| [..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..] |
A Lyrical Question
I could use a little help with a song lyric I'm working on for the 52 songs project. I'll post the whole lyric and I'd like to hear your comments on it. The reason I come to you for help primarily is this... the song uses the word "queer" in it and one person I've played it for found it offensive. I personally do not so and think it works in the context of the song. But, being the writer, it's no surprise I think that and I want to make sure I'm not being blind here. So... here is the song. Comment below.
Forgiveness for Everyone
I drive to work on Monday at the church up on the hill
People like to hear about the work I do until
I tell about the man from so long ago who still
Says that He can bring forgiveness for everyone
People don't believe it, I can see it in their face
There has to be a point when you are too far gone for grace
But there's a shot for every person, every lifestyle, every race
With the man who brings forgiveness for everyone
Lately I've been hearing lots of whispers down the hall
We should barricade the doors and we should hide inside our walls
Let the world rage on outside us let them fight and let them fall
We'll be safe inside our bubble doing nothing at all
Walking through a world that's full of enemies of light
With one arm raised to bless them and the other raised to fight
It'd be easier to love them if they thought that we were right
Would we rather change thier hearts or change their minds
We're ready to condemn you if you step over that line
And you know that we might leave you if you ever fall behind
Begging for the answers, we say "seek and you might find"
Would we rather be comfortable than kind
Lately we've been pickin' fights with everyone we fear
Maybe you are pro-choice or maybe you are queer
But the man of many sorrows says "what's goin' on in here?
Would you send away the ones that I am longing to draw near?
You pharisees are backwards don't you know I came to tell
Broken people about love but you just scare them all with hell
And you leave your brother lying in the dirt there where he fell
Whatever happened to forgiveness for everyone?
Whatever happened to forgiveness for everyone?
Whatever happened to forgiveness for everyone?
Frustrated
Without going into too much detail, last night's Ash Wednesday service was really great. It was humbling to me to put the ashes on people and to remind them that they came from dust and to dust they will return... I think it's good for us all to hear someone say that to us once a year. BUT...
Afterwards, there were rumblings from a small few that had a problem with us doing a catholic tradition in our church. I would love to hear from any of you out there who have had experience with the following:
Whatever denomination you're in, you've incorporated elements that are primarily associated with other denominations.... any issues there? Let me know your story if you have one. What problem did people (or someone) have with it and what was your answer for it?
I'm not even going to go into the defense for this as I don't think it needs to be said here on this site... most of you reading this know where I'm coming from and understand why participating in an Ash Wednesday service is beneficial.
I think the root of my frustration boils down to two kinds of church leaders I see... (1) - People pleasers... let's tend the flock, keep everyone happy... If we do a service that impacts 99 but pisses off 1, perhaps we should change it to not piss off the 1. I also call these kinds of church leaders "inwardly focused". (2) - no catchy name here, but the flip side is the leader who is glad the people who are there are there, but is more interested in reaching lost people than in putting out fires at home. In a service where 99 are blessed and 1 is pissed, this leader would probably say well, we can't please everyone, but praise God for the 99... I hope the 1 finds somewhere else he likes.
I think a church needs a balance between these two and all churches will have leaders of both kinds... I'd love to hear your experiences with this. I am currently VERY frustrated by a feeling that many around me are obsessively inwardly focused to the point that they hold back those who are outwardly focused... the ideal situation is to let those who are outwardly focused, be themselves... go out, bring in, start dialogues, ask questions, and reach some people. Then let those who are inwardly focused, love on them, teach them, and build relationships. But if one groups is saying to the other "you shouldn't be doing that", we will never get anywhere.
Crap, I'm rambling. Anyway, sorry I can't say more. One of the bad things about having your friends at church know you have a website is you can't really use it to be honest about problems with your church. Well, you can, but you'd better do so at your own risk.
Interesting and Sad Website
Found a sad website today for people who have abandoned the Christian faith. It's called exchristian.net. As I read it, I feel so sad... and I'm not even sure why. I suppose many Christians would read it and want to enter dialogue with some of these folks to "talk them back into it". I don't know... I feel more sad in wondering what I might have done to ever drive people there. What "pat" answers have I given to a hurting person (it's all in God's plan) or what example of laziness have I shown to someone truly seeking.
Read it if you dare but it's both depressing, frustrating, and challenging all at the same time. The graphic above came from that site and I don't necessarily think it's funny, but an example of the kind of thing you'll find there.
I've got Ashes on my Forehead.
Tomorrow (wednesday) night we attempt an Ash Wednesday service which I am anxiously awaiting. I've never been to one, never done one. I'm going to one at the Methodist church down the road at noon tomorrow to get in the mood. I'm looking forward to wearing the ashes all day... people will think I'm Catholic.. that will be cool.
I'll post some thoughts on Thursday after the service. Say a prayer if you care to for those who are coming... 99% of those coming to this service will have never done Ash Wednesday and never done Lent. I'm excited that the newness of the tradition to them will bring added power. Come Lord Jesus!
Song #21 is now Online!
Go to my 52 songs in 52 weeks page to listen to song #21, "I'm Losing You". This is another very simple recording... just guitar and voice. The next few after this will be a bit more produced but I've enjoyed stripping it down for these last three tunes. Enjoy.Song #20 is now Online!
Go to my 52 songs in 52 weeks page to listen to song #20, "Shadow of a Doubt". It's a song about.... doubt.Song #19 is now Online!
Go to my 52 songs in 52 weeks page to listen to song #19, "Standing on the Same Promises". I'm really happy with this one... it's about the battle churches fight between traditional and contemporary music. Check it out and leave comments... I'm anxious to hear feedback on this one, positive or negative.Come to think of it, I've received very little negative feedback on these songs and I'm not arrogant enough to think it's because everyone loves these songs. Geez, if you think one of them sucks, say so in the comments! I know you're out there! Spice things up a bit!
The Lord's Gym?
This article reads a bit like a joke from Larknews or something but it is entirely for real. You've seen the T-shirts... now there's the real thing. "The Lord's Gym
Thoughts on the Human Voice and Emmylou Harris
My friend Kenny sent this email to me today:
Hey man. Just now getting around to really listening to the Emmy Lou CD you passed my way a while back. Wow! What an incredibly rich, haunting, powerful, alluring voice. Isn’t it such an interesting/strange animal—that is, the human voice. What makes a good one? a great one? a compelling one? etc. I think so much of it has to involve the self-understanding of range, color, etc. and pushing it enough—to stretch it, but not so much to force it. Perhaps the biggest hurdle is in allowing one’s true (absolutely unreplicatable) voice to come out. And the insecure self screams: “But I don’t like the sound of my true voice!” Yeh, yeh. But isn’t maturity a matter of pushing through the false voice of the false-self to finding the true voice of our true selves.
The Conehead has left the Building
So now that the boy's conehead is down, here's a picture of what he looks like now. He's a great kid... sleeps a lot, seems content with things. Wide eyed wonder on his face most of the time he's awake. Craps his pants like a freak but hey, if I could do it too, I probably would. He's the man. He turns three weeks old Friday. Last night we put him down at about 1:00 and when we woke up this morning at 7:30, he was still sound asleep. How many 3 week old babies sleep for 6 hours a night? This is a regular thing for him so far... he's obviously my kid. I can sleep forever!
Songs Update
Hey everyone. I've been enjoying the conversation on everything lately. Things at home with the baby are better than I could have dreamed but also harder than I imagined. It's good sometimes to have contact with the world through all of you... thanks for helping keep me sane when I'm sleep deprived.It's going to be awhile before I can really record any music for the 52 songs project. I just don't have time to record at home... to get recording, the house has to be quiet and I have to have 2 or 3 hours free to work. As any of you with children know, this is just not going to happen for awhile. But in the meantime, I'm working hard on writing and I'll make up the time later on. I already have through at least song 28 written (I think anyway).
I was wondering... does anyone out there want to take a shot at collaboration? I am stronger with melody than I am with lyric... does anyone out there have any lyrics or poetry that they can't get music for? I'd love to take a shot at something if you're cool with me messing with it a little to make it fit. I tend to slave hard and long for lyrics but get music very very quickly most of the time. If anyone is interested, comment or shoot me an email at emergingminister@aol.com
Wed. @ the Well - "Be the Body"
This past Wednesday was one of my all time favorite nights of the Well we've ever had. We talked a lot about what it means to be the body of Christ and used the symbol of bread very prominently. This was the kind of service anyone could do anywhere so here's a detailed rundown of what we did. As people were coming into the room, they smelled bread... this is because we had a breadmaker running in the room and rolls going in the oven out front. Aroma was key in setting the theme.
On stage was a table with a tablecloth over it. A video camera was setup above the table and run into the projector so people could see what was going on on the table's surface. The song "If we are the Body" by Casting Crowns begins to play and the lights dim. A person stands behind the table as if preparing to create something.
As the song gets going, people from all over the room (planted ahead of time) begin bringing different kinds of bread up to the table. Each piece is received by the leader as a gift and delicately placed onto the table. After about 13 pieces, it is finally revealed to be a body. The leader then takes out a heart shaped bowl and lays it in the center and pours it full of wine/juice.
See a VIDEO of what this looked like here: MPEG (65MB) | Real (1 MB)
When the song is over and the breadman is created, we went into a reading of scriptures dealing with the five senses. We had 2 scriptures from psalms for sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste.
From there, we went right into a few worship songs, inviting people to focus on worshipping with all of their senses.
Our speaker for the night had an inspiring message on being the body of Christ. He talked about how the reason there are so many lost is because we don't look like, smell like, taste like, feel like, or sound like Christ. That is a VERY simplistic summary of what was a wonderful and nuanced message... let me know if you want more info.
After that we sang one more song and then invited people to come and take communion from the body on the table. A slide was projected that simply said "This is my body, broken for you". As communion was taken, the band sang an original song written by four of us called "Be the Body" (which will turn up soon on my 52 songs project).
If you have any questions about how to do this, let me know... the imagery of the body made of bread and then seeing it broken at the end was powerful. I should also note that the idea for the breadman was adapted from something Thom Schultz did at a conference somewhere that one of our planning team members attended.
Song #18 is now Online!
Go to my 52 songs in 52 weeks page to listen to song #18, "Under the Sun". Really. Go now.Janet Jackson's um... stuff
Is anyone else more than a little amused by the "outrage" CBS has towards Janet Jackson's booby exposure during the super bowl halftime show? I mean yes, it was ridiculous but get real, not ten minutes before we had to endure farting horses. How many shows does CBS broadcast each week that depict a brutal murder (well, I know of 3 right off the top of my head... CSI, CSI Miami, and CSI Topeka just to name a few). I mean, what's worse? They run victoria's secret commercials during prime time family shows that bare a lot more skin than Janet Jackson did. They will gladly show brutal murders at 9:00 on a weeknight day in and day out... why not apologize for that. Seems like a double standard to me.If CBS really wants to apologize for something, why not start with Walker Texas Ranger.
It's official...
This parenting business is harder than it looks. To all of you who have survived the first few weeks with a newborn, my hat is off to you. Sleeep.... need sleeeeeep.
