| [..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..] |
Midnight
Our theme for the well this past week was "Midnight" and we talked a lot about the "dark night of the soul". Who we end up becoming often depends on how we respond to our darkest moments. Most of the night was spent entirely in darkness with some stars projected onto the ceiling. We also kept the heat off and the room was hovering around 50 degrees... it was really cold. The only lights we had were two streetlamps which we turned on for scripture reading and some poetry ("The Dark Night of the Soul"). Next week is going to be very cool but I'll wait until it happens to tell you what we're doing.
BABY!
Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Connor! Born 01/23/04 (one two three four) at 6:28 pm weighing in at a mighty 10 pounds even. He's a hoss as we say here in the south! Everything with the delivery went very well and Connor is doing just great. All he does so far is eat and sleep... hardly any crying or fussing but of course, he's two days old. I'm sure there will be plenty of time for that later. Those of you who have had us in your prayers, thank you. We felt God's comforting hand with us in the delivery room and Connor was born into a room full of peace, love, and thanksgiving. I have never understood until now just how good God is to us.
Song #17 is now Online!
Go to my 52 songs in 52 weeks page to listen to song #17, "Romantic Comedy".With the baby coming any day now, it might be awhile before I can get anymore songs recorded for the project. However, I've written about 5 more songs that I'm waiting to record. I've also recorded two worship songs by other people to include in the project and also written my first worship song in a long time. New songs that are coming are called "someone calling", "the best that I can", "under the sun", "bright angel", and "shadow of a doubt". I'll be working on those slowly when I'm not changing diapers.
We're a week late on the baby and they will induce labor on Friday morning early... probably the last time I'll post here until I come back with some baby pictures!
This is the coolest!
Check this out! It's a sound art project where you type anything in and snippets of pop songs will sing back whatever you type! It's amazing and kudos to whoever put this one together... sweet stuff.
Let them sing it for you
Waiting...
This uncertainty is killing me. Every day I get up wondering... will this be the day... and so far, every day it hasn't been. My wife was due with the baby on Wednesday so we're now two days late... normal I guess but still keeping my stomache in knots. I don't do well with uncertainty. The good news I guess is that we know that the longest they'll let her go is until next Friday morning when they will induce her if she hasn't had the baby naturally. Pray for natural... we really don't want to be induced.Song #16 is now Online!
Go to my 52 songs in 52 weeks page to listen to song #16, "Amazing Grace", co-written with Jeph Hurst from Ragamuffin Minister.A cool thing...
Say what you will about our president, he did something cool this week that most won't hear about. There's a girl in my church who about two years ago almost died from a diabetic coma. Doctors said there was a very high probability that she would never walk or speak again. Now, most Sundays at church, you can find her in the lobby after service doing splits and cartwheels... God is cool.
Anyway, about a year ago, when she was beginning rehab, the Dream Connection foundation contacted her and asked her what her wish was. This group is similar to the Make-a-Wish foundation. She said her wish was to go back to heaven and be with God (as she was going into her coma, she had a near-death or whatever you want to call it experience and she saw and spoke with God... he told her he would heal her). The Dream Connection said they really couldn't do that so she should make another wish. She said she wanted to meet the president... they said "we'll see what we can do but that's a tough one."
Well, this Thursday, as fate would have it, President Bush was here in Knoxville for a campaign thing... the Dream Connection people called the white house and arranged for the girl and her family to meet the president. Not just shake his hand in line, but be taken to a private room with him for a little while... they sat and talked. From what her family said, he was wonderful. At one point, the girl asked President Bush "Mr. President, will you pray with me?". Her whole family gathered around the president to pray for him... pretty cool stuff.
Anyway, it's not everyday that this happens to a family in your church... I thought it was pretty cool.
Settling in...
Getting settled in the new house... going to spend tomorrow unpacking boxes and recording a couple of new tunes for the 52 songs project. Next week we start back with our Wednesday @ the Well services at church and the baby is due a week from today. Things are about to get fun!
Our first topics for the well are (1) "Testify". On this night, we will teach on how easy it is to talk about God in everyday conversations without coming across as a freak... many people are so afraid to even mention their faith in day to day conversation... we're going to try to work on that. (2) "Midnight"... we're going to talk about the dark night of the soul and what to do when we're faced with a time of midnight... we'll reflect on Jesus in the garden. We're also starting to plan an Ash Wednesday service for Feb. 25th which should be cool since I'm guessing no one in my church has ever even been to one before. It amazes me how many Christians look at things they deem "Catholic" as if they are wrong to do... why don't we all do Lent? It's a great spiritual discipline and really makes me look forward to Easter!
You ever have...
One of those days where everything just feels strange? It's 7:40 AM right now on Sunday morning and I feel absolutely out of body this morning. From the second I woke up, I felt like a stranger in my own skin to some degree... my feet felt funny on the floor and as I stepped into the bathroom and saw myself in the mirror, I made eye contact with myself and just stared for a few minutes... kept thinking over and over "who are you?". Does everyone do that like every few months? I always seem to.In the car on the way in to work everything felt strange... I felt like I was very close to the road and instead of feeling like I was in a car moving 70 down the interstate, I felt like I could feel the earth hurtling me through space and millions of miles an hour... for a few minutes it was actualy frightening.
Weird day so far. We moved into a new house yesterday, our first house actually, so maybe that's the source of all the strangeness. I'll be playing and leading in three worship services this morning... on a day like this, I need to spend some "not about me" time.
