I asked you guys last week what sort of stunt I should pull if we reach this year’s goal for the Courage Classic bike ride. I was hoping to raise $1,000… but after further consideration, additional increases in gas prices and two US banks going under this week I’ve reconsidered my goal. Consider it an adjustment based on economic forces. The new goal: $500. The stunt: a mohawk shaved on my head.

We’re already at $300. Every little bit helps the Denver Children’s Hospital. Go here to get involved and to play a role in my humiliation.

-Russ

Colbert brought his A game tonight! Did you catch it? The segment “Barack Obama’s Church Search” was ‘priceless.’

-Russ

Just finished working my way through The Peaceable Kingdom by Stanley Hauerwas. I say “working” because that’s exactly what it was: challenging, difficult, deep. But it was worth every second. Thought I would share a few quotes with all of you out there.

God’s kingdom, it seems, will not have peace through coercion. Peace will come only through the worship of the one God who chooses to rule the world through the power of love, which the world can only perceive as weakness. Pg. 79

Our sin is not merely an error in overestimating our capacities. Rather it is the active and willful attempt to overreach our powers. It is the attempt to live sui generis, to live as if we are or can be the authors of our own stories. Our sin is, thus, a challenge to God’s authorship and denial that we are characters in the drama of the kingdom. Pg. 31

We are called upon to be like Jesus, not to be Jesus. Pg. 76

This love that is characteristic of God’s kingdom is possible only for a forgiven people – a people who have learned not to fear one another. Pg. 91

That means that the church must never cease from being a community of peace and truth in a world of mendacity and fear. Pg. 100

By virtue of the distinctive narrative that forms their community, Christians are distinct from the world. They are required to be nothing less than a sanctified people of peace who can live the life of the forgiven. Their sanctification is not meant to sustain judgment that they are “better” than non-Christians, but rather that they are charged to be faithful to God’s calling of them as [a] foretaste of the kingdom. Pg. 60

That God “saves” is not a pietistic claim about my status individually. Salvation is not fundamentally some fresh and compelling insight about my life – though such insight may be included. Rather, the God of Israel and Jesus offers us salvation insofar as we are invited to become citizens of the kingdom and thus to be participants in the history which God is creating. Pg. 63

And even more, how has our being such led us to misread the gospel as essentially an apolitical account of individual salvation, rather than the good news of the creation of a new community of peace and justice formed by a hope that God’s kingdom has and will prevail. Pg. 105

God wills nothing less than that men and women should love their enemies and forgive one another; thus we will be perfect as God is perfect. Jesus challenged both the militaristic and ritualistic notions of what God’s kingdom required – the former by denying the right of violence even if attacked, and the latter by his steadfast refusal to be separated from those “outside.” Pg 85

If you’re still reading this post you are either extremely curious or perplexed about what you’ve read so far. Either way, here are a few more snippets. Enjoy.

Once “justice” is made a criterion of Christian social strategy, it can too easily taken on a meaning and life of its own that is not informed by the Christian’s fundamental convictions. It can, for example, be used to justify the Christian’s resort to violence to secure a more “relative justice.” But then we must ask if this is in fact the justice we are to seek as Christians. Pg. 112

Moreover, when violence is justified in principle as a necessary strategy for securing justice, it stills the imaginative search for nonviolent ways of resistance to injustice. For true justice never comes through violence, nor can it be based on violence. It can only be based on truth, which has no need to resort to violence to secure its own existence. Pg 114

It is not, therefore a blind or unwarranted faith that everything will work out in the end. On the contrary, it is a strong rational claim that our existence is bounded by a truth that will have its way with us as truth must – that is, by defeating the violent with the power of unrelenting love. Pg. 128

No, we must remember that the violence that provides the resources for the powers of the world to do their work lies in each of our souls. Pg. 150

Riding season is upon us so I’m getting ready for the 3-day Courage Classic bike ride at the end of July. Last year we had some fun with this adventure (my legs have returned to normal) and raised a good bit of money for the Denver Children’s Hospital while we were at it. So far I’ve put in about 280 training miles, that’s around 24 hours in the saddle. That sounds okay as long as you don’t compare it to my target, which was about 400 miles at this point. Oh well, still have a month to catch up and prepare for the 157-mile drama. Next week we will be celebrating July 4^th with a ride up Vail pass. It always helps me prepare mentally to know that I can ascend that beast.

Your donations to the Children’s Hospital are always appreciated. I’ve raised $200 to-date and hope to hit the $1K mark again this year. You can make a donation here.

What I really need is your creativity to come up with a good “dare” to celebrate the $1K mark. Last year I agreed to shave my legs if you contributed $1K (which you accomplished with verve). What should I do this year?

-Russ

So my sister-in-law tagged us awhile back.  From her blog . . . “

Rules are as follows: Link to the person who tagged you.  Post the rules on your blog.  Write six random things about yourself.  Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.  Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.”

I think she wants to keep her blog pretty private though so I’m not going to link to hers (you know, the hundreds and thousands of people who read this blog would probably swarm hers and I don’t think she wants that - ha!)  So here goes . . .

• I cannot stand those little milk crusties that are on the carton when you take off the lid. So I have to wash them off every time I open the milk.
• Last I checked I could still do the splits. I haven’t checked lately because I’m afraid I’ll find that I can’t anymore.
• I cried my first day on the job as an Oncology Research Coordinator. I was shadowing my boss and seeing my first patient. He was 28 years old with a wife and two kids and just diagnosed with late-stage melanoma. He was from Mexico and had come to Mayo Clinic desperate for a cure. He was dying. His wife couldn’t hold back her tears and neither could I. I never cried for a patient after that. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing . . . I guess it was just a necessary thing when you work with cancer patients all day every day.
• I was 2 years old when I ordered my first lobster tail in a restaurant.
• I tend to bang my elbows into things . . . a lot. Russ calls me “elbow spaky” because of it. (The “spaky” part is really random and comes from one of those crazy English signs on our street in Thailand.)
• Last week after leaving church we saw a bear running through a neighborhood (and we were at least 7 or 8 miles from the mountains). Not sure what came of that but we never heard about a bear eating any children on the news so I guess it turned out okay. (that wasn’t really something random about me, it’s just random in general – it’s not every day you see a bear in the city)

- Rebecca (not sure why there are so many types of font and I can’t seem to get them all uniform)

I have the ol’ Tivo set to record Austin City Limits whenever it comes on. This week I caught Cat Power (that’s her name) in concert. What a voice! Unique, blooozy, rough, real. She belongs on the Summer 2008 Soundtrack for sure. Check out her sound here. You can watch her Austin City Limits performance here for free (the opening drum fill is worth the click alone).

You guys owe me a few music recommendations.

-Russ

Speaking of cat power… check Nakita out:

My friends in Phoenix are enjoying the 115F degree weather… around here we’re steady in the 70s. What we all need is just the right summer tunes for our summer soundtrack. I’ve been getting some good recommendations lately from my mates in Australia and friends in the Netherlands. These are ice-tea-on-the-back-porch-songs. These are fishing-on-the-bank-tunes. A few of them are hangin-with-the-kids-while-they-run-around-in-the-sprinkler-songs. Try ‘em out. Enjoy.

Band: Nizlopi (UK) unusual fusion of jazz, hip-hop acoustic. Lots of fun. Check out their video below.

Band: Xavier Rudd (Australia) folk/reggae/environmental activist fusion

Band: John Butler Trio (Australia) check their newest album “Grand National.” Bring the funk.

Band: The Glorious Unseen (USA) this is modern worship music that I actually like: raw, simple, melodic, ambient, contemplative. Listen to “Tonight the Stars Speak.”

Here’s a Nizlopi video. This is a great father/son song for the summer:

-Russ

I know several of you out there have read Shane Claiborne’s book Irresistible Revolution.  If you liked the book, you might be interested in this interview done with Shane and Tearfund (an NGO in the UK).  Click here to watch it (it’s probably 7 or 8 minutes long).

Rebecca

I like the spirit behind your recent comments to the “Open Letter to Barack Obama” post. It’s nice to see some passion and some disagreement. Good work! When you consider the drivel I put out there I would expect more people would disagree with me and let me know about it.

What I see in the comments is that many of us are torn about this election because we’ve lost any sense of respect for our government. I don’t blame you. But I’ve come across a few excellent resources that are helping me work through my decision. First off, check out the recent debate/conversation between Chuck Colson, Greg Boyd and Shane Claiborne. There you will see three very different approaches to Christianity and politics.  Christianity Today also has an excellent article on thinking through your vote. Here’s an excerpt:

There’s value in hearing a candidate’s plans and proposals, but it’s of secondary or even lesser importance. Few if any of those plans and proposals will survive the political process intact. Voting for Obama’s health plan or Hillary’s economic scheme or McCain’s immigration policy is virtual-reality voting, positing an intriguing alternate world, but having little to do with this one. When it comes to picking a President, Gandhi had it right: “The obligation of accepting a position of power is to be, above all else, a good human being.”

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These days I save about $4 dollars every time I commute round-trip to work on my bike. That stuff adds up. Plus it helps the old heart, lungs, legs, the booty, etc… I know there are at least a few of you out there who have a bike gathering dust in the garage and you only live 5-10 miles from your place of work. Try riding in to work this week. A few tips:

1. Take your time. It’s not a race. Start slow and build up your endurance.
2. Get your bike tuned up by a professional.
3. Invest in a good, comfortable helmet.
4. Carry a lot of water and drink it.
5. Pay super close attention to traffic and obey the rules.

-Russ

Here are a few favorite pics from my recent time in Germany.