June 2010
32 posts
“Can God work using a badly-made movie? Sure he can — but he’s also...”
– A blogger posting to a Christian blog newsletter. Hahaha this made me laugh pretty hard.
2 tags
Seventh day of ONS
Our second-to-last full day of Orientation for New Staff. And it has been interesting, tiring, and confusing. Hmm.
Scripture study today was good, but in the sense that the exposition was really good. I really had nothing to bring to the OIA time, nothing to really observe or interpret or apply. I felt completely inanimate basically the whole time. Like I did in the scripture study the day...
1 tag
Sixth day of ONS
Jim Lundgren today talked about IV’s core work — multiethnic witnessing communities, evangelism, and chapter growth. Today’s focus was multiethnicity and some of the multiethnic ministry (MEM) leaders/directors came up to speak. The main talk was all right, in many ways it didn’t feel like a strong piece of teaching, yet I realize that it’s largely because this is by...
2 tags
Fifth Day of ONS
Yesterday’s story gets better. I thought I raised $6170/17%. I was wrong. I misread one e-mail. I thought it said “$1000 per year” but as I was checking some correspondences, I saw that it actually said “$1000 per quarter.” So that’s $3000 more!!! I received $9170/25% of my budget yesterday. And today I got commitment for $2400 more, which puts me at 89% WHICH...
2 tags
Fourth day of ONS
Well this one takes the cake. What the flip.
Tonight I had the biggest single receipt of giving commitments I have had so far. Let’s be clear, it has been going FREAKING WELL so far, as far as pace and rate and timing. Excluding tonight, I’ve increased by 15% for the last 10 days prior to tonight. Tonight however blew me out of the water. Tonight alone I received a totally incredible...
2 tags
Third day of ONS
Reflections on ONS today…
I am getting sick. That is an unfortunate but not surprising consequence of many hours of training per day, not enough sleep, and having my small group’s table in an excessively air-conditioned section of the room. I’ve been countering this by taking naps and sleeping at reasonable hours.
Thanks to partners of all ages, incomes, and connections, today...
2 tags
Second day of ONS training
Today’s highlights/notable moments.
God is trying to get my attention about promises/the nature of His abundance. This obviously is a point of tension in my walk with Him from the past 2 years, believing abundance in the face of complete scarcity was very difficult. I’m eager to keep hearing how this might show up more in staff life and how that’ll eventually work out in my...
2 tags
First day of ONS training
Highlights/Notable things
I jumped 8% just TODAY in funding. Which means I’m now over 50%-funded. That is crazy provision. We are just starting the fundraising training stuff and in the last week I’ve gone from 37% to 52%. CRAZY.
Interesting tense moment in our small group today. A caucasian staff said some fearful/ignorant/reductionist things about the nature/importance/impact of...
BP vs. Exxon - corporate culture or lack thereof →
Really good article with a broader scope dissection of the disaster, that awful stupid hearing (“I’m not a cement engineer”…) and the meaning of corporate culture and how it matters.
1 tag
Do you want to be on my IV staff mailing list?
I’m just about to send out my very first IV staff newsletter to friends and partners. I realized that there might be friends who aren’t donors who want to be on this list, but I don’t wanna assume and then spam everybody. So…
Do you want to be on my IV staff mailing list?
1 tag
Racial Reconciliation - InterVarsity/USA, UVa, and... →
IV USA, and specifically UVa and Duke are all mentioned in this article. Very interesting read. Still challenged by this one.
Go Onion →
It’s an Onion article…
Reading is good.
I did a lot of reading while on vacation in Italy and before. I like this. It is so good to be able to read for leisure/education of my choosing again. Some of my favorite classes at Duke were my English ones, especially the ones taught by Victor Strandberg on American authors because we read so many novels, many of which are canonical/quasi-canonical in importance and really worth the time.
So...
Grace H's Durham "stuff to do" blog →
Yay. Go explore.
Fatty bird flies again! YAY :D →
Go kookaburra go. No more sausages or gum drops for you.
Coach K is making bank. But he's a long-term... →
Over $4 million a year. But he’s stated on record he’s staying at Duke FOREVER, as long as he can coach. Now that is a bold statement. In an athletic media world of equivocation and “We’ll see” and “I’m still considering my options,” Coach K said he is definitively staying at Duke. Well there you have it.
“Adam felt a quick pleasure so sharp that he had to examine it. And suddenly he...”
– Adam Trask, in East of Eden (chapter 26, end of section 1).
I long for this. Please don’t read this to mean I’m in a similar situation as victim of evil or perpetrator of fantasty/idolatry, I think that discredits both of us. But the way he feels, stupidly fearless and untouched by...
“I haven’t courage. I could never quite take the responsibility. When the...”
– Samuel Hamilton in East of Eden
I want to see.
(What I’ve written here is a little odd conceptually I think. I interchange dreams and vision and hope/belief etc. pretty freely, just to be clear)
Dreams are like partly-transparent sheets that overlay what we see, that affect the color or shape or size or tone of things. A teacher sees a student and belief in effort, education, love of learning and what not, envisions that the child can...
Europe: for what it was, not what it is
NOTA BENE: Before I begin let me say that NOBODY should read this post in a way that implies that America is better or superior. I am not saying that. If you think that after reading this, you’ve missed the point.
I am loving Italy so far, it’s been a great trip and good time with the parents overall. The food is good, the sights and art is good, my family interactions have really...
1 tag
Osservazioni da Italia (capitolo 3)
Some random things on my mind:
MY BARGAINING ETHOS WORKS AGAIN! Today I got three scarves in the San Lorenzo market when were passing through using the exact same tips I did earlier. I decided on the price with my Mom, and then I did all the talking. It was supposed to be 21 euros for 3. I said 18 euros for 3. She said 19. I said 18. She said 19. I said 18. Then she said OK. It was also raining...
1 tag
Osservazioni da Italia (capitolo 2)
This post will be about bargaining, which I’ve had to do while here in Italy. Thank God my mom has trained me well — I’ve learned/inherited her ability to stay calm. Which has gotten me a new leather wallet, a new leather belt, a new scarf, and a Murano glass wine stopper at great prices. I have to stop myself from becoming Eurochic…
The market next to San Lorenzo &...
