"Everything's Amazing And No One Is Happy"

So I'm back from the dentist...just the cleaning by the non-gentle hygenist. I had declined the $10,000 (or thereabouts) x-ray that the hygenist insisted I needed. So she went and tattled to the big cheese, the dentist himself, who came and gave a 2 second poke and prod (one second each) and gravely told her, "put a 'watch' on #18, lower." I'm not worried though. I saw right through their little game: all of it was just a ruse to get me to beg them for an x-ray.

As I lay there with this woman's latex-gloved hands in my space-invaded mouth, I gave in to the thoughts of how much I hate this. I know we all hate the poking and scraping and poking and invasion of the personal space and the poking and the spit-sucking tube...and the poking. I remember thinking, "Ugh, this is so irritating to live in this broken world where Entropy rules and we do our feeble best to stem the tides of tartar, plaque and tooth decay." *grumble, grumble*

Janie and I just watched an episode of the 19th Century British-against-the-French series called Sharpe (with Sean Bean as Major Richard Sharpe, if you know him. Our library has the whole 16 dvd series). This one character, Sharpe's Irish right-hand man named

Wish I Could Play Even One Instrument

Here's an excerpt of Stanley Jordan playing Horace Silver's "Song for my Father." Brain melting skill from the master...there's no one better...and to think he was discovered playing his guitar in a New York subway! (videos are after the jump: click 'Read More' to get there.

Carly on Lewis

Carly had this to say about "The Last Battle" on her blog:

Today I finished reading C.S. Lewis' "The Last Battle." It was amazing. I loved how he is able to really weave Christianity into his stories. There were some parts taken straight from the Bible. It made me feel like this dumb world was just getting in the way of Heaven, rather like the dust bunnies that we used to have on top of our ceiling fan. They were clogging it up (sort of) so the nice, clean air was prohibited from being dust (or sin) free!

Emote!

Back on Good Friday, my friend Pete prayed at the close of the Good Friday Chapel at the Christian School.

Even though there was a mix of ages of kids in the room, as well as many parents, he prayed fervently and long. He extolled the greatness of God, shuddered at the crucifixion of Good Friday, and celebrated the empty tomb of Easter Sunday. Christ is Alive!  What Grace!

And I could hear it: there was a beautiful tremble in his voice. So much so, that after he said, "Amen," instead of going back to his seat, he had to leave the room.

I like someone who prays like that.

Savannah

My current favorite Relient K song. I know it's a cool, more serious song, especially for Relient K, and it's probably Christian powerpop blasphemy to say it...but I can't help wishing that the Muppets still had their show so Relient K could go on and the whole cast could muppet-dance to this song............

nate

Ok, I take it all back. All of it.

Now that I have experienced for my self - first-hand - the deep and abiding joy that can be found in sniffing a Tahitian Tiare Flower scented Yankee Candle, well, there is no going back, is there? Nate, you are really on to something. My question now is, why did you wait so long to tell me about such a rapturous experience as candle sniffing?

Ahhhh, I just took another whiff of Ocean Blossom. Can't get enough.

Anyone who is willing and able, please send along a nice jar of Summer Rain to him with my thanks and compliments...and get one for yourself while you're at it........

Splash of Rain

Pastor Nate W is a friend. A really good friend. Which is good because what I am about to do to any reputation he may have would be grounds for a good pummeling...if we weren't such great pals.

Nate is my one really large friend. Large as in muscular. He has 'high muscle definition.' He's jacked. Pumped. Ripped. I tend to hang out with skinny people because I am not exactly of 'Atlasian' proportions myself, so skinny friends make me look

Janie Update 4-7-10

Ok, this is rather awesome: Janie has slept through the night for two nights in a row now!

Her legs aren't as full of fluid, she thinks. She had an easier time getting around today.

AND, ready for this? She went to the grocery store by herself! And she bought stuff.

We're pleased as punch, though she still is coughing. But oh, what a difference to know that the coughing doesn't seem to be collapsing her lungs!

Janie Update April 5, 2010: "Shock and Awe"

Ok, are you sitting down? Are you ready for some news, some really nice news?

Janie's lungs are not collapsed. Period. That's all! End of story! Good day sir!

We are just thrilled and ecstatic about this news. I'm in shock, really. Janie's cough has been so persistent and she has been so out of breath that we (and I think especially I) have been pretty convinced that her lungs must be at least 70% collapsed. Or 80%. Or 90%. It's been a pretty rough month.

So when Janie went in this morning for her weekly dose of chemo, the nurse who took her vitals and whatnot expressed more than the usual concern over Janie's cough and the fluid buildup in her (Janie's, not the nurse's, heh) legs. So before they did any chemo, it was

Happy Easter! He Is Risen!

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Chagall's Abraham

Marc Chagall's Sacrifice of Isaac is a very affecting painting to me. The composition, the movement, the expression, the colors (including what each color might represent) and the symbolism are all artistically pleasing. Together they are all quite moving.

Abraham, following the direct order of God (Genesis 22:2), is about to kill (and burn!) his own son on an altar of sacrifice, though he was fully expecting his son to be raised somehow from the dead (Genesis 22:5, Hebrews 11:17-19). We see over to the left the ram, miraculously - providentially - provided by God,  to take the place of the one that was about to die. The pure, spotless ram was provided to turn God's wrath away from the guilty. Freedom at another's expense!

But now wait - who is that in the brown, shadowy area in the back? It's the Son of God, carrying his own cross - walking the horror-road up the hill of death. He's there to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. There are people around him, but make no mistake, he is alone. There is no one to take his place...no ram will be provided. In actuality, Jesus himself will be the spotless, innocent lamb to be slain in the place of the guilty. And by laying down his life as a substitutionary atonement, he will gloriously fulfill Abraham and Isaac's early foreshadow.

It is a sober thing, and appropriate to think about on Holy Saturday, the day we remember that Jesus' body lay in the tomb, dead. I feel so humbled and overwhelmed at the thought of Jesus' deep, deep, cross-pursuing love! Freedom at Another's Expense!

Good Forsaken Friday

I remember when I was a kid laying awake in the quiet of the night and letting myself get really scared, believing that everyone else on earth *might have...could have...probably...definitely* had disappeared and that I was all alone here on earth. It's a terrifying thought, especially for a little 10 year old.

Alone. Completely alone. Not another soul...anywhere.

I once taught a group of 8th graders, and the lessons included a bit on Hell. And it bugged me that the kids didn't seem too bothered by the thought of Hell, since the bible -  most notably Jesus - spoke about Hell as a place of utter despair, where there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth." Now, I'd been around 8th graders enough to know that it's best not to get too far into describing what "gnashing of teeth" might actually look like, because of the inevitable silliness that will result. Goofy "gnashing" facial expressions, etc. So I tried to sober the room up by giving my own imagined view of what Hell might be like. I carefully gave the disclaimer that this isn't what the bible says Hell is like...this is my own imagining of what the despair of Hell might feel like.

And I took them back to my childhood night terror:

Hematohidrosis

This is from ChristianAnswers.net, and it describes hematohidrosis, the sweating of blood that Jesus experienced in Gethsemane. Here at Easter time, we want to be especially sensitive to Jesus' suffering, and as described here, not all of it was physical. Praise Jesus for "setting his face toward Jerusalem," "sweating great drops of blood" and going to the Cross, "scorning it's shame" in his

The Comma

Please skip over to the Stuff Christians Like blog for a great, encouraging read about grace at Easter.

Come Thou Fount

I have never been able to sing the 2nd half of the 2nd verse of "Come Thou Fount." I try every time, but nothing comes out.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wand'ring from the folds of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Bought me with His precious blood.

I have no voice until I recover at the start of verse 3, but then it's gone again when we sing,

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, 
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for thy courts above.

And then the song is over and it's time to mop up. What song 'goes right through' you?

The Recipe For Life

Family friend Jim Besaw wrote this for English class...pretty perceptive for an infinitely-distractable-hyperactive-frizzy-haired-skinny-jeans-wearing-Christian-math-core-hippy-freak 17-year-old.









The Recipe For Life
by Jim Besaw
Add 3 tsp of Energy, 1 cup of Joy and 2 parents beautifully in love. 
Let sit for 3 years, then slowly add 2 pinches of curiosity, 5 scoops of adventure, a handful of “I told you so moments” and 4 rancid rotten rebellions. 
Mix this well for about 5 years and your mixture should begin to turn a soft “know it all” shade.
Add 2 tablespoons of questions and continue stirring. 
Once the mixture has become a soft ball of adolescence, you should roll 13 to 14 small balls of hormones onto a tray of conflict. 
Bake these on a temperature of about “the flaming fury that your parents feel as they find out you’ve borrowed the car to go to your boyfriend's/girlfriend's house”. 
Once they turn a golden shade of wisdom, you should take them out and let them cool off until they are hard and or firm from the hardships of life. 
Finally they are ready to be frosted with a life well spent with the ones you love.

Drainers and Fillers

A wise man once told me, "there are two kinds of people in the world. There are "fillers," who, once you've been around them, you feel "filled" with cheer and encouragement. And then there are the "drainers," the people who drain your emotional energy and make you feel discouraged. I only want to be a filler."

I like that. And I think that for some of us, being the "filler" takes a little more work. I want to try harder at being a bit more of an encourager - even with this blog - though I still want to be as transparent and honest as possible while I grapple and report on life here in "Boothland." It's a balancing act...or maybe an art.

Do you ever think about how you relate to other people? Are you a "drainer" or a "filler?"

Prayers From Strangers

Recently there was a "day of prayer" over at Jon Acuff's blog, "Stuff Christians Like." This was neat since it was a 'virtual' thing. Anyone could sign up for a one-hour slot and pray for requests that were posted there at the blog. I got in a little late, but I figured, "well, why not put in a request for Janie anyway?" She'd been having a pretty bad day, coughing and just exhausted really.

So I went on and shared a bit about her story, just a few sentences and, well, I admit I paused a bit before I hit "add comment." I thought, "is this dumb? Is this silly? These people don't know Janie. It's so anonymous. So impersonal."

Call me crazy but,

How He Loves Us

Here's another performance of John Mark McMillan's "How He Loves Us," this time by Jared Anderson who is new to me. He did a really nice job and I love this song.

Janie Update 3-22-10

Hi! It's been a little while since we've updated you on Janie's situation, so...here goes........

Weekly chemo continues, and we really are so thankful for the technology! There are new chemotherapies being developed all the time and we of course pray for a cure. We never let up praying that Janie will be 100% healed!

The blood test called ca27-29 rose by quite a bit (up to 145 from the mid-90's) so it is time for Janie to move on to another chemotherapy drug. The new one is actually a return to

Happy Spring!

I know, I know, it's probably bad form to post two songs by the same artist two posts in a row, but, well, it's the first day of Spring! Now or never!

Ragamuffins In A Cool World

Now I'm not a very charismatic guy. Any of you who know me would agree: Chris doesn't have a 'rollin'-in-the-aisles kind of temperament (actually, I wonder how many 'melancholics' do...but that's for another post...). So I hesitate posting this lest someone might get the wrong idea...but I just really like this kid listening to David Crowder. Would you have the nerve to just let loose in the middle of your city?

We are called to be "aliens and strangers in the world" (NIV) (or "exiles and sojourners" as the ESV puts it). See 1 Peter1:1;  2:11 and Hebrews 11:13. So I must ask: how well do you "fit in?" Is that a problem for you? Are you as cool as the world? Is the vortex of coolness sucking you in?

Regarding these verses, I've over time kept and added to a little list of words that I think should define me as a Christian. I'm working on living up to it, though I admit it can be a struggle because * gosh darn it! * we all crave acceptance, right? Anyway, try these words on for size and see if they describe your walk in this world:

Alien

Stranger

Sojourner

Pilgrim

Wayfarer

Itinerant

Vagabond

Misfit

Ragamuffin
 Fool

Billy Graham once described evangelism as merely one beggar showing another beggar where to find food. Like it or not, we are spiritual beggars, ragamuffins. When we try real hard to look like something other than - something cooler than - a ragamuffin, we start to assimilate the culture and it starts to have more of an effect on us than we do on the culture. So, it seems, we need to learn how to be more of a misfit, not less.

I can barely remember that old Baptist spiritual - how's it go? "This world is not my home; I'm just a-passin' through...."

Or, to quote Switchfoot, "I'll be a Beautiful Letdown, the painfully uncool - the Church of the dropouts, the losers, the sinners, the failures...and the fools..."

How about you? What words would you add to define the Christian's place in the world?

Mysterium Tremendum

Which is weirder for the Christian? That Christ is in you (Colossians 1:27), or that you are in Christ (Colossians 1:28)?

Our pastor, Eric May, made a wonderful point today. (I'm afraid this is going to sound like a, "stop me if you've heard this one..." kind of thing, but, well, since this is a blog, and you can't very well stop me...) He said, regarding these verses, "are we in air, or is air in us?" *Dramatic silence* Then he said, "is a fish in water, or is water in a fish?" The answer is, of course, "Yes." Both are true.

I like this not just because it's clever and presents a bit of a mind-bender. I like it because it points out that, though they may at first sound like opposites, both statements can be true: we can be "in Christ" and Christ can be "in us."

I also like it because

Andy McKee

Completely mind-boggling skill and beautiful music..........

Cowbells and Colossians

Daniel played bass for the jazz band portion of the Green Mountain District 5 Music Festival tonight. Shredded basically and his awesomeness showed the most when his sheet music fell on the floor and he just kept playing from memory with out missing a beat. In fact if I didn't know better, I would almost suspect that he purposely made the music fall so that his awesomeness at playing without the music and never missing a beat could be seen by all. Except that's not like him and also I think no one saw the music fall except me and the trombone player next to him who kindly picked it up.

Plus, they also played an absolutely gorgeous version of Charles Mingus's, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat." Made you weep. (Of course, there is always the version by Jeff Beck, whose guitar weeps and which takes me back to my own high school days...).

There were other groups playing as well: a Women's Chorus and a Full Choir, which sang a really cool Magnificat which I love because school music programs across our great nation violate the supposed 'Separation of Church and State' every time they sing spirituals and no one raises a finger or even an eyebrow.

There was also a Middle School Wind Ensemble, but my personal favorite (apart from the Jazz Band of course), was the Middle School Concert Band. They played, "On Broadway." (Remember, "On Broadway?" Made famous and popular by the cool and suave George Benson in 1978? Well, remove the cool and remove the suave and remove George Benson and replace it all with 6th grade brass and a giant bass drum and you've got the picture...)

Anyway, the reason that this band was so great was because of their

"God Told Me..."

God speaks to us through Scripture. Undeniable.

God sometimes speaks to us through thoughts and impressions that He brings into our consciousness. Mmhm.

But honestly, though I have even had those impressions myself, and in hindsight I even found out that it was God, well, I also have a concern about, "God told me..."

Here's why:

Mae - Boomerang

God Redeems Idolaters

Beautiful Evidence

I nabbed this from the blog of a pastor in the mid west, bloggername, "The Blainemonster" which is cool. His blog is called, "The vertiCALL." Anyway, he just posted this today and it really resonates with me and I wanted to share it here, especially in light of my last post...the two seem akin to me somehow.....

I've always thought that beauty was great evidence for a Creator. What we see throughout history, unfortunately, is humanity worshiping beautiful things, and not the Creator. The sun, moon, stars, animals, weather phenomena - all these things are beautiful (which is an anemic word to describe the majesty of some of these objects) and have been revered as divine by mankind.

Well, we can't blame this idolatry on the beautiful things, nor can we

This Side

An old favorite: 'This Side' by Nickel Creek...embedding is of course disabled so just see it at Youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nneEIX59I8 

Go ahead, tell me I'm silly. Tell me I'm crazy and I'm reading too much into it...but I

Sanctification: Progress

God doesn't want us stuck in: 
"I believe. Help thou my unbelief." 

He wants us to move on to:
"in thy presence is fullness of joy."

How Metrosexual Is Your Worship Leader?

How Metrosexual is your worship leader? Here's a handy 55 point test!

I guess there are lots of ways to 'do' church...best to be able to laugh at ourselves, right?

Of course in Vermont, you need to go to Burlington - maybe - to experience this Christian culture phenomenon...maybe in a few more decades....

A few more funny additions to this are here and here.

It looks like some of this will be in a book...I hope it's only satire and not sarcastic-to-the-point-of-mean...but at least I could pull it out of my Euro-man-purse and stay currently Christian as I sip my double decaf green tea frappuccino at Starbucks...oh, no, wait...Rutland doesn't have a Starbucks...*sigh.*

Global Conversions in Real Time

Even if this were only half-accurate, even a quarter accurate, it's still exciting to watch in real time!

Leave your browser on the page for a while and watch the yellow icons (representing real people making decisions to accept Jesus) accumulate.

Keep an eye on the 'ticker' in the upper right...and praise God.

This is developed and run by Global Media Outreach, a ministry of Campus Crusade For Christ.

Head To Christ

Brian "Head" Welch was a wildly successful multi-platinum superstar guitarist for the hardcore rock band, Korn. He was super-rich, super-popular, a super-alcoholic, a super-meth-addict and was super-miserable.  What makes a man give up all that 'success?' It's got to be something pretty radical.

Listen to him give his testimony about how Christ found him in 2005.  Don't be thrown by his appearance...Jesus wasn't...



Now watch what he's been doing with himself since then:




He still does some edgy stuff...a few things that make me cringe a bit, but hey, he is a changed man on a new path.

Yes, But Is It Your Treasure?

Their village in Malawi, Africa had just received Bibles and they broke into songs and dancing...over Bibles.

Oh, that all of us spoiled Western Christians had even an ounce of these people's delight about God's word...



"Hey, I like reading my Bible as much as the next guy."

Yes, but is it your Treasure?


"I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches."


"I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word."


"My soul is consumed with longing
for your laws at all times."

Psalm 119:14,16, 20

There is more here if you'd like to read more...

Janie Update 2-8-10

I just realized its been 3 weeks since the last update on Janie...so time for a quick update.

We are still very glad to have the chest tubes out...not a pleasant experience. She still has a persistent cough, however...we don't know if this is doing damage and almost don't want to know!

I myself also had the flu last weekend and it moved north and developed into a sinus infection complete with, of all things, a cough. So poor Janie had to play nursemaid to me...a cruel role reversal...and as a result (I'm guessing)

The Bruised Reed

This is a cancer update from Texas pastor Matt Chandler who I have mentioned here and here.

I post it here because at about 2 minutes, he reads from a book by Richard Sibbes called, The Bruised Reed. In essence Sibbes says that God won't break the bruised reed (Matthew 12:20), but that He will still allow the reed to be bruised...for the good of the reed! Chandler has gotten a lot of comfort out of this, so I want to understand and learn from this.

I've been thinking about this kind of thing a lot lately, especially what could be meant by that word, 'good' in Romans 8:28, but I think I'll comment more on that in another post.  Of huge help has been Jerry Bridges' book, Trusting God - Even When Life Hurts (especially chapter 8 if you have the book). This really deserves the strenuous thought that it sounds like it takes....so don't be alarmed at the smoke coming out of my ears....

Churches Helping Churches

Maybe your church can give to Churches Helping Churches. Its a brand-new (one week old!) non-profit formed by Pastor James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Church and Pastor Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. It seems incredible that they could set up an organization to help out so quickly, but I am sure that with the resources available to the mega-church, and staff as well, you can get things done in a hurry when you need to.

Please visit their website: www.churcheshelpingchurches.com.

This past Sunday, Mark Driscoll spoke about his and Dr. MacDonald's trip to Haiti this past week. He shows some graphic video footage, so be warned and keep the young kids away...


There are more videos available at the Churches Helping Churches website.

This is just an opinion, but from what we know of Haiti's corrupt,

Joni Eareckson Tada

Our friend Ingrid just sent Janie a clip from Joni Eareckson Tada's radio program, and it reminded me that I had prepared this post but never posted it. Thanks so much Ingrid!

Joni is one of my heroes. A quadriplegic due to a diving accident in her teens, she still insists (after many years of quadriplegia) on God's goodness and sovereignty. This in the face of the fact that of course God could have prevented her accident. She is thoroughly biblical and more joyful than most of us with four working appendages.

Here she is on Larry King


This is a 3 part series...parts 2 and 3 will show up after the end of part one. Here is her website.

****

And please, please, please find 49 minutes and 54 seconds and click here for a full length message by Joni called, "Suffering for the Sake of..." Don't miss this! Especially if you are going through a valley of your own. Joni has helped me get my feet under me more than a few times....

And by the way, here is what Ingrid sent...

Janie Update 1-22-09

"I'm free!" That's what Janie said as she came home smiling from