My Favorite Will Ferrell Moment on SNL

Sunday: Real-Time Blogging...

7:15
Ironing clothes, getting ready for church.

7:45
Leave for church.

7:50-8:15
Get ready for soundcheck/rehearsal; print a chart or two, tune guitar, etc.

8:15-9:00
Rehearse with band.

9:00-9:15
Pick up family and get them to church.

9:15-10:30
Print tech sheets, finalize projection, double-check DVD for announcement video.

10:30-11:10
Lead worship.

11:10-11:30
Listen to sermon, make sure all is well is sound room.

11:34-12:00
Finish singing, pack up gear. Go home.

12:00-5:00
Eat, sleep, play video games.

5:00-6:00
Go up to the church, get tech ready for youth service.

6:00-7:15
Run technology, went well - tried a lot of different stuff with tonight's service, including a Powerpoint game called "You're So Indie." Our kids did a pretty good job.

Rituals...

I know a lot of you serve in your churches each week.
Here's my question - what's your ministry ritual?
What do your Saturdays/Sundays look like? When do you prepare your lesson or rehearse your songs or fill your "spot?"

WHEN NEWS GETS IT WRONG

Thanks to Jeff Williford for posting this hilarious video of a newscast gone wrong. The setup is this - the newscast intended to do a story on Kevin Everett, the football player who was recently injured during a game. What happened was hilarious....

Carlos Santana Shreds...

Thank you, John Simmons, for sending me this video. It brought me much joy and it is a credit to you that would somehow know that I would love every second of it.

My Friday

Finley woke up around 6:20 or so. I got up and let Kristen sleep. (We've been horrible this week about going to bed at a decent hour and we both need to do some serious catch-up.) Fortunately, Finley got very interested in Teletubbies. (I know, I know, it's a weird show, but at 6:30, it's a God-send for a really sleepy dad.)

Jonah got up at 7. Both of the kids were pretty laid back this morning, so I pretty much laid around. I might have dozed a time or two. Maybe...

Woke Kristen up at 8 and took over the bed. She started getting ready while I slept like a rock for about an hour. Krist woke me up at 9 because she needed to leave for work. The kids and I hung around until almost noon, when Kristen came back home. I changed clothes and we headed into town to pick up my paycheck and grab some lunch. We get the check and head to the bank when I realize that our car is about to run out of gas. (Krist says she got the "refuel" light just today, which usually means we've got some time, but the light lied.)

The car died right in the middle of Chestnut. The kids thought it was hilarious. I did not. Krist jumped in the driver's seat, I got behind the car and waited for oncoming traffic to clear so I could hurriedly push the car into the parking lot of a local Assembly of God church. (See, Assembly of God churches are good for something...)

I called my pal David, who was about to make a horribly unwise purchase at Best Buy. I asked him if he could help us out and gladly obliged. He picked us up and ran us home so the family could get inside and I could get a gas can. David and I went to the gas station. I fueld up the car, went to the bank, then stopped by Del Rio for some takeout.

When I got home, Finley was already asleep, so Krist, Jonah and I ate a late lunch while I surfed a blog or two. Pretty soon, Jonah wanted to play outside, so we headed out with lightsabers in hand (TOY lightsabers.) However, Jonah wasn't feeling the Star Wars, so instead he and I spent fifteen minutes pulling twigs and branches off a very small, very dead tree in our backyard. (I'll eventually cut it down, but he and I pretended it was an evil Star Wars creature with deadly tentacles that we had to rip off to protect the other Jedis.)

The mosquitos eventually became a factor, so Jonah and I came in for a little Gamecube before catching his current favorite cartoon, WordGirl. Kristen slept while I threw some cookies in the oven, blogged and Jonah watched TV.

Went in to wake up Krist. We decided to let Finley sleep a bit more while I laid down. Once I persuaded Kristen to get up and tend the children while I took A MUCH DESERVED break. She finally got up with the intent of getting the aforementioned cookies out of the oven. At least, I think they were cookies...they were very very black.

I slept for about an hour, then struggled for twenty minutes to get up. Finally got up around 5 to the sound of my family laughing. Apparently, the video gaming was still happening, with Jonah and Kristen desperately trying to manipulate Mario to defeat some otherworldy goon. Romack and his wife called to say they would run by to pick up a key so that Justin could go load up some gear at the church.

Justin and Angela stayed for a bit being very friendly a politely accommodating our 2 very wild children. After the Romacks left, we bathed the kids and got them ready for bed. Sometime in between the bathing and the brushing of Finley's teeth, I hear a loud WHUMP-FLAP-WHOA in the living room. I go dashing into the living room to find Kristen laying on the floor looking bewildered. Apparently, the cell was ringing and Kristen jumped up to get it and slipped on a CD case on our kitchen floor. (That's how we roll around here - music everywhere...) When the dust cleared and it was confirmed that Kristen was okay, we all had quite a nice laugh over it.

Got the kids in bed....

Announcement Video This Sunday

Some of you may remember last fall when we did a series of videos with "Todd and Glen." We ran three weeks of funny, goofy videos starring these two guys. This year, we decided to bring them back for a cameo in an announcement video. As you'll see, these two guys tend to take over...

Our people love them....take a look!

From CNN.com...

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) -- Six Catholic nuns have been excommunicated for heresy after refusing to give up membership in a Canadian sect whose founder claims to be possessed by the Virgin Mary, the Diocese of Little Rock announced.

The Rev. J. Gaston Hebert, the diocese administrator, said he notified the nuns of the decision Tuesday night after they refused to recant the teachings of the Community of the Lady of All Nations, also known as the Army of Mary.The Vatican has declared all members of the Army of Mary excommunicated. Hebert said the excommunication was the first in the diocese's 165-year history.

"It is a painfully historic moment for this church," Hebert said.

The six nuns are associated with the Good Shepherd Monastery of Our Lady of Charity and Refuge in Hot Springs. Sister Mary Theresa Dionne, one of the nuns excommunicated, said the nuns will still live at the convent property, which they own.

"We are at peace and we know that for us we are doing the right thing," the 82-year-old nun said. "We pray that the church will open their eyes before it is too late. This is God's work through Mary, the blessed mother, and we're doing what we're asked to do."

At a news conference, Hebert said the nuns "became entranced and deluded with a doctrine that is heretical." He said church officials removed the Eucharist -- which Catholics revere as the body of Christ -- from the monastery on Tuesday night.Hebert said the sect's members believe that its 86-year-old founder, Marie Paule Giguere, is the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary and that God speaks directly through her.

Excommunication bars the nuns from participating in the church liturgy and receiving communion or other sacraments.

The diocese said the action was taken after the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a declaration dated July 11 that the Army of Mary's teachings were heretical and automatically excommunicated any who embraced the doctrine.Hebert said the diocese had known for years that the nuns were following the sect and said church officials in the past had encouraged them to come back into the fold.

According to the Catholic News Service, the Army of Mary was founded in Quebec in 1971 by Giguere, who said she was receiving visions from God.Dionne said she does not know if Giguere is the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary, but said she believes God communicates through the sect's founder.

"She is doing only what God and Mary tells her to do," Dionne said.

A spokesman for the Army of Mary called the excommunication of the nuns and the other members of the sect an injustice. Father Eric Roy said Giguere has not claimed to be the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary, and said the 86-year-old Quebec woman "receives graces" from the Virgin Mary and God.

"The Virgin Mary took possession of her soul. I would rather say it that way," said Roy, superior general of the Sons of Mary, an associated group.

It's an old debate, but one that's been showing up a good bit in my life these days. Here's how it started:

Our church in the midst of a project called Transforming Churches. It's essentially a consulting program with an outside company designed to help our church do a better job of, well...everything. As with any consulting issue, there are some things that work and some things that don't, but one of the predominant things our "coach" has been talking about has been our weekly television broadcast.

Every two months, we broadcast our 10:30 "Traditional" service on a local TV station. The service is on a one-week delay, and is primarliy viewed by those that are physically unable to attend our services.

Our coach believes that we should change our format - that we should stop broadcast traditional services and show the contemporary service instead, as most young families are going to be more inclined to check out a more casual service.

Believe it or not, I don't want us to talk about "modern" services verses "traditional" ones. (Sorry, Johnny.) But I do think its interesting to hear someone suggest that we modify the act of worship so that it can be more evangelistic.

And so the debate began - should we alter our times of corporate worship and fellowship to be more evangelistic? Should we keep them totally seperate? If worship's done right, is it evangelism enough?

Then, I was discussing a church's practice of prayer with a friend. My friend tells me that the preacher doesn't really explain much before going into a relatively unique, but Biblical, form of prayer. This bugged my pal, because he felt the pastor should be doing more "explaining" for those who were visiting.

Where do you stand? Should we be thinking of evangelism while doing worship? Should we just worship and let God do what He wants? Is there a place for specific evangelistic outreach.

*Please note that this blog is sometimes frequented by Calvinists, so who knows what those kooks are gonna' say! Heh!

Here's the video we ran last Sunday. I posted it over at worshipbuzz, but figured I might as well let the rest of you see it:

SURVEY...

What's one of your favorite blogs/sites to visit? And don't say this one. Nobody likes a kiss-up.

Tuesday Tavin

Find Us Faithful

For those of us involved in ministry - and that pretty much applies to all of you - we have a lot of responsibility and privilege. Not only are we charged to be shepherds for our people, but quite often, we're also shepherds for those who will one day take our place.

Youth pastors, you see this in the group of 2 or 3 guys who are always at the church, or consistently asking you about when you "knew" you were called into ministry. Worship leaders, you see this in the middle-school girl who makes a bee-line for the drums each week, watching, asking, making mental notes.

It happens to us all - the young people that God places in our lives to watch, learn and maybe even model what they've seen.

And while most of us are more than willing to stay late after practicing teaching a guitar chord or meeting for an early morning Bible study or attending some high school sporting event, we're still falling short in the lives we display for the kids who are to come after us.

Specifically, I'm talking about us, guys. Who among us doesn't have a college guy or high schooler hanging on our words and watching what we do? We've got to do a better job at modeling an entire live of God-honoring behavior.

I personally believe that many of us have done a great job in displaying what a good minister does, but fail when it comes to showing what a good husband and father does. You see, all of my young guys are watching me - they see when I cancel plans on my family to make some rehearsal, when I ignore a call from my wife just so I can indulge in some late-night parking lot chat. They notice when all I talk about is the job. They notice when I pass on a day off or use that free time just for me. And they notice when I can't turn off my mind and I'm still "at the church" even when I'm at home.

Let's work harder, guys. Let's be aware that these that follow us are learning more than just chord structures or songwriting or web design or sermon planning or outreach. They're learning how to be the kind of man God calls them to be...and some of them are learning it wrong. Let's do it better.

How's This For A Mix-Tape?

Lately listening to these 3 albums - Foos, Crowder and Ross King.
A weird mix to be sure...

A. Mutemath is cool.
B. The original video is cool.
C. Performing "the video" on Jimmy Kimmel is cooler than cool.

WHAT TODD AND JONAH WILL BE DOING 5/8/08

I might be listening to the new Crowder right now...

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Nothing on TV brings me more pleasure than this little series:

What about you? What show makes you stay up way too late?

What We've Done...

If you read my wife's blog - and I strongly encourage to do so - you know that we've decided to home school Jonah.

First of all, let me say that I have been quite surprised by the reactions of people as we've told them. Naturally, our families and close friends have been nothing but supportive, but I've been a bit taken back at how many "Oh, no!" statements I'm hearing. In the more recent conversations about this thing, I've formulated an answer that tends to shut down most cynics:

A homeschooler is only as weird as his parents.

Kristen and I aren't weird. (Not that weird.) Jonah will be okay.

Secondly, I'd like to share WHY we opted to do this now...we had thought about it at the end of last year, but decided to go ahead and give public education a try. We actually have nothing against public education. Kristen came through it all right, and I spent the back half of my schooling there and we're both people with a somewhat consistent level of integrity. But over the past few weeks, here are the things that began to concern (and maybe even "convict" us.)

TIME: Long before we had kids, we decided that Krist would stay home with them. After we had kids, we did this, and truly began to appreciate the miracle of time - the joy and contentment of spending as much time as possible with your offspring. A few years ago, when I began working for county government, I began to appreciate this time thing even more as I was surrounded by women who either chose to work full-time or had to do so to support their families. (Again...nothing against a workin' gal, okay?) But from the very beginning, Krist and I made a committment that we wouldn't be a family that passed each in the halls on the way to our days. We would make time a priority. Plain and simple - we didn't like Jonah being gone for 7 hours a day. Maybe it makes us weird, but we felt there had to be a better way.

INFLUENCE: From the time concern also comes the "influence" factor. As soon as Jonah started school, Kristen began to feel really convicted about influence. It was as if God began telling her that it wasn't time for us to give up so much of our influence on Jonah. That doesn't mean he'll never go to a public school - but for us, and for now - God wants him to spend those crucial influential hours with us.

ACADEMICS: I'm not gonna' brag on my kid. I'll just say this - he's really smart. And we feel that we can do more for his academic growth at this time by teaching him from home.

TIME, PART 2: Another factor is Jonah's strong desire to do "stuff." Jonah wants to learn guitar, he wants to play soccer, he wants to learn karate. We would love for him to do this, but for a kid who normally crashes every night by 7:30, there simply wasn't enough time for us to let him begin pursuing his little dreams. We believe that home school will give us the opportunity to try some of these extracurricular things without undue stress>

THE FUTURE: We don't know what the future holds for us. Honestly, I believe that the next two years are going to be very odd for us. I think the release of the CD is going to increase the travel aspect of my ministry, and although those things take awhile to take effect, we want to be prepared to be a family that can mobilize for ministry. I've decided I'm not going to sacrifice my family on the altar of career - even when the career is ministry. We do this together or not at all.

That's essentially where we stand. We're excited, Jonah's excited and the curriculum gets here Monday. I'm sure you'll be able to find lots of upcoming updates over at Kristen's blog.

Okay, anti-homeschoolers...start griping!

Props to darkstew, who hooked me onto Ronald Jenkees...who is crazy...good.

Believe the hype...you need this record. I'm not gonna' say this record might just make Ross King a bona-fide star ('cause that's probably the absolute last thing on earth Ross wants to be,) but I'm saying here and now that this record has some of the best songwriting/playing around.

Get it now.

Best Will Ferrell Movie? 1. Blades of Glory
2. Stranger Than Fiction
3. Talladega Nights
4. Curious George
5. The Producers
6. Bewitched
7. Kicking and Screaming
8. Old School
9. Anchorman
10. Elf
11. Zoolander
12. A Night At The Roxbury

(tried to pick films where he's had major roles, not just bit parts; feel free to submit your own vote in case I missed your favorite movie!)

I Really Enjoy This...Should I Be Concerned?

MAN, I HATE RAP MUSIC.

What I Read...

Just finished Jeffery Deaver's Garden of Beasts. I am a huge fan of this author. I find his writing amazingly creative (though sometimes a bit too grisly) and funny. This book in particular marked a unique change for Deaver - rather than penning some forensic crime thriller, he's written a really smart story about espionage and redemption in Germany during Hitler's rise to power. If you're looking for an easy, fun read. This one is great.

Always a sucker for spy books, I was so glad to finally remember Robert Baer's See No Evil. This is one of those books that I kept reminding myself to read, but I'd always forget to check it out at the library or look for it at the bookstore. If you're unfamiliar with Baer, he's a very highly respected former CIA agent. In fact, two of his biographical books formed the basis for the screenplay for Syriana. (George Clooney's character is patterned after Robert Baer.)

My favorite part of the book comes when Baer is discussing highly sensitive issues. As a rule, the CIA requires all former agents to submit any and all manuscripts before publishing memoirs, articles, etc. What's so cool is that Baer actually leaves the "black-outs" in the book. You'll be reading through the paragraph and find a whole 2 sentences completely blacked out. Kinda' fun imagining what those sentences might say! Great book for all of you spy-nerds out there.

Tuesday Tavin

TheNightLife

I'll admit that I sometimes miss those days of young-married life: the late-night trips to Blockbuster, sleeping late on our days off, spontaneously going to dinner with friends or just driving around town sipping giant drinks from Sonic.

That's a freedom not afforded very often to those of us with kids...I miss it, but an active night life looks a lot different for me now.

When the sun sets these days, I examine the last few hours and realize that I got to cook dinner for my kids and wrestled them on Mom and Dad's big bed. I bathed them, colored with them, maybe read a book or two. I watched them brush their teeth and offered that last cup of milk or water before they climbed off to bed.

It's one of God's many graces to us, I think. He blesses us with years of freedom - the late night movies and dinners and parties and concerts; but not to be otudone, He then blesses us with years of family - the late night feedings and homemade dinners and cartoons and giggles.

Thank you, Father for The Night Life - in whatever way we have it. You're far too good...

Ladies and Gentlemen...

Here's the site we launched this morning to run in conjuction with our God 101 series that started today.

We had no music today, but special guest Rob Byers, who's an artist. Rob spent almost 40 minutes painting a massive mural on stage. Our pastor then came up and talked about "brushstrokes" - how we had no idea what the picture was going to be. Slowly, as we saw more brushstrokes, we begin to get a better perspective.

Mike then asked our people to take a few minutes and write down their own personal brushstrokes - times when they've "seen" God. It was really cool. I would tell you what we're going to do with those cards, but since my blog is now linked at http://www.worshipbuzz.com/, some of them may be reading this!

I must keep it secret! I must keep it safe! I will say that reading through these cards has been a moving experience. Will try to post more info on the next "super-secret-church-thing" in the next few days.

1. Why business/churches with double-door entrances (usually glass) only unlock ONE OF THEM.

2. Vanity license plates.

3. The success of Robin Thicke.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOURS? WHAT'S OUT THERE THAT YOU JUST DON'T GET?

Okay, we're closing in on mix stage for the record. This means that I'm now starting to fill out paperwork, get pictures together, make sure I have enough money to actually duplicated CDs, write my thank-yous, all that stuff.

This is where you come in.

I'm having so much trouble figuring out track placement. Here's what my list looks like right now:
TODD WRIGHT - ALL THE FREED
1. All The Freed

2.

3. I Am Glad

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13. The Cross of Christ

Here are the remaining songs:
Like The Sun
My Lips Will Sing
Align
Part of Your Story
Search and Know
Beautiful
King of Mercy
You Gave Sight
Let It Be
Glorify

Where would YOU plug those 12 songs? Come on - I need some help here!

This was on postsecret last Sunday. Should we all plan some sort of intervention for Robert?

THE JIG

Britney bombed. Sarah Silverman is mean. Usher is mad. Kid Rock threw punches with Tommy Lee. Justin Timberlake left a party with Rihanna.

Here's the thing: I don't watch MTV. I didn't watch this award show. But thanks to the amazing power of American news and the wonder of YouTube, I - along with millions of others - have become privy all the lowdown dirt on music's biggest night last weekend.

But this award show was pretty important in my opinion. Intrigued? Good, here's why:

For the last 10 years or so, MTV has changed its approach. They went from making money by selling 3 minute commercials for artists to making money by pitching a lifestyle. For a decade, MTV (and others like it) have held up stars like Britney and Silverman and Kid Rock as if to say, "Here, American teenager! This is the life. This is success...look how many cars they have! Look how people applaud when these stars come onstage!"

And while most teenagers don't seriously consider a life in the entertainment industry, they have been force-fed images of what MTV programmers consider the "good life" and, believe me, that takes root.

We see this in a lot of forms - young people deciding to lead lives of anarchy where nothing is really right and everything is cool. We see teenagers who've decided that money really can make you happy. We've got college students who scream their lungs out protesting a war when they're totally cool starting up a slugfest at some nightclub with a stranger who looked at their significant other in a questionable manner.

The wheels are coming off, gang. The pretty and the rich and the talented are being crushed under the weight of the vices made possible by their very successes. I hope students look at the MTV Awards and realize that the jig is up. This thing - this idea of happiness they've been seeing for years and years - isn't working.

I think our youth pastors ought to be talking about this award show for months - not as some sort of fuel for a Jesus-doesn't-want-you-to-drink campaign, but rather as a startling reminder that our culture is screwing us. It's teaching us things that are going to handicap our spirits and put our families and finances and very existence at risk.

Do any of those people mentioned in my first paragraph seem very glamorous now? No, they look empty. They look like lives-at-risk.

I'm not going to be the annoying Christian guy who says, "MTV awards? I don't care about stupid stuff like that!" We better start caring and noticing those rare times when media really does reveal the ugliness of a life lived for self.

Tracks That Are Inspiring Me RIGHT NOW!

1. Bruce Springsteen - Radio Nowhere

2. Matchbox 20 - How Far We've Come

3. The Shins - Split Needles

4. Steven Curtis Chapman - Miracle Of The Moment

What It Looks Like

For quite some time, my wife has been "encouraging" me (read: "pressuring") to do more teaching during our worship times at church.

I love the people at our church, but a majority of them don't really know much about what the Bible says about worship. In the past, when I've done these little teaching things, they've gone over well, but I've been looking for some sort of overarching theme to help me approach the issue.

I was familiar with Aaron Keyes "Postures of Praise" sermon, so downloaded the pdf from him and started looking through the material trying to formulate my approach. I knew this past Sunday was a great time to do it, since we were doing Michael Neale's "From the Rooftops," which has this line: I lift my hands in adoration.

Before we did the song, I talked about "what it looks like" - essentially, what does the Bible say about the physical aspects of worship: lifting hands, singing, clapping, kneeling, shouting, dancing. I used the phrase "what it looks like" 2 or 3 times because I thought it created a unique, non-threatening approach. I spoke real briefly about what most of us at my church think of with regard to the lifting of hands - that its something we do to acknowledge God's sovereignty or we're feeling particularly inspired. I think those can be great reasons to lift hands, but I wanted to come at if from a different angle, so here's what I read:

Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
Psalm 28:2

Then I talked about how children do this - when they cry for help, they throw their hands up. I mentioned that there were probably were people in the room who needed help and I encouraged them to lift their hands during the song. I also mentioned that if they felt weird about that, then they might consider simply opening their hands up in front of them.

It came out nice. The song went over great and I even got a bit of postivite feedback immediately after the service, which is always a good sign.

For quite some time, I've wanted to do this sort of thing for my folks, and this time it worked. I think we'll hit on the hands for three or four weeks (not necessarily consecutively) and then move on. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tuesday Tavin

Since Jonah started school a few weeks ago, I've adjusted my work schedule a bit so that I spend more time with him. Both of our kids go to bed pretty early each night, so I had to make some changes to my calendar in order to see him in the afternoons.

With my new schedule, I drop Jonah off at school and then head straight to work. (I'm normally a roll-in-at-9:30 type of guy....) I work through lunch and then leave at around 2:30 to meet up with Kristen and Finley to pick Jonah up. There are, of course, exceptions and the occasional late-night trips to the office, although I try to limit those.

Today was great. We picked up Jonah and while I was waiting to get him, our realtor called Krist and said they wanted to show our house at 4. We ran home, cleaned up the kitchen a bit and then headed to the mall. Yes, the Lufkin Mall. We got a pretzel, looked around the video game store, hit up the Great American cookie company, then browsed around the bookstore. I loved it - just me and my family, spending an afternoon doing stuff that seems unimportant but matters in ways I can't even express.

The Lufkin Mall is awesome.

I'm not kidding. I love our mall and here's why...
1. It's just big enough. (If I want to buy trendy shoes or some girl pants at the Gap or a movie or chicken sandwich, I can. The mall's got almost everything a family like man needs.)
2. It's just small enough. (I hate big-city malls. I cannot stand fighting my way through mooks and midriffs, dashing for a table at the FoodCourt where I have to yell across the table to my family just to be heard over the din that can only occur in a spacious, tile-floored mall. I don't like what my kids hear and see in big city malls...profanity, sex, disrespect, etc. I'm not saying Lufkin doesn't have those things...just that they're not usually on display at our beloved shopping center.)
3. It's mine. (When I met Kristen, she worked at our mall. I would spend every single lunch-break racing over to see her, just to sit beside her, just to hear her talk about her day. My mall may not have much, but it's got that memory, and that's enough for me.)

So, the next time you're in the Lufkin Mall, take a second and appreciate the perfect blend of mid-size shopping options, small-town quiet and the amazing historical significance it holds in the life of your most beloved blogger, Brandon Todd Wright.

Big Brother Vs. Mom and Dad

Caught a story on NPR this morning while driving to work. I had heard that California was about to try to do some law-making about cell phone usage in cars.

What I hadn't heard is that legislators are also trying to pass a law that prohibits 16 and 17 year-olds from driving while using any electronic device (including hands-free equipment.)

Opponents of the bill say that teaching safe driving is the responsibility of parents, not the state.

What do you think? Would this law be an invasion of personal privacy? Does the safety of its citizens warrant the government violating what a person does in his or her car?

More Shaun...

Robert Conn is the man.

This is the promotional pic for his upcoming fall scavenger hunt.

It is awesome.

Yes, I am trying to think of a way to get to his church just so I can be a part of this event.

Great image, Robert!

Thank You, Shawn Bashor

Wow....
This is the work of one Shawn Bashor, ladies and gents. Check him out!

If You'll Allow Me...

I'd like to take just a minute to gush over all of you fellow bloggers. I love checking out your sites and getting those small (and sometimes frightening) peeks into your heads.

Thanks for consistently stopping by this blog to offer your thoughts. Ain't no party like a comment party, eh? Ya' heard me?



Maybe the big brains are right - maybe there really is some sort of community possible in this online journal thing. Thanks for being a part of my community and letting me part of yours.

BLOGS4EVER...

Words...

Words I Don't Like:

1. Ream
2. Vigorous
3. Fart
4. Larripin' (I believe this a word with origins in East Texas; typically means "good," or "delicious.")
5. Calvin
6. Crap
7. P.R. (I realize this is two words, but I'm not a fan of hearing the abbreviation thrown around carelessly.)

Words You Don't Like?

Uh Oh...

Todd's digging pop punk!

I know she's a mess, but this girl can SANG...

I Told You, Guys...

I told you all awhile back about this great site called 3rd Chair Trombone. I don't know if any of you believed me when I said it was funny. So, in an effort to share the good news of 3CT, I offer you this from their first post of this morning:



Thank you, 3CT. Hopefully, all of my friends will come and visit you now!

You're Welcome...

BIG BROTHER?

As a member of CCLI (yes, Jeff, I got your email and will answer soon,) I'm able to sign in to view my songs as well as all songs included in the SongSelect program. This allows me to check lyrics, copyright info, rights ownership of every song registered with CCLI.

This week, I was looking to double check the lyrics of Rich Mullins' "I See You." We're using the song for a video in our upcoming God 101 series and I was debating playing the song live to videor or just using the CD version during the video.

Now, when you sign into SongSelect, you hit a main menu page. Usually, this page includes for or five small links to some of the top songs of the day...in addition to this, there's usually a flash banner running at the top of the page. This banner will show some promotional shot of an artist, list the song and add some quote like:
"Martin Smith's 'Here I Am' offers a heartfelt cry from a generation longing for change."
This banner scrolls constantly, so I don't pay much attention to it.

So, imagine my surprise when I log into the site on Tuesday and the banner has a giant picture of Rich Mullins and giant words "I See You" lighting up the screen.

I've NEVER seen Rich Mullins on this flash show, never seen CCLI have any sort of link to Mullins' music...

Is CCLI watching me?

In preparing for our upcoming God 101 series, David Runnels and I are working on a blog for the people of our service. Initially, the site will be themed around the God 101 stuff, but if it catches on, it should be a really cool place for our church members to connect and share.

I realize a website isn't going to be the great solution to the big "community crisis" that's happenign in so many churches, but the more we can do to stay connected, the better!

Hopefully, I can share the site with you soon, so you can monitor our progress. (Fingers crossed!)

Tuesday Tavin

Go ahead and prepare yourself. I'm gonna' be selfish here. I'm going to speak personally - telling you my opinion and the factors that have created it.

I'm going to write from two perspectives: that of a worship leader/musician and that of a child of God who loves to worship. (Think of these 2 positions as "stage" and "crowd.")

Lately, I've been very grateful for space. Over the past few months, I've come to identify a thing that makes me fall in love with songs: space. I've come to appreciate worship songs that have a lot of space in them. Understand that I'm not talking about simple songs - any musician can tell you that building space in a song is an extremely hard thing to do.

No, I've been impressed by songs that are well done and still have space in them.

WHAT DO I MEAN?
Let me try to share my concept of space as it relates to worship music. I love to hear rocking bass, drums, keys and guitars; I dig sweet, smooth, well crafted vocal parts; I love loops and auxiliary percussion tracks; but what I don't dig is when all of that stuff bleeds right over into the words I'm supposed to be singing.

The best worship songs have lots of cool stuff in them, but make a priority of the actual lyrical content that's being communicated. That doesn't mean I expect every instrument to stop playing in each verse, but so many songs I'm hearing lately have instrumentation that never lets up: the electric guitar is wailing away during the chorus and when the 2nd verse hits, he doesn't play less, but just as much (maybe at a different place on the fretboard.)

So I'm admiring songs where I can tell the instrumentalists and singers are making it obvious to us all that they're main job is to support the words being spoken to or in praise of the Father.

MY PERSPECTIVE(S)
Let me tell you why I'm digging space.

As a worship leader/musician, I just can't do it. I just can't pound my way through a song with 200 words and 8 different chord voicings - because when I play those songs, I'm not able to actually think about what the song is actually about. It makes it harder for me to sing or even think about what I'm saying to God and it prevents me from thinking far enough ahead to plan the places where I'll give the tune space.

As a worshipper, I just can't do it. It's too hard - I can't listen to a band playing all out non-stop for six minutes. I get too distracted. I end up thinking, "Oooh, wow! What is that drummer doing? Holy cow, that bass run is awesome. Man, I'm so buying their CD!" Listen to me - that stuff does not belong in worship. The worship of God has been so abused and commercialized over the past few years that I don't even realize that I've turned worship into a concert. I've turned it into something that turns heads and tickles ears but doesn't lift eyes, hands and hearts.
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Even though I've spoken from a very personal perspective, I'm willing to bet that a renewed focus on space is something you and I (as worship leaders) need in the worst possible way. Here are a few artists that I've noticed do a great job of making space in music.

Chris Tomlin - I think its better on his live stuff, but you can definitely hear that Chris and crew work hard an not cluttering up tunes with overplaying. They're all good musicians and show that by making space for each other and the spoken/sung praises of God.
Paul Baloche - One of the masters of space, in my opinion. I don't think most people realize it, but you'll hear folks talk about how "smooth" or "comfortable" Paul's songs are. That's space. Perfect use of space.
Brian Doerksen - Even at his most complex/weirdest, Doerksen is so skilled at pacing the dynamic flow of his tunes.
Robin Mark - Even this writer of such anthemic tunes leaves tons of wide open space in his music.

I encourage you to listen through some of your most well-loved worship tunes and see how the "space" issue hits you. Too much space or not enough?

What Shaun and Brody Talk About...

Ben Cantelon - Daylight Breaks Through
Survivor Records, released July 2007

Got this record from David Runnels; I am learning that David Runnels is very "connected," always getting records before anybody else, hearing secret movie/book info, stuff like that. Could he be in the Geek Mafia?

As best as I can tell, Ben Cantelon is the new worship leader/image of Soul Survivor, the English "youth church" pastored by Mike Pilavachi that made Matt Redman and Tim Hughes the mega-stars they are today.

Canadian-born Cantelon does a great job of capturing/almost-imitating the decidedly "British" sound of his predecessors Hughes and Redman. The guy's no slouch as a writer. He co-wrote Hughes' "Happy Day," one of the strongest tunes on Tim's "Holding Nothing Back" project. Here's the rundown, although a little different than previous reviews.

You're The Light
Music: Spacey ambient keyboard intro, delay electric and four-on-the-floor intro almost make this another failed "worship-as-U2" moment, but the chorus completely changes the feel. Arrangement skillfully mixes trendy verse and bridge sections with fantastic straight-ahead rocking choruses. Fantastic melody work and great 2nd vocal ad-lib part. Vocals sounds strangely similiar to United stuff.
Lyrics: With the exception of just a few lines, "You're The Light" stays focused and is clearly followed throughout. No major prose breakthroughs here, but good songwriting nonetheless. Accessibility: Bands playing at a slightly above average skill level can pull this tune off. Melodies are great but might present problems for male vocalists. (Background vocal is somewhere in the stratsophere, too.)
Overall: Song manages to take a relatively common style (delay, four on floor, etc.) and turn it into something very refreshing. Perfect album opener and a great song that can easily stand on its own.
Love Came Down
Music: Again, Canelton surprises! Track 2 opens with a nice fluid one chord movement that sounds pretty predictable. (Everybody knows what's gonna' happen when a track starts on acoustic, right?) However, when drums, bass and electric enter the tune, it takes on a whole new feel, almost Americana (without the steel!) Choruses are nice and driving, showcasing what kind of power is really possible when guitarists focus on rocking all down-strums. Chord progression is pretty simple, which works nice for the tune as it promises to be a quick-learner. Song has also features a great female backing vocal.
Lyrics: I wish the lyrics were a little more focused. There's all good stuff here, and nothing that feels "wrong" about the tune. In fact, it works great as a "lift-God-high" tune, I just wish it were a bit more linear.
Accessibility: Totally playable. I can't foresee any arrangement, performance difficulties here. Overall: The simple approach to the tune is its greatest asset. I hope more churches can hear and learn this tune. It's easy to play, fun to sing and provides a new "sort" of song into most church catalog.
Celebrate
Music: Remember how I said Canelton helped to write "Happy Day" with Tim Hughes. You can hear it in "Celebration." I love the presence of acoustic in this very joyous track. In fact, it reminds me of some those early Soul Survivor recordings. Those early records weren't mixed well, but I always liked the prominence of acoustic on songs like these. Song has great, full arrangement a very cool electric part.
Lyrics: The great thing about a song called "Celebrate" is that it can be a four-minute list of all God's goodness and still be totally cool. Cantelon doesn't quite go with the list-style, but it's still a broad tune of God's goodness and what that prompts within his kids.
Accessibility: This tune is all about the drums for me; if the song's gonna' cause any problems for a praise team, it's gonna' happen with drums. The fast tempo, driving hat and snare stuff could present problems for lesser-skilled drummers, but shouldn't bug guys and gals who've been drumming for awhile.
Overall: I personally believe that fast worship songs are among the hardest songs to write. A writer wants to have fun, inspire movement and joy without being trite or overly derivative. "Celebrate" is a great example of a well-written....well...celebration song!
You Are
Music: Love the driving acoustic/piano intro combined with a nice chimey "music box" riff. Verse 1 and Verse 2 are two different octaves, which is cool, but I'm not sure how that would play in most local churches. I also like the subtlety of this tune. It gets big, to be sure, but not too big. I also enjoyed the Mega-Super-Quiet-Bridge. It's a song-approach best done by Tim Hughes and it works here too. Some bands might like to play up the slight syncopated ending a bit more. It's done nicely on this record, but somebody's bound to want to go Coldplay on this tune.
Lyrics: This tune definitely falls into the long list of love style of song. (As mentioned in the previous song recap.) However, the song is still pretty centered, so the tune works well...in other words, Cantelon is singing a list, but it's a pretty well-written one.
Accessibility: Personally, the only problem for most of us would be the octave change. That's easy enough to fix, though.
Overall: Very fresh tune, great mid-tempo tune that would allow a song set to go in any direction.
Worthy
Music: Hammond and what sounds to be alternately tuned acoustic-electric kick off this mellow tune. Loved the minor-chord verse and the end-line lift. As far as musical creativity goes, "Worthy" is the standout track. Soft-sung lyrics and a nice intuitive melody give this song a nice color. In all honesty, I think this tune sounds like something the Cowboy Junkies might write. (And that's cool, friends.)
Lyrics: Song stays pretty focused on the idea of redemption, uses mostly cross imagery. I wasn't crazy about the inclusion of "first and last" line in the chorus - feels a little disjointed from the rest of the tune. Second verse moves into a different approach to "Worthy" that I didn't quite get, but that's just me.
Accessibility: This tune sounds easy enough to pull off. Keyboardists in live settings might have their hands full, though. The record has at least 3 keys tracks - Hammond, electric piano/rhodes and the aforementioned "music box." (Wait - I just heard a synthy voice pad!) Make it 4! Overall: This tune may be better for personal listening. For churches cool with the very artistic "mellow" song, complete with raspy vocal lines, this tune is perfect.
Never Let Me Go
Music: Built on a nice guitar picking pattern, the tune stays pretty mellow. Even when drums, bass and piano come in, it's still nice. The melody is pretty high, but is excellent nonetheless...the worship leader in me can definitely hear a crowd of people singing this one on a Sunday morning. Lyrics: First verse to chorus works well together. The second verse strays a bit. I'd probably opt to do the first verse again rather than take on the additional thematic direciton. Love the bridge section, a new melody built around the "strength for today and bright hope tomorrow" we all know and love.
Accessibility: This tune is one of those great pieces that can played by almost any team and still sound fantastic. Here, Ben shows some of the gifts that we see in the music of Redman and Hughes - ultimate accessibility.
Overall: The only thing that hurts the song is the thematic push in 2nd verse, which may not bother anybody but me. The melody might be too high for some crowds, but younger audiences will enjoy the higher register shout-singing.
Remain
Music: The last track on the record falls somewhere in between The Cranberries and Jason Morant, a fantastic mellow song with some subtle power. If Christian radio got ahold of this track, it might just make Cantelon a star. It's a nice modern pop tune that grooves on top of a nice clean electric guitar pattern. Nice keyboard touches add some ambience to the loop-like drums section. The chorus opens up nicely, almost orchestral...
Lyrics: Probably the strongest lyrical focus on the record. Cantelon and crew are crystal clear in their communication here.
Accessibility: Again, any praise team worth its salt could do this one. Has some fun parts for drums and keys.
Overall: For me, the standout track on the record because it captures the essence of the anthem that Soul Survior tends to gravitate toward without forsaking Cantelon's own singer-songwriter vibe.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Records like this are great because they're so fresh. Up until my pal handed me this CD, I had never heard of Ben Cantelon, and I'd assume the same for many of you. Grab a copy of "Daylight Breaks Through" and enjoy digging into a remarkably mellow and meaningful worship release.

A lot of you know that I've spent the last few months making my way through Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ. About 6 months ago, Krist mentioned that she wanted us to read through something together that might encourage us as we talk to our kids about faith and Jesus and the church - all the things that are so important to our lives.

It started with Kristen. One night, she was talking about how she wanted to always be sure that we would be able to tell our kids WHY we believe in Jesus. She wasn't doubting our belief or anything, but she told me that she wanted our kids to know that their parents hadn't just invested their "faith" in Christ, but their minds, as well.

We started talking about the WHY - do I believe these things because my parents did? Do I believe in Jesus because I just want to? Do I know, for sure, that historical evidence supports the story of Jesus, His death and resurrection?

I remembered the book (I actually had it in my office at church!) so we went and got it.

I have to tell you that this book has meant so much to us over the past few months. Kristen read through it really fast, while I've taken my time with it. (Totally opposite for us, by the way; I'm usually the one done with a book in a day. 'Course, I can't remember anything about it after I'm done...)

The articles, interviews and hard questions in this book have indeed strengthened my faith and I'm so thankful to God for what He's done through Lee Strobel. Because of the enormous impact this book's had on me, I've decided to lead a small group through the book. There really isn't a "curriculum" for the book, but each chapter has some pretty cool discussion questions which naturally lead to some pretty big issues being bandied about.

Right now, I'm formulating how the classes will work, how we'll get the word out to the church and how the heck I'm gonna' lead this thing!

I strongly encourage everybody to read this book...I believe that it will encourage you and fill your mind with clarity and focus!

My Dad Is Cooler Than Me...

Some of you noticed in yesterday's post that I was importing songs into my Dad's mp3 player. My mom actually got it for him for Christmas.

It's a Phillips GoGear 6 GB mp3 player, and it's awesome. I know, I know...you all think it's ridiculous that I would like something that only has 6 GB, but let me tell you what's up with this thing. Here's why I love it:

SOUND QUALITY: The buds that came with this thing sound 15 times better than iPod buds. (I know, I know...all of you bought E5 in-ear setups for your iPod and everybody who's anybody knows that the standard buds from Apple are horrible. But for a guy like my dad who barely understands the ideas behind earbuds and who's NOT going to rush out and spend hundreds of dollars on them, these Phillips buds kick tail.

EASE OF USE: Listen, all you with iPods...we got done wrong. After putting songs into this the Phillips mp3 player, importing tunes into an iPod is like trying to reconfigure the orbit path of the space shuttle. Yeah, I said it! You may not dig Media Player, but in my opinion its way easier when it comes to flying tunes into a personal listening device. Sure, iTunes is slicker and smoother to operate as a player, but for importing, my money's on the Windows stuff. In addition, this Phillips thing is a bit easier to navigate once you're holding it. Granted, my experience with the iPod helped out here - it took my Dad about thirty minutes to figure out how to scroll, change tunes, etc., but the Phillips GoGear has a few actual buttons on it. For a guy like my father, it's nice to know there's an actual volume control on the side that's much more familiar to him.

It may seem like I'm on an anti-Apple kick. I promise I'm not. I've just been really surprised at how easy and nice its been using Windows for an mp3 player. For the past three or four years, the culture's been telling me that Windows is out of date, not made for "artists" and that Apple knows what the hip, young consumer wants.

Is it possible that culture has been lying to me?

My Rise To Fame

Some of you read in an earlier post that my family lost someone last week. My cousin's husband, Danny, died a little over a week ago, and he was only 38. Naturally, this shocked us all. They lived in Santa Fe, Texas, but because most of the Wright family is in East Texas, they held the funeral here.

Another one of my cousins came in from West Virginia. I hadn't seen her in awhile, so when I saw her we hugged and stood around talking for a few minutes. This look dawns on her face and she says:

"Hey, have you heard of a guy named Jimmy Needham! He came and played at our church and he's awesome!"

It took me a second to contain my surprise. Here's why: some of you heard that we encountered some delays on the string stuff on the CD. So last week, Ross calls me and we talk about what we want to do. Then he says this...

"Have you heard of this guy named Jimmy Needham? He's a CCM artist and he lives in Bryan/College Station. His wife is supposed to be a really good violinist. Want me to call her?"
So, imagine my surprise when my cousin from the other side of the country brings up the same dude! My slight connection with Jimmy immediately gave me some rock star cred, because the next day, my cousin introduced me to somebody at lunch like this:

"This is Donna's son, Todd. He's a recording artist."

Ha ha! I have arrived.

Look out Dove Awards, here I come!

An Online, Real-Time, Digital Upload of My Saturday

6:20am-7:40am
Hear Finley waking up, ask Kristen if she'll get up and get the baby. Krist mumbles something, Finley keeps crying, so I decide to get up anyway. As we head into living room, I hear that Jonah is awake so he comes with us. (Was hoping for a late-sleep for both of them! Blast!) I grab Finley a cup of milk as Jonah immediately heads to the TV for Saturday morning cartoons. Krist comes in and asks if I need her, but I tell her to go back to sleep. I doze in the chair as Jonah watches "Krypto: The Superdog" and Finely wanders around the living room. Finley finally wakes me up, so I get up to mill around a bit. Head into the kitchen for a handful of M&Ms. (Leftover from Friday's Movie Night.) Breakfast IS the most important meal of the day, you know. Finley catches me, so I give her a couple of M&Ms. She gets a bit angry that I'm not letting her plunge both hands into the bag so she can gorge herself. I check the blogs for a bit, change a diaper, then wake up Kristen for the trade. My turn to sleep!

8:40am-10:10am
Woke up and gave Finley a piggy-back ride. Made a few calls (my parents, etc.) Ate a little breakfast and checked out the yard. I need to mow and I'm hoping it's dry enough without being 4,000 degrees today. Helped Kristen get Finley ready. (They're headed to the salon to get Finley's hair "done.") Found out about lunch plans at my mother-in-law's house. Apparently, we're having burgers from Ray's Drive-In. Score one for the high-carb, hi-fat, hi-cheese, slightly toasted delicous goodness from Lufkin's most famous burger joint.

10:10-11:45
Krist and Finley got ready, then left. Jonah watched "Beakman's World," while I showered and got ready. Spent a little time thinking about a Bible study idea I'm working on. Krist called at around 11:35 to pick us up. We ran by Ray's, got the burgers and headed over to my mother-in-law's house. (We call her "Sugar.")

11:45-12:30
Burgers, Pepsi, cookies, TV, toys in the living room! Lots of fun for all the Wrights (and Sugar, too.) At 12:30, the cellphone rang; I didn't recognize the number, but picked it up nonetheless. Hi, Brandon? This is Barbara from Gann Medford. Apparently the realtor had some folks with her and wanted to show our house. Krist and I looked at each other, because we both knew that the house wasn't "realtor-ready." It was okay, not junked or anything, but the realtor said she was coming in thirty minutes. We asked Sugar to watch the kids and sped to the house.

12:30-12:58
Cleaning. Massive, crazy, lightning-fast cleaning.

1:00-2:00
We head back over to Sugars and gather up all our stuff. (Somehow we always leave our parents' houses with more stuff than we actually came with...) We load up the car and swing by our house to see if the realtor's there. She's not, so we drove around town for about an hour. We headed out to see my parent's new church, this cool place outside of Lufkin called "Brother's Keeper Church." I'm planning on checking it out with Mom and Dad soon, but wanted to know exactly where it was. From there, we took a bunch of backroads back to our house. Finley fell asleep in the car. We got home and Jonah was dying to try out a new computer game Sugar had given him. I got Finley out of the car and laid her down. After I left her room, I decided to lay down for a few minutes on my bed.

2:00-3:00
Todd sleeps like a rock. No idea what happened with the rest of the family.

3:00-4:00
I wake up to hear Kristen apologizing profusely over the phone. Since we hadn't seen any business cards or any sign of a realtor visit, Krist had called our realtor to see how the showing went. That's when we find out that we had left the "child-lock" on the front door. So the realtor and the couple couldn't get in. Krist came in and told me the news (I already knew,) and I got up. We sat around for a few minutes. I called my Mom to see about swinging by her house. Jonah had a toy over there and was asking for it, plus my Dad hadn't seen the kids in a while. We make plans to go over there at 5:30. I decided to mow the yard a bit. It wasn't too bad, but I figured I might as well do something productive to work off all the M&Ms and cookies.

4:00-5:00
Had to mow the backyard first. Finley was asleep and I couldn't do the front yard without waking her up. I finished the backyard, saw that Finley was up, then trimmed the front ditches. By then, it was time to shower and head over to my parents' house.

5:00-6:30
We stopped by my parents' new house first. My dad is building a house a few miles from their current home. We met my mom over there to survey the progress. It looks really nice. My dad is working his heart out over there and it shows. From there, we went over to the old house to see my Dad. The kids played, my grandparents stopped by and Jonah ran wild.

6:30-7:30
Came home, ate supper, bathed the kids and put them in bed. Jonah read comic books until about 8, then went to bed.

8:00-9:00
Washed clothes, blogged, ripped some tunes into my Dad's mp3 player for him.

9:00-10:15
Went to the church to grab guitar and chord charts for Kristen. Came home and sang through the tunes. She's singing lead on "He Leadeth Me" and we wanted to try it in a couple of different keys. Through some clothes in the wash and went to bed! Big day tomorrow!