Matthew Henry John Bartlett

You might be emerging if…
China photos [via antipixel]

BAN: Dump on us: we’re Indians
Rusty Reno on Stanley Hauerwas on Natural Theology
Wikipedia on tikkun olam
Wikipedia on HaShem, the Name

internet learning makes more obvious what was, presumably, always the case:
reading words resembles getting knowledge but
until it is tried out on the world
it’s a shadow or a puff of fog

‘Tiananmen Square’ on images.google.com
‘Tiananmen Square’ on images.google.cn
[via Russell B]

Google’s explanation

John Howard Yoder: The Politics of Jesus revisisted

Housewarming BBQ from 2pm Saturday February 4. Bring barbequeable food and/or salad and/or drink. All welcome.

In response to Jonathan M’s comment that I haven’t considered how much middleclassness is influenced by the Bible I say

I think you’re right. Living frugally, working hard and being honest in your work, sticking with your family and giving your children a head start in life (cash, property, education) is an ethic that can be derived from the Bible, and is likely to ease families up the social scale. Although that ethic can be derived from the Bible, I don’t think it takes into account the movement/directionality in the Bible. It doesn’t see the the whole in terms of the climactic sequence of Jesus’ life and death.

I’ve begun to sketch out that sequence, following the Gospel of Luke. The question I have in mind is What does this have to do with middle-class values? Anything at all? Here goes: (more…)

Ian G on China, nuclear energy & peak oil

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Jon has a Nokia 6680 for sale for $650. Contact me if you’re interested.

Tim is selling his 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer on TradeMe.

David regularly sells car audio equipment on TradeMe.

Kathy and Isis and I are moving house all day today and in the morning tomorrow. You’re welcome to come and help if you like.

Paul Graham: How to do what you love
JH Kunstler speech to a Peace Project in Rhode Island
Robert Pirsig interview [via Ian G]

Tim asked “Matt, could you explain what you mean by the term ‘shaped’? How exactly could our lives be ‘shaped’ by the story of Israel?”

Good questions. I felt a bit of dissonance writing that sentence – too easy, too sweeping. That Ken Bailey article about oral traditions in a village context makes me think recent talk about ‘living/indwelling/inhabiting/being shaped by the story’ is pretty skin deep stuff. But still, there’s something in it. So I’ll have a go at answering: (more…)

Richard arrives in Auckland

Most church people’s lives are shaped by their economic class first, their ethnic group second and the story of Israel & Jesus last and least. (Mine too.)

Peter Lineman on trends in Kiwi churches
Chris Marshall on the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition

In The Politics of Jesus, John Howard Yoder gives six reasons why Jesus is not the norm for mainstream Christian ethics today (well, in 1972, and probably particularly in America):

1. Jesus’ is an interim ethic because he though the end was nigh. So he paid no attention to societal structures or permanent institutions, which are passing away soon. “The rejection of violence, of self-defense, and of accumulating wealth for the sake of security, and the footlooseness of the prophet of the kingdom are not permanent and generalizable attitudes towards social values.” The world hasn’t ended, so Jesus is no help for long-term societal questions.

(more…)

Time on Hauerwas

Achievable new year’s resolution #3: Be more argumentative.

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1. We have found a nice big house to rent in Newtown. It’s 16 Russell Terrace and has five bedrooms and is sunny and has a big deck and a back yard and a bath and a dishwasher and two bathrooms and gas cooking and friendly faces. It’s close to the zoo and the supermarket and everything else in Newtown. We have filled four of the rooms so there is one left. It’s a huge room, suitable for a single person or a person with a child or a couple or a couple with a child. It’s $130pw and available from 20/01/06. Hurray! If you’re interested give me a ring 027 211 3455 or an email.
2. Blue 8-port 10Mbs hub and AC adaptor free to a good home.

[via WRD]

Achievable New Year’s resolution #2: Eat fewer sweets.

WhatBird.co.nz
Thomas Fleming: It takes an autodidact [via eleysium]
Alexis Rockman art
Stanley Hauerwas remembering John Howard Yoder
Mark Oppenheimer on Stanley Hauerwas

My HP Compaq nx8220 laptop is often freezing up completely (mouse won’t move) when the wireless adaptor is on. Any ideas?