June 2, 2010 in
culture, entertainment, history, imagination, television, Theology, writing with
As I was consuming the masterful television/literary hybrid finale of Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, I checked my phone for incoming text messages and updates from Twitter. One “tweet” read, “T-minus 30 minutes until #LOST is over forever.” I quickly responded, “False: it will live on.” The television series was much more than… well… a television series. Its powerful and essential themes were captured by the magical character development and acting genius of those like Naveen Andrews, Michael Emerson, and Terry O’Quinn.
Not only will the messages, themes, and characters of LOST remain in viewers’ hearts and minds but I anticipates a prequel. A sequel would be too much. I’ll explain this is a later post entitled, “LOST: How do you write your story?” However, the period pieces were so mysterious and broad that a contextual back-story could be masterful. The characters Jacob, his nameless brother, and Richard could all be developed further with others who existed in the ancient era. The character of the island (and its/his/her attributes could also be further mystified and/or deified.
More posts in the LOST series to be published daily.
September 9, 2009 in
blog, coffee, college, community, jesus, journey, justice, life, love, prayer, relationsship, religion, writing with
It appears as though my last post was published on August 11 – almost a month ago. I suppose there is a reason why I have not written in nearly a month. On August 12 I was offered and accepted a new position at MVNU, where I have served as a Resident Director for the last 3 years. I am now in the position formerly known as the Associate Dean. Though the listed responsibilities are essentially and/or technically the same as in previous years, the name of the position has changed, symbolically reflecting the change that I will/am bring/bringing. I am serving as the Director of Student Involvement and Accountability in the Office of Student Development. My title is the next-to-longest name second only to Rick Teasdale (not to be confused with an actual person), the Assistant Associate Vice Regional Director to the Chancellor of Student Services. My new role at MVNU includes serving as an advisor to the Student Government Association, chairing of the University Judicial Council and Campus Life Council, providing leadership development and mentoring to students, and handling all discipline process and accountability standards for students. I’m also the University Liaison to the Parents’ Association.
In the midst of the transition into my new position I’ve been quite wrapped up with a number of things. Sarah, Kyla, and I moved out of the RD apartment attached to Oakwood Hall. Per my request, we were able to maintain MVNU’s campus as our place of residence. My next post will tell about our move down the hill from Oakwood Hall to the Rosewood Apartments. We primarily wanted to remain on campus in order to continue living life among the students that we love, opening our home to all those who accept the invitation to journey with us, together in the struggle to learn what it really means to live in the way of Jesus.
I realized during a time of silence on our SGA Retreat (a couple of weekends ago) that the consistent and abnormal practice of solitude, prayer, and reflection is essential in the midst of all the things both good and bad that fill our lives. So… I am not particularly proud of the fact that I’ve had only 2 days off in the last 29 days but I am excited to enter a new season of life that possesses a more natural and healthy rhythm of existence. A more consistent schedule of thinking and writing will reignite the posts that are going to be published on a much more regular basis now that the time demands of transition have subsided.
I also moved into a new office. It’s name is Sweden. Stop by. We’ll share some coffee and conversation.
Peace.
May 3, 2009 in
art, compassion, conforming, design, Ecclesia, language, symbol, teaching, writing with
“Teaching Little Kyla…”
A series on Travis and Sarah’s journey of parental flubs, flaws, failures and accidental^ fortune.
I have been considering getting a tattoo for way too long now. I need to just do it. The one thing keeping me from it is that I don’t want to be in the “everybody’s doing it / it makes you a trendy ‘with it’ emergent” category. If I do proceed to have a colored liquid substance commonly called ink injected/burnt into my epidermis I would choose to have some combination of either Hebrew or Greek lettering imprinted. I know Greek better so I am more likely to go with that. My current choices are as follows:
1.) The 5th chapter of The Gospel of Matthew in Greek text line after line across my shoulders and back.
2.) Same as above but down my side along the rib cage area.
3.) Alpha on one forearm. Omega on the other.
4.) ek statis in Greek (somewhere).
5.) splaxnizomai in Greek (somewhere).
6.) ekklesia in Greek (somewhere).
7.) “I heart Mom” on my shoulder inside a heart (ok, not really… just to clear that up).
Kyla has been learning the English alphabet. She is really starting to get it down and is not yet 2 years old. “J-K-L-M-N-O” is giving her some trouble but she nails the “P.” I’ve started to teach her Hebrew and Greek. She does well with “Aleph-Bet-Gimel-Dalet” and “Alpha-Beta-Gamma-Delta.” I was thinking about making up some flashcards for her but then realized I could simply use my tattoos.
Should I get a tattoo?
What should it read?
If you had a child age 13-19 who wanted a tattoo would you allow it?
Should I be teaching my daughter the biblical languages?
^ There is someone(s) greater than me/us (a divine being and a community of people) that intercede with grace and giving.
April 30, 2009 in
art, creation, image, mclaren, mvnu, religion, worship, writing with
Brian McLaren said, "I’m deep into revisions for A New Kind of Christianity , due out next March, and I’m feeling ‘in the zone.’ The first draft is done, but I revise first drafts like Chuck Norris unleashes roundhouse kicks, so the really intense work is underway."
Brian , you are my hero (one of them). You are a man of humility (unlike some other unnamed authors and speakers I’ve met) and a man who can write a first draft. I am so retentive, perfectionistic, and obsessive that I cannot get through a rough, first draft. I get stuck editing as I go and thereby get nowhere in my writings. I need to follow the advice spoken by Sean Connery’s character, William Forrester, in the film Finding Forrester , "Write! Bang the keys!" (or something like that).
A recent chapel service at MVNU was constructed by the Art Department. There was a very loud banging typewriter during the entire service. I heard a lot of negative feedback from some students but I’ve always appreciated the Art Department chapel and the unique forms of creating thoughtful reflection. MVNU students, here is your chance to unleash your thoughts: What is your reaction and reflection concerning the incessant banging of keys during a chapel gathering?
April 25, 2009 in
consumption, culture, death, family, global, hate, history, kingdom, peace, writing with
Disconnect
in a pink shirt the reporter speaks
his voice ripe with excitement while
behind him the Wave crashes over
and over the same bodies flung
like broken sticks which in an instant
they have become bundled into
body bags bulging on the shredded sand
though when we return we’ll hear
from one survivor in a wheelchair
whom we glimpse smiling as the scene
shifts to a woman waltzing across
her kitchen dazzles as she holds high
a ziplock bag not large enough for bodies
no but fruit she says stays fresh for days.
Sarah Rossiter
Published in Christian Century, May 29, 2007
April 22, 2009 in
book, culture, Ecclesia, Emergent, empire, giving, global, government, imagination, issues, jesus, justice, kingdom, reformation, religion, Rob Bell, Theology, writing with
When I opened up christianitytoday.com to read today’s interview formatted article with Rob Bell talking about his most recent book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians , I laughed out loud. Sitting right in the midst of the text was an dynamic (technical term, not descriptive of the ad content) ad "From the Creators of Facing the Giants: Fireproof on DVD, Never Leave Your Partner Behind." "Christian"^ marketing kills me. Of course and unfortunately, the marketers for "Facing the Giants" had to play off the "Left Behind"^^ language. The Christian life is about so much more than getting "left behind." As Bell eloquently presents in his book, salvation is not confined to the afterlife or to individual reconciliation with God. There is salvation in this life from systems of tyranny and injustice. Here is a bit from the article in CT that I particularly liked:
Question to Bell :
Are you a pacifist, or do you think that a truly Christian church has to be a pacifist church?
Rob’s Response :
My dad is a U.S. Federal District Judge and gets lots of death threats. On Father’s Day a couple of years ago, there were bodyguards in the driveway at our house. And I am okay with that.
But I sit right in that tension. Sometimes people say no police, no armed forces, no anything. And the truth is, whether I am falling short of Jesus’ teaching or not, there are situations where I am really glad that there is a policeman standing right there and that he has a gun. So I don’t know how exactly you work that out in detail.
But my hope would be that as a Christian, you would have a larger imagination. Take Saddam Hussein. Your first impulse would be, "Man, if he wasn’t in power, it would be greatand the only way is to bring in a hundred thousand troops." To me, the third way of Jesus is always asking if there is an imaginative, subversive, brilliant, creative path.
^ Christian is used in quotation marks to designate "Christian" in its use as a quasi-psuedo-popular subculture rather than a term that describes a person reflecting the image of Jesus.
^^ I do not recommend the "Left Behind" series – just so we’re clear about that.
April 16, 2009 in
conforming, culture, entertainment, fun, jesus, life, perspective, Philosophy, postmodern, writing with
I have had my Twitter account for a while now. At first I hardly ever used it except with a few international friends or those who are "with it" enough in the states to "tweet." I am excited that more people are now tweeting. A little birdy (ok, that was too far; not funny) told me that Twitter is the new Facebook, a name which continues to bother me since the application is not a book at all. The funniest thing about Twitter is that I have "followers." Now I really have a messianic complex since I feel like a first century rabbi in Israel. I’m not sure if I want to call my followers my "Tweeps" or my "Tweeple." Both terms are tossed around the Twitterverse so as to signify that one is "with it" when it comes to using the "with it" online connectivity tool.
What does it mean to be "with it?"
If you would like to follow me [and thereby know where I am and what I'm doing at all times (yes, i know... captivating and irresistible)] then please click the link to the right (it’s the one that says "Twitter"). Come, follow me… and I will make you ____________________.
I’m taking out for lunch or dinner whoever fills in the blank with the most creative and funniest response. Click on the comments to add your… comment.
March 27, 2009 in
blog, Church, deconstruction, dialogue, Emergent, grammar, journey, love, postmodern, quotes, reformation, religion, Rob Bell, Theology, word, writing with
I welcome and appreciate comments that question the intent or perspective of my posts. One particular comment, which may seem adversarial but I would suggest is written for constructive or at least clarifying purposes (tone and intent are largely lost in the blogosphere), reads as follows:
"im a little confused on your opinion of journey. i have been there a few times but not much scripture was used so i havent been back. may come again sometime though.
speaking of scripture
. i appreciate your writing but would like to see more scripture references.
im also curious to why you chose the name subversive reformation. a lot of post-modern movements (like rob bell, donald miller, shane claiborne kind of thing) make me wonder if we are too cynical and proud of our big words and creative artwork that we miss the point: LOVE."
Please note that I am not degrading this comment but rather continuing with the invitation for discussion. There are many directions in which to go but I want to begin by addressing only one small element of the comment. I may return to the ideas of postmodernism, movements, naming, and cynicism but first want to conisder "scripture references."
We have been conditioned to expect Scripture to be used in a certain way. Don’t get me wrong, I highly value the recitation of Scripture during church gatherings. I sometimes need to go to a Catholic or Episcopal gathering just to hear the public reading of God’s written communication with humanity. It is good for the soul of my recovering popular-evangelical self. However, to quote Scripture doesn’t mean that one has to "quote" (pun intended) Scripture. Modernism has conditioned us to want references, bullet points, quotations, citations, enumerations and many other "ations." Our western, post-enlightenment minds that place an overly-high value on reason and logical processing have difficulty recognizing that Scripture is interlaced within our stories.
Here, I will draw a parallel using a specific reference from Scripture . The book of Esther found in the Hebrew Scriptures (TNK ) never uses the actual word "God" in any of its forms (YHWH, Elohim, etc.) Esther is the only book of the Bible that does not use the word "God." Does that mean that God is not present throughout the story? Should the book of Esther not have been included in the Bible? Should it be discluded from that which is considered in the Judeo-Christian tradtion to be "holy writing" simply because the word "God" isn’t quoted? Equally, should any writing that does not "quote" scripture be tossed out as though it is irrelevant and removed from the narrative of God with his people?
February 16, 2009 in
adoption, blog, design, writing with
I’ve been in the ever so slow and tedious yet sometimes creatively stimulating process of updating the design and layout of subversiveREFORMATION.com . One thing I haven’t figured out yet is getting the feed icon in your browser address bar to sync with my FeedBurner account. If you don’t mind, please cancel any previous subscription you have had whether that be via e-mail, a reader, or a bookmark and then re-subscribe using the "SUBSCRIBE " link button to the right rather than the RSS icon in your browser. THANK YOU.
I’m also trying to adjust some CSS to give the header and page buttons and more streamlined and clean feel. I’ll also be incorporating a custom Google search bar along with addtional Google Ads to enhance the monetization for our adoption fund (link to right to make a donation). You may also notice some of the buttons to the right looking different. Please add a comment to let me know of any good sites that I should link to from subversiveREFORMATION.com.
February 10, 2009 in
college, community, Education, mvnu, writing with
MVNU has launched a new "Student Blogs " initiative. Current SGA President Nate Okuley , Junior Class President Michelle Gastin, sophomore student and Oakwood Hall Resident Assistant Addison Hill, sophmore student and CoSMO (Community Service and Ministry Opportunity) leader Bennett Briles, and freshman Kim Mengerink share about their experiences at MVNU . Check out what is happening in their lives and all the ongoings of our campus community.
