Since I found out I had a job, I also hopped on board Boutry and Kim’s travel plans to go to Greece! Tomorrow morning I will be heading out for 20 days on an adventure to Greece and Germany! I will visit Kos, Crete, and Athens, then head over to Boutry’s place near Frankfurt and venture out from there. You can view my itinerary here at Google maps. I have never been to Greece and am really excited to go! I will try and send updates if I can. What a great way to end a fun, difficult, tiring, exciting, and a number of other adjectived year!

Period 1!

Period 2!

Period 4!

Period 5!

Period 6!

They were all such different classes. What an experience!

I hope to see you there, I am looking forward to seeing the ladies together again! Is it strange to still have a crush on Dana? Ok, don’t answer that.

Check out my Late Tuesday page for other various Late Tuesday stuff from the past.

Should you desire to take a gander at the various things I have written about, check out the MattJonesBlog.com / Random Acts of Verbiage Archive and drop a note!

To go along with this anniversary, I am also happy to say I had an incredible night/weekend with some amazing people celebrating my and Stacey’s 30th birthday. I am supremely blessed to have the wonderful friends I have. Thanks to everyone who made it so special!

We started the night at Anthony’s on Pier 66 on Seattle’s waterfront then went back to our suite at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel for swimming, eating, and just general enjoyment of each other’s company. It was a night to remember! Please stop by Matt and Stacey turn 30! @ Flickr for some pictures from the evening.

I wonder what the next few decades will bring! I am looking forward to it!

Songs of social justice, to insomnia, to thoughts of suicide turning to visions of beauty all around can be found in We Sing the Body Electric. Something for everyone. The album’s first (?) single, We Sing in Time is a song that looks hopefully forward to a time where our society isn’t broken. “In Time the trees die and light will fade. But I hope for a new breath, a new life to take me away…” On to Something is a harsh and ironic critique of materialist nonsense. Golden Apples of the Sun parts I and II encourage love in any context, no matter the situation. Julia’s Song deals with addiction and ends with John’s grandmother’s lullaby: “I’m little I know, but wherever I go I give I give… I give (away).” Borders and Towns is an oldie (ask me if you would like an old acoustic version!) but goodie and a classic love song. WSBHBWA is another ironic attack against the superficialities of much of our culture, concluding, “You’re beautiful but you’re empty.” Mt. Constitution suggests we take a moment to pause and think about our life. The album coming to an end full of reflection:

Breathing is a blessing
A variable we take for granted
One quick second
It’s blown away with all your happiness

Hope lies in the proles
That’s how they made you.
But not how they wanted you to be…

I could go on and talk about every song, but they are all worth a listen to and read through. Head over to the Burning Building Records store to purchase We Sing the Body Electric, you won’t be disappointed. Oh, and you can listen to the entire album at the Lonely Forest band page at Burning Building Records.

There are plenty of pictures and video clips from the show!

All of the videos have been posted to my YouTube channel.

And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Do you understand how big that is? The veil of the temple separating us from the Holy of Holies, the people from Yahweh, us from God, is torn in two. We are no longer apart from God. We no longer have to perform special ceremonies or rituals to talk to Him. We are in his presence because of Christ. What amazing grace! It doesn’t matter who we are, where we are, or what we have done. We are accepted into his presence because of the price He paid. We can all say thank God for that!

I hope everyone has a great and thoughtful Easter. Share this gospel (good news) with others. It is a blessing to the world and people desperately need to hear it! I wrote (a number of time) about Jesus’ last words: Τετέλεσται: Some thoughts on John 19:30 that I found enlightening. Feel free to take a gander. Also, I would recommend a fairly new book by Craig Evans and N. T. Wright based on a few lectures they gave about the historicity of the death by crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus: Jesus, the Final Days: What Really Happened.

Blessings and Shalom on this Easter’s eve.

Nanotube Tech Transforms CO2 Into Fuel:

Powered by sunlight, titanium oxide nanotubes can turn carbon dioxide into methane, which can be harnessed as an energy source

It goes on to point out that,

One big advantage of methane over other hydrocarbons like hydrogen gas is that an infrastructure already exists for methane… “It’s a clean and sustainable cycle as long as you have sun and water.”

I dig it. The abstract can be found here: High-Rate Solar Photocatalytic Conversion of CO2 and Water Vapor to Hydrocarbon Fuels (if you have ACS Journal access you can read the full thing) via the journal, Nano Letters.

Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants.

This is a pretty bold statement. To Spencer’s credit, he is not claiming that this is news or necessarily backed in research; it is his commentary on the way he sees things. That being said, it is still a bold statement. Here are the primary reasons he thinks Evangelicalism will collapse:

Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and with political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake.

While I think this was especially true in the 80s and 90s, I think this has lessened as of late. Many want to distance themselves from the religious right. While I am conservative in my politics, I don’t really associate myself with them, and I know that many others don’t either.

We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught.

I completely agree. I do think that the youth need to be aware of culture and how it impacts the church, but they also need to know where their faith comes from and what it is based on. They should be able to articulate what they believe and why just as easily as they can articulate what happened on the latest reality show.

There are three kinds of evangelical churches today: consumer-driven megachurches, dying churches, and new churches whose future is fragile.

I don’t think that my church really falls into any of those categories. I don’t feel I am saying that just because I am biased, but because the church is vibrant, relevant, and has a real, meaningful impact on our city.

Despite some very successful developments in the past 25 years, Christian education has not produced a product that can withstand the rising tide of secularism. Evangelicalism has used its educational system primarily to staff its own needs and talk to itself.

I am not exactly sure what he means by that. Is he saying evangelical seminaries or graduate schools are not proper educational institutions? Regent might disagree with that (and so would I).

The confrontation between cultural secularism and the faith at the core of evangelical efforts to “do good” is rapidly approaching. We will soon see that the good Evangelicals want to do will be viewed as bad by so many, and much of that work will not be done. Look for ministries to take on a less and less distinctively Christian face in order to survive.

This is another statement that I cannot totally buy. I think that many churches now see the need to work in their communities, not just because they want more people to come, or even people to come to Christ (even if they would like that to happen), but because they are understanding that there is a huge need in their community. There is always “good” to be done and churches are starting to realize that more and more.

Even in areas where Evangelicals imagine themselves strong (like the Bible Belt), we will find a great inability to pass on to our children a vital evangelical confidence in the Bible and the importance of the faith.

While Evangelicals aren’t really “strong” here in the northwest, this is definitely a concern. Instilling values in our children in the midst of many conflicting world views can be a difficult, but necessary task that we are all responsible for.

The money will dry up.

Well, sure, that is possible. But wherever people find value, their money will follow.

With the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey noting that “non-religious” populations are on the rise and many Protestant denominations on the decline, evangelicals definitely have reason to worry. But, in my opinion, there aren’t actually fewer religious people, but merely more people who are being more honest with their affiliations and beliefs. It would be my contention that nominal Christians (of which there are definitely many) are realizing that they no longer have to identify themselves with Christianity if they don’t actually believe the things that are part of the faith. Regardless of why the numbers are declining, I doubt that those of devout faith are willing to let their churches die.

Spencer’s article is well worth the read because he does end on some helpful and hopeful notes.

We need new evangelicalism that learns from the past and listens more carefully to what God says about being His people in the midst of a powerful, idolatrous culture.

While I am not as worried about our impending doom, I think his cautions should be heeded.

Hummm… I feel like this post has been a bit of streaming-of-consciousness… but there ya have it.

I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life

Grace has been extended to us in our brokenness, try extending grace and love yourself.

It has been a strange week here in Seattle. We are used to the rain and the cold. We are used to snow as a novelty or as something you seek out somewhere else. We are not so used to it as a way of life. We have about a foot of snow here at The House and the roads haven’t been driven on much. We walked up to QFC and it was packed with people seeming to prepare for the end of the world. It is just strange for us. I enjoy it, it is peaceful I think. We have had 3 snow days at school with one more tomorrow and (most likely) one more on Tuesday (we had to go Monday and Tuesday as make up days for our strike… that we now have to make up because of snow). The days off have been nice and relaxing, which is what a break is supposed to be. Hopefully I can get down to Southern WA for Christmas without any problems… we’ll see how that goes.

But the title of this post brings me back to what I really wanted to share. For some reason I had never heard the hymn “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” written in 1964 by Henry Longfellow and my life was lacking because of it. This song really struck a chord with me. The King James translates Luke 2:14 in this way: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” While a more modern and scholastic version renders the Greek slightly differently, the intent behind “Peace on Earth, Good will to men” has never been exposited so beautifully. The complete lyrics of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” are worth of your pondering, but I wanted to share two of the verses:

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

These words, written during the civil war, are difficult, yet filled with the hope that comes again this Christmas. (I would recommend the Casting Crowns, Johnny Cash, or Jars of Clay versions, they are done wonderfully!) In the broken world we live in, what all the difficult things we go through, experience, and see, it is easy to get stuck in that first verse. But in reading the Gospel and delving in to the person of Christ, we are left with hope and grace. That is a good place to be this Christmas.

Selected Previous Christmas Posts:
I Celebrate the Day by Relient K
Dickens Speaks Truth
Get the X out of X-Mas!
Always Winter but Never Christmas
Christmas a Pagan Holiday?

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

In case you missed it, there should be a window there. Oh, and a CD player. (Oh, and this is after I cleaned the loads of glass shards off my seat…) Nice.

Yep, I managed to make an appearance! Totally awesome and creepy, all in one!

Enjoy:

View Larger Map

Again, this is a digital album that can be downloaded by going over here, sending $10 her way and then checking your email for the link!

As a little treat and to wet your appetite, you should listen to a little preview: Tara Ward: Live @ The Triple Door: What is Good. Good stuff, isn’t it? Now go download it. And spread the news and share with your friends!

Good intentions do not guarantee good results. Idealists often stub their toes on the wayward rocks of reality, and fall on their faces. And the world doesn’t respond to benign behavior benignly.

The main reason this will be a “coming of age” moment is that now Obama and the Democrats have to put up or shut up. Obama got elected by making himself a blank slate, with vapid promises about “hope” and “change” — but now he actually has to do something.

I only ask two things of you: 1) Go vote. Check maps.google.com/vote for your local polling stations. 2) Don’t vote for superficial reasons. “He’s cool” or “he sucks” or “he isn’t this” or “blah blah blah” are NOT good reasons to vote for someone. Become informed. Take a look at what you really believe and vote that way. There won’t be any one candidate who ever fits for idea, but you can decide what is most important to you and vote that way.

You should also stop by Google’s 2008 Election Coverage. Here is a cool map that will be displaying poll information as they report (and some other cool election maps).

Vote well.

It never made sense for you to love me.

Throughout the novels Bella doesn’t see herself as worthy of Edward’s love. Her perceptions of herself and of Edward color her understanding of love. Now again, I am not suggesting that you look for theological points in Twilight, but I felt there was a bridge between Bella’s statement and our relationship to God.

We are a fallen people. We screw up, we sin, we hurt people, we hurt ourselves, we hurt God. It truly does not make sense for God to love us. By all accounts, we are not lovable because of our offenses against God and His people. But because our failures have been laid on Christ on the Cross, he has made us lovable. Because He is truly lovable, we are truly, once and for all, lovable. It is only through Jesus that it makes sense for God to love us.

I cannot believe I (1) admitted I have been reading the Twilight series and (2) talked about it in any sort of serious post! I’m kind of embarrassed…

Credit: Fred Vanderhaven. Source.

While there are other, more colorful versions of the Lagoon Nebula, I found this version from Vanderhaven quite beautiful. Check out the APOD page or Vanderhaven’s website for more details!

Be sure to stop by my Space Saturday Archive for previous editions!

I hope that both the BSD and the BEA will be able to come to an agreement soon that will please both sides and promote the best learning possible for our students. We all want to get back to work as soon as we can. I would also ask that the parents in Bellevue be patient with us. You know that your children receive a top notch education, we want to keep it that way; your support means a great deal to us.

Thanks!

Over the summer I worked on the 8th grade physics curriculum as a “content specialist.” We incorporated materials and ideas from what we had done during the year along with suggestions and helps from the special ed and ESL departments. The idea is that collaboration and resources will make the curriculum, the curriculum web and the lessons it contains that much stronger. While there, I was approached by one of my mentor teachers from last year. She let me know that she might be moving to the high school level to teach biology which would mean there was an open position back at Tillicum.

So last week I found myself at the newbie training for Bellevue School District! I have my own room! It is mostly ready to go. The walls look fairly bare for the most part… but it is functional and I will be working on it! It was pretty much the ideal situation for me. I know the school, I know the staff, I know the curriculum; that should help make my first year of teaching much more smooth and successful (hopefully for my students as well).

Today’s my first day… well it would have been had the Bellevue Education Association (our union) not decided to go on strike.

The Strike

The bargaining team on both sides have done a good job of working hard to get the contract hammered out, but there are still three major areas where agreement could not be reached. The three areas still being argued are compensation, health benefits, and the use of the curriculum web. I am all for higher pay and I think there is ground being made on the issue of compensation. Bellevue is paid well compared to other districts in the area, but the cost of living is higher and (some would argue) the quality of the teacher is higher as well. I believe that the district does need to be held accountable for where money has gone and why they think they cannot afford to pay us more. But I also understand that if that money truly is not there, they would have to fire personnel, which would not be a good situation either. Here is the comparison in pay proposals (from the district website… so there are other factors that may not be represented). I don’t have too much to say about the benefits issue. Personally I would rather have the money on the check than in benefits because all mine is covered already. But I also have to understand that most people are not single without kids and so have to pay more and should therefore have those benefits. At the same time, we have a pretty amazing benefits plan as it is.

The Curriculum
I have had problems with the language the union and many teachers use in talking about the curriculum web. Here is the memorandum of understanding regarding curriculum from the district (UPDATE: here is the current version). When I read that, I do not understand what the union could have problems with. Teachers are worried about autonomy in what kind of lessons they can teach. Fine, I get that. If they need to change or modify the lessons they teach, they can do that. Why wouldn’t they share that with their curriculum staff and their colleagues?

Some teachers are still under the impression that we have to teach scripted lessons. That we could just print a lesson off the web and read it. That is not the intent of the web, nor has it ever been the intent. I do not understand why this is still being propagated. I have never interacted with any administrator or curriculum coach who thinks the lessons on the web have only one way to be taught or that they should never be modified to fit the needs of our students. This is what “professional judgment” means. For my final, “official” observation to be entered into Bellevue’s job pool (in lieu of an interview), I was observed by one of the area directors. In that observation I did a lesson that was NOT part of the curriculum web and the observation went wonderfully because the lesson was student centered and was aligned with district objectives. It made sense. “I heard a teacher got in trouble for not using something from the curriculum web…” That is NOT sufficient to suggest that teachers actually are being written up for the reasons you think. Hearsay needs to be ignored and not propagated. If people have a problem with Bellevue’s educational philosophy or pedagogy, they probably shouldn’t be part of this district. Why would you join a company if you completely disagreed with what they did? And why does the union think they can control and dictate what the district deems important?

I understand this is a very complex issue, I just wish both sides would grow up a bit, stop using politically charged language, stop propagating inaccurate information, provide factual information that is relevant, make appropriate compromises, and just keep working to settle this strike so we can start teaching our kids.

To the teachers: stop thinking the district is trying to control and micromanage your classroom. They aren’t trying to do that. They don’t want to do that. They want you to be a professional.

To the union: don’t push an agenda that the entire union might not be in support of. The memorandum of understanding concerning curriculum makes sense and should be supported.

To the school district: you need to show specific numbers if you truly think you cannot afford the pay increase being asked for. You haven’t been completely honest in the past on this issue and teachers got burned. If you have mismanaged funds, you need to figure out how to deal with that, but not at the expense of quality teachers.

There is much more that could be said, but I will leave it at that. I will eventually have my first day of teaching. I just hope it will be soon!

Resources:
Bellevue Education Association (the BEA, our union)
Bellevue School District

News Articles about the Strike:
Seattle P-I: Bellevue teachers set for strike
Seattle Times: School’s out in Bellevue as teachers hit picket lines
King 5 TV: Bellevue teachers walk picket line
KOMO News 4: Bellevue teachers on strike
KIRO TV 7: Bellevue Teachers Hit Picket Lines

UPDATE:
If you would like to email the BEA bargaining team about your thoughts on the matter, they can be emailed here: BEAbargain [at] gmail.com

UPDATE #2:
Check out this Seattle Times editorial: Bellevue teachers strike is wrong. While the editorial can be a bit harsh in places, they have a lot of good things to say that should be paid attention to.

Teachers are taking standardized curriculum as a personal affront when it is not. Districts have always been empowered to set curriculum.

Bellevue has spent the past five years creating the curriculum with a $2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — an organization known for vetting academic initiatives. Meanwhile, the district continues to be recognized nationally for its quality schools and its emphasis on getting all students into high-level classes.

Here is a critical point the teachers union appears to want to ignore: Bellevue’s common curriculum is an evolving effort, far from completion. It was expected that best practices and teaching strategies from teachers would build upon the work already started. The curriculum would change as students change, creating a living rather than static effort. Teachers should know this.

You should read it.

Shortly after dad died we planted a tree at our new house (that he loved so much and spent so much time and hard work on). I was back in Gig Harbor last weekend for my 10 year high school reunion and was able to stop by and see how the tree was doing.

Pretty amazing, isn’t it?