www wanderings 02.25.2010

Well, I haven't gotten to post quite like I'd like, but life has been a bit busy. We're moving this week to a place on the east side of York, and we're quite excited to move from our Geico House (see youtube vid for why we call our house this). Yet, we're sad too, because we'll be leaving behind some awesome neighbors...

But I wanted to continue my posting of random links that I have come across that I think are worth sharing.

Global Tacos

I wish I could go to this presentation where a group of students traced all the ingredients from a local taco truck in California all around the world.

Creation and Evolution and Christianity

I have been following Ken Ham's blog on Creationism for the past six months but have wanted to read a blog that is more from the other side of the spectrum as well. So I was glad when he posted his response to the Biologos response to his State of the Nation address. I have to admit I did not fully read his response or listen to the State of the Nation address, but I was glad to find a blog with an alternative Christian approach to Creation and Evolution to subscribe to that I may read (when I have time). And Biologos has two Nazarene professors! The reason I care about hearing both sides of this is because this is a hot issue for many of the teens that I work with. It is helpful to be aware of various Christian approaches to these issues.

Slant33

So, I am excited about some of the things I hear that are happening at Barefoot, the youth ministry wing of Nazarene Publishing House, especially the stuff that I am seeing from Chris Folmsbee. He wrote A New Kind of Youth Ministry, which I have yet to read, but also helped with Shaped By the Story by Michael Novelli, which I have perused and used! (Buy these books from Hearts and Minds! They're independent and great!). But I really like Slant33, which offers "three voices, three views" on various topics relevant to youth ministry. It's quick, easy to read and insightful. Go check it out!

Missionary Remodeling

At first I didn't know where Andrew Jones was going with this post, but then I saw the pictures. Check out the remodeling that he has done with his crew that is traveling through Africa. And we thought we were living in cramped quarters! 13 people sleep in and on this! It's cool to see what people give up and go through in order to bring goodness to the world.

www wanderings 02.17.2010

Lent:

It's Ash Wednesday. If you'd like a scripture guide through the next forty days, you can go here to join what many Christians around the world are engaging with. There are some quality prayers and artwork links as well (the pic on the right came from there). If you're at Stillmeadow, I'd recommend the FaithForward Guide that we are using for our community. We gave it out on Sunday and it's available at the welcome desk.

Stillmeadow's on Twitter!

Our church is checking out what it looks like to be a presence on twitter. We'll see how this goes...but it could be fun. If you want to follow, click here or just go to www.twitter.com/stillnaz.

Child Soldiers and American Slave Trade:

Learned from Project AK-47 (follow on Twitter) that one third of the world's child soldiers are in South East Asia. They say "100,000 kids are carrying machine guns" in this region.

Then Relevant posted a study which showed that Ohio is a major hub in the US for human trafficking. Ohio is our neighbor state! 1000 Americans are forced into labor or the sex trade and "800 immigrants are sexually exploited and pushed into sweatshop-type jobs" just in Ohio! Check out what Doma is doing to protect these people.

Some www wanderings...Francis Chan and Children Labeled 'Bipolar' 02.10.2010

So, I really like Francis Chan. He's the pastor of Cornerstone Church (cool website, btw) in CA, and author of some cool books including an interactive one called Crazy Love (check it out at Amazon, but if you're gonna buy it new, but it from Hearts and Minds). But I don't get to hear him often. Last I heard him was at Nazarene Youth Conference 2007 and that was a blast.

But I stumbled across somebody's sermon notes from his session at Verge2010. My favorite line: "Be courageous – Biblically. Erase what you’ve seen everywhere else – and just go to the Bible. Don’t just go around to other patterns – to tweak what other people are doing. Have the courage to read the Bible and do what it says."

I also heard that Flannel (the guys who do Rob Bell's Nooma's) is putting out a new series featuring Francis Chan! I'm looking forward to these and will most likely feature them in our Sunday morning format with our teens!

In other news: the diagnosis for children who show symptoms of bipolar is being reconsidered. It will be interesting to see how this plays out...In between all the posts on this crazy winter weather, I found this post.

WILAS (What I Love About Snow)!

So, I went to Florida last week and missed "Snowmaggedon" (check out the other names suggested for this), but arrived in time for this week's crazy storm. I know some folks aren't too keen on the abundance of snow, the coldness that accompanies it and the treacherous driving conditions that it provides, but I am a huge fan of snow! So here's a quick list, not in any order of What I Love About Snow:

Most of the time it's edible.

It's like a blanket.

You can make an igloo with it.

It can be formed into a throwing object.

It's flakes travel miles just to land.

It melts into icicles.

It can shut down entire cities.

It makes people drive slow.

You can sled on it. (And make ramps with it!)

Snow Angels!

It floats to the ground.

Snow Forts!