Author: taidochino

I saw this yesterday and wanted to share…

Lykke Li…

Lots of my thoughts today have been turned towards the celebration of Easter.  A recent reading from Reflecting the Glory has sort of stuck with me.

… the Spirit of truth will come and guide them into all truth.  This is one of the great promises by which the church stands or falls.  The church can only continue to exist if it believes that the Spirit is present, leading us into the truth while we struggle to hold on to the love of Jesus and the revelation of God’s glory.

Two things really stand out to me about these comments.  One is the affirmation of the role of the Spirit to guide in all truth.  As people thoroughly steeped in Western Rationalism, we have a tendency to be suspicious of the work of the Spirit.  To be dependent on the Spirit to lead us into truth seems just a shade to subjective.  How can we really know it is the Spirit?  Maybe it isn’t “the Spirit” at all, but simply our own point of view justified with Spirit language?  Not to mention looking at some of our more Spirit-led brethren and thinking that isn’t what I’m interested in at all.  And yet, the affirmation of Jesus in John 16:12 is simply that the Spirit will in fact “guide you into all truth.”  It sounds like Jesus expects us to trust the leading of the Spirit.

But the thing that Wright said that really captured my attention was the statement…  The church can only continue to exist if it believes that the Spirit is present. It isn’t enough for the Spirit to be present.  The Spirit is present whether we believe so or not.  But the church’s survival is dependent on actually believing that the Spirit is present.  The moment we cease to embrace the reality that the Spirit of God is in fact real and at work in our midst, we stop being the church.

At least we are no longer the church in the ways that count.  That isn’t to say that the activities of the church stop.  Services are still held.  Songs still sung.  Sermons still preached.  Programs still executed.  Work on behalf of the poor.  Attempts to “reach out” to the lost.  But a community of faith devoid of a strong conviction of the Spirit’s presence and work among them does all else in vain.  It seems silly to state something that is so very obvious, but the pull is there nonetheless.  To accomplish great works for God without actually depending on the Spirit that both guides and empowers.

This is one of the things I have continually appreciated about Wright.  He holds firmly in one hand his New Testament scholarship and in the other a robust view of the work of the Spirit in and through the church.  One would like to think that one would necessarily lead to the other, but experience has shown that the tendency is to gravitate towards either extreme.  Wright serves as a model for theology done with rigor and scholastic integrity that naturally leads to a greater appreciation for work of the Spirit among us.

The first time I saw the Indigo Girls live was over fifteen years ago, when I took a small group of students on an unofficial trip to see the Indigo Girls in Dallas.  There were several memorable things about that trip, including (of course) an incident with the 15-passenger van I was driving at the time.  We did finally make it to the show, and we loved it.  It was also my first introduction to an artist that I had heard of but only barely, David Wilcox.  He was opening and was right on my wavelength.  I’ve seen both a number of times since then both in Chicago and Seattle, and their live shows have always been a treat.  While my own musical tastes have changed some over the years, they have been consistently been putting out pretty good music.

Anyway, I thought I let you know that both have recently released new albums. You can listen to both free one time through at the links provided at lala.com. If you haven’t signed up for lala, you should. It is a great way to listen to music, and when you sign up you can ‘follow’ other people (sort of like twitter) to find out what your friends are listening to.

David Wilcox’s Open Hand.

Indigo Girls’ Poseidon and the Bitter Bug.

play…

Monday may be my favorite day of the week.  Here’s a list of reasons why…

1)  6am meeting with a group of guys who challenge, encourage, and pray.

2)  Fresh start on the work week.  Not very many people at the office, so usually can get plenty done.

3)  Meeting with my friend and co-worker.  Good things happen in that meeting.

4)  Lunch.

5)  Encouragers.  I split an hour tutoring two different students from Pike View Elementary.  I hope they get something out of our time together.  I sure do.

6)  Taking Cole to and picking him up from piano lessons.  Cole is a gifted musician, and this weekly shuttling him to and from reminds me of that about him.

7)  Ben usually has some sort of soccer thing.  He loves it!  And I love that he loves it.

“Children don’t grow up…”

My boy N.T. bringing the heat:

… we don’t think of love as confrontational, and we often have to learn that to love someone truly may involve confronting them when their way of life is destructive to them or to others.  The way of mere tolerance is a very low-grade substitute for true love.  Genuine love helps the beloved to see the truth, the way things really are, as Jesus did.

I realize that this may sound somewhat contradictory to what I described a few days ago.  It isn’t.

The missing ingredient from the sorts of confrontation that were being described in the previous post was love.  As always, love is the key for determining how to engage people.  Where love is present, one can rarely go wrong.  Where it isn’t, then whatever is trying to be accomplished is sure to fail miserably.

This morning, I challenged a group of middle school students to prepare for Easter by choosing to love the people around them.  It is a challenge that I’ll be taking up, as well.

Bonus: The above song accompanies the trailer to what is sure to be a wildly popular movie, Where the Wild Things Are.  You may remember the book by Maurice Sendak that captured the imagination of generations of children.  Check out the trailer, and enjoy the song all over again.

= awesome

Preach it…

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Not all that complicated, is it?  And yet, so very hard to do.

I read several blogs, and in my effort to “catch up” on them all, I plowed through a number of posts today.  One that caught my attention was one Christian leader denigrating another high profile Christian leader.  The “accuser” was quick to slap labels like “false teacher” or “heretic” on this brother.  I can not begin to understand how over-blown one’s ego must be to be so sure that another self-professed Christ follower is in the wrong.  There wasn’t a hint of charity or grace afforded this individual.

To justify his diatribe, he even marshaled over half a dozen verses to prove his point.  Who cares that none of the verses were actually relevant for the situation at hand?  Who cares that he drug this fellow brother’s name through the mud?  It would be one thing if he actually knew what he was talking about, but where true knowledge is lacking, ideology and dogma are more than sufficient for convincing ourselves of our own rightness.

I wish that this were an isolated instance within the family of God, but it seems to be that with most of the theological conversations I follow, there is always someone expressing how wrong another is.  And not just wrong, but dangerously wrong.  So wrong that one’s standing within the “family” might be called into question.

And yet, sadly, I know that I too am guilty of the very same sort of thing.  A more youthful, idealistic, theological self was quick to point out the errors of others.  At times, even delighting in pointing out how wrong they were.  So very sure that with Bible in hand, that it could (and should) be wielded as a club with which to beat others into doctrinal submission.

I’d like to think that I’m older and wiser now.  More forgiving.  More accepting.  More loving.  And yet, the vicious circle of finger pointing that I’m attempting to dismantle here so obviously includes me.  The very act of calling the “accuser” wrong, presumes that I am right.  Perhaps it is best to say nothing at all.

But, Jesus does in fact say something.

I give you a new commandment…

And lest you think I quote these words out of context, this is as universal a command as Jesus ever issued.  Meaning there is never a time when love, grace, and charity are not the right thing to extend towards each other.  Even to an “accusing” brother who lashes out in his own ignorance and brokenness.

God have mercy on us all.

Ok, so I realize the futility of trying to post a Top 5 of anything. The amount of subjectivity involved in the process naturally calls the resulting list into question. However, my friend over at Coffee Shop Soundtrack has thrown down the gauntlet, and the challenge will not go unheeded.

So, I took a gander at Rolling Stones Top 5:
1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
2. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys
3. Revolver, The Beatles
4. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan
5. Rubber Soul, The Beatles

Not really what I had in mind. So, like Taylor, I’ll opt for best albums in somewhat recent history.

– I agree with Taylor that Dave Matthews Band deserves to be somewhere on the list. My vote would probably be for Crash.

– Also ditto on Coldplay, and while I appreciate every album, I think their 2003 Live Album might be most quintessentially Coldplay.

– Now, with three left where to turn? Radiohead certainly deserves a nod. I am continually amazed at the number of musicians that without hesitation fall over themselves to acknowledge Thom and crew as a formative influence. Sort of like how actors are about Sean Penn. If one’s peers are any indication on who is great, Radiohead certainly is up there. I loved nearly every track on In Rainbows.

– Since we are moving more down the track of lifetime achievement awards, U2 has their place on the podium as well. Joshua Tree would be something of an instinctive choice, but I think it was Achtung Baby that turned me into a lifetime fan.

– Leaving only one spot left… doesn’t seem fair. So I think, I’ll go with Sufjan Stevens. Not necessarily because he is my very favorite, but because he represents the much larger indie genre that is my sweet spot these days. Illinois is the standard here.

Ok, so it wasn’t all that difficult. As far as the world of music is concerned, I would venture to guess that many would see these folks as among the most influential musical artists. Of course, entire genres were left out – Country (which may not even qualify as music), Rap (Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Tupac, Snoop all hold a special place in my heart), Pop (really? Miley Cyrus? I just can’t get there). I also recognize that my list is grossly male-centric. There are many women artists that I can appreciate, but they just didn’t make the Top 5 cut.

As for my list, the very act of typing their names creates a longing in me to go find some of their music to listen to. And in my opinion, that’s what the best of anything should do… leave you yearning for more.

Journey…

The uninformed may think that camp ends when the last student is picked-up in the parking lot, but insiders know that there is at least one grueling task remaining – the vans. Some ministries do the sensible thing and charter a bus to transport their group hither and thither. Not us though. No, our tribe knows that trips can be cheaper for everyone involved if we muster a fleet of vans and SUV’s to take us where we need to go.

Which, of course, seems like a great idea until the predictable break-down occurs. Or the occasional fender-bender.  Or having to put my beloved’s fears to rest.  These sorts of things are small potatoes though in comparison to the post-camp van clean-up.

Camp isn’t really over until the rental vans have been returned.  All vehicles involved have been filled with gas and cleaned inside and out.  Any damage inflicted is fixed.  And loaner vehicles are returned to their rightful owners.

For most camps, this process is relatively painless.  However, this time around, the righting of the vans was particularly arduous.  First, the rental van had to be de-junked before it could be returned.  That meant that the piles of garbage that had been left on the floor needed to be removed.  I would have taken a picture of this unsightly mess, but it might have induced uncontrollable vomiting.  As I reflected on what it would have taken to have trashed the van this much, I came to the conclusion that every beverage container, candy wrapper, or snack packaging purchased during the entire week long adventure was cast to the floor of this van with great intentionality.  Furthermore, for the filth levels to be what they were, not one item of trash could have been removed from the van at any point during the week long trek.  In short, every single item of trash from the entire week was lying on the floor of the van.  So after considerable purging, the van needed a little extra TLC and was vacuumed and washed before it was returned to the rental facility.

Another van, the one borrowed from our Fort Smith friends, had suffered a windshield crack during our time in Colorado, so it needed to spend a few hours at the ER to be mended.  It also needed a substantial amount of washing and vacuuming.  The remaining vehicles fared much better and only needed a standard visit to the local car wash.

However, the task of dealing with the vans was not quite done.  After the loaner van had been retrieved, it needed to find its way back it home in Fort Smith.  But before it could be driven home, it needed to visit the car wash for the second time in less than 24 hours, because the shiny clean van was seemingly an irresistible target for every bird in a three mile radius needing to relieve its bowels.

The actual return of the van required a coordinated effort since, on our way back up, I would be picking up the vehicle that created the need to procure said loaner.  A faithful soul embarked on the half day journey to and from, and finally after two long days, all the vans are finally restored to their owners and in a condition that approximates their pre-trip status.

Greg Laswell – The One I Love…

They show up at the parking lot freshly washed, outrageously over-packed, and equipped with fully charged everything.  They come with the unique mixture of eager anticipation and nervous hesitation that precedes every camp.  And when it comes to camps, there is nothing quite like the week-long variety spent in Colorado over Spring Break.

The next several days are all that one might expect at camp.  The daylight hours are are filled with loads of fun.  Hours spent playing on the mountain, at the game room, in the pool, or in the lodge.  Large quantities of food are eaten.  Laughter abounds as new inside jokes are formed.

At night, students gather for a meeting that is both fun and challenging.  The odd juxtaposition of silly games, sillier skits, heartfelt worship, and compelling teaching somehow simultaneously disarms a student while confronting them with truth.  They meet in small groups with an adult that cares enough to engage them in the difficult conversations.  They are given time to reflect on where they are in life and where they are headed.

Upon their return home, they are as depleted as their dead iPod batteries.  Pieces of what had been so neatly packed into very large suitcases can now be found back at camp, in vans, at gas stations, and even a little makes it back into their bags.  They have consumed toxic levels of junk food as evidenced by the van floor turned trash receptacle.

They return with new souvenirs, new photos, new friends, and new memories.

But mostly, they return changed.

Somewhere between drop-off and pick-up, they have had an encounter. And that encounter leaves them forever marked.  Often students have (re)embraced a genuine love for the One who loved them first.  They possess a new desire to live a life that matters and isn’t consumed with the trivial pursuits that seem to pre-occupy most of their peers.  Their commitment is sincere, and therefore touching.  And whether they choose to hold firm to their newly found faith or find it waning as the months and years pass, they will always remember the feelings evoked in that timeless week away known simply as camp.