The House of Hunt

D2BD Booth Promo from John Schroter on Vimeo.

This guy is a true gem. Full of spiritual wisdom. Watch and we’ll return after with some thoughts to chew on…

What have we learned today class?

1. The NIV, NKJV and presumably all other translations were done by ghey males who piss sitting down.

2. Despite the fact that his translation of choice says that God is going to destroy “him that pisseth against the wall,” he still manages to reason that only true “men” stand up to pee. I guess even God’s wrath isn’t enough to make him sit.

3. Germany (land of my birth) apparently bans any and all standing pees. Cuz if the sign says you can’t stand, you can’t make up your own mind for yourself. You must blindly follow all sign-age with no thought or discernment.

I wonder what this guy thinks of self-cleaning toilets?

As many of you know, I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to write, create, and contribute to various visions and endeavors. This initially started out with Relevant, but has since led to writing for the Charlotte Observer, HM Magazine, Passageway, Decapolis, Buzzgrinder, and most recently, InsulinFunk.

I now have the privilege of adding another outlet to this list: Heist Party! Created by the ever-illustrious Adrian Santos (of Revolt Marketing), Heist Party is a new blog spotlighting all that’s fun and cool across the nation. Adrian throws Heist parties throughout the country, featuring killer DJs, music, and of course, dancing. He knows a good time when he sees one and HP is simply another way of spreading the joy to all man- and womankind. Adrian magnanimously asked me if I would be interested in contributing to HP and the alliance of the year was forged. Behold in awe and wonder what spawns from this unholiest of unions!!!

Actually, it’ll probably just be a bunch of goofiness and laughs, but it’ll still be fun. So stop by Heist Party and say hi! We’ll do our best not to mock you.

It’s a deathwish at 120 decibels!!! Stunt Rock!!

How am I just now finding out about this movie? How have I never seen this movie before? Crazy stunts, heavy metal…shoot, these guys have to be the genetic grandparents of the Jackass crew. This is ridiculous. It has everything. Even the band’s name in the film screams awesome: Sorcery!!

I need to find a copy of this gem as soon as possible. And this will henceforth be my “ace in the hole” whenever someone brings up the insanity and/or degradation of my generation. This sucker came out before I was born! There’s nothing new under the sun folks. Things aren’t getting worse…they’ve always been nuts.

And by “nuts,” I mean “deathwish-at-120-decibels awesome!”

Yeah, that place where awesomeness makes it’s home?

I finally got around to posting some cool news over there. It’s about a certain little-known archaeologist and his obscure jaunts around the globe. Check it out!

Meet Jekyll.

Wow, I don’t like myself when I get angry. I suppose it could be a part of the journey as I delve into these spiritual disciplines, but my temper has really gotten the better of me lately. And it’s stupid stuff: traffic, Xbox game, forgetting my laptop at home (yes, that happened today).

I’m generally a fairly laid back dude. I’ve never been a huge fist fight before. It takes a lot for someone to push me over the edge, so I usually don’t get too pissed at people. But I’ve found myself getting mad at inanimate objects or situations out of my control. And I’m not sure why.

So I get furious at these things. And then I calm down and feel stupid for getting angry in the first place. It’s retarded. I’m retarded. And I’m tired of having this happen. Methinks that Mr. Hyde is going to be dying soon…

As I shared last week, Renovatus is doing this really crazy experiment of simply testing the spiritual disciplines that are described for us in Scripture. It’s nothing explicitly revolutionary…I mean, the texts of the Bible have been around for thousands of years. And yet, in our American mindset of doing whatever the hell you want whenever or however you want to do it, the concept of disciplining yourself via solitude, fasting, and community seems peculiarly counter-cultural. So of course, I’m digging it. There’s an aspect to my personality (okay, maybe it’s a huge chunk of who I am) that loves challenging the status quo.

I started my second week of trying to practice all of this yesterday, and already it’s been very thought-provoking. With apologies to those of you who usually venture here for a laugh, I thought I’d share some of what’s been jumping off in my mind through this process. And don’t worry. I’ll post a video of a squirrel riding a unicorn that’s pooping rainbows tomorrow. Or something.

Thought the 1st - Matthew 5:39 really bothers me. Check it in a couple of different translations:

NIV - “But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

The Message (5:38-42) - Here’s another old saying that deserves a second look: ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.’ Is that going to get us anywhere? Here’s what I propose: ‘Don’t hit back at all.’ If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

What the hell does this mean? How do I deal with this? What am I supposed to do with this instruction? Are meekness and “turning the other cheek” truly the answers? If this is true, then I’ve got a lot of growing to do. This is not my natural disposition.

And what of the call to not engage someone who is suing you, but rather to give them more? What a counter-cultural idea! Talk about a bucket of ice water on our litigious-happy society. Of course, I’m sure it’s no accident that the call to love your enemies comes directly after this segment. Jesus gives specific examples of demonstrating love and then just come right out and says it:

Bless those who curse you.

Crazy. I don’t know what to make of all of this, but I want to learn…

Thought the Second - Incorporating these disciplines in my life is like learning a new language or a new instrument.

As a writer/musician (or as I like to say, a writer slash musician), it’s rather inevitable that I view a lot of life through the lenses of language and music. I love delving into both arenas and I’ve spent a fair amount of time in each. So as Jonathan and I discussed the new vibrancy that we’ve both felt as a result of following God’s calling at church, it hit me that this whole spiritual disciplines thing is very reminiscent of when I first started taking piano lessons or when I began to learn French in high school. I hated both when I first got started. Getting me to practice piano for an hour each day was a herculean task for my mom. I wanted to give it up and I couldn’t imagine what difference it would make in my life. Thus is came as a shock when I gradually started mastering more and more complex arrangements…and eventually the knowledge I gained musically enabled me to pick up two more instruments along the way and simply teach myself how to play them (granted, I’m not spectacular at either guitar or bass, but I get by).

I had a similar experience with French. I started studying it in high school in the off-chance that Dad’s job (with Michelin Tire) might move us to France. Lo and behold, we got shipped overseas to Clermont-Ferrand (South Central France represent!) midway through my junior year. Now I will tell you, listening and speaking to a native speaker is a whole different ballgame from just reading and writing your homework in the safety of a fully English environment. So the first few months over there were not a cakewalk. However, I distinctly remember the first sensations of realizing, mid-conversation with a store clerk or mid-question with a French teacher, that I was beginning to operate in a new language. Through the hours of study and practice, it moved from being an effort of mentally translating every single thing that I would need to say throughout the day to simply moving and expressing myself in a new language. It moved from just talking to my French friends to get through the day to actually living and conversing with them. The difference between the two was exhilarating and absolutely liberating.

Freedom through discipline and training. It’s a wild thought. Maybe, just maybe, this is what Jesus wanted for all of us.

I often get asked what exactly it is that I do at work. Wonder no more:

Apparently it went into a deep abyss of nothingness, as I only made a scant few posts. I suck as a writer. That’s all there is to it. The illustrious Monsieur Hart recently accused me of having run out of material…and I suppose there might be some truth to that. But the deeper truth still may be that I’ve had so much on my heart and mind lately that I haven’t really wanted to write here. This might come as a surprise, but I like to just vomit up thoughts and opinions when I write. Even the entries here that seem rather thrown together have a modicum of thought behind them. Granted, they might not be very good (i.e., funny or thought-provoking), but there’s usually some purpose behind everything that I create.

I say that to explain why I’ve been rather silent lately. Because of all that’s been going on internally, my natural inclination is to simply continue to internalize until I reach a point of resolution. Then I usually return to my more talkative, witty, awesome, hilarious self.

That and laziness. Laziness is also a great enemy of writing and overall creativity.

So now that that’s out of the way, I’ll try to bring everyone up to speed on the goings-on of Jehu. Let’s see…April is a little over 5 months pregnant with our first baby. Her name is going to be Flannery Caroline and I can’t wait for her to get here. I’m very well aware of the fact that I should have probably started a college and wedding fund the moment we found out that April was with child, but right now my mind is on other things, like showing her my favorite movies, teaching her music, watching her sleep…

I’m also very excited about a new direction that my church is taking. Renovatus has always been a cool place, an awesome family, etc. But Jonathan has recently entered into a new phase of boldness (that’s the best way I can think to explain it) and he’s challenging the church in its entirety to follow him. The first step is in the ways in which we’re starting to incorporate some spiritual disciplines into our lives. Not in a heavy-handed, legalistic manner, but also not in a wishy-washy, I’ll-do-this-if-I-feel-like-it way either. Basically we’re agreeing as a family to committing to daily prayer and meditation, weekly fasting, and active participation in a community group. These are all elements of the faith that I’ve experienced to varying degrees in my spiritual walk to this point, but this is the first time I’ve done in it in such a purposed and communal fashion. I’ll admit that I am a bit nervous about it. I know myself way too well to think that developing these disciplines will be easy, but I want to really take God up on His promises and see where this leads.

And finally (for now), I’m really stoked about a new project at work. I can’t say a whole lot about it right now, but it’s something that I’ve been developing with some coworkers for a demographic that I am extremely passionate about. If you want a sneak peak, check out this little sucker called Ransom.