I leave with the family tomorrow to head to the mountains for a week or so; we are headed to Massanutten Resort. My extended family is all gathering there to enjoy a time together, should be an enjoyable time (golfing, swimming, hiking, skateboarding for the kids, cooking out and other fun).

For me - I would much rather go to the mountains than the beach - so I am looking forward to it!

I am taking the following books for hopefully some relaxing vacation reading.

Thomas Keating’s Manifesting God

Miroslav Volf’s Free of Charge

and a constant companion…

Eugene Peterson’s The Jesus Way

I don’t know how much or if I will be posting between now and next Friday - but hopefully some pics of the mountains will fill this place. May we enjoy the moments of our days!

Psalm 90
A prayer of Moses the man of God.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.

Peace!

You may have noticed the new link on the sidebar for The Daily Scribe. This week I was informed that Perigrinatio was included into their community of blogs. I am excited by the honor of being included into this community of Christian writers who span the spectrum of Christendom from Anabaptist to Evangelical to Missional to eclectic mutts like me!

What is The Daily Scribe? Here is a part of the description from the website/feeder:

The blogosphere also plays host to some of the very best writing and thinking available today. Religion, philosophy and political writing by bloggers is improving by the minute, consequently demanding the attention of the more traditional and the much larger media outlets, institutions, and organizations. The fact that vocational professionals are forming blogging niches relevant to their academic training and life expertise has much to do with this improvement. A new found respect is being directed towards blogs and bloggers who exhibit a passion for this new medium with which they express their life’s hard work and study.

The Daily Scribe is one such niche. Only the highest quality Christian writing and expression is aggregated on the pages of The Daily Scribe. All of the writers featured are dedicated professionals in their respective fields and faiths. Theirs is a passion which is obvious, mature and tuned - well tuned. Each aggregated member represents quality and honesty. Each of these individuals bring much of value to the craft. So, rather than searching for hours for quality content regarding Christian ministry, theology, philosophy, design, technology, culture and praxis, just swing by “The Daily Scribe” and do your research! Here you will find more than you can probably process in one sitting. So, research it, find it, and take the knowledge with you!

So head over and check out some of the blogs who make up this blogging community.

It is no secret that I am sort of a freak when it comes to a particular band. Those who know me, know me as one who is more than a fan - more like a fanatic for the Seventy Sevens. For more than 25 years I have enjoyed in both the highest highs and the lowest lows their tunes as the “unofficial, official” soundtrack of my life. The vibe, the words, the emotion all tied up in their releases has collided well with the events that have propelled me through my adolescence, young adulthood, marriage, family and now near empty nest years. In many ways (even mysteriously) the themes and struggles of my life I have seen mirrored and even addressed in each subsequent 77’s release over these past 25 years.

I share all this to say… I am looking forward to adding some new tunes to the 77’s lexicon (aka my life soundtrack)!! They will arrive in my grubby greedy little fanatical hands with the appropriate autographs on June 28th!! I will buy it from Mr. Roe himself as I accompany my bride to see one of their (nowadays) rare live performances in Dayton Ohio at the infamous Canal Street Tavern (an adult beverage AND hearing the 7’s live… now that is a rare treat!) The new tunes are coming in the form of a new release entitled, Holy Ghost Building! It is a disc of standard blues and gospel numbers given the classic Seventy Sevens treatment and I can’t wait to hear this stuff! From the earliest days, old blues standards have been a 77’s staple - their very first release included an old blues tune, Denomination Blues by Washington Phillips - and the seven’s take on Phillips song is a fan favorite that is constantly requested at their live gigs (and this trend has continued through the years - a heavy dose of the blues has always been a strong suit of a 77’s recording). The ensuing blues & gospel fest soon to be released fits very well with the 77’s modus operandi and is highly anticipated (dare I say the older fans have been clamoring for this recording!!). A press release about the new recording follows, as well as their short tour dates (with Mike Roe, Mark Harmon & Bruce Spencer - and a special treat 7’s alumnus David Leonhardt!)… if you are anywhere near (say within 200 miles) any of these shows - do yourself a favor and grab a loved one and enjoy!!

And whether you make a live show or not… do yourself a favor and line the pockets of some great independent musicians and spend a few pennies (okay dollars) and get this recording!

————— for immediate press release ————– from low fidelity & the 77’s ———-

Lo-Fidelity Records and The 77s are proud to present the highly anticipated release of their new studio recording, “Holy Ghost Building.” Recorded over a 2-year stretch, the initial sessions were done quickly, much like Johnny Cash or Elvis recorded their early records at Sun Studios in Memphis. Mike Roe comments, “Those guys would choose a song, play through it to get the feel and arrangement, and while it was all fresh they would just roll the tape. Drawing from literally the same sources they did, we did the same thing….choosing old gospel, blues and bluegrass tunes that said something to us as a band, and then recording them on the spot with no rehearsal….the only difference was we spent a couple years putting the finishing touches on the songs!”

While “Holy Ghost Building” could be called a “return to form” for the band, saying so would also sell short the new depth the band has found in playing these songs. The record has The 77’s touchstones of rock and blues, but they have also included folk, slide guitar, Byrds-era jangle electric 12-strings, and vocal harmonies previously unheard on any 77’s record. Mike says “When folks ask me what this record sounds like, I like to say ‘Elvis, Scotty, Bill & D.J.’ because we did it exactly the way those guys did the early Elvis recordings. It even sounds like them sonically here and there, but thankfully none of that was planned either, which of course makes me very happy. You can’t plan those things without them often sounding planned, and I’m so glad we didn’t. Even the one original tune we tacked on at the end of this project as a bonus treat for the fans was made up on the spot: music, lyrics, melody and all. Talk about risk! But that’s how you end up with records like the ones I loved as a kid, and this one’s got that sound and feeling.

“For a preview off the record, visit the 77’s myspace to hear “Working on a Building,” the first single. The band will feature three new songs off the record leading up to its release.

The first pressing of “Holy Ghost Building” will feature limited edition digipack packaging and is scheduled for release beginning Friday, June 20th to coincide with The 77’s brief return to the road.

The CD will be available online from www.77s.com and www.lo-fidelity.com beginning June 20th as well, although orders will not begin shipping until the following Monday, June 23rd. Please note all dates are subject to change.

Mike Roe, Mark Harmon, David Leonhardt and Bruce Spencer will make a brief return to the road leading up to Cornerstone.

You do not want to miss this tour! Tour dates are as follows:

Friday, June 20th - Marietta GA
3 Bears Cafe
105 North Park Square,
Marietta GA 30060
Green Bracelet will open the show.
Showtime: 8:00PM
Must be 18+ years to attend.
Ticket Price: $12
Tickets available online at www.myspace.com/annemarieperry
(**Advise to buy in advance…this is going to be a full room) Your paypal receipt will be your ticket, please print out and bring to show.

Saturday, June 21 - Hendersonville TN
“The Living Room” at First Baptist Church Hendersonville
106 Bluegrass Commons Blvd.
Hendersonville, Tennessee 37075
Doors: 6:30pm
Showtime: 7:00PM
Lewis and Mary Lea will open the show…
Ticket price: $5.00 at the door.

Sunday, June 22, 2008 - Litchfield, IL
First Baptist Church of Litchfield
608 N Van Buren Street
Litchfield IL 62056
Doors: 6:30pm
Showtime: 7:00pm
Tickets: $8 in advance through itickets, $10 at the door
Litchfield is located off hwy 55 in southern Illinois, 46 miles south of Springfield Illinois and roughly 55 miles north of the Greater St. Louis Metro-East area.

Tuesday, June 24th - Ames IA
Zeke’s (Live Music, Performing Arts, Community Center)
3329 Lincoln Way
Ames, IA 50014
Doors: 7:00pm
Showtime: 7:30pm
Tickets: $15
Ticket info at www.zekesames.com
For more info contact Scott Hanson, hansonscott@mac.com (subject 77’s show)

Wednesday, June 25 - Rock Island IL
Comedy Sportz
1818 3rd Ave
Rock Island, IL 61201
Doors: 7:00pm
Showtime: 7:30pm
Ticket Prices: $15-if you purchase by June 13. $18.00 from June 14 - June 24th, $20 on day of show at the door.
Call District Drugs & Compounding Center, Monday through Friday, 10 AM - 5PM to Purchase Tickets. Call @ 309.786.8431 or Toll Free @ 866.842.3351 (Credit Card Payment- Visa/Master Card/Discover)- all sales final. Tickets will be issued “will call” at Door.
For more info contact Jim Perry @ jperry68@mchsi.com (subject 77’s show)
Website for more info: www.districtdrugs.com

Thursday, June 26, 2008
Lo-Fidelity Presents the 77’s at BACKTHIRD AUDIO
www.backthird.com
No tickets will be sold at the door.
This concert is being held in the beautiful “live room” of the studio at BackThird Audio in downtown Aurora.
40 seat capacity.
For more info and to purchase tickets, please visit:
www. lo-fidelity. com/77s

Friday, June 27 - Livonia MI
Trinity House Theatre
38840 W. Six Mile
Livonia, MI 48152-2605
Doors: 7:30pm
Showtime: 8PM
Ticket Price: $18, $15 for members
Contact 734-464-6302 or trinityhouse.org to reserve tickets

Saturday, June 28 - Dayton OH
Canal Street Tavern
308 E. First Street
Dayton, OH 45402
Doors: 8:00pm
Showtime: 9:00pm
Opening band TBA
Ticket Price: $15 in advance, $17 at the door
Advance tickets can be purchased at Canal Street Tavern (cash only), or can be charged online & by phone through iTickets. com or 1-800-965-9 324 (service charge applies)
Contact “Hear The Light” at 937-426-5400 or email deb@hearthelight.com (subject 77’s show) for more info.
Please note, you must be at least 18 or accompanied by parent or legal guardian to attend this concert.

Thursday, July 3 - Cornerstone
Gallery Stage
8:15pm - 9:15pm

Friday, July 4 - Cornerstone
Main Stage
7:15pm - 7:30pm

Once the Cornerstone dust has settled, Mike, Mark, and Bruce would like to continue their “Holy Ghost Building” tour on the West Coast/Pacific Northwest. Perspective show dates would begin July 11th, and end….??? For more information and to book the 77’s, please contact jeffrey k. ASAP at booking@lo-fidelity.com

This is completely and utterly fascinating. What a wonderful conversation - Krista Tippett is a wonderful host and opens up a wonderful dialogue.

I listened and watched completely enraptured.

I won’t spew out any of my opinions and muddy this beautiful and helpful dialogue about such a complex issue.

Check it out here.
(you can download an mp3 of the edited version - and you can view a video of the complete discussion - check out the page completely)

ht - Mike King

May we join with the Christian community in praying for our brothers and sisters of The Little Portion Hermitage in Berryville, Arkansas. As you may or may not be aware fire destroyed their chapel and common building and offices in the very early morning hours on April 29, 2008 - everything was a loss. Fortunately, from what I can tell no one was seriously injured.

Join your hearts in praying that love, grace, beauty and hope will spring from this community in the midst of their great loss.

You can read John Michael Talbot’s reflections on the tragedy here.

According to the Christian liturgical calendar - beginning this Sunday, the holiest week of the year begins. This week we commemorate the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. This is important when you consider that a little less than half of each of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament) is focused on this 7 day period. We often are too busy with life in general to slow down and appreciate the sacredness of this time. Yet we need to wake up to the last week of Jesus life; we need to alter our lives and enter this time we remember and celebrate the events which are the culmination of Salvation history.

Don’t allow yourself to go from the revelry of Palm Sunday to the celebration of Easter - with little thought of how you have arrived here!

Slow down this week and rather than “do life as usual” [or be surprised by - “man, Easter already?”] take each day in this week and enter into it one day at a time. Maybe you could take time to slowly read the Gospel accounts; a bit each day:

Sun - John 11:45-57 & Mark 11:1-11
Mon - John 12:1-11 & Mark 14:3-9
Tue - Psalm 71:1-14 & John 12:20-36
Wed - Psalm 70 & John 13:21-35
Thu - Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 & John 13:1-17 & 31-35
Fri - Psalm 22 & John 18:1-19:42
Sat - Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16 & Matthew 27:57-66
Sun - Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 & John 20:1-18 & Luke 24:1-12

As you read - take enough time to hear the Living Word (is there an issue God might be pointing out or an invitation to respond too?). As you read - take time to reflect on your own life in light of these events (if you looked at your life from the perspective of Jesus - what might you see?). As you read - find a phrase or word that you can “take with you” as a prayer for the remainder of the day.

Enter this holiest of weeks and walk again with Jesus, one day at a time.

NOTE - Artwork by Father Michael Obrien

In less than a weeks time we will be in the midst of the holiest week of the year. How have you personally prepared? How has your community of faith anticipated and focused for this important observance?

I find as I come into such “special and set-apart times” that if I “just let it happen” - often nothing does. It is when I allow myself to be transformed through personal preparation or my involvement with a communal commitment that the “special time” takes on a heightened significance and becomes transformative. One practice, apart from all the rest, that has become a way of preparation in my life is reciting a prayer for such an occasion. In this week proceeding Holy Week, I will be praying this prayer at least once a day.

O Lord my God, to you and to your service I devote myself, body, soul, and spirit.

(From the Book of Common Prayer)

On Sunday without question one of the pioneers of Christian music (and most definitely the most influential for a more cutting edge approach to using the music of the streets to reach out to people) - Larry Norman died of heart failure. He had been battling heart problems for many years now (at least the last 15 years now) and from what I can tell died peacefully with his loved ones surrounding him at his home in Oregon.

Larry was a character! He was creative. He was passionate. He was ornery. He was opinionated. He was fascinating. He was accessible. He was frustrating. He was angry at the church. He loved the church. He was a prophet. He was a poet. He was a sinner and he was a saint.

He is no doubt at peace now, in another land.

You either loved or hated Larry’s music. I am in the former camp. It had a very human element to it. I felt like at times the music definitely related to me. There was a humanness and a earthiness to his tunes that definitely spoke of experience and wisdom that pierced to my soul. Larry also was influential in helping a good number of artists that share that same spirit of making Scripture and Godly truth accessible and pertinent in the best sense of the Word. An ability to bring human emotion, duality, struggle and everyday hassles into the mix with becoming more like Jesus. Thanks in part to Larry’s direct influence Randy Stonehill, Mark Heard, Steve Scott, Malcom and Alwyn, and Daniel Amos to name just a few continue Larry’s legacy - but it is not a stretch to say that much of the prophetic and good that is in Christian music (it’s dwindling I know) is also a direct influence of the likes of Larry Norman.

Now Larry truly knows (in a literal way), a “friend of mine, came and took me by the hand, and led me to a kingdom in another land. Well wowie, zowie the Cat’s got soul; He’s the rock that doesn’t roll!”

RIP Larry (April 8, 1947 - February 24, 2008)

Last night was a real treat. My church hosted a concert with The David Crowder* Band. What fun! It was a great time - my daughter and some friends and my wife and I and a good friend all piled into the suburban to attend the show.

I have seen Crowder and company a few times at YS - but never a full concert. It was pretty cool to get an hour and a half of Crowder and the boys!

Crowder* in Center Township, PA

It was cool to meet David after the show - my buddy got his Crowdster signed by it’s namesake - you can read that story at Peter’s site.

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into God’s presence with singing!
Know that the Lord is God! It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him, bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

The Canticle of Brother Sun

Most high, omnipotent, good Lord,
Praise, glory and honor and benediction all are thine.
To thee alone do they belong, most High, and there is no man fit to mention thee.

Praise be to thee, my Lord, with all thy creatures,
Especially to my worshipful brother sun,
The which lights up the day, and through him dost thou brightness give;
And beautiful is he and radiant with splendor great;
Of thee, most High, signification gives.

Praised be my Lord, for sister moon and for the stars,
In heaven thou hast formed them clear and precious and fair.
Praised be my Lord for brother wind
And for the air and clouds and fair and every kind of weather,
By the which thou givest to thy creatures nourishment.

Praised be my Lord for sister water,
The which is greatly helpful and humble and precious and pure.

Praised be my Lord for brother fire,
By the which thou lightest up the dark.
And fair is he and gay and mighty and strong.

Praised be my Lord for our sister, mother earth,
The which sustains and keeps us
And brings forth diverse fruits with grass and flowers bright.

Praised be my Lord for those who for thy love forgive
And weakness bear and tribulation.
Blessed those who shall in peace endure,
For by thee, most High, shall they be crowned.

Praised be my Lord for our sister, the bodily death,
From the which no living man can flee.
Woe to them who die in mortal sin;
Blessed those who shall find themselves in thy most holy will,
For the second death shall do them no ill.

Praise ye and bless ye my Lord, and give him thanks,
And be subject unto him with great humility. (St. Francis of Assisi: The Canticle of Brother Sun)