a new doxology

(Note: this is the rough draft of an article I’ve been working on all week. Feel free to pass it on or post links to it if you want to share it with others, but expect some small changes to be made in the next few days.)

I have been listening to Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends (aka, “the new Coldplay album”) on repeat since it came out last month (June 17, 2008 to be exact). The disc has been in my car stereo since the day I bought it with the exception of the night I brought it into my apartment to import the songs onto my computer - so I could have put it on my iPod - but even then it went back in my stereo the next morning.

I became a Coldplay fan while on a trip to New Zealand during the month of 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 tour bus. We listened to that album over and over while exploring NZ’s south island and I loved the sound because it seemed both depressing and hopeful at the same time, much like life (needless to say, it provided an incredible soundtrack to an amazing trip). I downloaded Parachutes as soon as I got back to campus - probably using Limewire or Bearshare, since Napster was already shut down and it was at least a few years before people started using iTunes) - and in the 7+ years since that trip, I have continued listening to Coldplay’s music and have become a big fan, and I now own (or at least “possess”) their entire catalog of music, including most of the EPs and b-sides.

Along with most other Coldplay fans, I spent this past winter, spring and early summer anxiously awaiting the release of what coldplay.com promised would be “the album people will remember them by.” That is certainly a bold claim to make about an album that was already highly-anticipated by millions of fans around the world; especially since their last album, 2005’s X&Y, received rather mixed, if not harsh reviews.

As a Coldplay fan who has never seen them in concert, I was disappointed when they postponed their show in St. Paul due to production delays (the show was originally scheduled to be on July 8, which was last Tuesday), but with the recent release of new album (which I will simply refer to as Viva La Vida, although I realize the official album title includes the names of two tracks), at least now I have an album’s worth of new Coldplay music - including two exclusive iTunes acoustic tracks - to tide me over until they come to Minneapolis/St. Paul for their rescheduled show at the Xcel Energy Center on November 14.

Long live life!

“Viva La Vida” is a Spanish expression and depending on who you talk to it either 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, that is actually “Liberty Leading the People” by the French painter Eugene Delacroix.)

I have listened to Viva La Vida nearly every day since it came out last month, and although it took me a few weeks to move beyond simply listening to the surface level of the songs (i.e., the melodies and feelings of the music), I have now begun hearing the songs on a much deeper level (i.e., the lyrics and meaning of the music). As I have come to understand the album in a more complete or full way, I have been surprised to discover how much it focuses on issues of faith and theology. Most notably (song names in parentheses), Viva La Vida addresses the topics of personal faith or even decision theology (‘Yes’), death (‘Cemeteries of London,’ ‘Death and All His Friends’ and ‘Violet Hill’), the search for meaning (‘Lost!’), and heaven/hell or life after death (‘Viva La Vida,’ ‘42′ and ‘The Escapist’ - the “hidden” song at the end of the album).

Viva La Vida is a deeply theological album.

All four members of Coldplay write the lyrics and music together (at least that’s who they list as the writers of their music), and listening to this album as a whole you actually get the sense that they are somewhat 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 Chris Martin, the voice of the band’s music, sounds more like a prophet or priest than a rock star or pop-culture icon.

Some of theological topics and themes in Viva La Vida are hinted at rather indirectly - for instance, I think ‘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 specifically on a few songs that seem to dive directly into theological waters.

For example, in the album’s co-title track ‘Viva La Vida’ (the song featured in the colorful Apple/iTunes commercial), there is a line in the chorus where Martin sings “For some reason I can’t explain, I know Saint Peter will call my name” (for whatever reason, this line is a bit different the first time through, which is the portion of the song used in the iTunes ad).

For at least the first couple of dozen times I listened to this song [‘Viva La Vida'], I thought Chris Martin was singing “I know Saint Peter WON’T call my name,” as if he thought he wasn’t going to be let past the pearly gates (I would imagine there are still several listeners who think this is what he is singing). I listened really close several times trying to determine which it was - “will” or “won’t” - and I still couldn’t figure it out. (Martin’s British accent made it indecipherable to my American ears.) It wasn’t until I looked up the lyrics online (and I checked at least four lyric websites to make sure this was correct) that I realized he was really singing - with perhaps a sense of confused confidence - that he does in fact think he will be allowed into heaven. This was quite a relief, since it didn’t feel right as a professing and confessing Christian to drive around while singing along with a song about not making it into heaven (although often times I simply didn’t sing that line, or I would sing it the way I hoped/wished it was…the way that it turns out, is actually correct).

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

The fourth track on the album is a song titled ‘42.’ (I have no idea where the name comes from or what it means, but I’m sure you could find a few theories on the world wide web.) The 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 different, driving rock song by the 1 minute, 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 Martin singing the same disturbing words the song started with, “Those who are dead, are not dead, they’re just living in my head.”

I wish I knew who Chris 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 - not heaven, not hell (”purgatory”) - where people are on a waiting list to get into heaven, similar to when an NFL coach challenges a call and everyone anxiously waits as the ref reviews the play in question.

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 appropriately labeled as a twofer (‘Lovers in Japan / Reign of Love’), but you can find titles listed for the bonus songs on the others (‘Yes’ and ‘Death and All His Friends’) if you look hard enough online, like the wikipedia page that names the hidden song after ‘Yes’ as ‘Chinese Sleep Chant’ and, as I’ve already mentioned, the hidden song after ‘Death and All His Friends’ is called ‘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 to me, because I can’t tell if the “reign of love” that song speaks about is of human or divine origins. There are a few spots in particular that lead me to my confusion. First, the word “locusts” is used in both the second and third stanzas. The word “locust” is not used very commonly these days - people usually just go with “grasshopper” - so when it shows up twice in a fairly short song, it will probably get noticed. 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). Although talk of insects in a love song is somewhat interesting, it’s the last two stanzas of the song (the post-locust verses) that I believe deserve a 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)? Does it sound like they are physically “standing” by a church, or are they making more of a statement, as in, they are taking a stand in support of the church (or faith, or love, or the love that the church supposedly stands for)?

(2) Who is praying? (Since Chris Martin is the one singing, is he saying that he is praying?) What are they praying about? Who are they praying to? Are they actually on their knees, or are they making a connection to what was sung in the previous line (first they were standing by the church, now they’re kneeling in prayer - from standing to kneeling?)

(3) What do they wish they’d spoken up about? Was it perhaps an injustice that displayed a lack of love? (Chris Martin has been very supportive and vocal of several social justice issues; most noticeably, he has written the letters “MTF” on his left hand while performing for several years as a statement to “Make Trade Fair.”)

(4) Are they being carried in the reign of love, or not? Is that even what they want? (I would think so, but I guess it depends on what the reign of love is.) Is the “reign of love” they are singing about a call for universal love (in the non-religious sense, a worldwide “reign” of love ruling over all)? or is it something more specific to faith and/or religion?

An unexamined album is not worth listening to.

While songs like ‘Reign of Love’ - and the entire album for that matter - seem to lead listeners toward more theological questions than answers or even responses, I happen to believe that it is in the questions and in 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 add one more Socratic saying into the mix, “an unexamined album is 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.

Aside from the few songs that were analyzed theologically above, there is a lot more on Viva La Vida that could be included in theological conversation(s). I will leave most of that for others to do (or perhaps I will do it myself when I get some more time). Here are a few obvious “God spots” that deserve some attention, in case anyone would like to get you started.

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’ (the “hidden” song at the end of the album)

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

Coldplay’s tour in support of the new album has now officially begun (as of July 14 in LA). They are offering a free song for download for people who bought tickets to a show (although the way they have it set up on their website there is no way to verify if you have purchased tickets or not). The free song is titled ‘Death Will Never Conquer,’ and it includes the hopeful line “I hope sweet heaven is a place for me.” Hmm…sounds like a song about life after death. At least it does to me.

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

Is this the album that will define Coldplay’s “legacy” in music (like Radiohead’s OK Computer)? Will Coldplay even have a legacy? Only time will tell how/if Coldplay will be remembered 30 years from now - and Viva La Vida certainly hasn’t been out long enough to say whether or not it will live up to such high expectations - but for now one thing is for sure; it is a really good, if not a great album.

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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 RS 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.

After being in Haiti for a week (seven days without tv and little-to-no internet access), followed by a week at my cabin in the north woods of Wisconsin (where a few tv stations come in fuzzy and there is only internet access when the wind blows strong enough to pick up the wireless signal from one of our neighbors), I am finally catching up on what has been going on in the world while I was away from my “normal” reality. For instance,

In the pop-culture world, Coldplay’s new album has already set tons of download/sales records in only a month and the latest season of MTV’s Real World (Hollywood) came to an end. (Note: I have been listening to the new Coldplay album (a lot!) and am currently writing a theological review of it that will hopefully be online later this week.)

In celebrity gossip, Angelina Jolie had twins and Jimmy Kimmel & Sarah Silverman broke up, among other things that most people don’t care about.

In the wacky world of church and theological politics, a college student in Florida says he received death threats for “smuggling” communion wafers out of church…seriously?

And of course, in the wonderful world of sports, I’m excited about the recent moves being made by the Timberwolves (a team for which I am a season ticket holder for the upcoming season) and I am frustrated and saddened by all the Brett Favre retirement/return drama…why are you doing this Brett? Just make up your mind, please.

Looking through this quick list of news and events, all of which I have actually spent time caring about since returning to my “real world,” it makes me think about how much different my life is compared to so many other people around the world. I’m thinking specifically of my friends in Haiti who I was hanging out with just a few weeks ago. The more I learn about and see others parts of the world, the more I come to understand that the realities of life that most Americans - like me, you, and anyone else who has access to read this blog - are lucky enough to live, is a lot better/nicer/easier than how a majority of people in the world will ever experience life, even for a day.

I realize I’m not the only person in the world who has come to this realization; nor am I the only person who has had the opportunity to see the faces of poverty in other parts of the world, but I’m not writing this to convince you of anything specifically that I think…I’m just asking you to think.

Think about all the blessings in your life, have you done
anything to deserve them?
We should recognize what we have and give thanks for the ways
we are blessed.
I realize some people don’t like this country, but if you
live in America, you are lucky.
Maybe you’re critical of America, and it’s understandable
if you are, but have you thought about how lucky you are
to live in a truly free country?
Have you ever stopped to think that someone in your family tree,
(probably several generations ago),
sacrificed everything they had,
left the only life they knew,
packed up all their stuff and did whatever they had to do to get here
(most of them probably sat on a boat to travel across the ocean),
and when they got here,
they had to completely start over,
new place to live, new job, new language, everything,
(it was probably really hard for at least the first couple of generations),
and they did all this so that you could have a better life?

We don’t deserve to live the way we do in America any more than my friend Tijean deserves to live in a one-room shack with four of his family members in Haiti. But we can learn a lot from Tijean. He is happy and joyful. He works hard. He is respectful to everyone and thankful for everything, often sharing the little he has with others. He makes the most of life, and that’s what we should be doing as well.

No, I’m not quoting the painfully annoying song by Staind from back in 2001, I’m simply stating the obvious, it’s been a while; or, as Kevin Garnet might say, “it’s been a minute” since I last posted anything on anewdoxology. To be specific, the last time I wrote was about three weeks ago and it was the day before I left for Haiti to film a documentary - with my friend Andrew Brown - on the realities of life in the poorest country in the western hemisphere. There were four of us (from America) in our group. They are all good friends of mine and we had an incredibly memorable and meaningful week together in Haiti.

Highlights include the baptism of our friend Partick’s son Evan (I was even asked to be his godfather…what an honor!), spending time at the beach with the family and child (Jean, 10 yrs old) I have sponsored through Compassion International since 2005 (this is the third year in a row I was able to hang out with Jean and his family, and one of my friends sponsors his little sister), and we even has the opportunity to visit the neighborhoods and homes of some of our Haitian friends while interviewing them and collecting footage for the documentary.

If you’d like to see some pictures from the trip, along with my commentary to explain what you’re looking at, here are links to a few photo albums I made public on facebook (you can view them even if you’re not on facebook, or if you are but you’re not my friend).

• Evan’s baptism
• Making of documentary
• Hanging with the Compassion kids
• Random Haiti pics

My advisor from seminary (Dr. Andrew Root) recently wrote an article for Next-Wave Church & Culture Ezine titled “The TV Show Lost and Eschatology.” I have personally only watched a few episodes of Lost - and I think it’s pretty good - but I know there are a lot of people who get really into the show and read nearly everything written about it online (fans of the show have even started a user-generated wikisite called Lostpedia to share thoughts and theories about the island, characters and direction of the show). As I said, I like the show, but I’m not into it like many others, so I’m just passing on the link to Dr. Root’s article for people like my roommate who can’t get enough of this stuff. By the way, the word “eschatology” is a theological term used for the study of the last things, or what is sometimes referred to as “the end times.”

“Your kingdom come, your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.”

In the middle of Jesus’ training prayer with his disciples (Matthew 6:9-13), he spoke this phrase in reference to God’s coming Kingdom and will (or plan) for the world. My mom forwarded me an email this morning discussing this passage of the Lord’s Prayer, it was actually an excerpt from a book and the title of the daily devotion was “Where have you had a taste of the Kingdom?” This is an intriguing question, especially since we all experience “the Kingdom” in different ways, times and places - and many people probably wouldn’t describe these experiences as “Kingdom moments” - and as for the “how” of the question, it implies that we are apparently able to use our senses (including taste) to experience these moments.

I could write a lot about the imagination and possibilities involved in the wording of this question, but regardless of the when, where or hows that are involved in people’s experiences with the sacred/spiritual in our world, I want to include Richard’s Daily Meditation from today because I think it offers a good/brief description of when and where the Kingdom of God is found here on earth today.

“Thy kingdom come” means very clearly that the Kingdom is something that enters into this world, or, as Jesus puts it, “is close at hand.” Don’t project it into another world. It’s a reality that breaks into this world now and then, when people are like God.

When that can happen in terms of structures or groups, when you have a free group of people who love the truth more than themselves, then you have a taste of the Kingdom descending to earth.

“Your Kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” is my favorite and most-used phrase from the Lord’s Prayer. I’ve used it in several papers and sermons as a way of not only talking about what God is doing “right here, right now” but also because I think it calls us to do something, to actively work with and on behalf of God in the world - in whatever ways we see possible - to help Jesus’ prayer become a reality.

George Eldon Ladd was a seminary professor during the 1900s who taught that the future Kingdom of God - what many people believe we are waiting for, heaven - is already here on earth (through the church), but it won’t be complete until Jesus returns (again). This has become known as the “already/not yet” theology of God’s kingdom.

What about you? How do you understand the Kingdom of God? How have you experienced it in your own life? Where have you seen God working in your world? Have you ever witnessed people doing God’s will and helping bring glimpses of God’s Kingdom to earth? What senses have been involved in your experiences with God moving closer to us, to meet us here and now? Where have you had a taste of the Kingdom?

Open your imagination to the endless possibilities of how God can work in and through any part of creation. God can use music, art, nature, technology, even the media to speak to people and whisper a message of hope, joy, love or forgiveness. Individuals can be inspired to get involved in efforts to make a difference in the world - God’s movement in and for the world - by watching a movie, hearing a song, reading a book or even seeing others make a difference on the news or a TV show. Allow yourself to be free of any perceived expectations and simply follow the Spirit into the world to make a difference in whatever ways are available to you. Maybe it’s something small, or perhaps it’s something big. Don’t worry about the specifics, just start with the simple prayer that God’s “Kindom will come and God’s will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

I had the chance to see Brooke Fraser in concert a few nights ago. Brooke is a kiwi (a New Zealander) who I just started listening to about a year ago. She doesn’t tour a whole lot in the US, so I have been excited ever since I saw that she was coming to Minneapolis to play at one of my favorite venues, the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown. It was a great night of music, including a short set by my friend Elizabeth Hunnicutt followed by an incredible new and still unsigned artist named William Fitzsimmons, who nearly stole the show. I just couldn’t get enough of his music, and in the days since the show I have bought both of his albums on iTunes and he has quickly become one of my most listened to artists. If you like really chill/acoustic music you should definitely check out his myspace to give him a listen (his style is similar to, but not exactly like, Joshua Radin and Iron & Wine).

When Brooke first came on stage I was a bit surprised by her quirky personality - her NZ accent kept reminding me of Flight of the Conchords, a comedy/music duo also from New Zealand - but she also showed a very kind and serious side (which is what I expected, given that she is closely connected with Hillsong Church in Australia, where she has written and recorded some of today’s most well-known modern worship songs, like “Hosanna” and “Lead Me to the Cross”).

Before closing the night by playing her “favorite song,” Brooke told the incredible story of an experience she had a few years ago in Rwanda that inspired  the title track of her new album, “Albertine” (the song she was about to play), which is named after a young woman she met there. I had seen the video for this song on youtube and thought I understood a bit of the story behind it, but hearing the story from Brooke took it to a completely new level. Later that night, after getting home from the show, I was reading through the liner notes of Brooke’s CD (I bought it at the show) while listening to the album on my headphones and I ran across the story of Albertine again, this time as it had been written by Brooke. Albertine’s story is one that Brooke felt needed to be shared through her music, and I feel it needs to be shared here as well.

Here is the video for the song (much of which appears to have been filmed in Rwanda) and below that is Albertine’s story (in Brooke’s word, as found inside her album).

Albertine by Brooke Fraser

In 1994, the tiny Central-East African nation of Rwanda was devastated by genocide. Almost one million Rwandans were killed at the hands of their neighbors, friends and community leaders within the short space of 100 days…the catastrophic outcome of decades of tension and fighting between two ethnic groups - the Hutus and the Tutsis - a conflict that did not exist before Belgian colonists moved in during the first part of the 20th century and introduced an alien politician divide.

My first visit to Rwanda occurred in June 2005, eleven years on from the atrocities. I visited local authorities, churches, schools, official memorials and living ones: child-headed households and communities living with AIDS, facing life without adequate medical care or basics like clean water. I met a people who are humble, joyous, diligent and in deep pain.

One day before I was to fly out and onto Tanzania, my friend and guide Joel Nsengiyumva took me to a village school in a district called Kabuga. He wanted me to see that Rwanda had hope - and no better way to see it than in the next generation. The kids and I exchanged songs and dances, and as things wrapped up and we were about to leave, Joel asked if we could take a few minutes and meet with an orphan whose personal history he was familiar with.

Throughout the trip Joel had introduced me to people as a musician from the other side of the world who was going to go back to my people, tell them about the people of Rwanda and help. No pressure. That afternoon we walked across the schoolyard into an empty classroom, joined by a tall, beautiful girl wearing the school’s cobalt and navy garb, where Joel’s introduction was about to become a kind of commission.

Just before he shared her story with me, that of one person laying down their life for another, he uttered these words:

“You must go back to your people and you must write a song,
and I will tell you what the name of the song is going to be.”

He motioned toward the girl.

“This is Albertine.”

Albertine is alive today because of the selfless, sacrificial love of another. Funny thing is, so am I. And now I want to know what it’s like to love other people like that, so have decided to spend my whole life on the experiment.

Feel free to join me. We might just change the world.

I spent some time reading Out of Ur this morning (the conversational companion blog of Leadership Journal) and ran across an old interview/article titled “Donald Miller Isn’t Hip: a gospel for people tired of trying to be cool” (from May 15, 2006). Some of you may recognize the name Donald Miller as the author of several recent books, including Blue Like Jazz, but I don’t think it matters if you’ve heard of him or read any of his books because I think what he says in this interview is still fitting for people today; especially for anyone who has observed the Church - whether from the inside or the outside - become too focused on its “image” (trying to keep it clean, or even cool), and in doing this, has misplaced Jesus’ commandment to love others by putting it after their own agendas and beliefs about who or what is worthy to be loved.

I believe that God’s call (and Christ’s witness) to all of us is that we love others, no matter what. This is not easy, in fact, it can get really difficult. (Just think about someone you don’t get along with, then think about loving them with the love of Christ…it’s tough, huh?)

Here is a portion of the interview with Donald Miller:

You’ve said that the church “uses love as a commodity.” What do you mean?

Miller: We sometimes take a Darwinian approach with love-if we are against somebody’s ideas, we starve them out. If we disagree with somebody’s political ideas, or sexual identity, we just don’t “pay” them. We refuse to “condone the behavior” by offering any love.

This approach has created a Christian culture that is completely unaware what the greater culture thinks of us. We don’t interact with people who don’t validate our ideas. There is nothing revolutionary here. This mindset is hardly a breath of fresh air to a world that uses the exact same kinds of techniques.

What’s the alternative?

Miller: The opposite is biblical love, which loves even enemies, loves unconditionally, and loves liberally. Loving selectively is worldly; giving it freely is miraculous.

If love isn’t a commodity, what is it?

Miller: I think of love like a magnet. When people see it given in the name of God, they’re drawn to it. If I withhold love, then people believe I have met a God that makes me a hateful and vicious person. And they’re repelled.

I have two responsibilities to this world, the first is to love; the second is to speak the truth. I can tell somebody such and such a behavior is sin, and still love them. Why not? Why not bring them food, why not hug them, why not have them over to the house? Won’t this only help them understand the truth?

To read the interview in its entirety, click HERE.

I have been co-teaching a course at Luther Seminary this week on Ministry with Young Adults. It is an intensive course, which means we meet for three hours every day (for a week) and most of the writing assignments are due a few weeks later. It is, as the course description implies, “intense,” and there is only so much material and information you can fit into the time we have together in the classroom. My main role in the course has been bringing in illustrations of the realities of young adult life (through music, movies and other “texts” of pop culture) and then interpreting them and inviting the students to engage the characters and stories/situations from the examples theologically; asking the questions, How might I enter into this young person’s life in an authentic and meaningful way? and How might the church become a place where these individuals feel more welcomed and accepted by God’s people, as well as inspired and challenged by the gospel message?

Yesterday in class we looked at what James Cote (author of one of our course textbooks, Arrested Adulthood: The Changing Nature of Maturity and Identity) has labeled the problems of “prolonged and undefined” adulthood. Because of these “problems” we have seen the stage of young/emerging adulthood become a very confusing life-stage with no solid markers of beginning and end; adults are living with their parents (called “boomerang” kids, see Failure to Launch), 20somethings dislike the jobs that their degrees led them to or simply don’t like working (see The Office) - so they are switching careers or choosing other work that allows them plenty of freedom, and established/”real” adults are having difficulty relating to this new generation of post-college peoples (often called “millenials”).

Here is a link to a recent segment on 60 Minutes - “The Age of the Millenials” - that was sent to me by one of the students in the class (thanks Jerry). I have invited the students to come here to find the link and watch the video since there was not enough time to watch it in class. Even if you are not in the class, please watch the segment (it’s only 12 minutes long) and join in the conversation by responding to the questions we asked in class yesterday (after watching this video, “The Machine is Us/ing Us”).

Let’s move beyond the question “is technology good or bad?” since the answer must always be “both,” but what should we be asking about the work + life + tech reality that many young adults find themselves living in today? and how do these questions - along with the opportunities and concerns they represent - impact or influence how the church relates to young people?

Please consider supporting the people and country of Haiti by joining others at the Third Annual Walk for Haiti on Sunday, June 1st at Normandale Lake in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Walk for Haiti is an awareness event put on by the Haiti Mission Project (HMP), an organization I have been involved with the past three years. There is no registration fee for this year’s walk, but instead we are asking people to make a donation to the Haiti Mission Project–in whatever amount they are able–to help us reach our goal of raising $5,000.

(The HMP is a non profit organization, which means your donations are tax-deductible, and thanks to a generous corporate sponsor for this year’s event, 100% of all the donations from the Walk for Haiti will go toward furthering the HMP’s mission of sharing God’s hope and love in Haiti.)

If you’re interested in attending the walk and/or supporting the HMP, the links below will take you to the appropriate pages.

• Walk for Haiti: online registration
• Walk for Haiti: registration form (print and send by mail)
• Walk for Haiti: event invitation (facebook)
• Support the Haiti Mission Project (make an online donation)
• haitimissionproject.org

This is a bit different than what I usually post, but I got an email from a woman at my church last night about a program her daughter has been involved with and it’s something I think you should all know about, and consider responding to, because taking just a few minutes out of your day could save someone’s life. Read on for more info…

Thanks Mom 2008
The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) helps patients in need of marrow transplants find a matched donor. May 5th marked the start of “Thanks Mom,” a national effort by NMDP to bring people to the national marrow Registry during the two weeks surrounding Mother’s Day (May 5-19). They need 46,000 people to join the Registry in the next two weeks.

How to join the Registry
Joining the Registry is incredibly easy - you can register online at www.marrow.org (click on the “Grow the Donor Garden” link near the top) and provide some basic health information, or there is a list of locations in your area if you’d rather register in person. (I just registered online and it only took me 6 minutes.) After registering, NMDP will send you a kit with directions explaining how to swab the inside of your cheek a couple times, and then you just send it back to them in the provided, postage-paid envelope.

Seriously, who doesn’t have time to do that? And during the next two weeks, the cost has been covered by generous sponsors, so now is the time to join the Registry!

What happens after I join?
If you are ever identified as a potential donor, NMDP will call you. Donating marrow can be as simple as donating blood or plasma. In case you’ve never done either, that’s okay. Here’s a video that shows just how easy it is.

“Thanks Mom” will help patients across the country who need a marrow transplant to live. Many don’t yet have a possible donor on the Registry, and many will die while waiting. Every day, 6,000 patients across America - that’s 6 THOUSAND people EVERY DAY - are searching the Registry for a match. Imagine if one of these people was your mom, dad, brother, sister, husband, wife, child, friend….or you.

Visit www.marrow.org to register today…or, if you really don’t have six minutes to do it right now, please make sure you register before May 19th.

Pass this on to friends, relatives, neighbors, coworkers, or anyone else you can think might register. Every bit of awareness about how easy it is to help save lives will make a difference. You can even become a fan of NMDP’s “Donor Garden” on Facebook.

Still not sure?
Watch this video to meet Matt & Alexandra, a brother and sister who are alive today because someone like you took the time to register with NMDP and donate when they were called.