Fatherly Advice
"Therefore, O Lord, who grants to faith understanding, grant to me ... that I may understand that You are, as we believe; and also that You are what we believe You to be." Anslem of Canterbury Devotions 2
Reading Tozer's quote below brought this prayer to mind. (Not that Anslem just "comes to mind," it just fits.)
Brotherly Wisdom
"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us...For this reason the gravest question before the church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at any given time may say or do, but what he in his heart conceives God to be like...Before the Christian church goes into eclipse anywhere there must first be a corrupting of her simple basic theology. She simply gets a wrong answer to the question, "What is God like?" and goes on from there." -A.W.Tozer The Knowledge of the Holy pp. 9-12
Or as Dr. Bingham would paraphrase, "The most important thought you think is the thought you think about God, because it effects every other thought that you think and everything that you do."
Brotherly Wisdom
"A new book is still on its trial and the amateur is not in a position to judge it. It has to be tested against the great body of Christian thought down the ages, and all its hidden implications (often unsuspected by the author himself) have to be brought to light...The only safety is to have a standard of plain, central Christianity ('mere Christianity' as Baxter calls it) which puts the controversies of the moment in their proper perspective. Such a standard can only be acquired from the old books. It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between." -C.S. Lewis Introduction to On the Incarnation by St Athanasius of Alexandria
Notice I have logged Lewis' quotes, not under "Fatherly Advice," but "Brotherly Wisdom." We might be tempted in our love affair with the new, to call Lewis' books "old books." However, what Lewis means by old books is not 20 year old books, but 2000 year old books. This quote comes from an introduction to a "book" written in the 4th Century AD.
Fatherly Advice
"But for searching and right understanding of the Scriptures there is need of a good life and a pure soul, and for Christian virtue to guide the mind to grasp, so far as human nature can, the truth concerning God the Word." -St. Athanasius of Alexandria On the Incarnation 57
So, if Athanasius is right, the best interpreter of the word of God is not the un-invested, "objective" academe with all of the tools of historical research and grammatical insight, but the devout follower of the Word of God Himself, about Whom the word of God testifies.
Brotherly Wisdom
"For my own part I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await many others. I believe that many who find that 'nothing happens' when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand." -C.S. Lewis Introduction to On the Incarnation by Athanasius of Alexandria
Fatherly Advice
"Truly He is that light which illuminates the whole understanding of those who are capable of receiving truth, as is said in the thirty-sixth Psalm, 'In Your light we shall see light.' For what other light of God can be named, in which any one sees light, save an influence of God, by which a man, being enlightened, either thoroughly sees the truth of all things, or comes to know God Himself, who is called the truth? Such is the meaning of the expression, 'In Your light we shall see light;' i.e., in Your word and wisdom which is Your Son, in Himself we shall see You the Father." -Origen De Principiis 1.1.1
Harvest
This morning as I walked to the office I heard what sounded like combines in the fields. The things are really loud, but surprisingly, the sound is refreshing. In my college days I used to drive a fair stretch of Highway 13 in Eastern Iowa. It was usually late on a Sunday afternoon that I was heading back to school. The low-hanging sun would cast an amber hue on the earth which made the fields look like gold. The combines would throw huge clouds of dust and chaff behind them which would mellow the suns beams that much more. The Scriptures use the metaphor of a field in two different ways. Jesus uses it to demonstrate that there are many people who have been prepared to receive His teaching. Now His disciples just need to go out and get 'em. Paul's image is similar, but in this case the preparation isn't to receive Christ, but to be made complete in Him. One points to the first-fruits. The other to the harvest in its fullness. The point in Jesus' illustration is the need for work on the part of the "farmers." Paul's point is specifically to downplay the role of the farmers, and to point to their completely dependence on God to cause growth. Either way, harvest is a beautiful picture of hope fulfilled. Much planning, tilling, planting, fertilizing, and waiting has been done. All of this expects a completion. The process finds its worth in the produce. For the farmer, grain. For the believer, communion with God Himself, whether through the down-payment of, or through the full inheritance of the Holy Spirit's indwelling.
Fatherly Advice
"Q: I've an issue, world, to bring up with you. Who are you, and
whence, teach first, and whither do you roll?
And how do you revolve me, like a wheel that carries an ant?
A: Where I'm from I don't know, but I know it's from God.
And I roll towards something greater. But I don't turn you round.
But it's you, unworldly one, who act violently towards me.
Q: How then do you stand solid, whilst I'm unsteady?
A: I am something external, and what's the advantage of that?
But the things you want to do, you can do them, if you want.
Q: Well and good; but external things, who can bear them?
A: Why, is there something wrong?
Matter here is for the sake of the salvation of the good.
Q: Then the cause of you is someone greater?
A: You've got it."
-Gregory of Nazianzus A Conversation With the World
I have a collection of Gregory's poems translated by Peter Gilbert. I think he does an excellent job translating, not just the words, but the art as well.
This particular poem may seem strange unless you know that Gregory's preference was to be left alone in his study, "on the mountain," contemplating God and self. ("external things, who can bear them?") It was his understanding of the Church that constantly drew him out of the mountains and into the pulpit, into the Council, or out to the poor.
Brotherly Wisdom
"Among born-again adults, there was a 44% rise in those who gave nothing last year. Compared to 1999, the mean per capita donation to churches dropped by 19 percent in 2000. One-third of born-again adults said they tithed in 2000, but a comparison of their actual giving and household incomes reveals that only one-eighth did so." -Barna Research Update 2001, cited in Randy Alcorn The Treasure Principle
Since this update things have remained a little more constant. Evangelicals lead the way in giving...a whopping 24% of evangelicals gave 10% or more in 2007. Now, these are "evangelicals"--those who by definition believe and affirm the gospel. You know, the one where God gives His Only-Begotten Son as a sacrifice for our sin, and who lavishly pours out the Holy Spirit on His Church as a down-payment. 24% of us gave that God 10% or more of our resources. Good job guys!
Fatherly Advice
"For He didn't shave off any bit of godhead, and still he saved me, stooping as a doctor over my foul-smelling passions. He was a man, but God. David's offspring, but Adam's Maker. A bearer of flesh, but, even so, beyond all body. From a mother, but she's a virgin. Comprehensible, but immeasurable." -Gregory of Nazianzus De Filio
Gregory goes on for a page listing a human quality in tandem with it's divine counterpart. Litanies like this can be found throughout Gregory's writings. He loved to highlight the mystery--even paradox--of the incarnation.
Brotherly Wisdom
"Each generation of Christians is tempted to see its way of worship, its way of ministry, its way of doing spirituality as the most biblical or practical. History reminds us that our generation is not the only one that has ever lived the Christian life. We are Christians within a company of Christians, both present and past, both living on earth and with the Lord. History helps keep us from becoming infatuated with ourselves. History nurtures the godly virtue of humility." -D. Jeffrey Bingham Pocket History of the Church p.11.
Why the Name?
Some of you may be wondering what's with the name of my blog. It is from a song. Here it is:
In your manger cold
Fingers feel like stone
Mama wraps her shawl around your skin
Finally find your rest
On your mother’s breast
Mother of God Mother of Man
So sleep now my friend
Warm with the love of your kin
The love of your new found kin
Adam’s day is done
The two in the One
Father wraps the Son around our skin
So sing now my friends
Warm with the love of your kin
The love of your new found kin
The song is about the Incarnation. The beautiful truth that God unites humanity to himself by uniting His nature and human nature in the person of His Son. Suddenly God is not far off, but "with us." The Son, eternally existing with the Father and the Spirit, suddenly finds Himself in a new family. "Remaining what He was (divine), He became what He was not (human)." On the flip side, humanity suddenly has a new kin. But this relationship is not automatic. Now there is an "old man" and a "new man." To be "in Christ" is to be a part of this "new humanity." We are "included in Christ" when we hear the word of truth, the gospel, and believe it. Just makes you wanna sing, don't it?
Neato!
Jon referred to this in a comment below. I thought it was worth posting for this simple reason:
In this video you will see four men all of whom have advanced degrees, who are articulate in their reasoning and speech, and who are pastors. These men have said "Theology, thinking, and reasoning are important, not just for me, not just for my professors, not just for seminary students, but for all of the flock of God."
Fatherly Advice
"For when the thing that we love is near us, it is a matter of course that it should bring delight with it. And if you pass beyond this delight, and make it a means to that which you are permanently to rest in, you are using it, and it is an abuse of language to say that you enjoy it. But if you cling to it, and rest in it, finding your happiness complete in it, then you may be truly and properly said to enjoy it. And this we must never do except in the case of the Blessed Trinity, who is the Supreme and Unchangeable Good." -Augustine On Christian Doctrine 1.33
My paraphrase: "When you love something, it gives you joy. But if that joy is simply a means to a greater, more permanent joy, then you're not "enjoying" it per se, you're using it. But if you cling to it, and rest in it, enjoying it for what it is--not what it leads to, then you really are enjoying it. And this we must never do except in the case of the Blessed Trinity, who is the Supreme and Unchangeable Good."
God is to be enjoyed. Everything/Everyone else is to be used.
Brotherly Wisdom
"God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.
God comes right out and tells us why He gives us more money than we need. It's not so we can find more ways to spend it. It's not so we can indulge ourselves and spoil our children. It's not so we can insulate ourselves from needing God's provision. It's so we can give--generously.
When God provides more money we often think, This is a blessing. Well, yes, but it would be just as scriptural to think, This is a test." -Randy Alcorn The Treasure Principle p.75
Fatherly Advice
For the way of all those who see is single and upward, illumined by the heavenly light, but the ways of those who do not see are many, dark and divergent; the one leads to the kingdom of heaven, uniting man to God, while the others lead down to death, separating man from God.
-Irenaeus of Lyons On the Apostolic Preaching
I love the language of salvation, not as an everlasting living in a place (heaven), but an eternal union with God. It is also interesting that he claims that the primary distinction between Christianity and all other "ways" is that our way is singular...this apparent rigidity would seem at variance with presentations of the faith that call for us to "flex" or "repaint" our faith to fit new and emerging cultures.
Brotherly Wisdom
"The Church is not simply an institution. She is a "mode of existence," a way of being. The mystery of the Church, even in its institutional dimension, is deeply bound to the being of man, to the being of the world and to the very being of God." -John D. Zizioulas Being as Communion p. 15.
This quote seems to be a stumbling block, both for those with a disdain for anything institutional in the Church, and for those who would view the Church as merely a social club or spiritualized corporation.
Brotherly Wisdom
"Prayer is God's appointed way to fullness of joy because it is the vent of the inward burnings of our heart for Christ. If we had no vent, if we could not commune with Him in response to His Word, we would be miserable indeed." -John Piper Desiring God p. 176
This, alongside "Fatherly Advice" (a daily post of patristic insight), will become a regular quote by a contemporary author. Warning: May contain numerous Piper quotes.
Fatherly Advice
I know we are as though making a great voyage on a raft,
or hastening towards the starry sky upon small wings,
when, with such poems, mind has moved to exhibit the Godhead
(which transcends the power of heavenly beings to worship as is due),
or the great Godhead's statutes, and the universe's helm.
- Gregory of Nazianzus Poem 1.1.1 De Patre
Gregory always begins his lengthier discussions of God by showing how inadequate we are for the task of discussing God. In his Theological Orations he goes on for pages about the mysteries of the natural world. The point being, "If we don't get this stuff, from this fallen world, why do we think we know so much about God?" In this introduction to a poem about God, he draws a picture of a tiny raft (the human mind) that can barely support the weight of it's own helm (the universe). Good stuff.
Shed Project
You can see here that I basically extended the deck and put the shed on the extended deck.
Had to paint as I went because it sits inches from the house.
It got dark.
A Depressing Time of Year
I remember last year feeling this same feeling coming off a high-energy, fun summer, and looking head-long into a long, cold off-season. Of course, this is the nature of camping ministry, but being prepared for it in no way lessens the burn. I miss the sounds of TAG Team downstairs doing dishes (yes, you can normally hear them upstairs). I miss the hype before chapel, and the energy we try to sustain throughout. I miss the quiet lull of cabin time and the roar of activities in the afternoon. By way of consolation, our fall schedule is filling fast--a welcome change from last year.
Thanksgiving...Puritan Style
I've recently been asked to lead worship at my church for the Sundays before and after Thanksgiving. Naturally I was asked to select songs about giving thanks. I consulted the topical index in the back of my collection of Isaac Watts hymns, and it had only one hymn listed.
How can I sink with such a prop
As my eternal God
Who bears the earth's huge pillars up
And spreads the heavens abroad?
How can I die while Jesus lives
Who rose and left the dead?
Pardon and grace my soul receives
From mine exalted Head.
All that I am and all I have
Shall be for ever thine
Whate'er my duty bids me give
My cheerful hands resign
Yet if I might make some reserve
And duty did not call
I love my God with zeal so great
That I should give him all
It seems Isaac simply had very little to say about the things God had given him. That is, Watts sees in God Himself more than his meager soul could ever begin to thank. And until God is duly thanked, His gifts must wait.
Gorgeous
We took some pictures on the camp tire swing (known to most as the Puke-o-whirl). Before Ben arrived, I snapped a few of my bride...gorgeous.
On Promenade
As I've pondered throughout the months returning to my neglected, starving, dying blog I resolved to make my grand return a review of On Promenade. Now it should be stated that I planned my return much closer to the release date in October of 2007. The factors that have prevented this review have been fear--fear of the responsibility of maintaining regular posting habits--and shame--embarrassment that my last post still has me writing my thesis. (For those curious, I finished.) Perhaps a third deterrent is the daunting task of putting into words the rushing current of emotion and thought that overwhelm the album's unsuspecting listener. But here goes.
There I sat in the small music venue in Deep Ellum, Dallas, TX. The crowd was small but loyal. Of the seven in the crowd, two faces were familiar--regulars at this venue. This particular show is a "songwriters-in-the-round,"--a song-swap between three artists. The second in the trio, Doug Burr, is my reason for attendance. He sits in a chair heaving a jumbo-body Larrivee onto his knee. The cedar top on this enormous guitar delivers a boomy, bassy sound as the songwriter begins a slow country strum accenting the bass note. The lyrics tell of a girl watching trains roll through town wishing she could hop one and leave town. One particular night a "black train" picks up speed and barrels toward a town of sleeping citizens. The lyrics move to a refrain of warning--"Wake up baby a train is coming..." We in the audience can feel it picking up steam as Dougs strumming picks up speed and intensity. Just when Burr is screaming and guitar strings teeter on the verge of snapping the beat quickly dies...(as do the citizens of Graniteville?) The ending is left open and the audience left speechless. Prior to that moment I had been a fan, but that song made me a believer. From that point I hounded Doug after shows, "When is a new album coming out?" "Will it have Graniteville on it?"
A career change and a move meant I caught fewer Doug Burr performances but the anticipation grew for an album wherein Graniteville would be showcased. When Doug pre-released four songs on his myspace page I knew this album would be more than just Graniteville + other songs. Still that fear that you get when you sit to watch a comedy and you fear the only five funny scenes were already shown in the over-played preview began to set in. A year later when the album came out all fears ceased. This time I found myself in another small venue, this time packed with eager fans--the CD release show. I bought my copy early in the night. Clutching it and toying with it throughout the show. If Graniteville was stirring in a solo act it quaked with a full band. "Whippoorwill" was haunting but hopeful. "In the Garden" was driving and despondent. When the night was over I maintained a quick pace to my car, parked on a dark backstreet off Lower Greenville, my fingernails finding the seams in the cellophane and peeling it off impatiently. I popped it in the player in my car and, as it is my habit to listen to an album start to finish at least 5 times before I skip to songs I like, I started at the beginning.
Slow Southern Home is an ideal opener. Doug's vocals invite the listener into the story. The drone of the organ beckoning the same. This 11 song story begins with the story-tellers dream of an "ancient house," his "slow southern home." The idyllic language allows the listener to insert his/her own idea of home into this "dream." From here Doug moves into a droned-bass fingerpicking slightly more optimistic in its tone, but as soon as we find "gold in the hills" we are assured that "there is a darkness hanging o'er the West here in the land of progress." Whether the West is Gold Rush California or the New World America's, the optimism is misplaced. Nevertheless the song ends with a playful chorus of shakers and Doug's alyrical crooning. The third track is none other than Graniteville. Burr's version of fire-and-brimstone, this song is an allegory for sin and it's consequences. Whippoorwill at the same time praises the Whippoorwill for her song and bemoans her audiences ability to sing a song in every language. He covets the bird's "song and it's reason to sing." He wishes he could "call to you/You? from the tops of these trees, and when the winter comes we'd flap our wings and leave." The end of the song finds the singer asking his companions to lay aside their voices and instruments presumably due to the relative inadequacy of their songs to do what the Whippoorwill does. The next two songs are linked musically and thematically. The first is a letter from Vincent Van Gogh to his brother Theo wherein he speaks of "love even unreturned." The hum of the electric guitar and Wurlitzer bridge the seam between "How Can the Lark" and "Should've Known"--an "I told you so" to the grandson of Theo Van Gogh, killed for his film exposing Muslim abuses of women, who should've learned the bloody lessons of his great-uncle. You may get the sense from my description and from the above artwork of the ominous character holding a guitar in a darkened wood, that this is a dark album. On the whole your senses are not failing you, but music can do strange things to the senses. Burr can drag you through the slough because he is ever keeping before you the golden meadow on the other side. "In the Garden" is a perfect example. One might suspect Doug is following up his gospel concept album, "The Sickle and the Sheaves" with his own arrangement of the 20th Century hymn. On the contrary the slightly distorted, bassy intro is consummated with the opening line, "Devils thorns and gears, Been that way for years." One's mind quickly shifts from the garden where "He walks with me and He talks with me" to something cold, harsh, and industrial. In the background, Burr suggests, you can "hear somebody laughing." Burr is less than comforting when he confesses, "I have a sinking feeling it gets worse, worse before better better." However, as he finishes the last chorus which is meant to build into the bridge, the instruments are backed out slightly and the lyrics take center stage as Burr observes, "I hear somebody weeping in the garden." The biblical imagery has moved from Eden to Gethsemane. The laughing serpent is replaced by a weeping Savior. This theme is repeated in "Thing About Trouble." Hear the listener is placed in a river gorge. The beauty around her is deceiving and she is encouraged instead to keep moving ahead, waiting for "the day." Despair and hope sway and spin as one, but ruin gives way to resurrection as the listener is assure that a flood is coming, but that "everything that sinks one day it will rise, eyes, tooth, and tongue." "Last Promenade" is one of the most beautifully arranged songs on the album, opening with pert and airy fingerpicking which quickly falls among the steady hums of the organ and accordion. The imagery is thick and elusive, and whatever the details may signify, what begins as a party is crashed and left to the dogs and the singer is left standing on a promenade with no ticket as a train barrels by. "Always Travel Light" is the proverbial "you can't take it with you" warning delivered, as promised, with the lightest touch. The last song of the album moves in slow with steel guitar and organ gently lulling. Burr's vocal sound downcast as he sings of a figure "dressed in white moving through the dark." As bleak as the song may feel the message remains hopeful as the closing line claims, "I have cut you, I have kissed you, Blood runs down, runs downhill."
Without the prospect of a Slow Southern Home, I wonder if anyone would bear with Burr the wallows of tragedy, love lost, and gardens overrun with thorns. Would you wade the slough with no portension of golden meadows? And yet, Burr does not leave us in thorny Eden, or deceptively beautiful gorges. He takes us to Gethsemane, he tells us of the coming flood. He brings us to Golgotha where we lay dead or dying at the foot of a hill, blood flowing from the crags of the rocks over our wounded flesh. There sunken eyes, broken teeth, crooked tongues find the promise, the hope, of resurrection. There everything that sinks is to one day rise.
Thesis Update
I just got the readers copy of my rough draft back last week. When you hand in your two copies, one goes to your two readers who mark it for content and form, and one copy goes to a PhD student whose sole task it is to mark for form. However, when your readers are Bingham and Kreider, your readers will no doubt mark way more on form than your form reader. The results were encouraging. I have a lot of form to correct, but very little content. Yea! Almost done!
Caution: Chunks May Be Blown
Sometimes I see things that make me nauseated. This video is a case in point.
Sufjan's a Stinkin' Genius
Sufjan Stevens is a creative genius. His latest venture is a Christmas song contest. Here's the scoop: His fans write and record a Christmas song, send it to him, and the one he likes the most wins. The grand prize is a song swap. He gets the rights to your song, but he then writes a Christmas song just for you, and you get the rights to it. Granted, he's going to get more money for your song than you will for his, but art isn't about money, it's about saying, "Sufjan picked my song, chumps!!"
I just entered a song I wrote last year about this time. Needless to say, we needn't expect to see "Sleep Now" on any upcoming Sufjan Stevens projects.
Jon, what have you done to me?
Have you ever had one of those dreams from which you awaken thrilled because you've just received great news only to find out it was the deceptive product of your subconscious?
Some background:
As I've worked on my thesis I've received a great deal of insight and encouragement from my friend Jon Kever, who has recently completed the rigorous process. In his retelling of his own story he related a dream he had had wherein he received a scathing review from Dr. Kreider telling him he had too may footnotes.
Last night I dreamed that upon reading my first two chapters, Dr. Bingham, excited to be in the presence of true genius, replied that he loved the work, but that his only improvement would be that I use the word "is" in its various forms more often in my footnotes. His explanation was that this would somehow make the footnotes (to be) more gender inclusive.
Needless to say this was a huge relief...a sense of relief that would be irreparably rent asunder by the bone-chilling sound of the alarm clock.
Jon, what have you done to me?
Memories
I write this from one of my favorite places in the world--camp. I've found that "camp" has special meaning to everyone whether you grew up going to a woodsy retreat with log style cabins, ziplines, and go carts; or your camp was a patch of rolling grass-covered hills cut into the rich agricultural lanscape of middle America. Regardless of the amenities, camp is a place full of tradition and strong relationships. As I write, people are walking through this assembly room planing how to "get back" at others who have pulled a prank on them. A male staff member walks by with his hair up in braids. Nicknames abound and the sound of screaming kids seems almost like white noise filling the air creating that perfect(?) camp ambience. Ahhh. It's good to be back.
A Sad State of Affairs
This blog has hit rock bottom. It's been idle so long all of the comments were deleted. And, no this is not a promise to redeem it. I can promise no such thing. All I can do is mourn it's sorry condition, and hope for a better future.
Psalm 139 and Birth Control
A coworker and friend of mine, whose anonymity I shall maintain, has raised some interesting questions about the normative usage of Psalm 139 in arguments against abortion--that if they are true would they not also preclude birth control. I left my gut-shot answers, but the guy's got me thinking. They are some good questions. I'm most interested in the historical viewpoint on the subject. Check him out.
A Post From Nowhere
I can't make any promises about the future of this blog, but I thought I needed a new post. Funny my last post should be on my philosophy of youth ministry as I am now officially broken off from any formal ministry to youth. Sure I have Chuck Swindoll practically begging me to run his youth program, but I'm just not feeling "called" to do so. Having said all that, I registered for my last semester of classes the other day. Here they are:
History of the Charismatic Movements in America
Systematic Theology Colloquium
Intertestamental History
Academic Ministries Internship
Fun, fun, fun. I'll start work on my thesis in the Spring as well, so if anybody has any ideas for a topic, let me know.
Philosophy of Youth Ministry
I'm currently in the process of applying for a position as Youth Pastor. As such I decided I should write down my philosophy of ministry. Here's what I came up with off the top of my head. What do you think?
Youth Ministry is the dispensation of time, energy, and funds not available to parents to aid them in the discipleship of their young adult.
Discipleship is the reproductive relay of spiritual growth from one member of the body of Christ to another (2 Tim. 2:1-2).
Spiritual growth/maturity consists in an increase in the clarity/degree of their reflection of God’s glory. God’s glory is reflected in:
-The human being’s innate but marred imprint of God’s image.
-The human being’s actions which (by common grace) are consistent with God’s nature.
-The believer’s union with Christ, the Image of God.
-The believer’s knowledge of God’s nature.
-The believer’s enjoyment of God’s nature.
-The believer’s actions which (by grace) are consistent with God’s nature.
The Youth Pastor aids in spiritual growth by:
-Displaying God’s nature in his/her actions.
-Displaying God’s nature in his/her teaching of God’s word.
-Displaying a heart-felt enjoyment of the nature of God.
-Accountability toward actions that reflect God’s character.
-Accountability toward study of God’s nature.
The Youth Pastor employs the following means to do the above:
-Personal time of devotion
-Personal discipleship (Being discipled)
-Rapport
-Personal testimony
-Personal counseling
-Corporate teaching
-Corporate worship (music, Lord’s Supper, giving, etc.)
Ojeda's
Yesterday was my birthday, so, with my choice of any restaurant in the DFW metroplex, I chose the amazing Ojeda's. Now, for convenience' sake we went to Big Ben Ojeda's in Plano, which is still awesome, but it seems like you loose something in the atmosphere. (Pictured is the one on Maple--much more Latin part of town.) If anybody out there hasn't been, you need to go. It's the best Mexican in town (in my humble, white opinion). Actually, when Bill Clinton came to town it was recommended to him and they still have a blue table cloth with a sour cream stain on it to prove it (just in case).
Separated at Birth?
William Wallace*
John Eldredge*William Wallace portrait courtesy of Ransomed Heart Ministries and Adobe Photoshop.
You Supply the Caption
here's how this works. i post a picture that begs to be mocked, and you, the reader, come up with possible captions. for example, if i were you (the reader) and you were me (the post...man?) and had posted the above picture i might suggest, "liberal vampires invade local skinhead rally--skinheads get resourceful," or "jurers at cheney hunting accident trial asked for sentencing--jury responds with above gesture."
tom waits (cont'd)
in the words of my friend and waits-mentor "tom waits deserves more than one comment." well, he just may deserve more than one post, too. therefore i dedicate this post to his early stuff. waits' early stuff is quite possibly the most enjoyable music i listen to. the island years are like musical vegetables. one has to acquire the taste before the nutritional benefits can be fully enjoyed. the early years, while not quite musical candy, are rather enjoyable. it is the cereal of the musical world. rare is the moment when i wouldn't enjoy a bowl of cereal--and not the fruit loops or cocoa pebbles junk--i thoroughly enjoy a good bowl of wheaties, quaker toasted oatmeal, or crunchy corn bran. so, the greatness of tom waits early stuff is it takes no getting used to, no learning curve. it's pleasant to the ears and yet offers substance and excites development and growth in its hearer. it was a time when...
life was full of roses
poetry and prose and
[tom waits], all i had was you and all you had was me
there was no tomorrow
we packed away our sorrow
and we saved it for a rainy day
tom waits
this is tom waits. what a weird guy, but man what an artist. i really hadn't heard much of him until one jon kever recommended his debut album "closing time." after buying it, it soon became one of my favorites. then i got "beautiful maladies." what an apt title. his voice is horrible, i was like, "he's not even trying to sound good." but i knew he was an artistic force to be reckoned with, so i listened. it only took two times through the album to see the beauty in the maladies.
couple dating
so there's couples and they date each other and it's not like when you date in high school, but it is, cause you like each other...
...just go read my brother's blog.
pilotdrift
i was in a staff meeting at my church the other day and i'd mentioned my love of music. one of our staff members told me about his future son-in-law from texarkana who is in a band called "pilotdrift." he gave me their website and i checked it out. it sounded great--radiohead, the arcade fire, queen--at least those are the closest equivelents in my musical library (i don't actually own any queen). then i picked up the latest copy of paste magazine and on a page called "4 bands to watch" there they are, pilotdrift. i felt so on the cutting edge. because i heard of them one whole day before reading about them in paste i feel like i can say, "you need to watch these guys, they're gonna be big."
more new music
i should also mention the following new music i obtained over the christmas break:
johnny cash- american iv: the man comes around
-it was about time. obviuosly good stuff.
the arcade fire- funeral
-the album art is worth the price of the album, granted i got it used on amazon.
havalina rail co.- space, love, and bullfighting
-a havalina classic
danielson famile- tridanielson (alpha)
-number one in a two-part series. some seriously weird stuff, but entertaining.
the royal blue- where only love has gone (ep)
-this is a good year for me and female vocals. we'd had a falling out somewhere along the way, and between karin berquist, emmylou harris, and kristin leigh they've been redeemed.*
*please note this is in no way an attack on the female gender or their vocal cords. any statements made about their redemption reflect niether an over-realized eschatology nor an inherent sinfulness of female vocals en toto.
new music
i got a few cd's for christmas most of which i highly recommend, and a few that are growing on me:
1.damien jurado- where shall you take me?
-quickly becoming one of my favorite cds. excellent, excellent, excellent! a dark inclusio with plenty of indy-folksie relief between.
2.over the rhine- drunkard's prayer
-loving the laid-back alt-pop sound--somewhat more country than their past stuff.
3.ben lee- something to remember me by
-his debut album. acoustic british indy pop. i'd heard it back in 97 when it was released and have considered buying it ever since. so glad i finally got it.
4.emmylou harris- wrecking ball
-falls under the category of growing on me, but is doing so quickly. contains her priceless cover of dylan's "every grain of sand."
5.tom waits- beautiful maladies the island years
-i had "mule variations" in my hands and the guy at cd world said they'd just got a used copy of this one in. (apparently the island years are a significant period in waits' career...so now i can sound artsy with such phrases as, "hey this stuff kind of sounds like waits' island years" or "yeah, waits' early stuff was good, but man, those island years...") i've only yet listened to the first few songs, so more to come on this one.
album update
i finished and handed in my album. 13 songs. 6 instruments (3 of which are different kinds of shakers). i plan on revisiting it here and there throughout the year to clean up vocals, add various instruments, etc. the album had a title, but it was extremely lame, and i lack the self confidence to ever use it again, so i scrapped it.
reading week
so, reading week is a wonderful invention, although i'm a little upset i'm missing ets this year. i'm still a member, so i got the conference schedule and i've been parousing it the past few days...i don't know why i do that to myself. the theme is "christianity in the early centuries," good thing i'm not interested in that topic.
myspace
i just set up a myspace blog. it's got four of my songs on it. i'll try to rotate the songs periodically. the recordings are pretty rough, at least that's my excuse.
here's the url:
may i recommend...
i was so excited to read this book i picked it up before i was done with the one assinged before it. i wasn't disappointed. i'm only half done with it, but unless it takes a nose dive, i recommend this book to any Christian who is an artist. notice i didn't say "Christian artist." the book is expressly for those Christians who want to contribute to culture, not the Christian subculture. the guy is a journalist and a poet, but he writes music reviews and interviews musicians, so the two most prominent arts highlighted in the book are literature and music, but all the arts are in mind in the writing of the book. he's also associated with squint entertainment who gave waterdeep their first contract, so at least he hangs with people who know true art.
music
i just realized i don't have a link to havalina. this ought not be so. they are a great band. i really only have one album, and that's because it's free on their website, but i saw them at cornerstone a few years back and have been a fan ever since.
in their words: "havalina, not unlike most of our influences, is about change and various forms of wrecking pop music." gotta love that.
update on the album
today i wrote the fourth song for my class project, so all the writing's done and the album's ready to compile, i have 14 songs total already rough-recorded, and a couple more that could work on the album, but that i didn't like as much.
how to work the system
between school and youth ministry i find little time to sit down with my guitar and write these days. thus i find myself jumping at every chance to write songs for "creative projects" in classes. so far i've written three songs for credit and added two verses to existing songs for class. but this semester i've outdone myself. i'm taking a class from dr. kreider (theological studies prof.) called issues in theological method. its a class on cultural exegesis (obtaining general revelation about God through His image born in the culture--that is in those members of the culture who bear His image). one of the assignments is an album review. you listen to an album and write a paper on how it demonstrates the metanarrative--creation, fall, re-creation. well, instead of reviewing an album, i'll be writing one. i have to write at least 4 new songs for it, but i can compile from songs written in the past. the compilation must be done in community, which i'm actually looking forward to. that way all the songs i wrote with a pre-opined position on the album may perhaps be given a better--really, a more spiritual--placement.
pseudo-parenthood
as dog owners my wife and i make every effort to abstain from the cheesy language of calling our dog "our baby," referring to each other as "mommy" and "daddy," etc. so far we've been successful, but it's hard to avoid such connections when you go to puppy training class. last night my wife and i were at one such event. there we sat on the floor indian-style (is that term still pc?) with our dog running around playing with other dogs talking to the young couples who own those dogs about all the travails of raising a puppy. there was the look of disdain on the owners whose dogs were out of control, and the envy of those owners whose dogs would probably have pulled every last one of us out of the building in case of a fire...and then dressed our wounds. yeah, there's no doubt that owning a puppy is nothing like parenting, but it's hard to ignore the similarities.
genre nazi's
it seems like the younger part of my generation (gen y as the generation nazi's would call them) have a fascination with assigning musical genres. i noticed this in talking about music with some of them, but it never bothered me until i was playing my brit pop/rock playlist from my ipod and was criticized that it was really more of a stadium rock playlist. (please note that the title of my playlist does not exclude stadium rock) he then began to assign each artist in the playlist their own genre. this phenomenon is no surprise to me. despite what people say-everyone wants a label. they want to be seen as preppy or alternative or country. however, all the alternative kids don't want to be lumped together, so there's emo, screamo, hardcore, punk, alt-punk, pre-punk, post-punk, mid-punk and pre-wrath-punk. i particularly like the prefix "alt" see that way i can listen to artists like kasey chambers and buddy miller and yet avoid the whole cowboy boots/big belt buckle image, cause i'm not country--no, no--i'm "alt-country." i wondered why the visual arts have escaped this trend. why is there not alt-cubism? or post-dali-brit-surrealism?
youth ministry
this sunday i have a meeting for parents of high schoolers to explain our ministries to them. this whole thing makes me very nervous. in fact i've rarely been in the presence of youth's parents when i didn't feel like my every breath was being scrutinized. sometimes i feel like i'm going to be talking to the parents and one of them is just going to stand up and start hurling insults at me about my inability to make their kids good. there's probably some serious psychological deficiency or trauma that causes this. maybe some part of my brain's development was stunted, maybe i was weaned too early, maybe my mom should have used a different fabric softener on my blankets when i was a baby.
saturday
i love saturdays. this saturday was the first normal one my wife and i have had since we moved. we slept in until 9:30, my wife watched her gillmore girls season one dvds, i sat on our patio, played my music, and worked on sunday school (rom. 7:14-25)(and for those who care i'm taking the position that paul is speaking of his present christian experience). tonight we're going to watch a movie with some friends. i love saturdays.
tiny red death
the other day i noticed a stinging sensation on my foot. i looked down to see a fire ant digging its stinger out of my foot. i said something like "ouch, dang it!" and went on my way. later that night we were unloading some furniture and i noticed the palms of my hands itching. i also felt a tightness in my chest. my inner ear itched, but when i went to itch it the canal was all swollen. i went to the mirror to see a white face with bright red lining my eyes, nose, and mouth. we went to the er, got a benadryl iv, went home, and i slept like a baby. turns out i'm allergic to fire ants.
anniversary
the 11th was sarah and my 4th anniversary. we're going out of town labor day weekend to celebrate.
i'm a big fan of my wife. i mean, i'm not going to talk about how i stare at her when she sleeps or anything, but i don't know what i would do without her. i think the thing i love most about marriage is when you can't remember what it was like to not be married. even my memories of life before i met sarah seem to have her pasted in somehow. i love you, babe.
John
this is john. he's on staff with ywam (youth with a mission) in new orleans. he's an open theist. we had some interesting conversations. he's a typical evangelical, and a good picture of where evangelicalism is heading if it doesn't learn to respect what the church has historically believed. spurgeon once said (something like), "how can one think so highly of what the Holy Spirit teaches them, but think so little of what He has taught others before them?" he has a website: forever grasping the first picture you see is very telling. the subtitle on his writing on the trinity is indicative of his theological methodology. luckily, he just ends up sounding like gregory of nyssa, so he's in good company.
moving sucks
we're finally moved in to our new place. we took five trips with a two-door explorer pulling a little enclosed trailer--but we didn't spend any money. let me tell everyone out there, never do that. even if you're moving into the house next door rent the big uhaul, load it all at once and unload it all at once. i was so sick of moving by the end of it all i was taking family heirlooms and chucking them carelessly into the trailer.
our new puppy
this is piper. she's quite possibly the cutest thing on this earth. but then there's the incessant urination.
back in town
sheesh. i've been running like a french soldier this whole summer. i just had back to back trips to new orleans and louisville. now i'm back in town, but so is my brother with his youth group from iowa. they're staying in our youth building, so needless to say i won't get much done this week. the problem with this is we're moving this week. so you'll say something like "wow, that's a busy week." and to that i'll say something like, "oh, yeah and we just got a puppy." more to come...
mac
i'm making a slide show on imovie on the church's mac mini, and i've come to the conclusion that every youth minister must own a macintosh computer. unless of course you don't care about the salvation of teenage souls. in which case a pc will suffice.
A Picture of Ireland
This seems kind of stereotypical of Ireland with the green and the rocks and everything, but i found that all of the stereotypes of ireland are true. They really do like guiness a lot. It really is very green. The cars really are very small and very ugly. And everyone has red hair with amish-style beards and wears green suits with buckles on their shoes.
A Good Read
"The climax of God's happiness is the delight He takes in the echoes of His excellence in the praises of His people." -Piper
I'm reading Desiring God this summer with the guys on my youth group's student leadership team. It's my third time through it, and I just want to say, "You need to read this book." That's all, you just need to read it. Don't like Piper? You need to read it. Already read it? You need to read it. Just randomly happened upon this blog and know nothing about Christianity or spirituality? You need to read it. Hiking in the Himalayas with nothing but a tent, some food, and a sherpa named Fo Shu? You need to read it.
want hair grow long? no cut it!
every year or so i get the urge to grow my hair out. the problem is this ackward period where it's not short, but not long. so the other day i went to a hair cut place and showed the lady a picture of a guy with long hair. i said, "this is what i'm, going for, but i just want a trim today." she replied in broken english (she was asian) "you not need cut your hair...you want grow long you, no cut it." there i was, a college graduate, working on a masters, barely grasping the concept: if you want your hair to grow, don't cut it. i walked out slowly and quietly, my head hung in shame.
Young Life
i just returned from a young life camp, and i must say it was an amazing week. i love the way they do things, and have a great respect for the organization as a whole. one of the great things they do is have follow-up meetings for two weeks after camp for everyone who attended camp. they go through a devotional called "my first thirty quiet times." out of curiosity i searched through it to see what it would say about the trinity. after all, what kind of introduction to the Christian faith would exclude the trinity? i found the statement:
How can God be one person and be three different people--Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit? I cannot tell you how; I can only tell you that it's true. God is a unit. He is one God and only one. Yet, He is three entities within that one...There is no illustration that adequately captures the truth of who God is. Perhaps H20 comes closest. H2O is always H2O, except it can appear in three entities: water, ice, and steam. Another illustration, again inadequate, is that of a married man with children. He is a father, a husband, and a son to his father.
now, by "inadequate" i'm guessing the author means something like "misguided," "inappropriate," or "Sabellianistic."
send comments and gracious corrections to ty saltzgiver at tysaltz@aol.com.
ireland
i'm in waterford, ireland right now in an internet cafe. the country's so beautiful. it looks just like wisconsin--lush, green hills. the hills here are a lot biger, though. i swam in the atlantic ocean yesterday, by the time i got out of the water my testicles had become ovaries, but i earned major youth pastor points.
i promise i won't leave without having a guiness at a pub. so much to say...don't want to pay another 2 euros for more time...
Caught
every once in a while i like to go to the guitar room at guitar center and play the taylors and gibsons. the other day i headed straight for the guitar room, but a saleswoman followed me in, so there i was...being supervised. i couldn't pick up a guitar in front of her because she and i both knew i wasn't going to buy anything, not to mention that her hair was shorter and voice deeper than mine, so i was a little scared. so we just chatted about our guitar preferences, and i slipped out and bought the strings i'd come for. what a wasted trip.
John Piper is a Sham!
i was just observing that two ingredients of a popular blog are controversy and the defaming of prominent evangelicals. so, in an effort to perpetuate and perhaps even develop readership i will say:
john piper is a sham. christian hedonism is deeply offensive. god is not enthralled with himself, rather he is eternally concerned with me. he designs his every thought and motive around human activity. my virtue is ultimately tied to my identity, not christ's.
My Birthday
so the sudden inquiry into tastes in music wasn't without purpose. yesterday was my birthday. i turned 25 yesterday. it was sunday so i spent the morning at church teaching sunday school. i had lunch at my favorite restaurant-ojeda's. jonny helped me cap off the day with some skittles and cappucino hookah (one at a time--skittles then cappucino). my wife gave me an iowa hawkeyes blanket, a poker set (with the real chips), and a pair of chuck taylors. my in-laws gave me a $50 gift certificate to american eagle, which i spent on a pair of jeans and a pair of shorts. my abundantly generous parents got me a 150.00 gift certificate to amazon.com (thus the 10 cd's question). while i do care about your input on music i went ahead and ordered. i actually got 16 cd's and 1 movie:
cd's:
some fred hammond (speak those things)
patty griffin-1,000 kisses
nirvana-mtv unplugged in new york
buddy miller-universal united house of prayer
tom waits-closing time (per jonny's suggestion)
starflyer59-leave here a stranger
u2-the joshua tree (lost to a car robbery earlier this year)
u2-all that you can't leave behind
uncle tupelo-no depression
bill mallonee-dear life
tom petty-wildflowers
the beatles-sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band (the album francis schaeffer says marks music's movement below the "line of despair")
counting crows-films about ghosts: the best of counting crows
phish-billy breathes
son volt-trace
wilco-yankee hotel foxtrot
bob dylan-blonde on blonde (i know, i know i should have had this one long ago)
movie:
bottle rocket (the first, little known wes anderson/owen wilson collaboration, cf. rushmore, royal tennenbaums, the life aquatic)
i love birthdays!
Vote or Die
my blog is as much about the readers as it is about me. thus, in an effort to maintain an air of democracy i'm once again asking your input.
say you suddenly had no cd's at all. what 10 cd's would you go out and buy immediately?
a couple weeks ago i handed in our final assignment for the seminar on jonathan edwards class--a paper simply listing ten questions we had over each major work we had read. my hebrew final had detained me from handing it in until after hours, so all the lights were off in the TS office, but dr. hannah was in his office talking to dr. horrell, so i thought i'd just slide it under the door, hannah would pick it up on the way out, and i'd be ok. well, a couple of days later i got a call at home from dr. hannah. he hadn't received my paper. i was puzzled, but realized that while i had put my name on the other one, i had not put what class it was for, so i emailed him another one, he graded it and i got an A-. everyone was happy.
this morning i checked my mailbox and found my paper--the original one--with markings and comments on it. attached was a sheet that read:
individual project evaluation form
st102 trinitarianism
dr. scott horrell
in the comments box on the evaluation sheet were the words:
tyson, are we missing a cover page? what's going on? if you talked to me (and i think you did), you still need to tell the reader what you are doing. -jsh
dr. horrell gave me a 93 on a paper that wasn't even for his class, but apparently i had cleared it with him so it was okay.
the funniest part of the whole thing is that when i took trinitarianism from horrell i only got a 90 on my individual project.
Things I Do for My Wife
i was in super target last night doing some much-needed grocery shopping, and thought i'd get something for my wife. i saw these real casual dresses on the rack and thought one would look good on my wife. it looked like it might be a little short, but it was hard to tell since it was on a hanger and everything. now, i'm roughly the same height as my wife, so there i was in a public place and i notice my arm reaching out for this dress and i remember thinking "hey tyson, what do you think you're going to do with that dress? cause i know you're not going to hold it up to yourself to check the length." well, i didn't hold it up to myself. i took the much more intelligent route of crouching beside it until my shoulders were in line with the hanger. yes, that was the picture of masculinity.
the dress was too short.
I'm an Uncle
my sister in law robin gave birth to my first nephew yesterday. noah tristan guthrie. i--like most guys except for the father traditionally do--zoned out when they started listing his stats, so i can't tell you the weight and length.
Interior Decorating
recently our apartment managers painted their apartment. it was very trendy, too, with the dark, bold color on the walls and the white trim. the result was an immediate desire in my wife to do the same. you see, they allow tenants to paint their apartments as long as they paint it back to the original color before they leave. i'm all about change myself, and i like my wife to be happy, so our walls are now clifff rock. i kinda like it.
New Music
i just got two cd's this week. first i found the newest norah jones cd, so i got that for my wife--it's great. way better than come away with me in my opinion. then as i was browsing i found pedro the lion's album control. this may be pedro's best album. (it's hard to find a friend may be better. it's definitely a better pedro the lion primer if you're looking to get into them) control is not a collection of songs, the album itself tells the story of an over-worked, unfaithful husband who loses his job. eventually the wife kills the husband. the second to last song is about his funeral where the priest delivers a less than hopeful message. the first nine songs leave you disgusted with life in general, then comes the last song, sung unbearably slowly here are the lyrics:
Wouldn't it be so wonderful if everything were meaningless
But everything is so meaningful
And most everything turns to shit
Rejoice
i had a copy a few years ago and , in my weak conscience, i had edited three songs off of it. two that depicted sexual infidelity and this last song. having listened to the cd now unabridged all the way through, i realize that in my attempt to sanctify the album i had actually corrupted it--i had removed the gospel. granted it was never explicit, but this last song takes the vivid portrait of hopeless humanity which says "this is all there is" (actually a quote from another artist) and pans out showing that the saddest part of the story is that it is meaningful, very meaningful, but for those for whom that world has become "shit" (i think he's aluding to phil 3:8 and the third line is a double entendre transitioning from the hopeless of the story to the basis for rejoicing) there remains rejoicing. it's a beautiful story and, whether you agree with the delivery or not, a beautiful message.
The Pictures
i just added these pictures, so if anybody wanted to put a face to my name they wouldn't be able to. so here you go, general public...or matt and jon. they're really random because the only pictures i have on my work computer are from a power point i made to introduce myself to my youth group.
This is me with derek webb. i look like i'm 15, but i think i was 19 in that pic. if i look nervous its cause i was man-crushin' on derek.
The Beauty that is a Freebird Burrito
as i type i am finishing a monster burrito with a cayenne tortilla, rice, mixed cheese, refried beans, steak, extra cheese, and hot sauce.
DTS
I've said plenty on my blog about what I dislike about DTS, but there's plenty of good to be said about it, too. There are departments that I dislike, but the academic departments, I think, are heading in the right direction. By academic I mean the Old Testament, New Testament, and the Theological Studies Department. These departments are almost entirely made up of professors who take scholarship seriously. We have an Oxford and two Aberdeen grads in the New Testament dept., graduates from Cambridge and Hebrew Union in the OT dept. and a Cambridge grad in the TS dept. Further, the Historical Theology faculty (Bingham and Hannah) are committed to scholarly study in the context of true godly devotion. I have a respect for these men that borders on idolatry. In short, I believe that it is possible to recieve a solid theological education from Dallas Theological Seminary. And my hope is that as these scholarly jewels of DTS become more notable, a degree recieved under them will become better reputed as well. (Having said that, I will not be seeking a doctoral degree from DTS because this is still only a hope.)
Jon Kever
every time i see jon kever perform i become a bigger fan. the first time i saw jon kever jon kever was just the unfamiliar name below bill mallonee's at poor david's. i saw jon kever and said to jon kever "i need to catch some of jon kever's solo acts." since then i've bought jon kever's album ( www.pastemusic.com/product/790) and plan to buy the one jon kever's recording now the minute it comes off the line. you can see jon kever tomorrow night (thursday) at the highlands cafe.
Ripping the theological hair from my head
Two things frustrated me today about the professor of my Hebrews, Gen. Ep. and Revelation class.
1. The professor said at least three different times about three different views of his, "I'm alone in this." I wanted to say, "hey, maybe that's because you're wrong." Not because I suppose myself to have arrived at the correct view on the subject, but because I can't imagine that the Holy Spirit would hide a truth from the church for centuries only to reveal it to Dr. _______ of Dallas Theological Seminary.
2. I was much more disturbed over the next item. My professor actually said that he believes that "Adam did not die spiritually." Furthermore any view which supposes Adam did die is based on a faulty understanding of the Hebrew verb translated "you will die" in Gen. 2:17. Now, he does believe there was sin and a fall, but says Adam never lost faith, so he passed straight from a state of Edenic perfection to what converted saints now experience. (He will not say Adam was converted or saved because Adam was never lost.) He also believes in the innate depravity of Adam's posterity, but this creates a problem for him. How could God impute something from Adam to us which was never true of Adam? i.e. spiritual death. I posed this question to him in class, but he said "you can't work backwards like that." The question I thought of quietly to myself after this was, "if what is imputed need not be true of the representative (as this professor supposes) Christ need not be righteous." If we can inherit spiritual death from a man who did not die spiritually, then we can inherit righteousness from a sinner. Nevermind the fact that this whole view is yet another which the professor is "alone on."
Doug Burr
every time i see doug perform i become a bigger fan. the first time i saw him he was just the unfamiliar name below bill mallonee's at poor david's. i saw him and said to myself "i need to catch some of his solo acts." since then i've bought his album ( www.pastemusic.com/product/790) and plan to buy the one he's recording now the minute it comes off the line. you can see him tomorrow night (thursday) at the highlands cafe.
A Good Show
For those in the Dallas area with nothing to do on Tuesday nights, may I make a suggestion? Kristy Kruger hosts a Song-writers in the Round show at Club DaDa every Tuesday night. Three artists sit on stage and swap songs and stories all night. Kristy's got a good sound, but the company she keeps makes the show worth attending. So far I've seen her with Doug Burr, Salim Nourallah, Chris Holt, Rahim Quasi, and Trey Johnson (of Sorta). There is not one of these artists whose solo show I wouldn't pay to see, oh but that's the best part--there's no cover for the Round, just a suggested donation of $5. In April they had $2 drafts and burgers and hotdogs in the back, (I'm hoping this will carry into the summer). And if you see me there, that's just iced tea in a pint glass.
Lori vs. Don?
if you can call them a christian band, waterdeep is the best christian band ever. (unless perhaps you can call vigilantes of love a christian band, in which case there's some mild to heated competition). until recent years there has been no room for elevating one front-person above the other, but with the advent of what you don't know (don's first solo work since the conception of waterdeep, cf. you were at the time for love) came the question, "could don be better on his own than in the company of his wife?" further, lori's solo album, 1beginning, with its similarities in tone and genre to sink or swim (which is arguably the best waterdeep album, and therefore the best christian album ever made), provides a significant rebuttal to any argument for the supremacy of don. but when we ask this question are we not comparing apples to oranges? Should we not rather say they each have different styles and personalities which excel on their own but harmonize equally beautifully in the work of the band? no. don's better.
All Apologies (What else should i be?)
Being that I'm fairly new to the blogging world I am still figuring out how I want my site set up. I've switched to haloscan commenting, so i can support avatar's. As a result, I've once again lost everybody's comments.
A Littled Cold
One of the problems with following my brother through seminary is that I watched him care less and less about jumping through the seminary hoops. (By these hoops I mean BE, PM, and CE classes all of which I will from now on place under the umbrella of the "BS deptartment.") Now whereas he was wide-eyed and optimistic for at least a year and a half I entered seminary having inherited his lack of investment in some major portions of DTS' core curriculum. All of this to say I just learned yesterday that my summer class, which starts this morning, is not OT History 2, but Hebrews, Gen. Epistles and Revelation, and this change of schedule did not phase me. Further, I am writing in my blog now because I thought my class started at 8:00, but it doesn't start until 8:45. Somebody please give me a reason to want to attend this 3 hour sunday school class!
Done With Classes!
I finished all of my work yesterday at about 5:00. Now I have three good, empty days before I start my first summer class. This sounds depressing, but I find it helps when I talk to the kids in my youth group and learn they get out of school when I'm finishing my first summer class. Then I can just say it's like a normal semester with 2 bonus credits.
A Disclaimer
I don't want to be viewed as an "Edwards guy." Maybe it's just because there are a million of them at the seminary and I don't want to be just another one. (It's not popular to be popular these days.)
A Little Bit of Edwards for You
"The end for which God pours out His Spirit is to make men holy, and not to make them politicians."
I never knew Edwards could be so sassy. This quote has some bite to it, and I think that's what I like about it. I was raised to be a polititcian--to present myself as having it all together. I think this is the goal of much of popular Christian culture. We present Christianity as an alternative culture with our own family values, song lyrics, self-improvement books, and addictive, behavior-modifying beverages (coffee). Now, I'm a big fan of strong families, good lyrics, and personal change (so long as its not self-change). And believe me, few people enjoy addictive, behavior-modifying beverages more than I (on exceptional occasions to be sure). All this to say, I think the Christian community would do better to be holy in whatever culture they find themselves, than to create their own culture which they present as more holy. Having delivered my rant, I think there is a growing portion of evangelicals (most of whom wisely reject this stigma) who are saying exactly the same thing.
Almost Done with Classes
So I'm almost done with the semester. I just have to write ten questions on each of the works of Jonathan Edwards we read this semester for the seminar on Jonathan Edwards. I'm finding it difficult to ask questions simply because Edwards doesn't leave questions to be asked. Dr. Hannah has compared reading Edwards to walking out of the rubble of the Oklahoma City bombing. You're disoriented and confused, but all that's left standing is Edwards position, so you accept it. So, when I finish that I'll study for Hebrew, but we're allowed to use so many helps on the exam I'm not sure what to study. Do you study vocab when you can bring a lexcion to the test? Do you study paradigms when you can use a parsing wheel? Anyway, I start summer classes on monday, so the end of the semester loses its impact, but I will have three good days of absolutely nothing hanging over my head. Those three days will be wonderful.