Grace Interrupting Karma

Bono, on the song "Grace", final song on "All That You Can't Leave Behind"...

"The universe operates by Karma, we all know that. For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. There is some atonement built in: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Then enters Grace and turns that upside down. I love it. I'm not talking about people being graceful in their actions but just covering over the cracks. Christ's ministry really was a lot to do with pointing out how everybody is a screw-up in some shape or form, there's no way around it. But then He was to say, 'Well, I am going to deal with those things for you. I will take on Myself all the consequences of sin." Even if you're not religious I think you'd accept that there are consequences to all the mistakes we make. And so Grace enters the picture to say, 'I'll take the blame, I'll carry your cross.' It is a powerful idea. Grace interrupting Karma."

Thanks Bono. I'm not so sure about the idea of "Christ pointing out how everybody is a screw-up in some shape or form". I think that is a bit of a stretch. Sure, he did that often when confronting the "religious right" of the day, but I wouldn't suggest that was a main thrust of his purpose.

I've never thought of putting the two concepts of Grace vs. Karma together like that. An interesting angle to discuss with a Buddhist. (Since I have so many of those conversations!) I did once know a girl who labelled herself a "Buddhist Christian"... not sure what that meant.

Comments wanted

Hey folks,

This may be my place to hash out my thoughts... my online journal. But it's certainly supposed to be interactive. So please feel encouraged to comment, debate, etc. It's all good. (And if I don't like what you say, I can always delete your comment! LOL!)

Happy Birthday, Babe!

Today we celebrate Arja's life - 30 years with us! Happy birthday to my beautiful wife!!!

A good friend and co-worker took the girls overnight for us (thank you Sandra!!). I had made the proverbial "best-laid plans" that were quickly waylayed by the snowy weather and busy traffic. Oh well - we had a fun time anyway.

After Arja had her 1-hour massage from Jen (thanks Jen!) we ended up getting dinner at Extreme Pita - not the romantic dinner I planned - but something we used to enjoy together years ago. And then it was off to Blockbuster to rent a movie and a quick stopover at Starbucks for some necessary beverage refreshment!

I think the best part of the weekend was being able to sleep in together until 9:30am! Wow - how much you take that for granted before you have children together!

A few hours of relaxed time at the mall, and then it was time to get the girls.

Soon we'll go out WITH the girls to celebrate tonight.

I'm so glad that I get to celebrate Arja's life with her. Thanks to Mom and Dad Albrecht for bringing her into the world 30 years ago, and raising a wonderful God-fearing woman who is perfect for me!!!

Arja - Happy Birthday. I love you! Thanks for choosing to spend life with me! I look forward to another 30 years or more! A couple lines from song lyrics come to mind:

"I'll never get tired of you." King's X
"All I want is you." U2

My heterosexual love affair with Bono & the boys

I love music. LOTS of various music. If you looked at my ipod, you'd see things ranging from Andrea Bocelli (an amazing operatic tenor), to Linkin Park, Marilyn Manson, John Denver, Neil Diamond, Dave Brubeck, Nichole Nordeman, and lots of other various stuff.

I've always loved music. I remember being very young - my parents took me to see Mannheim Steamroller. They are from Omaha - my hometown. They were revolutionary in the late 70s and through the 80s in terms of electronic/acoustic fusion experimental stuff. Very cool stuff. I was ENAMOURED with them. I almost took piano lessons from their keyboardist.

I started playing piano around the age of 4. I picked up drums at 16. I started taking classical voice training in college.

Music has been a part of my life.

I've always had bands I loved. There have always been a few that I really followed. Rush was the first one. I was in high school. I was a drummer. I was into unique rock that wasn't stale. Rush blew my mind. Neil Peart of course was a god (small 'g'). Geddy Lee could play a bass like nobody else.

Then it was King's X. They are the ultimate "musician's band." They are astounding. I followed them for years.

I still love Rush and King's X. But I don't "follow" them anymore.

My band of choice is now U2.

U2 is a little more accessible than Rush or King's X. Almost anyone can listen to U2. I have a love affair with them. With their music. With them as people. With their shows. Okay - I'm not over-the-top like some people I know (initials D.F.). I don't go to 8 or more shows per tour. I've actually only seen one show live - Vertigo - opening night in Toronto. Somebody blessed my socks off by giving me her ticket to go with her husband. It was, without a doubt, one of the most generous things I've ever witnessed on that level (doesn't compare to saving a life or that sort - but on its own level - it was HUGE!).

I could probably write a book about why I love them. I won't do that. But I'll share some stuff. I may come back to the post once in awhile and add more. It won't be exhaustive... but if you are curious about my love of them, maybe this will shed some light. I'll list reasons, but they won't be hierarchical. Reason #1 isn't the top reason - it's just a reason. Much of this is based on personal experience listening and watching, but also reading. I've read a number of things about them. The best has been "U2 by U2". Arja gave it to me for Christmas. It's a gorgeous book. Lots of photos. All "them" - not someone else writing about them.

1) The music. OK - duh! Of course I like a band for their music. But there is something special about their music. It transcends time. The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree - they still are incredible albums with incredible songs. But look at how they've grown and changed. They've been at it for 30 years... and their music morphs and changes. I wish I had been into them in the early 90s when Achtung Baby came out. I was too into Rush to care about U2 at the time. But that was the album that defined them as a band that had the goods to stay. It was a radical departure, and it was HOT! They continue to do that - morph, change, and stay current. So current that they continue to gain new fans. I know of teenagers today who hear Vertigo and are like "wow - what a cool new band!" - sorry guys - they aren't new... they're old enough to be your dads! Heck, even young kids can get turned onto them - my girls LOVE them!

2) The "band" dynamic. I think it's special that it's been the 4 of them for 30 years, and it wouldn't be any other way. Who else has maintained that? I suppose the Stones for the most part... but they change up bass players and add backup singers and stuff. Not U2. It's the 4 of them... forever. They wouldn't have it any other way. You simply could not take any of them away and replace them with anyone else - it wouldn't work. I respect that. It makes them special. Sure - Larry isn't the most prolific drummer. I know of many drummers that could school him. But take him out and put in the most smokin' player, and it wouldn't be U2.

I love the fact that they work together, as a band. They actually drive producers and engineers CRAZY in the studio... because for the most part, they don't write songs before going to the studio. They go in, and WAIT for the songs to come to them... TOGETHER. They hash things out. They spend alot of time on it. They argue. They try different things. But they do it together for the most part.

There is sometime magical about the four of them together, and they know it. So do millions of fans who've seen them live. It's other-worldly... and I don't know how to explain it. They have something special when they are together on stage or in studio.

And they knew it too. That's why, 30 years ago, when they SUCKED as musicians, they believed they'd make it - because they felt something special.

3) Depth. They have depth as individuals. Their music has depth. They have character. All you have to do is start reading books and listening to them speak, and you learn how deep they are. Very few of their lyrics are "throw away". There is meat to almost every lyric they write. The music itself - it's not trite. It's unique. But it's not like listening to Tool or Dream Theatre - it's not so unique that it challenges your ear and your brain. Nope - it's unique, and it's sweet. It's easy to listen to. It's fun.

4) Making a difference. This one is mainly Bono. He's the one out their campaigning for AIDS and debt relief. The other guys let him do that. It's not that they don't care... they just know he's the best one to do it. I have watched Bono for several years. I've read his words and listened to him. He's the real deal. He's being Jesus to many people, and I respect him for that. He has learned how to take advantage of his status as celebrity and use it for good. He knows that because he's Bono, the singer of the world's biggest band, he can have an audience with the presidents of the nations, the decision makers of the world. He knows that he can exploit his fame in order to rally millions of people around a cause. Good for you, Bono. God has given you a platform, and you are using it!

5) Men of faith. I won't say much because there are lots of books to read about this. They are (except for Adam) men of faith in Jesus. It might look different than your faith or mine. Yes, Bono smokes cigars and drops the F-bomb. Yes, he dressed up as a devil on the Zoo Tour. If you doubt him, read his book "Bono: In Conversation". Read "U2 by U2".

I respect the way they've been able to integrate faith and real life. They aren't a "Christian band" and that's okay. They are a band.

This is turning out to be really lame. My writing doesn't do justice to the subject. So I'll stop for now. Sorry to be so lame... I think there's so much more to be said about this topic.

I think it's really cool that my girls love U2. They LOVE watching the Elevation or Vertigo tour DVDs. I've been asked 2 or 3 times in the last couple weeks, "Dad - you said you'd take us to see U2. When do we get to see them?" hehehe Makes a man realize what an impact he can have on his kids. I will take them on the next tour if at all possible. I'll be prepared to spend $1000 to take all four of us. A wise investment for one night? Heck ya! My kids will look back some day and say, "Remember when Dad took us to see U2. That was SO COOL!" It may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for them. I'd much sooner spend money on that than to take them to Disneyworld. After all - remember that concert I said my parents took me to... that STILL remains as a highlight memory for me. And there it is.

Okay - enough for now.

If you want to learn more... go get a book. U2 by U2 is the best one I've read. And start listening to them.

Why I love volunteers

Where would we be at The Meeting House without our volunteers? NOWHERE!! I get to directly lead about 50 volunteers at our "main" Oakville location. If you aren't one of them, I doubt you can appreciate how much I value them.

I actually have a strange love-hate relationship with volunteers - not specific people - but with the whole thing. I won't lie - it's a pain. I mean, they don't "work" for me - so the dynamic is different. If they need to change their plans, they can, immediately. If they don't want to keep doing it, they can stop, immediately. And if they aren't pulling their weight, it's a little tough to bust their butts. See my point?

And yet, it's mindblowing how much these people give! I know it's true for all of our volunteer teams, but MINE just amaze me with how much they give.

So I have this whole pile of men and women that run cameras, direct video, mix audio, etc. etc. etc. None of them are "professionals", and yet the results - well if you have been to our little church, you've seen how good they are!

It's one thing for me to be there serving for 3 services on Sunday - it's my JOB! But the rest of my team have still put in 40, 50, 60 hours at work, spent time with their families, and then still give their time to the church. When I work extra one week - I take a day off during the next week. When they put in extra time at church, they can't take off during the week to make up time with their families! It's a humbling thing for me.

So I've just come off spending nearly 50 hours between Friday/Saturday and last night (Wednesday) completely revamping our lighting in the theatre. That meant we took down over 100 lights, recoloured them, changed bulbs, fixed lights, and then put them all back up again in a new configuration. It was a HUGE job. We finished this morning at 3am. There's a few more things to do, but the bulk is done. It looks incredible! (It wasn't my design. This is one of those incredibly talented volunteers. I wish I could hire him!)

Do you know that every moment I was there working on it, I had at least 2 volunteers working with me... sometimes 4 other guys were working on it. They were making cables, fixing fixtures, hanging lights, figuring out diagrams, moving manlifts, etc. It was a stinkload of work. My hands are raw. It looks so amazing.

I have a few volunteers that blow my mind. They are so dedicated, talented, humble, and supportive of my leadership. If I didn't have them, I'd quit my job... or at the very least, I'd fail at it.

Loving my neighbour

Jesus calls us to love our neighbours. But in the parable of the Good Samaritan, that neighbour is actually an enemy! It is also the "unclean" - the lowly - the distant... the list just goes on of who we don't WANT to love but are called to.

I was smacked in the face with this today as I worked on this week's sermon. Joel Percy, one of our staff, is in Africa for 1 year with his wife, exploring how we as a local church can have an impact on the AIDS pandemic. So this Sunday, he's teaching our sermon - via the beauty of video! As I listen to him speak about loving those people who it would be more convenient to forget about, I'm once again confronted with the firm belief that God has something more for me and my family than to stay in North America and serve here in our local church community forever.

Ever since Arja and I spent 2 weeks in Honduras in 2000, we've ACHED to go back - for an extended periond of time. Not to plant churches or to be "evangelists"... but to love and serve people. As I hear Joel cry in his sermon about loving and serving a little boy in his community who has no parents... I cry too. How badly I long to serve others... but why is the desire to serve in another part of the world so much greater than to serve here?

Okay - so we DO serve. And in some very good ways. But not like THAT! Not binding the wounds of the broken, or feeding the poor. We are so stinkin' busy in North America that it's very difficult to do those practical ministries in addition to our regular workload. Don't get me wrong - I'm not excusing myself. I need to do more to serve compassionately. I have lots of ideas. I just don't do them. I think if we got rid of our possessions, closed up the house, sold the cars, packed up the girls and moved away to another part of the world, it might be easier. Okay - it would still be hard... but to GO with the intent of doing nothing but serving people... my heart aches to do that someday.

In the meantime - until God moves us - we have GOTTA figure out what it means to love and serve right here in our local context.

So are you gonna be at The Meeting House this Sunday? Will you hear Joel speak? You need to. If you aren't in the Toronto area... listen to it on our website next week!

While you are there, check out the previous 3 weeks called Travel Light. Warning - if you don't want your way of life challenged, stay away.

The things that matter to me...

You can see a short-list of some things that I care about if you read my profile. But I thought it might be nice to start with a little more about that. Let's look at those people and things that I actually pour my energy into.

1) My girls.
Man am I lucky. Sorry - is "blessed" the more Christian-correct term? Okay - fine - I'm blessed. I get to share life with 3 incredible girls.

a) Arja-Lisa: My beautiful wife. Here is a woman that I had a great friendship with for two intense summers back in the mid-90s... and then somehow, I invited her to spend a week in Omaha, and WHAM - we were in love. Where does the time go? 8.5 years of marriage later, and things change... but I still love her like crazy. What a cutie - long blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin - yep - that's my non-Finnish Fin. She's my friend, and she's the mom of my little girls. And man is she gracious to me. Thanks for putting up with me, babe! I love you!

b) Kanah: my first-born, my peanut. Another blonde hair, blue eye, fair skinned cutie. She's a "little Arja", but somehow she got my personality. Have you met her? You should. I'm absolutely crazy about her. She's so much fun. She is very creative. She is the artist of the family. She's the dancer, too. And what a brain in her head. Poor kid acts just like me, though. We butt heads because we are so alike.

c) Talya: my little one, my monkey. Somehow, this little one looks like me, and yet she's gorgeous. Don't ask me how that combination exists. Man, do I love my little monkey! She's the snuggler of the family. Like her sister, she's a little brainiac! She's 3 and talks like she's 10. (Oh yeah, and has the attitude to go with it.) Not a day goes by that I don't chuckle at something she says. She's got a fireball temper... again, she's like her daddy.

I think I'm known around the office as being a little over-the-top crazy about my girls. I'll take that label. I'll admit - I work alot. I work hard. But I sure do value my time with my girls. I wouldn't trade any of them for the world!!!

And ya know what - I'm content with them. Take everything else away but leave me my girls, and I'd be happy. Something nutty about the relationship between a dad and his girls! I'm sure there will be lots more to read about these 3 wonderful women....

Okay... what else is important to me....

2) My God.
Although the dynamic of that has changed many times over the years of my life, it remains a constant thread. God called me out as a young kid. He revealed himself to me in unique ways. I've never forgotten that. At times, my relationship with him has been passionate, emotional, on fire. Other times, it's more intellectual. I'm kinda in that season now. I don't seem to relate to God on a passionate level... and honestly, I grieve that. But no matter how I relate to him, he's a constant and solid force in my life. There is nothing I long to do more than to serve God with the abilities he's given me. I admit that I don't always honour him... but I sure try.

3) My work.
Apart from loving and caring for my girls, my biggest way of honouring God is through my work. I have the joy of serving a very incredible church community called The Meeting House. Basically, I lead the volunteer teams that keep all the sound/video/lighting production rolling. I get to play with gear, create lots of cool media, and work with some incredible volunteers. It's not what I thought I would be doing when I graduated with a degree in missiology. But it's a wild ride and I'm enjoying it.

Now come the lesser things that don't require so much explanation....

- Music - I used to be a crazy-busy musician. Now my drum kit hasn't left the cases in ages. sigh But I still love music. For the past 2 years, I've had a love affair with U2.

- Paddling - I fell in love with kayaking a few years ago. Give me a peaceful river, a boat and some dehydrated food for a few days, and I'm a happy boy. I finally get my own boat this year. Can't wait to learn more - I really am a rookie. Someday, I hope to have a boat for each of us in the family, and I hope that we all take an annual paddle-trip together. There's something other-worldly about being on a river, apart from civilization... enjoying all the beauty God has created. It's hard work, and it feels awesome.

Everything else is just the candy of life. I love driving, swimming, reading, playing catch with a baseball, playing at the park with the girls, going to a good concert, cooking a good meal, taking a hot shower, sitting by the fire, going to the beach. I love date nights with my wife (going out, or sitting watching LOST together), and breakfast dates with my daughters. I love travel, and I love coming home. I enjoy calling a live show with 6 cameras, and I love teaching others how to call a show. I love Latin America. I love a tall bold coffee from Starbucks, and a tall cold beer from a pub! I love onion rings, burgers, steak, fried mozzarella sticks, potatoes and fresh corn or peas (not all in the same meal!). I'm happy to have grown up in the US, but I LOVE living in Canada. I love hanging out with my brother talking about cars/boats/religion, and I love having a beer with my father and chatting about computers. (Much to his pleasure, I'm turning into a Mac-freak!) I love music that kicks you in the teeth, rattles your cage, or makes you cry. I love to play a funky backbeat with a get-your-mojo-on bass player. I love people that care about people. I love it when people give sacrifically. I love it when people care about something so much that they'll die for it. I love it when people find they have abilities they knew nothing about. I love helping unleash those abilities. More and more, I love simplicity.

I guess I love life.

Welcome to my headspace

Well I've finally made the leap... into the blog-world, that is. I've been thinking about it for quite some time now. I guess it's the in thing to do, isn't it. I've avoided it for this long. Heck - for a supposed tekno-geek, I've avoided alot of things... a crackberry, myspace, all the latest tekno-toys, an updated computer all the time... come to think of it, maybe I'm not quite the tekno-geek that people expect me to be.

And yet I have this crazy cool (and just plain crazy) tekno-based job. How did I ever end up being the tekno-pastor of such a place as The Meeting House (themeetinghouse.ca)? Where else does someone with a degree in Missiology get to do such cool things as video production, live sound, concert lighting, system design, pre/post video editing, music remixing, etc. etc.??

It's one of those wacky things that I still don't quite understand. It came looking for me - I certainly wasn't looking for it. But for now - it's the place that God wants to use me. I try to be faithful.

Enuff on that... let's talk about what we'll talk about...

I think I'll try to post for awhile before making people aware... so if you are reading this, hopefully I've been at it for awhile and have shown myself to be committed to actually keeping this up.

I'm not quite sure what I want to do with this. Hopefully it will be a place to sort out my thoughts. My "dear diary" without a lock on the front of it. A place where I can share those things that matter to me. A place to ask questions and try to think through answers. A place to share what matters to me. A place to log what I'm learning...

So with that, let's jump in and see where we end up. Welcome to the journey... thanks for hopping on. Let's enjoy this ride together while it lasts!