Filed under: Uncategorized
Hi-
I’m not going to blog again until the recession is over.
-Eric
On Tuesday night sometime between 8pm and midnight, the major news organizations will begin to call the most anticipated Presidential election in a generation for either Barack Obama or John McCain. We know this will happen, but what we don’t know, is what Wednesday morning will be like.
I’m not talking about whether the world will instantly be a better place if Obama is elected, as many of his supporters seem to think, or if the world will be safe from liberals and their tendencies toward socialism if McCain is elected, as many of his supporters are hoping. I’m talking about where we go next, as a country, as a divided electorate, with whichever guy wins.
Everybody seems to want a change. Democrats, many independents, and even a few “Obamacans” want an ideological change. Republicans, many other independents, and any “McCainocrats” that may be out there, want a new guy sitting in the Oval Office (preferably one with less baggage). We’re going to get change for sure. It may not be the change each of us wants, but politics always disappoints us, doesn’t it?
If Obama wins, he won’t be able to do everything he said he would. He won’t be as liberal in his governance as many of his supporters hoped he’d be and he might be more liberal than others anticipated. If McCain wins, his White House will be run as poorly as his campaign and he too will frustrate his base by looking more like the John McCain who met with John Kerry about being his running mate in 2004 than the John McCain who met with John Haggee about an endorsement in 2008.
I believe the last eight years have been a disaster. I know I’ll lose some of you here, that’s fine, but President Bush blew it. With the exception of his funding of AIDS relief and debt forgiveness for many nations in Africa and southeast Asia, he has been a bull in a china shop. The only thing small about his administration has been his world-view. This election, like most elections, is ultimately a referendum on the guy leaving office. Bush’s approval rating is down to about 20% because that is how many people either don’t watch the news, only read the paper for the ads, or are unwilling to call a foul when they see one because the guy who committed it is on their team. We all want a change and on Wednesday morning that change will begin. Sure, President Bush has until January 20th to pack up his things and do the best he can to improve his legacy in the process, but on Wednesday morning, he’s done.
So whoever wins, they’ve got a tall order. Two wars, a dwindling economy, an outdated national infrastructure and an immediate need to address carbon emissions and energy independence. Not to mention a congress that hasn’t passed meaningful legislation in two years and an american people in need of better government but bitterly divided on how to achieve it. My hope is that whoever wins will wake up on Wednesday morning and seek to unite the country knowing full well that roughly half of us voted for the other guy. If there’s ever a time to reach across the aisle, it’s wednesday morning.
If McCain wins, he can learn from the candidacy of Barack Obama that people want and need to be inspired, that they really are tired of divisive politics and want to end the wars as quickly and effectively as possible. He can learn that people are serious about universal healthcare (not socialized medicine) and that they don’t want bigger government, but smarter government. He can learn that American’s want our image to be restored in the world. We don’t want a president who apologizes for America, but one who’s governance makes us proud.
If Obama wins, he must remember that he is governing a center-right nation and that the ideas of Nancy Pelosi don’t fly with 65% of the country. He must also be careful not to let a democratic majority (if that happens) in the house and senate run wild and take Americans to a place they don’t want to go. He must continually reach out to the part of the country that is afraid of him and always remember that he was elected with a mandate to change the partisan politics in our nation.
Right now it’s Saturday night but on Wednesday morning, we will have a new President-elect and a fresh start at addressing the issues we face. Whether you’re happy or sad, hopeful or scared or even indifferent on Wednesday morning, the next President is going to need you.
Lastly, I am a Christian, and so my hope is ultimately in a different Wednesday morning. I believe in a King and a Kingdom. The Bible says that my citizenship is in Heaven and while I do eagerly await a Savior from there, it is my commission, on Wednesday morning and every morning, to campaign for the Kingdom of God regardless of who wins the campaign for the Presidency of the United States.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Heard while watching The West Wing tonight:
You know If our job teaches us anything, it’s that we don’t know what the next president is going to face. If we choose someone with vision, someone with guts, someone with gravitas who’s connected to other people’s lives and cares about making them better, if we choose someone to inspire us, then we’ll be able to face what comes our way and achieve things we can’t imagine yet.
-Toby talking to Josh and Donna during the episode “20 Hours in America: Part 2″
Hey there, I’m back. I had to shut it down for a few months, the political race was getting crazy and I was too worked up to post. Even my limited presence on Facebook this past month has reminded me that many of my friends vehemently disagree with me when it comes to politics and it’s a full time job keeping up with responses to even the tamest of my political remarks. On a side note, I don’t want my web-presence to adversely affect real relationships, a goal we should all strive toward I think!
Anyway, just wanted to remind you all to vote.
Filed under: Uncategorized
More on the Democratic National Convention later, but this was a highlight for me on Monday.
Filed under: Entertainment, Music, Technology | Tags: free downloads, indie music, Noisetrade
My brother Chris just told me about this new website/service called Noise Trade. It features a growing collection of independent artists whose albums can be downloaded in exchange for telling three friends about it or any amount of money you want to pay. It’s really that easy. You get music for what you want to pay for it and they get an invitation into you and your friend’s music libraries. Check it out!
Most of you aren’t going to care about this, but I think about stuff like this all the time. The church Lacey and I are a part of is growing fast, so fast that we had outgrown our new building before a service even took place there. As a result, the need to add services at different times, in different venues, and in different formats is apparent every sunday. More and more, churches in this situation are starting video venues. Some have live worship followed by a video of a previous service’s sermon and some are just a live feed of a whole service piped in from next door or even another city altogether. Technology has made services like this an attractive choice over the traditional church plant, but there is much to consider about video venues beyond the convenience of them.
To that end, the following article, posted at www.outofur.com by Pastor Bob Hyatt makes the case against video venues:
Evergreen, our small church here in Portland, Oregon, has just gone multi-site. But not video venue.
We started in a pub in southwest Portland, outgrew that space, and moved to another pub across town. Outgrowing that one, we moved up to yet another pub in northwest Portland. Yes, we are the church on a pub crawl. When things got crowded there, we knew we had some decisions to make.
Our goal has always been multi-faceted. First and foremost, we want to see people come to and come back to Jesus. That implies growth. Second, our worship gatherings are highly interactive. We never want to lose the dialogical vibe in our teaching. Third, knowing that, according to statistics, people are reached best by newer (under 10 years old) and smaller congregations (as they grow from 100 to 200), our ultimate goal has been planting.
For various reasons, we’re not quite ready to plant another separate community. So what to do? Consistent with the greatest number of our values, we invited some Evergreeners to start another worship gathering in one of our previous pub spaces. We’re now one church in two locations. One or two more gatherings like that, and I think we’ll have reached a size at which we’ll have the people and resources to start planting churches around Portland.
So why didn’t we do what many growing, multi-site communities are doing and pipe my teaching all around town and beyond? Here are a few reasons:
1. We believe good things happen when worship is kept small and interactive. We want people to be able to talk to one another and to the one who is teaching them. We also want things kept at a size where people can know one another and be known by those teaching them.
Some say that video venues are no different from a large service where parishioner number 3254 has to sit in the 50th row and watch the whole thing on the big screen anyway. It’s not like she can raise her hand and ask a question. It’s not like the one teaching knows who she is anyway…Exactly. To me, video venues simply magnify what’s already a problem of megachurches.
2. Many advocates of video venues say there simply aren’t enough church planters and talented teachers to go around. And my response is that in a video venue world, there never will be. Pursued as a large scale strategy, video venues will inevitably lead to fewer and fewer gifted and experienced lay and vocational preachers. The gift of preaching— already suffering from over-professionalization—will become ever more the work of the celebrity.
At Evergreen, our seven elders rotate teaching responsibilities at both sites, though there’s a primary teaching elder at each. As a result, the church isn’t driven by a single personality, and several people are developing preaching experience at once.
3. Though many video venue churches also do traditional church planting, I worry for congregants who may see a campus pastor but are lead in large part by elders who live miles, and sometimes even towns, away.
Ultimately, I believe what’s best is not to come up with new and creative ways to put space between the people teaching and those being taught. What’s best is to shrink that space as much as is humanly possible. If the problem is a lack of qualified teachers, do whatever you can to find, call, equip, and send teachers. Don’t install a screen and beam teaching from 200 miles away. If you must install that video venue, call it what it is—a necessary and temporary compromise until your prayers for more workers are answered.
Some churches grow faster than they can find, train, and send church planters who have the same teaching talent as the “main guy.” But what if instead of asking “Can he preach as well as me?” you ask, “Can he or she, with a team of others, lead a Christ-centered community that starts small and grows, reproducing itself before becoming unmanageable and outgrowing the gifting of its leadership?” You might find more gifted/qualified people than you dreamed.
I know, a lot of people love your preaching and want to hear it. Let them get saved and discipled at your community, or spend a season there, and then point them to your pod/vodcast, sending them as missionaries to reach their local communities. But don’t say, “Well, people just want to hear me, so we must make a way for everyone to either sit in one room and watch me or my video representation.” That simply makes no sense when we’re talking about maturing Christ followers who will live self-sacrificially in communities centered on Jesus, not a preaching personality.
One of the main justifications for video venues is that upwards of 70 percent of church plants fail. Giving people a “brand name,” proven communicator makes more sense. But do church plants fail because of the planter? Or is it because of unreasonable expectations, unsustainable “big launch” methods in which thousands of dollars are pumped into new churches in an effort to make them big, fast… because of the consumer mindset of many who look at the big churches down the street with not a small amount of envy?
Ultimately, video venues strike me as a poor compromise. They may be necessary at times, but are certainly not a strategy to be pursued, even alongside traditional church plants. They focus entirely too much on the preaching gifts of one person, a trend even we small “emerging” types need to counter.
The celebrity church must die. And doing anything—like video venues—that prolongs its life, even in the name of the lost, runs counter to the best interests of the Church in all its expressions, big and small, and its mandate to see more people not only reached, but gifted, trained, and sent.
What do you think?
I’ve been waiting for a way to blog from my iPhone and it’s finally here! Thanks for the heads up Paul. I know I’m a need, but the prospect of being able to post wherever, whenever is awesome. For example, right now I’m sitting in my lazyboy, at home, and my computer with a real keyboard is sitting right next to me!
Thought I’d pass on some of my favorite worship recordings (In no particular order). You can find all of these on iTunes.
- Come Worship the King (Various Artists, Glory Revealed Live – EP)
- You are God (Charlie Hall, Passion: God of this City)
- Everything (Tim Hughes, Hold Nothing Back)
- Before the Throne of God Above (Shane Barnard & Shane Everett, Pages)
- Hallelujah to My King (Paul Baloche, Our God Saves)
- Saviour King (Hillsong, Saviour King)
- Remedy (David Crowder Band, Remedy)
- We Love You Jesus (Shane Barnard & Shane Everett, Pages
- Marvelous Light (Charlie Hall, Passion: Live from Passion07 – Part 3)
- Your Word (Jon Thurlow, Constant)
- O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing (David Crowder Band, Remedy)
- From the Inside Out (Hillsong United, United We Stand)
- Lion Became the Lamb (Chris Tomlin, See the Morning)
- Center (Charlie Hall, Passion: Everything Glorious)
- Facedown (Matt Redman, Facedown)
- Amazed (Live) (Lincoln Brewster, All to You…Live)
- Glory in the Highest (Chris Tomlin, See the Morning)
- Everything Glorious (David Crowder Band, Passion: Everything Glorious)
- None But Jesus (Hillsong, United We Stand)
- Shine Your Light on Us (Robbie Seay Band, Give Yourself Band
Filed under: Entertainment
From JM’s blog:
Read this morning at Los Angeles City Hall…
———————————————I am one of the most media-friendly celebrities around, and my being here this morning is not in contrast with that; rather, it’s in keeping with it. There is no doubt that the new frontier of entertainment is taking place informally on the street. Sound bites that used to be given on red carpets and in arranged interviews now take place beside a restaurant’s valet stand, and there’s no changing that. I don’t want to beg the city of Los Angeles to give me 1987 back. I love being a famous musician in 2008. I embrace technology, but I also believe in thoughtfully adapting it to fit within a societal framework. And in the specific areas of both tracking and close-quarter engagement by the paparazzi, there are changes that must be made.
I’d like to define the scope of my argument by first defining what lies outside of it. I’m not here this morning to talk to you about the media at large, blogs, tabloid magazines, or entertainment news shows. I’m not even here to talk to you about photography itself. You don’t have to ultimately be photographed to have been dangerously pursued in the attempt of getting a shot. The danger exists in methods and tactics having absolutely nothing to do with picture taking. In fact, removing the camera from the equation is a very effective way of looking at this situation candidly.
A scenario:
It’s two o’clock in the morning and you’re driving home from a friend’s house. You notice there is a vehicle behind you that has no license plate and that has been following you for the last 15 minutes. The driver is so brazen that he or she has even taken to ignoring red lights just to stay behind you. As you begin to turn onto a small neighborhood street just blocks from where you live, you now realize this person has definite intentions of engaging you at your house.
The question I ask you is: Are you in danger?The answer is YES. Not “depends if you’re on TV.”
It doesn’t matter what you do for a living, and it doesn’t matter that there might turn out to be a digital camera on the passenger seat. You are IN danger. Danger is defined as the possibility of suffering harm or injury.ﾠ And without knowing who is following you, you do not know why you are being followed, which brings about a very real possibility for suffering harm or injury.
So what about that camera on the passenger seat? Recently, it’s come to serve as all but an official license to encroach on someone’s right to protect themselves from threats of danger, along with every traffic law ever devised. It’s also the most socially acceptable way to come within inches from someone who you do not know and who does not know you.ﾠ Sadly, if I were someone who wanted to do harm to a celebrity – of which there are many – my best bet in succeeding today would be to hold a camera.Here’s a true story.
Last month at Los Angeles International Airport, forty men, holding no tickets to fly and with nobody to pick up, swarmed an arriving female passenger inside the terminal, shouting at her, disorienting her and denying her a safe exit. Does that sound like something that should be allowed? Should the fact that the forty men were holding cameras change that answer?
Sadly, the very real and present risk associated with being pursued as a celebrity pales in comparison to the daily, imminent danger to the public at large.ﾠ If you’ve ever raised an eyebrow at an especially bullish driver declaring him or herself the third in a line of cars making a left turn on a light that had just turned red, I ask you to imagine what your reaction would be to watching eight cars do it.ﾠ And it happens not just daily, but turn-for-turn. I don’t need to look in my rear view mirror to know it’s happening behind me. All I have to do is listen; listen to the dissonant array of car horns as unsuspecting drivers are taken by surprise while a pack of reckless paparazzi muscle through an aging red light.
The person being followed knows there is wanton carelessness behind them. The pedestrian crossing the street, or the car expecting to have the right of way does not. A severe accident occurring from this kind of vehicular pursuit is not a theoretical possibility, but a situational certainty.
What does any of this have to do with photography? Or with celebrity?
The answer is simply, nothing.
This is about safety. Defined as “being protected from danger, risk, or injury.”
I don’t sit before you today to ask that you ban the paparazzi. I’m asking you to regulate it. Officialize it. Tax it. Legitimize it. A big white P on a yellow license plate says the driver works for an accredited photo agency. Press credentials worn in plain sight do the same. A law governing an acceptable filming distance from an unwilling subject keeps everybody safe and misbehavior becomes accountable. Regulating the paparazzi won’t bring an end to modern day media coverage, just as the newly enforced hands-free law hasn’t stopped people from talking on cell phones while they drive.ﾠ It’s only an adaptive measure put in place to respond to some of the ways that living in a technological free-market can compromise personal safety.
Filed under: Politics
Elections are decided by low information voters, that is, voters who tune in sparingly and pick up a few snippets of information and then make a judgement based on that info. Low information voters also tend to blindly go with whatever candidate agrees with their previous conclusions on a few issues of greatest importance to them. I know that is a broad brush with which to paint the electorate, but I think it is largely the case. SO DON’T BE A LOW INFORMATION VOTER! PLEASE! Whether you are liberal or conservative or find yourself in the middle, engage in the process. Follow the story-lines and go deeper than the headlines.
All news media has an inherent bias. From the individual person reporting the “news”, to the producer making the decisions about what to report (a place where bias shows up most often), all the way up the board of directors and parent companies of a news outlet. As a result, get your news from multiple sources and distinguish between punditry and the reporting of facts. If you’re still reading this, thank you. And please, don’t watch FOX News or listen to Rush Limbaugh or anyone else on conservative talk radio, it’s not good for you or anybody! 
These guys are the worst, they play fast and loose with the facts of every story and give true conservatives a bad name.
Filed under: Me
I should really start a category for these kind of blogs, you know, the first-post-after-several-months kind. I have a conflicted relationship with blogging which I think contributes to why I am not at all consistent. Part of the deal is that I don’t know where I fit in the blogosphere, that is, I’m not sure what kind of blogger I am.
Trust me, there are different kinds of bloggers. There are the “I like to write/ramble on about whatever funny stuff happened this week” kind of bloggers. Then there’s the “my family lives a million miles away and this is how I update them” bloggers. There are the “look at my baby, isn’t he/she big and cute” bloggers. Then, there are the pastor bloggers who use blogs as a means of community formation and sermon-prep, with a little bit of self-promotion on the side . There are the “link” bloggers who just post links to funny stuff on YouTube and other people’s blogs. There are the “heavy” bloggers who only post at midnight and focus on the most intense crap you’ve ever read (might I suggest re-reading your thoughts the next morning before posting them?). Next come the “picture” bloggers who seem to have cameras for eyes and constantly post pictures of the food they made, the corner of the house they decorated, the clothes they just bought, their hair that day, their latest art/craft project, pictures of the sky and close-ups of trees and leaves and whatever else they saw on their morning stroll around the neighborhood. Then there’s the “rant” bloggers, these people are pissed. Pissed about politics, about…well, usually politics. Did I leave any out?
Anyway, my point is, what am I? I like whit for sure. I get a kick out of blogging. I’m all for shameless self-promotion. I definitely like to post YouTube videos. I’m big on issues regarding politics and faith, and then there’s music. Love music. I’m a TV guy, I like to talk about my shows for sure. Idol, 30 Rock, Lost, you know, the essentials. So what I’m thinking is that I want my blog to be an on-line world wide web extension of me. Nothing contrived, just a webspace as random as I am. So, here goes.
Filed under: Politics
Today we lost one of our Nation’s finest Journalists. Tim Russert died suddently at the age of 58. He was a devout Catholic, husband and father. In a political culture full of spin, half-truths and one-sided reporting, his stood apart as a voice we could trust.
As I write this, I can’t think of a public figure who’s death has saddened me as much as Mr. Russert’s. I’ve been more politically engaged this past year and particularly the last six months than I’ve ever been and it is because of the example put forth by great Americans like Tim Russert.
Lace and I stayed up late many Tuesday nights this Spring and listened to the NBC political team led by Russert as they covered the Presidential Primaries. This is shaping up to be one of the most important elections in a long while, and Tim’s wisdom and perspective as well as his ability to fairly and effectively hold our leaders feet to the fire, will be missed. We must be all the more vigilant and engaged in our Nation’s political process with the loss of a giant like Russert who did his best to ask the important questions on behalf of the American people.
Politics matter and no one knew this more than Tim Russert. I hope we can all honor his legacy by paying attention these next six months, going deeper than the headlines and exercising one of our most important rights guaranteed by the Constitution this November.
Filed under: Music
Looking for some new music? Check these out on iTunes:
-The Weepies “Hidaway”
-Dave Barnes “Me and You and the World”
-Missy Higgins “On a Clear Night”
-Derek Webb “Mockingbird”
-The Whitest Boy Alive “Dreams”
-Robbie Seay Band “Give Yourself Away”
-John Mayer “Continuum”
-Sleeping at Last “Ghosts” and “Keep no Score”
-Ingrid Michaelson “Girls and Boys”
-Shane and Shane “Pages”
-Jackson Browne “Solo Acoustic Vol.2″
-Leeland “Opposite Way”
-Wyclef Jean “Carnival Vol.II: Memoirs of an Immigrant”
-Jon Foreman “Fall-EP”, “Winter-EP”, “Spring-EP”
What have you been listening to lately? Post a comment!
1. 30 Rock is a monumentally better TV show than The Office. It’s been better since the pilot aired a few years ago. Don’t get my wrong, I like the Office, but I believe they’ve jumped the shark. Don’t believe me? Watch the last two episodes. This is the beginning of the end.
2. David Archuleta will beat David Cook in the finale of American Idol. This season has been all about the guys from the beginning. Six people are left. Brook White will go next, followed by Sayeshi Mercado, then Jason Castro, then Carly Smithson, leaving the David’s. On a side note, David Cook is the Daughtry or the Blake Lewis of the competition. He doesn’t want to win, I mean, of course he does, but career wise number 2 is the way to go. It means you get all the popularity and record sales without American Idol completely owning you. He’ll also have a little more say in what his album sounds like.
3. On to Politics. Despite what the poll numbers say right now, Clinton would be dismantled by McCain in the General Election if she wins the nomination. But, if Obama wins, like he should, he will run circles around McCain. It’s just too much of a contrast.
This is all, of course, in my opinion and done in the spirit of entertainment and partisan politics. What do you think?
Filed under: Politics
A little context: Earlier in the week Barack Obama made some comments about rural Pennsylvania voters being bitter and clinging to guns, religion, anti-trade and anti-immigration sentiment to explain their frustrations. It was a poor choice of wording but it made sense in context. Since then, Hillary has been dive-bombing him for his comments calling him elitist and “out of touch” (Let’s be honest, they’re both elitist but that doesn’t make them out of touch or unfit to be President. In today’s political system, you have to be among the country’s elite to get anywhere near the presidency.) Earlier today, Clinton told a story about her father taking her hunting in Pennsylvania as a child and then proceeded to make it sound as if she hunts all the time and as a results understands the average Pennsylvania voter. This was Obama’s response a few hours later…
Just some random thoughts for you:
I’m watching the Compassion Forum on CNN right now (Sunday Night, 6pm) with Clinton and Obama. (McCain declined the invitation, which is fodder for another post on another day) The audience is a large cross-section of religious leaders from around the country and the topics are all issues relating to faith and politics. So far each candidate has vaguely addressed their faith and tried to dodge creating a memorable sound bite on subjects like God’s intervention in our day to day lives, abortion, euthanasia, the problem of Evil, you know, the basics. My problem is that I don’t get forums like this. What’s the goal, who’s it for, do we expect our presidential candidates to be theologians, to be prophetic or pastoral? Are we just making sure that these people don’t believe anything weird? Or are we pandering to evangelicals who vote for the person who says Jesus the most or makes references to popular hymns? If so, Hillary Clinton talked about the Holy Spirit tonight. That’s got to be worth a few points!
American Idol. Did you notice that the contestants sang, Shout to the Lord, not once but twice this week? The first was at the end of the Idol Gives Back telethon on Wednesday, and the second was at the beginning of the results show on Thursday. The cynical skeptic in me thinks the savvy FOX network knows their audience, particularly in our countries mid-section, and was, in the spirit of TBN, using religion to open people’s wallets. Granted, the money was going to a good cause, but I couldn’t help but feel patronized. When Religion, the gospel and worship music enter pop culture I get nervous and pay close attention to a few things: Who’s behind it? What motivations might they have? What’s the desired outcome? Is it disingenuous or done with a spirit of respect and reverence? These are particularly important criteria when it concerns something being broadcast to millions. I thought Shout to the Lord was a little weird for American Idol (JJ thought it was like watching Sandi Patty sing Sexual Healing) but more so I felt like the salt was losing its saltiness. The gospel in the public square, in many instances, has become nice, inspirational, a part of our history and tradition, and all too comfortable and common-place. Can God work through this? Yes! Absolutely. He works through lots of unfortunate things, I’m just not sure these occurrences help build the Kingdom of God. If you’re thinking that Shout to the Lord on American Idol was a good thing, remember that the show opened with some classic Bump-and-Grind to Rihanna’s Please Don’t Stop the Music and continued on with Fergie and Heart performing Baracuda in leather. It was entertainment, not a worship service. (I also think there are better worship songs, if it has to be done! )
Lastly, I spent Friday night and Saturday at the Everything Must Change Conference with Brian McLaren. I highly recommend the book to you! It is centered around two questions: What are the World’s most pressing problems and what does Jesus have to say about them? Interestingly enough, he talks about more than gay marriage and abortion, how liberal of him! While I was at the conference I also picked up the new Shane Claiborne book, Jesus for President. The book aims to inspire the Christian Political Imagination, and I suspect it will inspire a few posts in the next few weeks.
In my years as a Worship Leader, one thing I’ve always wanted is more feedback from those I am leading. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve heard the complaints, I hear them all the time. I’m not interested in your beefs about style or Hymns or certain instruments, those are a matter of taste and usually come from people whose perspective on the point of worship is off-base. What I am interested in though, is the one or two things (or even 10) you’ve always thought but never told your worship leader. And, in the end, I’ll listen and probably even respond to your beefs about style! Let’s hear some chatter though, post a comment…
Filed under: Politics
John McCain is building a case for war (another preemptive war) with Iran on a daily basis, and President Bush still does not understand that just because small tactical victories come from a huge strategic blunder, that doesn’t make the whole thing worthwhile.
Don’t get me wrong, we have obligations in Iraq, we have to clean up the mess in the most honorable way possible. The Middle East is going to need a Marshall Plan for sure, but we also need to put diplomacy back on the table. Redemptive Violence, as is the goal of preemptive war, only leads to more violence. I don’t want another “Commander-In-Chief”, I want a President who knows how to utilize more than cruise missiles and combat troops.
Filed under: Politics
No matter what your political perspective, Barack Obama delivered a speech today that all Americans need to hear. He spoke truth on the subject of race in America in a way that brought light but not heat (I stole that from somebody) to one of our country’s hottest and most polarizing issues. The full text of the speech can be found here.
Secondly, in the spirit of partisan politics , take a look at Grandpa McCain (I honor his service) pointing out the “common knowledge” on Iran’s involvement in Iraq. A special thanks to YouTube and Keith Olbermann. Check it out here.
Filed under: Me
I love my dog. Absolutely love him. As much as you can love an animal is how much I love my dog. We didn’t have pets growing up, I never thought I wanted one, but now I can’t imagine my life without little Oscar.
I will be the first one to admit that Lacey and I are totally obsessed with our dog and treat him like a person. He sleeps in our bed, roams the house freely all day while we’re at work, and only eats the finest in dog cuisine. He also gets a few trips a month to “Yappy Hour” where he is quite popular with the ladies. That’s just how he rolls and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Here’s a few pics from the last year-and-a-half. (FYI: Lacey really likes to dress him!)
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Just a few announcements/updates regarding my musical endeavors:
-I will be opening for Brandon Heath, along with Chris Sharpe, at SPU’s Brougham Pavilion on Friday, May 9th. Details TBD. This has potential to be the biggest show I have ever played! I hope everyone can come show me the love…(I get nervous with non-church gigs, but if you bring it, i’ll bring it!)
-I am now leading worship at Bethany Community Church a few times a month at the 10:45 service. March 30, April 6 and 13 are up next. By the way, I am in need of a capable drummer if anyone knows anybody.
-The Strumm Worship CD is still coming, eventually. I know some of you don’t believe me anymore, but I really did record an album last year! Rumor has it, my album will now accompany Marie Barnett’s album. Could be 2009 though.
Until then, I’ve attached one of my songs, Lullaby, for you to download (Click on the link below). I recorded this at Christmas in San Diego with Lacey’s brother, Lee.
Peace.
Filed under: Politics
I think Hillary Clinton should quit, and I’m hoping “the Goreacle”, and other Dem. party leaders like Bill Richardson and John Kerry will step in and help make it happen before it’s too late. Barack Obama is no Jesus, but he is the starkest contrast to John McCain and our best chance at fixing the political blunders of the Bush Administration. Hillary is right, we need to send a message to the world that America is back.
What do you think?
Filed under: Me
The guys from work have a little tradition of going across the street to the local watering hole, Lenny’s, for Happy Hour on fridays after work. I use the term “tradition” lightly since tonight was only the second time. I snapped a few pics on the ol’ iPhone for your enjoyment. This place is legit. It has locals, you know what I mean, “regulars”. I felt a bit out of place until I saw some dude pop over to the juke box and dial in some John Mayer. My friend Kyle followed that up with a little Journey, AC/DC, and VanHalen (not VanHaggar).
If you ever find yourself at Lenny’s, try the $5 chicken strips, bring some quarters for a few games of Deer Hunter 2, and don’t be alarmed by the freaky cook and the rude bartender. It’s all a part of the experience.
Filed under: Me
I was reading JJ’s blog the other day and he mentioned that the first blog post after a long hiatus is a little awkward. He’s right. I have about five drafts that I haven’t posted because with each day that goes by, the expectations for a “come back” post get higher and higher. Good news is, I’m not sure anybody reads this anymore.
My last several posts have been attempts to recommit to blogging, but all have failed miserably. So, I just triple-dog-dared myself to post every day for the next few weeks. So if you’re reading this, get ready for a daily dose of political commentary, YouTube videos, thoughts on faith and as always, shameless self-promotion.
Filed under: Me
It’s been forever but I’m trying to get back in the blogging saddle (Hopefully with less shameless self-promotion). I would apologize for my three month hiatus, but I’m still a proponent of blogging without obligation.
I wanted to pass on and recommend a great organization to you. It is called Kiva.org and seeks to improve the lives of others through micro-lending. Lacey and I gave Kiva gift-certificates to some friends and family this Christmas and it was a really positive and rewarding experience. I would explain how Kiva works, but the web site does a better job.
Check it out here.
Filed under: Me
October 31st, circa ‘92. It was a night a lot like tonight-no rain, just cold enough to see your breath, and there was a light fog, perfect for what I was about to do because it created the subtle effect of a smoke machine.
I grabbed the family boom box and set it up in the front window. Shuffling through a box of tapes, I found it-a Halloween mix put together by my older brother Chris. It had all the hits-Monster Mash, Thriller, even Ghost Busters. I popped it in, rewound side one, and went out in the front yard…
What happened next is somewhat of a blur, but it involved sweats, a gorilla mask, and dancing. A lot of dancing.
Speaking of gorillas, check this out.
Happy Halloween!
Filed under: Me
So I know I haven’t posted in a while, but it’s all good because I am a proponent of blogging without obligation. I BLO. I do like to share thoughts and links and stuff from YouTube with all of you, but I don’t want to force it. There are plenty of things I feel guilty about not doing and I don’t want to add blogging to that list. I want to keep this web space nice and chill.
Things have been going well lately, thanks for asking. Lots of football-flag on saturday with the dteam, a little Madden on the Wii, and let-downs from the Hawks and the Huskies (AKA Jake Locker and those other guys)
Works going well at True North, it’s exciting to be a part of a new and fast growing company. Two sundays ago, I was the guest worship leader at a Free Methodist Church plant in Bonnie Lake called The Waters. This last week, I helped lead worship for the Video Cafe at our new church, Bethany Community. (I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to experience worship at other churches.) This sunday, I’ll be playing at Bethany again and next sunday I will be filling in at Mountain Park Church in Portland where my brother is a pastor. And the first weekend in November, we’re going to Boise for a little reunion weekend with some of our best friends from college.
Couple things from the last few days that might be of interest (they were to me):
Thought I’d pass on some of my sunday morning reading:
Bill Gates on Saving the World
Brian McLaren’s Pre-War letter to President Bush
Filed under: Entertainment
I have so many questions about this.
Things are still moving along in preparation for the upcoming release of my Strumm Worship album. Have I mentioned that it is a dual disc album? It will come in DVD packaging and in addition to my songs, the other disc will feature my good friend Cara Flory. Cara has an incredible voice and genuine heart for worship. You heard her sing live with me at Deeper for several years and more recently on Shawn McDonald’s albums, Simply Nothing and Live in Seattle.
One of the things we are doing ahead of the release is offering deep discounted (wholesale) pre-orders on all of the projects scheduled for release over the next year. If you or your church are interested in stocking up, let me know. I have attached a summary of both the pre-release offers and a description of the various Strumm projects.
A few of you have asked for a copy of the pre-release sampler CD, I am working on getting these ASAP. They are a great representation of Strumm, as they have a few tracks from each upcoming release. If you are a pastor, or someone who might be interested in the pre-order offer, post a comment and I’ll do my best to get you a sampler.
Filed under: Me
I’m not giving up on blogging, I’ve just been a bit busy and haven’t had a whole lot to say…but here’s a story and an announcement for you:
-Last weekend, I was on my way home from flag football and I got a call from Lacey who was at a Wedding at Deception Pass. They had everything but the marriage license. Long story short, I climbed (fell) through a window and drove a few hours, making it just in time for the reception. If you were at that wedding, I was the dirty guy in the shorts and t-shirt eating all the shrimp. If Dwight were there, he would have busted me for wedding crashing.
-The Pre-Release sampler cd’s of the acoustic worship project I am a part of went out to 1,000 pastors and industry folk this week. I should get a copy in the mail soon, and my full length album is due out Mid-October. Watch for the launch of the Strumm Worship site for more info.
Eric
Filed under: Me
Last Thanksgiving, a new tradition was born. My friend Brian Pendergast organized a Turkey Bowl and since then we’ve been playing once a month throughout football season. Our first game of the season is this saturday at Discovery Park at 10am. Want in? (Don’t worry, it’s flag)
Brian has set up a blog that will be kept current all season to let people know when and where we’re playing each month as well as updates and pics and stuff. I hope you can make it out sometime. Check out the blog here.
Hilarious! This is a live performance of a song called “Business Time” by the band, “Flight of the Conchords“, stars of HBO’s newest hit show by the same name.
If you think this is funny, subscribe to their video podcast at iTunes for two free full length episodes of the show. It has a Mockumentary/Napolean Dynamite/Spinal Tap/Royal Tenenbaums feel to it.
Filed under: Entertainment
Every thursday, 9pm, our place. Anyone’s welcome.
Filed under: Me
This is somewhat of a follow-up to my “Looking Back, Looking Forward” post last month, but I wanted to share a bit about what I’ve been up to lately. It’s been about six weeks since my transition from FFMC, and I am slowly learning what this major life transition looks and feels like. It’s good, it’s hard, it’s a lot of things, but above all it feels right.
I was fortunate to start working part-time last month for a company called True North Service. TNS is a testing house for content developed for use on cell phones. It’s a real change of pace, and a fun environment to work in. Aside from that, I have been periodically guest worship-leading at Mountain Park Church (where my brother Chris is the youth pastor) in Lake Oswego, Oregon. I am also teaching a few guitar lessons to people wanting to learn guitar for worship leading. (If you or anyone you know is interested in this, give me a shout)
I have finally come to grips with the call to not have a paid staff role in a church for a while. This was the feeling all along, but I so much wanted to return to the familiar. I am grateful though, that the doors to paid worship leading positions have all seemed to close. I still feel a strong call to be a pastor, but I’m going to pursue that call outside of a paycheck for a while.
Other than that, I am preparing to record a small demo of worship songs over the next month. I’ll be sure to post when I have details.
Thanks for supporting my blogging! I post because you keep coming back.
Eric
Filed under: Politics
I’m not trying to be inflammatory, I just don’t understand why he didn’t mention this in the lead up to the second invasion of Iraq.
1. This American Life
2. Mars Hill Bible Church (The other Mars Hill)
3. TEDtalks (Video)
4. Flight of the Conchords
5. Best of YouTube (Video)
(To get Podcasts: download iTunes=>click on “Podcasts” on the left=>click on “Podcast directory” in the bottom right corner)
I just updated my Virb page with six tracks of songs i’ve written. They were recorded at the SPU studios a few months back with Ron Haight and Graham Crozier. They are rough mixes for sure, recorded in a few hours and meant more for ideas than the ears of the general public but since many of you have asked, I thought I’d oblige.
When I come up with the funds, I’ll get the band together and do these songs right, but for now enjoy the rough drafts, and please do let me know what you think.
Give em a listen here.
Filed under: Politics
The latest Newsweek has a really interesting (and informative) article on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden (the guy actually responsible for 9/11). It’s long, but definitely worth the time. I’ve linked to it here.
I was leading worship at my brother’s church in Portland today, and this elderly lady came up to me after the service and said,”I just loved the music this morning, you play the guitar real nice, but could you tell that lady playing the organ to turn it down a notch?!”
Earlier in the week, I wrote about the new Robbie Seay Band album. I’ve been listening to it in the car and one song “Love Wins” has been dominating my head space. (Rihanna’s “Umbrella” was in there previously and was driving me crazy. Ella, Ella, Ella, eh, eh, eh) Anyway, this song really represents my heart lately. Give it a whirl and I’ll meet you at the bottom of the page…
It’s a big world, We are hoping
For a big change, We are broken
In the fading light of a dying sun, we cry for redemption
There is hope, There is hope, There is hope
That everyone who’s lost will be coming home
And everything that hurts will be whole again
And love will be the last thing standing
We can’t stop, we can’t stop the seasons
But don’t stop, don’t stop believing
Keep on dreaming of the day when it all will change
Believe in the end that loves wins
If you’re waiting for the time when the sun will shine
Oh Look above cause love wins
If it hurts you, Just breath in
When it pains you, Just believe in
The radiant light of the morning sun
We can find our redemption
Love is strong, Love is strong, Love is strong
It’s been there holding you all along
Everything thrown away will be new again
And love will be the last thing standing
We can’t stop, we can’t stop the seasons
But don’t stop, don’t stop believing
Keep on dreaming of the day when it all will change
Believe in the end that loves wins
If you’re waiting for the time when the sun will shine
Oh Look above cause love wins
There is hope, there is hope for my lonely soul
There is hope, there is hope to be made whole
There is life, there is life to be set free
There is life, there is life surrounding me
There is hope, there is hope for my broken heart
There is hope, there is hope for my brand new start
There is life, there is life give me eyes to see
There is life, there is life you have captured me
And we’re back…I know it’s not the same without the melody, but don’t those words inspire? “Keep on dreaming of the day when it all will change, believe in the end that love wins“. How would our lives be different if we really understood and believed that “love will be the last thing standing”?
I think about hope a lot. Aware of many despairing situations in the world, I want to hope in better days. But if we’re honest, hope sucks. We don’t want to hope, because hope hurts. When the Bible talks about hope, it uses words and phrases like “inward groaning”, “longing” and “expectation”. Hope is hard because it forces us to deal with the reality that what we want to be true isn’t so. But our faith is all about hope! And if hope isn’t hard for us, I think we have to take a close look at the worthiness of what we’re hoping for.
Our generation is known for their idealism and at the same time, their pessimism. There are a million forces at work in our world, bent on killing our hope. We want a government and a political system that can act quickly to do good and bless the world, but the reality doesn’t match up to our ideal and so we disengage and become bitter.
We want to be given responsibility and opportunity in our jobs, we want to be valued and to make a contribution to something that matters, but the marketplace offers us a cubicle and wants us to work our a$$es off (as if we live to sell their product). We risk wasting our potential and ending up falling in line working for the evenings and weekends when we can rot in front of XBox live and our new 40” TVs.
But this isn’t what we envisioned, is it? Don’t misunderstand me, there’s nothing wrong with cubicles, Xbox and TV, but how does the status quo in our world affect our hope and ability to dream? Our dying hope turns to pessimism and ultimately, indifference.
We have dreams for the world, and so does God, and hope leads us to act to make them a reality, but our hope is very much in danger when we lose sight of the larger story God has placed us in. When we are able to surround ourselves with every thing we think we need, it is easy to lose sight of redemption and the fact that we are not who we were created to be.
All of creation awaits a new beginning, it hopes for it. So we need to ask, what do we hope for and in what or whom is that hope found? And may we know, in the fullest sense; that there is hope, there is redemption, there is love. And love wins.
Filed under: Entertainment
Think your parents (and grandparents) only had sex once for each child they have? A new study by the New England Journal of Medicine suggests otherwise. (That new “Viva Viagra” commercial has to be directed at somebody, right?)
Check it out here.
Filed under: Music
The folks over at Relevant Magazine have partnered with the Robbie Seay Band to give away their new album FREE until friday.
This is an incredible band that you are sure to like, check em out here and download the new album here.
All you have to do is sign up for a few periodic email newsletters and the tracks are yours.
Let me know what you think…
This is incredible. How do ideas like this get off the ground? Ten bucks says it sells out. (I would totally go)
Check it out: http://mayercraftcarrier.com/
