intersections: theology, technology, politics

Costa Rica Reflections - Day 1

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:30:20 +0000

It’s 5am local time on our second day here at the base. We have a packed schedule of training and sessions today to prepare us for our outreaches beginning Saturday and going through Wednesday. Someone from our team has been asked to preach at the local Vineyard on Sunday. Breakfast is served at 7:15am, followed by 45 minutes of quiet time. Then we have our first session of the day.

The base is an old mushroom farm; it’s nice. There are bunk beds and showers. We are situated on a mountain top at 5,000 feet. There’s a nice breeze throughout the day, and though it’s the rainy season, it hasn’t rained yet. We had a lovely dinner last night followed by an evening session.

Today we start learning our skits for open-air ministry on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. We are performing a skit called, “The Family.”

I’ve found everyone on the base staff team to be so nice and friendly, and our team leaders, two Canadians, seem great. They don’t speak Spanish, but that’s no problem.

All of our students are in good spirits and health and seem to be enjoying their experience so far. We all are a bit tired from our travels but grateful for our safety and protection.

With love from Costa Rica!

Evening Worship

is the gospel good news

admin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:37:33 +0000

I was recently at a youth conference where one of the speakers said that people are just waiting for others to tell them about Jesus, people are just waiting for us to get up the nerve and tell them about Jesus, but we are ashamed or afraid to speak out and so these people and others like them will perish and it will be our fault (they didn’t say that last part, but that’s clearly what is implied). And what does this invoke in our students, guilt. And we have a long history of Jesus using guilt to woo people and invite them into relationship with him.

If all these people are waiting for us to tell them about Jesus, why don’t they wear a sign or a graphic tee that says as much. They don’t wear a sign, because many of them aren’t in fact waiting for us to tell them about Jesus, most are doing just fine without him. But we do have a biblical call to share the good news, that much is clear. But I believe the call to share the good news has to be good news.

we still need relational ministry

admin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:30:25 +0000

For the past 12 years, I’ve served the youth at our church. I’ve learned a lot serving the church and the young people in this community. I’ve learned that most of our students are overprogrammed. Students in our community have too much to do, they are working, playing sports, taking prep classes, and going to school. They carry a huge homework load and they have very little time to meet during the week with me and our trained youth workers.

I’ve decided to make space for those who want it, for others I find other ways to support them either in their local world or through prayer and notes.

Many have rejected the relational youth model, without giving us another model that will work and I’m annoyed. Why criticize without offering a new way forward. I’ve been a fan of relational youth ministry because it focuses my attention on our students where I believe it should be. It’s my mandate to understand their world, and their struggles and offer them solution for creating a spiritual framework.

Lately, I’ve been struck by how few students have people (parents, mentors, siblings) who are teaching them what it means to be a student of Jesus. Many are calling them to repentance, ‘turn from your evil ways,’ but aren’t offering students a way forward. I’ve repented, now what? What’s the next step on this pilgrimage towards becoming more like Jesus. Many offer pat solutions to this problem: read your bible, prayer three times a day, have a quiet time, but to what avail? How does a student who is so overprogrammed learn to take time to reflect and just be? Who is taking time to teach them what this looks like, and what’s the way forward.

Maybe what we need is a better way forward. Maybe we need to take more time and focus on what really matters: sharing our lives with our students and offering the life that we have been able to draw from our relationship with Jesus. Or maybe that’s the problem as youth workers we haven’t figured out how to draw real sustainable life from Jesus so we don’t know what to offer our students as their way forward.

The Divine Hours

admin — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:11:52 +0000

I don’t remember when we first received the PDF files for The Divine Hours, but it was during our Windows days (yes, the church, the entire church was a Windows only shop, I started with Ken’s migration and the rest is history). I remember Ken coming to me and asking if I could create an online version of The Divine Hours, that would automatically display the current office via our website. Because I always say yes to requests like this, I got started by manually converting the 8 or so PDFs that made up the four books of The Divine Hours. Since we were using a Windows computing platform, I used Microsoft technology to store the converted hours, first contained in a MS Access database, now The Divine Hours live on a hosted mySQL server in NJ. We have made minor improvements to the code and have finally verified the integrity of my translation of the hours into a digital form.

About two years ago, Bob Royce and I put our heads together to see if there was a business opportunity with the digital version of The Divine Hours. Bob wrote a brief business proposal and sent it onto Phyllis Tickle and her agent. We received some positive feedback, but decided not to pursue the opportunity. Since then I’ve been thinking about multiple ways to increase the traffic to the Ann Arbor Vineyard website using The Divine Hours as the vehicle. I’ve toyed with several ideas, like a Dashboard Widget for OS X, something with alerts that would remind you to pray the hours. At the time of our proposal, we were thinking about a Palm application, but Palm is dying, if not already dead.

I never got around to building the Dashboard Widget for OS X, and since Palm wasn’t a viable platform for development, I took no action there. Then Apple released the iPhone, and immediately thoughts about developing a version of the hours for the iPhone sprang to mind. As a platform, the iPhone seems to be the best bet for a delivery channel for the hours. You always have your cell phone with you, the iPhone can connect to the Internet where ever you are, and it sports a robust modern web browser. Also it’s a large platform with over 4 million with a goal of 10 million by the end of 2008.

At Macworld 2008, Steve Jobs presented updated firmware for the iPhone that supports web clips directly to the home screen on the iPhone. Right after the keynote, I decided to update the code for The Divine Hours to optimize it for the iPhone. This is a multifaceted development process starting with the creation of a iPhone home screen icon, then the updated CSS for the iPhone, and a retooling of the domain name for the hours hosted by the Ann Arbor Vineyard.

Today, you can add The Divine Hours, to the home screen of your iPhone and get a nice home screen icon that takes you directly to the hours. Later, I will attempt to improve the text display of the hours and associated documentation. After the release of the Software Development Kit (SDK) for the iPhone, I will attempt to build an application that will include custom alerts & reminders, localization of the hours for your time zone. Today, the hours use a small cookie to properly display the hours.

The Identity Card: Being Black in America

admin — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:14:45 +0000

I just finished reading a Time magazine article on Barack Obama that offers an answer to the question, ‘Is he black enough?’ This is an awful question posed mainly by individuals who have a very finite view of what it means to be black in America. It’s an unfortunate question with no real answer. How does one measure their blackness? Is there an acceptable scale of blackness published by the ‘black community’ where an individual might measure themselves against it?

If you are interested in race in America and the impact it has on individuals who seek to understand themselves and their culture, I would recommend that you take a look at this article. It was a quick read and breaks down the issue of black identity in America into two categories: those who bargain and those who challenge. The author posits that white America doesn’t want to be perceived as racist and therefore welcomes bargainers like Oprah Winfrey. They are glad to welcome someone who doesn’t rub American’s history of racism in their face. And Barack Obama is the first bargainer to apply it to the political arena (Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpon are challengers).

admin — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:57:54 +0000

The weather out here has been great, high 50s to low 60s with no rain and no wind. Each year it has been my tradition to head down to Cupertino to visit the Apple Company Store and pick up a few items. In the past, Dave and I have done this together, however, he didn’t arrive this year until Monday afternoon making a joint visit to Cupertino impossible. So this year, I convinced Maria to take the trip with me.

It was a great drive down to Cupertino and we enjoyed the extended time together in the car. We dropped into the Apple store, picked up a few items and then headed back to San Francisco so I could pick up my registration materials.

We met Dave at the Bart in Pleasant Hill and settled in for the evening. We had an early morning considering we needed to be on the first Bart train from Pleasant Hill at 4:17 am. We met up with some friends already in line and waited with them for about four hours before entering the main conference hall to hear this year’s keynote presentation by Steve Jobs.

I was about 50% on my Macworld predictions this year. I really wasn’t expecting an Ultra Portable Mobile Computer (UPMC) but that’s what Steve presented as one of the four items of his keynote.
It’s a slick device and I would love to have someone buy one for me, but I love my MacBookPro, so I don’t need an UPMC. Maybe if I was still working for IBM and was traveling weekly I could use one, but that’s not my life these days.

I like the announcement of iTunes Movie Rentals and I want to try it out soon. I have this gift card at the iTunes Music Store so I will use it for a movie rental. The only downside is I don’t have access to a reliable broadband Internet connection. The standard definition movies are about 1.6GB and will probably take about 2 hours 20 minutes to download.

After the keynote, Dave and I headed down to the exhibit floor and walked around for about four hours. I made a few purchases, said hello to some familiar faces, saw a lot of cool stuff and enjoyed the technology, and the show floor.

Macworld Amusement Park

admin — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 20:05:57 +0000

Just before leaving for San Francisco to attend this year’s Macworld I was talking with my friend Amon, she asked me the funniest question I’ve received about Macworld. She asked if Macworld was an amusement park or just a place to buy stuff. I busted a gut. Can you imagine, Macworld as an amusement park, just like Legoworld.

I finally packed on time for this trip and was able to go to bed by 11pm for our 8:30am departure to California. Our flight was uneventful (exactly as you want it). We flew Southwest, and I really enjoyed the flight attendants on this flight. They were really funny and engaging.

We arrived 40 minutes early and sat on the tarmac for about 20 minutes before we found a gate. Maria’s grandfather, Jim picked us up and headed back to Martinez. Maria and grandpa headed out for a game of Boccee Ball while I slept off my headache.

Sunday was church at First Presbyterian then a day in San Francisco with uncle Ken, Brian, and Linda. Ken and Brian picked us up from First Presbyterian of Berkley and we met up with Linda in Oakland. We took the Bart down to Union Square and took a cable car to the wharf. We had lunch at Boudin then took a ferry to Alcatraz. We took an audio tour of the prison then had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a great arrival and a great time with family.

Macworld 2008 Predictions

admin — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:55:49 +0000

Tomorrow morning Maria and I leave for gold coast. We will spend a week in San Francisco visiting with family and friends. And I get to attend Macworld 2008 Tuesday through Thursday. I will be working during the week as well. I’m attending some training sessions and will be on the look out for new products to incorporate at the church. So, with the Macworld Keynote just 3 days and 21 hours away, I want to offer my Macworld 2008 predictions:

Movie rentals: I think his Steveness will deliver the best solution for movie downloads. Standard definition (near DVD quality) films will retail for $2.99 and will last for 7 days. You will be able to watch the rental as many times as you like before the film requires a reactivation. He will offer a limited selection of High definition films for $3.99 and the same 7 day rental agreement will apply. This will render Blockbuster stores pointless and will usher in the digital movie craze.

Updated/Revised AppleTV: Built-in support for movie rentals, iTunes music downloads, fast processor, larger hard drive, gigabit ethernet, and 802.11n. They will update the software running on the AppleTV to include support for viewing and download videos from YouTube. They will also include a web browser. You will be able to extend your storage via firewire/USB

A new mac will be released at Macworld. Now that the Mac pro is a 8 way this will open the door to the New and Improved, Mac. Just a mac (without a monitor) priced at or just above $999. A wicked form factor that will make this attendee pre-order one from the show floor.

They will announce the iPhone SDK and demo the new iTunes iPhone App Store. We will be able to download 3 new apps to our iPhone on Tuesday. The software will retail for $4.99.

New displays with built-in iSight cameras are also expected.

What do you think?