The Blog: Laments From La Mancha

This is one of those entries filled with just random “stuff” from various days from the past month.

So, important stuff: Ellery (formerly Dividing the Plunder) will be heading to Fort Wayne to do a show at the Firefly Coffee House on January 7, 2006 at 8:00 pm. If you live in the Fort (or at least close to the Fort) you should make sure you make your way down there to check them out. In exciting news for them, they’ve signed with a new record label and will be putting out a new full length CD soon. Make sure you check them out.

The Orange Box has been passed on. Yep, the era of the Element is over. Kara got a new job working for Parkview Hospital and I wanted to make sure that she had a car that could get her there no matter what the weather. So we took the Civic (I still love that car) that was 3 or 4 months away from being totally paid off and I traded it in on a new Honda Pilot and passed the Box over to Kara for enjoyment. I’m a little sad to see it go as it was a great vehicle, but it will serve Kara and the boys very well. Besides, now when folks from the University ride with me they’ll be able to get in the back without having to deal with the suicide doors. The Pilot is not my dream car, but since it’s only a lease, I’m not really bothered by it, it will fill the niche that I’m looking for right now. It’s kinda cool though because it looks like an Army-mobile and has heated leather seats. Toss in the DVD player for the boys and it makes for a great ride. I can honestly say it is the quietest ride I’ve ever had with Jace.

Some more about Nashville: While we were there we also had a chance to see the Radio City Music Christmas Spectacular featuring the Rocketts. That was pretty cool. The best part was the living nativity scene that they did at the end (I mean they had camels!). The end was very Christ focus and honestly I was a little shocked, but very pleased by the end result. It was a very good show. On a side note Opryland was insane! I’m so glad I didn’t try to drive there myself (we took a shuttle). The parking alone would have killed me.

Finding a place to eat while in Nashville was a very interesting experience. Friday night before the Jason Mraz concert we ate at this really cool little family Italian place called Tazza, which was awesome. I’d eat there again in a heart beat. Saturday we were supposed to eat at the Stock Yard (world famous steak house or some crap like that). We made reservations for 9:00 pm (after the Rocketts) and we even scheduled their free driver service to pick us up. Well, that turned into quite the ordeal. The driver was late so we called the restaurant and they said he was running a little behind (we were only like 5 blocks away or so). So he finally shows up 15 minutes late and then has the never to hint around that I really should tip him. Here’s a tip, show up on time.

So it’s about 9:05 when we finally get there; our table isn’t ready yet. Christmas parties were running a little long, but it should be ready shortly. 9:35 rolls around; still no table. I check with the hostess and it’s not ready yet and they really have no idea when it will be ready. Needless to say I was a little upset. Since they had free car service that was willing to pick you up at your hotel and then drop you off back there or at your next destination, I told them to have their driver drop us at a restaurant that would seat us right away. I know I’m evil. We ended up at a place called Demo’s Steak & Spaghetti House. They got us in right away and we had a wonderful time. So again, if you’re ever in Nashville, check them out.

Let’s see what else.

Oh Christmas came and went. A good time was had by all. The boys racked in a nice haul scoring a Nintendo DS each with about 5 games and this really cool pro-gamer case where they can keep their DS, games and all other goodies in one safe place (that’ll keep the boys from misplacing their stuff). I also got them a helmet and a new Razor scooters which they seemed to really enjoy.

Michelle and I didn’t make out too badly, aside from our trip she got (if I do say so myself) some nice jewelry (diamond & pink sapphire earrings, necklace and a ring) and lots of fuzzy stuff. I got a really cool Sony DSC-H1 camera (that I got to open early to take pictures with on our trip). It’s awesome. The fun part is that Autumn got one as well so we can talk camera shop all the time on the phone. We also started a new tradition of watching Invader Zim’s: Most horrible X-Mas ever which was a lot of fun. The old favorites where there as well as the Soulliere family tradition of having spaghetti and meatballs on Christmas eve. All in all it was a wonderful time with the boys and each other. I

’m still enjoying my time off from work which is one of the MANY things I dig about Saint Francis.

Michelle and I have now been married for a year as we celebrated our anniversary on Tuesday (which I’ll write more about later). I’ve been reading a ton of comic books over the break. Oh and Michelle and I started watching Firefly so we can watch Serenity. We’re totally digging that.

I think the last thing of note as that we had dinner at Takaoka’s with April and Danny on Monday we had a great time hanging out with them. Other than that, that’s all I got.

Many of you have read on and off of our quest to find a new church home. We’ve visited quite a few places and nothing has felt like home yet.

Those closest that we’ve come to is Church of the Good Shepherd (Home of BOBFest 2000). Ted (the preacher elder as it were) is an amazing speaker. Every time I listen to him I am challenged to think of things in new ways. Our major struggle with CoGS is the worship service. I’m not sure that I could clearly spell it out for you, but it’s just something there. At times it feels like a performance and you’re watching those on stage rather than worshiping God. Since worship is a major portion of their service, you can imagine how distracting this can be. Add in some other minor issues and it kinda leaves us looking else where. We haven’t given up hope on Good Shepherd, we just want to explore some more options.

That leads us to our experience this past Sunday. One night while out karaoke-ing (how’s that for a scary thought – me at karaoke?) with our friends Bobby & Stephanie, they passed along a card to the Faith Journey Church that meets at Seekers coffee house on Coldwater Road (no, no needs to worry, Steph & Bobby did the singing, I just drank hot chocolate).

We had kicked the idea around and decided that this Sunday was the time to go try it out.

Having never been to Faith Journey or Seekers coffee house, we weren’t sure what to expect. I guess if I were to try and capture our initial experience in a word, it would be lost. While there was a huge screen up that said, “Faith Journey Kids”. Other than that, we had no clue what was going on. The place seemed kinda empty (turns out they were all still in church) when we got there for the 10:45 service. There was a nice lady at the counter some doughnuts and coffee out, but since it was a coffee house we weren’t sure if these were being sold by the shop or there for church attendees.

So we just stood there. Had no idea how big the church was, no idea where to go or even where look. After about 5 minutes of standing their feeling well foolish, another couple walked and after getting their coffee the wife (Karen) was kind enough to introduce herself to Michelle and I and then introduce her husband (Matt). Shortly after that a crowd of people started pouring into the common area in front of the counter from a narrow hallway (that said something about nursery).

After a few more minutes of standing there we decide to take a leap of faith and wander down that hall to see if perhaps there was another room where the main group met.

We made our way down the hall and did indeed discover the main meeting room and found a seat at one of the center tables in front of the stage. The meeting area is great, Seekers does an awesome job, but there we sat (and sat).

We found some left over bulletins on the table (or they might have been placed there, not really sure) and read through those to see if we could get a feel for what was about to take place. The rest of the place filled up with a good sized group and still Michelle and I just sat there, all alone at the big empty table until worship started.

At this point I honestly almost walked out. Obviously Faith Journey isn’t so big that you wouldn’t recognized “regular” attendees and you have signs up all over the place talking about community, but here we sat and no one said a word to us. Now, I realize that we could have been bold and walked around the room accosting folks and introducing ourselves, but I’m supposed to be the visitor. But at the last minute some folks (who had no place else to sit) made their way over and sat at our table.

They did have a great multimedia presentation going (yes it was PowerPoint, but for some churches that’s still something they’d never even try) and the meeting room was perfect for the experience I thought they were trying to create. Worship wasn’t anything crazy awesome, but that might have been more me then them. Despite having attending Great Lakes Christian College for 4 years, traveling for 3 years on camp teams, being a youth minister for about 6 years, preaching since I was 15 and a long time church go-er, I didn’t know a single one of those songs that were being sung.

Not one. Not even close. But the nice thing is that the worship guys were down to earth and I didn’t find myself forced to focus on them instead of the act of worship, which was a good thing.

After worship Matt (the minister) made his way to the stage where he setup shop at a high table with a stool from which to speak. We had a short time of the traditional “shake someone’s hand you don’t know” and Matt began his sermon. The nice thing about Matt (not the same one married Karen) is that he came across as very genuine and I liked that about him.

He began by summing up the idea of Faith Journey church and the entire time I kept thinking of Regan and Tom. The deal with Faith Journey is the weekly Sunday meeting is just an introduction to the church and their ultimate goal is to get you started into a house church group that meets through out the week. The concept being that the coffee house experience you have on Sunday is the foyer to their greater house, that while they are glad you showed up and came to the door, you’re really missing out if you don’t come inside and see the rest of the “house”.

It was also pretty clear that Matt has had a long time obsession with pizza. But since I’ve know guys like that since college (Tom & Johnny Nugent you know who you are) I was fine with that.

And then something interesting happened a 1/3 of the way into the message. Matt stopped, proposed a question and then said, “now discuss this among the folks at your table…”

Well talk about awkward. Here I was at a table with 5 other folks besides my wife who I’ve never met and don’t even know their names (that didn’t really happen in the meet and greet part of the show) it was a little intimidating for any new comer. But I figured since I’d been in this situation about a trillion times with my past experience, I just broke down and kinda opened things up with, “Look, we’ve never been here, I have no idea how this works. In fact, I don’t even know who you folks are. My name is Bob, this is my wife Michelle and maybe you can help us out and explain how this works.”

The nice things was that two of the folks, Luke and Luke’s Mom (she introduced herself as that – I believe her name is Julie) had only been there once, so this was totally new for them as well. I believe the guy at the end of the table was named Daniel, not sure about his wife’s name and another woman named Jen (who I think is married to a guy named Ryan, but that’s just pulling that out of my black hole of a memory and I could be totally wrong). So after we got through all that hassle we were able to talk a little bit about our response to the question.

Now while that could have been done is SUCH a better way, I think it’s really a cool part of my experience there. When you attend a church for the first few times unless you A) already know someone who goes there, b) attend everything they offer so that folks start to recognize you, or c) they have a tremendous first time attendees group who make you feel overly welcome, its quite possible for many folks to walk into and out of a church without making any sort of contact with anyone. They do that often enough and they’ll soon move on to some place else (so this is just a little pointer to all my preacher – church admin friends and readers out there, make sure you latch on guests, sit with them during service, plug them into others, make them feel welcome, its too easy to let them slip through the cracks – catch them at the door, stay with them during service and walk them out when the service is over – make sure they leave with a card, a name, something that makes that connection for them and look for them to return). In any case, I thought it was a great way to put some folks together if nothing else as a common bond of new comers together.

The rest of the sermon was good. It was great for what it was, which is a seeker sensitive message. Now if that was all the deeper the church ever got, it wouldn’t be the place for me, but when you have service where you’re trying to draw folks into your bigger picture it was at just the right depth. Despite it being on the milk side of things, I did walk away with something that I haven’t thought about in a long time and it was nice to chew over (it’s funny – after preaching enough sermons I’ve learned that its rare that folks walk away from your message with the point that you were trying to get across to them, but as long as they walk away with something, then good work was done).

The bulk of the text that Matt was preaching from was Isaiah 53:

Isaiah 53
1) Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2) He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3) He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4) Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

5) But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

6) We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

7) He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

9) He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10) Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

11) After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.

12) Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Matt pointed out that verse 2 is really the only verse in the entire bible that we get any physical description of Jesus: “He had no beauty or majesty. Nothing in his appearance that we should desire him; we esteemed him not.”

Which got me to thinking, “wow, you know I totally forgot all about that.” We get caught in the “man of sorrows” and “pierced for our transgressions” that we blow right by that part. Wonder why we don’t hear about Jesus from the time he’s 12 and in the temple until he’s 30 and starting his ministry? Simply put he’s a man who was easy to overlook. But that’s a thought for another time I guess.

In any case, there was a lot wrong with Faith Journey church and quite a few things that I’d change. As old school as it seems, I’d have greeters at the doors so that when folks what in they are, well greeted, and they know where to go. I’d stick a bulletin in their hands, I’d help them find their seat, whatever. I would have ringers at every table. A person or couple who’s going to help that wonderful discussion time get kicked off, that folks are introduced to each other and they can start making those connections with others.

But you know what? I left thinking, “Hey, I kinda liked that place, I’d like to go back again.” I’d like to see what their house churches are like. I’d like to see if they offer more depth, more fellowship and more of that community that we’re looking for. From the outside they seem like good people, but I’d like to know more, I’d like to dive deeper and find out what they are really all about. I can see a lot of potential in what they’re doing and its kinda exciting. Any who, that’s just my two cents worth.

Well at long last I finally made the treck down to Nashville to see Andrew Peterson’s annual Christmas Concert.

The night was such an amazing experience.

When Michelle and I made plans for this trip, we wanted to make sure that we stayed at a hotel that was within walking distance of the Ryman so that we wouldn’t have to worry about driving. We had just checked into the Hermitage Hotel that day so we were actually a little father away then when we were at the Courtyard. But on a night like that it didn’t matter. The weather was wonderful and it was a great night to be walking in Nashville.

Since there were so many performers I wanted to get some websites listed for you so you could check some of them out for yourselfs. As I was doing research to write my review of Andrew’s Christmas concert (looking up links, and what have you), I came across this site by Jeff Holland at The Dirt Road who wrote up this excellent review. It didn’t make sense to duplicate most of is work, so instead (with a note of thanks to Jeff at his website), I pilfered his review for you to read here and I’ve tacked my own thoughts on at the end. Enjoy.

Sometimes the best music comes from good friends who get together to play. No light show. No rotating stage. No fireworks. Andrew Peterson has developed a Christmas tradition of bringing together some of his good friends on stage for a show in the round, followed by his own Christmas oratorio, set to guitar, piano, dulcimer, and strings. The cast of characters are more than just Andrew’s friends, they are some of the most talented musicians in a city that overflows with musicians. The show took place in the legendary Ryman Auditorium on a stage that has hosted a list of musicans that reads like a hall of fame.

One might not mistake this evening’s performers for a Dylan, Cash, Parton, or Cline, but for this generation, my generation, they are already leaving an indelible mark. The first half of the concert features solo performances by amazing songwriters. Andrew Peterson started off his concert with a selection from his new album The Far Country called “Lay Me Down.” I have really started to enjoy Peterson’s album and this is one of the better songs on it. I particularly enjoy the contributions by the rest of his band, comprised of Andrew Osenga, Ben Shive, and Gabe Scott. Derek Webb followed with a song from his upcoming album called Mockingbird titled “Rich Young Ruler,” a challenging song for contemporary Americans. Derek’s wife, Sandra McCracken, is also a superb musician. Accompanied by Webb, Sandra played a reworked hymn “Thy Mercy.” Another husband and wife songwriting pair was up next. Andy Gullahorn amused the crowd last year with his song “Holy Flakes” and again kept the crowd in stiches with “Roast Beef”, a song dedicated to the toe that Osenga accidently cut off while mowing the yard earlier in the year. Gullahorn’s wife, Jill Phillips, followed with her song “Great Design.” Andrew Osenga then took the stage performing a new song, “Early in the Morning.” The third husband-wife pair of the evening, Randall and Amy Goodgame performed “Bluebird” Andrew then introduced the crowd to Ron Block, a banjo player for Allison Krauss who performed “He’s Holding Onto Me” with some fantastic finger work on the banjo. Phil Madeira is a session player who has performed on hundreds of albums playing guitar, Hammond organ, and accordian. Tonight he was a songwriter, playing “Ain’t Comin’ Home for Christmas This Year”, a humorous take of a family tired of driving through the snow to the Northeast. Peterson admitted to being a huge fan of up and coming artist Mindy Smith, so he invited her to the show this year. Smith on guitar and accompanied by a mandolin player performed “Tennessee” and “Come to Jesus.” The final performer of the night was Pierce Pettis, playing “Nothing But the Wind”, a Mark Heard cover dedicated to the recently deceased Dwight Ozzard and “If It Wasn’t For the Night / The Dark Night of the Soul”, which he wrote with David Wilcox. Pettis had the hardest time of the night, breaking a string in the middle of “Nothing But the Wind” and having to borrow a guitar for the second song, but he played like a true professional. Part of the fun of the solo performances in the round is watching the other artists’ faces as someone performs. I particularly enjoyed watching Andy O. and Derek nod their heads and mouth the words as Pettis performed “Nothing But the Wind.”

After a brief intermission, Peterson returned to the stage and led the crowd in singing “Nothing But The Blood of Jesus” as the other musicans filed onto the stage. Osenga played electric guitar and Ben Shive played piano and dulcimer. Cason Cooley and Gabe Scott traded instruments from song to song. Another Caedmon’s Call member, Garrett Buell played drums while Steve Hindalong played percussion. The four piece string section was located in the back of the stage. I found it interesting that the most “successful” (in terms of album sales) musician of the evening was probably Matt Slocum (of Sixpence None the Richer) and he remained quietly hidden on cello in the back with the string quartet. The band performed the entire Christmas album Behold The Lamb of God from beginning to end when the crowd then stood to sing “O Come All Ye Faithful” as the band quietly left the stage. There were so many highlights during the show. Jill Phillips provides the perfect fragility and humanity to “Labor of Love” and your heart has to be made of stone if the room doesn’t get just a little dusty during that song. I love Andy O.’s aggressive attack on the guitar during “So Long Moses.” There’s Andrew Peterson’s deep breath and whimiscal recall of Jesus’ geneology in “Matthew’s Begats” and wonderful interplay of mandolin and violin on “The Holly and The Ivy” I also enjoy “The Theme of My Song Reprise” where the musicians replicate live the themes overdubbed on the album live on the stage.

What’s truly fun about this concert is all of the personal relationships between the musicans. These people don’t just play on stage together, they also write songs together, go to church together, visit each others’ houses, and play with each others’ children. There’s a community aspect of the concert that makes the show as enjoyable to me on a dark, cold night in an old muisc hall as memorable as any concert event in any arena. [Editors Note: The Group is actually called the Nashville Weaklings, coined after the Inkings of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien fame. The term was coined by Randall Goodgame. Aside from the usual fellowship, the group has asignments in song writing usually inspired by Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. As point of fact, two fo those asignment songs made it to Randall Goodgame's last CD.]

If you haven’t purchased Andrew Peterson’s Christmas CD, Behold The Lamb of God, I can’t recommend it enough. It ranks right up there with Over the Rhine’s The Darkest Night of the Year for me. You can purchase the album here at Andrew’s online store.

As you can see, the annual Christmas Concert (running now for the past 6 years) is a warming time of year for many fans of Christian Music. My only recommendation to you if you consider going is buy an extra seat for butt room. The Ryman isn’t the most comfortable place for seating. Either get seats in rows A-K or sit in the balcony for best viewing.

It’s taken me a while to finally get to Nashville, but I’m glad I went and I’m going to mark my calendar each year to make sure I make my way back.

A few other highlights from the day, I had a chance to have lunch with Eric & Danielle Peters, along with Ron (of Ronzilla / MoreRon.Com fame) and Brandy from a-p.com at the legendary La Hacienda (our server’s name was Jesus – but that’s a blog for another day).

All in all it was a great time.

Oh, on a side note, if you want to check out a rough copy of Andrew Osenga’s song “Early in the Morning”, you can find it here on his website: Click here.

I snapped this photo (and brought it into Photoshop to play with it) of Dafyd after the first snowfall of the year. It just seemed the perfect childhood moment to me.

I liked it to the original large photo so that Grandma and Aunt April could download it and print it off.