geektom

Thank You!

T o everyone who came out to the Gospel Brunch at House of Blues on Sunday for Brandi's birthday! We had a wonderful time, and it meant so much to her that friends would take time out of precious Sunday, make arrangements for child care, and drive all the way out to Anaheim. We will get some pictures off her camera real soon. Wait until you see Scottie singing solo!

Happy Birthday Brandi!

Happy Birthday number Thirty-mumble-mumble to my beautiful wife! You are so precious to me, the greatest gift I have ever received. Enjoy your special day today, and we will have our real fun this Sunday. I love you so much!!!

Lighten Up!

Some of the posts over at X3 were getting me really bummed out, so I was thrilled to come across an old favorite, Lark News, whom I first discovered when they were talking about mascots. They are kind of like a Christian themed Onion. Some people may be offended-- I find it harmless and usually very funny. I noticed they have a line of T-Shirts now, and some of them are pretty funny. Check them out here.

Geek News

Well, I am one bummed Warhammer player... turns out the army I was planning on spending the next year creating to replace my beloved ratties has been deemed "incompatible" with a new rule book that has just come out. Just my luck, literally almost every single mini that I chose to be in my new army is now discontinued and no longer legal for tournament play. >sigh< Back to the drawing board... in some good news, I got a $25 gc for Circuit City from a co-worker for Christmas and used it to get the Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth game for only $19.99. Sweet! If you haven't checked out the comment to my "2007 p. 3" post, you should. I am curious how you would react if you were in my place. Love big, everybody!

2007 p. 3

Lastly, I have decided that I am going to memorize a book of the Bible; I have chosen Titus. I can't explain why exactly except that as I read Paul's letters I find myself regularly drawn back to Titus. Maybe because I am encouraged by the faith and promise Paul sees in Titus, even though Titus is clearly young and inexperienced. I am committed to not only "memorizing" it, but understanding it in context with when it was written and how it applies today-- so that I can not only recite it word for word from my Bible (I use an NIV), but recognize it from any translation, and even recite it in conversational modern-day Amercian (even the non "pc" parts).

Titus also contains one of my favorite passages in the Bible, 3:3-7, "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."

There is so much in those short lines: don't forget that you too were lost before you saw the light, don't judge others who have not yet seen, don't presume to understand the power of Christ's grace, don't think that because you now "do" more Godly things that you have elevated yourself in any significant way... it is humbling, but also a beautiful reminder of the mercy that has been given.
Because I am still a geek at heart, I also think back to the first time I read Fahrenheit 451, the scene at the very end where the protagonist realizes that the words can never be erased if they are kept in our hearts and minds.

Think back to the days when only the highest placed priests had access to the Word: many faithful people (and all torah scholars) had learned from childhood to memorize huge sections of the old testament-- a hundred times more challenging than the 3 chapters in Titus. Imagine how amazing it would be if as a congregation, an entire church memorized the Bible? If each person took their share and placed it in their heart forever?

2007 p. 2

The second commitment I have made for 2007 is to put some serious discipline around the way I treat my body. If you remember my post from July, I was about 45 pounds overweight-- nothing has changed in 6 months. I have decided that, in addition to eating better and exercising, I am going to start a fasting regimen. I need to reduce my portions and shrink the size of my stomach so that I don't feel hungry when I know darn well that I am not. Plus, with so much of the world literally starving, it is disgusting that I eat as much, and as casually, as I do. I plan to gradually increase the number of days I fast each month until January 2008, when I will attempt to fast for 30 days. My beautiful wife has pointed out to me that biblical fasting involves giving up a lot more than food, including sex. Yeah, I am not doing that. Lots of prayer, no food, lots of water, small portions of vitamin rich juice, feelings of peace, discipline, and cleansing. First stage: Jan 7-Feb 25, fasting on Sunday only.

2007 p. 1

I have made three "decisions" (not resolutions) about 2007. The first one is that I am going to abstain from reading fiction for the entire year. Now, if you don't know me very well, that may not seem like a big deal... but I read a good-size novel about every 2-3 days. The theme of all three choices for 07 is the same: discipline. You see, EVERYTHING interests me, but reading fiction is an easy escape. Would I like to be more connected to God's word? You bet, but then it gets late, and I know I will only have about 15 minutes to read, so I wimp out and choose a fiction book. It is not just my spirituality that is missing out-- there are books on biology, micro-ecomnomics, history, leadership, etc. that have been on my list for some time, but 9 times out of 10 I will go with "comfort food" reading instead. This will be really tough for me, but I have prayed a lot about it and it is clearly where I am being directed to go; your support will be appreciated!

Merry Christmas from Sufjan

The new Christmas set from Sufjan Stevens is amazing! I am such a huge fan of his music anyway, I would have been shocked if I didn't love it-- but it is even better than I thought it would be. His CD's are really hard to find, but it is worth ordering this one from Amazon or Borders rather than getting it through iTunes. It is the same price on iTunes as in the stores but you don't get the really cool packaging, the songbook, the poster, or the stickers. Yes, I said stickers. Each of the 5 CD's is a great mix of traditional Christmas songs, more obscure hymns, and whimsical originals (my favorite so far, "Get Behind Me, Santa"). Merry Christmas!

2007

Next year is going to be very different for me. I have some major growth planned. What is on your mind for 2007?

Curious

If you know me, you will know that "music categories" are one of my pet peeves... what makes one band "metal" and another only "hard rock"? Why does AC/DC only get played on a classic rock station, when Jet completely rips them off, gets called "new and innovative" and gets played on 106.7? The "Christian music" label is one of the most confusing to me. So here is my question: If David was a modern day person, and was writing his Psalms as current-day songs, would he get *all* of them published and celebrated by the Christian music world, or only the ones praising God? If he presented both the lows and the highs of loving and serving God, as he does in Psalms, would he be allowed to be a "Christian artist" today?