Christianity and Witchcraft

I have been following this series by Phil Wyman and I think it is a very cool thing he is doing here. I am linking to Part 6 of his series. At the bottom of the page are links to parts 1 thru 5. If you want to read some very interesting stuff I suggest you start with part 1 and read them in chronological order.

Beyond the Pall

Bono doing the stuff

Bono at NAACP Awards

What a show!

So it's 1 am and I just got back from the show. I think Derrick enjoyed his first concert. And Shannon, Jaret and Bryant seemed like they had a good time.

The first band was called Advent and they were from North Carolina. All I can say is they were loud and the singer didn't sing, he screamed the entire time.

The second band was Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. These guys from Birmingham Alabama gave me some good old southern metal. I had heard of them before but never really listened to them. I saw the BIGGEST circle pit I have ever seen at a concert. I'm talking INSANE! These guys made my night. I would have been satisfied just seeing these guys. Here's a little taste of their redneck style of metal. Maylene and the Sons of Disaster

The next two bands, Every Time I Die and Underoath were good. But I still liked Maylene a whole lot better.

All in all it was a great time hanging out with some of the youth and being with them to celebrate my 7 years of sobriety. And my ears are ringing, which can only mean one thing, it was good and loud.

Be MoVeD!

The number 7

I am not a Bible Scholar, but I have heard about this before and I intend to research it more now that it has some significance for me. The number 7 in the bible is the number of completion.

My actual birthday was the 26th of September and I turned 46. My 7 year sobriety date is today, the 28th. When my daughter gave me a birthday card she had a lovely letter to me inside that talked about the bible and the number 7. She said she had been talking to Hannah about it and that for me it is completion, that I am healed.

Hannah also gave me a word this morning in an email that I would like to share with you all. Here it is...

I wanted to tell you congratulations on your accomplishment today of making it for 7 years. It's amazing. For me, 7 years symbolizes a lot. It's the number of completion in the bible, and when there's 3 of them in a row, then it's the number of God. I feel like today is the day that shows how God has healed you and how your soberness has been completed and will not ever change. The healing and the change has been completed completely. It's a very huge thing and I have always had the confidence in you that you will always continue to be sober, but celebrate today.

Hannah

Thank you Hannah and Shannon for this word. It has MoVeD me and touched me more than you will ever imagine. You guys really know how to make a grown man cry. Thanks to all of the congrats, atta boys, way to goes, congrats etc etc from all of my friends and family.

Today, I am sober and blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. I love you all!

My Own Worst Enemy

On my 7 year sobriety day I am so grateful that I don't have to feel like this anymore. These are the lyrics to a song by the band Lit called My Own Worst Enemy...

Can we forget about the things
I said when I was drunk
I didn’t mean to call you that
I can’t remember what was said or what you threw at me
Please tell me
Please tell me why
My car is in the front yard
And I’m sleeping with my clothes on
I came in through the window last night
And you’re gone
It’s no surprise to me I am my own worst enemy
Cuz every now and then I kick the living shit out of me
The smoke alarm is going off and there’s a cigarette
Still burning
Please tell me why
My car is in the front yard
And I’m sleeping with my clothes on
I came in through the window last night
And you’re gone
Please tell me why
My car is in the front yard
And I’m sleeping with my clothes on
I came in through the window last night
And you’re gone

My Own Worst Enemy Video by Lit

I signed it and sent it. Will you consider doing the same?

What Happened to You, Mr. President? (By Jim Wallis)

In less than 24 hours it will be 7 years

This concludes my sober is better story. Tomorrow marks my 7 year sobriety birthday. To end this story I want to tell anyone out there that reads this blog that suffers from substance abuse...it is possible to quit. You have to want it, work at it and make yourself accountable to someone. There are many different ways to get help quitting. AA is a good place to start, or get involved in a good church where other folks can hold you accountable. If I can stress one thing about quitting at all, it would be to stop isolating yourself. It was my downfall. You will also find out real fast who your real friends are.

It took almost a full year for my wife Patty to forgive me due to all of the lies she had heard before. But she forgave me, and I will never forget that day she told me.

I get to celebrate tomorrow at the Underoath concert with my daughter and 3 other youth from our church. Underoath is a very hard band that just happen to be Christians. They will be playing in a bar at an all ages show tomorrow night and it is definitely going to be a heavy, hard and sweaty show at The Marquee Theater. Doors open at 6:30 and show starts at 8. Come on down if you're not doing anything and join us will ya?

Happy and sober and being MoVeD!
Keith

Metallica + a harp= HARPTALLICA

I was on one of my favorite heavy metal websites today and came across an article about these two gals that play metallica music on the harp. How cool is that? I actually loved it. There is even a youtube vid of them so you can check it out and see what it sounds like. Enjoy!

HARPTALLICA: 'There Are A Lot Of Parallels Between Metal And Classical Music'

16 year old high school student shot and killed

This saddens me. I did not personally know this kid, but it happened too close to home and in my local community. My wife and I love mentoring the youth of today and this breaks my heart that this young man's life was taken from him so early. I do not know the details of this case other than what was printed in this article. I do not know if he was an innocent bystander, the instigator of this incident, or the victim. This should not have happened.

Back when I was a teen in the 70's we settled thing with our fists. There were occasionally incidents where knives were involved. But usually it was fisticuffs, which is still wrong in my opinion.

A life cut short, a family that lost their son, and if they catch the shooter or shooters, their lives ruined by a single choice. Sad but true.

Shooting takes 16 year old's life

Sober is better (continued)

So I made it through the detox process on my own. But I still felt like crap and had done a lot of damage to my body. One thing that addicts do is isolate themselves so they can use as much as possible. So I called a good friend of mine from the church we were attending at the time to be accountable to. We went through a workbook called Experiencing Christ together. It really helped me a lot.

I still was at home and not allowed to go back to work until I got the doctor's clearance. I was also contemplating what I was going to do if I lost my job or was going to be suspended. I was ready to flip burgers at MacDonalds or stock shelves at the grocery store. My doctor wrote up a treatment plan that included counseling. My boss, who really had the right to can my ass, gave me another chance. I was not even suspended. I also had several people at church pray for me. Some people believe in miracles, some don't. I believe in them, because I am one. After receiving prayer one night, I had this feeling that I have never experienced before. It was like the chains that were binding me were broken and I was free. Physically I was still hurting. But I can honestly say that God set me free from my addiction that night. That night as I was sleeping and in the next few nights after that, I heard a voice. It was audible. I believe it was the Holy Spirit. He kept telling me to let go and let Him take over. He kept telling me that He is still with me.

While I was recovering physically, I read an article in the newspaper about a marathon. I told my wife Patty that next year I was going to run in that marathon. I started running. I couldn't run a block before feeling like I was going to pass out. I then researched running and training programs. Before you know it, I was up to 6 miles in one run. After I had been clean and sober for almost a year I went to the doctor for a full physical. He was amazed. My liver counts were normal, blood pressure was excellent and my ticker was in great shape. Cholesterol was great too. I felt better than when I was in my 20's and 30's.

To be continued...

Be MoVeD!

Sober is better

It's almost that time. A week from tonight I celebrate 7 years of sobriety. On Sept 28th, 2000 I was not in very good shape. I was in an emergency room at Desert Banner Hospital in Mesa, or maybe it was St. Lukes in Tempe. To tell you the truth, I don't really remember, nor does it really matter. I've been to many around here, and also to some in St. Louis and Nebraska. Detox is not pretty. I do remember the morning leading up to the hospital though. I had been binging on Vodka. I was up to a fifth a day. It was all I could do to function at that time. When you go on a major binge, your body depends on the alcohol to function and you are really physically dependent on it. If you don't have that drink, you get the shakes and I even would vomit unless I got some booze in me right away. I remember calling my Dad in Tucson that morning and telling him I needed help. Tucson is only about an hour and a half from where I live. He said to leave the door unlocked knowing that I would probably be unconcious when he arrived. He was right. I drank an entire fifth of 100 proof vodka and passed out. I don't remember anything really until I woke up in the emergency room. I was told I did some pretty crazy shit, which I won't go into here.

I had so much alcohol in my system, the detox unit wouldn't even take me. So I was given an IV and waited for my B.A.C to go down. It was in the 0.35 range. I was then led to the detox unit and given a bed. When I woke up in the morning I was violently ill with the tremors. All I wanted was a fricking drink man! I walked up to the nurses station to get something to calm me down so I would not have seizures, another thing that happens when you are withdrrawing from drugs and alcohol. They gave me a little dixie cup with water in it. The pill was in my mouth. There was a problem though. My hands were shaking so bad I couldn't keep the water in the cup. So the nurse had to give me the water with her holding the cup.

A little while later I was told that my insurance was not going to pay for my detox. I had used up all the insurance for substance abuse benefits. I was told I could stay, but would have to pay like $600 a day out of my pocket. I told them I was leaving then and signed out against medical advice.

When I got back home I cried out to God to help me. I went through detox myself, and let me tell you, it was hell. The room smelled like hell, I was constantly sweating and then freezing and then sweating again. I would hallucinate. After about three days the withdraw process was done but I was in bad shape healthwise. I went to the doctor to get an excuse for work since I was "out sick". There was a good chance that I was either going to lose my job or be suspended without pay for a month. The doctor did a bunch of tests on me. My blood pressure was high and my liver was in very bad shape.

To be continued......

Be MoVeD!

Following Jesus everyday

I was reading an excellent article on The Ooze today written by Davey Buhl. He talks about how the x and y generations have been turned off by the church. A lot of churches that I have been a part of in the past do follow Jesus on Sunday mornings, but don't practice what they preach outside of that. I have to say that I agree with him. I like where the emerging church is going and the way we have traditionally done church in the past has got to change, and I believe for the most part that a lot are changing. Here is an excerpt then a link to the entire article...

The beauty of Jesus is that He is everywhere all the time in the person of the Holy Spirit. We may not be seeing Him in our everyday life because we have already placed him in a compartment somewhere. I've lived in both camps. I have lived a life of religion and compartmentalization and I have lived on the move and have experienced the leading of His Spirit. In many ways, not growing up in a church environment made it easier for me to trust God and His leading in the very beginning of my Christian life. I had never learned how to box God into a Sunday morning. I learned all that later.

It's a hard pill to swallow for a lot of folks but the x and y generations for the most part do not like or participate in our tradition. They are interested in knowing more about Jesus but they see traditional church as way too political and unfriendly. Most of us do not see it that way but that is the perception. Research has proven it statistically that the American church is losing ground.

There are shifts and changes in the church throughout history. There is one taking place in America right now. Some see it and some don't but it is happening. We need to break out of our compartment complex so that we can see our life with Jesus every day.

THE COMPARTMENT COMPLEX

An interview with Rob Bell

Rob Bell has been called "one of the leading purveyors of postmodern Christian philosophy" and a star of the emergent church. Mr. Bell, 35, is pastor of Mars Hills Bible Church in Grandville, Mich., one of the fastest-growing churches in the U.S., and is author of the popular book Velvet Elvis. Here are excerpts from his phone conversation with Associate Editor Mary Jacobs.

Click here to read the interview

If you haven't read his book Velvet Elvis, I highly recommend it.

Alan Greenspan claims Iraq war was really for oil

WHAT IF JESUS COULD BE YOU FOR 24 HOURS?

I just read this little piece written by Keith Giles on the Ooze. Powerful stuff man!

WWYD

Black Sheep

Our church has a few bikers in it including Pastor Ben who owns and rides a Harley. They have formed a little ministry and I have met others in it that are just awesome folks. This guy named Tom will be speaking at our church. His nickname is U-Turn.

Tom will be speaking to AMADEO in a few months when we have a Black Sheep Appreciation Sunday. See a cool project his black sheep were involved in on Fox news with the link below.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/myfox/pages/InsideFox/Detail?contentId=4357521&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=5.2.1

People grow up

When we first started attending the Vineyard a few years ago there was a girl in the youth group there that really stuck out. Her name is Allyson. Patty and I got to know her pretty well and her and Patty became very good friends. Then Allyson went on a year long mission trip to Northern Ireland. When she came back she was ministering at a different church on the other side of Phoenix. But we still kept in touch.

We had the honor of attending her wedding last night. The wedding was beautiful, and after the wedding we attended the reception. It was fun getting to spend some time with Obie and Jen. I also got to meet Obie's mom and sisters. The Murillo's also sat at our table and it was very nice to see and chat with them during the reception.

May God Bless your marriage Allyson.

We got home around 10:30 pm and Patty went right to bed. Her and Shannon left for the orphanage this morning at 5 am. I was glad that it turned out she did not have to drive since some folks didn't make the early departure time. She should be able to sleep in the van on the way down there.

I could not go on this trip because I will be talking to the youth and parents tomorrow after church about the upcoming mission trips in 2008. I will be talking about Northern Ireland which Patty and I will be leading. I will also be talking about the orphanage trips for Hannah since she is at the orphanage this weekend. I think Mandy will be talking about Camp Barnabas, but if she is still not feeling well (she suffers from migraines) I can talk about that too since I was there in 2006. It's an awesome trip by the way. One that changed my life while I was there.

Now that the weather should be cooling down some, I am looking forward to getting out of the office to visit my coop sites. I had to head out to Alamo Lake last Thursday to make a repair, but it is still quite hot. I spent most of the time driving though as it is about a 325 mile round trip from my office.

Be MoVeD!

The Presidents speech this evening

I don't have much to say. Can you say VIETNAM? I also think that this is just being extended until his presidency ends and he will let the next Prez deal with it.

I've been tagged

I've Been Tagged...I have been tagged by Hannah at http://www.drawingnear.blogspot.com/ and here are the rules of this tag...

* You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
* Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.
* If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
* When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts.
* At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
* Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged & to read your blog! of this tag...

My middle name is Keith (Guess what my first name is)
K- Kind and always try to be. But I'm not perfect.
E- Emerging, Emergent. I love the emergent church movement and what it's doing.
I- Insane. But in a good way.
T- Tattooed
H- Humble

I am tagging
Tia at http://www.on-wings-like-eagles.blogspot.com/
Jen at http://heartofjen.blogspot.com/
Obie at http://www.klaobeforehim.blogspot.com/
Bryant at http://unashamedofgod.blogspot.com/
Dave at http://ratherthanworking.blogspot.com/

Nine Eleven

My brother sent me an email today that was funny, scary and ironic all at once and he obviously could not have planned for this. He travels a lot in his job so he is flying all the time. He just so happened to be flying today on 9/11. Here is the email he sent me:

So, I know I've mentioned this to at least some of you. I'm just about done with it, but I've been doing David Nasser's A Call to Die: a 40 Day Journey of Fasting From the World and Feasting on God. Tomorrow's day 34. . . It's a great read and would be great for a quiet time if you're looking for something.
http://www.davidnasser.com/store/index.php?dept=books

Anyway, I'm reading it on my flight this morning and after I'm done with it, the kid next to me says "what's that book you're reading?" I'm thinking "AWESOME a chance to share my faith!" So I don't remember my exact answer but it was something like: It's a devotional book where I'm trying to more fully understand God and what he's done for me. Are you a Christian?" And he's like "yeah, I was just curious, it's 9/11 and all."

So I realize I'm reading a book called "A CALL TO DIE." On an airplane. On 9/11. Bad call. I'm glad they didn't haul me off the plane.

We did get a good laugh about it, he was a good guy. Ironically enough, David Nasser is Iranian.

47 years

To Mom & Dad

Happy 47th anniversary to you both. Thank you for being the parents you are and for showing me what a happy and healthy marriage is all about.

The emergent church explained

I consider myself emerging. I opted out of the evangelical, legalistic church and was deeply wounded by it. I came upon this article that explains things pretty well about the emergent church.

Five Streams of the Emerging Church
Key elements of the most controversial and misunderstood movement in the church today.

Is this how to bring grace and savor to a crumbling civilization?

I was reading this article in Christianity Today about responses to atheist Sam Harris' book The End of Faith. It seems that some of the most hateful comments came from Christians. Here is an excerpt from the article written by David Aikman.

When atheist Sam Harris wrote his 2004 bestseller The End of Faith, a radical attack on religious belief in any form, he was prepared for strong rebuttals from Christians.

What may have surprised him was the vitriol in which many of the emails and letters were couched. The most hostile messages came from Christians (not Muslims or Hindus). "The truth is," he explained in the forward to his latest bestseller, Letter to a Christian Nation, "that many who claim to be transformed by God's love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism."

"How do I know this?" he asked rhetorically. "The most disturbed of my correspondents always cite chapter and verse." Indeed, Letter to a Christian Nation is his response to those vituperative critics and yet another weapon in the armory of people hostile to Christianity.

I am not surprised that Harris attracted negative feedback. What disturbs me, however, is the extent to which some Christians have turned themselves into the self-appointed attack dogs of Christendom. They seem determined to savage not only opponents of Christianity, but also fellow believers of whose doctrinal positions they disapprove.

Click here to read the entire article

Phoenix sets Heat Record

My office had a deluge of media calls from across the country about our record of the number of days in a year at or above 110 degrees.

Kincaid said the Phoenix high will be 110 F on Friday. By the weekend, Arizona's biggest city will cool slightly so 2007 is likely to end with a record 31 days that were hotter than 110 degrees F.

It actually ended up 32 days and not the 31. But what does it matter? It's been a long hot summer.

You can read the article here

JESUS' FAVORITE QUESTION

Keith Giles wrote a great article about servanthood...

Can you imagine what your day would be like if you actually started every conversation with "What would you have me to do for you?" and then proceeded to serve each person you met in whatever way they had a need?

Maybe that's extreme, but it's something I’ve been hearing from God about lately as a personal challenge. Can I live a life of a servant? Can I put the needs of others above my own? Can I become like Christ by sharing in his ministry of service to everyone I come in contact with?

Only by the Grace of God.

Read the rest here

My babylon

I read this on the Ooze today and it makes a lot of sense to me. It really made me think hard about the war in Iraq.

Now Paul, in his letter to Ephesus, seems to insist that our struggle, as followers of God, is not against people. Or, as a key influence of mine, Greg Boyd, put it, “If it’s got flesh and blood, then it isn’t your enemy.” We are to see ourselves first and foremost as citizens of the Kingdom, and everything else (even patriotism to our nation) is peripheral at best, idolatry at worst. So focusing it in on my personal perspective for the moment, in light of current media…

-Do I believe that each and every member of a terrorist group has insurmountable worth to God?
-Do I really believe that God doesn’t play favorites, that America isn’t His favorite country?
-Could I really believe that God is just as saddened by an insurgent’s death as He is by the death of an American soldier?

-Does my complacent ignorance of a certain death toll say something about how I value those people?

Click here for the entire article

A great long weekend at CDE

I have to say that this was my favorite trip to the orphanage so far. We left friday evening and got there around 11 pm. We unpacked and went to bed. The folks that went on this trip were Hannah, myself, Maddi and her friend Chelsea.

I had an extra special time with Jesus Guadalupe on this trip. We went to Magdelena on Saturday. On Saturday night Hannah, Maddi and Chelsea went with some of the girls to a town east of Magdelena for a dinner and dance performance. I had an extra special time that night with Jesus Guadalupe. We hung out outside and watched the thunderstorm build over the mountain. I could tell it was getting closer and I asked Guadalupe if it was moving our way and he said it was. We watched and waited and the wind picked up. The lightning and thunder cracked, and then the rain came. A cool refreshing downpour sent by God to cool us off. It lasted about an hour and Guadalupe and I just ran around in it and then just stood out in the open field and let the rain soak us to the skin. The raindrops were cold. I didn't care about the lightning dancing around us at the time. I just basked in the refreshing coolness of the rain and Guadalupe and I just laughed and stood in it until it was over.

We then went into the dorm with all of the other boys and watched Spiderman. There is now a TV and VCR in the room and I just hung out with all of the boys and watched it with them.

I had brought him down some shoes that Patty bought for him and it turns out that they were the exact same pair she bought him before. He thought it was funny. I also bought him some batteries for his gameboy that we gave him on the last trip. The next day someone stole them so Hannah bought some more and I gave them to him.

We went to church with them on Sunday. They did worship then split up into different classes. I went with Guadalupe to his class. Then we went back together again as a large group and I think each class was telling everyone what they learned. It was all in spanish but I think that's what they were doing. We went to Magdelena again and took them out for ice cream. Sunday night Hannah and I helped serve dinner and then washed all the dishes. I went to the boys dorm again and on this night we watched The Incredible Hulk.

Dulce, a girl the Patty has a special bond with was upset that Patty wasn't there. I told her that she would be there in two weeks. I called Patty from Maddi's phone and let Dulce and Patty say hello to each other. You should have seen Dulce's smile when she was talking to Patty.

I bonded with a whole bunch of other kids on this trip too. Hannah was able to have a talk with Adrian that she wanted to have. It was about kids that come to the orphanage and then leave. A few of the girls had run away since our last trip and it was hard on everyone.

I am so glad to be a part of this ministry to these beautiful kids in Mexico. They are children of God and each one is special.

Be MoVeD!