Cwillz Spills

Albulm Artwork

This morning we found a burned cd in our office. We had no idea how it got there, but I popped it into my lappy to see what it was.  It turned out to be “The Cream of Clapton”, which was a delightful surprise to me. My boss told me that I could keep it if I wanted, but that we shouldn’t give it to the students.  I must have crinkled my forehead because he started in on the reason why. His position basically that  because Clapton has been a drug user and writes songs about drug use and that our students have or do struggle with substance abuse and addiction issues, we shouldn’t let them listen to music made by a man with a past drug use.

I can follow his line of reasoning.  Also, we have a Christian music only policy because we are a ministry and some parents are concerned about the music that we allow students to listen to, which obviously is a very good thing.  Being concerned about the media input into our student’s lives is a very good thing.  Yet, I am very hesitant about throwing Clapton out so easily.

Where this line is broken for me is what we call “Christian”.

(Pause for a minute.  At this point I simply agreed to follow the direction he was giving, but have been thinking about this topic today.  The dialogue between my boss and me is representative of some tensions in the daily lives of sincere believers, and that is why I want to explore it here (actually, I am just going to present the side I believe to be most correct in order to get you to agree with me). I will continue to follow his direction for the program. )

Where is the line between what is Christian and “not”?  Obviously there are expressly Christian artists, musicians, magazines, etc.    What is it about them that makes their art Christian art?  I submit that we must claim truth as truth without regard to the person expressing it, and that logically if you believe in a Christian worldview, then all truth is proper to God.  What that means is that it cannot be true unless it belongs to God.  Therefore, if it contains truth, that truth is “Christian”.

So how is Clapton’s music “Christian music”? (The italics below are an accident that I can’t seem to fix – please ignore)

A few weeks ago I took a bike trip out form the ranch here.  Just me and the road bike and western Montana.  It was sunny and warm, but still bearable.  I decided to ride to the Montana Valley bookstore in Alberton because I had seen a sign for it on the interstate.  I am happy to report that this bookstore is a goldmine.  I spent $40 dollars in used books!

So before I left I met the owner, Keren Wales.  She related her affinity for biking as well and told me about a trip that she was going to take.  She told me that she is going to Europe to tour the continent and buy books while retracing some of the steps her father took when he made they same endeavor and also to retrace some of the military history her father was involved in.  Sounded pretty cool to me.

She refilled my water bottle graciously and even provided me with a snack bar for my energy on the way back.  That is customer service! The energy was much needed because to a nasty headwind and the weight of the $40 of used books.

I checked out the stores website today (www.montanavalleybookstore.com) and found that Keren has already started the trip and I have been missing out on the blog posts.  Either way, you can follow the store too at Keren Wales is Re-Cycling History(kerenwales.blogpot.com).

If you are into books and live in or are travelling through Western Montana, be sure to stop in Alberton and check out this family business.  Great treasures in the books and people alike!

May the Lord’s Will be Done,

CWillZ

This is one of those words I have read time and time again and pretended to know what it meant.  Malleable.  I looked it up about a week ago and have been thinking about it since.

Malleable means “able to be hammered or pressed permanently out of shape without breaking or cracking.”

In January I sat around a table with other Christian Ed seniors from Taylor.  Somehow the conversation turned to motivation and how “God got a hold of us”.  Our professor highlighted the extremes (paraphrase):  “For some people it like God just whispers in their ear, for others it is like God knocks them flat on their face.”  When he said the last part, I involuntarily agreed aloud and my contemporaries noticed laughingly.

God is a good father and knows what we need much better than we do.  At just the right time, He will move in our lives in innumerable ways.  I hear God in whispers, but God also gets a hold of me driving me to my knees and face. Sometimes — sometimes often–it is like God needs to pound us out to shape us like a metalworker beautifies his art or makes a tool for a specific job.  I often imagine my close friends watching what God is doing with/to/in/through me and cringing like parents who have to let their children go into surgery.

Malleable.  Able to be pounded on without breaking or cracking.  Sometimes I wonder just how hard and how long God needs to pound.  I think that the next blow will break me.

“Just trust me,” He says.  He works and works.  It hurts.  The work is all his.  It’s like getting a root canal.  When he is done, its often sore for a while, but its better. Again, its what you need/ed.  When the hammer falls, it is our option to surrender and ask that His will be done.  In surrender, we love and trust that His pounding is making us into what he wants and needs.  His pounding will not break or crack us if we surrender to Him.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ

At work the other day we had a business units / affinity groups conference where you could walk around and learn about what people are interesting in or what they do in the corporation. Lots of S.W.A.G.

One of the affinity groups was about Chinese culture. A calligrapher was on hand to write visitors’ names in some form of Chinese (I apologize for not knowing what).

The three characters that are used to sound out my name, Chris (I chose not to use CWillZ), are:

cool

fortune

thinking

Neat huh?

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ

We had a great speaker last weekend and I’d like to share:

Eric and Danielle Timm have a ministry called No One Underground. At Springhill’s fall teen retreat last weekend, Eric spoke with authority, humor, candor, and great love. He also painted two pieces of art that went along with his message. Danielle did a dramatic reading of some of her word art, which was also powerful, truthful and exacting.

The first painting he did for us was called “Issues” and is a picture that shows the God-shaped hole in every person, and three shapes (a circle, a square, and a triangle) in the background. The shapes cannot fill the hole correctly. We learned how to let go of these shapes, trust in the Lord and to get rid of the things we use to push God out of our hearts.

http://ericsamueltimm.com/Paintings.html

Check out No One Underground Ministries
Check out Eric’s Artist Page
Check out No One Underground on YouTube

Thank you so much Eric and Danielle!! My students and I will have the reminder of how important it is to guard our hearts every time we see your painting in our youth room.

May the Lord’s will be done,
CWillZ

My friend Caitlin told me about this 6-word memoir book / site. I guess Hemmingway was once asked to write an American story in six words and came up with “For Sale: Baby Shoes Never Worn”.

You can submit your own 6 word memoir, read others, and submit your own at http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords/

I submitted one:

“FS: College Degree take over payments.”

Yes, I know FS is shorthand for two words. Get over it.

Dear Friends,
First, I would ask that those of you reading this that do not share my faith to know that I love my brothers and sisters very much.