Month: May 2010

A New Look (In Progress)

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I made some big commitments today in the behind-the-scenes functions of Cerulean Sanctum. To keep up with changes in WordPress and the SEO world, I instituted some upgrades.

Sadly, the old Regulus theme that I modded so long ago, can’t keep up with the changes.

Thus—and quite abruptly—a new look.

And that look will change, too. Some of the old flavor of the original will come back.

But Regulus is out, and Sophia (a child theme of Thematic) is in. You might say there’s a bit of a Sophia movement (joking, joking, people—no need to write nasty letter) going on here at Cerulean Sanctum.

Best of all, the site should be much faster and more searchable by Google. At least that’s what they tell me.

So hold on tight while the site changes. All the content will still be here; it will, I hope, be more readable and accessible.

Thanks for being a reader!

He’s So Earthly Minded…

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Yeah, I bungled the beginning of the old aphorism.

It’s supposed to read like this:

He’s so heavenly minded, he’s no earthly good.

I think it would be interesting to meet someone who embodies that aphorism—at least the first half of it.

If you’re a reader of Christian blogs, tweets, and Facebook postings, then you are well aware of the great theological debate that is occupying most of our attention: Kindle or iPad.

It’s an important debate, not because of which tech gizmo ultimately triumphs but because we seem to be more enamored of tech devices than we are of fulfilling the Great Commission.

What greater squandering of the Internet can there be than failing to use it to stoke conversation about fixing the Church, then using that conversation to develop a meaningful, countercultural vision for this Christian life?

Seriously, aren’t we being assaulted on all sides? Isn’t the age we’re in increasingly squeezing the life and focus out of the Church? Haven’t we become a nation of Christians more interested in raising up politicians than raising up Jesus? Aren’t we more concerned about becoming poor than meeting the needs of the poor? Yet at the same time, don’t we go spending whatever limited money we think we may have on junk that doesn’t matter?

I recently read The Survivor’s Club, which details how people should and should not act when faced with dire, dangerous situations. House afireThe author examined many disasters, large and small, and noted a major failing among those who perished. Many people who should have survived the disaster did not because they treated the situation as if it were business as usual. In other words, their sense of danger failed to kick in. They didn’t process what was happening to them as if it were extraordinary. So they fell back into patterns of normal living, blind to the depth of the threat that faced them.

Here’s the kicker: That blindness is the majority reaction. Here’s the kicker to the kicker: ANYONE is capable of experiencing that blindness, even the trained.

Even the trained.

Folks, we’re supposed to be the trained. Have we been blinded?

I want to know where the serious people are, don’t you? Because when the house is on fire, it’s not enough to be trained; we have to be serious. And debating the Kindle vs. iPad isn’t serious. It’s just another in a long line of distractions that is increasingly making us Western Christians so earthly minded that we’re no heavenly good.

Some Shout Outs

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Just wanted to pass along two organizations that do good work:

Milton Stanley, longtime friend of this blog and blogger, links to some of the best Christian blog excerpts on the Web over at Transforming Sermons. He has a new publishing company called Transforming Publishing. Milton says, “This new venture has the potential to be a vehicle both for bringing some of the best Christian blogging voices to print and making high-quality Bible studies and commentaries widely available for preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Word.” If you’ve ever considered publishing your Christian writing, contact Milton through his blog.

Sara Wilson of the Fresh Air Fund reminds us that it’s not too late to be a host family for inner-city kids looking to get away to the countryside. As the site explains:

THE FRESH AIR FUND, an independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. Nearly 10,000 New York City children enjoy free Fresh Air Fund programs annually. In 2008, close to 5,000 children visited volunteer host families in suburbs and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada. 3,000 children also attended five Fresh Air camps on a 2,300-acre site in Fishkill, New York. The Fund’s year-round camping program serves an additional 2,000 young people each year.

As a rural denizen who worked in camping ministry for many years, I think this is a worthy cause. If you want to know more about hosting, please see the Fresh Air Fund Host page.

And I would be remiss if I fail to mention books by two friends of mine:

Joe Lacy’s Mountain Reign, the fictional account of the ascent of a ’50s-era Kentucky high school basketball team, captures the feel of the coal mines and the court like nothing I’ve read before. Joe has a way with a phrase that I envy, and for anyone who loves sports, this would be a fine read.

Wayne Holmes teams with Patsyann Maloney in The Making of a Madam, the true story of Patsyann’s descent into the world of prostitution and her subsequent conversion to Christ. If you’re a fan of a bio well told, it’s a gripping tale.