Monday, December 31, 2007

09959

final post of 2007 which means...

...top 5 lists!

Songs

1b) Ten Thousand Angels Caedmon's Call (performed by Derek Webb)
the best of both sides of the derek webb theologian/prophet coin...a cry for justice now and the longing for heaven
2) Keep the Car Running Arcade Fire
most listened to song of the year...you can't not enjoy this song
3) O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing David* Crowder Band
i don't normally like it went songwriters add a hook/chorus to old hymns (just do the hymn, it's fine the way it is!...see the "wonderful cross" remake by chris tomlin)...however, crowder does it just right with one...the line "there are so few words that ever grow old" is one of my all time favorites now
4) If You Find Her Future of Forestry
i had never heard of these guys until this year...i like their quieter numbers better and this is the best of those numbers!
5) Lifeline Angels & Airwaves
this band continues to impress and this is my favorite track off the new album

Books (required reading)

1) The Jesus Way Eugene Peterson
the newest of peterson's "conversations in" series...they are all excellent but this is the best of the three (in my opinion)
2) Soul Graffiti Mark Scandrette
a good follow up to last year's number one The Irresistible Revolution
3) The Holy Longing by Ronald Rolheiser
an excellent book on christian spirituality written by a catholic priest...this book was a major source in rob bell's Sex God (#4 on this list).  the holy longing is a book i will probably revisit every couple years
4) Sex God Rob Bell
at this point the lack of good books i read this year in this category really starts to show up...we read this as a small group and it was a good experience...mostly i put it on here because people seem to have strong reactions to bell's premise, which usually means that the author is on to something...however, i would recommend reading #3 
again, not a great book in and of itself, but it was fun to read about the ctk story from an "outsider" perspective.  also, more symbolic than anything since we have started to experiment with the multi-site approach

Books (non-required)

1)
The Book of Lost Things John Connolly
i feel like i've said this before here, but i am a sucker for magical realism (see Everything is Illuminated and Life of Pi...two of my favorite novels)...a wonderful story about coming of age and the importance of stories in making sense of our reality
i was not into harry potter until about two years ago (whenever book 6 came out)...i thought the first couple were interesting but not well written...it felt like novels-by-numbers...by about book 4, though, i was hooked and the last two of the series are extremely well written...the story aside, reading the series is interesting just to see Rowlings development as an author.  anyway, this, the final installment, is excellent
3) A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini
the female version of the Kite Runner? yes, but while familiar, it is also an extremely well-written and moving story on its own.  this guy is a great writer
not a novel!  but it does tell the story of napster, craigslist, wikipedia, ebay, and other "leaderless" organizations...the best non-theory book i've read on emergence
a fun and interesting read...also, some sense of justification for enjoying lower levels of order!

Movies 

*author's note: i watched a lot of 24 this year...a lot!  as a result i have not watched very many movies making this a very incomplete list.  i may change it after i watch the following films (if i ever get around to them): The Darjeeling Limited, Juno, The Great DebatersNo Country for Old Men, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and Gone Baby Gone

my friend seth introduced me to this fun film about the most unlikely of saints. inspiration for runners!
chip's view
an "Office" type look at teaching...i laughed a lot!
also titled "Angel", it's actually an HBO feature that got put on dvd.  i enjoyed it more for the way it was shot than the story (although the story is really good too)...the whole time i watched it i kept thinking "i could do something like this."
as i was watching this movie, i could imagine pastors and youth pastors around the country scrambling for sermon illustrations (Will Smith = Jesus!!!)...the light/dark theme was much more interesting to me (especially if you read anything in the New Testament written by John)

- there you go!  feel free to comment/leave your own top fives/rip mine apart...

...happy new year!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

09859

we did  a lectio divina exercise tonight at church as part of our advent series.  we read Psalm 146 together.  as a part of the exercise you are supposed to read, or listen, and pay attention to what stands out to you.  what stood out to me was a phrase that seems to be in every advent reading we've had so far: (v. 7, NLT) "[the Lord] gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry."

i can't seem to get away from this theme this Christmas...

...on that note i was able to hang out with my friend on James on thursday.  we haven't been able to connect since i got engaged...he'd heard about it somehow, but i got to fill him in the whole story.

here's a sample of the conversation (keep in mind that james does not have the best hearing):

james: "so you gonna be moving?"
"yeah," i said, " to boston."
james: "oh, man...i got some rowdy friends down there"
me: "down there?"
james: "yeah, you know it gets pretty hot in texas."
me: "texas?"
james:" yeah, austin."
me: "no, not austin...boston...like massachusetts."
james: "oh, hell, i never been there."

i took advantage of the opportunity  to ask james about his future and aspirations (since we were on the topic of futures).  here are his two visions for his future:

1) buy 5-6 llamas to use as pack animals and spend the rest of his life exploring the Yukon
2) run for the durango city council on the platform of low environmental impact jobs and affordable housing.

what i loved is that james was not just "bs"ing me.  he was being quite serious and has clearly thought about both of these paths.  i felt bad because at first i thought he was joking and i didn't take him seriously...but he was being very honest with me.  

this was another one of those moments where i didn't really do anything strategic...i don't know how much "justice was brought to the oppressed"...i bought james a cup of coffee but this wasn't about meeting a "need."  i do wonder, though, if anyone else in his life asks him about his hopes and dreams for the future, and then doesn't laugh at him when he does share them.  conversation over a meal can bring a sense of dignity that few other moments can.  

i think i am still learning a lot about what it means to bring hope and justice to people who are in desperate need of it, but for some reason i cannot escape it this Christmas season.

Monday, December 10, 2007

09659

- Check out our new office! we've moved down the street (from 11th and main to 8th and main)...and in doing so have we have become office neighbors with two ministries allies, Patrick's Crossing and Matthew's House...i think this will be a strategic and healthy move for us: we have more space, less rent, and cool people to talk to and walk through the ups and downs of ministry with...here are a few pictures!



Monday, December 03, 2007

09459

- to everyone who has offered their congratulations over the last week: a big thank you!!!

- we're starting an advent series this week...going liturgical for a few weeks...already it's begun to affect my thinking.  a couple of early thoughts: a lot of Christmas is built around familiar and long standing traditions (many of which are great) but the original Christmas is about God doing something new.  

a question i've been wrestling with is: what is something new God is calling me to do this Christmas season?  

which leads me into the next thought...approaching Christmas as a season and not an event or a day.  it seems so much of my own thinking centers around this big event or day that i feel stressed out about or rushed (with traveling, shopping, etc) by the time i actually get to it.  i feel this season that i might actually be "ready" in the sense of anticipating what God might do.

-the podcast is back for those of you listen to it.  the link is to the right.  

peace!