2 months later...

The last time I wrote on here was almost 2 months ago. High time I did a quick update.

Our Manna Campus building is still in the process of being built. It's a little slow, but it's giving us lots of time to feel out the community and the needs of the Manawa people.

We're throwing a Christmas party at Heartland Christian School on December 13th at 5. If anyone happens to read this between now and then, you're more than invited. Bring a friend or two or twelve and come eat some tasty food and sing along to your favorite Christmas hymns and join us in celebrating our Savior's birth.

The Oakland Raiders, my favorite NFL team, are 2-8. Sad.

I saw an amazing concert at the beginning of the month. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra rocked the Mid-America Center here in Council Bluffs. Absolutely breathtaking show, both musically and technically. The guitarist even hurt his leg pretty badly at the beginning of the show and still played the entirety of the 3+ hour set. I'm heading back there in a week and a half to catch Nine Inch Nails, one of my favorite bands. Incredibly incredibly INCREDIBLY excityed to finally see them live.

Today's playlist can be found on my last.fm user site, http://www.last.fm/user/seanpatsalem.

All for today. I challenge you for this week to read Paul's letter to the Ephesians and try to be an imitator of God, as Dr. Carole Patrick preached about this last Sunday.

God bless you all on your journeys.

~Sean~

What makes an artist classic?

This doesn't have anything to do with anything - just a quick thought in my brain to kill some time as I eat my tasty Taco Bell Spicy Chicken Enchilada Platter (with a large Baja Blast to boot).

Last night, in my Modern Continental Literature class, we got to talking. What makes an artist (define that term however you see fit) a "classic"? The examples I brought up were from what we consider "classic" rock - the Beatles, the Stones, Aerosmith, and so on. The professor asked if there were any musicians from my generation that I thought would still be remembered in thirty years, and maybe even considered classic.

Here are three artists from "my generation" (whatever that means) that I think will be considered classic in their own right, and a YouTube link for each if you need further convincing.

1) Nirvana. These guys redefined the idea of rock with four simple chords. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is an iconic masterpiece that shaped the face of modern rock. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPQR-OsH0RQ

2) The Smashing Pumpkins. "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" is one of the best albums of the last 30 years. It's epic. Go buy it and thank me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsZYqaSc4cU

3) Pantera. As a metalhead, I have to include these guys. If Dimebag Darrell hadn't been shot in 2004, I really think we'd be seeing a reunion of this amazing band.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87uEuhMj92k

All for now. Got a sermon to write for Sunday.

~Sean~

Boot Camp, Day Two

...I cut a guy's wedding ring off his swollen (possibly broken) finger today with a pair of bolt cutters that he bought from Wal-Mart and then returned 42 seconds later. Ate supper with the guy before this and watched a movie ("Tropic Thunder" - hilarious stuff) with him after. Very interesting guy loaded with ideas and lots of energy. I hope to get to know him better.

ANYWHO! Moving on.

Day Two was pretty crazy today. We followed a formula and according it to, the "launch date" for Manna is June of 2009. PLEASE don't read too much into that - with the building process going the way it is, we really have no idea when we'll be "launching" - but it was interesting to put a date on it and start thinking (and mapping out with pink Post-It notes) all the things and events that need to happen before then.

LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of information. I'm really having a hard time processing it all. I'll probably write a ton more on all of this when we get back and I can debrief a little.

All for tonight. Sleeping now.

Grace and peace.

~Sean~

Boot Camp, Day One

Hi kids.

Just checking in from Plano, TX. Wrapped up the first (of 2 and 1/2) days of Jim Griffith's "New Ministries Boot Camp" about 40 minutes ago.

This guy (Jim Griffith) is amazing. He has been through several church plants himself and has helped coach hundreds of them. He is leading this workshop - which is called "Boot Camp" for a reason, by the way. Jim doesn't hold his punches. He's introduced some radical ideas to my way of thinking.

If I can narrow it down to one thing I took away from today is this, which he emphasized SEVERAL times: Know your mission field. Above all else, know the people you're trying to reach. If you can't identify the people in your mission field, you'll never be able to reach them effectively. He also emphasized how overrated things like value, mission statements, and vision can be when you fail to see the mission field.

A quick thought before I close: I flew for the first time yesterday. It was a little freaky, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. A great way to travel.

All for today. Your homework for the evening is to think about who it is we're trying to reach as God's church, and if we're really doing our job.

Talk to you all tomorrow.

Grace, peace, and hope,
Sean

Tuesday Thinkin'

(Today's thoughts will be seperated by the songs that are playing as i type.)

- "The Truth" by (hed) p.e. -- Great rap/metal/funk fusion band. A little vulgar, but technically amazing. Been around for years.

- My amazing wife Rachel is home sick today with a bit of a summer cold. I ask anyone reading to take a moment and pray for her. Thank you.

- "Until The End" by Kittie -- Fantastic all-female metal band. The singer can scream with the best of them.

- Rachel and I leave Monday for Dallas, TX for Jim Griffith's New Ministries Boot Camp. I am incredibly excited and a little nervous about this. (I've never flown before!) It should be an amazing conference and I'm probably going to come back drained, but ready to buckle down and get this thing rolling.

- "Friend Was Your Name" by Bloody Sunday -- Christian hardcore. I think they're named after the U2 song, but I'm not sure. Don't know a lot about these guys, but I like 'em.

- Saw the new Star Wars movie this weekend. Blah. It could have been SO much better. It will play well to the 8-year-old SW fan, though. And you get to meet Jabba the Hutt's son, so that's cool.

- "Gloom And How It Gets That Way" by Every Time I Die -- One of my favorite bands. These guys are utterly INSANE in their live show and their recorded stuff just echoes that. PHENOMENAL stuff. They get knocked a lot for not being "true hardcore" (whatever that means), but I say that if you're passionate about your music and are screaming, that's hardcore. I can go on for days about this argument, so I'm just going to move on...

- Had a FANTASTIC night last night going door-to-door with the Grays. Tons of amazing reactions to what we're doing with this Manna thing. That felt really really really good. This is why I'm here - to get people involved with Christ. Amazing.

- "Emily" by From First To Last -- A slow acoustic song from 4 very angry white boys. I love this song. This was recorded when FFTL still had this little 16-year-old boy as a vocalist, who could sing like a banshee. He's gone now. Darn.

- I'm going to be messing around with the Manna portion of cbsalem.org this afternoon. I hope I know what I'm doing.

- Another (hed) p.e. track ("The Meadow"). Skipping it to get to "Jewel of the Summertime" by Audioslave, the love child of the instrumentalists from Rage Against The Machine and the singer from Soundgarden. Really fun stuff for a supergroup, but I'm glad they broke up and RATM is FINALLY back together. Now if we could just get Chris Cornell to get back with Soundgarden...

- My beloved Raiders are 1-1. I know it's just the preseason, so I'm not too worked up yet, but they completely blew the lead over the Titans last week. Oh well. Hopefully they're learning a few things.

- "God of This City" by Chris Tomlin -- I can't listen to this song without tearing up a little. Powerful stuff. This guy's fantastic. "Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city". Great message.

- Had a great lunch today with a big supporter of the Manna project, Tom Boomshine of Epworth UMC. Incredibly supportive and willing to help. He's going to be a great ally in all this chaos.

I think that's it for today. Just had to get out of my head for a few minutes.

Grace, peace, and joy.

~Sean~

"Everyday Is Exactly The Same"

There's a song by the industrial metal band Nine Inch Nails called "Everyday Is Exactly The Same". It's a fantastic song from a great album ("With Teeth") but it conjures up some questions. I invite you to read the lyrics and think about just how many people out there are lost and confused and feel just like this. What are we as the church doing to help these people?

"Everyday Is Exactly The Same" -- Nine Inch Nails


I believe I can see the future
Cause I repeat the same routine
I think I used to have a purpose
But then again
That might have been a dream

I think I used to have a voice
Now I never make a sound
I just do what I've been told
I really don't want them to come around
Oh, no

[Chorus:]
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same

I can feel their eyes are watching
In case I lose myself again
Sometimes I think I'm happy here
Sometimes, yet I still pretend

I can't remember how this got started
But I can tell you exactly how it will end

[Chorus]

I'm writing on a little piece of paper
I'm hoping someday you might find
Well I'll hide it behind something
They won't look behind

I'm still inside here
A little bit comes bleeding through
I wish this could have been any other way
But I just don't know, I don't know what else I can do

[Chorus x2]

Happy happy joy joy - it's FRIDAY!!!

- Eek. It's Friday.

- Above are three cute pictures of my puppy Jasmine, for no apparent reason.

- Tonight's plans involve doing laundry (my lack of clean socks is forcing my hand), watching "Black Snake Moan" (got it on Netflix a few nights ago), and taking a nap... probably in reverse order.

- The greatest sports team known to man, the Oakland Raiders, are 1-0 in the preseason thus far. They beat the 49ers! The Black and Silver play the Titans tonight.

- The soil testing for the Manna site FINALLY came back. Things are incredibly slowly moving forward, but at least they're moving. I keep comparing it to how a glacier moves. The best things in life are worth waiting for, though, so we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

- Currently rocking out to the live album "Alive!" by Snot. Despite the interesting name, Snot was one of the most technically advanced metal bands of its time. After only releasing two albums - the afore-mentioned live album and their only studio recorded release, simply called "Get Some" - Lynn Strait, Snot's vocalist, was killed in a car crash. The band broke up shortly thereafter. Great stuff. I really wish the band would find a new vocalist and re-form.

- Working on a HUGE mailing (over 900 people) that will be going out to folks around the Manna area. We also have a "Hy-Vee ad" coming out next week that will be seen by around 46,000 peoples. Lots of advertising coming out. Sweet.

- Quick plug for my favorite band of all time: The Dillinger Escape Plan. I'll let their video for "Milk Lizard" do the talking. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMEYLlDThZU

- Devotion thought for today: (WARNING: DEEP THINKING AHEAD) ...What are we really doing here? With all the bureaucracy and politics of the modern church, sometimes it feels like we're really missing the point. The word "Christian" literally means "Christ-like". Christ was simple. Sometimes it feels like we pile too much on our plates and fail to see the big picture. Christ's command to us - the Great Commission - is so simple. Just go spread the Word. Are we (as the Church) really doing that, or are we lost in our own routines? Are we so caught up in the "business" of the church that we're losing sight of the reason we're here? I found a great video on GodTube this morning that was a parody of the "Mac vs. PC" ads. This was "Christian vs. Christ Follower". The "Christian" started out, talking about how well he was dressed - he had his shirt and tie on, his hair combed, his shoes polished, and his offering envelope tucked into his breast pocket. He then looks at the "Christ Follower" - who is simply dressed in a t-shirt, hoodie, and blue jeans - and scoffs at him. The "Christian" says (something to the effect of) "Is that how you want to be dressed when you meet Jesus? Shouldn't you be in your Sunday best?" The "Christ Follower" looks at him and simply replies, "But it's Saturday." Christ doesn't care about how pressed your shirt is or how polished your shoes are. He cares about what's in your heart. Just some things to ponder and pray over...

That's it for today. My wife is taking me out to lunch in a few (Yipee!), so I should wrap this up.

Grace and peace,

Sean