1. Lose 50 lbs
2. Produce an awesome recital
3. Release an album with half the proceeds going to a charity
4. Send some of my choir & pep band arrangements to publishing houses
5. Produce media packages helping churches reach today’s generation
6. Let love find me again
7. Finally break through what’s been holding me back for 6 years
8. Find my true self in all this pushing

November Evening by Christopher Norton (4-mallet Marimba)
Lonely City Suite by Jason Baker (Snare Drum)
Trilogy by Tim Huesgen (4-mallet Vibraphone)
Six Ideas for Snare, Bass & Cymbal by Dave Hollinden (Multiple Percussion)
Tambourin Chinois by Fritz Kreisler, arr. by Green (Xylophone)
Tangents by James Campbell (Timpani)
A Boy and a Girl by Eric Whitacre, arr. by Wolf (Marimba Quartet)

This is a big undertaking, time to get to work!

One by one, we can change this world; put aside our differences, and look at what we have in common.  Lend your voice.  Lend your voice to a choir of nations, a choir of cultures, a choir of the Earth.  Instead of being opposing forces, let us be blessings to one another.  Who cares if we practice different religious views?  We all want the same things; peace, kindness, a better world for our children.  We could unite as one, work together, as one, love each other, as one.  We have the power.  We have the power to make this world a better place.  One, by one, by one.

One by one, we can change this world; put aside our differences, and look at what we have in common.  Today we are divided, we are separated, we do not always get along.  What if we looked at ourselves as one, one human race, coming together in unity, to make a difference.  We can look past our faults, forget our past discrepancies, and choose to focus on other things; peace, equality, love.  We have the power.  We have the power to make this world a better place.  One, by one, by one.

One by one, we can change this world; put aside our differences, and look at what we have in common.  What do we leave behind?  A world of differences, a world of war, a world of poverty.  What if we left behind a legacy of peace?  Remembered by our compassion to one another, and not our judgements.  Think about what we could leave behind, the differences we could make, if we united as one.  We have the power.  We have the power to make this world a better place.  One, by one, by one.

One by one, we can change this world; put aside our differences, and look at what we have in common.  We need to work.  We must work today for a better tomorrow.  A tomorrow that is free of AIDS.  A tomorrow that is free of war.  A tomorrow where our environment still exists.  A tomorrow where poverty is history.  Where poverty is history.  Right now.  Right now.  Right now is when we make this change.  Today is an opportunity, tomorrow is a blessing.  We have the power.  We have the power to make this world a better place.  One, by one, by one.

One by one, we can change this world; put aside our differences, and look at what we have in common.  What do you believe in?  God?  Gods?  No God?  What if we put all that aside?  What about the power of love?  Do you believe that everyone deserves to be happy?  Truly happy?  Do you believe in a better future for our children?  Should we question each other’s beliefs, or should we find common ground and common goals?  We have the power.  We have the power to make this world a better place.  One, by one, by one.

1. First Important Lesson – “Know The Cleaning Lady”

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

“Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “hello.”

I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

2. Second Important Lesson – “Pickup In The Rain”

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.

A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home.

A special note was attached. It read: “Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.”

Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3. Third Important Lesson – “Remember Those Who Serve”

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked. “50¢,” replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

“Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. “35¢!” she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left.

When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4. Fourth Important Lesson – “The Obstacles In Our Path”

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand – “Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.”

5. Fifth Important Lesson – “Giving When It Counts”

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes, I’ll do it if it will save her.”

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away?”.

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

100. Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye
99. Save The Last Dance – Michael Buble
98. Speed of Sound – Coldplay
97. Yellow – Coldplay
96. My Name Is Jonas – Weezer
95. Pick Up The Pieces – Average White Band
94. Message in a Bottle – The Police
93. Back in Black – AC/DC
92. Gimme Some Lovin’ – The Blues Brothers
91. American Woman – Lenny Kravitz
90. What I Like About You – The Romantics
89. Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry
88. Oye Como Va – Santanna
87. Jungle Boogie – Kool & The Gang
86. Disco Inferno – The Trampps
85. Birdland – Weather Report
84. Land of A Thousand Dances – Chris Kenner
83. ABC – Jackson 5
82. Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) – The Offspring
81. Alone – Heart
80. Never My Love – The Associations
79. Another One Bites the Dust – Queen
78. Take Five – Dave Brubeck
77. I Want You Back – Jackson 5
76. We Are The Champions – Queen
75. Opposites Attract – Paula Abdul
74. We Will Rock You – Queen
73. Beautiful – Christina Aguilera
72. Separate Worlds – Journey
71. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
70. Any Way You Want It – Journey
69. Somebody to Love – Queen
68. Down To The Nightclub – Tower of Power
67. Dancing Queen – ABBA
66. What is Hip? – Tower of Power
65. China Grove – The Doobie Brothers
64. (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life – Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes
63. Pinball Wizard – The Who
62. Welcome to the Jungle – Guns N’ Roses
61. You Give Love a Bad Name – Bon Jovi
60. All of Me – Billie Holiday
59. Bad – Michael Jackson
58. Dreams – Van Halen
57. Danger Zone – Kenny Loggins
56. Shining Star – Earth, Wind & Fire
55. Saturday In The Park – Chicago
54. Car Wash – Rose Royce
53. Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is? – Chicago
52. Kiss From A Rose – Seal
51. Beginnings – Chicago
50. Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
49. Livin’ On a Prayer – Bon Jovi
48. September – Earth, Wind & Fire
47. Heartbreaker – Pat Benatar
46. Black Velvet – Alannah Myles
45. Crash Into Me – Dave Matthews Band
44. Out Of My League – Stephen Speaks
43. Just the Way You Are – Billy Joel
42. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For – U2
41. The World I Know – Collective Soul
40. The Best Is Yet to Come – Frank Sinatra
39. Mandy – Barry Manilow
38. Baba O’Riley – The Who
37. True Colors – Cyndi Lauper
36. And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going – Dreamgirls
35. Don’t Rain On My Parade – Barbra Streisand
34. Can’t Buy Me Love – The Beatles
33. Something In The Way She Moves – James Taylor
32. Feelin’ Good – Michael Buble
31. Pure Imagination – Gene Wilder
30. Jump – Van Halen
29. Beat It – Michael Jackson
28. Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
27. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) – Marvin Gaye
26. Rainbow Connection – Kermit The Frog
25. Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton
24. Carry On Wayward Son – Kansas
23. Don’t You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds
22. Being Alive – Company
21. Georgia On My Mind – Ray Charles
20. Cry Me a River – Julie London
19. When A Man Loves a Woman – Percy Sledge
18. Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf
17. More Than A Feeling – Boston
16. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses
15. I Dreamed A Dream – Les Miserables
14. Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
13. Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynryd
12. Thriller – Michael Jackson
11. Dream a Little Dream – The Mamas & The Papas
10. Bridge Over Troubled Water – Paul Simon
9. What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
8. Man In The Mirror – Michael Jackson
7. Here’s That Rainy Day – Sammy Davis Jr.
6. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
5. To Sir With Love – Lulu
4. Imagine – John Lennon
3. Somewhere Over The Rainbow – Judy Garland
2. Somewhere – West Side Story
1. Smile – Charlie Chaplin

These days we can even go as far as trying to figure out how much money we should spend on a family member or friend when they’re birthday or Christmas comes along. “How much is Tom really worth? If I spend this much money on Sally, than should Tom get that much too? Will Tom spend this much on me? If I spend this much on Tom than will I get a good gift in return?” We keep track of all these expenditures when we’re told how much we’re charged as we hear the plastic swipe. But there are moments we don’t get those receipts.

These moments all have one thing in common: we don’t think how much it cost us, but what it brought to others. We don’t get a receipt for paying that 50 cents for a cup of lemonade from little Jimmy down the street on that hot summer day. When little Jimmy see’s those coins drop into his collection jar, his face lights up like the 4th of July, which in turn makes us smile back, even through the pucker since Jimmy got his lemon/sugar ratio a little off. And when you see a smile like that, it’s almost impossible not to leave a good tip, that’s first class service. It takes us back to when things used to be simpler, when moments of joy were only a footstep away instead of a rarity in a “go, go, go and then go some more” world.

I think it’s amazing the amount we value the tangibles in our day to day lives. We need the newest thing on the market, the biggest, the smallest, the most expensive, whatever it’s feature is that sets it apart from other products, we want it. And in turn, we get that receipt that sometimes tells us how much we think we’re worth. What if we were more occupied with our intangibles that are in our day to day lives? Parents are amazing with this, but they’ll quickly jump back into the pool of judging based on worth right away when put in different environments, we all do from time to time.

An 8 year old boy on his way home from playing at a friend’s house spots some dandelions by the sidewalk. He picks them and upon arrival home, runs to his mother and gives them to her simply for “being the best”. She displays them front and center in a tiny vase for everyone of her neighbors and friends to see when they come over.

After running errands and getting ice cream with her dad, a child enters her father’s office when seeing where daddy works because he needs to swing by and pick up a few things, and she notices there’s no color. The next day while heading out the door, the father notices there’s a drawing in his briefcase of his daughter and himself sharing some ice cream and signed “From: Laura” on it. He hangs it up at work and receives comments on the colorful drawing every time a client enters his workspace. And each time, he gets to brag about his little lady. These are moments not easily forgotten that we carry with us. These are the receipts that count.

Why don’t we judge how much we’re worth from these receipts instead of the receipt for the 42-inch plasma that we got talked into when looking for a 30-inch? Do they bring as much satisfaction to us as the time we knew how truly fortunate we were and made pies to take to the People’s City Mission for Thanksgiving and received a “thank you” in return?

Make it a point to collect these type of receipts and save them for when reflecting on what your worth is instead of your account balance. Next time the plastic swipes, try and remember the lemonade, dandelions, drawings and pies in your life…

Well here’s your chance to see! We filmed this in honor of our new church location opening after four years of hard work.

Featuring Cheryl Keyser, our Pastor’s wife, here is: We’re in The Village

Enjoy!

Rethink Church:

Teaching, healing, feeding the hungry, speaking out about injustices, calling the world to live a life devoted to being faithful… Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower His twelve disciples to begin a movement comprised of these elements that we know as “the great commission”.  He said “Go!  Go into the world!”  Let me set a plot…

The date is October 31st, 1517 in in the town of Wittenberg, Germany.  A law-school-dropout-turned-monk would use a few nails and one piece of paper to make the small town the epicenter of a remarkable movement.  Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses that began the “protestant reformation”.

Luther boldly asked his generation to rethink church, as did John Wesley in the 18th Century, or Billy Grahm in the 20th century.  This isn’t a call to find new theology, to move away from our commitment to scripture, or distance ourselves from Wesleyan tradition.  But a call to refocus, narrow our ecclesiology, to ask “What has God called this church to be in the 21st century?”.

We want to challenge those outside the church to envision church not as a static institution, but as a movement.  A movement of people empowered to take ministry into the world.  To challenge ourselves to see our church in a broader way.  Not tied to our worship on Sunday morning, but on all days and all ways, locally and globally, and when it comes right down to it, making a difference in people’s lives.

What if we changed all those glowing exit signs above the doors in our church to signs marked “entrance”?  After all, it was John Wesley who said, “The world is my parish”.  Jesus thought the same way.  Most of his teachings took place outside, with the people, not at a certain time at a certain location with coffee and cookies available.  You see, rethinking church isn’t about moving in a new direction, but doing things the way they were before.  Ya know, Darrel Berg was here this past week and when we were touring the new building and seeing the progress they made, Darrel pointed out something I had not even noticed.  Has anyone recognized something special about the design of Phase 1 out at Village Gardens?  If you look closely you can see a good amount resemblance between it and what is currently Great Hall here on the north side of the property.  Which technically was Phase 1 back in 1893.

When we look at the first lesson of today, James 2, verses 14-17, we hear the writer talk about “faith with no works”.  Right now, the United Methodist Church has been doing great about making sure we have Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open doors and our six signs of discipleship.  We have the faith, now where are those solid acts of works?

In public school we learned about grammar; how it works, what a proper sentence structure is, when to use adjectives, nouns, verbs and other boring stuff.  For a young child, this could be a difficult concept to understand, something that took awhile to grasp onto.  I always asked my teacher why I had to change, I was perfectly fine with the way I wrote and talked.  One of the most confusing things about the English language was how some words looked or sounded the same but meant different things or had different purposes.  It’s time to look at some of our key words differently as well:

What if “church” wasn’t a building, but something we do?  And what if the word “open” in front of our hearts, minds and doors wasn’t an adjective, but a verb?  Calling us to Open hearts, Open minds, and Open doors.  It’s time to redefine what we do.  You might ask me why we have to change.  You might tell me you’re fine with the way things are now.  And I’ll tell you the very same reason my teacher told me, “It’s necessary to be able to communicate with the world”.

In our positions as development consultants with the United Methodist Churches in the Lincoln area, we are encouraging several of our churches to adopt this new rethink church concept.  So how can Trinity, rethink church, in a way that makes us unique?  Well, we think Trinity should be Fresh.

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Fresh:

We’re searching for that feeling you get when you smell fresh laundry.  It feel’s like home, it makes you feel clean, it’s comfort.  We’re searching for the feeling of holding a new-born child, that sense of love, the hope you have for the world he or she grows up in, that sense of awe you have for life.  We’re searching for the feeling of fresh bread from the oven, it’s warm, it’s filling, it’s something to share.  So I’ll pose the question… Why shouldn’t church be the same way?

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.  You can click on each image to make it larger and then click your browser “back button” in order to back to the gallery.