the tindog coffeehouse

It’s an honest work if I can stand up on it
Maybe we’re not as far apart as it appears

– MUTEMATH, “Armistice”

On Monday I reserved my tickets to the advanced screening of the Blue Like Jazz movie, scheduled for March 21 in Fort Worth. I’m beyond excited, not only to see the movie but also to meet Donald Miller and Steve Taylor. (Note: I’ll be posting a review after I see it in a few weeks. Stay tuned.)

Recently I heard someone describe the film (based, of course on the Donald Miller book of the same name) as not being a Christian movie but rather a movie about a Christian. I thought that was an interesting way to put it, particularly since it’s geared toward a college-aged non-Christian audience. Constrast that description with movies like Facing the Giants and Courageous, which are overtly Christian movies with a distinct Christian message made especially for a Christian audience. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; both are great movies, but they aren’t likely to attract a lot of young, non-churchgoing viewers. In that regard, I have to wonder if Blue Like Jazz could be described as sort of the anti-Courageous.

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As if I didn’t feel old enough already, today is the 30th anniversary of the launch of MTV. Let that sink in for a minute.

Of course, trivia buffs know that the first video ever shown on MTV was The Buggles’ “Video Killed The Radio Star”. But the first video I ever saw on the basic cable network (you know, back when they actually showed music videos), was “Centerfold” by The J. Geils Band.

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While I don’t have a son, I do have two young daughters, and any father of young kids can instantly relate to the lyrics of the song below, “Follow Me” by Remedy Drive. There are times when kids ask deep and complicated questions that are difficult to answer, but more often than not, they just want to spend time with their daddy.

I try to be the best father I can for my kids, and as the song says, I don’t want to let them down. In the end, I hope I will have done enough and set the right example for my kids to follow. But more importantly, I pray that they’ll keep running toward “this hope that I can’t see”, Jesus Christ.

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“God Save the Foolish Kings” by House of Heroes. Why?

1. Because it’s almost summer, and Suburba is the perfect summertime album.
2. Because I’ve been reading a lot of Old Testament stuff lately, especially 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, and a bunch of prophetic books such as Jeremiah, which is what I’m reading now. And there are a lot of foolish kings throughout those books.
3. And just because it’s an awesome song.

Previously:
Bible reading: At the halfway mark
Thoughts on Genesis
House of Heroes and Seabird at The Prophet Bar in Dallas tonight!

Recently, the extraordinarily obscene gansta rap duo known as Insane Clown Posse made headlines when they “came out” as evangelical Christians. In an F-bomb-laden interview with The Guardian, they explain how for 20 years, they’ve just been tricking their audience into believing they were the scum of the earth so that they could at some point spring it on them that no, they’ve actually been Christians all along.

ICP’s, um, “unorthodox” method of spreading the Gospel begs a number of questions, not the least of which is whether they’re really saved or if this some sort of publicity stunt. I mean, after all, when was the last time anyone has even heard of them much less give them any attention?

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As a fan of Google, Billy Joel, history, ’80s music, and awesome stuff in general, I have to say this is quite possibly the greatest use of the Internet ever.