Entries from July 2006 ↓

EthicsDaily reports that Southern Baptist Convention president Frank Page argued for women’s ordination in his 1980 Ph.D dissertation. He has long since changed his view to a more complementarian one, believing that the office of pastor is scripturally reserved for men only.

So my question is this . . . who cares what he wrote 26 years ago? Do the egalitarians consider this some sort of “a-ha, you’re outed” moment?

Hey, EthicsDaily . . . 20-some-odd years ago, I believed in the Tooth Fairy. Write a story on that.

Tags: Southern Baptist Convention, SBC, EthicsDaily, Frank Page, completmentarianism, egalitarianism, gender roles, female ordination

Some background first . . .

Most folks who follow the latest happenings in the Macintosh world know about the discoloration that’s been reported in about 20% of the new white MacBooks. After a scant two to three weeks of use, the grey-white color of the palm rests and touchpad of affected MacBooks are turning a yellowish-brown hue that won’t wash off with any sort of cleaning product. The spots look kind of like pit stains. Of course, my ‘Book was part of that 20%.

Surprisingly enough, websites soon began to report that Apple had acknowleged the discoloration as a manufacturing defect (thanks to some screaming and complaining on Apple’s forums and from StainedBook.info), thus making it a warranty-covered repair. Still, there had not been (and, as of this writing, there still has not been) an official statement from Apple on the issue published on their website. So, I decided to see for myself . . .

My first step was to call AppleCare, Apple’s technical support arm. The representative, who apparently had never heard about the discoloration issue until my call, put me on hold for a few minutes so she could speak to a specialist, and when she came back, asked me a few questions about possible other causes for the discoloration. The questions were obviously “official Apple questions” of some sort, because it was quite plain from her tone that she was reading them from a script that she had been given. That, and they were identical to a set of questions detailed on a MacNN forums thread I’d read earlier that day.

A few minutes and a confirmation number later, she informed me that a box was on its way to me so I could ship my MacBook back to Apple for replacement of the top case plastics. This made is quite apparent that the reports were true: Apple had indeed recognized the discoloration as a warranty-covered defect. Only trouble with this route was that I’d be without my computer for two or more days . . . not exactly good when this is my work machine. I received the box the very next day, and decided to hold onto it just in case my next idea was a bust . . .

On July 4, I made an appointment at the Genius Bar and headed off to my local Apple Store. After explaining the situation to the Genius at the bar (who also had never heard of the problem until my visit . . . sheesh), he took it to the back room to discuss it with someone. After coming back out, he informed me that they’d order another top case for me and that I’d need to bring the computer back at that time. Pleased, I promptly cancelled my mail-in repair with AppleCare and tossed the box.

I received the call from the store on the 11th informing me that the part had come in, and I took the computer in around 10:30a on the 12th. They gave me an “official” time window of 48 hours until completion, but told me that since I brought it in early on a not-too-busy day, it’d probably be done same-day. Indeed, at 2:00p, Apple’s repair status site had the “Repair Complete” message next to my case number, so I headed back to the store after half a day of using a not-so-swift iBook G4 we have in the office. They brought my MacBook out of the back room, new plastics and all. No more pit stains.

So, good show, Apple. Recognizing what everyone expected you to brush off as “cosmetic damage” as the manufacturing defect that it was and deciding to do something about it.

It remains to be seen whether the replacement plastics (which supposedly have a different composition) will retain their lovely grey-white color. Watch this space for updates.

Tags: Macbook, Apple, Macintosh, AppleCare, Apple Store, Genius Bar, Apple Genius

My friend Barry, who pastors a church in Texas, recently concluded a blog post with this piercing paragraph . . .

So, with Spurgeon I plead with my church family: Brethren, pray for me. You deserve a passionate tour guide, who doesn’t simply point out the Living Water to you. But, with the Living Water dribbling down his chin, he grabs your hand and races with you to the well for more. And once there, he climbs in first that you can follow him to where the Water tastes the sweetest.

Sheesh. Amen.

Due to the arrival of little Ella Blosser, and her dad’s (correct) decision to take the week off, the responsibility for leading worship this coming Sunday night falls on yours truly. Everything except for preaching and communion, anyway (I’m not yet equipped to do the former and not yet ordained to do the latter . . . thankfully, we have an Army Air Force chaplain in our congregation, so he’ll be taking care of those things).

If you’re the praying type, remember me. If you’re not the praying type, then trust Jesus, become the praying type, and remember me. Leading the congregation in corporate confessions and a few prayers (both prescribed and extemporaneous) doesn’t seem like a huge deal, but I’m a rookie. Nerves and feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness abound.

He and his wife were hanging out at the mall here in Columbus. As I was about to pass by him, I said “if you’re not David Crowder, you do a really good impression.” He laughed, said “that’s me”, and we had a pleasant little convo.

I’m not a huge fan or anything (though I’m considering using some of the songs from his most recent album at church), but it was cool meeting him and his wife.