FaMiLy is MiNiStRy is LiFe = MiNiStRy = FaMiLy

I love music. Essentially I like all music but I really love good music. Like choice food, music is delicious to the ears. There are so many variations and nuances, changes and consistencies, rhythm and rhyme. Music also does something for the soul. Like a good meal, it is satisfying to hear an excellent melody. I could make music my life. Ohh, and then there is live music. What is better than actually hearing someone play in person?

Last night I was able to stop by a coffee shop to hear some new friends play a few of their tunes, Steve Perry and Tim Hart, members of the band Wintersound (from Australia). It was obvious when listening to Steve sing that he loves music too. He is a talented musician, but he hasn't made music his life even though he could so easily. While talking with Steve about his and his wife’s journey, especially the past year, we were both commenting on the importance of family, in the sense of Christian committed, community life. He and Kelly (his wife) had gained the value of family while living/interacting with the band members. For Steve and his fellow band members, music is not the highest priority. Steve said, “Music is only 10%. We’re a family first.” Wow! For a musician who would like to make it big, that is a huge statement. Family first, not music? What does that mean? Does it mean that the relationship is more important than what is produced? Absolutely! Does it mean giving freedom to a band member to leave the country, right after making an album? Yes. Does it mean giving up record deals so that the friendships can go deeper? You bet. Living this value of family isn’t an easy thing but will create something far richer. It’s a sacrifice, yet the sound that is produced is more pleasant than the most beautiful melody one has heard. I want to hear that tune often. I want to see that song played more.

So I love music, but I also love family. And I want to embrace the value of family as Steve and Kelly have.

The method of creating music, as Wintersound has done, is counter-intuitive and just logically backwards. One would think that in order to be a better band you must make music the top priority, not relationships. However in God’s kingdom nearly everything is paradoxical. In order to go high you must go low. To become the greatest you must become the servant of all, like Jesus did. Steve said that music used to be at about 80% priority but now commitment to a Christian community is first. But now where does this leave ministry? Life isn’t just about family! As a Christian don’t we need to always think about how ministry fits into life?

While Steve and I were talking, I was reminded of a phrase, "Life is ministry and ministry is life." So if life and ministry are the same and family is a top priority, then everything kind of goes together.

As a follower of Christ, one learns the value of ministry, because that is what Jesus did. He gave his life away. And that is exactly what ministry is. Jesus defines it pretty well for us--giving our life away to people. There is no distinction between living life and doing ministry. I don't have a full-time job and do ministry on my days off. I'm a minister wherever I am, whatever I'm doing. (And a musician is a minister whether he has a guitar in his hands or not.) As intentional as I am at doing my job, ministry will happen similarly. As deliberate as I am at being a family ministry will also happen. We want life to ebb and flow between the pages of committed relationships with people who are pursuing Jesus.

Since ministry is giving our life away, then our first and foremost assignment is to spend our life on our brothers and sisters, our family.

So life is ministry is family and ministry is family is life and life is family is ministry and family is ministry is life...

I Urge You to Attend

Jogging to Lake Superior for Chinese Food

I think I have done this run three or four times now. The first was not exactly this route as I set out running east to see if I would end up at Lake Superior, not knowing how far it was, partially zig-zagging along the way. I was telling myself I should turn around but then I was too curious and kept running. When I saw blueness, which was only a few blocks away, I decided it was worth doing it! I did the route that is posted the second time, which is a more direct and my legs thanked me. Today was possibly the fourth time and I kept to a fairly precise route so that I could google it. I run the route today under 80 minutes! I hope this is good training for my supposed triathlon that I want to do. I have decided that what initially motivates my running is not the training goal but the opportunity to discover new places. I like to find things and since I don't have a car or bike then I must jog. After I have found a park or lake then I have to find another reason to go there. Today the reason for running was to work off the delicious Chinese food I ate last night. So I didn't run to find Chinese food but to get ride of it by exercising. :)

Dan's Amazing 9

So I've been trying to marginally stay in shape this past year. Dan Quance has been my inspiration and motivation. He's running the Twin Cities Marathon this next fell. I'm trying to keep up with him. He allows me to run with him on occasion. Today we ran/jogged over 9 miles. I think it's the longest I have run in a couple years. This was the course we took near downtown Minneapolis. Try it if you live in the area:

Another Entry

Wow. Two entries in one day. I'm so bold. That might be a record. Perhaps now I can see if others read this and make a comment. Unfortunately, I don't have much to say at the moment. I'm in Chicago waiting for tomorrow, which will be another day on reserve (on-call)waiting to fly. Tonight I made two pieces of grilled chicken seasoned with garlic and red peppers, rolled in some lettuce, Swiss cheese,southwestern sauce, and flat bread. Tomorrow I will make a $3 steak for lunch and add some potatoes--can't beat a four dollar meal. The only thing I wish I could add is a nice glass of wine, but if I get called to fly that wouldn't be so good. I will have something to look forward to, I guess, when I am off the clock. I now live for the weekend, or properly my days off, which have been falling at the beginning of the week. It fits. Ciao-ciao.

No Entries

It's funny--I decided to check to see if I made any entries lately. I hadn't. I wonder if I could have made an entry without me knowing. That would be perfectly normal for me, yet still strange. It's a good thing I like myself, otherwise I might get upset with my strangeness.

Trainings Over!!! But the flying is here

I officially have a little over 10 hours now in my jetplane. (Well, it's not my jetplane, but American Eagle (AE) is paying me to fly theirs.) It's way more stressful than I thought, but not as boring. I still don't enjoy the flying yet, but hopefully when I get a little more comfortable with the routine I will recognize how cool it is that I get to fly a 50-passanger jet around the country. I have never really been interested in airline flying. However, I have seen it as a good step along the way to acquiring jet time. I am very gratefull for the opportunity to grow and expand my flying skills. This experience with training and now actually flying the aircraft has been humbling. This type of flying is really beyond me and it causes me to turn to God. It's interesting that God can use something that is so familiar to allow me to come to him for strength. I don't say that as a token statement, 'cause good Christians are supposed to give credit to God' for everything. I can say this because this level of flying is truly beyond my ability and interest, so God really has to come through for me. And that is a good thing. I like how God brings us to a place where we can't rely upon our own cleverness or skills. I hope that I can remain in this place, even after the stress passes. But I'm sure God will bring a test or two in another area to keep my learning curve and trust level up. God is good about allowing situations to enter our life that nearly forces us closer to him. I pray that I never get too smart to think I can do things on my own.

Side note: I completed ground school and simulator training a couple weeks ago. At that time I had to pass an FAA checkride which qualified me to fly the ERJ (Embraer) 145 jet. Now I fly 30-40 hours in Initial Operating Experience (IOE) with a special training Captain (CA) that clues me into techniques and helps me fine tune the skills necessary to fly with any CA in the company. I'm the First Officer, or co-pilot. I get to fly and land the plane along with the CA. After IOE I will be on reserve in Chicago (ORD), which means that I'm on call. My base is ORD, but I hope to commute from Minneapolis once I get a normal (non-reserve) schedule. I will live in a crashpad in ORD until then. (Crashpadd = an apartment for pilots where the rent is cheap and the rooms are shared; you get your own bed though.)