Career Change – The Search

As my wife and I considered the job search, we mostly discussed location, fit and offer.  We are both from the mountain west and would like to relocate there.  Job fit was obviously important given my decision to start looking.  But because I still had a job, I was not going to just take any offer, it would need to be a better job than I currently had.

Career Change – Deciding to Look

Some people might think that writing this is a bad idea.  And they may be proven right.  But the process of changing jobs has been one of the most significant events of my life, and has included some of the most meaningful religious experiences that I have ever had.

I do not wish to ‘burn bridges’ in the least, so I will avoid names of people and companies, as well as details I feel are irrelevant.  I mostly want to present the basic circumstances from my perspective as a background to the religious experiences – which for these posts, will be the real point.  I would welcome comments, and hope that my experiences might help someone else.

Pat Robertson Doesn’t Like the SNL Version of Jesus in Tebow Skit

On Yahoo I saw a link to Robertson’s disgust about he calls the anti-Christian bigotry on display during the Tebow sketch.

This was interesting to me because I was thinking about how much I liked the depiction of Jesus in this sketch.  Sure, there were parts that were not reverent, but I thought is was not so bad.  I would like to list what I liked and did not like about how Christ was depicted in the sketch:

Liked

1 – A flesh and bone Jesus of the same image as man.  We worship a resurrected being after all.  This was not some mysterious mist or substance (or non-substance).  This was an embodied flesh and bone being.

2 – Jesus was interested in the personal lives of mankind.  He was an active participant in peoples lives.  He was answering prayers, and helping out.

3 – He was progressing in time with the rest of us.  The future was not absolutely known.

4 – He loved people – even Tebow.

5 – He recognized Mormonism as being true.

6 – He referenced ‘dad’, or Heavenly Father as a separate being.

Did Not Like:

1 – Not a glorified being.  He should have been gleaming or something.

2 – A bit irreverent and informal for my taste.  But hey, it’s a comedy sketch.

3 – He prays to Matt Prader (the kicker)?  I could have done without that line.

4 – He didn’t love Belichick as evidenced by the devil sign..  Even Belichick is loved by Jesus.

5 – Socks with sandals.

So, what did you think about how Jesus was depicted?

Mormonism – It’s all true. Every Single Word. Jesus Himself Said So on Saturday Night Live

Did you catch this?

Toward a Post-____________ Mormon Theology

The bloggernacle is justifiably abuzz about Taylor Petrey’s upcoming Dialogue article titled ‘Toward a Post-Heterosexual Mormon Theology’.  While I do not agree with the thrust of his article, and am uncomfortable with the approach, I acknowledge the brilliant strategy and execution of the article.  It really is an impressive and creative piece of work.  It would not surprise me if people were referencing it many years from now.

Perfect College Football Playoff System – 2011 Version

A few years ago I came up with the perfect college football playoff system here.  With the Boise State head coach’s recent complaints, I thought it might be timely to provide this system again, and what it would look like if applied to the 2011 season.  I think it is also timely since there has been another reason that the BCS system is ruining college football – the breadkdown of lesser conferences.  For reasons that should be fairly obvious, the perfect college football playoff system would help to preserve weaker conferences, and may in fact strengthen them over time.  But first, a quick review of the system:

A Link to a Review of Connor Boyack’s ‘Latter Day Liberty’

My friend and former co-blogger at the Blogger of Jared has written a book on his political views called ‘Latter Day Liberty’.  I have not read the book yet, and I rarely talk politics, but I wanted to pass along this link and congratulate Connor.  His book sold out the 1200 copies of the first printing in two weeks.  If you are interested in Ron Paul type political thought mingled with scripture you will likely enjoy this book.  The review can be found here.

The Pros and Cons of LDS Culture on Developing Leadership Skills

I have been thinking a lot about leadership lately, and I am wondering if the culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints helps or hurts when it comes to developing leadership skills.  I think there are things to say on both sides of this.  I would like to lay out my initial thoughts on this, and invite you to comment as well.  I will start with what I think are the pros, and then move on to the cons.

Mormon Theology as Prize, NOT Price of Membership

In a recent post at BCC, Kristine Haglund presents a charming and charitable view of Mormonism from a man named Jim Burklo.  I found his descriptions generally delightful, even though he disagrees with the stand the church has taken on gay marriage.  There was a statement about three-fourths of the way through that really rubbed me the wrong way (although at least one commenter agreed with it).  The statement had to do with Mormon doctrines being the price, not prize, of membership.

Just How Creative is God Anyway?

How creative somebody is, is a highly subjective evaluation to make.  Most everyone thinks that they are creative.  I have had some recent experiences where my creativity was being evaluated by others.  One of the things that people will do when making comparisons is argue that what they do is creative, and what others do is not.  And the one controlling the conversation – the one in power – wins the debate.