iPods, Planes, and the New $1,000 Question

1. I have made a tenative decision about the iPod. I plan to trade someone who has a 4th Generation iPod (that is still in good working condition) for my new 5th Gen video iPod, and just have them pay me like $100-150 or so. That's quite a rebate from $300, and I feel like it's a pretty good deal. But anyway, my conviction about owning it never went away. And I get so rarely convicted about money/possessions these days (probably because my walls of rationalization grow thicker each day) that I should probably pay attention when I actually am convicted. I'm still not 100% sure that's what I'm going to do...but that's where I'm leaning at the moment. So if you or someone you know is interested in the exchange, let me know.

2. I'm leaving for L.A. tomorrow afternoon. I'll be spending the weekend in L.A. getting to see some friends, then spend some time at the family compound in S.D. for the week and a half after that. Then I'm going up to Seattle on February 1 to visit the L'Arche community and see if it's somewhere I'd want to live after seminary. And yes, the new iPod will be traveling with me, along with a few TV shows I downloaded to watch on the plane...

3. I had a horrible dream last night where one of my best friends killed herself, and I found her while she lay dying. She said she had shot herself through the heart. Then, as I held her and she was dying, she renounced God. I would be hard-pressed to make up a worse dream for myself. Needless to say, I called her and she is indeed fine...and I'll get a chance to see her on Saturday.

4. One question I've been throwing around lately is this: Who do I less like to consider a brother/sister in Christ? a) Someone like Pat Robertson OR b) Someone who doesn't really believe in Jesus, doesn't believe in the resurrection or miracles, is totally self-involved, doesn't give a f**k about any kind of biblically based morality (not that it is so easily defined), but was raised in the church and still goes to church, and calls him/herself a Christian? It's probably an easy answer for some of you...but I'm not sure yet...

5. I'm just starting the book The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World?. I really liked Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by the same author (Ron Sider), so I have high hopes for this one (though it's much, much shorter).