Doug Van Pelt

Moby Craziness

This was such a cool-sounding event (that's happening on Monday) that I couldn't wait until Tuesday's enewsletter (duh...for obvious reasons). Also, in the same spirit of upcoming events, our brothers in Just Jesus Ministries. We've had the chance to help out a ministry in Waco that's really excited about helping build the music scene there by offering them some magazines and blessing them through that... They've got a show happening tomorrow in Waco (Nov 1).









moby 'This Is Last Night' virtual club event on November 3rd


To be released on 3rd November 2008, Last Night Remixed sees the cream of the current electronic crop enlisted to remix tracks from Last Night, which is surely the most dance orientated moby album this decade (4 stars-the sunday times. 4 stars-rolling stone).


To celebrate the release of Last Night Remixed, on Monday, November 3rd starting at 3.00 GMT, moby is bringing together the best producers in dance music and an exclusive ground breaking virtual club event. The likes of D. Ramirez, Tocadisco, Mason, The Freemasons, Kris Menace, Seamus Haji, Drop The Lime, DFA’s Holy Ghost and Moby himself will all be online in one place at one time ….


HERE on this myspace page: www.myspace.com/thisislastnight - You can catch Toolroom colossus D.Ramirez in Room 1 mixing his newest productions and the best in razor sharp elec-house; in room 2 Seamus Haji will be bringing you ‘big love’ and the freshest upfront house; Room 3 will host the likes of Trouble & Bass upstart AC Slater testing the low end of your speakers while in the ‘Beatport area’ you can catch Italian duo Crookers with their unique ghetto house. The best in new dance music, hosted by a dance music legend, in a fresh new way.


The 3rd of November is the time to limber up and log on. Hold tight, rave safe, and watch your bass bins.


LAST NIGHT – NOV.03.08
All times GMT


Room One
3.00 – 5.00 Mason
5.00 – 7.00 Tocadisco
7.00 – 9.00 Moby


Room Two
3.00 – 5.40 – The Shapeshifters
5.40 – 7.40 Seamus Haji
7.40 – 9.40 Kris Menace


Room Three
3.00 – 5.00 Style of Eye
5.00 – 6.30 AC Slater
6.30 -7.50 Crookers


More TBC! Check back for more details at www.myspace.com/thisislastnight.
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DANCE LOCAL THINK GLOBAL™

The Real EVIL of Halloween

Attention-getting headline, huh? I bet if you googled that phrase you could find lots of online articles about the evils of Halloween. When my wife and I first had children, I was prepared to train our family that we were a "peculiar people" that, like the Israelites in their BC days, did not participate in many of the cultural traditions of those around them. Lots of words have been written about the origins of the holiday of Halloween. One of the main points in this regard goes something like this: "The church in Rome took many of the pagan festivals and 'Christianized' them, changing the focus from the goddess Isis, for example, to the resurrection of Jesus; but Halloween is the only pagan festival that was not converted into a Christian holiday. It was left for the pagans. The evil was not redeemed." Some folks, of course, take the extreme and don't celebrate any holidays, noting their not-so-godly origins. Much of the anti-Halloween writing I've read insinuates that Christians participating in (or even not protesting the existence of) Halloween are condoning evil and letting it perpetuate, which is tantamount to participating in evil. This one is hard for me to buy. Even if trick or treating had quite sinister origins, re-enacting that tradition today surely does not empower demons or elevate Satan. How could it? So, without much wrestling (as in the opposition's argument was so weak), we've taken our kids trick or treating and had them dress up in silly costumes on Halloween each year.

The only argument or point that would seriously get my attention in this matter would be if it dishonored God. This is a consideration that might be vastly underrated and under-appreciated. Honoring God, though, is pretty important. If trick or treating was dishonoring Him, that would get my attention.

Silly observations:
I'm working from home today, which means the better part of four days for our three cats (they're not kittens anymore) to stay shut up in the office's laundry room. Instead of leaving them there from Thursday afternoon to Monday morning, I've taken them home with me to hang out in our backyard. Our dog, Biscuit, loves having cats around that will play with him. It's funny to watch them crouch down in the grass and wait for the fetching dog to come trotting by with a ball in his mouth, as they POUNCE on him and chase him. Our older cats that live here in the backyard (Mary and Martha) don't give Biscuit the time of day. He is enjoying this. The cats (Tiger, Spot, and Marvin) are very curious about Mary. Martha is holed up in her cathouse, not venturing out at all. Mary patiently sits in her bed or in our kids' playhouse, while one or all three of these cats surround her, sitting as close by as possible without getting swatted by their elder. It's funny to watch.

I am really enjoying the Texas Longhorns' football season. They are ranked #1 and, while that ranking doesn't mean as much now as it would after the last game, it's a great place to be. A lot of friends and I scratched our heads at the beginning of this season, not knowing how good the team would be. But their play has certainly earned them the top reputation in the nation. Their game tomorrow night in Lubbock, Texas will be a good one. While my Dallas Cowboys have taken a slide into poor play, it was exciting at the beginning of the year to hear about them in the media a lot and get lots of respect from analysts. Injuries have hurt them a lot, but they certainly have a chance to finish strong. My hope is that their defense turns it up and becomes a crazed, unstoppable force that dominates games and forces turnovers. Eli Manning, for instance, probably can't throw too accurately if he's on his back.

Congratulations to the city of Philadephia. You won the World Series with your Phillies. Now, take that joy and celebrate it. Just fold up your pro football team and appreciate the championship your baseball team brought you. I wish it was that easy to make the dreaded Eagles give up.

My wife is appearing in court today as the star witness in a custody case/hearing. That doesn't happen every day.

A Prophet Without Profit

Jesus went back to His hometown (in Mark 6) and the people were amazed that this local boy, Who, up to that point hadn't made much of a name for Himself, as He was teaching in the synagogue, performing miracles.

"Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?"

We see evidence here that Mary was not a virgin perpetually (unless all these brothers and sisters were adopted); and we also can make note that His dad, Joseph, is absent from the picture. Perhaps he died. If so, I wonder how that played out. I wonder if Jesus wept then? I wonder how old he was when this happened. Who knows? Maybe Joseph couldn't handle the 'God is your son' concept and he ran away. If that was the case, wouldn't that make an interesting movie? Imagine the man watching from afar when Jesus was crucified.

The hometown folks were offended at Jesus. He said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." It says, "He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them..." Wow, Sounds like Jesus had a bad day. I wish I could lay hands on a few sick people and heal them on a "bad" day. It says that He was "amazed" at their lack of faith.

Faith is an interesting subject. It's interesting to note that this concept, this act of believing is apparently a necessary ingredient for miracles. I wish we all had more of it.

The rest of the chapter covers a lot more ground. In verse 7 He called the 12 disciples to Him and commissioned them to go out "two by two" and He gave them authority over evil spirits. This is really cool, because He wasn't lording his authority and power over the people. He was sharing it. A lot more work can get done when you have a team on it. This must've been real exciting for the disciples. He gave them instructions to not bring any provisions, save for a walking stick, on this journey. Their needs would get taken care of as they went out. I wonder how long they were gone. Lots of people were set free from demons and sick people were healed.

The story of John the Baptist getting beheaded is sandwiched into the middle of this chapter. This story itself could be another movie, perhaps. Herod had married his brother's sister, Herodias. John pointed out that this was not cool. "It is unlawful for you to have your brother's wife." This caused a great wedge between Herodias and John. You've probably heard the story: One night Herod's daughter is dancing before his guests and she pleases him very much, so he promises her anything, "up to half my kingdom." She confers with her mom and answers back with her request: "right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter." This grieved Herod, because he kinda like this puzzling prophet; but he made an oath in front of his friends and the consequences for backing out of that promise now would have been great. So, he sent an executioner to John and had his head removed. It's a gruesome and very sad story. John's disciples took his headless body and laid it in a tomb.

It would have been cool for Jesus to raise John back from the dead, but this wasn't part of God's plan just yet, I guess. In Matthew 14, we read a description of this same event, which includes the detail that Jesus retreated to a solitary place when He found out. I bet He wept then, too. I imagine it also reinforced to Him and reminded Him that such a fate was His destiny, too.

The miracle of feeding 5,000 people with a limited amount of food is told in this chapter, too. That was such an unusual miracle. It's very unique and odd. Later Jesus sends His disciples on in a boat, while He dismissed the crowd. I bet that "benediction" was eloquent and powerful. If I could go back in time and witness one event in the life of Jesus, this would be a cool one. A discreet, non-descript event like this would make an ideal context to slip in and stay unnoticed, but how wonderful it would be to hear the voice of the Lord speaking to a crowd. With no sound system, I wonder if everyone was able to hear.

The wind kicks up and the disciples have a hard time rowing the boat. But Jesus strolls by on the water and is about to pass them. The disciples kinda freak out, thinking it was a ghost. They cried out. I bet they cried like scared little emo babies. The Word says that their hearts were hardened and they were amazed still about the loaves and fishes miracle. These poor guys were getting blitzed with one supernatural event after another. It's almost way more than the human mind can comprehend. I bet they went to bed each night with their minds racing over all the events that were packed in a day.

When they landed, people recognized Jesus and a rush was on to get their sick loved ones healed. The public ministry of Jesus was now becoming a logistical nightmare to manage. He was like a mega celebrity by this point.

The Gerasene Demoniac

What would you do with a possessed person? I mean, what if he acted like this guy in Mark, Chapter 5? He would be bound hand and feet in chains ... and still break free. Now, he was getting stronger and couldn't even be bound any more. This would be frustrating.

I am amazed at how some school teachers deal with a problem child. I mean, some of the stories I hear are intense. Some kids have the strength of a couple men, and some of these kids openly defy any authority and bully those around them. These teachers (and fellow students) have to operate in a structure where nothing is done to this walking problem until they cross the line. Their second, third, and 400th chances are a real trial to someone's patience. The author here describes kind of a similar situation. This guy is out of control ... and he approaches Jesus just as He gets out of a boat after a journey.

I think it's cool that Jesus dealt with demon possessed people. He proved His authority by successfully casting out so many evil spirits from people. Some were sick, some were tormented, some were a danger to those around them. The words of Jesus commanded respect and obedience from these spirits. But a look at the Scriptures does not show Jesus being on some sort of campaign to rid the region of devils. He didn't go snooping around looking for demons, calling them out of hiding. No, they came to Him. When they did, He dealt with them consistently and with formidable power.

This particular spirit (or spirits, as the case was) spoke to Jesus a lot in this encounter. Even after Jesus told the spirit to come out of the man, the spirit persisted. I'm sure biblical scholars will debate this,* but I happen to think that Jesus operated within His self-imposed limitations as a man in this (and every other event in His life on earth), not grasping or using His God skills as God to identify exactly how many spirits were in this guy. I could be wrong and the spirit could have lied, too. Legion could just be one spirit and not many. We can never trust a demon at his word. Jesus could have been asking questions strictly for the benefit of His followers to hear and learn; but I believe that Jesus only knew supernatural stuff and supreme, divine knowledge when it was given to Him from His Father through the Spirit -- just as a Christian man or woman can do here on earth (when the Spirit gives us knowledge or power, then we can use it). This fits into my theology that Jesus was an example to us as a man living filled with the Holy Spirit. He talked to God and got His information from His Father just like we can. I think one of the purposes for His time on earth was to simply show us and lead us by example. "Do it this way," I think His life told us.

The demons begged Jesus not to send them out of the area. Hmmm. They must've liked this region. They asked Jesus to cast them into a herd of swine nearby. In an unusual move (or intriguing one, at least), Jesus granted these demons their request and let them enter the pigs. They all rushed over the hillside and drowned in the lake -- about 2,000 pigs. That's a lot of money. While the people in the area were amazed at seeing the Gerasene Demoniac dressed (not naked and freaking out) and in his right mind, they were impressed. I get the feeling, though, that they were not too impressed at the loss of their farm animals. They pled with Jesus to leave.

As He was getting in the boat to leave, the dude begged Him to let him come along. Jesus told him, "No." He instructed him to: "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you." This guy obeyed and all those people listened and were amazed. It's a pretty cool story.

Once again, Mark writes an "action" chapter that moves along briskly.

On His way to heal a girl who was ill, Jesus walked through a crowd. Unknown to Him (apparently*), a woman was approaching Him with one thought on her mind, 'I must touch the hem of His garment, and then I will be healed.' When this very thing indeed happened, Jesus sensed power leaving Him. I have never experienced something like this; where I felt God's healing power leave my body. At least I cannot recall such an event. I have certainly prayed for people to be made well. And I believe some of those people have been healed; but I don't recall ever sensing power leave me. Anyway, so Jesus starts asking questions, to find out who did this. When He does, he calls her "Daughter" and tells her that her faith has healed her. "Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." That is intense stuff. I wonder if using the label "Daughter" has something to do with signifying that she was in a right spiritual relationship with her heavenly Father...?

I wonder if Jesus was "storing" or at least very aware of the spiritual/healing power in His body as He was marching to this man's house to pray for his ill child. Maybe that would explain why He sensed some of the power leaving -- that He was concentrating on that very power. On the way there they are informed that this man's daughter has died. Jesus ignored that report, telling those with Him, "Don't be afraid; just believe." When he came to the house, there was a lot of commotion there. I think this story is told in another Gospel (Luke 8), and we hear about these people mourning and wailing. A lot of biblical scholars agree that these were probably "professional mourners," whom a family would hire to give them empathetic sound effects to help the family and friends get into the process of mourning. It sounds weird to our culture, but it might've had some measure of emotional and mental health benefits to do something like that. Death is a time to grieve and cry and mourn.

Jesus seems very much in control, like a confident quarterback in a two-minute drill. He kind of knows what He's going to do, and He instructs a few of His disciples and the girl's parents to come inside with Him. He told the girl to wake up and she did! He raised this little 12-year-old girl from the dead. That is amazing.

I wonder if the professional mourners (and musicians?) changed their tune and launched into a jubilant, celebratory song once the girl had come outside. That had to be an intense experience for all present.

Bethlehem Booking (Mark.4)

In the last chapter, I noticed that Jesus had instructed His disciples "to have a small boat ready for Him, to keep the people from crowding Him." It sounds like Jesus had set up an escape route, like an idling limo in the alley, ready to high-tail it out of the swarming crowd. I'm impressed with how practical He is here. He's taking care of logistical things behind the scenes. I bet John Mark, who took notice of these things when told about them by Peter (or even Peter himself) would have made a good Road Manager. Jesus stood in a small boat that was floating just a little ways off the shore, speaking to the crowd on the shore. I wonder how the acoustics of the water around Him helped amplify His voice (if at all)...

This is a really cool way to start off this book. Up to this point, John Mark has not really recorded any parables. So, the first one he does document, he also describes how the disciples asked Him about the meaning. It is here (at the beginning) that we hear Jesus say,
"The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that,
'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'"

Jesus then kind of belittles the disciples, saying something like, "Don't you understand this one? This one's easy! If you can't get this one, I doubt you'll understand any of the others."

It was the parable of the sower, who sowed seed, some of which fell on the path, which the birds came and ate up; some fell on rocky soil, which was shallow; and some fell among thorns; and some fell on good soil. The birds are Satan! (How's that for a blow-up quote?)

As soon as the Word (seed) is spoken/delivered, the devil takes it away so that no growth can even start. The Word in "shallow" soil springs up quickly, but having no root, it whithers and dies when adversity comes. The seed sown in thorny soil gets choked out by the thorns, which represent the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things. This is the kind of soil we live in here in America (and the developed countries we call "the West"). We have so many distractions and consumerism and materialism confronts us all on a daily basis. These seeds grow into plants, but they are unfruitful. Man, I don't want to be unfruitful.

The seed in the good soil is plenty fruitful, yielding a crop that is thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what was sown.

He tells the parable about the lamp on the stand; and expounds on seeds with a story about the farmer who sows seed and doesn't quite understand how it works, but the seeds grow all by itself, producing grain that is harvested. Then He tells a story about the Mustard Seed. I've heard some people state that this is an example of Jesus using sarcasm, because the Mustard tree is really kind of a large bush -- not much of a tree at all. Could be.

Jesus is in a boat again, but this time sleeping as a storm comes with water busting over the sides. The disciples freak out and open their big mouth, saying what was on their mind: "Don't you care if we drown?" Like Jesus really wouldn't have concern over His close friends. He tells the storm, "Quiet! Be still!" And the wind and the waves obeyed Him. That is real power. This display would have gotten my attention, too.

Open Lid Causes Agitation

I have a friend who was spoken to by God. It wasn't a donkey or a fire in the bush or even a message in the clouds. It was a washing machine. He was a young missionary on the field and he saw some problems that he was only too happy to help fix. He met with some resistance from his elder missionaries. He didn't quite understand what was going on until he was in the laundromat. On the underside of the washing machine lid was the sign that said it all for him: "Open lid causes agitation."

Wow.

The Man With the Shriveled Hand

Mark 3 starts off like a wicked horror movie (by "wicked," of course, I mean "cool," kinda like "sick," except not "sick" as in "ill," but "sick" as in crazy cool, though being really crazy is not cool, but a terrible bad thing, but not "bad" as in "baaaaaaad, dude!" Not at all).

"Another time He went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there."

At this point in the story, you're supposed to yell out loud -- either at the movie screen or to the story teller reading out of the book. "Run away, Jesus! Run! Get out of there! There's a man with a shriveled hand! Get out now!"

The Pharisees, who had a few good qualities as spiritual leaders but became twisted in their reaction to Jesus, they watched Him closely to see if He would heal the man with the shriveled hand on the Sabbath. Jesus openly asked everyone, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent. This made Jesus mad. He was bummed out about their stubborn hearts. In fact, the NIV I'm reading says He was "deeply distressed" over this. They were not happy with His behavior, either. They left and started plotting how they might kill the guy (Who happened to be God...how ironic is that?).

This chapter includes a short description of the naming of the 12 apostles. Jesus called them to be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. This was true empowerment. It's always odd to read a story that adds an anecdote about one of the 12 -- "Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him." (Again, this book was apparently written by John Mark, who hung out with Peter in the years after the resurrection, and was a written collection of the stories about Jesus' ministry that Peter had shared verbally.)

Jesus addressed the rumors that were circulating about Him. They said He was possessed by the devil (labeled "Beelzebub" here). He answered that with a reference to His exorcising ability: "How can Satan drive out Satan?" It was funny how he was so logical and thorough with His arguments and replies to His accusers. Sometimes when I read the Gospel accounts of His mockery of a trial, I secretly wish that He would argue like that with Pilate, getting Him out of trouble. It's almost frustrating to watch Him remain silent in that setting.

The end of chapter three almost serves as a rebuke to some parts of the body of Christ. Earlier, it is referenced that His own family wants to come get Him. "You must be up out your mind!" One of His brothers must have said. At the end of the chapter, Jesus is in a building when His mother and brothers arrived. Someone tells Him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." He replies with an answer that seems to make it clear that His physical mother and brothers and sisters are no more important than those who simply follow Him. He looked at those seated in a circle around Him and said, "Here are My mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

We used to sing a really cool worship song at Mission Hills Church back in the late 80s and early 90s. "God is my Father, the church is my mother. The church is my sister and my brother..."

Make Your Mark.2

I'm toying with the idea of trying out a crew cut. I wish I had the software to "try it on" virtually before I had it done. If I hate it, I've got to live with it for a few months. hmmm....

In the second chapter of Mark, we see Jesus playing a sold-out gig. The fans are everywhere and the backstage security is tight. A few people determined to get in His presence so that their buddy can get healed, so they sneak backstage in the middle of a song. Jesus sees them and stops the improvisational jam session (with three guitars and two drums, a theramin, a string section and dancers) and stares at the group of friends, with silly but shy grins on their faces. "Come on out on stage," He motions to them. Their paralyzed friend gets his sins forgiven and healed of his paralysis.

While that's a slightly different version from what my NIV translation read, it's basically what happened. Jesus was so impressed with the determination and faith of these guys that He completely overlooked the damage to the roof and the "sneaking in" nature of what was happening.

Later on we see the salvation of our HM intern -- Levi. He was sitting by a tax collector's booth, doing his job, ripping off people; and Jesus walked by and said, "Follow Me." At once Levi got up and followed Him.

Jesus was criticized later when He was eating at Levi's house. It's like a member of the Hell's Angels getting saved and Jesus Himself having a big dinner party at the guy's house, where (we read in other Gospels) this newly converted guy reaches out to all His friends, telling them about what Jesus did for him and how his life was now changed (he vowed to give back what he had taken from tax payers). It was real life, real church, happening in front of an open, public crowd -- religious and non-religious alike. "Why do you eat with tax collectors and sinners?" they asked. Jesus rebuked them kindly, saying, "It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

That's the bumper sticker that should be on a lot of our cars.

These religious nuts later pointed out that the disciples of Jesus were not fasting like the others. Jesus made a reference to His role and identity as the bridegroom, Who would not be around all the time... When He was gone, then His friends would fast.

He faced some criticism later when His disciples picked some heads of grain as they walked through the fields. "This is unlawful on the Sabbath," they said. Jesus turned their attention to the Old Testament Scriptures, which told about David and his men eating consecrated bread from the house of God, which only a priest should do. "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath," He said. I love that look into the heart of God. It shows that He's not all about rules. Rules and Law are there to help us -- like guardrails over a bridge -- keeping us on the right path; not to destroy us with a weight that's too hard to bear. "So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

Just like His spoken forgiveness of sins earlier in the chapter, Jesus affirms that He is, was, and will always be God in the flesh. I love Him and I love His willingness to stand up to criticism.

My Twitter Widget

I have just added a twitter widget to my facebook and myspace pages. I'd like to add it here, but I can't figure out how to manage this blog page, like adding a "blog roll" to the right, widgets, and all kinds of fun stuff. I'm kinda "trapped" inside the editing walls of this application (Movable Type).

Make Your Mark.1

After just finishing up the book of Exodus, which took a long time; I'd like to jump into the New Testament and go through that as a virtual book club-slash-blog devotional. (As opposed to slugging through Leviticus right now...)

The great Kyle Key (former Chi-Alpha Christian Fellowship University of Texas Campus Pastor) once said: "The book of Mark is a great one to read to children, because it's compact and full of lots of action. There's not many sentences that go by where there's not an action verb. Jesus is doing this; they're going there..." So, since we've done Matthew here before, I think Mark is a good place to start now.

Biblical scholars mostly agree that the author of the book of Mark was John Mark, "a close associate of Peter," who listened extensively to his teachings and kept a record of them, which is this book. John Mark is mentioned in Acts 12:12, where the believers met at his mom's house.

This Mark guy had a falling out with Paul, where he deserted Paul and Barnabas in Perga. I was thinking about this earlier when someone in our life group mentioned how there was x-number of denominations on the planet. I think the number given was in the thousands, which seems kinda high to me. I imagine that I could only list about 24 off the top of my head, and another 10 or 20 with the help of a phone book. Anyway, I think the vast number of denominations are a good sign and reminder that God uses humans to do His work. He left us (normal people that simply believe in Him) to further His kingdom on earth. Even from the beginning, there have been disagreements and splits. Mark and Paul, Peter and Paul, and on down through each denomination. About every single denomination was started over a disagreement (fight) that couldn't be resolved. On a later missionary trip, Barnabas proposed taking Mark with them. Paul refused. It was later on in Paul's life where he welcomed the guy and his work.

We have our differences. Some think that speaking in tongues is pretty darn important; others think that it's not a real work of the Holy Spirit anymore. Whenever we meet together for a unifying event (the March for Jesus is one example, Billy Graham crusades are another, Promise Keepers is another), it shows that we can have differences, but look beyond them to our unifying point -- Jesus.

The book of Mark starts out talking about John the Baptist, who was foretold about in Isaiah the prophet:

"I will send My messenger ahead of you
who will prepare your way --
a voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for Him.'"

John talked about how,
"...After me will come One more powerful than I, the thongs of Whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

When Jesus arrived, He went to the Jordan and was baptized by John. A voice came from heaven and said: "You are My Son, Whom I love; with You I am well pleased." That's an intense confirmation and affirmation of His identity, huh? Then Jesus immediately went out into the desert, at the urging of the Spirit. He was out there forty days, being tempted by Satan. "He was with the wild animals, and angels attended Him." There's an action sentence for young ones! He was with "wild animals." That's intense right there...

Jesus went out and gathered disciples for Himself. He was kind of witty, telling a couple fishermen, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Something about what He said, the delivery, or His presence caused the men to immediately drop their nets and follow Him. When He called James, son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, who both left their dad and the hired men in the boat. Did Jesus not call the others? It seems that way. The others didn't get the up-close-and-personal 3-year adventure that these disciples did.

Jesus went into a synagogue and began to teach. He spoke with authority, which was a stark contrast to the teachers of the Law. It's interesting that He was able to teach. Apparently, there was a custom where visiting teachers could participate in the worship service by invitation of the synagogue leaders. A demon possessed man spoke up, asking Jesus what He was doing.

"...Have you come to destroy us? I know Who You are -- the Holy One of God!" Jesus told the spirit to be quiet and to come out of the man. The man was shaken violently and the spirit left with a shriek. That's where we get our Halloween creepiness from, I bet -- real experience with evil from ancient times.

It's interesting how the people marvelled that the evil spirits obeyed the words of Jesus. It makes one think that others had tried to tell evil spirits what to do and were ignored. This would indeed have impressed them. Very soon after a busy ministry sprang up, where people that were demon possessed or sick were brought to Him for healing. A man with leprosy was later brought to Him. The man bowed on his knees before Jesus: "If You are willing, You can make me clean." It says that Jesus was "filled with compassion" and then He healed him. Jesus told him sternly: "See that you don't tell this to anyone. BUt go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them."

Instead, the man went out "and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly, but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to Him from everywhere."

It reminds me of the night I came back to the Lord. I received a message from a brother filled with the Holy Spirit not to talk about the spiritual warfare I had witnessed that day. It was such an intense experience, though, that I chose to tell my friends back in Austin about it when they asked me about my conversion to Christianity. I effectively disobeyed God by my testimony. He had told me to shut up about it and I blabbed all about it to those who would listen. And you know what? That testimony fell flat on its face. I bet if I would have stuck to the facts about Jesus in my life instead of talking about demons, that maybe they would have listened.

A novel idea

I'm in one of Austin's well-kept eatery secrets -- Brick Oven Pizza, who have long ago perfected the art of making great thin crust and oven baked Pizza pies. They have a really creative menu, with:

European Pizza - "A classic Naples favorite. Whole milk mozzarella, crushed tomatoes, romano and virgin olive oil."

Spinach European Pizza - (same as above, but with Spinach leaves included).

Spinach & Artichoke Alfredo Pizza - "Diced artichoke hearts, spinach and alfredo sauce made with a blend of cream, parmesan, roman and special seasonings."

Portabello Mushroom & Prosciutto Pizza - "A bold, flavorful combination of oven roasted portabello murhrooms, lean prosciutto ham, mozzarella, gorgonzola and sundried tomato pesto."

Southwest Chicken Pizza - "Spicy and flavorful, made with chipotle pesto, mozzarella and romano cheese, roasted chicken, red onion, sliced tomatoes and fresh cilantro."

Cook's Spicy Special - "Pepperoni, Canadian bacon, spiced beef, onion, green peppers, fresh garlic, jalapenos, Roma tomatoes, mozzarella and romano cheese."

Mediterranean - "A hearty grouping of herbed meatballs with roasted garlic pesto, green adn black olives, feta and mozzarella cheeses, red onions, oregano and olive oil."

Garlic Chicken & Sundried Tomato Pizza - "Garlic pesto, roasted chicken and sundired tomatoes, with fresh dill, red onions and asiago and mozzarella cheeses."

Tuscan Truffle Pizza - "A pesto of Italian mushrooms infused iwth essence of truffles, prosciutto ham, and whole milk mozzarella, topped with arugula & freshly grated asiago cheese."

Their headquarters are up in the Northwest, in Kirkland, Washington. Check 'em out sometime.

I'm here typing away on my notebook, taking my novel from 57,000+ words to over 60,000 in a few hours. I'm excited. It's nice to have a wifi signal here and access to a power cord, as the afternoon crowd is kind of slow. I think Michael Phelps just walked by on the sidewalk. Some lady knocked over a big wipe board sign on her way out the door to do something. She then shouted down someone she knew. I overhead later that it was Michael Phelps. He had set a world record at a University of Texas swim meet not too long ago; so maybe he's here (like the ESPN Game Day crew) for the big game tomorrow night between #1 Texas and #11 Missouri.

Hook 'em, Horns!

P.S. Earlier today at our church's Men's Retreat (which you can follow our Pastor's tweets at www.twitter.com/U_Explore), the guest speaker encouraged us about connecting with others in the church. He mentioned how "radically rewarding" it was to have "a Timothy in your life."

The Great Exodus.40

This chapter has some exciting details in it, for it is where the tabernacle of Moses is set up for worship. It's amazing, I think, that this tabernacle was a portable temple. God showed up and made His presence known. During the day a cloud settled on it and at night a fire was inside the cloud. Whenever the cloud lifted, all of Israel would break camp and move that very day. This is a community on the move. I wonder what all the implications are of that. It was very practicle, because God's purpose was to bring the people into His promised land; but it probably says a few things about His flexibility, His dynamic-ness, and His adventurous Spirit.

It's fascinating how His presence seemed to gravitate towards the special "Ark of the Covenant," which included the "Testimony" (which biblical scholars say refer to the tables which had the Ten Commandments carved into them), a jar of manna (from God's provision for their desert travels, which turned into maggots the following day, but the manna in this jar conversely stayed fresh), and Aaron's rod that budded (a walking stick that bud like a living bush). On top of this special box was the "atonement cover," which was also called the "mercy seat."

I've been told that this symbolizes or represents Jesus Himself. His sacrifice was an act of mercy from God and God's "mercy," so to speak, came between us and His law (or His justice, which would, in all honesty, find us guilty; and thus be toasted). I would love to have been one of the Israelites that entered the temple and just hung out in the courtyard. When the glory of the Lord filled the place, the courtyard definitely had some overflow glory happening. It would be amazing to enter the Holy of Holies, of course, but not even Moses could enter the Tent of Meeting, "because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle."

I'm sure that the people of Israel, the Jews, knew that God was real. They didn't doubt His existence. I'm kind of jealous of them for that experience; but we have it pretty good on this side of God's ultimate justice action (the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection), which changed history for good. In that way, I bet those righteous Jews in Heaven are probably somewhat jealous of us, getting to live in this age of grace.

Razia's Shadow

I cannot wait to hear this new album from Forgive Durden. It's a musical called Razia's Shadow. It features a lot of players on it that I presume are guests (I don't recognize Danny Stevens, Lizzie Huffman, Thomas Dutton, Nic Newsham, Greta Salpeter, and others) and is narrated by none other than Aaron Weiss. I am so curious about this.

I read about this in an ad in the new issue of Alternative Press. I really enjoy that magazine. It's jam packed each issue with lots of music and cultural stuff. The few staff members I've met are really nice. For the past few years they have really been my closest competition. I wish I had their circulation numbers! I think they have between 125,000 and 200,000 copies printed per issue. They do a really good job. Even a few years ago when CCM was still being printed, I felt like AP and Revolver were closer competition, because they each give so much press to Christian rock/hard music/metal/hardcore bands. The coverage is fair, too, treating these bands as equals on the musical playground.

I would like to market HM Magazine harder and in a broader sense, like running those funny commercial spots we have on Fuse TV and MTV2. If you have any ideas or suggestions, let me know.

Change

I spent 12+ hours working on a novel today, so when I tried to clean out my inbox tonight (this morning, really), I was shocked to read the surprising news. Last night, at our church's men's retreat kickoff, one of my friends told me that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had broken his pinkie and would be out about four weeks. I didn't want to believe it, but tonight I saw some news that it was being reported, at least. And then I saw that Adam "Pacman" Jones was suspended for several games. Wow. They lose their punter for several weeks on the last play in overtime (a blocked punt, where McBriar kicked right into a rushing pair of hands and/or helmet). But then I also saw that they were able to trade for wide receiver Roy Williams. Wow! That takes some of the edge of off all that bad news. This could help the team keep from losing the next four games in a row.

I am posting files for the online/digital edition of the new issue of HM. This morning I was able to fix about five or six glaring mistakes from the print version. It was very embarrassing to see "Jeff Mulhaneyuckipoo" listed in the "Pick of the Litter" section for an artist's name. Crazy. I also made some of the black and white pages into color and also made some of the pages drastically different, like the Grave Robber feature and the Becoming The Archetype feature. All the dvd review covers are in color now, too.

Tomorrow (today, actually) I take a day off from work. I'm looking forward to some cool time with my family.

It could be worse...

I've tried to blog consistently, but am having trouble getting back in the daily habit. Here's hoping I can get back on track tomorrow. I'm enjoying a nice back rub right now from Rachel. A tiny elbow in the back creates just the right amount of pain sometimes. I wish there was a magic cure to whatever's wrong with my shoulders/neck, etc. Our church is having a Men's Retreat this week. I'm excited about what is going to happen. There's something unique and cool about the roles that men have and it's kind of cool to see men humbling themselves before God. I was reminded about how God sometimes seems to shake things up and the world kinda shakes as He moves. All I can do during those times is kind of watch Him work.

The Great Exodus.39

Is Sam Phillips' album, Martinis & Bikinis, her best, or what? I think I'm skipping a great concert tonight, by the way. It's Norma Jean, The Showdown, Haste The Day, Children 18:3, and MyChildren MyBride. It's a super-killer lineup. I have to go, but I just got back from an 8-day trip and just wanna chill. If it was in Austin, I might feel the same way after a long day back at the office, but I'd no doubt go. Adding on 90 minutes each way to get to San Antonio and back...makes me think I'll skip it. I saw all of those bands at least once this summer. Levi has lost all the respect he had for me.

In Exodus 39, we read more about the priestly garments. It's amazing the care that went into these garments. I wonder if they were made once and never replaced ... or if new ones were made over time. I wonder if it got smelly or ragged as the years went by. They were skillfully-made garments, that is for sure. It's neat to see that the breastpiece had 12 stones on it -- four rows of three stones each. Ruby, topaz, beryl, turquise, sapphire, amerald, jacinth, agate, amethyst, chrysolite, onyx, and a jasper. Each were mounted in gold. Each stone represented one of the 12 sons (or tribes) of Israel. I wonder how well all those tribes got along. Did they compete against each other? "Who's going to get to such and such city first?" Or, I wonder if they played games like soccer or something.

Moses inspected the garments and, when he saw they were made according to what the Lord had instructed, he blessed them. I wonder if all of this came down to one person hearing the Lord (like Moses), or if several people heard an audible voice...? I bet it was one guy, and everyone else trusted that he indeed had heard from the Lord. If so, that's not too unlike today, where each one of us has the ability to hear the Lord and talk to Him as a friend. Sometimes I wish I heard an audible voice, but the times I "hear" God talking to me, like a thought in my head, it's almost hard to doubt that it's God.

[The ears of a psychologist just perked up somewhere]

Hearing God has got to sound crazy to someone that hasn't had the experience. If fascist atheists ever take over the power structures of our culture, I'll wish I hadn't typed these words. I'd hate to get arrested for believing something. I'm glad that most people in the world are turned off by the concept of "thought police."

Hardcore Horror

Okay, so I'm on vacation and I get a link to a news story and there it is... A picture of a friend of mine staring at me wearing his orange prison coveralls. It's really just a head and shoulder shot, but it reaks of a prison "booking" photo. He doesn't look happy. He looks healthy and in good shape; which, for not seeing this old friend for several years, was a good sight. But the news was gnarly and quite horrific...at least in the "this is my friend and he's in big trouble" kind of horror. It's not like he murdered seventeen teenagers at a summer camp in the woods or anything, but it's a sex crime and judging by the accusations in the article, he's in big trouble.

It's kinda weird how sometimes news like this is reported with little to no regard for this person's privacy, rights, or family members' feelings. But the thinking is (I guess): 'When you abuse and deny the rights of others and violate them, then you no longer deserve any rights.' There is a point there, and perhaps public shaming is effective as a deterent to certain crimes... I guess the article just seemed to cross the line and get too graphic.

Knowing my friend and his past and his flesh's ability to dive into wickedness, this doesn't surprise me that it could happen. That he was married and had a kid the last time I saw him and his life is now so drastically changed for the worse is a shock, but the depravity of man is nothing new or too shocking to believe.

One point in all of this, of course, is that you sometimes need to keep yourself from being shocked or at least showing it. For example, if someone comes to you to confess something, he or she might have picked you to trust their secret with because they're hoping you won't freak out on them and react in a foolish rush-to-judgment. So, if someone confesses something "ugly" or whatnot, it's good to be able to remain calm and remember that you're dealing with a human being ... and that love is more powerful than any sin.

Now, there is a context for harsh words and confrontation and all of "that," but a scenerio of confession and brokenness is probably not the harsh, yelling and confronting time and place. I like to think of God as being someOne Who never panics. Things may get gnarly and He might have yelled at Moses or in front of him, but I don't think He ever lost control and hit the panic button. I'm not saying stoicism is the best way. I'm just saying that not reacting out of knee-jerk emotion and/or fear is usually more harmful than helpful.

Now, back to my friend. Wow. This is the guy that fasted and prayed for me that Summer a long time ago. He actually wept over the condition of my soul. He cared about me and God kinda used him to help draw me back to Him. I was like a prodigal son that 'came home' to the Father, and this friend was like my guide. It's a trip that he's (apparently, judging by the accusations of the crimes he was busted for) not walking with Jesus and letting his love for God rule his life and everyday actions. It hurts to see a close friend harm themself ... and it's a disappointment to know of the joy of the Lord and to think that your friend is possibly rejecting this Person called Christ and/or His joy ... or somehow walking in a period where his heart is not close to God the Father and not being obedient to that trusted Guide/Savior/Heavenly Father.

When this happens to someone you know, it gives you pause. It also is a time where you realize you have no control over the person (like you did at any time anyway...) and that you have to "let go" and leave them in God's care. At this point, your prayers are like intercession. There's some cool principles in that word.

I like to think that if anyone is bent out of shape over another person's behavior, that if this bent person would bend their knees and use that twisted energy to pray for, call out to God for, and possibly even align your heart to the place where you'd almost ask God "to switch places" with 'em. I think that's an extreme concept and I'm not advocating actually telling God that kind of thing, but approaching that point with that kind of love is powerful.

It's ironic that a very memorable quote in this regards came to me from this friend who's now in trouble. He was my roommate in my college years for a time and I was getting on him about something. I was probably trying to be a caring but rebuking friend about some behavioral thing or something. He told me something so simple and profound, though. He said: "Why don't you be very quiet about my problem around me; and very LOUD about my problem with God?"

Wow. I want to live that kind of motto.

Random Friendly Tech Questions (or RFTQ's)

1. Does anyone ever travelled and used Outlook to receive (but not send) emails ... and seen 0 items in their outbox, but yet their Outlook S&R details show the program attempting to send 1 (or multiple) emails? When I see this, I suspect that my notebook has been compromised and some virus is using my computer to send emails out (probably using my address book, the dumb program) without my consent/knowledge/permission... That's kind of weird. And since the ISP I'm using isn't likely to like my smtp settings and thus not send anything in my outbox, so I keep my outbox empty (and use another web-based program, like gmail) to send emails.

2. Does anyone use Windows Vista and see their local hard drive fill up with many many gigs of information/space ... not know exactly why it's going from 9.9 gigs free to about 2 gigs free in a few days -- days that do not involve adding 7 gigs of info to the hard drive...?

3. Anyone use Vista and know how to get the explorer windows (showing hard drive content) to open up with the same view (like details) with the same tabs (like date modified, type, and size) each and every time? I'm tired of seeing my explorer show me "ratings" and "track #" and "artist" (and other such music-related file tabs)...?

How to pray for HM, things that frustrate us, or just complaining (maybe call it a "fine whine")

First of all, today we went to Universal Studios and it was a really fun place. My daughter and I went on the Simpson's Ride, which was a motion simulator based around a nefarious character that was out to kill Krusty and the Simpson's. It was a chair that seats about 8 to 10 people, which moves up an down on springs and hydraulics (I guess), but the movements are synchronized with the giant video screen you're seeing in front of you. It was about the most amazing ride I've ever been on. It was all virtual, but you really felt like you were tipping over near vertical, sideways twists, steep climbs and freefalls. It was awesome! It was so realistic that I got dizzy and motion sick. Wow.

I've ridden a simulated roller coaster ride in a Gatti's Pizzaland arcade before, but this was that times 1,000. Total sensory stimulation. Totally rad.

Secondly, back to the HM website... It seems that some spam robots have re-discovered our site in a big way. I'm having to "close" the comment field within a week of posting a new article or post, so if you want to leave a comment, you should leave it early on after it's posted.

My long-term plans for this are kinda complicated. We use a very old version of Movable Type. Upgrading to the latest version of Movable Type would alleviate a lot of these problems, because cocmmenters would have to type in the letters randomly displayed visually, which keeps robots out. The problem with this is the newer versions of Movable Type require an upgrade to the perl language that the site uses. Our first attempt to upgrade this perl language caused massive failures on the site and we scrambled to fix it and revert to the older version. So, the long-term solution involves re-building the entire site from scratch on another server (or another virtual location on our server) and then switching over once we have transferred over all the content. You have to admit, we have a lot of archived content, so that's a large task.

So, that's something that frustrates us that you could pray about for us. We need wisdom. We also have a terrible next to awful ISP situation at our office out in the country in Taylor, TX. It's pathetic. To solve it I might have to get a 50 foot pole/antenna installed at the HM Ranch. It costs a lot, plus it's kind of a huge thing, with guide wires going in three directions and basically taking over a backyard. A few months into the new fast internet should make me happy to pull that trigger/make that commitment, but from this side of the situation, it's like, 'Oh man. I wish there was a better option.'

We are planning on hitting the beach in San Clemente tomorrow. I've never been to that beach, so I'm looking forward to that (as well as scoring a San Diego Chargers "Pocket Pro" micro helmet. Sometimes. it's the little things...)

Beverly Hills Chihuaha

I couldn't help it ... it ran out in front of us, whump, whump, whimper, gasp.

Waking up in Hollywood, getting dressed for an all-day trip to Universal Studios. We'll learn how movies and tv shows are made. I haven't been to this place since my sophomore year in high school, when our English class went there on a field trip. It should be even funner these days.

High School Reunion

I went to a nice dinner/dance at my high school reunion last night. It was fun and weird...but not as weird as I thought it might be. This was my first venture into the high school reunion thing. With our bunch of students, it was really a bunch of friends getting back together after many years. A lot of them I'd stayed in contact with a little bit. Edwards Air Force Base (located out in the middle of the Mojave Desert) is a unique place. We made our own fun and have a topical bond to the region.

It was neat seeing some friends that, like myself, had come into a relationship with the Lord after their high school years. One guy told me that he remembered my dad's Sunday School teaching from way back then. He said he still remembered that experience and appreciated someone that actually respected their (the high school students) intelligence. I appreciate that kind of thing, too.

As much as I sometimes get invisible pressure to dumb down my editorial in HM, I try to casually take the "respect the readers' intelligence" approach to it. I guess it runs in the family...!

Off to a more relaxed picnic today in less than an hour (we dressed up last night, so this will be way more casual). I'll see if they can make good BBQ out here, hehe.