Doug Van Pelt

Paydirt

Ahh, it feels good to be done. With a supportive wife, I worked and worked and worked -- probably 2.5 weeks of mostly 12-16-sometimes 20 hour days to completion. At 3am this morning my computer finally finished the transfer of 96 PDF files (one for each page) of the new issue to our printer.

I'm so thankful and expect great things from this issue.

I love that promise in Phillipians that God makes to us, that He will "finish the work He started in us." I am an "unfinished work," but take comfort in knowing that God won't quit, throwing a tool down and walking away in anger if I somehow become "hard to work with." Both of us probably like it better when I am a compliant, willing partner in this work, huh?

Ugh

Praise the Lord!
I was able to work most of the night.
I hit a wall around 7 am or so, I think.
I'm still several placed ads and updated proof corrections away (plus there's the printing of proofs for each page, which need to get overnighted).

My printer closes the door on a job being turned in that day at noon their time (and they're in the EST), so it looks like this issue is going to be another day late.

I can only do what I can only do, and I praise God for what I've been able to do. I'm just still not "there" yet, and I press on.
(deep breath)

Who's To Blame For This Mistake?

My youngest daughter found a typo in her Bible:

"They didn't capitalize the word God."

She's reading about the story of the Tower of Babel. "Why would people want to be like God?" she asks. "You can never become more powerful than God. God is like a burning fire over here and we're like a little city over here. That burning fire can stop, but we can't stop it. Because it's not like any other fire."

She also made note about the Tower of Babel: "God was very angry, but He still loved them."

"I would like to build a tower, but not going up into the heavens; because that would spoil the surprise of going to heaven."

What do they say about "from the mouths of babes...?"

Failure

This sucks. I have attempted to stay up all night to finish this issue, but could only "survive" the night without laying down and sleep until 1:30 am. Now I'm staring at an unfinished issue (I wouldn't have finished this morning even if I'd stayed up), and I'm not sure how soon I can finish it. I'm farther away than I thought. Yikes.

Genesis 9 starts off with the proclamation that: "Then God blessed Noah and his sons..." That's a pretty cool way to start a new chapter -- with God bless you. God made a covenant with Noah that He would never again flood the earth and kill every living thing on it. This covenant was made between God and Noah and for "all generations to come." We are also recipients and "participants" in this covenant. The sign of this covenant was a rainbow. It says that every time He sees the rainbow that He will remember this covenant. That is good news for us.

The end of the chapter tells us of Noah planting a vineyard, making wine, getting drunk and passing out naked in his tent. While the Bible points out elsewhere that getting drunk is foolish, in this story it wasn't the bigger error. Ham saw his father's nakedness and, instead of covering the mistake/error, he went and told his two brothers. His two brothers did exactly what Ham should have done: they walked backwards with a garment, laying it over their dad and covering it up, so that they wouldn't see his nakedness. They understood something about shame, sin, and exposure. They knew it was better to cover their dad's shame than expose it. When Noah awoke and discovered what had happened, he cursed Ham and his descendents. It's pretty clear that exposing sin was not a good thing. While this might fly in the face of a legalist, that's just too bad. God's Word helps build our character, and our impulse and behavior should reflect that of Shem and Japheth, who covered their father's nakedness/error/shame. They honored him and did not equate this failure to limit his drinking with his value as a person. His dignity was to be valued and struggled/worked for.

Another misconception that some people have actually tried to use was taking this story as the historical reason why white people should enslave black people. Scholars point out that the Canaanites were white/caucasian, though. So that stupid argument doesn't hold up.

I'm not so sure about my theory of why Noah and people lived so much longer than we do today. If the sun's radiation was now greater on the earth and limited man's days as a result, it doesn't exactly explain how Noah lived another 350 years after the flood. The lifespan of those after him was still large (though not as large as Noah's), going down to the 400's, 200s, and then the 70s (by the descriptions in chapter 11).

The Final Countdown

I've reset my deadline clock/timer, which tells me that I've only got 53 days, 20 hours, 50 minutes and 36 seconds until the Jan/Feb 2007 issue goes to the printer. Yet I've still got to finish the Nov/Dec issue. I've got the "toughest" sections laid out (Hard News and Album Reviews), but still have most of the stories to go. Here's hoping I can get it done tonight or sometime tomorrow.

The Dove

After a long, long time Noah and his family had dry ground to walk on again. All the animals got out. Noah built an altar and sacrificed some of the clean animals and clean birds on it. "The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in His heart: 'Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.'"

Wow. God makes another promise. It's pretty interesting that the sacrifices Noah made were a "pleasing aroma" to God. I wonder what I can do to please God in a similar way? I wonder what implications of the final and ultimate sacrifice (of Jesus on the cross) have for me? Are there implications of that sacrifice that I haven't thought of yet? If God was pleased with Noah, then how does He feel about me in light of the sacrifice that Jesus made was on my behalf? hmmm...

My deadline clock says 1 hour, 36 minutes, and 58 seconds left of deadline. I'm not exactly that far away with my workload. If my load was measured, I think it would read 3 days left... We'll see how it works out.

In Reverent Fear

Am listening to a great band with a really good vocalist. They're called In Reverent Fear. Wow.

Lots of good stuff going into this issue. One of the special things we have is a special "advertorial section" of music gear. While ads may not sound very exciting, this is an 11-page section with music gear ads coupled with "advertorial," which are like stories that are about the gear releases, etc. I guess I just spent so much time laying it out that it seems like a big deal to me!

We have 30 prizes for the folks that fill out the Readers' Poll and Survey. It's always fun to get a big response and see what bands everyone loves. Well, I better go to sleep so I'll have some energy to go again tomorrow.

Peace.

Postal Forms, Coffee, and Amy Grant

I haven't always listed the music I'm listening to at the office, like hardcore band All In, Copeland, Showbread, and Viva Voce; but this morning I'm playing a new arrival from yesterday's mail -- Amy Grant Live. I have to admit, it sounds good. Almost too good for a live album. Great sonics on her voice.

"The Lord then said to Noah, 'Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.'"

It's cool to note that (in verse 15 of Genesis 7) "Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark." They didn't have to scavange the earth and capture these animals, God brought them to him and inside the ark. I don't know if animals have any sort of thoughts or emotions beyond fear and hunger, but if they could think like us, imagine them talking as they ate leaves: "Where is Doomba going ... with Sheba in tow?" Or, "Haven't you heard? Our creator has chosen them to be escorted into a boat, while we will perish."

For 150 days the waters flooded the earth. I don't know how long it took Noah to build the ark, but in the time between God's remembering of Noah, His covenant with him and his command to build the ark and the commencement of the flood, I wonder if God reconsidered what He was going to do. Was there time for the wicked people around Noah to repent of their ways and find God's favor? If it took a year or more for Noah to build this ark, I wonder what that year was like. If I was an angel or something looking on (and having knowlege of what was to come), I would perceive everything I saw with a sense of doom.

The second coming of Christ has been refered to as being like the story of the ark, where God's chosen people will be saved from His judgment. But the period between His pronouncement of His coming and His actual return has a different feel to it. We have been commanded to make disciples of all nations and be "witnesses" for Jesus and His story in the interim. Wicked people do have a chance to repent and change. In essence, perhaps, we can invite others to join us in the "Ark."

There Is Nowhere Else I'd Rather Be...

...than in Your arms..."

I was enjoying the first album by The Violet Burning this morning on the way to work. This deadline is really, uh, here. I've got 2 days, 1 hour, 34 minutes, and 7 seconds to finish this issue...and I'm about 7 days' worth of work away!

We'll see what happens here...

I wish I could call ACL Fest up and say: "Thanks for taking care of me and the press this past weekend. Since I gave up the weekend before my final week of deadline, could you send about five staff members over here and help me catch up?"

hahaha
I only wish it was that easy.

We have chosen to home school our girls and sometimes (rarely) I actually help my wife do this. One project I'll help our kids do soon is go outside and measure exactly how big Noah's Ark was. Genesis 6:15 says: "The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high." That's pretty long. It would take up the entire grass area of our beloved Hutto High School football field. At only 25 yards wide, that would take up the space between the hashmarks; and at 15 yards high, that'd be somewhere near the top of the goalposts. I bet there'd be a commotion in Hutto if I started building such a ship in that location.

One beautiful thing about the ark was the door on the side. It says in 7:16 that "...Then the Lord shut him in." Apparently God was the one that closed the door. It was God in His judgment and wrath that held his hand out to desperate people trying to get on board, as if to say, "Speak to the hand." My point is not to make light of that, because it was a very stressful thing. Imagine if you had to say no to someone's request to come aboard the ark, knowing that your refusal meant their certain death? This was a gracious thing for God to do. It doesn't mention that anyone beat on the sides of the ark and screamed to get in. But if that happened, it'd be a terrible thing to fathom.

This is perhaps the kind of fearful brokenness we should have when we consider the reality of Hell. We cannot be glib or arrogant about it, because we have been shown mercy, not privilege. Thinking that someone we know or meet or see is going to hell should make us weep.

ACL Fest Day 3 | For all those who stayed in the rain

Anathallo played one of the early sets on Sunday, which began to the accompaniment of a late September rain. It started soft and steadily increased, until it was flying almost sideways and soaking the band members pretty good. The stagehands madly started dashing around, covering all the wedges, pianos, and guitar amps with plastic. Whenever vocalist Matthew Joynt would clap his hands over his heads to prompt the audience to participate, large splashes of water would radiate from his palms. I have no idea how his electric guitar kept working -- much less his microphone! The various percussion instruments, of course, offered splashes of water in addition to thunderous sonic booms. It was great to see the giant video screens near most of the stages splash up the visuals of the band jamming out. Seeing the two percussionists in a line with the rest of the large troupe was cool. Joynt even mentioned how funny the bells sounded with the addition of water droplets. They plowed through their set, though, which was not small feat. They were very appreciative of the audience that hung in there with them.

Matisyahu brought his Reggae-splashed hip-hop to the large AT&T stage in the late afternoon, which was likened to "bringing church" to the crowd. While the ACL Fest is certainly not known as a progaganda tool for the fundamentalist/evangelical Christian church in America; like many, they do seem to have a deep appreciation for the music that is created out of and reflected of various spiritual streams and ethnic "neighborhoods." When this Hassidic Jew freestyles praise and worship with a free-flowing musical bed that's breaking down and "capturing" an emotional peak, it was a joyous time of being led into worship of our Creator God by this happy musician.

"We can make a place for the king in this world...
His Name is Elohim. He created everything.
I see Him right over there..." (and he'd fill in the blank, describing a guy with a cowboy hat over here, someone waving a British flag over there, and even "the guys dancing on top of porta potties in the back...").

I raised my hands in sweet praise, baptizing these dry cheeks with tears. This was so cool and ranks right up there with similar "church" experiences in unexpected places, like shows by U2, King's X, The Alarm. Good, rich stuff that brings more than an average show. At another moment in the show, Matisyahu danced in front of the stage with a bandmate, both jumping down and running through the gap/barricades in the crowd.

Ben Harper has long been known to cull from various religious musical heritages, most recently doing an album with the Blind Boys of Alabama. His Sunday evening sunset show (with The Innocent Criminals) started off with an electric jamming version of "Voodoo Child," with Ben Harper playing lap pedal steel guitar. He certainly conjured the vibe of Austin legend Stevie Ray Vaughan with that strong opening. He kept the energy level up and mixed things up tempo wise. Later he invited "three very special guests" for the last song -- Damian, Julie, and Stephen Marley (from Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley), an old Bob Marley standard "Get Up."

Shortly after Harper's enthusiastic set, the crowd just had to turn about 45 degrees to face the ATT&T Blue Room stage, which featured Muse. This Brit band simply ripped the night sky open with volume and intensity, completely bringing rock to an otherwise indie fest. Their metallic power was a sharp contrast to most any other band on the bill. It was amazing. "Knights Of Cydonia" (from their latest album) started things off, which was quickly followed by "Hysteria" (from Absolution). The falsetto pop of "Supermassive Black Hole" followed, and the pseudo dance/house vibe of "Map Of The Problematique" after that. Muse didn't slow down or pause until just before the fifth song's chugga-chugging intro to "Time Is Running Out." They simply killed. While their set was advertised as a good hour long, they stopped after 45 minutes with some lame excuse/joke about Tom Petty pulling the plug on them if they played any longer.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers indeed started at that point, kicking off the closing set with upwards of 60,000 people loudly singing along to his large quiver of hits. After about 4 or 5 songs, though, Petty announced that they'd take a short break to cover everything up (with plastic) and be right back with "a bunch more songs." The hole in the sky that Muse punched through with their loud bombastic music must've been the crack the weather needed, because it poured down for a good five or ten minutes, causing many to run for cover and others to dance in its wet mess. After a good 15-20 minutes to fix things, Petty and crew cranked it back up. After taking a perceived final bow to a good one-hour performance, he proceeded to flip the "never finish" switch and jam for another 15 to 20 minutes, giving the ACL faithful everything they could've wanted from the hitmaker.

Photos & Review by Doug Van Pelt & Charlotta Van Pelt
©2006 HM Magazine - All Rights Reserved

ACL Fest Day 2 | This one's for Tim Hallila

With the Texas heat bringing more of the same, the Austin City Limits Festival became like most others -- an endurance test. The only way to stay in the flow and keep going was, in essence, to throw yourself into the music and let it energize you. This has worked wonders for me at many a late evening encore at summer festivals when my body starts protesting the idea of standing up anymore. A Gospel band called The New Soul Invaders brought that kind of energy bright and early in the morning in their 11:30 am time slot. The Washington Mutual stage showcased a lot of good Gospel music throughout all three days of the festival.

We had ventured out this early after the previous late night because The Rocket Summer was playing. Young (but now young adult) prodigy Bryce Avary came out bursting with unbridled energy, with his between-song encouragement as upbeat or more so than even his songs. Though the Austin Ventures stage did suffer from some bleed-over sound from the close-by AT&T Blue Room stage, it wasn't that obvious except between songs or very long pauses in the tunes. The stark piano accompaniment of "Around The Clock" competed slightly with some of the heavier moments coming from Marah's music, but it wasn't detracting to this fast delivery of song after song. "Tell Me Something Good" came off a tad faster than the album, which translated well live. "Never Knew" could've easily been the last song of the set, as it peaked at just the right time.

Aimee Mann was a vocal treat on the Heineken stage, which we enjoyed on our way to get a good spot to watch one of 2006's upstart bands -- Jack White's (the) Raconteurs, who graced the largest of the fest's 8 stages (AT&T). It was great to hear their blues rock standards performed with the kind of nonchalant but attitude-filled energy. It's easy to imagine Zeppelin's early forays into metal with each blues-drenched riff. I was quite impressed to discover how little White's voice was necessary to carry the band's songs. His role was only prominent on maybe half the songs. Quite fun.

Iron & Wine put out a lot heavier sound that I anticipated. Their well-attended set was another example of the kind of appetizer-style "snacking" you can do by walking from stage to stage. Yes, there are unenviable choices to make from time to time, but the park isn't so large that one cannot sample a few songs of one set and migrate to another stage to take in another band.

Willie Nelson ended the night with a long set of star-studded jamming. While he went through several catalog hits and beloved songs, its apparent that he wants to have fun and share the spotlight with his talented friends and musical compatriots, with extended solos and jams.

Photos & Review by Doug Van Pelt & Charlotta Van Pelt
©2006 HM Magazine - All Rights Reserved

ACL Fest | This one's for Dougie G

We went down to the ACL Fest, parked downtown and walked to the shuttle bus park to get transported (like cattle) to the giant Zilker Park in Austin for the fifth annual Austin City Limits Festival, which is run as smooth as ever. The giant park (which usually holds several soccer fields) is surrounded by trees and features 7 giant stages interspersed throughout the grounds to give the sound system enough room to fill the air, but not bleed over too much into the other stage areas. There's lots of free water spickets and "sister mister" areas to cool off from the Texas heat.

By mis-estimating how long it would take to park and shuttle there, we missed the set by Guster, who keeps eluding me as an artist. I can' remember how many cool shows of his I've missed (like a taping of the ACL show), despite my efforts otherwise.

We did get to see Wolf Parade on the AT&T Blue Room Stage, which is one of many with giant video screens to service the crowd that extends far back and away. They were quite good, with really infectious melodies and a driving, energetic vibe. We met up with 2005 intern Tim Halllila there, who caught us up on his summer in Russia and his senior year at Stephen F. Austin University. He was there with a one day pass and most wanted to see Nickel Creek, who were up next. This band's jamming ways were in full tilt, with the violins and guitars competing in speed, melody and riffing contests. Not exactly a hootinanny, but definitely an earthy, bluegrass vibe taken to jam band and alt country and rock songs.

We heard Danielia Cotton cover AC/DC's "Back In Black" quite well, with her drummer pounding away in perfect time. Del Castillo played in the Washington Mutual tent/building, putting out an incredible amount of passionate jamming. Their two flamenco guitarists are about as fast and blazing (in harmony, too) as I've heard. Their singer is quite the frontman (imagine a Latino Tom Jones).

Trish Murphy played a spirited set with a full band on the BMI Stage, where she basically schooled anybody listening on the art of writing good blues songs. She tells a story in just about every ditty. She started off with one insightful song from her catalog -- "The Trouble With Trouble," which offers the life lesson: "the trouble with trouble is it starts out as fun..."

I was quite impressed with John Mayer. Charlotta had told me that he was good, and I knew him to be quite popular, but I had no idea what I was getting into. This little kid on guitar conjures the ghost of Stevie Ray Vaughan at a place that reveres the man, wailing away on guitar. Supported by a band loaded with talent, he had a solid rhythmic bed upon which to wail and sing. While sometimes his solos never took off the ground, they moved as smooth as any great blues player.

Van Morrison closed out the night with his wise old songs of truth. While the humidity and heat combine to make this an endurance test, by the end of the night (at only 10 pm) we were spent. Several thousand revelers probably went to clubs for many infamous star-studded sets all across town, we were only too happy to hit the sack.

On the way out of the festival towards the shuttle buses we saw a sign holder that I expected to see again (remembering from last year). His sign said something about "broad is the way to destruction." In his eyes was a penetrating, steely stare. I felt like telling him what was missing: his tears. If he really loved this city and really cared about their souls, wouldn't he be crying? Instead he looked like he was fighting. He definitely had a "game face" on. I thought about Jeremiah -- the weeping prophet. Jesus talked about Jerusalem and how it made him weep, wishing He could hold the people under his arms like a hen to its chicks. Maybe this guy was fighting. Maybe he was talking to demons, who might've only been too happy to torment the guy and his efforts, but judgment and hatred were probably the chief impression from each person that passed him by. I wonder if this man was a jerk, hated by his family. It wasn't hard to judge him in my imagination. I wonder how he was saved. Surely it was from someone showing him love and not a big sign that talked about hell. While he probably means well and it took some courage to do what he did, I imagine he won't bear much fruit. Perhaps he could rethink his approach.

Photos & Review by Doug Van Pelt & Charlotta Van Pelt
©2006 HM Magazine - All Rights Reserved

The Last Two...

In the new/next issue of HM, I wrote a message titled: "I Haven't Led Anyone To Christ In The Last 20 Years." In it I talked about the last two people that I had the privilege of leading to Christ. Without splitting theological hairs, what I mean by that is praying with them to ask for and receive God's forgiveness -- in essence getting saved, born again, and converting to Christianity.

Now, during the last 20 years, I probably prayed this prayer with a couple of other people, but these "don't count" in the same way, as they were when my band played a concert or when I volunteered to help out at a ministry event of some sort. Those were "real" events, of course, but that privilege of praying with someone was different than another person that I was able to talk with and persuade to some degree to go forward with this spiritual "transaction." Every one is by the grace of God, but one is far more exciting than the other. This is the one that you have some sort of relationship with, where you get to see the results and rejoice with them, etc.

The last two people that this happened with were Jerry the hitchhiker and the anonymous magazine salesman. One of the factors that was consistent with both of those events was that I asked the question, "Would you like to pray to receive Christ/forgiveness right now?" This is an important element to some degree.

I remember applying for a job as manager of a Radio Shack in Highland Mall in Austin, Texas shortly after my college graduation. During the interview, the regional manager asked me, "Do you have a stereo? Sell it to me. Let me hear you sell it to me." I told him the brand name and model number, the amount of watts per channel it featured, blah blah blah. He asked me if I was done. He pointed out, "You never asked me if I wanted to buy it." I kinda walked out of that interview with my tail between my legs (I am so glad I didn't get that job or the prison guard job I applied for...), but I never forgot the lesson. The lesson is: "You have to close the sale." If you bring someone to the point of decision but never ask them if they'd like to make a decision, you're not finalizing the thing, closing the deal, concluding the matter, or reaching the goal."

Now, of course, salvation is not something we buy. It's not a business deal. It's not a formula. It's a relationship with the living God. I want my evangelism to be real and a natural outgrowth of my own relationship with God. He gives me fulfillment, gratitude, and joy. I would like to share this with others. I don't really want to "share" it out of obligation, vomiting the Gospel on them to meet my "quota." I want it to be real and relational. Beyond how I want it to be, however, I want to be obedient to God. When His Holy Spirit talks to me or prompts me, I want to be immediately obedient. That is what I want to see.

Who Were The Nephilim?

"When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. The the Lord said, 'My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.'

"Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God."

So God instructed Noah to build an ark, for He made a covenant with him, that He would save his family. Can you imagine building an ark -- knowing that it was for the specific purpose of saving his family's life and the destruction of every other life on the planet? That would be a heavy load to carry. More than the ridicule he might have faced from neighbors for building an ark in a time when a flood seemed a near impossibility, I respect Noah for holding the burden of the destruction of all mankind in his heart.

So, who were the "sons of God" mentioned in this chapter (Genesis 6)? Who were the Nephilim? Some say they were fallen angels. In Job 1:6 and 2:1 the phrase "sons of God" refers to angels. Others point to Jude 6-7 and say that the phrase refers to angels. Others still say that intermarriage and sexual relations between angels and humans, though mentioned in ancient mythologies, is certainly excluded as an explanation, because of the very nature of the created order. (NIV Study Bible) These argue that "sons of God" refers to godly men and "daughters of men" refers to sinful women, possibly from the line of Cain. Another suggestion is that "sons of God" refers to kings that lived debaucherous lifestyles. Who knows? Maybe they were alien beings? I doubt it.

Interesting stuff. We also see in this passage that God is grieved. Sometimes we have weird viewpoints of God, because it's hard to imagine what God is like. But we know that we were made in His image, so seeing hints at His character, like the fact that He can be grieved, offers some insight into Who He is.

Lonnie Hurley: The Life of a Hippie Preacher

Genesis 5 gives us the geneology from Adam to Noah. It's amazing how long these guys lived back then: Adam 930 years; Seth 912; Enosh 905; Kenan 910; Mahalalel 895; Jared 962; Methuselah 969; Lamech 777; and Enoch only 365 (cause God "took him away").

This is amazing, considering that we're lucky if we live to be 100. Some scholars say that it was perhaps the lack of radiation on the earth at the time. Before the flood, the earth was like a biosphere dome, with moisture for life not coming from open sky rain. Maybe this atmosphere blocked out the harmful ultra-violet rays and radiation of the sun. Perhaps that is what kills us "prematurely." Who knows? When the flood did happen, the sky opened up and the water from below came up as well. This probably set apart the continents, or at least some of them, and wiped out that biosphere climate in some way.

Now Enoch was "taken away" by the Lord. How did that happen? What happened there? Was it a mystery, where God took him to Brazil and Moses wasn't given privilege to that information? Or was he taken up to heaven? This is infered by the writer of Hebrews, where Enoch is listed in the "Hall of Faith" of chapter 11. It says he did not experience death, so we can probably safely assume that means he was transported to eternity in heaven.

That's some amazing stuff. I wonder how the skin and hair of these 900+ year old guys looked like. Can you imagine living just 200+ years in our times? Think of all the technology that's happened since the late 1700s.

Well, it's 10 days, 3 hours, 0 minutes and 0 seconds until the deadline for this issue. Have I told you that this issue is going to have a "flip cover?" Pages 1-49 will be right-side up and the last half of the mag will be upside-down -- at least until you flip it over and start from that cover and work towards the middle.

Douglas Petty Defeated at Pole

So, if I was going to list some annoying, superficial mishaps, and line them up and compare them to positive things; which side would win?

Crap:
Dog poops on floor of utility room each night since picking him up from kennel
I leave crayon in pocket, severly stains dryer and ruins load of clothes
Texas loses to Ohio State
Cowboys lose to Jaguars

Good things:
Youngest daughter asks me (again) to buy devotional Bible at church bookstore. I use LC band funds to buy it. She devours it in the car on the way home, and for more than an hour at home. She's already several "days" into the Bible, having breezed through Genesis and in the middle of Exodus.

I spent a few hours with my oldest daughter on Saturday, and we discussed a biblical principle that Jesus taught. She showed a firm grasp of what He meant.

Well, it's pretty easy to choose which is more important. It's easy to know that I can be thankful for something new and outstanding like this; as opposed to spending time worrying about circumstances or complaining about petty things.

I think I'll thank God for the good things.

Podcasts are fun

Wow. Only 14 days, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 27 seconds left of deadline.
Yowza!

The Mark of Cain

After Adam laid with his wife Eve, they had Cain. She said, "With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man." That is a good way to acknowledge the Lord in your life. It's funny, how adding a biblical command like, "if you plan to go somewhere and do something, don't say, 'We will do this.' Say, 'If the Lord wills, we will do such and such.'" Trying to live by that and actually say it in conversation and in response to questions like, "Are you coming to the game on Friday?" can be quite challenging and evoke raised eyebrows and responses of, "Oh, I guess that means no." Sometimes adding simple steps of obedience like this can keep your heart in the proper place in regards to God's role in your life.

After God received Abel's sacrifice but not Cain's, Cain's face was "downcast." The Lord spoke to him: "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?" It's another one of those rhetorical type questions when it comes from God, who knows exactly why his face was downcast, just as He knew where Adam and Eve were when He asked, "Where are you?"

He goes on to say: "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." God is actually coaching Cain and giving him incredible advance warning insight into his future; but Cain has probably already plotted his plan and, instead of acting like, 'if it's the Lord's will, I will kill Abel,' he knew in his heart that it was not the Lord's will and he was deadset on doing it, so there's no way he's going to stop, pause, and seek the Lord about his next step or course of action.

After Cain killed Abel, God asked him another unnecessary for Him to know question: "Where is your brother Abel?" Cain faced his confrontation and complained about his punishment, as surely he'd be killed. The Lord put a "mark" on Cain so that no one would harm him. I wonder what this mark looked like.

Later Cain lay with his wife and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. It's so funny to look back at some of these stories and the characters' failures and then realize, 'Oh, these are my forefathers.' We can't just look at them like a nameless character in a play. These people are part of our heritage. Wow. The flaws work themselves from us all the way back, don't they?

Praise be to God Who paid our punishment on His Son, the incarnate member of the Trinity Who suffered death on our behalf.

I'm so blessed and lucky to be alive

There are some very special bands that are rich and deep in heritage. Bands like P.O.D. with their reggae inspiration and roots; Rich Mullins' late Ragamuffin Band with their organic instrumental jams; Santana and his Latin/soul inspired jamming; The Grateful Dead; The Lost Dogs; and the ensemble I witnessed tonight... (penned Friday, September 1st; posted Tuesday, Sept. 5th).

I just witnessed a very special event. Kemper Crabb and his friends filmed a couple live concerts for a DVD release -- The Vigil, and A Medieval Christmas. I presume it might be out in time for Christmas online ordering? I hope so, as I'd like to give some of these as presents.

They draw from a deep, deep well that reaches back into the 9th, 14th, and other medieval centuries, songs with culture, soul, and energy. Kemper kept joking about how they were playing the "greatest hits of the Middle Ages," and it was true. If a melody can last in listeners' ears and minds for a long time (a long, long, LONG time -- like several centuries), then it truly is a greatest hit. These melodies and songs that Kemper wrote (after being inspired by Tolkien and studying Runes) sort of leap out of the air and grip the worshipper's heart with a powerful clench, almost guiding and directing the air out of the lungs in praise to the Creator. It's quite pure, unique and powerful worship material.

Utilizing instruments like the sitar, mandolin, jembe, harmonium (and a dozen other unique, small, large, and ambient others that are hard to spell), this HM Magazine columnist led a large troupe that spanned the stage (that included percussionist John Simmons on stage left, Frank Hart, Ryan Birsinger, David Marshall, John Simmons, sandwiched by percussionist Garett Buell on stage right, to name only a few), which brought down some intricate and skillfully-played music, layering it with harmonized vocals, and extended sections, like the 15-minute closer, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen."

I love it when music transcends the melody and goes beyond a simple chorus. Hearing him share song anecdotes, like the song about martyrdom and the explanation about being bondservants that began "Doulos" add more dimension to captivating songs. A song like "The Danse" is one of those compelling numbers that tells a story, but with its deftly-worded lyrics can possibly free up self-conscious believers to dance with abandon before the Lord (and in the sight of other people). Wow. I felt truly blessed to be alive and able to take in such an event. It's cool knowing how many special, and gifted musicians are out there doing it. This was an isolated event, but it's cool to know that there are pockets like this all around the world. If we stop to listen, we can truly "go somewhere." I have to say, though, this event felt special.

It's truly a by-product, I believe, but engaging worship leaves the worshipper feeling high, happy, and in love. Jesus is worthy of worship -- with or without residual feelings that come as a result -- but, wow, what an experience it can be to freely enter into His presence or silently meditate on how awesome He is. We can try to manufacture this stuff, and sometimes we can pull off a close imitation, but the really good stuff is something to be grateful for. It's a gift. I'm glad I was able to receive it last Friday night.

John Cosnowski, I'll Leave With You

I've been reading Donald Miller's book, Searching For God Knows What, and he's been talking about how all of us are equal as humans, but most of us play a game where we rank each other and spend so much energy trying to gain rank and not lose rank. It's a horrible and stupid game that we play, and it shows how dumb we are when we play it.

I remember a moment in high school that I look back on with shame and regret. I was friends with this guy named John Cosnowski. We had a mutual love for heavy metal and great rock music. He was kind of goofy in the coordination department, fitting the type of a mad scientist with his wild, coarse and wirey hair. His thick glasses and Polish name didn't help. But he was cool. We were friends. One day I was at a new kid's house, and we were all skateboarding in his/her garage, using makeshift ramps out of plywood and whatever we could lean it on to ride up, over, and kickturn back down. I was with one of my best friends, who soon ruled the school as the coolest guy in our class. It wasn't done in a crass way, as we were laid back Californians, but it was pretty much true that this friend was numero uno in our invisible game of rank. We were friends, too. I think I ranked as probably his second best friend, after this other guy who he'd known in junior high and had just moved back. But anyway, me and Top Dog were skating with a few other folks when John Cosnowski comes riding up.

Top Dog hid against a wall with his skateboard in front of his face, and loudly kept repeating what sounded like, "LEAP!" What he was really repeating was "LEAVE." We were all doing it, and even John laughed, repeating "LEAP!" as if we were all frogs. He laughed, but I releazed that Top Dog was asking him to leave. I wish I would have made a scene and stood up for John.

Perhaps I did, because I vaguely recall leaving with John later. He had come to my house, found I wasn't there, and came over here after my mom had told him where I was. Maybe I was able to make a small, silent impression upon my friends, in refusing to be ruled by the ranking game. While the details are fuzzy, I kinda wish now that I had made a public and loud stand that "John was cool," but I was probably afraid of losing my rank if I associated myself with someone lower in the known rankings.

This was a shame for our school, especially, because we were fairly classless in our social interaction. We were not a school divided up into jocks, scholars, stoners, and preppies. Not a single preppie existed, and practically everyone at our school partied, a lot of us played sports, and so there wasn't a lot of divided cliques. We did fall into the age-old trap of wanting to be cool and wanting to be accepted, so I can't say we had it all together.
:?)

John moved away sometime during our sophomore year. Last I heard he had moved to the San Diego area. It'd be fun to catch up with him and see where his life journey has taken him thus far.