Just in time for the holidays

For those of us who get kind of sick of the commercialization of Christmas, we now have a way to celebrate a holiday without all the fuss.

Better get in line now to get your very own Festivus Pole.

Of course, if you get a Festivus pole, make sure you celebrate the Festivus holiday by airing out your grievances and performing tests of strength.

A Johnny Cash Thanksgiving

I never watched a single episode of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, but if I knew that Johnny Cash made a guest appearance and sang a Thanksgiving song, I might have checked it out. (By the way, that's his wife June Carter Cash in the clip as well.)

I hope everyone has a safe and fantastic Thanksgiving. As Brennan Manning says, the most obvious indicator of trust in God is a grateful heart. I am truly grateful for so many things God has done in my life, and although sometimes I forget about those things, I pray that each day I can pour out my gratitude to Him.

I haven't been this excited about a movie in a long time...

I mean, there have been a bunch of movies out lately that I've been really interested in, but I'm really excited about Cloverfield.

So much so, that I've been trying to figure out the clues on the 01-08-08 website.

Sweet.

(I'm also really looking forward to I Am Legend with Will Smith)

It's been a long time...

since I've blogged. Almost a whole month!

Well, of course, I've been busy. I'm leaving my present ministry at Southwest Church (my last Sunday is December 2nd), and sometime in the near future, I will be headed out to Colorado, back to my home state, and actually pretty much back to my hometown - where I will be the worship and youth minister of a church there. I'm sad to leave Ohio, out of the places I've lived outside of Colorado, it's definitely my favorite.

We're in the process of looking for a house, and the picture above was taken in the back yard of the one that we really want. We see deer by our house in Ohio all the time, so naturally we would want the same back in Colorado.

I will continue to update more about what's happening, but I wanted to make my blog not feel so lonely.

New Nooma

#18. It's called Name.

You can watch it here for the next couple of days; after that, you will have to pay for it. Or you can watch it the next couple of days and pay for it, because it's worth it. I mean, all the Nooma videos are worth it, but this one is really good.

If you don't like Nooma, you can always go watch Numa Numa again.

Radiohead's Risky Venture

I like Radiohead. Mostly. I have an affinity for The Bends and OK Computer, and I tolerate the later stuff, but it's not my favorite.

Because Radiohead is not on a record label at this time, they decided to release their new CD "In Rainbows" to the general public on their own. For whatever price you want to pay for it.

That's right. You can pay whatever price you want to. It's a risky gamble, but it's pretty cool, in my opinion. It's a way of telling off "The Man", in this case, corporate record labels who normally bleed bands dry. It's risky, because you can pay nothing for it. In fact, over a third of the downloads of In Rainbows have been done with no price. I paid for mine, admittedly less than full price, but more than I would have purchased Kid A or Insomniac (which I did pay full price for). The great thing is that all of the money goes to the band, whereas usually they get pennies on the dollar for each record label release. I'm listening to In Rainbows for the first time right now, and it's pretty good.

If you go to their website, you can purchase it as well. I would encourage you to at least pay something for it. After all, these are musicians who are taking a risk. Let's reward them for taking a risk.

Sweep!

The Rockies have won 21 out of 22 games, including seven straight in the playoffs (only matched by the Big Red Machine in 1976). I am very jealous of my friend Darrin, who got to go to last night's game. The last game he and I went together was the first regular season game at Coors Field, and I'm sure that this one beat that incredible night. (Although it couldn't beat the cold that night - it was 42 degrees at game time)

Go Rockies! The last time a team won this many games at this time of the year was the 1935 Chicago Cubs. Amazing.

Here's a great article about how improbable the Rockies' run has been.

It's That Time Of The Year Again!

That's right, it's hockey time.

I know I'm part of a decreasing handful of people who actually care about hockey, but I just love watching it. My favorite teams, the Colorado Avalanche, and the University of Denver Pioneers, are both looking like they'll pretty good this year. It's finally starting to turn a little colder, so now I can get into the mood.

I'm also doing a fantasy league for the first time ever, and I've of course chosen fantasy hockey. I'm in first place - woo hoo! (okay, it's only the second week of the league, but everyone else in the league has done this before.)

I'm excited - and to get you excited, here's a video clip of the greatest minute and a half of sports history, let alone hockey history.

David Crowder Band - Remedy

I was a little late in getting this CD, since it came out when I was on vacation. I purchased it last week, and I've been listening to it non-stop. Even though it's a lot shorter than the last Crowder full-length album, I think it's definitely more congregational singing friendly. I can see us using several of the songs. Let me go through each one and give my rating for each.

1. The Glory Of It All (10 out of 10 goatees): Right now this is my favorite song on the CD. They had this on the Passion '07 iTunes bundles that you could buy, but I never purchased the bundles. The first time I heard this song was at the Willow Creek Conference, and I liked it, but for some reason it didn't click until I bought the CD. Musically, it's impressive. I love songs that start out sounding "minor-ish" chord-wise and then in the chorus goes to major chords. It's like it resolves or something. I'm not sure that makes sense, but oh well. The lyrics are great:

At the start, He was there, He was there
At the end, He'll be there, He'll be there
After all our hands have wrought, He forgives

Oh the glory of it all is He came here
For the rescue of us all that we may live
For the glory of it all, oh the glory of it all

2. Can You Feel It? (6 out of 10 goatees): I think that on this CD, the slower songs are better than the faster ones, in my opinion.
This song is pretty good. Definitely not my favorite, but I like the theme of the song.

3. Everything Glorious (8 out of 10 goatees): We've been doing this song for some time now, thanks to Jeff. When I first heard it off of the '06 Passion CD, I wasn't really that impressed, but I really like it now. It goes right along with the theme of this CD (that God takes whatever is happening in our lives and uses it for his glory, and he's commissioned us to help be the remedy for the brokenness in people's lives), it's catchy, and it's a fun song to play.

4. Neverending (7 out of 10 goatees): This song reminds me a lot of Foreverandever, etc. off of A Collision. It's fast, catchy, and my favorite of the fast songs on Remedy. Plus the background synth reminds me of playing my Nintendo GameBoy back in the day. This song also continues the Crowder tradition of having at least one song on each CD with a "la la la" part on it.

5. Never Let Go (10 out of 10 goatees): My second favorite song. It's piano-based, which makes me want to learn how to play the piano just for this song. This is my daughter's favorite song on the CD (she's four years old), and yesterday on our way to Chipotle, she wanted me to keep playing this song so she could sing along with the chorus, which simply states "You never let go..." This song reminds me of a lot of the Psalms, where the Psalmist would pour out his heart to God, stating all the problems in their lives, but then in the despair, would begin singing of God's redemption and faithfulness.

6. O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing (7 out of 10 goatees): This song also continues the Crowder tradition of redoing an old hymn. It's a little too fast to sing, but I like the new chorus that they added. And the music makes me want to break into an Irish jig, or perhaps a couple of the Lord of the Dance moves (although I can't do that anymore, because I did that for my daughter one time and ended up in the emergency room, no joke).

7. Rain Down (7 out of 10 goatees): This song was originally on Crowder's first release, called "All I Can Say", so it's a sentimental favorite. I think I understand why it was included on this CD (it ties into the theme), but I still wish there were a couple more new songs added onto this CD. This song is another good example of the minor/major chord progression.

8. We Won't Be Quiet (5 out of 10 goatees): This is my least favorite song on the CD. I think it's cool that they got Ted Nugent to play guitar on this track, but they should have turned him up. The song is way too short, and to me it's in the vein of possibly my least favorite worship song on the planet - that would be "Party" by Chris Tomlin.

9. Remedy (9 out of 10 goatees): I really like this song, and I like the message of it. I like how they proclaim Jesus as the remedy, but then ask God for us to be the remedy as well. It reminds me of the Hillsong United song "Solution", and the song "Mission's Flame" by Matt Redman. The idea that worship should fuel us to be God's hands and feet is a theme that needs to be explored more in our worship.

He is the one who has saved us
He is the one who embraced us
He is the one who has come and is coming again
He's the remedy

Let us be the remedy
Let us bring the remedy

10. Surely We Can Change (10 out of 10 goatees): This song musically reminds me of one of my favorite Crowder songs - Stars, off of Illuminate. It's a great way to close this CD. I really like the subtle changes with the chorus from the first time he sings it to the last time. It goes from:

Where there is pain let there be grace
Where there is suffering bring serenity
For those afraid help them be brave
Where there is misery bring expectancy
And surely we can change, surely we can change something

to

Where there is pain let us bring grace
Where there is suffering bring serenity
For those afraid let us be brave
Where there is misery let us bring them relief
And surely we can change oh surely we can change something


As I've been considering this CD, I really think it's my favorite Crowder CD. I like them all for different reasons, but this one is the most consistent, most accessible, and most hopeful. It is also a healing balm for me where I'm at in my life right now as well.

The Crazy World of College Football

Holy cow. USC just lost to lowly Stanford. LSU is losing to Florida, who lost to Auburn last week, who lost to Alabama, who lost to Georgia, who got beat badly by Tennessee, who lost to Cal the first game of the season, who is supposed to not be as good as USC. Who just lost.

Weird.

A Feel Good Baseball Story

I have to admit, I'm pretty much a fair weather fan when it comes to the Colorado Rockies.

When I lived in Colorado, I followed them quite a bit. I had the privilege of being at the first regular season game in Coors Field history, which was awesome. I still have a pennant from their first playoff appearance (and their last before this season) in 1995, and probably ten Rockies baseballs. But since I've left Colorado in 2000, I haven't paid too much attention to them. They have pretty much stunk since then, so it hasn't been hard to forget them.

But I've been following them this year, especially at the end as they made their run to the wild card. And now they're up 2-0 in their series against Philadelphia, which is great.

But another reason for everyone else to root for the Rockies this year, is the decision they made this week: to give a share of their playoff player revenue to the widow of a minor league coach for the Rockies who was killed during a minor league game by a ball hit to his head. He died leaving two boys, ages 3 and 5, as well as a pregnant wife.

I think it's pretty cool to have the players on the team decide this. The deceased man's name is Mike Coolbaugh, and his two sons are throwing out the opening pitch on Saturday.

Way to go, Rockies.

YouTube Video Of The Week - 09.21.07

I'm a big fan of Mute Math. Love their stuff. The other day, I found a worship CD that they made called Elevator Music. Great stuff.

Anyway, if you missed Jimmy Kimmel Live a couple of nights ago, you missed an amazing thing. I've never seen Jimmy Kimmel Live before this. Mute Math performed live, yet backwards. Confused? Yeah, it's confusing. I really don't know how to explain it, but it is in my Top 10 Most Amazing Things I've Seen.

Here is the live performance of their song Typical...backwards.

Here is their video of Typical that they reproduced live.

It's amazing when you think of how much work had to be done to do everything backwards, but yet be able to make it look like they're singing the song forwards.

Jon McLaughlin

I really like Jon McLaughlin.

This guy - Jon McLaughlin:


Not this guy - John McLaughlin:



Jon is a musician from Anderson, IN. Someone was talking to me the other day about a guy coming out of Anderson who was getting pretty big in the music world, but I didn't know who they were talking about until I saw his video on one of those Youth Leaders Only DVD's (I'm not a Youth Leader. Uh-Oh.)

His latest CD is called Indiana, and if you go to Jon's MySpace page, you can listen to four songs off that CD. I downloaded the whole thing off of iTunes for $7.99. I would describe him as kind of a Ben Folds type sound, but more poppy. The piano playing on his songs are great.

Anyway, check him out. If you like that kind of music.

Organic Church Quotes

I've been slowly digesting a book by Neil Cole called Organic Church, and it is an amazing book. (I'll get it back to you, Rochelle - I promise) I've been writing down some quotes from the book, and I thought I would share.

- "We want to lower the bar of how church is done and raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple."

- "When church is so complicated, its function is taken out of the hands of the common Christian and placed in the hands of a few talented professionals. This results in a passive church whose members come and act more like spectators than empowered agents of God's Kingdom."

- "Most of the metaphors of the kingdom of God and the Church in the Bible use natural concepts. We would do much better as leaders in the church to learn at the feet of the farmer rather than study with the CEO of a corporation."

- "We spend so much time building nice barns...yet we have neglected the fields. We are as foolish as the farmer who builds a barn and then stands in the doorway calling all the crops to come in and make themselves at home. It is time for the Church to get her hands dirty in the soil of lost people's lives."

- "A true Seeker Service is one that focuses on the Father who is seeking His worshipers in Spirit and in truth. He alone is the Seeker."

- "The only time worship and service are put together in Scripture has nothing to do with sound systems, pews, sermons, or worship bands. It is a 24 hour a day, seven day a week expression of Christ's life in us."

- "The temptation is to define church according to our own experience."

- "I believe we need to learn to sit still and wait for God before we launch out with our strategic plans and demographic studies."

- "In many of the churches in the West, ministry is done for Jesus, but not by Jesus, and therein lies a big difference. If we evaluated our church, not by attendance or building, but by how recognizable Jesus is in our midst, our influence would be more far-reaching and our strategies would be far more dynamic."

- "In most churches in the Western world, the presence of the pastor is more noticeable than the presence of Jesus."

- "One of the most remarkable things of the church I am a part of is that people expect conversions and transformations of lives every week."

----

That's all I've written down so far, but it is an amazing and inspiring book.

The Ultimate Worship Dictionary

I thought that this article on Vertical Music's website was pretty darn good. This was actually given to me by my friend Chad two years ago, but I'm trying to delete old email (I have 6000 messages in my inbox) and came across this again. Here are my favorites from the dictionary:

ALTOS and BARITONES: (ahl-toez and behr-i-toenz) People who complain that the songs are too high until they learn to harmonize.

BALLAD SALAD: (ba'-lud sa'-lud) A worship set of quiet songs intended to foster a gentle flow of worship and meaningful encounter with the Lord. The Ballad Salad generally follows the up-tempo moments of celebration (see also Rocking the Flock).

BLACK HOLES: (blak-hoelz) The dark vacuum around people in the congregation who steadfastly refuse to connect with God during worship. Sometimes accompanied by contemptuous facial expressions. If you can intercede for these individuals during worship, do so, but otherwise avert your attention to avoid being sucked into their gravitational pull. (See also Super Novas)

BLANDED WORSHIP: (bland'-dud wur-ship') The uninspired result that comes when we approach corporate worship with the pathetic goal of avoiding any criticism.

CHORD CHART: (kord’-chart) A document that contains lyrics and a few vague musical suggestions. May or may not indicate the proper key, time signature or even exact moment of the chord change, but it does give musicians something to look at while the song goes by. Particularly frustrating to pianists, who prefer being told exactly what to do. Ideal for guitarists. (See also Sheet Music)

DRUMMERS: (Druhm-merz) Terrific people who worship God by hitting things. Churches often keep them in Plexiglas cages.

EARLY SERVICE: (ur-lee’ surv-us’) A service in which attendees may appear zombie-like. While unnerving to worship leaders and teaching pastors alike, the event is generally harmless.

FRISBEE STYLE: A deliberate approach to worship leading in which the leader’s role is “handed off” from song to song. A good way to mentor new worship leaders.

HAND-BURGER: (hand-ber-ger’) The painful result of carrying musical gear through a narrow doorway and not paying attention.

HUMILITY: (hew-mil-ih-tee’) The beautiful quality in a talented artist of considering others more important than him or herself. Closely associated with servanthood. Rare.

HYMNS: (himz) Historic praise music. Usually boiled down to 4-part arrangements on a single page with normal rhythmic flow extracted. Lyrics are often stunning, and many of the melodies are almost as powerful as the timeless truths they carry. These songs are infused with the heart-cry of a billion Saints and should be treated accordingly. Ignore at your own loss.

SEVEN-ELEVEN MUSIC: (7-11 mew’-sik) Praise songs that repeat the same seven words eleven times, or some similar configuration. These are generally enjoyed by youth, but annoying to older adults.

SUPER NOVAS: (soo'-pehr noe-vuz’) People in the congregation who visibly connect with God during the worship events. Not a dependable indicator of their maturity, but impossible to miss and a joy to observe. (See also Black Holes)

VIBRATO: (Vi’-brah-toe) A technique used by singers to help hide pitch problems.

R.I.P. Madeleine L'Engle

I just now heard the sad news that the author Madeleine L'Engle died today at the age of 88.

Her book A Wrinkle In Time was one of the big reasons I started reading Science Fiction/Fantasy stories. I remember in high school in a reading class, I read A Wrinkle In Time, and my teacher, after I read it, told me it didn't count because it was a children's book. I found an interview with her in a magazine where she said that she didn't consider her books as children's books and gave it to my teacher. She let me use it. :^)

The entire Wrinkle In Time trilogy is amazing - A Wrinkle In Time, A Wind In The Door, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. (Although I just found out that there is actually a fourth book.) I also recommend her book Walking On Water, which is a very good book on the impact of faith on art and culture.

40

I can't remember if I put this up on my blog or not when I first created it, but I took a great set of graphics based on the story of Jesus' temptation in the desert, and put them to an Explosions In The Sky song. We used this for Element, and I think I might use it sometime soon on a Sunday morning. It's a good reminder of what Jesus went through even before the cross. One of my favorite frames of this video is when Jesus is looking at the foxes coming out of their hole. It gives a whole new meaning to the verse in the Gospels when Jesus says "The birds of the air have nests, and the foxes have holes, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

Here is the video.

Actions That Take Courage

This is from a great "bathroom reading" book called "Lists To Live By". I've been thinking a lot about the character trait called courage, and I think this is an interesting list.

Actions That Take Courage:

- Admitting you are wrong.

- Doing what is right when everyone else isn't.

- Speaking to someone you don't know.

- Saying "no" when people are trying to get you to do something you know you shouldn't.

- Telling the truth and accepting the consequences.

- Standing up for something you believe in even though it might mean rejection or ridicule or even physical harm.

- Defending someone who is considered unpopular or unacceptable.

- Facing a limitation and giving it your very best regardless of pain or discomforts.

- Confronting a fear without running away.

- Giving sacrificially to protect or promote either someone you love, someone who has been wronged, or someone who is in need.

- Being the only one.

- Taking a risk.

- Sharing your heart honestly (including your feelings and fears and failures).

- Living your faith with all your heart, mind, soul and strength regardless of the cost.

YouTube Video of the Week - 09.04.07

If you're not in a football watching kind of mindset yet, this video will most certainly put you in the mood.

Is this team an actual football team? When you look at the lead singer, it's hard to believe.

Well, they could probably still beat the Michigan Wolverines - I mean, it seems like anyone can these days. ;^)

SeeqPod

Several months ago, I mentioned a really cool website called Pandora, a site that helps you find other artists that sound similar to an artist that you like. It is a great place to find out new music and to play music you already like.

Well, I found another cool music site. This one is called SeeqPod. What this site does is search for songs. For example, I put in "All My Life" by Foo Fighters, and it found about 20 different places online where I could hear the song. And the great thing is it will play it for you at the SeeqPod site. I also typed in "Foo Fighters" and found a bunch of cool rarities tracks and live tracks.

I haven't played with it too much, but I think SeeqPod found pretty much every song I put in to the search box.

Try it - you'll like it!