The Great Awakening?

It seems that the last several years have seen an increasing number of Christian leaders calling for a new spiritual awakening to come to our nation. Leaders ranging from Jim Wallis (see the title of his latest book) to Lou Engle (The Call) have called people to come to a new realization, to see new fervor in following the principles of Jesus and most of all to repent and experience transformation through the Holy Spirit. This kind of thinking resonates with me in a powerful way. It is clear that things are not as they should be. As we live in the tension between what is and what could be, we have to faithfully believe that Jesus is the answer. Repentance and transformation can only come as we seek God and realign with his priorities.

A major obstacle is that we cannot seem to agree on what the priorities of God might include. Our messages may be broad but our disagreements run deep. With many disparate movements, the message that I infer is that being a Christian, following Jesus, means aligning with a specific ideology, Right or Left. For instance, the Millennium Development Goals are no substitute for the good news of the Gospel, but many people calling for "God in America Again" advocate leaving the rest of the world to die while focusing on our own economic and social problems. That is a stance that seems peculiarly out of sync with the teachings of Jesus himself.

Though I find a lot to admire in the growing post evangelical movement, I also find a real unwillingness to acknowledge that a truly humble posture of surrender would be less critical and reactionary and more about living the good news found in the bible. Being sure that you are right about different issues is still called fundamentalism last time I checked.

I'm reminded today that as we approach midterm elections, believers are more divided than ever. Perhaps this is a good enough reason for me to quit facebook. For many (perhaps even myself) the phrase Great Awakening seems connected to a legislative agenda and a worldly concept of win/lose. Jesus, himself though, confounded expectations about what it meant to be a servant, to lead, to win and to lose. It seems that a true Great Awakening will shatter ideology and partisan politics, will elevate the least of these to a position of leadership (when was the last time this happened in any church!?) and will result in millions of people experiencing personal salvation and realigned priorities. Any Gospel that is not Good News For The Poor cannot be called Revival. Likewise, any Awakening that can be accomplished without Jesus cannot possibly be genuine.

World Malaria Day and ONE Sunday at Northpark

Today is World Malaria Day! Every day 2,000 people die unnecessarily from a disease we cured in 1951. Over 5 billion dollars has been pledged over the next five years to see Malaria eradicated by 2015 but so far funding levels are far below what's been pledged! Advocate today through a variety of organizations, including ONE partner World Vision at ENDMALARIA.org.

Tonight following our 5 PM Gathering at Northpark, we will be showing the film "When The Night Comes" by Invisible Children filmmaker Bobby Bailey and made in cooperation with the United Nations, World Vision, One Campaign and more! We will also have an opportunity to purchase a life saving bed net to be sent to children in need for only $6.



Hope to see you tonight 6:30 pm at Northpark Community Church, 2297 E. Shepherd Ave. Fresno, 93720

Let's make a difference for the world's poorest people!

Ryan

Hospital Music

A little over a year ago, my daughter got very sick with the stomach flu and had to be hospitalized. She could not stop throwing up and developed a condition called Acidosis. On the verge of unconsciousness, she continued vomiting through a sick child visit to the doctor and then the waiting room outside the ER. Her symptoms were such that the ER doctor began talking about the possibility of "metabolic disorders." Of course we googled it immediately, which was appropriately shocking.

Turns out, a basic dehydration IV and bicarbonate infusion was all it took to bring our nearly two year old back from the brink. I'll never forget the feeling of watching her, tubes and wires and drip-line, slowly return to her normal, overly active and gloriously spontaneous self. I could have done without spending the night throwing up myself from the same flu but the point is what? Medical care, her pediatrician and Children's Hospital, probably saved her life.

Only a few months later, my son Micah was born at Clovis Community, healthy and thriving, thanks to the medicine that my wife received to help her kickstart her labor. Shortly after, I had another traumatic Dad moment when I had to drive behind an ambulance with my wife and daughter inside after Amelia tipped over backwards, strapped tightly to her high chair and smashed her head and back on the tile. A CAT scan confirmed that she was OK.

I don't know what side you come down on this contentious Health Care debate. In fact, I'm not sure what side I'm on to be honest. But I will say this. I am offended by what some people express when they say they will make it their personal mission to defeat health care reform. Citing statistics about 85 percent being happy with their health insurance, they are leaving out millions of uninsured people from their population sample. I also find it troubling that certain pundits make it sound like having health insurance is somehow a privilege that one earns for being hard working and industrious as opposed to lazy and dependent on the government. I'm sure you and I both know plenty of lazy people with great insurance and plenty of people working 90 hours a week with three jobs who can't go to the doctor.

We would have likely kept Amelia home longer if we didn't have a pediatrician. If we didn't have a good doctor that had recommended we go to the hospital and called ahead, we might have waited outside among the many sick until she passed out.

Sitting here in the Grind typing this, I am actually struck by how many other hospital stories I could tell. By the grace of God, they are all minor compared with what many have experienced. I am blessed and thankful for the country I live in and the health insurance we have. And although I've paid tens of thousands of dollars to the health care system in the form of deductibles, copays and diagnostic test fees, I don't think reform is about me at all. I think it's about other people. Other people who have real Hospital Music stories as well. Please don't say that you or I deserve health care, we don't. Children around the world die every day from diarrhea, the flu and common colds. We GET to have health care in this country and it should be with a spirit of humility that we try to sort out this mess and find some solutions that will save lives.

30 songs for 2009

Jet Lag and Separation Anxiety (my nearly one-year-old son's, not mine) have been causing me to go to bed early during the last week and a half. Prime creative/blog hours have been lost. Top songs of the year have been delayed. But the silver lining is that I have been able to get up early and do some actual work. A lot of really exciting things are in store for 2010, new improved FIVE gathering, a big Community Food Bank benefit in Eaton Plaza for April, a Bekah Townsend album in the works, real life in the flesh overdubs shows, etc.

But what's the end of the year without looking back at some great, grand and computer speaker worthy songs to list? In no particular order this year ...

Superdrag "Aspartame" Industry Giants
Bruce Springsteen "The Wrestler" Working on A Dream
Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Hysteric" It's Blitz
Eels "Ordinary Man" Hombre Lobo
David Bazan "Hard to Be" Curse Your Branches
David Crowder Band "Oh, Happiness" Church Music
Grizzly Bear "Cheerleader" Veckatimest
We Were Promised Jetpacks "Quiet Little Voices" These Four Walls
Lily Allen feat. Mick Jones "Straight to Hell" War Child- Heroes Vol. 1
Matt and Kim "Daylight" Grand
Bon Iver and St. Vincent "Roslyn" The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Mos Def "Life in Marvelous Times" The Ecstatic
Julian Casablancas "11th Dimension" Phrazes for The Young
Pearl Jam "The Fixer" Backspacer
Imogen Heap "First Train Home" Ellipse
Third Eye Blind "Bonfire" Ursa Major
The Rural Alberta Advantage "The Ballad of The RAA" Hometowns
U2 "Moment of Surrender" No Line on The Horizon
Wilco "I'll Fight" Wilco (The Album)
Memory Cassette "Asleep At A Party" The Hiss We Missed Ep
Elbow "Running to Stand Still" War Child- Heroes Vol. 1
Karen O and The Kids "Hidaway" Where The Wild Things Are
Neko Case "This Tornado Loves You" Middle Cyclone
The Get Up Kids "Your Petty Pretty Things" Daytrotter Session
Phoenix "Liztomania" Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Taking Back Sunday "Capital M-E" New Again
Silversun Pickups "Growing Old is Getting Old" Swoon
Andrew Bird "Anonanimal" Noble Beast
Jars of Clay "Forgive Me" The Long Fall Back to Earth
Julien Plenti "Only If You Run" Julien Plenti Is ... Skyscraper

Top Ten Albums 2009; Ice Grilled Beef

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to grill steaks over charcoal in -5 degree weather. It was challenging and fun because it was so out of the ordinary for me, even though it was quite uncomfortable at times. We cooked steaks imported from two countries. The Argentine rib eyes were superior to the Irish rib eyes, most of us agreed. Except for Darlene, my mother-in-law, who only sampled the Irish beef and thought it delicious. And it was delicious, just not quite as good according to those of us who experienced a comparative choice.

Which brings me to the subject of year-end lists. If you are anything like me, you love to rank and debate and get rankled over the Hype Machine and Pitchfork and Last.fm and Emusic's critically weighted/subjective/user data-based lists. But the reality is: Good Music is Good Music. Since it's impossible to hear every single record released in 2009, even in this day and age, ranking the best albums is an abitrary excercise at best. In my experience, recently obtained records that you listen to on Christmas vacation (Matt and Kim's Grand) tend to be ranked artifically high while other albums that you have already played a million times (Wilco The Album) slide down the list.

All things considered, I've decided to list my top ten albums in alphabetical order this year. Great Albums have a general way of appearing on everyone's lists somewhere, whether they are tenth or first. And Good Music is good music, depending on what you've sampled, and the Irish steaks really were quite excellent, if you ask me.

David Bazan || Curse Your Branches
Eels || Hombre Lobo
Phoenix || Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Matt and Kim || Grand
Mos Def || The Ecstatic
Superdrag || Industry Giants
The Rural Alberta Advantage || Hometowns
U2 || No Line on The Horizon

Wilco || Wilco (The Album)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs || It's Blitz

honorable mentions:

David Crowder Band || Church Music
Silversun Pickups || Swoon

Grizzly Bear || Veckatimest

Jars of Clay || The Long Fall Back to Earth
Julian Casablancas || Phrazes For the Young
Switchfoot || Hello Hurricane

OK and just to nullify everything I just wrote, I must come out and say that my favorite album of 2009 is ... no surprises: PHOENIX.

Amsterdam

Hello everyone, it's been all Storm of The Century around here during the last week and so I've been sleeping in my jeans and wearing long johns and things of that nature. Speaking of sleeping in my clothes, I have a theory that it might be the missing ingredient in rediscovering my creativity. I am hoping to return home with two new songs completed for our upcoming The Overdubs reunion concert.

Two days ago, it was really icy and one car crashed into the light pole in front of the canal outside of Jim and Dar's 106-year-old house, causing it to fall over. Less than two hours later, another car ran off the road and due to the absence of said light pole, crashed into the canal...made me glad I don't have to drive here. Biking in the slush and snow is dangerous enough.

A blurry picture shot through the second story window up here where we sleep.

The rescue taking place (disclaimer, it was warmer inside than out but some of us went outside to make sure no one needed help).

Top albums of the year post coming and Decade in Review also....

2009: A Beautiful Day and Night, U2 and ONE at the Rose Bowl

It's been storming here in Fresno for five days; maybe not the longest storm on history but the longest in my memory...

As our family prepares to head off to Amsterdam for Christmas, I figure now is a good time to look back on some 2009 highlights. It's been an eventful and wonderful year, poor for volume on the blog but rich in meaningful experiences from the birth of my son Micah (more on that later) to our adventures in Missouri to our experiences with ONE.

One of the coolest and most rewarding highlights was the U2 show at the Rose Bowl. Possibly the largest worldwide streaming event in the history of mankind, Tim, Bekah and I had the privilege of roaming the tailgate areas and parking lots, signing up people for ONE's declaration to end extreme poverty.

That night, our team of volunteers signed up over 3,000 people, which is incredible. The show itself was quite good as well, though, we were a little too tired to really get crazy. Having been to each, I also would say that overall, I tend to go for stripped down Elevation-era U2 over massive spectacle Claw U2. But what's most impressive is the way the band managed to connect emotionally with nearly 100,000 people using (in spite of?) all of the excesses of the moment. Nothing I can write captures it quite like this clip I shot on the Nikon Cool Pix. You can see what an incredible vantage point we had from the inner circle.



The day was memorable for a couple other reasons. I had never heard the songs "Boom Boom Pow" and "Gotta Feeling" until the Black Eyed Peas played them live. I also saw a lot of celebrities milling around due to the fact that there isn't a proper backstage area at the 360 tour, just an area where the general admissioners mix it up with the ONE campaigners and the VIPS. (unless they just hang out in the friends and family tent or RED zone) Best Celebrity sighting? None other than Mr. David Ruis. His recent work in LA and lifetime commitment to the homeless and the oppressed are a true inspiration.

Also the picture of Tim is just before he almost got in a fight with a guy who was upset about our late arrival to the near-stage area...