So Much Road, So Little Time

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks on the road and I’ve met so many cool people along the way. I’ve started doing some VIDEO BLOGS from the road. You should head over and check some out. My wife got to looking on youtube at bunny videos and quickly asked in a little girl voice, “why doesn’t OUR bunny have his own video?” So for the good of my marriage I’ve posted a quick little BUNNY VIDEO of our pet rabbit, Dakota on youtube. Come check it out.

This weekend, my new friends at West Hartselle in Alabama treated me like a king. I should have been exhausted from the late night before (got to the hotel around 2 AM) but I was so energized by their encouragement that the day was a breeze. A really sweet church. Before that I made a bunch of new friends at the WRITE ABOUT JESUS conference in St. Louis. It’s always such a rewarding weekend and this year was no exception. I got to sit on the stage beside the piano while DANIEL KIRKLEY sang a favorite song. Meal times are always my favorite at WAJ; crashing at tables with 7 other people that start as strangers and are old friends by desert.

I did chapel at Mississippi College before that and missed seeing Katy, Aaron, and Allyson while I was there. Sorry! Still it was great worship and fun to catch up with my friend Eric.

Even in October, the powdery beaches of the Gulf Coast are gorgeous. I had fun wandering in the sand with the crew from FBC Covington. Big love to Danni and Victoria for keeping me out of trouble at the Mall and to Josh for coming to the rescue with a video projector for Saturday’s worship gatherings. From pizza to donuts to chicken it was almost an entirely vegetable free weekend! Thank you, Lord for EDAMAME.

Last thought, sales of the new CD are going great on iTunes. Better than I ever expected. Just so you know, on the MYSPACE SITE I’ve posted a bonus copy of the record. The EP actually only has 6 songs on it. In the Snocap store I have added 4 bonus tracks that are available exclusively there. You’ll find “Just a Question” which is this month’s Random OTHER Song of the Month, “Someone,” “Can Not Close My Heart” which is about my experience in Southern Africa last year and “Before This Moment Dies.” Enjoy!

See ya along the road.

Wounded Reactors and Pendulum Swingers

We’re a reactive people aren’t we? We are pendulum swingers. In the past, I have railed against traditionalists who appear more committed to do the same thing than they are to doing the right thing. I’ve become more conscious recently of the way those of us who carry traditionalist baggage do the same thing. Instead of doing something because it’s the right thing, we simply do the opposite of what a traditionalist might do.

The first church I served as a staff member had grown out of split from an old traditional downtown church. I remember the pastor telling me I could do anything I wanted as long as it didn’t look or sound like something a traditional church would do. I remember a worship leader from a very progressive church suggesting that his church didn’t use video projection of song lyrics during worship because they didn’t want to be “that kind of church.” Recently I’ve been in conversation with some progressive Christ-followers who have become convinced we shouldn’t participate in international mission work because of the self-centered excesses in mission work in the Church’s recent history.

I suppose it’s not realistic to think that we might divorce ourselves from the past enough to choose the right thing instead of simply reacting to past thing. If small groups are a great way to build community, maybe we should try them even if they look or sound like the Sunday school of our childhood. If a video projector helps people lift up their heads and free up their hands in worship maybe it’s okay even though there are also showy, performance oriented churches that all use projectors in their worship gatherings. If God has made the call for us to “go and make disciples of all nations” abundantly clear in scripture maybe we should go wisely even though in the past some Christ-followers have gone on mission trips that refuse to live missionally while at home in their own community.

I’m another wounded Christ-follower trying hard to put down the baggage of past church experiences and figure out how to do the right things whether they’ve been done that way before or not.

OldCoatNew

Thanx to everybody who brought coats to the OldCoatNew show last Sunday night. It was a blast and great to catch up with some folks I haven’t seen in a while. I heard from a couple of you who couldn’t find the place. Sorry for the address confusion. Turns out in downtown Nashville South is North and 8th is Rosa Parks. Who Knew? Big love to Chase and JP for staying around an extra day for the show and to Scott and Greer for helping with Merch. Thomas gave up his whole Sunday to make us sound good. Gary worked up a good sweat moving chairs all over the place and the room looked great.