This is one of my top 5 desert island albums. Taylor does some masterful lyric work layered on top of gritty guitars. Get it on iTunes and while you are at it, get Taylors earlier work The Overflow too.
Key Listens: Mumford & Sons
Mumfod & Sons An amazing piece of work from an amazing band. Fresh takes on faith and life, grace and love. Contemplations of our relationship with God. Pure, heartfelt, and real. NOTE: One song (Little Lion Man) I advise caution with kids.
Album drops February 16th, unless you happen to be in the UK ;)
Recommended Reads
No Perfect People Allowed: Creating A Come As You Are Culture in the Church
John Burke
Fabulous book for anyone trying to build the Kingdom of God in a postmodern society. Get it here!
Often maligned, often deservedly. And I have to admit that I’ve been among those who have said things like “I love Christ but I dont like the Church” or “I love Christ but it’s Christians that drive me nuts”. While I think, I hope, that people understand that what I’m meaning is that I dont like how the Church often acts and presents itself, but the fact is, I’m wrong. And I repent of that before God and the Net.
I don’t know if its due to the age group that I constantly find myself engaged with, or if its a trait of a generation seeking greatness and meaning, but over and over again I meet people who are stuck, stung, and snagged by one question.
I love the first few lines of a book. They set the tone for the whole book. They are responsible for drawing you in. Any author worth their salt knows that the first lines are the most critically important lines in the whole book.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”Charles Dickens pens in the brilliant opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities.
Many of us Postmodern Christians love to use the quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi "Preach the gospel, if necessary, use words." I get why we love it. It gives us freedom. It means that we can fully embrace lifestyle evangelism on the authority of one of the heroes of the faith. It gives us ammo to our oft held belief that we should be examples of Christ and not ram the gospel down anyones throat.
But its wrong. Its not true. Its not from Assisi. Its not Biblical.
Ok, so it's time to get back to the creative side of things. Time to look at the Renovo charter and building our community into one of artistic excellence.
Before I jump in, I have a question. What pleases a creative God? What can we create, what can we make, write, perform, play, design, think, dream up, that will please a God who has already thought of it. Or is giving it to us to think, make, play, write, etc.
