my life…in text format

Ok…so in keeping with the Ingenuity & Pandemonium genre, (you can check out where this idea started here) I have a story.

The organization I work for, Safehouse, recently partnered with another youth ministry, Next Valley Youth Movement, in order to more effectively reach this valley in which we are located. We hosted the band Fireflight with two other bands to put on a concert this past Friday.

The show rocked. Almost 300 students jumped, danced, screamed, cheered and laughed their way through 2 hours of rock show mastery. Little did they know what happened behind the scenes before the concert…

Myself and another member of our team were fixing a lighting problem. Two of our scanner fixtures had blown bulbs so we got some new ones and proceeded to change them. Well, the problem wasn’t with the bulbs, it was something with the wiring. So as soon as we turned on the fixtures with the new bulbs, they kicked on and immediately blew out.

So we have four fixtures with only two working bulbs. The problem we faced now, was that the two fixtures that were blown were on the same stand. So, we figured, “Hey, we’ll just take one working fixture from the other stand, put it over here and at least we’ll have two lights, balancing out the stage.”

(Enter Pandemonium)

These fixtures are not very light. They are deceptively heavy, actually. As we (my buddy and I) worked to get the fixture off, straining and holding on, we finally loosened it from the fixture.

All of a sudden, the light still secured to the fixture started to lean…and it kept leaning and kept leaning.

Until gravity did what gravity does best and pulled it towards the ground.

Right on top of Fireflight’s drumset.

While the drummer was doing a sound check.

Yes. You read that right.

We let a light fixture drop onto Fireflight’s drumset while the drummer was doing a sound check.

My day was ruined.

No damage was done, thankfully. He was kind, joking, and understanding. The guitarist then made a reference to the light fixture on the other side of the stage and said, “Could you make sure this one doesn’t fall on my guitars.” Or something along those lines. I think he was joking, but he may have been seriously worried now.

It was an awful moment in creative production, but makes for a great post on Monday afternoon!

Needless to say, Fireflight rocked, and the other bands that played that night were fantastic as well.

The Jesse David Worship Project and Eleventh Hour are awesome. You should check them out.

I’m glad that moment is in the past.

Lesson Learned: Never underestimate the weight of a light fixture. (Here’s a model similar to ours.)

As I start typing on my lovely Apple keyboard it is 12:18 AM on Sunday. In about 7 hours and 30 mins, my alarm will ring and alert me that it’s just about time to get up. I will then go over some notes for the final time before I head off to preach a sermon at a friend’s church. I really should be asleep right now, but I couldn’t lay my head on that sweet, soft pillow and take the express lane to dream land without writing a few things rolling through my head.

First of all, if you were at, talked to anybody that was at, or were within a few miles of the safehouse last night (well, technically the night before last….Friday night…the 22nd) you were treated to quite a spectacular show. Of course, I’m a little biased but overall, the feedback I got was all positive. 6 bands one night, everybody said it was quite an ambitious goal to work on 6 bands in one night, in one place and actually pull it off.

One person said, “I think you’ve bit off more than you can chew my man.” And while I certainly bit off more than I could chew by myself, I had some people to share the meal and together, we were able to chew it and swallow just fine.

If you were at that show and were a part of the amazing team of people that made it possible let me start by saying and amazing and very heart-felt THANK YOU! With your help we were able to make a huge impact on a lot of people and set a precedent for the future. Thank you so much!

It reminded me how much I love my job. I was exhausted, it was about 10:00 we were probably transitioning from the third band to the fourth band of the night and I could feel my calves, feet and ankles start to scream at me for putting them through so much (apparently my ankles, calves and feet are very wimpy). There were around 250 young people scurrying about the safehouse, parents proudly looking as their kids wailed away on whatever instrument they featured in their respective bands, merchandise table attendants selling T-Shirts, buttons, stickers, and CDs. A good friend of mine who also promotes concerts for a local radio station set up a table and promoted an upcoming concert. It was all very real and I realized in that a moment, a small, but equally real truth. Looking back, I can honestly say that I didn’t want to be any other place at that moment.

There, pulling my glasses of my face and wiping away the fatigue that had slowly crept its way into the corners of my eyes, I didn’t want to leave, I didn’t want to go home and go to sleep. I wanted to be around all these people. I wanted to shake hands, get names, meet people, touch people in a real and lasting way. If nothing else, I wanted them to know that somebody cared about them. I couldn’t touch everybody, I couldn’t get everybody’s names, but I wanted to do what I could.

I wanted the band members to know that not only was I happy to give them an opportunity to play, I want them to know that I’m proud of them and thankful that they showcased their talents. It was the best event in the short history of the ministry called Safehouse and I was a part of it. Not only was I a part of it, I had the distinct and humbling privilege of leading a team of amazing people who, by the way, make me want to be the absolute best leader I can be and I am so proud to be a member of that team.

There’s not a lot else to say I guess. I was in the writin’ mood and this show had taken up the majority of my time over the last few days. So…there ya go. Enjoy!

Videos and pics of the show to come soon.

*This post is probably littered with typos and grammatical errors…please don’t post nasty comments criticizing my spelling, etc… I’m usually very good, but…I’m just so stinkin’ tired!

I’m going to sleep now.

Friday, February 22, 2008 : : : : 5 Bands /// 1 Night

Each band has its own, unique sound. It will definitely be a night never before seen @ safehouse and the first of many, many more to come.

Don’t miss it. Seriously. You won’t want to it. If you do want to miss it. Then you better have something amazing you are doing instead. And unless you are going to be playing in the Super Bowl or some other championship game, you should be here.

Contact info in the flyer. Let me know if you have any questions.

Life is full of choices. Sometimes I try and sit back and count how many choices I make each morning before I leave my house. I think about the choice of whether to get a shower before I eat breakfast or after. The choice of breakfast food to eat. Some things are left to habit, like which side of your teeth to start brushing first, but even in that situation a choice is made to follow habit or break the mold. We make millions of choices and we don’t even realize it until the consequences of the choice, whether good or bad, smack us in the face.

Some choices we look back on and say, “I’m so glad that was the choice I made…what an amazing turn out. I can’t imagine not making that choice. Man, my life would be so much worse had I not made THAT choice!”

Other times, the response is not so positive. You may have said or heard things like, “Looking back, that was the turning point that led me to here and I wish I could go back.” or “I’ll never understand what I was thinking!”

Or maybe it’s not even YOUR fault, but somebody else’s choices negatively effected you. While playing with his transformers, little Jeff’s parents walk in, sit him down and explain to him they are no longer going to be living together. They try to explain that it’s not Jeff’s fault that they won’t be married anymore, but Jeff can’t help but wonder if he hadn’t asked for those wretched robots maybe things could be better. It’s not little Jeff’s fault, but his life is forever changed.

The point is that a choice holds more weight then we give it credit for. A choice has the power to change a life, break a life, make a life, take a life. A choice gives us the ability to be controlled or be in control. A choice, something that can be made in seconds, has the potential to change years of our lives and the lives of others.

I can look back to 8 years ago in my life and see choices that I made that are still effecting me today. 8 years ago when I made the choice, I assure you I was not thinking, “How will this effect my life 8 years down the road??” I was only worried about that moment. We’ve all made choices.

And since we’re not perfect….we’ve all made choices we would make differently if given the chance.

Sometimes, the choices we make…or the choices made by others create in us a desire to put up defenses against the way we are effected by the consequences of those choices. Everybody does it differently.

Karen always laughs, even when she’s not happy. Melanie is so organized it’s insane. Mark can’t stop joking, he never takes anything seriously. While Alex won’t let himself have any fun and falls deeper into depression. Hope makes herself bleed because she’s lost….hope.

Do you have a defense?

If you’re answer is an immediate “no!” I want to ask yourself again and really take a second to look inside yourself.

Have you made choices that you regret and made yourself a safe place in order to get away from everything?? The problem with getting away from everything is that you’re not around anything.

There’s a great song that comes from a band that is way deeper and more profound than their image portrays. Relient K is a band from right here in Ohio and they wrote  a song called I Am Understood? I love that title.

Because it asks a question.

Really? I’m understood. Someone understands me? Someone can look into my soul and see the real me and it actually makes sense??

I don’t even make sense to myself sometimes. But…really?? I’m understood? What a relief!

The song is like a letter, sung to God, where the singer exposes himself completely to a God that already sees everything. It’s a reminder that God is big.

As the song closes, the passion is contagious as the singer belts out in a series of repetitive cries,

“Your voice has broken my defense, let me embrace salvation!”

I want my defense to be broken. I want the walls that I put up because of my bad choices to be broken down.

When I make a bad choice, I take a step away from God and another brick is added to the wall that is slowly gaining momentum as it tries to separate me from my soul’s deepest craving. But when God speaks, the walls crumble.

The same voice that breathed the world into existence and the same breath that was exhaled to bring the first man his first breath is the same voice and breath that breaks down the walls of our defense.

The next step is to embrace it.

As my fingers pound the keys on this keyboard, my speakers blare the band Paramore. Their previous album All We Know Is Falling is fantastic. If you’ve never heard them, you should check them out. Good band. I love good music. Something about it speaks into my life in a way that nothing else does.

Have you ever noticed this?

Sometimes an artist, a song, a style of music can literally express EXACTLY how you are feeling but you couldn’t have ever expressed it yourself. It’s like, when someone asks you how you are feeling, sometimes it almost better to let them listen to a song so that way they can FEEL the same way you feel and that’s the best explanation.

Why does this happen?

Why is music so powerful, what it is about the driving guitars, pounding bass lines, drum rhythms, and everything else that makes those little goosebumps rise on our flesh and make us want to turn up the volume in our cars until we cross the line into completely outrageous-looking as we pound our fists on the steering wheel?

When I drive and I hear a good song, it doesn’t matter if I’ve heard it before. I’m just gonna jam. How do you jam? Do you throw up a “rawkfist”? Do you contemplate each word and how it applies to your life? Do you pick out the melodies and harmonies and find the pacing of the rhythm? Do you separate each instrument and listen to what each musician is doing?

Do you have any CD’s that won’t play in your CD player anymore because you’ve simply worn them out?

What is it about music, exactly?

I think it’s more than just driving beats and amazing vocals. I think it’s just another fingerprint of God. You see, in the Bible, music was a key component to life. They even used it in their military as a way to keep the soldiers ready, in step and encouraged. It’s almost like it was something to keep them reminded of why they do what they do.

Music as a reminder.

Maybe music is so moving to us because it reveals something about our souls. That part inside that no ones sees and we really just don’t fully understand. Maybe when you start tapping your toes to that sweet beat, your really letting your soul express itself in a way it can’t do otherwise.

When you go to a foreign country and you don’t know the language, you need a translator to make your stay effective and fun. You need to know what’s going on. If you don’t have a translator, even if you know where you are in the world, you would be….lost.

Maybe music is a translator. The language of our souls is so complex and sometimes foreign that we need to translate it so we are not…lost.

You can learn a lot about a person by the music they listen to.

It’s an extension of yourself, an expression of the person’s soul. We can get closer to God through music. We can find out about ourselves through music. Since God created us, if we find out more about ourselves, don’t we find out more about God?

Music is beautiful. You are beautiful. God is beautiful. God created music. Just another fact that points to His absolute creativity and undeniable imagination.

Enjoy the music…

The new album by Thousand Foot Krutch The Flame In All of Us is fantastic. It’s been out for a while, but I just bought it and I am now on my third time through. If you are a rock fan, buy this album. It’s worth every penny. 10 bucks on iTunes. Also, check them out online. Enjoy!

This new CD by the David Crowder*Band is fantastic. I just finished it and it’s the David Crowder Band doing what they do, and doing it well. It is said that worship is a lifestyle, these guys live that out and you can tell. I want to jump, shout, kneel, cry, laugh, sing, think, and pray all at the same time when I hear this album. It’s great.

Just go by it. You’ll know what I mean pretty much right away.

David Crowder and the Band…well done. Once again, you lead us into the presence of God. Thanks. I like it here.

Available on iTunes or at davidcrowderband.com