Came across this new Beta version of OmmWriter, one of the most interesting word processing experiences I’ve ever come across. The program is currently free and designed to be totally immersive and to limit all distractions.
I’ve been using this tonight to write out some strategic planning ideas, and I’ve got to say, though I was initially skeptical, I’m actually really liking it.
Check out the promo video below, and give it a shot, even if just for the novelty of it all.
As probably most everybody knows at this point, Matt Chandler and his family received some bad news over the holidays.
Like many people, I sometimes find it hard to understand God’s ways when it comes to stuff like this. I don’t know Matt personally, but as part of the Acts 29 Network, he has had a huge influence on me through his teachings at various conferences and through his podcasts. Clearly Matt is being used mightily by God…which is why it’s baffling and quite frankly disheartening to hear that he has a brain tumor.
I know the intellectual arguments that God is sovereign and glorified in all situations, including this one. And I believe them. But still, it is always hard to see them in action.
This morning, as I was studying the Psalms, I came across this passage:
For the righteous will never be moved;
He will be remembered forever.
He is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,
until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. (Psalm 112:6-8)
This was of great comfort to me, because though I don’t know Matt personally, I know him to be this kind of man.
I want to thank you, Matt, for being an example of how a righteous man responds to bad news. My prayer is that God is most glorified by bringing you back to miraculous health. Grace and peace to you and your family through our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
Always enjoy the Advent Conspiracy promos. Here’s 2009’s promo. This is a great cause for the holiday season. If you are intrigued, visit adventconspiracy.org, and learn how you can help.
Some interesting quips from my Internet travels for the week of 11/22/09:
“The problem with living ‘in the bubble’ is that we stop doing what Jesus called us to do. The Great Commission is about going into all the world, not just the Christian media world.” Great insights on the coming demise of Christian mediaby Phil Cooke.
“Some say God spoke to Balaam through his ass and has been speaking through asses ever since.” Shane Claiborne in Esquire, really. He had me until the last line (not the one quoted), then it got sketchy for me.
It’s Black Friday, and deals abound. We all love music, especially when it’s cheap. Amazon.com is offering up some tasty deals on digital albums. Here are some I recommend. As a disclaimer, I make a little change if you click on a link and buy. I’ll probably use any money I make to buy another album…
I was shocked when I came across Brian McLaren’s post on the Ugandan anti-gay bill currently proposed in the Ugandan Parliament. According to The Atlantic, the proposed bill would:
▪Reaffirm the lifetime sentence currently provided upon conviction of homosexuality, and extends the definition from sexual activity to merely “touch[ing] another person with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality.”
▪Create a new category of “aggravated homosexuality” which provides for the death penalty for “repeat offenders” and for cases where the individual is HIV-positive.
▪Criminalizes all speech and peaceful assembly for those who advocate on behalf of LGBT citizens in Uganda with fines and imprisonment of between five and seven years.
▪Criminalizes the act of obtaining a same-sex marriage abroad with lifetime imprisonment.
▪Adds a clause which forces friends or family members to report LGBT persons to police within 24-hours of learning about that individual’s homosexuality or face fines or imprisonment of up to three years.
▪Adds an extra-territorial and extradition provisions, allowing Uganda to prosecute LGBT Ugandans living abroad
Reaffirm the lifetime sentence currently provided upon conviction of homosexuality, and extends the definition from sexual activity to merely “touch[ing] another person with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality.”
Create a new category of “aggravated homosexuality” which provides for the death penalty for “repeat offenders” and for cases where the individual is HIV-positive.
Criminalizes all speech and peaceful assembly for those who advocate on behalf of LGBT citizens in Uganda with fines and imprisonment of between five and seven years.
Criminalizes the act of obtaining a same-sex marriage abroad with lifetime imprisonment.
Adds a clause which forces friends or family members to report LGBT persons to police within 24-hours of learning about that individual’s homosexuality or face fines or imprisonment of up to three years.
Adds an extra-territorial and extradition provisions, allowing Uganda to prosecute LGBT Ugandans living abroad.
McLaren’s call for a “robust” discussion on this bill is valid and worthy, though in the end I’m not sure what it would accomplish practically. And his baffling calling out of “discernment” websites to stand with him and have a robust discussion on the bill is lost on me (especially since as I’ve pointed out before, he has no comments enabled on his blog). So, instead, I’m asking you to keep this bill in mind when you pray. Pray that not only would such a barbaric bill be defeated, but also that the the Gospel of Jesus would radically transform the lives of the LGBT population in Uganda.
In the end, regardless of our views on homosexuality (and Brian), this is definitely a cause we can all be rallied around as Christians.
UPDATE: Interestingly, I came across this quote from Ekklesia
Meanwhile an Anglican church leader in Uganda, while rejecting proposals that homosexuals should face the death penalty for sexual assault in some cases, says that prison terms should remain as a deterrent.
“We want to state categorically that homosexuality is unacceptable,” Bishop Stanley Ntagali of Masindi-Kitara diocese told Ecumenical News International in a recent interview.
He said he and his church views those involved in homosexuality as sinners who can repent and reform, adding: “We have to be a moral fibre of the society.”
While I sympathize with the bishop’s view on homosexuality (and any sin for that matter) and repentance, I find it unsettling and disturbing that Uganda’s religious leaders are practicing a form Christendom, an experiment that is a proven a failure as a strategy for transforming the world by the power of the Gospel, by inserting themselves into shaping public debates on legislative oppression of personal moral conduct. In the past Christendom has led to oppression, and now it continues to do so today.
I can’t help but wonder what one of my new favorite heros of the faith, Lesslie Newbigin would have to say about such a situation as this. I’m pretty sure this great quote out of his book, Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture, gives us a pretty good clue:
Corpus Christianum is no more, and we cannot go back to it. The religious wars of the seventeenth century marked the final destruction of Christendom’s synthesis of church and society. From the eighteenth century onward, Europe turned away from the Christian vision of man and his world, accepted a radically different vision for public life, and relegated the Christian vision to the status of a permitted option for the private sector. But for the modern church to accept this status is to do exactly what the Bible forbids us to do. It is, in effect, to deny the kingship of Christ over all of life–public and private. It is to deny that Christ is, simply and finally, the truth by which all other claims to truth are to be tested. It is to abandon its calling.
The Enlightenment’s vision of the heavenly city has failed. We are in a new situation, and we cannot turn back the clock. It is certain that we cannot go back to the corpus Christianum. It is also certain–and this needs to be said sharply in view of the prevalence among Christians of a kind of anarchistic romanticism–that we cannot go back to a pre-Constantinian innocence…perhaps we can learn how to embody in the life of the church a witness to the kingship of Christ over all life–its politics and economic no less than its personal and domestic morals–yet without falling into the Constantinian trap.
As you’ve probably noticed if you’ve been hanging around for a while, I’ve changed the look of the blog. While I loved the old format, as a magazine style grid it was too cumbersome for me to manage. With all the things that have been going on in our life (see The Busy Season) I wanted to still be able to blog, but didn’t want to deal with huge formatting and management issues. After an extensive search (this morning for a half hour), I’ve settle on this beautiful theme by Andrea Mignolo called Oulipo.
Things I love about this theme:
It’s super clean and simple
The typography is elegant, and perfect
The sticky menu and information in the side bars
Nested comments
Beautiful spacing and a wide enough main column
This new look will make it much easier for me to blog on the fly, so to speak. After all, not everything has to be a production, right?
My friend, Brent Thomas, reflects on the implications of Ephesians 4:11-16 on the ministry. And he also has a great post about the relationship between style and church movements.
Happy Thanksgiving to you!
I was shocked when I came across Brian McLaren’s