Dream Awakener

The Cobalt Season - Thursday Night - April 24 at 7:30 p.m.

My pastor friend Ryan Bell and his congregation are hosting The Cobalt Season tomorrow night.  It is great music (Indie/Acoustic/Folk) and meaningful lyrics.  Check out their myspace.  Details below.

Artist @ the Fountain Presents: The Black Tongued Bells

For THREE nights ONLY, (February 28th, 29th and March 1st) the Fountain Room will be transformed into a professional theatre, with elaborate sets, lighting, and sound.

Upon arrival, you will enter into the living breathing swamplands of the Louisiana Bayou, and you will be taken on a journey back in time, to the depression era of the early 1900's.

With a cast of seven, through clothing, set design, and music, you will venture back nearly 100 years, to witness first hand, what life might have been like during such a pivotal point in
American history.

To accomplish this with a powerful sense of realism, the Director has chosen the colorful life and times of legendary Blues and Gospel artist "Laurence Douglas Miner", born and raised on the outskirts of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1923. The story is delivered through the classic theatrical medium of "narrative" and "song", with Laurence himself as the storyteller. It is not made clear in the history books, whether or not Laurence was a real, or fictitious character of the era, and in the end, it is up to you, the audience, to decide. Laurence takes us on an enlightening roller coaster ride of stories and songs, and he treats us to an eye opening and entertaining glimpse of life in these economically troubled times.

Through his music, he turned the "Blues" into "Gospel", and oppression into hope. He will captivate you, and move you to your feet, your soul will dance it's way home after this performance, guaranteed!

If you are in the Los Angeles area, you will want to check this concert.  You can call 323.284.8081 to reserve your tickets. Most of the proceeds will be going to help people in Kenya who have been going through crises.  This event is sponsored by Artist @ the Fountain, an organization that I co-founded with Daichi Kimura where we appreciate artists as well as fight for social justice.

Monday Morning Medicine

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."  Proverbs 17:22 NLT

My friend Neil Kring (a pastor in Indiana) re-makes a Christmas song which he re-writes.  It has both humor as well as some meaningful thoughts.  All three persons are played by Neil in this rendition of "We Three Krings".  Yes, I meant Krings, check out Neil's last name and then click on the video.

Artist @ the Fountain: A Night of Soul

Click to Enlargen

If you are in the Los Angeles area and enjoy Soul, R&B and Jazz, then you won't want to miss this special evening at the Fountain Room.

If you want to hear a bit of their sound, here are their MySpace links:

The Breezy LoveJoy Band: Check out the songs Marco Polo and Shake the Ground

Elson and the Soul Barkada:  Check out the songs Invisible and Highrise.

This is a benefit concert for needy kids in East Hollywood as well as a time to bring awareness to the new East Hollywood Neighborhood Council and upcoming events.  All donations go toward an event in December, where we give toys, school supplies, backpacks and clothes to over 700 kids in the neighborhood.  The doors open at 6:30 and the first act is up at 7:30 p.m. 

If you are in the area, DON'T MISS A NIGHT OF SOUL!

A Holistic Gospel Part VIII

  My Friends in Kenya 
  Originally uploaded by dream awakener

In part seven, I gave an overview of where we have been with this series of posts.  Now we will take a look at a passage from the Apostle Paul.

SECTION TWO - THE GOOD NEWS OF PAUL

The Ministry of Reconciliation (II Cor. 5:14-21)
What we find when we get to Paul is that he articulates the mission in a very holistic way.  Being able to speak from a post-death and post-resurrection perspective, he makes it clear that through the death and resurrection of Christ, God has reconciled all things to himself.  He then calls us to embody the ministry of reconciliation.  What we see through this passage is that the purpose of forgiveness is the restoration of communion, the reconciliation of brokenness.  Paul tells us that it is the aim of God to restore everything that was lost at the fall, to restore communion on the part of humans with God, with one another, and with all of creation.   In other words, if Jesus has in fact died and risen again for all, if anyone has been placed into the body of Christ, this is evidence that the kingdom has broken in and that the new creation has indeed come.  Thus, Paul asserts, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”  (II Cor. 5:17-20).

In the above passage, Paul makes it clear that God is on mission and that his mission is to renovate this world and to restore it to its intended purpose.  Therefore, He sent His Son in order to reconcile the world to Himself, and now, He sends us with this message of reconciliation.  This message is holistic because as Christ ambassadors we are to follow the way of Christ, which means we take up his manifesto and learn to embody an economy of love, to practice justice, and to live generously toward one another.  Paul says, “God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (II Cor. 5:21).  What does the righteousness of God mean?

In The Justice of God, James Dunn states, "The key to understanding the theme of righteousness in the Bible, together with its related ideas of justice and justification, is to recognize that we are dealing with concepts of relationship…. In Hebrew thought righteousness is something one has precisely in one’s relationships as a social being.  That is to say, righteousness is not something which an individual has on his or her own, independent of anyone else – as could be the case with the Greco-Roman concept.  Rather, righteousness is a matter of the responsibilities which arise out of social relationships.  People are righteous when they meet the claims which others have on them by virtue of their particular relationships.

Thus in particular, the king is righteous when he fulfills his responsibilities as king towards his people.  The servant is righteous when he obeys his master…  in other words, righteousness and relationship were two sides of the same coin (Dunn 1993:32-33)."

After tracing this idea of righteousness through the prophets and the Apostle Paul, Dunn sums up with the following passage: "The biblical understanding of justification/justice/righteousness is all of a piece.  In particular, it involves two important aspects: righteousness as essentially involving relationships, arising out of relationships, expressed in relationships; and righteousness, as both horizontal and vertical, as involving responsibility to one’s neighbour [sic] as part and parcel of one’s responsibility towards God.  Unless these two aspects of biblical thought are firmly grasped the concept of righteousness, of justification and justice is bound to become distorted.  In Hebrew and earliest Christian thought it would not be possible for someone to be righteous apart from, without reference to, that individual’s responsibility to others; it would not be possible to be righteous before God while involved in unjust relationships with fellow humans.  And central within this understanding of the justice looked for by God was the recognition of society’s responsibility towards the disadvantaged and the concern to conform social relationships to the model of the caring family (Dunn 1993:42)."

No wonder the best way for Paul to sum up mission was with the word reconciliation.  This is because the good news, by its very nature, is about the restoration of relationships, our relationship with God, with one another, and with creation.

In my next post on this series, I will give a short summary of where we have been and then some missional applications.

The Unembraced

Tonight @ the Fountain Room along with a concert by Josh Garrels, I will be sharing with all who are in attendance about our ministry to the unembraced.  We hope to raise some funds to help orphanages that we work with in the Turkana region of Kenya.  If you have a desire to help out with this ministry, please e-mail me at theunembraced@gmail.com and I will let you know how you can be of help.

Josh Garrels Tonight @ the Fountain Room

So if you are in the LA area tonight, you will want to check out this concert that is happening.  We are hosting Josh Garrels @ the Fountain Room tonight.  Here is his MySpace Music profile, if you want to check it out.

The doors open at 7:15 p.m.  Suggested donation at the door is $7.  Most of the money will be helping orphanges in the Turkana Region of Kenya.  Come check it out.  There will be two opening bands as well.

Mike Officer and the MOB opening for Kendall Payne @ the Fountain Room

So it is all going down this Saturday.  If you are in the area, I hope you can make it.  It is a five dollar donation at the door.  The majority which will be going to help orphanages in Kenya.

If you want to get a preview of the music check out Kendall Payne and Mike Officer's Myspace pages. Mike's genre is Alternative/R&B/Rock, and Kendall's is Lyrical/Indie/Folk

Kendall Payne - CD Release Party @ the Fountain Room

Kendall Payne is getting ready to release her third CD, which is entitled Paper Skin.  If you want to listen to some of her songs, you can check out her MySpace Site:  Kendall Payne

We are hosting her in the Fountain Room for her CD Release Party. Hopefully you can see the details on this poster.  Mike Officer & the MOB will be opening for Kendall. They are a band connected with the Musicians Institute here in Hollywood.  You can check out their music on MySpace as well: Mike Officer

The majority of the cover will be going toward helping orphanages in the Turkana Region of Kenya.

Quote of the Week: A Question for Every Congregation

"The question which has to be put to every local congregation is the question whether it is a credible sign of God's reign in justice and mercy over the whole of life, whether it is an open fellowship whose concerns are as wide as the concerns of humanity, whether it cares for its neighbors in a way which reflects and springs out of God's care for them, whether its common life is recognizable as a foretaste of the blessing which God intends for the whole human family."  Leslie Newbigin

Words for Artists from T.S. Elliot

For those of you who are musicians, involved in film making or other artistic endeavors, you have the opportunity to help shape people's lives in deep ways.  I hope that this quote from T.S. Elliot will stimulate you to help people think more deeply about the transcendent and reality.  Now for the quote: “A great poet or a serious artist should be able to perceive or distinguish more clearly than ordinary people the forms and objects within the range of ordinary experience and ‘be able to make people see and hear more at each end’ of the spectrum of their sensibility than they could ever notice without his help.” 

Virginia Tech: A Journey Toward Healing

 

Last week I spent some time at Virginia Tech, spending time with both friends and strangers to be present with people.  As you open this VideoEgg, what you will find is a journey of some of the healing events that took place at Virginia Tech after the Tragedy on Monday from some of the photos that I took while there..  I hope that this short video might bring some healing to you this week. Take a moment, pull up a chair and open this VideoEgg.  Make sure you have your volume up, so that you can hear as well as listen.

Amsterdam Asp - Redesigned

A friend of mine who pastor's a church in the heart of Amsterdam just redesigned his blog.  It looks great, but more importantly, Eric writes rich posts and shares some cool photography.  In his words, his blog is about "casual and critical observations on life, love, and faith in the form of short prose and photography." Check it out when you get the chance.  I just updated him on my sidebar, and need to redo my people links sometime soon. 

By the way, if you are ever in Amsterdam you need to visit Zolder 50, a missional church with a lot of diversity.  Todd Watkins and Eric help to lead this dynamic congregation in the heart of the city. 

Dirty Lyrics, Teen Sex and The Apostle Paul

  eyePod cutout 
  Originally uploaded by Lupe Jelena.

MSNBC starts this Associated Press article like this:  "Teens whose iPods are full of music with raunchy sexual lyrics start having sex sooner than those who prefer other songs, a study found."  Does this surpise anyone?

The study, which is available for free on-line in the August issue of The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, is based on telephone interviews with 1,461 participants aged 12-17.  "Most partipants were virgins when they were first questioned in 2001.  Follow-up interviews were done in 2002 and 2004 to see if music choice had influenced subsequent behavior." 

The study showed that "Teens who said they listened to lots of music with degrading sexual messages were almost twice as likely to start having intercourse or other sexual activities within the following years as were teens who listened to little or no sexually degrading music.  Among heavy listners, 51 percent started having sex within twoyears verse 29 percent of those who said they listened to little or no sexually degrading music."

The article goes on to say, "Exposure to lots of sexually degrading music 'gives them a specific message about sex,' said lead author Steven Martino, a researcher for Rand Corp.  in Pittsburgh.  Boys learn they should be relentless in pursuit of women and girls learn to view themselves as sex objects, he said."

Of course this study isn't surprising to those familar with New Testament teaching or current psychology.  Cognative therapy, one of the most dominant movements in Amercian Psychology teaches that the way we think is the single most determinative thing about us. Psychologist Archibald Hart in Archibald Hart  in Habits of the Mind says, "Research has shown that one's thought life influences every aspect of one's being."

And when you add that to the law of exposure, that our minds will think most about what it is exposed to, the results of this study shouldn't be too surprising to anyone.

Of course the Apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, already understood this when he wrote, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  And he picked up this thought from Jesus who talks about how a good tree cannont produce bad fruit and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit.  Jesus pointed out what is obvious to any thoughtful person - that our inwards thoughts are reflected in our outward behavior. 

In the current series that I am helping to teach at Kairos, we are talking a lot about how the dominant culture in which we live influence us in many ways, and how God has given the church to help people live counter-culture lives.  Kennison in Life on the Vine shares one of the best definitions of culture I have come across.  This definition is informed by anthropology and takes into consideration the linguistic geneology of the word.  While conceding that there are numerous ways to define culture, each with their strength and weakness, he says, "culture are distinquished from one another by those shared practices, convictions, instituions and narratives that give shape to the lives of a particular group of people."  Those four elements that make up culture are extremely informative. 

As communties of faith we should be aware of the power of culture, and understand that one of the purposes of the church is to provide a counter-culture within the dominant culture, as a witness to the God of transformation.  So in what ways are you helping your congregation keep God's narrative in their hearts and minds?  What convictions do you have as a congregation?  What practices do you engage as a community to strengthen your convictions?  It seems that God has given us the institution of the church and His story so that we might cultivate communities of faith that become more like Jesus.

Matisyahu @ The Greek Theatre

I know that some of you out there are into Matisyahu, so in case you didn't know, he is playing this coming Wednesday, August 9th at the Greek Theatre.  Andy Bleyer turned me on to him during a trip to Missouri.  Matisyahu will be bringing his uncanny, electrifying fusion of orthodox Jusiasm and classic reggae music to my backyard.  I can practically walk to the Greek Theatre from my apartment.  It is at Griffith Park a few blocks from me.  The unfortunate thing is that I am having a planning meeting with Joe and Andy that night in Santa Barbara.  So if you get to go, let me know how it went.  Peace.

Church Planting in Hollywood

Here is a picture that I took from the roof of my apartment complex. Everyday I'm in town, I see the most famous sign in the world. One of the cool things about church planting in Los Angeles is you get the opportunity to meet many fascinating people.  From the guy who lived in the hood, to the girl who grew up in Malibu.

One of the tough things about starting a church in the heart of Hollywood, is that it is a very transitional area.  People are moving in and out of town in unpredictable ways.  This doesn't always lend itself to great stability.  We definitely have our share of actors, singers, writers and artist.  Some are the starving artist type and others have made some great progress in moving forward with their career, from prime time, to publishing books, and being on well-known record labels. Most people in the business tend to take roller coaster rides with their careers hitting great highs and then lows. 

One of great things about ministering to and with artist, is the wonderful creativity they bring to the body and they tend to be people who think deeply and live from their heart.  Of course being an artist often means lots of travel in and out of town.  So there involvement in the community is similar to the invisible man, you see them for a while, then they disappear, only to re-appear and disappear again on a regular basis.

Having been a church planter and pastor at Virginia Tech with nlcf, I thought that I understood what it meant to minister  to people in transition, but I was wrong.  Hollywood is a much more transitional place.  At least at the University most people hang around for four years.  For the most part, you know when most people were coming and leaving.  In Hollywood it is a mystery.

Tonight was a cool night, because I was able to reconnect with one of my artist friends, Kendall Payne.  She has been a tremendous blessing to our congregation, but over the last couple of months has been invisible locally, because she has been traveling doing concerts in Europe and the States. (Of course I have done my share of traveling over the last few years, so I can't complain.) Tonight Kendall was playing at the Hotel Cafe here in Hollywood, so a friend and I had a chance to go and hear her sing.

It was cool to see Kendall and her husband Tyler again.  We plan on getting together next week to catch up with each others lives again.  I just wanted to give you a little glimpse of what church planting is like here in Hollywood.  It has its ups and downs, but it is never boring.   

If you want, you can read a little bit about Kendall's story, see a review of her latest album Grown or learn about her at her website.   She is a great person, an excellent artist, and inspiring communicator as well.  One of her songs Scratch was featured on Grey's Anatomy.

Tonight - Bono Live from Africa with Brian Williams

News Flash from U2 Website:  "NBC Nightly News, the network's flagship news program, will broadcast live from Africa today and tomorrow with anchor Brian Williams reporting on Bono's 10-day, 6-nation trip through the continent.  Williams is tagging along as Bono visits Nigeria, Mali, Ghana.  He told the NY Daily News:

'I've been invited to go along on a trip with a man who has, I think, single-handedly changed the way so many nations and so many  leaders look at AIDS and poverty in Africa.'"

Get the listing of the time the news is playing in your area, it's probably 5:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.  You may even want to check out or host attend a One Campaign Event. 

American Idol Underground

So what's your take on American Idol?  A friend of mine got me into watching it this year and because I enjoy music, competition and seeing people have their dreams come true, I find it a fascinating show along with about 40 million other viewers. 

American Idol has been the number one show with a bullet this year.  Newspapers and others are trying to understand the social phenomenom of American Idol, whose popularity in ratings crushed the grammy's two to one and according to the K.C. Star, "reduced the Winter Olympics to a three ring circus."  From the times that I've watched it this year, it seems to me that Chris Daughtery is hands down the best singer and performer of the bunch.

Well if you are into music, and you don't like American Idol, (or even if you do) then you might enjoy American Idol Underground.  If you have a band or are a solo artist, and you want more people to be able to enjoy your music, this might be a place for you to check out.

It is a site where you can submit music, you can listen to new music and rate it, there are competitions, some industry panelists (who are probably scouting for talent), and of course there is weekly charts of the top songs in each music genre.  So if you have a band it might be something for you to check out, or if you just enjoy discovering new music you will probably enjoy the site.

Is Bono a Prophet?

One could argue that U2 is the hottest band on the scene, simply due to their record breaking tour last year and their Dismantling of the Grammys.  What is it about U2 that has grabbed the hearts of so many, and have made others so mad?  (Just read some of the comments on their latest album to find those who dislike the band.) 

What is it about the band that puts them into the category of other legendary bands?  Why is it that we find Bono, a rock star, popping up in front of world leaders, speaking at national prayer breakfasts and calling leaders and people in general to give a damn?

Well, to try and understand all of the fuss over Bono and U2, I wanted to go to someone you may not expect.  I wanted to go a man, a theologian, that I have come to deeply respect.  Someone who is in the list of my top ten people to know, to read and to understand.  He was a pastor for 35 years, a professor for 5, he is an author of over 30 books including the amazing task of putting the entire scriptures into todays vernacular.  His name is Eugene Peterson.  Do you know him?  He is the guy who has written the most well-liked paraphrase of the scriptures in our time - The Message.

Eugene wrote the foreward for an enrichening book "Get Up Off Your Knees - Preaching the U2 Catalog" which starts like this:

“Is U2 a prophetic voice?  I rather think so.  And many of my friends think so.  If they do not explicitly proclaim the kingdom, they certainly prepare the way for that proclamation in much the same way that John the Baptist prepared the way for the kergyma of Jesus… Amos crafted poems, Jeremiah wept sermons, Isaiah alternatively rebuked and comforted, Ezekiel did street theater.  U2 writes songs and goes on tour, singing them.”  The rest of the foreward is so enlightening, you will have to get the book just to read it.

And just this past month Scott Calhoun a university professor and U2 News writer conducted one of the most incredibly enlightening interviews with Eugene Peterson.  Here is just a snippet from that interview:

Scott:  Why do you call U2 prophets?

Eugene: U2 doesn't seem to be calculated in what they are doing. It just comes out of who they are, and maybe that's why people respond to them, because they are so unconventional in the rock music world. And then there is the social passion they have evidenced in the African world, and the effort that they go to, to speak to people of influence in order to try to convince them that pain and suffering and impoverishment are the responsibility of those who are in positions of influence and power -- such people are not to just make war and do public relations and win elections and develop strategies to get people to be better consumers.

So I've used the word prophet for them. Walter Brueggemann describes prophets as “uncredentialed spokesmen for God.” Well, I think that fits them pretty well. They don't have any authority in the world of faith.

Scott:  But many people of faith respect U2. What do you mean "they have no authority"?

Eugene: In the professional world of faith; in the conventional, established world of faith. They say unconventional things and use unconventional language. When the Rolling Stone interview came out (People of the Year: Bono, November 2001), one of my former students sent it to me. My friend told me I was in there someplace, so I read it through and I was hoping that when he got to me, he wouldn't use the f-word on The Message.[Laughs.] My daughter was reading it too, and she said, "I thought they were Christians?" and I said, "Well, I think that's the way Irish Christians talk."

Scott: That's funny, but you know that is a question which in one way or another has followed them their whole career: Are they capital "C" Christians or not? Do you think that's even a valid question to ask?

You will have to go to the interview if you want to hear Eugene's response to that one.  The interview is worth your time to read.  So do you think that Bono is a prophet/ prophetic voice to this generation?  I'm going to cast my lot with Eugene, based on the broad definition and depth of explanation that he offers in this short interview as well as the forward of the book.