First Shows.

We had our first 2 shows on Sunday night at the Stratford Old Town Hall theater. The crowd was small for both shows, but from what was said afterwards I think that people were touched. We are spending this week preparing for our shows Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in Hammersmith at the CCiL church.

Most of the people on team moved host families this week. Last week Rach and I stayed with a great young couple from South Africa named Altus and Soleen. Today we moved further out of town to stay with a Annete and Buk. They are so nice. We have been blessed to stay with great people here in London.

Please keep praying for this tour. There are a lot of people in London that are broken hearted and have a lot of pain in their life. Our shows are touching on the pain and I think that we have a great message of hope that I want others to hear. My prayer is that they come and that we can do all we can to invite many people. Cheers.

Chris

Mind The Gap.

Too Many Movies.

When we were on the plane coming here I got up to use the bathroom. I stood, stretched and made my way, swaying as I walked. to the middle set of bathrooms. When I got there this little Asian woman shot out of the room and suprise me. I hate that feeling, like you are both about crash into one another. Typically when this happens my eyes get large, my pupils dialate and I juke to one side to avoid the colission. However, This time there was no way of avoiding contact and after we bumped into each other I did something I have never done before. I quickly said, 'uh, sorry' and then I bowed. I really did standing in a plane on its way to Dubai, I gave this little Asian woman a quick Mr. Miagi bow. I think it was just instict from too many movies, oh well. Sianara.

Chris

Early Start.

It is cheaper to travel around London if you start your day after 9:30. So we have been sleeping in and having really late starts to our day because it saves money. Well, today Adriaan and I have go fetch the van/truck so its up at 6:00 and on the tube by 8:00. The sun comes up later too. So I am sitting in the small flat, having my tea at 6:30 and its still dark. It's a beautiful, dark, cold London morning and I am a little nervous about getting the van and driving around the city, but it will be fine. Hope you day is well, please pray for us here. Our first shows are Sunday night. Cheers.

Chris

First Full Day.

Hey Guys,

We had nothing to do today so Rachel and I woke up late. I awoke sick, but after throwing up I felt much better. My luggage is still not here so we went on a mission to find me a little bit of clothing. We found a couple of shops that had great deals so I got 2 t-shirt for £1 each (less that $4 total), one that says something about Italian soccer and another classy one that says Hawaii Copacabana. The deal of the day was the pair of Levis 501's that Rach found misplaced on the sale rack that were supposed to be £56 ($106) that we got for £8 ($15.20). I also found 2 pairs of boxers briefs thrown in a bin that the guy let us buy for £.75 ($1.35), I hope they didn't belong to anyone, they looked clean and anything is an improvement from my friend Piet's silky boxers that are a size too small (silky doesn't stretch, I could barely bend over). Tomorrow is another nothing day for us so we are going to see the lighting on the Christmas lights on Regent Street. Will try to get photos up. Cheers.

Chris

We're Here.

We made it here yesterday morning, hung out during the day and led worship at church last night. Then we met our host family and tood the train 'home'. Slept forever and now ready to wander our nighborhood. They lost my bag on the trip. Meaning I am typing this in my buddy Piet's underpants. Will write more when I know more. Cheers.

Chris

Leaving Today.

We are leaving this afternoon for London. The band plus Piet, the sound guy, and Rachel, my wife, are leaving today. We fly our to Jo'burg at 2:15 this afternoon and arrive sometime Sunday in the UK. We then rush to a church where we are leading worship at the evening service. I think that we are going to be dead tired, but oh well. I am going to be getting a SIM card for my cell phone when I get there. I will post the number when I get it.

For the trip I wanted to get a new hiking backpack. There are some good deals here where a great pack cost about $150. It's a lot of money, but will last. However due to there being no extra money for a new backpack, I got a old South Africa army backpack from 1984. It's not that nice, but it will do the trick. The other thing that made it a great offer was that it was 20 Rand. That comes out to a little less than $3. It ain't pretty, but holds stuff and thats the point.

Please pray for our trip and that there are now problems with customs. Can't wait to get there. Cheers.

Chris

I Like My Chair.

Ray and I have a chair in our bedroom. Its the chair that came in our second hand living room suite we bought last year when we moved in our house. Its a tannish color chair and isn't the most comfy thing in the world, but its mine and thats good enough for me.

Right now Ray is getting ready for the end of the year dine. Guinness is sitting on the futon mattress by our bedroom door, watching Rachel run around getting ready for the dine. And I am happily sitting in my chair in the corner of the bedroom with my feet propped up on the bed thinking, "I like my chair".

On tour I adapt very well to my surroundings. It doesn't bother me to stay at our host families homes and relax in their living room and sit in their chairs, but it's not mine. I don't even think about my chair when we are on tour, but when we get home the wonderful memories all come flooding back and its the first place my butt finds rest from the road.

So thats my chair. I'm still sitting in it now, if you were wondering, with my feet propped on the bed. Rachel is somewhere else in the house doing something else and Guinness has followed her. There is a lot I could be doing now. Getting ready for the dine tonight or packing for our trip to London tomorrow. But I think I will sit here a little longer and enjoy my home while I am still here. Cheers.

Chris

My Aunt Pat.

For you that don't know I grew up mostly with my aunt Pat. Growing up my mother and I had a bad relationship (which has become really good over the past few years) and when I was in jr high I moved out of my moms home and moved in with her sister Pat. For me Pat was a savior, she took me in and treated me as her own child and loved me as much a person can love another person. We were parent/child, but beyond that we were great friends.

Well, 3 years ago Pat died of cancer and I miss her so badly. I don't think there was a person who didn't like Pat or could say that she didn't make them feel special. Today will always be a sad day for me, but I know that she is much better now. I hope that I can be half the parent that she was to me. Cheers.

Chris

Almost Gone.

We are doing our last day of rehearsals today for the London/Brussels tour. Ray, the band/tech team and I are leaving Saturday and the rest of the team comes each day until Wednesday. Please pray for us for safe travel and for no problems with customs. We are still trying to raise extra money to cover the fee for the trip, if you are able to help please email me and I can get the information to you. Thanks.

Chris

Happy Birthday.

It's my Nanny's birthday today. I love that her birthday is on Halloween, its so funny to me. Well, hope you all have a great day and Nanny, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Chris

My Halloween Mask.

I am a little pathetic at times. Ok, a lot of the time. I am a little afraid of everything, wear a mask to look like I am super confident. At the same time I am a little scared that people will see through my thin mask and realize that I am really just faking my way through life most of the time. Fake it till ya make it, right?

I would love to do adventure races, but since I hurt my knee a couple years ago on a frozen lake in Minnesota I am a little scared of the pain in my left leg.

I would love to be a "real" musician and have people hear the music that I write, but I am a little scared that people will find it to be total crap.

I would love to preach more, but I am a little scared that I will run out of stuff to say and that the stuff I do say will be uninspiring. And who wants that?

Why is it this way? Why am I full of doubt about myself these days? I work with a lot of 18 and 19 year olds and their self confidence oozes everywhere. When I was 18 I was so full of confidence in myself that I bordered on being an arrogant bastard. But today I just wear a thin, cracking mask of confidence to shield the fact that I feel utterly clueless.

In the States I would get upset at times when we would work a conference and there were special youth ministers that were treated as VIP's because they had a large youth group. I started thinking how we have become so arrogant in ministry that we have lost touch with the humble servant that we are to be serving. It had become about clothes and lights, stage presence and how much merch we moved. Of course Jesus was the reason we were doing what we were doing, but was it the main reason or did we want to be featured in a magazine or asked to perform with bigger christian celebrities?

I think the "biz" got to me and I wanted nothing more than to run away from that life. However, in my running I think that I ran so far past the world of humble confidence and into a world of self-hatred and insecurity. Brennan Manning writes in Ruthless Trust, "Humble men and women do not have a low opinion of themselves; they have no opinion of themselves.". In my insecurity, I am just as focused on myself that if I wanted everyone one to see how great I was.

I want to be a man that does great things for God and if the things I do aren't great, well at least I gave it a hell of a try. I no longer want to be a scared little boy crying at day care watching his mother drive away. I want to do my best all the time and if people don't like it, oh well, it's not for them anyway. I want to run the race, write the song, and inspire the masses. I want to get off my lazy butt and make the most of this life that I am faking my way through right now. Most of all I want to take this mask off because it's not me and I want to reintroduce myself to me again. We used to great friends. Live your life the best you can and stop wasting time being scared, even if it's just a little. Cheers.

Chris

Guinness the Warrior.

Guinness is huge. She has put on a lot of weight since getting "fixed". Besides being huge, she is intimidating to people that she wants to scare. However, there is one thing that scared Guinness, a small child. There were these kids hanging out by our house today and Guinness was freaked out. She is used to adults, but talking, walking little people is too much for her. A second little thing about G is that she ate our little garden, the little one that blogged about a few weeks ago. Even the tree, how does a dog eat a small palm tree? I don't know either, but she did. Oh well, we still love her. Cheers.

Chris

Good Night Shane.

On Thursday nights we do a show called Truth or Dare. It's a show about a couple of skater boys and some cheerleaders and the the decisions they make. I play the main guy, Shane, and Ray plays the head cheerleader, Kirstin. Well Thursday night was my last performance of Truth or Dare and it was sad to say adios (however, not many people say that around here). It was also probably the end of my dancing career. There is a scene where Shane (me) has to prove to Kirstin (Ray) that he has "moves", so we do a little hip hop dance battle. It always goes well and ends with a little break dance solo at the end. Well, I proved for the last time that I have "skillz". Good night Shane, it was a great year.

Chris

Good Night Shane.

On Thursday nights we do a show called Truth or Dare. It's a show about a couple of skater boys and some cheerleaders and the the decisions they make. I play the main guy, Shane, and Ray plays the head cheerleader, Kirstin. Well Thursday night was my last performance of Truth or Dare and it was sad to say adios (however, not many people say that around here). It was also probably the end of my dancing career. There is a scene where Shane (me) has to prove to Kirstin (Ray) that he has "moves", so we do a little hip hop dance battle. It always goes well and ends with a little break dance solo at the end. Well, I proved for the last time that I have "skillz". Good night Shane, it was a great year.

Chris

Good Night Shane.

On Thursday nights we do a show called Truth or Dare. It's a show about a couple of skater boys and some cheerleaders and the the decisions they make. I play the main guy, Shane, and Ray plays the head cheerleader, Kirstin. Well Thursday night was my last performance of Truth or Dare and it was sad to say adios (however, not many people say that around here). It was also probably the end of my dancing career. There is a scene where Shane (me) has to prove to Kirstin (Ray) that he has "moves", so we do a little hip hop dance battle. It always goes well and ends with a little break dance solo at the end. Well, I proved for the last time that I have "skillz". Good night Shane, it was a great year.

Chris

Good Night Shane.

On Thursday nights we do a show called Truth or Dare. It's a show about a couple of skater boys and some cheerleaders and the the decisions they make. I play the main guy, Shane, and Ray plays the head cheerleader, Kirstin. Well Thursday night was my last performance of Truth or Dare and it was sad to say adios (however, not many people say that around here). It was also probably the end of my dancing career. There is a scene where Shane (me) has to prove to Kirstin (Ray) that he has "moves", so we do a little hip hop dance battle. It always goes well and ends with a little break dance solo at the end. Well, I proved for the last time that I have "skillz". Good night Shane, it was a great year.

Chris

Coming to a Close.

This is our last week of tour, we are in Ficksburg, a small town on the Northwest Lesotho border. We have had an amazing year on tour so far this year and have met some great people. I really think that the shows reached many people and I believe that we had an impact on all that came to our shows. We will be home on Saturday, then we have meetings next week before leaving the following Saturday for London. Please pray for Rachel and I for energy, its been a long tiring year already and with the Europe tour ahead we need a lot of pray to not get burned out. Thanks.

Chris

Op Die Berg.

We left beautiful Cape Town this past Sunday morning and drove 2 hours inland and then took a left drove and hour towards the border of Nowhere. We are in a farming community this week called Op Die Berg (On the Mountain), There is a church, a farming store and a small grocery store. Thats it. However the farmers in the community are paying for the kids of their workers to come to the shows this week. They are busing them in from all around and last night there were about 400-500 people crammed in this little church hall. It's so much fun, we have chairs in the back for the adults and the students sit on the floor and the floor is packed with people. This is probably the first time any of these kids have seen a show with live music, lights and dancers. You can see the excitement on their faces. Its a beautiful area with great people. I hope the rest of the week goes well.

Chris

In Cape Town.

We made the long trek to Cape Town and its such a beautiful city. We have a "sport afternoon" every week so we got to go to the beach the Monday afternoon. The water was so so so cold, but it was still fun. The show on Sunday night went really well and we are preparing now for tonight's show, Homecoming. The band is set up and sound checked, all the props are ready, we are just about to have Focus, where we prepare mentally for the show, and then we wait for the show to start. I think the show will go well tonight. Hope your evening goes well. Cheers.

Chris