Ok, it's freakin cold. When we got up this morning it was -14. Yeah, -14. Who knew it ever got this cold in Cincinnati. My friend Tyler joked about going for a "Polar Bear" ride today. My toes get cold just thinking about it.
We had a party tonight.... Most of the VCC worship folks came over to hang out and get to know one another a bit more. Some how I didn't realize that some of them didn't know each other. I guess we don't have many bands that feature 2 drummers or 2 keyboardists. Hence, they don't spend much time together. Anyway, it was a good time. On another note, this weekend we're doing all old songs. I don't mean 1980's songs, I mean OLD songs.... Hymns. Here's the scoop: I grew up in the Presbyterian church and for a long time I resisted these songs. I remember singing the "money song" (which later I found out was called The Doxology) and yawning every time I sang it. To be totally honest I used to pride myself on not knowing how to play them. Some how, mysteriously, I find myself being draw back to these songs. Maybe I'm just following the trend. I'm not sure what postmodernism is but this could be it. So far it doesn't seem bad. I do know that I appreciate the depth of these songs. Modern day "hip" worship songs are often Top 40 Love songs with the words "baby" & "Oh Yeah" replaced by "Jesus" and "Praise Him". I wonder if God minds us singing to Him like He's our girlfriend. I know I'd be out of sorts if someone sang to me as if I were "the girlfriend".
Things have been a bit hectic recently- so much going on. Just a quick update on my mother (Gaile Reider) and her battle with cancer. On Monday the 26th her found her white blood cell count high enough to go in and see the effects of the 2 rounds of intense chemotherapy. Upon examination she found that the cancer had grown and did not seem to be stunted or killed by the chemo. Needless to say we are somewhat discouraged by this news. Today she goes in for a CAT scan to see if there are any other areas of cancer in her body other than the one we already know about. She's scheduled to have surgery Friday February 6th. Please, take a moment to pray for her. You're prayers are worth more than diamonds.
So much has happened since the first of the year. I'm not sure where to start. We'll keep it short.... Maybe. I'm still digging the Gretsch guitar. I also still need to pay for it. We just got back from Georgia and Alabama doing a few "Call To Worship" events with Vineyard Music. Zack Stutzman (drummer), Dana (wife), Olson (son) and I drove don't on Thursday and had a great time. I like the south. Good people down there. On a more serious note- My mother, who is ill with very serious cancer, has been through another round of chemo. It's amazing what happens to you when you see your mom suffer. For so many years she's been the strong one, always "taking one for the team". Now she needs family like we've needed her for so long. Your prayers are so appreciated.
On Monday I head out to Colorado for a worship leader's retreat in Estes Park. I've been to this a number of times and it is a great time to take off the worship leader hat and just enjoy God and other guys that have taken their hats off too. It takes a day or two for the "hat head" to wear off, but when it does you begin seeing some of these guys for who they are and not what they do. Crazy. Maybe we should all take our hats off for a few days. Actually, I'm going to take my hat off right now and go down to "Andy's" with some guys and eat some kabobs and "talk to a man about a hookah".
I think I may have found one of the coolest guitars ever.... It's a Gretsch Atkins Super Axe form the 70's and it is a sweetheart! The thing is dead mint condition and still has the original store hang tags in the case! Oh my, oh my! It belongs to my friend Rich Anglin's Dad and he's looking to find it a new home for the right price... I just might bite on this one. Here's the crazy part- it has effects built right into the guitar! Phaser and Compression at your finger tips... What more can you ask for? um... Maybe delay too? Check my website for a picture of it... I'll try to put it up there.
I've been feeling a bit tired. Not the "Oh, I'm tired... I think I'll have a cup of coffee" kind of tired but really tired. More like, "Wow, I can't seem to drink enough coffee. Man, I think I've sung this song 97 times and I've forgotten what it means... What am I doing here?" kind of tired. So, upon someone's advice I went back and tallied up how many VCC celebrations I've lead worship at in the last year to see if the time I spent leading publicly was equal to my time worshiping privately. So I did.... and they didn't add up at all. Not even close. Then it made sense why I was tired. If you're reading this right now and you go to church would you please take a moment to pray for your worship leader? There are a lot of people that do this same thing and I want to pray for them: Adam Mosely, Doug Hill, Michael Hansen, Diane Wick, Matt Haupt, Jim Wood, Billy Somerville, Reagan Wagoner, Ryan Delmore, Tyler Brown and so many more. I think we need a regional worship leader retreat or something..... Any thoughts?
Ok, it's 3:08am on January 1st 2004. I can't sleep so I'm up making a bit of music and trying to type without my glasses. Tonight at church we had the honor of baptizing 67 people in the midst of worship. Yeah, 67 people. It was amazing to see the diverse crowd of people getting into some really nasty water (you can only imagine how nasty this water gets) to show God and the world their statement of faith. I've done a bunch of these kinds of events but this one really moved me. My friend Jon Stancorb was baptized by another friend Randy Noah- both are in worship bands at VCC. It was great.
