Interrogating Reality

I've recently finished a book called "Fierce Conversations" by Susan Scott. It's been fanstatic for me. The first principal outlined in this book is to "interrogate reality". In otherwords, call something what it is instead of pretending it's something else. I find that I can do this a lot...pretend I'm satisfied with a certain result or that it's ok to be mediocre and not strive for the best we can be. I believe with every fibre of my being that God deserves the very best we have to offer him. I think one of the biggest impedances to that is our inability to speak and recieve the truth in love. We think love is saying what's comfortable not what's true. I want to be someone to interrogates reality. I hope, if you're reading, you'll find it refreshing to be around someone who comes out from behind himself and lives with enough passion to interrogate reality.

The Squembe

Have you ever had one of those moments of epiphany where it seems God has given you and your friends all of his wisdom at once and you have invented a completely new word with this newfound gift of mental prowess? Well occassionally I have had such an experience, more often as a child, but most recently on the weekend. See, Andrew and Shirley VanderPloeg and my wife and I were strolling through Niagra-on-the-Lake this past weekend and we passed a store with several ethnic instruments in the window. Shirley piped up and said she'd seen one of them before and it was kind of like a square djembe. Well this lead to us coming up with a name for said instrument and we settled on squembe.Say it with me...squembe. Seriously...is that not the funniest word to have ever crossed your lips? If not please, let me know what is because I could use a good laugh. Incidentally, here is what I believe the squembe looks like:

The fields are ripe!

Man does this get me excited! Jesus declaration to the disciples in John 4 is still his declaration to us today. And what an invitation...to reap what others have sown! My heart simply burns for this...I'm continually being challenged to step outside my comfort zone and engage the people and culture in which I live. Praise God and may his work be done in all of us today.

Chord Theory pt 3

Ok so last time we stacked learned tha stacking thirds on the root note of a major scale produces that chord, right? So what happens if we stack thirds on the other notes...do we get more major chords? The quick answer is no, we don't get major chords, but we do get chords. Remember, a chord is any three notes played together so inherently we must get some kind of chord by stacking thirds. The question is which ones...how do we know what to call them? And how is this information useful to us in the long run. All will be revealed if you can manage to read through this whole post!

First, let's go back to our old faithful C major scale and stack thirds on the 2nd which is D. Remember C major scale is C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. So thirds on the D would be D-F-A. To determine this chord name we'll have to look at the D major scale...because afterall every chord name is based on it's corresponding root note scale, right? Just nod and say "yes, Tim, of course we've memorized all of the information in these posts". Good. Ok so D major is D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D. And the notes in question are D-F-A, right? Hrmm...but F isn't a part of the D major scale. A D major would be D-F#-A. So what do we call an F in relation to the D major scale remembering that this scale can provide us with a degree name for D's relationship to every note in existance. Well, what we do when a note is below a note in the scale but not a part of the scale itself we add the prefix "minor" in front of the degree name. So F# is the third (3rd) in D major and so F is the minor 3rd. Make sense? Well that's just the way it is, ok? :) The name of the chord in question then is....you may have guessed D minor. Ta da! So lowering the third in any chord one half step creates the minor version of that same chord. Try it...pick up your guitar or sit at the piano...now make any chord....and now make the same minor (Try E and Em if nothing else comes to mind). Notice how closely related the fingerings are? There is only one note different...the third.

I won't make this obscenely long by doing this for every chord but if you follow this and look into each note in each chord the chords you get based on C major are C-Dm-Em-F-G-Am-Bdim(a very jazzy chord that we can save explaining later). These 7 chords make up the key of C and the pattern is always the same. That is just the same a wwhwwwh is a "rule" so is maj-min-min-maj-maj-min-dim. So other than cool info and an explaination of what a minor chord is you've also got a really valuable piece of information that comes in handy when you're trying to learn songs by ear. If you can establish somehow what key you're working in and you're having a hard time with a certain section, stop, figure out what chords could be possible culprits and just try them. It's not always that easy since sometimes the rules get broken or sneaky dom7th chords mess with you but in general the knowledge is really helpful.

Whew...what a value for your dollar! Tell your friends about the deals over at Unceasing Worship and come back next time for our blockbuster deal: Buy three notes and get the fourth for free or the what the heck do I call a chord with more than 4 notes event!

Shaun Groves...amazing!

Yesterday at WLA was our bi-annual Compassion Canada Sunday. This typically consists of an artist coming to perform songs and challange the church to partner with Compassion to sponsor children. And it was all of that. But more so, it was a powerful reminder to me of the life changing work God does and invites us to be a part of. Shaun told his story - one of riches to rags (not literally) by his own choice to help more kids avoid starvation and to give more kids the opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus. I was so proud of our church, that we partner with Compassion, proud of my wife because she works for Compassion, and proud in all of this about my God who transforms lives and invites us into that work. Shaun...your music and speaking were amazing, but the heart God has given you is truly your greatest gift.

Building the Temple

I was reading fromthe book of Exodus this morning and was struck again with the level of detail God was demanding from the Israelites regarding the construction of the tent and the ark etc. God asked them for their treasures - gold, silver, colored fabrics. He asked them for their skills and attention - make the ark this many cubits, cover it in gold, and don't remove the poles etc. It makes me think...does God want the same for his temple now? Does he want the same from our lives - physically and spiritually? There is often a battle raging in me to know how much of this was thrown out with the destruction of the temple and how much was simply transfered to the new temple - you and I. Hrmm. A thought for the day.

The Kingdom of God

This topic has been consuming my thougths lately. Jesus has such gripping illustrations of what the kingdom of God looks like and what is expected of those who are a part of the kingdom. It's seriously scary...and motivating. I'm so convinced that our lazy efforts to live the live God calls us to just isn't enough. I want to steward what I have well on behalf of my master. I want to hear "well done". I want the name of Christ to be made known through my life...the name of the King! I'll probably be writing more on this as timr goes on but my question for anyone out there is what kind of reputation are you creating for your King today?

Stuff Christians Like

If you're like me you are painfully aware of how weird Christian sub culture can be. www.stuffchristianslike.com provides me with a daily dose of humor...mostly laughing at myself, my family and my friends.