Author: Jonathan Blundell

I'm a husband, father of three, blogger, podcaster, author and media geek who is hoping to live a simple life and follow The Way.

Quote of the day

“I’ve really just begun to see that everything that I do with my life is sort of a theological statement. So many times I thought theology was just this black and white doctrine in a dusty book somewhere. But I’ve begun to realize that what I do with my money, what I do with my lifestyle, what I do with my politics, all of these things are theological statements. I’m not just living in a vacuum somewhere… Where I shop is not just a practical decision anymore or or financial decision or because they have the best products or the best tasting things. Where I shop at and where I go to eat at and what types of things I buy with money… I’m trying to invest in these things with some theological meaning because they are theological statements. Where I shop shows the world what I think about God or how I view God.”

– Josh from the Nick and Josh Podcast 4.0

Found out about The Nick & Josh Podcast from Chad and Tripp on The Homebrewed Christianity Podcast. Apparently Nick & Josh have decided to pick a “podcast war” with the Homebrewed guys. Should make for some fun. I’ve advised Chad to break out an F.O.C. gun as the true WMD.

Shift happens

wired
I noticed an interesting shift on the bus today.
As I sat down, with my laptop in it’s bag at my feet, my new Blackberry in my hand and my Zune in my pocket playing a new podcast an older gentleman sat down next to me.
Didn’t look close enough, but I’d say he was in his mid to late 50s.
I’m wearing dockers and a button down green shirt. I think I was told I should wear a tie to work everyday but I’ve tried to push that idea(l) further and further away from reality.
He was wearing a dark suit, white shirt and tie. He sat down and pulled out the Sports section of the Dallas Morning News.
He read the paper on our route downtown, reading each story of interest. Going from page to page.
I on the other hand listened to a podcast about GAP and GAP Baby using kids working in sweatshops to make their clothes and scanned the “headlines” of the day via my RSS reader.
As I put all my gadgets away before arriving at the bus stop I thought to myself, “I feel pretty wired and connected… but to whom?”
As he gets off the bus I imagine he’ll simply fold the newspaper and stick it under his arm or toss it in the trash on the way into his office.
Shift happens.

Constitution Party Nominates Baldwin

Via email and Chalcedon Blog:

The Constitution Party has settled on a presidential nominee, and it won’t be Alan Keyes. According to an April 26 press release, the Constitution Party has nominated Chuck Baldwin of Florida, a Baptist pastor and radio talk show host.

Baldwin, to my delight, is joining the chorus begun by Congressman Ron Paul denouncing the immoral U.S. wars in the Middle East while declaring war on the “New World Order.” If this equates to awakening more conservative Christians to the error of supporting the present American system, then I’m glad to see it.

As I’ve stated repeatedly concerning the Ron Paul campaign, the real value in this election is education. There is no more important objective than to unplug conservative Christians from the Matrix of Republican statism; and without the Religious Right, the GOP is hopeless–with the exception of conservative Christians rallying behind Dr. Paul. To that end, I do hope the Constitution Party understands the priority of this educational mission and will use Baldwin’s nomination to gain ground in that area. Chuck has dedicated himself to alerting Christians to the present threats to our national sovereignty, so I’m hopeful he’ll continue with that thesis in this election.

My point is that we should be concerned as much for future elections as we are the 2008 presidential race. Therefore, the future belongs to those that can build a sizable constituency, not those that can produce a candidate. As Ron Paul’s campaign has demonstrated: what’s the true value in a great candidate, if he has no widespread support? In the case of Ron Paul, the value lies in his ability to create the grassroots of a future mass constituency of freedom-loving conservatives determined to reverse the course of imperialism. That’s why the Ron Paul campaign already represents the single greatest political victory in the last 100 years. Not because he won a nomination, because he hasn’t. What Dr. Paul has achieved is the creation of a new (or old) type of American citizen. He’s launched a new political constituency that is radically motivated, and therefore, will only grow as the U.S. crises deepen. In short, if you thought 2008 was a ride, wait until you see 2012 when the new constitutional conservatives number in the millions.

Lastly, as Doug Phillips recently noted: “The nomination of Chuck Baldwin means that Christians have the option of voting for a biblically qualified, God-fearing, Constitutionally informed and committed candidate for President.” I concur. In the likelihood that Dr. Paul is unable to secure the GOP nomination, Christians will still have an opportunity to vote their conscience, and rest in the fact that they used their vote to support the Scriptural definition of a godly leader:

The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. 2 Samuel 23:3

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Still don’t know what I’ll do in November. Don’t know much about this guy so we’ll just see.

things you learn

Laurie shared a list of the things she’s learned over the last year on over on her blog and challenged me to do the same. So, never one to back down to (most) challenges here we go…

  • Men and women’s clothes are different (or soft water does a crazy number on clothes). While I can do my laundry for years upon years by throwing it all in the same load of wash on cold water and never have an issue, if you add a red shirt of your wives into the mix, your wives shirt will take over and dye all the other clothes with its red dye. The same applies for red towels you may have received as a wedding gift.
  • The house is always dirtier or messier than you realize.
  • You always have more money than you think you do.
  • If you make the mistake of keeping score for any period of time – you’ll quickly realize you’re loosing the contest.
  • There are different unwritten dress codes for weddings – all depending on what time of day the wedding is held and where it is held. Flip flops are very very very rarely OK to wear to weddings and baseball caps are out of the question.
  • Women don’t always need things fixed like men think they do. Your wife may come home and complain about 20 things at work. Your mind may instantly go into repair mode and without much trouble at all you’ve found a logical solution to the problem and go into a 12-step program to fix everything in the next 5 minutes. She doesn’t care. She just (most of the time) wants you to listen. If she wanted to know how to fix it, she would have said, “I need you to fix this for me.” This will only be said when there’s a jar that cannot be opened, a computer that’s not working correctly, there’s a problem with the entertainment system, the car is making a funny sound, or when you’ve really messed something up.
  • Communication is KEY. When your wife says, “I don’t want you to have to do that” she means “Under no circumstances should you do that” not “I’d prefer you chose to do that differently.”
  • “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Sometimes when you get a great idea of washing a paint sprayer in the sink, so that you can clean each piece thoroughly and avoid getting soap and oil stain on the fairly new grass, one bad squirt of that spayer can make your idea look like the worst idea to come around these here parts.
  • All You Need is Love. Some might argue there’s more to marriage and life – but when you really get down to it – when two people truly love each other – that’s all you really need. Love can overcome any error, any mistake and any challenge. And it’s great to know that when you misunderstand what your wife said or your best laid plan goes awry – you still have a wife who loves you for reasons you’ll never understand and your love for her is the same.

Of course most of these things are said in jest. I can’t think of living my life when anyone other than Laurie. She thrills my heart each and every day.