Sacred Digital: Chuckk Gerwig

Here we go.

We launch into weekly services at Elevation THIS SUNDAY 6:30-8pm in Area 51 (the Santa Cruz Bible Church Student Center). If you're local come celebrate with us at the beginning of the chaos.

Omar is getting the high-energy worship brewing and I'm working on the first message for our launch series - Tattoo: Marked for Life. Come visit our tattoo-parlor themed worship space and hear about the indelible agape of the Master. The brownie bar is being baked, the coffee is being brewed, and there will be signups for our LOST Parties... hmmm what's that??? ...happening next week in the four East Santa Cruz, West Santa Cruz, Felton and Scotts Valley locations.

We'll be going out to pizza later for AfterHours community building time.

Pray for us as we endeavor to love, worship, laugh, pray and engage this town in fresh ways.

On the iPod

"Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" (Foo Fighters)

I LOVE LOST, and it's coming back. Elevation will be hosting some LOST Locales Jan. 31st - we'll invite people to homes around town to watch the season start up in community around the plasma screens!

Originally uploaded by harleystrat

This Christmas I got to be Santa, S Cruz style. We had Christmas caroling on the cliffs overlooking the bay at the lighthouse at Steamers Lane. We invited our town to come sing, have hot chocolate and candy canes and take pictures with Santa.

The waves were crashing, people were singing and little kids were excited to see Santa. I want to do this every year now! Merry Christmas

-Santa Chuckk

"In Rainbows" (Radiohead)

The New Radiohead album is amazing, but no longer sold as "pay what you want". That was an experiment that evidently didn't work...

Good Times, again. Saw 'em 2 nights in a row in L.A. back in "77 ahhhh. Ramble on.

A friend sent this article about Evel Knievel over this week.

Somewhere in Heaven there's a maniac trying to jump a red, white and blue Harley over the Pearly Gates! Read Evel in Heaven.

Ht: Dan Kimball

All things pass into the beyond even my childhood idol Evel Knievel.

If you are planning to upgrade to Mac osX Leopard HERE is a great article you might want to read to git er done correktlee with little drama.

Keep your eyes open for a major announcement from Steve Jobs and Apple Inc.: looks like another new operating system Mac osXX Meerkat will be coming soon...

This last week was great. Andrea and I drove down to Southern California to visit churches, friends and family. We had the real privilege of visiting our last church and dropping into see some of our old students lead the evening service for their first time. We ended up staying up late afterwards hanging out with everyone, priceless. The next morning we went big-time church visiting.

We visited Rock Harbor in Costa Mesa for one of the best worship services I've ever attended - great message, powerful worship, nice atmosphere. We then went to the Sharp Club for another RH service. We hit the Grove and Farmer's Market in between services. We finally stopped in at Erin McManus' Mosaic at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles before munching a killer Korean BBQ dinner in Korea Town.

Visiting churches with a teachable heart is helpful in the process of discerning what kind of expression you'd like to engineer.

On the iPod -"Reggatta de Blanc [Digipak]" (The Police)

This is a nice surprise from Led Zeppelin!

Some of you may be wondering what I'm spending my time doing these days and what I'm doing to get us launched for Elevation well...beyond working full time day and night to fix computer and technology issues from Hell... Click below to find out.

Fight For Kisses ~ Advertising as Entertainment

Today is my last day as a"professional" youth pastor. The last 24 years have been consumed with high school students and their world, it's been really fun!

This weekend I officiated at a wedding for one of my old students from 15 years ago. Much of that core group of old "kids" were there ( they are now all around their 30's), we reminisced for hours about the wonderful life and ministry we shared together years ago. Many of them are key volunteer ministers and a few are vocational ministers now, what a blessing. God provides just the right conclusions to life chapters. Thank you Jesus - life if GOOD!

Tomorrow starts a new chapter, Elevation. I'm on stoked.

This is a test of the Mac Ecto Emergency Broadcast Network. If this had been a real emergency, like say if I had to return to my Windows machine, you would have been instructed where to tune in your area to get a gun and freaking KILL ME!

Loving the Mac

Actually I'm just testing Ecto on the Mac to make sure it uploads to this blog correctly.

Bummer, because of a bunch of bad circumstances the Reno Ride and time away is off.   Oh well.  Now for something new and good to pass on. 

Deezer is worth checking out, it has LEGAL free online music that includes top artists, not just indy folks.

As a result of a very generous gift from my father I have now made the Holy Exodus from Microsoft Land to Mac World.  There is a new Mac Book Pro sitting on my lap, thanks Dad!

ELEVATION ALERT: Sunday October 21st will be out first official Preview Worship Gathering - We'll have a couple of these before we launch officially.   Keep 6:30pm - 8:00pm free and come worship with us. Guest worship provided by the great Dave Matsamura Band, message by the sketchy as always me.

Andrea and I just returned from Lake Tahoe and our SCBC staff retreat.  This year the staff retreat was NOT the usual 3 day meeting of doom, we actually retreated and played together this time.   We rode our Harley there and back and had a fun day out Jet Skiing on the lake to boot- play is good!.  Keeping with the "play is good" theme. I'll be riding to Reno Nevada for the Street Vibrations Harley Run next week.  When I return I will be full time with Elevation.

Apple just released a new touch screen iPod without the phone, it's called the iPod Touch.  People will likely call it the iTouch... The name gives me the creeps, it reminds me of the old Divinyls song " I Touch Myself", ewwww. 

Anyway  Check out the new iPod here.  I'm waiting for an 80 gig model with removable battery!

On the (touchless)  iPod: Richard Barbieri - Things Buried

Here's me in the Big Hair 80's, cute huh?  At the moment they shot this picture I was NOT thinking "hey one day I wanna be an agent of change by engineering and pastoring a 21st ministry".  Who woulda guessed?

Anyway...We have Thrust!

Here's the big news: God has brought us a new Student Ministries Pastor, Allen Coleman.  This prayer saturated search was completed in just a few months by God's Grace - further confirming my move into Elevation.  The locating and hiring of a new Student Ministry Pastor was a KEY event in starting the countdown to the official Elevation Launch because until we located and hired the right man I have been committed to giving my all in Student Ministry.   A long search would have greatly hindered Elevation's launch.  Allen will start October 1, this means I will be able to gain traction on Elevation planning and prep this month and will be the Full Time Pastor of Elevation in less than 30 days allowing me to focus every moment on more Thrust. 

Current next steps are: I will be continuing to interview possible Elevation worship pastors, write job descriptions for the worship pastor and admin positions and will be getting the Student Center technology upgrades finished as I also transition the Youth Ministry.  I'll also be on staff retreat for a few days this month and be taking some vacation time to rest up after the wild summer of events and missions. 

Plan on a late October Elevation Sunday night preview service (date TBA), we'll also have one preview service in November and another in December.  I plan to have Elevation fully launched with weekly services in January, God willing (and Worship Pastor arriving).

Keep your eye on this site for info on what's next for Elevation and how you can get involved.

 I have a love affair with hippies and the Summer of Love Generation so today was a special day.  Bullet points of an interesting day =

- 100,000 people showed up for the concert in Golden Gate Park, it was GREAT!

- I arrived just in time to see my buddy Omar Spence play with a reunited Moby Grape to 100,000 people 

- Jefferson Starship blew me away, they we amazing - NOW I know why people liked that band so much

- A girl took a hit of weed bigger than her consciousness would allow and passed out, I had to pick her up and carry her out and help reviver her

- I had the best Thai food I've ever eaten in the Sunset District tonight

- Warming up with a hot cup of coffee and friends at Cameron's Pub in Half Moon Bay was sweet

- I was blessed with a great sunset Harley ride down the coast highway with my pals Billy and Nate from  the BACA, motorcycle club

- Thanks Jesus, it was a special fun Chuckk style day today.

I got back from Alabama in one piece, nice place, nice people and great chicken wings! 

Tomorrow will be fun.  After church I will be jumping on my Harley and heading for San Francisco's Golden Gate Park for the 40th anniversary celebration of the Summer of Love . 

A special treat will be that my friend Omar Spence will be lead singing for the resurrection / reunion of the SF band Moby Grape.  Omar's dad (who is deceased) was the legendary and tragic Skip Spence of Moby Grape.  Skip Spence was the American incarnation of Syd Barrett. Omar will be taking his dad's place in the band, it will be really special. 

There will be a great line up of old hippie bands, now balding and grey making the groovy scene in the old cosmic park.  I imagine I'll witness at least one old codger taking off his oxygen mask to hit a joint as his bald spot burns under the hot afternoon sun.  Find out about the concert here. 

Peace baby.

   Tomorrow I head  off to Alabama, "where the skies are so blue" to visit the Right Reverend Andy Wulff,  David Thew (Church in a Brewery) and their ministry friends.  If I see Neil Young I'll remind him that evidently "a Southern man don't need him around anyhow". 

ELEVATION NEWS: A key event will be the hiring my replacement in youth ministry ---guess what? ...we have some GREAT guys in the pipe right now.  When we find and hire the right man, I'll be a full time Elevat-or!  Forward movement is happening !!!  ALSO:  If you have a logo you haven't submitted yet shoot it on over. Things will be gaining speed in September.

The fall is coming and LOST will be back on, but until then...

Have you ever noticed that the storyline of Queen's classic opera-rock opus  Bohemian Rhapsody lines up with the storyline of  LOST?  Kinda like Dark Side of the Moon and the Wizard of Oz ...  If you have missed this amazing mystical alignment push play below...

We're back from Mexico - it was a great trip.  We found the best taco stand in the known universe - Taco's Arana..the holy Nirvana of taco stands (I am addicted to Mexican street food and have tested more than a few stands). They had a pepper at this place called a Chili Bomba, it is the hottest pepper I have come across - it nearly melted one of my students to his base elements.  His strong  reaction to the nuclear pepper provided great evening entertainment for the customers and restaurant staff.

One group of our students led a vacation bible school , women's bible study and sports ministry in a sprawling, graffiti-ed, trash-strewn condo complex in Tijuana - it was a blast and God was at work in and through the students. The Gospel was preached and incarnated.  If you were to show up you would have found skits, music, crafts, testimonies, bible stories, sweat and the occasional used hypodermic needle in the play area we lovingly call the "dustbowl".  2709 piggyback rides were given and 642 games of Futbol were played in the blazing heat, the American's lost most all of the games I think!

Some of our other kids built a brand new home for a family that had been living in an aging aluminum trailer.  Giving house keys to people who didn't have a house 5 days before is....powerful.  Jesus was on hand, sitting at the corner of the hot new roof, He was smiling. 

BEFORE -  

AFTER -      

The final group of our students ministered to and loved on kids at an AMAZING  orphanage, run by our friends the Palau's  they were blessed and a blessing.  One day we took about 20 of the children to the beach to play in the sand and the waves it was wonderful.  If you don't know about the Palau's work in Mexico check it out at the link in the last sentence, it is Christ-soaked - plug in with these people!

Well I'm home for about a week then off for a few days in Alabama with my dear friend Andy Wulff!

On the iPod: Audioslave - Out of Exile

Elevation continues to gain volunteers, fans  and well wishers.  We had another 65 people (in addition to the 20 or so at our beach bonfire) show up to our vision night to hear more about the dream. 

It's been cool seeing people of all ages resonating with the vision and plan.  There is a lot of excitement about the new ministry.  We recorded the vision session, but true to form the recording broke midway through.  We've been experiencing an uncommon barrage of technical problems in the last 3 weeks, all three of my email accounts have gone down at different times, my wireless at home broke, I lost voice mail on my cell for a time, then I lost text mail and then mobile web puked on another day recently.  My Harley (electrical problem) and spa are down too lol...If you have tried to reach me and not gotten an answer I am not ignoring you please try again, I think my communication channels are working again.

What's next for Elevation??? Next step = to hire a youth pastor to replace me and then I go full time in Elevation!  Great news ,we have a couple of great  replacement candidates already!  I am also getting started on interviewing and hanging out with possible Elevation Music pastors too so if you know a world class worship leader give them my number!

I will be out of contact from this Sunday - through the 20th : on the road again , this time to MEXICO with 60 of our students and staff for our annual Mexico mission.  We'll build a home for a needy family, run a large kids outreach in a Tijuana condo sprawl and have a team serving at an orphanage too.  Strange to think this will likely be my last trip as a youth pastor after almost 24 years dedicated to youth.  I still plan to volunteer for youth stuff and even help as staff for trips from time to time and to still feed into youth workers - but this is the end of an era in a way. 

Burglar alert : Our house sitter is drinking tequila and sharpening his chainsaw on our couch at this very moment... he looks dangerous.

That's all the news that's fit to print.

It's so good to be home again after the journey.  Home is a magical place...Home is the place where the special pillow and comfy chair resides.  Home is where my right arm rests comfortably over the ribs of my wife as she sleeps.  Home is where my Labrador Retriever welcomes me with an almost Christ-like love (and a scent not unlike a huge wad of warm earwax).  Home is the place where my shoulders fully and completely relax.  Home is where great Mexican food is only 1403 steps from my front door. 

Thanks to all who prayed for me and mine on our Danish Journey, it's good to be home...for 2 weeks, then it's off to MEXICO for yet another foreign mission encounter!

Every boy needs a good motorcycle rally once in a while.    Street Vibrations...Here's where you'll find me September 20-22.  If you are a reader and a rider look me up if you get up for the rally!

In this month's prelude to the Chopper-Gospel --> Big Bear Choppers make nice street metal.  Cool deal =  if you go to their site you can even see videos of their bikes in motion.

On The iPod: Alice In Chains - Dirt :: this would be the soundtrack to riding the motorcycle (pictured above) down Sunset Strip towards the PCH on a warm summer night with your bro's images blurred in the rear view mirrors because of extreme acceleration.  Ahhhh..life!  I MISS the warm L.A evening rides to Rick's Drive In in Van Nuys and the old Thunderoadhouse on the Sunset Strip with my pals!  You guys rock - u know who u are!  One day again...

Sunday morning (July 8th) my oldest daughter Carly and I head for Odder, Denmark on a new mission,  Andrea and Jessi will be staying home as we fly off to the Chaos.

Denmark, along with much of the world is a truly post-Christian zone.  Most Danish people and especially younger people will never enter a church or engage Jesus.  Example: We had a Danish girl over last month who shared she wasn't sure why a young person would ever go into a church other than for a wedding.  We will serve the local church and Youth for Christ in helping to raise up a new generation of young Jesus- followers.

I will be traveling with 17 of my students and the amazing Chris Gudnason to help Youth For Christ Denmark put on a big sheeebang called Danish Oasis.  We will spend the first week setting up circus tents, building bridges, walkways and basically assist in building the encampment for the 2500-3000 Danish people that will attend the event.  The second week our team will lead ministry  for 250+ middle schoolers in one of the huge tents, the one parked waaaay out by the city sewer system - pandemonium will ensue.  I love pandemonium!

Youth for Christ has set up a website that will have pictures and updates throughout the trip - tune in and check up on the fun.  I will have internet access and will be updating this blog on Sacred Digital with my pictures, stories and impressions from Denmark as well.  Keep us in your prayers!

On the iPod:  Velvet Revolver - Libertad

...A shaved head is too chilly and high maintenance, the hair is back.

 - For the record I like John Mayer; great guitarist, nice songs, cool voice. 

Touring bands use something called a rider which specifies what the concert promoter must provide for the band in order for them to do a show.  Some bands contracts calls for of the provision of certain types food, specific brands of condoms backstage, massage, fresh boxer shorts, no brown M&M's etc.  Here's a snippet from John Mayer's hospitality rider - fun reading.  To see the list of demands for other bands check this site out. 

A heartwarming nature scene... or maybe he's just tasting them... 

Silly internet entertainment