Joseph F. Radosevich

  Learn Out Loud *I wrote an article this week on going to seminary in a pandemic. Here are some ideas that didn't make the cut for the final article, but I think they are important enough that I wanted to publish it anyway. One of the biggest things you can do is show what you are learning in seminary. Your persistence and creativity in a time of disruption will go a long way when you finish school. People want to know the finished project as much as the journey to getting there. Your goal is to show what you are learning so that others can learn too. It also helps in the search process because people can look back and see that you are motivated, creative, and persistent. It is much more powerful than a resume, it is proof. Here are some ideas to get you started: Create a blog and post one note every week describing something you learned. Don’t make it long or prescriptive, just post what you heard a professor say or something you read.  Create a podcast with a couple friends...

I've heard from a number of people in recent weeks who are worried, frustrated, discouraged right now. Some are outraged because of the coming election. Some are worried because of race and justice issues. Some are angry because of people's response to COVID-19 and others because of the non-response to COVID-19. Many people are concerned and anxious because of divisions in the United States. I felt some of that anxiousness this last Spring, and I wanted to share a strategy that my wife and I have used to help deal with that anxiety. It is totally unhealthy to stay in a constant state of outrage . It masked in my own heart what I was really upset about on a day-to-day basis. It is also not the fruit of the Spirit to live that way. Most of the things I was outraged about had nothing to do with me, my family, or my community. Most of all, that way of living was not going to produce in me the life God wants: "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become...

We are 3 months into the pandemic of 2020.  I haven't disappeared, but I've been really busy. Here are some projects and things, I (we) have been working on: Finished and published my book, Every Book: 20 Years of Reading. Started our vegetable garden (so much work, but I love it. It makes me forget my troubles). Started Emma's bird garden. Renovated our front yard flower bed. Dealt with so many animals (chipmunks, rabbits, groundhogs, etc.) Started renovating our bedrooms and hallway. Had all-new HVAC put into our home. Learned simple fingerpicking on the guitar.

I finished two rain barrels this weekend with platforms to put them on. Here are the instructions that I followed: https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-rain-barrel-1/ The difference is that I used a jigsaw to cut out the drain hole and used a spade bit instead of a forstner bit for the other holes. Everything else was the same. I made my own plan for the platforms. I like the fact that they are 2 feet high because it means I don't have to bend over to screw on the hose, and it gives a better pressure for watering. Two things: I don't mind watering when I know I don't have to pay for the water. I'm grateful for being free to collect rain water. In Israel, any water that falls belongs to the government. If you collect it, it is still their's.  I cannot believe that a light rain fills up the barrel. We had less than 1/4 inch of rain last week and it overflowed one barrel. 

Right now, we are in week one of the lockdown from the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully, I have work still to do, although I'm restricting my movements to help stop the spread in the community. We can still be about our mission as a church which is to equip and engage people on every block in our community for mission with Jesus. Here is how I hope to use my time outside of work for the next few weeks: Doing creative work. I want to be glad for the writing and podcasting and videos and plans that I made. I think people need distraction in these days. Creative work helps do that. I want to plant seeds. I want to plant seeds for our literal garden, but also plant the seeds of other things that will produce fruit later. I'm considering starting a side business, and this is a good time to work on it. I want to read good books. Reading has taken a back seat the last few months to other projects and needs. I hope to work through several of these. I want to play a few gam...

I'm still making progress with my New Year's Resolution to listen to all the Beatles music in order. I'm currently listening to their 2nd album With The Beatles . A few things I'm learning and thinking about: Our kids are enjoying this project. I didn't include them at first, but the music came on after they listened to "Baby Shark" one time. Now, they love The Beatles. They especially love "Love Me Do," "Twist and Shout," "Ask Me Why," and "Come Together." I am reading The Beatles: Ultimate Album-by-Album Guide along with my listening. It is brief but detailed enough to help me understand and enjoy each album better. I am astounded that The Beatles recorded their first album in 1962 and their last one in 1969. They went on a huge musical and personal journey in 7 years. With the Beatles  was released in the USA without half the songs of the British version. The USA version cut out all the covers, which was ...

I wrote an article in July 2019 about protecting yourself online (see here ). Along with the article I posted a picture from Marc Goodman's website for the book Future Crimes . The infographic in that post has tips for protecting yourself online and one of them talks about password security. I've used a password method that I read about several years ago in an article in Wired magazine. Goodman explains that that method is outdated. Hackers or even an AI interface and figure out password patterns and predict what your next password would be. So I upgraded to a password manager and have been implementing it for the last 6 months. It took me a bit to get used to it, but I've found it is actually very easy once I got it set up correctly. I picked KeepassXC because it is a free and open-source software. It's hard to recommend another subscription to people or to pay another one myself. Another advantage is that it is easy to use. Until I realized how it worked, ...

*This is a bit of a departure for me. But I struggled to find the answer to this question when we got a new dishwasher: How do I get rid of the orange sludge in the bottom of the dishwasher? Here's the answer: Buy good dishwasher detergent. We often buy generic brands for food and household products. We notice little difference, so we were using generic brand dishwasher detergent. But the filter would be covered in orange sludge after every use. We cleaned the dishwasher thoroughly every week. But it was covered again after one use. As the week went on, it started to stink. I stumbled across an answer buried in an old forum post on this question. So we bought better dishwasher detergent, and we have no more more issues. The way I understand it is that higher end detergents have enzymes in them that help break down starches, fats, etc. Older and cheaper detergents don't have them or don't have as much. The first one we bought was Finish Quantum Powerball. It worked...

My wife and I launched a new podcast yesterday: Raise 'em Rad with Joe and Emma Radosevich. Season 1 is a garden diary as we track and tell stories about growing things this year. Here is the podcast page:  https://anchor.fm/raiseemrad We're launching with 3 episodes, and we plan to post every week through October. Three reasons that I wanted to launch this podcast. We enjoy gardening and telling stories about our garden. I hope that a behind-the-scenes look at one family' garden inspires other people to try it. I wanted to experiment with podcasting and what better way to learn about podcasting and audio forms than to do it. I wanted to show others how to record a podcast easily and get it noticed. I think more people should do a podcast around a topic that they know and love. The two issues are a topic and a method. I think most people should a podcast or video series around what they know and love--Gary Vaynerchuk says, "document, don't create." ...

We started learning Italian as a family 6 months ago. We've made way more progress than I ever thought possible. And it has been relatively painless. The program we use is Talkbox.mom. Here are 5 Reasons for dad's to learn a language with the family and Talkbox.mom. It is a fun, shared experience. Doing this together has been like a secret language that we are learning together. And the memories that go with the learning will always be ours. There is something fun about the extended experience of language learning that we are really enjoying. It makes becoming bilingual a possibility. I am really excited about the idea of becoming bilingual. I've studied several languages between high school, college, and seminary. I am reading proficient in Greek and Hebrew. But I've never thought of being bilingual as even a possibility. This makes becoming bilingual feel like a possibility. We use italian all the time and are able to make up new sentences or uses for the langua...

In January, I secretly did a photo challenge on Instagram. The challenge came from a calendar with an assigned theme for each day of the month. I missed one day. Here is what I learned: With a theme, it's not super hard to pick or find a photo. It takes about 10 minutes to search, prep, and post a photo. Captions matter. I think longer captions interpret what we're after and encourage engagement. People prefer pictures with faces in them. Those always get more likes. It's not a big deal if few people like a post. Often times, there were only 5 likes. Is the whole goal to get as many reactions as possible? Or to document my life and bless those who follow? If the goal is to chase likes, then I'm tempted only post the best moments and to exaggerate my life so that others like it or react to it. But that is neither true or kind. Others should know that my life is largely boring just like theirs. I hate it when people whose marriages are on the rocks post pictures ...

Writing Karl Vaters Using John Kotter’s Change Theory In Small Church Leadership https://karlvaters.com/kotters-change-theory/ SBC Voices I'm now a regular contributor there twice a month so I don't post links to each article. Below is my author archive:  https://sbcvoices.com/author/joe-radosevich/ The Most Practical Classes I Took in Seminary https://sbcvoices.com/the-most-practical-classes-i-took-in-seminary-joe-radosevich/#comments Why Would a 192 Year-Old Church Join the SBC? https://sbcvoices.com/why-would-a-192-year-old-church-join-the-sbc-joe-radosevich/#comments The Gospel Coalition ‘I Have a Boring Testimony!’ No, You Don’t. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/boring-testimony/ College or Seminary Student: Make the Most of This Weird School Year https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/college-or-seminary-student-make-the-most-of-this-weird-school-year/ Equip the Called (SWBTS) 5 Guidelines for Leading Worship in a Smaller Church https://equipthecalled.com/e...

There is a genre of article I see online often. I saw an article on how to talk to your kids about war after the recent airstrike against an Iranian General. Then, I saw an article on how to talk to your kids about a famous person's death after Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash over the weekend. The descriptions for talking about war with your kids read like a prescription bottle or recipe. It was all facts and details and truth. Here is my suggestion: read them fairy tales. G.K. Chesterton argues in chapter 4  of Orthodoxy , "The ethics of elfland," that fairy tales help us understand our world better. In short, by making us step out of our world and see a magical land, we understand comparable things in our world better. The rivers of gold in fairy tales help us realize the wonder that rivers of water truly are. The evil tyrants in fairy tales help us see wicked people more clearly in our world. S.D. Smith introduced me to this chapter by mentioning it several ...

Cosmic Crisp I've waited to try this apple for two years. The Washington State Apple Growers have done a great job marketing it, and that is why I've heard about it for two years. I know other people that have been looking forward to it as well. It finally came to a store in our area. I would describe it as the most appley apple ever. If you described the platonic ideal of an apple, you might say "red, round, crisp, juicy, sweet, tart, etc." Cosmic Crisp has all of those in a high degree. It is super juicy, very crisp like Honeycrisp, both sweet and slightly tart. My wife thought she noticed a lemonade flavor. I love it. It's not the greatest apple ever or my favorite (Sweet Sixteen and Mutsu take that prize) but it is still outstanding and well worth buying. It makes a great dessert just to eat it fresh. I love the red color. The ideal apple in my head is red, but few red apples taste very good. This one is great. Opal I picked these up today to try...

Over dinner tonight, Emma and I talked about writers and writing. We talked about 26 year-old writers who write about life planning, marriage, and children. 26 year-olds can write novels, sci-fi, books about the structure of the internet, or the history of something-or-other. But not life planning. I mentioned a quote from Annie Dillard in The Writing Life: "A writer looking for subjects inquires not after what he loves best, but after what he alone loves at all." The kids giggled when I told them about Dillard's first book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.  She writes about the bugs crawling across the plants in one specific place. She writes about the fish in the creek and the plants at that one moment in time. She helps us see other places by writing about that one creek. One book that does this well is Beth Macy's Dopesick . She wanted to explore and explain the opioid crisis. So she focused intensely on one place along an interstate in western Virginia. By showi...