Your Song Has Filled My Head

Henri Nouwen on Clowns

yoursonghasfilledmyhead — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:50:52 +0000

I love Nouwen. Period. His writing is prolific. His insight profound. Nouwen has provided many windows and mirrors for me to look at and reflect on the nature of Christ’s calling for me. His words have given me windows to see the world in a new way. They have also been graceful mirrors by which I can really look at my own life and live according to His calling.

I was talking to my roommate Josh last night and pointed me to this beautiful quote that Nouwen wrote upon spending time in Rome. It’s beautiful and poetic. But most of all, this quote makes me feel a bit more normal. Check this out… A few words of introduction, then the quote…from his book called Clowning in Rome

In this classic account of the time he spent in Rome, Nouwen offers reflections and spiritual insight characteristic of his best works. During the months in Rome, it wasn’t the red cardinals or the Red Brigade who had the most impact on Nouwen, but the little things that took place between the great scenes. In some ways, Nouwen discovered, the real and true story was told by the clowns he often saw in the city streets.

In his own words, from the Introduction to Clowning in Rome: “The clowns are not the center of events. They appear between the great acts, fumble and fall and make us smile again after the tensions created by the heroes we came to admire. The clowns don’t have it together–they are awkward, out of balance and left-handed, but–they are on our side. The clowns remind us with a tear and a smile that we are sharing the same human weakness. The longer I was in Rome, the more I enjoyed the clowns, those peripheral people who by their humble, saintly lives evoke a smile and awaken hope, even in a city terrorized by kidnapping and street violence.”

By this description, I feel like a clown much of the time. Maybe the meandering, weak, and confused part of me have a place in telling a story. Nouwen gives me hope for my often awkward walking. I need to remember that in the Kingdom of God, there are no favored ones when it comes to power, prestige, position, knowledge, influence, or anything else. In God’s economy, we each have a part to play, and a word to say, and a life to lead which ACTUALLY is important to the whole of the story.

Thanks for the reminder Henri.

What the heck is going on?

yoursonghasfilledmyhead — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:38:46 +0000

New Everain CD

yoursonghasfilledmyhead — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:58:35 +0000

So, the Everain CD is finally done and the CD release show is coming. It’s been quite a journey. Libs and I were recounting the past three years since the idea of recording came up. Writing and recording is such an amazing yet challenging endeavor. Of all my thoughts about the past three years and the process of writing and recording our music, I have one pervasive thought this morning: I find myself to be the most privileged and blessed man, to wake up next to my best friend, to live life with her, and then to be able to share in the gift of music. Any man with an amazing wife ought to count his blessings, but I find myself extremely humbled this morning at the thought that Libbie and I get to share in a collective deep passion for writing music together. It is a gift that I don’t take for granted. It’s not one that many people are able to share(of course others share in many other wonderful adventures together which are just as beautiful), and I am becoming more and more aware of the beauty and gift of Libbie not only as a wife, and friend, but one to share in one of my deepest passions found in music. I am humbled and thankful today to the Lord of Heaven who knows his children and gives them abundant gifts which are beyond anything we ever deserve. To life. To love. To music.

25 Random Notes…Blah Blah Blah

yoursonghasfilledmyhead — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:17:30 +0000

So, I admit…I like Facebook as much as the next guy. It helps me stay connected friends and family in different way. I can say this for sure…Post college communication could not have been what it is without Facebook. Having that said, there are plenty of things about Facebook that really annoy me. Below is a video that lists most of them. This is an amusing video by Julian Smith (I don’t know who this is…but I like his video)… Check it out. It’s called 25 Things I Hate About Facebook, modeled after the most annoying 25 Random Notes phenomenon.

Homemade Sound Effects

yoursonghasfilledmyhead — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:19:12 +0000

So I ran across this site today via Lifehacker.com. Have you ever wondered about how they make the sound effects that you hear in movies all the time. Often they don’t actually come from the source. Rather, producers and sound engineers experiment with ways to recreate sounds in a more controlled and often safer way. The link below is compilation of ideas from many producers in the sound effects field. Pretty interesting. Enjoy.

http://www.epicsound.com/sfx/

As the Ruin Falls by C.S. Lewis

yoursonghasfilledmyhead — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 03:47:51 +0000

AS THE RUIN FALLS by C.S.LEWIS

All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin:
I talk of love —a scholar’s parrot may talk Greek—
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.

For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains
You give me are more precious than all other gains.

This poem written by C.S. Lewis has captivated my heart and mind the last couple weeks. I ran across it while engaged in a totally unrelated google search. What I happened upon was more than mere words. Here Lewis’ articulates my weakness and frailty in ways that I could not begin to express. His depth and honesty is unmatched by any other writer I’ve read. These few lines have shaken me and restored me in the past days, hours, & now minutes as I now read and ponder it once more. I want to write more about the ways that this poem has confronted my pride and given me insight into my own plight. I want to describe how Lewis has built and encouraged me in walking this journey. I want to write, but I can’t gather my thoughts. … This next paragraph(as I attempt to gather some thoughts) will seem disconnected at first, but it surely connects.

A main feature of seminary @ the Master’s Institute is the mentoring component. Along side of class and an internship, we’re required to have a mentor that we consistently meet with over the course of the three years. Through this experience which has been both challenging and inspiring, I have learned to value mentors in my life. One of the challenges offered by my mentor is this: 1) Who else do you see as a mentor? Who in your life, can speak into your life with authority in a given season or in a particular area/interest? My mentor does not agree with a one-mentor-knows-all mentality. Rather, he affirms the idea that many over the course of a season or concerning a paritcular issue can aid us in living and making choices. I have come to agree with this idea and have begun to ask myself the question: Who are my mentors? Who do I let speak into my life in a significant way? In a shaping way? Is this good or bad? Probably both at different times.

Another question that I’ve been asked by my mentor is this: Who are your historical mentors? Meaning, who over the course of history has proven him or herself in such a way that through reading about and from them, that we might be shaped and changed? This is huge! The wealth of knowledge and experience of those who have gone before us ought to encourage and guide us. C.S. Lewis is a historical mentor for me. Through reading his books, I have been shaped to be the man that I am today. After Jesus, C.S Lewis is probably the one man that has challenged and shaped me the most. This poem is poignant example of this.

I guess that’s it for now. My mind is officially on overload, or underload….one of the two.

Who are historical mentors that you appreciate in your own life? I’m curious….

The Missional Church

yoursonghasfilledmyhead — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:33:28 +0000

Michael Frost, a great thinker and writer on the topic of missions rocks my world. His ideas have shaped the way that I think about what the church is to be. He has shaped how I see God. Specifically, he has helped me move from thinking about missions, as something that we do (an activity), to mission or being missional which reconceptualizes mission to be something that we are. If missions is embraced as something that is essentially rooted in the heart of God that is expressed in the whole of our lives, it will shake us. It will shake our boxes and systems and borders. I’ve found this shift to be dangerous for my comfort. However, as I’ve begun to embrace the reality of missional living along side of Libbie and great friends, I have found beauty along side of danger the whole way. It makes the world more colorful. It makes God bigger. It makes our lives mean something more.

Here is a video of Michael Frost speaking about what it means for the church to embrace missions in this new light.

Goat detained over armed robbery

yoursonghasfilledmyhead — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:10:56 +0000

So this was a news article I ran across. Very amusing…

LAGOS (Reuters) – Police in Nigeria are holding a goat on suspicion of attempted armed robbery.

Vigilantes took the black and white beast to the police saying it was an armed robber who had used black magic to transform himself into a goat to escape arrest after trying to steal a Mazda 323.

“The group of vigilante men came to report that while they were on patrol they saw some hoodlums attempting to rob a car. They pursued them. However one of them escaped while the other turned into a goat,” Kwara state police spokesman Tunde Mohammed told Reuters by telephone.

“We cannot confirm the story, but the goat is in our custody. We cannot base our information on something mystical. It is something that has to be proved scientifically, that a human being turned into a goat,” he said.

Belief in witchcraft is widespread in parts of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation. Residents came to the police station to see the goat, photographed in one national newspaper on its knees next to a pile of straw.

Source Boiler Room & 24-7 Prayer

yoursonghasfilledmyhead — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:26:02 +0000

I currently have the privilege of being an intern at Source Ministries. For the past several years, but more purposefully now, Libbie and have been partners with Source in the ministry they do in South Minneapolis. Fusing creativity with outreach, justice with mercy, and discipleship with the incarnational life of Christ, our desire is to be a light and voice to the culture that surrounds us. One of the core foundations of Source Ministries is prayer. We see prayer as the life force, focus, and actualized potential of any outreach. Without prayer, outreach would not be what it could be. Without prayer, our efforts are left unsustained. Furthermore, as we pray, our hearts(as the created ones) become more and more connected to the Father (the Creator). As our hearts become enlivened with the passion & love of God, our lives cannot help but be transformed. It is essential to our faith, our growth, and our service to Him.

“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

Wanting to grow and be a part of a larger community that is centered in prayer, Source has now been a friend of 24/7 Prayer organization out of England for over 2 years and have been connected with some of the leadership for over 15 years. Boiler rooms are communities associated with 24/7 prayer that hold the values of prayer and mission along with holistic values expressed through creativity, justice/mercy, hospitality, and discipleship/learning. The 24/7 and Boiler room communities have been inspired by the Moravian and the Celtic Christian Monastic History. Source Ministries was commissioned as a 24/7 Boiler Room May 2008.

Permanent Urban Prayer/Meditation Room at the Fallout

Prayer has always been a priority of Source, but it seems to be something that God is asking us to champion more for our own ministry and the city in general. This has naturally gone hand in hand with developing our relationship with the Boiler room and 24/7. Part of this is establishing a permanent Urban Prayer/Meditation Room at the Fallout. We believe this to be a significant piece of the future of us making an impact in the city, young lives, and urban sub-cultures. We have been and hope to continue doing rhythms of prayer including: midday and evening prayers Tuesday-Saturday, Vigil-a night of worship, intercession and prayer the 3rd Saturday of each month and a week of nonstop prayer every 3 months.

This Saturday begins our first 24-7 Prayer week hosted at the Fallout.

When: Saturday January 24th @ 7PM through January 31st

What: A full week of prayer. This means that the doors of the Fallout will always be open– 24 HOURS A DAY.

We’d love for all of you to come join us for an hour, or 6 hours to pray, seek God, and to pray for others.

FIND THE FALLOUT @ 2611 Stevens Ave. S Minneapolis, MN 55408

New Everain Music – Check it out!

yoursonghasfilledmyhead — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:18:26 +0000

I love playing music. Period. What makes playing music even more amazing is playing and writing music with Libbie, and really great friends. Clayton and Paul, along with others have made playing and writing music such a joy. Worshiping along side of these friends is a gift. Everain, a band comprised of myself, my beautiful wife Libbie, Clayton Lott, & Paul Schoolmeesters have been recording a CD the past months. We have just finished recording 6 of 9 studio songs. In the Spring we’ll release a full length CD that we are really excited about.

Here is a really rough take of our song Awake Oh Zion. All of the parts are there, but it’s not edited, mixed, or mastered yet. So take it for what it is. Hope you like it. Soon you’ll be able to have a much better sounding version in your hands.