Worship

For those authentic worshippers who read my blog: http://www.worshipmatters.com/

Thought-provoking.

Traveling

Well, I'm in Newberg, OR getting ready to go set up for this evening's concert. We're looking forward to a good time. Last night we were in Hermiston, OR at the Church of the Nazarene with a ladies trio, Indirect Light. After the concert, I was manning the table when a man came up and asked me where I was originally from. After giving my background, I told him that I had moved to Nampa from Cincinnati. He asked, "Did you by chance attend God's Bible School and College?" When I replied in the affirmative, he told me that his father was a huge fan and supporter of the school. I asked his name, hoping that maybe I had come across his name in the past. He told me his dad was Richard S. Taylor, the great Nazarene theologian. As many of you know, Dr. Taylor passed away last week. In fact, his funeral was this Monday. Paul Taylor (his son) spent some time sharing some of the great things that happened in the hours leading up to his death. He told me that his passing was as peaceful as it could have been. I then shared with Paul how much Dr. Taylor's books had ministered to me across the years. I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. Taylor in 2003 at GBS. What a great man! I also found out that he really enjoyed Liberty's music. I really enjoyed meeting Paul and his wife and look forward to spending some time with them in the future.

Searching, Swimming, and Submerging

As I sat at the table this morning, nibbling at my nutricious breakfast, Ham 'n Eggs Hot Pockets, I was doing some work on the website. While I was checking my Google e-mail, I noticed that there was a link to a search engine that I had never heard of. You have to check this site out. Man, they can track down everything about a person: http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/.
It was amazing how much info they have accumulated. Actually, it's a little scary (speaking of the book 1984). Of course, I bookmarked zoominfo. You never know when it will come in handy.

Last afternoon, Trey and I went tubing/boating with a bunch of the Liberty family members. We had a blast! Trey had never been out on a boat before, much less tubing, so he really enjoyed it. Doran and I spent time with the kids in a shallow part of the lake, watching them splash and swim around. It was a relaxing evening. We stayed out 'til nearly 10pm. Trey was exhausted by the time we got home. I'm not the greatest swimmer in the world (to say the least), so when I got on the tube for the first time I told Dan to take it easy in the boat. Yeah right. About 3 minutes later, my body was skipping across the water, my arms windmilling about helplessly, nanoseconds before my open mouth was filled with lake water, while the tube bounced merrily on the wake of Dan's boat. I laughed nervously as I swam back to the boat. Dan was laughing so hard he almost wet himself. I clambered back on to the tube and had a nice ride for about a minute and a half. All of a sudden, Dan yanked the boat the right, the bottom sat down and I heard the engine roar. I faintly remember saying out loud, "Oh, great!" He took off and I don't recall much past that. I do remember seeing my feet straight up in the air (I was vertical) and then plunging head-first into the water. Dan did wet himself on that one. The next time I climbed on the tube I made sure Trey was with me so Dan would have a little mercy. Trey kept on saying, "This isn't bad at all. I'm not scared". He then said, "Dad, we've got to get one of these", while tapping on the side of the intertube. It was an enjoyable evening.

Here in about 40 minutes I'll be leaving for the bus. We're going to be spending the weekend in Oregon. I'll keep you posted.

God and Country

Point of Grace

Avalon (Michael Passons second from left)

I just returned from a fun evening at the Idaho Center here in Nampa. The area "God and Country" rally was held in the outdoor ampitheater, featuring Point of Grace as the special musical guest. I'm telling you, those girls can still sing! They have one "new" member who has now been with them nearly 3 years, Leigh Cappillino, but their harmonies still povide the classic POG sound I've always enjoyed. They traveled out here with a scaled down band, just an acoustic guitar player (the Leigh's husband, Dana, who has been the band leader for the last 7 years) and Michael Passons on the keyboard. Some of you diehard CCM fans from the 90s will remember Michael as one of the founding members of the group Avalon. Maybe I'm getting old and nostalgic, but their best songs tonight were the ones from their first 3 recordings. They performed my personal favorite, "The Great Divide", along with some other classics like "I'll keep Believing", "Gather At the River", and "Keep the Candle Burning". As a special treat Michael Passons brought the house down with his rendition of the Avalon hit "Testify to Love". I felt like it was 1998 all over again.

After the concert, right above us I might add, they had a fantasmo* pyrotechnics show! I was a little nervous about how Kassady would handle it, especially being that close. She loved it! I had bought some popcorn, so she kept one hand going from the popcorn bag to her mouth, while gazing up at the fireworks. Trey enjoyed it, but was concerned that some of the flaming bits would land upon his person (uh...he doesn't have, like, a person person...it's just an age-old metaphor...just forget it, OK?) and so he kept one eye on where the dying embers were landing.

We had a good time. It's nice to just get away and enjoy an evening with family, friends, and fireworks (I would throw in Point of Grace, but their name doesn't start with an F, now, does it?).

*This is the first time that I have ever typed the word "fantasmo". It felt good.

Wisconsin Wackos

This is what living in Wisconsin for a while does to a person: http://defensetech.military.com/archives/002531.html. I like their empassioned quote:

We dress as clowns to show that humor and laughter are key elements in the struggle to transform the structures of destruction and death. Saint Paul said that we are “fools for God's sake,” and we say that we are “fools for God and humanity.” Clowns as court jesters were sometimes the only ones able to survive after speaking truth to authorities in power.

Waggoner Waterworld

Out in the desert plains of Idaho we irrigate our lawns, this made possible by large canals that bring the water in from reservoirs. Our lawns are green only if we keep our sprinkler systems maintained and functioning. Unfortunately, I haven't done the greatest job this year of keeping everything up to snuff. Consequently, my lawn over the last week as begun to look rather sapped and arid.

Trey (along with his dad, I'll admit) has been wanting one of those 3' X 16' inflatable pools for the backyard, but we've decided the timing isn't right financially. So in lieu of this piddling natatorium, I've made up a water game. It involves adjusting the timing of our sprinkler system to accomodate an afternoon session of water sports made possible by my wild imagination. I have also hooked up the garden hose to a nozzle with several different settings and added that to the mix. Trey isn't begging for a pool these days, but the first question posed in the morning is "Dad, how long 'til we can play in the sprinkers?"

He's begged me all day to get out there, so I'm going. I bid you adieu.

Father's Day pics

I was going through the pictures on my camera's memory card and came across some pics from the Grace Father's Day program. Lori coordinated the program and from what I heard it was great! The kids made a special video for the fathers and it turned out pretty cool. It's impossible to go wrong when you have a bunch of kids on the platform.

Some program elements are consistent no matter the location or type of church. For instance, every kids program features at least one "waver". You know, the kid who is oblivious the fact that he is in a program, and uses the up-front time to send personal greetings to everyone he recognizes in the congregation. There is also the token "shy" child; you've seen her, the one who sticks her fingers in her mouth when it's time to say her part and causes the program director to hoarsely whisper her piece, apparently hoping that the child will chime in at some point. This child awkwardly fidgets from foot to foot during the director's rendition and sometimes will burst into tears. Then there is always the overachiever: the kid who has memorized every detail in the program, who corrects the rowdy kids on the platform, and sings every song loudly and proudly. Oh yeah, and don't forget the 3 year old who will at some point in the program wander off the platform and slowly walk down the aisle searching for Mommy. It's great, though. It never gets old.

This was Kassady's first program.

Kassady listens intently to the directions, while Trey scans the crowd.

I'm a lucky Dad!

Fiction

You know, my great friend (and cousin) Carrie got me thinking about my favorite novels. I don't know that I have a comprehensive list. Like I said in my review of House I don't read much fiction. I'm doing some real head-scratching to come up with a list. I'm just going to write down some novels, in no particular order, that I have really liked:

The Oath, F. Peretti
To Tame a Land, L. La'mour (can't help it; I love westerns)
Thr3e, T. Dekker
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
The Chamber, J. Grisham
Without Remorse, T. Clancy
Tom Sawyer, M. Twain
The Perfect Getaway (The best Hardy Boys Case Files ever; it's #12) F.W. Dixon
The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis
Silas Marner, G. Eliot
Penrod/Penrod and Sam/Penrod Jashber (3 of the funniest books ever written), B. Tarkington
Great Expectations, C. Dickens (I've read and reread this book more than any other)
Cain, J.B. Huggins
Huckleberry Finn, M. Twain
Big Bad Wolf, J.Patterson
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, V. Burton
The Young Explorer, H. Alger (I actually like all of Horatio Alger's books even though you know what's going to happen from chapter 1 on)
This Present Darkness, F. Peretti
Oliver Twist, C. Dickens
The Sackett Brand, L. La'mour
Curious George, H.A. Rey
The Invisible Man, H.G. Wells
1984, G. Orwell (very interesting and thought-provoking)
The Langoliers, S. King
Ramona the Pest, B. Cleary
The Pelican Brief, J. Grisham
Little Men, L.M. Alcott
The Reckoning, J.B. Huggins

Man, I can't believe I came up with that many. That's just off the top of my head. There were a few books, whose titles elude me at the moment, that I loved as a kid. I'll have to track them down.

So, anybody want to post their top 5?