never been here before

*Smack* Who's your daddy now?

I've mentioned my best friend Lindsey a few times before. She's in the Philippines, counseling young women who are abandoned, orphaned, sold into sex slavery, or have suffered other serious abuses from friends and family members. How she does it day after day.... only God can give a person that kind of strength. She sent a particularly moving story to me this week that I put up on her site. Everyone should read it. The Life You Saved .

You Who Never Arrived Rainer Maria Rilke You who never arrived in my arms, Beloved, who were lost from the start, I don't even know what songs would please you. I have given up trying to recognize you in the surging wave of the next moment. All the immense images in me-- the far-off, deeply-felt landscape, cities, towers, and bridges, and unsuspected turns in the path, and those powerful lands that were once pulsing with the life of the gods- all rise within me to mean you, who forever elude me. You, Beloved, who are all the gardens I have ever gazed at, longing. An open window in a country house--, and you almost stepped out, pensive, to meet me. Streets that I chanced upon,-- you had just walked down them and vanished. And sometimes, in a shop, the mirrors were still dizzy with your presence and, startled, gave back my too-sudden image. Who knows? perhaps the same bird echoed through both of us yesterday, separate, in the evening...

For Kansas Bob...

Poor Carlos . We all have a story about horrible customer service, don't we? This one is pretty bad. Enterprise Rent-a-Car should be ashamed of themselves. I didn't have any trouble renting a car with Enterprise when I was in Seattle. And I don't have a Washington driver's license. Duh. Why would I?

Click here . Listen for 54 seconds. Then come back. WHO IS THE PRODUCER OF THIS SONG? What kind of music professional allows a song to be recorded with the vocalist singing "tuh" instead of "to"? Especially when it's in the title of the song!!?!! Bad. Bad. Bad. Grrrrr.

I'll be taking these Huggies and whatever cash ya got.

In the wake of the controversy surrounding Barack Obama and his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, I thought I would resurrect an old idea I had for a post back in January: Obama on Faith. The Audacity of Hope is not a fast or easy read by any stretch. Some chapters flew by, and others took a while for me to get through. He is a highly educated man with a very idealistic point of view. But the "political-speak"... well, it's just not my bag. I've never cared too much for politics, and this election year is the one I've taken the most interest in. But it's honestly just because of the ground-breaking nature of it. And while there are still so many political issues that I have yet to find myself on sure footing, at least I am working through that, which is more than I've done. Ever. So when I decided to read The Audacity of Hope I realized it was the first time I decided to read a book by a politician. I searched for McCain's and Huckabee's book t...

My best friend Lindsey is serving as a missionary over in the Philippines. I created a website for her last summer and this weekend did a major overhaul of the design. She's doing amazing work over there, and I thought y'all might want to take a look. (And let me know if anything looks wonky.) Living by Faith

A play and a movie: This is my sister we're talking about. We're not gonna let her die just so you can have one of your moods.

I took this at 3:30 this afternoon. This is what our parking lot looks like. Our building has solar panels - this is a side view. Mother Nature's Cruel Joke? (...I think it's a little funny. Notice I said "a little".)

I stumbled upon this little gem today. It's hilarious. Stuff Christians Like . Scott - #128 is for you.

If I had two words to sum up the movie: surprising and redemptive. Oh, and quirky. (I'm a sucker for a little quirk .) But this not really a feel-good type of movie, because ultimately this movie is about domestic abuse. Yet the movie tried to hide under a thinly-veiled version of a romantic comedy. Did I laugh? A few times. But I was also horrified, angry and disappointed... experiencing that many different emotions in the span of 2 hours might just make the movie good for some people, but what made the movie good was the performance of Keri Russell and the scenes she had with Andy Griffith. They were priceless. The overall plot of the movie mostly revolves about Jena (played by Russell) who a young woman in a bad marriage. She creates delectable and creative pies based on her feelings. The "I Hate My Husband Pie..." has bittersweet chocolate made into a pudding drowned in caramel, for example. There are loads and loads of moments like these in the movie, adding to the...

Who is FICA and why is he getting all my money?

Photo courtesy of the Jacob's Well website. I've been itching to visit Jacob's Well church in Kansas City since I first heard about it a couple of years ago. It's often linked with the "emerging church" movement, and according to this article the pastor and founder is considered one of the "founding members" of this movement. It's connection to it is one of the reasons I wanted to go - the chance to see a church that defines itself as one in action. But I also heard the words "lovely and creative worship" from someone or somewhere (I can't recall). And I'm always looking for something inspiring and creative to incorporate into our worship time. I got something cool: a surprise. It's a funny thing to visit a church when you are so used to being at your own. When you're a staff member of a church it's hard to get away on weekends, so when the opportunity arises to get away I try to visit a church I can learn and be i...

Updated 4/4/08. Carlos over at Ragamuffin Soul is asking people to blog about a recent creative idea we've used in a worship service. I'm bumping this up per his request. _________________________________________________________________________ Originally posted 3/20/08 In my effort to build a Good Friday service with the theme of "by his stripes we are healed", I have hit a dilemma. Here is my order of service: Video “Resurrection” Reading of Isaiah 53 Crimson (Vocal Solo) Reading: John 18: 1-18 #302 Lamb of God 1, 2 Reading John 18: 19-40 #323 Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed 1, 2, 3, 5 Reading: John 19: 1-16 Love Song (Vocal Solo) Reading John 19: 17-42 #324 When I Survey the Wondrous Cross 1, 3, 4 Video “A Better Way” Cross Painting/Communion Prayer All of the readings have music in the background, mostly stuff from "The Passion" to create a mood of sorrow and awe at the same time. Both vocal solos are focused on Jesus very intentionally, as are the videos...

Kinetic Church in Charlotte, NC had something interesting happen. 75% of their church gear was stolen, gear that was inside a trailer. These are all around town, with different words, but similar to this one... but this is what really intrigues me:

This was a weird week for me for a number of reasons. I won't get into it all, but I sit down tonight, writing this post to flush out the spiritual lesson that's there. Somewhere. Today I buried another uncle. As I thought back to the last 5 years, I realized just how many funerals I've attended, and the number was high. Too high. All but three were quite sudden and four of them were people entirely too young to die. My cousins, who knew for two years their dad would die young, handled themselves well today. Better than I would if I lost my father... (and that is just something I can't think about.) Then tonight I had a joyous reunion with a dear old friend from college. We're were next door neighbors in the dorm, acted and sang on the same stage together, cried in the hallway together, prayed for each other and encouraged each other. It was so good to see her. It was good to see how far we've both come. We were just kids back then, and we thought we were the **...