| search engine by freefind |
How many of the 50 largest countries can you name in 5 minutes? I got 25 out of 50, but bad spelling cheated me of three of them, so I really had 28 out of 50. I however wasn’t able to name the 2nd largest country.
1.) Try this hermeneutics quiz to see if you are a conservative, moderate, or progressive. I scored a 72 in a slightly different version of this quiz in Leadership Journal, making me a moderate progressive, I guess. HT: David Winner.
2.) A while ago I linked to a site called “Thank God for Evolution.” The Internet Monk provides a fair and balanced review of Michael Dowd’s book. I haven’t read the book yet, but have it on my target list and will be dealing some with the issue in my sermon this coming Sunday.
3.) Adam Copeland points to an interesting story that has been circulating about the integrity of Barack Obama. No wonder why he keeps trying to run such a clean campaign…with the race continuing to tighten, I hope he maintains his ideals but at the same time doesn’t end up paying dearly for them.
4.) Interesting review by Greg Boyd regarding a conversation on the nature of faith and politics between him, Shane Claiborne and Chuck Colson at the National Pastor’s Convention.
5.) Here are 7 mind blowing audio illusions
6.) Finally, here is one photo I really enjoyed this week.
I’m not one for grand and public displays of religious devotion. I was a little surprised to recently find a house in our neighborhood with a 5 foot lit cross in the backyard for Christmas, but I’ll take that any day over this….
One feature I enjoy on many blogs I read is a roundup of links to stories, resources, musings, etc. that people have discovered on the web. So, I’ve decided that I’m going to give it a shot myself.
In the past, I’ve done this rather passively by way of my google reader widget, Jim’s Shared Items, in the side bar of my blog, but I’m not sure many folks have taken advantage of that.
In the future, I’ll probably try to do these on Wednesday, but today I offer my first stab at it:
1.) The Jesus Manifesto is a blog that makes me squirm a bit by way of its provocative thoughts on the relationship between Jesus and Empire. This recent post Competing Images of Sacrifice offers an overview of Stanley Hauerwas’ theological argument on why churches should remove flags from their sanctuary. Summary: The flag for many Americans has become a more powerful symbol of sacrifice than Jesus’ own death.
2.) I enjoy just about everything that Carol Howard Merritt offers on her blog Tribal Church. Her recent post, Bearing God, describes how her first pregnancy helped her grow into accepting the role of pastor at her first call. It is a wonderful and moving advent devotion.
3.) Another favorite blogger, Jan Edmiston, offers some reflections in a post called Activism on how serving Christ and his Church may cause us minister to have to put aside our own pet agendas.
4.) And just to prove that I’m not all work and no play, I’ve discovered a new game site called Kongregate which features a host of interesting games. The most addicting one: the fancy pants adventures.
Here is yesterday’s photo:
I spent most of yesterday working on my sermon for today, but I did get a few moments at the close of the day to relax on the couch and to read a couple chapters in my book.
I’m currently reading P.D. James’ book The Children of Men. James is one of my favorite authors of detective novels, but this particular book is actually sci-fi and was made into a motion picture last year that I really enjoyed. Interestingly enough, I’m discovering that the book is more rooted theologically than the movie led me to believe.
In honor of “Talk Like a Pirate Day” I post the Pirate Psalm for your enjoyment:
Pirate psalm
Aarg! The Lord is me Cap’n
And I ain’t wantin’ nuthin’.
He shivers me timbers,
And sails me through blistering barnacles.
He refreshes me rum
And guides me
To Spanish galleons
For his booty. Aarg!
Even though I walk the plank
Over shark-infested waters,
I ain’t afeared,
For my Cap’n is wi’ me.
Along with the bo’sun
And first mate. Aarg!
He gets ready the mainsail
And broadsides the enemy,
The deck o’erflows
Wi’ powder and blood.
Surely pillage and plunder
Will be my pirate life,
And I will dwell in
Davey Jones’ Locker
Forevermore. Aarg!
(c) 2007 John Stuart
(HT: Stushie via Presbyterian Bloggers)
Yesterday while Lori was reading Harry Potter, I decided to go out for a bike ride. Lately, my friend Mark has been detailing his latest rides on his blog and pointed me to a tool called MapMyRide.
You can see yesterday’s ride here. This is my default route when I don’t want to bother or have the time to throw my bike in the back of the truck to get to the bike path. For some reason, the route map says 14.6 miles, while my odometer registered 15 miles. (Also our subdivision is not on this version of their map!)
My rides are fairly short, usually a little over an hour, and my average speed is almost always just a bit under 13 mph. I suppose what this all really means is that I’m not ready for RAGBRAI!
One of my recent and favorite blog discoveries, nakedpastor, writes about a monthly party held for his church:
I’ve personally come to believe that the simple act of our church community getting together intentionally just to party has enormous value in and of itself. When someone suggests maybe bringing a guitar to do worship or praying, I resist it. That’s right, I resist it. Why do we think there needs to be worship songs or prayer to sanctify a gathering? This is false.
I was reminded of a sermon I did last year on the abundance and graciousness of God’s gifts called Let’s Celebrate! So often we get caught up in the little details and petty burdens of our lives that we forget the graciousness and abundance of God’s gifts toward us. We also forget that we are called to extend that same graciousness and abundance toward others.
Maybe a party or too would help us take ourselves less seriously and would serve to remind us of those things. Whaddya say, anyone in?
You can read more of nakedpastor’s thought here.
Unspun is the latest rage on the Web. Unspun is a list generator powered by Amazon that lets users generate lists for others to populate. Users can also add and vote on entries for already established lists. Some current lists include things like “Hottest Actresses,” “Best Books,” and “Best Theologians.”
Just for fun I started a list called “Best Blogs by Pastors.” I’ve populated with a seed list of 10 pastor blogs that are my favorite. These are sites I almost always look forward to seeing what these Pastors have to say. In the interest of self-promotion I did include my own blog, but now it’s up to you to expand and reorder the list as you see appropriate….Have fun!
It will be fun to see how my original list changes over time:
A Church for Starving Artists
Real Live Preacher
Nakedpastor
Thechurchgeek
The Bob.Blog
Smart Pastor
Beth Quick
Purple Pastor
Reyes-Chow :: Faith
Odyssey
I’ve plugged this guy before, but I’ll do it again because he’s great! If you haven’t seen his cartoons check out www.cartoonchurch.com.
Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.
Wow! It nailed me. I guess living four years in Nashville and nine more in New Orleans did absolutely nothing to cure my ‘midwestern’ accent. And, yes, I still call a water fountain a ‘bubbler,’ a sofa a “davenport,” and we “go by” those we are going to visit.
| What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Inland North
You may think you speak “Standard English straight out of the dictionary” but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like “Are you from Wisconsin?” or “Are you from Chicago?” Chances are you call carbonated drinks “pop.” |
|
| The Midland |
|
| North Central |
|
| The Northeast |
|
| Philadelphia |
|
| The South |
|
| The West |
|
| Boston |
|
| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz |
|
Sufjan Stevens is my new musical hero. You can hear audio streams of his 5-box Christmas CD set here. This is great stuff!!!
Christmas is just around the corner. Are you looking for a great gift to give your coffee loving friend or relative? How about the Toddy Coffee Maker?
I’ve been brewing cold brew coffee for over 5 years now, and if I have a choice it’s the only way I’ll drink my coffee. The coffee is smooth, low acid, and free of bitterness. Best of all? Once you’ve brewed your coffee concentrate there’s no messing with filters and machines; a great time saver in the morning.
Don’t wait any longer. Go order one now.
On Saturday mornings, I tend to find something else to do rather than getting to work finishing up my sermon. Today’s diversion was voting for the new seven wonders of the world.
My votes went to:
Chichen Itza
Great Wall
Hagia Sophia
Machu Picchu
Pryamids of Giza (the only remaining wonders on the ancient seven wonders list)
Taj Mahal
Timbuktu
I have some traveling to do! Of the 21 on the list you can vote for, I’ve only seen the Eifel Tower and the Statue of Liberty in person. I couldn’t bring myself to vote for them because they just don’t seem like ‘wonders’ to me.
Powered by Twitter Tools.
