Wired Parish Blog

The Flu As an Argument against the Existence of God

I'm home sick with the flu today. Allow me to make a few observations about life that I don't normally get to make when I'm healthy:

1. Watched SportsCenter 4 times this morning. Hockey plays should NOT be considered for the Top 10 Plays of the Day.

2. The computer players on Hearts for Windows are not bright. You DON'T pass someone the A, K, and Q of hearts. EVER. A, K, 2. K and Q if you have the A. Fine. But don't give 3 high cards and open the door for a run.

3. Thanks to Jay Risner for pointing me to a really enjoyable response to Dawkins' The God Delusionby Alvin Plantinga.   

I do have a question, though. Plantinga says, 'So a broader conclusion is that one can't rationally accept both naturalism and evolution; naturalism, therefore, is in conflict with a premier doctrine of contemporary science.' But I'm unclear on why he says this. Does he mean 'accept,' or does he mean 'can't hold the beliefs to be reliable'? Take a look at the article, and let me know if you have any thoughts.

4. I Love New York has to be one of the most inane shows on tv right now.

Getting My Mormonism On

Mormon dude is currently cleaning my carpets. I'm asking him Mormon questions as they come to mind. So far we've covered . . .

* What's up with the long underwear? (I can't tell you. It's a secret. But it's like a priest's uniform. Sacred, symbolic gig. Except they are longjohns. And they're a b**** to wear when it gets hot. [He may not have said that last part.])

* Have you done your mission yet? (Nope. It's not mandatory. They like you to go, but you don't have to.)

* What are Mitt Romney's chances of winning the Republican nomination? (Pretty good. Being the governor of a liberal state [Mass.?] gives him a better shot than if he had been governor of a conservative state.)

Internship Opportunities

We are currently accepting resumes for paid summer internships at Wired Parish. We are particularly looking for people in the following areas:

* Web Marketing (SEO/PPC/Blogging/etc.)
* Audio Production
* Project Management

Just so you know, you have to line up with all three of the Wired Parish Rules: Show Initiative, Demonstrate Creative Problem Solving, and Be Fun.

If you are interested and if you are going to be in the Oklahoma City area for the summer, please email your resume to The Jay.

Top 10 Podcasting Mistakes (Part 3)

3. Looooooong Podcasts

In honor of this mistake, I'm keeping this post short. Short Message: DO NOT MAKE YOUR PODCASTS ANY LONGER THAN 30 MINUTES. 15-20 minutes is ideal.

There are several reasons for this . . .

A. People get tired of listening.
B. You won't force yourself to be as tight with your content (say ONE thing and get out).
C. Getting into a habit of longer casts means you have to find lots more things to talk about which dilutes the impact of your content.
D. You'll get tired of talking, and your energy level will wane leading to . . . (A).

If you listen to Between the Lines, the cast I do on Wired Parish, you'll notice that I do quite a few interviews that are 2 parters. If an interview is totally rocking, I don't want to cut short the magic if we hit the 25 minute mark. So we just keep going, and Goose (our head engineer) cuts it into two episodes. Don't hesitate to do this. There's no shame in having a great interview or an extended riff on a subject, but if you blaze past the 30 minute mark, do everyone a favor and chop into to pieces.

Go and do likewise.

Also See:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 4

Subscribe to Wired Parish. You'll feel better about yourself.

Vacation Bible School and The Mark of the Beast

I have painful memories of Vacation Bible School--including a summer interning at the church I grew up in.

Short version: I agreed to help with VBS. I was the main talent (along with a puppet) during the initial assembly. As I recall, the kids were visiting some paper-mache island for the day; so I had a lei to put around the puppet's neck. The puppet said, 'A lei? For me?' To which I replied, 'Everybody gets a lei on this island!'

Pastor? Not pleased. My dear friend and the pastor's son in law? He's still laughing 13 years later.

Moments like these led me to have not-the-best memories about Vacation Bible School.

However, if you're going to get your VBS on this summer, you need to check out this post from Tim Bedner of Turtle Interactive. It's a series of great ideas for leveraging technology to make your VBS this summer much smoother (and hopefully lei-free).

 

Bob Stoops and My 20 Month Old Son

Took the fam to Incredible Pizza today. (Think: Chuck E. Cheese without the big rat in the costume.)

Bob Stoops also took his family. Or as I like to think of it, 'Bob Stoops and I took our families to Incredible Pizza today.'

Jonah, our 20 month old, was FREAKING OUT running from game to game. During the course of his frenzy, he blindsided Stoops and ran right into him. The following dialogue ensued:

Jay: 'Man, I'm so sorry!'
Bob: 'Don't worry about it.'
Jay: 'Bro, how do you go out in public? Do you get accosted all the time?'
Bob: 'A little bit.'

Now that was what was actually said, but here's what I think he meant:

He said, 'Don't worry about it,' but what he really meant was, 'You son of a b! Control your kid! I think he may have just torn my ACL again.'

And he said, 'A little bit,' but what he really meant was, 'You know, now that I think about it, the little guy did a good job of leading with his shoulder. Took a good angle. Hit me on the front side rather than from behind. Gonna be a good hitter. Powerful. Aggressive. I like his style. And the drool makes me think he's either teething or ferocious. I'm leaning toward ferocious. When does he graduate? We'd like to offer him a scholarship to play football at the University of Oklahoma.'

Special Gig for College Students

News Flash: College students are broke! But we're here to lay down the love at Wired Parish. IF you subscribe with a valid .edu email address and IF you use coupon code 'brokestudent1', you'll get your first month of Wired Parish for just $.99 AND each additional month is only $4.95.

Please, please, people! Save the applause. We appreciate the kind gesture, by why not put your hands on your credit card and subscribe first. Then continue with the applause.

Four New Podcasts Added

This week we added four new podcasts to the Wired Parish lineup. I'm so proud of this new group of hosts. Ah! You're going to love them!

Here's a quick rundown of each:

Mindy Caliguire - Soul Care is a spiritual formation ministry that focuses on working with leaders. Mindy shares her expertise with you in this arena. She was the Director of Spiritual Formation at Willow Creek Community Church for several years. And she's on the fast track to becoming my hero.

Alicia Chole  - Alicia is an absolutely amazing person, and you will love her cast 'Raw Life.' Her first number of episodes are readings from her WONDERFUL book Anonymous. Check out the cast. Buy the book. You'll dig it.

Jim Palmer - Jim's first book Divine Nobodies was one of the best books I've read in the last couple of years. We're thrilled to have Jim and his dog Jack on board with us. His cast will make you think differently about the world you live in.

Andy Stephenson - One of the finest leaders I know. Andy directs the National Student Ministry for the Church of God (Anderson, IN) and has a wealth of experience (not just theory!) in developing leaders and affecting organizational change. We were able to snag him as a host because I threatened to post pictures of him from his days in bodybuilding competitions.

Check out these new casts ASAP!

Top 10 Podcasting Mistakes (Part 2)

2. Using One Voice

Couple of issues here. First, if you're flying solo as a podcaster, I STRONGLY suggest you reconsider in favor of having a co-host. Why? Because listening to one voice even for 10 or 15 minutes can cause one's ears to bleed. Or worse yet, cause one to fall asleep, zone out, or switch to 'Sam's Town,' that fabulous album from The Killers.

While I'm all in favor of soaking up as much 'Sam's Town' as possible, you don't want that at the expense of people not listening to you.

I've done solo casts. We have solo hosts on Wired Parish. It's not a cardinal sin, and sometimes it's unavoidable. But unless you're really gifted as a communicator, find someone else to sit across the table from you.

Co-hosts provide vocal variety. They let your listeners breathe a bit. They also help greatly with the flow of the cast. Breaking in with clarifying questions, comments, and transition statements brings a sense of pace to a cast that can't be had when you're flying solo. Co-hosts also take away pressure from you! When you pause in a conversation, that's expected. When you pause in a monologue, that's awkward.

Second, if you absolutely must record your podcast solo, PLEASE vary your voice! Change your pace, your tone, your volume. Podcasts are at their best when they feel like conversations, not newscasts.

Also See:
Part 1
Part 3
Part 4

Subscribe to Wired Parish. You'll feel better about yourself.

Links for the Day

I've started using Newshutch, a web-based RSS reader, to manage my blogs. So I'm staying a bit more current in blog reading. Here are a few posts worth checking out:

Seth Godin on mistaking something as important just because it's measurable . . .

Scot McKnight with a letter to emerging Christians . . .

Bob Roberts on 'Out of Ur' on the fact that the church he pastors 'isn't about weekends.' I love the distinction he makes between mission and purpose!