Friday, March 20, 2009

Torn.

Yesterday was the 4 year anniversary of the day we moved back to our home state. This rainy, cold weather has really been weighing on me lately. I was thinking this morning about a fishing trip I took one time. We lived in Bend, OR at the time so you could actually count on sunny days in the summer. It was the 4th of July and I got up at 4am so I could be on the water before the sun was. It was already warm out and the smell of smoke from recent local forest fires still hung faintly in the air. I decided to fish an area of the Deschutes river that during our time in central Oregon, became my favorite place in the world. This particular spot was just above Benham Falls but below the footbridge. I turned onto the forest service road as the sun was making it's appearance through the Ponderosa pines. Since it was summer, I had the top down on the Jeep and the mixture of pine needles, Juniper pollen and forest fire smoke filled the Deschutes National Forest. I had just received a copy of Jason Upton's album "Faith" and was listening to it while I drove. If you've ever heard the title track from that record, you know the part where he says, "Because I'm learning to trust that it's not you that hurt me, I'm learning to believe that it's not you that deserted me, I believe that you still love me, brokenness and all." When I heard that, something inside of me broke and I began to weep. It was a bit of a spiritual re-awakening for me.
I pulled up and parked, got my waders on, strung up my rod, and began to walk the trail up to the footbridge that at one time had been a railroad grade. I got on the water and found a spot where the reeds were tall and right against the river. I knelt behind them and pulled some line out of the rod tip and gently dropped the fly onto the surface of the slow moving water. Since the reeds were so tall, I couldn't see my fly. After a few drifts and no action, I began to wander mentally. I was admiring the trees, the birds, the sunshine and I was so enthralled by nature that I was startled by the splash of the fish that had come up and crushed my fly. I felt the weight of a bigger-than-my-average fish on the end of my line. I had been so shocked by the disturbance of my quietness that I was not in the state of mind to actually play and land a fish and as suddenly as it had made it's presence known, it was gone. The price of barb-less hooks.
I fished a while longer once my hands stopped shaking from the adrenaline, and about 9:30 am, I called it day, fishless. I drove out the forest service road, onto the highway that connects Bend to Mt. Bachelor and drove home. Even without ever seeing a fish that morning, it had been a great excursion and I knew that I had been changed as a person and that I would remember that morning for the rest of my life.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Picks Down Please.

Yesterday after church we hosted a lead guitarists workshop with the intent of getting all the current and future lead guitarists on the same page. Essentially, the message was, "If you're going to play lead guitar at New Life Church, this is how we want it done." It went really well, Corey presented the technical aspects of technique, theory and tone, while I was there to provide demonstration music.
It was really an "Above and Beyond" kind of event. We have a wealth of quality musicians here and it would be easy to sit back and enjoy that fact but we want to go above and beyond just having quality musicians, to actually developing our musicians into quality worship teams. The hardest part was keeping 9 guitar players quiet long enough to say anything!

If you would like to learn how to play guitar, check out www.coreysublett.com

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

No Communion Cup Holders?

We purchased a used vehicle yesterday. During the test drive, I tried out the radio and it was set to 106.9 which is a pop station. While I was talking with the salesman, the fact that I work at a church came up. When we drove off the lot, we noticed that the radio had been set to 105.3, the local Christian music station. I thought that was funny. Religious profiling.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

What Do You Say?

I just talked with a guy who came in to the church office wanting to talk. He told me his story. Let's just say he had a sordid past. He moved out here from really far away to escape his old life after becoming a Christian. He has been struggling to find work and more importantly, someone to talk to. He has been to a number of churches but found judgmental stares and words. He is contemplating returning to his former life.
So what do you say to someone who has turned to God but found nothing but rejection from people who bear the Name of Christ? Sorry? What do you say to someone who can't find work and is staying in his car? Wow that sucks?
I prayed with him and encouraged him to get connected here at New Life. I hope too much damage hasn't already been done. Say a prayer for this man, let's call him Joe.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

What Beats a Black Hole?

I was playing with my 4 year old son the other day and he wanted to play "Rock, Paper, Scissors". We were playing and he kept making a gun and I kept correcting him saying "No you can't use a gun, it's not a rock, paper, or scissors." A few more times through the process and he started waving his arms around in front of him and I said "What is that?" and he immediately replied, "Black hole."
Since I don't know what beats a black hole, I gave up.