Ha... what good is having a conversation if there's no right or wrong answers? ;-)

I really enjoyed this; thanks. I don't dare enter into a conversation with you regarding art, as I often am a bit frustrated and confused by the sheer ambiguity of much of it. Yet, I really did enjoy this video. Thanks for posting it.

Thanks for the report, Dan.... and thankful that concludes your race reports for 2011! Ha, I'm kidding. It is always good to read and hear about your races. Thanks. But now.... you can write about something else. Finally. (hahahahaha!)

Congratulations on another great race Pastor Dan. First place, that's great. Looking forward to following your World Championship race this weekend. From these blog posts, sounds like you are more than ready for it! Praying for you.

I have wrestled with this post, because I see so much good in twitter and facebook but lately I've been wondering the value of it. As you say, interaction is key and yet, is it even possible to really interact with the amount of "friends" on the average facebook page? And sometimes on twitter it nearly seems that the goal is often promotion or marketing instead of interaction. And I'm guilty of that too, and sometimes that's even the appeal: I like the things and blogs folks link. I follow them FOR that, not to find out what they had for lunch. (or photos of their lunch! I used to tweet photos of lunch.....) Yet through it all I see great merit in these mediums, and they aren't going away. I almost wonder if through them we'll re-learn what friendship truly is when we start thinking about the people in our life and how we interact with them. I once thought I'd be content to live solely in the realm of internet life but lately, it disappoints me. These things are designed to increase connection, but I almost wonder, if you really contemplate it, it just exposes our need for each other and true community. Can true community be achieved through online interactions? I believe so, but it takes on a similar formula that IRL ones take: a giving of time, sharing of ideas and the willingness to live and act regardless of convenience. Real friendships aren't always convenient. Technology and social media are tools. They're amoral; neither good nor bad. It can bring us truly closer and connected, or expose our loneliness despite the hundreds of "friends" or "followers" we have. It can be used for good, or abused. I've thought often of disengaging online, but I think that even the tenuous connections I have there with some, are connections I will miss, so the bigger question to me is: if I really value them, why don't I find the time to engage with them more? Why am I content in just reading their status? Again, I think it comes down to convenience. And it is a bit scary to further contemplate that.

Congratulations on second place! Looking forward to reading Part 2 and about your upcoming World Championship race this coming weekend. David and I are praying for you and Team Compassion.

Congratulations on a (near) perfect race and for qualifying for the 70.3 World Championships! My entire family enjoys hearing about your race, and (though I hate to admit it) even I do as well. Enjoy Las Vegas in September!

I read a book last year by N.T. Wright titled "After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters. There's this tension of grace and "rule following".... everyone knows that a Christians should be different from the world, yet it is not what saves us. N.T. Wright's book says this: "This transformation will mean that we do indeed “keep the rules”—though not out of a sense of externally imposed “duty,” but out of the character that has been formed within us. And it will mean that we do indeed “follow our hearts” and live “authentically”—but only when, with that transformed character fully operative, the hard work up front bears fruit in spontaneous decisions and actions that reflect what has been formed deep within. And, in the wider world, the challenge we face is to grow and develop a fresh generation of leaders, in all walks of life, whose character has been formed in wisdom and public service, not in greed for money or power. The heart of it—the central thing that is supposed to happen “after you believe”—is thus the transformation of character." Not sure how or if this adds to the conversation; I just like quotes. :-)

I think I need to watch more TV... I'd not seen this before. It was great! Thanks for sharing.

Wonderful article! Thanks for sharing this here and I'm sure others will be blessed reading this on Compassion's blog. So thankful that you are my pastor and still learning things. (though I thought pastors were supposed to know everything already?) Ha! Sorry, couldn't resist.

This whole thing has filled me with questions. I wonder who will be held accountable for all of this: the individuals themselves? Mr. Camping? Is Harold Camping truly a Christian? Are his followers? How can a person who has the Holy Spirit within them be so easily misled when Scripture is so very clear about not knowing the end of the world? Will God have mercy on those who are zealous yet misinformed and misguided? Which is worse: to be a nominal Christian who sacrifices nothing, or to believe Mr. Camping's message to the point where you sell everything because you utterly believe in an eternal reward and love Jesus that much? These people probably thought this is what servanthood faith is! Yet they're wrong. Does what you believe really matter? Does it matter as much as loving and serving God? I can't help but believe that He's given us so many resources to know Him that maybe He expects us to figure out what His Word really says. And then obey it.

I just have one question... why is it that these allegations always seem to surface during the Tour of CA? (yes, I'm adding a lot to the conversation!)

Pastor Dan, David and I enjoyed tracking your race on Saturday, looked like there were a few really fast men in your age group! After your remark of it being "stupid hard" David looked up the course and mentioned that it was either always up or down! Wow. It is good hearing the money and awareness raised for Compassion International, how well received Team Compassion was at the race, and how it encouraged so many, even you! It is good to hear you are content. Good job.

So good to see you blogging again; I've missed your insightful and well-written posts. Of course, I still want to ask you questions and further ponder the idea of compassion and to dialogue about the verse you quoted.... how does Jesus really want us to live and how isn't there a balance and is wealth bad and...... all the other stuff that perhaps others can't answer but still want a definitive answer because to take it as it is seems so difficult. I think I'd rather ponder the questions than accept the difficult answers. Maybe there was a reason you stayed away from blogging?

Good luck on the promotional giveaway; if you win an iPad or Macbook Pro I'll have to deal with my jealousy! (seriously....) I've never had the pleasure of playing with Logos software (well, I have the iPhone app...) but I hear from other friends that it is absolutely wonderful. Good to see you back to blogging! Hopefully with all the time you save with Logos 4 you'll have more time to dedicate to your blog. At least one can hope.

I grew up in church. When I was Very Young I loved the "Jesus junk".... the yellow, happy face erasers that said "God is Love" The pencils with a Bible verse. The yo yo's with words imprinted on it to remind me that God was a part of all the ups and downs of my life. I loved the junk; I'd memorize verses weekly for it, faithfully attend every Sunday school class to acquire more of it. When I was older I discovered The Source to all this junk, but luckily by then I no longer cared about that stuff; I ventured into a very old, dusty 2 story shop with orange carpeting, awful music, and workers who chose to ignore me, to could peruse the basement section that no one ever journeyed: The old classics, concordances and Bible dictionaries. Oh, I was a true nerd and so enjoyed buying these things, that the dreadfully depressing journey to the Christian Bookstore was worth it. I'd not been in a Christian bookstore in over 15 years but last year I was looking for a copy of Pilgrim's Progress and thought the Christian bookstore SURELY would have a copy. Nope. They did not carry it. As you stated, lots of Joel Osteen, lots of "art" with footprints and scripture, decorative pillows, bird feeders, mints, etc. I normally now don't even bother even going into my local Christian bookstore. It's a big one, not the dusty, dreary one of my youth but in many ways I find it so much worse. I tell myself that it's not their fault: They are just catering to consumers.... obviously people buy testamints or junk or all that stuff. My solution? Online purchasing.

I'm in.... I love to memorize!