Vanagon of the Day

Southbound on 102nd St.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE Mason St.

Vanagon of the Day | Honorable Mention

Tim Lewis sent me this picture of a Vanagon he saw in Portland recently. Thanks, man, that's a sweet ride.

Vanagon of the Day | Appendix B

Many days the pictured Vanagon of the Day is not the first Vanagon of the Day, but is in fact the second Vanagon of the Day. Usually it goes something like this:

• Driving along
• See a vanagon
• Almost wreck trying to get my mobile/camera phone out of my pocket
• Completely miss the photo opportunity
• Look for the shortest route to catch up with said vanagon
• Give up looking
• Place mobile/camera phone on dash
• Start looking for second Vanagon

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE Mason St.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE 15th Av.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE 11th Av.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked at Ikea.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE Graham st.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE 17th Ave.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE Glisan.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked off of NE MLK.

100 Things

1. Aaron Sorkin is my favorite television writer/creator.
2. According to the medical charts, I am dangerously overweight.
3. As a child I had a respectable collection of Smurfs and Stomper trucks.
4. As a matter of conviction, I choose to be mostly politically uninformed.
5. Biscoff are my favorite cookies.
6. Blogging is a really enjoyable hobby for me.
7. Calvin & Hobbes utilized and balanced all of the elements of the perfect comic strip for me.
8. Chewing gum is repulsive to me.
9. Coca-Cola is my favorite beverage.
10. Dallas Willard taught me that there is a notable difference between being a Christian and being a disciple of Jesus, and now I am trying to be both.
11. Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University 13-week course completely changed our financial life.
12. David Fleer is my favorite preacher.
13. Donald Duck has his own very cool theme song, and I didn't know until I was an adult. How did that happen?
14. Ever since we returned from our sabbatical in Africa, Kaelea and I have tried to live our life like we are missionaries.
15. The furthest I have ever lived away from the Pacific Northwest is Reno, Nevada.
16. Glider-rocking chairs make me nauseous.
17. Gloria Fox taught me to sing harmony as a very young child. She was an alto, and I sat next to her during church whenever I could because she was a very nice lady, and she always had candy in her purse.
18. Habitual flossing is a discipline that I have tried and failed to implement several times.
19. I am afraid that if I ever go skiing or snowboarding I might be tempted to spend a lot of my time and money doing it more, even if I wasn't very good at it.
20. I am left-handed.
21. I am not always right, but I am always confident.
22. I believe one of the Gospel's great enemies is network news.
23. I believe Denzel Washington should have won the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar for Malcolm X.
24. I come from a family of folk musicians and cowboy poets.
25. I deeply enjoy a sense of order.
26. I dream of arranging/producing two major recording projects: A hymns project played by a big band and sung by me, and a project of Disney songs arranged for an acappella jazz group.
27. I find profanity useful for describing the profane.
28. I have always had a weakness for Ruffles potato chips and Hidden Valley Ranch party dip.
29. I have decided to get a tattoo, but I have not told anyone where on my body, what it will be, or when I am getting it.
30. I have never been more than a casual fan of any professional sport.
31. I have swindled my daughters out of their right to choose their own husbands.
32. I have used the same alarm clock since I was nine.
33. I have worn glasses since I was 11.
34. I invented the Pringles, bacon, and Easy Cheese sandwich.
35. I just went from carrying a fat wallet with everything in it to carrying a very small wallet with just a few things in it.
36. I love to read.
37. I love to sing more than I love to talk, and I deeply love to talk.
38. I miss McDonald's fried cherry pies.
39. I own and drive my dream car.
40. I rarely mail in rebate paperwork.
41. I really try not to end sentences with prepositions.
42. I saw Stomp this year, and I was incurably enchanted.
43. I see a counselor to do personal growth work.
44. I think Dr. Seuss was one of the most powerful moralists of the 2oth Century and I'm not making a joke.
45. I think a quart jar is the best drinking glass.
46. I try not to own lots of stuff, so that I don't have to spend a lot of time maintaining my possessions.
47. I usually stay up most of the night before a big trip, and I don't know why.
48. I work at hands down THE coolest church in existence. Save your difference of opinion. Seriously, just save it.
49. I would like to get a banjo and learn to play it.
50. If I want to avoid using hair clippers, I need to shave my head every four days.
51. If you worshiped at PUMP for any length of time and you don't any more, please know that I miss you and I pray for you.
52. In high school, I was thrown out of a California All-State Choir audition for singing too high. I re-auditioned as an alto, and was the only male singer ever to be the section leader of a female section.
53. It took the digital age plus the inevitable law of averages to make me consider picking up a camera.
54. Kaelea and I were married on Groundhog Day on purpose.
55. Kaelea and the kids are the most tangible evidence to me of God's grace.
56. Languages, math, and music are disciplines that come fairly naturally to me.
57. Legos hold as much or more command over me now as they ever did.
58. The last time I was in Africa, I white-water rafted the Nile river.
59. Matthew Isaac is my given name.
60. Moderation is not a principle that is easy for me to practice.
61. Microsoft is slowly losing me to Google.
62. My bike was stolen earlier this year. I never rode it, but I've been thinking about buying a pedal moped to replace it.
63. My children beg me to draw tattoos on their bodies with permanent markers, and I indulge them almost every time.
64. My driving often makes people nervous.
65. My heart still aches sometimes from missing Cinder, my pet dog from childhood.
66. My personal library is cataloged according to the Dewey Decimal System, complete with spine labels, and available to browse on librarything.
67. My worst enemy is one more good opportunity.
68. Navy blue is my favorite color.
69. No one likes to repeat oneself. I take it more personally than many.
70. The only gun I am interested in owning is an authentic, decommissioned AK-47.
71. On September 11, 2001, I was in the Detroit airport with my father and my brother, trying to get home.
72. Only one person in our house sleeps on a bed at the normal height and it is not me.
73. Our family spends a lot of our Saturdays at my parent's house, eating grandpa's incredible cooking, playing with Uncle Karl, Aunt Kathy, and the cousins, and getting spoiled by grandma.
74. Papa Murphy's is my favorite pizza.
75. Portland rain really affects my mood, but I never notice until it stops.
76. Powell's bookstore is a temple to me.
77. The railroad rolls by a mile or two from our apartment and at night when they blow the horn it reminds me of my Grandma Cantrell's house.
78. Sexiness and excessive simplicity are not high priorities for me when it comes to using a computer.
79. Since they are making movies anyway, I have pretty much decided not to read books written by John Grisham, Michael Crichton, Joanne K. Rowling.
80. Singing in the car with my kids is why I am a dad.
81. Some people say I am a picky eater. I prefer to think of it as having simple taste in food.
82. Someday I would like to buy an old motel and turn it into an urban monastery.
83. Sometimes I get so busy being a good father that I forget to love my children.
84. Sometimes I wonder what Karen Carpenter's singing voice would have sounded like if she had lived to be 70 years old.
85. The songs of Sara Groves are a friend to me.
86. Stephen Covey has taught me a whole lot about loving my neighbor as myself.
87. Steve Martin is my favorite comedian.
88. Take 6 is my favorite musical group.
89. The television show American Idol has never held any attraction for me.
90. There is a 8' x 4' white board hanging on the wall beside my bed where I like to work stuff out.
91. There is a Kraft Foods factory about 2 miles from our apartment and sometimes in the summer the whole neighborhood smells like freshly-baked Vanilla Wafers. I love that.
92. Tie-your-own bow ties are my favorite kind of ties.
93. Toffee-covered peanuts are my favorite road-trip snack.
94. "Trinisonic" is a word I made up, which contains an allusion to the divine (trinity) and an allusion to music (sonic).
95. Weddings are my favorite sermons to preach.
96. When I die, aside from being remembered as a loving family man and loyal friend, I want to be remembered as a Gospel preacher.
97. When my life gets stressful, I start misplacing things.
98. When typing, I suffer from a compulsive propensity to gratuitously capitalize words.
99. While working at Christian Supply, I audio engineered live performances by Dove Award winners 4 Him, and Grammy Award Nominee Tracy Harris.
100. With the exceptions of Roxanne and possibly Shakespeare in Love, I hate movie plots that require the "hero" to tell successive lies.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE 19th Ave.

Vanagon of the Day | Appendix A

This is not a Vanagon.
It is a vw bus, manufactured in two iterations (the T1, or split window, was made from 1950-1967 and the T2, or bay window, from 1968-1979.)

This is not a Vanagon.
The VW Eurovan, or T4, manufactured in the United states from 1993-2003, was the first of the Type 2's to sport an engine in the front end (how unelegant.)

This is a Vanagon!
The T3 was manufactured in the United States from 1980-1992. This beautiful brick-shaped masterpiece of german engineering came in both air-cooled (1980-1983) and water-cooled (1984-1992); in two-wheel and four-wheel (Syncro) drive; in passenger, weekender, and full camper editions, with many more options from which to choose!

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE 23rd Ave.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE 23rd Ave.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE 26th.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE Broadway. Unique in that it has California plates.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked off of NE Broadway.

Vanagon of the Day.

Parked off of NE MLK.

Vanagon of the Day

Eastbound on I-84.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked off NE Oneonta.

2007.08.12 | Sermon Notes

Read this first: Matthew 13.1-23.

Boy, they sure don't farm like they used to. In our time and place, it seems the preparation of the soil is considered as important as the planting, cultivating, and harvesting of the crop. Apparently, not so much in Jesus' Day. Back then, the farmer sowed seed, and the seed went everywhere.

These days there are roads to drive on, and fences around the crops to keep people out. In Jesus day (and in many places today), walking is the main mode of transportation. People naturally choose the shortest distance between where they are and where they want to go, even if that means they trample a few crops along the way. A popular foot path can become as smooth and hard as a modern day street. No crops are going to grow there. And there's this business with thorny ground and with rocky ground, and finally, with good soil. Hard, thorny, rocky versus good. Those aren't exactly great odds. Still, Jesus begins and ends his story with an invitation. "Listen!" He says, "If you have ears to hear, hear!"

The disciples listen, and they question. Why the stories, why make the learning so hard? Jesus sings Isaiah's song, it's a tough answer to swallow. God romanced Isaiah with His overwhelming glory, and the train of his robe which filled the temple, and the praise of the angels. He had cleaned Isaiah's mouth with fire, and now God needed a preacher. Oh, Isaiah was all too eager to accept the call of God, but God warns him that it will cost.

There will be no giga-church for you to pastor. There will be no multi-million dollar para-church ministry. You will paint compelling pictures of a loving God devastated by the chronic betrayal of a selfish people. Their eyes won't see your pictures. You will preach the words of God until your mouth is dry and your throat is hoarse and your stomach hurts. Their ears won't hear your sermons. For Isaiah, faithfulness was not found in the repentance of Israel. Faithfulness was found in the preaching despite the blindness and deafness of Israel.

"Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

There's a difference. In Jesus' day, the soil is not all a foot path. It is not all rocky and thorny. The word of God also finds good soil and produces a harvest. There are ears to hear and eyes to see. In Isaiah's day, the people weren't the right people. At times, there had been right people, but they had not lived at the right time. Finally, at the right time and the right place, now there was the right people. The soil is fertile; pregnant with the promise of harvest.

If you have ears to hear, then hear! Pay attention to what Jesus says and to what he does not say.

Seed = Word of God
Foot Path = People who misunderstand the Word
Rocky Soil = People who receive it but fall away due to trouble or persecution.
Thorny Soil = People who receive it but fail to produce a harvest because of worry or greed.
Good Soil = People who hear and understand the Word and produce a sizable harvest.

Who is the Farmer? Is it God? Jesus? His disciples? Jesus doesn't say. What is the sizeable harvest? Is it more disciples? Is it the fruit of the Spirit? Jesus doesn't say which means whatever the harvest is, it is not the point of the story. The point of the story is this: not everyone who hears the word of God is ready to join God's kingdom but for those who are ready, the result is big, and it is good.

John tells us that Jesus is the Word of God, made flesh and dwelling among us. In the Eucharist, Jesus gives us his flesh to eat and his blood to drink, and as we receive him the Word of God is sown in us. What is the condition of our soil?

Word of God, find good soil in us; amen.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE Liberty.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE Holman.

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

Rating: A Furry and Toothy III

The cubs and I continue our quest through the Chronicles of Narnia. I've chosen to read them in the order that the books were originally published rather than in "chronological" order starting with the Magician's nephew (which is how publishers are now printing the sets.) These books simply do not disappoint.

[Elementary parental tip: If you find that your children are umotivated and easily distracted when you read to them, I recommend reading to them just before bed, in this way.]

Dad: It's time to go to sleep. Please go put on your pajamas and get on your beds.

Children: Awwwww, Dad. We're not sleepy; it's too early, (and so on.)

Dad: Well, I suppose, if you like, we could stay up and read for awhile.

Children: Yippee! Our Dad is a rockstar!

Dad: Thank you, that's true.

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

RATING: A Quixotic III

Kaelea asked me to read this book. I think she has read it a few times. If you search the term "book review" on my blog, you'll find that I don't read romance novels, Christian or otherwise. But the good wife doesn't hand me a lot of book recommendations, so I obliged.

What can I say? This book is an American West re-telling of wedding of Hosea and Gomer. It romanticizes their relationship with an almost Hollywood tone, which on one level completely loses the point of the book of Hosea. On the other hand, the romantic flavor communicates in some Old Testament sense, the desire with which God pursues His people Israel.

One note: Rivers uses the word "sardonic" often enough to notice.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked on NE Durham.

I Met a Master

In June, I was walking through the Washington Square Mall doing some birthday shopping for the man cub when I came across this sign. It turns out that the Lego store was hosting an exhibition of Sean Kenney who is one of four artists licensed by Lego as a Lego Master (the real world equivalent of a Jedi Master.)
At the time I first saw it, the mall was not completely open and their wasn't very many people around. By the time I had finished shopping the place was fairly well-populated and construction was afoot. It turned out that Sean Kenney was there to recreate one of his original installations, an eight-foot tall statue of Batman. Mr. Kenny had about a dozen tables set up with five or six tubs of legos on each table. In between the tubs were these simple instructions for building a single brick exactly 100 times the size of a standard 2x4 brick.
I slowed my pace as I walked by, watching the crew of multi-generational volunteers busily and happily churning out bricks. From my left I heard an unfamiliar voice say, "Aw, come on, Dad. Lend a hand." I turned to see who was address me, and he was none other than the Master, Sean Kenney, himself. That was an offer that I could not refuse, so I built the brick pictured here. (I know, it glows with the radiance of an experienced craftsman, doesn't it?) I kept my own production to one brick, as there were people waiting for me. However, given the once-in-a-lifetime nature of the opportunity, I did take a few moments to speak with Mr. Kenney. I was not able to stay to see the culmination of all of the work, but an image of it is available on Sean Kenney's website, which if you enjoy legos or art at all, is worth a few minutes of your time.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked off of NE Grand.

Vanagon of the Day

Pulling out of Starbucks.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked just off of NE 15th.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked northbound on NE 9th.

2007.08.05 | Sermon Notes

As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to you.”
Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

- Matthew 12.46-50

In our time and place, the church is very interested in the health of the family. In fact, there is a developed Christian perspective in every social science discipline regarding marriage and family, and many churches are active in political affairs that involve the family dynamic. Evangelical Christians have gone so far as to invest millions of dollars into Christian leader James Dobson's organization which seeks in the name of Jesus and (my opinion) with the best of intentions to "Focus on the Family."

Of course! And why should we not? The family is the fundamental expression of God's vision for healthy human community. It is the main conduit by which the principles of God are faithfully passed from one generation to the next. It is, as far as Christians are concerned, a sacred institution.

This is fascinating when you consider what we know about Jesus' family, and when you read what Jesus said about family.

Some of we know and some of what we guess about Jesus' family:

• Jesus was conceived before Joseph and Mary were married which probably cast their family in a less that reputable light. (Matt 1.18)
• Jesus' earthly father Joseph may have died before Jesus reached adulthood. (Gospels make mention of Mary, but not Joseph during their account of Jesus' adult life.)
• Jesus had four brothers: James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. (Matt 13.55)
• Jesus had some sisters. (Matt 13.56)
• During the time of Jesus' ministry, His brothers did not believe he was the Messiah (John 7.5)

Some of Jesus' talking points regarding the family:

Another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my
father.”
But Jesus told him, “Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury
their own dead.” (Mt 8.21-22)

"A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. And all nations will hate you because you are my followers." (Mt 10.21-22)

"‘I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Your enemies will be right in your own household!’" (Mt 10.35-36)

“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine." (Mt 10.37)

...they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.
Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” (Mt 13.57)

Consider the following possibilities:

• If Joseph has in fact passed away then as the first-born son, Jesus would have inherited responsibility for the welfare of the family.
• Jesus was not working a trade and providing for his family, he is wandering Israel preaching, and living on the generosity of others. (Luke 8.3)
• Jesus' questionable religious conduct, outlandish and even scandalous teaching, and public conflict and humiliation of other religious leaders would surely have some negative impact on the family reputation and business.

Can you imagine what kind of scene precipated Mary and Jesus' brothers leaving their house in order to go find and "collect" Jesus?

(the following story is pure fiction.)

Mary, the mother of Jesus is finishing meal preparations with the help of her youngest daughter, Hannah. The color of the sky is beginning to deepen in the window across the room. Her sons will leave the village soon and wind their way home. Most of her sons anyway. She listens and counts the thuds from the next room as Hannah places each bowl onto the low table. three...four...five...six...just six. She braces herself for what has become a daily confrontation.
As her daughter enters the room, Mary instructs without looking up from her work, "Seven places, dear."
"Why? He's not coming, he never comes."
"Seven places, Hannah."
"But why?"
Mary clears her throat. "Please set seven places."
The young girl rolls her eyes, but her body turns in forced compliance and she shuffles out of the room. Mary hears Hannah carelessly drop one more bowl on the table. That went easier than expected.

Time passes; preparation ends and the women wait. Finally the men arrive home. Everyone washes and prepares themselves for dinner. The blessing is said. the food is passed. No one talks. Simon accidentally knocks his bowl off the table. He is about to get up to get another when Hannah grabs the empty bowl and shoves it toward him.

"Just use this one. No one else is going to."
"Hannah!"
"Well, I'm sorry, Mother," Hannah rises to her feet, ready to leave the room, "but He didn't come...just like I said. He never comes and He probably never will!"

The discussion that follows is the tense kind of quiet. Everyone speaks slowly because the words are difficult to say. Jesus is embarrassing the family by offending the local rabbis. The family business is losing customers. He should be providing for the family, instead he is making provision even harder. Many people say that Jesus' teachings are becoming more radical; that he is insane or even possibly demon-possessed.

Something must be done.

"Mom, we've talked to him. He will not listen to us. But...maybe if you come with us. Maybe you can talk some sense into him."

The men of the family escort their mother to the teaching place. They ask someone to please go inside and send Jesus out.

Then they wait...

...and wait...

...and wait.

Jesus never comes. He leaves them standing in the dark. Jesus uses his own, waiting family as a sermon illustration. "I don't know who those people outside are. My family are these people, who do the will of my Father."

Wow, can you imagine what Thanksgiving would have been like that year? Those don't really sound like our brand of "family values." They are not and there is a reason. In our time and place, believing in Jesus is about as dangerous as believing in the Easter Bunny, it doesn't cost you much. But in His day? Confessing Jesus as Messiah, could cost you everything.

In fact, John 9, tells us that the religious leaders had decided that anyone who confessed belief in Jesus could be thrown out of the synagogue. No big deal in our time and place. There are plenty of churches you can go to if you can't go to your old one anymore. In Jesus day, life was the "small town." There was only one church and if you get thrown out; you're not just thrown out of church, you're thrown out of life. You lose your business, you lose your family, you might lose your property...you could lose it all.

Don't believe me? In John 9, when the religious leaders question a blind man's parents about their son's miraculous healing, they are so afraid of the religious leaders, that they turn the question on their own son, so as not to be outcast. Those were the consequences that people were signing up for when they signed up for Jesus, and they felt the pain of losing it all. It was that bad.

And they signed up anyway. They sacrificed the dignity, and the money, and the property, and the relationships, and their world of security; they sacrificed it all on the altar of the Kingdom of God, and they did it because they wanted to be with the King.

It was for those forgotten, abandon, rejected people that Jesus offered these words:

"You belong to me. You are my people now. I don't care who you are, there is always a plate waiting for you at my table. You are family."

And Jesus is a first-born son who provides for His family. He gives us Himself: His own body and blood, as a sign of our covenant, our fellowship, our providence, and our care. Our plate is full of exactly what we need; Him.

Lord, thank you for inviting us to Your table; You have blessed us. May we be a blessing as we walk in Your world, today.

Vanagon of the Day

Westbound on NE Dekum.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked westbound on NE Broadway.

Vanagon of the Day

Parked northbound on NE 7th Ave.

A Pilot Project

Over the past 2 months I have been strategically amassing the rest of the hardware and software necessary for enterPraise to make a quality recording. This week I purchased a Kontakt 2 and Antares Autotune which is the end. The battle station is now fully operational.



Earlier today, all of the girls were taking a nap. Sai was singing and I was working on some other music. I opened a new file and started to write down what he was singing. He came over and kind of got into it and so we put together a little arrangement and pulled out the gear to lay some vocal tracks on it. Not too shabby for 30 minutes worth of fooling around.




Click
here for standalone player

Vanagon of the Day

Southbound on MLK.

Vanagon of the Day

Headed North on MLK Jr. Blvd.

So you may be wondering to yourself, "Self, what is this whole 'Vanagon of the Day' shenanigan about anyway?" OK, OK, I'll indulge you. You may not know that Portland is in fact the Vanagon capital of the World. You may not know this because you are ignorant on matters of such a nature; you may not know this because you don't look out for them like I do, or you may not know this because I just made it up. In any case, it is true and I'm going to prove it. Ask you how? Vanagon of the Day; here's the rules:

1. I will post a picture of a different vanagon everyday, until a day comes that I don't see a different vanagon.
2. A picture has to be taken every consecutive day, but I do not have to post them daily (though I will do my best.)
3. I may only use one picture from each day, even though I usually see between 3 and 5 different vanagons each day.
4. If I am out of said city for more than 8 daylight hours on any given day, I am not responsible to post a picture for that day.
5. The date and time displayed on these posts will reflect the time the picture was taken and not the time the post was published.

It's on.