mayo-moyle

Category: Seth Godin

  • Round-up – August 5

    Of interest:

    The true face of Medicare fraud (ie the real “welfare queens” aren’t the people most people picture when talking about Medicare abuse).

    Don’t commit a crime while wearing a FitBit.

    The reason your city can’t have fast internet access.

    The truth is finally revealed: I’ve Been Kenyan This Whole Time.

    Bloom County Returns!

    Seth Godin: Telling, Not Showing

    Semi-related:

    Satanic baby killers are putting dead babies in Pepsi.

    Airlines made $38 billion from extra fees (and it’s only the beginning). For the last couple months, I’ve been doing a lot of traveling (and flying) for work. While most of the associated hassles of air travel don’t really bother me all that much – crowded flights, the herd mentality that surrounds getting on and off planes, TSA checks, etc., the extra fees is the one that really bothers me.

    Who said it? Donald Trump or Frank Reynolds?

    Related: Trump Tells Iowa Dairy Farmers 500 Times Bigger than Theirs

    How experts protect themselves online. This is a really good list of how the “normal” computer users attempts to secure their information differ from how most security experts secure their systems. Glad to see that my strategy has fallen closer to the “security expert” side. Key points:

    • Keep your system updated
    • Use two-factor authentication (ie have Google, Facebook, etc send you a text message when you log into their servers from a new computer so they know it is really you – it is extra work, but makes a HUGE difference).
    • Use unique and strong passwords and use a password manager. The graphic breaks these down into three different areas, but really they are interrelated. Installing a program like LastPass not only lets you store all your passwords in one location but is excellent at generating new passwords – therefore you can have it create complex passwords like: g9xDJisX5F@3 that have an incredibly low likelihood of every being guessed by a brute-force attack (hack), and you can have a different password for every site you use, instead of always using the same password for multiple sites, with something that is a common word or phrase that is easy to guess. 

    25 things you should know about Detroit.

    How to piss off someone from Iowa. Numbers 6-9 are probably my favorite with #9 being a must read.

    Dan Dick: Who are we again? – excellent reflection on United Methodist identity.

    Semi-related: Jeremy Smith’s article: While the UMC was distracted by Covenant, Wesley Church broke the Connection.

    Just stumbled upon this great video by Kalle Mattson, like the song quite a bit too, called “Avalanche”:

    And since it has been a while since I’ve given this blog any love, here’s another song, Yo La Tengo covering The Cure’s “Friday I’m In Love”. If there was a KRUI (college radio station I worked at) for old people, I’d have this in heavy rotation.

  • Another roundup…

    Another post with the too familiar chorus, “I really am going to get better about regular updates…” Anyway, here’s some of the things catching my interest over the last few weeks:

    Seth Godin writes on Destabilizing the Bully Power Structure, noting that:

    “Bullying persists when bureaucracies and hierarchies permit it to continue. It’s easier to keep order in an environment where bullying can thrive (and vice versa), because the very things that permit a few to control the rest also permit bullies to do their work. The bully uses the organization’s desire for conformity to his own ends.”

    It is interesting to think of this in the context of the church. I’ve always assumed that bullies who find their way into churches (and church leadership) do so, because it can be an environment where it can be easy to assume power, and it is filled with people who will tend to tolerate or excuse “bad” behavior in the name of “Christian love” and “forgiveness.”  But what if there is something else happening at a deeper systematic level that helps foster an environment where bullies are welcomed and protected into the life of the church?

    Semi-related – Shane Koyczan doing his poem “To This Day”… for the bullied and beautiful.

    Wil Wheaton: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace Failure.

    Fred Clark: I Do, In Fact, Care Who Started It. Make sure you read the whole article, but I’ll share the xkcd cartoon Fred included that really made the point for me:

    Hugh MacLeod: All Art Is Religious Art.

    Scot McKnight put this up on his blog, I’m not sure what it says about me given that I like the “geek” movies, but the “hipster” bands.
    Geeks vs Hipsters
    From: BecomeCareer.com

    Dan Dick: Vital Is As Vital Does.

    Ta-Nehisi Coates: The World that Hip Hop Made.

    Elizabeth Evans Hagen: I left the church. Don’t hate me. Wonderful reflection on making the choice to leave pastoral ministry in search of a more faithful calling.
    I just discovered this odd video this afternoon, by one of those “hipster bands” I’m so fond of; Beach House “Wishes”:

  • On the blogs and in my brain…

    Love this – map of Detroit via watercolor filter, from stamen.com – I’d love to get this (or something similar) made into a print. (via Ryan-boy).

    Lifehacker: The More Facebook Friends You Have, The Less Happy You Probably Are. I’ve been thinking about cutting back on my Facebook “friends”… don’t know what that might say about my mental health. And, What Do I Do When My Employer Wants to Become Too Social? (as in how to handle work related “friend” requests); always a tricky one for clergy.

    Also from Lifehacker: Make DIY Prescription Swim Goggles with Sugru. Interesting idea, of course it looks like a lot of work with little reward, when you can just buy something like this that can provide a “close enough” prescription for under $25. (affiliate link)

    Seth Godin: Extending the Narrative:

    We dismiss the mid-life crisis as an aberration to be avoided or ridiculed, as a dangerous blip in a consistent narrative. But what if we had them all the time? What if we took the resources and trust and momentum that helps us but decided to let the other stuff go?
    It’s painful to even consider giving up the narrative we use to navigate our life. We vividly remember the last time we made an investment that didn’t match our self-story, or the last time we went to the ‘wrong’ restaurant or acted the ‘wrong’ way in a sales call. No, that’s too risky, especially now, in this economy.
    So we play it safe and go back to our story.

    Fred Clark on the National Organization for Marriage strategy memo leaks. Regardless of a person’s stand on these types of issues, it makes me sad when there is a deliberate strategy to divide groups for political gain. I know this is naive but shouldn’t your cause be so captivating in itself that people are drawn to it? Why do groups have to resort to such deliberate “divide and conquer” strategies to advance their agenda if it really is worthwhile? (And I know people on “the left” can be just as guilty of these same behaviors).

    Jonny Baker: Be Who You Are – I’d love to try and make something like this.

    Donald Miller: Why Conflict is Terrific. I like what Miller has to say, but conflict still terrifies me.

    How an Etch-A-Sketch Works – I’d always wondered what those little bead things were.

    This made the rounds on Facebook this week, but it’s worth sharing in case you missed it: How To Get Rid of Your Crappy Pastor.

    JoCo is coming to Ann Arbor, here’s the song that got me hooked on his work (the easily offended or those who despise the back catalog of Sir Mix-a-Lot might want to skip this one…)

  • this weeks round-up (march 24)

    Backlogged again. Here’s what’s hit me over the past few weeks:

    Tony Jones is launching “Ecclesileak”- leaking memos, letters, etc. to expose the “dark underbelly” of denominations. His first target is the United Methodist Church and a memo about how to treat a visiting Bishop. I was expecting the worst, but reading it, I wasn’t all that shocked – maybe I’ve drunk too much of the kool-aid, but it seems to me to be a primer on basic hospitality for any special guest (make arrangements prior to the visit, make sure a parking space is available, have someone available to show them where to go, provide a space for them to prepare for worship, provide a brief introduction during worship, and basic protocol about processing in and out of the service). It doesn’t even say reserve the best parking spot, or have Evian bottle water perfectly chilled at 41 degrees with a quarter slice of organic lemon, or anything. Seriously – if you are going to go after the UMC there have to be far better targets. To me, the real indictment is against the local congregations who don’t have basic hospitality down for visitors from every walk of life.

    More on Rob Bell, from:
    Jesus Needs New PR
    Jeremy Smith also check out this one.
    Jason Gray (on the nature of the conversation).
    My friend Jeremy Peters has started blogging and has some great insight into Bell’s book and the nature of heresy.

    Through Jeremy, I also found out about Chad Holtz who is was(?) a United Methodist pastor who was “fired” for writing about Rob Bell on his blog. There seems to be more than to the story than meets the eye (and his Rob Bell post was simply the “last straw”), because it doesn’t really fit UMC polity for a local congregation to fire their pastor. (Practically, I understand how it might happen – simply refuse to pay him a salary – but functionally only the Bishop in consultation with the cabinet has the power to change appointments). Holtz’s “five rules” frighten me a little as someone who does actively use social media (even though I do self censor at times). I found these words from Chad to be especially poignant:

    “To close, I need to say something about the community where I had the privilege and honor of pastoring for the past four years.   They are not the bad guys of this story.  What has happened to me is not their fault.   This is merely one small story that highlights a symptom of a far greater disease.  

     If pastors are shepherds then I lay the majority of blame at our feet.  We have long histories of not striving for excellence in our shepherding but have instead settled for managing.   It is easier to churn out good citizens as opposed to faithful disciples.  We are merely reaping what we have sown.”

    Social Media Etiquette Guide to dealing with bad news (from Lifehacker).

    The Death of Seminary Education? (Semi-related – Wil Willimon on “Making Clergy“).

    An unfortunate combination of signs (via)


    Andrew Conrad on Paternity Leave (great explanation & sample letter of how to make the request for UM clergy).

    Lynne Hybels – An Apology to my Muslim Friends.

    Roger Olson – Walter Wink and Greg Boyd on the problem of evil.

    Donald Miller – Jesus wants us the use common sense.

    Seth Godin – Bring me stuff that’s dead, please. The theological take on this is perhaps best expressed by Mike Slaughter, “God does his best work in graveyards!” Also his post on Idea Tourism has a lot to say (without saying it) about church attendance, membership and discipleship.

    What Your Favorite Classic Rock Band Says About You: Part 1. Part 2.

    This version by Nick Lowe is a little more mellow than the one you might know (and if you know the song at all, you are probably more familiar with the version Elvis Costello did), but it’s Nick’s song and he does it well.