No Fear for the Future
Was reading an article in my latest issue of Popular Science magazine titled “Can This House Save You From The End Of The World?” It’s about a guy who is converting atomic bomb shelters and outdated missile silos into habitats that are “compact but luxurious” and sport some pretty tricked out amenities . . . such as . . . . . . “enough food and clothing to sustain 135 people for at least a year” at one facility, and can “withstand a 50-megaton nuclear blast 10 miles away, 450mph winds, a magnitude 10 earthquake, 10 days of 1,250F degree surface fires, and three weeks beneath any flood. Already I know what you’re thinking. “What about a flood that lasts a little more than 3 weeks?!” or maybe...
Howl-le-lu-ya
Haven’t really decided what I think of this yet. I know that it is targeted toward kids so I feel as though I should be a little easier on it then if it wasn’t, but to me its just kinda creepy. What are your thoughts? [/kml_flashembed]
Authentic Christian Cool
For the past couple of weeks I’ve been reading Brett McCracken’s book Hipster Christianity. It’s a pretty good book overall, although I personally think Brett could have done more research for the chapter on the emerging church. And he does suggest that social justice is just another fad. But Brett does bring up some good points. For example, near the end he explains the differences between authentic Christian cool and being a self-righteous hipster jerk. Hipsters, as Brett explains, are all about individualism. Everything they do is a self-conscious attempt to be better and cooler than the average square (do people still say “square?”). Jesus, on the other hand, calls us to be other-centered instead of self-centered. ...
Resources vs. Results
As I ran at the gym this morning, I noticed advertisers must think 1 of 2 things about those people who are up at 5 in the morning. Either we need a better mattress or we need to get in shape. I have seen my share of workout and diet commercials, but no matter how many I see I know that having the resources doesn’t produce results, only using the resources you have will be of benefit. Even though I know that is true I still buy things in hope that owning them will produce results. I wonder how many bowflexs and thigh masters are sitting in a closet gathering dust right now. I wonder what percentage of folks look like the guy in the bowflex commercials or have thighs off…..iron? And then there’s the shake weight, I’m sure that flew off the...
Making Time
“I cant do that, I have this thing”, “I have to work”, “I have to take care of the kids”, “I have to wash my hair”. I have a tendency to complain about things, after they have passed, that I could have done but didn’t. But there is no one to blame but myself if I miss out on something. It’s a matter of priority. I can’t complain that I don’t have time to do something and then two breaths later say that I am playing more video games these days or watching more movies. We dedicate our time to what is most important to us. We very rarely spend our time doing what we don’t want to. The more I am learning to catch myself doing this, the more I am trying to figure out what is important to me...
When Politics Trump Grace
Originally posted on my personal blog. A few weeks ago I mentioned that I try not to talk about politics much because: 1). I’m not educated enough to articulate my views in an intellectual manner, only short sarcastic remarks. 2). I end up getting into shouting matches with the Tea Party folks. But there is also a third reason why I try not to talk about politics much: too often politics prevail over grace. In politics it’s not enough to simply explain why your viewpoint and your agenda and your policies are better than the other guy; you have to drag your opponents through the proverbial mud. You have to paint your opponent as not just naive or misguided, but a subscriber to the deadliest ideology since fascism. You have to make people believe a...