Tall Monastic Guy

ongoing expectancy...

This morning I want to follow up the "expectancy" post with an honest reflection of how this week has gone in that regard...

Look to the saints...

Need some radical inspiration today?
See the lyrics to this song by Sara Groves...

"Expectancy"... without "expectation"

As the Advent season looms we prepare to participate in a season of "expectancy". Although the reality for many, the words, "anxiety", "anger", "disappointment", or "fear" sound more accurate. Expectancy is difficult when you've been single for too many years and can't shake the desire to be married. Expectancy gets hard when you and your spouse just can't conceive and the frustration overwhelms. Suffocating financial debt, addiction, whatever it may be, the holiday season for some only seems to make the pain worse.

A different perspective on simplicity

My friend and architect of the MCAP, Matt Smay, has an interesting post on the issue of simplicity that has me thinking.

Enjoy giving thanks today. Slainte!

Where there's life...

...there's mess.

For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Isaiah 41:13

Being deliberately radical...

Heavy on my heart tonight and desiring to start the week out differently...

I'm thinking out loud here about the idea of "intentionality"... the idea of being deliberate about the things that matter most in our life.

Rich Mullins on God's will...

I'd say one of the top ten heaviest influences on my attitude and response to Jesus is a man named Rich Mullins. Although he died in September of 1997 his song lyrics, articles, and interviews have been as relevant to me these days as ever. His honesty about his own depravity, disdain for American wealth and materialism, and his discovery of Jesus among the ignored and poor keep me coming back for more Rich Mullins.

Last week I came across an interview of which I'll share some of my favorite parts. The entire interview along with other good articles, song lyrics, and interviews can be found at kidbrothers.net

Kazoos, not kegs.

I'm always looking for other incarnational leadership programs to compare the MCAP to...

Bob Jones University, Nov. 17, 2007: the world’s largest kazoo ensemble—maybe.

During halftime of Turkey Bowl 2007, BJU will need more than 3,600 people to exercise their kazoo-playing skills in order to break the Guinness World Record for the largest kazoo ensemble. Staff evangelist Mike Shrock will lead the ensemble.

And college students would think this was cool why? Well, if you lived under these conditions...

Taken from Bob Jones Residence Life

What Not to Bring
Posters of movie and music stars and fashion models are not permitted. The subjects of personal photos should not exhibit immodesty or inappropriate physical contact.
Music must be compatible with the University’s music standards:
New Age, jazz, rock, and country music is not permitted.
Contemporary Christian music is not permitted (e.g., Michael W. Smith, Stephen Curtis Chapman, WOW Worship, and so forth).
Televisions, DVD/videotape players and headphones are not permitted in the residence halls; computer DVD players may not be used to view movies.
You may not possess or play computer and video games rated T, M, A, or E10, or having elements of blood and gore, sensual or demonic themes, or featuring suggestive dress, bad language, or rock music.
Due to space considerations, appliances such as mini-refrigerators and microwaves are not permitted in residence hall rooms. A refrigerator and microwaves are provided in each residence hall.
Residence hall students may not watch videos above a G rating when visiting homes in town and may not attend movie theaters.
All weapons must be turned in for storage. Trigger locks are required for pistols. Fireworks are not permitted on campus.

The RD's gun cabinet is full of student's shotguns along with confiscated David Crowder CD's.

The medium is the message...

...and if that is true, what are our best emerging leaders reproducing? Better thinking or better actions.

This post, by a good friend, has me provoked this morning.

Are we leaving people with, "wow, that was a powerful talk about Jesus." or "wow, I want to radically be Jesus."

"The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing."
John 14: 12 (The Message)

Along the same lines, Alan Hirsch posted these powerful thoughts this morning... "we must move from trying to think our way into a new way of acting, but rather, we need to act our way into new way of thinking."

Thanks Lou and thanks Alan.

Simplicity fleshed out...

"Simplicity", like "community" can get to be another one of those terms that remains nothing more than a spiritualized buzzword. I met a friend for coffee this morning and he asked, "what's simplicity really look like in day to day living?" My response, "It's not convienient."
In order to meet this friend I had to bike down to the train station (@ 5:45am), hop on the rail, take a 10 minute train ride, then a 15 minute walk, to the coffee shop. Angie needed the car to get to work by 7:30 and since that's our only car now, I had to make some sacrifices.
When we had the Civic I could jump in the car, get on the highway, and be there in 10 minutes. But then I wouldn't have felt the crisp air on my face during the bike ride, I wouldn't have had the conversation about the Nuggets game with the man on the train, and I likely wouldn't have noticed the sliver of moon and beautiful sunrise that I took in on the 15 minute walk.
In taking steps toward simplicity you may lose some speed and convienience, but you just might get some of your soul back.

Is it worth the risk?