Greatest Hits Vol. I

I was cruising around the metacrtic site, looking at upcoming releases, when I came across the soon-to-be released Goo Goo Dolls album. The title of said album is "Greatest Hits Vol. I"

That may be one of the most optimistic uses of the phrase "Vol. I" that I have ever come across.

Post-Restorationist Podcast

If you're interested:

http://web.mac.com/disciplesfellowship/iWeb/Travelers/ChurchJourney/ChurchJourney.html

Sabbath and the City

One of the bonus benefits of having house church gatherings on Sunday nights is that it frees us to Sabbath. Sometimes that means relaxing around the house or walking the neighborhood, oftentimes (like today) it means getting out into the city. Today was one of those days, walking around, breakfasting at Trudy's, picking out a pumpkin from the local pumpkin patch; general reminders of what I love about the city. I am reminded of this poem by Robert Frost

The city is all right.
To live in one
Is to be civilized,
Stay up and read
Or sing and dance
All night and
See sunrise by
Waiting up instead
Of getting up.

Be The Church and Go To People

I've been saying for months now that our "job" as the church isn't to get people to go to church, but to be the church and go to people. Just came across a quote that put it this way:

"The emerging movement is not attractional in its model of the church but is instead missional: that is, it does not invite people to church but instead wanders into the world as the church. It asks its community “How can we help you?” instead of knocking on doors to increase membership. In other words, it becomes a community with open windows and open doors and sees Sunday morning as the opportunity to prepare for a week of service to the community, asking not how many are attending the services but what redemptive traits are we seeing in our community. It wants to embody a life that is other-oriented rather than self-oriented, that is community-directed rather than church-oriented."

Yeah, what he said.

Risk Frustration

"To hope is to risk frustration. Therefore, make up your mind to risk frustration." -from New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton

Too often I find myself unwilling to hope. I find myself willing to wish, but less often willing to hope. In wishing, I conjure up an ideal that I am not willing to take part in and therefore have no hope of actually experiencing. In hoping, I realize that I must participate and accept the consequences of that which I am hoping for.

If I wish for peace on earth, then I am content to simply imagine a world in which there is no strife or meanness of hatred. I don't actually believe in it, nor am I willing to work for it.

If I hope for peace on earth, then I am expected to turn the other cheek, to love my enemy, to sell what I have and give it to the poor. I must be willing to make the sacrifices that come with hope.

Morgan Freeman's character, Red, famously spoke the tagline to the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" -"Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane."

At the very least, it can bring frustration. Because that which we hope for means that which we are willing to work for, and sacrifice for, and die for. And those sorts of things take time. The impossible can take awhile.

But it can still happen. And does happen. And has happened. And is happening. In the person of Jesus and through His Spirit at work in us, we see the impossible being made possible. Being made possible by the one and through the one who calls us to hope. Who offers us a new beginning and a new way and a new life, but only a life that begins with death, only a way that leads to a cross.

In "The Shawshank Redemption", the main character, Andy Dufrense, gets free from prison by crawling through a sewer pipe the length of five football fields. Red sums up his sacrifice this way: "Andy Dufresne - who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side."

Sometimes freedom means a river of shit. Most times hope means frustration. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't hope, it just means you should risk frustration.

Close To Paradise

"I will now sell 5 copies of Three EPs by the Beta Band."

You remember that scene in High Fidelity. The Beta Band's "Dry The Rain" begins to play over the speakers and customers begin to move with the beat. One customer looks up and asks, "Who is this?"

It's a tried and true record store method and it works on me even though I know the trick. Every once in awhile I'm walking through my favorite record store (Waterloo Records at 6th and Lamar) and something will be playing that catches my ear.

Last night it was Patrick Watson. Better than Coldplay and just short of Jeff Buckley, stylistically somewhere in between. Close To Paradise is the album and it just came out. If you have the chance to give it a listen, I highly recommend it.

Marcus Borg and "The Life of Brian"

Marcus Borg frustrates me. There are various reasons for this, but here is a major one. Let's begin with a quote from the man, himself:

"There are four options for thinking about the relationship between Jesus’ own self-awareness and his messianic status.

1. Jesus thought he was the messiah, and he was right.

2. Jesus thought he was the messiah, and he was wrong.

3. Jesus didn’t think he was the messiah, and therefore he wasn’t the messiah.

4. Whether or not Jesus thought he was the messiah, he is the messiah."

Borg writes this in a book titled "The Meaning of Jesus". In it, Borg and N.T. Wright (two Oxford educated theologians who represent the liberal and conservative sides in the Historical Jesus debate) explain their opposing viewpoints when it comes to who Jesus was, and is, and claimed to be. Looking at Borg's list of 4, Wright would be #1 and Borg #4. Anyone who knows me won't be surprised that I am also a #1. And while I don't agree with numbers 2 and 3, I find them to be reasonable, if incorrect. #4, on the other hand, seems like a plot synopsis for Monty Python's "The Life of Brian". The #4 take is that, because enough people claimed Jesus was the Messiah and were shaped by that claim, Jesus was the Messiah in spite of the fact that he...wasn't.

The thing is, Borg is crazy smart and I wouldn't begin to attempt to accuse him of being anything but. That just makes this all the more baffling. I can see defending the #2 or #3 position, even though I don't believe them. The #4 position seems untenable. Someone please explain it to me.

I Love This Time of Year

BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!

You either get it or you don't, folks.

I'll be getting mine at midnight tonight.