Brian Mclaren Sings?

I'm closing out the month with one last post. I was getting ready for bed and checking out the firestorm of comments on the TeamPyro blog from their latest post, when I got sucked away to a commentators site. I looked over the site to get a handle on who he was and what he believed. During my excursion I found a video for a song written by Brian Mclaren, unofficial head of the Emergent Movement.

I would really like to know what you think about this song. After listening to it I feel like I don't know what he believes. Which is odd because that's what the whole song is about. I really feel like this song could be written to a Wiccan Goddess as easily as it could be written to the Space Lords of Scientology. It makes me wonder about the worth of modern "worship" music as well as the purpose of that music. Is the stuff coming out by "main stream" worship leaders any better than this song?

What do you believe? How would your song sound?

Check the video out after the jump.

Voting Is Over:

Just wanted to thank everyone who voted in the "New Look" poll. It's nice to know that someone actually reads this. The voting appears to have ended in a tie. I will attempt to find a happy medium for all those who voted.

Chris

Chris West: Professional Prayer

Over the weekend I attended the wedding of my girlfriends sister. It was lovely. She looked beautiful and you could just feel the joy radiating off of the two of them. Of course she wasn't the most beautiful woman in the room, that honor went to my girlfriend. She was radiant. All of that to say this, I was originally asked to perform the ceremony. You could imagine how honored I was.

Come to find out that the place she was having the wedding didn't let "Licensed Ministers" perform weddings. You had to be a "Ordained Minister". Though, I wasn't going to be left out entirely. The bride asked me to give the blessing at the reception party. Here's how that went down.

Hint: I said something awkward.

For about a week I pondered how to properly give a blessing for a meal that also encompassed blessing the covenant my two friends had entered into. I read up on the scripture talking about marriage and all that it entails, even the racy stuff in Song of Solomon. Tee Hee.

As the day got closer I really felt like I had nailed down how to balance asking God to use the meal to focus our thoughts and lives back to Him as well as reinforcing the great joy and weight of their wedding covenant. So after a four hours road trip to Asheville, it was go time.

The wedding was very nice. I've been to several weddings and most of them have been between people who are of the Reformed bent. So it was interesting to sit in on a wedding where neither person was really into theology and doctrine. Not to say they aren't Christians, I firmly believe they are. But, I've just gotten very used to weddings between seminary students and soon to be seminary students. Either way, there were differences that I can't adequately point out, though I know I noticed them. Maybe some other time.

After the two were married we tarried (Ha! A rhyme!) over to the reception and I was one of the first things up. I stepped up to the mic and everyone quieted. I asked everyone to bow in prayer with me and said something like this, "Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this day. For this chance to join together and witness your covenant of marriage performed before us. Thank you for Jevone and Kadee reminding us of the sacrificial love you showed all of us on the cross and the love that we should have for you." It was at this point I began to bless the food.

"Lord, we ask that you bless this food that we are about to eat and this drink that we are about to enjoy." I could have stopped there, but I got cocky and felt like I needed to really tie together the two themes of the prayer. "Much like Kadee and Jevone's new marriage. I pray that you make the food nourishing to our bodies in the same way that they will lift each other up and help to strengthen one another, drawing ever closer to you. And, precious savior, I pray that we enjoy all that we drink and remember that it is a gift from you." This is where I should have said, "Amen." but I didn't.

"Holy God, I pray that we enjoy the drink just like Kadee and Jevone will enjoy. . .(awkward pause as I realize what I've just started to say but see no way out of it). . .each other. (Another pause) "Amen." There was chuckling after the amen, but also several people applauded my frankness. Either way, I'm available for weddings, birthday parties, moose lodge meetings and any other event that may require a "professional" blessing.

A little more about New Mexico:

I'd like to talk about the natural beauty of the area that we were in. New Mexico is basically a flat arid landscape dotted with huge jutting mountains and rock formations. It really is dichotomous. Here's an example of the area right outside of Gallup called "Church Rock". In the foreground, where the girls are, you can see the dust bowl that is the majority of Church Rock. Then in the background are these giant craning mountains. I believe in this picture you can actually see the church rock in the background on the far left.

Those mountains were breathtaking. Completely different than the mountains out west, which I remember as being very sharp. These mountains aren't as high, but much smoother. The evidence of age and wear are evident every time you look at one. What is really interesting though are the colors. Each mound has layers of color throughout it, some have alternating shades of red, while others really vary from layer to layer. The closer you get to the painted desert the more intense the shifts.

Which leads me up to our trip out to the painted desert in Arizona. While I won't take anything away from New Mexico and it's rock formations, which were genuinely awe inspiring, I could not have imagined the stark change in the painted desert.

As soon as we arrived we saw remnants of petrified trees littered along the road. The picture to the right isn't actually any of the smaller chunks of tree that we saw. It is a full on fallen petrified tree, this view is of the root system and the majority of the trunk trailing off in the distance. Needless to say, I was flabbergasted by the enormity of it. The really cool thing was that the process that had transformed these trees left traces of different minerals in the form of color in the trees.

The trees were normally mixes of muted reds, browns and oranges. Although sometimes they looked like giant pieces of white quartz and could carry just about any color. In fact, while my group was off looking at something my wanderlust got the better of me and I decided to go running to the bottom of the valley. You can spot part of the trail in the bottom right hand of this picture. I had almost gotten there when Jennie shouted to let me know the bus was leaving. I assure you the run up was harder than the run down. Did I mention that Billy the Kid hid in those valleys?

So, the next pictures you are about to see are the only ones taken by any member of Euharlee Baptist Church.

At the top of the trail was a sign that informed me that I was entering the "Black Forest" section of the Petrified Forest. I immediately spotted what I would have walked past any other time and snapped a picture of this.

Those little black rocks are actually dark black hunks of petrified wood. See what happens when you take the time to go places that others won't go just because of a sign that says "Warning: Rattle Snakes"?

Well, the last picture is really my pride and joy. I felt like I got to have a moment with nature down in this valley, possibly surrounded by venomous snakes. I saw that nature absolutely did portray God's invisible attributes, I stood in front of a tree and just marveled at it. I marveled and remembered that God created it. The creator is Himself so much more magnificent than His creation that when Moses asked to see God's full glory it nearly killed him. I really felt the weight of how little I fear and am awe struck by Jehovah.

There it is. My tree. I'm the only person in Euharlee Georgia that saw that tree. I'm the only one who can wonder how long it took for it to begin to unravel and how long it has been unraveling.

It's almost just a husk of a tree in places. You can see where it's peeling off from itself. It's pretty fantastic, surrounded by all that new growth. I'm really glad I got to see that tree, it's got layers, depth.

A New Look:

I've changed things up a little over here at Absolutely Spoo. I'm toying with this double sidebar shenanigans. I kind of think it makes my blog feel like a wild west outlaw with only it's trusty widgets and content to keep it alive. I see room for improvement, but if you don't then I can just let it be subpar and none will be the wiser.

Needless to say, I would love to hear what both readers think of the new look. Also, I've stepped into the 22nd Century by adding a "Search Bar" on the right hand side. You can use it to "Search" my blog and all the links that I have posted. . .at the same time. Finally, for your convenience, I have added "Absolutely read more!" links to all of my posts. They will be at the end of shorter posts, but will cut longer posts off after the first little bit. This way you won't have to see big chunks of text unless you choose to.

Whaddya think? Make sure you vote.

Because The DJ Wouldn't Play It:

I saw this video on here a few nights ago. The only reason I'm putting this up here is because it reminded me of a story.

My friend Andrew, or as I like to call him, "The guy who reads my blog" is married. On a fun side note, he and his wife are expecting their first child. Well, since I've set the scene as well as any Hemingway tome I'll just jump right in. Andrew, being the good friend that he is, asked me to help him out. He asked me to put together a "Mix Tape" of songs for his wedding reception. There were some gems on there. You had your Chicken Dance, your Electric Slide, and the song that didn't get played.

I listened as the songs I had lovingly compiled into a single CD of musical friendship passed over the sound system, I couldn't help but feel like the crown jewel was missing. I left the reception, happy for my friend, but mourning the loss of that song. So, here it is, performed by a barbershop quartet, The Ewok Celebration.

Just a quick tidbit:

Things have started to slow down with the school year lurching forward again. I expect that I will write some more about my trip to New Mexico and some on my youth ministry musings. For now I would like to point you to a really great post from a friend of Andrew "Call to Die" Lindsey's. The full post can be found here. It's on a topic I have been mulling over for a while, that is, how quickly we trade the all surpassing wonder of knowing God and studying his word for the human desires of someone to rally behind and a ritual to complete.

This really resonated with me, it seems to touch on modern Christianity's "self-help guru" thing that's going on.

Interpretation of scripture

Rome: in summary, the interpretation of scripture is determined by the Church, as it is headed up by the authority of the Pope and other hierarchy. At one point in time, even possessing a personal copy of the scriptures was worthy of death.

Today’s ‘protestant’ correlation: serious students of the Word are rare; besides an occasional personal glance at scripture, many Protestants rarely spend time studying the deep truths of the Word on their own. The local pastor’s teaching, if he is liked among the congregation, is taken as ‘truth’ in doctrines that require the least bit of study. Instead of the Pope and other hierarchy, the protestants can boast of their own ‘superstar’ teachers, even in the Reformed community, who are looked at by many as being near infallible in their interpretation.

Has anyone ever caught themselves prizing the teaching of a John Piper or other notable men of God over God's word itself? I know that I have to watch to make sure I'm not getting more of their teaching than actual personal bible study. Long and short of all this, read your bible, like it was the Word of God.