Aaron Sprinkle    Sweeter Than Me
Abandon    Song for the Broken
Absinthe Blind    The Break (It’s Been There All This Time)
Alpha Rev    White Fences
Andrew Osenga    Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates
As Tall As Lions    You Can’t Take It With You
Atticus Ross    Panoramic
Bayside    Killing Time
Better Than Ezra    Just One Day
Blind Pilot    Just One
Blue October    Into the Ocean
Bono    A Dying Sailor to His Shipmates
The Boxer Rebellion    Both Sides Are Even
Brave Citizens    How Much Longer?
Brian Eno & Harold Budd    Against the Sky
Broken Bells    The High Road
Burlap to Cashmere    Love Reclaims the Atmosphere
Cary Brothers    Honestly
Chris Moerman    Do You Hear Me Now?
The Coast    Circles
Coldplay    Major Minus
Daniel Licht    Blood Theme
Deadbeat Darling    Let It Go
Deaf Center    White Lake
Derek Webb    Cobra Con
Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors    Hourglass
Duran Duran    All You Need Is Now
The Early November    Exchanging Two Hundred
Elbow    One Day Like This
Emery    I Never Got to See the West Coast
Fistful of Mercy    Fistful of Mercy
Five Times August    Here
Fools for April    Child Inside
The Fray    You Found Me
Future Of Forestry    Close Your Eyes
Gary Go    Open Arms
Giles Lamb    Dead Island Trailer Theme
Goldmund    Threnody
Guster    Satellite
Hammock    We Will Say Goodbye to Everyone
The Hawk In Paris    Put Your Arms Around Me
Heavy Young Heathens    Like A Serenade
Hillsong United    B.E.
J.R. Richards    I Will Give You Life
Jacaszek    Lament
Jakob    Saint
James Morrison    I Won’t Let You Go
James Vincent McMorrow    This Old Dark Machine
Jane’s Addiction    Irresistible Force (Met The Immovable Object)
Jars Of Clay    Headphones
Jonathan Elias    Crossing Rivers
José González    Far Away
Joseph Arthur    In the Sun
Joshua Radin    Winter
Joy Wants Eternity    From Embrace to Embrace
Joy Williams    Speaking a Dead Language
Keaton Simons    Unstoppable
The Killers    Read My Mind
Kings Of Leon    Closer
Lee Hester    Until You Are Safe
Lifehouse    From Where You Are
The Listening    The Undiscovered
Longwave    No Direction
Lowline    Sound of Music
Marc Scibilia    When You’re A Diamond
Matchbox 20    Unwell
Matthew Perryman Jones    Rain Or Shine
Matthew Ryan & Hammock    Like New Year’s Day
Michael Pritzl    Halo
MuteMath    Cold Sparks
Name Taken    A Year Spent Cold
The National    Exile Vilify (From the Game “Portal 2″)
National Skyline    Look In My Eyes
Nine Inch Nails    13 Ghosts II
Okkervil River    Show Yourself
One eskimO    Astronauts
Our Lady Peace    Fight The Good Fight
Over the Rhine    A Little Lower Than the Angels
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart    Higher Than the Stars
Paper Route    Better Life
Parachute    Something to Believe In
Parlor Hawk    Short Road
Pearl Jam    Just Breathe
Peter Bradley Adams    For You
Phoenix    1901
Radiohead    Give Up The Ghost
Raine Maida    Rat Race
Ray LaMontagne    Be Here Now
Reeve Carney    Rise Above 1 (feat. Bono and The Edge)
The Rescues    Before the Fall
Rogue Wave    Eyes
The Ruse    Hold Tight
Ryan Long    Alive
See The World    Losing to Win
Senses Fail    The Fire
Shawn McDonald    Light
Shout Out Louds    Fall Hard
Sia    Breathe Me
The Sight Below    Burn Me Out From The Inside
Silverstein    Burning Hearts
Simon Webbe    Coming Around Again
A Skylit Drive    Worlds End In Whispers, Not Bangs
Slow Runner    Mermaids
Something In The Wheel    Hallelujah
The Static Jacks    My Parents Lied
Steve Means    Do Something
Syntax    Destiny
The Temper Trap    Sweet Disposition
This Will Destroy You    Threads
Thom Yorke    FeelingPulledApartByHorses
Tiny Animals    Wait For Me
Trent Dabbs    Inside These Lines
Turn Off the Stars    Please
Two Guns    The Strays
U2 and Soweto Gospel Choir    Where The Streets Have No Name
The Undeserving    Something to Hope For
VAST    Take Me With You
Vib Gyor    Red Lights
The Violet Burning    More
Washed Out    Far Away
The Weepies    Can’t Go Back Now
White Lies    Bigger Than Us
Wild Nothing    Golden Haze
Wild Sweet Orange    Land of No Return
The XX    Intro
Yann Tiersen    Tabarly
30 Seconds to Mars    Kings and Queens
77s    A Lifetime Without You

i read thistlewaites article and for the most part i agree. except the part where she calls jesus an occupier. i dont remember him camping out in the public square hoping for his voice to be heard by the social political and economic powers of his day.

but my real concern did not grow from this article. it was when i followed the link to the article by tony perkins that i was really bothered by what i read. i think his is a classic case of not only misinterpretation as thistlethwaite points out but he also commits the all too common mistake of eisegetical cherry picking.

perkins references the parable of the 3 servants in luke 19 to make his point that jesus is a free-market kinda guy. my problem with this is that in the jewish way of thinking the final statement of a parable is the main point but perkins attempts to make his case based on the economic scenario set up by the new king while completely ignoring his parable-ending statement:

“now where are my enemies who didnt want me to be king? bring them here and kill them before me.”

it seems that if this parable were an attempt to extol the free market system then the main character would be heroic in doing so. but instead we have a newly crowned king doing what newly crowned kings do – killing off his detractors. this seems very much in keeping with the sinful broken manner of the world.

but jesus always used parables to subvert the common thinking of his day and i believe this parable is no exception which means the final statement is a condemnation of not only the new king but his way of thinking and imposed economy.

take a look at the context. the preceding passage is the story of zacchaeus – a thieving tax-collector who meets jesus and proceeds to give away half of his possessions to the poor before repaying 4x what he stole to his victims.

ive heard this parable interpreted as showing true repentance which i believe it does but it also comes after several chapters of jesus talking about and living out the kingdom of god among the people. i cant imagine understanding this parable as detached from the kind of kingdom jesus had been announcing. hed been going on about it so much that many of those following him believed he was going to jerusalem to bring it about.

immediately.

so in keeping with the running kingdom theme and as a follow up to showing how the kingdom was revealed in the conversion of zacchaeus and his subsequent actions luke states that the peoples eager perception is why jesus told the parable in question so it must be understood in light of all this. and we know that after telling this parable they paraded him into town as a righteous  king – throwing their coats on the road before him and shouting:

luke 19:38

god bless the king who comes in the name of the lord!

to which the religious leaders demanded that jesus tell his followers not to say such things. but jesus says that if they stopped the stones would start crying out. there is only one other mention of stones crying out in the bible and given his knack for referencing the scriptures its no stretch to understand this response in light of it.

habakkuk 2:11

for the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork respond.

this statement appears in gods answer to the prophet about why he allows evil merciless people to profit from and dominate his people.  during his answer god decries babylon for “not living as it should” (2:4) lamenting “how long will that nation get rich by forcing others to pay them?” (2:6) he also says that it will be “terrible for the nation that becomes rich by doing wrong.” (2:9) this is then linked directly to babylons idolatry and denounced further.

tying this back to jesus comment isnt difficult given what we already know about the situation. the religious leaders were in bed with the roman oppressors and both were out for their own good at the cost of others. his reference to habakkuk is actually a much sharper rebuke – likening the pharisees to the cursed babylonians.

to which they didnt take very kindly.

jesus then laments the coming destruction of jerusalem before proceeding to the temple where he braids a whip and wrecks the economic oppression going on there – driving out those who would derive profit from the deprivation of others.after this luke tells us that the pharisees wanted to kill jesus. no big surprise given how their most recent encounters with him unfolded. its not long before they make good on this desire -teaming up with the romans to bring about his crucifixion.

with all this as the context for the parable in question perkins notion of jesus randomly advocating the free market system is completely antithetical to what we find in the balance of scripture. jesus whole purpose was to excoriate the idea of such hegemony and warn his followers of the difficult days to come including harsh persecution ranging from financial hardships all the way to death at the hands of the religious leaders and roman empire.

which is exactly what happened in the years following these events.

so was jesus an occupier or a free-marketer? i think the obvious answer is neither. whether u like the occupy movement or the concept of a free-market america dont confuse either with being the way of jesus. his kingdom is not of this world and doesnt look anything like it. in fact it looks like a completely irrational reversal of everything that would normally make sense.

it looks like abandoning your own comfy home for a lesser uncomfortable one. like giving up all your rights to be a servant to people who dont understand you and want you dead. like forgiving them while they crucify you.

philippians 2:3-11

3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

this wasnt gods formulaic means of procuring salvation its the way of the kingdom and many of the first believers followed jesus in this manner straight to their deaths. we cant continue to justify protests and profit margins with scripture. we can only learn the way and walk in it. so whether we prefer to occupy or embrace the free-market we who follow jesus need to remember that our kingdom citizenship supersedes all others and filter everything we do through that lens.

because it will change our direction.

while reading henri nouwens book the selfless way of christ i discovered the concept of downward mobility. in the book he says that freedom is only found in this way bc this is the way of jesus. he goes on to say:

“the way of the cross, the downward mobility of god becomes our way not because we try to imitate jesus, but because we are transformed into living christs by our relationship with his spirit.”

so may the way of jesus becomes our way by his spirit and may we occupy his presence and trade in the free-market of his love.

it was greatness.

#whoiamisnolongerwhoiwantedtobecome

#iamlessthanilongtobe

#iwastetimeontrivialthings

#isulkwhenishouldflex

#igivefartoomuchweighttomybrokenrelationshipwithmydeceasedfather

#idonttrustgod

#orhischurch

#ormyself

#iwishiwereabetterhusbandandfather

#istrugglewithanger

#istrugglewithdoubt

#iwanttogowalking

#ilongforthesky

#mountains

#rivers

#deserts

#milesofasphaltundermywheels

#imdissapointedwiththelifeimliving

#iwantmorethananythingtofindapurpose

#thatnotonlydrivesmebutwillalsoallowmetoprovideformyfamily

#ilongtobewhole

#ilongtobclean

#ilongtobeuseful

#ilongtobeclosetojesus

#thiscantbeallthereis

#itcantbe

#justcantbe

wires and lights in a box: how technology shapes our faith

blessed are the upper middle class in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of suburbia.

blessed are those who mourn over spilled starbucks for they will be comforted.

blessed are the geeks for they will inheret a small fortune selling a dotcom.

blessed are those who hunger and thirst for mcdonalds for they will be supersized.

blessed are mercy me for they received a grammy.

blessed are the pure in appearance for they will see how much god loves khakis and pique polos.

blessed are the stockbrokers for they will be called the sons of wealth.

blessed are the those who are persecuted for believing jesus is a republican for theirs is the kingdom of the local country club.

blessed are you when others revile you and utter all kinds of truth against you on account of your bloated sense of importance. rejoice and be glad for your reward is a nice 300k mortgage and a lexus. for so they persecuted your rich parents before you.

a couple years ago i started a series of blogs intending to address some current problems in the church by taking a historical look at their roots. the first two blogs in this series briefly covered how our current mode of doing church owes more to the pagan emperor constantine and roman imperialism than to jesus or the disciples. you can find these posts here and here.

it may be a good idea to go check them out before going forward because even though its been 2 years since i wrote them they cover aspects of church history that are integral to what im going to tackle on this and subsequent blogs as i expand the series.

~~~~~

as touched on in the previous post the fortunes of christians began to change dramatically after constantine issued the edict of milan. almost overnight the growing group of believers went from hiding and being persecuted to freely gathering for worship. they were financially supported by constantine himself as he built grand basilicas for worship such as the massive hagia eirene in constantinople (present day istanbul).

up until this point the church had basically met in small clusters within member homes or in the catacombs during certain periods of persecution. these small groups constituted the church in any given town and within these small groups the church thrived because every member took an active role in the gatherings as paul points out in 1 cor 14:

26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

so according to paul it seems that in the earliest gatherings everyone was actively involved – they lived and breathed this communal experience – and we have no evidence that anything changed very much for the first 300 years.

then came the edict.

from 313ad forward we see a drastically different experience of church. rome had long used basilicas for political and legal meetings and contastantine seized on their familiarity and purpose in building them to house christian gatherings.

these were grand edifices vastly dissimilar from the homes that had served as humble gathering places for the early church. the whole design of the basilica was to inspire awe by ushering focus forward from the gate through the atrium and narthex, then through the massive nave (central hall) toward the exedra (raised semi-circular platform) in the apse where leaders gave political speeches and the civil magistrates ruled on matters of law.

so beginning with the place of worship and extending naturally into the form and function of worship there was a swift and radical shift from integrated active participation to regulated inactive acquiescence. the result was an infusion of roman imperialism into every aspect of the burgeoning church. and it seems as though this is exactly what constantine was hoping for.

what began with constantine has been perpetuated ever since and it seems we have all too easily swallowed the idea that this is what church is supposed to look and act like. ever larger structures costing ever larger sums of money for the sake of ever increasing the number of people who dont have to actively do anything but show up and listen to educated civic leaders talk about politics and law.

is this what jesus envisioned when he told peter he would build his church? was this the goal of his life death and resurrection? did constantine really have the lamb who was slain in mind when he began erecting his monstrous basilicas and ushering the church into its imperial stage?

i cant believe the answer to any of these questions is yes.

and as we flash-forward to the present and take a look around at the religious climate of christianity at least in america what we find is only slight modification to this initial bastardization. for example: the growing megachurches are enormous basilicas praised as successfully reaching thousands yet they are almost wholly antithetical to everything we find in the testimony of scripture and the witness of the first several hundred years of the church.

i think its entirely likely that god chose to bring about his kingdom at a precise time and place for a reason. that having created us he knows us better than we know ourselves and that by initiating his kingdom through small groups in homes during the first three centuries he was revealing our desperate need for real community. a community that is impossible to find in a stadium full of imperialistic pomp and circumstance.

another example is the current sunday school/adult bible fellowship model disparaged in previous posts here and here.

granted these churches are full of people and its tempting to look at the numbers and determine they are doing gods good work but are they? ask attenders at any of these churches and you are likely to hear all about their buttery goodness but we are a society whose primary value is entertainment and we are easily swayed by well-produced shows.

so where is the community?

it seems constantines impact on the church is still being felt..

hours of asphalt

roll away from us

like a receding tide

pulling back the shore

as dusk fails

and we exit for fuel.

~~~

a tight squeeze

in my 92 ford tempo

the four of us unfold

like lawn chairs

being brought out

after a hard winter

greeted by a shock

of air far too cold

for this time of year

in this part of texas.

~~~

we linger outside the car

as small wisps of icy snow

begin to fill the sky

and grow quickly

into giant flakes

dusting our shoulders

and exciting our minds.

~~~

theres just something

about seeing a good snow

on the precipice

of an adventure

of self discovery.

~~~

feels like being clean

all our sins forgotten

under the frosty linen

blanket of night.

~~~

ignorant of our youth

we fold back into the car

and rush headlong

into the darkness.