MLB 2008 predictions
March 30th, 2008 | Comments (14)
The only real reason this post exists is to say that more than ever before, I believe this is the Cubs’ year. It’s time.
American League:
West: Seattle Mariners
Central: Detroit Tigers
East: Boston Red Sox
Wild Card: Cleveland Indians
National League:
West: Arizona Diamondbacks
Central: Chicago Cubs
East: New York Mets
Wild Card: Philadelphia Phillies
MVP: Derek Lee, Chicago Cubs
Cy Young: Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs
Rookie of the Year: Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs
Manager of the year: Lou Piniella, Chicago Cubs
World Series: Cubs over the Tigers in 5
- Jesus said, “If anyone would… take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well” (Matthew 5:40). Social worker Julio Diaz takes Jesus seriously.
As the teen [robber] began to walk away, Diaz told him, “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm.”
If you’ve ever wondered what the gospel “looks like”, I’m fairly certain this is it. 03/28/2008 - John Mayer doesn’t just write heart-wrenching music. You need to read this. “This is about us all. Every one of us. Who all seem to know deep down that it’s incredibly hard to be alive and interact with the world around us but will try and cover it up at any cost. For as badass and unaffected as we try to come off, we’re all just one sentence away from being brought to the edge of tears, if only it was worded right.” 03/27/2008
Help me make a theology mixtape
March 27th, 2008 | Comments (10)
Muxtape is a new web service that brings back the old school pastime of mixtape creation, and they make it really easy to create and share mixes with one another. See thelongbrake’s mix, for example.
I’ve created a Muxtape account with the sole intent of storing a stellar mix of theological-type lectures. This is where you come in. I need you to leave a comment with a link to your favorite theological lecture in mp3 format. I’ll compile all of them into a sweet theology mixtape that can be shared with everyone you know. After I’ve uploaded all of the mp3s, I’ll post it here.
Whaddya say? Help me out here!
- The Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry has a bunch of mp3s available from their Great Theologians Lecture Series, including a gem from Jürgen Moltmann — The Crucified God: A Modern Theology of the Cross (link is to the mp3). 03/25/2008
Easter and environmentalism
March 23rd, 2008 | Comments (5)
I figured that since I posted quotes for the previous two days of Holy Week, I’d post one more. Besides, this one is too juicy to pass up.
“Those who do not understand the link between the Easter message and ecological problems, do not understand anything of either. Environmentalism in itself is of course no utterance of Easter faith. Many non-Christians are concerned about this. That is only right and proper. A monopolizing of these earthly cares by Christians is out of the question. There is environmentalism without Easter faith, but no Easter faith without environmentalism.” Herman-Emiel Mertens, Not the Cross, But the Crucified: An Essay in Soteriology, p.207)
I came across that passage over at Sustainablog. Although the quote is taken out of context (which makes it difficult to understand Mertens’ argument), I find the connection between Easter (i.e., the risen Christ) and environmental action compelling. What do you make of it?
A Holy Saturday experience
March 21st, 2008 | Comments (0)
Something to ponder this Holy Saturday:
“The believer who encounters serious doubt does not renounce his or her faith but rather uses it as an opportunity to affirm it. We may call this acknowledgment of doubt a Holy Saturday experience (a term that refers to the 24 hours nestles between the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ). This day marked a movement of great uncertainty and darkness for the followers of Jesus. Yet it is precisely in the midst of a Holy Saturday experience that the decision to follow Christ becomes truly authentic. A faith that can only exist in the light of victory and certainty is one which really affirms the self while pretending to affirm Christ, for it only follows Jesus in the belief that Jesus has conquered death. Yet a faith that can look at the horror of the cross and still say ‘yes’ is one that says ‘no’ to the self in saying ‘yes’ to Christ. If one loses one’s life only because one believes that this is the way to find it, then one gives up nothing; to truly lose one’s life, one must lay down that life without regard to whether or not one finds it. Only a genuine faith can embrace doubt, for such a faith does not act because of a self-interested reason (such as fear of hell or desire for heaven) but acts simply because it must. A real follower of Jesus would commit to him before the crucifixion, between the crucifixion and the resurrection, and after the resurrection.” - Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God. Brewster: Paraclete Press, 2006. p.34.
When Good Friday is just okay
March 21st, 2008 | Comments (2)
I have a problem with Good Friday.
Here’s the question: Have we, as citizens of one of the most powerful empires the earth has ever seen, lost the “good”-ness of Good Friday? Would Good Friday seem more “good” to me if I wasn’t part of the 20% of the world population that consumes 80% of earth’s resources?
Don’t get me wrong, I understand why Good Friday is good. But Good Friday forces me to confront my affluence and challenge my own theology. I can’t help but wonder if the goodness is getting harder to see through the building fog of wealth, excess, and power on our collective glasses. This fog on our glasses and the inherent goodness Good Friday are, I believe, inversely proportional.
This means that for most of us, Good Friday is just okay. We have money, we have homes, we have jobs, we have families, we have status in the world, and we have security. While these things may feel good, they are not capital-g Good.
Here’s what one theologian has to say:
“We take comfort…that we are citizens of the greatest, most powerful nation in the history of the world. Doing so, we are tempted to support exercises of American might and wealth that may be unjust but are assumed to be necessary to secure our nation’s power. To be a citizen of such a nation at least suggests our lives will not be forgotten. When the history of history is written, America, like Rome, cannot be forgotten; as Americans we will have a place in history. Is it any wonder that a people so formed believe that what is happening in this man Jesus’ life is something about our significance? Is it any wonder that we find the lean and gaunt account of the life and crucifixion of Christ so unsatisfying?” - Stanley Hauerwas, Cross-Shattered Christ: Meditations on the Seven Last Words, 41-42 (ht)
May we look past our own hedonistic desires to see a truly satisfying Christ on the cross; the One who is tremendously Good for the whole world.
What are your thoughts? What does it mean to say that this day is Good?
- Jonathan Brink contemplates the correlations between modernity/postmodernity and left brain/right brain. “The right brain is about connectivity and relationships. What draws us together, not divides us. And much of the postmodernity movement/era I think is a response to the long drawn out centuries of living exclusively in the left brain world that can’t operate in relationships.” 03/20/2008
- That speech Obama gave about race in America? He wrote it himself. “The last time a major speech was written without the aid of a speechwriter by a president or presidential candidate was Nixon’s ‘Great Silent Majority’ speech delivered on October 13, 1969.” Wow. 03/19/2008
Damn.
March 18th, 2008 | Comments (10)
When uploading to WordPress 2.5 RC1, I apparently erased all of my themes and plugins, which means I essentially have to start from scratch. It’s my own fault, since I didn’t back up the data beforehand, but damn this sucks.
The irony of this happening a mere hours after the previous post is overwhelming.
UPDATE 03/19/08, 3:17PM:
For those who missed it, for the previous fourteen hours or so my blog looked like this:
I managed to find the folder containing the theme I had been using from it’s original upload back in October. I spent some time changing most of the things I have changed in the past 5 months, and now we’re pretty much back to normal. I still have some things to fix, but at least I can breathe now.
The moral of the story: BACK UP YOUR STUFF.
JakeBouma.com turns 3 years old
March 18th, 2008 | Comments (2)
On May 1, 2003, I hit “publish” on my first-ever blog post using the pre-Google-owned Blogger. This is what it said:
Who knows what I will post on my newly-created blog, not to mention how often. In fact, there is a fairly good chance that this is the last post I will make. I will probably just forget that I created it. There is also a good chance that I will post diligently… we’ll just have to see. I don’t really know why anyone would want to read this, but it sort of makes me feel special to have my very own blog in which I can post my most intimate secrets and most idiotic ramblings.
Just under two years (and several CMS experiments) later, on March 18, 2005, I purchased the domain JakeBouma.com, uploaded WordPress 1.5, and began taking blogging (somewhat) seriously.
Today this blog celebrates its third birthday. According to the CDC the third year marks the entry into the “Preschool” era, leaving toddler-hood in its wake. Between the ages of three and five, this blog’s “world will begin to open up. [It] will become more independent and begin to focus more on adults and children outside of the family. [It] will want to explore and ask about his surroundings even more.” Shoot, my little website is growing up so fast.
In these three years, this humble blog has racked up 523 posts and 1,079 comments, with an average of 3.5 comments per post (factoring out digressions, which don’t allow comments).
And now for a trip down memory lane. Consider this my proud father moment…
Above: JakeBouma.com 2.0. Version 1.0 didn’t last too long because I deleted the whole thing on accident, so I started again from scratch. I’m actually a little embarrassed of this design, but I’m pretty sure less than 10 people ever saw it.
Above: Version 3.0. I wanted to retain some of the visual aspects of 2.0 while moving to a three-column format. My favorite part about this design was the oft-changing banner at the top (Here’s the banner from the blog’s first birthday. I plan on making a collage of them soon-ish).
And now we’re on the current iteration: 4.0. I plan on sticking with this design for a long time; probably until after the blog graduates from preschool.
- Midlife-Crisis Bible Stories, from McSweeney’s. My favorite is The Annunciation. 03/16/2008
- This is incredible. You might even say I’m speechless. 03/13/2008
A tale of two computers (or, I’m getting a MacBook Pro)
March 13th, 2008 | Comments (9)
Well folks, the time has finally come. In a few short weeks, I’ll be the owner of a new 15-inch MacBook Pro.
Long story short: The aging, hand-me-down laptop my church had supplied me died, and they won’t pony up the dough for a new one. At home, my 6-year-old desktop is on life support. The solution? A new laptop.
I built my desktop from individual parts in 2002 with money I had received after graduating high school. It’s been through quite a lot since then, and I’m actually amazed that it’s still running. I’ve had to reformat and reinstall Windows XP multiple times — one of those times I had to borrow an external HDD from a resident (I was an RA in college). I had to manually remove the fan from my graphics card because it was making a horrible grinding noise. For a while last year it would just randomly turn off and refuse to turn back on. Now it’s simply too old and slow to be useful; it takes 15 minutes for Adobe® Photoshop® to open (no kidding).
The following table shows (to the extent that a table can) the stark contrast between the two computers. There is more reading following the table.
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Anyway, I’ve been acclimating myself to OS X by using my mom’s MacBook, so making the leap from Windows to OS X won’t be quite so jarring. However, I still need your help. What software, hardware, accessories, tips and tricks do you suggest? Leave a comment and let me know. Anything that will enhance my overall experience will be greatly appreciated!
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![Another world. [edit]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3138/2426374093_1c9b676580_t.jpg)
