give me kisses?
bake the cookies?
make little greggies?
tell me when I'm being an ass?
forgive me for being an ass?
wear the dresses?
wear the army boots?
let me pretend to wear the pants?
wear the nose ring?
make me feel like superman?
be my kryptonite?
tell me good night?
elbow me when I snore?
shake me awake when I yell in my sleep?
complain about all my socks under the covers?
pretend not to laugh at my jokes?
balance the check book?
tell me when it's time to retire a favorite shirt?
listen to my stories?
support my decisions?
show me mercy?
be patient?
alphabetize teh cd's?
point out my misspellings?
draw attention to my odor production?
shave the back of my head?
insist that I trim my eyebrows?
teach my sons to listen?
to learn?
to laugh?
to love?
use the pink shaving cream in the shower?
smell like sugar cookies?
bat eyelashes?
floss... like ten times a day?
learn my favorite beer?
bring home my favorite beer?
remind me to bring home the tupperware?
order a bean burritto w/ sour cream, no onion?
return the library books?
let me replay the same guitar solo 10x in a row on the car stereo?
listen to me rant about the latest wilco album?
wait with me in the freezing cold for an over the rhine concert?
wait with me in the sizzling heat for an over the rhine concert?
tell me from the other room to come to bed when it's late and I'm typing on the computer?
Coming, honey.
Good night.
25.2.05
Be This Guy.
Ok, boys and girls, in an effort to provide a more interactive blog for my readers, I've decided to begin a new, weekly feature. It's called "Be This Guy". Here's how it works. Each week I will post a new photo of some random person whose photo I find on the web or wherever. Then you guys will write the guy's life story in first person. Who are you? What is your name? your career? Your story? Be creative. Have fun. Here's your chance to contribute. To leave a comment you'll have to register with blogspot. Then the management at funky presbyterian will select a winner of the week. So for our first time around I submit to you the photo of a distinguished, bearded gent. Yay! This will be fun.
On Trypticals
Read about this work by Cliff Mc Reynolds and see others in the digital galleries and exhibits at CIVA's website. Click on the link titled Christians in the visual arts.
Holy Cow! (small town dad raises big city kids)
Here's a picture of Jack and a cow. I like this picture. It was a fun day at the Great Darke County Fair and Jack had never been that close to a cow before. It was a very big deal. I was raised in a small town in rural Ohio and it always surprises me when Jack says things that remind me I'm raising city kids, now. He was absolutely flabbergasted when Charity and I explained that when we were kids we only went to the shopping mall once every three months or so. He was stunned. Like we had been subject to some kind of strange ritualistic abuse or something. I remember when we were at the Great Darke County Fair he asked where all the African American people were. We thought that was a good question to ask. It's just a different kind of childhood to be raised as a city kid. The kind where cows are a big deal, I guess.
We oughta forge ourselves a new kind of life. You know, greater diversity, fewer malls, more cows. That sounds nice. Come to think of it, that sounds like a pretty accurate description of Heaven. Thy kingdom come. Amen.
We oughta forge ourselves a new kind of life. You know, greater diversity, fewer malls, more cows. That sounds nice. Come to think of it, that sounds like a pretty accurate description of Heaven. Thy kingdom come. Amen.
Speaking In Indy
Sunday morning I am speaking at a church in Indianapolis. Redeemer in downtown Indy is one of my all time favorite churches in the world. They are great folks, with a great story and were very instrumental in my call to church planting, even though they don't really know that. Anyway, we're taking the whole family and a good friend of ours got us a great rate on a room at the Westin, so we're staying in style. (Jack has never stayed in a hotel before. We'll be sure to jump on the beds). I'm speaking on a parable from Luke sunday morning and then high-tailing it back to Columbus to speak at grace central Sunday evening. Should be a good day.
24.2.05
On Being A Fork
Recently I read a prayer of Jim Elliot (that's him in the picture), "Lord, make me a crisis man. Let me not be a milepost on a single road, but make me a fork that men must turn one way or another in facing Christ in me". These words struck me. If we are fulfilling our calling as followers of Christ, if we are speaking the gospel and living like its true, people around us will inevitibly be brought to a place of crisis. We will become to the people around us a fork in the road, where they are confronted with the Christ within us. Even if we are as gentle and compassionate and gracious as possible, the moment will surely come when the friend chooses a road. Often we try to soften or avoid this crisis moment at all costs. It is awkward and there is always the risk of offending and alienating our friends. A Chrsitian must be exceedingly cautious to ensure that the crisis is caused by Christ in us and NOT by us! There is enough to cause offense in the gospel we believe. We ought not add to the offense with our big mouths or our boorish attitudes. But if Christ in us causes crisis then so be it. The hard part comes when we are rejected along with Christ and the friend chooses to leave us behind. That's tough to deal with, but its what we are called to in this life. Here's a relevant text from the New Testament:
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?"
But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)
And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."
Christ was a fork in the road. Let us be as well.
(To read more about Jim Elliot's story check this out: http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b4jelliot6ra.htm
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?"
But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)
And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."
Christ was a fork in the road. Let us be as well.
(To read more about Jim Elliot's story check this out: http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b4jelliot6ra.htm
22.2.05
So Spooky It's Beautiful
There are times when one encounters a work of art so amazingly beautiful, it's spooky. I think for instance of a handful of songs by Over the Rhine, the guitar solo in u2's "Love is Blindness", a painting or two by Edward Hopper, and several by Caravaggio. These are works that are so beautiful it is spooky. I have recently experienced the inverse of this phenomena. While in Los Angeles I purchased an album by Wovenhand, a side project of David Eugene Edwards, the lead singer of a moderately known gothic-folk act called 16 Horsepower. (That's right, I said "gothic-folk"). Wovenhand's 2004 release entitled "Consider the Birds" is so spooky, it's downright beautiful. I venture to guess you have not encountered a work of staggering spiritual profundity like "Consider the Birds" in a long time. Edwards, like his label mate Sufjan Stevens, is a believer making excellent and creative music for all discerning listeners, not for Christian rock listeners. And yet the struggle of faith breaks through the music with startling clarity.
Here are some clips from recent reviews:
so utterly soulful and important. It's everything music should be. You don't need to agree with Edwards' spiritual bent, or even understand what he's on about. This music is passionate, pure and heartfelt and disturbingly personal. Thus it's more important than 90 percent of the music that gets made these days. - From KQED.com
he sings the way Jonathan Edwards preached in his famous sermons of the 1730s – voice low, rarely making eye contact, but with the furious conviction that none of us have a moment to waste.- Dusted Magazine
In the swampy gypsy bayou of "To Make A Ring" Edwards beseeches nonbelievers to realize that "judgment is not avoided by your unbelief/ Your lack of fear/ Nor by your prayers to any little idol here...The lord will not be mocked/ Not by you or me." Gathering a gale force, the track ends with a hermetic sing-a-long around a burning maypole: "We will weave our voice, we will weave our voice together and sing forever round the throne." So, if like me you don't believe in God, then why listen? Well, because unlike empty teen angst or bitchy navel gazing, Edwards has a certified message and even with the spikes and thorns and judgments his work emerges from a compelling, otherworldly mindset.
As our country turns further towards the conservative right, it makes sense to some to be suspicious of religiosity but from my atheistic vantage, Consider the Birds is pleasingly scabrous and utterly apocalyptic. Instead of peppering his work with brief/sappy/peachy references, Edwards unleashes a torrent. Accordingly, religion aside, Consider the Birds should please any and all fans of bleak testimonials and Valley-of-Darkness soundscapes. If you really do fear Godly cooties, block out Edwards lyrics (pretend he's speaking in undecipherable tongues or talking to his girlfriend) and instead take a walk along brittle pine needles with these dark melodies, virtuosic screeches, and that humid overbearingness of his stately vocalizations. - Pitchforkmedia.com
“I’m just singing from first-hand experience of how wretched people are. And I don’t need to go any further than myself,†says Edwards of his body of work, formed first as the lead vocalist and main songwriter behind Appalachian goth-folk outfit 16 Horsepower and now the center of his solo project, the more experimental Woven Hand. “I don’t have to point my finger at anybody else, because there is no need.†In so doing, Edwards, like Cash, creates a world rendered in stark black and white, peopled with characters that murder and steal and frantically try to stay one step ahead of the judgment they know is trailing them. As with Cash, Edwards uses his personal frailties and deep Christian faith to make unsettling comments on the human condition that are designed for a purpose startlingly out of step with the majority of contemporary entertainment: Edwards aims to make his listener uncomfortable. - from an interview in Paste magazine
Here are some clips from recent reviews:
so utterly soulful and important. It's everything music should be. You don't need to agree with Edwards' spiritual bent, or even understand what he's on about. This music is passionate, pure and heartfelt and disturbingly personal. Thus it's more important than 90 percent of the music that gets made these days. - From KQED.com
he sings the way Jonathan Edwards preached in his famous sermons of the 1730s – voice low, rarely making eye contact, but with the furious conviction that none of us have a moment to waste.- Dusted Magazine
In the swampy gypsy bayou of "To Make A Ring" Edwards beseeches nonbelievers to realize that "judgment is not avoided by your unbelief/ Your lack of fear/ Nor by your prayers to any little idol here...The lord will not be mocked/ Not by you or me." Gathering a gale force, the track ends with a hermetic sing-a-long around a burning maypole: "We will weave our voice, we will weave our voice together and sing forever round the throne." So, if like me you don't believe in God, then why listen? Well, because unlike empty teen angst or bitchy navel gazing, Edwards has a certified message and even with the spikes and thorns and judgments his work emerges from a compelling, otherworldly mindset.
As our country turns further towards the conservative right, it makes sense to some to be suspicious of religiosity but from my atheistic vantage, Consider the Birds is pleasingly scabrous and utterly apocalyptic. Instead of peppering his work with brief/sappy/peachy references, Edwards unleashes a torrent. Accordingly, religion aside, Consider the Birds should please any and all fans of bleak testimonials and Valley-of-Darkness soundscapes. If you really do fear Godly cooties, block out Edwards lyrics (pretend he's speaking in undecipherable tongues or talking to his girlfriend) and instead take a walk along brittle pine needles with these dark melodies, virtuosic screeches, and that humid overbearingness of his stately vocalizations. - Pitchforkmedia.com
“I’m just singing from first-hand experience of how wretched people are. And I don’t need to go any further than myself,†says Edwards of his body of work, formed first as the lead vocalist and main songwriter behind Appalachian goth-folk outfit 16 Horsepower and now the center of his solo project, the more experimental Woven Hand. “I don’t have to point my finger at anybody else, because there is no need.†In so doing, Edwards, like Cash, creates a world rendered in stark black and white, peopled with characters that murder and steal and frantically try to stay one step ahead of the judgment they know is trailing them. As with Cash, Edwards uses his personal frailties and deep Christian faith to make unsettling comments on the human condition that are designed for a purpose startlingly out of step with the majority of contemporary entertainment: Edwards aims to make his listener uncomfortable. - from an interview in Paste magazine
No Spectators Hurt in Hammer Appearance
As it turns out, Hammer did not rap, nor did he wear his magical genie pants when I was present for a live taping of his appearance on the TBN televangelist program entitled Praise the Lord! last week in the Orange County suburbs of Los Angeles. The former hip hop phenom was polite, passionate, and actually quite reasonable in his interview, as he spoke of his childhood in Oakland, California and his meteoric rise to super stardom in the early 1990's. There was no mention of his career's equally spectacular grind-to-a-screeching-halt-like plummet back to earth in the later half of the 1990's.
Back Home in Ohio
Well, my study leave is now over and I'm back in Columbus. My time away was refreshing, but it's good to be back. I didn't get quite as much read as I wanted to, but I did make good progress. I read 1900 pages from seven different books (not counting the Bible). The books really covered a range of topics and themes. I intend to give a brief synopsis of each book read on the blog very soon. Maybe you'll find it helpful. Some of the ideas I discovered will be working their way into grace central's ministry in the future. Another very helpful aspect of my trip was in attending a new PCA church in Newport, CA. It was planted about four years ago and is quite similar in many ways to what grace central is doing in Columbus. I learned a lot from just observing and talking to the leadership at that church. Anyway, I'm excited to get back at it here in Columbus and see how God is going to work among us this year.
18.2.05
books books books
A few more books I've read have provided some good insight. One deals with insights provided by interviewing formerly unchurched people and the factors they say lead to their inclusion in the church community. There were some fascinating insights there. What i appreciated is that this author, unlike most who write on these topics, did not attempt to boil everyhting down to one formula or "fail-proof" plan. He acknowledged that each instance was unique as all people are unique, and that the factors that lead to a person's choosing to become a part of a community of faith and many and varied. It is always a complex of factors that go into each instnace. But then he does distill out some principles that are helpful.
Another book was on the topic of leading people in spiritual discussions. It as a littel more formulaic but helpful none the less. Now I'm finishing up a thelogoy text on the Israel of God in the Old and New Testaments. It is pretty good, but a little slower reading than the other two i mentioned. After that i'm on to a book tht discusses the various traditions of the Christian faith in history.
Another book was on the topic of leading people in spiritual discussions. It as a littel more formulaic but helpful none the less. Now I'm finishing up a thelogoy text on the Israel of God in the Old and New Testaments. It is pretty good, but a little slower reading than the other two i mentioned. After that i'm on to a book tht discusses the various traditions of the Christian faith in history.
17.2.05
Please Hammer, don't hurt 'em!
Check it out! Tomorrow evening my friend Jason and I will be attneding a LIVE taping of the Trinity Broadcasting Network's Praise the Lord television program. As my dear wife can attest, I am a huge fan of televangelist programming. I find it irresistible in the same way one finds it difficult to resist staring at a car crash or big time wrestling. And best of all, guess who is in the hiz-ouse tomorrow... that's right all you funky presbyterians. The honorable reverend M.C. Hammer! You gots to pray just to make it today. Also, George Barna will be there as well. Quite surreal. Somebody wake me up! I must be dreaming. We gonna Turn this Mutha out!
16.2.05
Augustine's Confessions
Yesterday on the plane I was able to read Augustine's Confessions. Augustine was a North African theologian and church leader who was born in 354 A.D. This book is an autobiography of sorts, written in the form of an extended prayer to God. It is considered a classic. In it, Augustine tells of his wild youth and his long struggle to Christian conversion. For years his mother, Monica Prayed for him with many tears, that he would come to know Christ. Eventually he did and all of Christianity and western society was changed through his life and work. He is called the Father of Grace in that it was Augustine who began to formulate and emphasize the teaching of grace from scripture. Here's one of my favorite passages:
"Wither do you walk, farther and farther along these hard and toilsome roads? There is no rest to be found where you seek it: seek what you seek, but it lies not where you seek it. You seek a happy life in the land of death, but it is not there. How can you find a happy life where there is no life? But our life came down to us and he took away our death and he slew it out of the abundance of his own life. He thundered forth and cried out to us to return hence to him into that secret place from which he came forth to us... O you sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Even now, after the descent of life to you, do you not wish to ascend and to live? But how can you ascend when you have set yourselves up high and have placed your mouth against heaven? Descend so that you may ascend, so thatyou may scend to God. For you have fallen by ascending against God.
Tell this to those souls, so that they may weep in the valley of tears, and thus you will carry them along with you up to God. For it is of his Spirit that you tell them this, if you speak while burning with the fire of charity".
"Wither do you walk, farther and farther along these hard and toilsome roads? There is no rest to be found where you seek it: seek what you seek, but it lies not where you seek it. You seek a happy life in the land of death, but it is not there. How can you find a happy life where there is no life? But our life came down to us and he took away our death and he slew it out of the abundance of his own life. He thundered forth and cried out to us to return hence to him into that secret place from which he came forth to us... O you sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Even now, after the descent of life to you, do you not wish to ascend and to live? But how can you ascend when you have set yourselves up high and have placed your mouth against heaven? Descend so that you may ascend, so thatyou may scend to God. For you have fallen by ascending against God.
Tell this to those souls, so that they may weep in the valley of tears, and thus you will carry them along with you up to God. For it is of his Spirit that you tell them this, if you speak while burning with the fire of charity".
The People You Meet Sitting in Little Chairs
Ok, so here's the funny thing. when I got to my gate at the Columbus Airport, there were no scary looking guys. I was sitting next to a normal looking guy and his daughter and I decided to strike up a conversation. As it turns out, this guy is a church planter returning to San Fransisco after a meeting in Columbus. We talked shop for a while and exchanged info before boarding the plane. Then, while on the plane I ran into some one else interesting. Right across the isle from me was a guy I know named Jeff who is the brother in law of a good friend of mine and he works for a ministry called student venture. We talked about how the yearr has gone for each of us and what we hope to see happen in 2005. Kinda funny the people you'll meet while sitting in little tiny chairs.
Anyway, I made it to LA safe and sound. Got my rental car and arrived at Jason & Dara's home in time to join him for a bible study. He asked me to speak. I was not prepared to speak. I spoke. It sounded a little like I was making it all up as I went along, because I was. The good news is that I'm relatively confident the talk was heresy- free. That's always good. I said only true things, I just don't know if they were helpful things!
Anyway, I made it to LA safe and sound. Got my rental car and arrived at Jason & Dara's home in time to join him for a bible study. He asked me to speak. I was not prepared to speak. I spoke. It sounded a little like I was making it all up as I went along, because I was. The good news is that I'm relatively confident the talk was heresy- free. That's always good. I said only true things, I just don't know if they were helpful things!
15.2.05
Leaving on a big jet plane.
Well it's about 6am and I'm eating a bowl of oatmeal. I hope it holds me over until I get to California. I don't really want to spend $13 on a fish sandwich at the airport. Maybe I oughta have some toast as well. Packing and driving to the airport and checking your baggage and finding your gate is hard. But by far the worst part of traveling is those little chairs that are all attached to one another by the gate. There's that awkward moment when you walk up and you're scouting out a good place to sit for a while and you've got to weasel in between the scary looking dude and the sleeping old lady. I know you sit in close quarters on the plane but that's different. There's not much room in a n airplane. At the airport there's all kind of room. I mean big stretches of open space with nothing in it and no one around. Miles and miles of open space. And there I sit aqueezed between Snake Eye and grandma Ethel. What makes it worse is that my suitcase is a big and red. I mean really red. When I wheel it down teh concourse I can hear people whisper, "Where do you suppose that guy is going with all that bio-medical waste"?
Californeeeya... Here I come. (Hey, I wonder if I'll run into Cohen?"
Californeeeya... Here I come. (Hey, I wonder if I'll run into Cohen?"
12.2.05
Books To Read
Here's a list of the books I intend to read on my study leave:
Blink- Malcolm Gladwell
Ancient Future Evangelism- Robert Webber
Seeker Small Groups- Gary Poole
Surprising Insights from the Unchurched-Thomas S Rainer
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment- Jeremiah Burroughs
The Reformed Pastor- Richard Baxter
Streams of Living Water- Richard Foster
Ministries of Mercy- Timothy Keller
Built to Last- James Collins & Jerry Porras
Churches that Make a Difference- Sider, Olson, Unruh
The Cry of the Soul- Dan Allender & Tremper Longman
Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands- Paul Tripp
The Israel of God- O. Palmer Robertson
Kingdom Prologue- Meredith Kline
Biblical Theology- Geerhardus Vos
Urban Ministry- Harvey Conn
Confessions- St Augustine of Hippo
Or I may just take along Calvin's Institutes and see if I can plow through that in a week. We'll see.
Blink- Malcolm Gladwell
Ancient Future Evangelism- Robert Webber
Seeker Small Groups- Gary Poole
Surprising Insights from the Unchurched-Thomas S Rainer
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment- Jeremiah Burroughs
The Reformed Pastor- Richard Baxter
Streams of Living Water- Richard Foster
Ministries of Mercy- Timothy Keller
Built to Last- James Collins & Jerry Porras
Churches that Make a Difference- Sider, Olson, Unruh
The Cry of the Soul- Dan Allender & Tremper Longman
Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands- Paul Tripp
The Israel of God- O. Palmer Robertson
Kingdom Prologue- Meredith Kline
Biblical Theology- Geerhardus Vos
Urban Ministry- Harvey Conn
Confessions- St Augustine of Hippo
Or I may just take along Calvin's Institutes and see if I can plow through that in a week. We'll see.
My head is labeled.
I like that it says "Pastor" right next to my head. Wouldn't it be convenient if everyone's trade were posted next to their face like that in real life? Just kind of floating out there... "Attorney", "Professor", "Designer".
Hey people, check out the new blog.
Hey, folks. It just occurred to me that I should start a blog. I'll try to keep up with it particularly while I'm on my study leave. That way you guys can check in and see what I'm reading and learning and doing while I'm away. So check back here each day and there should be a new post with some ponderings from my studies. Feel free to post a response if anything catches your attention.
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