theo|digital

For some, this is new news, so I wanted to finally present it here.

Quite shortly I’ll be packing my room into boxes and moving to a grad student apartment on the north side of the city. Over a year of imagination, counsel, sleepless nights, and prayer is finally culminating in my big change: I’m leaving front-line campus staff to attend seminary.

Actually, most, when they say “attend seminary” are referring to a traditional MDiv degree designed for training professional pastors. I’ll be taking a slightly different angle: I’m entering a two-year program aimed at a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from North Park Theological Seminary.

The MA is an academic degree – providing general training in theology, biblical studies, spiritual formation but allowing time for a supervised thesis. I hope to focus on one of the various intersections of communications, culture and theology. This makes so much sense for what God has been doing with me.

My students on campus in I-Life have been aware of this change since I announced my possible intentions in the Fall semester, and my actual plans in the late Spring. But as much as I’ve tried to get the word out, there are still dear friends and partners with whom I haven’t had a chance to share the news. If this is you – please feel free to drop me a note! If you don’t get me, I still hope to connect with you. There are vision and stories and laughter to be shared.

I am still on financial support under Great Commission Ministries, and while studying will be my first focus, I look forward to a new role assisting our region of campus churches.

More soon.

Rob Bell released another Nooma short film this weekend. It’s called, “Today,” and it’s only available to watch online full-length until Wednesday.

I’ve only watched it once, but my initial reactions are:

• Rob Bell is characteristically more enthusiastic the more he talks, leaning toward the camera, etc. Because it seems like he follows the same pattern each time, I started suspecting it as “just an act,” but then ditched the cynicism and realized that Rob understands how gripping it is to listen to someone who looks like they really are all-about what they are saying.
• The metaphor/story of the video does what many of the others do: hold you in suspense until the end (“what’s going on?”) and then reveals at the end. They’re never a “big” surprise – usually just simple and effective. This new one follows suit.
• Rob’s distilled message seems to be “seize the day.” I like it. It’s a value of the Kingdom to live simultaneously in the “now” and the “hope to come” – the places the Kingdom exists – and not elsewhere. Living in the past or the simple future (1 year, 5 years, 10 years from now) has produced much worry and spiritual sludge in my life.

You can buy Nooma DVD shorts at www.nooma.com.

Seeing how:
>> the US Senate just spent an all night vigil debating the Levin/Reed amendment to pull out of Iraq (it didn’t pass)
>> a dramatic plane crash in southern Brazil has killed almost 200,
>> and scientists have potentially ended the conflict in violent Darfur, Sudan by discovering a source of relief – the world’s the 10th largest lake buried directly underneath

…I thought now would be a good time to mention Nabaztag, the WiFi Rabbit.

With adjustable ears.

Nabaztag – “the first smart rabbit” – not only claims to be unpronounceable, but also to connect to your home network and do useful things like read you New York Times RSS feeds and txt messages your friends send. The newest version can even understand voice commands and respond to RFID tags (maybe turn your lights on when you wave your keys near his face?). I didn’t know I needed a plastic flashing internet bunny, but I do.

If you’ve already watched the instructional video I linked to above (and it’s worth it), after you make your purchase on Amazon, you’ll probably want to check out the rest of the internet crazies surrounding the phenom, like:

• two Jesuit priests tech-reporting on Nabaztag, video podcast style,
• Nabtaztag wardrobe,
• and, The Nabaztag Opera (subtitled, of course)

The first part of this week I took away on a private prayer retreat. I reserved a “hermitage” on the wooded grounds of The Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Frankfort, IL. Oh. Yes. You’re right. Also known as a, ahem, nunnery.

Git thee too..

Oh never mind.

It was actually a more serious time for me. Just two nights, but time to pray, speak to nobody except God, read scripture, walk through the woods. Maybe I’ll have some more things to say about that as I reflect on the experience.

For now, some small photos of the 55 acres where I stayed.

When I go to New York City, I do not have to think about not going to London or Atlanta. People do not meet me at the airport or station and exclaim over what a great thing I did in not going somewhere else. I took the steps to go to NYC, and that took care of everything.
…
On the other hand, not going to London or Atlanta is a poor plan for going to New York. And not being wrongly angry and so on is a poor plan for treating people with love.
…
“He that loves has fulfilled the law,” Paul said. “Really.”

Dallas Willard, in The Divine Conspiracy, on how Jesus’ ‘Discourse on the Hillside’ is a sermon on how people in the kingdom Live, not rules on how they shouldn’t.

From the AP wire a few days ago:

“In a way, I’m really glad this happened because it changed my life forever.”

“I just can’t wait to see my family and have a nice meal and be in my own bed and appreciate all the things I took for granted and never really thought much about,” she said.

“I feel like I can’t wait to start a new chapter of my life. It feels really great even though I really don’t like it here,” she said.

Getting past the humor of me reading the entertainment section, I think I see a reason that Paris’s comments about her jail sentence may be more than simply publicity management. And it’s only because in the reality of the spiritual life, they ring true.

As universal as lifting weights forms muscles, humans forced into humility can reliably observe the resulting formation spiritually. Self-centeredness is the spiritual trans fat of our race, isn’t it? It makes sense that Paris’ jail time would be healthy for her spirit, producing waves of developing gratitude, genuine love, a wider perspective.

I hope she’ll find that Jesus was both the teacher and author of how this works in us.

Okay, entertainment news over. Back to philosophy. Or at least NPR.