Ragamuffin Minister

New Music...

2008-10-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

Well, funny thing happened last night while setting up for worship. The band scheduled for next week showed up. They are from out of town so we rolled with it, canceling our set and got them all hooked up. Lucas Allen was the leader. He's a good friend from college days that now lives in Bloomington.

Thanks to him, I downloaded and am now hooked on this guy named John Mark McMillan. Lucas did one of his songs in worship last night that is now my new favorite song for worship. It's called 'How He Loves'. It does have the term 'sloppy wet kiss' in it, but in a very holy way, I assure you. :)

I hope to put the recording of some of the songs up from last night very soon. Thanks Lucas. You rocked again.

Yearbook Yourself...

2008-10-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

Everyone should do this. Why did I use this version...it just fit me.

.

My first cast...

2008-10-04T05:33:00.000-07:00

broke the 4th metacarpal in my left hand at a lock-in last night. i wont be able to play the guitar for several weeks. that should prove interesting.

the cool news is that i get my first cast and workman's comp picked up the tab. no hit to my insurance. :)

also, no diaper changing for awhile. my wife isn't happy about that. :)

the x-ray isn't mine, but i hope to post my own x-rays soon.

Debates So Far...

2008-10-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

Who was better? I'm still chewing on it. So far, I think the edge goes to Palin, but I'm so biased because she's so sweet and gosh darn, doggonit cute.

.

New Book: Jesus Wants To Save Christians

2008-10-02T06:02:00.000-07:00

I'm liking this one so far. It's Rob Bell's latest. Lots of points about living Christ-like in a culture defined by consumerism and power, just fyi.

.

Ezekiel 5

2008-09-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

This week I'm adding a video vignette that's merely text based to our worship service. It's based on Ezekiel 5:4-6. Right when the video is over, we'll start to play "Center" by Charlie Hall.

Here's the video for any of my minister buds. Again, you could basically do this in powerpoint because it's all text based. I needed it in a movie format to fit with the rest of our set.

MAJOR HAT TIP to Greg who actually provided the musical backdrop for this without even knowing it! He created a Reason file for a song several weeks ago that I stole and used like anyone would in my situation.

That, and I lost the use of my own keyboard to create my own loop. Hope to have that back soon.

Enjoy if you are inclined...

New Book: Crazy Love...

2008-09-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

Buy it.

On a different note, anyone read the new Rob Bell book??

.

What to do, what to do...

2008-09-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

God threw me a cool curve ball this week. He's been doing that lately. There's 3 major doors he's opening to me and my wife (not to leave my church or anything), but some cool opportunities. I don't know what to do with them, yet. My wife and I are just letting God be God and make it clear.

Throw a prayer up for us if you get a chance. I'll likely never mention on my blog what's going on for a few reasons, but, yeah. Sorry bout that. Thanks.

Recent Songs...

2008-09-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

Haven't been really into the band thing until the last few weeks due to some transitional things here at the church, but it's good to be back in action with the band. Songs we did this weekend:

We Shine (steve fee)
All Because of Jesus (steve fee)
You Deserve (hillsong)
Lead Me To The Cross (hillsong)

That's a 'can't miss' rock set right there. The only thing unique we did was I created a couple loops in Adobe After Effects with some stock backgrounds we have from Digital Juice. Essentially, I took a blue-ish loop and a green-ish loop from DJ, resized them where they fit rectangularly on the top and the bottom, and then saved it. I then flipped them and saved it as a different loop.

We handed out blue strips of paper and green strips of paper to everyone as they walked in. If you got a blue one, you followed the blue portion of the slide, and so on with the green. We did lead me to the cross twice, and each color group got to pray through the entire song and sing it once, all simultaneously.

At the end of Lead Me To The Cross, we tagged it with a little Linkin Park, except I changed the words to Shadow of The Day to this:

"and the Son was sent for you
the Son was sent for you
when the shadow of the day
had embraced the world in grey
the Son was sent for you"

The message was on God's ability to cover our sin. I thought it would work. It did. Fun stuff.

My Boy...

2008-09-16T07:03:00.000-07:00

My boy, Brennan, is 3 and 1/2 years old. We started out the school year in a 1/2 day, twice a week class for him called "wee school". He was in the monkey class or something. The school dept. head said we could move him up one level because he's potty trained and he won't be behind in any development. So we decided to do so starting today. Here's an email from my wife telling me how she tried to explain things to Brennan:

Brennan is in the Tiger Class now. Here is how the conversation with him went:

me: Brennan, you get to be in the Tiger class, you are a Tiger – just like Sissy was!
B: Yes, I am a GIRL!
me: (I quickly explained how you could be a boy, and be in the Tiger class)
B: OKAY... (then ran into the class without a care in the world!)

We are lucky to have such well-adjusted children. Either that, or we have left them so many different places, that they just don’t care anymore.

Love you.
kjoy

Brant Hansen...One Of My Favs...

2008-09-10T08:02:00.001-07:00

This guy is great. I read his blog more than anyone else's. He's good at telling things like they are but in a way that's good, purposeful, humble, etc. His latest post is about leadership (which he has many of...). Here are his thoughts on what makes a "Servant Leader" different from a "LeaderMan", as he puts it. He's a former youth minister turned radio personality and musician (I think) that lives in Florida. Check him out...

-----------

Servant Leader: Has something to say

LeaderMan: Wants a platform on which to say something

-----------

LeaderMan: You almost feel you know his family, because he's your Leader

Servant Leader: You allow him to influence you, because you know his family

-----------

LeaderMan: Wants you to know he's a Leader

Servant Leader: You're not sure he knows he's a leader

-----------

LeaderMan: Loves the idea of the Gospel, and the idea of The Church

Servant Leader: Loves God and the actual individual people God brings across his path

-----------

LeaderMan: A great speaker, but self-described as, "Not really a people person."

Servant Leader: Makes himself a people person

-----------

LeaderMan: Helps you find where God is leading you in his organization

Servant Leader: Helps you find where God is leading you

-----------

LeaderMan: Gets together with you to talk about his vision

Servant Leader: Just gets together with you

-----------

LeaderMan: Resents "sheep stealing"

Servant Leader: Doesn't get the "stealing" part, since he doesn't own anyone to begin with

-----------

LeaderMan: Wants the right people on the bus

Servant Leader: Wants to find the right bus for you, and sit next to you on it

-----------

Servant Leader: Shows you his whole heart

LeaderMan: Shows you a flow chart

-----------

LeaderMan: A visionary who knows what the future looks like

Servant Leader: Knows what your kitchen looks like

-----------

LeaderMan: If it's worth doing, it worth doing with excellence

Servant Leader: Not exactly sure how to even calculate "worth doing"

-----------

LeaderMan: Talks about confronting one another in love

Servant Leader: Actually confronts you in love

-----------

LeaderMan: Impressed by success and successful people

Servant Leader: Impressed by faithfulness

-----------

LeaderMan: Invests time in you, if you are "key people"

Servant Leader: Wastes time with you

-----------

LeaderMan: Reveals sins of his past

Servant Leader: Reveals sins of his present

----------

LeaderMan: Gives you things to do

Servant Leader: Gives you freedom

-----------

LeaderMan: Leads because of official position

Servant Leader: Leads in spite of position

-----------

LeaderMan: Deep down, threatened by other Leaders

Servant Leader: Has nothing to lose

The Wifey...

2008-09-04T21:13:00.001-07:00

My wife, Kayla, is a photographer but until now hasn't had a website. Now she does...it's really cool. I envy her.

My Lady's Creative Itch.

Politics and Pulpits...

2008-09-04T20:49:00.000-07:00

Because I've been asked several times lately by some of you who read my blog, go to my church, etc., I should probably make something clear...

As far as my blog goes, I have to be extremely careful as an ordained, paid minister, to NOT endorse any candidate over another. The reason is simple: it's possibly against the law.

It's definitely against the law and the Federal Gov't CAN close your church doors if any paid pastor publicly endorses one candidate over another...because it encourages and 'sways' the feelings of those listening.

We are in positions of authority...authority over masses...I call it the 'power of the pulpit'. And I agree that it shouldn't be used lightly or to sway anyone to do anything except be like Jesus.

My blog "could" be used against me should I ever say something of the sort in a post. Are they my thoughts? Isn't this a free country? Yes and yes. BUT, I have a responsibility to the people I serve to NOT publicly persuade anyone through issues like Gov't.

I CAN HAVE PERSONAL CONVERSATIONS that are very legal and fine to do. I simply cannot use my blog (which we publish a link to on our church website) or any venue in our church such as the stage or pulpit, to hoist my opinions before all and share the why's and how's that I have come to.

I have other, deeper thoughts about politics, but I think my pursuit to be like Jesus occupies my time enough that delving into that arena often proves a diversion to my real mission in life as a pastor in the first place.

That said, I will vote...probably...and I love my country because it's an absolute blessing to me to have such a place to live and move. But it's something I feel I must earn...and that's how I see it.

First Game of The Season...

2008-09-01T20:31:00.001-07:00

Well, this is the time of year where I turn a lot of my attention to football...the University of Tennessee, that is. College football is my sport of choice. Always has been...probably always will be. Thus, I think this is the best time of year.

My Vols (yes, MY Vols...that's how people from Knoxville, Tn. talk) couldn't pull it out at UCLA tonight. They squandered a lot of opportunity away, if you ask me. Hopefully our best days are ahead of us. The schedule gets much worse from here. The SEC is a ridiculously tough conference.

Win or lose, though, I bleed orange. For the next day or so, however, I'm really ticked...

test

2008-08-31T19:05:00.001-07:00

test

Random Moments With Kids...

2008-08-31T14:11:00.000-07:00

Just to be fair, Brennan got a chance to have a video. Although he's not in school (well, he's in pre-PRE-school) yet, he did just gain a sister and his older sister started all-day school. I couldn't get him to agree to talk about any of that...nor would it likely make sense...so we just goofed around. Here's the jib...my maniac little boy who enjoys life more than anyone I know...

New Member...

2008-08-30T13:53:00.000-07:00

I just joined the V-club on Friday. You either get that or you don't.

Carry on...

First Day of Kindergarten...

2008-08-25T07:51:00.001-07:00

A first as a parent and the first for McKenzie, my 5 year old (who just turned 5, 5 days ago). I was weepy as we walked her to class (which is across from my office, pretty cool). But this isn't a baby anymore...this is a little lady. I love her very much. I'm proud to be your dad, McKenzie Grace.
It's a HUGE file so don't open it unless you really care to see it. I put this up for family and close friends mostly.

Friday Night...

2008-08-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

I spent over 3 hours with this guy...I needed to be detoxed later.

.

Cool Worship Leading Stuff...

2008-08-18T18:26:00.000-07:00

I've used the Reason software since January after finally becoming comfortable with playing live with loops. My church bands have been doing this for a few years now, but I've only started recently. Mostly successes, to report. But there was one snag where the computer kinda hiccuped at the start of a set one night. :)

I just recently bought Reason Refills "Piano" and "Abbey Roads Keyboards". The Abbey Roads one is REALLY cool because the sampled keyboards are the original ones from the Abbey Roads recording studio in Europe. For an example of what they produce, think vintage and then think cool modern. Back in the day, it was the Beatles. Now it's Coldplay. And that's barely scratching the surface of who goes to that studio.

The sounds are pretty stinkin' cool in these Refills if you like this kind of stuff. I'm becoming more techy as a worship leader and that's kinda weird and cool at the same time.

The links take you to the pages where you can listen to some samples of the sounds I'm talking about.

Reason Behind Kloe's Name...

2008-08-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

Kloe Juliet Hurst is the full name of our newborn girl. Here's the quick story behind why we chose that name...

Our first daughter has my wife's maiden name for her first name (McKenzie). It's actually a long held irish tradition, I hear. We wanted our next daughter to share something special of mommy, too. So we decided to give her the same initials. Now we had to come up with the name. "Juliet" is what I call my wife when I write love letters/poetry/etc. to her. I wrote a song to propose to her in which I compared her to the Juliet of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". It's a very beautiful name, so that was an easy middle name. I suggested Chloe a long time ago when we found out we were pregnant with our son (just in case it turned out to be a girl). Since he was no girl, no need. But my wife thought it would work for this new one...just change the 'ch' to 'k'. It's fairly common and trendy and almost cliche to do that nowadays, but I actually like it a lot so we went with it.

A bit of trivia...I'm a huge comic book fan...and I also really like the show "Smallville" because it's about a young Superman. His nemesis is Alexander (Lex) Luthor and one of his best friends is Chloe Sullivan on the show. Alexander is my son's middle name (after a good friend, not Lex). If we have another boy, I'm all for "Clark".

Spiderman and Wolverine are a little too obvious...

Rob Bell's New Book...

2008-08-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

I've found Rob Bell to be quite creative and articulate over the last few years. He's certainly influenced a lot of people and I've used his NOOMA videos to help during teaching segments at various events and churches. I can't say I endorse everything about him, but he's definitely been a positive influence in my life as a pastor. I know his name sparks controversy (mostly I find that unnecessary and petty), but there's a lot about his teachings that are worth listening to.

He has a new book coming out in October called "Jesus Wants To Save Christians", and below is the latest description of it. I have a feeling that a lot of his listeners and a lot of people I know who really like him will have a harder time reading this book than "Velvet Elvis"...

"To Know As We Are Known"...

2008-08-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

Some times I share what books I'm reading. Mostly I don't, but that's because my blog is read by no one in particular, so I'm not sure it's worth it, but maybe I'll share more in the future. Who knows? Right now, I will (because I feel I should) share about Parker Palmer's book "To Know As We Are Known: Education As A Spiritual Journey". I will share one piece that I thought was an excellent taste of what this book is about. Pretty much, Palmer goes at the process of learning/teaching as an art and spiritual process more than anything. It relates to any genre of learning or teaching.

.

Random Opinionated Thoughts...

2008-08-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

Something I really have a hard time having sympathy for is when people talk a big talk about 'visions' and 'dreams' but have not the conviction of spirit to see them come to fruition. They want God to do all the work...or someone else...and if that doesn't work, then they move on...mostly bitterly...into the limbo of normal life. If life were to be 'normal',...

...God wouldn't give us dreams.

Birthday...

2008-08-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a pic from my b-day last week. I think the shot of Brennan pretty much shows what our relationship is like all the time...

.