How Circus Peanuts Killed My Resolutions...

Well, they didn't exactly kill my 2010 resolutions. After all, what is a resolution list without one that includes weight loss, which will never be met. Of course the circus peanuts didn't help either. I didn't successfully "complete" my resolution list (or GOAL list as I called it - that seemed more do-able), but I was able to check off more items than usual (not to mention, I was able to take on a few extra, unplanned, projects and ventures). Enough chit-chat, here's what I did actually complete...

saved 6 months living expenses

recorded my EP

raised and donated enough money to build wells for 100+ people in the developing world (through Charity water and fan support!!!)

2 vacations (1 family - we went to Michigan and spent a week on the beach; 1 K&R vacation backpacking Rocky Mountain National Park)

said "need" less - worked on my understanding of "need" vs. "want"

we built genuine community with our neighbors! (I love our block)

launched RE{stl} at Cicero's
(hypocrites in transition community to discuss faith and spirituality)



Here's what WASN'T on my list, but were exciting projects...

enroll in Fuller seminary
(1 semester complete!)

produce, produce, produce!
(Brendan Bradley, Dear Genre, Lost Narrative, Convergence, etc)

What a year...what a year!

Until 2011, PEACE!!!!
-Ross

Top 5 Albums of 2010

This week seems to be the week everyone in the blog-world is putting forth their TOP 5's & 10's of 2010.

2010 was a good one for interesting and thought provoking music. A couple days ago I looked at all of the albums and new artists I added to my shelves, and took on the task to narrow my collection to just 5 stand-outs.

Today, my TOP 5 Albums of the past year. Drum roll if you'd like...

1. Sigh No More (Mumford and Sons)

2. The Medicine (John Mark McMillan)

3. Feathers (Fort Christmas)

4. October (Sleeping at Last)

5. Feedback (Derek Webb)

If you haven't heard these, you should do yourself a favor and click the links to check them out.

Thanks for reading,
Ross

p.s. rather than giving a brief synopsis of each album, I decided a link would be better served (for you and the artist); this way you can write your own synopsi and be your own critic.

From My Home To Yours

I want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful time with friends and family and I hope you'll all eat to your hearts content and laugh 'till you cry. Watch your favorite flicks and dance to some great tunes. But most of all, take a few minutes and thank one another for blessings and all of the good times!

Until we talk again, peace.
-Ross

97.98% = Oreo Coma

Yesterday I received my final grade for my first semester in seminary. (If you didn't know I was in seminary, I am enrolled in the Masters of Arts in Global Leadership through Fuller Seminary)

The course was great, and I was able to network with about 25-30 students from all over the globe. It was fairly intense - lots of reading and writing, all of which ended with a 27 pager!

But in the end I got a 97.98% in the class!!!

So to celebrate, Kate brought me home my greatest weakness, or strength - depends how you look at it.

Me and Oreos have a weird relationship. I dominate them. I can down an entire pack, and not realize it. I have been known to make Oreo shakes that are so thick and delicious, that they land people in the hospital to get their gall bladder's removed (true story).

Last night, I was the victor.

Thanks for reading!
-Ross

Things are interesting with little ones...

Things are interesting with little ones...

2 weeks ago, Cora got a nasty cold, and kept it for a week.

Last Monday, Kate got the cold, and kept it for a week.

Last Friday, I got the cold, and I still have it.

2 days ago, Olive got the cold, and still has it.

Thanks a lot Cora!

Just kidding.

Kind of.

Peace,
Ross

Book Excerpt #16

Here's another brief look inside my upcoming book, Outsourcing God. I hope you enjoy it, wrestle it, and chat it up!

-Ross

----------------------------------------------

What is it about the weekly encounter we label “worship,” that causes such a stirring, such life change, or conversely nothing at all?

I believe that in our consumer-driven, materialistic society, we fall prey to the habitual re-creation of an entertainment encounter. And just because I use the term “entertainment,” doesn’t mean I’m referring to a particular style of encounter; contemporary, progressive, traditional, post-modern, blended, etc. Rather I’m referring to the fact that we try and dish out what gives “our people” what they want.

We spend an amazing amount of time calculating what will drive the numbers up and try and meet those expectations unequivocally. If that’s a rock band or pipe organ, we’ll do what brings in the numbers. After a season of positive encounters, we say that things are going well, budgets are in the right place, staffing is secure, and things are generally healthy. However, when these encounters leave us uneasy, we quickly blame the ministry staff, begin questioning the church’s stewardship, and eventually go down the road of, “oh, remember how things used to be…”

It’s a natural place to go. This line of thinking is very normal. However, the fact that we got there in the first place illuminates the real failure. The fact that we can, (in one week and one worship encounter), determine the encounter’s success by the ministry staff’s hard work, excellence and spiritual maturity, and the next week call it a failure, without any hesitation that just perhaps the encounter has something to do with how we arrive, the preparedness of our hearts, and the willingness of ourselves to be challenged, moved, and disrupted, shows how far the church has gone and how we’ve allowed the gods of culture to infiltrate.

Black Swan : Swirling with Artistry

Wow.

What a performance!

An epic film that should require a dose of Dramamine before it begins...

Darren Aronofsky did a fabulous job telling, and vividly showing, the ballet Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky). Aronofsky is also noted for The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream (one stand-out flick in my opinion). Black Swan is filmed and told in similar fashion - drugged out, and swirling with artistry. In an age of SAW and Hostel-esque movies, I am surprised people still squirm. Yet he was able to get the entire (sold-out) audience squirming and uneasy by the simplest act of Natalie's character clipping her fingernails.

Natalie Portman was beyond good. At no point did I doubt she was truly the Swan Queen, actually performing the ballet, consumed by her art and search for perfection.

This has been the first movie I've seen in a long while that left this long-lasting, art-filled, impression on me.

If you haven't seen it yet, go!

Peace,
Ross