Yet Another Brilliant Documentary

Via: VideoSift

Music Piracy Documentary & Some Europe News

Just a couple of random bits of interest.

If you have a couple of hours to spare (or to chop up into smaller bit sizes) and you're interested in the whole issue of illegal downloading of music, there's a pretty thorough documentary that's been put together and uploaded to the web. Though I haven't been able to watch the whole thing yet, what I've seen thus far has been very informative, particularly how much of a financial blow it's really been on the greedy music industry.

In the Euro department, a friend sent me a great link to a news article regarding the spiritual environment of Europe. Though it's focused on the Czech Republic, it has great insight into the rest of the continent.

And finally, Matt Kingsley gives an encouraging and informative report on Brian McLaren's time in Ireland last week. Makes me all ancy to get over there.

Categories: music, Europe, Ireland

Resident Aliens

Last week, I finished up “Resident Aliens,” by Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon. I found it rather refreshing that the authors come from a tradition and theological school that I have not had as much interaction with (United Methodist). As I read, I found it really interesting that, having been written in the 1989, the book addresses much that is widely being discussed today in parts of the emerging church conversation. I wondered if maybe the church wasn’t ready for some those questions in 1989.

In particular, the book has a lot to say in assessing how deeply the Enlightenment had shaped the American church of 1989, not to mention the church in 2006. I’ve come to appreciate this kind of critique of the contemporary church in the West, not for the sake of being critical, but for the sake of recognizing how, in many ways, the church has unwittingly reduced the gospel and capitulated to the false ideologies of our culture.

“We believe both the conservative and liberal church, the so-called private and public church, are basically accomodationist (that is, Constantinian) in their social ethic. Both assume wrongly that the American church’s primary social task is to underwrite American democracy. In so doing, they have unwittingly underwritten the moral presuppositions that destroy the church. . . . Capitalism thrives in a climate where ‘rights’ are the main political agenda. The church becomes one more consumer-oriented organization, existing to encourage individual fulfilment rather than being a crucible to engender individual conversion into the Body.” (pp. 32-33)

A few chapters later, the authors further explain and unpack these moral presuppositions.

“Yet most modern ethics begin from the Enlightenment presupposition of the isolated, heroic self, the allegedly rational individual who stands alone and decides and chooses. The goal of this ethic is to detach the individual from his or her tradition, parents, stories, community and history, and thereby allow him or her to stand alone, to decide, to choose, and to act alone. It is an ethic of great value in our type of society because the corporation needs workers who are suitably detached from communities other than their place of work, people who are willing to move at the beck and call of the corporation.” (p. 79)

Much of what the authors say are reminiscent of Leslie Newbigin’s thoughts in “Foolishness to the Greeks,” as well as Darrell Guder’s “The Continuing Conversion of the Church.” However, by the end of “Aliens,” I did begin to find it a little more difficult to track with the authors. They didn’t seem to continue their careful evaluation of the church into the structures of their particular tradition. However, they did offer some powerful critique and challenge to clergy in their leadership.

Now, on to something a little more light-hearted: Anne Lamott’s “Traveling Mercies.”

Categories: church, mission, culture

Nick Bloem & The Marines of Lima Company

Last night I tuned in to a documentary on the A&E channel featuring the Marine company that my cousin was serving with when he was killed in action last August. Sure enough, with only about 20 min. left in the show, there was Nicolas on home video footage, surrounded by his Marine buddies, trying to scarf down 15 pizzas. My heart jumped as I sat up to see the story unfold of how the amphibious vehicle that he was in was destroyed by a roadside bomb blast so huge it actually flipped the 30 ton vehicle over. When they cut to a slow motion shot of Nicolas munching on pizza with his friends, that's when the tears began to flow.

Please continue to pray for Nick's family in Montana, where his twin brother, Alcedes and 7 younger sisters live with their awesome parents, Al and Debbie. The oldest, Juliana, lives with her husband and two kids in the Seattle area. They are a remarkable family that have always brought so much energy and liveliness to family holiday celebrations. Whenver I hear someone say that people are crazy to have 10 kids, I always argue, "Unless you're gifted at it, like my cousin Debbie and her husband Al. They make it look good."

Back Home in Colorado

Got home yesterday from a long 3 weeks on the road. I posted a few pics from the trip on Flickr. Be sure to check 'em out.

Also, check out this Derek Webb vid on The Work of the People. Derek is writing some really profound music these days and is ticking off some American Christians in the process. He's the kind of songwriter that makes us question our assumptions and challenges us to consider where our loyalties really lie. My kind of music, even though it's not typically my style. The last issue of Relevant Magazine had a great interview with him. (There's also been a lot of chatter about him on the Relevant site.)

For me, Derek's in the queue, but there's a ton of other great music coming out. Yeah Yeah Yeahs have a great new album out, as do Pearl Jam (check out the free "Life Wasted" video on Google) and Built to Spill. I'm also hoping to look more into Snow Patrol's new album after having a quick listen at Freddy's last week.

Categories: life, music

Trojan Nuclear Plant Implosion Video

This morning, around 7am, I was laying in bed thinking about getting up to take a shower. I heard something in the distance that sounded like thunder at first. Then I realized that this was what I was hearing . . .

Driving down to Vancouver from Longview a few hours later to give a brief report to a supporting church, we could see the stubble left over from the old cooling tower. Here's a link to more video footage. And more. (I'm guessing there'll be more going up over the next few days.) Driving by this morning, it seemed like the absence of the cooling tower made the "Trojan helmet" reactor building look a lot bigger.

This afternoon after church, we met some good friends of ours for lunch. Lanny and Sherry live over in Eastern Washington these days, but back in the day, Lanny helped decommission the Trojan nuclear plant. Of course, as a former employee, Lanny and Sherry got front row seats to see the implosion directly across the river.

Trojan Nuclear Power Plant

Kristy and I have chosen a great time to be up here in Longview, staying at my parents' place. This Sunday morning, the infamous Trojan nuclear power plant cooling tower will be imploded. It's been a familiar part of the skyline driving down the I5 freeway for years. We're hoping to get over for the big event happening at 6.30 in the morning. If we do, I'll take some digital video camera footage and post it. For anyone without ties to the Pacific Northwest, I'm sure you couldn't care less. That's okay. It's a Pac NW thang. =)

Funny enough, we are also here for the 26th anniversary of the big Mt. St. Helens eruption (today!). Would've been nice to plan a trip up to the mountain, especially since the visitor centers are free today, but unfortunately we have other commitments.

Categories: life

Road Trip Report

Kristy and I are having a good trip. Last Tuesday, we spent time with my old friend and mentor, Jim Adkins, and his family in California. They live about an hour north of my little brother and his family.


On Wednesday, we finally got to meet my new niece, Pria. We had a great time just hanging out with my little brother and sister-in-law, not to mention Justus, their 2 yr. old.


It was also a blessing to see the impact that my brother is having on the lives of so many young people in the community. There is an alarming number of parents of teenagers strung out on drugs and alcohol in the area, just letting their kids figure life out for themselves - minus the significant relationship with their parents that they desperately long for. Tyson and his family (church and immediate) are living demonstrations of hope and life in that community.



Yesterday, Kristy and I spent time up in Seattle and dropped by the Space Needle. Today we met with some missionary friends and some financial partners in Vancouver. We also went up to Crown Point, where I asked Kristy to marry me. (The weather was much more cooperative this time!) Pics to come!

Back from Phoenix & Off to Washington, via Cali

Had a great time in Arizona with Aaron and Laura. It was exactly a year since Kristy and I had spent a week there for their wedding and it was a cool blessing to be able to spend their 1 year anniversary with them.


We did some hiking on Friday up to Camel Back Mountain, overlooking Phoenix . . .



. . . and then off to Sedona the next day.



Who knew Arizona had so much beautiful country??

Tomorrow, we fly out to Sacramento to stay a night with my good friend and old mentor, Jim Adkins and his family. We'll spend the rest of the week with my parents and my brother's family before driving up to Washington with my dad on Saturday.

Categories: life

Off on Another Road Trip

Tomorrow, Kristy and I are off to Phoenix to spend time with her sister and brother-in-law. For those of you who’ve been keeping up with the blog, yes, we just spent last weekend with them here in Colorado. This trip to Phoenix was planned long before that scouting trip. I’m actually really happy that we get to see them some more. Aside from the fact that the four of us just get along so well, it’s really good for Kristy to get the extra time with her family. The thought of us being so far from family while in Ireland is most difficult on her.

After our time in Arizona, it’s off to California, where we finally get to spend more time with my family. We’re looking forward to seeing our new niece. On Saturday, May 13, we drive up to Washington State with my dad, leaving my mom to help Tyson and Iris with the new baby. (At least that’s how mom puts it. Really I think it’s just a matter of her taking advantage of not working anymore to spend extra time with her grandkids.)

While we’re in the Great Northwest, we’re looking forward to connecting with as many financial partners as possible. At this point, we’re still trying to dial in coffee and lunch appointments and we’re not even sure when we’ll be at certain churches on the 14th and 21st. (Still trying to decide when we’ll land at Grace & Glory and when we’ll be at Cascade Park.)

On another note, I’m really hoping we’ll be in Dublin in time to hit up Pearl Jam’s European tour kick-off. You can bet I’ll be listening to their latest record on my MP3 player on the way to Phoenix tomorrow. Looks like they’ll have My Morning Jacket along for the first leg of the U.S. tour, which should also be a great show. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they’ll be coming to Denver.

Also, I’m looking forward to playing around with this little Web 2.0 application when I have a little more time.

Categories: life, music

Confronting Politics with the Gospel (or, Another Boring Post for the Mission, Church, & Culture Categories)

Finished up reading “Foolishness to the Greeks” over the weekend. Definitely one I’ll be going back to once in a while to review, ponder, and chew on. Towards the end of the book, in chapter five, I was impressed by Newbigin’s concise explanation of the weaknesses of the two dominant economic systems in the world, namely socialism and capitalism. The chapter begins in the context of politics, asking the question again, “What would be involved in a genuinely missionary encounter between the gospel and our post-Enlightenment culture?”

Christians in England and other parts of Europe would obviously be ready to defend socialism, arguing that heavy taxation is needed for government to adequately provide for the poor and encourage some level of equality. Socialists are perplexed at the unfettered potential for the rich and powerful to oppress the poor in capitalism. The capitalists’ complaint is that socialism limits economic freedom. Some would even say that it discourages charitable giving and a good work ethic.

The bottom line, of course, is that the Gospel confronts the unjust extremes on both sides.

“In the quest for equality [the Marxist states] sacrifice individual freedom, as capitalist states in the name of freedom sacrifice equality. Yet neither system can survive except by modifying the rigor of its ideology. All Marxist governments have to give some place to free-market enterprise, and all capitalist governments have to use state power to limit the injustices that unrestrained free-market enterprise creates.” (p. 110, emphasis mine)

For the American church, it is the greed and abuses of power invited in by the capitalistic system that must be challenged. As someone who grew up under American capitalism and only after college began questioning the indiscriminate acquiescence to that system, what Newbigin has to say about the dark side of capitalism is both refreshing and enlightening to me.

Here are a few other things that Newbigin has to say on the issue:

“Traditional Christian ethics had attacked covetousness as a deadly sin, and Paul had equated it with idolatry: the putting of something that is not God in the place belonging to God (Col. 3:5). The eighteenth century, by a remarkable inversion, found in covetousness not only a law of nature but the engine of progress by which the purpose of nature and nature’s God was to be carried out.” (p. 109)

“The driving power of capitalism . . . is the desire of the individual to better his material condition. It is the unleashing of this power from the
restraints imposed by traditional Christian morality that has transformed static societies into the dynamic and growing society of which we are a part. . . . The capitalist system is powered by the unremitting stimulation of covetousness.” (p. 113)

Newbigin goes on to say much more about the weaknesses of the American “Religious Right,” in confusing “a particular set of political and moral judgments with the cause of Jesus Christ,” for which he was spot on, even 20 years ago when the book was written.

However, I’ll conclude with a reminder that the church has been called to announce and demonstrate the Kingdom of God in the context of earthly kingdoms that determine neither our most fundamental identity nor our purpose in life. It is within that context that we as Christ-followers must learn to critically evaluate the earthly ideologies that subversively make their way in to our hearts and minds, opposing the very things that Jesus Himself taught. Only then can the church engage in a truly missionary encounter with the world around us.

Categories: mission, church, culture

More Fun with Pandora

I mentioned Pandora.com the other day and today I stumbled upon a blog plug-in. You'll notice my stations in the column under the archive section. If you're a big music fan like myself, take Pandora for a spin by typing in one of your favourite bands or song titles.

Categories: music

Colorado House Hunting Weekend

Over the weekend, we spent time with Aaron and Laura (Kristy's brother-in-law and sister) looking at homes in Monument and Denver. They also had job interviews in the Denver area, but after looking at homes in Monument (just north of the Springs), Aaron ended up accepting a job offer as a guidance counsellor at a middle school in that community. They absolutely fell in love with the area and saw several homes that they really liked and could afford. Laura is still looking to find a job in her area of teaching expertise (high school business), but we're confident that something will turn up. Kristy and I are excited about having them in the area for when we come home from Europe!

On Sunday, Kristy's parents came down for lunch so that we could celebrate Mother's Day, since Aaron and Laura were in town, and Kristy and I will be up in the Pacific Northwest when the real MD rolls around. Pictured below is Aaron and me with our father-in-law, Jim.


As you know, it takes a coommittee of men out on the back porch, grunting and talking about sports, to make a barbecue taste just right.

Categories: life