I am working on stories from spring break to tell here but want to obtain permission from those involved before putting their names or pictures all over the internet. So in a brief break from my life here, I would love to let you guys in on a sweet book called "The Treasure Principle" by Randy Alcorn. I first read "The Treasure Principle" probably 4 years ago and of all the self-help or Christian literature I have ever read on giving/finances, it is still the best one I have read. Not only is it solidly based in what the Bible says (important for me as a Christian) but it is practical, with tips that you can actually apply to your life. At less than 100 pages, it is short and easy to read. This book truly will open your eyes to the JOY of giving, how it is something that is a blessing and not an obligation. I apologize that I can't give a more in depth summary right now because the books are at my parents house in the States, but I recommend this book as highly as I possibly can.
In the spirit of giving, I (thanks to the good people who publish this book) want to give away two copies of this book. All you have to do is shoot me an email at christopher.rule@gmail.com or leave a comment with your name and email (unless I already know your contact info... in that case, a name is fine) and I will draw out of a hat the two winners. So allow me to give away something that benefitted me. Enjoy.
Story Behind the Book
After years of writing and teaching on the theme “God owns everything,” in 1990 Randy Alcorn was sued by an abortion clinic (for peaceful, nonviolent intervention for the unborn). Suddenly he had to resign as a pastor and was restricted to making minimum wage. Legally unable to own anything, Randy gave all his book royalties to missions work and need-meeting ministries. He and his family have experienced the reality of The Treasure Principle—that God really does own everything, takes care of us, and graciously puts assets into our hands that we might have the joy and privilege of investing in what will last for eternity.
If you don't win in the drawing, you can buy the book for REALLY cheap at AMAZON.com
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Mustache and Mullet March
Did I say that I celebrated the 6th Anniversary of Mustache and Mullet March? Check out the hair evolution (or should I say devolution?) from this year. Enjoy.
Two Worthwhile Articles
I know, I know, the blog has been languishing (for the few that actually have been faithful to check it out. That is about to change. Spring Break was crazy fun and busy and stressful here in Rome but we saw God do some HUGE things. So over the next couple days, I will be posting stories from that. In the meantime, here are two worthwhile articles to check out:
Cobain and Biggie: How We Misjudge Music - Thoughtful article on music... I especially likes the conclusion; "The only difference is that we have invented new rules for what’s “cool” (this year it seems to be putting odd, “progressive” sounds in your songs and ignoring traditional songwriting structure). I wonder what albums that we’ll listen to in 15 years and realize that they weren’t everything we built them up to be."
Staring into the Abyss: An article that is actually quite frightening. This article synthesizes some of Nietzsche's key ideas on a way that a simple guy like me can understand. Highly recommend checking this out
Cobain and Biggie: How We Misjudge Music - Thoughtful article on music... I especially likes the conclusion; "The only difference is that we have invented new rules for what’s “cool” (this year it seems to be putting odd, “progressive” sounds in your songs and ignoring traditional songwriting structure). I wonder what albums that we’ll listen to in 15 years and realize that they weren’t everything we built them up to be."
Staring into the Abyss: An article that is actually quite frightening. This article synthesizes some of Nietzsche's key ideas on a way that a simple guy like me can understand. Highly recommend checking this out
Monday, March 2, 2009
Pre-Spring Break Madness
This past Thursday, here in Rome, we celebrated Valentines Day. No, this isn't because the Italian calender is that different from the American one, simply we needed a good excuse for a party and didn't plan ahead enough to do a Valentines Day party earlier. The party itself was a blast, and although my mind was done after speaking Italian for 4 straight hours, I loved that so many people were able to make it. I met a bunch of cool new people and got to stand on a chair and give a top 10 ways guys and girls are different... in Italian. I think a good time was had by all, though sadly I didn't take any pictures to prove it.
Life here has been a whirlwind lately, with little time to slow down. We are preparing for 3 weeks of American spring break students who are coming to help us out, to experience the ministry in Rome. It is a great help but also a great responsibility and a lot of work to prepare to best utilize these students. Not only do we want to use them well, we want them to have a great time, to truly get to experience ministry in Rome in one week. Needless to say, planning isnt my greatest strength and so this has been a little stressful for me.
Some of my responsibilities have been obtaining places for the nights to have outreaches with the students. In a large part due to my poor planning, but also due to not knowing the city and bars as well as I should, a lot of this is still up in the air. And the first spring breakers arrive here in 3 days. Pray that God works and all this gets taken care of. I am learning in the midst of all this what it truly means to trust God.
And speaking of trusting God, I am in the middle of trying to figure out what this next year holds in store for me and it frequently freaks me out. I am learning how to trust God and sometimes I do a great job of that, knowing that He holds my future in His hands and loves me more than I know. And then there are the other days that I get stressed out, dwell on the many options (join long-term staff here in Rome, return to the USA to do any number of jobs, work here in Italy in a job other than with Agape), and get buried under stress, paralyzed and unable to move. So pray for me on this decision, that I might actually trust God.
There is a church here this week to help out with a number of things, Hudson Community Church (I think). They did a night of music/praise/worship/sharing/prayer for us yesterday and one of the pastors shared something. He told a story about a pastor he knows in India who has a pretty debilitating case of leprosy but who continues to walk from leper village to leper village. He asked him what the Gospel means to him and his response is what I want to be true in my life. "Jesus Christ is all I have. Jesus Christ is all I need. Jesus Christ is all I want." May that be true in all of our lives.
Life here has been a whirlwind lately, with little time to slow down. We are preparing for 3 weeks of American spring break students who are coming to help us out, to experience the ministry in Rome. It is a great help but also a great responsibility and a lot of work to prepare to best utilize these students. Not only do we want to use them well, we want them to have a great time, to truly get to experience ministry in Rome in one week. Needless to say, planning isnt my greatest strength and so this has been a little stressful for me.
Some of my responsibilities have been obtaining places for the nights to have outreaches with the students. In a large part due to my poor planning, but also due to not knowing the city and bars as well as I should, a lot of this is still up in the air. And the first spring breakers arrive here in 3 days. Pray that God works and all this gets taken care of. I am learning in the midst of all this what it truly means to trust God.
And speaking of trusting God, I am in the middle of trying to figure out what this next year holds in store for me and it frequently freaks me out. I am learning how to trust God and sometimes I do a great job of that, knowing that He holds my future in His hands and loves me more than I know. And then there are the other days that I get stressed out, dwell on the many options (join long-term staff here in Rome, return to the USA to do any number of jobs, work here in Italy in a job other than with Agape), and get buried under stress, paralyzed and unable to move. So pray for me on this decision, that I might actually trust God.
There is a church here this week to help out with a number of things, Hudson Community Church (I think). They did a night of music/praise/worship/sharing/prayer for us yesterday and one of the pastors shared something. He told a story about a pastor he knows in India who has a pretty debilitating case of leprosy but who continues to walk from leper village to leper village. He asked him what the Gospel means to him and his response is what I want to be true in my life. "Jesus Christ is all I have. Jesus Christ is all I need. Jesus Christ is all I want." May that be true in all of our lives.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Malawi!
Short and sweet... Agape Italia does a summer trip to Malawi. This trip is for Christian's and non-Christians, is a sweet way to show God's love to those in Malawi by building a school/well/latrines. One of the guys on staff here, Haswell, is from Malawi and his heart for his homeland is a beautiful thing. Check it out... it is in Italian, but it still looks cool, even if you can't read Italian :)
CLICK HERE
CLICK HERE
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Bluetree
In January, I saw a band called Bluetree perform at an Agape UK conference in Nottingham, England. The journalist in me took notes, wanting to write a speedy concert review. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. These past two days I have been in leadership meetings for all of Agape Italia. It has been some heavy thinking, some fantastic teaching, and great application points. So I should write about that, right? Well, needless to say, my brain is a little fried and I need to write about something a little lighter. Hence, I give you my personalized, unjournalistic (because it includes first person and heavy opinion) concert review of Bluetree, a month and a half late.
As the lights dimmed, I had no idea of what to expect. The only thing I had heard of this band was that they wrote a fantastic song called “God of This City.” But looking at the stage, I wasn’t exactly expecting a Chris Tomlin carbon copy; the electronics and two Macbooks just screamed “high tech hipster pop punk.”
The six boys from Northern Ireland trotted out and didn’t waste time; the electronic beat began its metronome time from the keyboard, the bass kicked in with the drums, the keys adding color and suddenly the stage exploded with sound as the rest joined in. This was not going to be a low-key worship service.
Soaring above the wall of sound was lead singer Aaron Boyd voice, somewhat similar to his British Coldplay cousins, yet rarely having to revert to falsetto to hit the high notes. Instead, the full extent of the rockstar yell was employed, capturing the passion in the music. As he smiled and rocked back, reaching down to fire from his six-string notes to attack the silence, the joy was palpable.
Both visually and audibly landing between the pulpit and the pub, the scarves and ties were paired with tattoos, sacred lyrics with good Irish rock. In what I consider one of the hardest feats for a worship band, they had fun and put on a great performance without being pretentious, without a “look at me” attitude. They even did the seemingly impossible; they played “Light the Fire” and made it cool.
Their sound was at times influenced by the “techno madness” served up by Pete Kernoghan, at times by chunky chords and other times by U2 atmospheric rock. Solidly landing in the rock category, it rarely felt recycled, or typical, avoiding most Christian clichés and feeling genuine. Soaring at times, at other times it quieted to an intimate encounter between the individual and God, with the band simply providing the background music.
The audience loved it and the band loved the audience, frequently making jokes, pulling members on stage to do actions or sing with them. Their self-depreciating humor reached its pinnacle when they rocked out to Jock Jams on stage for their encore, dancing with unbridled idiocy to the solid 90’s beat.
The Christian music industry, specifically worship music, often catches flack for mediocrity, commercialism and lack of creativity. It is a beautiful thing to see a band of Irish musicians turn those assumptions on their head, sticking out like a blue tree in a forest of green.
As the lights dimmed, I had no idea of what to expect. The only thing I had heard of this band was that they wrote a fantastic song called “God of This City.” But looking at the stage, I wasn’t exactly expecting a Chris Tomlin carbon copy; the electronics and two Macbooks just screamed “high tech hipster pop punk.”
The six boys from Northern Ireland trotted out and didn’t waste time; the electronic beat began its metronome time from the keyboard, the bass kicked in with the drums, the keys adding color and suddenly the stage exploded with sound as the rest joined in. This was not going to be a low-key worship service.
Soaring above the wall of sound was lead singer Aaron Boyd voice, somewhat similar to his British Coldplay cousins, yet rarely having to revert to falsetto to hit the high notes. Instead, the full extent of the rockstar yell was employed, capturing the passion in the music. As he smiled and rocked back, reaching down to fire from his six-string notes to attack the silence, the joy was palpable.
Both visually and audibly landing between the pulpit and the pub, the scarves and ties were paired with tattoos, sacred lyrics with good Irish rock. In what I consider one of the hardest feats for a worship band, they had fun and put on a great performance without being pretentious, without a “look at me” attitude. They even did the seemingly impossible; they played “Light the Fire” and made it cool.
Their sound was at times influenced by the “techno madness” served up by Pete Kernoghan, at times by chunky chords and other times by U2 atmospheric rock. Solidly landing in the rock category, it rarely felt recycled, or typical, avoiding most Christian clichés and feeling genuine. Soaring at times, at other times it quieted to an intimate encounter between the individual and God, with the band simply providing the background music.
The audience loved it and the band loved the audience, frequently making jokes, pulling members on stage to do actions or sing with them. Their self-depreciating humor reached its pinnacle when they rocked out to Jock Jams on stage for their encore, dancing with unbridled idiocy to the solid 90’s beat.
The Christian music industry, specifically worship music, often catches flack for mediocrity, commercialism and lack of creativity. It is a beautiful thing to see a band of Irish musicians turn those assumptions on their head, sticking out like a blue tree in a forest of green.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Somebody pull the Brakes!
Somebody pull the brakes on this train called life! I am a slacker when it has come to the blog this New Year and for that I apologize. Here is a quick rundown of my life since the last post: 2.5 days in Dublin, Ireland, 6 days in Spain, back in Rome and running like crazy with ministry! The team that I go onto campus with has gotten reshuffled so now I am on a team of 7 (Gigundateam or The Magnificent Seven are possible team names) and have been crazy hectic busy planning and meeting with students/friends. I am training for the Rome Marathon on March 22 and I got lost yesterday running 11.5 miles and had to ask a prostitute for directions. First time I have ever been propositioned, which was kind of weird but she did give me the right directions. I have also joined a basketball team, which has been great for meeting more guys. Ok, I realize all this is summary and not my deepest or most profound thoughts, but my brain is so scattered right now I couldnt give you that. So here are some pictures instead... Starts in Spain, ends in Dublin (sorry, reverse order) Enjoy
This is where I spent a few hours with Jesus one of the days in Spain... and a few more later that night smoking a pipe and talking with good friends.
Squadra Rome + Team Istanbul = sweet prayer partner love
Make up your own caption for this one!
Dance party... and this is not what it looks like, I promise. But it is hilarious!
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome "Smooth Sam and the Fabulous Five!"
I get to go on dates with my girlfriend in Spain... my life is crazy
At the Alhambra in Granada, Spain
And a sweet door at the Alhambra... so intracate
I like the reflection
A beautiful girl overlooking the lovely city of Granada, Spain
He's happy, I'm happy, we are all happy!
The view out my window in Nerja, Spain: Our Creator is a true artist
They could dance... for real
So amazing I have to invent a word to describe it. Scrumtrulescent. Yes... tis true.
The dude on the flute (L) was amazing. The music was amazing. Loved the tradition Irish music. Loved it.
Went on a tour of the Guinness Storehouse; it was this guys birthday and he sang on the mic at the bar at the top of the Storehouse. It was sweet.
Click on this picture and look at the sign behind Jimmy
Pouring rain, gusting wind, and Guiness Lake in the background... beautiful
A beautiful old Monastary in the Irish hills
Have you seen the movie Once? These guys were playing on the same street a lot of that was filmed on.
This is where I spent a few hours with Jesus one of the days in Spain... and a few more later that night smoking a pipe and talking with good friends.
Squadra Rome + Team Istanbul = sweet prayer partner love
Make up your own caption for this one!
Dance party... and this is not what it looks like, I promise. But it is hilarious!
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome "Smooth Sam and the Fabulous Five!"
I get to go on dates with my girlfriend in Spain... my life is crazy
At the Alhambra in Granada, Spain
And a sweet door at the Alhambra... so intracate
I like the reflection
A beautiful girl overlooking the lovely city of Granada, Spain
He's happy, I'm happy, we are all happy!
The view out my window in Nerja, Spain: Our Creator is a true artist
They could dance... for real
So amazing I have to invent a word to describe it. Scrumtrulescent. Yes... tis true.
The dude on the flute (L) was amazing. The music was amazing. Loved the tradition Irish music. Loved it.
Went on a tour of the Guinness Storehouse; it was this guys birthday and he sang on the mic at the bar at the top of the Storehouse. It was sweet.
Click on this picture and look at the sign behind Jimmy
Pouring rain, gusting wind, and Guiness Lake in the background... beautiful
A beautiful old Monastary in the Irish hills
Have you seen the movie Once? These guys were playing on the same street a lot of that was filmed on.
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