I'm seeing the church in a new light these days.

After road tripping through the north west and the California coast i realized that I'm a part of the greatest story ever told. Its almost as if every narrative story line is based of off Jesus coming and dying. Its the greatest love story told. The greatest mystery ever told. Its pretty sci-fi if you think about it too. Angels and Demons living and fighting in a different realm, invisible to human eyes.

We arrived in Seattle with no place to stay and only a few destinations in mind. We saw the original Starbucks and the place where they throw fish. We met the guy actually. He was tall, kinda gritty, and talked Texas better than we did. We ate some amazing food and drank some amazing drink. But none of it would be possible without the help of a native Seattlite named Wyatt.

Wyatt is killer. The man. The dude.

We decided the first night there that we would visit one of our favorite churches, Mars Hill. And with the important question of where we were sleeping that night on our hearts and minds we figured that if these people were as generous as we thought they'd be we just might find a floor. After a service on how the church functions and hospitality from Mark Drsicoll we met this guy Wyatt.
Long story short, Wyatt treated us to some beds as well as some sweet breakfast of eggs! Then showed us around Seattle. The Lord answered our prayers so much during this trip. We had the best tour guide that ended being a close brother in Christ! (praise him!)

But here is the thing about the Northwest, or at least the parts we experienced. It is Church! Like Church for real. Honest, gritty, and sweet. Why would someone ever let four smelly road tripping Texans sleep on there floor much less spend the whole day with them...Jesus.

And they embrace culture as if its something that gives life. Not that i don't love southern Texas hospitality but sometimes its stale and fake. And is there really culture in the red-bricked suburbs of Houston or Dallas? Maybe. Hopefully. But we got to talk to some of the most honest and messed up people in the world right now. They were leading worship and making meals. Listening to good music. Being snobs about coffee, because they long to taste the good stuff while they're alive and not Folgers. Its weird, i know. But there is more than Folgers and its not the best part of waking up and in fact it was never in our cup the whole week.

I long to see this kind of attitude in Denton. The great part is i already do. I long to see this in my own life. The embracing of the good that God has given us here on the earth. Like french pressing good coffee that was roasted yesterday and talking about how we taste hints of Lemongrass and blueberries. As we sip, we're talking about what the God of the universe is teaching us and the areas that we don't trust him.

Art. Why would God give us art? Why would he let coffee grow? Why would he allow sun rises and at the same time sunsets in other places? Maybe its because he is good. Showing us his craft in the way the landscape rolls in Utah and juts out in Colorado. And then makes us miss it while we drive through Arizona on Hwy 10.

This is all very futile and overly romantic, i know. It was just good to get away. To fall back in Love with home by going far, far away. I think that God wired us like that. Maybe, but what do i know about how God wired humans...not much. But this much i know, that He is eternally good and one of the best artist I've seen. He writes the best stories and characters that many people use to create new stories in books and films. He writes songs through birds and people. He paints things like old rocks and sunsets. He colors the rivers that run through Washington a vibrant turquoise. I didn't water could be blue for real. He litters the beaches of the pacific with the blackest sands and river stones. They're no Galveston of course but still very nice.

It is good to get away. To fall in love with new places and people in order to fall back in love with the places and people that we come from.

sonnet writing practice...

Jealous I am of what I do not have.

To want is to neglect what is begat,

And to throw out perfect production gave

In heaps of trash not but a few days had.

Consuming eyes and stomach will ruin all good.

I want but do not have because I tire

Of the beauty given me once nude,

Once pure, before fig leaves, serpents, and fire.

If God is real and love as well is real

I pray that He dies out of love for me.

I stain, consume, and run in hopes to feel

But in the end I am killing a Jew daily.

Religion will fail me time and again

And I make it a christ that won’t descend.

O Autumn

autumn comes as hope
like breeze to the branches
as if God still romances his leaves

decades of harsh winter and summer
between living and not living
autumn comes swiftly in the formers' leisured leaving

one smells the oaks and sycamores turning
hearing rumors of another that's coming
one born of Nazareth, they call him Autumn ,

He is real and i pray he comes like fall, swift
o come, like Autumn, he is real like the changing of leaves
We shall call him Autumn

This isn't oregon trail anymore....

So I'm going to Portland!

Brad and Mirella Watson have moved to Portland about a week ago to start a church. Portland is supposedly the most un-churched area in all of the States. So this already seems like a daunting task, but I've talked to Brad and he knows he should be nowhere else. Brad had asked Grant, his younger brother and my best friend, and i to come live with him this summer in P-town; to hang out and meet people and to help in any way we could with the birth of this new church. Much to my dismay, Grant is staying Nashville in order to work and pursue some Music Business opportunities. (Which is totally sweet)

But I'm still going to live with these ex-Oklahoma(n?) newly-weds close to the city, hoping to meet all kinds of folks while I'm there.

It's funny because that is all i know. We've talked quite a bit but its hard to say what all will be going on when i show up...but i can't wait.

So be prayerful. Ask God to call many to himself. That his Spirit would move while I'm there and continue to move as this church begins. Pray for Brad and Mirella, that God would make them strong for his name. That their marriage would be strong and always reflecting Christ and his church.
Pray that my bible-belt upbringing won't make me want to run away from those who are different from me. That many would come to know the Lord in Portland.

Thanks. I'll do my best to do updates on this blog while I'm there. But if you want to learn more about whats happening now, read Brad and Mirella's blog. Also if you have twitter follow Brad and I. We will have lots of updates. @markapel @bradawatson

thanks for the prayers. Past, present, and future prayers.

Mark.

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. john 10:9-10

¹⁰While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." matthew 9:10-13

book list revised

finished nine stories...greatest read in a while

on chapter 14 of purpose driven life...surprisingly edifying and convicting(oh Rick)

Still only on the first few chapters of Mere Christianity...take it slow i hear, take it slow

Probably going to read either the Old Man and the Sea next, or Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters...

Also been skimming The Best American Non-Required Reading compiled by Dave Eggers and forwarded by Sufjan Stevens...great forward

Anybody have anything in mind to read? anything you've finished and think i should read?

Oh and brad watson's new book!

books for the summer

so here is the list for the summer:

Mere Christianity- C.S. Lewis

9 Stories- Salinger

The Purpose Driven Life- Rick Warren

The Old Man and The Sea- Hemingway

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man- James Joyce

Poetry- E.E. Cummings, Walt Whitman, Sylvia Plath


This is all subject to change. Give me some opinions on these if you've read 'em.

Church Interview pt. 1 from josh spires on Vimeo.

Church Interview Pt. 2 from josh spires on Vimeo.

Fleet Foxes

 

Check out La Blogotheque

Fleet Foxes- A band from Seattle featured at Austin's ACL Music Festival this past year. Starbucks pushed their record for a while so if you got your triple grande caramel machiatto with extra caramel on top this past month or two you may have seen their album. Enjoy this video

Jan 25 09 Update!/musik/Homosexuality and Jesus

[hmm...]

Wow its been a while. So what all has happened. A whole semester of school, Christmas break, work, and now back in Denton for a whole, brand-new semester at UNT. This is my first semester as an official English Literature major! (I'm thinking about teaching high school/college and writing for paper or magazine or website. I know you were about to ask!) I am two Lit. classes right now and i kind of love them. Just learning how the history of the United States plays into the mindsets of writers and the general public has been interesting. I'm not much of a history guy myself but hopefully this will help me appreciate it in a new light. One can like The Great Gatsby but i think through learning the social attitudes of the time will make me appreciate good ole' F. Scott even more. 

I now also find myself inside a musical pool of joy. (maybe even a small pond) I am officially a member of Baruch the Scribe. A band started by my friends Judson Valdez and Chaz Underriner inspired by a frustrating story found in Jeremiah 36. Its exciting to be a part of this. Along with BTS i am in my buddy Julian's band under the moniker Julian Pastrana and the City Carousel. A folk-march band inspired by old circuses and the kingdom come. And lastly but not leastly i play bass in the one and only Jon Ladner and the Cumulonimbus Band. I can't really explain this group. All i can say is: Jon Ladner!  

Busy semester? Yes!

I watched a movie the other day that really made me reconsider my approach to the homosexual community. The movie "Milk" starring Sean Penn is a true story of Harvey Milk, the first gay individual elected to major office in the United States. Now i do not uphold every scene or every sentence of this film but it really changed my thinking... especially as a Christian. I do not support the homosexual lifestyle and do not condone homosexuality but what i do support are gay people. I see homosexuality as a sin according to scripture as well as heterosexual lust, murder, adultery, and the list goes on and on. But yet i see inside the Church, myself included, this repulse of gay people. This mentality that they are too far gone. And i guess all i have too say with out getting to post-modern-Christian-preachy is that we've got to love them. Like really love them. If we plea for their soul and teach about Jesus and they reject that we would keep loving them as Christ loves us. Like not ever stopping. Like meeting their partners and pleading for their souls that God might call them too. And that we may join in their story and that they may add to ours. I think they have rights. I don't know how i feel about them getting married and all but i do know that by not listening to their story we shouldn't expect them to listen to ours. We've got lay down our pride and approach their Gay Pride and  show them its an empty well. I only hope that i too can do what I've just said.

Be praying for Denton. There are a lot of people searching around us. Pray for the Village Church and Denton Bible and many other Denton churches that God would call those who are searching. 

I love you guys. Keep in touch.

markapel.

what do i want to be when i grow up?

This one of those videos that everyone has already made in their minds. Just thought you should see it.

Nashville and Back

This past weekend i was able to go explore the great wonderland of Nashville. I traveled with my buddy Mallory and her roommate Magen and let me say it was the trip of a life time. The time on the road was filled with cotton candy, naps, stolen computers, and more naps. We got into Nash-town about 5:30 and were welcomed by the infamous Max Corwin. Oh how i love this Kid. We had such a great visit with Max and his friends. Sleeping on the floor of his door room was remarkably comfortable and fun. I bumped into my best friend Grant Watson while we were on the campus of Belmont. Grant's family was in town so i got to see his Brother Brad too.  Meeting Brad's new wife in person was quite awesome. I knew she was beautiful from pictures and stuff but meeting her made me realize how lucky Brad is. She is so sweet.  I also got to meet the wonderful Gretchen, Grant's girlfriend. She was so nice and hopefully someday we'll get to visit longer. All that to say i miss those Watsons and it was way good to see them. 

We had brunch at a place known as pancake pantry. This place is so popular that an hour long line (or longer) forms outside its doors screaming with people longing for the ambrosia that is Pancake Pantry's Pancakes. Max and i got the regular buttermilk pancakes along with some stinkin' good hasbrowns. Mal, much like the kid inside her, got the chocolate chip pancakes, which were delicious and wonderful. Supposedly many celebrities frequent the Pancake Pantry But we did not spot any there.

Inside Nashville's Centennial Park resides an exact replica of Greece's Parthenon.  After brunch and a few clothing shops we found ourselves in this huge park. The building looked kinda dinky from far away but as you approach it it becomes quite intimidating. Lunch that day was quite nice. There is a place called San Antonio Taco Company and we made a few stops there on our short trip to Nash-vegas. Upon entering you fill out an order form which notes what kind of food you want, how you want each made and how many you want. Then they make it. Then you eat it. And then wash it down with sweet tea. Quite good. 

A highlight for me was after almost buying some sun catchers in the mall parking lot when we went to catch some desert at The Cheesecake Factory. As we were walking 

up i saw some guy that i recognized. And it hit me that he was an actor. Standing at the entrance to the place surrounded by girls was James Marsden. He plays Cyclops from X-Men, and is also in the Hit Musical Hairspray among other movies. As the women told James how great he was and how many times they've seen each of his movies we went inside and ordered some cheesecake. It was a great last night in Nashville spent with two great friends that I'm glad I've gotten to know over this past summer. 

So we left for home after church on Sunday. The trip was full of laughter and sleeping and music and maybe a speeding ticket but i won't tell you who got it. Nashville was definitely worth the 20 plus hours on the road. Can't wait to go back some day.

waves waves waves ep

So i am about to release my first ep album. And as official as that sounds it should be a pretty humble release. But all humility aside i'm very excited about putting these songs on a cd and letting you guys hear it. I'm calling it waves waves waves. It was a title i came up with in highschool during the ebb and flow of post-pubescent semesters and figuring out what becoming a man was. I love God but i felt/feel like my zeal comes in waves. I'm passionate and then get inside crests and troughs of instant self gratification. All that to say this is a peak into the past few years for me, although it will only be three or so songs. So i guess this is kinda the Bar-Mitzva of myself. A little rites of passage if you will. It will be here soon. Check out one of the tracks on my new myspace music page.

Love you guys.- Mark Apel

True Love Weights

So Autumn is supposedly here and the weather in Denton has been very enjoyable lately. Fall is setting in and girls nation wide are putting theirs clothes back on. It is a very very good thing. 

Of late I have been thinking about this ring that sits around my finger. I have had it since about 9th grade when my church did a series called "true love waits". My brother and I did it together and Mom let us go to James Avery to pick out a ring for the ceremony the following sabbath. My brother got one that had the Christian fish on it and mine had the words "the Lord is my Shepherd" engraved into the side. This ring was and has been a great reminder especially in those high school days that sex was out of the question until i found my wife and we got married. (which at this point the old ring gets thrown aside). 

Lately I have been looking at this ring. I sometimes want to take it off. Or maybe a small group of humans, elves, hobbits and dwarves will help me return it to the evil place it was smelted from. If I'm ever going to meet someone i have to take this thing off. Everyone i meet for the first time asks if I am married. (i think this has to do with the fact that I am becoming manlier and have a decent amount of facial scruff) I see an attractive girl look at me and I know she is thinking, "Oh I bet he goes home to his lovely wife each night. He has a kid on the way and is getting his masters to become a teacher in the local high school." Oh contrare! Each night i arrive home to three guys. I have no kids, our sink is always full of dishes, no smell in the house reminds me anything of a woman, and the ring on my finger is no covenant with a woman, but with God. Maybe i will get my masters and go on to teach high school English. ( just an idea Ive been throwing around. )

The other Sunday while sitting through a sermon at church, Pastor said that we should not tire of doing good. Galatians 9 says that we shall reap a harvest at the proper time if we do not give up. I had noticed that all the things i do and don't do because of the gospel of Christ had become burdens to me. That morning was a moment to remember why I'm doing what i am doing and not doing what i am not doing. Its not because my religion is hell and won't let me have fun. Its because the Lord calls me to be different and to wait. Especially for marriage. I just know the wait is going to make the marriage day such a harvest for both my spouse and I. 

So maybe in ten years I will consider marriage. Until then i will be fighting the good fight as best as i can. Failing. Succeeding. Failing. Succeeding. And in due time God will provide. 

[Side Note: I miss many people. I miss home. New Caney has never been something i have just pined about, but lately i miss seeing the pillars of Roman Forest, and garish red of the Tobacco barn, and blur of blue as I pass RC Race Track. But i shall be home soon if i have anything to do with it. (Marcus Vick, i miss you man. Ginny Miller, i can't wait to see you someday soon. Atom Hammons, what are you up to?)]

All that to say: Life is good. Challenging but Strengthening. Intrusive but Humbling. Burdensome but Sanctifying.

All Glory and Honor to Christ Jesus. 

europe

churchbook@gmail.com

www.global-church.blogspot.com

Denton/Ike/Kelsey/church/Church/A.J.

So, I'm back in Denton. I can honestly say i love this town. The moment i drove into town i couldn't help but smile. School has started back and i actually enjoy attending classes. Especially my class on short story. Although it meets at 9:30 am(my earliest class) our Professor make this class very enjoyable. Professor Tanner is a poet of a man with a beard so unique that it kinda makes him look like a puppet. I feel like everything he says should be written down and told to all of my friends. All my other classes are moderately enjoyable, and my goal is to make it to class and to impress the parents with good grades. (which I've failed to do thus far). 

So supposedly there was some kind of big storm that swept through Galveston and Houston. At our new house we decided not to have a TV. We felt it would bring us together as roommates and minimize distractions in the home. Well that's all well and good but the one thing we all miss is the news! I didn't even know there was another Hurricane until i overheard some talk on campus and then my Dad called me to say they may have to evacuate. I felt pretty out of the loop. But in the end my family is safe and at home with power. (as of yesterday). It was shocking to see the photos from Ike's aftermath. Seeing beach fronts we used to rent houses on and enjoy cold thanksgivings together on that were now bits of driftwood and murky sand. God has it on planned out. Good will come. It always does.

So my little/older brother Cary has officially tricked some girl into spending the rest of their lives together. Cary's amazing girlfriend Kelsey has officially been promoted to Fiance. The coolest thing about it is that Kelsey is one of the most awesome girls on the planet, and i can't wait till she's my official sister so we can hang out more and share holidays together. They are pretty much perfect for each other. He who has found a wife has found a good thing. At least that's what I hear. 

So my church project is slowly getting off the ground. I'm really excited to see where this goes. I've had a few people send stories and art and soon and very soon I'll have some video interviews with some of my friends sharing what God has been doing and is doing in their lives and through certain ministries. Keep an eye out for some new stuff on the church blog. Right now we have a new blog up by Nicole Rogers. A friend from church back home who is now attending OU. So read up and then write your story down.

I'm officially a member at the Village Church now. It's kind of a crazy thing to be a part of a church on my own. For over 18 years i was a member wherever my parents attended and were members. But don't get wrong i love the churches we went to. If we hadn't gone to Forest Cove and the experienced a church-fight and then became second baptist, we'd all be missing out. I grew so much in the ministries of that church and if it weren't for guys like Eric Larson, Pat Camaratta, Jeff Hiett, and especially one of my best friends Jonathan Gray i wouldn't be the man i am today. I owe a lot to those men. All that to say since the move to college and Denton i have found a church to be a part of and a community to grow in. I Love it up here. Soon I'll be starting to lead for the middle schoolers in their Sunday morning worship services. I'm really excited to finally be plugged in and doing ministry inside the church. 

I recorded a new song on a compilation album of a group I'm a part of now called Counter Collective. It's one about a man that used to live close by when i was younger. Also it's about my Grandpa, his son, and his son's son. Hopefully i can put it up on here soon.

That's it. Love you guys.

(photos by Chris Newby)

wonderful day for a bananafish

i stumbled upon an article today online concerning the "cussing pastor" Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill in Seattle. It was dumb to say the least. It talked about how people left the service after Mark failed to cuss in one of his sermons. As if to say that the only reason a crowd was congregating was not to hear the gospel but instead to hear some vulgarities. Which is a good observation, I'll give this guy that. But he ends his blog-rant by saying that he hopes his group of readers would continue to pray against the ministry of Driscoll and his church of cussing wannabes. (dumb). Click here for article.

I just don't know that we can arrive as Christians and tell people to pray against a fellow brother and that his ministry would fail. 

Honestly i know very little about Driscoll and his ministry at Mars Hill, but I'm pretty sure that he is teaching the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Whether he cusses or has weird theology if he is teaching the Gospel let nothing hold that back. right? 

Yet in response we have Christians picketing against other Christians. Its no longer all efforts being focused towards battling the flesh and corruption and injustice and poverty and oppression, but its brothers against brothers fighting over doctrines and misquoted sermons. Liberal theology versus conservative theology. So we have a schism in the church. 

I've been talking to my good friend Max lately about a book called Velvet Elvis written by Rob Bell. He keeps telling about some of his friends and their views on this new book. They keep claiming his theology is flawed and that he doesn't believe in the virgin birth and all this stuff. The fact is they have never read Bell's new book at all and have only heard rumors of the content of the text. In fact Bell believes in the virgin birth and admits that in Velvet Elvis. Bell asks:

 

But what if as you study the origin of the word virgin, you discover that the word virgin in the gospel of Matthew actually comes from the book of Isaiah, and then you find out that in the Hebrew language at that time, the word virgin could mean several things. And what if you discover that in the first century being "born of a virgin" also referred to a child whose mother became pregnant the first time she had intercourse? What if that spring was seriously questioned? Could a person keep jumping? Could a person still love God? Could you still be a Christian? Is the way of Jesus still the best possible way to live? Or does the whole thing fall apart? I affirm the historic Christian faith, which includes the virgin birth and the Trinity and the inspiration of the Bible and much more.

All Bell is saying is that if we were to find out that the scriptures actually point to something different than what was taught to us in Baptist Sunday school would our faith come out null and void. The answer is no! By no means! So i think people just like to deem an idea heresy or foolish just because it is somewhat different than what they were taught. When what we should do is read into the idea and think about it. and wrestle with it. Then throw it out.

So all this to say that we should stop jumping on everyone and back talking our brothers, but rather listen to what they are saying and consider it. And if its nonsense toss it out.  Not saying everything Rob Bell says is absolute. It's not. He is not God. He is a man with an idea. Like all of us. A mere whisper.

I guess I've just seen a lot of this lately and heard so much that it gets at me. 

I honestly don't know where i stand on my theology. Old world? New world? Free will? Elected and Damned? I don't know! But i do know that i have sinned against the God of the universe and he came and died that i might live in a peaceful community with Him. 

churchbook/forever21/taylors

so the 'church' blog is up and running. we have our first story up by Nicole Sutton. (a life-long friend of mine). Check it out.

Also I've discovered in the recent past that forever 21 is not only a girl store. No no. It has fashion for the whole family...kinda. But yeah I've been shopping there and its pretty great.cheap and stylish. Just like me.

Let me just say one thing about the Taylor family. AWESOME. I've had the pleasure of living with them this summer and it has been awesome. They are so hospitable and treat me as if I'm a Taylor. 

Larry&Delinda- these guys are such great parents to their four boys. Larry is the headmaster at the christian academy at Prestonwood. He has such a heart for educating young believers and influencing them that they may influence. Delinda is a great wife to Larry. She is a stay at home mom but also tutors on the side.(Spanish i believe). Tomorrow is 23 years of marriage for them.

Bryce- One of the most brilliant minds of our time. Bryce will be a sophomore at Yale this fall. Bryce and i have had some fun conversations over J.D. Salinger, Last Comic Standing, and many other things. I think he reads like a book a day or something. I can see him being a prominent part in the leadership of our generation. (sounds corny, but its true)

Luke- He's the quiet one. One of the schools leading receivers for the football team, and also number one in his class for academics. Luke just finished a summer semester at Yale and is considering going to King's College in New York. He's the man!

Zeke- He is way too creative. Him and his posse love to make short films mostly inspired by M. Night Shamalan and action movies. He's a smart kid and also a hard hitter for the PCA lions. I hope one day to go to the theatres to see a movie directed by Zeke.

Chas-the energy of the entire Taylor family resides in the bones of this boy. Chas always has something to say. He has tons of wit and is usually the one that starts the brotherly fights. A fun fact about Chas is that one of his favorite shows is "Jon and Kate Plus 8". That and all of the sports channels.

So needless to say this family is great and in a few weeks I'll have to leave them. That will be a sad day.

mapel.

Mom

Hey i want to ask prayer from whoever reads this for my sweet Mom, Joyce Apel. She has suffered from hearing loss for the majority of her adult life. Its getting worse now and its affecting her work-ability and normal social life. The deal is that she gets dizzy spells that pretty prevents her from doing anything but laying down. She also hears this roaring sound throughout her head all through the day. I think its almost like a ringing white-noise sound.(just imagine it all day long).
I want to ask you to pray for her. She may get a surgery soon that would remove some excess fluid from her right and the doctors say that her left ear, which is fully deaf, may follow suit and start removing fluid of its own. Kinda healing itself. Pray for her and pray that if this surgery happens that the Doctors are right about all of the stuff i just mentioned.
I have this feeling that one day my mom is going to be able to hear a pin drop in northern Alaska because our God is big and listens to the cries of His people. He moves mountains and calms seas. He creates colossal solar systems and planets. I know her can heal a couple of ears on my mamma's head.
Thanks. I'll keep you updated as i hear more form her and pops.

Mark 11:23-25
"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

I think my mom is just hearing the roar of a lion thats coming soon to save us...