On a day when I needed a laugh…

this video and pic helped me. Enjoy them both…

I’m Excited for Football Season

I am REALLY excited for football season. I’m not really a baseball fan, so usually around August 1st I begin to get excited for the season to start. I am only in one fantasy football league, so I am not that bad. But I found this clip to share with you. Though this is a CFL (Canadian Football League) clip, it’s still really funny and involves football.

Bikers Beware: An Open Letter to the Fairweather Bike Commuter

Dear Mr/Ms/Mrs I-commute-during-the-warm-season-only-bike-rider,

If you are going to ride on the road, please follow the rules of the road. I applaud your wanting to save money and the planet, but I am saddened by your lack of common sense. This includes your failure to stop at stop signals and instead blow through them, not being aware of the cars around you, and your failure to signal your turns. Also, if you are riding on the sidewalks, please know that the rules of pedestrians apply to you then. Don’t just be on the road and then off the road. Choose one and go with it! Oh, and also please wear a helmet, fool.

The Brown Kid

I Think I’m Getting Old…

I yell at kids who have no regard for other people. I hate people who don’t “follow the rules”. I laugh when I think about the good old days. I’ve been out of high school for 15 years. I have a mortgage payment, 2 cars, and a kid…and we talk about upgrading to a bigger house. I get mad on the Fourth of July when people throw their garbage from their fireworks in my dumpster. I wake up at 6:30 a.m. with ease. I take naps. I watch the news. My hair is turning gray. I don’t like a lot of the new music that comes out these days. I have a 401k (now a 200.5k). Two Words: crows feet. I refer to people as “My _____” (i.e. my lawyer, my real estate agent, my whatever-it-is-that-I-pay-them-to-do).  I hurt myself and don’t recover as quickly as I used to. If I stay up past midnight, I’m usually a wreck the next day. If I drink more than two glasses of wine, I feel sick. I drink wine. I miss all of the bad things I used to do, but I don’t do it because my body probably can’t handle it.

yeah. I’m getting old.

I’ve Come To A Realization…

Last night on American Idol, Adam Lambert killed it with this song:

This is the only song that my dad knows on guitar. Seriously, I remember going to parties with my parents, he would play guitar, and this was the only song he played. My realization that I’ve come to? This is the only “good” memory that I have of my dad. I have some daddy issues (wasn’t good enough, neglected, came from a single parent home, etc.). Cynthia pointed this out to me when I told her the story of this song and my dad. She was talking about how it was sad that I don’t really have good memories of my dad.

I wrote about it before, but man, I am glad that I learned to love and trust God as my father…

Jean Claude had a heart

…even when he was young.

We Christians are a funny bunch of people

isn’t it funny that we Christians condemn Christian artists for not talking about Jesus enough, but when an artist who wasn’t thought to be christian talks about the Divine we claim them as our own…

Please Hang Up and Order (An Open Letter to the Cell Phone Guy/Lady)

Dear Cell Phone Guy/Lady,

Seriously? What is so important that you have to talk on the phone at full volume while you are in line and then whisper your order to me, only to return to your conversation while looking at me like you are annoyed because I am asking you to pay?

HTD (here’s the deal). If you are on the phone, step aside and finish your conversation so that the person/people behind you can order. Or better yet, hang up. It’s simple really. Otherwise, your cell phone conversation looks like a big middle finger in my face.

So here’s what I’m going to do as this continues: While you are having your conversation after you order, I am going to call your order to the barista (as required of me) only I will do it at a slightly louder volume than usual. I will also tell you how much you owe me, only again I will do this at a slightly louder (but still courteous) volume. Yes, I realize that this will annoy you, but really, isn’t this what you are doing to me and others?

So Mr/Mrs/Ms Cell Phone user, I ask this of you. Please hang up and order, or let others after you order first.

thank you,

Your Barista – The Brown Kid

Sunday Set List

Today, as we continued through the season of Lent, we looked at the idea of the filters that we see Christiansity through. I found myself sitting through the service thinking about the idea of the filters and what we see in the church today. This idea of filters really exposes the ideas that are stemming throughout the church today (i.e. missional, mega, whatever the trend is at the time). At RCC, our ethos is shown through our actions and our mission. We didn’t do this because we go with the flow of the latest chruch movement, or we read a book and really like what it had to say. We did this, because our filter of the gospel showed us that our mission is to Love God and Love Neighbor. So that being said, here is the Sunday Set List for this week (all the links are YouTube clips of vids of the song some are serious, some are to help you see what the song sounds like, and some are goofy or funny):

Yahweh – This is a U2 song off of their “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”. My favorite lyric is “take these lips, so quick to criticize. take these lips give them a kiss”.

Blessed Be Your Name - Everytime I pull this song I feel like it could be put to rest for a little bit. But then we play it and it feels like it speaks deeper and deeper to the congregation and they don’t really mind that we are singing this song again. Sometimes I sing the bridge (You give and take away) with the melody of U2’s “with or without you” (You give yourself away) so that it says: You give and take away/ and you give and take away/ and you give/ and you give/ and you give and take away. Usually leading into the hook of  “I can’t live/ with or without you” back into the Chorus of Blessed be…

Jesus, You’re the Light -  A new song that I introduced to the congregation. It’s a reflection tune that is a prayer for Jesus to shine light on us to reveal sin, not just to lead us to Him but instead to be closer to him.

Because of Your Love - One of my favorite Paul Baloche tunes. We took out the “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” part and put a bit of a Dave Matthews groove to it. This is a great song that helps to remind us what God has done for us and how we got here in our faith.

Trust and Obey – Love this hymn. A call for the church to be the church and trust God and obey the Holy Spirits leading.

Guitar Nerdom

but useful none the less. If you are a guitar player and want a little insight, John Mayer offered this video. He goes pretty fast, but if you listen, it makes sense.