Neil Young’s Million-Dollar Question From: BrianJones.com

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The first time I saw Neil Young in concert was in Athens, Ohio, on the campus of Ohio University.

The place was going nuts – drunk college students running around with nothing but Confederate flags on; a huge plume of marijuana smoke lingering in the air; the uncomfortable feeling that something unexpected was about to happen.

And then without any fanfare an unlit figure slowly meandered on the stage, pulled up a stool, strummed his acoustic guitar, blew a couple times into his harmonica and jumped right into the first song…

I am a child, I'll last a while.
You can't conceive
of the pleasure in my smile.

For the next two and a half hours I sat mesmerized.

Since that cool fall evening in 1983 Neil Young has been a constant companion in the background of my life, encouraging me, disturbing me, and forever causing me to think.

There are a few reasons Neil’s music has had such a lasting impact on me:

1. He has coarse internal terrain.

2. He’s always had a passion for the marginalized.

3. I can sing better than he can! (Hey, I can admit the guy doesn't have an awesome voice!)

Surprisingly, Neil has always been distant from organized religion, a fact that has spurred a tremendous amount of internal dialog in my head over the years.

In a brief song titled Soldier, one that usually only surfaces when I hit the “shuffle songs” feature on my iPod, Neil asks a profound question:

Jesus, I saw you
Walkin' on the river
I don't believe you.
You can't deliver right away
I wonder why.

Walkin' on the river
I don't believe you.
You can't deliver right away
I wonder why.

Neil, thanks for asking the question.

You’re the Pastor’s Wife? From: Her Road Back

I am a fish out of water, a square peg trying to fit into a round hole; the odd woman out - call it what you will. I’ve said this before, “I’m a woman in a man’s world.” Men are pastors not women or at least that’s what most people think.

This weekend Kevin and I had the pleasure of marrying a couple from our church. The bride wanted me to perform the ceremony, but the groom was a bit concerned about how his family would react to a woman officiating their wedding. The couple came up with the great idea to have both Kevin and me conduct the ceremony.

Since this was Kevin’s first wedding, I took the driver’s seat at the rehearsal and at the wedding. During the ceremony, we individually delivered parts of the ceremony and together we pronounced the couple husband and wife. It was a lot of fun and pretty special to be a husband and wife team performing a wedding.

After the wedding, people came up to us to shake Kevin’s hand and to thank him for being there. Other’s came up to me and said, “You’re the pastor’s wife?” I answered, “Yes, I am, we pastor together at our church.” I’m still shocked that I answered yes!

A year or so ago, I would have been offended. Oh wait, I was offended when someone introduced me as, “one of the wives of a pastor on staff at the church.” Didn’t they know that I did as much “pastor” work as my husband did? Thank goodness, I’ve finally figured out that pastor is another title among a million different titles in church world. God knows how I serve him and others in the church and that’s all that matters. I don’t need a title to do that.

People are used to a man being the pastor; there’s prestige and honor tied to that role in the church. God didn’t intend the position to be perceived in an exalted way; we humans made the role what it is today. The only way to change this viewpoint is to keep doing what we’re doing at CCV - encouraging, enabling and equipping men and women to serve in the church, not based on gender but on gifting.

I’m thrilled to be the pastor’s wife and to serve God and others alongside someone as awesome as my husband.

New People - New Growth From: Let Me Be Frank With You

New people new relationships = new growth

I love it when I see people making connections with others in the hallways, lobby, and out on the patio at church. It is through these connections that growth opportunities can be created or sometimes even happen on their own. While tearing down chairs after our third service this Sunday I noticed two new couples talking in the lobby. So, I stopped for a moment to say hello and found out both couples had been here for a few months and met in our baptism class.

The awesome part about it was they had an almost immediate connection and really enjoy each other's company! Being the adults/relationship/groups guy at the church I quickly replied with, "Well, you four should join a group together! Or maybe even help start a new one."

I love seeing people eager for growth, and it was obvious that these four new friends are ready for an adventure that will literally change them forever. God has a habit of changing lives, and I love it.

Get Behind Me Foul Allergy Demons From: BrianJones.com

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The past two weeks have been horrible. My allergies are killing me.

Stuffy head. Scratchy eyes. Almost no voice left. Runny nose.

On Sunday I had two people come up to me and say that the secret to getting rid of allergies is snorting warm salt-water through my nose 2-3 times a day. Is that some old tale?

A chiropractor friend of mine says if I was adjusted on a regular basis they’d disappear.

Any suggestions?

I think I’ll try anything at this point! Salt water. Chiropractor. Converting to Zoroastrianism. Whatever works!

Brian

Don’t Censor Me _ _ _ Dammit From: BrianJones.com

Monday, May 12, 2008

In September of 2005 Panic in the Disco released a song called “I write sins not tragedies.” Here are the first few lines…


I Write Sins Not Tragedies
Oh, well imagine; as I'm pacing the pews in a church corridor,
and I can't help but to hear, no I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words.
"What a beautiful wedding!, What a beautiful wedding!" says a bridesmaid to a waiter.
"Oh yes, but what a shame, what a shame, the poor groom's bride is a whore."

Well, I'd chime in with a "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the god damn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality.
I'd chime in "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the god damn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of.....


Honestly, the song’s kind of weird and there’s nothing inherently captivating about Panic in the Disco themselves. But what strikes me when I hear the song on the radio (versus when I hear it on my iPod) is the way it was edited for playtime over the airwaves.

If you read the lyrics you probably noticed that I Write Sins Not Tragedies contains a mildly offensive phrase by today's standards -- “God damn.” Evidently in 2005 the FCC wouldn’t allow a phrase like that to be aired, so the song’s producers were faced with a choice – which word would they edit?

The logical choice would have been to bleep the “damn” part of the phrase, but as anyone who has ever heard the song on the radio can attest, that’s not what they did.

They bleeped out “God.”

"Haven't you people ever heard of closing the BLEEP damn door?!" the song goes.

Every time I’m driving down the road and I hear the song I’m struck by the fact that we live in a culture that finds the word “God” more offensive word than the word “Damn.”

Why?

Spirituality is popular.

Finding meaning and higher consciousness is all the rage.

So why would the concept of God be a socially unfit topic of public discourse?

Here’s my take:

There are two basic rules upon which modern-day culture operates:

Rule #1: Everyone’s ideas, beliefs and lifestyles must be embraced, celebrated, and tolerated.

Rule #2: The only ideas, beliefs and lifestyles to be excluded from public discourse are those that keep us from obeying rule #1.

In America, when people say the word “God” 99.9% of the time it’s shorthand for Jesus.

Not coincidentally Jesus doesn’t give a rip about following Rule #1. Not in the least.

So Rule #2 comes into play.

Here's the un-censored video version of the song on YouTube. Unfortunately the FCC hasn't started censoring lousy video-making yet...

Shuffling God In My iPod From: BrianJones.com

Monday, May 12, 2008

One of my favorite things to do when I’m relaxing is hit the “shuffle songs” feature on my iPod. The “shuffle songs” feature randomly plays songs from any artist, genre, and album that you’ve downloaded.

Since I’ve collected a sizeable number of songs over the years, almost 95% from non-Christian artists, two things inevitably happen when I do this:

1. “Shuffle songs” brings up some great songs I’ve simply ignored. Every album buries the “least marketable” tracks on the 9-10-11-and-12 line-up on the play list. But, as any artist will tell you, sometimes the most profound works of art were never created to have mass-market appeal. In fact, I’ve come to believe that the least marketable works always convey the real texture of an artist’s soul.

2. These songs always trigger challenging thoughts about God. Since the “buried” tracks are usually the ones surfaced by “shuffle songs,” I often find myself being drawn into the complex inner battles the artist was waging at a particular stage in his or her life. More times than not the enemy tends to look and sound like Jesus.

This week I’m going to ramble a bit about the ways some non-Christian songs have shuffled around thoughts in my head about Jesus and Christianity.

I’m not quite sure where this will head. But I guess that’s what I like best about shuffling songs on my iPod.

Mexico Trip - Day 1 From: Second Chair Perspective

It’s official! We’re off the ground (literally) on our way to Juarez to serve with Casas Por Cristo. We’re building 2 houses starting Monday morning … sharp.

The second group of CCV folks left Philadelphia International at 3:15 p.m. Today (5/11/08). It’s been a blast so far. I’m writing this blog post from Delta flight #1881 in route from Atlanta to El Paso, Texas.

Traveling in this group are …

• Tyler Thomas
• Donald Thomas
• Cynthia Brey
• Justin Brey
• Ryan O’Rourke
• Kathleen O’Rouke
• Doris Grubb
• Ells Karchner
• John Jaworski
• Connie Ritchey
• Evan Flora
• Kevin Stone (Me)
• Marisa Cavanaugh
• Travis Reiter
• Diane Nace
• Zachery Michener
• Michael Giacchetta
• Melisa Jaworski
• Mark Falcone
• Justin Yerrick
• Adam Flora
• Rafael Rivera

The first group left Philadelphia International this morning at 5 a.m. (They met at the building this morning at 2:30 a.m. – yuck!) This group is picking up the vans and doing the grocery shopping that will keep us fed while we’re on the Mexico side of the border.

Traveling in the first group was …

• Sean Healy (Team Leader)
• Bob Conner (Team Leader)
• Scott Peart
• Kim Peart
• Christopher Pick
• Keith Evans
• Tammy Herriman
• Keith Anderson

We’ll be landing in another hour and a half or so. I’m looking forward to hooking up with the first group. They’re picking us up at the airport and we’ll all head for the church that will be our place to stay for tonight.

Depending on internet connectivity while we’re in Mexico, I’ll do my best to document the trip here on my blog. I’ve also been snapping pictures for your viewing pleasure.

More to come …

Happy Mother's Day From: Let Me Be Frank With You

So today is mother's day. I love the three moms in my life: Shelli (my wife), my mom and my mother in law. Here is a quick video we showed at Student Ministries tonight to celebrate. Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day From: Her Road Back

Today is Mother’s Day. I love being a mother and I love being a grandmother as much or more! I love kids; I always have. I even love other people’s kids.

Being a mom is a privilege not to be taken for granted. I can’t begin put into words what I feel for my children. Through all the different phases of their lives I learned something about them and something about myself. I believe one of the best things about being a mom is how the relationship with our children changes as they grow older.

There is so much to hope for in children. When I see kids of any age, I just want to talk to them. I want to find out how they are and who they are, what they’re doing, what they’re learning, what their dreams are for the future.

One of the most amazing things that’s happened in my life is watching my oldest daughter mother her children. These 3 little people have brought a wonderful new dimension to our family.

I think Mother’s Day is more about the kids than about the moms. They bring purpose, commitment and promise to our lives. I think my daughter would agree. Watch this video where she shares her feelings about her three…

More Power With Partners From: Let Me Be Frank With You

Sometimes in ministry we can be more effective and have a bigger impact when we come alongside another organization. This is especially true when it comes to serving the community because there are already non-profits and churches helping so many people, and they are in need volunteers and funding.

At CCV our local outreach team is led by two great volunteers - Bill and Connie. They have done a great job keeping us connected to numerous organizations like Project Outreach, Park Springs, St. John's Soup Kitchen, and others. Below is a video of our team helping out in a local soup kitchen.

I'm Off to Mexico! From: Second Chair Perspective

This Sunday (5/11/08) at a little past 3 PM I board a plane, along with a bunch of other folks from CCV, on my way to Juarez, Mexico. Back on Christmas Eve our church gave enough money to fund sending 2 teams to Juarez, each building a single family home for a family in need.

The first team will build a home for Maria Albarado, a single mom with a 14 year old son named Jonathan. Together they live in a wooden shack in the slums of Juarez. She’s 39 years old and makes $70 a week.

The second team will build a home for Javier and Maria Velazquez and their three children - Consuelo (20), Areli (10), and Itzel (5) who live in a thrown together shanty no larger than the shed in the backyard of many Americans. Javier makes $75 a week for a family of five!

We did this a number of years ago. Here’s a video of that trip …



In total, our church is sending more than 30 people to make this happen for these two families. Their lives will be changed forever, and I don’t just mean the families getting the homes. I am told that participating in a mission like this one will change your life. I’m looking forward to experiencing this myself.

If you know me, you know that going on this trip is a bit of a stretch for me. I have never gone on a mission trip before. In fact I’m probably the same as many others who want to “be part of a church that helps the poor” but doesn’t actually, “want to personally help the poor.” That’s right. Churches are filled with people who like the “idea” of helping the poor but not the actual work and sacrifice it takes to do it.

I was recently in Orlando attending the National New Church Conference talking to a good friend. I was describing my frustration, not with actually showing up on the construction site and building a house, but with the accommodations afforded the missions team members. The teams will be staying in a church on the El Paso side of the border on Sunday night before crossing the border into Mexico on Monday morning. From there the teams stay in a community center (sleeping on the floor) in Juarez for the duration of the trip. Why not put everyone in a hotel on the El Paso side and have them cross the border each day? Wouldn’t this make everyone more “comfortable?” My friend said, “Talk to me when you get back.” I think I got the point.

Anyway, we have a couple of video people coming with us. I’ll do my best (depending on Internet connectivity of course) to post each day to share what’s happening with all of you.

I'm looking forward to the experience. Pray for me. I’m going to need it!

Milestones From: Let Me Be Frank With You

Over last few weeks I have been thinking about my goals for the next few years. Partly because of our last teaching series, One Month To Live, and also due to some group exercises we have been doing as a church staff. Thinking about the future is always exciting for me, and I have enjoyed the process of goal setting even more now that we are raising two boys. I thought I would share some of the goals I have been working on here: