Elf Yourself. Hilarity Ensues.

I know it's past Christmas, but if you want to have a few minutes of fun, go over to the Elf Yourself website, upload a photo, and make your very own elf.

Here is my daughter as an elf.

Enjoy!

Shine.

A Christmas Present For My Brother

Tonight was a great night - I found a bunch of old Hi 8 video tapes that I took during my youth ministry days in Colorado, and had a great time remembering some really funny times with that youth ministry. One of my brothers happened to be in my youth ministry for a few years, which was interesting for both of us, I'm sure. One of our most successful events was the LipSync competitions we did every year. I had been trying to find these LipSyncs on video for so long, and I finally found one. This one was one of the best - you had to be there to really understand - but the most painful moment took place when my brother lipsynced to the song "Waffle King" by Weird Al Yankovic. So - to my brother - here is your Christmas present for you and everyone else in the world to enjoy. (EDIT: When I say "painful", I don't mean that the performance was painful to watch; I mean that it really was painful for my brother because he majorly screwed up his ankle. You gotta watch it - slow motion and all - it's like watching the Theismann injury.)

Adam's Favorites of 2006

Well, it's getting pretty close to the end of 2006, and I thought I would try to remember what my favorite things were this year. Agree or disagree? Post your comments!

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Top 5 Movies:

5. Inside Man

I'm a big fan of Clive Owen, and he doesn't disappoint in this one. I love movies that keep you guessing as to what's really going on. Great performances all around.

4. Stranger Than Fiction

I was surprised that I liked this movie as much as I did. The feelings I had at the end of this movie reminded me of the feelings I had after seeing the movie About Schmidt. Will Ferrell does a great job of playing a more serious role, and Maggie G. (hard last name to spell) does a great job as a unique love interest.

3. Brick

This independent movie was amazing. It took the elements of an old-time noir cinema flick and inserted it into a present-day high school situation. Great performances by Joseph Gordon-Leavitt and Lucas Haas as "The Pin".

2. The Fountain

You are either mesmerized or frustrated with this movie. I was the former. Aronofsky is a genius - I see him as the next Kubrick. The imagery, the plot weavings, amazing. Amazing.

1. Casino Royale

I'm a huge Bond fan. Seriously. I watch them all the time. Although at first I had a hard time with Daniel Craig as Bond, the movie was so good and Craig grew on me with each minute. Imagine - Bond actually seemed like a real person! Imagine that!

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Top 5 T.V. Shows (I don't watch much T.V., but these shows I watch regularly):

5. Heroes

4. Firefly (ok, it's no longer on, but I got the DVDs this year and this show is amazing. An incredible cast.)

3. The Office

2. Lost

1. 24 - I am a latecomer to the 24 phenomenon, started watching it this last season. I love it.

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Top CD's (I couldn't narrow it down to five):

7. Dashboard Confessional - Summer and Dusk

- Yeah, everybody has to have some wuss in them. Chris Carrabba is great, and although I still prefer his acoustic stuff, he's got quite the power pop sensibility in his music.

6. Charlie Hall - Flying Into Daybreak

- I'm not a big Charlie Hall fan. But this CD is great.

5. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche

- The fact that these were cuts that didn't make his phenomenal CD Illinois is amazing. This CD is "chock-full" of great songs, including 3 different versions of one of my favorite songs on Illinois - Chicago.

4. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife

- Quirky. Amazing. I love it. Thanks Seth.

3. Mute Math - self-titled

- These guys are so good. Even with the leader playing a "key-tar". Christians writing this kind of music? Amazing.

2. Snow Patrol - Eyes Open

- This CD is so much more than Counting Cars. So much more. "Set Fire To The Third Bar" could be in my top ten songs of all time, especially with Martha Wainwright on backing vocals. There isn't a stinker on this CD, folks.

1. Leeland - Sound Of Melodies

- If you haven't picked up this CD, you need to be beaten severely. This CD isn't just incredible - it's amazi-great. I'm looking forward to hearing more stuff from this "worship artist".

(CDs that I need to pick up that might make this list as well: Jeremy Enigk and ...of sinking ships)

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Top 5 Books:

5. No Perfect People Allowed - John Burke

4. To Own A Dragon - Donald Miller

3. The Present Future - Reggie McNeal

2. The Shaping Of Things To Come - Frost and Hirsch

1. The Irresistible Revolution - Shane Claiborne


Well, that's all I can think of - I'm looking forward to what's coming out in 2007!

The Great Giveaway

I found myself in the local Christian bookstore (or as Noelle likes to call it, the Veggie Tale store), and I bought a book I've been eyeing the last couple of times I have gone in. The book definitely had me at the title, the full title being "The Great Giveaway: Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism, and Other Modern Maladies". I browsed through the first chapter while Noelle watching a Veggie Tales preview on the T.V. in the kids area - the first chapter talks about how churches erroneously equate numbers with success. This is something that has troubled me for many years. If our view of a church's success is based on attendance or how big it is, does that mean God is really blessing it? I don't think so.

One of the paragraphs from this chapter really struck a chord with me: "To illustrate, let us think hypothetically about a church that started with ten people who then gathered to study the Bible and pray. The meeting grew to approximately fifty people over a year, upon which they decided to plant a congregation. Let us say that the church used a "seeker service" format where the Sunday service allows for complete anonymity for visitors. The service was characterized by excellent music, captivating drama, and a message that appealed to one's "felt needs" and to Jesus Christ as the answer to those needs. It often used psychologically-driven sermons. Five years later, the church averages a thousand attendees, of which there is a 60 percent turnover every year. Out of the one thousand attendees, the basic core group of practicing Christians is one hundred. Out of the thousand there are "fifty-nine giving units" (as they call them) accounting for 95 percent of church giving. Let us say hypothetically we know that a majority of the thousand attendees minus the hundred core still work eighty hours a week to support an indulgent lifestyle while neglecting the poor in their midst, still have sex outside of marriage, and have abusive relationships. Is this church a hundred people large or a thousand?"

That's the kind of paragraph that ruffles the feathers of people who think that The Church is fine right now. I'm excited to read the rest of this book, it already resonates within me.

Joanna Newsom

I never thought I would enjoy harp music, but there's an artist named Joanna Newsom who is incredibly gifted as a musician and a lyricist.

You can find a video of one of her songs here.

A brief warning: I can't stand her voice, and someone told me it was an acquired taste, kind of like Bob Dylan's voice - so try to hear the music and the amazing arrangements rather than the annoying "please just stick an icepick in my ear" voice that goes with the music.

What Are We Emerging From? What Are We Emerging To?

If you've read this blog at all, you know that I prefer the term "missional Christianity" when it comes to the new wave of God's Spirit moving in the hearts of the people of God. The term "Emerging" or even "Emergent" (which is only a part of the Emerging Church movement - yeah, I know it's confusing), to me, has been kind of an almost elitist term. It's like that part in Spinal Tap, when two of the band members are talking about how they got the name Spinal Tap. They started with the name The Thamesmen, but as they changed their music, they decided to call themselves The Originals, but found out there was a band already named that, so they thought about renaming themselves The New Originals - you know, kind of like they were better than the original The Originals. (They decided not to, because "what's the point", but I'm rambling.) Emerging to me brings up an image of someone who is in this big pit of muck and nastiness and rises out of the detritus into something much better. (Since we already had one movie illustration, let me offer another - that part in Rambo II when they put Rambo in that nasty pit, and then they lift him up and he's got all kinds of gross stuff all over him, but obviously being out of the pit is much better than being in the pit. I went to the movie theater two nights in a row this week, which might explain my brain being locked on movies. By the way, if you haven't seen the new James Bond, drop everything and go see it. It's now in my top 3 of all Bond movies, and I consider myself a big fan of Bond movies - I've seen them all several times. This now concludes the end of my commercial for 007.)

The other thing about the term Emerging is that it's not really a term that is self-definable. If I call myself a "missional Christian" you probably can at least take a stab as to what I'm talking about. We've heard the term "mission" before.

Well, I think Scot McKnight of The Jesus Creed Blog has done a good job of defining what it means to be an Emerging Christian - without being elitist or vague. It's in the form of a letter - I would just post you a link, but I'm going to give you most of what he says in this post.

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Dear Matt,

You’ve asked me what is one of the most commonly asked questions about the emerging movement, but the way you ask about it is both funny and typical. You said: “I tell everyone I’m an ‘emerging’ Christian but what (I’m afraid to say I don’t know) are we emerging from? Whenever someone asks me this, I brush it off. But I’d like to know your opinion what we are emerging out of since several of my friends claim you make emerging church stuff an area of study.”
Lots of Baptists, Matt, don’t have the foggiest idea of why they are Baptists; Episcopalians don’t know why they have that name; Presbyterians don’t know what their name stands for — but you can be sure the Pentecostals know why they are called Pentecostals. I could go on about names and that some know what they mean and that others don’t.

Know this: there’s always something very important to names like “emerging,” so if you are going to call yourself an “emerging Christian,” I think it’s a jolly good idea you stop and get this term under your grips.

Let me say what I think “emerging” means from two angles:

First, we are emerging into how we think the Church should be in the future. We use emerging it refers to the direction we are moving. We want to be the kind of Christians that speak the gospel in our world in such a way that it cuts into the fabric of sin and constructs a way of life that is fully consistent with the way Jesus calls us to live. Since we think culture is changing, we want to understand that culture and both connect to it and critique it. So we are seeking to be Christians in our day — and that means in the postmodern era. If you’d like to read a pleasant (and brief) description, I suggest John Caputo, Philosophy and Theology. If you want a little longer book, J. Smith, Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism?

We believe that there is truth to the claim that we are now in a postmodern era. We think that postmodernity is changing the current generation — in how it understands truth or (the best way of saying this) our articulation of the truth of the gospel, in how we relate to one another in the world, and in the weakening of the grip of the Western culture’s belief that scientific knowledge tells the whole truth.

That’s the into part.

Second, we think “emerging” relates to moving from where we’ve been, and frankly for must of us (though not all) where we’ve been is conservative evangelicalism. It is not that we have all (some have) abandoned that evangelicalism, but we think that shifts and adjustments are necessary to that traditional expression of our faith in order to ltrust, live and speak the truth of the gospel to the current generation. A way of saying this, though I’m not sure our conservative critics like to hear this, is that we want to do for your generation what our fathers and mothers did for our generation.

It is also my hope that we are emerging from the disunity of the Church, the fracturing of the Church into all kinds of splinter groups. Most of these Christians really do believe the same gospel but can’t get along for what is sometimes not all that important of reasons. So I hope we can emerge from the tribal mentality that has too often characterized Christianity

And lots of us think we need to emerge from the power structures of our past. Matt, this is odd to say, but my generation is the hippie generation; we fought hard to democratize church members and perhaps our most notable achievement came through a California preacher named Ray Stedman, who wrote a book called Body Life. The teachings we find in our churches today about spiritual gifts came from Stedman. (It wasn’t even talked about him much until he put it right back in the church.) Now, Stedman got the Church to live like a “body.” The problem is that my generation got tired of the effort to live like a body, and gave all the power back to the leaders. Maybe there’s a social cycle in this, but one thing is for sure: emergence wants to renew the democratization process. It’s fun to see how this is happening all over the place — from house churches and simple churches to smaller missional and emergent gatherings. (Again I could go on.)

All of this means we want to get together on the basics of the gospel, the basics of our creedal faith, and on the basis of a life devoted to following Jesus — and do all these as a community, regardless of “who” we are.

Above all, though, we are working at seeing “what will happen next.” In other words, one can’t predict emergence; one participates in emergence. And we are watching some grassroots shifts in gospel living begin to take shape in all sorts of ways — in how we do church, in how we preach, in how we evangelize, in how we organize our gatherings and “services,” in how we related to the State - in how we participate in capitalism and wealth and possessions … I could go on.

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Unfortunately, he doesn't go on - but I think he's done a good job. I'm still not sure if I like the term, but at least someone has gone through the trouble of thoughtfully defining it.

The B-C-Mess

I was down in Cincinnati last night for a birthday celebration, when my brother-in-law and I flipped on the T.V. and watched the end of the Cowboys-Giants game, which had a great finish. After, there was an NFL highlights show (the funniest quote of the show was when the main "mouth" of the show, who I didn't recognize, said to Terry Bradshow, who was bundled up way more than he had to be and was wearing a goofy hat, "If you're wrong, I want to see you cut through a bar of Irish Spring soap", because he looked kind of like a leprechaun.), but then the BCS selection show came on, and I told my brother-in-law that Florida was going to be the #2, and sure enough, they were.

Another year reminds us that Division 1 College Football desperately needs a playoff system. Even if just the top 8 teams had a playoff, it would be much better than the mess we find ourselves in every year. I personally feel like even the college football poll system is wrong - if I was a college football A.D., I would schedule all of my tough games at the beginning of the year, because everyone knows that if you lose early, you have a better chance of staying close to the top than if you lose late. (Florida loses to Auburn early, Michigan loses to Ohio State by 3 at Ohio State late. Florida leapfrogs over Michigan for the #2 spot) And, if a win in a conference championship game (like Florida over Arkansas) counts towards the polls, then shouldn't everyone have a conference championship? Is it really fair that Michigan, who didn't have any games after the Ohio State game, does nothing to drop in the polls (because they didn't play anymore) ends up dropping because Florida did have a conference championship game?

It's a mess, folks. Every other division in college football has a playoff. Why can't the best division do the same? The above graphic is Terry Bowden's take on what an eight team playoff would look like this year. Looks pretty good to me.

A Christmas Message From An Unexpected Source

Hey everyone,

I've been really busy with Christmas eve and Shine production stuff, so I've been unable to really think, let alone blog at all. However, in looking at different Christmas songs to do this year, one especially caught my eye. It's from one of my favorite bands - Jimmy Eat World. In digging up information, I have found out that this song is actually a remake of a song by a band named Low. I agree with a reviewer of Low's version of this song that said that Christian artists would probably give up all their Dove Awards to write a song like this. The lyrics are below.

"If You Were Born Today"

If you were born today
We'd kill you by age eight
Never get the chance to say

Joy to the world and
Peace on the earth
Forgive them for they know not what they do

Blessed are the meek and
Blessed are the humble
Blessed are the ninety and nine

Deny the flesh
Deny all that's evil
Tonight you'll deny me thrice

If you were born today
We'd kill you by age eight
You'd never have the chance to say... to say...

Joy to the world (If you were born today)
Peace on the earth (We'd kill you by age eight)
Never get the chance to say...

Pictures Of Element November 2006

Guy has done a great job of taking pictures of our once-a-month worship gathering called Element, so I thought I would post some here.

He really took some great shots and captured the vibe of the evening!

You can see the rest of the pictures here.

Halloween Pictures

My daughter as Nemo. Adorable. Enjoy. :D

Sufjan Stevens: Put The Lights On The Tree

There's nothing like a little Sufjan Stevens Christmas music to get me fired up for the holidays. You can get some of his Christmas Cds for free, I can't remember where I got them, I'll have to remember. He is also releasing a box-set of all of his Christmas songs - familiar and original. I highly recommend them if you're a Sufjan fan or if you like quirky banjo-driven Christmas carols.

Enjoy this video from Sufjan's record company (which he owns), an ode to Christmas in an o so cartoonish way.

The Present Future by Reggie McNeal

I have started reading The Present Future: Six Tough Questions For The Church again, and the more I read, the more I am firmly convinced that this is the one book that must be read in order to understand where the Church needs to change and what its values and mission must be in order to reach not only the emerging generations, but all generations. If these six tough questions are not addressed by the church, not only will the church become even more and more marginalized to the outskirts of society in the coming years, but I believe that the church will die in America.

My next several posts will be dissecting what is written in this book. I would encourage any of you who read this blog to pick up this book. It will definitely shake your pre-conceived ideas of what the church should be about to the very core.

Element - Seed (November 2006)

I have not done a very good job of promoting Element on my blog - in fact, I haven't really promoted it at all. So I bring you a promo video.

Element is a worship gathering that I help lead one Sunday night a month. We've been doing it since this summer, and each worship gathering has been completely different.

I have a special place in my heart and faith for the persecuted church. I think it goes back to when I was in college and we would have missionaries come and speak to us from countries that persecuted Christians. I was amazed at the faith of these godly men and women and wondered often if America became a country that persecuted Christians, how many of us would stay a Christian?

Anyway, this month's Element is one I'm especially looking forward to, because we are having a special time of worship and prayer for the persecuted church. Hopefully, by the time we are done on Sunday, everyone will have experienced a little of what it is like to be a persecuted Christian, and will be moved to action; whether it be simply praying for the persecuted church, financially supporting a ministry that helps the persecuted church, or getting their hands dirty and getting involved directly with the persecuted church.

Element
7:00 p.m.
The Garage 1919

"The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church." Tertullian, 300 A.D.

Fun with Treadmills

This could possibly be the second greatest video I've seen. Buddy Holly by Weezer is of course the best of all time. I only have one treadmill, so I will not be able to emulate this, but I do have the key to the YMCA...

An Important Service Announcement Concerning The Body Of Christ

Boy, would I love to show this on Sunday morning to remind everyone of why it's important to come in on time to our worship services, but I doubt it would be approved.

I guess I'll have to keep thinking of ways to get people to "church on time".

A Letter To God From Philip Yancey

Philip Yancey is one of my favorite authors - books like What's So Amazing About Grace?, The Jesus I Never Knew, Where Is God When It Hurts, and others have been faithful companions to me over the years, and I find myself returning to Yancey again and again.

At the beginning of his book Reaching For The Invisible God, Yancey talks about an exercise that a discussion group he was a part of did. They decided that they would each write an open letter to God and read them to each other the next time they met. The following is Yancey's letter:

Dear God,

"You sure don't act as if God is alive" - that's the accusation one of Pattie's friends made to her, and it has haunted me ever since, as a question: Do I act as if you are alive?

Sometimes I treat you as a substance, a narcotic like alcohol or Valium, when I need a fix, to smooth over the harshness of reality, or to take it away. I can sometimes ease off from this world into an awareness of an invisible world; and most of the time I truly believe it exists, as real as this world of oxygen and grass and water. But how do I do the reverse, to let the reality of your world - of you - enter in and transform the numbing sameness of my daily life, and my daily self?

I see progress, I admit. I see you now as someone I respect, even reverence, rather than fear. Now your mercy and grace impress me more than your holiness and awe. Jesus has done that for me, I suppose. He has tamed you, at least enough so that we can live together in the same cage without me cowering in the corner all the time. He has made you appealing, love-able. And I tell myself he has made me appealing and love-able to you as well. That's not something I could ever come up with on my own; I have to take your word for it. Much of the time, I hardly believe it.

So how do I act as if you're alive? How do the cells of my body, the same ones that sweat and urinate and get depressed and toss and turn in bed at night - how do these cells carry around the splender of the God of the universe in a way that leaks out for others to notice? How do I love even one person with the love you came to bring?

Occasionally I get caught up in your world, and love you, and I've learned to cope OK in this world, but how do I bring the two together? That's my prayer, I guess: to believe in the possibility of change. Living inside myself, change is hard to observe. So often it seems like learned behavior, like adaptations to an environment, as the scientists say. How do I let you change me in my essence, in my nature, to make me more like you? Or is that even possible?

Funny, I find it easier to believe in the impossible - to believe in the parting of the Red Sea, to believe in Easter - than to believe in what should seem more possible: the slow steady dawning of your life in people like me and Janet and Dave and Mary and Bruce and Kerry and Janice and Paul. Help me to believe in the possible, God.

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Once again, Yancey puts into better words than I could ever come up with, exactly what I'm thinking about right now.

Prayer...Groovy Baby!

Since I have a condition I like to call "A.D.D. Spirituality", I have to try and either think of creative ways to spend time with God, or look and find something new and different that someone else is doing. If I don't, then I stagnate rapidly. I wish it was different, but them's the facts.

Anyway, if you go here, you will find a different way to pray. It's like you're going back to the groovy days with lava lamps and pet rocks. You simply click on a bubble, enter your prayer request, and watch it rise up with the other prayers.

I like it. :D

The Gospel According To The Daily Show

Normally, I don't find Lewis Black that great, funny or profound. But recently, on the Daily Show, he said something that was great, funny (in a disturbing way), and deeply profound.

"The latest astrotourist: American Anousheh Ansari, who spent 11 days in orbit. Price: 20 million dollars. Expensive? You bet? But it was the only way she could achieve her lifelong dream of flying over every single starving person on Earth and yelling, "Hey! Look at what I'm spending my money on!"

I hope she watched the episode.

If Peeing Your Pants Is Cool...

Consider me Jack Bauer.

Go here to see a trailer for the best show on TV - 24.

There Are Things You Just Can't Make Up

Case in point: The "Your Best Life Now" board game.

Honestly.

"Hey kids! What do you want to do tonight?

"I don't know, Dad. I'm bored. There's nothing to watch on T.V. and it's cold outside."

"Hey! I have a great idea! This will be loads of fun! Let's get out that old "Your Best Life Now" board game and play a few rounds."

"Yeah, Dad! Great idea! I love Joel Osteen!"

"Me too, Son. And after that, we can pull out the Tony Robbins board game and if we have time, take out the Susan Powter one."

"I'm feeling better about myself already, Dad."

"I knew you would, Son."

100 Ways To Take The Yawn Out Of Your Relationship With God: 51-75

More ways...(the above picture is actually my new kitten Zoe)

51. Write a "letter to the editor" explaining a Christian viewpoint on an issue being debated. Be articulate, reasoned. How would someone who doesn't love Jesus interpret your letter?

52. Welcome the children of your church every Sunday morning. Learn their names and enough about them to hold short conversations.

53. Study a book that explains the errors in cults' beliefs. Explain to an imaginary cult member why he or she is missing the real joy of knowing God. Tape-record yourself and evaluate how well you did. Did you show Christ's love through your words and tone?

54. Buy a painting with a Christian message and hang it in a prominent spot. Talk about the painting with your children. Or, check out a different painting each month from your library.

55. Start a telephone prayer chain. Whenever someone has a prayer request, he or she can activate the chain.

56. Write your own words to go with music of a praise song. Sing your message to God.

57. Memorize a Christian poem, for example: "On His Blindness" by John Milton.

58. Read through a book of the Bible without stopping. Think about what you learn from this overview that you would miss reading chapter by chapter.

59. Donate a Christian book or tape that has been special to you to your church library.

60. Fast for a specific time. Pray during the time you would usually eat. Consider other kinds of fasts. If you know you're spending too much time shopping or watching T.V., plan to fast and pray while you give up shopping or a program or two.

61. Teach a Bible verse or a phrase about Jesus to a mentally disabled child - and in the process learn, in a new way, what Christian love and patience are.

62. Be an unofficial welcoming minister at your church. Pray that the people you welcome will know that our loving God was speaking through you.

63. Kneel or lie prostrate before God.

64. Take a vacation with God, a one-day retreat where you get away from life as usual to be totally alone with your Savior.

65. Read the Bible in a version that is new to you.

66. Read through a Picture Bible with an elementary-age child.

67. During your quiet time, ask yourself these four questions suggested by Bill Hybels in his book Honest to God:
- What is the next step in my relationship with You, Lord?
- What is the next step in my character development today, Lord?
- What is the next step in my family relationships today, Lord?
- What is the next step in my ministry today, Lord?

68. Read a Christian allegory such as C.S. Lewis' science fiction trilogy or Chronicles of Narnia.

69. Write an imaginary letter to someone who has never heard about Jesus. Try to explain the gospel in a way this person will understand. Or, try to put together a podcast with this idea and tell other people about it.

70. With an open mind, listen to radically different types of Christian music.

71. Disciple a new Christian. Be prepared: The teacher always learns more than the student.

72. After each chapter you read in the New Testament, write a sentence summary of what the chapter contains and a personal sentence on what that chapter said to you.

73. Pray following this four-step pattern: 1. Adoration (praising God for who He is); 2. Confession; 3. Thanksgiving (praising God for what He's done); Supplication.

74. Draw a cross. On the cross write every sin you can remember committing, especially those for which you can't forgive yourself. Print the words, "Nailed to the Corss" over your words as a visual reminder that God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you completely.

75. Linger before God. Be quiet before Him.

Before You Criticize The Emerging Church Movement...

you may want to head on over to the Internet Monk's blog, where he does a nice job of presenting five suggestions before criticizing what the emerging church is about and what it's doing. You might think the Internet Monk is an emerging church fan. He isn't - as of right now, he calls himself an interested onlooker.

It's worth the five minutes to check it out.

Chris Tomlin: Gifted or Formulaic Songwriter?

Chris Tomlin's new CD "See The Morning" comes out today, so I headed over to a website called Jesus Freak Hideout, which is a great site for music news and Christian album reviews. I figured that after Tomlin's last CD was reviewed so favorably, that this would be the same. I was surprised to find this scathing review:

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See The Morning: 2 1/2 stars (out of 5)

With most of his well-known songs firmly entrenched within church services nationwide, it seems that Chris Tomlin has stumbled upon a songwriting formula that thrives on predictability and conformity, rather than innovation. Tomlin's songs are so ubiquitous and inherently formulaic that hearing an entire album of all-new material still rendered me with an uncanny sense of familiarity. Although innovation might have been too much to ask of this project, this sense of formulaic unoriginality, combined with consistently unexceptional songwriting, was more than enough to sink See The Morning.

As a worship album, See The Morning is unassuming at best, and downright predictable at its worst. The songs on the album sound pleasant enough at first listen, but soon all blend together due to their unwavering adherence to existing formulas. Since they all rise and fall out of the same mid-tempo worship mold, there is nothing here that will stick out after one or two listens. Some songs are also unnecessarily repetitive, as "Glorious" and "Glory In The Highest" rely a bit too heavily on their title refrains to carry the chorus forward. While Arriving was blessed with a handful of amazing singles, there isn't anything as powerful as "How Great Is Our God" or as captivating as "Holy Is The Lord" on this album.

Lyrically, See The Morning is likewise unremarkable as Tomlin spouts out undistinguished refrains of awesomeness and glory towards our Creator ("Our God reigns," "How Awesome is the Lord Most High," etc). The fact that most songs can be encapsulated neatly within their titles says a lot about the level of lyrical depth within this album. The bottom line is, we've heard this all before. Worship music isn't especially known for its creativity, but the problem with repetition this blatant is that See The Morning loses its impact with each successive listen. That Chris Tomlin resorted to giving his listeners uninspired (and seemingly re-written) versions of the same songs is disappointing to say the least, and frustrating when you know that he is capable of more.

Ultimately, this is the sound of the reigning Dove artist of the year resting on his laurels and refusing to expand beyond the predictable formula that has garnered him success (including five Dove awards) in the first place. Disappointing as it is however, this album will still no doubt still be consumed by most worship music fans looking for something safe to place in their CD players long after their copies of Arriving have been set aside due to overbearing familiarity.

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Wow. Here's the thing: I respect what Chris Tomlin does, and I wish I could write worship songs like he does. Yet at the same time, I agree somewhat with the reviewer. However, I think you have to review Chris Tomlin's material in two different ways. On one hand, Tomlin does an excellent job of writing worship songs that are easy to sing and that will resonate with congregations. One of the difficulties of being a worship leader is to pick songs that are interesting enough lyrically and musically to play, yet are "simple" enough for a congregation to pick up the worship song easily. Tomlin's songs are generally simple and easy to follow. On the other hand, if I'm looking for worship songs that are going to challenge me, inspire me mysically, and make me think, Tomlin isn't the one I choose. David Crowder appeals to me much more in that way. But Crowder's songs are harder to introduce to the church: his lyrics can be cryptic, and the musicianship of his CDs is hard to imitate.

After listening to the brief snippets of Tomlin's new CD, it almost sounds like I'm listening to his last CD, Arriving, again. One song (Uncreated One) sounds like "Mighty Is The Power Of The Cross" part 2, yet at the same time, none of the songs hit me with the same force as "How Great Is Our God" did the first time I heard it. I'm sure, however, I will buy the CD, and soon you will hear songs off of See The Morning being sung by our church and other churches across the world. What's funny is that I am introducing "How Awesome Is The Lord Most High" this Sunday to my church, which is off of See The Morning (although first heard on the latest Passion CD). Time will tell whether Chris Tomlin will be revered as someone who introduced a ton of new worship songs to churches everywhere, or reviled as one of the worship leaders who dumbed down worship for the masses.

Dan Kimball's The Emerging Church, Part One

I've been reading over the last couple of weeks the book "The Emerging Church" by Dan Kimball, who is the pastor of an emerging church in Santa Cruz, CA called Vintage Faith Church. His name is one of those that is recognizable within the Emerging Church movement, and although I have read his great book "Emerging Worship", I finally picked up this one. Almost every book that I've read on the emerging church movement or the missional church movement have resonated within me in certain ways, and this one is no exception. Kimball does an excellent job of laying down the foundation of the emerging church (or at least what it should be). There are two things that Kimball does in this book that are most intriguing and interesting to me. One is that he has guest "opinionators" (for lack of a better term) who obviously read the book before it was published and commented on certain parts. Kimball includes these comments on the sidebars of the pages. It's interesting to read especially Rick Warren's take on certain aspects of the books, especially because Kimball talks about the move away from "seeker-sensitive" styles of church to this emerging, missional style.

The other thing about this book that might not be as impressive as the first thing - but I think has really helped me in my thinking of the shift from the modern church mindset to an emerging church mindset - are the tables that he has in the book, usually in each chapter, that help show the different ways that the emerging church is shifting philosophically/strategically/missionally from the modern church. They are all great, but the one that has really hit me the most is actually the last one, which talks about the shift in leadership styles between the modern church and the emerging church. I'm not a Star Trek fan, but I like how Kimball uses the two main captains you think about when you think of Star Trek - Captain James T. Kirk and Captain Jean-Luc Picard - as an illustration of the differences between modern church leadership and emerging church leadership. The table above really helps me understand the differences and makes me really excited for the future of leadership within the Church. When you have been a "church leader" for a long time and have felt pigeonholed into the modern church leadership mindset, it's really freeing to see that there is another way to lead people in your church and in your ministry. My personal prayer is that God would work on my heart to form me into a leader that has the values and heart of the emerging church leader.

Jesus Camp: The Movie

There is a fascinating documentary-type movie coming out soon, called Jesus Camp. It's a depiction of what is taking place in churches and church camps all over America, and how it is the goal of many Christian leaders to indoctrinate at the earliest age possible supposedly "Christian" behavior and attitudes. To me, it looks like they are trying to recruit these kids into a certain political party at an early age, but that's just me. I hope it comes this way, I really want to see it.

You can see the trailer by going to this link, click on downloads, and go to video.

100 Ways To Take The Yawn Out Of Your Relationship With God: 26-50

The list continues...

26. Do a Bible study of a character you admire but don't know much about.

27. Visit a church that has traditional stained glass windows. Study them until you understand both pictures and symbols. (NOTE: Cross View Christian Church in Waynesville has stained glass windows. Saw them when I was videoing a wedding.)

28. Write personal definitions for Christian words. Start with God, salvation, Heaven, Satan, grace, resurrection.

29. Learn to play a favorite praise song on the piano. Even if you pick it out with only one finger, make a joyful noise.

30. Converse with a friend who has a slightly different theological perspective from your own. Listen - really listen - to why he or she believes that way.

31. Keep a spiritual diary. Include daily paragraphs on what God is saying to you and what spiritual disciplines you are practicing.

32. Write a thank-you note to three people who mentored you in your Christian walk when you were a young Christian.

33.Take a Bible class for credit at a Bible college or by correspondence.

34. Memorize a chapter in the Bible.

35. Take notes during the sermon. On Sunday afternoon, go over them and ask yourself, "What did God want me to hear this morning? How does He want me to respond?"

36. Praise God by writing an acrostic around one of his n ames. In an acrostic, the first letter of a word starts the first sentence, the second letter, the second sentence. For example:

Great and wonderful You are.
Oh, how my heart praises You.
Dear Savior, You are worthy of all my love.

37. Buy picture postcards of the places you visit on business/vacation. Send them to people who need mail. Even fifty words of encouragement can mean a great deal to a lonely person.

38. Study a portion of Scripture. Using symbols, words, and doodles, draw what the section is saying to you. Compare your drawing with another Christian's who is using the same study method.

39. Play the "God Hunt" game. Each day look for God in the ordinary things that happen to you. Each evening share with your family where you saw God at work. For example: "I spied God at work today when I was able to avoid that accident."

40. Allow yourself some daydreaming time to think about what you could do for God if you had no time or money limitations.

41. Read a devotional book by a Christian who lived at least one hundred years ago.

42. Attend a Quaker meeting. Use the quiet time to pray.

43. Figure the different it would make to you - and God's work - if you gave God a pre-tax tithe rather than a post-tax tithe. Remember to figure in the return on tax-deductible gifts.

44. In an effort to build friendship and trust, teach a teen some skill you'd like to pass along - tuning an engine, baking a cake from scratch. Fit God naturally into your conversation.

45. Do a word study throughout the Bible. Start with a word like faith, family or love.

46. Pray daily for someone you don't like. Pray for that person, not just your relationship with him or her.

47. Participate in a short-term missionary experience. Pay your own expenses. For example, serve for a day at a soup kitchen or sign up for nine months as a house parent for missionary children at boarding school.

48. Invite Christian friends to watch and discuss a movie with you. The Mission and Babette's Feast are two excellent discussion starters.

49. Take a walking tour of your neighborhood. As you walk by each house, pray for the people who live there.

50. Read Scripture aloud to yourself. Pause frequently to think about what the words mean.

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50 down, 50 to go.

From Black to Cable Car

I thought this would be interesting - I've seen it done on other blogs - to open my iTunes, start at one song in my Library, and then listen in alphabetical order to a certain point. So, I give you the songs in my Library from Black to Cable Car:

Black Balloon - Goo Goo Dolls
Black Horse And The Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
Blame - Five O' Clock People
Bleed American - Jimmy Eat World
Blessed Be Your Name - Matt Redman
Blind/Frail - Jars of Clay
Blister - Jimmy Eat World
Blush (Only You) - Plumb
Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day
Braille - Regina Spektor
Braveheart Theme - Enya
Bravery - Charlie Hall
Breaking My Fall - Jeremy Camp
Breaking The Habit - Linkin Park
Breathe - Skypark
Breathing The Breath - Matt Redman
Bride In Cold Tears - Tangerine Dream
Broken Toy - Keane
Buddy Holly - Weezer
But It's Better If You Do - Panic At The Disco
Cable Car - The Fray

Yes, I know - rather pointless. But it's fun to see the variety.

Is The Earth Old Or New?

To me, it doesn't really matter one way or the other. However, there are some Christians out there who believe that only those who believe in a 6,000 year old earth are going to heaven. I'm not one for debating these kind of things; to me this issue is a non-essential issue, and if you want to believe that the earth is new (or old, or borrowed or blue), then that's your prerogative. However, if you tell me one of two things, I may be inclined to start debating away: (1) If you tell me that this issue is an essential, and because you don't believe the same as me, I'm wrong and you're right; and (2) If one of your rebuttals to my questioning why if the earth is so young, does it look scientifically and geologically old is "because God made it that way to confuse us/challenge our faith/weed out the real Christians from the fake Christians/whatever."

Anyway, there is a new book out that is a Christian defense of an old earth from a theological perspective rather than a scientific perspective. Sounds like something I would be interested in reading. I'm sure my friend Craig, who once wrote a forty page paper in college about The Flood and who has a masters in philosophy and apologetics from Talbot Theological Seminary has probably already picked it up.

What Better Place For The Brilliance Of Christ To Shine?

"Charles Spurgeon once said that when a jeweler shows his best diamonds, he sets them against a black velvet backdrop. The contrast of the jewels against the black velvet brings out the luster. In the same way, God does his most stunning work where things seem hopeless. Wherever there is pain, suffering, and desperation, Jesus is. And that's where his people belong - among those who are vulnerable, who think nobody cares. What better place for the brilliance of Christ to shine?"

- Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala


Perhaps this is why we don't see amazing things happen in our suburban comfortable churches - because things don't often seem hopeless when you have a decent income, a nice home, 2.3 kids and a sizeable 401k.

Wanna Be Convicted?

"You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning.."

"You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night."

"But you can tell how popular Jesus is by who comes to the prayer meeting."

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala

Cello Mania

I have always loved the cello. It is my favorite instrument, and I wish that I could have started playing it when I was younger. I love the haunting sounds that come out of the cello, and some of my favorite songs (such as Everything by Lifehouse) has heavy cello parts. I do have a cello at home, but have never picked it up to try it. One of these days, right? :^)

Anyway, on Google Video, there is an amazing video of a man who put together 30 something different cello parts and combined them into one song. The video can be found here - it's absolutely amazing, in my opinion. I especially like the cat with the halo on his head, nice touch.

The Loss Of A Friend

This past Tuesday, we had to put our cat Kramer to sleep. He had been struggling with renal failure for a couple of months, and we had been doing all we could to help him - changing his food habits, giving him subcutaneous fluid injections among other things. It was not enough, however, and on Tuesday morning we came to the realization that he was going to start really suffering and we didn't want that to happen. So went to the vet that morning and had him put to sleep. I don't know if most people leave the room when it happens, but we didn't. I wanted him to feel comfortable and know that we were there. I pet him while it happened, and I was expecting his eyes to close and him to fall asleep before dying, but he kept his eyes open and died.

There are two kinds of people - those who see pets as just pets, and those who see pets as a part of their family. I am one of the latter, I've always felt that way, and I've always had a heart for animals. I think if I wasn't in ministry, I would probably be a veterinarian. Anyway, the loss of my friend has been really hard the last couple of days, and I thought that writing about him would help me overcome some of my sadness and help the grieving process. I found the following questions from a website that helps pet owners grieve the loss of their friends.

*** How did my pet come into my life?

Debby and I before we were married bought a dog that was supposed to be a rat terrier/beagle mix. I had bought a condo and so we took her over to the condo, where we found out over the next couple of days that Debby was allergic to her fur. Thankfully, we found a family from the church I was working at who were looking for a dog, and so it was a perfect fit. We also found out later on that this dog became a huge dog, which would have been interesting in a condo.

When we got back from our honeymoon, we decided to start looking for a pet, so we went to the Dumb Friends League in Denver to see the shelter dogs. We didn't really find any dogs we liked so we went to the cat area. I did not want a cat, personally - I had always considered myself a "dog person". I had one cat when I was little and he had run away, so I wasn't really interested in having a cat. But we went, and saw two different cats we liked. One was a Siamese looking miserable looking kitten; the other was a gray tabby cat. We saw the kitten first, and he made us laugh by falling into the trash can and running around the room. The second cat was kind of boring. There was another family who was interested in the kitten, but because we saw him first, we got first dibs, so we bought him. He was such a little guy who had been found in a dumpster with his brother. He had ear mites, so when we took him home, we had to clean out his ears for the first month or so. This "Siamese" cat actually turned out to be a Ragdoll cat. A ragdoll is a newer breed of cat that isn't as hard and sinewy as most cats are, they are mostly floppy and squishy. That was almost ten years ago, and Kramer lived with us and became our "first baby."

*** How did my pet get his or her name?

We were really stumped on what to name him. None of the names we had thought of fit. One day, however, we were watching Seinfeld, and Kramer had somehow got his way into the entertainment center where the T.V. was and was hanging out right underneath the T.V. He had a habit of running into a room and sliding in, kind of like the Kramer on Seinfeld came into Jerry's apartment. When the T.V. show came back on again and Kramer from the show did his thing, we knew we had our name. He has had other nicknames as well, but Kramer was his original name.

*** What was special about my pet?

Kramer really was more like a dog than a cat - he was playful, energetic, friendly, and very devoted to us. He was very easy to train, and actually liked to play fetch with little foam balls that we would throw to him. He liked to play with Q-Tips - we had to supply him with some after he started getting used ones out of the trash. He loved to hang over my shoulder and hang out while I was walking around the house and such. He became more and more of a lap cat as the years went by. He loved to watch "birdie friends" - in Dallas, we had these tall bushes that came up to our second story windows, and he would sit on a bed and watch the birds inside the bush and he would make this really funny chattering noise while he was watching them. When we would come home from being gone somewhere, he always met us at the door. When I was gone longer than he thought I was supposed to be, he would howl until I got home.


*** What special moments / life events did we share / endure together?

We moved a lot in his ten years of life - we are in our fifth house in ten years - and so he got to move around with us quite a bit. Each time we moved states (from Colorado to Texas, Texas to Arizona, and Arizona to Ohio) - he would ride in the U-Haul truck with Dad. This past move, which was the longest move, it was just he and I in the truck (with my friend driving the other U-Haul truck), and so we got to spend a lot of time over the three days of the move. He was good about it, never complained really, but I'm sure it was hard on him. He loved to explore the house. When Noelle was born, he was still part of the family - obviously he had to share time with a baby now, but he seemed to be okay with it. He still got plenty of time from his Dad. He would come up and listen to me playing my guitar, and one of his favorite spots to lay down was in my guitar case.


------

It all ended too quickly, which I think is one of the reasons why it's so hard right now. It was hard to see his life begin to decline as he struggled with kidney problems, but he was good about it. I wish he could have lived another ten years, but I'm glad for the time I had with my buddy Kramer. I miss you, buddy.

A Worship Leader's Worst Nightmare

See the mighty worship leader.

He prowls around the stage like a ferocious beast. He sees an unsuspecting worship song lurking on the music stand. The mighty worship leader bares his teeth, hunkers down and gets ready to pounce.

The mighty worship leader starts the song, forgetting that he has not removed his capo from his guitar. He begins the song, unsure of why it sounds so different. As he starts, the song is too high for him, yet he continues on. After all, he is the mighty worship leader. He is leading by himself at this point - just his voice and his guitar.

The pre-chorus comes much too quickly, however, and the scrumptious prized worship song is yanked from the mighty worship leader's jaws. At this point, the rest of the band comes in, all in the key that the song is supposed to be in. The mighty worship leader is defeated as the two keys collide. Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria.

Behold how the mighty worship leader has fallen.

(to find out what in the world I'm talking about, go here and laugh yourself silly.)

100 Ways To Take The Yawn Out Of Your Relationship With God: 1-25

I'm trying to quit caffeine. It's really tough some days, some days not so much. I have found out that caffeine is the reason why I'm having strange sensations happen in my legs - deadness, tingling, etc. So no more coffee for me. Which means I yawn a whole lot more. I find myself occasionally yawning in my relationship with God, especially when everything is the same all the time.

You see, sameness anesthetizes our spiritual lives. It's so easy to get into a rut - read two chapters of the Bible followed by a quick prayer. No thought necessary (yawn), and it's done.

What we need from time to time are rut levelers, ideas that energize our relationship with God and open us again to the wonder of his gift of salvation through Jesus. I think I found these in an old Discipleship Journal magazine back in college and have kept them throughout the years. Today, I bring you number 1 through 25:

1. Telephone a prayer partner dailly and talk to God together for five minutes.

2. Do a study of the Synoptic Gospels - Matthew, Mark, and Luke. How are they similar? How are they different? Why did God give us three books that have many of the same stories in them?

3. With a friend, visit three churches where Christians worship in very different ways. Talk about the experience. How was God honored? How did He speak to you?

4. Teach a preschooler to sing a motion song that says something special about Jesus.

5. Write a letter to God praising Him for how you are made - your mind, your body and your skills.

6. Buy ten cards and send them to people who need to know they are loved by God and remembered by you. William Law, 1686-1761, in A Serious Call To a Devout and Holy Life, wrote: "Isn't it strange that people place so much emphasis upon going to church where there is not one command from Jesus to do so, and yet neglect the basic duties of our ordinary life which are commanded in every page of the Gospels?"

7. Plan a hospitality event in your home. Invite people from your church who need a party, not the people you know and enjoy most.

8. Pray aloud in a group.

9. Give God a tithe of your time - teach Sunday School, visit the sick, baby-sit for a young mother, fix and elderly person's car.

10. Every day for a week, list the times during that day when you suspect you disappointed Jesus. Consciously try to shorten the list as the days progress.

11. Read a biography of a faithful missionary or preacher.

12. Bake your church's Communion bread. Pray for church members as you bake.

13. Get to church ten minutes early. Spend time praying that God's presence will be felt throughout the service.

14. Take a walk alone in a park or field and pray aloud to God.

15. Read a novel written by a Christian. Talk with a friend about what the author was trying to accomplish. Was God glorified through this art form?

16. Each evening put all your pennies into a penny pot. At the end of the year, give the money to a Christian organization. Encourage your children to participate.

17. With a trusted friend, share a temptation that often traps you. Make yourself accountable to this friend as you work to overcome the temptation.

18. Study a book of the Bible until you "own" it.

19. Plan a family meal time discussion around the topic of what Jesus has done for each person.

20. Tape record the testimonies of elderly relatives. Encourage them to tell stories of how they met Jesus and how He guided them at key points in their lives.

21. Visit a museum and study several paintings with biblical themes. What do they suggest about the nature of God? What insights do they provide?

22. Listen to an audio tape/cd of Scripture being read. If you are a visual learner, close your eyes and allow your mind to pain pictures of what you're hearing. If you are a kinesthetic learner who enjoys moving while you learn, allow your body to express what you are hearing.

23. Sing a hymn to God; pay close attention to the words.

24. Each Sunday look for someone who has done something special to make the service work: preacher, person who made the coffee, usher. Let that person know that his or her gift of time and abilities was noticed.

25. Write a special prayer for each of the children who touch your life. Give them a copy of your prayer, perhaps on their birthdays.

The Parable Of Ann Coulter And The Tax Collector

Whatever you think about Ann Coulter (if you're a conservative, you probably love her. If you're a liberal, you probably hate her) - she certainly speaks her mind.

Coulter was interviewed recently on TBN - yes, that TBN - doubtlessly for promotion of her new book called Godless. In this interview it was very clear that although Coulter says she's a Christian, she's not well-versed, if you get my drift. During one part of the interview, Coulter made it clear that she wasn't fond of liberals. In fact, she said, with all sincerity, that part of her time spent in prayer were for liberals as well as thanking God that she wasn’t one.

If Ann Coulter was well-versed, she would know that she actually prayed a prayer from the Bible (and no, it wasn't the Prayer Of Jabez):

"To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about[a] himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

Have mercy on us, Lord.

Your First Car

On a different website, someone in their blog had the idea of telling everyone what their first car was and any memories of that first car. I liked the idea so much, I've decided to include it in my blog.

My first car was a 1978 Datsun 200SX (as you can see above). It was the exact same color as the one above - a lovely orange-red rusty color. I bought it for a hundred bucks from my stepdad's co-worker; it was well worth the cost.

I don't have very many memories of that first car, because it only lasted a year. I really liked that car a lot, though. It had some pretty good accelerating powers in it, and it was a decent car overall. Like I said, it only lasted a year, though. I was driving to a church basketball game, when all of a sudden black smoke started pouring out of the heating vents and the engine. I busted a gasket or something. Well, that was it for that car, and I was back to borrowing my stepdad's blue Nissan Sentra, definitely not as cool as the good ol' 200SX.

What about you? What about your first car?

How Rich Are You?

Go here and find out where you stand in the line of richest people in the world. I found out I'm the 103,478,261st richest person and in the top 2% of richest people in the world.

As I've said before, it's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?

It certainly makes passages such as:

23Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

and

24"But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.

and

10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

and

1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.


a little more convicting - for me.

07-23-06 Post-Element Post #1

Yeah, that title is confusing. Just the way I like it. :^)

Anyway, this past Sunday was our second Element worship gathering, and I think it went pretty well. There was a lot of work involved with getting all the video stuff done, but it was worth it. I really enjoyed listening to people tell their stories, and I think that is something there should be more of in a church, don't you think? It seems like relationships in a church setting can stay pretty surfacey if there isn't an opportunity to have the chance to share your story.

During the "Wind can be Healing" segment, I was about ready to go up myself again (I had already shared a story during the first one, hoping to get the ball rolling) - thankfully, Rochelle and Jay both shared their stories, which were very good. However, I thought it would be a good idea for me to post what I was going to share if no one else got up to share:

My mother battled lymphoma for four years before passing away when I was eighteen years old. She passed away on my middle brother's birthday, something that has been hard on him since that day. When you're eighteen years old, you have all of these changes that take place in your life, i.e. leaving home for school, figuring out what you want to do with your life, etc. - that it's quite easy to take your pain and suppress it for a long time. Which is what I did. Four months after my mom died, I left my home state of Colorado and headed out to California. I had a couple of good friends who also were attending the same college, so familiarity was a good thing.

However, I noticed towards the end of my freshman year, that my life was beginning to slowly unravel. I had not dealt with my mother's death, and it was beginning to fray the edges of who I was and who I had become. I started becoming reclusive and distant from everyone and found myself at local parks and the beach by myself just staring at inanimate objects for hours. I returned home for the summer and bottled up my pain again by joining a band (I was the drummer, if you could believe that) and working at Dairy Queen. This was a good schedule for me because I spent very little time with my family and thus was not often reminded of the missing family member. I would sleep in until 1 p.m., work from 2 p.m. until 12 a.m., then it was off to practice (we actually practiced at a morgue, because one of the band member's dads was a mortician) for a few hours and then off to bed again.

My sophomore year began back in California, and of course me and my friends started trying to hit on the new freshmen girls. I became pretty good friends with a few of them, including one named Amy. As I started to get to know her, I found out some stuff about her life - including the fact that her mother was going through the exact same cancer situation that my mom did. I really wanted to just run away from her and not have to deal with the pain. But over a couple of weeks, the Holy Spirit kept on prodding me and telling me that the only way I was going to be able to heal from my mother's death was to help Amy cope with her mom's struggle with cancer (and ultimately, dying from it). It was one of the toughest times of my life. As Amy would share with me her struggles, anger, and resignation - I found myself reliving the exact same emotions.

The Holy Spirit was right in the end, though. When I attended Amy's mother's funeral and was able to help her through the healing process, I felt myself healing. Sometimes you have to help others around you heal for you to be able to heal as well.

Matthew 6:33, CACV*

"Seek ye first what you are going to eat, what you are going to wear, which house you are going to buy, which car you are going to drive, which job you are going to take, who you are going to marry - and then, if any time is left, and if it's not too uncomfortable, please do something for the kingdom of God."


* CACV - "Comfortable American Christian Version"

Perspective Is Everything

If you have food in the fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish somewhere, you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you more blessed than millions of people in the world.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

We are hugely blessed.
We need to remember it and keep our lives in perspective and our hearts open to God.
Jesus too has something to say about who are the truly blessed. Matt.5.
They are those who know their need of God.
Those who mourn for what is not right in them and in our world.
Those who are teachable, and hunger and thirst for a better justice and righteousness.
Those who leave behind a preoccupation with self and look outward beyond themsleves to see God at work in our world and its trouble.
To see the beauty, mercy and grace of God in the unexpected places of life and follow Jesus there.

--From a website of Lenten practices

40 Days In The Desert

I've been thinking and praying for ideas for the upcoming worship gathering this Sunday called Element. This month's theme is on Wind, and although I'll be blogging about that later this week, some other ideas for future Element gatherings have popped up in my head. I've been thinking a lot lately about the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness/desert and how we went 40 days without eating or drinking. This thinking has coincided with my thoughts concerning what I gave up for Lent this past year. I had never given anything up for Lent ever and just considered it a Catholic thing and didn't have any interest in it. This year, I participated - but for some reason, the giving up thing didn't really feel like much of a sacrifice. However, after finding myself at both a website concerning lent as well as an interesting idea that xxxchurch has come up with (called the Starving Jesus tour), I've figured out what my approach is going to be for next year. Rather than just giving up something for 40 days, I'm also going to commit to giving of myself to something for 40 days - some type of service to God over that 40 day period.

Here is the Lent website I found. It's a loop of images and words that really made me make up my mind about Lent next year.

The Next Big Thing...

is a band called Leeland - named after lead singer/guitarist/wunderkind Leeland Mooring. Their CD debuts on Essential Records August 15th, and from what I've heard, it sounds incredible. I agree with CCM magazine's editor, who believes that this debut album "surpasses the debut of SonicFlood and comes near to equaling when Delirious first hit the scene".

You can check out their myspace website here (you can listen to four of the songs), and you can see a video from their first single called "Sound Of Melodies" at the Relevant Magazine website, in the area called Relevant TV. Their video is usually in the top 3 of requests, so find the name Leeland, click on "watch video" and enjoy.

Amazing Chalk Drawings

I am impressed.

If you go here, you will see some amazing chalk drawings done on streets by an artist named Julian Beever. The 3D drawings are absolutely amazing. I especially like the one where people are avoiding the "hole in the sidewalk", even though it's just a 3D drawing.

Have fun!

Recent Sufjan Stevens News

Very good news for those of you who like Sufjan Stevens' music, as I do:

- Sufjan is going on tour in the fall and will be performing songs from Seven Swans, Michigan and Illinois with a "new symphonic context", which sounds really cool. Here's the full scoop.

- He is also releasing another CD next Tuesday! No, it's not state #3 of his idealistic dream of putting out a CD for each of the fifty states. (He better get working on a new state pretty soon, methinks.) It's called "The Avalanche" and it has 20 something tracks of songs recorded during the Illinois sessions. You can hear some of the songs through an audio stream starting here. Right now part 3 of 4 is playing, I'm a little upset that I didn't get to preview parts 1 and 2, but part 3 sounds pretty good - including a new rendition of Chicago.

Enjoy!

The Good Life

I'm always looking for other writings that expound on things that I'm currently thinking about. I came across a great article from The Internet Monk concerning "The Good Life". If you remember awhile back, I blogged about a great article I read in Harper's Magazine, of all places (I find myself picking up this magazine and reading through it every time I go to Barnes and Noble these days) about American Christianity and about the fact that even though the phrase "God helps those who help themselves" isn't found in the Bible (it's actually a quote by Benjamin Franklin), that Christianity in America reflects this phrase more than anything you can find in the Bible.

The above article continues this train of thought - although the Harper's article writer calls this American church phenomenon a tragedy of sorts, the Internet Monk goes quite a bit further and calls it idolatry.

Pope Must Not Be A Coldplay Fan

Silence modern music in church, says Pope
By Malcolm Moore in Rome
(Filed: 27/06/2006)

The Pope has demanded an end to electric guitars and modern music in church and a return to traditional choirs.

The Catholic Church has been experimenting with new ways of holding Mass to try to attract more people. The recital of Mass set to guitars has grown in popularity in Italy; in Spain it has been set to flamenco music; and in the United States the Electric Prunes produced a "psychedelic" album called Mass in F Minor.

However, the use of guitars and tambourines has irritated the Pope, who loves classical music. "It is possible to modernise holy music," the Pope said, at a concert conducted by Domenico Bartolucci the director of music at the Sistine Chapel. "But it should not happen outside the traditional path of Gregorian chants or sacred polyphonic choral music."

His comments prompted the newspaper La Stampa to compare him with Pope Pius X, who denounced faddish classical and baroque compositions and reinstated Gregorian chants in 1903.

The Pope's supporters argue that the music played during Mass is a vital part of the communion between worshippers and God, and that medieval church music, with the liturgy, creates the correct ambience for perceiving God's mystery.

Cardinal Ersilio Tonini, the Archbishop of Ravenna, said:"Mass is the presence of Christ and the music adds so much more when the harmony allows the mind to transcend the concrete to the divine."

But Cardinal Carlo Furno, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, said it was "better to have guitars on the altar and rock and roll Masses than empty churches". The use of modern music was a "sign of the vitality of the faith".

The argument is part of a wider debate about the Latin Mass, restricted in the Vatican II reforms of the 1960s because it was seen to be putting worshippers off going to Church.

The Pope believes that if Latin Masses are reintroduced, more Catholics will learn the words to the Gregorian chants that he advocates.
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Go Carlo, go Carlo, go go go Carlo.

The Queen Of Iowa

I've always been a big Andrew Peterson fan.

I think one of the reasons is that he was a Christian college boy, just like me - of course, I went to Pacific Christian College in California, and he went to Florida Christian College in - um, Florida. I did kind of date a girl who lived in Florida and went to school with Andrew, so I feel like there's at least that connection. Anyway, his first CD has always been one of my favorites, and his second CD was pretty good too. I listened to his third CD at a weird time in my life, and so I kind of dismissed him and lost track until his fantastic Christmas CD called "Behold The Lamb Of God". We might be doing a little Christmas musical based on this CD this year, so cross your fingers. Anyway, he has another CD that came out kind of recently called The Far Country. It's truly great stuff. One of the songs is called The Queen Of Iowa, but since I bought the CD off of iTunes, I didn't ever really understand what the song was really about, until I read the article I have posted below:

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Hands down, our favorite part of Gospel Music Week is the McCain Guitar pull, a private, invitation-only event that always kicks off the week. The phenomenal artists at this year's event included Tom Hemby, Matt and Sherry McPherson, Andrew Peterson, Muriel Anderson, and the incomparable Phil Keaggy. As amazing as all of these artists were, the highlight of the evening for us was when Andrew shared the story behind the heartwrenching song The Queen of Iowa from his latest project, The Far Country.

"Last January, Ben Shive and I got a call to do a concert for a church in Iowa," Andrew explained. "One of the reasons they asked me to come was because there was a woman who was a member of the church that was dying of AIDS, and they asked if we would go to her house and play some songs for her before the concert.

"As it turns out this woman had been brutally raped fifteen years before, and had contracted AIDS as a result. Since that time she has gotten brain cancer and lung cancer and all sorts of maladies that should have killed her. No one could explain why she was still alive. The church found out her story and they just started loving on this woman and her family. She was not a Christian at that time, but several years ago she and her husband accepted Christ.

"We had to wash our hands really well and take off our shoes before we came into the room. There was this woman lying on the couch who had not opened her eyes in a week, but they told us they knew she could hear us because some times she cried. So we sat down and started playing the songs her husband had requested. We barely made it through, and as we played she opened her eyes and started crying.

"What a gift. On the way home on the airplane I tried to write down all the things that God was doing with my heart after that experience. And in my journal I wrote, 'Tonight I met the queen of Iowa.'"

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I really like Andrew Peterson. This story is one of the reasons why.

Rob Bell Interview Podcast

Thanks to John, I bring you the Catalyst Podcast. This time, Rob Bell is interviewed. Past Catalyst Podcasts include Donald Miller (of Blue Like Jazz fame), Erwin McManus and Tim Sanders (Yahoo!).

You can find the podcast here. Enjoy!

My Top 5 Influential Emerging/Missional Books

There was no way I was going to be able to narrow it down to just one book. Only one book that was the most influential when it comes to my thinking along the emerging/missional line? Please. That would have hurt.

So, I give you my top 5 books. These are the five books that have influenced me most when it comes to developing an emerging/missional view of church. They are in the order of when I read them (from earliest to latest)


- A New Kind Of Christian by Brian McLaren

The first time I read this book it was like a whole different world opened up right in front of my eyes. It was a new way of looking at church, my life in Jesus, and my responsibility and role as both a Christian and a minister. The story that unfolded before me - which was told in a fictional way - felt like my story was being told. I could relate to what was happening to Dan Poole and his family, because it seemed so eerily similar to what was happening to me. I was burning out when it came to church work, and there were all these incongruencies between what I had been taught all my life and what was really what I was supposed to be doing and living. I'm so grateful for reading this book when I did, because it really saved me from continuing to despair that I wasn't cut out for ministry - at least the way ministry was done in the American middle-class church.

- Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

Kind of a strange pick, I guess - considering that Miller's book isn't really about the actual emerging/missional movement. But some of the questions that he asked himself in his journey throughout the book were some of the exact same questions that I was asking myself. His description of his days at the college he attended in Oregon as well as the church that he started attending as well (Imago Dei in Portland) seemed so refreshing, so real, so enticing to me. The fact that he could break out of the Christian culture bubble became a seed of hope in my life.

- Rich Christians In An Age Of Hunger by Ronald Sider

Just like Blue Like Jazz, this really isn't a book about missional/emergent thinking. But if you really believe that missional living is the way to go, like I do - this is the kind of book that will spur you to actually live like Jesus would live if he was here on earth today. The statistics that are given in this book are amazing - and sobering at the same time. I began to realize through reading this book that the American Church for the most part really does exist for itself. There are many problems in the world that would be alleviated if we as a church would rise up and actually care about injustice, poverty and suffering. This book has also inspired me to form a life mission as well- called The Salt Of The Earth Project (something I'm still working on).

- Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

Rob Bell is a one-of-a-kind guy. Which is refreshing. Because there are a lot of people out there who are doing church work and who are trying to be a Rick Warren or a Bill Hybels or whoever is supposedly famous in church pastor circles. Rob Bell's church is an amazing testimony to the power of God, and what happens when a church decides to be authentic and real and actually pursue missional living. This book challenged some of my presuppositions on the life of Jesus and most definitely made me look at some of the stories in the gospel in a whole new light. Just the chapters called "Yoke" and "Dust" were worth the price of this book. I have used several illustrations from this book in my own "teaching" during my time of worship on Sunday mornings, and I have had countless number of people come up to me to thank me because it made them think of something in a new way. Don't thank me. Thank Rob Bell.

- The Shaping Of Things To Come

This book, out of all the other books, has appealed to me from an intellectual point of view. I would say that the other four books spoke to my heart; The Shaping Of Things to Come speaks to my mind. Can you believe that two guys from Sydney could make so much sense as to what's wrong with the American Church and what can be done to fix it? The great thing about this book is that the authors are actually doing church the way they are describing it as how it should be done. (One of my little beefs with McLaren - his church in Maryland isn't really structured the way you think it would be if someone who is on the forefront of emerging/missional thinking was leading it, as McLaren is.) There are some ideas in this book that I have never really thought about but are very intriguing to me - rather than building a church building, what about building a coffeehouse/art gallery/live music venue/etc. and have church there (and open it up to the community the rest of the time) among others.


Honorable Mention: Your God Is Too Safe, SoulTsunami, The Present Future, Dangerous Wonder

Who Is The Lord's Supper For?

Thanks to Tim Samoff, who put a short audio clip in his blog from someone else's church. In this audio clip, the minister (I assume) is making some comments about The Lord's Supper (he calls it The Eucharist, same thing) - and he touches on something that I've been thinking about for awhile. Who is communion for? Is it for Christians? Is it for members of a church? Is it for all? Is it a "club privilege" for only those who have decided to place their membership at a local church? If forgiveness is involved with communion, is it open for all?

I think that this explanation is where I'm kind of leaning. I think it's obviously an explanation that goes against the grain of most churches, even my own perhaps - but I don't think it's one of those things that is essential to be in agreement on. At least I hope not, because then I may be in trouble!

My Emerging/Missional Bookshelf

A couple of things about this picture (click on it to enlarge):

1. I had to put all of the books that have influenced my emerging/missional thinking all together onto one shelf. They were not already that way. Some were in the bookshelf, some were scattered around my office floor, some were in the bathroom.

2. There are a couple hard to read ones because the book jacket is gone. My daughter likes book jackets. She likes taking them off of my books and then hiding them.

3. You'll notice that not all of these books necessarily fall under the "emerging/missional" category. I put several books on that shelf that have influenced my thinking and have brought me to where I'm at today because they were asking some of the same questions that I have been asking for years. These books would include Your God Is Too Safe by Mark Buchanan and Dangerous Wonder by Mike Yaconelli.

In case you have a hard time looking at this picture (it came out surprisingly well), here are the names of the books:

- The five books above on the shelf above the main shelf: Emerging Churches by Gibbs and Bulger, Breaking The Missional Code by Stetzer and Putnam, A Generous Orthodoxy by McLaren, Unlearning Church by Slaughter, and The Shaping Of Things To Come by Frost and Hirsch.

- The four books on top of the books on the main shelf: Radical Reformission by Driscoll, Dangerous Wonder by Yaconelli, Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, and The Divine Conspiracy by Willard.

- The main shelf: Carpe Manana by Sweet, Soul Salsa by Sweet, SoulTsunami by Sweet, Postmodern Pilgrims by Sweet, Messy Spirituality by Yaconelli, The New Kind of Christian trilogy by McLaren, Velvet Elvis by Bell, More Ready Than You Realize by McLaren, The Relevant Church by several people, The Church In Emerging Culture by several authors, Stories of Emergence edited by Yaconelli, The Externally Focused Church by Rusaw and Swanson, Traveling Mercies by Lamott, The Gutter by Gross, Out Of The Question...Into The Mystery by Sweet, Jesus In The Margins by McKinley, Emerging Worship by Kimball, Rich Christians In An Age Of Hunger by Sider, Your God Is Too Safe by Buchanan, An Unstoppable Force by McManus, The Multi-Site Church Revolution by Surratt and 2 others, Following Jesus by N.T. Wright, The Secret Message Of Jesus by McLaren, The Challenge of Jesus by Wright, The Irresistible Revolution by Claiborne, The Present Future by McNeal, and No Perfect People Allowed by Burke.

Next post will be the answer to this question: Which book(s) have influenced you the most in your thinking these days and in what way?

Mark Driscoll Explains The Emerging Church (kind of)

Okay, so I said my next entry will be the books that have shaped my missional/emergent thinking so far. I need to find my camera first. But until then, this video is an interview with Mark Driscoll, who pastors Mars Hill Church in Seattle (not to be confused with Mars Hill Bible Church of Rob Bell fame). Mark Driscoll has been on the forefront of the Christian postmodern movement for the last several years. His book The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out is a good read and will probably make my photo of books that have influenced me.

This video is interesting because Driscoll talks about the Emerging Church movement and breaks it down into four separate "movements" within the Emerging Church movement, which is helpful to understand what's going on. Here is his list of the four (EDIT: I also have included the designations that the book Breaking The Missional Code uses in describing at least the first three groups, and the fourth designation that I'll give that coincides with the other three 'R's):

1. Emergent - confusing in that it's almost the same word as Emerging, Driscoll labels this group as a more liberal theological group than the other three, and it seems that he almost wants to call them heretical, but doesn't. (By the way, this group would include Brian McLaren and Tony Jones) Breaking The Missional Code calls this group "The Revisionists."

2. the House Church movement - which is basically a group of evangelicals who are trying to minister to the Postmodern culture in different ways, one big way of which is the house church movement. Breaking The Missional Code calls this group "The Reconstructionists."

3. Traditionalists - these would be mainliners who are just trying to change their music and services in order to appeal to more of a postmodern culture. This group is changing the externals (the look) without changing the internals (what I call "Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy"). These are "The Relevants" according to Breaking The Missional Code.

4. New-Reformed Missionals: this group are Reformed in their theology (think Calvinist to paint a broad brush) but who are trying to be missional in their approach to postmodern culture. This group is what I believe Driscoll would fall into. Especially considering that this video is from the website "Desiring God", which is the web site about John Piper, who is a Calvinist. And in keeping with the 'R's, I'll designate this group (to quote Mark Driscoll) "The Reformissionals."

I think it's interesting how different all four groups really are, yet they are all labeled as the Emerging Church movement. All are trying different things and approaching missional thinking in different ways. It will be interesting to see which of these are "fads" and which of these have staying power and will be most effective in reaching the postmodern culture.