Marc’s Musings

With a flat tire, new windshield wipers, a new headlight, and a full tank of gas…I’ve been investing my car a bit this week.

It’s caused me to think about how important investing in my marriage is. Growing up, preventative car maintenance was a foregone conclusion. In our house, you simply changed the oil every 3,000 miles, you rotated the tires, you never let the gas tank get below 1/2 full. (Well…you brought it to the mechanic do the oil and tires. ) It’s like brushing teeth, you simply did it.

I like to think I’m helping my kids add to that legacy by making it just normal that my wife and I are going to this weekend’s Marriage Encounter in Portland. We did our first marriage encounter a couple years ago but for me, this seems like an every-3,000-miles sort of event.

It bothers me to post about the upcoming hoaxumentary about the Jesus Tomb. I don’t like to give these things more PR. But I know things showing on TV can seem convincing.

The idea is that a couple of bone containers (ossuaries) were found, on with “Jesus son of Joseph,” another with “Mariemne.” So non-scholars are saying it has to be Jesus of Nazareth and Mary Magdelene.

Jesus/Joshua/Yeshua and Mariemne/Mary/Miriam were common names in Second Temple Judaism (our 1st century). Why wouldn’t they be? Joshua and Miriam were two of Moses’ top confidants and advisors. Naming a kid “Moshe” would seem a bit presumptuous, but Joshua or Mary had less of a stigma. Joseph, the one who’d been second in command in Egypt, was popular too.

So even if these names were on a tomb, it’s a far cry from being “proof” that they’re linked to Jesus of Nazareth. This claim is like someone 2000 years in the future seeing a couple of tombs with the names “George” and “Barbara” and automatically, uncritically, claiming this was the burial site of the Bush family.

I read a great article on the on the whole thing here.

It quotes Bar-Ilan University Prof. Amos Kloner, the Jerusalem District archeologist who officially oversaw the work at the tomb-cave in 1980 and has published detailed findings on its contents as saying:

“It makes a great story for a TV film,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “But it’s impossible. It’s nonsense.”

[Update 3/1: The articles and editorials continue to condemn this:

These film-makers are peddling twaddle about Jesus

Secular Scholars Back Christian 'Jesus Tomb' Arguments]

I love this podcast about the Byzantine Empire. Lars Brownworth, a teacher and former colleague at The Stony Brook School on Long Island, is incredibly engaging in his teaching.

Now with 100,000 listeners around the world, NPR/WBUR’s Here & Now interviewed Lars and you can here it here.

Lar’s podcast is here: 12 Byzantine Emperors.

Just got this from Tara:

A new pastor was visiting in the homes of his parishioners. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. Therefore, he took out a business card and wrote “Revelation 3:20″ on the back of it and stuck it in the door.

When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, “Genesis 3:10.” Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter.

Revelation 3:20 begins “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”
Genesis 3:10 reads, “I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked.”

<-- Me

<-- My Peeps

Need I say more?

Bedtimes are far from peaceful for Sophie right now. It seems it’s just not right (to her) if she doesn’t have a tantrum before bed. (Usually in bed.)

Tonight, she was screaming for “Kinko, Daddy, KINKO!!”

I didn’t get it.

Emily didn’t get it.

Our good friend Izzie couldn’t translate.

Somehow, through the grace of God, I realized Sof wanted to sing, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”!

Some wisdom from that came with my dose of caffeine today:

The Way I See It #182
“In my career I’ve found that ‘thinking outside the box’ works better if I know what’s ‘inside the box.’ In music (as in life) we need to understand our pertinent history…and moving on is so much easier once we know where we’ve been.”
– Dave Grusin, Award-winning composer and jazz musician.

I love this post on my wife’s blog!

http://thepitmans.com/blog/2007/02/staff-meeting.html

Doing some research for a local group called KV Connect, I’m re-acquainting myself with my Gen X generation.

I sure like us.

Reading a report on The Business Case for having a Young Professionals organization, I came across this:

Next Generation Consulting’s research indicates that:

• Adulthood has been pushed back for young talent. The average age of a first marriage for an educated Gen X’er (b. 1961-1981) is currently 28. By the time young talent consider “settling down” in the U.S. cities region, they are in their late twenties and early 30’s.

• Three out of 4 young people under the age of 28 first pick a place to live and then find a job. What can the U.S. cities region do to position itself as one of the “best places to live” for young talent?
• When asked what makes a community attractive, young talent report that factors like “Third Spaces,” the arts, culture, ethnic restaurants, public parks, trails, and recreation areas, farmer’s markets; diversity, and recycling are critical factors.
• Young talent behave regionally. In focus groups, young talent routinely report that some of the best assets a community has lie outside the community in which they live.

I bet it’s odd for our parents and grandparents to think that we’d choose where to live first, then where to work! But I’m definitely seeing that thought process in our process of planting a church.

Now to just get jobs and ideas that will provide an income to allow people to stay in the Waterville region!

That’s kind of easy to say when your church plant has only existed for a couple years. But check out why I think this past year was so great:
2006 Year in Review