Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Best Books of 2009


1. American Rust –Philipp Meyer
2. The Lost City of Z –David Grann
3. Let The Great World Spin –Colum McCann
4. Cutting For Stone –Abraham Verghese
5. Zeitoun –Dave Eggers
6. Deep Church –Jim Belcher
7. Counterfeit Gods –Timothy Keller
8. Await Your Reply –Dan Chaon
9. Shop Class As Soulcraft –Matthew Crawford
10. Eating Animals –Jonathan Safran Foer
11. Eating The Dinosaur –Chuck Klosterman
12. The Regulars –Sarah Stolfa
13. Our Noise –John Cook
14. Called To Be Human –Michael Jinkins
15. Living The Christian Year –Bobby Gross

Top 20 Films of the 2000s


Much like the Top 100 Albums of the 2000s and Top 20 Books of the 2000s, this list has some art, some science, and a bit of personal bias (though, again, less bias than the albums list).

1. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Almost Famous
4. The Royal Tenenbaums
5. Memento
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
7. Lost In Translation
8. No Country For Old Men
9. High Fidelity
10. The Departed
11. Junebug
12. The Station Agent
13. Wonder Boys
14. Half Nelson
15. The Visitor
16. I Heart Huckabees
17. Sideways
18. Hot Fuzz
19. About Schmidt
20. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Best Albums of 2009


1. Veckatimest -Grizzly Bear
2. A Brief History of Love -The Big Pink
3. Album -Girls
4. Grey-Eyed Girls -The Fresh & Onlys
5. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix -Phoenix
6. Time To Die -The Dodos
7. Hospice -The Antlers
8. XX -The XX
9. Bitte Orca -Dirty Projectors
10. Stockholm Syndrome -Derek Webb
11. Manners -Passion Pit
12. Wilco (the album) -Wilco
13. To Willie -Phosphorescent
14. Curse Your Branches -David Bazan
15. Hold Time -M. Ward
16. Cosmic Egg -Wolfmother
17. Belly of the Lion -Ola Podrida
18. Popular Songs -Yo La Tengo
19. Dim The Aurora -Monahans
20. No Line On The Horizon -U2

and, for those who are interested...

Best albums of 2009 mix:

1. Two Weeks -Grizzly Bear
2. Dominos -The Big Pink
3. Hellhole Ratface -Girls
4. The Delusion of Man -The Fresh & Onlys
5. Lisztomania -Phoenix
6. Fables -The Dodos
7. Epilogue -The Antlers
8. Crystalised -The XX
9. Temecula Sunrise -Dirty Projectors
10. The Spirit Vs. The Kick Drum -Derek Webb
11. Moth's Wings -Passion Pit
12. Country Disappeared -Wilco
13. The Last Thing I Needed (First Thing This Morning) -Phosphorescent
14. Please, Baby, Please -David Bazan
15. Epistemology -M. Ward
16. White Feather -Wolfmother
17. We All Radiant -Ola Podrida
18. Here To Fall -Yo La Tengo
19. It's Enough To Leave You...  -Monahans
20. No Line On The Horizon -U2

A Way of Life


"The task of the local church in our present situation is to reenter our neighborhoods, to dwell with and listen to the narratives and stories of the people. We are to do this not as a strategy for getting people to church but because that is how God comes to us in Jesus, loving us without putting strings on the relationship. It will be in these kinds of relationships that we will hear all the clues about what the Spirit is calling us to do as the church in that place. But this is not a strategy we take to a context; it is a way of life we cultivate in a place where we belong." –from Introducing the Missional Church

Monday, December 7, 2009

Ladies and Gentlemen...Neil Young


I don't usually find Fallon all that funny, the exception being when he does impressions. This one is fantastic.


Monday, November 23, 2009

Thanksgiving


I tremble with gratitude
for my children and their children
who take pleasure in one another.

At our dinners together, the dead
enter and pass among us
in living love and in memory.

And so the young are taught.

-Wendell Berry

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Can I Get A Witness?


I am in the midst of reading a beautiful memoir by Timothy B. Tyson titled Blood Done Sign My Name. It is a story about growing up in a segregated South as it was beginning to integrate. It is his story of being the son of a Methodist minister who chose to take the gospel seriously. One of the stories Tyson tells is of the time, in the late 60's, when his father, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., invited an African-American preacher, Dr. Samuel Proctor, to speak at their church. It is a story both heartbreaking and hopeful and, ultimately, heroic. The story wraps up this way:

My father's lay leader, a wholesale grocery salesman named Carl, had come into Daddy's study in the middle of the controversy about Dr. Proctor. He'd been crying too. It was that kind of year. When my father asked him why, he said, "I went to see one of my merchants this morning, and he said, 'Carl, you go up there to that church, don't you?' I said, 'Yeah, I go up there, I'm the lay leader.' And he said, 'Are you going to support your preacher having that nigger up there?' And I said, 'Yeah, I am going to support him.' And that merchant told me to get the hell out of his store and never to set foot in there again." Carl looked at my father and smiled through his tears. "Preacher," he said, "I've heard all my life about witnessing, but until this morning I didn't know a damn thing about it."

Praise God for those who choose to be a witness with their lives, especially when their livelihood is on the line. Praise God for leaders like Dr. King who inspire preachers like Vernon Tyson who train lay leaders like Carl. Praise God for those today who would choose to lose their livelihood rather than sell their soul.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Trade As One


Check out this video:



Then visit this site.

Thanks.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Top 20 Books of the 2000s


Much like the Top 100 Albums of the 2000s, this list has some art, some science, and a bit of personal bias (though less bias than the albums list, I think).

1. Gilead –Marilynne Robinson
2. The Corrections –Jonathan Franzen
3. Shadow Country –Peter Matthiessen
4. The Known World –Edward P. Jones
5. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay –Michael Chabon
6. Middlesex –Jeffrey Eugenides
7. The Road –Cormac McCarthy
8. Simply Christian –N.T. Wright
9. White Teeth –Zadie Smith
10. The Hakawati -Rabih Alameddine
11. Shadow of the Wind –Carlos Ruiz Zafon
12. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius –Dave Eggers
13. A Fraction of the Whole –Steve Toltz
14. Any Human Heart –William Boyd
15. Mortals –Norman Rush
16. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto –Chuck Klosterman
17. American Rust -Philipp Meyer
18. Cloud Atlas -David Mitchell
19. Snow -Orhan Pamuk
20. Blood Done Sign My Name -Timothy B. Tyson

Friday, October 23, 2009

The Spirit Vs. The Kick Drum


Got to see Derek Webb put on an excellent show at The Cactus Cafe last night. In honor of the event, I'd like to share Derek's take on what too many Christians come seeking as an alternative to a real encounter with the Trinity.

I don't want the Spirit, I want the kick drum
I don't want the Spirit, I want the kick drum
I know how it works, oh I'm not dumb
I don't want the Spirit, I want the kick drum

Like sex without love
Like peace without the dove
Like a crime scene without the blood
I don't want the Spirit, you know I want the kick drum

I don't want the Son, I want a jury of peers
I don't want the Son, I want a jury of peers
Mascara's gonna run when you see my tears
I don't want the Son, I want a jury of peers

Like lies without the truth
Like wine without the fruit
Like a skydive without the chute
I don't want the Son, you know I want a jury of peers
I don't want the Spirit, you know I want the kick drum

I don't want the Father, want a vending machine
I don't want the Father, want a vending machine
I know what I want if you know what I mean
I don't want the Father, want a vending machine

Like heaven without gates
Like hell without flames
Like life without pain
I don't want the Father, you know I want a vending machine
I don't want the Son, you know I want a jury of peers
I don't want the Spirit, you know I want the kick drum


Monday, October 19, 2009

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Top 100 Albums of the 2000s


So, there have been 10 years of the 2000s, and that seemed as good a time as any to compile a "best of" list. My criteria is a bit complicated to explain, since it is art as much as science, with a little bit of bias thrown in.

First, the science. I decided that an album couldn't make the list unless it was an album I owned. When a guy owns 1000 albums, the 100 he recommends over a decade ought to be those he owns. Plus, it was a way to narrow things down. Don't own any albums by Outkast? They don't make the list. Doesn't mean "Hey Ya!" wasn't one of the truly great songs of the past 10 years (seriously). It may seem an arbitrary mechanism, but I had to narrow the list somehow. Fortunately, I only own just over 100 albums from the past decade. So, stage one was easily compiled.

Second, the art. Albums need to work as albums to make them great albums, so I was listening to a lot of albums. That 100+ I just wrote about, specifically. Once I got it from 107 to 100 (an easy task), I had to begin ordering them from 1-100 (a not so easy task). Part of this went back to a psuedo-science (grouping those that were assuredly contenders for top 20 status apart from those who certainly weren't) and some were instinct (suddenly moving an album up 10 spots because it hangs together so well as an album).

Then the bias. No popular music magazine is going to list U2 in its top 5 albums of the decade. I'm not sure it deserves to be there (it deserves the top 100 and even the top 50), but it is one of my favorite albums of the decade by one of my favorite bands of all-time. There was no way it wasn't going to be high on the list. Still, personal bias never overrode good taste. All That You Can't Leave Behind is an excellent album. Bruce Springsteen's Working On A Dream is a mediocre album. No amount of love for the Boss was going to get that album on the list.

After all that, this list is going to frustrate and confuse true music mavens. How can this list include as many Coldplay albums as it does Radiohead (see art and bias)? Leave your questions, comments, kudos and concerns. That's what lists like this are for. And let us know what you'd have added and left off. Hope you enjoy this. I know I did.

  1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Wilco)
  2. Funeral (The Arcade Fire)
  3. The Rising (Bruce Springsteen)
  4. All That You Can’t Leave Behind (U2)
  5. Kid A (Radiohead)
  6. White Blood Cells (The White Stripes)
  7. Heartbreaker (Ryan Adams)
  8. Separation Sunday (The Hold Steady)
  9. The Trials of Van Occupanther (Midlake)
  10. Turn On The Bright Lights (Interpol)
  11. The Meadowlands (The Wrens)
  12. Dongs of Sevotion (Smog)
  13. Sea Change (Beck)
  14. When I Was Cruel (Elvis Costello)
  15. American IV: The Man Comes Around (Johnny Cash)
  16. Come On Feel The Illinoise (Sufjan Stevens)
  17. Chutes Too Narrow (The Shins)
  18. Fleet Foxes (Fleet Foxes)
  19. Blood Money (Tom Waits)
  20. Veckatimest (Grizzly Bear)
  21. Is This Is? (The Strokes)
  22. Kill The Moonlight (Spoon)
  23. Apologies To The Queen Mary (Wolf Parade)
  24. Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs (Andrew Bird)
  25. Transfiguration of Vincent (M. Ward)
  26. Black Sheep Boy (Okkervil River)
  27. Microcastle (Deerhunter)
  28. Visiter (The Dodos)
  29. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (The Flaming Lips)
  30. The Spiral Eyes (Peter Adams)
  31. Dear Science (TV On The Radio)
  32. Boys and Girls In America (The Hold Steady)
  33. Blue Boy (Ron Sexsmith)
  34. Secondathallum (Andre Ethier)
  35. Feast of Wire (Calexico)
  36. The Tyranny of Distance (Ted Leo & the Pharmacists)
  37. Are We Not Horses? (Rock Plaza Central)
  38. Her Majesty The Decemberists (The Decemberists)
  39. For Emma, Forever Ago (Bon Iver)
  40. Elephant (The White Stripes)
  41. A Brief History of Love (The Big Pink)
  42. Neon Golden (The Notwist)
  43. Amnesiac (Radiohead)
  44. Give Up (The Postal Service)
  45. A Rush of Blood To The Head (Coldplay)
  46. Everything All The Time (Band of Horses)
  47. Album (Girls)
  48. I'm Wide Awake It's Morning (Bright Eyes)
  49. Blacklisted (Neko Case)
  50. Bright Flight (Silver Jews)
  51. Micah P. Hinson and the Gospel of Progress (Micah P. Hinson)
  52. Seven Swans (Sufjan Stevens)
  53. Our Endless Numbered Days (Iron & Wine)
  54. Ola Podrida (Ola Podrida)
  55. The Life Pursuit (Belle & Sebastian)
  56. Lie Down In The Light (Bonnie “Prince” Billy)
  57. The Evens (The Evens)
  58. Post-War (M. Ward)
  59. Return To Cookie Mountain (TV On The Radio)
  60. Cryptograms (Deerhunter)
  61. Yellow House (Grizzly Bear)
  62. Neon Bible (The Arcade Fire)
  63. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Spoon)
  64. Almost Killed Me (The Hold Steady)
  65. Shine A Light (The Constantines)
  66. The Crane Wife (The Decemberists)
  67. Oh, Inverted World (The Shins)
  68. Rook (Shearwater)
  69. Hearts of Oak (Ted Leo & the Pharmacists)
  70. Tanglewood Numbers (Silver Jews)
  71. You Forgot It In People (Broken Social Scene)
  72. Aw Come Aw Wry (Phosphorescent)
  73. Ohio (Over The Rhine)
  74. Figure 8 (Elliott Smith)
  75. 1000 Kisses (Patty Griffin)
  76. Control (Pedro the Lion)
  77. Don’t Fall In Love With Everyone You See (Okkervil River)
  78. Winged Life (Shearwater)
  79. The Devil, You + Me (The Notwist)
  80. Gimme Fiction (Spoon)
  81. Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Belle & Sebastian)
  82. Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (TV On The Radio)
  83. In Rainbows (Radiohead)
  84. Picaresque (The Decemberists)
  85. Tournament of Hearts (The Constantines)
  86. Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (Neko Case)
  87. Micah P. Hinson and the Opera Circuit (Micah P. Hinson)
  88. The Letting Go (Bonnie “Prince” Billy)
  89. The Creek Drank The Cradle (Iron & Wine)
  90. Fewer Moving Parts (David Bazan)
  91. Magic (Bruce Springsteen)
  92. Retriever (Ron Sexsmith)
  93. Soviet Kitsch (Regina Spektor)
  94. Parachutes (Coldplay)
  95. Rockin’ The Suburbs (Ben Folds)
  96. Low Pining (Monahans)
  97. She Must and Shall Go Free (Derek Webb)
  98. Meaningless (Jon Brion)
  99. I (The Magnetic Fields)
  100. Satellite Rides (Old 97's)

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Wendell Berry's Questionnaire

1. How much poison are you willing
to eat for the success of the free
market and global trade? Please
name your preferred poisons.

2. For the sake of goodness, how much
evil are you willing to do?
Fill in the following blanks
with the names of your favorite
evils and acts of hatred.

3. What sacrifices are you prepared
to make for culture and civilization?
Please list the monuments, shrines,
and works of art you would
most willingly destroy.

4. In the name of patriotism and
the flag, how much of our beloved
land are you willing to desecrate?
List in the following spaces
the mountains, rivers, towns, farms
you could most readily do without.

5. State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes,
the energy sources, the kinds of security,
for which you would kill a child.
Name, please, the children whom
you would be willing to kill.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy


We're studying Philippians with Immanuel right now, and I am struck, once again, by Paul's reminder to do everything without complaining or arguing. Sometimes our comedians are prophets.


Monday, October 5, 2009

A Family That Believes



A Christian community is evangelized

in order to evangelize.

A light is lit

in order to give light.

A candle is not lit to be put under a bushel,

said Christ.

It is lit and put up on high

in order to give light.

That is what a true community is like.

A community is a group of men and women

who have found the truth in Christ and in his gospel,

and who follow the truth

and join together to follow it more strongly.

It is not just an individual conversion.

It is a family that believes,

a group that accepts God.

In the group, each one finds that the brother or sister is a source of strength

and that in moments of weakness they help one another

and, by loving one another and believing,

they give light and example.

The preacher no longer needs to preach,

for they are Christians who preach by their own lives.

—- Words from Archbishop Oscar Romero, October 29, 1978

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Longing For A Blessing


I've been at my alma mater this week for a series of preaching lectures and classes known as Summit. I came up mostly to hear authors Kathleen Norris and Donald Miller speak, and to get a chance to visit with old friends and catch up on their lives. Coming back always brings about conflicting emotions, because my alma mater is a part of a heritage that I have left behind (officially) and cannot leave behind (realistically).

During one of these catch up conversations this week, a friend asked if I find it strange to be back here and I answered "Yes." That was three days ago, and I have been trying to sort out exactly what it is that feels strange or why it is that it does.

A bit of back story. Without getting into the whole 100+ year history of the denomination of the Church of Christ, it is the denomination I grew up in and come out of. It is one that I celebrate having been a part of when I consider my love for the Bible, for the gospel, and for Jesus. My impulses towards Christian community done more simply were born out of this heritage. My desires to see "every member a minister" and to be "Christians only, but not the only Christians" were taught to me in the Church of Christ. But the Church of Christ and I also find ourselves in ongoing disagreement about the role of women in the church or the use of instruments in worship or the deeper disagreement about how we approach the Bible and why.

The Church of Christ is a complicated denomination, one that counts autonomy among it's founding principles, which means that it is possible to be in sharp disagreement with the Church of Christ and still be a member of the Church of Christ. And so some have asked me (it's worth noting that my leaving has not caused any great stir, nor should it), usually with some disappointment or disapproval, why it was that I chose to leave the Church of Christ. The perception seems to be that I left angry and my leaving has been characterized, at times, as that of a petulant child throwing a tantrum. 

I once heard an ACU Bible professor share a story of a series of angry and hurtful attacks he had received in response to an article he had written about some part of the Church of Christ's history. When describing why he still remained in the Church of Christ he talked about the autonomy that I mentioned previously and celebrated that he was as much a part of the Church of Christ as any part, and that they couldn't make him leave.

I guess that is part of my dilemma. I never quite felt at home in the Church of Christ. I experienced moments of great hospitality, but always felt as if I were staying in someone else's house. And when you live in someone else's house, it's hard to feel good about rearranging the furniture. I can turn over tables in my own living room, but I feel strongly that I shouldn't do so in yours. I could never get comfortable with the insistence on a capella worship or with the continued silencing of our sisters in Christ. But it wasn't my place to say. It wasn't my house. And I eventually felt that I'd worn out my welcome.

So why, my friend asks, do I keep coming back to things like this? And I say that I want to hear Kathleen Norris and Donald Miller and to catch up with old friends, and that is true. But I also come, like Jacob, to receive my father's blessing. But, unwilling to dress up in my brother's clothes and to pretend to be something I'm not, I never receive it. And leaving without blessing can make a person feel aimless.

Let me be clear, there are many who make me feel blessed. My parents, both born and raised in the Church of Christ, have always blessed our efforts in Austin and our decision to leave the Church of Christ. They have, in fact, also left and are now a part of our work. I am blessed by friends and mentors from within the Church of Christ who encourage me in my work and in my decision. More than that, I feel led in my decision by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ and feel the blessing of my Father in my work.

So, why is it I'm writing this? What is it I'm looking for and from whom?

I don't know exactly. I do know that I am not looking for an apology (though I will continue to state that my Christian sisters are owed one), I am longing for a blessing. And not just for me, but for my wife and for my family and for so many within my church, so many that I went to school with, so many who have also felt the need to leave the Church of Christ. We have been accused of being a people who deny we have a history. But we know we have a history. I, for one, even celebrate that fact. But we also celebrate that we have a future and that it has taken us outside of the Church of Christ. And like children leaving home and heading into an uncertain future, we want our family to celebrate with us and to bless us on our way.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Three Chords and the Truth


I didn't go into it thinking that my favorite person to watch would be Jack White. I certainly didn't expect White to espouse solid theology. And yet, that is exactly what he did.

The film is 'It Might Get Loud,' a documentary featuring U2's The Edge, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, and The White Stripes' Jack White. The premise is simple; put these guys into a room together with some guitars and see what happens.

First off, there's some wicked guitar playing. That was to be expected. Secondly, there are some simply amazing moments brought about through mutual admiration, particularly when Page begins to play 'Ramble On' and White and Edge are grinning like little kids.

But there are even more profound moments when these artists talk about craft and creativity. Page shares about what it means to invent. The Edge discusses how technology can serve to push an instrument to...well...the edge.

And while White concedes Edge's point, he also rails against the fact that technology has served to make it too easy to make music. White talks about growing up poor and having to make a god sound come out of a $15 plastic guitar from Montgomery Ward. Page and Edge have similar stories. White talks about the struggle as a necessary part of invention and creation and, again, Page and Edge nod along. And White laments the fact that the technology allows one to sound good without having to be good.

The two strongest scenes from the film both feature White. The first is the opening scene; White is nailing boards together, working in a glass bottle and a string. He then begins to play what hardly looks like an instrument, looks up at the camera and says, "Who says you need a guitar?"

The second is when White takes out a record player and his favorite record, Son House's 'People Grinnin' In Your Face.' It is simply House singing and clapping his hands. It is as basic as music gets. But it is raw and it is real and it is intensely moving. It is desperate and daring. And it is that element that draws White to it. It is a song that will be sung, even if it doesn't come easy.

As a Christian, pastor, and church-planter, I couldn't help but make a connection. The church is often guilty of making it possible to sound good without having to be good. We often offer up the path of least resistance as the gospel. But White reminds us that there must be an element of struggle to any good thing, a song that must be sung, even if no one hands you a guitar, even if all you can do is sing out and clap your hands.

The Edge's partner-in-crime, Bono, once declared that all he needed was "a red guitar, three chords, and the truth." We could dismiss such a sentiment as sentimentality, but would miss the fact that all great things can be stripped down to their basest elements and still be great. All great victories are hard won. That we all must have ways in which we are unafraid and uncompromising. That we simply cannot get the right thing the wrong way.

Friday, September 11, 2009

The Day Everything Changed


“American imperialism, often celebrated as the new globalism, is a frightening power. It is frightening not only because of the harm such power inflicts on the innocent, but because it is difficult to imagine alternatives. Pacifists are often challenged after an event like September 11 with the question, ‘Well, what alternative do you have to bombing Afghanistan?’ Such a question assumes that pacifists must have an alternative foreign policy. My response is I do not have a foreign policy. I have something much better - a church constituted by people who would rather die than kill.

“Indeed I fear that absent a countercommunity to challenge America, bin Laden has given Americans what they so desperately needed - a war without end. America is a country that lives off the moral capital of our wars. War names the time we send the youth to kill and die (maybe) in an effort to assure ourselves the lives we lead are worthy of such sacrifices. They kill and die to protect our ‘freedom.’ But what can freedom mean if the prime instance of the exercise of such freedom is to shop? The very fact that we can and do go to war is a moral necessity for a nation of consumers. War makes clear we must believe in something even if we are not sure what that something is, except that it has something to do with the ‘American way of life.’….

“Christians are not called to be heroes or shoppers. We are called to be holy. We do not think holiness is an individual achievement, but rather a set of practices to sustain a people who refuse to have their lives determined by the fear and denial of death. We believe by so living we offer our non-Christian brothers and sisters an alternative to all politics based on the denial of death. Christians are acutely aware that we are seldom faithful to the gifts God has given us, but we hope the confession of our sins is a sign of hope in a world without hope. This means pacifists do have a response to September 11, 2001. Our response is to continue living in a manner that witnesses to our belief that the world was not changed on September 11, 2001. The world was changed during the celebration of Passover in A.D. 33.”

Stanley Hauerwas, “September 11, 2001: A Pacifist Response”, in Stanley Hauerwas and Frank Lentricchis (eds.), Dissent from the Homeland: Essays after September 11 (Durham & London: Duke University Press, 2003), pp. 186, 188.

Mixtape


About a month ago, Rachel and I were doing some late spring cleaning and I stumbled across a box of old mixtapes, many of them unlabeled. An unlabeled mixtape, in my collection, means a project that was later discarded as misguided for some reason or another. So, I've been curious to give them a listen.

Today I stuck one in the car and knew within a couple of songs that this was an "I want you back" mix. Within four songs, I knew it was a "don't marry him, marry me" mix. And that could only mean one thing.

When I was 15 years old I met someone who, by 16, I was sure was "the one." By 17, she'd turned into "the one that wasn't going to work out" and, by 19, "the one that got away." 19 was when I heard that she was planning to get married and, even though we hadn't spoken in years, I went into a panic. I was convinced that my one chance at happiness was about to disappear. And so I planned my move. A bold move. It started with a mixtape.

The tape was a "we were meant to be" mix. My plan was to go to her, give her the tape, and ask her to listen. If I got that far, my follow up was to ask her to marry me.

I went to a mutual friend of ours to share my grand idea. Slowly, but surely, she talked me down and convinced me that I was more in love with an idea than a person and that the person would only be hurt and confused by my bold move, not filled with longing and a change of heart. And so, the mixtape went unfinished and the bold move went undone.

That's the mixtape I thought I had found. And it was pretty surreal. But then I got a few songs further in, one song in particular, and I knew this tape couldn't be that tape. Because this song was a different girl's song. And then I know which tape this was.

When I was 20, I began the first serious dating relationship I'd had in a couple of years. By 21, I knew she was the one. So sure, in fact, that I started shopping for an engagement ring. That is, until she broke it off with me. She had things she needed to think about and could tell this was getting serious and wanted to take the summer to consider all the implications of "until death do us part" before she made the vow. It was a rough summer. She was my best friend, so we talked almost every day. Talked about what she was up to and who she was hanging out with. A guy named Toby came up quite a bit. And I was worried.

One night, I panicked, and I started making a mixtape. A "we were meant to be" mixtape. But about halfway through it I realized that, if I really loved this girl, the most loving thing I could do was to let her have her space and take her time and do her thinking. Which I did.

A year later, we were married. We still are, 11 years after that. And I'm thinking it might be time to finish this mixtape. The first in a series of "we were meant to be" mixes. I think she might like that a lot.

So, you curious about the track listing? Go easy one me, I was sappy in love with a woman I thought was never coming back. Here goes.

Side A:
If I Only Had The Words –Billy Joel
When We Dance –Sting
Longer –Dan Fogelberg
You’re The Inspiration –Chicago
All About Soul –Billy Joel
Secret Garden –Bruce Springsteen
All I Want Is You –U2
Green Eyed Girl –Ted Hawkins (The song that could only be Rachel's)
Just The Way You Are –Billy Joel
All Four Seasons –Sting
Wildflowers –Tom Petty
I Love Everybody –Lyle Lovett
Right Down The Line –Gerry Rafferty

Side B:

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Help In Humility


Submit to God. Be obedient to God’s commands. Work to discern God's will.

Submit to others. Depend on others. Rely on others for help.

Put up with being taken advantage of.

Be honest about your faults. You can’t be prideful with those who know everything about you.

Give credit where credit is due. Drawing attention to others takes attention off of you.

Be grateful.

Accept that you are a wretch.

Listen. Don’t just wait to speak. Listen.

Laugh at yourself. Take God more seriously and yourself less so.

Wait to speak until you have something to say.

Serve. We don’t develop servant hearts without being servant people.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Alone


Check out this post. It's a painful read, but worth it. Thanks to Bob for being so open.

Mark Driscoll on Humility


I take issue with a lot of what I hear from Driscoll, so it's important to point out when someone I've seen getting it wrong is getting it right. Here's an example:

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The President's Speech


I don't care what your politics are, this is just a good speech and something any student would benefit from hearing:

Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.  

Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. 

And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?  

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

Shaped By Worship v. Shaped By Mission


Check out this blog post on worship shaped churches. I was struck by this passage, in particular:

The problem with worship-shaped churches engaging in mission is that they find it very hard work. It is like introverts going to parties, or extroverts going on silent retreats – it's just not their 'shape' or their inner style. They can do it, but it drains them because their membership is not 'gathered' around this purpose.

And I am reminded, of course, of the words of Amos, the prophet:

Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.

But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Stuff Christian Culture Likes


This is awesome.

Bailing Out of the American Dream


Click on this link and scroll down to Bailing Out On The American Dream. I love the statement "This is what we're doing. When you're ready, come join us." I think it's the perfect invitation of any missional community.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

When Elvis Was King


He has to stop. He can't keep this up. This has to be it.

My reasons were two-fold. I was convinced that the next song couldn't possibly top what had come before. And I was afraid it would. And if it did, it would mean the impossible had taken place. Bruce Springsteen's would no longer be the best live performance I had ever seen.

Bruce has been my favorite singer/songwriter for the past couple of decades and, the since the first time I saw him live in '95 on the acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad tour (and on every tour since) has been my favorite live performer. No performance was ever going to top seeing a live Bruce show.

So, I didn't go into last night's Elvis Costello performance at Bass Concert Hall with unrealistic expectations. Don't get me wrong, I was excited. I had never seen Costello and, while Bruce tops my short list, Elvis Costello makes the top 5. I had never seen Costello before and I was going with the guy (thanks for the ticket, Mark) who had introduced me to Costello's music. Still, I never considered for a second that it might top a Bruce show. I wouldn't put that kind of pressure on Elvis.

As soon as he and the band hit the stage, we knew we were in for something different. Costello's usual cohorts, the Attractions, were not in attendance. Nor were the newer Imposters. This was the Sugarcanes, a set of 6 stringed instruments (dobro, violin, stand up bass, mandolin, accordion, and guitar). No drums. No keyboards. No rock n' roll?

We needn't have been concerned. Elvis Costello kicked off with Elvis Presley's Mystery Train and immediately set the tone for what was coming. This was going to feel like one of those old Sun Records tours, and Costello was cluing us in. 

What followed was two hours that mixed familiar favorites with more obscure songs, peppered with brilliant covers that seemed written for EC and his Sugarcanes. Whether it was Blame It On Cain, Hidden Shame, or Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down, the man and his band were in their element. 

In the midst of all this, Costello brought out a song "so new that at midnight tonight we have to put it on wax" called (I assume from the chorus) Condemned Man. By the end of it I was wiping away tears, something I have only done once before at a concert. (Mark leaned over and whispered, "You will always remember where you were the first time you heard that song.")

More classics, cult favorites and covers. A most brilliant take on Everyday I Write The Book (never a favorite until last night), a countrified Mystery Dance, and a cover of Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away. The band was having a rip roaring good time and I was spent.

Then the encores started. Another hour's worth of encores. Patty Griffin takes the stage and Elvis does something no one has ever done at a live show; he makes me pay attention.

I am usually pretty into whatever live show I am going to see, but I am rarely so alert. I don't have to be, the songs are familiar and therein lies the fun. But Elvis begins performing songs that I have missed, songs I have ignored, and I feel a small sense of shame. It's reminds me of when a friend makes a mix tape with a song in the middle that was supposed to communicate something meaningful, but became background music instead. They point it out to you weeks later and you realize what you missed. That's how I felt about Red Cotton and Poisoned Rose (the second time I cried that night) and The Scarlet Tide. How had I missed these? And I call myself a fan?

The encores also included killer versions of The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes and What's So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding, but that will never be what I remember best. It will be the unexpected moments and the unanticipated songs and the unassuming way that the whole thing came together. There must be a science to it, but it felt like art. It felt like magic. It felt like a man at home with his craft at the top of his game. And, in fact, that's what it was.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Best Albums of 2000s


So, I have begun compiling a top 100 albums list for the past 10 years, the beginning of 2000 through the end of 2009. And I am curious to know, what do you think is the best album that has been released in the last decade? Did Wilco record it? The Arcade Fire? Someone more obscure? Weigh in kids, we'll keep the conversation going until the list goes public in December.

Friday, August 21, 2009

The More You Know


I recently caught a series of Dove commercials on YouTube, one in particular that made me think that Dove was a company I might want to get behind:



But then I saw this ad, also on YouTube:



And, in case this kind of thing bothers you:



Make sure you're paying attention.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Rage Against The Machine


Suppose you are Alfred Montrose Fingermuffin, capitalist. You own a factory, and your factory uses huge industrial metal presses to make Fingermuffin Thingumabobs. Great big blades powered by hydraulics come stomping down on metal ribbon and cut Thingumabobs out like gingerbread men. If you can run the machine at a hundred Thingumabobs per minute, six seconds for ten Thingumabobs, then you're doing fine. The trouble is that although in theory you could do that, in fact you have to stop the machine every so often so that you can check the safeties and change shifts. Each time you do, the downtime costs you, because you have the machine powered up and the crew are all there. So you want to have that happen the absolute minimum number of times per day. The only way you can know when you're at the minimum number of times is when you start to get accidents. Of course, you're always going to get some accidents, because human beings screw up; they think about their sweethearts and lean on the Big Red Button and someone loses a finger. So you reduce the number of shifts from five to four, and the number of safety checks from two to one, and suddenly you're much closer to making Fingermuffin's the market leader. Mrs. Fingermuffin gets all excited because she's been invited to speak at the women's retreat, and all the little Fingermuffins are happy because their daddy brings them brighter, shinier, newer toys. The downside is that your workers are working harder and having to concentrate more, and the accidents they have are just a little worse, just a little more frequent. The trouble is that you can't go back, because now your competitors have done the same thing and the Thingumabob market has gotten a bit more aggressive; and the question comes down to this: how much further can you squeeze the margin without making your factory somewhere no one will work? And the truth is that it's a tough environment for unskilled workers in your area and it can get pretty bad. Suddenly, because the company can't survive any other way, soft-hearted Al Fingermuffin is running the scariest, most dangerous factory in town. 

In order to keep the company alive, safeguard his family's happiness and his employees' jobs, Al Fingermuffin (that's you) has turned into a monster. The only way he can deal with that is to separate himself into two people-Kindly Old Al, who does the living, and Stern Mr. Fingermuffin, factory boss. His managers do the same. So when you talk to Al Fingermuffin's mamagers, you're actually not talking to a person at all. You're talking to a part in the machine that is Fingermuffin Ltd., and the ones who are best at being a part are the ones who function least like a person and most like a machine.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

What's Your Response?


Today we had a coaster crawl (taking our coaster campaign to local bars and coffee shops) and were featured in the Statesman. Spread the word. 

For more information visit www.whatsyourresponse.com

Friday, July 31, 2009

Crazy Christians


"Sometimes I feel like when I make decisions that are remotely biblical, people who call themselves Christians are the first to criticize and say I'm crazy, that I'm taking the Bible too literally, or that I'm not thinking about my family's well-being." -from Crazy Love by Francis Chan

"I need a church that's going to talk me into following Jesus, not talk me out of it." -Ron Slockett; Immanuel member

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Gender Justice In Churches of Christ


No matter where you fall in this discussion, you should read this and this.

I was particularly struck by K's six word memoir. I read it and wept.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

The Great Compromise


"[Most Christians seek] a compromise between the Christian creed and the interests and suggestions of worldly life. To the first of these standards he gives his homage; to the other his real allegiance. All Christians believe that the blessed are the poor and humble, and those who are ill-used by the world; that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven; that they should judge not, lest they be judged; that they should not swear at all; that they should love their neighbor as themselves; that if one take their cloak, they should give him their coat also; that they should take no thought for the morrow; that if they would be perfect, they should sell all they have and give it to the poor. They are not insincere when they say that they believe these things. They do believe them, as people believe what they have always heard lauded and never discussed. But in the sense of that living belief which regulates conduct, they believe these doctrines just up to the point to which it is usual to act upon them." -from On Liberty by John Stuart Mill

"Great faiths can only be preserved by men willing to live by them." -I.F. Stone

Friday, July 24, 2009

Chase What Matters


Chase Bank has this commercial. In it we see a guy buying a yacht, a man opening his garage and breathing a sigh of satisfaction at the sight of his cars, a husband and wife crossing the threshold of a gorgeous home. We hear a soothing voiceover reminding us that we work hard for our money and deserve our reward. And the commercial wraps up with the Chase Bank slogan: Chase What Matters.

In Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus is in the midst of preaching what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. Here he tells his disciples not to store up treasures on earth, but treasures in heaven. He reminds them that the eyes are the lamp of the body, and that no one can serve two masters. And we read Jesus' words and we nod our heads without thinking about the implications.

The passage is so basic. Treasures in heaven, not on earth. Serve God and nothing else. It's important to remember that Jesus’ language of heaven refers to the here and now as well as the hereafter. He is saying that we will find greater reward in this life if we seek God above all else, keep our eyes on Him, and serve Him only.

And so this is a passage where the Kingdom runs up against “the real world.” We are told a story, almost from birth, that goes something like this. Succeed. Get yours. Make progress. Know that you are making progress because once you lived in 800 square feet and now you live in 1200 and one day you’ll live in 1600. Understand that there will be compromises you must make and masters you must serve in order to build up your treasures or, at the very least, your portfolio.

And we accept that this story is true because it’s the one everyone is telling. And then we hear the story of Jesus, which also rings true, and we try to make the first story work alongside the story that Jesus is telling. And here is Jesus saying it can’t. You cannot serve both God and Mammon (stuff, things, wealth, security). You cannot live out God’s plan and pursue America's dream. You have to choose. 

Now to those who have fallen in love with one story (or, at least, can't see how to get out of it) this sounds like bad news. Everything Jesus ever said about money and stuff sounds like bad news for those who have lots of money and stuff. But Jesus means it as good news. As freedom.

A young author named Joshua Ferris recently wrote a novel called Then We Came To The End. It is a story reminiscent of the television show The Office or the movie Office Space,a commentary on the daily grind of the "wage slave." In the novel, there is a passage about those that “get free”: 

Yet for all the depression no one ever quit. When someone quit, we couldn't believe it. 'I'm becoming a rafting instructor on the Colorado River,' they said. 'I'm touring college towns with my garage band.' We were dumbfounded. It was like they were from another planet. Where had they found the derring-do? What would they do about car payments? We got together for going away drinks on their final day and tried to hide our envy all the while reminding ourselves that we still had the freedom and luxury to shop indiscriminately.

Now stop for a second and ask yourself if some part of that rings true. And that’s just talking about being a rafting instructor or in a garage band. Jesus offers the freedom to begin to live in the Kingdom right here and now. We’ve seen the lives of those who “settled for less” so that they might have more; so that they might have the “abundant life” that Jesus promised. We’ve heard their stories. My own father tells a story of being so afraid to lose his paycheck that he stopped trying to do real Kingdom work...and he worked for a church.

The truly sad and sick part is that, when we settle for earthly treasures, we commit ourselves to making them the good news. Now that we’ve put all this time and effort into this job, this car, this house, this stuff, we find we've put our heart into them too, that we want them to matter more than they do. And so we’re like those in Then We Came To The End, reminding ourselves that we still have the freedom and luxury to shop indiscriminately all the while knowing what an empty victory that is.

Jesus says the eyes are the lamp of the body. This is God’s call for us not to lose focus. If we focus on your own dreams and desires, our own hopes and happiness, then that’s all we’ll have to light our way. We cannot expect to keep our eyes on one thing and receive light from another. If Christ is whom we seek, then our lives can be full of light. If happiness and security and money and Mammon are what we seek, then their light will seem like darkness and our lives will feel empty and wasted. There is a reason why this country is more rich and less happy than it has ever been, the two things aren't disconnected.

We cannot pile up stuff and still be free to pursue Christ. Money and Mammon make demands and give orders and call us to obey. If you don't see a Mercedes commercial as a call to worship, then you haven't been paying attention. We can live for the Almighty Dollar or the Almighty God, but we cannot do both. This is a passage about priorities and a call to sort them out. 

When your life is over will you rejoice in having put first things first or regret that you didn’t? In the end, will we have chased what matters?

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Michael Jackson


I don't have a lot to say about Michael Jackson's death, but I feel compelled to throw in my two cents.

The fact that Michael Jackson was a celebrity doesn't make his death more tragic. Yes, he was a gifted musician and yes, his music touched many people in profound ways. But you didn't lose your best friend when he died, unless your name is Janet Jackson. His death was a reason for his family and friends to get worked up over and to grieve deeply. It is not something for you to treat like as a personal loss just because you loved the Thriller video.

However, and more importantly, the fact that Michael Jackson was a celebrity doesn't make his death fair game for snide comments and tasteless jokes. A man died. Yes, a man who had his share of problems, but also a man who had parents and siblings and kids. His death isn't a punchline just because you and he never shared coffee. Regardless of whether or not you watched the memorial (I did not) or how you felt about it and all the coverage surrounding it, that last moment was of a small girl overwhelmed by life without her dad. That's a tragic moment. It isn't funny. It isn't tantalizing. It's just very sad and very real.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Tim Keller On Hell


This is worth a listen. Especially for those who consider themselves done with the subject of hell.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

Been two weeks visiting family and friends throughout Chicago and Michigan. More on that soon enough, but for now...

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

-Wendell Berry

Sunday, June 14, 2009

What's Going On


We might be better equipped to know what's going on if we stopped bracketing religion as an entity unrelated and somehow divorced from our everyday choices. We could recognize that a Mercedes commercial, for example, is a call to worship. -from The Sacredness of Questioning Everything by David Dark

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Motto of the Kingdom Coming


Create the condition you describe.
-San Francisco Diggers Motto

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Kingdom Coming and Rites of Spring


[There is] a constant friction between what you see, and what you want to achieve and things that you know are right. That rub is what creates the pain and the emotion and then there's the hope that maybe you can overcome it, make it happen. It's the same politically and personally - to me it's all one issue because the same problems keep coming up over and over again - lack of commitment, lack of caring. -Guy Picciotto, lead singer of post-hardcore band Rites of Spring, describing what his music hopes to address

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Works of Love


Only when it is a duty to love, only then is love eternally secure. -from Works of Love by Soren Kierkegaard

Friday, June 5, 2009

Tradition


The best way to preserve tradition is to have a baby, not to wear your father's old hat.
-Pablo Picasso

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Seek Ye First


“If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.”
-William Law

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Church and Kingdom


Alfred Loisy the 19th century historian was right in saying that Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of God but what appeared was the Church. The disappointment was and continues to be severe. But the great irony is that today we alleviate our disappointment with the contemporary Church by pointing back to the New Testament Church --which was the great disappointment to begin with! Our restless discontent should not be over the distance between ourselves and the first century Church but over the distance between ourselves and the Kingdom of God to which the Church then and now is the witness. -from Freedom for Ministry by Richard Neuhaus

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Admirers v. Disciples


If you have any knowledge at all of human nature, you know that those who only admire the truth will, when danger appears, become traitors. The admirer is infatuated with the false security of greatness; but if there is any inconvenience or trouble, he pulls back. Admiring the truth, instead of following it, is just as dubious a fire as the fire of erotic love, which at the turn of the hand can be changed into exactly the opposite, to hate, jealousy, and revenge. Christ, however, never asked for admirers, worshippers, or adherents. He consistently spoke of “followers” and “disciples.” -Soren Kierkegaard

Friday, May 22, 2009

The Visitor's Center


In the opening chapter of his book Just Courage, International Justice Mission founder Gary Haugen shares a story of a trip made when he was 10 years old. His father took he and his brothers to walk the paved path up Mt. Rainier. Eventually, the paved path ended and a new path emerged, one that had it's own sign, warning of the potential dangers of continuing up the mountain. Haugen's father assured him they would make it and that he would help his son every step of the way. Haugen opted, instead, for the Visitor's Center. Haugen relates:

The Paradise Meadow had a huge and magnificent Visitor's Center with exhibits and video displays of the wildflowers and wildlife, the history of the mountain, the drama of the extraordinary people who had actually climbed it. The Visitor's Center was warm and comfortable with lots of interesting things to read and to watch. I devoured the information and explored every corner of it. Judging by the crowd, this was really quite the place to be.

As the afternoon stretched on, however, the massive Visitor's Center started to seem awfully small. The warm air started to feel stuffy and the stuffed animals seemed just…dead. The inspiring loop videos about the extraordinary people who climbed the mountain just as weren't as interesting on the 6th and 7th time. They just made me wish I was one of those people going up the mountain rather than just hearing about it. I felt bored, sleepy, and small. And I missed my dad. And I was totally stuck. Totally safe but totally stuck.

After the longest afternoon in my 10-year-old life my dad and my brothers returned, flushed with their triumph. Their faces were red from the cold and their eyes were clear with delight. They were wet from the snow, they were famished, they were dehydrated and nursing scrapes from the rocks and the ice. But on the long drive home they had something else. They had stories and they had a remarkable day with their dad upon the great mountain.

A lot of handwringing goes on today over what is wrong with the Church. I believe that the Church's problem is that it has become the visitor’s center. The place we can go to hear the stories of those who followed Christ and to try and get a picture of what it might be like. The place to escape having to actually do it ourselves. We see it as our job to attract guests to the center, but we aren’t really sure how, because, much as we hate to admit it, we find the center a tad boring and oppressive ourselves. Or maybe we like the center, but only because it’s familiar, we're quick to concede that it’s not for everyone. So we hand out pamphlets on the “following God experience” because we’ve heard it’s really great. And we keep up the visitor's center in the hopes that maybe someone will want to climb the mountain. And we're surprised when people rarely do.

What we forget (or never knew) is that the good news can’t be rumors. 

In the book of Acts, the disciples Peter and John are warned to stop talking about Jesus or risk losing their lives. They famously reply that they “cannot help speaking about what [they] have seen and heard."

The truth of the gospel doesn’t mean we have proof, but it does mean we've had an experience. First hand experience.

But many of us haven't. We don't have our own story to tell, so we invest our time and effort in pointing people to event over experience, to place over person. We've never seen the mountain top ourselves, so we'd rather just show you this video.

The truth is that if all we have are rumors, our faith will falter. When doubts arise we’ll reach for the script and it won’t be enough. So we’ll either go deeper or we’ll walk away.

The book of Job is about a people with a script. The script states that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. And then bad things start happening to Job.

Job's wife sees the failure of the script and encourages Job to "curse God and die." Too often, when the script fails, people's faith falters as well. Job's friends simply stick to the script, badgering Job to think about what it is he's done to deserve God's punishment.

Only Job chooses to actually engage God. Which brings shaking fists and angry indictments and seemingly endless questions. But, in the end, Job states that "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you."

You see it isn’t the gospel that’s the problem. It isn’t that the news isn’t good.

The gospel hasn’t failed us, we have simply failed to pursue it, failed to experience it and therefore failed to believe it and to share it.

And so the answer to our crisis isn't to talk ourselves into deeper belief, but to throw ourselves into a deeper walk of faith.

Then the things that we had only heard second hand we will begin to experience first hand.

This is Christ's invitation to the disciples; "Come and see." Come and experience if this news is good. Come and discover that Jesus is who He claims to be.

Why are we so worried that people will find out what we believe? Is it because we're not sure that we do? And why are we unsure? Is it because we have dug down deep and discovered that there’s nothing there? Or is it because every time the call of Christ scared us or challenged us or threatened to change us, we stopped digging and headed for shallow ground? Every time we are threatened with scrapes, we settle for the script.

We must refuse to do so any longer. We must find out one way or the other. We must not simply stick to a script just because it’s the one we were given, but find out if it’s more than a script. Let’s test it. Let’s live it. Let’s see.

Because it isn’t that there’s nothing to see, but that we haven’t been willing to do what it takes to see.

We’re safe, but we’re stuck. We’re stuck with a script instead of a story.

Peter and John didn’t have a script. They couldn’t help but share what they had seen and heard. They had their story born out of THE story. When we don’t risk, don't seek, don't see we don’t have stories to share. Our gospel becomes hearsay. And anyone whose ever watched a courtroom drama can tell you that hearsay makes for unreliable testimony.

So, what’s it going to be? Are we following God or are we sitting still? Are we willing to risk the scrapes in order to have the stories? 

Because I made a good part of my Christianity and my career as a pastor about maintaining the visitor's center. Newer videos and a warmer environment. But I won’t maintain the visitor’s center anymore. I can’t.

What I can do is start up the trail. This church planting journey has been a step in that direction. What I can also do is invite others to go up the mountain, to risk their lives to follow Christ. No promises of an easy road. Just the promise of "God with us."