One of the things that I am learning about myself through big events like this is that it’s more difficult to balance these things with my family life than I would like. Being pretty introverted like I am, dealing with a lot of people, while enjoyable, is very tiring. That being said, when my 19 hour work day on Saturday was over, I really needed to spend some time alone to decompress. Like at least 19 hours to decompress. The problem is, my family has missed me all week, and they really need me. I haven’t quite figured out how to deal with that yet. Maybe I will have it figured out by next year.

I have had the opportunity to attend several really good conferences for church musicians.  They were all in Southern California.  I flew down, learned a lot, was really inspired to write music and play and record and better myself (and buy new guitars).  The problem I always had was that I could never transfer that excitement to the rest of the team that didn’t get to go, and that’s a real bummer.

So, after about a year of prayer and planning with a great team of worship pastors from the Coeur d’Alene area, Resonance is going to bring that great conference experience to the inland northwest.  It’s my sincere hope that worship leaders from around the area will bring their whole teams for the encouragement, teaching and fellowship that this one-day event will provide.

Our morning speaker, Dr. Harold Best, has written two books that have greatly impacted my understanding of music: Music Through The Eyes of Faith and Unceasing Worship.  I am thoroughly excited for what the Spirit will lead him to bring to us.

Our morning worship leader and evening speaker, Evan Wickham, probably hates it when people say, “Are you Phil Wickham’s brother?”  He is a great songwriter and musician in his own right.  A couple of my favorites of his are below.

Watch this video on YouTube.

Watch this video on YouTube.

Throughout the day Brenton Brown and The Worship Republic will be leading workshops that will culminate in their leading us in music for the evening session.  Brenton is a great songwriter who, in my opinion, doesn’t get the credit for all the great songs he’s written.  Here’s a few:

Watch this video on YouTube.

Watch this video on YouTube.

Watch this video on YouTube.

Watch this video on YouTube.

As of today, we have 199 people signed up for the conference, so space is running out.  It’s going to be a great day and I’m really looking forward to seeing what God does.

Logic gates are super simple building blocks of any basic computer—and now science has created them out of crabs running into each other.

http://gizmodo.com/5902117/this-computer-is-filled-with-crabs

I am currently playing through a Guytronix Ardmore head into an Avatar 1×12 cab.  The Ardmore is a 7 watt, el84 amp with one 12AX7 in the preamp stage.  I built it from a kit a couple years ago.  It’s a pretty cool, albeit simple, little amplifier. It has a single volume and tone and it takes my pedals really well.

The first change I made was with the preamp tube.  I was using a sovtek 12AX7.  I replaced it with a JJ 12AT7.  This change effectively lowered the gain of the amp allowing me to get a little more clean out of it before it started breaking up.

The second change I made was to the speaker in the cabinet.  I have been running a 15 watt Weber 12A100 Alnico for a couple years.  It has a weird 2.8k spike in it that just wasn’t working with the chimey nature of my amp.  I replaced it with a 30 watt Weber Blue Dog Alnico.  It really smoothed out the overall character of the sound.  The sound guy at church noticed immediately.  It sits in the mix better and isn’t as annoying.

Happy Easter!

People have different opinions on whether or not official church membership matters.  I was brought up in a very “loose” church when it came to membership.  I have come to respect the process of becoming a member during my time with The Salvation Army.  The thing I like the best, from a ministry perspective, is that these are the people that are standing up to say “count me in…I’m here to be involved.”

I love that.

We are fast approaching Easter, the biggest Sunday service of the year.  We are busy practicing music and preparing for the flood of visitors that will attend Easter Sunday service at The Kroc Center.  Shortly after that, I am teaching a workshop at the Northwest Division’s Youth Councils (on the importance of truth).  That brings us to May: my 30th birthday and the Resonance Music Ministry Conference.  June opens up with a Territorial youth leaders conference, Boot Camp, which I am also teaching a short workshop at (don’t know what about) followed by The Gathering, a Territorial Congress.  It’s a big deal.  The General will be there.  As soon as we get back from that event in Pasadena, my bosses are leaving.  Majors John and Lani Chamness, my pastors and our executive directors, have been reassigned to head up the Hawaii Division.  Their last day is June 17th.

Eventful.

Watch this video on YouTube.

It’s strange how gear can capture your heart.  I currently own 3 electric guitars (Ibanez Artcore Semi-Hollow, Fender Telecaster, Danelectro Convertible) 2 acoustic guitars (Martin D-16 and Taylor GS8) a Fender Champion 600 and Guytronix Ardmore amp, 1×12 Avatar cab w/a Weber Vintage series speaker, a board full of pedals, a Schlagwerk cajon, a wurlitzer piano, plus a whole synth setup for my mac.  The list of gear I have own in the past is 10 times that long.  None of that includes all of the fabulous gear that I have access to at my work.

The crazy thing is that I always want more.  I am never fully content.  Right now I am eyeing a new Gibson hollowbody guitar, 3 different guitar amps, a replacement speaker for my cab, new tubes for my amp, a couple new pedals, and even some new cables.  Most of these things are completely unaffordable for me too…really all of them.  Yet the “need” for more never goes away.

I have a lot of respect for guys that have “a sound.”  You name a musician and you know what their setup is.  It’s as iconic as they are.  There are whole genres of guitar tone named after them because that’s “their sound.”  They get that by grabbing a guitar and an amp and playing if for all its worth.  I need that reminder.

Now, there isn’t anything wrong with new gear, different gear, better gear.  But I always need to be examining my motives for wanting gear.  Is there really a problem with my guitar?  Is the best solution a $2400 new guitar, or a $25 new bridge on the current one?  The solutions to my musical problems are more likely than not cheaper than I want them to be.  Maybe even free.  Often in my head.

That being said, if anyone sees a really good deal on a Fender Bassman, let me know.

The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church.  Its message is based on the Bible.  Its ministry is motivated by the love of God.  Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.

We looked at the Crest:

Then we looked at the flag:

We talked some about the Salvation Army’s tradition of uniform wearing and then we zoomed in a bit to look at Kroc Church.

Kroc Church is somewhat of an odd thing as far as I can see in The Salvation Army world.  First of all, the Kroc Centers are a new concept in service for The Salvation Army.  We haven’t quite done anything like them before.  Secondly, our Kroc Church is a brand new corps.  The Salvation Army came back to Coeur d’Alene in 2009 after being gone for 66 years.  Thirdly, the Coeur d’Alene Kroc has been hugely successful, initially as a result of the amazing community support it received.  All in all, we are an interesting corps.

Our mission at Kroc Church is the same as the rest of The Salvation Army.  The way we put feet to our mission is called E³: Encourage, Equip and Engage.  We encourage through hospitality, prayer, and generosity among other things. Equipping happens through all kinds of formal and informal teaching, and we engage our culture through service, outreach and evangelism.

We ended the class talking about the commitment of soldiership.  I asked everyone interested in becoming a member of the church to write a brief testimony and share what they felt a person needed to know to become a Christian.  Now I’m waiting for the final total of new members.  We have an enrollment scheduled for April 1st.

Doctrine #10:

We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We talked about what it meant to be sanctified, and I chose to focus on what it means that our bodies are to be sanctified.  We have this weird idea that God is only concerned about our souls, but the truth is, He cares about our whole person.  We looked at sanctification as a process (2 Corinthians 3:17-18) and as a partnership (Romans 8:1-11, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, Philippians 2:12-13).

It’s possible to take the idea of grace and believe that once you raise your hand or pray a prayer, God requires nothing more of you.  The Bible however, places a great emphasis on our personal holiness.

Other people over the years have created an unhealthy relationship between the body and the soul.  Neo-Platonism in the 1st and 2nd centuries taught that matter was evil and the spiritual world was good.  Therefore the way you treated your body wasn’t important.  We looked at how even Christians today can have that attitude if we are not careful when we say “it’s all gonna burn!”  The body belongs to the Lord.

Doctrine #11:

We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked.

Doctrine 11 can be a tough one to swallow for some people.  We are immortal beings and there is a judgment coming.  There is a judgment for believers (1 Corinthians 3:5-10) as well as unbelievers (Revelation 20:11-15).  We have a great hope for a future world that is free from sin and death, however there is a real, eternal judgment coming for those who reject Christ and choose to be the lords of their own kingdoms instead of submitting to His lordship.

We moved on from there to look at some specific traits of Salvationists.  We talked about the sacraments and TSA’s position to not ritualistically mandate communion and baptism.  We practice this as a witness to the rest of the Christian church that water baptism and communion do not save; it is grace of Christ that saves us.  I also throw in a pertinent quote from the 2008 International Spiritual Life Commission:

Our position as Salvationists is a position of freedom. The response of Salvationists worldwide to their freedom in Christ may be diverse, differing with the cultural context of indigenous Salvationist mission. Such freedom and diversity are to be prized as part of our heritage as Salvationists.

Finally, we moved on to a quick overview of officers, territorial, divisional and local structure, and a fun Salvation Army Terms matching game.  Our Corps has very little traditional Salvationism in it (other than our effort to preach the gospel and meet human need) and many of the terms that are sometimes used are absent in our Corps.  For instance, our Corps is called Kroc Church.  We do not use the terminology “penitent form,” (altar) “fire your cartridges,” (tithes and offerings) or “Holiness Meeting” (church service).  However we do talk regularly about officers, soldiers, World Services, and being Promoted To Glory.  I believe there is a healthy mix of the new and the old in our Corps, and I am glad for it.