blog glitch! lets try this again!!!

Thanksgiving with the folks was awesome. We ate over at the church and there was a huge turnout. Afterward, I got to ride with vern---remember him? if not, he's a native american who is following Christ and has been a huge encouragement to many natives, not to mention our family---anyway, vern and I got to drive around for a while and meet some people on the rez. so cool to meet so many people that i just haven't taken the time to meet since my folks moved.

Unfortunately, I caught a bug a few days ago while in the north country, so now I'm sprawled out on my bed today in Springfield after a slightly uncomfortable day of traveling yesterday. I guess it's a good time to update.


So I've run into some good stuff recently.

First off, my sisters have been recommending Over the Rhine for probably the last 5 years. I finally gave in.

I am waiting to open "Drunkard's Prayer" once I've throughly enjoyed "Ohio."

This is truly an amazing album and I'm going to have a hard time listening to anything else for the next couple weeks. The female vocalist has an absolutely amazing voice. I've yet to really process a lot of the lyrics because I've been so caught up in the music...and I'm a huge fan of cd's that are like that. It's difficult for me to enjoy quality lyrics if they aren't accompanied by quality music. I'm finding more and more that I take albums albums seriously based upon the quality of music first, because I think that God can be glorified through quality music as well as quality lyrics. Especially in some "Christian" music, i think it's pretty clear that quality music has been lost in the shuffle. I don't know if there's necessarily a "right" way to critique msuic, it's just the way I've found myself approaching it recently.

Books that have been challenging and/or entertaining

"The Return of the Prodigal" by Henri Nouwen literally took me almost the entire semester to read, not because it was a long book, but because it was just filled with words that I needed to hear. I came into the book expecting to be challenged to receive God's grace as the prodigal son did from his father. Truly, Nouwen discusses this, but the point of his work ventures far beyond the actions of the prodigal son. The book is divided up into three different sections: the younger son, the elder son, and the father. The first section is a discussion of the younger son, how we relate to him, and the lessons we can learn from him. This was what I expected from the book. I was not expecting Nouwen to spend an equal amount of time discussing the elder son and the father.

Nouwen points out that the elder son is just as lost as the younger son, if not moreso, simply because the elder son is so caught up in sin that he may never return "home" to the joy of his father's household. The sins of pride, jealousy, envy, resentment, all cloud the elder son from understanding the blessings that have already been bestowed upon him and the grace given to him as well. As someone who has claimed to be a "Christian" for a long time, I was really challenged by Nouwen's words and related to a lot of the struggles of the elder son, who didn't physically leave his father's house, but was just as checked out as his younger brother.

Nouwen points out how ultimately, we're called to become like the Father. Once we have put our faith in the Father's unconditional love, we are called to grow up and be the same for others, showing the love the Father has shown us. The focus can no longer be constantly receiving compassion but at some point, has to be about showing the compassion to others.

I won't say anymore, just that the book really forced me to look at Jesus' parable about the prodigal son, elder son, and compassionate father in a much different way. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in revisiting that parable.

I'm ALSO reading a book my little brother gave me this last week.

After finishing the LOTR trilogy for what seems like the tenth time in my life, I was excited to find another fantasy type book that has been hard to put down. It's kind of hard to describe. All I can say is that it's about a guy and a dragon. That should be enough to get you started, and once I got started, I couldn't put it down. If fantasy type stuff is your thing, check this out.

the music and the texts were cool, but God is awesome. I'm finding that it's really easy for me sometimes to stay caught up in the first two, when what I really need is intimacy with God. Not that the "stuff" is necessarily bad, but it isn't the point. May the recommended books/music not be a distraction in anyone's pursuit of Him above all else.

In light of that, I was recently challenged by one Dean Trune (an instrument through which the Holy Spirit challenged me at the Missionary Convention) to among other things, check out the Bible a little more.

So I'm reading the book of Genesis. I've been struck by two things so far--- the amount of marriages and "relations" between different family members (ok honestly this has just grossed me out. what were the daughters of Lot thinking?) and how faith in God was what God credited as righteousness. I'm amazed that in the midst of all the inconsistencies of human existence, God hasn't changed. If being grossed out and learning about the point of our existence is your thing, check Genesis out.

h'ok that's all I got.

have an awesome day!
-dave