Bloggin' while in Vietnam...

One Story Written in Hanoi

Shane Claiborne on NPR's Speaking of Faith

The NPR program "Speaking of Faith" hosted Shane Claiborne back in May but I just found it. It's well worth a listen. Shane shares many of the same stories from his talks and his book but Krista Tippett's different questions and reactions were refreshing. Great to hear the news of the revolution getting out into different streams of media and culture.... http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/newmonastics/index.shtml

It's True...

I am leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam on August 9th.

Summer Reading List

To make up for my poor performance in Ms. Feldt's AP English summer reading program senior year of high school.... I'm voraciously reading thru June and July. Life is changing and I'm growing and here is the water and fertilizer.

In progress

Mountains beyond Mountains - Tracey Kidder - The biography of Dr. Paul Farmer, an infectious disease physician, idealist, and founder of Partners in Health, an international health and social justice organization. This book was given to me by an amazing woman on her way out of the country to help save the world.

Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled Vol. 1- Joseph Buttinger - It seems like it would be advantageous to learn more about this country this summer. This volume, the first book I've checked out from the library for non-paper writing reasons since I was a kid is an old, cloth bound tome that just feels good to hold in your hands.

Christianity Rediscovered - Vincent J. Donovan - Written by a Catholic missionary in Tanzania who abandoned the traditional "mission compound" approach to evangelism in favor of bringing the naked gospel to the Masai tribes and letting it grow and redeem within their cultural context. I loved this book two years ago and it has taken on new meaning to me now.

The Voice of Matthew - Lauren F. Winner - Lauren's retelling of the Gospel of Matthew in more narrative form with her interpretations included. It's a refreshing way to re-read my favorite Gospel.

No Greater Love - Mother Teresa - An amazing book. The Gospel according to Momma T. "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks."

Coming up next

The Lives of the Desert Fathers

The Sayings of the Desert Fathers

Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled Vol. 2

Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream - Barack Obama

Survival Kit for Overseas Living

The World is Flat - Thomas L. Friedman

Remember...

I'm posting this more for me than for anyone else so that I may remember there is more going on in our lives than we usually perceive.

Well, this sucks...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,2053020,00.html

A dim view of the future from the UK's Ministry of Defence.

Whole Foods

In my quest to get "back to basics" so I can make wise, healthy decisions about where my life is going, I'm working to return to eating right. So, I went to the grocery store two nights ago and got hooked up! Hummus, tomatoes, mangoes, bananas, cantaloupe, brocolli, peas, tofu, all grains are whole wheat, OJ, Bolthouse Farms fruit purees, eggs, Kashi cereals. I can't wait to make bruschetta, tofu stir fry, black bean pizza, and spaghetti. Good, whole meals that make me feel great and save money by keeping me from eating out.

On the subject of eating out, I will not be eating anywhere except for home, Food Dance Cafe, Chin Chin, Sushi Ya, or one of the two Lebanese restaurants in town. It is impossible to find anything the least bit healthy at any other Kalamazoo restaurants. (that I am aware of anyway)

Remember food is medicine you take every day. If you need ideas, here is a great place to start...

The World's Healthiest Foods

The diagnostic test tells me I need to eat more boiled spinach and romaine lettuce. I can't say I was exactly estatic about that.

Do the right thing this St. Patrick's Day

Good Quote

The following was the e-mail signature of a cool person that just e-mailed me. I liked it and thus, had to blog it.

Beloved young people, about to choose your life’s vocation,
ponder how we are called to goodness
and how the older generation - my own, I regret -
is leaving you a heritage of so much selfishness, of so much evil.
Renew, new wheat, newly sown crops,
fields still fresh from God’s hand
children, youths: be a better world.

Oscar Romero, The Violence of Love, page 66, July 23, 1978

Behind the Sunni-Shi'ite Divide

TIME Magazine: "Behind the Sunni-Shi'ite Divide" (Click for article)

This article is one of the best I've found to help explain the deep problems playing out in Iraq. It describes the many centuries-old schism in Islam that split Muslims into the Sunni and Shi'ite sects. And it saddens me as it confirms my suspicion that no amount of American troops or rebuilding dollars can overcome these old animosities to bring peace to Iraq. It would take tremendous examples of forgiveness and a transformation from a culture of intolerance to one where freedom of religion is a foundational tenet. This is not the culture in Iraq and we cannot impose this change from the outside. It must come from within the hearts of the Iraqi people.

The Misery of the Human Condition (and the Hope that springs eternal)

I had the great opportunity to view the move Babel on Saturday night at the Little Theater on WMU's east campus. (good call Scott) My first thought after this brilliant movie concluded was, "Wow, they really captured the misery of the human condition." And a slight depression followed me thru the night and into our church service Sunday morning.

Each character in the film is a victim of their circumstances in some tragic way. The two Moroccan boys are victims of innocence and the consequences of an act they did not understand. The tourist wife is a victim of chance as a bullet strikes her on a vacation we see she had no desire to even be on. The Mexican nanny is a victim of an economic system and an immigration policy fundamentally at odds with one another. Finally, the Japanese woman is a victim of a loveless life in a world with which she can barely communicate.

There is not much meaning to find in this movie and the general sentiment as we left was that at least the filmmaker did not make us suffer as much as he could have. Eventually, circumstances shifted for at least a few characters and life will continue for them (well, not really, because they are fictional) with new problems and a continued reliance on chance. They suffered and we just simply experienced their pain. As a reviewer Dave Calhoun wrote, "If misery is your pornography, Babel is your holy grail."

This movie could have simply passed into my memory as a movie I once saw and any depression would have lifted with next episode of M*A*S*H or Reno 911. However, Sunday at The River, Rob preached on The Lord's Prayer. (Matthew 6:9-13) Specifically he preached on verse 10...

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

It was an excellent message about God establishing His kingdom on earth and how it is currently at odds with the kingdom of darkness. As the kingdom of heaven advances, it renews the world, pulling all things towards Him. We as Christians then are to seek after that kingdom desperately as our hope. (And there was a parable about losing a dog named Fred. It was just a really good talk.)

What struck me and stayed with me that morning was the film I had seen the night before. For the characters who represent so much of humanity, their hope was built on nothing more than circumstance. It reinforced for me that we believe in something so much greater than chance. We believe in a God who is jealously pursuing us and redeeming this world throughout history, pulling it toward redemption and better days. When I feel unloved, I seek Him. (unlike the girl who threw herself on others for just a chance at knowing another human's touch) When I'm in trouble, I pray for help. (unlike the man who, while his wife lay dying, looks disbelievingly at another man in morning prayer.) I believe in destiny. (unlike perhaps the woman who now looks across the border at the life she once knew, now lost.)

They say hope springs eternal. But for so many, it does not. And why should it if we are all just blowing around in the breeze? Instead, life in the kingdom of He who "is before all things and in Him all things hold together" gives us the hope that we can rise above circumstances no matter how difficult this life will be.

We are not better than those who rest on chance. But we have a hope beyond ourselves.

Wow

In my last 17 months of professional life, I have:

Sent 2,167 e-mails
Received over 4,000 e-mails

So, I have to wonder... what have I been talking about in this monstrous volume of communication? Because I can only clearly remember about 50 of them being valuable.

Honoring a Champion

5 Streams

I enjoyed this article entitled "Five Streams of the Emerging Church" featured on Christianity Today's website. LINK It's been quite awhile since I had much discussion regarding "emergence".

The 5 proposed streams "flowing into the emergent lake" are:

1. Prophetic Rhetoric

• The emerging movement is provacative and prone to exaggeration.

2. Postmodernism

• Some in the emergent movement minister to postmoderns, some with postmoderns, and others as postmoderns. Still, postmodernism's relativism and preference towards narrative truth is a major if not the most powerful influence upon the emerging church.

3. Praxis

• The emerging church's core is the desire to build a new ecclesiology and what is most noticeable about the movement is its practices, especially in worship, life, and a missional orientation - towards the redemptive work of the church.

4. Post-evangelicalism

• The emerging movement is a protest against much of modern evangelicalism. Bullseye.

5. Politics

• This really bothered me as I hope the emerging movement will transcend the normal left-right political discussion. However, as Brian McLaren has become outspoken with the Call to Renewal organization (which is very left-leaning) and I discover that many emergent-esque believers vote Democrat, I wonder if this writer is correct and that a political orientation toward the left will become characteristic of the emerging church. Even I, as I shifted in the last few years to a more emergent-styled thinking have seen an impact on my political views. (Obama '08) However, I guarantee the Democratic Party will not understand this vein of Christianity no matter how many votes it brings them. I hope we all beware the centers of power.

Nice short, to-the-point article. It reminds me how much I miss these discussions that were such a part of my life 1-2 years ago. Although, I think many of my conversations with my fellow believers in Kzoo are part of the emerging conversation but we don't call it that... and that may be a beautiful thing.

Crowder!

Message to the Dems or "Don't tell Mama. I'm for Obama."

In two years, you could conceivably take my vote with this guy...

You will likely not take my vote with this gal...

Two years ago you could have conceivably had my vote with this guy...

You definitely lost it with this guy...

I think this is true for a good number of ideologically balanced conservatives, especially those with a faith perspective. But alas, I anticipate the established front-runner will get the nomination, as has been the case in every presidential election I have experienced. But if there is any wisdom left in the Democratic Party, I hope they come around to their senses.

Welcome home Coach

Mark Dantonio - 24th Head Football Coach at Michigan State University

Notable Quotables from the Press Conference.... (yes, I watched the entire hour)

"It's tremendous to be a Spartan. To me, I know the phrase 'boldness by design' exists here right now. I can tell you as a Spartan, whenever I walked into any school in America, whether that was in Michigan, Ohio, the East Coast, in Florida, Texas, California, I walked in with boldness because I knew I represented something that was special. I knew I represented something that had history behind it, had tradition behind it, had championships behind it, a place that was nationally known for its athletics, not just basketball and football, but for its entire athletic program. I am so, so proud to be here today, to represent Michigan State University in this capacity."

"I'll stand up here today and tell you that my faith is very, very important to me. Our players will have an opportunity to express that faith at any time they wish to do so."

" He could come to Michigan State because he can win championships here, you have the opportunity to play against the best. You're going to put 78,000 people in this stadium here, you're going to play in front of a national television audience, play big time football. You'll have a chance to be a part of a great tradition. The facilities here. There are so many different reasons. You want to be a veterinarian, you should come here. Criminal justice, engineering, education, those aspects of this school. All the different things, all the past.

You know, history is the best indicator of the future. It's been done before. There's tremendous love for Michigan State University. I know the state is split right down the middle. If it really were to be known, it's probably a lot more green, and getting a lot more greener today than it was yesterday.

That's bold."

Bobby

Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Lindsay Lohan, Elijah Wood, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy, Christian Slater, Lawrence Fishburne, Shia LaBeouf, Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen, Heather Graham, Ashton Kutcher.... quite the cast.

I saw this movie with my sisters last night. I recommend it. It was not a historical drama like I expected (and hoped) it would be. It's more of a multiple plotline story set against the backdrop of the assassination night of Robert F. Kennedy, attorney general in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and candidate for the presidency in 1968. The movie itself did not present much of Kennedy's life or work, although anytime it was done by showing newsreels or by using excerpts of his speeches as narration, it was very well-done and inspiring.

RFK seemed to be, in what little I saw, to be a true idealist. It was said that some African-Americans at the time were hanging a picture of Bobby in their respective homes. He spoke against apartheid while visiting South Africa. He ran for the presidency with plans for an honourable withdrawal from Vietnam. I plan to do some reading on his work and life, that was tragically cut short by a Palestinian assassin. (though it has been widely speculated that the conspiracy was much deeper and darker)

"Fear not the path of truth for the lack of people walking on it." June 6th, 1968, RFK's last speech

Wow

A=excellent B=good C=satisfactory D=unsatisfactory

Teaching expertise of : Josh A 74% B 24% C 0% D 0%

This just came across in my e-mail. It is my rating from the audience at our leadership retreat last month where I talked on our new improvement approaches in our Lean management system. I'm pretty happy with the ratings... they were the highest of my group. (which is nuts because I thought the team did a better job than me)

Pretty good considering I was literally freaking out the night before.

The most unlikely of groups...

I just attended one of the best small groups of my life. And I know a thing or two about small groups.

Thank you Dan, Debbie, Bill, Charlotte, Jason, Zach, Tony, Sharita, and Eddie. You all have lives different from mine in so many ways. You are much older and younger than me. You've put my struggles in perspective. You accepted me more quickly than any other group I've ever been a part of. You just wanted to hear about me and tell me a piece of your story.

It's amazing that following the way of Christ brought all of our stories into unison for just one rainy night at The River. I look forward to fellowshiping with you all again... being taught and encouraged by each of you.