More evidence of the empty tomb

Martin, I'm so proud of the path you're on! I will never forget that Monday morning prayer meeting- you were about 5 hours old in the faith. And to think... about a year later you would stand up and say "yes" to stepping out in faith to plant the church in Iowa City. Your life speaks to the fact that Jesus is alive...

This is my God story - Martin from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

Congrats Jason Munday...

... on being featured today on youtube!

The indirect connection to Adoleo: Jason's link to Ryan Seiler's youtube channel, Seiler's link to Adoleo's youtube

It's a jungle out there in cyberspace!

Spotlight

On The Rise: Jason Munday

The votes are in, and you've chosen singer, songwriter and producer Jason Munday as August's On The Rise winner! Jason was one-third of YouTube faves Ministry of Magic and a self-described "nerdy musician."

"This Hope" music video

Here's the first Adoleo music video. It was fun filming this in such a beautiful setting that encourages reflection on God's purposes. Nature has a way of displaying the glory of God.

Veritas and TSC Fall Kickoffs

Year two is underway! Here are some snapshots of what God is doing in our midst. In chronological order...

Veritas staff retreat.

Veritas service on Sunday.

Our study of Judges this month is stretching the limits of our teaching ability. This book is dark, yet its darkness points to the light of the gospel.

The nature of ministry in a transient town like Iowa City is saying good bye to people you come to love in a short time. Nathan rolled in to town the same time we did last fall, not knowing anything about Veritas. He ended up playing a critical role in planting the church, as he led one of our connection groups and became a friend and mentor to so many. He will be greatly missed.

This is our weekly reminder that we are not as strong as we think we are... Monday morning prayer at 7 am. "Prayer is that slender nerve that moves the muscle of omnipotence" - Martin Tupper

Last night before TSC started in our new venue, the Englert Theater

Jeff preaches to the audience of 202. The big difference between locations from this year and last is that in the bar we only had room to shrink. It was packed from the beginning. This year, there's room to grow! 300 more seats on floor and balcony

The Adoleo CDs came in this morning!!!! The website is up with the latest information. You can also find all the chord charts available for free under the "store" tab... www.adoleomusic.com

Psalm 40:5 is the only possible way to end this blog entry...

"Many O LORD, my God are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you. Were I to speak and tell of them they would be too many to declare."

SDG.

Adoleo... Released TODAY!

I don't usually resort to all CAPS (and exclamation point!). But I will today...

I'm proud to announce the release of Adoleo's first album, "This Hope."

Here's where you can purchase it:

Amazon (Click here) You can get the digital copy for $7.99

Itunes: $9.99

Kunaki (Click here) Order your hard copy for $10

We will also have them available tonight at Salt Company in Iowa City (Englert Theater, 8pm) or at Veritas on Sunday.

They will also be available on Thursday in Ames at the (free) Anthem/Phil Wickham concert, or at the Cornerstone Resource Center.

A Prayer (for the great grandchildren)

The timing of capturing Grandma Marge's prayer could not have been better as I was preparing to teach on Judges 1-2 at Veritas. Judges 2:10 is probably the saddest verse in the Bible... what is worse than the next generation missing God? I used this video as an example for what we hope to be about as a church. There are over 30,000 young people about to converge on Iowa City this week...

God, help us to make it difficult for them to escape your mercy. Give us this kind of passion to pass on authentic faith to all who are to come.

The Plague, Cousins, Advice

We had the plague hit our house a couple weeks ago. If you were to walk onto our back porch, you would be instantly attacked by these little specks you can see on the tape...

They almost completely covered our kids, looking like mud moving up their bodies, biting and embedding themselves in the skin. It was terrible. Under a magnifying glass they looked like baby ticks. But our doctor sent them in and an entomologist at Iowa State concluded that they were bird mites.

Lesson: Never let a bird's nest anywhere on or around your house.

After spraying and getting rid of the nest, the plague cleared right before we welcomed family visiting from the other side of the globe. First time together in 2 years!

The cousins loved meeting each other for the first time...

Makai wears his baseball glove at all times. It comes in handy for such a time as this...

The garden is ripe...

Our connection group went to help out a family in our group clean up from the wind storm that swept across central Iowa and hit their town with 130+ mph WINDS. It looked like a tornado hit Vinton...

What would a blog post be without evidence of kids sabotaging a perfectly good batch of banana bars? Imagine me looking down to see this and then yelling, "JETT??!!!!!!" We then go on to play out the scene from Genesis 3:9-12...

Who knows how long this headless star wars figure has been riding with us? Good thing we didn't rear end anyone. He would've been dead...

I mentioned before the challenge of where to find Rob Bell's new book at Barnes&Noble, but the truly formidable task was finding a home for it on my book shelf. I think I'm happy with my decision...

...Lodged between Idiot's Guide to World Religions and Jesus Under Fire. And yet not too far from church history, as a reminder of the nugget of wisdom my friend David Churchill bequeathed upon me the summer of '98...

"When I was a teenager, I never listened to anyone over 30. Now that I'm over 30, I don't listen to anyone under 300."

"July"...Just what I've been waiting for!

I'm so stoked for the release of the official music video for "July." The song and video capture the pathos of summer. We all have our "Brookside Parks", places where we enjoy the goodness of God as we gather with friends and share life in God's good creation. The video is also a good companion to the chapter on "Hope" from Mere Christianity. These moments are a glimpse of what is yet to come.

It's great to see old friends, too. Ahh Travis and Wendy, Savannah is such a cutie! We miss Ames.

What I'm Reading and Watching

First of all, I'm trying to do more of the former and less of the latter... so I'm going to try to make this post sound like I'm doing a LOT of reading and very little TV watching- hardly any. Here's my best shot at it...

"The Online Looking Glass": Ross Douthat is my favorite editorialist. This article is prophetic, and something I have to think about all the time. Why do we feel the need to blog, post our thoughts and pictures online for the world to see? It can lead to the dark place of narcissism.

"Miami Heat Needs to Work on Their People Skills": I'm one of the "billions" that enjoyed watching the Heat lose Sunday night. But why? Mike Lopresti has a good take.

"The Reason for God": This is one of those books that I'm ashamed I haven't read yet. Speaking of prophetic, there's a reason God has put his favor all over Tim Keller's writings and ministry. He's worth hearing.

Team of Rivals: I'll be reading this book for awhile...

"Mere Christianity": This won't be the last time I talk about reading and (currently) listening to this book by C.S. Lewis. Next to the Bible, this is my most frequented book. Writing about it is my way of prodding you to take and read, not throwing out the excuse "I read it once back in college."

"Revelation: God Wins" (itunes podcast or website): Speaking of what I'm listening to... My partner's bro, Bob Thune Jr., just finished rocking this series on Revelation. People ask about my view on Revelation and end times... Bob articulates them in his journey through Revelation with his church, Coram Deo. Revelation is cyclical, allegorical, and as much about the past (the cross) as the future. As GK Chesterton said, "And though St. John saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators." God won, and he will win. God wins. We were going to teach through this at Veritas this fall, but I think we're headed for Luke's two books this fall and spring...

Samuel and the Epistles: I'm reading the ESV in a year. I'm not loving the ESV, mostly because it doesn't follow the most natural lingual paths. On the other hand, it's more literal translation colors in certain parts of the text. For example, this morning in Colossians 2:18 the ESV uses "asceticism" where the NIV uses "false humility." An argument could be made for either word choice, but I hadn't heard "asceticism" used before in that passage and it seemed to help me understand what Paul was conveying. Next year I think I'm going to give the Holman translation a shot.

Joshua 6 and related commentaries: I'm preaching on the fall of Jericho this week at Veritas. Last week Jeff took one for the team, taking on the issue of circumcision in Joshua 5.

Now to the candy section of life- what I've been watching:

I just subscribed to FreddeGredde's youtube channel thanks to Todd Wallace's twitter post.

Ryan Seiler's "Greener" music video

Sarah Palin's explanation of Paul Revere. That's just plain sad; enough to end someone's political career.

I recorded the Republican debate last night but I'm not sure if I'll get around to watching it. I'm a little jaded when it comes to politics right now, but I know I should be informed and prayerful for our leaders and country.

Truth be told, the reason for less tv watching is seasonal. NBA finals are over, who cares about baseball until late September?, and we have a 3 month lull until kickoff of college/NFL football.

For now, I'll get back to pretending I like to read more than watch tv...

Adoleo

It's official.

The new name for the former "Anthem Iowa City" band is "Adoleo", Latin for "I worship"

Adoleo: To magnify; hence, in sacrificial language, to which this word chiefly belongs, to honor, to worship, or to offer in worship, to sacrifice, burn

"Adoleo" reflects our desire to produce worship music that's connected to and flows out of our local church here in Iowa City. We use Latin phrases as a reminder that we are joining the Ancients in our pursuit of truth (Veritas) and writing music (Adoleo) that rightly glorifies God. As Bach said, "Music's only purpose should be the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit." (click here for Bach article)

Names are important not only because they are a statement of who you are, but who you are becoming. We are so prone to pride and the pursuit of fame and fortune- it's in us. And yet, it seems that we are joining a growing movement of song writers in the church (not just our church, but globally) who believe there has to be another way of making music that exalts Christ, not people. It's got to be about something bigger than fame and fortune... something that will far outlast this life, namely Jesus and his Church. Therefore "Adoleo" cautions us to be and become humble followers who exist to worship Jesus Christ and inspire hope in his followers.

"Adoleo" will also remind us that life is an act of worship. The word has the idea of offering burnt sacrifices. Paul takes the Old Testament concept of "sacrifice" and explains how that should look for us, on the other side of the cross. Romans 12:1, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your rational service to God." The "no duh" of life is to live every moment of it for God. So "Adoleo" is not just a style of music, it's a way of life. Every moment is a burnt offering for Christ. As our people listen to the music, we hope that they will not just hear melodies, but precious promises that become a way of life.

Adoleo is in the studio recording as we speak. The sound is going to be raw, slightly more acoustic driven than what you've heard on previous Anthem albums (indie-ish), at times a bit lyrically unconventional yet authentic (typical of Anthem i.e. "To Hear You"), a touch of banjo, soulful ballads, and a few tasty mainstream melodies. Overall the lining is a little darker in the clouds, yet filled with hope and joy. "This Hope", the probable album title, will be released sometime in August/September.

Until then I'll chide Clint and James to get us all something to listen to. I'll post it when I get it.

If you have some ideas for the album design, send them to me.

There's also a rumor that Anthem in Ames has some plans for another album- we can't wait for that... live album?

Thanks, Mary Ann for the tip on the name.

youtube

This article in usatoday fascinates me... Read it here. Yesterday I spent some time at the skatepark. I often wonder why, considering the only shredding I'm doing these days is my finger... (Don't worry Veritas softball team, I'm hoping I'll be good to go for tonight):

All the talk with the locals here at the Iowa City skatepark revolved around youtube drama. So I thought the timing of this youtube article was interesting. Everyone in the world with a computer, camera, and internet connection has access to this "gold rush".

Some quotes...

"Interacting with your audience through video is unquestionably a new dimension for TV as we know it, and people are inventing new content formats all the time...YouTube has democratized the concept of the professional"

"What [consumers] do care about, however, is being entertained, and in that sense we're in a new Gold Rush era..."

I wonder what this means for the church. Here are a few common responses...

1. Fortress... by creating our own subculture. Because we all know God needs his own "tube" and social networking site.

2. Withdraw... by cutting the internet cable

3. Engage... by being the most innovative and creative in a way that reflects God.

What does #3 look like? I'm not sure. Ideas?

Words

This year my blog has been mostly neglected. Here's the pathetic stat... 12 posts in the last 5 months.

For the first time in a LONG time I felt like I had some "creative" space. No visitors, nice back porch weather with a perfectly placed breeze, and a thought provoking book (Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln) are the ingredients that led to this epiphany...

I love ideas, and I love the words needed to communicate them.

In fact, that's what inspired the metropuritan blog a few years ago. I started blogging to sharpen my writing skills, share excerpts of my life, and hopefully bring a little encouragement to others on the journey. I'm sure there was a little narcissism mixed in. Me and everyone else with a blog, FB and Twitter account.

As I read on this utopian day, some phrases jumped out at me, renewing my desire to read and write more...

"[Lincoln] read and thoroughly read his books whilst we played. Hence he was above us and became our guide and leader." (a childhood friend's recollection of Lincoln) p. 49

"Books became his academy, his college. The printed word united his mind with the great minds of generations past...It was through literature that he was able to transcend his surroundings. He read and reread the Bible and Aesop's Fables so many times that years later he could recite whole passages and entire stories from memory... With remarkable energy and tenacity he quarried the thoughts and ideas that he wanted to remember...once he obtained paper, he would rewrite it and keep it in a scrapbook so that it could be memorized. Words thus became precious to him, never...to be lightly or indiscriminately used." (p. 51-52)

In Lincoln's own words, in some advice to a law student, he said, "Get the books and read and study them...The books, and your capacity for understanding them, are just the same in all places...Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other thing." (p. 54)

Well, hopefully I've found enough inspiration to churn out a few more than 2.4 blog posts per month for the rest of 2011.

In other news related to "words"...

I got my tweeterfeed updated and therefore these blog posts will be synced to my FB and Twitter (not sure why it ever stopped...). I had to tell the world on FB about this important news and nearly hit "send" when I noticed the "w" missing from "twitterfeed". As a pastor, I could've been fired for a status update with "ti..." Nevermind.

Another word debacle came when Ava kept leaving the "r" out when she was telling me about this new book she was reading, "Little Britches". She had no idea what she was saying, and I was left wondering what kind of books Leatha had put on the kids' summer reading plan.

Speaking of bad words...I'm determined that my kids hear every bad word in the book from my mouth before they hear it on the playground. That's another blog entry for another day...

For now, I'm resolved to get back to the basics... reading and writing.

Errrr...wait a minute... the NBA finals start tomorrow. Shoot. Go Mavs.

Huge Win for Veritas Church

I'm not spiritualizing here when I say "Huge win."

We're talking literal win for our church. 29-27.

The Veritas softball team was in a bad way. As I understand it, there are 4 city wide softball divisions. There's the A league all the way down to the church league. Scott Chandler, a guy in our church, cajoled me into rounding up some guys to play softball this summer. He assured me he would sign us up for the church league. The next day he came back with the good news that "we got signed up" and the bad news "the only spot was in the A league."

We were 0-3 heading into last Thursday's game against the undefeated dental students.

After some shuffling of personnel, manager Chandler put us in a position to win. The shuffling involved getting me into a position where my inept softball skills could cause the least damage.

You see, my greatest softball skill is that I take the game from being "fun" to "funny". The first night I threw the ball in from center field and literally hit the unsuspecting cutoff man. What's wrong with hitting the cutoff man- aren't you supposed to? Well, I was aiming for 3rd and hit the short stop (Thune) in the back. Some of you are thinking, "If you're playing center field, how would the 3rd baseman ever be the cut off man?" Softball is 99% boredom and 1% sheer terror. In that moment of possessing the ball as people are rounding the bases, my eyes blur, my mind is in a fog, and I just throw it... wherever. That's what I'm saying- it's terror out there- one percent of the time. In another center field debacle, I almost got hit in the face with a fly ball to center.

So Chandler moved me to catcher, where I'm known for occasionally skipping the ball back to the pitcher. The "yips" happens to everyone at some point in their career. As a fellow catcher, Mackey Sasser's inability to throw the ball back to the pitcher ended his major league career with the Mets. I tell myself I'm in good company. It happens to the best...or worst, however you want to look at it.

But Thursday was our moment of glory, and we chalked up our first win for the Veritas Church softball team.

Veritas Church, you can hold your heads high this week, knowing that your church has posted a win in the A division. And also rest secure that your pastors are hard at work, refining their skills on the diamond.

Here's to being thankful in all circumstances, especially after such a sweet victory...

In other sporting news...

I busted out the clubs and showed off my sweet skills on the golf course. Dale Mullikin commented on my clubs, "I haven't seen wood drivers in forever... wait... those aren't wood, they're plastic!" It turns out my Wilsons are a step way below TaylorMade and just above Fisher Price. But the clubs were hot... just ask Dale to tell you about my putting.

Here's Thune putting with an apple in his mouth.

Congrats to Jeff and Ashley with the birth of Kota Ryan... what a sweet baby girl!

Boom, I'm out.

Jesus the "Drunk" and other random happenings

Yesterday at Veritas... Thune rocked Philippians 2:19-30. I never made the connection of how Paul uses Epaphroditus as another example of verse 4, "look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

We had two baptisms yesterday- 2 very cool testimonies and the visual of God's work among us. There is nothing better on earth than a changed life. All the world revolutions and the toppling of every evil empire in the history of the world cannot compare to the awakening of a single soul.

This was a little controversial...

We surveyed campus with the questions...

- If Jesus asked to go with you on your spring break trip, what would you tell him?

- In the Bible, why do you think they called Jesus a "drunk"?

- To you, who is Jesus and do you think his teachings are relevant to college students?

Going into this talk, I really wanted to get the pulse of the average U of I student on this issue. The results were interesting. Most people (even Christians) didn't know Jesus was called a drunk. A common response was, "I went to Catholic church growing up- I'm over the whole Jesus thing." or "He wouldn't want to be with us on spring break if he knew what we were doing."

This overwhelming response confirmed something I've thought a lot about in planting this church, "What exactly have people rejected- Jesus or Religion?" That's nothing revolutionary, but it is when you think about the stewardship we have of deconstructing past biases against Jesus, and incarnating the Jesus who came into the world to love and save sinners.

As to the flyer- the cheap photoshopped Jesus with a college T and bottle may be thought provoking or sacrilegious, I'm not sure. But our point was to confront the idea, "Who have you rejected? Who does the Bible say Jesus is and what he is like?"

For those of you who are wondering where and why Jesus is called a drunk... Matthew 11. In the text, he's called a drunk for 2 reasons: 1) He drank alcohol 2) He spent time with people who drank... a lot. I never really heard that in Sunday school. Jesus' point is that self-righteous people will never be happy, regardless of the lengths God goes to rescue people.

Back to earth... (below)

With the snow thawing, the kids pulled these (important) flags out of the yard. They must've been worried for my safety. You can never be too safe on the road. It's not just scooters that need flags...
I wonder how many times I've referred to myself as an "idiot" on this blog. Justifiably so. At least I remembered all the kids...
This week influenza is making its rounds. I've been sick for 4 days and still laid up. Cameron is being a trooper here, trying to keep Beck entertained with "Diary of a Wimpy Kid."

This is a very safe position. You just can't teach that in driver's ed.

Back to my movie watching... in the queue right now- The Pacific (disc 2)

Vacation, Naked Barbies, and Sex Talks

It was a long, cold January. And a challenging one for us, so I did what I haven't done in 11 years of marriage...

I took Leatha (without kids!) on a vacation. It was a week of sun, ocean, reading and relaxing. I was working my way through Leviticus and didn't expect it to be the oasis for my soul that it was. Leviticus 25 reminded me that it's my pride that keeps me from not resting. Workaholism is another manifestation of self-reliance and idolatry. God seemed to think there needed to be a rhythm to rest- 1/7 days, 1/7 years, 1/50 years, and a few extended vacation/parties in between.

I almost didn't post anything about our vacation because it's easy for people cooped up their rooms reading this to struggle with jealousy and perhaps get the wrong idea ("Why can't I...?"). At least that's what goes through my mind on occasion. But I went ahead and posted this because I think in general we need to hear that it's not a sign of weakness to rest...
There was something really funny that happened on the trip- you can read about it (click here for iloveshelling.com). There was a popular shelling blogger that stumbled upon me stumbling upon this treasure on my first ever shelling exploration... (Don't get distracted by my muscles- I'm getting ready for a body building competition)
This sums up the last day of our trip, "Awesome...best day of the year"
Here's downtown Chicago from our plane. I was singing Rich Mullins in my mind, "We are not as strong as we think we are."
Last night Troy Nesbitt came to speak to Salt Company in the bar. The topic- "Sex". As always, he did an awesome job. You can find it here (it should be up sometime today on the saltiowacity.com website- click media). I also just finished listening to the brilliant Peter Kreeft on the topic of "Sex in Heaven". This is exercise and worship for the mind. Here's Troy at the Blue Moose...
I guess my kids could've used a sex talk. This is our junk drawer. At least someone colored a (Janet Jackson) bra on Barbie. She's getting ready for a half time show or something.

Troy joined us for our "Elders in Training" meeting this morning. Here's Troy in all his glory at 5:45 a.m. Troy is in a competition with a Cornerstone staff guy to see who will cave first on getting a hair cut. I guess we'll all get an idea of what Samson looked like (minus the muscles)

Here are the elders in training, minus Jeff Allgood and me (L to Rt: Jeff Thune, Aaron Hill, Dave Graber, Eric Bodin, Dale Mullikin, Rod Reinertson) on our first retreat.

Only 16 days between blog posts. I'm getting back on track to my 5x/week pace!

A Good Reason to Break the Blogging Slump!

One month between blog posts is a record for me. That's a record I don't want to break. It's time to break the slump. And what better reason than...

(Drumroll...)

Ryan Seiler, my friend and favorite song writer has finally released his first solo album!!!!!

Click here for the link to iTunes.

Here's a quick review and shameless plug for the album...

This is an acoustic driven album that combines catchy melodies with witty songwriting, all of which inspires nostalgia, hope and happiness.

"July"- track 1- is one of those songs that can singlehandedly pull you out of seasonal affective disorder in January, while making you reminisce during the summer as you listen with the windows down. This song highlights the catchy melody hooks and refreshingly unconventional songwriting that I love about this album.

Track 2, "Don't Leave", only gets better with an unforgettable hook that acoustic guitar players all over the world will be strumming around campfires and in their dorm rooms. Amazing work on this song, Ryan! Here's the youtube of the fully produced version that was on a Ministry of Magic album (Seiler's Wizard rock band):

The good songs keep coming...

"And we sing"- The true test for a skilled songwriter- make Jeremiah 8 into a catchy song.

The next two songs show the juxtaposition of happiness and heartache, with the wedding song "Our Name" preceding "Run Home", a song about a young boy who was killed in an accident.

"All Things New" gets me choked up every time, as it's the story of Pastor Tom Nesbitt, whose life story is about forgiving his father who blazed a trail of drunkenness, abuse, neglect, and marital unfaithfulness. The song, however, is so filled with hope, as it draws our attention to Christ.

The last two songs round out the album so well. The chorus to "Greener" causes personal reflection, "If the grass is greener on the other side, it's only because I'm not attending mine" while the last track leaves you with a nostalgic toast to good times... "To God, to friends, I hope I'll see you again..."

I commend this album to you... well worth the $10 on iTunes

Ryan, congratulations on a long awaited solo album! I've been begging for it for years now. I hope you make a living on your gift and passion of music.

What we've been up to

I haven't posted in awhile, mostly due to a combination of business and laziness.

Here's some of the busyness: keeping up worthless life skills, like getting a skateboard over a ladder.

This was the last nice day of November...

Anthem song writing retreat...
There are some more good worship songs slow cookin' in the studio...
Unsupervised kids.
I put off getting my axle fixed- it broke as I rolled in to the shop. The van asked me to move and I said, "Sorry, my car won't move." They had an open spot, pushed me in and 45 minutes later I was back on the road. Thinking of all the places this could've happened reminds me that God answers the Lord's prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread..."
The last Salt Company of the semester. A view of the bar from the stage.
Thiessen's gives out free popcorn. They regret it every time they see me rolling in with the five kids. I was there buying bullets, license, etc for hunting. I got skunked, and I'm wondering if hunting just isn't my thing. It's going to take the encouragement of all my redneck friends to keep my head in the game. Stan, you out there?
Makai said there were some big birds in the tree in our backyard. We said, "That's nice Makai" but didn't believe him. He was right- 2 bald Eagles! More of God's goodness to us.
Christmas at Papa Jack and Grandma Linda's. Who knows what the kids will find in the basement?