Book Excerpt #2

Last week I gave you a quick look inside of the book I'm working on. Here's another excerpt. Please feel free to give feedback. Hope you enjoy!

-Ross


..EVERY DAY..

VERSE
You know I’ve never heard it’s easy
Can’t get ahead of the game
But who am I kiddin’
Who believes

We seek a reason for believing
Need to see the change
It’s the feel and touch, to feel loved that much
That makes me believe

CHORUS
There’s a chance to leave or stay
A chance to run away
I’d rather fall in your grace
Every day, every day
Doesn’t quite make sense
Never falls into place
But that’s the love I guess
Every day, every day

VERSE
Seem’s so righteous with the reasons
Like life ain’t coming my way
Cause I sense the torment
And I feel the pain

CHORUS
There’s a chance to leave or stay
A chance to run away
I’d rather fall in your grace
Every day, every day
Doesn’t quite make sense
Never falls into place
But that’s the love I guess
Every day, every day



“Faith makes no sense.”

I’ve had so many conversations with skeptics that see faith as a crutch for the weak, the hurting, the oppressed.

I can’t totally argue against that. I know I’ve drifted away from an unwavering, solid faith, only to return in desperation (see Conveniently Useful).

But maybe the most common dispute I hear regarding faith, and the lack thereof, is its intangibility.

How can you believe in something you’ve never seen?

How can you trust in something or someone that isn’t audible?

Good questions.

Belief in something so intangible and requiring of faith might seem nutty, but I believe God is more tangible than you’d ever imagine. Its something you never knew was surrounding you and one day discover its been there all along. And I’m not just trying to sound churchy.

I often offer as a rebuttal to the faithless, the idea that when we live as we were created to live, God is nearer than you’d like most of the time. When we act as the hands and feet of Christ, God is present all of the time.

There’s no hiding.

There’s no escaping.

There’s no running away.

God just simply, is.

And all the while, I can deny God, curse God, run from God, learn to hate God because of his perceived and forgotten distance. But as I try, I’m reminded over and over of his love, provision, blessing, closeness, and grace.

Every day.

Perhaps its because of the circle of people I run around with, but I’m constantly reminded of who God is in a very tangible way as I see people stepping up to the plate in times and ways that are unexpected and unwarranted. I see God in the work of Martin, the director of the state’s largest homeless shelter. I see God in the raspy voice of Carol, the visionary and director of an orphanage in Haiti. I see God in the numerous volunteers that travel several days each week from the comforts of their suburban neighborhoods to do work, deliver bread, and care for the less fortunate in the inner city. I see God in the raw passion of a talented musician stepping to the microphone. I see God in the goodness of those sacrificing weekend after weekend to build a home for Habitat. I see God in the elderly couple that will never come to appreciate the things I appreciate, but make it their point to affirm me, and my work.

I see God.

Every day.

I’m reminded of God’s mercy and grace daily when I myself fail because I seek myself first, and idolize me, my wants, my pursuits, my desires. I’m reminded of God’s perfect love when Kate wakes up with Cora at 5AM and lets me sleep in a few extra hours. Now that’s love folks!

And I hope you don’t find these examples trivial, but when you consider the enormity of God potentially being every hand and foot, those little unnamed niceties truly embody God.

Sure, its easy to see God in Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, Rick Warren, but what about the non-celebrity Christ followers?

What about the regular dude?

And even if you can acknowledge God and his work in and around you, isn’t it still your prerogative to walk away and turn your back on Him? I suppose.

But that’s the love I guess.

Sure, I can walk away. I can turn my back on God. But even if I did, God’s love wouldn’t budge. And that’s the truly amazing thing about God.

Every day.

He loves me.

No.

Matter.

What.

Performing Songwriter Magazine (Jan/Feb 2009)

Here's the Performing Songwriter Magazine review of my newest album, The River Child...

Ross Christopher’s The River Child is a minimalist epic, lyrically and musically compact. Self-penned, recorded, engineered and produced, it’s a pure DIY effort.

Hailed for his electric violin prowess in live performance, Christopher is subdued, even when he trades extended guitar and violin solos—with himself—on “Blinded My Eyes (Wasting),” which borrows Dylan’s oft-quoted “Watchtower” minor progression. At turns vocally suggestive of Live frontman Ed Kowalczyk sans the trademark snarl, Christopher sings with a quiet intensity. Faith is a consistent thread as he reworks “Amazing Grace” with an altered melody line and later sings, “Release Him, let Him go” in “Barabbas,” appropriating both the Biblical prisoner’s persona and crowd’s words speaking of (and to) Christ prior to the crucifixion. —GMG

www.rosschristopher.com


Peace,
Ross

Fox News Sunday

I was driving the other day and heard a short segment of Fox News Sunday, hosted by Chris Wallace. They were discussing the Blagojevich scandal and kept using the phrase "under the taint." Ummm, how can that be right?

Here's a perfect example:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=114553&title=level-of-taint


-Ross

We Must Be Doing Something Right

About 45 minutes ago a guy came into our church to ask our facility director for some extra money to help pay his bus fare. Morris gave him a few bucks and the guy went on his way.

That's what we thought anyway...

Instead, he went upstairs into the sanctuary and stole the laptop that runs all of our multimedia.

Morris called the police and they came for descriptions and serial numbers.

We'll probably never see the laptop again. You know what, its $1000 and at the end of the day its not going to shut us down. We will still worship this week, with or without the use of multimedia. God will continue to pour out his love, and through us, hopefully we'll be something tangible to a person in need.

Crime sucks. Thievery sucks. So don't do it.

But I hope this guy, whoever he is and wherever he might be right now, learns to change his ways. Feels a little better from the bus fare we did give him. And if he is in such need, that his resorting to stealing is completely felt as necessary, I hope the lifting of the laptop gets him over the hump - enough so that he can stop.

All in all though, something tells me we must be doing something right. We're located in a place that says we can help, and there are people in need all around us.

I think I get fooled by the guise of being in "the suburbs," that poverty and need is somehow non-existent. Welp, today proved otherwise.

Tonight, pray for this guy.

That's all for now,
Ross

Book Excerpts

Maybe you know, maybe you don't, but I've been working on a book for some time now.

It's actually more of a collection of my songs/poetry and the commentary and ideas behind them.

I thought it'd be fun to toss up a few pages here and there in the next few weeks and months. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Is it crap? Is it worth taking the next step and work at binding and publishing?

Currently it sits at about 100 pages.

So without any more rambling, here's the preface:

PREFACE-A-TORY NOTE

This book is not christian.

This book is not secular.

It is a book to find you where you are.

It is a book created out of release, desire, question, intimacy, torment, doubt, hypocrisy, travel, and remedy.

The intent of this book, or collection, or smattering of ideas (whatever you might call it) is to be restorative, thought provoking, and hopefully inspiring the artist within. You might read it and find it chaotic. If you don’t, you might want to get yourself checked out.

I wrote this and pieced it together in just that fashion.

Life is chaotic.

Relationships are chaotic.

Out of chaos, God created the universe. Jesus entered into our chaos to transform and submit a new way of living - a beautiful new way of life and possibility. Never are we asked for, or mandated, to create order as a pre-requisite for God’s entrance and work in and around us. Instead, I believe that in his perfect creative genius, God works out of chaos. And that brings us to how we integrate that idea of chaotic living. How do we survive something that lacks order? How can we understand anything if chaos is central to its being? How can there be anything finite?

It brings us to the debate of what it means to be human and fully alive - a new humanity.

Perhaps you’ve heard or even read about the notion of a new humanity. The humanity God intended us to truly live is real. When we cover up sin as “just being human,” we’re lying to ourselves and the intent God had in mind from that perfectly creative moment when God hovered over nothingness and breathed life into the vast expanse of what we now call the universe.

From this chaotic, divine moment, God began creating his new humanity. He separated dark from light, put land masses on the earth and surrounded it with water, which was also separated from the sky, filled the water and skies with birds and fish, put animals of all shapes and sizes on the dry ground, then began the real craziness when he created and called human “Adam and Eve.” From Adam and Eve came more kids, and from those kids, more kids, and here today, we have a world population counter adding and subtracting lives somewhere between 7 and 8 billion.

From two naked souls dropped into a beautiful garden in the middle east, we have upwards of 8 billion and counting today.

But, that’s what you get when you’re naked right?

With the notion of a new humanity you have to understand that being human was to also be like God. After all, Genesis says we were made in his image - creative beings with the capability to love as he does.

In no way am I attempting to de-throne God and his amazing greatness, but what I am trying to get us to at least discuss is the idea that when God said we were created in his image, he wasn’t lying.

Therefore we are all creative beings.

Just because you don’t play an instrument or don’t have canvases on easels strewn throughout your home doesn’t mean you’re not creative. Again, unless God is a liar, you are creative. And if you still refute this idea, I hope you’ll see differently once you’ve reached the end.

Maybe this is the first time you’ve heard any of these ideas. Please take in the following pages as a hopeful possibility for humanity in the present and future. A possibility for your friends and families, your local church, your community, and the person you share a cube with at work.

Now you know my frame of reference.

Hold on, things are about to get very chaotic!

Peace,
Ross

New Show (for us anyway)

Call us lame, but this New Years Eve, Kate and I stayed at home and took advantage of the "watch instantly" function of Netflix.

No movies.
No documentaries.

We decided to watch the Showtime Original, Weeds.Welp, we're addicted now. Since Wednesday night around 10, we've watched both 1st and 2nd seasons. Pretty darn good.

Drug themed show about life struggles and human interaction. Great writing.

Do yourself a favor and check it out.

-R&K

'09

Just wishing everyone a HAPPY NEW YEARS!

-R, K, & C