NoelHeikkinen.com

“Don’t Shoot Me Santa”

Nov 30, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Merry
.:itunes:. Dirty Pretty Things by suca

I know the last two days have been nothing but videos, but I have been working on my new project and I have only come up for air for meaningless breaks. These have resulted in you getting videos!

Thanks to stereogum for this awesome Christmas song from the Killers. I am a huge Killers fan, so this made my Christmas season.

Cooties PSA

Nov 30, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Infected
.:itunes:. Gloryhouse / Justice by Gloryhouse

Thanks to Best Week Ever for this brilliant PSA:

Coley Thinks This Is Funny

Nov 29, 2007 Uncategorized

My New Project

Nov 28, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:.
.:itunes:. Background Noise by Luka Bloom

For several years now, I have been wanting to write a couple books. I talked about it recently here and here.

Please pray for me the next two days. I am going to get away to an undisclosed location to write, pray, and plan. I will not have any internet access, so I won’t be blogging during that time.

However, when I get back I will need your help.

I have always valued those of you who visit this blog for your input, so I will need it. Monday at noon EST (I’m intentionally doing it during lunch time for those of you who work), I will be hosting a half hourish phone call on Talkshoe. If you have internet access or a phone, you can join in on the conversation as we talk about ideas for the book and the website that will go along with it.

Even if you don’t want to participate, you can join us at noon to listen in.

To listen, just click on this link on Monday at noon:


To participate (I wish you would do this)

By Phone:

Dial: (724) 444-7444 on Monday at noon
Enter: 81026 # (Talkcast ID)
Enter: 1 # (or if you are a Talkshoe member, enter your PIN)

By Computer

Join from your computer:
Become a TalkShoe member
Download and install TalkShoe Live client
Click here on Monday at noon to join the Talkcast

I am the problem

Nov 28, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Sinful
.:itunes:. Tell Me ‘Bout It (Live from the Bowery Ballroom) by Joss Stone

Thanks to Darryl for these two quotes:

“I cannot pray but I sin. I cannot preach to you or any others but I sin. I can do nothing without sin; and, as one expresses it, my repentance wants to be repented of, and my tears to be washed in the precious blood of my dear Redeemer. Our best duties are as so many splendid sins.”
- George Whitefield

…The Times in London invited several eminent authors to write essays on the theme “What’s Wrong with the World?” Chesterton’s contribution took the form of a letter, and was probably the shortest and most accurate reply they received. What’s wrong with the world?

Dear Sirs,

I am.

Sincerely yours,
G. K. Chesterton

This struck me so much because this week I was challenged for something I said last weekend during my sermon. I mentioned that I was sad that there are at least 300,000 people in the Greater Lansing area that don’t know Jesus. Here’s part of the note she sent:

Who are you to denegrate one of God’s pathways?

Buddhists are worthy.

Christians are worthy.

Jews are worthy.

Muslims are worthy.

Hindus are worthy.

Sikhs are worthy.

Here’s part of my response to her:

The bottom line is that I believe Jesus’ message is true. And part of that message was (in his words): “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” He also said “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”

If I am going to be consistent in following Jesus’ message I have to believe that he is the only way. There is no other way to be consistent with his life and message.

The reason I am sad? Because I believe no one else is coming to rescue us. Jesus is the only one coming and it saddens me when people don’t see that because I love the people around me so much.

Something else in your blog post made me think that you love people in the same way: The statement that “Buddhists are worthy…Christians are worthy…Jews are worthy…Muslims are worthy…Hindus are worthy…Sikhs are worthy…” obviously shows your love and care for all people which is awesome.

At the same time, I want to add Paul’s words (in the book of Romans in the Bible). He says this: “No one is righteous—not even one.” In other words, none of us is worthy. Jesus died on the cross to give us the righteousness that we cannot have apart from him.

It’s good for me to constantly remember that I am not worthy.

Jesus did it all.

He paid it all.

I am what is wrong with the world.

Bravo

Nov 28, 2007 Uncategorized

I Feel Naked

Nov 27, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Naked
.:itunes:. the fire and the knife by The Difficulty


After church Sunday my piercer (and friend) Renee and I were chatting. Apparently, she agrees with Jimi: my eyebrow is rejecting my piercing. Apparently the gauge / size of the piercing was too big so gravity is literally pulling it down and out of my face. It’s just a matter of time until it comes completely out, leaving a whacky scar.

So today, she took it out for me.

It feels so weird…my piercing is just part of me. And now it’s gone.

I am counting down the days until January 27: the day I’m going to re-pierce it. Apparently it needs to heal first. Renee said she could temporarily pierce my nose or other eyebrow for me, but I decided against it.

Oh, and I am going with titanium next time. It is much lighter and shouldn’t reject.

Quote of the Day

Nov 27, 2007 Quotes

.:mood:. Serious
.:itunes:. I Don’t Wanna Know by Phil Collins

Via PastorHacks:

“The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one’s work seriously and taking one’s self seriously. The first is imperative and the second disastrous.”
-Margot Fonteyn

Acceptance

Nov 27, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Good
.:itunes:. Can’t Be Right by Kristian Stanfill

Thanks to ken for linking to this video:

The First Mega-Multisite Church

Nov 24, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Great, Actually
.:itunes:. We Know Too Much by Michael Been

I have often pointed to Jerusalem Community Church as the first Mega Church, but I have never thought of it as Multi-site. JD Greear does a great job detailing this out. Here is a snippet.

Consider the church in Jerusalem. Here’s a few salient points to let marinate:

They had a massive growth problem: The 2nd chapter of Acts tell us that within a few weeks well over 10,000 people had come to Christ (5000 men…) and people were being added “every day.” Acts 2 records the crowd’s response to Peter’s sermon as, “What should we do?” Peter tells them and 3000 souls respond, and in Acts 3 5000 responded, and they are only counting the men. That created a “Holy cow, what should we do?” question for the 120-person core group also! They were dealing with going from 120 to over 10,000 in one week. No conscientious Christian ever says “we’re growing too fast” any more than a cancer patient says “I’m healing too fast.” The Jerusalem church scrambled to do what it could to accommodate that growth.

What was their answer to solving the growth? Staying one church and going multisite.

Appetite for Distraction

Nov 24, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Inspired
.:itunes:. The Eyes Of Love by Undercover

Thanks to Letters from Kamp Krusty for this brilliant new GNR inspired song he wrote:

Take me down to Parodox City

Where the grass is green

And yet it’s not

Thanksgiving Update

Nov 23, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Great
.:itunes:. (Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone by Aretha Franklin

Yesterday we had a great Thanksgiving. It was the first year we hosted it (although my mom still provided the Turkey which was a huge help). Here is a run down of the day in pictures.

Those of you not from Michigan may be interested that we got our first snowfall of the season (that stuck) overnight so this was the view on Thanksgiving morning:

The kids got ready by putting on their fancy hats. Notice Coley as the non-conformist Native American with the horizontal feather:

The kids spent hours glued to the front window waiting for the next person to arrive. When everyone made it, there were 11 adults and 6 children.

Kite was the only person who dressed up…

If you don’t count my brother Hans’ pink / flowery shirt (which I don’t):

Grace’s dad made the trip from Chicago to join us. My dad made the trip from DeWitt:

When the meal was served, my mom was MIA from the adult table. We found her at the kid’s table. Apparently seating was by height this year:

My brother Daryl lost his annual thumbwar competition with Ethan:

Jesse got to watch the game with the guys:

I ate a pretzel (I’m a big fan):

We also had three amazing wines. The first was a super sweet white wine (which I heard was good but didn’t taste). The second was the best white wine I have ever had. It was very sharp and woody. The third was a Spanish red that was not too complex, but very very good. Why am I posting about wine? Because I can never remember the names of good wines so I am posting it here so I can look it up later.

Finally, we popped in Evan Almighty and munched on leftovers. Speaking of Steve Carrell, the final cherry on top at the end of the day was the realization that while The Office writing staff may be striking, Dwight is still blogging. I shall close with his thoughts on Thanksgiving.

A lot of people have asked me how the Schrutes enjoy the traditional holiday of “Thanksgiving.” The answer is simple. We do not. Celebrating a holiday that encourages blind appreciation for everything and anything in a person’s life diminishes the rare instances that a person is truly thankful for something, i.e. when that person is pulled from a well they may have fallen into. Giving thanks is also a sign of weakness. It shows that you are placing yourself in situations in which you cannot depend on yourself and, thus, must rely on others to do things for you. At Schrute Farms, we choose instead to celebrate our own holiday called “Resourcefulnacht,” which is a Germlish hybrid word that roughly translates to “Night of Resourcefulness” in English.

Thanksgiving Proclamation

Nov 21, 2007 Quotes

.:mood:. Thankful
.:itunes:. Like It Or Not by Genesis

Happy Thanksgiving

…I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.

- President Abraham Lincoln on October 3, 1863

Alcohol

Nov 21, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Moderate
.:itunes:. The Road Not Taken by Bruce Hornsby & The Range

Thanks to Michael for linking to the best paper on alcohol I have ever read: you can read it here.

The author examines specifically everything the bible has to say about the topic and asks whether drinking alcohol is a “scriptural” or “cultural” sin. Here’s the breakdown of verses he examined:

The Four Agreements

Nov 21, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Conflict Free
.:itunes:. Nightrain by Guns N’ Roses

Thanks to 43 Folders for this link to a book that details 4 Agreements that can resolve a ton of conflict:

1. Be impeccable with your word.

2. Don’t take anything personally.

3. Don’t make assumptions.

4. Do your best.

Simple but profound. Here’s the book:

“The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book” (Don Miguel Ruiz)

Baggage

Nov 20, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Light
.:itunes:. Circus Envy by R.E.M.

This cartoon from The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus reminded me of the message this weekend at Riverview. During the message I quote someone from Riverview who sent me a Facebook message. Here’s the cartoon followed by her note:

“Hey Noel,

I’ve been thinking about the consequences that are going to come out of this series you are doing, and although I think the good outweigh the tougher ones… I’ve noticed in being a pretty open person, that many Christians are not positively enforced when they spill their secrets to others. I mean this in the sense that I generally get this “we’ll pray for you” kind of response, you know the one where in their head they’re like… “wow this ones pretty messed up… we better help them with their walk.” It’s pretty belittling.

I know this is a really crappy response for other Christians to have to people being open, but I’ve received it more than once from Christians in different groups of people/society. Just a thought, but it’d be nice if you could add a little something in there for how we should react as brothers/sisters to watching all this buried stuff come up from the grave.”

Great Video

Nov 20, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Straight Up
.:itunes:. The Burning Down by King’s X

Thanks to John & Stephi for this great video:

Chilling in the Cold

Nov 19, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Thinking
.:itunes:. Stumblin’ by Powderfinger

Normally on Saturday Nights I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off before our first weekend service. This week, things were done early so I found myself hanging out in the cold outside the building talking with people as they were coming in. I haven’t done that in a long time, so it was a blast. I met so many people I have never met before.

The other thing was that because it was so cold, our conversations were always short. The unintended consequence is I met and talked with a lot more people! When I hang out inside the building, the conversations are longer but I meet less people.

I tested my premise by hanging out in the cold before all of the services. It was awesome…I met a ton of new people, including several who were attending for the first time.

I’ll have to do that more often. I may need gloves, though.

Brr.

Chuck says I have to vote for Mike

Nov 19, 2007 Uncategorized

.:mood:. Inspired
.:mashup:. Close To Faith by George Michael VS The Cure

Thanks to Balaam’s Ass for this one.

I have to say I’m tempted to vote for Huckabee based on this commercial alone.

One Laptop Per Child

Nov 18, 2007 Uncategorized

OK, this is a very cool thing. Check out One Laptop Per Child. It’s a great program that is working to get a laptop into the hands of every child in developing countries.

Until the 26th of November, they are doing something even cooler. If you donate $399 to their organization ($200 is tax deductible), they will ship a laptop to a child overseas and you will receive one. This is a cool way to both get a laptop especially made for a kid and to give one away at the same time.

I love this.

Check out this link and this video: