Christian Music

After a recent post about concerts I would like to see, I was asked about my Christian music preferences. What follows is my list of favorites. However, let me make a couple disclaimer/ explanations.

First of all, some of the best Christian music is made by secular artists. I believe that God made the music. Whether the artists, singers, composers or musicians are interested in spiritual things or not, God uses music to spread his message and reach out to people.

Secondly, there are many Christians who are not necessarily "Christian artists." For example, there is Johnny Cash, U2 and Sufjan Stevens. The music is not what you would expect to hear in church, but the heart of those making the music seeks to honor God.

Now, my list of favorite Christian artists (in no particular order):

• Delirious
• Hillsong
• Phil Keaggy
• David Crowder*Band
• Planetshakers
• 2nd Chapter of Acts
• Leeland
• Derek Webb
• Lovesong
• Keith Green

Simple Ways to Improve My Life

If you know me, or have read much of my online material, you know that I have an aversion to public restrooms. I have seen some of the people who have used them. (That includes you.) I am always looking for ways to make those necessary public restroom experiences more pleasant. Here are a couple that I think are sure-fire winners:

1. All public toilets should have a toilet seat handle. The one in this photo works very nicely, but a larger, more separate apparatus would be even better. By using a toilet seat handle it would be less likely that a person could catch some "crud" from a previous toilet user. Of course, if you are a woman this does not help you at all. This is only useful for men who must use this toilet and do not want to lift the seat. (Another option would be for the restroom to come equipped with latex gloves.)
2. Public toilets should come equipped with a "foot flusher." No one, and by this I mean me, should ever have to touch a flush handle with a bare hand. Do you know how many nasty germs are on that thing? I usually flush with my foot, until I came across this sign. It has wrecked my life. So here is my solution: They make sinks and water fountains that are activated with a foot switch. They make trash cans that are opened with a foot-lever. It is time for a foot flush mechanism. (Or again, we could have latex gloves.)

What's Wrong with This Picture?

Last week I was sitting in a Burger King. I do this often to study, read, think and pray. So that's what I was doing. In fact, I was reading the Bible when I looked up to see a pregnant young women in a t-shirt that had the "F-word" on the back... in very large letters.

My first reaction was to look around and see who else would be offended by this shirt. I worry about children and elderly people. Although I am sure that I was about as offended as anyone could be. Fortunately, there was only one small child in the place and he, at 2-3 years old, was to young to read. Then the girl in the shirt turned around and I saw the front of her shirt. It said, "Too drunk to care."

That is when the worst thing happened. This girl got her food, and then went and sat with the little boy and another woman. I am not sure who was the mother, but either way it concerns me that

1. There is a child being raised in that sort of irresponsible atmosphere.
2. And that there is a blatant disregard for the sensitivities of other people.

I had almost forgotten about this whole experience this morning as I was walking (for exercise) in my local department store. There was a man, shopping with his 8-10 year old son in a shirt that said, "Surrounded by f***ing idiots." What? He was right next to his son. Does that mean that his son is the _____ idiot?

So my problem is this: Do people not think about what they are doing, saying or wearing? Or, do they just not care? What message do we want to send to those around us? What's wrong with our society?

I have decided that I will re-double my efforts to be positive. I will think about the effect that my actions, attitudes and words have on others. I want to be source for good, for positive, for hope. Will you join me?

Weekly Prayer Thought

They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day... Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3.8-9


Have you ever know someone who had a special "prayer voice." You know, their voice gets deeper when they pray. They are more serious than usual. Even their vocabulary gets more serious. There are "eths" at the end of verbs and "Thees" and "Thous" are added for good measure. Suddenly, in prayer, Elizabethan English is alive and well.


When I was in school we had a pastor who would always get a little sober just before he said, "Let us pray." All of us kids would roll with laughter because we had never heard lettuce pray. (I am still waiting.) The problem is that sometimes we take prayer so seriously, that we forget to be normal. We think that we have to prove something to God. We need to get hyper-spiritual. Somehow we think that we can prove something by our sincerity and our conviction. But that is not the case.


Prayer is important and should not be taken lightly, but we need to think of it as a regular part of our lives. Try to think of prayer like talking to a good friend or your spouse. Your friend would be put off- maybe offended- if you changed your tone and language every time you talked to him. He would wonder why you were being so weird.

It looks like, in the passage from Genesis, that Adam had a relationship with God that allowed them to just walk and talk together. They were friends. They were normal. There was give and take, talking and listening. This is how our prayer lives should be. We should "just talk" to God. You do not need to work yourself up into some spiritual frenzy. Good wants a relationship with you, not a ritual.

Prayer: Jesus, it is important to me that you and I have a good relationship. I want to pray. And I want to hear you speak to me. Show me how to lose any pretensions that I may have. Help me to be normal and "just talk" in my relationship with you. Amen.

Pedestrian Lanes

I live in the country. It is very rural where I live. In fact, most of my life I have lived in places that are too far from the grocery store to walk there. I drive almost everywhere I go. Work, church, store, shopping, school... it's all too far to walk.

And yet, I walk. I try to walk every day for my health. And herein lies my problem (complaint) of the day. It is dangerous for me to walk in my neighborhood. There are all sorts of dangers lurking. I might get run over by a car, attacked by a rogue deer, injured by an Amish buggy, or sickened by the odor of fresh roadkill. This does not even take into account heat stroke, heart attack, frostbite and skin cancer that can occur out of doors.

So I have a suggestion. It will cost a little bit, but not too much, I think. And we can rather quickly absorb the costs and get used to them. All streets, roads and highways should have a designated pedestrian lane. This lane will need to be only about 36" wide. And although it will require extra land purchases and expense for the materials and labor, it will be a very small percentage of the overall construction cost.

This change would happen gradually. When a road is re-paved or improved the new lane would be added. It would not be necessary to go back and put the new pedestrian lane on all existing roads. Obviously, there would not be a pedestrian lane on interstate or limited access highways.

The benefits would be great for all people. There would be fewer pedestrian/ bike accidents. These new lanes would encourage exercise as well. A healthier population will be good for everyone.

My Concert Wish List

I love music and attending concerts. In one recent post I listed the best concerts I have attended. Today, I give you my list of concerts that I would love to see, someday. There are a lot that I would love to attend, but will never get the chance (think Beatles, Sinatra, Buddy Holly). These are concerts that are still a possibility for me.

• Bruce Springsteen. I would prefer the Boss with the E Street Band, but heck, beggars can't be choosers.
• The Rolling Stones. Bill Wyman already retired. Brian Jones is dead. The rest of the guys are old. I'm running out of time.
• Aretha Franklin. No one sings like the Queen of Soul.
• Lyle Lovett and His Large Band. I am not sure that I can explain my desire on this one. I just think that he is funny and original.
• Harry Connick, Jr. A Christmas-themed show would make my wife very happy.
• Derek Webb. He makes me think and he challenges my thinking. One of his "house shows" would be perfect.
• Paul McCartney. If I can't have the Beatles, I'll take the best of the remaining ones.

Who would you add?

Road Trip/ Car Games #3

Continuing in the tradition of Road Trip/ Car Games, I offer the following two entries. Neither of these requires any special equipment of expertise. Good luck and have fun...

Tunesmith

This is the perfect game to play with friends (or enemies). It works great on long car trips, or rainy afternoons. In fact, the best time to play this game may be when you are trying to avoid something productive like work, homework, cleaning, etc.

There is no equipment required and the rules are simple. Everyone begins by agreeing on a topic. In our example we will use the topic 'trees.' Now each person is required to think of and then sing a song about trees. To get credit for the song, the singer has to sing enough of it to establish that it is; 1) a legitimate song, 2) about a tree, or trees, 3) that it at least mentions a tree, and 4) not made up. All the other players determine whether or not the singer gets credit for his/her song. When a singer can not come up with a song, they are out for the remainder of the round. The last remaining singer wins the round.

Some acceptable tree songs would include... "O Christmas Tree," "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree," and "Misty" ('as helpless as a kitten up a tree'). After the tree round is completed a new topic is chosen and play resumes.

Some topics could include:
Color songs
Number songs
Broadway musicals
TV Theme songs
Beatles songs
Christmas songs
Religious Songs

You will want to come up with a lot of your own topics. It is more fun if the topic is a surprise to everyone so that no one can "plan" ahead.

The Jerry Garcia Game

I noticed several years ago that in almost any crowd there is at least one person who looks like Jerry Garcia. Jerry Garcia, as I am sure that you all remember, was the bearded leader of the Grateful Dead. This phenomenon became amazing to me. Everywhere I looked there was a Jerry Garcia, even though I knew that he was dead. That made me notice other people. You would not believe how many people look like someone else, famous or not.

One day when we were having lunch in a restaurant we saw a man at the next table who could have passed for the character actor M. Emmett Walsh. These "sort of" celebrities are all around you. Open your eyes.

So play this game the next time you are with a group and in a crowd. Find someone who looks like someone else. Point out your look-alike to your companions. Everyone then gets to vote on whether or not the look-alike really looks like who you say. If the person looks like a celebrity, you get two points for every yes vote. If the person looks like a personal friend or acquaintance, you get one point for every yes vote.