"It's gettin' hot in hur'...."

This is an amazing choir. I wonder if they travel? You have to watch until the very end to get the full enjoyment!

Direction

I asked for some today during my prayer time and immediately this first verse came to mind quickly followed by the next two as I went to look up and read the first one.

Jeremiah 6:16
This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’

which brought to mind this one....

Matthew 7:14
14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

which led to and ended with this one

Matthew 11:28
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

As Jesus seems to be so brilliant at - He's left me with a couple of more questions to try to answer? Isn't it funny how you come to conclusions?

- What am I missing, will I recognize the way? When will that rest come?
- Do I know it, but don't admit it for fear of the difficulty ahead?
-Am I truly trusting enough?

As I was typing this...I got super spiritual and remembered this pretty amazing "Hymn" by Bishop Clapton dealing with a similar situation..... Ha!

Possible Plot for Saw VI ??

Found this little bit online today when I was killing time during band practice....maybe he should have bargained a little more.

FORT PIERCE, Fla. -Authorities say an 11-year-old boy hit his mother in the head with a saw and then offered her $5 not to call police. The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office reported that the boy and his 41-year-old mother got into an argument Wednesday when she was trying to get him to take his medication.

The boy left and went to another home, where he began hitting a tree with a saw. When the mother finally caught up with the boy, authorities say he hit her in the head with the saw, causing a minor laceration. A sheriff's report said that's when the boy began pleading with his mother not to call police and offered her a $5 bill.

The boy is facing an aggravated battery charge.

Kanye on Sacrifice?

"I realize that my place and position in history is that I will go down as the voice of this generation, of this decade, I will be the loudest voice," he said in an interview on Wednesday. "It's me settling into that position of just really accepting that it's one thing to say you want to do it and it's another thing to really end up being like Michael Jordan."

Kanye is the epitome of Hollywood Narcissism. I really don't think there are few as stuck on themselves as he is, proven by these opening lines in a interview of the former "College Dropout". Unless you have been living under a rock you have at least heard many of his colorful antics promoting himself as the worlds greates rapper - or was that lil' wayne....

The end of the interview was more noticable than the beginging.

"And you know now when I'm on that stage and I look out and I say, 'What am I going to do with the rest of my life?' Like when does a real life start?' Because I have sacrificed real life to be a celebrity and to give this art to people, which is great. It is great that I was able to do that, I'm not trying to shun that in any way, but it's definitely a Catch-22 and it's bittersweet."

It kind of reminded me of an older eminem video/post with his daughter Haily. Can you imagine, being a multi-millionnare, standing on stage in front of thousands and wondering, "What am I going to do with the rest of my life? When does real life start?" That question - "When does real life start?"- is one that can bare some tackling by all. At what point do you start living "for real". When you get your liscense / graduate high school / graduate college / get married / have kids / retire?

Kanye almost has it! He realilzes that he's sacrificed something to obtain what he has. He feels he's sacrificed real life for the celebrity life and for our sake of having such amazing art.

You would think with Kanye's first big hit was about walking with a man named Jesus, he wouldn't have this problem. Kanye must have not listened to anything the Man had to say. But I guess he did it for the fans. I mean we wouldn't have had such amazing music had he not made the sacrifice.

Matthew 16:14-16

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?^[a] Is anything worth more than your soul?

Untitled

Question of the Day:

How did people know who was a follower of Christ BEFORE elections existed?

Seriously if you have a good answer I'd like to know so I can share with others.

Green Screen YEA!!!

My Sony Vegas movie editing software has chroma key capabilities. I stayed home today with Ella due to her fever and used the extra down time to play around this afternoon with the effects. The chroma key (green/blue screen) allows you to superimpose yourself on any background image or video. I do not have a green or blue screen to use, BUT I do have a "blue room" with walls the color of Superman's tights. The room has only one little fluorescent bulb and one of the videos I used was taken with our Samsung picture camera. So the quality of the video is FAR FAR FAR FAR from perfection, but this was the results of just playing around on a whims notice. I have the concept and process figured out now and REALY want to get a screen. Any tips/tricks/hints that anyone has, please feel free to share. I'm on my way to becoming a real pro!!! LOL...
I get my inspiration from this guy .... Leadrunner. (shout out!)



Chroma Test from steven moore on Vimeo.

Do Hard Things

"Most people don’t expect you to understand what we’re going to tell you in this book. And even if you do understand, they don’t expect you to care. And even if you care, they don’t expect you to do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don’t expect it to last.”

Those are the words of teenagers Bret and Alex Harris on the back cover of their book, Do Hard Things – a teenage rebellion against low expectations.

These twins are the younger brothers of Joshua Harris (I kissed dating goodbye and Quit Dating the Church) and they are fed up with the low expectations that the modern world has for teenagers. Historically teenagers didn’t even exist until the last 60 years (or at least the term), and pre 1900’s there wasn’t even really a recognized period of adolescence. Children simply grew into adulthood by the early to mid teens assuming adult roles and expectations. Today many adults remain in adolescence into the mid to late twenties, maybe even early thirties, fighting the acceptance of adult responsibilities and denial of those expectations.

The brothers compare the responsibilities and expectations of the youth of our modern generation to those of the past and there is an evident degeneration that has taken place, especially within the last 20-30 years. In the past people have used their energy, capacity for learning, and youth during this period of life to accomplish great feats, diligently prepare for their careers, start families, and contribute to society – and this was the expectations. In their research, the twins found a web article titled, “A Parent’s Guide to Surviving the Teen Years” which boasted about setting and sticking to expectations. Some examples of those expectations were as follows.

For Preteens (ages 10-14)
- Make your bed daily
-Take down phone messages
-Clean your room once a week(with the parents help)

For Older Teens (ages 15 and up)
-All expectations for preteens
-Do ONE daily chore (like taking out the trash)
-Make sure the gas gauge on the family car does not go below a forth a tank
-Clean your room once a week (by yourself)

Obviously (prayerfully) most parents have at least a few more expectations than these. But come on, is this all that our teenagers are truly capable of!The reality is even most teenagers believe that even this can sometimes be asking too much and gripe about those. (I know I did.) As a youth pastor there are times when I ask some of my students who are supposed to be leaders to do some things and they whine or find a way to wimp out because of their lack of confidence. We have robbed PEOPLE – not teenagers, because everyone grows to an adult – of opportunities to grow stronger, wiser, and more mature in a time when they are MOST capable of doing so. In a sense we sedate our youth and confine them to good grades, good manners, and good times; damaging their future health as individuals.

So Alex and Brett have set personal goals and are challenging all ages, especially teenagers, to do hard things. Not hard things like Sudoku or jigsaw puzzles, lifting massive weight, or breaking records found the Guinness Book, but things that change you and those around you.

They’ve recognized 5 categories of Hard Things.
1- Things that are out of your comfort zone
2- Things that go beyond what is required or expected
3- Things that are too big to accomplish alone
4- Things that don’t earn an immediate payoff
5- Things that challenge the cultural norm

It is in those hard things that we are stretched, and challenged, learn to be strong and God is glorified the most. I probably say this about most every book, but really, I’m 90 pages into it and it is one of the most inspiring and challenging books that I’ve read…and the authors are the same age as those I lead daily in my youth ministry. Pick up this book for yourself and for a teenager you know – read it, make sure they read it, challenge yourself and challenge them to break through low expectations.

1st Timothy 4:12
Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.

Find out more info on authors, the book and the rebulution.

www.therebultion.com

Thrice

So I found a couple of new albums over the weekend. Actually I've had a couple of people tell me they were good way before now. But, I had been reluctant to listen to them, b/c I wasn't wowed to much by Thrice's previous albums...but these two have definitely wowed me to the core. (If that's even an appropriate review). The Cd's travel the whole spectrum of musical styles from Hard core screaming types to more melodic earthy acoustic. Thus the titles Alchemy Index Vol. 1&2 - Fire and Water / Alchemy Index Vol. 3&4 Air and Earth. I haven't been able to pull away from Vol 3 & 4 enough to listen to the entire Vol. 1&2 but what I've heard is pretty amazing.

Check out the Alchemy Index's by thrice...here's a sample. Dustin's voice is really amazing. No mics , no amps , just music.