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I have been so consumed with finishing grad school for the past few months that everything else has taken a back seat. Now that I have my M.Ed. (though it hasn’t come in the mail yet), and now that school is out for the summer, I’m re-awakening to the areas of my life I have neglected lately.

Some things I have come to appreciate more now that I’m not working:

• The value of sleeping in
• The value of getting up early
• The beauty of a slow breakfast with Amy
• Photography
• Reading books
• All the errands I put off until last week

The show notes:

• Chris’ The Car Cast
• Invisalign braces, which I will eventually be getting. For now, I’m stuck with a lisp-inducing expander.
• Emergent What?
• My Flickr photos
• Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-Secular Theology
• The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture
• An article on net neutrality
• Hear Senator Ted Stevens’ moronic speech here (skip to near the end to hear the famous “system of tubes” remark), and hear the hilarious remix in the podcast. Remember: The internet is not a truck, it’s a system of tubes. Right. Note to Sen. Stevens: It’s Deutsche Telekom, not Douche Telekom :).
• WebbleYou, my fantastic $4/month webhosting service - I’m now offering $10 private domain registration

If you would like to participate in a podcast virtual vigil to celebrate Easter, please call 206-325-0663 and read one of the selections below after the beep. I will compile the recordings into a podcast and post it here. If Easter is already over by the time you read it, that’s OK - the Orthodox don’t celebrate Easter until next week anyway :).

Here are the texts and songs we used (thanks, Jesse!):

Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.
O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.
To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.
To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.
To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.
To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:
The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever:
The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:
And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.
O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Holy, Holy Holy

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Genesis 22:1-18
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram [a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring [b] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

Isaiah 55

1 “Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,
because of the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor.”
6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed.”

Isaiah 12:2-6

2 Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.”
3 With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
4 In that day you will say:
“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world.
6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

Psalm 42

As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while men say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go with the multitude,
leading the procession to the house of God,
with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
among the festive throng.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and 6 my God.
My [c] soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon - from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
8 By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me -
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Psalm 43

1 Vindicate me, O God,
and plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
rescue me from deceitful and wicked men.
2 You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?
3 Send forth your light and your truth,
let them guide me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
4 Then will I go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the harp,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Fairest Lord Jesus

Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature,
O thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
thou, my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.

Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer
who makes the woeful heart to sing.

Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,
and all the twinkling starry host:
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
than all the angels heaven can boast.

Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
now and forevermore be thine.

Psalm 98

1 Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The LORD has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
4 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn -
shout for joy before the LORD, the King.
7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy; 9 let them sing before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.

Zephaniah 3:14-20

14 Sing, O Daughter of Zion;
shout aloud, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O Daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The LORD has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.
The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you;
never again will you fear any harm.
16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem,
“Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.
17 The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.”
18 “The sorrows for the appointed feasts
I will remove from you;
they are a burden and a reproach to you. [a]
19 At that time I will deal
with all who oppressed you;
I will rescue the lame
and gather those who have been scattered.
I will give them praise and honor
in every land where they were put to shame.
20 At that time I will gather you;
at that time I will bring you home.
I will give you honor and praise
among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunes [b]
before your very eyes,”
says the LORD.

Prayer

John 20:1-10
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to their homes.

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In this podcast, I discuss a Weekend America (NPR) story on churches being investigated by the IRS. As nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, churches are able to receive tax-deductible contributions from donors, but they are not allowed to endorse candidates for political office. They can, however, speak to specific issues that are under discussion at election times, and this has created a somewhat gray area that has resulted in a number of investigations and revocations of churches’ tax-exempt status.

I connect this phenomenon to David E. Fitch’s The Great Giveaway, as well as James K. A. Smith’s Introducing Radical Orthodoxy, both of which I am currently reading.

Music used in this podcast:

• Chub Creek Music - “Cheese Grater”
• Beck’s “E-Pro,” on the Guero album (short enough to fall under fair use)
• U2’s “Yahweh,” from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (also short enough to not get me sued, hopefully)

Download the podcast (25:44, 17.6MB)

Politics and the Pulpit
After a liberal church was targeted by the IRS for preaching political views and threatened with its tax-exempt status, it lashed out and argued that some conservative churches could be in the same situation. This led to several conservative churches in Ohio being investigated by the IRS. Host Barbara Bogaev talks with Ed Bacon, rector of All Saints, a liberal church in California, and Russell Johnson, pastor of the conservative Fairfield Christian Church, about IRS probes at their respective churches; and explores their political and religious differences and common ground. link

Here’s what I need from my readers:

1. Listen to the story RealAudio | MP3

2. Leave me a voicemail with your thoughts on the piece. My voicemail line is 206-325-0663 (it won’t ring - you’ll always get voicemail).

I will include select clips from the voicemails in my next podcast. If you can help with this, I would really appreciate it. I think there’s a ton to think about in this story, and as the interviewer says at the end, they only scratch the surface.

I could use your help in coming up with appropriate topics for this series. Some ideas:

• Who is Jesus? (including his first-century Jewish context, and his vocation as Israel’s Messiah)
• Spiritual growth
• Prayer
• Theodicy, or why bad things happen and what it means when they do (this is a big one, in light of Pat Robertson’s mouth, vicious celebrations of Kyle Lake’s death, etc.)
• The church

Obviously, some of these are huge subjects, so this will take some planning. I would appreciate any thoughts you’d be willing to share on what type of questions people might be coming to these topics with, and if you can add any topics, that would be great too.

If you want to leave a voicemail, call 206-3two5-0six63, 24/7 (it won’t ring, so you’re not waking anyone up). Thanks for the input.

Links:
Early Disciple Phone Tag

DJ Chuang and his podcast

Emergent Radio proposal and my thoughts on it

Shameless name dropping in this podcast: Andrew Jones, thanks to Bob

John 2:1-11
[2:1]On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in
Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. [2]Jesus also
was invited to the wedding with his disciples. [3]When the
wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have
no wine.” [4]And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this
have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” [5]His
mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

[6]Now there were six stone water jars there for the
Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty
gallons. [7]Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with
water.” And they filled them up to the brim. [8]And he said
to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of
the feast.” So they took it. [9]When the master of the
feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know
where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the
water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom
[10]and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first,
and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But
you have kept the good wine until now.” [11]This, the first
of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested
his glory. And his disciples believed in him. (ESV)

To participate, call [206] Three.two.five-zero-six-six-3. You can also email a WAV or MP3 file to justin dot baeder @t gmail dott com.

In the message, you provide an imaginative angle on being a follower of Jesus and a witness to (and participant in) the events described in the gospels. The messages will be included in an upcoming edition of the Radical Congruency Podcast.

You can choose the event you’re talking about, the context (modern/contextualized, or first-century), what characters you’re playing and talking to, etc. The only rule is NO ELIZABETHAN ENGLISH. Cuz, you know. Ick.

To participate, call 206-three-two-five-0663 and leave me a message (any time - it goes straight to voicemail). With my SunRocket VOIP service, I have MP3 voicemail, so I can just import your message into an upcoming podcast. If you’re not in the US, you can record an MP3, WAV, or whatever, and email it to me at justin dot baeder @t gmail dott com.

In retelling and recontextualizing the stories of the gospels, we remind ourselves of the relevance and centrality of the experience of the early followers of Christ. I hope you’ll take the time to leave a message when you get an idea. (Feel free to leave your message anonymously, or rather pseudonymously, if you wish.)

Here is a smaller version of the image if you would like to use it on your site (or use the big one above).

Download this podcast - RC-2005-10-06.mp3 (20:15, 18.5 MB)

Add this feed to iTunes (4.9 or greater) subscribe to the Radical Congruency podcast.

Talking Points Conference MP3s (TSK)

Doug Pagitt’s Reimagining Spiritual Formation

Note: I posted this last week, but it didn’t show up in iTunes. This time around, it should work. Sorry for the delay for subscribers.

Now, I am certainly conservative in some respects, just as I am certainly liberal in others. But I refuse to identify as a conservative, for the reasons explained in this podcast. I will probably do a “Why I’m Not a Liberal” podcast eventually.

Download the Podcast (12.9 MB; 14 min)

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