Wire’s initial three albums have long been favorites of mine, especially the first and the third. The debut album, Pink Flag, employed punk minimalism and acidity with a slyly absurd literal-ism, while completely throwing out punk’s reliance on traditional rock n’ roll song structure. It’s fast and fun and leaves you off kilter in a way you don’t quite get at first. The third album, 154, is to me the consummate post-punk album, more so than say the usual suggestions of something by the Gang of Four, Joy Division or Pere Ubu. It’s polished and often desolate art rock (cold…
MLK’s Eulogy for Martyred Children
As Good Friday nears, a beautiful sermon of Martin Luther King’s we had sent our way, that we had to put up here. The speech was given after the bombing at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church on September 15, 1963, just three weeks after the March on Washington.
This afternoon we gather in the quiet of this sanctuary to pay our last tribute of respect to these beautiful children of God. They entered the stage of history just a few years ago, and in the brief years that they were privileged to act on this mortal stage, they played their parts exceedingly…
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Another Week Ends: Assurance Anxiety, Genesis Lessons, Tumblr Love, Lost in the Cosmos, Iron Man Prep, and Hatsune Miku’s Pizza Stage
1. First off, a little pop theology. Phillip Cary contributed an encouraging review of J.D. Greear’s sensationally titled Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart to the recent issue of Christianity Today, under the header “Anxious About Assurance”. As he does in his book Good News for Anxious Christians, Cary gets straight to the heart of the matter:
Greear is not saying it’s wrong to ask Jesus into your heart. He’s saying it’s not the same thing as believing the gospel. And if we want to be assured of salvation, it’s believing the gospel that actually counts. We are saved by faith…
Freedom in the Rat Race: An Excerpt from Grace upon Grace
Grace Upon Grace is the new book of sermons from David Johnson, a great friend of Mockingbird’s here in Charlottesville, VA. You may have heard some of his sermons on our Resources page, or had the pleasure of listening to his talk on parenting at our conference this past Fall. This particular collection spans topics from all the “personal matters” of life: parents and kids, wives and husbands, money matters and big decisions, corporate ladders and childhood mistakes. In doing so, Dr. Johnson brings the heart of the gospel into the common corners of our daily lives–but not without first…
Augustine on the Word Becoming Flesh
Here are some poetic words from Saint Augustine’s Sermon 69: On the same words, John 1: “In the beginning was the Word, etc.” excerpted from the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers edited by Philip Schaff. There are some beautiful lines here on the Incarnation—the Word of God becoming flesh—that could make this a Christmas sermon.
Do not follow the current of the flesh. For this flesh is indeed a current; for it has none abiding. As it were from a kind of secret fount of nature men are born, they live, they die; or whence they come, or whither they go, we know not.…
Rod Rosenbladt Reads Martin Luther’s Christmas Sermon
This recording of the Great Reformer’s Christmas sermon was posted by the good folks at the White Horse Inn a couple of years ago (it was dug up from their tape archives). It’s a great read and an even better listen from the lips of Dr. Rosenbladt. I should note that it isn’t one of Luther’s actual sermons but an assembly of pieces from his many Christmas writings, put together by Roland Bainton as he envisioned Luther might have preached them.
“And Death’s Dark Shadow Put to Flight…” A Post for Newtown, Connecticut
It goes without saying that our prayers and hearts have been with Sandy Hook Elementary and the Newtown community since last week. On this side of our Sunday services, “Lord have mercy” is pretty much all I have left to say in my spiritually and emotionally exhausted state, and I don’t think I’m alone when I say that.
For those of us who are still struggling to maintain composure in light of tragedy, or for those exhausted from the 24 hour media coverage, or for those wrestling with the relationship between a good God and an evil…
From The New Yorker
Couldn’t be a more perfect opportunity to repost Aaron Zimmerman’s wonderful sermon, “Instant Karma Got Him”:
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Vade Mecum: The Garden of PZ’s Podcast
In lieu of new blurbs for PZ’s Podcast (two new episodes went up last week!), we are privileged to bring you an appreciation of and introduction to this truly one-of-a-kind project, courtesy of Fred Rogers. We’ve tried to link to all the casts that are referenced – a few are not currently available.
Followers of Mockingbird will be acquainted, at least by title, with episodes in Paul Zahl’s podcast series. Perhaps you’ve had a listen or two; possibly you have become a subscriber through iTunes and make a habit of dialing them up. I hope so — if it’s too much…
Previously on Parenthood: Max Braverman Breaks the Fourth Wall
The past few weeks I have been highlighting some theological insights to be gained from Parenthood, which is now in its fourth season. As I said in the post on Kristina and the other on Julia, there has been much suffering in the Braverman clan lately, but today I wish to highlight a reason for rejoicing in the life of Max Braverman, Kristina and Adam’s teenage son with Asperger Syndrome who is played by Max Burkholder. I also wish to connect this line of thinking on Parenthood with some other discussions I have had recently as well on communication such as…
Forde Friday: On the Death of Self
I was thinking this week about how Christians tend to think about “dying to self”. Certainly there’s something to be said for the mortification of the flesh, fighting sin and all that. But what if Jesus’ call to lose your life in order to gain it was less of a call to selling all your possessions in an everything-must-go yard sale and more of a passive…dying. As in, the death is not something we achieve, but something we receive? Ladies and gentlemen, the unsurpassed, late-great Dr. Gerhard Forde (from his “Sermon on the Death of Self”):
“Can you see that this…
The Mighty Church of TED?
We’ve spoken more than once on here about Alain de Botton, the Swiss thinker who’s been pushing the not entirely unsympathetic idea that there’s a thing or two worth salvaging from religion in a world that’s largely “moved on.” As far as books of its kind go, De Botton’s Religion for Atheists is less of a mixed proposition than most, going far beyond the baby-and-bathwater attitude that characterizes much of the intellectual establishment’s view of Christianity these days (esp in an election year…). De Botton, however, is probably most well-known for the talk he gave at the TEDglobal conference last…
PZ’s Podcast 112 & 113: Kipling’s Lightworks and The Two Geralds
Episode 112: Kipling’s Lightworks
Kipling shed light! This second talk on his poems and short stories, but especially his poems, sings the praises of the inspired bard. Interestingly, two of his best hymns were cut from The Hymnal (1982) — and not on “political correctness” grounds but on Christological grounds. It was thought that “Recessional” and “Children’s Song” were not specific enough. Whether this was right or wrong, we lost two inheritances, two great poems, for my money, rooted in “love to the loveless” and the critique of power.
I hope you will want to read “Epitaphs of the War 1914-1918″, and…
Forgiveness Has Risen: The Easter Sermon of St. John Chrysostom
If any be pious and a lover of God,
let him rejoice in this fair and radiant festival.
If any be a faithful servant
let him enter into the joy of his Lord.
If any be weary with fasting,
let him now enjoy his payment.
If anyone has labored from the first hour,
let him receive today his just reward.
If anyone has come after the third hour,
let him now be thankful that the feast is at hand,
If anyone has waited until after the sixth hour, let him not be anxious, no loss shall be his own.
If anyone has tarried until the ninth hour, let him draw near also, shedding…
A Problem to Ourselves? Robert Bales and the Astonishing Mixture of Virtue and Depravity
Holy Smokes! Talk about low-hanging fruit. Another unbelievable, doubletake-inducing column from David Brooks in the Times this morning, this time dealing with Robert Bales, “When the Good Do Bad,” in which he articulates the Mockingbird anthropology with remarkable accuracy (and courage), using none other than John Calvin, G.K. Chesteron and C.S. Lewis to back him up. Wild! I’m almost tempted to replace our glossary entry on “anthropology” with a link to this column. Is Brooks becoming the prophet of the age? The one compassionate voice crying in the wilderness of positive thinking and the American inflated sense of self, speaking…
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