This could be the coolest recording studio ever…and it’s here in Humboldt.

About 99% of Christians I know think Benny Hinn is way over the top. In the past couple of years he’s received a lot of attention by various television programs for his outrageous ministry and very non-transparent financial records. Having gone through a hyper-charismatic phase early in my Christian walk I saw a lot of the things that ol’ Benny does quite a bit. The most common ‘expression of the spirit’ is called, being “Slain in the Spirit” and is very common at his rallies. Although found nowhere in the Bible, at hyper-charismatic churches around the country this expression along with others, is pretty standard. There are a few things that rub me wrong about this.

1. Who wants to be killed in the Spirit? That’s what being slain means. Why would I want to be killed (for pretend) in my spirit? Some people would say that it’s a joyful, happy experience. Why not call it being “knocked on my ass by joy” then?

2. What’s the point? You’ve just been knocked down, now what? I’ve asked people what they’ve experienced while laying there on the floor and most of them tell me things that God speaks to me when I’m not on the floor.

3. Where’s the fruit? After a wave of these kind of expressions swept through our area some years ago the church was the same size and the community was unchanged. In fact, a lot of people got so wrapped up in the emotion of the experience that their spiritual growth was actually stunted. What do I mean? Imagine if my relationship with my wife were based purely on emotions. It would last a few years at most, and fade away. This is the danger of being so focused on the emotional and quasi supernatural in our relationship with God.

Now, do I believe that God can and does work through extraordinary circumstances. Of course, the Bible is full of them. I’ve also experienced them. Can being “knocked on your ass by joy” be legitimately caused by God? You bet. But with God, there’s always a reason for it. If you’re shaking, laughing, falling, or speaking “in the spirit” there will always be a clear reason for it in the end or fruit as we call it. If not, it was probably just you, not God.

Christian or not I’d love to hear your thoughts. Also check out this ridiculous Benny Hinn video. I had to add this more humorus one too.

An older couple were taking a stroll through the pristine Redwoods just north of where I live, when a mountain lion decided to intervene. The 70 year old man was attacked and his 65 year old wife reacted like you or I would. She jabbed him in the eye with a pen and hit him with a stick. Read the story here.

I played with them as a kid but it’s been many years and they were all but out of mind until I heard that the movie was being made. Thank you modern era and CG for bringing a kids imagination to the screen. It looks very good.
I doubt they’ll use the original theme for the movie though.

There’s nothing quite like waking up to multiple gun shots right outside your bedroom window.

It was about 12:30 am and I hadn’t been asleep that long when Jess and I both woke to gun shots and screeching tires. I jumped out of bed and looked out the window and saw another car with it’s dome light on sitting there, and then he took off too.

And that was that. I called the police and they said they would send someone out to investigate but we all knew that wasn’t going to happen, and it didn’t. If we ever find out what it was about I’ll update this post. In the meantime it’s just another day in Fields Landing.

I don’t know what the real inspiration for the song Fix You, by Coldplay was but this video will definitely give you a different view of it. The following performance is by a senior choir called Young at Heart.
They’ve also covered The Ramones and Sonic Youth.

Life has been (in the words of Gnarls Barkley) crazy lately. Crazy busy mostly. But also just plain crazy. Of course the Holidays are always busy and there is the typical let-down that most people feel this time of year, but for me things haven’t slowed down a bit.

Family life is a constant adventure. Jude is growing like a weed and continues to eat, sleep, and poop…and that’s about it. Funny enough he prefers to poop when Daddy is holding him. So much so that Jess and I call a certain position that I hold him in the “poo position”. He does have more awake time lately and is interacting more which is fun. The other day while I was holding him he was jabbering away in baby lingo and then out of nowhere projectile vomited onto my pants and shirt. Good times.

Work at FCC is busy this time of year as well. Part of my job is setting up and overseeing small groups at our church. We’ve launched a few new ones recently and are spending time visioning for the coming year which is exciting. I’m heading to Denver for a week in early February for a conference as well so if anyone happens to be in the area let me know.

Humboldt County is a pretty temperate place. Typically it’s in the mid-60’s during the summer and low 50’s during the winter with some colder nights. Maybe once a decade we’ll actually have a chance of snow at the coast which is extremely rare.

It’s been in the 30’s today and will be colder tonight with…a chance of snow. I’m hoping if it snows that it sticks so I can snap a picture of snow on the beach. We’ll see, stay tuned.

This Summer we’re heading to the land of Thai for a 10 day outreach to work with some friends of ours and local Thai ministries. Below is the promotional video we put together for our church to get people interested in going.