RELEVANT 52 | July / August 2011

EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY | TEDASHII | FOOD ETHICS | 10 TIPS FOR MAKING BIG LIFE DECISIONS

GOD. LIFE. PROGRESSIVE CULTURE. RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

THE

CIVIL

WARS THE SURPRISING 10-YEAR JOURNEY OF 2011’S OVERNIGHT SENSATION

REVOLUTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST WHAT DOES THE “ARAB SPRING” MEAN FOR CHRISTIANS?

WHY NOBODY TALKS ABOUT SIN ANYMORE WHAT TO READ THIS SUMMER

PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER

INSIDE THE CAN’T-MISS BOOKS THIS SEASON

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7

25274 63696

ISSUE 52 / JULY_AUG 2011 / $4.95

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GOD. LIFE. PROGRESSIVE CULTURE. RELEVANT magazine July/August 2011, Issue 52 Reserving the right to remain awesome since 2003.

PUBLISHER & CEO Cameron Strang > cameron@relevantmediagroup.com

Mission Trip

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A new possibility changes everything.

WARNERPACIFIC.EDU PORTLAND, OR

REJECTING APATHY

BY CAMERON STRANG

I

6 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

n March 2008, I got an unexpected email from author Rick Warren inviting me to go to Africa with him. The catch? I had to leave in five days.

At the time, I was like a lot of people— I knew and cared about social justice, but it wasn’t personal for me. I felt like I was doing my part: We’d do an article on AIDS or another cause from time to time in RELEVANT; my wife and I would give or volunteer when we could; and I knew all the right things to say. But my comfortable, semi-urban life never really got stretched.

Sensing my own complacency starting to calcify, I jumped at the opportunity to be jolted out of my comfort zone on this trip. I just didn’t know how significantly my worldview would change in the coming weeks.

For decades, Westerners have swooped into areas of need, handed out solutions and left feeling pretty good

about themselves. A new paradigm at RELEVANT, though, has been that has been needed—a holistic approach we can only devote a certain number that organically addresses founda- of pages to going deeper because we tional areas of need for the long haul. have to maintain a certain editorial Most of us want quick fixes and balance in each issue. But only giving a something we can take a picture of. few pages to something this important We want to text our $10 donation simply hasn’t been enough. and move on with our lives. But true That’s why for more than two years change is far more complex and diffi- we’ve been working to create a platcult. It will require more of us. form that can go deeper. So it’s with That’s what the trip with Warren great excitement I can announce July helped open my eyes to. We traveled 1, 2011, marks the launch of our new through Rwanda and Kenya, meeting magazine, REJECT APATHY. with presidents and prime ministers Each issue will focus on changing and discussing need on a macro, stra- the world the right way in five keys tegic level. We also met with pastors areas: poverty, preventable disease, and village leaders, visiting rural hos- violence, defense of innocents and pitals and churches on the front lines. creation care. We feel these five themes Warren is working to enact a unique are all connected life issues—and are strategy he calls the P.E.A.C.E. Plan, all on God’s heart. which brings churches, government Each article in REJECT APATHY is and businesses together to address meant to open eyes, challenge worldlong-term areas of physical and spiri- views and spur change. There is a tual need. At the core of his philoso- Take Action component throughout, phy is relationship. He believes true showing how you can get involved change will require a commitment using your voice, your time and your over decades—and if it is going to hap- resources, and connect with organizapen the right way, it will be our genera- tions doing things the right way. tion, not his, that sees it through.

REJECT APATHY might be the Coming back from that first trip, my most important thing our team has view of social justice and missions was ever done, and we wanted it to have forever altered. “Knowing” and “car- the most impact possible. We will be ing” simply wasn’t enough anymore. printing and distributing more than Since then, I’ve had the opportu- 150,000 copies of each issue, but even nity to engage these issues much more more importantly: It will be free. deeply, not just traveling, but also If you’re a subscriber to RELEVANT working with organizations address- (thank you, by the way), you received ing areas of local and global need. the premiere edition of REJECT How do we learn from and part- APATHY in the mail with this issue. ner with each other so our collective As we publish each semi-annual ediefforts have the greatest sustainable tion, you’ll continue to receive it gratis. impact? How do we address urgent Non-subscribers can get REJECT need, but at the same time work to APATHY at select college campuses break generational cycles? and events across the country, and at How do we serve our local commu- the all-new REJECTAPATHY.com, nities while also contributing to global which is launching mid-July. turnaround? How do we help people Our prayer for REJECT APATHY is stand on their own, and that it will open eyes and not just give handouts and activate our generation Western solutions? to a new level of sacriHow do we reject apathy ficial living, sustainable in our own lives, and tanchange and a spiritual gibly be the hands and feet revolution. of Christ, addressing the God has given our CAMERON STRANG is the issues close to His heart? generation a heart for founder and CEO Unpacking these quesimpact, and the time is of RELEVANT. tions thoughtfully and right for this. A moveConnect with him on Twitter intentionally is vital; ment is beginning. @cameronstrang they’re literally life and It’s time for us all to or Facebook.com/ cameronstrang. death. The challenge for us reject apathy.

[FIRST WORD]

FIRST WORD

“

I wanted to work, but I didn’t want to do the

K IND o f W ORKmade they

me do.

”

S E X T R A F F I C K E D S L AV E I N N E W YO R K C I T Y

“

happiness

will come

when there is

more hope. ”

SE X TR AFFICKED SURVIVOR I N N E W YO R K C I T Y

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[LETTERS]

FEEDBACK Comments, Concerns, Smart Remarks [W RI T E U S] F EEDB A C K@REL E VA N T M A G A Z INE .C OM OR FA C EB OOK .C OM / REL E VA N T

MAY/JUNE 2011

THE KILLS I suspected the The Kills were cool before, but after reading the May/June cover story, I’m convinced. It’s refreshing to see a duo who are so comfortable in their relationship and yet so intentional in their music, even after all these years. Thanks for shining the spotlight on a band with proven staying power.

—CASEY RALPH / Atlanta, GA

I appreciate Rob Bell’s desire to focus on God’s great restorative work and to challenge our assumptions of what the Bible says regarding the judgment (“Is Rob Bell a Heretic?” May/June 11).

I wish his critics were slower to lump their interpretations on Hell into the bag of Christian absolutes.

However, Bell still comes across as arrogant when in your final question you asked him if it’s possible he’s wrong, and his answer assumes that if he is wrong, and Piper’s people are right, then God must not be truly loving. Not exactly the humility he calls for.

—LAURA TUCKER / Colorado Springs, CO

Shauna Niequist’s advice to pass over pastors in favor of professional counselors and therapists was disappointing (“What to Know at 25-ish,” May/June 11).

Good pastors offer much more than “prayer and pastoral guidance” as they apply God’s truth to the gritty details of life.

or even RELEVANT.tv into the Well, you just made a Lupe Fiasco current RELEVANT iPhone app. fan out of me (May/June 11). I’m —JONATHAN BROWN / Chico, CA used to hip-hop artists being controversial and outspoken, but I’m All good ideas. Currently, our devel- not really used to caring what opers are focusing on building our they have to say. Thanks for shownew website and the tablet version ing there’s more to hip-hop than of the magazine, both of which will references to clubs, scantily clad release this fall. women and scantily clad women dancing in clubs.

A good way of not falling into the —KEVIN STEWART/ Tulsa, OK traps of modern worship is to stop calling music “worship,” as if it’s I keep getting made fun of for the only worship part of what goes wanting to see Cowboys & Aliens, on in our communities of faith but after seeing it made the cut in (“What’s the Point of Worship?” the 2011 Summer Movie Guide May/June 11). Speaking and hear- (May/June 11), I feel justified and ing the Word is worship. Praying RELEVANT-approved. is worship. Laughing and eating —SAMANTHA ROLLINS / together is worship.

Wheaton, IL —MICHAEL STEVEN / Akron, OH Harrison Ford + Daniel “James

8 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

andrewdpowell: Encouraged by @Project7 and ready to learn how to buy smarter, not more, to make a difference.

Thanks to @RELEVANTmag for the introduction! fancyfeet77: Just digging into my latest issue of @RELEVANTmag!

Juicy as always! #Universalism #ChildObesity #QuarterLifeCrisis j_walsh: Cried like a baby on my flight while reading @RELEVANTmag’s article about @TheWorldRace & thinking about how God used the WR to change my life. msdanilions: Just read an article in @RELEVANTmag.

Pretty eye-opening. I use Twitter to update my friends, others use it to communicate through disaster. lyssacole28: Just read @CameronStrang’s article in the new @RELEVANTmag.

Very perfect timing for what’s going on in my life.

You can follow our daily nonsense at Twitter.com/ RELEVANTmag.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

Quite a disturbing study on Bond” Craig x aliens in the Old people who are most likely to get West = we’re all going to see it. fat—Christians (Slices, May/June 11). A wake-up call that we have to I used to work for Warner (marbe worshiping God even with our keting on the field) and had the physical bodies. pleasure of meeting Eisley and —JOE ROBINSON / Cagayan De their father on multiple occasions —RYAN SHOWALTER / Winston- Oro, Philippines (“Eisley Grown Up,” May/June 11).

Salem, NC Such great people and warm and genuine in-person. I am glad to It would be awesome for you to see them all growing and continurelease a RELEVANT.fm app, or ing to do what they do best. maybe even incorporate The Drop —DANIEL JONES / Grand Saline, TX

NICE TO TWEET YOU

AARON KEYES

l l e w D

Aaron’s gifts are brought to the surface: his unique ability to weave Biblical truth with heart-felt worship, to create melodies that hang around for days and lyrics that resonate across the generations.

Dwell’s tracks contain an exciting new sound with heavy drums and an electronic influences.

Like Aaron himself, these songs are rooted in the local church, dealing with everything from transformation and forgiveness to the nature of God and the mandate of the local church to build the kingdom.

Available June 21

www.kingswayworship.com

[SLICES]

SLICES

A BIMONTHLY LOOK AT LIFE, FAITH & CULTURE

FRANCE PASSES A

“BURQA BAN”

WHAT DOES IT SIGNIFY FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM?

I

10 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

FAITH VS. THE STATE? France isn’t the only country that has come under fire for religious liberty controversies. Here are three other religious freedom cases that have made headlines:

• “Ground Zero” in New York City

People tried to build a mosque sort of near the site of 9/11.

Other people got mad.

• Berlin

The city has banned all external religious symbols (including yarmulkes and crucifixes) from public buildings.

• Canada

A pastor successfully argued against discrimination charges after creating an anti-LGBT advertisement.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

n a move heralded by some citizens rapidly changing religious make-up of the popuand criticized by some human rights lace. In 2004, France passed a law banning most groups, France recently banned all cov- religious symbols in schools. While many assumed erings that obscure the face in addition the law was aimed at banning Islamic head coverto the rest of the head. While officials ings, Christian, Jewish and other religious symbols say it has no religious tie, it’s no coincidence that also fell under the auspices of the legislation. the law seems to be directed at Muslim women Government officials have said the new law is who wear the burqa or the niqab (the burqa is a meant to protect women against discrimination covering that covers everything from the top of and abuse, and it has enjoyed widespread support the head to the ground, while the niqab is a head among the French population. But it also suggests a scarf that covers everything but the eyes). France disturbing trend for France’s treatment of religious is home to 5 million Muslims, the largest popula- liberty, and not just for Muslims. France views tion in Western Europe. Of that number, itself as a secular state, but many wonder only about 2,000 Muslim women wear how a secular state can ban something the now-banned veil. Because of the new explicitly religious—particularly when it law, women who go out in public weardoesn’t hurt other portions of the popuing any type of scarf that covers their face lation. Many human rights organizations could be fined 150 Euros (about $215). question the legitimacy of a government BURQA Furthermore, people who force women regulating what is necessarily a religious PROTESTS: to don a veil risk up to a year in prison symbol. It raises questions about the role As the ban on face and a 30,000 Euro (about $43,000) fine. of the state in religious observances— veils took effect, It’s another instance of the tensions protesters hit the and if religious identity is something that between the French government and the should be controlled by the voters. streets.

[SLICES]

FAITH [ THE ARTIFACTS ]

A NEW FILM FINDS THE

“CRUCIFIXION NAILS” Blame Raiders of the Lost Ark, but finding archaeological evidence of biblical stories has always seemed pretty cool.

Now, Canadian-Israeli director Simcha Jacobovici claims to have uncovered two of the nails used in the crucifixion of Jesus. His film, The Nails of the Cross, claims the artifacts were found in the grave of Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest who turned Jesus over to the Romans. However, the Israel Antiquities Authority has already raised doubts over the purpose of the nails, or if the tomb really is Caiaphas’.

The “nails of the cross” aren’t the only souvenirs from the life of Christ. Here are a few other items that sparked either reverence or suspicion: THE SHROUD OF TURIN “The Jesus towel” is a linen imprinted with the face of a crucifixion victim.

THE HOLY CHALICE Several vessels have been presented as the one used during the Last Supper.

THE HOLY SPONGE Blood-stained pieces are supposedly held in various European churches.

THE HOLY LANCE “The Spear of Destiny” is said to be the one that pierced Jesus’ side.

CHEATERS NEVER WIN

BUT A LOT OF THEM ARE CHRISTIANS

Some people won’t cheat because God says of Oregon psychologist who worked on the not to—but other people will because they study. Research involved experimenting with know He’ll forgive them.

100 undergraduates taking a math test. The A new study called “Mean Gods Make students were told about a “computer glitch” Good People: Different Views of God Predict that would soon show them the correct Cheating Behavior” says there aren’t too answers—unless they opted out by pressmany notable ethical differences between ing the space bar immediately. In addition, believers and non-believers. However, students were also given a survey about the among those who profess faith in the Big details of their personal faith perspectives.

Guy, behaviors and attitudes are greatly In the end, those who associate a deity with influenced by how the individual compassion were more likely to views the object of their belief. peek at the correct answers.

For example, if one sees God as While one experiment can an angry judge, they’re less likely hardly define the morality or to cheat. But if one sees Him as behavior of all believers, scientific gracious and loving, they’re more research is becoming an increaslikely to bend the rules and bank ingly important component of MEAN GODS, on forgiveness. ethical debate. “It provides a GOOD PEOPLE: “The take-home message is powerful tool to study what is Read the entire not whether you believe in God, study for more a powerful force in the world,” information. but what God you believe in,” Shariff said. “It is only now that said Azim Shariff, a University it has become a really sexy topic.”

HONESTLY, ABRAHAM LINCOLN HAD STRANGE BELIEFS

12 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

inspiration or revelation.” He also noted Lincoln was once a Pantheist of sorts, before finding belief in God. We can presume Lincoln was at least an admirer of Christ and His teachings, despite his reluctance to claim Christian doctrine. As Lincoln wrote: “When any church will inscribe over its altar, as its sole qualification for membership, the Savior’s condensed statement of the substance of both law and Gospel, ‘Thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and thy neighbor as thyself,’ that church will I join with all my heart and all my soul.”

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

He might have been Honest Abe, but Abraham Lincoln was rarely open about his faith. The 16th U.S. president was never baptized and never joined a church, leaving historians with few clues as to his religion. But now, more than 150 years after Abraham Lincoln was elected, a longlost letter reveals more about his personal spiritual life.

“Mr. Lincoln’s religion is too well known to me to allow of even a shadow of a doubt,” writes William Herndon, a fellow lawyer and friend of Lincoln. “He is or was a Theist and a Rationalist, denying all extraordinary—supernatural

[SLICES]

CULTURE

FREE MUSIC

ISN'T JUST LIMITED TO THE WEB ANYMORE Everyone knows summer is the time for arts festivals. It kicks off with Coachella in April and ends sometime in September (the official end might be Burning Man, but that’s way too weird to consider as a benchmark). But one of the discouraging things are how much money these things cost. This year, Bonnaroo alone is $250 for a fourday pass!

Fortunately, if you live in or around any big-ish city, there are plenty of free festivals that will meet your need for fantastic music and art. If you’re near Chicago this summer, you can see Blond Redhead and Ted Leo + the Pharmacists for free as a part of their New Music Monday programs. If you’re in New York, there are free shows all over the city, including Friendly Fires, Wavves, Slick Rick, Pink Martini, Wanda Jackson and the entire Charlie Parker Jazz Festival. San Francisco has free shows by Neko Case, Aaron Neville and classical performances all summer long. There are also music festivals happening in Houston and Los Angeles, movies in Detroit, art films and music in Phoenix, cultural FREE SHOWS TO CHECK OUT festivals in Atlanta and a piano festival in Portland. No where you live, there’s a chance to see great art this THIS SUMMER: matter summer without breaking the bank.

New York City SummerStage.com Chicago http://relm.ag/kGiHbg San Francisco SternGrove.org Houston http://relm.ag/lHFcxE

VH1 STORYTELLERS AND MTV UNPLUGGED BECOME COOL AGAIN IF YOU WERE A KID in the late ’80s or ’90s, you probably have fond memories of MTV Unplugged and VH1 Storytellers. Nirvana’s Unplugged set was rightfully lauded as one of their best collections of music; Jay-Z and Kanye West both rocked the mic on Storytellers; Eric Clapton’s Unplugged album won six Grammy awards; Lauryn Hill recorded her last collection of new music on Unplugged; and if you were really cool in the ’90s, you loved the Dave Matthews Band episode of Storytellers (kidding ... sort of).

Well, both programs went through some serious growing pains (Korn Unplugged ... really?), but now they seem to be back on track. My Morning Jacket recently recorded an epic set for Storytellers, and in a mash-up of the channels, Adele recorded an episode of Unplugged for VH1. Considering The National, Vampire Weekend and Arcade Fire all hit the top of the charts last year, maybe it’s not shocking that good music is hitting the MTVs of the world once again.

A CLASSIC UNPLUGGED MOMENT: Remember why Nirvana was so awesome.

LOLLA GOES GREEN

14 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

If you’re headed to Lollapalooza this summer, you’ll notice a giant area called “Green Street.” They’ve had this at past festivals, but it’s bigger than ever this year.

Featuring vendors, organizations and companies committed to creation care and sustainable initiatives, it’ll make for a great place to learn what you can do to care for the environment. It also provides a great escape from the fact that you’re at a festival where A Perfect Circle is headlining.

[SLICES]

LIFE

MEDIA’S EFFECT ON THIS

GENERATION Recent findings illustrate how media has shaped the priorities, emotions and dependencies of an entire population

THE METHOD OF COMMUNICATION CHANGES DEPENDING ON THE RECIPIENT

A

new study from the University of Maryland (in conjunction with the Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change) examined the effects of media on 1,000 students in 10 countries on five continents. They asked the students to abstain from using media for a 24-hour period. Here’s what they found:

STUDENTS FEEL “ADDICTED” TO SOCIAL MEDIA According to the report, a student from the U.K. said, “Media is my drug; without it, I was lost.” A Slovakian student said he felt “sad, lonely and depressed.”

SOCIAL MEDIA IS AN EXTENSION OF THE PERSON

The study found students, in general, used different forms of media to communicate with different people. They called their moms, used Skype chat to talk to their closest friends, used Facebook to talk to larger groups and sent emails to professors and bosses.

A Mexican student said: “It was an unpleasant surprise to realize I am in a state of constant distraction, as if my real life and my virtual life were coexisting in different planes, but in equal time.”

Additionally, a Chinese student noted, “I was unable to describe the feelings without media, just like something important was drawn out from my life.”

HIDDEN LONELINESS CAME TO THE SURFACE

NEWS HAS CHANGED

16 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

24 HOURS UNPLUGGED: Check out a more detailed breakdown of the study’s findings.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

Students said they get news from social media—whether that be world crises, political events or personal news about a friend. Because of that, they also say they never seek news out; it always finds them.

“When I couldn’t communicate with my friends [by phone], I felt so lonely as if I was in a small cage on an island,” a Chinese student said. And a student in Slovakia realized how his social media usage had changed his relationships, saying: “We live too quickly.

We call our friends or chat with them when we need them—that is the way we have gotten used to relationships.”

Fellow  Americans,

r  at  Reliant  Stadium  in  Houston,  Texas  for  On  August  6,  the  nation  will  come  togethe our  country. a  solemn  gathering  of  prayer  and  fasting  for Â

 ation,  we  must  come  together  and  call  upon and  a  multitude  of  natural  disasters.  As  a  n ngs  essi e  bl or  th im  f nk  H truggles,  and  tha Jesus  to  guide  us  through  unprecedented  s of  freedom  we  so  richly  enjoy. Â

olve,  and  according  to  the  Book  of  Joel,  Some  problems  are  beyond  our  power  to  s historic  response.  Therefore,  on  August  Chapter  2,  this  historic  hour  demands  a  ric  breakthrough  for  our  country  and  a  6,  thousands  will  gather  to  pray  for  a  histo renewed  sense  of  moral  purpose. Â

 Â

 Â

          Sincerely,

Â

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       Â

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  Â

  Â

          Rick  Perry          Governor

 Â

 Â

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HISTORIC Â CRISIS. Â HISTORIC Â RESPONSE. Â HISTORIC Â BREAKTHROUGH.

SATURDAY AUGUST

06, 2011 10AM - 10PM

RELIANT STADIUM

HOUSTON

THERESPONSEUSA.COM

TEXAS

HYDROGEN CARS

[SLICES]

TECH

TAKE A GIANT LEAP

R

emember the days before the Chevy Volt was ever a twinkle in GM’s eye, before gas prices were so high that everyone wanted a new way to drive? Back then, everyone believed the next great innovation in alternative fuel for cars was hydrogen. That assumption has taken a hit in recent years, as battery-powered and plugin electric cars have become all the rage. But some auto-makers are sticking with hydrogen. And they recently got a big boost.

Shell (yeah, the same company that runs gas stations) has opened the very first public hydrogen filling station in Southern California that gets its hydrogen from pipelines rather than trucks. That’s a big deal because part of the current argument against hydrogen cars is there is currently no infrastructure to provide fuel for the cars. With a pipeline system a reality, it will become increasingly possible to make hydrogen cars for the mass market. Which is exactly why Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Toyota all plan to have cars available for public purchase starting in 2015. They expect to make the cars available for around $50,000—which is a lot, but much lower than the current six- or seven-figure price tag currently sported by the cars.

GOOGLE

WANTS TO RUN YOUR HOUSE

18 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

the immediate “yeah, in their dreams” scoff, Google has already teamed up with light bulb manufacturer Lighting Science to create light bulbs that will respond to commands from an Android app. The logical conclusion from this entire venture is a follow-up to Home Alone where booby traps are set off via the Nexus One handset.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

AT THEIR RECENT conference for developers, Google unveiled a new vision for your house called “Android @ Home.” They laid out a possible new system for your home where you’re able to operate every appliance—from light fixtures to washing machines—via your Android-ready smart phone (or, presumably, tablet device). As if to answer

[SLICES]

LIFE

HOW WILL CHRISTIANS

VOTE IN 2012?

WE

❤

WE

❤

WE

❤

PALIN WE

❤

ROMNEY

NG

WE

❤

OBAMA

PAUL

EVEN THOUGH THE NEXT U.S. presidential election is more than a year away, the race has already started in earnest. The first Republican debate was held in May, and several candidates have already announced their intentions to run.

One of the biggest voting blocs in the country is Christians. Whether or not they identify as evangelical, mainline Protestant (older, more traditional denominations like the Episcopalian or Methodist churches) or Roman Catholic, it’s often Christians who will determine much of the outcome of an election. So it’s important to ask: Who will they vote for?

Chance are the election will be current-President Obama vs. whoever-wins-the-Republican-primary.

According to a new Barna Group survey, Christians most favor 2008 presidential candidate Mitt Romney (49%), followed by Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. (The candidate who Christians most favor—Mike Huckabee—has announced he isn’t run-

FLAVOR OF THE BI-MONTH WHAT TO DO & WHERE TO GO IN JULY AND AUGUST

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OBSERVE JULY 4

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PRAY FOR SOUTH SUDAN

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SEE HOW HOLLYWOOD REMADE YOUR CHILDHOOD

Don’t go all nationalistic on us, but fireworks and cookouts are always welcome. And Sousa.

On July 9, the nation of South Sudan officially secedes from the nation of Sudan. Observers all over the world hope this will be the final closure the country needs after years of bloodshed.

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VOLUNTEER AT A VBS

Visit http://relm.ag/ilo6zO to find out if and when your state is having a sales tax holiday this summer.

A local church is most likely hosting a vacation Bible school (or some equivalent) this summer. Find out how you can get involved. It’s fun and you get to have Kool-Aid.

A GOOGLE A DAY ...

If you’re so good at the crossword puzzle that you do it in two minutes using a pen, and Sudoku is a joke you solve during your morning coffee break, you’ll be happy to know there’s a new puzzle ready to take you on: “A Google a Day.” It’s just what it sounds like: a daily question that encourages you to use Google to find the answer. The questions are as tough as you’d expect. And it’s not just tech geeks who are in on the fun—The New York Times now prints them every day. Just under the crossword puzzle, of course.

PLAY: Put your Googling skills to the test.

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This summer, barely a week will go by without a childhood memory likely being destroyed at the multiplex. The Smurfs, Winnie the Pooh and Conan the Barbarian are all set to get reboots. And let’s just not talk about Transformers 3.

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ning.) Comparatively, only 45% of Protestants have a positive view of President Obama.

That may reflect what Christian voters tend to care about, especially evangelical voters. Evangelicals rank abortion, gay marriage, taxes and immigration as much bigger issues than general voters (and much more so than Catholic and general Protestant voters). It may suggest why some Christians continue to align themselves with the moral platform of the Republican party.

It remains to be seen how the race will proceed, and it appears it will hinge on who gets the Republican nomination. Though all bets are off if Ralph Nader runs again.

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THE LASTING EFFECTS OF

SHORT-TERM DISASTERS The United Nations’ disaster management agency (UNISDR) recently released its Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Here are a few of its findings:

An 87 percent rise in the world’s population between 1970 and 2010—to 6.9 billion from 3.9 billion—increased the average number of people exposed to flooding each year by 114 percent—to 69.4 million from 32.5 million.

DOCUMENTING THE DECLINE OF

GIRLS IN INDIA

China’s one-child policy—which restricts her future husband’s family a large sum of married, urban couples to only having one money. The desire to be on the receiving child—is a well-known law. Since the policy end of this exchange has led some to abort was implemented in 1980, an estimated 400 their daughters. A medical study in the million births have been prevented. Some early 1970s that encouraged the abortion of projections indicate there may be 30 mil- female babies to help control the population lion more males than females in China in has also contributed to the lack of girls. the next decade. Another country that could Despite measures India has taken—like face a similar population disparity is India. the 1994 Pre-Natal Determination Test Act The country’s 2011 census showed a decline that outlawed sex-selective abortion—the in the number of girls younger than 7 years number of girls is still on the decline. The old: for every 1,000 boys under 7, there government recently responded to the cenare only 914 girls. Some activists believe 8 sus results, with Prime Minister Manmohan million female babies have been Singh calling the infanticide a aborted in the past decade. “national shame.”

A cultural factor behind this A former district commissioner disparity is that boys can conof southwest Delhi—where the tinue a family’s lineage, while ratio of boys to girls (under 7) is girls will get married and join a 836 to 1,000—believes the govINDIA’S different family. Another cause is ernment needs to step in and play GENERCIDE: that, though it is outlawed, many a bigger role in ending the infanA news report on families still adhere to the prac- the trend in India ticide. “Something’s really wrong tice of dowries—meaning when a here,” she says, “and something has to prefer male children. girl gets married, her family pays to be done to put things right.”

More than 90 percent of those exposed to floods live in South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific.

At least 66.5 million children are affected by disasters each year. Girls seem to suffer most, with the gender gap in achieving primary education widening significantly after disasters that are localized and frequent but less severe.

Mexico incurs disaster losses of more than $1 million at least 50 times a year, and more than $1 billion at least once every six years.

After successive crop failures in 2007-2009, 1 million people in Syria left rural areas for cities.

Worldwide, 1 billion people live in informal settlements, many in hazard-prone areas, with this population growing at a rate of 40 million people a year.

KENYA’S SWEET NEW PAPER

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of bagasse sold to paper companies—an improvement to simply throwing away the waste. And that’s not to mention the positive environmental effects.

“Climate change and illegal logging are very closely related and the first treeless paper production factories are already operational in western Kenya,” says Patrick Ojera, a professor of economics and business strategy at Maseno University in Kakamega, in Kenya’s Western province. “It is a good effort, but we still have a long way to go.”

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From table sugar to molasses, sugarcane creates many products most people use in everyday life. Now a new item can be added to the list: paper. Companies in Kenya have begun creating paper from sugarcane waste in an effort to stop illegal logging and deforestation, therein also stemming the effects of climate change.

The plan is to create paper from bagasse, which is the leftover waste after sugarcane has been crushed.

The new method will create jobs for many people in western Kenya. Farmers can earn as much as $2 per kilo

TRANSFORMATION IS OFTEN MORE ABOUT UNLEARNING THAN LEARNING

FALLING UPWARD:

A SPIRITUALITY FOR THE TWO HALVES OF LIFE We invariably prefer the universal synthesis, the answer that settles all the dust and resolves every question – even when it is not entirely true – over the mercy and grace of God.

SCRUBBING OUT DISEASE Clean the World wants your help to change the world— and all you need to do is stay in a hotel

BY HEATHER MEIKLE WITH ALYCE GILLIGAN

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n the week following the earthquake that devastated Haiti, while nonprofits across the world scrambled to assemble funds, medical supplies and personnel, the team at Clean the World was busy packaging recycled soap.

The nonprofit organization collects soap from hotels that would normally be thrown away, then sanitizes and recycles the soap to be distributed to places in need.

Co-founder and Executive Director Shawn Seipler came up with the idea while traveling. “I was starting to wonder what happened with the soap and the bottled amenities when I was done with them,” Seipler says.

So he and co-founder Paul Till began to ask. “We contacted about 30

hotels between Houston and Orlando and realized those items were being thrown away,” Seipler says. “From there we went down the road of, ‘Is there a way to recycle soap?’ ” It turns out there is.

More than 1 million bars of soap are thrown away every day in the United States. What the partners needed next was a process for cleaning and recycling that soap.

After an initial time-consuming process, they began “cooking” large quantities of soap bars in an industrial restaurant food steamer. They then partnered with Tri-Tech Laboratories, asking them to infect the soap with certain skin-to-skin pathogens like E. coli and salmonella.

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Visit Clean the World’s website to find out how you can help, including making financial gifts, donating soap and shampoo or volunteering.

Twitter: @clean_the_world Web: CleanTheWorld.org

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TAKE ACTION

“They did that with the soap and then we ran it through the steaming process,” Seipler says. “With the bar of soap sitting in the steamer for less than five minutes, it completely eliminated all of those pathogens.

When we went to that second process, we went from doing 500 bars a day to 10,000 bars a day.”

This quantity of soap allowed them to go from backyard to international, and now they have an industrial soap press that allows them to create 40,000 bars each day.

Though soap might seem like a strange way to combat global need, certain statistics illustrate how it can help. For one, pneumonia and diarrheal disease account for more than 9,000 child deaths every day, and the use of bar soap could reduce the mortality rate by up to 60 percent.

Since its inception in 2009, Clean the World has worked to collect and distribute more than 8 million pounds of recycled soap to countries worldwide. Through their on-the-ground distribution and close partnerships with organizations like Harvest Time International, Floating Dock, World Vision and Feed the Children, people across the world have received aid, in addition to countless domestic and Canadian shelters.

Their corporate partners include Caesars Palace, Walt Disney World Resorts, Sheraton and Westin.

Also, every month, students, church groups, Boy Scouts and Girl Scout troops across the country conduct soap drives, collecting partially used soap and sending it to one of Clean the World’s recycling centers.

The nonprofit currently operates four facilities between the U.S. and Canada, and is planning a fifth in the upcoming year.

“There’s almost a thirst out there for socially responsible green programs that make sense, that do the right thing, that are easy to implement, because properties want to do the right thing and then want to be able to tell their guests about it,” Seipler says.

“Right now consumers are pushing hotels to initiate sustainable programs. You have a big hotel where they’ve got 500 rooms and you’ve got 500 people staying in it—or more than that—at any one time, and the consumers really want to make sure we are being socially conscious, being environmentally conscious, and our program does that.”

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IN THEIR WORDS Innovators Making a Difference

JEREMY COWART PHOTOGRAPHER

Celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart is the founder of Help-Portrait, which takes pictures of people in need.

Here, he discusses starting out, the narrowing gap between “Christian” and “secular,” and why he gives back.

ORIGINALITY > QUALITY

“Getting into photography when I graduated and getting into photography now is a night-and-day difference. These days, the key is not taking good images, the key is taking unique images, because everybody can take a good picture now. The trick is to find your voice and to carve out a niche that is different than the other stuff that’s out there; that’s what art directors are looking for these days—somebody that’s bringing something different to the table. Way too many photographers think quality will get them work, and it’s not really quality that people are looking for: it’s uniqueness.”

CHRISTIANITY IS BECOMING LESS SCARY TO THE SECULAR WORLD

“I think the wariness has dissipated. I think people know Christians are just people; we’re just as normal as anyone else. Hopefully we’ve started to shed that perception that Christians can’t make good art. I think we’re all just living out our faith and trying to be excellent at what we do. I work with people from all religious beliefs, from all backgrounds; everything and everyone imaginable. I’ve worked with Playboy Playmates, I’ve toured with Britney Spears—I’ve done everything.

Our job as Christians is to be in the world, not of it.”

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WHY I CAME UP WITH HELP-PORTRAIT

“So many people have never seen themselves in a picture, and so to give that gift is really powerful. When you think of the poor, you think they need food, shelter and clothing. You don’t think to show them the value of themselves, to show them they’re special and beautiful. It’s pretty life-changing.

It’s life-changing for them and the photographer, I think, in many cases, to see what happens at Help-Portrait events. [We met] a girl who was tortured when she was 11 years old by her father—[he] would dump acid on her face. She always dreamed of having a professional picture with enough hair and makeup to cover her scars, and we were able to do that in Nashville—to give her her first picture at the age of thirtysomething. For her to see herself without scars was a pretty powerful and emotional experience.”

PHOTOGRAPHING THE NEEDY IS REWARDING

“It’s like magic. It’s a unique, special opportunity to be in front of the camera, and it makes me appreciate all the other times I’m holding a camera shooting a celebrity, because photography really is an amazing thing: to use this box to capture a smile, to capture a moment. For that moment to live on forever is a pretty cool thing.”

From shots of music celebrities to survivors of the Rwandan genocide, here are a few of Jeremy Cowart’s most popular photos. See many more at JeremyCowart.com.

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ALL OR NOTHING AND WHY SO MANY CHRISTIANS MISTAKE BELIEVING FOR FOLLOWING

BY KYLE IDLEMAN

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few years ago, I was working on a sermon for Easter, but it just wasn’t coming together.

Hoping for some inspiration, I went into our sanctuary where thousands of people would soon be gathering. Nothing.

I still had no idea what I was going to say. This sermon needs to be good, I told myself. Many people only attend church on Christmas and Easter. I was desperate to make sure they would want to come back. What can I say to get their attention? How can I make my message more appealing?

Finally, I asked myself, What did Jesus talk about when He talked to the large

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crowds? I grabbed the Bible out of the of our churches have become stachair in front of me and quickly began diums full of these types of people? to flip through the Gospels. What I That’s what happens when Christians discovered broke me and changed me talk about forgiveness and say nothforever. I found that when Jesus had ing about repentance, when the large crowds, He would often preach church preaches salvation but never a message that would cause many gets around to speaking of surrender, of the people to leave. Ultimately it when believers celebrate Heaven withwasn’t the size of the crowd that Jesus out warning of Hell, or when people paid attention to—it was their level of start believing but never get around to commitment. following.

That Easter weekend I stood up on A few years ago I met a young, the stage, and with tears in my eyes, I single father of two who had repented apologized. I told the crowd, “I’m sorry of his sins and surrendered his life to for sometimes selling Jesus cheaply Christ. He went from being a casual and watering down the Gospel.” I follower of Jesus to a completely comexplained that too often, motivated by mitted follower. Everything changed a love for people, I left out the passages in his life. He went from spending his of Scripture that made it clear that days smoking pot, getting drunk and the invitation to follow Jesus was an chasing girls to reading his Bible every invitation to serve, sacrifice and even day, coming to church every weekend suffer. The passage I preached on that and telling everybody he knows about day was from Luke 9:23. Jesus said, the difference Jesus had made. One “Whoever wants to be my disciple day he asked me if I would have cofmust deny themselves and take up fee with him and his mom. I knew his their cross daily and follow me” (NIV). mom was a member of another church Imagine I’m driving my car and, in town and she used to sometimes without realizing it, I am heading in take her son when he was younger. I the opposite direction of my intended was sure she wanted an opportunity destination. However, my wife (who’s to encourage me about the difference also in the car with me) knows I’m Jesus had made in her son’s life. going the wrong way. She loves me and Nope. That’s not what happened. knows how hard it would be for me to She was upset with me and the church hear that I’m going the wrong way, so because, in her words, “My son has instead of telling me the truth she just taken all of this too far.” She was not tells me what I want to hear. (Before pleased with how much time he was continuing I should be clear that this spending at church, or how he was givwould never happen.) ing some of his hard earned money or Now this scenario is just imaginary, was always trying to witness to the rest but if I was going the wrong way, what of the family. Here’s what she said to would be the loving thing to do? It me: “Can you please tell him the Bible may not be what I want to hear, but the teaches ‘everything in moderation’? most loving thing to do is to tell me the He needs to understand that it doesn’t truth. Because in the end, love without have to be all or nothing.” truth doesn’t win.

I don’t blame her. Really I don’t. My The Gospel can be communicated guess is for many years she sat and liswith the most loving intentions, but tened to a well-intentioned preacher if it doesn’t include the difficult truth who thought the loving thing to do of what it means to folwas to leave out some of low Jesus, we end up with the truth. people who call themselves I did my best to lovChristians but have little ingly tell her the truth. interest in following Christ.

The Bible does teach all If they do follow Christ, or nothing.

KYLE IDLEMAN, they want to follow Him Jesus doesn’t say, is the author of close enough to get the “Everything in modNot a Fan, a book benefits, but not so close eration.” He says, “Deny and DVD teaching series. He and that it requires any comyourself and take up his wife, DesiRae, mitment or sacrifice. your cross daily and folhave four young children.

Is it possible that many low me.”

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DEEPER WALK Words for the Soul

THE ENEMY OF “TRUTH” WHY ARE CHRISTIANS SO AFRAID OF CHALLENGES?

BY DONALD MILLER

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have been reading Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions lately and realizing its applicability to an ongoing conversation regarding biblical truth. Kuhn was no philosopher or theologian. He was a scientist, but he proposed that scientific paradigms should be allowed to change through a term he coined as “paradigm shifts.”

A paradigm shift would occur when scientists encountered anomalies that could not be explained by the accepted paradigm. All of this seems rather obvious, of course, and yet just like in the theological realm, scientists are not quick to let go of their paradigms.

In fact, Kuhn argued when enough

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anomalies accrue against an accepted controversy about hell. It is more paradigm, the discipline in question is inspired by Brian McLaren’s A New thrown into crisis. The crisis will then Kind of Christianity, in which he give way to a new paradigm, which is seemed faithful to Scripture and tried not to be confused with absolute truth, to give God more agency than humanbut a current understanding or inter- ity. I realized while I was reading the pretation of absolute truth, always book that he was presenting anomalies threatening to be changed by more that had gone unanswered by his critanomalies. The process was designed, ics—and they just labeled him a herthen, to respect truth over interpreta- etic. In his book, Brian presents many tion, or truth over the human biases anomalies. Each would have to be disthat might distort truth. cussed separately and that would take To be honest, he kind of sounds like up too much space. And besides, they a heretic. are already presented in Brian’s book.

In 1900, Lord Kelvin rather pre- On a personal note, more troubling to sumptuously stated, “There is nothing me as I read the book was the dismissal new to be discovered in physics.” Five of him as a heretic, or the picking apart years later, Albert Einstein published of one or two of the anomalies and the his paper on special relativity—a para- rejection of the others that should be digm shift. taken seriously.

Paradigm shifts should not be assoIn general, what are the anomalies ciated with relativism (which is dif- accruing against the widely accepted ferent than relativity!). The idea isn’t biblical paradigm? I realize that that truth is changing, but that further question is vague, because I have not study is changing our understanding defined that paradigm, but perhaps of truth. leaving it open will allow a wider variWhen Kuhn talks about paradigms ety of anomalies to be discussed. in crisis, he isn’t kidding. Scientists Consider some of my own who threatened existing paradigms questions: (including Einstein) were called her1. Is the Bible supposed to be used etics and banned for years from pre- like a constitution? And if so, why isn’t senting papers at certain universities. it structured as such?

The tension in the sciences was much 2. How do we reconcile proposimore ferocious than we are seeing in tional truth with Christ, who claims to the evangelical church today. actually be truth?

When theologians throw out anom3. If to know Christ is to know alies that threaten their paradigms, truth, how do we give up the metrics they respect their interpretation of we commonly use to decide whether truth more than truth—or worse, or not somebody is a Christian? Do believe their interpretation of truth we create relational metrics, or simply is actually truth. They use terms like give control over to God and intro“biblical” and “heretic” to convince duce people to the person of Christ? themselves and others that their inter4. Why do certain sects within pretation is the truth and others are a evangelical Christianity claim their threat to the Gospel or to God Himself. interpretation of truth as absolute, This sort of language isn’t helpful or when their interpretation is fit with respectful of anomalies, not to men- unanswered anomalies? tion it suggests a genuine intellectual This does not mean anomalies threat that should be taken have to be accepted— seriously, not dismissed as but rather carefully heresy. addressed. It would be What we encounter in arrogant of us to discontemporary Christian miss the anomalies. culture is a paradigm in Dismissing, rather than DONALD crisis. Will there be a shift addressing, them may MILLER is author in the way we understand be good for existing of A Million Miles truth or read the Bible? structures, including in a Thousand Years. This article Time will tell. But this financial structures and appeared on his article was not written in power structures. But it blog and is used by permission. response to the current isn’t good for truth.

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WORLDVIEW Gaining Perspective

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changed in the sixth grade. I sounded weird, so I Tedashii has a lot to say. He refuses to mince was like, ‘Man, Lord, why did you do this to me?’ ” words and tackles far-ranging topics like salvaIt wasn’t until college that Tedashii discovered tion, identity crisis among believers, and God’s a purpose for his bass-heavy instrument. While undying love and grace—often amid club-banging playing football during his freshman year, he sus- hip-hop beats—led by his airtight lyrical skills. It’s tained a career-ending injury. party music with a message. His new “I was kind of at my lowest point,” full-length disc is no exception, and its he says. “It really broke me to recogdesired aim was no accident. nize, not my mortality, [but] my weak“Blacklight is me trying to go deeper nesses—that I’m able to fail. For a long in a counseling sense, and also in a very time, people had given me the idea that personal sense, exposing other issues I never would, and so when I fell from that we deal with in faith and commuwhatever pedestal I thought I was on, I nicating how our future hope and glory WEBSITE: fell pretty hard.” will minister to those needs—and myspace.com/tedashii The emotional fallout led him to even encourage us in them,” Tedashii FOR FANS OF: faith in Christ, and to the recognisays. “As I keep meeting people and Clipse, T.I., Lecrae tion that his freestyle rapping skills we deal with identity crisis, more and LISTEN: could be used for something more—an more people will come to me just sayacknowledgement that would eventuing, like, ‘Man, I feel like I wanna be ally lead to a career in hip-hop. He’s holy, but God’s out to get me.’ I’m like, part of the Reach Records crew, which ‘Where are you getting this from?’” includes Lecrae and Sho Baraka.

—CHRIS CALLAWAY

ZACH McDOWELL

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

Southern hip-hop artist Tedashii is a big guy with a booming voice—and that sometimes presents an issue for the ministry-minded musician. He’s conquering the size aspect—in the last year, he’s lost 90 pounds—however, the depth of his Barry White-style voice is another thing altogether.

“If I’m honest, I’m half of a fan of my voice,” he says. “I get headaches sometimes talking because [there’s] so much bass in my voice. As a kid, [when] everybody was hoping their voice would change, mine

T O S T RE A M F UL L A L B UM S B Y A R T I S T S L IK E T HE S E , C HEC K O U T T HE DR OP AT REL E VA N T M A G A Z INE .C OM

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THE DROP Emerging Artists You Should Know

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also leads worship at Journey Church, based in melodies, melding voices and acoustic underpinNashville. Leonard released two albums as part of nings. It’s more Civil Wars than Paul Baloche. Their the now-disbanded Jackson Waters and has toured debut, Brokenness Aside EP Vol. 1, is scheduled to nationally with Needtobreathe. He was in a small come out in October and emphasizes redemption group when he started writing new songs. Jordan in the hands of a gentle God. was a freshly minted college grad and Leonard says he wrote songs with was babysitting full-time before she a personal agenda in Jackson Waters. joined the worship team at Journey.

Now, with Sons & Daughters, there is The two ended up sharing the stage and no agenda, except to worship as sinnoticed how their voices, and intencerely and holistically as possible. tions, blended. “[Sons & Daughters] is not seen as WEBSITE: “We complement each other really a ministry and then this church,” says sonsanddaughters well,” Leonard explains. “Things that Jordan, explaining that the band cremusic.com I was not able to articulate before, she ation process was not exactly smooth, FOR FANS OF: was able to pull out of me.” The two and some feelings were hurt. She says The Civil Wars, John wrote songs for about two years before forming the band meant developing Mark McMillan, Eisley deciding to form a band, now signed to their own sound with like-minded LISTEN: Integrity Records. musicians. Now, they say the test is Their sound is also, perhaps, unexto keep living in that state of authenpected. It’s an obvious departure ticity—otherwise, everyone in their from the anthem-rock of other worchurch will know when they’re faking it. ship bands. Their music is all sweet —JOHN BRANDON

JONATHAN FRAZIER

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It’s not unexpected when worship songs are birthed out of a local church. Songwriters and musicians connect on a deeper level with the needs of a congregation, and tend to form a cohesive sound informed by their community. And yet, for the new worship duo Sons & Daughters, this birthing process was completely unexpected.

“It was not something we planned,” says Leslie Jordan, who forms one half of the duo.

She shares vocal and songwriting duties with cohort David Leonard, with whom she

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too far into that. I think there’s a point where it can perseverance and all that sort of stuff,” James says be sort of masochistic. No thing that we experi- about his newest album, The Unfazed. “It’s very ence is purely good or purely bad or hard.” base level. And then I think there’s songs like, these Like many folk songwriters, James also writes folks gave me hope that I kind of outwardly talk from the perspective of other characters. But about. Just more in the way that the older records somehow, he still manages to express did, just like appreciation of grace and deep meaning and feeling through the wonder of creation and all that. thoughts of these other people.“I think “Community [and family] become if you focus too much on yourself and more and more important,” he conyour own head, it becomes cloudy,” he tinues. “Most of what—I guess let’s say says. “I think you lose perspective and faith—it just becomes boiled down to you can become a little self-indulgent. complete empathy and love for peoWEBSITE: If you give yourself a little bit of separaple, and extending grace to those in doloreanmusic.com tion and try to write, you’re still pulling the ways that you can. And just being FOR FANS OF: parts of yourself, but it’s through a difgenerous and kind and loving and Midlake, Damien ferent lens or a different filter.” humble. Things get, to me, simpler and Jurado, Ryan Adams James, who is a Christian, also uses simpler. I don’t get hung up on details.

LISTEN: that writing style to provide musIt comes down to daily interactions ings on faith, love, growing up and with people. Are you kind and loving, the meaning of existence. “It’s more or are you not? That’s where I’m at in about being a human being and trymy sort of understanding of things.” ing to figure out love and patience and —RYAN HAMM

JONATHAN DREWS

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

Let’s face it: a lot of contemporary indie folk and country music is dark and depressing.

That’s not necessarily a criticism—artists like Damien Jurado, David Bazan and J. Tillman write beautiful songs about characters stuck in hopeless situations.

That used to be the approach of Dolorean’s Al James—but he’s learned to balance it a little. “I think, in general, the dark stuff is completely avoided by most folks because it’s easier to pretend it’s not there,” he says. “But I think it’s important not to delve

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Are you called to serve?

In a troubled and uncertain world, hope is often left by the wayside. How can you share God’s love and care?

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W, A L , TA INE

T HE E T HIC A L F OOD MO V EMEN T I S C H A NGING HO W W E E AT

BY NATHAN BECHTOLD

I

n an episode of the comedy Portlandia, a man and woman grill their server about the chicken they intend to order.

She tells them the chicken (whose name is Colin) was raised locally, fed a diet of “sheep’s milk, soy and hazelnuts” and he roamed free on four acres of land (though she can’t speak to whether Colin “palled around” with his chicken buddies). The server then hands over the chicken’s “papers”—a form complete with his information and an attached photo.

The segment reveals real questions. With documentaries such as Food, Inc., King Corn, The Future of Food and Fresh fueling the fire, a new way of thinking about food is emerging: some call it agrarianism. Agrarians, standing in opposition to the industrial method of working the earth (chemicals, corporations and combines), position themselves as caretakers of the soil who think not only about capital gains but about manure, earthworms, grass, dirt, sustainability and the future.

WHY NOW?

In the 1930s, the plains from northern Texas into Kansas and Colorado became the “Dust 38 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

GAGE YOUNG

Bowl.” This ecological phenomenon brought dust storms of apocalyptic proportions and was caused by a misunderstanding of the soil and an abuse of the land. Government incentives to settle and farm the region, combined with neglectful farming practices and new technologies, left the landscape scorched, dry and virtually uninhabitable.

The fear is that again, in our time, government policies and subsidies, combined with heedless technophilia and industrial business models, have depleted the soil and reduced agriculture to Dust Bowl-styled dollar signs.

Joel Salatin, the farmer from Virginia made famous by the documentaries Food, Inc. and Fresh, speaks of the conflict between industrialism and nature. “New virulent diseases, soil loss, immune dysfunction, high energy costs, pathogenicity and compromised nutrients all indicate the failure of the mechanical view toward life,” he says. “As that view tries rescue through irradiation, cloning, transgenic modification and more toxic chemistry, creation rebels in the form of yet greater maladies: MRSA, C. diff, type 2 diabetes, childhood leukemia and others. … The industrial/mechanical view toward life is simply running out of answers.”

Gene Logsdon, another farmer and writer on Christian agrarianism, published a book about tending the soil not with machines but with manure. The title? Holy S---. In it, he writes: “Human society is moving … toward ever increasing consolidation. That is supposed to be our glory, but I fear it is also our doom.”

Nothing as markedly catastrophic as the Dust Bowl has happened yet. But events just as weighty could be on the horizon. “Nature always bats last,” Salatin says, “and nature is coming to the plate.”

ROADBLOCKS

Americans’ tone toward the soil is slowly beginning to change. Yet even as the swelling, hopeful throngs of agrarians march toward a revolution of the soul and soil, roadblocks loom ahead.

Dualism

Dualists are those who would make stark distinctions between the physical and spiritual realms, labeling the former as evil and the latter as good. Salatin says this view is too exclusive—and wrong.

“In God’s view, all is sacred,” he says. “And so we humans are supposed to extend His redemptive work, begun in our own spiritual lives, to the visceral world around us.

To say that what we see is either evil or amoral is to flee our responsibility. Noah brought animals into the ark, not dancing spirits.”

Yet this dichotomy perseveres in the minds of many Christians, leading to theologies of displacement. Ragan Sutterfield, a Christian-agrarian writer and speaker, says his childhood church experiences imparted a “terrarium” view of creation. “I had a pet turtle, and would give him little pebbles and grass and things. … It’s like [in the terrarium mindset] the world was just landscape that God gave us to live in for a while. Now I see we are a part of creation, dependent upon it.”

The Bible, too, speaks of humanity’s connection with

the soil. The apostle John tells of “a new heaven and a new earth,” and that in the end, “the dwelling place of God is with man” (Revelation 21:1,3). In Romans, Paul writes that creation groans not because God hates it, but because it was subjected to futility on account of humankind’s sin; now it yearns for the redemption of the sons of God.

Ignorance and Indifference

KILL IT, COOK IT, EAT IT Possibly the most sensible show to ever air, Kill It, Cook It, Eat It walks contestants (and viewers) through the messy business of slaughtering meat. As the title suggests, contestants kill, prepare and consume common meats like chicken, beef, grouse and pork. The show airs on CurrentTV.

Few 21st-century children grow up on a family farm— a phenomenon of the last 50 years. In The Essential Agrarian Reader, Wendell Berry writes, “In 2002 we [had] less than half the number of farmers in the United States that we had in 1977.” As that trend continues, ages of practical, earthy farm wisdom are disappearing as generations from the first half of the 20th century pass away.

Additionally, many Americans remain uninterested about the origins of the food they consume and the methods used to raise it. Farmers’ markets, documentaries and even some large grocery stores such as Whole Foods have begun bridging the gap between growers and eaters, but according to Salatin, they are just scratching the surface.

We must always consider the unseen world, he says.

“Each double handful of healthy soil contains more living creatures than there are people on the face of the earth,” he says. “From actinomycetes to earthworms, centipedes to azotobacter bacteria, the soil is the most vibrant relational community on earth. Everything we are, everything we see, is completely and utterly dependent on this unseen world. That the average [Christian] family sits in their pew, memorizes the catechism, recites Bible verses, partakes of the sacraments and never even contemplates the profound implications of their utter dependence on this unseen, unsung, unappreciated community exemplifies a schizophrenic duality that God abhors.”

Government

In the 1970s, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz told American farmers to “get big or get out.” Such a mantra might accurately summarize the government’s position on agriculture to this day. Exhibit A: The Food Safety Modernization Act. The Food Safety Modernization Act, signed into law by President Obama in January, gives unprecedented power to the FDA and USDA, allowing them to force recalls of potentially tainted food and shut down licensed facilities if there is a “reasonable probability” that they could cause sickness. Senator Tom Coburn, R-OK, writes concerning RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 39

the bill, “On the whole this bill represents a weighty new regulatory structure on the food industry that will be particularly difficult for small producers and farms to comply with (with little evidence it will Books to get you started, or further your quest in make food safer).” agrarianism, gardening and More government ethical food choices: regulation means more time/effort/ The Unsettling money expended to of America comply, and more Wendell Berry possibilities for the FDA to shut down farms that don’t (or can’t) jump through The Essential the hoops. Salatin Agrarian Reader Norman Wirzba describes the FSMA as another blow to small, sustainable farms by industrial Everything I giants.

Want To Do Is “Empowered Illegal with new authority Joel Salatin to enforce ‘sciencebased’ farming protocols,” he says, “this The Spirit of act creates a written Food Leslie Leyland orthodoxy in the Fields Church of Industrial Food.”

Salatin fears those Scripture, in power will make Culture, and decisions based on Agriculture their own financial Ellen F. Davis interests or desire for power. “President Obama has named Michael Taylor, the attorney whose 10-year stint at Monsanto shepherded transgenic modification onto the world stage, as the new food czar in the Food and Drug Administration,” Salatin says. “What kind of food will he promote? It certainly won’t be Aunt Matilda’s pickles, raw milk or compost-grown tomatoes.”

Though many Christians like Berry, Sutterfield and Salatin are leading the agrarian charge into sustainability, Salatin admits some believers are part of the problem: “I can’t … figure out why congregations that decry abortion or alcohol or smoking or Arminianism have no qualms about serving pollution-causing, pathogen-laden chicken in their potlucks on Styrofoam plates that won’t decompose. Why aren’t we thinking about these things?”

THE DIRT ON AGRARIANISM

CHRISTIAN = AGR ARIAN

Agrarianism is more than just a whim or personal preference. It is the posture of honest humility—the very same 40 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

posture to which Christians are called. Must Christians be agrarians, then? The answer from the Christian agrarian community is a resounding “yes.”

The Bible exhorts its readers to embrace humility, and according to Sutterfield, humility connects us with the earth, reminding us of our place in it. “Job is a story about God saying: ‘I’m God. There is a whole creation and world completely independent of human beings, and it’s important to me,’ ” Sutterfield says. “The eagles God cares for, the places in the desert He waters that no one will ever see—Job actually finds comfort in the fact that he is not as important as he thought he was.”

God named the first human “Adam,” from the Hebrew word for “dirt.” Yet, made in the image of God, and made from dirt—divinely muddy—mankind ought to take both of these together, tending his origins with divine care: cultivating the earth in godliness. “The closer we partake of the living world,” Salatin says, “whether it’s raising a baby calf or growing tomatoes, the more aware we are of the mystery and majesty of creation. That pushes us toward humility and greater appreciation of an all-powerful divinity.”

Some might wonder if there aren’t bigger issues at hand; does God really care about how we use the earth? Salatin believes not only does God care, but non-Christians are also taking notice of our treatment of the planet.

“He who says the trees of the forest shall clap their hands, that the lilies of the field are more beautiful than Solomon in all his glory and that the sparrows are numbered surely is interested in whether the earthworms are happy. And whether pigs are happy. As Brother [David] Andrews says, eating then becomes a moral act. That is why the nonChristian community views Christians with contempt, charging hypocrisy, when it sees Christians stop off for Happy Meals on the way to a Right-to-Life rally. That is just as hard to reconcile as a tree-hugger or save-thebaby-whaler who promotes abortion.”

HOW TO AGR ARIANIZE

Being agrarian does not mean selling one’s house, moving to the backcountry and buying all sorts of animals. It might mean that; it might not. “Farming is not for everyone,” Sutterfield says. “It’s getting easier because of the growing demand for food from small farmers, but there are lots of pressures because of customer expectations (due to the industrialized model) and the way the system has been set up. … One of my big hopes is that more people would see farming as a part

of their work.”

Sutterfield suggests small changes to become more intentional and hands-on with one’s food. “Many urban people could take on farming as either a parttime thing, or as a subsistence thing—grow all their own vegetables, perhaps. Nobody should commit to that before they learn a little about gardening, but once they learn the basics, subsistence farming is a very worthy activity.”

While it isn’t necessary for someone to immediately pick up a shovel, Salatin says it’s important for Christians to understand our connection to the earth.

“Urban Christians need to make a sacred place for preserving and understanding our link to the ecological umbilical. While that does not necessarily require gardening, it does require thinking about and then acting on our dependency to an unseen world.

So when’s the last time you asked your family, ‘What have we done today to respect and honor the earthworms?’ When is the last time a business plan included ‘happy, dancing, healthy earthworms’ as a necessary parameter to success? … We need to think about what we can do to create sacredness in our landscape, via the food system. That may mean joining a CSA [community-supported agriculture program], or searching out and buying from farmers who do honor dancing earthworms. And if I may be mischievous, let me say that if you have a couple of parakeets, get rid of them and get a couple of laying hens. They will be less noisy, eat all your kitchen scraps and give you eggs to eat.”

AGR ARIAN PROJECTS

The agrarian mentality holds that everyone ought to have access to a little land, be it a 100-acre backyard or an urban garden plot.

Humans must remember they are but dirt, and they must dig in the dirt to help them remember. Some Christian groups have taken this philosophy to the “food deserts”—inner cities—and are

“ URB A N C HRI S T I A N S NEED T O M A K E A S A C RED P L A C E F OR P RE S ER V ING O UR L INK T O T HE EC OL OGIC A L UMBIL IC A L .”

— JOEL S A L AT IN

reclaiming industrialized earth and pillaged souls.

Nicole Morrow, the health coordinator at the Kansas City Urban Youth Center, incorporated a garden into their ministry four years ago. She says that garden is now changing the lives and the landscapes of many urban Kansas City kids. The garden began in response to students’ observations that their inner city was truly a food desert—there were very few grocery stores around.

“It is pretty well documented in K.C. that the lower the income level of a zip code, the fewer grocery stores there are,” Morrow says. “There are some large zip code tracks in Kansas City that only have one grocery store. In many urban core areas, our low-income families buy a lot of their ‘groceries’ from convenience stores.”

The tangible results of the project serve to reinforce the central ideas of agrarianism: The garden not only provides healthy food for those who would otherwise go

without, it also reconnects people with their Creator. “For us, it is half about the cheap veggies and half about the experience,” Morrow says. “We give all of the produce we raise to the low-income families we serve. We know that sometimes they don’t get many fresh veggies and many have expressed deep gratitude.

We also know we are giving our students an opportunity to work hard and see the fruits of their labor. It is a way to care for the poor and it is a way to see God bring beauty out of dust.

It’s a miracle.”

Urban agriculture, particularly as a ministry, also serves to bring about the human humility and wholeness that comes when humans reconnect with the humus. “I think that having a space for urban kids to be outside is crucial,” Morrow says. “Our kids often spend time in the garden just digging in the dirt, looking at worms and watering. Just being outside is healthy and something that our kids so rarely get.”

Kansas City is not the only place where Christian urban gardening is occurring. As agrarianism grows stronger roots into the hearts of earth-deprived Americans, ministries, co-ops, networks and community gardens are springing up like rows of non-GMO, chemical-free heirloom corn.

Then there are those who hear the call of the wild, choosing to leave the urban jungle behind in favor of greener, broader spaces.

Each type needs the other, and as the agrarian spirit takes hold, Christians are recognizing the Gospel is not just about saving souls but about receiving Christ’s life into an embodied soul, and hoping and working for the redemption of all things.

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BY DAN GIBSON

T PHIL KNOTT

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here’s something to be admired about Sleigh Bells: their hustle. Normally, indie rock acts (if that’s even what you can classify Sleigh Bells as) are thought of as being a little more laid back. But Derek E. Miller—the songwriter, guitarist and producer behind Sleigh Bells—is an artist who found a style and has dedicated himself to running with the opportunity he’s grabbed. Miller isn’t

messing around—rappers talk about the grind, how important hustle is to being successful, and that’s how Miller is taking on indie music. In that way, some might call him the Diddy of hyper-produced, speakerdestroying indie rock.

Sleigh Bells came around at the perfect moment in music history for their sort of band and sound. The immediacy of being able to record music on a budget of zero on a laptop, upload those songs to the Internet and then have an audience in hours and days, based on one song distributed without a marketing machine, worked perfectly for a band whose first single, “Tell ’Em,” announced itself with machine drums and laser guitars (or whatever that noise is). Digitally compressed beyond what human ears and earbuds are supposed to handle, the first time someone hears Sleigh Bells, it’s an event. But where does a band that seemingly came from nowhere go for its second act?

When Miller says he’s “30, so none of this is an accident,” it’s easy to believe him and sign on for his long-term success. Sleigh Bells wasn’t a side project he tinkered with while with playing with moderately successful hardcore act Poison the Well from 1988 to 2004. He’s clearly a guy who felt the draw to do things his own way, limited by the process of being “in a band.”

“I was frustrated,” he says. “I wanted an unlimited number of high hats, to do whatever I wanted with every aspect. I wanted that freedom.” He had the name Sleigh Bells long before he knew what to do with it, but he knew whatever became of the music he was making on his laptop, fitting within a genre or a traditional band structure was not a main goal. “I liked that everything was wide open,” he recalls. “We didn’t need to be a band in the respect of a four-piece rock combo ... we didn’t have to have any respect for the genres.”

And that’s probably the most interesting aspect of Sleigh Bells’ musical output so far: There isn’t a single song that’s easy to file in a style, and even if someone does figure out what to call one of their songs, the next one sounds absolutely nothing like it. “Rill Rill” is a laid-

them, but it’s really music listeners who are to blame. The current listening culture is one that never slows down.

“I feel like we haven’t started,” Miller says. “From 15 months [ago] to now, we’re a different band. Creatively we’re very, very restless.”

The process of putting out a second album doesn’t seem to faze Miller at all—it’s part of his group’s journey. He had some tracks, found the perfect person to sing them, put out debut album Treats and will now move on to the next stage. “Treats is the sound of us trying to figure out what we sound like and not always having the answers.

We still don’t know, but we’ve recorded a lot of material and we’re figuring it out.”

Now that Miller has made it into the spotlight, he has no intention of going away, and there’s something infectious about how he discusses his drive to succeed.

He really does sound more like Making the Bandera P. Diddy than a hipster god like Conor Oberst.

He’s a guy who didn’t get into the business by accident. He was in a moderately popular band, quit because he wanted more creative control and worked in restaurants for years while he figured that out. After all those years, he doesn’t plan on leaving the music world anytime soon.

“I LIKED THAT EVERYTHING WAS WIDE OPEN. WE DIDN’T HAVE TO HAVE ANY RESPECT FOR THE GENRES.” —DEREK MILLER back summer jam in a way, other tracks could be cheerleading soundtracks for reform school girls and “Treats” has sort of an odd take on metal, but with finger snaps. Their songs are noisy and anthemic, but other than that, who knows? The collisions and near-misses with familiar forms of music are interesting now, but they don’t offer much of a prediction where the band’s going or provide much to expect, other than more of the unexpected.

WHAT DOES A BAND LIKE THIS DO FOR ACT 2?

It seems like just months ago Sleigh Bells came out of nowhere. After all, they only played a few shows and showcases before they were signed to a label. Their 15th show was opening for Bone Thugs-nHarmony. It’s not like they were ever a “local band,” even though both Miller and singer Alexis Krauss had experience in the music business.

There wasn’t a period where they were a secret to be passed around.

They belonged to anyone and everyone right away, so it would seem there would be a significant possibility that they wouldn’t have a plan for the long term. As good as the blog world is to new acts, it’s tough out there for a band having to live up to a new set of expectations.

Heard from the Black Kids lately? How about Clap Your Hands Say Yeah? Generally, indie culture assigns blame to different media outlets for growing weary of bands once more than five people have heard

GUN FOR HIRE

There was a rumor in the British press that Miller had produced a track for Beyoncé, and it turns out there was some truth to it.

A mutual friend had played Beyoncé some Sleigh Bells tracks, she liked what she heard and, through circumstances Miller was reluctant to discuss, she recorded vocals over something of his. After this series of events, Miller doesn’t rule out the possibility of producing tracks for

other artists. “When I’m sick of grinding out on tour, that’s probably what I’ll do,” he says. “We’re passing on everything for now because we have to stay focused.”

TASTY TREATS Sleigh Bells only has one album, but it’s a good one. Strangely, it’s on M.I.A.’s label.

Treats This album goes to 11.

WATCH Sleigh Bells’ video for “Rill Rill.”

Miller’s production process isn’t all that different than a hip-hop producer. Some of the beats on Treats are reminiscent of tracks by Swizz Beatz, who Miller admires along with a list of other producers. Perhaps that career arc would be the right fit for Miller.

He’s already got the swagger and is ready to shake off critics. “You get haters and failure forecasters,” he says, “and that’s the quickest way to get someone like me to stick around.” He also doesn’t see much issue with selling his songs for commercials: “I don’t see the point of not doing those deals. Five million people might hear your song.”

Maybe he’s got it all figured out, which makes sense—at moments, he sounds like he’s giving a motivational pep talk: “There’s no anointing process.

You just have to teach yourself and do it. No one was going to tell me it was my time.”

Between their finger snaps and laser guitar-laced, rise to fame, it’s hard to tell what will happen to Sleigh Bells, but Miller is heading forward with as much energy as any musician working today— and even more hustle.

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A CHRISTIAN RESPO NSE TO T HE

A R AB SPR I N G BELIEVERS THINK ABOUT THE RECENT CONFLICTS ENGULFING ARAB NATIONS?

HOW SHOULD

BY CARL MEDEARIS

IN

December 2010, Tunisian protestors filled the streets, sparking a revolution that resulted in the overthrow of their long-standing dictator, President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. What happened in Tunisia set off a chain reaction—now referred to as the “Arab Spring”—around the Middle East, one that caught pundits and policy makers off-guard.

Soon after, Egyptian youth followed the Tunisians’ lead, demanding that their president, Hosni Mubarak—who had ruled for 30 years—step down from power. The citizens of the island nation of Bahrain attempted a non-violent revolution, but the government squelched it by using force.

Libya was next. The president, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, retaliated against protesters with mercenaries. And, as of press time, protesters in Yemen and Syria are both still facing off against their leaders.

Perhaps the most dramatic of the successful protests took place in Egypt. And it was all sectors of Egyptian society that participated.

Amid the chaos in the capital of Cairo, brave Egyptian Christians formed a human shield around their Muslim countrymen as they prayed during the protests. In a beautiful display of shared humanity, Muslims returned the favor in front of churches across Egypt.

Describing what he witnessed in Egypt during and after the revolution, Paul-Gordon Chandler writes in the Episcopal News Service: “Time and time again, thousands of young Egyptian Muslims and Christians have taken to the streets together, first to protest the repressive system, and then to celebrate their victory. The scenes are moving, as Egyptians wave flags and carry banners depicting the cross and crescent embracing, with slogans such as: ‘The crescent and the cross are one.

We are all Egyptians, Muslim and Christian.’ ” Christians and Muslims have voted with their lives for a better Egypt that will provide what Americans consider basic values.

The question is: How should international Christians respond?

A lot of evangelicals have reacted with fear or skepticism. During the Tahrir Square stand-off in Egypt, Christian blogs and airwaves were buzzing with speculation that the proposed revolution would give rise to an Islamic state, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, that would immediately start killing off Egypt’s Christians (roughly 10 percent of the population) upon seizing power.

Others bought into conspiracy theories that cast the protestors as unsuspecting puppets for communist-backed global Islamists out to destroy America. A few viewed the RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 45

uprisings as a heroic struggle for freedom and human rights by disenfranchised youth. Still others took a wait-and-see approach, balancing optimism with a healthy dose of caution.

“CAN CHRISTIANS REALLY TRUST AN ARAB MOVEMENT?“

While there are no easy answers, one thing is clear: The Arab Spring has put American Christians in a dilemma. Many are wondering, “Can we really support a movement fronted by Arabs—and more specifically, by Muslims?”

The fact that Arabs would desire many of the same freedoms Americans enjoy, and they would choose to express these desires non-violently, goes against every stereotype many American Christians have been taught to believe.

Many have been raised under a certain end-times theology, groomed to harbor deep suspicion of all things Arab. For Christians who follow this way of thinking, the formation of Israel in 1948—and the subsequent 750,000 Arabs who either left their homes or were expelled—was a result of divine prophecy, a rebooting of the prophetic time clock, triggering a series of events that will culminate in the return of Christ.

In this particular theology, Arabs are often cast in the role of the violent “sons of Ishmael” who always have, and always will, persecute Jews (and their stepchildren, Christians) until Jesus comes back. So is it any wonder millions of American Christians schooled in this theology are suspicious of masses of Arabs demonstrating on the streets? “What exactly are they aspiring to?” asks this Christian. “Is it the destruction of Israel, or the annihilation of Christians?”

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Christians have to pay a tax under Islamic law, and that open proselytizing is forbidden, but Muslims see these laws as protecting, not subjugating, Christians.

I’ve befriended and interacted with thousands of Muslims over the years, and one of the questions I often get is, “Why do so many American Christians accuse us of persecuting Christians?” They think it’s strange because, from their perspective, Christians in their countries have freedom to worship as they please. A lot of my Muslim friends, especially the ones in the Middle East, are even proud of the fact that the Christian minorities in their countries date back to the first century, and have held on to their traditions. They would argue that—right or wrong—Christians in their countries have been treated far better than minorities in Christian lands (think: the Crusades and the Inquisition).

While most Muslim countries today do not allow for open proselytizing as is common in the West, and it is true that Muslims who convert to Christianity are often persecuted, it’s not true that Christians have always treated Muslims better than Muslims have treated Christians. When you look at the long view of history, even up to recent history, the reality is a bit more nuanced.

This is an explosive issue on both sides, so here are a few points to offer perspective: For a Muslim to convert to Christianity is a lot like an American in the 1950s saying, “I’ve decided to become a communist.” Just as most Americans thought of communism as the immoral, godless imperialist system, Christianity is viewed by most Muslims as the religion of the colonialists, the people who come (or came) with a Bible in one hand and a gun in the other. They view missionaries, and their spiritual offspring, as a ploy by the colonialist powers to occupy their land, exploit their resources and subjugate their people.

Muslims who convert to Christianity aren’t just persecuted by other Muslims; they’re often viewed with suspicion, and sometimes outright derision, by the Christian population who trace their faith through the centuries. I’ve also seen “Insider Muslims” (Muslims who follow Jesus but don’t call themselves “Christians”) persecuted by those who have openly converted to Christianity.

ARE WE ALSO WILLING TO CONDEMN VIOLENCE PERCEIVED TO BE COMMITTED BY “OUR” SIDE? Further complicating matters is that many American Christians’ primary source of information about Arabs, the Middle East and Muslims in general is what they read in newsletters highlighting the suffering of persecuted Christians. They see radical fundamentalists burning down churches, and Christians being ostracized, beaten, imprisoned or killed for their faith—and often these atrocities are taking place in predominantly Muslim countries. This leads one to conclude Muslims have an innate hatred toward Jesus and His followers.

The reality is a bit more complex.

WHAT DO MUSLIMS REALLY BELIEVE ABOUT CHRISTIANS?

Contrary to popular belief, the Quran does not call for the indiscriminate killing of Christians, so fears that a group like the Muslim Brotherhood would automatically start killing Christians upon seizing power is overstated. Jews and Christians are called “People of the Book” in the Quran, not infidels. Jesus is also highly revered in the Quran, though not given the same divine status as in the New Testament. The Quran specifically commands Muslims to protect Jewish and Christian houses of worship (churches, synagogues, holy sites). It’s true that in some cases

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In some cases, radical Christians are just as violent as radical Muslims.

During my 12 years living in Beirut, Lebanon, I met many on all sides of the Lebanese Civil War who told me about the Christian Militias who committed some of the greatest atrocities during that time. It’s not just a one-way stream of violence.

WHO IS THE VICTIM … AND WHO IS THE PERSECUTOR?

Westerners can denounce Muslim practices like the death penalty for apostasy (a very rare occurrence, by the way), but are we also willing to condemn violence perceived to be committed by “our” side—things like invasions, occupations and drone attacks that kill a disproportionate amount of civilians? Americans often feel violence between Christians and Muslims is a one-way street, with Muslims as the persecutors and Christians as the victims. Muslims feel the exact opposite. They think of “us” as the persecutors and “them” as the victims.

So what does this have to do with the current situation in the Middle East?

For one thing, America has supported ruthless dictators in Muslim lands for years.

Take Egypt, for example. Mubarak was a tyrant. He tortured, manipulated elections, controlled the media, stole billions of dollars from the Egyptian people to finance his lavish lifestyle and enrich his cronies, all with support from the United States. The same story can be repeated throughout the Muslim world.

It stands to reason that when a people see skyrocketing food prices and high unemployment, while their leaders are living lavishly, they’re going to want change. Just like Americans, they want free elections and a chance to determine their future. Because we’ve been the ones financing their dictators, they see the U.S. as an obstacle to their freedom, not a partner for peace and equality.

This is why the question of whether or not American Christians should support Arab aspirations for democracy is easily answered with a resounding “yes.” It’s silly to think their primary motivation is religious domination, or some plot to establish a global Muslim theocracy.

For one thing, Mubarak fiercely persecuted Christians. The same can be said for dictators throughout the Middle East in places like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The American government has been the one, albeit behind the scenes, supporting those regimes as they engage in the persecution of Christians.

Now that the people have risen up and

demanded a say in their future, it would be hypocritical for us to say to them, “Now that you’re taking your freedom from the people we’ve supported over you, we’re going to double down our efforts to keep you in subjection, because we’re concerned we may not agree with your version of freedom.”

THEY WILL KNOW WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY OUR APPROVAL

Sadly, many Arabs have negative perceptions of American Christians. If we choose to not support them now, they will continue to stereotype Americans as warmongering hypocrites. That has huge implications for indigenous Christians living in Arab lands.

If some theorize American Christians’ approval of the revolutions could lead to the greater persecution of Christians in Arab lands, then how might our disapproval also lead to the greater persecution of Christians in Arab lands?

Many feel the latter is more likely. Christians in Muslim lands are often (wrongly) viewed as stooges of the West. How much would hostility toward indigenous Christians increase if American Christians took a public stand against the rights of Arabs in the Middle East to determine their own future?

If Arabs were to see that Western Christians disapprove of their uprisings, they could believe Westerners do not want Arabs to experience freedom. The Arab protestors, mostly Muslim, desire to build their own societies their own way—societies based on democratic values. Maybe not exactly American, Jeffersonian values, but at least Muslim and Christian citizens would be determining their fate together, not a foreign nation or their tyrannical leader.

If Egypt continues to be used as a microcosm of the larger situation, the recent religious tension there needs to be addressed.

Unfortunately, open conflict between Egyptian Muslims and Christians has escalated. Clashes have become more common.

Rather than looking at the uprising there as a loss because of new religious conflict, Westerners can encourage the Arabs to hold fast. We can stand with our Christian brothers while encouraging them to practice loving their neighbor and their enemy, as well as supporting the vast majority of peace-loving Muslims in that land.

Instead of being skeptical of the revolutions, Americans can celebrate the little steps being made as the Arabs celebrate. The transitions taking place across the Middle East have been sparked by grassroots non-violence rather than having democracy imposed upon them.

A Christian Egyptian shared a story during the time when the police in Egypt vanished.

He told of neighborhood watches springing up all over the country as he spent many long

nights with his Muslim neighbors guarding their homes. Through this simple act, trust was built. We must choose to do no less.

In order to respond intelligently and lovingly, we need to understand the hearts of the wonderfully diverse and complex people of the Middle East. We must become aware of the situation. Let your heart find empathy for the people—including Muslims. Hear their cry. Share their burden. Educate yourself and advocate. Pray for the nations and the people.

Pray for the governments. Ask God what you can do. This is not about religious differences.

It is about loving your neighbor. And maybe even loving your enemies.

CARL MEDEARIS has lived and worked in the Middle East since 1983, and is the author of several books, including Speaking of Jesus: The Art of Not-Evangelism (David C Cook).

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BY JESSICA MISENER

TEC PETAJA

SOUTHERN ROCKER JOHN PAUL WHITE AND FORMER CCM STAR JOY WILLIAMS JOIN UP TO DO SOMETHING COMPLETELY NEW

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pend a few hours with the Civil Wars, and one thing will quickly become clear: Joy Williams and John Paul White like to tease each other. A lot.

Actually, if you get them going on the right issue, you can make this observation in a matter of minutes.

The dark-haired musical pair is hanging out in the green room in Grand Rapids, Mich., just two hours before they’re due onstage to play a concert, and they’re tossing out barbs with the nonchalant ease of that proverbial old married couple. Today’s jousting topic: White’s resemblance to a certain A-list celebrity.

“People always come up to you in Whole Foods and ask if you’re Johnny Depp,” Williams says to her band mate with a laugh, confirming the sentiment shared by hordes of online commenters that White’s mussed hair and mustache make him a dead ringer for the chiseled actor.

White smiles.

“I’ll know I’ve made it when people start going up to Johnny Depp and telling him he looks like John Paul White.”

We’ve already hit the first paradox enveloping the Nashville-based folk music duo: they’re married, and they might bicker like an old married couple ... but they’re not married to each other.

A second puzzle is that, prior to the sudden success they’ve linked arms with as the Civil Wars, Williams, 29, and White, 38, each nurtured wildly different solo careers for more than a decade a piece: she as a precocious Christian contemporary music star, he as a singer-songwriter with roots in the rich cauldron of Southern rock and blues. In short, they’ve found success, but there’s nothing sudden about it.

Together, they’ve ditched their pasts to create music that not only defies genre—even the best critics have only been able to hash together a label like “Americana chamber folk”—but music that prowls lyrical themes from faith and crime to sex and absinthe, without apologizing or pearl-clutching.

“We sing gospel songs sometimes,” Williams says with a smile, “but we also sing about cigarettes.”

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It’s this combination of sterling songwriting, smoky subject matter and White and Williams’ chemistry that has electrified the interest of thousands of Civil Wars fans, but that has also raised just as many questions. Are they a Christian band? Are they a “we’re Christian, but don’t call us Christian” band?

But it’s Joy Williams! Oh, they’re one of those married couple bands? Wait, they’re not together?

Even if the Civil Wars can’t escape being soaked in curiosity, their success hinges on one monstrous factor: their Southerntinged style of music is unabashedly listenable—and relatable.

“Joy and John Paul have a unique package in that they’re an ideal mix of talent, artistry and sellability that very few artists— Christian or otherwise—possess,” says Matthew Paul Turner, a former editor for CCM magazine who has tracked Williams’ career since its genesis. “They’re making the kind of music—a rootsy pop-driven (and often spiritually poignant) Americana—that not only entertains, it fills an audience with something more than what’s being played on the radio.”

Humble Beginnings

After being around the duo, you also instantly pick up on their aura of humility. Williams immediately makes you feel welcome, greeting everyone in a five-yard radius with sincere questions about how their day went. White’s smile is easy and brimming with authenticity. For a second, you forget you’re talking to a pair that’s currently hovering somewhere around the apex of the iTunes download charts.

They’re just as modest when asked directly about their remarkable success in the music scene.

“Most of what’s happened to us has been out of the blue,” White says.

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“We just keep pinching ourselves,” Williams adds. “Just seeing the number of people grow who are interested in our music is exciting.”

Thanks to the success of February’s Barton Hollow, Williams and White’s country-tinged act hit a publicity bang, galvanized in large part

by Internet buzz.

“We’ve each been in the industry for over a decade, and we cut our teeth in different ways,” Williams says. “We’ve worked really hard, and I would never say we deserved this, but we’ve sweated and cried and put a lot on the line to do music, so to see momentum growing organically in a way we never thought makes us so thrilled.”

While their individual careers are reeled out over a long series of years, the Civil Wars’ story starts in 2009, when Williams and White found themselves in the same studio for a songwriters’ tête-à-tête in Nashville. Seizing upon the creative connection both felt as they worked together, they ventured out to play a local gig. It was a fortuitous choice: Charlie Peacock, the famed Nashville music producer, happened to be in the audience. Intrigued, he invited them to record at his house.

“They are so sublime and rich live,” Peacock says of Williams and White, “that you just want to take a beautiful picture of it and try to stay out of the way.”

Capturing the Heart of Nashville (and Taylor Swift)

The twosome’s second show, in Atlanta, was recorded and soon became Live at Eddie’s Attic, which they offered for free through the Internet.

In another flash of new-school marketing happenstance, the song “Poison & Wine” ended up on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, thanks to the band’s producer friend Allan Heinberg. The TV appearance sparked an onslaught of Internet searches for the song; serendipitously, two days later they released a four-song EP of the same name.

As they started work on their LP in 2010, which by this point was in great demand, the duo once again brought Peacock to the production studio, for reasons they agree on.

“Charlie’s very sage.” Williams says. “He’s calm, he’s wise.”

“He’s Solomon,” White interjects.

“Yes, he’s definitely Solomon,” Williams says. “He knows what to say at the right time.”

“He knew when to push us and when to let us kind of stew and figure things out on our own.”

Peacock certainly returns the affection.

“Joy and John Paul have a tempered and smooth approach to writing and recording,” Peacock says. “Joy is the outward passion and JP is the inward burn. Together, they make a flame that lights up everything they put their creative hands and hearts to.

“I’ve rarely seen a musical collaboration this good,” he continues. “Joy is analytical but never to a fault. John processes and reserves the right to speak when he really has something definitive to say. Artists are always trying to close the gap between inspiration and execution. Nobody does it better than these two.”

The finished Barton Hollow was released in February, where it quickly became the No. 1 most downloaded album on iTunes. The album then debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard 200, which Williams describes as a “complete and utter shock.” An out-of-nowhere spot performing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno set off an additional wave of publicity.

One famous fan gave the Civil Wars an enormous publicity boost.

The day after Barton Hollow’s release, the duo played a gig at Nashville’s Belcourt Theatre, which Taylor Swift announced to her 5 million Twitter followers. She later said of “Poison & Wine”: “[It’s] my favorite duet. It’s exquisite.” In April, she called them the “best country duo” in an issue of Rolling Stone.

Williams and White aren’t exactly complaining.

“WE SING GOSPEL SONGS SOMETIMES, BUT WE ALSO SING ABOUT CIGARETTES.” —JOY WILLIAMS “Taylor Swift saying she liked us totally hurt us,” White deadpans. “She only has like, what, 10 followers on Twitter?”

Williams cracks up.

“Oh, you,” she says in mock exasperation.

“No, it’s been very flattering, and we would both love to get to a place where our music reaches as many people as hers does,” White says. “I would like to think that if we were to get to a place like that, we would be as supportive of other musicians as she has been. I have a lot of respect for that.”

Following additional tweets of affirmation from musicians like Sara Bareilles, they hit upon more erudite publicity in March, when they appeared on Garrison Keillor’s NPR radio show Prairie Home Companion. On the program, Keillor observed of the pair, “She grew up singing in church, he grew up singing in bars.”

couple is that we can disagree and we can talk it out, and we don’t need to worry about how we’re going to feel later, relationally. We don’t have to use kid gloves,” Williams says.

“For the past 10 years we’ve been writing love songs with other people. I’ve done that all my life. We usually end up having conversations about the good, the bad and the ugly of relationships with each other,” White says.

“We have a different relationship as songwriters than most people,” White says. “Songwriters are very observant and they want to get to the heart of things. It could be someone you just met, and you start getting very vulnerable: ‘This is what makes me mad!’ You couldn’t have those kinds of honest conversations with someone you were in a relationship with, or if we did something else for a living.

“It’s the most natural thing in the world to have those conversations with Joy,” White says. “Plus, we’re very good friends, and so it always works. It feels more like brother and sister to me.

“In that, I want to punch her on the arm.”

“And that happens on a very regular basis,” Williams says, laughing.

Rock, CCM, Gospel and Everything in Between

Now that the duo, who seem almost baffled by their new levels of fame—“Fame? I don’t know if I’d even call it that!” Williams protests—find themselves at the forefront of a new crest in indie music, they’re spending most of the year touring the world. It marks a fresh level of notoriety for even these two seasoned Nashville musicians.

In Grand Rapids, the show is about to start.

Williams and White, dressed in their trademark vintage wardrobe—she in retrofitted dress, he in Mason-Dixon style tuxedo—walk onstage to thunderous cheers. They travel without a backing band, making for a stage that’s barren except for the pair themselves and White’s rack of a half-dozen guitars.

“We just got word that this is officially the largest show we’ve ever headlined!” Williams exuberantly tells the crowd. Her robust singing voice, tinged with a lilt that recalls a bit of Dolly Parton, later tears a poignant path through their cover of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Disarm.” Their chemistry seeps into every song, no matter how spare the arrangement. People in the crowd are audibly speculating between songs: “Wait, they’re not married? Really?” Whether the romantic

tension is borne out of platonic mutual admiration or perhaps part of a publicity device, it certainly puts an intriguing spin on the music—and Williams and White’s stage presence.

A Musical Union

Speculation on their apparent sexual tension has comprised much of the attention lavished on Williams and White. Most people initially think they’re married to each other, the pair admits.

The speculators have a point.

For a pair obviously smitten with their respective spouses—White has been married for 15 years— Williams and White certainly do appear to have a certain type of closeness. They finish each other’s sentences and intimately poke fun at each other’s habits and quirks.

But the twosome both insist that because they’re not involved romantically, it makes them better musicians.

“If we don’t agree, one of the many hundreds of thousands of benefits to not being a romantic

Born in Muscle Shoals, Ala., John Paul White was steeped in his parents’ eclectic musical tastes, including Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson, from an early age.

“I grew up listening to soul and country and grassroots Americana, and a lot of Southern gospel,” he says.

Taking up guitar as a teen, White started playing in bar bands when he was 16, but later took a break from the music scene to attend college—undoubtedly pleasing his parents. Later, while working as a songwriter and composing for musicians such as Meat Loaf and Rascal Flatts, White also gained a steady following by appearing at music festivals like Bonnaroo, singing his own music.

“My background is probably a little more obvious when it comes to instrumentation, because we usually write on my guitar,” White says. “I can only play a certain way.”

“But I like that certain way you play,” Williams says with a smile.

“I own it,” White replies. “I’m cool with it. But we do write songs on piano, and those tend to come from a place that’s near and dear to Joy’s heart.”

Williams, a native of Santa Cruz, Calif., signed her first record contract at the age of 17. As a preternaturally gifted blonde teenager, her strong, church-hewn voice buoyed her to the top of the CCM charts with syrupy pop hits like “Surrender” and “I Believe in You.” On the way, she picked up 11 Dove Award nominations, logging nearly a year’s worth of touring before she had even finished high school.

But eventually, the young star started to have doubts about the meaning behind her career.

“I understand that the mantra for a lot of Christian music is that it’s ‘safe for the whole family,’ but I don’t believe faith is always meant to be safe. I started really wrestling with the fact that I was only allowed to talk about certain things,” Williams told Christian Music Today in 2009. “At 17, I was so excited about changing the world, telling people about the Lord and rubbing shoulders with people and hearing their stories. The more I heard stories of some of the things RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 51

“IT’S A WHOLE NEW SORT OF BLUE SKY RIGHT NOW, IN THE CIVIL WARS. I FEEL LIKE IT’S MORE ME THAN ANYTHING I’VE EVER DONE BEFORE.” —JOY WILLIAMS

people were going through, it made me realize that faith was not some sort of religious high.

It’s a lot less performance-based than I thought it was.”

Williams released her last CCM album, Genesis, in 2005, and after severing her contract, she signed a songwriting deal with Warner Music. She spent the next few years writing pop songs for singers like David Archuleta and Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys, working in Hollywood and avoiding the spotlight of the Christian music industry. She married and founded a production company, Sensibility Music, with her husband, the company that now oversees the Civil Wars.

In many ways, Williams’ new turnabout of a gig typifies the direction that CCM has spent much of the past decade inching toward. Today, fewer artists are stepping up to self-identify as Christian bands. Christian music has become less about smarmy imagery of soaring eagles and mountains stretching toward heaven, and more about cultivating a diverse artistry of 52 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

the sort more familiar to secular music branding.

“Interest in contemporary Christian music is definitely declining,” Turner says. “There’s less of a ‘need’ for Christian records today than there was in the ’80s and ’90s. While there will always be a number of people who love Christian music because it’s Christian music, the audience that listens to Christian music exclusively has declined greatly.”

Today, more than 10 years after her debut as a CCM artist, Williams—now a brunette—fiddles with her rings and says the Christian music scene had eventually made her feel caged.

“The years we spent prior to knowing each other really informed what we wanted to do in the future, whether or not we

realized it,” Williams says. “I learned a lot doing what I did at a young age, but at the same time, you change. No one stays the same from the time they’re 17. I changed a lot. I wanted my music to reflect a lot of the changes. I feel like [the Civil Wars] is a great outlet and a great catharsis to do what I love, completely free, [and it] is such a wonderful experience for me.”

Turner also puts some of the onus for Williams’ decision to ultimately leave the CCM world on the saturation of female worship singers at the time she was so involved in the movement.

“Christian music’s decline has certainly allowed (and in some cases, forced) artists that are believers to rethink what they were doing,” he says. “Joy Williams is one those artists who sort of got lost in that transition. Her talent and creativity got lost among the praise records, as well as lost among the numerous records by female artists that labels were releasing.”

Still, Williams says she isn’t looking back with regret: “A lot of artists—major musical icons, people I grew up listening to—grow up singing in the church. I also grew up in the church and it’s part of my story. It’s not where I am, but it’s where I came from. It’s a whole new sort of blue sky right now, in the Civil Wars. I feel like it’s more me than anything I’ve ever done before.”

And further, as White steps in to point out, creative stifling isn’t limited to a religious setting.

“I came from a rock background; those are my parameters, and people expect you to fit within them. A lot of artists turn the page and move on, and we’ve both turned the page. Now that we’re doing the Civil Wars, we’ve made

no bones about it; we’re not going to set any kind of parameters for what we do.

“That could hinder us in some ways, because we don’t fit perfectly into any genre or category, but we’ve consciously made the decision that we’re going to do what makes us happy, period.”

Both are fastidious to point out, though, that they embrace fans from all walks of life and music.

“Joy has and had a really big fanbase, and she’s thrilled that people have followed her career all these years,” White says. “And as an outsider [to Christian music], as the guy looking in, I don’t feel pigeonholed at all by people’s expectations for us.”

Authenticity Above All

As the two seek to expand beyond the confines of piety and genre, they’re helped by the fact that much of their music’s charm undoubtedly comes from its earnestness; as the Civil Wars, they pen the kind of roots-style Americana that goes places this millennium’s country music has

been too mired in pop gimmicks and stock-issued twang In the midst of their grueling touring schedto tread. While their lyrics are polished and their songwrit- ule, both singers admit they miss their families ing is finely spun, Williams and White tell stories of the while on the road. “We don’t have complaints, raw, rough edges of love and life. The gem of the Civil Wars’ but there are days when you feel 100 percent music, and what’s undoubtedly beguiled their fans, is its inspired, and days where you’re tired and just authenticity. wish you could sleep in,” Williams says. “But Their themes transcend age and gender; the inner we’ve worked really hard for this, so to see it struggles and relational tumult they sing of are ones that continue to grow keeps us motivated.” on occasion saddle us all. As Williams puts it: “Love and “On the road, we keep trying to find good sex and faith and death—everyone’s trying to make sense places to eat when all there is is fast food,” she of those things.” continues. “I’m a Northern California girl, so Both Williams and White find their inspiration in the I’m always trying to seek organic food, and the stories that weave through real life. guys are like, ‘Seriously?!’ ” “We’re history buffs,” White says. “We read a lot, we “But she’s going to keep us all alive,” White watch a lot of things, we love a good story. Most of the adds earnestly. record’s songs are vague, and we enjoy that. We try to set it up so that “AS AN OUTSIDER, I DON’T people can go wherever they want to when they listen to it.”

FEEL PIGEONHOLED AT ALL BY “We want people to attach their own stories to our music, and bring PEOPLE’S EXPECTATIONS OF their own backgrounds,” Williams adds.

US.” —JOHN PAUL WHITE A prime example is their breakout hit “Barton Hollow,” a haunting, country-tinged romp recounting some ambiguous crime, And even as they’re still teetering on the over the duo’s twin harmonies that gallop while resisting brink of their initial industry breakthrough, the temptation to go totally rogue. In the music video, Williams and White have a positive outlook filmed in Tennessee, Williams and White traipse through for the years to come.

Southern churches, she in four-inch heels; muddy waters “I’m really interested to see where it goes flow and Bibles open. from here. We’re not too old to learn new Barton Hollow is a real place that White recalled during instruments,” White says. “Joy’s been playing the initial stab at writing the song, Williams says. the concertina a lot, and I’ve been playing a “We wanted to write about the idea of all of us in some little banjo. Any time you sit down to a new way feeling chased by something. The idea of never being instrument, new sounds and songs come out able to outrun something that’s in your past. John Paul of it. We want the horizon to stay broad, but picked a location that may not be picturesque—” our music will probably always have the same “It’s not,” White interjects. “It’s a little depression in the aesthetic, because we’re always going to have side of the mountain in Loretta, Tennessee, just across the the same personalities.” state line from where I grew up.

“The theme of redemption is something we’re enamored with,” he continues. “But we didn’t speak of a weapon or lack thereof or what the crime was.”

In Michigan, the show is nearly over. As the As testimony to how intimate with each other they duo wind down the encore with a tiptoe-soft appear to be in person, songwriting between the two also cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” White’s seems to be an exercise in kindred spirits. guitar-picking continues to lilt as they join “This early in the relationship, we should still be getting voices for that famous plea of a refrain, “Billie along,” White says with a smile. “If Joy and I were already Jean is not my lover.” having major disagreements, then maybe we should call “John Paul is not my lover,” White croons it a day.” toward the end, improvising his way into the third person, eyes twinkling. Williams glances up at him, as Back onstage, Williams playfully straightens White’s bow- if maybe he’s styled tie between songs. Singing live, their raw voices entwine himself her narrator. into harmonies like snakes on a tree limb, but they lighten The crowd titters. the mood with their traditional onstage humor.

And for a brief secWATCH “This is a dance track,” White jokes, stiffly swinging from ond, in the dark audiThe Civil Wars’ side to side as he launches into “I’ve Got This Friend.” “This torium, we’re all in on beautiful video for is all I’ve got.” the joke together.

“Barton Hollow.”

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R E L E VA N T ’ S 2011 SUMMER R E A D I N G G

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BY DAVID JOHNSON AND JOHN PATTISON WES SUMNER

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ummertiiiiime, and the reading’s easy.

Whittling the list of books to the present 16, however, was not. The rise of the digital age has made the future of publishing uncertain; what remains undeniable is the quality of books being written today. For every book included below, there are 10 we had to leave out. Still, there

is something for everyone in this year’s Summer Reading Guide: an unfinished novel by David Foster Wallace; a treatise on art from Gregory Wolfe; a Dylan biography; a fascinating memoir about family, faith and the CIA; and many more. So settle into your hammock, open a book (or, if you have to, an e-reader) and enjoy!

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FICT ION & POETRY

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here are two dominant philosophies of summer reading.

The first is to use the summer to read books you can lose yourself in. These are the fast-moving, deeply engrossing stories that help you pass the time on that long flight to Grandma’s, the books best read on the beach, next to the pool or in the flickering light of a campfire. The second philosophy is to use the summer to read those books—difficult in subject matter or imposing in length— that you probably won’t get to in the other seasons, busy as you are with homework and housework and your job. Our theory is that you don’t have to choose between those two philosophies. To that end, we’d like to introduce you to a few novels and poetry collections to match any mood.

Jamrach’s Menagerie (Canongate Books) is British author Carol Birch’s 11th novel, but it is her first to be published in the United States.

It is the story of Jaffy Brown, a street kid whose run-in with an escaped tiger on the streets of London sets off a chain of events that takes him to unimaginable places. Birch paints with colors that are equal parts magical and Dickensian, starting with Mr. Jamrach (the owner of the tiger), who hires Jaffy to clean up after the animals he imports for the rich. At Jamrach’s, Jaffy meets Dan Rymer, an explorer and exotic animal supplier, who takes Jaffy on a whaling expedition that doubles as a quest to bring back a dragon for a wealthy patron. Alas, things do not go as planned. Birch’s sea tale echoes the story of the whale ship Essex, the true story that inspired Moby Dick and is recounted by Nathaniel Philbrick in his 2000 book, In the Heart of the Sea. In fact, that would be a pretty good summer reading list schedule: start with Melville, move on to Philbrick and finish with Birch’s wonderfull, lyrical novel.

Somewhere between the legend and the historical figure, there is the character of John Henry “Doc” Holliday as portrayed by Mary Doria Russell in her entertaining new novel. Doc (Random House) recounts the early friendship of the title character and Wyatt Earp in Dodge City, Kan., before the shootout at the O.K. Corral etched their names in history. It is both a Western and a murder mystery, and it serves as a prequel to the 1993 movie Tombstone, starring Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp and featuring Val Kilmer as an unforgettable Doc Holliday. Part of the fun of reading Mary Doria Russell’s novel is to spend more time with those characters, especially with Kilmer’s portrayal of Doc in mind, whose soft Georgia accent delivered so many memorable lines. But Russell more than holds her own; she is an insightful observer of human character and her storytelling is as thoughtful as the story is fun. She has written a daisy of a book.

The Pale King (Little, Brown and Company) by David Foster Wallace is not your typical summer read. It is populated by characters, including one named David Wallace, who process tax returns at an Internal Revenue Service office in Peoria, Ill. It is about boredom. And like Wallace’s monumental novel Infinite Jest, it is a difficult book with a fragmented narrative that resists easy summary. But no one writes as incisively or as attentively about what it is like to be alive in America better than David Foster Wallace. When Wallace himself died in September 2008, he left more than a thousand pages of manuscript that his editor Michael Pietsch shaped into a novel that has moments of (intentional?) tedium, but one that feels whole and is in many places as vibrant, almost buzzing, as anything Wallace had written. It is impossible to know how finished the book is or what Wallace would have published had he lived. Certainly it would have been different. But as Pietsch writes in a moving introduction, “An unfinished novel is what we have, and how can we not look? David, alas, isn’t here to stop us from reading, or to forgive us for wanting to.”

Billy Collins writes poetry for people who don’t read poetry. He is often funny, never intentionally obscure and always enjoyable. In Horoscopes for the Dead (Random House), his ninth collection, Collins continues to write poetry about everyday life (and death) that feels both effortless and surprising, as when he stands before his parents’ graves and asks, “What do you think of my new glasses?” And this, from the title poem: A dramatic rise in income may be a reason/ to treat yourself, but that would apply/ more to all the Pisces who are still alive,/ still swimming up and down the stream of life/ or suspended in a pool in the shade of an overhanging tree.

Another book of poetry that will surprise and delight you this summer is Brett Foster’s The Garbage Eater (Triquarterly).

The poet David Baker has said Foster “finds poetry in kitsch and cathedrals alike.” The intense and sometimes tender poems in this debut collection range from one coast to another, from the Ozarks to Olive Garden, and draw their inspiration from sources as diverse as 20th-century European poets, the liturgical calendar, dead punk rockers and Dan Quisenberry, the late relief pitcher for the Kansas City Royals (“Hardly a laurelled Hall of Famer, but saintly in the modern sense, still hero enough, emblazoned on my place mat, his submarine curveball thrown.”).

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FAI TH & SP I RI TUAL I TY

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Q & A WITH

his summer is a surprisingly rich season for books on faith and spirituality. There were many books we wanted to include on this list, but there wasn’t enough room. And, once again, we think this list has something for everyone: a radical book on spiritual formation, a meditation on whole-life spirituality, a gripping new memoir from Ian Morgan Cron that everybody will be talking about (if they’re not talking about it already—Phyllis Tickle has described it as heartbreaking and “God-drenched”) and two books that compel us to rethink what we consume and how we live in the aftermath of the “digital explosion.”

Summer reading shouldn’t just be about chick-lit and beach reads. This could go down as the summer that changed everything …

CRAIG GOODWIN Q: Your family identified four rules that, in many ways, restricted your consumption practices for one year. How did you find the “plenty” in the midst of the restrictions?

Our rules forced us to be resourceful in ways we never could have imagined. From eating dandelions to walking instead of driving a car, we were surprised to always find alternatives that brought their own unique gifts.

They ultimately left us with more, not less.

In many ways, our definition of “plenty” shifted from a focus on the vast number of consumer choices at our fingertips, to a focus on our relationships and reliance on each other to meet our daily needs. Nancy made bread, my daughters helped make butter and ice cream, I farmed the backyard, and before we knew it a new economy of abundance emerged on our suburban homestead.

The rules forced us to pay keen attention to the turning of the seasons and recognize, like never before, that our earthly provisions are compelling evidence of God’s grace in our lives.

Q: Did the project help you see your community in a new way?

Because we had to know the source of everything we consumed, we developed relationships with people all along the supply chain, and came to call many of them friends. These friendships transformed simple acts of buying stuff into practices of loving our neighbors and participating in a caring community. It also connected us to the land of our region and helped us understand how soil is helped or harmed by the choices we make at the grocery store.

Q: What lessons or practices have you integrated into your life now that the “year of plenty” is over?

We are still local food fanatics and farmers’ market groupies. Our year was the start of an adventure that continues with community garden projects and backyard chicken activism. In many ways, our experiment was about paying attention to the abundance of God’s creation. In a world that emphasizes scarcity we continue the daily work of attending to everyday details as if they are breadcrumbs leading to the God’s plentiful Kingdom.

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We are living, as Washington Post book critic Jonathan Yardley has said, in the “age of memoir.” If anything, memoirs seem to be even more popular in Christian publishing than in the mainstream (maybe because we prize personal testimonies), and each year brings one or two excellent spiritual memoirs that refresh the genre, and sometimes even transcend it. Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me (Thomas Nelson), by Ian Morgan Cron, is one of those, as is Craig Goodwin’s Year of Plenty (Sparkhouse Press). Cron tells the incredible story of learning at age 16 that his stockbroker father was working for the CIA, of his father’s depression and alcoholism, his mother’s heroic efforts to save the family and Cron’s own journey from addiction to sobriety. This is a tale shot through with grace, a parable of the power of forgiveness and a vivid reminder that “love stoops.”

Craig Goodwin’s book recounts the year his family in suburban Spokane lived by four simple but radical rules: buy local, buy used, homegrown and homemade. Goodwin and his wife are Presbyterian pastors, and what sets this book apart from other “yearlong experiment” books is that it brings a deeper level of Christian engagement to the “growing movements that rebel against the consumption status quo and seek to craft a more holistic and sustainable way of living.” As Eugene Peterson writes in his foreword to the book, Year of Plenty is “a convincing witness to the sanctity of the everyday, the ordinary … which is to say, Jesus in our neighborhood.”

Let’s say you were born before 1985. You remember the world before the ubiquity of cell phones and the Internet, when you weren’t always instantly accessible and neither was the world’s store of information. At first the new technologies were cool, but the novelty has worn off (or rather, there is always something new to buy) and you are starting to feel overwhelmed by your inbox and the smart phone you just got or that you want to get or that you want to throw into the river. There has been a slew of recent

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books that document what these technologies are doing to our brains and to our relationships, and now Tim Challies, author and blogger, has written The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion (Zondervan), a valuable book examining the digital revolution from a faith perspective. For better or worse, these things are here, probably to stay, and Challies’ book will help you prayerfully consider how to “live in this new reality with character, virtue and wisdom” while fulfilling your God-given calling and purpose.

Americans are a first-half-of-life type of folk, which author and Franciscan priest Richard Rohr defines in Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life (Jossey-Bass) as the time when we establish “an identity, a home, relationships, friends, community, security and building a proper platform” for our lives. These are necessary, worthy pursuits; to use a Rohr metaphor, they form the vessel of our lives. But there is a second half to life that we often try to avoid. This further journey involves times of loss and failure, falling and suffering, which fill up our vessel in the richest sense of the word: a life without them is empty and deprived of meaning. Calling on works of theology, psychology and mythology, Rohr explores the paradoxes of Christianity that characterize life’s second half: that wisdom is found in the foolish and that life can only be gained when we choose to let it go.

Some of us grew up in churches that believed Jesus didn’t intend for us to actually do some of the things He taught. We learned Jesus wasn’t telling us in the Sermon on the Mount not to repay evil with violence, or to be merciful as God is merciful; He was setting an impossible standard so we will recognize our shortcomings and fall back on grace. In his inspiring and eminently useful new book, Practicing the Way of Jesus: Life Together in the Kingdom of Love (IVP Books), Mark Scandrette assumes Jesus intended for His followers to keep His word—as He clearly did (John 14:23-24)—and that the “way of Jesus … must be practiced to be understood.” Scandrette, the executive director of ReIMAGINE, a center for spiritual transformation in San Francisco, talks about fashioning a “Jesus dojo” (dojo means “place of the way” in Japanese) where we wrestle “with how to apply the teachings of Jesus to everyday life” through shared practice and experimentation. Practicing the Way moves beyond theory to action, describing how to begin your own experiments, and so it is probably best read in community.

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NON FICTION & I DEAS

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Q & A WITH

BROOK WILENSKYLANFORD Q: Your great-uncle was a scientist from a distinguished family of scientists. What was your reaction when you heard he had once planned an expedition to find the Garden of Eden?

Cognitive dissonance! I knew my uncle had been a churchgoing mainline Protestant, but in New York’s Upper East Side in the 1950s I didn’t think that indicated a penchant for biblical literalism. Where did he think Eden was? How could the Genesis origin story be compatible with his scientific worldview? When I couldn’t answer the first question, I set out to answer the second, through other Eden-seekers, many of whom were modern, curious and scientifically minded.

Q: Do you have a favorite theory of where Eden was supposedly located?

I’m particularly fond of Tse Tsan Tai, a Chinese newspaperman who in 1914 drew this amazing map showing the Bible’s four rivers of paradise converging in Outer Mongolia. He had a theory that if only all the countries in the world could agree that man began in Mongolia, then we could build a cooperative society in the middle of the desert and have world peace forever. And in the midst of World War I, can you blame him?

Q: What do you think is the enduring fascination with the Garden of Eden—not simply as a religious idea, but as a rediscoverable physical site? Are we looking for “proof” of God, or does it go deeper than that?

I think we’re all looking to ground ourselves and our view of the world in a physical reality. For me, the story of Eden really has four parts: origins, perfection, sin and exile. We are deeply curious about where we came from, how perfect it was, what we did wrong to get kicked out and how to get back there—whether or not we include God in the explanation.

Q: During your work on this book, did you ever catch yourself shifting from studying the people who have searched for Eden, to actually starting to search for Eden yourself?

Eden-seeking is contagious! I spent three years following people who’d searched for Eden, so I definitely became as obsessed with them as they were with the Garden. But I can’t say where I found it; you’ll have to read the book!

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e all know there is an ever-expanding list of books we are supposed to read—books that promise to shape our approaches to life, art, politics and justice. Well, here are a few more. The good news is that these aren’t books you’ll feel obligated to appreciate but not enjoy. Two of the books—one on the human and environmental toll of the Gulf oil spill, the other a look into the enduring search for the Garden of Eden—are gripping tales you won’t want to put down. Alan Jacobs and Gregory Wolfe are being the change they wish to see, writing passionate, brilliant and highly readable manifestoes championing, respectively, the art of reading and the power of beauty. And Daniel Mark Epstein—poet, playwright, biographer—brings his considerable genius to do what we thought couldn’t be done: write a book that helps us see Bob Dylan in a fresh light. We hope these books will captivate you as much as they did us.

Brook Wilensky-Lanford was stunned to learn a few years ago that her late great-uncle, a scientist from a family of scientists, had once hatched a plan to find the Garden of Eden. Wilensky-Lanford recounts this story in Paradise Lust: Searching for the Garden of Eden (Grove Press), as well as the tales of other prominent theologians, thinkers and leaders who have gone looking for Paradise. Josephus and Saint Augustine had theories about the location of Eden. John Calvin included a map in his commentary on Genesis. Christopher Columbus thought it was in South America, David Livingstone at the source of the Nile. The first president of Boston University thought Eden was on top of a mountain in the North Pole, now permanently encased in ice. These stories and others remind us that even misguided attempts to capture the past are often valiant attempts to understand where we’re going.

It was only last year, on April 20, 2010, that the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil well killed 11 men and, over three months, spilled an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. But in the age of the 24-hour news cycle, one year might as well be a lifetime ago. Fortunately, we have people like Antonia Juhasz. She is the director of the energy program at the human rights organization Global Exchange, and her previous book, The Tyranny of Oil, warned of a event like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill (Wiley), Juhasz introduces the reader to those whose negligence caused the disaster and those who live with the consequences. This is not old news and it is not irrelevant—unless we remember and repent, we will inevitably repeat the sins of our past.

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In The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction (Oxford University Press), Alan Jacobs offers an antidote to the endless required reading lists (we prefer to think of this Summer Reading Guide as recommendations among friends) and the overly serious tomes on “How to Read a Book Like Harold Bloom.” Jacobs, a professor of English at Wheaton College in Illinois and author of The Narnian, among other books, offers a different model for reading—one guided by whim and pleasure. Jacobs even makes an unexpected defense of technology (he reads on a Kindle).

He encourages us to ask hard questions of our books, to approach them unashamedly and to stake our claim in the margins. While we never needed permission to enjoy Harry Potter, Jacobs urges us not to eschew intellectual labor, which can improve strength, concentration and patience: “These are virtues worth aspiring to, especially because they lead to new and greater delight.”

Gregory Wolfe came of age as a culture warrior at a moment when conservatism seemed ascendant.

But not long after the 1980 Reagan Revolution, Wolfe realized he had moved on. He ceased believing “the decadence of the West” could be reversed through politics and rhetoric, and became convinced that “authentic renewal can only emerge out of the imaginative visions of the artist and the mystic.” Hence, the provocative title of Wolfe’s new collection of essays, Beauty Will Save the World (Intercollegiate Studies Institute), which is borrowed from a line in Dostoevsky. Wolfe makes the case for cultivating “the spiritual and imaginative sources of our common life.” He also introduces us to modern artists whose work is animated by an incarnational vision Wolfe describes as Christian humanism. Wolfe is the founding editor of Image, a literary journal, and he directs the creative writing MFA program at Seattle Pacific University. If beauty will save the world, Gregory Wolfe is making an important contribution to that good work.

Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Bob Dylan’s self-titled first album. To date he has released 34 studio albums, 13 live albums and 14 compilations, and he has been touring almost continuously since the late 1980s. All this means that a biographer (or portraitist, as the case may be) is going to have to pick and choose his Dylan moments if he wants to keep his book to a reasonable size. This is exactly what poet and author Daniel Mark Epstein has done in The Ballad of Bob Dylan (Harper), his appreciation of the living legend. Epstein structures his book around four periods of Dylan’s career and looks at each through the lens of a single concert: Washington, D.C.’s Lisner Auditorium in 1963; Madison Square Garden in 1974; Tanglewood in ’97; and Aberdeen in 2009. Each marks a transition for Dylan—from obscurity to folk star, from folk to rock, from embarrassing afterthought to career revival and from the beginning to the present as Dylan continues to put out album after great album.

DAVI D JOHNSON is a reader, a regular contributor to RELEVANT and the Englewood Review of Books and a future farmer. JOHN PATTISON is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and co-author of Besides the Bible: 100 Books that Have, Should, or Will Create Christian Culture. David and John both live with their families in Silverton, Ore.

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NOBODY TALKS ABOUT

ANYMORE

BY SCOT McKNIGHT

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IS THIS GENERATION SO OBSESSED WITH GRACE THAT WE’VE LEFT HOLINESS BEHIND?

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s a biblical studies professor at North Park University in Chicago, I teach a class called “Jesus of Nazareth.” At the end of each class, we recite the Lord’s Prayer together. I do this with my students for two basic reasons: because the Lord’s Prayer sums up the entire teaching ministry of Jesus, and because the word “sin” is found in it.

Though Matthew’s version normally uses the word “transgression” in “forgive us our transgressions,” Luke’s version has the word “sins.” I ask my students to import that word into Matthew’s version because I feel they need to hear the word “sin” over and over.

Two student conversations represent the responses I usually get. One student told

me he had almost never heard of sin in any church service. A second student told me she was offended that I would import the word “sin” into the Lord’s Prayer because it was so negative and harmful.

Not only did I urge her to take a good long look at the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11:1-4, I urged her to reconsider what she was saying.

Saying that each of us sins isn’t harmful; it is true—it tells the true story of who we are and what the Gospel is designed to accomplish.

To many, sin has fallen into grace. What does that mean? When we talk about God’s grace, we are assuming the reality of sin—that we are sinners and that God has forgiven us.

But in our language today, sin is not only an assumption—it is an accepted assumption.

And not only is it an accepted assumption—it also doesn’t seem to matter.

It’s as if we’re saying, “Yes, of course we sin” and then do nothing about it.

Widespread apathy toward sin reveals itself in the lack of interest in holiness. Your grandparents’ generation overdid it—going to movies, dancing and drinking alcohol became the tell-tale signs of unholiness. Damning those who did such things became the legalistic, judgmental context for church life. So your parents’ generation, inspired in part by the ’60s, jaunted its way into the freedom of the Christian life. Which meant, often enough, “I can do whatever I want because of God’s grace.”

That generation’s lack of zeal for holiness has produced a trend: acceptance of sin, ignorance of its impact and weakened relationships with God, people and the world.

Many were wounded in their relation to God by the legalism they experienced. It was all about “if you are good, God will be happy.”

When they heard the good news of God’s unconditional grace, we were healed in deep ways. Pendulums are designed to swing, and the pendulum swing toward God’s grace and love meant a generation has been nurtured on a message that has embraced a gracious view of God, but has far too often ignored the zealous holiness of that same God’s love.

We are in a dangerous place today. We need to confront again the message of the Bible about sin.

"GOD FORGIVES, YOU KNOW"

One day after I spoke at a church, a college student approached me and began telling me about her roommate, and I’m guessing you know someone like both of these young women. First, she told me her roommate had slept with more than one guy that semester; that her roommate got drunk most Saturday nights; that her roommate was very active in a Bible study; and that she was also in a worship band.

I asked, “Does your roommate consider herself a Christian?” The young woman responded: “Of course she’s a Christian.”

I was perhaps more bothered by that last response than by the actions of the roommate. For this person talking to me, the issue wasn’t Christian-or-not, but why I would even ask such a question.

WIDESPREAD APATHY TOWARD SIN REVEALS ITSELF IN THE LACK OF INTEREST IN HOLINESS. Her final words to me were, “God forgives, you know.” Her tone wasn’t a tone of gratitude for God’s grace but presumption of God’s grace. I was troubled as much by her attitude as I am by what I see as a trend among our culture: Sin is falling into grace and disappearing from our concerns.

There you have it: When we don’t see the gravity of sin, we won’t be reliant upon God for the grace of sanctification and transformation, and holiness won’t be our aim in life.

So, let’s look at what sin is, where sin wants to take us and what sin does to us.

SIN IS USURPING THE PL ACE OF GOD

Every fall, I teach a course where we read the beginning of Genesis. Those early chapters in Genesis provide a bucket list of distractions, so I do my best to keep the discussions focused on what Genesis 3 is about: sin.

Not only does Genesis 3 unmask the sin of the first couple, it unmasks the sin of every human in history.

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HUMANS ACHE TO RULE THE COSMOS. THE ACHE TO BE GOD AND ACTING AS IF WE ARE GOD ARE WHAT SIN IS ALL ABOUT. Before we proceed, though, we need to define sin. For some, sin is defined legally: that is, it is the failure to conform to the will or law of God. For others, it is defined more personally as an act of rebellion not just against the law of God but against God Himself. And then others combine the two and make it cosmic in scope.

Take, for instance, this line about sin from Cornelius Plantinga’s brilliant study, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: “Shalom is God’s design for creation and redemption; sin is blamable vandalism of these great realities and therefore an affront to their architect and builder.”

I want to extend Plantinga’s words to define sin as the ache and action to be God when we are not God. Genesis 3 tells the story of two humans, freshly created by an awesome, cosmos-controlling God and then generously plopped gently into paradisal conditions, who are given but one task: to govern the world on God’s behalf. This is why the Bible tells us they are designed in the “image” of God. An “image” represents someone or something, and humans—Adam and Eve—represent God. But governing the cosmos on God’s behalf was—and is—not enough for humanity.

Humans ache to rule the cosmos. They want to be God. The ache to be God and acting as if we are God are what sin is all about.

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I’ll call Professor Brown. I know the professor a bit, but a friend of mine knows him very well, and told me Brown’s story one day.

While in an evangelical seminary and pastoring in a local church, Brown began to listen to the serpent’s lie about sex, and before long had an affair, divorced his wife, wrote enough to get himself a good faculty position and then became well-known at that school for his mind and for his affairs. My friend told me: “[Professor Brown] knew what God said about fidelity, but he once admitted to me, ‘I chose to do what I wanted instead of what God wanted.’ ” Sin, at its core, usurps God’s place in this world and puts us there instead.

SIN KNOWS WHERE IT IS HEADED

James, brother of Jesus, knew sin from the inside-out and explored how it works. What I like about James is that he knew where sin was going. James 1:13-15 reads: “For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is fullgrown, gives birth to death” (NIV).

Sin is traced by James, as we see with Adam and Eve, to unchecked desire. The extra glass of wine that breaks down our capacity to sustain our morality or the moment when we say, “It might be wrong at this hour of night to be writing to my old girlfriend on Facebook … but she’s just a friend,” and then the friend becomes more than a friend, and an emotional memory becomes an emotional affair and more. Sin is like satire: If you feast all the time on the foibles of others, you eventually destroy them and yourself.

That desire knows where it is headed. Read those words from James again. Sin leads to death. Each and every time. World without end. From beginning to end. Sin has one goal, and that goal is death. Death. Physical death. Emotional death. Psychological death.

Mental death. Desire death. Spiritual death.

Final death. Death after death, and death beyond death.

I believe in God’s grace, and God’s grace can reverse the death march of sin. But do you know those who are on that death march?

I do.

A friend of mine from high school was admired by each of us as the best Christian in our group—he really was solid. He went off to college, got married, landed a good job … and then I heard he was divorced, and then I heard he was remarried, and then I heard he was divorced again … and then I found

him one day online and we chatted. He asked me if I knew any women for him to date.

He said his life is about having a good time.

Throughout our entire conversation, I heard the sad cries of death all over his life. He was not the person I knew in high school.

SIN DAMAGES

The story of Adam and Eve blows me away every time. Nothing probes the damages of sin as cleanly and quickly as Genesis 3.

Adam and Eve decided to act on the serpent’s lie and chose to think they could be God (instead of governors), and four things immediately distorted life for them: First, they became shameful of their bodies and who they were (so they covered themselves).

Second, they became afraid of God and sought to hide from Him. They were assigned to represent God and now they were AWOL. Third, they turned on each other to blame one another for their choice. Fourth, they were escorted from Eden into a world that would not cooperate with them as Eden had.

Sin damages our self-identity, changes our relations with God from love and trust to fear and mistrust, damages our loving union with one another to become a war of wills against one another, and sin also has cosmic effects— we find the world to be red in tooth and claw.

Every sin damages. Not just the big ones.

TIME TO RETHINK

The earliest Christians quickly developed a listing of the most damaging sins and they were called the “seven deadly sins.” Though the list varied, and one common list includes anger, greed, sloth, pride, envy, lust and gluttony—but it is the term “deadly” that we need to observe. These sins kill because they begin to destroy us from the inside out. But they are not alone; the deadlies kill only because they do what all sins do.

If the earliest Christians were concerned about the seven deadlies, they were even more concerned about holiness. And holiness has always been a focus for the Church, especially during the era of the Puritans.

It is time for us to reconsider this singular contribution of the Puritans to our culture.

I grieved when my two children were introduced to the Puritans through the lens of one of their fiercest critics, Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter. He posed Hester Prynne against Arthur Dimmesdale, the villain of Hawthorne’s venom against Puritan legalism and hypocrisy. Many American students learn of the Puritans in the form of such caricature, but the Puritans, whatever their fault, were obsessed with holiness and with purity

SIN & HOLINESS

Some books that tackle this tricky topic:

The Screwtape Letters

by C.S. Lewis The timeless classic by this great thinker.

Rediscovering Holiness

by J.I. Packer The theologian unpacks what it really means to be holy.

Original Sin

by Alan Jacobs A fun-to-read(!) cultural history about the sin in all of us.

Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be

by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. The title is kind of selfevident ...

and with sin and with living before God with a clear conscience. I would hope more would see John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress as what the Puritans were getting at. For Bunyan, “Christian’s” (the name of the main character) life is about shedding sin and growth in holiness. Bunyan got this vision from the Bible.

The Bible tells us not only that God is gracious and loving, but it reveals an unforgettable statement in Leviticus: “Be holy because I am holy.” Let us not forget we are summoned

by God to make our pursuit in life a pursuit that is simultaneously after love and after holiness.

SCOT McKNIGHT is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University and author of One.Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow (Zondervan).

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10 Keys for Navigating Life

BY ADAM AND CHRISTINE JESKE

WES SUMNER

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ou’re in a season of life where a lot of important decisions are hitting you all at once (whether you realize their enormity or not). It could be anything—career, relationships, moving, school; the list of life changes goes on and on and on.

You know you’re supposed to ask for God’s help to make big decisions, so you open a Bible, stab in a finger and pull out …

Jeremiah 48:1: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined.”

Does that mean you’re supposed to break off your engagement? Or get a Ph.D.? Or buy that blue house? Using the Bible like a pack of tarot cards generally doesn’t work when it comes to facing the future.

So how are you supposed to figure out what you’re meant to do in the coming months and decades of life?

Some choices present themselves pretty clearly: You find that the masters program you’re considering can be done for free if you’re serving overseas. Everyone says you’re an idiot if you don’t ask her to marry you.

The apartment in the neighborhood you’ve had your eye on is an incredible deal. The job opportunity arises and you immediately jump for it without needing any kind of push.

But many unassuming little choices leave you peering into the river of possibility, trying to discern what’s right. He’s moving away, but you are still in school. The house you love is a bit too expensive. The church you’re in is in flames, and you want to bail. You want to go overseas, but the country you feel led to just closed its borders. There isn’t a very obvious answer. So: What are you supposed to do?

Let’s knock out the basics first: God knows you, loves you a lot and wants to lead you. You should ask God where to go and then go.

Got that? Good.

But … how? And how do you know what God wants? And what if it seems like He’s OK with any of the choices available?

The most important part of the process is to give yourself up, and let God do what God wants through you. Yes, it’s scary, but keep on coming back to His love for you. Besides, God is smart—really smart. And God can see the future. And He knows you better than you know yourself. So it makes all the sense in the world to start with a prayer of surrender.

We read in the Bible that we can be deceived. We also find there that praying in the name and power of Jesus can protect us.

So when you are really in need of an answer, when you really don’t know what to do, try this prayer: “Lord, I believe you. I trust you.

I love you. I will do anything you say because your way is better than mine. Please silence my selfishness, the pressures from the world, and any evil forces in and around me.” Then insert very important question here.

Before praying this, you must be fully committed to doing what God directs. But once you ask, sit quietly and wait. If God wants to speak to you in this way, the Spirit may give an impressionistic answer, sometimes even verbal. Then, you get up and do it. This approach needs to be tested against the Bible and wise counsel of others (because sometimes the voice of “God” is really the voice of your own brokenness, fears, presuppositions or a bit of undigested bread that’s not sitting

well), but it’s taken people around the world and back and through a bunch of blessed adventures with God. This is only one of many ways to seek guidance, and by no means 100 percent guaranteed effective. Like most tasks in life, God doesn’t give quick, easy formulas for making choices. So here are 10 suggestions to help you steer along the journey.

1. HELP WANTED

Tell some friends, especially the further-along-in-life kind, that you need help. Politely plead for their time and their ears. If they accept, slowly and thoroughly tell everything you know about your options, hopes and worries.

Give them your desires and concerns about your own selfishness and pride. Invite them to ask questions and reflect back to you what they’ve heard you say. You may not end up taking their advice, but if they’re wise (and try to choose people who are), they’ll certainly help you see the situation more clearly than you would alone. And sometimes, they might notice things you haven’t, or ways you’re acting that you’re too immersed in to see. The verbal processing itself will help clarify your thinking, too.

Then ask them—beg them—to pray for you.

While you have their ear, ask them to search their personal network of connections for better options. Many great opportunities in housing, relationships, work and, well, life don’t come through search engines, but through people in the right place at the right time pulling precisely what you need from their pockets (or their contact lists).

Also, know that wise people who love you will tell you things that will be difficult to hear. Perhaps you haven’t quite grasped that you’re not cut out to be a musician. Or it could be that God isn’t calling you to drop out and move to Haiti. Maybe the wooing you’re undertaking is actually more like creeping. Listen to the wise voices. And sit with their hard words. They might just be the same ones God wants you to listen to.

2. BOOK IT

Instead of opening your Bible for the first time in a year to wherever the pages fall for your mystical word from the heavens, how about reading it with your brain turned on? Using the Bible like a horoscope is an insult to God, and to your own ability to listen and reason. Instead trust that God does have wisdom, and He’s not trying to keep it a secret. Scripture applies directly to you and the decisions you need to make.

Start by looking for general principles that might cross an option off your list entirely (or bump some other option to the top of the list). Don’t kid yourself. Right off the bat—and hopefully this is obvious—make sure what you’re considering isn’t morally wrong. If you’re thinking about double-crossing someone, cheating on someone, lying or otherwise being a nutjob, knock it off! Then look for the sometimes-not-so-obvious deceptions. Are you making your choice out of greed or arrogance? Would one RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 65

of your choices make it hard or impossible to stay connected to a church, share with those in need, honor God, quit habitual sins or disobey other big musts of the Bible? Have the courage to cross that one off the list, no matter how attractive it (or he/she) is.

3. START NOW

When you’re faithful in all the little steps along the way, it’s easier to see which direction your life needs to go when choosing the next big step. Start preparing for decisions now, even if you don’t know when they’ll happen.

Besides making a habit of reading the Bible regularly all year round, take measures to discover who you are. Invite someone you respect to be your mentor and meet regularly so the person knows you well enough to help when you face a decision. Fill out personality inventories like Myers-Briggs, StrengthsFinder and spiritual gift assessments, especially if you talk through them with a wise someone afterward. Keep a résumé, not just so you have it for potential employers, but to look back and see patterns of what thrilled and developed you versus what melted your will to live.

Think through previous relationships and what went wrong in them.

And for goodness’ sake, pay attention.

In sermons. In books. In conversations.

Everywhere. God usually won’t send a message in a bottle sailing across your bathtub, but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t have anything to say to you. Don’t go overboard and think every little thing points you in a new direction. That’s like being a ship without a sail bobbing around to nowhere. Remember what James wrote—“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (1:5-7, NIV).

4. WHAT DO YOU WANT?

“The place God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet,” wrote Frederick Buechner, and we all breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, Jesus said we will have tough challenges like carrying crosses, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re off-track when we’re happy. Don’t selfflagellate, as if by choosing the most miserable option you will somehow prove your mettle to God or others. As Howard Thurman says: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because 66 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

T he w or ld needs a lo t o f thing s , and you c an’ t do them all.

what the world needs is people who have come alive.” We say, do ask what the world needs, but don’t stop there. The world needs a whole lot of things, and you can’t do them all. So find something in there that makes you come alive.

It may be leading others in worship, practicing law, translating the Bible into a new language, teaching second grade, opening a business or doing graphic design.

Put another way, it’s Psalm 37:4—“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Some mistakenly think this means God will give us whatever we want. (Please note the red flags.) Rather, as Carolyn Mosley once explained, it’s that God is in the process of redeeming our desires, making us long for good things, the same that He longs for, in every part of our lives.

5. TEST IT

Let’s imagine someone offered you a free pony. Sounds great, right? But before saying yes, there’s some necessary due diligence—you need to investigate—how much

8. REMEMBER, YOUR DECISIONS AFFECT OTHERS

whether we are going where we need to go—and if not, stretch out a leg and get off.

In a perfect world, what would you ask for? If you can answer that question, then ask. Maybe you found the place you want to spend the summer studying but can’t find affordable housing. Maybe you want to serve in Eastern Europe as a pharmacist. Maybe you dream of being a roadie for that new band at Coachella. Or perhaps you just want to live in a more diverse neighborhood. Or it could be a new ministry role, or for a best friend, or increased self-control.

Now is the time to ask for what’s missing. Without shame. Ask God. Ask everyone. Get off the conveyor belt.

7. COUNT THE COST (AND PAY UP)

will that pony eat? How often does she need her hooves trimmed? Will she sleep comfortably in your bedroom?

The same goes for any opportunity that stirs your heart—or doesn’t. The fact that a serendipitous opportunity comes sailing in doesn’t guarantee that you should take it, and you need to know when to turn off your gut reaction. Doing some research often uncovers the clues that make the option a clear yes or no.

Meanwhile, dig deeper into the alternatives. Many opportunities don’t slam down out of the blue. They take work to go find, investigate and pursue. Start asking around and use Google. Talk to some of the current employees at that firm. See what people say about that neighborhood. Facebook-stalk those potential roommates. Have the hard conversations in that relationship.

6. GET OFF THE PEOPLE-MOVER

Most decisions we make in life slide by without us ever realizing we’re deciding. Life pulls us onward like a big conveyor belt. So we need to look up and figure out

Sorry to break it to you, but if you decide to study medicine, you’re not going to have much time for Call of Duty. If you decide to serve in Malawi as a speech therapist, you’re probably not going to make a lot of money. In either case, you’re going to leave behind some other options that won’t fit easily into your life.

The best option in life won’t always be comfortable or easy, and no matter what, it comes at a cost of other possibilities. The question is, are you ready to pay those costs? Or would paying those costs mean mismanaging what God’s given you? As willing as you may be to spend a year in a remote village pounding cassava for Jesus, this may be your time to buckle down and earn money to pay off some debt. A life following Jesus demands our all.

Some things are given back to us.

Some are not.

Likewise, your decisions incur costs on the people around you, and can also reap benefits for those people. You are not the master of your universe. Your decisions affect others in your networks—the people left behind at the jobs you quit, the family you never see, the friends you do or don’t live near, the significant other beginning to map out a future with you, the spouse you’ve committed to or the kids who depend on you. Be big enough to take their needs into consideration.

9. HOLD YOUR HORSES

Sometimes the right decision is no decision.

Sometimes you wait without any new options.

These seasons can feel even more painful than trying to make a decision, because in waiting you have so little power over your destiny.

Whether you’re lingering in the unknowing until you pay off debts, graduate, find a new couch, finish your lease or have a baby, learn to relish the present. Practice patience. Yes, sometimes days and months drag on like a long frozen winter, but when summer comes and things start growing and chirping again, you’ll look back and see how this slow season shaped you. Make sure it shapes you for the better.

10. NOW: STOP WORRYING

When you’ve done most or all of the above and nobody has noticed some big disobedience in one direction or another (say, financing your education by selling meth or working at a roadside porn emporium), stop the humming of your worry muscles and relax. Trust. You’ll be OK. God isn’t lurking around the corner waiting to smoosh your life into misery if you accidentally pick option A over option B. St. Augustine put it simply: “Love God and do as you please.” Make your decisions with God-given sense, with an honest goal to pursue Him and “commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed” (Proverbs 16:3). God’s in the business of redeeming even our worst choices, and every highway has offramps to other choices.

If there’s one thing you can know, it’s that there will always be more choices. Trust that God will honor your efforts … and then go make some choices.

ADAM AND CHRISTINE JESKE have lived in Nicaragua, China and South Africa.

He works for InterVarsity and tweets @ adamjeske. She authored a book on faith and justice and blogs at IntotheMud.com.

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EX PLOSION IN T H E S KY

BY LAURA STUDARUS

NICK SIMONITE

68 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

NS

HAVING SPENT THEIR entire adult existence together, Explosions in the Sky has seen their fair share of trends come and go. Still, from day one, the Austin, Tx.-based quartet has held fast to their sprawling brand of instrumental rock. Don’t call it post-rock though. While their sound shares common threads with the spiritual overtones of Sigur Rós, with amps turned up to an ear-shattering Mogwai 11, Explosions in the Sky are rockers—albeit with longer song structures and loftier ambitions than the average guitar slingers.

Now entering their second decade as a band, and third in life, the band—which includes Mark Smith (guitar), Chris Hrasky (drums), Munaf Rayani (guitar), Michael James (guitar/bass)—has moved past their basketball-playing, cash register-jockeying younger years, settling into their 30s with the advent of marriages, children and other adult responsibilities.

However, James maintains that the more their worlds expand, the more their dynamic as a band stays the same. “We each have our own places—no fraternity parties, no beer bongs at our houses to be found at all,” he jokes. “Having grown up over the last decade with each other, we still maintain a very tight-knit friendship between the four of us while also being able to grow into

our adult lives. We’ve got the best of both worlds in that. We’re all still best friends. We see each other almost every single day; we’re a very important part of each other’s lives.

We’ve just been able to merge those things together in what seems like a perfect and unique way.”

The secret to maintaining fraternal peace?

“We’ve learned how to fight over the years.

We still fight and argue and everyone tries to impose their will and get their way. But we’ve learned how to do it in a pretty constructive and even a friendly manner.”

If this sounds like a marriage, that might be the perfect analogy. James laughs at the idea the band could offer counseling to disconnected couples, apologizing for their story’s lack of drama. “Absolutely it’s like a marriage.

I’ll say I don’t have any secrets. I don’t know if the other guys do. Not that I know. We’ve gotten to the point where we’re incredibly open with each other about almost everything in our lives. We’re very much like brothers.”

It’s that familial agreement that allows Explosions in the Sky to operate as a leaderless unit—fostering a sense of near Gilligan’s Island-levels of cooperation, where all decisions are made through a unanimous vote.

“It’s something we’ve had to learn over the years,” James says. “Being in a leaderless sort of situation is great because it’s exactly what we want, but at the same time it can be very frustrating with four very different opinions on any subject that you can imagine. It can be really hard to reach a concrescence—which is probably the most difficult thing about being in this band. But at the same time it’s the thing I find most rewarding as well. Once we do all get on the same page, everybody’s happy; everybody gets exactly what they want. The process can be difficult, but the end result is more than worth it.”

The end result of their friendships and collaboration can be termed—without irony— as beautiful music. Over the past five albums, Explosions in the Sky has created swooping, dizzyingly sprawling instrumental compositions that seemingly cradle the listeners in one moment, and rocket them skyward the next. An album (clocking in at around six songs in about an hour) is structured to move the listener through a series of emotional twists and turns on par with an epic film— which is exactly what James would like the audience to imagine.

“A lot of the times when we write music— our music being instrumental—we can’t tell a very specific story with words,” he says. “So when we write music, a lot of the times it’s done with our own stories in mind. We’ll have

very specific images and almost story lines that go along with it. It’s very much written to a movie in our heads. The movie doesn’t exist anywhere except there, and I think that’s the case for a lot of people listening to it as well.

It can bring about images for them. I think ‘cinematic’ is a great description.”

Much like a cinematic classic unfolding in front of rapt viewers, the band doesn’t see emotions as compartmentalized—instead allowing the comedy and tragedy of their art to merge.

“Particular songs of course evoke particular feelings,” James says. “A song that’s sad but doesn’t mire you down on a very dark, melodramatic chord, [and] a little sadness that also offers some sweetness; those are typically my favorite sorts of combinations. Sometimes that’s not what the song calls for. Sometimes it calls for a very bombastic, direct emotion. Something very triumphant or something very dark and sad, that’s what’s going to work for a particular song. We don’t want to be just one type of band—an upbeat band or a melodramatic band. Everybody experiences the range of emotion you can imagine.

That’s what we want to try to incorporate into music. You want to touch people with songs, that’s what we strive to do.”

“THERE’S SOMETHING INTANGIBLE, BEYOND REGULAR FEELINGS THAT CAN BE TOUCHED BY [MUSIC].”

—MICHAEL JAMES

As any music fan will surely attest, the idea of being touched feels too surface-level when compared to the extreme emotions evoked by a favorite band’s work. It’s almost—dare it be said—a spiritual experience. Despite not staking any claims of faith themselves, Explosions in the Sky doesn’t balk at the comparison.

“I like that description, actually,” James says. “To me, our music, I think it does have a pretty emotional component to it. Music in general, not just our music, has definitely touched me in ways that are kind of hard to describe, that goes beyond a traditional RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 69

emotional pull. I think a person’s greatest strengths. when people describe our “These little imperfections music as spiritual, I feel like and our strange little ways that’s what they’re getting and thoughts and beliefs, at. There’s something intanbut that’s what we feel like The Explosions in the Sky albums you should know gible, something beyond the is great about humans,” he about: regular feelings we have that explains. “We’re not perfect. can be touched by that. So I We each have our own idioTake Care, think that’s a great descripsyncrasies that are uniquely Take Care, tion. I understand what they ours. I think that’s kind of Take Care mean when they say it.” beautiful. That’s what’s to (2011) While unable to speak love about people, our flaws.” on the specifics of his band Other tracks off Take Care, mates’ beliefs, James is Take Care, Take Care also The Earth is Not a Cold open about the inner workexplore the shifting nature Dead Place ings of his moral compass. of embracing and accepting (2003) “As Shakespeare would say, dual natures. While previ‘Nothing is good or bad, but ous albums revolved around WATCH: thinking makes it so,’ ” he a particular theme, James A live version says. “I personally have— admits the nebulous nature of “Postcard from 1952.” and I think we all have—a of their latest work was a bit sort of moral code that we more difficult for the band to live by so we can all get along grasp. “The whole spectrum with each other. Societies form those sorts of [of emotion] is definitely where we want to things, and I believe they’re good.” start from. It was much more about change.

And what of those that form society? “I’m How do you write about change? It’s very difof the mind that everybody had the capabil- ficult because the act of writing about it solidity of amazing-good and awful-bad within ifies it, and then it’s hard to change. I can’t say them,” James continues. “A lot of what makes this one has a very particular story in mind; it a person good or bad is your choices, what was much more amorphous.” you choose to do. A lot of it comes from your As with previous releases, the album folenvironment and how you’re raised, the peo- lows the tradition of long, descriptive titles, ple you’re around. It’s kind of a gray area, I allowing the listener a sneak peak into the guess. But I don’t think people are born good band’s thought process. “We have wordy or bad. I think we have the capacity for amaz- titles because there are no words in the song,” ing amounts of both.”

James says. “The album title is Take Care, This idea of the duality of human nature is Take Care, Take Care, which is thinking about played out in “Human Qualities,” a cut from a goodbye. Saying ‘take care’ to somebody.

Explosions’ sixth studio album, Take Care, A goodbye in and of itself is an emotional Take Care, Take Care. As described by James, experience, whether you’re saying goodbye to the track celebrates the flaws that sit alongside someone you just met, or to a loved one, it’s

AN EXPLOSION OF ALBUMS

70 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

something, you have to make the effort to say goodbye and depart. Parting with someone, that’s a change as well. I’d say thematically that’s what we were going for.”

And after saying goodbye comes a wistful longing for what’s left behind—nostalgia. It’s a term that James has heard describe their work many times—and rightfully so, given its slow crescendos and otherworldly resonance. “It just seems like, for us, nostalgia is a very powerful feeling,” he says. “It’s another emotion that can be expressed through music. So I feel like there is a lot of nostalgia for us as well.”

Nowhere is that more evident than the slow-building, penultimate Take Care, Take Care, Take Care track, “ Postcard from 1952.”

“We were having a hard time naming that song—we wanted something that would capture almost an innocence,” James says. “It seemed to us like the decade of the ’50s, the post-war sort of feel, it was an innocent time in America where there was a lot of industry and the country was booming. We were the superpower of the world, and not having to think about consequences of some of the cultural changes of what was going on. It just seemed kind of fitting, I guess. That was a very exciting time—not naïve but innocent in its approach, 1952. I don’t know why we choose that particular year. It just seemed like the ’50s were that sort of decade.”

Just don’t misconstrue the deeper themes of their work as a stab at pretension. “In terms of being intellectual, I’d say we certainly appreciate that sort of thing. We’re avid readers and thinkers, I would say, but not in a traditional sense where there’s some sort of condemnation toward people who aren’t,” James says.

“I think if people did have that idea of us, when they met us they’d be sorely disappointed!” he laughs.

With their second decade dawning, Explosions in the Sky is happily continuing to embrace the key dynamics that define them, even as the new album brings along a new set of new challenges. One such change is a rise in notoriety thanks to a recent gig at Radio City Music Hall. But how did a band the average American couldn’t pick out of a lineup score a spot at the venerated venue? “That was proposed off the cuff by our booking agent,” James explains. “We really didn’t take it seriously. I guess he did. He took our laughter as a personal challenge.”

So now that they’ve conquered Radio City, what’s next? “Madison Square Garden!” James jokes. “Not really. Radio City was the peak for us, the top of the mountain. We could all have stopped playing music the day after and felt like we haven’t been gypped.”

KURT VOLK

I S

FAL L I NG I N

LOVE A

MYT H ?

WHY WE NEED TO

R EDE FINE W H AT L O V E I S

BY DEBRA K. FILETA, MA, LPC

72 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

S

herry and Jake had been married for almost nine months.

Nine heart-wrenching months.

Looking back at their relationship, they weren’t really sure what went wrong. Sherry and Jake had met at their campus Bible study two years before as seniors in college, and frankly, it was love at first sight.

She was sitting with a group of girls, trying to make conversation about the tiny fraction of things she could find in common. She immediately caught Jake’s attention because she was nothing like any of the other girls Jake had met. Sherry was different. She had an edge to her, an outside-of-the-box mentality you either loved or hated. A boldness and a courage that was not afraid to stand alone.

From her belief system to her style of clothing, Sherry was never bashful about being who she was.

Their connection was instant. They had so many common beliefs, dreams and ideas.

Hour-long conversations passed by like minutes, and spending time together never seemed to get old. Their many shared passions only fueled the passion they felt for one another. It was a feeling like they had never experienced before. They wanted to conquer the world together. And after a year and a half of dating, they decided they would and got married.

Fast-forward two years, to Jake and Sherry sitting in my office with tears in their eyes.

Just by looking at them you could tell they

were made for each other. They had so much in common—from their musical taste to their theological beliefs and all the way down to their matching tattoos. But something had gone terribly wrong.

The goals and dreams they had together had somehow fizzled in the daily grind of marriage. Their passions for conquering the world had never launched the way they thought they would. Bitterness, anger and selfishness had crept into their marriage in a very real and unpredictable way. They were left with broken dreams and broken hearts, and an emptiness that left them wondering if this marriage had been the right thing to do.

The uncontrollable feelings that had led them to fall in love had somehow taken control yet again, though this time, they were falling right back out of love.

FALLING IN LOVE

I find it fascinating that our entire society’s view of love is based on such a spontaneous and unintentional action like “falling.” As a professional counselor, I have heard the word “falling” used to describe the act of entering into relationship on more than one occasion. Men and women struck so deeply by the emotion of love that they couldn’t resist it; they just “fell in love.”

Falling in love. An act over which one has seemingly no control. A movement of the heart that cannot be resisted. A desire of the flesh that cannot be satisfied until its thirst

has been quenched. A chemistry, a spark, an emotional explosion that can neither be explained nor denied. A feeling that can plague the heart of men and women across all races, cultures and social classes.

It’s a beautiful concept. It’s the stuff fairy tales and Hollywood movies are made of.

It’s the heart-fluttering, forehead-sweating, word-stuttering, stomach-knotting disease of love that cannot seem to be controlled by the people it infects. You can’t breathe, can’t think and can’t live without the object of your affection. It’s love, you see. Love at its finest.

Or is it?

I don’t know about you, but I used to believe in this kind of love. I used to believe in a crazy love that could take your breath away and make your stomach sink with every passing moment and with each fleeting thought.

A never-ending feeling that would ultimately guide my heart into the world of romance and bliss. I used to believe in this sentiment of unmistakable love.

Then I got married.

Lest I cause any confusion or feed the appetite of any self-proclaimed cynics of love, let me start off by saying I consider myself to be very happily married and extremely in love.

But I have learned two simple, life-changing truths about love along the journey of my nuptial experience and in the course of being a relationship counselor. These truths have changed my entire perspective on what true love really is, and have ultimately changed the entire course of my marriage and, in turn, my life.

The first is this: Feelings cannot be trusted.

Like it or not, it’s true. Don’t get me wrong—feelings and emotions are a valuable part of who we are as human beings. God gave them to us for a very special reason. They are the compass that points us toward the general direction we need to go. But sometimes, even compasses are not enough. Sometimes, even compasses get it wrong. Feelings are an incredible resource—but they were not made to stand alone.

For couples like Sherry and Jake, the road to understanding true love can be a very difficult and painful experience. For those who let the mere feeling of love guide them, they find themselves on quite the roller-coaster ride because feelings come—but inevitably, feelings go. It’s easy to love when everything is just right. Excitement, exhilaration, pleasure

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 73

and thrill are the emotional components to a really great batch of “love.”

But what happens when the feelings aren’t so right? Exhaustion, suffering, pain and disappointment. Broken dreams, hopes and even broken promises. What happens to love, then? I have the unfortunate role of seeing the foundations crumble for those who have built their relationships on the emotional sand of “falling in love.” When the rain comes, when the wind blows, those who took the unintentional fall of love find themselves unintentionally falling right back out of it.

That’s the thing I learned about the “feeling” of love—it was never meant to stand alone. It was never intended to be used as a noun: an object, a thing, a feeling, an idea. To do so is to do the concept of love a grave injustice. To do so is to reject the very definition of how God has asked us to love (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

The most dangerous part about the myth of falling in love is that it is based on a definition that has no sense of predictability or control.

It offers no guarantees. If you can fall into it, you can surely fall out of it. It’s no wonder our country’s divorce rate hovers around 50 percent, with divorce among Christians tagging right along.

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis describes it like this: “Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. ... Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go. ... But, of course, ceasing to be ‘in love’ need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense—love as distinct from ‘being in love’—is not merely a feeling.”

That’s the whole idea between the concept of love as a feeling versus love as an action.

Which brings me to my second life-changing truth: Love was never just intended to be, it was intended to do. DC Talk had it right when they wrote the song “Love Is a Verb” (or rather, “luv”). That’s the truth.

Frankly, it’s the hardest verb you will ever do. It’s a verb that requires a selflessness and altruism beyond any other experience on earth. It’s a verb that is not always felt but must always be chosen. It is a commitment to do what is right, even though the one standing before you may be entirely undeserving.

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L O V E WA S NEVER MEANT T O S TA N D ALONE. IT WA S N E V E R INTENDED TO BE A NOUN.

A CHOICE WORTH MAKING

You might be wondering what happened to Sherry and Jake. After a series of sessions and conversations, they realized when the feeling of love dries up, it is time to call on the reservoir of choice. They entered into a commitment to “do” love for the next three months.

Every evening Jake would come home from a long day’s work, and whether or not the house looked like he wanted it to look, he chose to use loving words and gestures with his wife. And even though Jake did not always say or do the right things, Sherry chose to control her anger, and communicate love through the actions of patience, kindness and gentleness. They learned to be considerate of one another and honor each other through the bitterness, the anger and the disappointments.

They learned to put the other first and committed to loving; even when they were hurting, tired and when they had been wronged.

Each one of them had to learn what it meant to see love as a choice. In the end, they found themselves more in love than they ever imagined. That’s the beautiful thing about love— the actions come first, but the feelings are sure to follow.

One of my favorite authors, Sheldon Vanauken, describes his remarkable love for his wife in his book A Severe Mercy. “[Our love’s] remarkableness lay, not in our falling quite desperately in love—many have experienced that glory—but in what we made of that love.” He then goes on to describe a series of deliberate choices and decisions that led him and his wife, Davy, to the deepest love two people could ever know. A series of deliberate choices to draw closer to one another— that is the ultimate definition of what it really means to be in love.

The greatest passage ever written on the topic of true love is tucked away in the pages of the Bible. It is a testament to the idea of choosing love. It reveals love as an intentional, purposeful, deliberate choice that is not based entirely on a feeling but on the self-imposed commitment of one person to another. It is a giving of self with no expectation to receive. It is a list of decisions to be made and actions to be chosen—chosen every single moment, and every single day. This is the reality of unconditional love.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:48, NIV).

Every component to love in this description comes down to a willful decision; a free will offering of the self; an unconditional love that surmounts the walls of expectation and obligation. But what’s even more amazing about this description is that it is given by a God who took it upon Himself to show us what choosing love really means.

Throughout the Scriptures, God’s love for us is not described as a feeling, but always comes in the form of doing: healing, forgiving, befriending, feeding, visiting and communicating. It’s an example of how the best form of love can be shown in marriage. It’s a love that doesn’t depend on feelings that come and go but instead depends on an everlasting choice to sacrifice and love unconditionally.

In short: the best example of marital love anyone could possibly imagine.

DEBRA K. FILETA is a Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in relationship and marital issues. She, her husband and their daughter live in Hershey, PA. Visit her blog at DebsLessonsLearned.blogspot.com

T HE MU S IC , MO V IE S A ND MEDI A W E K NO W Y O U ’ L L L O V E .

R E C OMME ND S

MUSIC///

If you see this symbol, it means we’re featuring a song from this project on RELEVANT.fm. We’re cool like that.

LISTEN Check out a live performance of “Grown Ocean.”

FLEET FOXES

HELPLESSNESS BLUES (SUB POP) > In the world of alternative rock, Fleet Foxes is a stark departure—a risky venture that pays dividends on closer inspection. The band sounds like Simon and Garfunkel added Crosby and Stills, then moved to Ireland and started a sheep farm. Their second album for Sub Pop is multi-layered, highly distinct and quite joyous. The band does not fit any preconceived molds. When a piano trill on the song “Bedouin Dress” shifts effortlessly between octaves, or a stand-up bass fills in empty spaces without overwhelming them, you know someone has labored. In fact, Helplessness Blues took about two years to record—half that time could have been on the four-part harmonies. Lyrics read like Welsh poems: In that dream I’m as old as the mountains/ Still as starlight reflected in fountains/ Children grown on the edge of the ocean/ Kept like jewelry kept with devotion, sings Robin Pecknold on “Grown Ocean” without an ounce of pretension.

There’s a deep authenticity to the writing, somewhere between the evenness of a classic rock band like Bread and the emotional honesty of Jeff Tweedy. That’s a startling sentiment in an age of Lady Gaga and YouTube cover songs.

FOO FIGHTERS WASTING LIGHT (RCA)

DANGER MOUSE & DANIELE LUPPI ROME (PARLOPHONE)

MY MORNING JACKET CIRCUITAL (ATO)

> This 35-minute supergroup

Jacket is so outstanding: They recorded in the gym of a church in Louisiana, a gargantuan abyss where the sound resonated against concrete walls. Every song has a new spaciousness, like moving from a New York apartment to a country house on five acres. “Wonder (The Way I Feel)” is a throwback to their earlier work with country tinges and a folky feel. I am going where the living is easy and the people are kind, sings Jim James.

Of course, the songs are still hoedown-friendly. Both “Holdin On to Black Metal” and “First Light” shimmer like Kings of Leon found some true grit.

> Here’s why the new My Morning

outing—featuring Jack White and Norah Jones on vocals, with Italian composer Daniele Luppi and producer/composer Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz) orchestrating the whole affair—is like the soundtrack to a Clint Eastwood Western, minus the thin cigars. White and Jones get kudos for fulfilling the assignment instead of doing their usual (and polar opposite) shticks. It works because the arrangements are varied and unusual. Songs like “Season’s Trees” gallop along with a pounding, fluffy rhythm. This soundtrack without a movie (yet) even has an interlude.

> We always knew Dave Grohl had the growl in him. (With a name like that, it’s not surprising.)

On the fantastic Wasting Light, the former drummer for Nirvana forgets he is not supposed to mimic “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” For instance, the song “White Limo” is essentially screamo with a slightly less annoying distortion pedal setting, something so Nirvana-ish it makes you want to wear plaid again. “Back & Forth” is equally impressive, although we’re pretty sure he is not talking about chess. Thankfully, the melodies are not as predictable this time around—think Thrice and Thursday with more grunge.

SEAN PECKNOLD

76 / RELEVANT_JULY/AUGUST 11

CONTINUED >

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MUSIC/// BON IVER BON IVER

(JAGJAGUWAR)

LISTEN The first single from Bon Iver, “Calgary.”

> There’s one ineluctable moment on the new Bon Iver after massive brass fanfares and explosive drumming make the sparks fly on the two opening tracks. Like your favorite warm coat, Wisconsin’s own Justin Vernon settles into a fine groove on “Holocene,” his tremolo voice warbling against a repeating guitar pattern. It’s a reminder this is the band that made the exquisitely melancholy For Emma, Forever Ago. Bon Iver builds on that album and adds tight instrumentation learned from years on the road, along with some ‘80s smooth rock sounds borrowed from Vernon’s other band, Gayngs. The band erupts into an unexpected country dirge (“Towers”), uses cascading piano chords (“Wash.”) and riffs into groovy lounge-rock (“Beth/Rest”).

Themes are more hopeful: childhood memories and smalltown enchantments; insisting that, in the face of adversity, breaking down is not an option.

PLAYDOUGH HOTDOGGIN (DEEPSPACE5) > I am not an angel, but I brought

a couple with me, sings hip-hop artist and rapper Playdough on his third and best release. Like KJ-52, the beats are fleshy and slick, finding that balance between summer party rock, literate songwriting and raps that actually make sense. Does he really sing about post-tribulation theology on “No Angel”? Of course he does.

Could the song “1 Day” hold up in a biblical literacy contest against Matisyahu’s own “One Day”? Sure, because he never shies away from the truth. But Playdough is also a better comedian.

MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA SIMPLE MATH (FAVORITE GENTLEMAN) > You’re probably too busy with

your work, sings Andy Hull, pointing a limp finger at God (or someone else?) and recounting, on the lead track, “Deer,” all the ways he has disappointed himself.

Every song has a memorable moment: the bar-band chant at the end of “Pensacola,” the ‘80s rock breakdown on “April Fool,” the kids’ choir on “Virgin.” And the best song, the title track, is about the trials of separation and reclamation.

Hull’s autobiographical sketches about his almost-failed marriage resonate on every song.

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MARISSA NADLER SELF-TITLED (BOX OF CEDAR)

VARIOUS ARTISTS SEVEN SWANS REIMAGINED (ON JOYFUL WINGS)

SON LUX WE ARE RISING (ANTICON)

> Here’s a challenge: Take the

> Seven Swans Reimagined is an

> Deep regrets morph into

baroque harp music of Joanna Newsom and bleed every ounce of syrup from it, then mix in a bowl of Joy Division and a dash of Norah Jones. The fluffy dreampop concoction would sound a bit like Marissa Nadler, who also channels a touch of Björk and the feeling you get after eating too many bowls of sweet cereal.

“Wind Up Doll” sputters across the floor with some acoustic meandering and various operatic elements. “Wedding” is so dreamy and finely spun it makes you want to float in a cloud. Core theme: comfort comes in authenticity.

indie-rock tribute for people who think the Sufjan Stevens album was too mainstream. The original songs were always spiritually axiomatic and finely orchestrated, with sentiments both specific and profound. Here, they take on an otherworldly quality with looping rhythms and surprisingly spirited vocal arrangements, especially at the hands of DM Stith (another multi-instrumentalist) and Half-Handed Cloud (another highly literate folk artist). David Crowder even pops up on “The Transfiguration,” and Derek Webb takes a turn as well.

spectacular revelations on the sophomore release from Son Lux. Bands like Danielson and HalfHanded Cloud have the quirkyChristian angle down, but this one is more accessible, indie chamberpop with pieces of Flying Lotus, a touch of Radiohead and the dark evil twin of Owl City. On “Leave the Riches,” composer Ryan Lott adds a ticking clock in the background and an angelic choir to remind us, in biblically literate fashion, that we’re destined for a just reward when we pursue only riches. In the end, belief is the only thing that matters.

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THE WEALTHY WEST SELF-TITLED (WEALTHY WEST RECORDING) > Forget the foot-tapping

insouciance of youth. The Wealthy West is a mature outing for indie frontman Brandon Kinder of The Rocketboys. The guy has spent some time in the meat-grinder but emerged playing a glockenspiel.

I never thought we’d end up here, he sings on “Another Bad Idea,” proffering regrets but ultimately trying to resolve them. The next song, “Give Me Resurrection,” is even more mournful. Yet, this is not gloomy art-rock. “Home,” the best song, features a harmonica solo and a strong statement about the value of family and roots.

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DVDS/// OF GODS AND MEN (SONY PICTURES CLASSICS, PG-13) > Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2011 Oscars, Xavier Beauvois’ French drama tells the powerful true story of seven Trappist monks living amid the largely Muslim population of Algeria. Focusing on the events leading up to their eventual abductions and deaths in 1996, it takes on both politics and religion but without becoming too contrived or preachy. Beauvois and cinematographer Caroline Champetier give the film realistic visuals, keeping the focus on the characters and story. Of Gods and Men forces American viewers to reconsider their tainted perceptions of Muslims as terrorists. It also examines what it looks like to keep peace and personal faith in a religiously diverse culture. The heart of the film, though, lies in the courageous and humbling stories of these martyrs, who gave up everything for Christ. Their faith doesn’t just leave us in awe—it moves and challenges us to consider the genuineness of our own beliefs and whether or not, if put in the same kind of situation, we too would die.

SOURCE CODE (SUMMIT, PG-13) > This new sci-fi thriller from

Duncan Jones, the visionary behind Moon, stars a riveting Jake Gyllenhaal as an American soldier who recently died in Afghanistan.

Now the subject of a government experiment, the deceased Gyllenhaal goes on a mission back in time to find the terrorist who bombed a train and killed hundreds. Aided by sleek visuals and stylized action, the plot moves with a sense of urgency beyond entertainment. There are spiritual and political undertones that give the film depth and a humanity that connects us to the characters.

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (STRAND RELEASING, NR) > Westerners may feel perplexed

by this Thai film’s title and premise, which deals with a dying man, ghosts, catfish and a creature with glowing red eyes.

However, if viewed in light of that long title, the strange experience proves rewarding. The film follows the last days of the title character as he encounters his dead wife and lost son and spends time with loved ones. The mystical Uncle Boonmee seems to be a picture of death and transformation and, perhaps, the relationship between those elements and film itself.

THE LINCOLN LAWYER (LIONSGATE, R) > Though several TV series

cover similar ground, The Lincoln Lawyer makes for an enjoyable experience due to some fine casting and performances.

Matthew McConaughey carries the film as Mick Haller, a shady yet sympathetic lawyer who does business from the back of his Lincoln. When he gets approached by a seemingly guilty playboy, a convincing Ryan Phillippe, Haller becomes the target of a greater crime, leading to a gripping courtroom showdown.

In supporting roles, Marisa Tomei and William H. Macy also help give the story life.

THE LAST LIONS (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, PG)

THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (UNIVERSAL, PG-13)

RANGO (PARAMOUNT, PG)

> For a documentary about

> Starring Matt Damon as New

lions, this new production from National Geographic proves to be not only visually alluring but also intellectually engaging. Directed

by Dereck Joubert, The Last Lions centers on a lioness and her three cubs. While they fight to survive in a world where they kill or be killed, the film brings Darwin’s survival of the fittest to the spotlight in the most suspenseful kind of way.

This causes viewers to constantly inquire whether these lions will live or die, which is just a metaphor for a grander question surrounding the species as a whole.

York politician David Norris, the story follows Norris as he fights for his fate. He encounters an alluring woman played by Emily Blunt, sending him down a path contrary to fate. Norris then finds himself threatened by the Adjustment Bureau. Working for the Chairman (aka, God), these men try to ensure he follows his predetermined plan.

Even if sometimes silly and jaded in its depiction of God, this film portrays an endearing story of love and touches the surface of weighty questions surrounding free will and predestination.

this computer-animated picture may be too quick and quirky to say anything significant about humanity. But it certainly brings some originality—and peculiarity— to a genre void of such aspects.

The story brings a pet lizard named Rango (voiced by Johnny Depp) to the Wild West, where he becomes sheriff and encounters some bizarre creatures. Brought together by vibrant action sequences and a score by Hans Zimmer, the film makes up for its lack of depth with colorful visuals, brilliant characters and plenty of eccentricities.

> A nod to spaghetti Westerns,

As Christ welcomes all, we welcome you.

We welcome your compassion.

We welcome your debate.

We welcome your theological journey.

Charlie Butler | Rice Lake, WI Master of Divinity Student

Explore these degrees | Master of Divinity, MA Marriage & Family Therapy, MA (Religion), Doctor of Ministry

800.264.1839 | www.lpts.edu

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MEDIA/// PORTAL 2

XBOX 360, PS3, PC, MAC (VALVE) > If you never played the original Portal, it was a challenging little game that was, all at once, a first-person shooter, a puzzle game and a hilarious send-up of the human vs. machine archetype. The sequel is all of those things, except bigger, better and funnier. Once again, you play as the (strangely mute) protagonist named Chell, trying to figure out why you’re trapped in a building run by the mysterious Aperture Science. Early on, you’re given your portal gun from the first game, a device that can shoot two connected holes in most surfaces in the game world. You use those portals to gain access to otherwise impossible-to-reach places, passing through “test chambers” and other areas we won’t spoil. Portal 2 introduces other wrinkles to this premise, and by the end you’ll be a pro. Add in a fascinating story, hilarious dialogue and the bone-dry commentary of computer antagonist GLaDOS, and you have a masterpiece.

YARD SALE TREASURE MAP YARDSALETREASUREMAP. COM > All of us know a great way to find cheap stuff (especially furniture and decorations for your home) is to scout out garage, yard and estate sales. But they can be a pain to find. Which is where Yard Sale Treasure Map comes in.

Simply type in your address and the day you want to go bargain hunting, and the site uses Google Maps to plot out sales in your area and the best route to hit all of them. Being frugal has never been so easy—or fun.

STEREOLIZER IPAD, STEREOLIZER.COM (LESMOBILIZERS) > Remember mix tapes? Back in the day, we didn’t have fancy CD burners or the MP3s or the texting. Instead, if you wanted to make a mix for someone, you recorded the song off the radio.

And it’s a lost art. Fortunately, that’s where Stereolizer comes in.

It’s an app for the iPad that looks like an old boom box. It streams Internet radio and then you can hit the “record” button and “tape” songs to the virtual tape deck.

Then you label the tapes and save them. Bonus: Digital versions of tapes don’t warp in the sun.

GOOGLE WALLET NEXUS S 4G BY GOOGLE (GOOGLE)

THE BURNING HOUSE THE-BURNING-HOUSE.COM

> In a truly innovative move, Google has unveiled the “Google Wallet,” which will allow you to keep payment information on your smart phone (right now, only the Android Nexus S 4G). Viewed as a replacement for every card you keep in your current wallet, the app can be used to pay using technology that passes information between two objects when they are close enough together. It’s technology that could revolutionize how you pay for things—and also gets rid of your bulky wallet.

> “If your house was burning, what would you take with you?”

It’s an intriguing question that always seems to turn up in gettingto-know-you conversations, and it is the inspiration for this mustfollow blog. The Burning House not only invites people to answer with their list, but to submit an accompanying photograph of their most treasured items. The result is a collection of meaningful autobiographical images, containing everything from babies and books, to family heirlooms and favorite T-shirts.

RETURN TO FREEDOM AND GRACE

“One of the best young writers in the church today . . . a 21st century Bonhoeffer.”—Leonard Sweet

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ACCUTERRA IPHONE, MOBILE. ACCUTERRA.COM (INTERMAP TECHNOLOGIES)

THE COSBY SWEATER PROJECT THECOSBYSWEATER PROJECT.TUMBLR.COM

> Simply put, if you’re a serious

> If there’s one thing the world really needs, it’s more sweaters that look like the ones Bill Cosby wore on The Cosby Show. The next best thing is this Tumblr, which compiles a new style of Cosby shirt each day and includes a painting that resembles the magical pattern of the sweater. Ideally, you’ll take the small pattern and then tile it so it fills your desktop. Though it will likely make your Jell-O pudding consumption increase dramatically.

hiker, you’ll want this iPhone app. It provides detailed layouts of hiking trails and wilderness terrain, and does so without needing a wireless connection.

You download map packs before you head out, and then you can use them to plan your trip, find out exactly where you are and where you need to go. It also includes a compass and the ability to upload your route to Facebook, meaning you can brag about your hiking prowess.

CONTENTS ISSUE 52 JULY_AUGUST 2011

06 First Word

60 Nobody Talks About Sin Anymore

08 Letters

Is this generation so obsessed with grace that we’ve left holiness behind?

10 Slices

64 10 Keys for Navigating Life

24 REJECT APATHY: Clean the World 26 IN THEIR WORDS: Jeremy Cowart 28 DEEPER WALK: All or Nothing 30 WORLDVIEW: The Enemy of “Truth” 32 The Drop Tedashii, Sons & Daughters, Dolorean

Making big decisions doesn’t have to be overwhelming

68 Explosions in the Sky 72 Is Falling in Love a Myth?

Why we need to redefine what love is

76 Recommends

38 Slow, Local, Sustainable Why the ethical food movement is changing how we eat

42 Sleigh Bells 44 A Christian Response to the Arab Spring How should believers think about the recent conflicts surrounding Arab nations?

54 2011 Summer Reading Guide Spend some time with this season’s can’t-miss books

48 CIVIL WARS T HE

THE STORY OF THE GULF OIL SPILL

YD I DON ’ UT

H E A R In Black Tide, award-winning author and oil industry watchdog Antonia Juhasz goes behind the scenes to meet the people whose mistakes, and possible crimes, resulted in the most devastating oil spill in American history—as well as the families who paid the ultimate price. With oil industry workers, engineers, and executives taking you deep inside the dangerous and politically volatile world of offshore oil production, Black Tide is the real story of the people and causes of the BP Gulf oil spill. A story the world has not yet heard.

B L A C K

T I D E

A V A I L A B L E

N O W

w w w . w i l e y b o o k s . c o m