chongs · worship – Page 74 – [ mites from our momentary marriage and ministry ]

Web curations – inspiring inventions (22 Feb)

Today is a collection of upcoming inventions / tech advances that really captured my imagination. How neat that God gives us the skills to image His creativity and craft order out of chaos in so many ways!

After you read this list, ponder on the fact that our children will see many of these inventions (that would have been sci-fi fantasy material just 10, 20 years ago) as part and parcel of life. For example, E will never know a world without social media, the internet, entertainment-on-demand via screens and headphones…

A pen for drawing in 3D – As a kid I would have loved to doodle things into life. The 3Doodler lets you do just that for $75 plus shipping – though given that it’s basically spitting out melted plastic, probably not a kid-friendly toy just yet. (HT: Mashable)

Google Glass

Glasses to record everything in life – There’s a hypothetical question that Rico Tice asks in an episode of Christianity Explored: “What if you watched a film that showed every moment in your life?” Well, that could be a reality with Google Glass, a head-mounted display to let you interact with augmented reality.

It’s been promised that you’ll be able to use Glass to take photos, record videos, look up answers to things you’re seeing, show reminders, and share whatever you’re looking at. I’m thinking, instead of sheet music, musicians and worship leaders might just read songs off their Glass, and pastors could preach without paper notes – the applications seem endless and scarily disruptive!

Google’s even offering a chance to get one early, if you have a cool US$1500 and live in the US:

https://twitter.com/projectglass/status/304183672381272064

Personalised genetic medicine – One of my favourite movies is GATTACA – which paints a future where children are selected based on favourable genetics, and those born “naturally” become second-class citizens (called “invalids”). Well that future could be a reality within our lifetimes, thanks to the rapid advances in genomic sequencing, analysis and application.

In some centers, you can already get your own genome sequenced in a day – it’s more the analysis that is still prohibitively expensive. But I think the next generation will be confronted with ethical issues such as whether to screen their children for genomic indicators to their future health, and what to do about it.

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Who is this song addressed to?

My Dear Hunter Thompson

An excerpt:

…I need to say what my soul is singing
I need to say what my heart is screaming
I need to say what my soul is singing
I need to say what my heart is screaming

That I love You my Dear,
That I love You my Dear, my Dear…

You’re everything I ever wanted
Everything I ever needed
You’re everything I ever wanted
Everything I ever needed
You’ve ravished my heart, You’ve ravished my
You’re everything I ever wanted
Everything I ever needed
You’ve ravished my heart…

– “My Dear” by Hunter Thompson, Bethel Music

I find a song like this unhelpful on many levels – romanticising the relationship between Christ and His church, feminising God, bringing in sensual vocabulary to sung worship.

What do you think?

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Our library and wastefulness

I recently spent an evening cataloguing some of the books that we own as a family (you can see our progress here).

In doing so, I noticed that of the 300+ books we own, the percentage of books that we’ve read is sadly quite low.

For example, from our library, I’ve probably bought about 40 books in the past twelve months (usually when they’re on special on Amazon, or during a conference). Yet I’ve only read about 20-25% of them cover to cover in 2012.

Most books I started, but haven’t finished because I lacked the discipline to read them consistently (happens in other areas of my life too – starting something and not finishing it…).

Others I read and didn’t like that much so stopped – yet most of the time, it’s really been my lack of discipline that books have been left unfinished.

And then there are some books (it’s embarrassing to admit) where I’ve gone out of my way to buy them – only to let it just sit on the shelf as a trophy.

I mean, if I translated my reading habits to something else in my life (e.g. eating, or spending money), it would immediately be recognised as wastefulness, plain and simple.

In today’s marketing-centric society, I’m finding it hard to resist the temptation to buy the latest, greatest book from the estimated 300,000 books that are published each year, instead of finishing the ones I already have.

So I’m resolving by God’s grace to read more books this year. I hope to be able to say this time next year that I’ve read more of our library…

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p.s. One of our pastors presented a helpful talk last year called “Learning to Read to the Glory of God“. I’m keen to apply those principles in my reading habits!

What are your tips for keeping a steady reading habit? What are your obstacles?

Web Curations (19 Feb)

Stuff that I read and thought about.

#fun

The history of chatter rings – Did you know chatter rings as we know them were a NZ invention? This was the must-have toy when I was in primary school, and I remember they sold for up to $15 each at the peak of the chatter ring craze (now more commonly found in basements, garage sales and op-shops…)

#church

Stopping church-killing gossip – I’ve been guilty many times of the gossiping thinly veiled as prayer requests. Justin shares some helpful questions to ask when tempted to sin in this way, and challenges every Christian to tackle one of the most respectable sins in church circles.

“For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarrelling ceases.” – Proverbs 26:20

Preaching that cuts to the heart – Tim Keller pushes back on those who point to his preaching style as an example of “cultural engagement”, arguing rather: “You might be surprised to hear me say that my use of cultural references is actually part of my effort to reach the heart.”

#inspiring

[vimeo 56902953 w=500 h=281]

BRAVE from EyEFORcE on Vimeo.

Tommy Carroll has been blind since 2. He’s also a much better skateboarder than me. It’s amazing how God gives people the ability to adapt to some disabilities.

Web curations (16 Feb)

Catching the eye recently:

#church

Top 10 reasons our kids leave the church – Marc5solas points out (in a post that’s gone viral): “If church is simply a place to learn life-application principals to achieve a better life in community… you don’t need a crucified Jesus for that. Why would they get up early on a Sunday and watch a cheap knockoff of the entertainment venue they went to the night before? The middle-aged pastor trying desperately to be “relevant” to them would be a comical clichÃ© if the effect weren’t so devastating. As we jettisoned the gospel, our students are never hit with the full impact of the law, their sin before God, and their desperate need for the atoning work of Christ. Now THAT is relevant, THAT is authentic, and THAT is something the world cannot offer.”

Who put the 3:16 in John 3:16? – A primer on the history behind how we got our verses in the Bible.

#culture

Rapping the gospel in one minute – Delivered by Grammy award-winning hip-hop artist Lecrae (who recently headlined at the Parachute festival).

#life

An emotional return to my childhood home – Conrad Mbewe: “If those bricks and timbers could speak, I wonder what they would have told me last Tuesday afternoon?” I love reading thoughts like this by pastors. Sure, Conrad explaining the Bible and discussing culture and worldview issues is most helpful. But I also appreciate the glimpses and reflections of normal everyday life (kinda like when Peter or Joe illustrate a sermon point by referring to a personal anecdote).

#fun

[youtube http://youtu.be/QLQd9mGujj8]

Malaysian English – I grew up speaking this wild, hilarious and hard-to-understand dialect of English. Also can!

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