100 x 100

100 rooms, each 100 sq ft in size:

Shek Kip Mei Estate, Hong Kong's oldest public housing estate, is composed of 100 rooms, each closet-like in size at only 100 square feet and built in response to a devastating fire in the 1950s that left thousands homeless. In a new series of photographs called "100 x 100," Michael Wolf captures the residents of this housing complex who are almost enveloped by the diminishing space around them, their belongings stacked to the ceiling.

view photos here.

delve and flight of the conchords

first of all, thank you jason, renae, jeremy and rebecca for the new Zion website. its wonderful. and i ask you readers to please go to the site and click the "donations" tab to learn of the easy ways to donate to Zion. damages are up past $3 million, and thats about a million over what our insurance plan was for. so i ask that you donate.

i know. we're talking about the greens.

money. money. money.

money is such an interesting thing. but its harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than it is to fit a camel through the eye of a needle...right?

there is this photo that rebecca took of a stained glass window in the church Zion. it is the only window in the whole church that did not suffer major damage in the fire. its beautiful. its a treasure. interestingly enough, it is also the only window that we (the congregation) was going to remove in order to add on our $1.1 million addition that was supposed to begin Sunday, the day after the fire. it was to be the doorway. when i heard this, i instantly had a thought run through my mind that God didnt want us to add on. of course, with the fire, its pretty safe to say that He didnt want us to because He made it so that we cant. but this window, was just so ironic. such a symbol. and ive been thinking about that.

so today i worked late. and i just got home a little while ago. when i got home a letter was in the mail from mike and kim, they are full time leaders for the college ministry, the navigators. and this is what their letter said:

(talking about their daughter, abigail during Sunday school class) As part of her weekly routine, the classroom teachers gvve each child a penny, and the children practice putting the penny into a little offering bank, We love this! When we first heard of this, we joked that everyone should practice this! You know...give folks in the congregation money and have us literally practice giving it back to God. After all, God gives us all we have and tells us to invest it in eternity, and "If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" Luke 16:11 Then, after thinking about it a little more, and remember a similar experience from out home church in Cincinnati, we though, "Why not?" So, last semester, Mike spoke at Nav-Night to drive home this principal to the body of Navigator students at UNL. After recounting the parable of the talents from Matthew 25, and reminding us that we are simply stewards of God's resources here to invest in eternity, and that we will have to give an account, Mike proceeded to randomly distribute envelopes of money to each student (varying in sums from $6 - $100) with the assignment of radically impacting God's Kingdom with what they've just received. After all, if we won't invest money given to us for that very purpose, do any of us really thing we'll do it with out own hard-earned dollars?

then in the letter they have included letters and emails they have received of the recipients to report back on how they have invested their money. there are probably 20 accounts and a lot more not even included. and as i read these tonight, i wept. i wept with the beauty of this picture and all these people receiving good gifts from (ultimately) One who knows how to give good gifts:

Hello! I received $6 to incest in the Kingdom of God when Mike spoke at Nav Nite a few weeks ago. On Good Friday, I taught a class of 7 3rd and 4th grade girls. I used my $6 to purchase small, cheap New Testaments to give to each one of these girls. During the course of the day, we looked up several verses in the small NTs, and know a couple of the girls had never looked up a Bible verse by themselves before. They were very excited when they found out they got to take the little NTs home with them!

I received $25 at that nav night and decided to spend it on a firl in my youth group. She is a senior in high school. I bought her a new easy to read Bible and a short devotional book. We have been meeting every Monday to read the Bible together, and it has been really good, hard, but good!

I am emailing you to let you know what I did with my money that I got from the Navigators. I didnt know what to do with it for the longest time, but I finally decided to decorate a bathroom stall on my floor in Smith Hall with Christ-centered stuff. I found a bible magazine (which I didn't even know existed until I went shopping today), and I cut a bunch of articles out of it, glued them to some card stock, and stuck them up in the bathroom. I only decorated one stall, because I want to see how long the articles stay up, but if they stay, Ill be decorating more stalls! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to steward the $6 that I received from you. I have been and will continue to pray for God's blessing on the articles that I hung up.

Just wanted to let you know the money ($55) entrusted to me was used to buy flowers for someone struggling, to give 12 small gifts of encouragements, to send flowers for an unbeliever, to provide supper with a jr. high girl from church , and to help an underprivileged kid who has been attending church go to Bible camp. Thank you. It was very good lesson and definitely made me think. sometimes while in class I would think of ideas of how I could use the money and jot them down. It was definitely something that was on my mind often the past month. something that occurred to me during that time was how I felt more responsible for the $55 and how I didn't see it as my own - that is how I should be looking at all 'my' money. I stuggle with that. I also struggle with maybe having good intentions, but then keep saving an saving so that I end up giving the amount I was thinking I would. Thanks you again for practical lesson. I appreciate how you went out on a limb. We see that it was a risk and that is impacting in itself. I will definitely remember that Nav night for a long time.

So, I was given $25 dollars to invest for the kingdom. I have been meeting with a Sophomore guy named MoWax, and he is a pretty young believer, and we have been spending time in Matthew 5 lately. We had been reading out of my bible, so I knew what to do! I bought him a Bible, and then last night I gave it to him. I was excited to give it to him, because i knew he would like it...so I went and saw him w/two other guys from my soph. bible study and hew as very excited, he told them "me and joe have been going through our bible verses and I was kind of struggling with understanding them, and then he printed off this version, and it was just speaking my language and I could finally understand, you know it was like when you are studying something and then you finally get it!" Im excited to continue to meet with him, especially now that he as a bible of his own to enjoy.

I used my six dollars from the March 2nd Nav night to help buy one of my freshman girls the Topical Memory System - that was something she really wanted to delve into and memorize.

With the $100 that was given to me I used it for an outreach on my floor. I took Mikes pizza idea but only changed it to ice cream. Ladies signed up for free Cold Stone and all they had to do to get it was to ask or answer a question about Jesus. To my suprise there were 23 girls that signed up! So last Wednesday we got our Cold Stone and talked about Jesus. They had great questions - it was good to see where some of them are at spiritually and what questions they are struggling with, such as the validity of the Bible. Kara facilitated a lot of the discussion and Im so glad that she was there. At the end she got to share the gospel by drawing out the bridge. It was cool to watch the girls as she was explaining it. Some of them you could tell didn't want to hear it, but others were listening very closely and taking it all in. Along with the ice cream I gave out free books ("50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die" by John Piper) This was a great time to do this because Easter was coming up and got them thinking about what it really means. God really blew me away with this outreach ...just to know that some of them got to see an illustration of the gospel maybe for the first time is amazing! Thank you so much for giving us the money to do this. It was a great lesson on stewardship and I will never forget it! Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to follow up on some of the girls to talk more one one.

I recieved $25 dollars form the nav night. my roommate and I went out to eat at Ruby Tuesdays. I also wanted to involve someone else so I sent two deserts to two different damson tables. I asked out server if she would be willing to do do this and deliver the desserts and she then acted interested in why i was doing this. so i explained to her that it was money that I received from the navigators at UNL and she also told the two tables that received the desserts. My roommate does not regularly attend church so we had a good talk about her faith.

I attended nav night where money was given and we were told to used it advance his kingdom. last Saturday, I bought my friend breakfast in bed. I went downtown and bought $12 worth of smoothies and dough nuts. She had a difficult week and i wanted to surprise her.

I used the money I received to take out a girl Jamie, who is a non believer out for supper and was able to have a really nice conversation. Jamie is kind of shy and hasn't made very many friends this past year. I just wanted to offer my friendship to her and be a person that she could talk to if she needed. During super I tried to just ask her questions about herself and she ended up telling me personal stuff about a bad relationship she had and how it has affected her this year. I was glad she felt she trusted me to tell me something that personal. I had a really good time with her and hope to pursue the friendship further.

you get the idea. and i get the idea that maybe God did not want us to spend $1.1 million on an addition. if a few dollars can do all of the above, think how much $1.1 million can do! we get so caught up in our stuff i think. and even if we pride ourselves on tithing, we still get our hands all over the greens after we tithe to decide what we think we should do with it. build a building. a building to serve people yes, a building to keep us, the congregation trapped in, yes. but it is also a very expensive building. and im realizing that there are a lot of beautiful people (aka missionaries) out there in the world that are doing a whole bunch to spread the news of God's love and they have some pretty skimpy churches. (and cheap additions to churches.) maybe im wrong on this point, so apologies if i offend you. if it makes you feel better you can call me a hypocrite....because im about to buy a house. how am i any different, you might ask? i dont know, but i would begin with the fact that my (future) house seems like a better way to invest God's money than to pay a stranger rent year after year. and my house is not going to be anything fancy. simple and small and practical. and my house will be Gods to do what he will with it. and if He wants to burn it down, He knows whats best for His own things. and His own people. until then, you will all be welcome. bring some instruments. and your horse.

so back to regular programming:


this is hilarious! a new tv show! pretty clean too. i think this will be right up there with the office.

flight of the conchords
(go to the website to watch the first episode)

I AM who I AM and my memories with Zion

i have just finished looking through some pictures of our church burning. here and here and here. i heard the church burned down this morning from my friend amy. she said that our church Zion, had burned down last night. i said 'are you serious?' kind of like disbelief. i had only been up for an hour and had just finished spending time in God's word and was journaling. i had some bad last night. oddly enough, my nightmares were probably occurring when the fire was at its worse. and so i put on some shorts and sandels and headed towards the church. friends were gathered around on the streets watching the firemen put out the fire. it was comforting to see so many people all gathered around. many eyes were bloodshot from crying. i will admit that i not very affected at the time. one of my initial thoughts was: "if God wants to burn down His own church, He knows what he's doing." and i was so thankful no one was seriously hurt.

i have had experience with God burning things in the past. i once dated a girl in high school who was an atheist. i was a new believer and was in love and though i could convince this girl to believe in God. over the course of a year i slowly discovered she was hardened in her ways and would not believe. she was everything. but one thing. the main thing. and it was a very hard lesson to learn that two people, even though they have everything and seem perfect together, in fact, are very much not good at all together when they dont believe the same religious beliefs. at the time i was too weak to end the relationship, but God was unrelenting. once, while skipping school to go hang out with her, i got into a head on collision on the way to her house. i was fine. the other people in the accident were not. i stood on the sidewalk unharmed and the only thing that kept going through my mind was that God did not want me to be with her. so they totalled the car. then she and i pick out a new car. a black jeep wrangler. the months that followed were filled with fond memories of her and going to the beach and to the redwood forests of california. fast forward a few months. i had moved to ohio and was living with my parents. the girl and i still dated. i was reading my Bible more and growing close to God. i was giving my life over to Him. and after a few months of this, i realized i had to end it with her. i realized that i could not marry a girl who did not love the Lord. and so i called her night in july and ended the relationship. instant relief followed and a sense that i was finally giving God my whole life. every part. He was living. then, the next day after work, i come home park my jeep on the road outside my parents house and go inside. 15 mintutes later i see lots of "dust" outside and go out. the jeeps on fire. the thing burned completely to the ground. melted the asphalt. it looked like a bomb hit it. and i just sat there in the grass watching the fire twist about towards heaven and thought "ok God, now what?" "why are you doing this?" but it wasnt very long until i realized that God was giving me a fresh start. erasing the past. washing me with blood and making that black past white as snow. i love Him for that.

and so i stood there today and looked at this beautiful structure melted before my eyes. with its wonderful stained glass images of Jesus himself broken on the lawn. with rainbows arcing across the droplets of water raining down on Zion. and i had a similar thought. tomorrow was supposed to be a ground breaking ceremony for a new addition to Zion. not any more. God has a different plan. and He waited, like usual, until the last minute. i think He likes the drama. the suspense. the intenseness. i think He likes the glory. Zion church was a beautiful building. a very very beautiful building. it was 8 years ago that i was attracted to the church. for me it began with a tragedy like the building ended today like a tragedy. i went to a service with pastor Stu talking about rules. rules for us as citizens of this country and as children of God. he made this analogy of God and his rules for us are to protect us just like stop lights are there to protect people. when you see a red stoplight, it means stop. its a rule. but its for your own safety. good sermon that was years ago. and that day when i walked out of service, a truck had ran the stoplight at the corner in front of the church and had crashed into a tree on the corner. Stu was right on. and to me Zion was right on.

i was in Zion one night with my good friend nick schulte the night he proposed to heather. he needed me to help prepare everything. i hid up in the balcony as heather came in and nick sung her a song he wrote and asked her hand in marriage.

i was in Zion when countless people were married. if i wrote all their names i think it would be upwards of 20 beautiful ceremonies. all with flowers and music and love and beautiful brides being given by their gentlemen fathers to young boys drooling for their brides.

i was in Zion and in weddings. standing on those steps leading to the alter, swaying back and forth, trying not to lock my knees and Stu calmly and elegantly married beautiful people.

i was in Zion for bible studies with toby and troy and gary as leaders with men who love God. with friends who would die for anyone.

i was in Zion with steve and Jen allen while they ministered to rebel kids with attitudes and freakish hormones.

i was in Zion with donuts and coffee in hand talking to my aunt and uncle kirby and cindy.

i was in Zion with my djembe trying my hardest to worship God with hundreds of beautiful voices all singing in eight part harmony brilliant songs while case and rob and karen and jenny lead with their guitars.

ive sat next to my favorite people in Zion so many times that we could have written novels with all the whispers weve spoken during service over the years.

ive drunk probably 80 gallons of grape fruit juice in Zion.

ive drunk probably 10 gallons of wine in Zion.

ive eaten enough bread to fee 5000 in Zion.

ive prayed to the Lord for so many things while on those old wood floors, and have watched children grow to young adults and still remember when they used to color in their coloring books while their parents apologize for their squeamishness.

and i have gotten to know the Lord a little bit better.

in Zion.

and as i sit here looking at these pictures i do get a little emotional. and i know that all those millions of images and memories of that building will be forever burned into my memory. and theres one more memory that is burned into my memory, and probably the last. it is of it being burned.

but as i stood outside of the building this wonderful spring day, i was not standing with friends looking at our church Zion. instead i was standing with our church Zion, looking at this big old ancient beautiful building in all its glory, in all its splendor, with all its history and it was turning back to dust. it was due time for God to remind us of something. God is in us. God is with us. and this big building, well that was just His means to keep us all trapped indoors for a few hours while he binds us together. while he binds Zion together. and i was bound to Zion standing outside today. i am still bound, and will be forever bound to the church. thats just it. God is I AM. Zion is. there are no building great enough, no cathedrals grand enough, no tent large enough to keep his church bound together. if anything, maybe they keep us from seeing the greater picture, that we are all one big body all together on this earth, all under His most sovereign will and power and love and grace and maybe. just maybe. he wants all to stand outside together once and a while, looking at some rainbows, listening to the birds and seeing little dogs run down the sidewalk and realize that He is a lot bigger than anything we can confine Him too. and He likes his fire. ;)

squeamish

so theres this guy that makes artificial eyes for a living.

and theres a slide show.

and i just started watching it.

and then i got squeamish.

but i couldn't stop myself.

and i watched the whole thing.

if you want to tempt yourself to experience what i just did,

click

here.

(and i'll warn you, at 1:20, things really start to come loose... no joke.)

sovereign savant

from wikipedia:

Daniel Paul Tammet (b. January 31, 1979; London, England) is a British autistic savant, gifted with a facility for mathematics problems, sequence memory, and natual language learning. He was bron with congenital child hook epilepsy.

savant. like rainman. like 'i need to go to walmart', like card counting, and...drum roll...like memorizing the number pi to the 22,514 digits! (watch the "memorizing pi" clip here or this clip on youtube.

today i learned he has a memoir out and a blog. sweet action.
here is an excerpt from his blog:

Falsifiability and the God Hypothesis

I've recently enjoyed reading the online debate between the atheist writer Sam Harris and Catholic blogger Andrew Sullivan at: http://www.beliefnet.com/story/209/story_20904_1.html
At one point Harris asks Sullivan what kind of evidence he would require to abandon his belief in God; something that Sullivan doesn't subsequently address.

As a Christian myself, I thought I would give my own answer to Harris's question here by listing five scenarios, any one of which I would consider strong enough to falsify my belief in God:

1. If the Universe were shown to be eternal - however the vast majority of scientists accept the Big Bang hypothesis which says that the universe had a beginning (around 13.7 billion years ago). Many scientists (including Einstein) were originally extremely unhappy with the theory that the universe might not be eternal, yet all the evidence indeed points to it having had a beginning.

2. If the properties of our Universe were shown to be non-significant - I'm familiar with the argument that even if our universe had only a (say) 1 in a million chance of existing in the form it does, it doesn't demonstrate anything significant about our universe.

The argument goes that it is equivalent to a person throwing a ball in a field and then arguing that the blade of grass it lands on is special because it had only a 1 in a million chance of being landed upon. However our universe is peculiarly capable of complex, intelligent, self-aware life - dependent on many extremely low-probability factors - so that the correct analogy would be if the ball landed on a blade of grass which was coloured blue while all the others were green.

3. If the Universe were shown to be only one of an infinite number of 'multiverses' - So far, we have zero evidence for any universe but our own.

4. If our Universe were shown to have other complex, intelligent life forms without religion - Although decades ago the belief among scientists was widespread that our universe was teeming with intelligent life, currently we still have no evidence whatsoever for the existence of any other intelligent life in the universe. Some scientists have calculated that the probability of such life existing is in fact close to zero. Humans may well be alone in the universe.

5. If it was shown that our ideas and beliefs are exclusively the result of biological and cultural processes entirely beyond our control (and therefore their content immaterial) - or, to put it another way, if it were shown that there is no such thing ultimately as 'Truth'.

However one such well-publicised attempt - Memetics - has largely failed; its Journal ceasing publication in 2005 and many of its advocates having moved away from it.

and while we're talking savants. check out stephen wiltshire in this video:

Safety Dance for your Friday

its music day here at rocketpack. heres some songs via youtube for all your fri-ness.

safety dance by men without hats


and here is some of my love from JT (im a closet fan)


so do it again by the chemical brothers


see a penny (pick it up) by yacht


heres a new find for me: bryce dessner, the guitarist for the national, with padma newsome. great polyrythmic action here


and low. i always come back to low in the summer. something about the heat and low. i dunno. but heres one that always gives me chills: dinosaur act.


and a new one from low again. murderer. great lyrics.

One more thing before I go
One more thing I'll ask you, lord
You may need a murderer
Someone to do your dirty work
Don't act so innocent
I've seen you pound your fists into the earth
And I've read your books
Seems that you could use another fool
Well, I'm cruel
And I look right through
You must have more important things to do
So if you need a murderer
Someone to do your dirty work