Got the latest Wired magazine in the mail today. The cover story is about how intelligent design is gaining credibility as an alternative to evolution. For those of you who don’t subscribe, the article is available here.

I would just like to hear the first thoughts that come to everyone’s mind when you read/see this phrase — “true humanity”.

A good friend posted this comment below in reponse to another entry, but I thought it was worth bringing up here for everyone’s attention…

I work at church right now that is pushes us all alot on evangelism. Which is probably a good thing in some ways. I often have to report to someone about it or in weekly prayer times I feel pressured to have some breakthrough to share about someone I’ve talked to.

The problem is I haven’t had any real deep spiritual converstations lately. I take a secular acting/drama class in Chicago and everyone knows I’m a Christian. We hang out after class and I am getting to know quite a few of them. But I don’t push the evangelism card…it doesn’t feel right. Plus my church is 1 1/2 hrs from the city, so its odd to invite any of them to anything.

But they are always saying that I need to invite more people to events and stuff…and evangelize more. Even though some events feel like they are for people twice my age.

In addition I have a trusted friend that says just being a Christian and everyone knowing it and watching me is a form of evangelism - and sometimes a good one. If I push it on people (like my church seems to want)…it just seems like it will push people away…I don’t know.

As it is this is my only real contact with anyone who is not a Christian…and I already am working way too many hours…so there’s not a lot of opportunity for new avenues of contact.

The church I work for is very similar to Willow Creek and are evangelism is kinda “consumery.”

Any comments?

Bono is in the news again talking about AIDS in Africa. This time it’s a story from the BBC. I appreciate how articulate he is as he discusses this topic. (Thanks to Jonny Baker for the link.)

If you’re not familiar with the work Bono is doing regarding the AIDS pandemic (or even if you are), check out DATA.

The new U2 single is now available on iTunes.

I’m sure I have thoughts on this, but for now, I thought I’d just share the link:

Strangers attend cuddle parties

I had a chance to repeat one of life’s least pleasant experiences today. (Those of you who know me outside of cyberville, please forgive, because you have likely heard a similar version of this before…) My wife pointed out to me that her bathroom sink was slow draining and needed to be unclogged. I’d just like to take this opportunity to point out that it was her sink — mine drains fine. In fact, this is why we have two sinks I think. At the end of this story, you will understand why I told her she could no longer use a sink. I had dealt with this before, but in a prior house, where we both shared a sink. I’m just going to go ahead and assume (quite safely methinks) that it was her fault that time as well. Since I’m way off course anyway at this point, I think I’ll add that she actually commented that her sink was draining slowly about a year ago. Again, once the story is finished, I think you’ll appreciate and perhaps even affirm my choice to delay resolving this problem.

Now, in case you’ve forgotten where we started, let me say again that my wife pointed out to me this morning that her sink was draining quite slowly and needed to be unclogged. The previous time this happened (in case you’ve forgotten, I mentioned above that this has happened before) I tried everything on the market to clear out the sink, but nothing worked. Finally, a friend informed me that I would need to actually take apart the sink and clear out the sink trap. This time, I completely bypassed the off the shelf products and went straight for the wrench.

In case you’ve never had this pleasure, I really can’t describe what comes out of the sink trap and drain assembly when you take it apart. (In fact, perhaps you could let my wife borrow your sink every evening and morning for the next few years, then you could see it firsthand.) There is not a black hair on my wife’s head, and none of the health products which we regularly use resemble anything close to black. Yet, somehow, this sink was completely clogged with a black slimey substance and fair amount of hair thrown in for a delightful texture.

You will be happy to know that the sink now drains beautifully. As it should.

My life is filled with black slime. I thank God that through the work of Jesus on the cross and the Spirit, that slime has been and continues to be removed. But yet, I should never be happy with only that. My wife’s sink was never meant only to have a slime free drain. It was meant so that it could provide a free and open flow. That is true with me (and you) as well. God did not simply remove our slime so we could claim to be slime free. He is at work on us so his blessings can pour out into this world through us. The more we remove that obstructive gook, the more he can pour into this world.

Be grateful for what he has done in you. But make sure those around you are grateful for what he is doing through you.

I actually clicked on a banner ad last night. Not only that…I’m glad I did. The ad was promoting a free 60-day trial of Microsoft OneNote. I downloaded and installed it, and I love it. I was watching Hidalgo when I stumbled on OneNote, and I think that playing with this software may have even made that two hours of life worth living. For first generation software, it is very fucntional. I would kind of describe it as a thought database, and it works well. I have a couple ways of filing both book summaries and Scripture study notes, but I’m now in the process of converting all of them over to OneNote. Not to mention my journal, and a wholebunch of brainstormed concepts I had in a couple of word documents.

I definitely recommend it.

Now, I just need to figure out if this ebay auction is for a legal and valid version of OneNote.

Though I also posted in his comments, I’m participating in Tim Samoff’s book meme from afar as well. This is from Bowling Alone b Robert Putnam:

Before reaching any firm conclusion about Americans’ involvement in formal social organizations, however, we need to consider changes in the worlds of religion and work.

I added a Get FireFox button to the bottom of the right hand column today. I’ve been using FireFox for a few months and love it. If you’re not using FireFox, especially on a PC, I strongly recommend it.

I recently picked up a WizCom QuickLink Elite Pen Scanner. Those of you who are avid readers might find it useful. It’s a slick little device.

It’s a little scanner that is a little bit larger than a high-lighter. It’s battery powered, so you can carry it with you and scan in anything you read. Then, next time you are at your computer, you can connect it via USB and download everything you scanned and file it. I find that it recognizes text pretty well, though I usually need to make a few corrections.

Wow. I had to tease Pastor Draven because he recommended Journey Inward, Journey Outward to me about 5 or 6 times in different contexts. However, I have to say it was worth every mention he made. This book describes a church that truly understood what it meant to be missional. The amazing thing is, they were doing things 40 years ago that most of us only see in our most idealistic moments. Here are several quotes from the book, all of which I think speak pretty well for themselves:

• It is strange that the climate of the church so often has not permitted asking questions, when it ought to be known as a place for the calling forth of questions. … As members of the church, we need to resist the temptation to give answers to questions that no one has asked, and deal with that in ourselves which prevents us from creating an atmosphere in which we and others can question. (pg 13)
• Engagement with others in depth is always difficult within the church, which is probably why so few try it and why there is so little genuine Christian community in the world. In other groupings we choose those we want to be close to and those whom we want to hold at a distance, which means that any relationship in depth is on the basis of human affinity and the standards set for friendship. (pg 24)
• The reason people have resisted the Gospel is that we have gone out to make people good, to help them do their duty, to impose new burdens on them, rather than calling forth the gift which is the essence of the person himself. (pg 37)
• In fact, community will bring into light problems which, though they are yours, are often hidden even from you. (pg 53)
• The church which takes the shape of psychiatric clinics and halfway houses and counseling centers and mental health programs will be the church with its spires raised in an age which is fast being born. (pg 60)
• As churches around the country become more mission-oriented, there are many informal discussions around the question of whether the ordained minister should not earn his living in a secular calling and participate as anyone else in the life of the church. It is easy to see that a church trying to understand what it means to strip for action should think of its excesses and unnecessary endowments, but the new shaping of the church’s life to the needs of the world is going to call for, not less leadership, but a different kind of leadership. The church is going to be vastly limited in what it can do, if there are not those who can give all their waking hours to building the structures that will call forth the gifts of the laity and equip them for ministry as pastors and teachers and healers and prophets. (pg 156)
• If we are to be people on that journey of becoming fully human we need to live in a community with its life structured for those essential engagements with the world within and the world without. Today there is not much evidence of any kind of community, and for the lack of it war is waged in our own hearts, and on our streets, and in our world. (pg 172)

There is obviously a wide range to think about — more than I can comment on right now. (It’s late!) Feel free to pick one or two that jump out at you and share your own thoughts with us.

My daughter has started saying her own prayers at bedtime. It’s kind of nice to hear, since she hasn’t yet learned how to do it ‘right’. First of all, all bedtime prayers start of with thank you for the food, since she’s used to hearing that at meal times. She’s also quite scattered and all over the place, and she often needs to be redirected back to the subject or prayer. She’s also quite thankful for her friends and lists them regularly.

Any deep thoughts in here? Probably not, but it is one of my highlights every day.

Ran across this quote while reviewing some of my underlined portions of Coercion by Douglas Rushkoff:

Retailers no longer pretended they were simply selling their products in the best possible light. They were doing more than just associating their wares with a desirable lifestyle. They were creating atmospheres that triggered an emotional need: to be a part of a world that was different from everyday reality. This distinction is key. Salespeople were no longer focusing on the attributes of the product but of the customers.

I was thinking of how this relates to how the change in advertising has effected how the church ‘does evangelism.’ I present the positive spin and negative spin:

Positive: The change in advertising has caused the church to rethink how it reaches people as well. We have begun to understand that we need to be more intentional about connecting with people where they are at, and showing how the gospel can sweep in and meet their needs. (This concept of evangelism is well presented by Brian McLaren in More Ready Than You Realize.) Simply communicating the highlights of the gospel by preaching the message to a large audience is no longer seen to be as effective. Instead, we have, like advertisers, begun to meet people where they are at, and show them how the gospel can ‘improve’ their situation.

Negative: The change in advertising has caused us to begin to think of ourselves first. Therefore, unless someone can show us specifically how the gospel relates to us, we are not interested. Where this actually gets negative is when it is pushed further. It also creates a whole movement of people who are much more interested in simply having church their way. They feel if they don’t have an opportunity to participate in a discussion with someone, then why should they bother to listen to what they have to say. Thus, the old paradigm of ‘preaching’ is to be tossed out (On a side note, there is a good conversation about preaching developing here.) because we all want it customized our own way.

Now, I obviously lean toward the former, which is probably kind of evident since More Ready Than You Realize is listed in the side column as one of my ‘noteworthy reads.’ However, there is likely more truth in the negative spin than many of us would probably care to accept.

Bruiser alerted me to a story on the Hell House production from the NY Times a few weeks ago. He posted this link in the comments to the original Hell House post, but I thought I’d bring it up here where everyone would see it. Thanks Bruiser.