Newbigin on Christiandom

"Much has been written about the harm done to the cause of the gospel when Constantine accepted baptism, and it is not difficult to expatiate on this theme. But could any other choice have been made? When the ancient classical world, which had seemed to brilliant and so all-conquering, ran out of spiritual fuel and turned to the the church as the one society that could hold a disintegrating world together, should the church have refused the appeal and washed its hands of responsibility for the political order? It could not do so if it was to be faithful to it origins in Israel and the ministry of Jesus. It is easy to see with hindsight how quickly the church fell into the temptations of worldly power. It is easy to point- as monks and hermits, prophets and reformers in all ensuing centuries have continued to point- to the glaring contradiction between the Jesus of the Gospels and his followers occupying the seats of power and wealth. And yet we have to ask, would God's purpose as it is revealed in Scripture have been better served if there had never been a "Christian" Europe, if all the churches for the past two thousand years had lived as tolerated or persecuted minorities like the Armenians, like the Assyrians, and the Copts? I find it hard to think so."

-Lesslie Newbigin, Foolishness to the Greeks 100-101.

The Coffee Collective

As an American, my concept of Europe has always been like a fairytale land. There are real castles, royal families, and enough smugness to make the untraveled Yankee feel like he stepped into a story where everyone is better educated and impeccably dressed.

Such presuppositions certainly carried over into my thoughts about the Coffee Collective, the Copenhagen based roaster and coffee bar. Having followed their blog for several years now, I was already a huge fan before I took a sip. The Coffee Collective belonged with Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales and free health care, wonderful ideas that don't actually exist.

Amazingly the Coffee Collective is a real place in a real neighborhood and anyone, even regular people, can have a cup of coffee there.... and it's really good.

Highlights of my visit:

• Meeting two fellow coffee pilgrims, Haley and Neil, from the UK. It was wonderful to talk with other people that love coffee so much that they flew to another country to taste it. Haley runs a coffee shop in Norwich called The Window. It serves Hasbean coffee (delicious!) and looks lovely.
• An aeropress of their La Esmeralda Special. Honestly one of the best coffees I've ever had. Sqeaky clean with a honey-like body. Tons of floral and fruit subnotes my limited palate has a hard time articulating. In a word: wonderful.
• Seeing the very bemused look on the barista's face when I asked her to pose with Toto (see above picture). Actually this is only sort of a highlight because Danes are really hip and I really felt like a dork asking.
  
• being mistaken by a group of customers as a barista- I wish.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to the 5 of my readers who will find this funny.

A Crafty Christmas from Brendan Inkognito on Vimeo.

It was the worse (day before) Christmas (Eve) Ever! Part 1

The trip so far:

Our trip to Copenhagen for Christmas began with our flight being delayed an hour in Istanbul. It was mildly frustrating at the time, especially because I wanted to experience as much of the city as possible before the 3 day holiday began.

We had no idea what lay in store for us.

After a fairly uneventful 3 hour flight, the pilot made the announce met to raise seats to their upright position and so forth and everybody collected their things as we prepared for landing. And we waited.... and waited. After circling for an hour and a half the pilot made the announcement that it was not safe to land and that we would be land in Gothenburg, Sweden- a short 30 minute flight away. A Swedish passenger informed us from there we should be able to catch a train to Copenhagen.

However, Turkish Air had a different plan. The pilot announced that we were going to wait for the weather to get better in Copenhagen. We may be delayed 1 or 2 more hours. So I pulled out a book I've been meaning to finish, put in my ear buds, and tried to make the most of it.

After 2 hours of sitting on the runway, the pilot basically repeated the exact same announcement- we would be able to land in Denmark in 2 hours. At this point a Swedish family asked to get off the plane- their families could drive to the airport and pick them up. The flight attendants relayed the message to the pilot who announced that was impossible because weather conditions could change at any moment and the delay of letting people off the plane could make us miss our window.

Around the 4 hour mark my long dormant claustrophobia begin to kick in as I had a mini-panic attack. People who have seen me when my blood sugar crashes knows that confused, illogical Michael very well. I seriously considered pulling the emergency hatch.

At some point an Irishman with a smartphone relayed the information to the rest of the plane that other flights were landing in Copenhagen- including a plane from Istanbul that left after ours did. Essentially this proved that our pilot had lied to us and was mostly likely incompetent to fly in these conditions. People began secretly conspiring, alliances were formed, and some people got loud.

Finally after 6 hours of sitting on the runway Turkish agreed to let every off the plane, though the pilot was still insistent that the aircraft would be ready later that night. After going through immigration Turkish Air informed us they were hiring a bus to drive us Copenhagen, which was 5 hours away by car. We were so relieved to get out of that claustrophobia/inducing den of lies that a long drive didn't seem like that big of a deal. I even thought it might even be nice to see the moonlit Swedish countryside, which was covered in snow.

As we settled into the bus we felt a certain sense of contentment, admittedly balanced by the contempt we felt for Turkish Airlines. A long, miserable ordeal was finally behind us.

At least that's what we thought.

To be continued....

Wright on Mark 13

"Most popular Christian readings of the text, not least within fundamentalism, have shared Schweitzer's understanding that Jesus predicted the end of the world, but have said that, since this did not happen within a generation, Jesus must have meant something different by 'this generation'. Here we have the solution to the problem of the timing of the kingdom, which of course is also raised by such verses as Matthew 10.23 and Mark 9.1. Already present in Jesus' ministry, and climatically inaugurated in his death and resurrection, the divine kingdom will be manifest within a generation, when Jesus and his followers are vindicated in and though the destruction of Jerusalem. The generation that rejects Jesus must be the last before the great cataclysm. There can be no other, because if there were they would need another warning prophet; once the father has sent the son to the vineyard, he can send nobody else. To reject the son is to reject the last chance. "

N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, 365.

Skate Istanbul

I started skateboarding in the 6th grade, broke my arm 50/50ing a curb in the 8th grade, but stuck with it until my junior/senior year when playing music became a more viable means of impressing girls.

My roommate Seth has a similar story, only he never sold out. I recently snagged this footage of him killing/chilling it on a miniramp at one of Istanbul's several skateparks.

Istanbul Miniramp Session from Michael Butterworth on Vimeo.

It's pretty amazing how skate culture has globalized.

Top 5 of '10

I feel completely uncomfortable trying to make a "best albums of 2010" list- I have not listened to enough albums to make any such pretensions. More so, I realize I've spent most my life developing a highly specified- and dare I say subjective- aesthetic that is completely unfathomable to the uninitiated and thereby disqualifies me from being able to choose what music should be esteemed by popular culture. That being said, I am completely comfortable sharing my "favorite albums of 2010"

#5. Sleigh Bells "Treats"

One of my biggest regrets about 2010: I never got to dance at a party playing Sleigh Bells. This album is big, loud, and genius. Literally every track makes me want to get on the floor. Ghetto-blasting beats, screaming guitar licks, and hipster sensibilities never sounded so good.

#4. Beach House "Teen Dream"

When I first heard this album early this year I thought it might just be my album of the year. It turns out it isn't, but I still love this droning dreamlike record.

#3. Arcade Fire "The Suburbs"

The Arcade Fire prove that a good concept is still a viable means of making a record more than the sum total of its parts. As a product of rural, small town America I can't completely identify with the subject matter, but I certainly understand the angst and disillusionment that comes from being part of middle class America. Thankfully this album is not shallow or sententious, but an honest investigation that's willing to point fingers at the mirror and not just just our parents. Thought provoking line of the year: "Do you think your righteousness could pay the interest on your debts? I have my doubts about it."

#2. Sufjan Stevens "The Age of Adz"

As an individual I'm prone to speak in superlatives and hyperboles. My only regret is that people often don't understand or believe how much I love Sufjan. This album only makes me love him more, and there's a lot of reasons why: the juxtaposition of digital and orchestral instrumentation, the emotional transparency, catchy-yet-complex melodies, the list goes on. But I think what I love the most is that Sufjan made a unique and unexpected album that still fits perfectly in his discography. I really don't see how any fan could be disappointed in this album.

Perhaps the simplest way to determine my favorite album of the year is to see which album I played the most and in that case there is only one option:

#1.The Wild Hunt by The Tallest Man on Earth .

The release of this album coincided with my move to Turkey and in many ways has been my soundtrack for the entire year. The adventure of unexplored horizons, the excitement of dreams coming to fruition, the elation and excruciating pain that loving someone can bring: all of these emotions/experiences have found a voice in Kristian Matsson's carefully crafted album. "Troubles will be Gone" optimistically describes the day I'm still hoping for; "You're Going Back" the frustration that we all experience in the meantime. The dissonance of "Love is All" and hauntingly simple piano of "Like the Wheel" provide pensive inflections in an otherwise positive outlook.

Perhaps more than any other song, Matsson's cover of Paul Simon's "Graceland", released as a single in conjunction with this album, voiced an authentic heartache I found strangely comforting. In a sense, Matsson provides for "Graceland" what Art Garfunkel once did for Simon's early work: a voice that somehow seems to capture the very soul of Simon's pen. When Matsson belts out "I see losing love is like a window in your heart/ everybody sees you blown apart/ everybody feels the wind blow" you feels as though you know Matsson/Simon, and the pain they feel is your own.

Honorary mentions:

Vampire Weekend "Contra"

The Radio Dept. "Clinging to a Scheme"

Wovenhand "The Threshing Floor"

Kanye West "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" [admittedly if this had come out a little earlier it probably would have found it's way onto my top 5, but I just picked up this album and am still getting into it. definitely a masterpiece. ]

Too Much

Sufjan has a monopoly on cool

Remembering

My messenger bag recently developed a small hole so I did my best to mend it by hand with a needle and some red thread that matched the trim nicely. It was a rather amateurish job, and I'm quite certain my neighborhood tailor could have done it perfectly for a few lira, but there was a certain amount of satisfaction in sewing it myself, crooked stitches and all.

Actually that small, traveling sewing kit is very precious to me. It was the last present my mom ever gave me.

I remember that it was a last minute gift back in April that came as I was hurriedly chosing which of my belongings to take with me to Istanbul. I was resolved to only pack two duffels and yet I wanted to bring most of my library. At some point in the midst of trying to determine which books were the top priority Mom handed me the sewing kit and told me I might need it.

My first response was that there wasn't room and I was quite certain people sew in Turkey; I could just get one there. But as soon as I said that I realized that this gift was very important to her (as small, thoughtful gifts usually were), and quickly found space for it, assuring Mom it would be useful.

I'm positive I said thank you, with all the sincerity I could muster, but I'm not quite sure I meant it.

I do now Mom.

Revelation

Revelation is an amazing book. Unfortunately, most evangelicals either abuse it with preposterous interpretations or completely ignore it in fear of being like those other guys. This is really a shame because Revelation is a bookend for the entire canon, tying together numerous strands of biblical theology. Also it's about Jesus, which makes it really important.

Thankfully my church, Sojourn, is trying to find a third way. Starting today, Sojourn is working through the book of Revelation, wrapping up a year-long overview of the entire New Testament. In keeping with the cinematic feel/apocalyptic genre of Revelation, this month's devotional is in comic book form. It's very cool.