Purpose Check

The purpose of this blog is not...

• To cater to "the cutting edge."
• To anticipate sociological or theological trends.
• To impress anyone (except my wife).
• To offend anyone.
• To fight the culture war.
• To waste time throwing fits.
  
• To waste time with gossip.
• To be merely clever.
• To be narcissistic.
• To be popular.
  

This purpose of this blog is...

• To lift up Jesus.
• To allow me to write about what I'm thinking about.
• To talk about good books.
  
• To share anything of value that is happening in my life, big or small, practical or spiritual.
• To encourage the Church.
  
• To spread the Good News of the Gospel.
• To overturn tables.
• To lift up Jesus.
  
• To make you think.
• To make me think.
• To stimulate constructive dialogue.
  
• To lift up Jesus.
  
• To tell the truth.

Image courtesy of solarnavigator.net

Young Writers and a Teapot of Tea

Writing skills should begin early. Children need to read and write from a young age to develop the kind of familiarity with words and sentences necessary to write confidently and well.

This is an essay written last week by my 8-year-old sister Chloe. I thought it was good so I asked her if I could post it here. Enjoy.


Teapot of Tea

It all started when Peter got into tea.
Because when Peter got into tea, he got into loose tea and he decided it was the best tea.
But we (The Telian Family) did not have very many.
In the meantime he got me into loose tea and I liked it. :)
Then we found a website called Grace Rare Tea & Co..
They sell all kind of loose teas.
So he got four 8 ounce tins.
These are the ones he got:

• Flowery Jasmine - Before the rain
• Winey Reemun - English Breakfast
• Connisseur - Master Blend
• Formosa Oolong - Champagne of teas

There are a few more from Grace Rare Tea & Co. that Peter didn't get, but mommy got samples of.

• Earl Grey - Superior mixture
• Darjeeling - Superb 6000
• Gunpowder Pearl - Green tea

I really like them all except for Gunpowder pearl.
Daddy's favorite is Formosa Oolong.
I make a pot of loose tea almost every day.

-Chloe F.T

Image courtesy of farm1.static.flickr.com

Calvin Miller, Celtic Prayer, and Quiet Earth

Calvin Miller is a pastor-turned-professor with more than forty books to his name and a readable, uncluttered writing style similar to that of Max Lucado. Miller was first recommended to me by Jessica's mother Karen for his poetic retelling of the redemption story in three volumes, The Singer, The Song, and The Finale, collectively known as The Singer Trilogy.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Singer Trilogy, and subsequently ordered and read Miller's book The Path of Celtic Prayer. Though not as rich as some of Miller's other works, The Path of Celtic Prayer addressed several intriguing themes relating to our experience of God.

I. The Spirituality of Nature
From St. Francis to Thoreau to Wendell Berry, I have been attracted to authors possessing a strong sense of the spirituality of nature, blazing a middle-ground between pagan pantheism and fundamentalist utilitarianism. To recognize and appreciate the creation as the handiwork of the Creator is not nature-worship. We ought to know Psalm 19 both from reading the text and gazing at the sky.

II. The Power of Raw Scripture: Lectio Divina
The contemporary Celtic scholar Thomas O'Laughlin described Scripture as "literature born on the high ledges between this world and the next." I believe we need to cultivate a renewed appreciation for the reading of mere Scripture - raw and unadorned. "The Celts... seemed to believe there was a deliberate power for living in allowing the Bible to have its own majestic voice without the clutter of human chitchat trying to explain it." (53)

III. Liturgy as High Praise
There is a renewed interest in liturgy in the Church today that I think stems from a dissatisfaction with the irreverence of impromptu, colloquial devotion. I believe there is a place for spontaneous, spirit-inspired prayer, but I also believe it is untrue that the only "real" prayer is merely praying whatever comes into our heads.

The secular mind sometimes tries to fashion prayers and generally ends up with a divine headache. But the heart in love with God cheerfully labors over gladsome poetry. The heart is the place of prayer rehearsal. It is the editing room for dialogue with royalty... It is a foundry of intensity that smelts the ore of our devotion till it is fine enough to be formed into the highest kind of praise. Then, and only then, is the word beautiful enough to be spoken.

-40

Other high points in the book include an incisive discussion of the Trinity (33-35), a thought-provoking definition of confession ("It doesn't mean so much that we are informing God of our sins as it is agreeing with him that we are sinful... confession is that bold step by which we stand with God, look at our dark side and agree with all that he has said about it in his Word." -140), and a description of the pagan Celtic concept of spiritual energy referred to as the neart (21) - similar to the Chinese tao as described in C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man.

The old Celtic prayers and runes are easily the best part of the book, almost to the point of giving Miller's commentary the flavor of filler. The prayers are encased in beautiful poetic forms and are of a reverence, depth, and simplicity that is timeless.

I leave you with an old Irish prayer we have hanging in our home just inside the door:

Deep peace of the running waves to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the smiling stars to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the watching shepherds to you.
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.

Image courtesy of journeywithjesus.net

Tenth Avenue North and Self-conscious Rock Bands

Amidst the glut of mediocrity that goes under the heading of Contemporary Christian Music, there aren't many voices that blend raw honesty and real talent. (I know I say that a lot, but it's true: usually you have to pick one or the other.)

Tenth Avenue North is one of those voices.

I need Your strength to feel this weak
I need Your touch to fill my need
I need Your strong hands to carry me
Take me, break me, set me free...

I think the best way to describe Tenth Avenue North is as a less self-conscious version of Kutless. I don't know about you, but in every Kutless song I seem to hear them saying "We're Kutless! This is our sound! Don't you like it... don't you like it?!"

Frankly, that's annoying, and, I think, juvenile.

It's refreshing to hear a band that isn't so interested in their own stardom and just wants to share truth and encourage others. Vocalist Mike Donehey's statement about the band's purpose is worth quoting at length:

At present,
We're just trying to find our way in the Christian music industry
"dodging traffic at the intersection of art, faith, and commerce,"
as Jon Foreman once put it.
We all come from church backgrounds and families, and therefore,
are not satisfied saying the same old things in the same old ways.
What we're hoping for with this music that we're making is to not just entertain people.
I think it's safe to say that we already have plenty of that.
What we're wanting is to see people encounter truth.
Remember, we all worked at a church for some time,
and there we saw plenty of emotion. We saw plenty of people having a good time,
but it wasn't long until we realized that if emotion isn't being evoked by truth,
well, then it just doesn't last. And we want this love in hearts to last.
I guess you could say we're done just trying to get emotional from blast beats
and hip guitar lyrics. Instead, we desire to be cut to the heart.
To be honest, genuine, and faithful to what we believe is truth.

Nobody said it would be easy,
but if easy isn't true, then who wants it?

The songs are passionate, honest, and artistic, with clean, strong melodies and solid instrumentation. These guys can rock the house ("Break Me Down"), but they also aren't afraid to do some quieter songs ("Times"). They have a vision for the Kingdom alive here and now, ("Love Is Here") and a burden for the purity of the Church ("Beloved").

Give a listen; I think you'll be blessed and challenged.


Go here to download Tenth Avenue North's full-length album Over and Underneath for $6.99.

Image courtesy of ignitechicago.com

Eating Jesus, Part 2

Go here to read Part 1.

Eating is one of the great unifying experiences of humanity. Everyone does it. Three times a day, most of the world sits down to some kind of meal for health, strength, and enjoyment. In many ancient cultures, sharing a meal together was the epitome of fellowship, and even in modern-day America, when we want a real conversation with someone, we have them over for supper or go out to a restaurant to talk.

Jesus invites us to share his table - to eat his flesh like bread and drink his blood like wine. Some of us have learned to sit quietly and eat what is put in front of us, and have discovered great peace in so doing. Some of us still behave like brats and get into food fights. (I know I've certainly been in more than my share.)

I don't have enough Jesus inside me. I need more. That is the supremely important thing. "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." And we can't partake of Jesus if we're always flinging him in one another's faces. The Eucharist is a sacrament of humility and devotion, a reminder of the massive mystery of redemption. It is an invitation to noisy children to quiet themselves before their Father, let go of their pet doctrines and personal vendettas, and experience the beautiful unity of Psalm 133.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.

For years I thought it was zealous to go around telling other Christians what was wrong with their theology, when Jesus just wanted me to love them and rejoice together in our common inheritance - salvation through the blood of the Lamb. "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand."

Jesus is not a weapon. I know about the scourge and the temple and the overturned tables. I know there's a place for rebuke and repentance. I know that Jesus said that he didn't come to bring peace but a sword. But he also prayed we would be one.

I don't think the sword is supposed to be slashing around within the Church. The Church is a place of healing, safety, encouragement. The Church is a place where tears are dried and feet are washed. The Church is where the wine is poured, the bread is broken, and Jesus is shared.

Image courtesy of believingthomas.files.wordpress.com

Back to Blogging

So, I've been married for 10 days. You might expect me to write about marriage, but I'm not going to. Not yet. I think I'm still too close to it - too overwhelmed still with the grandeur and beauty of it all. There's too much to say - my heart is too full.

But I do want to get back to blogging. Whenever I'm away from sentences for too long, I start missing them, like some people miss their Pilates or their pets. And there's more to write about than ever. We live in an endlessly interesting time. There is change all around us, and there is need for alertness and courage, for the Church's responsibility to interact with culture in a sanctified and meaningful way is still the same.

So in my spare time between kisses, I'll once again be contributing my trademark blend of sagacity and simplemindedness to the bloated bucket of nonsense we call the blogosphere. Stay tuned.

Me? Getting Married?

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord." - Proverbs 18:22

In one week, I'm getting married.

In some ways it still seems unreal, like I'm somehow disembodied and observing my life as a spectator. In other ways I feel more alive than ever before. Either way, it's really happening. It's really her - it's really me.

I won't bore you with all the planning and preparation details. As you know, a wedding is kind of a big deal, and it takes a lot of work. Sometimes it's difficult to keep the sacramental immensity of marriage in view amidst all the activity. It's so much more than rings and vows and candles and champagne - it's the highest institution of mortal love that we will ever experience.

This is not a drill. This is for life.

God has shown his faithfulness countless times over the last few months, even through my failures and clumsiness. For years I wondered how I would "know" who I'm supposed to marry, but I understand now the certainty that borders on awe. "This is the way, walk ye in it." Thank you, Lord.

Our plan is to build a small cottage here on my folks' property over the summer. While we build, we'll be living in a twenty-eight foot travel trailer, which Jessica has been making into a wonderful home with her remarkable womanly touch. (I know some of you are skeptical that anyone will ever be able to civilise me, but if anyone can do it, she can.)

We'll be leaving for a short honeymoon after the wedding. For the "real" honeymoon, we're planning to take a longer trip sometime later this year to England and Ireland, to celebrate history, literature, and the color green. If you've visited the British Isles, we'd love to hear any advice you have to share.

There's lots of things I've been wanting to write about. Right now I simply don't have enough time or concentration to spare. Hopefully I can return to the blog in a few weeks after some of the dust settles.

Thanks for reading and thanks for praying. Soli Deo Gloria.

Image courtesy of mississippifamilylawblog.com