Owner: pomomusings URL:http://cleave.blogs.com Join Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2006 15:43:28 -0500 Rating:1 Site Description: journeying toward an open & progressive theology. musings on postmodernism, progressive theology, emergent & mainline churches, life of a married seminary student and other random things from daily life. Site statistics:Click here
The (RED)EMPTION Campaign 2006-10-23 02:36:48 Mike Todd over at Waving & Drowning has issued a challenge to bloggers and I'd like every person who reads pomomusings this week to take part in it. According to my Stats, I get around 4500 hits/wk, so I know it's totally doable if everyone participates and spreads the word to your own online communities/networks. Mike is grateful for Bono's new Product (RED) campaign - but in some ways, it simply causes people to spend more money in order for a small percentage to go to help fight AIDS in Africa. So, Mike offered the following challenge, and I urge you to participate in it:
Now for the challenge. Robert and I have been discussing for some time
the need for us to start another campaign to raise some funds here at
WorD.
We've been looking at the (RED) iPod specifically. When you spend
$200 US on the iPod, Apple will contribute $10 to the Global Fund.
(Robert has changed his mind about Christmas, BTW, so don't bother emailing his wife.)
I don't have a clue what the profit mar Read more:Campaign
The Parable of the Good Tele-Evangelist 2006-10-20 13:00:00 {We were told to re-cast a parable of Luke in contemporary terms. I chose to look at the Parable
of the Good Samaritan...from a different angle}
During the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), held at San Jose in 2008, on the last day, during the last scheduled Business Meeting on the docket…Jesus appeared. No one knew quite what to make of it. There were a host of different reactions. The Presbyterians For Renewal were excited, though a bit fearful of what Jesus was going to say about the "theological trajectory" of their denomination. The More Light Presbyterians didn't really know what to think at all. All of the YADs (Youth Advisory Delegates) just ran up to Jesus and started asking him questions, talking a mile a minute, as they followed him up to the front of the convention hall. Everyone in the assembly was quite shocked, and a bit tongue-tied, until one of the youngest YADs looked up at Jesus and asked, "Are you going to tell us a story?" Jesus Read more:Evangelist
A Sense of Calling 2006-10-18 14:00:00 One of my favorite conversations that took place during my Annual Consultation with my Committee on Preparation for Ministry (CPM) concerned my 'sense of call' and it went something like this:CPM: "So, tell us where you think you're going to end up after seminary, what trajectory are you on?"
Adam: "Well, it really depends on the day. Somedays I think that doing parish ministry is something that I would really love. However, other days I think that getting back into youth ministry is where I'm being called. However, during my Field Ed last year, I really found an appreciation and love for campus ministry, and I think the life of a campus chaplain would be really wonderful."
CPM: "So, you really don't have a sense of call at all then?"
Adam: "No, I wouldn't say that - it's just that I still have 2 years left in seminary, and I know I feel called to the ministry, but I just wouldn't say I'm 100% sure what ministry yet."
CPM: "But...what I hear you saying is that you really h Read more:Sense
, Calling
SBL Office Space 2006-10-16 13:00:00
What does your office space/desk look like? I thought it was time to share what my desk at the illustrious SBL looked like, so here it is. Now...it's your turn. Share your office space with us. Post an entry, do a trackback, leave a comment with your link, tag it appropriately (Office Space
, Desk) and let's share the world our wonderful (or not) office spaces, cubicles and desks!
And we should indeed turn it into a meme {HT Ben}. I'd love to hear from:
AKMA
Dwight Friesen
Jonny Baker
Mark Shivers
Jake Myers
Maggi Dawn
Josh Cleveland
Matt Heerema
Todd Hiestand
Let's see that office or desk!
The River Why 2006-10-16 00:08:48 I stayed up till 3am last night so I could finish David James Duncan's The River
Why. It took me the first 55 pages to get into it, but starting on page 56, I was hooked until the end. For those of you who don't know anything about the book, the main character is Gus Orviston, whose mother (Ma) and father (H20) are both incredibly famous and gifted fishermen (though most likely insane as well). Gus' life consists of fishing, fishing and more fishing. His 'Ideal Schedule' would include 14.5 hours of fishing per day. Where I began to get 'hooked' into the book is when Gus gets himself a nice little cabin on the Tamanawis and begins his solitary journey into the world of a fisherman/hermit.
Duncan's prose is absolutely hilarious and Gus' meanderings through fishing, religion and...well, mainly fishing are one of a kind. However, Gus begins to become numb to his lifestyle, numb to the world and through a dramatic series of events that involved a late-night fishing trip, a floatin
Need a couch? 2006-10-15 23:42:37 You need a couch? A place to stay? Check out this website: CouchSurfing {HT to Josh}. I wonder if anyone has ever heard about this or done it? Sounds pretty cool, but as I told Josh, too bad the Mennonites have been doing it for quite awhile already...
Shoot a Clown Contest 2006-10-14 00:49:55 I love winning contests. Randomshirts.com is a great company - you all should join in on the contest as well! Shoot
a clown - get a free t-shirt! Read more:Clown
, Contest
American Pilgrimage: Sacred Journeys and Spiritual Destinations 2006-10-13 14:00:00
I had the chance to read a really good book recently, courtesy of Paraclete Press; it is called "AmericanPilgrimage
: Sacred Journeys
and Spiritual Destinations
." Written by Mark Ogilbee and Jana Riess, it depicts their journeys as they travel to and along with others on pilgrimages to certain locations in America that are popular pilgrimage destinations. One aspect of the book that I really appreciated was that it focused on spiritual pilgrimage sites here in the United States. So often I hear about so-and-so going to Iona, or Taize, perhaps the Northumbria Community. But how many people take the time to travel to spiritual destinations right here in the US? I've had a chance to visit some monasteries (my favorite was Christ in the Desert), but it's always been my impression that in order to have an intense spiritual experience, I had to get out of the US.
The authors of this book have proved me wrong.
To give you an idea of the places they visit, here are some of the sites writ
Myspace: Let's be friends! 2006-10-12 06:37:27 So I've had a myspace page for awhile, and it sure is addicting. It kind of goes in waves for me - I can forget about it for a few weeks or a month, but then I get back on and people want to be friends(!), they've sent me messages (can we not just email people?) and they've left me fun little comments on the site. So, it is quite fun. And I've found some fun friends from highschool, college and other random times of my life. I'm even up to 217 - how amazing! ;) But anyway, I'm proud to be a myspace user.
One question though: does anyone else get really excited whenever they see the New Friends Request graphic? It's like..."Ooh! Ooh! Who wants to be my friend today?"
So...
So, who wants to be my friend???
Divine Nobodies: A Book Contest 2006-10-12 04:48:06 Yes - that's right. Another book give-a-way contest at pomomusings. Jim Palmer contacted me awhile back to tell me about his new book "Divine
Nobodies: Shedding Religion to Find God."
So, we're doing another book give-a-way this week. I was hoping to get a chance to read the book and leave a bit of a review here on the blog as well, but unfortunately time isn't allowing for that. Brian McLaren says on the back that reading this book was good for his soul and he says that Jim may well be the next Donald Miller. So that's good.
So, while I can't really vouch for the book, after giving it a quick look it looks like a good read and one that I plan on doing sometime when I get a few free hours.
But enough of what I think - on to the contest! In order to be eligible for this contest, you can't have won anything on any other pomomusings contest in the past 3 months, and you must email the answer to the question below (AND YOUR MAILING ADDRESS) to cleave at gmail dot com. The first 10 Read more:Contest
Five Things Feminism Has Done for Me 2006-10-23 08:10:36 Kristin (whose new site I designed) tagged me. So...here goes:
Five Things Feminism
Has Done for Me
It has opened up my view of God: It's pretty safe to say that growing up and throw most of college, I would have thought it heresy to refer to God as anything but "HE" (probably all caps too). While of course there are still great debates over this, and over the use of inclusive or gender-neutral language...reading feminist theologians and having conversations with feminist seminarians has only served to enlarge my view of God.
It has enabled me to marry a brilliant and independent woman who constantly challenges me (whether I like it or not!) and enjoys putting together IKEA furniture more than I do (and might even be better at it). I married a woman who had more tools than I did; now, whether this says more about her feminism or my masculinity is probably open for debate. But feminism has certainly made my marriage more interesting.
It has caused me to think more critically about
"The Daily Scribe: DELETED" (to be said in Strongbad's Voice) 2006-10-23 23:29:50 I used to listen to all of Strongbad's emails online and found them at first to be ridiculously stupid, but after awhile, began to laugh uncontrollably while watching them. One episode I always enjoyed was Strongbad's spring cleaning when he would cry out "DELETED
" when he deleted emails [link here]. As I read about Shawn Anthony's arbitrary and seemingly rash decision to simply delete The DailyScribe
writing project, after agreeing to a completely different way of handling the situation with the leadership of The Daily Scribe, I heard Strongbad's voice in the back of my head and pictured a similar scene as Shawn wiped away the past 6 months of conversations and history of the Daily Scribe as it was "DELETED!"
I don't want this post to be a personal attack on Shawn or an attack on his personal religious beliefs. For those of you who want to know more about 'how it all went down' - read this post. Basically, Shawn found himself coming full-circle in his spiritual journey and ha Read more:Voice
Sculpting Beauty 2006-10-24 14:00:00
The other week in Christian Ed we were asked to sculpt something as an act of prayer. I was thankful for my wife, who likes to stick her tongue out at me all the time. Read more:Sculpting
, Beauty
Defining the job of the "Pastor" 2006-10-25 14:00:00 During a class a few weeks ago, someone was giving a 1-line job description for a pastor, and it just struck me as a little lacking. But then I asked myself, "How would YOU describe the role of a pastor in one sentence." I'm not sure I came up with an answer, but I'd love to know what you all think.
Task: Give me a one-sentence job description for the "pastor" of a church. Read more:Pastor
Mainline Emergent/s: Conversations in Theology, Practice and Hope 2006-10-28 02:49:23 If you're going to be in Atlanta around January 30 - February 1, I'd encourage you to consider coming to the Columbia Theological Seminary January Seminar entitled "Mainline Emergent
/s: Conversations in Theology, Practice
and Hope." It's going to be a great time, and it's going to be awesome to be able to spend a few days with some good friends, including Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, Tony Jones, Diana Butler Bass, Karen Ward, Nanette Sawyer, Troy Bronsink, Saranell and Tim Hartman, Jake Myers, Jay Voorhees, Holly Rankin Zaher and others.Short Description: How can mainline congregations be a part of - and inform the conversation about - the emergent church? Join us for stimulating conversations among emergent/s and mainline leaders, as we discuss the church's mission, practice and hope in God's world.It should be a great few days. If you want to check out the entire brochure, click here. If you're around Atlanta and can attend, it would be great to see you there.
In Atlanta... 2006-10-27 14:00:00
...gas prices fluctuate more than in any other city I've ever lived in. $3/gallon a month or two ago. And now we're sitting pretty at $1.88. Gotta love that... Read more:Atlanta
Words from a Wilderness Mystic 2006-10-30 13:00:00 I've always heard about David James Duncan's writings. First it was "The Brothers K", which I initially thought was someone's nickname for "The Brothers Karamazov" - I thought they were just trying to be cute, until I realized that it was one of Duncan's novels. Then a Whitworth writing professor told me I really should read Duncan's "The River Why" - and then it was assigned to be read for a course this semester. Duncan's love of nature and the search for truth, beauty and wisdom is intoxicating. To read one of his novels is to be swept up into the lives, despairs and hopes of his characters' experiences.
I have a tremendous respect for Duncan's thoughts on spirituality and religion. As one who is pursuing an open & progressive spirituality and theology, I find much of his writing very refreshing. I am also married to someone who just finished a course on Ecology and we are beginning to learn about ways to live as good and faithful stewards of God's creation, reducing, reusi Read more:Words
, Wilderness
, Mystic
AAR/SBL Annual Meetings 2006-11-01 14:00:00 Sarah and I will both be at the SBL/AAR Annual
Meeting in Washington DC. We will be working for SBL, probably at the book booth. I am planning on going to the Emergent Additional Meeting (info below) and I'm going to try to be at some of AKMA's sessions. Who else is going to be there?19-106What Is the Emergent Conversation and Why Does It Matter?11/19/20064:00 PM to 6:30 PMRoom: Senate - Renaissance MayflowerThis
panel discussion with Brian McLaren, Phyllis Tickle, and Peter Rollins
will focus on questions generated by the Emergent Church movement: Are
Emergent Churches to the post-Reformation what Protestantism was to the
Great Reformation? Will Emergent join Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and
Protestantism as a major division of Christianity in the 21st Century?
Or will it be a force for ecumenical understanding and convergence? Or
is it a minor blip on the screen? Read more:Meetings
dolovewalk.org 2006-11-01 17:54:20
dolovewalk.org went live today and I encourage you to check it out. It's a site that is just starting up but it's goal is to be a center of peacemaking and action in the Louisville area. I designed the site using Cutline's code as the foundation, but tweaked both the PHP and CSS code quite a lot. Check out his site and if you're interested in having me create a site for you, get in touch with me.
Marigold Path Grid Blog: Whooping Cough Provides a Mentor 2006-11-01 20:25:08 It happened about 2 months before I graduated from my high school, 1.5 months before the Senior Prom and 1 month before I was to perform the role of Hugo Peabody in my high school's elaborate production of Bye Bye Birdie: I got whooping cough (pertussis). How I got whooping cough, I have no idea. But, it kept me home from weeks of school and probably even gave me a very mild form of depression as I felt like the weeks that were supposed to be the highlight of my life up to that point were spent laying on my bed at home.
In order to help me deal with being stuck at home all day for a couple weeks, my parents moved the computer desk into my room. This enabled me constant access to the Internet, which is where my Internet-addiction probably began...
But instead of spending my time in AOL chat rooms or playing games, I did what any other 18 year old would have done: I decided to plan my life. I decided then that I would go to seminary.
I wasn't really sure what seminary was...nor what Read more:Cough
, Mentor
Launching a new blog or website? 2006-11-02 13:00:00 Are you launching a new website
or blog anytime soon? I found this list, 21 Surefire Tips for a Successful Blog Launch, to be very helpful. Some stuff that's just obvious, and other stuff that you might just not think of. Check it out.
Ted Haggard 2006-11-05 00:15:08 Last week's news about Ted Haggard
is quite shocking (especially for those of us who just recently saw him in Jesus Camp), I can only imagine how it must be for the people who attend his church in Colorado Springs. I don't have much to say about it, other than to point you to two very good posts about the issue. One was written by John Spalding of SoMA Review entitled "Haggard and Truth" and the other is a post over at Think Progress entitled "Ted Haggard
on homosexuality." One of my favorite quotes from John's article is below:"Who cares, you ask, what Ted Haggard is and is not willing to do with a
gay man in a Denver hotel room? Whether he draws the line at tickling
and pillow fights or rides the meth-fueled express all the way to
Pleasure Town, it's none of our damn business, right? Except, of
course, that Haggard makes other people's sex lives his business." [more here]
Ordination Exam Results 2006-11-06 13:00:00 For any who are interested, Sarah and I were both lucky enough to get readers who thought our Ordination Exams were decent, so we both passed Theology, Hebrew Exegesis and Worship & Sacraments. Now we just have Polity next summer and we'll be done. It's a huge relief, though we're aware that others will have to be going through the process again in January. I'm really interested to get the actual exams back to see if we *barely* passed...or if we were just really lucky and got readers who liked our stuff. One more hoop jumped through...
Very Funny Ads 2006-11-06 18:08:56 Want to see some ads that you probably won't see on TV? Some hilarious ones here at Very Funny
Ads.
Giving Up...Better luck next time 2006-11-07 06:59:31 We have another month or so of classes left, and then finals, and I've officially given up. It's definitely a case of academic boredom and senioritis (even though I STILL have one more year after this). I'm only interested in, and do the reading for, one of my courses (Men in Ministry) and the others....well, I'm trying to think about final projects and how to just be done. And both Sarah and I are already thinking about next semester. Next semester, I'll be taking:
Presbyterian History and Polity: the one course I could care LESS about. I've been trying to figure out ways to get out of it, but it's just going to have to happen. The worst part is that it is a full 3-credit course down here at Columbia, whereas I could get it 'taken care of' in a week at Princeton in the summer (but it will conflict with my CPE). I figure there are only two real purposes for taking a course like this; first, to pass the polity ord and second, to know the Book of Order so good that you know exa Read more:Giving
Dance Sister Dance! 2006-11-07 18:00:07 So a friend pointed me to this, and I couldn't resist. It's too funny. Here is a video of Sarah and I getting our dance thing on! And this is really turning into a revolution...the Princeton Theological Seminary Theology Department even got in on some of the action here. And for those of you who still think Princeton is an uptight East-coast academic institution, let our Academic Dean and President show you otherwise... Read more:Dance
How to Sell Your Car in Georgia 2006-11-08 05:40:48 Sarah and I (is this correct Tony?) have been on the never-ending quest for a 2007 Flint Mica Toyota Yaris, 5-Speed, with Cruise Control, the Power Package and the MP3 hookup. Apparently, it's an almost-impossible car to find in this area of the states. But we got a phone call today from a previous-lapsed car salesperson who said "I have the one you want, but it's a different color, but the Flint Mica is on its way here right now."
Deciding this could be our chance, we drove up to the Mall of Georgia
, up I-285 and I-85 during rush-hour, hoping that the car was actually there. And it was. But it was an ugly color - Sarah called it an "old person's color." But we loved the way the 5-Speed rode, so we said we wanted the Flint-Mica car and asked when it would be there. Our salesperson said "It'll be here soon." Then she said, "If you put a $500 deposit, the car will be yours!" Then she said, "You will definitely get this car this month, with the $500 down." Then the closer guy came ov
Can Presbyterians be Co-Creators? 2006-11-09 05:34:44 I love watching Presbyterians get antsy. Especially those who are "really" Presbyterians. You know, the hard-core Presbyterians. They were baptized, confirmed, went to Triennium, probably served on a local Youth Council, probably even went to General Assembly as a YAD (Youth Advisory Delegate). And now they're in seminary, passing right through the ordination process, passed all their Ords...they have Reformed Theology, Calvin and Presbyterian Polity down pat. Yah, those Presbyterians.
I like watching them squirm. Recently, they've been squirming in a class where we've been occasionally using words like "co-creators" or "participation" or "partnership with God." Seriously...as soon as those words are uttered, Books of Order come out, people's hands go up and all of a sudden they're quoting from Calvin's Institutes.
Or perhaps, it's not quite that dramatic. But I have found it humorous that there are a few of these students in one of my classes that just can't handle these phr
Marin Kentfield 2006-11-09 14:34:12
Just a quick question - anyone know much about the Marin Kentfield bike?
They have it at REI and I'm considering going and giving it a test-ride. Just wondered if anyone knew anything about it, or other good bikes for around $300?
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