Season's Greetings to all across the nation who have touched my life. From Indiana to Michigan, to Georgia to Washington, to Texas and Nevada, to Kansas and Louisiana, to New York and Minnesota, to Colorado and Wisconsin. Merry Christmas from Pasadena, CA.



Here is to wishing you all a blessed Holiday in remembering the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I finally got everything wrapped this afternoon at 1PM. My procrastination is a Christmas tradition for me.

Pasadena is starting to get in shape for the Rose Parade, which is a sign of the season. The temporary bleachers are popping up all along Colorado Blvd. in Old Towne. Even the First United Methodist Church gets a piece of the action.

I'll be missing so many of you, especially the Kellers, Carrs, Aebersolds, and my Grandma Winnie who will be spending Christmas in Georgia, Indiana, Washington, and Michigan. Over the years we all seem to have spread out even more. I love you all.

Labels: Christmas

My wife and I were appointed to lead worship this morning at church, like we've done many times before. We drove to the church in a state of semi-slumber at 7:30 AM this morning. Melisa hoped that we'd have time to stop at real Starbucks for a pick-me-up, but we were supposed to have the building opened by 7:45, so that wasn't a possibility.

It's been a crazy weekend. Melisa's Mom is a dance instructor and performer, and suffered a fairly bad sprained hip on Friday night, and we were hanging out with her at the hospital until 3:30 AM on Friday nite, and had a very long and busy Saturday. This meant that Sunday morning, we were like zombies. Normally we do our vocal warm-ups on the way to the church, but neither of us had the energy (nor the required mood to make embarrassing hissing, buzzing, and humming sounds required by vocal exercises). So we cranked a CD and kind of sang a lot to try to wake up.

We flubbed our way through the rehearsal of the set of five songs, and went to prayer. I was feeling weak. I was struggling with the music, struggling with my guitar lines, and struggling to focus on God (the whole point). After we prayed with the pastors, we began the praise and worship set.

Our community came ready to sing and participate, and they jumped in right away as we started out with MercyMe's arrangment of "Angels We Have Heard On High". And there's just something about unity in Worship! All of a sudden all of the disjointedness that I had been feeling began to melt away.

Melisa went on to do the middle three songs, including a new song she wrote titled, "The Likeness Of You". It's a song on the same theme as "Change My Heart Oh God", and a very good song, I must say. I'm proud of the wife's effort on that one!

Anyway, I flubbed my way through the set, and at the end of the service a friend told me how great the set was this morning, and how he felt like the whole team was working together very well, and how much he enjoyed it.

It was nice to get some encouragement (I needed it this morning), but also humbling to remember that leading worship is more about staying out of God's way than it is playing the songs right and sounding good. In our weakness, God's strength really comes through. It's just another reminder that it really is all about Him, and a warning to those of use who lead worship to lead in confidence of Him, and not lean on our own abilities. And the more skilled you become as a musician and leader, the easier it is to forget that concept.

Labels: Worship Leading

Star Wars fans MUST click on this link. It's a collection of Star Wars Christmas cards that have been used by the Lucasfilm people over the years.

Very interesting. I think 1995 is my favorite.

Hat Tip: Slashdot.org

Labels: Movies

Newsweek gave the upcoming movie, "I Am Legend", a tough review. In their article they said:

A buff and chiseled Will Smith, looking as if he's ready to take another stab at playing Muhammad Ali, tears through the deserted streets of Manhattan in his Mustang Shelby in the striking opening scenes of "I Am Legend." He's got a high-powered rifle by his side, his German shepherd Sam in the front seat, and he's out hunting galloping herds of deer, which bounce through the midtown streets, now overgrown with weeds and cluttered with deserted cars frozen in permanent gridlock. Smith is playing Robert Neville, the last man alive in New York—and perhaps on the planet. A deadly virus, the fatally ironic result of a "cure" for cancer that backfired, has wiped out all but those few who, like Neville, are immune to the virus.

Until I read this, I was interested in this movie. But if this review is right, this movie sounds strikingly similar to a description of the movie, "28 Days Later", another movie about a plague-stricken world where humans that get infected by a virus turn into blood-hungry zombies.

I liked "28 Days Later", but not sure I want to spend the bucks to see it again. Has anybody seen Legend yet?

In other entertainment news, Knight-Rider is making a comeback. This time, KITT is going to be a Mustang Shelby!

Labels: Movies, TV

Wow, is Mike Huckabee starting to flex his muscles a little bit in his quest for the Republican nomination. The guy is in the news, on the blogs, and the topic of discussion on many levels.

This guy makes me nervous. And yes, I have stopped the political blogging, but this isn't really about politics, this is about a guy who is a Southern Baptist minister, and is being supported by many on the Evangelical-right.

What is making me nervous is that Huckabee seems to be the "Christian" candidate, and I'm just not sure that I want him to be known as that. His latest flippant comment about Mitt Romney's mormonism ("Don't mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers") might be partially correct, but shows a lack of tact, in my opinion. It reinforces the generalization that Bible-belt Christians are somewhat bass-ackward.

Of course, Huckabee's politics make me nervous, too. He's the second coming of George W. Bush: a big-government, open-borders, New World Order, Neo-con. The more I see and hear about Huckabee, the more I am leaning toward Mitt and Freddie Thompson.

But I'm not a political blogger any more, so I'll just leave it at that for now.

If you want more Huckabee news, go to the VOX REPORT.

Labels: Election 2008

Vineyard Music USA has four nominations for the Worship Leader 2007 Praise Awards from Worship Leader Magazine. Be sure to case your vote for:

Worship Project of the Year: Full Attention
Song of the Year: “Sweetly Broken”
Worship Compilation: Playlist: Stand In Awe
Breakout Artist: Jeremy Riddle

Go to: 2007 Praise Award Nominations Announced at the bottom of the page and cast your votes!

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Labels: Music, Vineyard Music