Dan Price

New Blog

2006-04-19T11:14:00.000-04:00

So go to danprice.net to see me new blog. Bye bye blogger.

Mattress 2

2006-04-17T16:09:00.000-04:00

Ok, so we just bought a mattress. A nice one. For really cheap. It's a Serta king size pillow/euro top with box springs. We got it for $400. Amazing. Hopefully, I will be more awake in the daytime and more asleep in the nighttime from now on.

Amsterdam

2006-04-17T11:37:00.000-04:00

Thank you to everyone who has supported out team to go to Amsterdam. We are leaving this Saturday. It's kind of crept up on me to be honest. It feels like we've been doing so many "different" kinds of services at Riverview lately that alot of my thinking and time has been caught up in that. But I'm very excited to serve our sister church there. Hopefully, by the time we leave, you will be able to check up on us at www.eriv.net/amsterdam.

bball

2006-04-13T15:37:00.000-04:00

We are playing basketball at 5pm at the church today if anyone is game.

Dad

2006-04-11T10:49:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Jeff for posting about my dad on blog.
John Lile was very close to our family and one of my dad's best friends. He passed away this past year also. The world sent heaven two great men last year.

More ONE Thoughts

2006-04-10T11:26:00.000-04:00

Great thoughts by Holly

"One, though we're not the same...One and no, I don't know everyone but I might try to...One and I don't have to like everyone but if they hurt, I hurt. One because on our own, we are like dysfunctional family members but when we come together we are an efficient, well designed family...as One. I never thought I would feel this way about a church or about God. Never ever."

Read her whole post.

One and One Year Ago

2006-04-10T10:09:00.000-04:00

Well it was amazing to see 2000 people all together at ONE yesterday. Riverview is so much bigger than we realize. God has been up to some amazing stuff.

It's also a year ago today that my dad passed away. Death is such a weird thing. It's lost it's sting in a sense that there is more for us, we have hope, but at the same time we are just human and it's hard to see past this life. I miss my dad all the time. I mostly think about him when I'm in the car driving somewhere by myself. Sometimes I have to drive around the block or turn the radio on and get my mind onto something else before meeting with whoever I'm meeting with.

ONE

2006-04-07T10:20:00.000-04:00

ONE

10am. Sunday. The Wharton Center.

Foam? Air? Water? Pillow Top?

2006-04-04T14:21:00.000-04:00

I haven't slept well lately because our bed is pretty small. We are looking at getting a bigger bed, you know invest in a good night's rest. Any opinions? Do you like your mattress? What's a good price? Help me!

Blue

2006-04-02T16:22:00.000-04:00

I wrote a song for my girl (or "grill" as the cool kids say it) last night. I put a quick recording of it here. Guys, If you have a guitar, do this for your woman. Seriously.

Chicago

2006-03-29T23:00:00.000-05:00

Well today I'm heading to Chicago with Kite to see the big city, talk with Jeremy about church stuff and see one of my favorite local bands, Cracklin' Moth. Will be back tomorrow.

Poker

2006-03-23T12:47:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I've been losing at Poker lately, but last night my luck changed. I won a dollar. I'm still up $390 from September, but I was close to $500 a couple months ago. Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm a winner.

Fundi Vs. Liberal

2006-03-23T10:55:00.000-05:00

Read this(Steve sent this to me). What do you think? Do you basically agree with what he says? Does some of it make you angry? What's your reaction?

Born Again in The U.S.A.

2006-03-21T13:56:00.000-05:00

So, no MTV this weekend at the services. Story is that they were filming two brothers for a show called True Life and when the brothers came to church, the MTV crew said that it was against policy to film at church. They must melt or something... anyway, the message seemed to go ok. I think God spoke to people through it, so that's good.

By the way I picked up two new great cds today. Both Sides Of The Gun, by Ben Harper and Born Again In The U.S.A by Loose Fur. Good stuff.

MTV

2006-03-15T15:06:00.000-05:00

Ok, so you should come hear me speak this weekend at church. I mean, I don't speak that much and you will have the chance to possibly be on MTV. For real.

Teaching

2006-03-14T12:29:00.000-05:00

I want to apologize to everyone who hasn't received a response to a call or an email the past couple of days. I'm teaching this weekend at Riverview and have been working pretty hard on that. I actually have my first draft finished, so I'm farther ahead than I thought I would be.

Summertime in England

2006-03-13T11:07:00.000-05:00

So the best classes I took in school were my creative writing classes. Here is a short that one of my professors Dr. Kevin Heath just sent me. It's really short, but read it, it's great.

danprice.com

2006-03-09T14:49:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've visited the site, but Charlie pointed it out again and it's worth posting. I am one talented guy.

Here's my first voice over

Book Review

2006-03-07T15:02:00.000-05:00

Look here soon for a review of Mark Driscoll's new book coming out in May...

to use Noel's favorite word...

2006-03-01T12:33:00.000-05:00

OUTSTANDING!

Will watches 24 with us at Noel and Grace's on Monday nights. He wrote a blog post here. I made a comment and he sent me this email (edited for other 24 watchers)

"Dangit, why did I read this?"

A comment on comments

2006-02-27T16:25:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here laughing out loud reading responses to this weeks music. Most people seemed to really enjoy it for a change. I got some very encouraging notes from "Loved the music!!" to "Do the Folk thing again soon!" And then a couple anonymous "I hated the music tonight" notes. It's amazing how opposite ends people are always on. It's funny how most criticism is anonymous about music. Interesting. Well, Noel had a great post about criticism and he basically groups people into three categories: Bereans, Encouragers, and Cowards. What separates the Bereans and the Cowards, I would say, is their heart, their tone, and their attitude. Good stuff to think about. Read his whole post.

It's interesting being in a position where I hear positive and negative criticism almost every week. It can be really distracting either way, either pride can creep in when we are praised for doing a good job or insecurities tear at us when we are slandered. This comes when too much personal value is connected to our task. But it is complicated because we are leading people in corporate worship because of God and for God, but we are also serving the body, it isn't just us up there singing our praises to God, it's that plus the act of leading others in their praise of God. It gets tricky because you want to make music in which people will become mindful of God and it's easier for some people to connect with God using different kinds of music. I'm sure some monks in Germany, genuinely feel like they are able to think heavenward during a chant, whereas it's easier for me to hear a guitar solo and think of God.

One thing I hear sometimes from people is "we went to another church on vacation and their music was sooooo slooowwww..." or "they had no young people there..." but this is the same type of thing is going on. These words meant to encourage are sometimes slaps on the face to another group of Christians. We are needlessly criticising our brothers and sisters who are trying to serve God in a different way. It all adds up to elitism and that takes away from the Gospel and from God, because in the end, God gets the glory. He's the one who deserves it.

There is a really good thing about encouragement if it is done right. It's understanding "God is using you" rather than, "you are better than some other people." It's hard to tell the difference, but I know when my heart is wrong on this. I see the way God is working in something that I'm not a part of and sometimes I feel like "man, that's a dumb way to go about things etc..." But the cool thing about God is that he is the one working, not us. And he loves those people and he loves that they are responding to him. Sometimes we get lucky and he uses us to do great things, but when we see him face to face, He gets the glory.

But It's a crazy tension we have here. I think we all face situations where we either get too much affirmation or not enough and that affects us. We should always strive for balence and do thinks "as unto the Lord." Our goal in everything we do should be to please God. That means everything. Treating our families well, doing the dishes well, not gossiping about our boss, working even when we aren't being watched. Things change when God is your boss.

Weekend Update

2006-02-27T00:46:00.000-05:00

Friday:
We had fondue with Jen and Eric craft. It was a great meal with steak, bread, cheese, toffee, fruit, artichoke dip, Chimay and best of all, good friends. A special occasion for sure.

Saturday:
The Amsterdam team met and a few people shared about their lives. It's amazing how much our past sticks with us. It's amazing to hear everyone's crazy background and to now see how God is working on them. Good stuff.

Then that night we started a weekend of folk-band music at the Riverview services. Brandon, Laura, Jeff and I played and it was some of the most fun I'd had playing in a while. We did some Hank Williams, some Nitty Gritty Dirt band and some Wilco/Woody Guthrie. Fun stuff.

Sunday:
Continuation of the folk stuff at Riverview.

Tonight we studied chapter 3 in Romans in our Bible study. It was probably the best talk so far. It felt like people were listening and respecting each other's opinions really well and it felt like we are starting to get to know each other. All good things.

Then later, I just hung out with the wife and kid. I love them so much. They are the greatest of my earthly joy.

Amsterdam

2006-02-22T15:53:00.000-05:00

I have an incredible opportunity to travel with a team of 8 other people to Amsterdam in April and serve our sister church Zolder 50. Zolder 50 is a church started by people involved in Great Commission Ministries a few years ago in Amsterdam which is one of the least churched cities in Europe. Zolder 50 is no either the largest or one of the largest chruches in this city of over a million people. We'll be serving in whatever way the church asks us and possibly scouting out other towns for future church plants.

I'm really excited about the chance to serve them and to be a part of a team of people from Riverview.
The one thing is that I have to raise support for this trip, so if you would be interested in helping out, then let me know! Thanks!

Dance Pics?

2006-02-21T10:54:00.000-05:00

Does anyone have any pictures of the dance that they can send me?
Here are a couple I took. I only had my camera out for about five minutes, so I didn't get many good shots, so these will have to do.

dance

2006-02-20T17:37:00.000-05:00

So we had the Valentine's dance at church this past weekend and it was a lot of fun. We had about 120 people there and it was crazy and pretty fun. Met many new people there. It's interesting that relationships are easily built when people are enjoying something good that God has given to us. I feel the same way about poker. I have all these new friends who I've gotten to know over beer and cards. I feel like as we pray for relationships that lead to people finding God, God is answering. I feel like he is doing all the work, we are just showing up. It feels like God works in so many differnt ways through so many different people, it really shows the character of God to use people who are unskilled, or introverted or have a foul mouth or are really poor or really rich or whatever, but he is using all kinds of people to reach others. This says so much about his character.

Stupid Dan

2006-02-16T21:46:00.000-05:00

I did something dumb and hurt my ankle, bad. Stupid Dan.

What a day!

Stupid Car

2006-02-16T13:31:00.000-05:00

My car is broken down. Have to take it in tomorrow. Stupid Car.

Bonaroo

2006-02-14T14:05:00.000-05:00

Wow

Radiohead
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Phil Lesh & Friends
Beck
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Bonnie Raitt
Death Cab for Cutie
moe.
Bright Eyes
The Neville Brothers
Bela Fleck & the Flecktones
Buddy Guy
Damian Marley
Ben Folds
Robert Randolph & the Family Band
Dr. John
Matisyahu
G. Love & Special Sauce
My Morning Jacket
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
Steel Pulse
Mike Gordon and Ramble Dove
Cat Power
Medeski Martin & Wood
Nickel Creek
Gomez
Atmosphere
Steve Earle
Blues Traveler
Amadou & Mariam
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
The Dresden Dolls
Son Volt
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Jerry Douglas
Soulive
Rusted Root
Devendra Banhart Band
Donavon Frankenreiter
Mike Doughty
Sasha
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
The Magic Numbers
Bill Frisell
Seu Jorge
Bettye LaVette
Dungen
Shooter Jennings
Rebirth Brass Band
Robinella
Andrew Bird
Steel Train
Jackie Greene
Devotchka
The Wood Brothers
dios (malos)
Toubab Krewe
The Motet
Marah
I-Nine
Balkan Beat Box
The Cat Empire

Cheney

2006-02-14T09:32:00.000-05:00

"Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a man during a quail hunt ... making 78-year-old Harry Whittington the first person shot by a sitting veep since Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton, of course, (was) shot in a duel with Aaron Burr over issues of honor, integrity and political maneuvering. Whittington? Mistaken for a bird."

Chalk one more up for the Daily Show!

long weekend

2006-02-13T15:46:00.000-05:00

This has been a strange weekend for sure. I've been super busy in general, but this weekend was very up and down.

Friday night the Detholz were again amazing. $5 was cheap to see the televangelist/Halloween rock antics of the Chicago based band. "When we were all growing up as young Christians, we all agreed on one thing, the devil didn't get enough play" was basically used as and 8 count to screech into their next song of charismatic/faith filled (albeit very unorthodox) rock.

Then Saturday night the six o'clock service was one of the worst services I think we've ever had. Nothing flowed well, we made mistakes. Everything was awkward. I wanted to leave. I thought about how great it would be to work for UPS or Fed Ex or be a farmer or something other than a mistake riddled worship leader. But I guess God's teaching me something. I'll let you know when I find out. The next service went a little better, but things still weren't clicking quite right.

Sunday morning my alarm went off at 6:30, I was still sleeping, but I shut it off. My wife woke me up at 7:35 and told me that. I made it to church with my dingy self (but fresh breath) by 7:45. I was a little out of it for the first service, but the next couple were ok. But I was still exhausted from the stress of the night before.

I know God is working at Riverview. People's lives are changing. People are becoming more selfless. People are getting to know God. I just felt like I was getting in the way and I couldn't help it. It felt like there was nothing I could really do. It was weird, because most weekends I love everything I'm doing. I love being a part of something greater than myself. I love knowing that I'm pretty weak, untrained and vulnerable, but God is using me anyway. But this weekend, I felt like everything was set up to go right, I just had to be there and do it. But things just weren't right. This could have something to do with letting God work instead of myself, but I don't know.

I realized that I had church related stuff planned through Saturday this week, every single night, so I cancelled practice tonight. I'm going to go home eat dinner with my family, then watch some 24 with the gang.

I'll let you know what God is teaching me as soon as I find out. Sleep always helps and I'm feeling better today.

In The Sun

2006-02-10T11:20:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I'm in love with the Stipe/Coldplay song "In The Sun." Buy it.

Detholz

2006-02-09T10:56:00.000-05:00

Does anyone want to see the Detholz with me on Friday at the Temple Club?

Beyond

2006-02-07T22:37:00.000-05:00

I just wrote a new song based on God's response to Job at the end of, you guessed it, Job. It's fun to dance to, but we worked on for a long time at both of my band practices. I've never been so exhausted from arranging one song before. hopefully it will end up good.

Happy Birthday Suzanne!

2006-02-07T13:36:00.000-05:00

It's my wife's birthday today. Ah Yeah!

2006-02-04T10:40:00.000-05:00

Florida is an amazing place to live if you are old-an amazing place to visit if you are young. Sebring is made up of many small retirement villiages for middle class people who saved money when they were young. One of them is the famous Maranatha Village, which hosts many Cedarville grads and ex-professors and that sort. There are Villas there too, which are basically really nice duplexes. Suzanne's parents own two of these, but live in one of them. They are nice and clean and most everyone waves at you when you walk by. The liscence plates are all pretty much midwestern states, more Ohio than New York, becuase even if there's snow in New York at least there's something interesting to do.

Sebring is also known for it's 12 hour race. Money people come in and pay race drivers to drive their porche, or Ferrari or suped up hot rod and they race for 12 hours around a winding, twisting racetrack. Sound's pretty neat.

About 100 feet from the north end of the track there's a small airport/hotel. This is one of my favorite things. They have a resturant with an outdoor patio where you can sit and watch the chopper, or prop planes land and take off. You usually end up overhearing race drivers taking lunch complaining about their owners and being rude to the waitresses. It's still amazing though. The sky is blue and the steel birds fly like they were made by hands of the Almighty himself.

There are accidents in Sebring every day. Reason: old people can't drive. It's scary. If you visit Sebring, there's a good chance you could die.

All of the healthy men of Sebring golf, which is good. My father-in-law's good friend lives down there and happens to be a golf instructor. So we drove south to Lake Placid past the downtown murals and the ghetto where the orange grove workers live, to a pretty nice golf course where you could play 18 with a golf cart for $20. I am not good, but I'm getting better thanks to Jake, the golf instructor.

We also visited Lon and Bekah at their beautiful place on Manasota Key. There was good food, great conversation and a beautiful private beach. It's awesome to talk with them about God and life over wine and homemade humus.

All in all a great vacation and I'm ready to get back in action and help people find out who they were meant to be. Glad to be back.

Back in Action

2006-02-03T11:30:00.000-05:00

more to come soon...

Rome and Florida

2006-01-22T20:37:00.000-05:00

I just got back from a great discussion with our Romans Bible study. We are just going through the book verse by verse, reading different versions, making observations, trying to figure this book out. It is so amazing to wrestle with these hard issuse with in a group of 30-45 people. We talked about the paradox of God's wrath and mercy, and of judging others etc... All in all, very cool discussion. You get so much more perspective when you read the passage with a group of other people who want to learn about this stuff just as much as you do. This is becoming on of the highlights of my week.

Also, we are leaving on vacation tomorrow to Florida. Suzanne's parents own a couple condos in Sebring. So we will be gone for a week. Maybe we can get over our depression due to not seeing the sun for the last three weeks. I'll bring you a keychain.

2006-01-19T22:20:00.000-05:00

So Muzzleofbees.com is becoming one of my favorite places for good music. Go here to download the Coldplay show that I was talking about a couple posts ago. For sure, download "in the sun" though. Such an amazing song.

Social Justice

2006-01-19T19:46:00.000-05:00

These statistics are staggering. How do we respond?

Give A Man A Fish...

2006-01-19T10:29:00.000-05:00

Anyone want to help me redo my site? With the knowledge you share, I will give up any of my poker secrets which could allow you to make many times more than what I would have to pay you to redesign the site youself. Please?

crazyface

2006-01-17T16:49:00.000-05:00

When Eric was over, he got Jaden to make some crazy faces.

Ouch

2006-01-17T16:40:00.000-05:00

So, I had to save my son's life today. Well, I was walking into the chruch, carrying Jaden and slipped on some ice. I couldn't put my arm down because I was trying to protect Jaden. So I hit my head on the ice and somehow hurt my knee too. So I have a headache. I had to cancel meetings and practices tonight because I'm kind of out of it. Dumb ice.

Austin City Limits

2006-01-13T23:58:00.000-05:00

So we just got done watching Austin City Limits on PBS. It was Coldplay and they were awesome. They did 'Till Kingdom Come which they said they wrote about Johnny Cash. Then they morphed into Ring Of Fire. Awesome. That wasn't the best thing though. Michael Stipe came out and sang an amazing song called In The Sun, by Joseph Arthur. Seriously, download the song. Stipe and Martin sounded amazing together.

Then as the credits were rolling they interviewed Chris Martin and their bass player.

Bass Player: When we are in the studio, we really want to go out on the road. We get tired of recording...
Bass Player: Then when we are on the road we get tired of that, you know, and we really want to get into the studio.
Chris Martin: yeah, I guess we are musically bisexual. We like both. (touring and recording that is).

um ok.

Folk-Worship

2006-01-09T16:16:00.000-05:00

So, I just had practice with the new folk band at church with is pretty much Brandon, Laura and me right now. It is just so fun playing gospel/bluegrass songs and hymns. The songs just seem to have so much soul to them. Brandon and Laura are amazing musicians to, I'm just waiting for them to kick me out of the band. Anyway, let me know if you have a favorite hymn or bluegrass/gospel song that you'd like to hear at Riverview, we may do it.

Team BS

2006-01-08T20:25:00.000-05:00

I stole this from Holly, who stole this from Noel. Steve and Noel just got back from a trip to Amsterdam and Germany and while they were in Germany, some of the guys said, "hey let's take a picture here". Nice work.

My Kid

2006-01-03T12:15:00.000-05:00

New Years Bash

2006-01-01T11:24:00.000-05:00

Ok, so we threw a party last night. Up until about noon yesterday, I thought we'd be lucky to have about 20 people there, but we ended up with about 75 throughout the night! Crazy.

There was plenty of Guinness, Chimay, Margaritas, a pinata, and of course, I had to win the poker tourney, first prize of $50. I'm tired.

Ish site

2005-12-31T12:06:00.000-05:00

The new ish site is now up and running!

If My Life Were A Soundtrack

2005-12-30T14:17:00.000-05:00

Here is the cd I would make. In fact for the first five people, I will burn this disc for them, if they do the same for me.

The Way I Was Made-Griffin House
First Day Of My Life-Bright Eyes
The Great American Novel-Larry Norman
I'm Only Sleeping-Beatles
Trouble-Ray Lamantagne
Stupid Daniel-Billy Harvey
Wishful Thinking-Wilco
My Home Is The Sea-Matt Sweeney and Bonnie Prince Billy
Fresh Feeling-The Eels
Ohio-Over The Rhine
Say Yes! To Michigan!-Sufjan Stevens
The Lemon Of Pink Pt. 1-The Books
Do Lord-Johnny Cash
Gideon-My Morning Jacket
September-Ryan Adams
Til Kingdom Come-Coldplay
Sunken Treasure-Wilco
Philosopher's Stone-Van Morrison
The Man Comes Around-Johnny Cash

Pat Robertson, My Mom, A Christian Scientist and a Wiccan

2005-12-30T13:29:00.000-05:00

So my mother and my brother are part of a homeschool group in her area that is very diverse and there is much discussion online with them about spiritual things. Here is a series of emails that I wanted to post for you because I'm really proud of the way my mom handled herself.
here's a key for you...
Linda=mom
Wendy=Christian Scientist
Bridget=Wiccan

--- In CLIMB_Outside@yahoogroups.com, "Bridget"

wrote: Some days it’s hard

. . . to rememeber that he doesn't represent ALL Christian.

Televangelist Warns of Evolution Doomsday
Reuters

Thursday 10 November 2005

Pat Robertson says a vote against intelligent design is a vote
against God. Washington - Conservative Christian televangelist Pat
Robertson
told citizens of a Pennsylvania town that they had rejected
God by voting their school board out of office for supporting "intelligent design" and warned them Thursday not to be surprised if
disaster struck.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/111105O.shtml

He did run against Bush Sr in the primaries, but then swung his support
behind him in the general election.

Politicians do want to get votes, that's true. But I would think that
buddying up with Robertson would have the opposite effect, but it
doesn't seem to. I think many politicians are using Christianity, and
a few keys issues specifically, for political gains. Unfortunately,
they seem to not follow Christian principles once they are in office.

Bridget
--- In CLIMB_Outside@yahoogroups.com, "Wendy S" wrote:

Hum, I didn't know he was God or enabled by bible teachings to
make predictions or judgements. Him and the Salem witch hunters.

Wendy

--- In CLIMB_Outside@yahoogroups.com, "Bridget"
wrote:

Yep I know. But this is not the first time he has said something
like this (remember the assassination comment?), yet people are
still sending him money and other 'Christians' are still supporting
him. There is no huge outcry against him coming from other prominant
religious figures - at least nothing big enough that I've seen it
without searching it out. I should do that tomorrow, look to see
WHO is outspoken against him.

Bridget

--- In CLIMB_Outside@yahoogroups.com, "Linda" <...>
wrote:
As a Christ follower I apologize for what Pat Robertson said.

I know lots of pastors who denounce this type of comment...and lots
who would not. Christianity gets complicated at times with the way
people understand and live it out.

--- In CLIMB_Outside@yahoogroups.com, "Bridget"
wrote:

Thank you. It's not so much that I think you need to apologize
for him though. I just don't understand why so many other prominent
Christians aren't publicly denouncing him by now.

Bridget

--- In CLIMB_Outside@yahoogroups.com, "Linda" <...>
wrote:
Bridget---I don't have time to dig into this any further to find
direct quotes regarding the latest statements, but I know my own
pastor denounces statements like this, as do my son's pastors, and
just about every Christian I have talked to.

These quotes are not about Dover, PA, but about Robertson and
Chavez, but I think they give a feel for how some major evangelical
leaders view Robertson and his comments.

"This kind of statement, by this well known American Christian
leader, is in complete contradiction to the teachings of Jesus
Christ who evangelical Christians believe and seek to demonstrate,"
Geoff Tunnicliffe, International Director of the World Evangelical
Alliance, said in a press release. "Robertson does not speak for
evangelical Christians. We believe in justice and the protection of
human rights of all people, including the life of President Chavez."

"Jesus called for nothing like this, and Pat Robertson sounded more
like one of the radical imams," Os Guinness, a Senior Fellow at the
McLean, VA-based Trinity Forum, "seminar-style forum for senior
executives and political leaders that engages the leading ideas of
our day in the context of faith" said on ABC's World News Tonight.

"The Southern Baptist Convention does not support or endorse public
statements concerning assassinations of persons, even if they are
despicable despots of foreign countries, and neither do I," Southern
Baptist Convention president Bobby Welch said in a Baptist Press
story.

"He has brought embarrassment upon us all," Al Mohler, dean of
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said on his blog, "With so
much at stake, Pat Robertson bears responsibility to retract,
rethink, repent, and restate his position on this issue. Otherwise,
what could have been a temporary lapse of judgment can become an
enduring obstacle to the Gospel."

World magazine senior editor Marvin Olasky, who is often credited
with coining the phrase, "compassionate conservatism," told MSNBC:

"Well Pat's 75, he's had a live television show for decades, and
sometimes he blurts things out. He doesn't represent evangelicals,
and I hope that people in Venezuela don't think that he represents
the United States...

"Biblically, assassination may be used in times of war, last time I
looked we were not at war with Venezuela. We're supposed to pray for
those in government and those around the world in positions of
leadership, not assassinate them. So he doesn't represent a
Christian view as far as his interpretation of Scripture, and I'm
not sure he represents how many people he represents in the
evangelical community. He ran for President 17 years ago, and at the
peak of his popularity he didn't get a whole lot of votes, so I'm
not sure what clout he really these days either...

"Oh sure there's concern about Chavez, from everything I've read,
he's a dictator, he probably rigged the last election, and so should
really not be in office. But that still doesn't give you a rationale
for going and assassinating him...There are particular ways to act,
pray for those in that situation, hope God will change that
situation, but not take the law into our own hands in a vigilante
style like that. Or, asking our government to do things when we're
not at war with a country.

On CNN, Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of
Evangelicals, criticized the remarks, but said the criticism was
overblown:

"I think you have to understand the context of it. You know his
program has one section of it that's a Christian exhortation, and
then another section where he's a political pundit. And I think what
he was saying was, we have a looming problem down south, and there
are several bad options there. And he's saying maybe the least of
the bad options is to do something about the dictator...

"The First Amendment is wonderful. People have free speech
privileges. He wasn't writing a memo to the White House recommending
a public policy decision. He was not recommending something to the
State Department. He was not exposing himself sexually on the
platform the way Janet Jackson did. Instead, he was having a
political discussion, where they were randomly working with some
ideas. For Jesse Jackson [who called for the FCC to investigate the
remarks] to exaggerate it this way is just as appalling as what Pat
Robertson said, I think. ... We're addressing it, we're not taking
it lightly. Nobody is taking it seriously as a policy issue. So the
system is working. Everything is fine. Nobody's going to assassinate
this man. But we do realize he is a major problem. ... Pat Robertson
was wrong in recommending this. He was wrong in saying it. But he
was not wrong in being able to just openly discuss it the way
political pundits do all the time. Now, if you take his words as
from a religious Christian leader, as a recommendation, then we have
a problem. But I don't think that's what he did.

"And so you have to sort through that just a little bit, but I think
what he was saying was, if our choice is a major war or the some way
to deal with this military dictator, then we need to deal with the
military dictator rather than have another Islam on our hands...What
[Robertson] said was not illegal. What he recommended was illegal."

The Heritage Foundation's Joe Loconte thinks Robertson's critics
have not gone far enough; in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Loconte
suggested that "evangelical leaders would be wise to marginalize
Robertson and his media empire -- publicly and decisively. They
should editorialize against his excesses, refuse to appear on his
television program and deny him advertising space in their
magazines. Board members should threaten to resign unless he steps
down from his public platform."

--- In CLIMB_Outside@yahoogroups.com, "Bridget"
wrote:

Wow, thank you! It would have taken me days to track those down.
It's good to hear that they are denouncing him. I guess the media
just needs to make that clearer.

Bridget

We are back

2005-12-30T13:16:00.000-05:00

So, we are back from Akron, where we spent a wonderful Christmas with our family. I already miss them. We played games, ate, laughed, slept, watched movies together, played some poker and so on. We were missing Dad for sure but, considering, it was still an ok Christmas because our family was together.

We always drive back from Akron on 23 north past Ann Arbor and every time, I get the urge to just keep driving. Not to stay away from Lansing or to shirk responsibility, but just to see some trees. We'd drive up north and find some cottage to rent for a couple days where there's no internet or cell phone service. We'd talk walks in the pine woods and show Jaden what we know of various animal droppings etc... We'd take our time on the way back, skip the main roads and look at houses that we could never afford. Houses with little ravines, and creeks and of course trees surrounding it. Smoke coming out of the chimneys. It would be nice. But, we are called to be in the world were we are at right now, which is just fine with us. It was good to see Melissa and talk to JR and Tricia and joke with Phil and talk music with Joel today. We are back.

Daily Jeezit

2005-12-23T17:08:00.000-05:00

You should be listening to Noel's podcast, becuase it's really good. He also interviewed me today, so you can click on the image to get there.

Ish

2005-12-23T10:50:00.000-05:00

The new "ish" cd will be here today sometime! I checked the tracking and it's "out for delivery" in Lansing. Sweet. Remember to check out the audio samples online at www.eriv.net.

Also, if you are going to be in town tomorrow night you should come to one of the Christmas Eve services. Kite has a video, Steve has a message and we are playing folky-mandolinish Christmas stuff too.

Y

2005-12-21T11:45:00.000-05:00

Ok, so it's time to start getting in shape. Metabolism isn't really doing the same job that it used to when I was 18. So we just joined the YMCA on Saturday. Since then I've worked out four times. All cardio and basketball (which I also count as cardio). So if anyone has a Y membership and want's to play some Raquetball let me know.

live show

2005-12-19T14:43:00.000-05:00

If you're sick of hearing about Wilco from me and would just like to hear what they sound like go here. It's a good recording of a live show.

Yes, it had to be done

2005-12-19T14:33:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Dan Hanna for this.

Just So You Know...

2005-12-15T01:19:00.000-05:00

There's no war on Christmas. I really think this stuff is out of control. Calm down Christians. Relax. Have Faith. Worry about yourself. Leave other people alone. If you read the blogs about this stuff it's just crazy.

ish online

2005-12-13T22:45:00.000-05:00

You can now listen to samples of Ish and pre-order the new cd online here. Let me know what you think. For those of you at the Christmas Eve service at Riverview, we will have copies there. I hope you enjoy!

Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head!

2005-12-12T16:09:00.000-05:00

After being in Detroit last week for the day, I realized again how it's such a sad, dying city. So many buildings abandoned. Anyway, this is a Sufjan song to encourage you Detroit!

Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head!
(Restore, Rebuild, Reconsider)
Once a great place,
Now a prison.
All I can say,
All I can do.
People Mover: Bad decision.
From suburban,
Now a prison.
All I can say,
All I can do.

From the trembling walls, it's a great idea.
Everything you want,it's a great idea.
It's a great idea, it's a great idea.

Once a great place,
Now a prison,
All I can say,
All I can do.

Henry Ford, Henry Ford.
Public trans, public trans.
Pontiac, Pontiac.
Feed the poor, feed the poor.
City hall, city hall.
Windsor Park, Windsor Park.
Saginaw, Saginaw.
After dark, after dark.
Tigers game, Tigers game.
'84, '84.
Industry, industry.
Unemployed, unemployed.
Gun control, gun control.
Wolverine, wolverine.
Iroquois, Iroquois.
Industry, industry.
Public trans, public trans.
Auto cars, auto cars.
Jefferson, Jefferson.
Michigan, Michigan.

From the trembling walls, it's a great idea.
Everything you want, its'a great idea.
("Hesitate to burn the buildings" repeated in background)
From the Renaissance, it's a great idea.
Everything you want, it's a great idea.
Throw them all away, it's a great idea.
From the Renaissance, it's a great idea.
Everything you want.

itunes

2005-12-12T15:20:00.000-05:00

Here are the first 20 songs that came up on my itunes today 'cause I haven't done this in a while.

1. Friend of The Devil-Counting Crows
2. For The Windows of Paradise-Damian Jurado
3. My God is Real-Johhny Cash
4. We Looked Like Giants-Death Cab for Cutie
5. Never Going Back Again-Fleetwood Mac
6. (B quiet interlude)-David Crowder
7. I want To Be A Clone-Steve Taylor
8. The Man Comes Around-Johnny Cash
9. Across The Universe-Rufus Wainwright
10. Hasidic Go-Go-Matisyahu
11. Velvet Underground-Venus in Furs
12. Father And Son-Cat Stevens
13. California Stars-Me
14. Post War Love Song-CSAV Squad
15. Greensleeves-Over The Rhine
16. Redbird-Cracklin Moth
17. I can see clearly now-Jimmy Cliff
18. Hometown Boy-Over The Rhine
19. Kingpin-Wilco
20. All Mixed Up-311

Motives

2005-12-12T10:26:00.000-05:00

So I've recently had some good discussions on motives with different people. It seems that some of these people have great hopes of encouraging younger people in their lives to live their faith out passionately but are concerned that encouraging them to serve is also an opportunity for pride. This is a real concern because many people do serve for the wrong reasons.

Paul the apostle went through some of this when he was imprisoned and writing to the church in Phillipi. People in the church were concerned about those who "are preaching Christ even from envy and strife" but Paul pretty much told them, not to worry about it, because the gospel was being preached.

Caveat-----> These people must have been preaching truth at this time because Paul was pretty hard on those
who distorted the gospel. He didn't let those people get away. Just like we are supposed to judge those inside the church who do not represent what Jesus was about, people who spread hate, Christian politicians who lie, those who are greedy, those who show favoritism etc...

1 Corinthians 4:5 says "Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God."

If you read that scripture in context it really brings this out. Paul says that he himself isn't even examining his own motives, that's God's job. The funny thing is that the reason he gives for people to lay off of their judgment is so that they don't become arrogant. Which would be impure motives. =)... Maybe his point is that concerning yourself too much about motives is more dangerous to your altruism than just living life and possibly having some selfish motives involved. I think basically Paul is saying that God is going to sort things out in the end.

Dreams again?

2005-12-08T14:10:00.000-05:00

So a friend of mine just posted about recurring dreams they've had. I had two dreams like this when I was a kid. They are both weird.

1. I dreamt that I was looking in the fireplace and in the bottomless pit of the fire were faces looking at me, and teeth chattering.

2. I dreamt that when I was over at my Grandma's house she was cooking sausage for me and off the range came a huge sausage monster. Scary.

More Music

2005-12-08T11:40:00.000-05:00

Another old family friend of mine, John Morgan, is a guitar virtuoso. Really. He has a cd coming out on December 19th. Check out his video. Oh, and his guitar work on his Christmas album is really cool too. Guys, you can put this album on, make some hot cider with cinnamon sticks, warm up the fire (or space heater?), call up your lady and she will love you.

Old Friend

2005-12-08T11:19:00.000-05:00

An old friend of mine, John Lile, just passed away this week. He was my sunday school teacher growing up, then he and my dad started a church together. He owned a candy fundrasing company and hired me to work when I had extra time during college. He was pretty young and has three kids, the two older, I was good friends with in High School. Crazy.

Now, everyone together!

2005-12-08T11:05:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Jeff for the link to I love my Mac, the song

Farther Pre-Order

2005-12-01T19:31:00.000-05:00

We should be getting the cd's in barely in time for Christmas. I'll have them by the winter solstice, December 21st. If you would like to pre-order them, I can get them to you if you are local that day. If you are out of town and want one right away I can overnight it to wherever you are if you pay the shipping. So if you want to pre-order through paypal, my account is groovingdan@yahoo.com. The amount is $10 for 57 minutes of music. Thanks!

Trev Diesel

2005-12-01T19:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, so go listen to my friend Trever's music It's samples from his new album. Very cool stuff. You'll like it if you like Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, Dave Mathews, Phish etc... Really good stuff.

The Women In my Life...

2005-11-30T09:42:00.000-05:00

...have updated their blogs.

Click here to read my mother's encounter with Don Miller.

Click here becase my wife is very funny.

2 Ish

2005-11-29T16:03:00.000-05:00

Ok, so our album is finally about done. We are tweaking and mastering tomorrow and then we will go to print on Thursday. I'm very excited about this one. I actually listen all the time to the unmixed version and it's still interesting to me. It will be hopefully be done by December 20th. Guess what I'm getting you for Christmas? That's right, extra copies of our last cd! You are going to have to buy this one!

BTW, Kristie designed the cover today in a couple hours. Her last design is going to be used in Diskmakers next catalog because she is awesome.

knees

2005-11-28T11:02:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I have a lot that I want to post, but not enough time right now. We got back yesterday from Indiana for Thanksgiving it was a great time with the family for sure. We visited my brother-in-law's church which he started and I even played in the band on sunday. Suz's dad hurt his knee again, and it's pretty bad. If it doesn't get better, he's going to have to have knee replacement surgery. Sucks.

Well, I'm working and Jaden is being really fun, so I'm going to let him be my distraction instead of this blog.

Ahoy In There!

2005-11-21T15:08:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I'm working at a coffee shop and there's a guy who looks like a pirate, playing solitare while standing up at a table.

I have updated a couple songs under "myspace music" to the left of the screen you are looking at. scroll down. There you go.

Griffin House

2005-11-21T15:04:00.000-05:00

Go sample some Griffin House

I still like you

2005-11-21T10:12:00.000-05:00

Sorry, I haven't been updating much. Things have been busy. I saw Jeff Tweedy with Doss and Brandon and Devon Foote. It was a great show and a good time to get to know those guys. Brandon and I are going to start doing some folky/country worship stuff at church. Change things up a bit.

We also got the chance to see Scott and Tami, in Indiana. It was very cool to see them, but much too short.

I get my one weekend off of doing music this weekend, so we are going to do thanksgiving + the weekend with Suzanne's parents and family. The uncles, aunts and cousins haven't spent much time with him.

Anyway, I'm watching the kid this morning and he's asking for something, so I need to get going.

PS. And we played dodgeball last Friday. "I took the bull by the horns, it's a metaphor... but I really did that."

poker

2005-11-17T01:14:00.000-05:00

Well, it was a sad day at poker. I only won $7.00 tonight.

piano in the cupboard

2005-11-16T10:56:00.000-05:00

Bob

2005-11-10T08:37:00.000-05:00

I forgot to mention that before all of my poker winnings, I was part of a panel discussion at Bob, the high school ministry at Riverview. It was basically students asking questions that they had about God, a free for all. JD did a great job leading the time and there were some great questions asked. Over all a good time and I got to chat with some of the guys for a few before I went back to take all my friend's money (gotta talk some smack)... Anyway, they have a good thing going on there.

Poker

2005-11-10T01:45:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I'm not like a poker freak or anything, I don't know all the stars names in the World Series of Poker or anything, but I do play every wednesday night and lately things have been going well. We do a $5 buy in every week. I've won money in nine out of the last ten weeks I've played. Tonight I got really lucky and won $59.75. Crazy!

Christ Raises!

2005-11-08T13:44:00.000-05:00

This is horrible. Thanks Dave.

Get Your Daily Bread, uh, Cheezits, ok, Jeezits...

2005-11-08T10:44:00.000-05:00

Noel, now has a podcast, it's really good. Check it out.

Pick-A-Date

2005-11-04T13:52:00.000-05:00

Watch this if you went to Cedarville.

Rich Mullins

2005-11-04T11:32:00.000-05:00

I was just listening to "The Jesus Record" by Rich Mullins and came across the song "Surely God is With Us." First of all, the album is amazing. He recorded this as a demo on a tape recorder in an old abandoned church a week before he was killed in a car accident. It's a really amazing album. Here are the lyrics:

Well, who's that man who thinks He's a prophet?
Well, I wonder if He's got something up His sleeve
Where's He from? Who is His daddy?
There's rumors He even thinks Himself a king
Of a kingdom of paupers
Simpletons and rogues
The whores all seem to love Him
And the drunks propose a toast

And they say, "Surely God is with us.
Well, surely God is with us."
They say, "Surely God is with us today!"

Who's that man who says He's a preacher?
Well, He must be, He's disturbing all our peace
Where's He get off, and what is He hiding
And every word He says those fools believe
Who could move a mountain
Who would love their enemy
Who could rejoice in pain
And turn the other cheek

And still say, "Surely God is with us,
Well, surely God is with us,"
Who'll say, "Surely God is with us today, today!"

They say, "Surely God is with us
Well, surely God is with us"
They say, "Surely God is with us"

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Heaven belongs to them
Blessed are those who make peace
They are God's children
I Am the Bread of Life, and the Way"
You hear that Man, believe what He says!

Tell me, who's that Man, they made Him a prisoner
They tortured Him and nailed Him to a tree
Well if He's so bad, who did He threaten?
Did He deserve to die between two thieves?
See the scars and touch His wounds
He's risen flesh and bone
Now the sinners have become the saints
And the lost have all come home

And they say, "Surely God is with us (Surely God is with us)
Well, surely God is with us,"
They say, "Surely God is with us today!" (Today!)

They say, "Surely God is with us
Well, surely God is with us"
They say, "Surely God is with us today"

ok, enough

2005-11-03T15:17:00.000-05:00

Having a fever was kind of funny at first, now it's starting to bother me.

Fever

2005-11-02T23:45:00.000-05:00

So my fever came back this afternoon and is still with me. I've had it for the better part of the past three days. Annoying...

Bird Flu?

2005-11-01T18:35:00.000-05:00

So I consider it my moral duty to take on the most popular illnesses (I skipped SARS, I felt it to be too cliche) in order to give hope to others who may contact these diseases. Many of you know about my bout with West Nile Virus (scroll down) and now I'm fairly confident that I'm the first American to be inflicted with avian flu. I've had a fever for most of the last two days. I will battle and hopefully triumph. I will keep you updated.

Recording Pics

2005-10-30T14:35:00.000-05:00

Gamblin' Man

2005-10-27T14:33:00.000-04:00

Well, JR and Tricia and Ethan and Hailey moved in across the street. It will be very convienent for snow forts and snowball fights. We played poker again last night and I'm just waiting for my luck to run out. Last week I won $27.50, this week $5. But I've won money each of the last eight weeks, so Suzanne doesn't make fun of me any more for sucking at poker.

Well, I'm helping mix our cd right now, I should probably pay attention to what we are doing.

Pump Organ

2005-10-26T13:27:00.000-04:00

Grey Wednesday

2005-10-26T12:42:00.000-04:00

Well, I have some time to blog right now, so here you go.

I woke up this morning, Jaden was awake and wanted out of his crib. Suzanne had left for work and Melissa was leaving for work at Starbucks (oh, and she's our new sister who is living in our basement). I got the kid ready for the day, did some reading while he played. Then I walked across the street, Tricia and the kids were over there unpacking. They are officially moving in tonight. Exciting. Jaden smiles so much when he's around those kids. Tricia offered to take him over to her house for the day, so I'm just getting the house ready for poker tonight.

I went out to get some snacks and beer and the lady at the register told me "you don't look old enough to buy this stuff, but you probably hear that all the time."

Yup. I've been hearing it for six years. But it has been less frequent in the past couple years. Getting older is weird. I was just thinking today that Jaden will be sixteen in the year 2020. 2020, still seems like the space age compared to my childhood of the 80's. Crazy. I don't feel very old, I just feel like I have a lot more experience than I did a few years ago. Feels like the last five years have just been one very long drawn out year. So what is it with growing older? What are we afraid of? Dying? I'm not afraid of being dead. I'm not looking forward to the actual dying part of it all, but that's not what's really on my mind. I just keep seeing these 21 year old kids around me with all these dreams and I really hope they acomplish them.

I guess what I am afraid of is missing chances.

Chances for what?

It changes all the time. And I guess that's a good thing as long as it doesn't make you static. It makes you evaluate your life. What's your purpose? How are you helping people? How are you living in a more truthful/beautiful/thoughtful way? I just watched Magnolia again last week. I love the line when Claudia says: "I'll tell you everything, and you tell me everything. And maybe we can get through the piss, shit, and lies that kill other people." So many people are tied to their past and can't seem to change. That's what I like about Jesus. He's given us a chance here to have new life.

Rock Worship

2005-10-24T15:48:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Matt for setting up a website to help resource Great Commission worship leaders. He even set me up as a contributer, so I may post every once in a while there.

recording more

2005-10-24T08:57:00.000-04:00

Wow, I've been totally out of the loop on things this weekend becuase we've been doing tons of recording. We are almost done. Sean has some guitar overdubs and Joel's band has one song to do, but besides that we are ready to mix and master. I have to tell you, if you are looking for recording in the area, you have to check out Ryan Wert at Elm Street Recording, he knows what he's doing.

The highlights of this album for me are going to be "At The End Of The Age" and the heavenly, dissonant noise at the end of the cd which was created by me playing keys, synth, kaoss pad, out of tune pump organ, toy piano, and cookie sheets. And Eric Craft played the glass and a little precussion box. I think we will call it "joy."

Anyway, I really think this is going to be a great album.

Recording

2005-10-21T10:38:00.000-04:00

So we are in recording season for the next "ish" cd. A couple weeks ago we laid down guitar and drum tracks for six of the songs. Yesterday I did vocals for five of the songs and recorded another acoustic song and vocals in the afternoon. I think we are going to do some sound-experimentation with the end of the cd. Ryan at Elm Street Recording has a pump organ which has a really cool sound, so between that, the kaoss pad and an ebow, I think it might get crazy.

Worst Site of the day

2005-10-19T13:30:00.000-04:00

Church signs

Art

2005-10-17T13:48:00.000-04:00

This is a great quote from Rob Bell's book.

"It is possible for music to be labeled Christian and be terrible music. It could lack creativity and inspiration. The lyrics could be recycled cliches. That "Christian" band could actually be giving Jesus a bad name becuase they aren't a great band. It is possible for a movie to be a "Christian" movie and to be a terrible movie. It may actually desecrate the art form in its quality and storytelling and craft. Just becuase it is a Christian book by a Christian author and it was purchased in a Christian bookstore doesn't mean it is all true or good or beautiful. A Christian political group puts me in an awkward position: What if I disagree with them? Am I less of a Christian? What if I am convinced the "Christian" thing to do is to vote the exat opposite?

Christian is a great noun and a poor adjective."

Dreams

2005-10-17T12:23:00.000-04:00

I had a bad night of sleep last night. I dreamt about my dad three times. The dreams were a backwards progression of time and they actually got better as they went.

The first one was when he was sick in the hospital. It was a nightmare.

The second was at some family holiday or event and he was joking around.

The third one was when I was a kid and we had just come home from an hour long trip to Cleveland. I was tired and barely awake, but pretending to be fully alseep. He picked me up, slung me over his shoulder and tucked me into my bed.

I miss him.

Rock

2005-10-16T09:23:00.000-04:00

I went to the Wilco show thursday with Suz, Josh and Jeff. It was a great time and a really really good show.

help please?

2005-10-12T11:36:00.000-04:00

Ok. We just changed internet providers from SBC to Comcast yesterday. I bought a cable modem ($5 w/rebate!) and I still have my wireless router. The internet connects when I use Ethernet from the modem into my computer, but not when I go from modem to router to wireless. Any suggestions?

Jeff Tweedy

2005-10-10T10:18:00.000-04:00

itunes: Danny Boy from the album "American IV: The Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash

Does anyone want to come with me to see Jeff Tweedy on November 9th at Calvin? I'll need to know today.

What Not to Say

2005-10-10T10:05:00.000-04:00

itunes: Bucket Seat by Cake

My Mom has some great advice on what you should and shouldn't say to someone who's just lost a loved one.

Jaden

2005-10-08T09:51:00.000-04:00

Two New Songs

2005-10-07T10:36:00.000-04:00

itunes: At Least That's What You Said from the album "Wilco_7/03/03_Summerfest Milwaukee_D2" by Wilco

By the way I added two new songs to myspace including a cool version of "Fate Come Down" with mandolin. Enjoy.