The Baptism of George Straub

George Straub, a fun and goofy, blonde-headed 5th grader at San Jacinto Church, was baptized along with his entire family this past Sunday! It was absolutely and totally awesome to see him up there. We brought all 50 of the kids from our KidZone Ministry room to the worship center to watch it! It was great and brought some moistness to my eyes.

Rich Mullins

Rich Mullins died in 1997. He was and is one of my favorite musicians of all time. His simple yet complex approach to songwriting and living has inspired me to live counter-culture, Christ-like.  The song Here In Amerca is a great song of liking where he lives, yet knowing where he's going...

Saints and children we have gathered here to hear the sacred story
And I'm glad to bring it to you with my best rhyming and rhythm
'Cause I know the thirsty listen and down to the waters come
And the Holy King of Israel loves me here in America

And if you listen to my songs
I hope you hear the water falling
I hope you feel the oceans crashing on the coast of north New England
I wish I could be there just to see them, two summers past I was
And the Holy King of Israel loves me here in America

And if I were a painter I do not know which I'd paint
The calling of the ancient stars or assembling of the saints
And there's so much beauty around us for just two eyes to see
But everywhere I go I'm looking

And once I went to Appalachia for my father he was born there
And I saw the mountains waking with the innocence of children
And my soul is still there with them wrapped in the songs they brought
And the Holy King of Israel loves me here in America

And I've seen by the highways on a million exit ramps
Those two-legged memorials to the laws of happenstance
Waiting for four-wheeled messiahs to take them home again
But I am home anywhere if You are where I am

And if you listen to my songs I hope you hear the water falling
I hope you feel the oceans crashing on the coast of north New England
I wish I could be there just to see them, two summers past I was
And the Holy King of Israel loves me here in America

Happy Birthday to the Boss!

Bruce Springsteen is 60 today!

The vid is from his first album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and the song 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) features one of the final performances by longtime friend and band member, Danny Federici, who lost his battle to cancer in April 2008.




Also, check out this Dancing In The Dark vid hahaha - awesome!!!

Oxymorons

Some of my favorite words to ponder, google, and say are "oxymorons." Two words strung together which mean something but are total opposites. Here is a list of my top ten (Random Order hehehe):

- Jumbo Shrimp
- Black Light
- Freezer Burn
- Pretty Ugly
- Random Order
- Recent History
- Healthy Tan
- Head Butt
- Virtual Reality
- Civil War

Honorable mentions are: (Pure Evil, Graduate Student, Adult Children, Hells Angels, Relative Truth, Small Crowd, Good Grief, Terribly Pleased, Dodge Ram).

Dream Dinner 7 - Friends Who Can Sing

This version of Dream Dinner consists of my friends and foes who can actually carry a tune. This would be a highly charged and ego-centric group, with a bunch of energy! These are all friends of mine and I would love to get this group together!

* Lorie Daugherty * Jason Roe * John Nance * Dawn Arnold * Doug Butler * Ryan Hunt * Chris Crump * Sarah E. Adams ( last 2 added 01/14/2013)

...it's a good list to begin discussions.

Trash Talking Prophets

What do John the Baptizer, Keith Green, Rich Mullins, and Elijah have in common? They were prophetic voices who had no problems speaking against the sins of society and to the hearts of men and women. They were prophets.

Elijah made fun of the prophets of Baal, John called out the Emperor for his adulterous ways, Rich Mullins wouldn't attend the Dove Awards calling them "glorified Christian Grammys", Keith Green wrote most of his songs to the church and tried to wake "the sleeping giant."

These guys were not your best friends, in fact they didn't seem to have many friends at all. They loved but with truth spoken in such a way that offended. I wonder sometimes if I should be more "prophetic". My easy-going style of living and speaking doesn't cater to this form of truth-telling. But does this mean I then am not supposed to call out that which is wrong or sinful?

God, give me more courage to live and speak with radical truth.

After School Pics

VH1 Divas 2009

Here are some of the performances last night...

Cyndi Lauper and Jordin Sparks:

VH1 Divas | Divas Video

Miley Cyrus and Sheryl Crow:

VH1 Divas | Divas Video

Kelly Clarkson and Melissa Etheridge

VH1 Divas | Divas Video

LeAnn Rimes & Shania Twain

There have been some great performances over the last decade on the VH1 Divas, but the 1998 Shania Twain and 1999 LeAnn Rimes were two of the best:

VH1 Divas | Divas Video

VH1 Divas | Divas Video

Enough said...

Dream Dinner 6 - Quarterbacks

If I could have a Dream Dinner (check out my previous five dinners in the archives) with 8 QB's of the NFL, (who played after 1985):

John Elway
Troy Aikman
Peyton Manning
Brett Favre
Dan Marino
Joe Montana
Kurt Warner
Tom Brady

One thing they have in common: they led their teams with ability and confidence to be winners.

Find Me In The River

Find Me In The River

Find me in the river
Find me on my knees
I've walked against the water
Now I'm waiting if you please

We've longed to see the roses
But never felt the thorns
And bought our pretty crowns
But never paid the price

Find me in the river
Find me there
Find me on my knees with my soul laid bare
Even though you're gone and I'm cracked and dry
Find me in the river, I'm waiting here

Find me in the river
Find me on my knees
I've walked against the water
Now I'm waiting if you please

We didn't count on suffering
We didn't count on pain
But if the blessing's in the valley
Then in the river I will wait

Written by Martin Smith ©1995 Curious? Music UK

One of my newest fav worship songs... :)

If Beyonce Was A Boy?

Beyonce got her shot with Destiny's Child with the hit song, "Say My Name" in 2000. We are 9 years later and she is quite possibly the best entertainer we have in pop music today.



Say My Name - Destiny's Child (2000 VH1 Divas):

VH1 Divas | Divas Video

Overslept!!!

I hate to be late and cannot stand even more to miss a meeting, which is what happened this morning! I know I set the alarm, but for whatever reason, woke up 45 minutes after my meeting started! Holy Crap!

I've got to have more discipline than that...

Fantasy Sports

I've been doing fantasy sports since 2002 and have loved every minute of it! I looked back during lunch today and printed a list of all the teams I've had on my yahoo profile. Here are my more creative names by sport:

Baseball - Rounding Third, Roids R Us, Gas, Calvin & Hobbes, and Sermon on the Mound

Basketball - The Gym Rats, Full Court Press, Sons of Adam, and JordantheMagicBird

Football - Jungleland, BornToRun, The Waterboys, Rog's Tackle Shop, and Feeback & Favre

Hockey - IHaveNoClue

Nascar - LeftTurn

The last two sports I have done only once and in the same year! hahaha

MTV Video Music Awards

New Music - More Music Videos

Taylor Swift's "You Belong To Me" was a good performance last night. Even though it's canned and doesn't seem to be live (maybe I'm missing it here), it's still original and well done.

Beyonce's was outstanding and worth watching, though on the risque side of dance and movement.

Beyoncé - New Music - More Music Videos

Girls Basketball

Abby played on the Deer Park Elementary Ninjas last season as a 3rd grader. This season, she will be one of the bigger girls (not that it stopped her last year)! She was a rebound machine! In one game, she made the go-ahead bucket with 25 sec. left. Then as the opposing team came down the court, they had two shots and two free throws to tie the game and missed all 4! Abby grabbed the last rebound and turned to pass to a teammate and the clock sounded...she had saved them from shooting once more! Even though it was a 3rd & 4th grade team, you can tell from the pic below (Abby is last one on right) that she was one of the tallest players! hahaha

9/11

In my previous post on 9/11 in 2007, I talked about where I was and what happened to me on that day. It seems looking back to that post, I was rather selfish and self-centered. The tragedy did not strike my family outside of my kids being worried about another attack.

I choose to reflect today on those that were destroyed in the attacks, especially the kids. There were children going to bed that night, without a parent, and in some cases, without both parents. For those kids who had single moms and dads, that night meant so much more than it did for me.

So today, I reflect on others' loss and pain on Patriot Day.

American Idols

I recall watching the first season (2002) as Kelly Clarkson was crowned the first winner of American Idol. She has gone on and been successful in the music industry. After 8 seasons now, I have had my favorite winners and contestants.

My top 5 fav winners and (contestants of that year) are:
5 - Taylor Hicks 2006 (Chris Daughtry, Kellie Pickler, Mandisa, & Katharine McPhee)
4 - David Cook 2008
3 - Jordin Sparks 2007 (Chris Sligh)
2 - Kelly Clarkson 2002
1 - Carrie Underwood 2005

2006 was definitely the powerhouse lineup, with the non-winners having very successful careers. Underwood is my favorite winner because she has the total package of vocal range and stage presence (as if I am a talented music critic!) hehehe

Overwhelmed with Gratitude...

It's crazy how many FB birthday greetings I receieved! As they began coming in the night before, I was replying to each of them. But as yesterday progressed, that reality would only be good intentions. I was able to respond to a few, but the vast majority of them were not replied.

So, I saved all them in a folder on my yahoo email and hope to contact the FB friends who sent me a greeting for my celebration.



BTW, the kids and I had a pizza party thrown by the Truitts' and then went out for ice cream after some great Wii games! It was a good day and I am grateful for the people God has placed in my life and I in theirs.

43rd Birthday!

WoW - I find it so crazy that I am 3 years removed from 40! Are you kidding me? I have already had a great day and it's only 10:30 AM!!!

Facebook 180

Facebook is a good thing...I love it and have reconnected with so many people! I didn't always think so highly of this online community thingy! Check this out from May 2008:

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Facebook Is Overrated

Are you kidding me? I mean, don't mishear me - it's really cool to reconnect with so many friends and foes from the past. But my frustration is that it is an "online community" and that's it. Real community, one which shares life with another is rare and much tougher to accomplish.

(Abby serving as a volunteer at Field of Dreams 2008 - an event organized by our church - she had a blast working with Girls In Action for five hours in the heat giving away bottles of water!)

I know I sound simplistic and as one co-worker suggested (I am perhaps jealous of the success of it), but let's be honest and say that all these "confirmed requests" for friends does not make a friendship. It' a modern-day, internet-driven facade.

Authentic relationships share life and is better accomplished by on our feet and not our seat. Community is...
- getting our hands and feet dirty in a clean-up effort after a storm
- taking care of your dog and mail while you are on vacation
- playing basketball with your neighbor's fiancee
- sharing a meal together (a lost art and expression of love)
- taking cookies to a retired couple next door sounds so 1950ish, but it works!
- tossing the ball back to our yard after the massive grand slam by dad
- rubbing shoulders with humanity

All these things have happened recently in our neighborhood. By the way, the majority of our neighbors are not Christian, but they understand community and the value of sharing life together despite political, economical, and religious preferences. Community is better experienced face to face.

No wonder Facebook has become so huge. It caters to our anonymous online lifestyle, while rejecting our need for touch, tears, and laughter with a friend, who thank God is not a profile and will not ask me to click "confirm" or "ignore".

pondered by Rog at 4:46 PM Tags: church, Deer Park TX, facebook, Family, friends, missions, San Jacinto Church, work

Salvation Moments...

Jon Mark accepted the love of Christ by praying in our car on the way home from the Nicholasville Wal-Mart to Wilmore in 1998. He was baptized by me on Sunday, December 15, 2001 in Georgetown, Kentucky at the Central Church of God.

Emma accepted God's love in her bedroom, after asking how she can be a Christian during bath time in 2001. She was baptized with her brother on Sunday, December 15, 2001 in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Abby prayed for Jesus to forgive her in bed on August 25, 2006 and was baptized by me in Pasadena, Texas at Parkgate Community Church on Sunday, September 2, 2007.

What a joy to be a part of their lives in Christ!

Praying for Connie Christoph

Connie Christoph, wife of Jim and mother of Sarah and Jamey, has ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). They are friends of mine from back in the days of Warner Southern College (now University), South Lake Wales Church, and Barry/Dana Shick.

I am praying daily for her condition and family.

September Memories

Football, birthdays, 9-11, and Ike...these are some of the recollections I have about September.