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Tue - March 13, 2007
RSS Feed
Here is the RSS feed for
the new blog. I'm making progress on the site, slowly but surely. I've learned
that there's no way you can just do "a little" css. I keep breaking things and
then I have to fix them. I'm having fun, though.
Posted at 01:15 PM |
Thu - March 1, 2007
A Plug for Mark
I said earlier that playing with Expression
Engine has made me keenly aware of the weaknesses of my own site (I mean,
besides hideous design), so I'm planning on an overhaul in the near
future.
For the last several months, I've been working on
updating our church's painfully outdated site. It was impressive 5 or 6 years
ago, but now it sits there, like a car up on blocks in the front yard, weeds
growing up through the rusting fenders. Whenever a visitor says, "I saw on your
website that..." those of us on staff cringe. Part of the problem is that the
site isn't interactive. It is full of static information that never updates.
But our new site - oh wow. I have to give a plug to our designer, Mark Steinruck, because he has walked us from the conceptual phase all the way through completion. I can say, with no hesitation, that when this launches we will have the best website in the state. He's been great to work with, and I'm especially pleased because he has done some awesome work for which I get to take credit (since it has been "my" project). If anyone needs a church website designed from top to bottom, Mark's your guy. He understands churches and he asks excellent questions about how (and why) you want to use the web. He gets it.
I said earlier that playing with Expression Engine has made me keenly aware of the weaknesses of my own site (I mean, besides hideous design), so I'm planning on an overhaul in the near future. My intention is to make it more hideous.
Anyway, I'll come back tomorrow and post a link to the new church site.
edit: Here it is!
But our new site - oh wow. I have to give a plug to our designer, Mark Steinruck, because he has walked us from the conceptual phase all the way through completion. I can say, with no hesitation, that when this launches we will have the best website in the state. He's been great to work with, and I'm especially pleased because he has done some awesome work for which I get to take credit (since it has been "my" project). If anyone needs a church website designed from top to bottom, Mark's your guy. He understands churches and he asks excellent questions about how (and why) you want to use the web. He gets it.
I said earlier that playing with Expression Engine has made me keenly aware of the weaknesses of my own site (I mean, besides hideous design), so I'm planning on an overhaul in the near future. My intention is to make it more hideous.
Anyway, I'll come back tomorrow and post a link to the new church site.
edit: Here it is!
Posted at 09:11 PM |
Fri - February 23, 2007
John the Baptist, Christus Victor, and Beauty
She can't be like sunrise over a still lake if
she walks in beauty like the night."
I'm plowing through several books at the
moment:
John the Baptist in the Gospel Tradition by Walter Wink. I've read some of Wink's other stuff, like The Powers that Be. I think he has a refreshing and credible view of social and demonic forces, which fits very well with
Christus Victor by Gustaf Aulén. Since I've been interested in alternatives to Anselmian atonement theory, I figured it was time to read Christus Victor instead of just talking about it all the time. Ahem. Seriously, getting some distance from Anselm has helped me appreciate the concept of substitution and juridical theology a little bit better. It still irritates me that people will latch on to a crystallized metaphor and use it as a shibboleth - but I suppose that tends to be the human way. For me, substitutionary atonement is a much more beautiful metaphor if I also have other ways of speaking of what Jesus Christ accomplished. Otherwise, theological conversations tend to go like this:
"Three years she grew in sun and shower..."
"No she didn't!"
"What do you mean?"
"As it is written: she walks in beauty like the night. She can't have grown in sun and shower if she walks in beauty like the night."
"But she's also like sunrise over a still lake."
"Like the night!"
"Can we bracket the night for a few min..."
"Heretic!"
I'm also working on On Beauty and Being Just, which would be a quick read if it were not so beautifully written. It is like a rich red velvet cake - you have to eat it slowly. It wants a tall glass of cold milk to wash it down.
John the Baptist in the Gospel Tradition by Walter Wink. I've read some of Wink's other stuff, like The Powers that Be. I think he has a refreshing and credible view of social and demonic forces, which fits very well with
Christus Victor by Gustaf Aulén. Since I've been interested in alternatives to Anselmian atonement theory, I figured it was time to read Christus Victor instead of just talking about it all the time. Ahem. Seriously, getting some distance from Anselm has helped me appreciate the concept of substitution and juridical theology a little bit better. It still irritates me that people will latch on to a crystallized metaphor and use it as a shibboleth - but I suppose that tends to be the human way. For me, substitutionary atonement is a much more beautiful metaphor if I also have other ways of speaking of what Jesus Christ accomplished. Otherwise, theological conversations tend to go like this:
"Three years she grew in sun and shower..."
"No she didn't!"
"What do you mean?"
"As it is written: she walks in beauty like the night. She can't have grown in sun and shower if she walks in beauty like the night."
"But she's also like sunrise over a still lake."
"Like the night!"
"Can we bracket the night for a few min..."
"Heretic!"
I'm also working on On Beauty and Being Just, which would be a quick read if it were not so beautifully written. It is like a rich red velvet cake - you have to eat it slowly. It wants a tall glass of cold milk to wash it down.
Posted at 06:57 AM |
Sun - February 4, 2007
The Gospel According to Leo
L (singing):
Zaccheus was a wee little
man...
D: Did you learn about Zaccheus today?
L: Yes. He climbed a tree.
D: Why did he climb a tree?
L: He wanted to see the Savior.
D: And what happened then?
L: He came down the tree.
D: Where did they go?
L: They went to God's house.
D: They did? Did they have supper there?
L: Yes. They ate peanut butter and crackers.
D: What do you want for dinner?
L: Peanut butter and crackers.
D: Did you learn about Zaccheus today?
L: Yes. He climbed a tree.
D: Why did he climb a tree?
L: He wanted to see the Savior.
D: And what happened then?
L: He came down the tree.
D: Where did they go?
L: They went to God's house.
D: They did? Did they have supper there?
L: Yes. They ate peanut butter and crackers.
D: What do you want for dinner?
L: Peanut butter and crackers.
Posted at 10:06 PM |
Tue - October 3, 2006
Marvelous Mondegreens
She said that for the longest time she thought
the hymn "Lead On, O King Eternal" was "Lead On, O Kinky Turtle."
My favorite mondegreen of all
time is one from a teenager in the youth group I led in Marietta, Georgia. She
said that for the longest time she thought the hymn "Lead On, O King Eternal"
was "Lead On, O Kinky Turtle."
A close second favorite is the one our offspring came up with recently. You know that song Jimi Hendrix sang, the one with the dissonant guitar riff? Apparently it's called "Purple Beans."
A close second favorite is the one our offspring came up with recently. You know that song Jimi Hendrix sang, the one with the dissonant guitar riff? Apparently it's called "Purple Beans."
Posted at 09:12 PM |
Tue - September 19, 2006
Updates
I screwed up the recording
again
this past Sunday, so again I have no podcast. Third time's the charm, right?
Things have been quiet on the blogging front for
a couple of weeks. I've been devoting more of my writing energy to several
projects.
The first is my Media Vaccine class. Response to the Jean Kilbourne video was good. I'm looking at doing a slimmed-down version of the class as a workshop.
Last week I finished up some "sermon starters" for Circuit Rider magazine. Those were fun to do. I enjoyed writing stuff that was too long, then finding more efficient ways to say them. There is no way to cram everything that you can say into 275 words or less, so you have to look critically at every sentence. It was almost, but not quite, as tough as poetry.
The third project is uncertain. I'm still working on "Wesley for the emerging church," but I stalled out on that a couple of weeks ago. I'm picking it back up and trying to rework it a bit. It doesn't seem to be holding together well.
The fourth project is my sermon series on hell. I've been reading Brian McLaren's The Last Word and the Word After That. I do not know whether I like the device of setting up a story around a series of dialogues. Sometimes it works. I enjoy the stuff he says, and the general story about pastor Dan and his heresy trial. It makes it clear that this stuff has real-world consequences. I would recommend it to anyone who had questions about the doctrine of hell. Just for the record, the question which is the title of the series: "Who Goes to Hell?" is supposed to be provocative. The answers I intend to give are: 1. How the hell should I know? 2. Why are you asking? 3. Isn't that missing the point? As I said in the first sermon, I don't give any answers that aren't actually other questions.
So, that's where my writing energy has been going the past couple of weeks. I screwed up the recording again this past Sunday, so again I have no podcast. Third time's the charm, right?
The first is my Media Vaccine class. Response to the Jean Kilbourne video was good. I'm looking at doing a slimmed-down version of the class as a workshop.
Last week I finished up some "sermon starters" for Circuit Rider magazine. Those were fun to do. I enjoyed writing stuff that was too long, then finding more efficient ways to say them. There is no way to cram everything that you can say into 275 words or less, so you have to look critically at every sentence. It was almost, but not quite, as tough as poetry.
The third project is uncertain. I'm still working on "Wesley for the emerging church," but I stalled out on that a couple of weeks ago. I'm picking it back up and trying to rework it a bit. It doesn't seem to be holding together well.
The fourth project is my sermon series on hell. I've been reading Brian McLaren's The Last Word and the Word After That. I do not know whether I like the device of setting up a story around a series of dialogues. Sometimes it works. I enjoy the stuff he says, and the general story about pastor Dan and his heresy trial. It makes it clear that this stuff has real-world consequences. I would recommend it to anyone who had questions about the doctrine of hell. Just for the record, the question which is the title of the series: "Who Goes to Hell?" is supposed to be provocative. The answers I intend to give are: 1. How the hell should I know? 2. Why are you asking? 3. Isn't that missing the point? As I said in the first sermon, I don't give any answers that aren't actually other questions.
So, that's where my writing energy has been going the past couple of weeks. I screwed up the recording again this past Sunday, so again I have no podcast. Third time's the charm, right?
Posted at 09:52 PM |
Wed - September 6, 2006
Blogging Software
As I've been put in charge of updating our church
website, I've been playing around with some different content management
software. Doing so has made me chafe a bit at the limitations of iBlog. Though there is an
update in process, I'm leaning away from a fully client-side system. I thought
it would be great because I could write posts when I didn't have a ready
internet connection - but as that seems to happen less and less, and since I can
use a word processor for the same thing, it begins to feel less practical.
I've monkeyed with WordPress and TypePad. Neither one really speaks to me. Part of what I'm running up against is how much I want to monkey with CSS to get the look and feel I want. Though I'd really like to have a slick website, there are more pressing concerns - like writing, preaching, and pastoring - that trump web design.
But if I did decide to do something radical, I think I might use Expression Engine to manage my whole site - blog, academic portfolio, photo album, projects - the whole bit.
Maybe after we get the church site up and running...
I've monkeyed with WordPress and TypePad. Neither one really speaks to me. Part of what I'm running up against is how much I want to monkey with CSS to get the look and feel I want. Though I'd really like to have a slick website, there are more pressing concerns - like writing, preaching, and pastoring - that trump web design.
But if I did decide to do something radical, I think I might use Expression Engine to manage my whole site - blog, academic portfolio, photo album, projects - the whole bit.
Maybe after we get the church site up and running...
Posted at 09:12 PM |
More Leoisms
L: Take yourself away, too.
D: Well,
goodnight.
L (proffering toy bike): Daddy, have this bike.
D: What should I do with this bike?
L: Take it away.
D: Okay. I can do that.
L: Take yourself away, too.
D: Oh. Okay.
L: Good night, Daddy.
D: Good night.
Favorite quotation from Mary Poppins:
George Banks: Prince Edward's on the throne, it's the age of men!
Leo's version: Prince Edward's on the phone, it's the age of Ben!
L (proffering toy bike): Daddy, have this bike.
D: What should I do with this bike?
L: Take it away.
D: Okay. I can do that.
L: Take yourself away, too.
D: Oh. Okay.
L: Good night, Daddy.
D: Good night.
Favorite quotation from Mary Poppins:
George Banks: Prince Edward's on the throne, it's the age of men!
Leo's version: Prince Edward's on the phone, it's the age of Ben!
Posted at 08:45 PM |
Thu - August 24, 2006
Blugs (Blog Plugs)
Another blog I've been enjoying recently is
Codex: Biblical Studies, because the author intersperses some good academic
stuff with pop culture.
My Dad cracks me up. I read this a while back but
I realized I could steal this gem of a quote for
use in an upcoming
sermon:
The main hazard for people in charge of the world is that they constantly keep themselves in a bad mood. Being critical of others also predicts being critical of oneself.
And there was this one which I thought was some fantastic sage advice:
I thought I should reveal the reassuring secret for new professionals. You’re not supposed to know what you are doing.
Another blog I've been enjoying recently is Codex: Biblical Studies, because the author intersperses some good academic stuff with pop culture. I especially enjoyed his list of spiritually significant U2 songs, and essential films of 2005 for theologians.
Yet another is A Church for Starving Artists. Jan has a way with words and ideas, too. Check this out:
I always thought that churches starting in bar-b-que barns and steak houses would have that certain something -- like the smell of ribs and sirloin -- that might attract people. Donut shops would also be a draw, but it would be tricky finding one with free space on Sunday mornings.
I love it!
Another one who has a way with words is my friend Greg at Sex and Doughnuts:
My whole inner life speaks of a specifc responsibility and relationship to an objective reality, an objective morality. Either God is there, or I am not.
He definitely has a poet's ear. I, however, have Van Gogh's ear - I keep it under glass on the mantelpiece.
And then there's the Bible Films Blog. Really, I had no idea there were so many.
Finally there's this awesome weblog called Vulgar Homiletics which I read nearly every... oh, wait. Never mind.
Tags:
blogs, religion, psychology, pop culture,
The main hazard for people in charge of the world is that they constantly keep themselves in a bad mood. Being critical of others also predicts being critical of oneself.
And there was this one which I thought was some fantastic sage advice:
I thought I should reveal the reassuring secret for new professionals. You’re not supposed to know what you are doing.
Another blog I've been enjoying recently is Codex: Biblical Studies, because the author intersperses some good academic stuff with pop culture. I especially enjoyed his list of spiritually significant U2 songs, and essential films of 2005 for theologians.
Yet another is A Church for Starving Artists. Jan has a way with words and ideas, too. Check this out:
I always thought that churches starting in bar-b-que barns and steak houses would have that certain something -- like the smell of ribs and sirloin -- that might attract people. Donut shops would also be a draw, but it would be tricky finding one with free space on Sunday mornings.
I love it!
Another one who has a way with words is my friend Greg at Sex and Doughnuts:
My whole inner life speaks of a specifc responsibility and relationship to an objective reality, an objective morality. Either God is there, or I am not.
He definitely has a poet's ear. I, however, have Van Gogh's ear - I keep it under glass on the mantelpiece.
And then there's the Bible Films Blog. Really, I had no idea there were so many.
Finally there's this awesome weblog called Vulgar Homiletics which I read nearly every... oh, wait. Never mind.
Tags:
blogs, religion, psychology, pop culture,
Posted at 11:02 PM |
Sun - August 20, 2006
Linkage, etc.
In lieu of a real post, here are some random
links.
Some good video from Religion and Ethics Newsweekly:
Anne Lamott
Megachurches
Gardner C. Taylor
Other stuff:
Greater Birmingham Ministries
Article on the Rosedale Community
We watched Boys of Baraka this weekend. It's just - wow, it's good.
Some good video from Religion and Ethics Newsweekly:
Anne Lamott
Megachurches
Gardner C. Taylor
Other stuff:
Greater Birmingham Ministries
Article on the Rosedale Community
We watched Boys of Baraka this weekend. It's just - wow, it's good.
Posted at 09:40 PM |
Sun - August 6, 2006
Del.icio.us Bookmarks 8-6-2006
I'm streamlining my blogroll, but I wanted to
keep these links
filed:
Posted at 11:24 PM |
Fri - August 4, 2006
Leoisms
L: I want you to tell me a story about Kiki and Tombo.
D: It's late. You can tell yourself a story about Kiki and Tombo. Maybe you can have a dream about them.
L: Kiki and Tombo are in my brain. I have dreams in my brain.
D: That's right. There are many wonderful things in your brain.
L: But you can't see them.
D: That's right. But you can.
L: They are in my brain and you can't see them. But if I got dead and my brain came out, maybe you could see them. And then you would pick them up and say, "hmm, what's this?" And then I would say... I would say "it's my brain."
D: I don't think it works that way.
D: It's late. You can tell yourself a story about Kiki and Tombo. Maybe you can have a dream about them.
L: Kiki and Tombo are in my brain. I have dreams in my brain.
D: That's right. There are many wonderful things in your brain.
L: But you can't see them.
D: That's right. But you can.
L: They are in my brain and you can't see them. But if I got dead and my brain came out, maybe you could see them. And then you would pick them up and say, "hmm, what's this?" And then I would say... I would say "it's my brain."
D: I don't think it works that way.
Posted at 08:10 PM |
Sun - July 23, 2006
Tue - July 4, 2006
Sun - July 2, 2006
Ten Commandments Parody Trailer
This has been posted all over the place, but if
you haven't already seen it, you must see 10
Things I Hate About Commandments.
Hilarious!
Found at Codex: Biblical Studies. Thanks, Prof. Williams!
Hilarious!
Found at Codex: Biblical Studies. Thanks, Prof. Williams!
Posted at 08:24 PM |
Quick Links
About
Dave Barnhart
Why Vulgar Homiletics?
Personae:
All Consuming | Del.icio.us | Last.fm | MySpace | Zaadz
contact: dave at davebarnhart dot net
Why Vulgar Homiletics?
Personae:
All Consuming | Del.icio.us | Last.fm | MySpace | Zaadz
contact: dave at davebarnhart dot net
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Published On: Mar 13, 2007 01:15 PM
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Published On: Mar 13, 2007 01:15 PM