| [..who i am..] |
|---|
| I am trying to be the best husband to Jessica and father to Connor I can possibly be. In the daytime (and after they go to sleep) I am the Innovative Creative Arts Pastor at Powell Church in Knoxville, TN. I love songwriting, creating stupid videos, apple computers, and pie. |
| [..blogs that i read..] |
| journey to claire |
| real live preacher |
| bill wolf |
| cult of mac |
| adam mayfield |
| bob carlton |
| adam feldman |
| futility closet |
| jeph hurst |
| jason edelen |
| jon reid |
| church marketing sucks |
| kem meyer |
| anthony coppedge |
| betsy wolf |
| mark nelson |
| multi-site arts |
| [..graphic & video resources..] |
| sxc.hu |
| igniter media |
| sermon spice |
| highway video |
| worship house |
| digital juice |
| church marketing lab |
| [..music & artists..] |
| gregadkinsmusic.com |
| greg on Myspace |
| new city cafe |
| bill mallonee |
| the innocence mission |
| andrew peterson |
| andrew osenga |
| over the rhine |
| nickel creek |
| david wilcox |
| rich mullins |
| hem |
| andy gullahorn |
| jill phillips |
| arthur alligood |
| dave potts |
| [..my so called music career..] |
|
| [..52 songs in 52 weeks..] |
|
| [..where i serve..] |
| powell church |
| [..disclaimer..] |
| I am on staff at Powell Church in Knoxville, TN but the opinions, thoughts, comments, and humor on this page are solely my own. Wade in at your own risk and be warned, I'm a bit of a goofball. |
| [..my site feed..] |
| RSS |
| [..archive..] |
MORE Conference 2004
Even though I'm not going to be able to attend this conference, I wanted to let you guys all know about it. Here is an email I received from a friend of mine who is on their planning team...
Dear Friends,
I am writing to tell you about the MORE College Student Gathering, a conference designed for college age students that will be held in January of '04. This vision was born by a minister here in the Roanoke Valley who has assembled a small team of leaders. We have joined together to put together a powerful experience we believe will genuinely affect students who come.
MORE '04
Jan 2-4, 2004
The purpose of is to engage college students with the relevant truth of Christ, igniting within them a passion for Christ and a burden for the lost.
The event will be held at the Ridgecrest Conference Center, just east of Asheville, NC. Registration will be limited to the first 2,000 students who register online, over the phone, or via snail mail. See this site for details about the location.
Our featured speaker for the week will be author and founding pastor of the Cedar Ridge Community Church, Brian McLaren. McLaren's books include: A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey; More Ready than You Realize; and The Church on the Other Side. See here for more details about Brian and the congregation where he serves.
Our worship leader will be Steve Fee, who will likely be joined by Amena Brown. These two, who teamed up to produce the Acclimate CD for this year's OneDay '03 gathering in Sherman, TX. Steve Fee's much anticipated debut CD comes from his experience with Passion and with the 7:22 band. To purchase the CD, see here.
The heart of the MORE experience will be in Get Real groups, small groups where college students will choose between ten relevant topics for their breakout times. Committed college leaders will meet in smaller groups to instruct and lead students to be empowered and to ignite their passion to reach the lost on their campuses.
Late Night music will provide further options, including food and a loose environment for students to spend time with one another.
Our website is currently under development, but we welcome you to check out what we have at this point. Our immediate goal will be to open registration by the time most students return to college -- in a week or so. We will certainly be ready by Sept 1 at the absolute latest. Check out More04 Website
We seek your help in spreading the word about MORE. We seek your prayer invested in the passion of MORE. We desperately long to give college students MORE -- more to help them grow in Christ that their lives might overflow onto the campuses where they live and learn.
your fellow servant,
Pete
I was originally planning on attending this conference but because my wife is due to have our baby the next week, I had to cancel. Knowing what I know though... this one looks like a winner.
The Keyboards of my Dreams!
For awhile now, I've been looking to add some vintage keyboards to my collection and man, this past week I scored big time! First off, I've been looking for an old Wurlitzer electric keyboard with this sweet tremelo effect. This model was used for the song "Where it's At" by Beck which gives you an idea of how cool it sounds.
Anyway, these keyboards go for like $400 - $500 on the online auction sites and are impossible to find. Well, I found an ad in some online classifieds from a guy advertising he had some old wurlitzer keyboards. I called him up and he said he had 3 of the exact model I was looking for. I really only wanted one but I asked him how much he wanted for all three. "Well, I guess I'd take $75 if you'll come take them all."
After I changed pants, I bought them. Bonus!
Then, stopping in a tiny little guitar shop here in town, I found the other keyboard of my dreams... the Fender Rhodes Mark I 73. These badboys have been used in all kinds of things... the Doors used them, Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" uses one... millions of jazz recordings. You've seen them... they're the old suitcase piano deals that have gone in and out of style over the years. It is so cool. A bit more pricey ($350) but that was a great price (go for $500 - $600 online) and I couldn't say no. I'm such a sucker for a cool old keyboard.
Now... if anyone sees a Hammond B3 with Leslie cabinet just lying around somewhere, give me a call.
It's a Boy!
Ultrasounds are amazing. these pictures are from the super-bonus-3D-ultrasound-2000 they now can do. It really was quite moving... the baby isn't old enough to survive outside the womb yet but already, I can tell it has her nose, her lips, and look at those little hands. Pretty stinkin cool!
I know it's been quiet...
I'll be back to posting tonight or in the morning. Sorry it's been so quiet but there's much going on. Coming up in the next few posts... an album review of an amazing new record by Over the Rhine, a story of probably my greatest musical instrument find ever... I mean I got an insane deal... and finally, tonight, I'll have ultrasound pictures of my child. We find out today what we're having! Can't wait!a prediction
9 months from tonight, hospitals across the east coast will be VERY busy.
What is Alt.Worship?
Over at Ragamuffin Minister, Jeph asked the following question:
Does anyone have a "non-evasive" way of explaining alt. worship? I think I'm all about it, but nothing I've read or heard so far has sounded original or different than the most recent shifts in worship. Is it just me? Am I a loser or something?
I left the following in a comment but wanted to post it here too.
Man, could you have asked a more vague question there Jeph?
Let's be literal first. You said non-evasive. It's alternative worship, so by definition, it's an alternative to more common forms of worship. I think we know what is the status quo for worship right now. Loud rockin' band, hands in the air, 2 delirious songs and the truth kind of thing.
So what is the alternative to that? First off, let me say that it's just an alternative... it doesn't mean that the other is wrong. This is just another way of doing it.
In my book, the reason I believe so strongly in alt.worship is because I believe that there is a large demographic who is tired of all the noise. They want to think... feel... taste... use some other senses. They want to listen deeply and hear something worth listening to.
Alt.Worship to me is about environment, community, silence, thought, prayer, and truth. Let me explain those one by one..
Environment - I strive HARD to always have the room look like it was prepared... that work was done... that atmosphere was created. This does two things. One, environment in worship is more important than most people realize. I know some would say "baah, you should worship everywhere! worship is a lifestyle! blah blah blah". Well, that sounds good and I'm sure it's in a book somewhere but it's not reality. Environment matters. I could worship better in St. Patrick's Cathedral than I could in Taco Bell. Secondly, it reminds people of home. When they come and see a place prepared, they are hopefully reminded that their father is in the same way preparing a place for them as well.
Community - To me, this is the core of alt.worship. We do it together. You don't come and sit and let worship happen to you. You come and participate. You come and share your life (at your confort level) and enjoy what those in the first century church enjoyed... the fellowship of believers. This is a big part of the service planning time... how can we make things more interactive is always the first question asked.
Silence - Another important element in my book. Remember what I said about noise. Twenty years ago, the church moved to "contemporary music" because we wanted to connect with people where they were. Then about 10 years ago, the church embraced multimedia because we wanted to appeal to a "short attention span" culture. I'm not knocking that... a lot of people have come because of those minitries and I've been a part of both of those. But now... I think more and more people want to just log-off. Turn off the TV / cell phone / DSL / palm pilot and just be quiet for a minute. The church can keep trying to compete with the world if it wants to with amazing technology. That's fine. But we have to also offer an alternative... what better alternative than silence.
Thought - This is pretty obvious I guess but to me, alt.worship has to have a depth of thinking that folks may not be used to. Teaching must challenge if it is to awaken hearts. If people are going to be open to the "strangeness" of alt.worship, it helps a lot if we are stimulating their brains a bit... getting things moving. It's kind of a top down thing... get the mind moving and the rest will follow.
Prayer - have you ever noticed how 90% of prayer requests in your church bulletin are health / medical related? Man, what a shame... part of being a community is shaking up the way we pray and start getting real with each other. I mean, can you not think of 50 things you need prayer for that aren't medical? Of course you can... but we only ask for prayer for those life/death things. Why is that? The way I do alt.worship, I ask people to pray for anything I'm struggling with. I open wounds. I expose myself. It's hard sometimes but if you want community, you have to risk comfort sometimes. This is vastly important.
Truth - A final word in my dissertation on alt.worship... in my book, as long as we keep the truth the truth, our methods are just that... methods. Alt.worship is where I'm at right now. Might that change later? I'm sure it will. But as long as my methods are pointing me and others to the one true God, I can feel pretty good about that.
- Greg
Brother brother brother...
Haven't been able to blog much this week due to lots of things happening so I thought I'd let you all know what's goin on.
Been working HARD on a new website for our college / young adult ministry at church. I would love it if some of you would check in on it and let me know what you think. it's not finished, but the basic engine is running. I would especially love to hear from someone on dialup... is it too slow? the entire site is shockwave which makes for a good look but some loading times. Anyway, go to www.deepandfree.com and let me know what you think.
That's been my week but I'm also very anxious about finding out what our child is going to be. We find out in six days. As I go to sleep at night I keep hearing the voice of this evil nurse in my head (and sometimes, she's wearing clown makeup but that's another story) saying over and over "Congratulations... it's an alien! ... Congratulations Mr. Adkins... it's a 3 toed lemur!... Oh look Mr. Adkins, if you look right here on the screen, you can see quite clearly that your wife is going to give birth to a healthy baby penguin." I don't know why I have this nightmare... I know that there couldn't be a penguin in there (but I did see one of them at the zoo giving her the eye... jerk). Could there? Naaah.
Chockin McNuggets
Just tried the new "all white meat" Chicken McNuggets.
They still suck. Carry on.
California Dreamin...
I know a lot of you out there in blog land are in California... I just wanted to congratulate you all on the madhouse your state has become. I used to think Minnesota was the strangest most backwards place on earth for having Ventura be governor but man... this California thing is going to take the cake.
As a general rule, I hate politics because I don't fit into either party and feel so much pressure from the church to be a republican (which is absurd). I don't feel like any of those people represent me so I generally just kind of shy away from participating but oh how I wish I could be in California for this.
Can you imagine the debates?
MODERATOR: Mr. Flynt, what are your thoughts on education.
FLYNT: Uh, more porn in schools?
AH-NOLD: You ah a flahby gurly-man.
GARY COLEMAN: Whatchoo talkin' about Conan
GALLAGHER: (screams as he smashes a carton of cottage cheese)
FATHER GUIDO SARDUCCI: Gallagher, you ignorant...
You get the idea. Man, if they all debate, someone please tell me they'll broadcast that nationally.
Daily 5
1. What books are you reading / have you just read?Journey of Desire by John Eldridge
You shall Know our Velocity by Dave Eggers
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
2. What are you doing?
Today, I am working on designing a website for the young adult group at church. I also need to pick songs for Sunday's service and check on a lady who is making stained glass for our chapel. Fun filled day!
3. What are you looking forward to?
Well, having this baby for one but that's a few months away. Currently, and i know this is shallow but I don't care, I'm looking forward to football season. Hopefully Tennessee will get back to form this year but I'm not too optimistic... as long as we beat Florida.
4. What TV shows are good?
Hmmm... I've enjoyed "The Restaurant" lately. Also been watching a lot of Letterman. 24 is great but isn't on again until October. Oh yeah, Scrubs. That show stinking cracks me up.
5. Quote of the day?
Yeah, I need a new quote over on my toolbar.. I know. But, the quote for today is from Randy Newman in his song "In Germany before the War" and it simply says... "I'm looking at the river, but I'm thinking of the sea."
I love that.
The Postmodern Crap Detector (TM)
I was home watching TV tonight and something got me thinking. A commercial came on for Sara Lee lunch meats. At the end of the commercial was a quick tag line that said "This month is National Deli-Sandwich Month so get some today!". Now, I know that February is Black History Month... but I'm pretty freaking sure that August isn't "National Deli-Sandwich Month". What the crap is that?
Anyway, got me thinking... this was probably the bright idea of some ad guy in some room... but I know that. I bet 99% of you reading this would have seen right through that too. I think something has happened and will continue to happen... our generation is smarter than the advertisers. Our crap detectors are more and more finely tuned than those who came before us. We can sniff out fakeness like this quickly and with precision.
Perhaps this is what has frustrated me so much with some of the things I've mentioned in other posts this week regarding the Christian bookstore and the Ark (new name for the Christian sub-culture). When someone sees a rack with their choice of "THe power of a praying husband, wife, parent, child, nation, couple, grandmother, etc..." they are going to automatically know "well hey, this isn't about the book... this is about the marketing."
I have a friend who is friends with Beth Moore's "manager". I learned that Beth recently wrote a children's book. I asked "I thought she wrote women's bible studies...". "She does" I was told... "But her publisher wanted to expand her brand name to a children's line as well to broaden her market." For real folks, that's exactly what I was told. I also learned that she didn't even want to write the children's book but basically has to. Word is, it isn't her best work. Wonder why?
I think I'm about to the end of talking about this for awhile, but I appreciate all of your comments on the topics below. It's been both frightening (the GQ article was scary and sad) and at times refreshing (Rick Warren's comment on the "books i'm reading" post), and always thought provoking (all of your thoughts on the GQ article post).
If you've been reading Jeph Hurst's blog recently at his new site: ragamuffinminister.com, you may have seen some of his discussion about the need to be "real". I get a little burned out on hearing this phrase... it's horribly overused, but be that as it may, it's something we need to do if we're going to have any impact on a world that has its crap detectors pointed right at the church. We sit around and wonder why we aren't reaching people... why we're culturally irrelevant... I wonder if we aren't so used to our own stink that we're becoming immune. God save us from that. Please.
21 Fears for my unborn child
1. I am scared that my complete lack of parenting know-how will result in injury or death.
2. That he will grow up to be full of anger or hate.
3. That he will grow up and be angry thinking that I forced my faith on him.
4. That he will have poor taste in music.
5. That he will be like me.
6. That he won't be like me.
7. That he will watch too much MTV in his teenage years and think it's perfectly normal to 30 sexual parters before the age of 18.
8. That he will watch too much MTV in his teenage years and think weed is one of the 4 food groups.
9. That he will be bullied because of the way he looks or acts.
10. That he will bully others because of the way they look or act.
11. That he will grow up and feel like he can't talk to me anymore because I don't understand his generation.
12. That he will be right.
13. That he will be a democrat.
14. That he will be a republican.
15. That he will love the first person who will let him.
16. That he will know divorce.
17. That he will be addicted to things.
18. That his grandparents won't live to see him grow up.
19. That we will make things too easy on him.
20. That we will make things too hard.
21. That someday, he'll google search for me and find this and be embarassed.
we don't know it's a he but I had to call it something. We find out in 12 days what it is. Still pulling for a girl actually.
Does the Internet Create Community?
Interesting comment left below by Tim... does the internet create community? Tim says no, but that blogs are a step in the right direction. Can community be created without face to face interaction or can we build community simply by the sharing of our words and thoughts? My personal thoughts are, blogging and sharing with all of you feels like community to me so as far as I'm concerned, it is. Of course I wish that all of you who come around here all lived in my town and we could go hang out over coffee and talk about these things for real but that's not gonna happen anytime soon. I wish though! Maybe I could have the emergingminister.convention or something. That would rule. My vote would be to have it in Santa Barbara so I can get back out there... that might be the coolest city on earth. Wow, that went off topic fast. Comments?
Testing RSS Feed Capability
Thanks to a tip from a friendly reader, I am testing out making the site available to be read on RSS Newsfeeds. My apologies if this causes any downtime or problems. We'll have it sorted out soon.
Sad article...
Thanks to jonny baker... here's a sad article by the GQ magazine literary editor. He spent a week using nothing but Christian products... listening to Christian radio, watching Christian TV, movies, music, books... read his thoughts here.
A word about community
I just wanted to say a word about community... and that word mainly is thanks. I was just thinking today how much I love doing this... writing... reading your comments... responding to them... going to your sites and reading your thoughts... commenting on them... laughing and crying along with you folks who share so much of yourselves so honestly for no other reason than to just connect with someone and be understood.
Jeph, Jared, Adam, Sarge, Jon, Cynical Tyrant, Tim, Pete, Darren, Steve, and those of you who read but don't feel led to join the discussions yet (you're welcome anytime). Oh, and Rick Warren too I guess. Thank you all for sharing your lives openly... I honestly see this as my second church home if there can be such a thing... virtual church. Sometimes I feel more connection with you folks than I do with my real church family. You guys will never replace them, but you will probably always understand me better. For that I am grateful.
Books I'm Currently Reading
Lots of good books out right now and here's some that I am working on. Classics each.
The Purpose Driven Bake Sale - By Rick Warren
Hot on the heals of "The Purpose Driven Church", "The Purpose Driven Life", and "The Purpose Driven Lawn Mower Repair Ministry" comes Warren's latest best seller. This one tells you how you can really have a sense of purpose while selling baked goods for fun and profit. Also available (for an extra charge): The purpose driven muffin recipe handbook, The purpose driven sourdough starter kit, and The purpose driven bake sale video curriculum.
Just Like my Last Book- By Max Lucado
Max gets down to business in this, his four hundred and fifteenth book. The title says it all!
The Power of a Praying Parrot- By Stormie Omartian
This insightful book is for bird lovers everywhere! Stormie argues that since parrots can talk, we might as well teach them to pray! Unlock the secret to a happy prayer life for your parrot because, what could be more important?
The Prayer of Jabez for Overweight Teenagers named Jimmy - By Bruce Wilkinson
Jabez mania continues! Following the number one best-seller "The Prayer of Jabez", and other books in the series like "The Prayer of Jabez for Toddlers", "The Prayer of Jabez for Televangelists", "The Prayer of Jabez for Goths", and "The Prayer of Jabez for Anyone Else we May Have Previously Left Out", Bruce is back with this great book. While I am a tad overweight, I am not a teenager and my name is certainly not Jimmy. However, this was the only copy they had left at Borders... all the others were of course sold out so I guess it will have to do. I'm a bit concerned though that this particular version is insensitive... as someone who is a bit overweight, I am offended by the phrase "expand my territory".
just for fun folks... don't you just love photoshop and free time?
