I found a pretty cool app the other day for the macbook called IOGraph.  (They also have it for Windows.)  Essentially, you just start it up and go about your work.  You can leave it running as long as you’d like.  After a few hours you go back, and it has magically been tracing your mouse paths, clicks and drags.

Pretty cool idea, and it actually looks pretty awesome.  Here’s mine from a few hours of work the other day.

~chris

There is a dude putting on a show that wants to get tons of people there.  Unfortunately for him, he asked if I would play.  He’s thinking that there is a group of people that will come because I am playing.  I don’t know how true this logic is, but I also don’t remember ever letting logic have a say in my life choices, so I’ll go with it.

If you are around on June 25th, I highly recommend that you go listen to some rad bands play their songs through acoustical instruments.

The Classic Crime

Spoken

Final Alibi

Somebody at church on Sunday asked me what type of music I will be playing.  It’s pretty simple really…nothing too new.  Kind of an ambient-metal, skate-folk, bluegrass-synth type of feel.

Just come, ok?

If you don’t, I’ll death-jazz your face off.

~chris

(If you missed the original post about why I am posting the upcoming weeks songs instead of last weeks, you can find it HERE.)

Last week we kicked off our summer series called “A King And A Kingdom.”  We are going through the book of Mark all summer long on Sunday mornings, our small groups are going to be discussing it more in-depth each week as they meet, and there is a scripture reading guide for people to do on their own or with their families.

I am super excited about this whole thing, and I really believe that if we open our hearts this summer, our lives will be changed in radical ways!

I tried to choose songs this week that speak of the Kingdom of God, what it means, and what it looks like.  It was a little difficult for me, as this is one of those weeks where I was somewhat dissatisfied with the songs I was choosing from, but I really feel like I ended up being able to pull together some songs that will really help people move from looking at the Kingdom, to living in the Kingdom.

Everlasting God – Brenton Brown
How Great Is Our God – Chris Tomlin
We Fall – Chris Kretzu
With Everything – Hillsong
Mighty To Save – Hillsong

If you would like to hear the songs, you can hear them HERE – but as always, I really hope you buy some of these albums for yourself.  One of the most powerful things we can do is to have our own personal worship times during the week and a lot of these songs and albums will help with that. As you memorize the lyrics, you memorize God’s word and His heart for you and this city.  With that stirring inside of us, there is no limit to the things we can do.

~chris

I’ve been working from home a lot lately.  The apartment stays pretty cool for the most part.  I am able to open up the windows, let the breeze come pushing through, drink my fill of sweet tea, and play whatever music I want however loud I want.

It’s definitely got it’s perks.

Obviously those of you that know me well know that I also need human interaction in order to function.  While I can be productive when I’m alone in my apartment, I can be just as productive (if not more) in the middle of a downtown coffee shop.

So working from home also has it’s downsides.

Well, since spring has sprung here in central Iowa I have actually had a consistent little friend to spend time with.  A rabbit that goes by the name of Fang.

Originally I was going to call him Bugs Bunny, but then I realized that that would be ultra-lame.

And plus, Fang seemed to suit him better anyway.

~chris

Bonus Story:

When I lived in North Carolina growing up, my dad and my brother went rabbit hunting one time.  They didn’t manage to kill any (bad shots, I suppose) but another animal-lover happened to have “gotten” too many, so he gave my dad a couple to take home.  We ate like kings and queens that night.  Until I chomped down on the buckshot.

[Update: I'm not actually as angry as this post may make me seem.  As we all know, it can be difficult to convey sarcasm and emotion through blogs and such.]

So in my one mile bike commute from the office at 1312 Locust to my apartment on Grand Avenue, I was attacked twice by some of Des Moines’ friendliest drivers.

First, a man that didn’t quite understand how bicycles and cars share double-turn lanes shared some of his thoughts and feelings with me.

Then, a car drove up beside me and the super-friendly and genuinely caring man in the passenger seat shouted out his window that I need to “ride my bike on the f***ing sidewalk!”  You can imagine my excitement when we ended up beside each other at red light!  So I took that opportunity to ever so politely point out to him that I was riding my bike in the clearly marked (and freshly painted, I might add) bike lanes that the city had made for me and my friends.

Obviously frustrated at his oversight of the obvious, he climbed out of his window and tried to grab me.  I swiftly leaned over on my bike (think Matrix meets Native American on horseback) to dodge his attack.  Realizing he was no match for my prowess, he quickly switched his attack method and tried to hock a lugie on me.  Unfortunately, for him, he rushed his second attack and it only managed to dribble down his chin.

Obviously recognizing that I was the victor of the exchange, I peddled on as the light turned green and we went our separate ways.

For the second half of the ride home, I just imagined what it would be like to drag him the rest of the way out of his window and smash my bike on his face.  And then I remembered that I was supposed to ask myself, “what would Jesus do?”

Man, those bracelets really were the ruiner of all good things.

~chris

(If you missed the original post about why I am posting the upcoming weeks songs instead of last weeks, you can find it HERE.)

This week at The Gateway Church is going to be awesome.  There isn’t any specific thing that we are doing or special service element planned, but God has really been moving in our community over the last few months and I feel like we are growing and maturing in really incredible ways.  Because of that, each Sunday I am just so excited to see what happens.  To hear people’s stories of what God is doing in their lives.  To see people get lost in worship that haven’t experienced that freedom before.

Did I mention that last week the entire church started clapping?  On their own?

Does that mean that they worshiping with sincerity?  No…but it does mean that there is a freedom and comfort level growing in that room.  Something I have been praying for and working towards since August 2nd.

So this week as we cry out “let love tear down these walls, so that all creation would come back to You, because it’s all for You,” I am praying and confident and thrilled to know that our walls are crumbling, and that our love is being made known.  That God is feeling our love and worship, and that the city is beginning to experience our love, which is ultimately God’s love.

I feel like that is one of the most grammatically dysfunctional paragraphs I’ve ever written, but I can’t think of a better way to write it so just go with it.

Anyhoo, this weeks worship set looks like this:

Your Love Never Fails – Jesus Culture (Original by Chris McClarney.)
Here Is Our King – David Crowder Band
From The Inside Out – Hillsong United
Tear Down The Walls – Hillsong United
Hosanna – Paul Baloche

You can listen to this Sunday’s MP3’s by clicking HERE, but I encourage you to pick up some of these albums.  These people are making incredible music.

Can’t wait to worship with you guys again…

~chris

This past Sunday we changed things up a bit with the band, and it seemed to go really well.

There is a guy in our community that plays the dobro (don’t know what that is?) and this was the first Sunday we’ve incorporated it into the band.  We stripped most things down, leaving just bass, acoustic, cajon, dobro, and my vocals.  It was really simple, but it just felt the best for our first time out of the gates.

We got a lot of great feedback from people, so we will definitely try and make this more of a regular set-up at Gateway.

Here is the live house mix of Come Thou Fount.  (insert warnings about how the house mix never sounds as good as it actually did in the house, yadda yadda.)

It was a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to see what else we can change up and do differently in the future.  I like trying to break free from the Tomlin/United style…even if we still use their songs.  I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions, too.

~chris

I’m spoiled. I really am.

I’m writing this on my new iPad. Well, it’s not new, it’s used. Barely, but it is. Got a good price from a guy in Marshalltown, which happens to be a pretty cool little town. It really is a miniature Pleasantville.

Anyhoo…I’m still learning the ropes with this thing. Trying to figure out what it can and can’t do. Staying up too late playing with it and all that nonsense.

I don’t know how my wife puts up with all my hobbies and addictions. I don’t know how she puts up with a lot of stuff, actually. She is way too good to me.

I’m spoiled. I really am.

~chris