Who's ready for Pork and Beans?

This one goes out to the roommate Trevor (no. 3).

I'm more thrilled than I can say to see River Cuomo and his boys in Weezer back at it again. It seems that they are just as fresh, creative and relevant as they were when we discovered them in their tribute Buddy Holly and Happy Days.

Their new video, Pork and Beans, has them again paying tribute to "classic" entertainers. However, their latest forces the question what is a classic? The video is an homage to every viral video, going back to the days before YouTube, when "All Your Base Belong to Us" and "My Spoon is Too Big" traveled by that ancient form of social networking "All Your Base."

Buddy Holly and Happy Days represented an iconic American experience. Weezer, by tying themselves to this tradition, elicited a sense of kinship.

But can an homage to an emerging form of media have the same affect?

What do you point to?

I'm wrestling through the famous passage in Matthew 5:13-16 about salt and light for a sermon I'm preaching at Journey Fellowship on June 15. The key to me seems to be verse 16:

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

It makes me ask the question: Who am I pointing to? When people see my life, does that turn them to the Father?

Squidoo?

I started playing with Seth Godin's website www.squidoo.com today. It's an innovative way to raise money for yourself or charity.

So, because you love me and you want to see me line my pockets (while supporting charities, of course) surf on over to the "I Wish I Were Cultured" page on Squidoo: www.squidoo.com/cultured . All I need from you is one click!

While you are at it, make a page, and tell me what you think. If you send me your page link, I'll post it here on the blog for my adoring public to see.

You Can't Go Home Again...

I remember watching Last Crusade in the theater when I was 7. Indiana Jones was more that a movie, it was a vision of a life of adventure. I imagined climbing through pyramids, having cool hats, learning how to use a whip. My dreamgirl would someday kiss my bruises.

The fourth installment of the Lucas/Spielberg trilogy is an homage to an homage. Back when George and Steven were dreaming up Raiders, the idea was to create an homage to the Saturday morning cliffhangers of the 30s, complete with supernatural plots and nazis. Crystal Skull attempts to pay homage to the fears and fantasies of the 50s, however it ends up really just paying homage to it's predecessors.

The best of the Indy movies, Raiders and Last Crusade, tapped into two narratives deeply implanted in the the American psyche, our faith in God, and the struggle of World War II.

Crystal Skull tries to deal with the politics and pop culture of the 50s, namely aliens and communists. This plot, takes attention off of the possible emotional pulls of the storyline: McCarthyism, aging, lost love, and fatherhood. These feelings are brushed over for increasingly ridiculous CGI action sequences that seemed more at home in Lucas last three failures.

In this movie Harrison Ford and Karen Allen are just old, broken relationships are too easily mended, 20 years of absentee fathering is immediately forgiven, and the aliens just get in the way. It was fun, but it's not the same as it was growing up. You just can't go home again.

ATTENTION Readers!

Every once and awhile I get comments from people across the country whom I have seemingly no connection with. I'm glad you're reading and want to know you better.

Please leave more comments, or, even better, be my friend on Facebook! Just click on my Facebook badge on the left, and friend me.

Don't get your HOPES up

The nomination of Barack Obama is practically a reality now.

I've done my best to remain immune to the fascination it seems that everyone under 30 has with the man. He is doubtlessly a great orator, and has a phenomenal message, that despite the world we live in, we can have HOPE.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately that tries to explain Jesus and early Christianity within the social realm of the Roman Empire. The message of the Empire was HOPE. In Caesar, there is peace and prosperity. They even had a saying that went roughly like this "There is no other name on Heaven or Earth by which we are saved but Caesar."

Early Christians, in their attempt to show their neighbors the truth of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, stole the saying away from the Empire, and made it their own.

In that vein, I want to encourage my readers, especially my peers who find themselves entranced by a politician, that hope cannot be found in Obama. I believe Obama would make a fascinating president. However, Obama will not solve AIDS, reverse NAFTA, stop outsourcing, eliminate bureaucracy, heal your broken heart, give you your daddy back or save you from your sins.

Does that mean I have no HOPE? Does that mean I don't think we can change.

In the spirit of the early Christians, I would say:

With Jesus, YES WE CAN!

Journey Blogs and Podcasts

Our teaching team here at Journey Fellowship is doing an all live series this summer. You can participate by visiting our blog at journeyfellowshipsa.blogspot.com. You can download the podcast there or on iTunes.

The sermon I preached during advent can be found under "Directions, Part 0."

Read, download, comment, participate!

What do you do?

What do you do when you get what you want, but it scares you?

Do you back off, returning to the cave that it took so much energy to climb out of? Do you ignore the feelings it stirs in an attempt to show how you've changed? Do you pretend like you're not bothered at all, assuming you are really ready?

What do you do when getting what you want makes you sad?

No Posts this Week

Sorry guys. A few things you missed:

-Some personal news (ask me personally if you want to know!)
-Family struggles
-Night In Old San Antonio (or beer and meat-on-a-stick night)
-A very small and disappointing crowd at Sam's Burger Joint, my Monday night swing dancing hangout.
-Read some comic books
-Struggled to come to peace with some issues
-Construction nearly complete at Journey!
-My first Wednesday to not hang out with Journey youth (neither a good or bad thing)
-Visited an old school Baptist church
-This American Life Simulcast party in Austin, complete with dinner at Magnolia Cafe!
-Flashes of depression
-First Friday Artwalk
-Handing out food at Christian Hope Resource Center
-Floating down the Guadalupe River with new friends
-"low and slow" barbecue with my Community Group and one of our elders.

It's been a little busier than usual. I have been dreadfully introspective, but I've kept it private. I use a little handwritten journal to complain about the same things over and over again, and try not to publish it for the world to see.

All for now.