on wednesday night i was slated to play electric guitar for our evening service.

sadly, i am still so seldom an e-guitarist that my ‘rig’ currently consists of a podXT pro.

while that may seem, to some of you, a really fun thing (and it can be), it is certainly not a ‘legitimate’ rig for any self-respecting guitar player.

i try to be self-respecting, but, hey, you do what you have to do.

so, during the sound check i noticed that my shortboard (the fancy thingy that controls the pod, giving me access to the tones i had worked on that afternoon) was WIGGING OUT. any time i would go to patch B the thing would flash and flicker and then die. then a few seconds later it would come back on. then the process would repeat.

while part of me was annoyed, another part was sad. this would mean i’d have to manually switch tones…with my hands….tacky. tacky and lame.

however, yet another part of me was secretly happy. serves you right line 6. it was only a small part. i still love the pod…i just don’t respect it.

so, service began. call to worship went fine except that i was distracted by not having the shortboard.

then, when we went up for our set (which is at the end on wednesday nights), i hit the Tuner button and the whole pod went blank. blank, not dark.

see, the two little LEDs were still lit up. i switched on and off…a bunch of times…hit some buttons…then, realizing that the pod had defeated me, i placed my Gibson on its stand and walked off the stage.

as i sang i realized that the pod had not only taken my ability to play, but my dignity as well.

then the service ended and the house and stage lights (which were dimmed) came up to full power.

and the pod kicked on in full force.

the stage uplights are on a dimmer pack. dim lights mean less power is going to them.

next time, gene, don’t plug your ‘rig’ onto the same circuit that is used to dim the lights on the stage.

next time…

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in october of 2006 our church sent our 6th (or 7th…i’m not sure) team to peru for a few weeks of work at the churches we partner with there.

here is the video. it’s about 23 minutes, but a 23 minutes well spent.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/1993809[/vimeo]

i am excited about the opportunity of going back to peru someday.

pray for the churches in lima and pucallpa.

pray for christians in peru.

pray for God’s activity everywhere.

blessings

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that’s a question i get a lot when i meet people. it usually comes after they have found out that i’m an assistant @ calvary hanford.

then, usually, i pause, sort of look up while contorting my face, trying to think of an answer.

it’s not that i don’t have anything to do, it’s that i am trying to figure out a response that will be meaningful but concise. it ends up sounding something like this:

um…well…i do a lot of things…i don’t really have a job description…i mean, i do our website, i do worship, i do teaching when necessary, um…i try to just cover gaps…yeah.

clairvoyant, i know.

the truth is that i don’t have an official job description. i generally think that is a good thing.

but i thought it might be fun to share a little of what i do from time to time.

so here’s a little of my monday…

a lot of church offices are closed on mondays. we’re open. i think as an employee i prefer that because i can retain some thoughts from our services yesterday…like, what i need to fix, how worship went, any people i said ‘oh yeah, i’ll email you’ (though my average completion of that phrase is still only about 35%).

on mondays i get in a bit early because kelly goes to work and drops me off @ around 7:30am. i head upstairs, set my stuff down and do a little reading. i’m almost through Isaiah and am about half-way through the Gospel of Mark.

after that, it’s down the hall to my office to see if the ushers left me any notes. they did.

• geno, this stamp is getting lighter. might need a new one.

• geno, if you can use any of these books, please do. otherwise, leave them on the table next to the old canon copier and i’ll take them to KC thrift store.

then it’s time to boot up, open firefox, iChat, mail, iTunes and my old Vaio.

now it’s email time. there are a couple guys i try to email every monday to say hello. add to that emails to the notes i received, responses to mail i got over the weekend, send a quick ‘how-did-things-go’ off to my team and delete junk.

then, usually, monday is a lot of website maintenance. new audio/video/text from sunday. podcast. forum. check broken links. research live streaming options. fix css layout.

interspersed i check my Google Reader, think of at least 1 post for JIE and check sub jobs for kelly online.

today i will be adding some study prep to my day, as i’m filling in for our wednesday evening service.

lots of other stuff happens, but, as this post gets longer the liklihood of people reading it gets shorter.

more updates will follow as you faithfully read JIE well into your winter years.

what do you do on mondays?

blessings and maranatha

i’m a little bit anti-social.

but, i am actively trying to be better at introducing myself, meeting new people and being generally more friendly while living life.

i’m doing so because i think it’s a better way to do things and because i believe it will help me in sharing my faith, especially with what we might call evangelism-cold-calls.

being at disneyland this week taught me something about this new pursuit of mine. specifically, it gave me a new technique to use when appropriate.

up top you see a picture of a phone.

the lg dare to be specific.

i know that it’s the lg dare because i read technology blogs and happen to pay attention to things like new phones and new laptops and the like.

while standing in the line for Space Mountain i noticed that the fellow behind me was toying with his lg dare. then i realized that i almost always take note of the phones i see people using. and after realizing that i decided that it might, for me, be an easy way to make a new friend while in queue for 10 minutes.

so i gave it a go.

“is that the lg dare?”

and i made a friend. not for life, just for the duration of the line.

as i thought about that interaction, which was pretty new and ground-breaking for my personality, i learned that God can use all sorts of things to give us an opportunity to talk to even the most blatant of strangers. He can use my ‘knowledge’ of cell phone models to start a casual conversation and then He can direct it thenceforth.

i’m excited about that, because most of the time the hardest thing for me is that opening line. i just don’t naturally understand how to get a foot in the door. but, the line for Space Mountain was the place God showed me that He can take what i’m already equipped with and use it for His desires.

what about you? not into phones? that’s ok. maybe you know about cars. perhaps theme-park-ride-lines aren’t your spot. maybe parking lots are.

the point is we all have knowledge built in, little areas of ‘expertise’ that could be helpful in beginning a conversation. and God can use those little, seemingly inconsequential thoughts to carry the Gospel to someone in need.

i’m pretty excited about that.

and will be looking for more phones in the future.

blessings

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as we’ve talked about before, my schedule is always really fluid and varied…especially on thursdays.

so, just for fun, here’s what i have (or was given) on my calendar thus far today.

9.00am – arrive at work

9.01am – call my dad (and pastor and boss) to let him know i forgot my phone today.

9.05am – start up my laptop

9.10am – tidy my work station (on thursdays i’m downstairs)

9.20am – read a bit (i’m in Job, so, pray for me)

9.30am – talk to one of our volunteers about the economy and government (we’ll call it counseling)

9.55am – phone call: talk through a few verses in psalm 115 with a lady from the church who had some questions

10.10am – draft my schedule on the blog

10.15am – stage for sunday

11.00am – meeting with kim, our insurance guy

11.30am – website update

3.30pm – audition potential bass player for worship team

+ misc time filling events.

if anything astounding happens, i’ll let you know.

what’s on your calendar today?

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let’s see…today i went to that funeral we talked about a few posts ago…worked on a song that luke mundy recorded here and now i’m waiting for kelly to get done subbing for the day.

the funeral wasn’t really a funeral, just a private viewing. i had hoped for a closed casket, but we don’t always get what we wish for.

i forget who said it (i suppose i should look it up…) but i remember a quote from and old-timey pastor or author like spurgeon or ironside that said that pastors should often find themselves among the sick, dying and dead, for there the need is great.

having done a hospital visit and a casket viewing this week i was reminded of that quote and, as always, was reminded about how powerfully God moves and speaks in those situations.

for the last few years, any time i’ve left a hospital or funeral, having visited or officiated somehow, i always feel the wonderful peace of God and an excitement about what He wants to do in the lives of men and women. the situations may seem bleak, but as i walk out to my car i am always filled with a sense of God’s goodness.

i hope i often find myself among the sick and dying.

blessings and maranatha

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welcome to moments in ministry.

so last night i was filling in for the ‘main’ teaching at our Ignite service. i also ended up filling in for our worship leader, who was in the hospital getting some treatment. not my favorite thing to do, but we were unusually short-staffed for the many components we have on wednesday nights.

so welcome to one of my least favorite moments in ministry…the moment you think, “how many more pages of notes do i have?”

i was really excited for church. i was excited to teach. i love teaching. i did my regular prep…felt good about what was on the paper. but somewhere between the text and the speech it lost something. the thoughts and themes that had spoken to me earlier in the week just didn’t translate in my oratory. that’s ok. it didn’t feel ok, but it’s not the end of the world. i know i’m still figuring out my methods and delivery (i say that to make myself feel better, not to convince you.).

i think last night was still a great night of ministry, my study just wasn’t what i wanted it to be.

i remember looking up to the top right corner of my pages and thinking, “half way? ouch.”

no, i don’t think i’ll be posting the audio.

how was your wednesday?

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among other things…

monday was the day i talked to the guy who gave me guitar lessons for 13 years. his mom, who he has lived with for at least 40 years (i think), died last week.

tuesday was the day i visited a friend from church who is in the hospital fighting diverticulitis.

wednesday is the day i’m getting ready for the evening service. i can’t wait to have church tonight. we had to fill a few vacant slots, but i think we’re ready.

friday i will sit with my old guitar teacher at the funeral chapel for a private viewing.

thursday is wide open.

i love working at a church. i have very little idea as to what each day will hold. there’s always work to do and there are always surprises when the door opens, the phone rings or the email arrives.

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right now at calvary hanford we are trying to take a look at as many aspects of our ministries as we can and push them to a new level of excellence, not because things are lacking, but because of this verse:

even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the Church that you seek to excel.
[ 1 Corinthians 14:12 ]

this verse stirred our pastor up. after it stirred him, it stirred me. hopefully it will impact every person who calls calvary hanford home in the coming months.

so now, i’m trying to look at the things i do and figure out ways i might be able to do them better, or how i might expand them, or how i might make them more effective, make sense? (oh it’s all very specific and clear i know…)

yesterday i received an angry email regarding this post. the author of the note felt very strongly in support of one of the traditions i talked about in that post.

i responded in a way i felt was diplomatic, loving and unantagonistic, while still encouraging the author to look into the Scriptures without the lens of their particular religious tradition. my point was not for them to agree with me, but to simply decide for themselves what they believe about some of the issues i raised.

today i got angry reply. the author challenged me on a couple of my comments, so i felt obliged to once again calmly and respectfully bring up some inconsistencies in their particular religious tradition. not sure what sort of email i’ll get tomorrow, if any.

the truth is that i am very sad for my new contact. they are living in a grace-less bondage and i know God wants more for them. abundantly more.

my question is this, how can we be more excellent in this sort of interaction? emails/comments/blog posts between people who disagree and will probably never meet face to face? what can we do to shine light and show love, all with 0′s and 1′s?

any ideas?

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i am not a parent and i don’t read a lot of books. however, we are always trying to add new content to our bookstore here at church. also, in may we’re having a parenting class on sunday nights, so we’re looking for materials to give out.

right now i am checking through this book to see what we think of the content and application.

wish me luck.

*2:09pm – half done.