September 2008
11 posts
3 tags
What We Already Have →
Last week, Kim and I made “mexican food” for one of her photography and English students, and the student’s friend.  As we talked, the student’s friend shared a moving story with us.  She hasn’t…
Sep 1st
August 2008
10 posts
3 tags
Aug 25th
8 tags
Who and Why →
After teaching the Bible studies for the past month I’ve been asked to preach in church here for the first time.  I’ll be teaching at the service for the youth (16-25) tonight.  “What did you do…
Aug 23rd
4 tags
Power, Politics, & Persuasion →
A question. In a large portion of the Christianity, particularly the younger generation, the orthodox tenets of the faith are being ‘re-imagined’, ‘re-painted’, and ultimately ‘re-written’.  I…
Aug 21st
7 tags
Follow to Believe / Believe to Follow →
In speaking about Christ’s call to the disciples to follow Him, Diedrich Bonhoeffer says this about the calling of Matthew (or Levi). “Had Levi stayed at his post, Jesus might have been his present…
Aug 19th
Mongolian Photo Blog Update →
Kim and I have spent the last week battling, first, a round of sun/food poisoning followed by an exchange of the flu. It hasn’t been the easiest of weeks here. In the midst of that we helped our…
Aug 16th
10 tags
Bono, Bell, and Obama part 2: The Question(s) →
In my last proper blog I wrote about an observation I made by looking at U2, Barack Obama, and Rob Bell.  I talked about how I think Obama and Bell play fast and loose with the English language, either changing meanings or leaving large words vacant for people to fill with their own meanings (like “love”, “hope”, and “change”).  My concern was that, as a pastor and a politician, I think those...
Aug 13th
I'm Not Alone: Obama the Po-Mo Candidate →
It seems I’m not alone with my sense about how Obama (and Bell) use their language. Here is an interesting piece from, of all places, USA Today on Obama’s flexible use of English. — …
Aug 7th
Before We Repaint Anything, Let's Look At The... →
Wordle is a web application that creates ‘word clouds’ of texts. Basically, the more frequently a word is used the bigger it is in the ‘cloud’, the less it’s used, the smaller it is. For…
Aug 6th
Mongolia's Ex-herders Struggle For Survival In The... →
In my last blog I posted a lot of population stats about Mongolia. If you didn’t read them or just skimmed over them, some of the ones I really wanted to stick out to you were these: -HALF of…
Aug 2nd