Missional Living

"Any one thinking of the Holy Child as born in December would mean by it exactly what we mean by it; that Christ is not merely a summer sun of the prosperous but a winter fire for the unfortunate."

-GK Chesterton

I’ve gone and done it.

After tinkering with a used PowerBook G4 for the last year, I’ve finally ordered my new laptop.

Good bye, sluggish PC. Hello, Mac Book Pro.

With your glossy, hi-res 17′ display, 4GB RAM,  and oh-so-fascinating Logic and Final Cut goodies, I expect to be singing your praises soon.

Merry Christmas to me.

I spent a few minutes yesterday reading over some old journals: thoughts of past students, parent relationships, events, and changed lives (including mine). You know how something yet-unformed begins running around your semi-conscious brain? It happens frequently to me…and then, once processed, I get an immediate revelation of ‘Wow!’…followed by a humbling ‘well, duh…’. At 5:40 this morning, it happened again.

I think most Christians believe that going to church is their way of ‘making a difference’.

IMHO, at least. Especially those that are long-time Christians. I can’t categorize them as ‘mature Christians’, because there’s nothing fruitful or mature about that kind of perspective. Nevertheless, I’m confident it’s there in a lot of Christians.

And that disturbs me.

While training for the upcoming Austin Marathon, I’ve put together a runner’s wishlist for the holidays. I figure that if I’m going to do this, I should do it right.

1. Starbucks.  ($-any amount) A no-brainer to keep me going and going and going. Black and strong, please. And keep ‘em coming.

2.  Frilly Pink Tutu, ($14). After all, this IS Austin.and because if you have never run a marathon while wearing a frilly pink tutu – especially if you’re a man, and doubly especially if you’re a large, hairy man – you haven’t lived. (Photo of Tutu Man courtesy of Fast Tracks Running Club.)

3. A Gross of Black Cotton Gloves ($0.15) No kidding, this site offers 100% Cotton Light Weight "Inspector Gloves" at 15 cents a pair. Seriously.

4.Vaseline ($4.50) Next to a dog, it’s a runner’s best friend. Apply liberally. You’ll figure out where.

5. Custom Running Shirt ($31 and up) Avoid looking like everyone else in the 13,000-people herd at the Austin Marathon. For as little as 31 bucks, you can have a professionally printed running shirt with your name or slogan, courtesy of RunningBanana.com.

5. Air Horn ($36) Nothing says "YOU ARE IN MY WAY" better than an air horn. Clear crowded sidewalks and narrow paths of pesky walkers, skateboarders,  and oblivious powerwalking moms with this 120dB beauty.

6. Adult Diapers ($15) Because stopping for a potty break during a race can cost you precious seconds – assuming there’s a Porta-Potty there at all. After all, if it works for psycho, stalker astronauts….

7. Baggy Shorts ($40) You know, to hide the fact that you’re wearing adult diapers.

8. "Who Fartlek’d?" Organic Cotton T-shirt ($23)
This features:
•    4.8 oz. Ultra fine combed ring spun organic cotton, great for layering
•    Vintage fit (size up for a looser fit)
•    Made in the U.S.A.
•    Hilarity

*note: Fartlek, which means "speed play" in Sweedish, is a form of conditioning which puts stress mainly on the aerobic energy system due to the continuous nature of the exercise…see the entire wiki defintion here.

I am just a simple, stupid creature.

From one of my all-time fav writers/thinkers:

"I believe what really happens in history is this: the old man is always wrong; and the young people are always wrong about what is wrong with him. The practical form it takes is this: that, while the old man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid."

-G.K. Chesterton

note: I will forever be indebted to the late Rich Mullins, not only for his wonderful gift of music and conversation, but for introducing me to the writings of GK Chesterton over coffee in McKinney, TX.

Since I was a freshmen in high school, I’ve loved Dan Fogelberg. (No, it wasn’t ALL hair metal…). Same Old Lang Syne and The Leader of the Band weren’t just songs on the radio–they were experiences. And years later, they still take me back to that freeze-frame moment they created. In fact, I’m a sap: I only listen to Lang Syne at certain times because the place it takes me to is almost sacred.

Fogelberg, 56, died today after an almost 4 year bout with prostate cancer.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Jean, and his famly and friends. A guy I would have loved to have known better, he loved the tonal qualities and subtle range of the acoustic guitar. He loved to laugh and abuse the English language. He loved rock and roll. He always thought he’d quit the music business..but never the music. He was blessed with the never-ending gift/curse of music. And wasn’t cool enough for MTV. And he defined success as having just one person listen to his work and say, "Wow! Thanks for writing that!"

"we tried to reach beyond the emptiness, but neither one knew how…"

Wow! Thanks for writing that.

Here’s a live video to take us back.

Thanks to McMinn, the glories of mxpx made me smile this weekend.

It’s the story of a mother who gave birth to a son. And the son who holds the fate of the world in his hands.

Her name is Sarah. Not Mary.

I gotta admit, there’s only about two shows on television I watch with any commitment, so when the announcement came that my one-of-two favorite shows, Heroes, would NOT be aired beginning in January, I fell into a panic.

But God is good. FOX announced the upcoming Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

 After viewing several trailers online, you’ll see why this one is my favorite.

If you want more of the plotline, watch this.

Real Christians don’t  dance.

Scott M sent me this great post rom Father Stephen about the role of the [Orthodox] church to American culture. Along the lines of Staub’s Culturally Savvy Christian, Father Stephen has some great wisdom to share about the history of Christianity’s setting itself up as the enemy of culture instead of being a producer of culture.

Early on, he says:

"The Orthodox Church exists within an American culture that is indeed a mixture of many things.
There are inherited elements of Puritanism in America that can trace their roots back to Oliver Cromwell and his religious cousins and forebears.
These elements will not yield a Christian culture but a culture that diminishes our humanity and is, at best, a heretical Christian culture."

But what really caught my attention (and evidently, Scott’s as well…) was this:

"There’s something wrong with a nation where people don’t sing and dance."

OK..so here’s my possibly heretical and tangentially related question: Given that it’s Christmas season, shouldn’t we be dancing? Isn’t there something wrong with a Kingdom such as ours that doesn’t dance? Instead of bemoaning the fact that our consumer-based spirituality is upset about the ‘Happy Holiday’ banners all over the television airwaves, how about being a holy nation (in the ‘royal priesthood’ sense…) which dances at the birth of our Hope? Instead of being cynical about equal time for Chanakuh and Kwanzaa, how about singing and rejoicing over the miraculous birth of the King and a new way of Kingdom rule? Granted, I know the Wal-Mart machine doesn’t want to offend the handful of athiests or agnostics or hindus in my community, so it’s much better for the bottom line if we have a generic ‘Holiday Tree’, but what about the incredible opportunity for conversations? "Hey, Mr. Hindu..what holiday is it exactly that decorates evergreen trees with lights? …oh, yeah..the one about the birthday and the King and…and…and…"  Or for the agnostic (or anyone for that matter), the natural opportunities to talk about a season of Hope and the Bringer of Hope. A  season of Peace…and it’s Prince. The appropriateness of the gifts we offer families and loved ones…and the significance of the gifts of the Magi.

Of course, it shouldn’t be limited to any particular time of year, but this month should be a no-brainer. Shouldn’t missional living foremost include dancing? To paraphrase Martin Smith, should not our lives consist of opening up the doors, letting the music play, and letting the dance spill into the streets?

At its core, isn’t ours a Kingdom of Dancing? The blind receiving sight. The poor receiving abundance. The crippled walking. The dead living. The lonely comforted. The sick healed. The oppressed rescued. The captives set free. The hopeless filled with hope. The good news has come. The messenger brought ‘good tiding of great joy’ because a Son is born, of Man and Spirit, that has come to heal the nations. And He will be our King and we will be His people. Even Ricky Bobby should dance over his bounty of Taco Bell, now that 8 lb. 6 oz. baby Jesus has come.

Am I a little cynical about advertisementsof consumer-driven ‘Happy Holiday’ commercials on the tube? Yeah. Definitely. But I can just get over it. My responsibility to share my faith doesn’t trump my responsibility to dance. The kingship of Jesus isn’t threatened by Holiday Trees or political correctness any more than by my personal indignation. I can embrace my community and serve it. I can love my neighbor without an agenda. I can give my time and energy to my wife and kids and friends. And I can dance in the truth of the Season. As Father Stephen says, "May God teach my feet!"

Read the post here.

Take dancing lessons here.

Find a dancing partner here.

I hate much of ‘Christian music’. Chances are that if it’s in heavy (or semi-heavy) rotation on your radio or in your local Lifeway store in the ‘Staff Favorites’ section, I have a hard time stomaching it. But that’s me, and I know that somehow the Spirit uses the sugary shallowness of it all to give hope to the masses to carry on. Or, at least, keep CCM in business.

But I have to take this into consideration:

“Trying to describe the Eternal using earthly words is like trying to scoop up the whole ocean into the palm of your hand. It’s like trying to count every star in the endless midnight sky.  All of our words fall so short; every melody failing to capture the true beauty of the Heavenly.”

-Vicky Beeching, a fourth generation worship leader, music prodigy and Oxford -educated songwriter.

Those of us who fancy ourselves creative sometimes feel her conflict. How do you describe the Unfailing within the vehicle of much-failing words? Granted, as much as I moan about the Christian music scene, I have to admit that it’s a huge task to put into words the works of the Spirit.

Maybe I should lighten up.