Welcome to 30

That's right, folks. I've come around the bend and have joined the ranks of those who have lived for at least 30 years. I'm 30 years old. How is that possible? I can't say that 30 feels any different than 29. Anyway, here are some pictures from my birthday celebration up in Media, PA.

Andy, Wes, Me, Laurie, Shelli, John

Me and Laurie

Me and Wes

Me, my three chins, Weicher, and Shelli at the top of the Rocky steps in Philadelphia.

Timeless books

Hey gang. I just finished a book called An Ethic for Christians & Other Aliens in a Strange Land by William Stringfellow. It was first published in 1973 and yet is so apropos of 2007. Basically, Stringfellow posits that America is living under the delusion that it represents Jerusalem/Israel in the vision of the apocalypse, when it actually embodies Babylon. He asserts that death is the true idol and ruler of principalities and super powers. Anyway, near the end, as he's concluding that there really isn't hope for America to ever overcome the rule of death, the calls for Christians to live as kingdom people. Here's what he says:

In the face of death, live humanly. In the middle of chaos, celebrate the Word. Amidst babel, I repeat, speak the truth. Confront the noise and verbiage and falsehood of death with the truth and potency and efficacy of the Word of God. Know the Word, teach the Word, nurture the Word, preach the Word, defend the Word, incarnate the Word, do the Word, live the Word. And more than that, in the Word of God, expose death and all death's works and wiles, rebuke lies, cast out demons, exorcise, cleanse the possessed, raise those who are dead in mind and conscience.

Wow! This is a book that could seriously have been written last week. Stringfellow raises thoughtful questions about the power of death in the military complex in the United States and how it pervades all parts of American culture.

On a note that I think is related, I attended a middle school motivational talk about bullying today. The school is planning to implement a big anti-bullying campaign next year. It sounds like a solid program with intentional times of community between students and teachers. I wonder, though, about the hypocrisy of the drivers of a parking lot full of SUVs with W stickers sitting around in a middle school library bemoaning the act of bullying as our President uses the tactics of a bully to impose his agenda on nations around the world. Doesn't our condescending rhetoric about Israel, Palestine, Iran, and Iraq sound like bullying? Bullying is bad...unless our government does it in the name of peace. Any thoughts?

Palm Sunday Hymns

So, on Sunday (Palm Sunday), as I was singing All Glory Laud and Honor, I took special note of the refrain:

All glory, laud, and honor to Thee, Redeemer, King!
To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring.

"Interesting" I thought. I never noticed that bit about the lips of children ringing out Hosannas. I mean, we always do the Palm Sunday parade with children, and this year, at Harpeth, we bordered on being Pentecostal with our shouts of Hosanna and Amen, but I never noticed that emphasis in that old classic hymn.

Then, later in the service, while we were singing Hosanna, Loud Hosanna, I noticed that the whole first verse was about little children singing Hosanna.

I stood there feeling like an idiot for never noticing that it was children who were standing along the route to Jerusalem. Did the gospels emphasize the throngs of children and I missed it. Pretty lame for a youth and families minister not to notice such a thing.

Well, upon further inspection of Scripture, it isn't until Jesus goes into the temple, after the triumphal entry that Jesus is confronted with children in the temple singing Hosanna. Of course, the Pharisees don't like it, and Jesus rephrases Psalm 8 by saying, "Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you ahve prepared praise for yourself."

So, while the time frame is a little bit out of sync, I'd like to give props to the 19th century hymn writers who sought to emphasize the importance of children in this narrative. In the midst of Palm Sunday parades, may our ears be specially tuned to the voices of the children who sing with joy and excitement...the children who sing out loud with no regard to whether it sounds pretty or whether it's "proper." Hosanna indeed!

Taking flack

Now that I'm looking at the word "flack" I'm not sure that's how it's spelled, but whatever. The title of this post indicates the flack I've taken from a few of you Renderings readers for not posting in awhile. I do apologize. I've been entertaining family or been out of town for the past 2.5 weeks. So, here's some thoughts I had last Saturday as I was staring out my bedroom window:

As I look out my window I see one tree with little white blossoms and tiny green leaves announcing the arrival of spring...and this juxtaposed against the tree next to it that's still clinging desperately to brown shriveled leaves of the 2006 variety. I wonder if the students/youth/teens that we minister to and with have both of these trees inside of them. Sometimes they're so excited about new things, new life, new seasons, new desires, new whatever but at the same time they're afraid to let go of the old and desperately cling to what used to be the new. And aren't we all like that to some degree? Don't we all have both trees inside of us? I wonder if these trees might provide good questions for daily examen. What new life is God calling into? What old life to you desperately cling to? Spring is such a visible example of our transition from old life to new life. We're so close to the Hallelujahs of Easter morning, but we still have to face the Hosannas of Palm Sunday and the tears of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and the deep deep sorrow of Black Saturday. So, yeah, two trees.

Tests in English

After being thwarted by Mayor Bill Purcell in their efforts to make English the official language of Nashville, proponents of such ridiculousness have proposed a bill that would require all drivers license tests to be taken in English. I mean, seriously? Why is this such a big deal, people? Is it about terrorists? I'm sure that they're just lining up to get drivers licenses. Is it about making some statement about the importance of the English language? If so, maybe we should address all the misspelled and grammatically incorrect signs I see all over the place, or maybe outlaw text-ese. I just don't understand why we can't let people take exams in their native language. What does it hurt? What is it about people speaking Spanish, French, German, Swahili, Arabic, Russian, whatever that make people so uncomfortable? Can the metro city council spend some time on issues that actually matter, like, oh, homelessness, poverty, hunger, crappy public transporatation, etc.?

Ash Wednesday

This is a sermon I preached for the Ash Wednesday service at Harpeth this evening. I'll include the Scripture from Isaiah 58:6-11 as well. I wrote it in the form of a letter to my Grandpa, who passed away while I was in high school and who I still miss.

Isaiah 58:6-11

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.

The Fast I Choose

Dear Grandpa,

It’s been 13 years since you left us. 13 years since you passed away so suddenly and so unexpectedly. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 13 years. I think about you almost every day for one reason or another. Every time I pick up my golf bag and hear the clink and clack of the clubs knocking against each other, I think of how we used to get up so early in the morning to go play a round of golf before it got too hot. Every time a little kid comes up and only half heartedly gives me five, I remember how you used to hold your hand out there until I gave you five like I meant it…until it sounded right…until it stung just a little bit…and then you’d shake your hand and say “that’s the way.”

I’m taking piano lessons again. Every time you would come to visit, you would want to hear my latest masterpiece, and, to be honest, I never really wanted to play. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to play for you, but I was so much more eager to go outside and play catch. Nobody else ever wanted to play catch. And it wasn’t just the catch…it was the conversation…it was talking about baseball and basketball and other sports stuff.

For some reason, the night you were given an award by the Marshall municipal band has been on my mind lately. I’m sure you remember that night. It was a warm summer night and we were all sitting there in our lawn chairs as the Marshall band played one of its outdoor concerts. You were up front announcing all the pieces like you did each week, and then someone else took the microphone and said that they had something special for you. They handed you a plaque and thanked you for your 30-odd years of service to the band. When they gave you the opportunity to say something, you didn’t give a speech like you hear at the Oscars where you thank “all the little people.” You stood there and asked everyone to join you in prayer. You thanked God for all of the ways that God had blessed you over the years, including all your family and friends. You put everything in the context of God’s gifts. That was so amazing, Grandpa. I feel like that was the kind of moment when God smiles down and says, “That’s the way…that’s the way.”

I’m working on a sermon for Ash Wednesday, and the service is tonight, Grandpa. You know, usually on Ash Wednesday, we all make decisions about what we’re going to give up for lent. Some people give up chocolate or soda or caffeine or some other kind of food. Some people give up a bad habit like smoking or biting their nails. Some people give up something they like to do like watching TV or biking or running. Some people decide to add a spiritual discipline like journaling or daily prayer or fasting. I don’t remember if you ever gave anything up, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Well, as I was reading all the suggested scriptures for Ash Wednesday, I came across these words from Isaiah 58:

⁶Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

I feel like you would like these words, Grandpa. Here’s the thing, though: this kind of fast is so much harder to do than giving up soda. There’s so much injustice in the world that leads to oppression. How am I supposed to loose those bonds? I do my best to buy fair trade coffee and when I order t-shirts, I order sweat-free. I didn’t do so well on that Taco Bell boycott when the PCUSA was trying to help loose the bonds of injustice for tomato pickers in Florida. But, I do try.

And what about sharing my bread with the hungry? I wonder, is it good enough to just write a check to the second harvest food bank or to donate canned goods when the church has a food drive? Somehow that doesn’t feel like sharing my bread with the hungry.

Grandpa, I have never once brought the homeless poor into my house. Sure, I’ve spent the night at homeless shelters and helped out with Room in the Inn, but again, that isn’t my house. How does that compare to giving up caffeinated beverages for lent?

I’m pretty good at giving clothes to Goodwill, but really only the stuff I don’t want anymore, or stuff that has shrunk too much in the wash. How many times have I seen homeless men and women sleeping on the streets on a cold night and just kept walking or drove right by? It’s so hard to think about stopping and giving them the coat off my back or one of the blankets I have in my car. I remember being so astonished at how little clothing the men at the homeless shelters in Atlanta owned. What does God think about my closets full of clothing?

Oh, and the hiding, Grandpa. We’re all so good at that. Sometimes Mom and Dad ask me how I’m doing and when I say “fine,” I’m not. I don’t want them to worry. Sometimes I hide what I’m struggling with from my church family here at Harpeth, because I’m afraid to seem too vulnerable. I guess we all wear masks from time to time, Grandpa. Authenticity and integrity are virtues I strive to attain, but sometimes I hide myself from my own kin, and I imagine some of my kin hide themselves from me. I hope that lent can be a time for me to be more…transparent…that I will be more comfortable revealing who I really am to those who love me and care about my well-being.

After reading these words from Isaiah, Grandpa, it sounds like all the fasting and all the Lenten disciplines and all the devout worship and all the holiness in the world doesn’t amount to a hill of beans if injustice still exists and people are still oppressed and if people are still hungry and if people don’t have homes and if people are without clothing and if we all continue to wear masks and pretend to be something we’re not. These words leave me feeling a bit lost…like I’m wandering in the wilderness. And maybe that’s where I need to be for awhile. Maybe lent isn’t so much about taking control of some area of my life but letting go and wandering in the wilderness for a little while. It’s comforting to know that God promises to be with me in the wilderness…that:

The Lord will guide me continually,
and satisfy my needs in parched places,
and make my bones strong;
and I shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.

It’s time to go now, Grandpa. The YITS are coming. Thanks for all the golf and the playing catch and the early morning donut shop trips and for being a man I can look up to. Grandpa, I hope that my Lenten fast of wandering and struggling with the role I’m called to play in loosing, freeing, housing, clothing, and revealing will be pleasing to God. I hope that you’ll watch over me. Maybe you could tell God about holding out your hand until I gave you five like I meant it…so that God might hold out his loving hand and keep holding it out until I do things just right. I could sure use that kind of guidance from the Spirit.

With love and adoration,

Your Grandson, Alan

blog-able moments

The way I see it, each day is full of blog-able moments...moments that, upon further reflection, can be seen to have deeper meaning that we realize. Anyway, this week, there were two particular events that left me reflecting for hours and days afterward:

1. The Old Spaghetti Factory: On Thursday afternoons, I tutor reading for boys and girls at the Martha O'Bryan center in east Nashville. These are kids who need extra help with reading skills and comprehension. We usually read a story and talk about various reading skills associated with the story. But, this Thursday, a group of nine of them had reached the goal of reading 400 pages, so we were scheduled to go to dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Nashville. The nine munchkins and I were dropped at the door while the other adults parked the van, so we sat around in the lobby talking about how nice the building was. As we were all waiting for our table to be ready, one of the little boys looked at me and one of the other adults and asked, "Why is this place so full of white people? Where are all the black people?" It now dawns on me that I failed to mention that all of our students are black. One of the other adults stammered out an "I don't know," and he was off to look at a scale in the corner that other kids were standing on. As I stood there thinking about that little boy's question, I realized that the only black people I could see in the restaurant were the two hostesses. Not one black person was actually dining in the restaurant or having a drink at the bar. If I were to be honest and answer that little boy's question, I would probably say something like, "Well, most of the black people who live in downtown and East Nashville can't afford to eat here." We still live in that world. A world segregated by socio-economic class and race. Anyway, that little boy's questions continues to gnaw at me.
2. Youth Lock-In: This past Friday night, the youth of Harpeth had a lock-in. We began the night with a Parents' Night Out fundraiser hosted by the sr. highs and then, at 10:00, the little kids went home, the middle school youth showed up, and the lock-in began. But, shortly before 10:00, three young ladies I'd never seen before walked in the door. As they were introducing themselves, I smelled alcohol on their breath. That's right. Someone had dropped off thre drunk eight grade girls at our lock-in. I asked them to call their parents and have them come right back. Oh, did the stories start flying at that point. "My Mom's out of town." "My Mom's not picking up." etc, etc. So, finally, two of them get picked up, and one of them is still trying to get ahold of a parent. Well, a few minutes later, other youth are running up to me to tell me that she had thrown up. To make a long story short, one of my adults had to take her home as she threw up in a trash can the whole way there. When that adult got back, there was a man in the parking lot asking for gas money. On a Friday night? Are you kidding me? Then, as the night progressed, there was the inevitable drama of girls flirting with boys and boys paying attention to the "wrong" girls and the "right" girls being upset, and crying, and he said and she said and wandering around like zombies in search of brains. Finally, at 5:00 am, everyone realized that it was snowing, so they put on their shoes and their North Face jackets and walked around in packs out in the parking lot. Yes, it was 20 degrees and they were all standing around in a pack under a street light in our church parking lot. Ah, the sociology of adolescents. I'd like to go back in time and find the guy or gal who invented lock-ins and take them out...kind of like the Terminator and John Connor, only I wouldn't have any pity like the Terminator did.
   

OK, enough rambling for now.

I love it when Jesus gets snippy

Mark 11:27-33

Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.” They argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?” —they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

I just love passages like this when Jesus gets snippy with people who ask him rude questions. As one who seemed to be pretty good at reading people, Jesus senses that the chief priests, chief priests, and elders are coming to him with an attitude of condescension and arrogance, and clearly, Jesus doesn't like it. He rarely has much patience with those who would lord their own positions of authority and importance over other people. Jesus was so postmodern. :)

Always "Other"

So, last night, I was registering for The Country Music Marathon, and it came time to select my occupation from a drop down list of options. Was "Clergy" listed? Of course not. When I took a moment to think about it, I don't think a clergy-esque option has ever been available. What's up with that? Do ministers/pastors/christian educators/missionaries not warrant our own option on drop down lists? Why do they oppress my people?

Any thoughts?

I'll heal them anyway!

These words from Isaiah 57:16-21 were part of the daily lectionary today:

Isaiah 57:16-21
For I will not fight against you forever; I will not always show my anger. If I did, all people would pass away – all the souls I have made. I was angry and punished these greedy people. I withdrew myself from them, but they went right on sinning. I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them and comfort those who mourn. Then words of praise will be on their lips. May they have peace, both near and far, for I will heal them all," says the LORD. "But those who still reject me are like the restless sea. It is never still but continually churns up mire and dirt. There is no peace for the wicked," says my God.

I'm particularly struck by verse 18: I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them and comfort those who mourn. This comes in the midst of God basically calling out Israel for all the ways that they've strayed from God's plans for them. Then, even though God voices a preference for God's people to be humble and repentant, God proclaims that God will not fight against us forver, nor will God always show us anger. God sees what we do, and even when we fail to repent and turn from evil ways, God promises to heal us anyway and to continue to lead us and comfort us when we mourn. What an amazing God we worship!! A God who wishes for us to have peace...a shalom peace...a shalom peace that means we are made whole.

And how about those last two verses about "the wicked?" When we ignore the peace that God plans for us...when we continue to seek after vain glory and selfish ambition...our lives will be restless like the sea...churning up all the muck that we create in our brokenness. Somehow, even as God offers us peace/shalom/wholeness/healing, we still find ways to muck it up. We find ways to miss the stillness that God wants so badly for us. Somehow these words redefine wickedness for me. I haven't figured out how yet, but I know there's something here to spend some time with.

I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them and comfort those who mourn.

Amazing...Absolutely Amazing!

My brain this week

This has been one of those weeks when my brain has been all over the place. Here are a few of the meanderings of my mind:

• Last Saturday afternoon, I went to Starbucks in Franklin to wrap up my Sunday school lesson and to do some reading. The only place to sit was at a long table where two people were already sitting. They were gracious enough to let me pull up a chair on the end. I had placed myself in the midst of a discipleship meeting. An older woman was telling a 20 something young woman that God had put it on her heart to disciple her. OK, as soon as I hear "God put it on my heart," my skeptic radar starts beeping pretty loudly. As I faded in and out of hearing their conversation, I kept hearing just about every altruism in the book: that's the devil making him thing that...God wants you to be happy...there's a whole in your heart that only Jesus can fill...blah blah blah. As far as I could tell, the young woman was voicing some doubts and some struggles, and all the older woman could do was throw altruism bombs at her and hope they exploded in the right spot. I wanted to turn and say, "You know, it's OK not to have all the answers and wonder if God is acting appropriately." Anyway, that was interesting.
• On a lighter note, I caught myself laughing out loud (lol for short) at Taco Bell on Monday when I saw these two hot sauce packets:

I mean, come one, those are hilarious. The Hot sauce packet is sitting there totally annoyed by the Fire sauce packet who is saying stuff like, "Hey, I'm hotter than you!" "I'm en fuego" "I am soooo on Fire" Then, there's the whole notion of scratching and sniffing a hot sauce packet. Anyway, I'm still holding to my theory that Taco Bell hires 3rd and 4th grade boys to come in and write stuff for the sauce packets. I love it.

• On Monday mornings, I spend a couple of hours at The Good Cup (my favorite local coffee shop) reading. I know it's a luxury that not many people get, but I wish they did. It's so nice to just sink myself into a good book and let new ideas wash over me. I'm currently reading The Secular City by Harvey Cox. I just read a chapter that discusses India and the prediction that by 1966, the country would starve to death. Then, just 10 years after the book was written, Norman Borlaug comes along and introduces high yielding dwarf wheat. I spent a good 10 minutes sitting there thinking about momentous events like that that totally change the landscape of the world and destroy all of our predictions. Anyway, I wish everybody could have time to just sit and read.
• Finally, I've woken up every morning this week to hear a report on NPR about people dying in Iraq, or more troops going to Iraq, or continued hostility in Iraq. I didn't watch the State of the Union address, because I thought I might either break something or cry. I've honestly been on the verge of tears each morning as I sit down and go through the ritual of Morning Prayer. Today, I was asked to pray for:
• those subjected to tyrrany and oppression
• wounded and injured people
• those who face death
• those who may be our enemies
• I heard that Bush and his cronies are asking for time for his new plan to work. HOW MUCH MORE TIME DO YOU NEED? We've been enmeshed in an occupation and now a civil war for five years! Thousands of lives, Iraqi and American have been lost. How can sending more people in harm's way be the answer? When does it stop? When do we realize that the Iraqi people may not be ready for the constitutional revolution that we want them to have? When is enough enough? I'm so sick and tired of waking up every morning and hearing that more people are dead. Sure, I could switch my clock radio to a pop radio station and hear about the latest hollywood breakups and makeups, but people would still be dying...people would still be wounded and injured and facing death. NO MORE! please...no more.
  

Friday at Harpeth

No lie, this guy was outside Harpeth this morning filming a music video with some women who've recorded a song about looking for a guy like Goober...No Lie.

I made it back safely from the collegiate conference at Montreat. It was a great conference. I hope Montreat commits to doing it again.

This evening I'm headed out of town with the members of the session of Harpeth...it's session retreat time. I'm pretty pumped about the weekend actually. I can't wait to hear what kind of dreams and visions these folks have for our church in the coming years.

I've been trying to observe morning and evening prayer everyday (with some midday prayer in there as well) since the new year began. I haven't been totally disciplined, but carving out some time for prayer at various times throughout the day has really changed my outlook. It's funny how often the readings for a given day seem to be so perfect for where my heart/mind/or soul is at that moment in time. Anyway, I'm diggin' it.

OK, off to the session retreat.

Collegiate Conference Episode One...Powerhouse Perks

I'm currently sitting at Powerhouse Perks, a relatively new coffee shop in Black Mountain, NC. I'm here with a bunch of college students from Vanderbilt.

We're up here at Montreat for the collegiate conference. We were all drawn here by the promise of hearing Donald Miller speak, but it ends up he's not speaking until Saturday evening. :( Oh well. So far, worship has been great. I went to a workshop this morning about emerging worship. I'll have more thoughts about the qualities of Experiential, Participatory, Something about visual that started with I, and Connectional. It all spelled EPIC. Anyway, more later.

So, we're currently playing Apples to Apples, as evidence by these photos...must go now and focus more on nouns and adjectives.

Daily Office/Conquering the world

So, after reading the chapter about The Daily Office in Tony Jones's book The Sacred Way, I got inspired and have been doing my best to observe elements of the daily office each day. I've been pretty good about doing Morning Prayer and Prayer at the Close of Day...not so good with Midday Prayer and Evening Prayer, but hoping to get those under my belt when I'm back in my "regular" routine next week. Anyway, as a part of The Daily Office each day, I read the texts assigned for the Daily Lectionary. One of today's new testament readings was 1 John 5:1-12. Here's vv 1-6:

1 John 5:1-6

Faith Conquers the World

5Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. ²By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. ³For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, ⁴for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. ⁵Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

I spent a good amount of time contemplating these six verses, especially the part that reads And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? So, what does it mean to conquer the world? Is it texts like this that give some folks the inspiration to advocate for legislation that reflects their faith? Do we conquer the world by showing the world what true obedience to God's commandments looks like? What does it mean to conquer? These are interesting words in a book that is usually thought of as a treatise about love. Does love entail conquering? I don't think so, but maybe I'm misunderstanding what it means to conquer. I should probably look up the greek and do some word studies, but I'm in Missouri and don't have those materials handy.

So, what about all this conquering stuff?

Christmas remembrances

OK, first of all, I had to look up remembrances to make sure I spelled it correctly. It seems like it should have an e after that b. Anyways...I thought I'd share a few Christmas remembrances I've had lately. So, here goes:

• TubaChristmas-For those of you who don't know, there's this event called TubaChristmas that takes place all over the United States, and even in some other countries around the world. Tuba and Euphonium players come together and rehearse Christmas songs for an hour or so, and then, an hour later, they put on a concert for anyone in the community who wants to come. When I was in high school, we used to pile into cars and race down to the University of Missouri campus and participate in the Columbia, MO version. I remember one year, we crammed five people, two euphoniums, and one (maybe two) tubas in my Dad's sky blue geo prizm and made it safely to the concert. Crazy. It was one of those events I remember fondly. Anyway, I went to the Nashville version this week. It was huge!! They filled the whole front area of a large downtown church with the musicians and it was standing room only when I got there five minutes early. i think I'll get on the ball and play in it next year. In any case, thanks to all of you RB guys who made TubaChristmas so much fun each year...special shout outs to Jeff and Marc who made low brass a family thing.
• And heaven and nature sing: I've had a few occasions lately to sing Joy to the World. That hymn always makes me think of my Grandpa, Harold Douglas. I have very clear memories of standing next to Grandpa at First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, MO each Christmas Eve and singing that wonderful hymn. I always thought it was so cool when he would sing the echoing tenor part...and heaven and nature sing...and he would sing it out with so much vigor and strength, and looking back, with so much faith in the truth of the words he was singing. He was quite a man, Harold Douglas...I still miss him.
• Well, now my mind is racing with memories of Grandpa, so the other whispers of Christmas past have receded back in the recesses of my mind. I hope that everyone's advent has been one of hope, anticipation, and even a little bit of revelation. Grace and peace to you all.
  

Funny things

So, I was out doing some Christmas shopping today (yes, more than a week before Christmas), and I had two experiences that made me chuckle out loud.

• The first occured in the CD section at Target. I was looking at the Wow Worship Aqua CD as a potential gift for my brother-in-law, Jimmy. As I was looking at the song list on the back of the CD, this is what I saw:

If you'll notice, for number 2. on disc 2, the song is listed as Angus Dei (translated as Cow of God). It's supposed to be Agnus Dei. I thought that was pretty funny.

• Then, when I was at the "Nature rocks...Hippy Store," (that's not the real name, but you get the gist) there was a Mother and her son looking at incense and pipe looking objects and this is what the mom said: "I don't want to give Bobby anything that encourages him to use matches." Ummm, I think you might want to worry about giving something to Bobby that encourages him TO USE DRUGS!!

Anyway, these two things made my first run at Christmas shopping more entertaining than usual.

OK, off to tutor at Martha O'Bryan.

Really feelin' like home

• So, yesterday, while I was out running 3.5 miles (I'm in training for a half marathon), three different people honked at me and waved, and they were actually people I knew. I feel like that's one of those signs that a place has become home...when you go for a relatively short run and see three people you know. It was a pretty cool feeling. Way better than the coke bottle chucking incident from the first few months I lived here (Riding My Bike).

• Walking into The Good Cup (my favorite coffee shop) and being greeted by name, or at least in that, "What's up, man?" that makes you feel like a regular also seems to indicate that this place called Williamson County is more like home now.
• OK, now for some pictures that are totally unrelated to the whole "home" theme. They're from a recent visit by my good friend Shelli Latham. These were taken at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel:

The Limits of God's Grace

The title of this post comes from an article I recently read in The Journal of Student Ministries. Here's a link to the article: The Limits of God's Grace.

So, the basic gist of the article is that Bart Campolo (author and son of Tony Campolo) refuses to believe in the God of double predestination, and refuses to believe in a God who actively wills things like rape, hurricane destruction, murder, and other evils, to take place. He gives four possible responses to evil in the world:

1. There are no spiritual forces and our lives have no greater meaning. In this case, he despairs
2. There is only one spiritual force at work in the universe and everything, including the bad stuff, happens according to its will. In this case, he despairs.
3. There are two diametrically opposed spiritual forces, and the evil force is stronger and will eventually win. In this case, he despairs.
4. There are two opposing spiritual forces, and the good (God) will utterly triumph and redeem even the evil things in the world. He says that, "In this case--and in this case alone--I rejoice and gladly pledge my allegiance to the good and loving God."

He goes on to say that he's only willing to worship God if the fourth possibility is true. Otherwise, he'd rather be sent to hell than spend eternity with a God who wills rape and murder. As you can imagine, he's taking some major heat from evangelicals...being proclaimed a heretic and said to make God in his own image.

All in all, I think it's a great article. I think it speaks to the experience of many people who are unwilling to buy into and worship a God who would be so seemingly fickle and unloving as to cause evil things to happen.

As I've asked many times before, what is it about a God of limitless Grace and Love that makes some people so nervous? What if God really does plan to redeem/save everything in the end? What if a profession of faith is more about the benefit of experiencing God's presence in our lives now and less about our eternal status before God? What do we gain by professing a God who will evil to happen? What do we gain by professing a God who will banish some to an eternity of weeping and gnashing of teeth, or at the very least fails to save some from that fate?

Read the article and let me know what you think.

National Youth Workers Convention 2006

I've just returned from the National Youth Workers Convention sponsored by Youth Specialties. i attended the Cincinnati conference with a fellow youth guy from the Williamson County area. We drove up last Thursday and arrived back to Franklin this evening (Monday). Here are some of my thoughts:

1. I was definitely in the minority as a mainline protestant, and especially as a Presbyterian. There were a lot of folks from community and Baptist churches. The evangelical lingo was prevelant in most of the workshop leaders.
   
2. If most community churches worship like we did this weekend, I can tell you that I'd leave feeling empty, and not in that, "I emptied my soul before God" kind of way. You can only call Jesus beautiful and the best thing ever so many times. There was absolutely no spoken liturgy...NONE! We sang for half an hour, heard Scripture (most of the time) and then heard a sermon/keynote presentation. Then, we might sing another song and jump around a bit and then turn around and leave. So, yeah, I think I'd have a hard time worshipping in that way every week.
3. A lot of people using the term, "my ministry." It's all about God, except I'm gonna talk like it's really about how I present God. I need to do some further reflection on why the term"my ministry" bothers me. Any help would be appreciated.
4. I was introduced to the term "Christ Follower." Check out these vidoes Christian Vs. Christ Follower at youtube for a glimpse into the difference between a Christian and a Christ Follower. You can pretty much guarantee an entire post or series of posts that parse these videos, but for now, just know that there are some presenters who never used the word Christian or Disciple, and instead talked about being a Christ Follower. Like I said, more on that later.
5. Rodger Nishioka was one of the keynote speakers/preachers. He was great, as usual. It was great to see a familiar face and have an opportunity to sit down and shoot the bull with him.
6. I heard a speaker talking about worship who said that it's important that we bring our best to worship. He said something like If you're only bringing a 5 to worship as a leader, you can't expect those in the congregation to attain a 6 or a 7. Um, what? Interesting notion about our role in worship isn't it? I tend to believe that God uses our less than perfect gifts to bring about transformation and to bless the worship of the congregation. Isn't worship about what God has done, is doing, and will do, and less about what I bring. Is it important to bring our best? Yes. Does God's ability to transform lives depend on the level of my best? Absolutely not.
   
7. Overall, I had a great time and feel enriched by this conference. I definitely came away with some good ideas and some good resources. I actually enjoy those times when I'm totally out of my element and forced to encounter thoughts and language that are different than my own.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

Bittersweet

So, I've been intentionally avoiding the blog for the past few days lest my emotions get the best of me and I were to write something overly incendiary. It was particularly providential that I didn't bring my computer home on Tuesday night, election night, because I saw some interviews with proponents of Amendment One (no gay marriage) that sent me through the roof. Anyway, here are some of my thoughts on the week.

• First, I'm psyched that the democrats took control of both the United States Senate and House of Representatives. Along with that comes some major excitement that we're about to have a woman serve as Speaker of the House. I can't wait to see the next State of the Union address with her back there. I'm eager to see how the democrats address the war, the economy, and various other issues.
• Second, I'm utterly disappointed in the 80% of Tennesseans who voted to introduce prejudice to our state's constitution. Yes, the amendment defining marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman passed overwhelmingly with an 80/20 majority. I'm still not sure that the semantics are entirely accurate. I mean, can only one man and one woman be married at any given time? What about all the other people who want to get married? All sarcastic academic semantic joking aside, I am deeply saddened by the injustice that's represented in such an amendment. Last night, a colleague pointed out that, with the exception of prohibition, all other amendments to the United States Constitution grant rights to people rather than taking rights away. Why is it that we're now using the constitution to limit the rights of citizens? What happened to equal protection under the law?
  
• I heard this guy giving an interview about how he and the proponents of Amendment One respected families and wanted to protect them. What a bunch of horse manure. I'm feeling my blood boil just thinking about the audacious arrogance and unbelievable insensitivity it takes to stand there and say that his definition of "family" is somehow superior to those of us who would affirm the rights of homosexuals to join together in love and form families of their own. What a punk. I could have reached through the TV and slapped him around. I'm still waiting for someone to give me a rational, well reasoned argument as to how homosexual marriage adversely affects the family life or the marriage of anybody else. Seriously, I'm waiting.
• Finally, i'm thankful to Tim Reynolds for his words last night at the Vanderbilt Presbyterian Student Fellowship worship service. He reminded us that we ought to be citizens, first, of the kingdom/city of God, and only secondarily citizens of America. He reminded us that the world will not be transformed by republicans, democrats, presidents, senators, representatives, or by the empire itself. Am I excited that we have a democrat controlled house and senate? Yes I am. Do I believe that this will bring about wide societal change and a peace that passes understanding? I do not! I place my faith in a Christ who came to break down barriers and who calls us to serve one another in peace and love. I believe that we Christians can best transform the world, not by amending the constitution of the empire, but by witnessing to the gospel of a crucified and risen savior...a gospel of reconciliation and love...a gospel of care for the poor, oppressed, and those who are case aside...a gospel that has transformed and continues to transform the world.
  

Philly Trip

Just over a week ago, I was in Philadelphia. Here are some pics from my trip. It was so great hanging out with John, Laurie, Wes, Bill, and Sarah. There is something absolutely wonderful about spending time with friends who have known you for more than a year. Thanks to all of them for being so awesome and for showing me such a good time. So, here is what we did. By the way, for some reason, I cannot use my apostrophe key without weird things happening. Thus, no contractions.

So, as I was walking through the Nashville airport, waiting for my flight, I cam across this sign overhead. I thought, "Wow, isn't that cool? They have a playground right here in the airport." I was thinking they might have a slide, some fake cars to drive, maybe even a swing or two. Nope, the picture below shows the Children's Play Area. There were two such squares of letter laiden carpet. BORING!!!


Here's Wes preparing to knock a wiffle ball over the archen wall at St. Andrews School in Middletown, DE. This wall might look familiar to fans of the movie Dead Poet's Society, as the movie was filmed there. Wes, with his huge swing, was knocking the ball over the way like Yadier Molina in game 7 of the NLCS.

Wiffle Ballo Studs


This contraption is called a Table Tap. It's 2 pitchers worth of beer in one big container. Although the tap says Bud Light, I assure you it wasn't Bud Light. It was some sort of local brew, I think. In any case, we had fun with that sitting on the table.

Here's me and my good friend, Laurie. We had a great time Sunday evening just shootin' the bull about youth ministry stuff. I have a feeling we'll be sitting around at General Assembly someday, when we're 60 years old, and still have a million things to talk about.

So, all in all, a great trip to the mid-atlantic region. My trip also included an afternoon exploring downtown Media, PA, where John and Laurie live. It's a cool place. We also played some trivia at a restaurant in Media. We didn't do so hot due to a wicked hard bonus round of questions, but we had a great time. Thanks to my good friends for good times.

Vote No on Amendment 1

I received my Williamson County voter registration card in the mail while I was in Philadelphia (more on that in a later post). In the upcoming mid-term election, I will have the opportunity to cast a no vote on a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. I've ranted and raved about this issue on Renderings before, but, unfortunately, the issue keeps rearing its ugly head. I simply can't understand how legislating this kind of prejudice can have such overwhelming popular support. Why do heterosexual couples get special privileges under the law of a country that proclaims "libery and justice for all?"

My good friend, Wes Goldsberry, reminded of the ridiculous argument that homosexual marriage is like someone creating counterfeit $20 bills in his basement...that somehow, gay marriage "cheapens" heterosexual marriage. Um, OK, in that analogy, the marriage of the "straight" individual is cheapened because there are more $20 bills in circulation, thus driving down the value of the authentic $20 bill. The major flaw being that if the U.S. Mint chose to shell out the same amount of $20 bills as the counterfeiter, the value of the existing $20 bills would go down as well. In this ridiculous analogy, every single marriage in the world "cheapens" the original marriage because there are more. Basically, I have yet to hear a good, rational argument as to why gay marriage should have any effect at all on existing marriages. The marriage between two people is affected by the members of the covenant, not by every other person who is in a similar covenant. Basically, even though I'm sure that this ridiculous amendment will pass by a margin of 70/30, I'm proud to say that I'll be casting a no vote, and I encourage every other Tennessee voter who reads this to do so as well.

Not really a remake

OK, so I know it's just a matter of semantics, but it's driving me crazy that the press is calling this new cinematic version of All the King's Men a "remake" of the 1949 film of the same name. It's not a remake! It's a screenplay adaptation of the pulitzer prize winning book entitled All the King's Men! There's a difference between a remake and a new adaptation of the same book. Remake, to me, implies that this new movie will be based solely on the original movie, when, in fact, that isn't what's going on. I'm afraid that some people will begin to think that All the King's Men is only a set of movies, when, in fact, it's actually an amazing book...a book whose every page is dripping with description and total mastery of the English language. Get out there and read this book. This is the time in the program when Levar Burton would say, "But don't take my word for it," and the screen would cut away to some kid telling you about their favorite book. Ah, Reading Rainbow.

Brief thoughts on a Wednesday morning

Thomas Jefferson:

I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.

I found this quote as I was looking for a "thought for the day" for our bulletin. It seems that we have strayed far from Jefferson's hopes for the parallel paths of wisdom and power.

On a totally unrelated note, I read in The Week this week that 61% of Americans truly believe that God wants them to be financially prosperous. Ummmm...

The coffeeshop shuffle

Whirrr, grind, clank, whizz, glug glug glug...Here I sit at Fido's coffeeshop in Hillsborough Village on a Tuesday evening. As I was waiting for my computer to boot up and for the wireless to connect, I simply looked around and watched everyone as they gave their order and did the coffeeshop shuffle. There's giving your order to the quazi-emo looking person behind the counter, you know, the one with the tattoos and at least one body piercing. The wait for whatever you ordered...this time it's just a decaf Cafe Olei for me, so the wait is short. Some people, however, stand there for the better part of 10 minutes waiting for their double mochaccino no foam double whip blah blah blah. There's the initial sprinkling with cocoa, nutmeg, sugar, whatever. The first few sips and the quick revelation that it's not quite right. The return to the counter for more sugar, cream, 2% (well, you assume it's 2 %, even though the percent sign is mostly scraped away), or other coffee additives of your choice. Then, the search for a seat. Are you a cushy booth sitter or a tall tables and chair sitter, or are you the one who sits all by yourself at the six top? Important questions to be asked and answered. Then, you either settle in to read, check e-mail, journal, blog, listen to your ipod, etc., or you slide in next to your mates who, at some point this evening, have been at various stages of the coffeeshop shuffle as well. Ah, Fido's, you truly are an experience.

Elihu the youth

Job 32:4-10

¹So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. ²Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became angry. He was angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God; ³he was angry also at Job's three friends because they had found no answer, though they had declared Job to be in the wrong. ⁴Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were older than he. ⁵But when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, he became angry.

⁶Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite answered: "I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you. ⁷I said, 'Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom.' ⁸But truly it is the spirit in a mortal, the breath of the Almighty, that makes for understanding. ⁹It is not the old that are wise, nor the aged that understand what is right. ¹⁰Therefore I say, 'Listen to me; let me also declare my opinion.'

This text is part of the daily lectionary today. These words are spoken by Elihu after he's heard his elders give their advice to the mourning Job. I love the fact that Elihu begins by listening to the wisdom of his elders and waiting to speak until those who are supposed to have wisdom have spoken. But, in the absence of what he sees as wisdom, he decides that it's time for the voice of youth to speak up. As the youngest one present, possibly a high school youth on a committee, he becomes frustrated with both Job and his "friends," because neither side seems to be adequately repentant and neither side quite gets it right. Elihu goes on to provide what I see as a kind of middle ground between Job and the other friends. Anyway, as one who works with young people, this passage struck me as one that calls upon young people to speak up when the wisdom of the elders seems flawed.

Biff Fink

This Sunday is Jazz Sunday at Harpeth. One of our church members does some jazz workshop stuff and is bringing her friends along to share some jazz with the congregation. Anyway, last night at choir practice, we were practicing a children's sermon that tells the story of how jazz came about. It's a story about a frog who wanted to sing in a forest where only the birds sang. When he finally gets up to sing, he sings a jazz beat and everybody loves it. So, Biff Fink, our Director of Music is playing the frog. There he was last night, being totally goofy and funny and entertaining. I really do stand in awe of Biff's love for music and his willingness to do whatever it takes to get a message across. He's one of those people who's willing to let go of any need to be "composed," and yet he can turn around and be totally deep in his thoughts and meditations about Scripture, life, people, music, etc. For that, and many other reasons, I hold him in very high regard. Biff Fink is just one more reason why I love being at Harpeth.

My day off

Today was Thursday...my day off. I didn't set an alarm and woke up when I felt like it. I had a leisurely breakfast and watched some people win stuff on The Price is Right. A friend of mine in college, named Sara Stienecker, just loved game shows because they were all about people winning stuff and being happy. She took such pleasure in watching other people be happy...kind of like Stargirl, the main character of a book by the same name. Stargirl is written as a truly selfless person who is punished by her high school classmates who just can't figure her out. Tonight, at Vanderbilt Presbyterian Student Fellowship worship, Jennifer Fouse talked about being so full of the spirit that we make other people nervous...that we make people wonder if we've been drinking. I thought of Stargirl...oh, that everyone was more like Stargirl. In our prayer circle at the end of worship, people shared some really deep joys and some really deep hurts. As I stood there listening to these college student sharing all that they would lay at the feet of a loving God who sends a powerful Spirit, I wondered if I would have been as willing to share such things when I was in college...I wouldn't have. What a place of privilege to be in the midst of that circle and be asked to clear my throat and say, "Ahem, God, did you hear that? What's your plan for that? What's my role in that? Make things better, God. Bring them your comfort, God. Bring them your peace. Bring them your grace. " Yeah, to be entrusted with someone's deep pain and deep joy, that's...well, that's...that's something amazing and powerful and, dare I say it, spiritual. Oh, that we would all be willing to share our brokenness in our times of need and that the community of believers might hold the broken as God does God's amazing work. So, yeah, it was a good Thursday. Thanks be to God.

A parable...of sorts

This, um, parable was left on my desk by one of my youth last Sunday. It's got a surprise ending, so be ready. :)

One day, the devil challenged Jesus to a boxing match. Everyone placed bets on Jesus, then Satan appeared. He was muscular and 300 pounds. Everyone except one changed their bets. Fight night, Jesus wouldn't fight, then two boys inspired him to punch and once he did, Satan fell over and lost the match, and said "I was the one who bet on Jesus, so I get all your money." The End.

At first, I thought, maybe, he had heard that Carman song called The Champion (is that right?), but he definitely took it in a different direction. Is it a parable against gambling? Does he like to picture his Jesus as a boxer with white gloves, shorts, and boots? Or maybe Jesus did his boxing in his traditional off white garment. Anyway, I thought I'd throw it out there and see what everyone thinks.

I have a dream

In 1963, 200,000 people participated in a peaceful civil rights rally in Washington, D.C., where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

I found this on the New York Times website. I just thought I'd give a shout out to one of the coolest moments in United States history.

Long time no blog

Wow, this may be the longest I've gone without blogging since I started this up a couple of years ago. I've had every intention of doing so, but have been too busy, or too tired, or battling my neighbor's wireless internet. So, what has Alan Bancroft been up to. Well, here are some pictures to tell the story.

This is a picture of Weicher, Shelli, and me at Rock Spring Presbterian Church in Atlanta, GA. We brought our middle school youth groups together for a combined mission experience in urban Atlanta. It was awesome!! Watching the young people meld into one big group really warmed my heart. One of the reasons I love being Presbyterian is our emphasis on connectionalism...that the body of Christ is bigger and more powerful than one individual or even one individual congregation. This experiment in middle school mission will henceforth be called Mission Possible.

This is a picture of Wes Goldsberry (Rabboni) staring purposively at a street sign for the town of Goldsberry, MO (yes, this is a mirror image, for all of you spatially minded folks). Yes, Wes Goldsberry and Alan Bancroft made the trek from Nashville to Columbia, MO a little over a week ago. Our trip was full of meaningful discussion as well as some utterly ridiculous, but hilarious rants and raves. The day after arriving in Columbia, MO, we explored the rural countryside of the beautiful state of Missouri, including the towns of Ethel and Goldsberry, with a stop off in Kirksville, MO to admire Truman State University. As you can see below, there's a gas station in Kirksville called Kum and Go. Seriously, that's what it's called. Check it out as Wes and I stand in front of the sign.


After our adventures in Missouri, Wes headed west to Kansas City and then flew to Las Vegas. You'll have to check in with him about that, but chances are, he's gonna tell you that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

A few days after Wes left (I cried profusely), I embarked on a journey with Jeff, Samantha, and Roger to Madison, WI for the Drum Corps International World Championships where my corps, The Cavaliers, was favored to win the whole shebang. Well, after some shuffling in the top twelve, they did just that. Their performance was freaking amazing. For those of you who are into such things, you would have been in awe. I love it that The Cavaliers are always on the cutting edge of innovation and implementation all at the same time. Go Go Green Machine. Below, you'll find a picture of the Cavaliers as they prepare to win their 5th DCI championship in 7 years. Thanks to Jeff, Samantha, and Roger for providing wonderful company and letting me tag along. I should also say that, on Sunday, we had brunch with our friend, Lisa and her husband. Lisa went to junior high with me and Jeff and then moved away, but somehow, over the years, we've remained in touch. I love having friends like that.


So, I've been to Atlanta, Columbia, Ethel, Goldsberry, Kirksville, and now back to Nashville. We're gearing up for Rally Day here at Harpeth. I can't tell you how psyched I am to begin my second year of ministry here.

As somebody used to say, "See you in the funny papers."

In between

I'm currently sitting at a Panera bread store, waiting for the Green Hills Mall to be open. Who knew that the mall didn't open until 10:00 am? Ridiculous. I'm waiting to take my ipod to the Apple store. It's giving me the poopy face, you know, the one with a ipod that has x's for eyes, and I'm hoping to have it fixed. Anyway, here I sit.

I'm in between mission trips. The trip to The Duvall Home went really well. I think I'd forgotten how exhausting mission trips can be. It's such a different climate than Montreat or camp. I was really proud of the way our youth handled themselves while they were there. We encountered some difficulties along the way, and the youth of Harpeth stepped up with maturity and grace. I also owe a huge thanks to Ruth Knab, Jennifer Bent, Carrie Jones, and James Peeler for giving a week of their time to be chaperones for the trip.

Next week, I'll be in Atlanta with our middle school youth. We'll be joining up with two other churches where John Weicher and Shelli Latham are the Associate Pastors. It should be a great week.

On the road again

Yes, I'm about to leave on another trip. This time, I'll be traveling to The Duvall Home in Glenwood, FL for the Harpeth Presbyterian Church Sr. High mission trip. This will be the first time I take this group on a long trip. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit nervous. My first trip with a new group always makes me nervous. So many what ifs run through my brain:What if I forget something really important? What if I ignore a sacred ritual? What if its the worst trip ever and nobody ever comes back to youth group? What if someone gets injured? What if? What if? What if? It's times like these that I have to take a deep breath and do my best to let it go and trust that God is in control. It really has nothing to do with me, after all. But still....I worry. :)

This evening, after we load up our vans and uhaul trailer, I'm going to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie with some of the youth. Here's a picture from a year ago when I was at Montreat.

I wore that pirate hat around for an entire day, and talked like a pirate a lot, too. As you can see, I was pretty menacing with my hook. I think I forced some people to walk the plank, too. My good friend Ashley Lamar got a big kick out of looking over and seeing me work with that hat on. Ah, Ashley...what a good guy. I miss him. Anybody who's close enough to give him a hug, please give him a big one for me.

Montreat West...Friday

It's Friday night, around 1:00 am, and I should probably be climbing into bed for a much needed rest, but my brain is kind of racing, so I thought I'd finish up my week of blogging from Montreat West. First of all, here are some pictures:

This is Jeffrey, Rex, and I at the last rec event. These two guys are cool cats. Jeffrey was the music leader, and he did a fantastic job. I loved his theme song. He goes to school at Belmont, so he and I will definitely be hanging out. As for Rex, well, he's the mack I always wished I was. :)

Laurie and I...Man, where to start? I had an absolutely wonderful time hanging out with Laurie this week. She is such an intelligent, insightful, beautiful, thoughtful, fun, talented, funny, amazing woman. I don't think I realized how much I missed her until we had this chance to be with each other everyday. John Weicher, you are a lucky man. For what it's worth, I think she is gonna be one rock star of a co-director at Montreat West next summer. I am extremetly grateful to God for friends like Laurie.

Some girls from FPC Columbia, MO and Alan. These girls were part of the crew that made the trek out here from Columbia, MO, my hometown. It was so great to reconnect with some and meet some new members of the church that is so close to my heart. There's just something about making connections with people who are from your hometown. Somehow, I feel like there's a certain level of automatic understanding and respect. It's so great to see that the youth program back home is going so well. Big props to Nathan and Morgan See, and Jeff and Lori Fox for bringing them out here, and for being important adults in their lives back home.

Cindy Edwards (the keynoter) and I. This woman is absolutely amazing. She brought so much creativity to the keynotes. I guess I'll overlook the fact that she had me dressed as a woman three days out of five. :) It was a real honor and pleasure to share the stage with someone so fun and insightful. I'm hoping the youth who were here will take Cindy's words, skits, videos, and challenges back home and make a difference in the lives of those around them.

OK, I think my brain has slowed down enough for me to turn it in for the night. This was a great week at Montreat West. I feel rejuvenated and excited. I feel convicted to get off my duff and do some transformative work in my community. I feel excited about taking some youth to Memphis to help J. Herbert in his endeavors. I feel exhausted in a way that only happens at youth conferences and on mission trips. I feel nervous about preaching on Sunday. I feel gratitude for new friends that I've made. I feel inspired to get back home and cross boundaries.

And that, my friends, is all I have to say about that.

Montreat West...Thursday

Earlier today (Thursday), the Servant Squad spent some quality time exploring the theme of conflict. Some of them worked with modeling clay to sculpt their response, while some finger painted, and others wrote their own "blogs" in response to scenarios posted around the room. Nobody took advantage of the liturgical movement station.

Between last night's sermon and this morning's keynote, hopefully the youth here at Montreat West are thinking about issues of race, gender, sexuality, power, oppression, and control. J. Herbert did a fabulous job of talking about the racial injustices that are still prevalent in our society. He gave us a glimpse into his world as an African-American man, and some of it made me so sad. He talked about being painfully aware of where his hands are at all times when he's in a store, because he doesn't want to appear as if he's stealing something or getting ready to pull a weapon. This morning, Cindy encouraged us to think more seriously about the civil rights movement, and what it means to seriously engage in conversation with "the other."

The sermon last night was pretty convicting for me. As I heard J. Herbert speak, I realized that that "voice" very absent from my day to day encounters. I feel like there was a time, in seminary, and some in college, when that voice was a part of my life, but not so much now. Nor have I been intentional about speaking in that voice in my current situation. When I run, my thoughts no longer focus on the ways that I can transform the world around me or how I'm going to speak the truth to power, but instead I worry about my car payment and my house payment, and whether I have money in my account to cover them...I think about how quickly I can pay off my student loans, or when I'll be able to afford a new TV, or what I "need" at Target, or when I'm going to play golf again, or vainly, I think about how much better I'm gonna look now that I'm running every other day. Yeah...J. Herbert's words were convicting. I need to get back to the roots of questioning the status quo and speaking up for those who don't have a voice.

Why is it so easy to feel fired up about this stuff when I'm here at Montreat or when I was in seminary? What is it about "the real world" that saps away my energy from truly transforming the world around me...from living into the kingdom?

Montreat West...Wednesday

Here are some pics from the last few days here at Montreat West. I'm having a ball with the leadership and my servant squad pretty much rules. I've been in two skits with the keynoter and been dressed as a woman both times...Awesome. I led music this morning as well. Poor Jeffrey didn't listen to my advice and ate at the Mongolian restaurant called Hu Hots (I mean, come on, with a name like that, you have to be a little bit wary) and his stomach didn't respond well. Anyway, here are some pics:

Montreat West...Sunday

The youth have arrived. Today was a crazy day of skit rehearsals, registration, rec events, scrambling, scurrying, and hurrying to make this place ready for a youth conference. I'm pretty wiped out at this point, so this will be short.

I'm totally psyched that First Presbyterian Church Columbia, MO is here. I already had some quality time with some of them. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos with them yet, but I will. There's something cool about hangin' out with folks from your hometown. I found out that the current youth directors have been hanging out with some friends of mine from Truman. Small world...small world.

Here are a couple of pics I took with a couple of my peeps:

Laurie Taylor Weicher and I at registration

Rex and I (I love this kid)

Montreat West...the day before

Here I sit on Saturday night. There's a lite rain sprinkling down outside the office window. Plannint team members are either scurrying about to be ready for the onslaught of tomorrow, or are taking a much needed break...a little calm before the storm. Rex is lying down with his head propped on his hand reading a book...his second during his time here. Robert and Jeffrey are finalizing the song list for Sunday night. J.Herbert is adding some visual flair to Monday night's worship service. I love to watch the dedication of all these people working to make Montreat a wonderful experience for the youth who will attend.

I spent the better part of four hours this afternoon in small group leader training. I can't say it's my favorite place to be, but it was good to meet the other folks who will be leading small groups this week. Unfortunately, numbers are a bit down, so it's a small crew. The word needs to get out that something awesome happens here at CSU every June.

Laurie Taylor Weicher arrived today. I love that girl. I love seeing friends like her...friends who make you feel known...friends who make your heart smile.

Tomorrow, the conferees arrive. Look for some pictures as I get into the midst of things.

Montreat West...in preparation

Hey folks. That's right, it's almost Montreat West time. I'm out in Ft. Collins helping the planning team get ready for the arrival of approximately 200 young people. I arrived here last night, dropped my bags, said hello to some folks, and went for a run. It's funny how good it feels to get out and run now that I'm past the point of huffing an puffing after five minutes. I actually only ran for about half an hour last night, because I had to be back for skit rehearsal, but I felt like I could have gone a good bit longer.

Anyways, it's fun getting to hang out with the planning team folks. And, I've met a couple of stage leaders who I'd always heard about but never met. For all of you out there who sang the praises of Jeffery Harpeth and Kenneth Slifer, I've found your singing to be right on key. I'm looking forward to seeing what they have to offer from the stage.

The theme of this year's conference is Crossing Boundaries. It should be interesting to see how the leaders dance around that line of which boundaries we're called to cross and which ones we aren't.

OK, more from Montreat West as the conference progresses.

All of this FEMA business

So, it turns out that when given money following Hurricane Katrina, some folks chose to spend their debit cards in ways that FEMA doesn't like. Apparently, people spent the money on NFL tickets, champagne, and other "frivolous" items. Folks at FEMA are upset because they don't think that's what the money was for.

Now, I'm not too excited about folks spending relief effort dollars on NFL tickets when people were struggling to get food and some people still don't have homes.

That being said, I hope that there are no Republicans on the hill crying too loudly. I mean, isn't it the Republicans who say that government should get out of the way and allow people to have more access to their own money? That it isn't the role of government to tell people how to spend their money? That Americans know best how to spend their money? The only difference, as I see it, between this latest situation, and the drastic tax cuts propegated by the current administration is that this time, the expenditures of "the people" could be tracked. I imagine that if we were able to track the money given in "tax relief," we'd find some similar trends. Meanwhile, the national deficit counter is back on in New York City.

My main point here, is that this situation ought to be an eye opener for those who argue for tax cuts for the sole reason that Americans know best how to spend their money. If people who have just lost everything buy NFL tickets and stay in fancy hotels with their relief money, I can only imagine what the rest of us do with our tax relief money.

I love camp

I spent all of last week, June 4-9, at NaCoMe, which is a camp within the bounds of my presbytery. It was a great week. I just love all that is "camp." I love that youth get to disconnect from their hectic lives and simply enjoy God's beautiful creation with a bunch of other youth. I love standing around a campfire at night and singing songs...or yelling songs as in Screaming Jesus. If you haven't heard that one, you simply must find someone who knows it. I love it that high school students still wear t-shirts from their various clubs, sports teams, musicals, bands, choirs, etc...you know, the t-shirts that kind of brag and bring attention to the love that that youth has for a particular activity. When do we quit wearing shirts like that? I guess I still do with my Cavaliers shirts, but mine don't have fun slogans on them. I love those t-shirts. I love games called Jedi and Ultimate. I love worship services that are seriously rockin' with the Holy Spirit. I love watching quiet youth come out of their shells. I love watching the loud youth be at a loss for words. I love simply walking around from place to place...walking, not jogging, not running, not driving, not even biking...just walking. I love silly fun songs that youth sing to bless meals. I love it that youth have to sing if they get too much mail or packages or e-mails from home. I love it that most of them act like they hate it but secretly ask Mom or Dad to send a package so they have to sing. I love it that camp is a place where thousands of youth experience God each and every day of the summer. I love it that God sets apart special places for youth (and adults for that matter) to recharge their batteries before walking back into "the real world." I just love camp. Thank God for camp.

Pride and Prejudice

I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It's definitely a funny book, and Austen does a wonderful job of describing the characters in such a way that makes you feel like you know them personally. I think I chuckled out loud in each chapter. However, I'm a bit stumped as to why so many women think that Mr. Darcy is the quintessential example of what a man ought to be. In some ways, he's kind of a jerk, and while he eventually overcomes his prejudices, it's not so much because of self reflection for self reflection's sake, but because a girl he likes calls him on it. To be sure, his willingness to handle the situation with Lydia was noble, but he had the money to do it without really sacrificing much. Is it that he is so attracted to a free thinking woman? Is it his patience? Is it his willingness to be molded and scolded? I just don't understand why he's so much beloved by all of you women-folk out there. Give me a shout out and help me understand.