My Worship Revolution

Last year I posted this on the blog a little more than a week before Christmas.
It included this reading from my prayer book:

Let us thank God a thousand times if in the sadness which invades us it seems to us as if we are rejected by the world.  The depression and suffering, the bitterness with which we seem sometimes to be soaked to be soaked, were the lot of Our Lord on earth.  Are we not fortunate to share them?  We should pity the happy people.  Pity those whose happiness, even though it be quite legitimate and innocent, keeps them attached to the world.  God is good that he has so despoiled us of everything, that we can draw breath only by turning our heads towards him. How great is his mercy, how divine his goodness, for he has torn everything from us in order that we may be more completely his.  So the suffererers are the happy ones through the goodness of God.  In suffering I give thanks.

May these days of Christmas festival bring you, in your suffering, I do not say consolation, but the blessing God intends for you. The child Jesus will perhaps not give you any sweetness, – he reserves that for the weak ones, – but his hand will none the less be spread to bless you in these days of Christmastide, and whether you feel it or no, he will pour abundant grace into your soul.

I mentioned in the blog that it made me think of others I knew.  Life was pretty good for me.
I couldn’t mention it at the time, but we had found out the month before about my mom’s cancer.  But she had surgery, everything looked to be gone, and she was on the way to a slow, but we hoped full recovery.
This year on the other hand, I feel like this reading is where I lived.  I changed a few of the bold lines to reflect what struck me more this year.
In the past 4 months we lost my mom, the house we were renting, and most of our kids stuff.  (Happens to be in order of importance there.)
Christmas just passed, and I gotta say, that morning was TOUGH.
Couldn’t help but think of mom quite a bit.

Don’t get me wrong.
At the same time we had a great Christmas as well.
Rachel’s parents and brother joined us in Santa Cruz and it’s ridiculous how many gifts the kids got from us all this year.  Let’s hope they forget that by next year so they don’t expect too much of a pile.

The holidays are almost over.
I just spent a few minutes looking over my blog posts from the past year and reflecting a bit.
Crazy seeing 3 houses in 1 year of posts! Lol.
More thoughts on the New Year later.

All that to say, it’s been a rough year.  One of the roughest I’ve experienced.
But God has been so faithful through it all.  Including this difficult Christmas season.
And while that reading is on the extreme end for me, it rings of lots of truth.  God really has been using the pain to pur abundant grace into my soul, and I think to force me to rely on him more.

In Caleb speak, I think lately I’ve been feeling and acting a lot like this guy lately.
Hoping as we head into 2011, I can start reflecting this guy a little more.

Ramble done.

Wow.
Had to come back and add a link to this post by Christ From Canada.
Watch the video and read the explanation of how the song came about.
Just wow.
Feel like it perfectly complements what was in my head for this post.  But much better said.
So cool.
Oh…and even cooler…that’s my friend Tifah singing!  Love it.

So a few months back I received a copy of Tomlin’s new album, And If Our God Is For Us to review here on the blog.
I had intended to post it the week before Thanksgiving, just after the album came out, and then life got crazy.

So I’m a little late on this one, but oddly enough, it may work out better for the review that it took some time.
I didn’t really love the album so much at first, but it’s grown on me.
Just to give something for reference, I’ll give it 3 1/2 stars.  Think of 1 stars as, “Who even agreed to record this album?”, 2 stars as mid 90’s Maranatha(As The Deer anyone?), and 5 stars in the range of Gungor (Beautiful Things)  and Matt Maher (Alive Again).  Hopefully that helps you figure out where your taste fits into my rating, being that it really is all subjective.

We’ve been playing the song Our God (which contains the lyrics the album is named after) for several months at Twin Oaks now.  I heard it on the live Passion album that I got early this year.   LOVE that song.
So after such a great live recording on the Passion album from Tomlin, I was pretty disappointed with the studio version of the song.  The string parts that were added just didn’t really do it for me and the song doesn’t drive/rock nearly as much.  Too produced and too soft for my preference.

Then it went on to the next song, I Will Follow, and now I was hooked in.  Loved the message of the song and the catchy chorus.  Similarly I appreciated the next song I Lift My Hands, especially for the concept of worshipping through difficulty and pain.

Later in the album, I came across the song Lovely.  Remember how I said the album has grown on me a bit?  Was not a fan of this song at first.  Lovely just isn’t all that compelling of a word for me.  But, lately I’ve found myself humming the song under my breath without even realizing I had started it.  And that is what I think Tomlin is best at.  Writing songs that are accesible for worship and stick with people.

The album continues with some pretty good songs that sound a lot like what you’d expect from Tomlin.
It finishes with Awakening.  This is another tune that is on the Passion album, and has grown on me quite a bit over the year.  One of the highlights of the album, it really is a great anthem in live worship for inviting God to really do something in our hearts.  It has a good build and really draws you in.

The Bottom Line: All being said and done, it’s a pretty good album.  I’d recommend grabbing simply cause it’s Chris Tomlin.  He’s become a staple in modern worship music and if you’re a church goer, there are probably a few songs you’ll end up singing on here.

So why only 3 1/2 stars?  There’s not a lot about the album that really gets me excited.  I don’t get a sense of the music really pushing boundaries and changing the face of what corporate worship sounds and looks like.  To be fair, I don’t think that’s what he’s trying to do, so he’s probably doing a great job of reaching his target audience.  I should probably even bump it up to 4 stars as it’s been growing on me.  It all just comes down to preference.

If you’re a Chris Tomlin fan and like a lot of his recent stuff, this album shouldn’t disappoint.  I just recommend the Passion cut of Our God.
And I’m sure I’ll be leading another song or 2 from here before you know it.

One more artist to share with you before this evening.
A few weeks ago, on World AIDS Day, Rachel and Dan and I went downtown for a candlelight vigil followed by a reception at Santa Cruz AIDS Project.
We got to meet a lot of really great people, including Darryl who is the event coordinator for SCAP.  Darryl was then able to connect us to Pat Dellen who graciously offered a piece of art to be sold at the event tonight.

I checked out Pat’s website, and again, she has some good looking stuff!  Fused glass.

Tonight at Art for AIDS she has a fused glass platter in a gift box.  Sounds like the perfect Christmas gift for someone you know!

I’m stoked that we have another artist, and one who is personally connected already to the AIDS community here in Santa Cruz as well.
See ya at Kuumbwa Jazz Center tonight!
This is gonna be fun.

Another friend of Christal also jumped in to be a part of Art For AIDS.
Paul De Worken works with her and he is a great local artist who does mural work.
You can see some of what he does at his website, Monterey Bay Murals.

Christal tells me he did the mural at their school and it’s pretty sic.
Here’s some video of him doing a live painting in San Jose:

Maybe next time we should see if we can get him to do something live with us.
Did I mention that Paul is a Raiders fan?
Well, no one’s perfect.

Glad to have two pieces of art at the event from Paul.
Advance tickets available till noon today!

I met Jon Talbert a couple years ago when he shared about Beautiful Day at an event in Santa Cruz.
Jon oversees Beautiful Day in San Jose which I believe has raised more money than any other organization in the history of the AIDS walk in San Jose if I remember correctly.
Jon has a huge heart for people and for the issue of AIDS.
And the guy is funny, too.

I had heard that Jon was doing comedy at clubs in the area, and knowing that he cares about the issue of AIDS and is a great performer, we asked him if he would be a part of this event as our featured comic.  He was glad to help out and we we’re stoked to have him.
Here’s a little more info on Jon from his bio:

Jon Talbert is a well known Bay Area comedian and motivational speaker who has performed to young people and Universities throughout the nation.  Locally, he has done shows to packed venues such as the Heritage Theater, Rooster T Feathers, The Improv, The Ice House, The Santa Clara Civic auditorium, and the Mountain Winery.  Jon has also performed with national headliners such as Brad Stine, Tommy Drake, Mark Lundholm, and Clinton Jackson.  Jon also serves as the chaplain to the San Jose EarthQuakes.

Check out this video of some of his comedy:

He also said he’d bring along an opening comic.
So Charlie Thayer will be coming to do some material as well.
I don’t know anything about her, except that I’ve seen her do some pretty cool whiteboard art once and another friend of mine said she’s hilarious, so I’m looking forward to hearing her bring it to open the evening tomorrow night.

Advance tickets will be on sale til noon tomorrow.  After that, they’re 5 bones extra at the door.
Come ready to laugh!

Another friend of ours that is donating a piece of art for the event is Michelle Nicely.
She has become a good friend of ours after Rachel and her got to know each other at Creative Play.
Michelle used to work in the entertainment industry down in the Los Angeles area before coming up  to Santa Cruz, so we had the SoCal connection right off the bat.

Michelle is donating a piece with 100% of the money going to Santa Cruz AIDS Project.
Check out some of her artwork at this website.
I’m way stoked to have Michelle as a part of Art for AIDS.

Another really cool venture we’ve been able to watch Michelle get started with is her own clothing line for kids.
She designs all of the clothes and sells them locally, and they are ALL made with fair trade.  The clothes are super creative and super cool.

We have a couple of things we got from her for Caleb and Micah.
If you’ve got kidlets or know someone with kidlets who need a good Christmas gift, you need to go to her website for 3 Little Stars NOW and get something.
Such great clothing, and you’re supporting a local artist and fair trade.

And then get a ticket for Art For AIDS to check out her artwork this Saturday.

As part of Art for AIDS this coming Saturday night we asked some of our friends who are artists to display some stuff and sell it with a portion of the proceeds going to Santa Cruz AIDS Project.
There will be a couple pieces up and all of them will be for sale via silent auction.

The first artist we were able to get for the event is a friend of my friend Christal.
His name is Lukas Wenger.
He’s a photographer.  Primarily landscape photography.
And you may have to try and outbid me for one of his photographs.
I checked out his stuff online and his stuff is money.
You can check out his website here.
Here’s a shot from Natural Bridges to give you an idea.

There’s a lot more on his website and it’s amazing.
He’s donating 100% of the profits from 2 pieces for us.
Super generous and we’re super grateful.

It’s gonna help create some great atmosphere Saturday night and raise some extra money for AIDS Project.
Get you tickets and come get a piece to take home with you.
If you bid more than me.
And swing by his site and get something anyway.  It would make a great Christmas gift and support a local artist.
See ya this Saturday!

Only 4 days till Art For AIDS!
If you haven’t gotten a ticket yet, grab it now.
More info at www.createhumanity.org.

Thought I’d throw up a series of posts about some of the talent contributing to Art For AIDS this weekend.
A good friend of mine who is part of Missio Dei Community is Dan Lingenfelter.
He plays drums for The Wild Rovers, an Irish band based here in Santa Cruz.

They’re the featured band for the concert.
I’m stoked that they’re playing for the event.  I’ve seen em several times at the Poet as well as The Catalyst last St. Patty’s Day.
Not only is the music great, but they are just one of the most fun bands to listen to.  It’s perfect for holding onto a drink, being loud, and singing along.  Unfortunately, I hear they probably aren’t doing my favorite tune that night.  “Have a pint!!”

Which reminds me…I need to email Kuumbwa and find out if Guinness is on the beer menu at their bar.

Enjoy out a couple of tunes from the widget below and then come hear them live on Saturday night!

Rachel and I have been home without the kids for 4 days now.  And we have a week and a half left.
I’d be lying if I said I’m not enjoying the freedom at times.
Last night we went to the AIDS vigil together, and just decided to grab dinner after.  Then we could grab a movie or just go home.  No planning needed.
Weird.
And nice.

But last night we also talked to them on the phone.
As we sat in Kianti’s, I cupped one ear to block out the sound as Caleb told me all about drawing a picture in the snow today of him and Micah and mommy and daddy and grandma and grandpa.
He asked me when we were coming back and told me he missed me.
Micah got on the phone and said Lord only knows what.

I sat there for a moment and thought about the fact that while it’s fun not having the kids for a couple days, I would MUCH rather be stuck at home with the kids not falling asleep when we tell them to than to not have them at all.
I can’t imagine life without them anymore…and don’t want too.
I LOVE being daddy.

I miss our kids like crazy already.

During Pastor appreciation month, somebody gave us a Ralph’s World CD for the kids.
All you have to do is turn it on and Micah’s eyes light up and he starts to really boogie.
He was a little camera shy when it started, but he warmed up real quick.
It’s not a short video, but I didn’t wanna take time to edit any out.  Besides, kept me entertained the whole time.

Once again, I miss this little guy like crazy.
And yeah, I kinda miss that house too.

Each year, Dec. 1st is recognized as World AIDS Day.
It started in 1988 as a way to raise awareness and remember those who have passed as a result of AIDS.

In case you haven’t heard yet, I thought it would be a good time to share about an upcoming event we have with Missio Dei Community.
In just a week and a half we are hosting an event called Art For AIDS.  It’s at Kuumbwa Jazz Center.  It’s a night of comedy, music, and art, and all ticket and art sales will go to benefit Santa Cruz AIDS Project.
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

It’s gonna be a blast and you don’t wanna miss out!
Over the next week or so, I’ll put up some posts to share more about the event and the artists involved.
But today in honor of World AIDS Day, the first 20 tickets sold with the code aidsday2010 wil get 20% off their ticket price.
Click here to buy some tickets.
For more info, check out www.createhumanity.org.
And of course, check out the Facebook page, too.

Also, as another cool resource for the season, check out this Advent calendar that specifically focuses on the issue of AIDS around the world.
See ya at Kuumbwa Jazz Center  on December 11th!