I have been thinking a lot lately, as most people have, about the mess in the Middle East. I think it is easy for us to look at what is going on over there and blame it on extremists, or warring sides, or differences in religion or any of the other numerous things we can place blame in to help us disconnect from the reality of it all. But what if we are partially to blame?
Can you imagine what it must be like growing up in a small poor country in turmoil your whole life? Living in a village where the only money comes from other nations (the US) paying and arming the men in your village to kill whoever they don't like at the time? What does that embed into your consciousness? A physical dollar figure is being placed on the heads of those who aren't even your enemy other then the fact that someone is paying to make them your enemy. Then we come into a nation and try and force democracy on a people who have been both being paid to kill for us and being killed by those we pay. Is it any wonder it doesn't work?
In Israel you have a country that for some reason the US has decided to stand by no matter what, shooting missiles into another country that not to long ago we where praising as a great example of democracy working in the middle east. We are sending billions of dollars in weaponry to one side and millions of dollars of aid to the other. What good does our aid do if we supply the bombs doing the damage? Is anyone really suprised that we are perceived as a "great evil"?
It just makes me wonder what could be if we spent anywhere near that much money on feeding and clothing people instead of arming them and giving them an enemy. I mean how many times is that going to come back and bite us before we learn it just doesn't work? We need a serious change in our Foreign Policy direction. It really seems like the middle east has become nothing more then a giant game of Risk played by rich western men in suits who have never farther into these countries then their own embassies. Like puppets pulling strings that effect thousands of innocent lives. It just breaks my heart.
My former pastor, Brain posted a great blog the other day about this, take a look. He is a much better writer then I am.
"When justice is bought and sold just like weapons of war,
the ones who always pay are the poorest of the poor."
-Derek Webb - "My Enemies Are Men Like Me"
Monday, August 14, 2006
Monday, August 07, 2006
Gutsy Faith Weeks 2&3
Okay, I am falling behind already.
We are really getting into some good stuff in the Gutsy Faith group. This is the second time I have read the book, since I designed the cover I read the manuscript almost a year ago, but having this discussion group to share thoughts, ideas, and testimony with has sure made a difference in what I am getting out of the book. If you have the opportunity to read Gutsy Faith with a group I highly recommend it.
Anyways. In week 2 we covered chapters 4-6, and in week 3 we looked at chapters 7-9.
In the group we talked a lot about prayer and wrestled with the idea of God not wanting to say "no" to us. I still am not sure I buy that statement, but I understand now what Jeff is getting at. It isn't a matter of God wanting to say yes or no to us; it is a matter of us desiring God's will. Basically, if God is saying "no" you probably aren't asking the right questions, or at least not at the right time.
Sometime during my college years I heard a sermon about the Lord's Prayer that got me thinking about the way I pray. It seems that even when my intentions are pure that my prayers end up self motivated. At that time I made a decision to pray for God's will specifically by stating it. Ever since then I have prayed for something and then asked that God fulfill that prayer only if it is His will, and if it is not, to shape my will to His. Half of the time it is nothing more then lip service, as my heart still desires what I want more then what God wants, but if nothing else it is a reminder to me set my desires aside and that God surely does have my best interest in mind.
There was one section that really stood out to me in these chapters, not because it is anything I haven't thought before, more because it was a powerful reminder to me of what it means to live Gutsy Faith. Here is what Jeff says in reference to Christ telling His disciples they had the power to move mountains.
"It's important to understand that since the Fall in the Garden of Eden, God has been about the business of restoring all of creation to Himself. In the Exodus, we see God at work, bringing cataclysmic plagues on Egypt, parting the Red Sea, feeding the Israelites with manna, all in the eventual goal of restoring creation. Through the work of the Old Testament prophets, and the work of the judges and kings of Israel, we see God at work restoring all of creation. In the Gospels, we see Jesus performing miracles left and right, all in the interest of restoring creation. God has worked through nature, through the hands of His people, and through His own presence to bring about restoration.
And in Matt. 21:18-22 we find Jesus telling His disciples that if they have faith and don't doubt, they can and will move mountains. Jesus isn't just giving them challenging word to deal with their daily trials and sufferings. He's far beyond that. He's thinking of Kingdom issues here. Jesus is challenging them to be so close to God the Father, knowing and understanding His voice so clearly, that when they hear Him whisper, "Go move that mountain," they will know it immediately, and in faith will do so because it will be God's power moving it, not their own, all for the purpose of bringing about restoration."
Well, until next week, if you have any incites on prayer or things you can do to improve your prayer life, or anything else this post brings to you mind, leave it in the comments below.
Thanks!
We are really getting into some good stuff in the Gutsy Faith group. This is the second time I have read the book, since I designed the cover I read the manuscript almost a year ago, but having this discussion group to share thoughts, ideas, and testimony with has sure made a difference in what I am getting out of the book. If you have the opportunity to read Gutsy Faith with a group I highly recommend it.
Anyways. In week 2 we covered chapters 4-6, and in week 3 we looked at chapters 7-9.
In the group we talked a lot about prayer and wrestled with the idea of God not wanting to say "no" to us. I still am not sure I buy that statement, but I understand now what Jeff is getting at. It isn't a matter of God wanting to say yes or no to us; it is a matter of us desiring God's will. Basically, if God is saying "no" you probably aren't asking the right questions, or at least not at the right time.
Sometime during my college years I heard a sermon about the Lord's Prayer that got me thinking about the way I pray. It seems that even when my intentions are pure that my prayers end up self motivated. At that time I made a decision to pray for God's will specifically by stating it. Ever since then I have prayed for something and then asked that God fulfill that prayer only if it is His will, and if it is not, to shape my will to His. Half of the time it is nothing more then lip service, as my heart still desires what I want more then what God wants, but if nothing else it is a reminder to me set my desires aside and that God surely does have my best interest in mind.
There was one section that really stood out to me in these chapters, not because it is anything I haven't thought before, more because it was a powerful reminder to me of what it means to live Gutsy Faith. Here is what Jeff says in reference to Christ telling His disciples they had the power to move mountains.
"It's important to understand that since the Fall in the Garden of Eden, God has been about the business of restoring all of creation to Himself. In the Exodus, we see God at work, bringing cataclysmic plagues on Egypt, parting the Red Sea, feeding the Israelites with manna, all in the eventual goal of restoring creation. Through the work of the Old Testament prophets, and the work of the judges and kings of Israel, we see God at work restoring all of creation. In the Gospels, we see Jesus performing miracles left and right, all in the interest of restoring creation. God has worked through nature, through the hands of His people, and through His own presence to bring about restoration.
And in Matt. 21:18-22 we find Jesus telling His disciples that if they have faith and don't doubt, they can and will move mountains. Jesus isn't just giving them challenging word to deal with their daily trials and sufferings. He's far beyond that. He's thinking of Kingdom issues here. Jesus is challenging them to be so close to God the Father, knowing and understanding His voice so clearly, that when they hear Him whisper, "Go move that mountain," they will know it immediately, and in faith will do so because it will be God's power moving it, not their own, all for the purpose of bringing about restoration."
Well, until next week, if you have any incites on prayer or things you can do to improve your prayer life, or anything else this post brings to you mind, leave it in the comments below.
Thanks!
Monday, July 17, 2006
Gutsy Faith - Week1
Okay, this is my first post for the Gutsy Faith discussion group. It's a group of people brought together to read and share my friend Jeff Edmondson's new book Gutsy Faith (I designed the cover for the book!). We are suppose to blog on our readings each week and we get together on Tuesdays and discuss what we have read, so let's get started, feel free to follow along, heck, buy the book and really follow along! I am going to go through the discussion questions on here and I may go off on tangents of my own, but it's my blog, so I can.Chapter 1 - Where Guts Begins
What does it mean to you to have Gutsy Faith? - To me it means trusting in God with everything I am. Trusting God has created me for God's perfect plan, that God's will is the best for my life, is the best for God's kingdom. It means trusting in God's word, in God's promise to me, trusting God without compromise. This applies to EVERY area of my life. I think we (american Christians) have a serious problem trusting God to provide our every need, we feel we have to earn as much as we can, to get ahead because the future is unknown, we have a terrible fear of the future. Fear seems to drive the very culture of this country, to truly trust God we have to learn to rise above that fear. This has got to be one of the most difficult parts for me.
Name at least 5 people in the course of your life whom you see as having gutsy faith. - This one is hard for me to answer. I am not sure I know anyone who lives a completely gutsy faith, I am not sure it is humanly possible, we are a fallen people. Different people in my life, and some outside of it have been great examples of gutsy faith. My wife teaches me each day what it really means to trust and to love God, just through our relationship with each other. Some people who I would look to as really obvious examples of gutsy faith are St. Francis, St. Benedict, John Wesley, Mother Teresa, and Dorothy Day. These people to me had more gutsy in their faith then anyone. They trusted God enough to give EVERYTHING of themselves for God and God's kingdom. They lived their lives in a manner that put God and other before self. They gave up ways of life, completely trusting God to provide, so they could spread the gospel and lay down their lives for others. This, to me is what gutsy faith is really all about.
Chapter 2- Yes, No, or Later?
In this chapter Jeff is focusing on the idea that it is never God's desire to say "no" to God's children. That is an interesting statement, I am not sure I agree with that or not, it is a pretty complicated idea. On one hand, I don't think God would ever say or do anything outside of His perfect will, and therefore I think God would, and does quite often say "no" to our prayers, because our prayers are often driven out of selfishness, or sometimes even out of good, but misguided, intention. On the other hand, if you are praying as you should, for God's will to be done despite what that means you may have to do or give up, then God would only answer "yes". The problem comes down to interpreting God's will, knowing what that looks like in our lives. I don't have the confidence to claim I have any idea what that looks like, so when I pray I try to pray that God's will be done, whether I know or "agree" with it or not. The hard part is making sure you allow God to take control of your life enough to lead you by God's will.
Chapter 3 - Everything He Asked For
This chapter is based on the idea that God always gave Christ everything He asked for (giving Matt. 14:13-23 as an example of this). My first reaction was "what about that whole 'take my cup from me'" scene in the garden of Gethsemane? But at the end of the chapter Jeff tells me to hold my horses, he will get to that later, so I will take his word on that. I can't wait to see what he has to say about it. The premises of Jeff's statement makes sense to me though. Christ would never ask for anything outside of God's will, Christ is the son of God, but at the same time also God. God and Jesus share one good and perfect will, they can not be separated, so to me it makes perfect sense that God answered Jesus with "yes" at all times.
If God always answered Jesus' requests with a yes, do you think it's possible for Him to answer all your requests with yes? - I suppose it is, if my will lines up with God's will, which I am sure, as a fallen being it rarely does. But if I keep my desire set on that, on having my will be God's will, then I am at least growing in that direction. And I know for a fact that is one prayer God does not answer "no" to.
So, in conclusion, I would like to ask that God break my stubborn will, mold me into His own perfect will, make it one with His. This is my prayer as I start this journey of gutsy faith.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Recent Recommendations
Lately I have been enjoying quit a bit of good music, literature, and some other random stuff. I thought I would share some of it with my loyal readers (both of you).
BOOKS
A New Kind of Christian - Brian McLaren
Okay, I have put up a fight about this whole "emergent church" and "post-modern" thing. They have become such buzz words these days, it drives me crazy. Because of this I have been avoiding McLaren as well. Well, I finally caved and check out A New Kind of Christian from the library.
What an great book! Never before have I felt so much like someone opened up my head, ripped out my thoughts, and communicated them in a much better manner then I ever could have.
I was a little anoyed with how the very idea of the book somewhat contradicts the subject manner, McLaren is defiantly more "modern" then I think he would admit, but I also think that is needed. The book really breaks post-modern thought down in a modern sort of way. For a modern to truly understand post-modernity they need it explained by someone who understands modernity, in modern terms. I could not do this, guys like Donald Miller could not do this, we are to "post-modern", but McLaren is amazing at doing this. I think he is a modern with a strong draw towards post modernity, one who kind of bridges the gap if you will. I highly recommend this book to anyone who might feel like the modern church has left them out in the cold or feeling like a misfit, or anyone who wants understand why the church is loosing my generation at an alarming rate.
I have become a fan of Miller recently. He is most famous for his book, Blue Like Jazz which is also I great book I would recommend, but Jazz left me with wanting more from his writing, the idea of the book defiantly out shined the writing style of it. Jazz kind of felt drumbed down and simplified. Not so with Through Painted Deserts. This book to me seemed more honest and pure then Jazz. It is actually a story of a road trip Miller took with a friend earlier in his life, leading him from where he grew up in Texas to where he now resides, in Oregon.
What I like the most about this book is how he takes the simple events of this journey and really lets the reader reflect on how God moved through him during those few months. There is no set out structure of "God will do this, God taught me this, God proved that to me" it is just an honest memoir of his travels that allow the reader to learn from those experiences in any way God is teaching them through Millers story (very "post-modern"). I think that is something really lacking from books in the "christian industry" where there are way to many books that tell you what you are "suppose to" get out of them instead of letting God use the book in your life any way He sees fit. Props to Miller on this one. I recommend it, esp. for anyone in a transitional period in their life.
MUSIC
This is by far my favorite new album of 2006 so far. I also can tell you right now that not all of you are going to like it. Danielson (aka: Brother Danielson, the Danielson Famile, Dan Smith) to me represents the basic musical emotion of honest child like joy and innocence. If you are someone who takes things very seriously you won't get it, so don't bother. It is the kind of music that if you can bare with for a few minutes it will force you to smile and you won't stop until the album is over. Danielson touch's on some very deep and sometimes dark subject manner with his writing, but there is a constant thread of hope and joy strung through everything he does that to me is a perfect example of that child like joy and faith that can be found in Christ. Danielson is truly one of the most creative Christian artists to come around in a long time. You can witness what an effect creativity can have when you witness how successful he has been outside the "christian industry". Sadly it is also evidence that sometimes the world values creativity more then Christians do. That needs to change.
So, if you want something completely new, completely dif rent, and completely wonderful, check out Ships esp. tracks 1-4.
The Eraser is Thom Yorke's (front man for Radiohead) solo debt album. It is a wonderful beautiful piece of art.
If you are a Radiohead fan, this album is a must. If you find Radiohead inaccessible or weird, this album may be a better place to start then a Radiohead album. It is basically a tamer, easier to listen to and easier to understand Radiohead. Not as groundbreaking as each new Radiohead album, but just as beautiful. Get it!
Ani has never been one who was afraid to speak her mind and tell you what she thinks about something. That alone is reason to love her music. Then she combines it with a creative brand of folk rock that only she can bring and her passionate vocals that make you believe she really could change the world.
Whether you agree with her world view or not, this is a great musician with a lot of heart that anyone could enjoy. Give Reprieve a listen.
OTHER RANDOM STUFF
Kansas City T-Bones baseball: Because the Royals are terrible and Independent League baseball is fun.
Mt. Magazine State Park: Because the Rockies and Cascades are to far away.
My blog (shameless plug): Because in the next few weeks I will be going through a book called Gutsy Faith (which I designed) with a group of people and discussing it each week right here.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Barack Obama at 'Call to Renewal'
Here is an excerpt from the keynote speech Senator Barak Obama gave at Jim Wallis' 'Call to Renewal' conference. I have added the link to the Call to Renewal website to the causes™ section of my left side menu. The rest of the speech can be read here or you can go to iTunes Podcasts and search for Barak Obama. It's an amazing speech by my favorite politician right now, so I highly recommend reading or listening to it. I do think I take more of a hard stance on using my biblical beliefs to direct my political ideology then he makes it sound like in the speech. For me it is the very reason I have a feel strongly about social justice, peace, moral budgets, even the first amendment and making others of different faiths feel comfortable in the same country as me, all of that stems from my desire to be Christ-like. I do agree with what he is getting at though.
While I've already laid out some of the work that progressive leaders need to do, I want to talk a little bit about what conservative leaders need to do -- some truths they need to acknowledge.
For one, they need to understand the critical role that the separation of church and state has played in preserving not only our democracy, but the robustness of our religious practice. Folks tend to forget that during our founding, it wasn't the atheists or the civil libertarians who were the most effective champions of the First Amendment. It was the persecuted minorities, it was Baptists like John Leland who didn't want the established churches to impose their views on folks who were getting happy out in the fields and teaching the scripture to slaves. It was the forbearers of the evangelicals who were the most adamant about not mingling government with religious, because they did not want state-sponsored religion hindering their ability to practice their faith as they understood it.
Moreover, given the increasing diversity of America's population, the dangers of sectarianism have never been greater. Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.
And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson's, or Al Sharpton's? Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shellfish is abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount - a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application? So before we get carried away, let's read our bibles. Folks haven't been reading their bibles.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi
My wife and I just got through watching "Gandhi", and it really has got me thinking about violence, war, and pacifism. Bare with me, I am partially venting, but just partially. You are allowed to disagree here, and I would love to hear your reasons why.
It really amazes me how history can repeat it self so many times in the forms of war and how little we learn from it each time. Was there ever a war started for reasons outside of revenge for something? We always feel we have to "pay someone back" for the wrong they have inflicted, which of course brings them to the same reaction. It amazes me how much we have so bastardized the word "justice" that it looks just like "revenge". How can two things that should be so opposite become one in the same?
I use to believe there was a time for war, for defense or to protect those who don't have the ability to do so. But, in the last few years I have moved farther into pacifism. I don't understand how some many people who follow a savior who said to turn to your enemies your other cheek, the one who said love your enemies as yourself, the one showed us the ultimate example of how we are to be during our time on this earth, how can these same people be in support of war of any kind.
Don't get me wrong, we should absolutely fight for the rights of others, we should fight for social change, for justice, for the least of these, for the truth. As Christians we are called to fight for these things. Gandhi fought his whole life, he fought to his death. The results are a free India. But he never took a life. Why do we have this idea that to truly get make the world a better place for all people we have to kill people? How does taking life do anything but perpetuate the cycle of revenge that started with Cain and Able?
We are all made in the image of God, we all posses the ability to be creative, and I believe we are called to be creative in all that we do. War and violence are absolutely the least creative solutions for any problem. After much thought, I firmly believe that violence has absolutly no place.
Here are some quotes from Gandhi:
"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"
And just to be safe, these are some things I DID NOT say in this post:
"You can not be a Christian if you are in the military"
"You can not be a Christian if you support war"
"Supporting our troops is the same as supporting war"
"George W. Bush is going to hell"
"Gandhi is perfect"
It really amazes me how history can repeat it self so many times in the forms of war and how little we learn from it each time. Was there ever a war started for reasons outside of revenge for something? We always feel we have to "pay someone back" for the wrong they have inflicted, which of course brings them to the same reaction. It amazes me how much we have so bastardized the word "justice" that it looks just like "revenge". How can two things that should be so opposite become one in the same?
I use to believe there was a time for war, for defense or to protect those who don't have the ability to do so. But, in the last few years I have moved farther into pacifism. I don't understand how some many people who follow a savior who said to turn to your enemies your other cheek, the one who said love your enemies as yourself, the one showed us the ultimate example of how we are to be during our time on this earth, how can these same people be in support of war of any kind.
Don't get me wrong, we should absolutely fight for the rights of others, we should fight for social change, for justice, for the least of these, for the truth. As Christians we are called to fight for these things. Gandhi fought his whole life, he fought to his death. The results are a free India. But he never took a life. Why do we have this idea that to truly get make the world a better place for all people we have to kill people? How does taking life do anything but perpetuate the cycle of revenge that started with Cain and Able?
We are all made in the image of God, we all posses the ability to be creative, and I believe we are called to be creative in all that we do. War and violence are absolutely the least creative solutions for any problem. After much thought, I firmly believe that violence has absolutly no place.
Here are some quotes from Gandhi:
"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"
And just to be safe, these are some things I DID NOT say in this post:
"You can not be a Christian if you are in the military"
"You can not be a Christian if you support war"
"Supporting our troops is the same as supporting war"
"George W. Bush is going to hell"
"Gandhi is perfect"
Friday, April 21, 2006
What's your theological worldview?
You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.
What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com |
Monday, April 10, 2006
The Christian Bookstore
Being someone who works in the Christian book industry I found this article both interesting and sad. I am greatful to work at a company which I feel has done more to change the industry for the better then to encourage it's faults. In the end the store is going to stock what sells, you can argue whether that is right or wrong for a "Christian" store to do, but that is often what it boils down to. It is sad to me that these are the kinds of books that sell at Christian bookstores. (also, I love his comment about Carter...)
The Christian Bookstore
by Brent Bourgeois (Sacramento News & Review)
“Shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer”-2 Timothy 2:16-17
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”-Ephesians 4:29
Somewhere in the corner of your local suburban strip mall, tucked away between the Nail Salon and the Chinese take-out restaurant is a curious American phenomenon known as the Christian bookstore. If you are a not a Christian, chances are you’ve never set foot in a Christian bookstore. Many people who call themselves Christians have, in fact, never set foot in a Christian bookstore.
In general, if you want to buy a Christian-themed gift for anyone, your local Christian bookstore is the place you want to go. If you want to delve deeper into the beautiful mysteries of Christian theology, or the leading role of Christians in Western history, or if you, novice or scholar, have any questions about what is in the Bible, there is no better place to start than your local Christian bookstore. Despite their Precious Moments interiors, they have always been a nice, safe place to take the kids for an hour on a Saturday afternoon- all of these stores have a children’s section and most are running Veggie Tales videos at any given moment. Veggie Tales are genuinely funny stories acted out by computer-generated vegetables with the kind of wit and sarcasm rarely seen in humans who subscribe to their theology. It is funny and sad that it takes a dancing tomato and a singing cucumber to inject any sense of irony into the Faith.
It is with a great deal of disappointment that, while doing research for a book I’m writing, I discovered a darker side to these stores that deeply offended me as a practicing Christian and a follower of Jesus Christ. I started out looking for signs of political bias, as I was writing a chapter on liberal media bias, and wanted to find out if any political bias existed in Christian bookstores. Much of what I found was predictable enough. There are no less than eight books on Ronald Reagan, a half-dozen on George W. Bush, many dealing with his prayer life (one I found amusing: The Leadership Genius of George W. Bush: 10 Commonsense Lessons from the Commander in Chief, kind of like Mao’s Little Red Book), biographies on Condi Rice and Bill Frist, and many books by Oliver North. Harder to find are books by former president Jimmy Carter, who has put more walk in his Christian talk than the rest of these people combined. There are several books that lay out the Christian case biblically for war, but you’ll probably have to go to Borders to find the Christian case against war.
What caused me to nearly fall off of my non-violent wagon was a book that I found prominently displayed in several area Christian bookstores. Written by right-wing talk show host Hugh Hewitt, this bit of heavenly advice is called If It’s Not Close, They Can’t Cheat: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why Your Life Depends on It. The poor fellow at the register in one store was just going about his business when I marched up to the counter, book in hand, and said, ” I know you just work here, but is this a Christian bookstore?” “Yes it is”, he replied. “Then how can you sell this?” I asked as I slammed a copy of the Hewitt book down on the counter. “Wha…” was his attempt at a reply as he apparently looked at the book for the first time. “I’m a Christian and I’m really offended you’re selling a book called ‘Crushing the Democrats’-that’s not okay”, I said to the now attentive clerk. “It says that?” was all he could reply as I walked out the door. I’ve never been good at finishing this kind of conversation. At another store, I brought this book to a nice lady in customer service and she looked at it and replied, shaking her head, “I don’t know why we’re selling this, either. If it was up to me, we wouldn’t”. Obviously, many of the people who work at these stores don’t even realize that they’re selling this kind of book.
This sour experience got me curious as to what other books these stores were selling. The following is a list of books that I found either on site at a Christian bookstore, or for sale at their online store:
Same-Sex Marriage: Putting Every Household at Risk
The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today
The Gay Agenda: It’s Dividing the Family, the Church and a Nation
Outrage: How Gay Activists and Liberal Judges Are Trashing Democracy to Redefine Marriage
The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought
Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America’s Youth
Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity
Liberals Are Killing America: How Their Loss of Courage, Lack of Leadership, and Constant Deceit Are Destroying Americans
Hour of the Witch: Harry Potter, Wicca Witchcraft, and the Bible
Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left
The Many Faces of John Kerry: Why This Massachusetts Liberal Is Wrong for America
Liberwocky: What Liberals Say and What They Really Mean
Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty Over Liberalism by Sean Hannity
The Second Amendment: Preserving the Inalienable Right of Individual Self-Protection
The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Churches, Schools, and Military by Michael Savage
Shut Up and Sing: How Elites from Hollywood, Politics, and the UN Are Subverting America
The Dark Side of Liberalism: Unchaining the Truth
The Myth of Separation Between Church and State
Moses Was a Right-Wing Conservative
Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton
The Death of Outrage: Bill Clinton and the Assault on American Ideals
How the Clinton Clergy Corrupted a President
The ACLU Vs. America: Exposing the Agenda to Redefine Moral Values
How to Survive the Lions’ Den of the Liberal Media
Painting the Map Red
Big Sister is Watching You: Hillary Clinton and the White House Feminists Who Now Control America And Tell the President What To Do
There are many more, but space constraints prevent me from listing them and, frankly, I got tired of looking. I defend the right of these authors to write and publish as much of this stuff as they want; my problem with it is WHAT IN GOD’S NAME ARE THESE BOOKS DOING IN A CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE?!? They should be over in the political section at Borders keeping the inflammatory left-wing screeds company. In the interest of accuracy, it is possible to find a modest amount of moderately progressive Christian literature in these stores, books like God’s Politics by Jim Wallis, especially on-line, where the selection is much larger. There is, however, nothing remotely approaching the ‘other side’ of this sad commentary. I wouldn’t expect that there would be. I don’t think hate-filled polemics of any political persuasion belong in something called a ‘Christian’ bookstore. Maybe I’m naïve, but finding books for sale by Michael Savage and Sean Hannity right next to the bibles strikes me as deeply offensive. What is sadder is that many Christians pass by this stuff as if there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of it; this kind of venomous spewing has become the politics of choice for the Religious Right. Why would it be noticed if one goes from Limbaugh in the car to Fox News in the house to ‘Crushing the Democrats’ at the local Christian bookstore?
Among Christians, there should be healthy debate over important issues like when war is just, and what a Christian’s duty is in supporting their government in times like these. These are valid issues for Christians and non-Christians alike, and a scholarly look at all sides of these debates from a Christian worldview is exactly the kind of book I would expect to find at a Christian bookstore. Many Christians are quick to point to the 13th chapter in the Book of Romans, in which the Apostle Paul writes,
“Everyone must submit themselves to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment upon themselves”.
This passage has been used with great regularity in churches all over America, especially when Republicans are in control of the White House. When Bill Clinton was president, you didn’t hear it so much. There is a great debate to be had about just how far you follow your leaders- I’m sure Paul didn’t mean like lemmings over a cliff. What about the Christian churches in Germany in the 1930’s? Were the priests and pastors citing this passage? If so, were they forced to do it, or were they just following a literal reading of Scripture?
There are books that debate these questions, and you can find them in most Christian bookstores. Sadly, though, there are a lot more books like those listed above. These books are nothing more than ‘hit’ pieces from the far right, published by the likes of Regnery Books, many of whose titles are facsimiles of the John Birch-style literature transported forty years to the present. Books like these are meant to inflame, not inform. They are shoddily written, trade gossip and rumor for facts, and add nothing to the debate but hate. I believe that Christian bookstores do a great disservice to the Faith by carrying these kinds of books, 1) by being the purveyors of this kind of hate-mongering ‘literature’ they are acting in a most un-biblical fashion, and 2) they are passing this stuff on to Christian consumers who then contribute to the divisive noise that is tearing this nation apart by repeating what they have read, rather than taking a more loving and healing approach to the unbeliever. This in turn reaffirms the stereotype that many non-Christians have of Christians: that they are all hate-filled right-wing zealots.
“This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them.”-Psalm 49:13-14
Jesus said, “What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean’, but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean’.” I would hope that Christian bookstores would take the high road when it comes to politics- maybe even stop and think about what is written on those cute little bracelets they sell at the front counter: WWJD, what would Jesus do? I can see it now, after a long day healing the sick and tending to the poor, Jesus comes back to the campsite where the twelve disciples are sitting around, having a bite to eat and talking about their day. Jesus finds a nice spot under a tree to lie down and as He does, He yells, “Hey Peter! Do you have my copy of ‘Liberals Are Killing America’?” “No”, Peter replies, “I’m still reading the Michael Savage”. “Now that- that was a great book!” our Lord and Savior exclaimed.
File Under: I thought the liberals controlled the media!
The Christian Bookstore
by Brent Bourgeois (Sacramento News & Review)
“Shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer”-2 Timothy 2:16-17
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”-Ephesians 4:29
Somewhere in the corner of your local suburban strip mall, tucked away between the Nail Salon and the Chinese take-out restaurant is a curious American phenomenon known as the Christian bookstore. If you are a not a Christian, chances are you’ve never set foot in a Christian bookstore. Many people who call themselves Christians have, in fact, never set foot in a Christian bookstore.
In general, if you want to buy a Christian-themed gift for anyone, your local Christian bookstore is the place you want to go. If you want to delve deeper into the beautiful mysteries of Christian theology, or the leading role of Christians in Western history, or if you, novice or scholar, have any questions about what is in the Bible, there is no better place to start than your local Christian bookstore. Despite their Precious Moments interiors, they have always been a nice, safe place to take the kids for an hour on a Saturday afternoon- all of these stores have a children’s section and most are running Veggie Tales videos at any given moment. Veggie Tales are genuinely funny stories acted out by computer-generated vegetables with the kind of wit and sarcasm rarely seen in humans who subscribe to their theology. It is funny and sad that it takes a dancing tomato and a singing cucumber to inject any sense of irony into the Faith.
It is with a great deal of disappointment that, while doing research for a book I’m writing, I discovered a darker side to these stores that deeply offended me as a practicing Christian and a follower of Jesus Christ. I started out looking for signs of political bias, as I was writing a chapter on liberal media bias, and wanted to find out if any political bias existed in Christian bookstores. Much of what I found was predictable enough. There are no less than eight books on Ronald Reagan, a half-dozen on George W. Bush, many dealing with his prayer life (one I found amusing: The Leadership Genius of George W. Bush: 10 Commonsense Lessons from the Commander in Chief, kind of like Mao’s Little Red Book), biographies on Condi Rice and Bill Frist, and many books by Oliver North. Harder to find are books by former president Jimmy Carter, who has put more walk in his Christian talk than the rest of these people combined. There are several books that lay out the Christian case biblically for war, but you’ll probably have to go to Borders to find the Christian case against war.
What caused me to nearly fall off of my non-violent wagon was a book that I found prominently displayed in several area Christian bookstores. Written by right-wing talk show host Hugh Hewitt, this bit of heavenly advice is called If It’s Not Close, They Can’t Cheat: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why Your Life Depends on It. The poor fellow at the register in one store was just going about his business when I marched up to the counter, book in hand, and said, ” I know you just work here, but is this a Christian bookstore?” “Yes it is”, he replied. “Then how can you sell this?” I asked as I slammed a copy of the Hewitt book down on the counter. “Wha…” was his attempt at a reply as he apparently looked at the book for the first time. “I’m a Christian and I’m really offended you’re selling a book called ‘Crushing the Democrats’-that’s not okay”, I said to the now attentive clerk. “It says that?” was all he could reply as I walked out the door. I’ve never been good at finishing this kind of conversation. At another store, I brought this book to a nice lady in customer service and she looked at it and replied, shaking her head, “I don’t know why we’re selling this, either. If it was up to me, we wouldn’t”. Obviously, many of the people who work at these stores don’t even realize that they’re selling this kind of book.
This sour experience got me curious as to what other books these stores were selling. The following is a list of books that I found either on site at a Christian bookstore, or for sale at their online store:
Same-Sex Marriage: Putting Every Household at Risk
The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today
The Gay Agenda: It’s Dividing the Family, the Church and a Nation
Outrage: How Gay Activists and Liberal Judges Are Trashing Democracy to Redefine Marriage
The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought
Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America’s Youth
Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity
Liberals Are Killing America: How Their Loss of Courage, Lack of Leadership, and Constant Deceit Are Destroying Americans
Hour of the Witch: Harry Potter, Wicca Witchcraft, and the Bible
Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left
The Many Faces of John Kerry: Why This Massachusetts Liberal Is Wrong for America
Liberwocky: What Liberals Say and What They Really Mean
Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty Over Liberalism by Sean Hannity
The Second Amendment: Preserving the Inalienable Right of Individual Self-Protection
The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Churches, Schools, and Military by Michael Savage
Shut Up and Sing: How Elites from Hollywood, Politics, and the UN Are Subverting America
The Dark Side of Liberalism: Unchaining the Truth
The Myth of Separation Between Church and State
Moses Was a Right-Wing Conservative
Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton
The Death of Outrage: Bill Clinton and the Assault on American Ideals
How the Clinton Clergy Corrupted a President
The ACLU Vs. America: Exposing the Agenda to Redefine Moral Values
How to Survive the Lions’ Den of the Liberal Media
Painting the Map Red
Big Sister is Watching You: Hillary Clinton and the White House Feminists Who Now Control America And Tell the President What To Do
There are many more, but space constraints prevent me from listing them and, frankly, I got tired of looking. I defend the right of these authors to write and publish as much of this stuff as they want; my problem with it is WHAT IN GOD’S NAME ARE THESE BOOKS DOING IN A CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE?!? They should be over in the political section at Borders keeping the inflammatory left-wing screeds company. In the interest of accuracy, it is possible to find a modest amount of moderately progressive Christian literature in these stores, books like God’s Politics by Jim Wallis, especially on-line, where the selection is much larger. There is, however, nothing remotely approaching the ‘other side’ of this sad commentary. I wouldn’t expect that there would be. I don’t think hate-filled polemics of any political persuasion belong in something called a ‘Christian’ bookstore. Maybe I’m naïve, but finding books for sale by Michael Savage and Sean Hannity right next to the bibles strikes me as deeply offensive. What is sadder is that many Christians pass by this stuff as if there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of it; this kind of venomous spewing has become the politics of choice for the Religious Right. Why would it be noticed if one goes from Limbaugh in the car to Fox News in the house to ‘Crushing the Democrats’ at the local Christian bookstore?
Among Christians, there should be healthy debate over important issues like when war is just, and what a Christian’s duty is in supporting their government in times like these. These are valid issues for Christians and non-Christians alike, and a scholarly look at all sides of these debates from a Christian worldview is exactly the kind of book I would expect to find at a Christian bookstore. Many Christians are quick to point to the 13th chapter in the Book of Romans, in which the Apostle Paul writes,
“Everyone must submit themselves to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment upon themselves”.
This passage has been used with great regularity in churches all over America, especially when Republicans are in control of the White House. When Bill Clinton was president, you didn’t hear it so much. There is a great debate to be had about just how far you follow your leaders- I’m sure Paul didn’t mean like lemmings over a cliff. What about the Christian churches in Germany in the 1930’s? Were the priests and pastors citing this passage? If so, were they forced to do it, or were they just following a literal reading of Scripture?
There are books that debate these questions, and you can find them in most Christian bookstores. Sadly, though, there are a lot more books like those listed above. These books are nothing more than ‘hit’ pieces from the far right, published by the likes of Regnery Books, many of whose titles are facsimiles of the John Birch-style literature transported forty years to the present. Books like these are meant to inflame, not inform. They are shoddily written, trade gossip and rumor for facts, and add nothing to the debate but hate. I believe that Christian bookstores do a great disservice to the Faith by carrying these kinds of books, 1) by being the purveyors of this kind of hate-mongering ‘literature’ they are acting in a most un-biblical fashion, and 2) they are passing this stuff on to Christian consumers who then contribute to the divisive noise that is tearing this nation apart by repeating what they have read, rather than taking a more loving and healing approach to the unbeliever. This in turn reaffirms the stereotype that many non-Christians have of Christians: that they are all hate-filled right-wing zealots.
“This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them.”-Psalm 49:13-14
Jesus said, “What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean’, but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean’.” I would hope that Christian bookstores would take the high road when it comes to politics- maybe even stop and think about what is written on those cute little bracelets they sell at the front counter: WWJD, what would Jesus do? I can see it now, after a long day healing the sick and tending to the poor, Jesus comes back to the campsite where the twelve disciples are sitting around, having a bite to eat and talking about their day. Jesus finds a nice spot under a tree to lie down and as He does, He yells, “Hey Peter! Do you have my copy of ‘Liberals Are Killing America’?” “No”, Peter replies, “I’m still reading the Michael Savage”. “Now that- that was a great book!” our Lord and Savior exclaimed.
File Under: I thought the liberals controlled the media!
Saturday, April 01, 2006
April Fools!
I little April Fools satire courtesy of Sojourners:
Final Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins (Authors of the Left Behind series)
Friends, I need to warn you about the Satanic conspiracy behind this so-called "March Madness." It's all in our new book, Left Behind: The Final Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. But don't just take our word for it! Revelation 13:2 says: "And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority."
Let's spell it out:
• "like unto a leopard" - that's the LSU Tigers
• "feet of a bear" - the UCLA Bruins
• "the dragon" - Florida Gators
• "power...great authority" - look no further than the university of founding father George Mason and his Patriots!
• And if you're thinking that I skipped over the lion part, that's also LSU. Tigers, lions - same thing. Not all of Revelation should be taken literally. Just most of the time.
Every year, millions worship the false idol of NCAA basketball - even though Revelation 11:2 clearly says, "But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not," - i.e. basketball is not Christian, and we are not to "measure" or pick our favorite teams, for all are fallen in the sight of the Lord. Sure, occasionally a player will "give glory to God," but spell NCAA backwards, you get AACN, or Armageddon Anti-Christ Network. Is it any wonder that Oral Roberts U. was eliminated in the first round?
Need more evidence that sinister forces are at work? Let's take a look at George Mason. That's right MASON. As in Freemasons. As in the Illuminati. As in the secret society that controls everything from the pope's shoe size to the U.N. seating chart. Even our founding fathers - aside from the ones who were fundamentalist evangelical Christians who built this country on the 10 Commandments - were members of this shadowy cabal. George Mason's rise to the Final Four is just one sign that their schemes are finally coming to fruition.
How else but by demonic influence could 11 seed GMU defeat #1 UConn? It's unnatural. In the Bible we read - most of the Old Testament (minus 1 Samuel and the prophets) plus Revelation - the idea of the weak defeating the strong is simply unthinkable. The Jesus we know comes on a white horse with a flaming sword to kick some butt. And he's going to kick yours if you don't cast out this March Madness and spend your time more wisely - like, say, buying and reading my books and buying them as gifts for your friends. They're great witnessing tools - who doesn't love sports?
Final Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins (Authors of the Left Behind series)
Friends, I need to warn you about the Satanic conspiracy behind this so-called "March Madness." It's all in our new book, Left Behind: The Final Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. But don't just take our word for it! Revelation 13:2 says: "And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority."
Let's spell it out:
• "like unto a leopard" - that's the LSU Tigers
• "feet of a bear" - the UCLA Bruins
• "the dragon" - Florida Gators
• "power...great authority" - look no further than the university of founding father George Mason and his Patriots!
• And if you're thinking that I skipped over the lion part, that's also LSU. Tigers, lions - same thing. Not all of Revelation should be taken literally. Just most of the time.
Every year, millions worship the false idol of NCAA basketball - even though Revelation 11:2 clearly says, "But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not," - i.e. basketball is not Christian, and we are not to "measure" or pick our favorite teams, for all are fallen in the sight of the Lord. Sure, occasionally a player will "give glory to God," but spell NCAA backwards, you get AACN, or Armageddon Anti-Christ Network. Is it any wonder that Oral Roberts U. was eliminated in the first round?
Need more evidence that sinister forces are at work? Let's take a look at George Mason. That's right MASON. As in Freemasons. As in the Illuminati. As in the secret society that controls everything from the pope's shoe size to the U.N. seating chart. Even our founding fathers - aside from the ones who were fundamentalist evangelical Christians who built this country on the 10 Commandments - were members of this shadowy cabal. George Mason's rise to the Final Four is just one sign that their schemes are finally coming to fruition.
How else but by demonic influence could 11 seed GMU defeat #1 UConn? It's unnatural. In the Bible we read - most of the Old Testament (minus 1 Samuel and the prophets) plus Revelation - the idea of the weak defeating the strong is simply unthinkable. The Jesus we know comes on a white horse with a flaming sword to kick some butt. And he's going to kick yours if you don't cast out this March Madness and spend your time more wisely - like, say, buying and reading my books and buying them as gifts for your friends. They're great witnessing tools - who doesn't love sports?
Monday, March 27, 2006
Derek Webb and Donald Miller: A Conversation.
Author Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz, Through Painted Deserts, and To Slay a Dragon), and Singer-Songwriter Derek Webb (Mockingbird, I See Things Upside Down, and She Must and Shall Go Free) on-line discussion:
Check this out. This is a worthwile listen for anyone. Very interesting thoughts about the "Christian counter-culture", art, social work, peace, living out the gospel, ect.
Check this out. This is a worthwile listen for anyone. Very interesting thoughts about the "Christian counter-culture", art, social work, peace, living out the gospel, ect.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Fantasy Baseball
Okay, over at Circle Six Magazine we are starting a Keeper League, meaning you keep a few of your players at the end of the year for the following year. We are talking serious fantasy baseball here. If anyone is interested please drop me a line, we are in need of a few more people.
Also, I started a regular Fantasy league here at NPH. If you don't want do a keeper league and maybe want to start with something a little less ong term, we have a bunch of open spots in this league too. It is mostly NPH employees, but it is open to anyone. Again, just leave a comment if you are interested.
Also, I started a regular Fantasy league here at NPH. If you don't want do a keeper league and maybe want to start with something a little less ong term, we have a bunch of open spots in this league too. It is mostly NPH employees, but it is open to anyone. Again, just leave a comment if you are interested.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Sigur Ros - Takk
Every year a few months into the year, I find an album that I regret not putting on my "Best of..." list. Today I found that album.
I just got Sigur Ros - Takk, all I have to say is WOW! I have heard much about this band, but remained really skeptical, they are from Iceland (weird), they sing in a language they invented (weirder), and their last album was called "( )" (really weird). But I finally caved in and bought "Takk".
This album could easily rival Sufjan for the top spot of my "Best of 2005" list, it is another one of those albums that can change the way you listen to music. I am usually a lyrics guy, I love folk music because of it's lyrical value, so these are big words coming from be talking about an album sung in "Hopelandic". Really this album transcends language, I have no idea what the words mean, but I fell like I have a complete understanding of what they are saying. Sigur Ros takes you on a strange, but lovely musical journey that in the end left me feeling suprisingly worshipful. I do not have any idea of Sigur Ros spiritual beliefs, but this level of beauty and creativity can not help but leave me felling moved. I think one Amazion.com reviewer summed it up best when he said "The truth is, if you could see their music... you would see heaven."
I just got Sigur Ros - Takk, all I have to say is WOW! I have heard much about this band, but remained really skeptical, they are from Iceland (weird), they sing in a language they invented (weirder), and their last album was called "( )" (really weird). But I finally caved in and bought "Takk".
This album could easily rival Sufjan for the top spot of my "Best of 2005" list, it is another one of those albums that can change the way you listen to music. I am usually a lyrics guy, I love folk music because of it's lyrical value, so these are big words coming from be talking about an album sung in "Hopelandic". Really this album transcends language, I have no idea what the words mean, but I fell like I have a complete understanding of what they are saying. Sigur Ros takes you on a strange, but lovely musical journey that in the end left me feeling suprisingly worshipful. I do not have any idea of Sigur Ros spiritual beliefs, but this level of beauty and creativity can not help but leave me felling moved. I think one Amazion.com reviewer summed it up best when he said "The truth is, if you could see their music... you would see heaven."
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Superbowl XL
Well, not to take anything away from the Steelers, but Seattle gave this one away with stupid penalties. Then the officiating crew helps by give the Steelers a touchdown where there wasn't one and taking one away from Seattle (DJ's "push off" in the end zone).
My Superbowl MVP - The officals.
My Superbowl MVP - The officals.
Monday, January 30, 2006
On Earth as it is in Heaven
This Sunday David Best spoke at our church. The main point of discussion really got me thinking about how we proclaim Christ’s kingdom through the making of things right on earth. He talked about the Lord's Prayer and the line "Your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven".
It seems that American Evangelical Christians have focused so much on the kingdom coming that we have forgotten this part of the prayer. Our time on earth has become nothing more then "riding it out" to get to heaven. By doing this we are only recognizing half of the gospel, half of the truth that can set us free. We justify ourselves into believing that we cannot make a difference in this world, that we cannot possibly eliminate hunger, poverty, disease, wars, and injustice. This is simply not true. God promises that through Him we can do anything He will ever call us to do. How can we believe in a God that tells us to pray for something we think we could never do through Him?
To proclaim Christ's kingdom coming through the making of all things right on earth as it is in heaven is a necessity of the gospel, you cannot preach the whole gospel without a call to social justice. When you hear the gospel and do not feel an urgency make a difference in the world, you have to question whether it is really the gospel you are hearing at all.
We American Evangelicals have created an amazing way of justifying our sins. If there is a sin that can be named, we have a reason it is okay for us to commit it. Take the story of the rich young ruler. We tell ourselves, "I am not REALLY rich", "I could let go of it all if God told me, BUT He hasn't", "God doesn't really want ME to give away everything I have", "I can follow Him AND keep my possessions". These have become nothing more then excuses for ourselves to hold on to the things that separate us from really knowing the heart of Christ.
Derek Webb puts the parable of the rich young ruler to modern terms in this song "Rich Young Ruler" from his newest album "Mockingbird":
We can say all day, "That is not me, God has not asked those things of me" but has He? Are we really reading the radical call of the gospel? Are we to busy telling ourselves that He hasn't that we can't hear Him when He is? I don't know. These are serious questions I struggle with while listening to my iPod in my car with music I downloaded on my computer in my loft.
Martin Luther King Jr's dream has been adopted by almost every American to be something to push for, but if you really look closely at Reverend King's speech, and life, you see a call to proclaim Christ's kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven. We should settle for nothing short of that.
In celebration of the life and work of Reverend King this month, I strongly encourage each of us to find a way we can contribute to the proclamation of the Kingdom on earth and let go of something that is holding you back from doing so, whether it is money, security, time, comfort, whatever it is. My wife and I have been praying about what that looks like in ourlives. I will report back with what we end up doing. If you have decided to do the same or have any ideas of what people can do, please post about it in the comments section.
It seems that American Evangelical Christians have focused so much on the kingdom coming that we have forgotten this part of the prayer. Our time on earth has become nothing more then "riding it out" to get to heaven. By doing this we are only recognizing half of the gospel, half of the truth that can set us free. We justify ourselves into believing that we cannot make a difference in this world, that we cannot possibly eliminate hunger, poverty, disease, wars, and injustice. This is simply not true. God promises that through Him we can do anything He will ever call us to do. How can we believe in a God that tells us to pray for something we think we could never do through Him?
To proclaim Christ's kingdom coming through the making of all things right on earth as it is in heaven is a necessity of the gospel, you cannot preach the whole gospel without a call to social justice. When you hear the gospel and do not feel an urgency make a difference in the world, you have to question whether it is really the gospel you are hearing at all.
We American Evangelicals have created an amazing way of justifying our sins. If there is a sin that can be named, we have a reason it is okay for us to commit it. Take the story of the rich young ruler. We tell ourselves, "I am not REALLY rich", "I could let go of it all if God told me, BUT He hasn't", "God doesn't really want ME to give away everything I have", "I can follow Him AND keep my possessions". These have become nothing more then excuses for ourselves to hold on to the things that separate us from really knowing the heart of Christ.
Derek Webb puts the parable of the rich young ruler to modern terms in this song "Rich Young Ruler" from his newest album "Mockingbird":
(vs. 1)
poverty is so hard to see
when it’s only on your tv and twenty miles across town
where we’re all living so good
that we moved out of Jesus’ neighborhood
where he’s hungry and not feeling so good
from going through our trash
he says, more than just your cash and coin
i want your time, i want your voice
i want the things you just can’t give me
(vs. 2)
so what must we do
here in the west we want to follow you
we speak the language and we keep all the rules
even a few we made up
come on and follow me
but sell your house, sell your suv
sell your stocks, sell your security
and give it to the poor
what is this, hey what’s the deal
i don’t sleep around and i don’t steal
i want the things you just can’t give me
(bridge)
because what you do to the least of these
my brother’s, you have done it to me
because i want the things you just can’t give me
We can say all day, "That is not me, God has not asked those things of me" but has He? Are we really reading the radical call of the gospel? Are we to busy telling ourselves that He hasn't that we can't hear Him when He is? I don't know. These are serious questions I struggle with while listening to my iPod in my car with music I downloaded on my computer in my loft.
Martin Luther King Jr's dream has been adopted by almost every American to be something to push for, but if you really look closely at Reverend King's speech, and life, you see a call to proclaim Christ's kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven. We should settle for nothing short of that.
In celebration of the life and work of Reverend King this month, I strongly encourage each of us to find a way we can contribute to the proclamation of the Kingdom on earth and let go of something that is holding you back from doing so, whether it is money, security, time, comfort, whatever it is. My wife and I have been praying about what that looks like in ourlives. I will report back with what we end up doing. If you have decided to do the same or have any ideas of what people can do, please post about it in the comments section.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
WE ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!
The Seahawks are headed to the Super Bowl for the first time, ever!
My prediction: Seattle - 28 Pittsburg -17
GO HAWKS!!!
My prediction: Seattle - 28 Pittsburg -17
GO HAWKS!!!
Friday, December 30, 2005
Top 10 Albums of 2005
It's that time of year again. I have to be honest, I look forward to this list all year, in between listens of my "Christmas Music" playlist I have been listening to all the music I have that came out in 2005 trying to make the all important decision as to whether or not they made "the list" and where they ranked on that list. Well, Here they are...
JR's Top Ten Albums of 2005!:
The Bad: The length, 73 min. is a lot of time to spend in Illinois, it gets a little on the tedious side the first few times you listen.
2. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - Cold Roses (no, NOT Bryan Adams...)
The Bad: It's a double album, which isn't bad in itself (see the good list), but there are a few songs that feel like they could have, and would have in a normal release, been left off this effort. Also, this is more a complement then anything else, but he reminds me (as do most good Alt. Country groups) of what country music could and should be if it weren't full of a bunch of Backstreet Boy look-a-like, wannabe-cowboy, pop-rock singing rednecks wailing about sticking their "boots" places were boots don't belong. So for as much as I love Alt. Country and old Country, I will continue to claim a strong hatred for "country music".
The Bad: Late release date, so my opinion is not fully formed or completely accurate (as I am still gitty about it). Musically not as experimental as his last effort, there is less risk to the music side of this album than I See Things Upside Down, but he is making up for that in risk through lyrical content.
4. Elbow – Leaders of the Free World
The Bad: Sometimes the Radiohead and Coldplay comparisons are a little to easy to make. Also, lyrically, it says something, which is good, but it is nothing new really.
5. Death Cab For Cutie – Plans
The Bad: Extremely similar to all their other efforts. Overall, I am still not convinced it is better then their last one, Transatlantcism.
6. Sandra McCracken – The Builder and the Architect
The Bad: I have never been a huge fan of her commercial releases because they just don't seem to capture her live sound, this album comes a lot closer, but it's still not quite there. I come away from a Sandra studio album with a feeling that she is musically playing it safer then she really wants to. I feel like she has an inner Gillian Welch waiting to come out, and I want to hear it.
The Bad: Chris Martin continues to write songs that sound deep but say very little. They defiantly played it safe with their sound and continued with what has made them popular as apposed to exploring what they can go musically at the risk of popularity, I am never a fan of the safe road. I still like Parachutes better.
8. Over The Rhine – Drunkard's Prayer
The Bad: Not as original, risky, interesting, and just overall great as their last album, Ohio, but it is hard to live up to that. Some of the songs sound too similar to each other.
9. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
The Bad: I little more "studio" then previous albums, I like the raw un-mixed sound of the older albums, it lends well to his vocal stylings and musical content. It is way to early for the Dylan comparisons that some like to throw around, hopefully he doesn't kill himself or overdose before he can have any chance of living up to those comparisons.
10. Switchfoot– Nothing Is Sound
The Bad: Not as musically strong as New Way to Be Human (1999), but I like it more then The Beautiful Letdown (2003). Although this is a great album, I think they have better in them, I can't wait to hear it.
HONARABLE MENTIONS:
(what can I say, it was a great year in music, I would recommend any of these albums as well)
Jars of Clay – Redemption Songs
The Choir - O How The Mighty Have Fallen
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Andrew Peterson – The Far Country
Moby – Hotel
David Crowder Band – A Collision
Beck - Guero
Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better
Bright Eyes - Digital Ashes From A Digital Urn
Pat Metheny Group - The Way Up
Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams
Dave Matthews Band - Stand Up
Depeche Mode - Playing the Angel
David Gray - Life In Slow Motion
Gorillaz - Demon Days
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Merry Christmas!
Well, it's sorta late, but whatever....
Jenny and I got back from Washington (state) on Tuesday night after spending a wonderful Christmas with friends and family. It was great to see everyone again, and we are truely sorry to those we missed. It was a little stressful trying to make 5 difrent family Christmases in 6 days but it was a blast too. The weather sucked there, although it was much warmer then it had been in KC the week we left, it pretty much rained all week and the mountain never came out all the way.
I relize now though how much one can be torn between two places, it is hard to feel like KC is home and still have such a place in my heart for Olympia. It was great to get back to Kansas City, but it sure was hard to leave Olympia.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!
Jenny and I got back from Washington (state) on Tuesday night after spending a wonderful Christmas with friends and family. It was great to see everyone again, and we are truely sorry to those we missed. It was a little stressful trying to make 5 difrent family Christmases in 6 days but it was a blast too. The weather sucked there, although it was much warmer then it had been in KC the week we left, it pretty much rained all week and the mountain never came out all the way.
I relize now though how much one can be torn between two places, it is hard to feel like KC is home and still have such a place in my heart for Olympia. It was great to get back to Kansas City, but it sure was hard to leave Olympia.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Nazawhat?
I have been a member of the Nazarene Church for most of my life, I grew up attending a Nazarene church, I went to a Nazarene College (Northwest Nazarene University), and I married in a Nazarene church to a Nazarene woman by a Nazarene pastor. The only time since I was 4 that I didn't have a connection to the Nazarene church was for about 8 months in late 2004 and early 2005 when we left our Nazarene church for a Methodist church, then I accepted a job offer at the Nazarene Publishing House in Kansas City (Home of the Nazarene Theological Seminary, Nazarene World Headquarters, and of course the Publishing House).
All this time, the only explanation I have ever heard for the name "Nazarene" is that Jesus was from Nazareth, therefore a Nazarene, so we use the word. Well, today in church I learned there is much more to it then that.
2000 years ago Nazareth was, how do you say it... the ghetto. It was the "wrong side of the tracks", the bad part of town, where the losers and outcasts hung out. It was odd that Joseph, a descendant of the great King David ended up in Nazareth. Even odder was the idea that this was the hometown of the great King that had come to free his people once and for all.
In the late 1800's when Phineas Bresee and friends were sitting around talking about starting a church, they were contemplating a name for this church. One night Pheneas went to bed thinking and praying about it, the next morning he presented the name "Church of the Nazarene" meaning, church of the poor, the outcast, the downtrodden, the trash of society. He felt this is who Christ ministered to, and who the church should be ministering to.
Never before did I feel so proud of my Nazarene heritage. A church founded on reaching the "least of these", that is a church I want to be a part of. It makes me sad to see so many Nazarene churches abandoning these roots. So many who are not proud of the name "Nazarene". "It's not good marketing, it scares people off", they say as they hide their tradition behind labels like "community church". It is very comfortable for us to hide in our all white, upper middle class Christian country clubs of churches, but Christianity is not supposed to be about comfort. If we get comfortable we are missing the whole point. It is not comfortable sitting in a church surrounded by the poor, the outcast and the "sinners". The reason I think that it's so uncomfortable for us, is that it shows us how much we truly fit right in with that crowed, how we are all really, at our best, the least of these, sinners.
I hope Nazarene churches will learn to re-embrace the name "church of the wrong side of the tracks" and welcome in all the sinners and outcasts to join with the rest of us who are already here, maybe then we will stop pretending we are not.
All this time, the only explanation I have ever heard for the name "Nazarene" is that Jesus was from Nazareth, therefore a Nazarene, so we use the word. Well, today in church I learned there is much more to it then that.
2000 years ago Nazareth was, how do you say it... the ghetto. It was the "wrong side of the tracks", the bad part of town, where the losers and outcasts hung out. It was odd that Joseph, a descendant of the great King David ended up in Nazareth. Even odder was the idea that this was the hometown of the great King that had come to free his people once and for all.
In the late 1800's when Phineas Bresee and friends were sitting around talking about starting a church, they were contemplating a name for this church. One night Pheneas went to bed thinking and praying about it, the next morning he presented the name "Church of the Nazarene" meaning, church of the poor, the outcast, the downtrodden, the trash of society. He felt this is who Christ ministered to, and who the church should be ministering to.
Never before did I feel so proud of my Nazarene heritage. A church founded on reaching the "least of these", that is a church I want to be a part of. It makes me sad to see so many Nazarene churches abandoning these roots. So many who are not proud of the name "Nazarene". "It's not good marketing, it scares people off", they say as they hide their tradition behind labels like "community church". It is very comfortable for us to hide in our all white, upper middle class Christian country clubs of churches, but Christianity is not supposed to be about comfort. If we get comfortable we are missing the whole point. It is not comfortable sitting in a church surrounded by the poor, the outcast and the "sinners". The reason I think that it's so uncomfortable for us, is that it shows us how much we truly fit right in with that crowed, how we are all really, at our best, the least of these, sinners.
I hope Nazarene churches will learn to re-embrace the name "church of the wrong side of the tracks" and welcome in all the sinners and outcasts to join with the rest of us who are already here, maybe then we will stop pretending we are not.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Andrew Peterson Concert
Jenny and I got to see the Andrew Peterson Christmas show in Elkhorn Nebraska this weekend, one word, amazing. It featured a Christian singer-songwritter all star line-up of: Andrew Peterson, Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, Gabe Scott, Ben Shive, Marcus Myers, Andy Gullahorn, Jill Phillips, Garrett Buell (Caedmon's Call), Andy Osenga(formerly in the Normals and now CC), and Cason Cooley (formerly in the Normals, and now Derek Webb's band).
It was a two part show with a singer-songwritter roundtable to start with, featuring Peterson, Webb, McCracken, Shive, Osenga, and Phillips. They each played a song, and it went around twice. All the performances were great, but Shive stole the show with pure comedy with both songs claiming "I know I am not going to get the unspoken award for best song, so I guess I am shooting for class clown. His song "North Hills Mall" had the crowed busting up.
After a short intermission they came back out with the full band and performed Behold the Lamd of God all the way through, amazing musical work by all the musicians, great guitar work. Add that to one of the most powerful retellings of the Christmas story that I have ever heard, plus art for each of the segments of the story. Easily the most powerful concert I have ever seen. I was fighting back tears a couple of times. Definatly something that is going ot become a Caines family Christmas tradition.
If they are making a stop near you I highly recommend it.
It was a two part show with a singer-songwritter roundtable to start with, featuring Peterson, Webb, McCracken, Shive, Osenga, and Phillips. They each played a song, and it went around twice. All the performances were great, but Shive stole the show with pure comedy with both songs claiming "I know I am not going to get the unspoken award for best song, so I guess I am shooting for class clown. His song "North Hills Mall" had the crowed busting up.
After a short intermission they came back out with the full band and performed Behold the Lamd of God all the way through, amazing musical work by all the musicians, great guitar work. Add that to one of the most powerful retellings of the Christmas story that I have ever heard, plus art for each of the segments of the story. Easily the most powerful concert I have ever seen. I was fighting back tears a couple of times. Definatly something that is going ot become a Caines family Christmas tradition.
If they are making a stop near you I highly recommend it.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Real Hard Cash
Russell D. Moore on the Path of the Man in Black from a Touchstone Magazine article
There was an empty seat at this year’s MTV Music Video Awards. The late Johnny Cash wasn’t there. It’s not as though Cash frequented the Generation X/Y annual awards program. He was old enough to be the grandfather of the most seasoned performer on the platform. Still, two years ago, even while he was sick in a hospital, the Man in Black was there.
At the 2003 awards show, Cash’s video “Hurt” was nominated for an award—up against shallow bubblegum pop acts such as that of Justin Timberlake. Cash didn’t win. But the showing of the video caused an almost palpable discomfort in the crowd. The video to the song, which was originally performed by youth band Nine Inch Nails, features haunting images of his youthful glory days—complete with pictures of his friends and colleagues at the height of their fame, now dead.
As the camera pans Cash’s wizened, wrinkled face, he sings about the awful reality of death and the vanity of fame: “What have I become? My sweetest friend/ Everyone I know goes away in the end/ You could have it all/ My empire of dirt/ I will let you down, I will make you hurt.”
Whereas Nine Inch Nails delivered “Hurt” as straight nihilism, straight out of the grunge angst of the Pacific Northwest’s music scene, Cash gives it a twist—ending the video with scenes of the crucifixion of Jesus. For him, the cross is the only answer to the inevitability of suffering and pain.
Fleeting Fame
“It’s all fleeting,” he told MTV News. “As fame is fleeting, so are all the trappings of fame fleeting; the money, the clothes, the furniture.” This could not be in more marked contrast to the culture of the popular music industry (whatever the genre), a culture of superficiality, self-exaltation, and sexual libertinism.
Perhaps this is the reason Cash remained—to the day of his death—a subject of almost morbid curiosity for a youth culture that knows nothing of “I Walk the Line.” At the 2003 awards show, 22-year-old pop sensation Justin Timberlake, beating Cash for the video award, demanded a recount. Why would twenty-something hedonists revere an old Baptist country singer from Arkansas?
In one sense, the Cash mystique was nothing new. For the whole length of his career, onlookers wondered what made him different from the rest of the Hollywood/Nashville celebrity axis. Much of it had to do with the “man in black” caricature he cultivated. Cash joked that fans would often say to him, “My father was in prison with you.” Of course, Cash never served any serious jail time at all, but he could never shake the image of a hardened criminal on the mend. People really seemed to think that he had “shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.”
That’s probably because of just how authentic and evocative his songs of prison life were. “Folsom Prison Blues,” for instance, just seems to have been penned by someone lying on a jailhouse cot listening to a train whistle in the night: “There’s probably rich folks eating in a fancy dining car/ They’re probably drinking coffee and smoking big cigars/ Well, I know I had it coming/ I know I can’t be free/ But those people keep a’movin’, and that’s what tortures me.”
The prison imagery seemed real to Cash because, for him, it was real. He knew what it was like to be enslaved, enslaved to celebrity, to power, to drugs, to liquor, and to the breaking of his marriage vows. He was subject to, and submissive to, all the temptations the recording industry can parade before a man. He was a prisoner indeed, but to a penitentiary of his own soul. There was no corpse in Reno, but there was the very real guilt of a lifetime of the self-destructive idolatry of the ego.
It was through the quiet friendships of men such as Billy Graham that Cash found an alternative to the vanity of shifting celebrity. He found freedom from guilt and the authenticity of the truth in a crucified and resurrected Christ. And he immediately identified with another self-obsessed celebrity of another era: Saul of Tarsus. He even authored a surprisingly good biography of the apostle, with the insight of one who knows what it is like to see the grace of Jesus through one’s own guilt as a “chief of sinners.”
He Connected
Even as a Christian, Cash was different. He sang at Billy Graham crusades and wrote for Evangelical audiences, but he never quite fit the prevailing saccharine mood of pop Evangelicalism. Nor did he fit the trivialization of cultural Christianity so persistent in the country music industry, as Grand Old Opry stars effortlessly moved back and forth between songs about the glories of honky-tonk women and songs about the mercies of the Old Rugged Cross.
To be sure, Cash’s Christian testimony is a mixed bag. In his later years, he took out an ad in an industry magazine, with a photograph of himself extending a middle finger to music executives. And yet there is something in the Cash appeal to the youth generation that Christians would do well to emulate.
Other Christian celebrities tried—and failed—to reach youth culture by feigning teenage street language or aping pop culture trends. How successful, after all, was Pat Boone’s embarrassing attempt at heavy metal—complete with a leather outfit and a spiked dog collar?
Cash always seemed to connect. When other Christian celebrities tried to down-play sin and condemnation in favor of upbeat messages about how much better life is with Jesus, Cash sang about the tyranny of guilt and the certainty of coming judgment. An angst-ridden youth culture may not have fully comprehended guilt, but they understood pain. And, somehow, they sensed Cash was for real.
The face of Johnny Cash reminded this generation that he has tasted everything the MTV culture has to offer—and found there a way that leads to death. In a culture that idolizes the hormonal surges of youth, Cash reminds the young of what MTV doesn’t want them to know: “It is appointed to man once to die, and after this the judgment.” His creviced face and blurring eyes remind them that there is not enough Botox in all of Hollywood to revive a corpse.
Cash wasn’t trying to be an evangelist—and his fellow Bible-belt Evangelicals knew it. But he was able to reach youth culture in a way the rest of us often can’t, precisely because he refused to sugarcoat or “market” the gospel in the “language” of today’s teenagers.
One of Cash’s final songs was also one of his best, an eerie tune based on the Book of Revelation. His haunting voice, filled with the tremors of approaching hoof-beats, sang the challenge: “The hairs on your arms will all stand up/ At the terror of each sip and each sup./ Will you partake of that last offered cup?/ Or disappear into the potter’s ground/ When the Man comes around?”
Cash’s young fans (and his old ones too) may not have known what he was talking about, but they sensed that he did. They recognized in Cash a sinner like them, but a sinner who mourned the tragedy of his past and found peace in One who bore terrors that make Folsom Prison pale in comparison.
The Dark Side
Johnny Cash is dead, and there will never be another. But all around us there are empires of dirt, and billions of self-styled emperors marching toward judgment.
Perhaps if Christian churches modeled themselves more after Johnny Cash, and less after perky Christian celebrities such as Kathy Lee Gifford, we might find ourselves resonating more with the MTV generation. Maybe if we stopped trying to be “cool,” and stopped hiring youth ministers who are little more than goateed game-show hosts, we might find a way to connect with a generation that understands pain and death more than we think.
Perhaps if we paid more attention to the dark side of life, a dark side addressed in divine revelation, we might find ourselves appealing to men and women in black. We might connect with men and women who know what it’s like to feel like fugitives from justice, even if they’ve never been to jail. We might offer them an authentic warning about what will happen when the Man comes around.
And, as we do this, we just might hear somewhere up in the cloud of witnesses a voice that once cried in the wilderness: “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.”
There was an empty seat at this year’s MTV Music Video Awards. The late Johnny Cash wasn’t there. It’s not as though Cash frequented the Generation X/Y annual awards program. He was old enough to be the grandfather of the most seasoned performer on the platform. Still, two years ago, even while he was sick in a hospital, the Man in Black was there.
At the 2003 awards show, Cash’s video “Hurt” was nominated for an award—up against shallow bubblegum pop acts such as that of Justin Timberlake. Cash didn’t win. But the showing of the video caused an almost palpable discomfort in the crowd. The video to the song, which was originally performed by youth band Nine Inch Nails, features haunting images of his youthful glory days—complete with pictures of his friends and colleagues at the height of their fame, now dead.
As the camera pans Cash’s wizened, wrinkled face, he sings about the awful reality of death and the vanity of fame: “What have I become? My sweetest friend/ Everyone I know goes away in the end/ You could have it all/ My empire of dirt/ I will let you down, I will make you hurt.”
Whereas Nine Inch Nails delivered “Hurt” as straight nihilism, straight out of the grunge angst of the Pacific Northwest’s music scene, Cash gives it a twist—ending the video with scenes of the crucifixion of Jesus. For him, the cross is the only answer to the inevitability of suffering and pain.
Fleeting Fame
“It’s all fleeting,” he told MTV News. “As fame is fleeting, so are all the trappings of fame fleeting; the money, the clothes, the furniture.” This could not be in more marked contrast to the culture of the popular music industry (whatever the genre), a culture of superficiality, self-exaltation, and sexual libertinism.
Perhaps this is the reason Cash remained—to the day of his death—a subject of almost morbid curiosity for a youth culture that knows nothing of “I Walk the Line.” At the 2003 awards show, 22-year-old pop sensation Justin Timberlake, beating Cash for the video award, demanded a recount. Why would twenty-something hedonists revere an old Baptist country singer from Arkansas?
In one sense, the Cash mystique was nothing new. For the whole length of his career, onlookers wondered what made him different from the rest of the Hollywood/Nashville celebrity axis. Much of it had to do with the “man in black” caricature he cultivated. Cash joked that fans would often say to him, “My father was in prison with you.” Of course, Cash never served any serious jail time at all, but he could never shake the image of a hardened criminal on the mend. People really seemed to think that he had “shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.”
That’s probably because of just how authentic and evocative his songs of prison life were. “Folsom Prison Blues,” for instance, just seems to have been penned by someone lying on a jailhouse cot listening to a train whistle in the night: “There’s probably rich folks eating in a fancy dining car/ They’re probably drinking coffee and smoking big cigars/ Well, I know I had it coming/ I know I can’t be free/ But those people keep a’movin’, and that’s what tortures me.”
The prison imagery seemed real to Cash because, for him, it was real. He knew what it was like to be enslaved, enslaved to celebrity, to power, to drugs, to liquor, and to the breaking of his marriage vows. He was subject to, and submissive to, all the temptations the recording industry can parade before a man. He was a prisoner indeed, but to a penitentiary of his own soul. There was no corpse in Reno, but there was the very real guilt of a lifetime of the self-destructive idolatry of the ego.
It was through the quiet friendships of men such as Billy Graham that Cash found an alternative to the vanity of shifting celebrity. He found freedom from guilt and the authenticity of the truth in a crucified and resurrected Christ. And he immediately identified with another self-obsessed celebrity of another era: Saul of Tarsus. He even authored a surprisingly good biography of the apostle, with the insight of one who knows what it is like to see the grace of Jesus through one’s own guilt as a “chief of sinners.”
He Connected
Even as a Christian, Cash was different. He sang at Billy Graham crusades and wrote for Evangelical audiences, but he never quite fit the prevailing saccharine mood of pop Evangelicalism. Nor did he fit the trivialization of cultural Christianity so persistent in the country music industry, as Grand Old Opry stars effortlessly moved back and forth between songs about the glories of honky-tonk women and songs about the mercies of the Old Rugged Cross.
To be sure, Cash’s Christian testimony is a mixed bag. In his later years, he took out an ad in an industry magazine, with a photograph of himself extending a middle finger to music executives. And yet there is something in the Cash appeal to the youth generation that Christians would do well to emulate.
Other Christian celebrities tried—and failed—to reach youth culture by feigning teenage street language or aping pop culture trends. How successful, after all, was Pat Boone’s embarrassing attempt at heavy metal—complete with a leather outfit and a spiked dog collar?
Cash always seemed to connect. When other Christian celebrities tried to down-play sin and condemnation in favor of upbeat messages about how much better life is with Jesus, Cash sang about the tyranny of guilt and the certainty of coming judgment. An angst-ridden youth culture may not have fully comprehended guilt, but they understood pain. And, somehow, they sensed Cash was for real.
The face of Johnny Cash reminded this generation that he has tasted everything the MTV culture has to offer—and found there a way that leads to death. In a culture that idolizes the hormonal surges of youth, Cash reminds the young of what MTV doesn’t want them to know: “It is appointed to man once to die, and after this the judgment.” His creviced face and blurring eyes remind them that there is not enough Botox in all of Hollywood to revive a corpse.
Cash wasn’t trying to be an evangelist—and his fellow Bible-belt Evangelicals knew it. But he was able to reach youth culture in a way the rest of us often can’t, precisely because he refused to sugarcoat or “market” the gospel in the “language” of today’s teenagers.
One of Cash’s final songs was also one of his best, an eerie tune based on the Book of Revelation. His haunting voice, filled with the tremors of approaching hoof-beats, sang the challenge: “The hairs on your arms will all stand up/ At the terror of each sip and each sup./ Will you partake of that last offered cup?/ Or disappear into the potter’s ground/ When the Man comes around?”
Cash’s young fans (and his old ones too) may not have known what he was talking about, but they sensed that he did. They recognized in Cash a sinner like them, but a sinner who mourned the tragedy of his past and found peace in One who bore terrors that make Folsom Prison pale in comparison.
The Dark Side
Johnny Cash is dead, and there will never be another. But all around us there are empires of dirt, and billions of self-styled emperors marching toward judgment.
Perhaps if Christian churches modeled themselves more after Johnny Cash, and less after perky Christian celebrities such as Kathy Lee Gifford, we might find ourselves resonating more with the MTV generation. Maybe if we stopped trying to be “cool,” and stopped hiring youth ministers who are little more than goateed game-show hosts, we might find a way to connect with a generation that understands pain and death more than we think.
Perhaps if we paid more attention to the dark side of life, a dark side addressed in divine revelation, we might find ourselves appealing to men and women in black. We might connect with men and women who know what it’s like to feel like fugitives from justice, even if they’ve never been to jail. We might offer them an authentic warning about what will happen when the Man comes around.
And, as we do this, we just might hear somewhere up in the cloud of witnesses a voice that once cried in the wilderness: “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
