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June 26th

Kelli and Chris are Schindler's List and I'm..... What about you?

What Classic Movie Are You?
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A Rogue Letdown

Before I say anything I will say that I was very excited to visit the Rogue Brewery. In the past few years I have thought what they have done has been very unique. Not always very drinkable beer, but unique nonetheless. This visit to the brewery yesterday was more than disappointing. We learned some things that definitely tainted our experience.

First, the brewery is owned by the former president of Nike. I had no idea that this was owned by a group of corporate folk (this is fine but combined with what is next it's not fine).


Second, all workers at the brewery gets paid minimum wage. This was something the tour guide bragged about. She said that the president spends money on nothing. They pay their employees nothing, they buy no equipment as you will see, and will absolutely spend no money on anything. I'm not sure if this was supposed to impress us, but all it did was pissed me off. The workers we saw appeared to be immigrants from Mexico who were getting paid absolutely nothing and I assume also have no brewery experience. How is this supposed to impress us? I would much rather have a brewery like New Belgium paying their employees well and giving them great benefits (such as an all expense paid trip to Belgium after ten years as well as hiring those with valuable experience to brew my beer.

Third, along with the second problem the tour guide whom also said they spend no money on marketing, employees, or equipment, my question becomes, where in the world does all the money go??? I think the answer is obvious. To the owner who has chosen to treat her employees like garbage and not improve the facilities at all. Other than that I cannot figure out where all of this revenue goes. Anyone have any idea what they could spend their money on if it doesn't go to the owner and no money is spent on employees, marketing, or facilities???




Fourth, the facilities as you can sort of see in the picture looks like trash. It's dirty, there is sticky wort covering the filthy floors, the fermenters which were gotten from old dairy farms in which they got by trading spent grain look like garbage as well. That is not to say that it doesn't work or that the inside isn't in good condition. I'm just saying, maybe they should just buy a few good ones but again, then the president wouldn't be raking in the cash. This made me appreciate Widmer Brewery which pays well and their equipment and facilities are pristine. They keep it incredibly clean, the equipment is state of the art, and they put a ton of money back into the facilities to make the best beer they possibly can.


Fifth, there are honestly about two Rogue beers that I enjoy that I think are actually drinkable. Most of the beers are marketed to college students who just want a high alcohol beer that they can drink and get drunk quick (such as Old Crusty). Or they want a novelty beer that they can take home and show their friends like Chipotle Beer, or Yellow Snow. These are fun and interesting, but they are far from superior tasting or enjoyable to drink. The process they use makes most of their beer taste very similar. This process consists of taking the hops and putting them back on top of the beer after they have been used (i'm not sure exactly what this process is, but the point is, this is the part of the process which gives Rogue it's distinctive flavor which I do not enjoy.

Overall, this was an extremely disappointing experience. I don't think in good conscience I can buy Rogue beer knowing that it is run by a stingy corporate businessman who pays minimum wage and puts nothing back into the brewery. It's such a sham. The whole vision of Rogue is to be this independent, unique brewery but that seems far from the reality as presented by the tour guide.

All of this basically comes straight from the tour yesterday and the information was spoken as if it should impress us, but it basically made me realize what a sham it really is. I am trying to take the info given with a grain of salt because honestly, all I know is what one tour guide said. Maybe that's false information. I hope so!

I'm bummed. It really made me appreciate Widmer Bros. and New Belgium! I think John Maier is a creative and talented brew master and it's unfortunate how the brewery is run and I think that is a big detriment to the brewers and the consumers alike.

Anyway, here are the beers we tasted yesterday:
Old Crusty (extremely strong and malty-couldn't even get through a taster glass of it)
10,000 Brew (strong floral flavor, couldn't drink an entire pint of this)
Brutal Bitter (this is decent, like a mild IPA)
Hazelnut Brown Nectar (this is my favorite Rogue beer, very sweet, drinks like a dessert)
Shakespeare Stout (complex flavor, very strong chocolate/malt richness, I'd rather have a Guiness)
Chipotle Ale (tasted like a regular ale, couldn't taste any spice)
Dead Guy Ale (ah, nothing sticks out on this one)

Wine Country

Some pics from our excursion so far today. We drove through some wine country today and got to try lots of Pinot Noir. It will be beautiful to see all the grapes growing this summer and fall.

Now we're just at the hotel in Newport waiting to go to Rogue!

Spring Break!

That's right. 27 years old and I am still taking a Spring Break! I live by the rule that everyone should get a spring break, every year, for life. Anyway, this year we are simply spending a few nights over at the coast in Newport. Going to visit Rogue Brewery tomorrow and take a tour, visit a few wineries on our way and go to the aquarium on Sunday. Otherwise we'll just be chilling and taking it easy.

Three beers I will try tomorrow:
1. Brew 10,000
2. Honey Cream Ale
3. Mocha Porter

Heck, I might even try a Chocolate Stout Float if things get crazy!

Sounds like a fun weekend. We kicked off things tonight with a Rieling tasting at the local wine store. They had five tastes of German Rieslings from 98, 94, 93, 90, 88 and a bonus pour from 71! That's right 1971. 9 Years before I was born. I have never had a wine that old so it was pretty cool. Before tonight I have always enjoyed red wines (mainly Syrah's and Pinot Noir's) but these were fantastic!

For those keeping score at home, yes I am breaking Lent because we have had these plans for this weekend before and I think Jesus understands. Plus, I'm not Catholic, what the heck am I doing? I will have more thoughts on the benefits (or lack-thereof) of participating in Lent soon!

I can't wait to get away! Tiring week of trying to get ahead in school so I don't have to do school work next week during our official spring break and working a few long days at the Goff's trying to get three rooms in their interior painted by April 1st! As I was painting a set of stairs (and almost done) I see their cat Kevin come flying around the corner and straight up the freshly painted steps. Crap. Now I've got to fix that on Tuesday and Kevin has grey paws for about 6 months.

I wish i wouldn't have found this...

If you are a reader, then you MUST check this out. How did I not know about this before?

From my Seminary:

"If you attended the recent Married Student Dinner, you were given an evaluation form for that event. You may recall that all couples who turned in the evaluation would be entered into a drawing for a free hotel stay at the Holiday Inn at the airport."

Latest Reads

Listening to the Beliefs of the Emerging Church
I just realized that I haven't posted anything about books lately so I figured I would just throw a quick update on some stuff I've read lately.

This was an interesting read, some chapters better than others. I thought Mark Driscoll's chapter was probably the poorest and had the least actual thought involved. It was like he just copied and pasted an extended doctrinal statement from the back of a church bulletin instead of putting some thought into it so that was a bummer. I couldn't quite figure out how John Burke fit into the whole thing and after reading his chapter wasn't sure exactly what he said although he did have some helpful responses to other chapters that I appreciated. I connected most with Dan Kimball's chapter over the others. Doug Pagitt's chapter scared me in places. He almost seems reckless at times with the way he disregards orthodox christian belief from other centuries. In some ways this can be good, but is not always helpful. Karen Ward's chapter was very creative and inspiring for what a community can look like. I don't really want to give a detailed critique of this book and besides you will find a much better one HERE. Overall, the book was extremely easy to read through, the responses were always intriguing but I guess it didn't quite live up to my expectations so I was a little disappointed. As Chris said in his article that I linked it seemed like Driscoll put on a referees shirt and blew the whistle when he perceived a theological foul plus he "cited" 700 bible verses in the book which is a little ridiculous. I think Karen Ward was right when she said that you can be a "biblicist" without using the bible correctly and it seems this may have been the case in this regard. Anyway, I will cut myself off here because anything else I have to say is kind of irrelevant. I am more excited to read "An Emerging Manifesto of Hope." I think it will be much better than this. I would give this book a B.

The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
This is another classic no one ever made me read. While it became very dry in places due to the language that Hawthorne uses I can see why this book made such a huge impact. Not only a social commentary on the Puritans but a HUGE statement of sin in general. Really hits the nature of sin and the shame that comes along with it well. So many themes throughout this book it is hard to even catch them all. Some great irony and religious commentary from this time period. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it!





Your God is Too Small - J.B. Phillips

This is an older book which was clearly written in a time different from ours, however the first part of the book is timeless. I'm seeing much more value in reading older books than all of the new stuff that just hits the shelves. Phillips deals with the misconceptions we have of God and how our misconceptions drive our actions and our lives. Some of the perceptions are God as a resident policeman or confusing God with your conscience, God as a parental hangover or confusing God with your image of your parents, God as meek and mild or confusing Jesus with sentimentality, and God as a box or confusing God with a denominational leader. There were some great timeless observations that Phillips makes and draws from culture that are worth reading. The second half of the book is basically a general gospel presentation that seems a little outdated although I see how important it is to not only tear down unhealthy images of God but build a healthy view of God from Scripture.

Four Views of Hell

This is kind of a hobby theology book. Honestly the exact nature of hell is not all that important, we know it's a serious subject and a bad place and I'm not sure it matters if it is literal, metaphorical, etc. Most of this is speculation on where scripture is silent. It was an interesting read. Walvord defended a literal hell, Crockett a metaphorical hell, Hayes a purgatorial hell, and Pinnock (always one to be in the minority) a conditional hell or annhiliation. I found Crockett's most compelling but then again, this is rather unimportant as far as theology goes, more just an interesting read rather than having to do with life. I know some would disagree with that however.


Reaching Out - Henri Nouwen

I feel that I should read at least one Nouwen book a year to keep my soul fresh and this was a great one as always. I highly recommend this book. If you haven't read any Nouwen I would suggest "In the Name of Jesus" to start out with. It kind of gives you a picture of where he is coming from and it's a fantastic book.






The Pleasures of God - John Piper

There were places in this book where I felt a definite awe for God and I couldn't help but marvel at the grandeur of God. But much of the rest of the book all I got was that John Piper is a hard core Calvinist. I'm not a big fan of John Piper, especially since I'm not a Calvinist nor am I Reformed in my theology, nor do I even really subscribe to a theological system. You can see how this book would cause problems with that! Anyway, I was hoping it would be more about God and less about a theological system and God picking individuals for salvation but that was a majority of it.

Random Notes

Kelli is at a writer's workshop today at Western Seminary so here I sit.

Last night we went to Linda and Sam's to learn how to cook Salmon three different ways. I was extremely tired and did not talk to hardly anyone. I felt kind of bad for that but i just didn't have the energy to interact.

As I sit here I am only hours away from brewing beer with Travis.

Tonight we are going to see 300 with Jason and Kimberly.

Next Friday we get to move into our new apartment above the garage. We're really moving up. From the basement to the garage! The garage is pretty sweet though. It's got a fireplace, a huge front window from which to enjoy spring, and it's a perfect place to have people over (which we will be doing when our beer is ready to drink and lent is over).

Crap, i'm just bored, sorry for wasting your time.

Wal-Mart rejects 'racy' worship CD

Oh man, Lark News has done it again! Another hilarious article!

ANAHEIM — The latest Vineyard Music worship CD, "Intimacy, vol. 2," has raced to the top of the Christian sales charts, but Wal-Mart is refusing to stock the album without slapping on a parental warning sticker. The ground-breaking — some say risqué — album includes edgy worship songs such as "My Lover, My God," "Touch Me All Over," "Naked Before You," "I'll Do Anything You Want," "Deeper" and "You Make Me Hot with Desire."
"We've had concerns about previous Vineyard CD's, but this time they went overboard in their suggestive imagery depicting the church's love affair with Christ," said a Wal-Mart spokesman. "It would be irresponsible to sell this to 13-year-old kids."
A Vineyard Music Group (VMG) spokesman defended the album.
"We felt this was the next logical step in furthering people's intimacy with the Lord, as the title implies," said Sam Haverley, director of VMG public relations. "People aren't content with yesterday's level of closeness. They want something more. We feel this album gives them that."
Wal-Mart represents a third of all CD sales, which has forced VMG to try to negotiate a deal. VMG proposed adding a heart-shaped warning sticker rather than the black-and-white label more often seen on raunchy rap albums, but Wal-Mart refused. VMG is considering issuing a censored version of the album.
"If Christians want to make R- or X-rated music, that's up to them," said a Wal-Mart spokesman, "but we don't have to carry it." •

One of the most uncomfortable and horrific things I have ever seen. I have never felt worse for anyone in my life!

And of course a great story about this tragedy here on ESPN.

What Are People For?

Wendell Berry is an inspiring thinker and has a profound gift for connecting the spiritual with the everyday world we live in. What Are People For? is a book of essays that begin with a few poems and then the first part of the book (which I skipped most of) deals with authors that he respects and enjoys. I didn't know any of the authors so I proceeded to Pt. 2. This section has some wonderfully thought-provoking essays on "Why I Will Not Buy a Computer", "Feminism, the Body, and the Machine", "The Pleasures of Eating", and the most convicting for me, "God and the Country."

I really connected with God and the Country since I grew up in a farming community of about 2500 people. I felt bad for the country church, and I felt ever more horrible for what I did to the country church. Let me give you a quote from Berry first:

"The second manifestation I want to speak of is the practice, again common in the churches of my experience, of using the rural ministry as a training ground for young ministers and as a means of subsidizing their education. No church official, apparently, sees any logical, much less any spiritual, problem in sending young people to minister to country churches before they have, according to their institutional superiors, become eligible to be ministers. These student ministers invariably leave the rural congregations that have sponsored or endured their educations as soon as possible once they have their diplomas in hand. The denominational hierarchies, then, evidently regard country places in exactly the same way as “the economy” does: as sources of economic power to be exploited for theadvantage of “better” places. The country people will be used to educate ministers for the benefit of city people (in wealthier churches) who, obviously, are thought more deserving of educated ministers. This, I am well aware, is mainly the fault of the church organizations; is is not a charge that can be made to stick to any young minister in particular: not all ministers should be country ministers, just as not all people should be country people. And yet is is a fact that in the more than fifty years that I have known my own rural community, many student ministers have been “called” to serve in its churches, but not one has ever been “called to stay. The message that country people get from their churches, then, is the same message they get from “the economy”: that, as country people, they do not matter much and do not deserve much consideration. And this inexcapably imposes an economin caluation on spiritual things. According to the modern church, as one of my Christian friends said to me, “The soul of the plowboy ain’t owrth as much as the soul of the delivery boy.” Pg. 96, 97

The last few years of college a few friends and I did what was termed "pulpit supply" meaning that we preached at little country churches around Illinois where they could not afford to have full time ministers any longer mainly because their attendance had declined to a point of almost closing. Some of these churches had 50 people, some had 4 (not kidding). While I gained valuable experience in these country churches and have some great stories, I do not feel that I valued these people as worthwile humans beings who had spiritual needs and were just as important as anyone else in the world. I regret the ease at which I took the task of preaching simply because, "it was a small country church". This might not have come out in tangible ways and I don't think anyone in these congregations would ever have said that about me, but I still felt it and saw it in the way I prepared, the disregard and non-chalance for which I treated it. Why wouldn't I prepare the same preaching for 10 that I would 1,000? Aren't people still people no matter how many of them there are?

I write all this out of conviction but I also say this to wonder if there is a better way. I've got to say that the people I met in these small churches were some of the most loving, supportive people on earth. They would and smile through 10 bad Dustin sermons and tell me it was the greatest sermon they had ever heard. Those moments were indispensable to me as a preacher and have helped form me as the preacher I am today. I wish I would have given them more.

Life After God

On a friend's recommendation I read Life After God by Douglas Coupland. I had heard of his other books Shampoo Planet and Generation X but had not read anything by him. The first half of the book I didn't care for all that much. They seemed like completely disconnected and absurd stories with no real interpretation so I was a little frustrated but then it hit me. This is life after God! Disconnected and absurd stories with no meaning or ability for interpretation! Makes sense.

Anyway, the second half of the book I enjoyed much more as events did begin to get interpreted to some extent and some profound thoughts started to come out. Besides that, he is just a good writer. Let me give you an example:

"My drive continued and worries about vanishing feelings remained like a background radiation. But I guess the nice thing about driving a car is that the physical act of driving itself occupies a good chunk of brain cells that otherwise would be giving you trouble overloading your thinking. new scenery continually erases what came before; memory is lost, shuffled, relabeled and forgotten. Gum is chewed; buttons are pushed; windows are lowered and opened. A fast moving car is the only place where you're legally llowed to not deal with your problems. It's enforced meditation and this is good."

If for nothing else, this book is worth reading simply for the very insightful chapter on Christian radio (pg. 182ff). It's not a rant about it, it's a complete lack of understanding of what these people are talking about and I can't say I don't understand. There is no foundation from which to understand even the language that these people are speaking when you grow up in a life....well, you know. But even more than that, the language the people on the Christian radio are using is becoming a language unto itself in a way no one can truly understand but only pretend to. I'd like to give you an example but i'd rather you read the book and understand what i'm talking about yourself.

BEERFEST

Just signed up to volunteer for 4 hours at the Spring Beer and Wine Fest at the Convention Center on April 6th, and 7th. Those 4 hours get you in both days for free for the beer, food, and classes! Woohoo! If you're not doing anything you should think about it!

Josh Ritter - Aladdin Theatre

Saturday night we saw Josh Ritter perform. The Aladdin Theatre I must say is a fantastic venue. Not only does it have GA seats but the theatre itself has this old school feel to it that was perfect for a Josh Ritter/Laura Gibson acoustic show. The stage had an old table and lamp on it and gave it the feel like it was an old time radio show and that's exactly what it felt like. We only caught the last few songs of Laura Gibson but now wish we would have seen more.

Josh Ritter came out full of energy and with a huge smile on his face. You can see the joy that performing his music gives him. He kept saying throughout the night, "this is so much fun" and it was clear from his performance that he meant it. The first few songs he sang I was absolutely captivated by how crystal clear his voice is live when he's singing his slower songs. The mix of how amazing the acoustics are in this place and just his natural voice was mesmerizing. Not only is he is a great songwriter but he's a funny and as Kelli called him several times, quirky guy. He's certainly not pretending when he gets on stage! But it wasn't one of those annoying, "man i wish this guy would shut up and play." The crowd was listening and laughing at every word he said.

It's clear that Josh is just a country boy who grew up in small town Idaho (and from the last I heard still lives there in his down time) that loves playing his music about wolves and girls. Somehow Josh has kept the phoniness and cynicism of the music industry from seeping through. That alone is an achievement. He does not have that pretentious, messiah, i'm so angry to be up here crap that so many musicians have. He had a smile on his face almost all night and loved every minute of it. At the same time you can see how the showmanship of Elvis and Johnny Cash has really influenced him and his music.

Three of the best moments of the show were as follows:
1. When he turned out all the stage and house lights and sang Idaho in complete darkness.
2. His eight minute performance of Thin Blue Flame which included alternate lyrics throughout.
3. At the end of the show he put down his guitar, grabbed his glass of wine, stepped out from behind the microphone and sang a closing tune in the free air. I'm not sure what's more impressive. The acoustics of the Aladdin Theatre or Josh Ritter for being able to fill the entire place with his voice.

One way or another, I've seen so many concerts in the last five years but this one ranks in my top five easily.

Moving on up...

1. Yesterday was my last day at Hollywood Video. I worked the day shift so it was a very easy last day. As much as I hated most of the crap that went on there are far as sales quotas and such, I did like the people I worked with quite a bit. Plus I feel like I know everyone in the neighborhood now. I recognize so many people on the street and yesterday a guy bumped into me at Starbucks and said, "Hey, video store guy!" and we got to talk for a while. It was a great place to work as far as getting connected with those in the neighborhood. I recognize families and dogs and all sorts of stuff. So as much as the job sometimes sucked, I do not regret working there for a season. I will miss seeing the people regularly that I got to know.

2. We get to move into a new apartment above ground on March 15 or 16th! This is extremely exciting news for us. We've been living in a basement studio apartment which has been completely fine for us but it will be nice to move to a new apartment where there is a huge window and sunlight can come in. It also has a little fireplace in the corner. The most exciting part of this is finally being able to have people over again! It will be a great place to host a life group this spring or summer! Plus, in Tampa we hosted wine/beer tasting parties where people could connect and get to know each other. We miss those a lot! And what better place to continue the tradition than Portland? After Lent of course.

3. I heard a fantastic quote that I had never heard before yesterday that apparently everyone has heard before. It was when a woman said to Winston Churchill, "you are drunk." He replied, "And you are ugly, but I will be sober in the morning." Hahaha. That's awesome.

4. Participated in an Ash Wednesday service last night to kick off the Lent season. It was a time of reading scripture together, praying, being silent and going through some prayer stations. There is something powerful about hearing another human say, "from dust you came, and from dust you will return." Really puts things in perspective. I appreciate the people in our faith community and what they bring more and more everytime we're together. It's truly a fantastic group of Christ-followers.

For these four reasons, today I am very thankful.

For fans of tracts...

If you're a Harry Potter fan, you've got to read this Chick Tract!

Funny stuff! The most illuminating thing out of this tract is how uninformed it is. A classic form of ignorance that has been plaguing fundamentalism from the beginning.

A few observations:
-I honestly think the uncle looks more creepy than the witches.
-I love the scene where the two witches are in the room together and as they pronounce that witches rule there is a picture of Harry Potter in the background. Hilarious!
-The wording of "I'm bringing Uncle Bob home" was a little strange.
-Apparently Holly is going to hell.
-"Do we have the stereotypical witch? Let's see. Ouiji boards? Check. Tarot Cards? Check. Crystal Balls? Check Pentagrams? Check. Yup, we're all set Mr. Chick."
-My favorite, "the King James Bible is the only version that Satan hasn't messed with."

Who are these people that write these things???

Resolutions

These are from a man named Clyde Kilby who I have never heard of but got from John Piper's book The Pleasures of God.

Read these slowly and thoughtfully, they're fantastic.

1. At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.

2. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death, when he said: “there is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendour, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing.”

3. I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be food enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence but, just as likely, ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

4. I shall not turn my life into a thin straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.

5. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the ‘child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder.”

6. I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

7. I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are, b but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis call their “divine, magical, terrifying, and ecstatic” existence.

8. I shall follow Darwin’s advice, and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good listerature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.

9. I shall not allow the devlish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Chalres Williams suggested, “fulfill the moment as the moment.” I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now.

10. If for nothing more than the sake of a change of view, I shall assume my ancestry to be from the heavens rather than from the caves.

11. Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shal bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the Architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega.