keller before the sermon

The New York Times ran an amazing article on Tim Keller and his church, Redeemer Presbyterian, yesterday. Here's to urban, missional churches! Here are some snippets from the article:

"Unlike most suburban megachurches, much of Redeemer is remarkably traditional — there is no loud rock band or flashy video. What is not traditional is Dr. Keller's skill in speaking the language of his urbane audience. On the day of the snowstorm, Dr. Keller tackled a passage from the Gospel of Mark in which the friends of a paralyzed man carry him to Jesus. At least initially, however, Jesus does not heal the man but offers him a puzzling line about his sins being forgiven. Part of the point, said Dr. Keller, is people do not realize that their deepest desires often do not match up with their deepest needs. "We're asking God to get us over that little hump so we can save ourselves," he said. "It doesn't occur to us that we're looking for something besides Jesus to save us."

Observing Dr. Keller's professorial pose on stage, it is easy to understand his appeal. While he hardly shrinks from difficult Christian truths, he sounds different from many of the shrill evangelical voices in the public sphere. "A big part is he preaches on such an intellectual level," said Suzanne Perron, 37, a fashion designer who is one of many who had stopped going to church before she discovered Redeemer several years ago. "You can go to Redeemer and you can not be a Christian and listen to that sermon and be completely engaged."

Dr. Keller shies away from the label evangelical, which is often used to describe theologically conservative Protestant Christians like him, because of the political and fundamentalist connotations that now come with it. He prefers the term orthodox instead, because he believes in the importance of personal conversion or being "born again," and the full authority of the Bible."

An interview with Harper Lee in 1964

N. Here's another large order. When you look at American writing today, perhaps American theatre too, what do you find that you most admire? And, conversely, what do you most deplore?

Lee: Let me see if I can take that backward and work into it. I think the thing that I most deplore about American writing, and especially in the American theatre, is a lack of craftsmanship. It comes right down to this—the lack of absolute love for language, the lack of sitting down and working a good idea into a gem of an idea. It takes time and patience and effort to turn out a work of art, and few people seem willing to go all the way.

I see a great deal of sloppiness and I deplore it. I suppose the reason I'm so down on it is because I see tendencies in myself to be sloppy, to be satisfied with something that's not quite good enough. I think writers today are too easily pleased with their work. This is sad. I think the sloppiness and haste carry over into painting. The search, such as it is, is on canvas, not in the mind.

But back to writing. There's no substitute for the love of language, for the beauty of an English sentence. There's no substitute for struggling, if a struggle is needed, to make an English sentence as beautiful as it should be.

Now, as to what I think is good about writing. I think that right now, especially in the United States, we're having a renaissance of the novel. I think that the novel has come into its own, that it has been pushed into its own b American writers. They have widened the scope of the art form. They have more or less opened it up.

Our writers, Faulkner, for instance, turned the novel into something Wolfe was trying to do. (They were contemporaries in a way, but Faulkner really carried out the mission.) It was a vision of enlargement, of using the novel form to encompass something much broader than our friends across the sea have done. I think this is something that's been handed to us by Faulkner, Wolfe, and possibly (strangely enough) Theodore Dreiser. Dreiser is a forgotten man, almost, but if you go back you can see what he was trying to do with the novel. He didn't succeed because I think he imposed his own limitations.

All this is something that has been handed to us as writers today. We don't have to fight for it, work for it; we have this wonderful literary heritage, and when I say "we" I speak in terms of my contemporaries.

There's probably no better writer in this country today than Truman Capote. He is growing all the time. The next thing coming from Capote is not a novel—it's a long piece of reportage, and I think it is going to make him bust loose as a novelist. He's going to have even deeper dimension to his work. Capote, I think, is the greatest craftsman we have going.

Of course, there's Mary McCarthy. You may not like her work, but she knows how to write. She knows how to put a novel together. Then there's John Cheever—his Wapshot novels are absolutely first-rate. And in the southern family there's Flannery O'Conner.

You can't leave out John Updike—he's so happily gifted in that he can create living human beings. At the same time he has a great respect for his language, for the tongue that gives him voice. And Peter De Vries, as far as I'm concerned, is the Evelyn Waugh of our time. I can't pay anybody a greater compliment because Waugh is the living master, the baron of style.

My question: Lee deplores, rather prophetically, a decline in the appreciation of beauty in art, especially the English sentence. Now, we are undoubtedly proud of our American writing heritage; we will lift up capote, o'connor, faulkner, and updike, and those who informed their writing. But I fear Lee's prophecy. Will our kids, the next generation of readers, be inspired by our contemporary American writing? Has American writing (or all writing for that matter) become ugly? Art outlasts everything--it is truly our culture's eternal representative to all succesive generations. Are we proud of our art and what it represents? If so, who are the writers we are proud of?

Two things I learned on the radio in my car ride from work to home during my lunch break:
1. Golden Smog is to release a brand new 14 track full-length this summer. (wilco meets jayhawks meets soul assylum, literally.)
2. When you stop selling records, you pick a social cause and then promote it on tour; Guster is starting an "eco-tour" complete with greenpeace info booths and a biodiesel tour-bus.

Today has been an exceptional shuffle day. What I mean: every day I play itunes in shuffle mode from my computer while working. The mix it spits out is often mediocre, "I actually own this crap?" But today... man. Today the shuffle option was on top of its game. The order and selection was flawless, and there was an oddly sovereign crecendo effect going on. God is sovereign even over itunes, after all. This all makes me think deep God thoughts.

Something really interesting is happening in Detroit. Some very passionate folks are decrying the effects of the urban sprawl--the white flight. Generally, when a city gets crowded and uncomfortable, those who have the means, simply sprawl. In other words, if the city was a family, it got dysfunctional. But instead of seeking council and working it out, the members with the most freedom (economically and transportationally; bigger allowance and keys to dad's car) ran away from home. Your poster child for such activity is Detroit--the entire city is falling apart: vancant homes, vacant buildings, even vacant skyscrapers. A group calling themselves DDD, detroit demolition disneyland, are trying to do something about it. So they started to paint abandoned homes bright orange--their goal is to simply raise awareness: our cities are suffering.

Others are bringing dignity to abandonded buildings through art. This group, The Heidelberg Project, uses art from the urban community to "redeem" declining neighborhoods and building structures. People live in the city, they remind us.

God loves the city. In fact, the grand narrative of Scripture starts with a garden and ends gloriously with a city. Architect and urban planner Christopher Leerrson writes:

"According to Genesis God created us in His image to dwell and worship Him here in this physical dimension. By no means is our temporal quality something to disdain or deride, it is a gift, and an opportunity to glorify and enjoy our Creator. He spoke the earth into existence and pronounced it good. For one to long for heaven is a God-given and worthy desire, but it should come with a clear understanding that we are commanded to advance the kingdom right here, and right now...

That said, it looks like many of our current patterns of habitation are unsustainable and destructive. For instance, the amount of land that we “stewards” require to live is increasing; each of our “footprints” is expanding[ii]. Instead of becoming more efficient and sophisticated, we demand more space. We are settling in urbanized areas, yet living in more dispersed patterns than ever before. Our daily travel and land use are more spread out than at any time in history. As technology continues to reduce the need for physical connections, our land use follows. We drive further and park further away, pave and build over more dirt, reduce more forests and bury more streams—without concern for the consequences. And the problem with that is . . . ? We are the rulers over this place, right?

True, but careless and greedy consumption of resources were never the idea behind giving us top seat. Fundamental to a biblical Christianity is communion with one another. Beginning with the Trinity, we see an utmost importance placed on relationships and the ability to love each other. God gave Eve to Adam so that he would not be alone—the very first human community. Interaction and incarnational ministry were the hallmarks of Christ’s existence. As our Lord took on flesh to walk around in public and be with people, listening, talking and ministering to them where they were." read the full article here.

Grace Central is located in a city, which really excites me. I do have to be careful to check my pride (God does indeed call folks to minister in the suburbs), but to see redemption occur in the dysfunctional family/city is glorious. Let's be careful not to take flight--but prayerfully consider incarnating the gospel within the city God loves.

Detroit or Columbus, there is depression in the city. Awareness is good, and for that DDD is to be commended. But my hunch is that the Heidelberg Project is closer to the truth--redemption through the arts. People still live in the city after all, and to reveal that personhood through art is one surefire way to bring redemption. Our Triune God is, after, all the source and foundation of our personhood, creativity, and community.

This is essentially what is most exciting to me. The power of the gospel is so evidently seen in the city. Keller writes, suburban churchs "aren’t a) as multi-ethnic and b) as close to the poor–because the zoning laws of the suburbs tend to homogenize things economically and therefore, to some degree, racially. So it is just harder to show how the gospel brings down racial and class barriers in the suburbs. It doesn’t mean that suburban churches are ‘inferior’ or that it is easier to be a pastor in the suburbs–I actually think it will take more ingenuity and creativity to demonstrate the power of the gospel in the suburbs than it will in the city."

If a simple "art project" brings redemption to the city (and probably the Heidelberg Project was not even gospel-informed) I shudder at the reality of transformation and redemption through the gospel. Let's love the city!

typical hyperbolic, superlative, and exceedingly wordy endorsement from ; (or, "the blog formally known as sojourner): YOU MUST GO TO THIS WEBSITE. IT IS THE BEST RADIO STATION EVER TO EXIST. IT WILL SAVE YOU MONEY ON CDS IT IS SO GOOD. I MEAN IT.

Props to Lew for this one:

go here

This is why I like satire, it speaks truth with the grace of humor. (sometimes)

"Once we grant that consistency with the Biblical doctrine of sin is a legitimate test of economics systems, it is relatively easy to see how well democratic capitalism [classical liberalism] scores in this regard. One of the more effective ways of mitigating the effects of human sin in society is dispersing and decentralizing power. The combination of a free market economy and limited constitutional government is the most effective means yet devised to impede the concentration of economic and political power in the hands of a small number of people. Every person's unltimate protection against coercion requires control over one's private spheres of life where he can be free. Private ownership of property is an important buffer against any exorbitant consolidation of power by government." -Nash

Felix Gilette writes:

America's historic medal haul in 2002 was, in large part, the payoff for the prolonged diluting of the traditional European sports. Of the United States' 34 medals in Salt Lake City, 16 came in events that didn't exist at the 1988 Olympics. Women's hockey, freestyle skiing, men's halfpipe—our best sports are all recent additions.
This year, in Turin, only one sport, something called "snowboard cross," will make its debut. Pathetic. Newfangled pseudo-sports are our lifeblood. What's the best way to counterbalance the European's stranglehold on the Nordic combined? Create an Americanized biathlon that combines saucer-sledding and backyard wrestling. Other possibilities: cross-country snowmobile, the downhill mattress, and short-track Zamboni.

I dare you to wear this.

free advertising for Caribou

Some reasons I feel Carbou (Grandview, at least) is the best coffee establishment, with a preface concerning the "support your local coffee shop" mentality that would be at odds with such an assertion:

preface: I am all about supporting the local coffee shop, but I must say that there are typical reasons they stay LOCAL. Some reasons that really come to the fore: local shop owners are crabby. If they are not crabby, they are too nice, patting you on the back and helping you with your crossword puzzle every morning. Untrained baristas. Often local shops cut this corner, which happens to be a huge corner. They serve their coffee in cheap styrofoam cups adorned with snazzy drawings of coffee beans. I hate this. Nothing makes or ruins a cup of coffee like it's cup. Often times, local shops get really snobbish. (like this article, perhaps?) And it begins to trickle down into its patrons--then the vibe of the shop really suffers. OK, so now on to the reasons I feel Caribou has it going on...

1. It is comfortable.
2. They have large bathrooms that stay clean.
3. Their coffee is cheap(er).
4. They have a trivia of the day for 10 cents off.
5. They have comforatable mugs that keep heat.
6. They offer free refills on coffee!
7. They even offer a free refill in a to-go cup!
8. When you ask for water, you recieve a quality LARGE cup with ice (compare cup of joe's pee cups).
9. They have a fireplace.
10. They have free samples of baked goods.
11. Their baristas are trained well.
12. They are genuinely nice baristas (not crabby, and not I-have-to-be-your-pal-because-I-own-this-fledgling-coffee-shop).
13. No free internet. (this could be seen as a negative, but I think it is actually a plus: there is more energy, more reading, more talking. The coffee shop does not look like a (apple) computer lab, it looks and feels like a coffee shop.
14. good tasting coffee (compare starbuck's battery acid)
15. "Best coffee" award to the Caribou blend.
16. Free refills on iced tea.
17. good interior design.
18. There is no dish-tray. They pick up your mug when you leave.
19. They always say "see you later" or "have a good day" and they mean it.
20. They are family friendly--they have toys, small tables and chairs, and a chalkboard for the little ones. You might think that this is annoying, but see #13.

humilty.

(irony: I am displaying religious pride)

(more irony: I assume that my previous statement is frank and pithy and therefore my pride is justified)

(and so on)

This is just a friendly reminder: don't forget about Radiohead's OK Computer. Remember, it is the greatest album of all time. Remember, it is groundbreaking. Remember, it is still ahead of its time. Remember, it is prophetic and insightful. Remember, it sounds great with headphones. Remember, it was the soundtrack of your "formative years." Remember, every new release that receives an iota of acclaim is really in debt to this album. Go ahead and blow the dust off this CD (or scroll on down to the "r" section on your ipod) and listen. It is so good, remember?

read this book. it is good. it is real good.