soundtrack for spring

Alright, it’s that time of year when the days are getting a bit longer and patches of green are starting to appear.  It’s not fully spring yet (sand and gravel from the winter is still on the roadside), and although snow is still insisting on falling, we feel confident enough to declare a new season starting.

So, as in the last ’soundtrack of a season’ post, we’re putting together those songs that remind of this time of year…of daffodils and new grass and sand and gravel and riding bikes and baseball games after school.  I’ll post my list and then you either post yours or e-mail me and I’ll mix them into the master list.

A Soundtrack For Early Spring:
“Mr. Jones” - Counting Crows
“When You Come Back Down” - Nickel Creek
“Dreams” - The Cranberries
“I Don’t Want To Wait” - Paula Cole
“Let Her Cry” - Hootie & The Blowfish
“Cumbersome” - Seven Mary Three
“Something More” - Sugarland
“Love Fool” - The Cardigans
“Barely Breathing” - Duncan Shiek
“Walk On The Ocean” - Toad The Wet Sprocket
“Name” - Goo Goo Dolls
“Lost” - Michael Buble
“Mayberry” - Rascal Flatts
“Tarzan Boy” - Baltimora
“John Deere Green” - Joe Diffie
“No Reigns” - Rascall Flatts
“I’ve Got the World On a String” - Michael Buble
“My Praise” - Phillips, Craig & Dean
“Bad Day” - Daniel Powter

movie night

 

Tomorrow night is movie night.  We’re giong to watch The Mission with Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons.  The movie is just over 2 hours long (125 minutes) so we should be done just after 9 pm.  Please try to come early enough so we can hit “play” as close to 7:00 as possible.

a new day dawning

Like day new dawned there rises in me now
the wild delight of God’s creative power.
One glance upon the bed where Jesus lay
has quite undone my cold and aching fear,
and, in its place, a stranger has appeared:
a trust that he who made the earth and sky
is recreating all, beginning here,
beginning now.
The race is run, and God
has overcome the enemy at last.
In Jesus he has loved us to the end,
and love, strong love, has triumphed over death.
- from an Anglican Easter Oratorio

It’s ‘Good’ Friday…so a song

So today is the day in Holy Week that remembers the crucifixion of Jesus, and it’s very name is the ultimate in irony: Good Friday.  That is, good in the ultimate outcome of the resurrection and new creation.  But at the time, for those devoted to Jesus, it was anything but.

In this somber day, we see the Messiah strung up and left to rot, for his breath to slowly dissipate from his body as people mock and animals pick and bite.  Two thousand years ago there was nothing romantic, nothing glorious or wonderful about crucifixion.  It was the ultimate penalty for the ultimate insurrection.  And when Jesus took it upon himself and was hoisted before all as an example of what happens to “enemies of the state,” in an ironic twist, he exposed the epitome of sin and the rebellion of creatures against their Creator.  Through the crucifixion the curtain was pulled back and the real substance of power, greed, lust, and corruption were revealed for what they were.  Mankind’s systems and structures were outed, and the very worst we could do – steal the very life from someone — was put on display.  Jesus stepped fully into it, into this “black parade” of human dysfunction and rebellion.

A mere three days after the crucifixion the entire spectacle would be reversed…but here, on this day, the future went dark for those who followed this nobody carpenter-turned-rabbi/prophet/Messiah from the podunk village of Nazareth. 

For this day, the musical stylings of My Chemical Romance seem appropriate:

readers for Thursday night

This Thursday night at church we’re have a reflective and meditative service to prepare for Easter.  It will consist of a handful of readings and thoughts, read out load, that basically take us through the stations of the cross.  There will be some music and time for sharing, as well as some time for visiting various stations that will be set up throughout the sanctuary for prayer, communion, symbolic acts, etc.  It will start at 7:00 pm and shouldn’t run more than an hour.

There are still plenty of passages available to read, so if you’re interested in doing a public reading, let me know ASAP and I can get you signed up.

(This service will replace youth group this week.  We’ll pick back up next week as usual…)

Hello neighbor.

This Thursday is not only the first day of spring (WAHOO!), but also the birthday of the late Mr. Rodgers.  Were he still alive, he would be 80 years old. 

In honor of the late great Mr. R, people from his original neighborhood in Pittsburg are rallying people to celebrate the occasion by encouraging them to wear a cardigan sweater for the day.

If you ever needed an excuse to bust that cardie out of the closet…now’s your chance.

some things to meditate on…

“Action with and for those who suffer is the concrete expression of the compassionate life and the final criterion of being a Christian.  Such acts do not stand beside the moments of prayer and worship but are themselves such moments.”

- Donald P. McNeil, Douglas A. Morrison, Henri J. M. Nouwen,  Compassion

“This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us.  This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.  If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it, but instead turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love?  It disappears.  And you made it disappear.  Let’s not just talk about love.  Let’s practice real love.  This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality.”

- St. John, (1 John 3:16-19)

it’s Friday…a song

This week’s song is by Joe Purdy.  It’s called “Canyon Joe.”

on Rev

Okay, so a couple weeks ago we did a sort of intro to the book of Revelation.  We devised some ‘reading glasses’ to help us look at it more clearly, understanding that it is a writing in the genre of Jewish Apocalyptic literature, and because of that, it had certain characteristics we need to be aware of.

<Catching up…>
Last week we started into the book, understanding that John wrote it to seven churches in the area of Asia Minor.  This is significant because Asia Minor was the only place in the empire where Rome didn’t establish a single military battalion to keep the peace and enforce their rule.  This was because the people in Asia Minor didn’t mind the rule of the empire.  Actually, they liked the presence of Rome in their region — in fact, they wanted the Empire to be more present.  They liked the comfort and luxury it provided.  So in the beginning of Revelation we see seven letters being sent to seven churches in this area, all of them being reprimanded and warned by Jesus that they have gotten too involved with the Empire: “You’re rich and wealthy and have every possible thing you could desire…but your soul is desolate, poverty-stricken.” 

We looked specifically at the letter to Laodicea, where Jesus says: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm–niether hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”  We talked about how “hot and cold” doesn’t mean “for God or against God”…but back then, and in that specific region, hot or cold simply meant a contrast to lukewarm.  It wasn’t about better or worse, for or against, simply “different than.”  And Jesus is saying that these people who started to follow him are now no different than the ‘temperature’ around them.  They are indistinguishable from the Empire.  He also says that they have fallen for Rome like a person falls for a prostitute, that they have been seduced…but eventually it will lead to their destruction. 

We ended this by asking the following question: What does it mean to be a contrast community to the world we find ourselves in?  And it’s not about being different for the sake of being different…but actually being different in a way that is a blessing to those around us (even, or especially, those who aren’t like us).
<All caught up.>

So this week we’re going to look at Rev 4-5 and see one of the single biggest keys to reading this book.  John gets caught up in this huge worship scene that is unfolding in heaven, and it’s all centered around something (or someone).  In the 300+ years that the Jewish people wrote Apocalyptic literature, the lion was a pretty commonly used symbol in this type of writing.  But not once, except for here in John’s writing, was a lamb ever used.  This is completely new and original and shocking.  And he is doing it totally and completely on purpose.  John is saying something about power, where it comes from and the difference between how the Empire exercises it compared to the way God does.

A couple things to think about as you read this:

1) What words, phrases, or images stand out to you in the song that the whole host of heaven sings in these two chapters?  What grabs you?

2) Think about the people you would consider to be powerful or have an influence.  How would you describe the ways they exercise their power/influence?  Is it in a selfish or oppressive way…or a helpful one?

It’s Friday (here’s another song)

 This week’s song is “Ain’t No Reason” by Brett Dennen.