Incredible Animal of the Week

The Tomato Frog - Amazing.

When threatened, the tomato frog inflates its body. If the predator grabs the tomato frog in its mouth, the frog's skin secretes a thick, whitish substance that gums up the predator's teeth and mouth, causing the predator to release the frog to free up its mouth. The gummy substance clears out of predator's mouth after several days; it contains a toxin that occasionally causes allergic reactions in humans.

I saw the frog do this on Animal Planet and it was amazing. The white stuff is exactly like glue. The snake that tries to eat it goes away with it's mouth stuck shut for up to 2 days! More proof that there has to be a God. Nature is way too incredible for their not to be. Scientists should be the greatest theologians in the world.

Great Band Names, Not Great Music

I've been noticing that many bands that have great names have pretty bad music. Here goes:
The Arcade Fire
The Rapture
The Fiery Furnaces

On the other hand you have bands with really bad names who make good music.
Clem Snide
Grandaddy
The Weakerthans

It's a weird phenomenon. It's tough to come up with a good band name. Apparently some bands spend more time coming up with a cool name than on their music.

Christmas Vacation

Only a few more days and I'm outta here! Woohoo! Can't wait to be back in Illinois with my fiance and family and the snow. There's snow there right? Looking at my blog I can see that I've certainly had enough lists for the end of the year. Done with that.

Yesterday was my last official day at Mosaic. I preached yesterday which went alright. The night service was a little rough however because Gregg and Glenn and I were talking about how you could ever use a certain word that I won't disclose in the sermon. So at this point we were laughing quite a bit and in a silly mood. When I was speaking I was at a pretty serious point in the message when I see Gregg standing in the doorway at the back of the auditorium and give me a goofy grin and wave. At this point I start laughing right in the middle of this story and lose everyone. They are all just looking at me like, "What's wrong with this dude?" So I said, "I'm sorry guys, Gregg just made a goofy face and made me laugh" at which point Gregg started rolling around in the hallway on the floor along with Glenn because they were laughing so hard. Oh man, we can't be around each other without laughing. Our prayer meetings always get out of control and now we can't even preach without losing it. Oh, it was a fun last Sunday. I will miss it.

Most Anticipated Releases of 2005

I am hoping this is going to be a better year for music than 04. It was pretty rough. Any year that Franz Ferdinand have the best record and are referred to as the "saviors of rock" you know it's a pretty poor year for music. So anyway, here are the releases that I am looking forward to hearing. In order of my excitement:

Denison Witmer - titled "Are You A Dreamer?" Spring '05
Weezer - Spring '05
Brand New - Currently Recording
The Stills - Sometime 2005
The Postal Service - Not sure but definitely 2005
Counting Crows - please be less produced than Hard Candy! Please???
OK Go - Soon

I'm hoping that on top of these there will be some creative new bands that come out this year that aren't just a copy of what's cool right now. For further discussion on this see my post "I hate the Strokes for doing this to music." Don't try to argue either because I'm right. If you don't believe me then you can just go out, buy a vintage suit and tie, grow your hair out until it's real messy and go play some garage rock.

A Few Unsupported, Subjective Statements

-Oceans Twelve - Sucks Big Time

-People who email me and spell my city Man Hatten - Not too bright.

-Straight Plan for the Gay Man on Comedy Central - Genious

-www.heebmagazine.com - The Jewish Relevant Magazine

-Not being able to think of more than four subjective statements - just as bright as the guy who spelled Manhattan wrong.

Top 5 Concerts of 2004

I don't know why but I love making lists, especially at the end of the year. Every magazine does it and I usually am not satisfied with them. Case in point. Greatest guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone. #9. Jack White. #41. Eric Clapton. #73. Les Paul Are you serious? Jack White? That almost made me puke. Anyway, I'm sure people could care less what the top five concerts I've seen this year are but I'm going to tell you anyway because I write down everyone I see and I've seen 35 bands perform this year! Man, imagine all that money I could have saved right now. Crap. Anyway, here goes:

1. Death Cab For Cutie - Bowery Ballroom
2. The Decemberists - Bowery Ballroom
3. OK Go - Mercury Lounge
4. Ben Folds - Bowery Ballroom (this was cool because it was a private show - WooHoo)
5. Pedro the Lion - Northsix

Honorable Mentions: Blindside - CBGB's

Worst Show of the Year: Starflyer 59 (they played with tracks!)

Anyone see anybody cool this year?

12 Favorite Crows

August and Everything After:
Round Here
Perfect Blue Buildings
Sullivan Street (I think about this every time I walk by Sullivan Street here in the village)
Raining in Baltimore

Recovering the Satellites:
Long December (seriously, is there a more beautiful song out there?)
Walkaways (the best 1 minute song you'll ever hear)
Goodnight Elisabeth
Daylight Fading
Children in Bloom

Hard Candy:
Black and Blue
Holiday in Spain

Across a Wire:
Angels of the Silences (Storytellers)

Notice how many selection are from This Desert Life. Hahahaha.

Out of all of those my favorite Counting Crows song of all time would be......................
Round Here - I was only about 13 when this came out but it made me go, "Whoa, music is powerful". This is one of the songs that really made me get interested (addicted) to music.

Changes

It's weird making a transition in life as we all know by this point. In three weeks I will be done with Mosaic Manhattan and begin work on another church plant that doesn't have a name yet www.manhattanpartnership.org. It's going to be hard to leave. I've been here for almost three years and was the first person on staff with Gregg. Everything the church has been through, i have experienced right along with it. It's hard to think and plan for the next year with the staff knowing that I will not be around to see any of it. I know that this is what needs to happen right now. I've learned a lot in the past 3 years at Mosaic and now I feel like I can be a bigger part of this next church plant being a better leader and having made many mistakes that we will not need to repeat again. It's an exciting time but also kind of a sad time. There have been so many good times here and have had so many laughs with everyone it's going to be hard to say goodbye to all of that.

Dustin's 2004 What The F Award.......

We Have a Winner

Goes to Kings of Leon for their new release Aha Shake Heartbreak. I listened to this album tonight and I don't know what to say. I can honestly say that I liked their first effort Youth and Young Manhood. I thought it was pretty cool but i don't know what this album is all about. I guess I can say i like a few songs but some of these songs sound like....well, just download the song Day Old Blue and I will guarantee you that you will laugh out loud. You might think you like it as it begins. I thought it was good and then the chorus happened and I am speechless. Can't wait to hear your response.

The Radical Reformission

I read Mark Driscoll's book a few weeks ago. This is a thought provoking and laugh out loud book in places. The most impressive aspect is that you can really hear his heart in this book. I think he gets it. I love the whole chapter that precedes this short quote. He's very honest about his own self righteousness right before this section, i hope you get a chance to read the whole thing.

"Self-righteousness has so seeped into American Christianity that being a missionary to one's neighbors is easily overlooked because of the sickness of our faith. How sick are we when the most popular books among American Christians are about how to get blessed by praying a small section of Old Testament Scripture like a pagan mantra, and about the Rapture, as if the goal of the Christian life were to get more junk and leave this trailer park of a planet before God's tornado touches down on all the sinners? Only through repentant eyes will we see that God has a plan, by the power of the gospel of grace, to build a community of transformed people."

Finally Found the Love of a Lifetime

No this is not going to be a mushy post about Kelli although yes Kelli you are my love of a lifetime. Back to the matter at hand. I was listening to some random stuff last night when I ran across Firehouse's Love of a Lifetime. Like John I was instantly taken to up to a vision, an age where it was encouraged to tight roll your jeans but more specifically to a day in 1993 at a Junior High dance when I had found a love of a lifetime. I can't remember her name but I know she was special. We danced all night long, never coming too close to looking into each other's eyes but i will never forget the way I held her with outstretched arms at the sides of her waist as Firehouse came on. I can only imagine how envious the teachers were as they gazed on to a floor of 100 13 year olds in hopeless love. Those were the days.

My Fiance Is a Swinger

Nice fake excited face Kelli. Very well done.

I'm Dating a Marshallette

This Thanksgiving weekend I am spending with my fiance in her hometown of Marshall, Illinois (near Terre Haute). I've never been around here but it is nice to drive along the downtown square with the Christmas lights already in place, to eat at the town Pizza Hut that still takes pride in their franchise, play Texas Hold em with Kelli's family and almost actually win, laugh as Kelli tells her Grandma to "Go to bed you old lady" after her grandma got on her for wanting to hang out at the towny bar (which i'm excited to do-it's been a while since i've had a cold Coors light), hear Kelli's dad say, "that bridge was slicker than a cat's butt", and get a driving tour of every event that happened in Kelli's life. This is a great weekend! God bless the small towns.

A Special Thank You....

I want to take this second to thank Wilco for breaking the boring mold of modern music and bringing something fresh to the table. As I sat on the airplane to Indianapolis after a 2 hour delay the day before Thanksgiving I selected A Ghost is Born as something to get me through the bumpy flight. I was glad that I did! I had listened to the album a few times before that but this time it struck me differently. Musically, this album is so beyond anything I have heard lately it blows my mind. These guys are damned good musicians! And lyrically I left with a sense of hope. After all that the Tweedster has apparently been through it is good to hear it in his voice. Thank you Wilco for giving us something that wasn't prepackaged and didn't sound like The Strokthrillvinehiveinterpyeahyeahsucks!

For those about to ROCK!

Engaged!

This weekend I surprised Kelli down in Tampa and on Thursday night I asked her to marry me. She said no and I was drunk the rest of the weekend. Just kidding. It was an incredible evening and such a great surprise. I will never forget her face. The next night we went over to Clearwater Beach where we had a 3 hour dinner cruise and dance. It was a lot of fun. Looks like the wedding will be down in Florida this August. One thing I notice right away from this picture is that my face has gotten fat. Damn. You know it's fat when you mention that to your fiance and she doesn't argue with you. I'm going to the gym tomorrow. I've got to get in shape. By the way, check out that rock on her finger. If you would like the appraisal price just let me know and I'll send you a copy of the form.

Music You Should Check Out Part IV

Mack
www.purevolume.com/brevada (Mack was one of my interns this summer and I think his music is REALLY good. I suggest playing "To the End of the World" His whole CD rocks however. http://www.brevada.com/

Music You Should Check Out Part III

Brad

http://www.bradotts.com/ (Brad has been coming to Mosaic for a while too. He moved here from Austin and is in my life group. He has more of a folk rock sounds which I really appreciate. He played at Mosaic a few times. We really like this guy too.

Music You Should Check Out Part I

Kurty P
www.purevolume.com/sexsells (Kurt is my boy. He lives by me in the East Village and we watch Monday night footballl together. I suggest listening too "I Never Liked Sleeping Alone"

Music You Should Check Out Part II

The Rocket Summer

http://www.therocketsummer.com/ (this guy has been coming to Mosaic for a while, he just finished a headlining tour and is working on his new cd. His record label is the Militia Group which is the same as Denison Witmer, Copeland, etc. Check out his past tour shows. Pretty impressive stuff. Notic that Radiohead is listed there.)

Live at Bowery Ballroom

Pedro

Last night I saw Pedro the Lion at Bowery Ballroom. Sons and Daughters opened and the coolest thing about them was that they were from Scotland, that's about it. Starflyer 59 was next and the music was good, i enjoyed it but there was a guitarist/singer and drummer and everything else was on a track. I was VERY disappointed. Why do I want to listen to everything on a CD track and hear a guy play guitar and sing to it. It's like being in a bad church or something and hearing a song sang over a track. Terriblly boring to watch.

And then Pedro. He played a looooooong set which was awesome. I really enjoyed it. Wished he would have played more off of Control and It's Hard to Find a Friend and less from Achilles Heal. I really only like about 4 tracks off of that album, thought the rest to be disappointing but hey, he's not playing just for me. Other people seemed to enjoy the new stuff which is cool. While I lost some respect for Pedro in the past year for his "flip flopping" with pretty much everything (got that word from the debates, sorry), i do respect his thought provoking songs and good storytelling ability. I could listen to Pedro the Lion for days on end and be content. Great show. A+

The Great Lake State

Sufjan Stevens 

I started listening to Sufjan a few weeks ago and at first I wasn't sure what to think. I first heard of him from a magazine and also saw that Denison Witmer toured in his band this summer. I checked out his first cd Seven Swans which is very passionate and thought provoking so I thought I would check out Greetings From Michigan which is really a concept record if you look through the track listing. The music is very diverse in it's use of several instruments I've never even heard of. The cool thing is, Sufjan is going to be in Brooklyn playing at a club next Saturday and a friend of mine Brad Otts has been talking with Sufjan quite a bit on the phone about music. Sufjan invited him to sit down and talk a little more after his show. Luckily, as always, I get to tag along! WOOHOO. Looking forward to meeting him after hearing his music. I LOVE HAVING FRIENDS WHO KNOW PEOPLE.

Five Things I Find Overrated:

1. Elliot Smith (Sorry, i know everyone is supposed to love him but it puts me to sleep. Boring as hell)
2. Starbucks Holiday Cookies (I'm not sure if anyone ever thought they were good so maybe they're just not rated)
3. John Kerry (Not sure why everyone thinks he is the savior of the universe)
4. A Rod (No one deserves this much money, what a waste)
5. Apple Computers (Sorry Kirk and others but i've had nothing but problems with these. I think their marketing is about all the do well. I honestly believe there are three reasons most people own Mac's :
A. They want to be contrarian.
B. They bought hardcore into the marketing.
C. They're really into graphic design or video editing which is totally legitimate.

For those who have Mac's and don't do anything with music, video or graphics please see reasons A and B.

No need to get ticked off Mac people, i know some of you evangelize more about Mac computers than Jesus but they're not all that great. They look nice so that's good.

side note......

The last thing I expected from U2 was for them to sell out like this. Especially to Apple. It almost makes me want to throw up. I guess money can do anything.

Halloween Crap

I had a really good comedy performance tonight. I really felt like I had the crowd from the beginning which was fun. Got to meet a lot of other comedians and get to know them a little before the show down in the lounge. The guy I performed after did a few shows with Seinfeld back in 81 so that was pretty cool. Only 16000 degrees of separation!

I just got home a little while ago and i'm pretty tired and as I walked into my apartment building there were about 100 people in the courtyard area having a big Halloween party. How freaking irritating. I can't hear anything but them yelling and screaming in my apartment. How am i going to get any sleep? I've got to preach two services tomorrow too. This sucks. I should call the cops. Or I could go join them. Not sure which one to do yet.

Rick's Election Garbage

http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpcolumn.asp?ID=1594

I can't believe he sent this out to everyone on the mailing list.
"HEY EVERYBODY VOTE FOR BUSH" says Rick.

"To me, that is inexcusable (not voting) when you consider what the Bible says about our responsibility as citizens"

Tell me Rick, what does the Bible say about our responsibility as citizens? Which translation do you want to use? NLT, NIV, NET, RWV, or maybe all of them?

I just think there are more issues than these to think about before voting for anybody. I feel like God is concerned about more than just these five things. I'm not even sure these are the most important things. Well, if I can't figure it out maybe I will pick up the latest album by punk rockers who dropped out of high school. They've got to know how to vote right?

Sorry, I have an anger problem. I'm working on it.

Happy Halloween

Dustkin
My friend Bill Reiter did this. Thanks Bill.

Lip Synching - Bad for Everyone, Mostly Ashlee

http://media.ebaumsworld.com/index.php?e=ashlee-snl.wmv

Most People saw Ashlee Simpson's performance on SNL but here it is if you would like to watch and laugh again. As she was beginning to lip synch her song there was an error with the track and it exposed her (sound familiar?). This of course had to be terribly embarrassing which is why she leaves but here is a question, "Is lip synching fair or is it fradulantly misleading?"

If I am a fan tuning in to see my favorite act, i don't want to see them stand there and listen to the CD I already have in my apartment. I want to hear them LIVE! How can you promote something as "live" if it is not "live". Would you agree with that?

There needs to be a disclaimer. Something that scrolls on the screen and says "This performance is pre recorded." Would anyone be offended by that unless they were talentless artists to begin with????

http://www.insideedition.com/investigative/lip-synch.htm

This article is also interesting and I think this dude had a good point. Why should a person stand in line for hours and pay 85 dollars a ticket when nothing that happens that night is actually going to be "live". It's all prerecorded. How can you book a live performance, sell tickets and then not deliver a live performance. It's completely unethical and wrong. You suck Brittney Spears. You suck.

Donald Miller

Good Read

I loved this book! I felt like I have thought some of the same things in life but have not been able to articulate those thoughts with words. That's why I love how he writes. His stories are incredible and funny and he really has some brilliant thoughts in this book. I liked Blue Like Jazz but after all the hype it received I was a little disappointed. I thought this was one of the better books I have read in a while. Explains so much of why we do what we do. Get this one.

If You Can Dodge Traffic, You Can Dodge A Ball.

We had our Dodgeball Tournament at NYU last night. 16 Teams Played! It was a great night, there were probably around 130 people that showed up to participate. The NYU Men's Volleyball team ended up winning, they were pretty tough to beat. One of my favorite points of the evening was when a kid team (we had three) beat an NYU team. There were one man left on each side and the kid ended up winning. The place went absolutely crazy and his teammates carried him around the gym jumping around celebrating. It was an awesome time!

It was one of the most stressful evenings of my life. On the way to set up I was pulled over by a traffic cop who had a little powertrip going on so i almost got myself arrested, I rear ended a vehicle (the guy didn't really care, just checked out his car and told me to have a good night, he must have been gellin), dropped my phone in a mud puddle as I stepped out of the van, said the F Word and meant it several times during this excusion. Tough night but it ended up being awesome. I heard one of the volleyball players say on the way out to a friend on the phone, "This was one of the funnest nights I've ever had." Pretty cool. That made it worth it. Hope they make it to Mosaic sometime.

Favorite joke of the night. A 12 year old boy came up to me with a sad look on his face and said, "Dustin, I was suspended from school last week." To which i said, "For what?" And he said as he flexed his arm muscles, "For having these guns." His friends started dying laughing. Man, fifth graders are the best!

If I Could Be Five Rock Stars I Would Be......

1. Dave Grohl
2. Adam Duritz*
3. Eddie Vedder **
4. Ryan Adams ***
5. Jim James(My Morning Jacket)

*before Hard Candy (he really sold out here folks, come on look at his hair in the CD cover.)
**before he got all political
***minus his stupid antics and dumb monologues during concerts

Jeremy Camp = Michael Bolton

My friend and co-worker Kim is listening to him right now and it's driving me crazy. The guitar is the cheesiest thing I've ever heard, plus those added electronic sounds don't help anything. His voice seriously sounds like they put a guy from Avalon in a band with a distorted guitar and called it a day. Terrible. More embarrasment to the Christian Community. Man, we need to start making some good music. Switchfoot is about all we have in the market right now I believe. Is there any others?

My Hero

EDMOND, Okla. - A man staged a fake home invasion so he could impress his wife by chasing off the supposed bad guys, police said.

On Monday night, a 27-year-old man and his 31-year-old wife reported that two males in ski masks broke into the house, bound her hands with duct tape and put her in the bathroom.

The man was not home at the time.

He told police he came home and scared the men away, hitting one of them with a two-by-four.

Police spokeswoman Glynda Chu said the invaders were a juvenile and an 18-year-old man, who had been told it was a practical joke by the woman's husband.
One told his parents what happened, and they notified police.

Chu said the homeowner told police it was a hoax when he was questioned Tuesday. He told police he was trying to convince his wife he was a hero, and had asked the two teenagers to stage the break-in, police said.
No arrests were made and police did not release the names of the people involved.

Church for Normal People????

I went back to my hometown, a small farming community last month. I was able to spend time with family still living in the area who are not interested in attending church. My uncle Mike actually thought it necessary to tell me, “I don’t have a problem with Jesus, he was a pretty cool dude, I just hate the church. All they ever want is my f***ing money.”

I spent time with another uncle of mine who is a working class man with a small house and few possessions who is also not part of a church community. Why? Several reasons probably but one reason may be because churches are not real concerned with him. When is the last time a church was started next to a trailer park? When was the last mass mailing that included it? When was the last outreach event that involved anything that might interest the working class? (Although I did hear about a car show that turned out awesome for Westbrook in Bolingbrook)

The church is great if you work at State Farm Insurance, are middle/upper class, drive a nice car and eat at upscale places. I think many suburban churches around the country are missing out on thousands of people because they have not considered the working class a priority. Why? Is it because they have no money? Is it because we do not know how to relate to the working class? Is there room for the working class in church? Do we hire blue collar men and women who will be able to relate to people who are not highly educated? Where is the construction worker ministry? Where are convenient store workers on Sunday? Why aren’t janitors involved in small groups? I’m not criticizing the church, I love the church which is why I am a pastor. And I’m also sure that there are churches out there reaching this demographic so don’t get pissed and say, “you’re stupid, just look at my church.” I’m just realizing lately that those who we would consider in a lower income bracket/blue collar/working class/however you wish to classify it do not get the attention that those with stable jobs who live in nice neighborhoods get. I would love to hear other thoughts on this.

Denison for senator

I'm not sure there is any better fall music than this guy.

Three Things...

I like....
1. Denison Witmer's Music
2. Deli Pickles
3. Ping Pong


I dislike....
1. Jeremy Camp's Music
2. Ingrown Toenails. OUCH.
3. Clogged Showers

My Beautiful Business woman

Giddy Up

Things that I find strange....

1. People who sing harmony when there are 20 people in a room singing worship songs.
2. Ok, that is really the only thing I find strange right now.
3. Sorry to get your hopes up.
4. Man, I can't think of anything.
5. Nevermind.

Music that feels like this.....

There is certain music that fits the theme of fall, the winding down of a year, the reflection that usually takes place during this time, the feeling you get when you walk outside and it's starting to get cold. Here are a few of the things that I enjoy in the fall:

CD's:
Toad the Wet Sprocket - Fear
My Morning Jacket - At Dawn
Counting Crows - August and Everything After (Makes Sense)
Whiskeytown - Strangers Almanac
Azure Ray - Azure Ray
Denison Witmer - Safe Away

Songs:
Ben Kweller - In Other Words
Pedro the Lion - The Longer I Lay Here
My Morning Jacket - Bermuda Highway
Gin Blossoms - As Long As It Matters
Denison Witmer - These Days
Ben Folds - Magic
Toad the Wet Sprocket - I Will Not Take These Things For Granted
Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

Josh's Wedding 

I hate the Strokes for doing this to music.

The Strokes took music in a direction that I wish never would have happened. After the Strokes, Hives, Vines came out all pretty much at the same time music has been doomed for copycat after copycat in the last five years. I'm not against The Strokes, Hives, Vines but tired ot the wearisome copying. I'm so tired of The French Kicks, The Kills, The Libertines, The Shins, The White Stripes, especially The Yeah Yeah Yeah's, Jet, and yes, even Franz Ferdinand. All this crap sounds the same. I'm so bored. Now every song sounds exactly like Last Nite by the Strokes. Come on, you don't believe me? Listen to every song by Jet. I hope they start concerning themselves more on the music than how they look. Yes we know, you're all creative, you wear ties while you play rock music and some of you even wear blazers. Wow! Impressive!
Anyone listening to anything creative these days? I'd love to hear any suggestions.

Good Find From Last Year

The Wrens

I just read about this band so I downloaded a bit from the record and it's very good. Besides having a great cover, the music is surprisingly upbeat, muffled, filled with electronics and original, well, as much as you can be anymore. Check it out.

I'm a Real New Yorker

Tonight it finally happened. I feel like my 2 1/2 years have paid off living here. Tonight as I was walking along 3rd St. and Ave. B I was solicited by a prostitute. She (or he maybe, not sure) was a tall black woman (man, still not sure). She had an unbelievably short skirt on, in fact it was above her underwear (panties, whatever you prefer). She walked straight up to me and said, "How much baby?" I didn't really know what to say so I said, "How's 50 dollars?" Just kidding, I kept walking but it was a celebratory walk. There were actually quite a few prostitutes over in that area.

The night got even better when I was talking on the phone to Kelli standing outside on Ave. A. Five college girls came by and one of them said, "Oh baby, look at you, those tight jeans, that hot shirt, I just want to........................(taken out because it is too dirty to repeat). And then they were all cheering for me as they walked away and one girl grabbed her ass and growled. Wow, I was flying high!

And then as I walked to my building there he was. A man standing in the crosswalk peeing. He wasn't trying to hide it, in fact he was facing oncoming people traffic. Wow, I feel at home here. You can see everything on my block. Come visit, we'll have a good time I promise.

Brilliant!

This whole thing is hilarious. Kind of like The Onion but based on the Church and written from people who know the church pretty well. Oh man, i'm still dying over here.

http://larknews.com

Thought these were particularly funny.
Some of my favs. http://larknews.com/august_2004/secondary.php?page=6

http://larknews.com/july_2004/secondary.php?page=4

http://larknews.com/may_2004/secondary.php?page=4

http://larknews.com/may_2004/secondary.php?page=6

This is really well done. Read through the whole thing.

At Dawn

My Morning Jacket 

This is one of my favorite albums of all time. It is absolutely beautiful lyrically and musically. It is very raw sounding, almost muffled but the more you listen to it you can tell that it is just how this band sounds. It's different. It took me a few times of listening to it for it really to connect with me. It is a band you would like to see in a small bar after a few drinks sitting down. Incredible. I would suggest giving it a listen if you like depressing music as much as i do.

Two Favorite Tracks:
1. Death is the Easy Way
2. Bermuda Highway

Laundry is Stressful

For some reason doing laundry always stresses me out. I have this fear that I'm going to get my clothes ready, carry the 800 pound bag over to the laundrymat and there's going to be no washer's available. It's going to be packed and I'm going to have to wait around forever and fight other people for washers and dryers. I think something is wrong with me. That is my greatest fear doing laundry. I don't mind the actual laundry part. It's a good chance to sit down, relax and read although it is 90 degrees in the place, eventually you get used to it. Taking the clothes back in the bag is stressful too because i'm afraid that by the time i walk across the street to my apartment the clothes are going to be wrinkled and I don't know how to use an iron. Hmmmm. Laundry is filled with lots of fears. I have to pray before I go to remain calm.

THE BOOK IS FINALLY OUT!!!!!

THE BOOK IS FINALLY OUT!!!! 
Woohoo, I just got a copy of The Relevant Church in which I wrote chapter 11 and the book turned out good. It's got a good look to it and the other chapters are good. I read Mark Driscoll's and Alex McManus' so far and they're better than mine, no surprise there. Oh well, it was exciting to see just the same.

So buy your copy now! www.relevantbooks.com.

I don't know why i'm trying to sell this to you. I don't get any extra money if you buy it! I got ripped off.

D

Bicycle Mayhem

Last night I was walking to meet some friends at Niagara on 8th and Ave. A. and I ran into Critical Mass which is a big bicycle tour that happens every month in Manhattan. This involved thousands of bicyclists peddling through Manhattan and shutting down traffic for a few hours. It's generally pretty crazy but this time it was more chaotic because of protests of President Bush being in town with the RNC next week. There are a ton of protests planned this next week which is going to make getting around a pain. I have heard protestors complaining that the RNC is disrupting the city when in reality the only people disrupting the city are the protestors themselves. Protesting never does anything, all it does is prove that you don't have the power to make decisions. If you did you wouldn't have to protest so keep displaying your weak presence in the city and we'll all keep laughing.

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/27683.htm

My Girlfriend Has Taken Over My Blog! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

It's amusing to me how women take over. We take over situations, problems, children (even if they aren't our own), other women, but most of all MEN. i'm sorry men but once you fall in love your life is no longer what you thought it once was.
your time is not your own.your money is not your own.
your TV is not your own.your food is not your own.
your clothes are not your own.
your decisions are not your own.
your laundry soap isn't even your own.
your life is not your own.

we have entered it and quite frankly feel as though we need to do some "house cleaning" for lack of a better phrase. but there's no need to feel that this "intrusion" is a hostile takeover. rather, women see this "union" as well, a pajama party. every girl that has ever walked this planet has attended a pajama party. (for those of you females who have not, please call me and we'll have one. although i'm 25, i'm still a sucker! for a pajama party.) i digress, it was at these pajama parties where every girl learned ALL they needed to know about relationships in the future. you must understand that pajama parties have it all - friendhsip, joy, junk food, games, laughter, junk food, hurt feelings, crying, apologies, junk food, secrets, scary movies, junk food, security, late night talking, junk food, sharing covers, sleeping in, continued friendship and still more junk food. all kinds of drama converge on these specific nights to shake things up a bit and help us girls develope not only our character but our dedication to friendship. it was here that women learned how to share life, both the ups and the downs. we shared every feeling whether joy or pain. we shared emotions whether laughter or crying. we shared security in friendship and moments of fear. we shared late nights and early mornings. we shared clothes and covers, beauty secrets and bathrooms,! junk food and jokes. we learned relationships in these moments when we were together 24/7 through the ups and downs of girlhood. so, when we barge into your life stealing the remote and cleaning your kitchen it's because we love you men. you must remember it's hard on us as well. we commit to entering a stinky (sorry guys) environment with hopes of vanilla bean candles and window treatments. i promise we come in peace. i promise we mean no harm (to your ego atleast). i promise we will watch Sports Center if you just let us pluck your unibrow. i also promise that once you experience one of our pajama parties you will be just as hooked. you will love our friendship, games, junk food, fights and making up, secrets, late night talking, sharing covers, sleeping in, and unconditional love. your life wasn't really that great before us anyway, right?

Random Songs I'm Listening to......

The Shining - Badly Drawn Boy
These Days - Denison Witmer
Reach For The Sun - The Polyphonic Spree
Everyone Choose - The Wrens
New Born - Muse
Greenwich Time - Jay Farrar (Good if you like Alt-Country)
I Will Find You - Simon Joyner
If You Stay Sober - Shearwater
On Fire - Sebadoh

Good Article

http://www.the-next-wave.org/stories/storyReader$315

Good Thought From Henri Nouwen

"As you bring your body home, you will be more able to discern with your whole being the value of other people's spiritual experiences and their conceptualization. You will be able to understand the appreciate them without deisring to imitate them. You will be more self-confident and free to claim your unique place in life as God's gift to you. There will be no need for comparisons. Trust that you too have a unique vocation that is worth claiming and living out faithfully. " The Inner Voice of Love.

There is hope that someday we will stop comparing ourselves with others, imitating others, trying to please others and be able to be the person God wants us to be and nothing more.

YEEEEEEEEEEEHAW

Wow, now there are some hotties.

Some People Just Don't Get It

http://www.thecra.org/2004%20Editorials.htm

This is an embarrassment to the Christian Church and more importantly Jesus Christ. These people at The Restoration Herald need to start ministering to people in their community. That way they won't have time to tear down people for working at a church outside of their tiny little denomination. If this wasn't a denomination like the Restoration Movement Churches are always claiming then they probably wouldn't be this upset that I'm working at a Baptist Church. This makes me sick. Lord have mercy on the church.

The Restoration Movement (movement or two day revival?)

I'm starting to question not that some sort of movement happened but rather the extent of this movement and the impact it had on the church in the United States. After being in New York City for two years and being in contact with several different denominations it has come to my attention that NO ONE has heard of the Restoration Movement, no one has heard of Alexander Campbell or Barton Stone or any of those guys. When I bring it up around church leaders of other denominations they have no idea what I am talking about. This has made me question how important this so called movement was in the first place if no one else has heard of it besides some people who come from the Midwest. I'm not doubting that these things happened, i'm just not sure it was the huge revival that everyone makes it out to be. Actually i'm doubting that it was that impactful at all based on my discussions. I'm not trying to trash Restoration Movement churches but after being here for a few years it seems like most of them are behind on the times a little bit. The denominations that I see doing groundbreaking work are the Presbyterians and the Baptists. If you look at the churches that are doing incredible things i.e. Mosaic in LA, Fellowship Church, Solomon's Porch, Mars Hill, Spirit Garage, none of them are Independent Christian Churches. It's not that Christian Churches aren't doing well, it's just that I've realized that other denominations tend to stay in their circles (me included) and don't really know what is going on outside of their little circle of churches. And yes, we are a little circle of churches compared to what is going on out there. I'm just tired of seeing people sold out to their denomination over Christ and after the article from my last post, that is exactly what I'm seeing. These people worship the Restoration Movement and are exclusive to any other denomination. That is not the Restoration Movement I read about in class. That actually seemed like a cool thing, how i am seeing it play out is not anything I want to be a part of. I wish you could just start a church and not have to play the bullshit denominational games because that is all it is. In the long run i doubt God is going to care who was Baptist, who was Independent Christian Church, who was Presbyterian. I think God will care more about who is following Jesus Christ with their lives.

Typical Mission Team Member at the End of the Week

Moving On Up

I'm not homeless anymore praise God. I had to move out of my old apartment on Friday morning and then could not move into my new place in the East Village until Tuesday morning. Ouch! I hate not having a place to sleep, more less not having a place just to sit down and relax during the evening. This morning me and some friends moved my stuff into my little, tiny, closet of an apartment on East 11th St. after driving our huge Mosaic trailer clear through Lower Manhattan. That was scary. Things started off poorly when we got to the Suburban that pulls the trailer and it didn't start. Dead as a doornail. After having it jumped things sped along quickly and we got it finished. Hopefully by tonight I will have air conditioning installed in my window. Please God! Please!!!! I would say my apartment is about 300 square feet total. Enough room for a bed, a couch and a chair. that's about it. It's a great neighborhood though. The people around there are my age and it is just loaded with bars and lounges which will be fun. I can't wait to be a part of that neighborhood. My apartment is considerably smaller but i am very happy with where I live. Woohoo.

Farenheit 911 - Michael Moore

I enjoyed Bowling for Columbine. Farenheit 911 however was not my favorite. It was manipulative, over emotional and lacking in truth to some extent. There was a lot of speculation and many conclusions drawn that I'm not sure about. I am not a Bush fan, in fact I would agree that the war was for false reasons, that is pretty apparent to anyone who has read much about politics in the last few years. I would agree that Bush is an unintelligent speaker and has said many stupid things (See end of movie for much footage of that). In this election however, we are not getting dealt much of an alternative. It's funny here in NYC how many people think that if John Kerry is elected everything is going to change. There will still be troops in Iraq for the next 4 years. That is the beauty of democracy, one man does not make the decisions. As for who to vote for, i'm not sure it really matters much, it's another election we will spend picking the lesser of two evils. George Bush has lied about much for personal and family gain but at the same time John Kerry doesn't really stand for anything. Who do you pick in this election? Your thoughts please?

I WILL PUNCH YOU IN THE OVARY!

I saw Anchorman this weekend and it was hilarious. There were a few parts where I was crying I was laughing so hard. There is no storyline but besides that, it is very creative. It's not the same old jokes. A good comedy doesn't come along very often. It's been pretty sad the last few years. Let's take a look:

Along Came Polly - blah,
50 First Dates - blah,
White Chicks - blah,
Mean Girls - good,
School of Rock - blah (sorry, i really didn't think it was very funny),
Bad Santa - terrible.
Saved - good,
Anchorman - WOOHOO.

I'm excited for some new good comedies to come out. Will Ferrell for Vice President!

Leadership is hard. I think one of the most difficult aspects of leading is that you have to lead even when you don't want to lead. Sometimes one of the last things you want to do is take charge, lead a small group, preach, or even lead by example. Everything in you screams against it in fact. But in those moments you develop leadership skills for life and you struggle through your desires, take a deep breath and force yourself to be the leader you know you are somewhere inside. And hopefully, that is when we develop some of our best leadership skills. Right? I'm not sure yet.

PECULIER PUB

My friend Bill Clark and I meet every Thursday at the Peculier (yes, it's spelled wrong on purpose) Pub on Bleecker St. to talk about life, culture and ministry. Bill is a professor at NYU and is a pretty big authority in the field of political science. He is brilliant when talking about the church.

One thought he brought up that stuck with me was how our job as pastors is not to do the ministry but to empower other people to do ministry. The people in the church should be doing far more "ministry" than the pastors. I feel like many churches that I have experienced do not create the chemistry to produce this mindset. The mindset is, "well, you should talk to the pastor" or "let's get some interns to cover these job roles." The jobs that interns are taking here in NYC should be being done by members of the church rather than people we hire from different parts of the country. The two leadership journey interns we got for college ministry are really taking roles that shoudl have been filled by people in the church. But now these people are getting ripped off because they are having their opportunities to participate in ministry minimized.

When people decide to do ministry they think of becoming pastors when really pastors do less ministry than people that work regular jobs. We spend less time with people outside the church (mostly due to other people having jobs outside of the church). The question pastors should be asking is not "how can I do ministry in this church and community?" but rather, "how can I help these 200, 400, 2000 people to do ministry in this church and this community. 2000 ministers go a lot further in the community than 4 or 5 pastors can. It makes sense that some smaller churches don't grow because the pastor won't let it. He's made the church think that he is the one who does the ministry and a church can never grow past how many people this man can know. Any thoughts? Man, the things you can think of over a cold Belhaven Scottish Ale. MMMMMM.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

This week we have had two mission teams from Texas here helping us out at Mosaic. I wish I could say that I enjoy that part of my job but I honestly dread every day of it. I think most of it has to do with so much work and so little response to anything we do. How many hundred dozen Krispy Kreme donuts can I hand out with teams in the morning before we see ONE person come to a service? Praise God this is my last summer working with mission teams because i'm worn out. Today one of the men brought a bull horn thing that he used to make stupid comments as they handed out donuts such as "Donuts are free and so is Jesus." Man, who are these people? Didn't take long for us to take his batteries. It's not that they don't have a good heart and are sincere with their actions but you just can't make them understand NYC culture quick enough to not alienate people. Which leads me to rule #1 - NO mission teams from the deep south, it's just not worth it.

I know we need supporters and this is a way to plug people into our church but these are things that people the church should be doing, not people from around the country. I just think that when a man from Texas offers a donut to a Wall St. Exec, "Y'all want a donut." it may just be turning more people off to Mosaic than getting people interested. This leads me to rule #2 - NO mission teams after the official launch of my church plant East Village Junction.

Buy this CD Now! Castaways and Cutouts. Different from most of the corporate music on the radio. No they don't sound like Nickelback. Not everyone can "rock" that hard. Hehehehe.