Robert's Anastasis Diary

The Right Reverend Bono

2006-02-03T20:33:00.000-08:00

I just read the text of Bono's address to the attenders of Thursdays National Prayer Breakfast. Kind of a mind blower huh? The Rock Star Addressing the President of the United States, members of Congress, and other Heads of State, including, Jordan's King Abdulah.
Bono, who has been guilty of tippling a pint too many of Stout, and who has been chastised for dropping the "F" Bomb on TV; had the preach on him. He, of course, was exhorting those in attendance to do more to help Africa. I love watching God use those with willing hearts. Not just those with Degrees of Divinity, or Bible School Diplomas. Not just singers from "Christian" bands.
He spent much of the message talking about helping "The Least of These" meaning the poor, the sick, the forgotten. He was vintage Bono, bold and cheeky; an icon of "Counter Culture" quoting scripture to our "Evangelical" President.
I was blessed by reading the whole thing, but what really ministered to me was this quote:

A number of years ago I met a wise man who changed my life.
In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lords Blessing. I was saying you know, I have a new song, look after it... I have a family, please look after them... I have this crazy idea...

And this wise man said stop.

He said stop asking God to bless what you are doing.

Get involved with what God is doing because it's already blessed.

I've heard that message in different form, but it was a good reminder. It seems we are always letting God know what good things we are doing for Him, and would He please join us, instead of asking "Lord what are you doing, and may I join you?"
To read the full text, click HERE

Sarah Kelly at Saturday Night Life

2006-02-02T23:28:00.000-08:00

If you haven't discovered Sarah Kelly, you need to. She is a wonderful Christian singer songwriter. We had the priviledge of having her as musical guest at January's Saturday Night Life. She is commonly described as sounding like a cross between Janis Joplin and Alanis Morrisette, or Dolores O'Reardon. Personally, I think this does Sarah a dis-service. She sounds like Sarah Kelly, and they will be comparing future artists to her. Once you hear her voice you will recognize it the next time. She is Spirit Filled and honest. There is not one false sound to come out of her. Visit her site, and listen to samples. She is currently working on a new album. You can help her out by pre-purchasing it from her site. You will be hearing from her soon.

There's no Congress in Baseball

2005-03-17T20:10:00.000-08:00

Is it just me or does it seem just a bit out of proportion to be spending congressional time holding hearings about steroids in baseball. We've got problems in this country that impact more people, such as healthcare, the rising number of homeless, security issues, etc.
Don't get me wrong, I'm disturbed by the apparent trend of performance enhancement drug use in all sports. I just think that Congress has better ways to spend it's time and our money.
I've heard people cry out for asterisks on homerun records held by McGuire and Bonds because of their alleged roid use. OK, let's take it further and deeper. Let's put an asterisk next to Gaylord Perry's win total because of the spitball he threw. (OK ,it was really a vaseline ball) Let's face it, cheating has been a part of baseball since forever. All of a sudden steroid use, howeve,r has become the boogeyman on, well, steroids.

What's with February?

2005-03-03T22:40:00.000-08:00

How can it be March already? I've never understood why February only has 28 days. (I know, I know, 29 on leap year) Every other month has 30 or 31. It just makes no sense t me. If I were king, we'd take a day from January and one from March. They both have 31. We'd donate them to February, which would then have 30 (I know, I know, 31 on leap year) Makes sense to me.

Where Have I Been?

2005-02-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

OK, so it's months between posts. I look at the link to this page every day and intend to post something, but I always feel like I don't have it together enough to write. I want to have all of my thoughts organized and perfect before I log in. That's dumb, I know.
It's not like I'm not busier than a one-armed paper hanger though. We've got rehearsals going for our big Easter production, as well as rehearsals for this month's Saturday Night Life (Feb 26 for anyone in the neighborhood.)
On the 14th (Valentines Day) we performed at the Union Gospel Mission's Womens shelter for an hour of comedy and music. It was a blessed time for us.

Winds

2004-12-13T18:38:00.000-08:00

We had a bit of a windstorm last night. Instead of going to work today, I spent the day buying 3-tab shingles and replacing a bunch that got blown off by the wind. Just over a year ago we had a similar storm which blew significantly more shingles off. That was Thursday the 4th of December, 2003. I was up on the roof covering it in a plastic tarp, in the dark as the wind howled, and the rain came down. Not much fun. It was also the night before I had to fly to Phoenix to be with my dad, as he was dying. Todays little task up on the roof brought back the memories.
I was able to be with him as he took his last breath on the 6th of December.

I'm Baaack

2004-11-08T11:34:00.000-08:00

OK, so I've been a slacker about this thing. In June I was formulating some words about my dad for Father's Day. For some reason, I was unable to get it right in my own head so I kept procrastinating. So here we are some five months later, and this space remains empty. I've passed his October 16 birthday, and now we are headed into the holiday season.
I can shout a big Praise God! to have the election over. I was getting more shell-shocked and cynical the longer the campaigns went on. Now those in government can govern once again, and the rest of us can get on with our lives. It's a little distressing, however to hear the stategizing for the '08 campaign already.
The other thing that caught my attention was the increased number of hits to the Canadian Imigration website. That seems so pathetic to me. Some people are so distressed that the President was re-elected that they want to leave the country. No one's going to stop them of course, but it's sad. It's like they're saying "All is lost." Look people, we're only talking about four years here. By 2008 it adds up to about 1.7% of the years since the Declaration of Independence. If all the consevatives had jumped ship after Clinton's re-election, "W" never would have been elected. If you want to leave, go. Canada's nice. Don't you think it's better to stay, and gather your forces, pick a better candidate, and give it another go in '08?

Dad

2004-06-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

As Fathers Day approaches, I can't help but think of my dad. He passed away this past December 6. Over the next week I will be writing a little bit about his life, and how I was influenced.

What the heck are we watching?

2004-06-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

Reality (gag) mania has settled in on the airwaves and cable systems like a putrid cloud from the sewers. This is surely the "slime from your video, oozin' along on your livin' room floor", as Frank Zappa so prophetically put it in his 1973 song, "I'm the Slime".
Whether it's Fear Factor or Celebrity Poker, I just have to shake my head when I see the ads for this drivel. The Bravo Network shows the reruns of The West Wing, which I consider to be one of the best written TV programs ever. Most of the comercial beaks seem to be for Queer Eye, or celebrity Poker or whatever. Seems like it started with The Loud Family on PBS decades ago. Then Real Life from MTV, then Survivor, and all Hell broke loose. I watch TV for divrsion, if I want reality I live my life.
The only thing sadder than the fact that these shows are being made is that they are being encouraged by good ratings. What a sorry commentary of our society.

So long Mr President

2004-06-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

With Ronald Reagan's passing, what is indellibly etched in my memory is "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall" fast forward to the image of him taking a hammer to chisel a piece of of the Berlin Wall.

Money Changers

2004-06-02T05:50:00.000-07:00

I've been distressed lately. The big "Creation" festival is coming to the Northwest again this year. They have East and West versions of the mostly music festival. They are run by a non-profit "ministry" organization. What bugs me is that they make all the artists sign a contract that contains a "radius clause". This means that they aren't allowed to perform within a certain radius for a certain number of days (weeks). The artists that perform at Creation are supposed to be there to minister the Gospel with their music, and other gifts. What this radius clause does is hinder the spread of the Gospel.
Stay tuned, I'll be back to this topic shortly. Feel free to add your comments by clicking on the "comments" link below.

More Memorial Day Thoughts

2004-05-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

This was posted to The Christian Drama Forum by my Brother in the Lord, Karl Wagner:

Everyone,

I wanted to take a few moments during this National Moment of Remembrance (3:00 PM Eastern on Memorial Day) to just write to all of you regarding this US holiday. Although it has become the unofficial start of summer, with barbecues and picnics, a day off (for many), and the beginning of the blockbuster summer movies, let us never forget the reason we have this day.

It is a time to remember those who died in military service to this country, specifically in combat. I personally include all of those who died in the Sept 11 attacks in NYC, the Pentagon, and the plane that went down in PA.

I will not discuss the politics of war or wars. But, in this country, we enjoy a multitude of freedoms. Somebody, somewhere, paid the ultimate sacrifice for us, whether we remember it, or like it, or even care. Many of those who fought, like the African Americans, Japanese Americans, and Native Americans (and the list should continue), fought to protect the rights of many people who despised them, looked down on them, and denied them the rights the Constitution declared were due them. But those service men and women knew that they had to do what was necessary.

Hopefully, the comparison has dawned on you as you read this. If not, I will state it clearly. Many can accept that servicemen and women died to make us free, but have difficulty in accepting that Jesus died to make us free from sin and death. He paid that ultimate sacrifice for those who would deny Him, ridicule Him, even hate Him, as well as for those of us who would cherish His sacrifice.

Many of us on this forum have either served in the military, or have immediate or close family members who have done so, or are serving now. Some of us have even experienced combat, and cannot ever forget.

We used to celebrate Memorial Day with parades, attended by the aging veterans who could not help but remember their fallen comrades. Thankfully, some cities and towns still do have those parades. Saturday the World War II Memorial was dedicated, attended by thousands of WWII vets. Sadly, we are losing them at the rate of over a thousand a day, simply due to age.

I do believe that the servicemen and women who died would be the first to want us to celebrate our freedom. They would want the picnics, the Indy 500, and probably even the movies. But they would also be the first to urge us all to never forget that freedom is not free.

God be with you all.

Your servant in Christ,

Karl Wagner

Thanks Karl. That's kinda like what I wanted to say.

Change of Face

2004-05-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

Last month, after the last performance of "The Crossing" our Easter Production, I shaved my beard off. It's been there for the vast majority of the past 25 years. Freaked Jeannie out for several weeks. Still freaks me out from time to time when I glance in the mirror. The beard had definitely gotten quite grey, so shaving it off makes me look a wee bit younger.
One drawback however, the world now has the ability to count my chins. It's also humorous that I no longer have a 5 o'clock shadow, it's more like a 5 o'clock snowstorm. Ever notice that shaving a mustache makes your lip look about four inches long?
One advantage I've noticed already is that I have a lot more flexibility in regards to what I can do with make-up on stage. I can do my Bogie impersonation much easier without a beard.

Memorial Day Thoughts

2004-05-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day is a time for remembering and honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. There are but a few WWI vets remaining today. WWII and Korea vets are beginning to dwindle. Viet Nam was the first war that included the American Baby Boomer. It was a long conflict. It started while I was in grade school, and there were people my age who fought there toward the end.
My life has been fairly well insulated from wartime tragedy. There were classmates of mine from kindergarten through 3rd or 4th grade, fraternal twins, boy and girl. They moved away because their father was in the army. We got the news a year later that he had been killed in Viet Nam. This was the closest the war's casualties ever came to me.
A few years later, my uncle married a Viet Nam widow. She and her first husband, a military pilot had just adopted four orphaned siblings, when he was sent to 'Nam. He was shot down and killed over there.
Those are the only two people that I had any connection to who died in Viet Nam.

Memorial

2004-05-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

I've been reading and watching the news about the new WWII memorial. To be honest, I was astounded that there wasn't one already. It's been an emotional experience for me to watch some of the interviews of D-day survivors. The generation of our Fathers and Grandfathers did not consider sacrifice to be something for the other guy. It was just what was done.

Anniversary

2004-05-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

My wife, Jeannie and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary on April 30. We drove down to Astoria Oregon for the weekend. Aside from nearly eating ourselves comatose, it was a great, relaxing time. I didn't know it, but Astoria has had a few movies filmed there, including The Goonies, and Kindergarten Cop. We drove around in circles for what seemed like hours looking for the Goonies house. After all that, it was on a private driveway.
On Saturday, we drove down to Cannon Beach. I have never seen as many happy dogs in one placeas there were running on the beach that day. When I say happy, I mean Joyous, ecstatic! Tongues flopping out the sides of mouths as they jumped into the surf to retrieve tennis balls or whatever else their owners threw for them. Even walking around town every dog we saw seemed to be in a good mood. No grumpy dogs in Cannon Beach.
Just before sunset we went out to the Mouth of the Columbia River. We climbed up onto the jetty, and got took pictures. It was an awesome sight.

SNL Report

2004-05-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

We always think we've got it figured out. We don't.
Last night's Saturday Night Life went well. Give God the Glory. The audience wasn't as large as we would like but they enjoyed it. People were ministered to through laughter and through some thought provoking sketches and music.
What we were unaware of was the real life drama going on upstairs. The maintenance man on duty heard someone yelling. He went up to check it out. There was a man who was drunk and distraught. Talking about suicide. The maintenance man recognized him as someone who had been at the church recently. He talked to him and prayed with him. He then brought him some food from SNL. Things were calmed down and the man was ministered to.
We thought the reason we were doing Saturday Night Life was to minister to our audience. We were, but also if we hadn't been doing what God called us to do on this particular night, the doors to the church would have been locked. Lord knows what would have become of the man.
We always think we do what we do for the obvious reasons, but God's ways are so much more intricate and creative than ours.

Saturday Night Life

2004-05-20T22:23:00.000-07:00

Had our final Thursday evening rehearsal before this month's Saturday Night Life. Things are about as usual. Aaaackk! We can't be doing it this Saturday can we? Anyone who would watch us rehearse (even in our final Saturday afternoon run-through) would be absolutely amazed at how it comes together Saturday night. God is Good!

Pump 4: Now it's Ridiculous

2004-05-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for this? I finally got the 74 Dodge pickup running yesterday after much putzing around with the new fuel pump. I let it run for a while in the driveway, and then headed up the hill to the grocery store. Halfway up the hill, it stalled. After much coaxing I got it started only now there is horrible noise. I pulled into a school parking lot and coasted most of the way back down the hill. I had to restart it about 3 times before limping back into the driveway.
Lifted the hood...guess what? A hole in my water pump. Aaauugghh!!
Another pump! This is four since April 11.

Insult to Injury Dept.

Last night I washed a load of laundry. Before bed I went down to move it into the dryer. The laundry was dripping wet. The spin cycle didn't work. I figured it must have a broken pump.

Good News Dept.

Following some advise from Tim, I tweaked around with the control knob and halleleujah! It is Healed!

Stay tuned for the continuing saga: As the Pump Turns

Stuff it

2004-05-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid our family went on vacations every summer. Money was always tight so it was never fancy. We'd pile into the car and go for 2-3 weeks. We often camped. We traveled up and down the West Coast, and stayed at Lassen Natl Park, Mt Rainier, Crater Lake.
One year, my paternal grandmother moved to Lawton Oklahoma, and so we started driving there from central California. We'd travel on Route 66. What always impressed me, at the truck stops and curio shops were the taxidermist displays. You'd see everything from bobcats to rattlers, always imortalized into the most threatening position the taxidermist could arrange.
I was so impressed, with the work they did, that I thought it would be a cool way to make a living.
When I was around 11 years old, I saw an ad in a comic book or Boys Life for a correspondence course for learning to be a taxidermist. I could see my future...mounting the neighbors prize deer on a plaque for their den, or perhaps my uncles swordfish from the Caribbean
I must say, that my parents were quite the good sports. They went ahead and bought me the course. I was so excited, I couldn't wait for the first lesson to arrive. In no time, I'd be well on my way in the fun and lucrative field of taxidermy.
Lesson one arrived, and I wasted no time getting into it.
The first lesson was to stuff a pigeon. It had never occurred to me that a dead pigeon didn't come in the deal. No, I was required to provide my own pigeon. They said to buy one at a pet store. Of course I was given a couple of methods to choose from to kill project one.
Needless to say, my parents did not have to pay for the next lesson.

Freedomfest

2004-05-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

For several years, Anastasis Theatre has had the honor of being associated with Freedomfest (Hopefest in earlier years)as performers and volunteers. This is a wonderful weekend of ministry in Northwest Washington. The graphic above links to their site.
I won't use this space to give you the history of the ministry or the artist lineup. You can get that at their site. I just want to draw attention to a wonderful organization who is serving the Lord with all their hearts.

Live From Kent...

2004-05-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday Night Life!
If you are in the Seattle, or South King County area, you might consider a trip to Kent on May 22 for this months edition of Saturday Night Life.
Eight bucks gets you dinner and a 2 hr. show. Chef Arlen is preparing Chicken Ala King for us. Special Musical guest is Susanna Fuller.
Of Course Father Pat will be there along with all sorts of anointed bufoonery.
Drop me a line if you need directions. rjlee@anastasisproductions.org

Fuel Pump from Hell

2004-05-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

Put in the new fuel pump on the 74 Dodge Pickup. Still won't start, and now this pump isn't even pumping. Found a broken hose back by the gas tank. Fixed it. Still no fuel coming through the new fuel pump. Wish I knew what I was doing.

Limits on "Christian" Drama?

2004-05-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

Christian Drama, Drama Ministry, Church Drama, all these titles bring up an image in most peoples' minds. Christmas plays, Easter pageants, children with bathrobes and pasted on beards. We have learned that even though the message is sacred, the method isn't. Churches and other ministries have learned that the dramatic arts go a long way in putting the Gospel in a form that people understand and relate to.
I confess that I used to be a bit of a snob in terms of what should be considered drama ministry. I believed that it all needed a message and should lead to an altar call. I looked down my nose as I drove past the local church that was producing a secular play.
I don't remember exactly when I began to soften on that stance, but I came to realize that we can reach people in ways that a Sunday sermon can't. People who will never enter a building branded "Church" will come out for night of entertainment. The message may be subtle, or may be absent altogether. The goal of our evening of entertainment may be simply to build relationship with our community.
We perform a monthly show called Saturday Night Life. It's a night of dinner and primarily sketch comedy with music added for good measure. We don't do a traditional altar call, but we invite guests to come back and visit our church on Sunday. We have a significant number of unsaved, unchurched audience members each month. Some have started attending church as a result, and some have accepted Jesus as their Savior.

Pump me Up?

2004-05-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

This is a rather bizarre sequence of events. Our house is below street level, so the sewage has to be pumped up to the sewer line. On Easter Sunday the pump stopped working. I had the unenviable task of removing the broken pump and installing a new one. No fun.
A week later, the water pump went out in our Toyota Tercel. Mr fixit once again. This time up to my elbows in grease and engine coolant.
Now, in my 74 Dodge Pickup, I seem to have a broken fuel pump. Enough with the pumps already!
Fortunately, I'm out of pumps.