Missing Emergent Churches

Last Sunday at church, Michael had the honor of singing with the worship band. (He wouldn't let me take any pictures...) He was asked to sing the song "Fix You," by Coldplay as a solo because the key was too high for the worship leader. At the second service, he got a standing ovation! (It was weird because our church rarely claps after any song.) He absolutely blew them away! I was so proud of him. (I think he sang it way better, but that's my biased opinion... ;-)



So after that performance, our worship leader asked Michael to join him in playing for a conference that was being hosted here in town. Not thinking too much of it, he agreed. Well, it turned out it was an emergent conference where Tony Jones and Doug Paggit (sp??) were attending. (I shook Tony Jones' hand... there's my "emergent" claim to fame ;-) We were part of an emergent church, and had missed it. The church we go to now is somewhat emergent, but there are aspects that are missing that we really enjoyed. So it was so refreshing to be there and get to experience an emergent community again. It took a little getting used to it again, but once we did it was a supernatural experience. They had about 6 prayer stations set up, and each one spoke directly to something that was going on in my life. It was awesome!
After that was over, we discussed how the friends we are making at church are good friends, but we don't always see eye to eye on issues. Needless to say, we are definitely the odd couple out. In emergent groups, our way of thinking and living are "normal," not different or weird. We tend to butt heads with our friends who are not familiar with "emergent ideas" when it comes to ideas of missional, community, love, and church. Although we love our church and will continue attending, it was very apparent that we should get hooked up with the emergent cohort in Denver. Exciting! I'm sure I'll see some of you around!

"Across the Universe" is my New Favorite Movie

I have become obsessed with the movie and soundtrack of "Across the Universe"! I love the artistic side of the movie, as well as the story, and of course, the music-- you can't go wrong with all Beatles all the time! I'm listening to the soundtrack right now! "Strawberry Fields" is one of my favorite songs on the the cd as well as the scene in the movie is my favorite scene!! It's so haunting and dramatic and symbolic and just awesome! So if you haven't seen it, I HIGHLY recommend it, even if you know nothing about Beatles' music. But you have to appreciate artsy movies... that's the only requirement. Go see it!

"I do-a da cha-cha"

I love being tagged! Thanks Mak! I copied her and used my itunes. My list is very diverse... I'm all about diversity :-)

1. "Feels Like Today" by Rascal Flatts from Feels Like Today

2. "City Hall" by The Fray from Reason EP

3. "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac from Greatest Hits

4. "Over the Rainbow" by Harry Nilsson from You've Got Mail soundtrack

5. "The Authority Song" by Jimmy Eat World from Jimmy Eat World

6. "One Day I'll Fly Away" by Nicole Kidman from Moulin Rouge soundtrack

7. "On and On" by Kevin Max from Stereotype Be

8. "Nice and Easy" by Frank Sinatra from Classic Sinatra

9. "Mayfield" by Augustana from All the Starts and Boulevards

10. "Waiting Game" by Yellowcard from Lights and Sounds

Masks and Country Music

I have a confession to make… I like country music (and unashamed of it!). Well, I have a lot of it on my itunes and I was listening to it today at work and one of my all-time favorite artists came on—Garth Brooks. I love him! I am so angry that I became a fan when he decided to retire, or at least no longer tour… I can’t say how much I wouldn’t spend on a ticket to his concert. Anyway, I’m getting away from the reason I’m writing this. I was listening to him today and his song, “When There’s No One Around” came on. It’s a fabulous song! It’s about being a different person when no one’s around—being a kid (immature, reckless, without a care in the world), being an adult (unsure, insecure, invisible to the world), and singing and dancing to your own song (carefree, carried away, lose control). It’s not a new or even remotely revolutionary idea that people are not themselves around others. As I was listening to it, this idea struck me—why not?

Why can’t we be ourselves? Why must we put on our masks and hide our insecurities and burdens when we are around others? Why is it so difficult to even remove the mask and let the child out even when we are alone? It doesn’t matter if we are at home, school, work, church… we all wear masks. We may even change which mask we wear in front of which people. Why are we so afraid to be real?

I will be the first to admit that I have and do wear masks. However, I have been working (through counseling mostly) on being genuine and real—to take off the masks and expose my true self—the self that is flawed, broken, bruised, and *gasp* not perfect. It is difficult to show your true self and express how you really feel about something. The “world” expects us to always be happy, joyful, and think positively about things. What I have been learning is how to talk to people and express an opinion, especially one that may be negative or against the norm, in a respectable way, yet still getting my voice heard and my point across. It’s very easy to hide behind excuses and justifications for not “showing up.” People want honesty yet rarely give it. We all need to work on that and work on removing the mask that hides our imperfections. Expose your true self. Dance your own dance, no matter who is around!

Here are the lyrics of the song:

This is a song that nobody knows
I couldn't begin to describe how it goes
But it makes me cry or laugh right out loud
It's a song that I sing when there's no one around

This is the man that nobody sees
He wears my old clothes and he looks just like me
Just one of the boys who gets lost in the crowd
He's the man that I am when there's no one around

It's four in the morning
I'm lyin' in bed
A tape of my failures
Playin' inside my head
It's heartache and hard knocks
And things I don't know
I listen and I wonder
Where will it go

This is a glimpse of a child that's within
He's so immature but he's still my best friend
If he could learn how to fly he'd never touch down
He's the kid that I am when there's no one around

This is the dance I do every day
I let my feet go and get carried away
I let my soul lead and follow the sound
It's the dance that I do when there's no one around

It's four in the morning
I'm lyin' in bed
A tape of my failures
Playin' inside my head
It's heartache and hard knocks
And things I don't know
I listen and I wonder
Where will it go

This is a song that nobody knows
I still can't begin to describe how it goes
But it makes me cry or laugh right out loud
It's a song that I sign when there's no one around
It's a song that I sign when there's no one around