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For the Love of Mumford: Learning about Love and Forgiveness

February 2, 2012 in Culture, Guest Contributors with 7 Comments

*The following originally appeared in Christian Leader and was used with the permission of the author.

Buying the 2009 Mumford and Sons album Sigh No More was an incredibly foolish decision. It was an impulsebuy in the intoxicating halls of Amoeba Music, a purchase based on small snippets of these British folks rock songs I had just vaguely heard. It was a fantastic decision.

My experience of romantic love has not been altogether perfect. It seems this is a common burden, hoping for people to love us perfectly and then coming to the harsh realization that they are merely people. (Go figure.)

Turning on the radio, one finds romance everywhere—confessions of head-over-heels infatuation, frustration and sorrow at love gone wrong, blame toward that two-timin’ woman or that man who can’t be trusted. But from Mumford, I heard something entirely different that took me by surprise: an apology.

But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really f*ed it up this time
Didn’t I, my dear?

This raw confession comes from Little Lion Man, with the popular edited version never quite capturing the intensity of what it means to blunder so badly. For whatever the reason, these men singing are passionately apologetic, recognizing the damage caused and begging for forgiveness. In the album’s title song, there is an equally passionate and mournful cry of the simple, “I’m sorry.” Continue Reading…

Treat Them Like a Tax Collector: Reflections on Matthew 18, Church Discipline, and Andrew

January 26, 2012 in Church Ministry, Community, Culture, Early Church, Tim Geddert with 71 Comments

© 2010 | Ibai | Flickr | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Jesus offers a model for reconciliation in Matthew 18.15-17.  Often, these three verses are used for the opposite of this: alienation.  These words operate as a law in some settings, when in fact they are meant to give guidance toward restoring relationship.

Over the past few days, Matthew Paul Turner hosted a series of blogs (#1 & #2) about a guy named Andrew.  It was found out that he engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior and he was placed on church discipline.  After reading part 1 of the series, although I thought the rigidity of creating a church discipline contract was over-the-top, I didn’t know that the actions of the Mars Hill elders were worth fussing about.  After all, when a leader in the church acts in a way that is inappropriate, the way to restore them back to good standing is to raise the bar – so to speak.  We ought to invite people to repent and put their lives back on a good track – good for the people involved and good for the community of faith.

But, after hearing the second part of the story, I knew it was time for me to engage in the conversation.  This is what happened when it was all said and done: Continue Reading…

GODZ BODZ Workout Video (hilarious!)

January 14, 2012 in (Series) Video to Ponder, Culture with 2 Comments

The Reboot. Deleting Your Facebook Profile Each Year as a Spiritual Discipline

December 28, 2011 in Culture, Guest Contributors, Spirituality with 24 Comments

Source: Zach Hoag

–The following is a guest post–

Last year, I began a personal discipline/tradition based on the growing influence of social media on our daily lives.

Once a year, I Reboot.

Specifically, I enact the full deletion of my Facebook profile. Poof. Gone. And while for some that may seem insignificant, for me, a bonafide 21st century digital boy, it is significant. And if this recent article (and many others like it) are any indication, then it is significant for lots of you, too. (For the reason why I don’t delete my Twitter or Instagram, see the very end*. Also, see my rant on why Google+ is ridiculous.)

Let me begin with the disclaimer: I am not anti-technology or anti-social media. At all. While I appreciate the neo-monastic or even anabaptist impulse to eschew all artificial forms of human connection and the fast pace that technology often applies to one’s life, I am more moderate. The impulse I feel is to interact intentionally with technology and media, to understand the “message” implicit in the “medium” and, hopefully, to find a way forward that combines engagement with thoughtfulness.

I have seen, for instance, my own tendency to constantly live back and forth between “two spaces.” The first space is physical space with the persons sitting or standing physically next to me. Or the cars driving beside me. The second space is electronic space (better than “cyberspace”), the space into which we enter through electronic portals and within which we find information, communication, and entertainment that is somehow less than physical (although one could argue it’s getting closer and closer to physical everyday). The electronic space, like the physical space, is not bad or wrong in itself; they are both neutral; but no one can deny that the tension involved in living back and forth between them can easily and quickly become negative.

Consider, for instance, these two negative effects of the tension between the spaces:

1. Ill Communication. While this has been an issue with electronic media in general Continue Reading…

Snoopy Writes a Theology Book?

December 17, 2011 in Culture with 4 Comments

Source: Peanuts | Schulz

I thought this was awesome… so I share it with you all.  It was sent to me in an email :-)

Taking the SEX out of Sex-mas!

December 12, 2011 in Culture, Kingdom of God, Nationalism, Social Justice with 15 Comments

Source: Borrowed image from Advent Conspiracy | Click image to learn about how to give to a great cause!

Then one foggy Sex-mas Eve, Victoria came to say: Consumer with your eyes so wide, buy this bra and panties tonight.

Twenty-year-old young women wearing unmentionables stare into the camera saying: “Tell me you love me.  Tell me you want me.  Excite me.”  Getting your yuletide jollies yet?

Let’s be honest: the girls in the Victoria’s Secret commercial sound fake.  Their attempts at sexy come across as cheesy.  And if the nearly bare bosoms of consumerism haven’t bombarded you yet this Sex-mas season, consider yourself blessed.

Blessed.  There’s a person who believed herself to be blessed. Her story continues to be told each year.  It’s a story of hope, love, joy, and peace. And the mystery of it all: no sex.

Unfortunately, sex sells.  If not Victoria’s Secret, you might run into Mariah Carey as a scantly dressed Mrs. Claus in her “All I want for Christmas” music video. Sex appeals because it awakens the deepest consumer impulse of our being.  When sex fails as an expression of self-giving love, it triggers a self-interest driven desire to have.  In this way, sex and consumerism find a dynamic partnership. Continue Reading…

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