Good Road Music

I had forgotten how much I really enjoy certain singers and musicians, especially when traveling on the highway. Yesterday I listened to a live disc from The Indigo Girls that was enthralling. So much good stuff on there that I hadn't heard in quite a while. I think my favorite song from listening yesterday was probably there version of Bob Dylan's Tangled Up In Blue. Dylan's song is an epic poem in and of itself, but in this version the Indigo Girls take it, reshape it, and make it there own. Fantastic! The other person I really love to listen to is Waylon Jennings. Definitely a throwback to my childhood affection for the Dukes of Hazzard. He has a line in one song that says, "I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane." I love that sentiment because it really feels true in my life at different times, especially this week after turning 30, but who's counting?

Richard John Neuhaus

A prominent and influential Catholic scholar passed away this weekend. Richard John Neuhaus was the editor of the journal First Things and co-founded Evangelicals and Catholics Together with Chuck Colson. He helped President Bush shape his policy on issues like abortion and stem-cell research. Here is an web article from Christianity Today about his life and legacy.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/januaryweb-only/101-53.0.html?start=1

Missing My Girls

Bill Mallonee has a song lyric that says, God, I miss my wife and I miss my kids/ the little ways you die just to live through this. His reference point was the toll of touring and the road on his family but the sentiment is the same for me whenever I have to be away from my girls. We are on a staff retreat which is going really well. I am privileged to serve alongside an incredible group of ministers who love the Lord and people. They are a constant source of encouragement to me in my specific area of ministry but also as I continue to walk down the path of being a husband and a father. It's not easy for me to be away from Cyd, Claire, and Charlotte but I trust the Lord to protect them and watch over them and to bring us back together. The best thing about being away from them is coming home!!

Survey Says...

My friend Allison tagged me to fill out this survey using only one word answers back in October so here goes...

1. Where is your cell phone?
countertop

2. Where is your significant other?
Stamping

3.Your hair color?
black

4. Your mother?
Savannah

5. Your father?
Springville

6. Your favorite thing?
family

7. Your dream last night?
none

8. Your dream/goal?
write

9. Room your in?
Bedroom

10. Your hobby?
reading

11. Your fear?
roaches

12.Where you want to be in 6 years?
wiser

13.Where you were last night?
home

14. What your not?
old

15. One of your wish list items?
an iPod nano

16. Where you grew up?
Georgia

17. The last thing you did?
typed

18.What are you wearing?
shorts

19. Your TV?
PBS

20.Your Pet?
None

21. Your computer?
HP

22. Your mood?
good

23.Missing someone?
yes

24. Your car?
Millenia

25. Something your not wearing?
socks

26.Favorite store?
Wal-Mart

27.Your Summer?
crazy

28.Love Someone?
definitely

29.Favorite color?
Green

30. Last time you laughed?
today

31. Last time you cried?
Monday

Street Preachers

Last night as I was reading and watching the SEC get embarrassed by Utah. I came across a section of This Beautiful Mess that reminded me of the street preachers I would often see on River Street in Savannah when I was in high school. They were present for different things that drew any size crowd, but they seemed more vocal and visible for events like St. Patrick's Day. Even then as a young Christian, zealous as I could be there was something that didn't quite sit right with my soul about the message and the messenger on those occasions. The Gospel is the beautiful story of God's desire to live in a covenant relationship with his creation, us. The Gospel is the way in which God accomplished that through the person and work of Christ...yet I couldn't find that in the midst of the shouts through the megaphone and the signs that these "evangelists" held high. I think the message was getting distorted and lost in that environment. It seems that a more effective way of sharing the love of Christ in that situation would be to have a water station for those who have intoxicated themselves, a rest area if you will just so they know that in the midst of the chaos there is someone who doesn't know them but still loves them. The shouts always seem to be more concerned with morality (drinking, etc.) than with relationship. Morality is a good thing, but it can't take the place of a relationship with the Living God. Besides, preaching to a bunch of drunk people just never made sense to me! If they made a commitment to Christ they would probably just forget it in the morning after sleeping off the hangover.

Thanksgiving at Little Ralph's