Perhaps this is the week that i’ll get back on schedule… perhaps, perhaps not… it was a good weekend overall and i enjoyed the football games quite a bit (more on that later)… i’m currently watching the New Hampshire debates and i expect that i’ll be done with those sometime tomorrow… still have a number of emails hanging over my head, but i’m plugging along with those and with all the other items i have planned… in an effort to get to all that sooner, lets first get to this…

YOU ARE ONE WILD AND CRAZY CARD

What a GREAT bunch of games this weekend… sure, i only picked 2 of the 4 right, but all the games were pretty much up in the air until the very end… the Saturday games seemed better matched, but the Sunday games were quite good as well… and now, even though it’s only Monday, i’ll start making next week’s picks…

Saturday afternoon: Seattle in Green Bay… this game has all the makings of a classic playoff matchup… Favre, the gunslinger, faces a secondary ripe for the burning… Hasselback, Favre’s pupil looks to show up his teacher… the running game for both teams will likely be moot points… add in Mike Holmgren, his knowledge of Favre’s play and his desire to show up the Pack and wow… it’s gonna be great!… in the end, my Packers will have won by about 10 points…

LAST YEAR (PT. 2)

the next list from Last.FM is the 25 most played tracks of 2007… i went ahead and edited this one down so that no artist was repeated… the numbers in parentheses indicates how many times the artist appeared in the actual top 25… as you can tell, the list would’ve included about 7 artists… i think this way it’s more interesting…

1. “Typical” by Mute Math (5)

2. “Carry on Wayward Son” by The Showdown (11)

3. “Made to Love” by TobyMac

4. “Can’t Go On” by Group 1 Crew (6)

5. “The Rain” by K-Os (2)

6. “The Storm” by The Procussions

7. “So Much Love” by The Rocket Summer (4)

8. “Don’t Feel Right” by The Roots

9. “Identity” by John Waller

10 “The Best Thing” by Relient K

11. “” by Amazing Because It Is

12. “Beautiful Disaster” by Jon McLaughlin

13. “Hang Me Up to Dry” by Cold War Kids

14. “The Heat” by Needtobreathe

15. “Your Life Will Never Dull or Your Money Back” by Listener

16. “Come Undone” by Jackson Waters

17. “Rise” by Robbie Seay Band

18. “I Love You to Death” by Family Force 5

19 “Make Money Money” by John Reuben

20 “American Dream” by Switchfoot

21. “Horsey” by Neon Horse

22. “Love & Radiation” by All Star United

23. “When the Stars Go Blue” by Blake Lewis

24. “Feels Like Tonight” by Daughtry

25. “Undercover Belief” by Nate Sallie

if you’d prefer to see the full list without my consolidation, then you can feel free to do that as well…

AMERICAN IDOL

the popular show is rolling the die and coming back for another season soon… and while there’s recently been a surge of Christian singers trying out and making it through the competition, i never expected to hear Robbie Seay Band’s song, “Rise” on the promos for the new season… however, i did… and i got chills…

WORD OF THE DAY

Eph. 1:17-19a

This is a nice blessing… a nice prayer to pray over those whom you love… Paul asks for some wonderful things on behalf of the church and it’s a sincere prayer… the first thing he asks for is the Spirit of wisdom and revelation… hey, that’s what Solomon asked for back in the day… wisdom is good and all, but why?… so that you may know him, God, better…. that’s even better… but that’s not all…

Next, Paul asks God to… okay sing it with me… open the eyes of [their] hearts… but it’s not so much to see Him… it’s to see what He’s given to us… the hope to which we’re called…. the riches of our inheritance and the power of His presence… and we’ll look at that power more tomorrow when i finish this verse and this chapter…

IN OTHER WORDS

When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg…

What’s the Score?

this next bit is about scoring… how we keep score and how we should keep score and i absolutely love the example that he uses… he talks about how two groups of kids were presented with the same game but they decided to keep score differently… i believe that’s what we’re called to do as Christians too… When Jesus walked the earth, He turned the conventional scoring systems completely upside down… He taught us that to die is to live… to serve is to become powerful… to follow is to lead…

We don’t need to conform to this world’s standards… we don’t have to keep score the same way… this is a real challenge…

THE LAST WORD

speaking of words… merriam webster’s website, m-w.com names an official word of the year each year… it’s apparently voted on by people who use the site a lot and paid attention to the front page ads… previous winners have been “democracy”, “blog”, “integrity”, and “truthiness” (thank you Colbert)… and this year there were some great words up for the vote including “quixotic” and “conundrum” and “apathetic”… but apparently there were no words with the importance or overall likeability as the winner… which was… (drumroll)… “w00t”… that’s right, w00t…and that, my friends, is the world in which we live…

AND WITH THAT…

i posted a new Walk TRu featuring The Alchemy Index Vol: 1 & 2 by Thrice… check it out…

DON’T BE A STRANGER

i’ll be back later this week with more football game predictions… debate reactions and commentary… my thoughts on Roger Clemens… and more… trust me… everytime i start writing i start thinking of new things to write about…

peace… love… bdg…

i was all set to begin this entry with the amazing and intriguing story of the disappearing Christmas tree… i was going to talk about how we took our tree down last night and how i dragged it around the house and left it at the curb and how, four hours later, it was gone… mysteriously and inexplicably gone… i was certain that someone, for some unknown reason, had come upon the tree and stolen off into the night with our felled and discarded tree…

and then, this morning i found it… it had simply blown across the front yard and was nestled into the space between my house and my neighbor’s… no conspiracy or anything, but it still must have been something to see the wind catch hold of that nine-footer and carry it from there to where i found it… anyway…

HAWKEYES FOR HUCKABEE?

today is/was the Iowa Caucus and it appears that Mike Huckabee won… in the other corner weighing in at… oh, i don’t know… Barack Obama stole the hearts of the democrat hawkeyes… being as i’m rarely involved in any political discussions, i’m not entirely sure of the weight of this vote either… it sure seems like a good win for Mr. Huckabee though… Romney has apparently stated that Huckabee doesn’t have enough money or organization to make it through the whole nation… it seems to me that Huckabee is quickly becoming the “people’s candidate,” progressing state by state, surviving contribution to contribution like many of us survive from paycheck to paycheck…

FOR THE LOVE…

… of the Game, the new album from Pillar, is due out in late February, but is currently streaming in its entirety at pillarmusic.com/hm… i’m withholding any official statement or judgement for now, but if you’re into Pillar and/or rock music, then check it out… and while you’re at it, thank the good folks at HM Magazine for sponsoring such an event…

GOING OUT WITH A DANG!!!

Colt Brennan, who was supposed to be a Heisman contender this year - and actually was a finalist, led the 12-0 Rainbow Warriors from Hawaii, a team that many argued should play in the National Title Game, against the Georgia Bulldogs in this year’s Sugar Bowl… i was really excited to see Hawaii show their stuff, but instead, i saw Brennan hit the turf eight times, throw 3 interceptions and lead the Warriors to 3 points before exiting the game with an injury… Georgia was amazing, but the game was unfortunately disappointing… clearly Hawaii was in way over their heads…

LET’S GET, LET’S Get WIIIIIIIIILD….

It’s Wild Card weekend and i’m excited except for the dread of knowing that the season is all but over… i’ve already told you who’s going to win the whole thing, but here are your wild card winners for this weekend…

Jaguars over Steelers

Chargers over Titans

Redskins over Seahawks

Bucs over Giants

i can hardly wait to watch the games this weekend…

WORD OF THE DAY

Eph. 1:15-16

well, we’re back for a bit in Ephesians… hopefully that’s alright with you… but these two verses seem to fit in line with what i was talking about in the last little bit from Joshua… of course, that was about God’s faithfulness, and this is about the faithfulness of the saints… but Joshua was faithful in following God’s directives and leading Israel across the Jordan… for that, he is an example, just like the church at Ephesus is in these two verses… faithfulness works both ways…

IN OTHER WORDS

When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg…

we bought our boys a little basketball hoop for them to play with in the basement… so far they love it… in fact, little boy told me the other day that he was going down to “win some points”… he meant of course to shoot some baskets… and it’s great to watch him play… he really lights up whenever he makes a basket, but really he and his brother both just enjoy the fact that they’re inside and they’re able to get away with throwing around a ball and running like crazy trying to get the rebounds… in that sense, they win regardless of where their shots land…

this chapter is about scorekeeping and it promises to be a good one… pardon my indulgence.. i’ll talk about what Ortberg says next time…

AND WITH THAT…

i’m on my way… tomorrow i’ll talk a little bit about the past year and soon, i’ll have some more content posted somewhere i’m sure… i’ll be doing some planning for this month maybe this weekend, maybe sooner…

peace… love… bdg…

ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE

So, it’s the holiday season and the visitors have begun trickling in… the house is full and it’s a little crazy and it’s difficult - even moreso - to keep things organized, including thoughts… and i normally don’t do updates on Saturdays, but i’ve been pretty off and on this week and i’ve got a few moments to myself here… so, just a quick one, alright?

WORD OF THE DAY

Joshua 3:6-7Joshua 3:6-7
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
6 Then Joshua turned to the priests and said, “Take the chest and cross the Jordan River ahead of us.” So the priests picked up the chest by its carrying poles and went on ahead. ⁷ The Lord told Joshua, “Beginning today I will show the people that you are their leader, and they will know that I am helping you as I helped Moses.

… part of me wants to just finish up the chapter today, but i know i’m going to be pretty short on time, so i’ll just focus on these two verses and mainly just the latter… Joshua tells the priests to take the ark of the covenant and lead the way and they do… we already knew they would, so that’s kind of just the facts, ma’am, just the facts…

But, i love the comment here in the next two verses… God’s telling Joshua that he’s going to use the events of this day to exalt Joshua in the eyes of Israel, cementing him as their leader and proving before all men (and women) that God is with Joshua just like He was with Moses… this fulfills the promise that He gave Joshua back in the beginning of the book…

IN OTHER WORDS

Brief sidetrack from the usual program today because, well it’s for a number of reasons, but most specifically, i finally finished reading Relentless, by Robin Parrish and i wanted to share a few thoughts about it…

this book took me a while to get into and i blame it primarily on the fact that it’s HUGE… well, 443 pages and my copy is the big old hardcover… that and, to be honest, i was a bit impatient with the set up… about the midpoint of the book, though, it really took off and i was pretty hooked until the end… the scope of the plot expanded and strengthened which really added depth to the characters and the story itself… very impressive overall, i’m glad to have read it and i’m happy to call Robin at least an acquaintance…

now i’m ready for Fearless, which i imagine i’ll finish by 2010…

FOOTBALL…

here’s how distracted i’ve been… i’m just finding out now that the Steelers won on Thursday… i probably knew, but i didn’t really pay attention to it… here’s my picks for the rest of the games which i’ll likely have a harder time watching…

Cowboys over Panthers

Bengals over Browns

Colts over Texans

Bills over Giants

Lions over Cheifs

Jags over Raiders

Saints over Eagles

Packers over Bears

Cards over Falcons

Bucs over 49errs

Titans over Jets

Dolphins over Patriots

Seahawks over Ravens

Redskins over Vikings

Chargers over Broncos

BEFORE I GO

i just finished up some interviews… probably the last of the year and i’ll be turning them in shortly after i finish this up… after that, i don’t think i’ll have much time for anything until after Christmas… i have just noticed that my interview with The Washington Projects found its way onto CCM’s frontpage… and, oh hey, i’m a featured blogger… looks like i’ll have to try a little harder to post before Christmas…

COMING SOON

i’ll talk about the next great American band…. i’ll talk about The Clash of the Choirs… i’ll definitely talk about football… i might talk a little about politics… i’ll talk about Christmas music… and i’ll post more interviews, reviews and features at everyone’s favorite website called theTRu…

peace… love… bdg..

HAVE A HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS

well, yesterday was a whirlwind of activity that included an “all-staff gathering” for work, which i was able to attend via an online webcast… going into it, the tension was pretty high around the office and moreso at the headquarters, but there were no lay-offs… at least not yet… what i really took away from the meeting was that people will spend a lot of money paying consultants exorbitant fees to tell them what is pretty obvious… it’s kind of annoying actually, but in theory, i’ll finally get my raise next month…

after the meeting and after shoo-ing out the cleaning lady, i raced over to littler boy’s preschool to watch him star as Joseph in the Christmas program… and… man… is … he… CUTE!…

SERIOUS AS A HEART ATTACK…

or two, or three, or more… so my uncle and my former pastor both had serious heart attacks recently… my uncle apparently had four attacks in total, dating back to Thanksgiving and building up to a severe one that landed him in the hospital, and he’s now stable, but still in the hospital after several surgeries… my former pastor had a heart attack while he was delivering his sermon and is now back in at home on strict bedrest for the next two months… craziness…

WORD OF THE DAY

Joshua 3:5Joshua 3:5
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
5 Joshua told the people, “Make yourselves acceptable l Make yourselves acceptable: People had to do certain things to make themselves acceptable to worship the Lord . to worship the Lord, because he is going to do some amazing things for us.”

… only one verse? yep… and it’s a big one… at least i think so… it’s a two-part verse… the first part is a command… “Sanctify yourselves”… (some translations say “consecrate”)… this is a common theme in the New Testament, but it’s also a big deal even back here in Joshua… Israel isn’t even a nation yet, but God’s called them His people and he’s now telling them to live up to the hype, so to speak… Sanctify yourselves… remove sin from your lives… set yourselves apart… be holy…

the second part is a promise… “Tomorrow, God will do wonders among you”… i’m not entirely certain whether or not this is a conditional action… whether the knowledge of God’s plan is intended to inspire sanctification or whether the sanctification permits God’s action… i imagine that God’s gonna do what He’s gonna do whether we’re ready or not… God uses non-holy folks a lot and works wonders through them, so who’s to say that He wouldn’t have done these wonders regardless… however, being consecrated makes us more connected to God’s will and makes His actions take on greater meaning in our lives…

IN OTHER WORDS

When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg…

Continuing on… The object of the game is to live a life that is rich towards God… what does that mean you may ask… it means that you obey the “greatest” commandments… love God and love others… Ortberg goes into some detail about what our love really means or rather, what it translates to… and that is commitment… love is a commandment AND a commitment…

It means spending time with God, getting to know Him better… and when it comes to others and how to do better understand this, we need to get a firm grasp on what is temporary and what is eternal… this is a basis for life… it’s really a good test as to what our lives are for… what we place our value in and what we trust in… just sit down and think about whether our “points” in the game of life are temporary or eternal…

VIRTUAL BIBLE

Godtube.com launched a pretty interesting little initiative the other day… The Virtual Bible… check it out… some of the references seem like quite a stretch, but it’s a neat idea… (there doesn’t seem to be any videos for Joshua yet, though)…

FOOTBALL…

i picked the Steelers tonight, but it’s late, so if you don’t believe me, that’s fine… i won’t count it… full picks tomorrow and something about the Dolphins…

BEFORE I GO

i posted a brand new Left to Write just in time for Christmas…

COMING SOON

i’ll talk about heroes…. i’ll talk about The Clash of the Choirs… i’ll definitely talk about football… i might talk a little about politics… i’ll talk about Christmas music… and i’ll post more interviews, reviews and features at everyone’s favorite website called theTRu…

peace… love… bdg..

PAINT THE TOWN RED

well, with the office getting painted and everything in something of a state of disarray, my life is less organized and i’m somewhat displaced from my senses… maybe it’s thepaint fumes, maybe it’s the heat, maybe i’m just actually finally showing how much i really am clueless… i don’t know…

anyway, this morning was a special morning for little boy and me… Donuts with Dad at his school… the idea is that dad comes to school early and you both get to have a donut and coffee/juice together… then, to pay for it, you donate a book or two to the school library… seemed like it might be a good bonding time and it was, but in an entirely different way than i’m sure was expected… we got there and it was MOBBED… and by the time we poked into the cafeteria, there were no more donuts or juice or coffee… so, we had an adventure, little boy and i… we ran back out to the car, which was parked about a block away, raced out to Target, ran in, picked up a donut each, paid, ran back out to the car and raced back to school… that’s some bonding right there… it all worked out in the end…

okay, now i’m moving on… by the way, the painting thing is supposed to be my excuse for not blogging yesterday…

WORD OF THE DAY

Joshua 3… okay, well, before i actually get into chapter 3, i want to mention the last verse of chapter 2… the spies have returned and they’re reporting to Joshua about Jericho… and they are filled with confidence because of how Rahab and the soldiers have reacted… the NIV uses the phrase… “they are melting in fear because of us” and the KJV describes the residents as “fainting” because of the Israelites… i suppose that would instill some confidence in me if my enemies were fainting or melting because of me…

Okay, moving on into chapter 3… this is one of my favorite passages… i really enjoy this part of the journey… they get up early in the morning… and they roll out from Shittim and head to the banks of the Jordan River… and they’re camping there for three days… i’d guess that a lot of them are thinking, how on earth are we going to get across this river?… but after three days, they’re told… follow the ark of the covenant… but don’t get too close… see, there’s still this mystery and power surrounding the ark… it was the visible representation of God’s presence with the Israelites and it was sacred and holy… people died if they touched it, no one was allowed to see it directly and clearly it was revered…

tomorrow, we’ll tackle verse 5…

IN OTHER WORDS

When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg…

So, grandma taught him how to play the game… and as Ortberg starts off into the thrust of the book, the next chapter is called “The Object”… by the way, the table of contents is set up like the instruction manual of a board game… at least my copy is… and the actual introduction, which i kind of glossed over is somewhat haunting, talking about how important our “gameplay” is because it is our soul that’s at stake…

now starting out with “The Object,” we have the story of a “successful” businessman who expands his company’s reach and wealth immensely due to his self-sacrifice and efforts… buying into the lies of this materialistic world, he was convinced that he was doing this all for the benefit of the family that he was ignoring and neglecting… then one night, while working late at home alone, he had a massive heart attack and died… God calls him a fool and we are reminded that it’s a retelling of a parable… but it hits home harder, because not too many of us are building barns and harvesting grain…

THREE CHEERS [AGAIN]…

…for The Myriad… they’ve officially won Dew Circuit Breakout 07… i think that means that they are the grandest band in all the land… either way it will be some great exposure for them… and when i say exposure, i mean it in a different sense than that of one of the top 6 finalists who walk around in their underwear…

Also, i’ll congratulate Chris Daughtry of Daughtry as well as the rest of those involved with his debut album… the fourth place finish on American Idol didn’t prevent him from releasing the top-selling album of 2007… selling something like 3.2 million copies, the self-titled album beat out Fergie’s trampy but catchy pop gem and Akon, the on-stage sexual predator… funny that a somewhat wholesome album is the best in the land… sex may still sell, but so does good music…

WINTER IS SETTING IN

Speaking of good music… i’ve been fortunate enough to listen to Jon Foreman’s first two solo EPs, Fall and Winter… and they’re both really good… i’m sure that the more that i listen to them, the more i’ll realize the layers behind their meaning… right now, i’m just enjoying the soft and subtle sounds and the fact that i’ve gotten it early… for a sneak peak at the albums, you can hop on over to Jon’s MySpace

FUMBLE!!!

not that i was bragging before, but man, did i get CRUSHED with my football picks this week… upset after upset and before i knew what happened, i had picked only 8 right while getting 8 wrong… the good news though is that i won in both of my fantasy leagues and this weekend finds me in one superbowl and on the verge of another… three more wins and i’ll have won both leagues… i’m actually pretty shocked about it myself as i’ve just mildly been paying attention to the teams…

BEFORE I GO

CCM posted my interview with Lyrycyst… you may not know who Lyrycyst is, and that may be quite alright, but it was a pretty good conversation…

COMING SOON

i’ll talk about heroes…. i might talk a little about politics… i’ll talk about Christmas music… i’ve got a Left to Write that i’ll post… and i’ll post more interviews, reviews and features at everyone’s favorite website called theTRu…

peace… love… bdg..

NO DAY LIKE A SNOW DAY

Well, apparently the result of yesterday’s snow was a day off today for little boy… most of the other districts were fine to go in with an hour delay or so, but our district has a constant problem getting plows out to the schools to clear the parking lots… and in all honesty, the roads were perfectly fine as i drove into work… anyway, i used to love snow days, but little boy isn’t quite at that age yet… he still loves going to school every day which is great and he was pretty bummed today - especially since he’s the “star of the week” this week and now he gets rooked out of one day of starhood… poor little guy… both littles had a BLAST shoveling this morning though, so it’s all good…

as for the rest of today, it’s below freezing outside, but because our HVAC unit is on the fritz AGAIN, it’s well over 80 in here and i’m BURNING UP!… i’ll have to head home early i guess… anyway, i managed to fix a big connectivity issue that i was having for work by remembering to connect to the right server… silly me… spent 2 days trying to figure out how to connect to the wrong server…

WORD OF THE DAY

Continuing on, looking at Ephesians today, Chapter 1 verses 1-8…

FROM: Paul, an apostle of Christ according to God’s will… TO: the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ…

now, i believe that these are some pretty young Christians, and they’ve been dealing with some issues and struggling with some things within the church and from outside sources… but Paul calls them “saints” and reminds them of their own faithfulness… and then he offers them grace and peace… seems like a much more tender approach to things than “Be strong and Courageous”…

moving on… verses 3-8 talk about our inheritance in Christ… similar to the inheritance mentioned in Joshua, it was granted to us well before we were around and God has remained steadfast in granting it to us… contrary to the inheritance mentioned in Joshua, it’s talking about the spiritual blessings we have and will later receive… God chose us to be holy and blameless… to be His adopted children, according to His will (much like why Paul is an apostle)… we’re freely given glorious grace because He loves us… that grace is glorious because it grants us redemption and forgiveness from sins… and it comes with “all wisdom and understanding”… that’s pretty amazing, (sorry for the pun)… but wait there’s more… and i’ll get to it tomorrow… there’s actually a whole lot to these opening verses so i’ll probably end up taking it very slowly…

IN OTHER WORDS

okay, continuing with that Shepherd book… i’ll be honest, it’s dragging on for me… and it’s really short as is, but i think that it’s really just a 200 word essay stretched out over 80 pages… anyway… today’s reading started out with an excerpt from the authors’ novel called Sixth Covenant that described a little bit about the protection of sheep and discussed the parallel between mankind and sheep… next chapter, “Why Worry?” talks about the grand effect of little things… little bugs and parasites can cause sheep a lot of problems… just like little things can cause us to stumble and drive us crazy… that was a fine four pages… i like that i have a better understanding of the passage of Scripture that talks about God annointing my head with oil as a way to protect me from little worries…

the next chapter, “Why an Enemy?” makes a shift in focus, turning the attention away from sheep and focusing on our enemies, specifically the devil as a roaring lion… i thought this chapter was unnecessary since the parallel has already been drawn out handily… somethings are better said unsaid, if you know what i mean… anyway, i have indeed located the other book and i expect that i’ll be starting that one next week… maybe two or three more entries about this book and then we’ll move on…

TO GRAMMYS HOUSE WE GO

Well, i was going to dive into some TV shows, specifically Heroes and The Next Great American Band, but then i realized/discovered that the Grammy nominees were announced this morning… thus, i’m bumping that coverage for this, my random comments on the Grammy nods…

The first thing to catch my eye is Carrie Underwood - and it wasn’t even a picture of her… her song “Before He Cheats” is up for a few awards including Song of the Year… none of the other songs or albums in the top categories really have my interest… Paramore is up for new artist of the year, that’s cool… i’m supposed to interview them sometime… also interesting is to see Kirk Whalum up against The Beastie Boys for instrumental pop album of the year… Daughtry has also put up a good showing this year with quite a few nods and i’m excited to see Lupe Fiasco’s “Day Dreamin’” up for urban/alternative performance of the year… that’s a sweet song…

And now for the “Gospel” Categories… i don’t particularly care who wins, but i find it interesting - interesting? yeah, that works - to see “East to West” from Casting Crowns garnering a nod in both best gospel performance as well as best gospel song… Israel and New Breed have a song up for performance as well and TobyMac’s “Made to Love” is up for song… Casting Crowns keeps rolling with a nod for best pop/contemporary album alongside of TobyMac, Mandisa, Israel and New Breed and Michael W Smith… Cross Movement Records got double kudos with “HIStory and “Open Book” (Da’ T.R.U.T.H.) competing against Skillet, Pillar and Ashley Cleveland (one of these things is not like the other ones) for Rock or Rap album … i’m somewhat surprised to see Smokie Norful under the “traditional” gospel category… i’d pick him for “contemporary”… oh well…

A few, final notes of interest… The Fold is up for best recorded packaging (see album cover in this entry)… The White Stripes are up for best special edition packaging for the fancy USB flash drives that i thought were pretty spiffy and Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” is in the running for music video of the year…

The full list of nominees is on Grammy.com…

HUT HUT HIKE!

i’ll post my weekend football picks tomorrow, but today i have a few hours to mention that the Redskins are going to bounce back and trounce the Bears tonight, 42-20… why? because it’s on NFL Network and NOBODY will be watching…

BEFORE I GO

Today, i posted an interview with Casting Crowns and an album review of All That Is Within Me by MercyMe…

COMING SOON

i’ll talk about some TV…. i’ll talk about Blake Lewis… i’ll talk more about the weather… and i’ll post more interviews, reviews and features at everyone’s favorite website called theTRu…

peace… love… bdg..

LET IT SNOW, BABY

today, we woke up to watch the sky stretch and yawn and slowly start trickling snow down onto the land around our house and neighborhood… Yes, it’s the first official snowing in the beautiful Northern Virginia/DC Metro area… and yes, the trees that were brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow now seem to have given up the ghost along with the majority of their leaves… their now-bare arms reaching out in the posture of permanent praise have a crisp lining of white that catches the little sunlight that dares breaks through the clouds and cast its approval on this necessary state of renewal…

perhaps i’m waxing a little too poetic, but i love the winter… i love cold weather… i love snow… and i love the crazy stares and looks i get when i walk down the slippery sidewalks with a big old smile on my face rejoicing in the glory revealed by the changing of the seasons… today, i actually got a bonus blessing as my little boy explained that it was snowing because his teacher wore her pants inside out, “mommy flushed an ice cube down the potty” and mostly because he had done the snow dance… i’m pretty sure that the first two events didn’t really happen, but i was fortunate enough to bear witness to the snow dance… that was priceless…

WORD OF THE DAY

i’m going to take this space and use it as i work through various books and such, but also as i read through and digest (and turn into a digest) the Bible… for starters, i’ve decided to revisit my study from a few months ago, because it was only towards the very end that i realized some things that i’m sure will change the way i look at the beginning… so, i’ll be looking at the books of Joshua and Ephesians and talking about some things that strike me as i read through them… with no further delay, here are some thoughts on Joshua, chapter 1…

Chapter 1 sets the context and reminds those who are just tuning in of what happened in the previoius books… kind of like the introduction of a TV series… Previously on such and such… well, at least the first verse is that way… Previously in the desert… Moses is dead, Joshua is taking over… skip the commercials and we’re back… the thing that strikes me the most about this, well, there are two things, really… first is the repetitious use of the command to be strong and courageous… Either Joshua needed a great deal of convincing or God was preparing him for something that he’d have a lot of trouble dealing with… or both… anyway, God says it three times and the Israelites repeat it a fourth time as they officially accept Joshua as their leader…

The second thing that stands out to me, is the emphasis on implimenting the Word of God as a framework for how to live your life… meditate on it, don’t stray to the left or the right from it, do all that is commanded within it… that’s some serious attention to detail… but the rewards are there too… a prosperous and successful life…

IN OTHER WORDS

i wanted to start talking about the new book from John Ortberg, but i seem to have misplaced my copy… oh, i bet it’s in that bag… anyway… in lieu of that book, i’ll go ahead and read through this one… an 80-page “Little Book of Why” called, Why a Shepherd?… it should be a quick read and the question itself is interesting enough… alright, the premise is that the author participated in a summer-long internship of sorts to learn how to become a shepherd… (this was back in 1959 apparently)… Like many life experiences, it seems like it will be a fun challenge, but then we end up learning a lot of lessons that we never imagined…

The first chapter (and these chapters are like 4 small pages, so keep that in mind) quotes John 10:11-16John 10:11-16
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
11 . I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep. ¹² Hired workers are not like the shepherd. They don't own the sheep, and when they see a wolf coming, they run off and leave the sheep. Then the wolf attacks and scatters the flock. ¹³ Hired workers run away because they don't care about the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. ¹⁵ ; . Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them together too, when they hear my voice. Then there will be one flock of sheep and one shepherd.

and asks the question “Why is it important that Jesus compared Himself to a shepherd?”… it also ends with “the secrets are waiting to be revealed…” which i think is a bit cheesy, but whatever… Chapter 2 still seems to be laying down introductory material as it describes the anticipation of waiting for shepherd’s camp, the dropping off of the children and the memorization of the 23rd Psalm which i’m sure will come into play later on in the book.. Chapter 3, Why Stand Watch describes the first three days of shepherding… without any sheep… it was interesting to read about the preparation involved before the sheep are allowed to graze on the meadows… they called it preparing a table for the sheep, which brings to mind how God prepares a table before us and the wedding banquet and “I go to prepare a place for you. . .”

and with that, we’re 17 pages in… as i said, this will likely be a very quick read and hopefully by then, i’ll have found the other book…

BEFORE I GO

Another interview has popped up online… this time with Sevenglory… it’s available to read at CCMmagazine.com or directly at http://www.ccmmagazine.com/printerfriendly/11561031/… i have more in the works including some album reviews, some talk about Christmas music, some interviews, and more…

peace… love… bdg…

Long time, no blog… new format and hopefully it will spur on some more regular updates…

THEN

first off, here’s what i’ve been up to…

for theTRu:

InTRuviews (interviews)
- Britt Nicole
- Flatfoot 56
- Verbs
- Jars of Clay
- Mike Nawrocki
- Sara Groves
- John Waller
Walk TRu
- Andrew Osenga - Letters to the Editors Vol 1
- LA Symphony - Unleashed
- David Crowder Band - Remedy
- Kevin Max - The Blood
etc.
- a few iTRu-nes playlists
- Left to Write: Intersections
- Glory Revealed Concert review

Elsewhere
- Mitch McVicker Interview (ChristianMusicPlanet.com)
- Grey Holiday Interview (ChristianMusicPlanet.com)
- Ohmega Watts Interview (CCMmagazine.com)

NOW

i’m currently working on a lot of other fun stuff… especially since it’s the end of the year almost… there will be plenty of good things to write about…

right this moment, i’m playing scrabulous on facebook…

NEXT

expect another interview, playlist, Left to Write, and so much more at theTRu…
i’m going to be blogging more regularly…
i’m working on my biggest writing project to date…

please stay tuned and tell your friends…

peace… love… bdg…

i’m somewhat ashamed of myself for not promoting the heck out of this already… i’ve meant to post this video and show my support of the project and all that it stands for, but as i’m sure you’ve figured out by now, i am not always punctual with the updates… better late than never…

i humbly submit to you, Constance, by Mr. J Medeiros, the video for one of the most potent songs released this past year… the video that was too risque for MTV, probably because it hit too close to home… the song that exposes and discusses the ever-growing problem of porn and the exploitation of women and girls… here’s the video…

now, a few more related links:
- IAmConstance.org - the website of Mr. J’s organization that hosts countless anonymous accounts from victims of trafficking, kidnapping and abuse
- of gods and girls at: iTunes, Amazon or Sphere of Hip-Hop

peace… love… bdg…

Just an FYI for those who care…

I took a few minutes to glance through last year’s winners and i think we can all do better… I’m not lobbying for anyone in specific, but if you want to make your voice a.k.a. vote heard, then here’s your shot…

CCM Reader’s Choice

peace… love… bdg…