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Them That Sleep
I’ve been thinking about death again lately. Not morbidly – just because it has touched my life more often in the last few years than in all the years beforehand.
This week, though, I’m thinking about death because the mother of an old friend passed away suddenly after a short, severe battle with cancer. Her youngest son (of five) is still in high school.
How to Act on It
By now, many of us have started to recover from Jubilee – a time filled with learning, laughter, and a lot of challenging thoughts. One of the most vivid images I’ll remember from Jubilee 2010 is John Perkins on Sunday morning, leaning over the side of the stage as if he’s about to dive off of it into the crowd, beckoning for us to take the baton and continue the race he’s run so well.
But now we’re back on our campuses, in our homes, at our workplaces. As someone who attended a lot of similar events throughout college and into adulthood (though obviously, none as fine as this!), I recognize that familiar feeling of exhaustion and overwhelmed-ness that also settles in after a conference. Okay – I’m inspired. I want to do something. But where do I go from here?
Ready or Not (?): How to Make the Most of Jubilee
With Jubilee just a little more than 24 hours away, it’s easy to say, “Ready or not, it’s here!” However, in these final hours, there are still some things we can consider as we plan to make the most of our Jubilee experience.
Here’s a top ten list of things to do to prepare. Most of these points are adapted directly from my co-worker, Steve Lutz’, blog (the SENTinel)…with a few add-ons. Thanks, Steve!
Deep Church at a Deep Discount
Not too long ago Derek Melleby wrote a great blog post on Jim Belcher’s Deep Church. We are so excited that Jim is going to be Jubilee 2010 this weekend in Pittsburgh. We are also excited to let you know about an amazing discount to download the audio book of Jim Belcher’s Deep Church for only $2.98! Just make sure to enter the discount code “DEEPJUBILEE” when you order the audio book: http://christianaudio.com/deepchurch
This fabulous, thoughtful book would make for great listening material as you drive or fly or walk or even take the bus to Jubilee 2010. Don’t miss out!
On the Meaning of Lent
It’s coming! It’s really coming once again!
I don’t actually mean Jubilee (though I’m so excited for Friday!). I mean Lent.
For Western Christians, the Lenten season begins this Wednesday – Ash Wednesday. (Our Eastern Orthodox brethren begin celebrating the Great Lent today, though this year we celebrate Easter – Pascha for them – on the same day.)
I could describe Lent for you, but Wikipedia does a pretty good job: Read the rest of this entry »
College Football and Work
I’m an NFL fan, but this season I watched a handful of college games. During one particular Louisiana State University match-up, a somewhat inexperienced quarterback looked down field but couldn’t find any receivers. Pass rushers closed in and forced him to scramble. After the fruitless play ended, the commentator said, “Once he began to scramble, he could never get his eyes down field again.”
He simply couldn’t get back to the play. An experienced quarterback, however, can. Even under pressure, a veteran sees more than the immediate threats and pressures, and can quickly regain his focus after avoiding a sack. Pardon my fatherly, Kipling-esque attempt, but a lesson emerges from this story.
Fit 4 Service?
People sometimes ask me why I love the Jubilee Conference so much. It liberates my imagination, I often tell them. What? It liberates my imagination. It helps me to gain a vision for what it might look like if the Kingdom really did come on Earth as it is in Heaven. And that’s what we need, isn’t it? A picture, an image, a story that reveals and reminds us of the way God intended the world to be. It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut, to begin to think that things can’t really change, to wonder if the Gospel has anything to do with our daily routines. We need constant reminders that God is indeed at work in His world, and the conference inspires us to be Jubilee people. I love it.
Kirk Ream is one of those Jubilee people. He owns a fitness center in Carlisle, PA. But it’s not like most gyms you may have joined. You won’t find mirrors or muscle magazines. Kirk is motivated by a Jubilee vision for running a workout facility. In a culture obsessed with working out to be more sexually attractive, Kirk keeps his clients focused on a better goal: to be fit for the service of others. Talk about having your imagination liberated! Now that’s a Jubilee vision if I’ve ever heard one.
On Being a Christian in the Scholarly Community
I’m teaching research writing this semester, and part of that class is to introduce students to what it means to be part of the scholarly community. It’s kind of hard to explain what that means, especially to students who are in their first year of college. The distinction between high school and college is still emerging to them and the idea of “scholarliness” is still undefined.
I’m not even sure I know how to define what it means to be part of the scholarly community, let alone to be a Christian in that community (as opposed to being a scholar in the Christian community, which has real value but is quite a different activity).