Adam Gonnerman

The Road to Rio - Brazil's Forced Removals

2012-05-18T12:18:00.000-04:00

When the Olympics were held in China, scattered reports came out of forced evictions and people left homeless by preparations for the event. Such was expected by many of us in the West from the communist government of that nation. It may surprise some to learn that Brazil, a modern, democratic nation, is not much different. Nations states are nation states, and they do as they please to benefit the bottom line for the wealthy insiders. The following short film explains the injustice that's going on in the time leading up to Brazil hosting the World Cup and Olympics.

Faith In Famine

2012-05-16T10:09:00.002-04:00

Come join us this Sunday at the Gateway Church of Christ as the G4 Youth Ministry presents "Faith in Famine." This will conclude our spiritually packed weekend of doing World Vision's "30 Hour Famine."

Holmdel Senior/Community Center
6 Crawford's Corner Road
Holmdel, NJ 07733

Kingdom Kids & Young Ladies Class - 9:15-9:45 am
Worship Service - 10:00-11:00 am

For more information or directions please visit our website
www.gatewaynj.com

To help my daughter towards her $360 goal for the 30 Hour Famine, click here and contribute. Thanks!

30 Hour Famine with Gateway Church of Christ

2012-05-15T10:43:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned yesterday, my daughter will be participating in Gateway Church of Christ's 30 Hour Famine, supporting the work of World Vision in fighting childhood hunger and poverty around the world. The following explanation by Mark Zielinski is from Gateway's 30 Hour Hunger page:

We are so excited to be doing our Famine this year! During the 30 Hour Famine, our youth group will actually NOT EAT for 30 hours. YES! You read that right. Teenagers... not eating...for 30 hours. Why? Because nearly 11,000 children under age 5 die every day because of hunger-related causes. That's one child every 10 seconds. And we are NOT okay with that, we will NOT stand by while children die from lack of food.

In the time leading up to and during our 30 hours of fasting, the students are going to get a crash course in global hunger and come face to face with the realities of poverty and injustice. We will make a global impact by learning about world hunger and raising money for hungry children around the world through World Vision; a local impact through service projects and raising awareness during our 30 hours; and making an individual impact on us when we will all get a small taste of what it is like for starving kids around the world.

The Famine is our chance to make a difference, our chance to make hunger part of our history not our present, and our chance actually do something about hunger. Our youth have come together and set a group goal, each $30 we raise will help feed and care for a child for a month. Check out our thermometer to see our goal. Will you help us reach our goal this year? Please donate today.

Thanks for sponsoring us to go without food so others can eat. And so our Famine begins.

In Christ,

Mark Zielinski
Youth & Family Evangelist
Gateway Church of Christ
www.gatewaynj.com

Support Gateway Church's 30 Hour Famine

2012-05-14T10:56:00.000-04:00

This coming weekend, May 19 & 20, my daughter will be participating with Gateway Church of Christ's youth group in the 30 Hour Famine. This is a "crash course" in global poverty that confronts young people with the hard reality of social injustice, as well as with God's call to action for the poor. For more information, and to sponsor Gateway's 30 Hour Famine, click here.

N.T. Wright Sings Bob Dylan

2012-05-10T10:51:00.000-04:00

Reverend Thomas McKenzie shares the following video, taken at The Rabbit Room in Nashville, TN on May 7, 2012. Reverend N.T. Wright demonstrates that he's no single-talent man, and that he means it when he talks about expressing the truth of God in all we do, including work, the arts and music.

For more on that evening, click here.

Learn Something Online

2012-05-04T09:30:00.000-04:00

When I first took an interest in Linux and also software/web development a few years ago, I was amazed at how much information, usually in the form of tutorials, was available online for free. As if that weren't enough, there were forums with (generally) helpful people willing to answer questions. In recent times, some universities and other groups have begun offering free online courses, with or without a certificate at the end. Three of the more interesting (to me) options are as follows:

Check them out.

Investidores Anjos no Brasil

2012-05-03T09:30:00.000-04:00

Duas semanas atras, o jornal Fantastico da Rede Globo passou esta reportagem sobre investidores anjos no Brasil. Achei bom, como uma iniciação nos termos e conceitos do mundo startup para o público brasileiro.

The Lean Startup: An Interview with Eric Reis

2012-05-02T10:57:00.001-04:00

Eric Reis has failed been through enough start-up failures to write a book...and so he did. In "The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses" he lays out his lessons learned, along with his proposal for a better way to be an entrepreneur. The Lean Startup approach, together with Agile methodologies and the Scrum framework, are of great interest to me. Frankly, my dream job would be with a startup that employs these concepts (and if it were located in Brazil, then even better!)

I love what Eric has to say in the video below, from Wired's recent Business Conference in New York. Take 25 minutes and give it a listen. WIRED Business Conference: The Lean Startup from WIRED on FORA.tv

See also:
Startup Lessons Learned (Eric Reis' blog)
Introduction to Scrum

How Linux Is Built

2012-04-30T10:12:00.000-04:00

The following video gives a solid, straightforward explanation of how Linux is put together. It's all about collaboration and openness.

Dump Day 2012 is May 2nd

2012-04-27T10:42:00.000-04:00

The annual "Dump Day" to benefit ongoing work with the poor who work in the Tegucigalpa dump in Honduras will be May 2nd. I've blogged frequently over the past few years about the important work going on in Honduras, and encourage everyone to get informed, get involved and give. This is an effort primarily of the Churches of Christ, directed by Marc and Terri Tindall. One of the things I love about them, without having met them yet in person, is their genuine love for people. Although they are Christian missionaries, they aren't practicing bait-and-switch by being kind and doing benevolence with the ulterior motive of evangelism. Doing social good flows from them without that condition and as part of the Christian life. They care about the people they meet.

The money given goes to provide food on a weekly basis to people at the dump, and is also used as emergency funds for medical care and other urgent needs. Part of it is also set apart for specific development projects.

Please read the following article and posts, and watch the video. Pray for this effort, make a commitment to give and maybe even consider going on one of the trips down.

A day at the dump: Ministry serves the hardworking poor in Honduras (The Christian Chronicle)

How To Give On Dump Day and Dump Day Give-Aways (TreyMorgan.net)

Four Posts on New Heavens and New Earth

2012-04-15T09:30:00.011-04:00

People in my Christian circles know that one of my constant themes is New Heavens/New Earth. I grit my teeth every time a preacher tells us our home is in heaven or a song talks about "flying away" from this world after death. My annoyance has caught at least a couple of people by surprise, and I realize I need to tone it down a bit in my personal presentation of the biblical view of eternity. Still, for me there is no denying the truth.

Looking back over posts from a few years ago, I've uncovered some "classic" posts on the topic that still essentially reflect my understanding of the topic. Without further ado, here are four of my favorite posts on resurrection and New Heavens/New Earth:

Nowhere Will Be Here

Declared to be Son of God

Universal Entropy vs. Evolutionary Optimism

Grim Foundations

A Girl's Message To All Christians

2012-04-14T09:30:00.001-04:00

This young lady may be simplifying matters a bit, but I get where she's coming from. The video made the Tumblr rounds in the last few weeks, and I'm pretty sure it will stay in circulation for a while. One does not have to believe that "all roads lead to God" to be gracious toward everyone, regardless of their perspective and background.

No Justice from Brazil's Courts for Child Prostitutes

2012-04-13T09:30:00.004-04:00

Neither the knowledge that in Brazil sexual mores are more relaxed than in the United States, nor and that prostitution as such is not illegal in that country, prepared me for what I read in a recent artice from The Economist.

First, since 2009 the age of consent in Brazil is 14. I'm not sure if there are any further conditions involved, but 14? Such could be considered normal 100 years ago in either the United States or Brazil, but in our modern times with age of majority set at 18, 14 seems unreasonable.

Second -- and more shocking to me -- was a decision from Brazil’s highest criminal court on March 27th that girls as young as 12 can give proper consent if they have have sufficient sexual knowledge and experience. The case in question involved an adult man who had sex with three 12-year-old girls in 2002. Rather than set the age of consent at 12, the decision from the court was that these situations need to be handled on a case-by-case basis.

As noted in the article from The Economist, child prostitution often begins with rape. Thus a girl who has been raped then has enough understanding of sex (so it seems) to then consent to further sexual acts.

Regardless of whether a girl is familiar with sex or not, I believe society needs to make a decision to protect its most vulnerable members. Girls at age 12, regardless of whether they have had sex before or are otherwise "innocent," need to be protected.

See also:

The wrong signal (The Economist)

Child Prostitution in Brazil

Brazil’s Child Sex Trade

Dealing With Brazil's Sex Trade

Brazilian Evangelicals Launch a Campaign Against Child Sex Tourism

A Simple, Free Way to Learn Brazilian History (in Portuguese)

2012-04-12T09:30:00.001-04:00

Last December I shared about Telecurso, an excellent online resourch provided through a partnership between the Fundação Roberto Marinho, the Federation of the Industries of Sao Paulo State and Rede Globo. It's an educational system that consists of multiple series of educational videos directed towards people working to complete elementary or high school courses, as well as a new vocational series. History, Portuguese, various types of math, sociology and a number of other subject areas are covered.

For someone like me, who speaks Portuguese fluently but never learned Brazilian history in depth, these videos are enormously beneficial. I've taken to picking out the episodes in the high school history series that deal with Brazil, listening to them on my walk to the train to work every morning. In a very short period of time my understanding has deepended dramatically.

You can either sort through the various Telecurso videos on YouTube, or else simply go to the "Site do Estundante," where the videos are pre-sorted into neat categories. Also, click here for downloadable pdf versions of the text books!

If you speak Portuguese and want to understand Brazil better, I strongly recommend Telecurso.

Book Review: The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

2012-04-11T09:30:00.015-04:00

The first I remember hearing about William Kamkwamba was on an episode of The Daily Show, where Jon Stewart interviewed him about his book, "The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind." It was a funny, heartwarming (of all things) segment, and I immediately dropped the book in my Amazon.com queue. It was only recently that I finally picked up a copy of the Kindle version. What a story!

"Before I discovered the miracles of science, magic ruled the world."

With those words, William begins his tale of poverty, famine and engenuity. Rather than leap right into how he built his first windmill, he spends a great deal of time explaining the cultural reality of Malawi and the history of his own family. The reader learns that "magic" and superstition are part and parcel of daily life in William's country, and then is introduced to William's parents with stories of their meeting and early married life.

From there, William talks extensively about his childhood, including, friends, hunting trips and a favorite dog that long accompanied him. All of this, in my opinion, bogs down the narrative a bit. However, when the famine hits, we are no longer observing the story of strangers but the suffering of people we've come to understand.

Oh, the famine. Having been raised in the West, with an excellent supply line for food and numerous food banks for those in need, I've never known what a famine was all about. Sure, in the early 1980s I was introduced to the topic, along with most Americans, through the crisis in Ethiopia. It remained a distant topic, and in many ways is still today. I've heard of people in poverty in the United States eating poorly or even missing meals, but never entering into full-fledged famine.

As the story unfolds, the reader is taken in apparent slow-motion through the famine Malawi experienced in 2001. William was forced to drop out of secondary school (in Malawi students must pay fees for this level of education). People began starving, and his family was reduced to one meager meal per day. When finally the next year's crop is ready and there's sweet corn and pumpkins to be eaten, I found myself grinning.

"My God, to have a stomach filled with hot food was one of the greatest pleasures in life."

Time was passing for William, and even with the famine in the past there was still no way to pay his school fees. He remained a dropout, and his prospects were not good.

"I remembered that the previous year a group called the Malawi Teacher Training Activity had opened a small library in Wimbe Primary School that was stocked with books donated by the American government. Perhaps reading could keep my brain from getting soft while being a dropout."

Herein we find a major turning point. Although initially William intended to read in order to try to keep up with what he was missing in school, he soon discovered a couple of texts that explained physics and practical applications for energy that illuminated his understanding. Beyond the pages he could see how this information, put into practice, could change his family's life. Specifically, if he could build a windmill, he could provide both electicity and a reliable source of water for his family. With water the fields could be irrigated, providing two harvests a year (no longer dependent on the rainy season) and famine would never again threaten his family.

"Standing there looking at this book, I decided I would build my own windmill. I’d never built anything like it before, but I knew if windmills existed on the cover of that book, it meant another person had built them. After looking at it that way, I felt confident I could build one, too."

The tale continues from there, but rather than spoil it all, I strongly recommend that you pick up a copy and have the patience to read through the "slow" parts. It's worth the time for the sake of the encouragement you'll find in a boy who harnessed the wind.

"If you want to make it, all you have to do is try."

See also:

Open Source Hardware for the Developing World

Global Village Construction Set

Setting Up Conky on Ubuntu

2012-04-10T09:30:00.000-04:00

Originally published on IgneousQuill.net, 30 June 2010.

Conky is a pretty cool desktop app that displays system monitoring information. I began using it months ago and recently had to go through setting it up again when I did a fresh install of Ubuntu 9.04 on my laptop. Yes, 9.04. For some reason 9.10 just didn't seem to agree with me. Anyway, the following steps are specific to Ubuntu 9.04. You may need to do some tweaking to use it on your version of Ubuntu. Steps for installation and set-up on distros based on anything other than Ubuntu will vary.

First, install Conky either through Synaptic (simply look up "conky") or via command line with the following:

sudo apt-get --assume-yes install conky

Second, make a configuration file in your home directory. This is where you will put the code for what you want displayed on your conky desktop.

gedit /home/your_user_name/.conkyrc

Third, insert the code for your conky display. There are many options made available online by more knowledgeable minds than mine, but the following is what I use. I adapted it from something I found on the Ubuntu forums (see here) You can copy and paste it into the conkyrc file you should still have open. Once you've done this, save and close the file.

Code:

# UBUNTU-CONKY
# A comprehensive conky script, configured for use on
# Ubuntu / Debian Gnome, without the need for any external scripts.
#
# Based on conky-jc and the default .conkyrc.
# INCLUDES:
# - tail of /var/log/messages
# - netstat shows number of connections from your computer and application/PID making it.
 
# Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus)
own_window yes
own_window_type normal
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
 
# Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone)
double_buffer yes
 
# fiddle with window
use_spacer right

# Use Xft?
use_xft yes
xftfont DejaVu Sans:size=8
xftalpha 0.8
text_buffer_size 2048
 
# Update interval in seconds
update_interval 1.0
 
# Minimum size of text area
# minimum_size 250 5
 
# Draw shades?
draw_shades no
 
# Text stuff
draw_outline no # amplifies text if yes
draw_borders no
uppercase no # set to yes if you want all text to be in uppercase
 
# Stippled borders?
stippled_borders 3
 
# border margins
border_margin 9
 
# border width
border_width 10
 
# Default colors and also border colors, grey90 == #e5e5e5
default_color grey
 
own_window_colour brown
own_window_transparent yes
 
# Text alignment, other possible values are commented
#alignment top_left
alignment top_right
#alignment bottom_left
#alignment bottom_right
 
# Gap between borders of screen and text
gap_x 10
gap_y 40
 
# stuff after 'TEXT' will be formatted on screen
 
TEXT
$color
${color blue}SYSTEM ${hr 2}$color
$nodename $sysname $kernel on $machine
 
${color red}CPU ${hr 2}$color
${freq}MHz   Load: ${loadavg}   Temp: ${acpitemp}
$cpubar
${cpugraph 000000 ffffff}
NAME             PID       CPU%      MEM%
${top name 1} ${top pid 1}   ${top cpu 1}    ${top mem 1}
${top name 2} ${top pid 2}   ${top cpu 2}    ${top mem 2}
${top name 3} ${top pid 3}   ${top cpu 3}    ${top mem 3}
${top name 4} ${top pid 4}   ${top cpu 4}    ${top mem 4}
 
${color green}MEMORY / DISK ${hr 2}$color
RAM:   $memperc%   ${membar 6}$color
Swap:  $swapperc%   ${swapbar 6}$color
 
Root:  ${fs_free_perc /}%   ${fs_bar 6 /}$color 
hda1:  ${fs_free_perc /media/sda1}%   ${fs_bar 6 /media/sda1}$color
 
${color grey}NETWORK (${addr eth0}) ${hr 2}$color
Down: $color${downspeed eth0} k/s ${alignr}Up: ${upspeed eth0} k/s
${downspeedgraph eth0 25,140 000000 ff0000} ${alignr}${upspeedgraph eth0 
25,140 000000 00ff00}$color
Total: ${totaldown eth0} ${alignr}Total: ${totalup eth0}
${execi 30 netstat -ept | grep ESTAB | awk '{print $9}' | cut -d: -f1 | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr}
${color orange}LOGGING ${hr 2}$color
${execi 30 tail -n3 /var/log/messages | awk '{print " ",$5,$6,$7,$8,$9,$10}' | fold -w50}

Fourth, create a bash script for starting Conky when the computer boots up.

gedit .conky_start.sh

Place the following code in the new file you have created, then save and close.

#!/bin/bash sleep 2 && conky;

Do the following to ensure that the file is executable:

chmod a+x .conky_start.sh

Fifth, add the conky start script to "Startup Applications" (System > Preferences > Startup Applications).

The command is located at /home/your_user_name/.conky_start.sh

Sixth, restart your computer and enjoy Conky. Play around with the config file if you want to change colors or other settings. As I mentioned above, there are other codes mashed together out there on the Internet that you can use for a different look. Mine isn't definitive, by any stretch.

Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship 2012

2012-04-09T09:30:00.002-04:00

The Skoll Foundation recently held the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. The following video has the highlights. Many more videos of talks and panel discussions are available on the forum page.
The following description of the Skoll Foundation and its work was taken from its official YouTube channel:

Jeff Skoll created The Skoll Foundation in 1999 to pursue his vision of a sustainable world of peace and prosperity. Led by CEO Sally Osberg since 2001, our mission is to drive large scale change by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs and the innovators who help them solve the world's most pressing problems. Social entrepreneurs are society's change agents, creators of innovations that disrupt the status quo and transform our world for the better. By identifying the people and programs already bringing positive change around the world, we empower them to extend their reach, deepen their impact and fundamentally improve society.

Three Ladies: An Easter Meditation

2012-04-08T07:42:00.000-04:00

"Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions." - Ecclesiastes 7:10 NIV

A family friend back in my native Missouri posted the picture included here to Facebook recently. The image is a bit fuzzy, but it's a photo of (from left to right) my maternal grandmother Nadine and her sisters Mildred and Emily. They were seated on the porch of some neighbors to watch the annual homecoming parade. It must have been the late 70s or very early 80s. Others who saw the picture commented that they wish they could sit and watch the parade with them. I surprised myself by choking up the moment I saw the picture. These ladies have been gone for a while, but I never really stop missing them. In fact, one of my most frequent recurring dreams (coming in great diversity) is of being in the home of my great-aunts again.

There is always a longing for the former times. In the years after that picture was taken, my grandmother would be taken by Alzeimer's. My memories of her before that time are few and precious. I had many more "good" years with my great-aunts, who were like an extra set of grandmothers too me. I miss them all deeply, and share the desire of others to be able somehow to step through that picture, sit on that porch and watch the parade.

The foolishness of such yearning, however genuine, is in its subjectivity. For me, when I look at the photo, I see three ladies I miss very much. What they might see, were they looking at it, was the absence of people they loved. Where was my grandpa Joe? He passed away while I was still in my mother's womb. What about the parents of the ladies in the picture? Gone by that time. So, while I would like to spend an afternoon with them again, surely they would have wanted more time with others they knew and loved.

If we were to reset the clock to any particular point in history, there would always be someone absent. Death has been humanity's constant companion since our earliest history. Further, at the time this picture was being taken, what grave injustices were being perpetrated elsewhere in the world?

There is talk from time to time from pulpits and in Christian literature about a "return to Eden." Such is not possible. We are not called to return to the starting point, nor can we idealize any point in human history and wish to have it back. Rather, we look forward to a new city, the New Jerusalem. The Christian hope is of New Heavens and New Earth, brought about by the power of God in Christ.

As I right this post, it is Easter 2012. On this day, Western Christians of the Roman Catholic and most Protestant traditions put a special emphasis on the resurrection of Jesus. In his literal, physical resurrection from the grave, we have the hope and promise of our own resurrection. He overcame and reversed death. The new creation broke right into the middle of the old one. In time, the full manifestation of this new reality will be revealed. Injustices will be righted, secrets exposed and resolved, and death will be reversed.

Because Jesus lives, we look not for the old days, but for a brand-new Day where sorrow and loss will be no more.

"Then I saw 'a new heaven and a new earth,' for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'" - Revelation 21:1-4 NIV

See also:

Poder para mudar o mundo

2012-04-07T09:30:00.000-04:00

Vivemos num mundo cheio de necessidades e possibilidades. Existem várias maneiras de participar na luta contra a pobreza, desigualdade e miséria, mas existe somente um caminho que começa a partir do seu coração, o que inclua a promessa do poder de Deus para lhe sustentar na obra.

Procure uma Igreja de Cristo na sua região. Você pode estudar a Bíblia, descobrir o que é ser batizado para remissão dos seus pecados e receber o dom do Espirito Santo. Assim, seu mundo vai mudar, e você pode ser mas eficaz na obra da justiça.

Batman Assists Police in Brazil

2012-04-06T09:30:00.000-04:00

Growing up, people my age had McGruff the Crime Dog as the mascot for fighting crime. I suppose he's still in circulation. In at least one neighborhood in Brazil, the local authorities have opted to use Batman as their spokeman. It makes sense because he's already well-known. The hope is that the association with Batman in the minds of local children will help overcome negative associations they have with police.

Book Review: The Great Convergence

2012-04-05T12:11:00.000-04:00

This is a book review I wasn't certain I'd ever write. While I loved the first volume in The Book of Deacon trilogy, and the second one started out well, there was am in-story tragedy (no spoilers!) that made me put down The Great Convergence. A couple of months later a friend who finished the trilogy let me know, without giving away any details, that it worked out. So, I picked the book back up.

The Great Convergence is an excellent continuation of the The Book of Deacon. Details are provided that enrich the world in which Myranda lives, explain the interminible war and alleviate (at least for me) concerns about the apparent fatalism of the world's history. In that context, the mechanism by which "The Chosen" come about is further explained. And, as the title suggests, it's in this volume that the full group of "Chosen" will come together.

There's really not a lot that I can say about this book without spoiling for the reader. If you are into fantasy and haven't read the first book of the trilogy, it's available as a free download for the Kindle. Alternatively, the paperback edition is also available for $12.99.

The Next Steps for Project Cauã

2012-04-04T09:30:00.002-04:00

Last December I blogged about Project Cauã, a project headed up by Jon "maddog" Hall. I was pleased recently to stumble across a page with a video and accompanying slide presentation in which Mr. Hall explains what Project Cauã is all about and where it's headed. This is an open source project that is being rolled out in Brazil first, so it's well within my realm of interests on two counts.

Click here or on the image below to view the presentation. It's 48:10 in total length.

Etsy: I'm a Fan

2012-04-03T09:30:00.000-04:00

Though I have yet to buy anything through Etsy, I'll admit I'm a fan. I like the way they facilitate the sale of crafts (despite the awfulness that sometimes appears there), because in doing so they provide an excellent opportunity for those with talent to share their art. More than that, though, I like how Etsy operates as a company.

A few years ago a former co-worker who started working at Etsy invited me over to the office for "Eatsy," the day (I'm not sure if it's daily, weekly or ad hoc) that the company provides lunch for all employees. They don't just order out for pizza, like so many companies. Rather, they have a professional chef do the cooking. The food is excellent.

Walking around the Etsy offices I saw art and crafts from the Etsy sellers themselves decorating the space. The place has a sort of alternative, almost hippie feel to it. There was even a work area for people to do crafts, a room that apparently is used regularly for free craft classes that are open to the public.

Etsy takes the approach of respecting development as an art and engages in continuous deployment. On that last subject, Chad Dickerson, CEO of Etsy, gave a talk recently at SBSX about their continuous deployment methodology. Check it out below.

Continuous Deployment at Etsy - SXSW 2012 Lean Startup Track

View more presentations from Chad Dickerson

Naming Names - An Article for New Wineskins

2012-04-02T09:30:00.002-04:00

This past January, with a HOPE worldwide trip to Jamaica still fresh on my mind and stirring my heart, I had an article published on New Wineskins. It was entitled: "Naming Names" (the title is amply explained in the article) and dealt with my experience in Jamaica, with tent-dwelling homeless folks in Ocean County, New Jersey. The following is an exerpt. Click the link below it if you'd like to read the full article.

A few years ago, while detoxing from a very narrow-minded, legalistic period of my life, I began discovering how much the Scripture speaks about concern for the poor and solidarity with the weak. Though I'd been reading the Bible for years, had preached from it in the United States and Brazil and had even completed a degree in ministry, this came as news to me. That the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has a preference for the underdog should have been obvious all along, but it wasn't. Somehow I'd missed it, just as years before I'd missed all the verses about baptism in my evangelical commitment to “faith alone.” (Sometimes I wonder how much else I'm missing.)

In any case, the more I studied and read about poverty ministry, the more videos I watched and the more reports I heard from folks working in this area on the mission field, the stronger I felt my convictions become. In a way, I became pretty proud of how I'd worked it all out and I began to say “tsk tsk” in my mind to those who didn't “get it.” Then one day I stumbled across this quote from Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutiérrez:

“So you say you love the poor? Name them.”

Read more.

A Parody of the North American Evangelical Megachurch Service

2012-04-01T09:30:00.000-04:00

All churches have traditions. I've been to a cappella Churches of Christ around the United States and Brazil, and the worship services are practically identical. Now as a member of a congregation in fellowship with the International Churches of Christ, I've heard about and seen for myself the same sharing of style among these churches. I'm sharing the video above just because I find it humorous and spot-on for one type of evangelical church that seems popular. Really, the same kind of parody video could be made for any of the various styles out there.