Arts: - Wrecked for the Ordinary

I Carry You in Me and the Dust on My Feet

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Written in Uganda:

These are the days when my "no" has been given away. Every pattern in my veins is "yes" and "amen." Somewhere beneath copper-colored strands of His earth, lies a past I used to define myself by. As I cast my open-hands to the breeze, I felt a stronger Tenderness pulsating through my palms. I was swallowed up by a measure of beauty, that you'll never find unless you pour your life out to find it.

In my chest were beating the amazing things He'd carried for so long. So many bright eyes were telling me stories, and then of course there were His. We had never been strangers. I had always known these ones, born as they were in my heart. I recognized her hands because even though she carried no wounds, I'd always known the sight of a Hand still bearing scars. It was His beckoning that led me to find her.

As I felt chocolate skin brush across mine in an stream of touches spanning eternity, I heard heartbeats that aligned with mine. I knew scattered pieces of my war-torn life were being gathered and brought back from exile.

It wasn't that I was learning to dance, instead I had no choice but to be danced with. Instructed by the One Whose voice sounds like playgrounds, I broke open. I was torn apart so that all could fall in. I barely even noticed the tears, endlessly though they fell. They were steady like His Hand upon my back. I found Him relentless. Unable to settle for less than all of me, I'd already signed myself away. It was all of me for all of them, through all of Him.

The beauty of it remained in everything that I was spilling over His feet.

I had been lying motionless in the arms of a dying dream for so long, and in those moments, I was gripped as You pulled me to my feet. Then somehow there was too much life kicking inside my chest and I couldn't stay still.

It was those ones who taught me the value of living alive inside the blazing love of a King. In his hand-writing I discovered what I'd been saved from. Through her scars I found the source of all my hope.

I used to see shadows where You were longing to be visible. I drew myself down, and there in the clouds of dust I found You. Far from choking me, never had I breathed easier than I did on these streets. You opened windows and I drank from Your eyes, there in the space between the sky that knows no boundaries and my own fragile frame. You had my knees on a threshing floor, but all I could see was love.

I could no longer see any lines. My death was about love. On the other side of blood lay an irreversible awakening. My heart forever stained by Love. This heart knows nothing but redemption.

Gabi has lived for 25 years with a heart that beats for Africa, despite currently living in the South of England. Her life is not her own and she has recently returned from spending the summer in Uganda. She is heading back to Uganda in January. Until then she is mostly to be found dreaming impossible dreams whilst barefoot. She can be found here .

The Power of One: One Love, One Person, One Moment

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Yesterday I found out that a student at my school committed suicide. He jumped off the 8th story of his apartment complex to his death.

The reports flippantly state his suffering with severe depression, and the stark and alarming statements of his body being covered by a white sheet at the bottom of a bloody pool on the pavement.

It mentions that counselors are available from 8-5 to speak about the events and the respectable condolences.

I left school after hearing about this through a classmate as well as perusing online reports. My heart ached and I found myself walking faster as to get to my car quickly before I broke down in the streets. Car door shutting, I began to weep. As I stared at the computer screen moments before, reading statements that described his reported sadness and how he told his one good friend in this whole city what he just did through a written letter, my heart sunk.

It sunk, it burned, it hurt. It was angry at injustice and the hearts, including my own, that have not loved to our full measure through knowing and accepting the purest love..yet instead abandon it through our own way, prideful efforts that didn't feel so prideful.

I felt the weight of the situation, but in a way that had me engaged into the emotions of God, the deep sorrow and love He felt for this man, as well as this school, this community. His life mattered I felt Him speak to me. I felt Him also say that He knew Him too and that all was ok. I mean we can get into sovereignty issues here, but that's not really the point I'm trying to stir up.

I'm stirring up what was stirred in me, a very brutal look at my behavior and because of the conviction -- not condemnation -- that fell upon me... to speak and to love in every way I feel prompted to, to not reject back when I am in an atmosphere of rejection all around me, but to love as he would love and asks me to. When I get nothing in return. No thank you, no door held, but instead more harsh comments, more criticisms, and more doors slammed in my face. Yet the Lord says, do it again.

For though they may not understand, you understand things and I'm asking you to do these things and with an overflowing and joyous heart. Because it matters.

Though the past cannot be changed right now, I had to wonder if someone would have said something small to him that day, something encouraging, something that would have changed this man's mind. You think?

The weight of our actions and words fell heavy upon me.

The worthlessness of all the things I put hope in that I did not see or think that I did, made me nauseous as I drove him. I literally felt sick as I wailed and cried out to the Lord for life and salvation and love to come over this school. And that I would be changed and raised up to proclaim His name in boldness and no fear, however he asks me to do so.

This morning I found myself being drawn to Philippians and I read about unity. About how the Lord would such desire that we would act in such a way, whether he would be looking or not(well, he is), and that he would see us acting in ways that are worthy whether we are seen or not.

A true family stands together and is held together in adversity, and continues on when their leader is gone for a time...coming back to see the different team members stepping up and working together in order to function and function well.

Would the Lord, is the Lord pleased with us? Yes he loves, oh he loves us so, but is he sorrowful over the parts we do not see yet because we have become satisfied in our relationship with him instead of continuing to grow in love and in Him which ultimately gives us more revelation of who He is and how he sees and feels?

I wonder if He is sorrowful over how we bicker and banter over stuff that doesn't matter just to prove our own point, or when we do not see what the other is saying because we want it to be all comprehensive, instead of garnishing from their perspective and point?

Would he be sorrowful by the way we judge others and how we love to our own demise. How we love by our actions but our hearts are far engaged, yet, we appear well-like a great loving and servicing person?

Wouldn't our Daddy be pleased to see His children being of the same love? He cares so much that others are loved.

Sarah enjoys creating new things and old alike while traveling to new places. She enjoys art and restoration, a good cup of tea, and puppies.

In Christ: A Poem

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Being in Christ,
My perception is resurrected,
Raised from the death
            of dim, dreary cynicism.
I look at the world through new eyes.

Where once I saw despair
And sunk to the depths,
Losing my humanity,
Trading it in,
Now I see hope
            Upon hope
                        Upon hope
                                    Upon Christ,
The firm foundation which supports my life.

And being in Christ
Means being in Grace.
And being in Grace
Means no fear to face,
No fear but the fear of God,
            Which isn't the same
As the fear of death that I once felt
            When death came calling my name.

And now I've died to myself,
            My old ways are dead,
And I've rose in new life
            With love as the head.

C: 2009, H.F. Vance III.

To listen to the audio that accompanies this piece visit the Holster Myspace site.

Harold lives with his beautiful wife, Nicole, and spaz-tastic kitten, Olwethu, in the midst of the mountains and valleys of northern Vermont, where he teaches and learns from young adults with special needs and special gifts in an alternative high school setting.

The Book of Eli: What We Think of the Bible

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I saw The Book of Eli the other night, and ever since, I've been telling all my friends to drop what they're doing and go see it before it leaves theaters. It was that good. The visual effects are stunning, the story line is rich, and the plot is full of twists and turns that are ultimately redemptive.

Hollywood finally does a decent job of representing a faith-based worldview without resorting to downright blasphemy or relativism. The wanton violence and desperation of the land is juxtaposed with the hope of one book carried by a man named Eli (Denzel Washington).

Set in a post-apocalyptic world (think: Mad Max in the United States), The Book of Eli isn't a story about love between two people or war between nations; it's not about the plight of pandemic disease or global warming. It's a story about a book. One very powerful book and its relationship to humanity.

Believe it or not, the book is actually the Bible -- it's not a book that's implied to be the Bible or any other religious text. It's the actual King James Version, leather-bound, coffee-table-sized Holy Bible.

This sacred book that everyone is trying to get their hands on is believed to carry incredible power. Most recognize its potency -- if for no other reason than the fact that so many are trying to find one. Some even see it as a means of control, to be used to gain power and subjugate other people. The main antagonist Carnegie (Gary Oldman) knows that this will work, because, "It's worked before." There are a few, like Eli, who see the book as a means of enacting mercy and justice; in it, they find a message of inherent human dignity and self-sacrifice.

Much in the spirit of 300, but without quite so much gore and "cartoonishness", the contrasts are high, and the colors are bleak. We know little about the current state of the planet, other than it has been 30 years since "The War", and few things are as they once were. Most people aren't from the previous age; all that they know is this bleak, illiterate world, full of chaos and lawlessness.

The film throws out a few subtle and not-so-subtle critiques of America -- everything from religious legalism to American consumerism is addressed explicitly or implicitly. As Eli explains to the young Solara (Mila Kunis) our current economy, she is stunned (and so should we):

"People had more than they needed. We had no idea what was precious and what wasn't. We through away things people kill each other now. People had more than they needed. We had no idea what was precious and what wasn't. We through away things people kill each other now."

Aside from a couple of poorly-quoted Bible verses (he does a hodge-podge of translations when quoting Psalm 23) and one cheesy final scene that almost undoes the redemption of Kunis (she is branded in my mind as "That Seventies Show Girl"), The Book of Eli is impeccable. It may be one of the best mainstream movies about faith, God, and spirituality in the past ten years. As far as I'm concerned, it's close to Gran Torino (which I thought was fantastic) in its ability to portray the message of the Gospel through a culturally-relevant story that is ultimately redemptive.

On a personal level, this movie really convicted me. I have at least 10 Bibles at home (not an exaggeration), and sometimes go days without reading one of them. And I just saw a movie where people killed to get one... and protect one. However, the feeling it evoked more than anything else was gratitude.

It's trendy these days to criticize the Bible, to believe that it is merely an aid to help one grow closer to God. I am most definitely guilty of thinking that I don't need the Bible. But when you see films like this, it reminds you that this is not just any book. It does indeed contain the words of life that can change an individual and the world... for better or worse.

Having seen The Book of Eli, I now have a better appreciation of the importance of religious scribes who ensured the accuracy in translation (and transcription) of God's Word. I understand why Ezra was so emphatic about reading the Book of the Law to the Israelites when they returned to the Holy City. It makes more sense to me why the Reformers fought so hard to get the Bible into the hands of everyday people. It's no wonder that Christians in persecuted countries die for a little scrap of the New Testament.

Carnegie was right. There really is power in that book.

Jeff graduated from Illinois College, a small liberal arts school, with a degree in Spanish and Religion. He lives in Nashville, TN. He works for Adventures In Missions, edits this silly little magazine, and loves to do new things. He just got married in January. Check out his blog: Pilgrimage of the Heart.

Beauty Lifts Us Off the Earth: Interview with Matt Brouwer

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I met independent artist Matt Brouwer several months ago and really enjoyed getting to know him. In addition to hearing his heart about music, I was also able to hear him play "Come Back Around" live, and listen to his love for missions. We even chatted about artistic expression and social action.

It was a great conversation.

Here's a video excerpt of that conversation (don't mind my frumpiness; I think that I forgot to brush my hair that day):

For more about Matt Brouwer, check out his website: MattBrouwer.com. To find out more about the nonprofit he helped found, visit New Beginning Resources online.

Russ Lee of NewSong Gives Himself Away

Sat, 6 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Give yourself away.

Inspired, yet?

Give yourself away... now.

Motivated to do something? Anything?

Why is it difficult for Americans to be selfless? What is that wall that prevents us from sharing with others? Whether it's our possessions or ourselves, we need an earthquake to shake our apathy. Literally. Most times we understand how to throw money at people or problems. But only when we can afford it. What's the point of surrendering when it doesn't cost us anything?

Russ Lee of NewSong shared a portion of his infectious passion and heart. When we talked, he didn't focus on the album or the credentials or the concerts. He just focused on what is most important - the point of it all.

Growing up in a church town in southeast Tennessee, Russ was the oldest of four children. With his mother's mental disorder and his father's alcoholism, it seemed the family became survivors of the daily tragedies. There were times of great joy and there were heartbreaking moments that stopped the family in their tracks. At 15 he was doing things that people in their early twenties shouldn't be doing. By 17 Russ started selling drugs.

On a Thursday in October, he was playing music at the Rocky Top Lounge. Russ would play and they would pay him with an open bar tab. It was that night the Lord began to open his eyes to see more of what life offered. That night he gazed across the audience. There were older men living dead-end lives, messed up and abused. Russ saw his life ending the same if he continued the path he chose. Desperate and alone he came to God that night and he prayed.

"God I don't know You... but please find me," he pleaded.

That Saturday an old uninvited friend came over for a divine appointment. Though they had grown up with similar stories, this friend was a new Christian full of the thrill and hope of a new believer. From then on Russ wanted nothing less than everything the Lord had to offer. He quickly traded in his gig playing at the lounge for a "red satin moo moo" to join the choir. This former addict was now craving a new stimulant.

A few short months later after being "discovered" while singing at a Christmas program, Russ joined a traveling band. Russ later met his wife, Mary, on a business trip and joined NewSong in 1993.

In 2000 Russ left NewSong to pursue other ministry opportunities. He traveled with his family for six months visiting third world countries offering free concerts. God was changing his heart and his family's perspective on life. It was amazing and life changing for the whole family. They came back with a fulfilled exhaustion and motivation to continue serving.

After returning to the states with his family Russ came on staff with a church that February. Being a part of the community and ministry was refreshing. This strengthening community would become a major support for the Lee family.

In May of that year Russ' wife, Mary, was diagnosed with cancer. God's deliberate love was over Mary and Russ during this storm. Even as the clouds were rolling in, God prepared the family to have this church around them as they walked through Mary's illness.

The song, "God Hears", tells of the lessons and hope Russ gained during the time Mary was ill. He became fearlessly angry with the Lord. He told God he'd never speak to Him again if she died. Russ recalls God's response, "And I sensed God saying to me, I know you're mad, and that's okay, because you don't understand what I'm doing... I've already set this apart, and I'm going to use it for My glory. You need to trust in Me.'" Russ got to a point where he could fully trust the Lord in this situation. And as he puts it, "God used a series of miracles to get us through that."

Mary went through nine long months of treatment and has been cancer free for two years. This unexpected storm strengthened the Lee family more than they could have hoped for. God brought His shining glory and has allowed Mary to share her story to inspire and bring hope to others.

About a year ago Mary shared with Russ how she appreciated all that he had done for her while she was sick but now it's his time to do what he does. Through a mutual invitation Russ was quickly back playing with NewSong in February 2009.

Russ has new hope and trust in a God. His journey brought new depths to the heart and soul of the music. NewSong provides that same dedication and trust in the Lord throughout their album Give Yourself Away. Only God can define the motivation to "give yourself away". The music and lyrics of this album flow with inspiration to share the life of Jesus that is in all believers.

NewSong encourages people to not only risk but to dive into the risky business of relationships. You get more than you give when you give yourselves away. Russ learned this from his wife just by her example. She would also say to him that though he was on stage performing "if you don't love someone within reach you're just making noise."

So don't assume these guys are on stage for the show. Russ' life is a great example of obedient love in action. With passionate speed in his voice he shared with me, "Go do life! It's about loving God and loving people. This is how the Church can prove that it's the Church. Peoples lives are in shambles so why not just go across the street." With an overflowing heart of joy he told me briefly of a few of his neighbors. Russ just listens to their story.

This is a bunch of guys rescued in grace that have been given a platform to faithfully serve. They know that they are to hold whatever God gives them with open hands. Sometimes they're evangelists and sometimes they encourage the church. They live simply, yet fully: Music. Art. Truth.

After spending 17 of the last 28 months overseas, Caitlin is working hard trying to figure out the American lifestyle again. She likes Jesus, dreaming big, good conversations, miracles, meeting new people... and writing about it.

Prayer: Poetry of the Heart

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Someone once said, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Gehenna (the Aramaic word used in the New Testament used for "hell") was this trash heap outside of Jerusalem where dead bodies were tossed amongst all of the trash. Emanating from the depths of this place were atrocious smells and maybe even half-hearted screams of those who might be hanging on to all of their broken limbs if the fire didn't get to them first. Hell was rhetoric for a way of life. And if you turn on your television or walk down the street, you might agree with me that the man living in his cardboard hotel is living in hell.

And we can do something about it.

Some might think the best way to help this man is to pray for him, others might add they they want to pray and see if God wants them to do something. All the while, the rivers of rainwater that have flooded this man's home, keeps him moving on and keeps him homeless while you wait for God to get back to you.

Waiting on "God's will" to happen sounds like a good idea. For God to answer your prayers about whether or not to help someone in need though, doesn't do much for the person in need. Let's say you have a strong desire to venture off and work alongside some indigenous people groups in Africa, and you find out one of their greatest needs is food. But you want to make sure it's what God wants you to do.

While you are sitting, waiting, and wishing, your prayers don't do much for the bloated baby waiting for a meal, literally hanging on for dear life. Or let's say you want to do work within the people trafficking sector of world development. While you wait to either hear a word or get a verse, teenage girls are growing up way too fast, some of them might even die of a four-letter disease without even seeing the age of eighteen. And all of this because we have been taught that prayer means waiting on God.

Don't get me wrong, I think prayer is important. I think it is their for us to connect with our Creator. With the divine. I am not so sure it was given to us to find answers though. How did we inherit this idea that prayer is the magic ticket to God? Or somehow if we end our talks with 'Amen' or 'In the name of Jesus', somehow miraculously Jesus will rend the heavens and come down? The ancient Jews had this idea that prayer was communion with God. Union with the divine. The mystics borrowed some of this thinking and even tried to connect with God while they were still alive. It was as if, to them, God could be reached and prayer was the way to do it. I think, if we're honest, the art of talking with God like the ancients did, has been far removed from what it was meant to be. Prayer was about connection, not about getting something. It was about relationship, not forced mechanistic approaches to twisting God's arm. Some of these Jews believed prayer was more spontaneous. It just happened. And it was naturally a reaction to the realization that you and I are alive. It was poetry of the heart.

One of the most famous of all Jewish prayers is the Shema Prayer, it is taken from Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." The Hebrew word for "hear" is the same word for "listen", but we might think of someone who is attentively sitting in the first row of English class, but the word is much richer and deeper than that. The underlying word for hear is an action; it is to do something.

When King David asks the question to God, "How long, Lord?", the word "wait" draws the picture of someone who knows something is going to happen and yet is running around preparing for the arrival of that which is to come. Wouldn't it be the worst thing if somehow consumerism has crept in to the halls of our churches and has made prayer into something about us getting what we think we should of it? I wonder if when we're waiting for answers from God, if he is waiting for us to be the answer.

This isn't humanism. This is learning rhythms of life where we get to partner with the divine in making the world a better place. Praying about it, in the old sense of the word, point blank, does nothing. If we can recapture what prayer was meant to be, maybe we can help those in need. Maybe we can make the impossible possible. Who knows, maybe if we learn to be the answer to our prayers, we can make a considerable dent in world hunger, or world debt, or world poverty to name a few of the big ones. But, I think it has to start with us realizing that half of the time we're waiting, God is waiting on us.

George loves the outdoors, singing in the shower and doing underwater, synchronized pilates. He is currently working on a book entitled Jesus Bootlegged: Recapturing the Stolen Message of Jesus for The World. You can read more about him at his blog.

Music Review: Avienne

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

It was your average small-town bar. Inviting and friendly atmosphere. The evening was welcoming - its usual crowd and the stage was set to rock...

A couple years ago I had met two of Avienne's band members at a church in central Michigan. They seemed like average high school guys at the time. Mike Tooman and Chris Fader helped start the praise band for that small church. I would see them play the familiar praise songs during my visits up north. It was cute.

Now, I was in the bar with them waiting backstage. The six guys of Michigan's rising alternative pop rock band, Avienne, were in the green room behind a stage ready for performance. Their anxiety, if any, was mixed with excitement and hilarity as they got prepared. Mirrors, hairspray, groupies, and a little bit of fire prepped the guys and calmed the nerves for the three set performance. Just less than a month ago these guys got noticed in a big way when Project Runway contestant, Joe Faris, provided them with a wardrobe and hair makeover which aired on the local news station in early December. That night they were looking just as rock star.

I happened to be in town that week and offered to help by shooting video during the concert. Something I'm quite familiar with and enjoy. For them, that night was quite a change from the benefits and graduation parties that started this whole thing.

Avienne includes: Mike Tooman - keys/vocals; Matt Justice - lead guitar; Kentaro Roy - violin/mandolin; Chris Fader - rhythm guitar; Ty Mattiello - bass; Justin Smith - drums. In a few short years they have allowed themselves to go through seasons of changes to become what they are today. Beginning as an exclusively Christian band, they went through cycles of band members experimenting with instruments and singers including temporary additions.

Eventually it brought them to Avienne.

As Mike explained the changes and growth to me he made sure to point out that they are not a "Christian band". That's not their vision or goal. They're a group of Christian guys striving to play excellent music. The name, Avienne, is rooted in an idea of aviation and flight. Allowing their creative license to be used, they provided their own spelling variation of the word only to show more of their unique style and heart behind the music. Discontent in what they had been doing with their music they changed direction adding hope to rise unrestrictedly above the norm.

I admit, normal is actually what I was expecting that night. The guys had three sets prepared. Three hours of performing. I got my camera and was ready for the first set of the evening. Then they showed up. Avienne proudly hit the crowd with their outstanding ability to work with the audience and also perform great music. Not only was I impressed, but I was hooked and fascinated.

As they played, they drew the audience into their passion to live with each word and beat. The music and delivery was sharp and original. Seriously, I kept coming back to the front as I was shooting to get another taste and view of what they offered. And although Kentaro was unable to play "Devil Goes Down to Georgia" with the actual fire in his hands (something about fire laws and a couch earlier that night), this young band brought the awe-factor we were all looking for. The energy and variety makes you want to be a part of what they're leading their audiences into.

Their debut album entitled Dreams.Lies.Revolution. has an intriguing mix that's just as captivating as a live concert. The bands idea of dreams include the aspirations and hopes that involve their desire to create music. They have set the bar high for themselves. These young men have ideas and creativity yet to be derailed by practical "experienced" adults. Something that sets them apart, Mike adds, is the homework assigned every week. When they practice they come with one to five new song ideas. The motivating energy to keep creating produces their own style. Sometimes what is created isn't even what the original idea was. These free and creative spirits are willing to throw in all the ideas and also work to fish out the bad ones to come out with excellence.

The revolution message in the music comes from idea of living in the community as the disciples did once Jesus left - a revolution to live with no possessions as the Acts church. Raw and real. Again, another example of how these guys want the best of life, their music, and their dreams. Just listen to track nine entitled Revolution. There's a joke it in where the verses talk about the dream and then comes the repetition of the "lie, lie, lie, lie..." Inviting, but refusing to listen to, all the doubters and pessimists in their lives and music presents a hope-filled yet relatable tune to their listeners.

Somewhat addicting, the exceptional sounds produced are uncontainably rich. They are sounds that you want to repeat and repeat until you figure out the mystery and secret Avienne's trying to share with you. The first time I heard the final track, "The Resolute", on the album I was semi-convinced these guys were just out to make noise. After some time of taking it in it has turned into one of my favorites. The first thing that attracts you to "The Resolute" is the eerie almost circus-like feel. You're drawn into a vintage tent with twirling dancers all dressed in sepia tones. The music takes you there. Mike was explaing how the birth of this song just happened. They needed a tenth song for the album so he and Matt had a race. After Mike woke up from a nap in his astronomy class he came in with an idea from the dream. The lyrics and melody came naturally. And we got the finale to the debut album.

And with the finale comes the end to a great night. Kentaro amazed the audience with tricks on his violin I've never seen before. Mike danced with each beat he sang. And Ty did a complimentary flip as an encore crowd pleaser. The night could have been just another everyday occurrence. Then Avienne came and brought the color in the gray. I saw inspiration and life and hope in the music and lives of these six guys. Good luck, gentlemen. Keep rockin' and leadin' the revolution.

Currently, these guys are growing in listeners in the Ann Arbor/Detroit area. As they continue to promote Dreams.Lies.Revolution. they are preparing for their next scheduled performance in March. They've been asked to be the after party show for Fashion in Detroit on March 19.

To follow more of their news and find music check out their website.

Caitlin graduated from Asbury College with a degree in Media Communications and a desire for something more. She recently returned from traveling with Adventures in Missions on their World Race program. She's been wrecked for this nation and desperately wants to see the youth and young adults of American know God more intimately, actively, and selflessly.

Film Review: Up in the Air

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Up in the Air bills itself as "the story of a man ready to make a connection," and the plot is straightforward and unsophisticated. If you're not familiar, I'll prime you:

Ryan Bingham (played by George Clooney) is a professional terminator. He lays off employees for bosses who don't have the guts to do the deed themselves. After nearly a million miles of travel, technological advances leave him grounded. It's much cheaper to fire people via a teleconference from a remote location, and Ryan must come to terms with a life lived apart from airports and hotels.

Entering the movie, I was less-than-hopeful that such a vapid and stale storyline would keep me entertained. But being a big fan of Jason Reitman and George Clooney, I gave the film a shot.

It certainly wasn't the plot thrills that had me leaving the movie with a grin and a skip. Rather, it's been the performances and the storytelling that have earned Paramount a cool $57 million at the time of this writing.

George Clooney is a brilliant mix of charming and haunted, and Reitman does a fantastic job of amplifying the thoughts and conflicts of Ryan Bingham with his direction.

Bingham struggles through his own relationship with his family, the value of his body of work, his lack of engagement with any sort of stable community, and the ways his work affects those around him. It's a story of the essential midlife question: "Do I matter?"

And like any great film, Up in the Air doesn't leave its viewer without questions and challenges. The audience is left on the other side wondering what he decided.

But more importantly, we leave the theater wrestling with what we will decide.

Joshua is a young, married twenty-something who believes the gospel should be communicated with clarity and passion, through actions before words. He writes at Church Marketing Sucks and on his Twitter page, and he currently resides in beautiful Athens, GA.

1000 Generations: A Different Kind of Christian [Band]

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I don't particularly care for Christian pop music. While tremendous strides have been made in the past 10 years to make Christian art much more relevant and excellent, I still find much of it to be rote and cliche. Not only does it seem that many Christian music groups borrow creativity from the secular recording industry (in many cases, these are blatant rip-offs), but they have even inherited the ego and hunger for stardom that accompanies many of their peers.

That's why when a band like 1000 Generations comes along, it's a breath of fresh air. With Christian music moving more and more towards becoming a facsimile of mainstream music (complete with ridiculous style sense and bravado), it's refreshing to find a band who considers their music not only an art and a job, but also a ministry.

Last year, after a day filled with laborious interviews, clever faith-based cliches, and all the Christian subculture "fluff", I was ready to call it a day. Waiting in the lobby of the Nashville Convention Center for my final interview, my exhaustion gave way to frustration. I was tired. I even considered bailing on my last interview .But then, Steven, Amanda, Lorin, and Alain showed up.

We did the typical question-and-answer deal that's pretty much obligatory for this sort of meeting, but then they did something different. They began asking me questions -- about my job, my personal life, how I was adjusting to marriage, and so on. What impressed me most about 1000 Generations was that they not only listened to what I had to say, but they actually cared. They nodded with empathy, smiled when I cracked a joke, and winced when I told them about something painful in my past. They prayed for me as our interview came to a close and sent me a handwritten "thank-you" note a week later. While bands like these are not completely unheard of in Christian music, they certainly seem to be the exception to the rule lately.

The name 1000 Generations comes from the group's desire to fulfill a promise that God makes in Deuteronomy 5:10: "showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." Face it: you have to love this band, if for no other reason than quoting a verse from Deuteronomy. That takes guts. (At least it wasn't Leviticus.)

"We've all been touched by God," Steven explained the vision for 1000 Generations. "We've been 'wrecked for the ordinary.' And we really believe that once we're wrecked for the ordinary, that our kids will be wrecked for the ordinary, and their kids will be wrecked for the ordinary, and... on down the line... We just really believe that when we have encounters with God -- when life change happens -- it changes [our lives], and it changes the generations that ensue."

Getting started with a Casio keyboard when he was 8, Steven has an interesting musical background, touring with the likes of Livingston Taylor (James Taylor's brother) and pursuing a mainstream musical career that was essentially ruined when he came to know Christ. "My life's forever changed. Everything that I had planned... it all got totally wrecked, and it's been amazing."

During our interview, Steven and Amanda shared how they started the band as a married couple and began to see the need to grow and take their ministry on the road. Initially, 1000 Generations was just the two of them, but after writing and recording their first album, they quickly realized that they couldn't replicate their sound live.

They added Lorin and Alain to the band and began touring, taking their responsibility as both musicians and ministers seriously. "The truth of it is that our whole purpose is to connect with other people... We feel way more comfortable praying for people than being interviewed."

1000 Generations reads every email, answers every comment, and loves to connect with their fans and future fans in a variety of personal ways. It's not surprising that a band like this would write a song called, "How Big Small Can Be," which was a title that immediately caught my attention when I first listened to their recent album release Turn Off the Lesser Lights.

"I've been a part of a lot of calls to social justice where I see really daunting statistics given," Amanda shared. "We can feel like our efforts are going to be completely useless. And a lot of times we're paralyzed as a result, because we know we can't change everything, so we don't do anything. 'How Big Small Can Be' talks just about that. If everybody just did something, those seemingly small efforts would be so huge in God's kingdom."

This vision is what drives 1000 Generations and is evident when you meet them. In addition to each person sponsoring a child and advocating for the usual slew of nonprofit organizations, they are truly making a big difference through small, meaningful acts that show that they care far more for people than for fame.

And that's what was so refreshing about them.

I was so inspired by 1000 Generations and the idea of "How Big Small Can Be" that I wrote another article about social justice issues and the impact of small efforts to change the world. You can read it here.

For a taste of their music, here's a music video of their single "Fail Us Not":

Share Your Story of Brokenness and Hope at Failusnot.com.

Listen to 1000 Generations on Myspace

Visit the 1000 Generations Website

Follow 1000 Generations on Twitter

Fantastic Mr. Fox: Roald Dahl's Classic Comes to Life

Sat, 2 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Fantastic Mr. Fox is a unique and quirky animated film fantastically filled with Wes Anderson spirit. Inevitably, it is the characters that make this film so unique.

Voiced by George Clooney, Mr. Fox is a clever, daring rogue who succeeds over every obstacle put before him, including his dangerous escapades stealing livestock from local farmers. Yet he has one thing holding him back: a family.

While Mr. Fox lives for adventure, Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) yearns for a normal life, in which she can be assured of her husband's safety. So following a few close calls and news of becoming a father, the sneaky thief promises to end his risky lifestyle. But refraining from a life of crime is eventually too much for Mr. Fox to handle.

After writing a column for a newspaper, buying a home he can't afford, and bottling up his feral instincts for a dozen fox years, he goes back to his old ways with his new sidekick Kylie (Wally Wolodarsky), a seemingly dense opossum. Except this time, Mr. Fox chooses the wrong victims: Boggis, Bunce and Bean are three unforgettable farmers who will stop at nothing to catch the culprit, even if it means bringing every other local vermin into the hunt.

While Mr. Fox reaps the consequences of acting like a wild animal, his character is relatively static. His son's, however, is not. Ash (Jason Schwartzman) is an eccentric runt with big ambitions to make his father proud but little athleticism to do so. He wants to be "successful" and popular, just like his dad, but he simply doesn't fit the mold, leaving him feeling alienated. Therefore, when his smart and sporty cousin, Kristofferson, visits, Ash is by no means pleased.

Throughout the plot, Ash makes countless, desperate efforts to be someone he is not, but these endeavors only lead to more problems and more conflict between him and his family, not to mention getting Kristofferson trapped by the three vengeful villains. But as the story unfolds, he begins to embrace his individuality and learns that he is genuinely loved despite how different he may be than his father.

Although the characters and plot alone make this film spectacular, there is more: Fantastic Mr. Fox is visually genius. Anderson has already accomplished bringing originality to standard film; he has now done the same with stop-motion animation. In comparison to the three-dimensional, computer-generated creatures prominent on screen today, these furry animals are far from realistic, but this is not unexpected of Anderson. He is notorious for creating unconventional, nonsensical sets and characters that astoundingly project reality in a way other films, on the opposite side of the spectrum, do not. An inventive, handmade set perfectly mixed with digital technology makes this film an optical novelty.

The film's ingeniousness, like all of Anderson's flicks, is enhanced with a well-crafted soundtrack. The original score by French composer Alexandre Desplat is precisely blended with pleasurable tracks by an array of artists, such as Burl Ives, the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones and the Bobby Fuller Four.

Because the movie is an adaptation of a children's book by Roald Dahl, like Spike Jonze's recent magnum opus, Where the Wild Things Are, the question certainly arises: Is this a film for kids? In terms of content, the film is unquestionably appropriate for young people, unless you take offense to profanity being replaced with the word "cuss," a humorous spoof on euphemisms practiced by the characters. The plot is elating; the characters are jaunty; and the themes are constructive.

Anderson's distinct style is the only element which may not digest well for little ones, but the same goes for adults. The ambiguity prominent in his films is not appreciated by everyone. Thus, Fantastic Mr. Fox's obscure set and deadpan humor could leave some moviegoers confused or unsatisfied. With that said, the film may very well be Anderson's best. It is colorful, unique and nearly flawless.

Although it won't get the attention it deserves because it's animated, Fantastic Mr. Fox is one of the best movies of 2009. You probably won't leave the theater reexamining your life, but you will definitely leave smiling.

Visit the Fantastic Mr. Fox movie site for more.

Read more reviews of Fantastic Mr. Fox on Rotten Tomatoes.

David is a copywriter, freelance writer and recent graduate of Southwestern Assemblies of God University. He enjoys spending time with his wife, family and friends, watching movies and drinking coffee.

Film Review of The Box: Provocative Picture of Hell

Fri, 1 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

One week night several weeks ago, my wife Ashley and I decided to see The Box, a movie with Frank Langella and Cameron Diaz that we thought would be a bit of a suspenseful thriller. I had no idea how wrong we would end up being.

The films starts off with Cameron Diaz's character Norma Lewis (who is a teacher) sharing with her class about existentialist philosopher Jean Sartre and his play No Exit. According to Sartre, she informs them, "Hell is other people." Sartre's picture of hell is, essentially, the movie's plot.

Through a series of unhappy coincidences, Lewis and her husband Arthur (played by James Marsden) discover the hellishness or not being able escape your mistakes, of being reminded of them by other people. One afternoon Arlington Steward (Langella) arrives on the Lewis' doorstep, offering them an opportunity to win a million dollars - if they will only push a button that consequently ends the life of a random person they don't say. Later on in the film, we learn that Steward should be dead, that he may be no long himself at all any more. He tells the Lewises that he got struck by lightning and has been able to communicate with "the lightning makers" ever since.

Apparently, these lightning makers are interested in testing humanity (what is referred to as the "experiment") - to see if there is any moral compass left on earth worth salvaging. So far in the process, they haven't found anything worth saving. This aspect of the film speaks volumes about morality and the temptations we all face and succumb to daily.

We never learn exactly who or what these lightning makers are, only that there is a certain deified trait to them. Although the movie is incredibly difficult to comprehend and follow, it paints a very clear picture of human depravity and what life (and eternity) could look like... without forgiveness. It reveals to us the justice we all deserve - the constant reminding of our failures and the judgment those transgressions merit.

Without a doubt, it was the film-makers' intent to tie in the plot of The Box with the theme of Sartre's No Exit; in fact, at one point in the film, Norma and Arthur find the words "no exit" written on their car's windshield after leaving a party where they are hounded by their .

Throughout the film, they are constantly reminder of the fact that they cannot escape their one sin that haunts them. Towards the end of the film, the two actually wonder out loud if they are in Purgatory, but no answer is given. When asked, Arlington Steward only smirks with the half of his face that hasn't been cauterized by a lightning bolt. Anxiously, Norma (Diaz) pleads with desperation, "Can I not be forgiven?" As she uttered the words, my heart leaped in the theater. In the film, the question lingers. Finally, Steward answers in that eerie Langella voice, "I don't know..."

This was my favorite part of the movie, because this is the question we all are asking (even existentialists): Can we be forgiven?

It is the one thing we all are longing to know: Can I really be forgiven of all my mistakes and failures? Can the past be washed away and blotted out... forever? Or am I condemned to find no escape from all of my shortcomings? The movie lets you wonder. It even presents an unpleasant alternative to having your sins washed away. I won't give away the ending; I'll only say that where this story does not resolve, ours can, thankfully.

We all have constant reminders of our personal moral failures in life - the things that bug our consciences when we are daydreaming or lying awake in bed at night. We all have skeletons in the closet and demons in our past that taunt us, reminding us of how short we've fallen from perfection. Without grace, these memories haunt us, terrorize us today so that we may never be free of yesterday. In The Box (and in No Exit), a person's indiscretions are never forgotten. That would be hell, indeed.

I'd recommend The Box for no other reason than these undertones that an uncareful viewer might miss. Nonetheless, they are there. In many ways, this film resembles the account in Genesis 3 of Adam and Eve's fall. We are all faced with decisions that determine our fate, and this could not be more clear than with the story of Norma and Arthur and the unfortunate box that ends up on their door step. It's a haunting depiction of the evil of which we are all capable, but it also carries with a few twinges of hope. Occasionally, we need a jarring account of reality, however unsettling it may be. It helps us better appreciate grace.

Since this review is a bit late (my apologies), you may have to catch it on DVD. It may be better that way any way, since you may have to watch it more than once.

Watch the official trailer of The Box on YouTube

Book Review: He Is Just That into You

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

As I took a look at the cover again of He Is Just That into You, the phrase beneath the title struck me. It reads, "Stories of a Faithful God who Pursues, Engages, and has No Fear of Commitment."

I couldn't help but remember that flick that came out last Valentine's Day, entitled, yes; you guessed it, He Is Just Not That into You. Memories of the girls and I packing it up and in for the theatre, popcorn and soda in hand. The interesting parallel of similarity of a few words, yet completely different meaning, is just by one word: not. As the movie demonstrates the conditionality of love, the games, the rules, except for the exception that may become the rule, there is always that string of hope that your situation that screams exception could become the rule....maybe? That kind of hope leaves you to strife, trying to prove and earn your worth.

Again, the phrase on the title page sums it up, that unconditional love that we were both made for and get to experience.

Upon first viewing author Elisabeth Corcoran's video trailer for this book, her warmth and honesty struck me. Here was a woman sharing her life, stories, and struggles with me on this video. It pulled me in, and I felt like I could relate to her and relate to the God she talked about too.

So I dove in, curled up on my bed with my reading light, heater, blankets, and book in hand. Usually most impacted by stories, this book is a compilation of short stories through the lens of Ms. Corcoran, looking at God through different experiences.

I always appreciate hearing about the journeys of others, as it gives another viewpoint of life and helps to enlarge yours at the same time. I felt throughout the book as if I was sitting at a caf with her, hearing her talk about her life, her experiences in Africa and at home, some with humor, others with a more serious inflection. Kind of all mixed together, sort of like life.

Both her writing and life exude a realness and purity of truth that is encouraging in the midst of life questions. I believe Ms. Corcoran values details, as she demonstrates in her writings, as well as how she packaged her book sent for this review.

Attached with the book that she signed was a card in which she appreciated thanks and her business card which was different than any I have seen and had a comfort to both the look and feel of it. Details, small things. Sometimes it's those very things that seem to make the most difference and impact.

My only complaint is that as I found myself getting drawn into the stories they would finish. Having two other books published under her belt, I would enjoy checking out her other works as well as future books including longer stories.

It appears that Ms. Corcoran has a solid base of readers and supporters and it seems that her work as both an author and speaker ministers to a more specific group of people, using her experiences to both encourage those in similar places, as well as use her platform to further social justice efforts.

You can read more about her here, on her webpage, where you can also purchase her books or locate her speaking schedule.

Sarah enjoys creating new things and old alike while traveling to new places. She enjoys art and restoration, a good cup of tea, and puppies. You can access her assortment of artistic entourages she creates here.

Community: Seeing Through The Eyes Of A Homeless Man

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Oakland, California, Winter 2006

The night was still. An eerie still, where a stream of peace was surrounded by tensions of strongholds in the community, foundations, and air. We set off for the evening, midnight ministry of delivering hot meals to those on the streets seasoned with prayer and conversation for those in need.

Like radar, one of our leaders starts to move forward as we exit our vehicles stopping in a desolate place. He walks with intention and turns the corner to sneak behind a building behind another building. A place of solace for some, one man in particular. As we delve further into this area, the night becomes serene, lonely. The quietness brings a lull into the air, not one of relaxation but stillness that has nothing left. I stop in my tracks and observe. I see my two leaders, jovial, smiling, hand shaking, nodding, and laughing. They must know this man. Reaching up from the pavement, his upper body reaches towards them to extend a handshake. I see this man's eyes, his soft smile that makes his eyes crinkle with joy and sorrow.

He shares of his day; he shares of his past hardships facing the most recent deaths of dear loved ones and friends, a string of deaths and losses. Yet he still smiles. He sleeps on pavement behind a desolate building, alone in this cold and dreary night, and still carries hope. He embraces this small moment with other humans, embraces the relationships he has in front of them. He wastes no time making small talk and brushing over the surface, but shares. He shares of the things that carry meaning, the real things he feels and experiences from the loss of a loved one to a new barber in town.

He recognizes these moments to be special and realizes unity coming from a place of vulnerability, and this connection and moment he must not miss. For it is in this connection and moment that a need is met, a need deep in his heart and the hearts of those surrounding him.

I long to stay here all night, observing their interactions and relationships and after a few many minutes our leaders and this man know that the time has come to get going. He recognizes that there are others out there besides him, yet his face expresses thankfulness for this short time. As the conversation winds to a close, there is a sadness that pulls at one to stay longer yet a great grace and understanding out of his gratitude that our time has come to a close.

In a few short moments we will walk away, leaving this man to his pavement, hot meal, and dark silence. Silence once lulling and chilling is now a warm memory in this man's heart. A memory that touched his life and my life, showing and teaching me about gratitude, community, love, and vulnerability. And not wasting the moments you are given.

He seizes every moment, and I want to be like him.

Abandon Kansas: Interview With The Band

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Abandon Kansas, rising indie pop/rock band, recently released their debut release from Gotee Records, We're All Going Somewhere. Wrecked for the Ordinary had a chance to catch up with Jeremy Spring, lead vocalist for the band, for an interview. Here's how it went down:

1) Why this album, why now?

I wrote the music and lyrics for We're All Going Somewhere on the road. I think the six songs on this ep are a great transition from our old sound into the direction we're headed musically and lyrically. In the past we had a much poppier sound drenched in lyrics about heartbreak. The music on this disc is a step in a more mature direction and the lyrics emphasize broader issues of faith and philosophy. We were happy the Gotee was ready to put new material out right away, it's been two years since our last full band release.

2) What are your inspiration for your lyrics, what does the process look like when you all write your songs?

We wrote half of these songs before we even knew Gotee was putting this cd out. Since it was written across the country across 6-7 months of touring, I feel like the sounds and attitudes change frequently, sometimes mid song. I write the words first, then find a melody and chord progression to wrap around the lyrics. Once I have the skeleton of the song figured out I bring the ideas to the band and the guys add their flavor. Since we can only practice once a week or so on the road, we have to write our parts and commit to them fast. Our songs are always evolving since we spread out the writing time. This winter we're trying a new style of writing as a band. It'll be much more concentrated and focused. We'll see how that goes!

3) What are your thoughts about the song "I wonder if its me"?

This song was written in response to all of the people we meet at our shows on tour. Seems like everyone hates where they are from. They make claims such as, "When I get out of here, then I'll be able to make something of myself" or "If I could just move to such and such city then I'd be able to what I've been called to do." It's the kind of "grass is greener on the other side" mentality that is getting a lot of people our age into trouble.

As a band, the four of us get to be in a different city every night, yet we struggle with the same issues we do at home, and then some. This song is a message to our listeners that our struggles with sin and finding out life's calling rarely have much to do with our location and circumstances. When things continually go wrong despite the change in scenery, you have to start to look in the mirror.

4) Where do you think music is going, both now and in the future?

Music always goes two ways for me. What's popular, and what's art. Occasionally those lines get blurred and true artists create something popular. I think we'll continue to see the pioneers of the music realm discover new sounds, new instruments, and new combinations of genres. Then pop culture will take those elements, blow them way out of proportion, and exhaust the ideas until the general public moves on to the next thing. I don't see this cycle slowing down anytime soon, if anything it's speeding up. A few artists are still coming out with timeless songs though, and those are the ones that people will gravitate to the most.

5) How are you all included with where you think music is going, how do you expect and envision your group to respond?

Our label and our resources are pre-dominately involved in the christian music scene. However, as a band, I couldn't tell you a christian band that we listen to regularly. I hope that our band can continue to stay true to the artistic side of creating music that sounds good to all kinds of people without forgetting our roots in the church.

6) The title of your album is, We're All Going Somewhere. Where do you think we are going? How are we getting there?

We're all going somewhere is a simple title expressing how we all have goals, we all have things we're shooting for, and we all have a story. A story that's worth hearing. These songs are stories of our band and my faith journey. On the road we get to hear other people's stories and it's powerful. Ultimately, I think that each decision we make, big or small, has us headed towards God or away from Him. Even hesitation moves us away from Him, because our God does not stand still.

I want people to think about their lives, to think about where they are headed. I want them to start heading there today, not in a few years. I want them to think about the story their life is telling, and I want them to set out to make their life a story worth telling.

Visit the Abandon Kansas Band Website.

Listen to Abandon Kansas on Myspace.

Buy We're All Going Somewhere on Amazon.

Review: Just Wealth

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Justice Project organizes itself by presenting different short chapters from various authors, collaborating to present a book full of opinions on justice related issues. Highlighted now is the segment entitled, Just Wealth.

I've read many a books on justice, articles, short stories, numbing my brain on all of their information, specifically in this past year of graduate school for economic development. The thread of conversation is usually the same, addressing personal and corporate sin, and systematic and structural barriers of injustice.

Though the foundation of such understanding is helpful, I find that if I dwell on the questions that these ideas propose for too long, I end up going in circles and want to become a martyr in the end to redeem all the injustice in the world. Injustice in that form, has brought me to a place of helplessness and pain, with no solution, except to hold another academic discussion. What about grace? What about life? What about the God of justice?

Does such God exist in the midst of hurting people, hungry children I would see daily in my neighborhood a few years ago? The family denied a meal at an old volunteer site, so hungry that their daughter was drinking the free coffee offered for adults. Is that justice? How can you reconcile what you see with what you know, and not take on a false stance of false compassion, becoming poor to become one with another, serve out of pity and not out of love, and not establish justice for others for the sake of redeeming your own non-vindicated soul.

These were the questions and struggles I've had over the past few years regarding justice and poverty. Yet I can say with confidence that I do believe and know a God who is in the midst of all these situations and desperately cares for the broken hearted, widows, and orphans. He uses us to do it and accomplish his works of love, prayer, and justice over this land.

Another common theme of discussion these past few years was regarding money, wealth. I ended up blaming and becoming bitter at all the wealthy people in the world who I perceived at that time, as causing all the povery I saw during my time living in the inner city of Oakland. Though there is truth to systematic injustice and how wealth is used and distributed, I was hating people God had asked me to love, because he died for them too. He wasn't a respector of persons and he was asking me to do and love with what I knew, when others did not know any better. Instead, at that time, I used it to fuel my angry justice, which was vindication for me and injustices I experienced growing up and not releasing that responsibility to the Lord, for He is the God of vindication.

Yet we are not passive watchers, but active givers of life and love, listening for instruction and saying no when needed. I've heard that passage, "When you were hungry you fed me, when you were thirsty, you gave me something to drink." That quote has haunted me at times, with guilt of not responding to every hungry or thirsty person I saw, as well as getting on the bandwagon of people using that to yell at every passive person I perceived to be doing nothing.

Through all of this I have learned that wealth can be a good thing, if not accompanied by a wealthy heart, but a heart of generosity instead. I have learned to lay down my finger that I used to point so easily at others and look at my heart instead, yielding to change and the work of the holy spirit in my heart. Though its not as fun at times when I want a quick fix, it makes me feel lighter and more free, because its eternal, true, and real. I think thats love. Being able to receive it and give it out. Not filtered or fueled by bitterness but by life.

Just Wealth gives a good foundation to the understandings of personal and corporate responsibilty, but read it with an open heart to discern what else God has said and what he is asking you to do and become.

A Tale of Two iPods: Creative Ideas

Tue, 1 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

"I'm not a bad person, mister. I don't know what happened... what I was thinking. It's like I went insane or something. I guess I just wanted what everyone else had." I heard these words this morning, before school, around 7:30 am. In front of me was a girl on the verge of tears, an A student in my class, a person who like every one of us, made a really dumb mistake.

This past Friday, before class was let out, I found out that two students had had their iPods stolen. After calling the school police, holding the students in for an extra twenty minutes, and trying in vain to find out if anyone knew anything ("I'm not a snitch, mister" was pretty much what everyone said), I let the class out, disheartened and feeling helpless. I remember writing down in my prayer journal on Friday, "Request #21: the return of two iPods 10/23/09."

Tired of forgetting God's faithfulness to my prayer requests, I've started listing my requests, with a date I started praying about it, and a date when it was answered. And yet I was doubtful; probably 90% of my students have gotten their iPod or cell phone jacked at some point, and most of them do not have happy endings. However, when I am faithless, He is faithful.

This morning, as I was preparing for first period, the girl walked in and confessed. She said that this whole weekend she felt this crazy weight of guilt. It reminded me of Psalm 32:4, "For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer." As I was thinking of this, and as she left with that weight off her shoulders, 10 minutes later, another student came in crying, pretty much saying the exact same thing. After five minutes of discussion, I sat in my desk, stunned... and with two iPods on my desk.

Perhaps, I should have exacted discipline from these students... asked for their transfer from my class, sent them to the assistant principal for suspensions, made an example of them in my class. But I couldn't help but see myself in their shoes, coming into God's classroom, trying to explain the unexplainable... moments of insanity that lead me to really dumb mistakes. And I know that, although He can demand justice, He offers mercy. And while I am not God, I decided to offer mercy.

In the end, when students asked what happened, and who the culprits were, I simply said, "I'm not a snitch." My students are good people, and yet it seems like there is such a sense of desperation and depravity in their community, one in which stealing and fighting are okay and acceptable... a society in which minding your own business is valued over compassion. It is a community of fear... fear of retaliation, fear of vulnerability, fear of victimization. And that drives me insane, knowing that these wonderful students are held hostage by a prevailing attitude that declares, "Just worry about you."

Coming back to the reality of the situation, I have found that some people steal from others because they have been stolen from, or because they simply do not have. While wrestling with this idea of how to stop this cycle of injustice... I came up with a crazy idea. Here's my thought: having a collection of old but functional iPods to loan out to students for an indefinite period of time. Students who do not have music devices can use them for however long they want (a month, five years, forever, etc).

However, if in the future, they decide to buy a newer iPod or other mp3 device, they would simply be asked to return the loaned iPod. If the iPod gets jacked, they have risked nothing; that all falls on me. Students would be unable to "steal" the iPod from me simply because it is offered as a gift. Perhaps the biggest thing, though, as I contemplate whether this is completely ludicrous or not, is this: in order for my students to start developing trust in anyone else, they first need to see that trust given to them. More than history, or math, or science, these students need someone to teach them how to have faith in other people... to show them how to trust others.

I know this makes probably no sense at all, but I can't help but feel like at the very least, if iPods are offered for free on a permanent loan basis, students will stop jacking each other and start jacking me. And I think I can live with that. I will tell you what I told my students. In the end, the iPods and phones, the money and cars and clothes we wear, will not mean anything. If that is the case, then why should we hold on to them so dearly?

"Prayer Request #22: For God to overpower a community of fear with His free gift of love... and iPods. 10/26/09" If you are interested in speaking to Drew about this, donating your old iPods, or offering it up for purchase or barter, you can contact Drew here, at adrwpark@gmail.com.

Drew is a high school teacher in a low-income neighborhood. His students make fun of his robot dance, but deep down, he knows they are pretty impressed. He is extremely passionate about God's heart for social justice, as well as the UCLA Bruins and the Boston Red Sox.

Abiding: A Poem

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Abiding

The branch, hanging low and proud on the tree,
Stays connected somehow.
Such a lifestyle is tangible, to say the least.
You can look right at it and see the joint.

And the tree, rising tall and steady,
Stays connected to the earth,
Into which it has sunk its roots deeply.
And this connection too,
Is a tangible one,
One that eyes can turn toward
and see.

And the earth, low and dirty,
Is connected to every living thing,
Finding life within it and upon it.
Though this particular connection,
This thing we so vaguely call gravity,
Is slightly less visible,
It is no less tangible,
Except to birds,
Airplanes,
And astronauts.
But even then, it is not unfelt,
Only overcome.

And people, fragile amalgamations of blessings and curses,
We are connected to Yahweh,
The One who blesses,
The One who creates,
The One who makes all things connected,
And connects all connections to himself.

And we have a choice to make:
Do we remain in our connection,
Do we seek to be sustained by branching our lives out from Yahweh's very core?
Do we seek nutrients from the soils of prayer?
Do we ground ourselves with gravity and humility?

Or do we fight to overcome
The connection we are born into?

We can overcome it,
If we so choose.
Yet what becomes of the branch
That refuses to remain connected to the tree,
Or to the tree that pulls up its roots?
Or to the bird
Or plane
Or astronaut
Who decides never to touch land again?

Harold lives in the midst of the beautiful mountains and streams of New England, and works as a program guide and teacher at a therapeutic alternative high school program in Vermont. He received his Bachelor's of Arts in English from Green Mountain College, in Poultney, VT. Harold is currently doing life with the Dwell Missional Community in Burlington, VT, where he is helping to organize a Kingdom arts co-op. The website will be up soon: www.intothemidst.com

Video: Matt Brouwer Performs "Come Back Around"

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Indie folk artist (and Canadian expatriate) Matt Brouwer performs his song "Come Back Around" live, exclusively for a Wrecked for the Ordinary audience (that's right, you!). This song is off of Matt's new justice-minded album, Where's Our Revolution?, his third album to date.

Find out more about Matt Brouwer at MattBrouwer.com. Also, be looking out for the video interview with him on Wrecked soon!

Switchfoot's Hello Hurricane: Song by Song Review with Introduction by Jon Foreman

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Introduction

by Jon Foreman

The storms of this life shatter our plans. They tear through our world and destroy our hopes and dreams. They ruin sunny days, flatten the structures we depend on, and shock our world views. Hello Hurricane is an attempt to sing into the storm. Hello Hurricane is a declaration: you can't silence my love. My plans will fail, the storms of this life will come, and chaos will disrupt even my best intentions, but my love will not be destroyed. Beneath the sound and the fury there is a deeper order still- deeper than life itself. An order that cannot be shaken by the storms of this life. There is a love stronger than the chaos, running underneath us- beckoning us to go below the skin-deep externals, beyond the wind, even into the eye of the storm. Hello Hurricane, you're not enough- you can't silence my love.

I've seen storms in my life. I've even seen them pass through on stage. I've witnessed chaos and dissonance overtake a song. But after the rain, some of these unsettling musical experiences become my favorite moments: the ones that can't be planned, rehearsed, or repeated. This was not an easy record to make; we were fighting to get somewhere we had never been. Looking back at the ground we covered I'm certain that every moment (even the more difficult ones) were meaningful to the final push. I'm so honored to have been a part of this record- to share these experiences with Tim, Chad, Drew, Jerome and everyone else who helped in the struggle for excellence. In many ways, these songs are like children to me and I'm honored to be able to introduce you to them first-hand.

Hello Hurricane Song-by-Song Review

by Jesse Medina

I'm not a media reviewer. So when I received a copy of Switchfoot's new album to write a review on, I knew I was in over my head. Having never reviewed music before, attempting to dissect one of my favorite bands' albums was a little intimidating, but being able to be among the lucky few to listen early was worth it. This will not be a technical review - I will not be analyzing their blend of instruments or how difficult their music is to make - since, well, I know nothing about that. Instead, I will be reviewing the overall listen-ability of their album, rating each song, listening for trends, and attempting to determine how much the average Switchfoot listener would like this album. Stream the album here and read along

Needle and Haystack Life

The first track opens with an obvious grunge feel and soon leads into a guitar riff setting the mood for the whole song. When the first lyrics come through the speakers, you can't help but think of Coldplay or even U2. While it certainly isn't your typical Switchfoot sound, the song is somewhat catchy, though definitely not as much as the first tracks on their three previous albums (i.e. Oh! Gravity, Lonely Nation, or Meant to Live). While the lyrics and overall sound are good, they don't seem to be ones that you'll find yourself singing in the shower like some of their earlier works, particularly those found on their "Best of" album put out in 2008.

Favorite lyric: "We are once in a lifetime."

Individual Song Rating: 4 out of 5

Mess of Me

Very raw, Mess of Me ups the quality of both musical sound and lyrics from the first track, making for a song that is extremely good. Notably, the song is strikingly consistent: the message of the lyrics (I am my own affliction, I've made a mess of me, etc.) matches the "messy" sound of the music. It is not surprising that Switchfoot chose this song to release early - it is excellent and definitely one of the top three on this album along with This is the Sound and Hello Hurricane. Be sure to check out the Mess of Me video at the end of this article!

Favorite lyric: "The sickness is myself."

Individual Song Rating: 5 out of 5

Your Love is a Song

This one has a great opening as it begins with soft melodic tones only to be interrupted with a "Yeah" by Jon and an immediate punch in the music...and then softens back down. It is definitely very different for Switchfoot. I can't say I'm particularly fond of the lyrics particularly in the chorus (Your love is a symphony...). I've always loved Switchfoot's ability to write lyrics that contain a great deal of depth while preserving a certain poetic/symbolic quality that communicates beyond the typical Christian vernacular which only makes their music appealing to a wider audience - a fact that I think gives them an evangelistic advantage. But this song seems very Christian-y and for Switchfoot, that's not a good thing. Not a bad song, just not the quality of stuff we've come to expect from Switchfoot.

Favorite lyric: "Your love is my remedy."

Individual Song Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Sound (John M. Perkins Blues)

With a grungy feel, this song opens with a guitar riff that has an almost electric sound...not like electric guitar, though - more like the snap of the arc in a taser. The song has a noticeably darker feel than even Mess of Me, like the kind of music you would hear while watching a movie fight scene (or a Blackberry commercial). It definitely makes one of their top three for this album. More importantly, the lyrics here typify the kind of talent that makes Switchfoot's appeal so broad highlighting themes that speak to deep-set realities recognized by believers as well as non-believers. Listeners will definitely pick up on some themes hashed out in their 2005 Nothing is Sound album.

Favorite Lyric: "There is no sound louder than love."

Individual Song Rating: 5 out of 5

Enough to Let Me Go

They left out the grunge on this song and went with a softer ballad. There are definitely some overtones from Jon's solo EPs being carried into this song with a strong acoustic presence, softer drums, and wispy vocals. While it doesn't have the "pop" that the other songs on this album have managed to find the chorus is fantastic and transparent. The bridge, on the other hand, isn't very good sound-wise and the vocals seem to be unable to find a good mix with the rest of the music, but the lyrics are powerful.

Favorite Lyric: "Do you love me enough to let me go?"

Individual Song Rating: 4 out of 5

Free

With a drum lead and faint acoustic overtones this song starts off with a lighter feel, but that quickly changes with the first electric strum giving it a noticeably darker feel. The lyrical content has strong Biblical overtones and, though I couldn't imagine this particular arrangement fitting, the chorus would make for a powerful worship song. That said, there may be some Gnosticism creeping its way into their lyrics as they seem to be hinting at the body being bad when they sing, "Inside this shell there's a prison cell." The ending of this song is particularly good with a strong string presence: violins, cello - beautiful.

Favorite Lyric: "Inside this shell there's a prison cell."

Individual Song Rating: 4 out of 5

Hello Hurricane

The song starts with something like chaotic synthetic "shrieks," which creates a sort of mysterious beauty before leading into rhythmic acoustic strumming. It is the best intro on the album. With the overall sound and lyrical content, this is their happiest song so far and fitting considering their using it as their title track. There are pronounced themes of hope, courage, perseverance, and love flowing throughout. At first listen, this song doesn't stick out as one of the best on this album, but with time and the repeat function, that changes. Definitely top three and perhaps even the best of all.

Favorite Lyric: "You can't silence my love."

Individual Song Rating: 5 out of 5

Always Yours

A soft piano and soothing strings provide the background to Jon's soft singing of the first verse before picking up slightly with pronounced, but not overpowering drums going into the second. From there the song maintains a sort of from-the-gut love ballad complete with strained vocals and heavy strings. Beautiful lyrics, heartfelt singing - this would be a great worship song as-is. Among the slower songs on the album, it is the best.

Favorite Lyric: "Hallelujah! Every breath is the second chance."

Individual Song Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Bullet Soul

This song brings the grunge back, though definitely not as hard as Mess of Me and This is the Sound. Overall, the song harkens back to some of their earlier stuff and the lyrics are well-written even if they contain somewhat cheesy Christian clichs at times (i.e. "I want to glow in the dark"). Jon also takes his hardcore-ness up a notch with some screaming at the end. This one may be a secret standout song for some, but for others it will lack the punch and catchiness to put it at the top of the list.

Favorite Lyric: "Love is the only art."

Individual Rating: 4 out of 5

Yet

A cool synthesizer intro with kick drum, this one quickly takes the form of some of Jon's EP stuff and incorporates a "24" feel - soft and deep. The lyrical content of this song represents some of the paradox present within Christianity preserving a sort of honest questioning. The best part is the repetition of their "But you haven't lost me yet," lyrics giving the song a profoundly hopeful message.

Favorite Lyric: "If it doesn't break you're heart it isn't love."

Individual Song Rating: 4 out of 5

Sing It Out

The intro on this song feels almost western-y, which is kind of weird. Early on, the music is somewhat eerie and the lyrics shape the theme for this song: a cry of grief, of loneliness...of prayer. But as the song goes on, it begins to build with hope. With the chorus, they are emphasizing themes of song, melody, etc which were previously brought out on Your Love is a Song. The bridge is definitely the best part of this song. Interestingly there isn't a drum presence until about three and a half minutes into the song. Good ending with a string instrumental.

Favorite Lyric: "You be my remedy."

Individual Song Rating: 4 out of 5

Red Eyes

A very Christmas-y intro, their last track opens with what sounds like bells setting out a distinctly hopeful feel from the beginning. Lyrically, this song will remind listeners of some of their other stuff (This Is Your Life, Home, etc.) given the question asked throughout the song, "What are you waiting for?" The overall message of the song seems to be pushing through the fatigue/exhaustion (i.e. red eyes) of life and holding on, pushing through. The song ends by drawing in lyrics from the preceding songs on this album indicating that this is perhaps the message they've been working on the whole time. Sadly, though, many listeners may not tune in long enough to realize that, as the song itself lacks the listenability that most of the others on this album do.

Favorite Lyric: "I'm aiming for home."

Individual Song Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Conclusion

There are three things you'll find that standout from this album. The first is the grunge. They really kept the sound on this one rough and raw - in a good way. Though that is definitely more pronounced in the first half of the album. Second is the common threads of love, remedy, and melody - these get drawn out of nearly every song creating an album born out of brokenness, but filled with hope and prayer looking forward to something better. Finally, the lyrics: while most songs maintain usual Switchfoot genius, there are some that degrade into common Christian imagery and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, one of Switchfoot's strengths which has always set them apart from other Christian artists is that they overcame the status quo and thought outside the box drawing on language that, while not particularly Christian, was incredibly profound.

Overall, I predict that the average Switchfoot listener will give this album a 4 out of 5 which means when considered alone, it is great music. The question is...is it as good as their previous album, Oh! Gravity? I'll let you decide.

Extras

Jesse is a twenty-something married guy living in Colorado who is trying to figure out what it means to be a follower of Christ in the 21st Century. He owns a couple of leather-bound books, but doesn't have a clue what mahogany smells like. He's not a big deal, but he does enjoy writing on his newly re-branded blog, Now But Not Yet.

Paul Baloche: Glorious Release

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Every believer has signposts for the journey of faith -- the day we encounter our Savior, the challenges that uncover our deep need for Him, the moments we experience God's faithfulness.

For Paul Baloche, this spiritual journey is marked by songs, music that has moved from personal touchstones to collective signposts for millions of believers. Intimate prayers that have become global anthems.

"Songwriting is a big part of my spiritual life," Paul shares. "It helps me go deeper with God. It helps me fix my mind on Jesus, to set my mind on things above. It keeps my own heart fresh and alive, for myself, my family and the Church."
"When I'm writing songs," Paul says, "I think, Will this help the Church worship God? Will this help people connect with Him?' I want to make music that they can believe in."

In short, Paul writes songs that the Church sings worldwide with translations of his songs in Spanish, Korean, French, Portuguese and more. It's a calling he doesn't take lightly.

"When I'm writing worship songs," Paul notes, "I realize that I'm putting words into the mouths of God's people. I'm giving them a vocabulary to sing back to God. And when they sing those words, hopefully it will act as a catalyst in their hearts, so something will happen in them. Because when we sing something, it goes down deep into our soul."

"Glorious is about the adventure of being led by a living, active God," Paul says. "It's about looking beyond the cross, to look behind the mystery, to see the risen Savior. For us to live in the new covenant idea that Jesus Christ is alive in us. Instead of only looking back 2,000 years, we see the risen Christ now. Learning to be led by His Spirit, guided by His Spirit, and to discern the language of His Spirit."

The songs highlight Paul's ability to transform personal revelations into universal truths that resonate with every believer. The record's title track suggests another anthem for the church, a song that looks back to one of Paul's most memorable musical signposts, "Open the Eyes of My Heart."
Paul recalls, "My pastor told me that Glorious feels like an answer to Open the Eyes of My Heart.' That original cry of my own heart. Glorious paints a picture of seeing Jesus for who He is, as the risen Christ and the living God."

The album's first single, "Just To Be With You," offers a different, though no less profound, view of our God and our reliance on Him."

"'Just To Be With You' is simply about intimacy with God," Paul says. "With all of the stuff in this world that overwhelms us, no matter what happens, all I want is to be with You' as I'm walking through this life."

"Shaken," a powerful track written by Paul's wife, Rita, acknowledges the uncertain times we live in while sharing the solace found by resting in God no matter what life brings our way.

"Life is going to shake us," Paul says. "Storms are going to come. The only thing that's going to remain is what we've invested in God... sinking our roots down deep into God's Spirit."

Filled with songs of hope, praise, and adoration, Glorious affirms Paul's legacy as one of today's premiere worship artists and songwriters. But he desires to give more than music to the church. Through Leadworship.com and a variety of resource materials that he developed, Paul is committed to encouraging and equipping the next generation of worship leaders.

"I'm just trying to press into God, to keep my own heart right, and to encourage and help the Church worship."

Find out more about Paul Baloche at http://www.integritymusic.com/.

Truth and Love

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Truth and Love. (And True Love.)

I work at a garden center. That means one thing: a lot of dirt. The other day, while shoveling some of said dirt, I found myself realizing something: I am dirt. Physically. We'll all end up there someday. There's no escaping the fate of our bodies. They are cages, time bombs we are bound to, waiting to inevitably fail us one day. So what do we do with this life we have? How do we avoid the dirt? The truth is: life is messy and dirty, because we are messy and dirty.

But out of the dirt, with a little love, something can bloom that is beautiful, and alive.

There is a void within us, something everyone can relate to. This feeling that something is missing, that there has to be something better out there. People let us down, money lets us down, plans let us down. Some run to religion, treating it as life insurance after death. Are all faiths and philosophies the same? Is truth relative?

The wise man is always found at the top of the insurmountable mountain, sitting cross legged, waiting for someone to finally make it all the way up. No one ever does. There are many ways to try to get up the mountain, all of them leading to eventual destruction. These are the false ways of life we've created to try and find happiness without God. Only Jesus Christ comes down from the peak. He meets us where we are: in the valley, in the shadows, in death. The most beautiful thing is that we can continually fail but never be counted lost! Now isn't that an encouraging thought.

I love that Jesus didn't simply fly down here and hand us a bunch more rules written on a stone than hop on a cloud back to heaven. The world could have used another carpenter, another doctor, and another teacher. Jesus was all these things. What we NEEDED, however, was a savior. And wow, did we get one! He lived, He got dirty, He built relationships, and He died. He laid himself down first. Now we have the opportunity to lay down our lives to benefit something much greater than ourselves.

I was watching a meteor shower the other night, and I found myself feeling incredibly small. The more dramatic pieces of God's creation tend to give me that feeling. That used to really scare me. I would lay in bed at night, barely being able to breathe at the thought of being so insignificant. Lately, however, I take comfort in it. Each of our small stories are patched into a much deeper, time-spanning meta-narrative that tells the whole story of humanity. And the story has already been written. We just get to live it. I think that's incredibly exciting.

Lately I've been on this kick about Truth. What is Truth? How do I recognize it? Does it even exist? How about true love? Long story short, after much searching, I think I've found Truth. Its' relational. It's a person. Truth has shown its face. Truth has smiled, shed tears, and spread its arms to be nailed to a cross. But it wasn't held down by a few pieces of wood and a some nails. Truth defeated death.

If Christ is the perfect portrait of truth and the perfect example of love, then it makes sense that Jesus is true love. We could all use a little more truth and a little more love. And a lot more true love.

Jesus is always knocking at the door. For the longest time I had the door open, but made Him stay outside on the front porch, at a safe distance. Then I let love in. A relationship with Jesus brings a joyful, peaceful, childlike, creative, organic, redemptive, symphonic vitality to life not normally found in our conformist culture. Escape the drab continuum of this world. Live passionately, and wildly. Invest in someone. For the longest time I was trapped inside myself, living only for me. Real joy comes with others. The benefits of community and loving people far outweigh any pain that comes with it. A very wise person had this thought: "Happiness: only real when shared."

I hope I'm not sounding preachy. I'm one big failure. I'm broken-hearted. But there's hope. I read somewhere that God's message is like a seed, sitting on top of your heart. It's there your entire life, until that moment when your heart is shattered. At that point in your life when everything seems lost, your heart breaks in two, and seed falls inside. Then something is born, and it grows. Something beautiful.

Tommy is a freshman at The Ohio State University. He's had three different majors in the first month of college. He likes music, running, and powerful things. Jesus rocks his world.

Eco-Friendly Art: Organic Photo Albums

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Ready for the holidays?

You know the drill. The typical family, friend, or workplace gatherings around the holiday time. With November quickly approaching, it is not unlikely that we will soon be bustling in lines at 5 a.m. while head locking that stranger to get that last...well, you fill in the blank. I know, I went there. Speak for yourself you say? I'll be the first to agree with you.

The holidays are a time for thanksgiving, relishing and remembering what we remember everyday, the relationships and resources we have and the source of those. Though it has become many different things throughout the years, pushing consumption, let us consider not ditching the bandwagon of consumers, but reform our perspective and attitude?

Gifts can be a good thing. They can be affirming, filling a need, and a way to express something positive. In anything, there can be overkill of these things, especially during the holiday season. However, like any birthday, the birthday of Jesus Christ can be a time to pause again, and enjoy the gatherings that creates during this season and ways to express that to those we care about.

I enjoy creating presents for others or shopping local shops or sellers. Forest City photo albums is a great example of these, as it combines art with eco-friendliness.

Speaking with Jim Green, owner of Forest City Photo Albums, he mentions:

Forest City photo albums has organic photo albums available in over 80 different designs, each in small, medium, and large. Every one is handcrafted on the island of Bali in southern Indonesia, which is full of jungle acreage where the materials which go into the manufacture of these albums grow naturally, 12 months out of the year, right outside the front door of the craft shop--items such as bamboo, seeds, leaves, and flowers.

You may have heard from any number of sources over the past few years that your pictures stored in the standard drug store photo albums are in danger of getting bleached out over the years due to the presence of some dangerous chemicals in the plastic pages-something called polyvinyl chlorides, or PVCs. Our album pages are made of something akin to construction paper-totally safe for your cherished photos, whether wedding, vacation, family or pet photos.

The scrap-booking movement went toward the use of natural materials that would assist the environment while protecting keepsakes in the documentation of such memories. If the lack of time or talent presents itself to you, these albums are an excellent way to satisfy your creative niche, while providing a unique quality gift.

So, if you need another option for Aunt Sue besides sitting for hours to knit that scarf she subtlly seems to hint for, check out Forest City Photo albums here and peruse their collection.

Sarah enjoys creating new things and old alike while traveling to new places. She enjoys art and restoration, a good cup of tea, and puppies. You can access her assortment of artistic entourages she creates here.

Music Artist Nelson Leach: An Interview

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Hootie and the Blowfish inspired Nelson to pick up a guitar and try the seemingly simple melodies that had beckoned him.

Nelson drove a truck for a living at that time and he figured learning an instrument would be a great way to pass the hours while on the road. So, he picked up Hootie's CD to try learning the guitar with. "That didn't work out," he admits.

But, two years later, he encountered Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" and "Layla" and Nelson found himself fired up once again. And, fortunately, someone pointed him in the direction of the local Guitar Center, where he picked up knowledge regarding equipment and books from which he learned everything he knows about chords and music. His next attempts at his favorite Hootie CD proved much more successful.

But, in 2008 he found himself suddenly tired of playing other people's music. And, it dawned on him that he wanted to produce his own.

He has a lot of influence, from Eric Clapton, to Wyclef Jean, from Santana to the late (and great) Michael Jackson. "When you grow up you listen to what the people around you listen to...I think (Michael) was the one that got me thinking about listening to other types of music." Nelson also acknowledges artists such as Prince and Lenny Kravitz as artists who compelled him to explore various genres of music.

Though Nelson can appreciate contemporary songs, he likes songs that tell a story and perhaps this is why he finds more inspiration in older music. "You know you're gonna get good stuff you go to old stuff."

"I want my songs to touch me," he says, "I know if it touches me it will touch someone else. If it's not touching someone there's no reason to do it."

Nelson admits that he's just beginning and in his debut CD (which he produced all on his own), the listener will get to hear his growth. From songs that only include his voice and acoustic guitar, to songs that show off his growing confidence in the use of the instruments the keyboard offers.

He seems excited to continue this journey. He wrote, recorded and created his debut CD in four months. The process has engage him with various audiences and has challenge him to be more confident in his creativity and the gifts he is developing. He was never one to ever publically show any of his creative work. But, through this process he has learned not to let criticism impede him or cause him to go backwards, but instead he has determined to grow better because of it, while remaining true to what makes him unique.

His first CD is a first step in his quest to create the kind of music that sticks in the minds of its listeners. Similar to the songs that inspired him to begin learning guitar, Nelson's hope is to develop music that is memorable, that connects with listeners even years later, even if it's not the most popular song at the time of its release. He is excited to continue growing, developing and challenging himself, knowing that his creativity and new found confidence will lead him to places that are uncharted but fulfilling.

Writing lyrics, consuming lots of sugary tea and dancing -- these are a few of Quoleshna's favorite things. She's passionate about full-throttle, godly exploration of God-given talents. Currently, she's working on handcrafted, comfy, fun and elegant fashion accessories. Visit http://connect.tangle.com/quoleshna for extended vids or if you feel led, contact her: quoleshna.wrecked@gmail.com.

Mama's Boy by Nelson Leach: A Review

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I rarely add a whole CD to my Media Player and even more rarely add songs to my Fav's list. So,for me, the greatness of a CD is determined by the percentage of its songs that I'd include in my Media Player's regular rotation as well as how many songs I'd add to my FAVS playlist. My FAVS playlist is made up of songs that feel pretty epic to me, spark a new way of thinking for me or spear my heart to the point that I want to learn all the lyrics and sing them at the top of my lungs while doing dishes or mock interpretive dance...and, yes, sometimes both.

For Nelson's "Mama Boy"

Songs added to my regular rotation = 0.17/1.00 = 17%

Songs added to my FAV's' playlist = 0.

Twelve songs make up Nelson's "Mama's Boy," from which I'll be introducing the following into the regular Media Player rotation:

"Ladida"
"Optimistic"

The thing about "Mama's Boy":

"I've been teaching myself to play the acoustic guitar for a few years now and really didn't feel that I was getting any better. So to motivate myself, my new year's resolution for 2009, was to begin writing and recording songs. I thought learning to play a good song was hard, but I quickly learned that writing a good song was even harder." (Nelson)

The stark honesty of this statement, printed on "Mama's Boy" CD insert, is indicative of the music offered within. The tracks showcase stirring instrumental sections composed by someone new to experimenting with both lyrics and vocal delivery. And, he seems to be enjoying himself while finding the style(s) that best define him.

Here are the ingredients that satisfy:

Nelson has a great ear for interweaving instruments and for melody! The intro's and interludes are just rich, fertile ground. Yum.

What spices could be added to make this dish tastier:

Nelson's rough vocals would benefit from (guided?) practice.

The lyrics rely on too many catch-phrases and unimaginative wording.

Nelson is just starting out, so within the CD you'll encounter A LOT of styles, from blues, to Spanish guitar to rock. I love variety, but it's obvious that this CD is an opportunity to explore as many channels as possible. Fun for the musician but hard for the listener; there is no distinct style to help the transition from one song into another make sense. This makes the CD feel confused and not cohesive.

Nelson's gravelly voice with all its flat pitches is kind of difficult to listen to. However, in songs like "Next Time," and "Ladida" there seemed to be a good fit with his straight-pitched, monotone delivery style. Found myself thinking of Van Morrison's style of singing. Especially in "Ladida".   Actually, I found that when playing "Next Time," "Ladida," and "Optimistic" back-to-back, there was a real theme developing, there. A good one, in my opinion.

I like the honesty of Nelson's messages.   Also, I have to give mad props to an artist who committed to writing and recording music for the first time...AND produced a CD in four months! That's an awesome achievement. But, I think that explains why a lot of phrases used were things we've heard before. So, I challenge Nelson to use the time he now has to be more original with his lyrics.

"Mama's Boy" showcases Nelson's ear for complicated instrumental sections and just plain-ol' catchy melody. I'm excited for Nelson because this very rough debut hints at some great things to come if he plays up his strengths and strengthens his weaknesses. I encourage Nelson's exploration and merging of different styles; but if serious about continuing with writing songs for his own voice, guided lessons may help stretch and define his vocal range and get him started on the path to creating more harmonious records.

Notes:

1.      The track "Where I Belong" has a wonderful intro. Gorgeous interplay of guitars in the middle of the song.

2.      "Ladida." Another great intro! Like a lullaby. This is one of the few songs where I felt Nelson's voice and delivery were perfect for the song. His voice should be too heavy for such a light backdrop yet the song feels oddly balanced. Found myself humming my own accompaniment with it near the end. Don't know why the singer/songwriter Van Morrison comes to mind.

3.      "Optimistic." Fully instrumental. Fun. Subtle intro that jumps out at you, unexpectedly...nice idea, but could be executed with better timing. Nice play of guitars, though the synchronization seems to be a bit off at times. But still a happy dance, bobbing up-and-down beat that motivates you to move.

4.      "Headed Home Now." That is a very nice piano/strings melody in the middle! I was jamming just on that, alone. Touching lyrics. Catchy chorus.

5.       "My Ole Guitar." Best song in terms of putting it all together: a fun rhythm that's easy to follow, catchy lyrics and good storytelling/imagery. Light-hearted song but, in my opinion, doesn't have as much depth/potential as the others I mentioned.

If you would like to compare my comments to the real thing, check out Nelson's myspace website here.

Movie Review: Where the Wild Things Are

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Last Friday night, my wife and I saw Spike Jonze's version of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. Even after reading a couple reviews (this one and this one), it was still not what I expected. In short, as we were walking out of the IMAX theater, I told my wife, "That was dark..." and "I would not bring my kid to that."

Maybe I'm just sensitive to hidden meanings in art, or maybe I just read way too much into stories and movies, but I sensed a lot of deep themes in Jonze's version of this childhood classic, some of which I am still processing. It's not that I didn't enjoy the movie, but the reality and depth of the content struck me. Allow me to expound...

Main character Max (played by the aptly-named Max Records) is like most young boys -- he's an adventurous explorer, a ferocious "little monster." But he's also sensitive and scared. As we see from the opening scenes, Max is alienated -- from his over-worked mother, his older sister, and any would-be friends.

While we don't hear what exactly has happened to this family, we can sense that something is wrong. Max's sister won't stand up for him. An overheard phone call to his mom suggests that money is tight. The only connection he has to his father is an old trophy with an inscription on it. It's no surprise that Max finds solace in his toys and hand-built forts, that he dreams of an imaginary world where he can be as wild as he wants.

In a way, Max's tale is the story of a fatherless generation (a reality for so many young people). When he sees his mother kiss another man, something in his spirit stirs. In a fit of rage, he storms out of the house and sets sail for a land "where all the things you want to happen happen." The irony is that in escaping to an island of monsters, danger, and adventure, Max ends up facing the very things he is fleeing -- insecurity, fear, loneliness, sadness, and so on.

In the land of "where the wild things are," Max finds what could be a father figure in the form of Carol, a gentle giant with an insecurity complex. However, Carol is in many ways too much like Max, alluding to the fact we all need fathers that are more than "buddies." Carol's insecurity gives way to distrust, which leads to anger and eventually violent outbursts.

In many ways, Carol is Max at his worst -- naive, scared of being alone, prone to tantrums. In his outbursts, he shows Max the dangerous outcome of this kind of behavior. Similar interactions unfold in their own way between Max and each of the wild things. For example, Judith, who is manipulative and cruel with her words, responds to Max at the end of their yelling match: "You're not supposed to yell back at me!" she screams. "You have to just listen and love me anyway, because that's your job!" Again, this is Max, hearing his own attitude towards his mother reflected back to him. Each monster exposes a deep wound in Max and his need for healing, not escape.

Perhaps, the best part of the movie is that all of the monsters (and similarly, all of Max's) problems are not resolved at the end, like a good Disney film might attempt to do. As the boy king leaves the island of wild things, the monsters stand on the beach, weeping and wailing. In his journey to avoid the pressures and pain of the world, Max finds a completely different world with the same problems. The question the monsters ask when they initially crown him king -- "Will you keep the sadness away?" -- continues to linger until the last frame. His lesson is that before a boy can become a king, he must first learn to be a beloved son.

This is true of many of life's struggles -- when we attempt to flee from pain and sadness, we find that it often accompanies us wherever we go. Despite our best efforts, the sadness comes. It cannot be helped. Part of life (and growing up) is learning to live in this world by working through the sadness. We must learn to overcome it -- not by fleeing, but by standing in it.

As Max leaves the island of wild things, the monsters stand on the beach, weeping and wailing, pleading him not to go. Yet, they let him leave. They must, because they understand that their sadness will leave when Max's does.

Jeff graduated from Illinois College, a small liberal arts school, with a degree in Spanish and Religion. He lives in Nashville, TN. He works for Adventures in Missions, edits this silly little magazine, and loves to do new things. He just got married in January. Check out his blog: Pilgrimage of the Heart.

Build: A Poem

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

It seems we often miss the beauty of the stone
we're meant to build our lives upon.
We build and build and build things
with the sole purpose being only to build more.
Yet progress is only progress insofar as it continues progressing.

In the eyes of the world
    progress may be as regress
    and regress progress.
And in the eyes of Kingdom people,
    the same may be seen,
    as a mirror or a dream.
Are we progressing in our humanity,
    approaching more nearly what we are created to be?
Can we build
without rejecting the cornerstone?
Can we step aside
    from our worldly inhibitions,
And bless this Kingdom,
    that we have been so blest
    as helpers called to erect?
Can we pull ourselves away from the promise of ease,
    unfulfilled,
    yet carrying with it so much remaining unseen
    and never unfelt:
        isolation,
anger,
envy,
        hatred,
        jealousy,
        worry,
        fear,
        and loneliness.
These come with the tools the builders of empire would sell to us to use.

Yet we, different builders
of a different kingdom,
choose to remain undignified,
to dig with our hands.
We refuse to nourish our pride with our lives.
We swallow it down,
    or as much as we can,
    and find that we're nourished
    by our consuming such a tasteless portion,
And it gives us the strength with which
We build community,
True community,
Kingdom community.

We will build this kingdom yet.

Harold lives in the midst of the beautiful mountains and streams of New England, and works as a program guide and teacher at a therapeutic alternative high school program in Vermont. He received his Bachelor's of Arts in English from Green Mountain College, in Poultney, VT. Harold is currently doing life with the Dwell Missional Community in Burlington, VT, where he is helping to organize a Kingdom arts co-op. The website will be up soon: www.intothemidst.com

We Get To Carry Each Other: Gospel According to U2

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A single band, or person, cannot just wake up one day and arrive at a level of super stardom that U2 has achieved.

U2's evident ability to create waves of global change has come and washed over our culture from the packed concert halls of downtown New York City to their work with the RED Campaign in the remote villages of Africa.

Greg Garrett's book, We Get to Carry Each Other, describes what has made U2 the band that it is today and how "they were not in music just for what they could get out of it."1

It is easy to look at the members of U2 as super human. To see their achievements as beyond what we, normal, people could ever accomplish on our own. However I enjoyed reading that from the very beginning each member of band: The Edge, Larry Mullen, Adam Clayton and Bono, did not approach their commitment to each other, and their calling as a band, lightly. As the book describes, U2 was formed with individuals that were out to make a difference, committed to one another.

When U2 began, they were not ready to face the world at the level to which they are currently operating. In fact, "U2 began with significant handicaps,' one being that they were not yet...proficient musicians. But their youth, their energy, their intensity, their desire...set them apart from the very beginning."2 If they were faced in the mid-1970s with what they are facing today I am confident that such fear would have ripped through their very beings, handicapping them into inaction. They started small, similar to where we all begin, and kept moving forward in spite of what the world said around them.

U2 took a big risk to start their band and venture out on their own, as you will discover in the book. However, waves of global change would not have been made without the first step. They each decided to move forward. They mustered up the courage to risk and face their fears of failure. U2 also knew that they would not be able to do it without one another's help. The members of U2 saw the value of committed community and knew that they would in fact soon learn, in a new way, what it means to get to carry each other.

I am confident in saying that my singing will probably not be used to impact the world, but maybe your singing will. Maybe your generosity will be used to impact the world. Maybe your ability to serve, to speak, or to create will be used to make a global impact. Though, we don't know how big our impact will be until we take the next step... or the first step.

Maybe you "still haven't found what you are looking for."

Don't give up.

Keep fighting.

Remember that doors will open and doors will close.

Remember that we do need to carry each other.

We need each other. Sometimes we need to be carried when the battle gets too rough and we no longer have the energy within our bodies and spirits to continue. Remember "we are called to carry each other, not because it is easy, but because it is right, and we are called to elevation, not purely for ourselves, but for one another."3

As we face our next steps, may we be emboldened with courage to move. May we remember that big change can happen in and through us, but we must take steps to make it happen. May we be washed over with the courage that we need to move forward. May we remember that no matter who we are, where we are, or what we are going through we have the high privilege of sojourning with one another and carrying each other.
I recommend Garrett's book, We Get to Carry Each Other, to a strong fan of U2. I think that whether or not the reader has a Christian background, or any spiritual beliefs, he or she will be able to understand the biblical concepts that are presented. Garrett broke down complex Biblical ideas and made them easier to digest if the reader has no context in which to place them.

In the same light, because Garrett took so much time to explain his point I found myself getting lost in the many different angles, and scholars, that he used to explain one topic.

We Get to Carry Each Other seems to be a personal story in which Garrett invites the reader to catch a glimpse of how U2 has impacted his life and journey spiritually, mentally and emotionally.

I think that if U2's music has had a strong impact on your life you will enjoy this book.
1 Greg Garrett, We Get to Carry Each Other, 1st ed.(Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009)

2 Ibid., 1
3 Ibid., 87

Samira currently lives in Orlando, Florida. Samira works as a calligrapher while attempting to seize every moment to be adventurous and survive the humidity.

Redeeming Art

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In preparation for teaching from Mark 13:1-2, I've been thinking about the process of redeeming art. By art I mean the broad spectrum of creativity that humanity exhibits, be it on canvas, from an instrument, or hewn from materials to make an object that speaks our voice to others.

Clearly, we are capable of expressing something of ourselves, and as one who believes in a God who creates and created us in His image, I see part of the Father's nature imbued in His created, much the same as we see part of an artist's soul in their work.

In Mark 13:1 we overhear the disciples commenting with wonder at the temple and its stones. The stones are impressive enough to get their own full description in Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, "Now the temple was built of stones that were white and strong, and each of their length was twenty-five cubits, their height was eight, and their breadth about twelve." Stones just aren't that interesting, so these must have been pretty spectacular - think really freakin' big, and in great quantity. I am sure I would be right there with the disciples, drinking in the majesty of it all, admiring the craftsmanship.

I come from England, so we have old stuff laying around everywhere. You can't take a trip across a field without bumping into some remnant of civilization, and over the years we've amassed quite a collection of beautiful architecture and arts. I was used to its constant presence. Then I moved to Idaho and found a dearth of beautiful buildings, but got lost in the vast extravagance of the mountains. A different beauty was tugging at me, and I was captivated again.

So, just like the disciples, I can get all slack-jawed about the created. Jesus has some arresting words for us. He tells them that these "great" buildings will be torn down, not one stone left on another. He tells them that their "greatness" is but size and man-imposed awe. He tells them something more is coming that will replace and overshadow all of this.

All of this led me to think about the arts, and arts in community. We are still primarily a consumptive nation, and oftentimes individually so - what with headphones, personal DVD players, customized online TV schedules, we don't need to be with others to consume our entertainment, and we don't need to wrestle with the content of said entertainment in community.

We've done a spectacular job of isolating ourselves, and the end result is that we gaze at the created and miss the opportunity to use it to point people to the Creator.

Think about it - how often have you gone out with friends to catch up, and spent the majority of the time huddled in the dark whilst images dance across the large format screen and sound bombards you from a multiplicity of speakers? And in all honesty, how often did you sit down together afterwards and discuss the experience? I'm not suggesting a study guide for every film, but I am suggesting that art is best redeemed in a community setting. Unless art points to the Creator, it is just dust in its potential state. As consumers of such, we are just being entertained to death and that seems like a rip-off.

I want stories that challenge and change me, music that calls me into places I haven't traveled for a time, art that speaks in ways words cannot, and I want all of this shared with those around me. I think of Francis Schaeffer who took in hordes of bedraggled teenagers and twenty-somethings, and discussed Nietzsche, Led Zeppelin and the existential nightmare - and then pointed through it all to Jesus. With a deliberate and engaged mindset we are capable of turning all things towards God and thus redeeming them.

And don't forget, the very process of interaction with art is communal as you wrestle with the ideas of another human being, seeking to find common understanding from the human condition.

Let art be redeemed. Let us be the redeemers, together, as we go beyond the thing itself that will one day exist no more, and press onwards and upwards to the Author of it all.

Jonathan is an English exile learning to follow Jesus each day as an assistant pastor in Nampa, Idaho. He is married to Sarah Grace and has two sons named David and Charlie. He blogs at Project Reclamation when the mood strikes and reviews at Reflective Musings for various organizations.

The Bindings of Sin: An Allegory

Tue, 6 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Your reign is like a yoke around my neck, you lay it upon me. But I let you; willingly I stand there and let you bind me. I cannot break from it; its grasp is too strong for me to break. The weight I can no longer bear, you won't help me, and you just sit there and mock me as I fall in the dirt. I fall time and time again; I ask for help but receive none.

As I walk along the beaten path, I run from you. In hopes of freedom I run as fast and far as I can, only to look back and see that you follow me ever so close, you see to it that I get what I deserved; you punish me with guilt and shame for running, for seeking hope of a life of freedom.

You stand there before me staring at me with big, looming eyes, looking down upon me with hate. I am frightened by you at times; your face has stopped the strongest and most fearless men dead in their tracks, you break them down to a mere pulp of what they used to be. You destroy them. You destroy everything.

I am bound under your yoke. You tear me down and then bring me back up, you take all I have and still it is never enough. I fight for my life, only to fail miserably. I need hope, but I look around and find none. On this broken and tattered road I walk, I look at them, but they do not care for me, or my soul. I walk like a prisoner, a prisoner of war is what I am; I am deprived of rest, food, water and love. I seek his face in the midst of it all, but he has turned away from me. Where has he gone?

I walk ever further, I ask him who gave me this yoke "Where am I walking to? Where are you taking me?" He looks at me with much rage; he grabs me by my face and says, "To my Kingdom where you will bear this yoke for all eternity, and you shall be my slave." As these words pass his lips I hear a chorus of serpents behind it. His words sting and pierce my soul like a thousand arrows. I feel them dig into me and burn, like acid on my skin, they burn deep and hot. I beg for mercy, he just laughs at me and kicks me in my side, and continues to walk along. He picks me up to my feet. I look to where my hope stands, and I see tears streaming from his face; Tears that grieve for me.

I walk further and further, I scream from pain, I can no longer take it, it is worse today. He will not even let me stop for a short breath, I find no rest with him; he has deceived again, he said that it would be a good day, a day that I can finally eat and drink. But I have not yet been fed, and I still suffer from my thirst. I walk along ever further, my yoke seeming heavier as it has ever been. I can no longer bear it; I fall and cannot stand to my feet. I lay the ground, tired and miserable. "Please help me!" I beg to him, he just kicks the dust in my face and tells me to do it myself. I can't, I can't.

As we start again on the next day, my Captor looks frightened, anxious. As if he knows that robbers wait for us on the road ahead. We walk, and walk, and walk. I am so very weary. I can no longer travel, my shoulders break under the weight of the yoke. It has grown heavier each day I go on. But as I walk along the road, so many others have traveled. I see him, so glorious and majestic. He walks down the road in haste; he is the one I had heard about.

He has come to save me. My father and mother had told me about him, he has come to save me. He has come to free me! I run to him, the closer I get to him, I distance myself from my capture. But He will not have it. My capture will not have me freed, he runs after me, teeth bearing, and sword drawn. He strikes at my Savior, but my Savior is fast and dodges his blade. He quickly strikes back at my Captor and sends him to the ground with a "thud." He is dead.

My Savior looks to me with much mercy and passion. His eyes fill with tears of much joy as he takes off my yoke. But what astounds me is how he picked it up like it was nothing, and then tosses it to the side of the road like nothing. After that he grabs me and hugs me, I am forever glad that he found me on that road, and saved me. He saved me from death. He pulled my yoke off of me, and he did it all like it was nothing. After that he took me to his Kingdom, and there I was treated with much love, there I was fed very well, and drank very good as well; and I found much rest there.

He saved me.

Max is 17 years old and lives in Waterville, Washington. He loves to write Christian short stories and poetry, and loves loves LOVES music, especially Skillet. He is a Junior in High school but is currently doing Running Start at Wenatchee Valley College. In the future he intends on majoring in Biblical Studies and being a pastor in Men's Ministry.