When I first started reading and getting into the blogging thing, Brad’s blog was among the first I started reading. His posts cover a wide variety of topics including the Church, Family, and Authenticity. Brad was recently on a Compassion Blogger’s trip to Kenya and he shared some amazing stories from his trip.

So could you do me a favor? Actually 2 favors. First, go HERE and listen to today’s podcast interview with Brad, and while you’re listening, go on over to Brad’s blog and you can see why I like his blog so much, you can even read the series of posts about the Kenya trip. While you’re there, leave him a comment saying you heard him on Cross Driven Radio and Compassion 365.

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Total for week 3: 2 lbs   Total to date: 13 lbs

I didn’t really do much different this week.  I think the biggest thing so far is that I have cut down on sodas.  I admit it, I’m a coke addict. Thats right, I  am addicted to the carbonated sweetness of coca cola.  I was at the point of having multiple cokes a day, sometimes as many as 4 or 5.  I have cut them down to 1 and some days none.  That is my eventual goal, totally soda free!  I have substituted soda with Gatorade G2 and water.    I am also doing the Jillian Michaels fitness game on the Wii.  I’ll tell you, that game is a pretty good workout

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So, starting today it is back to business as usual. The other website is going to redirect here, so if you were subscribed to charleyhays.com, welcome to Cross Driven Radio, the site that started it all.

I am still working on my second site, so you will see an announcement here NEXT Friday, for sure!

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As you may have noticed, I did make some changes to the color scheme going with a Brown/Yellow color scheme and also will be adding some drop down navigation. I also added an easier way to get to the podcasts. The one problem with the old design was that podcasts, especially previous episodes were hard to locate from the site, that has all changed now with the podcasts being accessible from the navigation menu.

There is still some work to do, like get the header image above the navigation menu and a couple of other minor tweaks I have in mind.

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Going through the busy-ness of the Christmas holiday season and the stress it can bring, along with that of the economic stress, layoffs and all of that, I found that sometimes we get so caught up in worrying about buying this or that, or am I going to have a job, that we tend to lose sight of what God has in store for us. It’s an easy thing to say (or write) but a hard thing to do.

I rediscovered a song that always speaks to me, and when I get stressed I think about me and what I am going to do. This song always grounds me and reminds me that this day is a gift from God, and that if I am truly successful, by doing God’s work, I will be remembered as someone that used my gifts for the Kingdom, not just as an average working class guy that had a radio show and a blog.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtMBvIsgVzI]

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Keytar

A keytar is a relatively lightweight keyboard or synthesizer that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a guitar strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement compared to conventional keyboards, which are placed on stands. The instrument has a musical keyboard for triggering musical notes and sounds. Controls for pitch bends, vibrato, portamento, and sustain are placed on the instrument’s “neck”.

All of these artists rock the keytar and are ranked in no particular order.

4. Adam Agee- Stellar Kart
I have been a fan of Stellar Kart since their debut cd All Gas, No Brakes. In fact, Student Driver was the first song played on my radio show. It wasn’t until this video that I knew Adam rocked the keytar.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxMrGDd1cos]

3. Paul Meany- Mutemath
Next to their trademark catchy pop rock tunes and electric stage performances, Paul Meany rocks the keytar like no other. He makes me want to learn the piano, in hopes that I could look half as cool. Nah, I should probably stick to radio, and blogging.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b13rc6DY74A]

2.Christy Johnson – Worth Dying For
At GMA in April, I went to a luncheon sponsored by these guys and the first person to greet me coming through the door was Christy, and she was just super nice to talk to. They took the stage for their performance and when I saw the keytar I just knew they would rock. They opened up with Let It Out, and I was immediately hooked by their brand of high energy worship. Check it out here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qANt46VePZI&feature=related]

1. David Crowder – David Crowder Band
What can you say about David Crowder beside being the personification of cool. He write some of the most meanigful worship songs in the church today and he puts on one of the finest concert experiences around, and he rawks the keytar. Here’s the story.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Kx1u04fNw]

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If My people called by My name
If they’ll humble themselves and pray

What If His People Prayed – Casting Crowns

I realize I am not a web guru, and that I can’t fix everything I break.  Thanks be to God, that gives me many blessings, including things like spell check, database backups, and  people that know how to fix the things I can’t.

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This episode features music, courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network :

Jesus Radio – Kole

Look Where you Seek – Spiritual House

Hallelujah – 38 Acres

Organizations and blogs mentioned in this episode include:

P.D. Ross Blog 

Jesus Greater Than 

Blood Water Mission 

Steven Bush 

Shaun Groves 

Inspired To Action

Brody Harper 

Compassion 

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For today’s Positive Post Tuesday, I want to tell you a little story about some good friends from Alberta, Canada and tell you about their festival.  For those of you that may read this and don’t know, I am an Engineer by day and have a radio show a podcast, and this blog called Cross Driven Radio.  I have a passion for anything music, specifically Christian music, and using that passion to serve God.  I started promoting concerts a couple of years back, and at the urging of Nancy Tyler, I started going to GMA 3 years ago.  

GMA is the annual convention so to speak of the Christian Music Industry, basically everyone that is anyone in the “CCM” industry converges upon Nashville in April.  Its inevitable that in  April you see alot of blog posts like this.  2 years ago I met some of the most wonderful people and we became instant friends.  They were telling me there vision for a festival that was 2 years in planning and last weekend was the first Believe Festival.  I was so bummed that I couldn’t be there, but yet I knew that God had something great in mind for these great people.

 So on this Positive Post Tuesday, I take off my Stetson to Gerald, Sandra, Kelly, Steven and all of the people who dedicated over 2 years to bring a one of a kind festival to a one of a kind venue.  I am already waiting for Believe Festival 2009.  I’m going to apply for my passport this week!  (Pictured Left to Right: Steven, Me, Gerald, Sandra)

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I feel as though I am invariably running behind on keeping this blog updated.  My daughter came home from summer camp last week and told me the joke as told in the video above from Pulp Fiction.  I am still working on finalizing both P.D’s and Laura’s interviews from last week.  They should hopefully be online by Wednesday night.

The series of 40 Day Fast interviews have been really great, and have left me in a pretty tough predicament where it gets to be really hard to figure out what should go on the radio show, what should be for podcast, and trying to find music that somewhat ties into the theme of the interview.  I’m working in 2 interviews per week to get as many voices out there during this period of the 40 Day Fast.

On a totally unrelated point, when you go to the grocery store, when you look at the condiment aisle you are likely to see bottles labeled Ketchup and Catsup, which leads to this time tested question,  do you pronounce the condiment as Ketchup (Ketch-Up) or Catsup (Catch-Up)?

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Those are great reasons for not wanting to be at work. I was so not in to being at work because I had 2 interviews with bloggers that are participating in the 40 Day Fast and I was so excited for these interviews. 1 was with Laura, whose blog I had not read before the fast, but now I am a big fan of. Her heart for the women of the Congo is very inspiring to me, and it shows in the interview.

The second interview was with Brody. Brody’s blog was among the first I had read and I have become hooked. I met Brody last year when I promoted a Shaun Groves concert at my church. That is also when I met Transition Pete. That was a great interview because he has a sincerity in his writing, and in talking with him that is just awesome. He really makes you feel at ease.

You will get to hear these interviews, along with P.D.Ross‘ interview over the next 2 weeks. Be sure to visit the blog on New Music Tuesday for a sneak preview podcast of exclusive audio that will only be heard on the podcast. I have 3 more interviews to record next week, so the coverage of the 40 Day Fast continues all the way to August 1st.

I just wanted to say Thank You to all of the people that have been following the coverage of the 40 Day Fast. It is always encouraging to hear people so passionate about the ministries and outreach organizations that they support that leaves me feeling like we are among a group of people that are being led by the spirit to do great things in the name of God. I am so blessed to be able to use my radio show and podcast to help you know a little more about these great people of God!

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As a new blogger, when I saw the opportunity to participate in this 40 Day Fast, I was both excited to share with readers one of the moments in my life that has truly shaped who I am now in Christ, and to introduce you to a ministry that is doing wonderful things in Mexico, a mere 20 minutes across the border from McAllen Texas.

 
In May of 2000 I went on my first mission trip that was not within driving distance from my home.  The group of 15 people went to the border town of Reynosa Mexico to build an addition on a house.  As a first timer, I was thinking to myself, as I am pretty sure most people do when they go on this type of trip, that I was going to go and help people and show the love of Christ.  Well, what I found was a living example of Matthew 4:30-32,  

Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”

In Mexico, there has been a shortage of jobs for years, so families move toward the US border with the dream of finding work in the growing number of factories being built by major US companies.  The problem is that there are thousands of people coming for hundreds of jobs.  The average worker earns an average of $85.00 per 60 hour work week.  For more information about the mequiladora, Read This for an interesting article covering both sides of the issue.

This lack of available work has precipitated a growing homeless population.  There are these huge colonias where people have squatters rights, and they build shelter out of any material they can find, wood palletts, scrap wood, cardboard with families living in dwellings smaller than our typical toolshed.  It is not uncommon to find people running around without clothes.  They have running water, but you cannot cook or drink with it.  Most people do not drive and travel via bicycle.

Faith Ministries began in 1994 in McAllen Texas and they work as a chaperone service organizing as many as 100 work trips per year from churches all over the United States.  The church groups build 12’ x 24’ “additions” to the existing structure with concrete and cinder block, as well as 2 windows and 2 doors.  To receive one of these house, the family is required to provide multiple hours of “sweat equity” working on other houses.  While most families are not members of the church, they do attend worship regularly.  It was interesting to me that there were very few men on the worksite, it was mostly women.  At the end of the week there was a  very moving dedicaton ceremony.  The families are very proud of the houses and consider them a gift from God.

The work is very labor intensive and you are working side by side and building a relationship during working hours.  My favorite part of the day was Lunch.  Lunch was a big pot luck with food provided by the church, and our group would bring food as well.  We would have a chance to eat, mingle, play with kids until 12:30 when we would gather in the Chapel for worship. We would have a message from Deantin and would sing Spanish worship songs like Unidos Unidos and Soliamente in Cristo which they taught you on Monday, and you knew by heart on Friday.

In addition to a church, Faith Ministry also has a clinic in each of the 4 colonias it serves.  They provide free medical diagnosis, treatment and preventative medicine to thousands of people in the colonias.  In 2006, a new 6000 square foot clinic was built in Reynosa with a full time Doctor and 2 nurses.  Since most residents of the colonia have no health insurance, most of the time they are turned away from the hospital, which is over 30 minutes away.  We met a woman with severe heart problems and she was telling us about how she was experiencing a heart attack the hospital got her to stable condition and put her on a bus to go back to the colonia. A new clinic is being built in the Miguel Aleman colonia as well.

Education in Mexico is not free.  Through Faith Ministry, you can sponsor a child for a year of school for between $425 and $650 which includes books, uniforms, tuition and lunch.  As with most sponsorships, you receive correspondence and report cards from your sponsored child.

Thanks again for reading this and I hope that you would consider looking into Faith Ministry for prayers, support, or maybe a life changing mission experience like I had.  Thanks also for your support of the 40 Day Fast.  When we get together in God’s name we can do great things. 

This is a prayer that Pastor John encouraged our church to pray this week so I share it with you:

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy

Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work too, may be holy

Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy

Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy

Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I may always be holy

Amen.

Images in this post used courtesy Faith Ministry.

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Music featured in this episode is:
Beautiful – re:zound
Unite – Worth Dying For
Spirit Of The Living God – Symphony In Red
Shelter – Destination 7

Links mentioned in this episode:
Secret Life Of Kat
Inspired To Action
Compassion International
World Vision

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Tune in to www.fcac.org/webr at 2:00 Eastern to hear the show in its entirety. The full interview will be posted on the Cross Driven Radio website later that night. There are more interviews to come with bloggers participating in this years 40 Day fast including some that will be podcast exclusives.

On the theme of the 40 Day Fast, this show will be different than any that I have done before. Something is happening within me that I can’t quite put a finger on. I am feeling compelled to serve in ways that I had never dreamed of. One thing I do know is that I will share it here. As a new blogger, I know that I have very little traffic across the site now, but I pray that maybe it is here for 1 person to see and be inspired to do great things through what the spirit says through me whether it is on the radio or on this blog. Here is a story about what happened with a group who went to the Oglala reservation at Pine Ridge. Yes, that is where the battle of Wounded Knee took place.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf9L-iU-vig&feature=related]

~CIAO
Charley

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