It's an all video Music Monday. I think you will enjoy these.
First, Coldplay's new Sigur Ros-ish video to "Violet Hill"...
Justice's Cross album is often fun and full of cool vibe. The song "Stress" is full of stress (go figure). This video illustrates the intent of the song in stunning fashion. WARNING: Not for young, impressionable future ruffians or people who don't appreciate an occasional middle finger.
UPDATE: Congratulations to the Thorns on the birth of Madeline Ember Thorn, a 5.4 lb hottie born this afternoon. My wife is known for her huge babies, nearly doubling the size of Madeline with all of them. We always wanted to hold one of our own this small. Wonderful. Congrats Jen and Joe. More at Joe's blog, Twitter, and Flickr.
Good to hang for a couple of hours with Darryl Dash of DashHouse last night. He is in a city just north of me for a conference and decided to look me up, so we found some time for coffee. Great guy.
Molly and I saw The Avett Brothers on Saturday night. What an amazing show! High energy. We were bouncing and dancing and screaming and singing. I was fortunate to have a voice on Sunday morning. And though we were in Milwaukee for the concert we were still in bed by 12:30am, which is a typical time for me to get to sleep before preaching.
If you don't know The Avett Brothers, shame on you. Seriously. I've worked hard to introduce them to you on this blog. For all you who are slow to catch on, here...
By the way, the opening act was Jessica Lea Mayfield (MySpace). Outstanding. Blew us away. (That was her in an above Avett video.) Her only recording is her White Lies EP that seems impossible to find apart from going to the concert or ordering from her website. It's not on iTunes. I picked it up at the concert. Her stuff is alt/country, her recordings are very acoustic, her concert added a deep level of power and mystery. Holy cow. Also check out David Mayfield's stuff, Jessica's brother, who was her bassist and a fun stage presence.
This is the best video I could find of Jessica. It's cluttered at the beginning with crap, but get through it and you will be rewarded. By the way, this is the song from the second Avett video above. They covered her song.
WARNING: Some unbaptistlike content to come. Some of you won't like this.
Jessica sings a song called "Bible Days" which was outstanding in concert. Here is a stripped down version and a pretty good recording. I love when the world helps me know how they think. Listening is such a great tool.
My wife is a more than just a totally hot babe, she is also an amazing Mother. We spent time driving in the van today and I had the kids take turns saying why they think their Mom is so great. Their answers were great, but they barely scratched the surface explaining the many ways my wife is a Mother worthy of admiration and honor. I love you Molly.
Our kids were really wanting a donut, so we obliged. I really don't like sweets very much, but that Chocolate Kreme really hit the spot. The second photo is of Elijah at his Little League "Pitch, Hit, and Run" competition. Yeah, that's the "Run" part. See all my photography.
There are several clips of Portishead's new stuff, but none are great quality video. So to introduce you to Portishead's trip-hoppy goodness, here's "Roads" from a live 2006 show...
"Go Cubs Go!" is the song played at Wrigley Field after a win. My kids and I sing along. Here's a fan video...
You heard me. McDonalds is Chick-fil-A for notherners who can't get Chick-fil-A's delectable chicken sandwich up here. You should try the new Southern Style Chicken Sandwich at Micky D's, or the chicken biscuit in the morning. It's not Chick-fil-A, but it's the closest thing we've got. And it's pretty doggone good.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Forget the suffering You caused others. Forget the suffering Others caused you. The waters run and run, Springs sparkle and are done, You walk the earth you are forgetting.
Sometimes you hear a distant refrain. What does it mean, you ask, who is singing? A childlike sun grows warm. A grandson and a great-grandson are born. You are led by the hand once again.
The names of the rivers remain with you. How endless those rivers seem! Your fields lie fallow, The city towers are not as they were. You stand at the threshold mute.
Encounter
We were riding through frozen fields in a wagon at dawn. A red wing rose in the darkness.
And suddenly a hare ran across the road. One of us pointed to it with his hand.
That was long ago.Today neither of them is alive, Not the hare, nor the man who made the gesture.
O my love, where are they, where are they going The flash of a hand, streak of movement, rustle of pebbles. I ask not out of sorrow, but in wonder.
Of all the wonderful 80's music memories, how can I not mention this one...
When I was a kid "Hollywood" came to my hometown of Pontiac, Illinois and filmed a movie called Grandview, USA. The director was Randall Kleiser (a film school friend of George Lucas and director of Grease) and it starred people like Jamie Lee Curtis, Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell and John Cusack. I know what you are saying. "Wow! That must be an awesome movie!" Nope. But I did find some clips online and thought you might like the music video dream sequence.
Today our church changed our constitution to add the ILT, and upon my future recommendation will vote in a few men to be on the ILT. This essentially is a transition team of leaders who will lead us through our changes, primarily toward a new constitution and the appointment of elders. While the ILT won't be elders, they will be a much more like elders than what we have now. Once the church adopts a new constitution and appoints elders, the ILT will dissolve.
Here is what I call The Missional Triad (a tweaked version of this by Joe Thorn and this that Joe and I fleshed out together). Forgive the handwritten sloppiness, but it's what I have for now. It's essentially a missional paradigm for our church to think through what we do and where we do it. The mission is a very central part of the paradigm. (Click the diagram for a larger version.)
If you are familiar with Joe's paradigm the next few points will help you see the changes I've made for my version, as well as explain a few things I thought you might have questions about.
1. The order of the shapes is different. I changed them to a left to right flow for unbelievers and right to left for believers. 2. I've changed the titles of each shape. I have included something of each shape in the name (example: tri-formed discipleship). I can still use "table, pulpit and square" as designations, and have done that, but I felt it helpful to give each a name that is slightly more descriptive. That also allows my "table" to lose the Lord's Supper confusion. 3. The "Circles of Friendship" is fleshed out so that hospitality is seen in three different spheres: neutral >> semi-private >> to private It also moves beyond the home into third places (why?). 4. Under Tri-Formed Discipleship I have used "Equipping Ministries" to explain all discipleship, from one-on-one to seminars, short-term classes, membership class, leadership training, etc. 5. Our small groups are transitioning toward being "Missional Communities." These will be more than small groups but less than house churches.
If you want to know something more, let me know. It's basically still the same three shapes, the same basic approach, the same goal of simplicity.
