All My Fountains

What God did in...

2010-09-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

In 1981, God directed my steps with perfect timing - not too early, not too late. He answered a simply offered prayer and gave me much more than I had asked for or expected.

(I am reflecting on the years 1981 through 2010 throughout the month of September: 30 days for 30 years)

His Words, My Mouth

2010-08-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

We attended St. Andrews United Methodist Church in Fayetteville this morning. Our neice, Hannah, was being christened. By the way, she was so cute and sweet in her little white gown, holding a little linen doll. What a sweetheart!

I fully expected a stiff and formal service and a struggle to keep my heavy eyelids from closing. And the service was indeed very liturgical - lots of congregational reading, acolytes, ceremonial moments and so on. But there was a surprising sweetness in the place. I felt a warmth and genuineness from the pastor, the musicians, the singers, and the congregants. I especially appreciated the kindness expressed through hearty applause toward a young man who played a french horn offeratory and following the choir's anthem.

So I was confronted with an arrogance in me toward these people I had never met, just because they were in a big church building with an oppressive sounding name. I expected death, yet found life. I am so sorry that I prejudged this fellowship.

The pastor shared from Jeremiah 1 and God spoke to my heart. That's where Jeremiah says, "I do not know how to speak". Then a little further on it says, "Then the Lord reached out His hand and touched my mouth and said to me, 'Now I have put my words in your mouth'..."

I scribbled this passage down on an offering envelope from the back of the pew in front of me and thought about those words all day. You see, I am horrible when it comes to talking to people on behalf of the Lord. Very often people approach me to share the hard things they're experiencing in life. I always want to say something encouraging and help them to look to God in their situation. Yet time after time my words just dribble down my chin and fall to the floor. This frustrates me to no end. It's always been easy for me to say something funny and crack people up. But saying something helpful is much more difficult.

Recently I have felt like God - my loving Father - has shown me that He is calling me to be more involved in the lives of others who are following Jesus (and those who aren't as well). But I am really rotten when it comes to conversation. I always feel like I'm edging toward the nearest exit when I'm talking to someone. And I never seem to say anything worth saying when someone hurts.

"Now I have put my words in your mouth".

I believe that God spoke to my heart this morning that I am to ask Him to put His words in my mouth - just to breathe that out to Him as I go about my day. And I can't tell you how that thought causes my spirit to expand within me.

Pray for me. I really want to be helpful with my words. I really want to encourage and lift up those who are cast down, fearful, depressed, lonely, sad... I want God's words to be in my mouth and to go directly to the hearts of those He loves.

Computer Golf

2010-08-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

I feel like I'm playing computer golf when it comes to fellowship.

I've played real golf some in the past. I have good memories of playing a few rounds with my dad. I remember playing with different friends on different courses - most notably in the beautiful northern mountains of North Carolina. To me, the game was always secondary to the scenery and the conversation. My dad frequently reminds me of a time that I was writing poetry in the fareway instead of really concentrating on the game (I still have that poem - about Autumn leaves and my grandmother's death).

But then there's computer golf. Take away the conversation, the sunshine, the wind in my face, the sounds of birds and of cars on the highway nearby. Take away the good exercise, the smell of fresh mown grass... All you have left is points calculated by the computer, lots of mouse clicks, and imitation golf swing sounds.

I've had such good fellowship experiences throughout my life. My mind easily overflows with faces of good friends who walked together with me and the Lord. Ministry times, worship times, learning and growing together times, experiencing the sweet, sweet Spirit in so many places.

But right now, my fellowship experiences are few and far between and mostly shallow. I've prayed for some time that God would rescue us from this dry place we're in spiritually and let us experience genuine fellowship again. I'm still praying, seeking, and trusting God for it.

Just recently I enjoyed a wonderful conversation on Facebook regarding fellowship. Friends of mine who are actively involved in House Church, Organic Church, Simple Church (whatever you want to call it) were sharing their experiences. Friends in Mississippi, Colorado, and Boone, NC, carried on a conversation with my oldest friend who is a Southern Baptist pastor here in central North Carolina. What they described was so refreshing!

I was so inspired as my friends shared their current and recent fellowship experiences. It filled me with hope and I've been praying more urgently that God would similarly bless us, that He would lead us into new relationships and beautiful new experiences. I want my children to grow up experiencing life-giving communion and fellowship with other believers.

I know God has more for us than these plastic, surfacy acquaintances and interactions we are currently experiencing in the traditional church we're attending.

That's why I'm blogging again. I want to record the miracle of being lifted out of the ordinary, into the extraordinary in this area.

No more computer golf fellowship. I want the real thing again!

House Church: Skip the sermon, worship at home

2010-08-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

I was pleasantly surprised this morning to find an article in our local paper on the House Church movement. (Click on the title of today's blog post to be taken to the article).

Here is a copy of a letter, a sort of thank you note for printing the article, that I sent to our local editor tonight:

Thank you for including the article "House Church" in Sunday's Herald. I have several good friends who have chosen to fellowship in a setting much like what was described in this article, and they have been doing so for years. My wife and I always enjoy visiting their informal gatherings whenever we are able. House church (also called simple church or organic church) would certainly not appeal to those who prefer the traditional Sunday morning church experience. But it is a wonderful and refreshing alternative that many are embracing.

This Time Blogging

2010-08-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

As I resume blogging after taking over a year off, I want to approach it a little differently:

* I've disconnected my blog from my Facebook account. My Facebook friends are so varied - family, old friends, new friends, co-workers, some folks I barely know - that I felt restricted in what I could share.

* I want to drop the facade. I really don't have it all together, but I like for people to think I'm doing better than I am. Specifically, I want to share how much I struggle in the area of fellowship and "church".

*I hope to write short, to-the-point entries rather than long, drawn out ones. I hope to be more readable, even if I'm the only one reading me.

* And I want to just write. I'm not trying to win a Pulitzer here. I just want to get my thoughts down without too many mispelled words.

* Hopefully, I can enjoy come good conversation and get a little free counsel from the friends who read what I share.

'nuff said.

Prayer Walks

2010-08-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things is to go on a long hike down a well worn trail deep in the woods, praying all the way. I also like prayer-walking down the beach, down sidewalks and streets, on greenways... I'm a huge fan of prayer walks. I've been taking them since I was in my late teens. Every important event in my life - my marriage, musical accomplishments, making it through graduate school, our miracle children - they've all flowed out of many miles of prayer walks.

Now when I say many miles, I'm not kidding. I kept track of the miles of prayer walks over the five years we prayed for our son to be born. It was somewhere around 700 miles!

Recent busyness in life has kept me off the prayer walk trails for most of the last three years. But lately I've been out prayer-walking again. Raven Rock Park near Lillington has lots of great trails down to a beautiful river. Kiwanis Park in Sanford is o.k. in a pinch as there is one trail that is fairly private (see the photo above taken with my phone). And I re-visited San-Lee Park in Sanford the other day: nice short trails there that Melody and I used to walk when we were dating.

I'm grateful that the Lord has walked with me and talked with me down many, many trails and paths and streets and sidewalks and beaches through these years.

I hope I can get back to doing it much more frequently.

Memorable Dreams #3 (Mr. French Wants Me Dead)

2009-06-02T19:36:00.000-07:00

The final recurrent bad dream from my childhood that I'm going to share involves two TV actors from, I guess, the early 1970s. Sebastian Cabot played Mr. French on the show Family Affair, which I loved to watch each week and later in reruns. Peter Graves played Jim Phelps on the original Mission: Impossible TV show. My older brother and sister liked it and I just caught portions of it from time to time.

In the dream - and like the Martin Luther King Jr. dream, I had this one many times - I would be alone in one of the bedrooms of our house in Burlington, NC. My parents were in the den down the hall. The Mission: Impossible guy would walk in and pull out a Star Trek styled "phaser" and shoot some sort of beam of light at my throat that made it impossible for me to scream for help. Then Mr. French would enter the room carrying a syringe with which he would give me some sort of shot that, I guess, would kill me. I always woke up before he gave me the shot.

Was it all rooted in fear of shots at an age where I got all my vaccinations? Why did I think lovable Mr. French from Family Affair wanted me dead? Who knows. But that dream is forever etched in my head.

Memorable Dreams #2 (I Had A Dream)

2009-05-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

The Frito Bandito was a one time only dream, but there was another dream that plagued me for years as a child. It gets laughs now when I tell people about it, but as a child it scared me to death.

Martin Luther King Jr. used to chase me around in my house with his mouth unnaturally wide open.

Now I was five and a half years old when King was assasinated and I guess I probably saw him on the news a lot then. I don't remember when the dreams began, but they were really scary.

In the dream I would be sitting in my room reading or something and I'd see a shadow out in the hallway. I'd look up and Martin Luther King, Jr. would slowly walk into my room with his mouth ten times too wide open. You could have put a bowling ball in that mouth!

I would run away from him, but no matter where I hid, he would find me. I couldn't scream for help. I'd try and nothing would come out. And he just kept coming after me with that huge open mouth.

That was the worst recurrent nightmare of my childhood. I hope recounting it doesn't trigger me dreaming it again tonight.

Maybe Melody will let us sleep with the lights on just in case.

Memorable Dreams #1

2009-05-25T21:28:00.001-07:00

I can't remember how old I was for sure, but we still lived in Burlington, NC. So I was probably 10 to 12 years old. Fritos Cornchips had a series of popular commercials then featuring the Frito Bandito. Here is a picture of the commercial's cartoon character.

He always sang, "Ai, yai,yai, yai... I am the Frito Bandito".

One night I had a dream about the Frito Bandito that I remember very clearly to this day. I was trapped inside a pinball machine, hiding behind those things that light up and ring when they're hit. I was being shot at and chased all over the pinball machine by the Frito Bandito.

Scary stuff, man.

Hope Community Church band

2009-04-26T21:18:00.001-07:00

Hope Community Church band, originally uploaded by Chip & Melody.

The worship band at our church.

Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 (With Lyrics)

2009-04-15T05:07:00.001-07:00

I am rarely moved as deeply as I was while watching this little video. Literally, tears were streaming down my cheeks. Wow.

U2charist?

2009-03-05T08:39:00.000-08:00

U2 Rocks the House (of God)
Bono inspires worship with an edge.
(by Elizabeth Diffin, Christianity Today Online)

Where the Streets Have No Name. Beautiful Day. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. Yahweh. For fans of the Irish band U2, these are familiar rock songs. But to a growing number of Christians, they're becoming tunes for worship, and for the Eucharist.

Services using U2's music, commonly called U2charist, were begun by Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation. The services combine the music of the rock band with traditional communion. They focus on a message of global reconciliation, justice, and care for neighbors as advocated by Bono, the lead singer of U2. Bono, a dedicated Christian, is also a global ambassador for Millennium Development Goals, a movement by the United Nations to eradicate poverty and disease by the year 2015.

U2charist first took hold in the U.S. at St. George's Episcopal Church in York Harbor, Maine, drawing 130 people. Many of those in attendance were in a younger demographic and did not usually attend the church. Since then, dozens of the services have been held worldwide in churches of many denominations.

In a U2charist service, the liturgy remains the same, although the music is markedly different. U2 songs are repurposed as the opening hymn, song of praise, sermon response, and offertory. Most of the songs are seen as metaphors, with lyrics that are layered with meaning.

"In church, you hear [the music] in a different way. It's like new," said Natalie Williams, a 17-year-old who attended a U2charist at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Briarcliff Manor, New York.

Eric Johnson, who attended the service at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Lakeland, Florida, had no doubt about the effectiveness of the music.

"The crowd, the enthusiasm, the energy—I felt like the Holy Spirit was in the room. The message was getting through, and we were worshiping together," he said.

The offerings that are collected at U2charists go to charities fighting extreme poverty and AIDS, as worked out in an agreement with the band's publishing company. Paige Blair, rector of St. George's, estimates that more than $36,000 has been raised from the U2charist services for the cause.

"People are learning there is something they can do to change the world," she said. "And they leave feeling that they really can."

At St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Encinitas, California, the U2charist service was well-received by young and old alike. Teens connected to the "hip factor," while adults found deeper meaning in the music.

At St. Andrew's, the service drew a crowd that compares to normal Christmas or Easter attendance. St. George's is beginning a U2charist team to help others implement the service. And this year, a U2charist service will be broadcast in Great Britain on Easter Sunday.

"It spread like wildfire," Blair said. "We're giving people a way to engage their faith in a meaningful way."

And letting them rock out at the same time.

Personal Revolution, Part 1

2009-02-11T04:14:00.001-08:00

I wrote a little comment on Greg M's Facebook wall the other day that I've been thinking about a lot. I'm using it as the jumping off point for a series of reflections on my own spiritual life over the past 10 to 15 years. We were discussing our past association with Living Water Christian Fellowship in Boone. Here's what I wrote:

"When I think of leaving LWCF, I think of Kennedy's assassination.
Right after that event there was massive confusion and grief, but now it's history to be studied and learned from. It's been 11 years for us next month since we left LWCF and the statute of limitations re. discussing our leaving has expired...

Like you, I've made peace with the past. I really treasure my time at LWCF and the great friends we made there. 98% of the experience was positive. I miss those days a lot sometimes and, again like you, can admit that those days helped make me who I am today. Thank God for Watauga Christian Center/Living Water. Just what we needed and where we needed to be from 1988 to 1998."

This post led me to pull out an old cassette tape of Melody and I (along with our Saturday Night Worship Team) leading worship in the Summer of 1995. I've posted a 10 minute excerpt below. The picture above is of the Saturday Night Worship team. The audio was recorded in an inside-the-building service.

Facebook readers will have to go to my blog - All My Fountains - to hear the audio. You can find the link under my profile picture.

It is, to me, representative of the climactic point of our time at Living Water.

Just over two years later we would leave in what to me, like Kennedy's assasination, was a time of massive confusion and grief. I know that sounds overly dramatic, but it hurt bad. This audio, though, is of the sweet, exciting, high point for me there.

Melody had just returned from a month-long missions trip to Poland. I had spent much of the time she was away pouring out prayer for revival in our church - late nights at the church building praying over every chair, every instrument, every person who came to mind. Standing on the stage in the dark, singing to the Lord...

Revival.

I used to study the famous revivals of church history: The Welsh Revival, The Great Awakening, The Second Great Awakening. I also followed with great interest any reports of apparent moves of the Spirit in our time, particularly the Toronto Blessing revival. I was so very hungry for that experience in our own fellowship at LWCF. More on that in later posts.

Two brief final comments:

First, I was startled and suprised as I listened to this audio after all these years. It reminded me of hearing a tape of 18-year old me singing a song I wrote for Melody. That audio featured me with a higher, thinner voice and I thought, "is that me?"
This audio of me leading worship in '95 brought the same question: "is that me?" - but this time it was because of the energy and the intensity of my leading, my singing and my shouts to the congregation during the worship. I'm so far removed from that intensity now when I play and sing in various places. I'm a different person in many ways.

Second, I thought of how I was ultimately disappointed. The revival I imagined never really happened, though we definitely had a taste of it.

I wanted revival, but the Lord brought me into and is still taking me through a personal revolution. That's what I want to talk about in upcoming posts.

So listen to me from 1995 and join me over the next little while as I reflect on what was, examine what is, and look forward to what may be. I hope you will add your own thoughts to these posts as well.

"Shout To The Lord/Go Tell It On The Mountain/Let Your Glory Fall",
Living Water Christian Fellowship, August, 1995:

My Rocky River Concert

2009-01-20T14:15:00.000-08:00

The concert went well.

I was very nervous when I was introduced and had wisely decided to do a sing-a-long to kick things off. I did the familiar hymn "Leaning On The Everlasting Arms" and the audience sang along and smiled, so I was able to relax.

My next two songs went well - "Marvelous Light" by Charlie Hall and "When Time Did Not Exist" by my old friend Rick Hoyle (I sped Rick's song up some and changed several lyrics).

The highlight of the concert to me, though, was "Holy Love" which I performed with my good friend Greg Burriss. Greg played the mandolyn and added a tenor harmony. Since their was a taste of bluegrass added with the mandolyn, I sped the song up a little and let it go a little twangy. It was fun and the audience seemed to enjoy it. An article had appeared in our local paper the morning of the concert that talked about Greg and I reuniting musically during the concert twenty-four years or so after our last performance together (see my last blog entry).

The rest of the songs were just o.k., nothing special. I talked too much and looked down or had my eyes closed too much. I need to break those performance habits.

I was blessed with a nice love offering as well - just in time for the phone bill!

The best joke of the night came when I explained why I had a second guitar on the stage that I didn't plan to use. I had it there in case I broke a string or something. But I told the audience that my guitars were named Mary and Martha. The guitar I was playing would be doing all the work, so I called her Martha. The other guitar, Mary, would just sit and listen. Of course that's a reference to the Bible story of Jesus visiting Mary and Martha.

The biggest surprise of the night for me came at the end of the concert when I learned that my old friend Jenelle had come to the concert. I sang with Jenelle back in 1980 in my first band, Malachi, and we were in High School plays and musicals together. Except for running into her at a restaurant several years ago, I had not seen Jenelle since around 1981. I recently reconnected with her via Facebook and I hope to be able to lead worship sometime soon at her church in Greensboro.

And I also enjoyed seeing Greg's wife, Vicky, again for the first time since 1987 or so. We had a great conversation and the years just fell away. She has always been one of my favorite people.

Greg's mom was there, too, along with lots of memories of how gracious she was to me and my friends when I was a teenager hanging out at her house.

And so, the concert ended up being of secondary importance to me. When I drove home I wasn't thinking about how well the concert went. I was thinking of how sweet the fellowship was. The reunion of friends was the highlight of the evening for me. It was like a taste of heaven, of the time when we'll be reunited with all those friends and family members in the Lord who we have known and missed.

And, really, the evening reconfirmed to me that what really matters is knowing the Lord, making Him known, and enjoying sweet, deep, eternity-long friendships in Him.

What a sweet blessing that concert was to me. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights. I'm so thankful for this reunion of friends.

God is good.

Watts taking stage at Third Sunday

2009-01-17T21:25:00.000-08:00

By FAITH SWYMER
swymer@sanfordherald.com
Jan 18,2009

SANFORD It took nearly 30 years and a social networking site, but two Lee County High School graduates and former contemporary Christian bandmates will harmonize once again.

Tonight at Rocky River Baptist Church's monthly "Third Sunday @ Rocky River" performance series in Siler City, Sanford resident Chip Watts will pick up his guitar and perform with the church's pastor and his high school friend Greg Burriss only fitting since Burriss first introduced Watts to contemporary music back in 1980 and spurred his journey into performing Christian worship in churches across the state.

"The band was called The Second Coming Band they were excellent musicians, but they had a sweet spirit about them," said Watts of the concert he went to at age 16. "We were so inspired by their music, we wanted to be like them, sing like them."

The pair formed the group Malachi, a contemporary Christian seven-member band named after a book of gospel in the Bible, that performed at the city's Christian coffee house and youth rallies. But mostly, the band was about friendship. Between the two, there was a sense of idoltry from Watts of Burriss, looking at the smart, talented lead actor of most of the school's musicals, while Watts was known more as the humorous one of the bunch.

"We were all involved in music and theater in high school," said Burriss. "I think having that... with that same common bond we thought strengthened our faith and gave us an outlet for creativity."

However, the band went their separate ways when Watts went to college and Burriss headed to the seminary. Watts continued to play in bands in college, but finally settled on a solo path as a singer/songwriter and worship team leader in Boone.

But last year after 20 years in Boone and several in Winston-Salem, Watts and his family moved back to Sanford, where his father served for years as the minister of Jonesboro Presbyterian Church. He landed a job at Lee County Nursing and Rehab in Sanford as a speech pathologist, another place that held a special connection to Watts.

"It's been special to me to go where my dad used to minister," he said.

The flexible hours have allowed Watts to continue his music, although he admits to mostly practicing at home with his acoustic guitar and his children when he has the chance. However, after signing up for the social networking site Facebook, he was able to reconnect with Burriss along with several other former bandmates and offered to perform at Rocky River Baptist Church without knowing about the Third Sunday series.

"I'm very excited to have him come and reconnect with him in that way," said Burriss. "It felt really natural to get together and work together again."

The pair will perform three pieces together, including a upbeat worship song Watts penned called "Holy, Mighty, Awesome God." As part of a rehearsal, the two men have met this week to practice for the concert the first time they've done so since the early 1980s.

"I didn't care what the venue was, it was just to get together and sing again," said Watts. "It takes you back to 30 years ago."

2009-01-13T13:50:00.000-08:00

It finally happened. I'm a rock star. The following is an article that has been put in the paper, apparently, and on the church web site where I'll be playing this weekend.

January 11, 2009 — Chip Watts, a talented vocalist and song writer, will lead a free concert next Sunday evening at Rocky River Baptist Church.
The event, scheduled for Jan. 18 at 6 p.m., is part of "third sundays @ rocky river," a free monthly performance series, which returns after taking a break during the busy Christmas season.
All shows combine family entertainment with a spiritual message and are open to the public.
The Sanford resident has led contemporary worship bands at several churches and plans to perform a variety of songs, from old hymns to currently-popular worship songs, that reflect his life and experience as a Christian. Many will be his own compositions.
"The audience will be invited to sing along," he says. "And, hopefully, they'll enjoy a laugh or two as I reflect on God's kindness and mercy in my life."
Watts will be joined for some numbers by Greg Burriss, pastor of Rocky River Baptist Church, who performed as a teenager in bands with the concert headliner.
Burriss calls Watts one of the "funniest people I've ever met" and looks forward to being reunited with his friend on stage.
"Chip has blessed many lives through his music, including mine," says Burriss. "His entire life is a testimony to his deep relationship with God, and that's reflected in his music."
Rocky River Baptist Church meets at 4436 Siler City-Snow Camp Road, about three miles north of Siler City. Directions and information about the performance series are available at 3SunLive.com.

The picture above is from the church website.

What Really Matters

2009-01-08T20:55:00.000-08:00

I read a great letter on the web today from Michelle Perry, a missionary in Sudan. Here's an excerpt (I edited it slightly to make it more readable here). She is discussing the debate over how best to "do church".

"...after nearing two years in the war torn bush of central Africa, I don’t really give a rip whether it is house church or traditional church or cell church or open church, a sitting room, a sanctuary or a stadium - as long as people are growing in Jesus, walking in love with one another, and being the face of His love to the world around them.

I don’t want to have to figure out whether I should embrace, conform to, reform or vacate the system. I don’t have the time. Other things are too precious. I just want to do what He is doing and love people. I don’t want to debate what is the right way to have church, because it all can become a box and a prison if not filled with His life. Why can’t we all just focus on Him and fall in love with Him and love the people around us?

I don’t want to figure it all out — I can’t. I was just holding a dying woman in my arms in the hospital here whose family will not feed her or help her because the stench of rotting flesh is too bad and she soils herself - and people are arguing about whether they should meet in homes or buildings. Last week a blind woman saw, this week a woman lay dying in my arms. I cannot figure it out. I don’t even want to try anymore. If I can’t embrace His mystery and love Him beyond my little understanding, I will limit the place I give to His majesty being revealed in and through my life.

Meet under a tree, rent a cathedral, go on a hike with your family- but love people—learn about love.

Learn of Him.

Live in Him.

I met him face to face when I was seven and He walked into my room. He is the One who captured my heart as a little girl.

I don’t have any answers. I don't have anything except a heart cry to love each person he sets in front of me, and to stay in his presence because I love Him more than I love anything. He is my life.

(Michelle's website can be reached by clicking on the title of this post.)

My Upcoming Gig

2009-01-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

I'm doing a concert later this month.

Now, I don't do a lot of concerts. I might do one or two songs at a time for church services and such. I occasionally lead worship somewhere. But today I received an e-mail requesting help "preparing a news release", asking for "a high resolution photo to provide to the media", "a couple of quotes about your work", and a copy of my "logo". After I stopped laughing and got up off the floor, I thought two things.

First, "I'd better start practicing".

And, second, "how do I respond to this?"

I don't have any current photos of myself with my guitar, just with my wife and kids. I'm a no go on the logo, too. A short description of my "work"? Uhh...

This reminded me of a concert my friends and I did back in 1980. We had an opportunity to play our first ever concert at a youth rally some church was having - several church youth groups all coming together at a centrally located church. I was the contact person for some reason and the youth rally people wanted a sample of our music. We didn't have any recordings of ourselves (we were teenagers with no money and minimal equipment), so I made a mix tape of several popular Christian singers and bands of the time. These included Keith Green, Dallas Holm, Amy Grant and others. We were going to be covering some of their songs in addition to doing our own original tunes. The note I sent with the tape said that these were some of the songs we would be doing.

The youth rally people thought the recordings I sent were actually of our band! I got a call from a woman who was helping organize the rally. She said, "we heard your recordings and we are absolutely thrilled! We can't wait to hear you live!"

I didn't say anything.

I was too surprised. I finally just said, "Yes, Ma'am... We're looking forward to the concert, too".

A few weeks later we showed up. Our drummer couldn't hold a steady beat and completetely fell apart during his obligatory drum solo. Our electric guitar wouldn't stay in tune - and even if it would, none of us knew how to play lead riffs. Our keyboard was the church's ancient upright piano and it wasn't even close to being in tune. Our bass, acoustic guitar and vocals were o.k., but nothing like what everyone was expecting from "our recordings".

As we started playing, the youth leaders looked disappointed and the youth were pretty much bored out of their minds.

My Mom liked it, though.

Below I've included a snippet of that concert, featuring me on electric guitar. More than a snippet would be way, way too painful. It makes me cringe and laugh every time I hear it.

So, I'm off to my photo shoot (I'll be re-creating the Rudolph Valentino photo above). I'm sending some logo ideas down to the boys in computer graphics. And I've come up with the following "quotes about my work":

"Mr. Watts appears to be in pain as he sings, no doubt from fingers unused to playing 15 songs in one hour's time".

"The first few songs were well received, but he blew his voice out early and the rest of the show was excruciating".

"Unfortunately, Mr. Watts did not sing with his beautiful wife tonight. Had she been present, there would at least have been someone pleasant to look at".

"Mr. Watts should not begin every song with, 'Uh, this next song is about...'. Just sing the song, Chip. We'll figure out what it's about."

I'm begging you, friends... Please pray for me. This could be very embarrasing.

(By the way, the singer on this snippet of our song from 1980 is now the pastor of the church where this concert will take place. And the horrible electric guitar player was me.)

The End

2008-12-30T20:06:00.000-08:00

This morning at work I heard for the first time that the ancient Mayan's super accurate calendar predicts the end of time as occuring on December 21, 2012 (12/21/12). Later I jumped on the internet and saw that there are gazillions of pages, videos, blogs and more devoted to this theory. I won't repeat it, it's going to be beaten to death over the next four years anyway.

But here's what I've thought about this today:

First, I thought, "How sweet... that's our 27th wedding anniversary".

Second, I thought, "great, no need to buy Christmas presents that year".

Third, I thought, "If they're calendar is so great, why are we using the Gregorian Calendar?"

Fourth, I thought, "Calendar sounds a lot like collender. Isn't that what you strain water out of spaghetti noodles with? I wonder when we're going to have spaghetti again. I'm hungry. Do I have change for the snack machine?"

Fifth, I thought, "I wonder if you can get the ancient Mayan calendar with pictures of puppies and kittens. My little girl would like that."

Sixth, I thought, "That coincides with the end of Obama's first term. Does that count as change we can believe in?"

Seventh, I thought, "If that day and hour is known only to the Father, that not even the Son knows when it will be... then who told the ancient Mayans?"

Be sure to check back for my December 22, 2012 blog post to see what happens. If I'm able to write one, that is.

I might be out frantically buying Christmas presents.

There Is Nothing...

2008-12-29T06:09:00.000-08:00

"There is nothing the Father desires for you more than that you fall squarely in the lap of His love and never move from that place for the rest of your life."

This is a quote from a book I'm reading called "So You Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore". I love the quote. I'm not sure yet about the book. It's about rediscovering your first love, your relationship with the Lord. It was recommended on Beyond The Box Podcast, which I definitely enjoy.

Backyard Firepit

2008-12-26T21:33:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law gave me one of those outdoor firepits for Christmas and I can't wait to put it together and try it out. Specifically, I want a cold night, a blazing fire, and a good bench to sit on in front of the fire while I play my old guitar. Better yet, I'd like a handful of friends to sit around the fire and sing with me.

Thinking along those lines, I pulled out an old recording of Melody and myself with a group of friends and two guitars singing a laid back tune we called "The Friendly Medley". The group was called "Crystal Spring Mountain" and we were all college friends who were part of the Baptist Student Union at Appalachian State University in 1982. This recording is of us singing at a youth retreat, but I can easily imagine us singing it around a campfire.

There's some missed notes, wrong words, and occasional weak harmonies - but it's a good memory Melody and I share of sweet times with great friends. The singers are Rick, Jack, Margie, Heather, Melody and me - 26 years ago.

(Facebook readers will have to go to my blog to hear the audio. The link is below).

http://allmyfountains.blogspot.com/

Hayford On Santa

2008-12-22T21:09:00.000-08:00

Santa Claus...

I've been reading a lot about Saint Nicholas - the mysterious historical figure who is the basis for Santa Claus. I've probably read twenty Christian articles and blog posts about Santa and St. Nick over the past few weeks. The one that most impressed itself upon me and really stuck with me was by Pastor Jack Hayford. I've held great respect for Pastor Hayford since 1982 or so when I learned he was pastor of The Second Chapter of Acts music group. Their concerts and recordings were foundational to my walk with the Lord in my late teens and throughout the '80s. He wrote an article about Santa Claus called "He Is A Beautiful Symbol". Here are some excerpts:

"Even though a small percentage of the Christian community takes issue with Santa, I find it hard to be threatened by him. I also find it impossible to believe either God the Father or Christ the Son is likely to be eclipsed by the silhouette of his sleigh rising in the Christmas sky.

The reason is that, beyond all crass commercializing and pagan violations of the true spirit of Christmas, when understood historically and interpreted fairly, Santa is a great symbol of the Holy Spirit the Father wants to rain over the world. However besmirched his image by those who may commandeer and apply his name to any less-than-worthy pursuits or perversions of true Christmasing, Santa Claus will survive unscathed if honestly assessed on the grounds of his true derivation.

Let me explain why I believe in Santa Claus, and what I believe about him.

I believe Santa Claus was a real person, and one who testified to and demonstrated the love of God poured out to us in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. A study of Nicholas of Myra (or Bari), who was a "saint" by reason of his faith in Christ, and was titled "Saint Nicholas" by reason of the traditional church's recognition of his love and good works, reveals a true believer and a genuine servant to mankind. All myth and legend evolving from this man, which is flavored with good and godly ideas of love, giving, caring, and helping, are well grounded in fact — facts I believe in.

I believe in Santa Claus as a righteous mood, attitude, or disposition. I believe in whatever generosity of spirit he symbolizes to us, and I like the idea that the contemporary role of Santa has traditionally incorporated a call to personal accountability for good or bad deeds done or undone. To "believe" in this way is not an endorsement of money-grubbing commercialism or orgiastic parties where an employee dressed as Santa leads in the lecherous misappropriation of the spirit of Christmastime celebration. Whatever is done with Santa's reputation by the ignorant ought not weaken our remembrance, acceptance, and celebration of what he truly represents.

I believe in Santa Claus because, when rightly adopted into a family's Christmas traditions, he enhances children's fun without threatening their faith. Whatever instance to the contrary may be cited, where some adult may have concocted a Santa that injured a child's thoughts or emotions, there is an acceptable way to include him in the family and not diminish either ultimate truthfulness or youthful imagination. When adults who know the Savior live like it, no child they influence is likely to confuse the Santa we pretend about with the Living Christ we worship, serve, and place our eternal faith in.

My granddaughter confirms this. She was raised in an atmosphere that neither avoided Santa nor made a religion of him. Though her parents joyfully played Santa, this didn't demolish anything of a healthy respect for the real or the holy.

Yes, I believe in Santa Claus. But I haven't been trapped into paganism or even slightly lost focus on Jesus—the Babe-become-King and the Center of the Season. And I have a suspicion that if Jesus were asked how He felt about Santa Claus—whether the man in the red suit is a threat to the intent of Christ's holy kingdom—Jesus might say: "Wherever a heart of love inspires further loving and giving, the true Father of Christmas is being experienced."

Twenty-Third Wedding Anniversary

2008-12-21T04:26:00.000-08:00

Today is our twenty-third wedding anniversary. As usual, bumping up against Christmas and coinciding with the celebration of Melody's dad's birthday, it's hard for us to do anything special. Add two kids to the mix, one being just under 21 months old, and it's even harder to pause and reflect or give recognition to our day.

But this morning I was listening to an old cassette tape as I drove to work. It's 2008 but I still have yet to drive a work car with a CD player - I let Melody drive the newer vehicles. Anyway, I was listening to an old tape searching for interesting stuff to transfer to MP3 or CD. The tape I had in was a compilation of stuff I recorded back in the very early eighties. There were several songs I wrote for Melody when we started dating, and then...

Then I heard Melody's 17 year old voice (and laugh) coming from my tape player as she was being interviewed on local radio prior to participating in and winning the Miss Lee County Fair competition in 1981.

The tape also has part of the contest and the announcement that "number 14, Melody Love" won. You can hear her little brother - who was nine then - calling out her name, trying to get her attention and then screaming as she wins.

At the very end you'll hear a very goofy 18 year old me saying "that's my girlfriend!" I was so excited and so happy for her.

And all these years later, I'm still crazy for this girl, my beauty queen, my garden spring, my well of fresh running water (Song of Solomon reference there).

This post and the recording below are part of her anniversary present.

Happy Anniversary, Melody.

Audio Memory #2 continued - (Malachi Christmas Concert 1980, Part 2)

2008-12-20T11:21:00.000-08:00

Here is the final 10 minutes or so of the concert I posted yesterday. My Mom is really enjoying it.

That's me sharing at the beginning (I had just turned 18). I was sharing something I borrowed from one of my Dad's sermons. It sounded a lot better when he said it.

I wrote the song "He'll Be Our Savior", probably the third complete song I'd ever written. The final song ("The Beginning Of Something Good") is one Greg wrote and that's me singing it. I hope to post a current video of my re-write of this song before Christmas.

Audio Memory #2 (Malachi Christmas Concert - 1980)

2008-12-19T22:27:00.000-08:00

Only a handful of my friends and family will find this interesting. I have just rescued audio from a worn out old cassette tape. It is of a Christmas concert some friends of mine and I did back in 1980. My buddies and I had formed a Christian band that we called "Malachi". Earlier in 1980 we did several concerts of original and cover tunes - we loved writing our own songs. But at the time of this Christmas concert we had lost our drummer. Fortunately, we found a great flute player. All of the songs we did were our originals (except for a few carols).

This morning I was listening to the cassette tape and it broke. My tape player ate a good portion of the tape and I carefully pulled the broken portion back out of the player. Tonight I repaired the tape while Melody and I watched a movie. The tape was in such poor condition that it was transparent in places where the magnetic stuff had rubbed off. So the quality here is a little rough. Then again, maybe our guitars were a little out of tune then too.

This concert, that band, those friends, that night... sweet memories for which I'm still thankful. And I'm glad I managed to get this transferred to MP3.

Now I just need to e-mail my old bandmates so they can hear and remember what we were doing 28 years ago.

Wow...

Audio Memory #1 (Hunter's "Abide In Me")

2008-12-18T19:42:00.001-08:00

I'm going to be posting some audio memories on my blog. Facebook friends reading this can visit the blog at:

http://allmyfountains.blogspot.com

The first one I'm sharing is a song by our dear friend, Hunter. It's called "Abide In Me". She recorded it while visiting Melody and I at our house in Boone in 1996 or so. We were all practicing for a concert we were doing as a trio, and before we put the guitars away I asked Hunter to let me record her singing this song. It was one of my favorites of the many songs she wrote. I'm so glad she sang it for us. Now that she's in heaven with the Lord, it's even more precious to me. It's simple and peaceful and makes me want to be nearer to and more faithful to the Lord.

I hope everyone will relax, close their eyes, and enjoy the song.

Dumb Christmas Songs

2008-12-13T20:08:00.000-08:00

I have a co-worker who turns on Christmas music first thing every morning. Consequently, I've been reminded repeatedly of some of my least favorite Christmas songs or Christmas song portions.

The following lines from the song "Do You Hear What I Here", always sung way too dramatically:

"A star, a star, shining in the night,

With a tail as big as a kite,

With a tail as big as a kite"

From the song "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year":

"It's the hap-happiest season of all"

Hap-happiest? Puh-lease!

From the same song:

"There'll be parties for hosting

Marshmallows for toasting

And caroling out in the snow

There'll be scary ghost stories

And tales of the glories

Of Christmases long, long ago"

Who's telling scary ghost stories as part of their Christmas celebration? I think someone's mixing up their holidays. My co-worker suggested it's referring to "A Christmas Carol" and the ghost of Jacob Marley. Maybe...

The entire song "The Little Drummer Boy".

This is another one that tends to be sung way, way too dramatically. It's like The Battle Hymn Of The Republic in it's presentation - building, building, stronger, louder...

And who ever thought this one up? Hey, how about a song about someone banging on a drum during the nativity?

The "Pa-rum-pa-pum-pum" thing makes me want to scream.

And I especially don't like it when a group I respect decides to throw it onto their Christmas CD. I'm thinking Jars of Clay, Joan Jett and the BlackHearts, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. What were they thinking?

But the one I really just don't get is by Sonny and Cher:

I Got Yule, Babe.

Chip Makes The Local Newspaper!

2008-12-07T18:30:00.000-08:00

This is kind of funny...

A few weeks ago I was enjoying a couple of Facebook groups I belong to (Watauga Christian Center '79 - '89, and ASU BCM Alumni) and I wondered, "how do you start a Facebook group?"

So I thought I'd do a practice one. Since the town we now live in doesn't have a Target or a Starbucks, I called the group "Sanford, NC, Needs Target and Starbucks". I went through the 15 minute process of starting the group and I had Melody join as my only member. Then I pretty much forgot about it.

A few days ago at work, I received an e-mail from the editor of the local newspaper. He wanted to interview me about my Facebook group! I answered his questions via e-mail and called Melody to give her a good laugh. She called back a little later and informed me that there were now 36 members of my group. I couldn't believe it. By the time the editor wrote his article, there were 67 members. As I write this, we're up to 114 members.

So here is the article that was written in our paper. What a hoot!

They long for a Target

By Billy Liggett

Dec 7, 2008

If you're one of the millions of Americans or thousands of Lee Countians with a Facebook page, then you're aware that there's pretty much a "group" for everything. The Herald even has a group page (up to 113 members as of Saturday, by the way). Well, one recently created Facebook group caught my eye this week - a group created by Chip Watts of Sanford. It's called "Sanford needs a Target and Starbucks." And so far, 67 people have joined it. And the bulletin board has a conversation going on this very subject.

"I go at least once a week to Cary for a Target/Starbucks fix," writes one group member. "I have been known to drive to Cary just to go through the Starbucks window at Crossroads," writes another. There's also, "We just continue to spend our money in Wake County, since they have stores and resteraunts (sic) that we don't have but need."

I'm one of the few adults in this world who doesn't drink coffee and therefore, could do without a Starbucks. But I'll admit ... maybe it's just the 30-something Gen X-er in me, I love Target. I never had one growing up and really wasn't introduced to it until my mid-20s, but soon after I lived a block away from one in Houston, I was hooked. It's not that I have anything against Wal-Mart. I love Wal-Mart, too. Just not in "that way." Maybe I just like Target's commercials better.

I didn't join the Facebook group for a few reasons. First, I instead joined the "Robot Dancers of the World Unite" group (seriously) and secondly, I wanted to write about the group as an outsider. So I e-mailed the group's founder to find out what it is about Target and Starbucks that made him create an Internet group dedicated to begging for them in Sanford. Turns out, Watts and his wife, like so many of us, recently moved to Sanford from a larger city (Winston-Salem in their case). "We love Starbucks," Watts replied. "We've tried some of the coffee shops here in Sanford and enjoy them (especially Java Express and Mr. Bean's), but Starbucks is our preference for taste and ambiance. It's a cultural thing, too. Facebook, Barack Obama, iPods, wifi and Starbucks - you just feel like you're current there."

He went on to call Wal-Mart "crowded" with people and merchandise, and he feels like he can "breathe" better in a Target. "The aisles are wider, the shelves aren't overloaded, you can see everything and it's easier to find what you need." These are his opinions of course, and I'm sure he's not alone.

The truth is, many in our area do leave the comfy confines of Lee County to shop in Apex, Cary and Southern Pines (all about 30 minutes away) because these cities have things we don't - Target, Starbucks, Chik-Fil-A, Kohl's, Moe's, malls, etc., etc., etc.

Watts says growth from Raleigh and Fayetteville may one day put Sanford in position to eventually house these desired businesses. I can see a new shopping center one day opening up along the north end of the 421 Bypass (when it's finally finished in the year 2088 ... or sooner), and possibly housing a Target. Of course, with that will come the cookie-cutter sprawl subdivision we'll all just "love," but I suppose that would be the price of success.

As much as I'd like to see a Target here, I'm afraid I'm a little pessimistic about the chances of it happening any time soon. I did a little Target research and learned that the median household income of Target customers is roughly $63,000. The median household income in Lee County in 2006 was about $39,000. Cary's median household income in 2000 was more than $70,000. If Target is "targeting" areas with high-paying jobs and younger shoppers, then we're simply not there ... yet.

But think about it ... part of the reason many of us chose to move to Sanford was its lack of "sprawl." Many of us like the small-town atmosphere and proximity to the larger markets. Is a 30-minute drive the nearest Target really that bad? Sure, it may be too far to drive for a cup of coffee, but then again, a Starbucks in Sanford is something that could happen at any time. I've heard rumors that in some places, they appear out of nowhere and multiply like over-caffeinated rabbits.

So keep dreaming Mr. Watts. I'm sure many here share your sentiments. I just hope you're not holding your breath.

Must The Show Go On?

2008-12-02T19:10:00.000-08:00

I read an interesting article today. Briefly, the pastor of a 12,000 member mega-church had a heart attack, took some time off, reconnected with God, came back to the mega-church and saw that much of what they were doing was just providing Christian entertainment. The Elders agreed. They fired the professional musicians and made other radical desisions. A third of the congregation - 4,000 members - left the church. But those that stayed... well, some of them started house churches, many began to build solid relationships, they began to go out into the community, they lived the gospel, preached the gospel...

Here's the beginning of the article. It's from Christianity Today online. If you want to read the whole article, I've included the link at the end of the sample portion.

“Showtime!” No More
by Walter Kallestad, pastor of Community Church of Joy in Phoenix, Arizona.

"My first Sunday back from some time away, I sat in the worship service and wept. It struck me as such a production, so performance driven. In a word, it was shallow. I couldn't believe this had happened on my watch.

On the surface, all was well. I was a megachurch pastor with invitations to speak at conferences, write books, and mingle with dignitaries. Our church had state of the art facilities next to a major freeway. But that was on the surface. Deep down inside, I was mortified at what we'd become. We had to change. We just couldn't keep going like this. Not anymore.

When I arrived in Phoenix to lead 200-member Community Church of Joy, my whole desire was to reach people—really, at my core I am an evangelist. Any day that I get to tell someone about Jesus is a good day for me. I long to see those who aren't following Jesus transformed by the Spirit of God into empowered disciples.

Within a few years of assuming the helm at Joy, I was invited to a gathering of large-church pastors to dream about the future together. We envisioned what the church might 1ook like for a new generation. At the gathering, Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, and others exchanged ideas about how to build a church "for people who don't go to church." Like men of Issachar (1 Chron. 12:32), we understood our times, at least for the 1980s and beyond. We knew that people didn't want to give anything, sing anything, or do anything—they wanted anonymity, not community. They didn't want theology lectures; they wanted to be entertained and inspired. So we set out to give them exactly what they wanted: Entertainment Evangelism.

The concept came together for me while standing in a line at a Dallas Cineplex waiting to see the Batman premiere. The only way to capture people's attention is entertainment, I thought. If I want people to listen to my message, I've got to present it in a way that grabs their attention long enough for me to communicate the gospel.

It was an epiphany, a breakthrough understanding for me. So our church strategy revolved around the gravitational force of entertainment for evangelism. We hired the best musicians we could afford; we used marketing principles and programming specialists—for the gospel's sake. Attendance skyrocketed. More people meant more staff, more programs, more facilities, more land, and of course the need for more money. We became a program-driven church attracting consumers looking for the latest and greatest religious presentations.

For us, worship was a show, and we played to a packed house. We grew by thousands, bought more land, and positioned ourselves to reach even more people. Not that any of this is wrong in and of itself—people coming to faith in Christ isn't bad. I told myself it was good—I told others it was good. But now I was beginning to wonder if I'd led my church down a wrong path."

The rest of the article is at:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2008/fall/13.39.html?start=1

"Abide In Me" by Hunter Dortch

2008-11-20T14:38:00.001-08:00

I'm experimenting with Audacity - the sound recording program. Here I uploaded an old song by Hunter Dortch that she sang for Melody and I at our house one evening as we were learning songs to do as a trio. You can hear us discussing the tape recorder at the beginning ("Is it on?").

I really love this song. It's one of my two favorite Hunter songs. It's peacful and simple and just makes me feel close to the Lord. Hope everyone enjoys it.

Will Snuggles Go To Heaven?

2008-11-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

There I was - eighth grade at Jonesboro Middle School... My English teacher, Betty, a Presbyterian preacher's wife, announced to the class that our pets would not go to Heaven when they died. Now I remember almost nothing else from the eighth grade. I remember my desk and I remember the cheerleader who sat three desks away from me. But I do remember that announcement. Why she felt it neccessary to share this bit if her personal theological perspective, I don't know. But something about her tone as she spoke has always stuck with me and irritated me. That's why an article I came across the other day stirred my interest.

Hank Hanegraaff - also known as "The Bible Answer Man" wrote the article Pets in Heaven? and I've excerpted portions below:

"Scripture does not exclusively tell us whether our pets will make it to heaven. However, the Bible does provide us with some significant clues that animals will inhabit the new heaven and the new earth. First, the Garden of Eden was populated by animals, thus there is a precedent for believing that Eden restored will also be populated by animals.

Furthermore, the Scriptures --from first to last-- suggest that animals have souls. Both Moses in Genesis and John in Revelation communicate that the Creator endowed animals with souls (see Gen. 1:20, 24; Rev. 8:9). Throughout the history of the church, the classic understanding of living things has included the doctrine that animals, like humans, have souls.

Finally, while we cannot say for certain that the pets we enjoy today will be resurrected in eternity, I am not willing to preclude the possibility. Some of the keenest thinkers --from C.S. Lewis to Peter Kreeft--are not only convinced that animals in general, but that pets in particular, will be restored in the resurrection. Dr. Kreeft, for example, is convinced that animals will exist throughout eternity. He writes, "Are there animals in Heaven? The simplest answer is: Why not?" Regarding pets, he writes: "Would the same animals be in Heaven as were on earth? 'Is my dead cat in Heaven?' Again, why not?

Though the Redeemed have better things to do than play with pets, the better does not exclude the lesser."

One thing is certain: Scripture provides us with a sufficient precedent for suggesting that animals will continue to exist after the return of our Lord. Isaiah 11:6-9 provides a particularly stirring image:

"The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."

So maybe Ms. Betty will read this blog post and realize the error of her ways. Probably not. I'm sure her point was that pets can't "get saved" like people and thus "go to heaven". I agree with her there. And, no, I don't totally buy into the proposition that our pets might meet us in Heaven (though I would love to see my old sheltie Chelsie there). But I really love what Dr. Kreeft says: "Why not?"

Our God is kind and perfectly loving.

Why not?

Fifty Years Of Church Music

2008-11-19T17:56:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I read an interesting article by Gordon McDonald from the Christianity Today online presence. He was discussing the difficulties a certain church was having in searching for a "worship leader" for a multi-generational fellowship. I've excerpted it below and a few comments of my own follow:

"Fifty years ago they would have sought an arm-waving song leader who fired up people to sing three gospel songs, then led them in prayer, sang a solo, and turned things over in a timely manner to the preacher.

About forty years ago, song leaders morphed into choir directors, who were paid (this ticked off some folk) to recruit a choir and present anthems. Most people came to like this and didn't notice that we amateur worshipers in the pew were singing less now.

Thirty years ago (give or take) full-time ministers of music appeared. They championed age-graded music programs: multiple choirs, cantatas, concerts, and complex musical extravaganzas with orchestras (and live animals at Christmas even). Most of us thought this development was quite classy.But in truth we pew-people were worshiping less and being entertained more. Clapping (to do or not to do) became a serious issue for elder boards. The professional Christian musician debuted, and a star system was born.

Over the past twenty years, we saw the advent of the worship leader and the worship team. Each team member was armed with a long-cord microphone (uniformly held). The team was usually young, sincere, enthusiastic, often quite talented. Organs were replaced by electronic keyboards, drums, and bass guitar; and we all learned to clap (on 2 and 4, I think). Hymn books were discarded, and churches mounted video projectors and displayed PowerPoint. Sound speakers grew bigger than your garage; programmable lighting stirred the senses; artificial smoke simulated Gethsemane. We worshiped. But, sometimes, we sacrificed the experience of worship to the … well, the experience itself.

For many young people choosing a church, worship leaders have become a more important factor than preachers. Mediocre preaching may be tolerated, but an inept worship leader can sink things fast. Worship leaders now do more to define a church's culture than anyone else on the staff.

The good things about worship leaders: they arouse our feelings and our desire to be joyful; they offer less performance-based music (exit ministers of music) and more congregational singing (enter leaders of worshipers); they realize that people need to spend more time loving God through personal and corporate expression. A good worship leader is a precious gift."

My thoughts on this article:

First thought: Obviously, this is a generalization. Most older churches have not made their way through this progression. They stayed where they started. Some have offered additional "contemporary services", contemporary often defined by songs from the 1970s rather than the 1870s. The church my little family currently attends is, according to this article, still somewhere between forty and fifty years behind the cutting edge with its music. For evening and Wednesday night services (which we usually do not attend), they still have the "arm-waving song leader". On Sunday mornings they have a "choir director", choir anthems, and the old organ-piano combo accompanyment. This frustrates me at times, but Melody and I settled on this church largely for the great children's ministry (my old college roommate - Tim Burriss - is the children and youth minister). Sometimes if I don't know or like the hymn of the day, I'll just close my eyes and make up my own words. Very often, though, we do old hymns I loved as a child and I close my eyes and sing them with all my heart. The pastor recently stopped me after a service and said that he loves watching me sing the hymns. He said watching me sing makes him sing better. Now this was a very kind comment. I believe he sees me worshipping and it inspires him to worship. The same thing happened with me back in 1988 at Watauga Christian Center in Boone. I remember seeing David McClanahan worship - eyes closed, singing to the Lord - and it made me want to worship and to be a worshipper.

Second thought: One thing that this article ommitted was the step that preceeded the advent of the worship leader. First came the guitarist leading scripture-based songs in small group meetings, youth meetings, and coffee houses. This grew out of the Jesus Movement of the early 1970s. That's where I got started as a worship leader. At age 17 I started leading songs in a coffee house ministry in Sanford called "The Mustard Seed". I believe these guitar led scripture based songs became included in some traditional services and were so well received that the worship leader and worship band naturally took a more dominant place in lots of churches. This was complemented and encouraged by the Contemporary Christian Music industry which grew like crazy through the 80s and 90s.

Final thought: I keep feeling like the future of church music is a returning to something simpler. I keep thinking that the house church movement will grow - perhaps out of neccessity, perhaps as a reaction to the mega-churches and the worship music industry. I think of 2 Corinthians 11:3 - "But I am afraid that... your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ". I love leading music with a band, singers, and big amplifiers - but in my spirit I long for something gentle and strong like a living room full of people singing deeply intimate songs to the Lord, breaking bread together, praying for each other, then singing some more. Let me quote John Lennon here: "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."

Whether your fellowship has the "arm-waving song leader", the huge worship band, the dulcimer player in the den, or whatever else, let's worship the Lord with all our hearts. He is worthy of all this and much more.

Daddy-Daughter Fun

2008-11-16T16:42:00.000-08:00

ElfYourself is back. Remember how much fun they were last year? You can put your own photos on dancing elves. Well, the site has expanded tremendously and re-opened year round. Today Maggie and I took pictures of her favorite dolls and stuffed animals and uploaded them to ElfYourself.com. We laughed a lot. Below are two of our creations. The stuffed animal dance features her favorites: Bowtie, Floss, Chelsie, Mushy and Stripe. The dolls dance features Kathy, Emily, Jackson, Nina, Pip Junior.

Maggie's Dolls Dance

2008-11-16T14:58:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Maggie's Stuffed Animals Dance

2008-11-16T14:42:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Jesus Music, House To House

2008-11-10T14:07:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned last week, I've been shifting my online reading away from politics and toward more satisfying, spiritual fare. Here's an excerpt from an article I read on the Christian History Magazine site. I love reading about the early Jesus Movement days of the late 1960s and early 1970s. What I really like here is the description of new believers gathering in their homes and just making up songs out of the Bible as they fellowshipped together. That would be so sweet to experience now. Lord, please lead us all into such simple yet powerful times of fellowship and worship in our day and time.

"By the middle of 1968, the church was filling up with barefoot, blue-jean-wearing kids, and dozens of hippies and teenage runaways inhabited a string of communal homes sponsored by Calvary Chapel with names like the House of Miracles and Mansion Messiah.

The ministry of the "hippie preacher" Lonnie Frisbee and the warmth and Bible teaching of "Papa Chuck" were winning converts, but one aspect of the Calvary Chapel experience that proved less appealing was its musical diet of traditional gospel songs and hymns. John Higgins, one of the co-leaders of the youth contingent (and later the founder and leader of the nationwide Shiloh commune), remembered that early-vintage Calvary Chapel music was hardly "something that made you just leave and go into another world." In fact, he found it "boring" and admitted that despite his zeal for his newfound faith he would sometimes come late "just to avoid the music."

Meanwhile, an exciting, spontaneous musical movement was beginning to emerge within the communal Jesus houses in Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, and Riverside. "We sang every day," Higgins recalled; "people were making up new songs all the time." And the new songs were not chained to the traditional conventions of hymnody; members were writing gospel lyrics "to things like Coca Cola commercials." By June 1968, Higgins estimates, guitars were making regular appearances in Calvary Chapel's services, along with some of the songs grown in the communes.

The change in the atmosphere was palpable. Within a few months there was a distinctly new, contemporary tone to the worship at the burgeoning church. Swarms of youth were soon packing its 300-seat sanctuary for multiple Sunday services and several weeknight Bible studies. For many of the kids, this new brand of "church music"—simple, melodic, heavily reliant upon Scripture for its lyrics—was the key to their attraction. Tommy Coomes, a member of a down-on-its-luck hippie band named Love Song, recalled visiting the church for the first time and finding the music there utterly unique: "I knew each line even before it was sung. I wasn't used to simple music like this, but it blew me away! It was a music which drew people into the Lord's presence."

Not surprisingly, the church began to develop and attract a growing stable of in-house musicians and songwriters. One was Karen Lafferty, a Southern Baptist girl from New Mexico. Convinced that she should pursue a musical ministry, she gave up a lucrative gig serenading diners at a chain of Los Angeles surf-and-turf restaurants. Scrounging to find teens for guitar lessons, Lafferty quickly became discouraged. But after one particularly inspiring worship session and Bible study in the fall of 1971, she went home, picked up her guitar, and applied a tune to the words of Matthew 6:33:

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God,

And His righteousness;

And all these things

Shall be added unto you,

Allelu, Alleluia.

"Seek Ye First" became a major hit at Calvary Chapel and quickly spread by song-of-mouth to Jesus People homes, coffeehouses, and "fellowships" all over Southern California—and then across the country. By the mid-1970s, it had also begun to pop up in a number of mainstream evangelical congregations as well."

The full article is at the address below (copy and paste) -

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/thepastinthepresent/storybehind/praiseworshiprevolution.html?start=1

Sarcasm

2008-11-05T20:12:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post-election post here:

I am so glad that the election season is finally over. Like a lot of folks, even though I initially resisted it, I got caught up in the whole national election thing. I very frequently had political TV shows on at home, and listened to political talk radio in my car. If I wasn't watching and listening to election stuff, I was online or in magazines and newspapers reading about it - always wanting to know the latest. Most days I'd copy some articles from the internet to keep in my back pocket to read during down times at work. By the end of the campaigning, I was completely obsessed.

At the same time, I was sick of the political ads - this candidate slamming that candidate, back and forth. The right skewering the left, the left mocking the right. Yuk! But like binging on triple fudge delight, I kept taking it in, more and more.

And that's my point: those three words "taking it in". I realize today with the election done and decided that I have been taking some really unhealthy stuff into my spirit. In particular, sarcasm - lots of sarcasm. Whether it was talk radio like Hannity or Rush, or left leaning NPR, or the late night comics, or early morning news shows, or political ads - the dominant "spirit" through it all seemed to be sarcasm.

I don't need to go into detail. We all heard it both from Republican-types and from Democrat-types.

So I'm banning myself from politics for awhile. For a good long while, I hope.

But there's that void to be filled.

I like to have something quick and interesting to read and I like to listen to something interesting when I'm driving.

Luckily, I've discovered the great wealth of free Christian podcasts out there. I download them to my phone/MP3 player or my other little MP3 player and I can easily listen while driving between work sites. Just tonight I downloaded three free episodes of Focus On The Family's daily broadcast, a Phil Keaggy podcast, and one of Steve and Raborn's excellent spiritual conversations (beyondtheboxpodcast.com).

As for something to read, I've re-discovered Christianity Today's great website and found several helpful articles. And I know there's a lot more out there to explore.

I just have to get this lingering sarcastic residue out of my spirit. I'm sorry I didn't realize earlier how listening to, watching, and reading that angry, bitter, sarcastic stuff (from both sides) was effecting me.

I want to fix my eyes, my heart, and my mind on Christ and His kingdom. I want to live in prayer like fish live in water. I want to be cleansed and refreshed.

Keeping A Tender Heart

2008-10-30T19:23:00.000-07:00

I was talking with a Sister in the Lord today at work. She said she was planning to visit a church where a mutual friend of ours is now leading worship. I asked about the church she's been going to and she said, "Chip, I don't have a church anymore". I asked her what happened and she told me the old familiar story of the church split, the True Hearted vs. the My-Way-Or-The-Highway types. And as she shared her story she was obviously hurting and near tears.

My immediate thought was this: life is all about keeping a tender heart before the Lord.

I've been there - as have so many of my friends. You invest a big part of your self in a fellowship, a church, a pastor's vision, whatever - and it blows up in your face. You stumble away wounded when you felt like you were where God wanted you to be, doing what God wanted you to do. And now you find yourself struggling to forgive "those people" and struggling to trust God.

But life is all about keeping a tender heart before the Lord.

I have a friend that I haven't seen for a long time. When I first met him he was so in love with Jesus. He had a pure, energetic heart to serve God. The last time I saw him he was deeply involved in a ministry that I think eventually chewed him up and spit him out. Now I hear that he's changed, that maybe he has become bitter.

Life is all about keeping a tender heart before the Lord.

I work in nursing homes and every now and then I'll meet someone who is well over ninety and who is just effusive and bubbling over in their love for the Lord. Without exception they've had their share of troubles. But after all their years they still walk closely with the Lord and love Him with all their hearts.

Somehow they've kept their hearts tender before the Lord.

Even just the busyness of life, raising children and going to work day after day, can get you in a place where you just don't spend any time alone with God. Your heart grows cold. You still love the Lord, but in a letters-twice-a-year kind of way.

Life is all about keeping a tender heart before the Lord.

Others have disappointed you and maybe you're crushed by the ways you've disappointed others.

But stay true. Stay tender-hearted. Take advantage of every stray moment to talk to your Father who loves you, to spend some time in His presence.

Anyway, that's what I've been thinking all day since my friend shared her church hurt with me.

No matter what happens... I'm determined to stay tender and to stay close to the Lord until I take my last breath.

Why Men Go Bald

2008-10-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Since my hair started thinning and falling out, I've been doing aggressive research into baldness prevention. I think I've made a startling discovery...

I Already Voted, But...

2008-10-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

I already voted, and I voted for McCain. But tonight I saw the best political ad of the election season. And even though it's for Obama, I loved it! Click on the link below. I'll bet it makes you smile.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cc65ed650d

She Calms Me

2008-10-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

(This picture is of Melody and I at a college retreat in 1983 or so.)

Tonight I sang at the little Baptist church we've been attending. This was my first time singing at this church in 22 years, since when Melody and I were attending there as newlyweds.

I totally bombed. I did a really, really bad job.

Melody was supposed to sing with me. but she and our two children were sick and stayed home. So I had to fly solo.

Melody and I have been singing together since we were teenagers. In fact, we met in high school choral class. She was sixteen and I was seventeen. Pretty soon after we started dating we were singing in church together. The first song we ever did as a duet was Amy Grant's "There Will Never Be Another". Melody was seventeen, I remember, and had a pale blue ribbon in her long brown hair. It's amazing the little details you recall when writing out memories. We've sung together in high school, in three groups through college, in various church choirs, and on a few worship teams.

I share all that to explain one reason that I bombed so badly tonight:

Melody calms me.

In the context of playing my guitar and singing, I am so used to Melody standing beside me and harmonizing that, without her, I don't do nearly as well. Even when I occasionally perform without her, she's usually in the audience or the congregation watching, listening, and singing along.

Then, too, she calms me.

So this is what happened tonight when she stayed home sick:

I played the song way too fast, I kept blowing my strumming pattern, I ran out of breath a few times before the ends of phrases, I mispronounced words. I had to stop at one point and start a verse all over. The worst part though was that I started to panic mid-song when I couldn't settle into the song. I felt my face turning red, I felt warm and uncomfortable and thought "my blood pressure is going up". And I was just looking down at the floor as I stumbled into the end of the song, unwilling to look out at the congregation of a couple of hundred people. I think I was experiencing what people who have stage fright feel.

What a mess. When I got home an hour later, I told Melody how bad it was. That's when she demonstrated another aspect of our musical partnership. She is my advisor. She always gives me good advice regarding song choice, tempo and more.

"I told you not to do that song, didn't I?", she said. I should have listened to her. But I had wanted to do a lyrically and musically complex song so as to impress my listeners. And Melody called me on that as well, kindly pointing out that my pride had led me to this point of such a disastrous performance. Without saying it outright, she showed me that I had been more interested in showing off than in singing for the Lord tonight. Ouch!

So she calms me and advises me.

And I really needed her tonight. If she had been well enough to sing with me she would have kept us from doing the wrong song and she would have helped me to pick out a better, more appropriate song. She probably would have helped me focus on singing to and for the Lord, then, as well.

Then, just by being there with me, I would have been able to remain calm and whatever song we would have done would have gone great.

Oh, well.... Live and learn.

It was just a song. It doesn't matter that I flubbed it. What does matter is that I've been reminded what a treasure my wife is. Thank You, Lord, for Melody, the wife of my youth; my partner in a lifetime of musical collaboration.

Thank You for how she calms me.

Amen.

Multiple Choice Question

2008-10-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

Chip is...

A. Preparing to fly across Price Lake.

B. Airing out some really smelly underarms.

C. Thanking God for answered prayers (including the little girl standing in front of him) following many years of prayer walks around this lake.

????????

No. The answer is actually C.

Melody took this picture during our visit to the mountains last week. It sure was nice to breathe that mountain air and see some of our good friends.

Thank You Lord!!

Fulfill

2008-10-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to post this here as I had already put it on my Facebook. But I found a glitch on the video I uploaded to Facebook and it was making me crazy knowing it was there (a little blip of text I thought I'd deleted). So I decided to put the corrected version here.

Melody, the kids, and I had a wonderful weekend with the Brownes in Snead's Ferry. We enjoyed meals and fellowship together, we got to know each other's children, we went to the beach and a park together with our kids, we watched a good movie... It was a wonderful weekend, just what Melody and I needed.

David and I had four full rehearsals (playing through 7 songs). Three of the rehearsals included his son Alex on the drums. I kept remembering Alex as a toddler back behind David's drums at Living Water, banging on the snare drum with a huge grin on his face. Now he's a teenager, playing in the band as I led worship. Wow... (sigh). God is good.

Well, after four rehearsals in which I was singing over multiple instruments without an adequate monitor system, then doing their early service, my voice was nearly shot by the 10:45 service. We got through it, but I didn't have anything left and was hoarse for three days.

This was my first time "leading " worship in 6 years, though I've played guitar and sung in churches we've attended throughout that time. It felt good to be back at it.

I will be leading worship again October 19th at Ben and Heather's church in Kernersville. I think Melody might be singing with me there (if we can work it out with her agent).

Ya'll come.

Barney Fife Would Have Reacted The Same Way

2008-09-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

I've been looking for something to post for my brother-in-law, Mark. I hope he gets a good laugh from this. It's worth the click if anyone else needs a laugh:
http://www.wral.com/news/strange/story/3606166/

Morning

2008-09-20T16:06:00.001-07:00

Morning, originally uploaded by Chip & Melody.

This is a picture I took of my baby boy's room one morning recently. This is my trial run at doing a blog post from my phone.

Attention Bloggers!

2008-09-18T19:20:00.000-07:00

Just some random stuff here:

My wife asks me to send the following:
"Attention Bloggers: Start Blogging!"
She says the bloggers she usually follows have not been blogging enough lately.

Facebook: I for one like the new look of Facebook. For the last couple of weeks I've really been enjoying re-connecting with old friends there. I've mentioned to a couple of people that it's like a taste of heaven, this reunion of friends online. Last week we heard from a dear friend from twenty years ago or so - Melody's old college roommate. Turns out we live just twenty minutes or so apart now. Melody plans to visit her soon. We also reconnected with a former pastor and friend from seven years ago. In each case I figured we wouldn't be seeing these people again this side of heaven. What a blessing!

After a dry spell musically, I have some exciting upcoming events. We're going to Sneed's Ferry at the end of this month and I'll be leading worship at David and Patty Browne's church (Sept. 28th). The next month I'll be leading worship one Sunday at Ben and Heather Cotton's church in Kernersville (October 19th). Any blog readers of mine who come to either of these events will be placed in a random drawing for two of my guitar picks and one broken guitar string.

I was also semi-offered a Sunday night service in November at a church in Siler City. The pastor (an old friend of mine) e-mailed me back, though, and said he wanted someone "more youth oriented" for that weekend.

"More youth oriented..." I just about wanted to throw my dentures at that pastor. Unfortunately, my arthritic fingers couldn't pull them out of my mouth quickly enough. Next time I see him, I'm throwing my walker at that young whipper-snapper!

Anyway, in December Melody and I are doing a Christmas concert at a church called - and I'm not making this up - "Barbecue Presbyterian Church". I'm looking forward to this concert. The only down side is that they've requested that I sing "Mary Did You Know". Yuk. I'd rather do something more youth oriented.

Finally, I did something the other night that brought to mind the thrill I felt as a younger man when I made a touchdown playing football with the guys in the neighborhood, or the time I made a flying, between the legs catch playing softball in college. When I did this thing I felt like jumping up and down and pumping my fists in the air. I wanted to shout in triumph!

My almost 18 month old son had a soaking wet diaper at about 10:00 at night and his crib sheets were soaked. Melody was busy on the computer and couldn't come help me. Well, I single handedly changed the crib sheet, the diaper and the PJ's on my son very quickly and efficiently. I barely had to lift him up. He hardly fussed at all and barely opened his eyes. He was back asleep instantly! I was so excited. I rushed downstairs to tell Melody.

"Pure Parenting Perfection!", I proclaimed.

Can any dads relate here?

I thought so.

Give Me Jesus

2008-09-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

This really choked me up. Fernando Ortega has been one of my favorite vocalists for about 20 years, I guess. The beautiful multi-media presentation on the Grahams is beautiful as well.

Lumberjack Chip

2008-08-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Since I discovered Windows Movie Maker and got my own inexpensive digital video camera, I've been filming everything. Yesterday I was going to be trimming some dead limbs from a tree at our back deck. I set my little camera down near the tree to see if I'd get some cool angles and interesting video.

I sawed off the biggest dead limb, but it didn't fall all the way to the ground. I could almost reach it from the ground, so I got my little three-step mini-ladder and stood on the top of it. I grabbed the dead branch and pulled it and shook it, but the thing still wouldn't come down. That's when I shifted into brainless redneck mode and decided to try hanging from the branch to see if my body weight would pull it free. Yep. That did the trick. Only I ended up pulling down a bunch of healthy limbs along with the dead one and it all came down right on top of me. I remember thinking just as I jumped off the step ladder that I would just run out from under the branch before it could hit me. I suppose I was thinking I had super powers or something - The Amazing Flash.

I did say a quick prayer for protection before I even started this project, so thanks be to God. I was protected from serious injury.

Melody and I both had a big laugh as we watched the video and listened to our comments back and forth after my fall. I think I'll send this to America's Funniest Videos.

Here's the video I captured.

Holy Mighty Awesome God

2008-08-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

For the last few days I've been reflecting on my life - where I've been, where I am, where I'm going... One phrase keeps running through my mind: "the me I want to be". Maybe I'm in a mini-mid-life crisis. But sometimes I feel myself losing what scripture refers to as "the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ". My life is so much just working at my profession, trying to do a good job for my employer, and trying to care for my wife and children in all the ways they need my care.

But I don't want to let go of the joyful, carefree me who started following Jesus with all my heart back in 1980.

So I'm making a strong effort to become "the me I want to be". This means taking every opportunity to talk with my Best Friend in heaven - taking walks with Him, singing to Him, reading His words in the Bible. I'm looking for and soaking in those Still Water Moments when "He leads me beside still waters and restores my soul" (ps 23). I'm pushing back against stress and worry and yielding to His joy and nearness.

I feel like I'm about to embark on an adventure of reconnecting with the Lord. I am confident that He will soon be bringing us into sweeter fellowship with local believers as well. That's really exciting to me. And I'm praying that I might become the man I've always wanted to be in Him.

Well, in that spirit, I took some time off yesterday to pray - an extended lunch hour. And I found a secluded place to sing to the Lord with my old guitar. I took along my cheap little video camera and tripod and made this short video to honor Him.

I hope you'll enjoy it.

My Life In Church, Part 2

2008-08-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

The saga continues.

This is the second half of the DVD retrospective I made on my life in church. I had to cut about 5 minutes out of this portion to publish to YouTube (which has a 10 minute limit).

This section covers our time in Winston Salem and our return to Sanford where we're still searching for the right place for us to fellowship.

Again, I had fun with my little camera and accidental effects. The slide show at the end features some of the friends we've enjoyed through our journey. I wanted to add more, but couldn't find the photographs - so I just finished with family photos.

FOR BEST QUALITY, DOUBLE-CLICK THE VIDEO AND GO INTO YOUTUBE, THEN CHOOSE "PLAY IN HIGH QUALITY" UNDER THE VIDEO SCREEN. YOU'LL HAVE TO TEMPORARILY TURN OFF POP-UP BLOCKERS TO GET INTO YOUTUBE THAT WAY. OR YOU COULD JUST GO DIRECTLY TO MY YOUTUBE PAGE (UNDER MY LINKS LIST).

My Life In Church, Part 1

2008-08-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

I've discovered Windows Movie Maker.

I was going to do a little 3-minute short about our continuing search for a church here in our hometown. Instead, it blew up into a 21-minute project that I burned onto DVD and gave to my Mom for her birthday.

I'm sharing the first half here. O.K. - It's goofy in places as I make like a Dateline NBC reporter walking and talking to the camera. How did I do it? My kids gave me this camera holder thing for Father's Day that extends about yard or so, so you can take pictures of yourself. You'll notice that as I'm walking, one arm swings normally while the other is still. That's the one with which I'm holding the camera. I like all the strange camera angles I can come up with using it. I also like the accidental effects my cheap camera created.

This little project is a review or overview of my life in fellowship - lots of the churches I've attended through the years. Keep your hand on the volume control as I haven't learned to balance loudness from clip to clip - sometimes it gets a little quiet.

I am a little concerned that some of you may be offended by the playful swipe I took at Living Water Christian Fellowship. I hope it is balanced by the preceeding comments about how much the place once meant to me. And feel free to laugh and shake your heads at the goofy representation of the confusion, pain and anger I felt after we left Living Water.

The little boy playing the guitar at the beginning is me. Notice the squirrels on the tree behind me later. The last scene is from our back yard and I was trying to be quiet so the neighbors wouldn't listen in and think I was crazy.

FOR BEST QUALITY, DOUBLE-CLICK THE VIDEO AND GO INTO YOUTUBE, THEN CHOOSE "PLAY IN HIGH QUALITY" UNDER THE VIDEO SCREEN. YOU'LL HAVE TO TEMPORARILY TURN OFF POP-UP BLOCKERS TO GET INTO YOUTUBE THAT WAY. OR YOU COULD JUST GO DIRECTLY TO MY YOUTUBE PAGE (UNDER MY LINKS LIST).

Part 2 will follow in a couple of days for any blog readers I still have after the first part is shared.

A Terrific Kid

2008-08-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

Our daughter was named "A Terrific Kid" in first grade today - line leader for the week, a special seat at lunch all week with her choice of friends to sit with, a blue ribbon to wear on her shirt, free ice cream at Dairy Queen... But, best of all, a huge smile as she told her daddy about it when I was home for a late lunch this afternoon.

Thank You, Lord.

My Beautiful Boy

2008-08-09T19:49:00.001-07:00

Naptime?, originally uploaded by Chip & Melody.

It is amazing to me how someone - this one - who was no more than hope and a prayer a little over two years ago has now completely filled my heart and my thoughts and my life.

Thank You forever, God, for your mercies in my life.

Touch

2008-08-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

I was thinking today about the power of touch.

I work in a nursing home. I direct the rehab department and I'm the speech therapist. But I often think my most important role there is that of being an encourager, showing kindness, and giving attention to lonely, often forgotten people. Whether it's an elderly Parkinson's Disease patient or a young motor vehicle accident victim, everyone needs more than just a little kindness and attention. Everyone needs love.

Now here's something I think is cool: My dad was a pastor in our town for years and just about every week he went to this little nursing home and visited with and prayed for the people who lived there. Years later, I'm employed at this little nursing home, walking in the same door my dad walked in, and "ministering" to residents there in my own way.

One of the most powerful ways is through touch. I walk up and down the halls, in and out of the rooms throughout the day in the performance of my job. And I'm constantly touching an arm, patting a back, shaking a hand. There are the occasional hugs and even a few kisses on cheeks. Yesterday a quadriplegic fellow dropped his ball cap and couldn't get it. I put it back on his head and, good naturedly, patted his head a couple of times. This sounds weird, but I felt something fire in my spirit. I felt his appreciation and that he felt accepted by me and that my touch was healing to his spirit somehow in that brief moment. I don't understand that, maybe I was just imagining it. Still...

Years ago I was caught in a crossfire of what I think was bad teaching. Maybe it wasn't bad teaching. Maybe I only received the ricochet of half-heard teaching, but it messed me up nonetheless. This Bible teacher cautioned us to be careful of who we lay hands on (for prayer or just casually) and who puts their hands on us. This warning came because there apparently were these contagious curses floating around that would wreck our souls (see Third Corinthians or Fourth John for the Biblical foundation of this teaching). It was a time of hyperdemonchondria (my own word) when demons were lurking around every corner and for real witches were trying to put curses on local churches and Christian leaders. To be fair, there really were some creepy things going on at the time. I mean Creeee- py! Now I believe demons are as real as angels and we need to be prepared for spiritual warfare in prayer. But, in this case, I believe demons and such were given an inordinate amount of attention (which they crave anyway) and the personal result in my life was to make me back away for a while from close interaction with people outside of my immediate Christian circle of acquaintance.

I especially avoided touch.

Over a decade later there is only one lingering result of this bad teaching. This is kind of funny and shows how stupid I am: I won't wear yard sale clothes or thrift shop clothes. I'm afraid of spiritual residue left on the clothes by former owners. Isn't that dumb? Pray for me.

But back to my point. Touch. Touch in Jesus name. Touch for Jesus sake.

I have largely overcome this spiritual Howard Hughes-like aversion to actually touching others. I'm recognizing the power of touch now. My example is the Lord. Jesus touched lepers. He reached out to the demon possessed. He ate with sinners. He loved perfectly and without Pharisaical reservation. I want to know Jesus better and my greatest aspiration is to be like Him. I want to please Him in all my ways and to love Him with my life. And I really, really want to love like Him.

Right now, I guess I'm learning to touch like Him.

(By the way, I'd love to discuss this further with anyone who was around in those creee-py days. Maybe you can straighten me out.)

That's My Boy

2008-08-04T20:47:00.000-07:00

One of the most surprising announcements I've ever heard came during a level two fetal ultrasound nearly two years ago. The doctor said, "It's a boy!" and Melody and I just looked at each other open-mouthed. We were shocked. After five years with our sweet little daughter, we were pretty sure our second child would be a girl, too.

Now our son is sixteen months old. The Lord spoke several things to me about my boy while Melody was pregnant. He will have "beautiful faith". He will be "a generous man". And "he will have a spirit of adventure for the glory of God".

That last one we can already see. He's all boy, as they say. He is constantly climbing. Turn your back for a moment and he's up on the kitchen table. Set something out of his reach and he will push a chair up beside it and start climbing and stretching until he either gets what he's after or tumbles to the ground. He's constantly on the move, shouting and clapping his hands with a huge smile on his face.

This boy - this boy I love so much - is a live wire, a bundle of pure energy.

And he is a true blessing. Thank You, Lord.

Counting Blessings

2008-08-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

When I was a young boy - around eight to fifteen or so - we had a service every Sunday night in the fellowship hall of the Presbyterian church my Dad pastored. Before he gave his sermon, we'd sing several hymns. Anyone could call out a hymn number and we'd all sing that song - first and last verses. Those times gave me a good knowledge of and appreciation for the old hymns. They also nurtured my faith. We sang "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" so many times that I could more easily accept friendship with God as I grew up. "Love Lifted Me" taught me the basic concepts of sin and redemption. "Blessed Be The Tie That Binds" taught me about fellowship.

But the one hymn that has truly impacted me through the years has been "Count Your Blessings". The chorus was a little on the dorkey side, the lyrics were pretty simplistic - but the message was powerful.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God has done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God has done.

Now when I was just a boy in church I was never "burdened with a load of care", unless you count my anxiety over which comic book to read each night before bed - Superman? Batman? The Green Arrow? But, like everybody, as the years piled on so did the burdens and anxieties.

I remember one really difficult period financially well into my married years when I couldn't sleep at night for all my worries. Night after night I'd just lay in bed and fret and pray. Well, up popped that old hymn in my memory and I took it as direction from God. I started counting my blessings until I fell asleep. Every night I'd lay down and start counting. It seemed natural to thank God for each blessing I named, so thanksgiving became a big part of my prayers during that time. I actually looked forward to bedtime and counting my blessings with thanksgiving. It adjusted my perspective. It calmed my fears. And counting my blessings has been a big part of my prayer life ever since. Almost always I begin my extended times of prayer with thanksgiving. I'll say, "Lord, I really need to ask for your help today, but first I'm going to thank You for ten blessings" (I don't know why I say ten, just a metric system thing I guess).

So this afternoon I was thinking about contentment and where Paul spoke of learning the secret to contentment regardless of his circumstances. For him it was "I can do all things through Him that strengthens me". For me, the secret to contentment is found somewhere within this act of thanksgiving and counting blessings. I think living a simpler life also has a lot to do with contentment, but I'm not on that page of the playbook yet with God. Someday, I hope...

One more point: the more you count your blessing, the more blessings you realize you have. And when you are realizing how much you have, that sort of crowds out obsessing over what you don't have.

So let me say thanks to my Dad who reads this blog. Those Sunday night hymn sings made a difference in me. Let me also thank my Father in heaven. I am so blessed! I'm hitting my knees by the bed in a bit, Lord, to thank You for all You've done for me. Thank You forever for remembering me and showing me mercy over and over and over.

Amen.

July Brain dump

2008-07-31T10:00:00.001-07:00

The strongest argument I’ve ever known for doing home church is to avoid that half-hour of tension and argument and meltdown just before your family walks out the door for Church on Sunday morning.

I’ve been trying to fight it, but as I get older my choice of music is definitely getting mellower.

I realized yesterday that the reason I can’t keep my yard looking as nice as it did with the previous owners is mostly because I’m not retired with kids who are grown and gone. The previous owners had all the time in the world. I have 17 minutes every other Saturday.

Lesson learned: Don’t try to paint your ceiling with a roller over nice furniture and uncovered carpet.

Yesterday at the nursing home I work for, I suggested to the administrator that we put ice cream truck music on the van we take residents to their doctor appointments in. That way we'd be more memorable than the other two nursing homes in the county. I was joking, but he's calling corporate to pass on my suggestion. He wants the van to play banjo and dulcimer music. You heard it here first. It will be a fad to sweep the country soon: nursing home vans broadcasting bluegrass down Main Street.

On the way home yesterday I was listening to an old tape my Mom gave me of me and Danny Whittington playing and singing at Conrad's Coffee Shop in Boone. I started thinking how I'd like to play music in a restaurant sometime - a lifelong mini-goal of mine since I was thirteen and saw my guitar teacher entertain the masses at the Palomino Restaurant. I was driving along thinking, "Yeah, I'd really like a restaurant gig". When I got home I checked my e-mail and someone local who I've never met said he had seen my YouTube videos (of me playing guitar and singing). He said he's putting together entertainment to play at a Mexican restaurant downtown and wants me to do a set. This could be my big break. I've been discovered on YouTube. Only problem is I don't know any Mariachi band songs.

My Little Girl

2008-07-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

I was just reading Freida's blog about Emma. I felt my heart throb for my own daughter as I read it. I jumped over to this picture of my Maggie on Flickr. I am so thankful that God gave me the little girl I prayed for for so long. She is the delight of my heart. When she kissed my cheek this morning as I dropped her off at school, all my worries melted away and I was perfectly happy and content.

Thank You, Lord, for remembering me and showing me mercy.

Searching For Goldilocks

2008-07-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

We moved back to our home town a little over a year ago. Since then we've been searching for fellowship, for the place God wants us to settle and serve.

For the first couple of months we visited several different churches. We finally landed in a Southern Baptist church where my old college roommate was the director of children and youth ministries. They had a lot to offer kids, it seemed, and everyone was really nice. We liked the associate pastor a lot. He was an excellent teacher. The big drawback for Melody and I, though, was the music. They leaned toward Southern Gospel (which makes me nauseous), had the traditional choir, seldom if ever did anything contemporary. The senior pastor reluctantly allows drums in the sanctuary once a year for Youth Sunday. But we were blessed to have our one year old's baby dedication there.

After one particularly Southern Gospel-ish Sunday, we decided to try a church I'd been curious about since before we moved back home. This church was the polar opposite of the Baptist one. You walked into the service and were met with loud - really loud - secular rock blasting from speakers. The church looked like a rock club, all the walls and ceiling painted black. The dry ice machines started up five minutes before the service. When worship cranked up the band was lit by strobe lights and multi colored spotlights. There was always a loud, ripping electric guitar solo (which I always loved). During the offering they often played a CD of Bon Jovi singing the chorus of "Living On A Prayer" (I am not kidding). The pastor was funny, like a stand up comic with a passion for souls. We met some really nice people here, too. So we got involved. Melody taught kid's church, I played guitar and we both sang with the band. They had a baby dedication and we had our son dedicated a second time.

But we didn't feel like we were quite where we were supposed to be. It is a seeker oriented church and, obviously, geared toward the young rockers in town.

So we've asked to have some time off, stepped back, left... I'm not sure, really, what we're doing. The first church was too mellow, too "old" for us in a lot of ways. The second church was not mellow enough, maybe too "young" for us. I keep thinking of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. One is too hot, one is too cold. We're looking for that "just right" place.

So for the last two Sundays we've tried yet another church. The worship is sweet. Not too mellow, certainly not too rocking. Melody likes the preacher. I haven't heard him since our son has had a nursery meltdown both Sundays and I've been out in the lobby or in the minivan with him during the sermon.

Is this the Goldilocks church? Time will tell. Maybe I idealize past fellowships and nothing new will ever seem "just right". My great longing is for deep, unhurried worship times where I can soak my soul in His nearness. I also am praying hard for sweet fellowship with close friends. We've missed this for the past seven years. I envy my blogger friends who have found this - whether in traditional or non-traditional settings. So please pray for us - and feel free to counsel and rebuke me. I need it, I'm sure.

Oh, and this new church... they're having a baby dedication in a few weeks!

The Dark Knight

2008-07-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

It has really been awhile, I think, since I did something fun just by myself and for myself. I work a lot of hours to pay the bills and to allow Melody to be able to stay home with our dear children. When I'm not at my full-time job or my part-time job, I'm home with my family or, occasionally, doing church stuff.

But today was really slow at work and I had a bunch of paid time off available. So... I went to see The Dark Knight!

I have been a huge Batman fan since I was a kid. I used to keep a large collection of Batman comics well into my college years, even into my first decade of marriage. Some of my best friends through the years were Batman fans, too. I have a collage of small pictures of the people in my life. There are hundreds of pictures there and my heroes figure prominently. First, my Dad. Then historical heroes like George Washington and Stonewall Jackson. then there are fictional heroes like Indiana Jones and Batman. I remember many times as a young Christian feeling guilty for reading Batman when I knew I should have been reading Bible.

But over the past ten years I guess I finally grew out of Batmania. It has been years since I even wanted to read a Batman comic.

But the hype over the newest Batman movie was too much for me to resist. I had to see it. And I wasn't disappointed. I thought it was great. Here then are some thoughts on the movie. Don't worry, I won't give anything away.

The Batcycle is the coolest motorized vehicle ever!

This representation of Batman was the closest to my idea of Batman ever. Christian Bale looks exactly like my idea of Bruce Wayne. Yes, I've heard of the actor's bad boy behavior - his recent arrest, etc. - but he really was a great Batman.

No Batman in the movies has ever had better gear. I loved it when he jumped of a skyscraper and "flew" down to get the bad guys.

I read that the movie was an allegorical slam on President Bush, but it wasn't obtrusively so. One scene toward the end, maybe, and I took a quick run to the bathroom during it (the movie is 2 hours and 40 minutes long).

Despite the hype, I wasn't that impressed with Heath Ledger as The Joker. Great make-up, great costume, average acting. Actually his Joker voice was a little irritating - kind of whiney. But the writers, the creators of this Joker were dead on. This was a psychopath. I never liked Jack Nicholson's Joker. He wasn't scary. He was just a clown.

Speaking of voices, the speech therapist in me was also bothered by Batman's deep, rough voice. Obviously he doesn't want to sound like Bruce Wayne. But I kept thinking the actor must have been close to damaging his vocal chords with that McGruff the Crime Dog thing he was doing.

Great choreography of fight scenes. Great pyrotechnics.

The Harvey Dent character was excellent. Great make-up at the end. But his transformation later in the movie wasn't well developed, seemed a little contrived.

The Commisioner Gordon actor was also perfectly cast.

Why is Morgan Freeman in everything? Hollywood would shut down if he took a year off. They ripped his character off of the James Bond movies - I never saw this guy in the Batman comics. It's like they said, "the movie's pretty good, but we need to try to work Morgan Freeman into it somehow".

----------------

Again, I really needed to give myself this treat. I want to do this kind of thing more often. It was a good stress reliever for me to just go do something fun. After I called Melody and told her what I was going to do, and after I cleared the time off with my boss - I briefly thought that maybe I should go for a long prayer walk with the Lord instead. I have so much I need to be praying over and His nearness is always so soothing. But then I felt the release to go on to the movie. It's kind of like how sometimes you need to go to bed early and catch up on sleep. That's always good for me. My time off from work and family obligations today was similar. I needed to get away and decompress.

So, strangely, I found myself walking out of this dark, violence-filled movie (in which good defeats evil), saying, "thank you, Lord".

Amen.

Where's Waldo?

2008-07-17T20:22:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine is supposed to be coming by my house sometime to borrow a DVD I made. The DVD was made from some old VHS tapes I was throwing out a couple of years ago. I had boxes full of old VHS video tapes then that I never watched anymore but which contained a few moments I wanted to remember. I boiled down close to 150 VHS videos to seven DVDs.

There was video of my Grandmother bowling, of old family get togethers, and old concerts featuring my friends and myself.

Just in case I lent my friend this one particular DVD and he and the DVD were destroyed in a mob hit (he is a Southern Baptist pastor after all), I put some key moments on that DVD up on YouTube a couple of weeks ago. This is one of them - "Deep Waters".

Now I also told another old friend - Helen - that I had a video her kids might get a kick out of, and that I'd put it up for review when I had time. Here it is, Helen.

Where's Waldo? Check out the crowd shots in this vid. See anyone you know? See someone you used to be? I see lots of familiar faces. It was filmed at a New Life (or Campus Connection) gathering at ASU in around 1994.

So, Greg, feel free to come get that DVD anytime. If the mob gets you and the disc, I've got my memories up on YouTube. Gotta Light?

A Well Composed Picture

2008-07-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

I just happened to have my little digital camera in my pocket the other night when we were shopping for shoes for our children. I saw this good picture and quickly took it. I'm pleased with how it turned out. To me it is a well composed picture. You have the kind and energetic salesperson, the crying baby, and the mother who looks... I can't find the right word for the look on Melody's face. Any suggestions?

I also like that the store name is in the center of the picture and the empty stroller is underneath.

I find I'm always looking for those special moments to photograph. I missed a great one tonight. My little boy got into his sister's ketchup and chicken nuggets while we were all in other rooms. He used the ketchup like fingerpaint (there was a huge pile of ketchup on her plate). When I walked in it was all over his face and hands and arms and shirt and the table. My first thought was, "where's the camera?" My second thought, though, was, "where are the baby wipes?". Then I grabbed him and headed for the bathtub.

The First Song I Ever Wrote

2008-07-08T21:10:00.001-07:00

O.K. - This is one of those posts only my Mom and three of the guys in this video will enjoy. I wrote this song - "Gotta Light" - when I was sixteen or so. This is a very old video of Greg, Calix and Don (and a couple of guys I don't know) jamming through a loose version of my song after I had moved back to Boone in the late '80s.

The chord progression is the same as the verses to "Hotel California" by the Eagles which was a big song shortly before I wrote my song. Whoops! I ripped off the Eagles.

Also, Greg and Calix had to re-write a few lines to correct my Biblical errors (for instance, I had Jesus growing up in Jerusalem, not Nazareth).

It was always a great song to jam on and "rock out" with back in the days when gas was less than a dollar a gallon and I was cruising around town in my dark green 1972 Mercury Capri, hanging out with my friends and learning to follow Jesus.

You Are So Beautiful

2008-06-23T21:17:00.001-07:00

My 15-month old son has been sick for the last couple of days. He had a fever of just over 103 degrees. I was up with him during the nights; taking his temperature, giving him medicine, letting him fall asleep in my arms…

Thankfully, he has now fully recovered. This evening I was sitting on the floor with my guitar, watching my boy run and play and laugh and just be himself again, and I started playing this old song. I don’t recall ever playing it before, but it flowed out as I watched him playing.

Tonight, before going to bed, I thought I’d record myself doing the song just so I’d have a copy of the chord pattern (otherwise I would never have remembered it). It turned out sounding alright so I thought I’d share it here. It captures a “still water moment” (Ps. 23) in my life.

I’m singing very softly here as my children were asleep with their doors open just at the top of the stairs from where I was playing.

God has been so good to me.

June Brain Dump

2008-06-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

I always enjoy John's "Brain Dumps", so since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, here goes:

* What's up with the History Channel? Ice Road Truckers, Ax Men, Monsterquest, UFO Hunters... These shows have nothing to do with history!

* Today I heard someone say that in a few years we'll be looking back fondly at a time when gas was only $4.00 a gallon. Later, when I filled up my truck with $3.98 gas, I projected myself into the future and pretended I had found the only pump in America with cheap gas.

*Our washing machine has been making funny noises and filling our house with smoke and the smell of burning motor. Uh ohh....

*I've still not spent my two Christmas gift cards from Best Buy.

*a rubber hose is hanging from under my car, my turn signals only work every third time I try, the check engine light just came on... and I'm due to get my car inspected within the next two weeks. Uh ohh....
(I'm at 187,000 miles. If I don't reach 200,000 I'll be crushed.)

*I've had this Kid Rock song, "All Summer Long", in my head all day. Not too edifying but... I kind of like it.

*If I could be in two places at one time I'd be walking around Price Lake near Blowing Rock and taking a long walk down the beach at Cherry Grove.

*I woke up this morning to gentle rain, distant thunder, and my one-year old's voice through the baby monitor. My first thought was from Psalm 23: "He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul".

*My daughter thinks there will be dinosaurs in heaven.

Arnel Pineda and Journey

2008-06-14T20:30:00.001-07:00

I work with some therapists trained in the Phillipines and a couple of months ago I heard them talking about this guy. Today I saw a write up in a magazine and went online to hear him for myself. I found a live version of "Open Arms" that was excellent. Tonight I found this piece on Arnel Pineda and Journey from the CBS Sunday Morning Show. It was intriguing and inspiring. I might have to check out their new CD.

Symphony Stage Collapse

2008-06-13T19:58:00.001-07:00

Continuing to review my video archive, I found this interesting and funny clip from CNN.

Back in the 90's whenever we had friends over to the house, and the conversation began to lag, I'd pull out this video and we'd all have a big laugh and watch it over and over.

Malachi

2008-06-12T20:22:00.001-07:00

2008-06-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

The video above is posted specifically for my old high school friends Don, Calix, Greg & Vicky.

In the spirit of the VH1 show "Pop-Up Videos", I've uploaded an old concert excerpt featuring them. This was from the mid-1980s and they were performing on local access TV. I've held on to this video for around twenty-three years. I'm sure some of these friends have not seen this in well over a decade.

YouTube now allows you to add annotations to videos you upload and that is what I've done here. On my blog the video plays without the comments appearing. To see the comments, double-click on the video (you may have to temporarily allow pop-ups) and you'll be taken to YouTube where the comments are visible. You can also get there via my links list on this page - "YouTube(mine)". These four friends may be the only ones who enjoy this and get some of my jokes.

These are my mid-1980s friends. My mid-1990s friends may enjoy another video I've uploaded with comments. I found a Redemption concert from Duke University. The audio is poor, but there's some sweet memories there. It is on my YouTube channel (see links list on this page).

My Dream Job

2008-06-09T19:40:00.001-07:00

This is a video I secretly recorded today of some guys doing my latest dream job.

I had to go by the house to pick something up and, as I pulled into the neighborhood, I saw their truck headed toward our house. For two weeks I’ve been adding to a big pile of brush out by the road in front of our house. Earlier this morning I topped it off with a big branch that had fallen into our yard overnight.

I ran inside and made myself a chicken salad sandwich and grabbed a bottled water. I also grabbed the video camera. I set up the camera by some rocks near the road (but out of sight), then I sat on our front porch steps and waited. I could hear the truck stopping and starting down the road, getting closer. Finally it arrived. How cool…

I say this is my dream job simply because it appeals so much to the guy side of me. What could be more cool? What could be more fun than driving around town all day picking stuff up with a big claw? Plus you get to ride on top of the truck and wear a hard hat!

Perhaps it’s because I spend so much time as a rehab director sitting at a desk doing paperwork, running reports – day in, day out. Plus as a speech therapist working in nursing homes, I spend an inordinate amount of time pulling gunk out of people’s mouths. Maybe I need more adventure in my life.

Anyway, I sat there on the front porch watching them like a little kid at the circus, or maybe like a teenager at a rock show – completely enthralled. The guy who had been working the crane climbed down to take his turn driving (so the other guy could do the fun part for awhile). At the very end of the video you can see him, the driver, waving at me as they drive off.

I bet they have forty-something guys like me sitting on their front porches eating chicken salad and feeling envious all the time. They're probably used to the attention.

I wonder if they need a weekend substitute crane operator? Hmmm...

Great Message At Church Today

2008-06-08T19:01:00.001-07:00

We heard a great message in church today by the guy in this video. He's with LifeChurch.tv - I don't know much about his church, but it apparently has a notable presence on the net. He spoke via video as part of the One Prayer movement worldwide (oneprayer.com). His message really raised my perspective on the church as a whole.

Yesterday I blogged about politics in the USA. Today I'm grateful that my citizenship is in heaven. Tonight I couldn't care less about what the Democrats and Republicans are up to. I'm worn out on the liberal vs. conservative thing. The talking heads on the news channels and talk radio aren't saying anything worth the listening.

The Lord is moving through His church. He alone is able to bring about change we can believe in. I want to be a part, to be right in the middle of what He's doing in our day.

I'll Vote For The Supremes

2008-06-07T19:58:00.001-07:00

The Presidential race. Yawn... I'm uninspired.

Both candidates are inspirational in their own way, but neither one does it for me.

I'm definitely opposed to Obama's stance on abortion. I've read about his opposition to the Illinois version of the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. It was cold and political, the typical liberal reflexive opposition to placing any limits on abortion.

I read McCain's voting record and views on abortion as well. He's more than a little wobbly, no firm conviction that abortion is wrong.

I'll be voting for someone for president. Economic and free speech issues matter to me as well. But nothing comes close to touching the importance I place on ending the tragedy of abortion in our country.

I'll vote for the candidate most likely to appoint "moderate" judges to the Supreme Court (I know neither one will appoint "conservative"-leaning judges).

Whoever becomes President may harm the country for a few years or so, but whoever they appoint to the court could potentially harm our country for decades and more to come. The Supremes - the judges who sit on the highest court in the land have great power and influence.

So I'm casting my vote for the Supremes.

Haydn's Opus 20 Number 4, First Movement

2008-06-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

Well, that's what it sounded like to his Daddy!

Wonderful Magnificent God

2008-06-02T04:34:00.001-07:00

I had a busy weekend with the church band and my voice is so worn and tired I sound like Tennessee Ernie Ford (or Junior Brown for a more contemporary reference). My problem was the monitor mix. I couldn't hear myself well enough so I compensated by singing more loudly.
Thursday night we had a two hour band rehearsal. Sunday morning I sang and played in three services. Then Sunday night I sang and played in an extended praise and worship time. The result is that my vocal chords are swollen, thus vibrating at a slower rate and that means I'm now singing low bass. I sound pretty hoarse today.
Guitar-wise I did fairly well, though my left-hand fingers were really hurting by the last service. My biggest blooper: I was suposed to be one of the primary instruments on a song called "For This Cause". I got my music turned around and started playing page two while the other instrumentalists were on page one with totally different chords. I was humbled... thank You, Lord.
I have a month to recuperate as I'm only on the schedule once a month at present.
In this video of "Wonderful Magnificent God", I'm the tall guitar player by the keyboard and I'm adding a tenor harmony.

2008-05-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

The small town I live in, which insists on calling itself a city, is elevator deprived. There are probably a few elevators in town - at the hospital, the city government center and so on - but even these only go up a couple of floors, maybe three. If I lived an an elevator filled city I'd love to try some of these:

Annoying Things To Do On An Elevator

1) Crack open your briefcase, peer Inside and ask "Got enough air in there?"
2) Stand silent and motionless in the corner facing the wall without getting off.
3) When arriving at your floor, grunt and strain to yank the doors open, then act as if you're embarrassed when they open themselves.
4) Greet everyone with a warm handshake and ask him or her to call you Admiral.
5) Say "DING!" at each floor.
6) Say "I wonder what all these do?" and push all the buttons.
7) Make explosion noises when anyone presses a button.
8) Stare, grinning at another passenger for a while, then announce: "I have new socks on."
9) Try to make personal calls on the emergency phone.
10) When there's only one other person in the elevator, tap them on the shoulder, then pretend it wasn't you.
11) Ask if you can push the button for other people but push the wrong ones.
12) Hold the doors open and say you're waiting for your friend. After a while, let the doors close and say "Hi Greg, How's your day been?"
13) Drop a pen and wait until someone reaches to help pick it up, then scream: "That's mine!"
14) Swat at flies that don't exist.

...so I guess it's a good thing there are no good elevators here.

Kicked Out Of The Nursery

2008-05-18T08:19:00.001-07:00

This morning I took my son to the nursery at church. As I dropped him off I told them that he had a little bit of a rash on his arms and legs, that we thought it was either a virus reaction or an allergy. Well, nursery policy is not to except children with rashes. So they handed him back to me.

Poor guy. He looked so confused.

But it turned out to be a good thing. Since my wife was teaching Kid's Church and my daughter was in Kid's Church, my boy and I were able to enjoy some sweet Daddy/Little Boy Time. I took him back home and we played in the back yard - on his swing and his slide. Then I put him in the jogging stroller and we went for a 30-minute walk. I was able to enjoy a sweet time of prayer as I pushed my boy in his stroller. And he seemed pretty content with the wind in his face, taking it all in. We played a little bit more when we got back to the house, then it was back to church to pick up my daughter (Melody stayed on to attend the second service).

So I missed church today because my son got kicked out of the nursery. But it was a good trade-off. The prayer time was much needed. I'd rather talk to God than to just hear about Him any day.

The Latest

2008-05-16T06:08:00.000-07:00

Latest favorite new joke:
Did you hear? They caught that outlaw cowboy called Brown Paper Pete. He wears brown paper pants, a brown paper shirt, brown paper chaps, brown paper boots and a brown paper hat. Yep, they got him for rustling.

Latest scripture I'm all over:
Ephesians 6:18 - And keep praying in the Spirit with all kinds of prayers and requests. Be alert and remember to pray for all the saints.

Latest to me from God:
The second half of my life is to be a ministry of prayer.

Latest food craving:
Barbeque chicken the way my wife used to fix it back in the early 90s.

Latest favorite web site:
stumbleupon.com

Latest favorite politicians:
None Of The Above
and
No Preference

Latest Favorite Song:
God Of This City by Chris Tomlin

Latest Favorite Clothing Item:
My wife's new yellow shirt (!!!!!)

Latest missing clothes:
My cozy warm plaid pajama bottoms (but I hope to find them by next winter)

Latest irritation:
My lawnmower, but I hope it will last three more years.

Latest blessing:
My Dad getting well.

Latest favorite radio station:
98.7 Simon, out of Greensboro

Latest thing I want to rid my life of:
Talk radio (what a waste of time, but I listen whenever I'm driving)

Latest blogger I wish I wrote like:
John Fuller (See John's Blog under my links list)

Latest person I most want to be like:
Jesus

Cool Bass, Amazing Grace

2008-05-13T11:17:00.001-07:00

I love the middle (40 seconds into it) of this bass solo rendition of the classic hymn. The artist is Victor Wooten.

Baby Dedication (excerpt)

2008-05-11T17:07:00.001-07:00

We had a baby dedication at our church today - Mother's Day - and we decided to have our son dedicated to the Lord again. A child can never have too much prayer, right? We dedicated him six months or so ago at Cool Springs Baptist where he was the only child dedicated. Today was a group dedication. I mumbled a little something which is exerpted here. I spoke of how long we prayed for children and how faithful God is. I also shared that God impressed upon my heart at the beginning of Melody's pregnancy that this child's faith would be beautiful and that he would grow to be a generous man.
We sat through many Mother's Day dedication services like this while we were waiting for our miracle. It was always a sad time. So it was a sweet blessing to be able to do this today.
Thank You, Lord.

Happy Mother's Day 2008

2008-05-10T19:14:00.001-07:00

A video Mother's Day message for Melody from her husband, who loves her very much, and from her children, who are very blessed to have such a great Mom. Happy Mother's Day!!

Mother's Day For Grandma Watts 2008

2008-05-10T19:12:00.001-07:00

A video Mother's Day message for my Mom. I know her best Mother's Day present this year is having Dad home from the hospital and getting stronger every day. Happy Mother's Day!!

Yo-Yos

2008-05-10T10:18:00.001-07:00

Confession

2008-05-09T20:17:00.000-07:00

Here's something I've never understood. Maybe someone reading this can enlighten me. Why do preachers - Christians of various denominations - sometimes end big group prayer times with "and all God's people said...", to which everyone is supposed to respond "amen".

Where did that come from? Third Corinthians? I've been reading the Bible seriously for over twenty-five years and I don't recall Moses or Jehoshaphat ever saying "and all God's people said..." Maybe Solomon said it at the dedication of the temple, but I don't think so.

I guess it's just tradition. Correct me, please, if I'm wrong. But it's a tradition that has irritated me for years. I love to say the "amen" in agreement at the end of anyone's sincere prayer. And it is certainly sweet to be part of "all God's people". But I can't stand feeling obligated to say "amen" just because somebody mechanically, robotically says "and all God's people said..."

I attended a church briefly years ago where the pastor threw that in several times in every service. That's when it grew tiresome to me. Before we started attending our crazy rock n roll church this year, we were going to a local Southern Baptist church. "And all God's people said" popped up about every other service. But it was when we were living in Winston Salem - attending a huge 6,000 member Southern Baptist church - that I made my stand.

Pastor Gilbert always had a prayer before he preached and he always had the congregation standing during this prayer. At the close of the prayer, just before we all sat back down, he would say it: "and all God's people said..." and the huge auditorium full of people all said "amen".

Except for me.

About two years ago I started saying "yowza".

I didn't say it too loudly at first and the couple of thousand people around me completely drowned it out. But I soon started saying it a little more confidently: "Yowza!"

Until one Sunday Melody heard me and gave me... the look.

Since then I say my "yowza" much more quietly, almost reverently.

And all God's people said... Yowza!

So next time you're in a service and someone lays that line on you, remember your old friend Chip and lift up a "yowza". Maybe we'll start a trend - a tradition. And years from now someone will write a blog entry asking why in the world people at church are always saying "and all God's people said yowza".

Can I get an amen?

Climbing John Carney

2008-05-07T18:49:00.001-07:00

This is our friend John from high school. He played Danny to Melody's Sandy in Grease, their senior year high school musical. We received an e-mail from his wife today telling us that John is climbing Mt. McKinley (Denali) in Alaska on a fund-raising adventure to support a children's school in Africa. I've just added his blog to my blogroll so I could keep up with his progress. He and his wife, Leslie, have five children and live in Virginia. We saw them not too long ago at Melody's 25th high school reunion. John has previously climbed several other mountains including Mt. Rainier and Mt. Kilimanjaro. I'm looking forward to monitoring his progress. His blog has a link for making donations if anyone is so inclined. Go John!

Why Would A Loving God...

2008-05-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

I am blessed to work with some true believers, Christians I can lean on from time to time. Well, today I was in the therapy office doing some paperwork, but I was having trouble concentrating. I was deeply troubled in my spirit. Finally I turned to a friend who goes to the same church I attend, and I said, "Deb, why would a loving God allow.." But then I got choked up. After a moment I went on. "Why would a loving God allow Southern Gospel music?"

Inexplicably, Deb laughed at me. But then she suggested that I should remember that God loves people who love Southern Gospel. "Oh", I said. "You mean it's like how we should love the sinner but hate the sin?" She just shook her head at me. But then my other Christian friend, Toni, who had been listening said, "Chip, God alone is the Creator. Satan can't create, he can only distort". Now I thought this was very wise. Southern Gospel then is a distortion of the pure electric guitar driven rock music God has so richly blessed us with. I brought up the old Petra song, God Gave Rock And Roll To You (To Get His Message Through). I solemnly, softly sang the chorus three times.

Deb, who was still shaking her head, told me then that her husband loves Southern Gospel music. I promised Deb that I would be sure to remember her husband in prayer. Everyone was quiet and contemplative for a moment and then we all got back to work. I felt better for having gotten that off my chest.

Confidence

2008-05-06T19:20:00.001-07:00

This lady is an inspiration. Watch this short news feature on a woman in her 90s who someone tried to rob. I hope my confidence would be just as completely in God.

Random Thoughts

2008-05-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

I spent about two hours today digging up a 2 foot by 3 foot plot of flower bed that had twenty years worth of ivy roots tangled together deep into the ground. I figure it was twenty years worth because the previous owners of our house have a son in his twenties, and I was finding little boy's toys in the roots (a green and yellow rubber knife and some spent cap gun ammo). As I began I thought I'd spend the time praying, but pretty soon I was just sweating, digging and pulling out roots. I did say "Lord, have mercy" several times, though. I've still got at least ten foot by two foot to go to finish the rest of the flower bed. I hope to have it done by Mother's Day - 2009.

The other night I was talking to Melody about how pleased I was that I've broken the old TV addiction. I said I just was losing all interest in watching TV. I used to watch many, many hours of TV each week and had several favorite shows. Now, I said, I hardly watch an hour a day. I was feeling pretty good about myself until she told me that I've just switched from TV addiction to computer obsession. And, yes, I probably do spend a couple of hours - sometimes much more - staring at the computer screen each day. At least it's a little more interactive than the TV, sometimes with even a creative component. But I guess I need to cut back some. I wonder what's on TV tonight?

The picture above is in honor of my Dad, who loves to golf. He's doing much better. He's still in the hospital, but he may be able to come home in the next day or so. He's getting much more strength back in his leg. I hope he can get back on the golf course in a couple of months or so. If we were to go out golfing tomorrow, as weak as he is, he'd still beat me. He's really good. And I'm pretty bad. My Dad frequently reminds me of the time we went golfing and I was writing poetry as I walked from the tees to the greens - didn't much have my mind on the game.

Speaking of sports, I made an amazing catch once about ten years ago playing softball. I jumped up in the air and caught the ball between my legs. Everyone cheered. So I decided then and there never to play again. I wanted to go out at the top of my game. A couple of weeks ago I was asked to play on our church softball team. I remembered my amazing catch and said no.

I've been off of caffeine for over five months! I've been addicted to caffiene (in soft drinks) for about thirty years. For nearly thirty years or so I had a caffeine soft drink every day. For the past twenty years I started every day with a caffiene soft drink. I broke that habit and I'm fasting it for a year, at least, to prop up special prayers for my wife's health. Her mother and sister were both diagnosed with breast cancer last year. So I'm pouring on the prayer for my darlin' person, that she would stay healthy.

Through all the years that I prayed for God to give us children, no one ever told me how exhausting parenthood would be. My grandmother once said, "when you have your first child, you've had your last good night's sleep". I think she was right. I was up twice with each of my children last night - that's four times. The other night I woke up in my son's room in a rocking chair and had no idea how I got there. A couple of weeks ago I fell down the stairs in the middle of the night going to get my son a bottle of milk. My son always knows the exact moment I fall asleep in my bed, and chooses that moment to start crying. My daughter gets scared in the middle of the night frequently and comes to wake me up. A couple of nights ago she said she heard an angel walking around. Of course, it's 11:20 pm and I'm writing here instead of sleeping, so my poor sleep is my own fault, too. I'd better go on to bed.

Good night.

Connection

2008-05-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

As many of my blog visitors are aware, my Dad has been in the hospital for over a week now. It's the first serious spell of illness I've ever known him to have. He's had surgeries and medical procedures through the years like anyone. But this time... Wow. What a jolt to our whole family to have the head of our family go through life-threatening medical complications.

But that's not what I'm wanting to write about. Something is stirring inside me since my Dad got sick. I feel it every time I hold my one-year old boy in my arms. I feel the father-son connection. I truly feel this connection running from the Grandfather I never knew, to my Dad, to me, and on to my son, and even to the son he may one day have.

I've never been one of those "let's keep the family name alive" people. I was perfectly content to have just my daughter, or to have all daughters. In fact, since I am not at all a sports fan and think Nascar is as exciting as watching paint dry, I figured I might be a rotten male role model to a son. But in spite of myself, something stirred in me when my son was born.

I remember the feeling I had when I told my Dad that I was going to have a son - it was that connection thing. My Dad told me that this feeling would be growing stronger, but early on in the pregnancy I didn't believe him.

I believe him now.

There are certain deep emotions that are like songs. Similar emotions are the same song in different keys, with different rhythms. There's the song of falling in love with my wife. There's the song of my affection for my precious daughter. There's the song of me loving my parents. And now the music has changed, and it is the song of my son.

Since my Dad has been sick, this song of my son has been reverberating through my soul with full, strong chords and a steady rhythm.

I'm reaching, straining for a way to express what I'm feeling. I'm just not able. I guess I'm feeling or realizing my Dad's love for me and my love for him - amplified through his illness. And at the same time I'm feeling and realizing my love for my son and his love for me.

Every time my son wakes up from a nap or from a long night's sleep, he cries out, "Dad!" - (actually it's more "Daa!") - and I feel that stirring in my soul.

Last night I was up with my son, changing his diaper and giving him a bottle of milk. He kept saying "Daa!" and at the same time I was praying to my Father in heaven for my own Dad's life and health - crying out in my own quiet way.

And the connection swept down on me again. Me, my Dad, and my son - eternally connected by the grace of God.

Thank You, Lord...

So that's what I've been feeling. I just wanted to try to express myself here.

By the way, if you've read this far, please lift up a quick prayer for my Dad.

Thanks.

The Last Person I Ever Expected To Feature Here

2008-04-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

My father-in-law, a state legislator, was asked to introduce Bill Clinton when he spoke at a rally for Hillary Clinton here in Sanford. Melody went and captured this picture of them together.

Baptism At Our Church

2008-04-30T19:52:00.001-07:00

I stumbled accross this excellent video of a recent baptism at our church (I'd plugged our church name in to the YouTube search box) . I was actually at this service. I thought I'd share it.

Mighty To Save

2008-04-27T19:59:00.001-07:00

I was back playing and singing with a praise band today for the first time since 2002. I did play with the orchestra at our church in Winston Salem off and on when we lived there, and some of their stuff was pretty contemporary, but I never played and sang at the same time there.

I record everything, of course - I always have, for playback and self critique - so I propped my little video camera down by my guitar stand and caught this video of me playing and singing. This was also my first time singing with an in-ear monitor system and it was a little awkward. I went flat some as it was hard to hear myself. I do love the way this unusual video catches the stage lights on my guitar. Cool!

The pastor's wife was singing lead and playing keys. Another girl was on vocals. The lead guitar solo is by our pastor! There was another electric guitar, bass, and drums. Melody sings with the band now, too. But to make child care easier for us, we're with the band on different weeks from each other.

It was a blast. I'll be playing once a month, I think.

Update

2008-04-26T19:21:00.001-07:00

My Dad is doing great. He will be in the hospital a couple more days for monitoring, but then he will be going on home. Thanks for praying.

URGENT PRAYER NEED!

2008-04-25T19:23:00.001-07:00

My Dad (seen here in a family picture from Thanksgiving) is in the emergency room as I write this. He's having a CT Scan done to determine if he's had a stroke. He had a stint put in a heart valve yesterday and everything seemed to have gone well. But tonight he felt like he was having a heart attack and then the back of his head started to hurt. He had some transient vision loss and some confusion and my Mom called 911. He made it to the hospital quickly and the stroke symptoms appeared to have passed.

This happened at about 7:30 pm and I had my cell turned off, so I didn't find out until about 10:15 pm. I'm nervously writing here to pass the time while I wait for a follow up call from my sister. I live about an hour away. The rest of my family lives in the same town as my parents. Maybe I'll run up there first thing in the morning... Maybe later tonight.

Anyway, please lift up a prayer for my Dad. I would really appreciate it.

Barbecue Church

2008-04-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

Today we attended the 250th year celebration of Barbecue Presbyterian Church (no, really... that's it's name). This is a church that Melody's family has been very much a part of through the years. It was pretty much fun.

The men of the church had been having a beard growing contest for the past several months leading up to today. Lots of the church membership were dressed in period costumes from the 1700s and such. There were bagpipes, kilts, the works. Members of various Scottish families (clans) marched in with flags of the various family tartans.

I've never cared for pipe organ music, but a guest organist was there and ripped through a tune called "Scotland Is Burning". I wanted to hear it again! That's a first for me. The service began to drag a bit when the prior ministers shared their memories. But it picked up again when the congregation sang a song called "O Barbecue" to the tune of "O Christmas Tree" (Melody and I shared a good laugh as we sang that one, especially the mysterious line in ancient gailic - my interpretation came out sounding suspiciously Chinese).

Then everyone - 500 everyones - gathered in the fellowship hall and in an outdoor tent for a meal of - you guessed it - barbecue! Afterwords, there were Scottish dancers doing "The Highland Fling". At one point my daughter turned to me and said "I LIKE this church!"

It was well worth the bother of having to wear dress up clothes. But next week, thankfully, it's back to blue jeans and our crazy rock-n-roll church - where I'll be playing guitar and singing for the first time!

This Will Make You Smile

2008-04-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

Rev. Watts part 2

2008-04-16T04:44:00.001-07:00

I suppose this posting is mostly for my family. About a month ago my family all gathered on a Sunday morning to hear my Dad preach, a couple of days before his eightieth birthday. Afterward we all had a birthday lunch and party together. My camera is making a strange noise as it tries to focus throughout the video. And my little boy who was just under one year old then laughs and squeals throughout. Here my Dad shares some good family memories. It was a good day together as family.

Tim Hawkins - Corporate Worship Songs

2008-04-15T19:11:00.001-07:00

I smiled, I laughed out loud... Starts slow but gets better. You'll smile, you'll laugh out loud...

Worship Excerpt

2008-04-14T09:01:00.001-07:00

This video goes with the post below. I tried to correct a misspelled word and lost the video. I'm learning...

Melody Back At It

2008-04-14T06:58:00.001-07:00

This past Sunday Melody was back onstage with a praise band for the first time since 2002. Here's a brief excerpt from two songs they did. The full songs are on my YouTube page. Melody is adding a strong alto. In the video she's standing by the keyboard, clapping her hands. I'll have my turn with the band in a couple of weeks, playing acoustic and adding a tenor harmony.

Carolina In My Mind

2008-04-13T05:19:00.001-07:00

A classic.