youtube

youtube

youtube is pretty much always a safe medium for finding worship songs to share with people so they can learn them for leading worship. the only problem with them is that occasionally... actually... more often than not, they can be really cheesy. i think the majority of the time, this is okay, but then i realize that most of the videos as the authors have commented on, "have been shown in church." i'm not getting contentious, at least i'm not trying to... i'm just speaking my mind. take a look at some of the images from a more recent video:

hmmm

hmmm

andrew sullivan tipped me off to this 70's tv infomercial...

i'm not sure if this is illegal...

i'm not sure if this is illegal...

"because salvation is by grace through faith, i believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (revelation 7:9), i shall see the prostitute from the kit-kat ranch in carson city, nevada, who tearfully told me she could find no other employment to support her two-year-old son. I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually-abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last 'trick,' whispers the name of the unkown God he learned about in sunday school; the deathbed convert who for decades had his cake and ate it, broke every law of God and man, wallowed in lust and raped the earth.

'but how?' we ask. then the voice says, 'they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'

there they are. there we are - the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's tribulations, but through it all clung to the faith.

my friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace."

-brennan manning, the ragamuffin gospel

news all about it!

news all about it!

fresh off the press...

my friend lauren just told me that n.t. wright will be at a church in boston in november.

today at school,

today at school,

I watched a film that was released to scare Americans. the whole purpose: to make them fear Muslims. I will link to this later when I get on my computer. not only does it breed religious intolerance but it also does a fair job of putting all Muslims at an extreme with its large collection of unfounded facts. it would be important for americans to remember that muslims have died protecting the so called freedoms of this country. while I don't agree with war, I think that the people who do need to really figure out who their enemies actually are. most of the time it's probably not other Americans. again I'll add links later and maybe a compelling picture or two.

movie website

sightings article about the move

an interesting contrast

this kind of things gets to me because i don't view differences as being a bad thing. it's an opportunity to broaden our horizons and learn about something new, or see the world through another set of eyes. it can be transformative.

the rebuttal

the rebuttal

so, what makes a subaru a mac? several things:

longevity and sustainability. subarus have a reputation for lasting almost forever. most owners get over 200,000 miles out of their cars. The same car that a person had all through college, grad school, and now into their new marriage. Macs have the same kind of reputation. Jeff, don't you still have the one that you used in college? Isn't it carrying through gradschool and into your marriage? granted, it smells like feet, but it lasted. and not only that, it's still useful.

unique features. all of subaru's vehicles are all wheel drive. now, this is different from four wheel drive, where all the wheels have equal power, which tends to lower fuel economy drastically. all wheel drive means that there is a computer present that controls power to all four wheels. when it senses that one wheel, or a side of wheels isn't getting the traction it should be (like when it hits a puddle or a patch of ice) it gives more power to those wheels. on highways, it gives more power to the front wheels to promote fuel economy. It is the most advanced driving system available. All macs come with the ilife suite and osx leopard. no other company does this. leopard is the most advanced operating system currently available, and offers a slew of features right out of the box that no one else offers.

customer loyalty and brand recognition. subaru and mac owners are both extremely loyal to their cars and computers. they have pride in them and will tell anyone about them. they realize how great they are and want to tell the world. on top of that, everyone recognizes when a car is a subaru. they have a distinct look that isn't found in any other automobile. the same goes for mac.

while volkswagens may be fantastic cars, german engineered, and have a certain feel to them, subarus are far more friendly and accessible. anyone can drive a subaru... under any weather conditions. sounds a lot like how macs work... no viruses or spyware or adware.

you decide what you think. i'm gonna keep sipping on my pumpkin spice latte, while throwing my macbook pro into my subaru and driving off into the sunset. yea, that's right. the sunset.

i laugh and i laugh with unrelenting vigor

i laugh and i laugh with unrelenting vigor

ha!

ha!

7:21:11 PM lauren rae: funny story-
7:21:17 PM steve carroll: ?
7:21:31 PM lauren rae: i just got dinner with my friend emily, who's from ri, went to lincoln with me, and she asked what i was doing over fall break
7:21:37 PM lauren rae: i started rambling off our list
[in no particular order:
coffee
chuck taylor shopping
sweater shopping
savers and salvation army shopping
maccers milkshakes
vegetarian restaurant in providence
nick and norah's infinite playlist (possibly)
cloves
baking an apple cake]
7:22:03 PM lauren rae: and she was like, "you're going to these places and doing these things with who?"
7:22:11 PM lauren rae: (this was after [i told her we're baking] the apple cake)
7:22:16 PM lauren rae: i said "my friend steve.
7:22:30 PM lauren rae: and she said, "who is... what?"
7:22:44 PM lauren rae: i didn't get it and she said
7:22:54 PM lauren rae: "gay? in the closet? just really loves to shop and bake?"
7:22:55 PM lauren rae: hahahaha
7:23:00 PM steve carroll: hahaha
7:23:02 PM lauren rae: i thought it was funny, at least
7:23:09 PM steve carroll: i love it
7:23:41 PM lauren rae: i guess vegetarian restaurants, cappucino, sweaters, nick and norah, apple cake, and cloves does paint an interesting picture
7:23:43 PM steve carroll: did you mention i'm a snappy dresser
7:24:19 PM lauren rae: well i mentioned the shopping and that you love clothes, yeah
7:28:11 PM lauren rae: she's a riot- you'd like her

tough tuesdays

tough tuesdays

boyd and piper?:

In spite of their deep reverence to each other, Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore engaged in protracted debates more than once. These debates exemplify the philosophical differences between the two most famous Indians at the time. On 15 January 1934, an earthquake hit Bihar and caused extensive damage and loss of life. Gandhi maintained this was because of the sin committed by upper caste Hindus by not letting untouchables in their temples (Gandhi was committed to the cause of improving the fate of untouchables, referring to them as Harijans, people of Krishna). Tagore vehemently opposed Gandhi's stance, maintaining that an earthquake can only be caused by natural forces, not moral reasons, however repugnant the practice of untouchability may be.^[50]
(wikipedia - gandhi)

loves

loves

reading

reading

i've been doing a ton of reading lately. and i'm learning things.

i'm learning about malcom x and martin luther king junior
i'm learning about how hip hop became a political party
i'm learning about how we're all religious. yes, even atheists.
i'm learning about the supreme court, economics, and presidential candidates.
i'm learning about religious belief.
i'm learning about religious purpose.
i'm learning about american civil religion.
i'm learning about how religion happened.
i'm learning about freedom, and what it means to not have to go back to egypt.
i'm learning about the african american civil rights movement.
i'm learning about privelege, wealth, power, and possessions.
i'm learning about people entering into the kingdom of God.

i've also been doing a lot of thinking about the things i'm learning.

i'm learning about how being right isn't always profitable.
i'm learning about my friends.
i'm learning about mandolin.
i'm learning about guitar.
i'm learning about a lot of things.

and i'm really excited.
and i'm really excited to have the capacity to learn.
and to understand.
and to breathe new things in.
all the time.

:_steve

sententiae completae

sententiae completae

"Well, let's see. There's, of course, in the great history of America rulings there have been rulings, that's never going to be absolute consensus by every American" (source)

-Sarah Palin (when asked if there have been any other supreme court rulings she has disagreed with besides roe vs. wade)

hmmm... there were a bunch of supreme court rulings during the jim crow era that were pretty intolerable...(Dred Scott v. Sandford or Plessy v. Ferguson ) but i'll give her some credit, she wasn't alive.

BUT WAIT! she was only nine years old when roe vs. wade passed... so, she must not have understood really what it was until later. (quick side note: she probably enjoyed the fact that the crime rate dropped - "It wasn't gun control or a strong economy or new police strategies that finally blunted the American crime wave. It was, among other factors, the reality that the pool of potential criminals had dramatically shrunk" (Levitt and Dubner, p. 6). - read freakonomics and visit their blog, it's choc full of controversial topics and descriptions (also important to note, i love life)) but i'm sure in her u.s. history class (11 and 12 grade) she would have learned about other monumental cases in american history. but for some reason they just didn't come to mind.

hmm... so i'm thinking (maybe a little too harsh here) but to only have the supreme court decision about roe vs. wade on her list of questionable rulings is a bit privileged. highly privileged it also shows that she probably hasn't looked at many other supreme court cases. so because of that 'privilege' she probably hasn't taken the time to actually consider other issues. like civil rights issues. and immigration issues. but mccain's probably going to be around for awhile, so we're not going to have to worry about her becoming president if he gets elected.

(okay, so this is a tad scathing, but i think i'm going to post it anyways...)

oh, by the way, it's worth it to follow the links. (they contain easter eggs)