called to stand here

The conversations with Jasmine and Margy have been going on for months and months, but taking care of Pouncer and Lucy brought it all to a head: they wanted a dog... badly. And there were lots of good reasons for their argument. Jasmine would benefit from the added responsibility, companionship, and after the dog grows up, protection. A nine-year-old girl in today's world needs some protection if she's going to walk down a street, even a safe midwestern street. On my side, I pointed out all the downside challenges I could think of, knowing that one day each of them would wonder in her heart-of-hearts, "What was I thinking when I said I wanted a dog?!?" I made sure they heard my warnings, but the cry of their hearts was for a dog. Fast forward: adoption day for Esty, our new Brittany, was Thursday the 23rd. Nine weeks old, she's just getting into the gangling puppy stage. Margy and Jasmine were delighted with her. Before the sun had set, she had my heart, too. Jasm...

Mark Driscoll is a prophetic voice in the church today, and when he was asked to speak on his view of the church at Advance 09 early this month, it was a powerful message that should be widely heard. I offer it here for your edification. Blessings!

Fifty-three weeks ago I was sitting in this same place. I'm listening to Misty Edwards sing praises to the Lord in the way that only she can. It's the conclusion--as it was last year--to a wonderful time of listening and cleansing. Margy and I have taken a few days to break away from the hubbub of our lives to be quiet for awhile. The theme of this set-aside time has been humility. It started out for Margy with a week by Lura Lake in her father's camper reading Madame Guyon 's devotional classic, Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ . Then I had the urge to download some audio books from Librivox and ran into Andrew Murray 's version of the same topic, I think: Humilty: The Beauty of Holiness . Take these teachings (revelations, really, if the teaching hasn't fully taken root before) and mix in Mark Driscoll 's priestly rebuke to church leaders in his message " Ministry Idolatry " and you've got the makings of a transformational time at th...

I'm part of a task force that was asked to start a conversation at Minnesota State University, Mankato, about student learning outcomes. These are my notes and what I submitted. My notes: http://www.sjsu.edu/ugs/docs/GE/Area_A3.doc http://www.sjsu.edu/ugs/assessment/ge/materials/ The following Content Objectives are specific to Area A3 Reasoning about issues appropriate to the subject matter of the course shall also be presented, analyzed, evaluated, and constructed. All critical thinking classes should teach formal and informal methods for determining the validity of deductive reasoning and the strength of inductive reasoning, including a consideration of common fallacies in inductive and deductive reasoning. Courses shall require the use of qualitative reasoning skills orally and for written assignments. Substantial writing assignments are to be integrated with critical thinking instruction. Writing will lead to the production of argumentative essays, with a minimum of 3000 words...

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but two news article I ran across in the last couple of days make me think the time is getting right for big brother to emerge in our culture. The first one that got my attention was my discovery of a collaboration between Cisco and NASA : it's called Planetary Skin . To see what I mean, watch the video on this page , and notice the expectation that all will agree that pervasive information and control of systems by who knows who is a reasonable goal. Especially interesting is the appearance of the word TRUST near the end of the video; it's not connected to anything in the narration or the video images, it's just there as the last word. And it's being launched on Earth Day in San Francisco, according this this article in Fast Company>> That was sobering, but it took on special significance as I saw an article on cnet that discussed in some detail the similar IBM initiative that was launched earlier this week. Data and analytic...

Congratulations to the MSU women's basketball team for winning the NCAA Division II national championship last week. The media around here has been full of it. We all needed something positive to focus on in this bleak news era we're currently inhabiting--floods, economic meltdown, etc. One quote especially got my attention. In The Free Press, Mankato's newspaper, the coach Pam Gohl is quoted : "What a great game for the advancing of women's basketball," Mavericks coach Pam Gohl said. "We couldn't figure out how to stop them. Thank goodness, we scored more points than them." I was so amused by this last line that the Free Press used as a pull quote in its print edition on Saturday morning that I pointed it out to others around the breakfast table. But that same sound byte was rendered differently in The Reporter , MSU's student newspaper: "What a great game for the advancement of women's basketball," said MSU head coach Pam Gohl...

American Idol is based on the spectacle concept. Only those who have the stomach to be in the spotlight (no matter how bad their act is) are willing to go there. Maybe this is Madonna's and Andy Warhol's wisdom played out. (If I recall, it was Madonna who said, "All publicity is good publicity," and Warhol who made the famous " 15 minutes of fame " quote.) But the spectacle concept has ancient roots. It is one of the signs of a biblical prophet. From Noah's spectacular boat-building project to Jesus' death on the cross, these men of God followed his instructions in such a way that they made themselves spectacles in a world that heaped derision on them for their other-worldly priorities and defiance of the world's values. Noah's ark Abraham's circumcision Moses' plagues , the Exodus , and the wilderness wanderings David's dance (2 Sam. 6:14-22) and Bathsheba-related sins (2 Sam. 11, 12) Job's suffering Solomon's extravage...