Thursday, August 9, 2007
Shakey
I am a sucker for biographies, especially music bios. My favorite is Cash by Johnny Cash, but a close second is Shakey by Jimmy McDonough. It is the authorized biography of Neil Young and has everything that a biography that isn't an autobiography should have -revealing interviews, insightful critique, apocrypha and anecdote, and just the smallest bit of the author himself. McDonough's access to Young is stunning, given Young's reputation for being a bit of a recluse. McDonough understands that we come to this book from different angles -love of the music, love of the man, love of a good story- and he gives us lots of each. Whether Harvest is your favorite album, Young is your favorite artist, or biography is your favorite genre, this will be one of your favorite books. The chapter on the making of Tonight's The Night alone is worth the $15.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Jesus Has Left The Building
You know that Christendom has "succeeded" when even those who aren't a part of it (or are antagonistic towards it) accept certain "truths" that it has created.
Few of those "truths" are more accepted by churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike than the idea that church is defined by place. More specifically, church is defined by ownership of space.
If you don't have a place of your own to hang a sign, how can you be a church?
Today at work, one of my co-workers asked about Immanuel, how it was going, and so on. He had heard that we were "doing something different", but wasn't sure what that meant. I did my best to relate the differences in our approach, spoke about house churches, our concept of "belonging before believing", and so on.
When I talked about our commitment to never purchasing property, he seemed confused. He isn't the first.
I should step back for a minute and explain here what I explained today. Immanuel is a community of Christians that meet in various houses. When the regular attendance at these weekly house church meetings gets to be about 25, the group births another house church. This was something different than what he had imagined.
These house churches also gather for a time of worship every week. This was beginning to sound more like church. Except that we gather at someone else's building. The idea is to never have to own our own space.
But what about when we max out the space we're using? At that point, we apply the same birthing concept to the larger worship gathering. When we get to be about 200, we send 50 folks to worship in a second location. We can use other church's buildings, or music venues, or schools. The possibilities are endless. It allows the Immanuel Austin church to exist throughout Austin without ever having a building and a sign that says Immanuel Austin is here. It allows us to be defined by the people and what Christ is doing through them and not the space and what Christ is doing in it.
That isn't to say that we don't think gathering together is important. If we didn't, we wouldn't meet together at least twice a week (a group of us also gathers with friends at a local pub on Tuesdays and to serve at a local food pantry on Saturdays). We just think that we're the church when we're in our homes and at the pub and at the food bank and at the building. As Christ himself promised "whenever two or more are gathered in my name, I am there."
The universal Church has known this for centuries, but Christendom has often made that knowledge more theoretical than practical. Of course the church isn't the building, we say, but we still hold up a specific hour in a specific space as our defining moment. The problem is that by making the space particularly sacred, the event ceases to define us outside of that space.
Every church has its stories, Biblical and otherwise, that it points to for meaning. One of those, for Immanuel, has been the tranfiguration (see my previous blog entry on the transfiguration for more complete thoughts on this). The transfiguration was that moment on the mountain when Christ was revealed in all his glory to a few of his disciples. One of them, Peter, responded by suggesting that they build a place on the mountain in order to remain in the moment. Jesus' response is to go back down the mountain and heal a young boy.
All of us need the time for mountaintop experiences, a time for Christ's glory to be revealed and celebrated. But we must not fall into the trap that Peter suggested, of remaining on the mountain. If he had, he might have been able to continue to dwell upon the experience for some time, but he would have missed the fact that Jesus wasn't there.
As churches, we need an increasing awareness that Jesus has left the building. Not that he isn't present in our times of worship, but that he isn't confined by them. His desire isn't that we simply worship in a specific time and space, but that the experience of worship would redefine us and push us out the door and down the mountain. Our mission isn't to get people to "go to church" it is to be the church and go to people.
Few of those "truths" are more accepted by churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike than the idea that church is defined by place. More specifically, church is defined by ownership of space.
If you don't have a place of your own to hang a sign, how can you be a church?
Today at work, one of my co-workers asked about Immanuel, how it was going, and so on. He had heard that we were "doing something different", but wasn't sure what that meant. I did my best to relate the differences in our approach, spoke about house churches, our concept of "belonging before believing", and so on.
When I talked about our commitment to never purchasing property, he seemed confused. He isn't the first.
I should step back for a minute and explain here what I explained today. Immanuel is a community of Christians that meet in various houses. When the regular attendance at these weekly house church meetings gets to be about 25, the group births another house church. This was something different than what he had imagined.
These house churches also gather for a time of worship every week. This was beginning to sound more like church. Except that we gather at someone else's building. The idea is to never have to own our own space.
But what about when we max out the space we're using? At that point, we apply the same birthing concept to the larger worship gathering. When we get to be about 200, we send 50 folks to worship in a second location. We can use other church's buildings, or music venues, or schools. The possibilities are endless. It allows the Immanuel Austin church to exist throughout Austin without ever having a building and a sign that says Immanuel Austin is here. It allows us to be defined by the people and what Christ is doing through them and not the space and what Christ is doing in it.
That isn't to say that we don't think gathering together is important. If we didn't, we wouldn't meet together at least twice a week (a group of us also gathers with friends at a local pub on Tuesdays and to serve at a local food pantry on Saturdays). We just think that we're the church when we're in our homes and at the pub and at the food bank and at the building. As Christ himself promised "whenever two or more are gathered in my name, I am there."
The universal Church has known this for centuries, but Christendom has often made that knowledge more theoretical than practical. Of course the church isn't the building, we say, but we still hold up a specific hour in a specific space as our defining moment. The problem is that by making the space particularly sacred, the event ceases to define us outside of that space.
Every church has its stories, Biblical and otherwise, that it points to for meaning. One of those, for Immanuel, has been the tranfiguration (see my previous blog entry on the transfiguration for more complete thoughts on this). The transfiguration was that moment on the mountain when Christ was revealed in all his glory to a few of his disciples. One of them, Peter, responded by suggesting that they build a place on the mountain in order to remain in the moment. Jesus' response is to go back down the mountain and heal a young boy.
All of us need the time for mountaintop experiences, a time for Christ's glory to be revealed and celebrated. But we must not fall into the trap that Peter suggested, of remaining on the mountain. If he had, he might have been able to continue to dwell upon the experience for some time, but he would have missed the fact that Jesus wasn't there.
As churches, we need an increasing awareness that Jesus has left the building. Not that he isn't present in our times of worship, but that he isn't confined by them. His desire isn't that we simply worship in a specific time and space, but that the experience of worship would redefine us and push us out the door and down the mountain. Our mission isn't to get people to "go to church" it is to be the church and go to people.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
One word. No explanations.
1. Yourself: trying
2. Your spouse: faithful
3. Your hair: gone
4. Your mother: strong
5. Your father: determined
6. Your favorite item: bible
7. Your dream last night: forgettable
8. Your favorite drink: water
9. Your dream car: affordable
10. The room you are in: messy
11. Your ex: friend
12. Your fear: failure
13. What you want to be in 10 years: Christlike
14. Who you hung out with last night: Rachel
15. What you're not: anxious
16. Muffins: mooses
17: One of your wish list items: i-pod
18: Time: flies
19. The last thing you did: typed
20. What you are wearing: clothes
21. Your favorite weather: grey
22. Your favorite book: bible
23. The last thing you ate: cracker
24. Your life: marvelous
25. Your mood: sedate
26. Your best friend: encouraging
27. What you're thinking about right now: you
28. Your car: steady
29. What you are doing at the moment: typing
30. Your summer: busy
31. Your relationship status: taken
32. What is on your TV: nothing
33. What is the weather like: humid
34. When was the last time you laughed: today
1. Yourself: trying
2. Your spouse: faithful
3. Your hair: gone
4. Your mother: strong
5. Your father: determined
6. Your favorite item: bible
7. Your dream last night: forgettable
8. Your favorite drink: water
9. Your dream car: affordable
10. The room you are in: messy
11. Your ex: friend
12. Your fear: failure
13. What you want to be in 10 years: Christlike
14. Who you hung out with last night: Rachel
15. What you're not: anxious
16. Muffins: mooses
17: One of your wish list items: i-pod
18: Time: flies
19. The last thing you did: typed
20. What you are wearing: clothes
21. Your favorite weather: grey
22. Your favorite book: bible
23. The last thing you ate: cracker
24. Your life: marvelous
25. Your mood: sedate
26. Your best friend: encouraging
27. What you're thinking about right now: you
28. Your car: steady
29. What you are doing at the moment: typing
30. Your summer: busy
31. Your relationship status: taken
32. What is on your TV: nothing
33. What is the weather like: humid
34. When was the last time you laughed: today
Saturday, August 4, 2007
9 years
Every year I say it, and every year it's true- I praise God for my amazing wife and the blessing that she is to me, to my son, and to everyone she comes into contact with.
Every year I say it, and every year it's true- I praise God for showing me what faithfulness and unconditional love look like and for helping me to have a bit more of each.
I haven't been able to say it every year, but I said it last year and it is true again- this has been the most exciting and rewarding of my nine years married. I am as close to my wife as I have ever been, as in love with her as I have ever been, as proud to be her husband, partner, and friend as I have ever been.
And one thing we agreed upon at year 5 that we've agreed upon again at 9- we'd like to have a baby.
Your prayers of thanksgiving and of blessing are appreciated. Your support and encouragement through these 9 years has been as well, and continue to be. Love you all.
But not as much as I love her. Love you, Rach.
Every year I say it, and every year it's true- I praise God for showing me what faithfulness and unconditional love look like and for helping me to have a bit more of each.
I haven't been able to say it every year, but I said it last year and it is true again- this has been the most exciting and rewarding of my nine years married. I am as close to my wife as I have ever been, as in love with her as I have ever been, as proud to be her husband, partner, and friend as I have ever been.
And one thing we agreed upon at year 5 that we've agreed upon again at 9- we'd like to have a baby.
Your prayers of thanksgiving and of blessing are appreciated. Your support and encouragement through these 9 years has been as well, and continue to be. Love you all.
But not as much as I love her. Love you, Rach.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
My Top 5 Top 5
This week I’ve been listening to a lot of Neil Young. Today I realized something that I’ve known for years, but have never really taken in: my favorite Neil Young albums were all recorded back to back. Not only that, they were recorded within a 5 year time span. It got me thinking of other songwriters/bands in that upper echelon who created 5 near perfect albums in succession (I know, it’s a strange criteria, but this is how my mind works). These are my top 5:
The Beatles
Beatles For Sale
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Bruce Springsteen
Born To Run
Darkness On The Edge of Town
The River
Nebraska
Born In The U.S.A.
Bob Dylan
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Another Side of Bob Dylan
Bringing It All Back Home
Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde On Blonde
Elvis Costello
My Aim Is True
This Year’s Model
Armed Forces
Get Happy!!
Trust
Neil Young
After The Goldrush
Harvest
On The Beach
Tonight’s The Night
Zuma
OK, music nerds, make your lists. They must be five near perfect albums released in back to back to back to back to back order. You don’t get to list Radiohead and skip over Amnesiac. Live albums can be excluded or included. EPs and rarities albums as well. However, if an album was studio recorded and available to the general public, it cannot be skipped over, your list must be 5 albums in succession and must be limited to the best 5 (of course John Wesley Harding is an amazing album, but not, in my opinion, as amazing as The Times They Are A-Changin’). Go.
The Beatles
Beatles For Sale
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Bruce Springsteen
Born To Run
Darkness On The Edge of Town
The River
Nebraska
Born In The U.S.A.
Bob Dylan
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Another Side of Bob Dylan
Bringing It All Back Home
Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde On Blonde
Elvis Costello
My Aim Is True
This Year’s Model
Armed Forces
Get Happy!!
Trust
Neil Young
After The Goldrush
Harvest
On The Beach
Tonight’s The Night
Zuma
OK, music nerds, make your lists. They must be five near perfect albums released in back to back to back to back to back order. You don’t get to list Radiohead and skip over Amnesiac. Live albums can be excluded or included. EPs and rarities albums as well. However, if an album was studio recorded and available to the general public, it cannot be skipped over, your list must be 5 albums in succession and must be limited to the best 5 (of course John Wesley Harding is an amazing album, but not, in my opinion, as amazing as The Times They Are A-Changin’). Go.
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