Eleven

This is probably one of the top 5 greatest moments in Film History.

If Only....

If I could do this I would to about half the drivers in Houston. Like a good Christian.

What's the 411 on Myspace?

So what's up with Myspace? Is is my imagination or is it getting progressively suckier. First of all, I am getting so tired of all the scantily clad floozy-chick-dating service advertisements. It is REALLY getting annoying. Yesterday, I am at church, I have a student coming in for a guitar lesson, I click on Myspace to check for messages and some HUGE pic of a girl with her rear half-hangin' out plopps up on my computer screen, UNINVITED. The pastor walks by my open door at my church office and sees this kid looking at a chick on the computer screen and a frantically clicking Seth trying to get the STUPID advertisement off my CHURCH COMPUTER. Needless to say, my pastor and the kid get a big kick out of me and the predicament I which I have been helplessly thrust.

It is not just this but the flash advertisements have increased exponetially. The stupid little game advertisements have become so powerful and memory-eating that it takes twice as long for the songs to load and sometimes I am, against my will, taken to a page because the games that these advertisements use to lure potential idiots, are so asinine that they actually win all by THEMSELVES, without you EVER EVEN PLAYING THEM! (However, I did try that one where George Bush was boxing Mike Tyson. That one was kinda cool)

Is this what happens when something cool is taken over by "the man"??? I can only surmise that this has happened. "Tom" is no longer really at the helm. It seems to me that some corporate money-grubbing jerk has come along and said "hey, this is the wave of the future, a haven for Indies, good and bad, and normal everyday Joes. Lets take it over, saturate it with already established artists and well known figures in pops culture and screw it up!!!!!

Sorry for all the venting here, I realize that there are much worse things going on in the world like oh, um.... WWIII, and I am too busy lately paying attention to the craziness in the Middle-East to do the Myspace research, So if anyone feels the need to do "something to take your mind off that pain" ?(name that movie), fill me in on the Myspace scoop.

The Real Deal

Pastors can be like mercenaries. They swoop in to the building, preach their slick sermons and off they go. Books to meet, people to sign. If you find a church where you have a true shepherd for a pastor then you have found a rare thing these days. We are blessed enough to go to such a church.

We met with our Pastor for worship planning this morning and Phil Lineberger (our pastor) told us, in a passing statement, that he called an elderly man today just because he was thinking about him. The elderly chap had lost his wife of 65 years last year and Phil just wanted to make sure he was doing okay. The old man told Phil that it sure is a "whole lot different this side of the casket." At this Phil said he began to weep with and for the brokenhearted and lonely elderly man.

Phil is a man's, man. He's about 6'2 or 6'3 and he played college football for Arkansas back in the day. He is a big smart Texan and I have rarely met a man who has such a big heart. He will start talking about a little child he read about in the paper who was made homeless or a victim of war and he will become visibly moved and that compassion he feels is contagious. It is probably no genetic coincidence that his granddaughter wants to be the president of Compassion someday, and she means it.

His grandkids love him to death. He tells them "Papa" stories and they at times will include elaborate props. He also does this thing called "Papa's Kitchen" where he will make a menu for the grandkids and they get to order before they go to sleep.

I fear that Phil is part of a rare and decreasing breed of pastor where the pastor actually cares for, gets to know, serves, and loves his whole congregation.

Do you all have pastors like this? Is this a fading thing??? As churches get bigger and better it seems to be the growing trend. I hope not. Whatever the case, I am thankful that I have had this kind of teacher, pastor, and friend the past 3 years.

The true reason we get along so well is that we are fellow pranksters.

Still love a Good Storm

There is something exciting about a thunderstorm. I admit that I kinda love em.' I think I am probably the only soul in Houston that likes rainy days or thunderstorms. So as one living in the flooding capitol of Texas, I must constantly clarify my love for rain. "I mean, I don'’t want to get my canoe out and drift down to the neighbor'’s house for some bread and on the way rescue a desperately paddling wiener-dog and a grandma, but SOMETIMES a good, normal, rainy day or a morning Thunderstorm really hits the psychological spot."

As a matter of fact I have always loved a good storm. I even knew the scientific term for the clouds in a thunderstorm by age 12, "Cumulonimbus." In my younger years, Tornados would totally mesmerize me. When I was a kid I wanted to see a tornado so bad that I used to pray that there would be a tornado if a thunderstorm hit. (as you pause for a baffled look at the computer) It's true people. One night when I was about 13 my younger sister and I were on a road trip with our parents traveling through Tornado-alley-Oklahoma and we were caught in a VERY nasty thunderstorm. As the car was being tossed about by severe wind and nasty rain, I actually tried to get my sister to pray that there would be a tornado. That little scene went something like this:

Me: "April, God said that when two or more are gathered then He will answer"
Younger Sister: "NO! I am not going to pray with you just so you can see a tornado" (staring bewildered at me.)

My mom overheard me unsuccessfully trying to convince my sister to PRAY FOR A TORNADO and just about smacked me.

My mom: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? DON'T PRAY FOR A TORNADO YOU IDIOT. If I hear or see you praying for a tornado I swear I will stop this car, drag you out in the rain and leave you there in case God answers your prayers"

My Dad: "Son, quit prayin' for tornados." glancing at me in the rear-view mirror. "That's the Stupidest thing I've ever heard"

The obsession lingered into my later teens and in high school my best friend and I would jump into his cruddy Ford Pinto and go Tornado Chasing. Finally the fiery obsession was doused in one swift move with the movie "Twister." Bill Paxton just sucked all the glory out of that hobby.

George Lucas... the Man of Soul ?????

I have a theory. I don’t come up with conspiracy theories very often but when I do, they are usually dead on. Are you ready for this one? This will shake you to the very core of your soul. It will cause you to question everything you know about life and what you thought bound it all together.

I believe that George Lucas and Soul Singer Michael McDonald……

ARE THE SAME PERSON.

That’s right folks. You heard it here first. I always suspected this because there were reports of Lucas never being in the same place as McDonald or when there were Michael McDonald concerts scheduled Lucas would miss important screenings of his Star Wars movies. Even with all of this evidence I still remained a skeptic…until now.

I have ascertained a copy of the original cut from “The Empire Strikes Back.” Evidently George Lucas and Composer John Williams went round and round about “some music” that Lucas wanted in this scene and Williams didn’t. Williams apparantley threatened to go public with “some information” if Lucas did not back down from his request. Apparently, Williams won the argument and was afterwards scene driving a different sports car every other day for a year all with the license tag that said “GLISMYBCH”

No one has ever been able to decipher the code until now.

I will leave that to my readers as not offend any innocent eyes who are easily offended.

So here it is folks, you must watch all 2:30 to learn the truth. It may seem subtle to some but to me, it is apparent that these two men… well just watch and see. I warn you, I only offer the truth. Nothing else.

Sing Along with Logan (Amazing Grace)

I had to share this video with you guys. I just can't help but be reminded when I watch this father/son duo here, that this is how our lives play out when we submit to our father's will. I have been in several (friendly) predestination conversations lately with a few of my Clavinist buddies and I it seems like I have drafted and verbalized a thousand different ways to describe God's sovereign will and our choice but this little video kind of sums it up for me. There is a delicate and marvelous balance in our existence of God ordaining our days and us strumming along. I can only hope to have this kind of innocence, trust and wonder as things unfold from day to day.

Thanks for the helping me understand one of our faith's great mysteries and for setting a great example Logan!

Jesus said to them, "Yes. Did you never read,'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing babies you have perfected praise?'"

Adam the Healer or.... the ANTICHRIST!!!????

So I am sitting down to have some New Testament Grape Juice at our friends house last night and we flipped to the ABC news special about this charachter Adam who says that he heals people using telekenisis/quantum physics/magic to heal people.

The weirdest part of the story is how he came about this power. Goes a little somethin' like this.

He has a dream. The spirit tells him to go to this island in the middle of a lake. His parents take him. On that island he meets up with a big black crow and goes into a kind of trance. This bird imparts upon him the secrets of science and he can now heal people.

I don't think I would have been so weirded out seeing this news special if I had not just been watching an hour or so of what looked to be the middle-east on the brink of WWIII.

Now don't get me wrong I don't think this charachter is the Anti-Christ (at least right now anyway) but I do believe that our friendly anti-christ will look and perform miracles that resemble something like this. Here is a part of that report.

"Adam says when he is trying to heal a person he sees a "quantum hologram" — a representation of the combined energy of everyone in the room.

"I'm not actually sure what it is I do. I go into this trance," says Adam. "I don't see anything else around me except for this person in front of me. And then I'm just changing these things, this image in front of me."

He says he uses his hands to fix breaks in the energy flow, which allows the healing to begin.

But Adam can't guarantee the success of his work.

Mavis Joy went to Adam to get healed and says her lymphadema did not get better. And another time, when "Primetime" cameras were rolling, Adam correctly diagnosed a woman as having minor back and shoulder problems but completely missed her bigger problem: breast cancer."

Five Cent Stand Up and Running On itunes

Greetings one and all! If you haven't had a chance to order off for a CD because:

1. You are too poor,

2. You are a lamo
3. It is too much trouble to get a paypal account (which you don't need anymore anyway to order from paypal)
4. You desperately want to order but you are trapped under something heavy (quick quick, what movie?)

Well I have some good news for you. We are up and running on itunes. So drop by and write a review if you like. The slate is fresh as of tonight.

Cheers to one and all.

MUST SEE

I saw this a week back on Brant's blog and just had to show it. For those of you who lived through the 80's (and can remember it, clearly) we must come to terms with fashion and artistic reparations. I think I should be getting a check in the mail for the damage to my psyche.

I think the drummer looks a little like the bass player on "This is Spinal Tap"

Steve Perry looks a bit like my friend Joey. Joey didn't you buy those actual jeans at an auction or on Ebay?

Stream

Stream of conscience is a fun thing sometimes.
feel free to interpret how you wish...








They stood as sweaty men
Shaking hands with good news still dripping from their brow
Bibles in hand beating all with their muscular voices
They spoke of freedom, love and hell.
“United, we can be one by never being one”
Power was given unto them to cover the face of the earth with Joy
For a while there was joy
This joy became power
The Love became love of power to contain and control

Now on the graves of dead preachers
Spirit to Spirit their children cry out
They still reach for our hands
Through their coffins, through the dirt
Yet their children find only the hands passing up bread of hate
Hands that should have shaped clay into sons and daughters
Still shaping vessels of fool’s gold that hold trash and hate.

The old cemetery guard is dying in his sleep
Where once his great schools graduated thinkers and men
Now they graduate hands who wish to control and water graves with new sweat
Hands that still thrust allegiance straight to fear himself and claim the land
Voices that boom still in their hallways and then in buildings of
Brass, marble, chandeliers, Cadillacs, and mirrors

“Hail Me! Hail my Church in the Name of Jesus and Me. My way and no other!
Lock the doors, let no one in!”
There words caught fire to the curtains hiding the light.
Their building is now burning
Where once their sweat was from the fire in their belly
It comes from the fire of their burning buildings and burning buses.
The buses that drove children to a great assembly
To vote for them, the procurers of fear and power.
And still they stamp down the dirt around their graves and
Where the thorns grow that keep them safe and still.
Power from Power to Power for Power.
We left the garden to them and they grew more thorns.


Among the thorns of Eden something new grows
A new wind blows these days
Still she rises, she blooms,
Beautiful
She pushes through the stones of guilt and hate
Through the war, blood, and lies, choking the thorns
A strange flower blooms
She rises from the ashes of burnt buses and pillars
She is their children and they are us.

Those Children are now turning from your divided fold
Spirit that parted the waters is now flowing through them
Fresh and clean they lean towards the wind to listen.
They can hear again the voice of their Shepherd
They are the Church now
We are the Church now
The flower blooms from the rotted wood of your coffin
A beauty from your ashes
A new Love unites us
A true Body is found there.

Somewhere in the faint memory of our soul begotten from yours
We heard the voice of our Shepherd say:

“Take and eat, this is My Body”
“Take and drink, this is My Blood”

We are coming to the table again to eat and remember.

No longer will we point our fingers in vain to ourselves for truth
We will eat again from what was buried in fertile soil of the Garden planted long before
Planted where no flame can reach from Hells gate
Watered deep by the blood of the Saints
The Son of the Living God burned in Her veins, her roots, and so again in ours

Farewell Church of the divided
Farwell Church of thorns
Farwell Church of fear and neglect

This we do this in remembrance of Him.

Moon Day

I am having one of those days. You know the ones. Staring into space. Wondering what to do, somewhere between sleepiness and restlessness. Not caring if your sentences are fragments. Liking fragments. More fragments. Necessary.

It is kind of an all-around numbness yet you are acutely aware of your numbness so it isn't depression. You sadly feel too optimistic for depression.

I think it just may be... Mondays. Let's face it, there really is something unique to the mood of Monday. The word Monday itself has the least exciting etymology of all the days. All the other Days are named after cool Norse gods and such but Monday, it's just named after the good ole' moon. Not that I don't admire the moon and it's unique light but it might as well be...Airday. Winday. Dirtday. Poopday. There has got to be something we can do with this Monday business right? Like... There should be some kind of good news that everyone gets on Monday that makes them forget that it is Monday!!! For instance,


"Dear Seth,

We are pleased to inform you that you have won a trip to Middle Earth (New Zealand) to walk the path of Frodo and Sam and scale Mount Doom to where One Ring was forged. You will be accompanied by none other than the real life Gandalf. Bring your pipe and plenty of pipe-weed. Also, God has decided that he will be allowing you to DEFY GRAVITY today. That's right my friend, you can fly your way to New Zealand if you like. Also, did we mention that the world of Star Wars is real and in your right front drawer there is a light-saber with your name inscribed on the bottom dilithium-titanium plate?

Last but not least, you are allowed to eat anything you want today and barely get full so you can eat more and more of all that food that would normally make you as fat as a happy Bison. In fact, what the heck, it's Monday... The more you eat the skinnier and more fit you get.



Enjoy your Monday you lucky, lucky Man.

Sincerely,

The Intergalactic Department for Better Mondays"


So back to reality. Now that I have indulged in a fantasy that included half the deadliest sins, what do you do to spice up your Mondays? Any suggestions?

Anyone cracked that Telekinesis thing lately?

One last indulgence- (makes me want to be a Medieval Catholic)

If you had your choice between:

1. Using the Force for a day
2. Flying
3. Spending a Day in Middle Earth fighting evil
4. Spend the entire day riding Roller Coasters while eating endless Chick fil A sandwiches and Drinking Sweet Tea.
5. Indiana Jones and Star Wars Marathon
6. Halo Marathon while eating Powdered Doughnuts and Drinking Chocolate Milk

Which would you choose?

P.S. Yes, I am this big of a Nerd.

You Gotta Love Mac

Taken from the Wikipedia on the Life of Carl Sagan.

In 1994, Apple Computer began developing the Power Macintosh 7100. They chose the internal code name "Carl Sagan," in honor of the astronomer. Though the project name was strictly internal and never used in public marketing, when Sagan learned of this internal usage, he sued Apple Computer to use a different project name — other projects had names like "Cold fusion" and "Piltdown Man", and he was displeased at being associated with what he considered pseudoscience. Though Sagan lost the suit, Apple engineers complied with his demands anyway, renaming the project "BHA" (Butt-Head Astronomer). Sagan sued Apple for libel over the new name, claiming that it subjected him to contempt and ridicule. Sagan lost this lawsuit as well; still, the 7100 saw another name change: it was lastly called "LAW" (Lawyers Are Wimps).