Archive for August, 2007
Tagged
I’ve been tagged by Kristin. Thanks for the easy post!
First Memory: Disney Land. I think I was four. I rode the Thunder Mountain Railroad and I remember talking to my dad about how fun it was, but I really had my eyes closed and was hanging tightly onto him the whole time.
First Real Kiss: 6th grade, spin the bottle turned a random girl into my two-day girlfriend and kissing pal.
First Concert: The first that I can remember is a Shenandoah concert at the New Mexico State fair.
First Love: Hayley Cheatham
First Crush: Megan Follows, the main character in the Anne of Green Gables movies. I hated the movies, loved the girl.
First thing you think in the morning: What meeting did I forget to go to this morning?
First book you remember loving: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverston.
First pet: I had some fish when I was younger, but my first real pet was Gizmo, a precious puppy.
First question you’ll ask in Heaven: You let him in?
First thing you think of when you hear the word vacation: Rocky Mountain High
First best friend: Jon Demery. We grew up on the same street, went to the same school and were best friends till I moved from Colorado.
Last time you dressed up: Define “dressed up.” I suppose the last real time was when I had a meeting with the Department of Transporation about some work our firm will be doing with them.
Last CD you bought: I bought Hayley the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack.
Last book you read: I’m pretty bad about finishing books, but the last book I finished was The Last Templar. Good airplane read.
Last time you cried: A couple of weeks ago I was teaching my Sunday morning class. I was talking about where I came from and how I got where I am today. I started talking about why Hayley and I went to Central and I started crying. But I wasn’t really crying, there was just an inflammation in my tear gland.
Last movie you saw: Becoming Jane
Last time you told someone you loved them: About 7:12 a.m.
Last really funny thing you did: My humor is selfish — that is, I do things that I think are funny without concern for whether or not others will agree. So I’m not sure if I wrote “sat in silence” that it would satisfy the intent of this question. That said, posting a lyric from Flight of the Conchords is pretty clever, don’t you think?
Last Halloween costume: Man, I honestly don’t remember the last time I dressed up for Halloween. I’m sure after I post this, I’ll have an email from Hayley saying, “Don’t you remember, you were applesauce (replace with actual costume) for Halloween last year!”
Last concert attended: Joshua Radin and Schuyler Fisk. Good show. Here’s a sample:
[audio:Paperweight.mp3]
What if Atlas Shrugged?
I’m currently rereading Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. Last time I read it, I was in a van with nine other people, traversing the nation, sharing the good news of Jesus by getting water dumped on my head – not exactly the most fertile reading environment.
This time however, in the comfort of my couch and bed, I am intrigued and moved by what I am reading. Rand’s narrative – her crowning achievement and manifesto for Objectivism – tells the story of the world’s greatest thinkers, artists and industrialists and the struggles they face against society’s obsession with mediocrity and failure. Essentially these great individuals go on strike, leaving the society that is constraining their greatness to flounder and, though we don’t read it, die.
I love Rand’s ability to paint a frighteningly accurate picture of the direction our society is going, but I disagree with her conclusion – that is, the great should pursue their own happiness and achievement and abandon the weak, leaving them to wither away and die in their mediocrity. I simply don’t buy into that philosophy.
While I’ve been reading, I’ve been oddly reminded of the current climate of the church in America. There are some truly great thinkers that have emerged (ha!) onto the scene, bringing new perspectives about the scriptures, the message of Jesus and our purpose as His followers. At the same time, there are those whose sole purpose is to bring down these thinkers, encouraging people to dislike and distrust these new individuals on the very basis that they are new. This group spends its time looking back on “the good ol’ days,” when people went to church out of obligation and the church had, in their mind, some control over the culture. Rather than moving forward, they want to drag us back into that forgotten time.
And so we have a one-sided battle – the tenacious watchdogs against the uninterested emerging pastors. The tactics employed by the watchdogs are ruthless, hateful and based on misquotations and straw men arguments. They bite at the pastors, encouraging their readers to shun these evil, deceitful men, without actually investigating their claims.
What would happen if these forward-thinking pastors adopted the method of Rand’s characters? What if they said, “OK, have it your way. We’ll stop preaching. We’re going on strike. You guys make the church in your image”? What would it be like if the brightest and most passionate individuals withdrew their input, withdrew their influence and withdrew their minds?
Would the church go back to the good ol’ days? Would the message of God suddenly become clearer to the society? Would the will of God be more expediently done here on earth?
No, I don’t think so. I think in much the same way as Rand has depicted, the American church would be in shambles, just as our European brethren have experienced. Our empty, multi-million dollar buildings would stand as testimonies of our failure to adapt, to grow and to move. They would stand as testimonies of our obsession with comfort, familiarity and a distorted sense of orthodoxy.
I know that God moves in spite of how we move. I know that the will of God will be done, no matter how badly we muck it up. I know that it is only through His grace and His power that anything is good and successful. But I also know that He has chosen us to do this work; that for some reason, we humans are His tools for Will-bringing. That doesn’t speak to our power or our greatness, but the grace of our loving father, who laid His plans for us before we born.
May we be people who are united. May we move past the bickering, fighting and tearing down of other Christians who are doing the work of God. May we stand together – traditional and progressive; modern and postmodern; Evangelical and Emergent – to reach the world with a single message through various voices.
This is my prayer. I ask you to join me in this prayer. And I ask you to help bring about the realization of this prayer.
Embarrassed on behalf of my sex
There is a man who works in our building who is unfriendly to my fellow, male co-workers and me. He doesn’t really acknowledge our presence aside from a head nod or a brief “hello.”
This same man, lights up in an animated grin the moment he spots one of our female co-workers. “Hello! How are you? Good to see you!” he exclaims (he literally exclaims!).
My fellow, female coworker is aware of this discrepancy of treatment and is both grossed and freaked out.
Why is the male sex so stupid? Why do we, at the first sighting of an attractive female, lose all sense of propriety and decency? Why do we continue treating women as playthings or objects to be conquered?
It is disgusting, and as for me, I apologize to any female if I ever made you uncomfortable, freaked or grossed out. I apologize if my desire for your acknowledgment and approval caused me to act in a way that was offensive or even impolite to you as a person.
Men, let’s start treating women with respect, grace and humility. Let’s start treating women like we would want our wives or daughters to be treated. Let’s start looking at women with the eyes of Jesus – that is seeing them for who they are, not what we can gain from them.
Have a good, respect-filled Tuesday.
Hula Lesson
“I look like an idiot,” I said aloud, checking myself in the full-size mirror. I was wearing a cowboy hat, safety pinned, bright green Hawaiian shirt that was three sizes too large and jeans that were too long without the aid of my shoes – so I did, in fact, look like an idiot.
I was about two minutes away from walking on stage to perform in a hula show with my wife – an activity which caused me a small anxiety attack earlier in the day: “I can’t do this. I don’t know the dance. I’ll look like an idiot,” I had said. Here I was, minutes away from the moment of my humiliation.
I’m not a dancer. I know, for those that know me, this comes as a shock. My lithe, youthful body seems like it would slice through air and my natural grace should be a boon for whatever movements I tried to force my body to employ – but it simply isn’t so. I boldly declare to you today that I am not a dancer.
I found out about this hula gig about two months ago. Hayley ever so sweetly asked me to join her in a dance at her upcoming hula show and I agreed, on the condition that she would play softball with my office team. Several weeks later, we went to her instructor’s house to learn the dance. After we left, we talked about practicing a lot, but we never really did. We were busy, tired and uninterested in breaking out the hula CD for a little hip-swaying.
Then Saturday night rolled around – I was unprepared, embarrassed and annoyed that I had to do this thing I had agreed to do. As the preceding song to my hula reached its conclusion, I again checked myself in the mirror, adjusted my cowboy hat and turned to walk on stage.
I stepped onto the raised platforms serving as our stage and looked out at the audience. Fortunately, I was unable to see many faces as the bright spot lights made it impossible to see beyond the front row. Our music began and I began my hula.
As we performed our sweet moves, I heard the audience begin to chuckle. Rather than be bothered by this, I embraced it, telling myself they were laughing with us – this was a cute couple’s dance and Hayley and I are, in every other aspect of our lives, the picture of cuteness (particularly when I am in the background, slightly blurry, and Hayley is in the foreground, shining in her radiant beauty). Why shouldn’t this cuteness extend to our dancing?
As the dance concluded and we ran off the stage, a ripple of relief washed over me – it was over, and it wasn’t that bad. I didn’t mess up. I didn’t look good, but I didn’t mess up. I didn’t know what I was so worried about.
While I’m not going to pretend that this was some watershed moment in my life, it was a nice reminder of the power of our fears. It’s amazing how worked up we get about things beforehand and then we face a reality far less intimidating than our initial worrying led us to believe.
It is unlikely that I will ever again grace the stage at another hula recital (as it is unlikely that I will ever again be asked). And that’s ok with me. But I hope, the next time a potentially embarrassing, wife-pleasing opportunity passes my way, I’ll embrace it without hesitation.
Let me ask you this: What is fear making you hesitate doing?
Great new worship songs
Cliff recommended the new Hillsong United CD, All of the Above. While I’m not a huge fan of a majority of the CD, I can’t wait to use these songs in a worship setting. (The second is 14 minutes long, so I hope you can spare the time to listen to all of it).
[audio:LeadMeToTheCross.mp3]
Lead Me to the Cross
[audio:SaviourKing.mp3]
Saviour King
What do you think?
If you read this blog through an RSS reader, you’ll want to come visit the blog for a quick (relatively speaking) listen.
Veracity
What does it mean for a church to be “authentic?”
This word has been thrown around a lot lately, becoming almost as irrelevant as “relevant.” But amazingly, no matter who whom (h/t: Sam’s Dad) you ask, this adjective will likely be used to describe what is desired from a prospective church.
But what does it mean? What are the implications of an “authentic” church? If you were to walk through the doors a church building, how would you know whether or not you were entering a sanctuary of authenticity?