Apartments, Politics and Playlists

I'm all moved in to the apartment building which gave this blog its name. Its quite marvelous; being able to describe my morning as "taking a shower in my bathroom, then walking downstairs to my kitchen to have a cup of tea and look out my window" is a joyful thing indeed. The only downside was the fire alarm going off at 5 this morning, rudely waking me up and keeping me there for several hours.

We are without internet in the apartment, and so the hours I typically waste online are being spent doing other things. I'm re-honing my reflexes and coordination through liberal doses of video gaming, and pursuing a deeper understanding of our culture by watching television for the first time in two years. This will probably last about a week, but in the meantime I'm realizing that simply cutting out one way in which I waste my day does not of necessity mean I will use said time constructively.

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I recently was introduced to White Horse Inn by Bryan Becker, and am enjoying it immensely. Basically, its talk radio. With four guys arguing. About theology. If that sounds like your cup of tea, check it out.

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I normally abhor online quizzes, but I found this one to be quite interesting. It rates your political beliefs (Centrist, Capitalist, Libertarian, Anarchist, Democrat, Totalitarian, Fascist, and Socialist). Suprise suprise, I'm strongly socialist, particularly on the economics axis of the chart. If you feel like it, check it out and tell me what you are, so I can decide whether or not we can still be friends.

Just kidding.

But seriously.

Here's my actual results, if you're curious:

You are a Social Liberal (66% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (10% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

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A couple of music bits:

-I bought Indelible Grace 4 last week, and am digging it. It definately continues in the vein of the third CD, rather than a throwback to the heavy country of the second one. High points include songs 5-7, all of which I'm really digging, especially "Lead On O King Eternal."

-Today I intend to drop by Homers and pick up "Yes, Virginia", the Dresden Dolls' new sophmore album. I've always considered them a guilty pleasure band; I don't know what the angsty post-goth piano-drums duo does for me, but hearing Amanda Palmer angrily sing about insanity, murder, rejection and coin-operated boys has always been an oddly enjoyable diversion.

-I also discovered Soltero, an indie rock band from Philadelphia with horns and singer/songwriter sensibilities (say that five times fast). I'm really into the songs they have online, and besides, any group with an album titled "Defrocked and Kicking the Habit" wins points with me.

-And, for those of you who find such things interesting, here's my latest mix CD, a mix of a couple new discoveries and some old favorites:

1. Communist Love Song - Soltero
2. Up Above the Sea - John Vanderslice
3. I'll Believe in Anything - Wolf Parade
4. Art is Hard - Cursive
5. Lover, You Should've Come Over - Jeff Buckley
6. Prison on Route 41 - Iron & Wine/Calexico
7. Fell Down the Stairs - Tilly & The Wall
8. Rapture Rapes the Muses - Of Montreal
9. Building Steam With A Grain of Salt - DJ Shadow
10. Sky Is Falling - Blackalicious
11. Fit But You Know It - The Streets
12. In This Home on Ice - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
13. All the Wine - The National
14. The Greatest - Cat Power
15. Dance to Your Daddy - Colin Meloy
16. The Night's Disguise - Rocky Votolato
17. Roses - Kanye West
18. The Widow - The Mars Volta

Barth and Liturgy

I've noticed that the ongoing discussion about contemporary vs. traditional liturgy can in some ways be aided if in approaching liturgy we borrow a card from Karl Barth. In approaching scripture, Barth argued for a position that has become known as neo-orthodoxy. He refuses to defend the historical and scientific inerrancy of scripture, but instead argues that the purpose of the bible is to bring people into an encounter with Christ.

Obviously, I have some issues with this. However, if we replace the Word of God in this discussion with liturgical elements in worship, we have something truly insightful. The problem most people have in arguing about them is that the discussion is about the elements themselves. Thus, for example, modern evangelicals disdain things like creeds and public confessions of sins as dead and lifeless, while more traditional churches defend them as good and historically important. This is where Barth's understanding is helpful. The truth is that, independent of anything else, liturgical actions are empty and dead. However, they don't exist as ends in themselves but rather as means to bring people into encounter with God. This is why traditional liturgies can be extremely powerful. They provide a framework soaked with meaning and specifically designed to bring the worshipper into God's presence and communicate over and over the truth of his gospel of grace to their hearts. In this role, that of providing a means by which people encounter Christ, liturgy is seen to be both good and useful; but without this as its end and aim all of the criticism contemporary evangelicals level are true.

ET

Brother Benny Bear

I Don't Want To Play Football

"I don't want to play football
I don't understand the rules of the game
I don't want to play football
I don't understand the thrill of the running, catching, throwing
Taking orders from a moron
Grabbing for the sweaty crotches
Getting hit by people I don't know
Sugar, I'd rather play a different sort of game"
-Belle and Sebastian

This song has always resonated with truth for me :)

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"My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?"
-James 2:1-7

I remember reading a book this summer called "Under the Overpass" in which two Christian college students decided to live as homeless people for six months. One of the things that amazed me in the book is the way the two of them were treated when they tried to go to church. They were at best avoided and treated with suspicion, and on several occasions they were actually forced to leave because they were bothering the other people there.

We love to talk about "helping the poor," but we like to think about it in this sterile, seperated way. The truth is that the poor aren't attractive, well-groomed chaps. Those Jesus calls us to love can be ugly, dirty and sometimes dangerous. We congradulate ourselves when we give a homeless guy a couple of dollars or a burger. But this isn't showing them sacrificial love. Lets wait to pat ourselves on the back until we are instead taking them into our churches and homes.

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I've somehow fallen in love with the Streets. I don't understand it, but there's something about their proper, awkward British hip-hop tunes about smoking splints and forgetting to return movies that I really enjoy.

Classic Quote

"Nels likes Easter. It reminds him of the glorious struggle of the proletariat."
-Mark Anderson

My good friend John

Sarah and I went and watched John Vanderslice at Sokol Thursday night. While the opening acts were sketchy, he was phenomenal. His singing and musicianship were spot-on. The crowd was polite and not full of the high school Omaha emo kids that make Sokol occasionally frustrating. And what impressed me most was how incredibly polite he was. He really seemed grateful to have the crowd there, moreso even than some artists that have impressed me in that regard in the past. Anyway, that's about all I have for tonight, other than to point out tomorrow is EASTER, and that is SWEET :) On that note, here's some pics from the show.









I'm so photogenic...

Orthodoxy and the Pursuit of Truth

"Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers." (1 Timothy 4:16)

"But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!" (Galatians 1:8-9)

Three times this week I have heard people comment in regard to heresy and orthodoxy that "Of course everyone is going to thing their way is the orthodox way." Now, there is certainly some truth in recognizing that we are all naturally biased by our own pride toward our position, but this was more than that. In each case, it was meant to say that the notion of orthodoxy in the church was silly and impossible. A few points occur to me that people who feel this way ought to keep in mind.

1. Heresy is not simply a term meaning "we disagree with them." Instead, it makes a statement about the truth or falsity of the position itself. I might call you a heretic, but our dispute would not ultimately be on political or cultural grounds, but on theological ones. The other factors certainly influenced the modern church, but gnosticism isn't heresy because it lost a power struggle but because it says things which are in tension with the truth of scripture. They might even disagree about what scriptures we use, but that argument can also be settled on objective grounds in pursuit of the truth, rather than arbitrary ones.

2. The process of determining orthodoxy was a careful and thorough one. The councils and creeds which resulted weren't light or arbitrary affairs, but instead consisted of the godliest and most knowledgeable individuals of their day coming together to carefully weigh positions against the weight of scripture and come to a conclusion which they felt was as faithful to God's revealed truth as was possible.

3. If early Christians were incapable of considering and either accepting or rejecting new ideas, there would be no early Christians. The truth is that the missionary enterprise of the church was very much based on a pursuit of theological truth. One cannot read Justin, Clement, Tertullian, Origen and other early apologists and fail to recognize that they were very much interested in arguing about propositional truth about God with those who disagreed with them. To dismiss them as stupidly closedminded would force us to ignore virtually every other historical thinker who actually took a position on issues.

In summary, I think we need to examine early orthodoxy, like every other discussion of truth, in a way which recognized bias but doesn't simply dismiss creedal Christianity as the "lucky sect that beat the others out."

Beware the Canadian Werewolf Brigade!

Velcome...

Thus begins my fifth blog, and the first for my fellow apartment dwellers. We'll see how this one fares, but hopefully between KJ, John, Kody and me there will be enough content to keep you interested. Bon voyage!