Caribou Slobber

First, let me just get this out of the way. How can I be a Christian and like beer? It’s easy. Are you a Christian and like chocolate, or food in general, or Coke, or Pepsi, or anything else? Well, too much chocolate or too much food or Coke or what have you can kill you. Too much beer can kill you. It’s all about moderation. Jesus drank wine. The end.

Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine, a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy. —Ben Franklin

It’s been a little over a decade since I discovered there was more to beer than pee water like Budweiser or Miller. There were beers out there artfully crafted, with amazingly unique flavors, scents and experiences.

I paired one of these beers (Sam Adams Boston Lager, to be exact—some beer snobs will say these guys brush up against the label of “craft brew” but I digress) with a steak dinner in the late 90′s and whoa… the right beer/food combo can make both things better! Then, to me, the logical next step was that beer alone could be very enjoyable (again, in moderation.) I was right, but not just any old beer—micro brews. Craft brews.

Bottle tree

Ever since then, when it comes time to restock the fridge, I avoid the 24-can cases of mainstream “beer” and go straight for the specialized six packs. Beer like Ranger IPA, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and what have you. Again, some beer snobs will look at these two and say “seriously, those aren’t exotic or anything” and I’m aware of this. But they’re great gateway brews to the exotic. Just because I don’t make a monthly pilgrimage to Dogfish Head doesn’t make me an idiot.

However, some of the best beer I’ve had is Adam‘s homebrew. He buys kits from Northern Brewer, has his own homebrewing equipment at home, and eight weeks later, BAM, very fresh, very unique beer. He brews a citrusy beer that’s still one of my favorites to this day.

So, the purpose of this post? To commit to homebrewing. My first “batch” (which actually means Adam did almost all of the work) culminates with a cold 16 ounce Caribou Slobber tonight (pictured above) and I’m quite looking forward to it. Non-carbonated taste tests on bottling day revealed a mid-dark cloudy beer that was light and refreshing on the palette.

Are you a homebrewer? Have you thought about it? Let me know in the comments and let’s discuss!

After looking into a commentary or study bible, Matt suggested I check out the ESV Study Bible. A quick glance at the sample on Amazon convinced me that this $9 purchase on Kindle was a goldmine.

My daily Bible study time looks like this:

Start with prayer — actually, I stink at this part but I know it needs to start with this. I’m going to get better. When I do pray before studying, I pray that God reveals Himself and His son to me through scripture, to right my inconsistent belief and to increase my joy in Him.

Review today’s reading — I’m a few days into the Bible in 3 Years plan at ebible.com and am loving it. It’s essentially a chapter a day which is perfect pacing for me. I take my time and read through the day’s reading before getting to the study portion.

Review the ESV Study Bible — the study portion of the Bible starts with an overview of the chapter, then goes into study material for a verse or a few verses. I let the study Bible guide me and re-read the verses, then read the study portions for said verses. For example, if the study Bible’s next section is on verses 5-9, I re-read those verses on ebible.com (even though I’ve already read them when I started my study time) to ensure they’re fresh in my mind for context.

Take notes! — I use ebible.com because I prefer its highlighting and note-taking capabilities to any other online bible. Sometimes I simply highlight, sometimes I use the notes section to input a line or two directly from the study Bible, and sometimes I wax poetic and input my own notes. Click here for a screenshot of some of my mark-up from today’s reading out of Genesis 5.

End with prayer — I’m better about ending with prayer than starting with prayer but not by much. This will get better, too. I pray that God’s living word penetrates my heart and changes me so I can come to know Him more.

So, here’s the question—how do you study the Bible? Sound off in the comments about how you study the Bible or link me to a blog post that talks about your study methods. If you don’t have a study method, I invite you check mine out. Even if you’re new to Christianity, a chapter a day will likely ensure you’re not getting inundated.

Yes, I do realize this now.

Therefore, I’ve made my first real fitness investment since I bought a pair of Nike running shoes a decade ago.

If you’re unfamiliar with Altra, they make a pretty innovative shoe that promotes a more natural movement style. They don’t provide a way to embed their “about us” video (hey Altra guys, get a YouTube channel already!) but you can click this link to watch their founder talk about how Altra shoes are different. I’ve also embedded a product video below that should give you a little more info about Altra Zero Drop shoes:

By the way, quick shout-out to the Altra guys—thanks for including a not-the-most-fit runner in your product video! Yellow shirt, 1:33 into the video. Nice!

My pair of Instincts (pictured at the top of this post) should arrive this week. Granted, I’m by no means a jogger/runner yet (still too unfit for that!) but that will change. I’m in this for the long haul.

My encouragement to you? Find someone (or someones) to keep you accountable and, when possible, exercise together. Besides, don’t you want to add six years to the end of your life? Who doesn’t? Who wouldn’t?

Don’t have anyone to encourage you? That’s OK. I’d love to help. Leave a comment below and we’ll begin discussion on how we can work to keep each other accountable, stay in contact so we can update each other on our fitness goals (so we don’t quit!) and share in the wins.

Maybe. Either way, I’ll be super excited to chomp on some popcorn while watching these flicks.

No. 3 — The Avengers

Big comic book fan as a kid, getting to see such solid Marvel characters come together in one movie is a comic book fan’s dream.

No. 2 — The Dark Knight Rises

Some of you might be gasping but in all honesty, this is a huge honor for TDKR. Why? Because this movie is gonna be money. Nolan doesn’t make trash and, once you see the latest trailer, you’ll ask yourself, “how can TDKR be number two on your list?”

No. 1 — Prometheus

Black Hawk Down. American Gangster. Gladiator. Alien. Blade Runner. Ridley Scott. Need I say more?

Agree? Disagree? Does your top three look totally different than mine? Link to your most anticipated movie’s trailers in the comments and let’s discuss!

Image credit — Kayla Gentry

A friend on Facebook posted a glorious picture of a sunset (see image) and I was instantly reminded of this verse. Nature proves God so no man has to wonder. Every man at some point understands that God exists. It just depends on whether we accept this revelation of God. Some men do. Some men don’t.

But why are we here? What’s God’s plan for man? Isaiah 43:1-7 does a glorious job of detailing this for us:

But now, thus says the Lord, your creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, ”Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed even whom I have made” (NASB)

And Isaiah 48:9-11:

For My name’s sake I defer my anger,
for the sake of My praise I restrain it for you,
that I may not cut you off.
Behold, I have refined you but not like silver;
I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
For My own sake, for My own sake I do it,
for how should My name be profaned?
My glory I will not give to another.

Did you see it? “Whom I have created for My glory” and “My glory I will not give to another.” God is all about His glory. We were created for His glory. He’s God. He deserves it. And God is always just (Psalms 89:14). We can trust Him that He is right and good, and deserves all honor and glory because it is impossible for God to not be just.

Ultimately, God’s not about you. He’s not about me. He’s about Him and His glory. Therefore, shouldn’t we be, too?

What do we do with this knowledge? What’s next?

Let’s unwrap this together. More to come soon.

Before doing ANY of the steps below, make sure your battery is fully charged

Don’t waste your time trying various methods hoping they work. Let my numerous failures help you unroot your Droid X faster!

You’ll need to download three pieces of software:

1. DroidXRoot.zip - download it here
2. RSD Lite - this will copy the stock Droid X image to your Droid X. download it here
3. A Droid X stock image - the image I used was named VRZ_MB810_2.3.34_1FF_01.sbf. Word is that’s the only one that will work. I tried an earlier image and wasn’t successful so my guess is they’re right. download it here

The DroidXRoot zip package comes with drivers for the Droid X so when you connect your phone via USB to your computer for the first time, if it needs drivers, point it to the unzipped DroidXRoot directory and you should be good to go.

Once your phone is recognized by Windows, fire up DroidXRoot.exe and click Unroot. This will be a relatively quick process. Your Droid X will then be at a black screen and may say Bootloader along with other text.

Next, fire up RSD Lite. It will want an image to copy to your phone. This is where VRZ_MB810_2.3.34_1FF_01.sbf comes in. Choose this image then click Start. This process’ length can vary so be patient.

If RSD Lite is successful it will say Pass when done. If it says Fail it will tell you why it failed. You can then Google the Fail error for guidance.

Unplug the USB cable from your phone, power the phone down, power it back on and you should be greeted by the white Motorola symbol.

You might be asking, “where did all of your old content go?” It’s safely exported but I feel like it was a hodge podge of crap so it’ll likely stay in its comfy cozy XML export format until… well, maybe forever. Trust me, most of what I wrote for the old shawnw.org was nothing but hot turds. You’re not missing anything.

What will I blog about now? I feel like a majority of the fun things that happens to me falls into one of three categories—faith, technology and culture. Wide topics, I know, but they best describe me so deal with it. Don’t make me come over there.

At this point in my life (I’ll be 38 in a little over a month!) I feel as if my faith in Christ is being stretched more than it ever has before. It’s also a very cool time to be alive, what with space mining becoming a reality and whatnot, so technology is a neat thing to be involved with right now. Plus, I dig movies, music, books, homebrewing, etc., so culture is a big part of who I am, too.

So, what’s next? This week I’ll be posting about how to unroot a Droid X (technology), my wrestling with God’s glory (faith) and my most anticipated movie of Summer 2012.

That’s all for now. Thanks for stopping by. Follow me on Twitter or sub to my RSS to stay up to date yo.

Or don’t. Whatevs. (See how cool I am? I just used “whatevs!”)