Today I finished Jim and Casper Go to Church and wrote a rough draft of my review. The assignment is not due for 3 weeks, so I hope to polish it and post it before next week. This surge in productivity is mostly motivated by my interest in the subject matter – the class is really intriguing me, and since I’ve been through this attention boom and bust before, I know I must capitalize on this whim before the doldrums of routine set in. I hope to push through Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death in less than a week and begin Newbigin’s Foolishness to the Greeks before settling into Carson’s mammoth The Gagging of God. Can I do all the required reading in under a month? Regardless, while Jim and Casper was interesting and informative, I do think it is founded on a flawed premise which should be no surprise to anyone familiar with the publishing or written work of George Barna. More thoughts to come!


So, onward to Amusing Ourselves to Death. I am one of those crazy people who – gasp – doesn’t own a TV, so I am liable to get uppity and puff my chest out with some “yeah, uh-huh, see I told you so” shenanigans at the moment. However, I rent DVDs just like everyone else and while I’d like to ride my high horse, I am very much a child of my culture and time. I function in the age of diminished public discourse and thought that the rest of us operate in – sucked into the mind-numbing vortex of the soul killing ether that is Jerry Springer and @lancearmstrong, etc. Hey, what have they done with the King of Pop, anyway?


Here’s a quote from Postman to give you an idea of his first chapter and what intellectual terrain I’m treading:
“…the media of communication available to a culture are a dominant influence on the formation of the culture’s intellectual and social preoccupations.”



Communication, culture, worldview, and more...stay tuned. Oh wait, er, stay subscribed…?

Seasons Change + Classes Start

So I haven't posted to the blog for a while... oh well. I've hung up the road bike for the (competitive) year and my training has taken a different tack. Soccer season has started and I'm coaching with quite a bit of my time, and playing with some remnants. I'll post some things about soccer, but not too much.

On the end of the cycling calendar is both happiness and disappointment. I won the last race I entered and held very good form, in fact I have been in the best shape of my life for cycling. However the disappointment comes in the fact that I will not be racing for a state championship in my catagory as soccer coaching responsibilities will keep me busy on race day. As a result I haven't been going on training rides or racing, but just commuting and playing soccer. Perhaps I'll get a few cross races in after soccer season?

New to the blog will be a series of articles for my UTS class this fall, ministry and evangelism in cultural context, or something like that. I'll be reviewing 4-5 books as well as posting some writing assignments from class (reaction pieces to articles, etc.) So the blog should ramp up with a new post every week or so. Currently I'm reading Jim and Casper Go to Church and should be done by the end of the day. Look for a review by the end of the weekend. If you are interested in this book, I purchased it for the class so I'd be happy to lend it to you starting next week...let me know!

Cheers,
Frenchy