blogs & xbox
Facebook Official
“It’s Facebook official.”
Apparently this is the new standard for us. Need to know if a couple is really a couple or still a couple? Need to know if a friend has that new job or not? Want to figure out if someone is mad at you or not? Want to know if the new movie is worth seeing or wait until it hits redbox?
Let’s go to Facebook and check, shall we?
This phrase has now become part of our American lexicon. Along side “Do you want fries with that?” and “Here or to-go?”
Just observing…
In Fairness To Rob
It doesn’t answer all of his critics…don’t think that ever happens for anybody, let alone Rob Bell…but apparently he stood up at his church recently and let this fly.
Not sure if this really changes any of the discussions…maybe it does. I still think he is one of the most provocative and interesting teachers of my generation.
Rob Bell, Universalism, and Hell
So I get back to the country and I get a few emails and texts asking me about my position on hell and universalism. I admit, I was very confused at first and was like… “The trip was great. Thanks for asking.”
Come to find out that while I was out of country Rob Bell decides to start promoting a book that will come out on March 15th titles “Love Wins: A book about Heaven, Hell and the fate of every person who ever lived.”
Here’s a quote from the Washington Post on the subject:
Justin Taylor, vice president of editorial at Crossway, wrote a blog post suggesting that Bell had become a universalist and was moving “farther and farther away from anything resembling biblical Christianity.” (Universalism asserts that all people will be saved and that an eternal hell is not a part of God’s plan for a new heaven and new earth.) In response, Pastor John Piper issued a tweet that linked to the post and added, “Farewell Rob Bell,” suggesting that such a position disqualifies Bell from Christian fellowship. Neither Taylor nor Piper have read the book in question. (Emphasis mine.)
So…to sum up. Rob Bell makes a cool video about his upcoming book by asking provocative questions that intelligent people have asked for centuries…questions like how does billions of people going to hell prove that God is love? He doesn’t answer the questions in the video because…well…because he never does and he’s trying to sell books. And instead of reading the book or waiting for the book, we roast Rob Bell over the coals for what MIGHT be his answers even though we don’t really know what his answers may really be?
And all of this gets played out in front of the whole world via Twitter, Facebook, blog posts and mainline news outlets? Instead of face to face conversations and waiting for the actual book to come out?
Sounds…really…mature.
I think I’ll just wait for the book.
The Super Bowl as a Cultural Strep Test
I do think the Super Bowl has become the 3rd most significant event on the US calendar. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Super Bowl are pretty much the only 3 times a year everybody is doing and watching the same thing.
The Super Bowl is unique of them all in that it is the only one that really gives the world a fairly unvarnished look at our culture…and this year it wasn’t pretty. Let me break it down for you — (cue LL Cool J)
Pre-Game
Did you get enough of the words “redemptive” and “Ben Roethlisberger?” If the Steelers had won, it would NOT have meant anything in regards to the redemption of Big Ben. Let’s bring this topic up in a few years and have more than just 10 months of evidence to go on. If Big Ben has gotten his life turned around, found God, got a girlfriend — great. Proof will be shown over course of time. Not because he’s won another Super Bowl.
Commercials
Overall, they are just getting more and more crass. I realize this makes me sound like an old fuddy-duddy but I just don’t find cans of soda shot at a man’s groin funny. Or a valentine card commenting on a woman’s chest funny. Or Joan Rivers… I was debating which should I do when I saw the Joan Rivers/Go Daddy ad – throw up or poke me eyes out with an ice pick. Speaking of which – Jillian Michaels and Faith Hill took a huge dive in my respect category after those ads. And even Eminem as a cartoon was intense. Good to see ole’ Jim Shady has even gone corporate with Sprite and Chrysler.
But it wasn’t all bad. VW hit it out of the park with their two ads – Darth Vader and the Beetle. Doritos continued their brilliance giving us one of the most awkward, uncomfortable moments in commercial history – licking the fingers of another man.
Entertainment
Is it too much to ask our entertainers who are already completely out of touch with the rest of America, to at least know the words of our national anthem? How about just for the sake of professionalism? It’s a song, it has words, if you are going to sing the song — know the words. Not hard.
Black Eye Peas — pretty much lame city. Great first song then crashed from there. Slash provided a glimpse of hope but then it faded. Usher then helped and made us all wonder why didn’t he do the whole show? It’s a shame, too. But once again — style seemed to trumped substance once again.
Fox Coverage of Game
At first I thought it was going to be the worse coverage of a Super Bowl I’d ever seen. I don’t want to see A Rod and Cameron Diaz feeding each other popcorn. I don’t care if Madden is texting right next to President Bush. Don’t really see how John Travolta added anything to the game. The first quarter seemed to spend more time on star watching than the game.
Then all of a sudden it was like the producer remembered that this is first and foremost a football game. And it got much better from the 2nd quarter on. Even though they missed a few key replays and a penalty, very nice recovery and finish.
What Am I Trying To Say?
I’m saying that the coverage and spectacle of the Super Bowl gives us a deeper insight into our culture. Some of it is disturbing, some of it isn’t. But the messages aren’t neutral, they never are neutral.
Now to travel the sports equivalent of Purgatory until football cranks back up again…
Rowland Smith…is he back?
There is no hiding my man-crush (bromance) with Rowland Smith. Never mind the fact that I am the only person on the planet that calls him “Row” or that he will allow to call him “Row.” Never mind the fact that he completely rocks the metro-sexual worship pastor quiz. He is writing again and that is always a good thing. It’s better than a good thing, it’s a great thing.
Here is his blog and this is his latest post. Just go read it and start following his blog. I promise you will be challenged both personally AND in your understanding of worship.
If you don’t know Rowland, let me give you a short introduction. He’s the most talented worship leader I’ve ever worked with. This talent causes both elation and frustration for those who work with him. There is no way around this and I wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s what drives us deeper in our understanding of God, deeper in our worship of Him. It’s what helps create memorable worship experiences that become spiritual markers for people.
I promise you this – if you start reading Rowland (and let’s pray he continues to write for a while…), you will be challenged. And let’s be honest, we need this.
His post today is outstanding. Check him out.
6 Years of Blogging…Now What?
When I started doing this, I had little to no clue what I was doing and even less to say. Yet, 6 years later I’m still writing, still changing the look of the site when I get bored with it, and still playing Halo. Some random bits of information to forget once you’re done reading this…
1. The average life span for a blog is around 8 months. I just made that statistic up but it sounds true, doesn’t it? I’m not even sure if it’s a researchable stat or not. I’m just saying that to keep a blog moving along for 6 years is pretty cool.
2. I’ve got to watch Alabama win 4 national championships in my lifetime (1978, 1979, 1992, 2009). Only one of them while this blog has been in existence. Auburn still has none. I must write this now because come January of 2011 that might not be true.
3. The Broncos have morphed from one of the most respected, winning organizations to the joke that it is now.
4. I’m more in awe of God now than ever. This is obviously better than the alternative of being more jaded. His grace still astounds me in its scope and power. He continues to allow me to see lives changed. And I’m humbled by this.
5. I’ve written 1,983 posts. There have been 6,183 comments. Most of them insightful. Oh, who am I kidding. Most of them have been funny and witty. A handful have been insightful and most them weren’t by me.
6. I’ve been spammed 212,243 times.
The word on the street may be that blogging is so early 2000 but I think I’ll keep at it. It helps me process. It keeps me focused. And I’ve met so many of you through this and am a better man because of you.
Thanks for inviting me in on your life the past 6 years. The best is yet to come.
New Look on Website Checklist
I need to give some link love to the guys over at Graph Paper Press. They have got some sweet looking themes – some for free, some for not. All just sick looking and they have some kind of KU connection because their default pics all involve a Jayhawk. So Rock Chalk and if you are in the market for a new wordpress theme — check ‘em out.
This is the 6th or 7th time I’ve completely redone the theme at the G Sides and we’ve come a longggg way since the Blogger days. Any of you still remember those days?? At any rate — still have a few things to take care of before I’m happy with the new site.
Increase number of pics in banner from 5 to 10.
Fix connect drop down to include twitter, linkedin, facebook, and message archive online.
Fix archive page.
Fix blogroll/blogs I dig page.
update gravatar.
Edit/narrow categories.
Add flickr to social connect dropdown.
Get number of views on posts
Add cool photo plugin that Graph paper runs.
Fix gallery settings of Fancybox.
add mobile version of website
What about the footer? Keep it as is? Or add one column to format and put the stuff in the column?
Football thoughts and a new look at the G sides
It was a weekend of football and that gave me time during commercials and halftimes to throw down a new look on the blog. I like it and will be tweaking it over the next few weeks, getting it all spiffy. I was due for a change…I like change.
Alabama
Tide looked strong and more balanced on offense than they have ever been. It’s obvious that the defense has 9 new starters and will make some mistakes but so far they’ve had the talent to overcome them. 2-0 and off to a great start.
Denver Broncos
About what I thought. Offense is better, defense can be run rough shod over, and they still make bonehead mistakes and penalties in crunch time. WR’s will be fine without Marshall, Orton is a good QB but not great enough to overcome mistakes. At least we didn’t look like the Raiders…
SEC vs. ACC vs. Big Ten
SEC is still the top level football conference. ACC was the talk of the gurus being the next in line. After what happened to VT and Georgia Tech and Miami and Florida State this weekend, I think all that talk can now subside. The Big Ten (which is now 12 while the Big 12 will soon be 10…irony…) is really the next line and will push the SEC for football dominance. Ohio State looks great and the rest of the conference looks pretty decent – Penn State, MSU, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa.
New Blog Look
It’s a slick look and I like it. Most folks read this through a RSS reader or Facebook so I’m not sure what exactly the pay off is of having a slick website other than first impressions and bragging rights. Will update pics regularly.
You Know This Needs To Happen…Soon
This awesomeness was designed by Little Mountain Productions. Ahhhh, the bittersweet taste of envy…
I’m a Top 50 Evangelical Christian Blog?
I’m not making this up — Check it out.
Here’s the quote —
The G Sides: Although billed as “the randomness of a distracted existential tour guide,” this blog is very focused on every day life from a Christian evangelical perspective.
SO to recap –
First…although I may not always be very focused…this blog is. Mostly.
Second…I have a life.
Third…I have a Christian evangelical perspective. Even though I don’t really like the word evangelical due to the political baggage it carries. If by that word we mean — I love Jesus, thinks that he really is God and thinks that He thought He was God — then yeah, I am. Anything beyond that — not going there.
And I’m number 47. I can live with that.
New Splinter Cell Game: Not Worth It
Rented the new Splinter Cell:Conviction game this weekend. Mixed feelings about the game.
First, I loved the ‘old’ Splinter Cell games. Chaos Theory is by far my favorite of the crew. Double Agent was the beginning of the end for me, I think. While past games demanded stealth and smarts, this was the first one that actually rewarded the shoot first, ask questions later format.
Conviction:
Pro – the co-op gameplay mode is awesome. I love doing Splinter Cell co-op. Just flat out awesome. New graphics are ridiculously slick.
Cons – (and there are many…) New mode darkens screen to black and out when you are out of sight, rendering beautiful graphics and artwork completely worthless. No more meter to tell, no more darkening of the screen.
Violence – lots of interrogations, blood and shooting. Not really a stealth game anymore. Most of the missions are impossible to get through without shooting somebody – which is what made the earlier Splinter Cells so much fun.
Language — atrocious. Had to turn it off. The first F-bomb was a shock but it was during the cut scene. Then the F-bombs starting being spewed during the very first mission during game play. On top of that – there was no setting (like the Modern Warefare games) to turn it off. Ubisoft – if you are going to make that kind of decision and then NOT give me an option to turn it off – I’m not buying your game.
Overall: Won’t buy it, won’t rent it again. Chalk it up as a genre ruined and hope that the next one is better.
I Thought We Were All Better Than This
Christian popular culture is like a reflection of regular pop culture through a funhouse mirror. In Christian-World, Kirk Cameron is a huge star, Jars of Clay is a hot music group, and sending money to strangers who browbeat you on TV is a rational decision. From G4tv.com.
So starts the review of a new video game coming out this year – “Left Behind.” Generally, I’m a positive person and enjoy sarcasm and the well placed barb with the best of them. For some reason this morning, this all hit me wrong…on multiple levels.
I was offended by the writer. I wondered if he had ever read C.S. Lewis, Donald Miller, or a host of other writers who are creative, thoughtful, insightful, and funny. I wondered if he was just as guilty as the “Christian sub-culture” – staying inside his particular world, never straying outside it to give the other side a fighting chance. I wondered if he had ever even met a real, thoughtful, Christ-follower.
But more than those feelings, there was another set rising in me. Why release a cheap, less than excellent video game? Why make corny, cheeseball movies that make everyone feel awkward and think they are watching a middle school production? Why scream and holler and generally make stupid comments of how God hates people? Why do all of these things then blame Jesus for it? And we tolerate it – we meaning the Christ-following subculture.
The gentleman at G4tv.com closed his article with this:
I’m not mocking Christians, the Bible, or Jesus. I’m poking fun at the man made junk that surrounds Christianity. The terrible cartoons, bad movies, half-***ed video games and obvious hucksterism is funny, no matter who you worship. … I wish Christians were being served with Art that is as great and formidable as their religion. With the exception of Mel Gibson films, the Christian entertainment I’ve seen is simplistic drivel.
I agree with him. The man-made junk that surrounds Christianity – I think Jesus’ reaction in the Temple gives a clear picture as to his opinion on the matter. I too desire Art that is as great and formidable as our faith. I’m hopeful the tide is turning – The Blind Side, The Book of Eli, and How To Save A Life all are movies that I think are great and formidable.
For years this was true – the masterpieces of Art that hang in museums around the world were done by people who loved God or were commissioned by the Church to paint them. In a world that valued military conquest and intellectualism, the Church for centuries was the only place that protected and elevated the arts.
I hope we’ve done this at Western Hills through this series. That wasn’t the goal…the goal was to create an experience for people to connect with God. I think ‘great and formidable’ art does this. I think it stretches us, demands more from us. I think it can take us to these thin places where God is easier to connect with.
I think if we – Christ-followers – would continue to uphold and demand this kind of art, Jesus would be easier to find. And the man-made junk that surrounds him would be easier to dismiss.
Silent Monks Sing Handel’s Messiah
Major h/t to Robert Terrell on this one. I dare you not to smile. Simply awesome and it answers the age old question of how silent monks worshiped.
E-cards for iPhones
I was about to send Amy an e-card today and realized…she can’t open it on her iPhone. What to do?
Go to ecardlets.com. It’s pretty cool, pretty basic. Looks like you can even design your own card and send if you have the time.
You Version Live Basics
LifeChurch has just recently published one of the coolest little things for the mobile phones. It’s called YouVersion Live. Basically, it’s going to allow those who have a web-enabled phone to read the bible, answer survey questions, respond to questions, take notes, get the speaker’s notes, and much more all from their phone.
Sounds great but how do you set all that stuff up? How do you run it in a live service? I’ve run into a couple of problems in getting it set up. This post is for those who come after me…allow me to save you a few hours of frustration. (I’ll add some screenshots later. If you have any other suggestions or helps, leave them in the comments.)
How To Start a You Version Live Event
First, go to youversion.com and sign up. The login is located in the upper right hand corner. If you need further instructions on how to sign up…just step away from the computer now and get help.
Second, click on Community tab. It should have this huge “New! YouVersion Live” call out. On the far right, there is a ‘Create a Group’ link. Click on that. My group name was Western Hills Baptist Church. You can make one for your small group, youth group, women’s group, men’s group – whatever.
Fill out all the stuff but there is something to consider. At the end of that form there is a “Keep This Group Private” button. I was tempted to click this because I hate S. P A. M. But if you do this…makes it very hard, ney – impossible for people who might be sitting in your audience to find you and join in. Plus, it will take a couple of days for your stuff to go live if you choose the private option. I chose to keep our group public, something to think about. Congratulations, you’ve created a group.
Next, click back on the community tab. You’ll have the following options as a sub-menu: Feed, Groups, Contributions, Likes, Tags, and Live. To create a Live Event click on the Group tab…NOT the Live tab. (I’m not here to explain the menu choices…just the navigator! ha ha) You should see the group you created in the list. Click on the group name.
It should take you to a screen that has the following choices on it: Manage Group, Create Live Event, Upcoming Events, View Group Members. We’re wanting to create an event so click on that link. The menu is pretty self explanatory but be careful with the time settings. It’s a bit finicky and you can’t just type away a time in there. It’s one of the funkiest drop down menus in the world. It will take a bit to get used to it.
The publish date is when you want people to start being able to find the event online or on their phone. You want to make sure this time is earlier than your start time to give folks a chance to find it. Duh, right? Hold is the opposite of publish. So if you want the even to disappear after you’re done with it, put a date and time here. If you don’t put one, it will stay visible afterwards. The significance is that people will be able to get the info that was shared during the live event but obviously won’t be able to participate.
Now the fun but awkward part. You should be looking at a screen with all these cool items to play with. All the stuff on the right hand column can be dragged/drug/whatever to the left hand column. Once in the left hand column, you can click and edit the settings. Things like Bible verses, questions, polls, you can even put a twitter box in there that people can tweet the event.
Notes are available to put up and the users can take their own notes – although I’m not sure how helpful that is on a phone. I guess if they are sitting at a PC during a conference, they could scream through some notetaking then upload it for the rest to see. Nevertheless, it’s a cool feature and one we’ll be playing with in the future. When you click the “Preview” button, it will show you what your stuff looks like on a mobile phone.
Then there is the DASHBOARD button. Dashboard does NOT do what you think it should do. It is not a dashboard that will allow you to fix and edit your presentation in real time. It’s just a window that shows you the results of your questions and polls. If you are going to use this in an audience to show the results, this would be the window you’d want to show on the projector. But if you want to edit your presentation AND have the results shown at the same time in two different monitors – you’re going to have to do a couple of extra clicks.
How Do I Edit My Live YouVersion Presentation?
Great question…and there isn’t a magic button that allows you to do this. First, notice the web address of your presentation when you clicked the “Dashboard” button. It should say something like – http://www.youversion.com/events/(4 numbers)1136/dashboard. The /dashboard is the key here. Delete it and instead put /edit at the end of address. That should take you right back to the ‘edit’ screen that will allow you to add, delete, and edit the presentation.
To put the Dashboard in one screen and the edit in the other, open another web browser window and put the event address in the presentation window, while leaving the edit address in the other.
Feel free to add any other hints or stuff I missed in the comments. Screenshots are coming.
Updated Blog
Upgraded or updated the backside of my blog. Nothing noticable on your end other than a couple of plugins to update.
I can now post and upload pics from my iPhone again. Yeah.
This is Cayden playing a concert for our cul-de-sac.
Splinter Cell Frustration
A new Splinter Cell game will come out this fall…SC:Conviction. It will be about Sam Fischer going rogue trying to capture/avenge the killers of his daughter.
I’m trying to be patient with the SC crew, I really am. When the first Splinter Cell game came out – it was my favorite game until the second one came out until SC:Chaos Theory came out. Since then…while the graphics have improved, the story has gotten…dull.
One of the cool things about SC was you couldn’t just go around shooting things….you had to figure it out. Stealth was more valuable than just shooting stuff. These last two offerings – Double Agent and it appears Conviction will be the same – have stunned me with their graphics and artistry…frustrated me with an increased leaning to being just another shooter game.
Plus…the language has gotten worse from game to game. Why exactly bad guys have to use bad language is beyond me. But I will hold off on any official endorsement or condemnation until I play it.
Where Are The Posts?
Good night…I’m hoping this is just a season for me but I can’t seem to write anything worth posting lately.
Busy? Yeah, but who isn’t, right? It’s not really busyness that’s kept my blog quiet as of lately. Actually, pace has gotten better in the last few weeks. I’m getting my feet underneath me learning this new culture, new role, new town, new friends, new everything. And everything is new.
I’m not sure why the dry season in my writing right now. It just is. Been here before…doesn’t make it any less frustrating but at least I know in the back of mind it’s not going to last forever. Or will it?
That’s the real fear of dry spots – both in writing, in our marriages, in our work, in our walk with Jesus. The real fear and anxiousness isn’t that it’s dry in this moment. The real fear is ‘how long will this last?’ Is this it? Is this as good as it is ever going to get? Have I hit the wall?
I’ve responded in two different ways in that spot. Go backwards or go forwards. Remember the good old days? They really weren’t that good when I was there and I’m not that old. Let’s go back to what we know. Or – slam it forward. Do something to trigger this funk on up out of here. (Insert bass line here.)
Is this the point where a spiritual sage says – “Stay in the moment.” “Be still and know…” Maybe. I think there are times we’re still, I think there are times to spring forward through the dry times. Going backwards? No. And I don’t see backwards as repentance. Repentance is a course correction as we go forward.
Odd thing…not dry in my walk with Jesus…just dry in writing, putting thoughts on paper…or in HTML as it were. To steal a line from C.S. Lewis – time to go ‘further up and further in.’
They Are Different…They Stay Different
It appears that all 3 of our kids are hitting a phase right now that has Amy and I looking at each other like – ‘what bus did we get on?’ You figure out early in parenting that each kid is different. So that’s not new to us. You learn pretty early on that what works with one kid won’t necessarily work with the others. So that’s not what is new either.
What is new is the intensity of the changes and how they not only start out different – they stay different, change different, handle everything different.
What isn’t different? How clueless I feel when faced with their differences.
I handled 18 years of youth ministry, change, culture shifts, other people’s kids, and other people’s problems. Faced with the defiance of my own 6 year old baffles me.
Why is giving grace and mercy to other people’s kids easier than mine own?
I’ve sat with many parents who were frustrated, angry, depressed, and shell shocked at the decisions of their children. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve encouraged parents – ‘It’s possible to be goldy, loving, wonderful parents and have kids that turn out to be hellions.’ I’ve seen the opposite as well.
But this rant has really less to do with my kids, more to do with me. My kids aren’t hellions. Far from it at this stage in life. They push the boundaries. They are in the middle of discovering who they are. They are just being kids…
It’s just I’m convinced that God has put these 3 in my life to point out how selfish I can be, how so not together I am and how ridiculously dependent I am on God’s grace…every single day.
Your Mom Likes My Blog More Than Yours
This is too funny. Robert Terrell – former youth pastor stud/guru and now church planter in Stevens Point – finally gets the news from his own mom that she likes reading my blog more than his.
I left a comment over there.
I love Robert’s mom.
American Boredom
I watched some American Idol tonight with my son.
I tried to watch it would be a better description.
I realize that half of America watches this show. I realize that some of you are addicted to it. I also know that Lost is watched by this same half – another show I gave up on after 3 episodes.
But I was bored. I mean the singers weren’t awful. They weren’t incredible. It was like watching people sing on the cruise except without the alcohol. I don’t get the craze behind the show. Ryan Seacrest is annoying. Simon is a jerk. Paula is from another planet. Randy is the only decent one but he calls everyone ‘dog.’
Oh well…back to Burn Notice…the best show on television.
Facebook To Own Stuff Forever…What To Do?
With the new user agreement at Facebook, my attention was drawn to this line…
You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.
What implications does this have for my blog and me feeding my blog into Facebook? I wasn’t sure so I started clicking around. This post seems to have the latest info but it still doesn’t really answer (at least in language that I can understand) if I post an article, artwork, or song that is originally mine – can Facebook take it and use it for their profit?
I’ve asked the Facebook blog/owner guru people with no answer yet. Until they do…I’m not importing my posts here into Facebook anymore.
UPDATE: Rob Williams wrote this to help clear the mud.