4.10.2009

We're moving...



Hola blogworld.

Well it's been a great run here at chapmionship vinyl, but it's time to switch gears a little bit, so I'm moving the blog over to my new website. This site will stay put, but this will be the last post. See you at djiverson.com

one love, one heart.

4.08.2009

Between the river and the ravens I'm fed. Between oblivion and the blazes I'm led. So Father give me faith, providence and grace. -Dustin Kensrue



Hola blogworld.

In case you haven't noticed, people all around the world are worried about the economy. I know this because everyone that can possibly find a reason to be in front of a camera is saying we are in the midst of a major economic disaster. Some have even used the term 'apocalypse' which I find interesting, because there really isn't much in scripture pointing towards a downward economic climate as a sign of the end of times. If there, is be sure to let me know. I'm too scared to read Revelations myself.

Let me share another story with you from the Bible. The Israelites have just crossed the Red Sea, fleeing persecution, and are now on a journey through the desert. No wandering just yet. After the first three days of celebrating their new freedom, they can't find any drinkable water, so the Lord provides. A few weeks later they are starting to wonder where their food will come from, so the Lord provides. Let's park here for a minute. When the Lord is providing bread for the Israelites, He commands them to take as much as they needed, just enough for each person in their tent. Then Moses tells them that no one is too keep any of it till morning. The funny thing is, there are people that decide to stockpile their bread and they find in the morning that it is covered in maggots and beginning to smell.

Here's the thing, these folks have seen the Lord do some pretty impressive things. Between the ten plagues, and the Red Sea alone, you would think they would listen to every command the Lord gives them. He's already proven HImself over and over. Yet they still keep some bread for tomorrow.

Fast forward a few years to a country founded by people fleeing religious persecution.

There are a lot of moving parts to our economic crisis. But I'd like to take apart a few of the events that I see as key to our current situation. First off, the housing crisis. For years we have promoted the 'American Dream,' which comes standard with a house, white picket fence, and some apple pie. Over the years this dream has gone from a goal to an expectation. The difference is a dream is something that you work for, and an expectation is something that you are to be given. It's a matter of rights versus privilege. So over the course of the past few years people who can't afford houses, are 'misrepresenting' their income because they feel they are entitled to a home. Corporations let this gross negligence fly, because they see a huge potential for profit, and they are entitled to make money by any means necessary.

Closely related, at least in my opinion, is the auto industry. I forgot to mention that every American dream house comes with a luxury car and an SUV. By no means does it stop at cars, but they make a great example. For years we've been upping the ante when it comes to automobiles, creating an industry that thrives on our excess. We've been demanding things that we perceive we will need, and committing ourselves to more than we can take on. We have become entitled to our luxuries.

Or extra bread is starting to smell bad, and is covered with maggots.

You see, before God provided for the Israelites, He told them IF they obeyed His commands THEN He would continue to provide for them and keep them safe from the same ills of Egypt. There is no entitlement in that proposal.

Also, most of the laws were about keeping God as a priority, a lot of the laws He gave served to preserve the health and stability of the people.

So back to us. Can we really expect anything less than a crisis when we aren't relying on God? These past few months we have begun to see the results of a basic breakdown of our core beliefs. Little white lies have created collapsing industries, selfish accounting has cost people their savings, and a culture built on scraping together as much bread as possible is now so far in debt it may take us 40 years to recover.

Keep in mind we are still the richest country in the world.

There's a phrase in the Bible that seems to pop up constantly through the journey of the Israelites; "The Lord heard their cries..." Wether it's about water, food, slavery, impending battle, or political strife, you hear this phrase repeatedly. The Lord heard their cries...

Lord,

We cry out.
On behalf of a nation that struggles with putting you first,
We cry out.
On behalf of a people that are realizing that our idols have let us down,
We cry out.
On behalf of a culture that has made a mockery of you,
We cry out.
On behalf of those with their priorities out of line,
We cry out.
For our rebellion,
We cry out.
For the lives we have destroyed,
We cry out.
Four abusing your blessings,
We cry out.
For our selfishness,
We cry out.
For our deceit,
We cry out.
For our greed,
We cry out.

Give us this day,
our daily bread.

One love, One heart.

4.01.2009

Happy Birthday Big Mac.



Happy 40th birthday to the Big Mac. Created by Jim Delligati, one of the earliest franchisees of McDonalds, the big mac was originally designed to compete with the big boy. It has gone on to symbolize America to many parts of the world.

Be sure to pick up your freebie at McDonalds today (I'm guessing one per customer). If it's anything like the Denny's fiasco you might want to get there early.

one love, one heart.

3.27.2009

"I practically invented decline." -Michael Scott

Hola blogworld.


Despite what it looks like, they are not leading worship.

Nothing big to post this week, but next week.. big news. So let's get on with the random thoughts...

Consumer vs Producer.
I finally have the words for a concept that has been floating around for a while when it comes to my vision for youth ministry. We have created a generation of church consumers who rate their church experience on how well their needs are met. More and more I'm getting excited about people who are looking at the needs they can meet as part of a church family. More on this later.

One way.
Have you ever driven somewhere and only had to make left turns? I was heading to a friend's house the other day and with the exception of exiting the freeway (doesn't count) every move i made was a left turn. Kind of freaked me out.

Closure.
Speaking of driving, one of the simple joys in life that mi hermana pointed out, is when the song ends right as you are turning off the car. Does anyone have a term for this? If there isn't one out there, I'd like to suggest 'closure'. My closure record is 16 in a row over the course of a couple of magical days back in 07.

If you're on twitter, you should follow Christopher Walken at :
***sorry, the link didn't post twitter.com/cwalken

Fridays have become our office music days. so far we've had:
Otis redding/soul day
Ladysmith Black Mambazo day
Bob Marley day
Caedmon's Call day
Jack Johnson day
80's day
and i think our secretary is planning on having Yanni day.

Is it just me, or is t-pain and his robot-voice on every song on the radio?

Overhype.
This has been a word dominating my culture conversations lately. Here's my list of things that are overhyped:
watchmen (overhyped and disturbing)
bruce springsteen (i just don't get it... sorry union members)
AIG (there are plenty of other corrupt companies that need some tough love as well)
NCAA basketball (i skipped bracketology this year and haven't missed it at all)
twitter (i joined because i'm hoping someday it will be useful)
hating the new facebook layout

Kings.
Best new show on tv. It's a modern day version of the story of David, which means it will probably be the raciest show in primetime. Go to hulu.com to catch up.

Creeper.
Still trying to figure out if/what to say to chica #2. I don't really want to use facebook to ask her out, but options are limited. I'll keep you updated on what I decide/consequences.

Reminder:
The on-ramp is for accelerating to safe freeway speeds. Please do not stop at the end of the on ramp. Also, if your car is not capable of maintaing reasonable freeway speeds, please do not travel via freeway. Thank you.

Science.
The restrooms at our office complex are down the hall, and a require a key to gain entry. I have discovered that the time it takes for the key to work is in direct proportion to my need to get in.

Mafia.
I've said it before, and I'll say it a lot more, I love my friends in youth ministry out here in SoCal. I've got a long list of blessings in my life, and the people that I serve with are right near the top.

Listening:
Switchfoot: Nothing is Sound
Thrice: Vhiessu
Rancid: Out Come the Wolves
Pearl Jam : Ten
Hum: You'd Prefer An Astronaut

Reading:
Purpose Driven Life
Crazy Love
Exodus
Band of Brothers
Something Under the Bed Is Drooling.

Planning:
Camping trip
Surf lessons
Overseas vacation
Young adults retreat

One love, one heart.

3.24.2009

A Mighty Wind.

I dare you to watch this video without laughing.



one love, one fart.

3.18.2009

Fall down seven times. Get up eight. - Japanese Proverb

This story is awesome.








In a culture of complaining, this story really strikes a chord with me. I would like to reiterate what DJ's dad said, this guy has nothing to be embarrassed about. Listen to this wisdom:

"If I fall, I fall. It's just another challenge. I'm going to fall, it's just the way it is; I'm going to do it. So, you know what, you get back up, learn from your mistakes, and do it again."

one love, one heart.

3.10.2009

Action Michael, Action DJ, Rog-R-Bot and the Fire-Breathing French Dragon: as told by one of my 6th graders.




This is action figure dj, and action figure michael. They work at an electronic store called Directdisc, which is owned by a fire-breathing french dragon. The fire-breathing french dragon runs his shop like Donald Trump, telling everyone that they are fired.

Action figure Michael comes with a giant mustache/wings. He used to be a semi professional football player, but his mustache/wings prevented him from making plays, because it was so heavy. And people couldn't see the number on his jersey. He wants a new job, but it's tough in this market.

Action figure dj comes with a some mini wings, a fire extinguisher and a pet transformer named Rog-R-bot. Action figure dj used to work at a car wash, but left when he kept getting soap in his eyes, and spent all day rinsing them out.

As for Rog-R-Bot, he used to have his own kids show called 'Mr. Rog-R-Bot' where he taught preschoolers about traffic safety, but was kicked off because it stunk.

The End.

Tune in next week, when in the year 3035 AD, action figure Michael and action figure dj fight over 'love interest'. action figure dj loses his hovercraft-truck and action figure Michael uses his mustache to win over the ladies.

one love, one heart.

Happy Birthday Chuck Norris.



I think the picture speaks for itself. But if you feel like you need to learn more about Chuck Norris, check out his fact page.

one love, one heart.

3.06.2009

Guest Blog from OK Chick

Hola Blogger World! I’m OK Chick, and I am your guest blogger. Now, I assume most of DJ’s readers reside in sunny, beautiful, close to the beach, CA? Well, I reside in Oklahoma. It’s possible; some of DJ’s sunny CA readers have a misconception about my fine state. I mean really, who comes to Oklahoma for vacation? No one. Furthermore, I’m sure what national news coverage we’ve received; hasn’t been flattering. I realize you’ve probably seen the shirtless redneck, missing two front teeth, give his tale of the tornado, which just destroyed his mobile home. Well Blogger World, there’s more to Oklahoma than rednecks, OU Sooners Football, Indians/Tepees, Barry Switzer, Toby Keith, and Garth Brooks. So please, step inside my world.

Wind
We have a lot of it here in Oklahoma. I know everyone thinks Chicago is the Windy City, but that’s only because Oklahoma wasn’t counted as a state when Chicago claimed the nickname. Really, Oklahoma City should be called the Windy City. This morning I was up at 5:15am for a run. Do you know that the wind was already blowing 22 mph? True story.

Thunder
No, not the sound made by lighting; the basketball team. Last year we stole an NBA team from Seattle, and changed their name to Thunder. It has made Oklahoma Thunder one of the most hated professional sport organizations in history; or so my buddy Bill Simmons from ESPN.com argues. Whatever, we have an NBA team and Seattle doesn’t. Get over it! We pack The Ford Center every game to see our Thunder lose. Besides, I support Seattle economy almost every day by stopping at Starbucks. It’s practically even. Folks, I buy a lot of nonfat Chais.

Oklahoma and Texas is basically the same thing
I would like for you to erase that statement from your brain. Go ahead- erase it. We are nothing like Texas. Have you met people from Texas? They have big hair, huge belt buckles, and talk with reeaaalll Southern accents. We Oklahomans like to keep our hair and belt buckles to a minimum level. Also, we do not talk with Southern accents. Fine! If you go to the backwoods of Oklahoma, waaaay south, you’ll find some folks that speak with southern accents. But here in OKC, no way. Also, I don’t know if you’ve heard of the Red River Rivalry? Yea, that right there proves how much the two states hate each other.

Fatties
Yes, we are more on the hefty size here in Oklahoma. It’s to be blamed on all the fried chicken, turkey legs, Indian tacos, bbq, fried okra, biscuits and gravy, and Sonic slushies we consume. Last year OKC Mayor made Oklahoma’s weight his top priority. He went on every nationwide news show and called our state fat. Yeah, it was a great moment. He challenged our stated to lose one million pounds in a year. It’s been over a year and we’ve lost 300,000 pounds. Needless to say, we don’t care that we’re fat because fried okra dipped in ranch is dang good!

Friendly
Down here people acknowledge each other. It’s not out of character to have a stranger strike up a conversation with you in line at Wal-Mart. However, I do not fit this mold. If I’m in Wal-Mart and I spot someone from High School; I will run and hide. If it helps me avoid having meaningless talk with them, I’ll go stand in the dog food isle for ten minutes. BUT generally, everyone is very friendly in this part of the world. Not saying the people of sunny CA are not friendly, but we’re REAL friendly around here.

Tornadoes
We have a lot of these in Oklahoma. Tornadoes are kind of a big deal around here. We take our weather and weather people very serious, probably more than most state. Every true Oklahoman knows what weather person is associated with each channel; and each person has “their weather person”. It’s kind of your go-to person when the sky is dark and it’s raining. I’m more of a Gary England girl. He’s on CBS. Lord Gary, as we call him, has been tracking tornadoes for 100 years. Really, he’s old. I trust a person that has lots of experience in this field. Also, he’s so funny to watch on TV. When he starts cussing it’s hilarious! Oh and they have even developed a drinking game for Lord Gary/Tornado Season. I’ve never played. I prefer to be sober during tornadoes. You know, in case a tornado comes ripping down my street, and I need to get in the closet.

Hopefully, I’ve cleared up any misconceptions. By the way, I’m jealous of you folks that live in sunny CA. You have the beach!

**be sure to check out OK Chick's Blog, it's a must read!

one love, one heart.

2.26.2009

Happy Birthday Johnny Cash





Johnny Cash is one of my all time favorite musicians. Songs like Folsom Prison Blues, and I Walk the Line resonate across all styles of music to this day. For my money though, his best song was a love poem written by his soon to be wife, June Carter. I remember the first time I heard Ring of Fire. I was in the car with mi madre and mi hermana and we were driving up north to L.A. for some reason. I turned the radio to the legendary KROQ station and heard this great song by (another one of my favorites) Social Distortion. I had previously caught the tail end of the song and was stoked to hear it in its entirety. I turned the radio up and sang along, when my mom (so it seemed at the time) ruined the moment. "This is an old country song". Screeeeeeeech. "No way" I replied. But mom assured me that it was an old country song, and she sang along. I knew my mom wasn't a Social Distortion fan, so she must know what's she was talking about. A few days later we were at the mall and I stopped in to the Wherehouse music (remember those?) and for the first time ever ventured into the country music section. There it was, Johnny Cash: Greatest Hits, right there at the start of the 'C's. I put on the headphones and scanned in the cd and for the first time heard the infamous horn riff that provides the memorable melody to what instantly became my favorite song. It was a few years before I told anybody that there was a country singer that I really liked. These were the grunge years, the ska years, and the punk years. I remember one day my friends were going through my cd collection and they laughed at this out of place country cd. We put it in the discman and cruised downtown seattle. I thought my music cred was gone, but my friends loved it too. I was floored. Pretty soon I started playing guitar, and with Ring of Fire being a simple GCD chord riff, it was first on my list of songs to learn. Over the years most of my friends have heard me play this, or at the very least know that I am a huge fan.

So why is this a big deal? I'm a music person. A large part of the reason that I am a music person is because of Johnny Cash. So thank you Johnny Cash. Thank you for providing me with a great soundtrack to my life. R.I.P.

One love, one heart.