Assignment: Dallas

Just a short note to express my excitement this morning at my very good fortune to be heading to Dallas, TX, this afternoon to attend the annual OCF Heartland Retreat.  The idea is that I’m going so I can cover it for the OCF Podcast.  And, I mean, I am.  But, I’m reminded of something Mr. Woodall, my beloved high school band director, once told us as we were practicing a piece we would be performing at a band festival in Orlando, FL.  He said, “You’re going to do well on this, folks.  You’ve put a lot of work into this, and the other things you’ve done this year.  That’s why I’m taking you on a vacation to Disney World.  And, it is a vacation.  The only reason we’re going to festival is because that’s the only way the school board would approve the trip. [grins widely].”

No, seriously…this is going to be part vacation, part assignment, part mini-SAB planning meeting.  Along the way, I imagine I’ll learn a thing or two about the Church’s view of love, dating, and marriage (it’s the theme of the retreat).  Of course, I’ll make new friends, stay up waaay too late, and hopefully find a guitar to borrow for the talent show.  Don’t know what I’m gong to sing yet, though…I’m trying to avoid the typical Switchfoot song…lol

When I was a kid, my mom went to Dallas.  I was about, oh, six, I think.  Dallas was a popular show, thought I didn’t really understand it.  All I know was that J.R. Ewing was a bad guy and he treated people like dirt.  Well, I was scared to death that my mom was going to go to Dallas, go on her little tour of the Southfork Ranch (where the show was filmed), and J.R. was going to snatch her up and make her work for him and she wasn’t coming home.  lol  (Unfortunately, a much more tragic thing happened while she was gone: my dad lost his old bandmate Darryl to a helicopter crash when he was testing a new Med Chopper for UT Hospital, and my parents lost a good friend.) But, no fears of that happening this time. 

Well, I’m off.  Wish me well, keep me in your prayers, and pray that I don’t find a phone booth, lest my fellow OCFers be embarrassed…

Come to Me, MacBook mini

According to macrumors.com, some “photos” of an Apple MacBook mini netbook have been making the rounds on the tubes lately.  I would love an Apple netbook to take to class or pop in my bag when I go on a short road trip.  And a machine that looks like this one would certainly be awesome  But, something tells me these aren’t real.  People on 9 to 5 Mac are going on and on about flubbed gradients and tell-tale Photoshop artifacts.  (Which, I’d like to point out, several people did the same thing when the photos of a new Mac mini were floating around, some to extreme. And…they were wrong.)  But, all I see is that the keys look taller than the well surrounding them.  It seems to me that they would mar the screen.

Either way, I really hope Apple comes out with something like this, as I really don’t want to have to hack an EeePc just to have a small portable Mac.

An Aching Need in the American Orthodox Church

Disclaimer: The thoughts expressed herein are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of Ancient Faith Radio or Orthodox Christian Fellowships.
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Note:  I rarely say bold things in a public forum.  Therefore, I’m slightly nervous about posting the following.  However, I feel this to be absolutely true, and a terribly vital point of conversation.  So, I ask that you read on and prayerfully consider what I have to say. —Jonathan

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the OCF Podcast (for which I am the coordinator, host, and producer).  Where it is.  Where I want it to be. Where it’s going, where it’s been…you know, basic introspection type stuff.  And, I have to say that I’m really pleased.  The fact that the podcast is doing well is enough to make everyone at OCF HQ and those involved with the show fill with excitement.  Though, along with excitement, it fills me with questions.  Good questions.  Necessary questions.  Hard questions.

The primary thought that enters my mind is this:  Why is the OCF Podcast so lonely?  Why are there only a handful (2-4, by my estimation) of podcasts targeted toward students?  Why is it that, with all the data about the growing influx of converts, and with the knowledge that an increasing number are aged upper-high school to twentysomethings (I hate that term, incidentally), why are there not more resources being poured into producing audio and even video programs to match even half the caliber and ubiquity of the programs which already grace the Orthodox landscape, primarily geared toward people 30 and older?  Why is more not being done?

Let me pause and say that I love these shows that I kind of indirectly (and unintentionally) just slammed.  I listened to practically the entire archive of Our Life In Christ when I got my first iPod back in 2006, shortly before my Chrismation. (I still like to randomly listen to entire series.) Half of the podcasts I currently listen to are from AFR.  And they’re wonderful; they do endless good toward helping me to understand and reflect on the Faith.  Still…I feel like something is missing.

And this is where this podcast comes in.  Originally, the podcast began as an idea to help keep us students connected with each other within the OCF world…to keep up-to-date with things that were going on, to hear each other’s stories, and to drop in on retreats halfway across the country. It is beginning to fit in to that mold, glory to God.  At the same time, it serves as a small step toward filling the gap I mentioned earlier.

OCF Executive Director Fr. Kevin Scherer once told me that the number one problem facing student ministry in the American Orthodox Church is a lack of curriculum.  Now, two years after that conversation, I fully believe it.  And, I would venture to guess, he’s not simply talking about Sunday School or Bible study.  Now, this is simply my opinion.  But, where students are concerned, I see an utter void of anything in any consumable media (save a few books and the podcasts mentioned above) which strikes me as engaging and relevant to today’s Orthodox young adult.  This ranges from student devotional books to conference materials, from t-shirts to CD’s and DVD’s of student-oriented teaching.  Yes, there are strides being made.  But, more could and should be done to assure that the Church in America offers more and more to the generation which is rising in service and devotion to Her.

I, for one, am dedicated to exploring this topic and seeing what can be done.  I will seek to enlist the help of John Maddex of AFR, Fr. Kevin Scherer, some of the clergy near and dear to OCF, and, of course, you.  The only reason I bring this up at all is because I feel it would be a huge service to Orthodox students to have these things.  Maybe I’m wrong.  Maybe I’m more right than I realize. Whatever the case, the only way to find out is to hear what students have to say.

I’ve heard it said that the Orthodox Church is thirty years behind the curve in the area of student ministry.  I, for one, want to see us catch up.

I ask that you please pray for this effort, for it is only with God’s grace that any of this chatter will ever lead to thoughts, plans, and actions.

Through the prayers of the Holy Apostle Timothy, who was encouraged to be bold in his young age and to set an example for all of the Faithful, may our great God and Savior Jesus Christ have mercy on us as we journey with Him to His glorious Pascha.  Amen. +

Back from Exile

For the last 9-ish months, I’ve been running my blog from my own domain at geekymusic.com (which should redirect here, now).  It was a self-imposed exile, my taking the opportunity to go play in another sandbox—one with more sand, more toys, no parents, and it was next to this sweet sweet ice cream shop.  The kind that serves up Coney Island-style banana splits and ice cream-waffle sundae feasts.  I liked it, but, eh…I dunno.  It just wasn’t home.  And, so, I’ve decided to come back.

I hope you stick around and find out what I’ve been up to, where I’m going in life, my thoughts, dreams, hopes, fears, and some great things that have taken place which are worth crowing about.  Some of my saddest posts on this blog will soon see bright updates posted. I’m excited to share them.

All along, I’ve struggled with what to name this blog.  And, well, I give up.  Rightly so, I believe.  From this day forward, no more geeky.music or twleve:one (though the URL will remain) or jingle jangle or song and dance (dancing has always been awkward for me, anyway, being raised Southern Baptist ).  This is a huuuuge relief to me.  You. have. no. idea.  Why is it a relief?  Because it leaves me with no paradigm to follow, and it’s easy to know from the moment you see the landing page what you’ll find here.

My name is Jonathan.  This blog, called “Just Jonathan,” is an album of snapshots of my life. Some snapshots are about faith, some are about music, some are about technology, while others are about love, school, struggles, family, favorite organizations, and so many other things. Feel free to question or comment on anything in the album that you like.  I hope that what you find here will be interesting, thought-provoking, or, at least, distracting.

That’s all the time we have for now.  I wish you happy reading, and God bless, my friend.

Moving Day

Howdy, all.  This is to remind everyone that, starting today, everything is being moved over to geekymusic.com.

So change all your blogroll stuff, change your feeds, and join me at my new home. 

Oh…it’s going to take a while to weed through everything and fix all the links in my posts, so I’m going to keep the wordpress.com site up for a while.  But I will no longer be adding to it.

Thanks for your attention.  You may now go back to watching Wimbledon.

Move Date Chosen

Hey, everyone.  Due to very light pressure from Brandon, I’ve gone ahead and set the date for moving everything over to the new site: Saturday June 28th, 2008.  You can go ahead and subscribe to the new feed here.

I hope you all are well on this first day of summer.

P.S.  File this under “Got Nothing to Lose”:  Is there anyone out there who can help with a friend’s insane college expenses?  I’m being serious, here.  If you think you can help, email me* using the contact form.

*Of course, contacting me simply shows an interest in helping and in no way binds you to the performance of any duties, tasks, jobs, or general monkey business.

geekymusic.com

In a few weeks, I’ll be moving my blog (including all the old posts) to my very own place on the Internets at geekymusic.com. I look forward to the increased personalization and freedom I’ll have with my newfound home on the web.  When all is said and done, I imagine I’ll look back at my days here on wordpress.com as if it were an apartment compared to the full-on house with the big backyard and porch swing that I now call mine.

Having my own website and domain is something I’ve been dreaming of for about ten years, and now it’s possible, thanks to the dirt cheap prices at A2 Web Hosting. (FWIW, I heard about them at 43folders.com.)

When the big move happens, I hope you’ll swing on the porch with me and trade some tales.  Or at least listen to me ramble on while you sip your lemonade. 

The God Debate

Found a very interesting debate from Newsweek between Sam Harris (The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation) and Rick Warren (The Purpose Driven Life).  Take a look here.

Also, when gathering the inks for this post, I noticed that Mr. Harris, as part of ongoing research, is seeking volunteers to answer surveys regarding beliefs.  “We especially need Christians to respond, as one of the goals of these surveys is to design stimuli that a majority of Christians will find doctrinally sound.”

I do not envy him.

Time to Go Home, Hillary

MSNBC has published a memo from the Clinton campaign emphasizing that Obama won’t have the 2210 delegates needed to claim victory if he wins Iowa tomorrow night. Well, that’s counting Florida and Michigan, which have not (to my knowledge) been accepted. Yeah, yeah, yeah…we know, it’s not over, blah blah blah blah…Florida and Michigan, etc., etc. It’s the same song and dance from Hillary, and that has little to do with why I’m recommending the link.

But what I really enjoyed was reading the comments, and the numerous creative ways in which people said “Deal with it..go home.”

Here’s my favorite:

Give it up Hillary.

You gave a beautiful performance, but now your campaign has jumped the shark and you’re starting to look like a singer who won’t get off the stage after the curtains have closed, the band has stopped playing, the audience has left, and the lights have been turned off.

Link.

Florida Brush Fires

I ask your prayers tonight, as I am in the Malabar area of Florida where there are some vicious brush fires.  I’m staying with my girlfriend Tiffany and her family at their home, and we’ve begun to talk about packing for a possible evacuation.  There is plenty more that we’re dealing with related to it, but I’ll spare you the details.

I’ve never been involved with anything like this, so I’m just a little frazzled.