Mercy Street

2011-12-13T12:03:00.002-05:00

I added my resume as a tab at the top. Please take a look.

The first day of first grade

2011-09-06T06:57:00.003-04:00

Go my son,
with the heart of a lion,
the peace of a lamb,
and the confidence of one
who is dearly, dearly loved.

2011-09-04T13:30:00.002-04:00

I look forward to the times
when you fall asleep in the car
because I forget how hard
you are trying to be independent
and I carry you in.
I remember when you
were smaller than you are now
and I carried you everywhere.
I will carry the memory of
your tiny head on my shoulder
you tiny hand clutching my pinky
for the rest of my days
even when you won't let me carry you.

2011-09-03T07:27:00.002-04:00

It's Saturday but Sunday's coming
After Sunday comes Monday
Tuesday brings the first day of First Grade
and I am just not ready for you to grow up so much.

2011-06-02T18:47:00.001-04:00

I had to wait at the grocery store for 20 minutes tonight for tim's perscription so i picked up Rolling Stone's 100 greatest artists issue. the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix all acounted for but no Yes and no Fleetwood Mac. I simply don't get it.

2011-04-04T23:45:00.001-04:00

"Your deepest, darkest sins and your shameful secrets are simply irrelvant when it comes to the counterintuitive, ecstatic announcement of the gospel.

So are you goodness, your rightness, your church attendance, and all of the wise, moral, mature decisions you have made and actions you have taken.

It simply doesn't matter when it comes to the surprising, unexpected declaration that God's love is simply yours."

Rob Bell - love wins pg.

Professional Experience

2010-12-13T11:21:00.018-05:00

Esigns.com                                                                          Brighton, MI
Customer Care Representative                       May 2011 – November 2011
Main point of contact for all customer questions and concerns. Oversaw all order management and inter-departmental communication. Position eliminated for staff reduction.

Vg’s Food Center                                                                   Howell, MI
Customer Service                                              August 2010 – May 2011
Responsible for assisting customers at checkout. Processed returns, answered the phone and resolved customer issues at the customer service desk. Resigned to pursue another position.

Lifetouch Portrait Studios                                                    Brighton, MI
Studio Manager                                                   May 2009 – July 2010
Oversaw all aspects of a single studio. Hired and trained all employees in photography and sales. Monitored guest service scores and sales trends. Position eliminated by reorganization.

Circuit City                                                             Muskegon, MI
Operations Manager                                  October 2007 – March 2009
Organized department schedules on a weekly basis. Utilized performance management to raise department and store standards. Created a team centered culture by constant communication and feedback. Position eliminated due to company closure.

Stanley Steamer                                                Muskegon, MI
Carpet Technician                                         April 2007 – December 2007
Responsible for on-site cleaning and customer service. Performed all return visits to customers’ homes to ensure complete customer satisfaction. Laid-off during slow season.

GearTree.com                                                           Jenison, MI
Product Specialist                                             April 2005 – April 2007
Sales and customer service for e-retail company. Managed vendor communication and communication of customer ETA’s. Resigned to relocate to Muskegon.

Paid in Full

2010-11-08T14:53:00.000-05:00

I was reminded Yesterday of what Forgiveness is. Forgiveness is recognizing that someone else owes me something and simply releasing them of that debt.

It was in college that I first got angry. I mean really angry. I had chosen a Christian school from a different theological stream than the one I swam in. I spent most of 5 years in fierce and heated debate over various issues. My first sememster was the most stressful, realizing that I was one of very few who disagreed with the doctrine being preached by this institution. I remember a Tuesday afternoon in October when I called my mom and literally cried over the phone because I just needed a release. (Relating this story to her Yesterday, my wife asked why I never transfered to a reformed school. I guess it just never occured to me. She suggested that it's just like Culver men and cars, which we are notorious for driving into the ground.)

As time stretched on I stopped agruing and started ignoring. I grew callouses over my heart because I didn't think I had any other choice. I made myself angry, justifying it by my spiritual 'oppression'. I really felt like I was in the right and being wronged. I felt like they owed me my time back, like they had somehow cheapened my spirituality and my education with their 'crooked' theology. (I did eventually grow beyond my theologyical upbringing, but into an ancient/modern faith, not a hyper-dispensational theology)

Forgiveness is recognizing that someone else owes me something and simply releasing them of that debt.

You don't owe me, your debt isn't paid, but I don't want your money. It's done, it's over. It's gone.

My price is Paid-In-Full by Jesus of Nazareth, so I don't want your funny-paper. I do want my joy back, and that is something I can get for myself.

A couple tunes

2010-09-13T12:36:00.003-04:00

These are from a project I did in college featuring my wife singing. I wrote the songs and did all the engineering, editing, mixing mastering. I also played all the guitars. (Just Right Click and "Save as")

Still Above

Daddy's Song

Enjoy!

My Worship Philosophy

2010-08-28T12:58:00.000-04:00

Why I worship and why it’s important

I’m a lead worshiper; a son of God who leads others to see and express their own son or daughter-ship. God is the artist and the subject; I’m a voice and a vessel for expressing the Gospel.

One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament is found in Deuteronomy 6. “Hear O Israel, the Lord Your God; the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and all your strength.” This begins as a simple statement with profound importance. “The Lord your God, the Lord is one” Beneath all other realities and understandings is the immovable fact that God is. Everything else in existence stands on this one foundation. It is the fabric that everything else is woven from. This simple declaration is followed with a short list of instructions; “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and all your strength” If God is the foundation of everything, if I exist because he does, He deserves not just a simple thank you but a life lived in gratitude.

A life lived in gratitude is a life lived in worship.

My Dream for Worship

We often hear the word ‘worship’ used to refer to our Sunday morning gatherings. “How did worship go today?” is a question I hear often from friends and piers. I question that use of the word.

Romans 12 clearly points to our sacrificial lives as worship. A daily surrendering of our lives to seek God’s will. The primary distinction of Sunday mornings is that we do it together, rather than alone. So I prefer to use the term Gathering or if I have to, Worship Gathering.

I dream of a weekly gathering where I can feel at home, where I wouldn’t be embarrassed to invite my friends, and where I would be challenged by clear, biblical teaching.

My vision of worship is simple; it’s everything we do, when we choose to follow God’s will and not our own. Like the Sacrifice in Romans 12, when we get up off the altar, though we’ve already given our lives away. Everything we do becomes an act of worship.

But sometimes those images get cloudy and the cross seems far away. Sometimes the other voices in our lives speak too loud to hear the still small whisper of the Holy Spirit.

In the context of a Worship Gathering, worshiping through music serves to lower our defenses, to bring us nearer the cross. It serves to stop us in our tracks so we can hear the Holy Spirit whisper into our hearts.

I want to leave every week with a broken heart so I can see myself for who I am and so I can see who He wants me to be. The gathering isn’t just about good music and strong teaching; it’s a reminder that everything we do is sacred, that there’s true life in the mundane and that Christ is at work everywhere.

Andrew Osenga (again)

2010-08-14T13:49:00.000-04:00

No, I'm not obsessed, just really impressed. I do keep posting about this guy, but only because I believe in what he's doing.

Anyway, he just announced on Facebook that his material is available for download on the Live Music Archive. Here's my favorite show, so far.

I hope you enjoy.

A quick one while I'm away

2010-08-04T11:53:00.000-04:00

I've been busy.

Moved into a new appartment
Started a new position within the same company, but a different location
My computer died, so I have to use the library

And thanks to the library, I've been reading like mad and I'm into season four of Seinfeld. That's right, I'm watching all the way through the show about nothing, and it's great.

I'm looking for a new job because I don't really fit in this one

So I haven't posted in a while and I don't see that changing. so call me or text me if you need me.

2010-06-22T07:22:00.000-04:00

“Want to watch C.S. Lewis arm wrestle Aaragon from Lord of the Rings in my Ruckas room? Hop on a water slide!” – Johnathan Accuf - Stuff Christians Like

Resurection

2010-06-20T07:17:00.004-04:00

You need to watch as Rob Bell riffs on Resurection.

(I would embed it, but HD video doesn't fit into my Blogger Template, Hmmm)

Thanks Jerry

My Favorite ‘Other’ Job

2010-06-17T07:21:00.002-04:00

I’ve had few different Jobs since College. I spent a few years as a Customer Service Specialist for an online musical instrument retailer, I cleaned carpets, and I worked at Circuit City until it closed.

(I have been a professional interim worship leader several times, but this is about my favorite ‘other’ job. That would be my favorite ‘real’ job.)

I started as a seasonal, part-time employee and when we closed a year-and-a-half later I was the Operations Manager, Salaried and reporting only to the Store Manager. I spent most of my time at Circuit City as the Product Flow Team Supervisor. I was in charge of the support staff; merchandising, in-store signage, stocking, inventory control and all that kind of stuff. I loved that job.

I was really good at it because I got to use almost all of my strengths and talents in the same place. I got to be creative, focused, visionary and relational all in the same position.

I had a vision of what my team was and what we could accomplish. I could also see and communicate how that vision supported my boss’s vision for the store.
Before the position became available I earned a reputation as the ‘idea guy’. As in “We can’t seem to make this thing (or process or whatever) work, let’s go ask the Idea guy what he would do.” I’ve always been good at thinking outside of the box and at stepping back and looking objectively at things.

I also loved that job because of the people I worked with. My team was made up of mostly young college age guys, who needed a little seasoning and guidance in life. I had the responsibility to empower and encourage them to be better, not just to be better at work, but better. They all knew I loved Jesus, but I never forced that on anyone. (Except to completely outlaw using the Lord’s name in vain at work) I worked side by side unloading trucks and re-setting displays and developed real relationships with them. I really miss that and I miss them. Some of these guys were like my brothers.

There were things I didn’t love; having to be ruthless with deadlines and budgets due to our financial situation, or the drama and politics of corporate America.

Mostly I miss the feeling of being myself and being paid for it. No, I didn’t have a guitar in my hands, but I only do that for the glory of God, so it wouldn’t have made sense anyway.

Budget "Rent-a-Car"

2010-06-14T07:21:00.005-04:00

We went to Colorado for Vacation between the 1st and the 9th. We had a great time everywhere we went.
Except for Budget Rent-A-Car.

We booked our Budget Rent-A-Car through hotwire.com? those folks did us right. Great deal, easy to use website. We felt in control and informed.

When we got to Budget Rent-A-Car in Denver, however, we found out a few things that were new.

1. Budget Rent-A-Car requires anyone who pre-pays to place a $200 hold on their credit card or Debit card.

2. Budget Rent-A-Car has no wiggle room or respect for someone who can pay in genuine American Cash Money. Not even when I offer to give them $200 cash instead of the credit card hold.

3. Budget Rent-A-Car of Denver likes to change their story, because when I approached them a second time the amount changed from $200 on a Debit Card to $400.

We still had a great time with family and friends without a rental car. We stayed with family and explored with family, so we only twice had to borrow a vehicle to go off by ourselves.

The interesting satistic is this; we have moved once a year since we were married. That's six times in six years. We've used Budget Rent-A-Car every time for our moving truck and in all this time we've never heard of this policy. Now I would prefer to spend more money somewhere else.

Thanks, Budget Rent-A-Car because this horrible experience has made my impending move(s) much easier. That's one less company to compare prices with.

2010-06-03T08:14:00.001-04:00

"When we begin to offer not merely our gifts but our true selves, that is when we become powerful." - John Eldridge, Wild At Heart

Craig Dunnagan

2010-06-02T13:59:00.001-04:00

I recently listened to a seminar online hosted by Sovereign Grace Music. It was from 2008 and Featured Craig Dunnagan talking about writing songs people will want to sing.

He is one of the 'guys' at Integrity Music and either signs, publishes or knows practically every important worship songwriter around right now. It was incredibly insightful and I highly recommend listening to it if you have anything to do with worship or songwriting or both.

A few highlights.

“A great worship song sounds like anybody could have written it, but only one person did.”

“I’m not looking for good songs or even great songs; I’m looking for transforming songs”

“I’m seeing songs of revelation and response. A deep truth presented in an accessible way and then a simple response that allows people to remember, sing and amplify that truth.”

“The highest praise someone can give your song is that it helped them.”

“Putting a simple scripture to solid music can be the most profound thing we can ever do.”

Daytrotter.com

2010-05-31T13:56:00.000-04:00

Right now I'm listening to the Blind Boys of Alabama. Got to love a bunch of black gospel singers belting out 'Amazing Grace' like the song is actually alive in their veins.

Next up is Jeff Daniels, the well known, Michigan born actor. (He stared in both Gettysburg and Dumb and Dumber just to prove that sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.) Here he sits down with his acoustic guitar and tells us about getting shot by Clint Eastwood and what it's like to fall from fame.

After that is Tori Amos, whose gorgeous and cold Piano playing makes you wonder if it's in fact snowing outside.

I'm enjoying all of these great artists thanks to a website called Daytrotter.com.

5 days a week, they have artists stop by their studio, lay down some live tracks (mostly acoustic 'unplugged' style, but some simply live) and put it up for free download. It is a fantastic way to get the word out about their music, and it's a fantastic place to find new artists.

I'm newly enjoying Ben Kweller, who I've heard of, but until now I'd never heard. Or Josh Ritter, who is quickly becoming a favorite. Or Edward Shapre and the Magnetic Zeros, greatest band name ever.

There are big names too, like Kris Kristofferson, Death Cab for Cutie, Spoon, Lisa Hannigan and Carly Simon.

It costs absolutely nothing to join and download as much or as little as you'd like. I’ve personally downloaded enough to keep me busy for weeks.

2010-05-31T06:46:00.002-04:00

So, it becomes the devil's business to keep the Christian's spirit imprisoned. He knows that the believing and justified Christian has been raised up out of the grave of his sins and trespasses. From that point on, Satan works that much harder to keep us bound and gagged, actually imprisoned in our own grave clothes. He knows that if we continue in this kind of bondage. . . we are not much better off than when we were spiritually dead. (A.W. Tozer)

6 Years

2010-05-29T13:52:00.000-04:00

It's only been 6 years?

It seems like we've been through 12.

Not that you've changed, because you're still sweet, generous, compassionate, and wonderful.

I haven't changed either, I'm still madly in love with you.

(OK you have changed. You're way better in bed now than you were then :-)

I'm personally looking forward to 60.

Love you Jess,

Happy Anniversary

5 reasons I love Chuck

2010-05-27T13:51:00.001-04:00

For Valentines Day my wonderful wife got me the first season of Chuck on DVD. It was hilarious and mostly good clean fun. For my Birthday (a week later) she got me the second season. Thanks to Hulu and Charter on-Demand we are caught up with the current and third season. Here follows my 5 favorite things about Chuck.

1. The Buy More - I don't know if it was intentional or not, but the Buy More as depicted on Chuck bears a remarkable and uncanny resemblance to a place I used to work (Circuit City). My particular store was a very professional, no-nonsense place to work. It didn't start that way though and the Buy More reminds me of all the people we had to fire when we got serious. Oh, and the 'Nerd Herd'? Genius!

2. Captain Awesome - Captain Awesome is dating Chuck's sister Ellie (who would be reason 6 if I was listing that many) and he is just that, Awesome. He works out hard, does extreme sports for fun, and works as a trauma Doc. He also uses the word awesome in every context and situation. It's pretty funny.

3. Morgan Grimes - Chucks best friend for a long time, who is also a huge nerd. Every analogy he makes is either to video game or 80’s music and is my kind of dry humor. He's also a kind hearted guy.

4. John Casey - Played by Angel and Firefly's Adam Baldwin, John Casey is like the ultimate fighter/military/spy dude. He works undercover at the Buy More which leads to some real hilarity when his military self and his Buy More self collide. Favorite quote "this is the very same vacuum that the NSA's top crime scene clean-up crews use."

5. Chuck - Chuck himself is the best part of the show. He's a normal guy who is unwillingly thrown into the spy world when an old friend sends him an email. He spends the next 3 seasons doing everything he can to stay alive and win the girl (Sara would be #7). He has a Les Paul in his bedroom, a Tron poster on his wall, and the same social insecurities and short comings as everyone else. Whenever he's at the Buy More he's the normal, well adjusted guy in a sea of nerds and crazies. When he's with the spies he's the crazy and confused. He's just totally believable, lovable and great.

I think it's the funniest/funniest thing on NBC right now.

Charlie Hall - Flying into Daybreak

2010-05-25T13:50:00.001-04:00

I've had this one a long time, I think 4 years now. It's fantastic by the way. Charlie has a way with taking words I don't normally say, but saying them in a way that makes them feel normal and comfortable. His band has a way of playing that is familiar and new, consistent without getting even slightly redundant.

It's got the modern classic 'Marvelous Light' "Sin has lost its power, death has lost its sting" You may have also heard 'Center' as that was made to be sung in the church.

I know this is purely my quirky way of thinking about music, but I see the 'B-side' as being like the B-Side of Abbey Road; a single, cohesive piece of art. In classical music they call it a song cycle or a suite of pieces that are meant to be played together. (I have no idea if this is true, but it's how I hear it) It starts with 'All We Need' and plays through 'Center'. (All We Need - Bravery - Closer - Center - Running With Your Heart - Come For Me)

If you're in the market for something new, uplifting, creative and vertical, please take my word for it and try out Charlie Hall.

2010-05-23T13:49:00.001-04:00

“If you’re writing lyrics at all, we have to be poets. This is what songwriting is. It’s art. It isn’t religious propaganda… its art.” – Keith Getty

2010-05-21T13:49:00.002-04:00

"The Evangelical world, in my mind, was a cloistered, slightly frightening community whose values and customs I wasn't supposed to understand. So I ignored it." - Kevin Rose, the Unlikely Disciple.