Dec 2008
Christian DDR & Guitar Hero
29/December/2008 08:51 AM Filed in: Faith and God
Three years ago, Digital Praise released a DDR game for the Mac or Pc with over 50 Contemporary Christian songs. I noticed that they now have a second new DDR game with more Christian music, as well as a Veggie Tales version. Imagine DDRing to the silly song! In addition they have “Guitar Praise” - a Christian version of Guitar Hero. Check it out here.
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Hymns vs. Praise Choruses
24/December/2008 03:53 PM Filed in: Humor
An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church.
He came home and his wife asked him how it was. "Well," said the farmer, "it
was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses
instead of hymns."
"Praise choruses?" said his wife. "What are those?"
"Oh, they're OK. They are sort of like hymns, only different," said the
farmer.
"Well, what's the difference?" asked his wife.
The farmer said, "Well, it's like this - If I were to say to you "Martha,
the cows are in the corn"' - well, that would be a hymn. If on the other
hand, I were to say to you:
Martha, Martha, Martha,
Oh Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA,
the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows
the white cows,
the black and white cows,
the COWS, COWS, COWS
are in the corn,
are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn,
the CORN, CORN, CORN.
Then, if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well, that
would be a praise chorus."
The next weekend, his nephew, a young, new Christian from the city came to
visit and attended the local church of the small town. He went home and his
mother asked him how it was. "Well," said the young man, "it was good. They
did something different however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs."
"Hymns?" asked his mother. "What are those?"
"Oh, they're OK. They are sort of like regular songs, only different," said
the young man.
"Well, what's the difference?" asked his mother.
The young man said, "Well, it's like this - If I were to say to you 'Martha,
the cows are in the corn' - well, that would be a regular song. If on the
other hand, I were to say to you:
Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth.
For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense
Hearkenest they in God's sun or His rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.
Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed.
So look to the bright shining day by and by
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn
Where no vicious animals make my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.'
Then if I were to do only verses one, three and four and do a key change on
the last verse, well that would be a hymn.
He came home and his wife asked him how it was. "Well," said the farmer, "it
was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses
instead of hymns."
"Praise choruses?" said his wife. "What are those?"
"Oh, they're OK. They are sort of like hymns, only different," said the
farmer.
"Well, what's the difference?" asked his wife.
The farmer said, "Well, it's like this - If I were to say to you "Martha,
the cows are in the corn"' - well, that would be a hymn. If on the other
hand, I were to say to you:
Martha, Martha, Martha,
Oh Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA,
the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows
the white cows,
the black and white cows,
the COWS, COWS, COWS
are in the corn,
are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn,
the CORN, CORN, CORN.
Then, if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well, that
would be a praise chorus."
The next weekend, his nephew, a young, new Christian from the city came to
visit and attended the local church of the small town. He went home and his
mother asked him how it was. "Well," said the young man, "it was good. They
did something different however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs."
"Hymns?" asked his mother. "What are those?"
"Oh, they're OK. They are sort of like regular songs, only different," said
the young man.
"Well, what's the difference?" asked his mother.
The young man said, "Well, it's like this - If I were to say to you 'Martha,
the cows are in the corn' - well, that would be a regular song. If on the
other hand, I were to say to you:
Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth.
For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense
Hearkenest they in God's sun or His rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.
Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed.
So look to the bright shining day by and by
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn
Where no vicious animals make my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.'
Then if I were to do only verses one, three and four and do a key change on
the last verse, well that would be a hymn.
A great find - Bible in a year
22/December/2008 11:18 AM Filed in: Faith and God
- Today I found a great new One Year reading plan for the Bible. It breaks the reading down in to 7 different categories (for 7 days/week). Epistles, The Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy, and the Gospels. You can get the pdf and print it out.
Schools use video games for gym class
05/December/2008 09:06 PM Filed in: General
- Juggling, DDR, and Wii Fit, all in one news paper article. What more could you ask for?
I was asked by Christian Week to talk about life today as a Christian Entertainer...here is what I had to say.
01/December/2008 09:16 PM Filed in: Faith and God
My name is Bob Cates, and my show is called Comedy in Motion. I have been making my living full time as an entertainer since 1995. For someone who grew up on a large pig farm in Southern Ontario, this is the last thing I would have expected to be making my living at. I learned to juggle in my last year of high school (age 18) by teaching myself with tennis balls. I was inspired when I saw a juggler on tv at school and said to my friend, "wouldn't it be cool to be able to juggle!" He showed me that he could do it himself with chalk brushes, and I went home that night and taught myself. It took about 3 hours, but I'm nothing if not persistent. After high school I had a year of Bible College at the Baptist Leadership Education Centre in Whitby, then 4 years at McMaster University getting a Bachelor of Commerce degree. I started juggling societies at both schools and practiced on average for about 6-10 hours a week for those 5 years, which is when I developed my core skills.
I could quickly be described as a comedy juggler. Some skills presented in the show include juggling up to 6 balls (7 off stage), Spinning 21 real dinner plates from Value Village on 6 foot poles, juggling knives, milk bags, and/or fire on top of a 7 foot tall unicycle, cigar box manipulation, dance dance revolution while juggling, and advanced manipulation of Chinese Yo Yos. My specialty is the Chinese Yo Yo, as well as the authentic Ed Sullivan style plate spinning. But the show is much more than juggling, and perhaps would be better described as a Comedy Variety Act. Not only will people see many advanced and amazing talents and skills in the show as just described - but the whole show is woven together with squeaky clean patter, jokes, and interactive situation comedy. Over and over again we hear comments after the show such as, "You're not just a juggler, you're an entertainer!" or "I normally don't like jugglers, but I loved your show!" These are high complements that I cherish, because being an amazing juggler is not my goal; being an amazing entertainer is.
I just got married last summer after a long search, at age 37. My wife Jane who is close to my age had been looking for a long time as well. Little did she know her husband was to be the guy who she had hired for a show in 2002! My wife was the director of children's ministry at West London Alliance Church for the last several years. In 2002 she hired me for a show for some carnival day they were having at her church. There were no sparks at that time which is a funny story in itself. Our paths crossed again 2 years later at another ministry event for just a moment. So we knew OF each other. But, we eventually connected romantically through Christiancafe. Apparently I met every point on her 3 point list, and she met every point on my 27 point list! We now work and travel in the business together, so as to avoid long periods of separation while on the road performing. (Jane still works as a part time consultant and trainer for www.winningkidsinc.ca, a ministry for child protection which she helped to found and co-authored the book, Plan to Protect). Being able to work and travel together with my wife has been a great blessing. (She works behind the scenes, on stage and off, as well as in the business.) We had a great first winter together with 4 months spent working on the Ms Statendam cruising Australia, New Zealand and Asia. We plan to keep performing on cruise ships for about 2-4 months a year, as the opportunities present themselves. We may be Canada's youngest snowbirds!
I became a Christian at a young age, seeing the need for salvation from my sins, and was baptized at 18 before going off to Bible College. When I was a missionary in Lithuania for 7 months after university, I occasionally used the juggling to draw crowds for some street ministry. I started using my performances as an avenue to share the gospel in the late 90s after being exposed to Christians artists in the United states doing such things, such as Christian illusionists and Christian jugglers I met.
I started to offer my show as a tool for churches to reach out to the community. I would perform the show and share the gospel in and throughout the show. A concert/show could be called a "bring a friend" event that the church could sponsor, at their own location, or off site such as at a local community centre or high school, as we did last night for Innisfail Alliance Church. Being an entertainer, and a preacher of the gospel has always been a real "balancing act." The Church's mandate is not to entertain people. Juggling is not evangelism. Sharing the Gospel with people so that they might come to repentance and faith is. So I strive to make sure that the Gospel is presented very clearly and I'm not afraid to mention hell, sin, righteousness and judgement. It's quite the sight for someone who makes people laugh for an hour before that!
My faith has grown in various ways over the years, and so has how I've shared the Gospel in the show. I've always tended to use juggling oriented object lessons, and then go on to explain the Gospel with scripture. However this has changed a bit over the last year. About a year ago I became aware of Way of the Master Radio (see also www.wayofthemaster.com and livingwaters.com) and, after having listened to many podcasts of the radio show, it has transformed the way my wife and I do evangelism from the ground up.
You can see that story here.
Our eyes were opened to use the Law (the 10 commandments) in sharing of the Gospel. A practice that the church largely abandoned over 100 years ago.
Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Romans 7:7-25 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law.
By using the 10 commandments to show people how they have personally violated God's law, they can understand what sin is, and how they have sinned against a Holy God, so that the Grace of Jesus Christ makes sense.
After listening to many witnessing encounters on Way of the Master radio, we were inspired to share our faith more boldly than we do now (on stage and off).
This includes tracts, one on one conversations, and open air preaching. As a result,this has affected ministry shows in that I want to preach even more, and make the Gospel even more clear and personal to the hearers. This has led me to offer a new concert format for churches that are interested.
First, I present a one hour show, then the MC takes the stage for 10 minutes and can share ministry info about the church, or videos, etc. Then I return to the stage out of character as myself and preach the Gospel for about 15 minutes. This method allows me to keep the entertainment the entertainment, and the gospel the gospel. It also gives the church a few minutes of time to introduce themselves to any new faces from the community. I explain to the audience right at the beginning that the evening will look like a DVD - first the main show, and then after that comes the "special feature" where you get to hear the "director's commentary" behind the scenes, so to speak. We still do offer shows, however, where I preach the gospel near the end of the show without leaving the stage.
I'm very thankful to God for the ability to make a living at something as fun as being a comedy entertainer. It has taken me around the world. This past year we got to perform on a cruise ship throughout Asia. Last night we were on stage in front of 1200 in Lloydminster Alberta. Dare to dream.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corr. 10:31