you know who you look like?

I have a bearded friend named Jacob who once said that any guy who has a beard has to deal with people constantly telling him that he looks like someone else...who has a beard.

Since growing my beard out again, I have experienced this first hand. But, I think some of my look-a-likes comments have been pretty keen observations. Others...not so much.

So I've decided to have a little contest. Here are the top 5 "You Know Who You Look Like" comments I've received. And I want you to vote on who you think is closest.

Just to remind you...this is what I actually look like:



And the Nominees are (in no particular order):

Jesus Christ


Jake Gyllenhaal


that guy from the band Leeland


some dude Betsy saw at a Children's Book Fair this summer


and...a young Ted Kazenski


Okay. Those are the nominees. So who do you think is closest?

sunday morning timelapse

As I mentioned in the previous post, I edited a timelapse video which shows a typical Sunday morning...from 6:45am to 12:15pm...in just under 4 minutes.

We filmed from set-up to tear-down on the first Sunday of August, capturing the action from 6 different view points, using 5 cameras (I actually wish we could have had one or two more).

There was nearly 30 hours of raw footage, making this one of the most ambitious and time consuming videos I've ever tackled (a big shout out to Paul Clouse for all his help). But I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. Okay...maybe not the whole process. Having to capture and render 30 hours of footage...that I did not enjoy so much.

But the rest of it was fun. The best part, actually, was getting to see everything that goes on in the different areas at Crossings. I rarely leave the main theater on Sunday mornings, so I never get to see the happenings in the lobby or in Kids City. It was cool to finally see it.

One interesting side note: it is official that Kids City people move twice as fast as the rest of us. In editing it, I sped up all the footage to 4000%. All the footage, except Kids City. Most of that was only sped up to 2700%...anything faster and you couldn't see them. Seriously.

Anyhoo, here is the video. Enjoy.

let me make it up to you...

I apologize.

Two weeks with only one post per week...and both being about Uncle Jessie? Not the way I like to do business.

I have been extremely busy...but a very good kind of busy. I gotten to do a number of things that I have never done before. For example:

-Play in the orchestra pit for a theater production. I've been on stage under the lights a number of times, but never in the pit in the dark. I loved it. The show was "Tom Sawyer the Musical", and the music was mostly bluegrass. I played guitar and banjo. It was difficult figuring out on the fly how to read actual sheet music for those instruments...but I was able to pick it up for the most part and faked my way through the rest.

-Preach an expository sermon. If you are unfamiliar with that term, basically it means that you allow a certain biblical text and your study of it to dictate where you go with your sermon. As opposed to first coming up with a topic, then allowing that topic to dictate where you go and what scriptures you use to get there. In my opinion, an expository sermon is much harder and much more rewarding to write. I have a new found respect for those men who are able to teach or preach this way on a weekly basis.

-Edit a timelapse video for Crossings. 5 cameras, 30 hours of raw footage, and a whole lot action...all sped up and edited down into a 4 minute video. Whew.

-One afternoon was spent in the hospital with friends, Tim and Jodi Seevers, as they welcomed their baby girl Maggie into the world.

-I even led worship a capella for a non-instrumental service. That was certainly new and I'll write more about it later.

And that is just to a name a few. But...no excuses. And so, to make it up to you...I will blog every day this week. For 5 straight days, I will post something new. And I promise that none of them will be about Jessie or the Rippers.

So, stay tuned...

ok...its been week

Have you ever thought to yourself, "That's it. I've peaked. Where do I go from here? How do I top a Jessie and the Rippers post?"

Well, that question has haunted me for the last 7 days. Every time I have sat down at the keyboard to blog, I freeze. Every time I visit my site, I am reminded that there is, indeed, no where to go from here. I've lost sleep, I haven't been able to eat, and I think my marriage is falling apart.

That is the danger of posting something as gloriously spectacular as a Jessie and the Rippers video. It's almost like...what's the point of living any longer. Certainly, everything from this point on will be a disappointment compared to uncle Jessie's perfect hair, leather vests and uncontrollable machismo.

What's the point?

Now, those thoughts are just the tip of the iceberg. But it gives you an idea of why I haven't blogged in a week; why I have hardly spoken in a week; why I have barely been able to get out of bed for the last 7 days.

My life has peaked...at the age of 27.

But...

As hard as it was, I got out of bed this morning. I have found the strength to put one foot in front of the other. And I have convinced myself that my life may still be worth living.

So here I am, at the keyboard once again. I thought about selling out and posting the "Michelle Smiling" video. But no. I must move on (although its pretty incredible, click here if you want to watch it). My life must continue.

So here goes, I can promise nothing. The fact that I have mustered up the gall to come before you today is enough for now.

Good morning. My name is Bill. And this is the first day of the rest of my life.

forever

I feel no need to explain or justify my decision to post this. Sometimes you just gotta blog from the heart.



(By the way, I believe this video does explain and justify my "Jessie and the Rippers 4-Ever" tattoo. However...Betsy does not.)

crossingsknoxville.com

We have recently made updates to our website. And of course by "we", I mean our web-design guy Rob Laliberte. Rob does all the work...and amazing work, at that.

All of our video projects can now be accessed and watched without ever having to leave the site. You know, in case you'd like the ability to watch 22 seconds of Betsy and I dancing at a fake rave whenever you want.

Also, we now have photo albums online from events like (such as) our Launch Sunday, Leadership Communities, etc. Although, in going through all of our photos, it became quite clear that we simply have not taken enough pictures recently.

That will hopefully change this weekend.

Sunday following our worship gathering, Crossings is having our first Baptism Celebration (my vote was to call it an "Immersion Excursion"...but whatever).

So...stay tuned for pictures of wet people.

five things

Here are five things I learned in the world of sports this past week:

1) God hates the Yankees. There is no other way of explaining one of the strangest sports stories I have ever heard of. Click here to read about it.

2) The Patriots are really, really good...at dominating crappy teams. The combined record of the 5 teams they have beaten thus far: 7-16. And they had to cheat in order to win at least one of those games. Let's all hold off on the "16-0" talk until they beat just one team that doesn't suck. They'll get their chance next week against Dallas.

3) Marion Jones admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs. Apparently, this is a story...although I don't know why. She hasn't been a legitimate sports star since the 2000 Olympics. And we all knew she had taken steroids anyway. Despite what an athlete may think, it doesn't take admitting to it for the general public to accept the fact that he or she took performance enhancing drugs. In fact, I don't think I can name one athlete that has had serious steroid suspicion surrounding them that has been cleared of the allegations. It just isn't newsworthy anymore. Now, if she had been injecting Michael Vick's dogs with steroids...well that would've been a story.

4) Um. So maybe...maybe 4 fantasy football teams is too many. Because unless Marion Barber, by himself, can outscore Terrell Owens and the Cowboys Defense by 35 points or more tonight, I will have a losing record in every one of my leagues by the time I wake up tomorrow morning.

5) Thankfully, being taken out of Game 1 of the NLDS after only 85 pitches, the Cub's #1 starter Carlos Zambrano will be very well rested and ready to go for his next start...in April.

...please don't

Okay. It has been over a week now since I last posted. That is not the way I like to do business. But hey...life gets busy. I'm sure you are all understanding about that.

The last few days I have lead worship with my friend Taylor for a senior high retreat at a camp about an hour away. Unfortunately, I had meetings both Monday and Tuesday that I could not miss...so I think I pretty much met my yearly quota of traveling the 60 mile stretch of I-40 between Crossville and Knoxville in just two days. Oh well, the drive is easy and the weather was nice, so I'm not complaining.

I do have a funny story, though.

The guy they lined-up to preach for the retreat was a guy named Mitch. Mitch is the chaplain for the University of Tennessee's football team, as well as the Men's and Women's basketball teams. He is a large black man (in his own words he is roughly "three hundred and 'none-of-your-business' pounds"). Mitch also preaches with a very thick and distinct Southern-Gospel cadence. He did a fantastic job, teaching on "not faking the funk" (I'm not sure I actually know what that means, I think it has something to do with walking the walk and taking this whole faith thing seriously...but I'm not sure). He was funny, had everyone's attention..he did a great job.

So, Mitch was ending the first session by telling the kids that they needed to take the rest of the week seriously. "Don't let anything distract you. Don't let your friends distract you. Don't let your boyfriend or your girlfriend distract you." And so on. Nothing out of the ordinary...until he added this:

"No sneaking off and kissing. By the way, you know what I say about kissing? About the real deep, heavy kissing; the swapping-spit kissing; the serious, deep kissing...you know what I say about it? I say: it is an upper persuasion for a lower invasion."

An upper persuasion for a lower invasion (now, you have to say it out loud and with that think Southern-Gospel cadence to get the full effect).

While the kids were laughing (and I'm sure conjuring up some serious mental images) and the adults were shifting in their seats, Mitch said, "Let me say that again..."

I awkwardly pleaded with him in a whispered voice from my seat, "...please don't."

But he did.