remedy

David Crowder Band released their newest album Tuesday, "Remedy". I've been waiting for this for months! Ted Nugent makes an appearance.... unbelievable. Anyway, this album is great... it's a little different than what I expected, but it's refreshing.

Their last album, "A Collision", was just masterful. It was huge, epic, full of mystery and tragedy. How else could they follow that up but with something even huger. They did exactly the opposite. This album is short, simple and full of songs that the church can use; uncomplicated, yet intricate at the same time.

"A Collision" was sort of a release of grief for them, with the death of their pastor occurring in the process. "Remedy" seems to be a sort of healing, or reconciliation... good stuff.

mat kearney

We went to see Mat Kearney Friday night... good stuff. I tried to upload a video but couldn't get it to work... so here are some pics... some of mat and one in which i did a great job of ruining a perfectly good photo.

kickball

This weekend, our church put a team together to compete in a city kickball tournament. It was a super time, and the turnout was great. We just plain sucked all around, losing 16-1 and 14-1. Way to go, OnePoint! Pictured is our pitcher, Derek aka "Wild Thing", getting into his wind-up and then showing the cat-like 'flexes.

Harper

My wife and I, after a grueling period of trying to commit and choose the right one, finally adopted a puppy yesterday. He's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Harper, and he's just a sweety. He was so scared and just acted like a statue yesterday, but he's really warming up to us today. My boy!

tv

I'm not a huge tv watcher, but I have gotten hooked on a couple of shows in the last year or two... and yessssss it's that time for new seasons. Next Thursday: one hour of Earl and one hour of Office. I've booked my ticket. Just got done watching the season finales from the spring.... I'm stoked!

good lyrics.

This spring I found a band on iTunes called Future of Forestry (formerly known as 'something like silas', they have reinvented theirselves as well as their sound). I listened to the previews and bought the cd immediately; I never do that! It's absolutely great. It's creative, mysterious, and authentic as they search for and proclaim what is good and true.

Anywho, I like to post song lyrics, because we too often listen to songs and overlook the lyrics... but a good songwriter's lyrics can be so deep and insightful and really make us think and prompt us to examine them as well as ourselves.

Here are the lyrics to their song, "Open Wide". The chorus is in italics, it really sticks out to me....
___________________________________________
You have walked so deep a canyon
Deep a canyon now
In the end you know that you've been found
You're found
Heaven sure fell hard upon you
Hard upon you now
In the end you know that you've been found
You're found

You belong now
You are free

So open wide the arms you're given
You're too alive to just stand still
Open wide your heart as you breathe in
You're too alive to just stay here

You wondered how your searching heart
Your searching heart would roam
Coming to the place that you'd call home
You're home

You're shaken up
Awaken
You gotta live, you gotta love

cliche first post...

except it's the 2nd post... oh well. anyway, that was a doozy of a first post, and my apologies! i just got a little carried away... back into blogdom i come, wooohoo!!

An Objective Look at Abortion

I used to associate myself with one and only one political party. Whatever this party did, I was behind. Then I realized that, while I don't condemn anyone who is of that party or on that side of the political spectrum, I simply wasn't making objective decisions. I have since made a conscious effort to not vote or take sides on issues because of any one party says, but to hear what everyone has to say and look at the evidence they use to back it up. I feel like much more of an authentic citizen.

Anyway, abortion is always a hot topic. I used to be adamant about what I believed about abortion. But then, as I described above, I decided not to make a moral decision about something that's not just black & white... it's a messy situation. How can we say if it's "right" or "wrong" and that's the end of it? I don't think we can... but we can have conversation.

I recently found an interesting addtion to the conversation. While flipping through a magazine, I read a Q&A with the founder of an organization called Abort73. It is an organization that is against abortion, except there's a twist: they don't have any drastic religious or political agendas behind it (though they are ultimately a religious organization, as you will see in the end). They have spent much time studying this phenomenon and researching and talking to medical professionals and obtaining data and evidence... it's a very objective look at abortion.

I went to the website and was floored. They seem to have done their homework. I didn't even get throught a fraction of the presentation because I got nauseous during the 2nd video... it really made me sick. One of their goals is to inform us of what actually physically takes place during an abortion. You will have to see for yourself. Just know it gets a little graphic.

I am a firm believer that we should all research "hot topics" like these on our own and make objective decisions on what is true/right/etc, and I encourage everyone to do so. So listen to this organization's contribution to the conversation; they've spent a lot of time and energy on it, and they seem to have done it with only one agenda: what's best for the human race.

www.abort73.com