Check-out the latest JibJab. In this heightened time of political correctness with the election process in full-swing I'm always happy to see some good ol' fashioned political satire and these guys do it so well. I don't care what your political position is, Obama on the back of a unicorn flying through a pink candy forest singing a fruity song about change is hilarious.

Though normally dedicated to the subject of worship and the arts, I wanted to share a link to a friend's blog for those interested in the intersection between faith and science. My friend and long-time drummer, Dustin Wood, is a scientist in the field of herpetology. (No, this isn't the study of an STD!) Herpetology, according to wikipedia is concerned with poikilothermic, or cold-blooded, tetrapods. In English, reptiles and amphibians.

Herpetology offers benefits to humanity in the study of the role of amphibians and reptiles in global ecology, especially because amphibians are often very sensitive to environmental changes, offering a visible warning to humans that significant changes are taking place. Some toxins and venoms produced by reptiles and amphibians are useful in human medicine. Currently, some snake venom has been used to create anti-coagulants that work to treat stroke victims and heart attack cases.

Lately, Dustin has been working through a study of where science and faith intersect, and how they can bolster one another. He will be sharing these discoveries, among other things, in his blog, which I look forward to reading. I will give a warning to my friends that are a little more comfortable on the right of every issue and take a particularly literal view of "everything" recorded in Scripture. Dustin's conclusions may take you in places that stretch your comfortability, but trust me, it will make you think through these issues, which is always a good thing.

As much as we should be encouraging our artists and musicians to live out their faith in the marketplace of life, the church should also covet and encourage the few scientists we have to enter into dialogue with their respective sub-culture, offering a Christian lens through which to see the beauty that is creation, because it reflects a greater glory that is the Creator. Dustin's blog is called the Heartwood Harold and can be found here: Heartwood Harold.

From time to time it is nice just to share stuff you're into - get it off your chest, if you will. CS Lewis used to say that praising is just part of our nature; letting others know about stuff you enjoy completes the enjoyment cycle - hence our worship of God derives out of our knowing and enjoying our relationship with Him. You can't help but share his love, and in the course of this post, the good things he's brought into my world.

Musically, there is some good news from my favorite band, Radiohead. They are going to release their next album, In Rainbows, next Wednesday (Oct. 10th) from their own site digitally inrainbows.com. The cost? Up to you. You can pay as much or as little, or nothing at all for it. It will be downloadable mp3 format that will have no restrictions. This is true independence and I hope it works out for them. Check-out the website and you can pre-order the download.

Other things I've really enjoyed listening to:

1. Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature. This is an excellent and sparse album of intricate classical guitar, minimal percussion and an awesome albeit understated voice. I am a sucker for double-tracked vocals. Check him out on You Tube to see how powerful just a guitar and voice can be live.

2. Rogue Wave - Asleep at Heaven's Gate. RW's latest is really solid stuff. I've seen these guys live a couple times and they bring the indie rawk like no one's business. This is a much denser affair musically than previous albums as they are exploring the sonic spectrum with a little extra money and time on their hands, so some fans of their earlier, more acoustic work may be disappointed. Roguewavemusic.com

3. Sovereign Grace's "Valley of Vision" project. Someone in my congregation just gave me this album last Sunday, so it may not be new at all, but I've really enjoyed many of these old puritan prayers set to music. Valley of Vision is a collection of prayers by a variety of puritan pastors on a wide variety of topics. They are all God-centered and Christ exalting. I've had this book for 15 years now and I never thought of putting any of them to music, so I'm really glad that the Sovereign Grace group did. The songs are not for everyone. There are a couple of 70's-ish piano ballads that wax a little too sentimental for my liking, but there are also a lot of great arrangements in there coupled with powerful lyrics and singable melodies that can be tweaked for any style. The cool thing is that SG provides chord charts for these songs. I plan on using a few of them in the future. Click here to listen/buy.

 

Fall is here and that means: The Office and Heroes are back on, which are my current favs (LOSTies have to wait until the new year). Additional shows that look promising: Chuck (good geek fun), Life (quirky but interesting), Bionic Woman (dark but very cool), and possibly Cavemen (I love the Geiko commercials, let's pray the show lives up to the hype).

The goal of the gospel is total transformation. It is not just an entry stamp that gets you past the heavenly velvet rope and into the VIP room, but a complete restoration of all that was lost in the garden all those yesteryears ago. The gospel of Christ comes in and seeks to restore our relationships with God, ourselves, others, and creation. Scot McKnight's book, "Embracing Grace", is really good on this point. Lately, I've realized (along with many others) that most of my Christian life has limited the gospel to just the vertical focus and my private relationship with God, which is important, it's just incomplete.

Long story short, as I'm working towards my Masters in Ministry and seeking God's will as far as pastoring/church planting, I've been looking at local and global (what Bob Roberts calls GLOCAL) opportunities to partner with as a means of supporting the transformation of others and creation. SRR will be supporting the Blood:Water Mission non-profit founded by the guys in Jars of Clay. They are building clean and sustainable water systems in Africa, where millions are dying due to lack of clean water, which seems silly since many of us pay for bottled water. Additionally, they are bringing in clean blood, since most of the AIDS pandemic solutions require this precious commodity that we all have running thru our veins. Plus, they are also using this as a means of bringing the gospel, since blood and water were shed on Calvary for the sins of the world. Check-out their site and get more of the details. They have numerous ways to support and get churches involved, as well as youth / college groups. Basically, it equates to about $1 paying for an entire year supply of water for one person. A percentage of SRR profits (which frankly, isn't much) will be going to this mission, but even a little when contributed by a lot makes a difference. Thanks for checking them out.

The largest weekly paper in our town is the San Diego Reader. Each Thursday, on page 18 to be exact, they have a column called "Sheeps and Goats" where they give a review of a local church service from the previous Sunday. This past weekend, their religion columnist came to Kaleo's service. It's a weird thing to have your worship reviewed - to have a rating system with stars applied to the music, band, sermon, aesthetics and general friendliness of the community. I didn't know he was there, and I don't think it would've made a difference if I had, since I use a pretty set liturgy. But I am thankful that this particular columnist, Matthew Lickona, reported what he saw and heard and left it to the reader to determine their opinion. In just two newspaper columns, he captured the heart of our service: lyrics, prayer, and more importantly...the Gospel message that was prominently heralded throughout our pastor's sermon, which was actually Peter's sermon, since we were in Acts 2. Here was Mr. Lickona's synopsis of the music:

The band featured piano, tambourine, and violin playing behind frequently shambling melodies, resulting in a modern, alt-country sound. That, contrasted with the archaic syntax of the song lyrics - themselves appearing over an artful, weathered-wood background - produced a downright funksome effect: new-school aesthetics, old-school religiocity. "O to grace how great a debtor / Daily I'm constrained to be / Let that grace now like a fetter / Bind my wandering heart to Thee." Grace was one theme of the service; the Holy Spirit was another, and it showed up in the sung Psalm: "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me; restore unto me the joy of thy salvation" (Psalm 51). The song leader then led the congregation in confession: "Merciful God, our sins are too heavy to carry, to real to hide, and far too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips are afraid to name and our hearts can no longer bear...Set us free from a past we can't change, and grant us grace to grow more and more in your likeness and image." 

Shambling melodies? Alt-country? Funksome effect? Not sure if these are good, bad, or even accurate descriptors, but I'll take it. It could've been a lot worse, I guess. But he did get the the sermon, and I was pleasantly surprised that he seemed to capture the heart of it in just a few paragraphs. David preached for about an hour, and Mr. Lickona grabbed the central theme and printed it, so I thank God for that. My prayer is that the believers present would grab it and run with it, as well as those who happen to read it in San Diego, too. If you're interested in reading the whole review, you can check it out here. Have a great weekend; may God bless your Sunday services my fellow artisans of God.

“The Search for a Postmodern Apologetic Starting Point”

Demographic: Born 1965-1981

Generation X is a transition generation that grew up with broken homes, the decline of the importance of religion and church attendance, a higher education rate than previous generations, and rapid advances in technology, particularly telecommunications.

Creating a strategy to reach this generation en masse’ is a very tricky endeavor. In one sense, this is a generation of paradox. They possess a sense of empowerment and independence, and yet, desire community and see the importance of healthy relationships. They value work, and are in fact hard workers, and yet, this does not define them in the same way it did for their parents as they value a more balanced work, leisure, and family life.

Key Factors to Consider: • Products of Broken Homes • Both Parents Worked (latchkey kids) • More cynical/skeptical, especially toward relationships • Frustrated w/ authority and absolutes • Desires a “ sense ” of community • Redefined and variable definitions of “ success ” • Large technical knowledge gap between them and prior generations • Weary of being “ exploited ” , “ talked down to ” , or “ sold to ” • Welcomes change, and often expects instant gratification • More visually oriented than past generations • Incredibly disloyal to brands, companies, or organizations. • Tolerant of holding mutually exclusive religious beliefs.

As consumers, Gen Xers tend to be savvier; utilizing internet sites, blogs, and product reviews to make a well informed decision before buying. Baby boomers and previous generations were loyal for a variety of reasons – habit, product reputation, and perceived lack of choices, even sentimental value of buying the same product that their parents and grandparents used. These can sway Generation X, but not as far, nor for as long. A growing body of research tells us that Xers are very likely to seek competing options after just one negative experience with a company or organization.

In a broad stroke, this generation shares a particular experience and outlook that has had a deep impact upon the American landscape. This outlook has been defined as postmodernism. A ton of ink has been spilled on this topic (both good and bad), and it’s not my desire to recapitulate those studies here. Suffice to say, Generation X and postmodernism exhibit a mood of abandonment and alienation. [1] There is a general sentiment that our families, governments, schools, and religious organizations have failed us. The modernist hope that scientific achievement and technological advancement will solve all of our problems has been proven invalid.

As a Christian man in his mid-thirties (ugh!), I am beginning to recognize how influential my cultural upbringing has been upon my thinking on such subjects as career, family, materialism, media, politics, and of course … God.

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