• In regards to Everything Must Change by Brian McLaren (which I will continue blogging through soon), The Other Journal has an interview with Brian aptly named Why Everything Must Change: A Conversation with Brian McLaren. 10/31/2007

Blogging from the National Youth Workers Convention

I will be blogging from St. Louis, Missouri this Thursday through Monday, where I’m attending the National Youth Workers Convention, an event organized by Youth Specialties.

In addition to seven “general sessions” with great speakers and worship leaders (David Crowder Band, Starfield, et al.) there are a bunch of smaller seminars that I’m really excited about. I don’t know if I’ll be able to attend every one I want (because some are at the same time), but here are a few I’d particularly like to attend:

Red Letter Christians: Defining Progressive Evangelicalism, with Tony Campolo

Theological Tools for Your Youth Ministry Toolbox, with Tony Jones

So You Want to Get Published, with Jay Howver

Small Church, Big Times: How to Build Creativity into the Small Church Youth Ministry, with Lilly Lewin

What Youth Ministers Can Learn from Sociologists, with Tony Campolo

The Greening of Youth Ministry: Why Your Youth Group Should Care for the Earth, with Peter Illyn (founder of Restoring Eden)

A New Vision for Middle School Ministry, with Mark Oestreicher

Communications Survival Guide: Making Sure You’re Connecting to Students, Parents, and the Church, with Matthew Penn

I basically plan to go and act as a sponge; I just want to soak up as much youth ministry information, tips, advice, and wisdom as possible. I’ll be taking lots of notes and blogging my reflections throughout the extended weekend.

• Pete Rollins, author of How (Not) to Speak of God, has posted an excerpt from his forthcoming book The Fidelity of Betrayal: The Ir/Religious Heart of Christianity (which Amazon says will be released April 30, 2008). “The point is not to exclude the idea that miracles can involve awe-inspiring, breath-taking spectacles, but rather to point out that if the event is purely spectacular, involving no real change in the core of ones being, then it is nothing more than a spectacle… A miracle worthy of the name is so radical that while, on in the physical world, nothing may change, in the one who has been touched by it nothing remains the same.” 10/30/2007

Four point oh!

The picture, as you have obviously inferred, represents me turning on the power to JakeBouma.com 4.0 (in reality, I was turning on the power to Milwaukee). If you’re reading this in a feed reader or email, click through and test drive the new design!

First of all, I would like to offer a sincere “thank you” to everyone who participated in the JakeBouma.com 4.0 prize giveaway. All of the winners have been selected and notified via email. Thanks to all of the prize sponsors as well. The prize giveaway obviously couldn’t have happened without them.

The new iteration of JakeBouma.com is the biggest overhaul to the website in nearly two years, when i switched to the previous theme. Before that, the design of JakeBouma.com was disastrous – like watching Ben Affleck try to act.

The design is based on Nathan Rice’s WordPress theme ElegantBlue, which I modified a bit to my liking. Much thought went into choosing this particular design (see below); I actually tried a couple of different themes before settling on this one. In addition to the new theme, many things have been added/enhanced/tidied up. I encourage you to poke around a bit, but here are a few of the modifications and reasonings:

Content is the main reason this blog exists, so I wanted to make reading more user-friendly and intuitive. The wider main column and larger font achieve this.

Navigation of specific pages (Contact, Archives, etc.) is clearer, with tabs at the top of the page. In the previous design, pages were listed in the sidebar.

I added a “Popular Posts” section to the sidebar for two reasons. (1) This makes it easier for first time visitors here to get an overall “feel” of the blog without having to dig through the archives, and (2) because there 400+ posts, I can highlight some oldie-but-goodie posts that might otherwise be utterly forgotten.

The Music page has been totally revamped and the About page has been kind of revamped.

Individual digressions now have a unique permalink page (example), making it easier for myself and others to link to them.

Anyway, it’s really late and I’m really tired. Rather than continuing to list increasingly minor redesign details, I’m going to go to bed. Leave a comment and let me know how you like (or dislike) the new design!

• “Heaven is important, but it’s not the end of the world.” – N.T. Wright 10/26/2007
• Seth Godin on how to create a great website. “Insight is good, clever is bad. Many websites say, ‘look at me.’ Your goal ought to be to say, ‘here’s what you were looking for.’” 10/26/2007
• The deadline for entries in the JakeBouma.com 4.0 prize giveaway is 8:00am on Thursday, October 25. I have received lots of entries so far, but there are still some people who have signed up for email updates that haven’t sent me the secret word. If you haven’t done so yet, enter the contest and/or contact me to secure your entry. 10/24/2007
• New York Magazine has a review of the script for Where Wild Things Are, which was adapted for screen by Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers. “Where the Wild Things Are is filled with richly imagined psychological detail, and the screenplay for this live-action film simply becomes a longer and more moving version of what Maurice Sendak’s book has always been at heart: a book about a lonely boy leaving the emotional terrain of boyhood behind.” 10/19/2007

The JakeBouma.com 4.0 prize giveaway

To celebrate the redesign of JakeBouma.com (sneak preview above), I am holding a prize giveaway as a way of saying “thank you” to everyone who reads and supports this blog. Check it:

The prizes:

A one year subscription to Wired Magazine, courtesy of Josh Brown.

Two custom designed blog headers (one per winner), courtesy of Red Cowboy Designs.

Four pounds of raw North Carolina honey (two pounds per winner), courtesy of Jimmy

Four bars of hand-made glycerin honey soap (two per winner), also courtesy of Jimmy

One personalized watercolor sketch from a Moleskine, courtesy of Paul Soupiset. Check out his awesome Moleskine art.

Lifesong by Casting Crowns and Welcome to Diverse City by TobyMac (one per winner), courtesy of Stuart Delony.

A one year subscription to Relevant Magazine.

A copy of Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope by Brian McLaren

A signed copy of Cries from the Castlegate Empire by Evoka

How to enter:
You will receive one entry for subscribing to my website either by RSS or by email. In the first update, you’ll see a secret word at the bottom (e.g., “The secret word is _______”). Just email me the secret word for your entry into the giveaway.

You will receive two entries for blogging on your own website about this giveaway. You can describe the giveaway any way you want to, but you must link back to this post from yours. After you’ve posted, email me the URL so I can verify and add your entries.

To maximize your chances of winning, subscribe to JakeBouma.com by RSS or by email, then email me the secret word, and write a blog post of your own about the giveaway. You can have a maximum of three entries.

Details:
The deadline for entries is Wednesday, October 24th 2007, and the winners will be announced here on Friday, October 26th 2007. Winners will be selected using a random number generator (random.org).

There is a maximum of one prize per person, and prize sponsors are more than welcome to enter the draw (but obviously not to win your own gift). When you submit your entries, feel free to let me know which item(s) you would prefer, and if you’re selected as a winner, I’ll do my best to award you that particular prize. Good luck… and tell your friends!

• Here’s an interesting article from the NYT about Mitt Romney’s efforts to align with evangelical Christians. “His references to Jesus as his personal savior align with evangelical vernacular. Although it is consistent with Mormon doctrine, evangelicals caution that this is potentially dangerous territory for Mr. Romney, because their conception of who Jesus Christ is differs markedly from what Mormons believe.” 10/16/2007

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