The Week in Recap [9.22.06]…

September 22, 2006 | 5:24 PM

Tuesday night I went with some friends to see Sufjan Stevens at the House of Blues. (My Brightest Diamond opened for them.) It was the first time I’d seen Sufjan in concert, and it was kind of a rite of passage for us. In the week before our Katrina Diaspora, Amy, Clint, and I went to the French Quarter to grab dinner and soak in the city. We went into the Virgin Megastore on Decatur, and Clint found Sufjan’s Illinoise album. What with Superman being on the album cover (it’s not anymore, thanks to some copyright issues), Clint greatly desired it. He didn’t buy it that night, but from that night forward we were linked to Sufjan in New Orleans. Fast forward a year and a couple weeks to last Tuesday, and Clint, Amy, and I went to the Sujfan concert at the House of Blues (some other friends joined us too). It was full circle- from introduction to concert. I know it sounds weird, but after a year of weird, these kinds of things are important. So we went. And it was awesome. And yes, the entire band came out wearing wings and feathered masks. But when the band has as much going on as it does, who cares? Trumpets, trombones, bells, triangles, bass, electric, and acoustic guitars, cellos, violins, a piano, a banjo, and a drummer among them. Brilliance.

Wednesday night I read chapter four of Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy and prepared a lesson from it. I taught from the chapter on the Beatitudes on Thursday afternoon, and I think it went well. More importantly, the chapter was phenomenal. Pure gospel. If you want to know what Jesus is really about, read that chapter. He turns the world upside down. Beautiful.

Thursday night I went to Sweet, Fire, & Ice on Veterans with Jack Allen, Joel Rainey, and some other guys considering church planting in Maryland. Good food, good times. It’s nice to listen to the stories of those who have gone before you (and survived to talk about it). I think anytime you can talk to someone doing what you want to do, you should. I’m noticing a trend among church planters. They’re all pretty laid back. Maybe it’s the flexibility that they are required to have. Maybe it’s that years of planting forced them to stop, breathe, and trust God (or have a heart attack). Maybe it’s that they’re all a little bit crazy. I think it’s a little bit of all of them. Cool.

Posted in Life, Media, NOBTS, New Orleans