"If you don't have anything good to say...

...then don't say anything at all."

Thus the recent blog silence. Life has been a bit difficult the past couple weeks. The main culprit is our adoption, which has recently hit a significant snag. Rather than using this blog as my bullhorn to rant about the circus that …

Revenge Lost and Peace Found...

(Spoiler alert: If you are a fan of Lost, and haven't watched last night's episode, you might not want to continue reading...)

Anyone catch Lost last night? There was an excellent illustration on the power of forgiveness to make peace and end the cycle of violence that …

(Re)Location, (Re)Location, (Re)Location...

I just stumbled upon this post by Confessions of an Empty-Nester (via Get Rich Slowly). It's the tale of an empty-nester couple who decided to downsize, leave the suburbs of Texas, and relocate to downtown Seattle. The results of their lifestyle change are inspiring.

Article Alert!

I was interviewed (along with 3 other pastors) as part of a round-table discussion on twentysomething ministry for Relevant Network's Relevant Leader Newsletter. It's an odd thing for me to be interviewed. I'm afraid that it sets me up as some sort of 'expert'. I'm not. …

MySpace who? Check out VIRB...

Tired of myspace? Tired of the errors? The spam? The smutty ads? But you love the media? Ditch mySpace and switch to VIRB. Virb is social networking for the artistically minded, offering music, videos, blogs, fashion, photography, etc. (it's a long list)...all in a …

This is scary...

I hesitate to even link to it, but it's so bizarre, I can't resist. I just threw my blogging hat into the Mere Mission ring, and I made a slight typo in the link to this blog. By simply reversing the 'sp' in 'blogspot', check out what you get. Creepy...

The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture, Part 1

Shane Hipps, author of www.amazon.com%2FHidden-Power-Electronic-Culture-Shapes%2Fdp%2F0310262747%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1173838010%26sr%3D8-1&tag=ruraprax-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture, is an emerging, missional, Mennonite pastor in Arizona with a background in advertising. Any author with that mix of descriptors is worth a read.

I picked up a copy expecting an interesting perspective on …

The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture, Part 2

(check out part one of my reflection's on Hipps' book HERE)

Shane Hipps, author of www.amazon.com%2FHidden-Power-Electronic-Culture-Shapes%2Fdp%2F0310262747%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1173838010%26sr%3D8-1&tag=ruraprax-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture

Continuing some thoughts on this book, in Part II Hipps gets a lot more specific to the church: "Like it or not, our theology and interpretation of …

The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture, Part 3

(check out part one HERE and part two HERE)

Shane Hipps, author of www.amazon.com%2FHidden-Power-Electronic-Culture-Shapes%2Fdp%2F0310262747%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1173838010%26sr%3D8-1&tag=ruraprax-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture

For this final post, I want to focus on Hipps' thoughts on the implications of electronic culture on leadership/worship in the church. Hipps rightly sees that …

More Mac Genius

Thanks marko. Satire is wonderful, eh? Especially when it involves my new laptop manufacturer.


Get it?

Grasping for terms...

An Invitation

For all those who live in or around NW Ohio, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be preaching this Sunday at Archbold Evangelical Mennonite Church (8:30 and 11, EST). Consider yourself invited.

I'm the leadoff in a 3 part series leading up to Easter. I'll be …

Trendspotting: Small is the New Big

Have you noticed that everything in life is shrinking? Ok, maybe it's hyperbolic, but it seems as if the 'bigger is always better' concept is being strongly challenged, in all sectors of life, except for TV's possibly. People love the big TV's. I just watched some …

Thanks for not pillaging my daughter's native country...

Churches Go 'Green' for Palm Sunday. Did your church go green?

Where am I?

Right here! I'm just completely swamped with a number of things.
1. It's Holy Week, which translates 'Incredibly Busy Week for Pastors'
2. Our church's fiscal year runs July-June, which means budgets are due NOW. I hate budgets. They are a tree-killing spawn of the devil.

"No new appointments..."

At least that's what my Moto Q says, which means only one thing: I'm getting the heck out of this place. Bekah and I are headed to Guatemala to meet our daughter, Eloisa, for the very first time. We'll spend a week soaking up Eloisa and her culture. I can't wait.

No …

Name that author...

Thoughts on Switching to a Mac...

So I'm about a month into my switch from PC to Mac. I was always very skeptical of those who would boast: "Get a Mac, and you'll never go back." It seemed a bit extreme to make such a big statement, but it's true. I'm never going back. Never ever.

It took a while to get …

And we're back...

It was a crazy/amazing/saddening experience. . . well worth it, but an emotional roller coaster. Spending my free time catching up with my son, Ben, and unpacking. Back soon. . .

Guatemala Video...

Many of you have been tracking our adoption journey on our adoption blog. If so, sorry for the repeat. We worked up a little video from our trip to visit our daughter. It's a shade over 8 minutes.

The recipe: 1 Canon Digital Elph Camera, 1 Macbook, Google Video's Free …