The decade in retrospect

The 70's had disco and hippies. The 80's had punk rock and acid styles. The 90's were the Golden Age of the boy band, Tamagotchi, Saturday morning cartoons, Pokemon cards, bad hair, Desert Storm and the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. I was a little to young at the time to care much about what my first decade would be remembered for and it turns out that pop culture usually takes to front seat in mine and others memories. Too bad for the 90's.

So what about this decade? What are the things that the 2000's are going to be remembered for? The music? The movies? The toys? Here's a quick list of the things that stand out to me.

1) 9/11/2001- Much like the people who were around when JFK was assassinated, I remember vividly where I was when the World Trade Center was attacked. I remember my sister waking me up and coming out to the living room and seeing my mom very upset. I even witnessed the second plane fly into the south tower. It changed travel for the rest of us and was the catalyst for many things that came after. It also showed the good that people are capable of in a crisis with examples being charitable foundations, the volunteers that when to help in the rescue and clearing efforts, the blood donated, and all sorts of other things. It was humanity at both our ugliest and best.

2) The War on Terror- This was primarily an American endeavor in my opinion, but due to the nature of the US, it became the worlds problem as well. I'm not going to get into the details of why and how and what came of it, I just think that it's something that's going to stick to the 2000's. Here's hoping that it stays back there...

3) iPods- Considering the gravity of the previous items, this seems a little trite. But think about it, these little things were a technological wonder and a fashion statement that has persevered throughout the decade and paved the way for Apples lifestyle feel. They sucked us in, and it started in earnest with the iPod. (Note: this is my opinion having not done a lot of research, don't quote me on this.)

4) Youtube- I don't even remember what I did with my downtime before Youtube.

5) Facebook- I know that Myspace came first, but Facebook took over and is now my primary means of keeping in touch with people. However, I'm a firm believer that every empire must fall, so I don't see Facebook lasting forever. They've had a good run so far, here's hoping they stay on top if for no other reason than I don't want to have to move all of my information to another site.

6) The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy- The Lord of the Rings has been a popular fantasy series for decades, but the movies brought its popularity up to a craze that dominated both the box office and Halloween costumes for the three years the movies were released. They may have also produced a new George Lucas in Peter Jackson, that is to say, a director that makes a good trilogy and then goes on to nuke the fridge for the rest of his career. For proof please see (or don't see) King Kong.

7) The Global Recession- It's a phenomenon that's hit many families and countries hard, and a crisis that we're going to be digging ourselves out of for a very long time. As far as I'm concerned, it all comes back to greed and the idea that success is nothing short of more. However, I've covered that in a previous post.

8) Emo- Dashboard Confessional and Death Cab For Cutie are just two of the pretentious band names that come to mind when I think of this sub-culture. It was basically (Oh! I think I can feel a non-quotable opinion coming on!) an excuse for suburban kids with no real problems (such as starvation, poverty, terminal illness, etc.) to whine about how no one really understood them. Thankfully it's mainstream popularity has caved, however, it cleared the way for perhaps the greatest enemy of good that the world has yet encountered, which just happens to be number nine on the list...

9) Twilight- Sorry females of the world. Your efforts to become equal members of society over the last century have been undermined by four, teen-fiction novels. According to what I understand about the books (having never read them myself) and what I gleaned from the first movie (worst night of my life...) a girl cannot be happy without a strong man in her life to take care of her. It's also spawned the vampire craze of 2008-2009 in which everything that's targeted at teens seems to tie into vampires somehow. I'm going to stick with Team Ninja.

10) Reality TV- First, I would like to acknowledge that Reality TV is not unique to the 2000's, however I saw it explode with the popularity of shows like Survivor (it was only cool once...) Back then, it was basically a glorified game show that chronicled the emotional turmoil and relational strife that comes when you put a bunch of average people into a ridiculous situation and attach a prize to the end. After that, it was all downhill to The Hills (that was bad, sorry.) Honestly, I don't get it. With shows like My Super Sweet 16 and Jersey Shore, I have a hard time believing in the good that humanity is capable of.

11) The Indonesian Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina- Other decades had big natural disasters that served as cautionary tales for future generations, these were ours. Once again, they were also an opportunity for people to shine in the face of tragedy. They also show just how low people will stoop.

I could probably go on, but this is getting a little too large. Suffice it to say, I think the 2000's were not as bad as they could have been, however, they weren't great either. This decade brought to our attention the nature and severity of the environmental problem. The rich people kept getting richer. Poverty still exists. Extreme nationalism is still alive and well. The dawn of Facebook and Youtube gave us a globalized way of showing just how egocentric our society is. Teens have become less capable of growing up. Morality is still on the back burner. In essence, as a society, we're not following the greatest commandment (This is a blanket statement to which I'm happy that there are many, many exceptions.) The 2000's are probably going to be remembered for pop culture, stuff on the internet and all of the things that went wrong with the world.

This sounds pretty depressing, but I'm not saying any of it frowning. Yeah we haven't arrived, but we can. I think that the next decade has a lot of promise, which I'll go over some time next week.

It's like...

Oh wow, I'd completely forgotten what a real bed in a real house felt like. Soooooooo good. Home pretty much makes res look like a prison. Granted it's a prison where all of my friends hang out and there's a TV and wireless internet and we don't have to wear uniforms and can come and go as we please... Okay so res is nothing like prison. I just really love sleeping on a queen size mattress. It's like floating on a cloud made of springs, awesome and whatever-the-heck this mattress is stuffed with, and I can't possibly fall off. I have the freedom to sprawl as God intended!

On the list of things to do this weekend:

-Read
-Eat
-Sleep
-Play with Billy, Faith and Rob
-Hang out with Keilah
-Go Christmas shopping with Mom
-Help Dad in the garage and the more than likely go shopping with him
-Pick Erin up from the airport Sunday at 11:30
-Play with the dogs
-Make sure the chainsaw is in working order for Monday

Ahhh, it's good to be home!

P.S. It's just occurred to me that I haven't put any pictures of the house up on here. It's definitely worth seeing. Hopefully I'll get around to that in the near future.

Dippin' into the reserve tank

Wow, what a week. Two band practices, a service to play at, three assignments to work on, people stuff and a massive cold snap equal a very tiring week. That's not to say that I'm unhappy about the week. Other than the cold snap it was a fantastic week, even if I did (and do) have a pile of work to do. The only thing is I've pretty much pumped my emotional and mental energy dry. I could probably do labour work right now and it would feel like a break, but trying to write an essay is turning out to be a bit of a challenge. I just don't have the energy to care right now, and that's kinda hurting my work ethic.

I'm getting it done, it's just moving at a crawl right now. Writing this could be considered procrastination. I prefer to call it a "sanity break."

Anyhow, I guess I should probably summarize what I'm working on if I'm going to make this worth while to read.

First, I'm working on a response to a book called The Holiness Manifesto. In essence, the book is the result of a large multi-denominational cooperation that wants to find out why the church in North America is in decline. The basic consensus is that church's for the past century have been focused on being a dominant force in culture, that has failed, and now we're scrambling to program our churches back to health. The solution they present is to get back to the roots of the holiness movement which was to respond to the current culture by being holy in the culture. Holiness is not simply something that happens in your head and heart, it has to flow out in your interactions with the world.

Second, I'm working on a response plan for a current issue that a student could face. I've chosen abuse. It's a pretty heavy subject, so it hasn't been easy. There are a lot of legal implications to take into consideration and a lot of issues to deal with once the abuse has been stopped. That one's not going so well.

Third, I'm working on a summary of my God and Evil class. That one is what I'm saving for last. 1000 to 2000 words on what I learned over the course of a semester. Not a big deal. Actually, to be honest, I didn't learn much until the end of the course when it all started to come together. I'm a practical theologian so I don't find much value in theodicy, which was most of the course. By the end, I basically landed on the idea that humanity brought evil into the world, God is working for our redemption, and he gives us the strength to respond positively to the evil we encounter in the world. Also, don't try and make a bad situation good while grief is present, that almost always makes things worse for the person mourning. It's better to mourn with someone and acknowledge their pain and help them wrestle through the pain and then later figure out how to respond well.

So that's what's been going on lately with school stuff. I'm not entirely convinced that anyone will find this helpful, but at least I'm ready to work for a little while again.

Here's lookin' at you, kid...

I'm a fiend when it comes to guitars. Over the last five years I've been slowly building up a collection that I'm quite proud of, but I'm still not satisfied with what I have. It's the curse that every guitarist is afflicted with. "I like what I have, but there's something missing when I try to (insert obscure musical maneuver that sounds just fine on what you have.)" It's a problem.

Recently, I've fallen for a beautiful little number simply called the Taylor 612ce, and my goodness does she sing pretty! I've decided, after much internal deliberation and a couple of conversations with other people, I'm going to sell my current acoustic and buy the Taylor.

To be honest, this has been a really hard decision to make. The Euphoria was the first acoustic that I bought by myself. I was nineteen, in my second year of college and looking for something that fit my developing style (such as it was...) When I saw it, I wasn't entirely convinced that I should buy it, I mean after all, look at it! That thing has more stage presence than a guy juggling flaming swords!... on a unicycle... surrounded by lions... and lasers... in a volcano... okay I'm done. It wasn't until I played it that I fell in love with it. The body is made completely of maple and has a slim build with a large face. Basically that translates to a sparkly, high-end (treble) tone with a lot of control over dynamics (loud and soft). The volume on it tops out pretty fast because of the wood, but that's never really bothered me. Playing this guitar has defined my style and sound and it's incredibly hard to have to sell it.

So why sell it? Well, to be honest, because I've grown out of it. I've loved the way it sounds for years, and I've been looking for something that is comparable to it without all of the flash. It's pretty to be sure; but it's not me anymore. The Taylor on the other hand, combines all of the things I love about my Euphoria, along with some upgrades to the electronics, and it has a simple yet elegant look that has a more broad appeal.

I sincerely wish I could get away with buying the Taylor without having to sell Jade, (Yeah yeah I named her, why do you think this is so hard!?!) but the reality is that I don't need two acoustics that do basically the same thing, and it's giving me a chance to help someone else out by giving her a decent second guitar.

On a lighter note (no pun intended), I need some ideas on what to name the new guitar when I get her. Any suggestions? Be kind, she's pretty. Oh, and Taylor's out.

The Christmas list

Right now I'm looking at about three weeks of free time (I don't have any finals this semester, I heart the ministry program!) and instead of spending it how I normally do, I've decided that I'm going to do a little reading over the holiday.

Here's the list I've decided on:

-The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)
-Sustainable Youth Ministry (Mark DeVries)
-Faith and the Fatherland (Kyle Jantzen) I know it's not exactly Christmas-y to read about the Church in Nazi Germany, but I spent $27.00 on it, so I'm darn well gonna read it!
-The Great Emergence (Phyllis Tickle)
-Unfinished Tales (J.R.R. and Christopher Tolkien)

That should probably fill up a little more than three weeks. I'm looking forward to this holiday!

God and Evil and Teens

I'm in the midst of writing a paper and I'm starting to flounder. The question I pose is "How do we help a teen who is struggling with the existence of an all-powerful benevolent God and the existence of pain and evil in the world?"

It's an old, old question and I don't really know if there is an answer to it that will satisfy everyone across the board, especially those living in the midst of some sort of evil, (evil being defined as anything that is profoundly unpleasant including but not limited to natural disasters, divorce, illness, bullying, etc.)

So now I'm reading all sorts of things on suffering and God and really not finding it all that helpful. I know what I believe on the subject and it works for me. However, not every student is going to fully understand my explanation. It comes down to faith and experience and the ability to rationalize on those terms, (Quick side note, rationalization is an abstract concept, something that a teens brain is physically developing and they are just starting to try out. For an easy synopsis on this, take a flip through the second chapter of Youth Ministry 3.0.) I'm looking for a good way of articulating to teens where evil comes from and how we can respond to it. Actually, that's not right. I'm looking for a good way to get students thinking about the problem of God and evil, and gently guide them to a conclusion that they find satisfying. Unfortunately, if you're going to say that in a university level paper, somebody else better have said it first.

My first proper book review.

So I just finished writing a book review for my God and evil class, and I thought to myself, "Self, I really liked that book, you should write a blog about it so that others may share in the joy of this discovery." (My therapist says that a split personality is okay so long as each voice is aware of the other.)

Hope in Troubled Times, is written by Bob Goudzwarard, Mark Vander Vennen, and David Van Heemst. I'd never heard of these people before I read this book, so I wasn't really too sure of what to expect when I chose this one off of the list of recommended texts. I've thrown their names on a list now. Yeah, the book was that good.

Hope in Troubled Times can pretty much be summed up like this: Humanity is responsible for the current state of the world, God has offered a solution to the problems, and it is humanities responsibility to put that solution into action.

The book focuses on three major global evils that are spiraling out of control despite our "best" (You'll see what I mean at the end) efforts to stop them. The evils the book deals with are:

-Environmental degradation
-Worldwide poverty
-Widespread terrorism

Bob, Mark and Dave claim that all of these issues perpetuate each other, and can be traced back to one cause: the glorification of ideologies. They claim that in the rich northern world, (or the western world, if that's how you define our culture) ideologies have become the new gods that we bow to. They are the ends for which all means of achieving are justified, and if they go unchecked, they will eventually implode.

They go on to identify and illustrate the ideologies that are driving these three global evils. First, they focus on the ideology of materialism, the belief that progress and success are measured by wealth and a growing market. They also show how in order to achieve our material ends; rich nations abandon their morals, sacrifice peoples dignity and lives, our environment and our own health.

Second, they focus on the ideology of identity, which is basically the idea that a group must survive at all costs. This ideology is manifested in extreme nationalism, religions, racial discrimination, and group affiliations. This ideology has lead to acts of terror, bigotry, genocide and all manners of exclusion. It also ties into materialism, the belief that this way of life must be maintained at all costs, and the next ideology, guaranteed security.

This ideology at its core is the fight for guaranteed living space. The authors are quick to point out that the defense of a nation is a noble and right cause, as at its core it should be the defense of the freedom of the people who dwell in that nation. However, as with all ideologies that are allowed to progress to their natural ends, this one evolves into a fight over space, and the ability to protect and expand that space. The perversion comes when the means, the land where you are free to be free, becomes the end.

All three of these ideologies are intertwined, each one perpetuating the others to the point where they seem unstoppable. Materialism perpetuates poverty, environmental degradation, identity and guaranteed security. Identity perpetuates terrorism and the ideologies of guaranteed security and materialism. Guaranteed security perpetuates identity and materialism. Because of the nature of these ideologies, if nothing is done, they will eventually implode.

The book claims that our attempts to eliminate these evils have always tried to allow for our ideologies to survive, and thus, our efforts have been ineffective at best, and futile at worst. However, the authors do offer hope in the end.

They believe that God has already offered the solution to our global problems. All we have to do is forsake our ideologies of materialism, identity and guaranteed security. They believe that God has already set the example for this way of living when Jesus submitted himself to death, even death on a cross. Jesus died in poverty, never believing that material gain was a measure for success. He forsook his divine identity, (I'm a little shaky on this one simply because of the wording. I might flesh it out better in the future, but for now, just take it with a grain of salt) and any personal security by submitting to torture and death. Because he chose to give up those ideologies, they had no power over him. He rejected our false gods and was glorified for it.

In the same way, if we forsake the ideologies of materialism, identity and guaranteed security, we can break the cycle we are in now. Things will turn around. This is the example and the charge that God has set before us.

The authors don't expect this to take place on a global scale simply because they wrote a nice book telling the nations to do so, but they do encourage the reader to take a personal stand to say no to the false gods. By taking a personal stand, we set an example for the people around us and break the cycles we are in on a micro level, and because of the results, we spread our influence to those around us, and the movement begins to grow. It is a right way of living to put others before yourself, and in the end, that's all the book is trying to get across.

There are also traces of the discussion on the source of evil and the question of "Why does God allow evil to exist." Unfortunately the book assumes that you understand and subscribe to the idea that evil exists because of free will, and doesn't go too much farther into it.

I loved this book, and I wish I could have spent some more time in it. It's not an easy read, (Unless you enjoy many brief history lessons and horrifying statistics on poverty and military spending.) but it's definitely worth looking into.