This clip is from Pastor Mark Driscoll. He leads Mars Hill Church in Seattle and I have been listening to a lot of his sermons of late. I think I am going to be posting several items in reference to him and some other pastors/theologians who have been challenging my thinking lately. The below clip is from some pre conference interviews from Desiring God ministries 2006 conference. The conference title was Above All Earthly Powers and centered around the postmodern mindset and the emergent church. Many of the clips discuss engaging the culture. Great stuff.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Whats Going On?
So I have been really busy lately. My dad had brain surgery to help combat the symptoms of his Parkinson’s, I went to Columbus Ohio for work for several days, and I am getting busier at work all the time. It’s crazy crazy crazy, and because of this several things I like to do (like Blog) is falling behind. Add to this the upcoming graduation season, weddings I'm involved with and (as of last night), my involvement with the children’s musical Jailhouse Rock, I felt I needed to make myself update the world. I'm still here!! So here are some random thoughts on some topics that I am interested in.
1. The iPhone - I don't think anyone would be surprised that I like gadgets, and I especially like cool gadgets that do multiple things. I have high hopes for the iPhone, but there are several factors that will hold me back from getting one when it is released in June. Number one on that list is the price. It’s over $500 for the 4Gig version. I'm just not willing to pay that. The other reason I won't run out and get one is that it’s new. I so want to be an early adaptor, but I also have a stronger aversion to purchasing anything this complex in its first generation. I think that Apple needs to have a generation or two to get the kinks worked out. There is no doubt about it that this device is really cool and I will eventually own one, maybe sometime in 2008 or early 2009. This is of course subject to change if something crazy happens.....like I get a deal I can't pass up.
2. HDTV - So a few weeks ago I decided that I would dive into the HDTV world and upgrade my television to a flat LCD TV. I did a lot of research and stumbled on a great open box deal for a 36 inch LG at Circuit City. It was a nice TV, and I bought it on the spot and took it home. This is where I learned that I was not ready for HDTV. The issue.......I don't have digital cable, and I'm not willing to upgrade to it. As I watched regular TV stretched to fit the screen, it was blah. When I adjusted it so it looked correct, the picture was significantly smaller and I had a lot of black space on the edges. I didn’t' like that. DVD's looked great, but I hated everything else about it. So I took it back the next day and got a refund. I decided that until the prices dropped more on the TV's and that a solution came about to solve my cable issue I would wait. Regardless, my 32 inch Sony is still a great picture and still has a nice size for my condo.
3. Jail House Rock - What do I get myself into? Last night I was asked to participate in the audition process to help the leadership team pick parts for the annual kid’s musical help in July. So with my regular "big ideas" mouth I made several suggestions and then without even thinking I said, I can coach those kids on that. Bam the team jumped on it and now I have a group of boys and one girl that I am coaching on how to be a rap gang. They'll be beat boxing and rapping during one of the songs. This will be a challenge, but also a lot of fun I think. One thing for sure is that it will take time. I know I will enjoy it, I really like musical theater, and I’ve just never been on the coaching directing side of it before.
4. My Dads surgery - So my dad had brain surgery. I know you can either think wow, that’s serious or you can insert joke here. He has Parkinson’s disease and it’s been almost 20 years since the symptoms started to show. Of late he has really been having a rough time with it. The shaking is the least of the problems. When he walks he needs a walker. He could be going along and his legs will freeze, but his momentum continues to carry him forward and so he falls a lot. He has to wear knee pads to protect him. So after several months of consideration he had surgery to implant a really cool gadget into his body. This device is sort of like a pacemaker (it’s in his chest) and it has two leads that are strung up through his neck and implanted into parts of the brain. They fire an electrical current in sequence and this helps to offset many of his symptoms. It’s no cure, but they turned it on yesterday and he says that he was able to walk without falling and the shaking is noticeably less. This is good news. It buys him some more time before he will be really forced to a wheelchair. I have a lot of thoughts about when a parent becomes disabled....I'll share them in the future.
That’s all for now, hollar if you are reading.
RAV
1. The iPhone - I don't think anyone would be surprised that I like gadgets, and I especially like cool gadgets that do multiple things. I have high hopes for the iPhone, but there are several factors that will hold me back from getting one when it is released in June. Number one on that list is the price. It’s over $500 for the 4Gig version. I'm just not willing to pay that. The other reason I won't run out and get one is that it’s new. I so want to be an early adaptor, but I also have a stronger aversion to purchasing anything this complex in its first generation. I think that Apple needs to have a generation or two to get the kinks worked out. There is no doubt about it that this device is really cool and I will eventually own one, maybe sometime in 2008 or early 2009. This is of course subject to change if something crazy happens.....like I get a deal I can't pass up.
2. HDTV - So a few weeks ago I decided that I would dive into the HDTV world and upgrade my television to a flat LCD TV. I did a lot of research and stumbled on a great open box deal for a 36 inch LG at Circuit City. It was a nice TV, and I bought it on the spot and took it home. This is where I learned that I was not ready for HDTV. The issue.......I don't have digital cable, and I'm not willing to upgrade to it. As I watched regular TV stretched to fit the screen, it was blah. When I adjusted it so it looked correct, the picture was significantly smaller and I had a lot of black space on the edges. I didn’t' like that. DVD's looked great, but I hated everything else about it. So I took it back the next day and got a refund. I decided that until the prices dropped more on the TV's and that a solution came about to solve my cable issue I would wait. Regardless, my 32 inch Sony is still a great picture and still has a nice size for my condo.
3. Jail House Rock - What do I get myself into? Last night I was asked to participate in the audition process to help the leadership team pick parts for the annual kid’s musical help in July. So with my regular "big ideas" mouth I made several suggestions and then without even thinking I said, I can coach those kids on that. Bam the team jumped on it and now I have a group of boys and one girl that I am coaching on how to be a rap gang. They'll be beat boxing and rapping during one of the songs. This will be a challenge, but also a lot of fun I think. One thing for sure is that it will take time. I know I will enjoy it, I really like musical theater, and I’ve just never been on the coaching directing side of it before.
4. My Dads surgery - So my dad had brain surgery. I know you can either think wow, that’s serious or you can insert joke here. He has Parkinson’s disease and it’s been almost 20 years since the symptoms started to show. Of late he has really been having a rough time with it. The shaking is the least of the problems. When he walks he needs a walker. He could be going along and his legs will freeze, but his momentum continues to carry him forward and so he falls a lot. He has to wear knee pads to protect him. So after several months of consideration he had surgery to implant a really cool gadget into his body. This device is sort of like a pacemaker (it’s in his chest) and it has two leads that are strung up through his neck and implanted into parts of the brain. They fire an electrical current in sequence and this helps to offset many of his symptoms. It’s no cure, but they turned it on yesterday and he says that he was able to walk without falling and the shaking is noticeably less. This is good news. It buys him some more time before he will be really forced to a wheelchair. I have a lot of thoughts about when a parent becomes disabled....I'll share them in the future.
That’s all for now, hollar if you are reading.
RAV
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)