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Feb 26, 2006
jubilee part 1: the executive floor This weekend I was in Pittsburgh, PA for the Jubilee conference, a conference for college students sponsered by Coaltion for Christian Outreach, an organization that sponsers campus ministries in PA, WV, and Ohio. CCO is a partner with out campus ministry at UCC, hence our participation at Jubilee. The conference was truely amazing. A lot of it was hit and miss, but there was enough there to really challenge everyone involved. I had several amazing conversations with students about what was learned over the weekend, and I even found myself seeking out these conversations. So, over the next week or so, I'll be unpacking the conference here on the blog. But, for tonight, something a bit lighthearted: When we arrived, we found that there was some glitch with room assignments. So, we were not able to get our room before the first session started, and it looked as though there may be a chance that we would not even get a room, or may have to sleep on the floor in someone else's rooms (although we had a place in Pitt to crash if needed, so it wasn't a major crisis.) After the session, we found that some rooms were available, but we had to hurry and register for it as a group. So, Tommy, J-Little, and Dan D. were going to attempt to get a 4 person room (they were passing them out in pairs). As we got in line, we found out that to get a room, it was necessary to have a yellow card that they gave you at registration. Tommy and Justin had theirs, but Dan and I didn't, because Dan left his with his luggage and I hadn't registered yet (since I was parking one of the vans). So, after 15 minutes of drama, we got the second to last 4 person room. On the 24th (top) floor. It turns out, the 24th floor is the executive floor. I don't fully know what the implications of the executive floor are. I don't know how one normally gets placed there. I don't know all of the advantages. The rooms aren't any bigger or nicer. But, we did learn of 2 perks. One is that one of the consierge desks are on that floor. While I don't know everything a consierge does, I do know that there job is basically to take care of the rich people (we were staying at the Hilton). And, on the desk was a bowl of free mints. The second perk, we found out, was access to the executive lounge. We walked by the lounge when it was closed the first night, so we didn't really know what it was all about. But then, after lunch Saturday, it was revealed to us. The executive lounge, which you could only access with a 24th floor room key, was a place with some couches and tables. And a 50 inch flat panel TV. Free newspapers. Contenintal breakfast. Free appitizers at night. Free bottled water, coffee, and softdrinks. And a mini bar (which did cost money). All of that was truely great. However my favorite part is this: whenever we would go in there, the consierge would keep an eye on us. Why? See, they knew that we really weren't supposed to be there. It was just due to a glitch that we wound up on 24. However, since we were on 24, there was nothing they could do about it. But it was clear they didn't like it. We thought that it was funny. After all, that's all of the discrimination that we have to face. And it's over something stupid, so we didn't care. It made me think about people who face it daily. In things that do matter. Going to the grocery or drug store. Or at work. Or wherever. More stuff throughout the week. posted
by Unknown @ 9:25:00 PM Feb 23, 2006 since i can't say no to shannon Four jobs I have had (in no order): 1. EDI Technical Support Rep for Kentucky Medicaid 2. Campus Ministry Intern at Vincennes University CCF and Western Kentucky University CSF 3. Administrator at University Christian Church 4. Mailroom Supervisor at Cincinnati's biggest law firm Four movies I can watch over and over (where do I start????): 1. The Sandlot 2. The Big Lebowski 3. Robin Hood: Men in Tights 4. The Shawshank Redemption Four places I have lived: 1. Frankfort, KY 2. Bowling Green, KY 3. Vincennes, IN 4. Cincinnati, OH Four TV shows I love 1. 24 2. The OC 3. Family Guy 4. Sealab 2021 Four places I've vacationed: 1. Ft. Walton Beach, FL 2. Atlantic Beach, NC 3. Lake Cumberland State Park, KY 4. Virginia Beach, VA Four of my favorite dishes: 1. Chick fil a Chicken samdwich 2. McDonald's breakfast burrito 3. Zuppa Toscona soup 4. Chicken Teryaki Four sites I visit daily: 1. The Sports Guy 2. Kentucky.com 3 Fedex.com (yes, I actually use the internet for work sometimes.) 4. my livejournal friends page Four places I would rather be right now: 1. Hanging out with my brother in TN. 2. On a boat somewhere tropical (maybe even a pirate ship). 3. Discussing puppet ministry with John Wentz. 4. On tour with my band. Five people I am tagging: 1. Mel 2. Bill the Thrill 3. Tommy 4. Kevin 5. Jenny T posted
by Unknown @ 11:04:00 PM knocking on heaven's door In the movie Spinal Tap, one of the most popular scenes is one where the guitar player is showing off his gear, particularly a guitar that has a volume knob that goes to 11, for when 10 is not enough and he needs a little extra. Tonight I needed something to get me to 11. I was stuck on 10 though. I'm not talking about volume. Or energy. Often, in worship leading circles, we talk about "taking people to the throne of God." Admittedly, this is a bit of a vague idea, and lately I've been struck by how unaware I am about what this means. And tonight, I know we didn't get there. But I feel like we got close. But, no matter what, it seemed like there was this final hurdle that I we just couldn't clear. The problem is, I don't know what it is. It felt like we were close to the throne, in fact, maybe at the door of the throneroom. And there I was, trying to lead everyone in. But the door was locked. So, I started trying out keys. I had a ring full of keys. However, none of the keys I had worked. So, I stopped. Maybe there are other keys I should be trying. Or maybe I have the right keys, but the wrong door. Or maybe my idea of worship are just off. I don't know. posted
by Unknown @ 12:44:00 AM huh? This is why I hate both major political parties (and I'm not really happy with any of the minor ones either.) posted
by Unknown @ 12:40:00 AM Feb 18, 2006 it sucks getting old Today I heard a hair-loss treatment commercial on the radio, and for the first time it occured to me that I am now part of the target audience. posted
by Unknown @ 9:30:00 PM Feb 13, 2006 art imitates life Looks like some of the scenarios in car commercials do happen in real life. Today I was driving to school. On my drive to school, I have to make a left turn at the top of a hill. However, you cannot see on-coming traffic from the other side of the hill. Today, as I made my left, I suddenly saw a school bus coming at me from the other side. So, I hit the accelerator, and avoided the collision. Then, I turned and looked in front of me, and there was a trash can that had blown in the middle of the street that I had to swerve to avoid. The Corolla did quite well. J.D. Power and Assoc. would be proud. posted
by Unknown @ 11:08:00 PM Feb 12, 2006 rubber gloves and helmets Today Shannon was telling me about a news report about how a mailroom came across some "unidentified" substance. I related to her some stories about my time in the mailroom during the anthrax scare following 9/11, and I remembered something that connected to recent events at work . . . Back when the anthrax scare came about, we were given rubber gloves to wear while handling mail. A few of us put them on and went to work. However, they are incredibly uncomfortable and it's somewhat more difficult to work while wearing them, so after about 5 minutes, we decided to forget it, we'll take our chances. Because really, the odds were overwhelmingly against any type of incident. Well, I was talking to someone shortly after this happened. I told them all of this, and they thought I was crazy not to wear gloves. So I told them, "Think about it. I'm more likely to slip and hit my head on the counter and bust it open than I am to get infected by anthrax." And sure enough . . . posted
by Unknown @ 11:48:00 PM Feb 11, 2006 the green bullet and blues traveler Ever since I got my Green Bullet harmonica mic a couple of months ago, my harmonica playing has really jumped to the next level. The mic gives it such a rich sound that a regular microphone doesn't give it. Any harmonica you hear in a recording probably uses a similar mic. Wednesday night I really enjoyed playing harmonica at FOCUS. So much so that I really want to make harmonica my primary instrument. In fact, I think I want to put together a band that really features harmonica. I wouldn't play guitar, just vocals and harmonica. So, that means I need to find a rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass player, and drummer. I've also started listening to more harmonica players. Today I went and got Blues traveler's greatest hits cd. It makes me wish I had listened to BT a lot more over the years. They have such a unique sound. John Popper is my new hero. posted
by Unknown @ 10:18:00 PM Feb 9, 2006 the gift Today I purchased a $350.00 silver necklace and gave it to a woman who responded with great excitement. Granted, it was an errand for work, and the necklace was for a service project her department is working on, and it was the firm's money I spent. But still, for a second, it was kinda cool . . . posted
by Unknown @ 4:39:00 PM Feb 8, 2006 the pedagogue It's an honor to have your sermon quoted during a sermon by a friend who happens to be an outstanding preacher. It's exciting when someone in the room can remember what its about a week later. It's downright humbling to hear someone quote it during a regular conversation. It's baffling to think I was even invovled in the whole thing. posted
by Unknown @ 11:56:00 PM Feb 7, 2006 bad day I had a bad day today. I need to be cheered up. Somebody cheer me up. Thanks! posted
by Unknown @ 11:29:00 PM spontaneous worship "Let the Holy Spirit lead." Those are words that get thrown around worship leading circles all of the time. On one hand, I like the sentiment. It is an acknowledgement that there is a higher power out there who can accomplish more than we can. It acknowdleges that it isn't our agenda that matters. On the other hand, it's naiive. That the Spirit is going to be bound by the 20 minute music block that we carve out each week. And then there are those that attempt to plan, "spontaneous worship times," which seems paradoxical at it's core. That was my assignment. Somehow it succeeded . . . It was almost two weeks ago. Nothing was going quite right. A Wednesday morning, I woke up earlier than I normally would on a Wednesday, although due to a change in work schedule it was going to be the time I would be waking up from now on on Wednesdays. For most of the morning and afternoon, nothing was quite out of place. I went to work, then got off at my new time, 3:30 in the afternoon, which is quite nice. So, I went home, took a nap, packed up my music gear, and headed off to Kroger for an errand and then off to church. I was even half an hour early. Then things were off. Not necessarily wrong, just off. First, I went to print the song sheets for the night. My song files are on my computer here at house, but my printer is messed up, so I print them at church. I open them up, and find that for one song, I only have the lyrics, but not the chords. So, I frantically trying and transcribe the chords and make new sheets. Then people are late for practice. Which is actually kind of typical. But, I include it to help build the tension of the night. Then, during setup, we can't find the mics. And then we have trouble with the sound system. Finally, practice starts an hour late. One of the musicians never shows up. We start practice, and something is off. I'm not sure what. It seemed that most everything was okay, but something was slightly off. It may not have been musical. I can't explain it. Practice wraps up, so we go to pray. I asked someone to open, then opened it up for anyone who wants to pray, and then I close. I closed with only 2 sentances: "Lord, this is your service. Do something amazing with it." Maybe I should be more careful about what I ask for. The service starts, and Brandie asks everyone to move to one side of the room. Which is a really weird dynamic to try and lead worship with. Had I known ahead of time, I may have planned differently. So, I just roll with it. And yet, something was off this night. I don't know what at this point. We finish, and leave the stage. Whenever I lead worship, usually I do two things: I walk around while the adrenaline leaves my system, and I get a drink of water. So, I wander over to the coffeehouse to get my water, and I see John hanging out in the hallway. I ask him if everything is okay, and he says yes, and tells me that Daniel has been by. Daniel is a homeless man that lives in our neighborhood. At times, Daniel can be pleasant and engaging, but under certain conditions, he can be argumentative and abusive. It seems that on nights that I lead worship (and perhaps on other Wednesday nights as well, but I don't notice it as much) Daniel likes to come in at practice time and start up some arguement with someone in the room. Generally, he poses some sort of trick question and then argues with whichever angle you take. If you catch him and don't answer, then he yells at you for not giving him an answer. After a few minutes, John and I wander back into the sanctuary. If we had stayed in the hall, we probably would have headed this off. But, this was an off night. Daniel wanders in and sits in the back of the sanctuary, on the floor. After about a minute, he begins yelling. His indictment is that we are celebrating his son being murdered, and that he isn't going to stand for it. It takes me a moment before I realize that by his brother he means Jesus. Troy talks to him, but he only becomes more agitated than before. I've hung out with Daniel on several occasions. We tend to get along pretty well. Sometimes I can calm him down in situations like this, and sometimes nobody can. So, I give it a shot, and it doesn't work. After a few minutes, Troy tells me to do some worship. So, I walk up toward the stage, trying to figure out what I'm going to do. Normally, in an improptu situation like this, I would start if off by reprising something from the worship set, but something about that set was off on this night, so I didn't want to do it. But, the song, "God of Wonders" was running through my head, and I have arranged a nice medley with it and a couple of other songs with the same theme, so I went with that. This time, the set was on. What is most striking, to me anyway, about this night is not what happened with Daniel, or with anything that happened on stage. It was what happened after I walked off of the stage. I've lead well over 100 worship sets in my day. Nothing has ever rattled me like this night did. I can't explain it but I'll try. Gererally, whenever we talk about encountering the Holy Spirit, we attribute it two ways. The most common is on an emotional level. We tend to equate certain emotional highs as an encounter with the Holy Spirit. This is probablly true much of the time. The other way is on an intellectual level. Somehow a certain answer or revelation comes to us and we attribute it to the Holy Spirit. Again, I think there is truth in this. As I walked off that stage that night, I was shaking. I was rattled. And it wasn't an emotional response, and it wasn't an intellectual response to what had just happened. It was physical. I could physically feel something in the room. As I became aware of this presence, I also became aware of some of the realities of Daniel's condition, which I won't go into because this is not the forum to do so. So, I stand in the back of the room, feeling this presence that I can't make any sense of. Anyway, as we go into the last segment of the service, I feel that it's going in the wrong direction. Only, I don't know what direction it should go. As we get closer to wrapping it up, things feel off again. Then, as the service closes and we hang out afterward, everything still feels off. I think we missed something that night. At least, I did. I can't explain what, though. Maybe it's just some crazy idea in my head that I can't shake, and I'm the only one who expireneced it, I don't know. I'm certainly no expert on the Holy Spirit. But I'm pretty sure something about that night was off. Maybe we missed our chance. Maybe it was a warning shot, I don't know. Whatever it is, it's going to haunt me for a while . . . posted
by Unknown @ 12:04:00 AM Feb 6, 2006 the big game If not for the NFL rejecting the franchise, yesterday's Super Bowl winner may well have been the Chuck Norris Chuck Norrises. We can only dream . . . posted
by Unknown @ 11:38:00 AM Ten Top Trivia Tips about Billy Dee Williams!
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by Unknown @ 12:12:00 AM Ten Top Trivia Tips about Wilford Brimley!
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by Unknown @ 12:07:00 AM Feb 5, 2006 personal ad According to the placemats at the Chinese resturant, I should hook up with a rat or a monkey. So, if you were born in the years 1936, 1944, 1948, 1956, 1960, 1968, 1972, 1980, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008, then you should get in touch with me. posted
by Unknown @ 2:31:00 PM |
