Exchanged Living

Jackson Tribute on the Organ

(reposted from JD)

SBTB Reunion... almost there...

Jimmy Fallon is working on having a cast reunion for one of my favorite shows of the 90's, Saved By The Bell. Most recently he had Mark Paul Gosselaar on his show, who did his entire interview as Zack Morris. Check it out:

An interesting "parable" from Peter Rollins

Peter Rollins has written a book of parables called The Orthodox Heretic: And Other Impossible Tales. On his blog, Raffi Shahinian uses one of these stories to explain why he left blogging behind. I'm not saying I'm leaving blogging behind, but I thought the parable was cool, so I thought I'd repost it (and I think I might read the book now):

"In a world where following Christ is decreed to be a subversive and illegal activity, you have been accused of being a believer, arrested, and dragged before a court.

You have been under clandestine surveillance for some time now, and so the prosecution has been able to build up quite a case against you. They begin the trial by offering the judge dozens of photographs that show you attending church meetings, speaking at religious events, and participating in various prayer and worship services.

After this, they present a selection of items that have been confiscated from your home: religious books that you own, worship CD's, and other Christian artifacts. Then they step up the pace by displaying many poems, pieces of prose, and journal entries that you had lovingly written concerning your faith...

Throughout the case you have been sitting silently in fear and trembling. You know deep in your heart that with the large body of evidence that has been amassed by the prosecution you face the possibility of a long imprisonment or even execution. At various times throughout the proceedings you have lost all confidence and have been on the verge of standing up and denying Christ. But while this thought has plagued your mind throughout the trial, you resist the temptation and remain focused.

Once the prosecution has finished presenting their case the judge proceeds to ask if have anything to add, but you remain silent and resolute, terrified that if you open your mouth, even for a moment, you might deny the charges made against you. Like Christ, you remain silent before your accusers. In response you are led outside to wait as the judge ponders your case.

The hours pass slowly as you sit under guard in the foyer waiting to be summoned back. Eventually, a young man in uniform appears and leads you into the courtroom so that you may hear the verdict and receive word of your punishment. Once you have been seated in the dock the judge, a harsh and unyielding man, enters the room, stands before you, looks deep into your eyes and begins to speak.

"Of the charges that have been brought forward I find the accused not guilty."

"Not guilty?" Your heart freezes. Then, in a split second, the fear and terror that had moments before threatened to strip your resolve are swallowed up by confusion and rage.

Despite the surroundings, you stand defiantly before the judge and demand that he give an account concerning why you are innocent of the charges in light of the evidence.

"What evidence?" he replies in shock.

"What about the poems and prose I wrote?" you reply.

"They simply show that you think of yourself as a poet, nothing more."

"But what about the services I spoke at, the times I wept in church and the long, sleepless nights of prayer?"

"Evidence that you are a good speaker and actor, nothing more," replied the judge. "It is obvious that you deluded those around you, and perhaps at times you even deluded yourself, but this foolishness is not enough to convict you in a court of law."

"But this is madness!" you shout. "It would seem that no evidence would convince you!"

"Not so," replied the judge as if informing you of a great, long-forgotten secret.

"The court is indifferent toward your Bible reading and church attendance; it has no concern for worship with words and a pen. Continue to develop your theology, and use it to paint pictures of love. We have no interest in such armchair artists who spend their time creating images of a better world. We exist only for those who would lay down that brush, and their life, in a Christlike endeavor to create a better world. So, until you live as Christ and his followers did, until you challenge this system and become a thorn in our side, until you die to yourself and offer your body to the flames, until then, my friend,
 you are no enemy of ours." "

The Watchmen: Now A Cartoon Show!

A Quote from The Woot People

I was checking out the Woot Shirt of the Day, which I occasionally buy, and I read the description of the kind of person who wears today's shirt and felt it was worth posting, just because it follows a kind of logic I appreciate deeply:

Wear this shirt: because it looks cool and people will think you’re in a band and everyone wants to be friends with someone that is in a band and friends buy your drinks and give you free peppermints and who doesn’t want a free peppermint? That’s right. Hitler doesn’t want a free peppermint. So in conclusion, Hitler wasn’t cool. Except for that one time he bought those kids a six pack.

Don’t wear this shirt: if you’re well dressed and web-savvy and trying to kill a guy. Kinda just made a promise to everybody up there, dude. Wouldn’t want to make us look bad, would you?

Enough said. I think I may order it.

For those who dream of flying...

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Free Chicken Mini's

Chick-fil-a fans: Apparently, on Thursdays for breakfast, everyone who goes to Chick-li-a gets a free 3-Pack of Chicken Mini's. I went there this morning to see if it is true, and I got mini's.  Behold them, and tremble:

Price paid: Nada. As Kanye would say, they were $ free.99.

I think they're doing this promo through the month of February on Thursday mornings, FYI.

Power, Monotony, and Eagle!!!

First off, by the miraculous power of God our house got power back this morning. I figured we'd be without until possibly next wednesday or thursday, but we're on now. It's a mixed blessing: I'm looking forward to my own bed, but having Julie's hot meals every night was amazing. Two words: white chili.

Of the blogs I read, one of them is Pete Wilson's, the pastor of my brother's church in Nashville. His post today had an amazing quote from G.K. Chesterton:

Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

What an amazing picture of the Father... wow.

And speaking of wow, Brad Gross sent me two pictures of Rock, Flag, and Eagle fodder, one of which I had to post because it could be what America's soul looks like both embodied and half dressed:

Wow. Thank Brad, for ruining the images that fly through my head when "I stand up next to her and defend her still today..."

Blitzen Trapper, Big Speeches and Jeremy Bentham

There are three things I'm excited about today:

1. I've been listening to Blitzen Trapper, an Indie/Country/Rock band from Portland. Their album Furr is dominating my listening time these days. I'm downloading their previous album right now; hopefully it will be as great as this one is. Apparently, they've played some shows with Iron and Wine, another fav of mine. Wow.
2. It's inauguration day. Whether you voted for Obama or not, this day's going to be historic, and that just gets me pumped. It's a big turning point in the social/political landscape of our nation--one that's been past due, even if I don't agree with him on every issue. He's so good from the podium anyway, I'm sure this speech is going to be amazing.
3. Tomorrow is the premiere of Season 5 of LOST! I may not sleep tonight...it's like Christmas Eve. Any hunches on what may happen this season? Theories? I'm sure I'll have a Thursday post on the show, that is, assuming that my mind is not blown to the point of not being able to type.

Are You Ready For Worship?

Please, oh please, may someone show up at Hope wearing this get-up:

Taken from The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus.