October 2011
1 post
Blessing of the Beer →
Today I have been invited to pray and ask a blessing on a new brewery in town. Bad Bear Brewing is now located in the same building as Sleeping Bear Winery in Parma. Today is their grand…
July 2011
3 posts
They Aren't JUST Quirks #4 →
This is the fourth post in the series on plumblines. I highly suggest you read the first post first. In short, plumblines are those things a leader believes about ministry that shape the way he or…
Detours →
Today I had to drive across town for a meeting. It was a last minute meeting set up last night. I rarely drive through East Jackson but I did today. Michigan Ave. or the freeway? I took…
Our Children Must Never See This →
I remember these stories in the Bible. The ones about all the white people dancing in bathrobes. This is the very reason some children are afraid to go to church. More stuff like this at Christian Nightmares
November 2010
5 posts
My New Book "King Me" is Here →
My new book King Me is now available on Amazon. Or, you can buy directly from me by using the button in the right hand column of this blog (If you want me to sign the book or dedicate…
King Me Part One →
This is a video of the first message in our series “King Me” from this past weekend at Westwinds. You can purchase the book from Amazon by clicking this link.
I Love Flash Mobs →
Where Am I? →
This weekend at Westwinds we participated in a simple interactive worship moment. We invited everyone to take a card off of a table and write something on each side: Side 1= one word…
Conan! Show Zero →
June 2010
1 post
The Perfect Key : : : Dana Key, 1953-2010 →
My wife and kids laugh at me when I cry because a musician died. They don’t mean to hurt my feelings. They might think I’m “cute” or something. But, when a musician dies and their music…
February 2010
7 posts
1 tag
formspring.me
This is fun. Ask me anything and I will do my best to answer. http://formspring.me/shameonyoko
Gungor →
Saw Gungor last week. This band blew my mind. And my head. And my brain. If they come to a town near you, GO! I am going again tonight in Grand Rapids. This is the future of worship music. This live…
Westwinds: Baby Bottle Fundraiser →
How Video Games Saved Church Music →
There has never been a greater, happier, more fulfilling, more fun period of time in my 20+ years of being a musician in the church as this very moment. By “moment” I am referring to the…
On Cool →
I don’t want to be the cool guy. I don’t want to have to tell you how cool I am. I don’t want you to think I’m cool because everyone else said I am. Cool guys die. Usually young. More importantly,…
Fiction February →
At the beginning of the year, I started reading more fiction. I got bored with trade mags, leadership books, “how-to” ministry books, and books promoting the next new thing. I’m all for…
What Do We Fight For? →
Had an email convo with a friend today. He asked me what mountains I am willing to die on at Westwinds. My response was lengthy but I can also boil it down to these things: We fight for the Jesus…
December 2009
5 posts
Muppet Queen →
O Holy Nightmare →
The Westwinds Top 11 (because it's one louder) →
Westwinds Top Worship Tunes of 2009 We get a lot of mileage out of our indigenous worship tunes at The Winds (written by me or others in our band) but there are quite a few we use from the…
Hannah's Prayer →
This made my day. HT: Cherry Creek Wine/John Burtka
The Winds Wine Video Promo →
September 2009
6 posts
Lesser Known Kanye Interruptions →
HT: The Rap Up
Muse: The Making of Uprising →
My Favorite Stage Interruptions of All Time →
I’m not quite sure yet that Kanye’s interruption of the VMA’s wasn’t designed by the folks at MTV to get our attention and make sure they stay in the news. It’s getting a little predictable (Eminem…
U2 360 in Chicago = "Magnificent!" →
U2. Always an amazing live show. Just when I think they can’t do anything even equally as stunning as their last stage production, they go and do something crazy and innovative and blow my…
How to Ruin Your Career in less than 10 Seconds →
Dear Kanye, What? What?
20 Bands from Sabbatical →
I listen to a lot of music. It’s what I do.
I have a lot of favorite musicians who live in obscurity and will never grace the cover of Rolling Stone and, I kinda like that.…
July 2009
1 post
Ignatius: The Ultimate Youth Pastor →
This video is funny on so many levels. I laughed out loud a few times. Watch the whole thing. It lags in spots but there are some funny moments that surprise you. Aside: I only wish they had not…
June 2009
7 posts
The Target (The Cue Philosophy Part IV) →
It has been a popular practice in churches over the past decade or so to take a cue from the business world and clearly define their “target audience.” This language is somewhat unpalatable to us…
A Word About Popular Methodologies (The Cue... →
A Word About Popular Methodologies Moving forward. Asking questions. Dialogue. Facing hang-ups. Belonging before believing. Deconstructing religious (and not necessarily biblical) language and ruts….
A Closer Look (The Cue Philosophy Part III) →
The Cue exists to … … create an original, unsullied, experience-rich, multi-layered environment where we increase the occurrence of people interacting with God, his Word, his…
The Cue →
For the past few months, Westwinds has been retooling of all our naming conventions—a rebranding from top to bottom. Our titles, programs, facilities … everything was put on the table….
Aggregations and Gateways (The Cue philosophy Part... →
Often times, we are asked about our philosophy of ministry when it comes to The Cue—our weekend gathering at Westwinds. For those who are new to church, the atmosphere may not be what they expected…
Yard Sale People →
We had a yard sale today. Everyone in the neighborhood was having one so we got involved (though I usually don’t care to jump on that bandwagon). The impetus for us is trying to raise money…
Best Practices Rag →
David and I are working on a “Best Practices” rag/short magazine that we will make available to those interested in conversations about incarnation and how things play out at the Winds. David is…
May 2009
8 posts
Time to Pay the Piper (My Response to John Piper's... →
Many of you have either sent me emails, called me, or twittered me and asked my response to John Piper’s post on Twittering in church. Piper’s post was actually a response to Josh…
Wearing Shorts: Rules for Men Over 35 →
It’s that time of year again. The time when people start wearing less clothing in public. As an over 40 year-old man, I feel it is my duty to help my brothers with some of their questions…
Welcome to Westwinds PSA →
We’ve been running a PSA on the weekends at The Winds. It has been very helpful. Gives people the info. Makes people laugh. Purposefully robotic and monotone and fast. We have received…
Westwinds in TIME →
So, I’m camping on Sunday and I get a million tweets coming to me saying Westwinds is in TIME magazine online! Fun stuff. I unplugged for a few hours to spend time with the family…
Q Reflections Day 3 →
Correspondence on Alcohol →
Today, I Twittered about a Theology of Scotch fundraiser I am hosting for Kalein in Franklin, TN. The Twitter updated my Facebook page and I received a personal message. The correspondence was…
Celebrity Pastor Restoration Part 2 →
This is Part 2 of a 2 part post. Here are some concerns and things to think on: It is not OUR job to restore fallen celebrities to positions of influence and/or ministry. It is their own…
Celebrity Pastor Restoration Part 1 →
Today I twittered, “Saying a fallen pastor is ready for influence in spite of the authority of the local church is like wiping a baby’s butt over the phone.” Many of you commented and wanted…
April 2009
15 posts
Q Reflections Day 2 →
Q Reflections Day One →
Swine Flu 76 →
Swine Flu is no joke but these ads are hilarious. HT: Jim Drake
Zach Williams Folk Prophet →
I met Zach WIlliams at Q in Austin this week. Zach opened Q with an acoustic guitar and sang a song that summoned all the good things I love about the prophetic singer songwriters in the…
My Daughter's L O S T Trinity Theory →
My 9-year-old (almost 10) daughter, Kasidy has a theory on L O S T. And, quite frankly, she blows my mind. Her theory is a Trinitarian island theology. If you are a fan, please read on. If…
Christ Cologne →
This is one of the most awful things ever and … it’s funny. I can laugh because I know it’s a joke but, what’s not funny is I don’t know how much worse it is than Testamints, Guitar Praise,…