This has been a most unique Christmas for us. My mother died this year. This was my family’s first Christmas without the heart and soul of Christmas celebrations. As we enjoyed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Father and my sister’s family, I was struck by my Mother’s presence in our celebrations. The joy of our feast and our gift giving and our family’s laughter were handed down from my mother. She was there with us.

On Christmas we enjoyed a beautiful candlelight service that included The Lord’s Supper. This very special tradition is handed down from our Lord and when we celebrate in this way, we are touching God in a intimate way.

Christ is with us in a way my Mother can never be… Continue reading

A lot has changed for me this year. In 2009, my wife and I moved to a new apartment, I started The One21 Music, my grandmother passed on, I met some great new friends, reconnected with some old ones, started a band, went to SXSW for the first time (really), grew my beard out (epic), did a ton of interviews, saw some amazing music, tried to buy a house and failed, and celebrated my 3rd year of marriage. There was a lot more, but those are some of big points for me. 2009 has been eventful to say the least.

The other night, my wife and I were sitting in our office on our separate computers (she’s a Mac, Im a PC), and as usual, we were listening… Continue reading | 2 Comments

David Bazan is agnostic. That is not news to many, but to scores of Pedro The Lion’s and David Bazan’s Christian fans it is news we are trying to deny. But we cannot deny the words out of David Bazan’s mouth. This not interpretation of his new set of songs in Curse Your Branches. In an interview with the Chicago Reader, David Bazan clearly states he is agnostic.

Why do I bring this up now?  We at One21music grabbed Curse Your Branches on its release date.  We were immediately enthralled with the beauty of David Bazan’s music and the painful honesty of his lyrics.  Like many Christians who are fans… Continue reading | 4 Comments

A father, a son and a believer, I have so many experiences of the beauty and exhilaration of fatherhood.  I have been blessed.  My father set a beautiful example.  I have been able to enjoy my sons all the way into their young adult lives.  I stand in the transcendent glow of our heavenly Father, no matter if I am the obedient or prodigal son.  So I put forth these ideas, not as an expert, but as an exuberant practitioner.

Three Simple Steps To Real Fatherhood

Be There- The deepest magic of fatherhood is to be present.  When my boys were just starting elementary school I changed jobs from one in which I worked 65 hours per week to one in which I worked 45 hours per week.  The block building, morning… Continue reading

If you hope to understand the movement and the fashion that is To Write Love On Her Arms, you must understand the story. For some this is a story about depression, addiction and recovery.  For some it is the story of the fastest growing charitable organization ever.  For some it is the story of a clothing brand that exploded into the marketplace.  For some it is the story of how the underground Christian music scene fueled a social phenomenon.  It is all of those things but it is none of those things.

This is the story of a girl who was finally willing to accept love and found life.  This is the story of a man… Continue reading | 2 Comments

Colossians 1
21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven…

Hebrews 2
14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15and free those who all their… Continue reading | 4 Comments

Holy Saturday

Posted by: Spirit in Meditation

I no longer know what is real and what has been conjured in the recesses of my fear-racked imagination.  Yesterday, He was with me.  On that tree, in that place.  Yesterday, I knew Him and I could embrace what He was and I had rejoiced in the Knowing.

Today He is gone.

He hung on that tree and cried out in our shared agony and I was rapturous with the suffering.  Together we reached the pinnacle of our mutual damnation and it became clear to us both that we were seeking answers beyond our knowledge and our… Continue reading | 1 Comment

The price paid for our salvation was high.

Careful, this video is graphic

Colossians 1
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things… Continue reading | 1 Comment

Uncertainty prevails.  Many of us have lost much of our retirement.  Many of us are unsure of our jobs. The war rages on.  The government is putting our country into crushing debt, with deficit spending.  Countries are calling for the creation of a global currency to replace the dollar.  Our future is dark.

Darkness is the illusion.  When we look at the world we are looking at the illusion.  We have convinced ourselves that the world is light and the spirit cannot be seen. The Apostle John disagrees in his Gospel (1:4,5). “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

We are still living in the curse and the world is hard.  We… Continue reading | 2 Comments

I have been rambling on and on about how we, as believers, can transcend the troubles that we experience as we walk through this life on Earth.

In Part One, I shared with you Christ’s command, from Matthew 6:25-34, to not worry about the troubles of this world (”what we shall eat and what we shall wear”) but to seek first His Kingdom.  That is achingly simple yet seemingly impossible.

In Part Two, I discussed how the curse God placed on us through Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:14-19) focuses our attention on worldly matters and distracts us from His Kingdom.

The curse is real.  It does force us to focus on what we shall eat and what we shall wear.  The curse has caused man to desire… Continue reading | 1 Comment