http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:37:35 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/07/25/073735.php Rick StilwellI can't believe I didn't review this book sooner. Then again, I can believe, since this is one of those books that is read and then continues to work its way through the reader. Jim Palmer's Divine Nobodies walks us through his own journey with God. Along the way, he encounters unexpected friends who shape him in unexpected ways. I think that's what drew me into this book so deeply, the way he grows to not only welcome but to also expect those unexpected twists in his life. We are generally people who avoid the unknown, who explain away the mysterious. But Jim's come to embrace it somehow (you can still read the ongoing journey at his blog), to discover that God is speaking through these twists and turns to bring real and meaningful transformation.Uncovering your true reasons for wanting God and learning God's real purpose for wanting you are a couple of revelations you need to have in order to get down heaven's road. The first requires a brutal self-honesty, and the second an elastic head and heart, both of which you sometimes need a little help acquiring. (p. xxv)The basic gist of the book is Jim's discovery of "a little help" God is using in "acquiring" the honesty and elasticity needed to grow. Reading the first chapter about his friend Kit, I was sincerely jealous, wanting to retreat to a place (and a friendship) where my questioning mind and searching doubts could find room to roam and play. Continuing on, Jim discovers truth in hip-hop, theological depth at Waffle House, and a servant's heart in a pastoral mechanic. Politics, homosexuality, death - all topics are fair game for God's use in molding and shaping us.I couldn't find resources within myself to stop destructive patterns of thinking and relating. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, I was a good (albeit tired) Christian, although on the inside I was the same guy with all the same junk continually longing for wholeness and freedom. (p. 95)It's as if Jim wrote what I would've wanted to write had I been in his shoes on his journey. We've intersected, if not in the details then in the formulas, and I felt like I was reading an understanding heart being poured out in paperback. Books66788@blogcritics.org Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:37:35 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/11/11/181947.php Rick StilwellIf you only read one sentence, let it be this one: buy this book, read this book, and pass it along. For those of you who like to read a few paragraphs in before skipping to whatever other site is on your RSS feed reader right now, let me tell you what book I'm writing about. Matthew Paul Turner's Beatitude (copyright 2006, Revell) is one of those books that just begs to be read slowly and passed along. In sharing his journey as a Christian growing up in a Christian home, going to Christian schools and Christian camps and having Christian jobs and Christian goals and ambitions - and then also finding something mysterious and profound and meaningfully transforming in the midst of it all - it's the story we want to have, the story we hope begins to make sense for us on the Christian hamster wheel running the Christian race.Accessible through his anecdotes and insights and overall writing style, Turner lays out things he's learned from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7. And what I like about it is that he's sharing the twists, those things that aren't obvious, the other side of the coin, the new perspective that fleshes out the truth. Like in the chapter titled "Salt", where he goes beyond the ideas of salt being a preservative and a flavor enhancement:... I've learned too much salt overpowers all the other flavors. It takes over. Sometimes I have a tendency to bring my own version of Jesus into a situation, instead of recognizing he is already there. Consequently, instead of my actions enhancing Jesus, my words end up being too much, and it ends up making a potentially sweet piece of cake gross and bitter to the taste buds of others. / Sadly, too often, I'm guilty of being a spiritual salt lick. On so many occasions, I have worn my faith so obtrusively that, when people see it, the idea of following Jesus is gross and unimaginable. (p. 52)With all due respect - if you think you don't fit into the paragraph above, it means you really do, that you're the salt lick I'm trying to avoid. And if you see yourself all over that "salt lick" reference, welcome to the club. That's what I like about Turner's writing: it's encouraging to read my thoughts somehow coming out through someone else's words. Another chapter that smacked of "wow, been there, lived that" is titled "Truth":I so wish doubt were a place - like a retreat center where addicts go to find rehab or therapy. It would be great to have a place where, whenever you felt doubtful about Jesus, you could simply check yourself into the facility... / But I found out quickly that doubt isn't a place. Doubt ended up being more like a companion to me. Just one day out of the blue, doubt suddenly popped into my life unannounced. (p. 125)When Turner talks about doubt, I read about my own doubts that have prodded me to something deeper, something that's somehow more real to me now than before. Much of what's in this book has been lived out in my life, and I recognize it in the lives of friends around me as well. I think that's why I synched with this work so quickly - in sharing his story, Matthew's become a distant friend as well, with the shared experience of just living out the Christ-life as Jesus leads and we follow alongside.So pick up this book - read it - and pass it along. Maybe you'll find someway to finally explain your own struggles and heart-search. Or at least, you'll find someone who's gone along the narrow road a little bit, too - and you can compare notes. Books55671@blogcritics.org Sat, 11 Nov 2006 18:19:47 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/09/04/165941.php Rick StilwellOnce in a while I try to read something that has the stack decked against it in my head. In one of the biggest Right-To-Life cases of the past few years, the death of Terry Schiavo, my mind is at best riding the fence, and my opinions skew from both sides to something in the middle. That's why I to read Fighting For Dear Life (copyright 2006, Bethany House), by David Gibbs, the attorney for Terry's parents. But I'm still skewed.The author has the unique position of having spent time with Terry and her family. The public wasn't allowed to see much of the interaction because of various legal blocks made by her husband, Michael Schiavo, and so we collectively had no idea how alert she was or not, how coherent she was or not, how alive she was or not. Rightly or wrongly, this case didn't get as much scrutiny or soundbite publicity as other cases have over the last decade or so. Where many cases are "tried in the media", this one was tried more by what was left out. The book that Gibbs writes is trying to show that other side for the first time, trying to breathe some life literally and figuratively into Terry Schiavo for the world to experience. In doing that, he does a wonderful job - there's a real humanity that can be shared in the tears and angst of parents simply fighting for a daughter's life, and in a daughter whose life has evidently meant so much to so many.But the problem I've had from the beginning is the demonization of her husband, Michael, and Gibbs continues some of that from the opening pages. It read to me more like Michael was on trial than anything else, and I'm not sure that was fair. Should this have happened? Should Terry's feeding tube have been removed? I don't know, to be honest. I think this goes beyond black and white to a grey area we too often want to avoid. And putting the parents' wishes for their daughter above the husband's wishes for his wife - giving both sides the benefit of the doubt, both parties wanting what was best for Terry - I would like to err on the side of the marriage. I think that's biblical, and I don't think he dropped the ball in doing what he felt was right. The cards stacked against him by his own possibly poor or impatient choices may have been used to skew the perspective, but I still want to give him the benefit of having tried to do right by his wife.Was there something wrong here? Probably. Was the right decision made? Maybe not. But to demonize one side over the other is in effect victimizing again, adding to the muddle instead of helping clear a way for peace and healing. In the end, it might have been the fight itself that had the most devastating impact on the family, I think.All that to say - I think Gibbs has written an excellent first-person account of what went on inside the walls, sharing life we weren't allowed to see. He shares similar stories where the sure-to-die to indeed recover - holding out hope, prayer, and persistence are all good things, and he lifts them up admirably as examples of what could've happened here if Terry had been allowed to have that opportunity. But again, there's the temptation to question and demonize a husband caught in the unimaginable place of losing his love, his partner, his friend, too. So while I think this book goes far in sharing the family's side, it also continues to skew towards their anger and tendency to blame, and the the skew against her husband is too pronounced and uneven, leaving me to wonder if real forgiveness and repentance on all sides is possible if the story ends here. Books52433@blogcritics.org Mon, 4 Sep 2006 16:59:41 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/08/31/090350.php Rick StilwellMargaret Feinberg has been one of my favorite authors and one of my favorite bloggers for a few years now. When she offered me the opportunity to read her new book, What The Heck Am I Going To Do With My Life? (Tyndale House, 2006), I jumped at it. And again, I wasn't disappointed. Be warned – words like passion and destiny and calling are big, powerful, meaningful words. And I think this little book does well in using them for the discussion of "what do I want to do/be when I grow up?"One of the writing gifts Feinberg brings to her work is the ability to tell a story and weave it into application. With this book asking what is most likely the more gi-normous question facing just about everyone, she takes the time to share pertinent experiences of real people in real life, and then asks the questions and ponders the options available as we all ask "what the heck?"An opening story struck me where I find myself even now: Jerry Slocum and his passion for mechanical puzzles. Just like life, the answers are usually not out in front – and this thought, for me, was worth the price of admission:Jerry noted that -- like life -- many puzzles don't have clear solutions. They require innovation, creativity, and the willingness to face a challenge. "One of the things you learn through solving puzzles is that you can't look for the obvious solution and keep trying it over and over, because you'll fail," he says. "You have to look at unusual and unorthodox ways of solving the problem. You have to shift to trying to do something one way and then the other, the way the inventor might have. It stimulates your thinking and logic and analysis." (p. 20)Feinberg goes on from there to discuss various upbringing factors that play into our choices as we decide what we want to do when we grow up. Family, money, heroes, personality – all play a part in how we choose life paths. How does calling fit into it? What about God and our spiritual growth coming into view? What about a passion for people, or for mechanics or arts or leadership?Destiny is a journey -- one that we're already on whether we realize it or not. The good news is that destiny is something that happens to you; you don't happen to destiny. In other words, the very nature of destiny requires that someone or something greater than you is at work. Your destiny is out of your control. And that's a good thing. (p. 74)Stories and application are great, but what does this have to do with me? I'm older, and I've probably already made the choices on what the heck I'm doing that will guide me through the destiny I do not control. But this is where Feinberg's research and attention to detail come into the picture. Throughout the book, the reader is asked to ponder, to think, to dream, and to write down. Entry pages are available to answer questions for yourself. Rather than relying on my answers or Jerry Slocum's answers or Margaret Feinberg's answers, the reader is invited to join in the conversation with self-pondering and self-inquiry. You ask yourself what's important, what drives you, what in your past or your personality or your walk with the Lord has molded you for this moment in your life? This is where it hits the road, or it hits the fan – can I make this real enough in me to let a book be helpful, to let it be more than another how-to paperback, to let it be more like a guide and director to something really meaningful?That might be laying it on too thick, but I don't think so. While I've made most of these life-directing choices already, I was also encouraged to keep asking, to keep seeking, to keep knocking – to keep following hard after God and the life He has envisioned for me. I think Margaret has brought something to the table that brings the stories, the application, and the under-appreciated questions to the top of the process. And I'm reading it for me, for how I can mold and shape my own kids in their upbringing and life-experiences, and sharing it with others in our church's small group structure, to help bring those things to bear in others' lives, too. Books52268@blogcritics.org Thu, 31 Aug 2006 09:03:50 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/07/15/172001.php Rick StilwellSome of the books I track are re-telling the same story, changing some of the particulars to make the ideas palatable and meaningful for a new audience. Sometimes, there's nothing new in a book, and I can't wait to finish it or drop it and move on to something more challenging or encouraging. Sometimes, though, a book needs to be read slowly, digested carefully, questioned interactively.Spencer Burke's new book has not been an easy read, but it's also been one that I haven't wanted to put down. I've taken my time, worked through his word choice and nuances, and come to the conclusion that either he's lost his mind and chucked the whole thing - or he's making some sense in the way we can relate to Jesus and to each other better. A Heretic's Guide To Eternity is not going to be the feel-good beach book of the summer, but for those who take the time to work through what's being addressed, this might provide a catalyst for something really meaningful yet to come.The first thing that jumped out at me was the way Burke seems to choose words based on what they'll do to the reader: "At this point in our history, I believe God is to be questioned as much as obeyed, created again and not simply worshipped. Our views must be continually revised, reconsidered, and debated." I almost passed right over "God...created again" - what did he mean by that?!? So I emailed the author, just to check, ask what he meant - and Spencer called me one evening while I was doing dishes, to discuss the book and what he might have meant by "re-creating God."Good conversation, and I got a better handle on what he meant there and what he was getting at in the book as a whole, I think. After working my way through it, he's really talking about re-creating our image of God, whatever that might be, to something more true to scripture and to the way God's revealed Himself over time through His people.Religion, at its most basic, provides a way of understanding the relationship between humans and the divine. But it's incomplete, so over time, elaborate systems, doctrines, and dogmas are developed to fill in the missing details. In fact, the desire to have our religion cover every aspect of human life is so strong that even when the sacred texts are silent, we'll find a way to make a connection. (p. 28)Rather than binding and gagging grace behind the walls of Christianity and making access to it conditional on the acceptance of culturally created ideas, I believe we need to present the message of Jesus outside of brand Christianity. We need to present grace in such a way as to generate genuine wonder and amazement.... Grace is bigger than any religion. Grace cannot be bound by humanly constructed religion. Religion needs to embrace grace if it is to offer any hope to the word. (p. 47, 50)I see grace as a connecting conduit. It's the gift that connects us with God. It has the power to move us away from checklist living, away from jumping through hoops and all the other ways religion makes us perform in order to receive its blessing. Grace is offered to all people, everywhere, regardless of religious affiliation. (p. 69)And there's the rub: while talking about grace, focusing on this aspect of God's relationship with us His created, Burke is laying claim to the idea that God's grace is for everyone. Beyond strict universalism, I think he's trying to prod the reader to at least consider the possibility that Jesus really died for all, that God really loves all of us, and that His love and grace can reach beyond the shallow boundaries and fences that we've made up for our own judgmental tendencies. Instead of "getting saved" by opting in on the right doctrinal and theological assents - what if we are instead given the chance, just as Adam and Eve in the Garden, to "opt out"? What if we start off "saved", and the only way to get out is to choose against the Father, to decide for ourselves that we do not need Him any longer?You can probably see why I took my time. I didn't want to sell Burke short, make him say things my prejudices read into the text instead of just going through with the "what if's" dangling alongside. And I must say that I've appreciated this book to stretch my own questions and growth. I know a few people who would appreciate this book as I have, and I know many more who would close it before getting out of the roman-numerals in the Introduction.To make salvation simply about what happens when we die is to make it less than it is meant to be. It also makes it conditional, based on one's response to a certain equation or set of beliefs, which is far from the beauty of being connected with God both now and in the future. (p. 180)I think it boils down to this: do we want more people to "make it" and begin to live out the life of Christ here now, or do we want to be about helping God pick and choose who's getting in and who's being left out? I'm falling on the idea that wants more folks: the more, the merrier. Books50417@blogcritics.org Sat, 15 Jul 2006 17:20:01 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/07/08/133009.php Rick StilwellThe paradoxes of Jesus also grip us because they are liberating. They set us free to rejoice in life's ambiguities. I have spent time around many religious people (Christians included) and philosophers who purport to have categorical answers for everything. I have come to believe, however, that even if everything in life has an explanation, we may not have ultimate access to every explanation, at least for now...We like the control that we feel when we think we know all the answers. Sometimes, however, we simply cannot explain things... Paradoxy, p. 21It's in this thesis statement that Tom Taylor lays the foundation for Paradoxy. One of the things that has moved in me the past number of years is that reading about Jesus shouldn't be clean and clear-cut; his stories and affirmations were much more non-linear and more liberating than just re-covenanting another law-based system of religion. I see Taylor moving along these same thought patterns, asking the questions to not really get answers, but to settle into the uncertainty a bit longer.Drawing from his life as a pastor and scholar, Taylor shares the ups and downs of ministry. It seems people have a high and lofty perspective on doctrine and the pastors set to preserve the party line. But not everything works cleanly and smoothly, and this book shares some of those circumstances that fall outside of what we would've originally thought. Conservative and liberal titles often fall away in the face of reality, and Jesus had a way of speaking to the masses that cut past the stereotypes and got to the heart of the matter. "Walk by faith and not by sight" – "strength in weakness" – "foolish wisdom" – "give to receive" – Taylor writes around these supposed contradictions from his own life and meanderings, gives them real faces, and shares them for the reader's own quest and adventure.It's not about finding the answers: "Jesus is the Answer" isn't what the world needs right now. What I like about Taylor's prose here is his stories and statements never feel like they're forcing the point. It seems to flow from a place where he's actually done the meditation, not just reported back on the facts. He allows God to be God, and takes "His ways are higher than our ways" literally and figuratively to give Jesus the benefit of the doubt. Our lack of understanding shouldn't be an obstacle to following anyway, and I think Taylor captures some of that.The only downside for me, as the cynical skeptic, is while I wholeheartedly agree, I also hear in him a voice criticizing the establishment while using the tools of the establishment. His "point" is made logically that sometimes we have to think illogically; perhaps that's the nature of the discourse right now, but I wonder how this book might be written differently with a few more years to stew in the pot, you know? Books50135@blogcritics.org Sat, 8 Jul 2006 13:30:09 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/06/22/214541.php Rick StilwellOver the past couple of years, I've been a part of something that is brand-spanking new, something a bit different from the norm, something that stretches what it means to be a "church" in today's cultural landscape. As a member and leader within Seacoast Church -- in Irmo, South Carolina, instead of at the main campus that's still thriving in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina -- I've seen some of the possibilities for bringing people together under a common theme, direction, and vision. In The Multi-Site Church Revolution, Geoff Surratt (one of the pastors with Seacoast), Greg Ligon, and Warren Bird have put together a story of what's happened and a primer for what can happen given the same kind of circumstances and vision in other locations. What makes this "way to do church" stand out is that it's "the best of both worlds" in many regards. When planting a new church, there's so much the feeling of kicking the baby birds out of the nest, but with this option, there's the feeling that a new church is starting, but it's still a major part of the existing foundational congregation. There's more of a family feeling, like we're in this together still, able to stick with each other through hard times and support each other in the ups and downs of ministry in this century.Reading it in the place we find ourselves today, it feels like the story of Seacoast, even though other church bodies are represented by Geoff's and Greg's different leadership paths. The first section deals with the history and "Birth of the Multi-Site Movement." The "one church many locations" model is more prevalent than most folks might think, and it's allowing congregations to grow beyond geographic boundaries to become a new collection of like-minded and like-hearted believers in their communities.In the "How to Become" section, Part II, the options and possibilities are laid out as "this might work where you are if this is what you're going to do and what God is calling you toward" instead of having a cookie-cutter bland A-B-C directive. I like that. The book reads more as a collection of possibilities and examples that can be implemented and re-dreamed in individual demographic experiences. Part III deals with "What Makes It Work," and the stories again help to make this book accessible for others to re-imagine in their own locales, while giving prospective pastors and churches the challenge and encouragement to try "and now for something completely different" while still holding onto the dreams for growing the kingdom, reaching people, and meeting needs.Which brings the reader to "Why Extend Further and Reach More People?" Part IV asks the questions: Why do we want church growth? Why do we press on towards replication and reaching our cities for the Lord? In some denominations, it's not as important to reach people; for some, this might sound like it's unnecessary or at least unwieldy in trying to grow and plant a church. But I agree with the authors that there is more to this movement than simply growing mega-churches:Multi-site is more than a strategy to get big. Many churches are becoming smaller as the open micro-campuses. Churches are going into firehouses, jails, and senior centers and offering through video, to five, ten, twenty people at a time, the same level of excellence that is found in the large primary campus. House churches are leveraging the power of multi-site churches to provide effective teaching for their congregations... The possibilities for spreading the gospel and impacting communities through multi-site ministry are endless.My few complaints include putting the word "Revolution" in the title. I think this is an attempt to give this a weightiness that maybe it already had on its own. If it's that much of an impact, then having to call it a "revolution" might not be needed, while putting it in the title tells the cynic that maybe it's not "all that" in the first place so we had to spice it up a bit. Another is that at times it seems to be more of a pep rally for the movement than a story of how this has worked and how it can work again. Not that this is a bad thing -- It's never a boring read -- but sometimes I was looking for more story, and other times I was looking for more hands-on practicality. Since I'm a part of a campus that's "gone through it," maybe I'm reading it with a different eye than the intended audience.Anyway, I can recommend this book to the folks who are looking for a way to jumpstart a church plant, or to breathe life into churches that might be stagnant and land-locked in ministry to the community. It hits the target on what's becoming a valid way of growing and connecting together in ministry, and I'm hoping it'll catch on even more as the church continues to reach out to people as God intended, making disciples of all nations and neighborhood subdivisions. Books49573@blogcritics.org Thu, 22 Jun 2006 21:45:41 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/06/04/172820.php Rick StilwellI was drawn in by the blurbs on the jacket of Maximum Ride, and ended up really enjoying this mutant-teen-adventure on steroids. James Patterson's book is well-written, well-crafted, and downright fun - especially when waiting endless hours in an airport for whenever your next flight might be.Flight plays a big part in the unfurling of this story. The title character, Maximum Ride, is a 14-year-old girl leading a flock of others who all have been DNA-enhanced with avian abilities and features. They have wings, and they can fly - things that come in handy when being chased by wolf-like creatures called Erasers, also DNA-mutated into something superhuman, and when trying to find your identity after spending so much time being poked and prodded by the White Coats in the disinfected labs of The School. Max and her friends have escaped the confines of scientific research and really just want to find their place in this world. Don't we all?There's adventure as Max and the others fight the Erasers, break into several lab facilities, and blow things up. Some find new abilities as they take flight, and others discover things about themselves in the midst of the stress and trauma of fighting for one's life. Like most good mutant/superhero stories, the reader is invited to break with logic and dive headfirst into the unknown while empathizing deeply with people who have amazingly heroic and noble powers.I found that two other Patterson books start the story of Max and her friends -- When the Wind Blows and The Lake House -- and the second in this particular series is already out, School's Out Forever. I look forward to reading the backstory and then the next novel as well. Books48758@blogcritics.org Sun, 4 Jun 2006 17:28:20 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/06/04/172046.php Rick StilwellPaul Thorson with Painting In The Dark has wrecked me - in a good way. The book knocked me first with this question: "What is the truest thing about me?" (p.8) Since that time, I've finished reading, and it has been able to stretch and challenge me into the depths of what's usually forbidden territory, inside of me.Thorson shares his own story, his own testimony, his own journey of how God has molded him into who he is today and probably prepared him for what's to come ahead. As a teacher, missionary, and church-planter in the Ukraine, one is supposed to have all the answers figured out to all the questions - but sadly, but rightly I think, this isn't true. And his own realization of this comes out through his words.King Solomon, the wisest man of his day, writes. "As [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov 23:7, nkjv) How do I think "right" thoughts about myself in my heart and quiet the voices that rumble around in my head? How can I keep myself from allowing people who are just as insecure as I am to pass judgment as to whether or not I have value as a person? It's crazy to give others so much power over me, but I do. and the way I think about myself is often the window through which others see me.... Sometimes I seem to have only glimpses of truth, only snatches and phrases of disconnected realities. but my soul craves something or someone infinitely more satisfying. (pp. 21-22)I was told that I was loved as I was, not as I should be. That my selfishness and foolishness weren't the worst things about me. What was the worst thing that could be said about me? I had stared into the face of perfection and sneered. What an ugly image. I never remember hating God. I disdained Him through my indifference to Him. Yet He still loved me...God wasn't asking me to understand it; He was asking me to believe it! To believe it not out of a blind faith, but to believe it because of what I knew about Him and in spite of what I knew about me. (p. 26, 28)Whether we are in formal leadership roles or not, underneath any cultural reasons for our self-protection are pride and unbelief. We misunderstand something. We think others will be drawn to Christ by our changed life, but it's our changing life that connects our realities with their realities. That's what interests them: the process, the in-between. (p. 43)Is it possible Gideon is saying, "Give me these signs because I don't trust my ability to recognize Your will? I want to do Your will, and I need to be sure this is it. It's not that I think You are not trustworthy, Lord - I'm just not sure about myself." (p. 125)I'm hoping the disjointedness of the quotes pulled out above will actually make an impression of the process as Thorson has described. He stays biblically grounded and astute, and still pulls that last nugget out on Gideon that really tweaks my thoughts on what might've been going through his head when God was leading him to lead Israel - and how many times do we really hear from God and then write it off for our own fear or our own lack of understanding? How many times have I missed God because I'm afraid to confront Him with my doubt, with my lack, with my own perception of what's still lacking?Painting In The Dark flips on a switch in a dark room - but only for a moment, giving just a quick glimpse at what the room looks like. But then it's flicked back off, leaving it to me to navigate through the darkness with what little light I've been entrusted. It's my own walk, my own journey alongside as I've read of his struggles and successes. I've appreciated this one more than some others for its real-ness and honesty, and I hope I can lend this one out to a few others who might find themselves longing for someone else to flip the switch, too. Books48757@blogcritics.org Sun, 4 Jun 2006 17:20:46 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/04/06/092131.php Rick StilwellMy eight-year-old can make my coffee.She doesn't want to drink it, just make it - and that's okay with me for now. She enjoys being able to help, and watching our new coffeepot in action is part of that excitement. We've added a Keurig Ultra B50 to our countertop, and she's not the only one enjoying the new functional appliance beside the sink.This past month, with our old machine giving us fits (I explained to my folks that I just had "issues with our coffeepot"), I dug into lots of coffeepot information, surfing the 'net for details and reviews on the single-cup brewers instead of the normal pots. We needed a new machine, and it just seemed that the Keurig came out above the others. I decided to give it a shot.It looks like a small spaceship sitting on the counter, really cool between the sink and the coffee fixin's. The Ultra B50 has an LCD menu on the right side for setting the time and optional turn-on/turn-off timer, and for selecting your size for the brew, 5.25 ounces or 7.25 ounces. On the left is the water container - water is pulled into the machine and pre-heated for each fresh cup. A K-Cup, the coffee or tea blends provided by quite a few different brands, is placed into the machine, and two sharp prods poke into the cup from above and below. Water is pushed down through the coffee within the K-Cup, out through the self-contained filter, and finally through the bottom of the capsule to the coffee cup waiting on the removable splash guard below. It's that easy, and a few splatter drops on the counter are nothing compared to the occasional 40 ounces of coffee mess I was cleaning with the old pot. I'm all about process steps, and this is quicker and easier than anything we've tried like this before.But for all the coolness of the machine's footprint on our counter and the experience for the kids, it wouldn't be worth it if it didn't taste good - but it does, and that's where that surprising factor from last summer is still playing out. Keurig was kind enough to send a large assortment of blends, and we've enjoyed all the taste-testing of the various K-Cups to find those flavors that we like the best. Vicki has settled on the Breakfast Blends and French Vanilla-flavored cups. I'm leaning towards the Kenyan and all of the new Tully's offerings, and towards the Hazelnut for my own flavored tastes. The milder blends are as strong as our "bold" from before, and there's a fullness without bitterness that's really good from the first sip. Normally, I doctor my cup with whatever flavored creamer we have in the fridge, no sweetener - but even with trying the new coffee at full tilt black, I couldn't taste any of the normal bitterness from before. In that way it's like our French press - except that the machine is still really cool to use in making just one cup at a time. The decaf coffee is just as good as the regular, and we're finding that the blended teas available from Timothy's and Celestial Seasonings are very nice for that need to calm and relax before bedtime. They all smell incredible when brewing, especially the aromatic flavored blends, another welcome addition to the atmosphere around the house.We've found that dark roast blends are a very strong brew that can leave a little thicker aftertaste. But the other flavors had their own benefits, and we can stick with them instead. My Dad, the person who walks into Starbucks asking, "Do you have just coffee?," enjoyed two cups of the Green Mountain Lake & Lodge. I've never seen him drink two cups, and that might be the most ringing endorsement right there. For me, it's the ability to make the coffee I want, just as much as I want, and it tastes wonderful without leaving a mess all over.In opting for the Keurig, I wanted a machine that would taste at least as good as I remembered from last year, and that would change up our experience with our morning coffee. That's the time we really go for a cup - I take two cups, one for the commute and one for the office, and Vicki gets one for her trek into school. Before, we'd make a whole pot, use three travel mugs, and end up wasting a fourth or so of the coffee each morning. Now, we make what we like, only what we'll drink, and the pot will wait for us 'til next time without the waste, the fuss.And the fact the our kids can make us coffee, that's just an added benefit of getting the Keurig. They'll thank us later, I'm sure. Sci/Tech46039@blogcritics.org Thu, 6 Apr 2006 09:21:31 EDT