Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front (by Wendell Berry)

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

lyrics: a king and a kingdom

love this tune by derek webb:



Who's your brother, who's your sister
You just walked passed him
I think you missed her
As we're all migrating to the place where our father lives
'Cause we married in to a family of immigrants

My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
It's to a king & a kingdom

There are two great lies that I've heard:
"the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die"
And that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
And if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him

But nothing unifies like a common enemy
And we've got one, sure as hell
But he may be living in your house
He may be raising up your kids
He may be sleeping with your wife
Oh no, he may not look like you think

Validation

my favorite tv clip of all time

down to earth (christmas series) artwork

writing on the incarnation

i love writing.

i just had a realization this week that my job is great precisely because it allows me - encourages me! - to write.

i think if i were all alone in the world, with no certainty that anyone who ever read what i have written, i would still write. i feel god's presence when i create something, or (re)create something (as is the case with the current work i'm doing on the incarnation).

i'm deeply gratified at how many thousands of people have read our westwinds' teaching atlases. it feels good to know that the thing i love has a residual payoff.

but honestly, i've been writing (and writing music, and drawing, and photographing, and mixing, and designing) ever since i could hold a pen...

and it felt just as good then as it does now.

thanks, all, for being a part of one of my life's great joys.

TEDxDetroit video: D Blair performs 'Detroit (while I was away)'

TEDxDetroit video: Poet D Blair performs 'Detroit (while I was away)'

ha!

top 10 ways in which the Centre is different than the Cue

since we recently began our new mid-week experience, folks have been asking us "what's so different about the Centre?"

they want to know how the-wednesday-stuff is different than the-sunday-stuff

well, here's a quick list to give you a picture about why the centre is one of the most meaningful and engaging spiritual venues we've ever had.

10 ways in which the Centre is different than the Cue


10. greater freedom for spontaneity
9. giving 100% of our offering to Missions
8. welcoming young kids to participate in the service
7. emphasis on prayer
6. more intimate atmosphere
5. great access to Westwinds’ staff and elders
4. more congregational worship music
3. additional opportunities for community both before and after the service
2. highlight scriptural tools and integration
1. teaching only the words of Jesus

Archetypes FAQ: how to use the archetypes atlas to lead a satellite group discussion

Archetypes FAQ: what about pastors and the gift of pastoring at ww? (PART TWO)

Archetypes FAQ: what about pastors and the gift of pastoring at westwinds? (PART ONE)

Archetypes FAQ: are the archetypes "made up?"

Archetypes FAQ: what about doing something you're not necessarily gifted at?

Archetypes FAQ: how can i tell if it's a spiritual gift or a natural ability?

Creation via Twitter

(found this juicy gem online...enjoy)

Day One

Let there B-lite. OMG! Or shld I say Oh Me! It’s so much easier 2-C now. WTF was I thinking B4? Spent the rest of the day dividing lite from darkness. It is good. :-)


Day Two

Made a firmament (sort of a dome thing) to divide the waters under firmament from the waters above. Assigned firmament the file name . +<:-)


Day Three

Gathered waters and let dry land appear. Dry land tagged , waters tagged . Uploaded grass and herb-yielding seed into folder. GR8!


Day Four

More lighting wk. Installed 1 great lite to rule day [] & lesser lite to rule night []. Beta tested them & everything seems to work. It is gd. :-D


Day Five

Bushed from tweaking fish & fowl files. They wouldn’t be fruitful and multiply until I found it’s a simple command. >:-? Thank Me It’s Friday.


Day Six

Created 2 humans, file names and . At last - I now have 2 Twitter followers! Tweeting just to myself is sooo Day One. LOL! ;-)


Day Seven

[no tweets]

the best of jackson (which happens to be pretty awesome)

when Carmel and I first moved to Jackson, MI from Surrey BC we knew there would be an adjustment period. we didn't, however, anticipate that the most acute part of that adjustment would be the loss of such great eats as Earl's, Milestones, the Keg, etc. There just aren't the same casual dining restaurants stateside (let alone in the blue collar machineworks of Jackson) as there are in the Great White North (insert koo-loo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo here).

however, having spent 4 and a half years in Jacktown, we've come to identify some pretty spectacular spots.

here, then, are my absolute favorite places to eat in the fine city of Jackson, my home:

Daryl's Downtown - this is our one truly nice place to eat. Great food. consistent. baked rolls that - i'm sure - had a part to play in the assassination of archduke franz ferdinand. this is the place to take people to show them our town has class.

The Oak Tree Lounge - this is the best dirty bar in town, with the best blue cheese burger, and a staff that is still courteous and kind. other dirty bars (the westpoint, for example) have sentimental value to long-term jacksonites but (let's be honest) are so gross that i'd probably rather stab my own eyes out that go there on purpose.

Klavon's Pizzeria and Pub - great atmosphere, great pizza, best spot (just outside of) in town.

Hinkley's Bakery - Hinkley's makes doughnuts out of angel's kisses and magic sugar. nothing in the world tastes so good as a freshly baked (still warm) hinkley's doughnut hole.

Schlenker's - i know the actual restaurant is a health inspector's worst nightmare, but there is not a better hamburger/french fry combo in the universe.

The International Dog House - i resisted going here for a long time...because it looks and sounds like a dissentary ambush, but this is the only place in Michigan where you can get a hotdog large than 1/8" in diameter and tasting like anything other than old macaroni water.

On the Ave - the food's a little light and a little froo-froo-shee-shee for my tastes, but they've got the best brewed coffee in the state

Giglio's - great italian food...a fun date night

The Parlour - this place actually has decent food, you'll just have to wait about an hour to get any of it. best stick to the ice cream, which is terrific.

the Roxy Cafe - this was my first "oh - my - gosh - i'm - in - heaven" spot, discovered shortly after moving here. the roxy is the single greatest hole-in-the-wall ever in existence. i'd go there for breakfast everyday, just to be a better man.

Suggested Authors

Today in the Cue we spoke about being an Intellectual (one of our 12 spiritual archetypes). If you consider yourself an Intellectual, here are some writers you may consider reading:

Greg Boyd
Rob Bell
Mark Driscoll
NT Wright
Jeremy Begbie
Len Sweet
Peter Rollins
J. Richard Middleton
Walter Brueggemann

So far, so good

We're sitting in the Atlanta airport, 1 hour from our flight to Johannesburg, and everything is going swell no far.

No infections
No nausea
No faux pas
No cultural awkwardness
No "oops...my bad" moments

I've finished two books (the trouble with Paris, by mark Sayers and Jesus: the final days by Craig evans and nt wright) and eaten two dinners.

Feel full in my belly and brains.

Next? A 14 hour trip into awesomeness.

south africa: day 17