Gettin' all WN up in here...

I think worship leaders sometimes don't do a great job of drawing clear lines with regard to what they like and what's best for their congregations.

I've long said that Michael Neale was one of my "personal" favorites - meaning that I love listening to his records. I've done a couple of his songs at my church, and they've gone over great, but overall, I think the majority of his stuff wouldn't work at my place.

That's okay...because listening to his records still encourages me and aids me in my journey of worship. Imagine my surprise when I found pclive.org today and Michael was leading worship at the People's Church in Franklin, TN.

Yes, I'm one of those weird dudes who LIKES watching worship...and this video was great! They only did 3 songs, but I was impressed with both the simplicity in which they approached the tunes and the fullness created by a five piece band. If you've got a few minutes, check out the link. (not sure how long they stay online...)

Live From The Backseat...

Driving home with Jonah on a Sunday afternoon, I hear him singing this song (to the tune of "He's A Jolly Good Fellow...")

The elephant's having a seizure,
The elephant's having a seizure,

The elephant's having a seizure.....



I'll say this - It's never boring around here!

More Thoughts On Christian Radio...

As I've said before, I'm always leary of the "I'm-done-with-Christian-radio" rant. I understand a lot of people are passionate about it, but I've never really been an either/or type of radio listener. Thanks to my new blog friend, Dale Best, I stumbled across an interesting an article from "Out Of Ur," a blog featured by Christianity Today magazine that's hosted by the editors of the Leadership journal.

I'm not real familiar with either of these publications (although, I have been following CT's war of words with James Dobson of late,) but I think this particular article has some pretty good things to say. True, it definitely comes from a "No-more-Christian-radio-for-me" theme, I think this author is saying things that Christian radio should hear. Hopefully, next week, I'll be able to share these thoughts with our station here in town. I'd love to know what you guys think.

______________________

It’s official: I’m tuning out of Christian radio.

When some of the Christian radio stations in my area shifted their play lists from Southern gospel, country Christian and syndicated preaching, I took notice. I was thrilled to have airwave access to what I considered great Christian music. And I found myself tuning in more often.

But even my favorite stations have started losing me in recent months. What led me to reprogram my car radio and cancel my monthly $10 pledges? Three things.

First, I’ve noticed a growing level of—how shall I say this?—sappiness. Yeah, that’s the word. It’s not so much the music that’s sappy (some of it is); it’s the commentary, news stories, and contests that combine to present Christianity as synonymous with sentimentality. I live in a real world that’s not always positive and encouraging, so Christian radio’s steady diet of sugary spirituality doesn’t promote sustaining faith.

What’s more, I’ve noticed Christian radio becoming, for me, a sort of faith vending machine. Need some encouragement? Just push a button! I suspect that too frequent exposure to otherwise fine music hackneys that music and causes spiritual satisfaction to become one more commodity in my life. This makes real corporate worship feel like an imitation of the canned radio versions of the songs. Plus, it keeps me from developing truly nourishing habits.

After all, who needs real corporate worship and challenging formative disciplines when I can just tune my radio dial and get a quick God fix?Most importantly, I detect Christian radio has succumbed to consumerism. An on-air promo for one station’s Friends and Family Music Cruise pushed me over the edge. Here’s an excerpt from their website:

This year, besides reserving the entire cruise for [our] listener family, everything’s bigger and better—the ship, the exclusive music concerts, the comedy shows, the speakers, and the endless opportunities for having fun! Did someone say swim and spa? That’s right, you’ll have it all!

Is it just me, or are “bigger,” “better,” and “having it all” actually not congruent with the One who made Himself nothing and was obedient unto death? Plus, the station boasts that you can finance the cruise on your credit card. I’m a fun loving guy, but encouraging indebtedness for an experience that appeals to and promotes selfishness—under the guise of being a godly experience—is nothing to laugh at.

Buried beneath my growing dissatisfaction for Christian radio, I find four nuggets of caution for those of us responsible for ministry leadership.

First, Christianity is interesting, but it’s not amusing. After all, “to amuse” basically means to divert and cause someone to not think. Church does not exist to take our minds off the real world, but to focus our attention on God, His plan for the world, and our place in His plan. It’s an interesting plan requiring focus and attention. As a pastor, I often tried too hard to avoid being boring and (gasp!) irrelevant. But in avoiding those dangers, I sometimes fell into the ditch of mere amusement. Christian leaders need to take caution against spinning the gospel as a spectacle that holds our attention but does not hold us accountable.

Second, we must resist presenting immediate fixes for felt needs. After all, salvation and spiritual growth are not commodities that can be produced, marketed, promoted, and perfected for mass satisfaction. Jesus is not a hamburger, a snappy set of sandals, or an iPhone. Discipleship is a committed relationship with Jesus that gradually forms us into the likeness of our Creator. We must take care in how we present the gospel, lest Christ come off as a product we consume instead of the Lord we obey. While more people may buy into a Jesus who makes us happy, we are called to preach a Jesus who makes us holy.

Third, lowest common denominators tend to push us off course. Just because lots of church members (and would-be church members) believe God is for this or that political party, we cannot taint the gospel message with partisan political appeal in order to gain the masses. Likewise, just because obsessive parents demand a children’s program that’s on par with Disney doesn’t mean allocation of tithes and offerings toward such a ministry is wise or warranted. “Give people what they want” makes a poor church motto.

Finally, it’s all too easy to generate and get caught up in hype. We Christian leaders can get stoked about the “big” things we’re doing and lose focus on our core purpose. Hype is not hope, and it is not a route to Christian hope. So when we build a bigger building, plan a super outreach event, orchestrate an awesome Easter service, or pull together a marvelous missionary experience, let’s not get high on the hype that can take on a life of its own.

I’m humbled to realize that for all my critique of Christian radio, I’ve made many of the same mistakes in my own ministry. So while I may be tuning out of Christian radio for a while, I’m thankful that my departure reminds me how we can inadvertently do bad while aiming for good.

Chad Hall is an author and church planter, is an executive coach and trainer with SAS Institute Inc. in Cary, North Carolina.

Best/Worst

Best and Worst sermon you ever heard...

If you're a subscriber to my YouTube channel, you can go watch my most recent worship confessional.

If not, shame on you. (And go watch it at worshipnotes!)

A tiny jpeg that makes me happy...

Finally, it happened.
Somebody bought some of my stuff from iTunes!
I had two single downloads (I Am Glad and Part Of Your Story) and one full-lenght download of the whole record!

Sure, I only made 17 cents, but I couldn't be more excited!

Have you bought your copy, yet? I got lots of 'em left.

This Video Creeps Me Out...

____________
Source: Ragamuffin

This may not be funny to all of you...but for a 31-year old blogger with humble beginnings in the Baptist church, this video is pure gold!

Come on, all of you...who loved Psalty?

My Friday...

I went up to the church on Thursday night to do some work. I got home about midnight, so I'm considering that to be the start of my Friday.

I got to be around 12:30am and I was really looking forward to it. I was tired and had my iPod sleep-mix all cued up with Viva La Vida. (Which really does sound good...)

At 1:10, I felt someone tapping on my shoulder. Jonah was up and wanted to sleep in bed with us. Normally, this might not be that big of a deal, but since Kristen has been so sore and sleeping so fitfully, I told him I'd take him up to his room.

He didn't like that.

At one point in the conversation, he called me a liar. That's always nice at one in the morning, right?

I got him up to his room and laid down beside him. The original plan was to lay by him until he drifted off, then head back to my big, soft, grown-up bed. Instead, I woke up in his bed at 7am.

He and I came downstairs. My mother-in-law, who we call "Sugar," had spent the night since I was working late. Of course, she was already up, making coffee and cleaning up the kitchen. I crashed on the couch while Jonah surfed for some cartoons, landing on Spider-Man. I'm not sure what really happened next. All I knew was that I was on a couch and I needed to be up and awake by 8 to get ready for an appointment.

I got off the couch a little after 8 and grabbed a shower. Then I headed out to get my hair cut! (Much needed...felt so much better after getting all that stuff cut off! I asked the girl about growing it out a bit. She looked at me like I was insane.)

Came home to find Jonah smoking through levels on Fantastic Four for Wii and Finley running around. Finley immediately led me to the door and started begging to jump on the trampoline. Sugar got her some "play clothes" and she and I headed out. She jumped, then went to our little playhouse for some swinging and sliding. After twenty or thirty minutes we came in.

We ate an early lunch while Krist and her mom went out to run some errands.

When they got back, Kristen ate a little bit and we started getting ready for Finley's nap. At this point, Jonah had a breakdown of sorts...I handled myself well, considering that I wanted to wring his neck. (It's like Leave It To Beaver over here.) Shortly after the storm died down, my mother-in-law said,

"Why don't I call Stephanie (Krist's cousin) and see if Jonah can come play with Tyler (her son)?"

And before her sentence was done, I shouted "yes."

They left thirty minutes later. I put Finley down for a nap. It took her about half-an-hour to go to sleep, but as soon as she did, it was time for a little, tiny, snippet of a nap for Mom and Daddy.

...and then we slept for almost 2 hours.

After awhile, Krist's mom came back over. (She's been such a big help for us around here.) We all lounged around, ate an early supper.

Jonah didn't get back until 8 o'clock, and we sat around visiting w/ Kristen's cousin and aunt while the kids all played together. We put Finley to bed not long after they left, but she did not want to go! Jonah went to bed a little after 9, but was scared for some reason. I sat on his stairs for awhile to calm his fears and then came down as he was drifting off.

Hung out with Kristen for a bit, did the treadmill while watching Gone Baby Gone and then to bed!

Friday, June 27th at 9:48pm

TODD EATS OREOS: 64 VIEWS

Either I'm that entertaining or society is caving in on itself.

Come on, kids...help me top 100 views. We can do this!

di·lem·ma

I want to see this:



But Jonah would like me to take him to see this:

Todd Is Late To The Party, Part III

Finally...

Just got it...

And I'm digging it...

Anybody else spinning this one? Who's loving it? Who's hating it?

And how 'bout this:

What are you listening to that you wanna' brag on?

These Never Get Old...

I'm not a huge Radiohead...I dig them in small sections. I think they're great musicians, but this video is just too great!

Somebody's Gonna' Get Fired...

Failblog.
It makes my day.

Todd Eats Oreos...

"I Just Have A Sweet Tooth"

Not only did a Sunday School class bring us dinner on Monday night...
They brought Chicken Express Fresh Brewed Sweet Tea.

Thank you, "Praise Ladies" Sunday School.
You have made us all very very happy.

Twitter Nation Zingers

A few great one-liners that I've recently seen on twitter.

1. Played golf with my old man this morning and on the fourth tee I accidentally hated his guts since the day I was born...

2. How much do you have to pay a cop to forget he saw a bloodstained Tickle Me Elmo stuffed with opium? Wikipedia is like zero help over here...

3. Bet you didn't know an autoharp could tear up your soul like that. Overwhelming, isn't it. OK this next one is called "She Talks to Angels"...

4. Can you PayPal bail? I don’t mean is it possible, I mean can you do it RIGHT NOW.

I'd link you to this guy's feed, but these were the most "family-friendly" posts I could find. (If you know what I mean...)

Tavin!

Props...

Time for another shoutout!

This edition is dedicated to my friend, Ross King. As many of you know, Ross produced All The Freed. Not only was the entire process a real education for me in the realm of professional music production...it was also a great opportunity to get to know a really great guy who doesn't get near enough credit for how good he is.

So, here are a few reasons why Ross gets mad props!
1. He's an encourager and a truth-speaker. That might seem like a contradiction, but it's not. Mr. King is a straight shooter, and while that might sting a little from time-to-time, he speaks in humility and love. He's probably one of the best, most sincere encouragers I've ever come across.

2. He's funny. Really funny. As in, "please write a book, Ross" kind of funny. He's got a never ending supply of one-liners that are almost always gold. (And even when they're not, they're still pretty good.)

3. He's unassuming. Most songwriters and singers are really pretty vocal about what they're doing. (Hey, I wrote two songs last night and they're really great or You know, I'm pretty confident with what I'm writing these days.) But not Ross. You ask him what he's working on and he'll shrug and say "Not much really." Then he'll pick up a guitar and play you a demo that is songwriting genius and after it's done, he'll shrug again and say something like, "I don't know. I might change it. It's not done yet."

4. He knows what's wrong with worship culture. Some don't agree with me on this, but I think there's a lot wrong about the worship music industry. I don't think it's pure evil, but I think we could be doing it a lot better and smarter. And Ross knows what we can do. He possesses a real gift in diagnosing problems within the "industry" and supplying great ways to fix those problems. I think he's got a true prophetic anointing in this regard.

5. He's a great producer. As much as it pains me to say it, almost every amazing thing on my record is Ross' idea. Seriously, when folks tell me they love "You Gave Sight" or the feel of "The Cross Of Christ" or that amazing intro on "All The Freed," I know in my heart that Ross was the genius behind those ideas. (Okay...Johnny and Brady provided the genius behind the "All The Freed" intro.) I know that all that credit goes to Ross. I go ahead and take the credit myself and completely omit any reference to Ross, though, because that's what he would want. You know, since he's an encourager and all.

6. He's a fantastic husband and father. A lot of guys say that about their friends, but Ross is the real deal. So the next time he blogs that he'd rather spend time at home with his family than play gigs or make records, you should believe him.
_________
So here's to you, Ross! You've been propped! Thanks for your friendship and support. I'm honored to call you my friend and I pray in complete agreement with every blessing that God has in store for you and yours!

For more info on Ross or to buy his music, check out:
www.rosskingworldtour.blogspot.com

www.rosskingmusic.com

MONDAY NIGHT!

What do the Wrights (sans Mommy) do on a quite Monday afternoon?

We make movies.



And, of course, we gotta' do for Jonah what we do for Finley...



We tried to capture Jonah and Finley's "Kick, Kick, Kick," but the lighting wasn't too good. But the audio from Jonah's laugh is priceless...hope your Monday night is turning out half as fun as mine!

Uncle Jay!

Blessed Are Those...

Hospitals are no fun.

Really...there's nothing fun about them, is there?

But through Kristen's recent health woes, I realized something about myself.

I need to walk through hospitals.


You see, this where pastors and preachers have a leg up on those of us who don't make it a habit to visit the sick. And I don't, by the way. I don't visit the sick.

I know it's something I should do. It's something that God wants me to do. But I don't. There are a lot of reasons why, but none of them are any good.

But as I recently walked that same stretch of hallway to the elevator on the way to Kristen's room, I noticed stuff. I noticed the bleary-eyed families in the ICU waiting area. I noticed the open room doors in the middle of the day, revealing people in the hospital, all alone, with no one beside them. I noticed the hundreds of hospital staff walking back and forth, some quickly, as if to help. And others slowly, as if it didn't matter.

I've been praying for these people as I pass them, and it's been good for me. It's been good to get out of myself and try to talk to God about people and situations I don't know. It's hard to pray those prayers, but I'm trying. I'm trying to listen to God as I pray, asking Him for the words; asking Him what it is that family or old lady or lab technician needs.

I'd like to start walking through these places more often. I need to walk through and interceding for these strangers because they need it and I can do it. I don't know that I really need any other reasons.

...Matthew 3:4

Word Survey!

This was pretty fun last time. (In a Todd-Is-A-Geek kind of way...)

Here's our word:

amanuensis (uh-man-yoo-EN-sis)

1. Disease caused by deficiency of antinuclear antibodies.

2. Rare form of color-blindness that effects only the colors blue and green.

3. A person employed to take dictation.

4. Digital phasing effect in graphic design wherein "color-layering" results in lost contrast and pixel distortion.

Okay...what do you think?

Todd Recommends...

I finally got a chance to watch Primer.

I first heard of the movie through http://www.independentbands.com/. It was released in 2004 and was written, produced, directed and funded by Shane Carruth. If that name sounds familiar, it's because he's the brother of Caleb Carruth, who used to be in a band called "Shane and Caleb." Caleb eventually left that group to do some solo stuff and then later founded independentbands.com. The "Shane" of "Shane and Caleb" found another Shane and became Shane & Shane.

Exhausted yet?

Primer went on to win the 2004 Grand Jury Prize at the acclaimed Sundance Film Festival (among other prizes and nominations.) But what seemed to make this film such a standout was it's humble funding - the movie was shot, edited and produced for $7000.

I had forgotten about it, but last week I noticed it was available through our Netflix Online deal. (So a few days ago, I fired it up and I've been watching it in pieces this week.)

Let me first say that this is really one of the most suspenseful movies I've seen in a long while. It's not scary, but there definitely is a sense that something much bigger is going on. Initially, I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't some sort of "big reveal" at the end. But it was so intriguing that I couldn't dislike it.

I did a little research and soon discovered that there are thousands of theories about this film - its timeline and storyline and characters are still widely debated four years later!

If you dig sci-fi and like movies that leave you with more questions than answers, you should give Primer a try.

Our Good Dreams...

It's a normal sound. It's not loud or invasive or even unpleasant.

But I am sick-to-death of falling to sleep to the rhythmic clicks and hums of the I.V. unit.

Those of you who've been hospitalized know the sound well.It drives me crazy. I turn off all the lights; I ready my "bed"; I kiss my wife good-night. All acts of normalcy - all ways of saying to this world that "Tonight, we rest. Tonight, we restore ourselves. And as we sleep, you cannot touch us."

But you do, you little maniacal machine.

You do touch us. You click and whir and even beep from time-to-time as if you know that we just got to that good place in our dreams:

That place where we've built a house on top of a rainbow or in a field eating Starburst Waffles or playing scrabble with Richard Belzer.You sneak into our good dreams and say oh, so quietly but oh, so persistently:

I'm still here...
You're still in the hospital...
Everything is messed up...
Your life is turned upside down...
I'm still here...

You're not cool, I.V. machine.
You're important and I'm glad you're here, but you're not cool and you never will be.
And when me and my crew leave, you have to stay here.

No wonder you're nuts.

The Great Office War

If you could promise me that this would happen every Friday at 5pm, I would quit my church job this afternoon.




Not only do I find this very enjoyable to watch, but I imagine it was a blast to shoot and edit.

Where I Write An Imaginary Letter To A Fictional Character To Subjugate My Rage...

Dear Man-Who-Designed This Hospital,

Thank you so much for placing that motion-activated paper towel dispenser in the tiny little corner right beside the sink that sits right outside the door.

Thanks for that.Now, every time I tip-toe over to wash my hands or sneak to the bathroom, my passing shoulder prompts the machine to emit at least 80db of sound as it shoots out paper towels for whoever or whatever just crossed it's all-seeing eye.

I appreciate it, because I like being startled in the middle of the night, spinning my head around as fast as I can to make sure I didn't wake up my very sleepy and very miserable wife.

Thank God for the drugs.

For Kristen, I mean.

GRRRR...

Actually found wi-fi today at the hospital!

Shortly after Kristen's procedure this afternoon, I ran over to the lobby and shot an update, ready to fly it right into blogger so all the world could know what's up.

But that didn't happen.

Apparently the wi-fi isn't as consistent as it needs to be, so my little video will forever remain on the hard drive. But I did manage to grab this fantastic screen shot, though.

Kristen went into endoscopy around 1pm today. The doctors suspected that a gallstone had been lodged in Kristen's bile duct and that's what messed up her pancreas. All of the test so far have confirmed that, but today, no stone was found there. The doctor think she might have already passed the stone at some point during the week. The little guy did a bunch of damage and then left! Jerk.

Anyway, Kristen was in recovery for about an hour and then came back to the room. She seemed to be a lot better the whole afternoon. She was pretty loopy from the medicine, which made for a lot of fun, but it was obvious to all of us that she's feeling better.

She had a fever today, so the doctor ordered another set of cultures. He also lessened her intake restrictions. She can have clear liquids, now! She's still taking some pain medicine and is pretty sleepy, but they think she'll be ready to have her gallbladder removed on Monday.

Thank you all for praying. I hope you're using these posts to stay updated! That's what they're for!

...and don't worry. I've got lots of other ridiculous posts saved up to lighten the mood around here.

Thanks for reading!

Excitement!

And for those of you wondering if I'm working at an Italian restaurant or a hotel, the answer is no.

It's a new white shirt. And I look hot in it.

Kristen Recap...My Perspective

9:45pm - I arrive at the hospital for the night shift. Kristen's dad is with her. Kristen is a lot of pain. Talk with her for about 10 or 15 minutes. Nurse comes in and adds some medicine for nausea to her I.V.Krist asks for ice chips...the nurse says no.

10:30pm - I've got tons of stuff to tell Krist about our day at home, but she's just too tired. I watch "Will and Grace" while eating something delicious that was cooked up in the mind of two guys named Ben and Jerry.

10:45pm - Head out to the waiting room on our floor to search for wi-fi. Buy a Diet Coke and learn right quick that there's no wireless internet around here. I drink my soda while a dude named A.J. Hammer (yeah right) can't stop talking about Charlie Sheen-Alec Baldwin-Pamela Anderson-Tommy Lee-Kid Rock and some woman who's suing Victoria Secret for a defective thong.

10:55pm - Get back into the room, start getting my bed ready. Look longingly at the DVD of "Rambo" that I brought. Should I pop it in? Fill my mind with senseless violence and an even more senseless storyline before going to bed?

11:00pm - Nurse comes in to give Krist pain medicine. Kristen is asleep with five or six minutes. I brush teeth and climb into bed. I decide to give "Rambo" a try, but I have the iPod cued up w/ some Lemonheads to put me to sleep. Why does Evan Dando's music put me to sleep? I guess he's smoked so much weed it comes through the mics and up into my ear buds.

12:00am - Turn off "Rambo" and immediately fall asleep.

1:30am - Kristen accidentally knocks off her TV remote/call button and it wakes us both up. I get it for her, help her get fixed in bed again.

1:30am-7:00am - Sleep like a rock. Hear a few nurses come in and some discussion about Kristen's heart monitor showing a green light, which means a patient is dead. Yeah, I slept through that. (Thankfully, Krist and the nurse were justmaking a little early-morning witty banter.)

7:30am - Wake up when Krist's parents show up for their shift.
_____________________________________________
For those of you praying, thank you! Here's what we're asking: Pray that Kristen's enzyme levels will continue to drop. We've still got a way to go before we can proceed with surgery. Right now, the doctors are predicted that we'll do the preliminary "scope" on Monday. We'd love it if things were moving faster, but we understand that Kristen's body just needs time to rest.

Pray that she'll sleep soundly and that her visitors will be minimal. She likes people seeing her, but she's also trying to sleep through her pain and anytime she's awakened, it's hard to rest again.

Pray for the rest of the family (us and the extended crew.) This is starting to take its toll on us. Pray that we'll have great attitudes and that God will bless our resting!

All My Punk Kid Readers Will Have No Idea Who This Guy Is...

"Is this a publicity stunt????

NINE tracks from Guns N' Roses' long long long awaited new album, Chinese Democracy, were leaked online Wednesday on a website which quickly received a cease-and-desist letter from the band.

The album is said to be 14 years in the making.

Of the nine songs leaked, six of them have already leaked in one unfinished form or another. But the ones released yesterday seem to be close to the finished versions.

The album was originally on Interscope's release schedule in March 2007.

But later in March of this year, the band signed a new management deal with Irving Azoff and Andy Gould. That's when they began discussions with Interscope to release the album.

Work on the album originally began back in 1994 and since then Axl has spent $13 million in production. And also gotten rid of his orignal band members.

Apparently the soft drink Dr. Pepper, which is tied in with Interscope it seems, even offered to send a free can of soda to every person in America if Chinese Democracy arrived anytime in 2008.

Well, send a can to everyone except Guns N' Roses former members, Slash and Buckethead!"

[Image via WENN.]

Source: PerezHilton

______________________________
This brings up a couple of questions in my mind...

#1. How in the heck do you spend 13 million dollars on a record?

#2. Isn't at least some of that record gonna' sound 14 years old?

#3. Who's gonna' buy this? Would you?

Oh, Man...

Know what makes Todd laugh uncontrollably? Slow-mo of a baby laughing. Don't believe me?






HT: Double3

Midnight Update!

John Knows Politics...

One of the perks of constantly saving posts is that you've always got a "plethora" of stuff to post during your downtime. As a little break from Hospital Watch 2008, I'll be throwing out some random stuff that I've been typing up these past few days.

Finally got the chance to read biographer David McCullough's John Adams. I'll admit that I wasn't even aware of it until I caught some clips from the recent miniseries adaptation.

The book is great. An in-depth look at the men who shaped the country's course as they struggled with the idea and the risk of independence. It's also filled with tons of great quotes from John Adams. I found this one particularly relevant to the cultural climate in which you and I live and breathe.

"This assembly is like no other that ever existed. Every man in it is a great man - an orator, a critic, a statesman, and therefore every man upon every question must show his oratory, his criticism, and his political abilities.

"The consequence of this is that business is drawn and spun out to immeasurable length. I believe it was moved and seconded that we should come to a resolution that three and two make five, we should be entertained with logic and rhetoric, law, history, politics, and mathematics concerning the subject for two whole days, and then we should pass the resolution unanimously in the affirmative."

-John Adams, speaking of the 2nd Continental Congress (McCullough, pg. 86; 2001 Simon & Schustter.)

Sounds familiar, don't it?

Video Update..

Update On Kristen...

For those of you who don't know, Kristen is in the hospital.

(And yes, it's very lame that I found a jpeg of the hospital to use in this post. There's something wrong with me, I know...)

A couple of days ago, Krist started having some pretty intense stomach pain and nausea. She went to the doctor on Monday, got some medicine and came on home. Monday night, she got even more sick.

Tuesday, I had to go check out a camp for a gig next week, so Kristen and the kids went to her Mom's house. I got back about 2pm and went to pick them up. We decided to let Kristen stay at her mom's while I took care of the kids. I brought the kids home and hung out for awhile.

Around 3:45pm, Kristen's mom called and told me that they were at the emergency room. Kristen couldn't really get into the doctor's office and our "urgent care clinics" aren't necessarily the sharpest places for medical care. Since her phone wouldn't work very well, Kristen's mom would call me every hour or so to let me know what was up.

Eventually, the got into a room. More waiting. Finally, a doctor came back and started doing some bloodwork, xrays, etc. They gave her something for pain and send off the tests.

Around 8, Kristen's cousin, Stephanie, called me and said, "You need to come up here. She's freaking out"

Apparently, a doctors came back and told Kristen that she had hepatitus and pancreatitus. Kristen's mom and cousin tried to get more info, but the doctor wasn't much help. They really should have classes in "tact" or "bedside manner" in medical school. If they already do, they need some new curriculum. Not digging that doctor.

I get there, Krist is pretty upset. Mom and Cousin don't really know what's going on and the doctor is admitting Kristen to a room. We get to the room, get settled in. Krist is still in tons of pain and feeling really sick.

The ER doc did have the foresight to call in a gastro. specialist, who happens to be very good. After Krist in in bed and all hooked up, the nurse calls the specialist to see about changing up the meds to something that Krist can get more often.

The new doctor looks over the stuff and immediately orders different pain medicine and more bloodwork. After about an hour of being really stressed out, we find out that it isn't hepatitus. Kristen spent most of the night pretty miserable, although the pain medicine made a big difference.

We had lots of family show up, my mom watched the kids and by 11:30 or so, Krist and I went to sleep.

It was a hard night. But then again, most nights in the hospital always are. Kristen was sick some more, her blood pressure got pretty high, and at one point, a dude came in and strapped a heart monitor on her.

I woke up about 7, scared I had missed early rounds, but the specialist came in around 7:40. Turns out that Kristen has gallstones which caused the pancreatitus. As it stands, the procedure is to treat the pancreas first - to get the inflammation cleared up before proceding with gallstone surgery. The doctor thinks one stone might have dropped into Kristen's bile duct, which means a more invasive surgery (rather than a quicker laproscopic one...)

I'm at home now with the kids. Kristen's parents are with her at the hospital.

Pray that God will bring healing to the pancreas so that Kristen's nausea will subside and we can proceed with the gallstone surgery. Pray for her blood pressure and stress and our family as we try to figure out how to survive without Mommy!

Todd Is Late To The Party, Part II

______________
HT: Romack and Doug

Hey, Here's Something Odd...

_______
HT: Jon Acuff

CARNIVAL UPDATE

Everybody please keep Todd in your prayers!

If you're not sure what's going on, just watch this link.
___________________________
Special thanks to The Bloggess for this link!

Life With Jonah...

ME:
(leaving Jonah's room after tucking him in...)

"Night, night, baby. I'm gonna' go turn down the air."

JONAH:
(in strange half-curious/half-scared voice...)

"Don't I need air?"

Ouch...

Man, this is cool.
Man, this is horrible.


I'm not quite sure how you convince that many people to let you punch them.

I wish I knew. I reallly wish I knew.

(Believe it or not, each of the individual punches are on YouTube. There's no audio, but you can watch a bit more of the reaction from each of the...uh...the...um...PUNCHEES. But no need to go scouring the internet. No, for I will bring you these punches.)
_______
HT: Double3

The Family...

Rhapsody Update...

I really like Rhapsody.
I subscribe to the $13-dollar-unlimited-playlist-thing. It acts as an online "radio" where I can preview whole songs and buy them should I desire to.

It's also a great way to enjoy music on my computer that I might kinda' like without paying money for it.

So, I figured I'd let you know what's in my Rhapsody playlist right now:
Lucinda Williams - WEST
Chris Whitley - DIN OF ECSTACY
Buddy Mller - UNIVERSAL UNITED HOUSE OF PRAYER
Sam Phillips - DON'T DO ANYTHING
Jewel - PERFECTLY CLEAR
Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler - ALL THE ROADRUNNING

Worship Waterworks...

CCLI TV is a brand new feature at http://www.ccli.com/.

Essentially, praise teams from all over the country upload their original songs and other folks comment and pass it around.

There's a link below for the video submission from Living Hope Church in Vancouver, Washington. It's a slow gospel number and the band does a good job, but there's just one thing that startled me...

Watch it here and tell me if anything strikes you as odd...(The song is titled "There Is Power In Your Name.")

Jets, for crying out loud...

Um...this is cool.

This Is A Bit Scary...

Twitter Nation...

I love twitter. It's awesome. Except when it doesn't work. Which is about once a day. (Thanks for that joke, Bloggess!)

I'm currently following over 40 feeds and have almost 60 folks following mine. (Some of those were spam, so they don't count.)

So, here's what I'm doing. I'm giving you a list of all the folks that I want to give twitter a try. If your name is in this list, I'm asking you to give twitter a 2-week trial. Sign up, use it for two weeks and if it doesn't work, I'll never ask you again.

(This is a big list...I ain't linking anybody...)

1. The Bluebirds. Come on, gang.
2. Everybody that gigs with me.
3. David Runnels, who has an account but isn't using it. Lame.
4. Adrienne Acevedo, because she works for David Runnels. Oh, and she's "cool."
5. Clay Walker, because his would read like a pre-teen girl. ("Come eat lunch with me?" "Where are you? Are you here yet?" "I'm at the movies!")
6. Ross King...who undoubtedly has some giant, well-thought out, socially-conscious, Kingdom loving reason for not twittering. But come on...how cool would it be to follow the twitter feed of a dude who produces records?
7. John Simmons, because he's the king of one-liners. And what's funnier than a running string of one-liners on a website?

She Ain't My Bride...

We've all got them.

"Pet peeves."

Things that drive us crazy for no good reason.
And we know this - we know that we should be better than these petty frustrations. We know that it's silly to let them bother us.

I tell you this because I know what I'm about to say is ridiculous. It's silly. It doesn't matter. It's not hurtful or consequential or meaningful in any way. It shouldn't matter.

But it does.

In fact, it drives me crazy.

You see that woman in the picture?

That's my wife, Kristen. Maybe you've met her. She's great. She's funny. She's smart. She's a good kisser, a best friend, a great mother to our kids and really into tattoos for some reason. (I'm not sure why...)

But you know what she's NOT?

My "bride."

I can't stand it when people call her my "bride." I don't know why, but it drives me crazy. I want to yell and scream and throw a phonebook across the room while shouting...

"She's my wife! My wife! My wife, I say, my wife!"

I don't know if I'm just connecting that word to an actual wedding or I feel like it doesn't really fit what Kristen and I have or if it just seems like people are trying to be cute when they say it...I just know I don't like it.

Of course, I'm sure that in ancient Hebrew or something, "bride" translates to something like LIFE-LONG-PARTNER-WHOM-GOD-HAS-PRE-ORDAINED and I'm flying in the face of God Almighty to reject this title for her. And I'm sure that if such a scriptural and holy origin does exist, one of you will definitely point it out. (I'm looking at you Johnny.)

But think about it...Do people ask Kristen, "Hey, how's your groom doing?" or "Is that your groom on the phone?"

No, they don't.

Because that would be stupid.

From Perez Hilton...

"This is something that we definitely will NOT be drinking! We need as much energy as we can get!

A beverage company has come out with an 'anti' energy drink called Drank.

Its tag line is 'slow your roll.' Pretty clever.

The drink's publicist called it the 'extreme relaxation beverage' that goes great with vodka.

The carbonated, grape-flavored beverage is spiked with melatonin, valerian root and rose hips.

What the heck?

Why?????

The creator was apparently thinking of the hip hop community when he concocted it.

The product's press release says, 'From design to production, every aspect of this calming drink was inspired by today’s popular hip hop artists who embrace the much sought-after hip hop lifestyle that encourages people to capture a stress-free state of mind.'

So, what we're gathering is that it's basically a pot high in a can or something that makes an E high last longer?

Drank up!"

HT:

And yes, I do read http://www.perezhilton.com/...

I can't decide if these are the coolest guys in rock and roll or the biggest nerds to ever make music...

Anybody got an opinion?

Dashboard Download

Just rediscovered one of my favorite records of all time, thanks to Rhapsody.

The late Chris Whitley was a respected studio guitarist and an accomplished songwriter/performer in his own right.

Widely respected among the likes of Springsteen, Dave Matthews, Bruce Hornsby and numerous other more commercially successful artists, Whitley's death in 2005 came as a pretty big shock to the music community.

The record was released in 1991 and it's still just as cool as it ever was...

What about you?
Have you re-discovered any records recently? Are they still as good as you remember?

Todd Eats Cereal...

Midgley Ups His Cool Factor...

People tend to be pretty split on Herbert Midgley.

Some love him, some don't.

But regardless of your personal opinion, I give you this:



The man has a Stormtrooper costume, for crying out loud.

And that's pretty cool, because if I had one, I'd wear it as much as "humanly" possible, too.

Facebook...

Todd Is Late To The Party...

Okay, okay...it took me forever to give this show a try.

But in all honesty, it is so beloved by so many people that I trust, like, and want-to-be-like that I had to give it a shot.

I'm extremely new to it, but...dang, what a show!

This thing is 10,000 times better than I thought it would be and I am officially declaring myself a full-on BSG fanboy.

I don't even think it matters if you like science fiction...it's just a great show.

Don't think I didn't try to find a way to use "frack" in this post. But somehow, none of them felt right. Guess I need more practice.

Um...Huh?

I'm as excited as anybody about M. Night's new movie.

But check out what wikipedia has to say...

"In January 2007, writer-director M. Night Shyamalan traveled from Philadelphia to Hollywood to prepare the live-action film based on Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Shyamalan submitted a spec script entitled The Green Effect to various studios, but none expressed enough interest to purchase the script. The director collected ideas and notes from meetings, returning home to Philadelphia to rewrite the script, and 20th Century Fox greenlit the project.

Now titled The Happening, the film will be produced by Shyamalan and Barry Mendel and will be the director's first R-rated project. Shyamalan compared the film to the earlier paranoia films The Birds (1963) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).

Later in March, actor Mark Wahlberg, with whom Shyamalan had been negotiating at the same time as his deal with Fox, was cast into the lead role of the $57 million project."

I'm sorry...did they say "based on Avatar: The Last Air Bender"?

You can actually check out a pretty detailed review of Shyamalan's spec script, "The Green Effect," here. But be warned - this is a review of the first script, not the rewrite that is now the movie. It also contains quite a few spoilers.

Oh My Mercy Me...

I've never been a huge Mercy Me fan. I think they're all super-talented, but I just never had Mercy Me fever like some of my pals. (I'm looking at you Clay and Romack.)

But over the past few months, I have come to appreciate these guys in a new way and it's all because of their blog.

If you haven't check out the band's blog, you need to.



This is the first video in the band's "Cover Tune Grab Bag." They've been asking for cover suggestions over the past few weeks and they just picked the winner.

A Million People...

I just finished reading James Frey's A Million Little Pieces.

I'm not sure if you remember this book, but it stirred up quite a bit of controversy back in its day.

The book sailed to the top of all sorts of bestseller lists and nabbed a coveted spot in Oprah's Book Club. Oprah bragged on it, tons of women bought it and James Frey was heralded as the new tough poet of our generation.

Not long after all the buzz started, an investigative website uncovered some inaccuracies in Frey's account of his criminal background. Eventually, Frey conceded that he had embellished the criminal record, but everything else was true.

Frey went on Larry King to defend himself and even Oprah called in to defend him on the air! It looked as if Frey was the real deal.

Eventually, Frey's publisher discovered that many of the details of the book had been fabricated. Frey appeared on Oprah where he was blasted for lying after he admitted to many lies within the book.

Frey ended up losing some some money, the publisher offered refunds for anybody who wanted one (not too many did,) and Frey is now back with a new book that is already getting good reviews.

Now that I've read the book, I'm a bit confused.

I'm willing to admit that the whole scandal may have already colored my opinion, but as I read it, I thought...

"How could so many people believe this was real?"

The characters are just too big, too sad and things time out just a little too perfectly for me. I can't imagine reading this book and thinking it was true. Maybe if I hadn't seen Oprah or Larry King or any of that jazz I would have been fine. I don't know hardly anything about addiction. I can only guess how truly nightmarish it really is, but the book was just a little too extreme to ring true.

With all that said, it's a great book. It's well-written, it's got some great things to say about self-preservation and the futility therein, and it's a dramatic read.

Anybody read it? Thoughts?

_____________
Unrelated note: for those who read the blog in a reader, I posted a quick poll on "Best Indiana Jones Movie." Go directly to the blog and chime in!

The T-Shirt That Will Never Be...

What are the chances this will happen?
And if so, what are the chances it will work?

Tuesday Tavin

SHAUN GROVES

Oh, wow...

If you can, go right now and read Shaun Groves brand new post called...

Wait for it...

"IT ALL JUST POINTS TO POLYGAMY"

It's hilarious. And terrifying.

Everything a afternoon distraction should be!

You Guys Are Smart...

You're intelligent, open-minded, fair people...

So I'll ask you this...

What do you think?

Should America start digging into its oil reserves?

Lots of folks, lots of opinions. Where do you stand?

Gamer Dad Update...

Yeah...we bought it.

And it's great.

I Know, I Know...

Yes, I talk about Jon Acuff a lot.
Yes, I ask all of you to go to Stuff Christians Like a lot.
I apologize, but Jon's most recent post is just too good to pass up.

I think I scored relatively low on this little list Jon made and I feel pretty good about that.

Here's what Jon's got to say:

There are some things in life that are concrete and true. For instance, it is a fact that "You're all I Want for Christmas" by Mariah Carey and "Christmas in Hollis" by Run DMC are fantastic songs. No argument there. But when you tell someone about your church, there's not a standard system to describe the degree of metrosexuality your worship leader possesses. Wouldn't it be awesome to say, "You'll love my church and the music. Our worship leader scored a 78 on the SCL Metro Test."

Don't answer that last question. It was rhetorical. As a service to churches around the world, here is an easy rating system by which to analyze to what degree your worship leader is a metrosexual.

1. Has a faux hawk hair style = +1
2. Has more product in his hair than your wife = +1
3. Has Rob Bell, black rimmed glasses = +1
4. They are not prescription, but just for effect = +2
5. Attends the Catalyst Conference = +3
6. Performs at the Catalyst Conference = +10
7. Owns Puma, Vans or Diesel sneakers = +2 per each pair
8. Wears jeans on stage = +1
9. Wears designer jeans on stage = +2
10. Wears Wrangler or Rustler jeans on stage = -3
11. Has a goatee = +2
12. Wears one of those Castro revolution looking hats = +2
13. Drinks coffee on stage = +1
14. Drinks some kind of coffee you did not know existed = +2
15. Brings a French Press on stage and makes his own coffee during service = +5
16. Has a handlebar mustache = -3
17. Good at Frisbee but hates getting all "sweaty" = +1
18. Has a haircut that covers one of his eyes while singing = +1
19. Owns a white belt = +2
20. Owns suspenders = -3
21. Wears a scarf with a t-shirt = +1
22. Wears a winter knit hat even in the summer = +2
23. You think he covered a My Chemical Romance song last week = +3
24. Drives an Audi or VW, silver of course = +2
25. Uses the words, "postmodern, relevant" or "emergent" nonstop = +2
26. Cringes a little when people say the "H word." (Hymnal) = +3
27. Has ever said some form of the phrase, "That song is so 1990s" = +1
28. Owns a Grizzly Adams red and black flannel shirt = -2
29. Named his kid after a color or a number = +2
30. References Norwegian punk bands you've never heard of = +2
31. Wears a tie = -1
32. Wears a tie as a belt = +2
33. Looks as if he might exfoliate = +2
34. Has a man bag or European Carry All = +2
35. Brings said bag on stage with him = +2
36. Has a tattoo = +2
37. Has a visible tattoo = +4
38. Wife accompanies him on stage and plays tambourine = -4
39. Was formerly in a punk new wave band = +2
40. Knows the names of all the people on the scripted MTV show, "the Hills" = +3
41. Refuses to drink anything but Vitamin Water = +2
42. Your wife ever says, "he needs a barrette for his hair." = +2
43. Has a nickname with "the" in it, as in "the edge," = +2
44. Owns every Nooma video = +2
45. Has a soul patch = +3
46. Won't play barefoot on stage until he gets a pedicure = +2
47. Refers to California as "the left coast" = +2
48. Currently subscribes to Dwell or Details magazine = +2
49. Owns a pair of lady jeans = +2
50. Twitters you from his iPhone = +2
51. His toddler dresses cooler than you = +2
52. He wears graphic t-shirts over button down, long sleeve shirts = +2
53. Ever says "we got a hot mic here" = -4
54. Shops at the Gap = 0
55. Shops at Urban Outfitters = +2

...I feel like a 55 item list of analyzing worship leaders is enough to earn me a new batch of "you are weird" emails, and at the end of the day, that's all I can ask for.What does your worship leader score?
_________________

I scored a 3.
Come on, all you worship leaders and musicians out there...what did you score?

Top 30...

Rolling Stone magazine just released their 100 Greatest Guitar Songs Of All Time. Take a look and tell me what you think. You can find the whole list here.

30. Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley and The Comets
29. Back In Black - AC/DC
28. Where The Streets Have No Name - U2
27. Look Over Yonders Wall - The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
26. How Blue Can You Get - B.B. King
25. Can't You Hear Me Knocking - The Rolling Stones

24. Killing In The Name - Rage Against The Machine

23. Over Under Sideways Down - The Yardbirds

22. A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles

21. Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes

20. People Get Ready - The Impressions

19. Purple Rain - Prince and The Revolution

18. Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones

17. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

16. Cowgirl In The Sand - Neil Young with Crazy Horse

15. My Generation - The Who

14. Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen

13. Layla - Derek and the Dominos
12. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - The Jimmy Hendrix Experience

11. Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin

10. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
9. Statesboro Blues - The Allman Brothers Band
8. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles

6. Eruption - Van Halen

5. Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones

4. You Really Got Me - The Kinks

3. Crossroads - Cream

2. Purple Haze - Jimmy Hendrix

1. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry

Thoughts?

Confessional

Tried to upload this through YouTube, but it wasn't working. So, I had to go through Blogger, which always adds that scary picture of me below the video.

Oh, well...ENJOY!

PROPS...

This "prop" goes out to Justin Romack. Justin is more than my go-to drummer. He's my tech support, my worship-discussion buddy, my link to all things cool and young, and my good friend.
______________________________________

1. Justin owns on the drums. He's fantastic. I'm no rock star, but I've played with lots of drummers in my life. Some of them have been great and some of them have not. Justin brings more than just excellence to the drums...he also brings the rare gift of being able to predict where a song is going. Playing "worship" drums is way different than just rocking with a band...it typically requires you to play more simply and to work without concrete arrangements for songs. Justin knows this and thrives in it.

2. Justin has a great sense of humor. Back when he was younger, he would use his wit to insult people. (What teenager didn't?) Now, he uses his wit to make really smart jokes...usually in some fake (but believable) voice.

3. Justin is a good husband. I don't think I've ever come across two people so destined to be together as Justin and Angela. Their story is like one of those romantic-comedies that looks totally predictable and then ends up surprising your socks off. Since Justin and Angela were married, I've seen him become a great husband.

4. Justin is an overcomer. I am amazed at Justin's attitude. When Justin shows up to play drums (his passion,) I never know what I'm goingto get. I never know if Justin's vision is going to be really good or if he's going to be playing in absolute darkness. And you know what? It never seems to matter. He gets behind that kit I swear to you, it's always spot-on. Always. The guy doesn't blow it. He nails his parts whether he can see his kit or not. I don't know how he does it...but I respect the heck out of him for his ability to deliver every single time.

5. Justin loves God. Sometimes I look at my life and realize that my faith isn't changing me. I see that following Jesus has somehow turned into just-being-moral instead of consistently shaping me to be more like the Lord. But not Justin - I see his faith changing him, molding him and growing him every day. And I respect him so much for that.
______________________________________


So, here's to you, Romack! I'm glad to call you my friend!

As an added feature of the "props," I'm asking folks who know Justin to chime in down in the comment box. If you know him and want to honor him with your own "props," feel free to do so.

(And please don't use this to make lame jokes about Justin. It will just make you look really desperate for laughs.)