Music Monday 1.25.10

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4304025259_2f6667ed68The Brandi Carlile concert at The Pabst was outstanding Thursday night. I caught most of her cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues." You need to get Brandi's album Give Up The Ghost. Katie Herzig opened for Brandi. Her music is fairly new to me, and delightful. Live music is a great way to discover new music. Check out Katie Herzig's albums, especially Apple Tree. The folks at The Pabst posted a bunch of photos from the concert you can check out. 

I watched It Might Get Loud on DVD with Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page this week. Great fun. Gained a lot of respect for Jack White in particular. After he played his favorite all time song, "Grinnin' In Your Face," from Son House, I just had to download his Father of the Delta Blues: The Complete 1965 Sessions.

Check out The Low Anthem's Tiny Desk Concert. Molly and I will see them open for The Avett Brothers in March at The Riverside in Milwaukee.

The XX have a new video for "VCR." Cool, mellow, creative...

Good, cheap music...

There...The Harp Remains In Tune

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Here my best joys bear "mortal" on their brow. My fair flowers fade; my dainty cups are drained to dregs; my sweetest birds fall before Death's arrows; my most pleasant days are shadowed into nights; and the flood tides of my bliss subside into ebbs of sorrow. But there everything is immortal. The harp remains in tune, the crown unfading, the eye undimmed, the voice unfaltering, the heart unwavering; and the immortal being is wholly absorbed in infinite delight.

Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening - January 18th "Morning"

Music Monday 1.18.10

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A few albums I'm just getting into and really enjoying so far...

Here's Fanfarlo with "The Walls Are Coming Down". Very Beirut-ish. Follow the lyrics --> "The preachers and books of your empire will fight here alone / some day they will be forgotten and die one by one"...

Molly and I will be seeing Brandi Carlile on Thursday night. We saw her last year and it was a great show. Her albums will be playing around the house a lot this week, especially Give Up The Ghost. Here's a live (mediocre quality) version "Looking Out." --> "Some people get religion / some people get the truth / I never get the truth"...

Vampire Weekend's new album, Contra, is just great. Way better than I expected. Here's "Horchata" from the Craig Ferguson show...

Lots-o-Links 1.15.10

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Praying for the people of Haiti. Please comment with your recommendations on where to donate to help, and feel free to include a link. Redeemer lists three ministries.

If you aren't reading Trevin Wax (Twitter) he's doing good blogging. His book, Holy Subversion, comes out soon. Worth checking out.

JD Payne, my church planting professor at SBTS, author, missiologist, is now on Twitter and blogging. I just got his newest book in the mail, Discovering Church Planting and look forward to digging into some sections that might help during our church renewal process.

Memphis is starting to talk about Jonathan McIntosh.

Mark Dever interviews Matt Chandler, pre-cancer diagnosis.

Brent Thomas is no longer the Baptist he never was.

Brief Molly Update: She is doing well, with no major symptoms or issues. Very blessed. 

Keller: Global Cities Initiative

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Gci-letters_for_web  From the Redeemer Church Planting Center (via OnMovements.com)...

The Global Cities Initiative Conference took place in New York City on September 9 - 11, 2009.  Over 80 cities were represented by ministry leaders and church planters, and the experience culminated in the signing of a covenant (found in a link to the right under "Related Media.") 

Tim Keller gave three plenary addresses at GCI, which you can stream by clicking on the titles to the right (or download by right-click).  Also to the right are downloadable pdfs of the outlines of these talks, which were distributed at the conference.  The talks were:

September 9th - "Gospel Renewal"
September 10th - "City Focus"
September 11th - "Movements & Ecosystems"

The conference was hosted by Redeemer Church Planting Center in partnership with Transform World Connections, which was founded and is currently led by Luis Bush.

Links to the audio and PDF's...

Do The Work Of An Evangelist

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Bullhorn-evangelism1 I've been wrestling with the role God has for me as a pastor-evangelist here through Doxa Fellowship in Woodstock and McHenry County. I'm reworking my approach and the amount of time I'm spending. I'm rereading and evaluating my efforts in the past, looking at what has been working and where I've been falling short.

I'd love to hear how you all are doing evangelism. If you are a pastor/planter, how much time each week do you spend on evangelism (outside talking with visitors)? What is your approach, or strategy? What do you think you need to change? What are you planning to try in 2010?

Music Monday 1.4.10

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Before it's too late, grab these $5 albums...

As I've said before, the end of the year is not only a chance to point to great music. It's a great chance to find music you missed. Here are some great things I've just found from 2009. I've found them through blogs as well as on the top 10 lists found at Metacritic.

Allen Toussaint's jazz album, The Bright Mississippi, is so good. An intro... (via)

I've somehow missed The Horrors. On many top 10 lists, this psychedelic shoegaze is a worth a listen. Buy The Horrors: Primary Colours.

Lots-o-Links 12.30.09

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Commentaries for 1 Peter

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Jobes_1 PeterI'm starting a sermon series through 1 Peter this Sunday at Doxa Fellowship. These are the commentaries I'm using. Some will be read in full, others referenced or skimmed. I starred the ones I expect to use most. Feel free to suggest other resources you think would be helpful.

Music Monday 12.28.09

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Clap-hands  If you are considering downloading any albums right now, I encourage you to go to Amazon and grab them. If you buy one $7.99 or more, you get a free download of a $5 album (there are 800 right now). And it works for multiple purchases (so, buy 3 $7.99 or more and get 3 $5 albums). Here's a selection of some great $5 albums...

Vic Chesnutt died on Christmas day after 2 days in a coma following an apparent drug overdose. He was paralyzed since he was 18. Still he has made some great music. This outstanding song was recorded in November. Be aware: there's a little language at the beginning before the song starts. (buy it)

Lissie's music is great. Her glasses are stupid. Remember the dude who ripped his face off in Poltergeist? Yeah, that's Lissie in those glasses. But, you know, her music is great. (buy it)

Sister Christmas

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Willie Xmas Card 2009

My sister was haunted by this doll from my grandma's apartment when we were kids. Rediscovered a couple of years ago...we are now continuing to haunt her with it. She got this in the mail just before Christmas. Love you Julie!