Doug Van Pelt

A Small Sigh of Relief

Whew!
Well, our website is back up.
Details may change as we discover more,
but this much I'm told:

Someone (from Brazil and/or Italy, based on log info) hacked into
our webstore.

What's good is now David has been able to get our site back up again.
The bad part, of course, is that the store is down (and it's Christmas season).
Oh well, we will press on and live on.

My devotion for the day:

Do not let an excuse like, "I can't post my devotion thoughts on the website anyway" stop you from "doing" or "having" a devotion (just spending some sweet time in God's Word).

More info later.

Anger At Robots

There's another virus attaching itself to our website. Someone or, more likely, someone's "robot" sought out our code and is attaching some sort of pop-up window to our website. I'd have thought our site was more secure ... that this wouldn't happen, but I'm pretty clueless as to how a hacker would do such a thing. But it's horrible for us.

I'm going on vacation today and the new issue (Jan/Feb) is basically 97% at the printer. There are only a few advertising files that haven't made it in yet that keep the magazine from being completely uploaded. This should be a good one.

Bradley Hathaway Strikes Again

I was listening to Bradley Hathaway's All The Hits So Far But Don't Expect Too Much on the way to work today. I cried. I welled up inside. My spirit rejoiced over hearing God's Word and the concepts of His Truth.

I really like the way I feel and the person I become when I listen to stuff like this -- preachers, teachers, God's Word spoken to me. I'm edified. My heart resounds with a yearning to express my love for God and His grace, provision, and mercy for me. It is a joy just to know Him, just to count myself as one of His children. Being a street sweeper or toilet cleaner in Heaven is a wonderful thought. To take any position, no matter how it may seem, is a lofty one just to be in His presence.

I like reading God's Word. I feel like I'm growing when I discipline myself to do it. But I rejoice in this other aspect, which I consider a filler (for if I ever give up reading His Word altogether, this other stuff won't be enough, I think), which is when I listen to a cd or something with God's Word booming out in a teaching or something.

"Today" I heard a concept from Bradley that really made me excited:

When God is silent, He is listening.

Wow! Sometimes that "silence" we "hear" can be so disheartening, making us think He is not there. But to consider that He is there, but listening in silence... Wow. That's really special.

Hacked

Yesterday (or perhaps on Sunday) someone hacked in to our ad banner part of the site and it put a downloading virus pop-up window on our site.

Thanks to the ever intelligent David Allen (yeah, David!!!), it's been disabled, so the site is back to normal (minus banner ads). I'm relived. That really, REALLY stinks that some malicious person would do this to our site (it might've been a robotic/automatic sort of program someone designed, who knows).

Here's another photo that Charlotta took of Rudy Schenker of the Scorpions.

The next night I took all my girls to the Switchfoot show. At many points during Switchfoot's set, I had my oldest daughter on top of my shoulders and my wife had our youngest on hers. I would look over and see Rachel with her eyes closed, singing away to the songs. That was such a priceless moment. Praise God, from Whom ALL blessings flow.

David and I are real close to having the new issue finished and ready to send to the printer. It looks like another good one.

I Feel Bad for the Scorpions

I went to see the German heavy metal heavyweights last night. A band that is touring a fantastic, solid, no apologies needed album (Unbreakable). It felt good to be on a date with my wife. It's not often that we combine my work with HM and our dating life. I even had a photo pass for her, so she could join me in the photo pit. We went downtown, ate at one of our favorite Tex-Mex eateries, Cafe Serrano's, and then headed to the Frank Erwin Center, which was quartered off for the production of the show. I'd seen the Scorpions fill this arena to capacity back in the early 80s, and I'd seen other bands have their stage midway out on the floor, essentially "halving" the arena's capacity, but this was the second or third time I'd seen the stage turned "sideways" to face the Red River entrance, in effect "quartering" the capacity for a smaller crowd to still feel the "arena experience."

We came in on time, got a little bit of a run-around with confusing instructions on obtaining half of our passes at will call and the other half ("media" or photo passes) in the back entrance of the arena, where the road crew and union workers load in and out. We had to stand in the cold for about ten minutes, which is always a drag, but I was going to get to see two of my favorite old bands tonight -- UFO and the Scorpions -- so a little inconvenience was no big deal. Instead of going in to see opener Keith Emerson (renowned keyboardist, formerly the "E" in ELP), we took the invitations to a special VIP-style reception room that I knew an old friend (Charles Gates) would be at. I decided not to eat any of the food. I hate to be seen as the moocher that I am. Good thing I was full! No disrespect to Mr. Emerson, but it was nice to just relax before we got busy.

Five minutes before UFO we met the media escort by the barricade in front of the stage. We squeezed in and, for three songs, had the best seats in the house for UFO. Now UFO is one of the best underrated bands in rock and roll history. They've got the power and songs to be thought of in the same breath with Led Zeppelin, but only people privvy to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal give them any sort of credibility. Imagine Rod Stewart or Paul Rodgers fronting and contributing to the songwriting of Zep and you might get a feel for the band's sound. I always knew if I was ever able to see this great band that I'd be disappointed, though. You see, they released a double-live album in the 1979 called Strangers In The Night, and it is one of the best live albums ever (of course, this is all my opinion, but the UK's Classic Rock magazine listed it as one of the top 3 of the "100 best live albums in rock" not too long ago). The deal is that this live album, which features the breathtakingly beautiful melodic guitar leads of one Michael Schenker, is so darn near perfect that only a note-for-note replication of that performance will do for these ears. As good a guitarist as the great Vinnie Moore is, he sounded like a poor replacement to these ears last night. He hit some of the notes, but the bends and passionate "feel" that Schenker brought those songs was just missing. They played plenty of hits, but it just wasn't the same. At one point singer Phil Mogg polled the audience, "Do you want to hear 'Lights Out' or 'Doctor Doctor?'" Of course, the obvious answer would be to play both. "Lights Out" won the poorly applaused poll. They ended up playing at least three songs afterwards, so why not "Doctor Doctor" as well? I'm tired of that hit song, though, and would've prefered "I'm A Loser" to one of their closers -- "Shoot, Shoot." Nevertheless, I finally got to see UFO after all these years.

After their set, we made our way into one of the mysterious inner rooms of the arena for a "meet and greet" with the Scorpions. Here I would meet with the charming and friendly road manager, Bill Barclay, to discuss when I'd interview guitarist Matthias Jabs. There was also an issue to discuss about "avoiding Christianity in the interview topics." (This was cleared up easily once it was understood that the interview would cover a broad range of topics.) Once we were in the room (about 6 to 8 of us) approached the table that the members of the band were sitting at. As I approached the table with a big grin on my face, meeting the smiles of vocalist Klaus Meine and guitarist Rudy Schenker, I was tapped on the should by one Bill Barclay. "Can we get in a line?" I turned around and complied. A moment later Bill discovered, "Is that it?" meaning that this was the total count for the meet and great, and then he said, "Make yourselves at home," and I approached the table. This was my first sign that the Scorpions were not selling copies of Unbreakable nor tickets to their shows. When I approached the table, I actually slammed my fist down for emphasis in telling Rudolph that this album was fantastic, that they'd really delivered the goods. "Tell that to the rest of the band," he grinned.

Again, I could sense that this band was bummed out. They had certainly delivered THE BEST melodic hard rock / metal album of the last 15 years (nothing comes close, unless you count Dream Theater's Images and Words, which is more prog metal than melodic hard rock, although there are elements...). It wasn't posing, it wasn't pretending, it wasn't adapting to the sounds of the times. It was just a worldclass band doing what they do best. It's quite impressive. I wanted to encourage them of that. It seems they knew it was good. Somehow, an artist just knows when they've created something "magic" or "special." Unbreakable is that, but it must not be selling. I moved my way down the table to comply with Rudy's wish and encourage the band that the new album was great. The bass player offered me an autograph and I responded before I could think about how it might be received, "No thanks. I hate autographs." That was kinda funny.

I felt bad for the Scorpions -- not because their show suffered. Not a bit. They ruled the night with a tight show that was all power, all songs, all Scorpions. If I was to feel bad for anybody, it should've been UFO who, as much as I love them and think they're great, objectively didn't sound so well. I tell ya, if I could single-handedly offer a band a shot at the nation's attention, I'd do it for these guys right now (and it has nothing to do with helping a fellow Christian band out, either, of course), I'd do it. If I could pick up the phone and book them for a performance for an NFL playoff game this year, I'd do it. But perhaps this album will be forgetten and only heard by a bunch of old rockers that don't have much of a voice in modern culture anymore. That would stink.

Here's one of the photos my wife took with our digital camera. Tonight I'm taking her and my two daughters (who are huge fans) to see Switchfoot in Austin.

Here I Am...

Early morning the sun comes out.
I can't stand that song, but I'm sure to hear it tonight. Yes, the Scorpions are coming to Austin, Texas. I'm supposed to interview them. This should be fun. I'm taking my wife on a heavy metal date.

God is good. We are facing challenges with the magazine. It seems like at this time of year a lot of the record labels don't have much of a marketing budget left, and ad sales tend to dip. We trust that God will sustain us.

"Come near to God and He will come near to you."

That passage in James is so cool. It is true that eternal life does not start when you die, but starts when you are born again. There is a God and we can actually know him. Moses had a cool situation in Exodus 33. He set up a "tent of meeting" outside the camp. ANyone who wanted to inquire of the Lord would go there. Whenever Moses went into the tent, people would stand outside their tents and watch. A pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance while the Lord spoke to Moses. This would inspire the people to worship where they were.

"The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend."

Didn't Jesus call His disciples friends? God surely wants to be our friend. And we can actually have a friendship with our Creator. Perhaps we need to "pitch a tent" of sorts "outside the camp" and away from distractions, just to spend some quiet time with the Lord. It doesn't have to be for an hour. It can be for a few minutes. He doesn't invade our space, but we can invite Him into ours. That is cool.

The Good Shepherd

"I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me - just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father - and I lay down My life for the sheep."

This passage comes from John 10, which is the culmination of three amazing chapters where Jesus affirms His deity. He stands up to the Jews who picked up stones to kill him, asking which miracle He performed are they stoning Him for. They answer that they're going to kill Him for blasphemy - for making Himself out to be God. He tries to reason with them, holding up His miracles as a sign that affirms His deity, but they don't buy it and he escapes their grasp. I wonder if He used miraculous powers to escape, or if He just boldly walked briskly away, or if He ran. The passage doesn't really tell us.

I am a bad shepherd. Besides being selfish and apparently unwilling to lay down my life for the sheep, I made a mistake recently in HM Magazine that I regret. I allowed an ad by a record company to run in our last issue (after discussing the issue with the label), which featured a band of Christians and a "secular" band. Some people checked out the band and saw that they used profanity on their website. Others went out and bought their record, hearing profanity when they played it. It's not too likely that much damage was done by people hearing this secular band, although there was some slight damage I imagine. The worst damage is that the trust that some readers have of HM was damaged. If I compromised this one time, how are they to know that future ads for bands they don't know are Christian bands. However your philosophy falls on the topic of listening to secular music goes, it's still true that HM Magazine acts as a filter of sorts for its readers, letting people know about distinctly Christian bands that are making music out there. If that "filter" doesn't stay consistent, then it doesn't do its job.

The great thing about being a follower of the Great Shepherd, though, is we can get back up after we trip and fall, be forgiven, and move on. By His power and grace, we can avoid the mistakes we made in the past. That's my goal.

He Fought the Law...and Who Won?

Exodus 23 in the New International Version has some really cool "love your neighbor" kind of laws. "If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it."

Jesus is indeed the same yesterday, today, and forever.

It's deadline for the next 9 days. I'm looking forward to having this issue done.

Check out this "constrution ahead" sign I photographed just for you to see.

Monday, Entry No. 2

The fine folks over at Essential have made available some cool video and streaming audio for us.

Check out a behind-the-scenes video here.
and
streaming audio for the song "Detainer."

What do you guys/gals think?

Fantastic Music

Mat Kearney
Bullet
sigh.
sometimes i feel limited about what i can do, and that's probably a really good thing. keeping HM Magazine focused on hard music (Christian hard music, of course) is probably what's best for the magazine. consistency is good. starting Heaven's Metal Fanzine back up acts as kind of a creative outlet of sorts, giving me the opportunity to give props and coverage to some bands that are under the mainstream and popular radar. since we don't have a "staff's picks / listening" page like Spin Magazine, i can't wax eloquently about the high quality music that one mat kearney has put out (on Inpop Records, no less).

This guy cranks out a solid and polished hip-hop pop sound that is just infectious. You know how you sometimes can't help but love Eminem or that "Are You The Walrus?" song by Furthermore? It's just good songs with good, memorable hooks with a pinch of hip jazz style that makes it all go down smooth. Another artist that this is reminiscent of is Jason Mraz. Call it a guilty pleasure (for a rocker, at least), but this is great stuff.

10 Excuses

1. "Don't have any other gods before Me. Unless, of course, he's really cool or he breaks a sports record or something..."

2. "Don't make an idol and worship it. Same exceptions as above apply, and the same goes if she's a beautiful lady."

3. "Don't misuse the Name of the Lord. This doesn't apply if you hit your thumb with a hammer, get a finger caught in a car door, or other such moments where it really hurts, man."

4. "Keep the Sabbath Day holy. Rest one day a week. But, if you're stressed out about something or you're obsessed about cleaning that thing, then go ahead and work..."

5. "Honor your father and your mother. Unless, of course, if they do something wrong."

6. "Don't kill anyone. This doesn't mean you can't cuss at them or beat them up really bad..."

7. "Don't have sex with another person's spouse. Kissing, holding hands and that Clinton/Lewinsky thing don't count, of course."

8. "Do not steal. But switching the price tags isn't really stealing, then, is it?"

9. "Don't lie. Little 'white lies,' of course, do not count."

10. "Don't get jealous of and wish you had your neighbor's house, wife, servants, or any of their stuff. Being jealous of their status, though, that's okay..."

Sometimes You Forget

i forgot that the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea was done at night. Even though I've seen visuals of that wall of water at night, in my mind I always think of it as during the daytime. Perhaps it was lit up like daytime by that pillar of fire...

This was another massive miracle that I wish I could have seen. It must have been terrifying for those Egyptian soldiers to have the wall of water crash in on them. The next day all the Israelites saw the dead bodies of their pursuers on the shore, giving them reason for thanks for deliverance. It was finally over for them -- all the running and fleeing for their lives.

It's Weird Praying 4 the Election

...it almost feels like praying for the outcome of a football game. It's hard to believe that God picks sides. Even praying things that line up with His Word and principles can be like "sneaking" prayers with my own slant on them. I acknowledge that He puts leaders into place. I place the outcome in His hands, knowing that He is in control. An event like this can cause anxiety inside, but the Lord tells us to be anxious for nothing, but to pray. So that's what I do.

God not only put Pharaoh on power, but in Exodus 7 we see that He even hardened Pharaoh's heart. That's called being in control, for sure. (And that chapter has the cool verse that inspired the awesome Davey Quiggle artwork of our shirts we call the "Exodus 7:12 shirts." Pharaoh's wisemen and sorcerers threw their staffs down, which became snakes just like Aaron's, but Aaron's staff/snake swallowed up all the other snakes! How awesome is that?

"Do Not Come Any Closer"

This is what God said to Moses from within the burning bush. My first reaction is, "...or else you'll get burned, silly!" But the moment captured in Exodus 3 is much more serious than this.

It is holy ground that Moses now stands barefoot on. After the Lord tells Moses that He's going to use him to bring his people out from Pharoah's Egypt, his first response is like, "Why me?" God comforts this question with the assurance that He'll be with him. Then Moses asks, "Who am I going to say told me this? What if they ask for Your Name?" I can imagine that the Lord might've thought this line of questioning humorous, kind of like a parent putting up with excuse after excuse from his or her child... "I Am Who I Am," said the Lord. "Tell the Israelites, 'I Am has sent me to you.'"

While this exchange certainly has its moments of awe, what a precious promise and hopeful time it must have been. The Israelites had been treated horribly in Egypt, and their cries were finally being met with action from their God. Moses persisted and even asked God to let him out of this responsibility. God, in His ever graciousness, made a way for Aaron to help Moses along the way, being his spokesman. This soon-to-be hero certainly tried to get out of the job! It's interesting, sometimes, to see the beginning of a dramatic story. Sometimes confidence is built up over time and can be traced back to great uncertainty and fear.

Encouragement Quacks

I'm scheduled to speak at my friend Paul Q-Pek's church tonight. He moved back to Austin recently to take a job as a worship leader at Calvary Worship Center. He was reading the art column I wrote for the Sep/Oct issue to his family at the dinner table. He said his family uttered a lot of "amen's" and "it's about time someone said that" type of comments. First of all, that is totally cool that a husband and father would read a spiritual type column like that to his family at the dinner table. That's what I'm talking about! Second, it's so encouraging to hear something like that. Based on that article, which was just some condensed thoughts on the arts, he's asked me to speak at a new service he's started at his church that is fostering and promoting the arts (all kinds).

I remember a sermon from about 18 years ago delivered by Jason Knox. He brought up ducks flying in a "V" formation when they head south together, etc. The head duck, the guy in the front of the arrowhead formation, takes the brunt of the wind velocity. The others in the formation cruise along in the draft he makes (kinda like race cars, bicycle teams, etc). It's an aerodynamic lesson from nature. Well, the ducks in the back of the formation can be heard quacking every once in a while. Apparently some scientists have tried to explain why they quack. You see, at that height and speed, opening one's mouth causes "drag" and slows the flier down. To quack requires a tremendous amount of extra energy that could probably best be saved for the duration of the trip (sometimes these ducks go a long way in one trip). One of the theories is they honk or quack just as a note of encouragement to the lead duck to keep on flying. Isn't that cool?