MEMORY RESIDUE

39 and the journey

Today I turn 39. One soul-training exercise that I do: create space to remember God's faithfulness. Part of that process is letting go of the frailty fixations of my false self (i.e. regret), and I believe part of that process is inviting Holy Spirit to give me proper perspective on what really matters in life. As I approached my birthday this year, I couldn't help but remember a song that I wrote back in 1999, called 39 (a letter home). Anyone who knows me knows that a conceptual theme for me is the fleetingness of life, and in light of that this place is not our final destination...it's not our home in that sense. We are [...]

By Joel|2018-01-16T06:48:42+00:00March 12th, 2016|Abandonment, Memoirs, memories, Music, trust|

Willing to Fall: Leadership, Creativity, and Play

This may be the most important collection of things that I hear this week. A creative effort that I've been following since my wife turned me onto it, is something called The Work of the People. It is an independent ecumenical platform that produces and publishes multimedia to stir imagination, spark discussion and move people toward discovery and transformation. Recently, I was turned on to a video of Brené Brown speaking on leadership, creativity, and the importance of play. Here are some quotes that are sticking with me. "You can't lead people if you don't understand your emotion in yourself, or in other people." "There is no one more dangerous than a person who is [...]

By Joel|2018-01-17T22:16:11+00:00December 21st, 2015|Create, discipleship|

Holy Obsession: thankful for every step

"To be grateful for an unanswered prayer, to give thanks in a state of interior desolation, to trust in the love of God in the face of the marvels, cruel circumstances, obscenities, and commonplaces of life is to whisper a doxology in darkness." Brennan Manning Back in September, I wanted to teach one of the songs that I've written (for corporate worship) to the congregation where I lead. I've recorded this song a few times, and still wanted to give it a bit of a fresh touch, so we did a recording session with cameras rolling. The song is Holy Obsession, and as I dusted off the song, the Lord brought many things back to [...]

By Joel|2018-01-16T06:29:35+00:00December 19th, 2015|Abandonment, Create, Music|

Melodies in the White Noise

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, due to many factors: processing a lot for studies, working hard, letting life be life and social networking less, and learning how to Sabbath rest. Really, it just seems like through the jumble of the social and political climate in the world, what I write on my little blog doesn't matter much. It's like there's so much white noise, why should I add to it? In a world of tragedy, people get bent out of shape over coffee cups. But that's not the point. The point here is to create. The point is that though there is a lot of noise in the world, there is still melody. [...]

By Joel|2018-01-17T22:11:44+00:00December 18th, 2015|Christianity, Create, Incarnation, Jesus Christ|

Memoirs of a Visitor

39 and the journey

Willing to Fall: Leadership, Creativity, and Play

Holy Obsession: thankful for every step

Melodies in the White Noise