Kris P Kreme

4th grade, Anna Maria Island Elementary. My teacher was Mr. Swank and I’ll never forget the day that his tall frame and glistening bald head announced that the school was putting on a costume contest … I won’t forget it because after I left class to meet my sister for bus-riders … we had the same reaction. “Mom’s gonna make us dress up like dice again!”

Let me rewind a few years. My mom is one of the most creative, inspiring women I know … Halloween came around and she thought us kids would have a blast at this community trick or treat at the Manatee Civic Center (where there was also a costume contest) She had this adorable idea of sending the two of us out as a set, a match, a pair … of dice … all dolled up in white shoe polished faces, red circled cheeks, plastic black derby, giant cardboard boxes with holes cut out for our arms and legs … oh …. and leggings …. white leggings. I was horrified

Fast forward back to the 4th grade costume contest! I decided, I wanted to be a vampire, a few days before the contest, we put together what we thought to be an excellent vampire costume for a 4th grader. I was so excited … no white shoe polish, no cardboard, no leggings! The transformation begins … first the pants (black) … then a white ruffled button up shirt my mom found at goodwill (thinking back it must have been a ladies blouse) … after the shirt gets buttoned, she adds just a small layer of white makeup to my face. Then comes a sweet cape we found, a necklace with a cross and a nice pair of fancy black shoes!

Out comes the black shoe polish … I could see it now, instead of giant red cheeks … she’s thinking giant black eyes or something hideously nerdy!!

“this is going to be the widows peak, just a small V on your scalp hun”
I fought her in my mind, as she draw this “peak” on my once cool looking pale vampire-like face …
She pulled away so I could look in the mirror ……………. cool ……………….. that’s pretty cooI! I was satisfied, maybe she knows what she’s doing after all! To complete the hair, my mom used something that had the word SAP in it … like tree sap … but for your hair.

It was finished (mwahahahahaha) … the transformation was done and there I stood, in my room, surrounded by Ninja Turtle pillows and Dave Justice posters … I was a vampire (a cool looking one too)
Needless to say …  I won first place in the Anna Maria Island Elementary costume contest … and it took about a day or two to get that sap out of my hair … but it was worth it.
It was worth being excited and creative with my mom. It was worth working and being together. It was worth it.

That was not the end of my reign as “Costume King”. I would later go on to win best costume at King Middle School for my 6th grade costume of an old woman … btw … my mom helped me out with that one as well … and again … it was worth it.

Halloween has never been about ghosts, ghouls, demons/evil, for me. It’s always been about quality time with my family, using our imaginations, being creative, and candy … that’s all (especially candy) …

The Christian World View is based on Christ’s commandment to “Go into all the world” (Mark 16:15) and “The light shines in the darkness … and the darkness has not extinguished it” (John 1:5) even “Let your light shine before men …” (Matt 5:16)
Let’s take that last verse (Matthew 5:16) and pair if with a quote from D.L. Moody, which says, “We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won’t need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don’t fire cannons to call attention to their shining … they just shine”
“To the pure all things are pure, but nothing is pure to those who are corrupted and unbelieving” (Titus 1:15)

Dressing up like a vampire, even an old lady … wasn’t a moment of impure motivation for me. I was a character attempting to win a costume contest and bring home that glorious sweet tasting bacon (… candy really) … Not some dark force.

It seems as if we’re loudest when we’re “against” something. When our own ignorance gets the better of us. When we don’t fully understand something and possibly even fear it … we’re loudest. Yes, Halloween has a weird history, but so does Saturnalia … er I mean … Christmas. We don’t celebrate Saturnalia, we celebrate Christmas … the “birth” of Christ (other possible Christmas days: March 28th, September 11th, November 18th) and as such, we don’t celebrate Halloween, we celebrate “National Costume & Candy Day!”

I love Halloween because I love the memories it’s given me. Hiding in the bushes in my ninja outfit to scare my sister, who was dressed as Princess Jasmine. Even getting caught egging my friends house … yes we cleaned every square inch of it afterwards. So for me, Halloween isn’t the occult, Celtic holiday it once was, just as Christmas isn’t the week long, lawless, pagan celebration IT once was ….

Happy Halloween, be safe and eat candy!

Until Next Time,
KPK 

Tuesday, September 20th, marks a lovely addition to the world of music releases …

Seriously, it’s either feast or famine … and right now we can loosen our belts cause we about to feast!

ALRIGHT, if you’re a creature, much like myself, who thrives on the addiction of new music … I’ve jotted down a few “must-haves” for your enjoyment.

#1) Needtobreathe – “The Reckoning”

These boys are ridiculous first off, but this new project will solidify their “signature” sound. In conversation with a friend of mine, we’re assuming this might be one of the last times NTB and Christian radio converge … but we’re hoping not. (Christian radio NEEDS bands like NTB)
My personal favorite – “Oohs & Aahs” … enjoy

#2) Gungor – Ghosts Upon The Earth

As Glenn Packiam puts it “In a world of bland beats, trite lyrics, & predictable riffs, Gungors “Ghosts Upon The Earth is a musical and theological feast”
I myself couldn’t agree more! On “Ancient Skies” we started to see a departure from “the norm” of “worship” music (just to clarify, that phrase ‘worship music’ annoys me a bit) Then an explosive separation into a more artistic/creative/imaginative/expressive buffet of musicality in “Beautiful Things” … which Gungor continues to push further past the copy/paste type of style, lyrical blandess of most music in it’s genre with “Ghosts”
This is a MUST for anyone who just appreciates good music.

Take a few minutes, listening to the opening track “Let There Be”

#3) Thrice – Major/Minor

I was never a big Thrice fan … that was until the “Vheissu” album. With cuts like “Image of the Invisible”, “Like Moths To A Flame” and others, I unintentionally was hooked.

Proving themselves to not just be a “rock” band but to expound and experiment with their sound with the “Alchemy” project. “Major/Minor” is another great expansion of that sound.
One track that hit me, not only lyrically but sonic-wise .. Words in the Water .. check it out.

#4) Katie Herzig – The Waking Sleep

I first heard her sweetly singing “I Will Follow” from her “Apple Tree” album a few years ago … She became a nice little name to drop anytime I was around people who knew “SO MUCH” about music haha.
“Oh have you heard of Katie Herzig? … no? … oh you should?”
And rightfully so, she needs to be known. Adorable little voice that produces lyrics much deeper than the musical alludes to …
Do yourself a favor and check out tracks: “Free My Mind”, “Way To The Future”, “Midnight Serenade”, “Daisies & Pews” … actually just check out the whole record.
Her new video for opening track “Free My Mind” … enjoy

Also make sure, if you have time, to check out these releases as well!!
Lisa Hannigan – Passender
Matt Maher – Love In Between
Leeland – The Great Awakening
Tori Amos – Night Of Hunters
Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah – Hysterical

Well … that about sums up this one. If you have any new music you want to share. HIT ME UP!!

Until Next Time,
KPK

I’m not a mother, obviously. Nor am I a parent, but I am a son … and I know that look, tone and disfigurement that MY mom used to get when I was irritating the mess out of her. That “I swear if you keep pushing I’m going to straight up bite you in half” kinda look.
I think I might have spotted that look about 1000 times this past weekend.
No I wasn’t trapped on an island with my mother, I was at Night Of Joy. The disfigured faces, with the scowl and crooked finger, weren’t donning the wicked witch outfits either … they were employees … disfigured from the thousands of tyrant like youth groups … and I don’t blame them … I might have worn the mask that night a few times myself.

My wife and I were in line, surrounded by teens and their leaders. We know from past experiences what to expect on the NOJ nights … so we weren’t surprised. Like a pack of hybrid banshee parrots, they square off. One youth group against another, their love for “Jesus” and then throwing the challenge back “how about you?!” … and then the random yelling of something that solidified that they were some sort of parrot hybrid … “Hello!! … HELLO!!”. Then, as if on queue, the pushing started. Some of the older, more mature youth decided the line wasn’t moving at the pace they were used to. Needless to say … I put that mask on. As we approached the cast member in charge of placing us in our designated areas … I could tell he was wearing the mask … the cast member who instructed us on how NOT to ride the ride … wore the mask as well … Even the cast member who really just pushed the button to start the ride … you guessed it … masked

I knew this would happen …
It happens every year (that I know of).
The forcefully rude and belligerent hybrid banshee/parrots have ruined Night Of Joy

But should I take this rant to focus on the undisciplined, out-of-control pubescent miniature adults? …… or their leaders?

By the end of the last NOJ night, Tobymac was on stage singing about “Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city” and all that was running through my already embarrassed, fully frustrated mind is … “‘Frustrate them like Jesus’ might be the slogan for next year”

Now let me clarify. This animosity isn’t directed at the hordes of rambunctious kids, I was one … I know how it is.
It’s directed towards their leaders.

It feels as if, in the last few years, “Leadership” and “Christianity” have interwoven themselves … Even though I don’t think they should (which is a blog in and of itself) nonetheless it needs to be recognized. If in this trend of “building better leaders”, we should see better leaders.
Forgive me if I’m folding bad leaders in with great leaders but, I did not see 1 real good leader of the said “rambunctious kids” at NOJ.
From Space Mountain to The Haunted Mansion, you couldn’t escape that “scowled” face from the “Most Magical of Employees” … They were literally screaming at kids to “Stay in their seats, Keep your hands in the boat, please don’t throw things, no yelling in line please” …

Where are their leaders?
Setting an example for them, showing them discipline, exuding a Christ-like respect and servant attitude to those who are SERVING THEM?

To put it bluntly, I don’t think Paul when saying “I become all things to all people, that I might win some” was giving leaders permission to “become like rambunctious, disrespectful youth groupers that you might win some” … because I’m sure based on whatever I saw at NOJ, you didn’t win any … if anything you irritated them into the opposite direction.

Bottom line is this.
Leaders, step up and take care of your youth group.
Parents, don’t expect your leaders to carry all the weight.
Take care of the testimony you carry.
Take care of those who are serving you.

Keep in mind that even though it’s expected at the “Christian Night”
That thousands of hybrid banshee parrots are attending and will likely be … well … you know.
It doesn’t need to go without good leadership.

Until Next Time,
KPK

I was debating doing a blog like this, but I really like music and love to share it even more.

If you asked my wife about my music selections, she might use words like “erratic” “anarchical” … which I don’t mind.
So forgive me if the styles jumble like a bag of Chex Mix …

Alright, song #5
I was flipping through a friends Spotify playlist when I saw this band. Cute name, I thought … the song was hooky, interesting, pop but just enough off center to make me love it
Foster The People – Pumped Up Kicks

Moving on to #4!
When I first listened through the song, I had to fight not to think … “Did Switchfoot just rip of Lenny Kravitz?”
But this song grew and grew on my critical musical mind. “I been to hell and back again” caught me … I thought … oh yeah, this is going to be good … and I was right.
Switchfoot – Dark Horses

So that brings us to the hump of the list, song #3
This song was actually a bit of a surprise for me … Don’t get me wrong, I have an soft spot in my heart for bands like Two Door Cinema Club, MGMT, Bat For Lashes, M83, Caribou … but I hadn’t really ever heard of Strange Talk, but again thanks to Spotify … I have now added it my fav’s
Strange Talk – Climbing Walls

ALMOST THERE! Song #2 is relatively easy … HUGE NTB fan. I think it’s safe to say I have what some people might call a “man crush” on the boys … but nonetheless … from the “Soon To Melt Your Face Off” album “The Reckoning” enjoy
Needtobreathe – Drive All Night

This is where the difficulty set in … Since before “Parachutes” I’ve loved me some Coldplay … So when I heard “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall” … I leaked a little … it was so good … but so was “Major Minus” (another song an a small EP) … there was one difficult decision. There was yet another one in the wings.
Mat Kearney dropped a new album called “Young Love” … like a moth to a vintage dress in a womans closet … I snatched it up and fell head over heals for “Ships in the Night”
So, 2 #1′s …
Coldplay – Ever Teardrop is a Waterfall

Mat Kearney – Ships in the Night

AH! SO GOOD!!

I hope you enjoyed this little tid bit of musical expression …

If you have any you’d like to share feel free to comment!

Until Next Time,
KPK

I started this by scripting out ways Christian music could be better, but it came across pompous and arrogant … not my intention. BUT, in typing, I felt this needed to be said at least.

In the last few years, there has been a trend in Christian music/song-writing, a cuddly trend … a “this is a boyfriend/God” song … kinda trend. An “I’m only going to graze the idea of an emotion” kinda trend.

Not that those songs aren’t good songs … but some sing as if they were the cutest love song of a boy and girl, that playful, flirtatious beginning of a relationship … then like that bad aftertaste of something sweet … they throw the word “Lord” or “God” or “Jesus” in there, just to add another JPM (Jesus Per Minute) point … It’s ok to be a Christian/Singer/Song-writer and have a love song about the opposite sex … truly … actually I wish there were more.

On the flip side of the coin …

I was driving to the gym 2 days ago and heard Mat Kearney’s song “Down” come on the radio … “He lit a cigarette felt in on his lip, Driving home on a long road with regret” sang vulnerably through my car speakers. 2 thoughts went through my head 1. GREAT story-telling … like a painter with words. 2. It will never get the respect it deserves as a song, it should, it’s catchy, great musically-lyrically, but because it has the phrase “He lit a cigarette” in it.

I can hear the Christian Culture … “Why does he have to smoke, that just ruined the story”

In all honesty, I wish the lyric was “He smoked a PACK of cigarettes” … Kearney is attempting to paint a story of an angst ridden, soon-to-be father … what would you rather him use? “He chewed his fingernails?” “He paced back and forth?” … I don’t think those lines paint the angst you can feel in the song.

If you find yourself uncomfortable with a song that positions it’s character smoking a cigarette, while he ponders the weight of becoming a father in the world … yet not see the Gospels promise as the chorus screams ” WE ALL NEED FORGIVENESS” … you might not want music at all … but an audible “gee … you’re swell”

I would love it, if Christian music were bold enough to sing about doubts, mistakes,  wanting to dance (either romantically or on “da dance flow”, real-life “I’m on the verge of being a Christian” kind of songs … the modern version of Paul’s use of pagan poetry on the Mount. I want nothing more than to see an emboldened Christian Culture reaching out, with a Christian perspective/world view, into the areas of sex, drugs, rock & roll, adultery, slander, doubt, remorse, dancing, clubbing, ect. Christian music didn’t accept Christ as it’s Lord and Savior. As far as I know Christian music was never in Sin and needed a Savior … Christian music doesn’t need to worry about the doctrine of total depravity or the perseverance of the saints … it’s music.

Or maybe you’re ok with the “God is my boyfriend” songs … maybe you’re ok with the sideways shallow hugs …

Until Next Time,
KPK

P.S. Enjoy the song

Just some Imaging pieces I produced for my boy Chris Chicago at Hype Radio Network!

NON-JESUS JUKE FASHION

Anytime you turn on the television and see suffering of any kind, it breaks your heart (even if we’ve become desensitized to it)
This morning everyone woke up to the news that Japan was hit but a surge Tsunami and devastated the coast. Millions/Billions of dollars to rebuild, estimated 60 lives were lost in the impact (so far) and the world is sending out their prayers in the form of national aid and #hashtag prayers.

We need to pray for Japan, we need to pray that God will graciously give his peace to the families of those who have lost their loved ones. But seeing (via Twitter) all of the reoccurring themes of “heartbroken” “devastation” “tragedy” with the hashtags of #prayforjapan … got to me. Like I’ve already typed “We need to pray for Japan” … but knowing what I know, and understanding what the majority of us, as the “fortunate”, are aware of … I’ve come to the conclusion … if it doesn’t exist on the National/Global/Facebook Coverage … we won’t care as much, unless we really invest.

My heart really does break for Japan, even a single life loss … sucks, sincerely, and there are an estimated 90+ lives lost. But putting the numbers and prevent-ability of the statistics … I find this:

Acording to GlobalIssues.org, over 22,000 children die every day from preventable diseases (1 child every 4 seconds, 15 children every minute)
Poverty.com released the statistic 25,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger related causes (according to the United Nations
USAID a Government funded organization posted 5,000 people die a day from AIDS

According to the statistics on hunger, the devastation of the Japanese Tsunami would be equal to a Tsunami happening 300 consecutive days to amount to the deaths caused by hunger (which is preventable) .. in one day.

I’m not trying to be insensitive, truly, only attempting to put things into perspective … Global coverage breeds a “fad” like concern, without investment.
If we are going to invest in something … we need to invest in the betterment of man kind … overall … not just what appears on the News more frequently

We, as a society, can indeed impact the world … but only if we truly invest in the betterment of man kind … that means find the things that are “Out of Sight/Out of Mind”
and pursuing the development of the 52,000 lives that will die today, with only the 3 statistics I’ve mentioned …

Pray for Japan, pray for God’s peace … but more so … Pray for those who don’t have the privileged of Global Coverage

It seems nowadays that saying “Xmas” either makes you a rabid secularist or at least a sub-Christian who, like the atheists, want to take Christ out of “Christ”-

Let’s get a little history lesson in real quick: (you can find most of this information on the internet. Ie: http://www.oed.com/, http://www.christianhistorytimeline.com/ amongst others … but I urge you to research it for yourself)

For at least the last thousand years, “X” has been used as an abbreviation for Christ, far surpassing the breadth of time the modern usage of “Xmas”. Actually “Christ” was written a number of ways “XP” (Chi Rho) and also “XT”. The dating of these particular christograms are difficult but there are some references in the Anglo Saxon Chronicles (which are historical accounts of the Anglo Saxons written in Old English) that date back to the early 1000’s. The “XP” that we widely see used in modern Orthodox denominations as well as Catholicism, Episcopalians as well as others, is called the “Labarum” and are the “x” and “p” letters of “ΙΧΘΥΣ”, the Greek word for “Christ”

The “X” has also been cited as being used in terms “Xtian” and “Xtianity”, according to the Oxford English Dictionary as early as 1485. In many New Testament manuscripts and Greek images X was used as various titles for Jesus and is still viewed as a symbol of Christ and used as chrismons.

In 1436 Johannes Guttenberg invented the printing press and as such, the tedious and expensive typesetting, led him to use the Greek symbol as the abbreviation for the church. Even Webster’s dictionary acknowledges that the abbreviation Xmas was in common use by the middle of the sixteenth century.

Only within the last century has the idea of “Xmas” taking “Christ” out of Christmas, become widespread. It’s only because of rising fears of secularization and wrong ideas about separation from worldliness, that the urban myth of “Xmas” being a removal of Christ still exists. In 1977, the Governor of New Hampshire issued a press release stating that journalists should cease taking the “Christ” out of “Christmas” as “Xmas” was a pagan spelling of Christmas. Perhaps he should have run that press release by a religious scholar before issuing it. Like anything, if we continue to be under educated about things, and because of our ignorance develop fear or separation … we then begin to lose the attachment to what Christmas really is … the celebration of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Understanding this use of Christian symbolism might help us modern day Xians focus on more important issues of the Faith during Advent, and bring a little more Peace to the Xmas Season.

Until Next Time
KPK

Taken from an article by Johnathan Dodson on The Resurgence

So many of the songs about God’s love currently being written and sung are cheap. They are mushy with no substance. Like milk-bloated cereal, they drip with emotion but fall flat on substance. Such cheap love songs act like God is our cosmic girlfriend.

Cheap love songs typically talk about how great God’s love is for us. They fail to consider how God’s great love becomes great for us. Biblically, we know no great Godly love apart from an angry God. If God was not angry, he would be a bad lover. If he didn’t grow wrathful over idolatry, murder, lying, jealousy, gossip, and sleeping around, then his love would be cheap. But God stands up for himself, for his infinite glory and beauty, and says, “I will not be abused. Those who treat me poorly must suffer the consequences of failing to honor the God who is infinitely honorable.” And so he pours out his righteous wrath and anger by putting to death his enemies or by putting to death his own Son.

For us to understand God’s love, we must understand his anger. God’s anger inevitably leads us to the cross, where justice and mercy meet in perfect, soul-wrenching, Christ-crushing, sin-forgiving, life-giving, love-flowing harmony. For those that hope in Jesus, the anger of God against our unrighteousness is mercifully diverted from us onto His beloved Son. As a result, God preserves and promotes his justice and humanity’s joy where anger and love converge—at the cross. The purpose of God’s anger is to display the depth and character of his eternal justice and his love for us. When we understand that God’s love is God’s because of his justice and anger, only then can we begin to comprehend howgreat a love he has for us. So how do we write worship songs that speak of God’s great love, not cheap love? Three suggestions:

1. Contrast God’s great love with his great wrath. The more we see God’s just wrath, the more we see how great his love is to save us (“a wretch like me”).
2. Show how God’s love is ours in the death of his Son.Text after biblical text ties God’s unfailing love to the sacrifice of his Son.
3. Articulate the greatness of God’s love alongside the magnitude of his glory. Reveal that God’s love is just one aspect of God’s many-splendored glory.