I was very happy to see the folks over at Neue Magazine (www.neuemagazine.com) reposted an article I did for them last year about “Playing Church.” It’s an article about my journey of faith, and me realizing that building a church wasn’t he only way for me to discover my purpose. I hope you all like it. Check the article out on Neue’s very cool book viewer on their site and post what you think.
Christian music still has a soul.
That’s the thought that leaps to my mind as I listen to frontman, Mark Nicks stretch his voice across the opening chords of Cast Your Bread, the second track on the newly released Sleeping House album. The Sleeping House is the first effort for Cool Hand Luke on their new label Lujo Records…. and it’s excellent.
I have to admit, I have known Nicks for a couple of years– he’s crashed at my community house, eaten my food, and gotten lost with my lame directions in downtown Chicago, and we’ve chatted when times have gotten tough. Some folks would say that makes me biased–I say it makes me informed.
When I hear Nicks sing the words:
I’ve been so many people to so many people…
but i Just want to be who you want me to be.
I know he means it. I know he lives it…I know we’re all getting a clear picture of Nick’s contemplative, and pure heart.
So if your interested in delving deep into the mind of a guy who personifies the anti-rock Read more...
Focus on The Family Action released a 16 page letter entitled “Letter from 2012 in Obama’s America,” on October 22. It was written to portray what life would be like in the future should Barack Obama, a Christian, become President.
In the first page the letter, from a future Christian, states it purpose:
“So here is a picture of the changes that are likely or at least very possible if Senator Obama is elected and the far-Left segments of the Democratic Party gain control of the White House, the Congress, and perhaps then the Supreme Court.”
Hold onto your hats … this letter has some bombs in it.
According to Focus on the Family here a few of the 25 events that will likely take place if Barack Obama is elected:
* The Supreme Court would pass law that legalizes same sex marriage across the US
* Elementary schools will mandate homosexuality as a choice to children
* Christian radio stations will be removed from the airwaves
* Churches will be forced to hire homosexuals and host homosexual Read more...
There a some seriously horrible worship albums out there.
I want let you in on a secret.
A diamond in the rough.
His name is Brandon Grissom… and he’s the the real deal.
Living in the Chicago area, I get to meet some very creative and talented people. Living in the back yard of Willow Creek Community Church– I am friends with many young, shiny faces that come to Willow from around the world because of their gifting. Often these folks, while talented, seem to be on the ‘fast track’ to become minor christian celebrities and, to be brutally honest, lack a collaborative heart. The bright lights of the mega church [and the notoriety and salary that come with it] have drawn them like moths to a flame….and some hearts just get burnt up.
Grissom seems to have escaped all this nonsense.
Why is all this important for a music review?
It’s really simple…if you are going to make real worship music– what’s in your heart is 99% of the battle.
Out of a man’s heart flows his Read more...
Since many of you don’t totally know me, I thought I would take one post and put a little history of me and what I do… so here we go.
In 2003 I started working at a small church in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. To be brutally honest it was dead. Why I was working there is a story for another blog, and another time… but for now we will just say that I felt like my efforts were best placed in this small, conservative, white church in Chicago. My plan simple. I was going to open the church to the local kids, become friends with them and love them.
I had no idea what was about to happen.
In the next 2 and a half years I was going to be flooded with hundreds [300 to 400 or so] of students–and their parents. Students from broken homes, immigrant homes, alcoholic and drug using homes, physical and sexual abuse situations…the list goes on and on.
Caucasians
African Americans
Mexicans
Puerto Ricans
Polish
Russians
Koreans
I had 6 languages in this group, English, Spanish, Polish, Read more...
The Love Without Agenda team (Jimmy + Lisa + Brad) hopped a flight with the good people at Continental Airlines and headed over to Camas, WA (just outside of Portland, OR) and had 5 days of meeting some great people. It’s always great to meet a bunch of young people who (love hardcore music) and simply want to make the world a better place, and Tomfest is full of great folks like that. Spencer ended the festival with a memorable (and very hostile) main stage speaking slot in between the bands Haste The Day and As I Lay Dying. Definitely worth a watch.
[flickrset id="72157622332519792" thumbnail="square" overlay="true" size="large"]
from: the LWA Flickr page
I have lived in plenty and less. About 2 years ago i became a ” food pantry” user as a primary means of feeding a large family. This is a far different way of living than what is the norm in america, the way I have always known. I have found some beauty in this new way of providing food for my family.
I grew up learning to cook from my mother and grandmother, a treasure like no other. My mother is a gifted and passionate cook and hospitality person. If you told me today that 100 dignitaries were coming to my home, i could serve a fine and delicious meal with ease, no recipe to read. With mom i made pierogoes (polish) hand rolled dough, golumpki (meat and rice stuffed cabbage in a tasty tomato based broth), baked goods finer than all bakeries, creamy mashed potatoes. i learned all the how to’s from folding batter to frying – which pans and oils are best…..i could go on and on and write books and books. My German grandma grew some of her own herbs and veggies. Every summer i would spend in her Iowa home learning to garden, harvest, can, cook and Read more...
steeped. to be immersed in something so that it is re-created.
green tea leaves steeped in water=my morning tea.
as a child i was steeped in school system during the school year, language and math
for the summer it was dreams i was steeped in as i played outside from dawn to dusk
as a new wife it was making him better and being the woman i should be
as a mom it was my boys, steeped in discovering they are and how to help them be all they are to be
in the suburbs it is: our home.
when i had less it was surviving, when i had more it was thriving.
in spiritual life it is sacrifice and service.
i suppose this is life, in part: to create a place within this big bad world for people to be steeped in the breathing in and out of love. one where people act out as they seem to be made to be. where they focus on what to give, not to get. where they love without an agenda. where help is given to one in need. one where emotions are as physical, both in need, both feel pain, both heal and give life.
there are so many causes Read more...
first i packed a hospital bag; ready for that day i would touch you.
then i packed your diaper bag; ready for anything a day would bring.
even placed in there things to help you grow; toys and books that sing.
then i packed your lunch bag with preschool treats and little notes to get you through the change.
later i packed your backpack, making sure you’d be okay while away for an entire day. quarters for emergencies that need a cookie or some milk.
then we packed your sports gear, so that you wont get hurt. everything as the coach said, not less, not more.
we packed for vacations: some five star hotels, some tents in the woods.
i showed you to pack for the “unforseen” happenings, useful items like duct tape and safety pins, hold things together in a pinch. jumper cables in the car and emergency phone numbers in your cell.
we learned to pack our insides, too. our emotions and character needed to grow ready too.
we learned to pack for a big big life, where we have a part to give to. we learned that its far more Read more...
My 3rd son was our first to join a mental sport, not football but robotics. While I was happy for he and his friends to have all the gifts that being part of a sport brings to ones character, I met -more- at my first standing in their midst.
I was instantly overcome by the feeling, vibe or ETHOS in the room. I had never felt or seen anything like it in a competition based group setting. As a disclaimer I will say that I directed youth groups and camps for years and am no stranger to the world of kids, teams and to the “how to compete” discussion.
Instantly while standing in the room of robotics students, I was aware of JOY. calm joy. not zany and chaotic kids vying for attention. CREATIVITY. not wacky emo stuff where kids strive to be different and yet are just like the other dressed in black purple haired kids they hang with. The kids dressed with creative self expression. non-emotionally expressive engineer types did the macarena. they named their own teams: exploding bacon, thunder chickens , chipenguineers, cheesy poofs and the like. INTELLIGENT Read more...
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