March 22, 2008

Tech Support

A hidden camera that's traveled through time to us today shows what tech support was like at the introduction of a brand new product:

(hat tip to City of God)

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March 21, 2008

Convicting Stuff ...

... from the Boars Head Tavern. I know, I know -- now Phil and the rest of the Pyros will never read my blog again. Like they ever did to begin with.

We often want a Jesus that supports our pet views, our political party, our ideas of judgement and justice. We want to use Jesus to get things done, to scold our opponents and laud our accomplishments, to be on our side.

And if that wonÂ’t work, well, weÂ’ll happily kill that Jesus and come up with another one.

Today is Good Friday, or Great Friday, and today is the day I remember how I stood among the crowds, blind with rage and fear, and shouted for the death of God. Today is the day I followed as He was taken outside the city to be brutally murdered because He wouldnÂ’t conform to the image I had for Him. Today they laid His body in a tomb, dead and gone, any hopes we once had for Him crushed.

We're still looking for the same Messiah that Judas was looking for. The one that is going to solve our problems right now, beat our enemies right now, and set up the perfect kingdom right now. Jesus the Republican. Jesus the Radical. Jesus the Liberal. Jesus the Reformer.

And we forget all about Jesus the Savior. We forget that His ways aren't our ways, our agenda is not His agenda. If we could just get back to that idea, the Church would be a better people for it, and a lot of our division would end.

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Good Friday Musings

We've forgotten, as a society, exactly what this day means. Just another day off. Just another day home from school. Just another day.

That's painful to admit, because it's our fault. Christians have left Good Friday out, focusing on Resurrection Sunday. But Good Friday (and Maundy Thursday too, for that matter) is still there, and we ignore them.

I found a great tool yesterday, for those who have Google Earth. The folks at Crossway have developed placemarks that show the entire last week of Christ geographically, and you can view them in Google Maps or Google Earth. more...

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March 17, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This has become a tradition here on the blog. Happy St. Patrick's Day -- remember it's much more than just green beer.

And yes, I know that this was probably not written by Patrick himself: most sources date it to the 8th century or so, which puts it long after Patrick's death in the mid to late 5th century. But it's an excellent example of Celtic Christian spirituality, and I think it's valuable for us to pay attention to their example - an example that has largely been ignored by the modern church.

About the Breastplate
The Breastplate, or Lorica, of St. Patrick was probably written in the mid to late 8th century. It is a prayer that was actually written in the style of an old Druid incantation for protection on a journey, but was clearly written by a Christian. It's sometimes called "The Deer's Cry" because of an early legend surrounding Patrick:

In the year 433, Patrick was aware that there was an ambush to try to kill him and his group en route to the King's court. The group began chanting the Lorica as they traveled. As the druids lay in hiding, ready to kill, they saw not Patrick and his men, but a deer (Patrick) and 20 fawns. St. Patrick and his men were saved.

more...

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March 16, 2008

Something's Missing ....

The folks at the Two Institutions blog noticed something missing from their children's' Sunday School lesson for Easter -- the Resurrection.

According to the folks at First Look, the Gospel is "simply too violent for preschoolers."

more...

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March 13, 2008

Foregin Policy Experience? Really??

I read something the other day in a blog that disturbed me. I'd have commented, but the comments were closed. It said [blockquote]I am getting tired of reading about governors who donÂ’t have foreign policy experience. They have got to have some overseas seasoning before they are qualfied to sit in the big chair.[/blockquote]

The post irritated me at first because it was an obvious dig at Mike Huckabee -- after he was out of the race. But the more I thought about it, the stupider it sounded.

How much foreign policy experience did Ronald Reagan have? What about George Washington? Jefferson had quite a bit, but I'm not sure about Monroe. Or Adams. How about Lincoln? I'd say that many of our Presidents learned their foreign policy on the job, or by talking to their advisers. Our problem today is that we want our President to show up fully trained and ready, but there's no training program for Presidents. We've had lawyers, generals, actors, and more ascend to the White House. Few had any real foreign policy experience.

Maybe rather than wonder about the experience a candidate has, we should see what kind of people they surround themselves with. Who is going to be giving them the advice they seek to make the decisions that they have to make? That seems to be the more important question.

Of course, maybe I also got irritated because two days before I read the post, Condi Rice was asked if she was interested in a VP position, and she laughed and said no. So it's not even in the cards -- even though I agree that it would be a good choice.

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March 11, 2008

Hulu.com Launches Today

I just wanted to mention this one because I've been Beta testing it for a while now. Hulu has officially launched. And it is pretty good.

Hulu allows you to watch TV on the Internet. Time shifted, so that you watch what you want when you want. Picture quality is good, audio is good. Watch what you want, wherever you are (that's why it's better than Tivo -- all you need is a laptop and an internet connection).

Right now, the only drawback is the programming available. Limited shows from current programming are available, and the lineup seems to change every so often. For example: when I started testing, every episode of The Sarah Connor Chronicles were available. Now, only episodes 6-9 are available. Only the first five episodes of Heroes Season 2 are available. It looks like they are only going to offer 5 actual episodes for each title (though I haven't looked at every single title available, every one I checked had only 5 full episodes available), with a variety of short clips also available.

Older shows are also available (I was especially happy to see The A-Team and Airwolf on the list). The list is far from comprehensive, but there are plenty of great shows there that you can watch any time, anywhere you have a computer with high-speed Internet access. I don't think Hulu will be replacing cable any time soon, and I doubt it will provide any serious competition to Apple TV. But if you're looking for a service that allows you to watch current TV shows when you want, or see the shows you grew up with whenever you want, Hulu may be for you. At $0.00 a month (yes, it's free. There are commercials that run in each program), the price certainly is right.

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Tuneful Tuesday Part 1

(Tuneful Tuesday happens when my Music Monday post is a day late. As they have been a lot lately.)

Kat from The Secret Life of Kat has a meme each Monday that I think I'm going to start taking part in, if only to get me actually doing the music blogging thing again. This week, the topic is cover songs.

I love cover songs -- it's always fun to see what new interpretation a different band can bring to an old song. I used to have several tapes full of cover songs; one of the first podcasts I subscribed to was Coverville. But a recent post at PCCBoard got me thinking about covers again.

Here's the cover -- my take on it is below the fold:
more...

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March 09, 2008

Crossover Votes and Primaries

Last week, I voted in the Ohio primary. And even though the Republican nominee had been pretty much decided (and was, by the end of the day), I voted for Mike Huckabee (surprise, surprise).

My wife works at our local polling place, and she told me that she thought there were a number of Republican voters who crossed over and voted in the Democratic primary with the intention to support a candidate that they felt would be easy to beat in November. more...

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March 03, 2008

The Hermeneutics Quiz

Nope, this isn't a copy of an exam I had in seminary. This is a "quiz" that Scott McKnight has developed and posted at Building Church Leaders. And I figured that I'd take it.

My results: more...

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