First off, if you read my blog by using Internet Explorer it probably looks pretty messed up. That’s because you shouldn’t be using Internet Explorer in the first place.
Download Firefox now and improve your browsing experience.
One of the things I like about Firefox other than the fact that it is more stable and less prone to security attacks are the add-ons and plug-ins that can simplify your office production and web enjoyment.
Here are the ones that I am currently using. All of these can be downloaded here:
Clipmarks–This is a handy little tool that allows you to highlight and select any portion of any webpage and post it directly to your blog or Word document. Or you can save them in your own library. If I come across a quote or a section of an article that I particularly like I just have to copy and it’s automatically kept. And the publish to blog feature is great.
StumbleUpon–This is an addictive little add-on to your toolbar. You enter in your interests and it directs you to websites that it thinks that you might like. The more sites you give the thumbs-up to the better it is able to tell. You can also rate sites by clicking the button. Want to increase traffic to your blog? Give yourself the thumbs-up.
Download Statusbar–This add-on is great. If you download a file you don’t get the annoying pop-up. It does it automatically down in your status bar.
Foxytunes–Speaking of status bars, this nifty little addition allows you to control whatever music player you are using without switching over. It tells you what you are playing in your status bar and use all the important controls. I can listen to iTunes all day without switching windows.
PDF Download–If you are like me you find opening PDF files a hassle. This extension automatically checks and gives you the option of opening it up directly in your browser.
This list was suggested to me as a potential Top 10 Tuesday. And I have to admit it has had me stumped ever since.
It’s not that I’m so cynical and jaded that I don’t think I can feel the list it’s just that there is an important hurdle that we have to clear in order to answer the question: What is the church?
Now the answer to that initial question is a lot broader for me that some. I don’t believe that the church refers only to those who worship at a Church of Christ.
So, with a more ecumenical understanding of the word “church” how do you answer that question? What have “we” gotten right? Is it even answerable in the ecumenical sense?
I was going to do an indepth take on The Chronicles of Narnia and I still might at some point but here are my grades for each of the books:
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe–A
Prince Caspian–B+
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader–B
The Silver Chair–A
The Horse And His Boy–A
The Magician’s Nephew–A-
The Last Battle–A
The Silver Chair was my favorite and Dawn Treader was my least favorite. There is no greater allegorical picture of Christ in contemporary literature that comes close to the beauty, majesty and splendor of Aslan. The greatness of Lewis’ Narnia series is that there is an indelible and beautiful picture of Christ that will make you fall in love with Him in new ways.
In my chronological reading I also tackled Mere Christianity again. Next time just give me the quotable parts. Lewis is a master of false dichotomies with his most famous example being the Liar, Lunatic or Lord conclusion in this book. Grade: B-
I was supposed to read English Literature in the 16th Century, Excluding Drama by Lewis in the midst of Narnia as well. However, my commitment to this process has its limits. 700 pages on poetry and prose written during the 1500s greatly exceeds my capacity for caring for Lewis’ writing. So, I skipped it.
At this point I take a break from Lewis and come back to his works in a bit.
I found this guy last month on emusic. The voice is rough, which I like. But the lyrics are stout. Check out Alistair Moock. This is from his new album, Fortune Street:
Everybody is living just this side of the drain
You’re either parched in the desert or you’re drowned in the rain
You ride the rails for a while you keep your hands close to your sides
But God saw fit to make tears so go on and cry
Your mother will love you whatever you do
And that’s worth what it costs you ’cause she’s one of the few
You look around for a lifeline you turn your head up to the sky
But God saw fit to make tears so go on and cry
Pride hangs around on the corners showing its legs to the crowd
And wisdom’s hailing a taxi trying to get out of this town
Mercy’s begging for spare change as the rest of us keep walking by
But God saw fit to make tears so go on and cry
This life is a quilt of trouble but it’s all that you own
And it’s better than none when you’re cold and alone
Everybody’s a soldier everybody’s a rock
Everybody is living with whatever they got
You close the gates to wherever you’ve been you try to leave tomorrows behind
But God saw fit to make tears so go on and cry
You scored as Jürgen Moltmann,The problem of evil is central to your thought, and only a crucified God can show that God is not indifferent to human suffering. Christian discipleship means identifying with suffering but also anticipating the new creation of all things that God will bring about.
…a reporter from NPR will be here in about 2 hours to interview me. I wonder if he caught wind that I called NPR listeners one of the most dangerous cults in America?
This is good, though. As my mom always told me I have a face that was made for radio.
When I returned from vacation last night I finally was able to place my hands on the masterful new Michael McDermott CD Noise From Words. In case you haven’t picked up on it this is my vote for the album of the year. Greg and Jason agree.
Scratch that, it is an album for the ages. Buy it. Anywhere. iTunes, Emusic, your store. Entertainment Weekly only gave it a B but what do they know?
Buy it. If you don’t like it I’ll pay you back. This is his most stripped down, honest project yet.
The strength of Michael’s musicianship is always his deep and heartfelt lyrics. I’m planning a series on the theology of his music in the near future. But today I want to share a snippet of lyrics from each of the songs on this album. I wanted to include all the words to Broken and Long Way From Heaven but hopefully you will get the idea.
However, I have to include all the words to “I Shall Be Healed.” 99.99% of songwriters will never come close to a song of this magnitude, beauty and power. Nor will they creates such an arresting and desirable portrait of Jesus. Michael has done this before.
1. Mess of Things–The trouble with trouble is that it sometimes sticks/Plays tricks with your mind while it gets its kicks/And slowly there’s a momentum shift/And the weight becomes too great to lift/I woke up last night, I heard my mama scream/Saying boy you always make a mess of things/What will become babe, of you and me/If we keep on making a mess of things.
2. Still Ain’t Over You Yet–I’m wondering around, as lost as I’ve ever been/I don’t even think Jesus Christ knows the piss poor shape that I’m in…Most nights I wish that we never met/And most days I choke on my fear and regret/But I hate to admit, that I still ain’t over you yet.
3. Tread Lightly–This water ain’t holy, that bird ain’t a dove/When the road gets darkest/Tread lightly my love/When your heart gets heavy/With what you’ve been in fear of/When you need some surrender/Tread lightly my love.
4. The American in Me–Sometimes I’m right, sometimes I’m wrong/Sometimes I go where I don’t belong/What’s liberty, the history books are stained/Sometimes I’m so ashamed/Of the American in me/Don’t mistake dissent for disloyalty/It’s the American in me.
5. A Kind of Love Song–I wish I could write you the kind of love song/That a better writer than I could pen/Cuz all I think about is all that went wrong/And the things I’d give my life to do again.
6. No Words–Paint me with rubies and rust, scars that you can’t cover up/You see the beauty is something so wrong/Here at the end of it all, where even angels can fall/If you grew wings, I swear you’d be gone/The night has come undone/And the world has just begun/There are no words, there are no words.
7. All My Love–Maybe all we are is all we are right now/I had to lose to find out what I want has/Been here all along/And before its gone, before its gone/I’ll give all my love.
8. Just a Little Blue–Soon a day will come/When we don’t have to run
9. Broken–Old hags and dime bags and lost so-co day drags/Pick yourself up off the floor/There’s bending and breaking, and the endless forsaking/This path that you’ve traveled before/Man, I know for certain, when God raised the curtain/I wasn’t prepared for this role/There’s knowing and learning and the one light a burning/In the cool dark night of the soul/The gypsy’s and magician’s said, “The God’s were all awoken/by the roar of the lost and broken.”
10. A Long Way From Heaven–The Lord He giveth and the Lord He take/I’ve broken laws that I couldn’t face/Between the colors of your love and hate/It’s a time to murder and a time to create/The din of despair and broken drunken tongues/Who are these people we’ve become/I feel it do you feel it too…happiness always eluding you?/I’ll weave you a liars blanket, snug/And show you what I’ve learned from love/Yeah, we’re a long, long, long way from Heaven.
11. My Father’s Son–My old man, I don’t understand/And neither does my mom/Sometimes I look at him and smile/Cuz I’m my father’s son
12. I Shall Be Healed
Everything here lately, everything more or less
Seems it’s slowly becoming such a beautiful mess
From the gates west of Eden, to the oceans leading out
Round here everybody is bleeding, or everybody’s filled with doubt
Then out on the horizon, they say the truth is revealed
Say the word, say the word, say the word
And I shall be healed
My Mother and My Father, they always believed
But me, I felt different, I always felt so deceived
I went looking uptown, looking downtown too
I even went to the west side I went looking for You
One day in South Carolina I saw You in a cotton field
Say the word, say the word, say the word
And I shall be healed
Many is the hour that I’ve seen go to waste
Is Your heart wilted like a flower?
How will I find You in this place?
I heard You were seen on Ashland
On Your way to Wicker Park
They say that You looked different
You were standing in the dark
You were there for just a minute
When they looked back You were gone
You were always like that
You loved to keep on keepin’ on
Then I stood at an altar, the weight had caused me to kneel
Say the word, say the word, say the word
And I shall be healed.
Almost Midnight and we are finally back from visiting the Left Coast. A great time had by all. Although I thought I didn’t bring my A-level sermon Tracy assured me it was passable.
So much to say but my bed beckons. And Chloe starts first grade in about 8 hours.
Good to be back. Hope to catch up on the world tomorrow.
This morning we took Cassidy to the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas. The diagnosis that we received was not the best but it was by no means the worst possible.
We did confirm that she has Juvenile Psoriatic Arthritis. It is tied into psoriasis. In adults psoriasis can lead to arthritis. In children it is the opposite. Cassie is now predisposed to psoriasis later in life.
The good news is that the doctors are confident that we can return her to her full range of motion and reverse any damage that has been done to her joints thus far. They fully expect her to have a normal life.
The bad news is that she has to take some heavy duty meds. Once a week we will have to administer a shot of methotrexate. In the next couple of weeks we will have to return her for an MRI and a cortisone shot into her knee.
Needless to say it was a long day but we feel better now that we know exactly what we are facing. Regardless of what the road ahead entails I have the most beautiful and special 4 year old.
It’s the first thing I did when I got on the computer this morning. The new Josh Ritter disk “The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter” is now available. 19 songs if you buy it on itunes.
Here is the video for the first cut To The Dogs Or Whoever:
As if that isn’t enough The New Pornographers have a CD out today (their name comes from Jimmy Swaggart who once called music “the new pornography”). They were on Letterman last night. My one quibble with this video is that the cameraman did not realize the true heart of the band, Neko Case:
Wait, one more: Rilo Kiley. Three incredible performers in one day. Can’t beat it:
