Brent Pirolli's

The Music Box…

Remember last Christmas Eve
When we sat next to our first tree
Ornaments reflected light
Of a candle in the night

And I gave you a music box
Back then that seemed like so much
We watched it go round and round
As the melodies unwound

But all these things are now long gone
And not to be wished upon again

But the musical box continues to turn
The candle in the window continues to burn
But I know they’re just memories
Like Christmas past and you and me

Those are some lyrics that are stuck in my head from a Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s song.  The guy that sang the reprise of this died a few months back.  I don’t know what from, but he sang the “Music Box Blues” on their second album.  He’d been on the East Coast tour with them for a few years, so I’d seen him sing… He was crazy good.  He had a Ray Charles kind of voice.

And now for something… completely different.

So last night I had a few crazy dreams.  Lately I’ve been having some bad nightmare-ish dreams…. it sucks cuz I haven’t slept well.  Yesterday night I dreamt that my head was peeling so I ripped of sheets of skin from my skull.  My head was all shiny and metallic looking to me, but no one else noticed… and it was really tender and sore.  Creepy.  I think I had a headache that night so I dreamt that.

Then last night I dreamt first that I was in a college town trying to find somewhere to stay the night.  It was late, dark, and terrorists were striking the city.  I almost got jumped by gang members…I dreamt that I found this store that gave me directions, but it turned out I walked in totally the wrong direction from where I thought I was going.  Then I got a map from that store and was trying to make it to this Christian Campus house to crash for the night….. strange.

THEN last night I dreamt that I was in my parent’s house and woke up at 7:30am on a Sunday but didn’t go to work.  Instead I hung around till 9:30 when my neighbor said, “Look’s like you got up late today…” At that I realized I was now 2 hours late for work and the first service had started 30 minutes ago.  So I ran upstairs to brush my teeth hoping that someone was covering for me at work.  Then my mom came up and said, “Where’s the baby?”  (Her baby, not mine. )  It WAS in the bathtub, but now the tub was empty and baby was gone.  Then we heard a thump in the attic.  I said, “Mom, I’m sure it’s around somewhere now… trying to kill me.  That’s how these movies go.”  At that, she lifted the attic door and the baby was now a goblin thing with the scream mask on and a sledgehammer in it’s hand.  It said, “Hellow Abram.”  to me…. and my name isn’t Abram…. Then it hit my mom’s hand with the hammer.  Then I woke up… … …

WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT??!?!?!?!?

ANYway, that’s enough craziness for one night… but I was creeped out when I woke up and my wife left for work… so I got up and am now sharing it with all of you.  So with that, I bid you adieu.

Despite My Best Efforts, Life Just Keeps Moving On.

And it moves fast doesn’t it?!?! It’s already November and time for Thanksgiving. So I know that a lot of you are saying, “My Gosh… about time he updated!” Others of you are like, “He’s been away?” But alas, yes… I’m back. I don’t know… I just wasn’t feeling the xanga thing lately. Don’t know if I’m back in full yet either, but I’m at least posting now. I couldn’t sleep last night so I got up early (which is still after my wife left for work ).

So most of you know that I dreamt my wife was pregnant… so then I took a bunch of crap from my small group saying that God was telling me that she was pregnant in a dream because she is…. Well… She’s not.  SO HA!  No baby.  Not yet at least.  Not for another few years hopefully!  Unless we get one of them “oops” babies.

Other than that, we’re going to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra on December 8th.  I’ve seen them three times and Sarah’s seen them once… but they put on an amazing show.  By far it is the best concert I’ve ever been to.  Tickets are always over $100 for two people… but it’s the best $100 you can spend on a concert!  At CedarCreek we give credit to TSO for making our Christmas Eve services cool.    If it wasn’t for their music we’d not have nearly as cool music to play.  We’re just really blessed because our band can perform at about 95% of the level of TSO…. that last 5% being left out due to the fact that we don’t have the money they have for better equipment.  I tell ya what… when we’ve got at least 3 guitarists that can play a flawless “Flight of the Bumblebee” on electric guitar…. that’s God sayin’, “Here… have some talent.”  And man…. is it nice.

For Christmas we’ve got a program designed this year that involves the song “Christmas Canon Rock” off of the new TSO album… Our vocalists can belt it out with the best of them… so that should be sweet.  We’re going to have a narrator talking through/between songs to depict the Christmas story as video and music take you through the story as well.  Then at the end there will be some worship and traditional Christmas songs… silent night with candles… etc.  Last year it snowed on the band… that’ll probably happen again too…   I love being able to use the arts to move people…. to soften their hearts to hear the Gospel.  I love being able to use modern technology to convey a timeless message of love and grace.  I love the fact that God uses a bunch of idiots like us to reach thousands.  I love my job.

Anywho, time to get ready for workie.  Then in a week…. turkey…. (I know… that was horrible.)

Quote of the Campaign.

“It’s against the law to hire people illegally.” -John Kerry during the 10/13/04 Presidential Debate.

You know as well as I do that if Bush had said that, the media would have been all over it.  Yet Kerry says it and the liberal media ignores it.  Go figure.

Sometimes You Just Have To…

You Decide.

Ch ch ch Changes…. Time to make a change.

So I found out how to change the eprops and comments to more …. uhh… fun things.  What do you think?

Oh and as a sidenote, NEVER buy ANYTHING from www.BuyXG.com.  They have the worst customer service, rudest sales/support/accounting staff, and advertise products they don’t even sell.  After my order (which my receipt and the packing slip said were one thing) was completely the wrong item, they were rude on the phone, had 15-20 min. of being on hold per call, and took over two weeks to issue a refund once I shipped back the wrong product.  It was pretty unbelievable how many times they just said, “k” and hung up on me.  HORRIBLE company.  Not to mention the fact that they charged my card and didn’t ship for another two weeks… grrr.  But I’m not bitter… I swear…..

Management Is Hard.

I don’t know… not really… but it’s a detail oriented business… that’s for sure!  I’m placed in an awkward spot, it seems, as I’m not used to it.  “It” being management and leadership.  I can be a leader… I have the gift of leadership… I just haven’t done it much and it’s not well developed compared to the leaders I work around.  I’m only used to managing my own time and projects… not those of others.  But it’s a good thing to move up on the ladder… so …. rock?

I’ve had to learn some hard lessons this month and I’m sure I’m not out of the woods yet.  Lack of organization left a lot of people frustrated and a few with hurt confidences and feelings of being let down.  Not necessarily by me, but by the lack of a system.  Had a system been in place to handle the issues then all would be fine-and-dandy.  Now “dandy” has left the building and “fine” it seems has it’s thumb out and is waiting to hitch a ride to catch up to “dandy”…

We’ll be alright and I’ve decided that it’s my role to step up to the plate and take some hits here… or get hit… either way I’ll eventually make it on base.  It’s strange.  I’m not overly worried, stressed, upset… just slightly stressed… and not worried really…. God is in control and these aren’t major issues.  At the end of the day Christ is still on the throne and we’re all loved and forgiven.

So after ten full hours of paperwork, brainstorming, organizing, system creating, evaluating, and getting feedback… I think I’ve got a plan.

Once this all blows over we can get back to normal and hopefully this new system will allow me much more control over what is happening so that when the ball IS dropped, I can see who dropped it and why…. and if necessary help them up and get them running, carry it myself, or clean house and kick them in the rear…. whatever fits the moment, ya know?

…. Gosh… I understand that much more now why leaders take the fall for the actions of their staff or advisors… The captain goes down with the ship for a reason.  Good leaders don’t abandon… ever.

Held To A Higher Standard.

Recently at CedarCreek we fired a pastor for his actions.  He was caught having an innappropriate relationship with a woman, was confronted, continued to be caught in bad situations with her, and he was a married man.  Since the whole ordeal, witnesses have come forth and verified the story from multiple viewpoints and it is now a fact that he was having an affair.  To this day he denies it and calls everyone a liar.  He says he will only look to the future now and will not discuss the past.  (How convenient for him!)  But, as far as I have heard, he’s been spotted with this same woman as recent as last week.

Last week a woman died in a car accident.  Her sister is the woman that this ex-pastor was having an affair with.

Today is the funeral.

I’ve only got one question going through my mind and I can’t shake it no matter how hard I try… “Did this woman know Christ, or did she fail to take Christianity seriously due to a first-hand view of the actions of a hypocritical pastor?”  She knew about the affair…  That much we know for a fact.  This was a pastor that spoke to 4,000 people about NEVER losing FOCUS of the prize we seek.  Never take your eyes off of God… NEVER lose focus and fail to win the race set before us… Yet here he was sleeping around on his wife and calling the church leaders “evil” and “liars.”

I bet when this ex-pastor was saying a month ago that he’d only look to the future… he never thought that in the future his sin could be partly responsible for a soul so close to him going to hell for eternity.  To him his “future” was a way out… it was hope of forgetting his embarrassment of being caught.  But I bet he never thought it’d end like this.

We are called to a higher standard in the ministry.  Our actions can lead thousands in either the right, or the wrong direction.  This man is now solely responsible for explaining to God his actions… Denial can only go so far, pretty soon we realize that you can’t run from God.

Material Possessions Suck.

So I finally built 3 new computers two weeks ago. Mine is new, my wife’s is a new case with my old parts, and my sister’s is my wife’s onld one with my sister’s old Hard Drive in it since her motherboard and power supply blew up. To make a long story short, I realized last week after some testing that the video card I had purchased for my computer ($229) wasn’t the card they had advertised, put on my receipt, or put on my packing slip.  Yeah.  I was cheesed.  They said, “Oh, our manufacturer sent us the wrong cards (so why’d you send them out?), but we can send you the right one… it’ll just take 30 days to get them in stock.”
     I asked kindly, “Do you even CARRY the card I ordered?  Your website has been changed and no longer says you carry this model.”
     “We have whatever is on the website.  I’ll have to check with the web guy and see why it changed.”
     “Just give me my money back.  And I’d like the money back for shipping that I’ll have to spend to ship your mistake back to you.”

From there I had to order the correct card from another site for more money… ($267) So when THAT comes in, I can ship back this one in that shipping box and get a refund of $229.  (loss of $38) BAH!

Then I had my car worked on.  I went in to get a recall notice taken care of (Ignition switch known to catch on fire), and to get my blower motor resistor replaced since my low two settings on my AC no longer worked ($24 part, but not available to anyone but dealerships, that then chage $100 labor for 30 min of work).  Lucky for me, I just came out of my factory warranty this year!  YAY!  So I am in a third-party extended warranty that I got for 40% off when I bought the car… which has a $100 deductible.  SUCK!  Plus I got my oil changed there since they said, “Yeah, we only charge for parts and $14.95 for labor, and since we’re not allowed to change oil in the apartment complex parking lot.  When they were done I realized they charged me $7.50 too much for the oil… FREAKING DEALERSHIPS! (loss of $144.95)

On top of that, they pointed out my battery was leaking acid everywhere….. … … … … great.  The GOOD news is that they only wanted $90 to replace it for me ($37 of that was labor… for three bolts).  “Uhhh… no thanks, I can take care of that myself.”  I went over to Auto-Zone and did that for $55.  So in the end, my car ate a good couple hundred dollars from my wallet…. That’s the most I’ve had to spend on repairs for that car in one session ever.  It’s only a 2001!  Ah well, it’s happy now.

So yeah, Material Possessions SUCK!  Just remember that kids.  One day, you graduate high school, then college, then get a full-time job, then spend all the money on fixing things, rent, food, and bills.  This life is only temporary…. and so is our money!

A Love So Simple…

“Serve the Lord with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling… But what joy for all who find protection in him!”
          -Psalm 2:11-12

Today I ran across an old song we used to sing at CedarCreek when we first started…. It really hit me hard.  It’s called “Arms of Love” and you probably recognize it or even know it, but I’ll post the lyrics anyway… read through them even if you know the song and think about what you’re reading.

I sing a simple song of love,
To my Savior, to my Jesus.
I’m grateful for the things you’ve done,
My loving Savior, my precious Jesus.
My heart is glad that you’ve called me your own.
There’s no place I’d rather be,
Than in your arms of love.
Holding me still,
Holding me near,
In your arms of love.

Sometimes I forget how simple it should be…

I want to make it more exciting, more complicated, more difficult to find solace in my Savior.  I want to brag about it and say, “LOOK WHAT GOD DID FOR ME!” And for some reason I think that means that I have to spice it up.  I have to have difficult times… I have to turn away from major temptations, I have to lead so many people to Christ…. I have to work MY ability for HIS grace to be worthy or real…. I want excitement… I crave adventure… mystery…. struggles… Fighting and wrestling with God is not a sport to be enjoyed… but I feel that need sometimes in order to verify my faith is real.  When in reality, all I have to do is stop.

He is holding me still….. not still as in relation to time, but still as in relation to movement.  Holding me like you cradle a baby too young to fend for itself…. too loved to be alone.

Sometimes I forget how simple it should be…

                            Currently Playing
                            Winds of Worship 2: Live from Anaheim
                            By The Vineyard
                            “Arms of Love”