Advancing

Ragamuffin Soulcast

Carlos Whittaker just started a podcast!  Ragamuffin Soulcast is primarily designed to serve worship leaders and musicians of local churches.  It will be successful.  Los has learned plenty as worship leader of Sandals Church, a thriving (1,200+) community of believers in Riverside, CA.  I just read from a Driscoll post that Sandals will qualify as a mega-church when it hits the magic "2,000" mark.  Los has been serving loyally under his pastor, Matt Brown, since Sandals began 8 years ago.  He's a skillful musician with CDs to his credit.  What sets Los apart, however, is his big heart.  You'll glean from his years unearthing valuable worship resources while enjoying his outgoing personality and irreverent sense of humor.  Subscribe to his podcast on itunes or download individual podcasts.

Mark Driscoll On Google Video

Nothing has influenced me more in the last year than the preaching ministry of Mark Driscoll, senior pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA.  Blind spots in my theology have been exposed.  I've adopted a much more balanced perspective on how to relate to and hopefully influence culture for Jesus.  My ecclesiology and missionology have been challenged and informed.  Well, today Mark decided to make available 13 recent sermons on Google Video for free.  I can't endorse them more enthusiastically.  In his latest sermon, Pastor Jesus, he talks about the adventures of Porno Boy and Spooky Smart!  Be warned:  As entertaining and informed as Mark tends to be, you might find a few of your golden calves getting kicked upside the head!  At least that reflects my own personal experience with Driscoll's "in your face" preaching style.

Tip:  Make sure to download the player first for superior picture quality.

Bode Miller in Time Magazine

Great article.  Skiing seems to bode well for this guy!  Miller time:

1.  Winner of (2) Olympic gold medals, (4) world championship golds and (19) World Cup events.

2.  Grew up in a hand-built New Hampshire home without plumbing or electricity.  I absolutely love that!

3.  Spent lots of time as a kid by himself, wandering the woods near his home "thinking."  Hmmmmmmmmm

4.  Educated in both home and public school environments.  26 yrs. old.

5.  Self coached. Innovator.  Recently discovered that inserting a composite under the sole of his boots gave him better feel for the snow and better performance. He then shared this knowledge with his competitors.  "I'm maintaining  an unfair advantage over my competitors knowingly, for the purpose of beating them alone.  Not for the purpose of enjoying it more or skiing better.  To me that's ethically unsound."

6.  Like many professional athletes, he parties.  At times, he races hung over.

7.  Has learned to appreciate the process of racing, not necessarily the result.  "We should tell our kids to just have fun, participate and not get bent on winning or losing.  But every coach, when they say that, they say it tongue in cheek, 'Don't worry about winning,'  If you win I'll get you ice cream, but if you lose I'm going to pout in the car."

8.  Enjoys rock star popularity.  Tours in an RV.

9.  Writes an online journal for the Denver Post. Has a radio show.  Author.

10.  The best skier in the world. 

UPDATE (02-14-05)  Great article on Bode by Carrie Sheinberg for ESPN.

Super Bowl Preview

We will win it all.  Oh, yes.  We will win it all.

I Still Believe!

UK Honda Civic Choir Commercial

Check out this new UK Civic spot.  I was surprised at how long it runs.  Our commercials aren't bad but as a musician I appreciated the creativity and work.  Effective. 

Thanks Los for the HT.

Dinner With The Abonyis

Friday night our family enjoyed the hospitality of the Abonyi family.  Brenden and Chikodili love God passionately and it shows.  Fellowship was sweet as Brenden shared that the Lord was speaking to him regarding his foundation in Christ.

The Abonyis are from Nigeria and one of the cultural distinctives they miss most is the sense of loving community of their Motherland.  Chikodili told us that a typical Nigerian neighborhood has an "open-house" feel.  Home to home roaming is the norm and you aren't expected to call first!  Just come on over.  They've discerned an isolated loneliness here in the United States with our emphasis on materialism.  In Nigeria "stuff" isn't near the distraction it is here because most people have little.  This makes relationships much more valuable and life much simpler. 

While our younger two played with the Abonyi girls in the family room our 16 year old, Cassia, talked about some of her experiences as a home school student.  We had a wonderful time and hope to hook up again soon.

Seahawks vs. Redskins

It's 40 minutes till game time and I'm pumped!  This 2006 team is definitely special.  Too many weapons.  Bend-but-not-break defense.  I'm at work today.  If Seahawk fever could be medically diagnosed (and right now I really wish it could!!!) I'd have to go home sick. 

UPDATE:  It's half time.  Uh-oh!  This might be close!

Mark Driscoll On Christ's Influence

What would an imaginary Bedford Falls have become without a fictional George Bailey?  How 'bout this one:  What would the world as we know it look like today without the historical, factual Jesus of Nazareth?  Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church takes a shot at the latter question in his latest Seattle Time's article .

Great Blogs For Your Weekend

Some posts I found encouraging today:

First, Roger at The House Church Blog writes about the destructive tendency to focus more on church reform than on Christ Himself.

Next, a great podcast called The God Journey visits the same topic (above) before transitioning into a discussion on Learning To Listen to God.

Lastly, my main man Carlos Whittaker (picture) deals with the sin of his wife's uncle, Rick.  Rick recently married David.  Carlos is forced to reconcile feelings of happiness for Rick in finding a partner who is obviously gay.  He wrestles honestly with how best to demonstrate God's love.  I encourage you to read both posts and the comments that follow.  Have a great weekend!   

New Years in Portland

Driving down to Portland, OR on New Years Eve Deea reminded me that it had been an entire year since our last trip out of town as a family.  Wow!  A year can pass so quickly these days.  We usually get out more as a family.  The year was a bit unusual with the girl's trip to South Korea.  We also hosted some Korean's in our home. So the year had an international flavor even though it was mostly spent in our small east-central WA town.

The couple above are our good friends, Frank and Dawn Martinez.  Their beautiful family hosted ours for our second annual New Years celebration.  December 31st is Frank's birthday so we celebrated that as well.  Much laughter.  Tiger Woods PGA 2006.  Grizzly Man.  The evening of the 1st was spent at Kennedy High School McMinamins.  This is an awesome spot.  A renavated high school turned restaurant/inn/bar/theatre.  Great memories!