Doug Van Pelt

Win A Guitar Praise(TM) Video Game

Guitar Praise Contest
Grab the guitar and jam with your favorite bands—Red, The Crucified, Skillet, Flyleaf, Family Force 5, Relient K, Bride, Stellar Kart, Whitecross, Spoken, Pillar—and more. Follow the onscreen cues, press the fret buttons, and hit the strum bar to advance through 4 levels of difficulty. Includes 52 hits by top Christian artists. Jam with a friend with 2-player action – either both on lead guitar or one on lead, one on bass. Includes wireless guitar controller. For Windows and Mac computers. For a complete list of tracks, visit the website: guitarpraise.com To win one of these games, send an email to contest@hmmag.com and put "Guitar Praise" somewhere in the subject heading. We will randomly select three winners. Contest expires May 31.


People really do win at HM Magazine.
:?)

The Love Dare.09

This chapter talks about a simple little thing like how we greet each other. The way we begin an interaction does a lot for the interaction we're about to have. One of the encouragements of this chapter was like: "if we can be so nice with our greetings of others, shouldn't it be kind (times ten) to our spouse?"

It's a good point. I know I feel better when I kiss my wife goodbye when I leave in the morning. Maybe it does something for her, too. I'll try to focus on my morning and return from work greetings and see how I can improve those.

Today's Dare:
This of a specific way you'd like to greet your spouse today.
Do it with a smile and with enthusiasm.
Then determine to change your greeting to reflect your love for them.

The captain of Charlotta's fan club [Dare to Love.08

Jelousy. Zeal... "to burn with an intense fire." Jealousy is a powerful thing. This chapter talks about two different kinds of jealousy: legitimate and illegitimate. One is based on love and the other is based on envy.

This chapter motivates us to allow our mates to complement us, not compete with us. If our mate is more popular, smarter, or better at Boggle than you are, rejoice and be glad (not jealous).

"It is time to let love, humility, and gratefulness destroy any jealousy that springs up in your heart. It's time to let your mate's successes draw you closer together and give you greater opportunities to show genuine love."

I like that.

Today's Dare:
Determine to become your spouse's biggest fan and to reject any thoughts of jealousy. To help set your heart on your spouse and focus on their achievements, take yesterday's list of negative attributes and discreetly burn it. Then share with your spouse how glad you are about a success he or she recently enjoyed.

Darn it! I am at home ... and I hid the list at the office. Oh well, I'll do like the book says and not freak out if I can't fulfill a dare that very dare, but to pick it up and do it when I can.

Emo is my middle name

The latest issue of HM -- the March/April 2009 Issue #136 -- had to chop away and leave some missing pieces, like the "Live Report" and the newly reinstated "Classic Moments" section. Our online edition features this issue's "Classic Moments" albums, which were Living Sacrifice's Reborn album and MxPx's Life In General.


Here's my short take on the latter:





MxPx
Life In General
[ 1996 | Tooth & Nail ]
Transcending or perfecting pop punk?
MxPx had already arrived. Their Pokinatcha debut and Teenage Politics sophomore albums displayed all the youthful angst that a scene hungry for raw punk was looking for. But it was the tight playing of this trio (Yuri Ruley on drums; Mike Herrera on bass; and Tom Wisniewski on guitar) and sharp twists and turns around simple yet solid jazz-inspired riffs that brought this band to a maturity level that was world class. It was like they graduated from those banana seat bicycles in the “Punk Rawk Show” video and mounted full-blown Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Even though the be-bop/blues rock infused “Chick Magnet” is perhaps their most notorious song, this album is much more than a one-hit wonder. Anyone who’s logged time with this album can attest that it’s full of sing-along anthems, like “Cristalena,” “Move To Bremerton” and “Do Your Feet Hurt,” with its endearing opening line of, “Can I call you sweetheart?” Lyrically, “Doing Time” showed that, while they were growing older, they weren’t even close to losing touch with the passion that fueled their generation. The song “Middlename” starts off the album showing that, as songwriters and a band, they paid attention to each element of the song, the bridge, for example, where they go into something quite musical and impressive. Like the best of Christian rock’s short history, this piece of art wasn’t something naive, mediocre, or cliche. The best evidence of this might be the mainstream attention that the band was able to capture and keep with this great album.

User rhymes with Loser. Don't do drugs, kids. The Love Dare.07

I want to say "Wow," like Christopher Walken after reading this chapter. It talked metaphorically about two rooms. One is a room of appreciation, where we find things written on the walls about our spouse. These are things we appreciate about them. Character traits, personality traits, physical traits, whatever it is that you admire and appreciate about your spouse. You may have spent a long time in this "room" when your relationship first started. Now you go in there less and less, it seems.

There's another room that you're likely to spend more time in these days. It's the room of depreciation. It's where the walls have negative traits and things that bother you about your mate are written. Sometimes it's easier to spend time in here. It can also be a place that you retreat to whenever something bad happens by/from your spouse. This is a room where evil and destructive plots are hatched.

True love acknoledges these negative traits. It doesn't act like they don't exist. A true lover, though, will spend time in that appreciation room. They will occasionally peak into the depreciation room to know how to pray for their mate. They will also enter the depreciation room to write "COVERED IN LOVE" in real big letters over all the messages written there.

That is an excellent way to approach our mate's faults. Faults and sin are there. Trying to change your spouse, as you've often heard, is an exercise in futility. But covering those negative traits with your love ... that's the way to go.

Today's Dare:
Oh boy, this one almost deserves another Christopher Walken exclamation.

For today's dare, get two sheets of paper.
On the first one, spend a few minutes writing out positive things about your spouse. Then do the same with negative things on the second sheet. Place both sheets in a secret place for another day. There is a different purpose and plan for each. At some point during the remainder of the day, pick a positive attribute from the first list and thank your spouse for having this characteristic.

The Love Dare.06

Irritation.
This chapter delves into what makes us irritable.

"He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
and he who rules his spirit,
than he who captures a city."
-Proverbs 16:32

"Love is hard to offend and quick to forgive."
Wow, that hits the nail on the head.

"To be irritable means 'to be near the point of a knife.'
Not far from being poked. People who are irritable are locked, loaded, and ready to overreact."

Have you ever been around someone like that? Where you felt like you had to walk on egg shells not to set them off? It's no fun, is it? Getting away from that person is like taking a breath of fresh air. Man, I don't want to be that guy!

"When under pressure, love doesn't turn sour. Minor problems don't yield major reactions.The truth is, love does not get angry or hurt unless there is a legitimate and just reason in the sight of God...

"If you are walking under the influence of love, you will be a joy, not a jerk."

In asking the question, "Why do people get irritable?" The Love Dare offers two major factors: stress and selfishness.

It offers some reminders, gleaning from the Bible:

-"To let love guide your relationships, so you aren't caught up in unnecessary arguments" (Colossians 3:12-14)

-"To pray through your anxieties instead of tackling them on your own" (Philippians 4:6-7)

-"To delegate when you are overworked" (Exodus 18:17-23)

-"To avoid overindulgence" (Proverbs 25:16)

It also brings up the principle of the sabbath rest. It makes a practical explanation of what taking a sabbath brings: allowing time to recharge, refocus, and add "breathing room or margin to your weekly schedule." I can see how I need that in my life. I would be better off if I made sure I did that more often. I'm not sure I really do this on a weekly basis.

In breaking down selfishness, it mentions that "selfishness wears many masks," and lists some: lust, greed, bitterness... It points out that "these motivations can never be satisfied,

"But when love enters your heart, it calms you down and inspires you to quit focusing on yourself. It loosens your grasp and helps you let go of unnecessary things."

Wow. During the heat of the moment, I cannot hardly fathom the "letting go" part. To be able to loosen up is a majorly good thing.

Today's Dare:
"Choose today to react to tough circumstances in your marriage in loving ways instead of with irritation. Begin by making a list below of areas where you need to add margin to your schedule. Then list any wrong motivations that you need to release from your life."

This won't be easy.

Don't Be Cruel [The Love Dare.05]

This little chapter talks about being rude. This can be a number of things, like bad table manners, bad language, or having a habit of sarcastic quips. It might seem like to big deal to the one dishing this kind of behavior out, but being on the receiving end can be a drag.

It makes reference to how we can be in one mood in our house, but when the doorbell rings we put on a smile, etc. It kind of makes the suggestion that our spouse deserves this kind of "best behavior" consideration.

Here's some test questions:
-How does your spouse feel about the way you speak and act around them?
-How does your behavior affect your mate's self sense of worth and self-esteem?
-Would your husband or wife say you're a blessing, or that you're condescending and embarrassing?

There's a funny paragraph that says:
"If you're thinking that your spouse -- not you -- is the one who needs work in this area, you're likely suffering from a bad case of ignorance, with a secondary condition of selfishness. Remember, love is not rude but lifts you to a higher standard.

"Do you wish your spouse would quit doing the things that bother you? Then it's time to stop doing the things that bother them. Will you be thoughtful and loving enough to discover and avoid the behavior that causes life to be unpleasant for your mate? Will you dare to be delightful?"

I like that reminder. It's easy sometimes to think of someone you know when you hear something about a personality flaw. We sometimes tend to do that instead of gazing into our own lives and doing corrective measures. It's probably some stupid defense mechanism we develop to avoid being uncomfortable. I can imagine being in some sort of self-help group or a marriage building group or something and, in a discussion period about personality flaws, "sharing" about someone I know that does this or that. The astute leader might say something like, "You just don't get it, do you Doug? Why don't you just leave now? You're obviously wasting all our time by focusing on others around you rather than yourself. You selfish idiot! Leave ... NOW!!!" That's kind of what I'd be doing myself if I read this chapter and just think about others and how they fail in these areas. Give me a mirror.

Today's Dare:
Ask your spouse to tell you three things that cause him or her to be uncomfortable or irritated with you. You must do so without attacking them or justifying your behavior. This is from their perspective only.

Wow. Can we choose another dare today?
Ha ha. This one's going to be a challenge.

The Love Dare.04

"Love thinks. It's not a mindless feeling that rides on waves of emotion and falls asleep mentally."

I like that. It's a good point about the "thoughtfulness" of love.

It's true, when you're first dating your spouse, you're thinking about them all the time. Once the woman gets her man or the man gets his woman, the hunt is off and our brains seem to relax and thoughtfulness wanes.

This chapter goes on to describe how men focus like a laser on a subject, which narrows their focus. When they communicate, they talk in headlines and "get straight to the point," but a woman classically will speak with subtle nuances and communicate "between the lines."

I like this insight:
"...a wise man will listen like a detective to discover the unspoken needs and desires her words imply. If, however, she always has to put the pieces together for him, it steals the opportunity for him to demonstrate that he loves her."

There's a few words about how sometimes guys can let anger get the best of them and, when communicating, going through a "ready, fire, aim" process and deal with the consequences later. Not good.

"The thoughtful nature of love teaches you to engage your mind before engaging your lips. Love thinks before speaking. It filters words through a grid of truth and kindness."

I'm reminded of Don Miller's words about the difference between truth and meaning. Spouting off a bunch of facts about a woman might not impress her; but telling her how/what those characteristics or obsersvations mean to you might...

Today's Dare:
Contact your spouse sometime during the business of the day. Have no agenda other than asking how he or she is doing and if there is anything you could do for them.

The Love Dare.03

Selfishness is the opposite of love.
How true.

I like the following statement:
Loving couples -- the ones who are enjoying the full purpose of marriage -- are bent on taking good care of the other flawed human they get to share life with. That's because true love looks for ways to say "yes."

That is a good way of looking at marriage: acknowledging that our spouse is flawed, just like us, and endeavoring to take good care of that partner.

The chapter brings up an old but sneaky truth about generous deeds: they can be done with a selfish motive if it is to gain bragging rights or get "brownine points."

The bottom line is that you either make decisions out of love for others or love for yourself.

I hope I can be a great lover; but I really don't want to be a great lover of my self. I already do a really good job of pampering myself and giving myself way too much attention. If I can just take half of the attention that I give myself and instead give that to my wife, I bet the change would be enormous!

Here's another brash statement from the book:
Love is never satisfied except in the welfare of others.

It goes on to say that you can't be selfish and truly love at the same time. There's also a funny reminder:
Nobody knows you as well as your spouse. ANd that means no one will be quicker to recognize a change when you deliberately start sacrificing your wants and wishes to make sure his or her needs are met.

It'll be interesting to see if any changes I make are noticed. If they are, all the more reason to remain selfless, huh?

I like the warning that follows, too:
If you find it hard to sacrifice your own desires to benefit your spouse, then you may have a deeper problem with selfishness than you want to admit.

I bet I'll have to sign up for Selfish Pigs Anonymous when this is done!

Ask yourself these questions:
-Do I truly want what's best for my husband or wife?
-Do I want them to feel loved by me?
-Do they believe I have their best interests in mind?
-Do they see me as looking out for myself first?

I can give good answers to the first two, but the last two? I dunno. Here's what's going to happen:
My novel is going to be a smash hit. I'm going to reach my goal of seeing it in the top 10 list of sports books in ESPN The Magazine. They'll make it into a movie. I'll be on talk shows, etc. But one of these shows will interview my wife, and they'll get a different description of me than the rest. The focus will quickly fade from how cool this book is and zoom in on what a selfish jerk I am. Man, I do not like that scenerio!

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,
but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves." (Philippians 2:3)

Today's Dare:
Whatever you put your time, energy, and money into will become more important to you. It's hard to care for something you are not investing in. Along with restraining from negative comments, buy your spouse something that says, "I was thinking of you today."

Why Twitter Will Destroy Your Life

Read an interesting blog this morning: 7 Reasons Why 69% of (Twitter) Users Think Twitter Will Go Mainstream. I totally agree and think it'll be a wonderful thing.

There's a cat, named Mr. Sockington, with a twitter account (www.twitter.com/sockington) and 54,195 people follow him! I am going to start an account called EmmittSmithDoll and see what happens.

The Love Dare.02

Everyone must sing the title as if it's the theme from the television hit series, The Love Boat. This chapter could very well have drawn from one of the chief attributes of the crew on the Love Boat -- kindness. In a situation like that, kindness is the method that you serve your customers. Maybe I can glean some of the attitudes and actions of a servant by looking at the jobs of some of those people in service. They are to act kindly, serving quickly with a smile and, while most people get a thank you after doing something for another, it's often best done without the expectation of gratitude from the person you're serving.

Now, let's get back to the book's parallels, instead of my own cock-eyed attempts.

They break down kindness into four ingredients:

Gentleness.
Even when confronting, you go out of your way to make sure your words are heard as easily as possible. Because I'm one of those "rather avoid conflict than face it" kind of guys, I am very sensitive to how I present things when they are confrontational. I know I try to put a lot of energy into this category. I hope I'm successful.

Helpfulness.
Meeting the needs of the moment. "If it's housework, you get busy." This one can be tough for me. Sometimes I act as though I'm still a teenager that wakes up at noon on Saturdays and acts lazy all day. I like one of the statements made here: "Kindness makes a husband curious to discover what his wife needs, then motivates him to be the one who steps up and ensures those needs are met -- even if his are put on hold." I don't like it because it makes me feel good, though. It kinda makes me squirm uncomfortably, because I don't think I measure up to this one very well. I like it, because it sounds true.

Willingness.
Here's a good one: "Rather than complaining and making excuses, you look for reasons to compromise and accomodate." Wow, looking for reasons to compromise. That says a lot. One of the things this chapter deals with prior to this list of four ingredients is how yesterday's instruction to be patient is kind of preventative; while today's instruction for kindness is kind of pro-active. It's positive, rather than responding to negativity with patience.

Initiative.
"Kindness thinks ahead, then takes the first step. It doesn't sit around waiting to be prompted or coerced before getting off the couch. ...When acting from kindness, you see the need, then make your move. First."

Today's dare is:
In addition to saying nothing negative to your spouse again today,
do at least one unexpected gesture
as an act of kindness.

In the movie, I believe this was Kirk Cameron's gesture of pouring his wife a cup of coffee that morning ... which she rejected. That guy had it rough.

Yesterday's dare wasn't too hard in terms of my spouse and I, but it was TERRIBLE in dealing with patience in general. While those around me were singing in church about "raising holy hands" and singing, "Hallelujah, Jesus," I was thinking, 'Why? If only I had placed those magazines somewhere else! If only someone hadn't placed that water bottle in the back seat! Ruined! Ruined, I tell you! Those magazines are ruined!' I bring 10 copies of the latest issue to church, which sells HM in their bookstore (How cool is that?); plus I brought 3 other copies to give to the "models" that posed in the church parking lot with their skateboards a couple months ago. As I approached the bookstore counter, I began to count out the 10 copies they got and I noticed that they were wet. Water was all over the upper right-hand corner of most of the copies. I did my best to let it go and put it into perspective, but I was still pretty mad about those mags getting wet. Sigh. Part of me was laughing at myself for dealing with something like this at a time when I was "working on patience."

The Love Dare.01

This new book of dares has started out perfectly for me -- in failture. Ha Ha.
I endeavored to start this thing on Valentine's Day, because it was such a perfect date to begin this book. It wasn't much of a romantic day for my wife and I, but at least I was able to paint some Valentine's Day paintings on some 8x10 canvasses I had recently bought. Hopefully, they'll be a nice reminder for many days and even years to come. But, other than that, there were no cards exchanged, not even candy -- I left the office early on Friday and left all the chocolates I had purchased for this occasion in advance inside the refrigerator. I guess I can give those out on Monday night. We didn't go out to eat, since my wife is still recovering from a week-long (plus) illness ... and I didn't even crack the book open. So, my Valentine's Day kickoff was a dismal failure. Perfect start.

I like what the forward says about this book. Beyond the warnings about taking this seriously and doing each of the dares presented with each day's chapter, and the release-from-condemnation statement about circumstances preventing a dare from being followed on a given day and just picking up as soon as you can later ... there was also a statement that made it in the movie:

The world tells us to follow our hearts, but
If you don't lead your heart, someone or something else will.

I think this is a great truth to point out. I learned this lesson on my own many years ago when I made a decision to verbally speak praise to the Lord at all times -- specifically those times when a nasty word would seem more appropriate, like banging my thumb against the inside metal of a car engine compartment when my hand slips off a wrench I'm tightening or attempting to loose a bolt with. The common acceptable reaction at that point is to say a cussword. I had heard lessons about "Praising the Lord at all times," which Scripture exhorts us to do. I'd seen my dad say, "Praise the Lord" when something went wrong. I remember walking up my street and past a driveway where a man was working. He didn't know I was there or within earshot, but he had a mishap on his car engine that resulted in a minor injury. He cussed immediately, but then he corrected himself and said, "Praise the Lord," or something to that effect.

I could almost hear a critical voice in my head when I decided to act this way. It said, "How can you attempt to praise the Lord when it's not in your heart to do so? In your heart, you want to say blankety-blank, so why not say it? At least don't be a hypocrite and utter some praise words just because it's the supposed 'right thing' to do. Worship needs to be honest, and be honest: you are not in a worshipping mood at that point." The problem I figured out with that reasoning was that my feelings did not have to dictate what I decide or do. I could train my heart to follow my lead and, before long, my heart was leaping with praise (or at least moving in that direction), because I was leading it with my choice, not letting my heart and head be led by circumstances.

So, I have a hearty "Amen" to stamp on that point in the forward.

Still, in beginning this book, I was scared. I was afraid of what that first dare might be. 'Do I have to do something dumb?' I wondered. The first chapter talks about patience. Being patient is a way to show love. It pointed out that being around impatient people is no fun at all. It kind of just spreads the anger and frustration when you do that. But someone that swallows their anger, who chooses to reject anger and instead respond with patience and love -- that person is learning to lead their heart. This is where spiritual disciplines show a real benefit. It makes me happy to know that I can do something that will transform me into a better person.

Being patient is another way to slap that self-centered person I am in the face. That selfish little baby needs to be spanked. I'm glad to try to learn to be more patient ... but I still was worried about what that first dare would be. Day 1 had a title page, with a verse on it from 1 Corinthians 13, followed by three short pages of encouragement, teaching, and wisdom. As I got to the end, I thought, 'Is that it? Did I get off the hook that easy?'

Nope. The next page had its own heading: Today's Dare
The first part of this dare is fairly simple.
Although love is communicated in a number of ways,
our words often reflect the condition of our heart.
For the next day,
resolve to demonstrate patience
and to say nothing negative to your spouse at all.
If the temptation arises,
choose not to say anything.
It's better to hold your tongue
than to say something you'll regret.

It has a spot that says, "Check here when you've completed today's dare.
There's also some note space, to document observations about the dare.

Mark Sixteen

I have it from good sources (okay, maybe Chad O isn't a good source) that Kiss was originally going to call their hit single "Mark Sixteen" instead of "Christine Sixteen," but a good rhyme won out in the end.

I'm awful.

Hey, we've come to the end of the book of Mark ... and this one is not without controversy. The last 12 verses are not included on some early (more reliable than Chad O) manuscripts. Thus, some people doubt their authenticity. While that topic is interesting, I am more interested in a related one -- MIRACLES.

This chapter starts out with a resurrection story, a narration of Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bringing spices to anoint the dead body of Jesus at His tomb. They instead found a "young man" dressed in a white robe, who correctly identified that they were looking for "Jesus the Nazarene." It's interesting that He was called "the Nazarene" rather than "the Christ," isn't it? If the name Jesus was a common as I'm led to believe, then there was probably more than one Jesus living in Nazareth at the time. This "young man," who was certainly an angel, told the women that Jesus had risen, and that He could be found in Galilee. A couple of stories expounded upon in other Gospels appear in this text, albeit in short form.

Then there is a discourse from Jesus, where He says:

"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. WHoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemened. And these signs will accompany those who believe; In My Name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and He sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it.

Whether or not these 12 verses were meant to be canonized or not, the doctrine found in these few verses can be supported elsewhere, which is pretty darn important when you're talking about a doctrine. Snake handling aside, which was a sign that God performed with the Apostle Paul when they were shipwrecked on an island and gathering firewood to keep warm. I'm not too confident that God wants us to bring snakes in a box to church and hold them as a sign that He's still protecting His saints from harm. That seems to cross the line into "tempting God," which Jesus didn't speak too fondly of when being tempted by Satan.

But speaking in tongues and casting out demons and healing the sick? These are all things that certainly happened and are recorded in the book of Acts. Heck, there's even a story in there about people hoping that even the shadow of Peter passing by would pass over a sick person and that person getting well. I imagine most of us reading have had contact with a modern day miracle at some level.

There is a doctrine that's fairly popular that states that these kind of miracles "passed away," that they existed only to confirm God's Word and His special touch or given authority to the 11 remaining apostles. That once His Word (as in the New Testament joined with the Old to become the canonized Holy Bible) was written and established, that all these miracles went away.

I think that concluding this sort of docrtine is an awfully convenient way to explain away why God didn't heal your Aunt Melba when you prayed for her; or when God didn't answer your prayer the way you wanted. 'Oh, well, God must not be in the miracle business anymore.'

I don't buy that. First of all, Scripture doesn't give us that instruction. Paul makes an argument about tongues passing away, gifts of healing passing away, but he puts a qualifier in there: ...these things will pass away when "the perfect comes." The Perfect is a reference to Jesus. A few verses later it states that "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face." He's not talking about the coming of the Bible here. He's talking about the Perfect Holy One -- Jesus.

In regards to healing and deliverance from evil spirits, I really like the example that you could say Jesus' mother Mary gave us when she said at the Wedding in Cana: "Do whatever He tells you." That's the basic model for healing, deliverance and (I think) evangelism that the Vineyard church teaches. I really like it and have mentioned it in this blog more than once. It comes down to:
Ask God what to do.
Do whatever He says.

It requires faith to listen to God and believe you're hearing His voice, but I think it's a fun adventure to experience.

Alright!
We are finished with the book of Mark.
Now, Lord willing, we'll start going through The Love Dare book, beginning tomorrow. Normally I don't blog on weekends much, but since it's Valentine's Day, it's a perfect time to start that book. It's a 40-day challenge. I hope I don't fail.

In Holland they speak Hollish

I recently found a CDR that I wasn't sure was blank or not. When I loaded it into my computer, it appeared so. I loaded up a bunch of music folders from an external hard drive on there to create a nice mp3 mix CD. I've got some old school metal on there, like Stryper and Rage of Angels and Scorpions on there. I was listening to one of those old ROA songs this morning, "Somebody's Watching You." It had some of the elements in a song that don't really stand the test of time too well. But this one also had one of those staples that took skill to pull off -- a speaking section. In it the lead singer, Danny Mariano, made some statements over a simple drum beat that could've easily been lines used later in the film Rock Star.*

"Whoo!
Alright, everybody!
You know, me and the boys,
we've got something to say to ya:
So, why don't ya take a listen?
You know, every day we like to take for granted
that if we should die,
that we would go to Heaven.
But, see, what we don't realize
is that someday we're going to have to account for all of our doings,
And we just want you to understand,
while you're out having a good time,
you're partying, you're living it up,
that it don't matter where you are,
where you go
or what you do...
(and then the drums count in a big cadence with the guitars to set up a wall of vocals chorus line)
SOMEBODY'S WATCHING YOU!"

*Speaking of the movie Rock Star, the band in that film is Steelheart, which is the Northeast metal band that some of the members of Rage of Angels joined when the melodic metal band dissolved.

On a sad note, sacredwarrior.net reports that, on February 7, keyboardist Rick Macias went home to be with the Lord. This great metal band from the 80s had that special edge, like ROA, that was necessary to stand out from a world of garage band metal wannabe's. It was reported that Sacred Warrior was making a new record. John J. Thompson tells me that we're going to have one of their songs on the new HM Podcast edition coming out shortly.

Mark 15 almost closes out the book of Mark, which is good timing for this blog; as I hope to start journaling about the book The Love Dare. That can start on Valentine's Day, which will be nice.

"Are you the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked Jesus.
"Yes, it is as you say," He replied.

Wow. Pilate should've taken that as a cue, but it turns out he was kind of a pawn in a bigger game that played out in the middle of the night. He tried to get Jesus set free on a tradition to set one prisoner free on the Passover, but the crowd was stirred up and instead chose a notorious Harley rider named Barabbas. (J/K...) The crowd was shouting for Jesus to be crucified, so Pilate had Him flogged and turned over to the torturers.

They beat Him and mocked Him. When He was on the cross, soldiers cast lots to see who could win His clothes. I have a friend who is dealing with a horrendous offense against him. I was praying with him when he asked his heavenly Father, "Please give me the kind of forgiveness that Your Son Jesus had when they nailed Him to the cross and cast lots for His clothing." My friend knows that he needs a miracle, that the kind of forgiveness he needs, if he's going to forgive the offender, is a kind of forgiveness that is currently outside of himself. He can't muster up this kind of mercy and grace. He knows enough to ask for it from the One Who has it in His capacity. When I heard that prayer, I realized it was one of those moments in my life that I'll probably never forget. This was a profound prayer. I'm sure I wasn't the only one that noticed it. I bet those in Heaven heard it and took notice.

That's some serious forgiveness, because it flies in the face of the emotions of the moment. If you were the Son of God and you had the power to call forth a legion of angels, wouldn't you be tempted to call them forth and have these soldiers vanquished? I imagine that I would let anger and vengeance and hatred have its way in a furious action that would take them out. But, alas, this was a bigger thing playing out than the roles involved. Before things turned out better, though, they got worse. There was mocking while He hung on the cross. "He saved others, but He can't save Himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." They said they'd believe, but they had seen miracles already. They were just having a good time at His expense.

I can't imagine what the soldier who owned His clothing, this piece of memorabilia, thought of his prize after some time had passed. What did Pilate think about this on his deathbed? What about those leaders who had mocked Him? Did any of them later have remorse? If so, I am sure that they were given mercy and forgiveness -- even though their crime and offense was horrific.

At "the sixth hour" darkness came over the "whole land" until "the ninth hour." At the ninth hour Jesus cried out verses from Psalm 22: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" In that Psalm it goes on to read: "My heart melts like wax within me." When Jesus was later pierced, blood and water came forth, which I'm told signifies that His heart had burst.

"With a loud cry, Jesus breathed His last."

That right there should be a "refrigerator magnet" verse.

A centurian, who commanded 100 men in the Roman army, saw Jesus breath His last, and he said, "Surely, this man was the Son of God." A man named Joseph "boldly" asked Pilate for the body of Jesus to be buried. It says that Pilate was surprised that He was dead already. When the centrurian told him that He was, he released His body to Joseph to be buried. It's noted that Mary Magdalene and another Mary, who some scholars say was probably the mother of James and John, were there at the crucifixion and they also noticed where He was buried.

Bloodgood wrote a song called "Messiah," which tries to communicate the kind of sorrow the followers of Jesus must've had at this moment in time. It was a heavy time. I wondered aloud last night in our "Life Group" how the priest or priests in the temple must've thought when they saw that the veil was torn in two from top to bottom. This was like a divine sign that access to God Himself was now being granted. It's not apparent, though, that these priests understood and came to believe in Jesus. Who knows. If one of those guys is in Heaven, I'd sure like to hear his story some day.

A message I don't want to send

I will soon have to send an email that makes me very sad. In fact, in 24 years of publishing this magazine, I've never had to do it before. This guy that I'm going to send it to actually suggested it to me before, and I kind of scoffed at the idea. 'There's no way I'm ever going to ask you not to renew your subscription! It's just not going to happen.'

Until now, that is.
You see, this guys lives in Puerto Rico and, unlike the half dozen or dozen other subscribers from there, this guy never seems to get his issues. In fact, about 75% of the issues we mail this guy ... we have to mail again. I get a phone call or email from this brother in Christ about every month or two. "I never got (such and such) issue. What is wrong?" Without a fuss, we put another copy in an envelope and ship it to him. He usually gets it the second time. There've been a couple times where he hasn't and we've mailed him 3 copies of an issue.

I think someone in his postal system is corrupt and keeps stealing his issue. Or maybe the sorting system with our printer is messing it up. The zip code in Puerto Rico, I think, start with zeroes, much like some in the Northeast (Massachussets, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, and some military AE addresses), so I wonder if it's somehow getting routed to the wrong place.

David Sanchez is one of the sweetest guys I know.
I've hung out with him at GMA for several years in a row, sometimes giving him rides from one showcase back to the hotel he or both of us are staying. We've shared breakfast before. He brings me copies of concerts of metal bands like Dracma from PR, as well as burns from old Christian rockers, like Mylon LeFevre. He has a gentle spirit.

Hold on! The Fed Ex truck is here!
TIME OUT! (Everything stops when a new issue arrives. I spent two months out of my life working on this.)

Okay, back to reality. The new issue looks sweet. Checking out the new issue is one of my favorite things about this job.

So, as much as we need subscribers (new, current, and old), it doesn't make sense to keep losing money on this guy, year after year. I'll talk him into getting a (reduced price of $6) digital only subscription, so he can still read HM. I'll look for a solution for our brother publication, Heaven's Metal Fanzine, like maybe sending him a PDF of each issue or something. Anyway, this is the weirdest and saddest thing, isn't it?

Now, I must go and fill out an envelope for David. He didn't get issue #77 of the fanzine, so I'm sticking another one in an envelope.

Godspeed This Letter

Sometimes you just know...
The first time you hear a song, you can tell, 'Oooh, this one is good! This one's memorable. People will love this one.' It's an epic tune that starts off with the sound of soldiers marching and planes flying. As I listened to it more and more (there is a short window of time that you can overdose on a song and then at some point the gelatinous material in your brain gets saturated and says, "No more ... at least for a while!") I can begin to piece together the storyline of this show-stopping tune.

Here's the deal: the song is about a young lad that gets sent off to World War I. Instead of a "welcoming committee" when he arrives in Europe, he is quickly sent into a fight. He faces off with an enemy that holds his bayonet against him. He quickly kills him. As this other soldier is dying, he falls to his knees and, "as his eyes begin to fade, he whispers softly, 'Godspeed this letter, away from here, I've sealed it with my tears, and stamped it with my fist (maybe thirst).'"

This young man takes the letter that was written for this fallen enemy's family. He looks through his belongings and sees a picture of his family. He realizes he's not so different from this other guy. 'They could have taught each other much,' he thinks.

"Godspeed this letter
away from here
I've sealed it with my tears
and stamped it with my thirst
and godspeed this letter
my work down here is through
I'm on my way to better days
and so are you..."

I'm sorry, but I'm struck by this song.
As the lady on SNL says as she pounds her chest,
"I feel verklempt!"

I'm reminded of some other great, epic tunes that end some really good albums. 2007's Five Score and Seven Years Ago by Relient K ends with the lengthy and epic "Deathbed." The last two Anberlin albums have ended on similar notes. Cities had "Fin" and New Surrender has "Miserabile Visu." They're the kind of songs that beg for silence when they end, because your senses are like gasping for air to absorb what you've just heard. I dare call it greatness.

Giving Jesus a birthday present

Today is my birthday and I've spent my day mostly just chillin' out, not doing much but whatever I felt like. I treated myself to a Triple Venti Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks after chowing down on a delicious omelette my wife made for us. Then I sat down and checked my email, seeing lots and lots of birthday wishes on my facebook page. Later I had a doctor's appointment, a meeting with some men from my church, and we have a dinner with my family planned at night.

Anyway, so at one point I was thinking about, 'What I would get Jesus for His birthday if He was around.' I think I would try to get Him something that would really make Him happy. You know, getting Him a cool CD or DVD or a cool book or something just doesn't seem to be as special or as thoughtful as I'd like for Him. The idea that sounds the best is food. I would make Him a meal. We would sit down together and enjoy eating good food, savoring the taste, and talking together. Not only would it be a truly human experience that we'd both enjoy, but I imagine the preperation time spent talking to Him while I prepared stuff and the sitting together during and after the meal would be rich in conversation. Sometimes it doesn't matter what is said or what subject is being talked about, but just being in someone's company and sharing of yourself is a great gift. That is what I think I'd get Jesus if I had the chance to celebrate His birthday with Him.

That'd be cool. That'd be special.

METAL advice

I have to pass on this most helpful blog to my brethren. Thanks to Mike Kaply for sharing it with me.

Article: How to keep your metal shirts black.

Crowd Control & MURDER

In Mark 14, we are going to read about Jesus being anointed, the Last Supper, a bloody prayer time, the arrest of Jesus, and His mockery of a trial in the middle of the night.

For His very last full day on Earth as a normal man, Jesus had a roller coaster of a ride. The teachers of the Law were plotting on a way to arrest and kill Him, "but not during the Feast," they said, "or the people may riot." He was reclining at a table at the hom of Simon the Leper. A woman comes in and breaks a har of pure nard and anoints Jesus' head with it. John 12 identifies the woman as Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Some of those present grumbled when they saw this, calling it a waste, which "could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor."

Can you imagine someone using between $24,000 and $40,000 (depending upon how you calculate the "average wage" here in the US) worth of perfume on someone's hair? It must've filled the house and even parts of the neighborhood with the aroma.

Jesus defended the act, though, saying, "Hey, you'll always have the poor with you, and you can help them any old time you want, but you won't always have Me. She did this to prepare Me for My burial."

Wow! Shouldn't the disciples present there have FINALLY gotten the clue that Jesus was about to die? It appears they did not.

I love the fact that Jesus said, "What she did will be told about whenever the Gospel is preached throughout the world." Here in this blog this prophecy shows itself to be true once again.

I wonder if Jesus could still smell the nard while He was getting brutalized in His severe punishment and torture. Supposedly, His later whipping with a cat-of-nine-tails was enough to often kill the victim, shredding his back and legs so much that they would "bleed out."

But we're jumping ahead again. The text goes on to talk about the Last Supper. I bet Jesus was breathing in and "drinking up" the experience, kind of like Troy Palomalo was doing at the end of the Super Bowl. The camera showed him with his head tilted back, eyes wide open, taking it all in. Jesus foretold His disciples on where to celebrate the Passover. During the meal Jesus told them that one of them would betray Him. One by one they all said, "Surely not I?"

Would it have been wrong for the disciples to figure out who it was, drag him outside and beat the crap out of him? Knowing the Ultimate Price that would be paid by all of the events soon to come, it's a good thing that the ugly process wasn't stopped. So many events happened where history could have been reversed. Pilate could have shown himself to have a backbone and refuse to hand Him over for crucifixion. He could have listened to his wife, who told him not "to have anything to do with this innocent man," because she was tormented in a dream about this. You could play it back like a movie, and every step that could have gone in more than one direction refused to be sidetracked, plowing on to one conclusion - the death of Jesus.

I'm told the Passover has several incredibly rich details that prophetically point to Jesus. The bread, I'm told, is kept in a 3-in-1 napkin pouch, and they take the unleavened bread, which is pierced with holes and has stripes from its preparation, out of the middle pouch, like the second part of a tri-une compartment; and is broken like the body of Jesus. Then there are apparently several different cups used in the Passover. The cup of Plagues is a fun one for the kids, where each dropped poured out is a cue for the kids present to call out which plague it represents, but the cup for the end of the meal was supposedly the cup of Redemption. This is probably the cup that Jesus raised and said, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many." This truly celebrates our redemption.

Peter sticks his foot in his mouth one more time by announcing before the group that, "even if all fall away, I will not." Before the rooster crowed at daybreak, he denied Him three times. Wow, that must've stung.

Jesus took Peter, James and John along with Him to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He prayed, asking God to "let this cup pass from Me" but He also included in the same breath, the word, "nevertheless," which began a statement like that in our Lord's Prayer: "...not My will be done, but Your will be done." Right here near the end Jesus kept representing us as humanity. He had disrobed Himself of His divinity in that He did not grasp what He could. He humbled Himself by showing ultimate restraint in a situation that was so intense that He sweat drops of blood. That's stress, big-time.

If you ever feel like God cannot relate to the stress you're going through, remember this night. He knows stress.

In the midst of criticizing His disciples for falling asleep on Him the third time, He was arrested. A giant group of men, armed well, came to arrest Him. I can only imagine what any of those men thought later. I wonder how many of them came to believe when Jesus gave up His Ghost and breathed His last - when the earth quaked and the sky turned black. Or perhaps they converted later when the church started exploding in and around Jerusalem. Or I wonder if they died a non-believer. One day they'll have to face the image of them in front of an innocent Man in the Garden, with a club or sword in their hand. I wonder if they had their "game face" on at the time. I bet they are filled with sorrow when they realize what they were a part of.

I can imagine that any of those soldiers that later did believe must have felt a life-long and deep loyalty to the Messiah that they had helped kill, knowing His forgiveness cost Him everything.

Peter started cussing when he was accused of being a Christ-follower. Then a rooster crowed and Peter realized he was a weak failure, and he broke down and cried. At least he did the absolutely right thing when he realized his failure -- he wept before God. That's where you can find forgiveness and restoration.

Congratulations to the band Once Nothing, whose beloved Steelers just won their 6th Super Bowl

Mark 13
When Jesus was leaving the temple, one of His disciples remarked at how big and "magnificient" the stones and the buildings were they were passing. Jesus' response is like one of those grumpy guys that can never seem to be satisfied or happy. Do you know the type? They seem to crave the role of prophet and so they seem to try very hard to turn every comment into a "you better repent! Your attitude is wrong, God is right, and I know what your problem is, buddy!"

Now, this is just what the comment reminds me of. I would not accuse Jesus of being a stick in the mud or bent in some ill-conceived direction. He rightly pointed out that "not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." He laid some future prophecy on them.

Peter, James, John and Andrew later sat down and asked Him about the end times. Jesus spells out for them that there will be wars, famines, earthquakes, and believers will get persecuted. "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child."

These are scary and sad revelations. He talks about the "Abomination That Causes Desolation" standing "where it does not belong." Some very intelligent believers, whom I respect, have concluded that this happened around 70 AD, when Nero sat himself in the temple and said, "I am God." They surmise that the book of Revelation was written by John in code to believers throughout the Roman Empire and slightly beyond. His references to "the anti-Christ" were to Nero or Caesar and all the things predicted came to be at that point in time. I can't remember much of the details, but I will say it's a compelling argument. I just don't agree.

My conviction comes partly from the passages in Matthew (chap. 24), where Jesus talks about the End Times, as well as this one in Mark. While there were certainly some distressing times around the Roman Empire in the late first century, I don't think it fits the description Jesus gives, including the earthquakes and the signs from the heavenlies, as well as people believing the false claims of a false messiah.

"At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. He will send His angels and gather His elect fromt he four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens."

I guess you could call me a "Post - Tribulationist." Fact of the matter is, in respect to the big picture, I don't really concern myself with the timing of the return of Christ. I want to be the man that my Father is forming inside me when Christ returns. I'd love to be rescued before persecution hits my home. I like to believe in a pre-trib rapture theory, but I don't think Scripture makes the best argument for that (though I think it is a compelling one). I like to say, "I'm hoping for the best and preparing for the worst." I'd love to be raptured away before persecution comes to my house, but I hope that my daily life will prepare me to face whatever may come.

This depiction of the return of Christ seems to paint a picture of worldwide recognition of His return, and not a "thief in the night" style secret rapture. It says "...men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory." This makes me think it'll be see by everyone, and not just the elect. A few paragraphs down, though, there is the discussion about "No one knows about that day or hour." This is where we see one of the "thief in the night" references. The point Jesus is making is to "keep watch." That means "be diligent." It means to let God's character develop in you so that you will not be surprised by His returning, having regrets about your walk with the Lord.