Sacred Digital: Chuckk Gerwig

I Love iPod goodies and This is sweet!  --- if it just had a cable input...then I would begin a gadget-lust & repentance cycle.

Space Pope Music Recommendation of the Month: Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets

Space Pope Book Recommendation of the Month: Donald Miller -Searching For God Knows What

Last week I was hanging out with a friend of mine on the porch of a tattoo studio in San Jose, we were talking about church and some of the reasons he finds it "not too engaging".  My friend is a Christian, he grew up in a great youth group, he loves Jesus but doesn't really love church gatherings and finds it a burden to attend them.  As we talked he shared that he and so many of the people he knows feel like when they do attend church the leaders aren't real.  My friend shared that so many times the pastors he hears don't share their own struggles and failures as they remind us weekly of all the things we need to do to be better Christians.  The term  authentic is the word that was spoken several times on that porch that afternoon.  In other conversations that very day two other Christians I know mentioned their desire for Christian  leaders to be more authentic and vulnerable, more real when they preach.

Today I was in a sushi bar on a date with my super-hot girlfriend (and wife) Andrea.  It was one of those sushi bars with a revolving sushi exhibition; you know, those little boats that go round and round filled with edible art tempting you to eat more and more...  NOTE:  overeating sushi is ill advised, flee the Tempter.  As the little boats sailed past I spied one of my least favorite items floating by; artificial crab meat rolled up in rice and nori. 

I have a particular disdain for fake crab meat; artificial, unappetizing, un-authentic. it's not something I desire to let into my person.  It pretends to be luscious rich crab but turns out to be falsely colored folded, spindled and mutilated fish by-products.  It 's the fish-equivalent of BsPastoralLeadership.

Authentic pastoral leadership is vital these days.  The importance of being leaders who share the reality of their struggles, weaknesses and slip ups is immeasurable in these postmodern times.  Pretending to be better than we are, covering our faults and sharing only our victories leaves a greasy artificial-crab flavor in the mouths of many churched, un-churched and de-churched people these days.  BTW: It goes beyond preaching and pastors to the whole Body of Jesus, we all  need to be real people if we hope to see others know Jesus and grow healthy. 

More to come on this subject in The Importance Of Authenticity Part 2

Disclaimer: The writer of this blog is still in the development phase of the fullness of his own transparency and claims no invulnerability in his vulnerability.

On The iPod: Deerhunter- Cryptograms <-----see a Deerhunter video at this link - fresh neo psych...

Do you ever hear words and think "man, I don't know what  that means"?  What are crunk and hyphy?  Are they characters in a new video game where you save the princess from a massive green platypus?  Are they a trans-gender albino hip-hop duo from Amsterdam? 

Changes in slang zoom by faster than a tabby with gasoline up his tailpipe.  Here's a cool site to help you keep up with slang definitions. 

--> The Urban Dictionary.

A friend of mine, Frank Johnson  of Strategic Digital Outreach just went public with a GREAT new missions website that he and some of his friends authored.  It's called MissionEquip.com.  Missionequip is like a one stop super shop of mission related resources. 

I've longed for a site like this for years; a single place where you can find downloadable music for the trip, packing lists, insurance info, worldwide internet access, global weather reports, currency converters, blogs of missionaries worldwide, discussion forums, excellent planning resources and MORE!   This site is a must see!   Check Out MissionEquip.

On The iPod - Various Mark Driscoll Podcasts :: Great Bible teaching with a tang of chili-sauce

This Sunday we start a short 2 part series, Rise: The Resurrection of Jesus the Christ.  As a part of this Sunday's message I will be directing folks to this blog for links to some personal study on the veracity of the supposed "lost family tomb of Jesus'.  So here are the links for the lost tomb of some guy named Hey-soose.

A good simple synopsis is HERE

Some more good stuff is  OVER HERE

One written specifically for teenagers can be viewed  IN THIS PLACE (nice find Tiffynoodle!)

Smartguy stuff from Dallas Theological Seminary  can be viewed  YONDER

An interesting blog  from an atheist's perspective is  IN THIS NECK OF THE INTERNET WOODS

Yesterday I took my oldest daughter to see Porcupine Tree live in San Francisco at the grand ol Warfield.  What a great band, what great songs, what a great live show.  They are very dark but if you can handle such things and haven't heard them yet, check their music out on MySpace. 

I had a great day with Carly, I am certain we will both always remember it. 

Before and after the concert we walked around City Center and the Soma district  On the way home we went to the Tenderloin district where I have done some street ministry in past years with homeless teenage prostitutes and drug addicts (that's another story though).  Confronted first-person with the mass homelessness, poverty, the empty eyes of hundreds of people we talked to or passed, the hunger, crime, drug addiction and the multitudes of sextrade establishments along our path my daughter and I had powerful  discussions about social justice, urban decay, white-flight and Jesus' love for the city and its people. 

On the iPod: Nothing, my ears are ringing a constant G above middle C

It's  "a great big beautiful tomorrow "  in the words of the old Anaheim California Disneyland ride. 

In the last 30 days both my 16 year old daughter at the local high school and  my 11 year old daughter who attends the local middle school have both have both had to stay home from school because of (separate) bomb threats.  Jessi had a fun bomb alert day off school today. 

Beautiful tomorrow indeed.

Last night on Lost I heard a redemption song (to use Bob Marley's words). 

Desmond is talking to Charlie on a lonely beach.  If you follow the show you'll know that Desmond gets glimpses of the future and usually they involve Charlie's death, Desmond uses these visions to save Charlie's life over and over again - a handy friend to have around ,no? 

In this case Desmond tells Charlie, "I see Claire, the woman you love boarding a helicopter and escaping this island that we are stranded on".  Charlie is relieved to know that the vision isn't another premonition of his horrendous death.  Desmond tells Charlie that for Claire and her baby to escape the island that Charlie must die in an underwater hatch to fulfill the vision. 

Desmond tells Charlie "unless you die Charlie, there can be no rescue". 

Redemption song.  The cost of Claire's rescue is the cost of Charlie's life and Charlie willingly chooses to give his life for Claire's rescue from the Island; to purchase her freedom.  The redemption song of Jesus is that Jesus gives his life to accomplish our rescue from the island called Earth, we are separated from eternal life by an ocean of sinful actions, thoughts and inclinations; He willingly buys our freedom at the cost of His life because of His great passion for us plane-crashed survivors of the Fall.

This might preach... if so go to download the clip from iTunes  you could show it as an illustration, it can be shown in the iTunes player on a video projector or on an iPod for a small group in a coffee shop or???.  You can also view last night's episode for free  HERE.

Culturally contextual redemption songs are playing all around us, exposing ourselves to them, recognizing them and utilizing them to tell the Old Old Story is missional.

OTHER: Today I'm on a plane to my old stompin' grounds: Southern California to do some ministry consulting.  Luckily LOST didn't show that gnarly plane crash scene last night, yikes!  I don't mind dying but the whole piss your pants screaming as the plane comes screaming out of the sky seems rather unpleasant.

On The iPod: Wilco -Sky Blue Sky - this is a great great album!

This guy really thinks the iPhone will change the world...

On the iPod: Shawn Colvin - A Few Small Repairs

 --- Every now and again you read a book that is like a tall cool drink for the parched inner you.  Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller is refreshing like that.  It makes you really love being a Christian and a friend of God.  Like every non-Biblical book I've read I don't agree with everything I read in this book but it is a cool drink for certain. 

Miller writes in an authentic, gentle and humorous way; Donald Miller makes you like him.  He also makes you like God.  If you read and enjoyed Blue like Jazz you'll like this book a lot too.  If you are suffering from a malady like spiritualfatigue or churchfatigue this book is a helpful perscription. 

Read an excerpt from Searching for God Knows What  HERE

On The iPod: Deathcab For Cutie - Plans

There's a rumor floating around in emails that smells like an Urban Legend, but it is true.  There is a new strawberry flavored form of meth going around, it's called Strawberry Quick; it is Evil with a candy scent. 

Meth is a devilish drug that causes unimaginable pain and suffering and can even lead to permanent psychosis.  In my bad old days I used meth on several occasions and it was wicked. I once woke up after a night of extreme meth use and I still remember that morning -  I knew I had hurt myself badly and couldn't think clearly for days.  It's so good that those days are small reflections in the rear view mirror of my life.

The world keeps inventing new ways of bringing pain. Now there's a strawberry-delicious kid's version of meth, nice one  Satan - may God crank up the thermostat in your fiery lakeside retirement home for this one.  This is a sad truth, no urban legend. Read about it on Snopes.com, bad news for kids everywhere.

On The iPod: Jimmy Eat World - Jimmy Eat World

My beloved Santa Cruz is famous, see the picture / article on "four twenty" in Wikipedia.  We made the big time, Wiki style.  My dream is that in some future reality we're known for the true definition of our town's name; "holy cross" and less 4 20.

My latest obsession is studying the Greek language.  I'm capable with Greek study tools thanks to Logos Bible Software but have never forced myself to learn Greek vocabulary and grammar in a formal way.  So my new spare time sickness is keeping my head in Basics of Biblical Greek by Mounce and my fingers on an old out of print Learn Greek computer program. 

Today I spent some study time out on our deck in the warm sun with Mounce's text open and Alice Cooper: Killer blaring on the speakers - the only good way to study dead languages is with Alice Cooper...

This was my first motorcycle, ahhh nostalgia.    Here's me and my bad baby biker look... little known fact I was born with a Harley tattoo and a pierced ear.