World AIDS Day

Just a reminder for all Christians out there who take seriously this Kingdom of God stuff. World AIDS Day is December 1. Please take some time to pray for those who are suffering and check out your local AIDS coalition to see how you can get involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The wait is over for RENT!!!

5 hundred 25 thousand 600 minutes, how do you measure, measure a year....I will quit singing now. That's right, the wait is over. RENT was released today and, as promised, I was at the theater. Let me begin by saying that the film is incredible. Go see this movie. Now, having said that, if you are a RENT purist, you may be a little disappointed in the film. There is something about RENT live on stage that is profoundly moving. I don't think that anyone could ever capture the live performance on film with the same intensity and emotion. However, if you haven't yet, or are not going to fork out the $80 to see the show live, then the film is a must see. Here are the major differences between the film and the stage production. First off, some of the smaller musical numbers are converted to dialogue only in the film. This is not necessarily a bad thing, though it makes for some awkward moments for those of us who are way too familiar with the stage version. Secondly, not all of the scenes from the musical are in the film. The most obvious example of a scene left out, was the final night of passion between Collins and Angel. I was actually happy that this scene was left out. One aspect of the film that was of great help was the director's use of flashback scenes to provide greater character development. The director though, in attempting to fill in the gaps with these scenes, used some rather unorthodox composition techniques leaving the watcher with a bit of an uneasy feeling. A primary example was the scene in which Roger moves to Santa Fe and Mark is left in New York. The transitions, shot compositions, and edit points were very unsettling to watch. The music in the film made up for the odd shooting sequences though. If the camera work in the film gets on your nerves, just close your eyes and listen to the music. The music is what makes this film.

This was my synopsis post of RENT. I will hopefully have a chance to post my theological response to RENT tomorrow. I am thinking about going to see it again before I do that post. We'll just have to wait and see.

National Youth Worker's Convention

This weekend I was at the NYWC in Nashville TN. I will not be able to tell you all that happened on the trip simply because there was simply too much going on. (Check out pomopete's blog for more perspective of what went on.)

The first day I attended Tony Campolo's seminar on Apologetics for Youth Ministers. Let me just say that Tony's the man. I went to this seminar because I thought if anyone could redeem the hyper-modernist world of apologetics, it would be Tony. I was right. He did a great job of looking at challenges from each of the sciences: social science, psychology, etc. He did not attempt to give a step by step method of defending the faith, but allowed for an understanding of sharing realities or stories other than foundationalist argumentation. Thanks Tony.

I also attended Tony's seminar on Christians in Politics. Again, the seminar was great, however, Tony was not as "liberal" (I hate that term) as I thought he would be. Still, he gave a great critique of the uneasy marriage of the modern day church and conservative republican ideology. (Sorry to bust anyone's bubble out there, but Bush is not the savior of the world) I guess I'll shut up before I start preaching. Let me just say that the seminar was great.

Tony Jones facilitated a late night theology discussion. I was only able to join in on the last portion of the discussion, which primarily centered around women in ministry. The highlight of the night was this guy who was sitting in the row next to me. I guess I should say that he started out sitting next to me, before the discussion was over he was not only standing but was pacing the aisle. He could not understand how someone could read the Bible and agree to women in ministry. I am sorry, but I got too much pleasure out of watching this guy squirm. Let me be the first to say, rather pointedly, that if you are advocating not allowing women in ministry, you are living in a destructive narrative that is contrary to the Kingdom of God. Please stop the oppression. And yes, I give you permission to take offense at this.

I bought the cds for a couple of other seminars that are really good. As I listen to them and process them, I will blog about them. I know that this is a short update, but well, that's it for now. The rest of the conference was great. David Crowder is the man. Chris Tomlin, all the speakers and bands were great. If you are a youth worker and have never been...go.

Irony

Just as a point of irony...I just finished the post on the Alaskan Trip update and ran the spell check provided by blogger.com. The blog spell check did not recognize the word blog. Sorry, but I find this funny.

Back from Alaska

This past weekend I went with a group of 13 from PNEUMA to Ketchikan Alaska. The trip was absolutely incredible. The area around Ketchikan is beautiful. Unfortunately, we didn't get snowed in or anything. It actually snows very little there. They have the exact same weather as Seattle so there is more rain than snow. The area is surrounded by mountains which are covered with snow on the top, but at the level of the city, there is no snow.

While I was there I was speaking at the Southeast Alaskan Winterfest. The people that were there and that were in charge of the event were incredible. I kind of feel sorry that they got stuck with me as the speaker, but still, we all seemed to have a good time. The youth that I took were incredible. If you are a youth pastor and are reading this blog, I had to say that I have the best youth in the world in PNEUMA. There cannot be any that are greater. The blew me away with their willingness to serve this weekend. Here's a listing of what we did. The first service I talked about the new creation: re:visioning creation. The youth drama group performed after the evening service at a "fun time." They did one spoken piece and one percussion drama piece. The second morning I team taught a Bible study with our children's pastor Annette on Truth. That afternoon was fun time in the gym and that night I taught on re:visioning sex. We had a great night that night. After the service we went cosmic bowling. Everyone knows that my life-long dream was to go bowling in Alaska. I can die happy now. The third day I spoke in the Winterfest service on the feast of Sukkot and the use of water in the festival (COG seminary students should recognize this). The drama team did a dance piece in the morning service as well. Immediately following I spoke in the main church service on the Elijah narrative. Good times.

Anywho, all this to say that I really enjoyed the trip. The pictures from the trip should be on the PNEUMA web site later today. www.pneumayouth.com We are all ready to go back. We have a possibility of going back in February. We'll see what happens.

Rediscovery time.

Ever have those moments when you rediscovered a song, group, or film that you once loved but for some reason lost touch with? This seems to be happening to me a lot lately. So, here's a list of the songs and groups that I have come to re-love. Come now, let's take a trip down memory lane.

1. Temple of the Dog. Remember the song Hunger Strike? Good stuff. If you don't remember Temple of the Dog, it was the band that was formed from members of Pearl Jam and Sound Garden.

2. The Spin Doctors. You cannot deny that you love the song Two Princes. The video was pretty rad. That's right, I said "rad."

3. Blues Traveler. I was on the way home from class the other night and I found a live recording of Blues Traveler tucked away in the old cd case. Hook, The Mountains Win Again, and Go. Gotta love them.

4. The Beatles. Yes, I want to live in a Yellow Submarine. Someone please Help me. Enough of the puns for now.

5. Stay. Remember the Lisa Loeb tune? This is quite possibly the greatest song ever written. That is, in the category of songs not written by U2.

6. The Mommas and the Papas. I once played Creeque Alley in a coffee house with a friend. I was playing the rhythm on a metal trash can as he played the guitar and Holly sang harmony. Good times.

7. Rent. The movie coming out has allowed me the chance to revisit the soundtrack for the stage musical. This is good stuff. Can't wait for the movie.

Update...finally.

Ok, I have so much to say right now. This is the first of several blog entries. I am only posting one today. The rest will come tomorrow. Alot has happened over the past weekend: papers, finals, weekend trip to Alaska, but most importantly I got the new U2 Vertigo 05 Live From Chicago DVD. I had no idea that it was out yet. I went in Best Buy to get the soundtrack to the RENT film, and came out with the U2 DVD. I realize that reading this blog is important. But right now you should quit reading the blog and go out and buy this DVD. Especially if you are poor like me and cannot afford the tickets to the real show. Go ahead...get moving...you are wasting precious time that could be spent with U2.

We're not gonna pay.....RENT!

NOVEMBER 23!!! That’s right, the non-musical lovers in the world will be introduced to the world of RENT. First off, I know that this is a controversial movie. I know that this film and musical does not project Christian values. I understand that most of the people in the film/story are gay. No I am not gay, but I love this musical. If you are even slightly offended at any of the above, then don’t go see this movie. However, if you are willing to thing theologically about complex issues of what it means to actually live, love and be in community then go see this movie. There is much that can be learned from the community that is formed in this film. If you choose to see this film, then be prepared to be in utter shock regarding the beauty that can be present in the midst of life, even when the life, and lives, are not representing christian lifestyles. This is a great paradox; beauty in the midst of sin. Still, this paradox exists and I think that the Spirit of God may be found in our ability to discover the beauty in the middle of such paradoxical stories.

The music is absolutely incredible. I am happy to say that the movie is being released with a rating of PG-13. When I heard that the movie was coming out, I knew for sure that it would carry an R rating because of the nature of the content. Thankfully, they have found a way to reduce the rating to PG13 so that I don’t have to keep my eyes closed through certain portions of the film. Anywho, if you need me on November 23, 2005 you will now know were to find me.