Best Web Junk (February 27)

This is an amazing picture. I’ve seen a heron swallowing a bluegill whole, a hawk eating a snake, and an osprey flying over with a fish in it’s talons, but I never even dreamed of catching it on film.

This completely cracked me up (seriously, this one is hilarious)

I knew it – Mosquitos are indestructible

A neat photo gallery

Some guys just know how to use technology

This is enjoyable as well (ht – Phil for this one)

Using twitter for church

Monday I am speaking to the NSRBA minster’s meeting.  I have been attending those meetings for 4 years, but usually keep my mouth shut.  I finally feel like I have something to contribute so I asked to speak.  I am speaking about technology and how churches can use the internet, and other technology to enhance and simplify their ministries.   One of the technologies I plan to speak about is Twitter.  I know that some of my readers are tired of hearing me talk about it, but I want to run my thoughts by my blog before I talk about it at the minster’s meting.  I would appreciate your feedback.

This is a wordle of 200 recent tweets. I'm surprised "Meeks" is so small.

It is my belief that for most people in a church, the pastor is a bit of an unknown.  This phenomenon has two causes.  One is that people view the pastor as some sort of superman, not at all like them, with the same struggles and sins.  The other is that in many churches the pastor changes so often that the people don’t get a chance to know him.  This goes both ways, because many pastors change churches often enough that they don’t develop deep friendships within the church body.

What does this have to do with Twitter?  I believe that Twitter is a great tool for fellowship  (or community, if you prefer cool-church language;.)  Why is Twitter great for fellowship?  Because it allows people to see into your life, combine it with a camera phone and it enhances this.

One of the great things about Twtter is that you can keep up with a multitude of people at once and it takes almost no effort on your part.  For example, I have a  friend whom I haven’t seen in almost 3 years, that I follow on twitter and I feel like I know as much about what goes on with him now as I did when we were riding to school together once a week.

If you are on Facebook you understand the power of the status update to keep you informed about people.  Twitter is like the status report on steroids.

I follow about 50 people and I have absolutely no trouble keeping up with that number.  I’m sure that somewhere around 200 people the ability to feel like you have a grip on everybody fails, but with some sort of client and just reading regularly it is easy to keep up with many people.

Recently, our church has even created a Twitter page.  It contains announcements, web links and prayer requests.  A very different use than a personal feed but still valid.

If you just want to test out Twitter and are not sure you are ready to commit and begin doing so yourself, you can simply subscribe to the RSS feed of any account.

Do you find Twitter to be a useful tool for fellowship?

Conan O’Brien – My favorite clip

Late Night with Conan O’Brien began during my senior year of High School.  I watched it with regularity throughout college and less frequently in the last few years.  Since the show is no more and Conan is moving on to a more famous time slot, I thought I would share my all-time favorite bit from the show.  Enjoy Mr. T picking apples.

Why I Observe Lent

You don’t have to know much about me at all to know that I am not a Catholic. I am an ordained Southern Baptist Minster, but for the last few years I have been in the practice of observing Lent.

For the benefit of my uninformed protestant readers, Lent is a 40 day fast leading up to ressurrection day.  (Remember my ban on the word Easter?)  Actually according to this wikipedia article it is 46 days.  Why is it 40 days?  Because it recalls the 40 days of fasting that Jesus endured in the desert prior to his temptation.

As a protestant, I observe Lent  because, for the most part, western Christians have abandoned the fast all together.  I fast periodically from food for a day, but not with regularity, and Lent is the only prolonged fast I participate in.  I do not believe that it earns me more of God’s favor, or that more grace comes to me as I participate in the fast.  But I do believe that it is worth the effort.

Many people have written well on the spiritual discipline of fasting, (I particularly reccommend Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and The Spirit of the Disciplines) so I won’t waste your time here.  I will say however, that I use the time and pain that occurs in in a fast to remind me to pray and to meditate on God.  For example, if I am fasting for revival I use the hunger pains as a reminder to ask God to bring revival to my life and to my church.

In the case of a prolonged fast like Lent, I use the desire to participate in the forbidden activity as a reminder that suffering is a part of the Christian life.  This is made more important because of the fact that I live in the US, where we have true religious freedom.

I have narrowed down my Lenten choices to 3.

1. Give up Facebook – Mostly because of Scrabble, and lately the geography challenge, I have a mild addiction to Facebook.  This would not be easy for me
2. Give up sugar – I will still allow myself a Mello Yello each day, but otherwise, no sugar.  This means no pancakes at the Baptist Men’s breakfast, no fruity Pebbles, no ice cream, etc.  This also would not be easy for me
3. Commit to ride my exercise bike every day – This one is pretty self explanatory.  My only real problem with this option is that it is not a fast.  I certainly will not be able to read my Bible as I ride, and it therefore unlikely to bring me closer to God and His will for me.

Which do you think I should do?

This year Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent) is February 25th.  I’m putting up this poll for your input before fat Tuesday so I can gorge on sugar or Facebook or non exercise tomorrow.

Best Web Junk (February 20)

I think this is not a fail, but rather an entrepreneur win

I would really like to live here.  If I had money, I’d buy it in a second

I don’t know if this is real or fake, but it sure is scary

This is the best of the SBC blogs this week

This is simply unbelievable.

Geek in any language… I especially like how the “lyrics” to this are sound effects.  The guy does sound just like Mario jumping

A Bell’s Palsy Postscript

I had really planned on being done with writing about Bell’s palsy since it was over a year ago for me.  But there was a recent search that landed someone on my blog that requires a postscript.  Here is that search:

noise in my ear when i close my eye afte

I have writen about all the symptoms in a previous post, but I never mentioned this one because I didn’t know how to describe it.  I realize that my bells’ palsy post is helpful to people and very popular, so I want to make it thorough and comforting to people who are freaking out and just share with them my experience.

There is one symptom I didn’t write about when I described my symptoms before and it still persists.  Whenever I touch my right eye, I hear a noise in my right ear.  It is difficult to describe but I’ll try.  It sounds like a rumbling or maybe very light drumming on my ear.  In reality I think it is a spasm in the muscles that move my ear.  It is not a loud noise, but it can be distracting.

Even in the last 2 months it has improved.  Although it is still an active symptom, it doesn’t last as long (I mean it doesn’t rumble for as long as I am touching my eye) and less of my eye is sensitive.  Also, my eye is less sensitive than it used to be.

I hope that is helpful to someone, and the rest of you feel free to think I am a freak.

Why is what we have not good enough?

After reading this story recently about President Obama lifting the ban on using federal funds to conduct embryonic stem cell research I was left with a question; Why is what we have not enough?

Despite the first paragraph of the article I linked earlier, there is no law against embryonic stem cell research in this country, there never has been.  There is only a ban on using federal funds for that purpose. There are dozens of private foundations that fund this type of research, and the state of California passed a resolution funding it specifically.  There is also plenty of federally funded research done on non-embryonic stem cells. (which I fully support)  All of this is not to mention the research of this type that is being done all over the world.  So why are so many people so insistent on using tax dollars to fund something so controversial?  Or why is the fact that the government won’t pay for it “an embarrassment for American science”?

Here is a similar issue -  I understand that the pro-choice faction wants abortion legal.  But even they all say that abortion is bad, so why insist on federal money being used to provide them?  I believe it is because there are a lot of people who profit from abortions, and more money for abortions means more money for them.

I am obviously opposed to abortion and embryonic stem cell research and I would fully support bans on both because I believe they are murder, but even if you disagree, can you not see that it is bad policy for the government to be in the practice of paying for these controversial procedures?

There is my question to the supporters – Why is the fact that is legal and ongoing not good enough? Why must I be forced with my tax dollars to pay for something I am morally opposed to?

The question is on the table – but a word of caution.  I will be moderating the comments.  Please guard your tone keep it polite and free of incendiary rhetoric.  No name calling or insulting the intelligence of those who believe either way.

Best Web Junk (February 13)

I kept looking for the joke here.  Finally I found it.

Here’s a blog post about the D-now I participated in back in January.

Funny…and sad

I totally agree with this list, Except I would have found a place for the speeder bikes.

A Repost

Since the Daytona 500 is this weekend and since I am watching the qualifying races right now.  I thought I would repost my open letter to NASCAR from this fall.  Here is a link to the original in case you want to read the comments from that time.  Otherwise it is exactly the same:

The NASCAR season ended Sunday, and I wasn’t watching. Partly because the race started at 3 and I have church at 5, but also because I wasn’t really all that interested. I’ve been a NASCAR fan since probably the second grade. It is the first sport I remember caring about and the first major sporting event I ever attended was a Bush race at Bristol. Lately I have lost interest to some degree. I am only a fan, I’m not an insider and I don’t work in sports, but I do love NASCAR and I would like to see it improve. So here are some suggestions in the form of an open letter.

I’ll start this letter by addressing the major problem with NASCAR. The season is too long. It begins in mid-February and it ended 11 days from Thanksgiving. That means that December and January are the only months without racing. This problem is not limited to NASCAR, it is a the problem with most professional sports, long seasons make for boring seasons. I’m especially talking to you MLB and NBA. Have any of you ever heard that absence makes the heart grow fonder, or to leave ‘em wanting more?

I have put some thought into what can be done about this problem of the 10 month season. Here is my suggestion. I only want to improve things.

NASCAR needs divisions. This actually solves 2 problems. First, it shortens the season. Second, it makes use of some of the tracks that could use a second race (or a first, such as Nashville, Northern Kentucky, or Rockingham) Here’s how I propose it to work. Divide the drivers by the previous year’s standings with a snaking order. (1st place in div A, 2^nd & 3^rd in div B, 4^th & 5^th in div A, etc.) Then both divisions (Petty & Earnhardt?) have quality drivers and regardless which event you attend, you can see stars, just not all of them. Make that a 20 race schedule in the divisions, then put the top 6 from each division into the chase and the top 20 into the races for the chase. This gives NASCAR more television revenue, more tracks get to sell tickets, more fans have opportunity to see races, and the season ends nearly 2 months earlier.

The only real problem I can think of with this plan is how to deal with the Brickyard or Daytona 500, but someone can figure it out.  Maybe even in the comments.

The second suggestion is to put a variety of track types into the chase. Maybe nobody has pointed this out. But a team that makes the chase and is particularly good at the mile-and-a-half quad-oval has a decided advantage. How about a Pocono or Bristol in the chase? If you are going to race stupid road courses, make one of them be in the chase. If weather concerns create the current schedule, take my first suggestion. If the season ended in late September you could race in Watkins Glen, or Pike’s Peak for that matter. But in mid November you are pretty much stuck with Phoenix and Homestead.

If some other teams had a chance it would help as well. Of the 35 races this season, 30 were won by a Roush, Gibbs, or Hendrick team. If you went to divisions, and kept 35-40 teams per race, it would definitely give some other teams a chance to win some races.

Mix in some minorities. NASCAR is no longer a sport of good ol’ boys from the south, but it is lily white. With the exception of Montoya, there is nothing resembling a minority anywhere around the track. I don’t know how to fix that problem, but seriously the future is in jeopardy as long as it remains the way it is. America is more diverse and will become more so. If golf can have a non-white superstar, surely something that’s actually fun like driving fast can as well.

Don’t bow to the environmentalists…yet. The sound of a stock car is unmistakable, and if they switched to ethanol and sound whiny like Indy cars, it would lose some of the magic. (Maybe I’m showing my ignorance here, somebody can straighten me out in the comments. Feel free, as long as you can be respectful.) The day is coming when everyone will get around on some new fuel, but until then, let’s not have silent, hydrogen cars going around the track.

I really like NASCAR and want to see it continue to be great. These suggestions are just my 2 cents to improve it. The outlook is not all bad I took this quiz and got 100% so the sponsors are definitely getting their exposure.

Feel free to comment on this.  I’d like to know my readers’ thoughts on this one.  Do you think I’m way off base, or have better suggestions?

Help me help you

This weekend is our annual Senior Adult banquet.

For the past few years we have played “Battle of the Generations” Here’s how it works: We ask our youth questions that the senior adults would find easy and we ask our senior adults questions that the youth would find easy and see which group wins. (It’s always the seniors)

This year I am officially out of creativity.  So I would like your help.  Here’s how we will do this -  You submit questions that fit the above description to the comments.  If I use your question in my game, I will email you the finished product. You supply the creativity, I’ll supply my powerpoint skillz.

Here are some sample questions from the past few years to give you an idea what I’m looking for:

Questions for seniors -

Master Chief is the main character in…
a. A popular TV show
b. A popular video game
c. A popular movie

Identify Master Chief

Which of these people is not the star of their own reality show?

Youth Questions -

Marshall Matt Dillon is the main character in…
a. A popular movie
b. A popular television show
c. A popular comic book

Identify Marshall Matt Dillon

Which of these did not have a sidekick?