Girls Gas Price Protest: It's a Good Thing They Can't Afford Cable!

Did you see the signs of those girls protesting high gas prices in Utah?

It says, "My mom can't pay for cabel!"

Where was their mom when they made this sign? I'd say having mom stop cable TV is a good thing. Make these girls sit down and read some books instead!! Someone, please give them a token to that trolley in the background to the nearest public library.

Article: Salt Lake Tribune

Becoming 508 Compliant For Your Christian Club on Campus, Part 1

Everyone knows blogs fill that need to talk about something that you can't about with anyone with in real life.

For me it is about becoming Section 508 Compliant.

"What?" you are saying, "that is boring. No wonder no one wants to talk to you about it."

True, I won't be talking about it during play dates at the park with the other moms. I'll want to, but I'll probably have better luck talking about canning my peaches. Yet I do think this is a very important issue for those of us in campus ministries on college campuses. Let me explain.....

It all started last month when I checked the university's website to see if our club was linked on their "club" page. What I found, was that our club was listed, but there was no link to our webpage. We contacted the university, and they restored the link, but with this ominous warning: "your link will be removed if you do not become Section 508 Compliant."

My first thought was there was a relation to the sudden flurry of wheelchair accessible sidewalks my city was putting in our neighborhood. There's been a lot of talk about ADA compliancy the last 10 years, but now we are finally seeing some action. Perhaps this 508 thing has to do with people with disabilities having access to the Internet.

A little Google search, and I not only discover Section 508 was signed into law by President Clinton in the late 90's, but there has been all kinds of conferences and consortiums since then to figure out just exactly what it means and how it is to be implemented. Basically it is a law requiring federal websites (and other information technologies) to give equal access to people with disabilities (U.S. Congress and the Justice Department are curiously exempt).

What does that have to do with a link from a California university website? Many states have passed similar laws to give equal access to information and Section 508 is the standard that everyone is adopting. The Accessible Technology Initiative was enacted by the California State University system to bring all CSU schools into compliance.

Therefore, if you have a Christian group on a CSU campus, and you want a link from the official university website--you need to have a Section 508 compliant website. Other university systems, both public and private are sure to follow with similar policies, if they have not already done so.

This summer I'll be re-working our campus website to make it compliant, and I hope to blog about it so others in the same situation can save time in updating their websites.

Next post: Section 508: Who Cares? I've Got More Important Things to Do.







a majority of my "mind time" these days is thinking about the subject of 508 compliancy...and I just need to blow off a little steam by blogging about it a bit. My rationale is that there are others out there like me who are facing the issue, and wondering how to go about it as painlessly as possible.


But I just manage a small website for our campus ministry at Cal Poly Pomona here in California.

Brain Google

I wish I could Google my brain. You know, I forget a name or where I put something....and then I could just type in a search box connected to my brain and bingo!

Reading List for Church Youth

I thought this was an interesting topic over at Doctrine Matters on what would be the most important books to have included in your youth program.

Some of the comments had good suggestions, but here is my list:

Humility, C.J. Mahaney
Isn't this the number problem for all of us? I love the way Mahaney handles this topic. Very practical, especially for high schoolers who are immersed in a culture that values everything contrary to the idea of humility.

Living the Cross-Centered Life, by C.J. Mahaney
No explanation needed really, other than it gives them tracks for run on.

Growing Up Christian, by Graustien and Jacobsen
I didn't grow up Christian, so this covers my gaps in raising my kids. Our high schoolers went through this in Sunday school and I am glad they did.

Don't Waste Your Life, by Piper
For high schoolers, this can springboard into just thinking more deeply about life beyond clothes, cars, and gaining independence. The danger will be not to go too deeply where this book goes, and to make it not be too extreme (i.e. living with a wartime mentality might seem like too much for some people--so there would be a temptation to downplay it when teaching it).

When I Don't Desire God, by Piper
This has a DVD series to go with it now. It deals with what many high schoolers are facing....do they really desire to live for God?

Living by the Book: The Art and Science of Reading the Bible, by Howard Hendricks
Our high schoolers have been going through this, and it is helpful in teaching them to study the Bible. It's accessible, and it's Hendricks. There is also a DVD set to go with it.

The Jesus of Suburbia: Have We Tamed God to Fit our Lifestyle?, by Mike Erre
Don't you love the title? Or does it make you break out into a sweat? I give a caveat on Chapter 6 which is about doctrine and that he does quote Rob Bell (whom I always confuse with Art Bell), but the rest of the book is thought-provoking and challenging. I think it seeks to show a real Christianity that is not about programs and rituals, but of a real relationship with Jesus of the the Scriptures. Mike shows how being a Christian is not just a veneer we wear on Sundays, but permeates our whole being and affects those around us.

A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers, by D.A. Carson
This is a little heavy....I mean talking seriously about prayer to high schoolers? But I think they are capable, and they need to be taught the truth about one of the most neglected of our spiritual disciplines.

Fish Out of Water, by Abby Nye
There are other books on being a Christian in college, but I included this one because it addresses a current snapshot of what a student will face. It is a good way to inoculate a student to uber-liberal professors and hypocritical "Christian" kids who party on the weekends. She gives strategies for facing different situations, as well as encouraging students to take the initiative to share their faith with classmates. My only criticism of the book is that I think Nye sounds a little bitter about her experience and it affects the tone of the book. However, I think this would be good with a small group setting with high schoolers planning on attending either a secular or Christian college.

Church History in Plain Language, by Bruce Shelley
This would give every high school student some "handles" when they walk into a classroom or in everyday life. What has the church gone through for the Gospel or to bring us the Scriptures in everyday language? What have been the major upheavals and personalities? I took a Church History class after I graduated from college, and how I wished I had known it BEFORE I left high school.

The Attributes of God, by Pink
Just the basics.

I think there are other books that would be good as well--this is just off the top of my head. I also think that it would be good to have the best of the best repeated every two or three years. Another genre of books would be missionary biographies, which can be taught even before high school. Our church went through a series of stories of missionaries with the elementary school-aged children. My own kids would come home and tell me what they were learning.

What would you add or subtract? Any good books on missions? Evangelism? Holiness? I've probably missed some good ones...

Former Homeschooler Has 11 College Degrees

Benjamin Bolger has 11 degrees from various Ivy League schools and plans on getting 5 more.

What is interesting about this guy:

1. He has dyslexia, so his mom does most of his reading for him.

2. He himself only reads only at an elementary school level. (But what level does he write at...that's what I want to know!!!)

3. His mom homeschooled him when he was having trouble in school. (Yeah mom!)

4. He started community college at age 12 to supplement his homeschooling. Since he is now in his 30s, that must have been in the "early days" of modern homeschooling

5. The article doesn't say what all his degrees are about, just that he has a Masters in Sociology and on in Philosophy. He is pursuing a degree in education and he wants to make people more aware of dyslexia.

So, here's a few question I have about this guy.

1. What does he think about homeschooling now?
2. Did he every apply to a UC school?
3. Does he ever use the same paper for two (or three) different classes? Or at least tweak a paper he already wrote for another class.
4. Would he have been able to get all these degrees if he had remained in the public school system?
5. Does he have friends his own age?
6. Does he play video games?
7. Does he play sports?
8. Does he go to church?
9. What really drives him to get all these degrees?
10. Add your own question .....
    

article:USAToday

Blocked Goals vs. God's Sovereignty

A recurrent theme in my life is blocked goals. Not just the Blocked Goals themselves, but how much they drive me to insanity.

These blocked goals are not huge in nature, but come in the form of little everyday things. Voice mail that leaves no helpful options. A Walmart checkout line. Traffic. Interruptions to my train of thought. Spilling my cup of coffee all over the cabinets and my clothes right before leaving for church. You know, the little stuff.

Today, I had to deal with a phone call I have been avoiding. It really is silly, but I needed to pay off a small amount of money sitting in my overdraft account. I have avoided it dealing with it because 1. My bank doesn't have a way of transferring the money from my online account. and 2. I have to navigate the bank's voice mail system to find a person to help me. And that is a recipe that will send me over the edge.

To give you the shortened version of what happened, I basically went through various options on the voice mail system before I could find a live person who told me he couldn't help me. The next person I got transferred to told me they no longer make transfers to pay off your overdraft over the phone. Then a supervisor said that wasn't true, and he would take care of it. But by then, it was too late. I was upset, impatient, unkind, and bugged. Although I was getting what I originally wanted, I was mad that I wasn't able to change the voice mail system itself. How hard would it be to allow a person to just pay it online like everything else? I realized after I was done, I hadn't even said "thank you."

If only I could be as spiritual and patient as my husband is with such situations. I haven't overcome that thing with the tone in my voice. I also forgot what my husband reminded me to think of in such situations---God's sovereignty.

It isn't that the person or voice mail system is blocking my goal, but that in God's sovereignty He's saying I don't need what I want right at this particular moment. What else was I going to do with that 15 minutes anyways? Why do I let my pride get the best of me? I think it's all about my rights and what I deserve. Why don't I think about the poor person on the other end as being more important than myself?

I need to go over a checklist of these spiritual truths before actually making such a call. (I'm not kidding--I am serious)

My husband who overheard my interaction, did encourage me by saying I've come a long way in the past 20 years. But I still have a ways to go, too. I didn't break the phone or cuss or yell. It could have been much worse.

photo:flickr

Planning for Christmas Already....

Okay, I was way too serious on that last post. Politics. Really. There's really nothing to be done about this year's election.

So here's something cheerier...The Astro Weenie Christmas Tree. I want to make this in December.

"Reproductive Justice"

When it comes to pro-life issues, this presidential election has already been lost. Or has it? McCain and Obama are likely to not only continue supporting abortion rights, but also will open more doors for stem cell research. So now it is a matter of discerning the lesser of two evils.

Obama uses the term "reproductive justice" to describe his position on abortion. This term has been around since the 1970s. NOW gives their definition of the term, which is basically about making sure government money continues to pay for poor women to kill their babies.

One of the very first things Obama promises to do if elected is to sign The Freedom of Choice of Act. FOCA is a "measure to codify Roe v. Wade and guarantee the right to choose for future generations of America." That means partial birth abortions. It means no parental rights in the case of their teen-aged daughter seeking an abortion. The debate will truly be over and there will be no turning back.

But not to pick on Obama, Hillary would also have signed the same document. As for McCain, I'm not sure if he would go so far as signing this into law. Perhaps in order to keep his conservative base, he would stay away from this activist stance. For this little teeny microscopic glimmer of hope/lesser-than-two-evils, McCain might be a better choice for those of us who are pro-life.

Read the article on Obama: The Audacity of Death

Keep All Bottles and Containers Out of Reach

Today, DS6 was learning that the suffix -tion sounds like "shun." The workbook asked him to make up a new sentence of his own using a word ending in -tion. This is what he wrote:

I died eating lotion.

Nice. Where did that come from?