theo|digital

On I-35 north, hangin in the front seat of the minivan with my buddy Ty Grigg. Just passed the clap-sided Round Prairie Lutheran Church, established 1865. It’s sunk into a corn field at the edge of the interstate, small and dusty, and I wonder what this road was before it became a four lane cement monolith.

Of the 30-plus states I’ve been too, North Dakota hasn’t been one of them. But all that’s about to change. Ty and I are headed to a wedding in Valley City, ND. Nothing like late summer in the plains states.

It’s fun and worth it, though. We will have a small reunion with many of the North Dakota friends we made last summer at Colorado LT.

Meanwhile, I’m drinking something that has multiple statements Not-Evaluated-By-the-FDA. It’s a 16-ounce (“Double Size”) gold can called ROCKSTAR Energy Drink.

Bigger. Better. Faster. Stronger. ROCKSTAR is the most powerful energy drink available. Enhanced with the potent herb Milk Thistle (whoa.), ROCKSTAR is scientifically formulated to speed the recovery time of those who lead active and exhausting lifestyles-from athletes to rock stars. Enjoy this fully refreshing, lightly carbonated beverage super chilled.

Recently friends from a major publisher of Sunday school curriculum called me. They were researching trends in spiritual formation, they said, and they thought I might help them.

After a few warm-up questions, they got to the heart of the matter: “What would you recommend for spiritual formation in our time?”

“The monastery,” I said.

There was a long pause.

read the rest:
spiritual formation: we’ve already got a proven model, but do we want it?
Out of Ur blog

This is another reason why level-headed “emerging church” people aren’t really theologically all that scary. Emerging thought isn’t trying to re-invent the wheel. It’s often discovering what made the wheel in the first place.

/Part 2 of [?] on thoughts I came across while researching a talk on Christians and alcohol./

Once while Noah was hard at work, breaking the ground for a vineyard, Satan drew near and inquired what he was doing, “What are you planting?”

Noah: “A vineyard.”

Satan: “And what may be the qualities of its fruit?”

Noah: “The fruit it bears is sweet, be it dry or moist. It yields wine that gladdens the heart of man.”

Satan: “Let us go into partnership in this business of planting a vineyard.”

Noah: “Agreed.”

Satan thereupon slaughtered a lamb and then in succession a lion, a pig and monkey, and fertilized the soil with each in turn. Thus Satan conveyed to Noah the qualities of wine. If a man drinks one glass, he is as meek as a lamb; if he drinks two glasses, he is boastful and feels as strong as a lion; if he drinks three or four glasses, then behaves like a monkey, he dances around, sings, talks obscenely and does not know what he is doing; and if he becomes intoxicated, he resembles the pig.”

from Midrash Tanhuma. Midrash are often commentaries on scriptures by Rabbis, sometimes repeating oral Jewish tradition from well before they were written. This is a 9th century commentary on the Pentateuch.

This may be commentary on Genesis 9, where scriptures say that after the flood, Noah planted a vineyard. Some translations think the ancient Hebrew says he is the “first” to plant a vineyard. (first among whom – those who survive the flood?). A professor might point out this a shift from nomadic to agrarian society.

But I point this out mostly as angle on wine from rabbinical thought. more soon.

Returning from Colorado is always a topographical letdown. Cornfields? Seriously. Illinois needs more chiseled rock under runs of whitewater paint; dusty, crystal, cold, green, and strong. The state seems to speak from its horizons, responding to hearts with foggy peaks and broken-glass skies.

Yeah, so I had a pretty nice vacation.

On the plane to Denver, I sat next to JP and asked him what he thought about “vacation.” I wondered if I’d return in a week and feel disappointed. I probed my expectations a bit, asking myself what I would contribute to a satisfaction in rest. This is a question I’ve been asking for eight years. I haven’t answered it.

JP and I talked – it’s how I think sometimes – and I decided that my goals were simply to:
- take long drinks of the outdoor beauty
- experience some intimate moments with God
- experience some intimate moments with JP

And this is why I feel good about our week: I know I hit these goals. (as well as quite a few others, including: Old Man Mountain, Eagle Cliff, Trail Ridge Road, Ouzel Falls, Thunder Lake, reading on the covered porch of the YMCA of the Rockies Admin Building, strolling the river-walk in Estes Park, and enjoying a good local micro-brew).

See the rest of my Colorado vacation pictures, including interesting encounters with rodents, at my Google/Picasa picture share.

Well, I’m in Estes Park, Colorado chillin’ it up on a REAL vacation -
first in a long long while. Lot’s to tell when I come back, but I
wanted to apologize for no further blog post for now: I sadly forgot
to bring my laptop power cable with us out here. That effectively
cuts off anything except this quick post now… so thoughts on life,
alcohol, and juggling street performers of the greater Denver area
will have to wait until next week.

Last week, I gave a talk with Nick M called “Miller Genuine Draft and the Kingdom of God.” We explored the Christian’s view of alcohol, and not simply from a moralistic perspective. I think I’ll do several posts on the topic, outlining a few of our points, but also adding extra research, thoughts, and questions that came up, but maybe we didn’t include in the final talk.

This time, let me start with just asking, “What does God think of alcohol?”

Wine is mentioned 234 in the scriptures (NIV). 194 in the Old Testament, 40 in the New Testament. From Noah to Revelation, it’s present in scripture. Let’s see what’s written.

Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise. (Proverbs 20.1 NIV)

Woe to those who rise early in the morning
to run after their drinks,
who stay up late at night
till they are inflamed with wine. ~ Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 5.11 NIV)

Go eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. ~ Solomon (Ecclesiastes 9.7)

He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:
wine that gladdens the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread that sustains his heart.
(Psalm 104.14,15 NIV)

Hmm. How about the New Testament?

Watch out! Don’t let me find you living in careless ease and drunkenness, and filled with the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware, as in a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth. ~ Jesus (Luke 21.34 NLT)

Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. ~ Paul (Ephesians 5.15 NIV)

Six stone waterpots were standing there; they were used for Jewish ceremonial purposes and held twenty to thirty gallons each. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled to the brim, he said, “Dip some out and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So they followed his instructions.

When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. “Usually a host serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone is full and doesn’t care, he brings out the less expensive wines. But you have kept the best until now!”

11This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was Jesus’ first display of his glory. And his disciples believed in him. ~ Apostle John (John 2 NLT)

In other news, you can now buy groceries from Amazon. Seriously.

(Maybe I really should get to more thinking about spiritual dimensionality, rather than internet news, huh? Stay tuned… lots of thoughts have been brewing under the table. We’ll do those soon.)

So, I know I tend to be the political nerd that was sad about my now cancelled West Wing, and watches C-SPAN sometimes during lunch. But these past couple weeks, the Senate has been debating something that everyone should be concerned about: net neutrality. It’s a concept that essentially says big companies like AT&T can’t “prefer” certain web sites over others as they deliver them to your screen. There’s no law on this yet, so it’s a big deal that something passes soon.

But it gets worse. Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is the chairman of the Commerce committee currently investigating this stuff, including testimony and amendments. He made statements last week that are soul-chilling. No worries, it’s not violent. It’s just the scary phenomenon of him trying to explain to the country why he’s not voting for the amendments, and how his personal internet doesn’t work…

Wired Blog: Alaska Senator comments on the internet

Don’t miss the part where he starts explaining the tubes.

Looks like I was able to restore much of my template today. Not everything is right, but it’s closer to normal.

But Blogger users check this out: while re-editing my template multiple times today, I ran into the SAME ISSUE I had that tanked things. Occasionally, when visiting the Template edit page, without notice, the template only partially loads. It seems to randomly cut off… you can scroll to the bottom of the edit window to discover it… like it falls off a cliff. If you unsuspectingly hit “Save Template” at this point, you’ve tanked your blog.

Google is my hero (I plan to blog about that more soon), but I hope they’ll check on this soon… it’s enough to make me start looking at other blog homes today.