Fleshing it out

Matthew 5:38-48 in the flesh. Check it…

38“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Love for Enemies

 43“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

In Case You Were Going to Go…

Let me save you the money and time:

My Playlists in Review ‘08

If you know me or you are one of the three people who read this blog, you know that music is a big part of my day. I talk about it, make it, and listen to it. Here are some songs that have made many appearances in my Playlists this past year. Some are old some are not, but all are great. Check em out and let me know some of your songs that frequented your playlists this past year!

Amos Lee – Street Corner Preacher Amos has been on my must listen to list for the past couple of years. Sounds like Bill Withers and Tracy Chapman had a love child who can sing and tell stories.

Bon Iver – Skinny Love Best new artist of the year.

Damien Rice – Cannonball stones taught me to fly/ love, it taught me to lie/ life, it taught me to die/ so it’s not hard to fall when you float like a cannonball

Dave Brubeck – Blue Rondo A La Turk Always puts me in a good mood

David Bazan – Weeds in the Wheat God bless the woman who suffers/God bless the woman who weeps/God bless the children trying her patience

Death Cab For Cutie – I Will Possess Your Heart Creepiest song of the year. For reals.

Glen Hansard - Leave Gut wrenchingly beautiful. Have you seen the movie “Once” yet? Have you bought the soundtrack? If you haven’t done this…do it now.

Gnarls Barkley – Who’s Gonna Save My Soul? Cee Lo’s voice is so beautiful. It reminds me of Marvin Gaye. This song really moves me.

Rocky Votolato – Tin Foil Hats Very inspiring and thought provoking for a lot of my own writing this past year.

Jakob Dylan – Valley of the Low Sun This was an album that a lot of people glanced over but didn’t listen to and missed out on.

James Morrison – You Give me Something I hear this song at the bucks all the time. I love his voice. It reminds me of Rod Stewart at times.

Kanye West – The Good Life My Spring/Summertime anthem

Jay-Z (Ratatat Remixes) – Sunshine Ratatat did some great remixes.

Sean Hayes - All For Love Kelly Huckaby gave this CD to me. It was awesome. I love his voice and style. Great story teller.

Vampire Weekend – Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa Fun, Fun, Fun.

Kings of Leon – Closer This is from their new album after they were finished touring with U2. What is it about bands finishing a tour with U2 and their album sounds like them? This song is my favorite. Really, the song that sounds like U2 is “Use Somebody”.

M.I.A. – Paper Planes Was my favorite song until I heard it on the commercial for Pineapple Express. Still a great song. the rest of the album is too “world music” for me to understand at times.

Mos Def – Close Edge I love Mos.

Radiohead – House of Cards The whole In Rainbows album was good. It was even better priced!

Ryan Adams – To Be Young Dylan-esque and awesome.

T-Pain – Church Guilty Pleasures.

Wilco – A Shot in the Arm Great Lyrics. Great songwriting. Great Music. It’s Wilco man!

The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby Sad and beautiful. Always in my playlist somewhere.

The Lonely Forest – We Sing In Time Local band. This is my favorite song of theirs.

My Christmas Gift for You

I hope that this makes your Christmas only that much brighter…

Seriously, it never gets old…

Snow Day(s) and the Church

Baron and I were talking about snow days before service yesterday. Here in bellingham, if you go out on a sunday and there is a foot of snow on the ground then the gas stations are still open, grocery stores and starbucks still tread on, and even little ceasars pizza still open there doors. Usually, the first people to close their doors on a sunday are the churches. Wierd, huh?

At the church I used to work for and attend, if there was even over 6 inches on the ground, they would shut down services. I wonder if maybe it was because they worry about the congregants coming in from all over the county. I began to wonder also if this is another example of the disadvantages of the “Come and See” attractional church. Not many of the congregants of that church live within a mile or two of the church.

Maybe it’s just cabin fever I am getting being holed up with Loa and Cynthia, but I wonder if you have any thoughts on this?

Loa Maile Pai

This is my little girl. Her name is hawaiian and means “the long vine”. It is a reminder for her about what matters to her most in regards to her family and spirituality, and that she is a part of something much bigger than she is. She was born on Dec. 16th, 2008 at 3:29 p.m. She weighs 6 lbs and is 19.5 inches long. Here are some pictures of her. More to come!

Fatherhood, Here I Come!!!

It is 10:00 p.m., and I am writing this in the hospital room right now. Cynthia is sleeping and dialated at 3 cm. We came today because her blood pressure was high. So we sat in a room while she got a Non Stress Test done. I tell you what, it was a stress test for sure. We sat in that room for two hours and then the finally moved us to another where we were going to be held for “observations”. Baron stopped by and prayed with us as you can guess we were scared. After he left, the doctor came in to talk about a Urine test that Cynthia had taken. I guess they found wierd toxicities in it or too much protien in it, to which the doctor said we need to get the baby out of there to be safe. I think tomorrow I might have a little girl!

We are just really excited as all get out but nervous also. Please pray for safety, nerves, easy birth, me not passing out, and anything else you can think of. I can’t wait to introduce you all to my little girl!

The Toy Store

Roosevelt Community Church started the Community Toy Store a few years ago. It is a way for us to help families in need provide toys for their family while keeping their honor and dignity. Our hope is to help 70-100 families provide toys for their family while supporting thier local community as well. 

My friend Brad Hauge told me that he was starting a toy store for the holidays in Spokane. That is awesome! Here is a video from last year that I did describing what we are did last year and are continuing to do this year.

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas Carols

Am I the Grinch who stole Christmas carols? I had some people ask me to do Christmas carols during our worship at Roosevelt Community Church. As a staff member of a church that practices and obeserves the Advent season, this brought up a few Questions for me:

What is the true job of the ministers of the church?

Is the true reason to appease the congregation? Should we say “give them what they want”, or should we liken our job as ministers to teach what, how and why we believe as Christ followers? As a staff member of a church which follows the church calendar, only to find themselves in the middle of Advent, then I believe this is a great teaching moment. What if we taught the idea of patience in the midst of the season of antcipation. otherwise, to put it semi-crudely, we experience the climax without the foreplay. It’s just straight to the money shot and we don’t realize what had happened in between it all.

As an artist, what am I to do?

Do I simply go with the congregation, or do I challenge them to think? Is that not the purpose of the worship leader – to help people think, see, and experience Jesus in different ways? Maybe we need to push people outside of their comfort zones. Instead of singing the familiar tunes of  “Angels We Have Heard on High”, we challenge people in experiencing the anticipation through the ideas of  “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”.

What tears me apart as an artist is I want to challenge people, but on the other hand I have to think about the feelings of the congregation. So what can I do? Do I feel like a sell out, or keep the integrity of the season? I opt for the later, myself. Which draws another question:

Why couldn’t there be more accesible ways of explaining the Advent season?

Really, in teh singing world, you are stuck with a handful of songs that describe teh Advent season…about three I believe – the two more recognizable being “Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel” and “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”. After those two you need to be creative. I’ve written an Advent specific song that we share as a congregation, and have allowed artists to share in teh past through visual arts of painting. I wonder if, you who are reading this, you have any ideas? If so, please let me know.

I would say that I am the farthest from being grinchy. I start my Corporate Christmas ways on November 1st. I listen to music and tour around Target looking at the lights and decorations that have been made by children and prisoners from foreign countries (that’s a topic for a whole other post). I just want to teach my congregation just a little bit of restraint. I want to have one place where they can reflect and not be sucked into what they are hearing outside of the walls of our little church. Somewhere where they can learn a little more about their faith. Call me crazy, but that just might be what the church service was designed to be.