Not saying that's a bad thing... check this out. Caramel ice cream, swirls of caramel & fudge, seeded with fudge-covered chunks of, yes, you guessed it, caramel.
Maus nach Haus
It also works well with adults... it's a great filler while you're waiting for someone else to join in a game or to bring out with non-gaming adults at a party.
My three year old is able to play (not well) but he can participate. I'd say that "age 5+ recommendation is about right for decent play. The game does scale well - it works with 2-4 players, though is best with a full complement at the table.
Tait + Taylor - Furler = Who Knows?!
Michael Tait is the new lead singer for the Newsboys... wow. Well, it's not like they haven't switched lineups & lead singers before - but bringing Tait onboard is an interesting twist. According to Wikipedia, they've got a new album coming out in May that Steve Taylor had a hand in, writing several songs & even singing on one of them.
If you don't know who I'm talking about, it's the CCM equivalent of George Michael taking over the lead vocal duties of Genesis from Phil Collins - who took them over from Peter Gabriel back in the day... and then having the love child of Weird Al & The Clash come and work on your new record. If you do know who I'm talking about, discuss how good my analogy is in the comments - yes, I'm talking to you, Zionred & Nord.
Rebel is...
My prediction: on Heroes, Rebel is Micah Sanders - the technology kid.
And here's my reasons why:
Rhino Is My Hero
The kids saw Bolt again at the "cheap" theater on Friday. (BTW, didn't these used to be called "dollar theaters"? It was $3/person, which is decent compared to getting yammed by the regular-priced theaters.) It comes out on DVD tomorrow. "(It's) beyond awesome! (it's)... be-awesome!"
Best quote... a network suit gives the Truman Show-esque director of Bolt's TV show a dose of reality: "The show's too predictable. The girl's in danger, the dog saves her from the creepy english guy, we get it. There's always a happy ending. And our focus groups tell us 18 to 35 year olds are unhappy. They're not happy with happy." Ahem... can anyone say, "This explains why comic books read like they do right now?!"
Must... Read... Rules... Closer...
Found two different games this last week that I've been playing incorrectly... and I'm the one who read/taught the rules:
Daddy Cool
I think what takes this game into the edge of kid gaming perfection is the components... the chunky tiles, the custom dice & the cool bear tokens. And, for once, a game that has a backstory that explains why the animals come in DayGlo colors. (Though, come to think of it, you got ask some questions about Inuits that are looking to paint their homes in the same color scheme as Toontown.)
A couple of notes about age & number of players: I've had good success with younger players in a mixed group (adults & kids) - my 3 year old can play this with some help. But although the box says 2-6 players, the game works much better with 3 or more.
Of all of the artists on this list (the Soundtrack of My Life list I created some time back), I've probably been aware of Andrew Peterson the least amount of time. Shane & Steve Oakley are good friends of ours in Nashville who have an inside track on the music scene... since Shane & her sister recorded 3 albums under the name State of Mind back in the mid-late 90's. (Shari, my lovely wife, is actually in the "thank you's" on their final album, as she helped babysit Shane's daughter while they recorded vocals.)
Anyway, I remember Shane talking about going to see Andrew Peterson's Christmas concert every year... that he brought a veritable who's who of Nashville session players & singer/songwriters together to perform Christmas carols. Then, after a short break, they would come back & perform pieces of a Christmas musical/cantata/whatever that Andrew wrote over a number of years. Sadly, we never went to see these shows when they were so readily available.
Fast forward to 2004... when Shane burned Shari a CD of songs to as an encouragement gift. (Our transition here to Fresno was pretty rough - to go from a place where we were surrounded by close friends who were raising kids our age to a small town where we didn't have any connections except those provided by the good folks of our church.) The cut she included from Andrew Peterson was "Just As I Am" from his Love & Thunder album.
Something about the song chewed at my heart - enough so that Shari & I went out and bought the whole album - only to discover songs like "Let There Be Light" and "Family Man" and "After the Last Tear Falls". Here was a guy who combined literate writing with a Nashvillian singer/songwriter vibe musically to craft exquisite songs that wind themselves around your heart & your head. We bought his first two albums as well - Clear to Venus & Carried Along. (Well, actually, there was another album before that - Walk - but I've never actually seen a copy.) They were good but nothing stood out like Love & Thunder. Then, in 2004, he finally finished the Christmas musical and released a CD of it - Behold the Lamb of God. I'll talk about it more in a minute, because I didn't know this album existed until Christmas 2006. Instead, my next experience with Andrew's music was the haunting album, The Far Country. The lyrics are a series of musings on "longing for Heaven" (the Far Country of the title)... and songs like "The Havens Grey" and "Little Boy Heart Alive" sound like echoes from deep within my soul.It's the fear that I've failed one too many times It's the fear that His love is no better than mine
It was another year or so before I found Behold the Lamb of God, which is absolutely the best Christmas album I own. It tells the story of Jesus' birth from beginning (the Passover) to end (his sacrificial death on the cross)... and the incredible music is complemented by thoughtful lyrics & wonderful performances by Andrew and some guests, including another favorite of mine, Derek Webb. It's become my favorite Christmas album - "So Long, Moses" is almost guaranteed to leave me in tears every time I hear the bridge:Come to the Father Come to the deeper well Drink of the water And come to live a tale to tell Pages are turning now This is abundant life The joy in the journey Is enough to make grown man cry
"He'll bear no beauty or glory Rejected, despised A man of such sorrow We'll cover our eyes He'll take up our sickness Carry our tears For his people He will be pierced He'll be crushed for our evils Our punishment feel By his wounds We will be healed."I got Andrew's newest album for Christmas - Resurrection Letters, Vol. 2... then had the privilege of hosting him for an album release concert at my church last month. It was delightful to hear him share about the origin of the different songs - Braeden fell in love with "Rocket" and I found myself floored by the personal nature of "The Good Confession (I Believe)." You need to know as well that he's written songs for Veggietales (the ballad from the Wizard of Ha's is from his album for kids entitled Slugs, Bugs & Lullabies... and the song, "You Can Always Come Home" will make you weep like a baby if you're a parent and/or take the story of the Prodigal Son seriously) as well as started authoring a series of fantasy novels, beginning with On The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. When I hear Andrew's music, I hear echoes of the Truth... he weaves together the stuff of my life (a longing for adventure, a love for the writings of C.S. Lewis, delight in being a husband & a father, desire to follow Jesus) and his music carries me further up & further in. Give it a listen.
Dschungelschatz/Jungle Treasure
Once you finish your assigned tasks, you can pull another gem or call "Stop!" - of course, if you don't call "Stop!" before the time runs out, you get no treasure (points) for this turn. (Ouch.)
The tasks are a variety of speed, dexterity & recognition "games":
Each player gets three turns... the person with the most treasure at the end of the game wins.
Sounds simple, eh? It is... and that's part of what makes it such a good little game. It's blindingly simple to teach - once you explain the timer, you take the first turn & they'll figure most of the game out. Kids love the frenetic activity and the mystery timer mechanic (borrowed from his earlier game, Time Is Money - this, btw, is the better game)... but don't count adults out. I've tried this with numerous groups of adults only, always with success.
Fraga recently released Treasure, Ready, Go! (also published by Haba) which is very similar to this game with a slightly younger (age 5+) range, a larger box/component size & sillier art. I haven't had the chance to play it yet, but I want to! (You can pick it up from maukilo.com for $34.99.)
Yesterday, I filled y'all in on the BGG-related background of this & gave you my nickel tour of Matthew 18:15-17. (It was thrilling reading - if you missed it, take a minute & go check it out.)
Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.
Announced for an August 2009 release, a series of build'n'play Lego games by award-winning game designer, Reiner Knizia. Here's some definite info about the first game:
Boardgamenews (an EXCELLENT site for board game news) is reporting that the other games will be named Lava Dragon, Minotaurus, Lunar Command and Pirate Code... and that they will retail for 10 - 35 Euros each (which is roughly $15-$53 American). There is currently no plans to release them in the U.S., so that means I'll be working amazon.de or other sources come the end of summer. Sigh.Building, playing, changing, redesigning: Lego has transferred its core competencies to a board game for the first time. In Ramses Pyramid, the mummy king Ramses threatens to conquer Egypt. The only person who can stop him is the one who collects the most magic crystals, skilfully avoids the mummies and is the first to climb the pyramid.
The playing fun is at several levels, but the board and even the dice have to be built first. The players can change and adapt the board, dice and rules as they wish. (from toyfair.de)
If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.This is one of those "easy to understand, difficult to live" passages in the Scripture - which, btw, contains a lot more of those than we want to acknowledge. (It's much easier to act like the book is obtuse & difficult to follow... cuz then you don't have to follow it!) Let me break it into bite-sized pieces:
The sticking point in the discussion was the final phrase: "if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector." What does that mean?
This is where having some historical context is helpful - while we here in the 3rd millennium are not big fans of the IRS, we don't think they are corrupt minions of the evil overlords... which is a pretty decent picture of how 1st century Jews looked at them. Rabbinical writings of the time often used the pairing of "robbers & tax collectors" while Roman writers (such as Chrysostom) let ring with the pungent "brothel keepers & tax collectors."
Various translations use the words "pagan" and "Gentile" (people who are religiously & ethnically not Jewish) interchangeably. Gentiles were ritually unclean and so were to be avoided by devout Jews... so, we've got Jesus telling folks that the church has the right/obligation to ostracize habitually sinning people who claim to be followers of Jesus.
Some of Paul's writings help clarify what that is going to look like "when the rubber hits the road":
But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you." (1 Corinthians 5:11-13, NIV)
If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. (2 Corinthians 2:5-8, NIV)
Next time out, I'll deal with the question: "Are there different rules for those in positions in spiritual authority?"
Mäuse-Rallye/Mice Rally
I've finally caught up with Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, thanks to hulu.com, and I'm not sure what I think of the show.
Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. The reason Whedon returns over & over to this formulation is that it allows for a wide variety of story angles & arcs. He can flesh out both good & bad characters, allowing for gradations of motives & actions that give an unreal situation real resonance.
The problem for Dollhouse is that the mythology is developing too slowly for people to give it a chance... back in the day (see: the first couple of seasons of the X-Files), off-beat shows were given appropriate time to grow & flower. But when shows as wonderful as Firefly or Pushing Daisies get bumped off the air and/or relegated to crappy time slots (like 9 pm on Friday nights, where Dollhouse lives), it's unlikely that this newest show will be given the opportunity to shine.
Pathfinder
Scene-It? Disney
Yet another meme... but I kinda liked this one. Thanks to Jenny Nichols for posting it to Facebook (or at least posting it where I could see it.)
Foodology
Technology
Biology
Bullcrapology
Currentology
Randomology
Questionology
A healthy church doesn't need a youth pastor.As a former youth pastor (nearly 13 years of lock-ins, cold pizza & egg-in-armpit relay, along with some amazing spiritual moments in the lives of youth & their families), that statement hit me upside the face. And since I preached through Luke 6 and the whole "turn the other cheek" thing last week, I kept reading Mark Riddle's book, Inside the Mind of Youth Pastors: A Church Leader's Guide to Staffing & Leading Youth Pastors anyway. In general, Mark says that churches rush to hire a youth pastor, do so for the wrong reasons, and then hamstring the person they hire with hidden expectations and inadequate support. This, my friends, was the story of my youth ministry life, with the wondrous exception of Good Shepherd Baptist Church in Silsbee, TX. If I had enough cash, I'd buy this for every senior pastor/staff member who was working with a youth pastor. It should be required reading. There's chapters on why you should never ask a potential youth pastor about his vision for ministry, why churches really don't want to hire innovative/catalytic youth pastors (been there, done that) and an especially pointed chapter entitled "If You Aren't Going to Mentor Your Youth Pastor, You Don't Deserve One." It's not a difficult read - well, I mean, Mark Riddle doesn't wax philosophical or get caught up in long-winded arguments. Instead, he makes his points quickly, cleanly & with passion... then gives you (and your staff) questions to process those ideas. A key passage on overall church health & youth ministry success:
I was talking with Wayne, a senior pastor, about my company's consulting services. Wayne explained his situation this way: "We can't seem to find just the right people for our youth staff. We've bee through four middle school pastors in the past five years and three high school pastors in about that same amount of time. We need to find 'just the right people' to join our 'team.'" "The Riddle Group can support you by..." I began. Wayne interrupted me. "Look, I have my thumb on everything that goes on in that church and in that youth ministry," he said. "What are you going to tell me that I don't already know?" I paused, looked him in the eye, and said, "I'm going to tell you why your church has been through seven pastors in five years." At least, that's what I wanted to say. Instead, I said, "My guess is that it's not about finding the right person for your church. The issue isn't a staffing problem, because after seven different youth pastors it seems like you've probably had every personality type in leadership already. I'd guess that the reason your staff members are leaving is likely something else present within the church." We didn't get the job. The weaknesses of your church as a whole will almost invariably be present in your youth ministry as well. If your church struggles with finding volunteers, lack of follow through, laziness, or consumerism, you'll find those same traits in the youth ministry.See what I'm talking about? This is a MUST-read book for ministry. However, I'm well aware that there are roughly five types of senior pastors out there, thus (sadly) reducing the potential audience for this book:
There's good stuff in here for youth pastors, too - his two principles for deciding whether to take a position are dynamite, as are the questions you should ask. (I'm a big fan of questions... could have saved me a LOT of heartache if I'd been willing to ask 'em and learned to listen not only to the answer but the WAY they were answered.)
This would also be a very helpful book for youth pastor search teams. Much of the first half of the book argues for a hiring process with greater patience & faith than many I've been involved with. (I will say that my current church, NewLife Community Church, is an exception to this.)
A final personal note: I'm really thankful for Aaron Kellar, our former worship/youth pastor here at NewLife. Due to life circumstances, I didn't get to do all of these things for him, and yet he served diligently and with a profound love for Jesus. Way to go, dude.
More to come...
There are no foolish questions and no man becomes a fool until he has stopped asking questions. (Charles P. Steinmetz)If you find yourself & others encouraged and/or bullied into "quiet submission," then head for the door as quickly as possible. If the door's locked, leave a hole shaped like you in it - just as if you were a Looney Tune cartoon. And this doesn't have to be a church, though they can sometimes be the worst offenders. In the last month or so, I've read about the horrors of the Mormon Handcart Tragedy (in the book Devil's Gate) and the evils of the USSR show trials & purges in pre-WW2 Russia (in the book The Forsaken)... so while I'm neither a Mormon or a Communist, it's pretty easy to figure out that they aren't exactly the same thing. The inference is, of course, that a belief in God is a NOT a reliable warning sign - it's the unwillingness to tolerate questions and/or disagreement. God isn't afraid of your questions - He spends two whole books of the Bible (Job & Habakkuk) listening to and answering the questions of those who don't understand what He's doing. Jesus answers question after question without striking anyone dead or disfellowshipping them.
One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: "Which is most important of all the commandments?" Jesus said, "The first in importance is, 'Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.' And here is the second: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment that ranks with these." (Luke 12:28-31 MSG)The people who are afraid of your questions - be they fundamentalist zealots or left-wing ideologues - are interested not in your drawing close to truth but instead desire your lockstep response to their particular spin on reality. Escape from them as fast as you can - do not pass Go... do not collect $200.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (Luke 7:7-8 ESV)
Two Pleasant Surprises, Considering What I Wrote A Couple of Days Ago
And, so you can see what he's talking about... Sunday nights at 8 pm PST, people... don't miss out.In Interlaken, the leading four teams have already arrived, and Kleine Rugen Wiese turns out to be pretty easy to find on foot. Might have something to do with the guys in traditional Swiss garb banging on large iron kettles. Mel/Mike are the first to reach the clue box, which tells them, "Join the local work force." Phil narrates, "Teams must now choose a pair of these traditional antique cheese racks and climb to the top of this hill. Once at the top, teams will transport two hundred pounds of cheese from this aging-shed to the bottom of the hill." Then they'll need to stack them on a long shelf attached to the shed near the clue box, and they'll get their next clue. Funny, it sounds so easy when Phil says it.
But it's trickier than it sounds. The first sign of trouble is when the teams walk over to where these alleged "cheese racks" are scattered in front of the cheese house. I'm not sure how exactly to describe these cheese racks, but I'll give it a try. Imagine if you will two kinds of chairs: deck, and electric. Imagine further that kits from IKEA containing the pieces for each were dropped into a darkened cave filled with feral children who are ginked out on crystal meth. What you will fish out of that cave after two weeks is what the Swiss apparently refer to as a cheese rack. Now all you need to do is strap it onto your back, with the padded board resting on top of your head and the rickety shelf protruding straight out behind you, and you're good to go. To hell. Mel, Mike, Margie, and Luke each grab one, and then get a load of the climb ahead of them. "This is insane," Mike says. He doesn't know the half of it yet.
Eureka!
