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.

Unplugged

Just got back from spending the weekend getting unplugged with the crew from FBC Nashville. The showed up technologically as well. Big love to Doy Cave for making some much needed technical updates on the website this weekend. That meant of course that the site and email were “unplugged” for a while as well. If you tried to say hello and the message bounced back. TRY ME AGAIN. Had a blast hanging with Sammy Ward this weekend. Good to catch up with an old friend.

I’ve found some new friends hanging out in a corner of the web called VIRB. As a motivation for coming over to visit this week I am going to make the song FOURTEEN available for download for FREE until this Friday (September 7). So come over to VIRB and visit and download a free song while you’re there. Have a blast celebrating this obscure holiday that somehow relates to LABOR UNIONS. Do those even still exist?

Summer Sun and Sailboat Someones

In about an hour I will merge into Nashville’s outbound traffic for 8 weeks of summer craziness. I’ll head east first to make some new friends in Ridgecrest, NC. This will be my fifth summer working with Fuge Camps and I am less prepared than ever! Then I’m with a new camp called ReConstruct for a few weeks, West Jackson Baptist, Impact Camp, and then Back to Ridgecrest for 2 more weeks.

The summer sun always brings with it a swell of new names to learn, faces to remember. I’m usually pretty bad at that part of it all. I’ll say “hey bro,” and “man, I haven’t seen you in a long time.” Hopefully trhe summer will also bring some time to breathe deep, to relax. Maybe I’ll get back out on the water this year and let the breeze take me somewhere.

In honor of summer breezes and all the “someones” I’ll meet this summer, I’ve posted a new Random OTHER Song of the Month on the Myspace Page. “Somone” was recorded in a demo session in the Fall of 2006. Aaron Sands from Jars of Clay is playing bass. Geoff Clapp is playing drums. And I laid down the guitars, wurlitzer, and other keyboard craziness. If you’re a drummer, you’ll really dig this track. Clapp is one of the most talented guys I’ve ever worked with and his Jazz flavor on this folk track was a great marriage.

Pray for me this summer. My RoadMonster will roll over the 200,000 mile mark this summer. Fortunately, amidst the swirl of wind and wave this summer, “I’ve found someone who has been there. Someone who can understand. Someone who can walk on water, and take my hand.”

Peace,
James

Random in May

There’s a new song up on the Myspace site. This month’s random OTHER song is called “Before This Moment Dies.” Meant to be a romantic and playfull song for us old guys

The longer my hair gets the more OBVIOUSLY grey it is. So I go to war inside – I actually really dig it. I earned every grey hair and the salt and pepper vibe blends nicely with all the black and white I wear. BUT – there is this constant reminder. I live and work in a realy young world. This is a world that calls my Grey Crown a Curse.

So, I am a 36 year old at war within himself. Do I look older than I really am? Do I act younger than I really am? I know this: I’ve still got daring, and I’ve still got dreams. Still got me 2 wishes and 8 lives to redeem. I still got swagger and I still got style. Still got enough leg for another mile. And tonight I’m feeling restless and impulsive and unwise. So baby take my hand before this moment dies.

Grrrr.

Redeeming the Days EP

The new EP will be back in my hands soon. In the meantime, I have put a BONUS VERSION of the EP up for sale on the Myspace Site. When the EP comes out it will include 6 songs – Dawn, Permanent, Foreign is Familiar, Blue Horizon, Fourteen, and Room to Run. On the myspace site, I’ve included 3 bonus tracks for sale – Just a Question, Can Not Close My Heart, and Someone.

This process of trying to get a CD released has been a tricky one filled with starts and stops over the last three years. Universal put the “Echo” project together and then the distribution deal they were negotiating fell apart. Finally, we started another record with Monroe Jones and Eb+Flo Records. We stopped after a few songs to begin shopping for distribution for we had spent all of the money. No one has ever climbed on board to partner with us so we just decided to put out some of what we’ve done as an indie EP.

I’ll have the CD’s for sale as soon as they’re in my hands. In the meantime, head over to the Myspace store and grab yourself a copy.

Peace,
James