Chicago…
Posted by calum_shaw | Filed under Uncategorized
During my first few weeks at uni last semester, I was sitting in a class called Work Related Learning, a.k.a. on placement. My lecturer was going in to all the details of what you need to make sure when you get a placement; at least 70 hours, must have Employer’s liability form, get this that and the next thing signed for approval. Whilst hearing all this stuff, I started to wrack my brain for possible places to approach; BBC, STV, Chem 19 and other studios. Just before we had an interval, he started talking about the opportunity of going to Toronto to do an exchange with the Harris Institute which would be amazing for experience. Although it was the, going abroad, thing that stuck in my mind.
I’ve been with Harvest Bible Chapel Glasgow for about 8-9 months or so now. Being apart of a new church plant and being given that opportunity to be involved in something from the very start has been a huge privilege. We are one of 50 Harvest Bible chapels over the world which has stemmed from the main HBC in Chicago, Il. They not have 5 campuses in the Chicago area (I know Chicago is a very large place!) with a HUGE amount of people attending every weekend across the campuses.
So with this close connection with such a big organision in the States, my thoughts were drawn to doing a placement in their main campus, Elgin. During the interval I emailed my Pastor and asked his thoughts on whether this would be a realistic opportunity. He eventually got back to me replying that he would need to get in touch with our link with Harvest Bible Fellowship, Harvest’s church planting and ministry organisation. Which he kindly did for me.
It was a good number of weeks, then a month, still not really having heard anything. I am someone who likes to know what’s going to happen and plan for it. This may be the time to add that I needed to have a placement approved for the 5th February. From October, it was a while away. There were a number of emails to my Pastor asking if he knew anything about it. I then heard that it had been passed on to a woman who sorts out short term missions although it was a long couple of weeks before I heard anything. I had requested that it was sorted out before Christmas and about a week before the 25th, I had exchanged emails with her and she said that they would definitely be able to do something for me. Had a lovely Christmas and a crappy New Year (no joke – saw some guys snorting some coke off one of our flight cases at the gig I was doing, NOT cool!). Some weeks went by without any word and it was around a month since I heard of some possibilities: 1 month in Naperville (their first church plant, in Chicago) and the 2nd month in Elgin and the campuses.
I eventually heard that they were in discussion. Anyway to cut a long enough story short, it was the week before the deadline that I heard that the trip was a go, that Naperville confirmed that they would take me on and initial plans were sorted. The approval form was emailed to my lecturer on the Wednesday night and I handed in all the hard copies on the Thursday morning, the day before the 5th Feb. Found out on the Thursday, late afternoon, that the placement was approved – I was going to Chicago!
Now as much as it’s really really exciting, I feel that I’ve learned an awful lot:
Firstly, I cannot set my plans on what I WANT and setting everything on that. I had set out to do this and hadn’t applied for anything else. My hopes were on getting this. In December, just before I heard from Chicago, I was meeting a guy from church as we do every week, and he challenged me to look for a back up and I shouldn’t set everything up on it. So I started inquiring round different places. A couple of days later, was the email from the kind woman in Chicago. Lesson 1: must trust on what God has planned for me, not making my own plans and not giving God a chance to guide me.
Secondly, His timing is perfect. If I had heard straight away I wouldn’t appreciate the lessons I had to learn. He has come through for me on so many occasions, making sure that I was learning. I was really challenged about a month ago when I heard a sermon on pride and I was challenged on what grounds I was wanting to go over for. Was it for my own personal gain, experience, fun? Or for God’s glory, seeking his will, looking to see how I can be used for the expansion of his Kingdom? It was sadly the former. After really prayerfully repenting and seeking God in this, that was when Naperville approved. Which leads me on to my last point.
God is good! I have been amazed at how my life has flipped upside down in a matter of months. Being around a church that I LOVE and love to go to and serve in has been a massive blessing on my life and answer to prayer. I never expected that I would be going to the US for a couple of months and with another church who is essentially my extended family! They have been so welcoming have have worked really hard on getting this internship for them. And if God hadn’t delayed so many of the points of getting the placement, I would have come to be so amazed, so appreciative, so thankful and more away of his love for me which has caused me to love him more. With everything withe Haiti and generally the darkness of this world, I seem to have received such blessing and excitement. My prayer is that this would mean that I would have a greater Joy in my life, so when something does go wrong, which it will, I will still be able to sing, “O how marvelous, o how wonderful is my saviors love for me”.
God is Good!
Mr Bean
Posted by calum_shaw | Filed under Uncategorized
Just saw this video on youtube and thought it was just genius. Any other drummer/musician will find it hilarious.
Calum’s Guide to morning dressing
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Let me clarify before I continue. Dressing in this case is NOT an sauce that you put over your salad. In this context it is clothing yourself.
So you wake up, have a shower (if you like to be clean or respect those around you), you waddle back to you room either donned in a towel or dressing gown or you may like to go free depending on whether someone else is in the house. Then you find yourself in front of your wardrobe thinking “what on earth am I going to wear?” DO NOT FEAR. I have a simple and easy way to get dressed in the morning going through each step at a time.
N.B. This is possibly only really helpful for uni students who are trying to keep an air or variety in their clothing line and want to wear something different everyday.
1. Occasion – work, formal, school, sport, shopping (for girls) – you get the picture. We’ll go for uni. So we’re looking for something comfy yet trying to be “in” with the fashion, want to look cool and unique. Ok we have our style.
2. Weather (very important) – The reason this is a hot topic is the amount of times I have gone out in the rain having failed to take this part of the code into plan and ended up with my trousers soaked from the foot to the knee, has been a lot! Is it raining?! Main thing. Regardless of Scottish weather, your mainly going to be wearing trousers (unless we’re on one of the heat waves that we get ever decade, or global warming). If raining, avoid wearing long baggy trousers, you don’t want the tie dye look.
3. Now we have our two parameters sorted, the fun begins (what am I saying!). At this point, you need to choose your boxers (sorry girls I’m not going there for you). My advice is use the good ones first then make sure you wash the dirty ones before you have to resort to the potato sacks. Socks…eh, don’t do white and black unless you are wanting to me Michael Jackson.
4. Select your trousers. This is quite a free and easy, just choose sensibly.
5. With trues selected, it’s onto the T-shirt. The man’s best friend. You need to ask yourself the following questions and select accordingly:
- is it going under a shirt, jumper or on it’s own?
- is it going to clash with my trousers?
Really, the later is the most important. You want to make sure that your three piece (trues, jumper/hoodie, t-shirt/shirt will work together.
6. After you’ve chosen the trues and T, you just need to good jumper to bring the whole piece together.
Accessories – Men, we don’t wear accessories, not unless you are wanting to say something to another guy. Or you’re married and would get a nag from the wife if you took your ring of, plus your sexuality will be clear.
Well done, you’re now late for uni, but looking great!
Second Floor’s “Good Ground EP” COMING SOON!
Posted by calum_shaw | Filed under Uncategorized
Those of you who don’t know of Second Floor, it is a two piece band that consists of David Munn and I. The first song from the EP was written, I think, about 2 years ago with the rest following, however, we started to record the EP in June 09 with the idea of releasing during the summer and maybe a small tour off the back of it. Due to lack of time, aka laziness, we kept putting recording off and as David was going over to Illinois to to his 3rd year of music, we had to stop in August with a large chunk tracked. I spent some time mixing while David was away, sending mixes to hear his thoughts. We recognised that more was to be done so Christmas dawned and no EP. Eventually we set aside some time to record (friday and saturday just passed) and with the help of a good, hungover, friend of ours, we cracked on and we are left with some bits to lay down and finishing mixing then mastering. On the build up to the launch, I’m going to let you preview some of the tracks to get a flavour of what’s to come.
Comet is the first to be previewed (simply cause it was the one I’m working on just now). Stars, wine and a pier.
If you go to www.myspace.com/soundofthesecondfloor you will find the preview.
Cheers.
ps excuse the dodgy previous recordings on the myspace!
Latest video from Harvest Bible Chapel Glasgow
Posted by calum_shaw | Filed under Uncategorized
Open House – January 2010 from HBC Glasgow on Vimeo.
A Wednesday in Starbucks
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<—- Thankfully not the fate of Sophi. Also if you put in “motorcycle crash” into a google image search you will see a couple of really gory pictures of a guy that got totally mashed up from a crash (not for the squeamish!)
A Wednesday about a month ago, saw events that were rather unprecedented.
It started with a basic breakfast which consisted of a couple of slices of toast and a large mug of tea. In fact I have no idea what I had. Anyway, it was a Wednesday which means Latitude; a church run, bible handling class that is held at Starbucks at Exchange place at 10am. It was a damp-ish day, a good enough day to take the scooter into town. Taking the usual route through Bearsden then all the way along Maryhill road, from the very start of the road all the way into town, there was about a meter wide line of oil along the road. Keeping in mind oil and two wheeled vehicles don’t get on with each other, I did my best to avoid it. I just passed McDonalds then woop Calum puts a stop to all traffic going both ways. It resulted in a painful foot, knee, thumb, as well as a my guitar (which I had in my soft case on my back) having a massive crack along the top and side. Anyway, I eventually got into town for Latitude.
After being slagged off for coming off the scooter and my pastor saying something about being attached to material thing (which didn’t help), I got myself another coffee and sat down to catch up on some reading before another meeting. About half an hour later, I heard someone talking about God. Not sure whether it was a deep and meaningful God chat or whether it was discussing church matters, I pretty much stopped reading, although pretended to, and tried listening in to the conversation. After a good while eves dropping it became clear that this loud mouth was a Christian.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted another christian to come up to me if I was having a God chat with someone. This situation it was the other way round. I had the opportunity to be that person! Heart pounding (which for me usually indicated God saying, you better get your ass over there, or similar) I decided to be early for my meeting (cause i couldn’t wait to do this) and went to the toilet. When you got to go, you got to go! Afterward, I came out and did the bold thing and mumbled something whilst trying not to admit I was being a nosy git and asked what church these two people went to. To cut a long story short, we had some connections and we had actually met each other before at a friend’s birthday party although I couldn’t really remember this guy. And yes he looked very surprised at my interruption.
It was later on that day when I got a text from out mutual friend saying that she heard of this amazing incident. Having only recovered from embarrassment from it, it was a bit of a shock to hear it was amazing.
After some facebooking, the other guy and I connected and we started talking about this strange happening. It turned out that the girl (who was rather pretty may I hasten to add) wasn’t a Christian however being a Philosophy student, had a questioning mind was interested in Christianity and wanted to know more. Apparently my arrival was perfect timing. I can’t remember exactly what they were talking about at the time, but it really amazed her (this is going to be really strange if she ever reads this!).
My friend and I have both come away from this with a new friend and utter amazment at how God uses really ordinary people in little ways but for possibly eternal implications. “God moves in Mysterious Ways” (spotify it)
God is good!
©
Allowed to go into town on my own
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I recall the first time I went into town on my own. Well actually not, I recall going on a big-ish train journey by my self (I felt that town sounded more interesting a title).
It was summer of 2005 and I was going to Keswick Convention, a Christian, 3 week long conference for people of all ages. I was staying with my friend’s family in their caravan. We’ll we were tenting, it was only the parents that got the caravan. Yenyhoo, for reasons I cannot remember, I had to go down on my own and meet them there. Train was my only option. I had a big bag with me and a bike and can I just say, bikes are thee most annoying thing to take on a train, second to a cello (I’d say double bass however I’ve never been on a train with one. The cello wasn’t mine either). Jings, I had just turned 16 however I’d never been on a train by myself for a longish journey and I say long-ish for a number of reasons: 1) I have been on train journeys to aberneen and inverness and it was shorter than than, 2) I spent 2 years going out with a girl who went to uni in st andrews and that was a 2 1/2 hour bus journey, so this Keswick one sounds quick, and 3) I can’t remember how long it took.
With bag in hand and a bike wheeled into the station by my more worried mother, I boarded the train. Heart pounding for reasons unknown to me now. Questions like, where’s my seat?, what stop is it again?, how many stop’s until my stop?, how long is this supposed to take?, should I get my CD player, will i have enough time?, how many stops is it again?, went rushing through the mind.
Turned out, everything went fine. I got off at the right stop, even though I started to get ready at the stop before. Getting ready took 5 minute unbeknown to me my stop was another 20 minutes away. I got picked up where and when I was supposed to and had a great time there.
The first time going into town on my own may have been a similar experience however it’s the more up-t0-date scenario that is going to my mind now. Thanks to God for giving me the opportunity, I’m going to work for a couple of Harvests (www.harvestbible.org) in Chicago for 2 months during the summer. As part of my degree, I’ve to go on placement and as soon as they started talking about going over to Toronto for an exchange with a uni there, I thought about working with Harvest and found out just before Christmas that I was going. Super psyched! I’ve never been away from home more than, hmm I’m not actually sure, it’s probably a couple of weeks, so this is majorly different. This is flying by myself to a place i’ve never been to meet people i’ve never met and probably going to be driving over there as well. I honestly can’t wait. However, questions like, how long will the traveling take?, how much will it cost?, how will I find driving on the wrong side of the road?, what if I screw up engineering something really big?, are now whizzing round my head. And you know what, it’s all really stupid and is highlighting my lack of trust in God. You could say the trip starts now. I know I’m not in this journey to tick a box or to get the best experience out of life. I want to learn, grow, and know and trust God better. I don’t want to say that I’ve not had much opportunity to rely on God cause I know that is RUBBISH! I guess I’ve felt a bit sheltered. Both my older sisters have jet setted around the world by themselves in some capacity or another. Where I think the last time I went abroad alone was to Lithuania with my School choir in 6th year (going on 3 years ago!). Don’t get me wrong, i don’t think you should just get up and go abroad for the sake of it, but I think you get the cotton wool thing I’m trying to get across.
So really, this is going to town own my own for the first time. I’m really going to town on this whole placement thing and putting myself out there, putting myself in situations where I really need to consciously rely on God. Man I’ve got a long way to go. Matthew talks a lot about not worrying: go onto www.biblegateway.com and search for worry, there is loads about not worrying for “each day as enough trouble of it’s own”.
Invisible
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So I’m kinda liking trying to find a picture to accompany each post although I’m liking this one a lot. There was one similar to this but it was “invisible measuring tape”.
I’ve been listening to some songs on spotify over the last wee while today and when “Awake My Soul” came on my Mumford and Sons (GREAT song and band) for some reason it got me thinking about the effects of music. Don’t worry this isn’t a deep throughful one.
To start off, sound is invisible! I don’t know about you, but i find it pretty cool. Through this invisible thing it’s come from being recorded by the artist in the studio. So, the guitar track was played by the artist and (after choosing which take), that’s it invisible. Its captured in digital domain. It goes through mixing and mastering, pressing and distribution. Stored up for the moment of listening. With digital now, it’s not like jam where it will rot over a long time, the 1s and 0s of digital music will technically last for a lot longer and whats amazing is that the sound that we hear just now from a new track, will be the same sound 40, 50, 60 years down the line (don’t hold me to this btw!). I jsut find it really cool how in recording its just the one take that makes it onto the track. So on the average pop track, you have about 30 different audio takes. Each one played just once yet can be played over and over. The performance is that one take is so important. I’m turning to geek mode so i’ll stop on this point.
I’m not going into all the effects of music cause quite frankly I don’t want to talk about brown noise so my last point is how a piece of music can take you back to a situation so quickly that a couple of seconds of a track to the ear will send you back to that point of reference. I can no longer listen to Coldplay’s XandY album, David Grey’s “Life in slow motion”, Damien Rice’s O or 9, Ryan Adam’s was a struggle generally, but not quite so much anymore. On a good note, I can listen to Eric Whitacre’s Cloudburst Album with Polyphony (a choir) and it will take me back to flying to and from Lithuania with my high school choir. Some of the songs reminds me of traveling in the car, other on the plane others a place. Keane’s “Hopes and Fears” reminds me of my family holiday to Lake Garda in 2004. I don’t really know why cause I don’t really like Keane that much. I might have done more then. But I can recall so many memories from that holiday just from listening to the album. This invisible spark bringing to life old flames. It’s not just the memory of being in that place but sometimes you get the EXACT feeling returning to haunt you. I could name a good few that would take me back to some situations and before it would get to the chorus it would crush me to tears. It’s sad because these songs aren’t bad songs, by any means yet they have been banished from our ears, probably for life although I can imagine my son or daughter listening to music of my teens (like we seem to me doing with our parent’s music sometimes) and he or she will start playing one of these songs. Not looking forward to the surprise listening I must say.
Check out Mumford and Songs, Swell Season and Foy Vance. Foy is better live than his recorded stuff. After I went to see him I appreciated his recorded stuff more so if you find that he is playing near you, go see him, its a great gig! “Never let the spirit die”
Happy listening.
©
Faithless
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I now have God is a Dj (name of the picture) and the line “if god is a dj, life is a dance floor” by pink in my head.
I’ve never seen Faithless although I’d quite like to although not in that much of a hurry. He’s good, just not quite my cup of tea. I can’t really be bothered talking a load of mumbo jumbo about a guy/artist that I don’t really know or care that much about so I’ll go straight to my point of Faithlessness. Maybe you’ve seen it in your life. You may not want to go see it in much of a hurry, it may not be your cup of tea. Maybe you just couldn’t care less.
I don’t quit remember a time of complete faithlessness however I have had times of serious questioning and doubt which in reality, a considerable lack of faith. At times, I have even put more faith is something or someone else. It was a dark time. At my small group last night I shared how over the last while, as I have been developing a relationship with God that I have never experienced before, the colours of God have been starting to show. Yes, it’s still closer to a film noir than Toy story 3 in 3D at the Imax, but things are coming to life, joy is being shown to me which is so exciting.
Saying that, I cannot help but escape my severe lack of faithfulness to God before hand. It’s a stain that, thankfully, Jesus has washed clean, but part of me wants to keep a hold of to say, “Calum look at where you have been, look where you are now. Resounding praise and thanksgiving should be given to Him”. I want to learn from my mistake and use it to “slap” myself in the face every now and than when a tiny bit of doubt comes into my head. Complacency is such an easy road but as God’s way may be a bit more unsure or rocky, but he knows the plans he has for me and I need to trust him completely with those plans and that he is steadfast and sovereign.
What a year, what a God.
God IS good.
We all secretly love the Robinsons
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It was half 5 on BBC 1 for a number of years then it move to channel 5. The prime time cheese that comes form down under can only be Neighbours. Somehow it’s predicatble storylines and acting that will quite possibly never make an award, seems to captivate it’s audience(s). Or is it just me? Will Susan ever show her arms/tatoos? Will Declan ever get over Didge? Will Lynn always sound and look like a nervous wreck? Will Elle ever get back together with Lucas? Question is, will she make it on the plane to NY or will she continue to fret about her money situation with bad-man-dad Paul continuing to breath his smokey voice dow her neck? Nothing like a good baddy to hook the audience. It always leaves us/me on such a cliff hanger. Then I realise that I’ve not done my bible reading for the day, the dishes havn’t been washed (a specific request made clear by the note left on the cooker signed “Mx”) or dried, my washing which has been sitting at the top of the stairs for the last hour needs hung up, mum is due back any second, my pan from making french toast for lunch is still out and Home and Away is just about to come on after the break! Can it all be done in time?!
Answer: No. Mum comes in having had a rough day, expecting her specific order to have been completed, she will comment on my lunch dishes and my tea mugs not having been put in the dishwasher, and that’s just the kitchen. Before she reaches the foot of the stair she will have commented on why I was watching Tv and by the time she reaches the top of the stair, she asks a rhetorical question like “do you know your clothes are sitting at the top of the stairs?” or “do you know your clothes will smell if you don’t hang them up?”. By the time she drops her things and heads down the stairs, she will have caught a glimps at the state of my bedroom and with that as backup ammunition, proceeds to guilt trip me for not having moved an inch from when she first came in. The bit that makes me laugh is when she comes into the living room, gowned in her apron, she will stop mid sentence, head still in my direction, eyes glued to the tv.
Not only have I disobeyed one of the 10 commandments (honour your father and mother), but I’m personally rejecting God; the one thing that should be priority above everything, as important at eating, eternally significant. And I there I am watching Neighbours THEN Home and Away. That’s not just the only idiotic thing. When I do actually get everything done, ALL the dishes washed, dried, put away, in the dishwasher, clothes hung up, room…<caugh>, shoes in the cloakroom, jackets hung up and my bag is upstairs, I expect to hear a “thanks Calum” and when I don’t, I get annoyed.
Like I mentioned in the previous post about my relationship with my parents improving, there has been a significant impression that has been put towards me (on top of what Colossians, Ephesians and the commandment has to say):
There is a few young families that have been involved in the church from day one and I have had the pleasure on getting to know them as friends, parents and Pauls (not Robinson – someone who is ahead of you in your faith and invests time in you, passing down things that they have learned from their walk). Their kids are great fun too; as they zip around the place, cry, bite, screem, present their Buzz pants, cry, kick, run, cry when they see you; they are just awsome. It’s been amazing to see a baby girl being brought into the world (I wasn’t there at birth if that was what you were thinking) how her parents will stay up all night if they have to, making sure she is ok, or praying that they would finally get some sleep. It’s really exciting to see a couple of other mothers expecting as well (last night at small group, we weren’t sure if one was going to pop out infront of us). I have never been so struck at the love and care these folks have for their child(ren)! They will change plans depending on sleeping paterns, feeding paterns and illness. They will stay up all night regardless of only having 6 hours of sleep in a week. They will hang out and play with them toys with their for a whole day. They will do anything for their children. One night at small group where we were talking about giving things to God and what we find hard to give over to him. A couple of the guys said that they wouldn’t know what to do if anything happened to their wifes or children. It made them feel sick thinking of something happening to their child. These people love their children so much! They spend so much time, money and care for what? So they can come home after a long, hard day at work to see their child watching neighbours whilst no having done the simple things that they ask of them while they had the time.
God loves his children with more love, with a stronger love, an infinite love, that he too did everything he could to have as good a relationship with his children as possible. We as his children are so loved by him, yet we continue to sit back and sin without thinking twice, by our creator, that he would do the only thing that was possibly for us to know him, the only thing that would save our relationship with our father; he sent his son who never sinned, lived a perfect life, a life that we cannot live and showed and taught us how to live. On top of that, he paid the only penalty for sin, and died in our place, but came back to life, in doing do, defeating sin. All, so that we can have an eternal relationship with our father if we put our faith and trust in him.
Nothing would please my mum more than if I did all that she asked, which in reality, isn’t much. Nothing would please my Lord more if I did everything He asks. It may mean sacrificing some of the stuff I like, but putting on the new self (Colossians) requires takeing off the old one and not putting it back on again. I am nowhere near having finished putting on my new self but like it says in Ephesians, we have the armour of God to help us battle through each day by the grace of God, the love of Jesus and the holy spirit working through us.
Do you love the “Robinsons” too much? Who are you serving – yourself or God?
Calum
