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A Picture Share!

A Picture Share!

The guess where I am game

A Picture Share!

A Picture Share!

Winter Solstice

Today at 12:45 PM winter begins for those north of the equator.
This means that starting today there will be more light each day for the next 6 months. This is a reason to celebrate.
The Christians 1700 years ago thought so as well, that is why they co-opted the Winter Solstice celebration and made a Mass celebrating the birth of the Christ.

So, merry Christ-mass, and Happy Winter Solstice. Maybe that is the wrong order? Let there be light!

Bono - my man.

If you are a reader of my blog you may be aware that I am not a Bono fan, at least not in the way that one needs to be to call themselves a fan. Not only would I not pay to go to a concert but every time I here the name U2 I can't help but mouth the phrase "over-rated".
I think Rattle and Hum was really good and Joshua Tree was a classic, but other than that, well.
And I have pushed for Paul to use his real name and not persona when calling people to causes of humanity.

But, today I am a fan. Through an email I read an article on the Relevant website of one persons experience at a concert. I can't find the article on the website, but I read it in the email. It is called "How to Dismantle an Idolized Bono". She was disturbed by Bono's call to Coexist (which is as much a marketing effort of a line of products as anything else, it seems to me). But the articles author raises concerns about Bono not being what she thought because of his call for "oneness" and his use of the Coexist logo which included the Crescent Moon, Star of David, and Cross. The article makes statements that made we groan aloud, and yell in frustration a couple of times.

It drove me to Bono's side, to come to his defense, to join the Coexist crowd.
So, here's to you my man Bono.

Neo-con topic

MPR, the best national radio station in the country, played a speech given a fews weeks ago about Iraq.
It is an excellent presentation that makes sense of the Neo-conservative position, held by Cheney, Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld. For those who are befuddled by what these guys are doing you will appreciate this presentation.
I do not agree with the neo-cons, but I understand what they are about and so it has made their actions easier to understand and converse about, and even easier to disagree with on particulars. I have been aware of it since the early 1990's. There views took over the Bush administration after 9-11-01. For those who have said, "these guys were planning to overthrow Sadam since before 9-11-01" are right, and there are ideological reasons for doing so. It was step one of a particular world view and this view was empowered by the attacks.

So if you are up for a listen, and can handle a description of a position from someone who does not hold it himself, and are willing to accept that people with whom we may disagree have a reason for their views, give it a listen.
It is at this link, played on December 20, in the second hour of midday and was called, "The Iraq war: run up and reconstruction".

Google Fight

This looks like fun, from Samuel Jones (son of a kiwi).

Solomon's Porch Has A New Building and Location

After four months of living off the kind graces of the good people at Aldrich Ave Presbyterian Church we have secured the basis of an agreement on building for our community.
The finalization of the contract still needs to be completed and is expected to be by mid-January, we are confident that things will move forward.

The building is on 46th and Blaisdale in South Minneapolis. It is a former Methodist Church building and we will be there for about 3 years and will consider a longer term situation after a year or so. We will be the primary tenants and will be able to use the building as it fits us.

I know that many readers of my blog have prayed for us, and looked with us. I feel really good about this situation. We are starting the long and complex process of designing rooms and all that is takes to move into a building.

We currently have access and use of the two of the four floors now and will take over the main floor mid-January or the first of February.
I will post pictures when we have them.

National Pastors Convention

The coordinators of this event sent an email to the presenters asking them to forward it to those who may be interested. Since I don't have an email list and try to avoid Spam - at least the meatless kind, I thought I would post it here.

Dear friend:

In just a few weeks I’ll be part of the 2006 National Pastors Convention in San Diego on February 22-25, 2006. I thought you might be interested in what this convention can offer you. If you go to www.nationalpastorsconvention.com , you will find all the details of this excellent event.

As an incentive for you to go, Zondervan has extended a special registration rate of $250 ($100 off the regular rate) to those of you who would be interested in attending. If you choose to attend, this special registration discount is for registrations received before January 31, 2006. There is a special code ASNPC6 that you need to use in order to get this special rate. You can register at the website or by calling 1-866-429-0828.

Thanks for considering the National Pastors Convention in San Diego. It would be great to see you there!