Minor Discouragement

Ugh.
I was just talking with one of my friends – a Bible major, who feels called to international missions – about a non-denominational missions organization that I’ve applied to for a summer job (note: they actually describe themselves as “multi-denominational” but it amounts to the same thing: they’re unaffiliated with any one church or denomination.  In our conversation, we used the term non-denominational, so I’ll use it here).
He said, “Wait, how can they be non-denominational?  I mean, how can they have NO affiliation?”
I explained that they focus on service work, etc.  He eventually conceded – “Yeah, I see that.  I just don’t understand how any long term missions organization can be unaffiliated with a denomination.”

The more I think about this conversation, the more disappointing it is.  To overgeneralize, the American church has gotten too tied up in doctrinal differences to the point that my friend cannot envision a missions organization that does not bind itself to one specific doctrine.  I understand the need for laying out doctrinal beliefs, but I also believe that there are a lot of gray areas where pretending we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we’re right seems foolish (frequency/style of communion, type of baptism, etc.).

This is not to say that I have no beliefs in those areas, only to say that when you study historic Christianity, you begin to understand the origin of such practices.  For example, sprinkle baptism became popular in areas where water was less abundant, and it would have been a poor use of resources to bathe for baptism.  Learning that enlightened me, and while most American churches have no lack of water, I now understand its origin.  You also learn that church fathers did not necessarily see eye to eye, but they would still respect and worship with one another.

What about the creeds, Nicene and Apostles‘?

Another way to think about it:  Martin Luther did not leave the Catholic church in order to start Lutheranism, he left because the church authorities would not step in to stop injustices by church members even where blatant; even where they took advantage of the uneducated and less fortunate.

I appreciate the freedom that Protestantism allows.  I understand the need for denominations and doctrinal statements and beliefs.  What saddens me is the fact that my friend cannot imagine a world without denominational distinctions, or a Christian organization that is united by a “purpose to provide life-changing, Christ-centered youth mission opportunities” and not a series of doctrinal beliefs, despite the fact that he (like me) attends a school with a similar focus on unity.

Filed under: Uncategorized , Church, college, faith, friends

facebook made me do it.

I’m actually about a week behind the facebook “25 things about yourself” meme, but thought I’d give it a go anyway.

1.  I bite my nails, but wish I wouldn’t.  I do it mainly when I’m nervous or bored.

2.  I am jealous of those with access to excellent public transit systems, specifically like those you would find in Europe.  I completely understand that America in general (and the midwest particularly) is too spread out for that to work on a large scale, but I still like elaborate railway systems.

3.  I also wish I had an iPhone or an iPod Touch, but I am aware that that’s silly and I don’t really need one.  Still, they’re impressive, and it’s good for me to show restraint.

4.  I like when numbers and graphs tell you things.

5.  I love to read, and don’t do it nearly enough.  I probably say “someday, I’ll read all the books I’ve ever wanted to,” once a week.

6.  I’m pretty adaptable.  That’s one of the things I’ve learned during the moving my family’s gone through over recent years – I can get along pretty well in many scenarios.

7.  I can be pretty calculating, especially when it comes to risk/reward sorts of situations.  This may be why I’m not very fond of roller coasters and why you’ll never find me skydiving, but why I’m eager to try new things where the positive potential benefits outweigh the negative side effects – for example, trying new foods/going new places, etc.

8.  I like coffee a lot.  I have for most of my life (literally – ask my parents), and recently I’ve been enjoying it more – and more frequently – than ever.

9.  My brother, Wyatt, is 4 years younger than me, and at least a couple inches taller than me.  He’s also one of my very best friends, and maybe the funniest person I know.

10.  With respect to music, I tend to enjoy the experience of an album more than a song.  That is to say, a great album says more about the actual talent and skill of its artists than does one good song.  Of course, songs are easier to digest individually, so there’s a place for just falling in love with a song, too. [#10 probably makes no sense, sorry readers]

11. I don’t mind dressing up.  I’d even say that I like it.

12.  …however, I would probably rather just wear jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt most of the time, unless, of course, it’s warm, in which case I would like to be by a body of water in a swim suit.

13.  I’m fed up with shallow thinking, especially by people who are spending their days, weeks, months, and years learning to think about things more deeply – specifically, college students.  Our actions, the actions of others, books, movies, tv shows, music…all sorts of things have meaning besides what they might seem to say on the surface – everyone who’s been through a high school English class knows this.  Going to college is supposed to teach you to think about such things, and it bothers me greatly that many of my fellow students take the time to think about what a thing really means, and what it tells us about the ideas and worldviews of the people who made it.  (I mean to flesh this out into it’s own post sometime)

14.  I don’t really like movies that much, unless they’re either
A.  very inventively entertaining, or
B.  thought provoking.

They just seem like a waste of time to me.  I’m trying to get past this somewhat, as Amanda loves movies, and loves when I watch them with her .

15.  I’m not really “into” that many tv shows.

16.  I like sports quite a bit, for a variety of reasons.  I like baseball for its order and strategy – it is “The Thinking Man’s Game” for a reason (and I am amused by the idea of baseball as a metaphor for American life).  I like basketball because among sports, it is the closest thing to an art form of improvisation and virtuosity, like music or dance – all teams and players have unique styles.  I like football because of it’s combination of brute force, speed, and strategy, and because it has both variety and structure in abundance.  I am also intrigued by soccer, rugby, and various other sports that are popular throughout the rest of the world, but it takes a lot of time, energy, and effort to follow them from where I sit.

17.  Amanda recently got me some wonderful Moleskine notebooks, and they’re quite wonderful – I forget already how I lived without them.  I carry them with me everywhere, jotting down things to tell her the next time we talk, things to blog about, books I want to read, to do lists, notes from chapel, etc.  So basically, all the things that I used to put on disparate pieces of paper and then lose are now confined to two pocket notebooks.  I don’t know why I didn’t do that sooner.

18.  I think I have one phone number memorized, and it’s my own (this doesn’t count phone number of houses at which we no longer live).

19.  I am bored of the labels that we put on people, but also guilty of doing some labeling, probably.

20.  I don’t like winter.  Sometimes I say this and people say, “how would you appreciate the other seasons if you lived somewhere that was not bitter cold for 3 months a year?”  HAHA.  Trust me, I won’t forget what winter’s like, and I won’t miss it.

21.  I am curious to find out what sorts of things will confuse me when I’m old – specifically, technologically.  What will I be afraid of, or speak of with disdain despite not even understanding it?  (I’m thinking specifically of the way some older adults speak of blogs, or iPhones, or webcams, or facebook).

22.  Being a PA has been one of the more rewarding things I’ve done in recent memory.  I’ve learned a lot about myself, and hopefully been good at my job.  The most rewarding thing, though, has been the staff I’ve gotten to work with – the other PAs and the Residence Life staff.

23.  I’ve been dating Amanda for 13 months and one week now, and couldn’t be happier about it.  I could go on, but if you want to talk to me about this, let’s talk in person .

24.  I like shoes a lot.  I try not to buy them too much, because they’re expensive, but if they weren’t, I would have a lot of shoes.

25.  Finally, what I almost always have in my pockets:

a pen
a tube of chap stick (this one is a MUST for me – my lips get chapped quite easily)
my keys
my phone
my wallet
two moleskine notebooks

Filed under: MLB, Music, baseball, college, family, friends , 25 things, Amanda, college, facebook, family, friends, Music, shoes, spring 2009

Foreshadowing

Chapel today has people talking.  I was thinking through it as I heard it, and forming my own opinions, but I’ve now spoken to or read several reactions to it and have found most felt as I did.

Sorry for the crypticism, I plan to elucidate all this in a later post.

If you’d like to hear this morning’s chapel, go here.  Today’s speaker was Ted Kluck.

You might also want to listen to the January 19th message from Bryan Loritts on MLK day, which I recommended previously, first of all, because it’s good, and secondly, because Bryant brought it up as a contrasting message to Kluck’s.

Once you’ve sorted this all out, please read Josiah’s take.

EDIT/UPDATE: Anne on Kluck.  Twice.

Filed under: Uncategorized , chapel, Church, college, friends, spring 2009

My Gen 2008: Day After

I’m sure the videos will get posted by the usual suspects soon, but for now let me just say that last night’s show was probably the most entertaining student event I’ve been to here.

Setlist and comments…

Intro – Nice enough medley.  Actually, much of it was pretty impressive.  I’m not sure why the “Umbrella” section was so long, so low, and so much different from the actual song.  Enh.  The intro slideshow was rather…tedious.

“Clocks” by Coldplay -  It’s pretty easy to forget how great this song is, because you’ve probably heard it to many times in contexts where it doesn’t fit.  Bopper sold the Chris Martin bit perfectly – Make Trade Fair equals sign on the hand, enthusiasm, hand gestures, cascading piano triplets, hollering encouragement to the audience and bandmates.  It sounded good, too, down to the vocal harmonies and the abrupt ending.  This set the bar high for the whole show.  One of my favs.

“All You Wanted” by Michelle Branch – A pleasant enough rendition of a pleasant enough pop song.

“Hysteria” by Muse – YES.  Okay, the bass here was tremendous, the energy was high…this was probably the finest song of the night in my opinion (the paper gave it silver, after “Apres Moi”).  This was, technically, very difficult, and they very much KILLED it.  Also – they did it as a trio (as does Muse), which was the most impressive to me (I half-expected they’d use 4, until I was told otherwise).

“Jumper” by Third Eye Blind – To some extent, recognizable songs work better in this format, as more people are interested in the performance, recognize the chorus, and so on.  The vocal part here is difficult, and Jordan did a fine job of it.

“Apres Moi” by Regina Spektor – Easily the most unique, weird, unusual performance (I mean that in the best way).  It’s always great when acts take a bit of a chance with costumes, song choices, the theatricality of their act, etc., and it pays off for them.  It did here.

“Shipping Up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys – Tons of energy, tons of Sammy II guys, and it was going to feature my guitar until Scott broke a string and had to go to a backup.  Rob dropped his pick, which was too bad.  Same with the tempo problems.  Still a lot of fun.

[Intermission] – Now is as good a time as any to talk about the skit narrative.  They covered the usual topics, but I appreciated the angles, especially the “Pastor Mark” skit and the Beat Poet.  The singing bee kept the audience entertained.  The fashion show was goofy (not bad goofy, just goofy).

“Idioteque” by Radiohead – Okay, I suppose for uniqueness, this is right up there with “Apres Moi”.  Very adventurous, and the performers were obviously enjoying themselves.  Luke’s vocals got buried in the mix during the second or third verse, but this was still lots of noisy fun.  Loved the dancing

“We Both Go Down Together” by The Decemberists – pretty much nailed it.  A fun song.  A band from my high school used to cover this song all the time.  Nice minor touches, too.

“Ready to Run” by Dixie Chicks – sounded nice.  I could take or leave the Dixie Chicks, though – mainly leave.

“9 Crimes” by Damien Rice – Everyone was SO QUIET for this one.  This is a song with a lot of gravity, and they nailed its subleties.  Nice job, Kayla and Bitsy!

“Slide” by the Goo Goo Dolls – Bopper does it again.  Good to see Looper up there with his mandolin.  At this point, everyone is charmed by Bopper.  Seriously.

“It’s Gonna Be Me” by *Nsync – Another favorite.  This is another of those “perfect for My Gen” sorts of songs, and the guys did a great job and had fun with it.

Filed under: Uncategorized , Bopper, Chris Martin, Coldplay, college, Damien Rice, Dixie Chicks, Dropkick Murphys, friends, Goo Goo Dolls, Michelle Granch, Muse, Music, My Gen, My Gen 2008, Nsync, Radiohead, Regina Spektor, Sammy II, The Decemberists, Third Eye Blind

Assorted Thoughts

I think that it takes some heightened level of contentness and relaxation to allow your iPod to play continually on shuffle.  I’m almost there – I still skip a lot of songs, but at least I’m better than I previously was about saying, “I’m sick of randomness, I just want to listen to a coherent album rather than a parade of songs.”

Is it creepy to find and/or read the blogs of acquaintances who are not necessarily in the “friend zone”?  A lot of people @ TU blog, and I happen to RSS subscribe to many of them.  Many of these people are my friends, but some are only acquaintances (aka we’re facebook friends, ha).  I suppose that by blogging, you implicitly agree that these sorts of things are okay.  I know that I am okay with it and even would welcome feedback from such friends/acquaintances.

This is sort of a procrastinatory blog – I’m working on a paper rough draft.

This morning, Amanda described the pastor’s trousers as “emergent pants”.

If you live reasonably close to Indianapolis, you should go to the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s performance of “A Christmas Carol” sometime this Christmas season.  It’s well done and unique; I’ve seen it twice this decade and loved it both times.  Oh, and there’s plenty of tasty places to eat in downtown Indy after the show, too.

Because Woot! is awesome, Amanda and I will each be receiving a Hue HD webcam ($100 value, purchased for $20 each) at some point during the coming week.  This will make communication immeasurably easier while she’s in Ireland this spring (ps – I’m jealous of her). [note:  Hue HD's website seems to be down right now]

Friends often enforce the idea that I have a broad vocabulary, but sometimes, I surprise myself with my inability to spell/use the right homonym.

“Christmas Time is Here (Instrumental)” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio off of the Peanuts Christmas Special album just came on during shuffle; I almost forgot to skip it.  By the way, if you own 1 Christmas CD, that should be it.

I want to write a memoir, even if no one would read it or find it interesting.

This is the sound of Dauthan ending this post before he gets around to saying too much.

Filed under: Uncategorized , allusions, blog, blog meta commentary, blogging, Christmas, college, emergent pants, facebook, friends, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Indianapolis, iPod, Music, my memoir, procrastinating, rando, shuffle, TU, webcam, Woot!