Sacred Spaces

Making the transition!

2009-04-10T13:09:00.001-05:00

Change your RSS feeds!! My blog is making the transition to Wordpress . . . more soon. Easter is upon us. He is risen indeed.

2009-04-06T14:59:00.002-05:00

It's April 6th, and it's snowing outside right now. Ughh... If there's anything that's a sign of the apocalypse . . . .

My wife wants to start a Tshirt line that says "I'm for Global Warming." on the front. Ha! Anyways,

This last Sunday was a great day. We began the first of a 2 part series called "Easter: a Hunt for Hope". We are telling the story through music, video, and readings from the triumphal entry to the cross. On Easter, we will move from the cross to the resurrection. Now, onto my soap box . . . I grew up in a tradition that did not celebrate Easter. The reason for this was because we did not want to be like the other denominations. However, we communicated (ironically) on every easter that we didn't celebrate Easter on EASTER because we celebrated it EVERY Sunday. Of course, this was a crock.

In many ways I have rediscovered Easter and love this time of season. The emphasis on spiritual "new life" is amplified all the more with the reawakening of nature from winter. The new life springing up from the ground cries out new creation!! So, why is it that we focus almost solely on the cross on Easter? We should be celebrating the resurrection! This season is about joy! Too many of the songs and videos coming out focus on Jesus' death and never get to his life. I really take issue with that. We desperately need more songs in our hymnody that celebrate Jesus' resurrection and his continuing life in us.

Some of you are saying by now: "Well we do have songs about that: What about 'Low in the Grave He Lay', 'Christ the Lord is Risen Today', and 'Because He Lives'"? True. But is that all? Anything else? Where is it in modern worship music?

I'm thankful to Chris Tomlin and Hillsong for their musical contributions to this under celebrated theme. "I Will Rise" and "Mighty To Save" tells of the richness and power when Jesus overcame the grave. "In Christ Alone" by Keith Getty moves us through the entire story from birth to resurrection. Those of us who are songwriters need to lean into this and keep 'em coming!! Ok, ok, . . . . off my soapbox!

All this being said: Here's the worship order from Sunday (Part 1):

Dramatic Reading: Hail, King Jesus!

Hosanna

Hosanna, You're My King

Welcome

That's Why We Praise Him

TEACHING TIME PART 1: Patrick Mead

COMMUNION

And Can It Be

Above All

VIDEO: 3 DAYS LATER

TEACHING TIME: PART 2: Patrick Mead

Beautiful Lamb: Special song

When I Survey

Ten Thousand Angels

I Will Rise

Announcements/ Admonition

Worthy is the Lamb

Dismissal

Last Sunday (Palm Sunday!) was a powerful day. We rehung the paintings from Illuminate on the stage for the visual reminder if the cross. Big props to all our praise team members and tech who made it happen! Thanks for all your hard work. One more big Sunday, guys!!

Blessings,

Chris

Illuminate 2009

2009-03-27T14:27:00.002-05:00

Last weekend was our third annual youth conference called Illuminate. 300 teens and adults descended upon our church and spent the weekend worshipping and praying with each other. The thing that sets apart Illuminate from all the other "run-of-the-mill" youth rallies are two major things.

Illuminate 2009 Intro from Lee Higginbottom on Vimeo.

1) The BREAKOUT sessions are top notch. There are no "filler" classes. They always tie specifically in with the theme and have a point that complements the Major session lessons. I love the purpose behind it.

2) Instrumental worship on Friday night!

3) The quality stage designs! (my wife and Jodie Anspach did them!)

Anyway, I am still in recovery and am waiting for one good night of sleep to catch up. Till then, enjoy these videos!

Interesting article

2009-03-09T21:35:00.001-05:00

Just read this interesting article about the current state of religious life in America. Thoughts? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090309/ap_on_re/rel_religious_america

The Breakfast Song

2009-03-02T10:37:00.002-06:00

First off, I want to say thank you to Jon Knutson who shared this tasty little song with me. I can't get enough of these videos. Please enjoy!

New Series Designs

2009-02-28T18:59:00.005-06:00

Here are a few designs I've designed from scratch and/or adapted from other sources. Doing this kinda stuff is one of the most rewarding parts of my job. Been busy in grad class and family has been sick- more soon!

Check out this album!

2009-02-11T13:33:00.002-06:00

I listen to a lot of music. I admit it. In fact, most of the hard drive on my computer is dedicated to the ever growing library of rock, alternative, classical, R&B, a capella, and worship music out there. I especially listen to a lot of worhsip music. I am always listening for a song that speaks to my heart and one that would be meaningful for our church.

Oftentimes, I know I have found something special when I find myself worshipping and bursting into song without a second thought. Or my eyes fill with tears as I listen to a powerful song that captivates me.

Kari Jobe's new CD does that for me. I LOVE her vocals- they are soothing and full of depth. She does some great versions of "Healer" (from Hillsong) and "Revelation Song" (which she sings on the Gateway Worship CD). But she has some great new tunes that minister as well as inspire me. Check this CD out!

Do you Twitter?

2009-02-06T18:31:00.003-06:00

Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. This is taking off in some churches and ministries. Donald Miller and Leonard Sweet post multiple posts or "tweets" a day. I have been on for just a couple of months and have seen first hand how this stands apart from sites like Facebook or MySpace. So the question is: do you Twitter? And if you do- what do you like about it that makes it different? Do you see creative ways to use it for ministry?

The world is ending?

2009-01-29T17:04:00.001-06:00

Ok, ok, 2 blog posts in one day is not like me . . at all! I came across this video and it is absolutely inspiring. I am excited to see the documentary. so cool.

Planning Center Online

2009-01-29T16:23:00.003-06:00

For those that know me, they know that I'm as right brained as you can get. I can be organized, but it takes makes a long time to get there. As a worship leader in a "Type A" highly organized church, I need help keeping on top of communication, who needs subs, new music, etc. Planning Center has changed my life! I would suggest this program for any worship leader of any size church. It's takes some time to get started and prepped at the beginning, but once it's set, It's AWESOME. Here's a testimony video that explains why I love this program so much! Planning Center Testimony - Southwest Community Church from Planning Center on Vimeo.

Great blog!

2009-01-23T14:08:00.003-06:00

I just read this blog from Laura Story (worship leader and writer of the song "Indescribable"). I can't tell you how often I have felt what she has described in her blog. I was a blessing to me, so I thought I would share:

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

Do you ever have days when you don’t feel like worshipping? As someone who leads worship for a living, I have to admit that sometimes I don’t feel like worshipping. Some days I am tired and my throat hurts; other days, I am feeling down or distracted by other things. Sometimes life just seems too hard. Though I am ashamed to admit these thoughts and feelings, I know that they are more common than we would like to admit. How do we come before the Lord of Lords in all His splendor and majesty when our hearts feel so apathetic?

It is in times like these that I look to the Psalms, one of my favorites of God’s gifts to us. The Psalms provide an entire arsenal of prayers and petitions that we can use when we find ourselves in a spiritual drought. Take David for example; certainly his life was no picnic. Between his bouts with sexual sins, murder and seasons of even running for his life, there must have been times when he felt reluctant to worship God. But still we see him faithfully proclaiming the greatness of our Lord. For David knew that the very quality of his worship was not based on his own volition but on the object of his worship - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Though our affections for God may wax and wane, His character is unchanging! We even see David speaking to his own soul, demanding of it, “Bless the Lord!” He reminds himself even in the harshest of circumstances how good God is, recounting blessings that the Lord has bestowed upon him.

I think God knows that worshipping Him can be a discipline at times. And like any other relationship in our lives, our relationship with the Lord takes work. But on those days that are hardest to praise His name, that’s when I find worship to be the sweetest. Though I may enter feeling tired or disconnected, I find joy and peace in the presence of God and the Holy Spirit sustains that worship, renewing my mind and restoring my heart. All I have to do is show up. God is not only the author of worship, but His radiance inspires us and enables us to bring Him the adoration due His name.

So, next time you are tired and feel as though you have nothing to give to God in worship, know that you are right. There is nothing we can bring before Him that He hasn’t first given to us. And on those hard days, we must confess that we don’t want to worship Him but we want to want to worship Him. Over time, He will cultivate that desire in our hearts and souls to say, with the great psalmist, “I will bless the Lord at all times.” (Ps. 34)

We're Having A boy!

2009-01-20T21:44:00.005-06:00

Well, it's official. We went to have an ultrasound done this morning and found out we are having a boy! He was pretty squirrely and wouldn't let us get a good profile pic. Anyway, the due date is June 19th. Here are a few of our ultrasound pictures:

Thoughts on 2009

2009-01-03T15:23:00.003-06:00

I've been thinking about goals and dreams for 2009. Here are a few:

1) Lose weight? Absolutely- the holidays did disastrous things to my figure.

2) Lead worship for more events. (I get squirrely sitting around too long!)

3) Record a CD with our church's praise team.

4) Record a CD with Watershed.

6) Get an "A" in my graduate classes.

7) Be the best father and husband I can for my family.

What are your dreams and goals for 2009?

Shaving the Beard

2009-01-02T21:20:00.007-06:00

For those of you who don't know, I grew a beard for our Christmas Production called "Imagine Christmas." I was one of two comedic angels for the show. Kevin Stewart and I looked similar, so we needed to change my appearance . . . . and Voila! I decided to grow the beard. I've had it for a little over 2 months now, so I resolved to have a little New Year's fun when I finally shaved it. Here are the horrific results: Stage 1: The beard. Stage 2: The youth minister goatee. AND I look tired. Stage 3: The Fu Manchu. Doing my best James Hetfield impression! Stage 4: YIKES! This one is a tad scary! Stage 5: The Adolf. Also very scary. P.S. I did not leave it like this. I am now clean shaven (save that pesky soul patch underneath my bottom lip), and looking years younger! Happy New Year! -chris

Tender Tennessee Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T00:09:00.009-06:00

Today, I surprised my brothers and sister by showing up for Christmas here in Shelbyville. I had a free flight that was due to expire at the end of the month, so I hopped a quick flight down to TN. To be honest, it's great to get out of the snow and cold for a few days! But I miss my girls- Christmas is not the same without them.

Anyway, all the family came over and we shared food, laughs and presents. It was great to hold my 9 week old niece, Addisyn, for a little while!

Tomorrow, we head down to Huntsville to visit my grandma, then back to Nashville to fly back into the arctic tundra. Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas everyone!

2008-12-24T20:01:00.003-06:00

I know it's been awhile since I've blogged last. Lots has happened. I finished my first graduate class (with an "A"!!), our church put on the musical Imagine Christmas (pictures and blog to come soon!), and we found out that we are pregnant with baby number #2!!

Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone. Here's a couple of family pics:

Reasons why we need 24

2008-11-23T21:36:00.003-06:00

Just finished watching the 2 hour prequel called 24:Redemption. It has been almost 2 years since we have watched a new episode of 24. I found this list and had to share them (slightly edited for the kiddies!)

Here goes:

-Because Jack Bauer makes Chuck Norris look like a beached Manatee, and those stupid jokes need to end.

-Because it's been almost two years since someone bit a terrorist's neck off on network television.

-Because of “Beep. Beep. Beep...”

-Because Chloe O'Brian hasn't hacked anyone off since 2006.

-Because with 90210, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy and Dancing with the Stars, someone needs to balance out the universe.

-Because Jack Bauer probably knows how to solve recessions. Let's just hope he tells us.

-Because without David Palmer, there would be no Barack Obama (at least according to David Palmer).

-Because if Jack Bauer can go to Africa and do good, we can all at least remember to recycle.

-Because Carlos Bernard needed work.

-Because Jon Voight is the new bad guy and, in his life he has played the likes of Coach Bud Kilmer, a Midnight Cowboy, Howard Cosell, and a litany of bad, bad guys. He also fathered Angelina Jolie. Impressive, sir.

-Because 24 is the crack cocaine of the TV world.

-Because I can envision Hilary Clinton, at home, watching Cherry Jones as 24's new president, and cursing maniacally at the screen while Bill watches on, popcorn in hand, quietly telling Hilary to shut up.

-Because the only thing Thanksgiving week has always been missing is Jack Bauer thwarting terrorists. Goes great with candied yams.

-Because, after the election season, the FOX News team needs a vessel to vicariously release all their vitriol, and Jack Bauer is the person to help them along in these trying times.

-Because, if you time it just right, you can watch Andy Rooney's segment on 60 Minutes, and then catch the start of 24: Redemption. This is as close as any human will ever get to time travel.

-Because freedom isn't free unless Jack Bauer is thwarting nameless renegades and torturing in the name of America.

-Because we'll finally learn whether Jack's over-sized man purse retains its magical qualities outside of LA County.

-Because of BauerCount.com

-Because 24: Redemption takes place in or around the year 2013, which means it's the future. I fully expect there to be hover-boards.

-Because we all need to collectively forget about season 6.

-Because it's JACK BAUER! IT'S 24! IT'S BACK!

????????

2008-11-17T14:14:00.000-06:00

More classic video goodness!! oh yeah . . . .

Presidential Voting and Politics

2008-11-02T16:04:00.003-06:00

I can't wait for Tuesday. I'm tired of all mudslinging, commercials, and drama. I'm ready to vote and be done. (How's this for a Twitter blog?)

Series Graphics

2008-11-02T15:22:00.005-06:00

Part of my job as worship minister is to come up with graphics for our Sunday and Midweek services. Sometimes, I use great resources out there like lifechurch.tv and Vine Resources. But more often, I design them myself. I'm not a professional graphic designer, so it can be a challenge, but it's an awesome creative outlet for me. Some people have gardening, I have photoshop! Anyway, here's a few I've done over the last few months. I made this one from scratch. The button took a while to get perfect, but I thought it turned out pretty good. This one I created from a shot of downtown Detroit. With a title like "Taking It To The Streets", I wanted to have a picture that communicated our local community and area. Not sure if they noticed it or not, but it meant something to me! I wanted to use each Sunday's theme as a book title. Not my best, but I still like it. Last year, we were revamping out small group ministry and needed a new logo with the new name. As much crazy stuff I came up with, it still needed to be an accessible logo for all generations. Pretty basic, but does it's job nicely. I love the name!

Genna's ABC

2008-10-12T17:37:00.001-05:00

Genesis turns 2!

2008-09-23T22:38:00.006-05:00

As promised, here's a few pictures of Genesis. She's such a cutie.

Another Funny Video

2008-09-23T14:47:00.004-05:00

So, Genna turned two on Sunday. TWO! Can you believe it? It's already hard to imagine what life was like before her. We got a new camera and will be showing some new pics soon. Until then, I want to share this video I came across.

Now, those of you who know me know that I don't do many sports. I normally miss the impact of a good sports illustration. So, today I'm gonna make up for some of that. Many of you can relate to this . . .

JESUS IS MY FRIEND

2008-09-16T09:54:00.001-05:00

I'm so glad I missed this era of Christian music! Kinda creepy, kinda funny.

Enjoy.

Favorite worship song?

2008-09-04T15:43:00.007-05:00

I picked up the new Chris Tomlin CD "Hello Love" yesterday. It's fantastic! Though I knew many of the songs from Passion Cd's, the ones I didn't know were just as good! As I was thinking about favorite songs off of this one and Hillsong's latest, it got me thinking. . . .

I have favorite worship songs- we all do. Most recently, I am loving "Hosanna" from Hillsong, "I Will Rise" and "Praise the Father, Praise the Son" from Tomlin, "Jesus Saves" from Travis Cotrell and Hillsong's "Worthy is The Lamb" (It's STILL a great song, no matter how often I sing it!)

I'm curious- what are your favorite worship songs and why?

Healer was a hoax?

2008-09-02T21:24:00.004-05:00

It's no secret, I'm a big Hillsong fan. If you haven't heard the latest CD called

THIS IS OUR GOD, then you need to go pick it up. One of my favorite songs on the CD is called "The Desert Song" sung and written by Brooke Fraser (get her CD Albertine if you like her voice too!). But this weekend, I heard some crazy news about ANOTHER one of my favorite songs on the album called HEALER. A pastor from Australia wrote the song as a source of strength during his battle with cancer. It turns out that the pastor didn't have cancer at all- he was covering up his porn addiction.

Check out the full story here.

At first, I was shocked. Why would he do such a thing? Why would he deceive and hurt so many people? But as I watched his story unfold, I got a certain peace about it. I feel it deepens the song even more. He needs spiritual healing now. Please pray for Pastor Mike Guglielmucci and that God will heal him and his family.

2008-08-25T21:18:00.004-05:00

OK, OK, so EVERYONE and their mom has blogged on how awesome Elie Wiesel was last Thursday night. And I am just now getting around to my turn at it. So, here goes. . .

First, I AGREE- the evening WAS awesome. The church building (

it was at my church- how cool is that?) was packed with over 800 people. Channel 7 news even made an appearance! There was an excitement I haven't felt when waiting to hear a speaker- EVER. And when Elie stepped out, everyone erupted in applause and leapt to their feet. Just seeing a group of people honor a man like that was inspiring!

I can still remember having to read his book "Night" in high school. It was one of the few books that has stuck with me all these years. I even pulled it out 3-4 years ago and re-read it. So, to now sit at the feet of this man, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and actually hear him speak . . . . it's beyond words. For just one night, he was our teacher, our Rabbi- sharing with us the message of reconciliation.

If you want to know more about his content, I will defer to Josh and Patrick. They have done a great job summarizing it, so check their blogs out!

Anyway, I started grad classes last week at Rochester College. I'm excited to get back into school and learn again. I know it sounds weird, but its true. I miss digging into the Word and learning from my Bible profs. So, I'll get my fill on Thursday nights!

Contemplative Worship

2008-08-21T23:16:00.007-05:00

Last Sunday, we finished the last of three nights called the "Summer Worship Series." One Sunday night a month, the church came together to worship. What makes this unique is each night was a different style of worship: one traditional, one contemporary, and one contemplative. Each one also included a time of fellowship with a potluck.(I know, we're kickin' it old school!)

This last Sunday was the contemplative service. It was done in the style and manner of Taize (www.taize.fr for more info). Of all three styles, this was the one I was looking forward to most. It also was the one I was dreading most. You see, the Taize service places a HUGE emphasis on silence and prayer. The praise team, singing all reflective songs, sang from the back. The liturgy was read by Vicki and one of our elders, John Barton. The structure is very liturgical with candles and crosses. The room was darkened. In other words, very Catholic. And I was nervous as to how our church would receive it.

I personally get a lot out of this style of worship. In my hectic life, I sometimes need to be FORCED to slow down and listen to God.

Listen.

It's that word that I like. In so many of our other services, it's not so much about listening as TALKING and DOING. And as much as I love the activity and the outpouring of other languages of worship, there is something to being still and listening for the still, small voice of God.

To my surprise, the contemplative service was a hit! People responded very well to the almost 5 minutes of silence, the selection of taize songs, as well as the candles and the crosses. And they asked to do it again!

I am thankful I am in a church that is open to try varying styles of worship in this way. That they aren't afraid to experience God in different and sometimes uncomfortable forms. From songleaders and hymns to praise teams and choruses to silence and liturgy, we can all find something meaningful in each one. We can appreciate each one for their depth and authenticity. Each style is a language that has communicated adoration through the years to one God. And that is something we can all come together for!

2008-08-18T14:27:00.005-05:00

Another great blog from Phil Cooke . . . . further reasons to be a Apple computer guy!

When people ask me why I use a Mac, my usual response is that it’s more “intuitive.” A PC is logical, but a Mac’s interface and software is more like the way I think. I’ve also noticed it in how quickly young kids adapt to a Mac in contrast to a PC. They just seem to “get it.” It’s similar to the GPS systems on my car. A few years ago I had a Lexus and I loved the GPS. It just made sense. It thought the way I did. But now I have a Land Rover and I hate it. The Land Rover GPS is good, and it’s very logical – but I find it’s very difficult to use.

Logic is good. Logic is, well, “logical.” But human beings aren’t necessarily logical. Human beings are intuitive. We gain insight from a number of areas – sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, and process information in ways that aren’t always logical.

That’s the reason “numbers” or “detail” people often have difficulty dealing with other people. In other words, they often have a bit of trouble with people skills. CPA’s, accountants, mathematicians, scientists, strategists, and others aren’t always the most exciting people in the room. They love all things logical. But they miss the connection to people, because try as they might, most people just aren’t logical.

That’s also why so many companies and non-profits are frustrated with their messaging. Sure it makes sense. Sure it is logical. Sure it’s the truth. But it just doesn’t connect with the audience. Audiences aren’t logical, they’re intuitive. They make leaps and connections that don’t always make sense.

I sometimes get into this argument during creative meetings with clients. They will do a direct mail campaign, advertising promotion, or TV program that has solid information, makes sense, is certainly true, and is logical. But it just doesn’t connect. They don’t understand that without understanding how people think, they’ll never get the audience’s attention.

Remember – Mr. Spock was logical, but then again, he came from another planet.

Jim and Casper Go to Church

2008-08-01T13:14:00.002-05:00

I just recently finished ANOTHER great book called "Jim and Casper Go To Church". The book is a frank conversation between a pastor and an atheist about churches and what they see at church services. Jim Henderson hired an atheist Matt Casper to travel with him to churches all over the U.S. and then write about the experience. Casper's unique perspective really gives some great and critical insight to us Christians when we say that we are open and friendly to those who don't believe in what Jesus.

It is a an easy read, but challenging little book. You have to put this on your "MUST READ THIS SUMMER" list! You won't be sorry!

-chris

Made To Worship

2008-07-22T17:44:00.003-05:00

This was a note that my wife Vicki wrote about our Summer Worship Series that we did just last Sunday night. Her thoughts were so good- I wanted to share them with you. Enjoy the guest blog!!

"Something incredible happened last night at my church. (Rochester church of Christ) People came to gather for the purpose of worshiping God. Okay, some people came for the potluck beforehand, but I believe the majority of the 250+ people that walked through the doors came to church to worship. I don't say this to be coy or playful, but to give thanks to God for allowing people to be open to what we were made for!

I can't even begin to explain the buzz of energy in that "sanctuary" before even a word was spoken from the stage. We knew it was coming...we knew we would be singing our hearts out to God and we were actually EXPECTING Him to show up! Why don't we always come to the church building expecting this?!? When we come expecting to meet our Lord, He never fails us!

I watched people I have never seen comfortable enough to raise their hands in worship before, surrendering their lack of comfort to Him. I saw God in the faces of my fellow brothers and sisters as they cried to God and allowed Him to meet whatever needs they were laying at His feet during our outpourings of love to Him. As you may or may not know, I am a very expressive worshiper. I LOVE to sing to my God...it is the way I best experience my relationship with Him. I often shed tears as I sing the beautifully written words describing our God and his love for us. However, last night... last night I couldn't stop the tears from running for 2 songs straight. I was ready for Him, I was waiting for Him, I was experiencing Him...but it was when I saw Him coming down and reaching into peoples lives right before me that I was blessed by Him and could not express my joy in any other way than to cry my way through 2 songs from the stage.

I am so blessed to be at a church where people actually come to worship. My sister-in-law, in from out of town, told me on Sunday as she cried watching our "family communion" take place that she was catching a glimpse of what Heaven would be like. I knew exactly what she meant. I too have cried watching people from all walks of life genuinely embracing each other as they follow Christ's command to love one another during our unconventional 3rd service communion time (which so many people unknowingly have frowned upon). Now I realize, unfortunately, it is not always this way. In fact, I count two other times at my particular church where I've experienced worship to this degree in the last couple of years. But God, in His timing, reveals to us just one more glimpse of what we were made to do - to worship Him. And it is at times like these that I cannot wait to be experiencing the worship in Heaven. I cannot begin to fathom the emotions that will tear through and overtake me.

It is at times like these that I surrender the most to my precious Savior and thank Him for allowing us to have the honor of being in His presence even if it is just for the hour. It is at times like these that I am overwhelmingly blessed to have a husband that leads me into the throne room of the Most High where I am indulged into a better relationship with not only my Lord, but my love as well. It is at times like these that I can do little else than to sit back, shed some tears, thank God, and just be...

be myself, completely vulnerable, completely devastated, completely given over to HIM.

May God give you experiences where you realize your potential for worship to Him. May He give you the desire, the need and the knowledge that we are most complete when we are practicing our worship of Him. And, then, with this knowledge you will not hold back, but you will, in every circumstance, become more and more - made to worship."

-Vicki Lindsey

Derek Webb's Savior on Capitol Hill

2008-07-17T10:37:00.003-05:00

If you know me, you know I'm a HUGE Derek Webb fan. He's one of those Christian artists that sing songs that no one else dares to sing. He calls people to a higher standard and challenges Christ followers with the status quo. This video below is off of his newest CD, "The Ringing Bell". For those who are feeling jaded with politics and the whole political party system. Enjoy.

Surprised By Hope

2008-07-12T15:40:00.002-05:00

There are a few books that I can say have shaped my faith in dynamic ways. The Bible takes top rung easily (it had better, right?), but there are those other authors who have really helped put flesh on Jesus for me. N. T. Wright's latest book, "Surprised By Hope" is one of these books.

Wright aims to rethink Heaven, the resurrection, and what that means for the mission of the church. He simply unpacks te question, "What is going to happen when you die?"

"Now why would you want to do that?" you may ask, "Something so basic and foundational as heaven doesn't need to be rethought or revisited, right? Chrsitians is on the same page when it come to the resurrection and what will happen after death, right?" Wright answers no. He argues that Christians are all over the map in these matters.

This hit me hard. What do I truly believe about all this? Shouldn't a minister really have a firm grasp on all this? Well, yes and no. It's just solid enough and elusive enough for many interpretations. I don't buy into premilleniallism and I believe that we'll all be called to sit on clouds and play the harp "'neath the shade of the evergreen tree" for eternity. So, if I were to sit with a blank piece of paper and write out, based on scripture, what happens when someone dies, it would be a fairly clean sheet of paper!

I'll try to break these thoughts up over a few blogs, since there is so much information to unpack. But one thing that has stuck with me from "Surprised By hope" is the nature of Jesus' resurrection.

Jesus bodily resurrection is a foreshadowing of our own bodily resurrection. He is the first man to show us what our resurrection will look like. After Jesus was raised, they didn't recognize him at first. But after spending time with him, they saw him for who he was. He bore a resemblance to himself before his death, but was somehow transformed. He didn't need to eat, but it is recorded that he did when he was with his disciples at least once. The key word here is TRANSFORMED.

When we die, our fleshly bodies will NOT waste away and our soul (our spiritual body), will get this new form. As if we were a glowing, golden, shapeless form awaiting the resurrection to get this new form again. That's nowhere in scripture! He will use our earthly bodies and transform them! So, at the resurrection, God will take our fleshly bodies, whether you were cremated, had your legs amputated from a wreck, had hernia surgery, etc. and transform THAT into a new creation.

It brings a whole redemptive message into it, doesn't it? God will take ALL things and redeem them! We will find "Life AFTER life after death" in the resurrection.

So, I ask you this question. What do you believe happens when you die?

Hernia surgery

2008-07-10T19:21:00.007-05:00

First of all, I want to say thank you to all who have been keeping me in your prayers. Don't stop them yet! I still have days of recovery ahead of me- so please keep praying! For those wondering what I'm talking about, let me explain.

I went to the doctor a few weeks ago about a bulge I found below my waist. It didn't hurt, but it was uncomfortable and looked like it didn't belong there. So, I scheduled an appointment and went on in. Upon inspection, we discovered two hernias, not just one! As soon as I lifted my shirt, the doctor said, "WHOA! You have another one right there in your belly button."

Great. what did THAT mean?

Well, it simply meant that I could get two for the price of one (and that I have some bad hernia DNA in my family somewhere). Instead of waiting 4-5 years to get it fixed, he could patch up both hernias in one sitting. So, we scheduled the surgery for 2 weeks later- July 9th (which was last Wednesday morning).

Now, my birthday was only a month ago and I think to myself. "Self, are you already falling apart on me? You get a kidney stone at Winterfest and now this!?! Did my warranty expire or something? What exactly is God trying to tell me here?"

So, the morning came. Vicki, Genna, and I got up early and drove over to the hospital where I was to be cut upon. I'll be honest and say that I was a little nervous about this. I am VOLUNTARILY going to have someone wheel me into a large white room and then ALLOW doctors to hack away at me all while I am sleeping? Hmmm . . . . . notsomuch.

A little before 9AM, they call my name and I go in to be "prepped". The definition of "prepped" at a surgical center means this: You take all your clothes and put on that scrubs-ish looking cover and a hairnet. Then, they shave wherever they need to cut on you (This was just a tad uncomfortable for me). Next, they hook up any IV's that you need and then they call the family in to say their "goodbyes" and "good lucks". I was actually doing ok through all of this until I saw Genna. When she saw me in that bed with the "hospital wear" on and the IV's out of my hand, she got this troubled look on her face. Then she looked right at me and said, "Daddy?" That face broke my heart. She kept saying, "Daddy? Daddy?" over and over as if to say, "What are you doing to my dad? I don't like this!"

Tears welled up in my eyes and I couldn't hold it in. I started crying right there.

"Daddy's going to go sleep so he can feel better." Vicki said.

"Seepin. Better. Daddy." Genna replied, still unsure of what was happening.

They wheeled me into that large white room I had imagined earlier. They put a mask over my face and said, "Breathe 3-4 good breaths for me".

I don't think I got through three.

I awoke a couple of hours later with two new future scars all bandaged up and ready to go. Genna and Vicki came in and we shared hugs all around. With pain meds in hand, they wheeled me to the car to go home.

For the next few days, I am supposed to take really easy and let my body tell me when I am ready for more movement. So, I have my laptop, a couple of good books, the Xbox 360, and the TV to keep me busy for the next week or so. I've been catching upon movies I haven't seen yet (the Golden Compass . . . a little disappointing seeing as there was so much hype about it) and blogs I haven't read in a while. So, drop me a line and say hello if you get some time. Chances are: I'll be around!

Again, please keep me in your prayers. We love you guys!

-chris

Weekend in Chicago

2008-07-06T15:36:00.006-05:00

We have spent the July 4th weekend with some friends in Chicago. It has been a much needed and refreshing weekend! One if the highlights was going to see Wicked: the Musical. We took the train to downtown Chicago and then had some deep dish pizza at Giordano's. One word: WOW. Next, we walked a few blocks to the Ford Oriental Theater.

Now, there is a special place in my heart for the Wizard of Oz. I grew up on the L. Frank Baum books and know the story, the characters, the minor characters, and their back stories. So, I have been interested for a while in what Wicked did to the "canon" of Oz. And though it did play with some story lines, I liked it, I REALLY liked it.

The show itself: "A-MAZ-ING"! It was an incredible performance. The set design and costumes were absolutely stunning. And the music- the music was inspiring! "Defying Gravity" is truly an addictive song. Ok, so I'm using every cliche in the book. But there are often time no words to express what you have seen. You simply need to experience for yourself. You must go see this show!

Genna got to see fireworks for the first time. We were far enough away, so she wouldn't be scared of the sound. She LOVED them. She kept saying, "LOUD" as she looked up to see the brilliant colors scatter across the sky.

We also got to try some new restaurants over the weekend. Now, we don't like to simply "go out to eat" . . . . we like to "dine". You know what I mean? There is a difference between the two. We love the experience of opening a menu and seeing the fresh takes on traditional meals or that something we've never tried before. Im fairly adventurous- so I'll try anything once. So it's been a fun weekend to try new places. We went to the Weber Grill (we saw it on Food Network, so we HAD to go!), Claimjumper, Oberweis, and Sweet Tomatoes. All unique and interesting places!

And finally, I got to go Community Christian Church. This church has been very successful with the multi-site movement. In fact, this church has been the model for Rochester's venture with Christ Church: Macomb. So, I wanted to go and see it for myself. Overall, it was a good experience. The church is in a building they lovingly call the "Yellow Box". Greeters were friendly and genuine. The smells of coffee greeted me warmly as I walked into the lobby. One thing I noticed right off the bat is their slick graphic design work. A sign stated, "EXPERIENCE" above the entrance to the auditorium- making a bold, but pointed claim. The worship was rockin' (something I don't get to do in an a cappella worship often!) and the message was a solid teaching out of Proverbs (something we don't hear that often).

Now, I'm off to the pool with the Gladd's and the fam. Hope you had a great 4th of July weekend.

Dance Party!

2008-07-01T19:39:00.002-05:00

OK, OK, It's been awhile since I've talked about some serious things (after reading Surprised By Hope, I have a lot to talk about!), but you'll have to wait a little longer. To tide you over until then, here's another video of Genna dancing we just made.

Enjoy.

A BUSY SUMMER

2008-06-26T22:58:00.006-05:00

I have so much to talk about, but little time to write it in. I hope to unpack and share some reflections over the past couple of weeks. We've been to a wedding, had a youth praise team lead at church, and had a "old time" gospel singing for our Summer Worship Series. I am scheduled to have surgery in the next couple of weeks and have been doing lots of graphic design for the church. I'm also working on going back to school to begin my Master's in Bible in the fall. Oh, and Genesis is keeping Vicki and I plenty busy!

To finish this brief blog, I have two things to share. First, I've been reading N.T. Wright's book called "Surprised By Hope". Hands down one of the best books I've read (and still reading) this year. It's really challenged me to rethink and restructure my beliefs on what happens when Christ returns. Pick it up! Second, I want to share a couple of logos for the church I've been working on. Periodically, I like to freshen up our title slides at church- I've used our traditional logo, but went monochromatic with them for a nice clean contemporary feel. Whatcha think?

Genna's New Jammies

2008-06-12T21:05:00.003-05:00

Tonight we got our daughter some new PJ's. She even picked them out herself! Mommy and Daddy look a little tired, but it's a fun video. Enjoy. -chris

Media and Lazy Living

2008-05-13T00:41:00.003-05:00

Here's an article from Phil Cooke's blog and it hit me between the eyes:

"I was interviewed by Joyce Meyer on two of her TV programs week (I’ll let you know when they’re scheduled to be broadcast.) She wanted to discuss the media and how it bombards our daily lives. She was particularly interested in how we can protect our hearts and minds (and our families) from the onslaught of violence, sexuality, and generally coarse behavior we often find on TV and in the movies. I always enjoy being with Joyce, and although our view of acceptable movies doesn’t always match, I find her really sincere and concerned about what Christians are consuming on a regular basis.

One of the issues we discussed is how in an age where the volume of information is enormous, why our lives reflect so little change? She started thinking about it after hearing different people talk about reading all her books or listening to her teaching tapes, but they still have so many problems. I also find it true in other areas. People who are the most educated sometimes have the most problems. We’re drowning in information, and yet the culture as a whole seems to be more coarse, violent, and sexual than ever.

More than that – I look at audiences for Christian media programs, and I think we’ve raised a generation of junkies. The truth is, we’ve created a generation of Christians looking for a magic bullet. That’s why people travel thousands of miles from conference to conference just to “get a word,” find “fresh oil,” “get the glory,” or “catch their blessing.” They’re looking for the easy way out.

Christians today have become addicted to the feeling. We’ve forgotten how difficult living the Christian life can be, and in our pursuit of prosperity and a nice Mercedes, we’ve lost touch with the years Paul rotted in prison, Peter’s horrific upside-down crucifixion, and William Tyndale being strangled and burned at the stake for giving us the remarkable gift of the English Bible.

Living the Christian life is hard. We’ve got to do more than simply listen to the latest teaching tape by our favorite evangelist. We have to live it out on a daily basis. It’s about choices – making the kinds of choices (sometimes hard ones) that create a life worth living.

Joyce's frustration was right on target and we had a great conversation about it, and I'm going to continue writing on the issue. Want to get out of debt? Stop sending your money to a Christian TV telethon and start controlling your spending. Want to be healed? Lay off the French fries. Want to be closer to God? Pray, read the Bible, study to show yourself approved...

Yes – God can work miracles, but I don’t think he exists to make up for our lazy living."

Mother's Day Weekend

2008-05-12T21:04:00.009-05:00

It's been a long weekend! We went to a wedding on Friday, then out to CRUST for the reception (mmmmm). The next day, I spent preparing for the Mother/Daughter dinner at church. THEN, we tore down the entire thing to prep for church the next day.

Sunday morning we did three services, then ran home to prep for family to come over and celebrate Mother's day together. WHEW!

Ahh, but what WAS the Mother/daughter dinner, you ask? Well, it was a night put on by the women's ministry at church. The church was decorated as a cruise ship- complete with a formal dinner (of sorts). The men were the servers, the crew, and the entertainment for the evening. During the dinner, when "Hot, Hot, Hot" or the "Macerena" came on- we got everyone out of their seats for some dancing . . .er . . . .um I mean . . . . spontaneous choreography.

Once dinner ended, we all moved into the auditorium for a variety show. The "show" was a mix of drama, music, dancing, and games. It all started with a quick drama between a mother and daughter about wanting to go on a cruise followed Byron Harrell, the captain, who opened the show with a rousing rendition of the "Love Boat" theme. As you can see, Capt. Jack Sparrow made an appearance to Then onto a couple who danced the foxtrot and a swing dance. Where was I in all this? We followed the dancing with HULA GAMES (a series of relay races and contests). I then finally closed the evening performing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Under the Sea" on my ukulele. It was an action packed night! And thanks to Jenny Hoggatt for the pics!

Anonymous

2008-04-27T23:05:00.002-05:00

For many of you in the blogosphere, you have probably received a blog comment from "Anonymous". This "everyman" or "everywoman" often challenges a thought or a post you have and does so in a very unloving and uncaring way. And this isn't one person only. There are many "anonymous" commentors on the prowl. I often have deleted these comments because they simply attack with apocalyptic jargon and provide very little as far as helpful conversation. But lately, these have popped up on my blog more frequently.

Therefore, I must have said and/or commented about something that "anonymous" doesn't like. I am sorry and not sorry about that. You see, we are all on a spiritual journey. Blogging is a kind of spiritual journaling for me. I hope to look back and reminisce on the CD's I listened to and shows I was watching. I hope to laugh at silly comments I made or even shake my head in disappointment at the struggles or frustrations I once had. I hope to remember my journey, where I've been and how far I've come- not forget it.

So, this is where I have a problem with "anonymous". For those of us with blogs, we value openness and honesty. We truly want to live an integrity-filled life. Are you that fearful of someone finding out who you are? Posting as anonymous feels like you are lurking in the shadows waiting to devour someone. Its hard to have a conversation with a faceless, nameless scathing statement. Jesus was about relationships with people. Real people. This lurking in the dark seems to ring with a passage about a certain lion if I recall correctly . . . .

Also, "anonymous", I pray you spend half as much time out saving the lost (I use the term "lost" here meaning those who have not heard the Christian story at all) as you do reading people's blogs, judging them, and then writing vengeance on them. As I look though scripture, I see that we are to live and act and speak like Jesus. I firmly believe Jesus wouldn't say the things you have said to me or the other bloggers out there. The only times we see Jesus speaking judgment toward anyone is toward the religious leaders of his day who were dogmatic and legalistic in their faith. To those who were withholding grace or changing money in the temple, Jesus had a harsh response. I pray that God would grant you peace from whatever troubles you and that Satan would lose his foothold of anger in your heart. And that He would give you a spirit of grace.

Bottom line. Are you acting like him? Are you speaking like him? Are you loving like him? I'm sorry "anonymous", but you don't sound like Jesus when you leave those posts, you sound like a religious leader. Now, I am not perfect myself. As I said before, I am on a journey myself. There will be slip-ups and blunders. I don't claim to be Perfect, but I do claim to be a student of His. I don't have time to watchdog over others. I have to work on myself and spend the rest of the time to "win as many as possible". I pray that Jesus softens your heart, and that he will conform you more and more into the likeness of Him. And finally, that he fills us both with forgiveness and compassion.

- chris

Quote and Predictions

2008-04-16T12:39:00.004-05:00

A quote from one of TV's funniest show's "The Office":

"There are 5 stages to grief . . . and it's my job to try to get them all the way to acceptance. And if not acceptance, then just depression. If I can get them depressed, then I'll have done my job."

-Michael Scott

Next,

Who will be voted off tonight: Castro or Syesha,

Who should be voted off tonight: Kristy Lee Cook

My vote for final two: David Cook and David Archeletta!

Idol Gives Back

2008-04-10T12:26:00.003-05:00

It's no secret that I am a fan of American Idol. But I grew to love it even more with the addition of "Idol Gives Back". It is a night that focuses on social injustice and global relief efforts. My man Bono even makes an appearance! I teared up after every mini-documentary telling the story of the poor, the broken, and the marginalized in our world. And before you write it off as another sappy Oprah show, (who has made some pretty polarizing comments recently) I'd invite you to see Idol Gives Back. Last night was a powerful and moving evening. Dare I say worship service?

They closed the night singing Shout to the Lord. And yes, they changed the words "Jesus" to "shepherd", but they sang a worship song to close American Idol! I don't know who got that "OK'd", but it was . . . .well . . . . all I can say is WOW!

Watershed and Mandisa

2008-04-02T22:16:00.001-05:00

Here's a little impromptu audition with Mandisa from American Idol fame.

We're on Itunes!

2008-04-01T19:53:00.002-05:00

If you haven't heard already. Watershed is now on Itunes. We only have "I Know You Love Me" and "Let Go" up, but it's a start! If you don't have them, go download them already!

-chris

EASTER SUNDAY

2008-04-01T19:12:00.004-05:00

We had a great Easter Sunday this year. Easter was the pinnacle of our "I Live" message series. We had a 16 member choir, which is always special, especially in a Church of Christ! We took communion "family style" in all three services- which means everyone went to stations as family and friends to take the elements together. Two of our members, Paul Shinsky and Mike Hover, performed a drama entitled "Wineskins". It captures a conversation between two Jewish priests and their questions about their decision to crucify Jesus.

As you can see, we had an awesome set built, complete with a stone that could "wheel" away. Both my wife, Vicki, and Jodie Anspach built this awesome set. Originally, it was a cave and jungle scene with vines, trees, and plant life. It all faded into an ocean scene for last week's youth conference: Illuminate. The theme was "LOST" . . . after one of my fav TV shows! Anyway, with a few quick changes, it transformed into an empty tomb and was backlit for a glowy morning effect! Not bad, eh?

One of things that was very special to me was being able to arrange the song "Hosanna" by Hillsong. It is currently one of my favourite worship songs (I even added the "u" for our Aussie friends). If you haven't heard it yet- look for it on their latest CD "Saviour King"- it is an incredibly moving and passionate worship song! Teresa Graney did the solo and rocked it! It was one of the highlights of the day!

Overall, it was a powerful and moving Easter. Every year, the pressure is on to communicate, in the most creative way possible, the power of the resurrection. And sometimes, we try TOO hard. This was a Sunday that we didn't have to try- we simply let the story speak for itself. And I believe that made all the difference.

Super Bowl screenings in Church not illegal now

2008-02-23T19:26:00.004-06:00

For those that keep up with all the issues surrounding copyright and the church, one of the biggest topics of discussion has been around showing the Super Bowl on the big screens at church. Is it OK? It's on free television, right? Well, technically, up until this announcement by the NFL Commissioner

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3256621, it has been illegal. Now, many churches have hosted Superbowl parties and unknowingly broken the law. Other churches are aware of the infringements and decided to do it anyway. Well, NO MORE!

Still, this leads to the deeper issues surrounding church copyright: what we can and cannot post on the internet or podcasts, what movie clips we show and what songs we can project or copy. It gets pretty hairy out there. CCLI licensing for worship music, CVLI for movie clips, movie screenings at church are supposed to be viewed as if you are a public venue, so you should pay royalties, etc., etc.

There simply needs to be more education about what we should and should not do. It's hard because we are in ministry, right? Should we HAVE to pay for these things if we are a "non-profit" organization? But even so, shouldn't we have integrity with how we conduct the legal side of our ministry asthe children of God? There's a million rabbit holes to go chasing here as well as many situations I am completely not smart enough to answer or clarify. Some foundations and insights can be found here:

http://www.churchca.com

I am still wading through much of this. It gets deep. But I happy to say that I try my best to be copyright compliant with as much as I know how to. What are your thoughts on the issue of the church and copyright?

GULF COAST GETAWAY AND ARRIVING

2008-01-29T10:31:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite events to lead worship at every year has to be Gulf Coast Getaway. 2,000 college students come to gather one cold January weekend in Panama City Beach, FL. They come from Christian student centers, Christian colleges, and even college ministries at church. Chris Seidman, Randy Harris, and Watershed for a whole weekend- whew! John Ross also painted 4 paintings simultaneously- one for each side of the stage. This conference always pushes us to bring new worship music too- in a good way. There’s no singing “I Will Call Upon The Lord” here! Instead, we sing songs like “Be Lifted High”, “Let God Arise”, and “At The Cross”. But what really makes this event different from others has to be the PASSION from those students. You can walk into the conference center and feel a spirit there that isn’t at other places.

You see, at a lot of youth rallies and conferences we go to, many teens are made to attend or only go because of the cute girls they may meet, etc., etc. And though that may happen at Gulf Coast- I can’t say that that is the main reason they go. College students go because they WANT to be there. It is obvious. The worship is always AWESOME- and not because I’m up there on stage at all. All we do is gently nudge the ball toward the hill, and they take it from there. THEY SING THEIR FACES OFF!

And I always love to glean more understanding from the “wise monk”, Randy Harris. In my opinion, he’s the best we have in the COC. He impresses me because it’s obvious, as he shares stories, that he is still on a journey to draw closer to God. He is open and honest with his struggles as he finds his way through faith. I think people love him so much because they identify with that. We often hear preachers and gifted speakers telling us how to live better, what to do, and what to say. But sometimes, it’s more powerful not to have an answer for everything, but be confessional in the their triumphs, their stumbles, their doubts, their own walk of faith.

It is my firm belief that if we ever feel like we have “arrived” spiritually, then we have lost our way.

Peace,

-chris

Chik-Fil-A?

2008-01-27T21:38:00.000-06:00

So, a few weeks back we were in Shelbyville visiting my family. My Mom said, "You want to eat lunch at our new Chik-Fil-A?" Being in Michigan, we don't get too much of that restaurant . . . so we jumped at the chance for that chicken goodness.

We pulled into drive thru and laughed out loud. I've never seen one quite like this.

Apparently, these are "tester" drive thrus to make sure they will turn a profit before they come in a build a real restaurant. Still, the small, square, cow-spotted buildings are pretty hilarious looking!

We're just glad it tasted good!

New Christian Tshirt Company

2008-01-14T19:37:00.001-06:00

I found this site through a link on a blog I was reading. T-shirts with speaking in tongues on it! I'm not sure what to think about this! You must see for yourself. http://www.holyghosttees.com/ -chris

Genna's snow walk video

2008-01-01T21:35:00.001-06:00

A day in the snow!

2008-01-01T21:09:00.000-06:00

We looked out the window the first morning of this new year and BEHOLD, 8 inches of snow fell overnight! The above picture is the front of our house (our front yard is evidently the best place to put shoveled snow). So, we got Genna ready to play in the snow for a bit while I cleaned off the car.

She got her boots and hat on and was ready to go!

Helping Daddy shovel some snow. Our first walk in the snow.

YIA 2007

2007-12-31T15:47:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe that we've been singing at Youth In Action in Kansas City for six years now. Every year, from Dec 27th to Dec. 30th, we've jumped on a plane and lead worship at this youth conference of 350 teens. To be honest, at first, I was not crazy about taking off to sing somewhere right after Christmas. I had to cut the already slim time with my family in half to sing at this event. But now, though it's still pretty hectic and busy time, I look forward to it. My brothers in Watershed ARE family to me and this is a chance to spend the holidays with my family.

And I get to catch up with many of you who come. There are teens I see every year, and I get to see how they have grown spiritually, what decisions they are making, what career they are deciding on. And I always plug Nashville and Lipscomb just a bit ;).

Anyway, I am finally getting a chance to rest after such a busy couple of months. I am halfway through the novel The Kite Runner and loving every page. It's a must-read (so far) for those who love a good story.

And finally, we got a cute pic of Genna looking out the window on the plane. I just couldn't resist!

Love you all and Happy New Year!

CAST PIC

2007-12-26T23:02:00.000-06:00

Ok, one more shot. It's of the entire cast, band, set designers, tech crew, carolers, and seamstresses.

Imagine Christmas

2007-12-26T22:43:00.000-06:00

Sorry it's been so long. It's been a busy month with Christmas with family and a full blown musical production! Our church put on a Willow Creek production called Imagine Christmas. We had a full band, soloists, acting, and dancers of all ages. Our violinist was from the Rochester Symphony Orchestra! Here are a few pics from the show. Though we were exhausted after the final performance, we did have an awesome time. Now that the show is over and Christmas is out of the way, Vicki, Genna, and I are having to pack up and head to Kansas City for a youth conference called YOUTH IN ACTION. Looking forward to seeing our friends out there. peace. -chris

A Christian theme throughout Harry Potter?

2007-11-12T09:36:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, there was a great discussion on Josh Graves' blog about the Harry Potter series. Should we let our children read them? Should we support it as Christians? My answer has been always been an enthusiastic "YES"! Anyway, this article has been buzzing around blogs and emails, so I thought I'd follow suit and share it as well. Especially now, in light of the press we've read about Dumbledore being gay, this adds yet another layer to the HP series.

Quote taken from MTV.com:

That was the plan from the start, Rowling told reporters during a press conference at the beginning of her Open Book Tour on Monday. It wasn't because she was afraid of inserting religion into a children's story. Rather, she was afraid that introducing religion (specifically Christianity) would give too much away to fans who might then see the parallels.

"To me [the religious parallels have] always been obvious," she said. "But I never wanted to talk too openly about it because I thought it might show people who just wanted the story where we were going."

Indeed, at its most simplistic, Harry's final tale can in some respects be boiled down to a resurrection story, with Harry venturing to a heavenly way station of sorts after getting hit with a killing curse in Chapter 35, only to shortly return.

But if she was worried about tipping her hand narratively in the earlier books, she clearly wasn't by the time Harry visits his parents' graves in Chapter 16 of "Deathly Hallows," titled "Godric's Hollow." On his parents' tombstone he reads the quote "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death," while on another tombstone (that of Dumbledore's mother and sister) he reads, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

While Rowling said that "Hogwarts is a multifaith school," these quotes, of course, are distinctly Christian. The second is a direct quote of Jesus from Matthew 6:19, the first from 1 Corinthians 15:26. As Hermione tells Harry shortly after he sees the graves, his parents' message means "living beyond death. Living after death." It is one of the central foundations of resurrection theology.

Are any of these things going to change someone's opinions about reading the series? Likely not. Most people have already made up their minds about them. But I will say that it easily nudges people to engage each other. To talk and interact and wrestle with these themes. It's exactly what the parables and the stories within the Bible challenge us to do.

More recent pics

2007-10-22T14:46:00.000-05:00

Vicki and I took these at Yates Cider Mill while Mom was up visiting from Shelbyville. One year old . . . wow.

Genna's 1st Birthday party

2007-10-22T13:52:00.001-05:00

OK, OK, so this is long overdue. I was looking through IPhoto and BAM, I saw all these pictures I completely forgot about posting of Genna's birthday party for everybody. So here goes . . . Enjoying some cake . . . Reading one of her new favorite books- Urban Babies Wear Black. We had plenty of friends and family turn out for her party. More people showed up to her party than at all my birthday parties combined! What's up with that!?! Still, it was a lot of fun. Birthday cake- been there . . .ate that. Presents and Food- good times. . . . There's plenty more (we took a TON of her eating the messy cake), but I thought we'd hit the highlights. There's other updates I need to put up here . . . Genna's walking now! So, I'm putting together a few video clips to post very soon. Blessings, Chris

Harry Potter and Christianity

2007-10-16T13:56:00.000-05:00

There's an interesting blog discussion over on Josh Graves' blog about the Harry Potter series. As a fan, I had to share my 2 cents worth. Check it out and join in the conversation.

Come On

2007-09-25T22:45:00.000-05:00

I found this video a couple weeks ago and thought everybody might like to check it out. We did this concert at Youth In Action back in 2005. Enjoy! -chris

Painting A Picture of Jesus

2007-09-17T14:17:00.000-05:00

In our ongoing Sunday message series entitled: "Urban Legends: debunking spiritual myths", we talked about how Jesus doesn't look like a white, blonde haired, blue eyed, Republican male.

We looked at imagery throughout history that depicted Jesus as Asian, hispanic, african, and anglo-saxon. Would it offend us if we used this imagery in our churches. What makes us think that Jesus looked and talked like us? It is funny how we often make him into OUR image- instead of the other way around.

It was a sobering Sunday to say the least. As a worship leader and the MediaShout guru- it makes me think twice about the imagery I use as backgrounds in worship. Some churches avoid pictures of Jesus altogether for this very reason. Some only use silhouetted pictures of Him. And, by the way, where are the Jewish depictions of Jesus?

I struggle with this- for I still see beauty in a many of the sculptures and depictions of Jesus. On the other hand- I want to make sure that I'm not communicating visually that we have a "white man's Messiah".

Here's a photo I did (with some Photoshop action of course) that I'm pretty proud of. I still like it. I still want to use it in a worship setting.

I wonder how many churches are sensitive to these type topics or wrestle with them at all. We communicate so much through the imagery we use- for better or for worse. May we always strive as artists, as photographers, as musicians, as vocalists, and as sculptures that we strive to more clearly capture the heart of the gospel. May we use our giftings to illuminate the dark places with its Divine light. May we always seek to paint a brighter picture of Jesus.

-chris

2007-09-17T14:10:00.000-05:00

The cool breath of fall is blowing across Michigan. The top of the trees are losing their green ever so faintly. The apple cider mills are firing up and getting ready to open.

Ahhhh . . . I love autumn.

Getting used to the family of God

2007-09-13T14:30:00.000-05:00

Many of you are like me. Many of you (not all- mind you)have come from a fairly conservative, fundamentalist, traditional church background- my particular tribe being the churches of Christ.

Now, occasionally I can come down pretty hard on my church background. I brush my hand over the leaks and cracks in the hull of this old boat. I mutter to myself (and sometimes to a room full of people), "This ship is sinking- we'd better bail while we can. . . ." I can pick it apart and make jokes about our scars and attitudes over the years. And in doing so, sometimes I get some kickback for being TOO hard on my tradition.

They are probably right. In my life, my harshest critics can be not only myself, but my family. They know when I've overstepped my bounds and have reel me back in. But they also know where my deepest faults are.

They also know when to ignore my stupid decisions and/or random tirades. And when I am singing with the praise team or watershed- my family let's me genuinely know if I've done well or not. Because they are intimately connected to me, they can be my harshest critics.

They can also (not just "my wife") tell me to tuck my shirt in or to fix my hair or let me know that something I'm wearing doesn't quite match. And as much as that can annoy me, I let them. Why? Why should I not simply defend myself? Because I know that my family truly does want the best for me. They, to borrow a Max Lucado phrase, love me right where I am, but refuse to leave me this way. They want to see me improve and grow and become more mature and develop better grooming techniques, etc., etc.

Part two of all this is that I will confess I don't have much patience for those who feel called to "protect" the church from criticism. Those who lash out at the smallest amount of cynicism in my tone or choice of phrasing. My thoughts on that: If the church truly has Son of God as the cornerstone, then the church can handle it. It won't crumble- it won't budge. It will still stand- cracks and all. Besides, could it be that someone, upon hearing certain critiques, may decide to fill in the cracks that they hadn't noticed before?

Maybe this is why I'm so hard on the churches of Christ. I never want the church to feel like it has arrived. We should constantly improve and grow and become more mature. And I feel like maybe I can be too harsh at times, but I hope people know my heart. I hope they know that I DO want the church to fully live into its calling as the Kingdom of God.

Now, upon reading this back over, I know there are holes and other sides to consider. This isn't an open/closed kind of argument. These are simply just some thoughts I've been having. Questions, comments and smart remarks are welcome.

-chris

Mountain Biking

2007-09-04T10:11:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I agreed to go with a couple of friends out mountain biking. All those who know me well know that I don't do mornings, but I decided I would try this once. So Dave Utley picked up up at 6:15 to go out to the trail.

There were some highs . . . .

and lows of the morning,

but overall, I had a great time. I decided that success on this first experience meant not throwing up. So, I succeeded in that goal (though I came close twice . . . as you can see). The next goal will be to cut my time down from two hours to at least an hour and a half!

Thanks to Ashley Harrison and Dave Utley for being patient with me and taking me out there. I promise I will get back in the saddle soon. I'm working on getting in slightly better shape at the Fitness Center!

peace,

-chris

2007 Recap Video

2007-09-03T17:25:00.000-05:00

Tony B. beatboxing duet!

2007-07-26T11:11:00.000-05:00

Valley of 1,000 hills

2007-07-26T10:40:00.000-05:00

One of the places we visited was a community of over 300,000 people called The Valley of 1000 Hills. It is located in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, just north of Durban.

The death toll is staggering. Unemployment is astounding. Crime, such as rape, child abuse, incest and murder, is rampant. HIV/AIDS infection is rising at frightening levels.

The overall infection statistics are 42%. The mother to child infection rate is 41%.

Children are orphaned. They are hungry. Some don't have homes. They aren't safe.

But there is hope.

The Valley of 1000 Hills Community Helpers exists to alleviate the suffering of children in distress. As society has evolved and new horrors confront children, we have adapted our services to the needs of the community and focus particularly on children and communities impacted by AIDS.

We visited this organization. We were first greeted by Dawn Leppan, a woman who has dedicated her life in assisting orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC). She is soft-spoken woman who has more passion for people in her little finger than I have ever had.

Dawn gave us the tour of the facilities. They have trade center where they teach adults certain trades so that they can join the workforce. Some of these trades include crafts (bead work, textiles, sewing), masonry work, and even a school to train nurses.

We also learned of what it takes to feed a community of this magnitude.

Anyone who has ever stayed up late watching infomercials knows that $1 can help. But let me break it down for you.

You will never fully understand how much one US dollar helps until you walk up to a currency exchange center and see how your money converts to local currency.

One US dollar equals 7 Rand.

The cost of one meal for one person is 6 Rand...less than one dollar.

The cost for one month of meals for the community is 700 Rand.

That's $100. For one month.

I went to the grocery store today and spent $40 on food for three or four meals. Let me break these numbers down further.

$40 equals 280 Rand.

280 Rand equals almost 47 meals.

Do you see how it breaks down? Once you do the math, you begin to understand how every little bit helps.

I'm going to brag on our crew. Not because I want to praise us for our "wonderful works". Not because we want glory. But to show you how much little things (to us) can help a community.

In about 20 minutes, we gave 2800 Rand out of pocket. That's $400 US. That equals to 4 whole months of meals for the community.

I couldn't wait for the minute that we got to present it to Dawn and her team. When we gave it, she was so excited. She ran and yelled for more of her team to come out to see what had been given to them. We told her to use it for whatever she needed it to go to, whether she used it for materials for the center, more meals, or to just pad the funds that they receive normally.

So, let me tie this into you...our supporters.

You need to know how much your donations to us have helped this community. Had you not given, this wouldn't have been possible.

We sang to these children. But more importantly, they sang to us. They sang to us about Jesus, and it broke my heart. Even as I sit here crying and I remember their faces, I can't shake the fact that I have been so cavalier with my life, my finances, my blessings.

They sang to me about Jesus. The Jesus that loves regardless of age, race, gender...length of life. Most of these children will not live long. Yet they have hope. They gave me hope. I cried more on this trip than I have ever cried.

I realized that Jesus is Jesus. No matter what I view Him to be in my mind. He is real. He loves me. He loves these children. I am no better than they are. Only I think they understand Him more. I think they know how it feels when they hear the story of Jesus touching the man who had leprosy. They know that they are not outcasts to Jesus. They know that they won't be refused in His love.

I have much to learn from these children.

Their eyes speak of unfailing love. Their voices speak of joy. Their hearts have touched my own.

I know I may never see them again. But just the single glimpse of their lives has affected my heart.

So, here's where the Sally Struthers moment comes into play. You know, I don't care what it sounds like. I have been jaded for far too long. I have been too prideful. For that I am sorry.

YOU CAN HELP!!!

Please visit www.1000hch.com This is the website for The Valley of 1000 Hills Community Helpers.

We cannot cure these children. But we can feed them, cloth them, and love them. Most will not survive. But most will smile.

They need love. They need help. Your help. My help. Our help.

Empangini Orphanage

2007-07-25T06:57:00.000-05:00

Kids at the orphanage singing "There's No One Like Jesus" for us. In the midst of such dire circumstances- they still have joy.

We're finally coming home!!

2007-07-23T13:11:00.001-05:00

We’re finally coming home! I’m sitting at a coffee shop in the Johannesburg airport with my cafe latte in hand. We’re all waiting for our 11-hour flight to London. At least it’s overnight- so we can sleep.

It’s been a whirlwind of a week! We got to go on a safari on Friday. We all loaded up on big jeep things and drove around this big game reserve called Thula Thula. We saw elephants, giraffes, wildebeasts, zebras, and impalas. It was a blast. We also did our second retreat at a retreat center on the beach in Durban. If you looked out our windows of our “dorm room”, you’d see the Indian Ocean- as big and wide and blue as the sky.

The people we met here are just as beautiful. For those in the States reading this, know that you have brothers and sisters who love you here in South Africa. There are faithful followers of Jesus halfway across the world who are passionate about worship and helping the poor. And I can now call many of them friends. That’s really important to me to be able to say that. Friends like Brian Lister, Noel, Durc, Ryan and Anthea, not to mention all the teens we’ve come to know. We learned a little Afrikaans to boot! It’s good to know that we are more than “fellow Christians”. Though true, we have become friends and family.

At the retreat, we sang this weekend until our lungs were sore and throats were hoarse. Both “Jabulani” and “Arise” became theme songs for us on this trip. (side note: We met a guy actually named Jabulani at our concert in Empangini. Absolutely awesome! We called him up on stage to sing it with us. Evidently, Jabulani is a common Zulu name today.) There were many requests for Todd to sing “Amazing Grace”. We smiled as we watched people go crazy as he dropped those low notes. Yeah- that was pretty cool.

I’m having mixed emotions right now. I long to see my little girl, but I want to stay here for a while. You know, learn a little more Afrikaans and be able to blend in with the locals. I want to help encourage our churches here and help them take the next steps in worship. But I also long for my friends back home, a cup of coffee at Starbucks, and sleeping in my own bed.

This trip has changed me. I have TONS more pictures and videos to share. I’ll get them up soon. Again, I want to say thank you to all who sacrificed financially to allow us to share the gospel with our friends here. I want to say thank you to Free Indeed, VHF, One Spirit, and all who made this trip what it is. We have made friends for life. I love singing with all of you. I truly feel blessed to have shared this experienced with you.

-peace

Chris Lindsey

Jabulani!!

2007-07-21T09:56:00.001-05:00

It took 45 minutes just to load this video . . . gggrrrrrr. Hopefully we'll have more time tomorrow (right now we're in a grocery store that is "called" an internet cafe). Anyway, we love you guys. Enjoy.

A rollercoaster ride of a trip

2007-07-21T09:44:00.000-05:00

Although there are many similar luxuries in the cities here, the population of people who have no running water, no proper home, and no job is a lot higher. In the particular region we were in today, Zulu Kingdom, one in three people have the HIV virus. Today and yesterday we visited two different orphanages that play host to a variety of children who have parents that have died from AIDS and who many of them have HIV themselves. The particular orphan villages that we visited also had AIDS hospices and schools on the premises. In fact, they teach the adult women and men in their respective areas many different skills to help them get jobs and earn a living.

I can’t go on much more without these thoughts taking over this entire blog. We want you to know about other amazing things that have been happening in the last two days. The last two evenings have been absolutely incredible at the two public concerts that we have held. Both concerts, one in Durban for 1000– one in Empangani for 1500, have packed the house…we even added extra chairs at one. We sang our hearts out and so did the people we were singing for. All of us lifting those praises to the God who brought us together. We are so excited to find out what good has come out from these concerts. We know that lives were touched and seeds were planted, the rest will be taken care of by God and we can’t wait to see what He does!!!

-vicki Lindsey

South Africa: Lost in Translation

2007-07-16T17:33:00.000-05:00

A few things we are learning in this culture:

Tomato sauce= ketchup (sort of . .)

Napkins= diapers

Serviettes= napkins

Coke Light= Diet Coke

Robots= stoplights

Chips= French Fries (sometimes)

Braai (sp?)= Barbecue

2007-07-16T17:14:00.000-05:00

Today, we got to sightsee around Capetown! This is truly an amazing country. We spent most of our time in Table Mountain National Park. Here are some of what we’ve seen:

We rode a cable car up to the top of Table Mountain. It overlooks the entire city on all sides!

We drove around the coast viewing both the Atlantic Ocean side as well as the Indian Ocean side.

We all paid the fare for a boat which took us to out to a seal colony on a small island. We saw families of jellyfish off the side of the boat on our way out. The captain also mentioned that this area is the only place in the world where Great White sharks actually jump out of the water while feeding. So, the guys got excited about seeing some carnage! Fortunately, the seals were only playing and sunning themselves. No danger or carnage . . . too bad.

We ate at the Mariner’s Wharf right on the ocean. We had the best calamari we’ve ever eaten. In fact, we loved them so much, we ordered a second appetizer of them for dessert.

We ended the day with a visit to a penguin colony near the southern tip of the country. We saw literally thousands of penguins nesting and standing out on the rocks. Penguins in Africa? Sounds crazy . . but they are there!

In the midst of all this, I got this picture in my head. Being a new father, I revel in seeing my daughter play with a new toy we brought home for her. As we were gawking at the penguins or snapping pictures of seals or standing in awe at the mountains, I thought about what God must feel as He sees His children delighting in the things he made for us. I can only imagine that He smiles with a twinkle in his eye as He watches His children opening these gifts given to us.

Though hard with pictures, I hope we can share these gifts with you.

Keep praying for us. We fly to Durban tomorrow to do a concert or two as well as sing at an orphanage and a school.

Love you guys,

-chris

NEWS FROM SOUTH AFRICA

2007-07-15T16:30:00.000-05:00

This being our first blog and also our first shot on the internet since we arrived, we’ve got a lot of information to squeeze in. Short and sweet… our trip over was mostly problem-free with the exception of some lost luggage, and our layover in London was fantastic! (More on this later…now on to the mission work!)

Our first few days here have been busy! We started off the trip with a weekend retreat consisting of many of the local churches. We took a charter bus an hour and a half out into the mountains at a camp just outside of Capetown. The ride was absolutely breathtaking- this is such a beautiful country.

Since it is winter in South Africa, they warned us to bring jackets for the evenings. Of course, we’re thinking, “We’re in Africa, how cold can it really get?” We found out the hard way. Every night, it got down near 0 degrees Celcius (around 30 degrees). We froze every night since there was no heating in any of the cabins, but we persevered.

The singing was awesome. Each of the groups (Watershed, Free Indeed, One Spirit, VHF) took turns leading worship for each session. For the main night sessions, all of the groups would come out together and close out each evening with high-energy worship. With so many people who can truly sing, the music was moving and powerful! I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting the local churches and South Africans to know many of the songs we do. (You know, we’d have to sing the older “throwback” devotional songs) But my expectations were blown right out of the water as they sang “Lord, Reign In Me” at the top of their lungs and “How Great Is Our God” with hands raised! It was so cool do see how many songs they DID know and how passionate they sing.

Last night, all the groups got together and we sang a medley I had done with at Friday Night Lights a month or so back at Rochester. I had never done it a cappella before, but everyone filled in the parts easily. So, to close out the evening, we sang “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “Open the Eyes Of My Heart”. To sing a cover of a U2 song has been somewhat of a dream of mine, but to do it in South Africa . . . . WOW.

One of the verses in the song says, “I believe in the Kingdom come, then all the colors will bleed into one. You know I believe it . . “ Powerful stuff. Especially to sing those words in a country who has had such a history with apartheid and racism. In South Africa, the churches are small and diverse. It is difficult for them to come together. It is our hope that we are able to bring a message of hope and unity to these churches. That Jesus is reason enough to be unified.

Another song the South Africans love is “Jabulani”. I was a little apprehensive about singing a South African song in SOUTH AFRICA, but they absolutely loved it. We’ve had to sing it everyday so far- a trend I expect to continue throughout our stay here.

We’ve got the next day to enjoy some of the sights in South Africa…we’ll definitely update you on that soon, but we are ecstatic about the upcoming week. We’ve been informed that the two concerts they had set up and opened to the public have way exceeded their expectations. In Durban, they have sold over 1000 tickets and in Empangani over 600! In both places, they are expecting around 75% of the audiences to be non-Christian . . . so a great opportunity for outreach!

A BIG thank you to all who’ve been praying for us! Keep them going this week as we share the gospel through music! More to come soon . . . .

A Heavy Word

2007-07-02T14:11:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, a few weeks ago I turned 30. It’s somewhat of a milestone in my life. 30’s a big number. While in my 20’s, people could disregard some of my antics and irresponsibility on my age. I was still an adult, but with some forgiveness there when I needed to shirk off my duties and run downstairs to the my Xbox. But 30 strikes me as a little different. You are called to a higher standard in your 30’s. When I pine for a day or two of laziness, the bills on my counter and the Jumperoo in my living room remind me that life will not stop for me to indulge myself. I am a man- like it or not.

So, I got a tattoo for my birthday.

I had been mulling this idea around for a while that I wanted one. But those who know me know of my fear of needles. I can’t even go by myself to the doctor for shots, so how in the world would I be able to get thousands of tiny shots that inject ink into my body?

But I did it. We pulled into a Daytona Beach shop called GenerationX (we did some research online to find a “reputable” shop) and I marched right into the front lobby with my design: “Kadosh” in Hebrew- translated “holy” and “set apart”. I wanted this word on my body to remind myself that God has called me to be this very word. I find it incredibly beautiful.

As I gave my design to the clerk behind the counter he replied, “Hebrew, huh?”

“Yep.”

“You know, we have a couple of guys from Israel who work here.”

“Really?”

The clerk passed the sheet with my future on it to a short guy with a red cap turned around backwards. He had a goatee and no noticeable tattoos on his arms.

“Are you Jewish?” He asked me.

“ Nope. Just a student of Hebrew.”

“Hmm. if you were, I would talk to you about this. I would try to talk you out of doing this.”

So, was this guy a practicing Jew? In a tattoo parlor? I knew what the Old Testament law says about marking your body, but I had to ask.

“Why?”

“Because it’s against the Torah.” Aha! So he’s a Jew of some kind . . . but I’m still kinda wondering why this guy works here, but we keep talking.

“Are you Jewish?” I ask.

“Yes. I am studying to become an Orthodox Jew.” He pulls off his red cap to reveal a yhamika hiding underneath.

“So, do you go to “mikva?”

“Yes, as often as I can, at least a couple of times a week.”

“Do you have any tattoos?”

“Nope.”

Then he changes the discussion back to the tattoo,

“This word that you want to have on your body. This . . . this is a heavy word. It is in all the prayers we pray. You are choosing a serious word. If I was going to tattoo you- I just couldn’t do this.”

A wave hit me. Did I really realize what I was about to do? Did I really think this through? Should I have decided to do something different? Maybe God was reminding me to take this more seriously than I was.

“But you can do what you want. I’ll set you up with one of our artists.”

So, he took my money, and assigned me to a guy who was to put this word on my body forever. Clearly, he wasn’t a full Orthodox Jew, cause he immediately went outside to smoke a cigarette.

Still, it made me think about this experience and what I was about to do. I resolved to do this, but with a new appreciation for this word- HOLY.

Can I live up to this standard?

Vacation!!

2007-06-25T15:17:00.000-05:00

So, we got back a couple of weeks ago from a much needed vacation! We haven’t done anything like this since before we moved to Rochester, so it was nice. We hung out in Florida at the New Smyrna Beach (just below Daytona) in a house that we rented with Josh and Kara.

I ended up sitting around and reading through two books ( I highly recommend both, by the way): Leaving Church by Barbara Brown Taylor and Sex God by Rob Bell. Barbara has slways been one of my favorite authors since reading her book The Preaching Life in college. She is truly a master of words, because she doesn't just write, she paints grand tapestries with her stories. Anyone who hasn't read her books should go out and pick up anything she's written. You won't be disappointed! So, I’m now on the search to pick up some new reading before the final Harry Potter comes out- any recommendations?

We also watched the entire second season of The Office! It has become one of my favorite shows. (like I need another one) So if you don't need another show, then don't watch it. You'll be hooked!!!

Also, a couple of interesting things happened on this trip. First, Genna began crawling! As you can see from the previous video, she’s still a little shaky, but has now realized that she can grab that toy, even though it is across the room. This is a bittersweet milestone for her parents, for it is a signal that she is learning and growing up which is exciting, as well as fear that she can get into all sorts of things that she couldn’t before. I’m thinking of investing in one of those prison ankle tracking bracelets . . . .

And Genna also knows her first word! She now proudly greets everyone around her with an emphatic “Hi” while waving her arms around wildly. As much as I would’ve liked her first word to be “dada”, it’s incredibly cute.

More to come. . .

Genna at the beach!

2007-06-21T20:42:00.000-05:00

Genna had just learned to crawl only a day or two before this video. She's discovering the sand! I promise, something serious to read will be coming soon!

Day at the Zoo

2007-06-21T19:55:00.000-05:00

Genna's first trip to the Zoo. Don't let her face fool you . . . she had a great time! And so did Mommy and Daddy.

She didn't mind the snakes . . .

or a conversation with a lion . . . .

But her favorite animal was Grandpa!

INDULGE ME PART 2

2007-04-26T16:16:00.000-05:00

Just a few random pictures of Genna and her not-so-normal family . . .

Easter Sunday

2007-04-26T14:24:00.000-05:00

This year, Easter was truly inspired! It was, so far, a highlight of worship at the Rochester Church of Christ.

Something that has become a new tradition for us here at Rochester is bringing flowers to place on the crosses during worship. We place two crosses wrapped in chicken wire at the front of the stage. During communion, families and members come forward and place a flower into the cross. It's incredible to see the cross, a symbol of death, be transformed into a symbol of new life! Families take pictures together next to the newly-decorated crosses.

Next, we had a special guest from Jinja, Uganda. Her name is Ida and is a native of Jinja, a leader at the church there, and friends with many of our missionaries who live or used to live there. She and Sara Barton re-read the story of the resurrection from the Gospel of John. But all of the dialog between Jesus, Mary, and the disciples were translated and read in Ida's native language Lusoga. To hear it read in such a way really communicated that the resurrection was a universal event!

And instead of an 8 member praise team, we had 20 member choir. The sound was just awesome! we sang songs like "The Power of the Cross", "For All You've Done", "In Chrsit Alone" and "Worthy Is The Lamb", but they took on a whole new meaning when sung with a choir. It was off the charts!

I thank all who were involved. We couldn't have done it without all who sacrificed and worked to make it such a blessed day. I still get overwhelmingly positive comments about that Sunday! I know that He was blessed!

-chris

Catching up!

2007-04-26T14:06:00.000-05:00

I need to catch up! A LOT has gone on in the last month or so! But to keep all my thoughts organized, I'll post them separately!

First of all, Watershed finally released the new praise and worship album "I Know You Love Me". It is a collection of some of our most requested songs along with a few new ones. I love to the way Everyday turned out! It makes the perfect opener for this album! Another one I'm excited about is "At the Cross" from Hillsong. Darlene Zschech and Reuben Morgan know how to write a song! It is the inspiration behind the title of the album. The lyrics say, "Even when I fail You . . . .In every season . . . . I KNOW YOU LOVE ME". WOW!!But its the bridge is what really gets me in the song . . . "You tore the veil, You made a way, when You said that it is done."

Anyway, if you haven't heard it yet, go to Watershed's Myspace or Shoutlife to hear a couple of the tracks. They are also available for purchase at our webstore at www.watershedworship.com.

Check it out and tell me what you think!

-chris

Megachurches are Desegregating on Sunday Mornings

2007-03-05T12:51:00.001-06:00

We just got back from a youth rally in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was a great weekend! As we led worship at the churc on sunday, us guys noticed two men in booths in the balcony. we asked later about what those guys were doing there (the sound and video was in a booth on the main floor). The church said that have two translators for their worship gatherings: one for Spanish and one for Chinese! Members whose first language isn't English can pick up a headset and hear what is being said and/or sung via these translators. In my opinion, this is a HUGE step in reaching out and becoming a church that knows no borders. It goes beyond language and race and states that the good news of the kingdom is for everyone!

As I was thinking about this today, I stumbled upon this article on Yahoo. Now, you can deride megachurches all you want, but new research shows that they're more racially diverse, finally beginning to overturn the assertion that Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week. In one-third of megachurches minorities make up 20% or more of the congregation. It's a small start, but a welcome one.

To read more, click here.

Link

or just copy and paste it: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070220/ap_on_re_us/megachurches_race

The Academy Awards

2007-02-25T21:16:00.000-06:00

We just finished our worship small group, and we rushed home to catch the 2nd half of the Academy Awards. Of all the award shows out there, Vicki and I LOVE watching the Oscars. We both admit it, we are movie junkies. We'll watch them all. The dramas, the action, and the fantasy (i'm still working on appreciating chick flicks). But the Oscars is in another class! It's the Superbowl of acting and cinema! Some people love to watch it just to see what all the actors and actresses are wearing, but I love the awards themselves. I've always had my opinions of who should win for best actor (Joachin Phoenix was robbed last year! His Johnny Cash was perfect AND he sang all the songs himself! He did much better than Jamie Fox for Ray- but it was the same kind of role and the Academy won't do that two years in a row) and actress (very lean this year, but The Queen I think has it), best supporting actors, etc. In the past, we would watch every movie up for the main awards, especially movie of the year. But having a baby has changed all that. Now we do good to see a movie once every other month. So, I haven't seen even one of the top movies! (But we did see Ghost Rider . . don't waste your time . . .)

So far, I been disappointed, surprised, glad, and both surprised and glad at this year's winners. I've really wanted to see Pan's Labyrinth for a while, and, after all those awards, and I HAVE to see it now! Jennifer Hudson for best supporting actress was a surprise, but a well deserved winner.

Anyway, I don't know if you have a soft spot for the Oscars, but if you do, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this year's Academy Awards.

Beatboxing flute

2007-02-23T17:51:00.001-06:00

This is simply amazing. Maybe Tony B. could learn how to play the flute and incorporate this into his drum solo somehow!

SOUTH AFRICA HERE WE COME!

2007-01-22T14:18:00.000-06:00

It's on! Watershed has had many opportunities to sing all over the U.S. In 2007, we are going international! This spring, we are venturing into the icy tundra of Ontario, Canada and this summer (July) we are raising money to go minister to the believers and unbelievers in South Africa!!! I'm very excited to see what God is doing with us!

If you are interested in helping us get there by prayer or by finanical support, please let us know! We'd love for you to be a part of this adventure with us. All those who are involved will get a copy of our limited edition "Pray For Africa" EP. It will have some live tracks of Watershed leading worship as well as a remix of the ever-popular Jambulani (which, BTW, is an americanized typo we found out, the original version is called Jabulani!).

On the Watershed front, things are exciting right! We're hard at work on a new worship album as well as sheet music for churches who want to use these songs in their worship gatherings. We also just released our first ever volume of graphics for powerpoint/MediaShout/Easy Worship, etc. called ESTATIC V.1. It's 215 pictures and 5 AVI loops that Vicki, myself, Heath Hollensbe, and Stephen Proctor took over the last couple of years. We've been using these graphics in our worship times and shows, and the demand for them pushed us to creating this product. I pray that God does some awesome things with ESTATIC and blesses people with these who are a little more right-brained like me!!

But enough about that stuff, I'm sure many people are wondering about one thing . . . . the baby! Well, I'm getting used to taking the back seat to Genesis. And rightly so, she is beautiful. She has such a fun personality! She isn't scared of anyone and is such a social girl already! (I'M DOOMED when we get to Jr. high . . .)

We have traveled with her a lot in these first 4 months of her life, and, to my relief, she is great on the road. You see, I have always had this fear of being THAT ONE family on the plane with THAT ONE baby who cries and cries and cries . . . . and then cries some more. The stories of the flight with Jeffery from Bill Cosby lore flash before my eyes every time I step foot onto the ramp down to the plane. And every time she has surprised me. She has gotten only slightly fussy, nothing that a slightly warmed bottle of formula can't fix. And for being 4 months old, she has flown to Florida once and Nashville twice already. Genesis already has 9 states under her belt!

Yes, we are adjusting to parenting life fairly well. We have bumps and turns in the road, but I think we are doing OK. Thus concludes my first update of 2007. There's much more to come, so stay tuned!

-chris

King Tut

2006-12-11T22:23:00.000-06:00

We went down to Chicago a couple of weekends ago to see our friends Ben and Nikki, but also to see the Tutanhkamen exhibit at the Field Museum. It was awesome! First of all, I am fascinated with ancient Egyptian culture, so it's easy for me to get excited about stuff like this. Vicki just had to humor me for a couple of hours (she really didn't mind it all that much) while we walked through the golden pieces of art and religious artifacts.

As we walked in, it felt as if the high priests were pulling back the curtain to the Most Holy Place to show us the ark of the covenant. What we were seeing had been hidden from sight for over 3500 years. A wooden chair, which should have disintegrated 2,000 years ago, stood proudly bearing the marks of the young king. His grandmother's casket, covered in gold and adorned with ancient spells from the Book of the Dead, sat in the middle of one room begging people to come closer. A crown, a dagger, and a golden necklace were prominently displayed in one of the final rooms. A creative video showed that Tut was buried adorning these priceless pieces. He wore them until they were pulled off his mummified body in the early 1900's. Man, I could've stayed in there all day!

I don't know if there is a hobby or a particular part of history or subject that you find fascinating. You know you don't regret it when you explore that world. What is that one thing for you?

Indulge me

2006-12-04T14:34:00.000-06:00

Worship and lament

2006-12-04T14:28:00.000-06:00

I can remember growing up in a very traditional southern country church and noticing one Sunday that every song we sung never made it back to praising God. We sung about heaven and evergreen trees. We sung about ships and mansions. But I distinctly remember one Sunday never singing one song that addressed God at all. Now this is an extreme example, and I'm not bitter at all about it . . . :) But you see my point!

Truth is, there are waves of inspiration in worship music, we write what we are experiencing and frame it within the biblical story. During the depression, we wrote songs of hope and longing for the future when we wouldn't struggle like we do. Recently, we have written songs expressing the joy we feel was missing from the corporate worship.

In light of this, I agree that the element most missing in our worship is lament. Everyone goes through painful situations, divorces in the family, loss of loved ones, etc, etc, and there is very little to express that in our services. We tend to clean things up a bit in our offerings to God. But that shouldn't be the point, should it? God wants us to be genuine and come to him in the midst of our pain, our dark times. He wants our heart, broken or not.

As I read through the Psalms (our guide to "worship music" from ages past) and it seems that about 2/3 of the songs has massive elements of lament vs. 1/3 which are upbeat and positive. It seems to me that we have some writing to do! We need more songs that express our questions, confession of sins, and just simply "God, where are you?" Off the top of my head, I can think of only a handful that do this well: Deep Calls to Deep (being the only true lament I know), Healing Grace; Lord Have Mercy; Have Mercy O God (another Randy Gill original); Create in Me a Clean Heart (maybe?); and Blessed Be your Name.

I love the honesty in these songs. It doesn't clean up our spirituality, it leaves it messy. God is big enough to handle our problems AND our questions. Don't you think?

-chris

The World Series

2006-10-27T22:27:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here right now, on edge of the stairs, watching Game 5 of the World Series. My friends reading this will laugh at me. Chris? Watching baseball? Not just watching baseball, but getting into it? Never in my life have I declared allegiance to any team in any sport at any time. But, for some reason, it really has been fun to get caught up in the buzz of the World Series. As many of you know, I have always described the chore of watching a baseball game on TV like this: 3 minutes of action packed into 3 hours of television.

But there is a buzz in Detroit. We have hosted the Superbowl AND the World Series in the same year up here. You will never find more dedicated hockey fans than the fans of the Redwings. There is just something different . . . My initial guess is that it gets so cold up here, that professional sports is about all there is to enjoy- cause you can't bear the weather for months. Still, there is something in the air, you can feel it. It makes me want to go to Chelio's ( a restaurant owned by a Redwing player) and watch a Redwings game in the midst of the crazed fans.

So, the Tigers just lost. Wainright just threw the winning pitch. Disappointing. But I didn't think the Tigers could've come back. They just weren't playing as well as they should have- especially the pitching. Ahh, but it was fun . . .

So, hopefully my friends have stopped chuckling to themselves while reading this. Yes, times have changed. I'm a daddy, and I'm watching sports on TV. You'd better watch the skies for Jesus to come back. I think I hear the horsemen of the apocalypse now.

P.S. Anyway, Vicki and I took some "artsy" pictures of Genesis before she gets to big. Vicki got some great shots of her. So, I'm sure you'll be seeing some of them very soon!

ZOE Worship Conference

2006-10-09T17:35:00.000-05:00

This weekend, we took a group of 12 from RCC to the Zoe Worship Conference in Nashville, TN. We had an incredible experience worshipping with 1200 worship leaders, praise team members, and ministry leaders from churches all over the US! The keynote speaker, Mike Cope, knocked every sermon out of the park!! I was so blessed to be there.

Initially, I was a little worried about getting everyone down there, since a week before we lost our van rental accomodations. So, we got a few voluteers to drive and caravaned all the way to TN! It ended up working out for the best- since we got an opportunity to bond and get closer with our little group. AND, I got to show them a little piece of Nashville too! Man, do I miss it . . . especially since a big part of the trip was the food. From CheeseCake factory to El Mariachi to Sonic, we ate very well for the three days we were down there. And I didn't get a chance to take them to Baja Burrito. ( there's always next year . . .) But a few of us DID stop to grab a latte at one of my favorite coffee joints- FIDO'S.

But more than anything, I enjoyed the friends and the fellowship. I loved showing off little Genesis to our friends ( Mike was way smitten with our little girl) and spending time with BT and Steve. I loved seeing our group laugh, make fun of each other, and draw closer to each other.

Which was the theme of the conference, by the way. CLOSER.

How do we draw closer to God? With all the avenues and ways in which we open ourselves up to Him, I have one for you to think about. When the body of Christ does what it is supposed to do- be in community with each other, admonish each other, build each other up- then we ARE closer to God.

We become closer to God not as a result of community, but through it. He lives and breathes between us. "Whenever two of you are gathered in my name, there I am with you" (CLV version ;)

Something to think about . . . .

Genesis Nicole Lindsey

2006-09-28T15:27:00.000-05:00

Announcing our new little girl: Genesis Nicole Lindsey. She is 7 lbs. 1 oz., 20 inches long, and absolutely beautiful, so she definitely takes after her father :) ! Here are some pics of the newest addition to our family.

Some Fun Random Pics

2006-09-10T23:52:00.000-05:00

I hadn't posted any pictures in a while, so I thought you might like to see some fun random pictures of us over the course of the last year. So here's the game: can you match the event with the pic?

a) Lunch in New Orleans

b) Worship at the Emerging Artists' Series

c) Dinner at Benihana's

d) Baby Greyson's first concert

e) Peyton at the Invisible Children's Global Night Commute

Have fun!

Birthing Classes and Concerts

2006-08-31T11:58:00.000-05:00

Well, Vicki and I have finished our birthing classes. We got a certificate and everything! I have to say that those videos we watched are still with me . . . . UGGHHH! Anyway, we also are putting the finishing touches on the nursery, (pics coming very soon) and getting any last minute baby items we need. We did get an interesting item called ButtPaste. (Check out my myspace pics for more info . . .) To say the least, we are so ready for her to be here! We have three more weeks and they are dragging by SO SLOW. Still, I know that it will all be worth it when we hold her the first time. So, keep us in your prayers.

Next, I want to tell you how much of an incredible concert we had in Neosho, MO. We've been back to this youth event called JumpStart for a couple of years now, but the teens were absolutely amazing this year! They knew the words to most of the songs, and were singing them just as loud as we were! But the coolest time was at the very end of the concert- we closed with Face to Face (as usual). And they were singing every word, so at the bridge of the song, Mike just pulled his microphone down and let them sing it while we backed THEM up . . .

My eyes were closed, but if I had opened them, people would have seen my eyes well up. It was one of the most incredible experiences I've had, to have people who know your songs so well, that they sing them out loud at your concerts! WOW. It's one thing to sing a worship song like that, but it means something to me when it was one of OUR songs, you know? It makes me feel like we're still relevant, and that this ministry IS changing people's lives and making an impact. It felt good.

I hated missing out on the whole weekend, I had to leave early, just in case the baby decided to show up unexpected! And I wished I could have spent some time with our friends Free Indeed. I pray that God will allow us to cross paths soon.

That's it for now. I'll holla at ya'll real soon.

Ready For Summer To Be Over

2006-08-24T12:28:00.000-05:00

I saw this on Mike Cope's blog. It describes me perfectly.

I am fall, not summer.
Cool, not hot.
Mountains, not beach.

Sunrise, not sunset.
Morning, not night.
Fall back, not spring forward.

Whatcha think?

Thinking on Unity

2006-06-11T16:36:00.000-05:00

I started and finished Together Again by Rick Atchley and Bob Russell on the plane ride back from the Pepperdine Lectureships. It was an entertaining read! It calls christians from the Churches of Christ and the Independent Christian Churches, both rooted in the Restoration Movement, to rethink our historical lines of division and make a renewed stand for unity. This brief book does an excellent job of stating the traditional issues that have kept our tribes distinctive and how we have arrived at those interpretations (mainly the instrumental/a cappella issue), but also argues that what we have in common is so much richer and stronger than the peripheral issues. It also urges that the two churches should begin building bridges to unify with each other, and that it can be done without compromising ones individual preferences in regard to worship style. It encourages us to think creatively about ways we can support each other.

I’ll be honest- I am all over this!!! We have been in this “family feud” with the Christian churches for far too long. And though I still lead worship in an a cappella tradition, maybe I need to begin thinking of ways to build some bridges to our instrumental brothers and sisters. Now, unlike some of my COC brothers, I enjoy worshipping with instruments and have even led from time to time with a guitar (there are some great songs out there that just don’t work without one). Still, I suggest we need to think about unity beyond the borders of Sunday morning. Too often the issues will fall right back into the “worship service” paradigm. We really have to get over this!!! Think “out of the box” here, people! Very little about the kingdom of God falls within the borders of Sunday morning hour at the church building! The church and the move of unity has got about 5% to do with the worship times and 95% to do with serving the poor together, loving and praying for each other, do outreach projects together, etc. In other words: It’s about BEING church, not DOING church!

On top of this, the more I mull all it all over in my head, I feel like, in our context in Rochester, MI, that we could expand the borders of our thinking even more! How can we reach out even beyond our first cousins we’ve been talking about and reach to our second and third cousins?

I’m not making a case that we should assimilate and morph into a new entity. I am saying we should think creatively as to ways we can encourage and empower each other.

Maybe we should put on a musical or dramatic production featuring and directed by multiple people in different churches.

Maybe do joint mission trips overseas AND/OR to the gulf coast.

Host a Wednesday night series on the different branches of Christianity out there and have them come in to speak about their tribe, what makes them distinctive, what they can learn from us, and finally, what they feel we could learn from them.

This is just off the top of my head, but I’m sure there are more. Let us all find us ways to reach out of our little box and show the world how big our God really is.

Easter Sunday

2006-04-26T23:54:00.000-05:00

I thought I would post a few pics from our Easter service- courtesy of Kara Graves. That Sunday we asked families to bring a flower to worship with them. Near the end of the service we asked them to come to the front and place their flowers on two crosses we had put at the front of the auditorium. It was such an amazing experience to see these symbols of death become symbols of new life. The transformation was beautiful.

A first-time reflection

2006-04-26T00:05:00.000-05:00

This morning, we went to the doctor to get our 19 week ultrasound. This also is the visit that we find out if the baby is a boy or girl. So, we get up first thing in the morning and make our way to the doctors office. We walk right in and begin the procedure. I can't tell you how incredible it is to see your baby for the first time. Ten fingers- check. Ten toes- check. Heart beating correctly- check. Everything was in working order and developing perfectly. We have a healthy, beautiful baby girl. It was all REAL.

I stopped in my tracks just three days earlier, when we were unloading the last of our personal boxes and things from the storage unit in Nashville. Sean and the guys brought it up to us while in town for a concert at RCC. Sean had brought up a few extra items that, when I first saw them, didn't register as real to me. He pulled out a clean, white baby bed, complete with hardware, a Pack-n-Play, and a new stroller. Now, I had seen our child's ultrasound at the 8 week mark, and it began to register that I was to become a father soon, but there was still somewhat of a distance at that point. But now, in this two-hit combo, it all became really REAL.

I can't describe the paradigm shift I'm going through- I am seeing the world through a slightly different lens today. It is a lens countless men have put on throughout history and have never looked at the world quite the same way. It's like turning the corner of a long curve and, suddenly, the road opens up to this beautiful view. Your eyes follow the road down for many miles before the end vanishes from view. It's as if God, for a brief moment, pulls back the curtain to show a glimpse of the road ahead and what's to come. It's that moment, a watershed moment if you will, in which I realize I am now . . . a daddy.

Palm Sunday Reflection

2006-04-10T09:40:00.000-05:00

Historically, this week is the final week of Jesus' life. We start with "Palm Sunday" and walk with him up to the bloody cross on Friday. Here is my reflection on this time of year:

When I see the palm branches this Sunday, I begin to think about what it would’ve been like to be there. An observer- a participant in that scene. I close my eyes and put myself on that street- seeing Jesus coming in on a colt. Where would I have stood? In the crowd, pushing my way to the front? Maybe I would have stood back a little- or run up on a hill to get a better view of the whole scene. Would I have broken off a palm branch from a tree and come sprinting back to place it on the road? Would I have taken off my coat to lay it down? Would I have shouted out “Hosanna!” It seems the only thing I really could do- It is the cry of a people to honor a true King!

But to be there at that scene - I’d have to be at a second one. Now, it is very tense here. People are angry- spiteful. I look around this crowd and notice the same people who were crying out “Hosanna!”, now yelling “Crucify Him!” We had welcomed him a week earlier with palm branches, now we welcome him with flogging and spit. You’d think we’d have chosen Jesus over Barabbas to be released. Certainly, I would have chosen Jesus, right? How could we be sentencing to death the Messiah they'd been praying and waiting for all this time- the Lamb of God . . . . our King?

For me to be in the first crowd, I HAVE to be in the second one. It was every bit my fault Jesus was on that cross as them. Pilate may have given the order, but the hammer was in my hand. They wanted a king- they needed a king. But somehow He didn't meet their expectations- they just couldn’t see Him.

Maybe I’m still there.

Maybe I’m still one of the crowd.

Maybe I'm still waiting for another King.

A Little Slam Poetry

2006-03-07T01:06:00.000-06:00

I ran across this little piece of slam poetry and thought you guys might enjoy this. It was written by Jessica Fino for Relevant magazine. I have read it a few times now and have grown to love it more and more. Please- share your thoughts after reading this.

My lips breathe the words I read,
and speak so true to the life I lead,
Day by day, night by night, caught in the moment,
everything seems right,
I continue on this way, wondering, searchingwith my body,
my soul, my heart, my Beauty,
There's so much in me that wants to offer my femininity
I wanna use my Beauty to delight him, captivate him and
show him how You made me,
I yearn to feel the Beauty.
I yearn so much that I give too much, too many, too soon, too fast,
I've toyed and manipulated situations in the past,
to feel that intimacy that only You can offer me
But I admit, I gave too much, too soon, too fast,
that I cannot even grasp the past of hurt, confusion, disillusion, I'm losing ...
And then I awaken, I arise, I won't buy into the lies

I stop in the pain I've been faking
I've betrayed You, disobeyed You, played You,
used the gifts I've been given to taint the man I love
I've twisted and bended my Beauty
to obtain that false love that I believe will sustain ...
the pain
But pain is what I gain in the forbidden game.

And as I spill forth burning tears of sin,
pain lingers within
pain of pleasure,
pain of fun,
my desperate soul cries out ...

GOD what have I done?

Saints and hot sauce

2006-02-21T13:33:00.000-06:00

WOW. Winterfest is always a highpoint in the year for so many people. Whether its the size, (12,000 teenagers), Jeff Walling, the worship, the band (Tait), or maybe even us (?). But for me, however, there are two major high points: one is the annual pilgrimage to the Pepper Palace. For those not on the "in" on pepper culture: it is a Mecca for hot sauces. A store with every spicy sauce and food additive you can think of and then some! And here, if you are 18 and are daring, you can sample any sauce in the whole store. (My personal recommendation is to try a small dab of the "Death By Salsa"- and then a gallon of milk!) My family has birthed a number of hot sauce connoisseurs, so we always have to squeeze in a few brief moments at that strange and wonderful place. My other and most favorite parts are the short times I get to see and reconnect with friends who have weaved in and out of my life over the years. College friends and roommates, youth ministers, youth ministry interns, connections through AVB and Watershed- the list goes on and on. Often times I get to only spend 10 minutes with friends who were such a huge part of my life 10 years ago. We get to share the basics: how's the job, the wife, the church? any kids yet? You moved? To where? when? It's kinda sad to think that I'm not able to be a BIG part of their lives again. I miss the old times (old is a relative term here!)- back in college or back in one of my old apartments. These people, these friends, or better yet, these saints have shaped my thinking, my behavior, and my theology over the years. They have seen me at my best and at my worst- and vice versa. I have shared a baptistry with some and a dorm room with others. And we always share our memories and our common bond in Jesus. I think back on this and smile for I know that my faith isn't a thing or a destination- it's a journey. I'll pick up and befriend Timothys and Pauls along the way. We'll see our Priscillas and Aquilas move to Colorado for a new job or opportunity. And as painful as change can be, it keeps me ever looking forward and trusting that my Shepherd will lead me for what is yet to come. To all of you who have been a part of my life- I pray that God will bless You and shine his face upon You. I love you all. "So keep 'em coming- these lines on the road, Keep me responsible, be it a light or heavy load, Keep me guessin' with these blessings in disguise I'll walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes."- Caedmon's Call