in transition

New CCC blog

2012-02-08T10:35:00.001-05:00

celebrateconnectcontribute.tumblr.com

Our first attempts at blogging.... You'll be hearing each week from different people in leadership within Community Christian Church. That is, if you read the blog. Otherwise you won't. Which is okay. Let's still be friends though.

Also, we've got a new website up and running at... (drum roll)...
www.communitychristianchurch.com

If you have spare time and want to do something besides Words with Friends, check it out. Its not your grandma's church website. Unless she goes to a hipsteresque church.

2011 --> 2012

2011-12-02T12:10:00.001-05:00

The last year has been an incredible journey. I’vebeen surrounded by passionate people that all have one ultimate thing in mind:helping people find their way back to God. Over the course of the year, thepeople of Crossings North have formed together through communitas, that is,community on mission.

I deeply love this faith community. They were withme as a college student, and alongside me this year as I slowly learn what itmeans to be a pastor. My experience here has always been one of bothaffirmation and challenge.

It is with a bittersweet heart that I share withyou that on December 18^th of this year, I will be transitioning outof my staff role with Crossings. After key times of prayer and conversationwith my fiancé Katie Roller, I knew in my heart that while I love being in thiscommunity and working with its staff, doing so in a part-time role was slowlybreaking down by spirit.

Simply put, Crossings will not have the financialmeans for a full-time worship pastor for an unknown length of time. Godprovided for me this year in so many ways: through friends and family, randommusic gigs, part-time work, and my church community. The core of my strugglewas in no way connected with my income not meeting the cost of living, buttruly with time constraints that inhibited my growth as a follower of Christ, future-husband,pastor, friend, leader, thinker, and musician. The result was that no one wasgetting my best. Recognizing this, Katie and I prayed that if God would have usgo elsewhere, that He would make that apparent. While I was struggling,initiating conversation with other churches didn’t feel natural or obedient toGod’s will. So, we prayed for clarity and were determined to be 100% presenthere in Knoxville.

Two weeks later, I was contacted by a friend at Community Christian Church just outside of Hamilton, Ohio. He told me that they were searching for a full-time worshippastor and asked if I would prayerfully consider applying and meeting with theteam. One careful step at a time, I continued to walk through the doors God wasopening. It is with excitement that I share with you that I was offered, and accepted,the position. I start my role at Community on January 1^st.

I’ll be moving from Tennessee to Ohio in less thanthree weeks. Katie will remain in Knoxville to finish out her Master’s degree,finishing school in May. After our wedding on June 2^nd, she’ll joinme at Community, where we’ll be within an hour and a half driving range of bothour families. I am very excited about joining the ministry happening withinthis great church.

Both the staff and leaders of Crossings have beenextremely supportive in the beginnings of this transition process. I really dofeel as though I am being sent out from this place into this next phase oflife. Simultaneously, I already feel a great sense of acceptance fromCommunity. My heart is full of anticipation.

Thank you so much for your support over this lastyear. So many good things to come. Please don’t hesitate to drop me an email orphone call if you have any questions or would like to talk more.

Throw Him Off The Cliff

2011-10-11T00:08:00.001-04:00

It's Saturday night...well, it was a minute or two ago. I roll into bed and set the alarm on my phone. Church is just a few hours away. I think to myself... Why is it that I can never get to bed at a decent time on Saturday?

Then my brain sets in. Thoughts about the upcoming week, the upcoming months & years. Thoughts about friends and family. But mostly, thoughts about tomorrow morning. I think through the morning from start to finish, from the moment we'll roll the first amplifier in, to the moment the trailer doors shut. We're talking about a significant turning point in Luke tomorrow: Jesus proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor through the lens of Isaiah 61... that this good news is here, now, for the poor, oppressed, and Gentile (Luke 4:18-19). In mere minutes, Jesus works his local hometown synagogue crowd up into a frenzy that will leave them wanting him dead. "But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way" (Luke 4:30, NIV)... and proceeds to go to another synagogue, where he will cast out a demon and begin a spree of miracles.

I think about how I would react if I were standing in the synagogue in Nazareth. Would I have wanted to drive him out to the cliff like the rest of them?

As I drift to sleep, my thoughts keep moving. They turn away from the direct narrative, and more to the service as a whole.

I think about the final song we'll be singing together... "Kingdom Come" written by the folks over at Elevation Church in Charlotte. Much of the verses are simply another take on the Lord's prayer put to a melody. But, the chorus rings out differently in my head.

Oh God arise up in usWe'll show the world how You loveJesus take our heart and make it YoursSalvation reign over usThe fight was won on the crossWe take heart for You have overcome the world

How easily could we sing this song as an ideal? A fantasy? Without caution, these words could feed the cynical mind. Nothing more than another spiritual version of Arby's Good Mood Food.

But... What if we sang this with desperation? With our hearts, emotions AND intellects fully functioning? There's no need for the body of Christ to shut their minds off and just "feel" when they worship together. What if we sang words like these knowing that Jesus came with love for all of humanity, not just an uber-righteous few? What if we didn't just pass air through our lungs to create noise...but through these ideas we confessed, in unity, a belief that the love of God is here and now, for all... that the Kingdom is here and now, for all? That WE get to be a part of the very growth of that Kingdom?

What if we believed that Jesus really has overcome the world? What if we believed that while we see so much wrong in the world, we are called to live everyday with hope and restoration in our hearts? What if we saw injustice in the world, and instead of reacting with disbelief or doubt, we allowed the Spirit's voice to guide us in BRINGING justice.

Or, we can keep a cold grip on our cynicism, sacred cows, traditions, comforts, exclusive community, and sectarian pride. In short, we can try and drag Jesus and his words out to the cliff, and attempt (in vain) to throw the Omnipotent off. Sounds a bit ridiculous doesn't it?

My thoughts start shooting off in other random directions and my eyelids feel as heavy as boulders. And...asleep.

Christenberry Book Drive & Block Party

2011-07-29T14:43:00.000-04:00

Christenberry Book Drive and Block Party on Prezi

North Podcast

2011-07-21T09:00:00.005-04:00

The Crossings North podcast is now up and running through iTunes.
SUBSCRIBE if you'd like to keep up with us!
We've uploaded all of the teachings from our 2nd preview service and on...

Chicago

2011-07-08T01:22:00.013-04:00

Early (very early, 5 AM early) Tuesday morning, the majority of the staff of Crossings squeezed into a borrowed van (thank you West Village Christian Church) and began the long drive to Chicago.

We first made a pit stop in West Lafayette, Indiana to spend an hour with the folks at Purdue Christian Campus House. They really do have some powerful ministry going there, and it was great to run into Duane Chew again for the second time this year. After a tour & some Five Guys for lunch, we loaded back into the van and charged on. About 12 hours later, we made it to Naperville, Illinois.

We took off just a little before 7 on Wednesday morning towards northern Chicago to have breakfast with Tammy Melchien, the campus pastor of one of the newest sites of Community Christian Church. The site meets in Chappell Elementary, in Lincoln Square neighborhood. Being the first female campus pastor leading the first downtown Chicago campus for Community, she had a lot of great insights to share…very much a story of pioneering.

Next we headed south to meet with Paul Clark and CCDA (Christian Community Development Association). CCDA is an organization that exists to empower & inspire individuals, churches, and other organizations to reclaim & restore under-resourced communities. Their vision is, “wholistically restored communities with Christians fully engaged in the process of transformation.”

CCDA sent us on a trip 3 miles to the west into North Lawndale, an extremely low-income area of Chicago. We met with Darryl Saffore, the executive pastor of Lawndale Community Church. The church was founded by Dr. Wayne Gordon in 1978 with 15 people in the neighborhood that shared a dream of restoring their community. The church is now made up of more than 1000 families, and ministries covering nearly two blocks of the neighborhood. Some of the dozens of ministries include professional arms like the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation (primarily housing improvement, restoration, and connection), Lawndale Christian Health Center (a professional health center providing care to 75,000 patients per year), and Lawndale Christian Legal Center.

After hours of walking, we our tour came to an end at the Hope House, a ministry that takes in men coming out of prison, and helps them take steps towards a better life. Darryl then revealed to us that he was actually a graduate of the Hope House just 10 years prior.

As we sat & ate amazing deep-dish pizza at Lou Malnati's on the end of the block, I think we all were stunned. Lawndale is a living, breathing example not only of caring for the widow & orphan…but following a footstep behind Jesus. (On a sidenote: Dr. Gordon actually asked Lou Malnati’s to open their 10th Chicago-area pizza shop in North Lawndale & give all of the profits of the restaurant as a tithe to the neighborhood. For nearly two decades, they have continued doing so.

After our time in Lawndale, Mark took us on a surprise field trip. We came to a stop in front of the headquarters of Eli’s Cheesecake. We were greeted by the President of Eli’s, Marc Schulman. Eli’s Cheesecake has played a unique role in the story of Crossings. On our launch Sunday nearly 5 years ago, Eli’s mailed enough cheesecake to Knoxville to feed an entire church. Every year on our birthday, we eat Eli’s cheesecake and remember our birth as a church. Eli’s shares many of the values we do, and as we heard parts of their story & their involvement with community & global development… Mark pointed out how communitas exists everywhere.

After Eli’s, we drove into downtown Chicago to spend a few hours relaxing & taking in the city. What a truly breathtaking place. Thus completing day one.

Today, we (& the staff of The Ridge Community Church) spent much of our day with a few of the central staff of Crossings Community Church at their Yellow Box campus in Naperville. In the morning, we heard a great talk from Kim Hammond about missional imagination. Kim has a great heart for sending out people on mission into their communities. Eric Metcalf, the director of NewThing Network, then led a discussion on the value & process of reproducing church.

We split off to eat lunch with some Community staff that shared similar roles as our own. Hearing the systems & practices of both The Ridge & Community was both affirming & challenging. More than anything, I think I walked with some new dreams (& renewed old dreams) stirring in my spirit.

After leaving the church, we went back to downtown Naperville to relax. As I type this, most of us are staying up in preparation to leave for Knoxville in less than three hours. This trip has been a whirlwind of story, example, culture, and dreams. It’s going to take me some time to really process what this all means and what it could mean for us in Knoxville.

What a week.

Continue to pray for us.
Pray that we listen to God’s leading as we run full-steam ahead into the unknown.
Pray our dreams & imagination are always bigger than what is currently "possible."

The Last 68 Days

2011-04-13T09:29:00.007-04:00

Sixty-eight days ago, I unpacked my belongings in Knoxville once again, but this time to stay…indefinitely. So many things have happened since then & will be happening in the coming weeks. I will touch base on just a few.

1) On March 27th, Crossings North was officially born. The seven weeks leading up to this date were filled with long days and nights for our staff and leaders, tough decisions, and epic God-moments. I think I would have been able to be more descriptive had I written about what was happening as it was actually happening, but there just simply wasn’t much time to do that. I can tell you that I am a part of a community that truly understands and owns its vision. It wasn’t and isn’t an atmosphere of my task and your task, it was and is an atmosphere of God’s mission. We really are all in this movement together.

Launch Day felt almost unnaturally smooth from the music & production standpoint. For those from home wondering, there were about 110 people in attendance on launch day & 120 in attendance the second week (making us probably the 3rd or 4th biggest church on the north side of town). Just one quick story… At the beginning of sound-check our second week, our volunteer sound coach had to leave to go to the Downtown site to help them troubleshoot a problem, and his volunteer apprentice took over (who had just learned the board a few weeks before from his coach). The only people that knew anything different? The band & the other productions guys. That is what means to reproduce leaders, and that is just one of the many reasons I love working & doing life alongside these wonderful people. There are so many great stories from the last few 2+ months that I simply don’t have time to tell here. Maybe someday soon. For now, please check out the blogs of my fellow team members listed at the bottom of the page to read more.

We are still eagerly and actively learning how we can truly become a part of the neighborhoods surrounding Christenberry Elementary School, how can we serve & contribute to them, and also how can we learn from them. Please continue to pray for our newly-established relationship.

On a personal note, it feels deeply fulfilling & exciting to be back in the weekly responsibility of helping piece together worship gatherings. I am surrounded by an incredible team of leaders that sacrifice their time, abilities, and gas tanks for their God and their faith community. It is a genuine privilege to work with them every week. You can expect to hear more about this church & these people in the weeks to come. Creativity is brewing as we learn what doing & being church in this neighborhood can and will look like.

2) I’ve had the opportunity to play a lot of music. This coming weekend, I’ll be doing acoustic guitar, dobro, and backing vocals for my friend Bill Wolf on his 2011 mini-tour. Last year, Bill asked several of his friends to help him record an album of songs that, working together with short stories, tell the larger story of Easter. After we finished arranging and then recording, we took Easter: Stories & Songs on the road to churches and homes last year in Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina. After Bill’s song, “A Baby Will Come,” saw a lot of exposure through Worship Leader magazine’s Song DISCovery program, we have the opportunity to go on the road once again. This Thursday through Sunday, we’ll be performing Easter: Stories & Songs across Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois, as well as two shows in Tennessee. Tour dates & info are available at www.billwolfmusic.com, and the album is available on iTunes.

I’m also excited to tell you that on May 5th, I’ll be playing at Relix Variety Theatre on the northern side of Knoxville for the release of the Taylor Brown & Company album, Danced With The Devil. I wrote about writing and recording guitars for this album last year, and I am so ready to share this project with all of you. Taylor is now officially a full-time musician, playing solo gigs all over the country. We cherish every opportunity to play out as a full band, and if you can make it out to Relix on May 5th, I promise you that you will hear music that has been tweaked & rehearsed for many, many hours. It’s going to be a great night, and hopefully you find it to be a enjoyable album. More info about TB&Co. and pre-order the new album is available at www.taylorbrownandcompany.com.

Lastly, I’m stoked to be playing guitar with an old Knoxville friend, Elijah Newman. His newest project, called LoveWar, is composed of Elijah Newman on guitar & vocals, Nick Cheek on bass, and Chris Potocik, an incredible drummer & fellow part-time sandwich maker. Really, really cool guys. LoveWar has a few shows coming over the next few months. Their next shows are on April 18th & April 30th, both at Longbranch Saloon on the strip in Knoxville. You can check out their facebook page for more info.

3) I work a minimum wage job, 20 hours a week. I know what you’re thinking… How does that fit with the excitement of items #1 and #2? Here’s the thing… I could lie to you and tell you how much I love working this part-time job and how much joy it brings into my life. I think I would probably just do that if my goal was to try and convince you how sexy my cool urban church planting life is. But, truthfully, the tasks that accompany making subs aren’t all that appealing. However, the people I work with make it totally worth it. They are really great people that I am getting to know better every day.

Last week, during a slow shift my manager asked me if I would help her do something. I agreed and found myself standing next to the men’s toilet looking at a new toilet seat, trying to figure out how to get the old toilet seat off. Neither of us really knew what we were doing. All we had was a kind-of-wrench and a hammer to work with. After some prying, and smacking, and pulling, she ran out to grab another tool. As I laid there on my back on the floor of the men’s restroom, almost under the toilet tank, staring up at the ceiling, making $7.25 an hour... I truly thought to myself that there was no way I would have ever imagined myself in that position 3 months after graduating college. Honestly, I wasn’t angry. I just laughed. Not an uppity laugh, but a, God-is-hilarious laugh. This is my season of life. Worship ministry, making subs, and sometimes attempting to fix old, urine-smelling toilet seats. It’s not sexy. It’s not a super-spiritual thing. It’s just a season that God has given me the opportunity to live, grow, and serve. And, I am really, really grateful for this incredible season.

I write about this job because it’s about a third of my week, and I thought I’d let you in on it. God has provided through the support of so many of my friends, and he is also providing through this job. God provides.

(On a sidenote: we eventually cracked the toilet. When I tried to test flush it, water starting spraying out of the side. We called a plumber after that. Also, my manager is awesome. She is a great leader).

I’ll try and write more often so the three or four of you interested can hear more of the really cool stories, and less of the really long synopses.

I leave you with a video that Wes Jones and some of our other great leaders put together for Launch Sunday. It was filmed in Christenberry’s surrounding neighborhoods. It is our hope that Crossings North is a place where all feel welcome to come to the table and wrestle through their questions…

CrossingsNorth from Wes Jones on Vimeo.

Other blogs from the North team...
Rob Hartley
Molly Aper
Mark Nelson

The Banjo

2011-02-02T02:43:00.003-05:00

I love the banjo: how it sounds, how it looks, how it weaves into the tones produced by other instruments. I also know almost nothing about how to play it.

A little more than 50 hours from now, I’ll pass over a few state lines to make Knoxville, Tennessee home. My stomach feels a little bit like the night before I’d be leaving for a great family vacation. But it’s nothing like a weekend trip or a semester of school. I will definitely be back to visit, but the concept of home will experience total inversion. For the first time, home moves as fast as I drive south.

It’s a rush. It’s confusing. It’s sad. It’s fulfilling. It’s uncharted. It’s exciting. It’s nostalgic. It’s overwhelming. It brings me so much joy and so much anxiety. It’s life.

There are so many things to look forward to, and so many things to be thankful for in the past. As my incredible parents become incredible grandparents, my siblings buy homes, and my niece grows every day, I’m reminded that life does not stop. The past month has been a rare season of very little responsibility, but it is now gone like a vapor. I don’t say that in a negative way at all. It’s just reality.

Back to the banjo.

I think my ignorance surrounding its… is quite possibly one of the main reasons I love it. When I hear it, I don’t immediately think about numbers, shapes, positions, or scales like I do when I hear guitar. My mind can’t really process what it’s hearing, so it stops analyzing and starts simply experiencing.

I want to love this movement forward like I love the banjo. Not by acting like I’ve been here before, but by experiencing it with humility and embracing it with fresh ears.

God’s story continues on towards the restoration of all things through the power of Jesus. Not an end that we are simply passing time waiting for, but a movement in which He is putting His family back together. The grace of God is nothing new in and of itself, but God’s grace in my life is new every day. The gospel is a beautiful sound. I pray that I continue to hear it with clarity and share it with joy as I live in transition, on a small scale and on a much bigger one...

I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: ‘Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.’ The Enthroned continued, ‘Look! I'm making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.’ Revelation 21:3-5.

Even if you don't share my enthusiasm for the instrument, the train conductor has to draw some type of response...

Communitas

2011-01-19T00:51:00.006-05:00

[kuh-myoo-ni-tahs] n. a community formed in the context of an ordeal, a challenge, a task, a mission.

"A little bit of danger is good for us...Real adventure, real journey, real quest..when we're stakeholders in the outcome & where our bodies are on the line...it doesn't happen very often. It's good for us. If it doesn't kill you it's gonna make you a lot stronger, but it could kill you, let's acknowledge that." - Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways & Untamed.

Alan Hirsch: Communitas, not Community [VERGE 2010 Video] from Verge Network on Vimeo.

Seeds

2011-01-12T19:18:00.001-05:00

Top 10 of Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T00:52:00.011-05:00

1) A trip on the 22nd to the mall for my niece Kherington's first visit with Santa. She waved to him in line and was having a great day, until Linds put her down on his knee... Blackmail indeed.

2) Christmas Eve candlelight service at Crossview. Randy spoke a great message at that service about being overshadowed by God in the midst of despair. As I listened my mind drifted towards the names & faces of people who would be spending the evening in the cold, wet outdoors like they often have to do. I felt new waves of gratitude for my own situation, but also a tugging urgency for those who need to experience restoration in the simple form of a warm place to sleep on a snowy night.

3) A mom-cooked Christmas Eve dinner back at the house complete with a typical Dorsten-style discussion around theology & ecclesiology, with a pinch of politics & a generous helping of randomness. Oh yeah, and amazing food and a lot of laughter.

4) Great Christmas day hanging out with Mom & Dad. (Dad & I both may have slightly pulled muscles in our arms playing Wii, and Mom can now bowl a pretty wicked game). Really grateful for quality time with my parents.

5) A fun afternoon on the 26th with the addition of Kevan, Lindsay, Jason, & Mandy; sibling gift exchange, pajamas, pizza, and continuing hilarious moments with the Wii.

6) A last-minute decision resulting in an unexpected but entirely welcomed 24 hour visit from my girlfriend Katie. She drove 2 hours just to see our friends one last time before they move…and they live in the same area as me. I definitely reaped the benefits of Katie being a really great friend.

7) An afternoon at Jason & Mandy’s apartment on the 27th spending time with good friends (See #5).

8) A mom-cooked dinner with everyone that night before Katie left to go home. More conversation and even more amazing food & laughter.

9) Feeling refreshed and revived from time with these people as I head full-on into raising support, reading up, searching out part-time work, and finding a place to live in Knoxville.

10) Jesus. God in the flesh. Emmanuel. The life He brings is full. (See #1-9). I am surrounded by so many (both here in Ohio and in Tennessee) that are really living. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.

I hope you have a great final few days of 2010. I leave you with some lines from a song written by my friend Bill Wolf...a reminder of the power of what we celebrated this weekend and continue to celebrate all year.

"The kings of this world // Have torn it apart // But we can take heart //A baby will come... // Cause the kings of this world // Won’t have the last word // That, God, is Yours // For the Baby has come" -Bill Wolf

Office Survival Pack

2010-12-22T11:29:00.016-05:00

I'm enjoying some great time at home with family right now. Wanted to share a little about this past weekend...

Last Friday I finished up school, packed all of my college belongings into my Jeep Cherokee, & headed off campus towards downtown. I spent the rest of the day in the offices at Crossings anticipating our first launch community for Crossings North that evening, which went really well. It was a little bit of a whirlwind day. In some ways, it felt a little like closing a chapter of one phase of life and immediately beginning to read the next... You know, like the way you stay up late at night reading a book, and even though you're starting to doze off, you still press on because it's just that good?

The weekend went on, and I was able to spend some great time with Mike & Amber Sawyer, who were very gracious in letting me stay at their home for three nights. Behold The Lamb was on Sunday morning at Crossings. Bill, Greg, and their team were excellent. It was a very moving artistic expression of the story of Moses up through the birth of Christ. Many memories made this weekend, but I thought I'd write briefly about one in particular...

On Sunday evening, we had our staff Christmas party at the Nelson's, which was an absolutely great time. Halfway through the evening, Mark had my name for the gift exchange, & he gave me what he dubbed the "office survival pack."

Contents:
1) self-stick notes (a tiny but critical means of communication & creative planning)
2) a subscription to Relevant magazine
3) a coaster with a reminder of why we're doing what we're doing
4) a laminated history of Wayne Gretzky's Overtime Hockey (the best table hockey game ever made)
5) a framed note I'd written years ago

The last item was the one that left me a little stunned. I think everyone may have been a little confused by my lack of expression, but I just sort of froze in the moment. The note that was printed up and framed was one that has been a continual reminder of what God wants my life to look like. Sometime a little over 3 years ago, I came home from a day at church & college and begin to write. I really had no idea what a "personal vision statement" was or really why I was writing...it just sort of poured out. When I was done, I posted it tucked away in the "about me" section of my Facebook profile.

Over the time that has followed since, those words have shown up in my life from time to time. Sometimes they show up when I've forgotten the purpose behind my words and actions. Other times they show up to affirm that I'm on that right path in my journey with God. When I returned home in late 2007, my sister had made me a little book of notes & pictures from my new friends, and one of the first pages was a portion of that note I'd written to myself. A year later, a long-lost friend from home randomly brought up the note in conversation...reminding me to get my head and heart together.

I don't remember ever discussing that little note or its significance with Mark, or really anybody at Crossings. So, when I pulled it out of the bag and saw those words staring back at me, its like everything sort of just fell together. I looked around and knew without any doubt that I was in a great place with great people. Sometimes God moves in subtle ways, and other times He comes crashing in.

So thankful for real community. I want to love others like my faith community loves others. I want to smell like Jesus the way they do. Here's to the quick death of selfish pride in the restoration of how things were intended to be.

Thanks Mark.

Digging Holes & Planting Flowers

2010-12-16T00:16:00.013-05:00

The following is the podcast from November 21st at Crossings Knoxville.
We continued in a small break from our study in the book of Exodus to spend a Sunday morning talking about the "next thing" for our faith community; a new site in northern Knoxville. Enjoy...

You can download the mp3 to listen to later here by right-clicking "save target as" (IE) or "save link as" (Firefox).

You can also subscribe to the Crossings Knoxville podcast here...

...the incredible video referenced near the end of the podcast.

the flower man from Joe McGrew on Vimeo.

Dos Cosas / What's Next?

2010-11-15T00:03:00.013-05:00

Number one.

For the past two weekends I was in Ohio leading worship for my friends at 1twentyone at their fall high school retreats called “Experience Change.” I love this ministry & I love the effort that is put into these weekends to help connect students with a moving & active God. It’s authentic, raw, non-manipulative, confrontational, relational, and restorative in the lives of students (& student ministries), and it has God written all over it. Personally, it’s a great time in the cycle of the year for me to push past the comfort zones of my own understanding of worship leading, and to press in a little longer than time generally permits in a church service or chapel setting.

Last week, as we circled up to prepare for a main session and spend time in prayer, I had one of those moments where everything just came together in a mentally resounding, “aha.” I took note of the large group of people around me…and quickly realized how every major phase of my life seemed to be accounted for in some way, stretching across 3 countries and a whole lot of different groups of friends. In a few short seconds, replays of those times went through my head. After several drafted attempts of describing it further here for you…I will concisely say that I found myself frozen in awe of the beauty & strategy in the Author. For just the few brief moments we had, it’s like God wove it all together, and I was metaphorically connected in unified prayer with every influential & life-changing segment of life. Maybe that makes me sound crazy. But later on that night, during one of those comfort zone pushing times, I found myself fighting past tears as we sang, “You make beautiful things out of dust…out of us.” It’s such a simple truth…but one that struck like a tidal wave on a heart that just recognized how beautiful stories are when God writes them.

Number two.

The Author seems to have a new chapter up His sleeve. As my undergrad college career comes to a close in just a few weeks, another subplot will begin to unfold. Over the last few years, I’ve been truly blessed to be a part of Crossings, a three-&-a-half year-old community of faith that meets in downtown Knoxville. I spent this past summer doing an internship with their staff. In the process, I fell in love with the staff, the church, the city, & all of the people in it. Some crazy thoughts that had been developing in my mind & heart began to expand and become more consistent. Prayer & many quiet & cautious conversations ensued…

To cut a long story short (for the sake of this particular entry)... I will be joining the team that will launch the second Crossings site in Knoxville, with primary responsibilities in worship & creative arts. I am ecstatic about serving alongside the members on this team & even more excited about what God has in store for this community and city. People are finding their way back to God, and we'll get to be a part of helping even more people on that same journey! It’s going to be an incredible adventure.

There’s much to be done in the short few months ahead before I make Knoxville home. I am praying (and ask you to pray) that I will be reminded daily that our God is always at work, that Jesus is the hope of the world (& of Knoxville), and that my trust belongs in Him.

Many, many more details to come soon…

More is less...sometimes.

2010-09-18T01:15:00.015-04:00

On paper and in reality, this semester is a total test of time management skills. Twenty-one and half credit hours (with two science labs) have not resulted in the ideal environment (academically or socially) to finish college, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. Don’t worry though; this isn’t going to be a woe-is-me entry at all.

Sometimes in the middle of hectic schedules, long-term obligations, and responsibilities you get the opportunity to spend time doing something uniquely fresh and challenging. Don’t get me wrong, I am so ridiculously blessed to be a part of a lot of energizing, good, kingdom-driven things. But sometimes things just come up that sort of shake you out of the nap your life may have been subconsciously slipping into. One of those things has been a Sunday night worship time that started a few weeks ago, but more on that in a few more days...

Another one of those things has been recording an album with Taylor Brown & Company. I have heaps of respect for this guy. Love making music with him. So, when he asked me and the rest of "& Co." to go into the studio, I got really excited. I’ve been playing guitar with him for about a year and a half. I was a fan of Coal Road Sunset before then, and the songs he’s been writing over the last year are huge movements forward from that already great album. It’s just a whole new level of songwriting.

We’re doing the record with Eric Nowinski over at Rocksnob Records here in Knoxville. Terry Mahnken & Kevin Hyfantis went in earlier this summer and knocked out drums & bass for the whole project. Last week we got to continue forward by adding electric & acoustic guitars. For four days, I went to class until 4 and then recorded guitars until midnight. It was crazy, but it was incredibly fun. Eric & Taylor & I carefully worked through songs track by track. I feel like I've gotten really good at interpreting noises and body movements from Taylor and turning them into guitar parts. Eric is a creative genius, and he worked Pro Tools as fast as we could all think out loud.

So, 20+ hours later, electric guitars are finished for 98% of the album, and I feel really refreshed. So much work, but at the same time such a release from everything else going on right now. There is still a lot work to be done, but I can’t wait to hear the finished project in a few months. And, I can’t wait for us to be able to share it with you too.

I leave you with an intentionally vague blurb about some of what took place…

Spontaneity. New hooks. Improved hooks. Re-Reversed hooks. Layers. Lots of layers. Tone. Taking time to find beautiful tone. Three guitars. Three amps. A dozen pedals. Reverb. Effects. More effects. Digital effects. No effects. Frustration. Stuck. Breakthrough. Happy-dance. Sparkling clean. Clean. Dirty. Dirtier. Feedback. So-much-gain. Creativity. Microphones. Microphone placements. Slide. Drum-stick. More spontaneity. Jazz. Swells. Turnarounds. Pinch-harmonics (managed to sneak one in). Lead guitar on a bass guitar. Detuned strings. Uptuned(?) strings. Experimentation. In-tempo. Out-of-tempo (on purpose). ELO-meets-Radiohead-meets-The Cure-meets-JMM-meets-The Beatles-meets-Def Leppard-meets-Taylor Brown. Laughter. Tears (just kidding).

*If you’re near Knoxville, you should come out to The Square Room this Thursday, September 23rd. We’re playing our first full band show since the beginning of the summer with the Benjy Davis Project & Jonathan Sexton. Tickets are available online or at the door. Hope to see you there!

What is so good about the Gospel? Hope.

2010-09-15T16:14:00.008-04:00

My contribution to the current discussion on 1twentyone's blog...

http://1twentyone.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/what-is-so-good-about-the-gospel-2/

Photographs

2010-08-05T00:22:00.013-04:00

They carry some serious power. When we take a photograph, we’re capturing a visual representation of a moment. Depending on the context, those moments can turn into memories. And to put it simply, I think that memories are some of the strongest forces locked away in our minds & hearts.

A photograph takes one single moment of reality & provides us with a way to recall it with our eyes. But I think there is so much that happens when our eyes take in that image. (For the sake of this entry, I’m only speaking of photographs that we either take/are present for). We don’t just see the reality; we can recall the context of the memory. We can remember the emotions we felt, the relationships represented in the picture, the time of day, maybe even in the smell in the air. While we look into the photograph, we allow our minds to travel back to a previous moment in reality.

But at the most basic level, we know that given reality isn’t the present. Whether the image was taken years, months, days, even hours ago…we have moved on in time. But really think about that concept. Maybe our emotional state hasn’t changed, or any conscious element of life for that matter…but we have changed. We have had new thoughts, new feelings, new moments. Even if it’s just in the slightest, most microscopic sense, we have changed from that photographic moment. And to make matters more complex, all of those present in the photograph have gone through unique changes.

Yet for some reason, no matter how many times we view these images, they always affect us. As hard as we may consciously try not to, when we view a photograph we are prompted to respond. We may desire to feel what we felt the moment it was taken. We may be filled with ideas of joy, sadness, regret, thankfulness, laughter, awkwardness, loneliness, community, anxiety, entirely different memories, or even nothingness. Regardless of what we are filled with, we are forced to respond on some level to what is staring back at us. We are confronted in our present reality, even if just for the briefest moments before we click or scroll on to our next picture, with a past reality.

I wonder how many metaphorical “photographs” of my life I take time to view each day in my mind. I wonder if I spend too much reflecting on my past realities hoping to avoid them entirely or recreate them completely. Spiritually, physically, relationally, etc. It scares me to think that I’m not embracing my present in abundance because I’m too distracted by my past, good or bad. At the same time, photographs are critical. Without them, it’d be a lot harder to keep important memories alive and full of detail.

So we can conclude that the photograph, whether or tangible or metaphorical, isn’t the villain or the hero. It’s just…there. It is how we use these “images” that can make or break us. We can stare deeply into a photograph and be reminded of our past, or, we can allow it to consume our present. My prayer is that I would learn the skill of the former. I want to look deeply into the memories of past realities tucked away in my mind with cautiousness, embracing them for what they were, but not expecting my present to somehow either live up to, or out-do my past.

My past was my past. I can reflect upon it with an abundance emotions and thoughts. But, my present is my present, and I must live within it. I love photographs. I love memories. But I refuse to stop taking & making new ones. May God never allow us to complete our “albums” with contentment. The story continues.

*Click here for some images that I hope give you a really small glimpse into some of the amazing memories I made this summer.

The Antonym

2010-07-29T13:30:00.010-04:00

I’m not sure that I think that joy, in most instances of the word, is contagious. It’s not something you can just catch subconsciously like the flu or a cold. It’s not like you pass a joyful person in a store aisle & wake up the following morning with a new spring in your step.

I am sure, however, that once it takes root into a heart and mind, joy is infectious. It may not spread rapidly, but as soon as it is given a chance to invade, it begins to battle and confront the forces of confusion, depression, loneliness, brokenness, and _______. Joy boldly proclaims that it has arrived, and that even though it may have its work cut out for itself, it will be victorious.

As people, I think the hardest part we have in the process is allowing joy to come in at all. We may desperately want to be happy or joyful, but maybe in our cravings & misguided hunts for those things we actually choke them out. But I mean, who can blame us? It’s hard to look for a light switch when we’re standing in darkness. After fumbling around for too long, we start to lose our minds. We look for happiness in whatever is closest to us, whatever is most easily accessible. There’s no need to elaborate on the what, because it’s different for all of us. We all take hold of whatever energy shot of immediate “joy” that we can grasp in our state of exhaustion.

This process may take place over a few hours, a few days, weeks, months…even years. But for a lot of people, its real. For some, the search for joy is an epic, one-time event, while for others true joy is extremely hard to not let get away.

Last night, I was standing in the back of The Square Room while the monthly ‘Worship in the City’ night was taking place. I came excited to worship by all means. Friends from Knoxville were there. The student ministry I interned with last summer was there. My sister and brother-in-law were there. I was stoked. But if I’m being honest, I was also dealing internally with a lot of real, honest brokenness. For the first 75% of the night, I sang, but my mind kept running elsewhere. Looking back now, I see what was really happening.

In the last 25% of the night, something was different inside of me. My heart was calloused throughout the evening, but I was surrounded by people who were authentically joyful the entire time. Leaving the entire philosophical garbage aside…these people had no shame or hesitance in doing worship. They did not pretend to be perfect by any means. There was a lot of doubt/fear/frustration in that room, but those people chose to worship in the midst of it. They danced, they sang, they shouted to the glory of God.

As my heart was warmed, I came to a point where I was forced with a choice…allow their joy to invade my heart, or enforce the barriers I had put in place. I chose the invasion, and it was a great choice. I felt a rush of energy and life in my veins, a smile came to my face, & my hands lifted into the air. My words went from exiting my mouth as mere melody & lyric, to full-blown conversation with God. We sang “Lift my hands and spin around, see the light that I have found, oh the marvelous Light,” and not one ounce of me was cynical. People literally spun and danced around, not to draw attention or get a laugh. They did it because they couldn’t deny their joy & their love for Jesus Christ.

Nights like these don’t fix everything. They don’t magically wipe out the reality of pain. Even just a few hours later, the turmoil within has returned. But last night reminded me that darkness is not natural to God. The nature of sin is darkness, death, and suffering, but through Christ, we experience the antonym. Light is always greater. Joy is always greater. Our God is always greater. He fights for us, and He never loses.

The choice that you and I have is whether or not we’re going to let joy invade.

When I dwell up here, where the air is clear // Where the light is bright, and there's no more fear // I know my place, I know my name // I know you've called me to do great things // Its your love, your love, your love // Its your love, your love, your love. /// United Pursuit Band

Liberation & Expectation

2010-06-29T15:56:00.009-04:00

I will be writing an update on my summer so far very soon. But before I do that, I’d like to ask a question. How much of our personality & unique make-up should affect the way we are involved in corporate worship?

For the first several weeks of my internship, we have been in a series at Crossings focused on spiritual practices. Part of this 5 week study has been a look into the “Sacred Pathways” concept of author Gary Thomas. Essentially, Thomas explains that people are wired differently and that these differences often translate into nine ways in which different people typically prefer to relate to God: naturalist, sensate, traditionalist, ascetic, activist, caregiver, enthusiast, contemplative, and intellectual. By discovering the top ways you prefer to relate to God & the ways others do, Thomas implies that we can freed from trying to force ourselves or others into a box.

Obviously, this theory, like any other man-made theory, could be taken, used, and abused in extremely non-biblical routes. Crossings was careful to preface the concept with the concrete idea that saying we are a “naturalist” does not remove our responsibility for caring for others, being an intellectual does not remove our responsibility to contemplate truth, and so on. The main idea is that we can learn to see spiritual practices as liberating, not binding activities that weigh us down. Furthermore, to be about spiritual practices doesn’t just automatically equate to forcing your nose in the Bible for an hour every day at 6 AM & fasting weekly. Spiritual practices are about embracing the way God made us, and taking an active, disciplined part in drawing closer to Him.

With all of that said, my thoughts have turned to what the global Church does on any given Sunday morning. According to the concept of “sacred pathways,” only some of the Body of Christ has an “enthusiastic” natural tendency for relating to God. But according to a lot of the churches I’ve visited, your enthusiasm (in the broadest understanding of the word) in corporate worship reflects the depth of your spiritual life. Full stop.

How do we reconcile this thinking? Honestly, I think it’d be equally as dangerous to simply state that everyone should worship God in the way they have been made to. To make such a statement is to demolish the importance of communal worship. Since the days of the apostles, the Church has underlined the communal sharing of Word & Table, Truth & Communion. You can’t take community out of the core understanding of worship. It’s simply impossible. While the Bible is full of individuals that praise God in times of solitude (and these times are critical), the Church has always found its power in coming together to worship. For many churches in the last several decades, modern music has taken a big role in this. But that is really irrelevant. The point is community.

So, how do we as the Body come together in community to worship while not ignoring the uniqueness that God created us with? What should be the subconscious and/or unspoken expectations of how individuals engage in the community’s offering of worship?

One of my roommates during my studies at Hillsong College in 2007 had some interesting input into this area of thought. Previously in an independent Christian Church, and now involved in the Pentecostal movement, his understanding of involvement in communal worship, specifically in the musical realm, was one of sacrifice. As more of an intellectual than an enthusiast, I think he was forced to examine what he thought of the Pentecostal expectations for enthusiasm. For him, it was an act of sacrifice to lift his arms in surrender during worship. Regardless of his attitude, his emotions, or his desire, it was important for him to lift his hands in worship. In his opinion, doing this was not necessarily an emotional act, but instead a physical act of surrender that helped his heart and mind get into the right place. By lifting his hands, he chose to ignore his sinful nature’s desire to run away from communal worship.

So, the question remains for discussion. How much of our time, thoughts, and actions together on Sunday mornings should be expressed in our individual “pathways” and inclinations…and how much of it should carry communal expectations?

In the pursuit of helping people find their way back to God, as a community, is it okay for people to skip the first twenty minutes of the morning to arrive solely for the teaching? Is it okay for people to be enthusiastic during the song-singing, but zone out during teaching? Is it okay for long-time believers who are in an obedient lifestyle of spiritual practice to just sit back and “absorb” during music because their personality just isn’t “comfortable” with postures of worship? Are we as believers called to challenge each other to present our best in our worship, and where does challenging end and placing people in boxes begin? These questions aren’t just for the amazing local church I count myself part of, they are for the global Church. These questions aren't meant to be loaded or sarcastic. I simply want to spark conversation. I know that some of you, especially worship leaders, have wrestled with these thoughts. So, what do you think? How do we help people find liberation in worshiping God while not erasing expectations of community?

To Be Continued...

2009-05-10T01:51:00.001-04:00

My third semester at Johnson Bible College, hopefully out of six, ends on Tuesday with one more exam. This always seems to be the time of year when I get/have to slow down and assess things. To be honest, I'm more than ready for this school year to be over. It's been a really odd year, and a really fast one. It's been filled with a lot of hopes, and a resulting lot of let-downs, mostly because of my own behavior. The 24/7 prayer movement yet again fell flat after an enthusiastic start, my worship leading has lost a lot of its passion and steam, and in general I still feel like I was changed negatively more than I caused change positively. With all of that seemingly bad news out in the open, I stand confident in this fact: God is still God. I am still not. God still has a plan. I am left asking him when and where the next turn is. I'm halfway through my Bachelor degree run, and I'm definitely slowing in pace. I know that in a time like this, the easiest thing would be to justify my lack of zeal and intensity for practical, hands-on ministry by suggesting that I'm in training, that I'm an upper-classman, or that I'm simply in a season of "resting." But I beg God that I don't settle for the easy thing. And so I think He has quite a different road in mind for this summer.

I will be interning under Kevan Duke at Crossview Christian Church in Waynesville, Ohio within the youth ministry. The internship will center on a lot of things that I have shied away from by hiding in the comforts of music. I'll be doing a lot more preaching, mentoring, and active community outreach/service. These things are not programs or meer responsibilties. They are attached to real faces and real lives; they demand and require nothing but excellence. Thinking about it really makes me break into a nervous sweat. (Don't worry, I wore a lot of deodorant today.) But I'm trusting God and believing for a season of growth, not of shrinking back; a season of joy, not of despair.

I won't be completely disconnected from my passions with music. On June 14th-20th, I'll be helping out at the annual Butler Springs high school week of camp, "The Experience," this year under the leadership of the 1twentyone movement. I've played guitar & led worship for this week for 5 out of the last 6 years, and its time to shake things up. This year high schoolers will again lead high schoolers in worship. In an attempt to further unify the youth groups involved in the week, the worship team is being assembled over the next 2-3 days with youth from several of the churches coming. It will be loud. It will probably be messy. But it will be worship. Peers leading peers. A generation fails when ignores the one after it. My responsibility in this process is to mentor the worship leaders , vocalists, and musicians involved. I'll be serving as a Music Director throughout the week, helping where help is needed, but mostly just playing & praying from the back of the stage and watching God do what He does: change hearts/minds, instill dreams, and work through those who seek Him. I'm so excited for these young men and women because I remember the summer of 2006 vivdly. It was on that same stage in that same smelly room that God sealed in my heart a vision to serve Him through music/youth/whatever-He-wants-to-do ministry.

That's all I have for now. Thanks for taking the time to read. If you're interested in keeping up with my internship throughout the summer, come back and check things out every once in a while. If you're from JBC and interning this summer too, comment with your link because I'd love to keep up.

Update from Mexico .1

2008-07-20T15:14:00.000-04:00

As I write this, I’m looking at the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range in the background. There is something a little confrontational about singing the words, “I wait upon You now with my hands released to You, where a little faith’s enough to see mountains lift and move,” when you’re looking at an enormous mountain. Yes, our Christian intellects understand the metaphor…but until now, I had never had taken the time to really see the metaphor. What a massive God. One that tells us that faith in Him could literally pick and up move things like this 200 mile wide, one mile high mountain.The last 3 weeks have been challenging, exciting, happy, sad, and everywhere in between. When I first got into Monterrey, I had some version of a flu/cold. I woke up in the middle of my first night drenched in sweat, wondering what in the world I had gotten myself into…three weeks later, I wonder how in the world I could ever leave this place unchanged, non-shifted. I’ve seen my flaws, sins, and selfishness magnified, and become disgusted by them. However, I have seen Christ glorified through his church as well, and through a very uncomfortable process I’m being challenged to become more like Jesus and less like me. Or maybe more like the me I was meant to be. If you have some time to pray for me, I’d ask that you’d pray less for my safety, and more for a continual drive to accept that challenge. And I’d love to pray the same for you.So, for the sake of my mom…I’ll start writing with more specifics . A normal Back2Back day sort of goes like this… Wake up at 7:35 AM, eat breakfast with the interns, breakoff into our specific teams for the day and prepare work projects, food or supplies. At 10/10:30 we huddle up with the weekly teams from the US, load up a bus, and head out to wherever we’re going. Normally, half of the day is spent doing work projects at the children’s homes, like, mixing and pouring concrete, cleaning, creating and removing forms, painting, etc. The other half of the day is spent in relational time with the kids, doing things like coloring, jump rope, legos, trains, soccer, other stuff. Then we load up the bus, head back to campus, eat dinner, and have a time of worship and debriefing. I spend about 2 days a week on this schedule, and on the other 4 work days, I normally help with the new property building projects on camps. Back2Back is in the process of finishing the last 2 of 6 teen homes on campus. They offer the teens from the children’s homes a chance to live with staff families on campus and get a high school and college education. Half of a work day on campus is spent doing construction work, and the other half is spent in a pool party with children from a different home every day.We have times of musical worship 6 out of 7 nights of the week here. Just some vocals, an acoustic guitar, some percussion, and a crowd of physically exhausted American teams. No lights, no subs, no hazers, no drums, no loud amps…just a decision: to seek an encounter God or to disengage. It’s been a challenge, but it’s been real. Not about the coolest guitar riff or the tingly atmosphere, but instead about seeing Christ in the eyes of the fatherless, serving them, and then responding with praise. I’ve gotten to color with little girls who giggled at me because I was a boy coloring on pink paper, to build a trainset with a little boy who had better engineering designs than I could ever come up with, and to play Old Maid with Julio (you would have thought we were in the world series of poker with the smile on his face). I’ve repelled off the side of a mountain, looked down across the entire city, and laughed at how Wal-Mart has even invaded Monterrey, Mexico. I’ve been able to tangibly see the love of God through the staff, interns, teens, and nannies that live here. I’ve seen endurance in the lives of families that have decided that life is meant to be lived by the glory strength of God. And over the next 2 weeks, I want to learn how to live like that too. How to make the next 60-70ish years really count eternally.See you all soon.

Update from Down Under .14

2007-08-04T00:37:00.000-04:00

Before I go anywhere, let’s start back in July. (Sorry, but the back half of June was so busy getting ready for Conference that it’s not really in my memory. Lol.)I had the opportunity to serve at the annual Hillsong Conference, from July 2nd to 6th, which draws around 30,000 church leaders from around the globe to come together and in their words, “champion the cause of the local church.” It’s quite a sight to take in as you watch people who are making an impact all over the world from a huge number of denominations unite under the ideas of Christian unity, courage, justice, and freedom. As glamorous as this week long event sounds, it wasn’t so glamorous from our end. A couple weeks before Conference I reallocated from Production to the Logistics team, rightfully so, since I didn’t have much training in production. However, I remember specifically talking to a few friends saying I hoped that was the one team I didn’t get allocated too, because I was going to struggle with taking authority and completing the work. Well, God has an amazing sense of humor, and there I was. Logistics, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, basically means the assembling, carrying, set-up, tear-down, move-anything-needing-moving team. It takes about 50 guys, about a quarter of which would sometimes not show up. And although I want go into it in detail, it was easy to develop a negative attitude doing the work we did throughout the day. The strange thing was that despite some joking around in the morning before beginning, or team kept, for the most part, an amazing attitude. I hurt my foot right before the last day moving a trolley of carts to a room, and because of it I was switched to a CD/DVD dubbing team. The thing with Logistics was that when I got to bed at 12:30 and then woke up at 5 the next day completely sore in places I didn’t know you could be sore, I knew I was serving the church. It was a pretty cool feeling. I was able to hear Louie Giglio give his “Indescribable” message, and then speak again at the normal Saturday night Hillsong service following Conference, and that was amazing as well. So now we’re up to my week-and-a-half break from July 9th to 18th. I honestly didn’t do a ton over my break, which was one of the greatest parts of it. Ha. It’s good to slow down sometimes, but it also made me miss home. Thijs was in Poland visiting home for almost all of July, so I was stuck with no roommate, and a lot of boredom. Fortunately, I was able to work on some guitar, write a song (which still needs some work on the melody before I record it), purchase a small guitar amp to use until I leave, and spend time reading. Unfortunately, I was sick for a great portion of break, and honestly don’t remember a lot of it. Ha. After a few days I finally caved in and found a doctor. He hooked me up with some amazing antibiotics and two days later I was just like new, but starting back into school. But this time I was going into it with a focus I had worked out laying in bed as I was sick. I want to spend the rest of this year working on three areas: prayer, vision, and my guitar skills. More on that later.Classes officially began on July 19th, and a lot has changed this semester. We have a short amount of classes, but they are a little more in-depth and spread out, so our schedule is in fact a little bit busier. Just a harder challenge to take on with time management, but I’m bound and determined to grasp it firmly. I’m also stepping into some new opportunities as far as using my musical stuff. I’m now the electric guitarist for the Japanese Extension Service which takes place in Chatswood, about 45 minutes from the main Hillsong campus. I’ve been playing with them for about 3 weeks now, and I love it! From my understanding, extension services exist to reach people from either specific Sydney regions, or other language groups and connect them in a way that the services at the Hills and City campuses could not. The praise & worship songs are all the same new Hillsong stuff, just translated into Japanese, as well as everything else said in the service. It’s really cool to see people connect in their own language, and it’s also a fun challenge to take on as a guitarist since I don’t know the language. Also, I’m playing at Hillsong Men on Thursday for the first time, so I’m really pumped about that. Men is a great program that brings the college and some church guys together to learn how to be men of God, and it’s great to see guys’ shields go down and masks come off as they don’t worry about impressing girls. So I thought I should tell a story from Street Teams on July 26th. My team mate Rowin and I were just heading back to the car after visiting our contacts, and a man came up and started asking questions about what we did. We explained to him, and then he asked if we’d be willing to help him out with getting out of the area, because he couldn’t stand living there anymore. He told us he had attempted suicide a few days before, and needed to hop a train north as soon as possible. Rowin agreed to give him a ride to the station, which was only 10 minutes away, but something didn’t feel quite right, so I hopped in the back seat of the car along with Trent, another member on the team. Without talking to each other, we started praying silently for the man. We began asking Rowin questions about the “god we believed in,” and he wanted to know why He never done anything for him. Rowin explained our faith in an amazing, calm, and Holy-Spirit driven way. The man kept saying God didn’t care about him, and then asked us how long we were going to be in Talopea (our area), because the cops might be looking for him later. At that point, I gripped the back door handle and continued praying. But even though I was scared, something gripped me about the suffering he was going through mentally…and I really felt for him. He explained that his mom was dying of cancer, and that he was stuck in bad situations and had to escape them by just going. Before he got out of the car, we asked to pray for him (which he refused), and he said he was going to talk to a church to ask God himself before he hopped the train. I have no idea where Joseph is right now, or if he’s alive, but I know that the connection we made that day made some sort of impact. We prayed for him as we drove away and his face still creeps into my mind. God loves that man, and Jesus paid for Joseph’s salvation, along with mine, almost 2,000 years ago. Last night, I attended a seminar on songwriting, given by Pat Pattison. He started the first and only Songwriting Major in the United States at Berklee College of Music. He’s taught people like John Mayer and Gillian Welch. He was an amazing teacher, and I typed like 5 full pages of notes as he spoke, most of which are shorthand-ish and need to be re-typed. Incredible stuff that I could spend a journal entry on by itself, but I won’t, so don’t worry And then there was today. Let’s go back to that whole prayer, vision, guitar thing I was talking about early. All month, since I’ve set those goals, I’ve seen myself get weaker in all three areas. I was feeling very discouraged today and found myself questioning things. But I will wait on God to meet me with what’s going on (Psalm 13). I’m going to keep pursuing Him and the calling that I heard years ago to be a minister of his word, and to be a part of the solution in reaching a world that is dying and crying out, sometimes silently, to be changed. I believe he will give me security in my insecurities, confidence when I’m timid, and boldness where I might be soft. I believe that His word to Israel in Isaiah 40 applies to me today. Have a great week, thanks for reading, and I can’t wait to talk to you all again really soon! I’ll leave you with Eugene Peterson’s interpretation of Isaiah 40:27-31 in the Message, and a couple of pictures from random stuff. Love you all!“Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying,"God has lost track of me. He doesn't care what happens to me"?Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?God doesn't come and go. God lasts. He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out.He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts.For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall.But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles,They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind."(P.S. The pictures with the burger demand explanation. We had just finished a long weekend of serving, and stopped at Maccas (mcodnalds) for some food on the way home. I ordered a plain cheeseburger, which apparently means no meat as well in Australia. Thus, my unhappy face. The end.)

Update from Down Under .13

2007-06-12T20:20:00.000-04:00

Hei iedereen. Wat is op? U kan dit niet lezen, omdat het in Nederlands is. Yep. lol.Hey guys. I think I'm just going to stop telling you how busy things are every time I write one of these, because that's pretty much my new way of life. Haha. It's cool though. Good preparation I suppose.I hope everything is going well at home. Momentum is building up here as we head towards Hillsong Conference in less than three weeks. 20-30,000 people hosted by one church for an entire week. It's going to be awesome. I'm fortunate enough to be serving in Audio Production, so I'm hoping I get to hear some of what happens during the actual sessions. The last few weeks have literally flown by. I was talking to Mom and Dad on Skype just the other day, and I can't believe that by the end of this week, it will have already been a month since I visited home. It's both good and bad. I miss home, so it's cool that time doesn't drag, but I also want to make sure that I'm stopping to just soak this all in. I'm finding it very easy for my clock to rule over me instead of the other way around. I have a break coming up after Conference, and I really plan on setting some solid habits and commitments that week to get my life more organized. Classes are getting better this term, which is awesome. In other news, I really feel like I am hitting another rough patch of the year. Real growth takes sacrifice, and I think God is continuing to stretch me a little farther. This time, it's with finally learning to really take the focus off of me/my/mine and on to kingdom...kingdom...kindgom. The reason I have relapsed into having to come back to God again and again is simple...I've gone off to pursue selfish desires. So I'm learning how unimportant the comfort of Chris Dorsten is. Stuff that I've always known, but that haven't been at the core of who I am from now until forever. That's going to change this year. I believe that through the work of Jesus Christ I have been called to become a world changing machine. In the words of Craig Gross, I will do anything short of sin to reach a lost world and help lead them to something bigger than just a set of beliefs, and it is only through the work of the Holy Spirit within me that I will do anything remotely close to that. To lose the me in me. Till we talk again.Oh...almost forgot. I got the chance to head up to Palm Beach with some of the roomies and two good friends Jenna & Hannah. It was gorgeous, and you would not think it was winter here. lol. I'll attempt to put some pictures up on the end of this. Love you and miss you guys. Home is in my prayers.

Update from Down Under .12

2007-05-19T12:19:00.000-04:00

So I apologize that I haven't written anything in over a month, but it's been a crazy month. I was able to visit home for 12 days from May 3rd to May 15th, and it was a really great experience. It was so good to see my family and friends. I don't know if I could really sum it up into a couple highlights or anything, but I do the know the coolest part was being able to hangout with Dad, Mom, Lindsay & Kevan all at once for two weekends in a row. While I've been here, I've realized that I will definitely miss my friends when we're away from each other, but missing my family takes up a much bigger space. There's just something about being in the company of the people that raised me, influenced me, loved me, and will always love me. Friends have occasionally done some of those things as well, but family trumps it all. I look at my dad and see a man that is running after God in the way he loves his family, handles his business, and balances life. I look at my mom and see someone who sacrifices everyday for others, and prays in a way that I am striving to get towards. I look at my sister and see one of my best friends who cares about people on a whole new level. I look at my brothers Jason and Kevan and see dedication and commitment, and people who are going to do huge things in ministry. That's my family, and that's who I miss more than anything even now. Homesickness has crept up, but I'm really trying to push it back down.My amazing friends were great to see over break as well, and I can't believe how fast all of us are growing up, graduating, and diving into the rest of our lives. It's only a couple years away until people start thinking about getting married, and moving. It's so weird, but I think I am really ready to take on the whole thing. Even in these last four months, God has given me a new joy and calm about the future. I'm still walking into a whole new set of problems and adventures, but I know He's with me, and I know that if I just continue to press forward, He will keep pressing with me. Seven more months here we come.

Update from Down Under .11

2007-04-13T16:21:00.000-04:00

Here we go..lol.Let's start back at this past Easter weekend. Lock N Load, the team that I'm apart of that changes the venue, sound systems, and lighting around for the smaller and larger services, had a busy weekend. We actually changed the atmosphere of the room a total of 4 times in one weekend. The process used to take us well over an hour, but by the end of the weekend we had it down to 28 minutes. Amazing.They place a big emphasis on Good Friday in Australia, so we all headed to church on Friday morning, and the convention centre was literally packed. Pretty cool, huh? After a short, but very reflective service, I helped Lock N Load tear down the stage and setup for United night. I went home and ate, and then walked back into church for United. I actually got asked that morning by a random Powerhouse person if I would play one of the 12 disciples for an item they were doing, so I got there and got my nice Jewish looking robe to match my Jewish looking features. Haha. We headed into the main room and after laughing through about 5 run throughs, we nailed the drama. Basically Brook Fraser sang this acoustic hymn about the cross, and halfway through the lights came up on Jesus & the twelve disciples, and communion was given to the entire crowd there while we acted out the communion scene. Pretty cool idea. The rest of the night was great too, and it was cool to worship with the same exact band who many of you will be seeing tommorow. The night reminded me a lot of the time we went to see United play up in Chicago. On that Saturday, me, the boys from the house, and a couple of our church friends from Powerhouse packed into a couple of cars and drove for about an hour up to the Blue Mountains. (First of all, if you can hang out with a group of Australians for a long period of time, I really reccommend it. They are freaking hilarious. So go find some if you can.) The day started out a little gloomy-looking, but we were bound and determined to make it great. We finally arrived at the mountains and decided to walk down a hiking path that led to some great look-outs. It was beautiful...until. lol. About halfway down the trail, Thijs and I decided to both take a picture of a waterfall. Before I could get my camera out, I managed to slip on a piece of rock. I fell on my butt and started to slide. The guys were laughing, thinking that I would pull myself up, but after sliding down two rocks...I disappeared off the side of one, that turned out to be a little bit of a cliff. They were freaking out, because apparently they saw me slide and then just saw me disappear completely. The mountain was still a long way down, so they pretty much thought I had dropped off the side to the bottom. I actually had only fell about 10 feet on to another level of rock/grass, which still hurt, but it wasn't that bad. I was actually freaking out myself as I fell, because I didn't know how far down I was going to fall either. It's all good though. I walked off with a small cut on my hand and sore bum. We decided to head back up and go check out the Three Sisters. Another amazing view.Sunday was great as well. Easter morning at Hillsong is pretty awesome, but I still missed my family. God really spoke into my heart that night, which was a "Touching Heaven" worship night with United before they took off for America, and told me that I needed to depend on Him because my life, my home, and my decisions had to be defined by my relationship with Him.The following week at school was great. Right now I'm a little stressed with assignments and performance major day coming up, but I'm really looking forward to visiting home. Less than 3 weeks away now. Things are still going great here, and I'm living it up as much as possible. Love you guys, and thanks for reading. Talk to you (probably in person) soon :)-Chris D.

Update from Down Under .10

2007-04-03T19:44:00.000-04:00

It's already April! How crazy is that? Time is flying by everyday. Gotta make every single day count.This last week has been great, and every day seems to bring something new. My connect group leader surprised us Monday night and we went up to the city to check it out at night. It was gorgeous. We walked across the big famous bridge and looked out at the city when we got to the middle of it. You could see lights for what seemed like miles. As I looked at, I sincerely thought about how many people were out there, and how God is so huge and powerful that he can love every single one of those people at once, on a very individual level. I looked out and saw a hurting city, a city massive in size, but dealing with things just like Xenia, Ohio. In those moments, God confirmed in my heart that he can use me to make a difference in this world. One action, conversation, and day at a time. The night was refreshing in so many ways. If you want to see a quick little video we made from the other night, head over to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wzi9ul-oNcI thank God for the friendships I'm making here, and the ones not yet made. They tell us every week at college that when we talk to each other, to take each other seriously, because chances are we're looking into the eyes of greatness. That's not meant to be a funny or egotistical statement. It's meant to keep our hearts and attitudes focused on our lifelong ministry, and how God can literally take anyone who runs after Him and use them to flip the world upside down.On Monday we had our music classes, including our Worship & Creative Arts Ministry 1 class, and we took another day of performance. We were once again split into random bands, but this time given 15 minutes to pick out a 2 song worship set and develop a plan. We had a drummer, bassist, keyboard, two acoustics, and around 6-7 vocals. Last time I did some lead guitar stuff on acoustic, so I wanted to mix it up this week. My major is actually in guitar, so I should have really just played guitar, but my group was awesome, and let me have the chance to lead and play the second song we did, "Saviour King," and I was instantly reminded how much I love leading a band. There is nothing really like it honestly. I'm not perfect at it by far, and I have so much to learn, but I quickly remembered the feeling of just worshipping God with the mission of bringing other people to his throne quickly. Music is so awesome, and the God who created it deserves to hear it all the time.I got a chance to meet up today with a guy named Fabian here, and we had a great conversation. It's good to hear from a 3rd year student, and I'm really going to try and heed the advice he had for my year. This guy is so annointed for ministry, but he is quick to point to why & how that annointing comes. God's presence doesn't change, but our desire for Him can. We don't need to strive after God, but instead simply desire Him, and hang out with Him. Our faith and what we believe isn't complicated, and doesn't need to be complicated. We believe in simple truths, and God just wants to be in a relationship with us, to spend time with us, and for us to desire Him & obey Him every day we are alive. If we do that, we will be able to minister for His name. It's that simple, and it was good to remember that.Well that's about it for now. Exactly one month from today until I land in O-h-i-o for 12-ish days. I miss you guys. Love you too. Talk to you soon!

Update from Down Under .9

2007-03-26T19:18:00.000-04:00

Hope everyone had a great Sunday night and is actually sleeping right now. My Monday is just finishing off, and this weekend was really great. Some of my apartment complex headed up to Shelly Beach to spend the afternoon and evening hanging out. It rained a little bit, but it was still a great trip. I love the beach. I think Ohio should work on getting a real one. Ha.I remember climbing out on some of the rocks right before a storm started to roll in, and just sitting there by myself looking across the ocean. The ocean is amazing. It's massive, but part of me couldn't help but think of home, and it seems so close when I stand next to that huge body of water.I love it here. The roommates and I had a great time on Saturday night as well, and we had our first weekly prayer meeting as a house. God really has brought four guys together under one roof for the year for a big reason. I'll learn a lot from the school this year, but some of the biggest lessons are going to be learned through the people I will meet. My shell of low self-confidence is peeling away, and even though I have days where I might crawl back into myself a little bit, I'm quickly pulled back out by God. I'm really asking God to throw me into new situations with new people. Ministry is going to be about other people, so it's time I start preparing & growing becase of those people, not just because of my own spiritual walk with God.God has been speaking to me through other people, letting me know that although I don't know where to put my feet on the path of my future, I just need to keep walking...running forward, into it. I don't need to know where I'll be serving in 5 years, I just need to know in my heart that I WILL be serving in 5 years because I will serve all my life. This isn't Lazy Christianity, this is Christianity without the human desires & plans of Chris Dorsten.So our first "quarter" of the year is over sometime in April. Pretty weird. Time goes by fast but slow at the same time. May 3rd approaches every day, and I really look forward to seeing/laughing/driving around/hanging out/talking with/catching up on life with the faces of home. I've been blessed to be able to make it home for around 2 weeks, and although I'm not dwelling on those days right now, it's great to have some familiarity not so far off in the distance.That finishes up this update I think. Have a great last week of March. April here we come. Change here we come.

Update from Down Under .8

2007-03-21T21:04:00.000-04:00

Alright, so I have a lot to talk about. This is going to be a long one. Just giving some advanced warning.The women's conference and annual live album recording finished up this past Sunday night. I can honestly say they were 5 of the most intense days I've ever experienced. Picture roughly 17,500 women, many of which don't have a relationship with God, gathering together in a massive arena. The 4 days the conference lasts are filled with various things to bring women closer to God, and to also build their self-confidence and value. As one of the 955 volunteers, my job was to serve on the team I was assigned to, as well as making sure that I always had a smile on my face, and a quick and helpful answer to anything one these ladies needed. Sounds fairly simple right? Well, it was in a sense, until you throw in the hours we were there. The bus left every morning at 6 AM outside of our apartments, and returned at around 11-11:30 PM every night, giving us around 5 hours of sleep on average every night. The team I was assigned to was the signage team, which consisted of me and 3 other people. We were put in charge of the signs that went up all around the 20,000 seat arena and its surrounding rooms, as well as helping out the other logistics teams. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way saying this in a negative tone. Although I often became tired and cranky at points throughout the weekend, it was a great feeling to be able to serve and know that people's lives would be changed because of our collective service as a volunteer team. I walked away from the weekend feeling like a stronger leader and having a better attitude to service. Oh yeah, I didn't mention that over 650 women gave their lives to Christ. Pretty cool :)Then there was Sunday night, the live album recording, definitely a night that will not soon be forgotten. I was in the choir for the night, and because of the massive size they randomly put some of us on the two stage risers and the rest on the floor in front of the stage. I was so pumped, because the spot I was given on the floor was like right in front of the stage on the right. It was amazing to look around behind me at times and see 16-17,000 people worshipping God. There were some truly amazing songs recorded that night, but more importantly, they were recorded by some truly amazing people of prayer and obedience. These people take very seriously the fact that their songs are played all over the world, and huge attention is given to even the smallest detail in the way they are written/played/sung/and prayed about, because they know others will respond out of these songs.I could go into details about the night, but I'll save that for when the DVD comes out back home. haha. Sorry guys. I'm entering a time of constant prayer about my future, especially with schooling and ministry, so any prayer with that from you guys would be awesome. I'm just asking for clarity with where to serve when I return & what to study further, namely, music or preaching/youth. Church planting in the future seems to keep popping up in my mind as well. I've never given it a great deal of thought before, but I find myself thinking about it all the time now. Well thats about it for now. Classes are getting back to normal and assignments are due soon, so I'll probably be pretty busy these next few weeks. Then there is the trip home in May to look forward to. I'm so pumped for that. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I'll talk to you soon.***Almost forgot. I have a local Xenia number you can call that will actually call Skype on my computer. Just call 937-660-5912 on any normal phone or cell phone, and it will ring my PC. If I can't answer you can leave a voicemail. I can't call you guys, but I can receive unlimited calls. Hope to talk to some of you soon.

Update from Down Under .7

2007-03-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

Just got home from serving at women's conference.I bought the new United CD tonight :)Nuff said. lol. Another update soon!

Update from Down Under .6

2007-03-08T22:53:00.000-05:00

To make a long story short, I'm now in the live album recording choir for March 18th. lol. Actually, it's not a very long story. A couple of my musician friends found out we could join, so a couple of us did. We've rehearsed with the bands for the past two nights in Hillsong's older church building (the one before the Convention Center; it's called "The Hub") and it's pretty much been incredible. Tonight for example, Marty S. and Ben Fielding taught us two brand new songs, and the ablum bands hadn't even heard them yet. haha. Marty actually hadn't finished parts of his, so we just moved on from it. lol. It was awesome.I'm really excited about it. In other news, I'm enjoying this weekend and resting before next week starts up. Colour Your World Conference, which is basically the annual women's conference at Hillsong, is on the same weekend as the album recording, so we're all serving in different areas, pretty much from sunrise to sundown. I'm pumped, but it's going to be really exhausting.I think I'm catching a hold of new things everyday here, and I honestly feel like my definiton of worship is changing over the course of the weeks since I've been here. Not just the written statement of what the word means, but what it means deep in the core of my being. To worship. To glorify God. To lose myself in serving Him. Hope you all have amazing weeks, and I'll talk to you soon.

Update from Down Under .5

2007-03-05T19:49:00.000-05:00

Time for a small update. And here we go.The past few weeks have been great. Time really does fly be here. I'm getting more involved within the Production ministry of the church, and their asking me to serve in different areas along with lock n load, so I'm really excited about that. It was great but also really weird to be a monitor mix assistant at church the other night. I got to help with getting the musicians, singers, and worship leader (which for that night it was Marty Sampson) the right mix. Its funny, because during rehearsal/soundcheck they practice but they also goof off. They're so laid back too. Nice guys.Music classes today were the best they have been yet. In just like 2 hours, I basically learned more shortcuts with music theory than my brain could stand, luckily I took amazing notes. haha. Our teacher basically told us that our first term in that class would be about being able to listen to music or look at a sheet of music, and recognizing key things to help the band/singers/ourselves. That's a great place to start. Not to mention she is like a walking musical encyclopedia. Sweet.In another class we also discussed scheduling/rostering within ministry teams; the do's, the don'ts. All good information to soak in, and definitely things that opened up my brain.So in other news the adult album recording is in less than 2 weeks. I got my tickets and I'm pumped. The United album should be coming out here around that time, so I'll enjoy it while you guys wait another month or so :) haha. Songs are pumping out left and right from the guys up at church, and its amazing to watch. They write songs that impact people around the world, and it just comes out. I heard a new Marty one the other night when I was assisting, and its amazing. I can't wait for you guys to learn some of these, because I know they'll help change lives.Well I'm off to work on an assignment, so I'll talk to you guys again soon. Have a great day.

Update from Down Under .4

2007-02-20T22:34:00.000-05:00

Hey guys/girls/whoever reads these, How's it going? I just realized it's been like a week or more since I've written so here I am. Things have been getting better and better here. I'm really enjoying classes during the day. Everything is very practical information, but the concepts & meat behind it are really great as well. Monday is sort of my music class day, and that was really great, but I think my favorite class right now is Old Testament Survey. The teacher goes straight in and really opens it up to be both humurous & entertaining, but also really deep and eye-opening. Its making me re-read things that previously felt disconnected from reality, but now seem really cool. For my weekly ministry I'm serving on Street Teams. It's a pretty cool program that splits up intro small groups and then goes out into unreached parts of the community to help with whatever people need help with, no strings attached. I'm really excited about this, because I think it has the possibility to grow and stretch me the most this year. We went through some prepartation for it last week, because it can be pretty dangerous in some of the rougher parts, and this next week we're jumping right in. I'm excited. My weekend ministry is currently called "Lock & Load." Right after the 10:45 service on Sunday morning's, our group transforms the Hillsong Convention Center into a smaller, for intimate venue for the two evening services. The evening services are actually a lot more crowded, but they added a second evening service just recently, so they are trying to grow them both by using a smaller atmosphere. We setup a completely new stage, move all of the equipment from the existing one, and then help move all of the lighting/sound systems on one big pulley mechanism. It actually only takes around 1 hour, 45 minutes. Everyone just does whatever needs to be done. I just saw on my rostering page that I get to be the Foldback (Monitor Mixing) Assistant at Sunday night church on March 4th. I'm stoked about that. I'll basically help the engineer with getting good mixes for the band/worship leader/choir, keep all mics with fresh batteries, ask the people on stage what they need changed in their ear bud mix (sounds like home lol haha), and help set & reset the stage. It's gonna be pretty sweet. I'm learning a lot of new things about structure and excellence within any type of ministry, including worship ministry. You'd be very surprised how well they are organized, while allowing for the Spirit to move. There are some pretty cool techniques and small things I'm picking up. But I'll save those for another time :) I'm off to bed for now. Gotta catch a shuttle at 7:45 for school. I love you guys and miss home. I'll hopefully talk to a lot of you soon.-Chris D.

Update from Down Under .3

2007-02-06T17:24:00.000-05:00

Church this morning was really refreshing. I’m viewing things in a much more positive way. Today was “Vision Sunday” for 2007 at Hillsong, so there was just a atmosphere of excitement throughout the room. My mind was blown by how much they are actually doing as a church, and how they don’t want to stop expanding and trying to reach all of Sydney, and all of the lost. Matt Tennikoff made a big statement in the presentation about Hillsong United, saying that, “We started in the local church, and we’ll finish in the local church. Home is just getting a little bigger every year.” So I thought I’d talk about some of the people I’ve met here in this entry. My connect group (small group) leader’s name is Josh, and he’s a really strong man of God. He’s done nothing but look out for us and make sure we’re doing alright since we’ve been here. If the heart of Hillsong church could be defined in very short terms, I’m finding that its people loving people in the name of Jesus. Josh’s friends are also amazing as well. Most of them are connect group leaders as well, so there is always the potential of meeting new people everyday. Last night we went to hang out at a couple of the girl’s home, and that was really fun. Some of the college-aged girls from church cooked homemade pizza and it was pretty much amazing. We played this game called Articulate, and it’s basically a board game version of Catchphrase. It was hilarious. Haha. Made me think of all the great times we had with that back home. Then we just sat around laughing and singing random songs from the 90’s. Good times. Today was just as great. We went back over to their house after church to finish off the leftover pizza, and ended up playing Balderdash for a couple hours, and then headed back to church. Tomorrow, a girl named Hannah is coming to pick up me and my American roommate to head over to Castle Hill Tavern where they’re showing the Superbowl. It’ll actually be on at 10 AM here, on a Monday. Pretty weird. Well that’s about it for now. Miss you guys. Orientation is Tuesday, so school is getting underway. I think I’m going to try and write soon about some of the cool/different things I’m noticing they do structurally within church. Can’t wait to hear from you all. Talk to you again soon.

Update from Down Under .2

2007-02-03T13:48:00.000-05:00

To be quite honest, I feel exhausted: physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. I truly believe that this year is going to bring out the “little monsters” in my life and allow God to clean me and burn me up inside and out. I don’t think this process is going to go without having some pain involved. Knowing this, I still want to fling myself and my life into this year. I’m here completely, and that means the good & the bad are going to bleed through. My prayer is that I can continue running this race, and never stop pursuing God, even when I feel like I am worthless and small. A huge part of me just wants to sleep in my own bed, wake up and hear the familiar sounds of my parent’s voices, or even just drive a few minutes to see a best friend. I’m really missing the comfort of my best friends. I’m missing the safety net of those who I know and know me. I’m hitting the point where this isn’t vacation & this isn’t a summer camp anymore. This is my life for at least the next 10 months. It’s a hard pill to swallow. The atmosphere of this church is really intense. At times, it’s indescribably awesome to be a part of, at other times, it’s very wearing. Spiritually, people at this church just expect to go deeper and deeper, all the time, and every time they meet. I find myself questioning the authenticity of my life at times here. That’s a big statement I know, but it’s really something I feel I need to take a look at. I don’t doubt that God has called me to serve Him. I don’t doubt that He has used me to do things so far. What I’m really talking about is my future, and the now. What I’m doing in this very moment of my life to serve Him, to grow closer in my relationship to Him, and to glorify Him. Worship is much more than any one song, and it’s bigger than a guitar or a drum set. I believe that worship is a life, in all its aspects, handed over to God in awe of Him. I know I’m halfway around the world, but that isn’t enough. I have more to give, just trying to find it within me and then release it. Thanks for reading. Sorry if this was a little bit of a heavy entry. Love & miss you guys back home. Until next time. *Oh yeah. We had weekend ministry musician auditions today, where they basically assess our musical skill as college students, and figure out where to have us serve. They were really fun. They had main musos from the church there, and auditioning students took turns subbing in and out of the instrument they were playing. We all had a turn of playing One Way & From The Inside Out on our primary instrument with a backing band. I’ll only have my acoustic here, so I couldn’t really cut loose like some of the other guys, but I got to play through two songs on acoustic with the bass player and main drummer from United. That was pretty surreal... I'm diggin this Shawn McDonald song called "Without You" right now. Good stuff. Talk to you all later.

Update from Down Under .1

2007-01-30T14:55:00.000-05:00

Wow. Its been a while since I’ve written anything similar to an online journal or blog. Circumstances make this feel necessary though, and I think it will be a good thing to do. So welcome to my blog/journal/post-modern thing. Feel free to reply. Actually, please reply :) I want to hear from home. The last two weeks have been face-paced and very intense. The trip kicked off with a time of prayer with Mom, Dad, Josh, Eric, Katie, and Heather. All I can say is that God has blessed me with amazing friends. You know you have amazing friends when they wake up at the butt-crack of dawn to come pray with you before you take off somewhere. So once the crying was done (temporarily anyways), I took off in the Suburban with Mom & Dad for Cincy. We got there a little early, but it was nice to make some last minute long phone calls. I miss those already. Phones are ridicously expensive here. Ugh. Anyways. After a relatively quick six hour trip, we got in to L.A (I’ve always wanted to say that. Ha.) and hopped on the plane to Sydney. The next 14 hours of my life were made up of sitting in a seat, knees jammed to the seat in front of me, watching old American sitcoms and movies on a teeny screen in front of me. Getting up to pee was a big highlight. But the week only begins here. We got off the plan, got our car, and Dad had to quickly learn how to drive on the left hand side of the road. It was really funny, and after an hour or two of a couple wrong turns, we arrived at the hotel, very much because of my amazing navigating skills…and the fact that we basically tried every road in Baulkham Hills ‘till we found it. We proceeded to go in and crash for the next few hours. I have to say though, as crazy as the trip was already at this point, it only gets crazier. We went up to the college the next morning, where the people were insanely friendly (like almost everyone here) and helped me get all the paper worked out and get moved in to my apartment. The other guys hadn’t arrived yet, so we just spent the day getting a SIM card for the sweet phone Dan Windsor hooked me up with, and getting some shopping done. My roommates showed up the next day, and at first I wasn’t sure what to think but I’ve been getting to really know them in the last few days, and I think it’s going to be a great year. The first to show up was Jarred, from Louisana, definitely the most quiet one of the crew. The next was Jethro from South Africa, definitely not the most quiet one of the crew. Ha. Seriously though, he’s hilarious and he’s really good at guitar. Last, but not least, was Thijs (pronounced Tice), kind of an accidental roommate. He crashed at our place while the school was getting his accommodation ready, but ending up just staying for the year. He’s from Holland, and he’s a really nice guy. After getting some stuff sorted out, we all went to church on Sunday night. It’s pretty much amazing. Picture 5,000 every Sunday, worshipping God with all the energy and passion they have, and that’s just during the Sunday night service. There’s also a Saturday evening one and two on Sunday morning. It was great. (Not to mention I’ve heard like 5-6 new songs I’ve never heard before while I’m here, and I’m trying to figure out a way to record them on acoustic guitar/vocal so you guys can do them back home like months before they come out. Check out the bottom of this page to see the words to one of them. They could be a little off, but I wrote them down in the middle of worship.) I got the chance to spend a whole day on Monday with Mom & Dad, without stressing about the stuff that needed to get sorted out still. It was awesome. I’ll hold on to the memories we made that day for the rest of the year, especially eating what I like to call, “The Last Supper,” at the Hard Rock Café in Sydney. Amazing food, and when I visit home I plan on stuffing my face. Ha. But for now it’s just cereal, ham sandwiches, and the very occasional trip to Maccas (McDonald’s for the Americans.) Its been good though. It’s definitely opening my eyes up to how blessed I am with my family, friends, and environment back home. After a pretty tough goodbye that night, Mom & Dad headed back to the hotel, and just kind of sat down against the wall of the first floor of the apartments and had a pretty long cry. After a few minutes of that, I prayed and asked God to just give me strength to do this whole thing, and I got up went upstairs to hang out with my roommates. It’s taken me a couple days to really warm up to everyone, and I think I’m finally acting like myself to a certain degree. I have to admit though, it’s hard to just be myself around complete strangers. I think the only thing that makes this all work is that we’re all here because we felt like God called us here. We all want to go deeper and change the world in different ways. I went to a retreat from this past Wednesday through Saturday, and it was great. God really gave me peace about being here, and my worship was stretched in new ways. I’m thinking that if there is one major thing that is produced by this year, it will be that my walk with God and my worship to Him will grow tremendously. Learning music at a place I’ve pretty much loved for the past few years of my life is like a dream come true, but music is music everywhere. It’s really about the atmosphere and the passion here. It’s about learning to love and serve and give everything I have. If I can dump all my energy and focus into this year, when I come back to go to school in America to keep pursing fulltime ministry, I will be equipped and prepared to really make a difference. I’m still not sure if God’s calling me to a music ministry, or a preaching/youth ministry, but either way this school is going to really help build foundations. Well, I think that’s the end of this update. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to get back to people very fast. We’re going to start making the steps to get Internet at the apartment, so I need to go fill out the line registration form with Thijs. If all goes to plan I should have it in at the most two weeks. Everyone back home is in my prayers, and I can’t wait to talk to you all soon. If you have time, drop me an email at chrisco@donet.com. I love you guys, and I can’t wait to see you, but for now the adventure is just beginning.