Feeling a bit foggy? A bit groggy? A bit fuzzy? A bit wuzzy? A bit worn down, run down, down-trodden and under the weather? Don’t let the cares, concerns, criticisms and critiques of this world bring you down my little frowny friend. Turn that frown right upside-down. I’ve got the cure for what ails ‘ya (not what ales). Sit a spell, browse a while. Become informed and quite possibly, Reformed. Welcome to the majesty that is the Weekly Town Crier:

Read about the SMU professors protesting an intelligent design conference (ht: PR).

Read the New York Times‘ piece yet again lamenting the passing away of the album as a viable (and valuable) musical format.

Visit the obligatory Myspace page for John Medeski and Billy Martin as they celebrate their first duo recording together.

Read this piece which claims that young children who receive better care are smarter.

Read about the Australian sushi Hepatitis scare.

Read about the “conservative” Jewish seminary which recently voted to allow openly gay and lesbian students.

Browse Paul Schafer’s (him, not him) great collection of mp3 sermons and lectures. While you’re at it, don’t forget to browse Andy Naselli’s great collection of D.A. Carson mp3 files.

Read about the smugglers who threw hundreds of Somolian immigrants overboard into stormy seas.

Browse the week in photos from Yahoo.

See the world’s first $1,000,000 laptop (no, it’s not a Mac).

Read Time magazine’s interesting “Case For Teaching the Bible” which argues that it could and should be taught in schools.

Read this piece which claims that up to one-third of Americans not only don’t have internet access but have no plans to in the future.

Read about the street preacher protesting the new law which requires him to get written permission to preach on the street.

Read Al Mohler’s critique of The Secret. Read James White’s critique and read Donald Whitney’s.

Read Books & Culture’s annual baseball preview.

Browse this list of legal, free music resources.

Read two poems by Obama from his college days.

Sign up for eMusic. Discover an exciting new world of DRM-free music and help me earn free downloads in the process.

Remember these tips to improve your memory.

Read about the controversy in the skateboarding world concerning “blank” decks and design your own deck while you’re at it.

Read about the world’s tallest man getting married.

Read this piece which argues that just because we can multitask doesn’t mean we should. Though we feel like we’re getting more done, we’re not doing things as well.

Read about the dog who performed the heimlich maneuver on its owner who was choking on an apple seed.

Read Al Mohler’s thoughts about why infanticide is on the rise in many European countries: “The logic of infanticide is just the logic of abortion pushed beyond the moment of birth.”

Read this interview with current favorite Nico Muhly (NOTE: he unfortunately curses twice in the interview).

Read about the pastors who were kidnapped in Bangalore.

Read about Al Gore’s struggle to continue with his planned concert for the environment.

Read Fox News’ discussion of the idea of “religious literacy” based on Stephen Prothero’s newest book: Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know–And Doesn’t.

Read about President Bush’s response to the pork-laden war-funding bill.

Read about the famed “Tuskegee Airmen” receiving the Congressional Gold Medal.

Read about the British Catholic Bishop who claims that it’s actually “gay-rights” legislation that is intolerant and threatens to close nine Catholic adoption centers if they are forced to place children with homosexual couples.

Read this piece which questions why college and high school coaches who curse at their players in practice or games are not fired.

Read this article which labels presidential hopeful Mitt Romney a “big government conservative.”

Read about actor Sean Penn saying that President Bush has become our countries “most devastating enemy.”

Read about feminists demanding access to programs dedicated to fathers.

Read this piece which ponders about the different covers to the last Harry Potter installment.

Read about a rise in the practice of church discipline in SBC churches (ht: WT).

Browse Andreas Kostenberger’s list of favorite NT commentaries, and list of helpful biblical resources. While you’re at it, browse this list of helpful resources compiled by Craig Blomberg and William Klein (ht: JT).

Read this piece which wonders about the leaks of albums to blogs for publicity.

Read this interview with the director of Calvin College’s Festival of Faith and Music about why artists Sufjan Stevens and Emmylou Harris were included.

Read this piece by Adam which calls for civil yet sincere dialogue between Evangelicals and homosexuals.

I enjoy the pursuit of creativity. That is not the same thing as saying that I do it well, but I am convinced that Christians must regain an appreciation for the arts in light of and for the Gospel. To that end, I take some time to highlight the pursuit of creativity here on Fridays. I link to the photography of Joe Kennedy, Will Turner, Timmy Brister, Steve McCoy, Joe Thorn, along with the Friday Flickr Group in which they participate. I also highlight a poet who may or may not be Christian, but who above all, uses words well and I also highlight a musical artist (more often than not instrumental since that’s primarily what I listen to) who makes at least one track available for free and legal download.

Today’s featured poet is Paul Verlaine (1844-1896). As with Rimbaud and Baudelaire, Verlaine’s personal life was certainly less than admirable from a Christian perspective. As such, Verlaine’s poetry was often quite dark and certainly not for the discerning reader. But, that is not to say that there isn’t also much beauty to be found in his work. Verlaine’s many stylistic innovations helped lay the foundation for free verse and other experimental poetic techniques which would later emerge in movements such as Beat poetry. Today’s poem is entitled “Autumn Song”:

With long sobs
the violin-throbs
of autumn wound
my heart with languorous
and montonous
sound.

Choking and pale
When I mind the tale
the hours keep,
my memory strays
down other days
and I weep;

and I let me go
where ill winds blow
now here, now there,
harried and sped,
even as a dead
leaf, anywhere.

• Visit Wikipedia’s Paul Verlaine page
• Read Verlaine for yourself

Today’s featured music comes from guitarist Charlie Hunter. Hunter is best-known for playing a custom made 8-string guitar, playing guitar and bass simultaneously. He plays the lead on the top five strings (tuned ADGBe) and bass (tuned EAD) on the bottom three strings. My wife and I had the chance to see him play live several years ago. It is simply amazing to watch him play. Hunter’s music often crosses genre boundaries, combining jazz, funk and rock. Hunter is kind enough to host several live tracks available for downloading highlighting several different incarnations including solo, duo, trio, quartet and quintet settings. He offers three discs worth of live material available for download and even offers artwork!

• Download “Fables of Faubus” (solo)
• Download “Cloud Splitter” (duo)
• Download “Fred’s Life” (trio)
• Download “911″ (quartet)
• Download “People” (quintet)
• Visit Charlie Hunter’s official website
• Listen to Charlie Hunter for yourself
• Browse the collection of free, legal live Charlie Hunter recordings at the Archive
• Download Charlie Hunter’s albums from eMusic

I have recently partnered with White Post Media to review various resources. The first resource is In Transit: What Do You Do With Your Wait? from threads, a new Lifeway imprint targeted at young adults.

In Transit is a multimedia group curriculum written by Mike Harder who describes himself as “speaker guy” for The Loop, a “large single adult Bible study gathering” at Highpoint Church in Memphis.

I’ll be completely honest and say that as a former Youth Pastor and as a current Teaching Pastor, I have often shied away from Lifeway material. In my own opinion, it has a tendency to be sometimes shallow, but every once in a while, they throw out a diamond in the rough. So it was with great interest that I dove into In Transit.

The material tries to strike a balance (and mostly suceeds) between being a group-centered curriculum with personal challenges. Prior to the material is a helpful transition section which includes an introduction to the idea of journaling. This section is brief but helpful for those who might not be familiar with the practice of journaling as part of regular personal Bible study. Journaling is encouraged as a method of internalizing and personalizing the group material.

The curriculum itself is divided up into six sessions with several discussion questions built into the sessions themselves. As you might have guessed, the theme of the material is that God rarely acts in our timing, which means that we just might spend quite a bit of time “waiting” on God. Harder traces events in the lives of David, Joseph and Jesus, examining how they handled apparent “waits” on God.

Three of the sessions (the heart of the material) flesh out the themes 1) The waiting can’t be about the wait, 2) You can’t short circuit the wait and 3) God builds into us during the wait. It goes without saying that the primary theme developed through these sessions is that God actually uses waiting to work in and through us and we must learn to develop His perspective while denying our own, which is, more often than not, self-centered and impatient. Harder does a good job through these middle sections in focing us to consider how quick we are to hold God to our standards and timelines rather than submitting to His.

From here, Harder begins to conclude by trying to take a “step back” and place the idea of waiting into the larger picture of life. Session five awkwardly handles the question of “who we truly want to be.” Here, he tries to incorporate the idea of waiting into the larger question of identity. Though it is a necessary discussion to have, it feels as though it might be better suited for a study of its own. Though the question of waiting is certainly tied to idenity, the transition feels a bit forced and awkward when we’re told to develop certain core values by examining Harders: 1) lover, 2) liver, 3) learner, 4) teacher (I guess he ran out of “L” words?), 5) missioner.

This brings us to one of the possible drawbacks of any study of this nature. It is filled with personal anecdotes from Harder’s own experiences. These anecdotes help to both personalize and apply the material, but the problem for most people trying to teach these sessions is fairly simple: they are not Mike Harder. It will take a fairly strong and creative leader to take Harder’s approach and take the additional but necessary step of further personalizing the material. Otherwise, there is a disconnect that comes from trying to apply the material through someone else’s personal stories.

The material ends where it ought to, with a reaffirmation/challenge of trusting God and his “plan for your life.” Throughout, the material has good discussion questions that often require both introspection and public discussion. This is a great balance and is hard to come by and for that Harder needs to be commended.

The material is presented as a multimedia curriculum and comes with several short DVD clips that serve as discussion starters but ultimately prove unnecessary and not entirely beneficial, though some many will appreciate the multimedia approach. The same is true for the music included. The idea is that there is a short “mix CD” which participants are encouraged to listen to while doing personal preparations. This is great in theory, but again, the problem for many people is that they are not Mike Harder and the music he finds particularly inspiring and applicable comes across as forced and contrived to others. Music is quite a subjective thing and though I commend threads for their attempt at a multi-sensory approach, but the attempt at the mix CD comes across as trying just a little to hard to be hip.

The content of the material is a bit deeper than others curriculums I’ve seen from Lifeway. There is a clear emphasis on Scripture and drawing any conclusions and applications from the Word rather than personal experience. There are also many scattered quotes from throughout church history which I found quite interesting. In the end, any personal reservations I might have about the material are drawn from its form (personal to Mike Harder) rather than its content. While this study may not be a diamond in the rough, it is certainly more than just a rock. Maybe an emerald?

• Visit the In Transit website
• Visit the threads media site
• View the promotional video featuring Mike Harder
• View the threads promotional video
• Visit Highpoint Church’s official website
• Visit The Loop’s official website

I don’t personally know many of you. I don’t know how old you are. I don’t even know if you claim to be a Christian or not. I do claim to be a Christian and I am old enough to have a past filled with people who would be surprised, to say the least, to see my current station in life.

Christianity at its core is the claim of a changed life. Though our society tries to relegate Christianity to one voice among many at the table and you are free to decide “what is true for you,” Christianity claims to be exclusive. Jesus Himself said that there is no other way to Heaven (John 14:6, etc.). Christianity is the claim that God supernaturally brings the spiritually dead into spiritual ife (Ephesians 2:1-10), that He replaces hearts of stone with hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19). It is the claim that sin’s command over lives has been broken (Romans 6:17-18) and that we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Christ (Colossians 1:13-14).

True Christianity is not a claim that we’ve simply done something once (walked an aisle, recited a prayer, burned a card at Summer camp, whatever your “one thing” might be), it is the claim that we have been supernaturally changed, in fact, re-created (2 Corinthians 5:17).

What would the people from your past say about you now? If you could go back in time and tell them then where you’d be at in life now, would they believe you? For example, if I were able to go back to high school, or even early college years and tell those people in my life then that I would be not only a seminary graduate but a pastor now, I’m honestly not sure that they would have taken me seriously. I’m not sure I would have taken myself seriously!

Scripture commends, not the one who makes a one-time commitment, but the one who remains steadfast over a long period of time (James 1:12, etc.). It also commends not just a profession of faith but a faith that changes lives. If your old friends could see you now, would your life be any different than when they knew you? Is it an overstatement to say that you have become a new creation? If it is, can you truly say that you love Christ? Jesus says that it is the one who keeps His commandments that loves Him (John 14:15, 21, 23, etc.).

Scripture teaches that our lives are actually our most powerful testimonies. Take some time and think about the overall trajectory of your life? What is the pattern of life? Has there been such a steady change in your life so that those who knew you in the past be surprised at where you find yourself now?

• Read Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist by John Piper
• Read Knowing God by J.I. Packer

One of the uncomfortable truths about the Christian life is that we are prone to wander (Lord I feel it), prone to leave the God we love. Yet God often will not let His people wander far. In fact, He will often take drastic measures to get our attention. One such Scriptural example occurs in John 6:16-21:

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

Notice Jesus’ disciples were the only observers of this miracle, so He apparently had something specific to teach them. Here they were, crossing the sea, dark had set in, but so had a storm, bringing “fright” with it. That’s when they saw Him, Jesus walking on the water.

Jesus used these circumstances to teach the disciples about His authority, not just over nature, but even over space and time. Notice that they came “immediately” to the “land to which they were going”. Jesus immediately applies these truths by telling His disciples “Do not be afraid”.

God often puts us in overwhelming circumstances to teach us about His person and power. It’s not as much discipline as it is a display of His power, which we so easily forget. Elsewhere, Jesus commands His people not to be anxious (Matthew 6:25-33). God often uses trials to strengthen our faith (James 1:2-4).

How easily we become sidetracked. How quickly we become afraid. Just as the disciples began to panic, we often let our circumstances overwhelm us. Listen as God tells His people “do not be afraid.” Do not let your circumstances distract you or distract your perspective.

It’s said that . John Wesley was once walking with a terribly depressed man who expressed doubts about the goodness of God. As they were walking, they happened upon a cow looking over a stone wall. Wesley turned to the man and asked him, “Do you know why the cow looks over the wall?” The man said he did not, to which Wesley replied, “Because he can’t see through it,” just as you cannot see through your circumstances.” Does God have you in the midst of seemingly overwhelming circumstances to remind you of His power? Are you lisenting? Be not afraid.

This account of Jesus coming to the disciples in the midst of the storm with the message “Be not afraid” reminds me of Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Selah
4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah
8Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

The message of the Psalmist is the same as that of Jesus: even in the midst of the storm, especially in the midst of the storm, be not afraid, God is our strength and He is always near. Always. Do you trust enough to be still in the midst of the storm?

• Read The Power of Suffering: Strengthening Your Faith in the Refiner’s Fire by John MacArthur

It is no surprise to even infrequent readers here that music plays a rather large role in my life. I listen to music for the most part of most of my days. Music plays while I study, while I write, while I exercise and while I drive.

I like just about every kind of music (with the exception of much “modern” country). In fact, it’s sometimes a running joke around our church offices that the music coming from my office might not even be in English (if it has any words at all).

When someone likes music as much as I do, it’s inevitable that opinions will begin to develop. This is even more the case when the music lover in question is also a devoted follower of Christ. Not only have I developed ideas about what kinds of music I prefer and why but also about how our faith relates to all areas of life, including music.

As much as I wish it were not so, I am quite disappointed with most “Christian” music (you can read some thoughts here, here and here to mention just a few). Though I don’t want to re-hash old topics here, I will say that for the most part, the message has become the medium and for most within the ranks of “CCM,” it is not about art but about propaganda and everything suffers and everyone knows it. The message has become so much the only focus that we look at what the “world” was doing six months ago, we try to replace all of the content, give it back to them (but not done as well) and wonder why it is that they don’t take us seriously.

But every once in a while, I come across something that reminds me that to be Christian is not necessarily to be a culture copycat. What’s even more startling is when those discoveries are from artists long-gone rather than on the current “cutting edge.” I recently had just such an experience when I heard for the first time the four-CD box set, The Christ Tree by the band known as The Trees Community.

Their official website says that they were “a live-together Christian contemplative group. Our traveling life in the 1970�s was shared publicly, across America and Canada, through original music and in general service.” The community came together and often worshipped through music, which led them to sometimes tour behind this music. Though they typically toured at 7 members, the “band” often swelled up to 12-14 members. And you just thought the Polyphonic Spree was original.

The box set itself unfolds to form the shape of a cross and includes extensive liner notes including biographical information on every consistent member. Though the sound quality is not crystal clear, it is amazing considering that one CD came from the only existing source, an old cassette tape and many of the reels had suffered considerable damage. There is also some repetition with several of the songs presented in a couple of different contexts, including two live performances.

So what can be said of the music? What makes this 65-song set worth wading through, which it certainly is? The music skillfully combines Indian ragas, psychedelic rock, folk, classical, gamelan and often just about everything in between. But whereas such eclecticism often ends up being forced and disjointed, it works here. Part of the reason it works is that there is a recognition that their Christian faith bridges all of the gaps that might otherwise keep such cultures apart. The eclectic approach is not forced and in fact is often used as a point of medication.

The lyrics are often straight Scripture, including Psalms 42, 44, 45 and 46 or meditations on the Scriptural portrayals of Christ or his work of reconciliation. These emphases serve to cover any theological concerns which may be present in the individual members’ theology (I’ve read about hints of Bhuddism and some other elements but none of this surfaces in the music).

This music certainly will not appeal to everyone. It is creative, adventurous and not polished but it is sincere and moving and fans of world music and the recent “freak folk” movements will find much to appreciate. It is refreshing to find artists pushing the boundaries of creativity in the name of Christ and it is convicting that there have been so few since the passing of this wonderful collective.

• Visit the official website (and sample music here)
• Purchase the box set for yourself
• Read the 5-star review from Allmusic
• Read the 8.6 review from Pitchfork
• Read the A+ review from Stylus

Hear ye! Hear ye! this happened and then the other thing and then I read something but then I heard something and after that I clicked on something and read something else and then I saw some things and heard some other things and here it is all for your browsing pleasure. The Weekly Town Crier is simply a collection of the things that caughty my attention this past week.

Read Al Mohler’s article about the media furor surrounding his recent piece on the genetics of homosexuality.

Read about Sam Brownback supporting General Pace’s comments about homosexuality being immoral. Read this piece which notes that, with little surprise, both Hillary and Barack disagree (ht: PR).

Read this Reuters piece which notes that despite the boom in online digital audio sales, indie labels still primarily focus on physical compact disc sales ht: lhb).

Read this piece which wonders why the Jesuits love Tom Waits while the Pope dislikes Bob Dylan (lhb).

Read about the thousands of Christians who recently gathered in D.C. for an anti-war rally.

Read about a recent study which found that “Adult men who grew up in single-parent households are twice as likely as other men to have been sexually abused during childhood”.

Read about the art scholar who committed suicide because of the Da Vinci Code.

Browse the week in photos from Yahoo.

Read this piece which claims that “People who play car racing video games may be more prone to drive recklessly and get into accidents”.

Read Al Mohler’s piece about America’s one and only professing Atheist congressman.

Watch a British version of the “I’m a Mac/I’m a PC” ads and watch all of the U.S. versions.

Read Barna’s claim that the “unchurched” population in the U.S. has reached 100 million.

Read this piece which cites a study which claims playing music makes people smarter.

Read this report that Google is developing its own phone.

Read as Sufjan Stevens‘ posts his thoughts on “friend rock”.

Read about the judge in the Anna Nicole Smith proceedings who was busted for smoking pot in a city park under a tree.

Read about the Supreme Court hearing the “Bong Hits For Jesus” “Freedom of Speech” case.

Read about Amazon’s move to pursue the oft-neglected classical music market with it’s special “Blowout” section with CD’s $4.99 and less.

Watch the “Hillary 1984″ ad which parodies the famous Mac ad. Read this piece which claims Obama’s campaign had nothing to do with the ad. Read this piece which identifies the ad’s creator.

Read as Books & Culture asks “Who Gets to Define Islam” by examining the book The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright.

Read Books & Culture’s treatment of N.T. Wright’s latest offering Simply Christian and examines the new book’s relationship to C.S. Lewis‘ classic Mere Christianity.

Read about Rosie O’Donnell’s implications that at least part of the 09/11 attacks were orchestrated in order to destroy files to protect Enron.

Listen to the messages from February’s “Different By Design” conference. Messages include sessions by Russell Moore, J. Ligon Duncan, Wayne Grudem and C.J. Mahaney.

Visit the new Blood: Water Mission blog.

Read about the 219 “civil unions” that have taken place within the first month of New Jersey’s new law.

See my family’s updated blog!

Read about the 13-year old girl who apparently had the stinkiest shoes in the whole country.

Read this piece which wonders about “critic proof” bands.

Read Russ Breimeier’s thoughts about whether the American Idol show can serve to glorify God.

Read Al Mohler’s thoughts on Sam Harris‘ latest op-ed piece in which he refers to Christians as “God’s dupes”.

Visit Monergism’s new feature “Take Up and Read,” a regular book review resource.

Read about the federal judge who recently struck down a 1998 U.S. law that makes it a crime for commercial Web site operators to let children access “harmful” material.

Read about Hillary saying that if she is elected, she will make Bill “ambassador to the world, because we have a lot of work to do to get our country back in the standing it should be.”

Read about the Oregon biology teacher who was fired for using biblical references.

Read about the discovery of Chopin’s final piano concerto.

Read about the community college chess team that’s beaten Harvard and Yale.

Read about the South Carolina bill requiring women seeking abortions to first review ultrasound images of their fetuses.

Download a ton of helpful D.A. Carson resources (ht: JT).

Read Jeremy Casella’s continuing account of the recording of his new album.

Read Jim’s “Proper Introduction” to his new blog, and not just because it mentions me (though that doesn’t hurt)!

Welcome Charlie Groza!

Help Matthew Smith “Vote to Save Lives in Africa.”

Read Matthew Hall’s thoughts “On Reading” which fall quite close to Mortimer J. Adler’s hints on How to Read a Book.

Sign up for eMusic. Discover an exciting new world of DRM-free music and help me earn free downloads in the process.