Blog.

It has been quite awhile since an update, and for that, I apologize! Thank you to all my faithful viewers that keep coming back to check on me. Heather and I have been staying pretty busy with our jobs lately, and the holidays have kept us running around shopping and hosting friends and neighbors at our house for various occasions. Heather’s parents were in town several weeks ago, and we had a wonderful time getting to spend some time with them. It’s awesome to have two sets of incredible parents!

I’m almost done with the drums, the pictures below show them assembled, but I still need to do some finish sanding and buffing before they really shine. I had the opportunity to play them at a men’s breakfast last month, and they sound great.

It snowed almost 4 inches yesterday, and basically gridlocked the roads. Originally I thought the people up here would be more adept at dealing with the snow and bad weather, but apparently we’re not quite far enough north. It was almost as bad as traffic in Abilene, TX when it rains! Haha.

Another thing that I need a little feedback on: Occasionally, I get a few hits on the forum that I have hosted on my server. Originally, I intended to use it as a communication tool for Pipeline, but it never really caught on, so it has just sat there, with no activity for the last couple months. Would you guys be interested in using it for discussion? If there’s enough interest, I’ll keep it up and start expending more time to it, but it takes more people than me to make it work! Either comment on this post, or send me an email if you care one way or the other.

This is another article linked by Jeff that truly saddened me. The Washington Post set up a 40 min “concert” by world renown violinist Joshua Bell (and his 3.5 million dollar violin) disguised as a street performer at a subway stop in downtown DC. Over 1,000 people rushed by on their way to whatever they were doing with only a small handful ever acknowledging his presence. Read it here.

How often do we rush through life without stopping to soak up the beauty that God has placed around us? Whether it be music, mountains, art, or the simple laughter of a child, most of us are too caught up in our lives to notice the things in life that connect with our soul, those God given moments that inspire awe and wonder. Unlike a promotion, a good grade on a test, or that new car/plasma TV we all work for, it is those moments that make a lasting impression on us, an impression that will linger in the memory long after all the other things fade away. May we all learn to stop and hear the whispers of God…

Thanks to my friend Jeff for linking this article on his blog. A doctors perspective on how the realization of death affects the living: go here.

“What I have learned from my patients since that day is that we give death power (as if it needs it) — power not to kill us but to rivet us, to silence us, to drive us from our humanity while we still live. We give death power precisely to the extent that we work to ignore it, to blind ourselves to its closeness, to imagine we have the power to stave it off forever. If we go through life imagining that, then the moment when we are forced to look at death can only rupture everything we know and paralyze us, still alive. That’s not a good way to die. “

Last weekend, I attended a men’s retreat with the guys from my church, where I had the opportunity to play in the worship band, and to get to know many people that I had only briefly met before. The weekend was wholesome, relaxed, and a lot of fun. It was held at a resort in northwestern Maryland, if you’re wondering where the pictures are from…

The theme for the weekend was Discipleship. Real Discipleship. A term that the Western church has tamed, watered down, and a concept that is mostly ignored in practice. We talk about it, but we have lost the passion and devotion to carry out perhaps one of the most important commandments Jesus ever gave. The typical church today tends to “bring in” people, make sure they are saved, Baptize them, and then forget about them. Most new Christ followers are left eating baby food, hungering for substance, with no one to feed them.

To grasp the magnitude of the Great Commission, there must be some understanding of what a disciple is. A disciple is so much more than a student. A student just wants to know what the teacher knows. A Talmid, or disciple, wants to be “what the teacher IS“. If a believer in Christ just wants to know what God knows, or just wants to know what Jesus says about certain subjects, he / she is just a student. If that believer says “I want more than anything in the world to be JUST LIKE JESUS“, then he / she is a disciple. (see Ray Vander Laan Downloads for more on this) It is so much more than church on Sunday or a Bible study on Tuesday night; Being a disciple demands a passionate seeking to know everything possible about the life of Jesus, and a radical change of lifestyle where every breath taken is an effort to emulate the Savior.

So where do you stand? Are you a believer? A student? Or a disciple? Are you actively pouring your life into someone else, teaching them what it means to be a disciple of Christ? Do you have someone that’s pouring their life into you?

I haven’t written in almost two weeks, but there really hasn’t been much to write about. It’s the same old story day after day. Work, eat, practice music, sleep. Repeat. We haven’t taken any photos lately, but I hope that will change soon.

Yesterday, Heather and I went to see “Bodies… The Exhibition” in DC. In short, it is a museum about the human body, and the exhibits are genuine cadavers that have been preserved and presented in a masterful way. Although it sounds a bit disturbing and creepy, we were amazed and completely entranced in the complexity of God’s finest creation. There were skeletons, muscles, bones, skin (probably the strangest thing we saw), abnormalities (lungs with emphysema, cancer, pneumonia, tumors, etc), a section where they showed the development of a fetus from conception to almost birth (complete with how the bones develop during those 9 months), and probably the most amazing section: the circulatory system. They invented a way to preserve the veins and arteries within a body, while removing all other parts, creating a beautiful network of the blood transport system. Parts of it strongly resembled a fine coral reef. You can view a couple videos of the exhibit here. (Click “About the Exhibition” => “video”)

The exhibit really caused me to wonder how someone could view the incredible “machine” that is the human body and not believe in a creator. National Geographic is starting a new series called the “Incredible Human Machine” where it will showcase the complexity of the human body. I don’t receive the National Geographic channel, but if you do, check it out and let me know how it is.

On a separate note, I uploaded a talk by Gregg Matte that he presented at a worship conference in 2003. If you have anything to do with worship planning in any way, I highly recommend this talk. Find it here, or check out the downloads tab at the top of the page.

I added a new page to the site that will feature downloads that I think you should download. I will be adding to this section in time…

Currently, I have posted a series of talks by Ray Vander Laan, a teacher who spent considerable time (measured in years) living in Isreal studying in the traditional Rabbinic schools, learning what it was like to live as a Jew. Currently, His ministry is to teach people how to think “Eastern” (listen to first talk for an explanation), how to approach the Bible from a Jewish context, and to explore a facet of Christ often ignored in Western culture (aka, the United States), Jesus the Rabbi. You can find his website here: Follow The Rabbi. The talks can be found by following the downloads tab at the top of the page, or clicking here.

It’s been awhile since my last update, and I apologize, I’ve been pretty busy.

I took a 5 year break (thanks to Texas A&M College of Engineering) from anything remotely musical other than the A Capella quartet I traveled with and I recently realized how much I have missed having a musical outlet. If you know me (as most of you should, if you’re reading my blog) you know I’m passionate about music. From an early age, I have always had some kind of outlet for my music. I took piano lessons from age 5 till my teacher moved around age 12. It was around that time that I started drums/percussion in school, which continued through my junior year at ACU. (Including 1 year of being a music major) I picked up Guitar in 8th grade and while I have never regularly played guitar in a band, I would sometimes lead a small group praise night, or have jam sessions with a couple friends. From the time I was little, to the time I transfered to Texas A&M, there was always a reason to practice and strive to make myself better musically, whether it was a piano recital, a concert, or a percussion ensemble gig.  I didn’t realize at the time how much I had missed my music during my time at A&M until recently.

Heather and I have been attending a local church that we have decided to call home. Typical to my nature, I can’t call a church home and just sit in a ‘pew’ every Sunday. Therefore, I volunteered to help out with the worship band for Pipeline, the 18-30′s ministry of the church. They graciously invited me in and I started practicing / playing with this group as they started up this fall. In addition to Pipeline, I answered a note in the church bulletin asking for technical volunteers. I have considerable experience with audio/video/lighting and I thought I might be of some help. Over the next week, I had several conversations with the technical director (Glenn), who asked me to sit in on one of the main worship band’s rehearsals to see how they ran the technical side of the “show.” Through Glenn, I met the worship director, (Kay, who happens to be the main pastor’s wife) and through some rich conversation she finds out that I sing, and that I’m a percussionist. They were needing someone to play Auxiliary Percussion, and Kay asked me to come back the next week and “audition.” So I did. Funny how God works. I ended up auditioning every instrument I play except guitar, which was the one instrument I would have felt the most comfortable on. Long story short, the next week I was on stage singing! (Mostly harmony, some lead)

I have been singing/playing with them weekly since then, and I guess I am now one of “the band.” I went from no musical outlet to two bands and teaching guitar lessons. (1 student from Pipeline) The biggest challenge has been learning a ton of new music, which I’m still doing, and catching up on my instrumental skills. I have been asked to fill in for our pianist on Oct. 21, which is pretty nerve racking, but I’m excited about the challenge. I have a pretty large set of shoes to fill that day, as Cyndi is pretty talented.

In all of this, I have recently been thinking about past struggles with pride, and I pray constantly that I can be completely transparent and truly lead people to worship Christ. In this, I thank God for the musical talent He gave me, and I feel the responsibility to develop it and use it for His glory. If I am ever doing this for any reason other than that, I pray God removes me from the position he has put me in.

In other news, we (Me, Heather, and a couple friends) traveled 10-20 miles West of where we live to visit a couple winery’s a few weeks ago. The weather was beautiful (low 70′s), the wine was decent (it’s Virginia, our expectations weren’t very high), and the company was grand. We didn’t take many pictures, but we had a great time. The second winery (not pictured) was hosting a festival. It turns out that the owners were from Louisiana, which explained the Mardi Gras beads and the Zydeco band, complete with accordion.

I was reading up on a friend of mine who leads worship at a little church in College Station, TX, where I moved from. He’s a singer/songwriter and truly has a gift for lyrics and an unbelievable heart for the Lord. I found this post by Ross, and was overwhelmed when I read it. That is what a family looks like.

By the way, check out his music here: www.rosskingmusic.com and here: Ross’ myspace

I ran across a blog a few days ago that solidified several of my thoughts and feelings over the past few years, and with the author’s permission, I would like to share that with you.  (Matt’s blog here)

“I’m with Shane Claiborne. Forget all the stories about how Jesus made life better – by solving a debt problem or helping someone overcome some relatively mild vice. Truth is, Jesus is totally messing up my life.

If I had gotten my way 15+ years ago, I would be a wealthy, big-city litigator right now, wiling away the years in an expensive office building during the weeks and at every Cowboys game on the weekends. I’d have a big house worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. I’d go to a nice, clean-cut church where I’d check in every Sunday morning and otherwise do all of the things that good Christians do to make sure they can punch their ticket into heaven. And I’d listen to conservative talk radio, just to remind myself that there is no need to change the order of things: everyone is making their own choices and getting just what they deserve.

Life would be good.

But the more I read the gospels; the more I try to understand what Jesus was really all about, the more he has the audacity to come into my life and totally screw it up. He makes me think about every dollar I spend – who is benefiting from it and how? He makes me reflect on the kind of car I drive and how it affects God’s creation. He challenges me to make my children into risk-taking disciples, instead of neat, middle-class carbon copies of myself. He asks me to go places where I am uncomfortable, and to invite people into my house when I’d much rather have a quiet night alone. He intrudes on my free time and tells me to invest it the things that matter to him. He tells me that the politics that seemingly support my interests aren’t necessarily the ones that support his.

Far from being a cosmic Mr. Fix-it, Jesus is taking every priority and ambition that I ever held and – without so much as asking – turning it over like he did the tables in the temple.

But the truth is – having come to know the Jesus who messes with me at every turn – I would never go back to the old one. For all his annoying qualities, this is the Jesus that feels authentic to me. I feel like I finally am coming to know him for who he is. And in spite of all of the discomfort and downright inconvenience that he causes, I’m coming to see that the things that he is about are the things that really matter in this world.”

So, which Jesus do you know? the Sunday-make-you-feel-good Jesus that doesn’t intrude with life as you know it, or the in-your-face-always-there-whether-you-want-Him-to-be-or-not Jesus that truly changes how you live your life?

Last weekend we adventured up to Baltimore to the inner harbor to visit the aquarium. We ate at a little Italian place for lunch, watched a steel band (Caribbean style) play for a little while, but spent most of our time gazing at sharks, turtles, frogs, dolphins, and a couple of Kookaburra’s (which are one of the loudest, most obnoxious birds that I’ve ever encountered) in the Australian exhibit. The lighting wasn’t the best for pictures, but we managed to get a few. We had a great time, but our favorite aquarium is still the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. If you like fish and sea-life but can’t afford to take a trip to Belize or Austrailia to see it live, the Shedd is the next best thing.

Gallery here.