Trunk monkey
I usually post videos on my Tumblr blog, but these were just too good! Thanks to AJ Huffman for forwarding them to me.
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Review: The Incredible Invention of Hugo Cabret (rated 4 stars)
by Brian Selznick
What a delightful surprise this book was!
It’s bulky 533 page mass beckoned mysteriously the last time the kids and I were at the public library. The library had put it on display as a new book.
I flipped through it and was fascinated with the hundreds of pages of original artwork by the author, Brian Selznick. I showed it to Adelyn, our 8 year-old and asked, “Do you think you could read this?â€
She looked at it, intrigued, but clearly doubtful.
Imagine her delight when a week later she was proudly posing for a picture to show that she’d read the book! A third grader who had polished off a 533-page book is quite an accomplishment, I would say – even if the book had hundreds of pages of pictures.
It’s a rewarding achievement and gift for a child to realize that they can tackle a book of that size. I saw in Adelyn that proud evening the dawning of a new day of book reading desire.
I picked up the book after she completed it and was quickly immersed in the story. Selznick has indeed earned his Caldecott Medal for this achievement. It’s not so much as a good read as it is a visual, epic feast.
The illustrations combine with the story to give you the sensation of watching an old movie. And indeed, that’s what much of the plot is about. As you read this fascinating tale, you’ll also learn some amazing history about early movies. Every movie referenced in this magical tale is real, and one of the main characters is also real.
It revolves around the discovery of an automaton hidden in the attic of an old museum. The incredible thing is that such automatons are real, and one, shown in the video below, was made in 1810!
I’d highly encourage anyone to sample this innovative medium. You won’t be disappointed.
See more about The Invention of Hugo Cabret
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Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (rated 5 stars)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
by J. K. Rowling
Aaaaaaah.
I sat up til late last night savoring every word and nuance of the final Potter book. I had put off reading it forever, knowing that after I was done… I was done.
It didn’t disappoint.
In fact, the final tale to the Potter epic was remarkably deep and powerful in themes of love, redemption, sacrifice, family, friendship and learning the purpose in life.
I had skimmed the book Looking for God in Harry Potter and was impressed by the intricate weaving of classic literary themes and Christian elements into the Potter series. In that book, the author unashamedly recommends the Potter series for reading by all.
I would echo that sentiment. In Potter, as in other tales of fantasy and epic literature, there are themes as grand as the imagination can bear.
In particular, however, I was struck by J.K. Rowling’s use of biblical themes from Jesus’ life. In one instance, Harry and friends find the inscription, “Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also†(Matthew 6.21) on Dumbledore’s parents’ grave.
In another instance, 1 Corinthians 15.26 is inscribed, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.â€
While reference is not made to the source of these two verses, they remain true in our reality – as well as in Potter’s. I was fascinated and even moved by the final chapters of the epic as Potter willingly moves toward his destiny. (I’ll skirt that here for those of you who haven’t read it.) A great discussion guide of Christian thematic elements is here.
As I closed the final page, I did so with warm reluctance. It had been a deep and fantastical journey since I read the first book back in 1997. Another grand literary epic was brought to a more than fitting conclusion.
Bravo, J.K.
See more about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
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Imitate me?
Someone recently told me that they’d read my “Our Story” series and felt like it had helped them to know me better. That’s a little scary, in all honesty – to think that my blog helps introduce people to me. I’d certainly like the opportunity to make a better first impression… However, the more I considered it, the more I’m resolved to continue blogging.
For regular readers, friends and family, you all know that I’m extremely ordinary. I’ve got hangups, compulsions, bumps and bruises just like all of you. Yes, I’m a pastor, but no, I’m not perfect.
However, there’s someone I know who is perfect, and my earnest desire is for you to meet him. He’s why I blog, preach, design, laugh, play Xbox, fantasy football, and breathe. He has given me Life, and I’d love for my example to help nudge someone else closer to discovering a joy-filled relationship with Jesus Christ.
After visiting with the friend mentioned above, I realized afresh how humbling it is to know that there might actually be a few people watching your life. Many times, we as Christians do not embrace the influence God has given us to use it for His glory. We’re all going to influence people all the time. Question is: How?
In the New Testament, it’s presumed that Christian leaders sought to follow Christ and that others would be following them. For instance, Paul was able to say, “Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” (2 Corinthians 4.16) Wow! He was so confident of his “way of life in Christ Jesus,” (v17) that he instructed those in the church to watch him.
The writer of Hebrews also said that we should be able to “to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” (Hebrews 6.12) In Hebrews 13.7, the author repeats this encouragement by saying, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”
How does this make you feel? If you’re like me, then it’s extremely challenging and humbling. Here’s to living life transparently, lovingly, and genuinely. It can only be done that way in Christ.
May 2008 be a year of our lives worth imitating by others.
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Joy in cleaning commodes
This past Saturday a small group of folks from our church met to do a “Dirty Job.” We had buckets, cleaning supplies, rubber gloves and slightly apprehensive attitudes. The plan? Go clean public restrooms as a way of showing people that God loves them.
A few of us were, well, not exactly looking forward to the opportunity to serve our neighbors. However, by the time all was said and flushed, everyone had a blast!
The response we received as we entered a gas station and said, “Hi! We’re from Journey Church, and we’re going around town today cleaning restrooms as a way of saying God loves you,” were priceless. One older lady in a gas station who was waiting on her oil to be changed said, “Well, I reckon I’ve never seen anything like that,” as we left.
I was grateful that our son Sam got to go with another group, while our daughter Adelyn was in our group. Sam got to work alongside of other folks from our church and see their attitudes and joy in doing something normally distasteful for the glory of God. I told Carolyn how awesome it is for kids to see that nothing is beneath us when we are working to remove barriers in peoples’ lifes from knowing the truth about Jesus.
If he was willing to wash His disciples’ feet, we should be more than willing to_______ (you fill in the blank).
A friend of mine, Stacy Reed, is the pastor at First Baptist Church of Fordyce. We saw him at our church’s Game Night at Vera Lloyd Presbyterian Home Friday night, and when he learned of our Serve Day project, he suggested the following:
- We’re reaching your soul by cleaning your bowl.
- Don’t get in a rush, we’ll do the flush.
- We’re trying to be sweet by cleaning your seat.
Any other ideas out there?
We’re looking forward to our next Serve Day next month.
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Raising money for a Mac Mini at church
Well, I put the little ChipIn widget on my blog more than a week ago, and to date… nada. You can see the page here.
Sniff.
However, I thought I’d try a plug here in an entry in case some of you might not have seen the widget on the bottom right. We’re trying to raise $500 to purchase a Mac Mini for our church.
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Tumblr
I’ve enjoyed using Tumblr for a while. It’s a great way to kwik-blog. Just thoughts, photos, quotes or craziness. You can see the link on the right of this blog.
Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that it’s hardly visited. So… visit my Tumblog at journeyguy.tumblr.com and tell me what you think. It’s so simple that it may even inspire a few of you to sign up and try it.
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My iPhone jailbreak saga
This is going to put many of you to sleep. So, if it’s late and the kids are in bed, fire up this entry and you’ll be nodding off in no time. However, if you’re interested in jailbreaking your phone and you’ve upgraded to the 1.1.2 firmware already, my experience might be helpful.
Here was my setup…
- iTunes 7.6
- iPhone upgraded to 1.1.2
I made the mistake a week ago of updating to 1.1.2. I don’t know why I did. I had held out doing so for soooo long, thinking that I was going to jailbreak my iPhone.
After seeing the rather unimpressive offerings yesterday at MacWorld for the iPhone, I made the decision. Jailbreak here I come.
Why, you ask?
For starters, the iPhone is capable of SO MUCH! Why in the world it’s taken Apple almost 8 months to give users what has already been proven possible is beyond me. I really don’t think Apple’s Jobs-ian culture was prepared for the demanding mobile market. We don’t just want a phone. We want… it all.
Combine that with incredibly talented hackers of goodwill (I’m amazed at how helpful folks have been walking the iPhone faithful through the process) and you have a recipe or revolution.
When the iPhone update yesterday only gave us Google GPS, multiple SMS and the ability to customize your home screen, I was deeply frustrated. That pushed me over.
Yes, I know that in February, we will supposedly begin to see third-part software “blessed” by Apple, but heck, that’s been available since last AUGUST or before!
So, here’s my iPhone jailbreak saga:
I downloaded 1.1.1 firmware. (http://wiki.howardforums.com/index.php/IPhone_Firmware_Downloads)
I put my iPhone into plug mode and then option-clicked Restore in iTunes to downgrade. I was then stuck in plug-in mode and needed to use Independence. (Get it here: http://independence.googlecode.com/files/iNdependence_v1.3_beta2.dmg)
I then had to download something for iTunes. (Mobile Device 7.4.2 Frameware). This was because I had unthinkingly upgraded to iTunes 7.6 and didn’t know that successive versions iTunes make yoiu lose the ability to use previous firmware. I used Independence’s MobDev tool to link it to Independence. Independence then kicked my iPhone out of plug in mode.
MAKE SURE YOU READ ALL THE readme.txt’s that come with these downloads. Very helpful stuff.
Then I went to jailbreakme.com and it worked flawlessly. I spent too long putting stuff on the phone to see if it would work. All did.
Then I noticed my phone wasn’t working…
That’s apparently normal, but I went about 4 hours today without the phone use while I tried to figure out what happened. If I’d just read the read me doc that came with Conceited Software’s deal below, I’d have known that I just needed to continue to the next step and upgrade the firmware to 1.1.2.
I found firmware here:
http://wiki.howardforums.com/index.php/IPhone_Firmware_Downloads
Since I had upgraded to iTunes 7.6, I had to trash iTunes and download 7.5 (found here: http://www.oldapps.com/download_iTunes_mac.php) to get it to go to 1.1.2. (or so I thought… all I had to do was option-click on Upgrade and pick the 1.1.2 firmware where it had downloaded on my hard drive.)
Who knew how hard it would be to uninstall iTunes 7.6 and go back to 7.5? You also have to uninstall the AppleMobibleDevice stuff… Look at these two links for help in uninstalling iTunes and all the assorted junk:
http://www.iphoneatlas.com/2007/09/07/iphone-syncing-problems-under-itunes-74-fixes/
http://www.iphoneatlas.com/2007/10/03/iphone-or-ipod-touch-not-recognized-restartreinstall-apple-mobile-device-service/
After doing that, iTunes started back up with NO SONGS.. Aaaah. [I knew my songs were still on my HD, but I had thankfully put my iTunes Library in the previous library folder before I started, just in case. After I finished this whole process, I'll update to 7.6 again, and then replace the newly created iTunes Libarary in the Music>iTunes folders with the one I drug into the Previous iTunes Library folder.]
I could now option-click on UPDATE – NOT RESTORE – and begin the process of going to 1.1.2.
NOW, I could finally run the software from Conceited Software to jailbreak it in 1.1.2. With Itunes quit, I run jailbreak.jar and simply wait.
It’s here:
http://conceitedsoftware.com/iphone/site/112jb.html
VOILA AND EUREKA!! After messing with this a good part of the day, I am back to 1.1.2 and a jailbroke iPhone! Away I go to install all kinds of goodies (especially productivity generators like Solitaire and Othello!).
Helpful Site:
After it was almost all said and done, I found this site which could have saved me HOURS. Oh well.
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Jobs not jobs… (Macworld ’08)
The most pressing revelation in the country today was not jobs, as in unemployment, but Jobs, as in Steve.
Today was MacWorld 2008 , with Steve’s annual jaw-dropping keynote presentation. What was unveiled? Well, go to Apple’s website for all details, but for one, where am I gonna get $1700?
Introducing the new MacBookAir...
Apple has also unrolled some pretty nifty features of the revised Apple TV, including online movie rentals!
If you don’t have a Mac now, when do you plan on switching over?
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Review: The Eye of the World (rated 5 stars)
The Eye of the World: Book one of ‘The Wheel of Time’
by Robert Jordan
A while back I read an article saying that George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan were some of today’s fantasy epic writers. I was craving some great, imaginative literature since I’d read Tolkien’s books years ago (and even reread them!).
I picked up Martin’s books and devoured them. I can’t recommend them to everyone because they’re rated PG-13. There are some pretty pointless graphic descriptions in them. However, as far as character development and plot, they’re fantastic.
Imagine my surprise when I finally picked up Jordan’s first book in his Wheel of Time series and became increasingly enthralled by it. I’ve read some reviewers who say that he simply mimics themes and elements from other fantasy authors (such as Tolkien), and I’m not saying that he doesn’t.
However, if such mimicry is as compelling as Jordan’s tale is, then bring on the Xerox machine.
I found myself immersed in this story that continually pulled back the curtain to allow you to glimpse a much broader and grander history that the author intended to unfold. It’s simply cinematic.
One discovery was a little dismaying… there are 11 books (so far) in the series! Wow. I wasn’t quite ready for that much of a commitment.
To top it off, Jordan passed away in September 2007 with the series unfinished. Also known as James Oliver Rigney, Jr., Jordan was diagnosed with amyloidosis in 2006, and his death was due to complications of that disease.
Brandon Sanderson, a well-known fantasy author was hand-picked by Jordan’s wife to finish the Wheel of Time series.
I will most assuredly pick up the second in the series and then make the decision from there as to whether I’ll continue.
In the meantime, if you’re in-between series and wondering what to read next, you can’t go wrong with The Eye of the World. It ends in a way that brings much resolution, and it’s not necessary to continue reading in the series unless you’re curious or have become captivated by the broader epic.
See more about The Eye of the World: Book one of ‘The Wheel of Time’
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2008 Resolutions
(Update: 7-22-08): I’m rerunning this post both as a reminder to myself and a question to you… how are you doing this year on things that you wanted to change, adapt or achieve?
How many of you are currently making resolutions or have made resolutions for the new year? Since we did a lot of traveling over the holidays and things were rather chaotic with our kids and five others under the age of 7, I didn’t have a lot of time to sit down and meditate about this next year.
However, I’ll post again when I’m done…
A Beginning
I’m done… or with resolutions, I guess I should say, I’m beginning.
That little two syllable word – begin – may be one of the most dramatically life-changing words in our vocabulary. When was the last time you made a commitment to begin something new? Here’s hoping that you might consider beginning anew in areas that will bring you closer to who God made you to be this year.
My Resolutions
Last year, I began to realize that I was simply trying to do too much. My new beginnings this year are rooted in soem reflections I had last year that to be able to begin, we must often stop.
Merlin Mann, the organizational writer behind 43 folders had a great entry about making modest change by simply canceling something. He suggested:
Think about all the things you’ve invited or allowed into your life in the past couple years (check all that apply):
- RSS feeds (Oh Lord, RSS feeds)
- net-based mailing lists
- Broadband (or broader band) net access
- Netflix
- TiVo
- Cable/Satellite TV
- Magazine and newspaper subscriptions
- Anything of the Month Club
- those multi-person online games you kids like so damned much
- always-on tech (like Blackberries)
Doubtless, many of these things bring you joy, relieve boredom, or even may be required for your work, but what do they all have in common? They are each ruthless at constantly replenishing the kanban of your attention with “stuff†that has to be dealt with. Having invited these things (and even paid for a few of them) you may feel obligated to consume them all to the point where acquiring, processing, and devouring them becomes like an inefficient part-time job. Maybe that’s good. For me, it’s become troubling.
I noticed last month that my Bloglines feeds had topped more than 80, and each time I ran across another interesting blog, I was adding it. I began last week to ruthlessly delete RSS feeds, and now I’m down to just a few friends and other sites that I read regularly. I left others who only post intermittently. One example… as much as I love Lifehacker, I’m taking it off the list. It often posts 8-10 new articles a day, and for whatever reason, my personality is wired to look at every post. I rarely missed one. It was just taking too much time for meaningful reading out of my day (and I have other “fun” reads). So it’s off my list now. Sniff.
• Focus
Therefore, my first resolution involves focus. I am seeking to focus on doing a few things with passionate commitment than doing so many things half-heartedly.
Here are the areas that I truly want to focus on this year:
- Lead
- Disciple
- Teach
- Pray
- Write
Lead
The reality of my vocation right now is that I’m bivocational church planter/ graphic designer/ dad/ husband/ jack of all trades/ master of none. I found consistently last year that nearly everyone either expected too much from me. In trying to help pay the bills around the house with my design business, I often found things spinning out of control in another area. When trying to focus on providing leadership at our church, I often found that there was too much month at the end of the money. However, this year, I am seeking by faith to truly invest more of my energy into providing spiritual leadership and building new relationships with other churches and their leaders. In other words, I am going to focus on strategically leading others. The goal of all such spiritual leadership is not that they follow me, of course, but that they begin to follow Christ in new ways.
Disciple
I’m also hoping to strategically invest my life in a few other quality relationships with men in our community – men who are hungry to learn more about the life of Christ and who are eager to begin following Him in faith. This investment in the life of a few was modeled by Christ as He chose 12 men as his disciple/apostles. I believe that discipleship – life on life – is also taught throughout the New Testament, and so I’m excited about focusing on deepening relationships with a few other men for the purpose of knowing Christ and making Him known. Hopefully, as I pour my life into a few, they will too, and then they will too, and so on.
This passing on of the way in Christ through teaching and modeling is clear in 2 Timothy 2.2, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”
Teach
One of my primary spiritual gifts is that of a teacher. I love studying and reading and communicating the truth of God’s Word to others. It’s just how God wired me. I understand and am humbled that this gift was “given for the common good” and “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” (1 Corinthians 12.7, Ephesians 4.12)
In the past four years of frantic newness involved with planting our church, I have not always taken the time that I need and that a well-prepared sermon/message needs in preparation. That is neglecting what God has called me to do and to be, and so in this next year, I am truly seeking to focus on teaching with excellence.
Pray
The anonymous author of The Kneeling Christian said, “It can be easily shown that all want of success, and all failure in the spiritual life and in Christian work, is due to defective or insufficient prayer. Unless we pray aright, we cannot live aright or serve aright.”
The elders of our church have been praying diligently for the families in our church, and I want to continue this prayer focus in 2008. In addition, though, I want my faith life to be characterized as a praying life. Daily, heartfelt and regular intercession for others, I think, would cure nominal Christianity. In fact, the absence of a significant life of prayer might provoke thought as to whether your heart has been truly given to God. Not only will I seek to practically implement prayer into my schedule more and more as a priority, but I’m going to seek to read at least one book on prayer each year from this point forward. It’s sure to challenge, refresh and aid me.
Write
I’ve been blogging regularly now for over two years! I have found it to be a great encouragement and way to communicate. However, I’d like to do more significant writing as well. Many times a blog entry can be hastily hammered out, and then as quickly as the next entry is written, it fades from influence and memory.
In 2008, I want to focus on more significant writing. Some of it will hopefully appear here – at journeyguy.com. However, I’d also like to complete some manuscript ideas I have for publication. I’d also like to do some writing for publication in magazines or other arenas.
Of course, diligent writing takes time and focused energy. That’s why I am trying to turn things loose that might distract or prevent me from focusing in these areas.
To begin, you must turn loose
As important as the concept of beginning is, in our informationally and trivially overloaded lifestyles, we can’t just start doing something without also stopping other things. Perhaps in the Christian world, that’s why so many who profess Christ don’t also seem to fully possess Christ. At one time, they sensed a spiritual need in their life, but they just “added” Christianity to an already-full plate.
In reality, we all know that we can only carry so many things. Yet we continue to pile things on like we are Superman. My new year’s resolutions this year meant having to turn loose of some things. For instance, last year I sold MonticelloLive.com simply because it was too much for me to handle. Turning loose of that enables me to embrace more fully a life of living on purpose.
Finally…
In thinking about these areas to focus on this year, I realize that they are not specific and measurable. That’s a real no-no to professional goal-setters. But since I’m not a PGS, these broad areas, I hope, will be a helpful map for my year.
To sum it all up, I am pursuing more focus…
- In strategically leading others
- In deepening relationships with a few other men
- In teaching with excellence
- In praying
- In significant writing
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Ben Coulter featured on KSSN website
It’s exciting to see a good friend and former Journey co-pastor featured on the state’s most popular country music website: KSSN.com. Go check out the article! (By the way, I had the honor of designing that CD cover!)
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Review: Lifestyle Evangelism
I have had Aldrich’s book Lifestyle Evangelism so long that I still chuckle when I look at the cover – it has two couples dressed in decidedly 80s fashion visiting together while sitting on a wall. The new cover is much better. I guess Christian publishers have learned to cease putting pictures of folks on the cover of books?
The whole focus of the book is intended to help educate Christians on how to “share their faith” through their relationships. Aldrich’s contribution to this essential Christian discipline and lifestyle is enormous.
The author first of all debunks the idea that evangelism is the work of the Christian. Rather, it is the work of God. God alone convicts of sin, calls people and draws them to Himself. However, Christians are both the medium through which God’s great truths and message of forgiveness are made known AND the means of making God known.
Aldrich continually points out that the church (a gathering a local believers) is the bride of Christ and therefore should be a beauty to behold. He points out Jesus’ words that said that the world would know that He was sent by the Father if his believers loved one another.
When you encounter a bickering group of Christians, it does irreparable harm to the gospel of Christ. That’s why the New Testament apostles were urgent and authoritative in their declarations about how Christians should treat one another.
When Christians and churches live a lifestyle of humility, obedience, and truly put one another’s interests before their own, they become a people through whom God reveals Himself to a lost world. The more sensitive a group of people are to God, the more attractive and beautiful they become to a watching world.
Aldrich points out that Christians cannot simply live “good lives” in front of their communities but rather they must speak and proclaim the truth of the gospel verbally to be an ongoing explanation of why they live the way they do.
Some churches focus on service to the exclusion of gospel proclamation while others focus on proclamation to the exclusion of service. Both are ultimately necessary and focusing exlusively on either extreme leads to imbalance.
Relationship alone is not enough. No one is good enough to let just his life speak for Christ. Words are necessary to point beyond himself to Christ.
I love one of his idioms. He says that in order to portray Christ and faith in Him as beautiful, we must not look like we were weaned on dill pickles.
To some Christians, the very word “evangelism” makes them break out in a cold sweat. They envision memorizing a long presentation and knocking on the door of a stranger to shove rote content down an unwilling neighbor’s throat.
Aldrich redefines evangelism as simply expressing what you possess in Christ.
Personally, I thought the two best chapters in the book were the one on Avoiding Evil Instead of its Appearance in which the author does a magnificent job of explaining how Christians are to relate with non-Christians. How far should we go to establish a relationship with them? Jesus was accused by the religious elite as being a drunkard and a “friend of sinners.” To what extent should we go to befriend those who are living remarkably “unChristian” lifestyles?
Another chapter that I thought was particularly well-written was the one entitled Evangelism and the Church Body which deals with how a church can become more beautiful.
This resource is an excellent one that has been around for a while now (first published in 1981), but its tone and teaching are greatly needed in the church today.
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About
Notes from the Trail
The Personal Blog of Jeff Noble
Info: From the misty hills of Virginia, "Notes from the Trail" seeks to encourage you on your journey. Written by a graphic designer-pastor, this blog is a blend of humor, insight, and faith discovery.
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RT @TheFactsBook: The ancient Greeks believed that redheads would turn into vampires after they died. Eeek. Be nice to @libby_bish. [journeyguy]
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I just became the mayor of Blacksburg Middle School on @foursquare! http://t.co/EDjfDQ81 [journeyguy]
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Cool. http://t.co/3kqbSwYa [journeyguy]
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RT @jackieflake: @vthoneybee, Melissa u lived as Christ, your death is gain. God thank u for sharing our sister w/us. Living well yields ... [journeyguy]
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Praying for the@bcmvt and Cheliras families upon learning of Melissa's death from cancer today. 1 Thessalonians 4:14 [journeyguy]
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