didn't know so many people actually watched them -- or cared so much.

• IS IT A positive or a negative economic indicator when the neighborhood payday loan place goes under?

• HOME DEPOT is hiring 700 part-timers in the Phoenix area. ~ link

Random

• "FEAR THE BOOM AND BUST" -- econ 101 by rap


• THE GOVERNOR OF GUAM has sent a letter to the Secretary of the Navy requesting that the Guam military buildup be delayed until the infrastructure planning and funding issues are resolved. ~ link

• A KOREAN COMPANY has announced plans to build a 131 acre green roof on top of an old wholesale market in Seoul. ~ link

• NEARLY 20% of the Swedish population is now foreign-born. ~ link

• CATHY WANTS ME TO post more often about household organization. I think she is dropping not-so-subtle hints that she wants Jim (a regular reader) to get organized. Since they've just moved into a new place I'll point to a post about using Gridwall panels in the kitchen. ~ link

• THE COVENANT CHURCH in Canada is also collecting Haiti earthquake relief donations. ~ link

• CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL -- more dramatic cuts. Even megachurches don't do well if they're built around a fading personality and are tightly locked into certain cultural assumptions of a bygone era. Change isn't easy for any size church. ~ link

• MOST FRIENDLY NATIONS when it comes to hospitality toward expat workers -- top 10 in order of rank (highest to lowest): Bahrain, Canada, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain, US ~ link

Random

• OUCH -- "Phoenix seeks to cut 500 police, fire positions to balance budget" ~ link

• PIETISM According to Bo Giertz ~ link

• HAITI RELIEF -- I heard this morning that donations to Covenant World Relief's Haiti fund were about to hit the $500,000 mark. I suspect they have done so now. CWR is but one of thousands of groups jumping in to help. It's satisfying, though, to see how one's own tribe responds. BTW, CWR is still at work helping with the redevelopment of villages wiped out by the Asian tsunami in 2004. Staying power.

• MASTERPIECE PHONE -- We got a phone number for the church, something we had to add now so that it is established in the phone book and search systems by the time we expect to launch on 10-10-10. It is 602-237-0233, but don't expect anyone to answer. Right now I've got an answering machine on it.

• FINLAND & SWEDEN doing a land swap ~ link

• COULD BE -- "Is Twitter a spiritual discipline?" ~ link

• NOW N.T. WRIGHT is shaking up our understanding of hell. ~ link

• AGEIST WORSHIP -- "A church family from the same generation isn't much of a family." ~ link

• "ECO-BLING" -- "Installing wind turbines and solar panels in people's homes is 'eco-bling' that will not help meet Britain's targets on cutting carbon emissions, engineers warned Wednesday..." ~ link

• GOOGLE READER now reads without an RSS feed --

Google Reader can now act as a general web page change alert system, Google announced. This means you can now try to subscribe to updates for a particular page even if that page does not have an RSS feed. As before, submitting a URL into the "Add a subscription" box should be enough, Google says. ~ link

• BRILLIANT VIRAL MARKETING -- It is all about capturing the imagination.

Glad to be home

I HAD a great time in Denver (so many great conversations and interesting people at Covenant events) but I am soooo glad to be back home in Phoenix. There is some catching up to do. A special thanks to my students who kept turning in work while I was gone. I'll start reading it tomorrow. But it will take time to catch up.

Other projects on my "immediate to-do" list:

• repair flat on Cheryl's bike
• readjust brakes on my bike
• finish PowerPoint and hand-outs for the Intro to the Bible presentation on Sunday night
• check the art-proofs on the MasterPiece Church t-shirts
• find canopy for our table at the Laveen Pit BBQ (February 21st)
• order banner for the display
• order candy to sell at the BBQ (raising $ for Haiti relief)
• develop MasterPiece information card for BBQ
• hang-out at McDonald's and meet some more people
• send out this week's Brushstrokes e-letter
• plant two more calamansi trees in the yard
  

Random

• SHOULD we expect to see the wealthier tax-payers leaving Oregon now that they've passed new taxes punishing those who excel at making money? ~ link

• END-RUN -- "Less than a penny of each dollar the U.S. is spending on earthquake relief in Haiti is going in the form of cash to the Haitian government, according to an Associated Press review of relief efforts." ~ link

• COLOR confirmation for a dinosaur -- russet, not purple ~ link

Random

• GREETINGS from Denver, where at least it's a dry cold. I'm grateful to reconnect with so many old friends at the Covenant Midwinter Conference -- and to connect with some new.

• A SHIP en route to Guam from LA lost six cargo containers out at sea in a storm. Oops. ~ link

• THE chimps who made a movie actually have an excuse for the shaky angle. ~ link

• HUMAN brains "are capable of managing a maximum of only 150 friendships, a study has found." Some of us are less capable than others. ~ link

Random

• ARIZONA just became a more friendly state for lawyers to enter -- or leave. ~ link

• IT is foolish to equate decisions with conversions -- or even faith. It is equally naive to assume that people can be converted and act in faith without decisions.

• JAMES FALLOWS on "How America Can Rise Again":

...America will be better off if China does well than if it flounders. A prospering China will mean a bigger world economy with more opportunities and probably less turmoil -- and a China likely to be more cooperative on environmental matters. But whatever happens to China, prospects could soon brighten for America. The American culture’s particular strengths could conceivably be about to assume new importance and give our economy new pep. International networks will matter more with each passing year. As the one truly universal nation, the United States continually refreshes its connections with the rest of the world -- through languages, family, education, business -- in a way no other nation does, or will. The countries that are comparably open -- Canada, Australia -- aren’t nearly as large; those whose economies are comparably large -- Japan, unified Europe, eventually China or India -- aren’t nearly as open. The simplest measure of whether a culture is dominant is whether outsiders want to be part of it... ~ link (via)

• JUST to put things in perspective -- World Vision overhead costs are 13%. However, Covenant World Relief overhead costs are 5%. World Vision's costs are very reasonable but CWR is able to maximize the power of an existing denominational network.

• THANK YOU Nevada! Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons is sending Nevada National Guard troops to help flooded communities in northern Arizona. ~ link

• THE question is, why doesn't Walmart's expertise in retail transfer so well into the warehouse realm? Struggling Sam's Club is eliminating 11,200 jobs. ~ link

Random

• GETTING a foreign language class in a US public school is getting harder -- unless you're trying to learn Mandarin. The Chinese government is sending and paying for Chinese teachers abroad. ~ link

• CONAN O'BRIEN'S parting speech on the Late Show last night was one of the few truly classy moments in late night television. There is hope.

• AS a hardcore WordPerfect user (even from the pre-Windows era) it's hard to admit that I'm really liking the Microsoft Word 2010 beta. The new PowerPoint is pretty slick, too. Intuitive.

• NORTH PARK COLLEGE classic -- to amuse the Covies (via Dave Liljengren on FB)

Random

• PHOENIX'S "Light rail’s first-year ridership far exceeds projections" ~ link

• HONEY flavored Altoids are cool. No, there isn't any honey in them, just a very very subtle honey flavor. I was actually expecting more honey taste. They're not undelicious. Cool tin.

• AND would you like a Bud with that Whopper? ~ link

Canceling Haiti's debt may not be a good idea...

Everyone knows that some of Haiti's problems are related to their national debt. When the island nation declared independence in 1804 the French saddled them with an outrageous severance package in exchange for French diplomatic recognition. It took Haiti 100 years to work that off.

Then in the 20th century various despots borrowed money on behalf of the country -- money which mysteriously ended up in their bank accounts. And the people of Haiti were left holding the $1.+ billion bar tab for their ousted dictators.

Since the earthquake there has been a social-media-driven movement afoot to get the world to cancel Haiti's debt so that the country could quickly become eligible to borrow more money for reconstruction. Some nations have already canceled debts. Others are trying to work out different forms of relief.

At first glance, from the vantage of Lady Justice, debt release would be the right thing to do. But perhaps not so fast. The world has long realized that Haiti is hopelessly bankrupt. And the IMF has been working with them for several years to cancel the debt through the Highly Indebted Poor Country Initiative. But forgiveness of debt through this program has strings attached -- reform and accountability. In a sense it's not too different from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US system.

You see, debt is not Haiti's biggest problem. They suffer from systemic corruption and political pettiness -- greed. And HIPCI is one of the few "weapons" that the intentional community has to force the leaders to deal with the problems.

The good news is that Haiti had actually completed a major portion of the program last spring. But there were four remaining triggers before more debt relief would be implemented.

To totally and quickly remove the debt could totally and quickly remove the incentive for leadership to complete the reform program. So, canceling Haiti's debt may not be such a good idea -- yet. Of course, if there were some other way to hold their feet to the fire...

If the systemic issues of corruption are not addressed no amount of debt relief is going to trickle out to the masses. A lot of the international funding will simply end up benefiting the ruling elite. That is how the problem perpetuated itself in the 20th century.

Whatever is done needs to be thought out so that the influx of money does not further empower the dysfunction that keeps people poor.

Canceling Haiti's debt is the right thing to do. But it needs to be done in such a way and in such a time frame that the people gain the most benefit.

Random

• THE AFL-CIO is creating an online college for union families. ~ link

• IT has not been an encouraging week for "progressives" in the US. First, a Republican wins Ted Kennedy's senate seat and now Air America has filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy and is shutting down live operations. ~ link

• PHOENIX is an up and coming place. Culvers just opened their 5th restaurant here -- a slice of the Midwest. ~ link

• PEOPLE have been begging for it. Now let's see how many tune into the live webcast of the Covenant Midwinter Conference ~ link

Random

• THE MasterPiece Church balloons arrived today -- all 2,000 of them! We're going to fill them with helium and have them for kids at the Laveen Pit BBQ on February 21st. My brother set-up the artwork for us. I'm more than pleased.

• "BEE decline linked to falling biodiversity" -- I'm trying to remedy that in my garden ~ link

• THE reason that college professors tend to be liberal? Typecasting, according to a new study. ~ link

• SOUTH KOREA, with one of the world's lowest birthrates, is trying to create a babyboom. ~ link

• UR VIDEO: Leonard Sweet on Reading Scripture ~ link

• COMING attraction -- "YouTube getting into movie rental business" -- at $4/pop it sounds pricey -- especially when I can rent a DVD from the Red Box for 99¢/day. ~ link

• I'M ready to try kabosu, another Asian citrus ~ link

• ASU prof Dr David Hinds, does a brief video segment on the historical background to Haiti's poverty and its relation to the earthquake's devastation. ~ link

• COVENANT WORLD RELIEF online donations for Haiti now exceed $103,000. That does not count other gifts. Many churches have taken special offerings. For example, Redeemer Covenant Church in Tulsa is sending in $44,000. There is some specific information about where in Haiti the money is going in the linked story. ~ link

Random

• HISTORIC -- Ted Kennedy's Senate seat goes to a Republican! When people are unhappy with the direction of things they'll make changes. It's just the way the system works. If things are rough when the Republicans are in office we vote them out. If things are rough when Democrats are in office we vote them out. It's not necessarily a mandate regarding a particular policy -- more so an expression of frustration -- frustration over the economy, the war, and the health care jostling.

• BILL GATES started tweeting today -- and he already has about 110,000 followers. ~ @BillGates

• MAF is quietly behind the scenes providing logistics, coordination, and communication which keeps a lot of the aid flowing in the air and on the ground in Haiti. ~ link

• SHIPPING containers as emergency housing in Haiti ~ link

• WHY does Haiti remain poor? --

Third, it is time to put the thorny issue of culture at the center of efforts to tackle global poverty. Why is Haiti so poor? Well, it has a history of oppression, slavery and colonialism. But so does Barbados, and Barbados is doing pretty well. Haiti has endured ruthless dictators, corruption and foreign invasions. But so has the Dominican Republic, and the D.R. is in much better shape. Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the same island and the same basic environment, yet the border between the two societies offers one of the starkest contrasts on earth — with trees and progress on one side, and deforestation and poverty and early death on the other. ~ David Brooks in "The Underlying Tragedy"

• "Goodbye I, Hello We: The Decade of Interdependence" -- we can hope so. ~ link

• CHRISTIAN beach music? ~ link

Random

• MARTIN MARTY finds irony in Pat Robertson's latest pronouncement about the Haitian pact with the devil. The concept of such pacts is drawn from secular rather than biblical literature. "Could Robertson have been courting secular humanists with this turn to non-Biblical sources?" ~ link

• EMAIL from Tammi Biggs, Covenant missionary in the Dominican Republic (next door to Haiti):

...Being on the ground floor isn't always the right floor. The outpouring of people wanting to come and help is incredible and we are forever grateful. This, however, is a time of extreme chaos and devastation. This is a time for professionals to be on the ground. Quite honestly, it is not safe for outsiders and we would have no way of supporting ourselves on the ground. Where would we get food and water? Where would we sleep? etc. When the television cameras leave and the news of Haiti fades, we are still looking at years of rebuilding. We need to take time to pray and seek the Lord on if our physical presence is the right action in the future...

• SO far, US relief organizations have collected over $210 million in response to the Haitian earthquake. ~ link

• "NOW the hard work begins" is a short piece I wrote for the MasterPiece Church website. It's being reposted elsewhere so I should probably at least link to it here. ~ link

Random

• "SENEGAL offers land to Haitians" ~ link

• THOUGHTFUL story about Mike Holmgren in The Plain Dealer ~ link

Random

• WAS Jim Rayburn a Barthian? ~ link (via)

• INCREDIBLE aerial photos of post-quake Haiti ~ link

• AND from the ground ~ link

• WORLD VISION reports that all 52,000 of their sponsored children in Haiti are safe. ~ link

• MORMON insight ---

Joseph Smith called the Book of Mormon the keystone of the Mormon religion. It is certainly not the keystone of Mormon theology, beyond its basic portrayal of Jesus and a few other points. Most of the significant doctrines that define contemporary Mormonism are not found in the Book of Mormon – the plurality of gods, the deification of worthy men and women, the eternity of matter, the pre-existence of human souls, and so forth. But this does not render the Book of Mormon irrelevant. The book’s enduring relevance is found primarily in the place the book holds in Latter-day Saint experience. My premise is that evangelical Christians most wisely address the Book of Mormon when they understand not only how to respond to its claim to be an ancient scripture, but also when they grasp the multi-faceted relationship Latter-day Saints have to the Book of Mormon... ~ more from Ross Anderson

• "HUNDREDS of new top-level domains" are in the pipe. That's nice but will it be enough to break our .com fixation? ~ link

• THINGS are looking a lot better in Bihar, India's poorest state. ~ link

The SarcMark

A US company called Sarcasm, Inc is promoting a new punctuation mark to denote sarcasm -- the SarcMark. It would be used at the end of a sentence or phrase in a way similar to an exclamation or question mark.

I'm all for promoting clarity in communication but I'm also trying to eliminate sarcasm from my own communication. Irony and tongue-in-cheek can stay but I'd like to be less sarcastic. Sarcasm never seems to bring out the best in others and it doesn't convey grace very well. Often it is ugly and destructive. So, I'm better off without it.

If I write well I probably don't need punctuation to convey irony or tongue-in-cheek wit. The emergence of this symbol, though, does raise the issue of whether new punctuation which more clearly reflects tone of voice should be introduced into English.

• SarcMark -- the official site (SarcMark software is $1.99)

• Telegraph story on the SarcMark

• Via the Global Language Monitor

Random

• A "SACRAMENTAL church plant" ~ link

• MEXICAN revolutions: 1810, 1910, 2010? ~ link

• A PHOENIX man died in the earthquake. ~ link

• PASTOR Jovin's house in Port-au-Prince was one of the few buildings left standing. He built it with reinforcement in the walls -- the kind of thing you're supposed to do when you live in a hurricane zone. Both Martinez and his wife Emma were uninjured. ~ link

• "ONE online gift of $10,000 helped drive the total online contributions for Covenant World Relief’s Haiti Relief Fund to more than $40,000 today." ~ link

• McDONALD'S wi-fi now free ~ link

Random

• TRIALS begin for simple eye test to detect Alzheimer's disease ~ link

• SPOKANE area couple trying to pay for their wedding by collecting 400,000 aluminum cans. ~ link

• AN ASU PhD student who was volunteering in Haiti lost her foot when collapsing rubble crushed it. ~ link

• OVER 100 Christian teens have been arrested in Egypt. Apparently the government is trying to pressure the church into playing down last week's fatal shooting of seven Christians by Muslim extremists. The arrests, however, only draw more attention to the problem in Egypt. ~ link

• CASH strapped Arizona just sold off the State Capitol and 12+ other buildings -- netting $735 million. The state is now leasing, and will eventually buy back, those buildings. It's not as extreme as it sounds -- just a gimmicky way to borrow money -- not so different from the kind of creative thinking that created the current mess. But frankly, at this point, I'm not sure that there is a better way. Other potential solutions, from raising taxes to shutting parts of the government have longer term negative impacts on the state. ~ link

• SECURE your luggage when flying by packing a starter pistol. ~ link

Wisdom to say nothing

DILEMMA: If we respond to every loony on talk-radio, TV, or in cyberspace we're only feeding the trolls, wasting precious time and energy, and are perhaps feeding our own egos. But if we don't respond it appears that we are indifferent (or even supportive!) of them and their ideas. Wisdom is the ability to know when and how often to say something -- or nothing.

Random

• THE Fellowship of the Middle East Evangelical Churches has expressed their support for the ordination of women. ~ link

• YESTERDAY'S huge earthquake in Haiti has left thousands dead and the country in shambles. NGOs, governments, churches, and individuals from around the globe are organizing a massive response today. Covenant World Relief, one of the most dollar- efficient organizations, is participating in that response. ~ donate online

• ONLINE friend Dale Proulx is in Haiti this week, working with orphans. He and their group from Pilgrim Covenant Church are safe. ~ link

• "DISTANCE Learning vs the Metaphysics of Presence" -- asking the right questions ~ link

Random

• TODAY'S high in our Phoenix backyard was 77° -- which seems warm to the rest of the US right now. But on Guam that's about the typical night-time low, year-round.

• WARNER SALLMAN'S "Head of Christ" will soon be available as a postage stamp from the Åland Islands (autonomous Swedish speaking province of Finland) ~ link

• CONCERN over the sustainability of China's economic boom ~ link

• GOOGLE appears to have had enough of the Chinese government shenanigans and it looks like they may be getting ready to pull out. ~ link

• "ABORTIONS of girl fetuses are expected to leave China with 24 million more men than women over the next decade, according to a study that warns the imbalance will dash many young men's chance at marriage and lead to increased crime." ~ link

• SOLAR breakthrough -- "Researchers have demonstrated a simple, cheap way to create self-assembling electronic devices using a property crucial to salad dressings." ~ link

• CORAL reefs rebound if protected ~ link

• BLESSING of the Blackberrys. Okay. Working hard to appear relevant. ~ link

• YUMA, Arizona's hidden city, continues to grow -- in spite of the slow economy and the fact that it's in the middle of nowhere ~ link

• "IF France became a US state it would rank #48 out of 51 by per capita GDP, just barely ahead of America's two poorest states -- West Virginia and Mississippi... Although Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark are among Europe's wealthiest countries, as US states they would be between 14.5% and 18% below the U.S. average..." ~ link

• "NEW stories coming out of the Japan Media report Japan's Social Democratic Party is pushing not just for the relocation of Marines and their dependents from Okinawa to Guam, but also for the complete closure of the Futenma Air Base and relocation of at Least 2,000 additional military personnel and 3,000 dependents to Guam." ~ link

Haiti earthquake relief

• 7.0 EARTHQUAKE in Haiti -- lots of destruction -- too early to tell but probably a very high death count. Hospital and presidential palace leveled. Keep them in your prayers. ~ link

• JUST two hours after the quake, World Vision has their website up to receive relief donations for Haiti. ~ link

• I'M confident that Covenant World Relief dollars are heading that way, too. Donate online. ~ link

Random

• TODAY'S date looks like the front end of a Jeep: 011110 (via)

• "SWEDISH church losing 1 million members by 2020" -- Other than on the books they've been lost for quite awhile. Fortunately, God is in the business of seeking out the lost. ~ link

• MARTIN MARTY has a word for American Christians who scream "persecution" whenever someone opposes their political or social positions -- especially as Christian churches are fire-bombed in Malaysia; eight Coptic Christians are shot dead in Egypt; there is persecution of house-church Christians in China; and Christians suffer even unto death in some Indian provinces. (And that's so far this year!) ~ link

• ANTHONY ROBINSON'S review of The Missional Church and Denominations: Helping Congregations Develop a Missional Identityin the Christian Century has a good word about the Evangelical Covenant Church. ~ link

• OPINION and trend researcher George Barna has a new blog. ~ link

• "WI-FI foe sues neighbor for using electronics -- Man says electromagnetic sensitivity has forced him to live in his car" -- ISTM that if you have a electromagnetic sensitivity you can't really live around people (There are currently three wi-fi signals in range -- and I know some are off tonight.) . You just have to buy someplace a little out in the country. I wonder how many people have that condition. ~ link

• A BURGLAR is suffering from life threatening injuries after falling through a school roof while trying to take copper from the air conditioning units. ~ link

• MORE dysfunction -- "James Cameron's completely immersive spectacle "Avatar" may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora." ~ link

• "WITH a new hybrid car and a new ad campaign, Volkswagen is gearing up to take over America." ~ link

• ARIZONA, still struggling to make budget, is considering the closure of 22 state parks. ~ link

• NEW more competitive Arizona bank through consolidation -- gearing up for a stronger economy ~ link

• ATTACKS on Christian churches in Malaysia deepen racial tension ~ USA Today

• QUOTABLE:

In this climate, I fear that a church is tempted to make two mistakes. It may overvalue the sermon while undervaluing the personal touch that informs those sermons. Gifted preachers understand human nature and the Bible, so they can craft messages that match the general concerns of a community. But unless they devote substantial time to caring personally for members, these pastors risk losing touch with the church’s specific needs. ~ Collin Hansen, suggesting that it's not just a problem with multi-site congregations

• VOLUNTEERS needed to pick citrus for hungry ~ link

• RETIRING American hero Arthur Rosenfeld ~ link

Introducing the Missional Church

OCCASIONALLY you come across a book which you love because it says what you think -- except it says it a lot better than you could ever say it. Introducing the Missional Church: What It Is, Why It Matters, How to Become One is one such book.

This 2009 Baker Publishing book by Alan Roxburgh and Scott Boren provides an introduction to missional thinking in terms which the average person can understand. Basically, there is no set definition of "missional." And there is no missional model. But there is a missional river that involves mystery, memory, and mission. This river transcends denominational labels and traditions.

God is at work in our communities and churches become active participants in that mission, not through externally imported programs designed to attract people, but through a process of listening, engaging, and risking. It is a matter of learning the context (as any missionary would do when entering a foreign culture) and then as a church discerning how God is present and at work in the context.

The first two-thirds of the book are about the development of a missional mindset and how the church becomes a "contrast society" in a postmodern and post-Christian culture. In the last third of the book Roxburgh and Boren describe the discovery process through which they lead congregations that are wanting to change.

This is not really a "how-to" book (in spite of the subtitle) and it's certainly not a new program or trend. Many churches will find that they're already swimming in the river -- at least some of the time. Even struggling congregations (and their leaders) will find some encouragement here.

SAMPLE QUOTE:

The Spirit of God is among the people of God, not in the experts and the ordained, but right in the midst of all the ordinary men and women of the local church. This means that God's very Spirit is in the local church, among the ordinary men, women, and children who comprise this faith community. Therefore God's imagination and God's future is among the ordinary local men and women who gather to worship, confess their confusion, who know the church is messed up and needs to change, and who confess that they don't have a clue what might be involved in this change or how to go about it. This is where the Spirit is at work... And therefore, the job of the leadership is not to come up with grand plans for the congregation but to cultivate an environment in which the missional imagination of the people of God is called forth in live action and lives. This happens as we create spaces and time for people to trust their own voice as a people, to dwell together in the Word, to listen one another into free speech, and to dare to ask in dialogue with one another what the Spirit might want them to risk in connecting with their neighborhoods and communities. ~ p. 165

Random

• CHINA reversing brain drain, luring scientists, many from US, back home ~ link

• HOW Fernando Ortega ended up as an Anglican ~ link (via)

• WWAD? A fourth church building in Malaysia has been torched, apparently by radical Muslims unhappy with the court's ruling that non-Muslims are once again allowed to refer to God as Allah. ~ link

• I MISSED the PBS story about the military build-up on Guam. But Josh Lunt brought it up on my radar screen. Do read the comments attached to the site. They fill in some of the gaps. ~ link

• ART CLOKEY the creator of Gumby has died ~ link

Random

• GREAT story about two churches, my niece Robyn Bickerton, and her Westmont College roommate who has cancer. ~ link

• IS Target going Costco on us? I'm hoping for samples! ~ link

• JAY PHELAN is now blogging. ~ link

• I DON'T understand French logic. ~ link

• ACCORDING to the Wall Street Journal, there is a built-in "marriage penalty" in both the House and Senate healthcare bills. Reform is necessary but it appears that no one in Washington really has a handle on the process. There are just too many half-baked components in the current proposals. Perhaps the wisest thing would be to consider the work done up to this point as a part of the learning curve and start over. A stitch in time saves nine. ~ link

• MAGICJACK for the cell phone ~ link

• THE kids who hang out at the lake next to our local library should be happy. The Arizona Game & Fish people will be restocking the urban lakes with rainbow trout next week. ~ link

• SOMETIMES we can accomplish a lot more by doing a lot less. But we have to overdo it for awhile to figure out how that works.

• THE Anglican Church in North America, the new Anglican province that brings together disenfranchised conservative Anglican bodies, has a new website. Now, the question is whether they will get past thinking of themselves as victims and be able to move forward in mission. I'm optimistic. ~ link

• "SWEDEN'S status as a country with high quality living standards for its residents has been questioned in a newly published index, which claims it is the most costly country in the world to live in." ~ link

• WOULD you pay $7.02 for a Big Mac? Of course, I probably wouldn't pay $3.58 either. The pricing isn't right for fastfood. ~ link

• FACEBOOK wants to fund computer science PhD students who are doing research in an area applicable to Facebook. No hidden agenda there. ~ link

• CHURCHES that plan to use their buildings to connect with the "unchurched" should make the buildings look more like traditional church facilities, according to a new survey. That was exactly what we discovered in Turlock when we canvased the neighborhood for input prior to designing our building there. ~ link

Random

• SOME voice...



• COLD STONE is on the way to Thailand ~ link

• THE great Seedless Kishu (link) -- I saw one at the nursery last week but it was $70 for a small tree. Cheaper than the $102 Calamansi -- but still too much.

• MALAYSIAN church firebombed in midst of Allah controversy ~ link

• USGS is mapping earthquakes using Twitter responses ~ link

• US State Department championing Twitter as a tool in the war on terror ~ link

• THE the coming crash of the organic church -- long live the organic church! ~ link

Random

• WORSHIP songs aren’t for the blokes (via)


• OUR sheriff has an unusual sense of humor ~ link

• STEPHEN CATTO on "'Synagogues' in the New Testament Period" ~ link (via)

• SO, now they're saying that the type and level of radiation emitted from cell phones might be able to reverse some of the cognitive decline related to Alzheimer's Disease. Obviously, more study is needed. ~ link

• SCOT McKNIGHT is discussing the Scofield Study Bible and its impact on populist evangelicalism. ~ link

Random

• GROWING number of microchurches ~ link

• INTERNET usage in the US has not grown since 2006. I suppose that the growth in the rest of the world more than makes up for the US plateau. ~ link

Random

• DONATE your extra citrus. ~ link

• RUTH VUONG, the Dean of Students at Fuller Theological Seminary died unexpectedly this morning. ~ link

• KEITH FULLERTON, a retired Covenant pastor friend, died unexpectedly last evening. ~ link

• THERE are now 15,740 self-proclaimed social media gurus on Twitter. ~ link

• WE received a fantastic care package from Guam today (thank you, Lisa & Derwin!) -- including a new Guam cookbook, packets of achuete (for making red rice), and jerk seasoning and sauce from Jamaican Grill. If that were not enough to make it a great Guam day, a few minutes after opening the package, I noticed a man in Subway wearing a Guam baseball league shirt so I greeted him with a hafa adai. He wanted to know if I was Chamorro, too.

• CAN urban farming save Detroit? It's certainly worth a try. ~ link

• MORE people struggling with the theological accuracy of In Christ Alone. Tom Wright and Rich Mouw are on target. ~ link

• SOUTHWEST AIRLINES has pulled blankets and pillows off of its flights -- not because of worries over terrorists but because of passenger concern over "the spread of the H1N1 flu and other illnesses." ~ link

Cut the president some slack

A Christian Post article "Obama Returns from Church-Less Christmas Vacation" is a not so subtle blast at the president's religious background and his failure to attend church services this Christmas.

Ahhh... I'd venture to say that most Americans didn't put in a church appearance at Christmas. Even "mature" card-carrying evangelicals often miss Christmas services if they aren't convenient enough. (A couple of years ago several prominent mega-churches even canceled their Christmas day services so people could be with their families.) I'm not saying that this is a good thing -- just that it is the reality of our era. The cultural expectation that even nominally Christian people are supposed to attend church on Christmas evaporated sometime in the mid-70's. If we're going to have a gospel impact in our era we need to adjust to the current state of the world and quit acting like we're in such shock that the 1950's are over.

The fact is that no one voted for Barak Obama because he claimed to be some kind of always-consistent super Christian. And the reality is that his life is more complicated than that of most of us.

It is okay to think that his health care plan is for the birds or that his handling of the economy hasn't been so stellar. But regardless, of our opinions Christians need to live up to their name and cut the guy some slack. We need to quit looking for ways to demonize him.

We don't have to agree with him in order to act kindly and graciously toward him. Isn't that the point? If we're only kind toward the people with whom we agree then we're no different than anyone else (Matthew 5:43-48) -- and we aren't exercising grace -- which means that we are the people who have failed to truly show up for Christmas.

Kindle? Not yet

Amazon sold more e-books than paper books on Christmas day. That makes sense since people weren't ordering books on Christmas that they couldn't get in time for the holidays. They'd already stocked up on their paper books. Meanwhile all those people who got Kindles for Christmas were busy buying and downloading their first books. ~ link

I'm still a hold-out for four reasons:

1. I like to write in books, underline, and argue with the author in the columns. As far as I know there is nothing in the Kindle which quite approximates that feature. They do have a bookmark feature and you can highlight and attach notes -- but it's not the same as scribbling on the page.

2. I'm concerned about back support of file formats once e-books are standardized. My guess is that the proprietary Kindle format will not dominate publishing for very long. Pioneering formats rarely last. What did you end up doing with all of your 8-tracks and Beta video tapes? I still look at books I bought in the 70's. Will I be able to use my Kindle books in 30 years, should I still be alive?

3. Last July Amazon recalled two Kindle books that upon second thought they decided that they shouldn't have distributed. People turned on their Kindles, synced up with the Amazon system and instantly the books were sucked out of their e-readers. There is too much centralized control over the system.

Who owns the books backed up on the Amazon server once you die? While you're living you can only share your book five times. It seems that you don't really own the books you purchase. The restrictions are such that you are in essence only leasing them -- which might be alright for many titles. But there are books which I truly want to own.

4. When the flight crew says that all electronic devices need to be turned off I'm still reading my book. It's not a big reason but there is something to be said for simple technology that doesn't have to be turned off or recharged (or protected from theft).

I like the idea of the Kindle -- and having a library that doesn't take over the house. The price is becoming less of an obstacle. The Kindle readers are easy on the eye. The latest design is appealing. I'm usually fond of Amazon.

Maybe my concerns are unfounded and I'll change my mind and adjust -- maybe, eventually -- but for now I'll wait and see.

Random

• NORWAY has all but eliminated staph infections (MRSA) by cutting back on the number of antibiotic prescriptions. ~ link

• SO, now our problem is that we are a nation of bread eaters? ~ link (via)

• JULBOCKEN? Using goats to recycle Christmas trees. ~ link

Random

• $7/MONTH electric bill. So, if we all "go solar," how are the power companies going to stay in business? Taxpayer subsidies? ~ link

• CAPITALISM slowly seeping through the cracks into North Korea. ~ link (via)

• PETE HOWLETT UKULELES: made in Wales -- and why not? ~ link (via)

Engineers and religion

A Slate article explores why so many terrorists have engineering backgrounds. (link) It could have to do with some of the personality types that gravitate toward engineering -- people with a low tolerance for ambiguity, who feel most comfortable when everything is reduced to black and white categories.

Harold Camping is an American example of an engineer who has tried to use rigid mathmatical categories to get a handle on the will of God. He is now saying that he made a math error the last time he predicted the return of Christ. The radio Bible teacher now calculates that the rapture will be May 21, 2011. ~ link

It would be interesting to study why certain personality types gravitate toward particular theological systems or organizations. For example, why is it that so many engineer-types seem to end up in organizations like the Navigators -- a group which stresses discipleship through well-developed systems and formulas?

I'm certainly not suggesting that all engineers are the same nor that they're the only people who see life in extremely well-defined and rigid categories. But I wonder if there is a real correlation or if it is only my personal perception.

Random

• SOME Guam friends spotted this Christmas billboard in front of someone's home. It takes the traditional Christmas card to a whole new level -- and avoids having to mess with the post office, too. ~ link

• I'M in favor of retaining the the speed cameras on Arizona highways. They do seem to make a noticeable difference. I've driven in many of the major metro areas in the US -- and in pre-camera Phoenix. Currently Arizona drivers stay closer to the speed limit and they tend to leave more breathing room between cars than in other places. ~ link

• CANCER breakthrough could save the Tasmanian Devils ~ link

• NEW research: Loneliness spreads very much like a communicable disease.

...They report in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that loneliness formed in clusters of people, and that once one person in a social network started expressing feelings of loneliness, others within the same network would start to feel the same way. The effects spread as far as three degrees of separation. Those who had immediate contact with lonely people were around 50% more likely than average to feel lonely themselves. In people who knew people who had direct contact with lonely people, the figure was 25%. Those with three degrees of separation showed roughly a 10% increase.

The reason for the spread, the team argues, is because loneliness causes people to act towards others in a less generous and more negative fashion. As someone becomes lonely, he is more likely to interact with his friends negatively, and they are then more likely to interact with other friends negatively. If these interactions are repeated, the ties of friendships fray and people become lonelier and more isolated. ~ link

• AN explosion of new masters degrees ~ link

• JAMES DOBSON is leaving Focus on the Family so younger people can assume leadership. But he is going to start another, nearly identical, radio show. Ugh? ~ link

• BRAIN research:

Over the past several years, scientists have looked deeper into how brains age and confirmed that they continue to develop through and beyond middle age... Recently, researchers have found even more positive news. The brain, as it traverses middle age, gets better at recognizing the central idea, the big picture. If kept in good shape, the brain can continue to build pathways that help its owner recognize patterns and, as a consequence, see significance and even solutions much faster than a young person can. ~ link