Becoming the Archetype is a great Christian hardcore/metal band that hails from my neck of the woods. I’ve been to one or two of their shows, and they’re good musicians.

The real reason I post this, though, is because their guitarist/keyboardist goes to my church and I’ve gotten to know him pretty well lately. Seth (a.k.a. “Count Seth”) wrote several songs on the album, and I like to support my friends. Not just that, but I like the music on this album even better than the stuff from their last one.

If you like this kind of music, check out this CD. You can listen to it on MySpace or PureVolume. If you’re from near Georgia, their album release show will be May 5th at 7:00 PM at The Pivot in Cleveland, Georgia. It’s $12 to get in, but you get a free CD out of the deal. Oh, and a little insider info: wear any Mexican-themed clothes you’ve got (sombrero, etc.) ’cause it’ll be Cinco de Mayo!

The Chik-Fil-A Chronicles, Episode 1

I was assigned to DRA (dining room area) today with one of my new good friends who we’ll call “Joshua” for Biblical reasons (but mostly because it’s not his real name). He was cleaning tables and floors, and he told me all I needed to do was ask people if they needed refills or if they wanted me to take their trash. This is my favorite job in the entire restaurant, so I was very happy to do it.

During the course of my rounds, I noticed a lady equipped with a large container of lysol wipes cleaning a table and highchair. This woman was obviously concerned with cleanliness and her young child’s health, I thought. I then proceeded with my assignment, to offer refills where no man has offered refills before!

About ten minutes passed, and I had once again returned to the part of the store where Mr. and Mrs. Germophobe and their daughter (who I’ve decided to nickname Tornado for her supreme ability to spread food to the far reaches of the dining room) were sitting. I asked if I could do anything for them, and they assigned me to get three refills, take their tray, and trade in a kids’ meal toy for an ice cream cone. To my knowledge, that’s the maximum amount of service I’m supposed to give customers, as I regretfully informed another woman when she wanted me to refill her milkshake.

Finally, after the family had left, I made it around to that part of the room again. This is when I realized that maybe they weren’t such a nice family after all, and certainly weren’t as concerned with making a mess as I’d thought they were. It still isn’t clear how they managed to get that much food on the table, chairs, and floor; I didn’t think they’d ordered enough to make a mess like that. There were hashbrowns ground up and squished across the floor under and around the table; ketchup and other sauces covered the table; I think there may have been coke spilled on the ceiling, too (just kidding).

So now for the moral of the story. This lady had cleaned an already clean table and highchair. I know they were clean, because Joshua is a great employee (employee of the month, in fact) and I saw him clean them. What the lady didn’t do is clean up the mess she made afterward. Why? The only thing I can think of was that she was only concerned with having a clean table for herself, and gave no consideration to anyone else there or to the staff members who spent ten minutes sweeping, wiping, and mopping the area where she’d eaten.

In the words of Dave Berry, “A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.”

 Me and my friend Sam got together and recorded a few more songs (you might recall the acoustic bit I put up a few months ago).

No notes, no chords, no lyrics, just a couple of guys with guitars, here’s our version of Amazing Grace…

[Chorus is from Chris Tomlin's verion of Amazing Grace.]

It’s long, and it’s unplanned. Sam and I kept surprising (and confusing) each other, so there’s a few sticky spots. You’ve been warned.

Oh yeah, and the part near the end where the music totally breaks down into a little tapping rythm was completely improvised by Sam…and then the laughter during the next chorus is Sam’s amazement that I actually brought it back into the song…haha. We have way to much fun.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved…

Alethos mentioned this in a recent post, and I thought it was worth commenting on. What do you understand these lyrics to be saying? What theological implications does that have?

I think it’s conveying something that’s not often talked about. What fear would you learn by grace, but also be relieved of by grace? I’m thinking it’s the fear of God’s wrath. It’s only by God’s grace that we understand anything, especially the things of God — so a fear of His wrath is really only learned by grace. Fortunately, that isn’t all His grace does for us. His grace, having taught us fear and brought us to despair, frees us from fear for the worship of the gracious King! Amazing grace, indeed!

“Though the darkness closes in, I believe that God is on His throne, and that He is good beyond our wildest dreams. He is the Savior of the whole wide world. Yet we are living in shattered days, a faint image of what He hoped and dreamed for us all. And today, the weight of our fallen race seems too heavy to bear.”
 - Louie Giglio

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

As I write this support letter, I’m not really sure what to say. I’ve experienced a call to missions, and I believe God is leading me to go to Kenya this summer. I know that if this is God’s will, He will provide the means for it to happen, and He will ensure, by His grace, that it will happen. Thus, I appeal to you, my brothers and sisters under His grace, to support me in finding and acting out God’s will.

The last thing I want is for this to seem like a grab for your wallet. Your money, by itself, is not something I need. Yes, in order for this trip to happen, I’ll need to raise almost $2,000; but that money is worthless if it’s just buying a plane ticket, meals, and supplies. What I’m asking for is your hearts to follow me on this trip, to pray for me, and to help me follow our Savior. A close friend of mine who went to Honduras a couple of years ago stated it well. He said that if God wanted him in Honduras, He could send birds to pick him up and carry him. What he needed was prayer. What I need is prayer. My dad has often said that the missionary isn’t the only part of missions. Those who send the missionaries are just as essential to the process as those who go. If God wills, I’ll be going to Kenya this summer; what I need are people to send me.

I don’t know what God has planned for this trip. I know that the team leaders have plans for us to be involved in AIDS ministry, to work with children, and to encourage the pastor there in Kibera in his work, but ultimately God will accomplish whatever He intends, so I go with an open heart and no expectations except that I will see God work. I hope you expect the same as you consider supporting me with the gifts with which God has entrusted you, and I pray that your hearts will be open to the purposes of His will.

I hope you find it clear that I need money, prayers, and most of all God’s guidance concerning this opportunity to go to Kenya. The dates of the trip are June 15^th through the 24^th. If God leads you to support me financially, you can send your contributions to East Lanier Community Church, 4907 Golden Parkway, Suite 500, Buford, GA, 30518.

I hope this encourages you, as it does me, to love your Savior more and to ravenously seek His glory above all else, by obeying Christ’s final command on this earth: to teach the nations His commands and to baptize them in His name (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18, Luke 24:45-49).

By the blood of Christ,
 - Caleb

Almighty tradition? I don’t think tradition should be quickly disregarded, but neither is it the final authority on anything. I think there is a lot to be said for questioning and evaluating traditions. If the traditions are useful to the Christian’s relationship with Christ or to the furtherence of the Gospel, then questioning and evaluating will show the Christian the deeper truths behind it. If it’s not a beneficial tradition, then I think it is certainly permissible for God’s children to do away with it.

I’m speaking, of course, of human tradition rather than the Tradition set forth by Scripture.

See my videoblog for one specific discussion of this idea.

Also, it has come to my attention that my entry about James 2:22 had an air of arrogance to it at some points. My intention was not to prove the various other translations wrong, but rather to clarify the meaning of the word. I don’t think the other translations are wrong; I just think the word used carried different implications in most readers’ minds than the author and translators intended. Thus, my point was to bring out a more accurate understanding of what the verb in that phrase meant. Sorry if that wasn’t made clear.

EDIT: The videoblog might not get updated until later. I have to go to work and don’t have time to upload. Check back tomorrow!

Most people are posting things like, “Christ is risen!” I’ve already got it posted — it’s my username. Not saying it’s a bad thing, but sometimes I don’t get why we only have a special celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection once a year. Shouldn’t it be every week? Every day? Every moment?

On the other hand, it’s a great day to share the Gospel with some people who only come to church once or twice a year.

I’ll be posting on TheWorshipCafe after church, so be sure to head over there later and check it out.

Now I’m off to teach all the 2- & 3-year-olds at my church about the Resurrection Egg. Yes, I just said Resurrection Egg. I’ll let you know more about it once I find out what the heck it is.

In the meantime, a question: Why do Christians practice pagan rituals (like painting eggs, or celebrating rabbits, or celebrating Easter) on the day when they’re supposed to be most focused on the heart of Christianity? Seems like a great way to spend Passover — painting eggs. Very worshipful.

¡Tenga un buena Pascua, todos!

:: EDIT 4:17 PM ::

Ok, so the Resurrection Eggs were hilarious. Basically, the eggs represented Jesus’ tomb. So, we handed out the plastic easter eggs, and the kids opened them with great dissappointment. They were hoping for candy or something, not a metaphor or symbol of Jesus’ empty tomb. Needless to say, they weren’t too interested once they found out no candy would be involved.

I recorded my second ever video blog today.

Just click “Videos” above, or, if you’re subscribed to my site, check the “Videos” tab of your subscription browser.

This one’s shorter than the last one (Just under 4 minutes, rather than just over 15 minutes) so please watch and leave comments. Let me know if I should keep up the videoblog, or if I should just do regular text blogging.