See what I did there?

Shorts and Church: A Personal Study

2009-06-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I ran into an unforeseen issue while working at my church job in Danville, Kentucky. I was invited by the pastor as a new seminarian and budding pastor myself to share a message for the Sunday evening informal bible study. Note the qualifying adjective there: “informal.” So I wore my usual informal garb, including a pair of shorts and sandals as lower-body wear. Decently modest shorts, too--cargo ones that cover the knee, and a very nice t-shirt that I had just bought two days prior (for a good cause, too: Abort73). The text I preached on was Mark 10:17-31, and the thesis of my sermon was that Jesus calls us to drop everything that we’ve made into a god in our lives and to follow after him at once and without delay. Here’s a snippet of my manuscript, towards the end:

What if we as a church were doing so much good in Danville that the Government would be recommending people in need to come see us? What if we were one-upping government assistance programs like WIC? There are plenty of single moms right in our neck of the woods who could use that kind of assistance, but the overwhelming attitude of the mainline Church is one of “okay, we’ll help you, just don’t get our pews dirty.” That’s insane, people. And we wonder why the church in America is declining.

Jesus gave us two Great Commandments. The Rich Young Man couldn’t get past the first one! I think we’ve gotten the first one, but the second one is where we’re getting stuck at. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Mike James already talked about who our neighbor was—the poor guy who got beaten up and left for dead. Did the Samaritan whine about getting blood and what not on his clothes or on his saddle? No. Did the innkeeper? No. And you can be sure that the guy who was half-dead wasn’t going to be able to repay the Samaritan in any way.

And later on:

In the passage we’ve looked at tonight in Mark 10, Jesus is re-hashing something he said earlier in the same book, chapter 8: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

To lose everything and gain the kingdom, even with persecutions, even with a cross, is to gain everything that matters by losing everything that does not. Mike Breaux, a former pastor at Southland Christian Church, put it this way: you are either all in or you are not in at all.

That is what Jesus requires of us, end of story. A complete selling-out to him and his cause. A literal one for the rich young man, the neoniskos. Maybe Jesus needs some of you to sell off some of the things you are putting first in your life and give the money to the poor in order to follow him. But I think what Jesus needs more so from us is for us to lay down the things in our lives that keep us from fulfilling the Great Commandment and Great Commission. Don’t pretend anymore; it’s not helping you and it’s certainly not helping anyone else.

I later found out that week that, while the people gathered found my preaching passable (and that I did not have, as Jodie’s dad did after his first sermon, just “a sweet spirit”--more on that later), the greatest clamor was being made by the four or five individuals angry at me for dressing down to talk about Jesus. Why? I understand that it’s a nice sanctuary, and I didn’t mean disrespect by choosing to dress authentically for something that I had understood to be informal to begin with.

Do churches sometimes go too far to avoid being “whitewashed tombs” in their eschewal of cultural dress standards? Sometimes, I think. On the other end of the spectrum, when dress code gets in the way of you hearing about Jesus--for that matter, when music styles or seating or coffee prevents anyone from coming in and knowing that the number one priority of any given church is unquestionably the kingdom of God, then there’s a heart disorder that needs to be addressed. But then I remember what Paul says: “I have become all things to all people, so that by all possible means I might save some. It’s my responsibility as a pastor-in-training to do just that, but it’s also the church’s responsibility to make sure, once again, that none of their actions in and of themselves turn anyone away from Christ. It’s not just the pastor that needs to live in the fishbowl, but everyone in the body of Christ.

I’ll just wear pants next time.

Tea-ocracy

2009-06-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago Jodie and I joined up with an all-natural health and wellness company by the name of Melaleuca at the behest (and somewhat dogged persuasion) of a man from the choir I work with. They started out in 1985 peddling tea tree oil and other things based on that particular substance, and today they’ve got a much more substantial line of products (something like 300) that are completely natural, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective. Gels, wipes, solvents, solutions, soaps, sheets, you name it. They’ve got a great line of sports nutrition products, too, in addition to a vitamin and supplement supply like I’ve never imagined. Is it there? Yeah. Do we use it all? Depends. There’s a monthly commitment but it’s money we’d be spending elsewhere on the same stuff but getting less for our already squeezed-until-screaming paychecks. Hey, that’s the first year of marriage for you, right? Anyway, we’ve been using one particular cleaner with frightening regularity and it works better to clean the carpets of Basenji detritus than the usual Resolve and what not (although we have gone through a can of Resolve carpet foam in the last month... turns out Pharaoh is allergic to rawhide. Don’t ask). They also sell bath and beauty products but we haven’t dug into those at all, mostly because we like what we were using anyway--most of my stuff is from Kiehl’s, which is great if you can afford it (or have a sibling who stocks you up at Christmas). They (Kiehl’s, that is) have a lot of unique things you can’t get anywhere else, as a matter of fact--so does Melaleuca. It’s a matter of taste. But I must admit, it kind of reminds me of Tina Fey’s company in Baby Mama. Except without Steve Martin. That would make it much cooler.

Another piece of interesting information: none of Melaleuca’s cleaners have child safety caps because they’re all non-toxic. Poison control will tell you to just give them some water. I mean, it could be dangerous if one were allergic to tea tree oil, but I’ve never heard of that happening (although anything is possible nowadays). Good stuff.

Growing up we recycled (well, once we moved to Dumfries from Lynchburg). We had a recycling bin that on a weekly basis would get loaded down with a ton of stuff. I don’t think we ever took cans in to exchange them for money due to the terrible turnaround. At five cents a can it would take 100 cans just to be able to afford another 12-pack of Coke or what not. So in Dumfries they just picked up the recycling along with the trash, which I quickly became accustomed to as a kid. Now I live in a subdivision/townhome complex thing that doesn’t provide recycling services, so I get really uncomfortable just tossing my cans in the trash. I experienced the same kind of discomfort when I’d visit a friend’s house whose family didn’t recycle, and to this day I will reflexively leave a can or bottle on the counter either at home or abroad, thinking it will somehow wind up recycled. Instantaneously.

Dad was in town for a few days and he just left a little while ago. We had a fantastic time while he was here; it’s always encouraging. I’m hoping to get out to VA at some point this summer, probably around the end of August. It’s been kind of depressing not really getting to spend time with people since, what, October last year? I mean, we were in town for a little while over Christmas break but we were so stinkin’ busy that we hardly had time to breathe. Then there was Band Tour...

...never again.

On Chastity

2008-05-28T21:13:00.000-07:00

The following was a comment posted on this article, over at ArtofManliness. I'm reposting it here both for personal reference and as a summary of my views on certain things.

I thought this article was very good but something needs to discussed a bit more and that is love. It was mentioned in the original article a few times but never defined or seriously discussed. Those who promoted the promiscuous point of view never mentioned it or talked about it except to say that they thought you could be promiscuous and then transition to monogamy no problem.

The big problem as I see it is that being unchaste makes you the type of person who finds true love repulsive. So what is true love? St. Thomas Aquinas points out that the pagan Aristotle perceived two kinds of love. The first kind of love (which I will call desire) is the love of something because of what it gives us. I love good food because it tastes good and makes me feel good. The second kind of love (which I will simply call love) is when we love something for it’s own sake and not for what it gives us - and this is the starting point of friendship.

If you really love someone though you don’t just wish them well, you actually give of yourself for the sake of their own true happiness. How much you love is measured by how much you give.

This points to the problem of lust and why being unchaste makes love repulsive. Several people have brought up the idea of needing to find out if they’re “sexual compatible” with the other person, that they learned some really neat sex tricks from other partners or porn, that wide-oats need to be sowed, etc. The problem with all of these is that it’s all about providing pleasure, ultimately for yourself. Even the people who want to provide pleasure to their partner get a great deal of pleasure from the pride of “performing well” and from the gratitude that they receive. But none of these things involve sacrifice. None of these things involve giving up what you have for the good of another.

The problem with promiscuity is that something can create a new life and unite two people together in an intimate way that involves (at least) two people and uses it for one’s own person pleasure. That’s called being selfish. And that is why unchastity is not manly. Because men think of others before themselves. And men who are great lovers reserve their first thoughts for the beloved. And people who think like that and love like that give their bodies totally to the one whom they have already totally committed their lives.

This is all

2008-10-31T23:36:00.000-07:00

Best thing I've seen in a while.

Was that bad to do doo-doo-doo-doo?

Pictars

2009-06-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

Hey, here's a wedding photo for y'all.

Our six month anniversary was the 13th of June, and it just keeps getting better.

2008-11-22T21:13:00.000-08:00

This is fantastic!

Music is by George Antheil. The film is by Fernand Leger. They loved it in Paris but they were all... WTF in New York. 1921. Sixteen player pianos, xylophones, bass drums, tam-tams, alarm bells, and propellers!

2009-01-08T06:44:00.000-08:00

Jodie and I bought several things from IKEA yesterday, where the Swedes in us go to play. Ironic because Jodie is of Scandinavian ancestry. I hear it's a nice place to live, but I wonder if Sweden is truly as cheery as IKEA makes it out to seem.

Regardless, we now have actual furniture as opposed to a cardboard box and a plastic storage crate to put stuff on. In preparation to assemble this furniture (and while she was making dinner) Jodie asked me to vacuum with the pink Bissell bagless that she got on Black Friday. It was then that I discovered that Pharaoh hates vacuum cleaners. Rather, they scare the crap out of him. Literally. He left a trail of breadcrumbs gtfo'ing of the living room about five minutes into vacuuming.

Jodie just informed me that he was eating a piece of her lingerie. Hence, he'll be in his box for a while. The nice thing is that he's even more of a pain in the ass when I don't get up and run/walk about two miles with him every morning, so that's fair incentive to get off my butt and exercise.

2009-01-29T07:14:00.000-08:00

Pharaoh just ran into my office, perched up on the windowsill, and proceded to fart audibly then turn around and run out.

Jerk. He didn't even stay for the follow-through!

Also, I've been iced in for the last two days (going on three today) without caffeine, so last night Jodie and I bundled up and trounced over to Walgreens where we bought things that go under the door to save on energy (so far somewhat effective), de-icer (I used both cans trying to de-ice my car with marginal success... at least it's driveable now), Starburst Jellybeans (those are gone), and a 12-pack of Coke Zero. We also rented Get Smart, which was fantastic! Otherwise I've been spending my time loafing with Jodie, playing Bioshock and the free trial of WoW they sent me to rope me back in, and reading Wikipedia articles--which is my go-to boredom activity.

It hasn't been too terrible except Pharaoh's shenanigans get worse when he can't run, as I explained earlier. I also didn't hold choir rehearsal last night, but no one was at the church anyway so I doubt anyone noticed. As a side note I'd love to have my voice lesson today... hopefully I'll end up making it over there.

Also, the toilet in Jodie's bathroom is broken and has to be coaxed into not running after a flush. Figures that maintenance and the landlords are out today. Geez. But I guess the fact that I spent 30 minutes beating ice off of my car--I used the two cans of de-icer judiciously, thank you--is an indicator that today's just not a good day for "business as usual."

But if I'm ever going to sing at the Lyric, I have to go to my voice lesson.

My musicking

2008-08-28T06:11:00.005-07:00

My two most recent purchases from the iTunes store:

- The Best of Parliament
- Ludus Tonalis by Paul Hindemith

Discrepancy much?

2009-01-29T07:25:00.002-08:00

HOLY CRAP I ALMOST FORGOT

2009-03-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

I haven't seen the little chubby girl with the angry Jack Russell in a while. I wonder what happened?

I have weird neighbors.

2009-04-11T19:35:00.001-07:00

Things I have done recently:

- Chased Pharaoh 3.5 miles today, through LEXINGTON this time (right off of 68 and New Circle... long story)

- Caught Pharaoh with the help of presumed Southlanders

- Helped Jodie finish an animal painting project for Southland

- Ate at Sahara. We're regulars now!

- Looked at houses to rent/buy

- Saw chubby Jack Russell Terrier girl, walking the angry Jack Russell Terrier, natch

- Took the GRE: 700 verbal, 550 math

- Played with Phyllis

- Been Phyllis' bed as she napped on me

- Did not get into UK Voice

- Presumably got into UK Composition Studio

- Made it a goal to drink a gallon of water daily and thus far have been successful

And I also have a metric craptonne of stuff coming up in April and May:

April 20th: Peniston Honors Recital

April 21st: Dress Rehearsal for senior recital

April 26th: Musical Sharing evening at FBC, may reschedule!

April 27th: Senior Recital

April 29th: John Coolidge Adams paper due (topic is East Meets West in 'Nixon in China')

May 2nd: Natalie and Lee's Wedding

FINALS WEEK

May 8th: Baccalaureate

May 9th: Commencement

Suffering from severe lack of time to get crap done. Keep calm and carry on.

Magic moments

2009-04-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

Ever have one of those days where you just write a big freakin' X in your planner because you know that the chance of having any free time is several million to one against? Yeah, the next two weeks are like that. In an effort to avoid resorting to flagellation just to get the lead out, I'll probably be doing a lot of writing in the next week outside of the ten page paper that I found out is due on the 20th. And I'll try to minimize my blog-based complaining.

How much do I have typed? NOTHIN'. Yeah buddy. I'm so glad I'm almost done with college.

Unrelated, Pharaoh has been sick this week and waking us in the middle of the night with his burblings. I almost forgot to put pants on to walk him last night around 2:00AM.

Open Season

2009-05-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

Within the months of May and June I have been invited to six different weddings, all occurring on Saturdays. The first was Saturday; Jodie's bff Natalie got married at Highbridge Park in what was a somehow low-stress high-drama affair. It was also 60 degrees Fahrenheit and raining. So much for May in Kentucky! Winter was brutal and it's still holding on for all it's worth.

Jodie and I are going to get our Kentucky drivers' licenses today, as by this point we are official Kentucky residents (I am paying taxes to them, we got married here, they get $550 a month plus utilities to host us in their land of Unbridled Spirit, &c). Hoo-ray! I'll end up keeping my 571 area code until I switch carriers, if that ever happens.

Pharaoh is an emotional eater. If he has food in his dish and he does something bad, we'll reprimand him, making him sulk off and finish his dinner. That's why we call him Fatty.

2009-05-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I'm addicted to caffeine. And to a certain extent, I think aspartame as well--which I've gotta stop. But I just have addictive tendencies. In the fall I was addicted to taking really hot showers three or four times a day. Why? Because I could when I was living in a residence hall. I especially liked the feeling of perpetual cleanliness. Now that I'm paying my own gas bill, I've cut back--and our water heater doesn't stay that hot. Other things I'm starting to become addicted to include Special K Red Berries and listening to podcasts in the car instead of music. I actually caught myself thinking last night on the couch "dang it, I wish I were driving somewhere right now so I could listen to podcasts."

I wish I could make this stuff up.

Other things I do? I buy cheap movies from the discount rack at Wal-Mart fully intent on watching them and then forget to do so when I come home. Recent purchases include Die Hard, Joseph King of Dreams, Saving Private Ryan, and Baby Mama (which we were going to watch last night but ended up running around the greater Lexington metro area for a few hours).

au bon pain

2009-06-15T17:11:00.000-07:00

New hobby: baking, specifically bread. I have a friend whose dad is a baker and some of the bread I've tasted is absolutely phenomenal. Right now my repertoire is pretty small, but I've made it a goal to try at least one new recipe a week. Today I actually tried two--drop whole wheat shortcakes with a strawberry reduction (which turned out fantastic, but the sauce was thinner than what I was going for), and as I'm writing this there's a ball of basic French baguette dough rising in the kitchen. I'm trying to A) stretch our food dollar and B) make life a little more comfortable for my wife, who is busy with a different kind of bun in the oven.

Also, I had my preaching debut last night! It went extremely well, and I'm hoping for more opportunities in the future. We'll see. Seminary has already started up on full steam and I'm only taking one online class this summer besides on-campus Greek. Party time.

Glossolalia, even

2008-04-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

I am a musician at Asbury College. When you are a musician at a Wesleyan Holiness institution, silly things happen. Like band tour. And movements of the Spirit. And children. Sometimes simultaneously:

Please, lady, make your kid focus the power of the Holy Spirit better. Or get them off the floor. I don't know why people let their kids do that kind of thing. Sure, it's endearing and cute--to a certain extent. The grey area between endearing and annoying is both dim and thin. Writhing children aside, I do enjoy playing the saxophone though, but only in jazz band. Not in concert band, hence the photos. Here is another fun photograph from the same evening, still jazz band:

Stickler and Beelz, pictured camera center and right respectively, are some of my favorite colleagues. It also helps that we're all completely out of our minds during rehearsals (and in general). Beelz is very intent as evidenced by his furrowed brow; Stickler is not. It is worth noting that my facial expression when musicking does not change. Some people I know have really fun-looking eyebrows when they get into the music; alas, I do not!

Also, DIS MAH GURLFREEN, U LIEK?

I'll refer to her as Kiddo in this context. We plan to marry and issue forth a household of mighty sons, all of whom will inherit our rapier wits and devastatingly good looks. Either that or we'll have two Boxers and never get around to actual children.

Today I assisted my roommate JF (pictured below, camera right) in producing a short film based on a recent nightmare of mine. In said dream, the Asbury Student Faculty Council had amended the community standards to mandate that no woman shall wear jeans with a zipper shorter than nine inches (i.e., Mom Jeans). It was...horrifyingly hilarious. We ended up making a film that mocks all genres of horror and has a distinct Dada-ist/surrealist bent (seeing that a surrealist conceived the idea). I'm writing the music, again Dada-ist and surrealist.

JF insists that he looks like he's twelve in the photo--it could be the socks. I disagree, citing the five-o'clock shadow. To his credit, he did need a haircut at the time. It was also an odd angle and an odd shot to begin with, as the photographer for that evening, Our Katherine, did not give adequate warning and I had just begun to polish off a slice of pizza. You can't do that suavely without nibbling at the crust--and let's face it, college males do not nibble at crust. I do remember that being a fun evening, seeing as it was unseasonably warm (I think this was the last week in February and the high was something like 70). Note also the Cherry Coke cans--this was during my "switch back to regular so I can wean myself off of soda entirely" phase, because I'm addicted to caffeine and aspartame in conjunction.

That workedNOT! I'm back on a quart of Diet Coke a day. I need to quit this crap posthaste because as much as I like it I like cancer a heck of a lot less.

Moral of the story: college is a great thing.

Holy crap

2008-10-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

I'm slacking on this whole consistent update thing. I was a lot better about it on my Xanga, but then again, I also had a lot more to talk about last year.

Oh, wait, I have stuff to talk about now. I'm getting hitched on December 13th in Kentucky. Let the someecards barrage begin! ...no, really, it'll make me feel like people care enough to attempt to make me laugh and/or feel uncomfortable. I'll reciprocate. Promise.

I'm home for fall break now, and Gracie was at my door this morning whining to get in. Dad brought her in and set her on the bed (while I was still in it) and she duly proceeded to go nuts. She also whines when Dad leaves the house, too. Now that she's more or less housebroken we just let her run around. It's a good thing. She still likes to chew on my hands, though.

I'm also applying to grad school, and I'm hoping for a teaching assistantship so I can postpone paying the exorbitant amount of debt I've already accrued thanks to Asbury without accruing more debt. I'd be paying out-of-state tuition, but with a TA my tuition is paid for and they pay me to tutor music history or theory or something.

My laptop battery doesn't hold a charge anymore. Great.

2008-05-06T06:30:00.001-07:00

Side note: I like how Sis-A references my blog in her sidebar.

It is finals week! I really ought to commit my exam schedule to memory better, because I sat in the lobby of McCrelless this morning for a good 15 minutes wondering where everyone was. Turns out our written theory final is tomorrow at 9:00 as opposed to, you know, today.

Do I win or what?

My current joy is found in playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii. I'll be picking up Mario Kart Wii here in the next few weeks to give my sisters something to do, but I think I may have them buy their own remotes (because they're freakin' $60 a piece if you get the remote and nunchuck). I took a bit of a hiatus from being a Wiitard due to class work and Halo(s) 1&2 (but mostly class work. No, seriously.)

What the heck, I'm getting sick again. That's twice this semester, probably because I haven't been running like I should be or taking my vitamins. Shame on me--that'll have to be fixed over the summer because I can't go around DYING all the time.

More whining--I mean, useful information!

2009-03-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

I still haven't heard back from UK as to whether or not they want me, other than that I've been provisionally accepted to the graduate composition studio. Not bad! But I also found out that one of my references forgot to mail his reference until I reminded him two weeks after the fact. Also, the GRE is $140! Hold on, I feel a coronary coming on.

I like smelling new towels. A little too much. Towels, carpet, and books are the trinity of things I enjoy sniffing. This is certainly weird?

I have also realized that life with two basenjis (neither of whom hunt and kill antelope/deer/other various small game like they're supposed to) is a perpetual "Good Idea, Bad Idea" short. You know, the ones from Animaniacs that featured Mr. Skullhead:

"Good idea: drinking milk straight from the carton."

"Bad idea: drinking milk straight from the cow."

Things I hate

2009-03-03T16:09:00.001-08:00

Pharaoh is so nimble with his downstairs that he manages to pee outside his cage and leave pee spots on the carpet. He's a jerk. Granted, the carpet in our apartment is crap anyway (you'd take crap carpet too if it meant saving $50 on rent).

Pharaoh also got out Friday morning. Basenjis are sight hounds, and as a result they suffer from a perpetual bout of "ooh, what's over there?" i.e. they will run off after anything that looks vaguely interesting. Pharaoh also thinks its a game if you come towards him, so he'll run away from you and taunt you with his little curly pig tail. What a dick. It had rained all night Thursday night, so I was chasing him through the mud trying to catch him. Jodie was in stilettos and a dress and I was in sandals which flew off my feet whenever I took off. And our neighbors are delightfully ignorant--they see us trying to catch our dog dressed quite inappropriately for the task, and they shoo Pharaoh away when he's at their door sniffing around. This happened more than once.

Also, someone in Imperial Pointe walks a freaking horse in their backyard. Since it's Kentucky, I wouldn't be surprised if it was an actual horse, but seriously, dogs shouldn't poop that big. May I remind you that I was in sandals.

We thought about taking a chapel skip but it would have been our fifth (of six). It's not even midterm.

2009-02-16T18:06:00.000-08:00

I got my high G to spin today (FINALLY)! Good thing, too, because my audition at UK is two weeks from Friday :D

2009-02-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

I never knew that bathing a dog would result in multiple flesh wounds, but alas! I was mistaken.

From now on Pharaoh is going in the dog wash at the local pet store. End of story.

And stuff!

2009-01-01T16:35:00.000-08:00

I am married now, and we have a new addition to the family on the way...

Pharaoh, the bas.enji. I don't have a photo yet, but they are coming. Trust me.

He's a "cheeky blighter" as our friends across the pond would say and he'll take some effort to get reacquainted. Basen.jis are sassy by nature anyway, but we'll get used to him. He's also a little metrosexual. We tried to walk him with a Gentle Leader this afternoon and he almost tore his nose off trying to get rid of it. But he wears scarves. um what

Come sing in my church choir for Easter. I'll make it worth your while... so will Pharaoh.

2008-11-22T13:43:00.000-08:00

Here is a website created by my church to promote the sermon series and weddings that are taking place the weekend of the 13th. Check it out and stuff.

I'm at that point in college when I want to stab a fork into my eye every time I look at my schedule. I have two papers due on Monday, only half of one is done, and I had three concerts, a full opera rehearsal already. Tomorrow's also my Sunday gig.

I have an Asbury fork (one of the nice ones, Andrea! I borrowed it) on my hutch that's starting to look pretty good right now. The nice thing is that after Monday, my coursework for the semester is basically done. Go figure.