The Blurr




The Blurr

Originally uploaded by christopher.hopper_pix

Paul "The Blurr" Rohling in action at Mountain Top Church in
Washington, MI. Caught this on my iPhone during his solo.

ch:

Michigan by storm!

Landed in the middle of a storm (with three runway changes!) last
night here in Flint, MI. Pretty spectacular show, and flying. Church
canceled due to power outages, but tonight’s show in Troy is still on.

ch:

video podcast 00.02

Heading to Michigan this weekend and next. Please be sure to come out and see us if you’re in the area. Or can watch live (or re-runs “on demand”) on my Mogulus channel. ch:

Sick.

I’m sick. Head cold, and chest thing. Sitting here beneath my comfort blanket, a massive, fluffy cover brought over from Greece given to me by a Greek. I hold a bottle of Windex when I use it, too. (Thanks Dee). I was working on some edits for Curse of the Spider King when my brain stopped. I finished one chapter and when I re-read one of my editor’s qeurries four times and still was confused, I decided to call it a night. I’m taking my comfort blanket and going to bed now. Nite. ch:

Young Apprentice




Young Apprentice

Originally uploaded by christopher.hopper_pix

I sat down to craft a new song when I looked up to see who had joined
me…

ch:
www.christopherhopper.com
Sent from my sweet iPhone

Less Ugly, More Runny

hopper_laneThis morning I woke up at 6am and decided to go running. Sure, it took me twenty minutes to convince myself it was a good thing. But I did it still the same. Eventually. 6:32am and I was out the door.

I covered just over a mile. Two stops. Lots of spit. Almost some vomit. But I did it. One word: ugly.

It’s been over two years since I last went “serious running” down my road. Call it the pace of life, the demands of responsibilities, but somewhere along the line, running stopped being important to me. What changed? The thought of knowing I wasn’t stewarding my body. Sure. Or maybe the pregnancy-sympathy weight I noticed lingering above my belt.

Many times in life we know something is right, yet we don’t do it. I know exercising is right. And running was my thing back in high school. My best mile time was 4:41. Pretty stinking fast if you know you’re stuff. But today? I was too embarrassed to even keep time.

The point is that I can’t rely on my exercise from fifteen years ago to keep me in shape today. It’s only my consistency in the present that positions me for future success. Often that’s how we treat our experiences with God. We had a great encounter “back in the day.” But is that what’s sustaining you now? If so, I’d warn you about trying to put any weight on it. If my return to running this morning can teach us all a lesson, it’s that a relationship with God is best kept consistent; reentry is ugly, and the alternative to not picking it back up is planning for a health-related disaster.

ch:

Video Podcast: Feb-March 2009

Paul Rohling and I as caught on film over the first two weekends of our “Live at the Lyric” CD release tour through NY. Enjoy!

ch:

“Emerging”




"Emerging"

Originally uploaded by christopher.hopper_pix

The snow has faded to reveal naked trees and a river free of ice
flows. Autumn and Luik venture out of the cave to marvel.

ch:

Survey: Every Day and a Song?

I would like to ask you to post your thoughts to two quick survey questions if you wouldn’t mind. They have been issues rolling around in my mind for quite some time (about 1.5 years) and I felt like the only way I would resolve it is to ask those who it would affect the most: my readers. Please reply back with a comment and your honest thoughts. So here goes!

1.) Assuming you know you get something out of a blog’s content (genuinely), does a blogger putting up new content every day make you more apt to visit, subscribe, or recommend their blog? Or is once/twice a week just as good?

2.) Would you be interested in a subscription-based song club in which I record a new song every month, based on where I’m at with the Lord, life, politics, etc, and give it to you as a free download. Would you pay $1 for this song? ($12/year). Or would you find a “Donate Now” button more appealing? And would you recommend the service to your friends if you liked the tunes?

I’ll explain in more detail my reasoning for these questions in my next post based on the response. Thanks for giving me a few minutes of your time.

ch:

“Secure”




"Secure"

Originally uploaded by christopher.hopper_pix

Where do you hide?

Even the mighty need a place to rest; even the conquerors require
refuge.

ch:

New Tune: You Alone

Well, I recorded this song in GarageBand on Saturday after it was brewing in me for a few weeks. Although I am far from qualified to talk about pregnancy first hand (having lived enough of it second hand has told me I don’t ever want to experience it first hand), I liken song writing to the gestation period. Something gets conceived in my heart or spirit, then after days, weeks, sometimes months, (and in a few cases, years), a song is birthed.

I was spurred on to put this track on my site, blemishes and all, by Meghan Arias, who just put up her own rough tune from GarageBand this morning (it’s amazing!). It will go through plenty of re-working once it gets in the hand of my band, and then again once it goes to tape under the watchful eye of producers, so you’ll most likely never hear it like this again. But I thought one of the privileges of following me on my website should include unreleased samples of music right in the initial phases of the creative process.

Obviously, this is a congregational worship tune, one written for my church. It stems from a growing burden that worship leaders would be true minstrels and prophets over their region, creating the indigenous declarations that the Holy Spirit has called them to. I love covering other music (insert your favorite Hillsong, Vineyard, Maranatha, Integrity, NewSong, Passion artist here); but I yearn for what the Bride has to say from those in Her small towns, city boroughs, mountain side villages, and outlying cities not mentioned on the top 20 largest in the US. Be true to what HE is calling you to write! And write it!

FREE DOWNLOAD: You Alone
Or listen now:

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And, as in anything, I welcome your comments: good, bad, and ugly. Who knows: you might have a fantastic idea! (Just don’t expect a royalty). ;)

ch:

Monsters In My Bed!

Look who I just found under our covers! Boo!

ch: