4 years! Eureka!

As some of you may know, Jenny and I take turns each year surprising each other with a weekend vacation for our anniversary (Nov. 8). We have gone to Victoria BC, Weston MO, and Herman MO. This year was Jenny's turn, and she had me fooled for almost 200 miles. I had no idea we were we where going until about 20 miles out.

We spent the weekend of Nov 8-11th in a small wooded cabin on a lake just outside of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Eureka Springs is a small historic resort town founded around some "healing" springs in the Ozark Mountains. The "downtown" is on a couple different streets that wind around through a valley and around some hills. Some of the buildings face one street where they are two stories tall, but the backs of them face another street where they are 6 stories tall. The whole town is built on extreamly steep grades in the late 1800's. It has many art galleries and other eclectic little shops.

The fall colors where out in full effect that weekend, providing some great photo opertunities.
Here is a link the the photo gallery.

Trying to find the gold tooth in God's crooked smile.

Okay, I have a ton of posts to put up in the next few days that I have been putting off, so if anyone still reads this, check back over the next week and there should be more.



Anyways, I wanted to let you all know about this amazing film Jenny and I got from netflix a couple weeks ago. Here is the discription from their website:

Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus is a thought-proviking road trip through the American South - a world of Churches; prisons; coalmines; truckstops; juke joints; swamps; and mountains. Along the way we encounter various musicians, including the Handsome Family, Johnny Dowd, 16 Horsepower and Dacid Johansen; old time banjo player Lee Sexton; Rockabilly and Mountain Gospel churches; and novelist Harry Crews telling grisly stories down a dirt track. The film is a collage of stories and testimonies, almost invariably of sudden death, sin or redemption: Heaven or Hell, with no middle ground.

And all the while, a strange Southern Jesus looms in the background. 'Alt-Country' singer Jim White reflects upon exactly what it is about this baffling place that inspires musicians and writers, whilst at the same time working through his own preoccupations with his muse — or, as he puts it, 'trying to find the gold tooth in God's crooked smile'.

Check out the trailer!

New Site Feature!

Scroll to the bottom right and tell us who you would vote for.

Whiskerino 2007!

What do Zeus, John Lennon and Jesus have in common? It's the beard!

Whiserino 2007 is here! Check it out!

So, if you are man enough (or if you are a woman with good paper skills) I invite you to join me on this 4 month journey into manhood. Bond with me over our comman face hair. Go here to sign up.

HERE ARE THE RULES

I. CONTEST RUN DATES
The contest will officially run from November 1st, 2007 until least February 29th, 2008. Participants unable to fulfill this time period will have their accounts placed within the Whiskerino Hall Of Shame. Participation is still highly encouraged for any amount of time during these dates.

II. A CLEAN PALETTE
You must be clean shaven (see Figure 26). This rule is the foundation of a proper Whiskerino. Allowable hair types: eyebrows, eyelashes, sideburns, nose hair, ear hair. Sideburns must be trimmed to the earlobe (see here for a fine example). Banned hair types: mutton chops, goatee, neck hair, moustaches. No exceptions.

III. BEARD GROWTH
According to Parker Brothers Beyond Balderdash the definition of a whiskerino is "a beard growing contest." Participation in the North American Free Beard Agreement Whiskerino denotes that the participant will grow a beard. Refusal to grow a beard is not in the spirit of the contest. Note: Testerone levels differ in every male and all levels of growth, regardless of density and coverage, are encouraged. As long as the participant is not shaving the participant is growing a beard.

IV. SHAVING
Trimming or shaping of hair growth is highly frowned upon. Participants are highly encouraged to let their beards follow their natural path. 'Sculpting' will be questioned and must be kept to a minimum.

V. FALSE PRETENSES
By supplying a photo for upload and display during Whiskerino 2007 the participant enters into an agreement stating the following:

* The photo is, in fact, the participant
* The photo has not been altered by digital means in regard to enhancing beard growth, shape, or density.
* The photo may not contain added text, graphics, or clipart unless in participation with a themed day (this includes iSight camera effects, Photoshop filters and their ilk).

VI. IMAGE UPLOADING
Images supplied by the participant must be in JPEG format sized no smaller than 500 pixels in width cropped to a 4 x 3 aspect ratio (see Figure 73). Photos may not contain profane gestures, nudity, hateful imagery, or turkey sandwiches.

Only one image per day may be submitted to the North American Free Beard Agreement Whiskerino 2005. Submission of more than one image per day will result in the previous submitted image to be overwritten and all comments and ratings for that image removed but do what chu gotta do breh.

VII. HALL OF SHAME
Failure to comply with the North American Free Beard Agreement Whiskerino 2007 rules and regulations will result in the participants account to be sequestered into the Hall Of Shame. Participants placed within these shameful halls will no longer have access to their account and, thus, image upload will be forever suspended for them. Ridiculing members of the Hall Of Shame is not only allowed but highly encouraged.

VIII. WINNER
Upon completion of the contest there will be official ceremonies announcing the winner. Winning beards will be determined by a variety of criteria including: Beard Official opinions, ratings, overall participation, attendance, beard style, and spirit. Note: Immense facial hair density, girth, and coverage does not neccasarily determine winner. Spirit and Beard Fellowship are the highest ranked criteria according to the North American Free Beard Agreement.

Kucinich 08

Lots of Pictures!

I just updated my Flickr account with a lot of pictures from the last few weeks.

CLICK HERE for some pictures from waiting in line at the Over the Rhine concert at The Grand Emporium on Oct. 1. Unfortunatly I have not figured out how to take good indoor concert photos yet, so none of those turned out well.



CLICK HERE and HERE for pictures of Jenny's Birthday night. We got dressed up and went out to Pierpont's at Union Station, it was amazing.



CLICK HERE to see pictures from our church retreat. We went to Mount St. Scholastica, and Abby in Atchison, Kansas. It was beautiful. Unfortunatly I got too caught up in taking tons of pictures of the beautiful setting and not enough of the wonderful people we spent the weekend with. It was a blast.



More pics coming soon! The Tolson's visited last weekend, so those will be the next set.

Wilco at The Crossroads

We saw Wilco on saturday night at downtown Kansas Cities coolest new outdoor venue, The Crossroads. We showed up early enough to get in the front row, right infront of Nels. What a truley amazing rock show. Andrew Bird opened, and he was pretty great too.

Set list:
Via Chicago
Company on my Back
You Are My Face
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
Pot Kettle Black
Handshake Drugs
Side With the Seeds
A Shot in the Arm
She’s A Jar
Impossible Germany
Pick Up the Change
Box Full of Letters
Jesus, etc.
Too Far Apart
Walken
I’m the Man Who Loves You

Encore 1:
Hummingbird
Hesitating Beauty
Hate It Here
Heavy Metal Drummer

Encore 2:
Red Eyed and Blue
I Got You (At the End of the Century)
Casino Queen
Outtasite (Outta Mind)
Spiders (Kidsmoke) <-- with fireworks!

Here is a good review from Joel Francis of the Kansas City Star.

Here are some pictures I found on flickr taken by "willgorman".

Here is a myspace video of Wilco perfroming Hesitating Beauty, the camera man was standing probably 10 feet from where Jenny and I were.

And a video of "Shot In the Arm"

Personality Type

Well, Jenny tagged me to take this personality test. I always come out the same, by far, and I even tryed to answer the questions a little more thoughtfully this time, and I still came out the same. I guess there is really no doubt I am an ENFP (The "Advocate"). But is Bob Dylan, so that's cool.

Also, turns out I should be an artist or a designer, so I don't have to change careers, that's cool.



I tag Andrea, Telfer, and Missy

Lyric of the Day

I have had and enjoyed this song for a while now, but this weekend I heard it again for the first time in a few months and remembered how powerful it was. I get some crap about my Indigo Girls love every once in a while, but if you can't atleast appriciate their song writting, then I don't know what I can say to you about good music. It's amazing to me that these two can pull out more Biblical imagry and Christian concepts then most any Christian label band out there. Anyways, here it is:

"Tether" - Indigo Girls

Whatever it was, is wasn't manumission
To spill the blood, to pull the weed
You can bury the past, but it's a mausoleum
With the ghost of a fist that won't let us be

Can we bring it together,
Can we call from the mountain to the valley below?
Can we make it better,
Do we tether the hawk, do we tether the dove?

I kicked up the dirt, and I said to my neighbor
"We keep making it worse, we keep getting it wrong"
He tucked in his shirt, he stood a little bit straighter,
He said "We need a few less words dear, we need a few more guns."

But will it bring us together,
Can we call from the mountain to the valley below?
Can we make it better,
Do we tether the hawk, do we tether the dove?

Enduring love
Why so much and so strong, beyond this short existence?
So don't be still
You say there's a long line behind you
And it's hardly worth the mentioning
But I will
Cause we may flicker and fade,
But we never will be through with this
I see this world battered but not broken
There's a fallow heart, it's waiting on a sowing hand
You can grow what you want, But one day it's gonna rise up
So plant what you need to make a better stand

And we'll bring it together
And we'll call from the mountain to the valley below.
And we'll make it better
Let go of the hawk, we let go of the dove.

I sing to you, all you true believers
With the strength to see this and not be still.
I'm telling you now, find the hope that feeds you,
Don't let 'em bleed you of your will.

Gillian Welch - "Time (The Revelator)"

We saw Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (the guitarist in the video) at Liberty Hall in Lawerance on saturday. It was amazing, I don't even know how to express how amazing it was. David Rawlings is one of the best guitar players I have ever seen, and Gillian's voice was perfect.

They played two full sets and 3 encores, the show lasted over three hours, and I could have gone for another thee. If she is coming to a town near you, you should go.

We are offical!

We closed on the house Friday afternoon (I mentioned it in the post below). We are very excited! Yesterday we bought a used washer and dryer, a new fridge, and a yard sale lawn mower. The wood floor guy gets started tomorrow morning. Our maintance guy starts Wednesday, and we get to move in the 28th!

When we arived to sign the papers at closing there was this framed picture of our house from 1924:



It was two years old then. How cool is that? The only real difference we can tell is that the french doors on the den that lead to the porch aren't there, and the pergula over the garage has been mostly removed, the frame closest to the house is still there, it looks decrotive.

Our relator also e-mailed us these pictures from 1957 of the original owners:








In the last picture you can see the french doors have been installed by then. Also, that big ugly bush is atleast that old.

Shuffle Your iPod

My good friend Brian tagged me with this little iPod game. I am suppose to "List the first ten songs that come up on your iPod when you hit 'shuffle'." I have to start by saying that I have over 8,000 songs on there, some are from long ago.... very long ago. I am not responsible for everything that appears on the list.... so, on that note, here we go.

1. Radiohead - Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was
2. Over The Rhine - Anything At All
3. Death Cab for Cutie - Line of Best Fit
4. Starflyer 59 - Not Funny
5. Mutemath - Peculiar People
6. Depeche Mode - Sinner In Me
7. Coldplay - Shiver
8. Moby - Natural Blues
9. The Verve - Weeping Willow
10 . Dave Mathews Band - Crush
11. Bright Eyes - The First Day of My Life
12. The Call - I Don't Wanna
13. Alice In Chains - Again
14. Bruce Cockburn - Tropic Moon
15. Sufjan Stevens - Kaskaskia River
16. Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
17. Danielson Famile - Don't You Be The Judge
18 . Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins - Born Secular
19. Wilco - Panthers
20. REM - Try Not To Breathe

I think I was suppose to do 10, everyone else did 15, I did 20. I kept waiting for U2 to come up, I have way more U2 then any other band.... oh well.

Okay, I tag Kassie Ketchum, Lisa Allison, and Amanda Marble. Go for it!

Oh, and PS, the house is officaly ours as of 4:00 this afternoon, yay!

We got a house!

Some of you probably have already heard, but we found a house! Our offer was accepted on it a couple weeks ago. Now we are just eagerly waiting out the time until closing (July 13th). After we close we are getting the wood floors re-finished and a bunch of minor things. Then we move in!


It is a cute little 1920's Bungalow near the Brookeside area of Kansas City. It has 3 bedrooms, 1 and 1/2 baths, a den, and a sunroom.

In the future we are planning on removing that ugly bush from the front of the porch, replacing the sink in the main bath, tiling the floor in the 1/2 bath, minor clean-up and repairs to the deck, maybe stipping atleast some of the wood trim, doing something with the fireplace (not sure what), and eventually remodeling the whole kitchen. Lots of work ahead of us, but it should be fun.

Check out our Flickr page for the rest of the pictures!

Vacation Pics!

Jenny and I drove to Tennessee last week, it was a great time! We got to see our friends Matt and Alissa Peppley in Nashville and then went on to Townsend right outside of the Smoky Mountain National Park. We rented a little cabin in the woods there. We did lots of hiking, hanging out on our porch, and eating good food.

I posted some pictures on my flickr page. Check them out!

Word of the Day... or decade.

I was watching the national spelling bee tonight (to those who read this blog regularly should find great humor in the irony of that) and I learned a new word. I think it is one of my favorites.

Kakistocracy, it means "Government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens."

I think that may come in handy.

Sky Blue Sky

I got the new Wilco album, "Sky Blue Sky" last week, and if you don't have it yet, you need it. I started out on Tuesday with it slightly disapointed with it's lack of progress building on their last two amazing albums "Yankee, Hotel, Foxtrot" and "A Ghost Is Born". To be fair, I had only heard it on an internet audio stream up til friday. Since I got it in the mail friday, I have probably listened to the complete album 6 times and I watched the DVD that came with it saturday evening. With each listen I have loved the album more. Like one of those charts you learn about in algabra with the curve that climbs higher and faster at each incerment, what is that called again?

As for my complaint about the lack of "progress", the album seems to have a lot less experimentation to it then the last two, but I think upon further listen, there is alot of musical growth shining through here. The songs are definatly more straight forward, but as Jeff Tweedy said in the film that came with the album, "With how confusing and complicated the world is today, I think people just want to hear some ____ing songs!" (paraphrased).

Stand out tracks:
1. Either Way
3. Impossible Germany
4. Sky Blue Sky
6. Shake It Off
11. What Light

Three Greatest Challenges Facing the Church (#3)

The third biggest problem facing the church is young members who can't follow through with things in a promised time frame.... okay, sorry it took 2 months to do what I promised in 3 days. The first two where easy, but for the third I have to narrow it down to one last thing.

This is kind of disjointed and not that well writen. I used a lot of quotes because others have said it better then I ever could, but you get the point.

Nationalism disguised as Christianity

I heard a quote once, I think from Tony Campolo, that went something like “We have reached a new level of idolatry in American when you can get in more trouble for removing an American flag from a sanctuary then the cross." Think about it.

In the past I have sat through "Memorial Day" and "Fourth of July" services where we sang the national anthem with slides on the video screens of US fighter jets and bombers dropping bombs. And as hard for that is to believe, this was a fairly large Nazarene church, a very "mainstream" denomination. The intentions of these services where to honor those who have fought for what we have, the intentions of the people where good, but is church the right place for that? Are US Christians really that self-centered? Do we really hold are selves that much higher above or brothers and sisters around the world? I don't know, maybe I am reading to much into it, but sadly the evidence is not in our favor.

Jenny once said, "You should be able to walk into any Christian church in the world and not be able to tell where you are". I think she is absolutely correct. As Christians we have a nation greater then anything defined by political boundaries, we are the people of God. We are here to live as the people of God, to live out His kingdom coming. A kingdom that knows no political boundaries. Our churches should reflect that. As a Christian, my only allegiance should be to the Lord.

Our Foreign policy is based on the idea that we, as a nation, are somehow set apart to be God's last line of defense in an evil world. That America is inherently good and that who we deem as evil is the enemy of God. How can a country whose ideals, attitude, and actions so differ from those of Christ think that we can speak for Him?

George Monbiot wrote, in an article for Guardian:
"It is not just that the Americans are God's chosen people; America itself is now perceived as a divine project. In his farewell presidential address, Ronald Reagan spoke of his country as a "shining city on a hill", a reference to the Sermon on the Mount. But what Jesus was describing was not a temporal Jerusalem, but the kingdom of heaven. Not only, in Reagan's account, was God's kingdom to be found in the United States of America, but the kingdom of hell could also now be located on earth: the "evil empire" of the Soviet Union, against which His holy warriors were pitched.

...The United States of America no longer needs to call upon God; it is God, and those who go abroad to spread the light do so in the name of a celestial domain. The flag has become as sacred as the Bible; the name of the nation as holy as the name of God. The presidency is turning into priesthood.

So those who question George Bush's foreign policy are no longer merely critics; they are blasphemers, or "anti-Americans". Those foreign states, which seek to change this policy, are wasting their time: you can negotiate with politicians; you cannot negotiate with priests. The US has a divine mission, as Bush suggested in January: "to defend ... the hopes of all mankind", and woe betide those who hope for something other than the American way of life."

Brain McLaren said in an interview:
"When we present Jesus as a pro-war, anti-poor, anti-homosexual, anti-environment, pro-nuclear weapons authority figure draped in an American flag, I think we are making a travesty of the portrait of Jesus we find in the gospels."

Why aren't churches across the country speaking out about this? It is an image that hiding the true portrait of Christ to a world that needs to know Him.

And, I am going to end with another Derek Webb song, because, again, he says what I want to say perfectly.

King & A Kingdom by Derek Webb

who's your brother, who's your sister
you just walked passed him
i think you missed her
as we're all migrating to the place where our father lives
'cause we married in to a family of immigrants

(chorus)
my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it's to a king & a kingdom

there are two great lies that i’ve heard:
“the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”
and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him

(chorus)

but nothing unifies like a common enemy
and we’ve got one, sure as hell
but he may be living in your house
he may be raising up your kids
he may be sleeping with your wife
oh no, he may not look like you think

Intermission: Good job MNU!

Okay, I know this whole "Three problems" thing is taking longer then I promised, sorry, I have been very busy at work.

To throw in a little balance to this place I want to share an article that was brought to my attention about a homosexual rights group visiting a Nazarene college campus. It seems for as much as we try and screw things up Christ still uses His church in amazing ways. Thank God.

Here is the article.

Three Greatest Challenges Facing the Church (#2)

Suburbanization (Racial and Economic Segregation)

I am not sure if that is the right wording for what I am talking about here, but it's the best I can think of.

Phineas Bresee founded the Nazarene church, a former Methodist minister who didn't like how far the Methodist church has strayed from Wesleyan ideals of preaching to the poor and needy. It was a church found for the "least of these". A church for the ones the rest of society had forgotten, a place where the last become first. The first Nazarene church opened its doors in 1895 in urban Los Angeles, California. From the begining it was an "intercity church". A church that faced the challenges of being an anchor for the neighborhood it shared.

Then in the 1950's when all the white and wealthy started fleeing the cities for the suburbs, for the most part the church did the same. Even if the church didn't change location, they still became either a commuter church or a financially drained, low membership urban church. New churches started being built by people who all came from the same social economic level, for their friends and families in that same category.

Now you can go to church and hear about the powerful message Christ has for the way we deal with the poor and not ever have to face that in our own lives. I can sponsor an impoverished child for $19.99 a month and put some food in the food pantry. It feels safer, it makes me comfortable to be around those who look, act, and think just like I do. But this is not at all what the kingdom of God looks like, a place where the first are made last and the last are made first. We tell ourselves that "rich people need Jesus too", believing this is just cause for our $5,000 sound system. And it is true, we do need Jesus, everyone needs Jesus, but I wonder how much the church is reaching out to people like us versus how much we are perpetuating a lifestyle that is anything but Christ like.

The church should be the backbone of social reformation. We are called to love others as ourselves. How can a church be that from 30 miles across town from the social problems facing the intercity? How can the church be a reflection of the kingdom of God when only a portion of the people are represented by it? I really do believe that losing the African American voice, the Hispanic voice, the economically poor voice, has made the church lose the message of Christ. The spirit of the church of the Nazarene cannot and will not survive without these voices.

When I read about our world headquarters moving out of urban Kansas City, from a neighborhood it has been in for nearly a century, to a corporate business park in a grass field in Lenexa, it breaks my heart. I wonder if this church still cares about the general principals laid down by its founder. I like to think the church is heading back in the right direction, but it is hard to believe this when the World Headquarters itself is symbolizing so much of what is wrong in our churches. Moves like this have no motive outside of our own perceived "safety" and comfort, and I don't believe in a safe or comfortable gospel.

As a member of this denomination, it is up to me to make these changes in my own life as well. Collectively, as a whole, WE need to do something about this for the church to remain (or become) as relevant to people's lives as the message we believe in.

Jenny and I have found a church home here in Kansas City that we feel more at home in then anywhere we have attended yet. Some considers it an “urban” church; it has a better mix of economic classes then any church I have attended, and leadership with a heart for social justice. But even there we struggle with the desire to be around those who look, act, and think like us. One of the things that drew us in was the abundance of young, like-minded, people. Luckily we have also had the opportunity to meet many wonderful people outside of that mold, but at the same time I wonder, is our small church to comfortable in it's statues as well?

We have been talking about the book "Can This Church Live: A Congregation, It's Neighborhood, and Social Transformation" by Donald H. Matthews in my Sunday school class. I highly recommend it. Hopefully this can get our church thinking about some areas where we can improve how we relate to the neighborhood around it.

Three Greatest Challenges Facing the Church (#1)

Prosperity Gospel

The idea that God wants you to be rich, and that with enough faith you will be rich. This has been one of the biggest issues the church has faced in the last few years, and I don't think the next few are going to be any better. It is easy to understand why this is such a popular idea, it is a lot easier to ignore the extreme poverty in the world around us if we believe that God wants us to be as rich as we are, it is comfortable to think God wants us to spend our money on ourselves.

The truth is, God does bless all of His faithful, just not all of them financially, and those He does bless financially, we are under a mandate to use those blessings to bless others.

All across this country their are churches growing rapidly in numbers lead by preachers preaching nothing more then "God wants you to be rich". These church's may be large in size, but they have yet to become the norm, and I think most mainline congregations would frown upon the teachings of these churches, but have we let prosperity gospel spill over in it's own way into our churches? I think we have and it seems like it's getting worse.

The popularity of books like "The Prayer of Jabez" shows how much this idea has really caught on. Anytime an entire book is written about one chapter of scripture I get a bit leery. "Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!" And God granted him what he requested." (1Chron. 4:10) This is the only time Jabez is mentioned, it does not go on to explain what, when or how God granted this request, but the author of "The Prayer of Jabez" believes that if you say this prayer often enough and with enough meaning that God will make you wealthy.

If living a Christ like life really means living selflessly, I cannot accept the idea that as long as there is one person on this earth with less then I have, that God wants me to keep more to myself. That does not line up with the words of Christ in the gospels.

The idea that there is any blessing that can be stacked on top the gift of salvation and freedom from eternal bondage that Christ offers us all is absolutly false. To beleive that there is anything more that can compare to that gift is to completely misunderstand or even reject the truth of the gospel. The more the church falls for this lie the farther we will be getting from being any sort of light or body of Christ on earth.

Okay, sorry about that, there are few things that get me more upset then prosperity gospel.

Here is a song by Derek Webb that says it perfectly:

Beloved by Derek Webb

beloved these are dangerous times
because you are weightless like a leaf from the vine
and the wind has blown you all over town
because there is nothing holding you to the ground

so now you would rather be
a slave again than free from the law

(chorus)
beloved listen to me
don’t believe all that you see
and don’t you ever let anyone tell you
that there’s anything that you need
but me

beloved these are perilous days
when your culture is so set in it’s ways
that you will listen to salesmen and thieves
preaching other than the truth you’ve received

because they are telling lies
for they cannot circumcise your hearts

(chorus)
beloved there is nothing more
no more blessings and no more rewards
than the treasure of my body and blood
given freely to all daughters and sons

Well, let me know if you have any further thoughts on this or if you just flat out disagree.