With the publication of the elemental life, I've started up (or will be starting up) another podcast on the eLife. If you're an iTunes user, you can subscribe to it here. You can also find it on the site, or download it in another reader here. Basically, it's online catechesis, Joe style.

In the Spring of 2006, a guy from Genesis suggested that I write a book about the basics of the Christian faith and how Christians view the world around us. It seemed like a good enough of an idea, and now, a couple of years later, the elemental life is in print. Here's the book description:

Life, the decisions and challenges we face concerning work, recreation, money, relationships, and the future can become complex and overwhelming. But they don't have to be.

The elemental life uses the four ancient elements of earth, water, fire, and wind to take a fresh look at historic biblical Christianity. In the process, the elemental life offers a different way of looking at the world around you ... a way that provides clarity in the midst of chaos, speaks words of forgiveness when confronted by failure, makes the most of the struggles of life, and gives meaning to the mundane moments of your everyday experience.

It's not easy, but it is elemental. Find a friend and talk, challenge, encourage, and discover together. Get back to the elemental life.

Because the whole thing was written with the goal of getting people to ask questions and explore deeper, I've also developed a website to go with the site where readers can ask questions and I'll dig deeper into the ideas behind the book through the eLife podcast.

That's right, I'm a SAP, but it's not because I'm one of the hosts on the all new Super Average Podcast, but it's because I want to be super average.

So, what does it mean to be super average? Check out the cast, find out, and let me know if you want to be a SAP too!

After seeing my previous theme on a couple of other browsers and having a couple people mention they were having trouble keeping track of the latest posts, I decided to go with something a bit more standard.

Also, I've revamped my tags and am now doing more free tagging which helps shape the cloud at the top of the column to the right. I'm still going through and retagging stuff so, eventually I think vocation and interpretation will become more dominant in there, but it gives a general view of the stuff I write about.

The other hopefully valuable change will be the new captcha where, rather than reading a faded word, you have to pick which of the items in a list doesn't belong. Someone care to comment and let me know how that works?

As a preview, you can also see that there's something new in the projects section, the Super Average Podcast (SAP) which will be launching in January. It's going to be four guys (mfer, bobby c, pastor dion, and I) talking about everyday faith. We're recording the first round this Saturday so more should be coming soon.

I'll also be adding a whole Elemental Life deal in there as I'll be doing a weekly eLife podcast once the book comes out in early '08.

So, good? Bad? Ugly? What's missing?

Life's been insane lately and I'm really curious as to what all God has in store. I've had a number of huge projects on my plate for a while now, many of which interconnect. You have Genesis, the Fishbowl, the Elemental Life (which is undergoing final reviews before publication), the Lent Devotions for Lutheran Hour (which aren't quite done even though they're due today), and an upcoming new podcast with three other guys.

I've also been doing a huge load of preaching on the side which has recently shifted from a week here and week there to multiple weeks at a single location, normally because a pastor has retired and they need someone to fill in while they wait for a new guy.

Then about a week and a half ago one of the pastors in the area had a massive heart attack and almost died. He was unconscious for an unknown amount of time so it's going to be three to six months before they'll even know if he can return to his pastorate. Anyway, the congregation has contacted me about being a replacement until he's recovered.

With all this and more before me, I'm really curious about just what it is that God has going on and in store for me and, I'm having serious issues following my own counsel to others and just being faithful where I am at the moment.

So, I'm hoping the next couple days at the Edge Gathering will help. It's a great 48-hour experience in Phoenix where we'll do some study, but we'll spend most of the time praying for one another, connecting with other pastors, engaging in some wild and crazy secret event, and of course, drinking beer.

My prayer is that God would provide some peace in my own mind while He reveals just wants in store for me as I move towards 2008.