Ghosts of albums past

When Lin named a Steve Taylor song by name in the comment section of my "When Heroes Collide" post it sent my brain tumbling down memory lane back to the days of my un-jaded youth when I was a Christian music devotee.

My past affiliation with Christian music will come as a surprise to some, specifically Chris Thorne as he has taken great pleasure on more than one ocassion in pointing out that I have no Christian music on my iPod. I'm not sure what the absence of such tunes says about me. I'll leave that to someone else to figure out. For the time being, though, I thought I'd reminisce a little in front of you all - take a little stroll through my musical memories of days gone by. I do so with the same slight embarrassment that anyone would feel recounting their musical taste from decades past.

The first concert I ever went to was a Christian concert. It was a guy named Greg X Volz. He used to be the lead singer for Petra. I had his first album, "The River is Rising" on audio tape. I remember him rocking the long hair in spite of his receding hairline and thinking "There's a guy who loves the rock." He was like a Christian David Lee Roth. With less Spandex.



From Greg X Volz I graduated into a lot of the Christian rock staples of my day, your Petras, your Whitehearts, your Bryan Duncans. But I also listened to a lot of what were considered "edgier" Christian acts (I'm fully aware of the irony, thanks). One of my favorite of which was a band called The Altar Boys. They were a Christian punk band. Kinda. They wore leather, chains, and had really big hair. I guess they looked a little more like a hair band than a punk band, but hey, it was the 80's everybody used hairspray back then. I liked the Altar Boys so much that a couple of my friends and I dressed up as them for Halloween one year.

I can remember being at some small Christian rock concert in Louisville one night and the opening act was this rap group called DC Talk. At the time nobody had ever heard of them. A friend and I stood in the lobby of a high school gym and talked to them for about an hour one night. The next summer we hung out with them at Ichthus for an afternoon. They got kind of big after that (relatively speaking) and forgot our names thus ending my brief encounter with Christian fame. I wonder what ever became of those guys...

I was also into a lot of the alternative Christian bands like The Choir, Adam Again, and the 77's. Towards the end of my high school career a group of guys from a handful of these bands got together and formed a "supergroup" called The Lost Dogs. I think they still perform (minus the deceased leader of Adam Again, Gene Eugene). They had kind of an alt-country vibe that was virtually unheard of in Christian music at the time. They were actually pretty awesome.

There were more. Tons more. Rick Cua, Steve Taylor, P.O.D., Russ Taff, the late great Rich Mullins.... I could go on and on, but I'm sure you're all probably already bored with my fit of nostalgia.

How about you, though? Did you listen to any Christian music in the 80's and 90's? I know Lin was a Steve Taylor fan. What did you guys listen to? What am I missing out on now by not following Christian music in the year 2007?

Open Baptism Update

For about a year now Glen has been saying he'd like to have an open baptism time. The idea is that we'd pick a day when people who want to get baptized could just show up and get it done. Our hope was that this would be helpful to those who have been thinking about baptism but never really followed through or set a date.

So we put June 23rd on the calendars with minimal expectations. We thought that over the course of 3 hours maybe 5 people would show up. Glen and I (Fred) joked that we'd have lots of quality time together while we waited for the next person to roll in.

Boy were we wrong. 22 people were baptized yesterday. Some were younger kids (7-10), some were teens, many were adults. There were tears, smiles and hugs. Parents got baptized alongside their kids. You should have been there.

Congrats to the people who took this important step of faith.

• Zackary Howell


• Christopher Howell


• Danyell Hamilton


• Jason Hamilton


• Danny Callico


• Brandon Moore


• Terry Diamond


• Nancy Diamond


• Gi Gi Bray


• Robert Morgan


• Diann Williams


• Katie Fitzpatrick


• Hannah Fitzpatrick


• Melissa Fitzpatrick


• Amelia Dix


• Frederick Hanselman


• Lonnie Duff


• Savanna Duff


• Bryce Phelps


• Shirley Phelps


• Challin Phelps


• Melissa Foy

Would you please pray for them this week? If you know them, tell them how proud you are of them.

Special thanks to Tim & Kelly Booth and Chris Thorne for providing us sound and video support and to Greg Chandler and Greg Gilmore for taking on hosting duties while Glen and I were soaking wet!

P.S. If you're reading this thinking, "Dang! I needed to do that too." you aren't too late. Contact me (fturner@xroadschurch.org or 263-4633 ext. 231) and we'll get it done.

When heroes collide

I know I've been talking about Donald Miller a lot lately, but bear with me...

When I was in jr high and high school I was reeeeally into Christian music. One of my favorite artist at the time was Steve Taylor. His music was always a tad on the cheesy side (maybe that's just me looking at them through the lens of twenty years gone by), but his lyrics were always really smart and a bit acerbic.

Well, it turns out Steve Taylor is one of the guys who's been helping Donald Miller turn Blue Like Jazz into a screenplay. And they hang out and stuff.

Miller recently put up some pictures on his Flickr page of Taylor and himself "road kayaking."

It's strange when a hero from your past and a hero from your present hang out together. It's even stranger when they pull each other down snow-covered streets in a boat with a pick-up truck.

Blue Like Jazz: The Movie

From Donald Miller's website:

Steve Taylor and Ben Pearson have been in Portland for the past week and we've pretty much completed the screenplay for Blue Like Jazz the movie. We've been working on the script for about a year, either with me flying to Nashville for a week at a time to sit around a table and hash out the story, or with Steve and Ben coming to Portland to stay at my house. When studios became more excited about the screenplay, we felt the need to wrap it up, and in the last few days we've pretty much done so. And I dont know if I've had more fun, or been more challenged, with any other writing project. I'm excited to see how the guys end up shooting the story.

To say we've given the book a Hollywod treatment is an understatement. The book itself would be, of course, difficult to turn into a movie, and so we took creative liberties. But in my opinion, the movie will be infinitely better than the book. Essentially we've taken the major, real life characters from the book, and gave them a story all their own. The end result is provactive and humorous and in my opinion quite moving. I can't wait for people to see the film.

We think production will be able to start next year, and the film will be shot on location in Portland. And I am as excited about showing off my town as I am about telling the story. I will keep you posted.

Where was that again?

If you're like me and find yourself wondering through the Bible more frequently than you find yourself knowing exactly where you're at, then this might be a great site for you to visit!

Check out biblemap.org. Simply by selecting books of the Bible and various chapters within each, the site provides a google maps marking of each site referenced. It's pretty cool and kind of "puts a face with a place" in your reading.

Donald Miller = Awesome

Friday I was at Willow Creek in Chicago for a creative arts conference. I got to hear Donald Miller speak. If you're not familiar with the name, Donald Miller is a Christian author. He's written such books as Blue Like Jazz, Searching For God Knows What, and To Own a Dragon.

I've read most of Miller's work and listened to a lot of mp3's of him speaking, but seeing him speak in person was a real thrill. I geeked out pretty bad over the whole thing. Just ask Matt McKay.

Here's a pictures I took:



Miller talked about the difference between truth and meaning - and how prior to the enlightenment it was the artist, not the scholars, that were used to communicate God's message.

Want To Know What Happened At Porn & Pancakes??

Stop by the TEACHING BLOG to get the scoop.

An Important Note from Glen

There is quite a buzz in our community over this weekend’s activities at Crossroads. As I write Greg Chandler (Director of Creative Arts) and Craig Gross (founder of XXX Church) are on local talk radio, and much of the community gets it! Saturday morning at 8am our “Porn & Pancakes” breakfast kicks off the weekend. Craig Gross will offer straight talk about pornography and its impact on all of us. The event is for middle school boys on up through their eighty-year-old granddads. Cost is $5, and no advance registration is required. Nearly 200 guys are planning to attend at this writing.

Craig Gross will also share in all three weekend services – Saturday 5:30; Sunday 9:30 & 11:15am. Every dad needs to be aware of this topic as we discuss “Strong Words for Strong Men.” Dads, there may be no greater gift to your kids than to be informed on this issue. Don’t miss this weekend!


Last weekend Fred Turner wrapped up our “Counterintuitive” series with the message “Acting Like It.” I heard so many positive comments about his message, and the whole series. Imagine if we lived the kingdom of heaven into our lives here on earth. If you weren’t able to be with us live, download the podcast at http://www.xroadschurch.org/audio.php or stop by the Resource Center for the CD.

Thanks for being a part of this community.

Glen Schneiders

Blogging For Dummies (and lazy people like me)

Do you like reading blogs and have thought to yourself, "Wow! I wish I could start my own blog but it looks so complicated." Well, it is complicated, very technical and probably a sin so you should really try to resist the blogging temptation! OK it's probably not a sin (depending on you content) and it doesn't have to be complicated and technical at all. I've recently started using a website to manage my blog called Tumblr and it's makes updating super easy. Basically, if you can type or copy and paste text you can have a blog. Unfortunately, Tumblr doesn't offer a comment feature so your readers can't comment on your posts...but really, who cares what other people think. Blogging is all about self expression and personal growth. Right? So go, create and become part of the blogosphere.

Last installment

The final installment of my investigative report for Crossroads is up. Rest in peace:

Win Place or Show?

I was driving in to work this morning and wasn’t feeling necessarily prayer-riffic so I was listening to some new music instead. As is usual there was an opportunity to jockey for position on the highway. Why is this such an inviting, yet aggravating scenario nearly every time I drive? It’s like everyone else on the road is trying to beat me. This got me thinking about how much of my life is looked at with a “just win baby” attitude. Many times intentional, many times just natural reaction but so often I find myself at the end of what was just a perceived competitive battle. Whether it’s driving the car, sitting through a meeting, or telling jokes, something is always whispering on the inside “you have to win Chris.” Ever feel like that?

How ironic that in giving up the desire to win, to position ourselves first, to be ahead of others and look out for us first, that the opportunity to achieve a deeper sense of that same fulfillment becomes available? Instead of jockeying for my position, why don’t I jockey for God’s position? Isn’t that the true victory?

I Corinthians 57

But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three-sin, guilt, death-are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!

What are some examples you've seen or may be occurring in your life that with a simple twist of "who's agenda is it anyway" might shed a new light on your perspective?

Mission Trip

This week, many from our Crossroads Community are serving in both New Orleans and Honduras to help people understand the love of God. Keep these people in your thoughts and prayers this week. Here is a list of the names on the trips:

New Orleans
Rachel Adkins
Christy Bradley
Alaka Bradley
Hagan Bradley
Danny Briscoe
Daniel Briscoe
Janene Buckles
Angela Caldwell
Hope Caldwell
Serge Cardinali
Greg Chandler
Gabe Chandler
Nathaniel Chandler
Linda Curd
Mack Holly
Linsay Holly
John Kelly
Carrie Koontz
Jason Koontz
Sharon Pearson
Tish Shupe
Jennifer True

Honduras
Troy Irwin
Scott Morgan
Lindsey Grachek
Stephen Kemp
Benjamin Sherman
Gavin Foley
Sarah Rohach
Trey Petty
Ellen Bentley

XRoads Newest Celebrity Baby

Congratulations go out to Stephen and Carol Brown. Their daughter (and my pseudo-niece) Isabel was just signed by MGM to play the lead role in "Joe Dirt II - When Big Mullets Happen to Beautiful Babies!"

Please be sure to give Stephen and Carol a warm Crossroads congratulations next time you see them!

What a week...

I'm strugglin' over here.

The weird little hail storm we got on Tuesday has resulted in this being a strange/busy/exasperating week here at the body shop I work at. In addition to that, I've been driving to my hometown of Lawrenceburg every night, after work, to perform skits for a Vacation Bible School at my old home church.

Add to that the normal stuff, like mowing the yard, keeping the house livable, trying to see Sara, keeping up on non-day job work, and editing the final Patrick Drury investigative report I'm heading into the weekend somewhat frazzled.

Come Friday and Saturday I'm gonna need to unwind a little.

What do you guys recommend? How do you like to unwind? Dinner with the family? Reading a book out on the porch? Cooking? Bum fights?

Tell me how you relax. Tell me what activities and places help you recharge after a week like the one I'm having. If you give me a good idea, I'm totally stealing it.

First Wednesday

Tomorrow night (Wednesday the 6th) is First Wednesday. If you've never been to one (or even if you have) you should take this opportunity to come check it out. There's informal worship and community time. And this month the elders will be there to share with the congregation and listen to anything you have to say. It starts at 6:30 and there's childcare provided for birth through 6th grade. For more information, contact Lynn Buckles.

Donald Miller teaching

In a couple of weeks I'm gonna be in Chicago with some guys and while we're there it looks like we're going to get to hear Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz, To Own A Dragon) speak. I'm really excited about that. I've started downloading some mp3's of his teaching from his website. It's a different experience from reading one of his books for sure, but it's still very enjoyable and informative. Check out his audio store here. They each cost $2 but are definitely worth it.