RoboPreacher

& getting the words wrong Lenten Picks: St. Paul & the Broken Bones “Don’t Mean a Thing” (Half the City) Withered Hand “Religious Songs” (Good News) Josh Ritter “Rattling Locks” (So Runs the World Away) Kendrick Lamar “Swimming Pools” (good kid, m.A.A.d city) Van Morrison “Wonderful Remark” (The Movie Hits)

a little drop, little drop for me Here you are. You could be doing anything else; and with everything life throws our way, you really could be doing anything else… Despite all life can throw at a person, though, here you are. While we all know a pious person or two who would likely, say; “good for you. For everyone else, anything is more important than church; but not you - you have your priorities straight,” to us; we know otherwise… …The truth of it is that it is precisely because all life has to throw at us, that we’re here. Rather than an “ata boy” and a pat on that back; those of us who are here when we could be doing anything else may prefer condolences from those devout citizens who commend us for “having our priorities straight.” Honestly, it isn’t that our priorities are straight, so much as it is that the shape of our life isn’t straight at all; far from it… Those of us who find ourselves here when we could be anywhere else have known a thing or...

trying not to tear it apart Martin Luther once said, “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” A living, daring confidence in God’s grace … Saul had lived his life atop his high horse; defending the faith, capturing those deviant christians and jailing or even killing them.  Until one day, from left-field he was knocked from his perch because he heard the voice of the one he’d been hunting. Only this voice wasn’t declaring vengeance but asking, “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” In the face of God’s unlikely and unexpected declaration, Saul’s only recourse, really, was empty-handed trust.  Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace. Long before Paul had come to experience such a profound change that he needed to change his name, though, Sarai and Abram were doing what they could to carve out a life. Without any children to support them in their old ...

a place to fall Lenten Picks: Ryan Adams “English Girls Approximately” (Love is Hell, Pt. 2) Arcade Fire “Intervention” (Neon Bible) Black Star “Respiration” (Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star) LCD Soundsystem “Someone Great” (Sound of Silver) Sufjan Stevens “I Walked” (Age of Adz)

i thought that i'd be bigger, too The Gospel this Sunday is perfect for meditating on the "tragedy of the Gospel." Anyway, this week my picks are: The Roots, "Now or Never" (How I Got Over) Josh Ritter "Girl in the War" (Animal Years) Innocence Mission "I Haven’t Seen this Day Before" (Birds of My Neighborhood) John Frusciante "Murderers" (To Record Water for Ten Days) Typhoon "Artificial Light" (White Lighter)

where the people come apart There’s a a brilliant television show that aired on HBO a while back; “The Wire.” “The Wire” is a police drama; you know, cops and criminals. The way “The Wire” tells this familiar story of the good-guys versus the baddies, though, is a little unsettling… The show is so disquieting because as you watch the cops pursue the criminals, you’re given a glimpse into the ambiguities that cling so close to this life.  The camera is unflinching as the police make unethical decisions. And not only that, but as the camera follows the criminals, you get glimpse into their lives .  The story “The Wire” tells isn’t necessarily one you’d expect. The cops behave illegally, and these criminals are not morally bankrupt villains, but rather humans - humans with hopes and aspirations. At the end of the day “The Wire” is so compelling because it fiddles with our simplistic notions of “good and evil.” As the series progresses there are moment...

 post no bills on the wall “ I had a lengthy discussion about the power of myth with a postmodern author who didn’t exist. In this fictitious world all reality twists. I was a hopeless romantic, now I’m just turning tricks , ” cries Conor Oberst in the brilliant track “ Soul Singer in Session Band .” The defining mark of post-modernism is the rejection of any “meta-narrative.”  This description assumes that our age is one in which all grand narratives have been shown to be nothing more than a small man hiding behind a curtain.  While this description of contemporary culture seems to be as on the mark as it is skeptical; something is missing. The persistence of “make your own myth” mythos, draws the assumption that all narratives are rejected whole-sale into question. The grand narrative of “you are what you buy” is as stubbornly persistent of broad scientific narratives. Like it or not, human culture is an enterprise of myth-making, meaning-mak...

let's have a story, shall we... She was running late,  again. She was always late… And she hated being late,  the stares and sighs… She had asked to get off of her shift early.  And she would have left work earlier too; except someone had trashed the restrooms. So, it took her a lot longer to finish the cleaning before she was able to punch-out. There wasn’t going to be time to go home and change beforehand, either. She hailed a cab, and looked out the window, watching the rain soak the city. Looking at her watch she knew she was going to be late, but since she didn’t have trouble catching a cab, it wouldn’t be too bad. That was before she realized she had lost her last twenty, though.  What had she done with it?  Rummaging through everything, she finally had to cry “Stop!” Hoping she’d have the dollar-forty in her bag for the two-block cab-fare. Remarkably she did… And that was probably the only luck she had that...

the only ghost i'm haunted by... In a sermon I once hear Will Willimon quip that Christians aren’t spiritual.  Well said.  Truth be told though, I don’t Christians should be romantics.  It’s those romantic Christians that keep us farthest away from a crucified God.  This post isn’t about theology, though. Not explicitly, anyway.  This post is lenten-music.  Each Tuesday during Lent I’ll update with five more “lenten jamz.” Lent is a holy time.  I love to begin Lent with this old tumbler I found in my Grandfather's belongings. Once the old thing is is full of good Irish whisky, I’m ready to break down a handful of palm branches to stuff in an old Maxwell Coffee can.  Not just any branches, though.  Branches that had been waved while singing “Hosanna” by saints alive and passed. Tumbler and coffee can full, it's time to head outside to burn the branches for Ash Wednesday.  Those who imagine this e...