Summer Camp ’06 EPIC

So I just got back from our summer camp. What a great week. Our speaker was great, the band was great, the weather was hot but not dealy hot, I lost five pounds, a great way to boost up you diet, I have broken the 260 barrier, the kids bonded in ways that really surprised me, and the food was actually really good (bigger surprise.) All in all, it was great fun.

I was in charge of the river tubing activity which was the only off-site activity this year. I wish I could say that it was smooth and flawless, but alas no such luck. The river was just plain slow, and what I was told was a 20-30 minute ride was actually an hour and fifteen. So that was a bummer because we just didn’t have enough time to get all 300 kids down the river. If we had one more day like we usually do then that would have been different. Or iif we had used the small group time everyday to run down the river, and then have the groups who went do their small group when they got back. That was a solution that I never really thought of so I’ll take the blame for that.

I really learned this week that God is in control and not me, he’s in control of the river, as well as the faith progress that our students make. I honestly think that each student made some progress over the week. i brought 6 students from our ministry and they all grew. I have been at Northgate (now Creekside) for 1.5 years. (Now since we have officially changed our name do I have to start counting over?) And all of these students have grown so much since we first started. It’s amazing what prayer, time and energy can do in a student’s life.

I wish I would have had more time to hang out with our group, but I was away with the tubing group a lot. Next year I don’t know if I will be involved in that level of leadership, but if I am I am definitely going to delegate out the days better so at most I would only have one day away from my group.

All in all it was a great camp.

Check out some pictures over in my sidebar

Tour de France Blues

So this Tour de France was one upset after another, it opened with many of the favorites being ousted for doping, and now it’s come to a close with another doping scandal.

I was so happy when Floyd Landis came back from behind to win! And now I’m bummed that it’s come out that his second test came back positive, you can read for yourself here.

I went to his website and it wasn’t respodning. So I don’t know if they took it down, or if it’s been overwhelmed with people trying to check it out.

But Oscar Perrero was a strong rider too, and if the Mayo Jean goes to Oscar then that’s cool, i guess.

Friday Afternoon

Well It’s friday afternoon, and I really don’t have much to write about. Camp is pretty much in the bag. Work is pretty dead, and I have .5 hours left until I get to go home.

Tonight I will be going to a Worship Concert by my friend Chris Ritchie. Chris and I were in a band together and you can read about it here. Planning on this evening has brought back a lot of memories about the band and traveling and playing with the band and other bands. Those were good times.

One of my favorite groups to play with was wideawake. These guys a awesome, and if you are looking for good music on itunes go get these guys. They’re great. It’s cool to see how well they’ve done. We played shows together where they couldn’t even give us gas money, and now they are rockin’ the austin scene pretty hard.

They’ve even released a single to benefit the LiveStrong Foundation. You can read about it on their site, but that song was played when Lance Armstrong appeared on the tonight show. Pretty cool, pretty cool.

The first time I saw Wideawake we were playing at a Christian Battle of the Bands. They were called Common Thread back then. They were definitely the best group there. So from Dightmans Book Store in Tacoma to the WB, MTV, and Livestrong, it’s been a journey for them and I’m excited to see where they end up.

Great article on writing

So I have been wanting to write a book for sometime. And it’s hard to build the momentum to get going I have actually several ideas that I have been kicking around. A book about Jesus in the Book of Hebrews, a book about Youth ministry, and a novel based on the songs of Johnny Cash. But I just haven’t had the time and focus to really get working on any of them.

But I came across this article and I thought I would post it for any other aspiring authors out there.

Seth Godin’s Advice for Authors

enjoy!

Worship

I love worship, I love to sing worship songs, I love to play worship songs, I love worshipping Jesus.

But in Body Peircing Saved My Life I came Across this lengthy quote.

Worship Music is the logical conclusion of Christian adult contemporary music — not just unappealing but unbearable to anyone not already in the fold. Every song follows the sam parameters. It opens gently, with tinkling arpeggios or synthesized harp glissandos that portend the imminence of something celestial in galacial 4/4 time. In the second verse, the band–invariable excellent players–soft pedals in, gaining in volume to the bridge. And then the chorus. Heavens, the Choruses. They could put U2 out of business for good, they’re so huge. Another verse. A Middle eight. Then, a breakdown when the audience takes over singing. Another massive chorus. Fin.

This isn’t music to appreciate; it’s music to experience. People at a worship servce close their eyes and, as ecstasy spreads across their faces, begin to rock rythmically, arms out, mouthing the lyrics. It’s more than a little sexual and a tad uncomfortable if you’re sitting next to an attractive person who’s been overcome by the Spirit.

Worship tunes tend to evince an adolescent theology, one that just can’t get over how darn cool it is that Jesus sacrificed himself for the world. “Our God is an awesome God.” “O Lord, you are glorious.” “How can it be/That you, a king, would die for me?” Moreover, it’s self-centered in a way that reflects evangelicalism’s near-obsession wiht having a personal relationship with Christ. It’s me Jesus died for. I just gotta praise the Lord!

Not for nothing is “Amazing Grace,” which marvels at the author’s salvation, one of the few traditional humns to be regularly included in modern worship services. Absent is any hint of community found in hymns such as “THe Church Is One Foundation”–the Jesus of worship music is a mentor, a buddy, a friend whose message is easily distilled to a simple command: praise me. Not “feed the poor, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner.” Simply thank Him for His gift to you (and make sure to display copyright information at the bottom of the screen so royalties can be disbursed).

All of which I could bear, or at lease imagine defending, if all the songs didn’t sound the same. now, I don’t want to be a total bully here. Obviously, worship music means a lot to many people, and there are worship songs that stand up on their own, as music but they are in the minority. As is any hint of evangelizing–this is musicby the save only, for the saved only, an art form where the images projecrted on the screens are more fruitful sources of meditation and reflection than the lyrics superimposed on them.

Wow, this is a non-christians take on worship music and worship time in the church. What really stuck out to me is at the end that we don’t look at worship with the purpose of bringing people into the community of Christ, we just want to feel good. It’s a little indicting that the evangelical church in america is not evangelical when it comes to our music.

what can we do to correct this? What can we do to make worship evangelistic? What would happen if instead of singing love songs to Jesus we sang songs that led us to love others in the name of Jesus? Would that change the dynamic of our services? Would that change the dynamic of our churches?

Could it be that the reason that most churches in the US are dying is because they sing about what Jesus does for them, and them alone? Could it be that our songs and song styles that we fight over and churches split over are the very things that drive people away? Could it be that people want more from church than to just feel good and have their felt needs(whatever that means) met? Could it be that they want more than just the recent hits in worship music? Could it be that people want songs that challenge them? Songs that invite them to change the world? Song that tell them what’s wrong with them and how to fix it?

What would happen if durring a worship service the band played, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. This is a song about a spiritual quest that says, everything we know and have experienced isn’t the end all. There’s something more than just feeling good, there’s something more than knowing all the answers. Would the church freak out, or would they embrace the message of the song to contiually seek and search in God? What would happen?

I am loving this book, it’s so insightful to the whole Christian sub-culture, and it really reminds me that everything we do should be to build the kingdom becaause everything when you boil it all down is God’s and he wants it back.

to quote Martin Luther, Larry Norman, and Geoff Moore, “Why should the devil have all the good music?”

What A Wonderful Day For A Walk . . .

and watching fighter jets fly over head at breakneck speeds.

Let me explain. Seafair is in full swing here in Seattle, and every year along with the pirate, the parade, the hydro planes, and the drunken boat parties the Blue Angels come to town. And with the blue angels comes the annual mid morning thursday traffic jame as the blue angels do their practice.

So this traffic jam was causing my bus into seattle to be late and I was going to miss my transfer. So I got off at an early stop and walked to work. And it was actually faster to walk to work this way than to go all the way downtown and wait for a transfer. Pretty stinking sweet. So not only did I get to enjoy the weather, and get some exercise in, I also got to watch the blue angels zoom over head and do some things that I’m pretty sure would cause me to wet my pants. Thank you Seafair for the inconvenience that turned out to be a nice stroll. Thank you.

Body Piercing

So I’ve had Body Peircing Saved My Life on my currently reading panel for some time but I am just now really geting into it. A phone call from the library saying it’s due will really put some energy behind reading a book.

This is a book written by one of the Contributing editors of Spin Magazine, he’s not a christian, and he’s giving an outsiders view at the phenomenon of Christian Music. One of the things that I am realizing in this book is that people really do look at christians and think that we are weird or different. Partly because we have a desire and a tendency to seperate ourselves into subcultures that I don’t think was Jesus idea when he said go into all the world and make disciples baptizing them . . .

But I digress. I think this is going to be a very insightful book and I have really enjoyed it so far. The author talked about dcTalk and I reminisced about just how awesome Free At Last and Jesus Freak really were.

I just finished reading a chapter about Tooth & Nail which is a record label that is located in Seattle. it was very interesting. This is a great book so far and if anyone wants to get an outsiders perspective on the christian sub-culture this is a great resource.

Excited

As I begin to look to fall I am feeling excitement about all the things that are going to be going on. Transit will launch back up on September 20th, that’s something that I am crazy excited about. Even though it’s another thing that I have to prepare for each week, it’s totally fun because we get to talk about the bible, worship and build community.

Also I am starting to plan for elevate 07, which was a highlight for the past year. This year I hope that it’s even better, and that we really have a great retreat.

We are also going to begin planning for a membership class thing, that I haven’t thought of a name for yet, but I’m working on it. Instead of a one time meeting and peacing out, we are going to spend some time talking about our core values, our churches statement of faith, our six purposes (the wheel), the mission of the church, membership duties, and all that. I’m really excited. I think a program like this will really help get our church people on the same page, and welcome in the people who are on the fringe of our community. This is going to be a great way to get them connected with other people, and get them plugged into the life of the church.

Summer is fun, but fall is a great time for new life, and growth, and excitement and I can’t wait to see all that God has in store for us. This is a great season to be a part of Creekside Church. It’s gonna be quite a ride!