Satur-deja Vu

Atlanta curse my foot. Earlier this year I had to chance to see the World Series trophy on tour as it traveled not only across Georgia but a few other southern states. This week the Georgia Bulldogs Championship trophy was on display for a few hours at our local Food City. Dr. Pepper handed out t-shirts and 12 oz. can drinks and now I keep walking walking around the house shouting “Ice cold Dr. Pepper here!” If you know you know.

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iMonk Radio Podcast #102

How did I miss the intro change? The intro theme changed at episode #100 and that version would last through the end of the podcast series. I didn’t notice until I listened to this one.

Sabbatical winding down; Cornerstone ’08; talk about The Shack; Michael breaks down his seminar on the Evangelical Wilderness from Cornerstone.

Satur-deja Vu

Trapper Keeper – There is no good reason a 2nd grader would need one of these. But they were all the rage in 1983 and I had one anyway. Then another in the 3rd grade and again in the 4th. By the time I started middle school, and may have actually benefited from the kind of organization these monsters offered, the trend had run it’s course. Seeing these at Walmart this week warmed that soft 80’s spot in my heart.

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In Defense of Paul

I was accused a few years ago of being in a cult of Paul. The assertion was that myself and others made too much of the Apostle Paul, his writings and his particular brand of New Testament theology. We needed to be less Paul-focused and more Christ-focused. I argued that Paul was Christ focused and studying Paul should bring Christ into focus. Paul pushed back on some of those same accusations during his ministry stating the Christ is not divided and there are not Paul Christians, Apollos Christians, etc. Here is a link to my first Defense of the Apostle Paul from eight years ago. The comment thread was very involved, and might be longer than the actual post.

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iMonk Radio Podcast #101

Discussion of George Carlin leads to broader discussion of how Christians relate to others, particularly atheists. This is the George Carlin post that apparently set some people off, or whose comments set Michael off, either/or.

Satur-deja Vu

The original muesli was created in Switzerland around 1900. A physician by the name of Maximilian Bircher-Benner came up with the dish as a remedy for his hospital patients. (In the United States, two brothers named Kellogg invented corn flakes at a sanitarium in Michigan and as that business took off a former patient, C.W. Post, began a rival company. There is a strange correlation between doctors, patients, hospitals and breakfast cereal.) If you grew up in Europe, especially Switzerland or Germany, muesli may have been a staple for breakfast or even lunch. In the United States I never heard of it until Kellogg’s began marketing Mueslix. Pictured above is a store brand box of Muesli from Kroger. I discovered that cereal a couple of years ago while working at Kroger, otherwise I wouldn’t know it exists. I can buy Muesli still but not Kellogg’s Mueslix… at least in the store. I have now learned that i can order Mueslix from Amazon.com or even Walmart.com. Our local Walmart doesn’t put it on the shelf but Kellogg’s makes it and I can order it from Walmart and get it with two-day shipping. Just like I can buy store brand bran flakes at Walmart and Food Lion but cannot find Kellogg’s or Post bran flakes anywhere. Those brand name cereals are also still produced but not carried by grocery stores, at least where I live. Your mileage may vary.

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Let’s Talk About Eternity

The Heritage Singers once said “Forever is a long, long time.” That’s the way many of us probably think about eternity; a very, very long time. A verse of Amazing Grace starts out “When we’ve been there 10,000 years…” The truth is that eternity takes place outside of time. It’s not made up all time but is rather the exact opposite of time.

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iMonk Radio Podcast #100

What iMonk Radio needs is more commercialism; a “look back” at the early days of podcasting; still on sabbatical; baseball; Cornerstone ’08; Michael says “Jesus Shaped” a lot; David Fitch (I do not have that link) review of David Wells The Courage to be Protestant.

Satur-deja Vu

If you dial 988 (in the United States) you will be connected to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. The new 988 number replaces the previous 11 digit number. The old 1-800 number will continue to work but 988 is the same for calls, text and chat. Veterans can dial 988 and press 1 to connect to the Veterans’ Crisis Line. The new 3 digit number provides ease of access during times of crisis for vets and non-vets alike. Help is available for individuals in need or those who care about them.

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iMonk Radio Podcast #99

Michael self-identifies as i-Monk in the intro; When you hear Ravi Zacharias, keep in mind this podcast was new in 2008; Walter Brueggemann, Prayers for a Privileged People; Daniel Berrigan, The Kings and Their Gods: The Pathology of Power; poetry by Wendell Berry; longer discussion of Robert Capon. Here is a post featuring Capon quotes via Jesus Shaped Spirituality.