A little while back I received a copy of For the Tough Times: Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope by Max Lucado for review [full disclosure: through the Thomas Nelson book review blogger program].
Archives for category: reviews
Let me say this up front: Youth Ministry 3.0, by Mark (Marko) Oestreicher, is not only a manifesto for youth ministry but for the church. And not for only the church as a building or site for programs and events, but for our essential, ecclesial understanding of what it means to be the people of God together. YM3.0 challenges our notions of ministry as event/party planning and, instead, offers a compelling vision of missional (participating in the mission of God in the world), communional (the life of Christ being celebrated and formed in us, in community) ministry for and with youth.
Several people have commented on the brevity of YM3.0 — which, for most of us with our feet on the ground of ministry with young people, is definitely a good thing. YM3.0 is hardly a puff piece, though — Marko’s words throughout the book have a certain weight to them, not because of any grammatical gymnastics (although Marko is certainly capable of impressing us with his prose) but, rather, because of the honesty, heart, humility and hope contained therein (and, just in case you’re preaching on any of this, feel free to use those four H’s).
YM3.0 is deeply theological, yet engaging and relatable (no small feat, in itself) — Marko’s heart as a parent, volunteer youth worker, friend and co-conspirator comes through. As the president of Youth Specialities, Marko has a unique vantage point from which to view today’s youth ministry landscape. However, instead of issuing decrees from on high, Marko is very much engaged in the reality of young people’s lives and what youth ministry looks like for everyday folks, not just flagship churches featuring best practices and takeaways. YM3.0 feels like a genuine dialogue because of the input Marko solicited from youth workers through his blog duing the writing process, unlike many ministry-oriented books that have sidebars written by the author or other well-published folks (I am humbled and grateful to have contributed even a small part to the YM3.0 conversation). Marko’s affirmation of the many youth workers who are “faithfully operating under the radar” in the epilogue definitely encouraged me.
YM3.0 requires great courage, even risking the venture itself in the process for the sake of seeing Christ formed in the lives of students (see pp.72, 82). Marko embodies this risk by acknowledging that he has been a significant contributor to the program-driven YM2.0 model while trying to move forward into the future. YM3.0 draws on what is noble and good in our calling to serve and shepherd youth (self-sacrifice, love, risk) and filters out what can go wrong (colonialism, placing programs above people — esp. p.83).
Although there is no handy “copy this” section at the end, one of the most practical things YM3.0 does is theological — refining our understanding of what a youth worker really is (p.72):
Party planners, programming experts, youth preaching obsessors, growth and measurement gurus,and lowest common denominator systemizers are no longer needed. What’s needed are cultural anthropologists with relational passion.
This calling to contextualization — or, incarnation — moves the question youth workers ask from, “How can I get them to like me?” or “How do I get them through the front door?” to “How can I enter their world?” — and this regardless of the cost or how long it takes.
As someone who has been invested in Asian American youth ministry for over ten years, I welcome the inclusion of diversity as an important part of the YM3.0 conversation. Contextualization/incarnation resists the notion of forcing everyone to conform to the same culture, or even believing that is a worthy goal. I have a feeling that this book could have powerful implications for AA youth ministries around the country (hopefully, I can post some of these thoughts soon).
I join those who have already recommended YM3.0 to youth workers — from those who are just starting out to those who have been here for years. If you can tear yourself away from playing Word Challenge for awhile, you can join the YM3.0 conversation on Facebook. YM3.0 gives a voice to many of us who have been feeling the ground under our feet shift for awhile now. In a way, this section felt a bit like a benediction to me:
One thing I’m sure of: Tweaking things won’t get us there. Youth Ministry 3.0 isn’t about making a subtle modification in one of your programs or adding the words communion and mission to your youth ministry’s core values. Real change is absolutely messy. Always. But which is better: Messy substantive change or useless mini-alterations?
I forgot how awesome Katamari Damacy was until we recently purchased a copy of the first game (for ten dollars! with free shipping! thanks, buy.com!). While the game is kind of hard to explain in a compelling way, it is loads of fun. Basically, your task is to roll an ever larger ball of stuff (your katamari) until you’ve basically rolled up the entire world. Kind of eschatological, if you think about it.
The quotes from the title of this post are from the King of All Cosmos, giver of katamari tasks and owner of awesome ‘stache. I’m holding out hope that Beautiful Katamari will eventually come out for the Wii.
Katamari is a global movement. Here are some of the places in which you’ll find the wide-ranging cultural impact Katamari has had: fine art, legos, crochet, spring break, knock-off ads, baked goods, high fashion, conferences and Germany.
Get on the Royal Rainbow before you’re left behind! And pick me up a t-shirt or two while you’re at it!
Check out the music in the clip below. If there were some more angular guitars, it might fit well alongside Battles or Blood Brothers (maybe).
… so it’s not too late to add to my favorite things of 2007 list, right? Well, even if it is, here are some things that I missed the boat on last year but am totally on board with now!
Let’s Stay Friends, by Les Savy Fav
Let’s Stay Friends should have been on everyone’s “best of 2007” lists and is everything a great punk album should be [h/t: J. Evans for pointing me in this direction]. I’ll let Pitchfork break down the play-by-play but I will say that LSF is an incredible album, diverse in all the right ways (and not just because Fred Armisen plays drums on a couple of tracks). Apparently, their live show is legendary (maybe you’ll get to ride horsey with them or listen to them lecture sometime soon).
Mirrored, by Battles
Battles features former members of Helmet and Don Caballero, although they sound more like the King of All Cosmos getting all mathy with Slint and a cryogenically unfrozen James Brown in the distant future. Although I might describe their vocals as if Simon ran off to join Hoover (he’s already got the glasses) and convinced them to merge into Q and Not U, Battles is quickly becoming one of my new favorite bands. Thanks again, J!
Once, the film and soundtrack
At another friend’s recommendation, my wife and I rented Once. In this age of big budget blockbusters, lengthy epic trilogies and overwrought period pieces, Once is a refreshingly quiet, small film. There is something so lovely about the film; it’s hard to quite put my finger on it. The soundtrack is soaring and still, genuinely heartfelt in our time of manufactured emo angst — my wife bought it for me as a Valentine’s gift. One day I’ll learn to play Falling Slowly properly.
Radiohead released their new album, In Rainbows, on October 10, 2007 amidst massive hype — not only because they are “the best band in the world” or that In Rainbows is an incredible album, but because the band chose to bypass traditional music outlets — both brick & mortar and online (even the mighty iTunes) — and release the album themselves direct via their website. And, nearly causing heads to explode at the executive offices of major labels worldwide, Radiohead has allowed fans to choose their own price/adventure for downloading this album.
- If you want to download the album for free, turn to this page.
- If you want to do the equivalent of making a two-foot hoagie out of cash and eating it, then turn to this page.
While there has been plenty of hyperbole about the imminent destruction of the recording industry as we know it (and some grousing about the “poor” audio quality of the download — more on this later), I wonder if what Radiohead has done doesn’t have implications for the church as it relates to worship music.
Perhaps that last statement needs some unpacking. In my experience in ministry with youth and young adults, I find that very few people have questioned whether or not it is ethical to download pirated songs from peer to peer file sharing networks — it’s just the way things are so get over it already, old man. In fact, I have often encountered indignation when raising the possible ethical concerns of such practices, especially when it comes to praise & worship music. One particularly outraged student told me, “Why shouldn’t I get these songs for free? It’s all to praise God, isn’t it?”
Certainly, there are some glaring problems in the contemporary Christian music industry, not the least of which is the the $18.99 or more one can often expect to pay for a worship CD at the local Christian bookstore. However, I remain unconvinced that piracy is the solution. But perhaps this is where the In Rainbows pay-what-you-want model has something to say…
I am very sympathetic to the plight of musicians, having had many friends struggle to make it as indie artists. Even musicians with good buzz who have released a few albums often need to hold down “real” jobs in order to pay the bills. I am a big believer in supporting great music and the people who create and perform it, which is why the whole piracy thing rubs me the wrong way. I could see how it would be burdensome for indie artists to try this, but wouldn’t it be something if some of worship music’s heavy hitters — the Tomlins, Crowders and Deliriouses — “resourced” the church by releasing an album (or even just an EP or single) directly to individuals and allowed them to pay what they felt was right?
In the end, perhaps part of what I’m feeling is the importance of personal connection. That’s what I loved about the DIY culture of indie rock from back in the day — during my recent trip back to Michigan I discovered a handmade zine that I had picked up at a show during college. The cover is made of sandpaper, and it was handstamped with the zine’s title, “Mine.” Immediate, direct, passionate — something is lost when we follow the big box worship model mediated by huge corporations with little or no vested interest in our communities other than shaking us down for cash.
Jonah Matranga has been using a sliding-scale payment model for awhile on his webstore. In true DIY fashion, Jonah fulfills all of the orders himself (and, usually, includes fun freebies as well!). His reason for doing so, in his own words:
For a long time, I’ve made it a point to have a personally-run webstore that makes it as direct as possible between us. I maintain it and send out all the orders myself, with occasional help when I’m drowning. Now that we’re in download-land, the infrastructure is finally really there on every level for an artist that wants to do their own grunt work to get the music out there, in a way that works for the people that like the art and want to buy it… It’s sad for me to see different middle-men entities coming in and taking money (and therefore raising prices) for not doing much but being a musical equivalent to Starbucks or Wal-Mart or McDonald’s; global familiarity over individual culture. So I’m trying to keep up with tech and make it work in fun ways… the rewards of direct contact outweigh any potential downsides for me, and hopefully for you as well.
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For your cost-free viewing enjoyment: Radiohead covering The Smiths (!) and Jonah’s video for “Not About A Girl Or A Place” (who knew an incredible indie-pop song would go so well with zombies?):
headsparks* 