Happy Holy Days

Meanwhile in Montana, Alivia and Lenya are out of control. Can't wait to see them on New Year's Eve for Jesse's wedding. Future cheerleaders, just like their mom, Jennie.
Our own little 'Christmas Story!' Jaxon impersonates the annoying kid from that movie.
Desperate for a lemon to put on our snow crab on Christmas Day, we found a Chinese restaurant to sell us one for a dollar. Nice.

It won't be long yet, the southern Lusko tribe gets a girl! Any day.
Christmas Eve at CCABQ, the choir rocked.
Obvious gift for the Jaxon child, he'll be drafting behind me soon.
Annual daddy-daughter shopping day with Heidi on Christmas Eve. Great Harvest Bread!
A rare Christmas week snow storm in New Mexico!
We found some snow near the plaza in Santa Fe.
Every knee shall bow, even you Santa.

Oh Happy Day- the choir on Christmas Eve at Calvary

Random Holiday Action

Rogues: Shepherd school guys. This is the future of the church?
Not sure who the genius was who came up with the 'couples shower' concept, but he or she should be shot. We had two this month in LuskoLand. One for Jesse/Bekah's wedding and one for Rebecca's baby.
Leanne, Becca & Daniel
M-88 Radio at the re-opening of Krispy Kreme in ABQ. One hot one is enough
Baby got new shoes


Happy b'day #2 for Jaxon dog

Frequency Magazine

January 2010

By Chip Lusko

It’s All Going to Burn

A Convenient Truth

The Real Story of Global Warming

Editor’s note: The fact is, the Bible warns that earth is headed for a much more serious and final ‘warming,’ than Al Gore could ever imagine. Mankind is plagued by fatal problems from A-Z, and God has a solution: start over! Create a new heaven and earth, but first, the current one must be brought to resolution, therefore, the Lord Himself will instigate the 'ultimate global warming.'

2Pe 3:10 ¶ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

The battle over global warming points up the war of two world views that is raging around us.

If this earth is all we have, it is reasonable and responsible to preserve it at all costs.

This is the materialists viewpoint. If however, the Bible is to be believed. The earth is a temporary, disposable planet, doomed because of man’s fall, terminally infected with sin and scheduled for incineration. An ultimate global warming that would send Al Gore into a strait jacket.

But understanding that the earth is already spinning out of control on many fronts helps us accept the coming new heaven and earth as a convenient truth indeed.

The Wall Street Journal recently observed that Hollywood has developed a preoccupation with the end of the world. This year, 2012, The Road and Terminator 4, were among the films that speculated about world’s end. If any of these screenplay scenarios come true it would not be so good for the film stocks beyond 2010, but for this quarter’s earnings, apocalypse means cash.

Hollywood has speculated many times on the nature of terminal global catastrophe. The Day After Tomorrow: freezing, Independence Day: aliens, 2012: flooding, etc.

Perhaps part of the attraction for audiences is that they can safely watch the world end at the multi-plex then go back to reality in the parking lot. However, Armageddon is not only a Bruce Willis movie about a meteor, it is a biblical concept that will certainly come to pass.

Apocalyptic scenario’s did not originate with the first (and vastly superior) Day the Earth Stood Still or even with the Mayans, who weren’t all that bright for that matter.

The biblical books of Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation each lay out a clear template for exactly how the world as we know it ends.

Fundamental Christians have long been accused of being anti-environmental. Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of the Interior, James Watt set off a firestorm by suggesting that because ‘Jesus is coming back,’ strip mining coal was an expedient idea. Wrong.

Understand this, God is the epitome of an environmentalist, He created it all. But He will

also destroy it! That would be his perogative.

So, Christians must balance two epic truths: This world has an expiration date, God will someday recreate heaven and earth, in the meantime, we are still commissioned (Genesis 1:12) to be excellent stewards of the earth.

So we can appreciate creation while recognizing its temporal nature.

Yes eventually, ‘it’s all going to burn,’ but this fact does not grant us the right to rape and pillage the earth. On the other hand, nature worship, earth first and equating animals with humans is whack.

The Mayan’s and the makers of 2012 had it wrong, God promised Noah never to flood the earth again (Geneis 9:11). He made no such guarantee concerning destruction by fire.

Here is a harsh reality: Worried about global warming? Chillax. Far worse is yet to come, the Bible says the universe will roll up like a scroll of flames. Scientists speculate that ‘cosmic glue,’ holds atoms together, they will find out, too late, that it is Jesus Christ Himself.

And when He lets go, look out.

For those with an ‘earth only’ viewpoint, environmental paranoia is understandable. Before I became a Christian, I had decent green credentials: I took part in the first Earth Day in 1970, later, living in Hawaii, I joined Greenpeace and was ultra active in the anti-whaling movement.

Gladly, I discovered that instead of saving whales, I was the one who needed to be saved!

The global warming controversy will be put to rest finally by God Himself. There is a far warmer place that all humans should be concerned with avoiding. So here is the take home,

enjoy nature, don't worship it. Humans need saving, Jesus came to save us, not the polar bears.

Quick Trip, Good Trip to So Cal

Off to So Cal this week. Early flights and video calls, but worth it. Shot some great stuff at Pirates Cove. Dinner with a dear friend in Newport Beach. Even got to see Pastor Chuck at CC Costa Mesa and the folks at KWVE. Pretty fried, but made the trek to Hollywood for a pre-screening with Daniel for 'It's Complicated' with Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin and Meryl Streep. Daniel gets invited to all these. It opens Christmas day. Interesting vibe, seeing it with industry types, critics and crew.


Daniel on the job, calling the shots

Submerged Sculptures

This looks like a very interesting dive in Cancun: Check out this video on Fox:

Submerged Sculptures

Like Father, Like Daughter

Here is Alivia's church class at Fresh Life, but to appreciate this picture, you have to click on it to enlarge. Then look for Alivia, center bottom in the red top. She is her dad's daughter. And her grandfathers. A little zany, for example, see the video below.
Here's Levi in a nice move, frolicking among the wildlife in Montana. Watch carefully, what he didn't know is that some neighbors were taking pictures of the deer and turkeys when he came wildly running amok. Classic.

From Motown to Notown: the Decay of Detroit

The once beautiful United Artists Theater in Detroit.


If any city is symbolic of the American economy, it is Detroit. Here was both the iconic and literal engine of the nation.
There was a time when Detroit was one of America’s great cities. The Detroit I knew had a gritty, raw energy: The Motor City. Detroit was never a pretty city, didn’t want to be. There was also a time when ‘what was good for General Motors was good for America.’ Fueled by the auto industry and with Motown music for a soundtrack, the city roared. Detroit was not sophisticated, but it was special.

Though I was born here, I never really lived in Detroit proper, but the suburbs of Rochester and Bloomfield kept me near enough to feel the pulse of the city. And then there was Tiger Stadium, Christmas at Hudson's and cruising Woodward Avenue in my red Maverick while listening to the Big 8 and later WRIF. A radio career was launching and I knew guys at a lot of stations, these were high voltage days.

Going to college for four years in Mt. Pleasant, I was insulated from Detroit as things were going horribly wrong; Race relations were never good, but when the Motor City became the Murder City, the stage was set for tragedy of Greek proportions. Race riots, white flight and the end of The Big Three were a perfect and deadly storm.

Detroit failed to see the slippery slope that the car industry was on and the genius of their Japanese peers. Big Three Automakers, in complicit conspiracy with the UAW, pilfered profits, while city leaders ignored the obvious need for cultivating alternative industry.

Detroit in my day was the fourth largest metro in the nation. With the exodus of nearly half the population, it has slipped out of the top 10.
And those that are left? Largely unemployed, thirty percent! That is devastating.

A friend recently visited Detroit after a long absence and wept as he drove around this war zone. For decades, Mayor Coleman Young practiced politics of revenge and retribution. It was suicide to amputate Detroit from the suburbs and any kind of tax base.

After college I left the lousy weather of Michigan and relational trauma at CMU for Colorado and points west, trading in the rust belt for the sun belt. But my heart does hurt for what has happened to the Motor City.
Not to over spiritualize Detroit’s death spiral, but it seems prophetically that America as a mega-power must decline to make way for Super Europe. So maybe we can grimly change the slogan to: ‘What happens to GM, eventually happens to America.’

A Few Days in FLA

A friend at a Calvary in south Florida brought us down last weekend for some radio consulting.
That works for me. Spent the first night in Key Largo, near where the radio station broadcasts from. Years ago, I got my dive certification in Key Largo. Great diving just an hour from Miami.
Just off Key Largo, someone put this statue on the ocean floor. It's called 'Christ of the Abyss,' cool dive.

Larissa wrestles a hand bag in the Everglades where we took an airboat excursion
My kind of Christmas tree in Ft. Lauderdale
The glamour of air travel. Not.
Fla. business casual attire. Like it.
Lunch on the beach with Larissa.

Co-host Debut!

Larissa made her debut as a TV co-host last week. No surprise, she did an excellent job!
Sorry the video below goes sideways.....my bad.

Happy Day in LuskoLand

Jaxon as a happy dragon.


Alivia, my little princess outside the Strand in Montana.
Daniel really surprised me with this one! He showed up with Leanne (Cruela de Ville) at the
Shattered premier.
Jesse (The phantom) with his bride to be- (just 60 days away) she'll be Mrs. Lusko.

Back on the Bike

Traveling plays havoc with my training. Often not enough time for a serious ride and hotel weight rooms can only do so much. But, I'm back in ABQ and that means back on the bike. Next week is the annual Day of the Tread ride, and nothing is better than fall riding along the Rio Grande.

Major Montana Invasion

Downtown Whitefish, just outside Montana Coffee Traders. Not all the time I would have liked for biking, busy weekend with the radio station and all. So ministry comes first, but Levi and I found time to spin around the village.
Interview with Crystal Lewis for Riptide. We were also able to hang out with her horses.
Jaxon and an 8 foot Grizzly. Amazed and confused.

I was able to combine several projects in Montana this weekend. So Larissa, myself, Daniel, Leanne, Heidi and even Jaxon took off for the Flathead Valley. We did some key interviews for Riptide and then on Sunday, we signed on the new Fresh Life radio station KFLF. We even added some content for Shattered that will be included in the final cut. Above is the KFLF studio just after we went on the air. Levi is documenting on his Iphone and Alivia is waiting for her chance to go on the air.

Larissa and I stayed at the Whitefish Lodge right on the lake. I love this area, mellow mountain ski town. My kind of place.

Busy with a camera crew and the radio station, we were able to get in a quick ride around Whitefish, wish there would have been time for more, but ministry comes before cycling.
Daniel, Levi & Heidi- good to see them hanging out.

Drive by blogging from the past week:

Catching up:
Lest I be charged with spiritual boasting, I know that I am the chief off all sinners.
But God's grace has allowed me to be used by Him. Which points out that there is some desparation for talent in heaven (the laborers are few). And now, it is a trip to see what the Lord is doing through my fam, i.e.: Just in the last week:

• Sunday: Josh led worship at Metro Calvary
• http://www.calvaryabq.org/ministry_card.asp?MinistryID=205
  
• Monday: Heidi named to Homecoming Court at Hope Christian (see above pic)
• Tuesday: Larissa taught at Women at Calvary
• http://www.calvaryabqwomen.org/webcast.asp?ServiceID=221&q=high
  
• Wednesday: Daniel released demo reel of films he has directed: www.luskoproductions.com
• Saturday: Jesse taught at Vertical www.verticalabq.org
• Sunday: Levi packed out his church in Montana (again) www.freshlifechurch.com
• Becca rested. (she is pregnant with a daughter for the Lusko Southern Tribe)
• And me? Did a few things, like www.shatteredthedvd.com, also schemed ways to get a pro cycling sponsorship so I can bike 50 miles a day and get paid for it!

No one is more amazed by this grace than me, truly, God is good, all the time!

I've been going to Santa Fe for 20 years. Great getaway, and only 45 miles away. We exit I-25 on St. Francis drive and go the to plaza for food and vibe. Wellllll, after all these years, I wandered over to a Catholic church, and who knew, the church, the street and the patron saint of Santa Fe is... St. Francis of Assisi, the cool monk who loved chipmunks. In fact, the first, and one of the few decent Christian films I've seen is, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, it is about the good saint. Okay, our Catholic friends are a little whack with the dead popes laying around the Vatican (really) and all.
But I like this guy.

Zen & the art of cycling

Back in the day when I was hopelessly lost (1974), one book that I thought to be important was:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert Pirsig. This was a text in which he explores the Metaphysics of Quality. The book describes, in first person, a 17-day motorcycle journey across the USA, in which he tries to decide if there is anything such as quality. Yipes, the blind leading the blind.

Now in the glaring light of Jesus Christ, I am learning lessons in every quarter of my life, including scuba diving and cycling. I'll save the scuba lessons for another day, but road biking has become a major pursuit now that I can't compete in b-ball and tennis as I once did.

So, I'm learning lessons on the bike. Often I ride alone due to schedule, but really, cycling is a team sport and best enjoyed in that setting.

One great lesson from riding with others came when I understood the concept of drafting. That is the principle illustrated in nature by geese in a V. What a pleasant surprise the first time I 'got on the wheel,' of a rider ahead in a paceline. It was like hooking up my bike to be towed by vehicle! Saving 30-40% of energy, 'drafting' is staple of pro riding. Check out Levi's teaching,

'Slipstream for Your Soul,' for a nice message on this analogy.

http://freshlifechurch.com/messages/2samuel/2samuel0801.mp3

When you are rolling in a paceline, you can see some sweet spiritual lessons:

1. You can do more as part of a group than individually. Suddenly, you are part of something bigger and more effective than yourself. That's what the church is in relationship to the Christian.

2. You don't want to let your teammates down. When you are about to 'bonk,' it's easier to push yourself when other cyclists are depending on you. So, you draw on more than you thought you could deliver. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in, He is the power.

3. When the team is really rolling, 'magically', you feel part of a living organism.

I remember watching Lance and US Postal on the Tour, when they would roll through a stage like a machine, smoothly changing riders at the front, it was a thing of beauty to behold. The church is the most important institution in the world, we should fire on all cylinders and function like a team.

Finally, isn't cool how geese evolved to use the V for drafting while they fly?

Am I hallucinating?

Since 9/11, some genius at the Empire State building decided to honor the Muslim holiday of Ramadan by lighting the building green. This week, to 'celebrate' the communist takeover of China, this American icon is lit up red. Do these guys have a history book? Or even a copy of the New York Times from 9/12/01? Mao systematically starved tens of millions and murdered millions more. Red China is flagrant about human rights abuses, and maintains a forced abortion policy. Shall I go on? The Empire State building is standing only because the radical Muslims have not gotten around to knocking it down. Unbelievable. Osama and the butchers in Beijing are smirking. And planning.

Check this:
Empire State Building Goes Red for Communist China, Sparking Protest - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com

Believe:879 - He is Among Us

Check this teaser out:

Believe:879 - He is Among Us

Shared via AddThis

A Few Thoughts about the Enemy

Just back from a couple of days shooting for Shattered in San Francisco and the Berkeley area.
It was eye opening. Granted, California means extremes and that holds true for spiritual counterfeits. The coast often imports strange fire and it spreads east. In particular, Satanism is deeply ingrained in the bay area. It may seem dramatic, but the National Church of Satan is alive and well. We interviewed a former Church of Satan member (see below) and went to one of several active 'fellowships.' Trippy, and not to be taken lightly.
Also interviewed Tal Brooke and shot an interview with Todd Spitzer in Peoples Park near UC Berkeley. This was the famous stomping grounds for radicals and activism in the 60's. Today, it is filled with burnouts and the homeless.
So how did the whole utopian summer of love deal work out? Not too well.
This is an illustration of how Satan still is rolling out the lies of Genesis 3.
'You can be your own God!' When that blows up, he leaves man in the dust.
Same old song and dance.

High above Berkeley and the Golden Gate Bridge, we found a nice scene for some stand-ups with Skip
An old friend, Todd Spitzer, lives in Berkeley and runs a primo coffee enterprise. Todd and I go way back to ABQ, and he hooked us up with an excellent interview, and we ate some rocking Indian food.
Yes, this is the senior pastor of CCABQ, we are at the address in San Francisco where the church of Satan began. Skip is amusing himself and cutting what will end up as an out take.
Interviewing Chris, he was in the National Church of Satan, and on staff. His job? Going to Christian churches in the Bay and recruiting the disaffected. Nice tactic.
But, alas, one day he heard a teaching in John 15 and came out of Satanism and into the real church. Isn't that just like the Lord? Satan is doomed.
Alcatraz on the right. Don't want to go there.

The best part of traveling (when I must go alone)? Coming home, here is the greeting committee at the airport, Larissa and Jaxon.