Home Brew Adventures

Well, after too much time I've decided to launch into another Home Brewing Adventure. This time I am going to two meads. A three gallon batch of Raspberry and a one gallon mini-batch of a spiced Christmas mead. I purchased an additional carboy and some champagne yeast at Docs (the local home brew store) this week and once Steph goes berry picking I will have fresh raspberries too! Hopefully I will have something brewing within the next week. In the meantime I have begun to sketch some plans for building wine racks to install in my basement closet, soon to be wine cellar.

If you have any plans for easy to build wine racks (or cheap temp. control solutions) let me know!

The Invincible God

Many people have shower revelations. I have bathtub reflections.

A couple mornings ago I as sitting in the bathtub reflecting on the "invincibility" of God. My thoughts came down to two questions; 1. how has our culture and our need to vindicate ourselves in front of our culture shape the way we think about the attributes/character of God? and 2. how has this influenced our reading of the biblical texts?

Stopping short of blasphemy, I tend to think that we adopted an "invincible" notion God as a way to protect ourselves.

Mead Update

i racked my mead for the first time about three weeks ago. it was beginning to clarify, and fermentation was definitely slowing down. after a couple of days i noticed clearish white flecks beginning to develop on the top - i knew it wasn't mold, but it didn't seem like natural proteins either. after consulting the local home brew store, i determined my mead had been plagued by the flowers of wine - most likely because of too much head space in the carboy. i immediately treated it with a double dose of crushed campden tablets and racked again. it has been about 10 days since the second racking, and the mead is perfectly clear. ideally i would have liked to let it age like this, but i'm thinking i will bottle early due to my flowers of wine problem. such a beautiful name for such an ugly disease...

Oktoberfest

well, since it is the end of october, i thought i should try to get one post in. free time is somewhat of a commodity these days as steph and i work on the house to get it ready for move-in.

i've always loved october. weather just cool enough to need a jacket, but not so cold it bites. the red, yellow, and orange of the leaves. apple cider, pumpkin beer, and ginger snaps. hayrides, halloween, and high school sports.

it is the russet season, the harvest time. the soil prepares itself for rest, and we prepare ourselves for winter - the grey season. a season of coldness, of hardness, but yet a season of hope. and we are reminded now in a season of plenty, that though the hard days are before us, they also bring us the hope of humanity.

cheers.

Lost Dog

since it's restaurant week in binghamton, steph and i decided to check out the Lost Dog Cafe, a place we've wanted to try since we moved up here. we got there at 8(pm) and the place was packed. we got the last available seat.

the decor was what you might expect. bare brick, open ceiling, and artsy furnishings. but what made it all work was the assortment of japanese lanterns hanging from the ceiling. from big globes throughout the eatery to the squares and ovals over the bar, these fixtures gave the place that 'unique' feel.

the food was great. steph and i each ordered dessert. steph tried the flour-less chocolate cake, which was so rich i had to help her finish it. i had the 'geisha' - a dessert sushi made primarily of deep fried cheescake. it was delicious, and with my penchant for deep frying on my own i've decided to undertake trying it at home in the fry-daddy.

if you're looking for a classy place to spend an evening out, the Lost Dog Cafe is an excellent choice.

'Get Low'

last night steph and i decided to go see a movie. nothing decent was playing in either of the mainline theaters, and we had already seen everything the cinema saver had to offer. so we decided to go to the old Art Mission Theater in Binghamton. if you haven't been there, it's right across the parking lot from the Kilmer building, behind the Firestone shop.

The Art Mission Theater is a small boutique theater with two screens that typically play a wide variety of films. of course, the fact that it is also an art gallery gives the theater its name.

steph and i decided to see 'Get Low,' which is a film about an old man named Felix Bush. Bush is a social recluse and has lived on his on three hundred acre property by himself for forty years. throughout the film the audience is given hints of what caused him to become a hermit, but it is not until the end that it is revealed.

without spoiling the story, i can say that the title says it all - Get Low. a film filled with themes of forgiveness, redemption, and guilt i highly recommend it. and if you get to see it at the Art Mission Theater, that is an added bonus.

new project

in conjunction with this blog, i am starting a new one titled 'life is liturgy.' i know, i know, it's not like i can hardly keep this one up and running, much less have time to pursue any serious readership. but, as you may have noticed from sporadic posts, the idea of life as liturgy is one that i find deeply profound. here is the thesis of my new blog: "the idea of life as liturgy is one that has haunted me for several years now. at the core, the idea is simple; that the daily ebb and flow of life constitutes a rhythm of ritual that entwining the body, mind, and soul in such a way as to transform life into liturgical action."

check it out and feel free to offer your own contributions!

Black Bear Winery

as i mentioned in the last post, steph and i visited the Black Bear Winery this weekend. the half hour drive along the chenango river was beautiful, and steph and i determined that we would be making the trip back out once the leaves started to change color.
once we got there, we wandered in to a picturesque log cabin style building that sits just off of the road overlooking the valley. sitting at the wine bar afforded us a great view through the full length windows, and almost made us forget we were so close to binghamton. our host, sandy, handed us each a menu and pen so we could circle which wines we wanted to sample.
Black Bear's unique claim is that none of their wines are made with grapes. instead, they use a variety of other fruits and flowers that are native to new york. Black Bear Winery is a great place to visit if you love wine and fresh air!

MEAD!

i started my very first batch of mead this weekend. the yeast seems to have started nicely, and i'm looking to rack in 3-4 weeks. it should be about ready to sample around christmas time.
steph and i are about to take a visit uo to tour the Black Bear Winery in Chenango, NY. i'll be posting about our visit, and you can also expect more on mead soon!

the colors of my life.

blueprints, black ink
white dress, silver ring
red brick and trim.


these are the colors of my life.

question of the day?

this question crossed my mind this morning as i was perusing real estate listings.
'does language have meaning or does meaning have language?'
let your mind play with that one a bit, and maybe post what you come up with.

the liturgy of sport

people often question how the two passions in my life - theology and sport - coincide. as a result i have done a lot of thinking about the integration of sport into the liturgy of the covenant community. here is my thesis:

“Knowing God – having an appropriately awe-filled yet intimate relationship, or partnership with the creator, redeemer of Israel, and sovereign of the universe – is and was the life goal of faithful Jews.” It could easily be added that this is also the life ambition of faithful Christians. As the faithful, we pursue such communion with God via liturgy; that is, by engaging in certain actions with the purpose of drawing us into the presence of God. This paper will then argue that sport is a legitimate liturgical expression by providing a discussion on the definition and history of liturgy and by demonstrating that sport not only adequately satisfies “liturgical criteria” but in fact allows human beings to creatively involve themselves in an act of worship that reaches far beyond the emotional catharsis, existential validation, or intellectual assent that is so often the motive of worship.

i won't bore you with the rest, but i found both an encouraging and stimulating study and hope it has piqued your interest as well.

glory.

I am guilty, as are so many Christians today of missing the theological significance of the “glory” of our God. It seems that it is often construed as nothing more than a sort of greatness that elicits praise and adoration. This, while certainly being true of our God, fails to recognize the manner in which His greatness has been established and proclaimed throughout the Old Testament.
As I come to understand that God’s glory is rooted in who He is as not only a being of great importance but in fact as the Supreme being in the universe I am led to the idea of what it means to “fear the Lord.” The shear awesomeness of God is both dangerous and good at the same time. This is illustrated in Ezekiel when the “glory of the Lord” departs from the temple and later returns.
Further deepening this idea of “glory” is that YHWH has no equal. Indeed, YHWH has no one mortal or divine that can challenge Him. He is without rival in the cosmos. When He is challenged, like when the Philistines placed the ark (representative of His glory) in front of their god Dagon, He exercises His superior power causing Dagon to topple over and bow before Him.
This is the God that we serve; a terrible, powerful, dangerous, jealous God that demands our allegiance and our worship. And yet in the midst of all that “heavy”, “holy”, and “harsh” glory we also come in humble adoration to glory Him who while able to dominate, instead bowed low and was born a babe in a manger and who humbled himself unto an incapacitating death on a cross.

alexander is dead.

alas, alexander the mallard, the faithful heart and soul of my truck is dead.

named after the late alexander fenson, the mallard duck faithfully accompanied me on many cross country journeys. he is still affixed to the dash of the s-10 and has been recorded saying that he will go down with his ship. no has had the heart to persuade him that the s-10 was not a 'ship.'

sometime within the next month the s-10 is slated for the junkyard, barring purchase by another party.

R.I.P. alexander. you will be missed.

a rant.

everyone needs to vent sometimes. sometimes to someone in particular and sometimes to no one at all. this is mine.

the holidays are over and i find myself once again clawing at mud to make enough money to live off of - much less keep up with my student loans. i was hoping i mattered more to *** *** than to be slashed after the holidays, but alas such a hope was not to be realized. not that i blame them. i've been thinking for months that they lose money by staffing too many people. well, the holidays are over and now i'm supposed to live off of one shift a week. i should probably be checking out monster.com instead of blogging. except that then i would only get further depressed by the number of opportunities that i lack education or experience for.

and yet, somehow i have survived since august below the poverty line. who would've guessed? me, a hard working, white, middle class american with a college education living well below what our government considers the poverty line. its almost amusing. and to think that if i was born into a different socio-ethnic group i could be on my way through a graduate program with no expense to myself. or to think that an employer might favor me because i would 'diversify' his company. am i not individual or unique enough as i am? i mean, anyone who knows me can testify that my ideologies and interests are as diverse as the next guys. do you know anyone else who double majored in lifetime fitness and historical theology? i was the first in the history of my school to do so. and yet, here i am struggling to survive.

i am not usually the type for this kind of verbal spillage. but occasionally everyone gets frustrated by reality as it is. but, i must add that through this my church and my family have come through for me when i needed it most. and that is how things should be. and for that i can be exceedingly thankful.

cheers to 2010

in 7 hours and 41 minutes the first decade of the new millennium will come to a close. i am certainly in a different place than i was 10 years ago - or even 1 year ago. my fiance dutifully reminded me that 2010 is the year of our marriage. and for all its hype, i think 2010 is going to be nothing more than a pain to remember to sign on checks.

what 2009 brought me:
1. my love and my bride, steph
2. the opportunity to coach college soccer
3. real life responsibility like i never wanted
4. the second craziest summer of my life
5. 4 different places of employment
6. a deeper care for family
7. a mild obsession with coffee
8. old friends in new places
9. the death of alexander the duck

unfortunately, for the first new years in 8 years i will not be celebrating with alex and company. cheers to you guys. maybe next year for '11. you know thats our year

snow day with girl in baltimore.

seasons

one of my roommates in college used to talk about 'seasons' of life. and as i refer to what has been my life for the past four years as a 'season' i begin to realize how right he was.

with the onset of fall i begin to feel this new season a little more acutely; i am suddenly a coach and not a player, i have three new jobs and no papers to write, i have a new city to explore and new friends to make, and a new redemptive community to enjoy.

this certainly is a new season.

food for thought

Here is an article from the Times discussing the "New Calvinism." Thanks to Jacob from 21stcenturytabletalk for posting this.

Re-orienting the "gifts": Part VI

Summary
The unifying concept that links these four passages is the idea of a Spirit given ministry – not Spirit given abilities for service. Kenneth Berding makes this point when he says, “Undoubtedly, no one can engage in a particular ministry without being able to do so, but when we mistakenly equate the entity we call “spiritual gifts” with special abilities, we end up reading special skills into a place where special ministries... are in view.” It seems obvious to say that one cannot perform a particular ministry without being able to do so. However this ability is precisely the point. At the moment of salvation the believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and receives His general empowerment for ministry, which in this sense is defined by Berding as “any edificatory activity in the Christian community which serves to build up the Christian community.”

A spiritual gift may then be defined as a God given ministry, function, or activity that builds up or strengthens the body of believers. Essentially, gifts are specific roles that are designated by the Holy Spirit and given to the believer to fill. Prominence is placed upon the performance of the function or the doing of the service, not the ability to do the ministry. This definition allows for individual personality and natural ability, for God has individually formed each of us before we even entered the womb. The Spirit then uses our unique personalities and talents in practical ways to grant success in the ministry to which he has appointed them.

The purpose of these ministry gifts then seems to be the development, growth, edification, unification, and common good of the Christian community in conjunction with the glorification of God. Relationship of the members of the body is not only implied in all of the passages, but is a necessity. Without the relationship of the believers to one another in a faith community these instructions would be both without subject and purpose. In conclusion, it can be said that a gift is a God-given ministry, function, or activity that one uses to faithfully and unselfishly contribute to the common good, mutual care and edification of the whole church community. Consequently, gifts aid the church in bearing witness to the world, for when the people of God operate in love and harmony they will have a redemptive impact on a lost world.