How Are You Wired? (Rickenbacker Vintage Wiring)

I ordered this wiring system for my Rickenbacker from “Pick Of The Rics” in New Jersey. The restoration is almost complete! At the very bottom of this post are some pics of the restoration process so far!

As I think about the fine detail and intricate design of the electronics for my guitar, I can’t help but realize the fine tuned, and unique qualities that God has “wired’ in each person. There are essentially two fundamental views one can have about the nature of existence.

1. Mankind is a purely natural animal. He begins to die after birth, and has no meaning or purpose aside from mere survival. He has no soul, no spirit, and will return to dust. man was made by nothing and for nothing.

or..

2. There is a transcendent cause that is responsible for designing all things living, and inanimate, material and immaterial. Man was made with a purpose, and in the image and likeness of the Creator. We have a soul, we have an eternal spirit, and we have a unique purpose for our lives.

You can guess which school I’m a part of.

I said all that to say this: If you are reading this, you need to know that God loves you. He created you, and He knows everything about you. You were strategically designed with a unique set of gifts that no one else on the earth possesses. There is a reason you think the way you do, there is a reason you get frustrated with things that others don’t, and don’t get frustrated at what others get frustrated with. You have been “hard wired” for a certain task on this earth by God Himself! You are not some biological robot, moved about by natural impulses. You are a part of something Divine. I want to leave you with that thought to consider..But don’t take my word for it. Please read what the Bible says about it:

 

Psalm 139

For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O LORD, you have examined my heart
  and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
  You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
  and when I rest at home.
  You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
  even before I say it, LORD.
5 You go before me and follow me.
  You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
  too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
  I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
  if I go down to the grave, you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
  if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
  and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
  and the light around me to become night—
12   but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
  Darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
  and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
  Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
  as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
  Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
  before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me,* O God.
  They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
  they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
  you are still with me!

Here is a video that changed my life:

Rickenbacker Pickgaurds (shield of faith)

 

I was stoked to receive the pickgaurds for my vintage Ric in the mail..I had them custom made by Tony Dudzik at “Pickgaurdian”.

The guards here in the pic are not screwed in yet, and the knobs are just sitting on top as I am still waiting to get the electronics and stuff.

 

I suppose my “pastoral” comments on this stage of the restoration would be about the “shield of faith” as mentioned in Ephesians 6:16

“In every battle you will need faith as a shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan” (NLT)

Faith is an interesting concept isn’t it? The bible defines faith as being “the substance of all things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”

C.S. Lewis described it as “The act of choosing to believe something in the dark, that you once held as true in the light.”

The bible also instructs all believers to “Always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have, but do this with patience and respect”

(1 Peter 3:15)

 

I really wish I could answer everyone’s questions about Christianity, and curb everyone ’s doubts about Jesus. If you are skeptical, and if I had the opportunity to sit down with you, I would love to explain the authenticity of the Bible, the archaeological evidence, the historical evidence, and about the intricacy and mysterious coincidences found in the Scriptures. I would love to be able to delve into all of the exciting and overwhelming scientific evidence from every discipline that shows how true science (which is defined as: following the evidence wherever it leads) is unbiasedly pointing to the reality of an Intelligent Designer being responsible for creating our universe. I would also treasure the opportunity to share the gospel message with you, about how Jesus came to earth to pay the price for all sin, and become the atonement for mankind. I would love to unfold what the Bible says about the condition of the human soul, and how we are created in God’s image, but have fallen short of God’s commands by our own choice. I would also love to explain the benefits of obeying God’s way of living, and the tragic consequences of living a self-centered life. I would love to sit and discuss openly the difficulties people have with heaven and hell, with suffering, and with the hypocrisy of many Christians. I would love to make a point about how throughout history, God has been misrepresented by people who don’t know Him.

But..at the end of our talk, you would probably find yourself with a list of unanswered questions. You might even still have doubts, and remain somewhat skeptical.

I would be totally okay with that..In fact, I would be pleased to just have an opportunity to talk about God with you. It’s not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting..the fact is that Christianity has been found difficult, and left untried..

 

Even if I could answer your criteria of questions, even if I could eloquently explain away all of your intellectual struggles, you would still come to a crisis of faith. You would still have come to the point where you “choose” to believe in the hope of that supernatural “what if?” that is inside of us all. We all have the internal questions: Why am I here? Who am I? Where Iam I going?

The fact is, God is real, and He is all around us. He has presented us with a way to be in relationship with Him, and it is through believing in His Son, Jesus Christ…If you are stirred up about this, I want to encourage you to keep investigating it, but only if you are gutsy enough to follow the evidence wherever it leads..Even if it leads you to the edge of a precipice of faith..

Are you ready to put your trust in God?

I got a case!

 

Well, praise God! I’ve been able to begin getting some things from the wish list…This guitar needs to played!!

Guitar Case: $70.00…..purchased at Long and McQuade!

5 pc. black vintage knobs: $20.00….ordered!

white pickgaurd kit: $67.00……………ordered!

3 Toaster style pick-ups: $170 each! Yikes!

Input Jack: $20.00

Truss Rod Cover/logo plate: $200.00  hard to get!

Vintage wiring loom w/ toggle switch: $225.00

Strings: one day!

Vintage Rickenbacker Control Knobs (fruit of the Spirit)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

As the restoration of this beautiful guitar continues, I’m trying to squeeze out every ounce of sermon potential from each stage of the process.

The next item I am waiting for from the postman are the five black vintage control knobs. I can’t wait to play this guitar, but much patience is needed!

It was a toss up as to what I was gonna blog about: the “five” books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), and their significance, or use the whole “control knob” thing and write about “self-control”. Sounds cheesy at the onset, but, self-control it is.

Out of the nine attributes of the fruit of the Spirit, this one has to be the most elusive. At least in my life it is. I think its also safe to say that this is the character quality that is most lacking among Chrisitians today! What srtikes me as interesting is the fact that, much like all the other attributes, you can’t necessarily ‘feel’ self-control. You can feel loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, gentle, and faithful to some extent. I am not suggesting that all eight of these attributes are actual emotions, but they can at least be easily connected with an emotion. Except for self-control. Its almost as if the opposite is true. Self-control is actually the act of intentionally resisting an emotion, and choosing to act contrary to the influence of the emotional force. Be it anger, lustful desire, offence, greed, fear, anxiety, obsessiveness, etc. I think its easy to see why this character quality is among the toughest to cultivate! We all know the power of emotions. I once heard the word ‘emotion’ simply defined as ‘energy in motion’. That makes sense.

Fourtuneatley, God has equipped us humans with abilities to control ourselves. (Although we don’t always take that option!) This is something that seperates us from other creatures on the Earth, in the sense that our free will gives us so much power to choose, even at an emotional level. Much like this guitar has control knobs to allow the instruments’ tone to be fine tuned, so we have been endowed with ‘mechanisms’ in our soul that allow us to take authority over our emotional life, and also allow our Creator to work through us and make us into the people He wants us to be!

Feelings can be powerful, almost overwhelming at times! Especially fear, doubt, insecurity, and offence. But remember, the Holy Spirit can and will help you to develop self-control in your life. You need only ask Him, and He will partner with you to cultivate all of the fruit of the Spirit! Remember, if you don’t speak to your emotions, you emotions will speak to you.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Joel 2:25 restoration continues

cleans up pretty good eh?

good finish

“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten–the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm–my great army that I sent among you.” Joel 2:25

As a pastor, I’m always looking for good sermon material. As I have just undertaken this restoring project of an old guitar, I am reminided of how God is in the “restoration business.” I won’t forget how God pulled me out of a life filled with drugs, and depression, and hopelessness so many years ago and has given me a new life in Him! I would’ve been left to waste away in my sin, like a crusty, nameless guitar molding away in a garbage bag in a basement somewhere. But God, in His wisdom, at the right time, rescued me, and invited me to surrender my life to Jesus! In doing so, I took the risk of being at His mercy. Painfully, He began to strip away the water damage, and dust. Strategically and carefully, he began to remove the stupid and unoriginal parts that someone else had put in years ago. He began to apply the oil of the Holy Spirit, and shine me up, until He could see His own reflection in me. He bought a case, a perfect fit, so as to protect me while the restoration began. He began to search the ends of the Earth, to find all the right pieces to make me complete. And the reason He did all this, is so I could be used to make music. The music I was created to play. God is good.

 

Perhaps this may be you. You may be wondering what your purpose is. You may need some restoration in your own life. I invite you to consider, and investigate Jesus Christ. He is the only One who can save you from yourselves, and He is the only One who can make you new again.

 

Shalom

Vintage 1964 Rickenbacker 325

I love guitars. I am particularly excited about a recent blessing. I was given a few old guitars last week that have spent many a year in spooky old basement tied up in garbage bags. I was pleased to find out through a bit of research that one of the guitars is actually a 1964 Rickenbacker 325 fireglo. The pics here are just as it was when I rescued it. Very crusty. But, As I cleaned it off, the beautiful fireglo finish is still in tact, and the neck is very straight! Although there are some dents and scratches, the neck and body are in solid shape. It will be my quest to restore it the best I can over the next few years. This guitar needs to be played..I will keep you updated on its recovery! Shalom!