Sorry I’m late with the Saturday linkage… hope nobody’s going through withdrawal or anything. But here we go, diving right in.

If you ask me, Kathy Escobar, has an excellent batting record with her blog posts. I mean, I’m always feeling the need to send her a keyboard with a shift key that works, but otherwise I’d say her RSS feed belongs in your reader. It says something about her that the picture in her sidebar shows her with one of those smiles that makes your nose wrinkle, but this week you need to read why sometimes [she] want[s] to throw in the towel. “[I] get so confused on this because [I] am pretty sure the kind of spiritual transformation Jesus was talking about was going to come through being uncomfortable, sacrificial, and radically challenged in the love-relationship-people department.” (Hey, her shift-J seems to work!)

1. Robbymac suggests a synchroblog to share some of our becoming-charismatic experiences: his post links the participants so far. Meanwhile, Rickard posts in two parts about why he is a post-charismatic — and barely holding onto that. But doesn’t speak “Charismaneze” anymore.
2. Brad Sargent picks up on my post about Institutions vs. Collaboration, and develops the ideas much further.
3. Thinking about Clay Shirky’s contrast between collaboration and institutional models, I took note of the article on How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity.
4. Now, it could be that some of this is because I said recently that “My informal appeal to post-charismatic and missional bloggers for the month of September might be to spend some time thinking and writing on the forms of leadership (apostolic or otherwise) which we need to see in the church today” but I’m taking note of posts relating to leadership, like when Daryl Dash posted something that included the quote, “The American church is standing at the brink of a self-in?icted death spiral accelerated by worldly leadership.”
5. It Took Jesus A Thousand Years to Die
6. Do you practice The Sign of the Cross?
7. Living Simply with Kids: articles & resources
8. The 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years and The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time (via)
9. Trevin Wax: Interview with John D’Elia on the Legacy of G.E. Ladd
10. Small talk with a Web Designer
11. Bob Gruen: 40 Years Of Rock ‘N’ Roll photography (via)
12. How else can you put this? jesus doesn’t give a sh** about your prosperity (via)
13. Becky Garrison interviews Barbara Brown Taylor on Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith — “I learned ecclesiastical disobedience from Jesus, along with civil disobedience. I learned from him how to honor the tradition of your elders and argue with it at the same time. I learned from him that God cannot be domesticated, and that anyone who tries to pen God in will ultimately be left on the porch to watch as God jumps the rails and takes off into the wilderness again.”
14. Missional Misstep: David Fitch asking if our gospel is too small.
15. Israel to Display the Dead Sea Scrolls on the Internet
16. Photographs Re-Posed Many Years Later — kinda neat. I like the kid in the cupboard one.
17. A Barcode Clock — and you can create your own personal barcode, should the urge strike you.
18. Haiku writers know • The opportunity cost • Of a syllable. (Haiku Writers Know …)
19. Google Earth has become a scientific research marvel. Cattle shown to align north-south
20. CFLs are fine (as most of our bulbs are), but I’ve always wondered why LEDs aren’t used more as a light source to replace the common bulb, Christmas lights excepted. Less energy, pure bright light, dimmable, and longer-lasting. Somebody’s figured it out, and it’s more environmentally friendly too. but how long until they’re on the market?
21. Interesting blog concept — and window on New York minor crime. Courthouse Confessions: In Their Own Words

Missing the jokes? Alright, here’s a weekly fix for you…

The Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Pope are in a meeting in Rome. The Rabbi notices an exceptionally fancy phone on a side table in the Pope’s private chambers. “What is that exquisite telephone used for?” he asks the pontiff.

“It’s my direct line to the Lord,” comes the reply. The Rabbi is skeptical, and the Pope notices. The Holy Father insists the Rabbi try it out, and, indeed, he is connected to the Lord — the Rabbi holds a lengthy discussion with God.

After hanging up, the Rabbi says, “Thank you very much. This is great! But listen, I want to pay for my phone charges.” The Pope, of course, refuses, but the Rabbi is steadfast. Finally, the pontiff gives in.

He checks the counter on the phone and says, “All right, the charges were 100,000 Lira” ($56). The Chief Rabbi gladly hands over his payment.

A few months later, the Pope is in Jerusalem on an official visit. In the Chief Rabbi’s chambers, he sees a phone identical to his, and learns it is also is a direct line to the Lord. The Pope remembers an urgent matter that requires divine consultation, and asks if he might use the Rabbi’s phone. The Rabbi is glad to assist, and hands him the phone.

The Pope chats away with God for a while, and after hanging up, offers to pay for the phone charges. Of course, the Chief Rabbi refuses. When the Pope insists, the Rabbi relents and looks on the phone counter and announces, “Shekel 50” ($0.42).

The Pope is quite surprised, “Why so cheap?”

The Rabbi smiles, “Local call.”