: In Des Moines today and tomorrow for the state high school Mock Trial contest. Youngest daughter’s …
: 2026 Reads: Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser 📚 Quite …
: Had a nice week of work travel which included my official installation as a Senior Technical Fellow …
: Back to the PNW for work this week! Blessedly the travel here was uneventful.
: How about those Hawkeyes! Thought they’re re gonna let it slip away but that Folgueiras kid had ice …
: That Nebraska - Vandy game is one of the best in recent memory. Amazing energy, a bonkers …
: 2026 Reads: Godric: A Novel by Frederick Buechner 📚
: This is a particularly mean subject line to send on a Saturday.
: 16 years ago, this girl turned 1 and her fearless, indomitable spirit was already evident. Today she …
: Spring in Iowa: went out for a run after work. Short sleeves & shorts, sweating like crazy. …
: Also: that was my first post sharing directly from Inkwell. Very convenient. I’ve been using Inkwell …
: Calvinism vs Arminianism: Anxiety Shifting Falling from Grace: Part 3, High-Handed Sin: Calvinism has never been immune from anxiety, given how …
: We are down to one teenager in the family! With today’s birthday, A19 will henceforth be known as …
: ”You better hold on to something” - a few thoughts on Train Dreams I’ve been trying to see all the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars go out, and tonight I caught …
: Working logistics to get us and our younger two kids and my MIL out to Rapid City for the oldest …
: Well, the Iowa women have had a great basketball season, but they are getting embarrassed by UCLA …
: I’ve now seen 4.5 of the Best Picture nominees: Sinners, Hamnet, OBAA, Bugonia, and started Marty …
: The latest episode of our church’s podcast was our best yet, I think: a conversation with our former …
: Big blessings: just heard from our oldest that she has accepted a job offer that will have her …
: 2026 Reads: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker 📚 Delightful.
: I know Apple has a history of ugly beta OSs, but this latest iPadOS 26.4 beta apparently broke the …
: Well, my Now Page was overdue for an update. Blew the dust off and freshened it up a bit.
: Taking some training at my new job that is very similar to courses I used to teach at my old job. …
: 2026 Reads: The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers 📚 I unabashedly love Becky Chambers’ …
: Bullet Points for 3 weeks at a new job Today wraps up the third week of my new job at Boeing. After 26+ years at Collins, a new job is a …
: I see a lot of gushing over Ben Sasse’s latest interviews, and while I am sorry he’s dying, I have a …
: Monday it was 68F and I went for a nice run outside. Today: Yeah, it’s still an Iowa winter.
: Did somebody just hijack the Wall Street Journal’s feed? 🤔
: #Wordle 1,704 3/6* ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ 🟩🟨⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #YoungPups I feel pretty good about that one.
: On the super-optimistic side of the AI discussion: Solve Everything. I haven’t gotten close to …
: Filled a gap in my Coen Brothers filmography tonight by finally getting to The Hudsucker Proxy. That …
: Thomas Talbott on the parallels between God's love for humans and a parent's love for a child I’m reading back through Thomas Talbott’s The Inescapable Love of God, and I love this …
: #Wordle 1,697 3/6* ⬛⬛⬛🟨🟩 🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Not bad.
: Didn’t realize how slow it was getting at my old job until I started a new job and for more than a …
: 2026 Reads: The Inescapable Love of God by Thomas Talbott 📚 Another re-read in prep for some talks …
: Gospel or Grift? One more quote from David W. Congdon’s Varieties of Christian Universalism, this one from Congdon …
: A great week in Seattle getting going as a new employee at Boeing. Also great to be headed to the …
: Barth: Christians as a living promise to the unbelieving world I’m re-reading David W. Congdon’s Varieties of Christian Universalism in preparation for doing some …
: In Seattle (well, Everett) to start my new job this morning. Aviation safety is a small world, …
: Cleaning out my last couple of desk drawers on my last day at this job. I’m excited about the …
: 2026 Reads: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami 📚 Pretty heavy handed and a little too on the nose for …
: After a long dalliance with lazily streaming music, I’m working through cleaning up tags and …
: A little personal news: this week is my last week at Collins Aerospace after nearly 27 years here. …
: Asking the hard questions: not a crisis of faith, but rooted in faith Later this year I’ll be teaching for 3 weeks at our church’s adult forum on the topic of Christian …
: 2026 Reads: God After Einstein by John F. Haught 📚 Very disappointed with this one. Tedious and …
: Ah, here’s the January weather we’d been missing in Iowa. -3F, feels like -23F this …
: 2026 Reads: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd 📚
: Saw Chris Thile play tonight at The Englert in Iowa City. That guy is the real deal. Wowza.
: My favorite cover of Radiohead's Fake Plastic Trees: The Normals Hard to believe this video is 25 years old at this point.
: The plan for today: Gym ✅ Work Record a podcast Dinner with my wife at a new (to us) restaurant Go …
: Last night: vestry. Tonight: library board!
: Love my AirPods Pro 3’s but this morning was the second time I’ve had them in the case …
: For the Vestry meeting approving the annual budget and policy updates prior to the parish meeting, …
: Unbelievable second half between the Bears and Packers. What a comeback. There will be football at …
: 2026 Reads: Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence …
: 2026 Reads: Katabasis by R. F. Kuang 📚
: When "Christian Parenting" leaves families without the skills for actual relationships Just had one of those “wait, what did they say?” followed by quickly skipping back, …
: [Link] Pushing an Anti-Trans Agenda is Telling On Yourself I appreciated this post from Todd at anarch.dev yesterday: Pushing an Anti-Trans Agenda is Telling …
: Our church launched a new podcast yesterday. Interesting to see some quick Day 1 statistics. As a …
: For Epiphany: Brian Zahnd's Meditation on the Magi I really appreciated Brian Zahnd’s meditation on the Magi this morning. Riffing off of T. S. …
: Congrats to UW-River Falls on winning the D3 football national championship! North Central had only …
: Steelers/Ravens looks like a good game, but this D3 championship game between UW-River Falls and …
: Headed to a funeral this morning for our long-time neighbor who died last week. A delightful man who …
: Back in the office this morning after two solid weeks off. The break was nice. Today is a quiet …
: Really nice win for the #Iowa women’s basketball team over a very good Nebraska squad. Love the post …
: My 2025 Reading in Review If you’d asked me about my year in reading, I would’ve said I didn’t feel like …
: 2025 Reads: And the Mighty Will Fall by K. B. Wagers 📚 I have enjoyed the NeoG series. An …
: 2025 Reads: Nightmare Obscura by Michelle Carr 📚 Fascinating stuff.
: Last night at this time it was mid-40s F outside and I had a nice walk with my kid. Tonight it’s 15F …
: 2025 Reads: The Bottom of the Harbor by Joseph Mitchell 📚 Beautiful essays capturing portraits of a …
: 2025 Reads: The Spirit of Hope by Byung-Chul Han 📚 There’s a lot to chew on here. Hope as an …
: 2025 Reads: The Alteration by Kingsley Amis 📚 Not really reading this on Christmas Eve night… just …
: So far today I have procured breakfast, hit the gym, read a book, eaten lunch, watched a Christmas …
: 2025 Reads: Dead Money by Jakob Kerr 📚 A very solid, twisty thriller. Recommended.
: 2025 Reads: On Repentance And Repair by Danya Ruttenberg 📚 Brief, clear, and profound.
: Listened back to a podcast discussion I was on and realized how frequently I’m using the word …
: Thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet for making me aware of this: a new Sixpence None the Richer Tiny Desk …
: I am a couple years behind on this one, but Sufjan Stevens’ instrumental album Reflections is …
: Hit Guitar Center yesterday for a cable and they had a Nord Stage 4 out to demo. What a beautiful …
: Watched: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery 🍿 Even if I hadn’t already known that Rian Johnson …
: I got new AirPods Pro 3s last week. I love the amount of detail I’m hearing now in the music I …
: Love the new glasses, hate the 2-3 days of wearing them it takes to get my eyes and brain to adjust …
: New glasses! It’s been a few years.
: Back for one week in the office before two weeks off for holidays. Let’s do this.
: 2025 Reads: The Human Being by Walter Wink 📚
: The Nebraska women continue their dominance through the NCAA volleyball tournament. They just picked …
: Just managed to snag tickets to see Bob Dylan in March. I mean, the guy is old, but he’s Bob …
: It’s hard to get morning runs in when you’re on work travel, especially in the winter. Finally but …
: Well, Iowa - Iowa State was a heckuva women’s basketball game. Audi Crooks is a FORCE. Hawks kept it …
: In DC this week for work. Sounds cool, in reality is sitting in meetings all day for 3 days in a row …
: My old AppleTV HD (2015) is starting to feel very slow. Would be happy to replace it but the current …
: 2025 Reads: We Did Ok, Kid by Anthony Hopkins 📚 I’ve enjoyed Hopkins since seeing him in The Remains …
: Apparently there are vendors now that will make custom tropical shirt fabric prints; my department …
: My One Album a Day for yesterday—which I’m just catching up to this morning—is Blues Breakers …
: 2025 Reads: The Door by Magda Szabo 📚 Stunning writing. Phew.
: This essay “Evangelicalism: A Love Story” is lovely writing. But the author works hard …
: This is not usually how wine gets discussed at the office... I attended a Town Hall meeting at work today where the president of our business and his staff …
: Today’s One Album A Day for me is Emperor Tomato Ketchup from Stereolab. There’s no way …
: Easing back in to the office after a week out. Just three work weeks left this year… …
: Last year we didn’t get snow until after Christmas. This year: on Thanksgiving weekend. …
: Had Jesus Never Lived… “Truth is, had Jesus never lived, we could not have invented him.” A remarkably persuasive thought …
: Well, the Nebraska football team may have gotten trounced by Iowa, but the Husker volleyball team …
: The Winter Storm Warning for tomorrow has been upgraded to 10-14” of wet, heavy snow. We’re prepared …
: 2025 Reads: Strike Three You’re Dead by R. D. Rosen 📚
: With just three of us here for Thanksgiving and not all big fans of turkey, we went out for Chinese …
: I got to talk at our evening service yesterday about how Jesus takes our conceptions of “what …
: 2025 Reads: Inverted World by Christopher Priest 📚
: Good grief, qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix and it’s… raining in Vegas? And Lewis Hamilton …
: After today, I only have 11 days left in the office this year. (I have a week of business travel in …
: 2025 Reads: Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith 📚
: Jersak: the immutability and impassability of God's love Just after posting yesterday and mentioning Thomas J. Oord in passing, Bradley Jersak’s …
: Thanksgiving potluck at work today! Chicken Biryani isn’t an American Thanksgiving tradition …
: Zahnd: Believing in an interventionist God Brian Zahnd has a post today that I needed to hear: I Believe In An Interventionist God. In my …
: Familiar hymns, alternate tunes Yesterday in church we sang “My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less” as the recessional. But …
: Another full Saturday judging speech & debate! Fun to see and hear some really excellent young …
: Our 96-year-old neighbor was admitted to the hospital last night and early (early!) this morning my …
: 2025 Reads: Brighton Rock by Graham Greene 📚
: I’m enjoying this 1001 Albums Generator. Each day it randomly selects one album from the classic …
: I was today years old when I realized the actual wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was only in 1975, a …
: My eBayed Shure SM7B showed up today. Looks legit still factory sealed but just has been sitting on …
: It’s been a long time since I was in the market for some IEMs. I have a set of Shure SE215s …
: Spent 10 minutes trying to figure out if a software update had completely hosed up my TCL RokuTV. …
: 2025 Reads: The Trees: A Novel by Percival Everett 📚
: I’ve spent a lifetime as an evangelical church musician, but this discussion of church music …
: Planned to work remotely today but the VPN doesn’t want to let me login. This remote work …
: 2025 Reads: The Mercy of Gods by James S. A. Corey 📚
: This morning at church for All Saints we wrote names of departed beloved we wanted to remember. I …
: Against the Machine: Paul Kingsnorth’s dangerous, unjustified dream After hearing some online buzz about Paul Kingsnorth’s new book Against the Machine: On the Unmaking …
: Was really pulling for the Blue Jays but they just couldn’t get a hit when they needed one. Congrats …
: 2025 Reads: Against the Machine by Paul Kingsnorth 📚 Oh man, a lot of thoughts. Really disappointed …
: Well, cancelled my YouTubeTV subscription. Activated Hulu+LiveTV. A minor hassle needing to create a …
: Theology from love or terror? A couple dots I connected yesterday: while the explicit evangelical gospel message I grew up with …
: As of last night YouTubeTV pulled all Disney & ESPN content thanks to a contract dispute. …
: Paul Kingsnorth’s book Against The Machine is the most thought-provoking thing I’ve read in a good …
: Richard Beck on loving Christianity (and really, loving certainty) more than loving Christ It’s been a while since I’ve linked a Richard Beck post, but man oh man does he nail it …
: Had good intentions of going to the gym this morning. Then I turned off my alarm and slept another …
: Doing squats at the gym is always deceptive for me. Never feel like I’ve pushed that hard at …
: 18 innings? Phew, glad I didn’t try to stay up and watch the end of the game last night. Tired …
: Even better after a full day at speech and debate: my daughter took first place in the spontaneous …
: Spending the day in Des Moines at a high school speech and debate tournament. Judged a few of the …
: 2025 Reads: Holy Hurt by Hillary L. McBride, PhD 📚
: “When we set down what we had to believe in order to survive, what felt like our entire lives, …
: The effect of high-control environments on a child’s personal development Another quote from Holy Hurt that feels just a little too relevant: [I]n religious and family …
: Characteristics of Spiritual Control My therapist (himself an ordained minister) broadly sorts churches into two categories: churches …
: When you’re on a keto diet but your Indian co-workers host a Diwali potluck… keto can …
: The scam of “Biblical Counseling” I knew I was skeptical of any usefulness of the “Biblical Counseling” that’s espoused by evangelical …
: I think maybe the cold front that came through overnight marks the actual start of the chilly part …
: 2025 Reads: Royal Gambit by Daniel O’Malley 📚 Enjoyed this one a lot.
: Well, Nebraska looks pretty bad tonight. Can’t make stops on defense, can’t protect the …
: Just when I think I’m not that much of a nerd, I scroll through my podcast queue and decide …
: 2025 Reads: Let Your Heartbreak Be Your Guide: Lessons in Engaged Contemplation by Adam Bucko 📚
: The best tech decision I've made in quite a while Back in June I decided to move my Emby media server off my Synology NAS and onto a dedicated box. …
: I haven’t really kept up with Sufjan Stevens in a long time, but this album of piano music …
: For the interested (or the truly bored), I gave a meditation on Luke 17:5-10 at church a couple …
: Started the morning with a 5.5-mile run in 53-degree weather. Still a little chilly after a shower …
: So does this mean that when Apple releases the rumored refresh of the AppleTV media player box, …
: Watched: One Battle After Another 🍿 Caught up with this over the weekend. So timely. So well done.
: 2025 Reads: Peyton Place by Grace Metalious 📚
: Congrats to the Brewers on the series win. Good luck against those pesky Dodgers! Cubs’ bats went …
: Finally saw One Battle After Another this afternoon… such a timely film. Leo was great, Del Toro was …
: Started the day with a 4.5 mile run in 40F temps. Feeling it more now than I anticipated. Oof.
: Matthew Burdette: …the Christian must recover a relationship to time and to activity that is …
: My media subscriptions, circa fall 2025 They say if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product. Every time I review my …
: A Meditation on the Mulberry Bush and the Mustard Seed (Luke 17) Update: Video link on YouTube I had the privilege last night to give the meditation during the …
: 2025 Reads: The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi 📚 Moves fast, not sure it fully holds …
: 2025 Reads: The Meaning of the Bible by Douglas A. Knight 📚
: Well, Nebraska’s offense didn’t look great for a lot of the game, but their special teams had …
: The #Cubs look exhausted early here. Boyd had nothing, Nico making an abnormal mistake. Take a deep …
: Bullpen made it a little too exciting in the ninth, but that’s a series win, and the #Cubs are on to …
: Wow: LDS church members create a GoFundMe to support the wife and medically-vulnerable son of the …
: I made it to the end of Middlemarch last night. It was… long. People who opine on such things …
: 2025 Reads: Middlemarch by George Eliot 📚
: Ah, there’s fall finally coming. Just a couple weeks late.
: What a wonderful win for the #Cubs to start the wild card. Bullpen was magnificent, just enough …
: A few belated thoughts on Charlie Kirk It’s been not even three weeks yet since Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah. It’s …
: Back in the office today after a 4-day weekend trip. Let’s get to it!
: Taking a vacation day from work today - have a bunch to burn yet this year! Did a nice 5-mile run, …
: Now what? I am forty-eight years old. I have a successful career as an engineer, a happy marriage, three …
: Goodness, that’s my 68th book of the year and it’s not even the end of September. At this rate I …
: 2025 Reads: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 📚 My first time to read this. A classic for a reason. …
: After doing a more modern music-themed piece for my most recent cross-stitch, I’ve decided …
: Aja Wilson may be the WNBA MVP again, but Kelsey Mitchell is showing the Aces how it’s done …
: 2025 Reads: The Hidden Universe by Alexandre Antonelli 📚
: Amazon Prime Video is such trash… they have Thursday Night Football and can’t even provide a decent …
: Last year I traveled to Ottawa for the FAA/EASA/TCCA/ANAC TSO Workshop. This year it’s being …
: Cubs first four batters against the Pirates today: Walk Single Home Run Home Run Nice to see some …
: RIP Robert Redford. I know him best from The Sting, which is the one my folks would let us watch …
: Look, another nice book-logging app. I have a bit of a book-logging problem. I have logged every …
: Our priest did a 2-week adult forum series on “the end times”. He started week 1 by …
: Took the wife’s cast iron business to a local small-town farmers market this afternoon. Complete …
: 2025 Reads: Quantum Cage by Davis Bunn 📚 The idea was semi-interesting. The writing was pedestrian. …
: 2025 Reads: Spin (Spin, #1) by 📚 Now this is what speculative sci-fi should be. Really enjoyed it.
: My reaction to yesterday’s product announcements: iPhone: just got a new one last year. A …
: Can’t figure out from the new iPhone pricing if they’re trying to push people to the new …
: Well, that was a treat: Ben Folds in concert tonight in Iowa City.
: #Nebraska thoroughly trouncing Akron tonight, currently 68-0 mid-fourth quarter. This is how a …
: Beyond Justification: Campbell and DePue with a lovely new read of Romans I don’t even remember where I found the recommendation for Douglas Campbell & Jon DePue’s book …
: 2025 Reads: The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart 📚
: 22 years ago we bought our first house. Today we made the last payment to the mortgage company and …
: Really happy for Naomi Osaka with that win tonight. She looked more settled and comfortable than I …
: Seeded Apple Music station w/ Billy Bragg & Wilco’s “California Stars” and so …
: 2025 Reads: Beyond Justification by Douglas A. Campbell 📚 Wow, just wow. Completely changes the …
: Last night my 21yo daughter, 10 hrs away at school, in her first apartment, asked for advice to help …
: Well that was a beautiful morning for a run. Maybe could’ve pushed my pace a little harder but I …
: Up earlier than usual on a Sunday - running the NewBo 10K an hour from now. You never know when you …
: Measuring my shed roof and headed to Lowe’s for roofing supplies. Roofing is one of those jobs I …
: 2025 Reads: Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman 📚 That was… something. Doesn’t neatly fix in one …
: Well, I’d give the #Huskers a B- grade at best. Lots of room for improvement on both sides of the …
: Well, I had previously been positive about the Castro podcast app’s functionality on my Apple Watch. …
: Just ran across a DayOne post from 9 years ago where one of my evangelical pastors was basically a …
: Lesson learned from Monday. 7 hours of Zoom calls today for work? Don’t even bother going to …
: Finally took the plunge and put the iOS 26 public beta on my phone. (I’ve had it on my iPad …
: Beautiful pseudo-fall day here in Iowa. Got to the office, realized my day was 8 hours of Zoom …
: A beautiful day, a new pair of shoes, and I think I finally figured out doing a Zone 2 run. That …
: 2025 Reads: Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky 📚 Is it about the robot apocalypse? Yeah, sort of.
: 2025 Reads: Christianity and the New Spirit of Capitalism by Kathryn Tanner 📚
: Current status: creating a Kahoot quiz to use in an upcoming work team meeting. The topic: …
: Didn’t run for the better part of two weeks thanks to some travel and excessive heat. Trying to ramp …
: Just had a conversation with a younger engineer who independently worked to solve a problem that I …
: Ok, Sunday can’t get here soon enough. #iawx
: Rookie move: volunteered to give the scripture meditation at church based on when my calendar was …
: I’ve been catching up on The Diplomat on Netflix the past couple weeks. Kari Russell is …
: 2025 Reads: If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future by Lepore, Jill 📚
: The lectionary readings were just some real bangers today When the Lectionary readings seem ever so timely… First up, from Jeremiah 23: I have heard …
: And just like that, the middle kid’s car is packed and they are headed back to college for year 2. …
: The emcee here at AI4 gives off big early-season Roman Roy vibes. It’s so awkward.
: I’m in Las Vegas this week attending the AI4 conference. First time in Vegas. And wild to see 8000 …
: Guess it was our turn for torrential rain this morning: 2.75” in the past two hours. Looks like it’s …
: I get that the Cubs are blowing out the Cardinals, but the Fox announcers are just insufferable and …
: Submitted a support email for Castro watch behavior, got an email back within 15 minutes …
: Last night I was all shiny about the Castro podcast app. This morning on my run I found one …
: I’m a longtime Overcast user, but I’m giving Castro a try I’m an avid podcast listener on the iOS platform. For the last umpteen years I’ve defaulted to using …
: Wow, so is Fastmail’s web interface hosed up this morning for everyone else, or is it just me? Read …
: Note to self: highlight that little note on the recipe that calls for a second rise. In other news, …
: What’s your preferred camera angle for Zoom meetings? I have traditionally kept mine head-on, …
: Rarely do I see a new (to me, at least) meme that hits so close.
: OK, it’s a little (a lot?) programmer-nerdy, but I thought this post on speeding up …
: 2025 Reads: Autonomous by Annalee Newitz 📚 Apparently read this one back in 2017 and had totally …
: A fresh perspective on Romans 8:28 In the journey of deconstructing my evangelical faith, it’s astonishing how many times a …
: Dozing off during the sermon: a time-honored tradition. Dozing off during the sermon when you’re the …
: Kinda surreal seeing my old boss testifying at the NTSB hearing today for the DC crash …
: 2025 Reads: Introduction to Tantra by Thubten Yeshe 📚
: After a couple weeks of every morning being 70F+ at 5 AM, this morning it was a glorious 62F. What a …
: 2025 Reads: The Ghosts of Trappist by K. B. Wagers 📚
: Yesterday started with a 5k run and gym workout at 0530 and ended with umpiring 3 softball games in …
: A nice win for the Cubs tonight after a horrible night last night and a slow start hitting tonight. …
: And the Wordle streak dies at 541. That’s a BS word today.
: Guess a rest and gym week was what I needed to get my running legs back underneath me. (Also: it’s …
: 2025 Reads: Big Chief by Jon Hickey 📚
: I like listening to piano pieces I could never manage to play, but there’s something …
: Cultivating Natural Community, or, Making Friends Outside of Church It’s been a couple weeks since I first read this piece but want to make sure I don’t forget it. …
: Both happening this week: RAGBRAI and the Oshkosh air show. When you work at an Iowa aerospace …
: Enjoyed a nice weekend in Nebraska visiting our oldest daughter who is working an internship there …
: 2025 Reads: Death at La Fenice (Commissario Brunetti Book 1) by Donna Leon 📚
: The modern question: if the technology failed to record your run, did you really do it? (Yes, yes I …
: Little Tuesday night excursion with the family to the local ice cream shop. An enjoyable hour!
: 2025 Reads: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid 📚 Loved this one.
: Pete Crow-Armstrong with his second homer of the day to extend the Cubs’ lead in Minnesota. …
: Initial impression of iPadOS 26 Dev Beta 3: big improvement. Feels a lot smoother on my M2 iPad Pro. …
: Proud dad moment: K16 took 3 AP classes last year (soph HS year) and took the AP tests for each of …
: A little music nerdery: 'God of our Fathers' and 'O Canada' This morning before church I was listening to the organist practice, and while I knew from reading …
: My daughter has Wimbledon on and with Andrei Rublev playing I am thinking we need more professional …
: 2025 Reads: The Death of Ayrton Senna by Richard Williams 📚
: 2025 Reads: Confessions of a Recovering Evangelical by Daniel Henderson 📚
: Fifth Season 5k This morning I got back to an event I haven’t participated in for several years: the Fifth Season …
: 2025 Reads: The Quiet American by Graham Greene 📚
: Hey, it's another book club (of sorts)... Spent 90 minutes tonight on a Zoom call with a (mostly) local “Christophany group” - a …
: Dunno if it was the slightly cooler temps or eating a banana before heading out, but that was a …
: A little cooler this morning but was still dripping like a saturated sponge after a 4-mile run. But …
: 2025 Reads: Meet Me at the Crossroads by Megan Giddings 📚 Partly soft speculative sci-fi; mostly a …
: Currently reading: Far From The Tree by Andrew Solomon 📚 Wow, just read the first chapter of this …
: 2025 Reads: A Country of Ghosts by Margaret Killjoy 📚
: Read a book I really appreciated, sent an email to the author thanking him. Got a really lovely …
: 2025 Reads: City of Nets by Otto Friedrich 📚 Not my favorite book of the year, but an interesting …
: Trying to assemble a good running playlist makes it clear that my music library has a whole lot of …
: 27 years today! Happy anniversary to my wife Becky (who manages to avoid the socials). Here’s to 27 …
: 74F, 90% humidity. 4.5 mile run. What a way to start the day! Normally I sit outside to cool off …
: Living life on the wild side: installing iPadOS 26 Developer Beta 2 on my M2 iPad Pro.
: So weird: the last two weeks using Firefox, my Fastmail tab loses connection with the Fastmail …
: Just back from a run. On the upside: only 70F out there. On the downside: 93% humidity. Not a day …
: 2025 Reads: The Transforming Fire of Divine Love by John H. Armstrong 📚 What a brilliant, lovely …
: Bullet Points for a (very warm) Monday Morning Hey, it’s Monday. Spent Sunday afternoon supporting my wife’s cast iron business at a …
: I know OKC had a tremendous regular season, but with the Halliburton injury it’s hard to feel like …
: Just hate to see Halliburton go down in Game 7. Pacers have the talent they could still win this, …
: Helping run a bingo night tonight in support of the pet care charity that my wife volunteers with. A …
: Dropped the 19-year-old off at the airport this morning. Their first time flying on their own, a …
: 2025 Reads: To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers 📚 Just inject all of Becky Chambers’s books …
: In the office by 5:15 this morning… teaching a class over Zoom starting at 6 AM. Whee!
: Switched up my running playlist last night, enjoyed the variety this morning. Turns out, though, …
: Whee, a 6-mile run to start the morning. I’m gonna be feeling that later.
: Taking a vacation day on a Friday: a very pleasant choice. Slept in, went for a run, street tacos …
: 2025 Reads: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin 📚 Somehow I’ve never read this one before… a …
: Got a little Beelink PC to set up as a media server to offload my aging Synology. Left Windows 11 on …
: Second Tuesday night of the month… it’s library board meeting time! An hour a month …
: Have hit the point where I have enough different things going at work that I’m gonna need to …
: Wife and daughter are packing up to fly out to DC tomorrow for National History Day national …
: Last day of school for our last remaining high school kid! Hard to believe we only have two years …
: Chilling on the patio tonight. Can’t beat it.
: Update: neighbor had indeed had his phone on the charger. Turns out his breaker had popped and he …
: 95-year-old neighbor needs help because his Android phone won’t power on. Says it’s been …
: We are slowly becoming the Elders I loved this thought from Wil Wheaton’s blog yesterday: A friend of mine observed that we are slowly …
: Four miles run and a lot of humidity this morning. Glad to have that behind me!
: Somehow I’ve become that guy who goes out and runs five miles before breakfast. At least today. …
: Watched the new Mission:Impossible movie and for the first 90 minutes found myself in a remake of …
: Sun is up early enough now to support morning runs. Felt good to get out! Kinda bonked the last …
: 2025 Reads: Lower than the Angels by Diarmaid MacCulloch 📚
: Well, Dallas looked a lot better in the first period tonight and they still end it down 1-0. Phooey.
: Back in the office today after a week of business travel and a long holiday weekend. Let’s see …
: New crowd assessment: the Braves fans got here early, but the Nats fans showed up for the home team …
: If the cheers at those back-to-back homers are any indication, there are far more Braves fans than …
: Well, that was a heckuva comeback for the Dallas Stars. Now let’s see if they can carry that …
: Day 2 of industry committee meeting in DC this week. Great to get to hear from FAA and EASA leaders …
: In DC for work this week. Flight in went smoothly; got out for a 4-mile run mostly along the Mall; …
: Heckuva win for the Dallas Stars in OT on the PP. What an awful day for Mark Scheifele, who loses …
: Today: drove from Cedar Rapids to Lincoln. Loaded the college kid’s stuff in the car, drove back to …
: Biggest takeaway from my clean-shaven experiment is that my drink-from-a-bottle technique is sloppy. …
: Mapping out a running route or two for while I’m in DC next week. Love running there.
: Super nerdy and awesome: A Leap Year Check in Three Instructions. Dude shaves 75% off the average …
: “There is no cognitive dissonance when your entire worldview is built on confirmation bias …
: If humans hadn't sinned, would Christ have still come? I love this bit from Ilia Delio in The Not-Yet God, summarizing a thought from Franciscan theologian …
: 2025 Reads: Secrets Typed in Blood by Stephen Spotswood 📚
: On paper, a new album by Arcade Fire with production by Daniel Lanois should be like catnip for me. …
: Wow, Cubs walk it off, Stars beat Winnipeg… that’s a good sports night.
: While the hair on top of my head has undergone some changes, I’ve sported some sort of beard …
: Chris Arnade on American vs European values and "the good life" Highly recommend Chris Arnade’s latest Substack discussion of the legitimate difference in …
: Mavs somehow get the #1 draft pick? Sounds like the commish is making it up to the Dallas fan base …
: My talks at Christ Episcopal Church Adult Forum, May 2025 The past two Sundays I had the opportunity to talk at my church’s Sunday morning Adult Forum. …
: Also just kinda stunned that my video from last week is up over 100 views. Y’all need better …
: Spoke again yesterday at the Adult Forum at my church. Last week was my story of Evangelical to …
: Excited for my oldest daughter who is this morning starting her summer internship with the Trane …
: Snuck in a quick run before taking my wife out for Mother’s Day lunch. Ran the first mile in 7:58… …
: Saw our high school’s production of Hadestown (which was FANTASTIC) the last two nights in a row. …
: 2025 Reads: The Cosmic Landscape by Leonard Susskind 📚 Well, that was delightful.
: I know it’s just the beginning of May, but the Cubs are 8 games over .500, have a 4 game lead …
: Amused that this line about the heavily male engineering school I went to always gets the best …
: I had the chance yesterday at my church’s Adult Forum to share my story of growing up …
: My daughter sent me her final project last night after she got a glowing email back from her prof. …
: Well, I wasn’t feeling great about that game when the Avs went up 2-0. But a hat trick from Rantanen …
: 2025 Reads: The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson 📚 Finished it, went to log it, discovered that I’d read …
: 2025 Reads: Playworld by Adam Ross 📚
: The past few years I had forgotten how much I enjoy getting out and running. After running a 5k last …
: You know, the record is going on 30 years old, but Caedmon’s Call’s self-titled record …
: Led a workshop all day yesterday at work… day 2 of it today. It’s tiring, but …
: State champ! Super proud of our youngest daughter, Katie, who earlier today won first place for National History …
: I mean, if you live in Story County, that’s a perfect license plate choice. Bravo.
: 2025 Reads: Fortune Favors the Dead by Stephen Spotswood 📚
: The 5k was chilly and hilly but came in second in my age group! (To be fair, it was a small race.) …
: Beautiful sunshine for the 5k this morning, but it’s gonna be chilly. (44F at the moment, _might _ …
: 2025 Reads: Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe 📚 Absolutely brilliant, harrowing account of The …
: Almost to the end of April, the #Cubs have played the toughest schedule in the league so far and …
: This was the best concert experience of my life… and now they’re gonna remaster the …
: Freedom from the compulsion to pretend: Mtr. Kelli Joyce on gender traditions and the fruit of the spirit Continuing from yesterday’s post, I want to excerpt one more wonderful section from the …
: Nice things to start my day today: a long snap from my college kid about how awesome their yesterday …
: Mtr. Kelli Joyce on the Fruit of the Spirit and gender expression If you’ve got 45 minutes to listen to a couple Episcopal priests talk about Galatians, the Fruit of …
: Pushed my distance a bit this afternoon. Also, it’s sticky out there. Phew. #running
: Good god this is frustrating. Dallas Stars have an amazing regular season, now they’re ready to go …
: 2025 Reads: Eurotrash: A Novel by Christian Kracht 📚
: 2025 Reads: Mysticism by Simon Critchley 📚
: RIP Papa Frank. A life focused on ministry, a ministry focused on service to the poor and needy, the …
: Well, we can at least have confidence the Stars’ losing streak won’t go past 11 games. Question is …
: Living life dangerously and running the Ubuntu system upgrade on my VPS on a Friday night. One weird …
: A brief Good Friday reflection, from the vantage point of our troubled days. Good Friday is to stand …
: 2025 Reads: Bedeviled by Jimena Canales 📚
: It’s a cooking day for me: sugar cookie bars are done, gooey butter cake just came out, and there’s …
: 2025 Reads: The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace 📚 A delightful little mystery.
: Starting out the long weekend right with a run. Not sure what was better about today, but I shaved …
: Had a weird hiccup with Tailscale yesterday that pushed me to get a couple installs upgraded and …
: Good lord, I don’t care if you’ve already got your playoff seed set, a 7-game losing streak is not …
: Looks like I picked the right time to turn off the Cubs game and go to sleep last night. Went to bed …
: 2025 Reads: Dead in the Frame by Stephen Spotswood 📚 Entertaining little noir mystery. I’ll go …
: Really concerned about the #Dallas #Stars at this point. They were competing for 1st seed in the …
: Poking around recordings of the Mozart Requiem and it amazes me how much variety of interpretation …
: Choir performance this weekend! With all the chaos in the world I’m gonna spend some time away from social media this week and …
: 2025 Reads: Where God Happens by Rowan Williams 📚 A lovely little collection of thoughts on …
: That’s an embarrassing and disastrous loss for the Dallas Stars who are in a real playoff race. Led …
: Sounds like the plot of a TV show pilot: US tourist boards wrong boat in London, accidentally …
: Daughter’s first high school tennis meet is this afternoon. Current conditions: 42F, 20 mph …
: Self-justification is the heavy burden because there is no end to carrying it Further on in Rowan Williams’ Where God Happens he recounts a saying attributed to the desert father …
: Something has happened that makes the entire process of self-justification irrelevant I’m reading Rowan Williams’ Where God Happens: Discovering Christ in One Another, and this bit is …
: I know that expecting NBA officiating to be even-handed is a fool’s errand, but the calls in this …
: “To value one another is our greatest safety, and to indulge in fear and contempt is our …
: A month from now I am presenting at the adult forum at my church about my journey from …
: 2025 Reads: Moscow X by David McCloskey 📚 Not as great as the first one in the series, but still a …
: Thankful for Friday after being out of town last weekend and a long work week this week. After work …
: The Beatitudes (Brian Zahnd Version) I’m not sure what social media Brian Zahnd is on these days, but he shared his own retelling …
: Well, Google’s search results feel crappy enough today that I’m gonna break down and …
: I read this book to my kids dozens (hundreds?) of times when they were young but never considered it …
: ne cadant in obscurum I am singing in the Orchestra Iowa chorus for the spring performance of Mozart’s Requiem and we’re …
: Iowa High School Mock Trial state competition, Day 2: 100 high school students in black business …
: Sitting down for the first round of Iowa High School Mock Trial state competition. (Youngest kid is …
: Another year of baseball blackouts So, I’m a Cubs fan and want a streaming option to watch the Cubs games. As a baseball fan in …
: Whee, it’s Opening Day and my Cubbies are already one game back in the standings. Curse that …
: Well, Raygun got this one out fast enough. Bravo! My idea for them was gonna be “Currently …
: A very “I grew up evangelical but now I’m Episcopal” problem: I can never remember how to spell …
: Two hours of academic assembly at the high school this morning. Youngest daughter recognized for …
: Orchestra choir rehearsal yesterday afternoon means I’ve had Mozart’s Requiem in my head all day …
: 2025 Reads: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 📚 I’m only a decade behind on reading this one… phew, what …
: 2025 Reads: Polostan by Neal Stephenson 📚
: Watching the Arkansas/Kansas game. So far as I can tell, there’s one player named “Boogie Flan” and …
: Taking a couple days off work to enjoy Spring Break with the kids off school. Also today celebrating …
: Also: thanks to the MLB schedulers for ensuring the Cubs could get off to an 0-2 start with this …
: Thunderstorm woke me up at 5:30. Little bit of extra time for breakfast and coffee before work. Just …
: Opening Day 2025 I don’t remember when I became a baseball fan. I remember playing teeball when I was in …
: Well, that was a fun meeting to kick off the day. Time for another cup of coffee.
: So nice of the internet to declare it’s a Pie Day just in time for my birthday! I’ve …
: On the upside, this conference room I’ve been sitting in all day has windows so I can see the …
: Gotta love some above normal weather.
: Hosting some visitors at work today through Thursday. Glad they are coming, needed visit, already …
: Spent the afternoon in our first rehearsal for singing Mozart’s Requiem with Orchestra Iowa in …
: 2025 Reads: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid 📚 A beautiful, intimate story about love, loss, and …
: American culture: a 'negative world' for Christianity? A New York Times profile of Aaron Renn describes American culture as ’negative world’ …
: Theming a scavenger hunt activity at work… my cultural point of referenced was Carmen Sandiego. My …
: Happy for a Friday at the end of a long week. Assuming this morning’s snow doesn’t snarl …
: 2025 Reads: Moral Man and Immoral Society by Reinhold Niebuhr 📚 The first half: socio-political …
: Filling out a form to get an approval in a work tool. There’s a mandatory form field with only …
: Stupid micro.blog question that I can’t seem to figure out: my individual long-form posts from …
: Co-worker just sent a Teams chat: “I’ll be WTF today since school is cancelled”. …
: Spent the night cooking sausages and flipping pancakes for a Shrove Tuesday dinner at church …
: Wow, Kyrie Irving out for the year with a torn ACL. The Mavericks have pulled off what SpaceX calls …
: The danger of sharpening the self-will of nations through religion I’m slowly working through Niebuhr’s Moral Man and Immoral Society and goodness his …
: My unsolicited Oscars hot take: I’ve only seen 3 of the Best Picture noms, so I don’t …
: Yesterday we had our Bishop’s visitation to our church congregation. A long day but a good …
: Started reading Reinhold Neibuhr’s Moral Man and Immoral Society tonight. Holy cow. That first …
: OK, Bracket.city. This is cool. How long until NYT buys it?
: I set up Homebridge on my Synology last night and got it integrated with my OpenGarage device. Lo …
: Bullet points for the day after a run Some thoughts after getting out for an outside run yesterday - the first time this year! I always …
: Got out for a run for the first time since last fall. Feels great to be in the fresh air again. Now …
: I'm all caught up... Well, after 171 hours of listening starting back in 2023, I am finally caught up with the podcast A …
: Routine thrown off this morning with a car in the shop. As I result I forgot to throw my iPad into …
: A week ago I upgraded from my old Apple Watch Series 8 to an Apple Watch Ultra 2. This is the watch …
: It's almost MacBook time... Almost four weeks ago I got approved to move to a MacBook Pro at work after years on a Dell laptop. …
: Decided I should take another run at some personal journaling. Three days in a row in DayOne …
: 2025 Reads: Incompleteness by Rebecca Goldstein 📚 A very readable biography of a very brilliant, sad …
: I’ve been pretty quiet online this week. Long week at work, frigid temps outside, feel like …
: 2025 Reads: How to Make Sense of Any Mess by Abby Covert 📚 Fine, for what it was. More a pamphlet …
: 2025 Reads: The World According to Physics by Jim Al-Khalili 📚 What a wonderful little book! As …
: 2025 Reads: The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut 📚 Phew, what a novel. Stunning stuff.
: A chilly 13F outside and this is the warmest it’s going to be until Friday…. Oof.
: Completely lost lock on Valentine’s Day until early yesterday. Snuck a little shopping in …
: Somehow at work I ended up with a 6:30 AM Zoom call and a 3 PM Zoom call today. On a Friday. Oof. …
: 2025 Reads: Tech Agnostic by Greg Epstein 📚 Not sure I buy his thesis, but it’s an interesting …
: Defenselessness is what makes love indestructible Fr. Matt Tebbe has a long Facebook post laying out how White Evangelicals in America have a …
: Well I didn’t really feel like 90 minutes of snow blowing tonight, but it beats the heck out of 90 …
: WFH today means I’m using my BeyerDynamic DT 990 Pro headphones for Zoom calls. I had …
: A Winter Storm Warning for us in Iowa today. My work from home day starts with a 7:30 AM Zoom call …
: Second Tuesday night of the month, you know what that means… That’s right, it’s …
: Second Tuesday night of the month, you know what that means… That’s right, it’s …
: Coworker right now, still trying to get something to work: “I’ve been able to get to …
: #protip: if you just tip your webcam down a little bit then it doesn’t look like you’re …
: Joyful and Unprofitable Pursuits We will not be saved by our money, our weapons, or our technological virtuosity; we might be rescued …
: Got my score to the Mozart Requiem marked up per the scan of the conductor’s copy that was …
: The liturgy hits different when you are called to share the peace of the Lord and the body and blood …
: Trying my hand at cooking somethingng new today. My paternal great-grandma, as a German immigrant to …
: Synology started acting funny today. Turns out that if you install Netdata natively on the Synology, …
: Loving the new micro.blog Bayou theme from @Mtt. I dug in and learned enough Hugo to customize it a …
: On a call with our trade association reviewing the impact of the new US administration to our …
: Joys of working for a big corp: IT pushes a Firefox update. Constant tab crashing. Disable all the …
: Started the day doing some minor editing for the oldest daughter. She was nominated for an award in …
: 2025 Reads: Jesus and the Forces of Death by Matthew Thiessen 📚 Quite a good book, though if I never …
: Bullet Points for a Monday Morning Weekend update: K15 took 3rd place overall in the toughest division at the regional Academic …
: 2025 Reads: The Ground We Share by Robert Aitken 📚
: It’s So Much I looked at the calendar last Friday in weary disbelief. Trump has only been back in office for less …
: 2025 Reads: Reading While Black by Esau McCaulley 📚 Good stuff.
: 2025 Reads: Language for God in Patristic Tradition by Mark Sheridan 📚 Not as unreadable as the …
: Annual meeting at church today. I was elected to serve on the Vestry for the next 3 years. I love …
: After a week of fussing with it, I finally have my 94-year-old neighbor’s Android phone …
: Reviewed my work calendar for this past week and realized that by the time I get done with today …
: 2025 Reads: Into the Unknown by Kelsey Johnson 📚 A delightful and thoughtful look into the …
: If John Calvin had a bumper sticker…
: An absolutely epic Australian Open women’s semifinal between Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek. …
: My photo library backup strategy, circa 2025 We got our first digital camera in late 2003, when we knew we had our first kid on the way. Over the …
: So the forecast for this morning (-15F feels like -35F) hasn’t changed since yesterday. Would love …
: Guess it’s the day for the “how cold is it where you live?” contest. Here’s my entry. Thankfully the …
: Heckuva win for the Commanders. Fifth turnover for the Lions seems like a fitting way to end the …
: Phew, feels like it’s been a long week. I’m working to form a new team here at work, and …
: Review: The Widening of God's Mercy by Drs. Christopher and Richard Hays There was no small amount of buzz accompanying the announcement of The Widening of God’s …
: Curiosity → Attention → Love I’ve been letting that quote from Ta-Nehisi Coates rattle around in my head a bit the last 24 …
: The great privilege of great power is an incuriosity about those who lack it. …I don’t really care much for hearing “both sides” or “opposing …
: 2025 Reads: The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates 📚 Brilliant, beautiful writing. Coates lets us follow …
: “The moment we root our worth in castes and kingdoms, in ‘civilization’, we have accepted the …
: Finished Only Murders in the Building Season 4. Paul Rudd : OMITB :: Kenny : SouthPark?
: Tried out a podcast episode of The Rest is History. Quite entertaining. Then I look at the backlog: …
: On Jimmy Carter and Evangelical salvation anxiety Former president Jimmy Carter’s state funeral is today. Carter, perhaps one of the most …
: One of my favorite parts of having a book habit is then being able to share books with other people. …
: 2025 Reads: Blessed One by Cynthia L. Rigby 📚 An interesting little set of essays. The final one, on …
: Catching up on Only Murders In the Building, Season 4. The cameos are hilarious, and then Melissa …
: Some thoughts on my first EV experience: driving a Tesla Model Y for 3 weeks For the past 3 weeks I’ve been driving a Tesla Model Y with full self driving (FSD) enabled. …
: Started the workday with a 7:30 AM video call with India and it hasn’t slowed down yet. …
: 2025 Reads: A Pale Light in the Black by K. B. Wagers 📚 It’s as if you crossed Becky Chambers …
: Getting out of bed early on Saturday morning to prep these wasn’t so much fun, but in 30 minutes or …
: Family movie night: That Thing You Do! (Extended edition, which drags a little but has a lot more …
: Today my Christmas present for myself ( I spent Xmas gift $ on it) shows up: my first turntable. So …
: Back to work after a nice holiday break. The office is pretty quiet this morning… wonder how …
: My 2024 Reading In Review Another year full of books! (Previous summaries: 2023,2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, …
: Gah, why is a decent Wordpress theme so hard to find? The theme store is full of freemium clones …
: Wordle 1,290 1/6 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Time to switch my starter word!
: Well, the Huskers looked like they might blow it at the end, but they held on for a nice win. #GBR
: One more Husker gameday for the season. Would be nice to go out on a high note. #GBR
: 2024 Reads: A Private and Public Faith by William Stringfellow 📚 Stringfellow’s prophetic …
: A Christian is distinguished by his radical esteem for the Incarnation A Christian is not distinguished by his political views, or moral decisions, or habitual conduct, or …
: One minute your youngest child is a rambunctious preschooler making a mess baking cookies with dad; …
: 2024 Reads: Tripwire (Jack Reacher, #3) by Lee Child 📚 Ah, back when Jack Reacher books still had …
: Last weekend started my Christmas break - done with work until the new year. But the weekend was so …
: 2024 Reads: The Hours of the Universe by Ilia Delio 📚 A nice short summation of Delio’s …
: Time for night #2 singing in the Orchestra Iowa Chorus holiday concert!
: Faith is more about longing and thirsting than knowing and possessing David Brooks has a lovely essay published in the New York Times yesterday on his journey from …
: Some customer ahead of me at the bakery bought a $250 gift card to be used on the next customers. I …
: 2024 Reads: Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss 📚 I …
: Singing with the orchestra chorus this weekend for the holiday concerts. First rehearsal with the …
: High enough anxiety Earlier today a post came across Bluesky that stopped me short. Canadian author Ryan North put it …
: Oldest daughter got in from college last night, and now we have everyone at home for the next two …
: Iowa work potlucks are always tasty. Iowa work potlucks, when supplemented with the Indian …
: I mostly use Due for short-term reminders, but using it for long-term ones feels like magic somehow. …
: Stunning graces at church yesterday: the man whose wife died on Wednesday back in the pew after two …
: 2024 Reads: Shadow of Doubt by Brad Thor 📚 A good reminder why I rarely spend time with books like …
: The weather guys weren’t kidding about the ice! Thankful I could make the 10-hour trek to pick up a …
: Sin as Debt: Thoughts after reading David Graeber's Debt: The First 5000 Years I’ve been reading the anthropologist David Graeber’s book Debt: The First 5000 Years this week. It’s …
: Sharing my own music for the season: Carols for Christmas (piano instrumentals) Hard to believe it’s been a dozen years since I recorded a set of Christmas carol piano …
: Catching up on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and just got to the musical episode. It’s like they …
: Unpleasantly cold for an Iowa December this morning - currently 7F feels like -12F. But the office …
: A few thoughts on formation Sunday in an adult forum discussion at church we talked about how our theology is formed by prayer, …
: Chattering from his perch on high. #photography #nature
: 2024 Reads: Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot 📚 A wonderful, …
: Time to go Turkey Trot! It’s 24F here in in rural southwestern Wisconsin. Why did I sign up for this …
: Packing up the car this morning to visit my mom. First holiday season since my dad passed. Thankful …
: Marjorie May (Stepp) Hubbs Obituary Posting from the original to ensure I have a permanent copy. Marjorie May (Stepp) Hubbs, the …
: Remembering Marjorie (Stepp) Hubbs, 1930 - 2024 Last Friday my last living grandparent passed away. Marge Hubbs, my paternal grandmother, was 94. …
: Good to see the Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball team finally get a little respect, ranked at …
: Look, Max and Red Bull Racing had a phenomenal year this year. But every article that trumpets him …
: In the office this week for a couple of days before the Thanksgiving holiday. Have a feeling …
: 2024 Reads: 2054 by Elliot Ackerman 📚 It wanted to be insightful and futurist, but ended up being …
: Installing OpenGarage Last week on a whim I ordered a little OpenGarage unit. OpenGarage is an open-source hardware and …
: On Killing First and Loving Your Enemies Last night I finished up reading Rise and Kill First, Ronen Bergman’s extensive history of …
: 2024 Reads: Rise and Kill First by Ronen Bergman 📚 A detailed, compelling history of the Israeli …
: My unsolicited opinion this morning on AI, speaking as a computer scientist who has spent the last …
: A quick online interaction this morning reminded me of this Sony clock/radio I got as a kid probably …
: Business trips seem like fun, but the days get long… left the hotel at 7:30 to head to the …
: It’s Library Board meeting time! I’ve missed a few due to work travel… good to be …
: John Gruber: How It Went John Gruber wrote a really beautiful piece about his mother’s death, his father’s hope, and the …
: Well, it’s been a week. Haven’t said much here, mostly because I don’t really have …
: "Leave it to good old Jesus and the rest of His family..." Chris Green writes about the communion of the saints and Jesus not just loving us but liking us. …
: Small Wonders: The Pixies Are In the Attic This short piece on Small Wonders by Azure Arther titled “The Pixies Are In the Attic” …
: Low key, work appropriate costume this year.
: Tonight’s movie: Death on the Nile (1978). Peter Ustinov sounding a lot like Prince John from …
: Life’s too short for uninteresting books Nick Hornby, writing over at Lithub, says something that I am finding increasingly true: as you get …
: Today the blog turns 20 Twenty years ago today, October 29, 2004, my friend Geof set me up a Wordpress install on his server …
: Had a really lovely time last night eating dinner at some new friends’ house. Sat around and …
: Marilynne Robinson on Community and Absence Posting this quote from Marilynne Robinson here just so I have it at hand for later use: To speak in …
: When I started my keto diet back in January, I still really wanted some kind of purchasable …
: 2024 Reads: Moonbound by Robin Sloan 📚 Well, this was delightful. Hints of Monk & Robot as well …
: My daughter is soon to need her own car, and one option is to give her my RAV4 and find something …
: Visitor underneath our bird feeders tonight.
: Cleaning up cast iron cookware with SCIENCE! (Ok, it’s an electrolysis tank.)
: Just got an email from the library that I have a book available to pick up. I don’t remember …
: With all the mess going on with Wordpress these days, I’m happier than ever that I took the …
: Tony Bennett, men’s basketball coach at Virginia, reportedly retiring immediately, right …
: I made it through an audition and will be joining the Orchestra Iowa Chorus this year. In the spring …
: Ah, the typical library visit: return two books, borrow six more.
: Looking back or looking forward? Reading Ivan Illich up against Ilia Delio A useful maxim for me over the years has been to find out who my favorite writers are reading, and …
: 2024 Reads: Die Trying (Jack Reacher, #2) by Lee Child 📚 Back when Lee Child was writing really good …
: 2024 Reads: All Things Are Too Small by Becca Rothfeld 📚 Rothfeld dislikes the practice of …
: Recommended reading: Excavating AI I hadn’t run across this until today when Michal Wozniak shared it on Mastodon, but it’s …
: Started the morning dropping my wife off at the airport; she’s headed to visit our oldest at …
: This Lynx-Liberty game, y’all… 😳 Most entertaining basketball game I’ve seen in a long time.
: I see the WNBA just announced that next year their finals will be a best-of-7 instead of the current …
: Too many sports choices to watch tonight! Two MLB playoff games, Stars hockey opener, an NFL …
: A planned 5-day business trip last week rolled over into a family emergency which means I only just …
: Recommended podcast: Chris E. W. Green's Speakeasy Theology Lately I’ve really been enjoying Bishop Chris E. W. Green’s podcast called Speakeasy …
: This is my first trip traveling with my new personal MacBook Pro (after years of traveling with work …
: Wow, Verizon has been down for me all day. Thankful for wifi on airplanes and in airports to help my …
: 2024 Reads: Extinction by Douglas Preston 📚 Over and over, Preston has his characters saying “This …
: Nebraska in the second half looked like a different team. Relied on the run game and just pushed …
: Through one quarter, Nebraska looks like a team with great potential but no polish. False start …
: 2024 Reads: Airframe by Michael Crichton 📚 I’m sure I read this years ago, but it’s …
: You can become more holy by becoming more merciful Fr. Matt Tebbe is one of my favorite writers at the moment. A former evangelical turned Episcopal …
: My HS sophomore got the job shadow hookup that she wanted, which means that in a couple weeks …
: Bryce Harper: Mentoring at 1B Here’s a really lovely story on The Athletic about Phillies 1B Bryce Harper and his gentle …
: Flu and COVID shot clinic at work today. Couple of sore shoulders is far preferable to a bout with a …
: As a necessity of my job I am signed up for FAA email notifications when they update certain …
: So, if MLB had a promotion/relegation scheme like English football does, the White Sox and Marlins …
: I have played the piano and sung with it for most of my life. I’ve rarely ever sung in a …
: In Which Chris & Becky Visit Yale When I was probably 15 years old, a nerdy homeschooled kid living in Texas, I was one day browsing a …
: 2024 Reads: Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde 📚 It’s rare that I read a novel that feels like …
: What we need more of in popular music today: powerful and appealing ballads with ukulele …
: If Moses really signed this I think they should be asking more than $75.
: Finding it remarkably hard to decline an automatic upgrade on American Airlines. I just wanna keep …
: Eric Collins has play-by-play for the Iowa-Troy game on FS1 today and sounds like Gus Johnson on …
: Pretty sure this is the first time I’ve preordered a new iPhone on release day. 16 Pro 256 GB in …
: Made it to YOW plenty early for my flight home… turns out US Border Patrol doesn’t open until 0500. …
: I knew that the WNBA audience has grown substantially this year. I was still surprised to turn on …
: Summer has been for family trips and fun; fall is apparently now for work travel. 5 of the next 9 …
: 2024 Reads: An Autobiography by Mohandas K. Gandhi 📚 If one of the Desert Fathers had training as a …
: Look I know we’re only 6 quarters into the season, but this Nebraska football team looks WAY better …
: Sitting out on the drive with a fire going and the football game on. The kid is there in person. …
: PRd my 5k this morning! (27:55 still has lots of room for improvement!) Beautiful chilly morning for …
: There are days where work drives me bonkers; there are other days when I come away deeply …
: Nice cool morning to get out and run. 5k nice and steady. Running my first real race in several …
: Caitlin Clark with a garbage rebound at the end of the game to make it a triple-double. What a …
: As a first year WNBA follower, one of my big takeaways is that the league needs to upgrade their …
: The blessing of the dedicated civil servant There’s a wonderful long-form profile on the Washington Post right now about Chris Mark, a man …
: Youngest daughter has her school permit and is driving herself to school for the first time this …
: Brisket turned out great! I’d give myself maybe a 8.5/10. Think I could’ve pulled it a little …
: David Bentley Hart’s “The Experience of God” With some of my recent reading getting my mental wheels turning about the nature of who God is, I …
: Nervously doing my research as I prepare to smoke my first brisket on the pellet grill tomorrow. …
: I grew up in Nebraska, a huge Husker fan, and never made it to a football game. My kid is now a …
: Looks like I’m going to need to buy a new suit for some work events. Last one was 60 lbs ago …
: Wow, Jannik Sinner, the 1 seed at the US Open, dropped his first set to unseeded Mackenzie McDonald, …
: I live in Iowa and work with a bunch of 30-something white guy engineers who ought to be in the MAGA …
: Bullet Points for a very hot Monday Afternoon First day of school today for our two oldest kids… both at college so we won’t get …
: One more post for the morning: got a new professional headshot taken last Friday. I remember …
: First day of school today for our two college kids! A junior in Mechanical Engineering at South …
: 2024 Reads: Do We Not Bleed? by Daniel Taylor 📚
: Following up on my insurance post from a few days ago: just got our yearly renewal bill, and they …
: Moved kid #2 into the dorm yesterday for their first year at the University of Nebraska. The house …
: A little personal work news: last week I was approved here at Collins Aerospace as a Senior Tech …
: We’ve had the same insurance company for 20 years and been happy with them. But our local …
: 2024 Reads: Blue Moon by Lee Child 📚 Somehow Lee Child has turned Jack Reacher into a murderous …
: Feels like sort of a bittersweet weekend coming up - our middle kid’s last weekend at home …
: Henri Nouwen: An alert and aware spiritual life Currently reading Henri Nouwen’s Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life. What a …
: 2024 Reads: The Midnight Line by Lee Child 📚 Sometimes you just need a cheap, easy, entertaining …
: The view from the piano at Christ Church this morning…
: 2024 Reads: The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness by Mark Solms 📚 It’s …
: Hey hey, finished a 5k run below 30 minutes. Feels good to be getting a little bit of stamina back.
: 2024 Reads: I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger 📚 As my friend Amanda said, more a vibe than a story. …
: Jay Kuo calls Tim Walz The Ted Lasso Veep and that seems right on.
: You wouldn’t think a state governor talking for 30 minutes to a bunch of geographers about the …
: That’s a heckuva win for #TeamUSA women vs Germany in the Olympics soccer semi. …
: My employer now has an option for me to request a MacBook as my daily driver instead of a Dell, but …
: Wow, what a cold front overnight. Yesterday: 93F and super sticky. This morning: 63F and misty, with …
: Umpiring rec league softball. Some nights it’s great fun, other nights they’re definitely not paying …
: Rethinking who are "The Normal Ones"? A.R. Moxon nails it. I really appreciated A.R. Moxon’s weekend post framing up the “Weird” discourse …
: New Boeing CEO: Kelly Ortburg It’s not too often that the national news runs an update that talks about someone I know, so …
: 2024 Reads: Space Oddities by Harry Cliff 📚 Maybe a little deep for the casual reader, but for me …
: 2024 Reads: Making All Things New by Ilia Delio Making All Things New is the most complete and succinct compilation of Delio’s theology and …
: Matt Tebbe on how supremacy systems work Father Matt Tebbe, on Facebook today, with a wonderfully clear explanation of how supremacy systems …
: Had planned to go for a run before work this morning, but a batch of thunderstorms dampened my …
: Belatedly catching up on Star Trek Discovery Season 5. What am I watching again? We’re way behind on TV watching, but last night Becky and I started in on Star Trek: …
: Ok, that #WNBA All-Star game was the best all-star game I can remember, any time, in any sport. Very …
: 2024 Reads: Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel by George Saunders 📚 Well, that was delightful.
: Lowe’s at 8:30 on a Saturday morning: a parade of middle-aged men whose purchases reveal their …
: Posting big long blog posts after 9 pm on Friday night, as one does. (If you ever needed proof I’m …
: Lamb of the Free by Andrew Remington Rillera I have a small handful of theological books in my past that I look back on as turning points - books …
: Heavily feeling the “thank goodness it’s Friday” vibes this morning. Reviewed my …
: Caitlin Clark sets the #WNBA single-game assist record, has a double-double IN THE SECOND HALF ALONE …
: Lego and a weird credit card payment A month or so ago I ordered a Lego set that my kid fell in love with. It was super-popular and …
: Not made for omniscience This from Fr. Kenneth Tanner got to me in a way that lots of words about social media intake haven’t …
: iOS 18 User Beta 1 is out! Now, the annual question: how long will I hold out before installing a …
: And yep, 45 minutes later it’s all done for us but a little more rain. We picked up 2” in a hurry, …
: Family party in the basement watching the storm coverage with a Tornado Warning in our county. Looks …
: I’m never sure when I clean the coffeemaker whether the coffee actually tastes better or …
: Sometimes being the responsible one at work means leading a big meeting; other times it means …
: The #Fever were up 31 early in the third quarter and are collapsing here in the 4th, allowing the …
: Caitlin Clark with 15 points and 9 assists at halftime for the #Fever leading the #Mercury. But for …
: More mess at The Village Church A small bombshell dropped in the Neo-Reformed evangelical world with today’s episode of the The …
: The best kind of meeting is a cancelled meeting, but the next best kind is a very short one.
: Yesterday was college orientation for our second kid. Six weeks from today we move them into …
: When we were at U of Nebraska yesterday for freshman orientation there was also apparently a big …
: A couple recommended reads: Trusting your Heart, and Christianity as an MLM A couple posts came through my inbox while I was traveling the last few days which I want to pass on …
: In the past 4 weeks, we as a family have spent 13 days traveling together, spending every day …
: Just finished watching Fargo Season 5. I’m sitting here in awe. 9.5 episodes of wonderful thriller …
: Last day in the office before six days out. Let’s do this.
: Am I coming or going? I looked at the calendar today and it said July, and I thought surely that has to be a mistake. July …
: Started in on a novel from the library. Had to put it down. Competently written dystopian thriller, …
: Ugh, this debate. On one side, a lying gasbag. On the other side, an old, tired man. I mean, …
: 2024 Reads: Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell 📚 Not bad, but not nearly as good …
: After poking around a while finally realized that I can pay Tailscale to have it use Mullvad as an …
: Wordle 1,103 5/6 🟨🟨⬛🟨⬛ ⬛⬛🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 So many options to guess. Gah.
: 26 years with my favorite person. Here’s to a whole bunch more!
: 2024 Reads: Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar 📚 What a beautiful story and exploration of life and meaning.
: Worth a watch: Thelma Thanks to a couple online recommendations (for sure Jeffrey Overstreet, I don’t remember who else), …
: Got all my approvals in line, which means I have a paper ready to be presented at DASC in October!
: One of the side-effects of losing a significant amount of weight is that I seem to be cold a lot …
: 2024 Reads: Wounded Pastors by Carol Howard Merritt 📚 Short and practical.. can see it being useful …
: After 28 months of an Iowa living experiment, we loaded my mother-in-law’s stuff into a …
: Some quick thoughts as I synthesize Beck and Delio this morning... Richard Beck has a post this week addressing “intellectual problems with petitionary …
: 2024 Reads: The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes 📚 This went from middling espionage thriller to …
: A couple recommended newsletter reads Quick recommendations for a couple things I’ve read lately that are worth a few minutes of …
: Yesterday I went through the final interview step for an internal role change that would be a …
: 2024 Reads: A Window to the Divine by Zachary Hayes, OFM I just finished up a slow read of a wonderful little book. A Window to the Divine: Creation Theology …
: Family vacation recap: DC and NYC I’m always a little hesitant to write about traveling while we’re still out on the trip, …
: Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.
: Woke up this morning to a notification that the first leg of our afternoon flight home from New York …
: If the post-series handshake is the best thing about the #NHL playoffs, the Edmonton fans singing O …
: When in DC, and your kid has a college interest, you do the college tour. It’s hot, but let’s look …
: I don’t remember who recommended this one to me, but it hits the spot. Not half through yet and much …
: Oh, man, this bit from D. L. Mayfield today: “But one day my own children asked me to look at …
: Rosaria Butterfield and the trajectory toward anti-LGBTQ violence Man, Rick Pidcock has become a must-read. His piece this morning on Rosaria Butterfield’s …
: 25 years! A milestone snuck up on me this weekend: as of June 1st I have been working at Collins Aerospace for …
: That being said, the post-series handshake line is the best thing in sports. #NHL
: That’s a brutal loss for Dallas. Outshot the Oilers 35-10 and lost the game 2-1. Phooey. #NHL
: Dallas #Stars have owned this game at even strength but haven’t managed to crack the goalie. …
: 2024 Reads: From the Maccabees to the Mishnah by Shaye J. D. Cohen 📚
: Well, the Dallas #Stars have lost the recipe. Disappointing. #nhl
: The reality gap So Trump was convicted of 34 felonies. This morning I have a distant cousin on Facebook last night …
: I have a big presentation / interview coming up in a few weeks and let me just say it’s amazing how …
: And the Cubs dive headlong into another mediocre season. Time to cancel my Marquee Network …
: Third time out running this spring after several years’ layoff. First time did my starter route with …
: With all the house guests gone this morning I had planned to go hit the gym. But it’s so nice out I …
: 2024 Reads: A General Theory of Love by Thomas Lewis 📚 A fine little primer on attachment, …
: After a full house yesterday for the grad party, it’s slowly emptying out. Three siblings left …
: Up at 0445 to put three pork butts on the smoker. It’s gonna be a fine day.
: Heading into a busy long weekend… spent most of today cleaning. Oldest daughter and her boyfriend …
: 2024 Reads: 3 Shades of Blue by James Kaplan 📚 Kaplan writes the history of bop, free jazz, and …
: Quite a comeback by the Timberwolves. Denver just went cold in the third quarter and never …
: Things you didn’t know you needed until you heard them: a funk cover of Sandra McCracken’s We Will …
: Pentecost: the day you realize that the only red shirt that you own is a Nebraska Cornhuskers …
: Love hockey and the Stars but glad I didn’t stay up… 9 pm Central start time and game went to 2OT! …
: 2024 Reads: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse 📚 Simple, interesting, beautiful expression of Buddhism.
: So, I love Kyle Hendricks, but it’s about time to DFA him, isn’t it? #cubs #mlb
: Bullet Points for a Friday Between now and July there are only 2 weeks where I’m in the office for 5 full days. This week …
: One more flight to get home. In theory if I had a rental car here from ORD I could be home sooner …
: 2024 Reads: The Future by Naomi Alderman 📚 Not subtle, but imaginative and entertaining. Worth a …
: Spent an hour with Apple tech support trying to figure out why my MacBook just refuses to show me …
: Quick jaunt to DC to start this week. CID ✈️ DCA direct!
: Haven’t run much in the last several years after injuring my knee running a half marathon. Having …
: Oh man, this bit in Naomi Alderman’s latest novel, the thoughts of a woman who left a religious …
: Current status: monitoring the video game room at the post-prom party. Watching the level of play, …
: 2024 Reads: NeuroTribes by Steve Silberman 📚 A moving and empathetic history of modern grappling …
: Headed into a busy weekend… high school tennis tonight for K15, prom tomorrow night for A18. I …
: Because I need more piano music... Because I’m a sucker for trying out new piano music that I’ll probably never be good …
: A radicalizing NYPD-Columbia Education Sam Thielman goes hard in his most recent piece at Forever Wars titled “What Could Be More …
: May your garden always thrive: A beautiful little essay from Wil Wheaton.
: After a tense last 19 minutes: #DallasStars #NHL #StanleyCup
: I may have become the stereotypical liberal exvangelical. On a beautiful Sunday morning, I slept in (until 8). Kicked off the coffeemaker to brew my …
: 2024 Reads: The Light Within Darkness by David Jeffrey 📚 Blew through this one in a day to finish up …
: 2024 Reads: The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar 📚 A stunning little novella. …
: This Cubs/Brewers game this afternoon has all the hallmarks of a postseason clash. Two terrific …
: Just took a close look at my calendar and realized that between work travel, personal travel, and …
: Got travel booked last night for a family trip in June… National History Day nationals for …
: With all the crap going on in the world it seems trivial to still be cheered by sports, but dang it, …
: Jennifer Knapp: Kansas 25 I was an instant supporter of this album on Kickstarter and now I’m finally getting a chance …
: A better late than never update: Katie took 2nd place in her division at National History Day state …
: Iowa National History Day state competition: with only 5 competitors in the senior individual …
: National History Day state competition in Des Moines today. Event center buzzing with teenagers who …
: A. R. Moxon: War or Nothing A. R. Moxon has a brilliant and brutal essay out today entitled “War or Nothing”, in which he …
: Finished reading: Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson I wasn’t sure what to expect from Robinson writing on Genesis, but I enjoy her writing enough it was …
: 2024 Reads: Sun Wolf by David C. Jeffrey 📚 I like this guy’s ideas, and the sort of grand scope of …
: Today’s challenge in adulting: paying attention at the tail end of a 3-day class when …
: Gah, Cody Bellinger has a cracked rib. This is not the way I hoped to see Pete Crow-Armstrong in the …
: I'm not claiming any special prescience, but... I was cleaning up old blog posts here and found this that I wrote back in 2012: I think it may take …
: “Tom Cotton has never seen a left-wing protest he didn’t want crushed at gunpoint.”. …
: Medieval Christians' perspective on climate change Well, this is a fascinating perspective: medievalist Dr. Eleanor Johnson writes on Literary Hub …
: Well, hard to see how this could start worse for the #Stars. Gave up a power play goal in the first …
: Great: the Dallas Stars are the #1 seed in the Western Conference. Not so great: their first round …
: Moving my blog to micro.blog So on a whim I reactivated my micro.blog site and threw 1275 markdown files at it - the entire …
: Bullet Points for a York Tuesday I’m visiting the UK for work this week - my first visit ever. A few thoughts: Having a public …
: Pictures at an Exhibition for Guitar I got to know Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition when I was in high school and my piano …
: The Exvangelicals by Sarah McCammon I just finished up reading Sarah McCammon’s new book The Exvangelicals and I need to take the time …
: Bringing joy to people IS bringing glory to God Crisanne Werner has a lovely essay up on Substack today about her changing understanding of how the …
: Reimagining Orthodoxy Dr. Chris Green shared part of an essay today on a theology of disagreement. There’s a ton of …
: Did the Emerging Church Fail? Richard Beck has a series going right now in which he asserts that the Emerging Church movement …
: Donald Bruce "Don" Hubbs, 1949-2024 Donald Bruce “Don” Hubbs, 74, died Saturday at his home in rural Richland County after a nearly two …
: The State of my Task Management, 2024 As a new year begins and I settle into a new-ish position at work, it has been time to again rethink …
: Recommended Reading: The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory by Tim Alberta My first completed book of the year is one I can wholeheartedly recommend: The Kingdom, The Power, …
: A short note on Travel Planning I have found myself, since returning home from Washington, DC in mid-December, without any travel on …
: My 2023 Reading in Review Another year full of books! (Previous summaries: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, …
: Chopin Being Mean I have hacked through the Chopin Ballades for years now. I started learning the first one in high …
: Reviewing Two Decades of My Thoughts A big chunk of effort in migrating the blog was going through each post to review and clean up …
: Migrating to Eleventy If you’re reading this post, you’re seeing the updated ChrisHubbs.com as generated by …
: Closing down iowadon.org A year ago I set up my own Mastodon server at iowadon.org. Elon Musk had just bought Twitter and was …
: In Praise of Humble, Gentle Men This morning a headline came across my social media feed, with a link to a remarkable interview with …
: You get the feeling from reading them that we might be loved This old concert recording of Rich Mullins at a Wheaton College chapel service in 1997 is an …
: We have attended an Episcopal church now for a few months, enough times at least to get sucked into …
: A Hymn Aptly Chosen One of the fun things about attending a church in a new and unfamiliar tradition is that things that …
: An Appliance Installation in Four Lowe’s Trips Setting: a local homeowner has an old dishwasher that is dying. A new dishwasher was delivered and …
: Christianity no longer has an Effective Cosmology Some 18 months ago I was just getting acquainted with Dr. Ilia Delio’s writing, and shared a brief …
: Playing the Jeremiah 17:9 Card “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” …
: My own personal Philippians 3 If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on …
: Fast Car, or, why I'm crying at my desk this morning “You’ve got a fast car, I want a ticket to anywhere…” If you’ve been …
: A Tale of Two TV Ministers I’ve been thinking tonight about two ministers who spent a lot of the 20th century on TV, and the …
: Billionaire Hoarders and “Charity” I re-posted a meme to Facebook the other day which suggested that billionaires are “hoarders”, …
: Ten-Year Review Seeing as I’ve got 4 months before I need to do any international travel, and 10 months before …
: Catching up with myself In the past two weeks I’ve logged 13,000 miles in airplanes, 1500 miles in the car, and spent …
: Protect elders! Ban television! danah boyd has a fantastic piece out today about the current furor to ban teens from social media, …
: Hope springs eternal... It’s Opening Day for Major League Baseball, which is the one day of the year where I can be …
: Supernatural love, found within human love Christian Wiman, from his book My Bright Abyss: It is not some meditative communion with God that I …
: A little poetry for Monday night I’ve done a lot of reading so far this year. Tonight I started My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a …
: Chris E. W. Green on the Beatitudes and Power I’m still only in chapter 2 of Sanctifying Interpretation, but this is too good to not share. Green …
: Chris E. W. Green on Christians as a temple for the sake of the world Following up from yesterday’s post, here’s Chris Green again from chapter 2 of Sanctifying …
: Chris E. W. Green on Vocation I’m just digging in to Chris E. W. Green’s Sanctifying Interpretation, and while it’s a book I …
: On leaving Twitter, embracing Mastodon, and recommending Ivory I joined Twitter back before it was a social media juggernaut. I don’t remember how many years …
: New on ChrisHubbs.com: The Bookshelf I’ve tracked my reading in one way or another here on this site and then using Goodreads since …
: My 2022 Reading in Review Another year full of books! (Previous summaries: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, …
: Stanley Hauerwas on sin, character formation, and fear From Chapter 3 of Stanley Hauerwas’ book on Christian ethics The Peaceable Kingdom, this wonderful …
: Moving my Mastodon Instance to a New Server Continuing my adventures hosting IowaDon.org, a very small Mastodon instance. When I started hosting …
: Podcast Recommendation: A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs For a long time my podcast listening has been almost exclusively nerdy tech podcasts mixed up with …
: Hosting a Mastodon instance: moving asset storage to S3 I’ve had my Mastodon instance (iowadon.org) up and running for about a week and a half now. …
: Carter Burwell: polymath film composer I was familiar with Carter Burwell’s name thanks to his score for the Coen brothers’ …
: Setting up a Mastodon instance on Linode With the Muskian shenanigans happening over at Twitter, I’ve been looking into Mastodon as an …
: Liège Waffles! On my work trip to Brussels last week I was introduced to the liège waffle, a type of waffle that is …
: Rich Mullins - gone 25 years Rich Mullins died on Sept 19, 1997 in a car accident. A songwriter, poet, and prophet, Rich spoke …
: Preparing to launch Eighteen years and seventeen days ago we brought our first child home for the first time. She was …
: Capon’s Wager on God’s Love I have on occasion paraphrased something Fr. Robert Capon wrote about God’s love as ”if God is a …
: On LGBTQIA+ Affirmation June 2022 was quite a month for me. It started with the death of a long-time friend. It ended with …
: Sympathy for Jesus It had been a long time since I’d listened to this song. Then it came across my playlist this …
: Quick Thoughts after watching Top Gun: Maverick Mild spoilers ensue. This is basically the most 1980’s war film you could make in the 2020s. All the …
: Geof F. Morris, 1978-2022 Geoffrey Franklin Morris, 43, of Madison, Alabama, died today at Vanderbilt Medical Center in …
: Waiting for the Lightning For a guy who loves music, I’ve never been the guy who finds and falls in love with an artist on …
: Essential Jams: ”Fugace” from Bolling’s Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio So much to love about this. I wanted to find a recording that wasn’t the canonical Bolling/Rampal …
: Easter 2022 Christ is risen! Alleluia! This morning Becky and I attended church in person for the first time …
: Eerie Parallels Last night I started reading Dr. Susannah Heschel’s The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the …
: My 2021 Reading in Review With 2022 well underway (for the past 10 hours or so) it’s time to review my reading in 2021. As …
: Keeping theology coupled with cosmology I was introduced to Dr. Ilia Delio a couple weeks ago on a podcast. Her thoughts about God, …
: Beck: Nationalism and the search for meaning Richard Beck, on his Substack today, on American nationalism resulting from the need for deep …
: Fascinating: 5th Century Byzantine Basilica honoring Female Ministers found in Israel Reported at Haaretz.com on Monday: The Holy Mother Sophronia. Theodosia the deaconess. Gregoria the …
: The Teaching vs. The Teacher The last couple days I’ve been reading a book of theology by an author I was heretofore unfamiliar …
: Recommended Reading, September 2021 I have badly neglected recommending any reading so far this year. I have read plenty of books - …
: A 'Christian' nation without empathy twitter.com/jonrog1/s… In case the tweet gets deleted: an embedded tweet from John Rogers …
: Richard Beck: hermeneutical self-awareness and a neurotic spiritual nightmare Richard Beck is on a roll this week with a short series on reading the Bible. In Part #1 yesterday …
: An Easter 2021 Meditation This last year has felt a lot like death. We’ve had a pandemic sweep the world, and in this country …
: Teenage Vernacular Update, circa March 2021 “Yeet” is passé. “Ye” has entered the common vernacular as an affirmative response. “Pog”, “big …
: Recent reading: Queer Theology by Linn Marie Tonstad The past couple months I’ve been participating in a reading group hosted by Matt Tebbe. (Matt …
: Thoughts upon Rush Limbaugh's passing Rush Limbaugh passed away today at age 70. I spent countless hours listening to his radio show as a …
: Richard Beck: Political detox for evangelicals Richard Beck has a wonderful post up today, describing American evangelicalism as “addicted to …
: Love hopes all things, but I’m still hitting the ‘Unfriend’ button Over the past month or two I have been making a renewed effort to engage in good faith political …
: My current side project One of my favorite 2020 discoveries (which, ok, only came out in 2020, so I was on it from the …
: Psalm 126 1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2 Then our mouth was …
: 2020 Reading in Review Another year, another review of my annual reading. The mess that was 2020 definitely affected my …
: Bullet Points, Special Edition: Unpopular Opinions I’m feeling particularly crusty today. In the spirit of efficiency, I expect I can write a bunch of …
: Richard Beck on finding Common Cause Richard Beck has a fantastic post out today reflecting on a passage from Barack Obama’s recent …
: Recommended Reading: Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez How could the vast majority of white evangelicals support Donald Trump in 2016 and again in 2020? To …
: Michael F. Bird on Social Justice as Christian Love Don’t buy into the lie that all social justice is driven by Marxist ideology. It is not! It is what …
: By the Waters of Babylon - Joey Weisenberg I don’t remember who shared this on Twitter the other day, but I listened to it once and …
: First Day of School, 2020 It’s hard for me to express how big a deal today is for my household. Back in January we first …
: "Get Freed" The other day I posted a belated review and recommendation of Lyz Lenz’s book God Land. Today I’d …
: To drag knowledge of reality over the threshold of consciousness is an exhausting task... Rebecca West, from Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, describing her experience observing a worshipper at …
: God Land by Lyz Lenz — A Belated Review It’s been a year since Lyz Lenz’s book God Land came out. I wrote a review on Goodreads at the time …
: 2020 Reading - July/August Roundup I guess I don’t need to wait until the end of the year to do another summary… August …
: September Suffice it to say I’m happy to have August 2020 in the rear view mirror. We have completed our house …
: Quiet Around 1:00 pm today, after 216 hours without power to the house and after logging 106 hours on the …
: Incessant It’s Sunday night. By tomorrow afternoon we’ll hit a week since the storm hit. No power yet. The …
: Fragile It’s the Friday after the Iowa derecho. What a week. After the devastation of the storm, the cleanup …
: Devastation Where to even start? Monday, August 10, somewhere around 12:30 PM, eastern Iowa got hit with a storm …
: Ten Years Note: I originally wrote this post in January 2019. 18 months later we made the decision to leave …
: Walter Wink on nationalism and the myth of redemptive violence Walter Wink, writing in 1992 in Engaging the Powers, with paragraphs just as relevant today: The …
: Weekend project: bookshelves! One of the challenges a significant reading habit provides is where to keep all your books. While …
: July 4, 2020 America’s Independence Day seems a strange holiday to “celebrate” this year. Our country is in …
: 2020 Reading - First Half recommendations July 1st means that we’re halfway through 2020 already… what a year. I looked back and …
: We keep living anyway The chorus of this tune has resonated in my head a lot this week. Theodosia writes me a letter every …
: Desperation How desperate am I for live sports? I’m watching NASCAR. And hard pressed to turn it off when they …
: Kermit does Jazz: there's video. The other day I mentioned goofing around with the idea of Kermit the Frog singing a jazz version of …
: 10 Albums, 10 Days: Also-Rans Culling my list down to 10 albums was a challenge. Here are a few also-rans that just didn’t …
: Kermit does Jazz? I’m playing keys for the church livestream this morning, which in the end results in me having a …
: Bullet Points for a Saturday Morning Since I started working from home 8 weeks ago, my morning routine has changed. No more gym, reading …
: 10 Albums, 10 Days: A Liturgy, A Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band Maybe this one should’ve been first on my list, but I decided to leave the best for last. Rich …
: 10 Albums, 10 Days: Rachmaninov’s Vespers (All Night Vigil) I’ve really been wrestling with what album to post for day #9. But I’m gonna go with one that …
: 10 Albums, 10 Days: Bride of the Noisemakers I got tagged on Facebook to do this project – share ten albums that greatly influenced my taste in …
: 10 Albums, 10 Days: The Suburbs I got tagged on Facebook to do this project – share ten albums that greatly influenced my taste in …
: Recommended daily reading: Heather Cox Richardson's Letters from an American In these turbulent days the news can quickly become overwhelming, and the social media noise can …
: 10 Albums, 10 Days: Silly Songs with Larry I got tagged on Facebook to do this project – share ten albums that greatly influenced my taste in …
: 10 Albums, 10 Days: Behold the Lamb of God I got tagged on Facebook to do this project – share ten albums that greatly influenced my taste in …
: 10 Albums, 10 Days: Long Line of Leavers I got tagged on Facebook to do this project – share ten albums that greatly influenced my taste in …
: 10 Albums, 10 Days: When Harry Met Sally I got tagged on Facebook to do this project – share ten albums that greatly influenced my taste in …
: 10 Albums, 10 Days: Go West Young Man I got tagged on Facebook to do this project – share ten albums that greatly influenced my taste in …
: 10 Albums, 10 Days: Rach 2 I got tagged on Facebook to do this project - share ten albums that greatly influenced my taste in …
: Podcast Listening, Social Distancing Edition Back in the old days (say, before March 2020), my podcast listening tilted heavily toward current …
: The poor you will always have with you? I just finished up listening to Finding Fred, a short-series podcast about Fred Rogers. Podcast host …
: Adam Young on Hope and Wrestling with God (2) Continuing from yesterday, more from Adam Young’s fantastic podcast The Place We Find …
: Adam Young on Hope and Wrestling with God (1) A friend recently pointed me to Adam Young’s podcast The Place We Find Ourselves. As a …
: An Iowan's thoughts the morning after the 2020 Caucus Last night I and thousands of Iowans like me participated in the Democratic Party caucus. After …
: Journalism I'm Supporting, January 2020 Good journalism is one of those things everybody wants to have available to benefit from, but fewer …
: Slow Reading After reading more than 80 books in 2019, there’s a part of me that is getting a little …
: 2019 Reading in Review The beginning of a new year means a quick look back first at last year’s reading in review. (Some …
: Happy New Year! This Strange Planet cartoon is as apt a sentiment for starting 2020 as I can think of today.
: Knives Out Took the family to see Rian Johnson’s latest film, Knives Out, this afternoon. I know Johnson is a …
: Frozen II: A Very 2019 Movie It’s been just long enough since the original Frozen came out, and my girls have aged just enough, …
: 2019 Reading, Compendium #5 A High View of Scripture? The Authority of the Bible and the Formation of the New Testament Canon by …
: In The Shelter: Naming the Gadarene Demoniac I’m currently reading Pádraig Ó Tuama’s wonderful In the Shelter: Finding a Home In the …
: A High View of Scripture? About a year ago I started getting interested in historical criticism as it relates to the Bible. As …
: 2019 Reading, Compendium #4 Goodness, I’ve let this go a while without providing a list. Here we go… Anointed with …
: A justice not to be feared but to be longed for Here is my servant, whom I uphold my chosen, in whom my soul delights I have put my spirit upon him; …
: Family Movie Night: Chain Reaction (1996) With a kid under the weather after some dental work, it was a good night for a family movie. The …
: Bullet Points for a Monday Morning #6 Because it’s been a while… Lots of topics have rattled around in my head… none …
: 2019 Reading, Compendium #3 A few added to my list… Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch …
: Richard Beck: Love in Post-Progressive Christianity Richard Beck has a series going on an approach he calls “post-progressive Christianity”. …
: Time to weed out some candidates I’ve spent a few hours now sitting down with my 13-year-old daughter to watch the two nights of …
: 21 Years I guess this is the point at which we can say we’ve been married half our lives… …
: Why *wouldn’t* you want to be an egalitarian? In reply to a tweet thread the other day, I posed a question that’s been on my mind lately: Update …
: 2019 Reading, Compendium #2 Trying to not get my book lists get so backed up this time. Here’s what I’ve been …
: These Democrats Should Run for Senate instead of President in 2020 With today’s announcement by Montana governor Steve Bullock that he is throwing his hat in the ring …
: DBH: Can we relax about "socialism"? David Bentley Hart reworks his Facebook post from last year (which I posted about at the time) into …
: Finished reading, an early 2019 compendium Maybe I’ll start posting these every time again… but for now I’ve got a long-ish …
: Richard Beck: In defense of heretics I really appreciated this from Richard Beck today: People don’t just wake up one day to …
: Today's the day! Can confirm this morning only a light jacket was necessary.
: I know nothing about this movie other than what’s in this trailer... But I would buy a ticket right this minute if I could. youtu.be/bs5ZOcU6B…
: Opening Day 2019 It’s been a long winter. Heck, it’s been a long week. Which makes today a particularly …
: Current Earworm I’m accompanying a local friend who’s a high school senior when he sings for state …
: My latest fascination I’ve never been particularly a jewelry or fashion guy. I’ve worn a watch inconsistently …
: Strange Planet One of my favorite discoveries as of late has been the new webcomic Strange Planet. Apparently only …
: Democracy for Republicans There’s a really good essay by Jacob T. Levy (Professor of Political Theory at McGill …
: What systemic repentance might look like for the Evangelical church There are a few big stories rattling around the American evangelical church community lately that I …
: A passion for Jesus and for justice Justice is inherent in justification. This understanding of justification will have enormous effects …
: My 2018 Reading in Review Time for a quick recap of my 2018 reading. I’ve done several reading posts through the year so …
: Painful but true words about gifting If you are entrusted with a certain gift, most of the people around you won’t be similarly gifted. …
: Fans with Bands I went down a little bit of a YouTube rat hole the other day watching a playlist full of videos …
: The Cross and the Lynching Tree Having read very few black theologians over my past couple decades of reading theology, it was far …
: Making the rounds... I’ve been playing music in church since high school and as a member of worship bands at least …
: For All The Saints This great hymn was sung at the end of President George H. W. Bush’s funeral this morning. …
: Of disappointment and unexpected footwear A week ago I ordered some foam replacement earbud covers from Amazon. Friday the package showed up. …
: The Emperor and the Empty Tomb A fascinating and engaging essay from the LA Review of Books (HT: Matthew Loftus): When Wilhelm …
: Chaplain Mike: Exiting the Evangelical Wilderness Oh man, I really appreciated this summary from Chaplain Mike over at InternetMonk.com today. While …
: A night with Bruce Hornsby’s brain Last Friday night my wife and I had the opportunity to go hear Bruce Hornsby play a solo show at the …
: A good word from Jonathan Martin From a recent sermon on his Son of a Preacher Man podcast: The fake good news only sounds like good …
: Grammar nerdery + Bible reference? You bet I'll post this.
: You are always more ready to hear than we are to pray... Wow, Proper 22 from the BCP this week: Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to …
: Being Christians above all else Really good piece from Father Thomas McKenzie yesterday about living as a Christian in these divided …
: Social media exhausted me again Social media exhausted me again. If I’m more self-reflective I guess I have to say I exhausted …
: Three dimensions of salvation by allegiance I’m reading Matthew W. Bates’ Salvation By Allegiance Alone this week, in which he …
: Biblical intersectionality “Intersectionality” is a concept that has been a popular punching bag of many …
: What are Evangelicals afraid of losing? Dr. Michael Horton has a wise piece on CT in response to President Trump’s comments to …
: Finished reading: 2018, part five My reading has apparently slowed down a bit this summer. Still, there’s been some good stuff …
: David Bentley Hart's case for socialism Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart takes a break from theology to talk briefly about his …
: Power corrupts. Including religious power. Former Christianity Today editor Katelyn Beaty has a great op-ed over on RNS making the case that …
: Bullet Points for a Wednesday Morning, German Edition I’m on work travel this week, visiting Cologne, Germany. It’s my second visit to …
: Welcome to America... David Bentley Hart with a prophetic critique of America in a recent NYT column (HT to Richard Beck …
: Zahnd: Christianity vs. Biblicism I attended the Water to Wine Gathering at Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, MO a couple weekends …
: Finished reading: 2018, part four What I’ve read the past month or so: Head On by John Scalzi A sequel in Scalzi’s series …
: The Greatest Show pointing to the greatest story Whatever you want to say about The Greatest Showman, it’s not subtle. I know I’m late to …
: Christ has made our hearts glad... and is waiting for our politics to catch up Matthew Lee Anderson has published over on Medium a transcription of a great little talk he gave …
: Albert Mohler, the SBC, and #MeToo I’ve been chewing on Dr. Albert Mohler’s post on The Humiliation of the Southern Baptist …
: Utterly stuck in my head We’re doing this one at church this weekend, and this Village Church version of Lion and the …
: Finished reading: 2018, part three Books I’ve read the past couple months: Waypoint Kangaroo by Curtis C. Chen A fun little …
: Positive politics: health care Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written something on positive politics. Let’s …
: Bruenig: Dignity in work, dignity in rest Washington Post columnist Elizabeth Bruenig makes an important point today when she says that we …
: Fun with time signatures Because who doesn’t want to play an etude that switches between 7/8 and 4/4 every measure? …
: It's a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps This little two-minute snippet of interview from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. summarizes an …
: What will happen with the children of post-evangelicals? Richard Beck has an insightful piece up on a topic that’s had me thinking. While he’s a …
: Opening Day 2018 Some of my favorite words: Opening Day for Major League Baseball. The Cubs started on the road but …
: Farewell, Facebook I just posted this to Facebook: So let’s review what we’ve learned about Facebook in the …
: Is it the beard? I’ve written before about my Swedish Doppelganger - the botanist Carl Skottsberg in his …
: Found Tonight The Hamilton / Dear Evan Hanson mashup we didn’t know we needed until it came out… so …
: Finished reading: 2018, part two Books I’ve read over the past month or so: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles An utterly …
: Birthday week! Today at our house we enter Birthday Week: three of the five of our family members celebrate a …
: Geek dad status, part 2 Tonight I introduced my daughters to Weird Al, and now daughter #2 insists she needs to listen to …
: Geek dad status: unlocked. (Oh let's be honest, this is nothing new...) Last night I showed my oldest (13-year-old) daughter the first 5 minutes of Dr. Horrible’s …
: I tried YouTube TV - here's what I found YouTubeTV is the latest entry into the streaming TV field. I’ve been an early adopter here; I …
: Beck: A practical Lenten fasting routine Richard Beck describes one of his concerns with traditional Lenten fasting and his rationale for …
: These are the deep questions I ask myself... The other night we were playing “Name that Disney movie” while shuffling soundtracks on …
: Liss: Some questions for those who say the solution is to arm teachers Casey Liss, whose wife is a teacher, writes up a list of 35 practical questions that we’d need …
: Parkland How long must we continue to sacrifice children on the altar of the Second Amendment? As Christians, …
: Bullet points for a Wednesday morning: travel edition It’s grey outside and I’m on business travel all week. Bring on the bullet points! …
: Finished reading: where has 2018 gone already? I start each year with the intent of writing up Finished Reading posts on a book-by-book basis. Then …
: The Gospel Coalition has its #MeToo moment The pace of sexual abuse allegations and resignations / firings in the wake of the #MeToo movement …
: Positive Politics: Religious Liberty It’s been too long since I’ve written in this series. So let’s tackle something …
: Beck: bored with his doubts The trouble with the incessant deconstruction at work within progressive Christianity is that, left …
: My 2017 reading in review Just a quick post to summarize my reading and a few favorites this year. I read a total of 71 books …
: Finished reading: 2017 year-end edition I’ve gotten seriously slack at listing all the books I’ve been reading. Consider this my year-end …
: Some thoughts on my social media fast Back in November I decided it was time for a social media break. Facebook and Twitter were turning …
: Church graveyard at night Took this a couple years ago; still one of my favorites.
: Positive Politics: Internet and Technology Policy Well I’m not ready to jump into one of the big ugly topics yet, so maybe this one will be a …
: Positive Politics: Education None of the topics I’ve teed up for my Positive Politics discussions are easy ones, but in the …
: Andrew Sullivan on the Gay Wedding Cake Case I miss Andrew Sullivan. I’m glad the guy detached a bit - the pace of his daily blogging was …
: Positive politics: a little bit of foundation Before I start in on specific political topics, I want to lay out some foundation that will lie …
: Thinking in more positive terms about political issues From time to time over the past year when I’ve been tempted to write political rage posts, it …
: Really happy for Scott Frost Really happy for Scott Frost and impressed to see him take UCF to an undefeated season. Will be even …
: Unexpected benefits... Apparently one of the benefits of a social media fast is that my friends start texting me to say hi! …
: Jesus' Appeal to Human Emotion and Reason Some really fascinating thoughts from Richard Beck this morning on Jesus’ appeal to human …
: A Social Media Fast The holidays aren’t typically a time we think of fasting… but it was time. I’ve …
: Some Thoughts on Thoughts and Prayers The familiarity of yesterday’s breaking news alerts almost muted the shock. Half a church …
: Finished reading: fiction! Two weeks, two business trips, it was time for light reading. Trolling the fiction shelves found me …
: Land of My Sojourn A Rich Mullins song as timely today as it was when it came out back in 1993. And the coal trucks …
: A healthier approach to a mid-life crisis... Andrew Osenga started a new podcast earlier this year called The Pivot. Episode 3 is his discussion …
: Over-reaction? This is a good word… When we call the lamentations of others Over-reaction without first …
: Finished reading, part the next A rundown of recent book completions: A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of …
: Andrew Peterson and Friends: The Ragamuffin Album, Live at the Ryman Last Sunday night I had the privilege of attending an Andrew Peterson-organized and -led concert …
: Liberty and Holiness In a Facebook discussion recently on a mildly contentious topic, a friend brought out a line of …
: Finished reading: several more It’s been a while since I’ve put a post together, but I haven’t stopped …
: Book Blame, Volume 1 I write regularly about the books that I have finished reading. What I don’t often do is …
: A little random follow-up Nearly a year ago I wrote a post dismayed about a church looking for a part-time Director of Music …
: David Bentley Hart, from The Doors of the Sea A lovely passage from the conclusion of The Doors of the Sea, wherein David Bentley Hart addresses …
: Finished reading: some history, some sci-fi, some theology The history: The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough An interesting read about …
: Happiness as Human Flourishing: Matthieu Ricard on On Being I’ve read Christian authors from time to time who seem to be flirting with Buddhism - I guess …
: Yep, still reading... A few more books I’ve completed lately: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan …
: Bullet points for a Friday morning, July 2017 Hey, it’s Friday. The weather is really too nice to be sitting in the office all day today. I …
: Finished reading: a few more... Summertime seems to make it hard to get through too many, but here are a few more books that …
: Nineteen Nineteen years ago today Becky and I were married. If I search back through the archives on this …
: Finished Reading: People to Be Loved by Preston Sprinkle I’ve honestly been avoiding books on the topic of Christian views on homosexuality because …
: 15-year-old Chris would be in disbelief File this under “things that would’ve stunned the 15-year-old Chris”. As a …
: The extraordinary moment... Again from Marilynne Robinson’s The Givenness of Things, from a chapter titled …
: Sabbath is a way of life... More from Marilynne Robinson’s The Givenness of Things, from a chapter titled …
: Marilynne Robinson on Cultural Pessimism I’ve been a fan of Marilynne Robinson’s for a while now, though perhaps even more for …
: Finished Reading: The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova Grabbed this one off the library shelf on a whim. I read Kostova’s The Historian a few years …
: James: Gotta Trust Somebody Samuel James made a couple excellent points yesterday about our intake of the newsmedia over at Mere …
: Rands: Assume they have something to teach you A brilliant post from Rands today that has broad applicability beyond managing in the tech industry. …
: Finished reading: more books Finished reading: Since I can’t seem to get individual posts written… The Silk Roads: A …
: Matthew 6, a modern paraphrase Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you …
: An open letter of apology to my wife, to be reused as necessary Dear Becky, Tomorrow the postman will drop off an Amazon package in the mailbox. Yes, it’s …
: Fr. Boules George: A Message to Those Who Kill Us The priest at one of the Coptic Orthodox churches that was bombed on Palm Sunday responding to the …
: Finished reading: The Madame Curie Complex by Julie Des Jardins Picked this one up from the library on a whim. The Madame Curie Complex is a relatively short volume …
: Stop Trying to be a Man - Start Trying to be a Good Man Brad Williams with a fantastic piece on Christ and Pop Culture today, saying things that desperately …
: Finished reading: Faithful Presence by David Fitch I’ve kept up with David Fitch for a while now via his blog and twitter. Fitch is a professor …
: Jethani: Blessed Are The Disillusioned Skye Jethani articulates in a piece today a lot of the frustrations I have felt and heard in recent …
: Finished reading: several books If I posted these individually when I finished the books, I’d have more frequent posts on the …
: We are from the future, embodying that in the here and now One of my favorites, Brian Zahnd, talked recently on the Makers and Mystics podcast. I love this …
: Finished Reading: The Day the Revolution Began by N. T. Wright When the good Bishop N. T. Wright has a new book out it’s an automatic purchase for me at this …
: NTW on 'a central part of the Christian vocation' [F]ollowers of Jesus have no choice. A central part of our vocation is, prayerfully and …
: Finished reading: a quick compendium Because I’ve been lazy and not keeping up: The Big Screen: The Story of the Movies - and What …
: Another view of 'love of neighbor' I was catching up on my backlog of On Being podcasts and came across a fascinating discussion with …
: Finished reading: Now: The Physics of Time by Richard A. Muller Another random library selection, and a nice change of pace from history and theology. In Now, Cal …
: Finished reading: Instrumental: A memoir of Madness, Medication, and Music by James Rhodes I’ll confess I’d never heard of James Rhodes prior to picking this book up at the …
: Finished reading: A Wretched and Precarious Situation by David Welky Found this one on the New Books shelf at the library and figured hey, why not? Welky tells here the …
: Bullet points for a Wednesday afternoon I’m glad I signed up for the 0530 kickboxing class, but it’d really help if I’d go …
: Finished reading: The Whistler by John Grisham Because sometimes you need some thoughtless entertainment. Even at that, Grisham is just coasting on …
: Finished Reading: Reclaiming Hope by Michael Wear The buzz on this one had been going around Twitter for a while, so I was glad to pick up a copy and …
: Finished reading: A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn History, it is often said, is written by the winners. Zinn, though, undertakes to tell a history of …
: Where you get your news matters As I sit and write today we are in day two of Donald Trump’s presidency. Across the United …
: Finished reading: Introduction to the Old Testament by J. Alberto Soggin John Halton’s review set me on this one, and I had much the same response to it that he did. …
: The most moving video I've seen in quite a while... President Obama awards VP Joe Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his 40 years …
: Finished reading: How to Survive a Shipwreck by Jonathan Martin Read this one on a business trip this week. Having nothing to do with actual nautical survival …
: Thanks, Obama. A little more than 8 years ago I did something I’d never done before, and voted for a Democrat …
: Finished reading: Broken Trust by W.E.B. Griffin I got sucked into Griffin’s Badge of Honor series years ago. This is book #13, and the hero is …
: Finished reading: Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi Found this on the library shelf and was a challenging read to start the year. Is Kendi making an …
: Books I Read in 2016 Another year, another book list. I think this year I can at least say that the unread book pile …
: Talking Complementarianism and Egalitarianism with Brent Thomas Brent Thomas is kicking the dust off his blog in the hopes of fostering some charitable discussions …
: Entirely resilient If outside it’s all gone mad In Christian ways or not Still is the world, this gorgeous world …
: This is my new favorite picture and I don't know why
: Recommended reading: The Three-Body Problem I’ve got a soft spot in my heart (and on my reading list) for science fiction. It probably …
: #FlyTheW I’ve enjoyed baseball for as long as I can remember. I have fond memories of attending my …
: Bullet Points for a Tuesday Afternoon After traveling two out of the last three weeks for work, it’s good to be home. It’s …
: A Little Plastic Surgery for the Body of Christ As a musician and long-term volunteer worship leader, I have plenty of opinions when it comes to …
: Puttting the work into music in church I made an observation on Twitter yesterday that I want to flesh out a little more. [twitter is gone, …
: Worship Night in America This showed up in my Twitter feed over the weekend: twitter.com/mattmaher… “Worship …
: A couple recent podcast episodes worth recommending I listen regularly to a handful of podcasts, and irregularly to a couple handfuls more. This past …
: Finished reading: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson I haven’t been posting on every book I’ve read, but wow, this was a good one. The Warmth …
: Finished reading: compendium 4 I’ve hit a bit of a slowdown in my reading as the summer got busy, but have still made some …
: On Watching the Tonys for the First Time Last Sunday night I sat down with my family and watched the Tony Awards ceremony. (The Tonys are …
: Worship Pastor as Tour Guide A couple weeks back I linked to a two hour panel video discussing The Worship Leader as Pastoral …
: The Beach Boys 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' with the vocals isolated... opulenthurricane-blog.tumblr.com/post/2129… Wow.
: Wise words “Practice doesn’t make perfect if you’re doing it wrong.” -- [Frank …
: Finished reading: compendium 3 I’ve gotten really bad at blogging through all my reading, mostly because it drives me crazy …
: The worship leader as pastoral musician Zac Hicks shared this video last week - it’s a two-hour long panel discussion at Calvin …
: Reading Revelation Responsibly by Michael J. Gorman We’ve been in a sermon series on Revelation at church, so when a couple recommendations for …
: Thoughts on Brian Zahnd and Word of Life Church As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about Prayer School I wanted to spend a little bit of time …
: Brian Zahnd's Prayer School A month ago I had the opportunity to attend the Prayer School weekend taught by Brian Zahnd at Word …
: Hamilton's King George reacts to Donald Trump Serenity Caldwell planted the idea in my mind… twitter.com/settern/s… And I …
: 5/4 day Today is May 4th, which has gained an online buzz as “Star Wars Day” - “May the …
: Bono and Eugene Peterson discuss the Psalms A million people have undoubtedly posted this already, but… wow. So good. Bono and Eugene …
: Finished reading: Compendium 2 Quantum Night by Robert J. Sawyer I’ve been a fan of Sawyer’s stuff to this point, and …
: The discomfiting presence of a saint A couple friends shared this old compilation video of Fred Rogers appearing on the Charlie Rose …
: Finished reading: Partners in Christ: A Conservative Case for Egalitarianism by John G. Stackhouse Jr. I put this one on my Amazon wishlist after reading a few posts on Scot McKnight’s blog about …
: Finished reading: The Christian Tradition, Vol 2: The Spirit of Eastern Christendom (600-1700) by Jaroslav Pelikan I picked up The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol. 2: The Spirit of …
: Christianity as cultural salt Scott Sauls, pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, has a really good piece from earlier …
: Finished reading: a couple more I had three books going in parallel before finishing these two, which was making me twitchy. (Now …
: Finished reading: The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis I picked The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis off the library shelf on a whim. Well, more accurately, I …
: Finished reading: a compendium I’ve been finishing books faster than I’ve been able to blog about them… so …
: Zierman: Making Room for Others Well, now, this from Addie Zierman is lovely: Our hearts are made like pendulums, and when we swing …
: A little window on the past My wife indulged her philately habit and purchased a big box of old stamps at a garage sale some …
: Finished reading: The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord I picked this one off the New Books shelf at the library and was intrigued enough to borrow it. The …
: Finished reading: Sisters In Law by Linda Hirshman I’ve been interested in the Supreme Court ever since high school, so when I saw this one on …
: Finished reading: Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald I’ll be honest here: I’ve never been a big Bob Dylan fan. I like a few of his songs, but …
: Brian Zahnd on Silence and avoiding angry noise Brian Zahnd, from a January 29, 2016 message titled “Silence”: The church is not a …
: Words matter O. Alan Noble has a really good piece over on the CT website about the importance of Christians …
: Finished reading: Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber This one was kinda hidden in those photos I posted yesterday. But after wading through Heim I was …
: Finished reading: Saved From Sacrifice by S. Mark Heim I don’t remember when this book came onto my radar, but it was already on my Amazon wishlist …
: By resurrection Jesus is cleared of the scapegoat charges against him... By resurrection Jesus is cleared of the scapegoat charges against him. But the resurrection also …
: Aigner: Reframing Worship Arguments I really appreciated this piece from Jonathan Aigner on Ponder Anew yesterday, wherein he suggests …
: Liftoff Episode 12: Geof makes the bigtime When the Relay podcast guys announced a show about space, my first thought was “sure, Stephen …
: Music that evokes an emotional response From a Facebook group post today: Name a specific musical artist, for whatever reason, that is …
: Finished reading: The Type B Manager by Victor Lipman Being a recently new manager at work, and having a definite Type B personality, I saw The Type B …
: Finished reading: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr I didn’t get as much read on this business trip as I’d thought I might - French …
: I should've remembered this from last time... This post serves simply as a reminder to myself that when a European immigration officer asks where …
: I love my daughter's embarrassed-but-pleased-with-herself smile Oh yeah.
: Fiet: Wheaton College and the Fear Machine Midwestern pastor (and Wheaton alum) April Fiet has some really good thoughts today about the …
: Finished reading: How to Watch a Movie by David Thomson I picked up David Thomson’s How to Watch a Movie on a whim from my local library shelf knowing …
: Meador: on Intervarsity and Black Lives Matter Jake Meador over at Mere O has a really good piece today on the white evangelical response to the …
: Finished reading: Hackers by Steven Levy I hadn’t heard of this one prior to listening to an Incomparable podcast episode last year - …
: My 2015 Reading Year in Review 2015 was another enjoyable year of reading for me, and with books tracked as usual on Goodreads, …
: Finished reading: Saturn Run So here’s an idea: a sci-fi novel written by somebody who can actually write, with the physics …
: Richard Causton, George Szirtes - The Flight For the past hour or so on this Christmas Eve morning we’ve been listening to the Nine Lessons …
: Hamilton It’s been a while since I’ve had a record catch my attention and get stuck in my head …
: The Worship Industry is "Killing Worship"? Self-described post-evangelical (and Methodist worship pastor) Jonathan Aigner wrote on Patheos …
: Beck: Let Us Be the Heart Of the Church Rather Than the Amygdala A really good reminder from Richard Beck today: …it struck me how emotionally reactive we are …
: Now this is good news! A proclamation of the Gospel that I love and seems timely: The joy of the gospel fills the hearts …
: The first shoreline of the invisible world There’s a beautiful bit in the On Being episode that was published earlier this week, from a …
: Some months I need to clone myself, or, Chris gets work done, Orphan Black-style So yeah, it’s one of those months. I need a clone. Or two. Or five.So yeah, it’s one of …
: Happy Birthday, Laura! (2015 edition) How am I old enough to have an 11-year-old? It doesn’t seem I’ve gotten that much …
: 17 Years Seventeen years ago, on a sweltering Friday night in Charlotte, NC, two youngsters stood before God …
: A little early-morning band action I play with a band called Standing Before Giants off and on. (I don’t show up on the official …
: A little bit of a bozo My theme in any discussion over the past couple of years has usually come around to “well, …
: That old, old impulse to tweak and re-write As a worship leader I confess I grumble from time to time about the current propensity of our …
: May I go through the day calling on you A beautiful prayer, credited only as an “Ethiopian Prayer”, from today’s noon-time …
: A Meal Shared Among Friends I’ve had the sacraments (especially the Eucharist) on my mind lately after reading James K. A. …
: Infrastructure and the Common Good Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker last week: What we have, uniquely in America, is a political class, …
: Formation of the Heart I’m working my way through Jamie Smith’s Desiring the Kingdom, and he is driving home …
: Too much knowledge about the Bible a bad thing? In a recent update of Christianity Today’s Leadership Journal they interviewed Josh McDowell …
: The Benedict Option (i.e. Christian Cultural Withdrawal) Rod Dreher has been championing an idea he calls The Benedict Option - as he describes it, “a …
: Capon on Confession Confession is not a transaction, not a negotiation in order to secure forgiveness; it is the …
: Revisiting the evangelical worship experience A self-professed “child of the 1990s’ Christian subculture” recounts her experience …
: Relax Richard Beck had a great little piece the other day about being relaxed. It challenged me. In …
: Popular Movies I've seen over the past 15 years Marco Arment recently posted about how few popular movies he’s seen, and proves it by listing …
: Have Safire write up a speech I gotta say, this XKCD from last week cracked me up, if only mostly for the alt text (which …
: The Spiritual Pep Rally Really good stuff on the Christian movie phenomenon, in the deliciously-titled “Do You Believe in …
: Some fun for Friday I had about five things turn up in my RSS reading today that I want to blog before long. But …
: American Oligarchy The kerfuffle around Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act this week has been a mess of …
: And the youngest turns 6... We’re finishing up Birthday Week at the Hubbs house by celebrating today as the youngest turns …
: The best sports weekend of the year It’s the best sports weekend of the year: the first weekend of the NCAA Men’s Basketball …
: Matt Maher: Glory Bound I’m not a big listener of CCM and Praise & Worship music, but Matt Maher’s stuff has …
: Not to deal with sin, but to save... Grace is a difficult pill to swallow. A dangerous doctrine. The fact that the evangelical church has …
: Happy Birthday to the AG! (2015 edition) Our middle daughter, Addison, enters her last single-digit year today. Hard to believe that nine …
: Can you name 5 ways the church differs from America? There’s a challenging riff from pastor Brian Zahnd over on Missio Alliance today. How, he …
: Stopping ISIS twitter.com/RickWarre… Pastor Rick Warren’s tweet echoes a sentiment that I’ve …
: A famous scene minus the dialogue OK, I’m just shamelessly reposting something Jason Kottke dug up, but it’s fascinating - …
: Worth reading: an interview with Wendell Berry Wendell Berry is an author many folks have never heard of, but boy, once you get into the right …
: HDHomeRun Extend noisy fan: fix it via OVERKILL! A few months back I replaced my old (still working) HdHomeRun networked tuner with a newer model …
: Jim Cantore, Minor Prophet In former days the weather gods spake to us through almanacks and prognosticating rodents, but in …
: Bullet Points for a Wednesday Morning, 2015 edition I’m in Florida for a work trip this week. It’s been a good time so far. Doesn’t …
: Worship develops feelings for God, not vice versa twitter.com/PetersonD… This wonderful little bit of insight came across my Twitter feed this …
: Farewell, Episcopalians? There have been some strong reactions across the internet the past couple days to some remarks that …
: Don't Ask, Don't Tell Songwriting Yesterday my worship pastor sent out a lead sheet and MP3 for a new song we’re going to learn …
: Worth checking out: Laghdú I would never have run across this album were it not for Jeffrey Overstreet tweeting about it …
: It feels like a new era... We got my first computer when I was 7. My dad was writing a book, so bought a little PC with two …
: A Timely Word for Today The Fall is where the nation is… Americans have become so beleaguered by anxiety and fatigue, so …
: My 2014 reading in review Well, with 2014 in the books it’s time for my annual little review of my reading. This was a …
: St. Thomas More's Prayer for Good Humor I ran across this fantastic prayer this morning in a story about Pope Francis. (Reportedly the Pope …
: A Pearls Pun for Friday How awesome is this?
: Is the goal to win the argument? twitter.com/AJWTheolo… twitter.com/BrianZahn… These two tweets showed up on my …
: Some serious time travel going on here I’ll confess - I did almost all my Christmas shopping via Amazon this year. Amazon is usually …
: A little piano music for the season A couple years ago I recorded a little album of solo piano Christmas music. Here’s one of my …
: Deliver Us I’ve felt a need for Advent far more keenly this year than I recall from previous years. …
: The War of Christmas @pegobry with a great post about the subversive and challenging nature of Christ’s advent: Is …
: I'm not really an opera guy but this is still amazing: Amazing control, making the ridiculously high notes seem really easy, and putting such personality …
: Resonating strongly with me this morning: Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: ‘Give me leave to …
: Winnie the Dude On the topic of my previous post, I had this Twitter interaction with Stephen Granade: …
: O Bother, Where Art Thou? You gotta love this: an artist created movie drawings based on movie title typos found on Reddit. …
: Living the Bachelor's Life My wife and kids have been gone for the past two days. They planned a trip to visit Grandma for …
: Yeah, I only gave Augustine''s "Confessions" 4 stars I went on a quick business trip this week which gave me several hours of airplane time to do some …
: 10 years of blogging The first post on this blog was written on October 29, 2004, in typical new-blogger fashion noting …
: Ruiz: First Church of Authenticity and Trends Miguel Ruiz, over at Internet Monk, has this gem: If you can indulge me a moment of satire, what if …
: A few thoughts on Mark Driscoll's Resignation Mark Driscoll resigned today from the pastorate of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Driscoll has been …
: Sure, *my* story is complex, but yours? This article over on CT is so much more than its title - “What not to say to a Dad of …
: Paul counting his privilege as rubbish - Alistair Roberts' take on Philippians 3 There’s an interesting piece from Alistair Roberts over on Political Theology today. Roberts …
: My musical find for the week: Ólafur Arnalds I started an Arvo Pärt station on Pandora earlier this week and one of the artists that kept coming …
: Assorted recommended reading I haven’t had a lot of original thoughts to share in long-form here on the blog lately, but I …
: I'm still reading... So, what have I been up to reading-wise? I don’t know that any of you were actually asking …
: Fun for Friday: Star Wars without the Music How awkward would the final scene of Star Wars Episode IV be without John Williams’ awesome …
: MPT: 20 Problems with Progressive Christianity Matthew Paul Turner says he’s a “progressive Christian”, but that he’s never …
: Argument is offered to justify the felt judgment... I’ve finally been catching up with Richard Beck’s Unclean: Meditations on Purity, …
: Wherein I rag on Aaron Sorkin, do a little bit of my own research, and brag on my completely awesome friends. Last night I briefly moaned on Facebook about a small inconsistency that bugged me whilst watching …
: A couple more knocked off the list I had a business trip last week which gave me extra reading time, so… two more knocked off …
: Bullet Points for a Wednesday Afternoon: San Diego Edition I’m on business travel this week to San Diego and with so many thoughts rattling around in my …
: Paul Tripp on the inadequacy of external accountability Pastor, author, and counselor Paul Tripp recently resigned from the Mars Hill Church (Seattle) Board …
: Looking back at my thoughts on the Acts 29 Leadership Change My post from March 2012 about Matt Chandler taking over the reins of Acts 29 has seen some renewed …
: Do what he puts before you. Strive to do it well. Pass on what you learned. That’s it. Over on CT, Ed Stetzer is starting a blog series titled “Act Like Men”. (First article: …
: The pile keeps shrinking... I’m slowly whittling down my bedside book pile, completing Darren Dochuk’s From Bible …
: Using HDHomeRun Plus to record H.264 video with Windows Media Center Yeah, this is a nerdy post. I’m not expecting it’s of huge interest for my usual readers …
: Kirk: The Missional Diagnostic Question “Missional” is a word that has been used so much in the evangelical church-planting …
: Technology upgrades and how they snowball, home video edition Last week we used some Amazon rewards points and a couple of gifts and upgraded our bedroom TV and …
: Krista Tippett on listening to those of other faiths The guys over on Nomad Podcast recently interviewed Krista Tippett, a Christian who hosts a public …
: OK, I love Tim Keller for lots of reasons but this one takes the cake From an #askTK session on Twitter today: Perfect answer. Love it.
: One down, 25 to go I finished up NT Wright’s Surprised by Scripture the other night. A nice short form of several …
: Music to Work By: Rostropovich and Britten play Schubert A good bit of my day-to-day work involves reading and reviewing large documents and sets of …
: Ragamuffin: Music inspired by the Movie I haven’t watched the Ragamuffin movie yet. Having known and loved Rich Mullins for the last …
: No More Buying Until I Do Some Reading …that’s the promise I’m making myself. The book pile next to my bed is just too …
: Random thoughts while watching The West Wing tonight Tonight we watched “Dead Irish Writers”, from the middle of season three. A couple of …
: Lewis, Tolkien, and True Myth There’s a good piece today from Fr. Stephen Freeman revisiting C. S. Lewis and JRR …
: This is a useful word. For reference, my current pile:
: My Fourth of July: Ran the local 8k. Didn’t set any time records. At home: finished the laundry and cleaned the …
: Bullet Points for a Wednesday Morning Just a few random observations… Crazy softball game in our church league last night. We were …
: Mere Fidelity Podcast on NT Wright I’ve recently started listening to the Mere Fidelity podcast, a theological conversation …
: O'Hare Overnight Liveblog American Airlines and a stalled warm front have conspired to have me sleeping overnight in the …
: They Took the Post Down As a follow-up to my last post: Leadership Journal last night took down the controversial post, …
: Take down that post? As if it had been too long since the last evangelical church sex abuse scandal, Leadership Journal …
: Some thoughts on the recent EFCA doctrinal survey I was fascinated to last week stumble upon the results of a 2013 doctrinal survey of more than 1000 …
: I never think I'm volunteering for too much stuff... …and then it all piles up at once and gets really busy. Help friends move? Absolutely, …
: NT Wright on the intersection of the Bible, ethics, and doctrine In a recent interview by Jonathan Merritt on Religion News Service, Anglican bishop NT Wright had …
: Gentleness and Respect for all - addressing 'the transgender issue' But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks …
: Real Transformation happens when? In light of the whole Tullian Tchividjian / Gospel Coalition dust-up in recent days, Mark Galli has …
: Bullet Points for a Thursday - French edition! It’s Thursday at nearly 7 pm and I’m on the next-to-last day of a quick business trip to …
: That's not me! - an update... Last month I wrote That’s not me!, in which I lamented an Atlanta-based person using my Gmail …
: An app idea especially for Cubs fans As a Cubs fan I set up my Yahoo sports iPhone app at the beginning of the season to pop up an alert …
: OK, this is pretty cool I know this has been all over the internet already, but I’m going to post it here anyway. …
: I'm an uncle again! The congratulations are due to my brother Andrew and his wife Heather on the birth of their second …
: How can you not love this kid?
: Bullet Points for a Thursday Because hey, I haven’t done one of these on a Thursday for a while. It’s been kinda …
: This Time I Can Stay - reflections on the music of a friend I want to take a little time today to tell you about a guy I know named Andy. (He’s got a …
: One more Supreme Court amusement I have some other posts planned, but my buddy Geof pointed out something in a Supreme Court ruling …
: A Serious Argument over a Traffic Stop, or, Why I Love Reading Supreme Court Decisions One of my secret guilty pleasures (and here you get to plumb the depths of my weird mind) is reading …
: Goerend: This Session Should Have Been A Blog Post Russ Goerend is a teacher, relative of a friend, and self-admitted sneaky reader of this blog. He …
: Why I'm Leaving the Evangelical Theology blog wars I’ve had my adventures growing up in the church. In 35 years of church attendance I’ve …
: That's not me! OK, I’ve heard stories before about people having their email addresses added to unsavory …
: Which artist had the impact? This interview with Rich Mullins’ producer Reed Arvin is months old now, but I thought of it …
: A Startling Bit of Insight I’ve owned an iPhone for 18 months now, but haven’t had a PIN in place to lock the …
: Humility There are days I foolishly think I’m fairly well-read and have thought through good chunks of …
: In which I gripe about my home media center travails You regular readers (all three of you) know that this blog bounces back and forth between theology …
: We need more neighbors There’s been a lot of virtual ink spilled in the Christian blogosphere on the gay marriage …
: Star Wars music on an amazing pipe organ OK, this is pretty great. Organist Jelani Eddington performs a suite from the Star Wars soundtrack …
: Bullet Points for a Tuesday Evening Because hey, I like this format. Just when you think spring was here, we get snow. The ground and …
: On Being Allowed to Grow Up There’s a fascinating article on The Atlantic site that’s been making the rounds …
: The difference a decade makes On the left, my passport photo from 2004. On the right, my passport photo from last week.
: Not everything that calls itself a church is really a church. My friend Randy posted a nice little bit of self-observation today that resonates with me: Q – …
: My Swedish Doppelganger When my wife’s sister and her husband recently visited Chile, they found this picture in a …
: To be a Christian is to believe that all political ideologies are suspect. Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry nails it: To be a Christian is to believe that all political ideologies are …
: A couple thoughts about Christian celebrity There’s been a lot of talk about Christian celebrity the past several days, but Richard Beck …
: How can suburban churches minister to urban areas? Some challenging thoughts from Christina Cleveland today: If we truly saw ourselves as an …
: Bullet Points for a Monday #5 Because, hey, it’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these. Did my first …
: The Importance of Accountability Carl Trueman, writing today about Mark Driscoll’s problems, and our own: Mark Driscoll is one …
: OK, so I bailed on Octopress A few months back I tried a great blog migration - moving from Wordpress to Octopress, a Ruby-based …
: Practical Worship Leading Ideas Yesterday I wrote a response to a post wherein someone else argued that church praise bands, by …
: Do Praise Bands speak a Secret Language? Yesterday I ran across a recent post from Lutheran pastor Erik Parker provocatively titled …
: Happening This Weekend I was a bit excited back in November when I bought the tickets. And after living through a very long …
: The Healing of the Open Road Maybe it’s just a reaction to still being in the tail end of 3 months of a cold winter back …
: The Lost World of Genesis One Last week I finally got the chance to read The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the …
: A Valentine's Eve Win Last night my wife and I went to see Jim Brickman in concert at the Paramount here in Cedar Rapids. …
: In Appreciation of Both Sides of the Creation Debate One of the beautiful things about being slow to respond to the internet topic du jour is that …
: Notes from the Creation Debate There was a well-publicized debate last night on this question: “is creation a viable model of …
: A Holistic Digital Person Yesterday morning I was tweeting from the beginning of an industry committee meeting I’m …
: Spike Jonze' 'Her' Tonight I went to the theater and saw *Her*, the recent movie from Spike Jonze. For those who might …
: Where Are The Christian Daddy Blogs? I had a passing thought in the midst of a blog post a few weeks ago that I want to explore a little …
: The Unruly Beginning of the Muppets I’m currently reading a biography of Jim Henson, creator of all my beloved Muppets. I’m …
: There's truth here From today’s XKCD: (Hover text: ‘Automating’ comes from the roots …
: "I am utterly unworthy to offer any critique of these mysteries" I love this confession from Catholic blogger Andrew Sullivan today: If by doctrine, you mean the …
: Ben Myers' Canon Fodder Australian theology professor Ben Myers (@FaithTheology) has been tweeting a fantastic series of …
: A Cheap Pun for your Wednesday Growing up in the church as I did, and appreciating wordplay and humor, I’m of course familiar …
: My Podcast Listening circa January 2014 At the moment I’m subscribed to 14 podcasts. I do all my podcast listening on my phone - …
: On Selling Books Yesterday I did something I’ve never done before: I took a stack of books and sold them at the …
: Books I read in 2013 Here’s my one year-end post: a little summary of what I read this year. I’m not gonna …
: A little inspired art We were looking for a family movie tonight and Netflix recommended The Secret of Kells. I had only a …
: The last word on Mark Driscoll for a while I can’t imagine anybody saying things much better than Jared Wilson did today over on The …
: Fitch on Driscoll: why doesn't he just repent? Professor and pastor David Fitch has some powerful words on the Driscoll plagiarism topic today, and …
: Follow-up thoughts on Mark Driscoll, Plagiarism, and Power I’ll start the blog post with a disclaimer, because heck, why not? Disclaimer: I’m not …
: Carols for Christmas (reprise) Last year I recorded some piano arrangements of familiar Christmas songs. I called it, originally …
: Correlation and Causation All the correlation / causation talk around Dave Ramsey this week brings this classic XKCD cartoon …
: Called to be faithful, not famous Wenatchee the Hatchet pointed me this morning to a devotional post written by Jeff Bettger, who up …
: Accepting truth, discarding error Yesterday I wrote about the need to be willing to accept truth (and discard error) from wherever we …
: Dave Ramsey, Sacred Cow Earlier this week I posted a link on my Facebook feed: “What Dave Ramsey Gets Wrong about …
: A Pakistani cover of Brubeck's Take Five OK, this is likely the most unique cover you’ve ever heard of Take Five. Very cool.
: The Joy of the Gospel Pope Francis published a new “Apostolic Exhortation” today titled “EVANGELII …
: Jim Belcher, "In Search of Deep Faith" I first became acquainted with author Jim Belcher back in 2009 when I read Deep Church. It appears I …
: The command to love my neighbour as myself still retains its claim upon me I don’t always find myself warmed by the writings of Charles Spurgeon, but my friend Michael …
: Today I did something I've never done before... I bought two tickets to a big rock-and-roll show. I’ve been an Arcade Fire fan for a few years …
: About those doubts and questions From Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Gilead: I’m not saying never …
: Many Happy Returns Just a quick note here today to say Happy Birthday to my dear mother. (I’ll call you later on …
: Cue the Vangelis soundtrack... One of the enjoyable things about going on business trips to various locations is the chance to get …
: The proper evangelical attitude toward sinful behavior outside the church Here’s one for ya this morning: The proper evangelical attitude toward sinful behavior outside …
: A Calvinist at the Pearly Gates Trevin Wax today reviews Michael Bird’s new book Evangelical Theology. Outside of the book and …
: Some thoughts on the FAA's decision to allow use of phones/tablets on airplanes from gate to gate The FAA announced today that it is directing airlines to enact policy that will allow passengers to …
: Something to lighten the mood... It’s been fun as my daughter Laura gets older (almost 9 and a half!) seeing her start to use …
: A story of two men Yesterday I attended a church in another town which I have infrequently visited before. …
: "To be astonishing seems to be the mark of God’s great acts..." I’m sure I heard the name Marilynne Robinson several years ago when her novel Gilead won the …
: Losing something in the modernization This past Sunday our worship team learned and led a new (old) song - Chris Tomlin’s …
: I Rest in the Grace of the World When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my …
: The proper format for a sermon A good insight here: …a genuine sermon must begin with the first proclamation, with the …
: 'Perfect' is just my pathetic attempt to hide Comedian Marc Maron has a fantastic recent podcast episode where he interviews jazz pianist Ben …
: One more fun musical post for the weekend Louis Armstrong and Danny Kaye together on stage having far more fun than any two people should be …
: Bluegrass and Bach: Something Relaxing for the Weekend It’s Friday headed in to a holiday weekend and I’m tired of writing about serious …
: Recommended reading: Guilt Factories My brother-from-another-mother Daniel Deboer has a great post up about what he calls “Guilt …
: A few thoughts on the "yuck factor" discussion In case you’re not already caught up: the discussion started with Thabiti Anyabwile’s …
: Steve Martin & Kermit the Frog play 'Dueling Banjos' There is no way I could not post this. (That being said, whoever voiced Kermit at the end of the …
: Does your church have room for me? What if I don’t have 100% agreement with your doctrinal statement, but still want to be a part …
: When church and convictions conflict - a personal follow-up Yesterday I recommended Ed Cyzewski’s post talking about when church and your personal …
: When church and convictions conflict Ed Cyzewski put up a great post yesterday about diversity of churches and ministries and about using …
: Internet filtering and government 'protection' Internet filtering has been a hot topic in the news the past few days. In Britain, prime minister …
: Recommended Reading: The Journey of Ministry Recently I’ve been reading The Journey of Ministry: Insights from a Life of Practice by Fuller …
: In which I sing the praises of NewsBlur I realize that everyone reading this has already either made a decision on a Google Reader …
: It's Not a Long Leap In my last post I touched just briefly on the evangelical “modesty culture”, wherein the …
: God has not given us a Spirit of Fear The evangelical blogosphere has been an interesting place lately. There have been voices talking …
: Four generations at play We had a bunch of family visit our home the past couple days, including my grandmother, my parents, …
: Is this Calvinism's Default Position? I’m sitting in a hotel room tonight enjoying a family weekend and catching up on twitter while …
: Tonight's chain of musical thoughts Playing this in the van while headed home: Led to playing this as soon as I got home: Led to this …
: The Power of the Pen I like writing by hand, and I love the feel of writing with a good pen. In my experience, though, …
: Happily After All It’s Memorial Day here in the States, which means we’ve been enjoying a day together as …
: Where are the voices? Boz Tchividjian has strong words on the SGM mess. Boz Tchividjian (grandson of Billy Graham, law professor at Liberty University, and former state …
: Happy Birthday to Becky! Today is my dear wife’s birthday. We’re probably getting to the point where she …
: T4G and TGC break their silence on Mahaney One of the great frustrations of those trying to bring the allegations of rampant child abuse and …
: A Rich Mullins... movie? Matthew Johnson alerted me yesterday to the trailer that’s out for a movie about Rich Mullins. …
: A plea to John Piper on the use of social media There’s been a lot of blogospheric noise today around a tweet that Pastor John Piper made …
: Facing the truth about ourselves Andrew Peterson has a beautiful piece up at The Rabbit Room today. He reflects on his discomfort at …
: Telling the Tales of the Scarring War with Sin Songwriter and singer Jennifer Knapp answered questions over on Rachel Held Evans’ blog this …
: A year off the Internet Tech writer Paul Miller spent a year unplugged from the internet, and returns today to share his …
: New-to-me Music Monday We made a family trip to the library yesterday, and as usual I came home with a pile of books and …
: Graffiti vs. real change Matt Chambers has a piece up today in light of this week’s ongoing arguments about gay …
: Celebration is a craft I need to learn Sarah Clarkson has a beautiful post over on The Rabbit Room today about, as she says, “the …
: Vatican City is not what you think it is... There’s a fascinating post up on the Strange Maps blog this morning about Vatican City and the …
: Happy birthday to KP! It’s March, which means the birthdays come fast and furious at the Hubbs house. Today the …
: Happy Birthday to the AG Seven years ago today, in the dark of the early morning, Addison was born. This young lady is so …
: Richard Beck on Holiness and Hospitality …the pursuit of moral purity often undermines the life of welcome as “sinners” …
: Biblicism and the Reformed Evangelical magisterium One of the long-term hallmarks of the American evangelical church has been a congregational …
: On Book Reviewing and Control My friend Geof wrote a good post yesterday about really taking time to digest and consider a book …
: A follow-up on our Verizon woes A couple weeks ago I wrote about my frustrations with Verizon’s service when it came to the …
: Amazon AutoRip and Pricing Models Last week Amazon introduced something called AutoRip. Basic premise: you buy a physical CD from …
: Be careful what you ask for... So, that guy who complained earlier this week that he was getting a little bored or stale playing …
: My running record for this year... …I think it’s gonna by Battle Born by The Killers. Forget the violent sounding name. …
: Going after the dove sellers The point being, while we know that Jesus was upset about economic exploitation going on in the …
: On Playing and Variety My primary instrument has always been (and likely always will be) keys of some sort. I started piano …
: Verizon Wireless woes Back around Thanksgiving my wife and I made the jump from US Cellular to Verizon, for the express …
: My 2012 reading Time for my annual roundup of what I read over the past year. While I’m often lousy at …
: Carols for Christmas For at least twenty years my mother has been requesting that I record some of my piano stylings. For …
: Advent... or not ‘Tis the season of Advent, or at least lots of church bloggers are telling me. A time of …
: Closely intertwined I think it may take the American evangelical church another decade or so to really realize how …
: My Favorite Elected Official The primary focus this election day is on the race for President, as well it should be. After I …
: My India Trip, Days 7 and 8 OK, I’ve been back for almost two weeks now, I should finish up reporting on my India trip. At …
: Home entertainment setup with a HTPC I’ll get to a summary post or two about my India trip in upcoming days, but today I’d …
: India Trip, days 5 and 6 I think it’s a fair guess that I’ve never spent 4 days talking non-stop for 8 hours each …
: India Trip, Days 3 and 4 Some thoughts from days 3 and 4 (Monday and Tuesday) of my India trip: Sitting around doing nothing, …
: My trip to India, Day 1/2 I’m in Hyderabad, India this week for work. (I’ll be teaching a training class all week …
: In an alternate universe... Twitter was abuzz with #Hutchmoot tags yesterday after Andrew Peterson’s announcement of the …
: Standing Desk Update It’s been a little over a month since I began using a standing desk at work. So how’s it …
: Andrew Peterson - Light for the Lost Boy Andrew Peterson’s new record, Light for the Lost Boy, came out last week, but a business trip …
: Single Payer I was stuck in a hotel last night watching Paul Ryan’s speech, and after he ripped on …
: Three careers I could've pursued but didn't I’m sitting in a hotel room in Florida tonight, bored and needing blogging inspiration. So I …
: I just wanna be Andy Gullahorn I’ve gone through a lot of wanna-be stages in my life as a musician. My mother listened with …
: Church and Community Yesterday on Twitter I had a bit of a conversation with some friends about the relationship of our …
: One of the dangers of a standing desk... …is that when I’ve got my headphones on and I’m grooving to some music, I’m …
: Standing Up (at my desk) I’ve been intrigued by the online discussion about standing desks for a while now. Heck, …
: "When I Was A Child I Read Books" by Marilynne Robinson I’ve gotten to the point where, unless I’m looking for a specific book, I don’t …
: The sure sign that I'm not blogging enough... …is that I start blogging about blogging, and I start thinking more about how I’m going …
: Some Android / iPhone follow-up So the same day I published my previous post on ditching my Android, a customer service guy from US …
: Why I'm ditching my Android and getting an iPhone 19 months ago I purchased my first smartphone - well, two of them, one for me and one for my wife. …
: Chicken and Friends and Eternity We were at Chick-fil-A a couple of weeks ago for Cow Appreciation day when we ran into some friends …
: My daughter does awesome book recommendations Forget my book recommendations, folks: my seven-year-old daughter Laura has me beat. This …
: L'audace, or, he killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day I don’t often stop to read obituaries any more - lack of a newspaper subscription puts a crimp …
: Antihistamine Money Years ago when my family first got a VCR and started renting movies, my dad made a beeline for all …
: The Anxious Christian - Rhett Smith Sorry for turning this into a book review blog of sorts. One of these days I’m going to get to …
: The Road Trip that Changed the World - Mark Sayers Australian pastor and author Mark Sayers put out a request for reviews of his new book, The Road …
: N. T. Wright sings Monday night I had the privilege of meeting Bishop N. T. Wright and hearing him speak in Nashville, …
: What I wrote to 16,000 people This email went out on The Listserve this afternoon. There’s good news, and then there’s …
: What would you say to 16,000 people? A few weeks ago I heard about a little online project called The Listserve. Email mailing lists are …
: Leonard the Lonely Astronaut My friend Andy Osenga has a new record available to purchase (download or physical CD) today over on …
: Some thoughts on Matt Chandler's move to lead Acts 29 So, it’s official: Matt Chandler will be taking over as president of the Acts 29 church …
: 15 Reasons to Show Grace A couple of days ago I posted a link to Rachel Held Evans’ “15 Reasons I Left …
: Happy Birthday, Number Three! Our third daughter, KP, turns three today. So big, so fast. So blessed to have her.
: Happy Birthday, Addie G! Our delightful middle daughter turns 6 today. Happy birthday, little lady! You’re an amazing …
: The people of God are like... a political advance team After recently finishing N. T. Wright’s Simply Jesus, I’ve been thinking again on …
: Bullet Points for a Monday #4 I haven’t done one of these in a while, but was reminded just how much fun they are. So, …
: Second-guessing God Stringfellow is just full of good stuff. Still in Chapter Two of An Ethic for Christians an Other …
: Stringfellow on Revelation In the second chapter of William Stringfellow’s An Ethic for Christians and Other Aliens in a …
: William Stringfellow: "An Ethic for Christians & Other Aliens In A Strange Land Among the many Christmas gifts I received this year, I was quite pleased to get a book which had …
: My 2011 Reading The end of the year means it’s time for a summary of my last year’s reading. Thankfully …
: I didn't know you would be /you/ Karibeth Baumann has spent November blogging letters to her young son Atticus. She finishes up today …
: Last night I convinced myself... Last night I convinced myself that I wanted to hit the gym this morning. I packed my bag so I could …
: Thankful On this day set aside to be thankful, I want to review the events of the last six weeks, because …
: Thanks, G. My friend Geof has been writing a series of “letters” blog posts this month, addressed …
: Are we overly focused on the cross? There’s a thought-provoking post by Bo Sanders up on Homebrewed Christianity today wherein he …
: The Axes of Evil: A Halloween Groaner [HT: Boing Boing]
: My brain is full: a quick clarification I realize after writing these last couple of posts that they may make me sound like I’m deeply …
: My brain is full, part 2 Yesterday’s post wandered a bit in talking about the relevance of God’s Word even as it …
: My brain is full; it is my soul that needs fed. BHT patron and Twitter friend John H posted earlier today about the “Flash evensong” he …
: Jesus as the great "I Got You" Far down in the comments on an excellent post on cross-gender friendships (which is worth reading in …
: On parenthood and life Tech blogger Jeff Atwood took a detour from his usual nerd programming yesterday to address a nearly …
: Robert Esher Hubbs III, 1939 - 2011 My wife’s father [Yes, that’s right - Becky’s maiden name was Hubbs, my last name …
: Trying Someplace New Went to The Flying Wienie for lunch today; my first time ever at this local Cedar Rapids …
: A long-delayed update So, that blogging every day thing didn’t last long, did it? A little bit of work craziness and …
: Off the wagon So I had a Lipton diet green tea yesterday. The whole bottle had 30 mg of caffeine. From what I can …
: Decaffeinating Today marks the beginning of my second week without caffeine. I started out the month of August with …
: Hard, true words from @tallskinnykiwi Andrew Jones (aka “Tall Skinny Kiwi”), “itinerant social entrepreneur”, …
: So I'm gonna do this... Finally biting the bullet and sending in this registration. 7 more weeks to prepare!
: The desire of every blogger Thanks to Mo Willems:
: Learning to run Running isn’t exactly a new topic on this blog. I first decided to lace up my shoes back in …
: More about church efficiency and effectiveness I’ve been mulling over Skye Jethani’s question about efficiency and effectiveness after …
: Who decided that efficiency and effectiveness were the highest values for ministry? There’s an excellent post from Skye Jethani today which hits close to home for me in a number …
: Seeing the people instead of the system I’m still catching up a bit, but I definitely want to recommend this piece by Richard Beck …
: A Rant about a Church Sign There is a Baptist church in our town that I drive by on my way to church at least a couple of times …
: Moving at the speed of love Richard Beck has a great piece today on interruptibility. Basically, interruptibility is a form of …
: My 5K Playlist for Hog Wild Days It’s been a while since I’ve reworked my 5K playlist. This latest incarnation may be a …
: The right kind of tolerance “Tolerance” is a much misunderstood word these days. I remember hearing a barn-burner of …
: Awesome morning music mix My music playlist is full of awesome this morning. (Thanks as usual to Geof for the playlist …
: Bad Christian Art There’s a great post over on Image Journal addressing the concerns of “bad christian …
: A great response to Bill Keller's social media hand-wringing A wonderful response to NYT editor Bill Keller’s hand-wringing post on social media was …
: Running again I started my dalliance with running nearly 4 years ago. I was looking for some motivation to get off …
: Love your enemy: within a divided self It’s been at least a week since John H. linked this James Alison essay on Twitter, so …
: Good Things in April 2011 01 - Ran five miles in 49 minutes. Longest run ever for me. 02 - Beautiful day, lots of garden and …
: The Royal Wedding: This, Too, Shall Pass The interwebs have been going gaga for weeks now about the British royal wedding, and this morning …
: Some thoughts on the proposed new mission statement for Stonebridge A couple of weeks ago Becky and I attended a Friday night meeting at church where the church …
: Sometimes it takes me some time This seems to be the story of my music-listening life: catching up with albums years after they are …
: Good things in March 2011 06 - dinner with the family at Casa las Glorias and the kids were all well-behaved! 07 - resolved to …
: A first look at Amazon Cloud Drive and Amazon Cloud Player Amazon is offering two new services this morning: Amazon Cloud Drive and Amazon Cloud Player. Time …
: Playing Games So I have this sudden inclination to find some new games to play as a family. I don’t have a …
: Introverts in the Church I’ve been doing a slow-and-steady re-read of Adam McHugh’s Introverts in the Church, and …
: Christ Liveth In Me As lives the flower within the seed, As in the cone the tree, So, praise the God of truth and grace, …
: Slowing Down I’ve read a lot of books the past few years. As my Goodreads account will attest, I’ve …
: Evaluating Restaurant Catch-Phrases We took the family to Texas Roadhouse this week for my birthday, and I was quickly annoyed by the …
: Sacred Unions, Sacred Passions Have you ever read a book that turned everything you had been taught about a subject upside down? …
: The hazards of church music... …aren’t necessarily what you think. My left ankle and leg has been very sore for the …
: Books in my reading queue My reading queue has been backed up for a while now, and I’ll admit that I only make things …
: Rain, Rain, Go Away I know, if you ask me, that we’ve only gotten water in our basement due to rain twice, and …
: Whom then shall I fear? I could tell you exactly the point I was going to choke up even the day before. I had been hanging …
: Some resolutions In a week I’ll turn 34, and begin my 35th year of life. That seems momentous somehow. For this …
: A Good Customer Service story featuring U. S. Cellular I’ve used this space in the past to gripe about bad service, so when truly good service comes …
: Homeschooling as "normal" When our oldest daughter turned 6 and we finally had to make a decision about school, we decided …
: Imagining a different narrator for a favorite song A couple of nights ago I had the classic Veggie Tales’ Silly Song Dance of the Cucumber pop …
: Another take on 'Hipster Christianity' Back in August I linked to a piece by Brett McCracken wherein he decried what he sees as the …
: 15 Records I’m sure I got tagged on this meme somewhere along the way, and then my buddy Dan did it last …
: Found this little gem last night... …while cleaning off one of our bookshelves. Completely forgot I had it. Robert’s Rules …
: Also Bring Cold Water Responses from right-wingers and evangelical Christians to the so-called “Ground Zero …
: The Perils of Hipster Christianity Brett McCracken’s column that appeared on the Wall Street Journal website yesterday really hit …
: A day with family Today we had the chance to enjoy what is an increasingly rare occurrence: all four of my siblings …
: 12 years June 26, 1998, on a sweltering night in Charlotte, NC, Becky and I made vows, exchanged rings, and …
: Learning to spell a new word, or, how do you spell 'blerg'? It’s fascinating to see how a new word evolves, especially in the case where a word is …
: Another thought on church shopping and polarization Yesterday’s post on church shopping and cultural polarization reminded me of a question …
: Church shopping and cultural polarization CNN.com has a blog post today exploring “How Church Shopping is Polarizing the Country”. …
: So, I just invented a new word. Fidgetoid, n. an object with which one fidgets. A Google search reveals no substantive results, so …
: Well, we joined. After taking quite a bit of time to make our decision, Becky and I yesterday became members of …
: Staying Organized: What Tools should I Use? Some weeks at work are calm, with just a few meetings and only one or two things to keep track of. …
: The freedom to chill the heck out Just found a link to a great thought that Jared Wilson posted back in January. Given that it’s …
: Doctrine good, stories bad? I have learned much over the past several years from brothers and sisters of the Reformed …
: Bullet Points for a Monday Morning #5 We have high temperatures in the 50’s forecast for this week. Incredibly thankful for spring …
: Another interesting thing about the Canadian anthem A follow-on to yesterday’s post about the superiority of ‘O Canada’: I was not …
: On the superiority of the Canadian national anthem Watching the winter Olympics over the past two weeks, I caught at least a few of the medal …
: I am now spoiled to commercial air travel forever Yesterday I traveled with five coworkers from Cedar Rapids, IA to Wichita, KS, to participate in our …
: Sometimes knowing too much is a bad thing Last night Becky and I sat down to watch the second episode ( titled “Rewind”) of the …
: Partaking "in an unworthy manner" Brent Thomas posted yesterday on the question of “fencing the table” at communion, and …
: Going To Morrow My friend Dan’s greeting on Twitter this morning brought this song to mind - it’s a …
: Now Playing: Brian Eno <em>Ambient 1: Music for Airports</em> Time to start something new around here - from time to time I’ll highlight a record that …
: Offering right sacrifices In 2010 I’m undertaking the Bible reading plan put out by The Journey, and this …
: Tales from THE SNOWPOCALYPSE, Day 2 Morning timeline: 0530: alarm goes off 0532: check of the cancellations page via my iPod touch shows …
: It's the SNOWPOCALYPSE! Cower in your homes, everyone - IT’S THE SNOWPOCALYPSE! Vicious white stuff will attack from …
: Bullet points for a Monday #3 There is a more substantive post or two in here, I promise. But for now - bullet points. Sewer pipe …
: Orangeburg So, those sewer troubles we had last week? They came back. After snaking out the drains on Friday …
: Not exactly to plan Way I planned to spend Friday evening: reading a book and watching TV. Way I actually spent Friday …
: What Would Jesus Want Us To Think about Healthcare Reform? a Quick Response What would Jesus want us to think about health care reform? That’s the question that Justin …
: Joining up... or not That little announcement made its quarterly reappearance in the church bulletin last Sunday: …
: Catalyst Compassion "Moment": Amazing or Exploitive? My internet friend Bryan Allain posted a video on his blog this morning of a moment that happened at …
: Phrases that stick with you Most of what I remember from Rocky & Bullwinkle is cheesy puns (which are AWESOME, by the way), …
: The Patient Notebook I keep a notebook at work for scribbling to-dos and other things I need to remember. I don’t …
: Bullet points for a Monday Morning #4 Blog posting has been a bit slow lately since I typically post during breaks at work and my blog has …
: The "Left Behind" influence on the Religious Right It’s been a common observation over the past several years that one of the practical results …
: I suppose there was a time I thought staying up all night was cool... …but right now isn’t it. After getting, by Becky’s measurement, 11 inches of rain …
: Getting rid of the Dish: the Philosophical Post So a couple of weeks ago I talked about the nerd side of getting rid of the dish. I’m still …
: Not being able to do it all Kevin DeYoung just nails it in a post today. Titled “On Mission, Changing the World, and Not …
: Taking Reproof Seriously Nearly a week ago I wrote a piece here wrestling with some concerns I’ve had about Sunday …
: Getting rid of the Dish: The Nerd Post So we’re getting rid of our Dish. We’ve had cable or satellite TV pretty much ever since …
: Taking Worship Seriously OK, so it’s entirely possible that at the ripe age of 32 I’ve just become an old …
: Adventures in Home Ownership, Part 17 As my Twitter stream revealed over the weekend, it turned out to be a busy weekend, but not quite in …
: Bullet Points for a Friday #2 Slow-ish week turns into busy weekend. Lots of family in town, softball tournament, leading worship. …
: A Rant on Amazon's Super Saver Shipping Mostly to save my Tweeps from a half-dozen tweets venting my frustration. I ordered a HDHomeRun …
: Fever° Version 1.01 This morning Shaun Inman pushed out (with notice via Twitter) version 1.01 of the Fever° feed …
: Shaun Inman's "Fever" a day later I’ve had a Fever install up and running for 24 hours now, and I’ve gotta compliment …
: A first look at Shaun Inman's "Fever" Twitter and the blogs have been abuzz today over Shaun Inman’s newest creation, called Fever. …
: There are no chapter titles I think it really hit me when I saw the dirt bike. I hadn’t seen that dirt bike in years, but …
: Fox News, knee-jerk reactions, and out-of-context statements If my previous posts in which I declared my support for Obama and for civilly-recognized gay …
: 10 years Last Sunday we visited Noelridge Park Church for the morning service so Laura could participate in …
: Canadian Travels and Weird Internet Friends This week business took me on my second-ever cross-the-border trip, once again to Canada, though …
: Bullet Points for a Friday Morning #3 Monday road trip to Nashville was awesome. Saw some friends, made some new ones, saw a great …
: Moving beyond the "what" to the "why" Earlier this afternoon I posted this thought to Twitter: Scary Thing #1 as an engineer: people who …
: News to make my day cheerier It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks, but this does make the day cheerier: I just firmed up …
: More busy than a one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest That’s the way my friend Steve used to describe it, and this week has been one of those weeks. …
: Home again, home again... (new baby edition) As a friend noted the other day, it’s a bit of a weird feeling to know that you’re …
: It's a girl! Katherine (Katie) Paige Hubbs born March 20, 2009 at 11:22 am 7 lbs, 13.5 oz 20.5" long. …
: Who says you have to spend a lot? Back in college, Dr. Batts suggested a cheap date: a trip to Walmart. His rationale? First, go …
: The Waiting Game We’ve gotten to that point in Becky’s pregnancy now where it’s just a waiting …
: A dilemma of sorts Last week I accepted a position in a new group here at work. It’s a group I’ve worked …
: Book Review: <em>The Echo Within</em> by Robert Benson There is a particular class of inspirational book these days that you can identify on the shelf …
: Bullet points for a Tuesday Morning #2 Laziness, and no big topics to contemplate. Put those two together and you end up with my blog as of …
: Book I Read: <em>The Weapon</em> by David Poyer Normally I’d write up a whole 250-word review for a book I finished, but The Weapon by David …
: Adventures with Hot Water, or, Providential Timing Once Again Last night after Wednesday night church, as we were just about to settle down for the night, Becky …
: Book Review: <em>The Jazz Ear: Conversations Over Music</em> by Ben Ratliff Normally when we think about musicians and “their music”, we think about the music that …
: Book Review: <em>Ender In Exile</em> by Orson Scott Card I’ve been a big fan of Orson Scott Card’s Ender series since I read it a few years ago. …
: There might be something to this Facebook thing... Yesterday afternoon we went over to a friend’s house for her belated 30th birthday party. It …
: Book Review: <em>The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British</em> by Sarah Lyall Every culture has its quirks, but to really notice them and appreciate them you need to be able to …
: Book Review: <em>Jesus and the Victory of God</em> by N. T. Wright I should say this up front: the idea that I’m going to be able to intelligently …
: Book Review: <em>The Philosopher's Apprentice</em> by James Morrow I picked up The Philosopher’s Apprentice on a whim from the library. And what a whim. The …
: Bullet Points for a Friday Morning #2 I’ve been neglecting this blog for the past few weeks, so it’s time for an update of …
: The Church Search: A Conclusion of Sorts After Nick chided me last night about my infrequent blogging, and after Roger noted elsewhere that …
: How do I know when to...? Andy Osenga nailed it on his blog today by answering the question “how do know when I’m …
: What's this place about, anyway? I’ve watched with interest the transformation of an internet acquaintance’s blog over …
: Book Review: <em>The King of Sting</em> by Craig Glazer and Sal Manna Sometimes, real life is even better than the stories. The King of Sting details the adventures of …
: Book Review: <em>Ring</em> by Stephen Baxter I was browsing the sci-fi section in the local library and came across an old paperback with a …
: 2008: A Year of Reading in Review This the only year-end post I’ll write; just a summary of my book reading list from 2008. Some …
: Wedding bells, etc I’ve taken plenty of pictures the past few days, but the dial-up internet connection here at …
: Christmas 2008 wrap-up Nothing like a holiday and a week off work to slow down the blog posting. We started our Christmas …
: My current songwriting struggle Songwriting, you ask? Yeah, if you missed it, I was invited to attend the Iowa Songwriter’s …
: Just Us at Christmas In the 11 or 12 Christmases Becky and I have spent together, each has been celebrated with one set …
: More Ketchup! Our little Addison (age two and a half) caught a low-grade stomach bug earlier this week. She …
: A fun evening, a late night, and musical kinship I’ll work through that title backwards. How do you know when you have some musical kinship …
: Sometimes Things Don't Turn Out Like You Expect When Andy Osenga’s The Morning came out two and a half years ago (to much fanfare on this …
: Everybody's Working for the Weekend Yes, we have a weekend coming up. Unfortunately, we’ll be heading into the weekend with a …
: A College Football Playoff Proposal OK, so can we just agree that the BCS really stinks, and there must be a better way to do college …
: Road trip time! Tomorrow morning I will get in the car and, rather than heading to work, I will embark on one of my …
: How do you select/appoint elders? When we visited Maranatha on Sunday, one of the inserts in their bulletin was a full page giving the …
: The Church Search, Week 7 There was no post for week 6 last week since we were out of town for the weekend. So now we come to …
: What to do about "gay marriage", part 2 Becky observed last night that my post yesterday on gay marriage was rather wordy and not as simple …
: Recognizing the civil-religious disconnect, or, "what to do about 'gay marriage'" I’ve been working through the whole ‘gay marriage’ issue in my head for a while …
: Do you want to play with me? Children have ways of saying things that just cut you to the quick. They don’t realize it, but …
: Happiness is... another new pen. When we were in Minneapolis last weekend I happened upon one of those dangerous places for me to go …
: A weird iPod Genius playlist bug Discovered this one last night: when I tapped the Genius icon to create a Genius playlist out of the …
: Bullet Points for a Thursday Morning #2 It’s been a crazy week so I’m reduced to one of these play-by-play lists. Sorry. Note to …
: The Church Search, Week 5 This morning we got up off our behinds and visited the next church on our short list: Maranatha …
: Happy Birthday, Mom (2008 edition)! It’s my mother’s birthday today, and out of respect for her (a respect that I …
: Good friends say things like this Good friends aren’t afraid to say hard things. Last night I had a friend tell me: “Hey, …
: Post-Election Thoughts So much has been said by so many this morning that I don’t really have anything brilliant to …
: Culture Warrior or Disciple? The Internet Monk’s latest post deserves more than just a bullet in my overnight links. …
: Election 2008: I voted Reports of long lines at many polling places had me wondering if I would be in for a wait to vote …
: I will not fear On an internal discussion board at my workplace today, a co-worker (who is a Christian, though a bit …
: Election Eve It seems like this election cycle started a LONG time ago. We had our caucuses in Iowa back in …
: The Church Search, Week 4 We had plans to go to church on Sunday. And the best of intentions. But even though we were all up …
: The Church Search, Week 4 Preview This week our plans have us heading to Maranatha Bible Church. We know the Maranatha pastor and …
: Book Review: <em>How Would Jesus Vote?</em> by D. James Kennedy Have you heard that there’s an election coming up soon? So has WaterBrook Publishing, …
: Gilbert & Sullivan & an embarassing admission During an online conversation with Lydia this morning I was chiding for her unfamiliarity with …
: They are soon gone, and we fly away It always seems to be the bitter, cold, rainy days. Yesterday morning I took my familiar perch …
: Yet another reason I love my brother... Lately I’ve had a quote from Chuck (a rather fun TV show on NBC Mondays) set as my IM status …
: Observations from the weekend Your house doesn’t have to be amazingly clean to invite friends over. Even if it was amazingly …
: The Church Search, Week 3 After deciding early in the week that Cedar Valley Bible was off our short list, we spent a lot of …
: Time for some piano music I switched over from my usual podcasts and indie rock this morning to give some iPod love to a genre …
: Short list got shorter Well, we talked about it some more last night and agreed that Cedar Valley Bible Church is off our …
: Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe Lydia asked for it, so here it is… Ingredients 2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained - I …
: An end-times deal-breaker So yesterday afternoon I noted that the next church on our short list for visiting during the Church …
: The Church Search, Week 2 Week 2 of the Church Search took us back to Stonebridge Church for the second week in a row. (We …
: The Coffee Experiment, Day 30 or so I have just about finished up the bag of Starbucks dark roast that we had here at home, what to get …
: Living Life Together It is becoming more and more clear to me lately how we are created for community, and how much we …
: Who, Me? My brother Ryan has been working full-time as an Obama campaign volunteer for the past few weeks, …
: Matthew Paul Turner's <em>Churched</em>: A Review Next up for review, courtesy of WaterBrook Press, is Churched: One Kid’s Journey Toward God …
: 4 years, 1001 posts Four years ago I started this thing called blogging, not, as they say, with a bang, but with …
: Rainsoft of NE Iowa: A follow-up A few weeks ago I wrote about a bad experience we had with an in-home sales call from Rainsoft of NE …
: The Church Search, Week 1 Yesterday morning we did something we haven’t done in a couple of months now: set our alarm on …
: The Church Search, Week 1 Preview Well, tomorrow morning we officially begin our look for a new church here in the Cedar Rapids area. …
: Listening Thoughts from multiple discussions over the last week: Most of the time, when people come to tell …
: Thinking through the presidential politics I’ve had an easy time deciding who to support for president for pretty much every election …
: And tell them we are men Douglas Wilson posted this quote, and it’s too good to not pass along. I wish you well. May …
: "I trust that age doth not wither nor custom stale my infinite variety." I sent an email this morning which sent me thinking about a familiar quote, which in turn sent me …
: Take me out to the ballgame... It’s October 1st, which, among other things, means it’s time for the baseball playoffs. …
: Trying to describe Watership Down I finished reading Richard Adams’ Watership Down last night and, when adding it to my reading …
: The Coffee Experiment, Day 12 Wow, it’s been a week since I’ve posted an update on The Coffee Experiment. I think …
: Random question for the morning Is it egotistical to drink coffee from a mug that says “I (heart) my Music Minister” …
: Beginning the church search After making the decision to leave Imago Christi at the end of the month, we find ourselves in an …
: The Coffee Experiment, Day 5 After yesterday’s run-in with completely nasty office coffee, I decided I would try brewing …
: Scot McKnight's "The Blue Parakeet" - a review When Zondervan offered up free early copies of Dr. Scot McKnight’s The Blue Parakeet for …
: The Coffee Experiment, Day 4 I’m not sure whether to call this Day 4 or Day 6 of The Coffee Experiment. Do I count the …
: The Coffee Experiment, Day 2 For 31 years I have professed to very much dislike coffee. If in need of caffeine to keep me going, …
: Why I dislike salespeople - or at least their tactics Update: I received a response from Rainsoft of NE Iowa that very much helped to resolve the …
: Changes Coming Tonight after the service at Imago Christi, I read this brief letter to the congregation: It has …
: Watching our tone Over the past two weeks’ political conventions I have watched most of the major speeches and …
: How much experience have presidential and VP candidates had? A warning to my casual readers: this post is going to get more than a wee bit nerdy, and probably a …
: Book Review: Wild Goose Chase Wild Goose Chase, the latest book by pastor Mark Batterson of National Community Church in …
: Denver OK, so bad travel plans notwithstanding, I made it to Denver on-time on Monday evening. Tuesday was …
: its wisdom, who can measure? Work necessitates that tomorrow I travel from Cedar Rapids to Denver to attend three days of FAA …
: Beautiful quote from a friend today …after I declared I was socially stunted because of my intense dislike for calling people …
: Finding the right Saturday-night service time One of our challenges at Imago has been figuring out the right time to hold our Saturday night …
: Wrestling with ideas about church membership One of the things we’ve been wrestling with as elders at Imago is the concept of church …
: Bullet points for a Monday Morning #3 A week without a blog update + lack of creativity = desperate measures. Hence, the bullet points. …
: 100 Books Being the voracious reader that I am, I was happy to steal this from Kari and Roger. The story is …
: Book Review: The Healing Choice This week’s book review, thanks to a free copy from WaterBrook Press, is The Healing Choice …
: Happy birthday Laura (2008 edition)! Our oldest daughter Laura turns 4 today. So far she’s celebrated the morning with a bowl of …
: Washington Vacation 2008: The Wedding After the beach we took a couple of days to travel up from Long Beach to Leavenworth. The stop in …
: A call for plot creativity, or, Why is it always the Christians? This weekend I finished up reading Rules of Deception, the latest novel by Christopher Reich. I have …
: C. S. Lewis on Consistency in the Worship Service Pastor Richard gave me this wonderful (if a bit long) quote from C. S. Lewis regarding consistency …
: Washington Vacation 2008: The Beach After arriving late on Monday and having vehicle difficulty, we took the new minivan out to the …
: An apology of sorts I had really intended to keep the blog up-to-date while on this vacation - after all, during the …
: The Flat Tire A couple of pics of our minivan’s flat tire the other night. Less dramatic because the guys …
: In Seattle Day 1 of our vacation finally brings us to Seattle. Our flights were only delayed a little - we …
: Packing for the trip With the expense of airline travel these days, we thought we might consider a method of …
: T-minus 7d It’s starting to hit home that one week from now we will be on an airplane, with the kiddos, …
: Ten Ten years ago today, on a sweltering night in Charlotte, NC, friends and family gathered as Becky …
: Counting down the days... Once today is complete I will have only 6 more working days until vacation… and oh my, am I …
: Top Ten Movies Well, I haven’t done a meme in a while, and Jeff tagged me for this one, so I’ll give it …
: I tried Opera for a day No, Dad, regardless of the title, I’m not talking about Wagner or Puccini or that kind of …
: Slowly regaining normalcy Father’s Day 2008 wasn’t quite what any of us had been planning, but it’s still …
: A short Friday night update What a beautiful day today was. Sunshine, cool temps… such a nice change from the weeks of …
: Sucking it up No time to post pictures but if you visit any online news site you’ll undoubtedly be able to …
: And it rained all day... It’s been a weird year for weather here in Iowa. We started with the snowiest winter on …
: The passing of another weekend I had three things on my to-do list for the weekend as of last Friday afternoon. And though I kept …
: Bunk beds It’s been a couple of weeks now but there was great excitement among the little girls in our …
: Bullet Points from Montreal I’ve been in Montreal since Monday night, and it’s my first trip here, and for that …
: Montreal So today was the day I finally ventured outside the good ‘ol US of A; traveling to Montreal, …
: Muppet Imitations Apparently this is something that goes by generations, too. I’ve done Kermit (among others) …
: Tuesday morning this'n'that I have a couple other posts floating around in my head, but need to gather some thoughts (and …
: Starting a new tradition (or, a good excuse for ice cream) Some weeks ago Becky and I were enjoying a date night with a stop at our local Coldstone ice cream …
: Bullet Points for a Monday Morning #2 It was an amazingly beautiful weekend. Fortunately the beautiful weather is sticking around for …
: Softball 2008! Last night was the start to our church league softball season. For most of the day it looked like we …
: ...with some frosting... One of the things that just fascinates me is observing the girls’ learning - not just what …
: Another adventure in new music So I’m rather a new-music junkie. Granted, it’s gotta be in a genre I’m interested …
: It's spring... finally! Signs that spring is finally here: Warmer weather, finally. high temps in the 70’s for the …
: I feel like such a homebody For a family that didn’t travel a whole lot when I was growing up, we have certainly made up …
: Bullet Points for a Tuesday Morning FINALLY with some warmer weather here in Iowa. Softball is supposed to start in two weeks and …
: Feed Demon Issues... Hello Google Reader? An original user of Google Reader, some months ago when NewsGator decided to make its products free …
: Four There’s been a running joke at our house for some time now that goes something like this: …
: The Strange Story of Easter: Surprised by Hope, Chapter 4 Having noted in chapter three that something happened to cause the early Christians’ belief in …
: Early Christian Hope in Its Historical Setting: Surprised by Hope, Chapter 3 Let’s start at the very beginning, says a familiar song from a classic musical, it’s a …
: Christians and Sin in the Movies There’s been a good discussion going on over at The Rabbit Room regarding how Christians …
: Puzzled About Paradise? Surprised by Hope, Chapter 2 In Chapter 2 of Surprised by Hope, N. T. Wright examines the wide sweep of confusing views that the …
: Wrestling with Tom: Surprised by Hope, Chapter 1 So it’s been far too long since I posted my original review of Surprised by Hope, the latest …
: Easter Thoughts I had the opportunity to do the Easter “program” (if you want to call it that) twice …
: On The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness Read to the end of the blog post - I’m giving away a copy of the book! Just when you think …
: Happy Birthday, Addison Grace! Two years ago today, about this time early in the morning, I was making phone calls to my parents …
: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun This morning Laura and Addie and a few of their friends participated in a little fashion show for a …
: Happy Birthday to me... a little early/late Yeah, so my birthday isn’t until Friday, but finalized plans yesterday to be able to not just …
: Wrestling with Tom: An American Evangelical's coming-to-grips with N. T. Wright's Surprised By Hope Few writers have gained the attention of, and made waves in, the Christian blogosphere in recent …
: Another post from Augusta Yesterday was Day 2 of the RTCA committee meeting here in Augusta. (Why am I posting a day behind, …
: No, I don't play golf... This week has brought me to Augusta, GA for the quarterly SC-213 meeting. The inevitable first …
: Tim Keller's The Reason For God - a review Tim Keller has been a favorite speaker of mine for some time now. As pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian …
: Another Half a Foot Rest easy, friends, I’m not growing some fractional appendage. But I am pretty much tired of …
: An equation of insanity So back in my Caedmon’s concert post, Daniel commented that he found the length of that road …
: I'm it. Having been tagged by Jeff for the latest interweb meme to filter around to these parts, I suppose I …
: Putting on the miles The lengths I will go to hear a concert? Well, this weekend the length was 300 miles, each way. …
: Comparing Services This past weekend I had the pleasure of leading music both at Imago Christi on Saturday night and at …
: Bullet points for a Thursday Morning Playing basketball three times a week is good for your game and your weight, but sure does make you …
: In belated praise of Once It took me a while to get around to it, but last night Becky and I finally sat down to watch Once. I …
: The importance of training others “…and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful …
: Putting my talents to some profit Pretty much ever since my brother Andrew and his fiancee Heather set a date for the wedding this …
: Rich Mullins' A Liturgy, a Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band If there was ever a “perfect” album to come out of the (largely mediocre) world of CCM, …
: A study in personalities, or, Mom was right My mom has mentioned more than once how she enjoys seeing our girls’ personalities as they get …
: Wait, it's Monday? Weekends are going to look a little bit different now that we’re having church on Saturday …
: Bullet points for a Wednesday Just realized I never gave you all any feedback on the first service at Imago Christi. It went …
: Creating the routine The biggest adjustment this week in preparing for the Saturday night service is starting to think of …
: D-Day Timeline Saturday was the big day - first service at Imago Christi! A timeline of the day: 7:30 am: Wake up …
: It's a big day We’ve been working towards this for over a year now, and tonight it comes to pass: the first …
: 2007 in Books: Chris's Reading in Review One year ago I decided that my blog was the must useful place to keep my reading list, and that …
: Becoming a Caring Church Alex Strauch provides some practical guidance for becoming a church that truly cares for people …
: Songs for the Inaugural Service Imago Christi’s inaugural service is just over a week away - January 5, 2008. As I noted …
: Home after Christmas What a great Christmas, and now how good to be home. We spent several days at my parents’ …
: Details to remember for your first worship service Yes, the title is overly-long Google linkbait. But one thing I have been astonished with is just how …
: Selecting music for an inaugural service We’re going to have our first worship team practice for Imago tonight, which means I need to …
: Wrapping things up Today is my last work day for the year. Thanks to a day of vacation tomorrow and a generous holiday …
: Building a worship team One of my big initial tasks for Imago Christi is to figure out the worship team situation. Music is …
: Contentment I was reading Psalm 131 this morning and was struck by the picture of contentment painted in its …
: 'Tis the season to be jolly and joyous... Christmas shopping is complete. The Christmas program is over. We’ve received a bunch of …
: Christmas shopping complete in record time Usually I’m the guy who is out shopping on December 23rd, if not December 24th, to finish up …
: If I were from England, I'd be unhappy Becky and I were wandering the toy shelves at our local Target store recently, finishing up some …
: Bullet Points for a Friday Morning I’ve stuck you, my blog readers, with far too many links this week and not enough other stuff. …
: The travails of travel Dear Delta Airlines, I can’t decide whether to be mad with you or not. I was definitely not …
: On the road again... So it’s been a nice weekend. Ryan decided at the last minute to come visit for the holiday, so …
: Coming in Boldly Last Wednesday night we left the girls at church (Laura for AWANA, Addie to play in the nursery) and …
: Ideas for Effective Ministry, Part 2: Active Oversight I was going to make this part 3, but this all really ties together too much, so let’s just …
: Ideas for Effective Ministry, Part 1: Don't Overload the Workers This seems like such a no-brainer that it shouldn’t even need to be mentioned, but based on my …
: Ideas for Effective Ministry - Introduction Last week Richard (my pastor for the past 8 years who is also leading our church plant effort) asked …
: I've been found out. OK, rarely will I write a full post to recommend someone else’s post, but the latest from …
: I love the smell of comment spam in the mornings... and other thoughts for Friday Yep, 105 comments held in moderation. All of ’em spam. I guess I should tighten up Spam Karma …
: Making the switch After running the numbers and looking at likely use scenarios over the upcoming year or two, we …
: Halloween at Work No costumes ‘round our building today, but we’re having an event that appears to be …
: David Wilcox at CSPS Last night Becky and I experienced a couple of firsts: 1) going to a concert at CSPS in downtown …
: Bullet points for a Monday #2 [As always, I am grateful to Daniel for this very useful format.] Addie didn’t sleep well last …
: No Excuses I hit the scale last Saturday after a fairly physically strenuous day of outdoor work (OK, strenuous …
: Most any update is better than none... Bullet points for the weekend: Church plant plans are moving right along. Looking like the start …
: Convergence: Death of a PDA, Expiration of a Cell Contract I’ve carried a PDA pretty much everywhere with me for the past several years; I think …
: Oklahoma City Business has brought me this week to Oklahoma City, square in the middle of the Sooner state. …
: Bullet Points for a Monday Morning Had a productive weekend; got the lawn mowed, some concrete patching done, led music at church. …
: The Doctor says: Don't Blink I haven’t enjoyed a single episode of TV quite so much in a while. I’m a couple weeks …
: Should this really be our fight? “Clergy fight same sex marriage”. This headline stared out at me from this …
: $1.05 I have a usual stop on my way to work in the mornings: the Road Ranger convenience store at the …
: Odds and Ends Sep 2007 First off, sorry to any of you who tried to leave comments yesterday. Something with the way the …
: Changes in the works I presented this letter to the elder board at Noelridge last Thursday: To the Elders at Noelridge: …
: Happiness is... a new pen. Back in February I bought my first-ever fountain pen. I knew nothing about them, but had always …
: An update of sorts It’s been slow around these parts lately, which likely just means that life has been pretty …
: It's not Monday, it just feels like it. The joys of having a Monday holiday: a 4-day work week, and a Tuesday that feels like Monday. Oh, …
: Well, I asked. Becky and the girls stopped by my workplace for a few minutes this morning to drop off some lunch …
: Caedmon's Call - Overdressed Well at least half of you who read this blog are already listening to this album, but I should still …
: Bullet Points for a Monday How can it have been a week since I last posted? Well, it has been busy. So in the spirit of …
: How can it be so hard to leave town? Instead of sitting here writing this blog post, I should be on a Boeing 757 just taking off from …
: New Specs I got my most recent pair of glasses about 6 years ago. Now, I don’t wear them all that often; …
: Seattle It’s 8 AM in Seattle and this hotel restaurant is a pretty comfortable place to sit and write. …
: Headed Out, West Coast Edition I’m sitting in the airport terminal at Cedar Rapids as the plane that is supposed to take me …
: New Orleans: Music and all that Jazz One of the things that was high on my list of things to do while in New Orleans a few weeks ago was …
: A real post - sort of So most of the recent posts here have been just links to other stuff. Sorry about that. Have been …
: New Orleans Impressions Got back from last week’s trip to New Orleans early on Friday morning. This was my first time …
: Bullet Points for a Friday [Once again, thanks to dan for creating a good format to rip off.] Laura turns three today! Happy …
: New Orleans: FAA SW DER Conference Today through Thursday is the 2007 edition of the FAA’s SW/CEH DER Conference. You can follow …
: Bullet Points on a Friday We had three neighbors over for supper last night. It was quite a good time. And the pork loin that …
: Drying out It’s been a bit of a wet week here in eastern Iowa. We had storms starting Monday night …
: It happened again. Yep. Four in a row now. What are the odds? Dang, I had to ask that. Now I’m gonna have to …
: The Challenges and Blessings of Hospitality Last week Becky and I had a discussion about, well, a bunch of things, but the one thing that came …
: It's a trap! Last week I bought a bottle of Diet Pepsi from a vending machine. I opened it up, and woohoo! The …
: Evaluating alternative iPod management software Yesterday SimpleHelp.net posted 10 Alternatives to iTunes for managing your iPod. (They have since …
: A little bit sore Yesterday morning I was awake early so I went to the gym and hit the treadmill and the weight …
: It's Monday again already?!? Well, it was a busy weekend. The whole family showed up Friday night for one last get together …
: Somebody's leaving tracts in the bathroom again... This morning’s visit to the bathroom here at work revealed that someone has again been leaving …
: What day is it again? Having a day off from work in the middle of the week has totally thrown me off. Yesterday seemed …
: Ah, Home Becky and I arrived back home late in the evening Saturday. Travel was uneventful, though we did …
: Blue Man! Last night Becky and I went to see Blue Man Group over at Universal Orlando. BMG is one of those …
: Nine Years Hard to believe it’s been that long already. Nine years ago tonight, on a hot, sticky night in …
: Orlando Made it with no serious travel glitches to Orlando about 7:30 pm local time. Gotta say this - that …
: Ready for a break Today is my last day in the office for a week or so, and I am definitely ready for the break. A …
: Notes on a Tuesday Morning I’m getting ready to go sit in an all-day meeting with some customers that are in town. Not …
: Sheesh, It's Monday already?!? So for it being a weekend, it was a busy one. A synopsis: Saturday: Ran a 5k in the morning. …
: Satisfaction Well if I’m gonna gripe when I think things have gone wrongly, it is only right that I applaud …
: Not again! UPS dutifully delivered my second refurbished iPod this afternoon. The battery was pretty well dead, …
: iPod today? Got an automated UPS phone call a few minutes ago saying that my iPod would be delivered today, and …
: Bullet Points for Friday Still no iPod. I’m hoping for today, but I’m just about tired of hoping. Did an …
: The trip to Best Buy, or, why you should think when you design a computer system. So, as planned, tonight I went to Best Buy to find out what was up with my iPod replacement. Long …
: I just want my iPod back... After BestBuy’s impressive performance in getting me my first refurbished iPod, it has now …
: Good Qualities for a... We were sitting in a conference room at work the other day and there was a large pad that someone …
: Back online So just as I was about to get really frustrated with Qwest, UPS showed up with their “welcome …
: Playing the Waiting Game I hate waiting. I really do. I’m impatient. It’s not a quality I’m proud of; …
: Bullet Points from the Weekend We got 3 tons of sand dumped on our driveway Friday afternoon; my back is now sore from moving two …
: iPod Replacement: A for Effort, D for Results My refurbished iPod showed up via UPS late yesterday afternoon. I have to give Best Buy full marks …
: Taking the Plunge to Dish It’s been a couple of months since I did the math and realized that Mediacom was no longer a …
: Fun with Family We had the whole clan over this weekend - well, almost the whole clan. Ryan came in from Chicago, …
: iPod: the continuing saga Took my iPod with the bad battery and service plan back to Best Buy today. They have to send it in …
: iPod Blues I’ve had my 3G 20GB iPod for two and a half years now, so it’s no surprise that the …
: Heading home from DC Having been in DC since Monday night, I’m good and ready to be heading home. Our meetings have …
: ...leaving on a jet plane... I’m headed out of town today; assuming that Northwest Airlines does their thing, I will be in …
: Chapter 11: In which Chris hears a familiar song in the unlikliest of places. Last night was a date night for Becky and me. We dropped the girls off with some friends for a …
: A Post In Which Chris Elaborates On Two Unrelated Songs I’ve had two songs running pretty much on repeat today. This happens to me on frequent …
: Devil's Lake Camping Trip Yes, as promised, we went camping last weekend up at Devil’s Lake State Park in Wisconsin. My …
: Camping! When I was a kid, we went camping as a family all the time. I think some of my siblings enjoyed the …
: 24 Hours of the Hubbs: A Celebration of the Mundane When I decided to do 24 hours of Flickr, I wasn’t really sure what my Saturday would entail. …
: A much-needed improvement... I’ve been using Google Reader for some time now as my feed reader, and one of the more …
: Flying it! Part of the goofiness with my job is that by the time we get these announcements, I’ve been …
: Softball 2007 One of my very first posts on my blog was about softball; hard to believe that’s been two …
: Good Motivation I just filled out the entry forms for two 5K races in upcoming months: the Marion Arts Festival 5K …
: Random Thought #2 I’m sitting on my PC waiting for the Microsoft Visual C++ .NET development suite to install. …
: At Becky's request... more pictures! No, this place isn’t turning into a photoblog. But when you have a new toy… :-)
: A time to read... A month ago today I resolved I was going to put down my endless string of library books and spend a …
: New toy coming... Thanks to some unexpected cash influx, I was able to purchase this earlier this week: It’s a …
: Sunday Sermon This morning I had the privilege to preach at the Noelridge Sunday morning services. My text was …
: Stuff Life has been crazy this week, keeping me from writing much in the way of a thoughtful post about …
: Back home... at least for a day Got home last night from a quick business trip to Salt Lake City. I haven’t been to SLC since …
: Entering the Whirlwind I feel like I’ve been in it for a few days already, but I know there’s still more to …
: Name That Tune [Meme fearlessly stolen from CJ]. Step 1: Put your ipod on random. Step 2: Post the first line from …
: A real post This place has been full of links lately and very short on actual posts. Partly that’s been …
: A Resolution As I updated my 2007 reading list yesterday, I became convicted about how many novels of dubious …
: Which comes first: committment or vision? In the midst of a church meeting last night discussing our church’s future plans, a question …
: Paradise Pens Customer Service: Top Notch Just thought I’d follow up on my post from last week about my experience with Paradise Pens. …
: Billboards from God On my way home from work every day I pass a billboard that frustrates me. It’s a simple …
: A good time was had by all... This weekend we had very nearly my whole family over to visit. My sister is still in Panama, but …
: Party Time This weekend my parents and brothers will all be coming to visit. (My sister is in Panama doing …
: In Praise of Good Customer Service I’ve complained enough about bad customer service here on the blog (see: the OfficeMax debacle …
: Thoughts on Washington DC Last week I traveled for business to Washington, DC. While my original plans left me little time for …
: Getting back on track It’s been a disorienting past ten days or so; last weekend (10 days ago) we had the big storm, …
: Off to the market to buy a fat pig... …home again, home again, jiggety jig. I always seem to forget the beginning of that rhyme, …
: Visiting Uncle Sam This week is time for my first business trip in a while, and yesterday found me heading out of Cedar …
: Finally done Last night I used a jigsaw to cut two small notches, pulled the garage door opener up about another …
: Making progress Yesterday morning we got a guy out to fix the garage door, so it now goes up and down like it …
: I fought the door, and the door won Today was lining up to be a fairly unadventurous Saturday. I had a church basketball game in the …
: I think I pulled something... So last night I had the chance to do some practice on the pipe organ at Central Park Presbyterian …
: Odds and Ends Feb 2007 I’m sure I’ve used that title before, but oh well. Seems like this place has been filled …
: Pick Chris's Reading List: Hell's Best Kept Secret My dad loaned me Hell’s Best Kept Secret by Ray Comfort back at Thanksgiving, and sadly it had …
: Pick Chris's Reading List: Velvet Elvis Finally I complete another entry on my reader-suggested reading list: Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. …
: You'd think I'd learn... I stopped at the library yesterday afternoon to pick up a book I had reserved. (Velvet Elvis by Rob …
: I skipped the State of the Union I understand from reading the news that President Bush gave the State of the Union address back on …
: Random Thoughts on... Classical Music, Second Edition Classical music has had a big influence in my life. My parents are both lovers of classical music. …
: Goodbye, Krispy Kreme Sometime while we were gone on our Christmas vacation, our local Krispy Kreme closed down. It opened …
: Word of the day: anent Never heard this one before; just saw it used in a blog post here. anent –preposition 1. in regard …
: Pick Chris's Reading List: Taliesin (Book 1 of the Pendragon Cycle) On to a book recommended by Nate Downey: Taliesin by Stephen Lawhead, which is book one of five …
: The Great New Year's Eve Flood of Aught-Six Let me tell the tale of the Great New Year’s Eve Flood of Aught-Six. You won’t hear it …
: Heading Home So I’m finally caught up with my trip posts. It’s 10:20 PM and we’re in a hotel …
: The Penguin, and New Friends Thursday was get-ready-to-head-home day. We picked up a cartop carrier that Ernie had salvaged for …
: Post-Christmas Mayhem The day after Christmas found us trying to sleep off all that food we ate the day before. :-) We …
: 35 years and counting... This post is only a day belated, but let me wish my parents a very happy 35th anniversary! Don and …
: Christmas! Christmas morning dawned and we packed up four adults, two small children, and lots of presents and …
: Christmas Eve Sunday morning of our trip brought us to Calvary Church in Charlotte for the Sunday morning service. …
: Never buy a Unicorn when it's Sleeping. Day 4 of our trip (Saturday the 23rd) was a nice day to catch up. After sleeping in, we had a late …
: Back on the Road Day 3 was another travel day; Nashville, TN to Waxhaw, NC. It doesn’t look that long on the …
: Nashville Day 2 of our Christmas trip landed us in Nashville. Becky’s brother Bob and his wife Holly and …
: The road goes ever on and on... At least it sure feels that way. Day 1 of our little Christmas adventure turned out to be a bit more …
: Packing Up and Heading Out The long-awaited Christmas break is finally here! Tonight we’re loading the van, and tomorrow …
: Thoughts on Consumerism Found this wonderful little article from Will Willimon entitled “Resisting the Clutches of …
: Google Reader adds "sort by oldest" Finally! This was my biggest gripe with Google Reader up until now; the only chronological sort …
: Pick Chris's Reading List: The Russian Debutante's Handbook It’s taken me far too long, but I have finally completed the second book on my user-suggested …
: The Usual? “The usual?” That’s the question that was posed to me this morning. Now, it was …
: An Update It’s been far too long since I’ve written much here on the blog; it’s been a busy …
: Swearing on the Koran My mother-in-law asked the other day what I thought about this recent news story. In brief: Newly …
: An AP Concert Weekend Last Friday Becky and I headed out to Omaha, NE to see Andrew Peterson’s Behold the Lamb of …
: Something to think about... “I’ve noticed that when God wants me to follow Him in a particular direction, He usually …
: Pick Chris's Reading List: And Then There Were None I’ve completed the first book off of my user-suggested reading list: And Then There Were None …
: Early in the Morning The past two mornings Laura has decided there was a need to wake up about ten minutes to five; both …
: Building Up Endurance So how was your Thanksgiving? We spent the weekend in Wisconsin with my family at my parents’ …
: A Time for Giving Thanks With Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I thought I’d list a few things I’m thankful for. I …
: Random Thought During a conversation with Becky while driving somewhere the other night, discussing someone: Me: …
: One last time... This Sunday will be my last Sunday to lead worship at Noelridge for a while. It has been a while …
: Pick Chris's Reading List Those of you who know me know that I am a voracious reader. (Those of you who don’t know me …
: Plans Change Well, that Happy Meal hasn’t materialized in Laura’s future yet. Becky got sick with a …
: Adventures in Fatherhood Tomorrow morning Becky will be taking off for Chicago to spend a weekend with her friend Juanita who …
: Get out and vote! Yep, it’s election day. I can’t say I’m too excited about any of the slate of …
: Dr. John Stackhouse on Christians' Political Concerns Dr. John Stackhouse of Regent College in Vancouver, BC, is in Cedar Rapids this weekend speaking. …
: Tuesday Riff on CCM So I don’t listen to Christian radio any more, but Becky had it on in the van over the …
: Seasons Yard work isn’t my favorite task; it’s one of those things that gets done because it …
: Best-laid plans... don't always work out. Last night I was headed to bed at a relatively early hour, and as I prepared to go to sleep I …
: Thank goodness for the weekend! It’s managed to be a busy week, but now the weekend is upon us. Finally! This afternoon Becky …
: Gotta run... I got out for a run yesterday afternoon - probably the first time in 2 weeks that I’ve run. It …
: The Interweb is Fun! So yesterday after church I posted a recording of Andrew and me singing a song in church. Talking to …
: Goodbye FeedLounge, Hello, Google Reader! I’ve been using FeedLounge for several months now (ever since they came out of beta!) as my …
: Gracious Words In reply to the “controversy” of John Piper’s comments regarding Mark Driscoll at …
: DG2006: The Audio is Up One of the things the DG folks do right: all the audio from the Desiring God 2006 National …
: DG2006: Piper rebukes Driscoll's "cleverness" I am sad that this is the moment that most sticks in my mind from the Desiring God 2006 National …
: Desiring God 2006 National Conference I got home about 2:30 this morning from two days in Minneapolis at the Desiring God 06 National …
: Things are changing I made this announcement after both services at Noelridge today. I didn’t read from a script, …
: Spartan Fund Run 5K Last Saturday I ran in my first-ever 5K, the Solon High School Spartan Fund Run. They had a few …
: Don't know much about... anything! Last night I took the opportunity to visit Conversation Cafe, a discussion group at a local …
: This 'n' that This weekend wasn’t too busy, but I wasn’t on the computer, so no blog updates. Rebecca …
: Last training run Well, my last training run before the Solon 5K on Saturday. I woke up before my alarm this morning …
: It's Wednesday, but Saturday's coming I told myself that I should run a good three times this week in preparation for the Solon 5K on …
: Your update for the week It’s gonna be a slow week here on my blog. I’m in town today, but tomorrow we’re …
: Park Concert coming up... This coming Sunday night my brothers Aaron and Andrew and I will be doing a concert for my church. …
: Today's lesson: Air Conditioner drain lines I may be reasonably intelligent, but sometimes I miss the obvious. I have known since we bought our …
: All sorts of wacky stuff Or at least what counts for wacky in my world. I realize my life is pretty calm compared to some of …
: Sunset There’s something about sunsets that make me nostalgic. I’m not sure what it is about …
: Running I’m going to make a real effort to do a bunch of running this week. I’ve been too much …
: Sonic is coming! Back in Texas, Sonic was a favorite fast food place of ours. Who can top the Route 44 Cherry …
: Odds and Ends August 2006 Odd: 13, the number of runs we had last night in our softball game. Also the number of runs our …
: More running It hasn’t been a real productive week for me as far as running goes; three mornings this week …
: It's time for a break... I was reading back through some of my old blog posts this morning, tagging them appropriately, (100 …
: 'Cause we're all praying for the ice to break... This song has been rattling around in my head for the past day or two. It’s beautiful, …
: The new monitor's here! A trusty IT guy came by this morning to deliver a new Dell 19" LCD monitor. He was also good …
: Feeling Squeezed Yesterday I was sitting at my desk working away when suddenly, bzzt! and one of my monitors went …
: This is why I wear a belt The main button on my (nearly-new) khakis just came off. Fortunately, there’s still that …
: geek alert The title is just a warning that some of your eyes might glaze over whilst reading this post. Others …
: My first training run I have a 5K course mapped out through our neighborhood, so I gave it my first try at that distance …
: I'm back home... Got home from Seattle about midnight last night. Oh so much fun. Our plane was late leaving Seattle, …
: Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go... Well, it’s off to Seattle, actually, in about 30 minutes. Headed up there again for work, …
: Taking the Plunge This weekend I signed up for a 5K run. I’ve never done something like this before. I’ve …
: Everybody loves a party! Yesterday was Laura’s second birthday. So, we invited a bunch of friends over to celebrate. …
: Happy Birthday Laura! She’s too young to read this, but still, I can’t believe that my little girl turns 2 …
: Random Thoughts on Classical Music For those of you brave enough to read past the title, congratulations! Now instead of me talking …
: A fun weekend... It was busy busy busy, but it was fun. My brother Andrew is now officially a resident of Cedar …
: Random Thoughts on Church Attire OK, so Dan put me up to this. Pick a topic, and just start writing. So this topic came to mind. How …
: Bits and Pieces I wait far too long between blog posts, and then I find myself searching for interesting things to …
: Traveling Adventures Tuesday through Thursday of this week took my on my first trip ever to Seattle, WA. Several of us …
: I had that dream again... Yeah, that dream. The one where Andy Osenga and some other unidentified people are holed up with me …
: What A Difference the Shoes Make I bought a new pair of Asics running shoes over the weekend and wow, what a difference they make! …
: I love used CDs Last night, FYE at Coral Ridge Mall. Hem’s Rabbit Songs. Used. Price: $4.99. But wait, …
: Chance Meetings with Friends It has been a nice morning thus far. I got up at my usual early hour, got motivated enough to go run …
: Holiday and Vacation It’s now been 10 days since I’ve actually set foot in my office. Last week was the …
: Atlanta: Impressions This is the first time I’ve ever visited Atlanta. I’ve driven through a few times, but that doesn’t …
: Road Trip: Andy O CD Release Show After hearing the announcement that “much rock will be had”, I decided if I could make …
: Well whaddaya know? CID has free wireless internet in the terminal. My flight was delayed by about 15 minutes, but now I …
: Today's Lesson: Motor Mounts Yesterday I had an unhappy occurrance. I had stopped at Quik Trip to get some gas on my way to work. …
: road tripping In a bout of insanity, I have decided to take two days off work and drive to Nashville for Andy …
: I'm sore... but I think it feels good. Having been disgusted with my lack of exercise for a while, and having been challenged by my …
: It's Monday already... That’s actually not a bad thing, just a statement of fact. Had a nice weekend; installed a …
: weekend, where did you go? Well it’s long past time for a weekend update. Becky’s folks have been here for just …
: Happy Birthday, Becky! Only the best birthday wishes to my beautiful wife who turns 29 today. She is a faithful partner, …
: Enough DaVinci, already! I’ve heard just about enough about The DaVinci Code by now. First, the hoopla over the …
: Softball as it was meant to be Monday night was our second church softball game of the year, and it was beautiful. We were afraid …
: How far do we go to be "relevant"? That’s the question that the InternetMonk asks in a column over the weekend. His summary: The …
: Follow-up on the technology saga Yesterday my PDA totally locked up, just froze with the backlight on and nothing on screen. Finally …
: it's not my week for technology On the heels of my stereo receiver biting the dust, tonight I pulled my Palm Tungsten E2 out of my …
: A slide projector... and a bedsheet! [Kudos to Roger for playing along with the Veggie Tales reference.] A follow-up on yesterday’s …
: Stereophonic Multimedia Event No, not the blog. My entertainment center, usually. But last weekend for some reason the LCD display …
: Mitt Happens I met Mitt Romney yesterday. Well, if you can consider shaking his hand and saying hello …
: The Pursuit of God in the Company of Friends Dick Staub on the Staublog (which needs to move to some software that supports RSS in an awful way) …
: BookJournal: Xenocide I haven’t been a fan of everything Orson Scott Card has ever written (sorry, Keith), but my …
: more odds and ends for May 2006 Wow, so it’s been far too long since I posted. What’s been happening? Last weekend Mom …
: Andrew Osenga - The Morning Only 18 more days until release. If you’re a fan of Andy Osenga’s already, you’ll …
: It's Monday again... No, wait, it’s Tuesday. It just feels like Monday. It was very very hard to get out of bed …
: Caedmon's Call, Dubuque, IA, 4/23/06 Last night I had the opportunity to see Caedmon’s Call play in concert at the Five Flags …
: going to see Caedmon's... Thanks to Andrew Osenga’s timely posting of more tour dates, I found that Caedmon’s Call …
: a time of refreshing I hadn’t realized how burned-out I was getting. When I step back and look at it now, it …
: another week Give me a three-day weekend, and do I post any? Nooooo. But it was a very nice weekend. I had all of …
: play time Yesterday, as the culmination of a lot of research by Becky, we went out and purchased a backyard …
: Springtime! This week has finally brought spring-like weather to our little piece of Iowa. Temps will be in the …
: youth time OK, so my ankle is a little bit sore this morning. I wonder if it has something to do with playing …
: The Joy of Friends and Fellowship Yesterday was the annual Eggstreme Easter Egg Hunt out at the Berberich’s home in Stone City. …
: opening day It’s opening day for major league baseball, and what a way to start: the Cubs scored 5 runs in …
: They're back... Got a phone call from Mom and a text message from Rebecca letting me know that they (and Ryan and …
: New Music I placed an order today for some music that I’ve dreamed about playing for a long time: Claude …
: they're leaving... but they're coming back. By late this evening I’ll be the only member of my immediate family still present in North …
: odds and ends March 2006 The server has been down for the last few days, so I haven’t been able to update. But now …
: the web sites can wait It’s Tuesday afternoon, and I’m sitting on the couch in a darkened hospital room. …
: short on sleep but full of joy... Yesterday welcomed our little girl Addison Grace into the world. It was a quick labor and delivery; …
: a new addition No, it’s not the baby. But today we did end up purchasing a nice used minivan. It’s a …
: starting out hectic Well, no baby yet. But that still doesn’t mean my Monday has calmed down much. :-) We did a …
: so nice to be busy again... Things had been a little bit slow at work for the past couple of weeks; I was winding up one project …
: Welcome to Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key! House of Cakeboy had about run its course, so after reflection the new blog title, as you can …
: I still feel the same... a follow-up. In a previous post, I wrestled with the ideas of being 10 years removed from my teens, but still …
: time for a facelift Well, I at least switched up graphics and a bit of the color scheme. It’ll do for now. …
: too much new music? I didn’t think it would ever be possible, but at the moment, I feel like I have too much new …
: In The Company of Angels: The World Will Sing In The Company of Angels: The World Will Sing is the soon-to-be-released latest album from my …
: it's Monday... …and I haven’t posted since last Wednesday, which means I’m a real slacker. I …
: it's snowing! And it’s about time. We haven’t had any snow since December 16th… that’s a …
: Fear, Complexity, Environmental Management in the 21st Century Fear, Complexity, Environmental Management in the 21st Century This is a must-read article by …
: Loose ends Just to tie up a few loose ends from previous posts: The evening at the coffeehouse went well. I …
: An evil brain teaser Geof posted this over on the Rumor Forum and it’s been so much fun I thought I’d share …
: coffeehouse time Tomorrow night I’m providing two hours of musical entertainment at my favorite coffeeshop. …
: 10 mistakes conservatives make in art and entertainment Erik Lokkesmoe has a good article on Townhall.com where he lists 10 mistakes conservatives make in …
: reasonable theological concern, or overly picky? I was thinking through some songs that we haven’t sung for a while in church, and this issue …
: home again, home again... I got back last night about 10:30 from another quick trip to Wichita, this time for DER Orientation. …
: ain't it just like Mediacom... It’s not unusual, in my experience, to receive calendars as gifts around Christmas-time from …
: odds and ends January 2006 I’ve been a bit haphazard in my posting habits lately, so I’ll just dump a bunch of …
: I still feel the same... I thought I’d feel different by now. I remember sitting in a recliner in the living room of a …
: and it comes around to me... "4 things" I’ve kinda been waiting for this one… Thanks Stephanie for tagging me! Four jobs I’ve …
: You Probably Shouldn’t Lead Worship Anymore If… - purgatorio It’s a bit image-intensive, but it’s a hilarious post that worship leaders and really …
: a good weekend to be off Yesterday was my first Sunday of just taking a break from leading the worship team. David Green did …
: the next album I'll have to buy Andy Osenga notes today that Ben Shive is going to release his own album. No word yet on when this …
: finally up and running It’s taken too long, but noelridge.org is finally up and running with real pictures of our …
: being productive Last night Becky was gone to a baby shower at the church, and so after I put Laura to bed around 7 I …
: BookJournal: Fortunes of War Fortunes of War is a recent title from Stephen Coonts. It is in many respects a standard military …
: FeedLounge! The long-awaited FeedLounge finally opened for public signups yesterday. For those of you not …
: iTunes meme Geof did this, and it looked like fun. Open iTunes to answer the following: Total number of tracks: …
: US Cellular outage in Eastern Iowa I woke up this morning to find that I had very limited, analog cellular service. US Cellular has …
: too many rebates I’ve probably sent in more rebate forms in the last two months than I had in my entire …
: Weekend update Jan 2006 Well I’ve been a slacker lately as far as meaningful posts go… don’t know how …
: making things Occasionally when I walk through our building here at work to get to the cafeteria, I walk past some …
: getting things done No, Geof, I haven’t read the book, and this isn’t about the book. However, it has been …
: BookJournal: Stranger in a Strange Land I was on the prowl for some sci-fi to read last time I was at the library. They are courteous enough …
: worship team follow-up So we did two services this morning after the great WT practice on Wednesday, and the services went …
: worship team stuff We had our first WT practice in about a month on Wednesday night. It was good to get back to it. I …
: baby names OK, so Becky is due with kiddo #2 the first week of March. We’ve talked baby names a little …
: BookJournal: No Uncertain Terms Well I just about have this one finished up so I’ll write about it now. William Safire, in …
: well, it's official I got the letter from the FAA today that officially notifies me that I will be a DER candidate …
: back into the swing of things Today I’m back at work after 11 days of holiday. I was just about ready to come back… I …
: the obligatory new year's post I’m already a day late on this - it’s January 2nd, not the first. I’ll probably …
: BookJournal: PowerSat Powersat is one of the latest titles by long-time sci-fi author Ben Bova. Bova is a prolific author. …
: Upgrading the Tivo Hard Drive OK, so when we bought our 40-hour Tivo, it was small-ish for storage space, but it worked. Now that …
: Upgrade complete I’ve just finished upgrading all of the thehubbs.net blogs to Wordpress 2.0. It all seemed to …
: Christmas time is here... OK, so Christmas was actually two days ago. Now the family has all left for their respective homes …
: Christmas shopping... check. My today didn’t go as planned. But that’s OK - it’s turned out just fine anyhow. …
: Just for the record... …the new snowblower kicks butt. I probably looked like an idiot using a 5.5 hp 2-stage …
: Ben Shive, Harmony, and the Blood of Jesus All the recent posts about the AP Christmas concert at the Ryman last weekend reminded me of one …
: lots of travel, 30 minute interview Monday afternoon found me traveling to Wichita, KS, for my DER interview with the FAA. The wisdom …
: weekend update It’s been feeling like Christmas the last couple of weeks, what with the sub-zero temps and …
: Andy Gullahorn Geof Morris once referred to him as “Andy ‘It’s really sad that the only thing …
: I met the Queen of Iowa I met the Queen of Iowa, She was dying on a couch in the suburbs. And of all the things she was …
: So much to say... So Saturday night was the Behold the Lamb concert in Cedar Rapids. As you know if you read my …
: ok, so I'm a little bit excited... Tomorrow the Andrew Peterson Behold the Lamb Christmas tour is hitting Cedar Rapids! I …
: I got accepted. Well, so I still haven’t received the official “you’re invited for an …
: Things aren't right I’ve been reading several different books recently, and a discussion with Becky last night …
: the blessings of a holiday This holiday weekend we have left Iowa and headed to Wisconsin to visit my family. Thanksgiving with …
: I've moved... If you are reading this post, you’re reading it from my new web address: …
: I got accepted... I think... I got a letter from the FAA today inviting me to the DER seminar down in Wichita in January. …
: it's basketball time... My first basketball league of the season starts tonight. I’m really looking forward to it. I …
: It's cold and grey outside... …and I had been planning on doing yard work. I did a little bit this morning (ran the mower …
: Ender's Game I am a voracious reader of fiction. I read a good bit of non-fiction, too, but fictional thrillers …
: feeling young Last night we had a neighborhood potluck dinner, organized by our next-door neighbors. It was a bit …
: "A Separate Peace" Peggy Noonan writes a somber column today. An excerpt: I think there is an unspoken subtext in our …
: and he lifts up his arms in a blessing for being born again... Last week Becky and I were able to leave Laura with my folks and take a couple days of vacation up …
: priorities of time I wrestled in an earlier post with issues of time and busyness. I’m still wrestling with it. I …
: So I call you my country, and I'll be lonely for my home And the coal trucks come a-runnin’ With their bellies full of coal And their big wheels …
: it's a Monday... …and stuff is a bit crazy here at work. Fortunately for me, I’m taking vacation this …
: OLN Hockey Blackout Yesterday night I sat down in front of the TV, looking forward to watching a hockey game. The Dallas …
: more odds and ends I’m getting a cold. I’d forgotten how much I hate colds. You can’t breathe, and …
: Happy Birthday sis! My little sister Rebecca (the youngest of us 5 kids) turns 18 today! Wow. Now I feel old. :-) Happy …
: Noelridge Park Church So, after months of planning, debating, and voting, we finally have a new name for our church. …
: The first time I've ever played a concert with somebody riding a cow in the background... Last Saturday afternoon I got to see Andrew Peterson and Andy Osenga in concert at …
: I'm full! I was remembering those Taco Bell ads the other day - the ones where a guy eats a burrito or …
: a general arrrrrgh... and then woohoo! I’ll come up with a more thoughtful post one of these days, I promise. But for now, more …
: Serendipity ser·en·dip·i·ty n. pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties 1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident. …
: The Present Future, and associated thoughts I just finished reading The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church by Reggie McNeal. He …
: The church name is changing! After months of prayer, planning, and discussion, we took a congregational vote last night of intent …
: fun with guitars So yesterday I took my guitar in to see about getting the pickup fixed. Let me back up. I have a …
: in another life, I would like to be... I keep a little running list of things I’d like to do if I had another life to live. Not that …
: my blog is boring Becky was bored the other day and reading over some blogs (something she doesn’t do very …
: feel the beat of a distant thunder... I have a confession to make. I had been avoiding purchasing Andrew Peterson’s latest album. I …
: OfficeMax Replacement Watch, Day 26 I received my OfficeMax gift card yesterday in the mail. It was accompanied by a cheesy little …
: OfficeMax Replacement Watch, Day 25 Still counting. Maybe I’ll get my gift card before the holiday weekend… but that may be …
: OfficeMax Replacement Watch, Day 24 Today I missed my first event due to not having a PDA to beep at me… I was supposed to meet a …
: OfficeMax Replacement Watch, Day 23 Still nothin'. On another warranty replacement topic, I remembered this morning that the Countryman …
: The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers On my last visit to the local library, I found a slim volume on the “new books” shelf: …
: OfficeMax Replacement Watch, Day 22 Date I started the process: August 6. Days since I called to start the process: 22. Days since I …
: OfficeMax Replacement Watch, Day 19 Almost three weeks now and still nothin’. Geof suggests I should skip the Tungsten and go for …
: Worship Team changes... We had our first worship team practice using individual microphones last night. Currently, we just …
: Odds and Ends Just miscellaneous stuff from my life today. I got my DSL modem hooked up last night so the Casa de …
: OfficeMax Replacement Watch, Day 18 Nothing to report again today. Still waiting.
: OfficeMax Replacement Watch, Day 16 Nothing to report. I have meetings all morning this morning and would love to have the PDA for …
: not all that amusing: a review of Chris Rice's new CD I pre-ordered Chris Rice’s new album, amusing, back a couple of months ago when it was …
: My CD wish list OK, I’ll admit it: I have a CD-buying habit. It’s not as destructive or expensive as …
: OfficeMax Replacement Watch, Day 15 Yes, it’s been over two weeks now since I first took my dead PDA in to get it replaced. If …
: OfficeMax Replacement Watch, Day 12 No events to report today. It is starting to drive me crazy not having my PDA. I didn’t …
: Come On! Feel The Illinoise! There have been a ton of reviews of Sufjan Stevens’ new album, [Illinois], floating around …
: OfficeMax MaxAssurance Replacement Watch, Day 11 Sent the package off yesterday afternoon… it’s headed to Dallas. I’m guessing the …
: OfficeMax MaxAssurance Replacement Watch, Day 10 My prepaid mailing label came in the mail yesterday, so last night after softball I went to get …
: OfficeMax MaxAssurance Replacement Watch, Day 9 (part 2) My dear wife informs me that the mailing label came today. You can bet I’ll be shipping that …
: the sweet relief of work completed Last week was killer. I had soooo much to do. I’ve talked about this already so I won’t …
: OfficeMax MaxAssurance Replacement Watch, Day 9 Note from Chris: I’m not usually this bitter… but I’m taking no small pleasure in …
: a busy weekend I haven’t posted much this week… it’s been just a bit on the busy side. …
: I bet I'll be missing some meetings... My Palm Pilot died yesterday. OK, so they don’t call it a Palm Pilot anymore; mine is actually …
: the great escape act I haven’t written many (any?) posts on my first year’s worth of experience as a …
: DER Conference, Day 3 Today was the third and final day of the conference here in Norfolk. The conference itself was …
: DER Conference, Day 2 Another day in Norfolk, more of the conference. Fun fun. Today was “breakout sessions”, …
: DER Conference, Day 1 Today was the first day of the DER software conference (excuse me, the official title is the …
: On the road... I’m writing tonight from a hotel room in Norfolk, VA… I’m here to attend the 2005 …
: wait, don't work on it yet... It never fails. I start working on a not-approved-yet-but-probably-OK change request today, and …
: Randall Goodgame, where have you been all my life? Tuesday I found a bootleg concert recording of Randall Goodgame opening for Caedmon’s Call in …
: nothing is constant except change It has been one of those summers at church. We had a leadership meeting last night (to review: I am …
: a busy week... This upcoming week is gonna be a hum-dinger. Tonight is softball, first umping, then playing. …
: occasional down time Don’t be surprised if you see occasional downtime on my blog here over the next several days; …
: The day I became Fred's hero I don’t know what triggered this memory today… but I might as well tell the story while …
: Sahara Last night we had a babysitter available and so we went to the cheap seats theater in town and …
: A nice weekend Normally I don’t do a lot of “here’s what I did with my weekend”-type posts, …
: A little less wise Thursday morning I had the delightful experience of having 4 wisdom teeth removed. It’s the …
: Cakeboy? Who the heck is Cakeboy? In a comment sometime back, Amber asked about the whole House of Cakeboy title. While I may rename …
: Time to start studying I have set upon a new endeavor at work: I am applying to become a DER. A brief explanation is in …
: I should have my geek status revoked As I noted in my post to Mr. Murphy a week or so ago, I’ve been having problems with the new …
: new horizons in wife appreciation Becky went to a women’s retreat this weekend. She left Friday afternoon and didn’t get …
: boredom This has definitely been one of those boring weeks, especially as far as work is concerned. As I …
: The process of the Christian life... Was reading today and found this wonderful quote from Martin Luther describing the process of the …
: What's in a name? We’re holding some church leadership strategy meetings this summer, and one of the big topics …
: Mr. Murphy works on Sundays Mr. Murphy and his dang-blasted law were working busily yesterday. It was certainly one of those …
: random Saturday thoughts So, it’ 8:30 on Saturday morning and I’m sitting here in the dining room watching Laura …
: are you trying to teach me something? Within the last 7 days I’ve heard three separate sermons from the same passage. This …
: ...and the streak is at 6 You gotta love the Chicago Cubs. They brought a guy up from Triple-A to start last night’s …
: Musical Baton And so today the musical baton was passed to me by Jeff Holland. It seems like a fun idea, but it …
: Moody Review: Gary Haugen Gary Haugen spoke to us last Tuesday afternoon at the pastor’s conference at Moody. Gary is …
: Home! I got home early this morning… 1:45 AM. It’s sure good to be home. Everything’s …
: Moody Conference, Day 4 It’s Thursday afternoon and the conference is winding down. There’s only one general …
: Moody Observations, Day 2 Amber liked my attempt at a descriptive writing post yesterday so I thought I’d give it …
: Moody Conference Day 2 It’s 1:10 PM and I’m skipping a general session to sit and write. Richard described this …
: Moody Conference Day 1 Monday, May 23rd 3:30 PM Richard picked me up at the house at 8:20 or so this morning. Said goodbye …
: longest... day... ever... Wow, the day is getting long and it’s not even 1030 yet. I’m in a wrap-up mode at work; …
: Happy Birthday Andrew! Today is my brother Andrew’s 19th birthday. A big happy birthday to you, bro, with hopes for …
: here goes nothin' Yesterday afternoon my manager walked in and asked me if I’d like to become a software lead …
: she's graduated! This weekend was my sister Rebecca’s high school graduation. She’s the youngest of us 5 …
: Music, family style... for real. Well, the long-awaited Sunday finally got here and I got to play keyboards in the worship team at my …
: Call me Mr. Fix-it No, this isn’t a home-improvement post… It’s more of a …
: I've been replaced by a machine! At least for Sunday, that is… I was unable to wrangle up a musician for the Sunday service, …
: I need a musician... …any musician. One of the downsides of being the music leader at a small church is that …
: a busy month... Well that personality thing was kinda boring, wasn’t it? You, reader, deserve a real, …
: making music, family style OK, I’m excited. I just finished talking to my brother Andrew. He is almost 19, has been …
: "energy dependence" Another day, another NRO column to comment on. Today it’s Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren …
: softball starts tonight! Our first softball game of the season is tonight. I’m soooo much looking forward to it. …
: zzzzzzzzz..... OK, so it’s Friday afternoon, and I’m bored. I’ve hit the end of the task list for …
: The war by? on? Christians in America... Stanley Kurtz has an excellent (if a bit long) column today discussing the current edition of …
: bleary eyed I know I owe everybody a blog post (it’s been a couple days… time to keep writing) but …
: sticking to our guns Ned Rice has a great column today on NRO where he makes a strong argument that the folks whining …
: slowly getting more out of touch... I have this “movies I’ve watched recently” link section on the side of the blog. I …
: well, no projects this weekend... So the weather intervened this weekend and I didn’t do any outside projects… apparently …
: projects Springtime has finally arrived in Iowa, and that means that the weekends become project time. That …
: softball..... finally! We had our first softball practice of the season last night. It was a beautiful night to be out, and …
: preaching on short notice... It had been planned for about a month that I would fill the pulpit at my church on April 24th. Then …
: nowadays the world is lit by lightning Peggy Noonan (one of my long-time favorite columnists, and a devout Roman Catholic) has a column …
: softball... I starting reading some of the other rmfo blogs and found David’s post on softball. I’m …
: it's a blog... I’ve made the switch today from my old blogger.com blog to my new rmfo-blogs.com blog. …
: Thanks Geof! Well it’s better than the old “hello world” message… :-) Thanks to GFM for …
: the joys of web design... I’ve been on a web page design kick lately. First it was with my church’s web page. The …
: elder = older? I’ve had several conversations lately regarding the qualifications for being an elder in the …
: Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places... A book by this title was given to my by my pastor last week; we are “kindred readers” …
: another year older... Has it really been 3 weeks since I’ve posted? Good grief! No wonder nobody reads my …
: Are online friends weird? I spend quite a bit of time hanging out at the online message board called “The Rumor …
: Foolish? “God assumed from the beginning that the wise of the world would view Christians as fools …
: Old music... great memories So I got an iPod for Christmas… and of course the next task is ripping all of my CDs to mp3s …
: OK, so I'm not posting often enough... Or so my sister tells me. Of course, she’s 17, a senior in highschool, and has the time to …
: getting older... It’s a weird thing to get older; and then in a way it’s the most natural thing we ever …
: network downtime... This morning we are experiencing one of those fun office moments known as “network …
: another week, another concert... After thinking things couldn’t get better from last week’s Caedmon’s Call concert, …
: an excellent concert... Went with my brother Ryan to a Caedmon’s Call concert Friday night at Judson College in Elgin, …
: it's over.... To quote John Derbyshire, YEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAA! The election is over. Kerry conceded without putting …
: Death by Advertising... Well it’s the day before the national elections and living in Iowa that means we’re …
: My second post... Seems like I should have something profound for the first blog entries, and I can’t think of …
: This is my first post... Well the blog is here and now I have to actually maintain it. We’ll give it a try, though.