Friday, December 30, 2011
Transformers Feature: Vector Prime
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Transformers Feature: Shattered Glass Goldbug
Monday, December 26, 2011
Shopping for Baby Clothes

Oddly enough, I'm not talking about shopping for any of my young nieces and nephews, either (although my youngest nephew, at a few months old, might nonetheless have been benefited from this adventure when I get to meet him in a few days, had it not worked out as I hoped). Rather, I was shopping for a Muppet.
Friday, December 23, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on Christmas Eve

Long-time and especially dedicated readers among you may recognize most of the text here as being identical to the podcast version I've linked to in the past (although there I'm still using the now-defunct TNIV). If you are such a person, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continuing support. And to everyone, a very Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
As Much Story As We Need

Monday, December 19, 2011
Reflections on Art and Charles Dickens

Saturday, December 17, 2011
Dealing with Rejection
Perhaps the words above seem familiar to you. I imagine most adults have gotten rejection letters of some kind or another at some time in their lives. However well-intentioned and even honest the words may attempt to be, the result is still inevitably bad news, and no one wants to have to read one of these things.Thank you very much for taking the time to fill out an application...
...Unfortunately, your name was not among those who will be nominated...
I hope that you can imagine how difficult it was... to have so MANY good folks to choose from—you among them—and not be able to select them all!
Friday, December 16, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on December 18th, 2011

As I have been doing all through Advent, I'd like to invite readers to consider how the themes of Advent are advanced by reading these passages this week.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Photo Contest Entry: Attack of the G2 Decepticons

Monday, December 12, 2011
Offbeat Transformers Collectibles: Fruit Flavored Snacks

Friday, December 09, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on December 11th, 2011

Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Parables Aren't Like This
Monday, December 05, 2011
Pasadena's Version of a Snow Day
This past Thursday morning, when I woke up, I checked my alarm clock as I always do to see what time it was.
I couldn't, because the power was out.
Although blackouts are by no means common, I've lived through enough of them that I didn't let it bother me too much. I checked my watch to see that it was indeed time to get up, and so attempted to start my day. Since our bathroom has no windows, I could only do even the most basic of necessities by lighting a candle for minimal illumination. Not able to do much else, I decided to go ahead and drive to work early.
I went outside, and saw the first examples of the damage done by the previous night's winds. We'd been told that they'd be pretty severe. "Hurricane force," in fact. So seeing that the pots and plants immediately outside most of my neighbors' apartments had been knocked about, and that the pool was filled with leaves and similar debris, was hardly a surprise, although seeing that the "School Crossing" sign across the street had been blown completely horizontal was rather unusual.
I couldn't, because the power was out.
Although blackouts are by no means common, I've lived through enough of them that I didn't let it bother me too much. I checked my watch to see that it was indeed time to get up, and so attempted to start my day. Since our bathroom has no windows, I could only do even the most basic of necessities by lighting a candle for minimal illumination. Not able to do much else, I decided to go ahead and drive to work early.
Friday, December 02, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on December 4th, 2011

One big question for all the passages below: How are the themes of Advent (and ask yourself "What are the themes of Advent?" if that helps) advanced by reading these passages this week?
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Music from Montreat: Just Before Daybreak

Monday, November 28, 2011
An Advent Reflection
Friday, November 25, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on November 27th, 2011

Isaiah 64:1-9
- People often associate the season of Advent with Christmas. And rightly so, given that it's the four Sundays immediately preceding the Christmas holiday, and many verses to be read during this season will involve explicitly Messianic promises or the prelude to the story of Jesus' birth. But there's more to the Advent season than just the story of a baby being born. Why do you think this passage is included during this time of year?
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
- It may not mean anything, but I'm struck by the inclusion of the possessive pronoun "my" in verse 4, in the midst of Paul's standard greeting (he gives thanks to God for his audience in several epistles, often including this pronoun). Why is this possessive pronoun included? Does Paul doubt that his audience also considers God "their" God?
- This passage certainly has little to do with the birth of the baby Jesus (which, of course, isn't covered in the gospel according to Mark at all, anyway)! As I said before, Advent isn't just a time for remembering that story. The inclusion of passages like this demonstrate that it also a time to reflect on Jesus' second coming.
- Or does it? When Jesus says "I assure you that this generation won’t pass away until all these things happen," can he be talking about his return? Or does he mean something by "this generation" other than the lifetimes of those humans hearing his words?
- What does it mean about Jesus that he says even "the Son" (presumably referring to himself, although I'm curious to hear if there's another interpretation) doesn't know when these things will take place?
- Might this passage have any meaningful connection to the parable we read a few weeks ago, or is it talking about something entirely different?
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Success, Assurance, and the Sims Social
Friday, November 18, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on November 20th, 2011

Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Obsessions, Distractions, and Allowing People to Serve

Monday, November 14, 2011
What Do You Miss?
Friday, November 11, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on November 13th, 2011

Here are the passages for November 13, 2011, the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A). All links are to the CEB via BibleGateway.com, but if you prefer another translation, feel free to use that instead (either with your own Bible, or via the drop-down menu at BibleGateway.com).
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Remembering Wrath Side Story

Monday, November 07, 2011
Game Show Board Games: Match Game (1974 2nd edition)

NBC did a version of The Match Game in the 1960's, but that's not the version that anyone remembers. The iconic version of Match Game is the version that started on CBS in 1973 (with the year proudly displayed after the name—Match Game '73—and changing each year as appropriate until the daytime network version was cancelled), which itself spawned a pair of successful syndicated versions (Match Game PM and The Match Game, the latter of which continued on for some time after the daytime version's end). Similarly, there were several home game versions of the NBC game, but I've neither seen any of those nor cared enough to spend much time searching for them. It's the iconic '70s version that I made the effort to add to my collection.
Friday, November 04, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on November 6th, 2011

Thursday, November 03, 2011
Scot McKnight on Junia - Part 3
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Scot McKnight on Junia - Part 2
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
November is National Model Railroad Month
Monday, October 31, 2011
Scot McKnight on Junia – Part 1
McKnight spoke on two occasions during his visit. The first was during our regularly-scheduled weekly chapel gathering, at which he spoke on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Although this was a challenging message worthy of commentary, I'm going to instead focus on the evening event, during which McKnight spoke about Romans 16, and specifically about the apostle Junia. The title of the lecture was "Junia is Not Alone in the Church."
Friday, October 28, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on October 30, 2011

Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Not a God of Unconditional Apathy
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sacred Place

Friday, October 21, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on October 23, 2011

That done, and since I have every reason to assume we'll all still be around, here are the passages for October 23, 2011, the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A). All links are to the CEB via BibleGateway.com, but if you prefer another translation, feel free to use that instead (either with your own Bible, or via the drop-down menu at BibleGateway.com).
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Humans Among Transformers Toys
Although the Transformers franchise has always been primarily about giant transforming robots, the folks behind the fiction have generally sought to include a human element to the saga from the very beginning. But the proportion of human representation in the toyline itself has always been fairly low. While this perhaps isn't an exhaustive accounting, I'll try to cover the bases.
The first attempt to include figures of human characters came in Generation One, with the advent of the Headmasters and Targetmasters (and, later, Powermasters). Technically, these aren't humans, but an alien race called Nebulans. However, in the Marvel comics, Nebulans were all but indistinguishable from humans, so I'll include them (and, Spike, the "Nebulan leader" who came with the original Fortress Maximus, was a human).
Monday, October 17, 2011
The Myth of the Middle Way

Friday, October 14, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on October 16, 2011

Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Not So Long Ago

Monday, October 10, 2011
Memories Evoked by "Brazil" and "Babka"
"What third world country...?"
A buzzer sounded, cutting the question off. In Quick Recall, unlike the modern version of Jeopardy!, interrupting a question is actively encouraged. This has the potential payoff of rewarding a good prediction by getting a response in before the other team has even figured out what is about to be asked, but it also has the obvious risk of potentially requiring an answer before the crucial clue has even been revealed.
Friday, October 07, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on October 9, 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on October 2, 2011

Monday, September 26, 2011
Bumper Stickers, Divisiveness, and Dialogue
Friday, September 23, 2011
The Reflectionary: Scripture for Worship on September 25, 2011

Thursday, September 22, 2011
Seven Dwarfs as Mortal Flesh

Monday, September 19, 2011
Sweets, Self-Control, and Spirituality

Shortly after making a batch over the Labor Day weekend (seen at left. They turned out really good, if I say so myself), I was reminded of a classic study in delayed gratification, involving marshmallows, that was conducted some 40 years ago.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Game Show Board Games: The New Tic-Tac-Dough (70s version)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
When "Personal Responsibility" Crosses the Line

In the last two debates, the GOP debate audience has cheered: 1. 234 executions, 2. Letting uninsured people dieI was already aware of the incident that point #1 refers to, and found Bruce Reyes-Chow's commentary on that incident to be a more than sufficient response. I chose not to throw in "my two cents" at that time, except to share that post via Twitter and Facebook.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Politics via Phineas and Ferb

Consider, for example, the following:
Friday, September 09, 2011
Attending Fuller's 2011 Faculty and Staff Welcome Event
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Game Show Board Games: Tic-Tac-Dough (1950s version)
Monday, September 05, 2011
Regarding The Wrath of God
Now, I expect that a great many churches will choose to recognize the 10-year anniversary of the tragic events in New York and elsewhere. It's become so much a part of our cultural fabric that it's hard to imagine not saying something about it. Even so, surely this is not the way to go about it!