Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
So I'm (kind of) a Christian hipster?
I read this article about the intersection of Christianity and coolness and I'm looking forward to reading the book. I've always really liked Brett McCracken's writing (or at least the stuff I've read of his on Relevant over the years). Then I clicked on over to the book's website and took their "Are You A Christian Hipster?" quiz. You're looking at my result.
Not sure what I think about this, especially considering that the explanation is pretty accurate. I'm not sure what to think about that, either.
More on this some other time (maybe).
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Levels.
[[posterous-content:pid___0]]My lovely wife and our kiddos are out of town having adventures for a few days, so today I tried to take the opportunity to do some things I don't do very often (in addition to the work-stuff and errands I do pretty regularly).
I had breakfast with Tae kwon John at a really great local restaurant (mmmm.... Mama's Boy...)
I watched a baseball game on television.
And I spent a little time out at the practice space turning sounds into little 1s and 0s and watching the needles jump.
I didn't record anything of any note, really. I'm still getting the setup dialed in and learning to use the new multitracker I bought last month, so I just threw a drum loop into it and played some stuff from my cheesy Wurlitzter student organ to get levels and begin developing a good workflow. But doing these things helps to put things in balance for me somehow, and that's a good thing for them, too.
Levels.
[[posterous-content:pid___0]]My lovely wife and our kiddos are out of town having adventures for a few days, so today I tried to take the opportunity to do some things I don't do very often (in addition to the work-stuff and errands I do pretty regularly).
I had breakfast with Tae kwon John at a really great local restaurant (mmmm.... Mama's Boy...)
I watched a baseball game on television.
And I spent a little time out at the practice space turning sounds into little 1s and 0s and watching the needles jump.
I didn't record anything of any note, really. I'm still getting the setup dialed in and learning to use the new multitracker I bought last month, so I just threw a drum loop into it and played some stuff from my cheesy Wurlitzter student organ to get levels and begin developing a good workflow. But doing these things helps to put things in balance for me somehow, and that's a good thing for them, too.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
What?
From My Utmost For His Highest:
"We are not taken into a conscious agreement with God’s purpose— we are taken into God’s purpose with no awareness of it at all. We have no idea what God’s goal may be; as we continue, His purpose becomes even more and more vague. God’s aim appears to have missed the mark, because we are too nearsighted to see the target at which He is aiming. At the beginning of the Christian life, we have our own ideas as to what God’s purpose is. We say, 'God means for me to go over there,' and, 'God has called me to do this special work.' We do what we think is right, and yet the compelling purpose of God remains upon us. The work we do is of no account when compared with the compelling purpose of God. It is simply the scaffolding surrounding His work and His plan."
At what point will I let go of trying to figure out what God is doing and just trust that he knows what he's doing? When will I be content to simply look around where I'm at and join him in whatever he's doing there? When will I learn to accept my limitations and weaknesses and embrace the "vagueness" of a plan I can never fully grasp?
I long for a relationship with God that has no seams. No boundaries. No fences. I don't feel "called" to do much of anything anymore - aside from loving God and my neighbors and stuff like that; you know, the stuff we're all called to do - but maybe that's a good thing.
Then again, who knows? It's all kind of vague, isn't it?
Monday, August 02, 2010
Untitled
For the past week or so, this was the view from my front porch (if you consider the bottom step of an RV trailer a porch). For the fourth year in a row, I've traveled to Farragut State Park in northern Idaho to hang out with high school students (all from the Seattle area) and play ridiculous songs. I also wild out on croquet and volleyball while 300 students trek to the lake to ride wakeboards and banana boats and air chairs and things of that nature. There's also an espresso machine and square dancing in a local barn.
I always find this event to be a difficult thing to explain to people back home, and this is actually something I enjoy a great bit. I like it when things are hard to explain; it forces me to use my imagination.
I really miss my family while I'm gone, but because I've been making this trek for four years, it's very much like I'm with family when I get there. And to be honest, it's also good to be away from normal life for a bit. Seems I'm constantly getting bogged down by stuff that's ultimately not that important. And by that I mean all the little things I do in a given day that have nothing to do with loving my family or other people or whatever. Things like always being on time. Or signing some insurance forms that came in the mail.
But I'm also always reminded that in those seemingly insignifcant comings and goings is precisely where I will live out my faith. How I handle stress at work is to me a very good (and in my case, damning) indicator of the state of my heart. Ouch.
So I am encouraged and challenged to remember once again that I am not capable of saving anyone, including myself. That obedience is something I must choose to do. And that I have much farther to go.