Ode to a Broken Kindle

I own an Amazon Kindle, one of those e-reader devices that lets you read books, magazines, and just about anything else on a (relatively) small electronic device. There’s a problem with my Kindle, though. It’s broken. (Insert sad violin music here.)

The break stems from what, in my mind anyway, is a design flaw in the device itself. When you buy a cover for the Kindle, which most people do, the cover gets hooked directly into the side of the Kindle. Normally, this is nice. The cover doesn’t slide around, looks nice, and keeps the Kindle protected. What could go wrong?

Well, apparently, when you open the cover from the back of the Kindle instead of the front, it can bend the plastic pieces hooking the cover to the device. These pieces, once bent, slowly work their way into the wrong place inside the Kindle, and eventually start cracking and breaking it on the front. You can probably see this in my picture (you have to look pretty closely).

The Kindle isn’t technically broken; it still works. But the cover now doesn’t fit quite right, and it kind of weirds me out to try to read with it now with a little chunk missing out of it.

Don’t get me wrong; I’ve really liked the Kindle. It’s a convenient way to get a book whenever you want it. It’s comfortable to read. I think the best feature is its use of e-ink, which puts all the text you read into a very readable, easy-on-the-eyes form. If you’re like me, you’re not a fan of reading a lot off of computer screens. The e-ink solves that problem beautifully. Apple’s new iPad tablet might look neat, but the computer screen would make reading long books a problem for me and my eyes.

As far as my broken Kindle goes, I’m hoping that Amazon will make things right. (Insert trumpet fanfare here.) They even sent out an email about this very problem, suggesting people who experience it contact their customer service about getting it fixed. That’s exactly what I’m going to try. I’ll let you know in the future how it turns out. Hopefully Amazon can live up to the good service they’re supposedly known for!

The Theology of the Cross

I suppose if I call myself well-read I need to back it up by proving I read something once in a while. Actually, sometimes I’ll even read something more than once!

That’s the case with a theological book I’ve been reading for the second time lately, The Theology of the Cross: Reflections on His Cross and Ours by Daniel Deutschlander.

I can’t recommend this book enough. The title and topic might scare some people away for sounding too “heavy” or theological. And it’s true: this book is not a quick or light read. But it is so worth the work.

The point of the book is the “Theology of the Cross.” The name comes from words Jesus spoke in Mark 8:34-38, where he says that anyone who wants to follow Jesus, to call themselves a believer or a Christian, must deny himself (or herself), take up his cross, and follow Jesus.

Basically, to deny our sinful self with its sinful desires and follow Jesus alone is to bear the cross. It might sound easy, but it’s not. It’s hard and painful. But in the end, it’s what being a Christian is. Bearing our cross doesn’t save us; Jesus has already done that. But bearing our cross is a necessary consequence of being a Christian. As Pastor Deutschlander memorably puts it, “No cross, no Christian.”

In the future I might post a few quotes from the book. But in the meantime, if anyone has read this book already or has any thoughts on the topic, feel free to leave a comment on it.

Yawning Their Way…

I recently went to a pastors’ conference in New York’s Catskills “mountains.” Technically, it was a “circuit retreat” and not a conference, but it was actually bigger than our normal conferences. The place we stayed is actually a camp that occasionally rents to groups like ours. Below is a picture of the building we stayed in. The picture at the lower right is actually the main room that we used for our meetings.

 

The main thing I wanted to write about, though, isn’t the castle or the conference, but a comment one of the pastors made. This pastor had recently come back to the States after serving as a missionary somewhere in Africa. He mentioned how he really noticed the apathy that has such a grip on people here in America – particularly in regards to church. So many just don’t care. They were, as he put it, yawning their way to hell.

I’ve been thinking about this phrase a lot since then (it even showed up in my most recent sermon), and I think it’s right on the money.

Spiritual apathy is an epidemic in this country. “Church” just isn’t exciting enough for people. For many, this doesn’t just mean church services are boring or certain preachers are boring; it means Jesus, the Bible, and all things relating to God are boring.

This is a problem.

What’s the solution? More exciting services? Publicity stunts? Detailed studies in what’s really “relevant?” More pyrotechnics in our services? None of these will really work in the long run. The answer is the same as it’s always been.

The law needs to be heard, the law that cuts me right in my heart reminding me that these sins are mine and the punishment deserved is mine too. The gospel needs to be proclaimed, the gospel that tells me that Jesus is so much bigger than my sins, that he has conquered sin, death, and hell forever by his perfect life (the credit for which I get by faith), his sacrificial death (which paid the price my sins owed), and his resurrection (which reminds me that because he lives, I will live forever.)

I know there’s no more relevant message than that, and that only the Holy Spirit can convince hearts of that through the Word. God help me proclaim that Word faithfully.

Did You Remember the Milk?

I have a good memory. Always have. I think part of the reason I always did well in school is that I could remember things well. Tests seem easy when you can remember your teacher saying the answers!

Unfortunately, my good memory has led to bad habits. All through high-school, college, and even seminary, I tried to keep some sort of assignment or task list. But it always seemed pointless. I can remember what I have to do; why would I ever have to write it down? Because of this, I always gave up my assignment notebooks after a week or two.

But now I’m a pastor. Most of the things I have to do are not announced by a teacher; I decide them on my own, or I base them on conversations people have with me. In fact, on Sunday mornings alone, I am bombarded with comments, questions, and “just-one-more-things.” This isn’t a bad thing; it makes sense that the most people would talk to me on the day I see the most people! The problem is that embedded in those conversations are tasks that I might decide I need to do.

So with all these possible tasks out there and all the very real tasks that present themselves to me on a weekly and even daily basis, I’ve gotten overwhelmed.

Early in my ministry, I realized I couldn’t rely on my memory to  get everything done anymore. I needed a better way. I finally started using some “GTD” methods. (If anyone doesn’t know, “GTD” refers to “Getting-Things-Done”, based on the book by David Allen. It has a lot of good, common-sense ideas on how to keep track of all the “stuff” we have to do.)

I’ve tried a few ways to make this “GTD” work. I used a program on my phone, and a system connected to my email program. Both of those methods ended up falling apart for me for different reasons. But now I’m trying again with a new method: Remember the Milk.

Remember the Milk is a website / program that lets you keep track of your tasks. I’ve just started using it, but it seems to be very promising so far. One thing I like is that there are so many ways to “get at” the program: it’s on my phone, connected to my email and calendar, on my web browser, and even on Twitter. I’m really hoping that this method will “stick” and I’ll end up being more organized and productive. I guess we’ll see…

Do you do “gtd?” What’s been working (or not working) for you? I’d be interested to hear!

Snow! (and my secret weapon against it)

As any true Minnesota boy, I'm used to snow. I even like it. I have plenty of pleasant memories of snow from my years in Minnesota.

But it's different now that I'm in New York. Oh, I still like the snow well enough. I don't really mind the cold (it's actually a lot warmer in Western New York in general than Minnesota ever was during the winter.) The problem with the snow in this part of New York is that it's almost always snowing. New batches of lake-effect snow coming off of Lake Erie are being deposited on my driveway almost daily.

This in itself wouldn't be so bad, but my house is connected to my church's lot. The driveway for my house is found at the end of the parking lot for my church. So, essentially, I've got a really long driveway to clear every time it snows. I will admit, removing this snow from my driveway, the parking lot, the front steps, the church entrances, in front of the mailbox at the street, etc. etc. -- it does get old after awhile.

But I've got a secret weapon! Many would probably envy the snow removal tool I wield, but here in WNY, it's pretty much standard issue (or it should be): I have a riding-snowblower.

Yes, they really exist! It's actually a riding lawn mower (or lawn tractor) that gets converted in the winter to a snowblower, complete with a cab over the top to limit the wind and snow in the driver's face.

Here's a picture of me on it from a couple years ago.

Needless to say, I am very thankful this beast (as I like to call it) exists! That doesn't mean it always works perfectly, though. After the first snow last week, it ran out of gas as I was driving it back to our shed. After we filled it up, the snow-blower was jammed with frozen snow, and unjamming it was not easy. Oh yeah, then the door to the cab fell off. (Hopefully I'll get that fixed soon.)

Still, I'd rather have it than not! Bring on the snow!

The [Google] Wave of the Future?

Whether you’ve ever heard of it or not, in the future Google Wave might be the main method of communication in our world, period. Bigger than telephone, bigger than letters, bigger than email.

At least, that’s what they tell us.

I received an invite to try out Google Wave a few weeks ago, and let’s just say this product is still very much in beta. There’s a lot of bugs in it, it can be slow to open, and it can crash at any time. Beyond that, it’s just plain slow and awkward to use.

But still, the possibilities of this product look pretty exciting. To really get a feel for what Google Wave is and what it does, click here. As a pastor, I’m interested in applications for Bible study, church work groups, prayer requests, and lots of other uses that are possibilities with Wave.

As of now, you can only be on Google Wave if you have an invite. These invites were once pretty scarce, but are getting more common. I have a little more than 10 invites I’d like to give away. If you want one, just post a comment to this post, and I’ll see what I can do. Note: you must leave your email address in some way for me to be able to invite you!

By the way, I’m pastorwalters [at] googlewave.com if you want to contact me on Wave. Maybe I’ll see you on the internet communication tool of the future!

Kids' Christmas Service

Today the Sunday school at my church is having their first full practice for their Christmas service. This is always an exciting time of year, but I can't help but get just a bit sick to my stomach every year when it starts. I always feel like something is bound to fall apart: the teachers won't be able to help, no kids will show up, no one will ever get their lines or songs learned. Every year I feel this way. But every year God pulls us all through and lets his glory be known through these kids. I'm confident that it'll work out that way this year, too. But I'm still not a fan of these practices!

We're using a service called Come, Lord Jesus from Northwestern Publishing House. It's well done, and I'm excited to see it when it's all together.

This also reminds me of the time I spent practicing as a kid in similar services. It was always a good time, but also a relief when over.  This year two of my own kids will be participating, too, and I love seeing how much fun they have.

But how will they possibly learn it so fast?!

Oh, that's right. Trust.

Come, Lord Jesus!