July 8th, 2008 by Benjamin Wagaman.
Categorized as death, emerging church, life.
Three years ago, Kelly and I took a two-week Survey of the Old Testament class. What we didn’t realize before we stepped in to the classroom was that we were headed for a radical transformation of our faith. We both considered ourselves evangelical Christians and had beliefs similar to most American evangelicals.
There were many things we learned during those two weeks with Dr. Richard Pratt, but the one thing that stuck with us the most was how different his view on the final outcome of the world is and therefore our role as citizens of the world.
This video of N.T. Wright’s views seems to jive with what Dr. Pratt said that summer. You’ll have to watch it for yourself.
June 7th, 2008 by Benjamin Wagaman.
Categorized as life.
When Kelly and I moved in to our house in Columbus, OH, we said we would eventually do some remodeling on our kitchen. Two years later we are finally getting ready to do the work. We are getting Jason Bally of Belt and Bally Builders to do the remodeling work.
We are going to replace our counters with an Avonite surface. Avonite is currently offering a deal where they throw in a free stainless steel sink for free, although the seamless sinks are pretty cool. We picked out a brushed chrome faucet and soap dispenser set by Kohler and are getting carbonized strand bamboo for the flooring. The floor will extend in to our dining room area and also be in the initial entryway to our house.
November 25th, 2007 by Benjamin Wagaman.
Categorized as fun, life.
I had written this little tidbit three years ago when I was living in the middle of Kazakstan for the summer. I thought it was funny enough to post here.
You might be in Karaganda, Kazakstan if…
It’s 11 o’clock and it’s still light outside.
You locked yourself into your top-story apartment.
Your landlord, Galina, inspects your sheets daily for _____.
They are building something underneath your apartment with random bricks and pieces of wood taken from wherever.
Your soviet television is a decorative piece (it doesn’t work).
Nescafe is your best friend.
You hang your clothes on the balcony and it snaps, flinging clothes everywhere.
Your landlord, whom you haven’t ever met, finally picks up her bills after 4 weeks.
The dust on the streets is thicker than the Wild West
You look daily at the tenge-dollar rate at local exchange banks to see if you can save a nickel on today’s transaction.
You ride a German bus with Russian pop music to work everyday.
Your taxi driver thinks he is in NASCAR.
It’s easier to find and cheaper to buy beer, vodka, and cigarettes than coffee.
You find yourself in a manhole laughing.
You are excited to go eat some Kuksi (a Korean dish) at the coffee/flower/aviary/pet shop/café place.
When you go to the local airport, it takes 30 minutes to get there, it is in the middle of nowhere in the steppe, there is absolutely nobody there (literally), and fighter jets are taking off every five minutes.
You have no idea what is going on in the US.
You have no hot water. Or you have no cold water. Or you have no water.
Your Soviet phone died again (and you don’t really care anymore that it doesn’t work).
The puppies 3D poster on your wall is beginning to grow on you.
You have an Aeroflot calendar from a decade ago on your wall.
You have old dusty furniture, falling-apart furniture, or no furniture at all.
The chandelier is a simple dangling light bulb.
October 3rd, 2007 by Benjamin Wagaman.
Categorized as death, life, technology.
I ran across a site called The Darfur Wall, a web site that raises money for relief in Darfur, Sudan in a unique way.
400,000 numbers cover the The Darfur Wall, one for each victim of genocide in Darfur. By donating one dollar you can light a number, turning it from dark gray to brilliant white. As we light the wall, we honor each lost life, cast light upon a tragedy too many have ignored, and overcome one barrier to peace.
It’s fast and easy to donate, and 100% of donations benefit four Darfur relief organizations. Please visit The Darfur Wall and light a number for peace.
September 26th, 2007 by Benjamin Wagaman.
Categorized as life, philosophy.
For the first 30 years of my life, I’ve sung this song as my yearly national anthem to myself. I might as well be saying, “I pledge allegiance to myself…” A couple weeks ago I finished reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. At one point, he mentioned how he felt like he was in a great play, and the central character was himself. I often feel like that. I bet most people do.
I wonder what life would be like if I played a supporting role in that play. What if I didn’t even play a part in some scenes, but was working on the special effects. That would be cool. I think this metaphor is gong too far…
August 11th, 2007 by Benjamin Wagaman.
Categorized as life.
In just one week, Kelly and are heading off to France to visit Mer & Justin, our sister and brother-in-law. They just moved to France, so that Justin could play basketball for a team over there. I am so happy for them, that Justin is able to live his dream of playing pro basketball. We’ll have some pictures of France up here soon. Well, maybe a week or so after we get back.
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