introducing ... ckjolly.blogspot.com

502 blog posts later and after many stories, travels, videos, photos, finding love on the internet ... I am proud to announce the inaugurating post at http://ckjolly.blogspot.com. All new updates will be posted at the new site.

Many in the realm of Christendom are choosing to refer to themselves as Christ-followers rather than Christians. Many theologians, evangelists, church planters, and "Christians" have adopted the term to remove the baggage and stigma the term Christian seems to bear on today's culture.

While many cringe at the word Christian, the name Jesus Christ almost universally demands respect. "Christian" in many cultures, however, conjures up images of tele-evangelists, the Ku Klux Klan, crusades, etc.

Christ-followers wish others to associate them with the Son of God and not a particular denomination or faction of society. Do they resent those who call themselves Christians? No.

What do you think of the use of terms?

The videos linked to on the new i'd rather laugh than cry are a parody of the Mac vs PC ads on television. They equate Christians with those of the traditional line of church-goers, while Christ-followers are associated with emerging types.

God is enough

making of the dress

How many languages do you hear?

Happy Christine Day

This is how my family celebrated Christine Day. We had a contest in which we broke apart Oreo cookies, licked off all the cream, dunked the chocolate cookies in the milk, ate the cookies, and gulped down all the milk (or barfed it up, like I did! So fun!).

Thanks to all those humans and kitties who wished me a happy birthday below (lol ... did you even read the deep thoughtful blog entry or were you just too excited about celebrating the day ... [I don't blame you]?)!

Thanks to Mike, June 15 is now internationally recognized as Christine Day. If you haven't already gone out to purchase or cut your own Christine Tree, do so now before the day is over.

the good soldier

captain tight pants PLUS fast driving

my knees just went weak ...

click here

how is missional different from the others?

I posted this particular Desiring God National Conference 2006 video because my previous post "the missional switch" raised some very interesting observations in the comments section. Here Mark Driscoll, a key note speaker at the conference, makes the distinction between missional churches from other emerging movements.

Like Mike, I am beginning to have a distaste in my mouth for the term incarnational. While I agree mostly with the missiological method associated with the term ...

living as Christ among a culture, contextualizing one's witness removing cultural stumbling blocks so that the Gospel might be clear to those within a particular culture

... my discomfort with the word lies in its definition which I believe is best understood as referring solely to the Divine becoming human in Christ.

Perhaps a different term can be devised.

Fall of 2006, Desiring God hosted their annual conference in which modern-day heros discussed "The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World".

Desiring God National Conference 2006 videos may be viewed here or downloaded from iTunes.

Audio of conference peakers John Piper, D. A. Carson, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, Vodie Baucham (I wish he was scheduled to preach here before I leave in May.), and David Wells may be accessed here.

(Great! Now Mike's going to be disappointed all over again because I did not attend the conference.)

The above is largely the result of a late-night conversation between Mike and me.

the joy of the church ... our joy ... Christ

John Piper came and spoke on campus this past week, exhorting all to make the joy of the church our joy ... which is ultimately joy in Christ.

2 Corintians 1:24
Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.

h/t Said at Southern

Said at Southern is a blog displaying the various blogs and podcasts of current students and alumni of Southern Seminary. You can find mine about 3/4 down the main page in the center column.

what Mike's been up to

Settle down, girls! The guy with the sexy accent behind the camera is MINE!

another australian gem

introducing "we can be heros"

While in Australia, I really enjoyed watching the show We Can Be Heros. While the show definitely has it's tongue-in-cheek comedy, one REALLY has to appreciate the research Chris Lilley had to do to execute each of his characters so well.

Chris plays a wide range of characters from a self-absorbed 16 year old girl to a Chinese phD student who loves the stage.

Click here to watch an interview with the actor and see more clips of the other characters ... I think Ricky Wong is my favorite!



*click on the link above to find out about the characters Ja'mie, Pat, Phil, Ricky, and Daniel all played by Chris Lilley.

i wanna go!!!

h/t Nixter

mikstine engagement bbq video

merry christmas from Mikstine

from my family

Merry Christmas from my family in Germany ... my parents and my two "little sisters" Sarah and Sonja.

on hold till November 27

till then, enjoy this elevator music by Eisley ...

Feel free to roam the archives. They're full of fascinating stories of donut fights in the Imperial Cafe in Prague, controversial articles about relationships between genders (a favorite with commentors), funny videos, how Mike and I met, etc. Normally the comments are the best part, so don't neglect those.

the drama of why i stopped wearing glasses

black dress, white socks, and Purim

in the dark with a guy

pulling a Ruth

dodging donuts in a German accent

my home

beware of hairy eyeballs

the controversies begin

crashing duck

mystery tea cup

dumb jewelry commercials

the beginning of the babble

spargel appreciation day and what she is not

walking with Wonder Woman

content with my singleness

Mike isn't personally pumped for online dating

addicted to MSN messenger by this point

Seattle and other silliness

back in the 'Ville with friends

struggling independent woman

counting down the days


Feel free to meander through my pictures or my videos.

Talk amongst yourselves ... and I will try to be strong and stay away ... if only to prove to Anon. and Bobby that I can!

; )

Mike's ministry

I'm excited to become involved in this work! Hopefully there's room for a girl with an M.A. in Women's Ministry who sports a goofy American accent.

A couple of people have asked me if Mike has an accent. LOL! Heck yeah! and it's oh so ...

Well ... you can hear for yourself on the bits where Mike is in the video!

good job on the video, Joe!

she's out of there

Carmen visits Boston

Part 1
Part 2

my boyfriend and i are ...

h/t Sharon

nice day