Shift conference: Complexity and simplicity

Brian McLaren, originally uploaded by jakebouma on flickr.

It’s day two of the Shift conference at Willow Creek in Chicago, and it’s been going pretty well. Yesterday there were three main sessions, with Brian McLaren, Mark Yaconelli, and Shane Claiborne, and they were all great. At points throughout the sessions, I laughed, cried, and gained some insight and wisdom.

I’ve decided to not post any of my notes from the past day and a half, because much of what I’ve been mulling over boils down to the question of the seemingly simultaneous complexity and simplicity of the gospel and its implications. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, keep reading. This morning at Brian McLaren’s Onramp to Postmodernism discussion, there was a Q&A session in which I decided to go up and ask for his insight into the matter. I really liked his response, and I recorded both the question and his answer for your listening pleasure.

Click here for the mp3 of my question and Brian McLaren’s answer (03:58, 3.7mb)

I looked up the quote he’s referring to (read: “Googled”), and it comes from former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. He said, “I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” Do you know what he’s saying? Do you understand how awesome that is? I totally dig that.

Anyways, there are several people blogging and Twittering from the conference; Gavin has a roundup (actually, I met the guy thanks to Twitter). I started using hashtags to track tweets from the conference, so check the hashtag page for #shift08 to see all of the various comments and perspectives, and be sure to keep up with my Twitter feed as well.

What?

Yeah, that about sums it up.

Blogging from Chicago this week

I’m heading to Chicago on Tuesday to attend a pair of conferences: the Shift Student Ministry Conference and the Wheaton Theology Conference. I’m staying with my good friend and academic journal connoisseur, Brandon Mick. Like the National Youth Workers Convention last fall, I’ll be blogging my experience throughout the week.

Here’s a rough (and flexible) schedule of what I’ll be doing this week.

Wednesday

[Shift Conference]
9:00 - 10:30am — Brian McLaren, Everything Must Change; worship with Charlie Hall
11:15 - 12:45pm — Mark Yaconelli, Failure, Frustration & Loss: The Youth Worker’s Path to Holiness; worship with Charlie Hall
2:15 - 3:45pm — Shane Claiborne, The Scandal of Grace; worship with Charlie Hall

Thursday

[Shift Conference]
7:45 - 8:30am — Shane Claiborne, Jesus for President
9:00 - 10:30am — Brian McLaren, Onramp to the Postmodern Conversation
11:00 - 12:30pm — Scot McKnight, Missional Jesus
2:00 - 3:30pm — Tommy McClam, Mentoring Students in Your Ministry
4:00 - 5:30pm — Kara Powell, Deep Justice in a Broken World
[Wheaton Theology Conference]
7:30 - 8:30pm — Kevin Vanhoozer, Keynote Address #1

Friday

[Shift Conference]
7:45 - 8:30am — Aaron Niequist, Worship Songwriters Unite!
9:00 - 10:30am — Kara Powell, Deep Ministry in a Shallow World; worship with Brandon Grissom
11:15 - 12:45pm — Dan Kimball, They Like Jesus, But Not the Church; worship with Brandon Grissom
[Wheaton Theology Conference]
1:30 - 3:00pm — Mark Husbands and John Franke, The Trinity as Social?
3:30 - 5:00pm — Robert Lang’at and Keith Johnson, The Trinity and Mission
7:30 - 8:30pm — Kevin Vanhoozer, Keynote Address #2

Stay tuned to JakeBouma.com this week for updates from the conferences. Any fellow bloggers going to be at either of these conferences? Leave a comment and let me know; I’d love to meet up.

Do-it-yourself emergent

Image care of ASBO Jesus.

How to move your iTunes music library from a PC to a Mac without losing metadata (ratings, play counts, album art, etc.)

I spent the better part of yesterday trying to load my iTunes library on my new MacBook Pro. I was bound and determined NOT to lose all of the metadata associated with my music — star ratings, play counts, playlists, album art, etc. Call me superficial, but I just didn’t want to lose all of that information; information that has been compiled for 3,300+ audio files over the last three years.

Anyway, I eventually got it all figured out, but I thought I’d pass along what I learned. The tutorial below will help you if you DON’T let iTunes manage your Music folder (you can check this setting in Preferences → Advanced → General) and you’re moving from a PC to a Mac. If you don’t mind letting iTunes manage your music, there are easier ways to make the transfer.

I followed this tutorial for the most part, but I got hung up towards the end of the process. So I paraphrased and edited that tutorial to help out people like me (and, presumably, you) who want to switch from a PC to a Mac.

1. Transfer all of your music from the PC to the Mac.

Don’t delete anything — you want all of the same files on both the PC and the Mac. There are lots of ways to transfer your files documented elsewhere, so I won’t cover that here.

It will make things easier if you try to replicate the folder structure on your Mac that you had on your PC. For example, on my PC I had a folder located in D:/Music/ and within the “Music folder” were four sub-folders: “Downloads” (D:/Music/Downloads/), “Full Albums”, “Single mp3s”, and “Owned Albums (mp3 backup)”. When I copied the music to my Mac, I kept the same folder structure, within my new music folder: /Users/jakebouma/Music/. More on this later.

2. Check for up-to-date software.

Make sure that both machines are running the most current version of iTunes. Might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s important.

3. Find and transfer “iTunes Music Library.xml”

On your PC, locate a file called “iTunes Music Library.xml”. By default in Windows, iTunes will place this file in the “My Music” folder. For example, C:/Documents and Settings/Jake/My Documents/My Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml. If you’re having trouble finding the file, just perform a search.

Making sure that this file is not deleted, transfer it from your PC to your Mac. You can do this many ways, including using a USB drive; I emailed the file to myself.

4. Open “iTunes Music Library.xml” on the Mac.

Using a text editor like TextWrangler (all screenshots will be of this application), open the iTunes Library.xml that you just transferred to the Mac. You can do this by holding ⌘command and clicking on the file.



The next step is where retaining the basic file structure from PC to Mac (Step 1) comes in handy. This file, iTunes Music Library.xml, contains ALL of the metadata associated with the music in your iTunes library (ratings, play counts, album art, etc.), including where it is located on your hard drive. All you need to do is change the file locations in this file to reflect their new location on the Mac to keep all of this vital metadata intact.

Rather than editing this file by hand, which would take hours and hours, you’re going to use the “Find” and “Replace All” function.

5. Find and replace.

First, you need to find the “Location” line of a file. This is the line that tells iTunes where to find the file with which it associates the metadata. In Step 1, I mentioned that one of my folders was called “Owned Albums (mp3 backup)”. iTunes recognizes this file as located at file://localhost/D:/Owned%20Albums%20(mp3%20backup). The %20s denote the use of spaces.



Because all of the files in “Owned Albums (mp3 backup)” on my PC now reside in a similar folder called “Owned Albums (mp3 backup)” on my Mac, all i have to do is change the beginning of the file locations.

Highlight the beginning of the file location, and copy it (⌘command + C). In TextWrangler, click Search → Find or press ⌘command + F to open the “Find & Replace” pane. In the top “Search For” box, paste the text you highlighted (⌘command + V). In the bottom “Replace With” box, enter the beginning of the file location on your Mac. (To find the location of a file on your mac, just ⌘command + click the file, and choose “Get Info”. The location is the line that says “Where”.) Make sure that you add file://localhost/ before the location of the Mac file in the “Replace With” box, or iTunes won’t be able to find your files. Here’s what it should look like (click the image for larger file):



Make sure the “Start at Top” box is checked, and then click the “Replace All” button on the right side.



Voilà! Repeat this as necessary for the number of folders you have. Save this file.

6. Copy and replace “iTunes Music Library.xml”.

Make sure that iTunes is closed and locate the iTunes folder on your Mac. Mine is in Users/jakebouma/Music/iTunes. If you have never opened iTunes on your Mac, there won’t be any files here. If you have, there will be two files: iTunes Music Library.xml (not the one you just edited) and iTunes Library.



Copy and replace the iTunes Music Library.xml in this folder with the iTunes Music Library.xml that you just edited in Step 5. Do not open iTunes yet.

7. Manually corrupt the “iTunes Library” file.

Use a text editor such as TextWrangler to open the iTunes Library file (not the .xml file — see the image in Step 6). Select all of the text (⌘command + A) and delete it. The file should now be blank, with zero characters in it; save it (⌘command + S). iTunes Library’s filesize should now be zero KB (This is important, because some text editors — e.g. UltraEdit — may append invisible characters to the beginning of the file).

If this file is corrupted, which is what the above paragraph details, iTunes will default to iTunes Music Library.xml for all of its information. iTunes will automatically rebuild this file itself, so it’s okay to corrupt it for now.

8. Open iTunes and let it do its thing.

A prompt with a progress bar will come up — iTunes is rebuilding your library. Depending on how powerful your computer is and the size of your music library, this may take a while. When this ends, iTunes will come up with a message saying that the library file was corrupted/damaged and it tried to rebuild things for you. Press “OK” and iTunes will finally launch.

9. Tidy up.

After you’ve made sure that all of your metadata is intact and the files play correctly, you’ll probably want to tidy things up a bit now, such as reformatting your columns in the library and all the playlists and setting the Preferences as you’d like them.

I don’t subscribe to a whole lot of podcasts, so I just went to the iTunes Store and re-subscribed to them all. If you want to keep past episodes, follow the instructions here.

That’s it! You’re done!

10. Reformat your iPod (optional).

If you have an iPod and it was set up on your PC, the iTunes on your Mac will say “Only Macintosh-formatted iPods can be updated” when you plug in your iPod. Your iPod will still sync properly with this message, it just won’t download any new iPod software that Apple releases. To fix this, click “Restore” and iTunes will automatically reformat your iPod for your Mac and re-sync all of your music.

Phwew! Please leave comments if you have any questions or if something was unclear. I wrote this to save people the headache I went through.

• Nadia Bolz-Weber from Sarcastic Lutheran writes about wealth and the prosperity gospel at God’s Politics. “As a Lutheran, I fully reject the gospel of prosperity, primarily on the grounds that I’m pretty sure it makes Jesus throw up in his mouth a little bit every time he thinks of it.” 04/04/2008

A new era

My new computer has arrived.

A new era, originally uploaded by jakebouma on flickr.

MLB 2008 predictions

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

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

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

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

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?

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