There's a new blog in town

Check out my father's blog, Mercy and Truth. It is based on a weekly newsletter he sends to the parents and students of the home school consortium he administers. I've posted a few of his writings on this blog (here and here), but now he will have his own presence in the blogosphere.

Archives Lost And Found

This story caught my interest because it combines Archives and World War II. The quick summary: a collection of 700 year old manuscripts was recently returned to Poland after being found among the possessions of a deceased World War II veteran in Wisconsin. This story reminds me of a paper I wrote in graduate school on the recovery of art treasures looted by the Nazis during the war. A very interesting and fun paper. The first and third Indiana Jones films were at the very least inspired by the true story.

College Football and the Underdogs

It is that time of year again when I actually care about sports - Football is about the only sport I enjoy (soccer being another). So once again I'm playing the Silly Underdog Contest put on by the local sportstalk radio station. The object is to try and pick three underdogs each week that you think will win outright. This year, instead of posting my picks in seperate posts, I'm going to post my picks as comments to this post. If you're interested in following along, I will put a link to this post in my favorite posts on the left. Your welcome to play along or just riducule my silly picks.

p.s. Go Vols!

Tale of two songs

Two songs have been resonating within me recently. One is from 1983 by one of the Jesus Movement's leading prophets Keith Green and the other was released last month by the Lost Dogs. Both correlate well with Rob Bell's New Exodus sermon series and the Starving Jesus tour.

Open Your Eyes - Keith Green

This generation of believers that you and me are a part of, we are responsible for this generation of souls, all over the world. We're responsible for them. We're responsible to pray daily for the needs of ministries around the world, and ask God "how about me not sending my money this time, how about me going?" It's so easy to write checks, it's so easy. But God can't cash out of state checks in Heaven. He needs you!

Open your eyes to the world all around you, open your eyes, open your eyes.
This world is much more than the things that surround you.
You must arise and open your eyes.
Sometimes we're too busy to share, but Jesus wants us to care.

Open your arms to the naked and shivering, open your arms, open your arms.
We need a little less taking, a whole lot more giving.
We're so safe and warm, we can open our arms.
And love a little bit stronger and pray a little bit longer.

Jesus says, when we love someone in His name, we're loving Him.
Jesus says, when we touch someone in His name, we're touching Him.
And we've got to show them the light, we've got to pour out our lives.

Open your hearts to the ones who are desperate, open your hearts, open your hearts.
They may never repay you, but their souls are worth it,
The life you impart when you open your heart.
Jesus loves all men the same,
So we've got to go out in His name.

Jesus says, when we touch someone in His name, we're touching Him.
Jesus says, when we love someone in His name, we're loving Him.
Jesus says, when we feed someone in His name, we're feeding Him.
And Jesus says, when we reach someone in His name,
He feels, He says, it's all for Him.
It's all for Him

Open your eyes to the world all around you, open your eyes, open your eyes.
This world is much more than the things that surround you.
Jesus loves all men the same, so we've got to go out in His name.
Jesus says, Jesus says, Jesus says, it's Him.
Jesus says, when we love someone in His name, we're loving Him.

hat tip: Keith Green Lyrics Page
----------------------------
That's Where Jesus Is - The Lost Dogs

He’s not sittin’ up in the White House
Not subject to your big debate
Keeps His hands completely off Wall Street
Don’t own stocks, bonds or Real Estate
He ain’t up droppin’ bombs on people
Or workin’ on a college degree
He tunes out all them radio blowhards
Can’t stand the networks and religious TV

Chorus:
That’s Jesus in the homeless faces
With the junkies in their livin’ hell
That’s Jesus with the drunks and in
The lonely places
The rest homes and prison cells
That’s where Jesus is
That’s where Jesus is

He don’t hug trees or kill ‘em
Or drive a particular car
Won’t help you write a big hit song
Don’t care how good lookin’ you are
And Jesus won’t be voting
He’s not your party crashin’ dog in this fight
Not a fan rootin’ for your home team
Don’t insure that your future is bright

Chorus:
That’s Jesus in the homeless faces
With the junkies in their livin’ hell
That’s Jesus with the drunks and in
The lonely places
The rest homes and prison cells
That’s where Jesus is
Where we ought to be
Here’s where Jesus works
Inside you and me
With the folks with AIDS
And the suffering kids
That’s where Jesus hangs
That’s where Jesus is

On the corner ‘round the prostitutes
Is where He’ll probably show
He gets invited to church sometimes
And sometimes He don’t go
Don’t care nuthin’ about your status
What you can or you can’t afford
Don’t care if you’re voted best actor
Not impressed with your big award

He’s not in the five star restaurant
Eating a six course meal
He’s not over on some golf course
Discussing the oil deal

He wants our voice (That’s where Jesus is)
That’s how He talks (That’s where Jesus is)
That’s how He walks (That’s where Jesus is)
And He wants our faith (That’s where Jesus is)
But there’s never enough
He wants our hearts (That’s where Jesus is)
That’s how He Loves

Chorus:
That’s where Jesus is
That’s where Jesus is
That’s where Jesus is

40 days of nothing

The fine folks at XXXchurch.com and Mars Hill Bible Church will be kicking off a national tour in hopes of waking up churches across the country and challenging them to venture out of their sanctuaries and into their communities. The website is StarvingJesus.com and the tour is called 40 days of nothing. One of the challenges they issue is to consider fasting. I'm going to fast from sweets for forty days - no cake, no cookies, no ice cream from August 5 to September 13. Check out the website to see if the tour will stop in your 'hood, read the first chapter of the forthcoming book, and pray about how you can get involved.

iPod check

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

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.

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.

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.

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".