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Called to X
Lots of people have asked me lately if I feel called to be a pastor (or professor, or fill in the blank) and I never have a good answer. I open my mouth and words start falling out and things get really awkward. I’ve been wrestling with what God wants me to do ever since I started seminary. I felt “the call” to full time ministry in college, but it didn’t come with instructions. I just knew if I devoted my life to anything less than the cause of Christ, it would be empty. All going to seminary did for that clarity is give me more options—including the realization that…
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Site Glitches
Sorry for the inactivity of late. I’ve had some issues with the website the past few weeks and I have yet to come back and tidy everything up. My excellent site host has put out some serious fires (and done me a few favors you may see soon), so mega kudos to him. The real issue right now is my old theme pooped out on me so I need to pick a new theme and tweak everything all over again. Blech. I mean, it’s fun, but I just did that. I’d rather do other things. So there you have it. In the meantime, I hope the site is still somewhat usable, and…
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Kodachrome (Music Monday)
I used to hear this song a lot when I was younger. Not sure if it was part of a marketing campaign back then or if it’s just what my friends were listening to (I know it was at least that). The song came to me this morning and the lyrics are too delicious to pass up. Paul Simon is one of the best singer-songwriters ever, and here he is as elegant as ever (even if this performance looks a bit awkward; I prefer the studio version but there’s no video for it). Kodachrome by Paul Simon
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Sun Ray, parts 1 & 2 (Music Monday)
My favorite music is both technical and groovy, lyrically deep but catchy, smart in the studio and on stage. As far as I’m concerned, Mutemath is the total package. I’m not sure if they’ve ever gotten much attention, but I just discovered they did some live recordings for VH-1 (which still exists!) and you NEED to go find their cover of “Fallin'” by Alicia Keys, which I must add has a heavy dose of “House of the Rising Sun” mixed in. As excited as I am about that, an unlikely song has been haunting my thoughts these past few months: an instrumental broken into two tracks, called “Sun Ray.” Very smooth and chill, but with…
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Being Christian in America
My whole life I’ve been torn between two opinions of America. In one version, America is the endangered Christian nation. It was founded by godly men on Christian principles, but it’s being consumed by sin and faces imminent disaster. Christians need to engage with politics in order to restore America to its former Christian glory. Our prosperity is a testament to our goodness, but judgment is looming. This view is very patriotic, and it’s a story American Christians have been telling themselves for a very long time. The other America is just another nation, nothing special. If anything it might be called the Great Distraction. It wasn’t founded by Christians, it’s never been Christian,…