TWO

"If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever."

-Thomas Aquinas

It seems terribly cliche to make some statement about "living every day like it's your last" or "carpe diem." So I will not make either of those statements. However, if you are in a position where security and/or comfort is keeping you from getting off your ass and doing something, anything, then it may be time to heed some advice from a young man with an old man's regrets. Go live your life. Go live your life for the one who gave it to you. Twice. If knowing that a Father so loving as to give you both birth into this life and birth into new life through Jesus Christ is not enough for you to wake up in the morning and want to just eat the pants off of your breakfast, then I pray for your soul. Here's a cool video from The Antlers. Depressing as their music can be, I still find it beautiful. It no longer makes me want to wallow in my own depression. Instead it makes me appreciate the beauty found in the dark sides of life.

Classically Trained

The Vivaldi section comes in right around the 2 minute mark. It tastes pretty good. Hold on to something.

It's A Pleasure

Sometimes there's just a band that makes sense. When I first stumbled across Sea Wolf, an Alex Brown Church project, I did not find it to be a band that would fall under that category. I have since been proven the fickle nature of first-impressions. The tunes are catchy without being kitschy pop. The lyrics are deep without being pretentious. And the vocals are uniquely warbled without being Conor "I'm perpetually misunderstood" Oberst. It also doesn't hurt that Alex looks like the lovechild of Patrick Fugit and Beck. Sea Wolf brings great elements of folk and singer/songwriter but uses them more for constructing a skeletal structure for a movement of beautifully composed songs backed by driving drums. Personally, I find Sea Wolf's music to be both inspiring and reassuring. Here is a cool video for the song "Wicked Blood." And yes, that is Shannon Sossamon. Devour and enjoy.

"The love of Christ in its sweetness, its fulness, its greatness, its faithfulness, passeth all human comprehension. Where shall language be found which shall describe His matchless, His unparalleled love towards the children of men? It is so vast and boundless that, as the swallow but skimmeth the water, and diveth not into its depths, so all descriptive words but touch the surface, while depths immeasurable lie beneath."

-Spurgeon

The unenlightened man can read this and assume that he stands as the exception. The man touched by the Spirit can read this and know that the word 'immeasurable' seems inadequate. No man can understand the complexities of a God who reigns in the realms of infinite. No man can look to the heavens and say that he has explained the mysteries of a Lord existing outside of time, space, or containment. Any man who dares to challenge the supremacy of God by claiming that he can even begin to fathom all the wonder that is God must be met with rebuke. He must be met with Scripture. He must be met with the heart and mind of Christ. The only understanding we achieve is a blessing of discernment from the Spirit. Any comprehension we obtain is by no means of our own. Furthermore, reducing God into a simple being so that we can understand Him is heretical idolatry and demands repentance.

Sweet Baby James

In the 4th chapter of the book James, the author explains in the most coherent detail what is actually wrong with many members of Christ's church and what one can do to fix it. It doesn't get any better than that. Here's what's wrong and here's how to make it better. Boom. Boom. According to James, we are self-absorbed children with false senses of entitlement and until we acknowledge that the Lord is all we need and knows more than we, our immature, adulterous (that's right, you're cheating on Christ. hard) behavior will continue. James calls us to submit to the Lord and then he challenges us to commit to the Lord. The early church (and us as well) is given a two step formula to receive the blessings of the Lord. 2 steps. Granted, they are the two hardest steps a man may have to take but also, they are the easiest once we understand the implications and rewards. You are given a choice. Either (A) be a rebellious child who complains about what he doesn't have but insists that he will get it on his own somehow and therefore gets nothing [insert clever remark about 22 catches] or (B) humble yourself before the Lord and receive the desires of your heart when you truly ask for them in the name of Christ [insert clever remark about how human beings are the biggest piles of self-absorbed crap the universe has ever known]. The choice is obvious. Yet it comes with a challenge. So you've made the choice to humble yourselves before the Lord because, as James' quote from Proverbs reminds us, the Lord opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Great. You got that one right. However, there is a challenge that follows. You have to submit to the Lord and you have to commit to the Lord. Up. Down. Left. Right. A. B. Start. Select. For the win.

Here's something for your eyes and ears.

American Gothic

David Eugen Edwards is nothing short of amazing. He sees the darkness within the faith. He understands the neglected corners of Americana music. His lyrics are borderline prophetic. I assume most of you already know this and probably already know this song, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Weird Folks Doing Weird Folk

If you are unfamiliar with the band Castanets, do not fret. Do not fear. Do not panic. Castanets is a musical project from the twisted mind of San Diego native Raymond Raposa. He now resides in the Seattle area and is a main contributer to the new wave of dark/gothic folk music scene that has grown in said area. If you enjoy Gothic Americana music (i.e. 16 Horsepower, Okkervil River, Decemberists (ish), etc.), then you will absolutely devour the deliciously dark tracks that Castanets deliver to your ear pits. Look them up. Look him up. Look you up. Below is a video of Castanets' Take Away Show, courtesy of blogotheque.net. If you enjoy this then you should comment. If you do not enjoy this then chances are we weren't that close anyhow.

#81.3 - Castanets - Cathedral 4 / Sway by lablogotheque

Day. Vet. Sea. Deal. Low.

David Cedillo, Jr. You may think you have heard of him. You may think you have seen him. But you haven't. He wears many faces and owns many aliases. D-Bird. Captain C. The Captain. The Thunderball Phantom. Only a handful of people have ever actually seen this international man of mystery. If you see this face, alert the authorities as he is considered extremely dangerous. Double dangerous. For more information go to davidcedillo.com.

No One Said It Would Be Easy

"You must submit to supreme suffering in order to discover the completion of joy."

-John Calvin

It has been said that he who increases wisdom increases sorrow. It has also been said that a man well-versed in suffering is a man clothed in great wisdom. Bottom line: this world will bring you pains that no amount of preparation can soften and no amount of pity can expedite the healing thereof. No man is exempt. Christ did not die so that those who believe in him could achieve immunity to pain. Salvation makes us no more impervious to the trials of this world than it makes us purple and ten feet tall. We are not called to be giants. We are called to drop our nets and follow Christ. We are called to drop our worldly aspirations and submit. We are called to suffer and trust that the fortification of our hearts and minds through the Holy Spirit will allow us to endure. No one said it would be easy.

Girls Choir + Music You Know = Things You'll Enjoy

Creep (Radiohead) - Scala & Kolacny Brothers from Alex Heller on Vimeo.

For those of you who don't already know Scala & Kolacny Brothers, they are a Belgian girls choir directed by Stijn Kolacny and accompanied by Steven Kolacny on Piano. They have put out over a half-dozen albums of mostly pop covers. This is their version of "Creep" by Radiohead set to a video that will make you hate/love all things dolls, stop-motion, British, plastic, and/or Belgian. Please enjoy on this melancholy Thursday afternoon.

Ash Wednesday

"Oh, how easy it is to exaggerate a virtue until it becomes a vice."

-Spurgeon

If you are so self-absorbed as to think that what you do is for anything other than the glory of the one who made you, then I shudder to think of what will happen when you are faced with the decision of hanging your hat. A seemingly small decision has the power to dismantle your entire eternity. You are not called to do just one thing in the name of the Father but all things and if you cannot acknowledge your talent as a gift from Him, for Him, then you will tie your shoe for the enemy before you bless the Lord with you virtues. How can you explain your accomplishment by any other means then blessing? Are you so bold as to claim ownership over your success? Do you not realize your own insignificance? From ashes you came and into ashes you will return. Keep your flowery words and keep your neon arrows. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away and if you don't tremble at His name then you will never tremble at His power. From ashes you came and into ashes you will return.

Wonderlust King

Indeed I am.

Holy Calamity

"Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind."

-C.S. Lewis

It is safe to say that if not for the Holy Spirit in my life, I would be nothing more than a decrepit shell; a hollow box whose purpose was lost with its contents, and forgotten as swiftly as it's structure dilapidates. The only purpose I have is in the Lord. The only validity I can claim is through atonement. It is not merely vindication that blood has brought me, but authentication to go and live a vindicated life. There are days when the money is stacked no higher than the rubbers of my shoes. There are days that hold nothing more than reminders of bills and decisions masked with feigned importance, tricking me into thinking I should sacrifice sleep in exchange for worrying them away. There are days that I look at Job and envy his disposition. There are days that are simply emotive for no reason. Regardless of what these days hold, I still find joy in repentance. I may not be happy every day but I am nonetheless joyful. Rest in peace Bob. You were a wonderful man who a handful of us had the pleasure of knowing. You will be missed. You will not be forgotten. And you are most certainly still loved.

Robert Bigoness, 1929 - 2011

http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Further+Up/2sPqpD?src=5