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November 20th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in Music & Culture, Tech

This month’s Artist Discovery dwonload for the month is the latest from The Rosebuds, Life Like, and I am pleasantly suprised!  The selection so far has been pretty good with release from The Low Anthem and a bonus download of Rosie Thomas’ Christmas album.  for those who have not heard, here are the details of the subscription….

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Music Purchases/Downloads in 2008 so far…

November 19th, 2008 | 3 Comments | Posted in Music & Culture

This has got to be a record for me, thanks to eMusic and AmazonMP3.  I have created a smart playlist in iTunes that compiles everything with a 2008 release date in the meta info.  Gonna be a tough top 10 list this year!

NIN - Ghosts I - IV
Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken - & EP
The Grand Archives - S/T
She & Him - Volume 1
The Out Circuit - Pierce the Empire
Thrice - The Alchemy Index Vol. III & IV: Air and Earth
16 Horsepower - Live 2XCD
Hammock - Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow
Sun Kil Moon - April
Jon Foreman - Winter/Spring/Summer EP
Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
Shearwater - Rook
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Andy Gullahorn - Reinventing the Wheel
The Famine - The Reaping
Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Ben Shive - The Ill-Tempered Klavier
My Brightest Diamond - A Thousand Sharks Teeth
the Whigs - Mission Control
Boris - Smile
Mates of State - Re-arrange Us
Beck - Modern Guilt
the Gaslight Anthem - The ‘59 Sound
Woven Hand - Ten Stones
Okkervil River - The Stand-Ins
Damien Jurado - Caught in the Trees
Matthew Perryman Jones - Swallow the Sea
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
The Walkmen - You & Me
Jesu/Battle of Mice EP
Jesu/Envy EP
Dr. Dog - Fate
Sixpence None the Richer - My Dear Machine EP
They Sang as they Slew - The Resistance
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Castanets - City of Refuge
Sandra McCracken - Red Balloon
Underoath - Lost in the Sound of Separation
Trenches - The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole
Cold War Kids - Against Privacy
Jars of Clay - Closer EP
Mogwai - BatCat EP
Old 97’s - Blame it on Gravity
Earth - Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull
Andrew Peterson - Resurrection Letters Vol. II
Anathallo - Canopy Glow
Castanets vs. Ero - Dub Refuge
Lassie Foundation EP
Ryan Adams - Cardinology
Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant EP
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Starflyer 59 - Dial M
Richard Swift - Ground Trouble Jaw EP
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Kindle and Publishers

November 18th, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in General, Music & Culture

I have been seriously considering purcahsing a Kindle as of late.  It seems to fit perfectly with my current lifestyle and it would be great to just throw it in a bag and have many of the books I read at my fingertips.  The only problem with this situation is that some of the publishers that I read are not currently and have no plans to publish books in the digital realm.  Many of the books that I read are academic in nature, since they are primarily theology books at this time.  Luckily Crossway has taken notice of the current trends and has started publishing their books with a kindle edition and/or providing a pdf copy upon purchase of the physical book.  Which brings me to the main thought of this post.  Currently there is a resurgance of vinyl going on in the music industry.  I think it stems from people wanting a physical copy of things and not going purely digital.  Nobody wants empty bookshelves and nothing in their CD racks.  we are physical people and like things.  Nearly every new release has a vinyl version released and it includes a coupon that allows for the download of the release in high-quality (usually 320kbps) MP3 format.  This helps push the consumer of that last little hill of uncertainty they have of purchasing something that is not going to be portable, which is a must in these days.  So with that being said, I would like to see publishers begin providing download codes with the purchase of the books.  I am not sure how to secure this since anyone could open a book at Barnes and Noble and take the code.  Maybe it would have to be provided on the reciept.

What are your thoughts?

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Finishing the day…

November 6th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in Beer, Music & Culture, Thoughts

Well it sure has been interesting reading the reformed communities response to the election of Barack Obama as our new president.  I take heart in the fact that even though I disagree with him on several things, as do many of those that I look up to do as well,  we will rally behind the president that has been chosen, and try to make the future brighter.  It is also a great time for the church to wake from it’s slumber and realize it’s calling.  We have been sleeping for far too long and dropping the ball on social outreach programs that have since been passed on to the government.  Let us take this as a call to further the gospel not only in the words we say, but by the hands we heal with and the hearts we love with.

I am at home right now while my wife does exactly that.  She is helping entertain a woman in our church that is on bed-rest and cannot do much otherwise.  As she is there I sit at home, reading some blogs while I enjoy a nice beer (see left) and contemplate what has happened.

< sip >

The one thing that I hope and pray for, is that the people that I see on TV who seem to view our president-elect as someone that will be able to single-handedly usher in some sort of utopia.  They are viewing him as some sort of functional savior for the bad decisions they made on their mortgage and credit cards.  It is dangerous when the public views a character such as that because it can create a huge crash and loss of trust when and if he fails…..  and he will fail us in certain things because he is human.  So here is hoping that those that hold him in such high esteem, as some sort of God-send (not meant negatively) that they will have their hearts opened by the Gospel and realize that hope place in man is futile.  There is only one hope that is unshakable and that is the hope that is found in Christ. 

So I raise my glass to Obama, it was a well run race and the candidate has been chosen.  I will be praying for you and your campaign from here on out and I hope that you realize the tremendous obligation that you have to the American people and more importantly in your allegeince to Christ.  His words are not invitations or nice words to take in to consideration.  They are commands that shall be acted out in fear and trembling.

P.S - I am enjoying a wonderful Divine Reserve from St. Arnold

P.P.S. - See the awesome new layout for the Thursday / Envy Split 12″ that I got in the mail today here.

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Post-election thoughts..

November 5th, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in Music & Culture, Theology, Thoughts

… from men much wiser than myself.  Keep in mind that we worship a sovereign Lord who has cast His vote and sovereignly placed Obama in a place of leadership over our country.  His plans were not thwarted last night!  He was not agonizing up in heaven as people voted for Obama.  His hand is still outstretched!

Eric Redmond guest blogs at Between Two Worlds.
As does Randy Alcorn.
Kim Riddlebarger shares his thoughts at The Latest Post.
A prayer from Iron Ink.
And Doug Wilson’s thoughts are worth re-posting here on the site:

http://dougwils.com/index.asp?Action=Anchor&CategoryID=1&BlogID=6017

I write at the very beginning of election day, not knowing the outcome. These are things that we should remember regardless, and they will be applicable regardless.

1. God is still Father, Christ is still at His right hand, and the Holy Spirit is still abroad in the world, recreating that world according to the image of Christ. When the nations conspire against Him, He laughs at them.

2. The most important thing we can do for our nation, and for the world around us, is to gather for worship every Lord’s Day. The privilege of voting in presidential elections comes to us every four years, while we are graced with the opportunity to take the Lord’s Supper week to week. Right worship reforms the Church, and is therefore God’s central instrument for remaking the world. For this reason, we must insist on worship that is in accordance with Scripture. Judgment begins with the household of God. Our generation is fatherless. In the power of the Spirit, in the name of the Son, we must therefore worship the Father.

3. The first and greatest command is to love God, and the second is to love our neighbor. When the question arises, as it will, as to who is our neighbor, a good policy is to always begin with the smallest, the least, the most defenseless. Never apologize for a crawl-over-broken-glass pro-life stance. Live in such a life-affirming way as to expect apologies from those who would redefine the lives of others (always the lives of others, isn’t it?) into expendible insignificance.

4. Honor women. Honor your mother, your wife, and your daughters. We live in a culture that despises women, and which has engineered a vast machinery of propaganda designed to get them to surrender to it. If you don’t know how to honor, on a day-to-day basis, the women in your life, then learn. Make it a priority.

5. Don’t doubt in the dark what you knew in the light. The late Francis Schaeffer taught evangelical Christians to think like Christians as they engaged with unbelief in the public square. But a goodly number of his proteges, disciples, and name-appropriators have begun to “engage with the culture” in a way that looks more like going native than it looks like missionary work. Melancthons fall apart more rapidly than they used to. Get used to it, but don’t you do it.

6. While pro-life work is at the very center of all mercy ministry, it should not be allowed to distract from the broader kind of mercy ministry that offers gospel help to those who have contributed to their own misery — addicts, convicts, the uneducated and the unemployable. Such mercy ministry must be consistently tenderhearted and hardheaded. Sentimentalists are never able to give themselves away in the ongoing way that bleeding (but thinking) Christians must.

7. Learn something about economics. Please.

8. Cultivate a godly sense of proportion. My family, living in the UK, are encountering evangelical Christians who think that “lack of socialized medicine” is just as bad as abortion-on-demand, because in both cases people are dying. This is as wrong-headed as it is possible to get, even for evangelicals, and on two counts. In the first place, deliberate murder cannot be compared to well-intentioned negligence or incomptence. In the second place, to the extent that we do attack death-dealing incompetence — as we must — we must begin by attacking the species of incompetence that lets people die after many months on waiting lists because some people don’t like accurate pricing mechanisms. Water won’t run uphill just because you can arrange for three bishops to say “Trinitarian” or “incarnational” over it.

9. Count the cost. Freedom of expression is part of our Christian heritage, and one of the things we are fighting for is the right to that expression. We cannot lose the tree and keep the fruit of it. When the laws come, as they will, prohibiting (for example) condemnation of homosexual behavior, then count the cost. And the very next Sunday, start your sermon series on the sins of sodomy. The first message should provide the introduction, and allow the congregation to count the cost as well. They might want a heads up — some of them might think it prudent to head over to a more docile church, one with a kennel-fed pastor. Whenever the state yanks on his lead, he always heels, and then waits expectantly for his treat. A much more sensitive and sensible ministry, don’t you think?

10. Fight in the culture wars as those who gladly serve the triune God of heaven. We are not dogs fighting over a piece of meat, and we must never allow the surly or shrill attitudes of the self-righteous to creep into anything we do. We must be puritan cavaliers, and merry warriors. Fight like a regenerate D’Artagnan, and not like a thug with a Bible he stole from the motel, or a like prim and censorious Miss Grundy, she of the pursed lips. We are Christians, not wowswers.

I will post more as I come across them….

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Douglas Wilson on the impending election..

November 2nd, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in Music & Culture, Thoughts

Here are some wise thoughts from one of my favorite modern theologians, no matter how controversial he is.  Hopefully the bolded part will remind you of a certain ending statement here

In the colonial era, ministers used to preach what were called artillery sermons—messages leading up to elections in order to teach and inform the saints on their duties in the civil realm. The message today is an artillery sermon to prepare you for the election, and for what comes after, regardless of what that is.

But this exhortation is a bit more focused on the process of voting itself. First, all that we do is to be offered to God at the fundamental. Ask God to count your vote, and it does not matter who else does. Give what you do to Jesus, and let Him do with it what He wills. You should be like the small boy who surrendered his fish and bread for Jesus to multiply, and not like someone who tried to feed the multitude himself by giving everyone a crumb.

Secondly, confirm it in your heart and soul that the day after the election, God is still on His throne, and Jesus is still at His right hand. Certain things are not on the ballot, as the sovereignty of God is not. When Christians react to elections with despair and panic, they are demonstrated that their faith is in the wrong place. If the election goes badly, do not soak your hair with lighter fluid, set it off, and then run in tight, little circles. Be a Christian. If the election goes well, do not act you have just been saved. Salvation is not something that Caesar holds in his hand, whether to give or withhold.

Third, vote with a clear mind and clean heart, doing so confidently and with boldness. Stand up for the unborn. Strike at every idol. Love God, and hate sin. Stand against every throne built on a foundation of lawlessness. And return here next Lord’s Day for the real work of Reformation.

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Mumblings…

October 31st, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in General, Thoughts

Happy Reformation Day everybody!!!  Remember to celebrate with a nice dark ale!

  • Paste pans the new Ryan Adams & The Cardinals album, here.
  • I voted last night and did so for a third-party candidate for the first time in my life.
  • I am still debating on whether I want an iPhone or an HTC Touch Pro…  or I might just wait for something else.  Like an android-based phone on ATT.
  • I just created a 2008 Release playlist on my iPod so that I can start marking down my favorite releases for the year.  So far there are 50 LP’s and EP’s on it, not including the new Starflyer 59 and Ryan Adams that I have yet to receive.
  • Shearwater and Woven Hand are still the most likely to be battling out for #1 on the list.
  • I finally decided to start Calvin’s Institues after having it on my shelf for a year.
  • Christ the King will be having their second installment of Theology on Tap for the Men of Christ the King.  A time for the guys to get together, have a beer (or two) and discuss things.
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Spurgeon Morning Meditation

October 28th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in Theology

This is some good stuff that all could stand to read:

“I have chosen you out of the world.”—John 15:19.

Here is distinguishing grace and discriminating regard; for some are made the special objects of divine affection. Do not be afraid to dwell upon this high doctrine of election. When your mind is most heavy and depressed, you will find it to be a bottle of richest cordial. Those who doubt the doctrines of grace, or who cast them into the shade, miss the richest clusters of Eshcol; they lose the wines on the lees well refined, the fat things full of marrow. There is no balm in Gilead comparable to it. If the honey in Jonathan’s wood when but touched enlightened the eyes, this is honey which will enlighten your heart to love and learn the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Eat, and fear not a surfeit; live upon this choice dainty, and fear not that it will be too delicate a diet. Meat from the King’s table will hurt none of His courtiers. Desire to have your mind enlarged, that you may comprehend more and more the eternal, everlasting, discriminating love of God. When you have mounted as high as election, tarry on its sister mount, the covenant of grace. Covenant engagements are the munitions of stupendous rock behind which we lie entrenched; covenant engagements with the surety, Christ Jesus, are the quiet resting-places of trembling spirits.

“His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the raging flood;
When every earthly prop gives way,
This still is all my strength and stay.”

If Jesus undertook to bring me to glory, and if the Father promised that He would give me to the Son to be a part of the infinite reward of the travail of His soul; then, my soul, till God Himself shall be unfaithful, till Jesus shall cease to be the truth, thou art safe. When David danced before the ark, he told Michal that election made him do so. Come, my soul, exult before the God of grace and leap for joy of heart.

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The Impending Doom.. and by doom I mean election.

October 22nd, 2008 | 2 Comments | Posted in Music & Culture, Thoughts

What kind of blogger would I be if I did not have at least one post about the upcoming election where I share my ideas as if they hold some kind of authority in this grossly autonomy-minded nation?  If you follow me on twitter you know that I have been struggling about how I should vote in this election.  It is not necessarily a struggle over which candidate of the two major parties I would give my vote to, because if that were the case, the vote I would give would not be one of approval, but one against the other candidate.  Because at this point, after watching some of each debate, I dislike them both.

Neither of them is interested in running a country that is bound to the document that founded it.  Both are interested in increasing government spending and thus increasing the insurmountable debt that our country is piling upon its future generations.  In addition, both candidates seem to be in favor of the current direction the Federal Reserve has taken in its ability to print money or checks out of thin air, money that has no backing at all.  It is amazing that they can print a ’stimulus’ check, send it to all of non-dependent taxpaying citizens, and we actually believe that there is some account that the government has that contains billions of dollars that it is being debited from.  Give me a break!

At this point I am having a crisis of whether or not I should vote for one candidate in order to vote against another, thus not actually voting for a candidate that I would be interested in heading up the country I live in, or if I should follow my conscience and actually vote for a third-party candidate that actually stands up for the things that I would like to see done.  Is it a violation of my ethics and beliefs NOT to vote for such a candidate?  Either way, this is going to take a lot of prayer and trusting that the LORD is sovereign, know that Christ still reigns and still demands that politicians and everyone bow the knee to his kingship and rule amongst all nations.  In the end, all glory and honor be unto the Lamb, the one whose name is the Christ.

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Thoughts on Culture, Media and Christianity

October 21st, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in Music & Culture, Theology, Thoughts

It seems to me that being a Christian is less about filtering what you are exposed to (music, tv, movies) and more about the lens with which you filter those things through when you engage them.  Redeemer Sugar Land, a church plant from my church Christ the King, is holindg a movie discussion at a bar for the movie Requiem for a Dream.  At first, my response was “How can they advocate someone sitting down to watch a movie as depraved as that?”.  My second response, after chewing it on a while is that Christ is the light to areas that are as dark as those depicted in the movie…  and they do exist.  So why do we shy away from engaging the culture where they are?  How and why do we expect them to meet us where we are?  There are deeply hurt people in this world, wrapped up in all kinds of things and we as a church don;t need to know how to avoid them, but how to engage them while using the filter of a Biblical worldview.  We can use this to share with people the truths we see and how those truths come from the very word of God.

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