My A/V Media Diet

What do you watch and listen to on a regular basis? We are what we eat, and that goes for the information we consume. Today's post (part 2 of a 3 part series) is about the sources that make up my Audio/Visual media diet.

Audio Subscriptions

I have been a devoted listener and subscriber to?The Mars Hill Audio Journal?since 2003. Ken Myers, from Charlottesville, VA, has created an audio journal that is exactly opposite everything our popular culture embraces: his interviews are long, unconcerned with the latest and loudest, and deeply concerned with the deep questions that humans have been asking for millennia.The name of the?Journal comes from Acts 17, where the Apostle Paul goes to Mars Hill in Athens and interacts with the pagan philosophers on their own terms.

Podcasts

• The Eric?Metaxas Show,?which features Eric Metaxas and his wide variety of guests;
• Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast;
• Munger?Place Audio Podcast: though it's painful for me to listen to my own sermons, I still do so from time to time because I know that hearing myself helps me become a better preacher;
• Fresh Air:?Half the time I'm either completely uninterested in Terry Gross's interviews or else in complete disagreement with her perspective, and the other half of the time I'm captivated by the long-form interviews featured on Fresh Air;
• In Our Time, a long-running radio show on the BBC hosted by Melvyn Bragg, who interviews British academics to talk in detail about history, science, etc.
• This Is Your Life with Michael Hyatt. I liked the earlier version of this podcast better than the current episodes, but from time to time I still benefit from Michael Hyatt's insights on productivity and leadership.

Television

I don't watch much television these days and we don't have cable. When I do watch TV, it's mainly with my family and mainly on Sundays: NFL football, 60 Minutes, and America's Funniest Videos. As a family, we also watched American Ninja Warrior on Mondays this summer.I've watched every episode of?Arrested?Development multiple times (via Netflix and Hulu), and, until Netflix took it off the air, would also rewatch?Fawlty Towers. (This watching of the same shows over and over again drives my wife crazy.)

Social Media

I reluctantly use Facebook for my job because it helps me stay connected with people in my congregation, and it helps me remember names. On the other hand, I've been an enthusiastic user of Twitter: I like the ways it allows me to follow lots of really interesting people.However, as I wrote about a few weeks ago, in early summer 2015 I deleted both the Facebook and Twitter apps from my iPhone and I haven't looked back. I still use Facebook from time to time, but I've essentially not read anything on Twitter for over 3 months.

Audiobooks

I love audiobooks, and in the last year have been using the Overdrive app from the Dallas Public Library, which allows you to check out audiobooks from your local public library. (I have to be honest, though, and tell you that I miss books on tape. Those were the days.)

Coming in Part 3

The final installment in this series will run next Monday and will be about I subscribe to and read in print: books, magazines, journals, etc. (Click here to read part 1, about my online media diet.) The above was what I listen to and watch on a regular basis.What about you? What sources make up your A/V media diet?  

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My Daily Media Diet

What are the books, podcasts, websites, blogs, and newsletters that make up your media diet? You are what you eat, and that includes the information you consume. Today's post is about what I read daily as part of my media diet (part 1 of a 3 part series).

What Is a "Media Diet?"

"Media diet" is a phrase I came across several years ago in a web series by?The Atlantic. A reporter would interview public figures about how they stayed informed and what they regularly read and watched and make a simple post out of it. (I still remember Malcolm Gladwell's comment about his daily reading habits:?"Since my brain really only works in the morning, I try to keep that time free for writing and thinking and don't read any media at all until lunchtime." I totally identify....)In part 1 of this series (parts 2 and 3 coming on the next two Mondays) about my media diet, I'll focus on what I read daily (or at least regularly).

What I Do First Thing in the Morning

I've written before about the importance of the First 15, i,e., spending?at least the first 15 minutes of your day in prayer, scripture, and silence. So, I've been getting up really early recently in order to have an unhurried time of prayer first thing, before I workout.Currently this is what I use in my prayer time:

• the NRSV Thinline Bible I was given by the bishop at my ordination;
• the scripture reading calendar my church gives out through our?Eat This Book program;
• Seedbed's Field Guide to Daily?Prayer (I really like the 30 day- reading plan for the Psalms);
• and a small journal that I write in about once a week or so.

 

Breakfast:?The Dallas Morning News and NPR

After working out and while eating breakfast and getting ready:

• I get the print version of?The Dallas?Morning News delivered at home, and read it every morning (except Sundays, when I don't get to it until late afternoon, if at all). I have come to really like?The DMN and get more locally-focused and sports news from it than anywhere else.
• I listen to NPR's?Morning Edition radio program most mornings.

Blogs: Rod Dreher (and Not Much Else)

I used to read Andrew Sullivan's blog almost every day. Now that he has stopped blogging, almost the only blogger I read regularly is Rod Dreher. Rod Dreher is a fascinating and unique writer: a convert to Eastern Orthodoxy living in his native rural South Louisiana who writes about culture from a social conservative point of view.One of the topics Rod Dreher writes about that I find most intriguing and persuasive is the so-called "Benedict Option": the idea that Christians in the West today may need to follow the 5th century example of St. Benedict and spend less time participating in politics and the culture wars and more time deliberately cultivating the practices that will "thicken" our faith and deepen our witness. Here is a post from Rod's blog in July that summarizes his thoughts on the Benedict Option.

Websites I Read Almost Daily

• I read?The New Yorker almost every day. I like the short form pieces from folks like John Cassidy and Amy Davidson, but I really prefer The New Yorker for its?long-form essays like this one about Northern Ireland that I wrote about in April.
• I also browse?The Atlantic's website regularly, though I believe that?The Atlantic?is a much worse magazine since it expanded its online footprint. Many of the online articles seem to be merely a slightly (sometimes?very slightly) more serious version of the kind of thing that I suppose you find on Buzzfeed or The Huffington Post, and I do not mean that as a compliment. The Atlantic these days seems to feature quick-reaction pieces on hot-button topics that lack nuance and wisdom. (I'll say more about my complaints with?The Atlantic in part 3 of this series.)
• I browse the?Yahoo! main site and scroll through the headlines, particularly about sports and politics.
• I check out the?BBC Sport's soccer page almost daily.

Online Newsletters and Other Sites

• I read movie reviews on?Plugged In every few weeks or so. I'm interested in movies, but I like reading reviews from a conservative Christian perspective (a perspective you don't get from mainstream reviewers). I rarely have time to see movies in the theater anymore, so I find myself reading many more reviews of movies than actually seeing movies.
• I've recently discovered?Book Notes,?a free newsletter from Byron Borger, owner of Hearts and Minds bookstore in central Pennsylvania. Through Book Notes, I've stumbled across books that I would never have heard of elsewhere--it's a great resources.
• I read articles and watch videos the videos on the CrossFit main site several times a week.

Coming in Parts 2 and 3....

Parts 2 and 3 will be about what I regularly listen to and watch and read in print. The above is what I read online on a regular basis. What about you? What makes up your daily media diet?  

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5 Reasons to Love the State Fair of Texas

The 2015 State Fair of Texas opens today and I am fired up! I look forward to seeing Big Tex each fall and each year he doesn't disappoint. Here are 5 reasons to love the State Fair of Texas.

Everybody's There and Everybody's Happy

The State Fair is one of the few places in Dallas where everybody comes together: rich folks, poor folks, city slickers, small town farmers; black folks, white folks, hispanic folks; folks from Highland Park and folks from Fair Park: everybody is at the State Fair. And, everybody is happy to be there.If there is a better place to people watch, I haven't found it. 

The Food is all Fried

Fletcher's corny dogs, fried Thanksgiving dinner, even fried beer.At the State Fair, all the food groups are covered...in batter. 

The Car Show is Texas-Sized

I love browsing the 2 huge car pavilions. It's fun to sit in the drivers seats and pop the trunks of dozens of cars that I would never ever consider buying. (Although, be warned: I've actually bought?two cars over the years after first sitting in them at the Fair's Auto Show.) 

The Demonstrations are Mesmerizing

In several of the exhibit halls, informercial pros demonstrate knives and blenders and shower heads and mops and vacuums and ladders. These guys are good. I mean, can your blender make a soup? 

The Farm Children are Inspiring

It does my heart good to see the little boys from Texas farms tend their donkeys and cows and pigs and goats and sheep. Little boys with blue jeans and flannel shirts and cowboy hats who look exactly like their tall fathers beside them. I'm glad that world still exists and seeing those farm families makes me proud to be an American. Really. 

What About You?

If you've been thinking about visiting Dallas, you should plan a visit during the Texas State Fair, which runs for 3 weeks every September and October. The weather will be gorgeous and the whole experience is can't miss.If you do visit, Big Tex and I will be waiting for you.

Jesus is Not Running For President

Hypocrisy. "Hypocrisy" is the first complaint many people make against Christians. And you know what? They're right: we?are?hypocrites. Especially when it comes to politics.

Politics First, Faith Second

I‘ve noticed that many American Christians are shaped more profoundly by the political views of our respective tribes?liberal, conservative, etc.‘than we are by the Jesus we claim to follow. Recent polling of American Catholic views of Pope Francis are a good example of this tendency:

• Conservative Roman Catholics are in approval of the Pope‘s views on same-sex marriage and abortion (he‘s opposed to both) but they disapprove of his remarks on climate change and his critique of unfettered capitalism.
• Liberal Roman Catholics are the exact opposite.

I am not in any way implying that the Pope speaks for Jesus, nor that all Christians ought to think the same way as Pope Francis. My point is simply that it is troubling that American Catholic views of Pope Francis break down along partisan lines.And it‘s not only Roman Catholics who do this: Protestants like me do the same thing as well. And this tendency to put politics first and faith second is extremely problematic.

Jesus is Lord, Not Caesar

?Jesus is Lord, and not Caesar. For 2,000 years, Christians have made the claim that the ultimate authority is not whoever holds temporal political power, but that Jesus Christ is rightful Lord of the universe. Jesus is Lord, which means his place is first, and I (and everything else) am second. But when people who claim to follow Jesus take their identities from the Democratic or Republican parties first and from Jesus second, we are effectively saying, Caesar is more important than Jesus. We are saying our first allegiance is to our political tribe and we are only paying lip service to our Lord. Our tendency is to justify our political views with our faith, rather than beginning with our faith and then trying to work out our politics. In other words, we are hypocrites.

No, It's Not Wrong to Vote Red or Blue

I am not saying that if we all just followed the Bible then we would know exactly how to vote. I'm not that na‘ve. The Bible is not always easy to interpret or understand, and even if it were, this world is complicated and imperfect, so policy decisions are always going to require choices between lesser and greater evils and actions without certainty of outcomes. Life is complicated, and because of this, some Christians will believe that they can be more faithful Christians in the public square as Republicans and some will believe they can be more faithful followers of Jesus as Democrats, etc. It‘s not wrong to take a political position on this or that issue.What is wrong is to be a Republican or a Democrat first, and a follower of Jesus second. If you believe everything in your respective party‘s platform is 100% in line with the teachings of Jesus, you have a problem. It should be obvious that Democratic or Republican policies are uncertain attempts to work in a messy world‘they are not gospel, and we should not confuse them as such.

A Quick Self-Assessment

How do you know what you believe? If you are a Christian, do you believe what you believe because you have deeply wrestled in prayer and searched the scriptures over this or that issue, or do you believe what you believe because everyone in your political tribe thinks this way?So, with regard to the topics below, we need to ask ourselves, Why do we believe what we believe??

• Same-sex marriage
• Guns
• War
• Torture
• Drone attacks
• Immigration
• The Planned Parenthood videos
• The Death Penalty
• Welfare policies

Jesus is Not Running For President

We are going to have to pick a president next year, and that president will not be perfect. Christians will disagree over which man or woman running is best equipped to lead our country. That is okay. What is not okay is for me to transfer my ultimate allegiance to my political tribe. Jesus is not running for president, and political parties and partisan positions shouldn‘t be worshipped. Don‘t make the mistake of putting second things in the place of what ought to be First. That‘s called idolatry, and it never works out very well.Just ask the builders of Babel.  

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The Real Root of Our Dissatisfaction

"It's no wonder we often find ourselves looking for satisfaction in all the wrong ways. You and I are deluged from every side by advertising designed to foster dissatisfaction with our current lives. From what I've seen on television, my life would be much more satisfying if I were to eat Special K for breakfast, buy my car insurance form GEICO, and wear a Breitling watch. No one is impervious to advertising's influence....

The real root of our dissatisfaction goes deeper than our response to the blitz of media advertising. It resides somewhere deep in our souls and traces its origins all the way back to Eden. The serpent's question to Eve strikes home in all of our hearts: 'Did God really say, "You must not eat from any tree in the garden"?'Before this, Eve had delighted in God's provision, but now she wants more. She decides that the only fruit that will satisfy her hangs from the branches of the one tree God forbade her to eat from. But upon partaking of the fruit, she finds--as we all have--that living outside of God's boundaries and provision leads to fatal dissatisfaction. Once humanity crossed the threshold into a broken relationship with God, we've been dissatisfied ever since."

from?Simplify: Ten Practices to Unclutter Your Soul, by Bill Hybels (pp. 256-257)

Should a Pedophile Have Unsupervised Access to Your Child?

No healthy parents would ever allow their children to spend unsupervised time with a pedophile. But, in essence, that's exactly what millions of parents do when it comes to their children and the internet. The internet brings into our houses?dangers that our parents never had to worry about, dangers about which you and I had better be worried. I am worried; for me, the?challenge of raising a child in today's sexualized culture is terrifying

Preying on Children By Any Means Available

On Monday, the front page of my local paper had a story about a former teacher who has been sentenced to 60 years in prison on child pornography charges. It's a very disturbing story; the teacher, who preyed on teenage boys, would send them pictures of naked women, claim to be a woman, and ask the boys to send him naked pictures of themselves in return. The teacher would then blackmail those boys who sent him photos into sending him more photos, and worse. From the?Dallas Morning News:

Many of his victims for months and even years had no idea who did this to them, Johnson said. They were constantly looking over their shoulder and paranoid,? she said. To them, it was just a matter of time? until their photos would be revealed, she said.Some parents noticed that their grades suffered and they lost interest in sports, she said."

The teacher made contact with the boys through various "hook-up apps" on their smart phones.I wish this were one isolated incident. Unfortunately, we know that the dangers to children that the internet presents are ubiquitous.

3 Guarantees About Our Kids and Online Sexual Content

I guarantee you that if you have a boy of adolescent age and older, he is looking at internet pornography. If you have never addressed the issue of pornography with your son or if you have not taken any steps to restrict his internet access (see below), I guarantee he is looking at pornography. I‘think moms especially have a hard time acknowledging or admitting that their boys are furtively looking at pornography, but it is true. (Of course, the sad truth is that many boys and girls much younger than adolescents are also exposed to pornography. Young children are not safe from these dangers, and neither are our girls.)I cannot imagine what it must be like to be an adolescent boy these days and have hardcore pornography available after a few short taps on a smart phone. (Like most men of my age and older, I sincerely thank God that I grew up in the days before internet pornography.) You may think, "Not my son--he's not like that." You are being recklessly naive.I guarantee you that there are bad people out there who will use whatever technology available to prey on children. As soon as a new app is invented, someone somewhere is using it for evil purposes.I guarantee you that if you don't take steps to protect and educate your children, no one else will. Our primary responsibility as parents is to keep our children safe. But, in the cesspool that is our popular culture, how do we do this?

Parenting in a Sexualized Culture

We can't get away from the filth of our culture--it's everywhere. What we can do, though, is take the necessary steps to protect our kids, and, more importantly, educate ourselves and our kids about these issues.First: Install A Filter on Your Home Router ASAP. At my house we use Open DNS. Though there is a free version, I pay the nominal fee ($19.95 a year) for the enhanced features. By no means does a filter mean that we don't have to worry, but it is a necessary step. There are lots of different options out there--pick one and implement it ASAP.Second: Educate Yourself?About Parenting in a Sexualized Culture. I know absolutely nothing about how to parent in a sexualized culture, but there are people out there who have wisdom to share. One such group is a Christian non-profit called pureHOPE. Last year at my church, we hosted pureHope's?Dan Martin?who taught a course on the topic of "Parenting in a Sexualized Culture." My wife attended Dan's course and was both frightened by the reality of what we face as parents and at the same time encouraged by the wise, practical content that Dan shared.At the very least, you should spend some time on the pureHOPE site and familiarize yourself with their content. On top of that, I'd recommend seeing if your church or community group can bring out Dan or another one of the pureHOPE presenters to teach on this vital topic. (I'm sure that there are other great ministries doing work like pureHOPE--I just reference them because I can personally attest to the wisdom they have to share.)

None of Us Would Ever Allow Our Children to Spend Time with Pedophiles

So, why do we allow our kids unfettered access to the Internet, and why are we so determined to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that this stuff has nothing to do with our families?It's time for us to wake up and do the hard, necessary work of preparing ourselves and our children to navigate this sexualized culture.

Why I Blog

Leadership is about influence, and it's primarily about the influence of ideas. I started blogging because I believe that ideas matter, and I want to be engaged in the public wrestling over which are the true and which are the false ideas. Ideas matter. In fact, as John Maynard Keynes reminds us, history is driven by ideas. 

[Ideas], both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back.... Soon or late, it is ideas... which are dangerous for good or evil."

John Maynard Keynes from the conclusion of his General Theory?[1936](quoted in "Lessons in Statecraft," by George Weigel,?First Things, May 2015)

The Murderous, Hilarious Human

The human is a creature of contradictions, capable of murder, wit, wry observation, and great perseverance, not to mention many other things. Consider:

"Slaughtered Him Like a Ram"

Details are sketchy, but by some reports Boko Haram, the Nigerian Islamist militant group, butchered 2,000 people last week in northeastern Nigeria.A 12 year-old survivor of an earlier attack, now living as an orphan in a refugee camp, recalls the death of his father:

I saw them kill my father; they slaughtered him like a ram. And up until now I don‘t know where my mother is." -Suleiman Dauda

Jesus, have mercy. This is what the human has made his particular speciality for thousands of years: murder.Of all the earth's creatures, none is capable of greater evil than the human.

So, Why Not Destroy the Creation?

In Genesis 6-9 we read of Noah and the Great Flood that the Lord sends to destroy the earth. When I read of what's happening in Nigeria or Syria or some other place, I think, "Why not wipe the whole thing away, Lord? Why not stop all the killing?"For people like me, living comfortable lives in comfortable places, it's easy to be troubled by the Lord's decision to kill everyone. But if we were living in the midst of the kind of suffering and misery and murder that's happening in Syria or the Borno state in Nigeria, would we be praying for God just to end it all?When we honestly contemplate the violence of which the human creature is capable it seems that God was right: the slate needs to be wiped clean.

But the Creation's Still Here

So, why didn't the Lord finish the job and completely destroy our?entire race?

The Deadly Mix

The human is a mix of the brutal and the beautiful, of violence and humor. While murder was happening in Nigeria (and many other places), there was an NFL playoff game yesterday between Dallas and Gren Bay. After Dez Bryant's remarkable catch was controversially overruled by the officials, someone posted on Twitter:[embed]https://twitter.com/BMcCarthy32/status/404770957916532736[/embed]The same creature that is capable of the murders in Nigeria is also capable of a wry, funny observation in 140 characters or less. That tweet by Brandon McCarthy is just about perfect, isn't it?

Plus a "Bro Country" Mashup

An aspiring country music songwriter named Greg Todd wanted to prove that there is a simple formula that the writers of the top "Bro Country" songs all follow. So, he laid the songs over each other in an audio mashup, and made a video of it:[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY8SwIvxj8o[/embed]The same creature that is capable of murder and writing witty 140 character sentences is also capable of astute analysis of a pop cultural phenomenon. And capable of putting his analysis together in a way that pokes good-natured fun at the industry in which he wants to succeed.

And Then We Have The "Ghost Boy"

Martin Pistorius lived a real-life nightmare: he was totally unable to move for 12 years, but everyone thought he was in a‘vegetative state. For 12 years, he was a prisoner in his own body, able only to control his thoughts.His story is one of the more remarkable (and blackly?humorous) stories I've heard in years. At one point, Mr. Pistorius talks about how much he hated the television show?Barney that was always on the tv in front of him, day after day; his admission made me laugh out loud. (Listen to the 11 minute NPR story yourself.)

Maybe God Knew

I'm not saying that a funny Tweet, entertaining YouTube video, and‘the‘testimony of a man imprisoned in his own body somehow balance out the horrifying murders in Nigeria. I'm merely pointing out how strange a creature is the human: all of the different examples above are the actions of the exact same species.Maybe God knew what a bizarre mix the human was. Maybe, while hating the sin in the human, the Lord also loved the humor, invention, perseverance, and love of which the human was capable.Maybe God isn't through with us yet. 

Quiz! What's Your Favorite Idol?

Are we modern, Western people really more advanced than the ancients? We certainly believe we are. This arrogance is one of the reasons modern Americans have such difficulty with the Bible; after all, we are advanced and advancing, and the Bible--particularly the Old Testament--is backwards and primitive.It is true that we are an advanced people technologically--think of all the ways we can kill or display pornography!--but when it comes to idolatry, we are as prone to idol worship as the ancients. Or more so.

Israel and the Golden Calf

We read in Exodus 32 of the golden calf that the Israelites made and worshipped while waiting for Moses to return from Mount Sinai. Like so many of the stories in the Bible,‘the account of the golden calf seems remote and distant. But that's because we don't understand what an idol is.

The Definition of an Idol

In his book Counterfeit Gods,?Tim Keller describes idolatry in this way:

What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.A counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. An idol has such controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second thought. It can be family and children, or career and making money, or achievement and critical acclaim, or saving 'face' and social standing It can be a romantic relationship, peer approval, competence and skill, secure and comfortable circumstances, your beauty or your brains, a great political or social cause, your morality and virtue, or even success in the Christian ministry. When your meaning in life is to fix someone else's life, we may call it 'co-dependency' but it is really idolatry. An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, 'If I have that, then I'll feel my life has meaning, then I'll know I have value, then I'll feel significant and secure.' There are many ways to describe that kind of relationship to something, but perhaps the best one is worship." [Emphasis mine.]

Be Proud, O Modern

Idolatry isn't something that we've grown out of; idolatry is something modern Western culture is perfecting. The ancients would be astounded at the brazen boldness of our idolatry: we are worshipping idols of which they never dreamed.

Which Idol Did You Get?

J.A. Medders has a nice summary of Keller's material on his blog, which I've excepted below.

Life Only Has Meaning/I Only Have Worth If....

1. I have power and influence over others. (Power Idolatry)
2. I am loved and respected by _____. (Approval Idolatry)
3. I have this kind of pleasure experience, a particular quality of life. (Comfort idolatry)
4. I am able to get mastery over my life in the area of _____. (Control idolatry)
5. People are dependent on me and need me. (Helping Idolatry)
6. Someone is there to protect me and keep me safe. (Dependence idolatry)
7. I am completely free from obligations or responsibilities to take care of someone. (Independence idolatry)
8. I am highly productive and getting a lot done. (Work idolatry)
9. I am being recognized for my accomplishments, and I am excelling in my work. (Achievement idolatry)
10. I have a certain level of wealth, financial freedom, and very nice possessions. (Materialism idolatry)
11. I am adhering to my religion‘s moral codes and accomplished in its activities. (Religion idolatry)
12. This one person is in my life and happy to be there, and/or happy with me. (Individual person idolatry)
13. I feel I am totally independent of organized religion and am living by a self-made morality. (Irreligion idolatry)
14. My race and culture is ascendant and recognized as superior. (Racial/cultural idolatry)
15. A particular social grouping or professional grouping or other group lets me in. (Inner ring idolatry)
16. My children and/or my parents are happy and happy with me. (Family idolatry)
17. Mr. or Ms. Right? is in love with me. (Relationship Idolatry)
18. I am hurting, in a problem; only then do I feel worthy of love or able to deal with guilt. (Suffering idolatry)
19. My political or social cause is making progress and ascending in influence or power. (Ideology idolatry)
20. I have a particular kind of look or body image. (Image idolatry)

The Only Known Cure

The only known cure for idolatry: faith, hope, and love. 

Some New Music for You to Check Out

How could you not take to a guy like this? Meet David Crowder, in his own words:

I was born half Baptist (the East Texas, King James carrying, pipe organ, hymnal singing, Southern, type Baptist) and half Pentecostal (the Holy Ghost, jumpin? and shoutin?, hand-waving, prophecying, Southern, type Pentecostal). Later, I was born again.

Crowder Math

I've been a fan of David Crowder's music for over a decade; nobody sounds like him. Here's my summary of his unique style:Texas gospel rockabilly+Electronic dance beats+simple, piercing lyrics

---

= David Crowder

Hee Haw, Aqua Net, and Olivia Newton John

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUwXo0jgORI[/embed]David on his musical influences:

The son of an insurance salesman and a social worker, fructifying in the piney woods of Texarkana, I was as muddled as the name of my town. We drove a light blue Ford Thunderbird; not the old, classic kind, but a brand new one that had a sticker on it. The one with the electric windows and mirrors and the headlamp covers that flipped open when you turned on the headlights and an in-dash eight-track player. My dad and mom both used Aqua Net hair spray. He parted it on the right side and always carried a comb. She got permanents and had curlers that heated up every Saturday night while we all watched The Lawrence Welk Show and Hee-Haw. The eight-tracks in rotation were Elvis, Willie Nelson, Olivia Newton John, and Bill Gaither. Everything I‘ve ever done musically can be traced back to there that Ford Thunderbird, those sounds, the view out of those windows, and my brother punching me in the arm on the way to Sunday morning Church. That is all metaphor and all true.

After 6 albums, the David Crowder* Band broke up in 2012. But, David has kept making music under the name Crowder? and released his first solo album, Neon Steeple, in May 2014.

Neon Steeple

Like previous David Crowder albums,?Neon Steeple has a story to tell from start to finish. Although there are a few standout songs that work well on their own, the best way to listen to the album is in one sitting, beginning to end.Here's David describing his work on the album:

Neon Steeple is a collection of songs and sounds looking forward to the past and counting the present as sacred. It is a longing for belonging, a search for home. It is a collection of choruses that believe that this is not all there is. There is more, there must be. It is the sound of the Appalachians and Ibiza. Folk music and EDM. The music of the People. Folktronica. Digital and Analog. The Ones and Zeros and the Handshake. The Banjo and the 808.

Four Year-Old Dance Party, etc.

Neon Steeple is a beautiful album that tells a beautiful story in an unsentimental and creative way. It's also a lot of fun.The song My Beloved? is a favorite of a four year-old in my household. (The video is embedded above, but the album track is a much better version.) It‘s a clap-your-hands-stomp-your-feet happy hoedown.One of my favorite tracks is Come As You Are? (embedded below) that is an invitation to the weak, weary, broken-down to lay down their burdens and shame.[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE6QXWFL6jY[/embed]Another standout track is the southern throw-down Lift Your Head Weary Sinner (Chains). It‘s an aggressive, growling song.But to pick out those three tracks is to give the impression that the rest aren‘t worth hearing, an impression I don‘t want to give.?I Am? is another favorite of mine; I love the ambiguity in the central hook:

"I am holding onto you;In the middle of the storm,I am holding on...I am."

Who's holding whom? That's the question, isn't it?Another great track is the duet with Emmylou Harris (?My Sweet Lord?): just achingly beautiful.

?Blind is the fool, I see that now;I broke the rules, and let ya down.I walked alone; now I have run dry:I need my sweet Lord to help tonight.

The entire album is really strong: I recommend it.

"Making Dead People Alive"

As much as I appreciate David Crowder the musician, I think I appreciate David Crowder the writer and theologian even more:

Neon Steeple is both a critique and a hope. The meta-narrative of scripture is about innocence lost, it is about displacement, about things not being right and a search for belonging and home and forgiveness and reconciliation, the tension of death and life, what it means to be alive. The story is not about making bad people good, it is about making dead people alive. The story sold is rarely that.What if we started believing??

 What if indeed?

The Only Time I'll Ever Write About Ann Coulter

Ann?Coulter makes her living as a media personality by writing and saying provocative things. To cite a recent example, her August 6 post about Dr. Kent Brantly, the American medical missionary who contracted Ebola in Liberia after caring for infected Africans, is?entitled "Ebola Doc's Condition Downgraded to 'Idiotic'." I generally decline to be baited by provocateurs (pearls before swine?and all that) and I certainly have no wish to add to Ms. Coulter's lucrative notoriety. But this time, I can't help myself.I can't help commenting on Ms. Coulter's post because over at First Things?I read an excellent response to it that I want everyone I know to read. I can't resist sharing the First Things post?not because of what the author, Collin Garbarino, says in response to Ann Coulter, but because of what he says about the gospel and about how God works in the world.Ms. Coulter calls Dr. Brantly's actions "idiotic," but Mr. Garbarino reminds us that God's wisdom often looks foolish to the so-called wise of the world:

Christianity has always been a little topsy-turvy. The mightiest king in the universe was born in a lowly stable. The second person of the Godhead??emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.??He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.?He had??no place to lay his head,? and he surrounded himself with a rag-tag group of fishermen and tax collectors. Jesus could stand as a righteous judge, but he allowed himself to die a sinner‘s death. Through sacrifice?God saved his people.Through death death is conquered. What‘s more foolish than dying in order to live? Christ calls his people to do just that. Take up your cross and follow him." [Emphasis mine.]

Mr. Garbarino goes on to take exception to Ann Coulter's suggestion that Dr. Brantly would have been better off converting a "Hollywood power-broker" than serving Africans without influence, correctly pointing out that worldly influence and power are not God's preferred way of changing the world:

God uses weakness in order to show his own power, and in spite of his habit of using the lowly, he‘s still managed to turn the world upside down. When people start thinking that they need the clout of a??Hollywood power-broker? to do God‘s work, they‘ve abandoned the gospel. If we attempt to convert the mighty so that we can use their resources, we're telling the world that God‘s power is insufficient. Does God need the rich and powerful to change the world? May it never be. God is sufficient in himself to do all he sets out to do." [Emphasis mine.]

The whole post is an excellent summary of the Church's claims about Jesus and worth the 5 minutes to read it. Read the whole thing here.For some reason, we live in a world in which people without wisdom--celebrities, media personalities, and Hollywood power-brokers--are often seen as wise. In such a world, I prefer the foolishness of God and the examples of idiots like Dr. Brantly. 

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1. As is obvious, I am not in agreement with Ann Coulter on this issue. In fairness, however, she does raise some important points in her post. For example, it is true that the American church should be doing more to care for the poor in our own country. But, loving our neighbors is not an either/or issue. According to Jesus, the Liberian with Ebola is just as much my neighbor as is the homeless man down the street: I have a responsibility to show mercy to them both.2. I was encouraged to see Dr. Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention remind his readers that Christians ought to exercise more discernment before sitting at the feet of "hucksters and demagogues." 

What's Best About America (& Why I'm Worried)

(The crowd really gets going at the "rockets' red glare" part, about 33 seconds in--makes my hair stand up. USA!)[7/8/14 update at 9:36 AM CDT: I've slightly edited the post for clarity.]The Framers of the American Constitution had a deeply-held belief in human sin. That clear-eyed expectation of sin?particularly the expectation that anyone is capable of using power in oppressive ways, and that given time and opportunity, anyone probably will use power in oppressive ways?is what I like best about America.James Madison, writing in 1788 in?The Federalist #51 under the pseudonym "Publius," had this to say about the underlying philosophy of the America Constitution:

Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

Madison and the other framers of the Constitution were so aware of the human capacity for sin that they set up a system of checks and balances to limit sin's effects, so that power couldn't be too closely-held in any one set of sinful hands. Madison didn‘t merely want to keep permanent power away from his political enemies, he also wanted to keep permanent power away from his political allies. Madison was aware that his ideological allies were as likely to fall into sin as his ideological opponents. So, Madison and the Framers built a permanent mistrust of human nature into the American Constitution. This brilliant design has served us well for the last 200 years or so. We've had a lot of problems, but not anarchy and not tyranny.The best thing about America is the wisdom our Founders had to recognize that humans are deeply sinful creatures.? This insight of human sinfulness is, surprisingly, not universally acknowledged. 100 years ago, for example, many intelligent, educated people in the West believed that humans were on a path towards perfection. And then came the Somme.Sin is a part of every human life, and every human situation. We cannot perfect ourselves, cannot trust our best intentions. All of us, even the best-intentioned, are capable of acts of great evil. In the past 200 years, there have been countless revolutionary movements that promised freedom and justice, and a great number of them have made things worse for ordinary people rather than better. The reason revolutionary reality is so much worse that revolutionary rhetoric is because the leaders of these revolutions had no suspicion of their own intentions, no awareness that their hearts were often no more holy than the enemies they wanted to overthrow.In America, this was not the case. James Madison??if men were angels??knew that men and women were far from angelic, and he and the Framers took the human capacity for sin into account as they drew up our Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Why I'm Worried

But I'm worried today that we've forgotten what we once knew. Today what most worries me about America is that many of us no longer believe in the universality and inevitability of human sin in all situations and in all lives.Don't misunderstand: it's not that we no longer believe in sin in general; rather, it's that we don't believe in the universality of sin; we no longer believe that?we ourselves and our people could be sinful in our actions.The American Left--particularly the progressive wing--seems only to see sin where it wants to see it.? The Left is quick to see possibilities for sin in for-profit corporations, among the rich, or in cultural systems that have in the past been used to oppress the weak. The Left is correct to see the possibilities for sin in these areas.But the Left seems blind to the possibilities for sin among government bureaucracies, among the poor, or in the progressive push to completely dismantle so-called traditional morality. The Left also seems unable to question its own crusading impulse, unable to concede that perhaps it could be mistaken in its inclinations. This is an extremely dangerous inability.To cite one recent example: The Left correctly complains that much of right-wing rhetoric about President Obama is hysterical and vitriolic. But the Left‘s response to the Supreme Court‘s Hobby Lobby case has itself been hysterical and vitriolic. Steve Coll, writing for The New Yorker‘s website, compared the Green family (the owners of Hobby Lobby) to the Taliban. I had to read the article twice to be sure he wasn‘t making a joke. Unfortunately, he appears to be in earnest; Mr. Coll also appears to be unable to see the sad irony in his use of the comparison.The American Left could use more of Madison‘s clear-eyed view of human sin. The men and women on the Left should be aware that they are as capable of using power in oppressive ways as anyone else.But my conservative readers should not be feeling too good about themselves, either. The American Right also seems only to see sin where it wants to see it. The Right is quick to see possibilities for sin among government bureaucracies, among the poor, or in the progressive push to dismantle traditional morality. The Right is correct to see the possibilities for sin in these areas.But the Right seems blind to the possibilities for sin in capitalist structures, among the wealthy, or in its media-entertainment complex. And the Right seems rarely to apply it's criticism of the Left to itself.The Right often accuses the Left of being out-of-touch with reality, unable to see the hard truths about the inevitability of sin in all human endeavors, that the Left is naively idealistic. But, the Right is capable of making the same mistakes and ignoring Madison's wisdom. To cite the clearest example of the last decade, consider the Iraq War and occupation. The leaders and planners of the war and subsequent occupation suggested that it would be relatively simple and inexpensive to remake Iraqi society. I have a hard time believing Madison would have been so sanguine. A healthy skepticism of human intentions--particularly with regard to human use of political power--and an abiding belief in the pervasiveness of human sin should have caused the architects of the Iraq War to expect more more difficulty when they laid out their plans. For example, a Madisonian understanding of the human use of power to oppress should have given the Iraq War architects the expectation that the leaders in the new Iraq would use violence against their political enemies in the same way that Saddam Hussein had formerly used it against them. Unfortunately--and I am of course only speaking as an outsider--these war architects seem to have ignored Madison's insight, with predictable results. When you forget about the inevitability of human sin and forget that you are capable of making the same mistakes that you have accused your opponents of making, you inevitably find yourself in a mess.

What the Left and the Right Share in Common

Here's the point: both the Left and the Right are capable of committing the sins that they have accused each other of making. (I know that's an obvious point, but I often find it helpful to point out the obvious.) I'm not arguing for some kind of middle or third way or saying that there is no substantial difference between the Left and the Right in American life. Rather, I'm just pointing out that a more Madisonian skepticism of our own righteousness would be beneficial for each of us, and for our ideological allies. The reason both the Left and the Right are capable of making the same mistakes is because they forget about the human capacity for sin, at least in regard to their own ideas and leaders. Both, in their own ways, believe that their ideas and practices can lead us toward perfection, that their desires are pure enough to be exempt from tendencies to self-delusion and abuses of power, and that the purity and righteousness of their desires justify any means to achieve those desires. This shared belief in their own righteousness?one of the things they have in common?is foolish and, I?d argue, un-American. And it causes me to worry. So, what should we do?

Two Things I'm Going to Do More Of

I?d like to see two changes in American public life. But, as with all changes, these must begin with each of us. I have control over no one‘s behavior but my own, just as you have no control over anyone but you. So, I want to see more of these two things in my own life:First, we need to remind ourselves that, to quote scripture, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. In other words, no one is perfect, and no one‘s motives are perfectly pure. Each of us is capable of abusing power and justifying lies for our own, selfish ends. There but for the grace of God go I. I am no better than my enemies. I want to be reminded often of this sobering truth.The Christian practice of confession is valuable because it is impossible to pray a corporate prayer of confession and fail to hear the words applied to yourself. In my tradition, for example, we have a prayer of confession that goes like this:

Merciful God, We confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, We have rebelled against your love, We have not loved our neighbors, And we have not heard the cry of the needy.

Every time I pray those words, I know that they apply to me: I am a sinner. I judge myself by my intentions but my enemies by their actions. In times of honesty and silence, I am forced to admit that I am not better than my enemies.Second, we need to confess our own sin and admit when our people have sinned. We cannot condemn the dirty tricks of our political and ideological enemies while turning a blind eye to those of our own people, whom we want to believe justified in their actions because we believe their ends to be so righteous. It would be powerful to hear people say, Yes, I voted for him, and yes, I broadly agree with his position on X issue, but he was dead wrong in how he spoke about his political enemies, and dead wrong to pursue power in that way, and I don‘t want to win if that‘s the way victory is achieved. I'd like to demonstrate more of this admission and honesty in my own life.What I like best about America is our Constitution‘s undergirding suspicion of power, even when used by seemingly good people. That suspicion has served us well for the last 200 years, and has kept us safe. We ignore that suspicion at our peril, but if we recover it in our own lives, our families, and in our public life together, it has the potential to keep us safe in the future.

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?The Framers were not exempt from the temptation to ignore their own tendencies to sin, and the inclusion of slavery in the Constitution proved..?I am not suggesting that the current Iraqi government is as violent or oppressive as that under Saddam Hussein, but merely making the point that the years of sectarian violence that have followed Saddam Hussein's overthrow should not surprise us.

My One Major Problem With the "Noah" Movie

 I loved the first 2 hours of Darren Aronofsky's?Noah. I have no problem with the creative liberties Mr. Aronofsky takes with the source material--in fact I loved his creativity. Below, I'll tell you what I appreciated. But first....Here's My Problem With?Noah?(no spoilers here):In a masterful way, the film's message couldn't be more?clear, true, or terrifying: humans are a violent, selfish, sinful race, and there is no hope for us. We cannot save ourselves.And then the final 18 minutes makes this point: "After the Flood, the good news is that humanity--led by Noah--now gets to save itself."See the problem?

• Minutes 0-120: humanity is a mess and cannot save itself.
• Minutes 121-138: humanity will now save itself.

Even artistically, the ending doesn't fit with the rest of the movie.In a very sad way, Darren Aronofsky's conclusion undermines what he has been trying to tell us and proves how deeply our delusion goes. "We are a mess and we will never be able to save ourselves....Unless we try really hard and save ourselves." This is the extent of our wisdom.The Great War began 100 years ago this summer. The best and the brightest of European culture and society were convinced that such a war was impossible, because humankind was now enlightened and rational. And then came the Somme.The last 100 years ought to have caused Mr. Aronofsky to be more cautious in his movie's conclusion, but the sad story of humanity is that we never learn.As I mentioned, I have no problem whatsoever with the major creative liberties Mr. Aronofsky took with the Genesis material. But, I do have a major theological problem with Mr. Aronofsky's ultimate conclusion. The Genesis account couldn't be clearer: humanity is just as messed up after the Flood as before.If the last 18 minutes were different (and it wouldn't have required much to change the final message),?Aronofky's?Noah would have been a great movie. As it is, I think it's one more example of humanity's problem. Here's What I Loved About the Movie (Spoiler Warning):

• Noah's retelling of Genesis 1 to his family. The visuals that go along with his retelling are beautiful, interpreting the deep theology and poetry of the Creation account in ways I've never seen before.
• "The Watchers." The Watchers are fallen angels, and though I was initially skeptical when they appeared on the screen, I quickly appreciated their part in the story. The Watchers are fallen angels not because they rebelled against God by wanting to take his place, but because they rebelled against God by wanting to help humanity too much. There is a lot of wisdom in that understanding of sin. Their curse is to become part of the earth, and so they appear as rock giants.
• Noah's self-understanding. Noah sees himself as totally flawed and unrighteous and believes his only role is to steward creation, and then die.
• Noah's family dynamic. I think the tension that Noah's devotion--obsession?--causes in his family rang true.
• The Flood itself. Terrifying and utterly believable.
• All the small, human details. The scene where Noah's family is in the Ark and hears the screams of those bereft outside? Wow.
• Actually, I loved pretty much everything about the first 120 minutes of the movie....

 UPDATE:?Over at?First Things, Wesley Hill has the same problem with?Noah that I do, but says it better.

3 Things I Learned From a Week Without Screens

As part of?our church's Lenten campaign, my family and I just spent the last week abstaining from screens for purposes of entertainment. (No tv, blogs, streaming video, etc. Unfortunately, I still had to use email for work, etc. Wouldn't that be nice?....)Here are 3 things I learned from the experience. The 1st is obvious and expected, the 2nd and 3rd surprised me:

1. I'm a lot more productive when I'm not tied to my phone or computer.
2. My stress level is lower when I'm not absorbing content from the internet, because
3. Much internet content focuses on fomenting outrage. We are a people of grievance and offense. A friend of mine called me midweek and asked me about something that had occurred that had gotten the internet outraged and it was a relief to say that I knew nothing about it and didn't care. I don't need more petty outrage in my life. If you took away tweets and blog posts and articles that express offense or outrage--and took away pornography, sadly--how much of the internet would be left?

It's startling how quickly something that's clearly not a necessity--screens for entertainment--can shape our ways of living and interacting. What about you--how are screens shaping how you live, work, or parent? 

Chris Christie and the Problem With Our Media Culture

(I'm very interested in American politics. This is a new blog, so you should know that though I plan on refraining from telling you why your political opinions are wrong and mine are right, I do plan on writing about trends I see in American politics and culture. Such as the following....)The way our media covers American politics is one of the main problems in American politics, as the coverage of the Chris Christie bridge scandal makes clear.This week, documents were published that show that top aides to the NJ Governor deliberately snarled traffic leading from the George Washington Bridge into Fort Lee, NJ. Christie denies any knowledge of their actions.I'm not concerned with parsing out the truth of the scandal or in Governor Christie's fitness for public office. Rather, I'm much more concerned with how the media has covered this and other political scandals: like spectators at a sporting event.I've read very little coverage of the Christie scandal that addresses the morality of the issue, what it means when public officials use their official positions in unethical ways. Instead, almost all the coverage is interested in questions like:

• how will this hurt Governor Christie's 2016 presidential chances?
• did Governor Christie respond quickly enough to diffuse the situation?
• was the tone that Governor Christie struck in his press conference the right one?

Notice that all these (and many other) angles on the story make the story about how the politician plays the game, not about the substance of the actions of the people involved. This tendency is not unique to this story, but is the way the American media covers modern politics.As a citizen, I'm much less concerned with how our political representatives play the game and spin the story than in the substance of their actions. What about you?