Here's what happened when I put my iPod on shuffle this morning:
Porcelain - Moby
New Mate - Figurine (Napoleon Dynamite Sndtrk)
East of Eden - Lone Justice
I Should Have Known Better - The Beatles
I Can't Take It - The Choir
My Room - Daniel Amos
America - Simon and Garfunkel
U R Trippin' - The 77's
Shiny Floor - The Choir
In A Little While - U2
Sick of It All - The Vigilantes of Love
Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles
Lutheran Hymn - Greg Adkins
It's So Sad - The Lost Dogs
I Know There's An Answer/Hang On To Your Ego - Aaron Sprinkle
Youth With A Machine - Daniel Amos
Worry Too Much - Buddy Miller
Fall On Me - R.E.M.
Take Five - The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Golden - Switchfoot
All You Hold On To - Michael Been (The Call)
Design - Fiction Company (Napoleon Dynamite Sndtrk)
Whole Again - Jennifer Knapp
Ricki Racer - Michael Knott
Buffalo Hills (Acoustic) - Daniel Amos
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Just a flesh wound
Sunday night, while at a cookout, a picnic table bit me and left a souvenir in my shin. We've all had splinters - No big deal, right? Well this splinter was two inches long and completely embedded in my leg. Fortunately, two RNs were on hand to extract it, and my leg is healing nicely. 
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Everything Is Spiritual: A Review
Monday night, my friends, brother-in-law and I, attended Rob Bell’s Everything Is Spiritual tour stop here in Nashville at Rocketown. For the past two years, I’ve been listening to Rob online thanks to Mars Hill Bible Church where he is the teaching pastor. I’ve also viewed several of his Nooma videos. His teaching brings fresh perspective to many of the scriptures that I have grown up with and last night was no exception.
To most folks, it must seem odd to buy tickets to hear a pastor speak at a club. And to a certain extent they would be correct. The atmosphere resembled a rock concert more than a lecture or sermon, and the audience was primarily in their 20s and 30s. Then without any fanfare or introduction, the lights were dimmed and Bell’s tall and lanky frame bounded out onto a nearly empty stage except for a long white board. He immediately launches into his extemporaneous monologue with the first phrase found in Genesis, “In the Beginning…”
From there, he led us through the Genesis 1 creation account, highlighting the poetic forms found within it and unpacking its contextual significance to its original audience. Bell’s style is unique; equal parts professor, pastor and comedian. And his content incorporated theology, hermeneutics, literature, history, astronomy, quantum physics, string theory, numerology, linguistics, philosophy, and pop culture. His intent was not to build a case against modern science. Instead he used science to illustrate the wonder of our Creator God and the complexity of His creation. He let scientific facts speak for themselves – pointing to just how “finely tuned” the universe and our very existence is.
Bell discusses perspective and borrows the metaphor of a two-dimensional world called “flatland”. How would “flatlanders” react if a three-dimensional object suddenly collided with their two-dimensional world? Would they have a vocabulary or worldview sufficient to describe and understand this intersection between the two worlds? Would some explain the phenomenon away as natural? Would others ascribe deeper significance to the event? Would competing world-views emerge to either deny or prove the existence of a three-dimensional reality?
He then shifted gears to emphasize how we as human beings are a fusion of the dust of this earth with the very breath of God. If God is spirit and we are created in His image, then we should recognize that we are equally spiritual as well as physical beings. Bell proclaims that all aspects of our lives our spiritual, and that we in the church, then, err just a much as the atheist, when we create labels such as secular vs. sacred and compartmentalize our lives into spiritual and physical. All of our lives (Everything) are inspired by God (Spiritual).
Bell’s talk lasted just under 2 hours, yet the time flew by. He kept his audience alert with his kinetic movements to and fro across the stage, entertained with his wit, and spellbound with the breadth of his knowledge. While his intellectual skills are undeniably impressive, his true giftedness is in the presentation of ideas. If you can catch the end of the tour, I highly recommend it. If not, checkout his Mars Hill sermons, the Nooma videos, and/or his book Velvet Elvis.
To most folks, it must seem odd to buy tickets to hear a pastor speak at a club. And to a certain extent they would be correct. The atmosphere resembled a rock concert more than a lecture or sermon, and the audience was primarily in their 20s and 30s. Then without any fanfare or introduction, the lights were dimmed and Bell’s tall and lanky frame bounded out onto a nearly empty stage except for a long white board. He immediately launches into his extemporaneous monologue with the first phrase found in Genesis, “In the Beginning…”
From there, he led us through the Genesis 1 creation account, highlighting the poetic forms found within it and unpacking its contextual significance to its original audience. Bell’s style is unique; equal parts professor, pastor and comedian. And his content incorporated theology, hermeneutics, literature, history, astronomy, quantum physics, string theory, numerology, linguistics, philosophy, and pop culture. His intent was not to build a case against modern science. Instead he used science to illustrate the wonder of our Creator God and the complexity of His creation. He let scientific facts speak for themselves – pointing to just how “finely tuned” the universe and our very existence is.
Bell discusses perspective and borrows the metaphor of a two-dimensional world called “flatland”. How would “flatlanders” react if a three-dimensional object suddenly collided with their two-dimensional world? Would they have a vocabulary or worldview sufficient to describe and understand this intersection between the two worlds? Would some explain the phenomenon away as natural? Would others ascribe deeper significance to the event? Would competing world-views emerge to either deny or prove the existence of a three-dimensional reality?
He then shifted gears to emphasize how we as human beings are a fusion of the dust of this earth with the very breath of God. If God is spirit and we are created in His image, then we should recognize that we are equally spiritual as well as physical beings. Bell proclaims that all aspects of our lives our spiritual, and that we in the church, then, err just a much as the atheist, when we create labels such as secular vs. sacred and compartmentalize our lives into spiritual and physical. All of our lives (Everything) are inspired by God (Spiritual).
Bell’s talk lasted just under 2 hours, yet the time flew by. He kept his audience alert with his kinetic movements to and fro across the stage, entertained with his wit, and spellbound with the breadth of his knowledge. While his intellectual skills are undeniably impressive, his true giftedness is in the presentation of ideas. If you can catch the end of the tour, I highly recommend it. If not, checkout his Mars Hill sermons, the Nooma videos, and/or his book Velvet Elvis.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Festival Time
It is that time of year again when thousands of people travel hundreds of miles to sleep outdoors and brave the elements in order to hear good music. No I'm not talking about Bonnaroo, which is put on here in Middle Tennessee. I'm talking about the annual Cornerstone Music Festival in Bushnell, Illinois. IMHO, this is the premier music festival for fans of faith influenced music. If you haven't been, you really should.
I attended the festival in 1997 and again in 2000 and have great memories of seeing Adam Again, the Vigilantes of Love, the Call, Rich Mullins, Daniel Amos, the Crossing, Over the Rhine, John Fischer, the 77's, and the Lost Dogs. Of course I'm not there this year, but you can checkout ZionRed's blog for an eyewitness account. You can also checkout Cornerstone's live media coverage.
In honor of C-stone, I'm posting this video clip from 1997 when Terry Taylor (Daniel Amos, Lost Dogs) gave Pat Robertson a tour of the festival.
I attended the festival in 1997 and again in 2000 and have great memories of seeing Adam Again, the Vigilantes of Love, the Call, Rich Mullins, Daniel Amos, the Crossing, Over the Rhine, John Fischer, the 77's, and the Lost Dogs. Of course I'm not there this year, but you can checkout ZionRed's blog for an eyewitness account. You can also checkout Cornerstone's live media coverage.
In honor of C-stone, I'm posting this video clip from 1997 when Terry Taylor (Daniel Amos, Lost Dogs) gave Pat Robertson a tour of the festival.
Highlights
Its been a busy couple of weeks here.
Janell's cousin BJ, her husband, their three girls and their dog all came through town last week and will return tonight as they trek between Dallas and Pennsylvannia. Our girls love to slumber party with their cousins.
I turned thirty-five. My mom and sister were in town to help me celebrate, and they brought my newborn nephew, Will, with them. Janell and the girls also took me out to dinner at one of our favorite local places, Demos' Steak and Spaghetti House.
I finally got around to seeing King Kong on Friday. If ever a movie needed an editor this was the one. Take away about an hour and it might have been enjoyable. By the end, I just wanted the "damn dirty ape" to die so I could go to bed. Or maybe it need Charlton Heston....
We also watched Memoirs of a Geisha this weekend. A visually stunning film that seemed tragic despite the "happy ending".
Monday we hosted a game night. I managed to win at Blokus and TransEuropa only to lose at Settlers.
Then we spent Tuesday on the lake and playing more games. My friend John has a boat, so we packed up the kids and did a little boating and tubing. Taylor called it "zooming".
Janell's cousin BJ, her husband, their three girls and their dog all came through town last week and will return tonight as they trek between Dallas and Pennsylvannia. Our girls love to slumber party with their cousins.
I turned thirty-five. My mom and sister were in town to help me celebrate, and they brought my newborn nephew, Will, with them. Janell and the girls also took me out to dinner at one of our favorite local places, Demos' Steak and Spaghetti House.
I finally got around to seeing King Kong on Friday. If ever a movie needed an editor this was the one. Take away about an hour and it might have been enjoyable. By the end, I just wanted the "damn dirty ape" to die so I could go to bed. Or maybe it need Charlton Heston....
We also watched Memoirs of a Geisha this weekend. A visually stunning film that seemed tragic despite the "happy ending".
Monday we hosted a game night. I managed to win at Blokus and TransEuropa only to lose at Settlers.
Then we spent Tuesday on the lake and playing more games. My friend John has a boat, so we packed up the kids and did a little boating and tubing. Taylor called it "zooming".
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