John Mayer

It is not often that I am really inspired by anyone with a guitar in their hands (especially if there is also a keyboard on the stage) but if ever there was a moment when I wished I had really taken guitar up seriously it would definitely be the John Mayer gig last night; that man makes the guitar sing from the soul, oh and he sings pretty well himself.

I had always viewed John Mayer through the eyes of his ever present female (and not surprisingly, male) entourage, who coincidentally were all around us only meters from the stage swooning and holding up ridiculous signs like, “You bought golf clubs from my Dad” or “I’m from Fairfield too!” Then again, seeing a fan from his home town, of only what? 60,000 people, could have been something reassuring…that is of course unless they simply followed him wherever he went…some Americans are way too obsessive to be allowed as much power and money as they have. I digress.

Regardless of how I had viewed John Mayer in the past, his musicianship and skill on his instrument had me somewhat transfixed, and I guess the fact that they keyboardist had nothing interesting to draw my eye forced me to find something else to look at, speaking of which, I am definitely beginning to prefer long hair to short. He effectively had a different guitar for each song and I was particularly fond of one guitar whose body looked as though it had been roughly sanded back by an industrial sander; possibly one of his first guitars, but the sound was mint. He also has one of the cleanest falsetto voices I have ever heard, and the change from chest to head to falsetto voice was virtually seamless, and as a singer I say, you bastard, I’ve been working for ages to get a seamless range and it still ain’t right.

While Carmel made best buddies with the crazy female idolizes, Tim, Rachel and I proceeded to get some unwanted attention from at least 2 sides with hands everywhere they shouldn’t be; as a side note, I’ve always wondered: when you are squashed together like sardines, where are you supposed to put your hands? I only ask because I would have informed someone behind me that my ass was not one of them… On top of the unwanted hand attention, the female fans in front of us went a little too crazy when the drummer JJ Johnson threw his drumstick right at us, hitting Tim smack in the nose (a drum stick he very quickly stuck down his pants to hide) It was actually Tim’s lucky night, also getting hit by John’s pick…bastard. In the fallout one of the girls whacked me with her elbow…ah whoever said that music was not a contact sport no longer has my support. So Tim gets a stick and pick as souvenirs and I get the imprint of a tweenteen’s elbow in my face. Yet again I digress.

Having done some research into the guy before going into his gig, I began to see how deeply rooted he was in blues (lifestyle and all that goes with that…) and how it has shaped his music from pop charts that I had thought characterized him, to much more mature philosophical charts like Gravity and Waitin’ on the World to Change. After hearing this guy I am definitely going to listen to a little more of the blues, I think it is something I could somehow integrate into my own music. Cheers Mr. Mayer for a great birthday present.

Remembering Easter

Green palm fronds lead
Brown mule on through
Cheers of man with
Knees bent down.

Whipped and flayed, cold
Steel digs deep, no
Word or curse, just
Bares the pain.

Red stained hands nail
Flesh of God to
Brown wood cross for
Sins of man.

Christ lies dead in
Tomb of shame while
Pained mum wept and
Friends just hide

But He lives, white
Robes swept clean; why
Did He die? For
You my friend.

The Watoto Children's Choir

The Watoto Children's Choir from Uganda just visited Windsor Park. I am left somewhat speechless at exactly what happened to me during their visit but it was one of those things that makes your heart both crush in agony and explode with joy.

It is one thing to watch advertising that states the fact that something like 8,500 adults die of aids everyday in Africa or to see pictures of children that need sponsors just simply to live and breathe, the two things I take most seriously for granted; However, it is an entirely different thing to see the effect of it right in front of your eyes. To see a choir of children dancing and singing with such joy in Christ, for them to proclaim that they rejoice in Christ for what he has given them, even though they have lost one or both of their parents to aids, was overwhelming. It was that sensation of grief that such a thing was possible to happen to so many people and yet the power of their joy interspersed my tears with laughter.

I am ashamed with my pathetic attempts to praise God for the good he has done for me; their praises filled our church, and our praises barely register on a decibel meter...

hmm..it seems to be about 6 months in between bouts of blog writing at the moment, I wonder if it is simply a representation of how I have happened to structure my life, leaving very little time for the musing of the mind, or if nothing particularly revelational has happened to me in 6 months.

Regardless, tonight was a night of firsts. Tonight was the first time (at least for a number of years) I actually seriously thought about not going to church...that would have been a big mistake - I would have missed out on another first, I actually introduced someone new to the church to someone else in the church. That might sound stupid to some people but I have never been comfortable with people that I know coming into the church I go to (regardless of the strength of their faith.) I guess I just would always be concerned about the things in my community that I didn’t want other people to see, but tonight i was reminded it was not my business where God wants to call people to; So I must make people feel more than welcome, and not be embarrassed with the things that are out of my control at Windsor.

"Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." Luke 7:18

Its amazing how you can read a verse so many times, and still not understand the implications of it fully

NOISE!!!!

One bit at time

I am constantly amazed at the way in which God works; at times frustratingly slow, yet sometimes so fast I don’t even realize what is happening. I guess its that feeling that you are traveling on a bullet train somewhere, but you don’t know what the destination is, or how far you still have to travel. All I can see is that something is growing all the time; I really wish I knew what it was!

I recently attended a worship music conference in Auckland simply named, noise; quite an apt name really, I often think our worship crosses that line between praise and noise, not that it is necessarily a bad thing. I am sure that when the Israelites were marching around the walls of Jericho that there was a great ‘noise’ in worship to God. Regardless of what the name given to the conference implies, I found much of the workshops and seminars quite useful, if not, then at least entertaining or inspiring. Hillsong United’s seminar on fostering youth worship reminded me that worship is not just about the music, in fact, music is not just about the music; without people, music has absolutely no purpose. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. (1 Corinthians 13:1) Worship is all about the people, because God is all about the people.

I was able to hear, for the first time, Brooke Fraser talk about Jesus. Nothing really original to me, but it definitely gave me insight into Brooke’s heart which filled the ‘inspiring’ part of the day. Jeff Crabtree is a absolute legend; even though the pianists in the seminar really railroaded the questions and there was not room to talk about how to play the keyboard (which was the name of the workshop) what I did hear confirmed what I was already doing, filling me with great confidence. To finish the day off I was privileged to be led into worship by Hillsong United, which was really really really good. *grins broadly*

There was a really good reason for me writing this…escapes me now….oh yes; something growing. While I was at this conference I was really challenged with what I believed was Gods direction for my life, not just the here and the now stuff, but the long term stuff; the ‘purpose’ driver. Up until quite recently I thought that this thing had a lot to do with music and to and extent I think that is definitely true; but I am beginning to think that it may only be a part of what God has planned for me.


A little more on what that plan might be

I’ve been thinking recently a lot about evangelism and how we do it, how we are supposed to do it, and how I am meant to do it. Evangelism for me is something that we are all called to do, in whatever sect of society that we are placed in (according to our talents). What really gets me excited at the moment is the idea of how we can best use the tradition of Easter and Christmas to actually speak truth to those in our community who would otherwise never get to hear it. I think for too long we have shied away from big events like these because while they may attract a persons interest for that moment during the event, they do not necessarily mean a life long commitment which is what being a Christian is really all about. So my big question of the moment is: how can we show Christ to our community in a way that both sparks their interest but also sustains it. For me this means a direct linkage between the community at Windsor Park, small groups, etc and the events that draw many into our church at Christmas and Easter.

I am of the current opinion that Christmas is simply the precursor or the preview of the main event that occurred at Easter and yet we do not give equal importance to both during the Christmas season. I often feel that when I see the Christmas message I am left thinking, ok…so what? How many in our community really understand what is so important about a baby being born that was supposedly the son of God? Without the whole story, we are left wondering why all of this happened. Now I’m not saying this to simply criticize or even to say that we do not include this message at Christmas; I am merely questioning the importance we place on Christ’s death at Christmas.

The next question I ask myself is why do people come to Church at Christmas? I certainly cannot speak for those that are not Christians but I believe that, in general, people will come to church for Christmas because of its nostalgic effect, it reminds them of Christmas’ when they were a child. What I would love to see happen at Christmas is that people would come into the house of God to experience a nostalgic carol service and leave touched by Christ in a way that they can no longer deny the legitimacy of God, and the truth that we are so desperate to share with them. In my childlike youth, with its lack of discernment or wisdom I could not possibly share how this idea is done but I pray that there are those in our community at Windsor Park that do have that passion and drive to see such an opportunity as Christmas presents to share Christ’s love to our mission field.

In saying that, what I envisage for a Christmas event is a service that takes people on a journey, emotionally and spiritually. This journey must include the life story of Christ from his birth and more crucially to his death and resurrection. What surrounds the main service must express the community that Christ has fostered at Windsor Park, if people hear about this Christ that has touched the lives of so many, they are going to want to see who these ‘so many’ are; that they are real people like you and me. I think it is important to use the different media that we have; there is no use writing a play when we do not have a group of talented actors who work on this thing all the time. It is much better for us to play to our strengths, to show what is real in our community; the creative arts: music, art and video etc. I have heard many people talk about the ‘wow’ factor in revelations they have received from Christ and in the same way, I want to see people walk through the doors of our church and have the ‘wow’ factor hit them like a speeding train. We could say that all of this seems so much when as Christians we really don’t need all of this but we are on a mission field, our missionaries must be equipped with the tools they need in the society they are in. If we are not meeting our community where their expectations lie then we cannot hope to grab their attention, even for a moment. I think that is part of what makes our mission field so difficult, it asks so much of us.

What real friends are made of.

anyone have any ideas?

I've wonder about this for a while. So some quite cool developments on what is probably going to be a life long search for the definition.

It would seem that yet again God has a supremely great direction for my life that includes using me in the best way to help other people. Really quick overview; friend feels crap about themselves, Jono reminds person of Gods grace, friend radically different. The greatest thing I feel about this is that I truly had nothing to do with anything that has happened. I think lots of people would like to take credit for help that they think they have given to help a friend in need, I can't; I have simply been used by God to get to the heart of someone else. Some may think that is horrible that God was 'using' me to get to some other person but I can't think of a better way for it to happen; if my creator is directing my actions, then surely I can only make the right choices, say the right words, write the right messages. I guess the hardest thing is letting God direct us all the time; that is the challenge.

So I'm currently thinking that being a real friend...has a lot to do be being like Jesus, being open to Gods direction and being humble enough that in the end you realise all you are is a tool; a very happy and loved tool, but a tool nonetheless.

I’m grieving over here

Well, I’m in a bit of a grieving process at the moment. It seems that quite a few things around me have changed; circumstances are different, people are leaving and close friends have fallen by the wayside. I guess amongst it all I am really beginning to find out what it is that makes me worried, stressed and depressed. I am finding out the things that I fear the most and how little control I have over those things I fear.

I used to be worried about what others thought of me; the way I was perceived by those around me was a huge driving factor of my life. I wanted to appear as though I was perfect, but in doing so learned that being perfect has its downfalls. I’m not trying to say that I am by any stretch of the imagination perfect but it would seem that human nature drives people to find a way of making apparent perfection into something else. I have also experienced how very destructive gossip is…

I am a bit of a clingy person when it comes to relationships with friends. It is a very devastating day when you realize that the friendship you believe you had so strongly was not really like that; a false sense of a relationship. I really dislike that the business of our lives from Sunday to Saturday stops us from remembering what is important in life, or more importantly, who is important in life. So I am grieving the loss of a close friendship that has come about simply from the realization that the intimacy of the relationship was simply fabricated in my own mind. This might take a long time to recover from but I know that with prayer and patience that God will heal even the deepest of wounds. I am also grieving for a new friend lost; someone that I was feeling I could relate to more and more over recent months, but is now leaving for many years.

My life to date has appeared to go from one obsession to the next; constantly looking for that one person who I can relate to on every level of my life. Whenever I believe that I have found that person I end up finding some way that it could never work: different interest, different continents or simply no time in the same proximity. The more I think about it, the more I realize that there could not possibly be one single human in my life that fulfills every partnership that my soul longs for; I have come to the conclusion that Jesus is the only person that could truly do that.

Looking back at my past blogs I see that I have already come to this conclusion many many times…GRRR I am such an imbecile. How many times God? How many times?