forget imitating Coldplay’s sound…

…when you can just play their songs!

Imagine showing up to church and rocking out to the latest songs by Coldplay, U2, Linkin Park, and other Top 40 artists.  Apparently this is a reality at XXXXXXX Church, in Indiana.  The vids are intriguing.  You can’t really tell if this is part of their worship time or more like a special music performance.  I’m hoping it is the latter.

I have to confess, as I was watching some of their live video recordings I was finding it difficult not to make assumptions or be critical of the idea of worshiping Jesus by spiritualizing Top40 radio-rock songs and bridging entertainment and Christianity.  I can only speculate what XXXX  Church is attempting to achieve by rocking out Coldplay’s latest hit during their services, so I’m not going to go there.  I haven’t been and I don’t have all the facts.

I will say this, I feel so blessed that we sing and pray straight out of the Bible 24/7 here at the prayer room.  I’m so glad that as we sing, we are not only sending the Word of God forth into the nations (via the webstream and TV) but also that the Word is beeing rooted in our own hearts day after day!

just for fun…

it’s been a couple days, lots been going on…but just for fun:

current temp:  25 F (feels like 11 F)
most recently had dinner with: Jono & Sherri Hall (IHOP-KC media extrodinaires)
odd thing that just happened: was given a pair of girl jeans for free
recent letdown: Nebraska Furniture Company (we need an IKEA in KC)
last blog looked at: FTSA
currently studying: passages of God’s love and intimacy through the OT and NT
days until staff orientation: 4
looking forward to: E12 tonight at Shawn’s
most entertained by: Derek Loux at yesterday morning’s FCF
most challenged by: Derek Loux at yesterday morning’s FCF
before writing this I: made a fresh brew of iced tea

quote…

“So often we water down the Word to the level of our experience.  But now the [Spirit] in us would insist on bringing our experience up to the level of His Word.”
- Rees Howells (from the book Intercessor)

Jesus was human, but not a humanist (pt2)

let’s take a slightly different approach in part 2 that I did in part 1.  I like the hypothetical question from a non-believer’s or seeker’s vantage point, so here goes.

Q: at a distanced glance, isn’t Christianity alot like humanism?  don’t they have the same goals for the well-being of mankind?  if humanism and Christianity look alot a like, why can’t you Christians drop all your exclusivity and just help out and get along with the rest of the world?

A:  I’m all for seeing world poverty end, economic injustice reconciled, tyranny, control, and manipulative societies brought to justice, the ending of genocide, and elimination of social injustices.  surprised?  I hope not.

ok, it may be an obsession…

having housemates exposes what you can and can’t get away with when you would normally be on your own.  aside from bringing up character issues of the heart…living with housemates also exposes the crazy quirks and secret obsessions of life.  so, you can either move in with us or just keep reading to find them out…

I typically eat 2-3 spoonfulls of JIF extra crunchy peanut butter before bed.

I use lotion on my lips instead of chapstick

it’s got to be Smucker’s strawberry preserves or nothing!

Amanda cooks for fun when there’s nothing else to do

We typically watch 1 or 2 documentaries a week. (the public library is great)

We set all of our clocks about 35 minutes fast (for real, even in the car)

We set about 5 alarms at night

I blowdry my hair and sometimes use a flat-iron (GHD irons are the best)

re-using tea bags is not a crime

I tune and re-tune my guitar about 23 times during a prayer room set

I have to have 6 BBQ and 2 Polynesian sauces when eating at Chick-fil-A

We have to have a fan on while we sleep at all times

I wear women’s jeans (dont ask, they just fit better…and I know Im not alone!)

I wish I could teach lessons on loading the dishwasher

we only run the heat a total of 1hr a day (natural gas heat is killer on finances)

I park my car to match a specific line on the driveway everytime

why is it so exciting…

it snowed another 6 inches last night…so, I have a confession to make of a secret (or not-so-secret) obsession. I LOVE DRIVING IN THE SNOW.

a solid 4″ or more of fresh snow draws me to the steering wheel of my 120hp, 4 cyl., front-wheel drive, Toyota Camry. I really don’t know why it is so appealing and enjoyable to spin my wheels through inches of fresh powder on unplowed sidestreets…it just is. can anyone relate? my car won’t even do donuts so don’t go there. maybe it’s the challenge of going from point A to point B successfully when it’s safer to be off the streets or maybe it’s the “man’ly man complex” that kicks in, or the thrill of my wife sternly saying “we’re not playing bumper cars today” as I bounce off the curb while slightly overshooting Askew drive.

I know my good friend Zach can relate. He went as far to “agressively attack” a light post last week in the ice storm. 5 points rightfully awarded!

It’s too bad all the snow melted this afternoon. I’ll be reading and waiting for the next flakes to fall from the sky!

Kansas City just got bigger…

the bad news is that all our friends are leaving Maryland.
is anyone left in Bowie or Crofton?

the good news is, the latest to leave MD, our good friends Emily A. and Roni B, decided to move to Kansas City! YAY for Kansas City…more like YAY for what God is doing in Kansas City!

anyway, everyone moving makes me feel like graduation all over again…so that calls for a mass shout out too all our peeps that are moving across the world!

Matt and Shannon – we hope you take Ft. Lauderdale, FL by storm
Dave , Andy, and Joe – I hear that LA is the new NY
Emily and Roni – welcome to Kansas City!

all those hours of practice…

practice makes perfect?  anyway, Luke will debuting a new song for special at the 10am FCF tomorrow (Jan 21st).  Just think Wilco and slide guitars!

YIPPEE

Jesus was human, but not a humanist (pt 1)

Wow, this statement just dropped in my mind yesterday. I’ve been trudging through the Gospels during the past couple weeks and I’m astounded at the many passages that Jesus would be considered intollerant, ignorant, and non-inclusive by today’s humanistic standards.

According to Wikipedia:

Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities—particularly rationalism. Humanism is a component of a variety of more specific philosophical systems, and is also incorporated into several religious schools of thought. Humanism entails a commitment to the search for truth and morality through human means in support of human interests. In focusing on the capacity for self-determination, humanism rejects transcendental justifications, such as a dependence on faith, the supernatural, or divinely revealed texts

In my own words, I think the core of humanism is the belief that “we don’t really need God, people are generally good, and will eventually solve our problems and advance the species without faith, God, or religion.” Often the application of humanistic thought towards Christianity or Jesus is based around the values of “loving your neighbor as yourself” and caring for the “least of these.”

However, consider these popular humanistic decrees relative to these Scriptures that I recently read in Matthew

WE’RE ALL GENERALLY GOOD, WE CAN SOLVE THE WORLD’S PROBLEMS…

So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” – Matt 19:17

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.” – Matt 10:34-36

THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO GET TO GOD, WE ALL FIND HIM DIFFERENTLY…

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” – Matt 7:13

“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” – Matt 7:22,23

LET’S JUST BE TOLERANT OF EACH OTHER AND LET BIGONS BE BIGONS…

Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” – Matt 13:30

“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” – Matt 21:43-44

My point is to illustrate the “rest of the story” relative to common humanistic thoughts that sound and feel so appealing.  The reality of Jesus is stunning.  “Jesus was human” – He came for the broken, weak, and the sinner and He fully sympathized with man’s experience on earth.  “But He is not a humanist” – He did not prescribe a non-specific, relativistic, and all-inclusive pathway to God, redemption of the soul, and eternal life.

I guess I am now officially part of the religious right…or maybe just searching for truth as part of a broken world in need of Jesus.

new housemate at 11300…

it looks like Sara G. will be joining us (atleast temporarily while she lands during her transition season) as our 5th and final housemate of 11300 Bales Avenue!

She was in our Intro to IHOP fall internship and just got back from San Diego and Orange County, CA where she attended the JHOP-SD Rumble and visited family.

YAY for Sara G.

IHOP staff has landed…

so things have finally landed. Amanda and I have both applied for full-time staff at IHOP-KC. some last minute details finally became clear and we think we have figured out how we will land.

The significant addition rounding out our staff hours was sealed as Dave Sliker invited us to lead a prayer room team during the afternoon section. we accepted the invitation!

Amanda landed on Luke Wood’s worship team with me last week as a singer and power point operater! yay, we have the same schedules now! Steve will be helping Corey Russell facilitate Prep for Intercession rooms Mon-Fri at 3-4pm in the siderooms and Amanda will be serving a couple times a week on a healing room team.

since being at IHOP my usage of the word land*ed had dramatically increased.

love…

we’re focusing in on 1 Corinthians 13 during our prayer room devo sets (Saturday 10pm). the central focus being that love is what remains, even in the midst of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, love is what remains at the end of the day. We’re crossing with 1 John 4 and Hebrews 4. They have quite a bit to say about love. The topic is like jumping into a swimming pool and finding out that it empties into the ocean. it’s just so wide and deep with so many directions to go.

in short, I realize I want a heart that loves more

the blog*dentity…

sometimes i feel like my friends are totally different people on their blogs than in real life. this got me thinking about all the different identities I take on in the many different contexts of life…one being the blog. thus, the blog*dentity. (blog+identity)

I had a marketing professor at Univ of MD that claimed that 95% of people’s decisions are made based on the image of the peer group we desire to be included in. that leaves about 5% of the true self coming through day to day. likewise, he said that our identities are dictated by the environment we’re in.

i think the macro-issue is that we all long to be different than we are and I dont think this is such a bad thing (controversial?). sure the world says be who you are…but after a not-so-close examination of thine-self, i can easily say that I don’t really like alot of who I am. I’m fallen, broken, un-emotional, disconnected, and full of other secret love-affairs with darkness. Jesus save me! so the world says things like “just be who you are” BUT Jesus says alot of things like ‘be like me and not like the world.’

at the end of the day, I think craving to look and live like something other-than our depraved selves isn’t that bad after all. How we express that desire to fill our depravity is where we often get into trouble. Consider this:

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
2 Corinthians 5:2-4

Im thinking my craving to be different in this age is supposed to lead me to desire to look and live more like Christ. I think that’s how He intended it…with the fullness arriving at His second coming and eternity

anyway, I haven’t quite figured out what my ‘blog-dentity’ is. more on that soon.

What’s IN and OUT for an IHOPer…

OK, this is a little serious and a little fun mixed together. Let me be the first to roll out the INs and OUTs list of IHOP for 2007:

DEFINITLEY ON THE OUT –> DEFINIELTY ON THE IN
Chipotle during the 4pm GBF mtg –> Chipotle at 6pm on the Wed of GBF
PCs –> MAC book pro
NIV –> NKJV (w/ red letter of course)
A-Millenialism –> Apostolic Pre-Millelinialism
Canon 20D –> Canon 5D
blue ink –> black ink
Line6 PODs and floorboards –> Class A Tube amps and custom pedalboards
personal websites –> blogs
Adobe Photoshop –> Adobe Lightroom
orange sparkles –> silver sparkles
hot coffee –> hot tea
Hotmail –> gMail
myspace –> Virb.com
highlighters –> colored pencils
Urban Outfitters –> Target
the Friday 10pm –> the Saturday 10pm (shamless plug)
Shure –> Audix
LCD projectors –> Plasma TVs

2006 – Year in Review…

So, we’ll take a little time to take a look back at 2006…what a year it was, filled with lots of unexpected happenings!

we moved to Kansas City, Missouri in June
the 95 Toyota Camry hit 194,000 miles (still going strong)
camped-out for a year’s worth of free Chick-fil-A
groaned and travailed in prayer most of the year
grandparents Inagaki moved back to Hawaii
the MD crew moved all over the place (CA, Kansas City, FL, even South America)
made great new friends, Shawn&Anna, Ryan&Melissa, Ben&Kristin, Luke&Leah, Zach, Nate…and many more
Hollins Place relocated to the Intl. House of Prayer in Kansas City, MO
changed haircolor from blue streak in the back to red highlights in the front
celebrated 2007 at onething 2006 with approx 15,000 young adults
steve played at onething
Denali (the cat) made his first airplane trip from Baltimore to Kansas City
drove 22hrs straight to get to Kansas City
Heather Ballis moved into our house in MD
we frequented Lemongrass and El Toro Bravo in Annapolis
Matt Reed moved to Maryland