Sunday Seven
- Michael Wardian is the man! I saw him win the Outer Banks marathon in November, one of his four victories in 13 marathons - in 2007! This weekend, he’ll try to win TWO, one of them being in Knoxville this coming Sunday. Via Runner’s World Racing News for 3/24.
- Why internet commerce will never take off. A Newsweek article from 1995 disparages the internet. I love this kind of ancient internet history. Via Signal vs. Noise.
- Black power from the pulpit. Jeremiah Wright (Obama’s pastor) in context. From Christianity Today.
- eBible.com. An online Bible with a more up-to-date appearance and feature set than my current favorite, BibleGateway.com. Via TechCrunch.
- What killed Ryan Shay? Natural causes, to put it simply. The autopsy results for this elite marathoner are finally out. From Runner’s World.
- Book autopsies. Brian Dettmer creates art by carving up books. Incredible! From Centripetal Notion via Signal vs. Noise.
- Illinois-shaped cornflake sold for $1,350. The end is near. From CNN.
Sunday Seven
- A person’s a person no matter how small. Chistianity Today Movies says that the new Horton movie finally gets Dr. Seuss right. I’m skeptical. But I hope it’s true.
- Billy Crystal bats lead-off for the Yankees in Spring training. Mavahlous. From ESPN.
- Have you ever heard of Henry Shrapnel? Can you guess what he invented? From Wired.
4-5. Racing in high heels. It may be a little low-brow, but the runners in this video are tough as nails. Via The Complete Running Network and Manolo’s Shoe Blog.
6-7. This thing scares me! It’s the Big Dog robot from Boston Dynamics. Wait till they silence it. Via Signal vs. Noise.
Sunday Seven
- Newspapers are on the way out. A recent survey says that more people get their news from the net than any other source. Do any of you buy the paper any more? From TechCrunch.
- Larry Norman dies - You have to be older than me to remember Norman, the father of Christian rock. He died last week, at only 60. From Christianity Today.
- Make your own cola at home - I don’t know why you’d want to, but if you did…from Food Handler via Lifehacker.
- Waiting for Sunday photo - a nice picture by Geoff Stickle that I found doing a vanity Google search on Waiting For Sunday.
- “Security Guard” - The funniest thing you’ll see today. From The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks.
6-7. We Are the World - Children of the 80s (like me) will enjoy this Japanese re-creation of a USA For Africa classic (via Amber Mac)…
Sunday Seven
- Consumer Consequences. A quick little interactive game that tells you how many earths we’d need if everyone lived like you. I scored a 6.6 - and I recycle! From American Public Media.
- Barbershop auditory illusion. If you have a few minutes, put on your headphones and listen to this very realistic recreation of being in the barber’s chair. The other illusions on the page aren’t that good. From New Scientist via BoingBoing.
- NFL OKs church Super Bowl parties. In a rare sane move regarding copyright enforcement, the NFL reversed its opposition to churches showing the Super Bowl on big screens. ‘Course it’s about three weeks late. From ESPN.
- Great design is a wonder to behold. I wade through lots of uninteresting articles at Signal vs. Noise to occasionally get to a photo-story like this one which showcases some great design. Wish I were artistic.
- Heroes and Villans. I include this link about a new movie not because of the film’s Christian themes nor because I expect it to be good but because the star is Dolph Lundgren, who plays a Roman soldier investigating Christ’s resurrection. Does he say to Peter: “I must break you”? From Christianity Today.
- The smart car is coming to Knoxville. But why does my Civic get better mileage than this teeny thing? From Wired.
This young woman ran the Myrtle Beach Marathon on February 16 in an admirable time. Oh, and when Cindy and I started at MHCC, she was a regular in the church nursery. Congrats, Holly.
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Sunday Seven
- The 2007 critics’ choice awards for films from Christianity Today.
- Fast food: Ads vs. reality. The picture below come from a site called The West Virginia Surf Report. It shows advertising photos of fast food side-by-side with the real products, which were taken home and photographed immediately. Interesting, even if not useful. Via Signal vs. Noise.
- What killed Ryan Shay? When elite marathoner Ryan Shay died suddenly during the Olympic trials in November, an autopsy report and toxicology screen were expected within a week. Three months later, there is only this promise of news soon. From WCSN.com via Runners’ World.
4-7. Cletus take the reel by Tim Hawkins (via Al Perry)…
- Afghan student sentenced to death for distributing a report. With allies like these, who needs the Taliban? From Wired.
Immaculate renovations. Photos of some amazingly creative worship spaces, along with a few churches transformed into something else. From The Cool Hunter.- Worshipers return to tradition. A U.S. News article on how Catholics, young Christians and people of other faiths are moving beyond contemporary worship to ancient traditions. Thanks to MHCCer John Peterson for the article.
- The 10 most redeeming films of 2007 from Christianity Today.
- High school coach bites wrestler, gets in trouble. In my day, this was encouraged. From ESPN.
- MHCC high-schoolers Kara and Hannah are teaming up to support a World Vision child. Well done.
- What did you say? A new blog by MHCCer John Hill.
The blizzard of 1978. A major winter storm smashed northeast Ohio when I was 13. My older brother reminisces about it in this story in the Coshocton Tribune.- Stallone brags about HGH use. Sylvester Stallone got into Rambo shape using human growth hormone and says it’ll be an over-the-counter product in a decade. From the AP.
- Frontline: Growing Up Online. A friend saw this Frontline report on PBS this week and recommended it (You can watch it online). It asks: “Just how radically is the internet transforming the experience of childhood?”
- The life and early death of David Woodley. At age 24, David Woodley led the Miami Dolphins to the Super Bowl. That was in January of 1983. His life was a disaster after that. Elizabeth Merrill beautifully tells his tragic story in this ESPN article.
- Obama isn’t a Muslim. That email that you sent to your 1,000 closest friends about how Obama was sworn in with his hand on the Quran…it’s a lie. In this interview with Christianity Today, Obama talks about his faith, faith-based programs…and abortion.
- Spirit of the Marathon. Not many folks will pay $10 to watch a documentary in the theater, but I did, and I had a great time. This inspiring feature on the many and varied types of people who run marathons was supposed to play for one day only, but now there is another screening planned for February.
- Darth Vader plays blues harmonica. 1.1 million people have seen this funny video already, but maybe you haven’t. The internet was made for this.
- The seamless garment of life. A Catholic scholar lays out the rationale for linking all life-issues in this article from The Word Among Us.
- Facing the myth of redemptive violence. Walter Wink outlines in great detail this myth that I spoke about this morning. I certainly disagree with some of Wink’s views about Scripture, but I am deeply moved by his take on violence. From Ekklesia.
- Confessing Christ in a world of violence. Before the 2004 elections, many Christian leaders signed this statement, which is an attempt to apply Christ’s teachings to current events of a violent nature. From Sojourners.
- The Commons - Old photos from the Library of Congress at Flickr. I recently mentioned the delightful Shorpy as a source for old photos. Now the Library of Congress is opening parts of its huge photo collection through Flickr. One of the first available sets contains photos from the 1930s and 40s in beautiful color. Via TechCrunch.
- Apostrophe Abuse. Another great blog waging the war for decent punctuation (alongside The “Blog” of Unnecessary Quotation Marks which I recently mentioned). “Thank’s” to Summer for this one.
- Suzanne Pleshette dies at 70. Her crowing achievement wasn’t Newhart or The Birds, but being mentioned in That Thing You Do, a movie that swept away MHCC’s youth group in the late 90s. P.S. - Sam the Butcher died too.
- True art.
Stone Crossings. The site for a new book you’ll find valuable. It’ll be published in April by InterVarsity.- NBA’s Joakim Noah is benched…by his teammates. Chicago Bulls players stand up to a multi-millionaire rookie and tell him to get it together. I like it. From ESPN.
- Abortion debate brewing in Nashville. From the Knoxville News Sentinel.
- Did you see American Gladiators last Monday? This is old news, but I didn’t hear of this local competitor until the day the show aired. He works out here in Kingston where MHCC’s youth minister lifts, and I hear he has some interesting insights on the difference between TV and reality. Here’s the News Sentinel feature on him.
- Who would Jesus vote for? Obama, of course, followed closely by Huckabee. So says this poll from Relevant magazine, a site which targets Christians under 30 (my perception). The poll is mostly fluff, but the interesting questions are #3 and #8 on the linked page.
- Meaningless football rant. The Colts rested their starters two weeks ago, which opened the playoff door for our Titans and closed it for my Browns. How does that plan usually work out? Like this. PS - Awesome drive by former Titan Billy Volek.
- The paomnnehal pweor of the hmuan mnid.
- Imperial history of the Middle East. Check out this fascinating, 90-second, animated demo that visually answers the question: “Who has conquered the Middle East in the past 5,000 years?”
- The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks. Someone else has taken up my vain battle against poor punctuation. I love this site. If you don’t, you are probably part of
the problem. 
- Shorpy: The 100-year-old photo blog. A captivating site of user-submitted photos from the distant past.
- Glassbooth guides you to the U. S. presidential candidate who sees things like you do. Rank the issues and take the survey and Glassbooth tells you who your best matches are. (When I did it, GB named two candidates I’d never heard of, which is why I shouldn’t be allowed to vote).
- Shane Claiborne on Speaking of Faith. This link takes you to an information-rich page about Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution and an important voice in the church today. The page was developed by American Public Media’s excellent radio show Speaking of Faith. I highly recommend SOF’s audio interview with Shane. You’ll find links to his writings as well.
- Halls of Fame. Ryan and Sara Hall are two of America’s best distance runners. They are also dedicated Christians. This Running Times article focuses mostly on their running, but jump ahead to the last page to hear how important Christ is to them. (Ryan won the U.S. Men’s Olympic Marathon Trials in November).
- Recovering from Excellence. Excellence in church is sometimes a euphemism for perfectionism and materialism. Daniel Schantz diagnoses the disease and prescribes a cure in this Christian Standard article (via Out of Ur).
Sunday Seven
Sunday Seven
Sunday Seven
Today I preached on creating a culture of life for everyone. The first three links provide some rich food for thought along those lines.
