Sorry Ms. Crow... I won't be joining you on this one.

Mute Math Concert

Last nights concert was fun. You know a band is going to be good in a live performance when the drummer comes out and tapes his headphones onto his head.

Get a glimpse of what you missed here:

Too much music, too little time.

Mute Math tomorrow night with my nephew. Sweet.

Genesis... New Beginnings

There are people out there smarter than me. Seriously. I know it is hard to believe but it's true.

I am reading through Luke and Genesis. These are two of my favorite books of the Bible. This time I am reading with the aid of others. One happens to be Francis A. Schaeffer. I am reading his book Genesis in Space and Time as an aid to my reading of Genesis. He is blowing my mind and I am only two chapters in.

Chapter 1 was about the Creation story. I'll never view it the same. He blows my mind by talking about "before the beginning". I am not going to elaborate because I want you to read this yourself.

I am enjoying my reading and getting more out of it. For a long time I've been reading on my own without the aid of other brilliant minds and my reading just seemed to fall flat. The Spirit was silent.

God used some incredible men to put together what we now call the Bible. The intertwining of ideas and concepts is mind blowing. It could only have been done by one mind. The One.

God is good and true to His word.

Support the United Way

I saw this on my way to work this morning and it reminded me of one of my favorite hymns. (My crappy camera phone doesn't do it justice.)

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder, Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made; I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art. Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander, And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees. When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art. Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in; That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art. Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation, And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart. Then I shall bow, in humble adoration, And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art. Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Just when you think 24 can't through any more surprises at you. Jack vs. Chang.

Good Friday

Since I was about 20 I've thought about getting a tattoo. I think this was an appropriate tattoo to get done on Good Friday.
For our 15th wedding anniversary this year my wife and I planned to skydive and get tattoo's. We are half way there. She has hers and I have mine. The skydiving will come in May or June.

This is only 24 hours old so the redness will fade away in a few days.

Questions I've been asked so far and my answers:

1. Who designed it? I did. The cross, flowers, and skull are my idea and the radiance around the cross are Mikki's (the tattoo artist). I gave her a drawn rendition and she redrew it.

2. Why a skull? The skull represents Golgatha (the hill of the skull) on which Christ was crucified. Plus it is just cool to have a skull tattoo.

3. Did it hurt? Yes.

4. Will you get another? Probably.

5. What is your next tattoo going to be? Can't say yet. It is still in the works. But it will be on my left arm.

Questions not asked yet and the answers:

1. What's with the flowers? They represent the new life gained through Christ's death on the cross. The reason that there is three in one plant is that they represent my wife and two kids. Kind of a double meaning thing going on.

2. Where did you have it done? At Black Hole Tattoo Parlor and the work was done by Mikki. She was awesome. Made me comfortable and was just an all around sweet person.

Portrait Attempt

Last night we were coloring eggs for Easter having a good family time. I'm snapping some photo's just for ducks (as my mom would say) and Kathi turns and says "I need a headshot for The House of Ruth". The good husband I am tried to get the picture done and out of the way for her. Just tried to get one thing off her list of things to do. Here is what I got.

Working on Saturday stinks! Although it may get me out of seeing Happy Feet.

Craziness Ensues

Work is just nuts right now. We are in process of moving to a new facility and it feels like chaos.

I sleep good about every other night which doesn't help.

I am concerned that my car is building up another $2,000 repair bill.

There are things at home that I want to do but don't have the energy for.

I'd like to plan a trip away with the family. Far away. For a long time. (Ashby... don't say it)

God seems a little distant. When I read and pray it feels flat.

Who Likes Free Stuff?

I don't know about you but I search the web a lot during the day to find all kinds of things. For the past few years Google has been my search engine of choice. Now thanks to Blingo you can search using Google and win free things. Each search is a chance to instantly win any of these prizes:

• Brand New Ford Escape or $20,000 cash
• $5,000 Cash
• Home Theatre Package or $2,500 cash
• $2,500 Cash
• $1,000 Cash Every Thursday
• $25 Amazon.com Gift Certificate
• Fandango Movie Ticket

Simple as that. Just search like you normally do, but each time you have a chance at winning (up to 25 chances per day, though you can do more searches than that).If you win, you’ll see the screen to the right instead of your search results.

So why not?

You can also refer people to Blingo, and when they sign up under you they become one of your “Blingo Friends.” Then, if any one of them wins a prize, you get the same prize, even if it’s a new car.People who sign up under you can still refer other people as their own Blingo Friends.

So sign up as one of my friends and start using Blingo! Then if you win something, I win something. It’s a great way to support this site, and it won’t cost you a thing. Here’s the link:

http://www.blingo.com/friends?ref=c3A7JmJkz-JMlRw_3LSRYe_VMcw

Let's get winning people!

Check this link on how to add Blingo to your tool bar.

Spell check is a gud thing.

Superpower?

If you could have one superpower what would it be?

I'd fly.

Flying like Superman. Without limit in speed or height. That would be my choice. You can go anywhere and have any view. It would be a freedom unlike any other. Here to London in a few minutes. I could take my lunch in Fiji. I can hear it now... "so whatdcha do today?" "Oh, I went to the Antarctic and hung out with some penguins." "Sweet!" "I know."

Invisibility is too creepy and would carry too much temptation for evil uses. This goes the same for X-ray vision. Super strength is cool but it's not for me.

I think time travel might rank a close second. It's not first because it has a high degree of responsibility, you know, the whole space time continuum thing. Yikes. I could change things that might prevent my own birth. Marty McFly type stuff.

So tell me yours.

PS: Omnipotence and juking are not an available option. (You know who you are and you know why!)

Fun Music Video

Check out the new David Crowder Video .

I like squirrels.

What's The Deal?

Last night I was watching 24, one of the best shows ever on TV. I was enjoying it. Loving it. If you are ever wondering at 9 o'clock on Monday night "I wonder what Brian's doing?" Wonder no longer. I am watching 24.

During my bliss I am occasionally interrupted by pesky commercials. This is where you TIVO people chime in. I know, I know. These breaks in Bauer-bliss cause my thumb to twitch and I end up surfing for two minutes. Every time I get to Deal Or No Deal I just pause, dumb-founded, deer in the headlights, staring at it. I don't get it. I've tried. What is the point. My five year old could do that show. I can see it now - Howie standing to the side of Alex telling him that the Banker has made an offer. Kathi and I are twenty feet away wringing our hands with college tuition excitement. What's it gunna be? $86,000 is the offer. Alex stands perplexed not fully understanding the implications of 86 G's. We shout over to him, "No Deal". The remaining amounts are huge. Etc. Etc. Alex pushes over the button cover and the crowd goes wild. ALEX, ALEX, ALEX.

Yippedy-do-dah-day. That is an hour of my life I'll never get back.

Can somebody 'splain this to me? Is there a Deal-maniac who can sum up the show? I think I'd rather watch Dancing With the Stars, at least there is some skill or talent involved.

I Must Be Stressed

Lately I have had many dreams. Many odd dreams. Dreams I don't care to remember. Some of these dreams just don't make sense. Some worry me. Some I just don't like. Dreams that wake me up in the middle of the night. Some include people I haven't seen or heard from in over 20 years. Just too many dreams.

Today while reading Ecclesiastes I may have figured out why. Chapter 5 vs. 3 says "As a dream comes when there are many cares," Hmmm. Cares = Stress. Yes! That's it.

I need to stress less and Stand in the Awe of God as it says. See the full context below:

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. 2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. 3 As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. 4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.

A Bold Prediction

Global warming is a farce.

One day in the future the climate will shift again. It will get colder. We will have plenty of ice caps and glaciers. It will snow more in the winter. People will move south.

By the time the natural shift occurs we’ll all be driving electric vehicles and the enviro-crowd will take credit for changing the climate back. They will give us the big I told you so.

I have one question for Mr. Gore... why don't you debate people? I'd love to see "In Inconvenient Debate".

Oh really!?

What took so long? Were they waiting to break the bad news at just the right time?

A Virtual Friday

Tomorrow starts a short yet much needed vacation. MUCH needed.

Thursday I head to Sisters for the men's retreat. I'll be doing my sermon on Friday morning. Yikes. I am still a little nervous but I am sure it'll be fine. I look forward to hanging with the guys and getting to know them better. I also hope to whack a bunch of them in paintball. Yes. Nothing like a little testosterone filled fun with the guys.

I hope that when I return my frame of mind will be better and I can post more. Maybe Matt can too. (You know who you are and what I am talking about. Jeez. I may not be the comic nerd that you are but I do miss those weeklies.)