Everyone is obsessed with going green lately. It’s the cool thing to do. I can respect people trying to preserve what God created to be beautiful, and I like to think I’m doing my part, but in reality, isn’t it more that we’re just making minor changes to destroy God’s creation at a slightly slower pace?

I know Al Gore has a lot to do with all this attention and concern over the earth (thanks in large part to his documentary An Inconvenient Truth) - and believe me, I don’t have any problem with Mr. Gore (the guy invented the internet after all!) - but more than anything, I think a lot of people have used this whole movement of loving the earth and making changes to be sensitive to the environment as an opportunity to feel like they’re helping (or at least get recognized as someone who is helping) while doing as little as possible. Let me give a quick example of what I’m talking about:

Very few of the people today with scooters and hybrids (especially the green crowd favorite, the Toyota Prius) are actually driving less, but they are spending less money on gas…and saving money is always cool.

I don’t want to get into a long rant about the good and bad of all this, because I don’t think it would lead to anything good (so what’s the point), but I did want to discuss the this whole “going green” thing enough to share something that happened to me today.

It was a beautiful fall day in Minneapolis. The sun was shining. The leaves are changing from green into deep shades of yellow, red and orange. And it was the perfect temperature (when you can wear warm or cool weather clothes and be equally comfortable in either). I had a few things to pick up at Target, so I hopped in my car, popped open the sunroof and turned on some Coldplay. I was feeling pretty good. I chose a parking spot in the back half of the lot because it just seemed like too nice of a day to park in front, even though there were plenty of open spots closer to the store. As I strolled into Target, performing the somewhat awkward “where do I go so I’m not in the way of cars” walk all the way through the parking lot, I ended up behind an older woman who was moving really slow and looked a bit confused. I couldn’t go around her without weaving between cars or jumping in front of them, and plus I became interested in whatever it was that she was doing, so I stayed behind her even though I wanted to walk faster.

There is a Starbucks inside this particular Target, and in the coffee shop there are some windows looking out into the parking lot. As the old woman and I walked along the sidewalk next to the store, she kept stopping at each window to look in, although she never seemed to see who/what she was looking for.  When we finally made it to the entrance she reached her hand toward the garbage and didn’t even notice when the wind took the white piece of whatever out of her hand and it completely missed the garbage can. Being just a few steps behind her, it ended up on the ground right in front of me … [here comes my green moment, my opportunity to be environmentally friendly] … I picked up my foot to step on it - saving it from becoming another piece of trash floating around the earth - and then, I did something I’ve been regretting the rest of the day. I picked it up and threw it away.

Right now you’re probably wondering, why would you regret picking up a piece of trash and throwing it away? I’ll explain in a second, but first let’s get back to the whole “going green” thing. Like I said, I have no problem whatsoever with the environmental awareness and care initiatives. It’s actually a great cause and I’m glad people are taking it seriously. I just don’t think it’s something anyone should brag about, as if they’re better than others because they live “more green” than them, especially when being “green” often requires a certain level of expendable income that many people are not fortunate enough to have…making it a lot like so many other issues, for instance, the issue of eating healthy vs. unhealthy (it costs more to eat healthy than unhealthy, which is one of the reasons why people living in lower economic classes often have more health issues than those living in the higher classes, but that’s a topic for another day). I happen to think the slogan “go green” that you see all over the place today is a great reminder for people to do little things that will really help the environment. I would actually compare it to the WWJD bracelets that were so popular not too long ago. Sure, green signs or Jesus bracelets probably aren’t going to solve any problems, and they’re really just pointing out something that we should have already been thinking about, but they do serve as effective reminders that can have an affect on our attitude about a lot of things that will all help us all be more loving and better stewards of what God has given and entrusted to us. But let’s get back to the Target parking lot and the little old lady.

When we left the story a few paragraphs ago I had just reached down to pick up the little white piece of trash she had attempted to throw away. I also said that I now regret doing so, and I want to explain why this is the case. You see, as I was bending down to pick up whatever it was she had poorly attempted to drop in the garbage, my mind caught up with what was going on and informed me that what I was about to pick up was not just a piece of paper paper or an old receipt as I had assumed. No no, I would have no regrets about picking up one of Miss Daisy’s notes to herself or an old shopping list, but what I was about to pick up, and eventually did pick up and hold in my hand for approximately five disgusting seconds, was an old…snotty…kleenex.  Gross, right?  And when I was reaching down I realized what it was, but by then I had already committed to it (I was bent half down to the ground with my arm extended). Plus, I was “going green” in public, there were other people all around. What was I gonna do, stand up, lift my foot and let it blow away? I suppose I could have turned to the people walking in and out of the store who witnessed what I had done and explain to them what was going on…”I decided not to pick it up because it was that old lady’s snotty kleenex and I just didn’t want to touch it, let alone risk catching whatever illness she might currently have. You understand, right?” I mean seriously, how ridiculous would it have been if I said all that? Plus I was having a good day up until that point, and I didn’t want anything to ruin my vibe. But I have to admit, my vibe was starting to waiver a bit when when I walked into Target. I was actually praying that I wouldn’t end up with a cold as a result of my efforts to save the environment, one kleenex at a time.

So is going green always worth it? I’m not sure yet. I suppose it’ll take until tomorrow to know if I’m in the clear from any sick-germs that might have been lingering on that nasty kleenex. Here’s to hoping the old lady was healthy, and that she found what she was looking for at Target. I’m sure she did…they have everything at Target.

There’s a new documentary that came out in theaters recently (Oct. 3) called Religulous (”religion” + “ridiculous”). Bill Maher stars as the film’s “host,” guiding viewers on an exploration of organized religion in our world today - offering plenty of his opinions along the way - and it was directed by Larry Charles, who also directed Borat … so you probably already know enough to determine whether this documentary will be wildly, or simply mildly offensive to you.

Apparently aware of the film’s potent potential for offense, the front page of the official website offers visitors two options; the typical “enter site” link (which happens to be on the left side of the page) and the unusual “enter kosher site” link (which just happens to be on the right). I’m not Jewish, so I entered the regular site and watched the trailer. For what it’s worth, the website does boast that it’s “one of the funniest and most offensive documentaries ever made.” At least they’re honest, right?

Let me be clear on a few things: I’m serious about my faith and I consider myself part of a religion. Maybe it’s because I try not to take myself too seriously, but this film looks really funny. If I end up seeing it, I’m guessing I will find myself nodding in agreement with a lot of the jokes being made on religions and religious people…even the ones about Christianity (and it’s not all a spoof on Christianity by the way, Maher takes shots at other religions as well).

Going beyond a just an awareness of his irreverance, Maher seems to take pride in his atheistic/anti-religion stance. While I can’t speak for other religions or Christianity as a whole, if Maher’s goal was simply to expose that uncertainty must be involved for any system of faith or belief to work (or make sense), then I would agree completely with him, but I haven’t seen the movie yet to know if that’s one of the points that he is trying to make. (I have seen this clip of Maher on Larry King talking about religion, this new movie, and even Rick Warren.)

Although Religulous probably fits best in the documentary genre of “look how stupid those [fill in the blank] people are,” from what I have seen and read so far it seems much more Bowling for Columbine and much less Jesus Camp. I mean, sure, Maher pokes fun at religious fanatics (like the guy who plays Jesus at the “Holy Land” theme park in Florida) and if the movie poster is any indication, I’m guesing they mock a few examples of light-hearted religious ridiculousness (like the stories in the news a few years ago about a man who burnt a fish stick and thought it looked like Jesus or the woman who reportedly sold a grilled-cheese sandwich on eBay that bore the image of the Virgin Mary…final bid: $28,000), but clearly, the film is about much more than just making fun of sacred sandwiches and Christian theme parks (since religious folks wouldn’t be offended by a movie that only makes fun of fanatics and others who have found ways to pimp religion to make a few dollars).

If nothing else, Religulous offers a slap in the face to religious leaders and people of faith - whatever flavor of belief they prefer. The film provides humor as a way of helping people realize that it might be a good idea to be capable of responding to basic questions about their faith and, although it’s not necessarily a requirement to “validate” their faith (depending on the religion), we should all possess enough understanding to express what we believe in a way that doesn’t make us sound like the butt of a joke. I’m definitely not saying people need to act like they have it all figured out - since I don’t believe that is possible - but at least take some time to think things through, being honest with yourself and others about what you think and believe so that when/if the questions are too big or your understanding is too limited, you have the marbles to say “I don’t know.” Because let’s be honest, that’s where faith comes in…not as an excuse for not knowing things, but as a way of admitting the limits of our understanding and the vasness of God’s. It also forces us to put trust and faith in a God who reveals himself to us in ways that are often mysterious at best, since the reality of life and faith seems to be that sometimes, we’re simply left wondering in awe at the mystery of God, but even this confusion is an expression of faith and worship. Having doubts is okay. Not having all the answers doesn’t mean we don’t believe, or even that we believe less. Doubts and confusion simply remind us of our need for faith…our need for God.

So what is the point of Religulous? Why did Bill Maher decide to point out that religious people don’t have things figured out any more than other people? I’m not sure yet, but I think he’s probably right in a lot of ways, he just doesn’t happen to be a person who can get over the fact that believing doesn’t always mean knowing (and he’s a guy who likes to know stuff).

Here’s the trailer:

Would you pay money to watch this movie?

There’s a new form of visual art called HDR time-lapse that I recently discovered and I think it’s one of the most incredibly beautiful expressions of creativity that I’ve seen in a long time. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, and although it appears to be just really stinkin’ clear video footage (as in High Definition), look a bit closer and you’ll realize it’s even more brilliant than HD (I bet you didn’t think that was possible, I know I didn’t). Here’s an example: (For the best experience, I suggest watching in full-screen and make sure your sound is on).

Believe it or not, HDR time-lapse is a type of photography, with some editing of course, and pieces like the one above are actually chronological collections of individual photographs. This video of the sunrise in San Francisco was created by a man named Chad Richard, and although his video is only 41 seconds long, it is the result of photos he took over the course of 2.5 hours at a rate of about 7 pictures per second…each at slightly different light levels/settings, and then rendered to produce a composite of all 7, which means there is one super clear image from approximately each second. When put together, the result is an amazingly clear video that looks almost as beautiful as if you had woke up early in the morning to watch the sunrise from the top of the hill with Chad and his dog.

Although it’s not exactly an HDR time-lapse (the pictures were not taken as rapidly, nor were they rendered together), here’s another really creative example of individual photographs edited together to create something that looks as if it’s a video. This one is described as the “collision of three convergent paths through a city.”

I really like how the three paths become two and eventually join to become one. There are a lot of methaphors to be drawn out from this and connections to be made with life, faith, relationships and community, but I’ll leave those interpretations for others to make. Feel free to share if you’d like…

“Never forget justice is what love looks like in public.”

These powerful words are proclaimed by Cornel West in a new documentary titled Call+Response, a film highlighting the virtually unknown reality that there are more slaves today than at any other time in human history. (By the film creators estimate there are currently 27 million human slaves throughout the world).

Considered to be “the first feature rockumentary,” Call+Response features some of today’s most prominent political and cultural figures (including Cornel West, Madeleine Albright, Ashley Judd and Nicholas Kristof) along with performances by Grammy-winning and critically acclaimed music artists (including Moby, Natasha Bedingfield, Cold War Kids, Matisyahu, Imogen Heap, Talib Kweli, Switchfoot and Five For Fighting).

The goal of those involved in the film is simple: abolish slavery in our lifetime.

Is their goal possible? I’m not sure. I think it will only happen if “their” goal becomes “your/our” goal, but the mix of intellect and influence that all these celebs offer to the project - along with their sincere concern about such an unthinkable issue - gives me hope that enough people will not only receive a “Call” to watch this film, but also feel called to be part of the “Response” to do something.

I want to believe that Cornel West’s words will become true in reality and not just spoken in truth…that a movement of justice as a public expression of love will sweep across the world, defeating all forms of hatred and injustice and transforming people’s hearts in the process.

Is this realistic hope or just wishful thinking?

Does it really matter?

What do we have to lose in trying? Is it possible to fail if we never give up?

What does the Lord require of you?
To act justly
and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with God.  (Micah 6:8)

Call+Response is opening in select cities on October 10th. For my friends in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area*, it will be playing at the AMC Arbor Lakes Theater (Maple Grove) from October 17-19 and the Landmark Lagoon (Uptown) from October 20-23.

To learn more about the film, including a list of cities where it will be in theaters, visit callandresponse.com.

Here’s the trailer:

* If anyone would like to get a group together to watch the film, feel free to use the comments section below to make that happen.

“I like money.”

This obvious statement is uttered by one of the many stupid characters in last year’s wildly unsuccessful movie Idiocracy. While saying “I like money” is obviously obvious - everyone likes money - I think that’s why it’s funny. Idiocracy got terrible reviews (like, almost straight-to-DVD bad), so there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of it, but I actually thought it was pretty good; so allow me to give a quick summary that will put the quote about money in context. Luke Wilson stars as an Army librarian who is considered to be the most average person in the entire military, and because of this distinction he is selected to participate in a top-secret experiment (he is frozen for a year). Through a series of unforseen events, he remains frozen for a bit longer (500 years) and when he finally thaws out (in the year 2505) he discovers that humans have become exponentially dumber and he is now the smartest person in the world. When he is forced to interact with the idiots who now make up the world’s population, he resorts to the most basic of all human motivators, bribery. He offers a man named Frito (yes, like the corn chips) several billions of dollars to help him (remember that with inflation this isn’t much money). It’s at this point that Frito utters the obvious response, “I like money.”

To me, this is funny, but maybe you have to see the movie to see the humor (view the trailer here). Regardless of whether or not you like stupid comedies, I’m quite sure you like money. If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent much of our life trying to find ways to make, save or somehow obtain enough money for an endless list of reasons.

I have been a full-time grad student for the last two years, and I’ve been only “partially-employed” during this time. As you might expect, taking loans and stealing money from my savings to pay for tuition, rent, gas, food and insurance kind of forces a person to develop an attitude about money that is much different than at other “fully-employed” stages of life. I have been living a very simple/no-frills lifestyle for the last two years. I graduated last spring and am now closing in on full-time employment (with benefits, hopefully), so I’m already getting excited about a life with a little extra coin to throw around, you know, stimulate the economy a little bit. I’ve been carefully determining how to put money aside for my next big purchase; a new computer (I’m waiting for the new macbooks to be released, which is rumored to be Oct. 14).

I saved some of the money I made teaching at the seminary this summer, I’ll hide the money I get for coaching at basketball tryouts recently, and since I already paid the deposit for my new apartment I’m going to save the money I get back from the deposit at my old apartment. I’m even considering going back to my old “job” of donating plasma twice a week (don’t laugh, it pays well and it’s really easy). Making big purchases is never an easy decision, especially when you’re just barely making enough to pay your monthly expenses, but having a good and trustworthy computer is about as important a possession as there is in my daily life (second probably only to my car). I would probably consider my computer a necessity (when I’m away from my computer, or somewhere without wireless, I feel like something is missing. I hope I’m not the only one who feels this way about their computers) - so of all the things I could buy that cost more than a pair of jeans, I can justify buying a new computer more than anything else. I actually think the reason Apple has become so popular and successful is because they help create/inspire feelings of dependence and euphoria within their customers, about their products. So you could actually argue that in buying a mac I’m actually joining a cult (for more on this argument, read Douglas Atkin’s book The Culting of Brands).

Sorry for all the tangents, I promise there’s a point to this, stick with me if you can.

I was hanging out with my sister at her house yesterday (by the way, her health is continuing to improve…thanks for all the comments and emails in response to what I shared last week). While at her house, I decided to look through some of the boxes of my stuff that have been stored in her basement ever since I lived there a few years ago. While looking for something else, I found a large collection of my old CDs, some of them from when I had my first CD player as a little guy in 6th grade. I was overwhelmed with memories looking through albums by some of my favorite artists from my earlier years. I found albums by Boyz II Men, Blind Melon and even Coolio. It was a lot of fun thinking back on the memories represented by all this music. I mean seriously, who doesn’t smile thinking about middle school and the ackward slow dances while “On Bended Knee” was playing, or watching that little girl running around dressed like a bumble bee in the video for “No Rain”, and how awesome was “Fantastic Voyage”?

For a while now I’ve been thinking about going through my old CDs and taking them to a store that buys used discs, if for no other reason, just to see how much I could get for them. Yesterday that idea came to life. I am usually a packrat. Nearly everything I’ve ever touched has sentimental meaning, which makes moving every year a real treat, but somehow yesterday I overcame my nostalgic nature and sorted through hundreds of CDs that included the songs that made up the soundtrack of my life as a teenager. It was quite an accomplishment for me, all things considered, and as I drove to the Cheapo Records near my sister’s house with a box full of CDs in the back seat of my car, my heart was filled with memories and in the back of my mind were plenty of reasons why I shouldn’t get rid of the discs that had brought all those memories back. You see, for me, getting rid of the source of a memory feels like losing the memory all together. I know this isn’t how it is in reality, but that’s still how it feels to me. I overcame these previews of regret by reminding myself that I haven’t listened to any of those CDs for years and, until that morning, hadn’t even known where they were stored. Plus I was going to get a fair amount of money for them that would go toward my new computer, so I drove on and dropped off the box, being told that it would take about 30 minutes to determine how much they could give me for my precious collection of classics.

During the time between dropping off the CDs and waiting to go back to hear the verdict, I tried to determine a dollar amount that would be enough to make me feel okay about selling them - as if you can place a value on memories - but my online research on how much to expect to get paid for used CDs was fairly inconclusive (every site said the same thing, “the price we pay is dependent on condition and demand”). I knew I probably paid between ten and fifteen bucks for each of the 125 CDs I brought in, they were all still in good condition and since I’m the one who bought them in the first place, I thought they were all pretty good, so I figured there should be other people who would pay for them. I drove back to Cheapo a few hours later to collect a small fortune for recycling my music. The guy working there fit the stereotype of a used record store employee to the T, complete with thick-black plastic frame glasses, floppy hair, old jeans and a ratty t-shirt that definitely could have been purchased at a local thrift store. I couldn’t see his shoes because he was standing behind a counter the whole time, but I’d bet he was wearing an old pair of New Balance. (Side note: I guarantee this guy reads Chuck Klosterman, or at least claims he does, and my internal jury is still out on whether he enjoys or is offended by Stuff White People Like.) Yep, this hipster found the perfect job to fit his lifestyle and personality, and now he was guy who would define the value of a large portion of my music collection. When I walked back into the store I saw my CDs on the counter in three stacks of nearly equal height. The previously described hipster recognized me as the guy who had brought in a box of old hip-hop and R&B CDs (I’m guessing he wasn’t impressed, although I guarantee that dude listened to Coolio back in the day), and without saying much, he unpeeled a post-it note from atop one of the stacks and explained that my discs fit into three different categories; some value, little value and nearly no value. He could give me $78 for the CDs in one of the stacks, $0.25 each for the CDs in another stack, and only $0.10 for each in the final stack. All together, my collection of musical memories was only worth $88.  <insert curse words here>  I froze for a minute as he let me think about what I wanted to do. It’s not that I thought I would get rich from this exchange, but the reality that my collection of Janet Jackson CDs for instance, were worth less than a dollar (combined) was a lot to take in all at once. So as it went, deflated, I walked back out to my car with an empty box in my hand and 88 bucks in my pocket.

Things had not played out as I had hoped, but as I’ve been reminded time and time again lately, such is life. I don’t mean to be cynical or cliche, but honestly, this is just how life is sometimes. I never thought I’d quit working in my mid-20s to pursue a master’s degree in theology, spending over half my savings in the process and taking on more school loans. My sister and her husband never thought they’d wait so long to get pregnant, and when they did finally conceive they never imagined it would result in so much pain and confusion (and no child). As a little boy, the guy working at Cheapo probably didn’t think he’d be stocking racks and making stacks of used CDs when he grew up, and Luke Wilson and the other people involved in Idiocracy could have never predicted it would do as poorly as it did, but they are still moving forward and trying to put it behind them. As one of the most influential poets of my generation (2Pac) shares on one of the CDs I no longer own, “life goes on.”

Life goes on even though our lives may not always result in memories that end up being worth as much as we had hoped or imagined, but there is still hope that things will one day get better. As a person of faith, I put my hope in Christ as the sign that God will fulfill the promise found in Revelation 21:5, “behold I make all things new.” I like new stuff, but it only takes one bad experience to realize that even new things can disappoint and fail to meet our expectations, but the “new” that God promises to bring will be better than anything we’ve ever imagined (even better than HDTV and new macbooks). This new creation will be the fulfillment of God’s ultimate will for the world, transforming things to be how they were always intended; perfect. In the meanwhile, Matthew 6:19-20 reminds us not to care so much about stuff.

“Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust will destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust will not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

It’s been over a month since I posted anything.

This isn’t going to be an excuse for why it’s been so long…life just happened and I didn’t write anything. I’ll admit that I have spent some time lately trying to figure out how to break the silence…this is it.

Some people use their blogs as online journals, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, but I didn’t start this site to share the details of my personal life. I created anewdoxology almost a year ago to share my thoughts about faith, culture and life in hopes that it might connect with people in real and perhaps even meaningful ways. I wrote about the music I was listening to and the movies and TV shows I was watching and I did my best to draw connections between these pop-culture things and my beliefs as a clumsy Christian.

I haven’t always posted new content as often as I’d like or spent as much time working on future articles as I would prefer, but somehow I kept thinking of things to share and finding time to write. Although I’ve rarely shared enough information about myself to make it feel like you are reading someone’s journal, I would think you could always see that there was a real person behind the words, that person has always been me.

In the beginning, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to write enough to justify having a blog. I knew I had a lot of thoughts and ideas, but I wasn’t sure if they would translate into actual entries. Even if they somehow did, I wasn’t sure if anyone would take the time to read them. So I started writing a blog in secret. That probably sounds weird, but I needed to prove to myself that I could do it. So I spent time writing and editing entries in a word document until I had enough to know that I could keep it going. (Note: that word document ended up being the source for a lot of the content I posted during the first few months. Copy and paste.)

But like I said, it’s now been over a month since I posted anything.

A lot can happen in a month.

I’m not sure if it’s necessary that I warn you about this, but in just a few spins of the mouse wheel I’m going to be as open about my personal and family life as I’ve ever been on here, and I know some of you might be thinking, “What’s the big deal Andy? There’s only a dozen people reading this anyway, and we already know you.” If that’s what you’re thinking I guess you kinda have a point (although I hope there are more than a dozen people who still check the site from time to time, even though the guy who writes it seems to have quit lately). But in all honesty, there aren’t a lot of people who I’ve talked to about what’s been going on in my life the past month, and as I’ve been reminded several times lately, what is a “big deal” to one person is not as big of a deal to everyone else.

I’m not going to share these things about to make an excuse for the long pause in my writing. I’m not even sharing all this to explain why I haven’t added anything new for over a month. I’m writing because I don’t know how else to break the silence and I think sometimes the most powerful narratives aren’t the ones we read in books or watch in movies, but they’re the ones happening right in front of us…our stories.

This is part of the story of what’s been going on in my life and in the lives of some people I care a lot about over the past month. It’s not a bestselling novel or a blockbuster movie, but it’s true, and even if you haven’t experienced things like this yourself, I’m guessing you can relate just the same.

I started the month of August with my family at our cabin. It was a relaxing weekend. The weather was beautiful and most of our conversations included something about the fact that both my sisters were pregnant and due within a week of each other around Christmastime (it was the first child for both of them).

I rode home that Sunday with my oldest sister and her husband who had recently found out they were having a boy. During the car ride they asked me to be their son’s godfather (I accepted) and then told me that his middle name was going to be Andrew (I smiled). I was already excited to become an uncle, but now my nephew would also be my godson and would share part of my name. I felt a special connection to the little guy and I wished I didn’t have to wait another five months to meet him. If I would have known then what would happen, I definitely would have been more patient.

I got home from the cabin just in time to throw my bags on my bed and drive to church and preach at Journey. My message that night was a response to the question “what does it mean to be a witness?” and with the help of a few videos we took at look at several memorable events that we have all witnessed, and then thought about how our lives have been shaped and changed by these things forever. The message eventually turned to faith and what it means to not only know that God loves us, but to be witnesses of this love to others.

The next day I flew to California to spend a week editing footage for a documentary about the people I’ve met and the things I’ve witnessed over the last three years in Haiti.

The second day I was in California I talked to my mom and learned that my oldest sister was in the hospital. She had an emergency surgery a few days later, and just before getting on my flight back to Minnesota I got a message from my brother-in-law saying that my sister had gone into labor and there was no way the baby would make it (it was just too early). I called my mom when my flight landed and as I sat outside the baggage claim at the Minneapolis airport I heard the story of my nephew’s birth. She told me that he only weighed a little over a pound, had tiny fingernails and toenails, and was already starting to look like his dad. I didn’t have any words to say, but sitting in silence and shedding a few tears I knew that this was one of those event that everyone in my family would always remember.

My sister had been put under since before her surgery a few days earlier, so she wasn’t even awake when she gave birth, and soon after the delivery she went in for another surgery. She woke up a few days later and had to be told everything that had happened when she was asleep. The rest of us had been dealing with the loss of the baby for days, but now she was just finding out that the baby that had been growing inside of her, the child she had wanted for so long, the boy we had all been praying for, was gone.

I wish I could say the first few days were the most difficult, but really, every day was hard. The days between losing the baby and my sister waking up were hard because we wanted her to get better physically, and we were worried about how she’d handle the news emotionally. The day my sister woke up was hard because the pain and confusion of losing the baby started all over for everyone as we began going through it with her. My brother-in-law and my parents had been in the room when my sister gave birth, and because of the nature of the situation the hospital had kept the baby in the morgue in case my sister wanted to hold him. Perhaps the actual “hardest” day was a few days after my sister woke up and decided she wanted to see her son. We all showed up early that morning and dressed nice, we talked for a minute and then we just waited silently for them to bring him up to the room.

What happened in the hospital room that morning was close to what I had been impatiently excited about on the ride home from my cabin just a few weeks earlier, but my imagination of that scene would look and feel like didn’t include so many sad tears and confusion. That morning I watched my sister holding her son for the first time. I watched my mom take pictures of my sister and her husband with their baby boy, her first grandchild. And for me, well, I never imagined meeting my nephew would be like that. I held him in my arms and thought about all the things I had hoped to do with him, about what kind of uncle and godfather I would have been for him. Through tears I looked down at a little boy who wasn’t quite ready to enter the world, but who would never be forgotten. I was overcome with the urge to break the painful silence in that room and proudly proclaim to my family that in my arms I was holding Emmanuel Andrew…my nephew and godson, the grandson of Tom and Julie, and the son of Roberta and Heruy. I felt like that moment and especially Emmanuel’s life needed to be validated, but for some reason I couldn’t find the courage to say anything. I felt almost paralyzed in emotion, so I sniffled a few last tears and realized that as difficult as that moment and a majority of the surrounding moments had been and would be, there was still hope in that hospital room. I felt a special connection to my nephew because my name was his middle name, but everyone in that room had a special connection to him because he was part of our family. It was his first name that reminded me of the hope that we all needed. My sister and her husband had wanted to be parents for a long time, and with that desire to have a child, they had spent a lot of time considering names. Although I’m biased since my name ended up being chosen, I think they made an especially great choice with the first name. The name Emmanuel comes from the Bible and is found in Matthew’s version of the Christmas story when an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and tells him that his wife Mary is pregnant with a son who will save his people from their sins. This is seen as the fulfillment of what God said through the prophet Isaiah about the virgin being pregnant with a son who would be called Emmanuel, which means “God with us.”

If things had gone according to schedule, Emmanuel Andrew might have been born on Christmas day of this year (December 25 my sister’s due date), but it didn’t work out that way and we’ll never understand why. It will never be easy to think about, but no matter how many tears we cry or questions we ask, nothing can change the fact that Emmanuel was and always will be part of our family, and we love him very much. I’m sad that I’ll never get to teach him how to play basketball or take him to the kids movies I wanted to see anyway, but I’m thankful for the reminder that his name offers us…God is with us, even though it’s a little more difficult to see and understand right now.

The rest of the month was a blur. We all spent hours and days at a time at the hospital hanging out with my sister during her roller-coaster 27 day consecutive day visit. Somewhere between the end of August and the day she finally went home, I managed to move into a new apartment. Although I’m still not quite settled because I’ve chosen to spend several days at my sister’s house watching movies, taking walks in the back yard and reminding her to take her medicine. Her health continues to improve every day and we’re hopeful that she’ll be back to normal in the not-so-distant future.

It’s now fall and it seems like everyone is in a rush to get ready for something important. Academic years, church programs, political elections are all starting or on the horizon, and nearly every school in the country will soon be holding some form of homecoming celebration (I’ll be going to my five year college reunion in a few weeks). I have been talking to a few students who were part of the youth ministry I used to be involved with quite a bit lately. They are both beginning their first year of college, adjusting to life away from home and parents for the first time, adapting to a new understanding of homework and studying, and even experiencing the effects of distance and new realities on old relationships.

As I look back on the last month of my life, it’s been difficult not to look back on everything else as well. The more I think about my life and everything I’ve gone through - especially when I’m having conversations with 18-year-old’s who are facing some of the most difficult stuff they’ve ever experienced - I think about how far I’ve come and the reasons I’ve been able to get to where I am today. I have a great family, wonderful friends and have been lucky enough have had great teachers, coaches and mentors who all had a significant impact on who I’ve become. But as much as each of those people have done for me throughout my life, I was holding the reason for everything I am in my hands in that hospital room a few weeks ago.

It was a little baby boy who changed the world for everyone, forever.

Emmanuel. God is with us.

By the way, my other sister is healthy and her pregnancy is going well. We’re all very excited to meet her baby girl who is due at the end of December.

There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of one of my current favorite musicians. I’m not writing this to say I know more than you, I’m just stating an opinion of fact. His name is Phil Wickham and his music is mostly mellow and chilled out, but at times it gets a bit more energetic. He has two studio albums, a self-titled debut (2006) and Canons (2007), along with a new live recording that I’ll tell you more about below.

Before I keep going, I know what some of you are thinking, “I really don’t have the time or the money to invest in new music right now.” Believe me, I understand that sometimes it seems like too much work to catch up on a new artist or band’s collection of music, so I’m going to make this really easy for you. The rest of this post will be a reading & clicking exercise that is totally optional, kinda like the choose your own adventure books you read as a kid. Are you ready? Here we go…

Do you want to learn about some great new music? (If yes, read on. If no, go back to whatever you were doing. The choice is yours.)

Do you like free stuff? (Same deal. Yes = read more. No = check your facebook account again.)

Cool. I’m glad you’re still reading. You no doubt already know that you can check out Phil Wickham’s music the same way you’d check out any new music (iTunes, myspace, youtube, etc.). If you chose to follow one of those links and didn’t like what you heard, feel free to stop reading now (thanks for playing a long this far). If you want to stay in the game a while longer, lower your eyes and read the next paragraph.

If you made it this far you probably fit into one of the following categories,

a) you followed a link and liked what you heard (and you want to hear more)
b) you didn’t follow a link but still have an interest in following along (these are the risk takers)
c) you want to learn more about other FREE options to check out new music (even though you didn’t know this was an option until now)
d) you were already a Phil Wickham fan (possibly even before I was)

Regardless of which category you best fit in, you’ve made it to the pot o’ gold at the end of the bloggy rainbow. I’m glad you’re here because I have great news to share with you. How do I know you will think it’s great news? Because any readers who don’t like great/free music have already been filtered out. As a reward for your good taste in music and commitment to finding free stuff, here’s the good news I promised a few sentences ago.

Good News #1: Phil Wickham will be leading a night of worship at Journey on Sunday, October 5 at 5:00 pm. If you live near the twin cities, please mark your calendars (and tell your friends). It will be FREE!!!

Good News #2: Phil Wickham is releasing a live album titled singalong on Friday, August 8 and you can download it for FREE (just click the banner below).

The following videos were part of a message I shared at Journey tonight. If you’d like to listen to the message, go to the Journey media player and look for the message titled “Witness” from August 3, 2008.

Witness | part 1

Witness | part 2

We’ve been discussing the topic of forgiveness during worship at Journey the last three weeks; starting with a message on God forgiving us (July 13), followed by a message about forgiving each other (July 20), and then last night (July 27) we had a guest preacher talk about the messiness of forgiveness. It was an honest talk about a difficult topic, and it was both a sad and hopeful evening. Let me explain.

The guest preacher was Rolf Olson. In case you’re not familiar with Rolf’s story, he is the father of Katherine Olson, the young woman who was murdered last fall while following up an ad she found on craigslist to be a nanny. (If you’d like more info on the story, do a google search for “Katherine Olson” and you’ll find over 1.5 million sites.)

Rolf is lead pastor at Richfield Lutheran in the twin cities, but he’s also a father, a husband and a regular person, so you can imagine that this wasn’t an easy message for him to share. He’s angry about the whole situation - he lost his daughter - and he is not at a nice/clean point where he can confidently say, “I forgive the young man who killed my daughter.” He’s aware that he needs others to help him and his family; not only to pray for them during these difficult times - especially as the case goes to trial in January - but also to continue praying for his daughter’s accused murderer (since he admits this is really hard for them to do right now). Aside from some quotes in the media and things he’s said at his church, Rolf has not spoken publicly about the horrible situation that he and his family have been living in since last fall. This was a big step for he and his family. He did an incredible job and we are thankful he accepted our invitation.

For anyone who wasn’t able to be at Journey on Sunday night, here are some ways to hear, read or share the message:

• Read Rolf’s message (pdf) - these are his notes from the talk (used by permission)
• Listen to or download the message (mp3) - titled “Forgiveness | It Gets Messy” from 7/27/08

[Personal note: Rolf and my dad were classmates in seminary, and they are still friends today. As Rolf mentions at the beginning of his message, there are a few other family connections between the Jolivettes and Olsons, but that's the main one that led us to invite him to share a bit of his story at Journey.]

Note (7/22): This is the second draft of an article I posted last week. Many thanks to my editor Heather for all her help.

Growing up in the church I developed a strong faith, but I also grew up watching MTV and caring a lot about popular culture. Today, as a mid/late 20-something, I still have a fascination with popular culture (music, movies, sports, even celebrity gossip), but I also feel a desire to understand and share my faith. Bringing these interests together, I graduated from seminary this past spring with a master’s degree in Theology & Pop-Culture (a degree that didn’t exist until I created it). As a “pop-culture theologian,” I see the world through a unique perspective - seeking to interpret what is happening in today’s culture and translate it in a way that reflects God’s activity in our world. It is through this perspective that I would like to guide you on a search for the sacred in the (perceived) secular, by reviewing Coldplay’s new album theologically.

I became a Coldplay fan while on a trip to New Zealand in January, 2001. It was my junior year of college, and one of the guys I was traveling with wanted to listen to an album called Parachutes (their first album) on our group’s bus. We listened to it over and over while exploring NZ’s south island and it provided an incredible soundtrack to an amazing trip. I loved the music because it was both depressing and hopeful at the same time, much like the tension of real life. I downloaded Parachutes when I got back to campus, and seven years later I’m still listening to Coldplay’s music and they’ve become one of my favorite bands.

Along with millions of other Coldplay fans around the world, I spent the past year awaiting the release of what coldplay.com promised would be “the album people will remember them by.” That is certainly a bold statement to make about an album that was already highly-anticipated; especially since their last album, 2005’s X&Y, received some rather harsh reviews, but since Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends came out last month I have been listening to it on repeat. Although it took me a few weeks to move beyond simply listening to the melodies and feelings of the album, I have now begun hearing the songs on a much deeper level (i.e., the lyrics and meaning of the music) and to my excited surprise, I have come to realize that much the album focuses on issues of faith and theology.

An unexamined album is not worth listening to.

Nearly every song on Viva La Vida contains theological undertones and themes. Taking a quick tour through the track list (although not necessarily in the order they appear on the album), ‘Yes’ seems to be about personal faith and possibly even decision theology; ‘Cemeteries of London,’ ‘Death and All His Friends’ and ‘Violet Hill’ address death and the inevitability of dying; ‘Lost!’ explores the search for meaning and identity; and ‘Viva La Vida,’ ‘42′ and ‘The Escapist’ (the “hidden” song at the end of the album) focus on heaven/hell and the thought or hope of life after death.

While songs like ‘Reign of Love’ lead listeners to more theological questions than answers, I happen to believe that it is in the questions and the search for understanding that faith finds its home. The Greek philosopher Socrates once said “an unexamined life is not worth living,” and many theologians have borrowed from his quote to say “an unexamined faith is not worth believing.” I agree with both statements, and as a theologically-minded music fan, I would like to add another Socratic saying into the mix, “an unexamined album is not worth listening to.” Coldplay’s new album might not be a contemporary expression of Socratic philosophy or theology, but it’s definitely more than just another rock album.

Long live life!

“Viva La Vida” is a Spanish expression, and depending on who you talk to it means “long live life” or “live the life.” (”Viva La Vida” is also the name of a painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, which is where Coldplay got the name of the song/album, although that’s not the art that serves as the album’s cover.)

All four members of Coldplay (Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion) wrote the lyrics and music of Viva La Vida together - at least they all share the credit in the album’s liner notes - and listening to this album as a whole you get the sense that they are all very interested, if not obsessed with thoughts of death and dying, as well as heaven and hell. Viva La Vida is a deeply theological album, and there are moments when Martin, the voice of Coldplay’s music, sounds more like a prophet or priest than a rock star or pop-culture icon.

At times, Viva La Vida hints indirectly at themes that seem somewhat theological - for instance, ‘Strawberry Swing’ is a happy song that creates the mood and images of what a “perfect day” in heaven might be like (either that or it’s about a marching band of Oompa Loompas) - but I would like to focus the rest of this article on a few songs that dive directly into theological waters.

In the album’s co-title track ‘Viva La Vida’ (the song featured in the colorful iTunes commercial), Martin sings “For some reason I can’t explain, I know Saint Peter will call my name.” To be completely honest, the first couple of dozen times I listened to this song I thought Martin was singing “I know Saint Peter WON’T call my name,” as if he thought Peter wasn’t going to be let him through the pearly gates. Even listening to the song really closely several times through didn’t help me determine if Peter “will” or “won’t” call his name. I think Martin’s British accent made it difficult for my American ears to decipher what he was saying, but I was also interpreting and making assumptions based on other songs on the album (see my thoughts on the song ‘42′ below). It wasn’t until I looked up the lyrics online (and checked at least four different websites to make sure they were correct) that I realized Martin was indeed singing, with what sounds like a sense of confused confidence, that he thinks Saint Peter WILL call his name and let him into heaven. This was quite a relief to me, since it hadn’t felt right driving around singing along with a song that was about not making it into heaven.

It’s a cool song musically; I just have no idea what it’s about.

The fourth track on the album is ‘42.’ The musical structure of ‘42′ will be familiar to Coldplay fans, as it starts out slow and peaceful - even somewhat boring (reminiscent of ‘Fix You’) - only to build and transform into an almost entirely different/driving rock song by the 1 minute and 30 second mark. In the second half of the song, after an extended instrumental interlude, the somewhat bizarre lyrics “You thought you might be a ghost” and “You didn’t get to heaven but you made it close” are repeated several times until the song ends with the same disturbing words it started with, “Those who are dead, are not dead, they’re just living in my head.”

I wish I knew who Martin was singing to in ‘42,’ or how he knows that the recipient of the song’s message didn’t get into heaven. As for what it means to “almost” make it to heaven? I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s a variation of the Catholic understanding of some sort of in-between place - not heaven, not hell (”purgatory”) - almost like a heavenly waiting room, where people hang out until learn whether or not they will get into heaven. It certainly seems to be based on an understanding of eternal life/salvation that requires good works. In some ways, it reminds me of NFL players, coaches and fans anxiously waiting to see if the call on the field will stand or be overturned after the referee reviews the play in question; since it’s all about performance and based on what happened (who did what, when and why). I personally have issues with understandings of faith that require anything, especially as it relates to salvation, but I will save those words for a different time and place.

Although there are only 10 tracks on Viva La Vida, three of them are two-for-ones (tracks that include two separate songs). Only one track is officially/appropriately labeled as a twofer (‘Lovers in Japan / Reign of Love’), but you can find titles for the other bonus songs online. (The song after ‘Yes’ is ‘Chinese Sleep Chant’ and the song after ‘Death and All His Friends’ is ‘The Escapist’.)

Although ‘Lovers in Japan’ is a nice tune that seems to be a fairly typical romantic love song, it’s the second song of the track (‘Reign of Love’) that is of more interest, for theological reasons. I can’t tell if the “reign of love” that Martin is singing about is of human or divine origins. There are a few spots in particular that confuse me. First, the word “locusts” is used in both the second and third stanzas. The word “locust” is not a very commonly used word these days - people usually just go with “grasshopper” - so when it shows up twice in a fairly short song, I notice. People familiar with the Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures may recognize locusts as one of the Ten Plagues of Egypt that God inflicted on the Egyptians to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelite people out of slavery (see Exodus 7-12, locusts were plague #8). The last two stanzas of the song (the post-locust verses) require some theological analysis. I’ll let you read the lyrics for yourself, but then I have some questions for you to think about in response.

Reign of love
By the church, we’re standing (1)
Reign of love
My knees go praying (2)

How I wish
We’d spoken up (3)
Or we’d be carried
In the reign of love (4)

(1) Do you think “reign of love” is another way of talking about God, or God’s sovereign love?

(2) Who is praying and what are they praying about? Since Martin is the one singing, is he praying? If so, what do you think he is praying about? Who is he praying to?

(3) What do he wish they’d spoken up about? Was it perhaps an injustice that displayed a lack of love?

(4) Are they being carried in the “reign of love,” or not? Is the “reign of love” a call for universal love, a worldwide “reign” of love ruling over all? or is it something more specific to faith/religion?

Aside from the few songs that were analyzed theologically above, there is a lot more material on Viva La Vida that could be included in theological conversation(s). I will leave most of that for others to do, but here are a few obvious “God spots” that deserve some attention.

From ‘Cemeteries of London’

• “Through the dark streets they go searching to see God in their own way.”
• “God is in the houses and God is in my head…I see God come in my garden but I don’t know what he said, for my heart it wasn’t open.”

From ‘Yes’

• “Then we were dying of frustration, saying, ‘lord ‘lead me not into temptation.’”
• “God only, god knows I’m trying my best. But I’m just so tired of this loneliness.”

From ‘Violet Hill’

• “Priests clutched onto bibles, hollowed out to fit their rifles. And the cross was held aloft.”

From ‘The Escapist’

• “And in the end, we lie awake. And we dream we’ll make an escape.”

Coldplay’s tour in support of the new album began in July, and as part of the tour, they are offering a free song for download to people who purchased tickets to a show. The song is titled ‘Death Will Never Conquer’ and it sounds a bit like a hymn. It includes the hopeful line “I hope sweet heaven is a place for me,” which seems to express a Christian understanding of eternal life and the hope of spending eternity with God. What do you think?

Is Viva La Vida the album people will remember Coldplay by?

Only time will tell how or if Coldplay will be remembered 30 years from now, and Viva La Vida certainly hasn’t been out long enough to determine whether it will be the album that defines their music (like Radiohead’s Ok Computer); but for now one thing is certain…it is a very good, if not a great album, and it says a lot about their beliefs in God, life, death and whatever comes next.

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In case this wasn’t enough Coldplay for you, here are a few extras:

Rolling Stone recently featured an interview with Chris Martin titled “The Jesus of Uncool” in which Martin opens up about a whole slew of issues related to life, music and even his experiences growing up in the church (a portion of the article can be read on RollingStone.com).

Dan Kimball (pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, CA and author/speaker in the emerging church) wrote an interesting response to the Rolling Stone article on his blog a few weeks ago (it includes a few quotes from the interview that aren’t included online).

Chris Martin was interviewed by coldplay.com just before beginning their current tour and he talked a lot about what’s involved in taking their show on the road, how much control they have in making decisions about the production of their concerts and what you can expect to see if you see Coldplay live.