Rumor Has It

Waiting

This is quite possibly one of the crudest movies I've ever seen, and I definatly don't recommend it. However, I was a server, and if you weren't a server, trust me. That's movies not an exaggeration of what happens in resteraunts. Just remember, "She broke the number one rule. Never mess with the people who handle your food!"

Wicked

The Creative Arts team from GCC hopped a train to chicago today. Butch wanted us to spend some time team building so we pulled away for the day together, and it was really an amazing day. My former boss, Adam Callender, said he spent more time with me today than he did my entire internship with him. But it was great to spend a day with Jason, Dustin, Ben, Trace, and the boys (plus Kathy and Kelsey). We did a little shopping in the morning, although I don't think any of us actually bought anything. All of the die-hards headed off to "Mecca" as I call it, or the Michigan Ave. Apple Store. We had lunch together, then did a bit more shopping before we finally headed off to the Ford Oriental Theater to see "Wicked." And here comes the review...



That image is probably the best way to describe my reaction to the show. Now before anybody starts getting the lynch mob together. Please hear me out on this. The song, "All the Hype that Money Can Buy" really rang in my head while I was in the theater. The last two years or so I have been barraged with comments from people who said they just absolutely loved "Wicked." Between theater majors at school who can't stop singing the music, high school marching bands that were doing shows to the tunes, and friends who were out reading the book, I couldn't get away from people telling me how much they loved it. Especially lately, a lot of GCC staff have been going to see it, and they've all come home with these rave reviews about how amazing it is, and technically awe-inspiring, and so on. So, that being said, it was almost impossible for any show to live up to that kind of hype. Short of Jesus coming back at the end of the show, nothing probably could've meet all the expectations I was coming in with.
Secondly, nothing in that show really made me say, "Wow, I have no idea how they did that," or "Dang, that person has some amazing skills to pull that off." And after seeing a lot of the things that I get into, like Blast, Stomp, or Blue Man Group, which I know aren't technically theater, but still in the same realm of entertainment. It's probably pretty hard to wow me at this point. The technical things in the show were fantastically run, but again, I didn't see anything that was incomprehensible to me.
There were little things that bothered me, as well. I think since they tried so hard to hide the mic's on the actors, they couldn't really pump the volume on the girls, so because of that, the overall house volume was a bit low, so those intense moments were lacking a bit of "umph." It also made it hard to appreciate everything the orchestra was doing, because you could barely hear them. The girl who played Glinda was an understudy. She was a good actor, but vocally she may have struggled a bit on a few songs. And that dragon above the stage was distracting. I kept thinking it was going to do something cool, and I actually missed Elphaba's first show of her power because I was watching the stupid dragon.
In fairness though, it was a cute story, and a fun twist on the original. And after watching the actual wizard of oz the night before, it was nice to see something that actually made a little bit of sense. I enjoyed the costuming, the orchestrations were great, and I loved the pacing of it, if that makes any sense.
I've been really lucky to have a family who enjoys theater. So I have been lucky enough to have been exposed to a lot of really great shows from a really young age. I'm not saying that I am an expert by any stretch of the imagination. But maybe that just means my perspective and youthful awe of shows like this is a little jaded, or something to that effect. But never-the-less, it's a good show. I guess if I could say anything, don't go to see it expecting anything, then you can make your own judgements. I was expecting something mind boggling, and I didn't really get it.
On the bright side, I am glad I got to share that experience with the arts team. I'm so happy Butch took me along and let me experience that. I feel like I can properly function in society now that I've seen that show.

Minor Setback C.D. Release Party

So yesterday, Jim DeSelm, Andrew Schaefer, and I all piled into the TB 2004 and headed off for cleveland to catch the c.d. release party for Minor Setback, featuring the one and only Roger Chagnon III, on bass. A band called Cactus 12 opened for them, and they were really good, minus the complete destruction of the pair of hot rods the drummer was using. You can't bring another pair of sticks?
But anyway, "Best Dressed" was the topic of the evening, which was the new release from the boys I've never heard before, so I guess it was all new to me. But they had quite the following. House of Blues was rockin last night, with the 'minor setback' of the sound guy in the back who was pre-occupied with picking his nose and talking to his friend and apparently forgot to run sound. But that didn't stop the party. There were a lot of originals and some covers, including a version of "You Shook Me All Night Long" which recieved a resounding thumbs down from me. Come on Rog, you know better than to mess with AC/DC. However, their rendition of "He-ya" by Outkast had me rolling. Great night, some solid rock, and a chance to see and old friend again. I miss playing with Roger, but I was finally got to see him for the first time in almost a year and a half.

Be Gone

The offending post's have been removed.

To all who were offended:....sorry, I guess I needed to be reminded that while somethings may be funny, they are not always wise. Although there were some verbal weapon's thrown that I decided to have removed from my page, nobody came and keyed my car, egg'd my door, or straight up punched me, so I thank you for your mercy. Next time I try to "make a funny" I'll try to choose my words and my target's a little more carefully.

To all who weren't offended......uhhhhh, thumbs up to you, I guess.

To all who didn't read it.......where've you been?

To my parents.....have fun in Alaska

Tagged.....painfully

I got tagged by Derry Prenkent, with the reason being "I want to see if he reads." Well, I don't read a ton, but enough to play.

ONE BOOK...

that changed your life > In The Name of Jesus -Henri Nouwen
that you've read more than once > Practice of the Presense of God -Brother Lawrence
that you'd want on a desert island > Thoughts in Solitude -Thomas Merton
that made you laugh > Everybody Poop's -I forget
that made you cry > Cry, the Beloved Country -Alan Paton (Also a good movie with James Earl Jones)
that you wish had been written > This is How I do... -MacGuyver
you wish had never been written > Monica Speaks -Monica Lewinsky
you are currently reading > Bored with God -Sean Dunn........haha, just kidding. Building Belief -Dr. Chad V. Meister. What's up, I knew him before the "Dr." part.
you've been meaning to read > Self Reliance -Ralph Waldo Emerson (It's actually an essay, but still, I want to read it)

Here it comes and.....

1. Thomas Kinnaird
2. Rachel Erdel
3. Lindsay Gafford
4. Michael Cox
5. Corey Mann

It's late, and I was......

WHEN THERE IS NOTHING TO BLOG ABOUT...
According to YOUR personal opinion, answer these questions...

ONE of your Favorite Movie MOMENTS of All Time: Final cut away shot in Shawshank Redemption

ONE of the Greatest Episodes of what TV show ever: "M*A*S*h" The episode shot from the eyes of the patient that had the clock in the corner counting down to his death. Morbid, yet poignant. Thanks Alan Alda, Thanks for seizing creative control.

One movie that made you LAUGH out loud many times: "Van Wilder"

ONE TV show that you wish you could be on: "Around the Horn"

ONE of your Favorite SONGS of all time: "Bartender" by Dave Matthews Band-preferrably the live cut from Folsom Field

ONE song you wish YOU wrote: "Intoxicating (Pneumatic Mix)" by David Crowder Band

ONE of the GREATEST movies that NOBODY has seen: "Dead Alive" directed by Peter Jackson

ONE song that truly MOVES you: "O Praise Him" by David Crowder Band

ONE movie that truly MOVED you: "Hotel Rwanda"

ONE MOVIE that you cried at: "Shadowlands" with Anthony Hopkins

MOST PLAYED song on your IPOD to date: "Trading My Sorrows" By Israel Houghton

ONE MOVIE that you love that would SUPRISE others to know: "That Thing You Do" People don't believe me that I love that movie. Once, someone thought I was lieing when I said I could quote almost that entire movie. Twenty minutes later, she cut me off. I was somewhere in the middle of the "Galaxy of Stars" tour at that point.

ONE SONG that you know ALL the lyrics to: Actually with the exception of Happy Birthday, the National Anthem, and Sing like the Saved, I don't think I could say that I know all the lyrics to anything. But ask me which songs I have the drum parts memorized for, and there's a list. However at one point in middle school, I did have all the lyrics to "We didn't start the fire" memorized. Thanks a lot Mrs. Basset

ONE SONG that NEVER gets old: "Ants Marching" by Dave Matthews Band

ONE SONG the moved you to TEARS: "Ave Maria" by Franz Biebl

The MOST RECENT song you purchased/downloaded: "Take On Me" by a-ha

ONE BOOK that you would suggest to ANYONE: "Cry, The Beloved Country" by Alan Paton

ONE BOOK the changed your life: "Practice of the Presense of God" by Brother Lawrence

A big thanks to Corey for giving me the idea to do this. I mad some additions to the original query list, but you get my drift. Now I just have to decide who I want to tag. Ok I got it: Sarah Koutz, Aaron Dewinter, J Aquilla, Amanda Cool, and Thomas Kinnaird. Your turn!!!

Clerks

Somone who will remain nameless told me to watch "Clerks" so that I would be prepared to see "Clerks II" soon. I was excited to watch this movie because I heard good things from people that I TRUSTED. Well never again. Let me tell you why this movie was the worst thing since styrofoam bombshelters.

1. Silent Bob isn't silent
2. It looks like my grandpa filmed it
3. It's in black and white. Apparently the myth that a black and white film made after panavision is 'artistic' is false.
4. At no point in my life was I ever a pot head, coke fiend, porn addict, or neurotic so all of the humor was not on my level.
5. It has no plot. No hook, no rising action, no climax, no resolution, it's just a day. That's not cool, that's a wasted two hours of my life waiting for nothing.
6. The characters are essentially this. Two people with absolutly no direction in life. One is ok with it and chooses to rationalize everything in a way that makes him sound right (and he also uses words that are obvioiusly beyond the intelligence level of anyone who would ever work at a video store anyway). The other is very un-easy about it, and basically decides to complain about it all day long. If I wanted to sit around and listen to people whine about their lack of a life, romantic options, good job, and basic life goals, I could eve's drop in starbucks, watch an episode of friends, or go hang out with 90% of the people I went to college with. At least those would be in color. Boo

Out with the Jeff, in with the Trace

Well my good friend Bobby Morton moved about in May because of the fact that he's most likely going to be drafted in the next 6 months, so he's ready to head out. In his place, Sturdy as and Elm Jeff Deselm was living with my for the summer. He kept me sane, we took Ken and Lawrence out for some good long bike rides, and spent a lot of time sitting out on the balcony wasting time. Unfortunatly, with his job schedule, and all the weeks I was gone, I rarely ever saw him, and when I did, it was practically midnight. Jeff moved about last week to so he could head over to school to be the R.A. in Donaldson house.

But don't you all fear. Trace Rorie moved in sunday, and our apartment already looks less like an apartment and more like a recording studio. In the two nights we've spent here together, music has been flying around so fast I can't keep up. I'm looking forward to what's gonna come in the next few months of us living together, until he get's married in April. I either lot's of friends, or trouble keeping a roomate, I can't figure out which one. But at least I don't live with my grandma, or my parents. And I DEFINATLY don't have a car bed.

Some thoughts on Worship

In the past five or six years, I'd say a good deal of what I've devoted my life to is worship music. I've been able to serve with a lot of different ministries offering my abilities in that area. At one time or another, I've served at Nappanee Missionary Church, Harris Prairie Church of Christ, St. Mark Missionary Church, HUNGER, Bayshore Camp, Ludlow Falls Camp, Prairie Camp, 3DYC, CYDC, and then my personal favorites, The Bethel College Chapel Band, and Granger Community Church. And there's always the occasional retreat, or 'away game' with Jason, Trace, and the boys.

In all of that time, I've probably listened to about 200+ hours of conversation about worship. What's it about, where's the focus, how should it sound, how do we lead well, can I wear a hat, etc. And then last spring, I took Bethel's music and worship course, which was taught by a man who's probably done it all musically speaking. He's served in liturgical churches, evangelical churches, pentacostal churches, house churches, mega churches, classical, contemporary, and even a little time in India with the gameleon worship. And that stretched my perspective even further, yet still, no answer. This topic has been refreshed in my mind lately by a conversation started by Tony Morgan about what should be done with worship music. Well I've been stewing over my opinion for years, and I think I'm finally ready to throw it out there. Enjoy...
Our lives are worship. I think most people who've spent much time discussing this issue can agree with me on that point. It's not about singing or what we do in church, it's the way we live our lives. Every action in our lives shows our allegiance or disallegiance to God, and hopefully we are all living lives that will bring God glory. And for a lot of us, the moments that we are really going to verbalize our love for God is the quiet times, in the moments where the reality of God really sets in and we can do nothing but express our love for God. On the musical end of things, there's a lot of verses I could throw out about singing praise, most notably to me is when Paul says to "sing psalms, hymn's, and spiritual songs amoung yourselves, making music to the Lord in your hearts." He says this in Ephesians 5:19 and again in Colossians 3:16. So the question on our end is what kind of music, how much, what's the lyrics, who leads, how often, and most importantly, what purpose does it serve for God, and for us?

God recieves glory through everything in creation, so I think God knows what's up. He wants us to love Him, and worship Him, and we do that with our lives right? I don't think the God that created you is going to be tricked by you coming to church on sunday and singing "I love you, Lord" and then living like you don't. I would like to think the God of the Cosmo's is a little more with it than somebody who's fooled by that kind of deceit.

About music, I believe music has the power to affect us emotionally. Science is all over that fact, so I don't need to prove that to you. Music can lift us up, bring us down, sober us, make us think. And for me, that happens without the words. There's something in the notes, the harmony, that lifts our souls. I believe it makes our senses acutely aware of the presence of good, of joy, of peace, and of just maybe, the holy spirit's presence. I think music brings us to that place emotionally, we can honestly and more openly sing about the things God has done, will do, and how we respond to that. I think the music is for us. It guides our emotions and spirits to a place where we are maybe a little more in tune with the Holy Spirit and we can communicate with Him in that place. Take this how you will, but I feel like the only evidence I have to back this up is that a lot of time while I'm playing worship music, I don't know how I play certain things, or where I come up with certain ideas. A lot of things flow out of me musically that could only be explained as God's control. And if that's true, apparently God wants to reveal something to His people with that music. I don't think He just wants to take over so he can have a better musical offering for himself.

So I believe that puts a heavy responsibility on us as musicians. We have to decide what kind of music to perform, yes I said perform, that will bring people to that place. And hopefully when the right music is picked, the right words are put with it to express what we are made aware of in that moment. I think if I had my choice, worship music would be a 200 piece symphony orchestra. I've heard some orchestral works that have brought me to the verge of tears, like Christopher Rouse's "Flute Concerto: Elegia," or Gustav Holst' "Jupiter" from the Planets suite, or J. S. Bach's 3rd Suite for Orchestra in D major. But that's the music I surround myself with, and that I'm in tune with. I'm also in tune with rock, pop, and a myraid of other genre's. I think what brings my parents to that place of worship is a lot different than what might bring say, Corey Mann, or Jason Miller, or Trace Rorie to the same place. I think the conversation get's real when a church has to decide what a majority of their young believers connect with so that they might see God's power in those musical moments. I believe that a lot of the mature older believers in our church put up with our music because they've already seen the power of music in worship, and they've realize that power in it before, and now it's time for a new generation to see it. The thing that I really love about our church is watching older people, say in their 60's and 70's, standing and participating in worship at church. I can tell just looking at them that they can't stand the music, but they see the value it has for the young people who are just beginning to understand God, so they step aside and asail their ears every sunday for those people.

So should our music sound like top 40? In my humble opinion, heck no. I've listened to a lot of the top forty music and all it makes me want to do is be deviant, break things, think bad thoughts, or depending on whether Counting Crows has an album out, contemplate suicide. I think as the church, we have to find the musical style that is current, but create music that has the power to uplift, to enlighten, to encourage, and to strengthen peoples awareness of God. I think GCC was very aware of that in our iTunes series.

In closing, what brings people into a place of worship musically speaking is going to be a lot of different things to a lot of different people. I don't think it always involves standing, singing, clapping, or any of the things we normally associate it with. There's a lot of different churches with a lot different people, and I'll bet the music is different at all of them, and it probably should be. But I think the question we should be asking ourselves when it comes to music selection is how it affects our peoples hearts, not what is going to bring the best musical or lyrical glory to God. God knows He's the greatest thing in all creation, and He's got better music than us. In my humble opinion, I think God wants his glory to be revealed through music, and our response will flow from that. Maybe......let the criticism's roll!

Real Cute, Windows

Windows fans, turn away because you're about to be embarassed. Windows has been hyping us all up for the release of Longhorn, hyping us up for about five years actually. They've had to push the release date back so many times that they've actually changed the name to Vista, which is equally lame. However I shouldn't be ripping on that since all of Apples 10.x releases were named after cats which is definatly mockable...anyway. This release, Bill Gates says, will revolutionize computing, making it more people friendly, blabitty bla bla. And what better way to make things more user friendly than by copying off Apple.

Here's some side by side screen shots that you can have some fun with...

iPhoto ('02) and Vista's Media Software



Spotlight ('05) and Vista's Search Software



Expose Screenshot ('04) and Vista's rip-off



Dashboard ('05) and Vista's Widgets on Sidebar



Now if you really want to laugh, go and watch this video which takes the audio from the CES convention for Windows developers where Billy and his boys are introducing Vista, and accompanies it with video of somebody walking through exactly what they're talking about on a mac. Click on the image's to start the video loading. Nice try Gates, but stick to what you're good at...donating your money. But be careful, by the looks of it you won't be making much more. Muah-hahahaha. Windows....you're dead to me. OVER!!!

Why?

One day last school year, I was walking through the halls of the music building with my friend Thomas Kinnaird. Somebody popped their head out of a classroom and asked us if we wanted to be in a photoshoot for the new Bethel bookstore catalog. Well we figured what the heck. So they gave us some sweatshirts that were too small and asked us to act natural. This was my version of natural...

(just for the record, this isn't the picture they put in the catalog)

Please pray for my brother....

If you've read my post's about my brother, you'd know he's in London right now. I'm sure you all heard on the news about the terrorist's that were arrested at Heathrow Airport in London. Well Brian is flying home from there on saturday. Please pray that he makes it home safe. I think it's safe to say the whole families a little concerned. We would appreciate it.

Mexico Top Three

At the end of our trip, Corey sat us all down and told us to journal about a number of things. One thing he was big on was that we have answers ready for people who ask about our trip. We needed to have a short one sentence answer about the trip, a list of our top 3 experiences, and then a list of our top ten, depending on what people wanted to hear. All the way home, he would just point at people and ask them for their top three. Well, here's mine.



3. Drummer Baby-One day we headed off to a little square downtown where Jose Angel's church was hosting a V.B.S./Puppet Show in the square for kids and families from the poorest areas of town. While we were waiting for all of the kids to show up, the effects seeing all the things we saw that day were starting to weigh on me. There was a bench in Jose's 'church' that sat right in front of the old drumset. I was just sitting by myself, hiding behind the camera, trying to make sense of everything I'd seen that day. And then this baby boy, who could not have been more than 2 years old, climbed up on the bench with me and grabbed the drumsticks off the drumset. He looked at me, pacifier in mouth, and handed me one of the sticks. His parents where no where to be found, no one else was around. It was just him and me sitting around making noise on possibly the worst set of drums I'd ever seen. But sharing that moment of joy with that baby, just enjoying something that I loved, and that maybe brought some hope to a pretty dark situation, meant the world to me. Little angel baby I guess.

2. Gloria in Catereyta- I don't have the picture from this moment, but on wednesday we were walking through Catereyta handing out food and diapers and some other suppplies. We had run out of almost everything but milk, when we came to one of the last houses. Gloria was standing outside, and instantly asked if we would pray with her. Matt asked her why, and she instantly burst into tears. She had no money, no food, her husband had been out of a job for quite some time. He was off looking for work, and she was at home with all of her children and nothing to feed them. She said she had to ask a neighbor for some food the day before. She just didn't know what to do. We prayed for her, but that obviously wasn't enough, but we had nothing left of the things that we brought to give. At that moment, Corey remembered that we still had a lot of food left over from lunch on our bus. So I headed off back to the bus to find a lot of leftovers sitting in the back seat. As God would have it I guess, my team of guys were the ones that prepared lunch that day back at home. I told them to make extra sandwiches and bring extra of everything because we had been running out that past few days. Little did I know that those leftovers were packed for a different reason. I ran back with my bag full of half empty bags of chips, about ten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, some apples, oreos, and other things. She was just so absolutly greatful to recieve them. Later, Matt grabbed a bag of hot dogs that we were serving to others, and had Corey give them to her and then walk her home so she wouldn't get mobbed. It was a little difference, but that's what God calls us to do right?




1. Goodbye- Thursday night, we had a cookout for some of the kids in the homes that back2back runs. We all stood around and they said their thank you's to us, and we said our thank you's to them, and they prepared to load the bus. Matt Cooper pulled us all aside and said that when we say goodbye to these kids, try not to cry. When the kids drive off on the bus, we want them to remember a happy time and smiling faces, not a bunch of blubbering americans. At this moment, I laughed to myself a bit because I never cry, and I knew that some of the girls on our team wouldn't be able to make it. "Good luck," I thought to myself. So we walked around to all the kids, gave out our hugs, handshakes, and hola's and sent them on their way. As we were loading up the last kids, Corey was standing there talking to Edgar, who was one of the men who ran Monontial. Edgar spoke some broken english, but mostly, he needed a translator to talk to us. He and Corey had spent the afternoon just sharing their stories and learning about each other. Right before Edgar was about to leave, Corey grabbed him and said this, in the loudest, clearest, english I've ever heard, "If something should happen to us before we come back, when we get to heaven, I'll meet you at the right side of the throne. We'll pick this party up there. Right side of the throne, you and me." I don't know if Corey meant that as a joke or not, I can't really tell. But at that moment, I just broke. I was standing there...crying. The reality of the fact that it won't always be like this, set in at that moment. They won't always be suffering, they won't always need food, they won't always be orphans looking for a family. On that day, we'll all be the way we were meant to be, together again. So there I stood, the guy who laughed at the thought of tearing up, crying in front of a bus load of kids. Somebody actually snapped a picture of me standing there, which I will keep to myself. But oddly enough, it had been raining that afternoon, and it was a bit over cast. I seem to remember at that moment, the sun came out. And as the bus drove off, all I could do was look at the sun over those amazing mountains, and feel like everything was right for that moment. God does some amazing stuff sometimes. Those were my top three.

If I may...

Have you ever heard someone who wasn't a christian say that they hate christianity because of what christians do? Or maybe if you're not a christian, you figure why would I want to be a part of something where people say one thing and do another? This kind of attitude has been eating away at me lately to be honest, because (and I don't mean to be rude if you think that) since when do we ever judge anything on that system? When do we ever scrutinize a program or a system or relationship on every little outcome of every person who says they subscribe to it? I look at it this way...
As children, I think it's pretty safe to say that we all took math class. Now maybe you went to some magical school where everyone got great grades, but in the real world where I went to school, most people didn't score 100% on their math tests. At least I know that I never usually did better than about a 90% and my friends were an even worse situation most of the time. And that's just the nature of learning, you're not always going to get everything right, I don't care who you are. However, I don't see people throwing out the validity of math just because the people who say they know how to do it aren't doing it perfectly. I have even witnessed my math teachers mess up an equation or two as a child, but I didn't decide at that moment that mathematics must be flawed, therefore I'll shall rid my life of it. NO WAY...that's absolutly rediculous. Out of the millions of people who took math in school, probably 2% of those people went on to become really stellar mathematicians, and even then, I bet Einstein probably added a few digits wrong in his lifetime.
In the same way, I don't decide that I will no longer follow traffic laws because there are car accidents every now and again, so therefore, traffic laws must be flawed. There are accidents because people don't follow the system, not because the system's messed up. We run stop signs, we speed, we drive drunk, the cars we build malfunction, we talk on our cell phones, put on makeup, eat breakfast, and drive at the same time. That's why there's accidents.
If you decide that you don't want to be a christian, that's just fine with me. God gave you that choice and you have every right to make it, but don't be a coward and try to blame it on christians. I don't go into math classrooms and say that the reason I've given up on math is because Jimmy is failing it, so therefore it must be flawed. You won't tell me that you won't speak english anymore because I say I speak english and there is missed used grammer and typo's in this post. That makes no sense. Evaluate Christianity for what it is at it's intended level. If you decide at that point that you want out, then that's fine. But just saying you don't want it because of the way other people live it seems against the way we live out lives.
I once heard a friend of mine say that they didn't listen to Dave Matthews Band because they didn't like Dave fans. Seems to me like what their fans do should have little impact on whether or not you like the music. I'm am nothing like the stereotypical Meticalla fan, but I still like their music. If you don't like the fans, then don't act like the fans. Dave Matthews and Meticalla can't be blamed because their fans do dumb things.
God designed our faith to be so much more than we usually live. Some of us are better followers than others. Some of us are professional christians, some of us are lifelong followers, some of us just met Jesus last week. Or to follow the earlier analogy, some of us have been hanging out in math classrooms for that last 30 years for the free pencils, but haven't learned a thing because we've been too busy doodling in our notebooks. So much of what I see as the beauty of our society is that most poeple never take other peoples word for fact. Everybody looks into things, researches things, and makes their own decision. So why don't people do that with God? If you ask me, it's an excuse. All they think about christianity is that it's rules and they'd have to give up things they don't want to give up, so I'll just point the finger at somebody else to get me out of looking into it further. I know, because I've been there. I used to be one of those poeple. But we can't live like that anymore. I didn't decide not to buy a computer just because most people I know that have them mess them up. I know that computers work when used properly and when people follow the instructions. God's instructions are pretty easy. People decide not to follow them sometimes, or they don't understand them sometimes, and it makes God look bad. But it's not His fault. Don't miss out on God just because other people are messing up the instructions. Check out the manual for yourself sometime. And if you decide you want in, the computer is free anyway.

Man, that was a fun little rant. I feel better now

Some thoughts from the prodigy

I shared the other day about my little brother Brian. He's the phenom of the family. Steve and I are both good at what we do, but there was an extra sort of mockery all our lives while we watched Brian do everything we did better and three years before we did it. I remember he and I used to have piano lessons back to back, and one would have to sit and listen while the other one had his time, and my teacher used to have to put me in some different books to try and hide the fact that Brian was actually about three years of talent past me when I was actually 3 years older than him. But anyway, he's smart, and decided to follow after the business minded folks in my family and join the fight in the international business markets. Like I said before, he's all about solving the world poverty problem, and finding ways for developing nations to get on their feet and such. He shared some thoughts with me tonight.

He said that his studies this summer at The London School of Economics and Political Science have given him a bit of a grim outlook on the situation. However, he did have one thing on his mind that brought him a glimmer of hope...Smoothies. Ok well there's a back story. I will probably not get all the details right, but basically, developed nations like the U.S. kind of have a corner on the market for agricultural exports like corn, wheat, soy, etc. Because we've got developed farming practices, government subsides for farmers, and so on. There is no shortage of those products so for a developing nation to be able to export those items would be pointless because to enter the business in that facet, they'd get beat out by nations like us pretty quick. The only thing that countries like us don't have a corner on right now is Coffee, but fair trade coffee really doesn't do that much business. He informed me that you can actually buy fair trade coffee at Starbucks, but you have to ask for it by name. And if people stop ordering it at a specific location, that location will stop carrying it. Thanks for not advertising that one Starbucks.

The hope comes in now. What's one thing that us middle class white folks love more than anything? Our coffee shops of course. Where else would we go to complain about our little problems over a latte and some miles davis. And what do all these coffee shops have? Smoothies. Smoothies can be made out of all sorts of exotic fruits and crazy things. Health nuts every where go crazy for the right combination of papaya and wheat grass or something of that nature. The thing that most of these developing nations have that the big Agriculture powers don't have is rare and exotic fruits. A lot of these developing nations could theoretically offer something that we can't offer if there were a market for it. Imagine this if you will: What if instead of drinking a smoothie made out of a sugary syrup concoction and some crushed ice, we made it from real fruit, imported from developing nations. This would allow them to export something that can't really be competed with as much, and that in turn will help develop the economy of that nation. Just imagine how many coffee shops you can think of in your area. There's a coffee shop at GCC for crying out loud!!! Bethel owns two places that serves smoothies. There's 5 starbucks locations within driving distance of my apartment. There's Bella Vita, Higher Grounds, and all kinds of other coffee shops in this area that serve smoothies. So there's a great solution. All we have to do to help develop struggling nations is do what we as Americans are best at...consume. But by consuming something like that instead of a cheap imitation, we give a developing nations economy a shot.

I asked Brian to get me the information he can find about places to buy these fruits and other products. He plans to get something going on Miami's campus where he goes to school, and I plan to do the same around here when he gets it figured out. If you want that information too, let me know. These little things can always make a difference. Who would have thought...smoothies could save the world.

He's got it...

I don't care if you're a Tomlin fan, a Redman fan, a Crowder fan, a Brewster fan, a Hall fan, or what you are. You better step up and recognize that Israel Houghton and New Breed can play all those bands under the table. We don't get much of it around here, because we're white and we don't listen to much gospel. But I bet if yall head over to his website and listen to some of his music, you'll be dancing and praising before you know it. I love this man's music so much. Some of the slower stuff is a bit more than I can take. But you put "You Are Good" "Again, I Say Rejoice" "Friend of God" and "Trading My Sorrow's" in a worship set with him, and you just might envoke the rapture. Ok that's a bit over the top, but seriously he's the business. Check him out!!!