turn out the lights

The party's over.

Well...kinda.

Last night, I played a show at New City Cafe with Greg Adkins and Haley Dykes. We did a kind of "Writers in the Round" thing. We all stayed on stage the whole time, taking turns, playing one song at a time. I have never played a show like that before and had an absolute blast.

It was surreal, however. Because after our show, the doors of New City Cafe closed...for the last time.

The cafe has been such a big part of my life and the lives of so many musicians here in Knoxville, that the thought of it being closed is incredibly strange. And the fact that I was on stage for its last concert is even stranger. Certainly they could've found somebody better. But either way, it was an honor and joy.

The good news is that New City will be back, eventually...but in a new place and with a new name. Some time, this fall at the earliest, it will open in Market Square. But New City, as we have known it for the last 9 years, is officially closed.

While I am excited for what is to come, it is still kind of sad, like saying "farewell" to an old friend.

So, thank you New City...and we'll see you soon.

ready to rumble

Close your eyes and picture with me, if you will, a pastor.

He leads one of the largest, most influential churches in America, located in the state of Texas. He is young, charismatic and known for his mega-watt smile. Both his books and his sermons border on self-help. He has a famous father and a Barbie doll for a wife.

Now, tell me…did you picture Joel Osteen or Ed Young?

Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between the two. Both have been ranked near the top of such lists as: the Church Report’s “50 Most Influential Christians” and Outreach’s “The Most Innovative Churches”. In the Church Report’s ranking of the “50 Most Influential Churches”, Young’s (Fellowship Church) finished #4, while Osteen’s (Lakewood Church) finished #5.

And don’t think for one minute that any of these similarities have escaped the attention of either man. Texas might be the biggest state in the Continental US, but apparently…it is not big enough for the both of them.

Osteen explains, “Ed keeps following one step behind me, stealing all my moves. He’s always trying to one-up me. What’s next…is Fellowship going to purchase Texas stadium? Oh my gosh, the Cowboys are building a new stadium. Ed is going to get the old Texas Stadium, isn’t he? You’ve got to be kidding. This has to stop.”

And on June 1, 2007 it will.

Both Osteen and Young have agreed to step into the ring…mano a mano…and put an end to this silly competition. While one will finish the fight on his back, the other will emerge as “The Toast of Texas”.

The fight will take place at Osteen’s Lakewood Church, in Houston, and will be video cast live at Young’s Fellowship Church, in Dallas. When asked if their congregation felt slighted by the decision, one member of Fellowship responded, “Oh no. Are you kidding? My wife and I have been going to Fellowship for 3 ½ years and have never actually seen Ed Young live. We’ve grown rather fond of his Hi-Def counter-part.”

Despite the “home-field advantage”, Vegas odds-makers are largely favoring Young. TBN Fight Analyst Casper Van Deen stated, “With his size and athletic background…not to mention Osteen’s propensity for keeping his eye’s closed all the time…Ed Young seems to be a lock.”

Officials are worried about Victoria Osteen, Joel’s wife, interfering with the match, however. Her short fuse and explosive temperament gained national exposure in late 2005 for a mid-air altercation with a flight attendant. “For her to be present, she will have to watch from a box seat in the upper bowl. We just don’t trust her in the front row” explained Senior Fight Official Lyle Overbrook.

“Yeah, if they succeed in keeping his crazy wife off of me, I don’t think Joel stands a chance”, Young confidently predicted.

But when asked if he would consider fighting fellow Dallas mega-church pastor T.D. Jakes, if he does indeed defeat Osteen, Young responded, “What? No. First of all, no one is mistaking me for T.D. Jakes and secondly…I hear he travels with a posse. And believe me, from the sounds of it, I want nothing to do with that. Nah, this is between me and Joel.”

Yes it is, Mr. Young...yes it is. Now, which one are you again?

a great quote...

"Every time a man knocks on the door of a brothel he is looking for God."
- G. K. Chesterton

adam's role in the fall of man-ning

Since last March I have been having a re-occurring dream. Actually, it is a nightmare.

Last March…that is when the Indianapolis Colts signed Adam Vinatieri.

Now, I realize that I usually don’t blog about sports. But this dream has been haunting me and I need to share it.

First, let me preface this by saying that I can not remember a time in my whole life when I wanted someone to win something as bad as I want Peyton Manning to win the Super Bowl. For the last 4 years or so…I have been as big an Indianapolis Colts fan as I have been a Chicago Bears fan (that is saying quite a lot). And because of that, I have more than a healthy amount of hatred for the New England Patriots.

Okay, to the dream:

It’s the fourth quarter AFC Championship game (and again, I’ve been having this dream since March). Peyton and Tom Brady have gone back and forth and back and forth all game long. Both have 300+ yards. Both have multiple touchdowns. Neither has an interception.

With just under two minutes left in the game, Brady and the Patriots score a touchdown that puts them up by two points and then proceed to pin the Colts back inside their own 5 yard line. With only one time-out and the weight of the world…and his legacy…atop his shoulders, Peyton leads the Colts down the field in a career-defining drive.

They get down to the 10 yard line, take a knee to run the clock down and call a time-out with only one second left on the clock. Adam Vinatieri, known by all as the most clutch kicker in the history of the game, trots out on to the field. With a smile stretching ear to ear, Peyton nods to Tony Dungy as he walks off the field triumphant and forever vindicated of his “yeah, but he can’t win the big one” reputation.

All that is left is a chip shot, a sure thing from the foot of Vinatieri.

The Colts line-up, the ball is snapped. Hunter Smith, the Colts’ holder, catches the ball, spins it, and sets it perfectly in place.

Vinatieri approaches, plants his left foot, swings his right leg back and then…kicks Hunter Smith square in the gut, rips off his Colts #4 jersey to reveal a t-shirt underneath that says "I’ll always be a Patriot", runs to the New England sideline, high-fives Tedi Bruschi, hugs Tom Brady and jumps into the arms of Bill Belichick, ala Kerri Strug & Bela Karolyi.

Colts lose the game. And Peyton loses his soul.

I can’t shake this dream. And every time a commentator reminds us that “Vinatieri has never missed a field-goal in the RCA Dome”, the nightmare comes back.

Well, this weekend, as I’m sure you already know, the Colts and the Patriots meet in the AFC Championship game. And though the odds of this exact series of events taking place on Sunday evening are slim to none…you’re not laughing right now because you know its going to happen.

Bill Belichick is an evil genius, Peyton Manning is doomed and Adam Vinatieri is going to come through in the final seconds once again…for the Patriots.

You know its going to happen.

fireflies

(click here to listen or download)

You see, the truth is our lives
Are like the pretty fireflies
They look so nice and so bright tonight

But awake on the morn
See all the pretty lights are gone
What'd they learn from their turn on the earth?

And did they shine with the light of worth?

O God, I wanna shine
I wanna shine for You
I wanna shine Your truth and Your beauty and Your grace

O God, I wanna shine
I wanna shine for You
Before my time is through and I leave this place
to see the light, so bright, in Your face

O God, I wanna shine...

But awake on the morn
See all the pretty lights are gone
What'd you learn from your turn on the earth?

And did you shine with the light of worth?

gonna shine my light

(click here to listen or download)

I'm gonna shine my light for the King of Glory
Gonna shine my light til His Kingdom come
I'm gonna shine my light for the King of Glory
Gonna shine my light til He outshines the sun

This little light of mine
I know its gonna find
Something for to shine
O this little light of mine

But there's no need to search
For something that's of worth
Cause I've found my Something
He's the One and Glorious King

I'm gonna shine my light for the King of Glory
Gonna shine my light til His Kingdom come
I'm gonna shine my light for the King of Glory
Gonna shine my light til He outshines the sun

These little hearts of ours
They'll search and they will scour
For beauty, love and power
O these little hearts of ours

But there's no need to search
For something that's of worth
Cause I've found my Something
He's the One and Glorious King

I'm gonna shine my light for the King of Glory
Gonna shine my light til His Kingdom come
I'm gonna shine my light for the King of Glory
Gonna shine my light til He outshines the sun

songs of light

This past summer I memorized the first three chapters of the Gospel of John, word for word. Scripture memorization, for me, is an important part of my journey of faith. It always seems to accompany times of growth and maturity...which I don't think is a coincidence.

People who can recall from memory large sections of the Bible, verbatim, are always incredibly impressive. But that isn't why I do it. In fact, I couldn't recite to you any part of the first three chapters of John's Gospel right now without looking. I've forgotten it already. I've forgotten all the large sections of Scripture that at one time were burned into my memory.

Why? Because I don't do it for the sake of memorization...as much as for the sake of marination.

Repeating it over and over, letting it sink it...letting it soak in. That is why Scripture memorization is important to me. My friend Mike told me regarding studying the Bible, "You can't always remember what you read. But so what? I don't remember what I ate for breakfast last Monday...but it helped me get through the day."

It isn't so much that it remains on the top of your mind, but that it remains in the depths of your soul.

And because of the marination process, I tend to see common themes in my own songwriting during times of memorizing Scripture. Thus, as I was memorizing the first part of John's Gospel...I began writing songs about light (If you've read the beginning of that Book, you'll understand why. If you haven't...well, you really should).

In the next couple days, I am going to share with you my two favorite songs of light that came out of that time this summer. They differ drastically from one another, yet remain much akin.

So, stay tuned and let me know your thoughts...

a quick quote

I apologize for my lack of posts recently. It isn't that I don't have much to talk about. It is that I don't have much time to talk about it.

I was really hoping somebody that loved that Claiborne book (and I know you are out there...) would have read my last post and completely disagreed with everything I had to say and that that discussion would have progressed in the comment section, making a new post unnecessary for a while. Oh well. Apparently, I argued my point so convincingly that it was literally impossible to refute.

I guess that makes sense, though. I shouldn't be surprised. That is just the risk I take every time I tap into my deep well of wisdom, intellect and awesomeness.

Or...it could be that neither I, nor my blog, are worth the amount of time or energy it would take for someone to leave a comment in disagreement. Hmm.

Nah, I'm going with the "awesomeness" theory.

Okay...enough incessant rabbling, I did have a point to this post. I wanted to share with you a good quote I heard yesterday from my friend, Kenny. It is a lot of the reason I enjoy blogging and writing music, so I thought it was appropriate.

"Reading makes a man deep. Writing makes him precise." - J.I. Packer

While I am neither deep nor precise, I still really like that quote. Apparently, that J.I. Packer guy is awesome too.