So, here's a funny story. I was out this morning with Christy walking, just like any typical morning. Anyway, as I'm walking in the neighborhood across from mine there are a couple dogs that always bark and annoy the crap out of me. So this morning, they begin to bark like normal and I just sped up a little to try and get them to shut up, then I realize that one is not barking anymore, it is full out howling. Then, in the distance, I literally start hearing the dogs all around the neighborhood barking. It felt like a movie or something. haha.
So I know what you're thinking now, "great story leanne." and I shall respond..."yup" :)
On another note, a few nights ago we went and saw Rob Bell at the agora. Let's just say there was so much to process and think about that it took 6 typed pages in my journal. That's what I do when I know I'll have a lot to say, because I typically can't write as fast as I think unless I'm typing. Anyway, he pretty much spoke out of Genesis 1 the entire time. It was awesome. An hour and 45 minutes of Genesis 1.
One of his big premises was that we, as a people are right in the middle. We are 100% physical while we are also 100% spiritual. We can sometimes get so focused on everything having to be one or the other, but sometimes we don't realize that it is indeed both. For instance, something in 2D can be a square or a circle. It cannot be both. However, take an object in 3D such as a marker, or any cylinder for that matter, and it can be both a square or a circle. We humans are sometimes like the people stuck in the 2D world. We can see either this or that, but we cannot comprehend both without there being an element of faith involved.
I felt like I was in science class for awhile too. But if Rob Bell is the one teaching science, then I'm ok with that. haha. But yeah, he took quite a while to explain all these big elements of creation that allow for life on earth, then he went onto talk about a bunch of little elements of creation that allow for life. It was really cool.
He also talked a lot about that one day of rest. Sometimes we just get so caught up in life that we don't rest. And when we do rest, we feel guilty because we feel like we're being lazy and such. The emphasis on that seventh day was to remind the Israelites that they weren't slaves in Egypt anymore. They are free. Their worth is not determined by how many bricks they make a day.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
Bell
Well, things are finally beginning to settle down. Right now I'm waiting for marci to wake up...but that may be a challenge, becuase her away message said something about how she was still up and it was 6:15am. So yes, it may be a slow lunch for us. haha.
Anyway, i'm pretty excited about next thursday night. Rob Bell is speaking at the Agora in cleveland, so a bunch of us are going to go up there and hear him speak. I, eventually, would like to take a road trip up to Mars Hill...but that's being a little too ambitious for right now.
This weekend is also my weekend off. I think i'm going to go to starbucks, read, you know... Then I'll probably head down to massillon. I'd like to check out how things are going down there lately. They recently brought in some new worship folks, and switched over to doing the video digitally. I keep hearing good things about changed lives and how everything is going in staff meeting, so i figured I'd go check it out on a day I was able to.
Oh! Marci is awake! I've got to go finish getting ready! I'll continue this later!
Anyway, i'm pretty excited about next thursday night. Rob Bell is speaking at the Agora in cleveland, so a bunch of us are going to go up there and hear him speak. I, eventually, would like to take a road trip up to Mars Hill...but that's being a little too ambitious for right now.
This weekend is also my weekend off. I think i'm going to go to starbucks, read, you know... Then I'll probably head down to massillon. I'd like to check out how things are going down there lately. They recently brought in some new worship folks, and switched over to doing the video digitally. I keep hearing good things about changed lives and how everything is going in staff meeting, so i figured I'd go check it out on a day I was able to.
Oh! Marci is awake! I've got to go finish getting ready! I'll continue this later!
Saturday, July 15, 2006
The Way I Was Made
"New York City is quite a place. You can hear almost every language in the world on the sidewalks there. And along with Boston, New York is at the hart of college life in America--I'm told there are 900,000+ college students within a seventy-five-mile radius of Times Square.
"We had wanted to take a Passion Movement worship even into the heart of the city for a long time. Of course, it's one thing to take worship events to college towns in the south and Midwest. These days you know you'll probably get a crowd. But New York is different. It's a world away from the Bible Belt, for one thing, and it's a ton more expensive.
"We prayed, planned, and waited. But the doors to New York remained shut.
"Until one afternoon last April. My band and I walked out of the Newark airport and took a cab to uptown Manhattan. We were headed for the legendary Beacon Theatre, on Broadway and 74th, where the next day we were going to be part of putting on our first-ever worship event for New York City college kids.
"At 8:00 the next morning, when we went back to the beacon to set up, kids were already lining up. Curious drivers going on by Broadway were slowing down for a look, backing up traffic. By afternoon, the line wound around several blocks. And the doors didn't open until seven!
"You have to wonder what other New Yorkers were thinking. An MTV special? A release party for some hot new L.A. Band? No, just students who couldn't wait tot proclaim to their city the splendor of the Lord.
"that night eh place was packed. Thousands of students--so happy to be there, so hungry for God, so ready. And as soon as Charlie Hall opened, it was clear that the crowd knew the songs, and they wanted to sing.
"Loud!
"After Charlie was finished, Louie welcomed everyone, then we broke into small groups for prayer time. Everybody praying at the same time, out lout, for their campuses, for their city. I tell you, that's a beautiful sound.
"Then our band came on for a fourty-five-minute set. What can I say? Wish you coulda been there! It was so powerful. I felt as if the crowd was saying 'Hey Chris, just start the songs. We'll take it from there!' It was a worship leader's dream. I think those students sand better--and with more heart--than any place I've ever been. In fact, Joey, our video guy, told me later, 'that was the first time I couldn't hear you play, Chris. People were so loud!'
"Louie's message that night was about shining a light in the world. But it is a light that isn't our own. 'Be the moon,' he challenged. 'You don't have any light on your own. We only reflect the light of Another. But when you and I get in the right place, Christ shines on us.'
"When the David Crowder Band came on to play the closing set, a theater manager who had been standing backstage came up and wanted to talk. 'I've never seen anything like this,' he said. 'I had to step outside and call my dad.' Turns out his dad runs the theatre, and the guy had worked there for years. 'I just had to tell my dad that in all our years we've never had this kind of show. All the drug-filled concerts that come through here--they cant' being to light up the place like this!'
"He leaned closer. There was something else he wanted to tell me. 'Man, I just went out in the crowd and sang!' he said, grinning self-consciously. 'Course, I don't' know any of the songs. But I just felt something in my heart.'
"Two days later, John Leland of the New York Times wrote a feature on the event. He called it 'Christian Musics' New Wave Caters to Audience of One.' 'The worship gathering for college students reflects a groundswell both within churches and in the Christian music marketplace,' he wrote. 'The musicians--who call themselves 'worship leaders' rather than performers--sing not about God, but to God. The audience sings as much as they do.'
"New Wave? Old Wave?
"Ask Jehoshaphat, or Paul and Silas, or the angels gathered at God's thrown from the beginning of time. I think it's the real music of our past an d of our eternal future, and it's happening now."
"We had wanted to take a Passion Movement worship even into the heart of the city for a long time. Of course, it's one thing to take worship events to college towns in the south and Midwest. These days you know you'll probably get a crowd. But New York is different. It's a world away from the Bible Belt, for one thing, and it's a ton more expensive.
"We prayed, planned, and waited. But the doors to New York remained shut.
"Until one afternoon last April. My band and I walked out of the Newark airport and took a cab to uptown Manhattan. We were headed for the legendary Beacon Theatre, on Broadway and 74th, where the next day we were going to be part of putting on our first-ever worship event for New York City college kids.
"At 8:00 the next morning, when we went back to the beacon to set up, kids were already lining up. Curious drivers going on by Broadway were slowing down for a look, backing up traffic. By afternoon, the line wound around several blocks. And the doors didn't open until seven!
"You have to wonder what other New Yorkers were thinking. An MTV special? A release party for some hot new L.A. Band? No, just students who couldn't wait tot proclaim to their city the splendor of the Lord.
"that night eh place was packed. Thousands of students--so happy to be there, so hungry for God, so ready. And as soon as Charlie Hall opened, it was clear that the crowd knew the songs, and they wanted to sing.
"Loud!
"After Charlie was finished, Louie welcomed everyone, then we broke into small groups for prayer time. Everybody praying at the same time, out lout, for their campuses, for their city. I tell you, that's a beautiful sound.
"Then our band came on for a fourty-five-minute set. What can I say? Wish you coulda been there! It was so powerful. I felt as if the crowd was saying 'Hey Chris, just start the songs. We'll take it from there!' It was a worship leader's dream. I think those students sand better--and with more heart--than any place I've ever been. In fact, Joey, our video guy, told me later, 'that was the first time I couldn't hear you play, Chris. People were so loud!'
"Louie's message that night was about shining a light in the world. But it is a light that isn't our own. 'Be the moon,' he challenged. 'You don't have any light on your own. We only reflect the light of Another. But when you and I get in the right place, Christ shines on us.'
"When the David Crowder Band came on to play the closing set, a theater manager who had been standing backstage came up and wanted to talk. 'I've never seen anything like this,' he said. 'I had to step outside and call my dad.' Turns out his dad runs the theatre, and the guy had worked there for years. 'I just had to tell my dad that in all our years we've never had this kind of show. All the drug-filled concerts that come through here--they cant' being to light up the place like this!'
"He leaned closer. There was something else he wanted to tell me. 'Man, I just went out in the crowd and sang!' he said, grinning self-consciously. 'Course, I don't' know any of the songs. But I just felt something in my heart.'
"Two days later, John Leland of the New York Times wrote a feature on the event. He called it 'Christian Musics' New Wave Caters to Audience of One.' 'The worship gathering for college students reflects a groundswell both within churches and in the Christian music marketplace,' he wrote. 'The musicians--who call themselves 'worship leaders' rather than performers--sing not about God, but to God. The audience sings as much as they do.'
"New Wave? Old Wave?
"Ask Jehoshaphat, or Paul and Silas, or the angels gathered at God's thrown from the beginning of time. I think it's the real music of our past an d of our eternal future, and it's happening now."
Thursday, July 13, 2006
B Collision.
I feel so relieved. It's nice. I like it. I hope life goes back to somewhat normalcy...I don't like drama. I seriously feel as if a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.
On another note, you should all check out the new DCB cd. It's good. I like it. That guy is my hero. He lives my dream everyday.
On another note, you should all check out the new DCB cd. It's good. I like it. That guy is my hero. He lives my dream everyday.
Monday, July 10, 2006
My Hope
Here I am again in this raging sea
On my knees again deep calls to deep
I feel I'm drowning
My arms are just too tired to swim
I feel I'm sinking
On my knees again
In the roar of your waterfall
In the storm of you
May you find me holding on
May you find me true
Wash me clean, set me free
Hold me close, and cover me.
On my knees again deep calls to deep
I feel I'm drowning
My arms are just too tired to swim
I feel I'm sinking
On my knees again
In the roar of your waterfall
In the storm of you
May you find me holding on
May you find me true
Wash me clean, set me free
Hold me close, and cover me.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Journal
So I've been spending more and more time writing down my thoughts in a journal. I like it...it's challenging, but I like it. Like I've said here before, it's really cool to look back and reread stuff and see how God's been moving in my life, and even noticing undertones that kind indicate when other things have happened in my life, but it's been really freeing to just put everything down. No undertones. haha.
Anyway, yesterday was the big outdoor service at the Massillon stadium. It went kind of roughly, to say the least. But what can you expect when it's been raining all morning and ther has been no sound checks at all, let alone a single song runthrough or anything. But overall it was really cool. My heart is the unity of the church, so regardless of sound issues or logisitical nightmares it was by far an extremely cool thing. One of the coolest things was before everyone came, probably around 8:30ish, when the vocalists realized there probably wasn't going to be a full rehearsal they decided to warm up underneath the bleachers accapella. It was awesome. At that point, I was convinced that no matter what happened, that one moment of untiy that happened was worth all the running around in the rain and crazy events. God was there. Therefore, it was cool. :)
We had pulled an all-nighter the night before, which was fun. Basically it was an extended time of normal hanging out because we basically just ended up at muggswigz and then ihop. haha. We got to the church around 4:30 to start getting things ready and over to the satdium, and help with set up. I, however, was really confused yesterday after I woke up from my nap, because I kept thinking it was already monday! Well I must get going! Have a splendid day!
Anyway, yesterday was the big outdoor service at the Massillon stadium. It went kind of roughly, to say the least. But what can you expect when it's been raining all morning and ther has been no sound checks at all, let alone a single song runthrough or anything. But overall it was really cool. My heart is the unity of the church, so regardless of sound issues or logisitical nightmares it was by far an extremely cool thing. One of the coolest things was before everyone came, probably around 8:30ish, when the vocalists realized there probably wasn't going to be a full rehearsal they decided to warm up underneath the bleachers accapella. It was awesome. At that point, I was convinced that no matter what happened, that one moment of untiy that happened was worth all the running around in the rain and crazy events. God was there. Therefore, it was cool. :)
We had pulled an all-nighter the night before, which was fun. Basically it was an extended time of normal hanging out because we basically just ended up at muggswigz and then ihop. haha. We got to the church around 4:30 to start getting things ready and over to the satdium, and help with set up. I, however, was really confused yesterday after I woke up from my nap, because I kept thinking it was already monday! Well I must get going! Have a splendid day!
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