a coherent collection of random statements regarding God, words and tunes

Shameless Plugs #21-23

To be truthful, I'm both chagrined and relieved that my contributions here weren't more than they were. You see, I spent a year and a half working on this behind the scenes, watching it get changed and changed and changed again, and after I handed it off (thus overwhelming said then-co-editor as much as I'd been), it got changed yet again. Still, the scope and sequence and prototypes and field-testing were all mine, so it's legit. :)

All of this is in conjunction with the re-release of the One-Year Bible, so that's the launching point. It's a year-long reading program. And as anyone associated with this will attest, the fact that it got done at all (let alone with any degree of quality) is a God Sighting in and of itself.

So, this'un'd be the Companion Guide -- the place where one journals one's "God Sightings." In other words: Where's God talking through his Word, and for that matter, all around you? (Shut up, tim, or I'll post a link to THIS [see especially point #4] :D) Anyway, once you see it, here's where you write it down.

And as you work through this, ideally you also gather with a small group during the week -- because without accountability, getting through the Bible in a year is pretty tricky proposition. And in said groups you'll work through THIS...

Yes, yes, it DOES look almost exactly the same. (Branding, they tell me.) Nonetheless, this'un'd be the Small-Group Leader Guide. And thus, you'll work through a weekly session where you debrief your week with your small group. 

The interesting thing is, when we field-tested this, it became very clear that this is more of a safety net than an indispensable product. Groups regularly reported spending 30-40 minutes just talking about what God was showing them that week. And that was in a trial run. Once you've trained your eyes, so to speak, you could undoubtedly spend the whole night talking about God Sightings without ever having opened this. Still, if your group has a particularly brain-dead week, this is a good thing to have around.

And then there's the Launch Kit for churches, containing all of the above plus, CD, DVD, bookmarks, and booklets. This behemoth basically got off the ground LONG after I handed it off, so there's not much credit I can take here, save for the Leader Guide that needed to get written in about a week. And that puppy was duly banged out. So there.

And there we have it. The last set of Shameless Plugs until probably next June, although that'll be one honkin' set of plugs when they're ready. (I'm counting something on the order of #24-35 at the moment.)

So, next week: Carl Simmons vs. David Bazan. Actually, I expect it won't be so much "vs." as "weeping for all the crap that drove him to this"...

Posted by: burninglight at 01:49 | link | comments

13er #1

(or #2, technically, since after all, Bierstadt was a 14er...)

Anyway, a fairly simple goal this weekend. A mile shorter each way , but about the same ascent (2,400 feet) -- basically I'm losing that first and last mile from last time, and it's 1,000 feet lower than Bierstadt. Still, I need some serious altitude/steepness practice so that I can REALLY tackle Longs Peak next year, and thus drive down my street, point for the benefit of envious passengers, and say "Yeah, I did that...." 

So, without further ado, I give you Mount Chiquita (it's the one in the middle, between Mount Chapin & Mount Ypsilon):



Good timing, too, as my work plate is escalating on a near-daily basis lately. And I'll have a different traveling partner this time. Instead of Dave (who's stuck working the weekend 4:30 a.m. -1 p.m. shift at IBM), I'll be going with Drew, who's quite the interesting story that I haven't told here yet, so why not now?

Marion and I were on vacation last month, and I was wrestling with yet another book, called Life After Church (IVP) by Brian Sanders. Really good stuff. Basic message being, "God doesn't just call you out of something; he calls you to something." Thus, I likewise sensed God saying, "It's time to get back into the game." Whatever the heck that meant.

Anyway, I get back into the office. Not two hours later, I receive an e-mail. Shortened and bracketed version: "Hi, I'm Andrew ******. My wife and I attended Living Word Alliance Church [the church that started in our living room in West Milford, NJ 12 years ago]. When we told the congregation we were moving to Loveland, everyone said we had to look you up...."

Wait. It gets wilder. "We're moving to Loveland to plant a church...." Seriously, what are the odds that a couple from the church plant we started in a town of 35,000 1,800 miles away would just HAPPEN to be moving to the same somewhat larger city of 65,000 four years later -- to plant a church???

I don't know our role yet. Maybe it's just to help Drew and his wife Kathryn get settled here. Although I DO relish the role of "spiritual pioneer," as it were -- LWAC would probably be too big for me now . I've been sensing for awhile that when Growing Out is FINALLY done being written in hopefully December, that the next thing will get clearer. Still, this is wild. 

Anyway-er, we've been reaching out to them and trying to help them get settled in (Drew's actually interviewed for a job at Group, too, so who knows?). We've also been able to catch up on the history/status of LWAC. Sounds like they're already outgrowing the building they purchased a year or so ago & are thinking about multiple services or even satellite services. Freaking satellite services. Although the thought of Tim trying to do AV on that level, or pretty much anything past turning on the power switch, is more than a little terrifying.

It was also nice to see, in the flesh and for the first time in four years, actual fruit from what started in the living room of a 4-room house in West Milford, NJ a dozen years ago. Once in awhile you need that kind of confirmation.

Anyway, all that stuff I'd said I'd get to next time last time? Yeah, next time....

Posted by: burninglight at 11:04 | link | comments (2)

I Should Be Dancin', Yeah...

...but right now it's more a quiet sense of satisfaction, and the knowledge that while the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight, there's still some tunnelling left to do.... and, just maybe, some humility?...

Anyway, Season 5 of Growing Out  (Growing in Your Leadership) is complete. And with no rumors of further pushback currently circulating, we're still on track for all six quarters releasing next June. And as this this quarter took 3 1/2 months to complete, completing Season 6 in four months (so it's ready for final edits) still looks doable. Even though I'm almost certainly flying solo editorially here during that entire stretch.

Anyway-er, it's probably just that I'm just looking forward to being done -- 2+ years is a long-time to be committed to one project, especially one that I've had to pour my heart into, then beg God to refill me umpteen amounts of times just so I could pour it out again. The curriculum of Sisyphus, if you will. :)

It's said, truthfully, that the person who learns the most in the class is the teacher. Oh BOY has that been true this season. This has been rewarding but tough -- not as gut-wrenching as what was going on during Season 4, but it's been one long, hard look in the mirror. The big question I've had to ask myself -- and I concluded with this in Session 13, in fact -- is Jesus' question to the prototypical church leader, "‘Simon son of John, do you love me?" If I don't have that, nothing else matters. So I'm at this point where I know it, I see it, but as it's a God thing it's out of my control to make it happen. Almost like I have to be born again, again. But I've been in this kind of place before. I'll get there. I just hope it's sooner than later. There's more I have to say, but it already feels like I'm just babbling so I'll stop.

Anyway, I still have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.... so until next time (and after the next set of Shameless Plugs it'll probably involve my encounter with Dave Bazan's 1st post-Christian album -- THAT oughta be quite the wrestling match, too)....

Posted by: burninglight at 12:46 | link | comments (1)

And in other news...

We'll start with the more prosaic: I am once again solo Adult editor at this end, my-now-twice-past fellow editor having once again been moved (pretty much within an hour after completing the projects that comprise Shameless Plugs #21-23, coming soon to a blog near you).

There's a lot on tap, not least of all my own stuff , which I might remind you isn't done being written yet (16 lessons to go; at least I'm still moving). And by the time we have a replacement in place, those ships will all have sailed. In short, it's gonna be an interesting fall, but hopefully not quite as harrowing as this past winter/spring was. Hopefully I learned SOMEthing in all that.

So on to tunes...

As suspected, the title of Best Septuagenarian Album of All Time is still intact (see J.R. Cash, The Man Comes Around). And likewise, it's not quite as good as this gent's last offering. But it's still good. So let's talk a bit.

Ian Hunter -- Man Overboard. Let's start with why this isn't quite Shrunken Heads:   1) there's no hit-in-a-better-world ("Soul of America"); 2) there's no perfect rock-and-roll moment (the scream at the end of "When the World Was Round"); 3)  nor are there any rip-my-heart-out-old-man moments as powerful as "Read 'Em and Weep."

What we do have, though, is a very good album by a guy who's not only had any numbers of very good albums, but putting them out at an age where most of his contemporaries have kicked the bucket creatively, if not literally. I mean, c'mon, 70 years old and he's still putting out music more vital than those a third his age.

On the "boy, the old man can still rock" side: The opening 1-2-3 punch of "The Great Escape," "Arms and Legs," and "Up and Running." But especially, the wonderfully Hunterian diatribe "Babylon Blues," which snarls over some neat acoustic slide work, "Don't try pulling me down to your level / Ain't nothing worse than a phony-ass rebel.... Just another blind beggar on the road to fame / With a messed-up body and a messed-up brain / I don't buy it / I don't BUY it."

On the ballad side lies the title tune -- which, come to think of it, beats the title song from Shrunken Heads at its own game, "The ship's goin' down / On the wrong  side of town / And I -- got -- to get my ass out of here / Man overboard, waves washing over me / Sometimes, it's a treacherous sea / The walls spinning 'round, the anger, the pity / Deep inside of me, drunk and disorderly."

There seems to be some disagreement over "Girl From the Office," as to how much of a jerk the protagonist here and thus, by extension, how likable the song itself is.  Ian's treatment of his main character is pretty sympathetic to my ears. Basically, it's about a guy who wants to -- and does -- get to go out with the girl in the office, and discovers she's as sweet and "a breath of fresh air" as she is pretty. The twist comes in trying to deal with his co-workers who don't know her, and thus unlike him, are still asking their "hero," "What's she like? What's she like? What she's like in bed?" It's a great sweetly mandolined/harpsichord-to-power chord arrangement, and again I think Ian hits just the right note here. In short: I like it. A lot.

And then there's the highlight here. "Flowers" is of a piece with the best stuff from Shrunken Heads, including its subject matter:

They fill your heart with ancient mystery
And no-one who knows to trust
It's too late when you discover that
Sometimes flowers ain't enough....

Hunger, anger, propaganda
Ain't it time we all grew up?
And we all got dreams, but nobody's listening
Sometimes flowers ain't enough....

I can't see God -- the trees are in the way
I can't see hope, can't find love
Every man killed is an insult to any faith
Sometimes flowers ain't enough.

The heartfelt refrain-howl "give it up, give it up" only heightens the poignancy here.

After this comes two songs' worth of filler in "Those Feelings" and "Win It All," but Ian rebounds nicely, if gently, for the last two songs. "Way With Words" is a sweet tribute to his wife's ability to say just the right things (unlike her husband, who as we know, "has got a big mouth"): "You don't have to lose it just to make your presence felt / I've often wondered what that must be like... You got a way with words, when you soothe away the anger / You got a way with words, when you comfort me..."; while the Hornsbyesque closer "River of Tears" is a retelling of an old Indian legend.

Heck, get this -- and any number of other selections from the man's 40-year catalogue (and if don't own at least three Mott albums, SHAME on you and stop calling yourself a fan of rock-and-roll) -- while you still have the chance to tell him "thank you" sometime.

Posted by: burninglight at 10:37 | link | comments (4)

Shameless Plugs #19-20

Now the payoff from much earlier this year begins. I worked on a lot of different things this year, as well publicized here already, but these two are the first I've gone wire-to-wire with. They fell in our laps, then sat in the laps of those of those we worked alongside almost TOO long, but we got it done.

For totally differing reasons (and really, for reasons outside the scope of this post), the highlight and lowlight of the entire process was the week I had to write the entire video script and then travel to Indianapolis to shoot the hour-plus of usable video it was meant to produce, all in a four-hour time span. If the man in question weren't a one-take wonder, it would never have happened. And lest I leave any doubt here, the man in question, in the words of one of his friends/former coaches, is who we thought he was -- humble and intelligent (although was apparently was quite the hothead back in the day -- but you'll need to buy the longer video represented by Shameless Plug #20 here to hear more about that).

So without further ado, said two products I took from wire to wire, accompanying the best-seller of the same name:

This one would be the study that accompanies the book. If anyone happened to buy/use the study that accompanied Tony's first book Quiet Strength, it's written by the same guy, Karl Leuthauser (who used to be a VP here & now pastors over in Montrose). And I'd say the study is as good if not better than that one. I may be prejudiced; on the other hand, I made a point of asking Karl to keeping doing what worked and make a few things even better, I believe he delivered on that.

I won't include the other cover, but there's also a leader kit that includes both the study and a DVD of 2-minute "pep talks" from Tony that accompany each study.

And by the way, astute long-time readers might inquire if I ridiculed Peyton Manning in his presence. No. No, I didn't.

Anyway, Karl also wrote the activities that accompany the four hour-long group discussion/activity sessions that accompany this:

Again, the video was my biggest monster. Wrote the questions that make up the four 15-minute DVD sessions of Tony speaking; also oversaw the video editing at this end (BRAND-new experience for yrs truly). And, of course, overseeing production for said project.

"Something to tell the grandkids" moment: Arriving on the video shoot, arranged by our partners, meeting Tony and almost immediately asking the question that in light of the previous several months I knew I had to ask: "So, Tony, did anyone walk you through what we're trying to accomplish with these videos?"

"No. I was kind of trying to figure that out."

"Come 'mere, let's talk." And thus I spent the next 10-15 minutes coaching the coach. Again, thank God more than a little literally that Tony was such a one-take wonder. 

In short: This puppy was a bear. But as with our 14er described earlier today, it got done. And hopefully, a whole lot of people will be better off for it. To preview the whole enchilada, go here: http://www.group.com/uncommon.

So enjoy. And let's see where we go from here...

Posted by: burninglight at 19:10 | link | comments (2)

Well, THAT estimate was off.

First, the bad news, in the form of things not taken into consideration and/or unexpected:

1) Spending 3 1/2 hours the night before moving a co-worker who grossly under-represented the amount of furniture/boxes/general refuse still at the old house -- and at times during a torrential downpour -- is a good way to develop leg cramps before ever starting up a mountain.

2) It's worth rementioning that this was my first 14er. In fact, it was the first time I've even crossed 12,000 feet this year. Meaning: There's even LESS oxygen to work with up there.

3) And yes, it was 4 miles/2,500 foot ascent one way. Again, a push, but done this before. What's not mentioned is that the first mile is basically a 200-foot descent. Meaning a climb of 2,700 feet over the last three miles, which got progressively steeper as it went along. For the uninitiated amongst you, trust me, that's pretty nasty.

4) Oh, and that torrential downpour in Loveland? It was snow and ice up there, for the last two miles of climbing.

The good news: I made it. Phew. It was more like a six-hour round trip to get to the top of Mt. Bierstadt, but it got done.  There was a point about 400 feet from the top (which was probably around 35 degrees to start with), where the wind was whipping and I was stopping maybe every 50 feet to suck wind, where I wasn't at all sure I'd be able finish. And I was just about crying by the time I finally got back to the car. (Lest we forget, that 200-foot descent the first mile was an ascent for the last mile. Dave, who got adventurous and ended up taking an hour longer than I did returning, didn't look/feel any better.)

But I made it. Phew. And yeah, Longs Peak is gonna need to wait another year. I'm clearly not ready.

Next up, sometime in the next few hours/days: Those new shameless plugs. Stay tuned.

Posted by: burninglight at 09:18 | link | comments (2)