Here they are…
Wolf Parade – Ghost Pressure
Stereophonics – Innocent
Mumford & Sons and Laura Marling – to darkness (dharohar project)
Good Old War – That’s Some Dream (thanks @rebeccacabrera)
Jeremiah (2)
So we are about all done with Jeremiah. And not a moment too soon. I had forgotten how long Jeremiah is. Isaiah has more chapters, but Jeremiah just seems longer. Maybe that’s because he had such a difficult message. Both Isaiah and Jeremiah speak to the impending judgment of Israel, and both have a word of hope for restoration.
The problem with Jeremiah is that even the hopeful stuff sounds pretty discouraging. The hope for Judah is that they aren’t the only ones who are going to be punished. All their neighboring nations will be as well. Of all the verses that get quoted out of Jeremiah, 48:25-26 are a couple that don’t get much press…
“Moab’s horn is cut off,
her arm is broken,” declares the Lord.
“Make her drunk,
for she has defied the Lord.
Let Moab wallow in her vomit;
let her be an object of ridicule.”
That’s nice.
In fact, there are only two or three verses from the latter half of Jeremiah that really ever get mentioned.
Jeremiah 29:11 is one of them, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future.” All well and good, except for a couple problems. One, it is directed at an entire covenant community, not individuals. And two, what we understand prosper to mean and what it might have meant for a nation to prosper are two different things entirely. Any attempts to claim this verse as a promise that we are never going to suffer hardship or trail are problematic to say the least. This isn’t some magic-verse to guarantee that we will never fail… even miserably so. It is simply a promise to his covenant people that they (as a community) will flourish… eventually.
If we spent as much time focusing on the couple verses that follow, then we might even discover the means by which we (as the new covenant community) will “prosper.”
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.”
Jeremiah 29:12-14a
In fact, one could even say that the “calling and listening” and the “seeking and finding” is the very prospering Jeremiah (and God) has in mind. Food for thought.
The other verses that get some play are 31:33-34…
“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the LORD.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
Again, strong promises for God’s community of faith. This is one of those verses that I have to believe is being fulfilled progressively. It may have been intended and received by Jeremiah’s original hearers to a certain degree. With the coming of the Christ and the Spirit which followed, it was realized to an even greater degree. And one day, it will be fulfilled completely. God speed the day.
defining manhood
As I said yesterday, I think it is pretty much unanimous that men don’t just sort of bumble along through life only to wake up one day and have magically been transformed from boy to man. Physically it may seem so. I’m watching a boy morph into young man right before my eyes. And while I know it isn’t over-night, it feels like it.
But the transformation into a man, at least in the ways that really count, doesn’t happen quickly or easily. One of the studies I’m doing, Raising a Modern Day Knight, has beaten into all our thick skulls through agonizing repetition a definition of what it means to be man. Again, I’m leery of “defining” manhood, but for the sake of conversation (one-sided though it may be), I’m going to share it.
An Authentic Man…
– Rejects passivity
– Accepts responsibility
– Leads courageously
– Expects the greater reward; God’s reward
Now like I said, I’m somewhat resistant to the idea of trying to define manhood at all. I’m just not sure being a man can be reduced to four bullet-points. It seems too easy. I know that men characteristically like things simple and clear, but come on.
Yet, there is something about it that rings true. And not just that it lines up with some of my own preconceived notions of what it means to be a man. But as I think about ideal men, or even the ideal man, those qualities do seem to stand out. In fact, even as I’m reflecting on all this for a few minutes here, the phrase, “Jesus was the man!” is taking on a new meaning.
More on Jesus the manly-man another day.
making a man
For whatever reason, I’m finding myself in a season of having to take a look at the whole “What makes a man?” question.
Honestly, it isn’t one that I get all the fired up about. I think Donald Miller in his book, To Own a Dragon, captures my attitude about the entire “making a man” genre of books, conferences, studies, etc. In summary, he’s pretty skeptical. All the macho, hunting, muscle car/truck, crude innuendo, and bravado that tend to permeate most “Christian” man-stuff leaves one sort of wanting. I don’t really enjoy man-chants. I don’t think a man necessarily figures out how to become a man sitting in a church classroom filling in blanks in a workbook.
And yet, the question is a crucial one. One could even say that my life is consumed with it. I have three young Chino boys in my own home that I have a highly vested interest in seeing become not just men, but men of worth. And that desire is a large part of what I do with students. At least half of the students in my charge are of the male variety. Many of them I care about very deeply, and I long to be a part of the process in which they are ushered into manhood.
So the question still hangs out there. How is it that a boy move from adolescence into manhood? It is easy to identify the things that don’t factor much into that process. Being good at sports doesn’t do it. Being good with girls doesn’t either. Nor does graduating from high school or college necessarily mean one is a man. I’m not even sure getting married or having children necessarily makes a man. We all know “men” who have excelled at or done all those things, and yet for all practical purposes they are boys. Boys that look like men, but boys nonetheless.
Currently, I’m doing two different studies related to manhood (I thought I just said that men aren’t made through reading books about being men!). One is with with a group of high school students that I meet with on a fairly consistent basis. By their own suggestion, we are reading and discussing John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart. Strangely enough, I’ve never read it. I realize that every other male in Christendom (and most females) have. I haven’t. I haven’t seen Titanic either. Sometimes, the hype-fest passes me by and I simply miss out.
Anyway, I’m reading it now. I’m also doing a study with some men at church called Raising a Modern Day Knight. My involvement in this latter study has largely been driven my already mentioned desire to provide what my sons need to keep moving down the road to manhood. Between the two studies, lots of ideas on man-ness are floating around out there.
This post is already longer than I hoped it would be, so I’ll adopt the strategy from the wildly popular “gear essentials” series, and stretch this discussion out over a few days. But I want to end on this last thought. Regardless of the differences of content and approach that the two studies have, at least a one thing they agree on.
“Manhood” doesn’t just happen.
gearing up #5
This is number five. Sort of anti-climactic. I probably should have counted down from #5 to #1. Lots more suspense that way. Dang.
Nonetheless, here it is. The final thing to round out “the essentials.” Drum roll…
A rain jacket.
This does exactly what you think it might. Keep you dry in the rain.
Now, knowing what kind of rain jacket to get is – as always – a bit of a guessing game. If you are going to be out there a lot, meaning weeks every year, then something like what is pictured above is probably the ticket.
For the rest of us, there are lots of sub-$100 options.
And then there is always this.
For real. If you are just looking to keep the rain off you and don’t care how you look or getting clammy, this will work just fine.
Ok, we’re done here, but one final word. I hope one isn’t left with the impression that they can’t go play outside unless they have all the right stuff. If you add up a “middle of the road” collection of gear, you could easily find yourself dropping $500 or more. Not sounding all that middle of the road.
The best strategy I can recommend for getting the gear you need is borrowing someone else’s stuff. That way you get to try things out. Figure out if you are really going to be spending much time outdoors. What stuff is going to work for you. And so on. Who knows, I might even let you borrow some of my stuff… might.
gearing up #4
After you’ve gotten your super nice and warm sleeping bag, what’s next? A sleeping pad, of course! It is the thing that goes between your sleeping bag and the ground and selecting the right pad can be the difference between a great night of sleep or a less-than-average night of sleep.
Pictured below is what I would consider to be the current Cadillac of sleeping pads. It is the perfect combination of everything you want out of a pad… thickness, lightweight, small rolled up size, and insulating power (the ground can get cold). Of course, the perfect sleeping pad comes with a hefty sticker price… $15o!
While I don’t think I could bring myself to drop that kind of coin on a pad, I would stay away from what many of us started out on. Thin strips of foam. Some people still swear by them. They are lightweight and don’t get holes poked in them. But they just can’t deliver when it comes to sleeping comfort. If I were looking to get one right now, I’d probably pick up something like this…
Therm-a-rest has been making these things for years, and has a reputation for putting out a quality product. Get one, take care of it and it will take care of you for years to come.
As a bonus… if you go backpacking at all, then you can get a “chair kit” that converts your sleeping pad into a downright comfy chair. Not a top-five, but nice little creature comfort for out in the middle of nowhere.
gearing up #3
So we’re back with the top five essential outdoor gear items. Number three is sort of a no-brainer. However, it is only required if one ever plans to actually sleep in the outdoors.
You guessed it…
a sleeping bag.
Again, the choices are mind blowing. And the Zen like mantra of “middle-of-the-road” applies here too. However, lot here depends on what sort of outdoor sleeping you are going to end up doing. If you aren’t going to ever be more than 50 feet from your car, then just about any old bag will do. If you are interested in making an investment in a decent bag that will do pretty much all you could want it to do, then follow these guidelines.
1) Mummy instead of rectangular. Less space to heat. Less weight to carry. Some would say less room to maneuver. I would say to check-in to a Motel 6.
2) I generally favor down over synthetic. Lighter. Packs smaller. Lasts longer. But not that big a deal.
3) Temperature rating of 20 degrees or lower. There’s some confusion about this. Some think if it rated to 20 degrees, then that’s the temperature you’ll be comfortable in. In my opinion, that’s the temperature you can encounter inside your bag in which you’ll survive. Comfort depends lots on how you sleep… hot, cold, fully zipped-up, arms and legs hanging out. In my opinion, if you add 20 degrees to the bag’s rating, then you’ll discover what the coldest temperature you’ll be comfortable at. So, you’d be fine in a 20 degree bag until the thermometer gets into the mid-thirties. If you’ll encounter below freezing weather, start looking at a zero degree bag.
4) Don’t choose a bag because of its color. That’s silly.
Sleep is pretty important to me. I’m sure it is to you. Get a decent bag. Here are some to consider.
Four for Friday
As always – or almost always – four fine tracks to get the weekend started.
M.I.A. – Tell Me Why
Alcoholic Faith Mission – My Eyes to See
The Roots – Right On (feat. Joanna Newsom and STS)
Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs – For the Summer
Cover-to-Cover – Jeremiah (1)
Dr. Dog – Where’d All the Time Go
Taking a break today from the uber-informative top five outdoor gear essentials series to return to something that’s been neglected for quite a while. Yes, that’s right. The Cover-to-Cover experience is still going on. While the summer provided all sorts of challenges to overcome, and I’ve got a good bit of make-up reading to do sometime this year, I’m still plowing ahead.
So in the four month blogging hiatus, you’ve missed out on my sage comments for nearly a third of the Bible. Sad, I know. Of all the books that I missed out on talking about, Isaiah is the one that I most regret skipping out on. In many ways, Isaiah is the book on which the New Testament most heavily leans. Anyway, all that is for another post… maybe. Our church preached through select passages of Isaiah. Maybe you could ask them for copies of the sermons.
At any rate, for those of you still on board with the read the Bible in a year challenge, we find ourselves in the middle of Jeremiah. All I can say is that it is pretty depressing stuff. If you have any experience reading through the prophets, you’ll know that judgment seems to be a pretty common theme. So much so, that you might be led to believe that God really likes judgment. I don’t necessarily hold to that view. I tend to think that the judgment only magnifies his mercy and grace all the more.
However you look at it though, there was plenty enough reason for judgment. God’s people had not only “prostituted” themselves to other Gods, they had sunk pretty low on the scale of human depravity… again. From the sounds of it, things had gotten pretty bad. Widespread sexual impurity (5:7 ), human sacrifice (7:31), and injustice against the poor (5:27-28). Honestly, stuff that was pretty deserving of judgment. I’ll leave you to connect any of the dots to the present day.
That said, there are glimpses of hope in the first half of the book. Including the passage in chapter 23 dealing with the “righteous branch” that is to come. I don’t think it is any accident that “shepherd” language is used to describe the one to come. I seem to remember someone referring to himself as the “good shepherd.”
Also, take note of the two fig baskets of chapter 24. There aren’t just a ton of references in the Bible to figs. And in the gospels, there is something of a famous incident involving Jesus cursing a fig tree. Needless to say, I think Jeremiah’s ministry plays a part in forming Jesus’ understanding of his own identity and calling.
Ok… as noted earlier, the first half is pretty dismal. Things start to brighten up a bit in the latter half.
gearing up #2
So yesterday, I got started on a series of posts on top five outdoor gear essentials.
Number two is sort of hard to nail down. I could make a pretty good case for a number of things to fill this spot. However, after a sleepless night, I’ve come to the conclusion that boots are next. If you are going to venture into the wild once a year or less, then maybe you can get by on borrowing when necessary. Much more than that though, and you are going to want your own pair of kicks.
Problem is that outdoor footwear makers are no dummies and so they manufacture and market a dizzying array of boots and shoes. Of course, they would have you believe that you should probably own one pair of each type of boot so that you will have footwear exactly suited for whatever activity you’ll be engaged in.
Again, I’m a middle-of-the-road value-minded guy, so I would recommend getting something that is going to suit a wide range of activities. Nearly anything on this page is going to be safe bet. Or here for the ladies.
Few quick tips…
1) There is some debate over whether to get a boot with ankle support or low cut hiking shoes. I’ve used both with satisfaction, but I lean towards getting something with ankle support. I think it gives a wider range of possibilities. Also, trail runners aren’t hiking shoes. They look a lot the same, but do function differently.
2) Whatever shoe you end up with, wear it around town for a few days before heading out on a long backcountry excursion. This does a couple of things… Breaks the shoe in a bit and helps it adjust to the shape of your foot. Also, lets you figure out if there are going to be problem areas (read “big nasty blisters”) before you find yourself fifteen miles in.
3) Chacos and Keen sandals aren’t really meant for hiking. They work ok around town, on paved walking trails, strolling along nature trail, or post hiking relief. But anything with an ounce of ruggedness is going to pose some problems.
4) And last but not least… just say “no” to these…
I just don’t get them.
Check back tomorrow for Number Three!