proskyneo

new star wars!

2008-03-15T05:38:00.000-07:00

it's coming in August!

alright, so it IS computer animated... it IS a movie made just to promote an animated TV series... and it DOES feature a female (?) jedi-in-training. but more space fights, more great stories, more lightsabers!

sneeky peeky.

home worship center

2008-03-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

bad news, fellow lead worshippers. the need for our jobs as leaders of corporate worship may be coming to an end.

check this out. the home worship center has been patented. now that the people can worship at home, they'll never come to church....

note: don't die

2008-03-06T14:17:00.001-08:00

a word for the wise: if you live in a village in south France, DON'T DIE...

or pay the consequences.

blessed be your name

2008-03-03T16:26:00.001-08:00

this is painful....

warning: election spoiler!

2008-03-01T07:28:00.001-08:00

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

ben stein's new movie

2008-01-29T13:41:00.000-08:00

this movie might be a little late as far as the age-old debate goes. but it's interesting just how many scientists seem to continue to get ostracized for not condoning darwinism. can't we all just metaphysically coexist?!

in my element

2008-01-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

we're up in Erie, PA leading worship for a youth winter retreat. and i sound like a McDonald's commercial, 'cause I'm lovin' it so much.

worship is going so smoothly it's incredible. the kids are responding and my band (neal, whom I haven't played with in over a year, and orion, who rocks my socks on drums) is killer. their instincts and ability to stay true to the mood and song are uncanny.

and we've had a lazy saturday. worshipped this morning. took a walk out onto frozen Lake Erie. then took a nap. now we're sitting inside our cozy meetin area, looking out at the snow quietly falling onto billows of clean, cottony forest ground. we can see the Lake from our dorm area and from the big windows of the worship lodge.

Lord, don't take me now :)

seasoning

2008-01-24T02:42:00.000-08:00

note to self: if you think you might not be posting on your blog for a while, don't make any new posts related to the season of year. it might be 2 or 3 seasons later before you post again :)

fall has fallen

2007-12-06T05:07:00.001-08:00

when I first moved to North Carolina from Pennsylvania, I really missed autumn. I mocked the pseudo-fall in NC by saying it only lasted 2 weeks. then I moved to Arizona and seasons as we knew them came to an abrupt end....

and look at this glorious fall we're having in Carolina! this is a really cool tree in our backyard.

this is our whole backyard.
lots of trees = lots of leaves = leaf fight!

and as seasons change, we get older - even our babies. yesterday our baby became a little boy when he got his first haircut. kept the faux hawk, lost the curls (sorry bud, one or the other had to go!).

diagnose and adios....

2007-11-26T11:45:00.000-08:00

worked my last shift at the 'vale last night. hopefully my last overnight shift ever :)

kind of sad to leave. I realized it was the longest I've ever kept a job (4 1/2 years; incidentally, the shortest i've had a job was 2 weeks. delivered chinese food in college).

they had a little spread for me as it was my last day. a gigantic cookie with a "we'll miss you" message and an icing-stethescope on it makes a guy feel good. I understood for the first time that i wasn't only taking care of patients while working there. that the staff were my patients too, in a way.

it was a good last shift to have. some new (disoriented) staff and a particularly slow night for lab & x-ray, along with a healthy dose of uncooperative patients helped remind me of the finer things I've experienced over the years. i was called a few choice words, had a patient vomit in front of me, smelled pus from an infected surgical wound, had family members get upset when I didn't know spanish. ahh, i'll miss this place....

beat boxing

2007-11-21T07:42:00.000-08:00

jaw to the floor....

i used to think i could beat box. this french guy takes it to a whole nutha level!

turd

2007-11-19T06:39:00.000-08:00

walked into the employee bathroom at my hospital and saw this:

are you kidding me?! was this a patient? a family member? an employee that did this?

laughter... followed by reflective sadness.

in other news, there's a great site when you have down-time at work. one that actually stimulates your brain instead of numbing it. one that actually has the potential to help others. how many grains of rice can you give today? a plethora?

marlow-on-a-mission

2007-11-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

our dear friend, chris marlow is off to Africa for a 10-day mission trip and he needs your prayers....

lord, give them safety,
lord, give them guidance.
give them wisdom and reverence.
lord, send your spirit,
lord, send your grace.
send your providence and your peace.

see you soon, bro.

b-day

2007-11-06T10:47:00.000-08:00

happy birthday, boston! we had a busy weekend. family from all over... baby dedication at hope... and lots of birthday cake with all our friends!

boston: jedi master

2007-11-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

some consider this cruelty...

but being baby yoda has its perks. yoda got to ride his first carnival ride (at hope's harvest festival) and got to have his first lollipop!

one more to go...

2007-10-31T07:17:00.000-07:00

i head home to raleigh today. i was just chuckling at two things:

-the southwest airlines clerk at the ticket desk is wearing a halloween costume. it's a head wound with a motorized rat gnawing away at it with bright red eyes.
-there are little birds inside the terminal. not flying around, but bouncing lightly on the floor; about three of them in all, following each other, startling weary passengers.

spending the weeks with Tim and Kristin this time around has made me wish I'd been able to every time (this would've been impossible as they just moved into the house). these two weeks, though heartbreakingly hard away from J & B, have just flown by. I felt so at home staying at the Ernst house. I got to see them every day. make human contact outside of work. have a home cooked meal every day, SITTING DOWN (crazy how this simple fact cuts way down on the drive-through quotient).

I stayed so busy I barely had time to read or play guitar - which is good and bad.

we're getting geared up for boston's first birthday party and baby dedication this weekend. should be loads of fun. pictures and stories soon....

birthday recap

2007-10-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

for those who didn't know, yesterday was my thirty-#@!# birthday. here's an excerpt from my conversation with my mom:

mama wahba: happy birthday! thirty-#@!# years!
me: thanks mom.
mama wahba: now you're as old as Jesus was!
me: (puzzled) yeah... as old as he was when he was crucified....
mama wahba: uh. um. well. but that's how old he was.

ha ha. love you mom.

all in all, it was a good one. our close friends Tim & Kris (whose guest bedroom I happen to be occupying this trip to AZ) got me a cake with real candles and everything. and last night the folks at work chipped in to get some amazing mexican food platters from garcia's - including the mouth-watering Pollo Fundido.

I got birthday cards from most of my family that somehow found their way to me in Phoenix. and not one person sang an embarrassing, off-key version of "happy birthday" to me (that's a good thing).

thanks everyone. you made it a good-as-a-birthday-could-be-while-away-from-my-family.

come pick me up (live)

2007-10-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

I accidently caught this on letterman one night a few months back. then I accidentally stumbled upon a link to it on a buddy's myspace page today.

one of the best, hard-core-yet-really-soft-core, broken-hearted love songs ever written. grab a hanky....

Ryan Adams Com Pick Me Up

Add to My Profile | More Videos

why philemon?

2007-10-20T22:53:00.000-07:00

please don't misunderstand. I mean no blasphemy.

but as I read this morning, i sit and ponder, "why - tell me why would they bother to include the book of philemon in the new testament?"

random little letter (think email-length compared to the rest of paul's letters). written by paul, in jail, letting his buddy Philemon know that he is sending a slave, Onesimus to be a slave for him. that's it. random.

day without a mexican

2007-10-16T04:28:00.000-07:00

anyone who knows Jodi and I will agree that we love mockumentaries. last night we got to watch one that's been on our blockbuster cue for a few months: A Day Without a Mexican.

while I'm definitely opinionated/passionate about the topic of immigration (both my parents immigrated to this country; I work at a hospital where 85% of the patients are non-legal immigrants; the list goes on), i'll do my best to refrain from this post becoming a PSA. here's my super-quick review of the movie itself:

the good: great premise. really good message. mockumentaries rock - especially with social commentary, comedy and a little controversy thrown in.

the bad: poor acting. multiple story lines that don't really go anywhere. really preachy. and apparently they got lots of their facts wrong.

overall opinion of the movie: watch the trailer online. then sit down with some level-headed friends/family and talk it out over a few beers and a game of cards. you'll get more out of it.

dc trip

2007-10-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

this week, we went to visit our friends Alvin & Nicole in the DC area. so great to see them and their little Jeremiah.

we also managed to make it to Ikea.

Ikea... great furniture. cheap prices. huge migraine by the end. we spent like 5 hours there and had to rent a Uhaul trailer to get everything back home to NC. not to mention that we've been home for three days and I'm still putting furniture together....

we're finally settling into the house though (if you're a numbers person, we're about 95% done with the remodel and 60% done unpacking). can't wait till it's all done so I can get back to writing and recording again....

superbowl XL rematch - same outcome

2007-10-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

steelers annihilated the seahawks 21 to zip today. my condolences to daniel - again.

the ladder

2007-10-05T04:22:00.000-07:00

alright. so i've encountered a minor dilemma in my faith-relationships with a few friends.

god's been revealing himself so much to those around me, i could explode with my excitement for them and their growth. only weird deal is: I feel a little left in the dust - and I feel a little reponsible for said dusting.

i see growth in the faith as a ladder - all of us (or maybe just some of us) striving and reaching for the next rung. somehow in the mix though, it becomes easy to peek down at the lower rungs and be glad we're not on them anymore. be glad we're not the same person. be glad we're not at the same church. and openly criticize the leaders/churches/believers who still hang out on those rungs.

i've been totally guilty of this type of growth. yet at the same time, I'm learning a new humbleness. one that's helped me to realize that I was working out my salvation in pride and cocky-ness - not the inverse as I was instructed.

you know the type: "THAT's not where it's at! THIS [worship style, evangelism method, way to read the bible, holy spirit trick] is where it's AT." ... that was me.

this is merely a word of encouragement, not a condemning finger. i beg of you, my brothers, please don't make the mistake i've made. the mistake I may have taught you.

don't look back on the ladder rung you just climbed, the one without which you couldn't be on your present rung, and call it a 'bad one.' what then can be said about those who are several notches above us, yet who serve at churches that seem decades behind their faith? let's face it - we'll never reach the top of the ladder without Him anyway - and without the encouragement of those around us. so let's watch each others' back in His name, shall we?

home, sick

2007-10-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

so i'm back home in NC and loving it! the house is about 90% finished before we start the fun part: unpacking.

only bad thing is that we're all sick. i came home with a virus. and jodi & boston each have one. we're guessing they're not the same virus since we caught them across the country from each other (different virus gene pool?).

but here's the question: can we now give our respective viruses to each other? you know, share viruses so we each have two?

if you know any smart medical person, ask them that question, would you? :P

3 and 1 - and it's all my fault...

2007-10-01T11:32:00.000-07:00

had a blast with t-money at the game yesterday. it was so great to actually be there and watch my boys play. bummer they lost. i'll never go to another game and jinx them like that again... maybe.

going to see the black & gold

2007-09-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

it's official: i'm going to see the Steelers play the Cardinals tomorrow!

i'm excited as a little school girl. I lived in Pittsburgh for 22 years and never got to see them play a regular season game in person. and now the time has come.

tomorrow should be a good game seeing as how the Cardinals head coach and offensive coordinator are former Pittsburgh coaches who each wanted to take Coach Cowher's place last year.

i'll probably have to tame down my excitement - seeing as how I'll be in enemy territory. the guy who sold us the tickets said their whole section will mostly be Arizona fans.

dear jesus, please don't let me get a black eye and beer poured on me at the game tomorrow.... in your name, amen.

back in phx

2007-09-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

i've been in phoenix working again for the past week. we had just moved into our house - gotten our new bed, our internet and cable were finally up and running, and our counter tops were just being installed when... I had to leave again!

getting a lot done here though. writing some new songs on my backpacker. and getting to hang out with some AZ friends.

it's crazy how much you realize the value of your seemingly surface-friends once you move away. my buddy here in phoenix (co-worker) has been amazingly giving - he lets me stay at his house for free every time I come back to work my two-week stretches.

and I feel closer than ever to my old bandmates, tim & jonathan (see a video of them here). last night we went to chino bandido (yummm) and had a blast catching up and talking about the old times gigging around arizona.

i've got another 6 days for this little jaunt to be over. i miss jodi and boston like mad. and I just want to get home and sleep in my bed!

but my goal before I leave is to finish two songs I've been working on - even if they end up crappy songs - I'll be happy just to finish them. who knows, maybe you'll hear them someday. while you wait, here's another video to watch. I've titled this video: "OUCH!"

riches to rags (sorta)

2007-09-23T05:22:00.000-07:00

so they just made an announcement at my job here in phoenix that we're all about to get raises. decent raises. that is, the job where I've just given my notice to resign.

it's a weird deal, the pay scale for healthcare in the southwest. what i do isn't much different from what I'd do at an emergency department pretty much anywhere in the US. but somehow, what started as a little higher pay 4 years ago has ended up in a *much higher* pay right now.

as the pay increases came, we (jodi and I) decided it would be best for our family and our ministry to just work fewer hours and try to make the same total income. and it worked. i was down to 30 hours or less every week - and living quite comfortably. i could lead worship as often as I wanted and still have time for vacation and the family.

so after a cross-country move, in an attempt to pursue what's best for our family and our ministry in NC, I find myself getting ready to work for nearly half what i'm being offered here in phoenix. and I'll have to work full time again! (i know, poor wahba - working 40-50 hrs a week like every other respectable person on the planet - he got raises while the economy of the rest of the country went to pot - poor, poor wahba).

i'd be lying if I didn't say it's tempting to keep my job here. my mind races to think of ways to keep working here, and working in Raleigh, and leading worship, and being a decent father/husband....

i guess the pious churchy answer is that Providence probably has more blessings for me once I begin work in Raleigh.

maybe not ones that affect our bottom line though.

wait and see. have faith. trust. that's all I've got. oh yeah, and an incredible wife and kid waiting at HOME for me. see you soon guys....

we're in!

2007-09-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

good news: we're finally living in our house!

after months of living in our dear friends' basement (while still paying the mortgage on our new home), we've moved in.

still need some essentials - dishwasher, kitchen sink, countertops, a lot of paint. but it's definitely live-able.

so if you're in the area, please stop by. we'll fire up the barbie and watch some Baby Einstein on the gi-normous plasma....

new MP3 site - that doesn't start with i

2007-09-05T18:05:00.000-07:00

so a pastor friend referred me to this website, mp3sparks.com - formerly AllOfMP3.com. i guess it's a russian site that allows you to purchase mp3s at a great price. here are the good and the bad:

hangups
-way-big learning curve for downloading. very tedious - pick the songs, put them in your basket, pick which kind of encoding and download each song one-by-one. then click and drag them into itunes music library. and if you're OCD like myself, you have to re-assign the music genre because they're all tagged with "blues" as the genre for some reason.
-awkward payment. you have to pre-pay a minimum onto your account, and are then charged as you download songs.
-limited and late releases. this site doesn't have everything. only one album by Passion, for example (though I did download some Radio-era Run DMC, some 70's David Bowie and some of Timbaland's new album). and new releases can take about 2-3 weeks to show up for download.

bonuses
-it's cheep! i downloaded about 180 mp3s (seriously) and still have a few cents left on my $25 initial deposit.
-encoding rate selection - i know, this was part of my criticism. but you can select the quality of encoding for your mp3 or aif file.
-it's legal. really. read for yourself.
-it's not itunes. share, burn and copy to as many machines as you like.
-it's not limewire. no viruses. no files that become static after the first 30 seconds

overall
i spent some time this week downloading songs and I'm impressed. it takes longer than itunes to download the songs, load them into itunes and re-genre them. but to be honest, it takes less time than Kazaa, Limewire or Soulseek because you don't have to weed through all the dirty files. and it's so cheap. give it a try. www.mp3sparks.com.

going home

2007-09-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

sitting in the phoenix sky harbor airport right now. and boy am I glad to be going home.
it's been a long two weeks. a few personal successes and a few failures. a few drinks with good friends. and a LOT of work hours clocked in.

jodi and i figured out that by the time this whole phoenix-raleigh deal is done, I will have missed her birthday, my birthday, two national holidays (including turkey day) and 3 months of my son's life.

but there's good news. the end is in sight....

it's official: I have a job in NC! if all paperwork goes through - and believe me, there are stacks of it - i'll be starting work at my old job by early december. lots of prayers and airport blogs between now and then....

world numbers

2007-08-31T10:43:00.000-07:00

my dear friend david sent me this link: poodwaddle.com

really interesting numbers. i just wonder a few things. like how up to date are these stats? why are internet connections right next to abortions? and how is bicycle production such a vital statistic?

anyway, some of the numbers really are sobering. i wonder how much our perspectives would change if we looked at these numbers regularly. i wonder if staring at them once a week would move us to act for preservation of what God created for us... or if it would make us more numb....

guns, spider webs and a special birthday wish

2007-08-30T11:45:00.002-07:00

random news today.

turns out the US is by far the most armed country in the world. does this mean we can stop making an issue out of gun laws? please? (post-note. what i meant was this: now that we're armed to the eyebrows, can we stop politic-ing for our right to bear arms and get on to some more urgent issues?)

also, they found a 200 yard spider web in texas. guess everything's bigger down there.

and speaking of spiders, here's a huge, happy, very-late-twenties birthday wish to my favorite arachnophobe on the planet. well, she's pretty much my favorite person on the planet too.

happy birthday babe.

miss teen south carolina

2007-08-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

i really feel sorry for this girl. praying for the school systems in the carolinas....

wahba: martin owner

2007-08-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

while i'm out in the desert, I get lots of down time. which is good in a way. but bad in a way too. my love (jodi) made a way for me to take one of my other loves (guitar) with me.

ta daaaaa....

it's a martin backpacker guitar. one I can stow safely in the overhead compartment.

yes, i've entered martin territory. just gotta make sure I don't leave marty and taylor alone together. :)

the rocks cry out

2007-08-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

jodi and I had an interesting experience this week. we went to pick out our slab (of granite) at a countertop warehouse.

the ultimate in environmental consumption - selecting which hunk of god-made volcanic rock will be most appealing for important tasks such as cutting bagels and making PBJ's.

as we were in the yard deciding among three slabs of granite, we were overwhelmed with the noise coming from inside the warehouse. it was the sound of several slabs of granite being cut simultaneously for various customers. each rock seemed to have its own voice. but when they all sang together, it was eerie. dissonant. i commented that it sounded like banshees (as in "you made out like a banshee", right jodi?).

anyway, i'm still haunted by the sound. it makes me wonder: were the rocks crying out like jesus predicted in luke 19.40? or was this a weeping? a chilling scream? the sound creation makes when it's consumed in mass quantities for everyday human use?

stooping to a new low

2007-08-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

these past few weeks, boston has shown me something new. no matter what we do, his favorite time we spend together seems to be when i'm down on the floor playing with him.

he might crawl up to me and pull my leg hairs. i'll pick him up, but he'll still squirm. restless.

it's only when I put him down, sit or lay on the floor with him, and play on his level; only when he gets to crawl all over me or lift himself up to stand so he's taller than I am, that he's at his happiest.

this summer, I've been re-reading all the gospels, Message-style. the craziness of the gospel story is that such a huge God would want to lay on the floor with me. guess he knew I'd squeal with happiness.

better go. don't want a certain someone to think i love this laptop more than I love him.

no rock - remixed

2007-08-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

hey everyone check it out. a rapper/minister named Vessel from phoenix did a remix (dare I say a Geeeeee-miiiiiiiiiiiix?) of "no rock".

click here for Vessel's myspace page, then click on "No Rock Remix".

new jams

2007-08-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

here are a few artists that have become the soundtrack to my recent journeys:

phil wickham - i know i'm way behind the bandwagon on this one, but his voice and lyrics kill me. i find myself actually worshipping along instead of dissecting each chord change. start with "divine romance" and go from there.

rooney - there new album is less Beach Boys and more 80's new wave. but I likey.

a fine frenzy - we saw this singer chick (think Sarah meets Fiona, but with her own voice and stories) open for Pete Yorn. their full-length CD just came out. download "almost lover" and "hope for the hopeless".

other new ventures include the latest from velvet revolver, jonatha brooke and wilco.

wahba.net... interrupted

2007-07-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

so i finally wiped the dust off the ol' website and updated it for this summer's goings-on. here's a quick run-down:

new navigation bar - nothing fancy - just a little easier to navigate through the menus
upcoming gigs - true, you only need one hand to count them
award nomination - somebody nominated me for "Best Contemporary Christian Male Vocalist". okay.... but show some love anyway and vote here.

peace kids.

Mr. Short-term-band-relationship...

2007-07-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

i'm finding myself in a little predicament. i've been invited to play a worship/concert gig in north carolina and I can't find bandmates to play with me!

one weird part of the deal is that the 3-4 people I had always hoped would want to jam with me again are, for one reason or another, less than enthusiastic. not that there should be any undue expectation or pressure on them. i shouldn't expect them to drop what they're doing and join forces with me again just because we've played together before. it's just a funny thing I guess.

it's definitely more of a pressure I put on myself. it unearths a lot of little regrets about mistakes I've made in the past.

for example: you know the guy/girl who gets involved in a spitfire, passionate relationship for a brief time, then dumps the other person and moves on? well i'm that guy, except with BANDS. i take these great band situations, write and gig and record and put on shows that impress strangers. then I leave - usually leave the entire state, along with leaving said band. it happened in pittsburgh, then in raleigh, then in arizona.

one good friend put this spin on my lack of band commitment: "at least you're able to find great bands everywhere you go."

so now i'm in a bit of a fog. waiting for clarity. waving my hand around trying to find God's hand so he can lead me along.

i do have this glimmer of hope: that it's His deal, not mine. that if I let him, he can turn my blunders into beauty.

NC = home

2007-07-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

for those of you who haven't seen, here are some pics of the new wahba studio... ahem, home... in cary.

i know this sounds corny, but we're really excited about what god has in mind for it. in every room, we can picture what He's been putting on our hearts to do with our home - entertain, host the 'homeless', create, jam, cook, play....

the backyard makes us thankful every time we see it.

bi-coastal

2007-07-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

so I'm getting into the swing of this working-across-the-country-from-where-i-live deal. it's a bit taxing on the body (sleep schedule, weird work hours, a bunch of 12-hour work shifts in a row) and on the heart (i miss the heck out of my wife and kid).

so when i'm in phoenix, i'll be doing this wacky work rotation: 2 day shifts, 2 swing shifts, 1-2 night shifts, repeat. and I can't complain, because it's the irregular work schedule that drew me to working the ER in the first place. but I must say, that it has been the single largest barrier to establishing any sense of routine or rhythm to my life.

so despite it all, and at the suggestion of a close pastor/friend, i'm attempting to get some rhythm back. over the past few weeks, I've worked regular devotions into the daily rhythm - it's easily been the most neglected, yet most needed in my life.

and over the next few months, i'll be trying to get back into regularly doing some more stuff.... playing guitar, eating a little better, moving a little more, and yes, hopefully blogging on a more regular basis.

true, in a prior post, I raised a toast to living my life instead of trying to blog every minute detail. now, we're onto a new season....

gasp!

2007-06-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

okay, okay. so i've been neglecting you. it's not that i haven't thought about you. it's just.... well you know.

so i'm breaking the silence. and what better way to do it....

than with a completely useless, but clever youtube vid.

last AZ gig

2007-05-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

this morning Tim, Jonathan and I worshipped our little hearts out for the last time together.

i'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a little empty inside. not only were these guys some of the best I've ever played with - but their overall comraderie and spirit were contagious. I was pushed to think of new ways to play our songs because I knew they could totally handle it.

i'll miss playing with them. I'll miss all the gigs we had. i'll miss all the relationships we've built with the local leaders here in the valley of the sun.

and I fully admit that I get some kind of weird self-validation through playing & worshipping on a regular basis. I'm used to having gigs booked for months ahead of time. and now I don't have a single gig scheduled.

maybe I'm wired to crave the stage because that's what I was created to do. or maybe it's a personality flaw.

i wonder what the future holds. more gigs? a better market for my ministry and music? or will the loss of momentum from this move be insurmountable on a mental level for me.

hey Man, it's in Your hands, seriously....

new CD on iTunes

2007-05-23T06:59:00.001-07:00

check it out! my new CD, live @ GJ's is up on iTunes already. give it a test drive and download till you're all worshipped out.

oh yeah, here's the link.

new viddy-OH's

2007-05-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

giver - with imperial march breakdown

Add to My Profile More Videos

check out the videos we just added to the myspace page. I also put them on youtube if myspace isn't your bag, baby.

and remember: wahba's new indieheaven page is up and running. listen to new songs, buy the new acoustic album, and remember to leave nice little comments for wahba. pretty please? clicky here.

live @ GJ's - a new record from wahba

2007-04-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

hey kids. just wanted to let you know about a new CD that was just released. it's a LIVE ONE!

all acoustic/live coffeehouse versions of wahba songs from prior albums. check out the press release here. and be sure to read the bit about the album cover - don't want anyone offended about the martini glass!

oh yeah... you can listen to some tunes and buy the CD here or here.

kole, a soul at peace

2007-04-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

sad news, brothers and sisters. our dear friend kole passed away this week after a long bout with cancer. his passing was just 2 days after his 6th birthday. and just 4 days after the birth of his baby sister.

words can't really express the pain and sadness his family might be feeling. indeed, the passing of your own 6 year old child raises lots of questions. please keep them in your prayers.

read of kole's amazing story, and his family's incredible faith here on kole's blog.

picture pages, picture pages...

2007-04-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

as an update to my video post. all the vids are also up on the wahba youtube page.

and I should have posted about this a wicked-long-time ago.... there's a wahba gig-picture website with pics from lots of gigs, past, present, and future. okay, not future gig pics yet. but check my smugmug page.

if all the pics are overwhelming, for you, FRET NOT. i'll be highlighting some past gigs and putting up links for us all to reminisce about....

wahba videos

2007-04-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

well now, it seems we've finally entered the video age. and it only took us 17 years (that is, since MTV first aired, for you trivia buffs).

i've posted 4 dark, grainy, distorted, shaky videos for your viewing torture. they're up on my new and un-cluttered myspace page (if that's possible). editing video is definitely not my forte - but i'd like to think audio IS. so believe it or not, these videos sound way better than what we captured on our little digital camera....

click here to see all the action!

wonder years

2007-04-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

jodi and watched the first two episodes of wonder years last night. such a great show.

it's crazy. we're 4 years apart and both clearly remember how much that one show rocked our worlds. it's one of the few times in my life I actually designated a time every week to watch a particular TV program.

anyhow, we both agreed that, although it seems wonder years was primarily aimed at baby boomers, it spoke to us right where we were. I was the same age as kevin's character and jodi was even a little younger. but the characters and dialogue went beyond just entertainment. they said something about growing up, about popularity, personal loss, hurting the ones you love and seeing those around you in pain.

in fact, as far as the appeal of the show, we think this is one of the select few shows that actually appealed to everyone. we're talking like ages 10-70. do yourself a favor. go rent season one....

gig catchup and wahba-tube coming soon.

new crowder

2007-03-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

once again, mr. crowder is preparing another CD of blips and squeaks for all the worshipping young folk to salivate over while hopping up and down & clapping on every beat.

this time, they're not only showing 24-hour webcams of their recording house, they've compiled a clip of the day to document their creative adventures. the coolest of these so far is easily a bit where they have "the Nuge" come in and do a face-melting guitar solo.

again, i'm not too keen on crowder's style or 100% of his songwriting. but i'm envious they get to do all this goofing off for a living....

let's review....

2007-03-29T06:26:00.000-07:00

true, it's been quite a while since I've blogged. and i'm totally embracing this "live-life-instead-of-trying-to-document-it-in-a-trendy-geeky-way" philosophy. but the 3 or 7 of you who stop by here every once in a while actually seem to care about what's going on in our lives so I'll, if only for a brief moment, indulge your deepest desires and fantasies.

albeit plain and boring, let's play some catch up, shall we?

magnolia - this is more of a side note. I finally got jodi to sit down and watch Magnolia. not that it was a struggle or anything - she's been wanting to see it and we just haven't had a chance. the whole frog plague at the end still baffled and grossed us both out. so I finally looked it up. evidently it's part of some recurring references to exodus 8:2 and the style/work of charles fort. anyhoots, after all that, jodi didn't really seem to like the movie anyway....

california dreamin' - boston visited his 5th state as of this past weekend. we hit laguna beach to see our dear friends, David and Air. then off to whittier where the folks at faith community treated us mighty kind for our all-day sunday gig. and finally to Santa Monica & LA to see some of my extended family and have them meet the kid for the first time.

gigs & our move to NC - still playing a whole bunch. but alas, all good things must come to an end. we're winding down as we prep for our big move. we've gotta be out of the house by may 1.

that puts jodi and B on a plane to PA to be with her family while I stay in the PHX and finish out my work contract until june. meanwhile, all our belongings will be on a moving truck, headed out to the greater Raleigh area. despite all this, we still had time to finish production on a live, acoustic, tribal, funky...

new CD! it's back from the presses. more about the new disc coming soon....

craigslist

2007-03-13T16:47:00.000-07:00

craigslist is so great. i've found band members, house painters, landscapers, really good software deals and a cellist up there.

check out this ad though. i mean isn't it enough to just put the ad up? do we really need to post "glamour shots by deb" photos with our ads? can anyone please help pastor Jermaine out? ha!

ok now I feel bad.

giuliani on abortion

2007-03-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

this here video is interesting.

as many of you know, jodi and I are advocates of adoption. giuliani is the first candidate i've seen who fortifies/balances his pro-life stance by promoting adoption.

most podcasted

2007-03-09T20:31:00.000-08:00

by now, most of you know what podcasts are.

well... on a little site called the podsafe network (where they present and track indie artists for play on genre-specific podcasts), there's a little list of the top ten most podcasted christian songs. and guess who is on the list?

me! actually it's kind of rad - and definitely God - there are three of my tracks that made it into the top ten.

mac parodies (and a gust of southern wind)

2007-03-07T08:54:00.000-08:00

i realize apple is pretty influential right now. and that the best form of flattery is imitation. but have we gone too far with the apple commercial parodies yet? sheesh.

mac = loser
environmental mac
racial mac
christian mac - i appreciate what they're going for, but it's still pretty dorky.

in other stories, we finally finished gone with the wind last night. yes, part 2 was just as long.

we totally appreciated the story line. and it's our guess that the saga/drama of it made this a timeless movie that ranks highly on a lot of lists. lots of people dying, a bloody war, prostitutes, and a love quadrangle very broken and realistic. it's a love story that doesn't end totally happy and that's why we liked it.

that's also why we're surprised so many others have liked it.

if this type of story has been so successful, then why aren't today's sappy-pathetic romantic dram-edies following suit? no, not with the pretentiousness of another 4 1/2 hour epic. we think they'd be much better off if they ended more realistically, in less of a girl-always-gets-the-guy scenario.

anyways, the filmmakers never really addressed the race issue. and although scarlet and rhett broke the mold of character-types, a few of the other characters, especially those portraying slaves, were pretty standard/boring. at one point, one of the slaves even made an expression (eyes looking sideways, mouth open in funny amazement) that we've seen on every african american sitcom that was ever made.

the writers had a chance to comment on a war and an issue central to the time it was portraying. they failed to make any comment. to it's fault, it's painfully obvious that this picture was written by white folks and aimed at entertaining white folks.

blowin....

2007-03-05T16:44:00.000-08:00

jodi and I are in the middle of watching gone with the wind. epic story and movie. highly influential and award-winning... and we're trying to figure out why.

it's tough when you see something so old. you have to force yourself back to the time frame in which it was created. there's a lot of "great for it's time" comments you use to convince yourself it's a worthy piece of art.

it's also difficult when the movie is so stinking long. I'm not talking "long" as in one DVD for the movie and disc 2 for all the extras. I'm talking this movie takes up two whole DVDs. the thing has an intermission in it.

a couple of observations so far:

scarlett is a wreck. she's schizophrenic, attention-seeking and really annoying at times. and that's what we love about her. she definitely makes the movie.

and their portrayal of yankees and Abe Lincoln as evil, twisted foes is interesting, seeing as how the yankee side was fighting to abolish slavery. scarlett even makes a derogatory comment about old Abe.

we're most interested to see how they finish painting their picture of how slavery should be retrospectively viewed. will they paint it "as is" in lieu of the rebellious-romantic story line? or will they allow these enlightened starring characters to see the folly of their side of the war? so far, the painting is pretty grim.

disc two, here we come....

circuit bending

2007-03-03T13:58:00.000-08:00

this is interesting.

must... resist... dissecting... boston's toys.

moving... somewhere

2007-03-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

for those of you who don't know, the wahba's are moving. to exactly where we don't know. but the above picture creates somewhat of a situation.

i can't believe this is a picture of a home I (used to) own! here's the lowdown: we put the house up on the local market at a reasonable price - not too greedy. in hopes that we might sell by May and most likely move outta the AZ.

within 24 hours, we had 2 offers, both of which were at the asking price. with the buyer, we were able to negotiate, no doubt with the strength of the Big Guy, to stay in our house, rent & mortgage free, for 1 1/2 months after we close.

so now we're trying to figure out where to go. the obvious choice is North Carolina. and that's where we'll probably end up. but I don't have a job there. and as you'll recall we have a 4-month old guest staying with us. a guest that has certain living requirements... such as having at least one parent with a job. I've put in my notice at work and we're praying for God to show us what to do next.

so before Marlow chimes in with his "austin is so beautiful this time of year" comments, we'll go ahead and say we'd like to at least be in the same time zone as our families (EST). someplace that preferably employs PAs or wanna-be rockstar worship leaders.

prayers

2007-02-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

sending a prayer up for the Marlows as they recover from such a tough ordeal....

U2be

2007-02-26T12:33:00.000-08:00

i just installed a widget on my mac that posts the most watched & highest rated vids of the day from YouTube. check out these gems:

how embarrassing and why is this entertaining?

the ultimate worship song

2007-02-22T07:54:00.000-08:00

so, in listening to chris tomlin's latest release, see the morning, I stumbled upon something that amazed me.

in one song, he managed to squeeze in every cliche from contemporary worship over the past decade. in fact, i believe he tried to squeeze them all into the song's title. this might perhaps be the ultimate worship song:

"Awesome Is The Lord Most High"

Great are You, Lord, Mighty in strength
You are faithful, as You will ever be
We will praise You all of our days
For Your glory, we offer everything

Raise your hands, all you nations
Shout to God all creation
How awesome is the Lord Most High

Where You send us, God we will go
You're the answer, we want the world to know
We will trust You when You call our name
Where You lead us, we'll follow all the way

Raise your hands, all you nations
Shout to God all creation
How awesome is the Lord Most High

We will praise You together
For now and forever
How awesome is the Lord Most High

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
How awesome is the Lord Most High
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
How awesome is the Lord Most High

Raise your hands, all you nations
Shout to God all creation
How awesome is the Lord Most High

We will praise You together
For now and forever
How awesome is the Lord Most High

how's this for a new wahba song title:
"I have come to worship you are mighty is our god of wonders".

the show

2007-02-21T07:39:00.000-08:00

pete yorn rocked it last night. great 3-guitar singer-songwriter rootsy rock n' roll. so cool to see everyone in a tight band knowing their territory. not overstepping their boundaries. and knowing when NOT to play.

the opening band, aqualung amazed us by doing a whole set of piano-based radiohead covers! (that was a jab).

and we were floored by alison sudol, the lead singer from a fine frenzy, who did a piano-and-synth set. crazy voice and charming stage presence.

all that, an evening alone with Jodi, and a belly full of guinness & sushi = great night.

shows

2007-02-19T10:50:00.000-08:00

not my shows - those of ones far greater than I.

jodi and I are going to see pete yorn tomorrow night. sooooo excited. he's definitely one of my faves as rootsy-singer-songwriters go. we'll do sushi, then go to the show for our annual non-valentine's day celebration.

and is anybody else excited about this?

the (left coast) windy city

2007-02-18T22:17:00.000-08:00

just got back from our little trip to seattle to see Ken and Brenda.... oh yeah, and for Jodi to present at WCA (Western Communication Association conference).

seattle is really a fantastic place to visit (and probably to live). a few degrees warmer and we'd seriously consider living there - right, honey? bonus: getting to be with great people like Ken/Brenda/Trey all the time.

and seattle's perfect for those three. them's some coffee drinkin' folk. I still have heartburn from the every-6-hour dose of caffeine that seattle life entails.

otherwise, Ken extensively documented our trip here and here. enjoy.

starbucks town

2007-02-16T08:11:00.000-08:00

so, to make you all happy, I'll break my silence.

right now we're in seattle with our good friends Ken and Brenda. hoping to drink lots of coffee and get rained on plenty. more stories and maybe pics soon....

-w

ken's links....

2007-01-19T05:13:00.000-08:00

here's a really sweet story, courtesy of ken's blog. gosh, are we hurting for community.

while I'm gushing over ken, here's a link he showed me on his blog a while back. it's my new favorite Chris-Tomlin-and-Christian-music-industry-bashing site. okay, I actually really hold Mr Tomlin in high regard. but I do have a few beefs with the quality of his songwriting lately. definitely some issues with the overall quality of christian music these days. and these guys say it so well....

"...writing a heartfelt worship song is no excuse to suck."

weeeeeeeee!

2007-01-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

jodi and I have always said we never want a boat. but we DO always want to have *friends* who have a boat.

well the same seems to apply to the nintendo wii. neither of us consider ourselves "gamers." and we never would have considered buying a game system. who has the time? the money? and who wants to push the boundaries of geekdom like that? all this seems to have changed....

this is nicole throwing a mean right hook while beating James' butt in the boxing ring.

this weekend we went to our close friend Alvin's birthday party. it was at James & Bethany's home. a home that was recently blessed with a wii.

we had such a blast! talk about a party in a box. the 6 of us had a hard time putting it down. we were neglecting small children. it's hard to even call it just a video game system because the controls are so stinkin' innovative.

so we're praying about all this. are we to become game nerds? would we be able to get anything else done with a wii in our home?

farewell coach cowher

2007-01-09T10:30:00.000-08:00

i know i'm a little late - and i call myself a Steelers fan but....

we'll miss you bill! *sniff*

rocky balboa and bob dylan quotes....

2007-01-05T07:40:00.000-08:00

jodi and I went to see rocky balboa the other night. great movie. had a bit of a slow start with rocky giving lots of pep talks that bordered on cheesy/cliche. but he's rocky. that's what we expect. and that's what gets us pumped up when we see him fight.

overall a really good movie though. stick around for the fun closing credits too.

and i've been watching a bob dylan DVD i got for christmas. it's a documentary directed by martin scorcese. really well done. gives a great insight into who he was as an artist. how prolific and new he was at the time. and how much he hated being labeled or pigeon-holed by the press, politics and even his fans.

I didn't realize that he played at the rally where Dr. King gave his "free at last" speech. I also didn't realize that Michael Hutchence was copying Dylan's video for "subterranean homesick blues" when he did the words on the cards for the INXS video!

he was really creative and witty - especially when the press asked stupid questions. check out some of these quotes:

"in those days, artistic success was not dollar-driven. it was whether you had something to say or not."

interviewer: "your songs are supposed to have a subtle message"
bob dylan: "subtle message?"
interviewer: "well they're supposed to"
bob dylan: "where'd you hear that"
interviewer: "in a movie magazine"

interview: "for those of us who are well over 30, would you label yourself and perhaps tell us what your role is?"
bob dylan: "well... I sort of label myself as well under 30."

interviewer: "why do you write surreal songs?"

interviewer: "how many who labor in the same musical vineyard in which you toil, how many are protest singers?"
bob dylan: "how many?" "about 136." "either 136 or 142."

bob dylan: "i'd had it with the whole scene.... I was looking to quit for a while"
interviewer: "what about the scene - what had you 'had it' with? what about the scene were you sick of?
bob dylan: "well, you know, people like you...."

jonathan's blog

2007-01-02T07:25:00.000-08:00

hey everyone. my little nephew jonathan has started a blog.

this kid amazes me. he reads so many books it's sick! he'll plow through a 500-page novel in like a week - and he's only 9!

anyhoo, here's the link to his blog for reviewing books and video games.

lessons

2006-12-23T04:44:00.000-08:00

so being away from boston for the past 9 days has helped me realize some things. first off, I miss the HECK out of the boy. i've also been learning so much from him.

he's the purest thing I've ever been a part of. he knows no sin whatsoever (though, yes, he may have been born with a tendency to sin, he hasn't yet sinned, therefore, he IS purity). in this sense, he's one of the people closest to Jesus that I've ever been involved with.

and get this: he knows exactly what he needs, but when he gets it, he's totally satisfied. true, he's really needy and dependent at this point. but he doesn't whine or complain, or move on to the next thing he thinks he needs/wants once he gets something. he's totally content until his body actually physically needs something else for him to survive. man, do I wish I could be that way.

boston has helped me learn that there's room in my heart to discover love again. he's shown me a back door to a whole warehouse full of affection that I never knew was in my blueprint. crazy. just crazy.

god - help me to keep learning from him. may I learn to smile back, no matter who smiles at me....

more boston pics

2006-12-18T10:26:00.000-08:00

okay. so everyone's been bugging me to see more pictures of the little one. here are some links:

these ones are of his third week of life.
this link takes you to pics of wahba and jodi's parents visit for Thanksgiving.
and these are recent pics since he turned one month old.

daddy mac

2006-12-10T08:39:00.000-08:00

so I finally did it. took the plunge. made the switch. battened down the hatches. as of this week yours truly....

... became a mac user.

got me a shiny new macbook pro for christmas. so I'm flailing. trying to figure out all the little nooks and crannies of this thing.

it's already way faster, more intuitive, and more aesthetic than any PC i've ever used. it totally brings back memories of (gasp!) 10 years ago when I was in college and I always used the Mac lab instead of the PC lab. why I didn't switch back then, I'll always wonder.

for now - if any of you have tips (downloads, must-have programs, keyboard shortcuts) that can help with this little transition, please holla at a playa!

happy december

2006-12-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

current temperature in tempe, AZ: 42 degrees.
current temperature in new york, NY: 68 degrees.

it's actually chilly out here. got down to the 30's last night. instead of shouting "I'm Full!" like the guy in the taco bell commercial, i feel like shouting "I'm finally cold!"

this is a good thing.

in other news... BOSTON! he's a very cool chap. really mellow at times. he's been giving us his first smiles and coos. yesterday, he met the quite famous Mr. Santa Claus for the first time!

other funny moments have included:

-passing gas while we put lotion on his bottom.
-peeing into his own eye while we're changing him.
-only falling asleep in his grandmothers' arms - not his parents'.

everyone has said - ad nauseum - that having a child would change my life. well it has - but in different ways than what I expected. i'd describe it more like falling head-over-heels in love with a person.

you think about him/her all the time - especially when you're supposed to be doing something else. you want to tell everyone you know about him and show everyone his picture. you want to tell stories about him. and you can't wait to finish whatever it is you're doing so you can hurry back to get him in your arms again.

when I was younger and had a big crush on someone new, I'd drive really ridiculously slowly. I guess because I was totally distracted and in some sort of dream zone.

let's just say that there are reports of slow-moving 4runners spotted across this town lately....

it's a Boston!

2006-11-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

hey y'all. just wanted to share the news. Jodi and I gave birth to a baby boy. here are the details:

name: Boston William Wahba
born: November 6, 2006, 10:27am
weight: 7lbs, 3oz
length: 21 inches

click here to see more pictures of the bugger....

blog neglect, baby update, car wreck

2006-11-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

i'm pathetic. why do i feel guilty when I don't blog? is it because I'm neglecting something electronic? something organic? am i in some way neglecting my ministry because my blog is related to that? do you feel ignored? shunned?

what if i blogged everything that happened and every thought I had? would you think i was psycho? I don't think I'd have time to think or have anything happen to me - i'd be blogging all the time.

(raising imaginary beer stein) so here's to neglecting our blogs and living our lives instead.... and here's a quick recap, starting with the most important news:

our child - most of you know that we're due in a week or so. well jodi's body parts seem to already be getting ready to pop out our gender-unknown/name-unknown mini-wahba. in fact, if we don't deliver by this weekend, jodi will be induced this sunday. please say a prayer for us - especially jodi. the whole deal goes down at noon on sunday - that is if we don't erupt prior.

gigs - staying ridiculously busy. we've played campus crusade, chi alpha, praxis church, a church carnival, and the AZ state fair within the past couple of weeks. my last scheduled gig will be tonight - then we'll take a month off - see above for one good reason why.

car - for those who didn't know, we had to get rid of jodi's VW Beetle. it was paid off, but we might as well have had a car payment on it because it was in the shop every month. when the clutch started to get jiggy, we realized it was time to say farewell to Marianna Prosperity.

so we got a new (used) one. a 2005 Civic. deduct several thousand cool points for overall boringness. add about $20/week in gas money to my wallet.

alright, so I'm on my way to a recording session last night in our new car and KABLAM-O! I get rear ended by a kid. he pulls up, airbags deployed in his car. sees i'm okay. gets out and sees I'm calling the police. as I'm talking to 911, this guy hops in his car and speeds off! but not before I get his license plate....

police went straight to his house - he doesn't speak any English. he has his car registered, but doesn't have a driver license (apparently you don't need a license for the AZ-DOT to take your $$). and of course, he has no insurance.

get this - as the police pull up to his house, he and a buddy are found on the street in front of his house, cutting out the airbags from his car so it can't be identified. our car has a banged up rear bumper. the trunk doesn't close. the right rear fender is bent out.

anyway - I don't have any injuries or anything. I'm just really glad jodi wasn't in the car with me. everything would have been totally different.

aside from a psycho ex-girlfriend that keeps emailing me and a 4-hour driving class I had to take to get out of a speeding ticket in Scottsdale, that about catches us up to date....

dirty-too

2006-10-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

today marks the day that I was born - 32 years ago. today also marks the day i've decided I'm kinda over the whole birthday thing - a few hours ago.

i had a chill day. no work. led worship in the morning for some local campus ministry leaders. then had lunch with our "son", Paul.

the day got better when we found out Jodi is already 2cm dilated! (though she's not due for another 2 weeks.)

and then a little better when I had dinner with some good friends.

all in all a day I enjoyed. but also a day i'll probably soon forget - like so many other birthdays (except that day my friends in Raleigh scared the crap out of me with a surprise party - i yelled so loud i scared them).

more blog-babble soon.

warning: uncool pictures

2006-10-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

sometimes hipness is what it ain't - tower of power

at the request of some friends and family, I've posted some pictures of our baby's room. deduct 5,000 cool points now.

but in being uncool, I just might be cool. I mean, the less I care about being cool, the more cool I am, right? right.

call MTV. we wanna be on Cribz.

glider and changing table. baby crap shall be experienced here.dresser. and a good look at the paint job. designed and painted by Jodi.

rough worship experience #2

2006-10-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

setting: womens' ministry house where we were invited to play for their weekly prayer/worship gathering.

the scene: although it's a womens' ministry, they invite both men and women to their weekly meetings. we definitely seemed to be the loudest worship band they ever had. and we were obviously a bit different stylistically than what they were used to (as the speaker politely stated, "we certainly appreciate the... heart with which you sing your songs....").

what went wrong: there was no major turning point or event per se. just an overall creepy vibe. worship went fine. many of them were raising hands and worshipping pretty well. there were a few people praying in their 'prayer language'.

the weird part was at the end of the sermon. there was a female "prophet" who had been invited as the speaker. when she was nearing the end of her talk, she invited people to come up and have hands layed (lain?) on them for prayer. there was loud tongue-speaking - into microphones - without interpretation.

what followed were events that bordered on crowd manipulation.

she pointed people out in the small gathering of 30 or so people. asked them publicly to come forward because they needed prayer. she spoke out a specific prayer she felt the Spirit prompting her to pray for. but as she prayed, she'd push - hard - on the person's forehead, almost forcing the person to lose their balance and fall backward. if they resisted, or did not fall, they were gently rebuked for not surrendering enough.

as if rehearsed, there were folks waiting behind those being prayed (preyed?) upon, in order to catch them when 'slain.'

at one point, the speaker pointed me out. my heart raced as I rose from my seat to step forward. i was relieved to find that she was just asking me to be a 'catcher' for a tall fellow in the front row whom she was planning to lay hands on. she placed her palm firmly on his forehead and applied pressure. he stepped back with one foot to catch his balance. she pushed farther until he backed up far enough to sit back down in the chair he'd just been sitting in. my catching abilities hadn't been needed after all.

my issues/disclaimer: i believe in spiritual gifts. in teaching, healing, prophecy, laying of hands, and yes, in tongues (although the latter is biblically the least of these gifts). i've witnessed what i believe to be the orderly and wonder-full occurrence of tongues with interpretation. although I can't think of a biblical reference for it, i've seen numerous people 'fall out' during intense times of these gifts. and I will never claim to be someone with the authority to decide whether these events are truly of the Spirit or not.

i do know that sometimes i get filled with awe at these events, and at others, i get filled with bad vibes.

what i learned: i found myself having to counsel my band members a bit after this service - to make sure they weren't totally freaked out. I found myself guarding my language, and asking them to guard theirs in remaining respectful to the people we'd witnessed participating in this spectacle.

our downfall as Christ-followers begins when we start to think we've got it all right. when we think our way of worshipping and living out our faith is the way. what seems most important to me right now is maintaining more a sense of fear and trembling - NOT pride - as we discuss worship service style in the Church.

i'm absolutely positive that a typical worship service from the Acts-era of the Church would look/feel entirely foreign and uncomfortable to us, as compared to our contemporary/modern services.... it would freak us out - and vice-versa.

humbleness is key. in fact i insist that we pray, even beg, for humility as we approach this concept we call a worship service. there's a really good chance that when we meet up with Jesus again, he'll give us a pat on the back and say something like "nice try. you gave it a shot. you're covered though - let's go."

let the hate mail cometh.

rough worship experience #1

2006-10-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

i don't usually back-blog. but for the anonymity of the group I'll be discussing below, I wanted to wait until ample time had passed.

setting: young adult service where my band and I were asked to lead worship.

the scene: we set up in a large auditorium. one that could hold at least 2,000 people. it was an evening service, so we didn't expect a huge crowd and that was cool with us. we got their huge/incredible sound system fired up and were playing pretty tightly together in sound check.

what went wrong: when it was time for the service to start, there were about 12 people present, including leaders. picture it: gi-normous room. big sound and visuals. itty-bitty group.

we were ready to start and the sound person wanted us to wait a second. there was dead silence. I said "big room!" into the mic, laughing.... not even a sound or even a chuckle was made.

we led worship and were really feeling it. getting into worship like my boys are good at doing. no major mistakes or trainwrecks - always a blessing. so as I start to look out at the small gathering toward the front of this auditorium, I see blank faces. nothing. just apathy.

only 1-2 of them would continue clapping, even after I asked them to clap along. nobody raised their hands to worship - even during some of the more worshipful songs. and a few had actually sat down. i specifically recall a person slouched back in his auditorium chair, the side of his cheek perched on his fist, and a completely flat expression while we were worshipping.

this person was easily the most apathetic of the bunch. and he was one of the lead pastors.

my issues: i've led worship before where the congregation was less than excited to have me as their worship leader. and our sound is pretty specific, stylistically. so I'm a grown-up and can handle it if not every group we lead is ecstatic to have us. for some reason though, this got to me. in fact, i was infuriated.

i was a little bitter because the leaders didn't care about the situation. because we felt no sense of welcome as visitors. because they seemed they weren't even remotely interested in worshipping, let alone in having us.

i should also acknowledge that i was paying my band to play, and i didn't get paid for the service - and i definitely didn't sell enough CDs to cover my costs. nobody apologized for, or even acknowledged the fact that i was "in the hole" for that gig financially. not even a love offering was suggested for us. that might have contributed to my bitterness as well.

what i learned: not every worship set will be a great one. even if my band and I do our very best, and are actually getting beyond playing to where we're worshipping. i shouldn't expect to be recieved warmly at all times or to have people excited about worship. and I shouldn't take myself so seriously (that is, I can take worship seriously, but not myself).

this isn't a scientific theory, where I can take it to different environments and try to recreate a specific response. it isn't a formula. it's people and their God. and most of us worship differently from each other - in a good way. I should value that and not be bitter.

finally, I should be more prepared. not just prepared to play, or prepared spiritually to worship. but prepared to engage people more. from that point on, I began to prepare little stories or brief explanations of songs from life experiences. most of them funny, all of them short. when stuff like this goes down, I've got a little trick in my back pocket to help me disarm them. yes, disarm.

this group needed to be disarmed and i wasn't ready for it. they had their guards up and i let them stay up. i'm more ready now. thanks for humbling me Lord. thanks for making me grow.

our best advice

2006-10-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

Jodi and I have been talking about something over the past few months.

what if we took the best 2 or 3 things we've learned lately and told all our friends about them? what if we made it simple, so that people could follow the advice easily? and what if we made it so that all our friends can give us their best advice too?

our hope is to pass this wisdom on to you, our friends, so that you are able to learn from our recent shortcomings and (sometimes) bad decisions. we're hoping to keep this thing going. so feel free to blog or comment with any tidbits of advice from your universe....

so here it is. our best advice:

1. don't move to Arizona.
2. don't buy a Volkswagen.
3. don't get a PhD.

runners up:
-if you're in or around pittsburgh, go to one or all of the following: the O (best fries), the Beehive (best coffee), Quaker Steak & Lube (best wings), and Primanti Brothers (amazing sandwiches)... just go.
-don't use a moving broker - or any moving company that isn't national and reputable.

i know most of these sound really negative. but we felt that you, our friends, should know about them. each one has a good 2-hour story behind it. so if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

and remember, let's keep this thing going (e.g., can anyone say "don't plant a church"?). blog, comment, email... go ahead.

power to the (worship) people

2006-09-30T00:34:00.000-07:00

so for about 2 years now, i've been incorporating what i call 'multiple choice worship' into the services i've been fortunate enough to lead. sort of a choose-your-own-worship-adventure deal where the last song of a set, i'll let the congregation pick which song we sing together.

we'll post 3 choices and let them 'vote' by screaming or snapping or something stupid. it always seems to engage them a bit more. even if the congregation is split and we do a song that a few people didn't vote for, i've noticed that everyone sings and participates more on the multiple choice song.

it's much more interesting for me as a worship leader. it gives me a better gauge of where the worshippers are. it makes the setlist different every time - very non-linear. and it's another way to encourage a spirit of community - giving them ownership in the service and in how they feel led to worship at the moment.

i'd been giving them the choice of all faster, more upbeat songs. but the last few times we worshipped on ASU campus, i've thrown in a slower, more worshipful song. i was figuring that they'd probably pick one of the other two uptempo songs. but i still wanted them to choose. who was i to say they wanted to end the worship set with a fast one?

man, was i wrong. in every one of the last three services where i gave these college ministries a chance to pick a slower/worship song, they picked it! they wanted to dive back into worship instead of keeping things all happy and clappy.

i'm so impressed with these young people. and i'm really honored that God gave me this idea, to engage them and point them back to Him in another creative way.

the white cord

2006-09-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

it's funny the things that become symbols of status in our little pockets of culture. i remember when Guess jeans were hugely popular. that little triangle on your right cheek meant you were somebody when i was in high school. or it at least meant that you thought you were somebody.

at one point in high school, i remember buying a really nice pair of sony headphones with my paper route money. then i remember someone at my youth group asking me if i was rich because i had a real walkman. and i remember just laughing, not letting on that i had these sony headphones plugged into a cheap emerson wanna-be-walkman that was tucked in my backpack.

around here, everyone's got an ipod. a few people i know actually own several ipods. go walking around, to the park, the gym, go on a hike or to the mall and you'll see the telling white cord. it's like every other person has one. even marlow commented on just how many people have ipods out here. you don't even have to see the ipod itself - the white is all that needs to be showing.

even some of the non-apple headphone manufacturers are making their earphones with white cables. it's as if they don't want their customers to be mistaken for all the other, inferior, non-ipod users (okay, that's probably a stretch, but i know it's true to somebody, on some level).

anyway, the great irony about these stock ipod headphones is that they pretty much suck. they sound terrible. in fact, i have a pair of (black) $12 sony earbuds that sound fuller/richer, and that are a little more comfortable. the sony's don't distort when you push them. and they actually get louder than the white ones at full volume.

i'm not trying to over-think this - especially people's view of me (as spoiled as i may be). but i'm settling into totally being happy with people thinking i don't have an ipod. it's a little more understated. maybe a little less pretentious. and heck, it might even be safer.

my E3c's are a boring gray color. and that suits me just fine.

brandon's new site

2006-09-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

hey, check it out. my buddy brandon has a new website. listen carefully to the songs to hear yours truly on all the rhythm guitars and backup vocals....

more NC pics...

2006-09-20T23:20:00.000-07:00

let's try this again.

rob and joanna did a short acoustic set at the pour house. so cool to hear them doing one of Grandma's gospel songs in a bar. this is wes and rob after their set.
I got to lead 4 worship services in one day! this one's at good ol' hope chapel. good to be home. from left to right, that's bruce, jennifer, me, rob (behind the cymbal) and neal. note brenda's artwork on the wall behind us - darn you guys for moving away before we got a decent painting for our house out of you!
stacy clearman and I got to lead some acoustic worship for the church alive youth on sunday night. this dude is an incredible artist and lead worshipper.
che played skins with us. don't know what che's last name is. maybe guevara?stacy and his little ones, rachel & david. no, they're not twins. can't believe you're a daddy-o, bro!

NC trip

2006-09-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

monday night was a rough one. we had to come back from north carolina, where we spent the weekend. always a little depressing leaving anywhere to come back to Arizona!

jodi had a trying flight - pregnant, swollen, uncomfortable - we're just getting to the point where she's having trouble getting comfortable at all. and to top it all off, the Steelers were defeated by the Jagoffs... I mean, Jaguars.

but here are some highlights of the weekend. we stayed with Diana and Wes (below). they're lots of fun now that they're finally married.

I have lots more pics. but 30 minutes is about my max when dealing with Blogger. they make it so difficult to upload pics. and you wonder why I only blog like every 10 days. we'll try again manana.

09.09.06 - TruWorship with Leeland

2006-09-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

last night was so incredible. after a worship workshop through the afternoon, we opened for leeland.

the "we" in my previous sentence was a hodge-podge of local worship leaders. we were thrown together at about 4:30pm and had a whole worship set by 7. the Big Guy definitely helped us pull it off.

from left to right, that's yours truly, then Israel from oneplace, then Dwayne from the Gathering.

also present was Jeff Merry from Worship Arizona, Gerald Fercho from the North Hills Church of God, Marshall McCluhan from Northridge Community, and Ben from Calvary Church. each of us worship leaders got to lead a song (they actually asked me lead two songs - sweet!). and we all backed each other up for the rest of the set.

what's so funny is that I've met or heard about all these guys from all the other gigs i've been playing. in fact, last night, i easily ran into about 20 musicians/leaders from churches across the Phoenix area that I'd met over the past 3 years of doing this worship thing. even ran into Jacob Boyd - a former Reign King! and Jeff Gilbert, who'd asked me to sit in with his former band, Ember/This Daily Summer. and so many people who have played with members of my band and had heard of me/vice-versa.

such a blessing. I haven't really felt a strong sense of community among the local music/worship scene in a long time. it's now been rekindled.

and one of the highlights of the night was that the bass player in our "conglomerate" band was none other than Patrick Andrew of the band PFR. sweet, funny guy with a great heart and an incredible voice.

here's a pic with Leeland Mooring (of the band leeland). this kid just turned 18 and is touring the US. he's got the voice of songbird and a killer band/show. really nice guys too.

bye bye wuerfele's

2006-09-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

last night we had a goodbye party for Kurt and Serena Wuerfele.

these people rock! they're the ones who've endured this desert experience with us. they moved out to AZ within 2 weeks of us moving here. they stayed with us for a bit, and kurt's been my right hand man in the band.

we'll surely miss their friendship (and kurt's guitar playing). you've affected our lives in amazing ways guys! go back to NC with peace. we'll see you there soon....

catch up

2006-09-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

i totally forgot to mention a few things that have happened over the past week.

blue man group - such a great show. clever, rhythmic, smart and funny. yet really artistic at the same time. totally not what I expected for a vegas show. they had a live band, and were so interactive. these guys definitely make the crowd part of the show. a definite must-see - and this one might be more possible - they're going on tour this fall.

oh yeah, and while we were in vegas, we ran into Steve-O of jackass/wild boys fame. he was walking into the casino of our hotel with some friends. jodi had no clue who he was. I didn't realize it was him until we were just past him - otherwise, I might have stolen a fake "i'm your biggest fan" snapshot with him.

we also just missed Paris Hilton's CD release party. it was scheduled the night we left at a club right near our hotel. I know we're both really disappointed. that would have been a real treat to see such great musical talent.

catch U l8r. gotta go work on getting the baby's room ready....

farewell, dear stratocaster

2006-09-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

today, I said goodbye to my strat. I've had it for over 12 years now - my longest guitar relationship. we had good times and bad. we laughed, we cried.

I held on to it because it played so well and had such great hardware on it (locking tuners, a rolling nut, lace sensor pickups). and everyone I talked to that ever owned a stratocaster said they regretted the day they got rid of theirs.

so, I guess I may regret today... someday. but for now, peace out and nice to know ya! hope the dude from craigslist enjoys playing you. your replacement should arrive early next week!

derek webb's album

2006-09-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

courtesy of ashdown, derek webb is letting us all download his album for free. click 'em.

I'm totally down with his philosophy. I guess it doesn't mean all that much for me to allow downloading/sharing like this as a measly indie artist. I hope to be a bigger nobody someday - so that when I say people are allowed to download my album, they actually do it!

new guitar!

2006-09-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

oh happy day. I just ordered a new guitar. should arrive in the next week or so. i guess to some folks that isn't a big deal. but i get new guitars more seldom than I get new cars - not often enough!

anyhoo, i'm so pumped because i've never owned a fender telecaster before. the tele was the first electric guitar to ever go into mass production. indeed, it was the prototype for all solid-body electric guitars that are used in music today.

i'll be joining the ranks of all these tele players: keith richards (rolling stones), jeff buckley, thom yorke (radiohead), bruce springsteen (couldn't leave out the boss, eh ryan?), george harrison (beatles), andy summers (police), john fogerty (CCR - that's for bill g).... the list is too long.

so now I will have owned/played all three of the major production electric guitars - the Tele, the Strat, and my Les Paul. what's next? maybe a martin acoustic?

birthday tribute

2006-08-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

jodi is easily my favorite person in the world. in honor of jodi's __th birthday, here are some of my favorite jodi-quotes.

"how old am I?"

police officer after jodi's car breaks down again: "we'll call and get a wrecker out here soon."
jodi: "we don't need a wrecker, we just need a tow truck."
officer: "that's what a wrecker is, a tow truck."
jodi: "oh"

"so here's my plan...."

(pointing left) "turn right here."

and my personal favorite: "i'm not high maintenance, i'm high product. there's a difference."

happy birthday boss....

re: Love

2006-08-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

holy crap, was this show amazing!

i'm talking jaw-dropping, mind-blowing, sensory overload - this was a SHOW. from gravity-defying acrobatics to incense, amazing props/set, lighting, and the best part - it was set to all Beatles songs. if you're ever in Vegas, GO!

off to sin city

2006-08-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

jodi and i discovered a few days off in both of our schedules. we've decided to take a last hoorah! trip before the baby arrives and we're off to Vegas, baby!

i'm so excited - we're going to see love - Cirque du Soleil's show with all Beatles songs. and tomorrow we're gonna see Blue Man Group.

wish us well. stories and pics to come....

08.25.06 - brandon and FFH

2006-08-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

had a smokin' good time playing lead guitar last night with brandon for the FFH show. soundcheck was rough and brandon's guitar had some serious feedback problems.

but the good vibes and energy made up for our technical woes. not a bad deal for our first gig together as a band. scroll down for pics and a list of all the mistakes I made!

our fearless leader.

me and Bruce, the keyboard wizard. holy crap can this dude play.

andy robbins, founder of christian metal band, holy soldier, and nominee for nicest-guy-in-the-whole-stinkin-world.

tim "t-money" ernst. former drummer of Reign Kings, and drummer on about half of the beautiful effect.
nicole and jeremiah, representin' for the wahba constuency.

regretably, and ironically, there are no pictures of josh here - who played some mean percussion last night and who played drums on the other half of the beautiful effect.

so here it is, the list of all the mistakes wahba made:

i played/sang an extra chorus in "i don't think so" - the whole band, including the lead singer had to follow me on the spot.
at the end of "misfit" andy and I are supposed to swell into a D chord - I swelled into a G.
i forgot to take my setlist on stage and was forced to look across the whole stage at andy's setlist - which I later found out was in the wrong order.
as a direct result of #3, I removed my electric guitar too early, expecting to be handed my acoustic so we could play "blameless life." someone in the band informed me that we weren't playing "blameless life" yet. I turned around and put my electric guitar back on. this happened after THREE songs in a row, until "blameless life" finally came around. i'm so smooth.

acoustic guitar tapping guy

2006-08-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

this is mind-blowing - courtesy of my buddy kurt.

he reminds me of michael hedges a little bit. except he's even more emotional and melodic - not just technical. crazy.