I’m sitting in my old seat, located at my old Starbucks, waiting for my old wife to come get me.

That’s not completely true.  I actually have the car, but I am waiting for her to finish getting her hair did.

And as far as the old part goes, well…that’s true. She turns 27 on Thursday. Can’t believe I’m married to such an old, old woman.

Anyhoo, as long as I am sitting in my old “office,” where I wrote 90% of the blogs in my life, I thought I’d write a post for old times sake.

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I have been reading this book called the 7 Feast of the Messiah.  A lot of you probably know that I love the Old Testament, but it just makes Jesus, His sacrifice, and the new testament writings so much more incredible when understood in the light of the Old Covenant.

The book is written to help non-Jewish people understand the backstory and meaning, and to help Jewish people understand that Christ really is the Messiah they have been waiting for.

I will probably write more on this as I continue to get deeper into this book and finish it up, but one thing I read just is really sticking out to me.

Leviticus 23:2 talks about “…the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations…”  The Hebrew word that is translated as convocations is miqra, which literally means “rehearsals.”

God gave Israel these seven “rehearsals” every year to teach them about the major events in his restoration plan.  If we want to get a deeper understanding of redemption and God’s plan, than we can study these feasts that were so specifically detailed in the Old Testament.

The first 4 festivals are in the spring, and they teach us about the first coming of Jesus, the Messiah.  The last 3 festivals are in the fall and they teach about the second coming of Jesus.

I have so much more that I want to write and get out of my head, but I need to make sure that it makes sense.

So I guess consider that your warning…

~chris

I was raised by a Pastor, who was ultimately just a lover of God that enjoyed learning about pretty much anything and everything.  He also enjoyed sharing that knowledge with pretty much anyone and everyone.  While I may not have been too thrilled as a 10 year old, I really appreciate it now.

Two of the people that I heard about the most often were John & Charles Wesley, and for good reason.  Both incredible men, John and Charles are credited with starting the Methodist movement.  John being known more for theological works, and Charles as a musician and song-writer.  (Bonus factoid: John Wesley was the first person to put the term “agree to disagree” in print, and it was around the theological differences of Armenianism and Calvanism.)

Anyhoo, the other day I stumbled across some writings of John Wesley and the following golden nugget was in there:

John Wesley’s singing rules for Methodists:

1. Learn the tune. Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.
2. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can.
3. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.
4. Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.
5. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy harmony, but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.
6. Sing in time. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can; and take care not to sing too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.
7. Above all, sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually.

I think this is incredible, and it blows me away that each of these 7 rules is just as applicable in our worship settings today as they were in the 1700’s when Wesley was working in the church.

I love how he lays out 6 very practical musical boundaries and expectations that create a framework for his final and most important rule: the importance of the heart and the motive.

~chris

With each series we do at The Gateway Church we try and have a local artist create a piece that represents their interpretation of the topic. For our Origins series, Anna Farrand created an incredible piece! You have to see it in person for the full affect, but you can get a glimpse with this photo.

Here is her explanation of the piece:

The theme of this piece came from the book of Numbers and the first census of the twelve tribes of Israel, paralleled with our lives today and the census of 2010.  The background is a collage of vintage maps that create the land of the twelve tribes where Israel is today. The top layer is an intricately cut-out map of downtown Des Moines. The goal was to create this almost graphic, blank, top layer that represents today’s google map society, contrasted with detailed 1960’s road maps representing where we came from.

Make sure to check out more of Anna’s stuff at her website, annafarrand.com.

~chris

It’s Tuesday…And I’m feeling pretty good.

Here is a picture from the window of our apartment.  This should give you a glimpse of what our lives are like here in DesMo.

Seriously though…it’s cold as heck.

I am so excited about things here in the city.

Church is going incredibly well, and my heart just starts pounding when I think about the community that is forming here.

Friendships are growing stronger, new ones are starting, and old ones are staying strong.

capitalC is coming along amazingly, and I am so excited about what is forming there.

We’ll be back in Corona next week for a few days, so hopefully we’ll enjoy warmth, the sun, and lots and lots of In-N-Out, Wingstop, and yes, even Miguels.  (But just so Es will stop yappin’ about it.)

God is good.

~chris

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about something I read earlier this week.  Just kinda chewing on it, I guess.

I like to tell people about good things though, so here…maybe you can enjoy it’s flavors too.

“Distractivity is what you’re doing when you get distracted from what you should be doing. It’s generally what you want to do, often what you need to do, and arguably, what you’ll do best.”

I found it here whilst surfing through the web.

~chris

A Cypher, Wrapped In An Enigma, Smothered With Secret Sauce.

That’s what Justin Timberlake is to me.

I really can’t stand about 98% percent of his music, but he is an incredible performer.

He hasn’t been in any good movies, but he is a decent actor.

He comes off kinda doofy, but he’s pretty hilarious and doesn’t care if he looks like a fool. (proof, proof, and proof.)

In fact, there is an entire website dedicated to his SNL skit videos:

Anyhoo, I stumbled across this video of him performing at the Hope For Haiti Now event, and it kinda blew my mind.  It’s him and Matt Morris doing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”  And I really love the ending.

~c

It’s been pretty cool over the last week to see some articles about The Gateway Church and our involvement there.  I just thought I’d share a couple of them with you guys.

Des Moines Register (link to online version)

Veritas Magazine

God is doing incredible things around this city.  It’s so amazing to be allowed to be a part of it!

~chris

(Thanks to Bob Stewart for this ammo.)