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Most recent updates in Jeremy's Health Updates - available from the home page. Spring 2004 THE RAMBLE (and other important things): Jeremy & Jenny Erickson's newsletter of ministries and life. I'm growing to understand I may never return to a more regular publication of our newsletter. Once upon a time I wrote monthly (remember WIB & WIG?). Jen recently suggested we change our newsletter's name to "The Annual." (I get it.) This is intended to be my final apology on the matter. From here on out, if I manage to write and distribute more than two newsletters in a year, it'll be little more than an accident. The Ramble is meant to be both informative and edifying – the edifying material interwoven with the informative. If you’ve only got enough time for the informative, I’ve summed up our news at the end of the letter, as well as headlined specific segments of the letter as separate articles. We hope this helps. OUR SON: Meet Aedan Dominick Erickson. Born November 21st, 5:15 in the morning, pushing 7 pounds 5 ounces on the hospital scale, our "little fire" arrived after a brief and (easy) labor. Depends on whom you ask, I guess. Jen did better than I. What a messy miracle! First few weeks back home were rough, but as soon as he learned how to talk, we all got along swell. Well, not really. That is, he doesn't talk yet, of course, but he sure is fun to talk to. Laughing, smiling, and crying sometimes too, he is patiently becoming on the outside what God's already made him on the inside: a unique expression of newness; a portrait of his Maker in the fumbling make-up of fallen man. Having come fresh from the mind of God, we're of course curious what he knows of his Creator, and are excited to ask him, quite confident that by the time he really learns how to speak, he'll have forgotten it all anyhow. So we'll do our best to teach him, and we're excited to do so. Doing so already, really. Loving him with all we've got. Funny how when we practically show someone what God is like we actually somehow become more like him. Earlier on it was the fact that he was our son, we were his parents (responsible for feeding, cleaning, clothing, and comforting him), and yet we had very little "felt love" for him. He was this blessed burden. As we intentionally loved him by acts of loving (in this case, feeding, cleaning, clothing, and comforting him), we grew in our affinity towards him. We grew to feel love - a deep love - for our son. Love is intentional in its essence. God loves first, before being loved (I John 4:10). Aedan couldn't satisfy many, if any, of our desires, yet he demanded so much of us and our time. And we believe that in the process of intentionally loving him (bending our hearts towards him) we somehow were being made (not doing the making) more like God. And this is sanctification, isn't it? Isn't this his will? That we become like him - that we be redeemed to bear his image with our lives? It should be quite obvious that having a child dramatically limits the amount of time (and energy) we have for ministry. To some (even myself, sometimes) this seems like an unfair trade off - unfair for the invisible Kingdom of God. But both Jen and I have come to believe that what we need in life, to be most effective for his Kingdom, is not more hours, but more heart. We have this hunch that if we were more like Christ, the seeds we sow would sink deeper than they do now. So we press in, praying that we would be changed by this opportunity to know more deeply, and display more clearly, the heart of God. Meanwhile, Aedan's healthy and growing (he's quite a little chunk), becoming much more lovable, and much more fun. See pictures of the little dude by clicking here. THREE NEW CDS: 2003 will go down in my mind as the year of the studio. In headphones from January to October, I was entrenched in the production of three different albums, all three of which are now very available. Worship from FLY 2003 was finished last spring. The album was sponsored by a grant from Thrivent, enabling free distribution of the CDs to 1,000 plus students attending the Free Lutheran Youth Convention in Colorado last July. Jen and I were there with Joshua Skogerboe, Ben Monseth, and the worship team, where I helped facilitate the afterglow testimony hour, and taught a session on the necessity of Kingdom artists and their art in the Church and their culture. (If you were one of those who requested my notes and a list of sources after the session, I still have your addresses and will compile all that soon. In the meantime, think Heinz ketchup.) To Entertain is my most recent album. Being my first solo album in nearly four years, the span of time between this and my last project marks the most perceivable progress I've made as a songwriter and producer. Four years is ample time to sift through material and leave the less skillful lyrics in notebooks and trashcans. What's left is a short list of thirteen songs (short compared to what it could be) that captures in bullet points and poetry the struggles I've lived and the lessons I've learned in the last four years. I think of the songs I write as pages in a book, the book which is my story, which is ultimately a smaller part of God's story - His redemptive work in the world, begun in the heart and life of the individual, in this case, me. Rarely will one page tell the whole thing, but placed together as pieces of a whole, it's my prayer that they might suggest the work of an Author larger and far more creative than I could ever be. That is one reason why I think To Entertain is one of the more God-honoring projects I've done. Because the writing is a cross-section of my experiences over the course of several years and my changing understanding of God in that time. Guided by and into the truths of God's Word, and tempered by the joys and trials of life, these songs do just as much truth telling as they do telling of the search for truth. In that sense I've come to consider the songs as potential tools for teaching. Like introductions to the body of a message, maybe. I'm wondering if it might be beneficial to write up a study guide that would move from the songs into questions about our lives and into the provision of the scriptures. A tool for Bible study. Would anybody use these, I wonder. After all, they're just songs, and we don't take too seriously the words of our favorite radio hits, do we? But maybe we should. Maybe this could be a tool that would help train us to do that - to be more discerning. Of course, all I've mentioned of To Entertain this far pertains to the lyrics and not the sound. The music is somewhat harder to explain. As the performer and producer I may hear one way what most everybody else hears another. To me, the first half of the album is pretty driving. A folk/rock/pop combo. The second half steps down and into a more introspective, simpler performance. I've ended it with a cover of one of my favorite songs by Keith Green. Good friends Tom Anderson, Brad Johnson, and Jason Mickelson helped me along in the production, and most musicians who have listened to the album value all of it as good art. But then again, we're like that. We hear things not everybody hears. And if those things aren't heard, what's left? I don't know. Perhaps you could tell me. If you've listened to To Entertain and have an opinion, post it on my website's message board. I'll delete it if I don't like it. (-; In a future effort to better market the album, I may wind up using your review in a promo. Lastly, Not So Complicated, first released in 1999, is one of my favorites. Like a scrapbook that sits on your living room coffee table, it's one I can't put away. In Not So Complicated, I sing of and from the depravity of man - our need for God - in language that is sometimes poetic, sometimes plain. I often need to be reacquainted with that need in the way I knew of it years ago. Wanting to present these songs with more skill than I did back then, I began re-recording them a year and a half ago and released the new Not So Complicated last fall. If you've got the original and like it as it is, this album may not interest you. But if you appreciate intricacies in production and skillful performance, you can sample bits of the album on the website and consider whether you'd like the new one as well. My friend and engineer of the original Not So Complicated, Dave Roise, listened to the new rendering of Psalm 13 and described it as a canvas painting. I like that. I've also tagged on one extra song at the end of the album called "Original" that I felt fit with the album’s theme quite nicely. All three of these albums are available for ordering by clicking here.. AM I HEALTHY YET? “Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). Some of you are already quite aware of the fact that I'm not as healthy or as strong as I'd like to be. Beginning with pain and weakness in my wrists and forearms three years ago, my body's given up much in a relatively short period of time (for a guy in his twenties). I've perhaps mentioned the months of inactivity - as my arms hurt too badly to play either piano or guitar - and some of the fatigue that I battled last winter. And I've told before of the lengthy and unproductive series of diagnoses, and the confirmation last spring, after losing nearly 20 pounds in just a few months, that I had Crohn's Disease. I haven't said much about that though, and would like to say something here. Because to Jen and I, it's become another lesson - as much as it's been another trial. What is Crohn's? Crohn's Disease is an autoimmune disorder that primarily affects the digestive organs. Essentially, something in my gut tells my brain there's trouble. My brain orders an army of white blood cells to my belly, where they show up and find nothing there. Thinking the walls of my digestive tract to be the problem, they attach to it and attack me as though I were the virus. My gut gets irritated, stops digesting the way it's supposed to, so I ache and lose weight. That's a pretty crazy story to begin with - with its own parallels to the spiritual life (specifically within the church) - but to top it off, what's really crazy is that this problem in my gut is largely responsible for the pains in my wrists. Somehow (and I don't completely get this yet) the trauma at the center of my body, in my belly, causes an inflammation of my joints elsewhere. So I get arthritic like symptoms in my wrists as a result of the pain in my gut. Crazy story. When my gut is treated and heals, my wrists get better. I experienced this a bit late last year: a six-month treatment gave me a break from the problems in my stomach, and my wrists were made strong enough to endure the production of two albums in just over a couple months. As an application, I think this is a witness to the fact that, in our spiritual lives and communities, troubles are often outward symptoms of an inward problem. Just like I wouldn't expect that my wrists were aching because there was something wrong in my belly, we're often slow to recognize the deeper causes behind our struggles in this world. Sin is ultimately the root of all suffering - beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden - and Jesus is ultimately the cure. Yet smaller workings of our fallen-ness and of Christ's redemption are subtle, and harder to detect. If our society is failing to grasp God's vision for holiness, is it because they just can't get it (scriptures testify to this), or because the church is failing at the core of society? Not government, not television, not even Sunday morning services - but in our homes and in our interaction with our neighbors, will we find the belly of the larger body, and the most potential for Christ’s transformation of individuals within the world (scriptures testify of this, too). For Jen and I, this lesson has driven us back to God in prayer, seeking to see Him at work first in our insides - through His Word and fellowship with other believers, through worship and obedience - shaping our hearts to look more like his, that our lives would look more like Christ's. Many other lessons have come out of this illness - lessons that resulted from viewing the natural world through the clarifying glass of scripture - and we thank God for them. And though we're learning in everything to give thanks, we're not necessarily giving thanks for everything. I would like to be better. I'd like to be healthy. And this Crohn's Disease is one large obstacle at this time. We'd ask for your prayers in this. Doctor's say it's a chronic illness - that I'll have it for life. Even now I'm battling my second flare-up in less than a year, losing nearly ten pounds in three weeks. At a prayer service early this spring, one of our elders, Gene Quist shared with us a passage from Philippians 1, verses 18-25. I'll end here with this: "In this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice. For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith." IN THE MEANTIME: Being baby Aedan is our primary activity these days, one would think there's not much time for much else. But we have managed and are managing to invest ourselves in a variety of different ways, including church, school, speaking engagements, and concerts. In January, Jen completed her first year serving as the children's ministry director at our home church in Bloomington. Aedan's there with her most days. She's enjoying the responsibilities and the growth she's experiencing as a vision-caster and leader. Her training and research has led her to such faith-deepening and life-enhancing finds as a George Barna book on raising children to be spiritual champions, in the church and at home. And as a family, we're leaning on the extra income her work provides. I've been back in school this year, for the first time since 1999, studying surveys of both World Civilization and United States History, as well as the first of what'll be two years of Spanish. I believe having a better grasp on our story as a people will help me better understand where we are now - as a church and more broadly as a world. Just like knowing someone's past can equip you to be a better friend, I'm hoping this education will equip me to be a better minister of the gospel, as well as providing the necessary background for a vocation of some sort. When not in classes or doing homework, I've been producing an album for a young couple from Fargo - Erik and Emily Kallio. Emily's lyrics have become an inspiration to me ("You love imperfect me so perfectly, Lord perfect me in your love"), and their folkish approach makes their music fun to produce. When we're through, sometime in June, I may begin production of the worship album for the 2005 FLY convention. Then back to school again in the fall. In the midst of all this, I've continued to accept invitations to speak and perform when health and time allows - roughly two to three times per month. It's been beneficial for me to be a student during this time. The spiritual applications of our physical histories are many (when considered in the light of scripture), and I've learned to apply the linear methods required in school to my preparations for messages. I may be able soon to provide thoroughly written outlines and worksheets for the lessons I’ve given - just one more tool in the slow infiltration of the Gospel into the minds and make-up of our beings (some of these materials are already available on the website). We're hoping/planning to take a three-week trip out and into the Pacific Northwest late May/early June. Then be back in the Midwest for the rest of the summer. If you're in either of these areas and have something you'd like for us to do during these times, send us a note or give us a call. We'd love to be a part of God’s work in your lives and community. Lastly, Kevin White from Threefish Ministries has recently helped me (as he has so often) with an extensive website update. We’ve posted at least a dozen fresh journal entries, a handful of essays (including Nancy’s Story), and will soon make available session outlines and other articles. Our aim is to make it a more resourceful site, providing thought-prodding prose, poetry, and Bible studies alongside the music, hoping these writings will nurture a greater appreciation for and submission to the ways of God, and a deeper affection for who He is. It is our prayer that we would continue to seek God all the more in these times, and not fall prey to the skeptic bent of this world. Like David, with integrity and gut-bearing honesty, with persistence through failings and fallings, and with a strong confidence in the grip of the one who holds us, we press in to know the heart of God, hoping the tales of our journey might serve as pockets of fellowship and hope in your own. Thank you for your prayers and support in this. Celebrate your story, for its Author is God. Gratefully His, Jeremy, Jenny, & Baby Aedan NEWS IN A NUTSHELL: Baby Aedan Dominick born healthy November 21st. 3 New CDs for 2003: To Entertain, Worship from FLY 2003, and a new Not So Complicated available for sampling and ordering on the website. Jeremy still sick with Crohn’s. Doing concerts and school nonetheless. Producing album for the Kallios. Jen still serving as children’s ministry director at Emmaus. Planning trip to Pacific Northwest early summer. Where we’ve been (since 6/03):
Emmaus Church, Bloomington, MN
Bloomington, MN and Bemidji, MN
Emmaus Church, Bloomington, MN
Faith Haven Bible Camp, MN
Bloomington, MN
Osceola, WI
Where we (might) be:
Bloomington, MN (March 24th)
Saint Paul, MN (April 15th)
Roseau, MN (May 1st)
Northwood, ND (June 19th)
Roseau, MN (July 14th)
Eben Junction, MI (August 14th)
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©2004 jeremy erickson & threefish ministries |
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