My Crazy Life!

Most of you know that I have a 1 year old little boy, Gabriel who is just starting to walk and talk and generally get into everything.  This is the greatest joy I have ever known, and I could on and on about him for quite some time.  But I am writing this note to tell about some of the other things that are going on in my life these days...

For nearly 2 years now I have been playing in a band called Joe Next Door. I started out just playing bass, but as things have progressed I have added percussion and backing vocals.  I'm very pleased to admit that I my be finding my voice, and I am excited about singing again, after having abandoned it for nearly 2 decades.  

Joe Next Door is currently working to build a fanbase, and also working in the studio to begin the recording process of nearly 5 albums worth of material.  This project will find me singing, playing bass and drums,  and quite possibly adding guitar and keyboard parts.  And most definitely having a lot of fun!

Also on the musical front, I have taken on some new responsibility at church.  Due to some financial cutbacks we lost our Worship Director.  I had been his right hand man for at least the last 5 years, and had actually been wondering if it was time for me to move on to somewhere that was more in need of my skillset.  This opportunity quickly anchored me right here (I'm actually typing this at Redeemer Church).  For a few months now I have been sharing the responsibilities of worship coordinator with one of our elders who has been musically involved.  As we move into summer I will be taking on even more responsibilities.

For some people this has been a difficult transition, and that possibility was certainly there for me- this friend had been my longest running "bandmate" ever- but it has been a huge blessing instead! I feel alive, like I am doing what I was created to do.  I chose to believe that things happen in God's time, and that our actions and decisions are the instruments He uses to bring about His will.  I am thriving in this new situation, implementing things that I've dreamed of for years.  And based on their response, it seems that the great majority of the people were ready for some changes.  Worship has been more intense these last few months than I have ever seen it.

Now, many of you know that I moved to a new job about 2 years ago, and wrote a lengthy note about how that came about.  It has been an important 2 years, with plenty of growth, and I am happy to say that I am content there.  But opportunity has come knocking.  A week from tomorrow I will break into the IT field with no college and no experience.  Through the efforts of an insider friend, I have secured an IT admin position with Pepsi that could change my life.  Because he is their primary programmer, and because they have been unable to find a capable second programmer, I am being brought in to relieve him of all that is not programming, and learn the programming over his shoulder.

Here's the scary part: initially I am signing on as a contractor with a 4-week assignment.  In that 4 weeks I need to prove that I am the valuable asset that this friend has promised, and then I can secure my position for the rest of 2011.  The long term goal is to become an official Pepsi employee for 2012.  The really long term goal is to work in IT for the rest of my life, unless music takes me elsewhere!

Oh, and the pay is more than a few dollars beyond what I currently make when I'm working OT.  :)

Reality, is it real?

I talk a lot about the aspects of being an artist.  That's because I think a lot about the aspects of being an artist.  I think that artists enjoy a special connection with the Creator whose image we bear, but that doesn't come without associated burdens.  I think the urge to create new things is directly connected to a keen awareness that our souls have the capacity for a greater reality than that which we observe around us.  In other words, we're always seeking something greater.  Sometimes we are referred to as "The Dreamers" of society, and we're often told to get our heads out of the clouds.  But we're just searching for what we believe exists.  Sometimes we ache for it so badly that it physically hurts.
Unfortunately, many times this leads to harmful habits and lifestyles, often involving the proverbial sex, drugs and rock&roll.  We spend a lot of time trying to find this greater reality in the very limited things this world has to offer us, and it seems that many of the most creative artists in history have ruined their lives in this pursuit. 
Lately I've been feeling a greater awareness of this huge void, and feeling stronger urges to find something more.  Much of that manifests itself in my music and art, and is ultimately a good thing as I strive to create better things for our current reality.  But very often lately, this greater awareness simply leads to a greater disappointment in the reality around me, and I see the deficit in culture, relationships, integrity, and society.  It just leaves me feeling angry and bitter, and trying to find or generate a joy to counter it.  But I too am guilty of believing that it can be found in things around me.  Even good things like music and relationships can't fill the need in my life.  Only Jesus can do that. 
I just wish I had a better understanding of how to truly pursue that.

Different kinds of art....

I've been thinking about this for years now, but only recently have I been able to put it together coherently.  I'm inclined to call these different levels or grades of art, but that might make me sound elitist.  In my life these ideas mostly apply to music, but they could apply to other forms of art too.  Here's what I'm talking about, you decide!

Level 1- the Performance Artist: this artist strives to represent something pre-existing, often without any personal interpretation added.  In music this would be a cover band.

Level 2- the Composer: this artist creates a work that is intended to be displayed or performed in its original form repeatedly.  In music this might include the majority of classical and pop/rock/country/etc artists.

Level 3- the Structured Improviser: this artist creates a "skeleton" that is intended to be "fleshed out" somewhat differently every time it is displayed or performed.  In music this would describe a lot of jazz and blues.

Level 4- the Spontaneous Improviser: this artist creates a work in front of the audience with little or no prior planning.  The work may never be duplicated again, or may be a future "skeleton" for type 3.  In music this is rare, but its sometimes found in jazz and avant-garde music.

So, here's my big question(s): are any of these "better" than the others?  are any more "creative"?  can you think of other types?

We're Independent... and we like it that way!!!

This tidbit (found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptists) makes me sad: "Baptists are a group of Christian denominations, churches, and individuals who subscribe to a theology of believer's baptism... ...and the autonomy of the local church. They are generally characterized by the practice of immersion... ...and a disavowal of authoritative creeds."

I can understand why they would want to separate themselves from "the world", but why do they find it so important to distance themselves from fellow believers?

I am a member of a Presbyterian church.  I didn't plan it that way, it just happened to be the church that my wife and I really liked when we were searching.  One of the many cool things about the Presbyterian church is the way it is interconnected throughout the city, country, and around the world, not only by name, but by a real organization that has a legitimate "governance" linking us together.  I dig the way that tends towards that unity that Jesus prayed his followers would have. 

Furthermore, our particular local congregation (and others) often partners with other churches outside our denomination completely, such as the A.M.E Zion church across town.  More unity.  But wait, there's even more!

We often use creeds in our liturgy.  Our pastor likes to point out that when we are reciting these creeds it is entirely possible that thousands of other believers around the world are reciting the same creed at the same time, in unity with us.  Furthermore, by reciting these creeds which are hundreds of years old, we are standing together in unity with believers of all denominations through the centuries, and even into the future!  How cool is that?!?

Now, why would you want to disavow that?

Separation of church and state

How do you think our forefather's envisioned religion and government interacting?

How do you think that applies today?

What do you consider ideal?

To win the war, you have to fight on the right battlefield!

a facebook status i posted last week sparked a lively conversation about religion and politics.  this was followed by a number of face-to-face and virtual conversations with people around me.  one of those conversations was with a friend and fellow believer at my workplace.  the conversation turned to the direction our government is heading, and ultimately about our religious liberties.  i was more than a little surprised when this typically strong individual came across as being pretty much terrified at the prospect of losing our current religious freedom.  i must have come off as being a yellow-bellied liberal pansy, because he basically accused me of laying down in front of the enemy when i replied that i was not afraid of that.  unfortunately, i found myself without proper words to express myself, and i'm almost certain i never really made sense. 

i was mostly surprised by his apparent fear of the possibilities of persecution and restriction of freedom to worship as we choose, but i will also admit that i am bothered by the approach that so many fellow believers take on advancing the Kingdom, and the role we play in that.  today i read on facebook a status of a "friend" who proclaimed that President Obama had canceled the national day of prayer.  i did a quick search of the internet and discovered that was not entirely true.  as it turns out, he will not be having a grand ceremony in honor of the event, as his predecessor did each year, but rather, he would issue a fairly standard written proclamation, and would carry on with his daily prayers in private.  no canceled day of prayer, but no grand ceremony.  same thing, right?  i then changed my status to quote a statement by a religious/political figure who noted that the president is not our nations pastor-in-chief.

so what's my point?  well, its really the same point i've been trying to make in most of my recent "public" statements- bigger is not better!  regardless of what our nation was founded as, or intended to be, it is not currently a "Christian" nation.  furthermore, if being a "Christian" nation involves having a majority born-again, baptized, spirit-filled government, i don't think it ever will be, nor do i think it should be!  on a slightly different topic, i don't think that gigantic crusades really advance the Kingdom either.  i don't think canvassing a different neighborhood every saturday to tell people they are going to hell works either.  and your stupid little cartoon scare-tactic tracts in public restrooms do more harm than good.  don't even get me started on the elitist premises of busing kids to your church from the surrounding 10 counties.  i don't even think church services are intended primarily for outreach, but that's another blog altogether...

ok, i think i've lost some of you.  here's my point, really simplified: the most effective way to advance the Kingdom of God is to live your life in such a way that you are loving the people around you, and building relationships with people that need to know Jesus.  i did not say anything about forcing your faith or laws on them.  i said love your neighbor.  one at a time.  like the Jesus fellow did. 

if we each focus on small scale advancement in our own little worlds, the potential is there to see world-wide effect, but if we try to "win" the world in one fell swoop, then we're doomed for epic failure.  Jesus said it best: love God, and love your neighbor.

And you shall know them by the music they play...

...and you shall hasten to pass their radio station!

Seriously though, let's talk about this whole idea of Christians being "separate" and "not conformed" to the world.  How are we really supposed to be different?

In the culture I grew up in, there were a lot of "Do's & Don'ts" that supposedly marked us as different from the secular culture.  These things included such things as: the clothes we wore, the way we cut our hair, the rock music we did not listen to, the movies we did not go to, the alcohol we did not drink, etc, etc.  We were taught that by refraining from all these things, we could rest assured that any unbeliever on the street could identify us as Christians, and might even approach us asking how they could be like us.  Well, I must have failed miserably, cause I never had any of those worldly scumbags come up and ask how to be as good as I was.  Or at least, thats what I thought they were in relation to me...

Nowadays I know that culture by the term Legalism, and it causes the hair on the back of my neck to bristle.  And I have moved farther past it than some of my friends, who still hold a fair amount of resentment.  I often find myself in lively discussions about it.

So, how IS the world supposed to know we are different?  Well, Paul told the Galations "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."  There's nothing there about forbidding your women to wear pants, or insisting that you only read from the King James Version of the Bible.  There's nothing about wearing a tie to church, or cutting your hair so it doesn't touch your collar.  Perhaps it does imply that you should wear a WWJD bracelet, but that may be reading into it too much.

Now, the way I understand that, I could wear the same clothes as "the world", use the same words as "the world", play the same music, drink the same beer (perhaps in less quantity), and go the same places as "the world" and yet, by simply loving them, still be radically different.  If I wanted to be really super different, I would also spread joy and peace, and be patient and kind, and good, and so on.

So what's my point?  Well, I'm glad you asked!  See, at my church we've been talking about Law and Grace, and all this time I've been thinking about Legalism, and now it all comes together.  The Legalism I hated growing up was simply Pharisees around me making up things to add to the Law, things they knew they could keep.  Legalism is an easy way to be "different" from the world, because you simply make up rules that might be inconvenient or awkward, but are fairly easily kept.  But in the end, it doesn't matter if your Law comes from the Old Testament or the old traditions of your religious culture- they have nothing to do with how you are identified as a follower of Christ! 
Now, here comes the kicker.  These markers that identify a believer are not things we could have made up, nor would we have.  These are not things we can consistently do in our own strength.  They indicate our connection to Christ because they require our connection to a source of love and joy and peace much greater than our own.  In order to exhibit any of these, we require serious transformation and regeneration by the indwelling of the Spirit.

Maybe that's why they're called fruit of the spirit....