More Reading

I have started a rather challenging book.... In fact, the name is "The Challenge of Jesus" by N. T. Wright.

It is quite good.  The source for the material is a series of lectures given at an InterVarsity conference in 1999.  The purpose of the book is to have you, the reader, realize the historical context that you read in the Bible.

I'll let you know more about it when it is finished.

The next one in the queue, however, has arrived.  I pre-ordered it as I have been reading the authors blog for some time.

The title, "The Blue Parakeet" sound like a mystery novel or something.  I read a bit of the first paragraph in the first chapter and he immediately had me hooked.  Why?  

When I was in High School, I went to a Christian camp in Muscatine, Iowa....

Why did that have me hooked?  I went to that camp, Spring Valley Bible Camp.

I did read a few more pages and it looks good.  Again, I'll let you know more as I finish reading.

Zoe's review on RadioIndy.com's blog

RadioIndy wrote a nice review of the zOE'S iMAGINARY fRIEND cd.  You can read it here.

The Car Report

The part shown here is the cause of the belt coming off on Sunday.  The spring broke, causing the pulley to go out of alignment, pulling the belt off.

No, it wasn't terribly expensive.  Replacing the belt at the same time may save some expense later on...

At least we are a two car family again.  This isn't something I'd normally brag about as I normally take other commuter options but because the little truck has limited room, it's nice to be able to take the family on the road.

Car problems....

Last week, the tires, this week, the accessory drive belt.  It comes with the territory though, the van has over 178,000 miles.

What makes this worth blogging about is the circumstances.

Last week, after church, we got home after Marj made a comment about the front right tire looking low.  I fired up the air-compressor and filled it up, then blew out the sprinkler system (a good decision in hindsight).  The next morning, I was on my way back into the house with the paper before leaving for work and noticed the van sitting with a downhill tilt.  To make a long story short, we found that the last tire we purchased was the wrong size for the rim and ended up damaged -- it was, however, the only tire on the car that size.

Today, I took Rocky to the dog park before church.  On the way home, the car got hard to steer and just as I pulled into the development, started to overheat.  I stepped into the house and on the way back out, noticed the belt hanging on the ground.  I tried to put it back on but I needed some equipment I didn't have access to so we canceled our plans.

Why mention this?  Because we both feel that God took care of us.  We could have been on the road when either incident happened.  We could have been miles away from home.  It could have been a "blow-out" incident.

Yes, it is an inconvenience but close to home, it is manageable and while not cheap, when you are in an emergency, things seem to get expensive really fast.

We dropped the car at the car care center down the street and hope they can get to it tomorrow..

---

I don't think I told about the blow-out incident last year.

On a Saturday last summer, I was headed down I-25 at about 75mph (legal speed in that area).  Ahead of me I see smoke, a car head left, into the crash rail, then bounce across the interstate, stopping on the shoulder.  The only car damaged in the pack that this occurred in was the car with the blown tire.

I pulled over to see if I could help.  The driver gets out of the car, distressed because she is late for work.  The front of the car is crumpled.  I called 911, then stayed on the shoulder with the damaged car with my flashers blinking.

When the Westminster police officer arrived, he stopped to see what happened with me... When I told him, a look of amazement crossed his face.  He dismissed me and I headed off to my destination.

Bass Player Face

Stuff Christians Like #419 mentions "Bass Player Face"... Wonder if I qualify.

A Derek Webb song for the next two months...

From Derek Webb's cd "The Ringing Bell"

A Savior on Capital Hill (you can listen to it here on Last.FM)

I’m so tired of these mortal men

with their hands on their wallets and their hearts full of sin

scared of their enemies, scared of their friends

and always running for re-election

so come to DC if it be thy will

because we’ve never had a savior on Capitol Hill

you can always trust the devil or a politician

to be the devil or a politician

but beyond that friends you’d best beware

‘cause at the Pentagon bar they’re an inseparable pair

and as long as the lobbyists are paying their bills

we’ll never have a savior on Capitol Hill

[Bridge]

all of our problems gonna disappear

when we can whisper right in that President’s ear

he could walk right across the reflection pool

in his combat boots and ten thousand dollar suit

you can render unto Caesar everything that’s his

you can trust in his power to come to your defense

it’s the way of the world, the way of the gun

it’s the trading of an evil for a lesser one

so don’t hold your breath or your vote until

you think you’ve finally found a savior up on Capitol Hill

I made the news....

Well, not me directly but the project I have been working on for the last few years has officially been announced and released.

See this for the official press release.  A short clip from the article reads...

Through the qHome online portal, customers can see who's calling their home phone, listen to voicemail, forward messages, manage their contacts and place a phone call with a click of a mouse. When qHome customers are away from home, they can log into the qHome portal from most computers, remotely view and manage their home phone activity and receive instant message pop-ups of incoming home phone calls with Windows Live Messenger. 

You can see a short demo here.

YouVersion

A few posts ago, I mentioned the YouVersion: iPhone Edition (which also works on the iPod Touch).

As nice as it is, you should bookmark (and register to use) regular YouVersion.  Why?  I'm glad you asked.

YouVersion is a FREE offering from Lifechurch.tv and offers

• A daily reading plan.
• A Bible reader with many different versions in several languages.
• Ways to add comments to the passages you read.
• A way to take and store notes

Their description is

Welcome to YouVersion

A revolutionary online Bible that enables community and collaboration like never before.

Organize - YouVersion empowers you to organize the content that's important to you! Share - Simply share meaningful content with anyone, anytime, anywhere. Community - YouVersion makes it easy to connect and collaborate with others. Contribute - With YouVersion you have the power to share your content with your closest friends, family, or anyone online!

re: Where is our hope?

This was posted on Scot McKnight's Jesus Creed blog:

Somewhere between 6pm and 8pm, Central Time, on November 4th, 2008, the eschatology of American evangelicals will become clear. If John McCain wins and the evangelical becomes delirious or confident that the Golden Days are about to arrive, that evangelical has an eschatology of politics. Or, alternatively, if Barack Obama wins and the evangelical becomes delirious or confident that the Golden Days are about to arrive, that evangelical too has an eschatology of politics. Or, we could turn each around, if a more Democrat oriented evangelical becomes depressed and hopeless because McCain wins, or if a Republican oriented evangelical becomes depressed or hopeless because Obama wins, those evangelicals are caught in an empire-shaped eschatology of politics.

Where is our hope? To be sure, I hope our country solves its international conflicts and I hope we resolve poverty and dissolve our educational problems and racism. But where does my hope turn when I think of war or poverty or education or racism? Does it focus on November 4? Does it gain its energy from thinking that if we get the right candidate elected our problems will be dissolved? If so, I submit that our eschatology has become empire-shaped, Constantinian, and political. And it doesn’t matter to me if it is a right-wing evangelical wringing her fingers in hope that a Republican wins, or a left-wing evangelical wringing her fingers in hope that a Democrat wins. Each has a misguided eschatology.

You can read the whole post here.

The question is... Where is our hope?

Fasting

This month is Ramadan, a time when believers in Islam are fasting all day. This has caused some controversy in the NFL where several players are fasting.

As a Christ-follower, I have heard several different ways fasts are to be done as well as several different purposes.

The other day, however, I was listening to the Daily Audio Bible (I still recommend this by the way) and heard Isaiah 58 and God's perspective on Israel's practices of fasting.  From "The Message":

1-3 "Shout! A full-throated shout! Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell my people what's wrong with their lives, 
   face my family Jacob with their sins!
They're busy, busy, busy at worship, 
   and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they're a nation of right-living people— 
   law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, 'What's the right thing to do?' 
   and love having me on their side.
But they also complain, 
   'Why do we fast and you don't look our way? 
   Why do we humble ourselves and you don't even notice?' 

 3-5"Well, here's why:

   "The bottom line on your 'fast days' is profit. 
   You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight. 
   You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do 
   won't get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I'm after: 
   a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face 
   and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting, 
   a fast day that I, God, would like?

 6-9"This is the kind of fast day I'm after: 
   to break the chains of injustice, 
   get rid of exploitation in the workplace, 
   free the oppressed, 
   cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is: 
   sharing your food with the hungry, 
   inviting the homeless poor into your homes, 
   putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, 
   being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on, 
   and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way. 
   The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer. 
   You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'

I don't know if this is the only answer to what a fast is to be like. I don't think so.  I do believe that the purpose of fasting is to "get something" from God for yourself, although, that may be a result. 

Phil Keaggy in Concert

Tonight, Marj, Kyle & I got the pleasure of seeing Phil Keaggy in concert.  He is an incredible musician.  We also got to hear him hit a very wrong note.  Not only that, due to the way he layers his music using a recording device called a Jam Man, we got to hear it a second time after he pointed it out!

The high points of the concert were the dialog he had with the audience and a couple of songs he sang.  In particular, "Your love broke through" and "Salvation Army Band".  I've included a video of "Salvation Army Band" I found on YouTube.

I also found a video of "Your Love Broke Through"

Thought this might be fun...

Here are the states I've visited

visited 29 states (58%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

They also have the world map but it looks pretty unvisited in my case.

Post Olympic Comedy

For those of you who didn't get enough gymnastics, my parents emailed this 1981 comedy routine from Paul Hunt.

If that isn't enough, there are many more on YouTube including this Balance beam from 1988

And this floor exercise from the same year.

The Presidential Race

Both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions are behind us.  I've heard Christian friends raving about Sarah Palin.  I've heard others raving about Barack Obama.

Months ago, I heard people (Christians too!) state....

If (fill in the blank) gets elected, I'm leaving the country.

Which I find to be an interesting statement.

Today, Scot McKnight has a response to a letter he received in his "Jesus Creed" blog.  Scot is a professor at North Park College, a writer and a theologian.

A couple of points he hits in his response...

More importantly, on November 5 I will get up and go about my business no matter who gets elected. There will be people who need to hear about Jesus; there will be people who are suffering from systemic injustices; there will be people abusing power; there will be good reasons to drink coffee and eat lunch with colleagues... ...Changing Presidents will not end those needs and those problems and those parts of my life. So, my task as a Christian is to follow Jesus by loving God and loving others as well as I can. Changing Presidents won’t change that one bit. I don’t see that either candidate has the intent of depriving us of these things.

And

...I don’t hope in the next President. I think that is idolatrous. In fact, hoping in the next President is the first step toward idolizing empire.

Read Scot's full response here.  Then decide who you want leading you.  A man (or woman) or God!

*** Editors note... Google is placing the images on the page, not me.  The ordering is not significant in any way.  In my editor, they were on the same level with (just for the sake of irony) McCain/Palin on the left and Obama/Biden on the right.

YouVersion: iPhone Edition

If you are looking for an interesting application for you iPhone or iPod Touch. Lifechurch.tv has just released YouVersion in beta.

the post from an iPod touch

For my birthday, I was given an iPod Touch. it is an amazing device.

Worthwhile reading

I found this post by Prodigal Jon a great reminder of God and his forgiveness. It is titled "Stuff Christians Like #387 - Thinking our Junk will shock God".

GetReligion.org

Because Terry Mattingley, one of my favorite religion writers posts there, I subscribed to the GetReligion.org blog this week.

It has been an interesting read.  What have I learned?

• The writer of Basic Instinct is now a Christian
• The importance of asking the right follow-up question at the Democratic National Convention.
• The conflict (none?) former porn star Jenna Jamison finds with being a "devout Catholic" and having babies without a husband.
• Faith at the Democratic National Convention

It has been interesting reading.

Reading, Reading, Reading...

I've been pretty silent about what I have been reading (actually I've been pretty quiet anyway).

Let me say first that the books on this list may not be for everyone.  They are deep, they don't necessarily follow traditional thought, although, they don't deviate as far as some would claim.  Lastly, they are all books I enjoyed and learned from.

Easily one of the longest titles, A Christianity Worth Believing: Hope-filled, Open-armed, Alive-and-well Faith for the Left Out, Left Behind, and Let Down in us All" by Doug Pagitt left me wanting more. Much of it is first hand stories from his life.

Much more deep, N. T. Wright's "What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?" was an interesting and deep glimpse into Paul's life and thought processes.  The take away from this for me is the cultural setting Paul wrote in.  Especially when most of the epistles start similar to "Paul, a bond-servant of Christ".  In the culture he is in, Paul was risking death as he just wrote -- "Jesus is Lord, Caesar is not".

Finally, N. T. Wright's "Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship" was amazing.  He took sermons he had preached which were high level summaries of several books in the New Testament and brought each one back to the Eucharist.

Currently I am reading "The Shack" by William P. Young which is a fictional account of his character's meeting God in three persons.  I have friends that can not say enough good about the book and others that didn't like it at all.  So far, I'm liking it.  The biggest problem is the hype around the book.

Cardboard Testamonies

I found this on another blog and thought it was pretty cool.

I am still trying to figure out what I would put.

Politics.... It's starting all over

I got a call last night from someone in the Obama campaign.   They were nice enough to ask if I would support him in the upcoming election.

I replied that I am a registered voter but an independent (meaning I am not registered with either party) and don't know enough of the issues to make that determination.

One of the podcasts that I listen to recently interviewed Mike Huckabee.  You can download and listen to it here.  It was a good interview and Huckabee impressed me.

A few months ago, they also interviewed Tim Sanders. You can listen to that interview here.  Sanders is an author, not a politician.  I have read at least one of his books ("Love is the killer app").  He was asked about the "likeability" of the crop of politicians.  He explained the Bill Clinton had a high "likeability factor".  Even his enemies, when talking to him in person had a hard time disliking him.

He was then asked about the candidates in the primaries.  He said Obama was the most likable, much like Kenedy which frightened him as it makes him a pretty big target.

Neither candidate from the major parties is ideal.  Politics is all about compromise which sometimes means nobody is really happy with the result.

Zoe's official press release

Our band zOE's iMAGINARY fRIEND just released our self-titled debut album.

The album features 11 new songs with styles ranging from rock to ballads.

 

zOE's iMAGINARY fRIEND is available on:

 

- The iTunes Store within your Mac or PC iTunes Program.

- Amazon (http://www.amazonmp3.com)

- Rhapsody (http://www.rhapsody.com)

- LALA (http://www.lala.com)

- Our MySpace Music site (http://www.myspace.com/zoesimaginaryfriend)

- napster.com, emusic.com, music.com and other subscription and streaming services.

 

The zOE's iMAGINARY fRIEND Compact Disk is available from Cafe Press (http://www.cafepress.com/zifStore). The CD is professionally manufactured in jewel

case packaging, CD Text capable and registered with Gracenote CDDB for track information.

 

We also have zOE's iMAGINARY fRIEND related merchandise at Cafe Press.

We have shirts, mugs, caps and many other items.

 

You can listen to a sampling of the songs and band info on our MySpace Music web

site: http://www.myspace.com/zoesimaginaryfriend and on any of the sites above.

 

You will find album lyrics, links and more at our web site, http://zoesimaginaryfriend.com

Zoe's on iTunes - A shameless plug

zOE's iMAGINARY fRIEND made it onto iTunes. Wow!

We're also for sale on AmazonMP3 and Lala.com and EMusic, Rhapsody and Napster.

Heavenfest... It's over!

We were first introduced to this last summer.  Put on a music festival.  At our church.  10,000+ people in attendance.  Why?   

Because God told Dave to do it.  The sign of success was not the 10,000+ people who showed up.  The sign of success was the fact that he was obedient and that God was lifted high.

On the left, you can see a picture of the main stage on Friday (I showed up for a while to help out) that my friend and pastor Rob took.  He has a few more on his site.

I got the privilege of helping with "The Vox", a teaching and comedy area.  I was able to have some friends David and Mary help out there as well.   Some of the people we were hosts to were Jim Copeland from World Venture, Trace Bundy, Cleto Rodriguez and Bradley Hathaway.

I am going to leave with a YouTube video from Trace and Cleto.

The Spring Project - Meet Zoe

It started as a spring project but ended up being finished this summer.

Many of you have heard or asked about Zoe's Imaginary Friend,  especially "Who's Zoe"?  Zoe is pictured on the CD cover and on the right here.

The CD is done and have been uploaded so they will soon be available for purchase on-line... I'll post again when they are up.

Now about the band.  A few months ago, a group of Qwest employees who were musicians got together at Bill's house for a music day.   We spent the day recording several songs.

Bill (guitar/vocals/producer/engineer) then asked me to help on this project with Matt (viola/keyboards/mandolin).  At the same time, asked if I knew any drummers.  I happen to know a few and contacted Kevin (drums) and we started rehearsals in late March.  Margie (vocals) is a friend of Bills who lends her vocal styles to the song in a great way.  In addition, she has written the lyrics to one of the tunes on the CD and has several more in the works.

A selection of the finished songs are up on the myspace page.  We have Zoe's merchandise, including bumper stickers, etc on the Cafepress Store.  You will soon be able to purchase the CD there as well. 

And about Zoe and her imaginary friends?   Zoe is Matt's daughter.  A few years ago, she had a couple of imaginary friends... You'll need to get the CD to get their names

The Ballgirl

This video I saw originally on the Jesus Creed blog is amazing.

Evidently it is a viral video advertisement from Gatorade.

Leaving Christ on the Cross

One of the things about the crucifix that bothered those in the church that I grew up in was the fact that it "left Christ on the Cross".

This was also a valid claim about movies (and musicals) such as "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Godspell".

At the same time, I am surprised how many people I listen or talk to leave Christ on the cross without meaning to do so.  What do I mean?  It is quite easy to talk about Christ's death without talking about his resurrection.  It is quite easy to remember the sacrifice without the miracle of resurrection that MUST accompany the sacrifice for it to mean anything.

The way I understand the story of redemption in the New Testament, one of those acts would be inconsequential without the other.

Notice that Christ was crucified with two other men.  A frequent occurrence in the Roman Empire at the time.

What is unusual about the story is, as those around me growing up pointed out, Christ not only died but rose from the dead, proving he is God.

A perspective on Worship

Through an email exchange, I was introduced to the work of N T Wright, the Bishop of Durham.  He has written a book called "Simply Christian" which attempts to address what Christianity is to the post-modern world of today in the same way C S Lewis addressed "Mere Christianity" to the modern world of the 1940s.

When speaking at Calvin College's "January Series" in 2007, he states:

One of the basic laws of spiritual life is that you become like what you worship. When you worship an idol, whatever it is, part of you dies as you take on the lifeless image of that idol.  But if you worship the God in whose image you are made, you are renewed in that image.

-- Bishop N T Wight

You can download the whole speach here.  There is quite a bit of introduction (musical and speaking at the front, after that....

Politics....

It's firing up again. Both the Democratic and Republican national conventions are within site.... Not much drama there, both candidates have been chosen.

Last night, I answered the first of (I suspect) many political polls.  I love (NOT) the way they engineer the questions to get the results they want.

On top of that, James Dobson hits the news with a claim that Obama distorts the Bible.   Obama fires back that Dobson distorts Obama.

I think, as a matter of course, both are right, both are wrong.  Again, I see Christians wanting to put too much faith in the President and not enough in the King (of Glory).

McCain is not any better (Dobson doesn't support him either) as he recently made a politically loaded statement that his allegiance is first, last and always to America.

I think I am feeling very Mennonite lately.  That may not be a bad stance to take.

A Quick Update.

So... I was going to post this last Saturday but didn't want to interfere with the post on Fathers Day.

Here are some things that are happening.

Kevin & I finished laying down bass and drum tracks for zOE'S iMAGINARY fRIEND.  Glad it is over with and looking forward to hearing the finished product.  All involved are great musicians and lend their particular flavor to the soup that is "zif".  You can hear some of the work in progress on the site or on the MySpace page.  We are looking forward to a "release" in July or so...

As I walked out the door last night, I warned everyone that I may not be at work today.  Since I didn't need an excuse, this is that much more enjoyable (not real... but fun).

Wasp invasion. The pest control people are coming over as they are places I don't feel comfortable getting to.  Why did God create wasps and mosquitoes?

Lawn work. The real reason I am not going to work today.  Due to lots of activity on the weekends with "zif" and church, not much time to fix the back which looks pretty bad after last winter.  Also have a spot to patch in the front.

30 down 20 to go.  Pounds that is.

Marj is tutoring Algebra this summer.  She has 5 students including Kyle.  Things seem to be going well.

I was impressed by the insitefulness of this post... The opening line to Prodigal Jon's post on "Genesis 13 - Good meaning bad" is

"For me, using drugs wasn't the real problem..."

To top it off... I think our dog learned to spell.... I mentioned to Kyle that "Rocky had to go O-U-T" and he headed toward the door.... hmmm.

A fun fathers day present

It was a fun fathers day present.  I got it on Friday rather than Sunday but it was fun.

Kyle and Marj plotted to get me flight.

Do you remember those dreams where you are flying with no assistance?  Soaring over the landscape?  I am sure dream interpreters have some sort of meaning for that.  To me it nothing more than wanting to fly!

Several times, when we visited Orlando, I wanted to try the indoor skydiving but never got around to it.  This year, however, we found out that there is one in the Denver Area called SkyVentures.

Friday afternoon Marj picked me up from the bus stop and we headed out.  After a short class, we suited up.  Marj, Kyle and I split 10 minutes of flight time.  Videos are below...

Joel's Second Flight

Marj's Second Flight

Kyle's Second Flight

You can see more of the videos here.

Readers Digest and Acts?

I found myself looking forward to this passage in Acts this week!  It is essentially the "Readers Digest" version of the Old Testament... Acts 7:2-50 reads:

Stephen replied, "Friends, fathers, and brothers, the God of glory

appeared to our father Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before the move to Haran, and told him, 'Leave your country and family and go to the land I'll show you.' "So he left the country of the Chaldees and moved to Haran. After the death of his father, he immigrated to this country where you now live, but God gave him nothing, not so much as a foothold. He did promise to give the country to him and his son later on, even though Abraham had no son at the time. God let him know that his offspring would move to an alien country where they would be enslaved and brutalized for four hundred years. 'But,' God said, 'I will step in and take care of those slaveholders and bring my people out so they can worship me in this place.'

"Then he made a covenant with him and signed it in Abraham's flesh by circumcision. When Abraham had his son Isaac, within eight days he reproduced the sign of circumcision in him. Isaac became father of Jacob, and Jacob father of twelve 'fathers,' each faithfully passing on the covenant sign.

"But then those 'fathers,' burning up with jealousy, sent Joseph off to Egypt as a slave. God was right there with him, though—he not only rescued him from all his troubles but brought him to the attention of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He was so impressed with Joseph that he put him in charge of the whole country, including his own personal affairs.

"Later a famine descended on that entire region, stretching from Egypt to Canaan, bringing terrific hardship. Our hungry fathers looked high and low for food, but the cupboard was bare. Jacob heard there was food in Egypt and sent our fathers to scout it out. Having confirmed the report, they went back to Egypt a second time to get food. On that visit, Joseph revealed his true identity to his brothers and introduced the Jacob family to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and everyone else in the family, seventy-five in all. That's how the Jacob family got to Egypt.

"Jacob died, and our fathers after him. They were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb for which Abraham paid a good price to the sons of Hamor.

"When the four hundred years were nearly up, the time God promised Abraham for deliverance, the population of our people in Egypt had become very large. And there was now a king over Egypt who had never heard of Joseph. He exploited our race mercilessly. He went so far as forcing us to abandon our newborn infants, exposing them to the elements to die a cruel death.

"In just such a time Moses was born, a most beautiful baby. He was hidden at home for three months. When he could be hidden no longer, he was put outside—and immediately rescued by Pharaoh's daughter, who mothered him as her own son. Moses was educated in the best schools in Egypt. He was equally impressive as a thinker and an athlete.

"When he was forty years old, he wondered how everything was going with his Hebrew kin and went out to look things over. He saw an Egyptian abusing one of them and stepped in, avenging his underdog brother by knocking the Egyptian flat. He thought his brothers would be glad that he was on their side, and even see him as an instrument of God to deliver them. But they didn't see it that way. The next day two of them were fighting and he tried to break it up, told them to shake hands and get along with each other: 'Friends, you are brothers, why are you beating up on each other?'

"The one who had started the fight said, 'Who put you in charge of us? Are you going to kill me like you killed that Egyptian yesterday?' When Moses heard that, realizing that the word was out, he ran for his life and lived in exile over in Midian. During the years of exile, two sons were born to him.

"Forty years later, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to him in the guise of flames of a burning bush. Moses, not believing his eyes, went up to take a closer look. He heard God's voice: 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Frightened nearly out of his skin, Moses shut his eyes and turned away.

"God said, 'Kneel and pray. You are in a holy place, on holy ground. I've seen the agony of my people in Egypt. I've heard their groans. I've come to help them. So get yourself ready; I'm sending you back to Egypt.'

"This is the same Moses whom they earlier rejected, saying, 'Who put you in charge of us?' This is the Moses that God, using the angel flaming in the burning bush, sent back as ruler and redeemer. He led them out of their slavery. He did wonderful things, setting up God-signs all through Egypt, down at the Red Sea, and out in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to his congregation, 'God will raise up a prophet just like me from your descendants.' This is the Moses who stood between the angel speaking at Sinai and your fathers assembled in the wilderness and took the life-giving words given to him and handed them over to us, words our fathers would have nothing to do with.

"They craved the old Egyptian ways, whining to Aaron, 'Make us gods we can see and follow. This Moses who got us out here miles from nowhere—who knows what's happened to him!' That was the time when they made a calf-idol, brought sacrifices to it, and congratulated each other on the wonderful religious program they had put together.

"God wasn't at all pleased; but he let them do it their way, worship every new god that came down the pike—and live with the consequences, consequences described by the prophet Amos:

Did you bring me offerings of animals and grains
those forty wilderness years, O Israel?
Hardly. You were too busy building shrines
to war gods, to sex goddesses,
Worshiping them with all your might.
That's why I put you in exile in Babylon.

"And all this time our ancestors had a tent shrine for true worship, made to the exact specifications God provided Moses. They had it with them as they followed Joshua, when God cleared the land of pagans, and still had it right down to the time of David. David asked God for a permanent place for worship. But Solomon built it.

"Yet that doesn't mean that Most High God lives in a building made by carpenters and masons. The prophet Isaiah put it well when he wrote,

"Heaven is my throne room;
I rest my feet on earth.
So what kind of house
will you build me?" says God.
"Where I can get away and relax?
It's already built, and I built it."

What follows is Stephan being killed by the clergy and people at that time. Why? Because he "spoke against the "Holy Temple". Saul, who we know mostly as Paul, was among those that stoned Stephan.

Tongues of fire!

I was stuck when I listened to Acts 2 yesterday.

If you have never heard it read, click the link above, then the audio button (the speaker) at the top of the page.  Or, ask someone to read it to you.  Sit back, close your eyes and concentrate on what God did that day!

Saul and Politics

I was a little surprised to see the similarities

1 Samuel 8-11 tells the story of Saul becoming the first king of Israel.  In these passages, you see several things occur.

• The people asking for a king because of protection
• God allowing a king to be chosen
• Samuel warning the people but anointing Saul king

Because of the book I have been reading, I am more sensitive to the issues of tying following God with political agendas.

Then I saw the start of chapter 11... Within a month of Saul becoming king, Israel was embroiled in war.  Now this seems to be a common occurrence with Israel but here is the "God-chosen" leader being sent into war right after he was made leader.

What similarities you ask?  8 years ago, a movement lead by political conservatives, including many Christians elected George W. Bush president. Within a year of him taking power, we were embroiled in a war against terror which lead to a war against Iraq. I am not going to make any judgments other than this....

Many Christians were putting their political hope for peace and righteousness in their choice then.  The Bible, however, shows us that God does not want followers of him (then or now) to put their faith in anyone or anything but God.

Grace, Forgiveness -- What about 9/11

It has been a while since I have posted.  Over the last couple of weeks, however, I have been bombarded with information about God's grace and forgiveness.

It started a couple of months ago as I started to read Shane Claibourne's book "Jesus for President".  This book is wide ranging in subject matter from how radical Christ's words were (much more than we typically think) to how to live a life of forgiveness and grace.

Then, last week, I listened to the messages on "Grace - What's so amazing about Christianity?" and "Forgiveness - Why did Jesus have to die?" from here.  As I was listening to the last message I thought of someone I need to forgive.  Then my mind wandered to questions brought up in a conversation this morning.   What if, rather than reacting with vengeance for the events of 9/11, we would have reacted with forgiveness like the Amish did when their school children were murdered 2 years ago?

One other thought though...  Forgiveness does not eliminate justice  

Kyle's Rough Weekend

It was time for another Black Belt University at Origin Martial Arts where Kyle has been studying Karate (Tae Kwan Do).

This one, however, was significant.  Kyle was up for his provisional black belt.  This involved 4 hours on Friday, 7 on Saturday and Sunday.

Today, Kyle and the other candidate were proving themselves by running the "Black Belt Mile", exhibiting their skills in their katas, sparring and board breaking.

Kyle made Marj and I proud parents.  His teacher told us that going into this weekend, there was some concern about the time he was able to spend being mentored by Nicki (she and the other provisional black belt were testing for their actual black belt).  Because I played this weekend, I was unable to attend most of the day.  I got to see some of the test they put him through in spite of that.   He spend 10 to 15 minutes sparring with various students one after another, each one fresh and Kyle getting more and more tired.  He had already run 1/2 mile, done the various warm-ups that were done, spent Saturday learning to knife fight as well as street fight for self defense.

Talking to his teacher later, I found out that the purpose of this was to prove Kyle's character. Kyle did well.  He didn't give up even though he was being hit more and more as well as being fatigued and having a headache from the blows (he was wearing protective head gear, hand padding, etc, but unlike many others, no protective chest pad).

It was a side of Kyle I don't often.  We won't know for a couple of weeks if Kyle earned the provisional black belt.  Keep posted!

What Christians Like

I started reading (yet) another blog.

"What Chrstians Like" is a tongue-in-cheek look at the Christian culture in America. Sometimes it hits a little close to home... My home that is.

'Ditch the Diaper'

Today, at Northern Hills, we are in the second week of "Ditch the Diaper", a series on James. Through this, we are being encouraged to "Grow up -- Put
your faith into action". The first week was really good and the discussion in our "Life Group" (or small group) was really active.

As we approach our second week, I was reminded of the parody or follow-on to the poem and song "Foot prints in the sand". This is called "Butt Prints in the Sand".

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"
Those prints are large and round and neat,
"But Lord they are too big for feet."

"My child," He said in somber tones,
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait."

"You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know.
So I got tired, I got fed up,
and there I dropped you on your butt."

"Because in life, there comes a time,
when one must fight, and one must climb.
When one must rise and take a stand,
or leave their butt prints in the sand."

Expelled

Marj saw the site and trailers for the movie Expelled staring Ben Stein.

It looks interesting!

A year gone by.... I found it

Last year, while listening to the Daily Audio Bible, I heard something in Deuteronomy that I had never seen or heard before. This was not something I was unaware of, just something that surprised me on how plainly it was stated. The problem was, when I heard it last year, I forgot to make a mental (or physical note) as to the chapter/verse and was at a loss to find it again.

Yesterday, I heard it again!

The context is Moses writing to Israel, telling them to obey God's laws. We tend to think of Israel as sort of a closed club but that was not the intention. In fact, in spite of the way events usually occured, they were to be evangelists to those around them... A city on the hill... A light to the nations.

Deut 4:5-8 reads:

You must obey these laws and regulations when you arrive in the land you are about to enter and occupy. The LORD my God gave them to me and commanded me to pass them on to you. If you obey them carefully, you will display your wisdom and intelligence to the surrounding nations. When they hear about these laws, they will exclaim, ‘What other nation is as wise and prudent as this!’ For what great nation has a god as near to them as the LORD our God is near to us whenever we call on him? And what great nation has laws and regulations as fair as this body of laws that I am giving you today?

Tony Campolo

I don't know what you think of him but I found this video interesting. In it, Tony criticizes American Christians for being seduced by Freud. Our reason for salvation should not be because it makes us happy but because Christ died on the Cross for our sins. You can watch below.

Dancing on Injustice

Today, in church, we sang a song by a band called Delirious? called "Did you feel the mountains tremble".

In the chorus of that song, there is a line that reads:

Open up the doors and let the music play
Let the streets resound with singing
Songs that bring your hope
Songs that bring your joy
Dancers who dance upon injustice.

This brought to mind a story told by Jim Wallis at a talk in June 2007 with Greg Boyd at Bethel University (you can listen here) about politics and faith. In the talk, Wallis relates a story about a discussion he was a part in at Notre Dame.

He relates:

I was at Notre Dame during the last election and had a room full Catholic students. They cared about the poor, they cared about Iraq and they cared about abortion. They didn't fit either party framework.

A young woman raised her hand and said, "4000 lives were lost today because of abortion. How can I vote on any other issue than that?"

I let the question hover just to see what might happen. Another student stood up and said, "Fair enough! 9000 people died today because of HIV/AIDS. What about them?"

A third student said "And 30,000 children died today because of needless hunger and poverty!".

And we decided after an hour and a half that there was no consistent ethic of life candidate running in the election. The right and the left have selective moralities.

We, as followers of Christ, are looking forward to a time where these injustices cease. On the other hand, we are commanded to do our best to make those injustices cease before then. Politics won't do it because it is too self serving. The Church has abdicated our responsibilities far too long.

Jesus Christ Superstar

We are quickly approaching Easter. One of the things I associate with Easter is the Broadway play "Jesus Christ Superstar". Why? Because it tells a more modern day story of the crucifiction of Christ from a viewpoint that is not Christian.

I have been thinking about this as I listen to the Gospels being read. As I listen, I hear the people around Christ treating him as a superstar.

Twice we hear about him feeding the crowds, once 5000 men (not counting women and children) and once 4000 men. You hear Christ retreating from the crowds several times. During his entry into Jerusalem, the whole city turned out to welcome him. That seems to fill the definition of superstar.

Why did the church object to to the play? Because it didn't finish the story. It stopped on what we call Good Friday, before Christ was pulled down from the cross. The best, however, was yet to come.

Dancing Music

I like songs about dancing, even though I am dancing challenged. Take, for instance, this old Celtic hymn it is typically sung to the tune of "Simple Gifts":

I danced in the morning when the world was begun
I danced in the Moon & the Stars & the Sun
I came down from Heaven & I danced on Earth
At Bethlehem I had my birth:

Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
(...lead you all in the Dance, said He!)

I danced for the scribe & the pharisee
But they would not dance & they wouldn't follow me
I danced for fishermen, for James & John
They came with me & the Dance went on:

I danced on the Sabbath & I cured the lame
The holy people said it was a shame!
They whipped & they stripped & they hung me high
And they left me there on a cross to die!

I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body & they thought I'd gone
But I am the Dance & I still go on!

They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the Life that'll never, never die!
I'll live in you if you'll live in Me -
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!

JackPot !!!

A little over a year ago, I remember writing this, dreaming about winning that elusive lottery jackpot and believing, at least in my own head, that I would give most away. I was also wondering if the reason that that doesn't happen is that God knows my heart.

I may have a different (and less condemning) reason. While I was listening to the Bible being read yesterday, I heard Leviticus 22-23 and heard this in 22:17-20...

And the Lord said to Moses, “Give Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites these instructions, which apply both to native Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.

“If you present a gift as a burnt offering to the Lord, whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, you will be accepted only if your offering is a male animal with no defects. It may be a bull, a ram, or a male goat. Do not present an animal with defects, because the Lord will not accept it on your behalf."

As much as some of us hate to admit it, lottery winnings are a "male animal with defects". It is money I would not have earned by working for it and, if it were considered a "gift", it was not worked for, it was gained under somewhat dubious pretenses. As of today, the Powerball jackpot is 153 million. That much money could do a lot of good but is, I believe, not a sacrifice that the Lord would want.

How he loves us

I love the lyrics to this song.



He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane
I am a tree
Bending beneath
The weight of his wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these
Afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize how beautiful you are
And how great your afflictions for me

Oh how he loves us so
Oh how he loves us
How he loves us so

Yea He loves us
Oh how

We are his portion
And he is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So heaven meats earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart burns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way
He loves us

Oh how he loves us so
Oh how he loves us
How he loves us so

Yea He loves us
Oh how

Fallow Blog?

I am joking (but not far off) when I suggest I should rename this blog the "fallow blog". It has been sitting here waiting for me to put something in for almost a month while I, in turn, have done nothing about it.

So, for your viewing pleasure (and amazement). This video is of a 10 year old girl performing Kansas' "Carry On My Wayward Son" on keyboards. I sent this to my sister who plays keyboards and she was amazed!

I am a terrible blogger

Ok, I admit it.

I hate chain mail (and emails -- I don't do them).

I am a little more forgiving when it comes to being "Meme'd".

My friend Donna "Meme'd" me, similar to the chain emails... I just don't do it! Does that make me the Blog Scrooge?

Busy busy weekend

My load was lightened a bit as the other bass player and I swapped this and next weekend. This, however has already been quite busy.

Marj dropped Kyle off at a friends house on Friday (thanks Sharon and James), dropped Rocky off at a neighbor's (and friend -- thanks Neff and Jeanie) and headed to Longmont for 24 hours to a "Get the Word Out" intensive -- you do get sleep, it is not that intense. If you get a chance to go, I would highly recommend doing so.

Tonight we are going to the "Seek and Soak" at Northern Hills. I am looking forward to this in a big way.

We are also getting together with Jane and Mark for dinner at noon.

A busy weekend.

Top cover of the year

This year finished out Coverville's top cover of the year being Monte Montgomery's cover of Dire Straight's "Romeo and Juliette". I also found I liked Petra Haden's cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" and William Shattner (yes, Kirk) doing Pulp's "Common People".

I find Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's cover of Judy Garlands "Somewhere over the Rainbow" one of the most haunting song I have ever heard.

iGod

I have finished listening to a series from LiquidChurch called iGod based on Romans 1-3. You can listen here, here and here. It is a great start at adjusting my view of God.

The first in the series dealt with putting God in a Box. My favorite quotes are...

"On the sixth day, God created man. On the seventh day, man returned the favor."
-- unknown (attributed to Pascal)

and

“You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
-- Anne Lamontt

Blog Psychology at it's best

It may be the blog version of Lucy (from Peanuts) Psychologist stand...

What Your Pizza Reveals

People may tell you that you have a small appetite... but you aren't under eating. You just aren't a pig. You aren't particularly picky about pizza. It's so good... how could you be? You fit in best in the Western part of the US. You like food that's traditional and well crafted. You aren't impressed with "gourmet" foods. You are dependable, loyal, and conservative with your choices. You are cultured and intellectual. You should consider traveling to Vienna. The stereotype that best fits you is guy or girl next door. Hey, there's nothing wrong with being average.

What Does Your Pizza Say About You?

More Coverville Countdown 2007

Coverville just released numbers 24-17 of their countdown of best covers....

I was excited to see the song I nominated as number 22 -- Blake Morgan's version of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed". I was also happy to see Copper Box's version of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb".

Coverville Countdown 2007

The Annual (I have listened for 3 years now) Coverville Countdown is underway -- 32 to 25 were released today and 40-33 released last Thursday.

My favorites from 40-33? Social Distortion's cover of "Ring of Fire", Joan Jet's cover of "Crimson and Clover", Rufas Wainwright's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and my favorite of the bunch, the Gypsy King's cover of "Hotel California".

From the lineup I see on the 32-25 list, I can already tell that I will enjoy The Clash's "I Fought The Law" and Bill Kirchen's "Hot Rod Lincoln" (I liked that one enough the first time I heard it I bought it).

While I am thinking about it, the Coverville Blog recently told us about "Yuletide Zeppelin", a mashup of Christmas songs with Led Zeppelin riffs playing in the back. You can read about the song here but download it (legally and free) here.

A National Treasure

We enjoyed the original "National Treasure" so much we took the opportunity to see the second one, "National Treasure -- Book of Secrets", we even hit the first showing today for the $5 tickets (at the Brighton Theater). If you saw the first one, most of the starring roles are reprised and the actors do a great job.

If you want to se a fun mystery it is a good choice.

Reviews?

I promised book reviews, get ready...

I was reminded of where I left off a couple of Sundays ago. The current sermon series is called "Kingdom of God: Grip It & Rip It" which is on the first chapters in Matthew. The first message was on the Genealogy of Christ, specifically how there are lots of people of ill repute but reformed characters in that lineage, specifically, Rahab, Ruth and Tamar. At one point in the sermon, it was mentioned that not to many people like genealogy. This brought back memories of the book I read when I quit giving reviews.

It is called "A Frederick Family Album: Memories, Pictures and Documents of an Iowa Farm Family" and was written and published by my aunt, Elizabeth VanderSchaaf.

This is not, by far, the first book she has written. In fact, she has more than 14 books behind her now, many of them dealing with my family history but all of them dealing with family history from my side of her family or her husband's side.

This was a fun book to read, especially when it started talking about those I was familiar with, my Grandmother (who died when I was 5) and my Grandfather, my great uncle Elmer, my Dad and Aunt. Of course, many of her memories were of my grandparents, my Father and herself.

There is quite a bit of historical information in there as well. For instance, I skipped over some of the legal documents that were included.

Now to tie things back to the sermon. One of the things that she always said was you tell family history, no matter how bad things looked. The point made by the pastor that Sunday was that you could tell that the lineage of Christ was real because it was not whitewashed but showed the good and the bad.

No More Whoppers?

Thanks to Greg at the Church Video Ideas blog, I had a flashback to my Junior High/High School years.


Youth for Christ held a roller skating night every month that we would go to enjoy. Often, on the way home, we visited the Burger King.

This video is shows what would happen if the Whopper was removed from the menu. I suspect that Burger King hopes this goes viral. I am doing my best to help out!

Joy

We were first told of the shootings at the YWAM campus in Arvada Sunday Morning. That morning Dave, who has done some teaching at YWAM, talked about joy during the music part of the worship service. Dave told us that Joy, unlike happiness, is a choice, not a feeling. Our worship during those services was passionate.

Today I read Psalm 33 (New Living Translation)

Let the godly sing for joy to the Lord;
it is fitting for the pure to praise him.
Praise the Lord with melodies on the lyre;
make music for him on the ten-stringed harp.
Sing a new song of praise to him;
play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.
For the word of the Lord holds true,
and we can trust everything he does.
He loves whatever is just and good;
the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth.

The Lord merely spoke,
and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
and all the stars were born.
He assigned the sea its boundaries
and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.
Let the whole world fear the Lord,
and let everyone stand in awe of him.
For when he spoke, the world began!
It appeared at his command.

Gospel What?

Sometimes we forget that there is a (more?) virbrant and (more?) active Christian community outside the enclave of the United States.

Today I ran across an interesting site called Gospel Reggae. It is very "island" flavored and, with snow on the ground, warms my heart.

The first tracks I listened to were from Ghana (west Africa). It also included tracks from Beliez as well. Artists you can sample include Kenneth Appiah and the Soul Winners, ZiggySoul and Katalys.

You can even visit their "Christafari" kids page.