Wes' Blog Cabin

A Hot Cup of Theology.

I'm at the brand spanking new Dunn Bros. on Lake Street in Minneapolis. I've been here probably 6 to 8 times. every single time I'm here, there are multiple conversations about theology and ministry going on around me. Today is no exception. There are three conversations going on currently. Two of them are about Christianity/Ministry/Theology. One of them is too far away to hear.

That's weird isn't it? And, honestly, this is a trend that I've been noticing across the U.S. in coffee shops. Us HFT folks are in coffee shops all over the U.S., taking advantage of the free wi-fi trend. And there are almost always a few Christians around "talking shop."

So what's the deal?

Here are some possible explanations:

1.) The "hipness" of coffee shops is on the decline. Therefore, hipsters are no longer philosophizing in coffee shops AND Christians, who are historically about 10 years behind the trends, are just now catching on and showing up in these formerly trendy spots.

2.) We happen to be in the coffee shops that Christians hang out in. This seems the least likely.

3.) God is doing something. Maybe there is a bit of a revival in Christian thought going on.

I tend to lean towards #3. I think that there is a spiritual hunger in our culture that borderlines on starvation. I think people are really looking for answers. I think that people are tired of the artificial, bland "NutraSweet" spirituality of Oprah Winfrey and the other purveyors of nebulous fluffery. People want some meat. People want some actual healing. People need some light and hope that is actually attached to something...or someone...real and tangible.

Maybe we're at a point in our culture where the words of Jesus ("I am the way, the Truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me," "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven," etc.) resonates more than the fuzzies of main stream spirituality coming from things like, "Touched By an Angel." We don't need to be touched by an angel. We need a genuine encounter with a living God.

Maybe that's what we're seeing in coffee shops...and colleges and churches and families...across the country; people seeking a real encounter with God.

I pray that is the case. In the meantime, let's keep pressing the Church to be more than reactionary to cultural trends. Let's push ourselves to create out of our own experiences. Let's be true artists. Let's set the trends. Let's live outside the trends. Let's truly be countercultural.

Streblog to the rescue!

Our good friend Daren Streblow* is hilarious. And, also, he is funny. Those are the two main reasons we like him. A third reason is the fact that he makes us laugh.

Well, now you too can enjoy his daily musings. Maybe they aren't daily but the are definitely musings. See, Daren has entered the wonderful world of blog.

Welcome, Daren.

As you may or may not know, Daren's "day job" is performing as a stand-up comic. Naturally, his blog has that "I'm-doing-a-bit" feel to it. But he's good at it. So it's funny. It's not like your Uncle Larry who is always doing a bit. It's like a professional comedian that you know and love doing a bit. You'd pay him to do it. But Daren is doing it on his blog for free.

You'd be a fool not to go check out Daren's Blog. A fool, I say.

*Daren is our good friend in the sense that we really like him and he knows that we exsist.

A Raging Battle Rages.

We are all familiar with the war on terror. And, certainly, the war on drugs is a part of our consciousness. Likewise, there is an undeniable cultural war raging in our country.

But there is another battle that is gurgling under the surface of our awareness. It is a battle that is being largely ignored by the mainstream media. I am, of course, referring to the "Hotel Chain Shower Head Wars."

Before you scoff, let me explain. We are currently on tour and have met this beast face-to-face, in all of it's hideousness, like never before.

It all started at a Holiday Inn Express in Chicago. We noticed billboards along the highway touting the amazing properties of the Holiday Inn Express shower heads. Then when we went in our rooms, there were pamphlets and hanging door signs again singing the praises of this wondrous shower head that will change the earth from the crabby, tense, pile of poo that it is currently into a glorious Utopian renaissance of kindness, joy, and relaxed upper torso and shoulder muscles.

Despite the promised Nirvana of Hydrogen Dioxide, the only thing I could really tell that was different about this shower head was that it was enormous. It had the same settings as all shower heads. It had the same water pressure. But it used about 75% more aluminum than the average shower head. So that's ... wasteful.

(Insert shrug.)

Now we are in Indianapolis, staying at the Westin Overpriced Luxury Hotel Place. Their motto is, "Because we charge so much for the room, we can't afford to give you free continental breakfast or free internet access!" Catchy.

(Insert shrug #2)

But what they DO have for "free" is the answer to the shower head propaganda machine known as Holiday Inn Express. Yes, their shower head is actually "shower heads." A two-headed beast. Seriously. Two freaking huge shower heads; one blasting you in the forehead and the other pointed directly at your ... not-forehead. And they certainly have managed to give water pressure. Bless their hearts.

(Insert more shrugging, followed by doubling over in pain.)

Hopefully this won't lead to a Shower Head Buildup akin to the U.S./Soviet nuclear warhead buildup in the 80's or the Gillette Sensor/Schick Quattro razor blade build up of the early 21st Century. I just don't know if I can take that sort of pressure. Just thinking about it makes me tense.

I think I'll go take a nice hot shower.

(Shrug.)