Faith-Based Blog a blog about faith from a believer with bandwidth

(The Return of) The Weekly List, 3/8/10Posted by Greg on March 8th, 2010

» Reading (online): User manual for the Boss BR-600 recorder
» Reading (offline): “Practice Ressurection” by Eugene Peterson
» Fixin’ to Read (offline): more of that user manual
» Listening: ’80s hard rock stuff
» Singing Along To: For some strange reason, a lot of Wendell Burton tunes
» Anticipating: receiving my Boss BR-600 recorder

Yikes … three of the items above pertain to a new purchase. For fear of making it into a golden calf of sorts, here’s the 411: it’s a digital multi-track recorder so that I can, a) record my practices and b) work on some multi-tracked musical creations. Needless to say, I’m a little excited about it.

Back when I first took up guitar, I got a 4-track recorder for much the same purpose. I remember it helped immensely for dissecting my practices, but I had headaches galore for recording anything in the way of a song. Modern technology seems to hold a bit of promise for making b) a little more productive. Whereas the old recorder was just a straightforward recorder with multiple tracks, this new one also comes with a drum machine and loads of effects to mix into the sound. Like I said before: I’m a little excited about it.

As mentioned in a previous entry, the last week or so was full of day-job insanity. I’m now looking forward to catching up on some items on the to-do list. I’ve already regained a bit of momentum in ye olde handwritten word project and I actually have the end of Galatians in sight now. I’m a bit reluctant to start breezing through Peterson’s latest since it covers the next book, but it’s my constant travel companion to & from work … so I’m sure to dive into it sooner or later. And I still like the idea of continuing on with the handwritten thing since I’m tackling the books in some sort of order all of a sudden.

I’m actually thinking of holding off on adding to the reading list for this month (or maybe just the first half of it) since I want to make ample time for learning the ins and outs of my newfangled recorder gizmo. A couple of miniature song-like creations are already in the works and I’m sure I’ll be posting some of them here as they take on something slightly better than “embarrassing” quality. I vaguely recall reading somewhere how one of my favorite guitarists (Joe Satriani) would tell all of his students (from beginner to expert) to take what they’ve learned and create an album after one month of studying. At the time, I remember thinking that was sadistically insane. But the more I think about it, I see the point. And the more I think about how several of the bad habits I picked up in my first attempt at the instrument … I see the point even more clearly.

Although I’m sure gambling isn’t an approved, Biblical activity, I think it’s ok for the sake of entertainment value to place a light bet on how soon before I try and put a band together. Personally, I’d like to think I would take a lot of time (as in, a year or more) and work on several aspects of guitar before doing this. But patience is not high on my list of virtues. And besides, the list of bands playing Christian hard rock in a way that I enjoy listening to does not exactly make for a long list.

Speaking of which …. The latest project from Stryper has already been announced and you have to give the guys credit for generating a bit of controversy once more. The latest release will be all cover tunes. And what will they be covering? Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath (from the Ronnie James Dio era), Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, UFO, and The Scorpions. They’re still debating a KISS tune to include. You can just bet that the old corner Christian bookstore is going to love that. During the band’s “rebellious” phase of the Against the Law tour, I saw them perform “On Fire” by Van Halen and thought it was great. Then, they joked about doing a Judas Priest song. Well, it turns out that right around that Houston show (I forget if it was just before or just after), they were joined by the lead singer of Judas Priest to perform “Breaking the Law.” Say what you will, but I’ll be on pins & needles to hear what they do to some of these songs on the new release.

Sunday Video: Uganda Children’s ChoirPosted by Greg on March 7th, 2010

Apologies for the temporary disappearing act. The past week or so has been my official busy season for this point in the year. I’m gradually catching my breath and have a bit of video to show for it …

Free Derek Webb (Stockholm Syndrome edition)Posted by Greg on February 24th, 2010

Free or “pay what you want” download of Derek Webb’s “Stockholm Syndrome” available for 48 hours. Get it while you can … be offended all you can stand. My very short take on the release is here.

Monday Video: Janet DokesPosted by Greg on February 22nd, 2010

Janet Dokes, back on stage & doing her thing. Sadly, two minutes with Google doesn’t help me find the song title. Anyone out there got it?

UPDATE: From the comments … the title is “To Worship You” and the tune was written by Michael Mellett. Always nice to see some good songwriting chops from the Lakewood team.

No Small JoyPosted by Greg on February 19th, 2010

» Ultimate Guitar: Brendon Small: ‘I Can’t Believe How Much I Still Like Guitar’

I believe this may be the one and only time that I mix one of my creative outlets along with my love of animated comedy about fictitious death metal bands and throw the result onto this churchy little blog of mine. But I couldn’t help but have a moment while reading this interview with Brendan Small about his renewed passion for playing guitar.

The backstory … in case you were too busy avoiding Small’s work: Small made it sorta big as a writer for the animated network show, Home Movies (sidenote – this is one of my favorite cartoons). The show died a quick death on broadcast, but got revived by the Cartoon Network, which sought out Small to do a new series for them. That brings us to the phenomenon that is Dethklok. That series probably isn’t for the average church-goer, but I find it funny enough to kill a bit of time with every now and then. The series has spawned two very successful CDs, concert tours, and other side benefits that have made Small more of a musical celebrity than he is a writing celebrity.

Lately, as I’ve been a bit more forceful in carving out time to spend with my latest toy, I think I see a bit of the fun that Small seems to be expressing here.

There are some guitarists out there who still claim that Guitar Hero is for the people who aren’t able to play an actual guitar. Have you always embraced the concept behind the game?

In being a guitarist and going through the dark days of guitar when no one was playing their guitar or doing solos. That was a pretty crappy time, but it had to happen. People had to stop playing guitar so that it could come back again. I think it’s exciting that 11-year-olds know what “Smoke On The Water” is and can sing the Ritchie Blackmore solo. They just know it. It’s also turning people onto cool music. It used to be that you could only learn about cool music if you had an older sibling who had a Led Zeppelin record at some point. I didn’t have an older sibling that had cool music. My sister liked Madonna and a-ha. But I had a friend down the street that turned me onto all the cool stuff. That’s what this thing is kind of doing. It’s being that friend down the street that’s showing you cool music. If any of these music snobs think that they didn’t grab a tennis racket and pretend to play guitar for years before they even grabbed real guitars, then I think they are lying and they’re stupid. And I will fight them!

I’ve said this before, but I can’t believe how much I still like guitar. It’s really strange to me. I like sitting there with a guitar on my lap. When I wake up in the morning, I like to actually be able to see a guitar somewhere. I don’t get it. I don’t understand why I like this so much. My best and most enjoyable times over the last five years of being in a creative environment have been those times when I can just sit there and play guitar by myself. I’ll just listen to it. I like the sound it makes. Guitar is cool. If you don’t think the guitar is cool, then you’re stupid. And I will fight you!

Traveling a Little Bit HeavierPosted by Greg on February 17th, 2010

Amazon shipment dropped on my desk a day earlier than anticipated. That’s surely one of life’s little unexpected pleasures.

I’ve had a bit of pent-up energy over the last two days to do two things in my free time: crack open Galatians a bit more to do the handwritten thing with it; and find some time to get the fingers back in shape for the new guitar. I’ve been better at the latter than the former. I remember back in the day when I played roller hockey while I was working way too many hours in retail management. I’d go home dead tired, trudging through a 20-mile trek home. But on nights where there was an over-30 pickup game scheduled, I’d be totally recharged as soon as I loaded my equipment into the car to make another 20-mile trek even further north to play maybe 2 hours worth of roller hockey. Usually, this meant feeling like I was near death as I drove home at 9pm, only to return home from funtime around midnight … totally ready to do anything.

Having the new guitar around is a bit like that. I spent a mere two hours with it last night doing drills and a few easy tunes. Could have spent two more if it wasn’t too late to bug the neighbors with my infernal racket. The fingers hurt like crazy, but it’s the kind of hurt you don’t mind playing through. The “music” is sometimes dreadful (note to self: metronome … soon!). But the experience is fun and rewarding. Probably doesn’t hurt that it’s a pretty sweet guitar that’s more fun to play than any other guitar that I’ve had in my hands.

As things stand with that handwritten thing, there’s some set-aside time on Saturday but I still need to force the habit a bit on the weekdays. That said, diving into Eugene Peterson’s commentary on Galatians is a nice enticement. Similarly, I’ve belatedly noticed that Rich Nathan (of Vineyard Columbus) is preaching through Galatians. Obviously, I’ve been a bit behind in catching up on his sermons. But I made it through two of the five posted online in one day’s span. All that to say that there’s a bit of hope that I’ll be highlighting a bit of commentary here on the blog from either Peterson and/or Nathan as I look for more quality time to spend with ink and paper.

That is, if the 12-hour workday doesn’t wear me down first ;-)

SIDENOTE: The Internet Monk has two parts of a review up of Peterson’s “Practice Resurrection” by guest-blogger, Chaplain Mike. I’m hoping to save the book for reading after “Traveling Light” in the hope that it serves as motivation for me to breeze through the first book. We’ll see how that goes.

Letters from PaulPosted by Greg on February 15th, 2010

Two new books in the mail …

» Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ
» Traveling Light: Modern Meditations on St. Paul’s Letter of Freedom

“Practicing Resurrection” is Peterson’s latest and looks to be based on Ephesians. The other is a more archaic book of Peterson’s (published in 1988) and is based on Galatians. I picked up the latter to have a sort of commentary guide through Galatians as I transcribe that out. And it looks like I may very well just continue on through to Ephesians to maintain some continuity.

Even weirder, there’s a good read on the next book, Colossians, that I’ve put off reading for a long time. I may now have an excuse to finally pick that book up and just continue my handwritten project through to Colossians, as well. In reading Michael Spencer’s review of the book, I can relate to his expressed sentiment on the sometimes mundane-ness of diving too deeply into Paul’s letters. But it sure is fun to dive into the deep end sometimes and rediscover the lasting beauty in them.

Sunday Video: “Freedom Is Here”Posted by Greg on February 14th, 2010

Aimee Beard, doing her thing. Of particular interest is that this is an Aimee Beard-written tune. I was wondering how long before it’d be till I could tap those words out on my keyboard. It’s great seeing Aimee back up front on the big stage leading worship more often. The occasional special isn’t half bad, either.

Koinonia Worship Setlists (2/6/10 & 2/13/10)Posted by Greg on February 14th, 2010

Just a bit of internal note-taking on the Saturday Koinonia worship sets. The promotion of the time for worship at 5:30 on Saturdays has pretty much been cut out. The truth of the matter is that it’s always been a tough draw to get people to come in at 5ish and stay till 10ish on a Saturday night. There exists a hardy core of less than a dozen who will manage that on a semi-regular basis and a handful who can be counted on to pull that off every week.

So, that said, the worship time is still sorta there, sorta not. I still make the time to pick out what strikes me as a decent setlist … just in case one is needed. And maybe one or two folks will stop and worship as we set up things for Koinonia. So, to that extent, it still goes on.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoy taking time to hit the brakes on everything else on my to-do list. That’s part of what worship time is for me … putting everything else on pause while I borrow someone else’s words to thank God for both the blessings in my life and the peace to endure the challenges in it. I can easily go a week without finding enough time to dive into a book or chapter of the Bible, to pray as continuously as I’d like to, or to find some other moment to just stop and worship God on my own. So, to that extent, I’ll keep cranking up a few tunes as loudly as I can get away with for anyone else who needs that 30-or-so minutes on Saturday.

For the sake of what passes for completism, here’s the setlists for the past two weeks …

2/13/2010
1. In the Garden (There Is None Like You) – Watermark
2. Knees to the Earth – Watermark
3. God & King – Chasen
4. Holy Is the Lord – Chris Tomlin
5. Draw Me Nearer – Meredith Andrews
6. My Deliverer – Chris Tomlin
7. Give Thanks – Jonathan Salas

2/6/2010
1. Lord, I Lift Your Name On High – Lincoln Brewster
2. Sing Over Me – Jonathan Salas
3. Doxology – Matt Boswell
4. Exalted – Chris Tomlin
5. Draw Me Nearer – Meredith Andrews
6. What Faith Can Do – Kutless

Drive-by HealingPosted by Greg on February 9th, 2010

KTRK notices something “new” at Lakewood. Funny, I could have remember this happening before.

New toy …Posted by Greg on February 3rd, 2010

(and its not even Christmas)

Apparently, there’s now an app for something I do: blog. As in, on my cellphone, with an easy-to-use setup.

So this is just me testing the new toy. Feel free to disregard and go about your day normally.

Of “Reading and Writing” Interest …Posted by Greg on February 2nd, 2010

Well, it looks like today will be a slow trickle of updates as time permits. Two tidbits:

1. “Introverts in the Church: Finding our Place in an Extroverted Culture” – this looks every bit like a book for me. Christianity Today has a writeup of it.

2. Following up on the “Handwritten Word” project mentioned earlier, I settled on a book to write out: Galatians. I honestly couldn’t tell you now what set the final spark for that decision other than just flipping through a handful of books that were tempting for me (Luke, Deuteronomy, Psalms).

I’m sure that the brevity of the book was a factor, but the more I’ve looked into the history that went into the book, the more certain I am that it’s the right one to go into. Greg Boyd is about to wrap up his years-long series on Luke and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed those messages ever since being turned onto Boyd. It strikes me that there exists a way of looking at Galatians as being a very connected launching-off place from Luke. Here’s the opening of Eugene Peterson’s description of the book in his Message interpretation:

When men and women get their hands on religion, one of the first things they often do is turn it into an instrument for controlling others, either putting or keeping them “in their place.” The history of such religious manipulation and coercion is long and tedious. It is little wonder that people who have only known religion on such terms experience release or escape from it as freedom. The problem is that the freedom turns out to be short-lived.

Paul of Tarsus was doing his diligent best to add yet another chapter to this dreary history when he was converted by Jesus to something radically and entirely different – a free life in God. Through Jesus, Paul learned that God was not an impersonal force to be used to make people behave in certain prescribed ways, but a personal Savior who set us free to live a free life. God did not coerce us from without, but set us free from within.

It was a glorious experience, and Paul set off telling others, introducing and inviting everyone he met into this free life. In his early travels he founded a series of churches in the Roman province of Galatia. A few years later Paul learned that religious leaders of the old school had come into those churches, called his views and authority into question, and were reintroducing the old ways, herding all these freedom-loving Christians back into the corral of religious rules and regulations.

Paul was, of course, furious ….

On the one hand, this is a continuation of the struggle Jesus was in with the Pharisees and others of his time. But at the same time, this strikes me as a good amplification of the challenges we have in defining a community in God’s terms instead of ours.

The struggle now is to make the time for writing out a snippet at a time from the book. I got a nice jumpstart Saturday while at church, but am still working on finding time in the weekdays. I’m leaning toward picking up N.T. Wright’s commentary on Galatians and will probably drop a note or two to reflect on some of the material. And if you’re more visually inclined, I’ll snap a photo or two in instances where my handwriting doesn’t detract from the beauty of the message.

Free VelvetPosted by Greg on February 2nd, 2010

Sadly, no video from this weekend. But one item to mention: if you own a Kindle, Rob Bell’s “Velvet Elvis” is available for free.

Deeper thoughts later. Been busy with a new guitar last night, so between that and the day job bleeding me dry, time is short these days.

The Handwritten WordPosted by Greg on January 29th, 2010

This seems like an idea I could get down with (belatedly).

A year and a half ago my wife and I started writing out the Bible by hand. We started with Genesis and one chapter at a time worked our way through book after book until my daughter was born early last year. Shortly after her birth, we paused the project to adjust to the changed family dynamics, with the intention of resuming the handwritten word January 1.

We are restarting in a few days with Psalm 1 on January 1. We think it’ll be a great way to kick off the new year and we’d love for you to write with us!

Just from ooohing and aaahing over the photos of what some have done, I think I’m sold. In the past, I’ve made it a practice to break in my annual sermon-tracking, note-taking notebook by scribbing in the entire chapter of Isaiah 55. I changed that up this year – I think it was Habakkuk 3, but I’m writing while away from said notebook.

On the whole, there is definitely something special about taking the time to handwrite a particular section of scripture. Yes, it aids the memorization process, but the fact that you have to slow things down to process word-by-word what’s going on is an experience that isn’t often found anywhere else in the daily routine. So onward with taking the smaller-scale idea to a new level. Who knows, if my penmanship miraculously improves to the point where a couple of pages of my efforts warrant a pretty picture, I’ll post one.

The Weekly List, 1/26/10Posted by Greg on January 26th, 2010

» Reading (online): sports stuff
» Reading (offline): “Tinsel” by Hank Stuever
» Fixin’ to Read (offline): “Silent Savior” by AJ Gregory
» Listening: about to dive into some Greg Boyd & Rob Bell sermons
» Singing Along To: “Here I Am To Worship” by Lincoln Brewster
» Anticipating: Michael & Carrie Hodge at Koinonia (Saturday night)

A lot going on, so I’ll keep it brief to hit the highlights …

1. Yes, that last bullet item is correct: Michael & Carrie Hodge will be blessing the Koinonia gang with some praise & worship after Saturday night’s service. If you’re free that night, it’s worth swinging by the 4th floor.

2. I finally got a new guitar. The world will never be the same.

A bit of backstory on #2: I started playing at age 16. Wanted to be the next Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Yngwie Malmsteen all rolled into one. That didn’t happen. I put the guitar down for good sometime over a decade ago. I was getting frustrated with a practice routine that was growing stale and thought anything I would ever want to say musically had already been said by either Joe Satriani, Vinnie Moore, or Tony MacAlpine. Public schools have been lacking in their teaching of the neoclassical metal movement in the 80s, so feel free to look up a few of those names on YouTube if you feel compelled to.

Fast forwarding a bit, I’ve found a bit more inspiration to play (or, to be more precise, to re-learn enough to hopefully “play”) in recent years for a variety of reasons and from watching & listening to a variety of new players since putting the guitar down. I tried to pick things up again four years ago, but needed to get a new guitar. Frugality won out and I got a cheapy guitar that did everything to dampen any enthusiasm possible to practice. Oddly enough, I was insistent on getting a fairly decent practice amplifier (Marshall). About a year ago, I thought to look for a better guitar to practice with, but ended up talking myself out of a few different options. This year, the pocketbook was promising enough to dive a bit deeper in and look for a better guitar (and spend a few extra bucks along the way). Now, all I have to do is wait for the thing to arrive at my doorstep. In the meantime, it’s a good enough day just to feel the anticipation.

Beyond that … work beckons. Ugh.

Sunday Video: Lincoln BrewsterPosted by Greg on January 24th, 2010

Overheard at Koinonia: “If I don’t have video up of Lincoln Brewster’s visit to Lakewood, there’s something seriously wrong with me.”

I’m not sure that this is completely dispositive of there being something wrong with me, but here we are …

Love the camera-on-guitar during the solo. This was just one of those fun services with a lot to love from a musical standpoint. Obviously, Linc is a big plus for me. But there’s some nice Hodge guitar work in this service as well. And Travis Cottrell had a great special. So be sure to replay it in two weeks when the full service is re-posted on the Lakewood site.

Cartographers for Christ?Posted by Greg on January 21st, 2010

» NY Times: A Big Map That Shrank the World (Edward Rothstein)

Back around the beginning of the month, I referenced a book by Toby Lester on some of the early map-makers of modern time. This article gives a brief glimpse into one point that interested me about the book. Namely: why were they interested in creating the maps? Here’s an outtake from the article:

The map’s text is necessary to understand the intricacies of its negotiations and presentations, because it is only partly an act of homage. It was also part of a diplomatic attempt by Ricci to affirm the greatness of his own religion and culture.

He was, after all, a Jesuit priest whose intention was to convert the Chinese to Roman Catholicism. And that was something, he thought, that might be helped by demonstrating the superior understanding of the world that he believed grew out of Christian faith.

Ricci translated Euclid into Chinese, demonstrated Western clocks to the Chinese and created a method for representing Chinese using the Western alphabet. As Jonathan Spence points out in his classic book, “The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci” (Penguin, 1984), he even gave the Chinese lessons in special techniques of memorization.

This map is an extension of his Jesuitical project, so while paying homage to the Chinese, Ricci was also well aware that the map was partly a demonstration, an argument. It is not decorated with an ornate compass rose or mythological sea creatures, nor does it display terrifying terra incognita. It is devoutly rational, even scientific: it contains descriptions of the world’s peoples that may seem wildly fanciful, but are based on the authoritative sources of Ricci’s time.

It also incorporates an explanation of parallels and meridians, a proof that the sun is larger than the moon, a table showing the distances of planets from the earth, an explanation of the varying lengths of days and nights, and polar projections of the earth that are unusually consistent with its main map. Ricci declares that it offers testimony “to the supreme goodness, greatness and unity of Him who controls heaven and earth.”

The map, then, portrays the crossroads of two great civilizations. Even as Ricci shifted the geographic center of Western global maps, filling in detailed outlines of China and other regions from Chinese cartographers and annotating the whole in Chinese, he also added a frame that was both rationalist and religious, celebrated Western science and faith and created a culturally hybrid vision of the earthly cosmos.

The result may even be a portrait of the earth as a Jesuit would like the Chinese to think a Jesuit would see it. The offering is meant to be both humble and full of pride, deferential and assertive, combining sincere homage and earnest self-affirmation.

The Weekly List, 1/19/09Posted by Greg on January 19th, 2010

» Reading (online): Interview with NT Wright about his upcoming book.
» Reading (offline): “Messy Faith” by AJ Gregory; “Tinsel” by Hank Stuever
» Fixin’ to Read (offline): “Silent Savior” by AJ Gregory
» Listening: reviews and demos online of the guitar I’m planning on getting.
» Singing Along To: “Nemesis” by David Gray
» Working: Too much, just wayyyy too much.

I’ll be brief since I’m dealing with a mile-high inbox on the agenda. I am, at present, very much bouncing off the walls lately. The weekly routine is finally coming together, and you can see part of the outcome of that by the fact that I made time for the online Sunday services for clipping the special performance by Aimee Beard and Mayra Parrales.

The other benefit of this is that I feel a lot more confident about carving out some time to stretch the fingers around a new guitar and dare myself to re-learn a little bit. The first instruction book arrived in the mail yesterday. I’m locked in on the guitar I want, and there’s not going to be any talking myself out of it. There is, however, the old habit of forcing myself to wait on it a bit. Partly just to stick to the budget outline, partly to keep myself from doing hundreds of other things on impulse. But I’m already making way for the new wire & wood to grace the homestead around the turn of the month.

I’m close to finishing the first of AJ Gregory’s two books and I’ll transition to reading her second afterward. A bit behind the pace. I don’t think I can honestly blame the book I put on the nightstand yesterday, either … “Tinsel” by Hank Stuever. That one is a bit of pop culture survey on how Christmas is dealt with in the suburbia of Frisco, TX. AJ’s a very encouraging read, though. “Messy Faith” has a nice little Joel reference, as well as a rant on word-of-faith churches. I say “rant” … but the tale ends positively. So an excerpt or two may be in order.

AJ claims to be a fan of Anne Lamott. I’ve tried reading Lamott, thinking I’d like her for similar reasons that I felt I’d enjoy reading AJ. But my points of contention with Lamott are more distracting than with AJ for some reason. AJ seems much more at home in the evangelical community, as do I. Not that it sounds like either of us is a perfectly natural fit. But we both seem to have made our peace with that. So I’m already looking forward to her second book this week.

Listening to Joel’s sermon over the weekend, I thought it fit into that category of sermons that people who don’t think much of Joel aren’t likely to refer to very much. The knock, as I’ve read and heard it, being that all we seem to be told at Lakewood is to hope and believe for nothing but good things and God will surely give those good things to us. The sermons that get neglected in this critique, point out that things happen in God’s time and according to His plan. Not ours. We can hope and pray all we want. But, unsurprisingly to those of us who listen to Joel week in and week out … we’re reminded that His ways are higher than ours.

Time permitting, I may start posting a snippet from the sermon as well. As part of our Koinonia gatherings, we’ll be basing the small group discussion on Joel’s sermons in a few weeks. We tried this before, getting very late updates on the sermon message so that group discussion questions could be assembled within a day. This time around, we’re going full-tilt improv. Zero advance notice. It’s up to me to post the scripture reference from the sermon. Easy enough. But it may be desirable to see if I can record a snippet to show immediately after the message. My task is simple enough. We’ll see how it pans out for those that need to do the set-up message for the entire group, as well as the facilitators for the smaller groups. Can’t wait to see how this goes.

We’re almost to the point of having our post-holiday return to normalcy for the early part of Koinonia stuff. Namely, the worship segment at 5:30. I think I started playing music while I was the only person in the room. Another walked in a few minutes later asking if the loud volume meant I was running worship stuff (which it was), and few other arrived for a couple or three songs worth of worship. In uncertain times like this, I stick with the familiar material of Chris Tomlin fairly tightly. Although, I did feel that there was a nice Jonathan Salas tune that was woven in nicely – “Sing Over Me.” We’ll see how well the new stuff goes over when I’ve got more people to deal with. I’ll eventually get back around to posting the playlist when we get around to taking in about 25-30 minutes worth of tunage. In the meantime, I’m convinced I could play some Chipmunks tunes and the smaller gathering would forgive me.

That’s about it on the catch-up beat. A little bit of light reading is up ahead, as is massive amounts of planning for a guitar practice regimen. With a little luck, I’ll try and entertain with the results of the former and not so much with the latter.

Sunday Video: “I Will Not Be Moved”Posted by Greg on January 17th, 2010

Some nice harmonizing over the weekend at Lakewood …

Ch-ch-ch-changes!Posted by Greg on January 15th, 2010

You may (or may not) be noticing something different about the way things look here. I’ve pulled a switcheroo on the code that runs this fair blog, and that means a new look to the digs among many, many things. I’ll get around to updating the sidebar for ye olde blogroll, and other assorted goodies that I’m used to looking at over there during the weekend.

If there’s anything even stranger than that going on, feel free to drop a vine my way and let me know about it.