SP00N to Visit KC

If I recall correctly, back in 2000 (or early 2001) Spoon’s “Lines in the Suit” was featured on Napster as a “Download of the Day” and I jumped on it.  This was back when online file sharing was completely out of control–and I loved it.  Napster, Limewire, and other file sharing networks provided a space where my musical horizons could be expanded.  During my college years I was consumed with the “Texas Music” boom, tracking Pat Green as he rose to prominence while encountering numerous other artists who were producing some excellent stuff.  My friends David and Colin supplemented my love for Texas music by pointing me toward some of the best alternative music at the time.  During this period I was also learning to play a few chords on the guitar.  The little that I have learned has helped me to listen more closely to music–I understand rhythm a bit better (though I don’t have much), I can pick up chord progressions, and I can hear the way different instruments work together to produce sound.

Like I said, Spoon was one of the gems I stumbled upon during the Napster era.  At the time I only found one of their other songs on that network, “The Fitted Shirt.”  Both songs appeared on  their 2001 release Girls Can Tell.  Of course I didn’t buy the album, and around this time my Napster use came to a screeching halt.  I also didn’t have a lot of disposable income, further limiting my music purchases.  At this point Spoon became a pleasant memory.  I knew two of their songs–and loved them–I just didn’t know if I would ever hear from them again.

 When I moved to Kansas City my friend Mike Hibit hooked me up with some stuff to listen to–some sermons from John Piper, some Sufjan Stevens, and, funny enough, Spoon’s Girls Can Tell.  That was in 2005–I had been on hiatus from Spoon for about 4 years, and here I was, reunited.

 Coming up on April 2 Spoon will be visiting KC.  I’m already equipped with tickets.  Mike Hibit and I are planning on going to the concert.  For any of my KC friends, if you would like to check out Spoon visit their website.  Under the “Songs” tab they have a pretty good sampling of their music available.  If you like what you hear grab some tickets, and I’ll see you at Uptown.

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Two Videos Worth Sharing

The first is a short clip I was roped in to while walking on the KU Campus.  Thanks Creighton.  The second is the promo video for iBelieve 2008 – Kansas East Youth Ministry will host Institute on the campus of Baker University.  Institute is a camp open to students who have completed the 8th through 12th grades.

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Worth Pondering…

Following Christ means taking certain steps.  The first step, which responds to the call, separates the followers from their previous existence.  A call to discipleship thus immediately creates a new situation.  Staying in the old situation and following Christ mutually exclude each other.  At first, that was quite visibly the case.  The tax collector had to leave his booth and Peter his nets to follow Jesus.  According to our understanding, even back then things could have been quite different.  Jesus could have given the tax collector new knowledge of God and left him in his old situation.  If Jesus had not been God’s Son become human, then that would have been possible.  But because Jesus is the Christ, it has to be made clear from the beginning that his word is not a doctrine.  Instead, it creates existence anew.  The point was to really walk with Jesus.  It was made clear to those he called that they only had one possibility of believing in Jesus, that of leaving everything and going with the incarnate Son of God.

 

–Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, 61-62

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Character Develops Locally

Persons of character are not public products.  They are made by local cultures, local responsibilities. -Wendell Berry, “A Remarkable Man” in What are People For?

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Myers ::: Organic Community

The Spirit of organic community is grace, not law; “edit-ability,” not accountability…This is how a good author-editor relationship works: The author submits a rough draft.  The editor makes suggestions, even disagrees at times with the author.  The author considers the editor’s suggestions, and will often make adjustments.  The author and editor continue to go back and forth until the project is complete.  The entire process is one of give and take collaboration.When presented with the option, most people prefer an author-editor relationship…We want someone to confide in, pray with, and listen to us.  We do not hope for someone to keep a record and reconcile us to the rules.  We hope our friends will help us to be reconciled to life, to community, to ourselves, and to God.

-Joseph Myers, Organic Community: Creating a Place Where People Naturally Connect, 138-140.

The story Christians tell of God exposes the unwelcome fact that I am a sinner.  For without such a narrative the fact and nature of my sin cannot help but remain hidden in self-deception.  Only a narrative that helps me place myself as a creature of a gracious God can provide the skills to help me locate my sin as fundamentally infidelity and rebellion.  As a creature I have been created for loyalty–loyalty to the truth, to the love that moves the sun and the stars and yet is found on a cross–but I find myself serving any powers but the true one in the hopes of being my own lord…Christian tradition has at various times and places characterized this fundamental sin in quite different ways…I doubt, however, whether there is any one term sufficient to suggest the complex nature of our sin.  This is exactly why we see we need the set of stories we find in Scripture and displayed by the church to recognize our sin.  As narrative-determined creatures we must learn to locate our lives in God’s life if we are to have the means to face, as well as do something about, our infidelity and rebellion against our true creator.

Just to the extent I refuse to be faithful to God’s way, to live as part of God’s life, my life assumes the character of rebellion.  Our sin is not merely an error in overestimating our capacities.  Rather it is the active and willful attempt to overreach our powers.  It is the attempt to live sui generis, to live as if we are or can be the authors of our own stories.  Our sin is, thus, a challenge to God’s authorship and a denial that we are characters in the drama of the kingdom.

-Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Ethics, 31

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Arcade Fire: Intervention

Intervention

Artist(Band):The Arcade Fire

The king’s taken back the throne
The useless seed is sown
When they say they’re cutting off the phone
I’ll tell ‘em you’re not home

No place to hide
You were fighting as a soldier on their side
You’re still a soldier in your mind
Though nothing’s on the line

You say it’s money that we need
As if we’re only mouths to feed
I know no matter what you say
There are some debts you’ll never pay

Working for the church
While your family dies
You take what they give you
And you keep it inside
Every spark of friendship and love
Will die without a home
Hear the solider groan, “We’ll cry alone”

I can taste the fear
It’s gonna lift me up and take me out of here
Don’t wanna fight, don’t wanna die
Just wanna hear you cry

Who’s gonna throw the very first stone?
Oh! Who’s gonna reset the bone?
Walking with your head in a sling
Wanna hear the soldier sing

Working for the Church
While my family dies
Your little baby sister’s
Gonna lose her mind
Every spark of friendship and love
Will die without a home
Hear the soldier groan “We’ll go at it alone”

I can taste your fear
It’s gonna lift you up and take you out of here
And the bone shall never heal
I care not if you kneel

We can’t find you now
But they’re gonna get the money back somehow
And when you finally disappear
We’ll just say you were never here

Been working for the church
While your life falls apart.
Singing hallelujah with the fear in your heart
Every spark of friendship and love
Will die without a home
Hear the soldier groan, “We’ll go at it alone”
Hear the soldier groan, “We’ll go at it alone”

Late last year I downloaded the album Neon Bible by the alternative/rock band Arcade Fire. The song above, “Intervention,” is sung over the blasts of a pipe organ. I grew up singing to the organ, so I’m very familiar with its power. When coupled with words that are sung with conviction, this is soul shaking stuff.

This song evokes images of war, religion, fear, loneliness, separation, and the need for relationships. Most chilling are the words that follow, “Been working for the church…” for I know (or know of) too many people that seem to fit the descriptions, “while your family/my family dies,” or “while your life falls apart.” Can you imagine being described as someone “singing hallelujah with the fear in your heart”?

The beauty of music is its ability to ignite our imagination. As I’ve continued to contemplate this song I’ve deeply considered the practices that lead to the deterioration of the inner life which occurs when church leadership neglects to undertake the disciplines which nourish the soul. I have thought carefully concerning the disciplines of rest, reflection, solitude, and re-engagement. Jesus modeled a life of withdrawal and engagement. His example might be one we wish to follow.

Such practices are for all disciples, not clergy alone. What are the practices that you include in the rhythm of your life in order for God to heal, restore, and direct you as you engage the world that surrounds you? How do you maintain spiritual health amongst the busyness which our age holds as a cultural value?

In John 10:10 Jesus said that he has come that we “may have life, and have it abundantly.” Investigate and incorporate the practices of discipleship which yield health, so that our involvement with church communities can yield good fruit and provide a witness of life, not death, as reflected in the song lyrics above.

What are the ways that you cultivate a healthy life of following Jesus?

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Good Article for Pastors Seeking to Be “Relevant”

An important article for hip church leaders can be found here at LarkNews.

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Market or Media Driven? Celebrity Intrigue & Voyeurism

Today I was listening to Sports Radio 810 WHB broadcasting from Kansas City.  You can visit their website here.  Kevin Kietzman, Todd Leabo, and Danny Clinkscale are on each afternoon on “Between the Lines” from 2:00 to 7:00.  They run a good program, seem to have good insight into the world of sports, and seem to have fun.  I like listening to their program.

On this afternoon’s broadcast the crew briefly discussed a recent story that broke about Pedro Martinez, a pitcher for the New York Mets.  Martinez was caught on tape at a cock fighting match which was held outside the United States.  You can read about it here.

Kietzman, Leabo, and Clinkscale discussed this story with a caller, who didn’t understand why this was even relevant.  Why should we care what Pedro Martinez does during the off season?  Why should we be concerned if he’s involved in a sport that is legal in his home country of the Dominican Republic?  The caller argued that this type of voyeurism wouldn’t take place if the media wasn’t so desperate for news. With 24 hour coverage of sports and not enough news to fill the day, the media feels pressure to fill the time.  As a result we are presented with the mundane details of celebrities lives.

“Between the Lines” shot back, “You, the consumer, create the demand for such news.  If the people didn’t want it, weren’t interested, and it didn’t receive such great ratings, we wouldn’t report it.”  In essence, they said, “You made me.  I’m not culpable.”  This response reminds me of what it was like growing up with two younger siblings.

You can think of other networks that dedicate themselves to this industry.  TMZ.  Entertainment Tonight.  Access Hollywood.  The E! Network.

In this debate, who is right?  Is it the media’s responsibility to back off Britney Spears, or is it the public’s responsibility to turn it off?

Either way, our culture is guilty of amusing ourselves to death, as Neil Postman has argued so well in his book of the same name.

 Perhaps it is time that both parties step back and take a long, hard look at the state of our culture and take on their share of the blame.  Until such truth telling takes place it will be difficult for our public discourse to move forward.

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Super Bowl Results

The past two weeks left me with mixed emotions.  I was constantly asked for a pick from students, friends, acquaintances, and my emotions ranged from, (a) not caring, (b) rooting for the underdog, and (c) rooting for history.  I’m sorry to say that (a) was probably the most prevalent reaction.

The game was great.  We had a couple of friends over to watch the action.  Part of our discussion centered on the Spygate scandal.  You can read an interesting article about the fallout from the Patriots illegal videotaping activities here.  Gregg Easterbrook provides some excellent commentary on why this story matters, why government should be involved in sports scandals like these, and how even if fans don’t want to hear it, the truth needs to come out.

A second article I found today was from Randy Galloway–a DFW favorite from when I lived in the metroplex.  You can find his take here.

Have a great Super Bowl Monday.

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Climate Change and Ties to the Land ::: Thompson’s “Global Mourning”

A couple of months ago I decided to pick up a subscription to Wired magazine.  I’m glad that I did.

In the January edition a short article by Clive Thompson entitled “Global Mourning” caught my attention.  You can read the complete text here.

As modern people it is a rare occasion that we take the time to pause and reflect on the beauty of the landscape that surrounds us.  What is it that makes home, home?  As a Texan the mythology of Travis, Crockett, Boone, and others carries obvious significance, but so does the nature of the landscape.  I can remember learning that the state of Texas encompassed five distinct types of landscape–the plains, the piney woods, the coastal region, the hill country, and mountains in the far west.  As I grew up in the state I not only increased in my appreciation for the stories, but for the land as well.

Thompson notes that the changing Australian landscape is having a profound effect on the psyche of the people who live there.  Glenn Albrecht, a philosopher cited in the article, describes the people as “feeling displaced.”  He further describes the situation by saying, “They’re suffering symptoms eerily similar to those of indigenous populations that are forcibly removed from their traditional homelands.  But nobody is being relocated; they haven’t moved anywhere.  It’s just that the familiar markers of their area, the physical and sensory signals that define home, are vanishing.”

Such stories surely cause us to ask if these changing global conditions speak to our failure to steward the creation which God called, “very good.”  There are many ways in which I can “go green” at the local level, but effecting global change will require leadership and vision at the level of government.  As a Christian I will do my best to live in a way that reduces the impulse to consume and increase my efforts to decrease waste.  Widespread change, however, will require a movement.

Some churches have recognized this need and have begun to move in this direction.  My hope is that this will continue.  I remember one of my professors, Howard Hendricks, remarking in class that Christians should be more concerned about the environment that the environmental lobbyists.  And Hendricks is a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary.

The future of our planet hangs in the balance, and there is no better day than today to chart a new direction.  I’d rather begin now than await a (greater) crisis.

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