I’m not Catholic.  Well, not in the strictest sense.  In the sense that Catholic means “universal,” I am quite Catholic.  Just not… you know… Catholic. 

But I love the Catholic Church.  I am deeply in love with traditional liturgy anywhere it may be found, whether that may be Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, etc.  I love the liturgy.

Years ago I considered converting to Catholicism.  I probably would have, but I went through that RCIA or something like that, and just never got in.  I didn’t enter at the right time or something, and to become Catholic, I would have had to wait another year before I could become a member of the church and be able to participate in the Eucharist.  So I just started going to a Lutheran church.  They let me in right away.

Anyway, while I was considering Catholocism, I bought a rosary from Italy.  Haven’t done much with it since, but Marcus and i were at the bookstore tonight with our special lady friends, and I bought a book on the rosary. 

I respect religious traditions and (gasp!) rituals a whole lot. And I really want to discipline my prayer life (prayer being communion with the Mystery we call God). 

So I’m feeling good about this purchase.  I’m feeling good about grabbing that dust laden cloth pouch with my rosary in it, and seeing what happens.

I’m not Catholic. 

But I’m down with the rosary.

What does it mean to be a Christian?  If someone were to walk up to you today, and ask you, “What is a Christian?”,  what would your answer be?

Let me know.

Amorphis (Tuonela) – This is the Finnish metal band’s finest album.  It all flows seamlessy from the first song to the last, and is an amazing conceptual album.  Tuonela is, if I remember rightly, a Finnish underworld.  Plus it has the band’s best vocalist, who has since moved on to other projects.

Basil Poledouris (Conan the Barbarian) – This is the soundtrack to the infamous Arnold movie.  Majestic brass orchestrations,  very Wagner-esque.  I love it. 

Coldplay (Viva La Vida) – Great album.  It’s a slow-grow, takes some listening to get used to, but once it gets its hooks in ya, it’s great.   I listen to it all the time.

David Gray (Greatest Hits) – Great compilation from one of our best songwriters.  Amazing tunes, wonderfully produced.  The two new songs, “You’re the World To Me” and “Destroyer” are great, and a new version of “Babylon” is done nicely as well.

Eddie Vedder (Into the Wild) – My two favorite songs on this album, “Hard Sun” and “Society,” are the two that he didn’t write.  Go figure.  But the whole album has a very unique tone to it.  Definitely worth listening to.

The Everybodyfields (Nothing is Okay) – Amazing album.  I love these folks.

Pearl Jam (Avocado Self-Title) – Their newest work is their best since “Yield.”  I love this album. 

Radiohead (Kid A) – My favorite Radiohead album, and their best work to date.

Across the Universe – This movie was NOT what I expected. I’m not sure what it IS I expected, but it was not this. What I got, however, turned out to be more than I expected. At first, I was put off, but I slowly warmed up to it. I think this is an extremely visually entrancing film. Loved it.

No Country For Old Men – LOVED it! After months and months of hearing folks say that it was a terrible movie, and that it did nothing but glorify violence, I decided to watch it. And I thought it was an AMAZING flick. The acting was great, the story was awesome. I just thought it was good all around. I was engaged the whole time.

Memento – Rented this. I saw it right when it came out and hated it, but I decided to give it another go, and I loved it as well. It’s done by the same director that does the Batman movies. So far Christopher Nolan is turning out to be an amazing filmmaker.

Some movies I’ve seen recently:

The Dark Knight – It’s not just fluff – Heath Ledger really IS an amazing Joker. The movie was epic, which means it was long.  Batman sort of felt like an afterthought in the flick, but I’m okay with that – I couldn’t handle his deep voice whenever he was suited up.  I understood the logic behind it, but it still made me laugh.  But the Joker… that was just creepy.  Creepy enough to make me want to see it again.

The Ruins – Rented this.  It’s really bad.  Don’t watch it.  But it IS a prime example of the depravity of the human spirit that chooses to rear its ugly head every now and then.  The “sense of life,” to borrow from Ayn Rand, of this film is nothing but death and chaos.  No redemptive value at all.

The Music Within – Amazing movie about a deaf guy who works to help disabled people get jobs.  Loved it.

The Last Legion – I love Arthurian lore.  I did not love this movie.  In fact, I didn’t even finish it.  Come on, Colin Firth.  What were you thinking?

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - LOVED this movie. The cinematography was great.  It’s long, but it’s worth it.

There Will Be Blood – Loved this as well.  Just a good film.

What have you seen lately?

I was in Texas for a week.

The first night I was a bit disoriented, I think from the long flight and having to go straight to the conference without any downtime.  Matt Redman played that night, and Skip Heitzig spoke.  I think that’s how you spell it.  But I was not vibing with the conference that night, and thought to myself that if this was how it was going to go, it was going to be a bad week. 

Luckily, things sweetened up.

The next morning I heard Leonard Sweet give a talk on metaphor in the church.  I had never heard of him.  They had his books there, and I bought “The Gospel According to Starbucks.”  I also went to his seminar “Summoned to Lead.” It was a great privilege to meet him. 

Then I went to the “Pastor as Storyteller” seminar, taught by Bishop Joseph Garlington, which was also a complete blessing, as well as “Into The Dark,” a seminar by Craig Detweiler.  

Needless to say, I came home with a lot of books.

Two things going on today that were featured at this conference are the Odes of Solomon and The Voice.

The Odes are early Christian hymns put to music, and I think they’re beautiful, and the Voice is a new “translation” of the scriptures, which I’m really excited about.  I got to meet Greg Garrett, the reteller of the gospel of Mark.  I think The Voice is going to be a great contribution to the church.

My time in Texas really did a lot to dig out some entrenched, judgmental attitudes and gave me the opportunity to meet really amazing followers of Jesus.

Things of note to sum up:

Riverbend Church: location of the conference, was quite an architectural feat.
Odes of Solomon: excellent tunes you need to check out.
Leonard Sweet: Cool dude, has things to say that the church needs to hear.
Craig Detweiler: Look into his film and books to see how the church can relate to the culture.
Joseph Garlington: Great speaker and teacher.
The Voice: New retelling of the Scriptures that you should definitely look into.
Lincoln Brewster, Tommy Walker:  Two cool musicians.

Dig it.

The AFA, a “family-oriented” association, is choosing to boycott McDonald’s for donating money to a Gay and Lesbian organization.   The AFA is boycotting Mickey-D’s because they feel that McDonald’s should not take one side or the other in this “culture war.”

What I find absurd is that the AFA wishes some people to objectively rise above their squabble, while they themselves want to stay in the trenches.  If this “culture war” is about one side being right, and the other wrong, then shouldn’t everyone take sides, even fast food restaurants?

I guarantee you one thing, though: If McDonald’s had donated money to the AFA, the AFA would be applauding McD’s for choosing the right side and endorsing the God-sanctioned institution of marriage.

Once again, it’s not about the cause, it’s about the money, the politics, and the power.  I don’t think the AFA or anybody else concerned wants this “culture war” to end.  They’re all getting a lot of press that they otherwise wouldn’t get. 

But again, I guarantee you that if McD’s offered the money to the AFA, they wouldn’t have turned it down.  So their real objection should just be that the money wasn’t offered to them. 

A lot like the jaded kid in elementary school who didn’t get a tootsie roll like the kid beside him.

Stop your bitchin’, AFA.  Grow up. 

And buy a double-cheeseburger.

You know you want it.

Mmmm…

I just re-watched the movie “Saved!”  When I first saw it, I was surprised at how much I liked it.  I thought it would be pretty lame, but it turned out quite differently. 

This movie has a lot to say about pop-Christianity and church culture.

And there’s a very deep insight towards the end, where the main character asks the question “What would Jesus do?”  and gives her own very honest and valid answer: “I don’t know.  But in the meantime, we’ll be trying to figure that out.  Together.”

Another time, the same girl says, “So everything that doesn’t fit into some stupid idea of what you think God wants you just try to hide or fix or get rid of? It’s just all too much to live up to. No one fits in one hundred percent of the time. Not even you.”

I think the church needs reminded of this point a lot. 

We think we all have it figured out.  We have this list of what to believe, and what to condemn, and life moves along just fine.

But it’s not that simple.

Is everything a shade of grey?

What do you think?

Are you ready? 

Season 3 of Culture vs. Christian is getting ready to hit the streets.  We’re single-handedly taking on the emergent church and declaring ourselves post-emergent, we’re thinking about bringing back the prophet beards, we’re less bitter, yet filling…..

It’s all happening!