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.  

Posting pictures is so fun, i can't stop. Someone guess who this handsome man is? Hahahahaha.  

My First Comedy Show: March of 2003 

THE DECEMBERISTS! WOW!

Last night a new friend of mine Adam and I went to see The Decemberists at Bowery Ballroom. It was one of the best shows I have seen since I have been here and I have seen A LOT of shows. They are incredibly unique musically. I have never heard a voice like Colin's before nor heard music involving that many instruments. They had everything! Accordion, steel guitar, upright bass, flute, a big band bass drum and a woman drummer. You don't see too many of those. If you haven't heard The Decemberists, check them out. I would listen to their EP first which is just called Five Songs. And then check out Castaways and Cutouts. I'm not trying to be a music snob because that is just irritating but it's sad to see a band so talented musically not be commercially succesful and then you watch TV and see bands like Nickelback, Puddle of Mudd, Matchbox 20, bands who just started playing instruments when they decided, "Hey it would be cool to start a generic rock band." What a sad day but at the same time if bands like The Decemberists were commercially successful on a large scale I wouldn't get to see them in a venue that only holds 500 people either. So I guess it works out for me, it's just unfortunate for them.

Are you happy now Kelli? Hehehehehe.  

Check this link out. My book comes out on August 24th. Alright, I didn't write a whole book, just a chapter.

www.relevantstore.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=118

Dustin Washington 

Thursday night I had dinner with my neighbor who happens to be homosexual and lives with
his boyfriend. This evening he was with another man Brian whom I guess he is cheating on his live-in boyfriend with. Also present was Karen, a woman who legitimately had questions about being a pastor and Christianity. The other two were drunk most of the night but talking with Karen made it worth the four hours and annoyance.
I have to admit that I was uncomfortable when she started talking about her strap on dildo that she used to use on her boyfriend. Could have done without that info, or all the talkof anal sex. I still don't understand why you would want to do that. Mitch Fatel, one of my favorite comics always says, "I don't understand it, I've never been dissatisfied with the vagina. I've never thought, man, i am so bored, if only there were someplace else to put this."

The first thing that Karen and the boys were wondering was, "Have you had sex before?" So that was interesting. I was like an animal at the zoo. The night was good because I thinkI cleared up some misconceptions about Christianity and what it means to be a pastor because all most people have in their mind here is what a priest is and that's all. They don't understand the difference.
I left encouraged, especially just remembering what Bill Hybels said. Last week he said
that we always leave discouraged with a conversation when we don't take people across the
"line" of Christianity during these visits but maybe that's not our job or God's plan.

Maybe God just wants to use us to take people from a -10 to a -9 as far as how close they are to becoming a Christian. And if we've done that, we've done what God wanted us to doand should feel good about it. And then other times God uses us to take people across that line. I feel like I did what God wanted me to do and I can be happy with that. If God uses me to help bring them to Christ, great, but if it's someone elses job then that's fine too.

Last night Kelli and I went to the Comedy Cellar and saw a show that happened to be being taped by NBC for some new show on comics in New York. It's a tiny place and we were right in front so hopefully we'll be on the show. Darrell Hammond, Keith Robinson, Gregg Giraldo, and some guy from Curb Your Enthusiasm were all hilarious. Colin Quinn kind of sucked as he typically does. It's funny to watch because all of the tourists in the room are cheering like crazy when he comes out because they think he's going to be the best because he is well known but then it's just silence for his whole set. It's not that he's not clever or creative, he's just too smart for his own good and has too many things running through his head. Very hard to follow.

I was watching John Hagee on television for some reason a few weeks ago and of course what

he said was lunacy for the most part. One thing that he said that stood out was that Jesus

was a Jewish Rabbi, Jesus is a Jewish Rabbi and is going to come back to this earth as a

Jewish Rabbi and because of that most of us won't know him. What is this psycho talking

about? Any clue?

I listened to the new Pedro the Lion album yesterday and so far the only songs I really like are the first and the last songs. My favorite lyric so far is "bands with managers are going somewhere, bands with messy hair and smooth white faces..." That's funny, he's pretty cynical but i enjoy his writing. The other songs in the middle are kind of boring so far, maybe they'll grow on me. Of course the most controversy has been over David Bazaan using "fuck" in the second song on the album. It's funny how people blow things up. I'm not sure why they expect high standards our of David Bazaan. Why wouldn't he use that word? It's not like he's a professing evangelical Christian, and even if he was, i'm not sure why it's a huge deal. It's interesting how we make a big deal out of things such as people with no professing faith in Jesus Christ not living up to "our" standards. "Oh my gosh, she's getting drunk!" Why wouldn't she be getting drunk? What is stopping her? If I did not have a standard given to me by Jesus Christ, i'm sure my life would be a lot different. It's the problem of trying to change someone from the outside in, thinking that if we can change behavior then it will be easier for this person to become a Christian when in reality Christ has to have a presence in this person's life if change is possible. Change always happens from inside out.

Went to Willow Creek prevailing church conference. Amazing building, even more amazing that all of the teaching pastors have bodyguards. Jesus could have used a few of those as he taught.

Been hanging with Brad, Nick and Brandt and going to see the Cubs kick the Cardinals butt. That is something that I can't take too much of. Go CUBS! Unfortunately i'm going to see the game with a bunch of Cardinals fans. How do these people live with themselves?

I got a chance to do a workshop with the Axis ministry at Willow and at first was turned off. It was as if the entire staff was screaming "Hey look at us, we're hip and trendy." Which i'm not sure they weren't honestly. They looked like they were all from an H&M magazine. They were definitely suburbanites, which is fine but it's just funny. When you walked in the door of the room there was a DJ spinning records. That's cool with me but i never understood exactly why. And then after hearing Jarrett Stevens, the teaching pastor talk about teaching to 20 somethings i felt like an idiot for everything i felt because he's so gifted and really knows what's up. Mike Breaux, Gene Appel and Bill Hybels rocked the house as well. Good job guys. (They're probably not reading it, I understand that).

In other news the book I wrote a chapter in for Relevant Books comes out this fall which i'm excited about. I'm just excited to be included in a book that also has chapters written by Mark Driscoll and my buddy Mike Howerton. They know way more. I bet my chapter sucks in comparison but what can you do. I can't even remembe what the book is called. Hmm.

I saw Ben Kweller and Death Cab for Cutie last night at Irving Plaza. Ben Kweller's new material was disappointing but DCFC put on a great show as usual. Ben Gibbard is such a good front man. Got to meet some more of Kurt Power's friends last night. This guy knows a ton of people. We talked about our idea for a church in the East Village. I think it woudl be called East Village Junction - Where Faith Meets Culture. I would love to meet in this lounge we were at over in Alphabet City the other night. I think people who live over there woudl feel comfortable coming to church if it is in a place they know well and are comfortable. I would love to get started on this in 2005. We'll see what The Orchard Group thinks. This gets me excited.