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I have been so consumed with finishing grad school for the past few months that everything else has taken a back seat. Now that I have my M.Ed. (though it hasn’t come in the mail yet), and now that school is out for the summer, I’m re-awakening to the areas of my life I have neglected lately.

Some things I have come to appreciate more now that I’m not working:

• The value of sleeping in
• The value of getting up early
• The beauty of a slow breakfast with Amy
• Photography
• Reading books
• All the errands I put off until last week

The show notes:

• Chris’ The Car Cast
• Invisalign braces, which I will eventually be getting. For now, I’m stuck with a lisp-inducing expander.
• Emergent What?
• My Flickr photos
• Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-Secular Theology
• The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture
• An article on net neutrality
• Hear Senator Ted Stevens’ moronic speech here (skip to near the end to hear the famous “system of tubes” remark), and hear the hilarious remix in the podcast. Remember: The internet is not a truck, it’s a system of tubes. Right. Note to Sen. Stevens: It’s Deutsche Telekom, not Douche Telekom :).
• WebbleYou, my fantastic $4/month webhosting service - I’m now offering $10 private domain registration

This morning, six of us went to Gasworks Park in Fremont and held a 6:15 resurrection vigil using the following texts.

If you would like to participate in a podcast virtual vigil to celebrate Easter, please call 206-325-0663 and read one of the selections below after the beep. I will compile the recordings into a podcast and post it here. If Easter is already over by the time you read it, that’s OK - the Orthodox don’t celebrate Easter until next week anyway :).

Here are the texts and songs we used (thanks, Jesse!):

Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. (more…)

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In this podcast, I discuss a Weekend America (NPR) story on churches being investigated by the IRS. As nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, churches are able to receive tax-deductible contributions from donors, but they are not allowed to endorse candidates for political office. They can, however, speak to specific issues that are under discussion at election times, and this has created a somewhat gray area that has resulted in a number of investigations and revocations of churches’ tax-exempt status.

I connect this phenomenon to David E. Fitch’s The Great Giveaway, as well as James K. A. Smith’s Introducing Radical Orthodoxy, both of which I am currently reading.

Music used in this podcast:

• Chub Creek Music - “Cheese Grater”
• Beck’s “E-Pro,” on the Guero album (short enough to fall under fair use)
• U2’s “Yahweh,” from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (also short enough to not get me sued, hopefully)

Download the podcast (25:44, 17.6MB)

I heard this yesterday on NPR’s Weekend America, and thought it would make great podcast material:

Politics and the Pulpit
After a liberal church was targeted by the IRS for preaching political views and threatened with its tax-exempt status, it lashed out and argued that some conservative churches could be in the same situation. This led to several conservative churches in Ohio being investigated by the IRS. Host Barbara Bogaev talks with Ed Bacon, rector of All Saints, a liberal church in California, and Russell Johnson, pastor of the conservative Fairfield Christian Church, about IRS probes at their respective churches; and explores their political and religious differences and common ground. link

Here’s what I need from my readers:

1. Listen to the story RealAudio | MP3

2. Leave me a voicemail with your thoughts on the piece. My voicemail line is 206-325-0663 (it won’t ring - you’ll always get voicemail).

I will include select clips from the voicemails in my next podcast. If you can help with this, I would really appreciate it. I think there’s a ton to think about in this story, and as the interviewer says at the end, they only scratch the surface.

I am thinking of doing a “Christian basics” podcast series. Catholic Insider did/does great podcasts explaining Catholicism in terms comprehensible to outsiders, and I thought it would be worth doing the same from my perspective.

I could use your help in coming up with appropriate topics for this series. Some ideas:

• Who is Jesus? (including his first-century Jewish context, and his vocation as Israel’s Messiah)
• Spiritual growth
• Prayer
• Theodicy, or why bad things happen and what it means when they do (this is a big one, in light of Pat Robertson’s mouth, vicious celebrations of Kyle Lake’s death, etc.)
• The church

Obviously, some of these are huge subjects, so this will take some planning. I would appreciate any thoughts you’d be willing to share on what type of questions people might be coming to these topics with, and if you can add any topics, that would be great too.

If you want to leave a voicemail, call 206-3two5-0six63, 24/7 (it won’t ring, so you’re not waking anyone up). Thanks for the input.

Download this podcast (10:34; 7.26MB) | Subscribe in iTunes | Podcast feed

Links:
Early Disciple Phone Tag

DJ Chuang and his podcast

Emergent Radio proposal and my thoughts on it

Shameless name dropping in this podcast: Andrew Jones, thanks to Bob

In this round of Early Disciple Phone Tag, you are invited to play the role of one of the early followers of Jesus, leaving a message for another disciple to explain or reflect on what you just saw at the wedding when Jesus turned water into wine. This story is from John 2:1-11 [+/-]John 2:1-11
[2:1]On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in
Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. [2]Jesus also
was invited to the wedding with his disciples. [3]When the
wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have
no wine.” [4]And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this
have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” [5]His
mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

[6]Now there were six stone water jars there for the
Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty
gallons. [7]Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with
water.” And they filled them up to the brim. [8]And he said
to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of
the feast.” So they took it. [9]When the master of the
feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know
where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the
water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom
[10]and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first,
and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But
you have kept the good wine until now.” [11]This, the first
of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested
his glory. And his disciples believed in him. (ESV)

To participate, call [206] Three.two.five-zero-six-six-3. You can also email a WAV or MP3 file to justin dot baeder @t gmail dott com.

Early Disciple Phone Tag is a one of those crazy ideas that just might turn out kind of cool. The idea is to leave a voicemail message like you are one of Jesus’ early disciples leaving a message for another disciple, during the period of (and immediately surrounding) Christ’s earthly ministry.

In the message, you provide an imaginative angle on being a follower of Jesus and a witness to (and participant in) the events described in the gospels. The messages will be included in an upcoming edition of the Radical Congruency Podcast.

You can choose the event you’re talking about, the context (modern/contextualized, or first-century), what characters you’re playing and talking to, etc. The only rule is NO ELIZABETHAN ENGLISH. Cuz, you know. Ick.

To participate, call 206-three-two-five-0663 and leave me a message (any time - it goes straight to voicemail). With my SunRocket VOIP service, I have MP3 voicemail, so I can just import your message into an upcoming podcast. If you’re not in the US, you can record an MP3, WAV, or whatever, and email it to me at justin dot baeder @t gmail dott com.

In retelling and recontextualizing the stories of the gospels, we remind ourselves of the relevance and centrality of the experience of the early followers of Christ. I hope you’ll take the time to leave a message when you get an idea. (Feel free to leave your message anonymously, or rather pseudonymously, if you wish.)

Here is a smaller version of the image if you would like to use it on your site (or use the big one above).