New Year - New Diary

An entry I wrote in my diary just after new year -

Well, it's the end of one year and the start of a new one. A time for reflection and for looking forward and time to start a new diary. I thought I'd go for one of these fancy moleskin ones (I must be becoming a vicar by osmosis, because looking around at college, everyone seems to have one of these now), with the idea being that I might actually use it. I have been so disorganised this year at college, which I put down to 'death by paper.' In the end I began to just ignore the many and various bits of paper that arrived in my pigeon hole, and hence I missed a few appointments. This year, as well as the diary I have a triple back up system - iCal, google calendars, and the calendar on my phone (oh, and on my iPod as well) all synced and with various alarm systems, so I've got no excuses.

In 2008 I began running, which I love. I've lost about a stone and I feel a lot better for it. I decided to pursue a PhD, rather than get ordained in 2009 and start a curacy. This both excites me and fills me with dread, although not as much dread as being a vicar. This year at college, I have felt a bit less full of self doubt, although this does go up and down. Towards Christmas I felt a bit out of things (e.g. college green, pastoral group etc) simply because we had so many weekends away. This year we should be around more, not least because our second baby is due on March 25th! Looking forward to this obviously but a bit nervous about fitting in all the work I will have to do, including all the application forms for funding. Should definitely be an exciting year though!

Mark Driscoll Kicks His Own Ass

'Mark Driscoll, Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, took a dramatic stand against girly men at a Pastor’s Conference in Houston last week.

The conference, called “re:tool and re:load,” previously billed as “jesus 2.0,” featured speakers from around the country with the stated focus of “Making the Gospel and Missiology Relevant to Post Modern Culture.” Speaking at the last session of the conference, Driscoll focused his three-and-a-half-hour talk on the need for pastors to be more alpha.

“The problem with our churches today is that the lead pastor is some sissy boy who wears cardigan sweaters, has The Carpenters dialed in on his iPod, gets his hair cut at a salon instead of a barber shop, hasn’t been to an Ultimate Fighting match, works out on an elliptical machine instead of going to isolated regions of Russia like in Rocky IV in order to harvest lumber with his teeth, and generally swishes around like Jack from Three’s Company whenever Mr. Roper was around.”'

read the whole thing at The Wittenburg Door

:)

update: NB - Please note - this is a SATIRE. It is made up. It has come to my attention that some folk thought these quotes were real!

the following excerpt should make this clear -
In Houston, Driscoll was intent on making absolutely clear that he is in favor of masculinity. At the 2 hour, 15 minute mark, he invited five pastors from the audience to take the stage, put his hands behind his back, stuck out his chin, and said, “Hit me with your best shot. Go on. I won’t hit you back. I want to show everyone what this is all about.” When none of the five took a swing, Driscoll had them escorted from the building and proceeded to hit himself five times.

“This is what being a pastor is about, guys. If you can’t handle it, go back to teaching yoga or playing My Little Pony with the other girls.”

It's a JibJab Life

A friend of mine sent me this for Christmas last year. I watched it again with friends last night and I'd forgotten how funny it is. They encouraged me to share it here, so here it is - It's a Wonderful Life as you've never seen it, starring yours truly, Su, Napoleon Dynamite and the Bishop of Durham. Thanks, Michael.

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard.
Try JibJab Sendables!

p.s. I've noticed that this embedded shockwave thing seems to crash my browser on occasion, so if that happens to you, then follow this link and watch it, which seems to work better.

Creative Genius

Someone has way too much time on their hands. Those who are unfortunate enough to have to use Windows XP or 98 will recognise the crappy sound effects. There is something God-like about taking these useless and annoying noises and weaving them into a piece of music.



Thanks to bigbulkyanglican for the link.