Look out!

I may be planning something this weekend.

Muahahaha!

Our God is in the heavens;
He does all that he pleases. Psalm 115:3

Our God is in the heavens;
He does all that he pleases. Psalm 115:3

Benj: Crown Him, Crown Him

Also, I just wanted to share an incredible piece of music that my friend Benj wrote/recorded recently.  It’s called Crown Him, Crown Him and it is a text from Thomas Kelly he found in Gadsby’s Hymns, one of his favorite sources for old texts.  So check it out!

Holy Canoli, Batman!

I’ve got a lot going on this coming week, and I’ll get to that, but first I wanted to tie up some loose ends.

First of all, I decided NOT to move.  I honestly could not get past the incredible amount of anxiety I was feeling about the whole situation, and I took that as a sign.  The moment I sent the email declining the place, I felt great peace.  Now back to our regularly scheduled program of dealing with the crappy landlord I currently have.

Willie and I are adjusting nicely to one another.  I came home on Friday, finding no accidents, no chewing, but all-around good behavior from the weenie dog.  I was pleased.  We spent the weekend together, and other than having a light appetite right now, he’s doing great.  Now if only I could teach him that the shadows on the porch aren’t bark-worthy at 3:am.

Katie began her new job with USAA today, and I’m really excited for her.  Despite not being too excited about leaving her new puppy at home, I think she’s excited too.  I mean, who wouldn’t be excited about a paycheck?

Ok, on to the week.

Other than Heroes premiering, there’s not a whole lot going on today, but tomorrow is the season premier of Gilmore Girls (!!!), as well as the night that Emily and Michelle are coming over for Operation Clean Sweep (right?).  Professionally, tomorrow is also close-out: the busiest day of each month where we push to get all of our numbers in for bonuses.

Wednesday, Mike and his lovely wife, Jenn are coming in to visit from Arkansas. They’re going to take in the city for much of the day on Wednesday, until I get off of work, and then we’re going to hang at my place. (One Tree Hill premier!  I know Mike’s thrilled about that one!)
Thursday, I’m taking off of work half a day, and we’re going to galavant around Dallas, have some dinner, and then check out Sandra McCracken and Derek Webb at the Gypsy Tea Room.

Friday, Mike and Jenn are headed back to Arkansas, and I’m working all day, but then meeting some folks up at the church to price some stuff for our big rummage sale on Saturday, which I’m sure will consume the entire day.

That’s my weekend on wheels!

It’s a boy!

Everyone, I’d like you to meet Willie.

Frederico

A few nights ago I fell asleep on the couch.  I had a large cup of water on the floor in front of me, and the remote control (whom I have named Frederico) was somewhere on the couch with me.  I woke up around 2:am to a blaring television and searched for Frederico in that still-half-asleep sort of way, but to no avail.  I gave up and strived to drown out the noise of the TV by turning over and covering my ears with a pillow.  Nevermind getting up and turning the TV off on my way to bed.

When my cell phone alarm went off the next morning at 5:am, the TV was still really loud and I sat up, angry.  It’s no secret that I am NOT a morning person, and waking up to noise isn’t exactly pleasant. I got up from the couch and rushed around the room in a frenzy trying to find Frederico (again, why I didn’t just walk up to the television, I’m not sure; it was early), and finally I spotted him.

My jaw dropped when I saw where Frederico had landed.  He had taken a nose-dive right into the large cup of water in front of the couch.  I retrieved my dear, electronic friend from the pool, and shook him out, water flying everywhere.  He was a gonner.

The story doesn’t end here.  Frederico was custom for the cable box that I use, and so I had to call the cable company to ask for a new friend.  It’s important to know that my cable company is undergoing reorganization right now, and they’ve been a pain in the butt for the process.  I called and spoke with Maria, who advised me that they did not yet have any employees in their warehouse and that it would be the beginning of October before anyone would even be out there.  Until then, I would be stuck watching the Discovery Channel and nothing else.

Thoughts flooded my mind.  But Grey’s Anatomy premiers this week!  Gilmore Girls starts up again next Tuesday!  THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING! I asked Maria if there was anything that could be done so that I could get a new friend sooner.  She said that I was out of luck, but that they wouldn’t charge me for service until I receive a new Frederico.

I’ve managed to dismantle the cable set up so that I can watch network television until then.  Sadly, Frederico has seen his last days.

Thanksgiving (and it’s not even November yet!)

These are the things that I am especially thankful for this morning:

• Sanctification
• The enormousness of the Church, and how it functions even between strangers.
• Christine and the Scripture that she sent to me this morning: Phillipians 2:9-11
• The new roommate I will have in less than two weeks.
• The new pet I will have in about a week.
• The Webboard family
• Emily & Michelle
• The part that music plays in my life.

Prove Me Wrong

Sometime I fear maybe I’m not chosen
You’ve hardened my heart like Pharaoh
That would explain why life is so hard for me

And I am sad Esau hated
Crying against what’s fated
Saying father please, is there any left for me

Cast out my doubts, please prove me wrong
‘Cause these demons can be so headstrong
Make my walls fall, please prove me wrong
‘Cause this resentment’s been building
Burn them up with your fire so strong
if you can before I Baal, please prove me wrong

I fear maybe this is all just a game
Our friends and our families all play too
Harness the young and give some comfort to the old

Don’t let my doubts prove true
Draw me close and hold me near to you
Keep me still until the day you

Cast out my doubts, please prove me wrong
‘Cause these demons can be so headstrong
Make my walls fall, please prove me wrong
‘Cause this resentment’s been building
Burn them up with your fire so strong
if you can before I Baal, please prove me wrong.

Caedmons Call

“a successful business model, like that of Wal-Mart or Burger King”

Want to know what is most sad about the title of this blog? It’s talking about a church. I am almost in tears as I type these words, and I’m not sure if it’s because I am heartbroken for the lies that are sold to our society, or if it is that I am mad, frustrated, and exhausted for fighting them.

Apparently, Ed Young, Jr.’s (son of Ed, Sr., brother of Cliff) church, Fellowship Church has just opened another campus in Florida. The actual church is here in the Metroplex, so you can imagine my surprise when I read the news. The Dallas Morning News article says, “What Mr. Young and a few other pastors are offering is a religious take on a successful business model, like that of Wal-Mart or Burger King. Instead of the old tradition of big churches planting new, independent churches, these congregations are using their size and power to duplicate themselves over and over.” If I didn’t get it before, I think I get Derek Webb’s sentiment in Wedding Dress, now, and I’m disgusted. Don’t get me wrong. Ed Young isn’t the first to do something like having one church span two different time zones, and he certainly isn’t the first to be accused of selling jesus (and yes, I meant to not capitalize that).

My response to the site that first broght this to my attenion (ironically, gathering place to some friends of the Young family) was simply that this was a symptom of our society’s increasing detatchment and “privacy”… but I think it’s more than that. I think there is a massive problem when churches are hiring business planners and such to ‘increase their territory’. You’d think that the prayer of Jabez was the Lord’s prayer the way that our society has latched on to it.

I am reminded of Martin Luther’s struggles prior to the Reformation, and how his heart must have been shattered at the heresy he saw being handed down in the church that he loved. How cheap a savior to sell for such things as these! What whores we have become!

If you could love me as a wife
and for my wedding gift, your life
Should that be all I’d ever need
or is there more I’m looking for

and should I read between the lines
and look for blessings in disguise
To make me handsome, rich, and wise
Is that really what you want

I am a whore I do confess
But I put you on just like a wedding dress
and I run down the aisle
and I run down the aisle
I’m a prodigal with no way home
but I put you on just like a ring of gold
and I run down the aisle to you

So could you love this bastard child
Though I don’t trust you to provide
With one hand in a pot of gold
and with the other in your side

I am so easily satisfied
by the call of lovers so less wild
That I would take a little cash
Over your very flesh and blood

Because money cannot buy
a husband’s jealous eye
When you have knowingly deceived his wife

I am a whore I do confess
But I put you on just like a wedding dress
and I run down the aisle
and I run down the aisle
I’m a prodigal with no way home
but I put you on just like a ring of gold
and I run down the aisle to you

More thoughts later, when I am not so upset.