Nicholas Alan

My friend and former roommate Nick has a new website/blog. He's a musician living in LA and is writing some good music and posting some interesting things. Check him out.

Radiohead

Roy and I went to see Radiohead last night. In short, it was an incredible show. But, there's a great story from the night that should be told. (This will a little longer than most of my posts...if you're into the quick version, check Roy's blog)

About a week ago, I bought two tickets via a third party internet site, for Roy and I to go to the show. Radiohead is one of Roy's favorite bands, and it worked out to be a birthday present for him. So, I get the tickets in the mail Monday. There are four sheets of paper in the envelope I received, and two of the sheets are the tickets (this will become important very soon).

Fast forward to last night. I grab two sheets of paper from my cluttered dresser right before we're heading out. The top copy is definitely a ticket and I see that I'm holding two sheets of paper, so the other must be the ticket (nope). I'm not really sure why I didn't take the extra half second effort to indeed confirm it was the ticket...I just didn't.

Roy asks me in the car, "Do you have the tickets?" And of course I reply confidently that I do. After getting down there, parking, and getting about 50 feet from the gate, I pull out my two sheets of paper...and my heart sank. The second sheet of paper was merely a receipt of some kind that does us NO good. I begin thinking I have absolutely ruined our night, just becuase I wasn't a little more careful. It was not a fun feeling. After standing there for about five minutes completely bewildered that I could have been so careless as to not double check myself, we moved toward the box office to see what our options were.

After confirming with a lady at the ticket window that she couldn't track my order that I had actually purchased two tickets, Roy and I stood there and contemplated our options. It looked like Iron Man was going to be our evening activity. And I remember praying and asking God to help me not freak out and just trust His sovereignty in this situation. And sure enough, one of the next voices I hear is from the ticket window: "...ever since this morning I haven't really wanted to go...could you just mark that I picked it up and just give it away to someone..." Roy and I looked at each other, and five minutes later we had the ticket! Thank you ticket lady, wherever you are.

My ticket was maybe 40-50 rows back on the very right side. It turns out that Roy's new ticket is dead center, maybe 15 rows back! And because there were a bunch of empty seats around him, five songs into the show, we were both rockin' out not 30 yards from Thom Yorke himself. The lights were great, the music was fun, and Thom was very querky. Even the people around us were really nice. One nice young gentlemen offered us some weed : )...to which we politely declined.

The phrase of the evening was "Happy Providence." If I had never have left the extra ticket on my dresser, we would have had mediocre seats and would have been without a cool story. Instead, we got to see God at work in the most random of ways, and allow us to have incredible seats to an incredible show. I don't think it was accident at all that I prayed yesterday that I would be able to worship God in the midst of a Radiohead show. He is in control of every dice that's rolled and every single atom floating around and every situation going on in our lives. And He showed me that last night. He didn't have to. He still would have been sovereign. But He chose to, and I was able to worship Him for His sovereignty. I thank Him for this bit of happy providence.

Anyway, here are some pics:

Evan McHugh at Smith's

Clear your calendars for Friday, May 23rd. Evan McHugh, good friend and current roommate, will be headlining at one of Atlanta's best musical venues, Smith's Olde Bar. And as a bonus, you'll get to hear Matthew Perryman Jones open up for him. Check them both out on Itunes or on their myspace pages.

Here's what CDBaby has to say about Evan:

Evan McHugh is poised to take the singer-songwriter genre and elevate its every aspect. Upon listening, it is clear that his songwriting sets him far apart from the current influx of mediocre peers. Though never one to discount the current music landscape, Evan has a gift that has already shown itself to be ahead of the curve.

With a background in graphic design, Evan's efforts have turned to the pursuit of the song, his voice, and his message. Learning a thing or three or four from his sister, Eryn, a passion for songwriting has motivated Evan from the first time he picked up a guitar at 17. He now stands at the onset of an unfamiliar yet skilled pursuit.

His debut LP, "From the Second Chair" welds together pieces of his person, his fiction, and his imaginative word smithing to create a captivating sound scape that is equaled only by his live performances. It was produced by Glenn Matullo (Shawn Mullins, Indigo Girls, John Mayer) at Orphan Studio in Atlanta, GA and will certainly be remembered as Evan's ground-breaking first effort at the end of his should be promising career.

You can find Evan touring in support of this debut around the East Coast; soon to be country.

thoughts about atheists

I think Arnold has some interesting thoughts concerning atheists, specifically coming from some of the atheist blogs he keeps up with.

Hilton Head

I went to Hilton Head this past weekend for "Rooted", the Gathering retreat. I had never been to Hilton Head before, and my first experience was a pleasant one. It was very relaxing and I got to hang out with some great people. We had four different short sessions where a guy named Gary Purdy spoke. I really liked this guy a lot becuase I related with his story and he brought some great gospel centered truth. It was funny becuase some of the same stuff I had been thinking through last week (see Friday's post) was at the heart of his talks.

One quote has stuck with me that a professor told him one day about the secret to living the Christian life. He said to take a long enough look at your sin to be sorry for it...and then look to Jesus and how God sees you as He sees Jesus...righteous. And that's been my problem lately. I haven't been seeing a lot of my sin. But thankfully God answered my plea for help and revealed to me a ton of self-righteousness that I was embracing. So now, I can look again to the wonder of the gospel and the wonder that God has chosen me to be a part of His kingdom.

Now here are a couple of my favorite people from the weekend, for whom I am very thankful.

Jamie and IOur D-group minus Greg (we missed you buddy). Also, aren't our "Rooted" shirts cool (the dark one with the tree on it)? Thanks Roy and Kara.friend and future roomie, Scottfriends and drivers for the weekend, Caleb and Jackie. This was taken 100 miles east of Macon somewhere off I-16. They also got to feed goats, texas longhorns, geese, a llama, and an emu, somehow all cohabitating in the same pasture.

You can check out more pics here.

I am clean...and I am dirty

I was driving in my car two days ago listening to the song "You and I" by Shane and Shane. I've always loved that song, particularly because of the bridge. It's a wonderful picture of the gospel, particularly how we view our sin. Shane #1 sings the first part (God's words) and Shane #2 sings the second part (ours). Here's how it goes:

You are clean, I've called you clean...I am dirty
You are clean...so unworthy
I've called you clean...dirty
Clean...dirty
Clean...dirty

After that, Shane says "that's what I'm wanting." And I agree with him. I want to see myself as so messed up (becuase I actually am) and then hear God saying He's wiped it all away through Christ. I am dirty...but I now also have been given the righteousness of Christ. That's the gospel. And it's beautiful.

Johnny Cash

Check out this post by Matt over at the Gathering blog. He posts some good thoughts and a great video of Johnny near the end of his life, reflecting over his life.

NC weekend

I went up to North Carolina this weekend to do some hiking with a few friends. It was good times, though our hike was cut short by some heavy rain. It was my first experience with this kind of rain while hiking. We were about 2.5 miles into a 7 mile loop when it started pouring. We quickly made the decision to head back and spent a lot of the trek back sprinting, which added quite an adventurous spirit. That was a lot of fun. I recommend it some time.

I also went to my first casino on Saturday night. We were staying pretty close to Cherokee, so we stopped by Harrah's. My initial thoughts: really smoky and really old people. And when I say old people, I mean people in their 80s and 90s, with wheelchairs and oxygen tanks, who apparently consider it worthwhile to spend their last few days in a casino. It was kind of depressing. While walking through, Piper's "Don't Waste Your Life" talk came to mind. Our group managed to find a smokefree, less depressing area, and Caleb and John managed to win a few bucks at the digital blackjck tables.

I also started and finished "Franny and Zooey" by J.D. Salinger over the weekend. If you've never heard of it, you should check it out. It came highly recommended and I really enjoyed it.

So, overall, a great relaxing trip. I enjoyed all the hang out time, but particularly that of our car's driver...she is pretty cool ; ). Anyway, here are a couple of pics:Pre-rain pic heading in to the woods
Post rain

Why you should use Google Reader

Abraham Piper offers great advice on why you should use Google Reader to read websites/blogs that have an RSS feed. The advice also comes with simple step by step instructions. As a user already, believe me, this will save you a lot wasted time checking sites with no new updates. And who couldn't use a little more time?

Piper and stimulus checks

Piper has some good thoughts over at Desiring God regarding the money we should be receiving soon from the government.

For a moment, forget the political puzzle of getting money back when the country is nine trillion dollars in debt. The more immediate question is: How will you make much of Christ with your "economic stimulus payment"? The president says it will be in the mail in time for Cinco de Mayo.

Clue: Nobody in the world will see you spend your money on yourself and conclude that Christ is your treasure. They will assume you are just like them, no matter how loudly you thank God for this boon. That doesn't mean you shouldn't spend it on yourself (the way we do with most of what we earn). Not everything we do can look different from the world—eat, pay utilities, fill up the car, wear clothes (even thrift-store clothes). And yes, we hope (somehow) that spending on ourselves in some way contributes to our being more Christ-exalting people.

But do we really need this money? Very few do. We would have gotten on fine without it. If we didn't know it was coming, we wouldn't even be feeling the desires we are feeling right now.

May I encourage you to be radically creative and hedonistic. Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). And those crazy Macedonians in a "severe test of affliction" and in "extreme poverty" had an "abundance of joy" that overflowed in a "wealth of generosity." They even begged Paul "for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints" (2 Corinthians 8:2-4). They really believed what Jesus said. Really.

Before the check comes dream of some person or ministry which might make much of Christ because you treasured him above your next home project.

The reason God created money and enabled us to earn it is so that we could show by the way we use it that money is not our treasure, Christ is. That's why the checks are coming. So we can make Christ look great.

"Be content with what you have, for he has said,
‘I will never leave you nor forsake you'" (Hebrews 13:5-6).

Into the Wild

I saw this movie last Thursday night. I know I'm a little behind, but I highly recommend it. Since I want you to actually see the movie, I'm not going include any spoilers, but I did want to speak to a few things.

It's based on a true story of a young guy graduating from Emory in 1990, but who wants nothing to do with corporate America and the materialism associated with it. He decides to travel to Alaska and go into the wild to be free of all people and possessions. Throughout the movie he meets a lot of interesting people along his journey. And there is some incredible cinematography in the process. Without giving much away, it ironically shows the despair of isolation and the importance of living life in community.

Honestly, I can't write much more without giving away a lot of the movie. I just encourage you to see it.

Expelled

The documentary "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" came out this past weekend here in Atlanta. I haven't seen it yet, but hope to see it soon. It basically shows how creationists are laughed at in the scientific community. There's a good article here explaining more about it. And you can check out the Super Trailer here.

I've been exposed to a lot of this type of conversation recently, and it's interesting to see how atheists quickly dismiss creationism as illogical and silly. But how their own ideas sound even more far-fetched, as you can see in the article above. The bottom line is something can't come from nothing. And it seems many evolutionists/atheists know this, but their emotional distaste towards the idea of a God lets them completely reject the idea before even getting started.

My face is peeling

I had the opportunity to go to the Masters last Sunday with my dad. It was pretty cool...thanks again dad. While there, I sunburned the heck out of my face. And thus, the last couple of days I've been peeling. A coworker said something to me yesterday that I still think is hilarious. When I had something in my eye, she said "I think your face is getting in your eye." I don't know why, but I find that so funny. And today, my face was getting all over my suit. I love the simple things that can make me laugh.

More on Rob Bell

Erik posted a book review here of Velvet Elvis, by Rob Bell. You might also be aware that Rob is the creator of the very popular Nooma videos (check here for a review of those). In the review, the author Pat Abendroth reveals many of the ways that this book makes him mad. It's a good summation of why I also believe Rob Bell is dangerous, despite all the many things he might be doing right. Pat sums up his review with these words:

"In my opinion, the reason this book is resonating with so many is because we have seen the evangelical church abandon the Evangel Himself. Yes, much of evangelicalism is empty because the Evangel of our evangelicalism is gone or as David Wells so aptly put it: He has been dislodged from its center. Couple this with a general ignorance of the Bible and church history and you have a book like Velvet Elvis actually seen as publishable by a “Christian” publisher and selling as if it were something novel and good.

Because I love the Evangel of the Bible and therefore historic Christianity, I guess it is off to anger management class for me."

Miracles...Restoration

“We modern people think of miracles as the suspension of the natural order, but Jesus meant them to be the restoration of the natural order. God did not originally make the world to have disease, hunger, and death in it. Jesus has come to redeem where it is wrong and heal the world where it is broken. His miracles are not just proofs that He has power but also wonderful foretastes of what he is going to do with that power. Jesus’s miracles are not just a challenge to our minds, but a promise to our hearts, that the world we all want is coming.” - The Reason for God, p. 96, Tim Keller

Here's to being healthy

Roy posted an article that describes eight healthy reasons for having a beer a day.

Unrivaled Impact

Matt gave a talk at the Gathering Sunday. He ended it with this great quote about Jesus.

"He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in still another village, where he worked in a carpenter’s shop till he was thirty. Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a house. He didn’t go to college. He never visited a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness.
He had no credentials but himself.
He was only thirty three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not effected the life of man on the earth as much as that one solitary life."

Ideas have consequences

Victor Frankl, survivor of Auschwitz, once said:

“The gas chambers of Auschwitz were the ultimate consequence of the theory that man is nothing but the product of heredity and environment…I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Maidanek were ultimately prepared not in some ministry or other in Berlin, but rather at the desks and in lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers." - Can Man Live Without God?, Ravi Zacharias

Remember

"The next time your child asks you, 'What do these requirements and regulations and rules that GOD, our God, has commanded mean?' tell your child, 'We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and GOD powerfully intervened and got us out of that country. We stood there and watched as GOD delivered miracle-signs, great wonders, and evil-visitations on Egypt, on Pharaoh and his household. He pulled us out of there so he could bring us here and give us the land he so solemnly promised to our ancestors. That's why GOD commanded us to follow all these rules, so that we would live reverently before GOD, our God, as he gives us this good life, keeping us alive for a long time to come." - Deuteronomy 6:20-24 (The Message)

I love reading through the narrative of the Israelites wandering through the desert (even though reading about the exact measurements and fabric needed to make different things isn't the most interesting). It's fascinating to see God remind His people over and over and over at least three big things. He says, remember where you came from, remember where you are, and remember where you are going. God redeemed them from their slavery. He is showing them their need for Him in the wilderness, by giving them rules that they cannot keep. But they will soon attain the Promised Land.

That my friends is what you call allegory (even though I do believe it is a historical narrative as well). I constantly need to be reminded that God redeemed me from my slavery to sin. And I constantly need to be reminded, that despite my frustrations and struggle with sin right now, God is renewing me day by day for glory. There is a better country, my real home, that I am in pursuit of. And knowing that will provide the ability to endure and even enjoy the craziness that is involved in this life.

Ted Turner the church goer?

I thought this was an interesting article about how Turner is partnering up with churches to help fight malaria in Africa. The once vocal atheist is now having a change of heart about religion. He is now apologetic for the many negative things he's said in the past about religion. For me, this is yet another way of seeing God's effectual grace at work. When He finally wants to break someone's heart...He breaks their heart. Not that Ted is all the way there, but it shows no heart is off limits.
(HT:Friendly Atheist)