BabuLife

Huh?!? Get in Debt for God?

Check out Tom's post on the new Women of Faith credit card.  I was stunned to see an organization like this pursue credit cards as a means to get donations to their cause.  This was just disturbing.

See their website here.

HT: Tom

Elfed Myself

Check out my dance with mylady from ElfYourself.com.  Enjoy here...

Bonding Moment

Just thought I'd share this bonding moment I had with Sporty.  A bonding moment I'll cherish forever....

Worship Confessional: 11/25/07

We closed out the "Seasons:Guiding Kids Thru the Seasons of Life" series today.  The good Reverend Gann brought it today.  Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

This week we did as we normally do musically, no rehearsal over the Thanksgiving week.  The team did great jumping in this morning and doing a crash rehearsal/sound check at 7:30 a.m.  Kristen, who had only sung one of our songs previously, did a bang up job learning the stuff.  Way to go Kristen!

One technical thingy with our new set this week.  This Roland has so many intricacies within it that you have to actually tune the heads digitally for each drum.  During the tune "You Never Let Go", I could hear one of the drums actually ringing out in a different key than the tune.  It created the impression of a bad note being played during the music.  Seriously, this set is amazing.  Jon's going to be spending a lot of time learning all of it's ins and outs.  He's still my hero for working under pressure learning a new set without much prep time.

So here's the worship set list...don't forget to click the title to purchase on iTunes:

• The Way I Was Made (C) by Tomlin - I love this song.  It'd been awhile since we'd played it.  Not much of a worshipy tune, however the message and chorus are great. People seem to know this tune pretty well.  It's a good first song for a service.
• Everlasting God (C) by Brenton Brown -  Our church loves this song.
• You Never Let Go (B) by Matt Redman - This has been an anthem for our church for quite some time.  I always see folks around the room wiping tears from their eyes when we sing this.  When we come to worship as a body, it's good to remember our role as leaders of worship.  Remember there are people wounded looking to hear from God.  This song is a comfort.
• Blessed Be your Name (B) by Matt Redman - See above note. Redman and his wife are gifted writers of music that speaks to the heart of people needing a reminder of God's faithfulness in the midst of trials.  If you've never read "Unquenchable Worshiper" by Redman you should check it out.
• Here I am to Worship (E) by Tim Hughes - This song has moved to the "classic" status after being around for almost 7 years.  Seems like everyone can always sing this.  Bridge rocks "I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross". 

Next week we kick off a new series..."A Survival Guide to Christmas".  Yes...this means Christmas music will begin making it's appearance during worship.  Thanks to my buddy Michael Hildebrand for the great graphic! 

My Time off so Far

This week I took Wednesday off to celebrate my wife's 34th birthday.  Once again my wife is older than me...cradle robber. :)  Thought I'd drop a note detailing my few days vegetating.  Jimmy Luv's comment on my previous post gave me the inspiration to at least let my faithful (bored) BabuLife readers know what's happening in the Babu fam...

• Chris Cakes - Thanks to Marie for watching the girls for a few hours on Wednesday morning.  I was able to take my wife to experience Chris Cakes in Leawood, KS.  If you've never been and you're in the area, you've got to go.  They've got a breakfast buffet and made to order flapjacks any way you want them.  They're open for lunch so if you are into the whole breakfast for lunch thing it's the perfect place.  In the land of Oats, St. Louis Bread and Starbucks, Chris Cakes is a refreshing throwback to the days when nobody cared about they're cholesterol intake.  We'll be going back.  Check out their website here and visit them at 151st and Nall.
• Night out - Thanks also to my mom-in-law for watching the kidlets on Wednesday eve so Addie and I could go out to dinner to celebrate her birthday.  Took her to a japanese steakhouse over off 119th and Black Bob...can't remember the name.  After that I took her shopping...for Thanksgiving groceries.  Romantic I know.
• Thanksgiving day - Addie woke up around 6a.m. to get the turkey in the oven.  We had her mom and dad over for the day.  Stuffed our faces and our bellies.  Lazy wonderful day.
• Oak Park Mall - Yeah...we were foolish and took the kids to Oak Park Mall in Overland Park on the busiest shopping day of the year.  After a tantrum with one of my kids we decided after 30 minutes navigating through a sea of people, it was time to move on.
• Van Door Drama - At the mall, I decided to take the oldest and youngest with me while Addie waited by the entrance of the mall.  We trekked to the van, I strapped in the youngest and found that the sliding door to the van wouldn't budge closed.  After applying my brute strength, the door popped off the hinge and was dangling from the van.  I finally got it to close somewhat and had Addie drive the car while I sat in the back seat clinging to the door from the inside as we drove home.  If you saw a slow moving van with a door semi-closed and hazard lights on driving down Quivira and College...that was us.
• Shaved - It seems like whenever a holiday comes, I get the urge to shave the gotee.  Don't know why.  This alone is an adventure in itself.  Seeing the look on my kids faces is priceless.
• Battlestar Galactica Razor- It's on tonight.  I'm a geek...don't call between 8 and 10 p.m. this eve.  I won't be answering the phone.

That's about it.  See you at Church!

Worship Confessional: 11/18/07

Kudos this week to Thunderfoot Jon who had to adapt quickly to a brand new Roland TD-20S drum set.  Yes...a new set.  Thursday night during the final song at rehearsal, we heard a loud thump.  Thinking it may have been a glitch of some sort, we went again.  Then...POP...the drum brain ceased to operate.  It was a good friend for 7 years.  Great job Jon for adapting so quickly.

We had Lynnora again on violin.  Man I love that sound.  She can make a song sound so different.  This girl has got some mad skills. 

Here's our setlist.  Don't forget you can click the song title to purchase on iTunes:

• How Can I Keep from Singing? by Tomlin
• Holy is the Lord by Tomlin
• Amazing Grace (my chains) by Tomlin....anyone notice a theme here?
• Here is Our King by David Crowder
• I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous) Here's a version by Chris Tomlin

A Golden Compass and Prayer for the Stars

A friend of mine forwarded an email chain to me about an effort to squelch an upcoming film called "The Golden Compass".  It sounds like it might be a dreamed up story by a devoted atheist in answer to the Narnia film that was popular in 2005 around the same season.  I'm not familiar with the upcoming movie or the book.  I've heard a little bit about it and have seen some very passionate bloggers encouraging a massive effort to eliminate the book from public reading along with protesting the movie. 

I obviously don't know much about it so I can't give an educated opinion on it. I am not excited about movies and books that teach children God does not exist, but I'm also not excited about how our (by our I mean the Church [and by the church I mean people who are considered believers and followers of Christ]) immediate reaction to things like "The Golden Compass" is to stir up a mob in protest.  Just something I've been pondering after reading the email chain.  What do you think?  Is it worth the effort?  Maybe I'm just in a cynical mood and just need a jump start in my passion to get angry about yet another attempt by popular culture to defame God? 

On that note, an article at Breitbart.com tells the story of a group dedicated to praying for Hollywood celebrities and the industry.  Hollywood Prayer Network seems to be the "anti-picket" way of doing things.  Check out the story below and let me know what you think:

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Anyone who thinks Britney Spears' best days are behind should know this—she does have a prayer.

The celebuwreck, who has been struggling to get custody of her kids while launching a comeback, is the top prayer-getter at the Hollywood Prayer Network, a group of more than 5,000 Christians that prays for stars instead of writing them off as lost causes.

The network recently passed a Bible to socialite Paris Hilton and plans to pass one to Spears later this month. It also picks up-and- coming child stars for its monthly Kids Prayer Calendar and pairs hundreds of mentors with struggling actors—the kind more likely to take your order in a restaurant than appear on your television.

Members of the network, which has chapters in 16 U.S. cities and eight countries, see Hollywood as the 21st century's largest mission field, a powerful industry that can be used to sow the seeds of an international cultural and religious revival.

"We tell people, 'If you're angry at a TV show or you're switching channels because of content, stop and pray for the people on the show,'" said Karen Covell, HPN's founder. "If you really believe in God and you believe God has a transforming power, then leave it up to him."

Read the full story

Why We Worship

My buddy Brian forwarded a link to a simply amazing video that someone put together explaining why we worship corporately.  Everything I've desired to communicate about why we worship at Grace is wrapped up into this little video.

As I watched it I reflected on the purpose and reason why Grace worships the way it does corporately.  With the colorful lights, with the 95 decibal sound, with the Rock and Roll worship.  It's all about connecting others to the living God.  Worship isn't just about music, it isn't just about coming to church...it's a way of life.  All of those "cool" things are expressions of worship.  With the lights we paint a picture of the glory of our God, with the music we cry out to God prayerfully meeting Him in a relatable musical style that connects people to God, with the amplified sound and video elements we continue to visually and audibly express our love to God. These are just tools to help you, the child of God minister to the Lord in your worship. It's all about your heart meeting His.

Check out the video below...hope you come Sunday with a deeper perspective of what our time together will be.

Daffny Found Safe

From Fox 4 News
Independence police said 17-year-old Daffny Velder has been found safe.

Velder went missing sometime Saturday after leaving her home to walk her dog.

No other details have been made available concerning what happened. A family spokesperson would only say the teen has been found safe and more information may be released later on Wednesday

Full Story

How You Can Help Daffny & Velders

If you're in the KC area and have listened or watched the news at all, you've probably heard what's happening.  There is a large group canvasing areas looking for Daffny.  If you'd like to be a part of it, you can call Rob Sandberg at 913.579.6670.

People have expressed interest in how they can help so here are a few ways.

• Volunteer - One way is to become a volunteer on the canvasing team visiting hotels, trucking companies, hospitals and rural areas.  Again, contact Rob Sandberg at 913.579.6670
• Prayer - Tonight at Grace Church of Overland Park, The Journey (Men's ministry) will be suspending it's scheduled monthly meeting itinerary to host a prayer meeting for Daffny.  All are welcome...not just men.  Meet in the lower level at Grace, 7 - 8:30 p.m.  Learn more on Tom's site here.
• DaffnyVelder.com - Visit the website set up for updates on how you can help.  www.DaffnyVelder.com
• ItsAboutTheJourney.com - Keep up with news on Grace Lay Pastor Tom Herzog's blog as he finds out info as well. www.ItsAboutTheJourney.com
• Flyer - You can also download a printable flyer here.

Thank you.

You can watch Fox 4 News to learn more here.