Entries tagged "life"
Jason takes you through what a day in the life on Winter Jam is like for the band, including a look at the crowd from his vantage point on the drums.
Mike D’s word of the day, as featured in this video: tempestuous
Vol 2, Part 5: Meet Mike |
Nov 02 |
Vol 2, Part 4: Meet Scott |
Oct 28 |
Something cool |
Sep 15 |
So, there’s an age-long conversation about going to church I’ve been witness or exposed to.
My whole life I’ve known that it’s good to go to church. A few days ago Heather and I read why…
13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
-Isaiah 58:13-14
There’s a lot of cool moments in there.
If I keep from doing as I please then…
I will find delight in the Lord.
So take that, eat it, digest it, and absorb it’s nutrients. One thing I’m working on is the 2nd and 3rd to last lines. What does He mean?
-Jeff
What I Want |
Aug 22 |
“Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
-Psalm 37: 3-5
How often do I use this passage to get what I want?
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
- James 4:1-3
With Psalms 37: 3-5 I must say that I am often guilty of James 4:1-3.
A long time ago a friend revealed a stunning revelation in delighting myself with the Lord. It goes like this: God is a jealous god. You delight yourself in Him (he’s your joy). So, shouldn’t God give you Himself? He’s what I want right?
Wow. Never thought of it like that.
Dwell on these passages. But not on these lyrics of an old Janis Joplin tune:
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
Hasta la pasta
-j
Tenth Avenue North wants to answer questions from you, the fans, on their first headlining tour, Inside and In Between, beginning September 3. Dying to ask Mike something about his lyrics or need some advice on something you’ve been wrestling with? Now is your chance!
Click “Leave a Comment” below to submit your question(s) for Tenth Ave, but also let us know if you have any questions for Brenton Brown or Audrey Assad as well. Be sure to include your name and hometown in your post. Here’s an example below.
Mike,
I recently moved and I’ve been having a hard time finding a church where I feel like I fit in. Do you have any advice?
Samantha
Chicago, IL
Visit the tour page for more information on the shows. If you aren’t able to make it out to the tour, we’re going to post some of the Q&A sessions right here on TenthAvenueNorth.com, so check back soon!
Over Thinking It. |
Jun 28 |
As some of you may know by my few twitters and text messages to my close friends I was greatly dissapointed with Transformers 2.
Growing up, I was a Transformers dork. My brother and I had all of our personal drawings of each character taped to our bedroom wall like crayola’s ode to robotic wallpaper. I have not lost touch with my roots since that time. I thought the first movie was pretty good. I thought the love story was worthless and shallow. It would have been much better if Megan Fox didn’t exist in the movie but were replaced by nerd girl that had that innocent, helpful, and dorky class about her as they both realized through their out-of-this-world experience that they were both fond of each other. The transformers had that crass dialogue about them, some of them were just as hot-headed as I remember, and there were many old characters I fondly remember back in front of my popcorn bucket and myself.
Alas, I was drawn into a packed theatre for the sequal. Without exhausting your reading skills on here, I’ll just say I was greatly dissapointed. Not only with the film, but with the audience as well. As a once childhood cartoon brought to modern film, it wasn’t handled well. The advanced robots from another world came and most of them chose (the good guys, mind you) to assimilate the characteristics and syntax and crude discourse of unintelligent earthlings. As a child I just don’t remember my heroes cursing and making sexual gestures or comments. I would even argue that robots are asexual beings to begin with, so their lust for humans wouldn’t be plausible or possible. Am I being overly conservative? I don’t think so, I just thought the self-aware robots and the writer would have better taste. Where’s the class? The heart? I had no connection to any character. If they died, I wouldn’t be sad. If they took a stand, I wouldn’t support them. Outside of screenplay preference, there is a deeper moral issue that was a rude awakening
When Megan Fox first appeared straddling her motorcycle there was a vast cheering like a male chorus throughout the room. One fellow even stood up clapping like a proud mother at her son’s first piano recital. Throughout the film, there where many comments behind us from men oogling about her as though she were a feast to be taken. It were as though we were in the theatre when the Gremlins take over the city and are all watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1984’s “Gremlins.”
I suppose I just didn’t realize how lustful some can be. I hadn’t considered that a television show of old could lose it’s innocence when adapted for the screen. I guess I’m just sad. I love art, elegance, excellence. Not pop culture, but I suppose it sells.
Autobots- roll out.
Hello |
May 31 |
Hey everyone out there.
We’re done with the bulk of recording the new record, unfortunately it won’t be released until early 2010 (such a futuristic looking date). Anyway, we’re super excited. In fact, we’re elated. It’s been such a blessing to feel so good about a project. The boys and I have been so encouraged by this whole experience. I hope that God uses this new record in the same (or more!) than the last, but in a different way. Over and Underneath connected with everyone at such an epicenter of the soul, and this new one may very well do the same thing but in a different place of the heart.
It’s a funny thing this blog. Now I know i’m one for flights of fancy and daydreaming, but this blog sounds like a sci-fi novel. 2010…an omnipresent being employing and working in a unique way; an art piece moving and reaching into people and being used by the omnipresent being. Crazyiness. I like it.
Today we went whitewater rafting. It was such a wonderful experience. Our guide recited poetry he had written. He also said he grew up in church but “not so much” anymore. He’s out in mother nature and that it was the “first book ever written.” Not sure what that means still. I recommend this lightly colored rafting. Like Indiana Jones and a roller coaster wrapped in one…except there’s no theme music or white-gloved mouse.
It’s 11:21pm and it’s about lights out for me. I’m going coo coo. I bid you all pleasent dreams.
-jeff
Well everyone I must say that the last month has been pretty encouraging when it comes to creating new music. I can honestly say that this record we are currently working on makes me even more excited than the first. I don’t want to reveal too much about it but let me just say two words… “more djeridoo.”
Things are going well in the house of Jamison. Riley has taken her first steps and in a month will be 1 yr old. Crazy. I have celebrated the day of my birth and now am at a ripe old age of 28. Melissa and I have continued to live the nomadic style of life and have temporarily moved to DE. Life is good.
I don’t have anything terribly important to share with you, but I wanted to say hello. Thanks for taking your time to read my rambling mess of a blog.
Tenth Ave hearts Wildlife |
May 18 |
Well folks, as promised, here’s an update from the studio. Well, sort of. From outside the studio. We had a visitor, and he needed help, and Tenth Ave isn’t one to turn down the cries and pleas of an innocent and defenseless victim of the rough life of suburbia. This was no small duty, but we were willing to head the call. Watch the clip below.
Taken |
May 15 |
So we watched this movie called “Taken” last night. It stars Liam Neeson and Shannon from LOST, I don’t know her name. Anyway, it’s a pretty Jason Bourne kind of movie with international baddies, butt kicking, but more than that, it has a very serious issue in the plot line. Liam’s character in the story has a daughter that gets taken in Paris and being sold into sexual slavery. Liam is on the hunt to find her and kill anyone involved that stands in his way. I recommend the movie for anyone who isn’t afraid to be offended, and has the slightest interest of seeing a hollywood movie that leaves you feeling heavy for humanity.
Granted, there’s violence, a birdy is flipped, and the subject matter is offensive, but for what it is, it is a rude awakening to a reality that is so very present. Each year, an estimated 600,000-800,000 men, women, and children are trafficked across international borders (some international and non-governmental organizations place the number far higher), and the trade is growing. This figure is in addition to a far larger yet indeterminate number of people trafficked within countries. Victims are forced into prostitution, or to work in quarries and sweatshops, on farms, as domestics, as child soldiers, and in many forms of involuntary servitude.
There’s organized child prostitution in the states too. There are currently an estimated 300,000 children under the age of 16 working as prostitutes in america.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Wow. James couldn’t have said it any clearer. I hope this journal can spark a desire for you to educate yourself of this current situation. Then after that, doing something about it. Please, friends… these people aren’t captives of themselves, but rather from others who keep them under their decisions and lusts.
www.childrenofthenight.org (a non-christian organization that deals with child prostitution in the states, primarily southern California)
Tags:
life
social justice
Chapter 8 Times |
May 09 |
Two things the Lord has told us;
that He is strong, and He is loving.
And I am living proof.
It’s Saturday afternoon and I’ve just sat down at a local coffee shop with my wife.
Well, it’s actually a coffee shop/restaurant called Fido, and since she
used to work here, it’s a natural choice for spending a soggy Saturday in Nashville.
At the moment, she’s enjoying a BLT and I’m about to destroy
an exquisite succulent pumpkin chocolate chip pastry, known as the PC muffin,
because we’re at Fido, and that’s what you do when you’re at Fido.
And don’t knock it til you’ve tried it. It’s…amazing.
But before I rip into said muffin, I wanted to sit down and actually breathe for
just a few minutes. That’s it. Just breathe. In, out, in, out.
Funny how that’s something I have to take time to do lately.
As if reflection and prayer were not things that come naturally, but things
that must be sought after. Like working to rest, or fighting to take thoughts captive.
Hmmm. I think there’s something to that.
In any case, today, as I sit and listen to my breathing, I’m in awe of two simple things.
God is strong, and God is merciful.
I know I know. Simple stuff. Kindergarten felt board Sunday school kind of stuff,
but for me, it’s just now becoming a reality.
You see, my wife is pregnant. We’re going to have a baby girl,
and I have never been more profoundly aware of the fact that
I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.
I really don’t. I mean, I’m sure I put a good front, and seem very composed at times,
but deep down, I really am absolutely clueless. To quote Foreman,
I’m an “amateur lover, with amateur friends. We don’t know what we’re doing,
let’s do it again.”
I have no idea how to communicate with females in general,
let alone raise one of my own.
And on top of that, I’m in this band, and we’re on the road all the time, and I honestly
don’t know how to balance a marriage and a baby and a band and buy a house and do
my taxes and give to the poor….etc, etc.
But what I do know is that God is strong, and that He is loving. (Psalm 62:11-12)
And that simple quiet assurance might just be all I ever need,
especially if I take my own life into consideration.
You see, I know me. I know the desires, and the thoughts,
and the passions that no one else sees.
I see the pride that never dies and I can feel the dark blood that pulses in my veins.
If you only knew what really goes on in my head, you probably wouldn’t even
want to be my friend, let alone hear what I have to say.
And so, it is an absolute mystery that God would be good to me.
That He would carry me through my own confusion,
deceitfulness and sin and bring me to a place where I’m married,
healthy, and pregnant is quite possibly more than I can handle,
and absolutely, more than I can understand.
But these two words help me.
Powerful.
Loving.
God is not loving toward me, because I have deserved it.
He is loving to me, because Christ deserved it for me.
He isn’t good to any of us, because we’re really good at
saying our prayers and really good at loving other people.
He isn’t faithful to us, because we’re faithful to Him.
He loves us, because that’s who He is.
He is faithful to us, because He cannot deny Himself.
That’s who He is.
That’s what He’s about.
And it’s that knowledge that begins to change us.
It’s changing me.
It’s only that knowledge that will allow us to love Him back
in the way that He desires.
“We love because He first loved us.”
As my pastor likes to say,
“Don’t show me a church that loves God and loves people,
show me a church that believes they’re loved,
and I’ll show you a church that God is using.”
And really, that’s the whole message of this song.
The message is that you’ll never be changed by the love of God
until you’re completely honest
with yourself and how undeserving you are of it.
Only when we try to love God will we see our utter inability to do so.
And only when we understand that inability,
will we begin to be in awe of his great love toward us.
In other words, to be a Christian is to live a life of response.
You see, it’s just not that big a deal, if God only loved the people that loved Him.
It’d be nothing supernatural at all for God to merely be good
to those who are good to Him.
Isn’t that what Jesus said?
“you love those who love you, but what profit is that to you?
Even the pagans do that!”
And so this is the mystery.
“God proves His love in this, that while we were still sinners, He died for us.”
And so, that should assure you greatly from your fears today.
Even though you’re a sinner, Christ loves you.
And if you’re really proud of how good you are, this should humble you.
You’re so bad Christ had to die for you.
His love is over and underneath.
Higher than the heights of our purity,
and lower than the depths of our depravity.
And not one of us are without our need of Him.
And so, with this in mind, sitting at this coffee shop today,
I’ll agree with Paul in Philippians 1:6,
“And I’m sure of this, that He who began a good work in you
will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Powerful.
Loving.
Over.
Underneath.
Inside.
In Between.
New record.... |
May 05 |
Two days deep into recording our new record.
Now i know that the Dove awards just happened and we’re still so pumped about it, and “Hold My Heart” is being added to radio stations across the country, but as musicians I know we’re pretty excited about crafting our next record.
We’re off to a great start, and we couldn’t be more excited about whats in store and what God has given to us. May we be most excited for the work that Christ is doing through our music.
A quick catch-me-up in the past few months:
The Rock and Worship Roadshow was a complete success. Thank you to EVERYONE who came. Wow. What an adventure. We met so many wonderful new friends and there was just so much support from everyone who attended and the bands and crew we traveled with. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
We won “Best New Artist” at the Dove awards. Thank you for everyone who took time to vote for us, and for believing in us. What an honor.
Now the following is strictly for pure documentation purposes and to see just how crazy it all looks when it’s actually written down. It’s out of left field and has nothing to do with the aforementioned events.
On Feb 22nd-Mike developed a sickness in Florida with a cough, flem and ache. Jason’s wife Melissa came out to Islamorada with us with bronchitis, but it wasn’t too bad. We think Mike’s sickness and Melissa’s weren’t related.
12 hours in a van to Hilton Head, SC with Mike and Melissa coughing, Jason and Melissa’s 5 month old baby Riley began coughing and snotting at the nose. Later that night after load in, myself (Jeff) had pain swallowing.
The next morning, Scott and Jeff developed the snot and cough with an ache and Jason wasn’t feeling too good either. We realize that Gizmo the band dog has an ear infection and is irritable.
Three days later baby Riley has crazy snot and is coughing like a champ. Scott and Jeff are in shambles, and Mike and Melissa are only slowly recovering. We play two shows in Jacksonville, drive down to play in Delray, then back up to Jacksonville in 24 hrs.
We go to Georgia, a week goes by, everyone slowly recovers.
Next week, Mike’s wife Kelly comes back out with a gnarly cough all the way to South Dakota. The cough continues as we start our tour for two days then my wife Heather catches the cough and they make a pit stop for a few days to recover in Idaho with a friend.
We get the girls then continue to Oregon. Kelly flies home to recover. Two days later I wake up in the middle of the night puking my guts out. We go to Disneyland. I did not have a good time. By the end of the night I recover.
Two days later in the van on the way to Las Vegas we awaken to Scott hurling in the back seat of the van. Same illness that I had, 2 or 3 pukes with a bad ache then a quick recovery by the next morning.
Two days later Mike wakes up ralphing. Same thing. Sick all day then fine in the morning.
Two days later Kelly wakes up vomiting. Same thing.
One day later- Jason.
One week later- Tim.
We’ve since recovered and everyone is fine. Gizmo’s ear is healthy and everyone has a stronger immune system since the “Great sickness of ‘09.”
Don’t take long trips in a van with other people.