New Life'n

Charlie bit me

And the remix:

It's just really cool to have everything you need

So at the end of Surf's Up, the competition is over and Cody has learned that it's not all about being numero uno, and he's found that fighting the board and the waves leads to wiping out. 

They have the big competition where they keep score, but then when it's over, they head to the other side of the island where the surfing is for it's own sake.  For the joy of the wave.

Apparently, surfing to keep score and surfing just to surf can't be done at the same place.

In the end, it's about friends and relaxing and being one with the wave.  OK, cool.

And as I watch I recognize there's this hunger in me to be in step with the Wave, and a hunger to not keep score and constantly judge myself.  To have me and the Wave be, like, together, effortlessly, all the time.  And to have it be about that and not about the results. 

To just relax inside and enjoy the Wave and his love and his leading. 

Not that that would mean I'm not active, but my activity would be so in step with the Wave that it was like I was along for the ride, looking like I'm standing still, but really I'm just in perfect balance and harmony with it. 

And that Wave is something that is awesome and that has knocked me down so many times when I've fought it.  But it doesn't have to be that way; it's not supposed to be that way.  It's supposed to be joyful.

And this little cartoon penguin is thinking the same thing, and he goes to the grace side of the island, and he does it.  The way it's supposed to be. 

And he's so at rest, although very active surfing, that he can even reach his little penguin wing out in the midst of the rushing water and gently touch the awesome face of the Wave that just wants him to cooperate. 

I can't imagine a better day.

The story behind Shout to the Lord on American Idol

Or some of it anyway:

Leaving out "Jesus" from the song (after the Gives Back show) wasn't approved by those with rights to the song, but they're still happy it was used...

There are believers in the Idol band that accompanies the singers...

Jason Castro goes to church near Dallas...his dreadlocks were mom's idea...

And behind-the-scenes from a Christian insider's perspective on the close of last week's show:

so picture an office, with all of the producers, crew, etc. gathered in watching the live feed at our CBS offices, then this song comes on...an office filled with a few Christians....atheists and agnostic Jews. You could hear a pin drop....it was awesome.....the power that came through....nothing had to be said...no debates....just people being touched more than they realized...producers, writers...crew that had never darkened a church door in their lives, or their only experience with Christians was a negative one.

More at Josh Harris' blog.

All lit up

Watching Spring go thru it's cycle -- the redbuds, the daffodils, then the bradford pears, and now the dogwoods and azaleas -- I keep thinking about the Christmas lights on trees and bushes just a few months ago. 

Spring is something like that; you go, ooooh...look...wow... 

Only there's not a bit of ladder climbing, roof crawling or light stringing done.  It all just happens and we get to watch. 

At Christmas, if you don't do the work, you don't get the dazzle (at least not at your house). 

At Spring, the work's all done and there's nothing to do but be in awe.

Maybe it's just me, but thinking back to Christmas lights, they look kind of...clunky?  Forced?  ...compared to what's happening now.

Is there something to that?  Man-made = work for your reward; God-made = recieve what's already done.

So which display do you enjoy more, think is more impressive -- Christmas or Spring?

Adopt a Terrorist

I had a friend who said he just couldn't pray for a certain President we had -- even though he knew what Jesus said.  I'm guessing he'd have even more trouble adopting a terrorist.  Want to?  You don't have to actually bring him home and make scrambled eggs and bacon and tuck him in at night.  But maybe something good could happen, even from far away.  There's a whole catolog of terrorists to choose from.  Pick yours HERE. 

Six things gracious souls discover

From William R. Newell's Romans: Verse by Verse:

1.  To 'hope to be better' is to fail to see yourself in Christ only   

2.  To be disappointed in yourself, is to have believed in yourself

3.  To be discouraged is unbelief, as to God's purpose and plan for blessing for you

4.  To be proud is to be blind!  For we have no standing before God in ourselves

5.  The lack of divine blessing, therefore, comes from unbelief, and not from failure of devotion

6.  Real devotion to God arises, not from man's will to show it; but from the discovery that blessing has been recieved from God while we were yet unworthy and undevoted

Bedspreads designed to keep kids awake all night

Sears 1973.  I don't think any kids folded the corner of this page over for mom to notice at Christmastime.

Did you see Idol's big finish last night?

After a show that embodied service, compassion and love, they did an ending that linked helping and caring for others with the Tower of Refuge and Strength.

Laugh, cry, mad, think

You might do any or all of that when you read Stuff Christians Like.  Or maybe you might send him a suggestion.  He comes up with new ones every day.  Here's an example of Stuff Christians Like:

#58. Calling people "seekers."

Dear person that does not go to church,

I don't know how to say this, but when you're not around, we call you "seeker." We say things like, "what kind of music will seekers respond to?" or "is that drama seeker focused or not." And when you show up on Sunday, if our church is small enough, our seeker spider sense tingles a little and we really hope the service reaches you.

But before you get mad, please know that the alternative is to call you "lost" or "unsaved" or "sweaty philistine." OK, we don't say that last one. A lot. But my friend Joel said something to me tonight. He said, "you know who the lost were in the New Testament? They were the people Jesus hung out with and loved on the most."

So tonight, even though I'm in marketing and I might want to treat you like a target audience or a demographic, I'm retiring the words "seeker" and "lost." From here on out, I'm just going to call you "the people Jesus loves."

I want one of these

You might, too, if you want to look cool without knowing how to play any instruments.  Yeah, it's real.