bosalisbury.com Posts

Fudenjuce 2This year I had two entries in the Fine Arts competition at the Nevada County Fair. I received a Third Place for a Nevada County Scene with my Fudenjuce, which is acrylic on a large reclaimed yard sale canvas. It is one of a number of urban landscapes I am planning for the future. Although I received a third place, I was very happy with the result because I was competing across all skill levels including professionals.

Bridges PointI received a First Place in the novice category for my acrylic painting of a boat on Bridge’s Point in Brooklin ME.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Fine Art

autopsy-of-a-deceased-church-12-ways-to-keep-yours-alive_2525018From Thom Rainer’s book, Autopsy of a Deceased Church, the author lists some tell-tale signs to alert us that our church is in trouble. Here are the most telling, in my opinion:

  • “The church refused to look like the community. The community began a transition toward a lower socioeconomic class thirty years ago, but the church members had no desire to reach the new residents. The congregation thus became an island of middle-class members in a sea of lower-class residents.”
  • “There was no attempt to reach the community.”
  • “More and more emphasis was placed on the past.”
  • “The percentage of the budget for members’ needs kept increasing.
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Books • Literature Christianity • Religion Church • Ecclesiology Gospel-Centered Leadership Missional Communities Planting

A 12-year-old Michigan boy is battling illness after being infected by flesh-eating bacteria that caused him to lose most of his left leg.

Dakarai Moore, Jr. was an active child until August 11, when he developed a fever and a greenish-colored rash on the bottom of his feet…

Please keep Dakarai Moore in your thoughts and prayers. You can read about him here: Detroit boy loses leg after contracting flesh-eating bacteria | Fox NewsRead the rest

Diagnosis Media Coverage

WBNPermanI suppose it’s fitting I write a review of Matt Perman’s book What’s Best Next (WBN) toward the end of a day that I’ve spent piddling,  getting very little done, on the way to working myself up to settle down to watch a movie.

My cousin Nancy pointed me to What’s Best Next, while discussing our recent retirements. For Type A personalities or those of us who obsess over how much time we’re wasting, our first impulse is to prioritize and jump right into finding more time.  That’s universal and, if you don’t believe me, just scroll through the thousands of productivity products and strategies on the web.… Read the rest

Books • Literature Gospel-Centered Leadership Religion

I’ve been struggling over the past year and a half, trying to get a routine down — to optimize my time and get some real work done. I am essentially self-employed now, even if I’m not earning a living by my efforts. Nearly forty years with the US Postal Service and twenty-four years as a bi-vocational pastor kept me working and focused, so there was an imposed structure to my day with objectives and goals to meet, as well as work to be done. Now, I have to plan  my own workday, thankful that years of working for the USPS, Denise’s years of contracting and employment,  the generosity of others, and personal planning have provided the financial foundation for labors of love that don’t necessarily pay.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Christianity • Religion Leadership

IMG_4687

I completed my acrylic painting class about two weeks ago and this was my final project: Olive At Seven. I’m generally pleased with it, although it gave me a bit of trouble in combining white with raw umber and, then, glazing and going to a gray. After encountering that problem, I created swatches and learned that raw umber has some blue in it, evidently. I found that by mixing in a little burnt sienna, it “warms” a bit and will go to a creamier tint. Oh, well. That’s why I’m taking these classes.

Next up are a couple of portraits and then on to my current fascination: urban scenes.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Fine Art

My first acrylic painting class is drawing to a close. This is the first time I’ve put serious energy into painting since high school, over 40 years ago. I’ve learned a lot from our excellent instructor, Sandra Miller, at Sierra College. And, I can’t say enough about the wonderful color theory course I had with Linda Byrne two semesters ago.IMG_4209

One of the most enjoyable projects was a mixed media assignment. I decided to parody (not mock) this familiar Paul Delefsen print, Serenity. Denise found it at the thrift store, heading out to the garbage. We displayed it in our patio each summer, in order to capture the feeling that we were in a cool redwood grove, on hot afternoons.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Vintage • Retro • Kitsch

rant1I felt a New Years rant coming on, but didn’t get around to publishing it until today.

First up: There must be something wrong with me. I’d rather eat at a taqueria than Chipotle – there, I said it – I’m out – that’s just me – not hating or judging anyone. From an early age, I always knew I was different than the rest – but, that’s another story altogether. I don’t feel any different after eating organic/fresh than I do eating other kinds of food (unlike just about everyone else on social media). In fact, I recently ingested a bunch of home cooked fresh stuff and felt terrible.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Just Plain Fun

It’s great to see someone battle back after their ordeal with necrotizing fasciitis and a brush with death.

Haxton had been an elite rower in high school at Upper Arlington and for months after his illness, Blake had no plans to try adaptive rowing. But with some urging, he discovered the sport and quickly realized he was a natural. He was soon among the best in America.

We share a similar perspective, which may come from extended time unconscious or in a coma: the ordeal is worse for family and friends, watching this disease devour us in real time, while we are “off somewhere.”… Read the rest

Life After NF Media Coverage

Well, it’s been over a month since my last post. A few things have conspired to keep me away from writing.

First, a friend of the family was hit by necrotizing fasciitis, the flesh-eating bacteria. It’s so rare, I never thought I would know someone, personally, who would be stalked by this deadly foe. He is a young man, received a timely bit of advice from his pharmacist and a quick diagnosis by his first surgeon and, then, he was off to an excellent hospital. He’s come through with flying colors. Today, he just learned that his grafts had taken very well and he’ll be going home Friday, after a month in the hospital.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Baha'i Necrotizing Fasciitis

I used to tell people, jokingly, that I spared them from necrotizing fasciitis because, statistically, it’s so rare that they will only meet one person with this disease in their lifetime. Well, I can’t say that again as a personal family/friend has just passed through the worst of a bout with that nasty, cruel bacteria. His elbow and arm were affected and he has made it through the worst. It looks like the infection is under control and his surgeon has just grafted his affected area and the grafts took. So, he’ll be going home this Friday.

He’s pretty beat up, but rallying back.… Read the rest

Diagnosis Treatment

The MoabitessI’m back in school again, taking an acrylic painting class and a publication design course, learning Adobe InDesign. The strategy at this point is to take courses I need to move forward in my new career: writing, designing, laying out, and publishing books that hardly anyone will read, aimed at niche audiences, interested in obscure subjects. Doesn’t that sound super-bohemian?

the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic, or literary pursuits. In this context, Bohemians may be wanderers, adventurers, or vagabonds.

I’m feeling hipper and groovier by the moment.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture

Back in October, I wrote about an injury to my reconstructed left leg that left a hole over my superior and inferior retinaculam (top of my foot, at the ankle), which revealed my tendon, sliding back and forth, as I moved my foot (shivers). As a necrotizing fasciitis survivor, one becomes something of a wound care specialist and, though I’ve gotten along treating myself for nearly 20 years, this one required more expertise than I have.

So, I visited my general practitioner to get a referral to a plastic surgeon, because I felt a graft may be required. But, the wound began coming together by that time and my GP was able to really help it out with some minor surgery in his office.… Read the rest

Life After NF Our Story Treatment

Biblical Eldership Resources put together this handy little collection of links today on accountability for Christian leaders. Often times, the focus is on sexual sin or pornography, which can be a huge temptation to Christians, male and female. By majoring on sexual purity, lists or resources like these often overlook other areas of accountability that are crucial to building healthy Christian community into the church. Ken Sande’s contribution offers refreshing insights from real life.
 
For example, the author of The Peacemaker proffers this modest sounding, yet crucial piece of advice: “Provide leaders with regular performance evaluations. Candid performance evaluations conducted in the spirit of Ephesians 4:15 and 4:29 can provide encouraging affirmation of strengths and successes, and address weaknesses or failures in a positive manner instead of waiting for problems to build to explosive levels.
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Uncategorized

Picture_of_Abdul-BahaYesterday, I began in earnest to bring my latest writing and publishing project to life. I created an outline and plan for a book titled The Baha’i Faith: An Introduction  for Christian Readers. Why an introduction to the Baha’i faith, you ask? Because there still aren’t nearly enough resources out there for popular consumption on the subject, since I first encountered the Baha’i faith back in the 80s. Sources tend to be partisan and there is very little dialogue between opposing groups, who share an interest in the Baha’i faith and its roots in Babism, Sufism, Twelver Shi’ism, and Islam. Of course, Baha’is will accuse me of being so biased, that I can’t possibly add anything helpful to the discussion.… Read the rest

Baha'i Books • Literature

As I sat down to make resolutions for 2016, I remembered this sobering quote by John Goldingay from the book, I (Still) Believe: Leading Bible Scholars Share Their Stories of Faith and Scholarship. He reminds me that I’m seeking a “better country,” beyond 2016 and this life.

Here it is and it’s not for the squeamish:

Americans like to believe in legacies; I expect to be forgotten, in fulfillment of Ecclesiastes’ warning. I know that individual students gain from classes I teach and from books that I write… but in general my work makes no significant contribution to the life of the church or to the purposes of God in the world.

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Christianity • Religion Film

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with a friend, who lives in constant pain from a degenerative back ailment. We were discussing how often God blesses us through the curse: our fallen, broken, mortal bodies. If Jeremy Linneman is correct, 40 percent of Americans suffer from chronic pain. I’m one of them. Here’s why chronic pain and the suffering that goes along with it can be a gift from The Paradox of Chronic Pain:

In this, chronic pain is a perfect illustration of the Christian life. It is a constant and demanding journey; it is supremely complex and often seemingly meaningless; and there is no cure for the hardship or hope for restoration in this world itself.

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Life After NF

Star_Wars_The_Force_Awakens

I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens, last night, in 3-D.

I am not a Star Wars, Sci-fi or fantasy geek. I have been an audio geek and a Bible nerd, but I don’t know if geek or nerd are appropriate labels, if you are enthusiastic about one of the most popular and lucrative entertainment franchises in the history of the world. I tend to associate geeks and nerds with outsider movements. Anyway, I’ve been pretty hard on hardcore Star Wars fans in the past (see my take at Star Wars: It Really Matters What You Believe). But, I’m no hater and have the greatest love and respect for the franchise. … Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Film

Many men wish their handwriting was better and I’m one of them. This primer, How to Improve Penmanship, at The Art of Manliness, “will teach you everything you need to know about improving your cursive penmanship.” At least, that’s their claim. I have this notion that by training my mind, eyes, and hands to improve my penmanship, other skills I’m cultivating will follow. There are indications that writing by hand improves your cognitive abilities, but I’m hoping my art and creative writing will also benefit. We shall see. One specific writing skill I would like to acquire is the draftsman or architectural style of writing.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Blogging Just Plain Fun

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with a friend, who lives in constant pain from a degenerative back ailment. We were discussing how often God blesses us through the curse: our fallen, broken, mortal bodies. If Jeremy Linneman is correct, 40 percent of Americans suffer from chronic pain. I’m one of them. Here’s why chronic pain and the suffering that goes along with it can be a gift from The Paradox of Chronic Pain:

In this, chronic pain is a perfect illustration of the Christian life. It is a constant and demanding journey; it is supremely complex and often seemingly meaningless; and there is no cure for the hardship or hope for restoration in this world itself.

Read the rest

Christianity • Religion

12314707_10156495045285314_7032931350319123767_oThis past week, I came to the realization that I’m probably not a coffee drinker. I like coffee drinks or drinks made with coffee, but not coffee by itself… black. Denise roasts beans for us and does a great job. We have electric and hand burr grinders, a french press outfit, a pour-over device, an Aeropress, and a Cuisinart drip coffee maker. Until recently, we had a Krupps espresso maker. So, there’s no excuse for my not being a true coffee drinker — I have only my own taste buds to blame.

How did I come to this shocking realization? A couple of weeks ago, I decided to start drinking my coffee black and enjoy the essence of the bean without admixture or adulteration of the ebony nectar by dairy products and sweeteners.… Read the rest

Food Just Plain Fun

This week I’ll be heading back to the Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine Center to consult with a plastic surgeon on the skin ulcer over the tendon on my foot. A couple weeks ago, I was leaning toward a full-thickness skin graft to cover the area and get some more tissue over the tendon. Now, the wound is healing well and I’ll be surprised if the plastics man will suggest a graft. It’s looking good.

For those of us with extensive injuries from necrotizing fasciitis, this is part of a life-long process that can often be discouraging or downright depressing.… Read the rest

Life After NF Treatment

Here’s another inspirational story about a young man, who just wouldn’t quit.

Giancarlo Gil, 14, began feeling sick Sept. 19, and doctors later had to amputate his right leg up to his hip to stem the spread of necrotizing fasciitis. He underwent 11 surgeries and was listed in critical condition until late last month, according to the hospital.

Source: Boy battling flesh-eating bacteria close to going home | FOX5 San Diego – San Diego news, weather, traffic, sports from KSWBRead the rest

Diagnosis Life After NF Media Coverage Treatment

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a wound I have on my tendon. I visited my GP and he did a bit of minor surgery and wound care on the hole over my tendon. It’s looking really good. But, he’s consulting with a plastic surgeon to see if I may need a full-thickness graft over the area. If I do have surgery, it would be the first since I left the hospital back in 1998. I had amazing results in the reconstruction of my leg and didn’t have to return to cover problem areas or releases on the keloid scarring around my joints.… Read the rest

Life After NF Treatment

I have to concur with the writer, that “racking up mile after mile is difficult, mind-expanding, and hypnotic—just like putting words down on a page.” But, it’s also energizing and freeing to be out on the road, around town or through the woods, working out ideas and problems, step by step, mile by mile.

Freedom, consciousness, and wildness: Running offers writers escape with purpose. When confronted with “structural problems” in her writing as the result of a “long, snarled, frustrating and sometimes despairing morning of work,” Joyce Carol Oates would ease her writing blocks with afternoon runs. For Oates and many other writers, running is process and proves especially useful for the type of cloistered, intensive work they do.

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Blogging Books • Literature