Tim Weston

I’ve always been a fan of podcasts, but recently I’ve become quite addicted to them for a few reasons:

• There are a number of TV shows I enjoy watching that I often miss due to working late or other TV conflicts (e.g. Countdown with Keith Olbermann).
• I’ve discovered some great radio talk shows on NPR (specifically, 88.5 WAMU) that I often miss during the day because of meetings and other work activities.
• It’s a great way to stay informed on topics I love, such as youth ministry, technology and Walt Disney World.

I currently subscribe to the following podcasts (links are to each podcast’s iTunes page):

• Countdown with Keith Olbermann (audio, video)
• Simply Youth Ministry (audio, video)
• WDW Today (audio)
• The Kojo Nnamdi Show (audio)
• The Diane Rehm Show (audio)

This is by no means the largest list of podcast subscriptions I’ve seen, but with over 28 hours of recordings a week, it’s a lot to keep up with.

If you’re a fan of podcasts, let me know which ones you watch/listen to in the comments section below!

For the past few days, temperatures in Central PA (and much of the East Coast) have been in the mid-to-upper 90s with a fair amount of humidity. While the heat and humidity are rather oppressive, it’s easy to escape this deadly duo by seeking relief in an air-conditioned environment.

The apartment I’ve lived in for the past five years has had functional central air conditioning for all but five or six days: it was out for two or three days a couple summers ago and, as luck would have it, from about noon on Saturday until early Monday. That’s right: during the warmest weather we’ve had in quite some time, I was without air conditioning.

At first, I thought the system was struggling to keep up with the warm weather, as the air coming out of the vents was cool, but by no means cold. An hour or two later, I checked the temperature and it was, if I recall correctly, about 76 degrees. Not horrible, but a bit too high considering my thermostat was set at 70.

I decided to call my landlord and, again with my great luck, he was in New York City for the day. He said that one of his tenants in another town had a similar problem but reported it too late and it ended up killing the motor, requiring him to replace the entire unit. So, he suggested that I turn the AC off (!) until he could stop by on Sunday. It didn’t sound like I had any options, so I obliged.

On Sunday, he stopped by and checked the unit and saw that the wiring inside of it didn’t look right, but he couldn’t fix it himself; he’d have to check with his repairman who didn’t work on weekends (!). That meant another day and night of no AC. Fortunately, I was out of the house for most of the day because of church and a youth group event (tubing on the river and a picnic), but by the time I went to bed at 11:00 p.m. the temperature in the house was pushing 90.

Finally, Monday morning the repairman stopped by and took care of the problem. Fortunately it was just a problem with the wires, so, thankfully, the motor and compressor didn’t have to be replaced. I checked the apartment at 9:00 and the temperature was 80 with the thermostat at 68; I checked three hours later and the temperature was down another four or five degrees. By the time I got home from work at about 5:00 p.m., the temperature was a wonderfully cool 70.

Needless to say, I was quite thankful that the air conditioning was working again. However, during the almost 72 hours without it, I wondered what it must be like for people in the United States and other, poorer countries, who don’t have such amenities. I can’t imagine going to sleep each night during the summer with temperatures pushing 80. Though I didn’t like it at the time, I’m very thankful for all of the wonderful things with which God has blessed me!

After I finally finished reading a book I’d been working on for a few months, I went through the books in my “To Read” pile and chose Doug Fields’ What Matters Most: When NO Is Better Than YES.

I’d heard about this book quite some time ago on the Simply Youth Ministry Podcast and it had been in my “To Purchase” queue for quite awhile. While at a recent youth ministry event I noticed that the book was available and on sale, so I picked it up along with a couple others.

Fields’ book was a quick read (I started it during my lunch hour last Wednesday and finished it later that evening) yet it was chock-full of practical advice. Following are some of the things I took away from the book:

• Busyness makes us look important but cripples our relationships. Busyness feeds our egos but ultimately starves our souls. Busyness fills our calendars but fractures our families. And busyness props up our images but shrinks our hearts. ⁽²¹⁾
• You need to learn to say no to many good things and wonderful people so you’ll have space to say yes to God, yes to the important people in your life, yes to priorities–yes to what matters most. ⁽²¹⁾
• Some warning signs to watch out for include constant clutter, addiction to speed (a fast-paced lifestyle, not the drug!), multitasking, superficiality, relationship fatigue, apathy and spiritual emptiness. ^(53-60)

I definitely recommend this book to those involved in ministry so they can learn how to say no before saying yes becomes damaging. This book is equally helpful, though, to those who are already over their heads in the sea of yeses and are looking for a life-saving device.

Earlier this week, I finally finished Praise Habit: Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi by David Crowder of David Crowder*Band fame. It took me much longer to read than I’d hoped/anticipated, but it was worth the wait.

The book focuses on redefining how we think about praising God; instead of being an event, Crowder suggests that it should be a lifestyle. He spends much of the book using various Psalms as examples of how to develop a habit of praise in everyday life.

There was one paragraph in the book that really stood out to me as an example of how most people praise God:

Much of our energy as Christians-attempting-to-live-devoted-lives centers on the development of patterns or activities to strengthen or deepen our “spiritual” selves, things previously mentioned, such as corporate worship, or scholastic theological study, or quite times, or praying before meals. And we thank that if we pray before a meal, it will set this moment apart and other unbelieving peoples might observe our devoutness and we will make a statement that will surely cause them to stop in their tracks. Then leaving that brief holy event well behind, feeling our obligation to “otherness” consummated, we engross ourselves in the devouring of hamburgers and French fries. But it is in the moments that follow our prayers that we are able to follow the trail of our true affections, our hidden motivations. It is in the gluttonous idolatry or tearful gratefulness that we consume the burger. It is in our conversations over the meal–the valuing or devaluing of the ones with whom we find ourselves exchanging conversation It is found in the gratuity at the end of the meal. While somebody else is talking, I usually find myself busily plotting ways to divert the subject matter back to myself rather than lending heart and ear and thought to their discourse. ^{(p. 41)}

It’s a lengthy paragraph, but Crowder is spot on. How many times have I prayed before a meal because I thought I had to, and, thus, rushed through it so I could “check it off my list”? The fact that I repeat the same rote prayer and then dive into my meal shows that I, to use Crowder’s words, consume the burger in gluttonous idolatry. Shouldn’t I be eating it in tearful gratefulness? Sure, the tears sound a bit over the top, but isn’t that the more appropriate way to praise God for the good fortune of having something to eat?

I highly recommend this book to those who yearn to get out of the rut of praising God the same way every day of their lives.

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend Youth Specialties‘ The Core 2008: Generation Change with my pastor and two of my fellow youth volunteers at Camp Hill UMC.

Overall, the event was pretty decent, though I didn’t think it was as good as the previous week’s conference at Messiah College or a training held by Group a few years ago. My main gripe was that the training was more theoretical than practical, so instead of going home with lots of examples and ideas to try, I came home with lots of conversation starters for me and the other youth leaders. Conversation starters would be great if I had lots of time to invest in youth ministry, but I’m neither a full- nor part-time youth leader, so any time I do have comes after my 40+ hour a week job.

Would I recommend the conference to other youth leaders? Most definitely, as long as they understand going in that they’re not going to be talking with their staff on the ride home about all the great ideas they can put in place.