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February 29, 2008
Feb 29: A Day of Hope and Re-Ordering
Leap Years are funny things. They appear, and they disappear. They show up every so often, and then they don't.
The story behind the reason of 'why' we have leap years is slight more important that we know when they are coming. So why do we have leap years? According to Wikipedia,"A leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing one or more extra days (or, in case of lunisolar calendars, an extra month) in order to keep the calendar year synchronised with the astronomical or seasonal year. For example, February would have 29 days in a leap year instead of the usual 28. Seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of full days, so a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would over time drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected."
So...in fact, we ought to all be thankful for leap years. Not merely because they often give us five Fridays in February, but because of the space they give us for reflection. Like the proverbial year of jubilee, Feb 29 stands as a day of hope and re-ordering. Thats right, because of these days we, are able to get back on track so that our lives do not drift hopelessly off into the wrong seasons. Like the seasons of the church calendar, leap year days, call us back to re-membering our interconnectedness to the created order, and one another.
SO, here is my prayer for today. Use it as you'd like, but make sure, make very sure that you don't miss this opportunity to let the miscalculations and failures, shortcomings and over-compensations, the over-promising and under-delivering become rectified on this day of catching up with the cosmos.
A Prayer for February 29:
God of the Cosmos,
You have gifted us with an extra day this year,
that we might reflect on our drifting out of sync with you.
Grant that this day,
you would in your great compassion,
forgive us of the wrongs we have committed in our lack of trust,
and the goods we have done in our selfish over-compensation.
Deliver to us, hopeful Creator,
a renewed sense of timing with you, others, and creation,
that we might respond in time with your Kingdom and know more accurately
the way to love ourselves and our enemies.
Free us, great Liberator,
from the bondage and baggage of our past,
and bring us restored into tomorrow,
that with hopefulness for life in the age to come,
we may serve you to glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
may to day be a day of restoration for you all...
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 10:13 AM | Comments (3)
February 27, 2008
No End In Sight: An Event for Barack Obama
In the next couple of months (time to be determined but most likely April 27) Geneva for Obama is going to be hosting a fund-raising event where we show the movie No End in Sight. If you haven't heard of or seen this film, make sure to watch the above trailer and check out the website.
If you are interested in participating, please let me, or Karen know. Also, regardless of whether or not you like Obama, Hilary, or McCain, make sure you are registered to vote. If you live abroad and want to register for the upcoming elections, visit this site.
Remember, 'YES, WE CAN!'.
peace...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2008
Podcasting Deep Church
As you may be aware, I am one of the interviewers for the Nick and Josh Podcast. There are going to be several very exciting interviews coming out that I have done recently over the next few months. Interviews with all sorts of people about faith, international development, soul care, and deep church.
However, if you haven't already, make sure you check out the current podcast of me interviewing Jason Clark about Deep Church.
stay in the loop...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)
Tuesday is for Thomas
Here are a few quotes by Merton that I have been reflecting on lately:
"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them."
“The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you in proportion to your fear of being hurt."
“We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being. As a result, men are valued not for what they are but for what they do or what they have - for their usefulness.”
“Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.”
And here is powerful one by Washington Irving:
“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love.”
Sorry to have been absent from the blog as of late.
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2008
In Case You Missed It: Make That 11 for Obama!
Barack Obama has won the international primary!! In Geneva, according to Democrats abroad, he won something like 78%-22%. Overall in the global primary he won 65%-32% for Clinton.
Here is a longer piece on it.
Make That 11 for Obama
By BRIAN KNOWLTON
WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama won his 11th straight nominating contest on Thursday, carrying the Democrats Abroad global primary by a 2-to-1 margin over Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and prevailing among American expatriates in every region of the world.
The results represented thousands of ballots submitted from Americans in 164 countries and territories from Feb. 5 to 12.
The overseas Democrats were allocating a small number of delegates – 4.5 — on Thursday, under a proportional system that allotted 2.5 to Obama and 2 to Clinton. A further 2.5 will be determined at a Democrats Abroad convention on April 12 in Vancouver, Canada. The group also holds 4 superdelegate votes, for a total of 11 votes at the national convention in late August in Denver.
But in a close contest, Democrats Abroad said they felt particularly engaged.
Democrats Abroad for the first time allowed votes to be cast online, though others were cast by mail, fax or in person, and they came in “from Antarctica to Zambia – from A to Z,” said Christine Schon Marques, the group’s international chair, in a phone interview from Geneva. “Many people overseas are very concerned about the war in Iraq; they’re looking for change.”
One of the Antarctica voters was Adam Lutchansky, a 26-year-old Alaska native who just finished a six-month stint working in the power plant at McMurdo Station and voted via the Internet.
“We only get mail service six months out of the year and it takes about a month for a letter to make a round trip to the U.S.,” he said by e-mail message, “but even here in Antarctica we have a dependable Internet connection. It was great to finally see a political body get onboard with the security and flexibility of the Internet.”
By way of comparison, Mr. Obama’s global 66-to-33 percent lead over Mrs. Clinton was nearly identical to the edge he recorded in states like Minnesota, or his home state of Illinois.
Mr. Obama won by strong majorities in every region and nearly every country. The senator, who was born in Hawaii, did particularly well in the Asia-Pacific region, winning 79 percent of the vote in Japan and 76 percent in Indonesia, where he lived as a youth. He also did well in Europe, carrying more than 70 percent of the vote in France and Switzerland.
Mrs. Clinton won in Israel, the Dominican Republic and the Philippines. Her best regional showing was in the Americas, with 44 percent of the vote.
Republicans do not hold a global primary. They cast votes directly in their home districts, as overseas Democrats also have the option of doing."
G-O-BAMA!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:59 PM
February 20, 2008
Peter Rollins and Bart Ehrman: Towards a Church Beyond Belief
In case you have missed it, Pete has a new website. He has made the switch from his other blog and now seems to have a real site.
What is more, you can use this as a reminder to pre-order his next book, entitled The Fidelity of Betrayal: Towards a Church Beyond Belief (or The IR/Religious Heart of Christianity. I promise, if you liked the first one, you are really going to enjoy this one. It should begin to appear around April, with lots of controversy to follow.
Also, earlier today, my friend sent me a link a to this article about Bart Ehrman's new book entitled, God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer. There is also an audio link to to an interview between he and npr. I am not sure if you have read much by Ehrman; however, here is a snippet from the book to tempt you:
"In an earlier book, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, I have indicated that my strong commitment to the Bible began to wane the more I studied it. I began to realize that rather than being an inerrant revelation from God, inspired in its very words (the view I had at Moody Bible Institute), the Bible was a very human book with all the marks of having come from human hands: discrepancies, contradictions, errors, and different perspectives of different authors living at different times in different countries and writing for different reasons to different audiences with different needs. But the problems of the Bible are not what led me to leave the faith. These problems simply showed me that my evangelical beliefs about the Bible could not hold up, in my opinion, to critical scrutiny. I continued to be a Christian—a completely committed Christian—for many years after I left the evangelical fold.
Eventually, though, I felt compelled to leave Christianity altogether. I did not go easily. On the contrary, I left kicking and screaming, wanting desperately to hold on to the faith I had known since childhood and had come to know intimately from my teenaged years onward. But I came to a point where I could no longer believe. It's a very long story, but the short version is this: I realized that I could no longer reconcile the claims of faith with the facts of life. In particular, I could no longer explain how there can be a good and all-powerful God actively involved with this world, given the state of things. For many people who inhabit this planet, life is a cesspool of misery and suffering. I came to a point where I simply could not believe that there is a good and kindly disposed Ruler who is in charge of it.
The problem of suffering became for me the problem of faith. After many years of grappling with the problem, trying to explain it, thinking through the explanations that others have offered—some of them pat answers charming for their simplicity, others highly sophisticated and nuanced reflections of serious philosophers and theologians—after thinking about the alleged answers and continuing to wrestle with the problem, about nine or ten years ago I finally admitted defeat, came to realize that I could no longer believe in the God of my tradition, and acknowledged that I was an agnostic: I don't "know" if there is a God; but I think that if there is one, he certainly isn't the one proclaimed by the Judeo-Christian tradition, the one who is actively and powerfully involved in this world. And so I stopped going to church."
The interesting nature of these two books is that actually, if you just follow the teaser of Rollin's upcoming book, it might just be that by losing his faith, Ehrman actually found a truer more real faith. Seems odd, but maybe, just maybe, Pete is once again really on to something.
have faith? lose it!
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 09:04 PM | Comments (10)
February 19, 2008
Tuesday is for Thomas
Merton wrote:
"I don't know what I have really written that I could call mine, or what i have prayed or done that was good that came from my own will. Whose prayer made me pray again to God to give me grace to pray? I could have fought for years by myself to reduce my life to some order, yet I would have slowly eaten myself out, I think. But someone must have mentioned me in some prayer; perhaps the soul of some person I hardly remember-perhaps some stranger in a subway, or some child-or maybe the fact that someone as good as Lilly Reilly happened to think I was a good guy served in prayer-or the fact that Nanny might have said my name in her prayers moved the Lord God to send me a little grace to pray again or, first, to begin reading books that led me there again-and how much of it was brought on by the war? These things are inscrutable and I begin to know them better when I can write them down. How many people have become Christians through the prayers of Jews and Hindus who themselves find Christianity terribly hard? We cannot know all the movements of Christ's grace."
pray for someone today in your traditional way, with your traditional voice, as the Spirit leads...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 07:13 PM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2008
Lost
So, Josh Brown and Leslie Breen's fascination with Lost is creeping in on me. James Hill started it all when he stated something to the effect that Season one was what he was going to use for teaching his confirmation class. And in fact, I think he did.
Josh took the test here, and so, I thought I'd try. The book question almost threw me. You may also remember my brush with Lost star 'Ethan' at Pub Quiz in Geneva.
Which Lost character are you?
just for fun...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:50 AM | Comments (1)
February 16, 2008
Seriously Good Conversations
Here are a few SGCs from this week. Do enjoy and engage:
Progression of Faith's 'Is Emergent Christianity DOA?'
Preludium's 'Beating up the Archbishop is just the beginning'.
Greg Boyd's 'A Bono Looking Church?'
benedson's 'Sacremental Missiology'.
Also, make sure you check out Josh Brown's series entitled, 'Challenging the Critiques of Emergent'.
In terms of book recommendation, this week I would like to suggest William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. As a Southerner, this Southern-gothic classic represents not only the dysfunction of the South (meaning of America) but the dysfunction in us all. If you have the patience to read it, I would highly suggest it. Who knows, you may even find a bit of your own story it.
The book gets its title from this soliloquy by Shakespeare's Macbeth:
"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
''Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing..."
Finally, my youtube video of the week is this one which is the story of a young boy who has autism. It is a bit old now, but i found re-watching it this week still deeply moving. Enjoy!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2008
The No Asshole Rule: A review and some tips
Here is a review and some tips about assholes from world business specialists Guy Kawasaki. Kawasaki writes of Robert Sutton's book:
"You have to like an author who has the testicles (or ovaries) to walk away from Harvard Business School Press because it wouldn’t let him use the word “asshole” in his title. (HBS Press also turned me down once, but I digress...) Robert Sutton is the author who did this; he’s a professor at Stanford in the engineering school. While I am not a big fan of profanity, “asshole” is the only word that delivers the proper connotative meaning in some situations, so forgive me for using it in this posting.
I have an early copy of Sutton’s book, The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t, and it’s the definitive guide to understanding, counteracting, and not becoming an asshole. I am qualified to make this judgment because (a) I’ve been an asshole a few times and (b) been a victim of assholes more than a few times.
The first step is to recognize who is an asshole. Sutton’s blog cites one method. It’s called the Starbucks Test It goes like this: If you hear someone at Starbucks order a “decaf grande half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n’-Low and one NutraSweet,” you’re in the presence of an asshole. It’s unlikely that this petty combination is necessary—the person ordering is trying to flex her power because she’s an asshole.
A second method is to use Suttons’s dirty-dozen list of everyday asshole actions:
Personal insults
Invading one’s personal territory
Uninvited personal contact
Threats and intimidation, both verbal and non-verbal
Sarcastic jokes and teasing used as insult delivery systems
Withering email flames
Status slaps intended to humiliate their victims
Public shaming or status degradation rituals
Rude interruptions
Two-faced attacks
Dirty looks
Treating people as if they are invisible
A third method—albeit the least reliable, scientific, and fair but the most fun—is to search Google with a person’s name (or a profession) plus “asshole.” This yields some interesting results. For example, I am associated more with the word “asshole” than Terrell Owens.
How To Avoid Being an Asshole
The first $64,000 question is, “How does one avoid being an asshole?” No big surprise, but I’ve compiled a top-ten list to summarize what Sutton says:
1. Face your past. The past is a very good predictor of future behavior. For example, were you a bully in school? If your parents and siblings were assholes, you may have caught the disease. Knowing that you’re an asshole is first step towards change.
2. Do not make people feel oppressed, humiliated, de-energized, or belittled. If you find yourself having these effects, it’s time to change your behavior no matter what you think of yourself.
3. Do not mistreat people who are less powerful than you. One of the sure signs of an asshole is treating people like clerks, flight attendants, and waiters in a degrading manner.
4. Resist assholeholics from the start. The easiest time to avoid becoming an asshole is at the very beginning. Don’t think that you can do “what you have to” to fit in and can change later. It won’t happen.
5. Walk away and stay away. Don’t be afraid to leave a bad situation. It’s unlikely you’ll change the assholes into good people; it’s much more likely that you’ll descend to their level.
6. View acting like an asshole as a communicable disease. If you have any sense of decency, when you’re sick, you avoid contact to prevent spreading the disease. So if you act like an asshole, you’re not just impacting yourself; you’re also teaching other people that it’s okay to be an asshole.
7. Focus on win-win. Children (young and old) think that the world is a zero-sum game. If another kid is playing with the fire truck, you can’t. As people get older they should realize that life doesn’t have to be a win-lose proposition--unless, that is, you’re an asshole.
8. Focus on ways you are no better or even worse than others. Thinking that you’re smarter, faster, better looking, funnier, whatever than others turns people into assholes. Thinking that you’re no better or even worse keeps you humble.
9. Focus on ways you are similar to people, not different. If you concentrate on how you and others have similar goals, desires, and passions, you’re bound to be less of an asshole. How can you treat people that are similar to you with disdain?
10. Tell yourself, “I have enough stuff (money, toys, friends, cars, whatever).” Discontentment and envy is a major factor in becoming an asshole. If you’re happy, there’s no reason to stomp on others.
How to Deal With Assholes
Let’s say that you’re not an asshole, but you have to cope with assholes. What can you do? That’s the second $64,000 question that Sutton answers.
1. Hope for the best, but expect the worst. One of the most frustrating aspects of dealing with assholes is that they disappoint you--making you wonder the very value of humans. Lowering your expectations can help reduce disappointment. Don’t solely lower your expectations, though, or you will slip into cynicism (and possibly turn into an asshole too.) Continue to hope for the best.
2. Develop indifference and emotional detachment. Sutton may be the only author who has the insight and courage to recommend that being indifferent and detached may be a good thing in work environments. If it permits you to survive, then it is. In other words, don’t let the jerks get to you.
3. Look for small wins. Small victories can keep you going. Most assholes pride themselves in total control and absolute domination. Any victory, no matter how small, can keep you going. Rest assured that small victories can lead to winning the war.
4. Limit your exposure. You can do what you can to avoid meetings and interactions with assholes. This involves finding or building pockets of “safety, support, and sanity,” to use Sutton’s words. He cites an example of a nurse’s lounge as a refuge from an asshole doctor.
5. Expose them. In Sutton’s blog he mentions Marge’s Asshole Management Metric. This refers to four-point system from 0 to 3. Marge, the boss, would point to people who were behaving like assholes and hold up one, two, or three fingers according to this code:
1 = You are a normal person who can occasionally assert yourself on an issue you are passionate about, but you handle yourself in a non-confrontational way in nearly all occasions.
2 = You can consistently assert yourself in a non-confrontational way and are occasionally an asshole, but you feel horrible about it afterwards, and you may or may not apologize (but you probably will have to confess your remorse to someone).
3 = You can consistently be an asshole and you either do not recognize this or you simply enjoy it.
By the way, 0 in her system means this: You are a very nice person, and very passive. No one can say a word against you and would never think to call you an asshole. If you are safe in your position, then calling assholes out is a good way to deal with them.
6. De-escalate and re-educate. This strategy requires that the asshole you’re dealing with isn’t a “chronic,” “certified,” and “flagrant” asshole. It means meeting asshole behavior with calmness (instead of either similar behavior or fear) and trying to re-educate the person about how he’s behaving.
7. Stand up to them. Funny thing about assholes: Standing up to them shouldn’t necessarily scare you. While I was an Apple employee, I was in a meeting with a highly placed Apple exec and Apple’s ad agency. The ad agency person showed the new television spots and said he’d give a copy to the Apple exec and me. The Apple exec told the agency person not to give one to me. I spoke up: “Are you saying you don’t trust me?” The Apple exec answered: “Yes.” To which I replied, “That’s okay because I don’t trust you either.” You know what? The sun rose the next day, and my family still loved me.
The book also explains how to implement a no-asshole rule in your company; how being an asshole can be a necessity, if not a virtue; and how to calculate the TCA (Total Cost of Assholes). I want you to buy the book, so I won’t reveal any details. (Another way to avoid being an asshole is to resist the temptation to steal other people’s thunder.)"
Thanks Guy! Moral of the story: deal with assholes, don't become one...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 05:37 PM
February 12, 2008
Tuesday is for Thomas
Merton wrote:
"I think of the unity of the Church in this her Lent (the lesson from the book of Joel brings this out: "Blow the trumpet and call the people together for the great fast!"). The whole Church is called together and we realize that our Lent is united with the suffering of the martyrs and the fasts of the desert fathers and the good works and penances of all the saints. Whatever I can give to God and to other men is only the effect and manifestation in me of the power of the Passion of Jesus. I would reply to his action, and let him show Himself in my life. This He will do in a way I have expected and not expected; planned and not planned; desire and not desired.
My decisions do not anticipate His coming: the manifest that He has come, if they be His decisions."
follow as best you can...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2008
UPDATE: Archbishop thoughts online.
context + intention= deeper understanding!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2008
Bono, Brian McLaren and the Archbishop of Canterbury
Recently at the God Politics Blog, Brian McLaren posted some thoughts on his time at Davos in conversation with a few Muslim friends. While the thoughts are quite refreshing and the kind I have come to respect and admire from Brian, they strike me as deeply curious today as the Archbishop's thoughts on Sharia law in the UK seem to have created such a fuss. He is quite frankly be accused of everything by the lawyers, clergy, politicians, and by the the media. But the man is, more than just rambling here...he is protestifying to a greater reality with even bigger questions about who God is and where God comes into politics within the diversified unity of nations.
Now, I am no Englishman (Sting's song in my head), but I really can not get what all the fuss is about. As one of the Spiritual leaders in the kingdom, he is merely reflecting back 'facts' to a country about itself and, quite possibly, about 'how' it can continue to exist as a whole nation, under God or, maybe even a different reality, under Gods. Though he doesn't say this, it seems to be implied not merely by his role in the life of the Church and the nation, but by his mystical understanding of Christian unity.
I feel like these conversations are just the beginning of what is going to prove to be a long debate among countries where there have been long held religious and cultural values, which begin to need to flex or die. As a mystic, I feel that Rowan is trying to lead the way on a discussion that has sensitivities which are beyond the body politik and which, as a spiritual leader, he understands. For this, it feels he is very much on the leading edge of the dialogue. Maybe, almost shockingly so, the church is there for the first time in a while?
I hate to say it, but in many ways, I fear that this is the same reason why Brian and others get such criticism. Why? Because they too are asking questions as spiritual leaders who professionally have thought about certain issues in certain ways that others might not have. With Brian and others, of course, the even greater challenge lay in the realities of the landscape of America's existing democracy. Not to mention the fact that most Americans, probably more than admit it, have some sense of fear about anyone who is Muslim because of the way in which the media has been used for the last 8 years to portray them. A portrayal which has unfortunately been reinforced by a politic and policy.
And Bono, what of him? Where does he come into this equation or conversation? One word: COEXIST.
Now what we should not hear in the words of the Archbishop are we need to all become a weird a-typical sort of religious body which is neither Christian nor Muslim. But, what Bono and other continually call us to, is to asking the question of how in a multi-religious society, we must be able to live and habitate together. Not as inferior or greaters, but as equals. This is the essence of coexistence. We hold in tension not merely our disagreements, but the autonomy of our similarities.
There are lots of others who have thoughts on this discussion now. But just you wait. The discussion is really, only beginning.
i am an alien...
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 11:09 PM | Comments (0)
Seriously Good Conversations
Here are a few goodies from this week:
Molleth's 'Reforming Behaviour Through Law'.
Jason Clark's 'Who are the poor?'
Maggi Dawn's 'Lent 2008'.
Boxologies' 'Temples, Christendom, and the Kingdom of God (or why P's and G's is keeping me awake)'.
John Doyle's comment on opensourcetheology.net entitled, 'Old (and New?) Testament framing story'.
Finally, Benjamin's entry at Justice and Compassion entitled, 'Can't we at least f&*(^ng be allowed to know their names?
In terms of a book recommendation for this week, check out the book The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture by Shane Hipps. If you haven't already read this one, you will certainly want to. It an exploration and application of many of communication prophet, Marshall McLuhan's works. I think it is one of the most comprehensive pieces on how we can better understand communication in faith, and faith in communication. If, as McLuhan suggest, 'the medium is the message,' then we have some (re)thinking to do!
Last, and certainly not least, the video of the week for many people is 'Yes, We Can!' If you haven't seen it already, now is your time. And remember, this is about more than just who will be the next American president. It is about who we can hope to be as a global village.
be the change...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:43 AM | Comments (1)
February 07, 2008
Michael Moore...the Priest??
(ht: presvid)
Watch this part of the interview between Michael Moore and Larry King where Moore talks not only about how he feels, 'morally prohibited from voting for Hilary', but also about how his religious views (Irish Catholic) influence who he is as a person.
I knew there was something about this guy.
be who you are meant to be...
jc
also, congrats to Nicholas and Leslie on the first part of their journey!
Posted by joshuacase at 05:37 PM | Comments (1)
February 06, 2008
Super Tuesday continues!
Well, the vote counting is not over yet, but one thing is for certain, I am very proud of a couple of Southern States in concern to my candidate. Ala-Obama, and Ge-Obama did well!
Here are the results:
Alabama:
and, Georgia:
And in case you missed it, check out this video of Obama preaching/speaking/visioneering at the former church of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is about 34 minutes long, but it is good.
stay engaged!
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 08:49 AM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2008
(Super) Tuesday is for Thomas and Obama!!
Ironically, Brian McLaren send out his Deep Shift newsletter today, and it included this Thomas Merton quote:
"To do the work carefully and well, with love and respect for the nature of my task and with due attention to its purpose, is to unite myself to God's will in my work. In this way I become God's instrument. God works through me."
For more information on Deep Shift visit here.
Also, if you hadn't noticed, I am deeply for Obama. I hope if you can get out and vote today in your local primary, you will vote for change. If you can not vote, pray for those who can.
I also want to go on record and saying that if Obama doesn't win, watch out for an Obama/Bloomberg independent presidential bid!! Yep, you heard it here first!!
Just vote!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)
February 04, 2008
Bono: 'I'm pissed off because of a sense of success!'
In case you missed this talk by Bono at the World Economic Forum, you'll want to check it out. Again, putting on his preacher/prophet/global leader hat, he speaks frankly and challengingly to all who will listen about the major issues facing our world today!
By way of another book recommendation, if you have not read The Rise of Christianity, by Rodney Start, CHECK IT OUT!! Very very good book about the way early Christianity grew while addressing the major issues of its day; namely, those that are strikingly similar to the MDG's that Bono references in his talk.
be the change...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 01:12 PM | Comments (1)
YES, WE CAN!!!!
Tony Jones and Lammert Vrieling have made my week. HTs boys! HTs!
vote 'yes, we can' to the new american dream!!!!
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 12:38 AM | Comments (2)
February 03, 2008
Tiger goes two-for-two, Obama for Tuesday!
It has already started out as a great year for Tiger. Starting the day at four behind the leader, everyone was wondering...can he do it? The answer came with two holes to play...and the answer was: OF COURSE HE CAN!!!
Tiger Woods shot a back-nine 31 to give him his second victory in as many events in 2008.
MORE Per ESPN:
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Tiger Woods birdied his last two holes Sunday to rally from a four-shot deficit and win the Dubai Desert Classic, starting his season with two victories that looked nothing alike.
One week after winning the Buick Invitational by eight shots, Woods had to birdie five of his last seven holes for a 7-under 65, then wait to see if Ernie Els could catch him. Els needed a birdie on the par-5 18th to force a playoff, but a wayward tee shot led to bogey.
Woods finished at 14-under 274 and won by one shot over Martin Kaymer of Germany, who finished birdie-birdie-eagle for a 66.
Woods now has won his last four official tournaments, and six of his last seven dating to the Bridgestone Invitational in early August. This is the third time in his career he has started a season with consecutive victories.
For Els, it was a devastating blow.
The South African is in the middle of a three-year plan to become No. 1 in the world, and this looked like the perfect occasion to make a statement. Instead, Els closed with a pedestrian 71 and wound up tied for third at 12-under 276 with Louis Oosthuizen.
oh yeah...now comes Super Tuesday!!!
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2008
Nicholas, Brian, and Bono
Nicholas and Leslie are a the first Deep Shift conference in Charlotte. Nick is live blogging it here.
During the am session today, Brian quotes Bono from Davos.
Here is video:
plug in where you can!!
joshua
Also, check out this article from the Charlotte Observer on Brian.
Posted by joshuacase at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)
Seriously Good Conversations
Here are a few SGCs from this week:
1. the church and postmodern culture's 'What in hell would Jesus Do? A deconstructive reflection on Holy Saturday'
2. Jordan Buckley's 'Slavery, Palin and Simple'
3. Paul Mayers' 'A pew for one, please...'
4. Mike Todd's 'Time for a Change'
5. Prodigal Kiwi's 'Anglican Priesthood: Some Thoughts and Some Questions at the start of 2008'
6. Laura Anne's 'Pro "Informed" Choice' at Jason Clark.ws. Please don't miss this very lively conversation!!!
And for those of you looking for a video to watch, check out Jim Wallis on the Daily Show! Whoo Hoo!! WELL DONE JIM!!!!!
And finally, my book suggestion for the week is Serve God, Save the Planet, by Matthew Sleeth. Now President of Arocha USA. Check it out and challenge your self, your family, and your community a God in care of the cosmos.
have a great weekend...
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 09:01 AM | Comments (3)
February 01, 2008
Brian McLaren's thoughts while at Davos
These are a few of Brian's thoughts on Davos from when he was at the World Economic Forum.
While they may be few, I think there is something very important for us to consider..are we even more synchronistic than we would like to think? Is the too much of us in our Christianity? Do we need to listen more closely to our critics than our allies?
Enjoy...
jc
Also to be noted, I need to come out of the closet: this post was created on my iPod touch. My computer is in use. By the way, the touch was all I needed and hoped it to be!
Posted by joshuacase at 10:20 PM | Comments (3)