On a corner in Memphis

This song is on Todd Angnew's latest album titled "Better Questions". What I really like about this album is that the songs seemingly reflect a lot of questions and/or junk that Christians tend to struggle with but never really talk about. The contrast in this song about what he sees and hears on the street vs what he hears in Church I think is very powerful. I don't take this statement to be a generalization of worship in all Churches but just a reminder not to forget about who Jesus spent his time with and that the Church is not just on Sundays, but even more importantly in the streets.

Saturday on Beale St. with the drunk and the searching
I hear an old man playing guitar
I can’t make out what he’s saying
But I can tell you that he’s suffered
And that he means every word from the bottom
Of what’s left of his heart… tonight

A few hours later, I slip into church
Singing songs about saving grace
One guy’s nodding off and another hates to be here
And we all mouth the words to save face
It’s 11:15 on Sunday morning And I wish I was

On a corner in Memphis listening to the old man
Singing out his sorrows and laying down his pride
He’s telling me his story or at least his side
With no need to pretend and nowhere to hide

‘Cause we are all broken here
We’re are all ashamed
I couldn’t fool you if I wanted to
Our stories are too much the same

And what about this Jesus?
They say He drank with the poor and the blind and the lame
Do you think He’d like the songs that we sing?
Or would He feel the same as I do?
What if Sunday School was on Saturday night?

What if their heart-breaking cries of pain
Are the first hymns of tomorrow’s saints?

On a corner in Memphis, we’re singing with the old man
Crying for his sorrows and laying down our pride
He’s telling us our story, or at least his side
With no need to pretend and nowhere to hide

On a corner in Memphis
We’re singing out our sorrows
He’s telling us his story
With no need to pretend and nowhere to hide
On a corner in Memphis

Fall is in the air...

Besides the weather changing, the one sure sign for me that summer is ending is that Football has started..I had the pleasure of taking my first born to her first Seahawk game and in Suite no less! The funny thing is that she was more excited about the food (especially the dessert) than the excitement of the game or the spectacular view.. It was however a greet way to have some a Daddy Date and it made her feel good that so many people asked her questions and told her how tall and cute she was..Here is a taste of the view from the suite

Friendship in the OT

I ran across a great example of friendship in all places, the Book of Job. What really spoke to be in Job 2: 11-13 was how Job's friends responded to him losing everything he had and then being attacked with boils from head to toe. What did they say or do? You see, three of his friends came to comfort him and when they arrived they sat down by him for support for seven days/nights and didn't even say a word to him, because they realized Job's suffering couldn't be put into words! Or in my interpretation, they didn't want to diminish or down play Job's pain and suffering by their simple words. What is amazing to me is that they didn't say what they thought Job wanted to hear, as I have to admit that is something that I often do. They also didn't respond the way so many Christians today do by saying in trying to help others in pain: "God with use this to make you stronger", "God will get you through this". Don't get me wrong, these examples may be true but I believe that sometimes the most loving thing we can say at that moment and what many people need to hear is "I am really sorry that happened", "I don't know want to say", "It is OK to be angry right now".

I long to have friends like Job did and even more importantly, I hope that someday I can be a friend like that........

Passive or Active?

Repentance..This question surfaced during a sermon last night on the Book of Jonah. Is repentance without action really repentance at all? How can I truly believe that I have repented of something if my actions or lack of them, don't change? It seems to me that I am good at making myself believe that I have repented, but so many times my actions don't match my words.

Going through the Book of Jonah has made me realize that I am more similar to Jonah that I would like to believe. One can read the Book of Jonah and get caught up thinking about what kind of fish it was and how a person could spend three days in the belly of a giant fish, or even laugh at the fact that Jonah tried to run as far away from God as he possibly could. Is having passive repentance any better than trying to run from God?

15 years together

Today, the spectacular Buttercup and I celebrate 15 years of marriage. We have the opportunity to get away together and had a wonderful time down in NoCal. I am a firm believer that you need to break up the day to day minutia of life every now and then and celebrating our Anniversary was a great excuse to do it. I want to first thank Toirdhealbheach Beucail and Mrs TB for their gracious hospitality and putting up with us for a night and even giving up their bed!

As the famous saying goes: "It is not the number of breaths you take, but the number of moments that take your breath away". One of these moments came on our flight down to SF as Buttercup was in awe of the beauty of the world at 40,000 feet. I have been known to kid her about how emotional she is and how in touch with her feelings she is. However, I must admit that it made we realize at that moment, with tears in her eyes how wonderful of a person she is and how truly honored I am to be able to be able to call her my wife.

We had the pleasure of attending our old church down in cowtown and it was a blessing to have people still remember us and to be truly happy to see us. Pastor Jon was gracious enough to mention us from the pulpit and we even had a chance to catch up with him and his wife over coffee the next morning.

We also took a beautiful drive up to Napa Valley and had an amazing lunch on the sunny patio at Napa Valley Grill. Sitting there with my beautiful wife in the sun, with great food and wine, another one of those "does life here on earth, get any better than this?" We then stop at the beautiful Domaine Carneros winery and had a great time sitting on the patio and have a wine tasting.

Our last day in NoCal we did the touristy thing and spent the day in SF and rode the trolley down to the Warf. I loved being on the trolley and seeing the unbelievable views and enjoying the mild weather. I think I had forgotten one of the fun things about being in a big city is people watching and being in SF, you are never disappointed. However, the # of pan handlers really got to Buttercup and confirmed in her mind that she is not a big city girl.

I have to include a funny Buttercup quote from the trip. We were driving in Dixon and noticed these trees that were bark less. She looks at me and says "it's so hot that even the trees lose their bark!"

Here's to an even better next 15 years!

A peek behind the curtain

My favorite blogger recently inspired me to post some pictures(he always has good ideas) as I realized that he hasn't seen where we live. My wife use to say; "well crap, there you go!" or in this case, "well crap, here you go!"

A view going up our driveway

As you can tell, we don't have any problems growing moss

One of the many paths we have

A view off the patio

Our fire pit which is a work in progress. There is a cool story behind these wood benches and no I did not cut them in half (I can't cut firewood that straight)

One of our flower beds..you can see Rose bushes in the distance. There were approx 75 rose bushes all over the property, when we moved in

A cherry blossom tree that provide great shade over our patio

Seclusion

On days like this it is always nice to know that I have a peaceful place to come home to. Why is it that it is so easy to take things that are not necessary personnel and make them personnel, and as a result become depressed by them?





This view down our driveway was taken by the Teenager of the house...