The Middle Way

Shannon and I have been vacationing with her parents on the Gulf coast of Florida. Longboat Key to be exact. Thus the paucity of recent blog activity. Vacationing at the sea inevitably brings to mind the much quoted lines from C.S Lewis: "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." (The Weight of Glory). I was also reminded that one can be literally at the sea and still miss the glory of God all around us and his manifold gifts. By a happy coincidence the Bible reading plan I use had me in Psalm 104 which made a nice counterpoint to walks on the beach, especially vv. 24-30.

While I was away I read Presbyterianism's Unique Gift: Ordained Lay Elders by Harry Hassall. By God's grace I'll soon be ordained an elder at our church and one of our former elders, who's also something of a mentor, gave me the book to read in preparation. Written as a textbook, it's a good introduction to the Reformed faith and the middle way "via media" of Presbyterianism. While all Protestants are heirs of the Reformation, Hassall lays out the view of three distinct reformations. The first reformation of Luther, was a conservative reformation that birthed Lutheranism and Anglicanism. The second reformation of Calvin and Zwingli was more extensive than Luther's and resulted in Presbyterianism/Calvinism. And then there was a radical third reformation led by the Anabaptists which rejected anything remotely resembling Catholicism, especially infant baptism, covenant theology and "Churchianity". All Protestant churches can trace their lineage back to one of these three streams of the Reformation. Although some, like my Methodist friends, mix prominent elements of all three.

Hassall shares an effective, if quaint, analogy to illustrate the three reformations. I offer it more in the way of education than advocacy. Whatever your persuasion, Christians should be familiar with the heritage that makes us what we are: Catholic, Protestant, Presbyterian, Baptist, etc. Here are "three ways of cleaning out one's sock drawer."

The Anglican/Episcopal/Lutheran way is to open the sock drawer, perhaps half way, peek in, pull out those few obvious misfits and wornouts and quickly place them in the rubbish bin; one may then review the reformation, pronounce it "done," close the drawer, and go about other tasks. This is reformation modestly done!

The Presbyterian/Reformed/Calvinist, on the other hand, moves to the task with dispatch and determination, completely removing the sock drawer, turning it totally upside down on the bed; this reformer places a new paper liner in the drawer and then meticulously selects only the best and most useable socks in pairs to return to this "thoroughgoingly reformed" drawer, leaving all "questionables" out for immediate discard; the job has been done; only those items of which there is no doubt have been allowed to remain. This job has been well-reformed!

Finally, the Anabaptist/Baptist/Church of Christ approaches the same task with little enthusiasm; the reformer opens the sock drawer and with disgust on his face he calls a neighbor and together they haul the entire chest of drawers out of the house to the alley for city trash to pick up, for in that sock drawer there was little to reform and a great deal to discard!

I spent most of my life a product of the third way, flirted with the first, and am now happily part of the "middle way". Perhaps it's only a coincidence that the second approach is also the one I'd use to clean out my sock drawer, and my t-shirt drawer, and my sweater drawer...

Her children rise up and call her blessed

For you, O God, have heard my vows;
   you have given me the heritage of
          those who fear your name.

Psalm 61

More good stuff from Pastor T.

Thabiti Anyabwile cautions pastors to be careful how you build because "whatever you do to build the church is what you'll have to do to keep the church." He writes:

So here's a plea. Please, please Lord build your church on "boring" preaching and "regular" personalities owned and fired by your Holy Spirit, so that your people will find excitement and emotion that comes from the truth and their affections will rest on You rather than the earthen vessel that proclaims your Name.

Amen to that! And may those of us in the pews stop valuing feelings and entertainment over the ordinary means of grace.

Pray and act for the people of Myanmar

Even in the midst of the fun and joys of life it's impossible not to be shaken when you read news like this.

Radiohead in West Palm Beach (5 May 2008)

My impression of America? It's just too exciting to dismiss or overly praise. I find it really distressing when British bands come to America and return home and they're disparaging about Americans, as if you can dismiss the whole country. There are cities I love and would happily live in. There's too much variation to describe it, I think. Overall, it's a buzz. It's the best thing you can do, to tour America as a band.

- Jonny Greenwood

That was from a 1997 interview back when Jonny and his mates were dealing with the weight of being called "the saviors of rock and roll" in the wake of the critical acclaim and success of OK Computer. Thankfully, they survived the near emotional and professional break-ups of the late 90's to fashion a series of stellar albums (each uniquely great) and find a happy equilibrium between recording, touring and life. The critics may no longer refer to Radiohead as saviors, but that's just as well. To the fans they're simply the best and most consistently interesting band of the last decade.

Now Radiohead are doing it again -- touring America as a band -- and the In Rainbows tour debuted earlier tonight right here in West Palm Beach. This was my second Radiohead show. I saw them the last time they played WPB in October 2003 not thinking I'd ever get the chance again. Tonight was another fantastic show! The crowd was pumped and enthusiastic as they took the stage around 9:00 and played for close to two hours. Our seats were excellent, but not close enough to get really good pictures. I have included a few of the better ones.



Here's tonight's setlist and some comments.

1. All I Need
2. Bodysnatchers
3. There There
4. Reckoner (I love watching Ed play the tambourine on this one.)


5. The Gloaming
6. Morning Bell
7. Nude (Definitely the most atmospherically beautiful moment of the evening. Thom nailed it.)
8. How to Disappear Completely
9. 15 Steps (this one had everybody on their feet)
10. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi (The only evidence of opening night hiccups came here. Apparently Thom didn't like the ending so he gestured to Ed and Jonny to keep their guitars on and they did an impromptu repeat of the coda. Thom: "We didn't practice this enough.")
11. Idioteque (Insanely fun as always.)
12. Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was (One of the surprising additions. Very nice!)
13. Where I End and You Begin
14. Airbag
15. Everything In It's Right Place (This was the final encore of the 2003 show.)
16. National Anthem (The crowd was really into this one. The lighting and video effects were amazing and Jonny was doing his thing with the radio.)
17. Videotape

First Encore

18. Optimistic (Thom: "This is an oldish one.")
19. Just (This one had everybody singing along to the chorus with Jonny on the attack.)
20. Faust Arp (Ed, Colin & Phil left the stage. Thom and Jonny teamed up to do a pretty acoustic version.)


21. Exit Music (Another homerun. Featured some cool effects by Jonny.)
22. Bangers & Mash (The highlight of the evening for me with Thom on drum and Jonny ripping off some of the best guitar of the evening. It seemed like most of the crowd didn't know this one, but I was dancing like a maniac. Thom introduced it with the most dialogue of the evening. "We just spent three days in Miami Beach. What's going on there? Some kind of reconstruction. For once I was proud to be white, pale and English!" If you've been there you know what he means.)

Second Encore

23. House of Cards
24. Street Spirit

One positive and negative comparison to the 2003 WPB show. On the positive side, the video display they're using this tour is fabulous. It's a multi-paneled horizontal display behind the stage that seamlessly integrates with the lighting. Much more interesting than the standard giant screens on either side of the stage. On the negative side the sound mix wasn't as good tonight as in 2003. Granted, it may have had more to do with the venue or where we were sitting. It did seem to get dialed in better as the show went on though.

Radiohead proved again tonight that they're still on top of their game. It's something to watch them seemlessly mix and match instruments and styles. If you're going to see them on this tour you won't be disappointed. Thankyou guys for coming to West Palm!

Charles Ryder meets his match

Here's a funny clip from the classic adaptation of my favorite novel -- Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. I await with trepidation the Miramax film version coming to theaters this summer. Judging from the trailer it's a dumbed down, sensationalistic treatment. Ugh! For this viewer, Jeremy Irons will always be the face and voice of Charles Ryder. Likewise for the rest of the fabulous cast that made watching those 11 episodes on Masterpiece Theatre such a memorable experience. Et in Arcadio ego.

The natural, ordinary good

Nothing is more widespread than good things: the only question is to recognize them; and they are certainly natural and within our grasp, and even known by everyone. But we do not know how to recognize them. This is universal. It is not in extraordinary and unusual things that excellence in whatever field is to be found. We make an effort to reach up to them and we fall away. More often we should stoop. The best books are those which the people who read them believe they could have written. Nature, which alone is good, is familiar and available to everyone.

Blaise Pascal, The Art of Persuasion

Emanuel's story

Emanuel McMiller on "My Life, My World, My Truth".

Stein on TBN

For the record, I like Ben Stein and I'm sympathetic to what he's trying to accomplish with Expelled. But comments like these are unfortunate and don't help his cause.


HT: Looking Closer

Families and missions

The May issue of the Global Prayer Digest asks a provocative question.

Will American Families Help or Hinder Reaching the Unreached in North America?