Higher Grounds II

Well, Wes Hall, Erin Hall, and Shawn Puryear pulled off another excellent night of Higher Grounds at Crosspoint Church last night. There wasn't as much local talent as last time, but it was still a lot of fun. It's great to have a nice, low-key local Florence, AL venue for live music (I know, I need to hit First Friday next month). A couple of local guys (I'm kicking myself for not remembering their names), along with their own songs, covered Steely Dan's, Ricky Don't Lose My Number and The Police's Message in a Bottle. Both were pretty amazing. We had some good talent from Crosspoint, too. I'm amazed at the folks from our own church and their songwriting ability.

Here are a couple of pictures. I took more, but I need a lot more practice taking pictures in a darkened room. (Click on the photos for full size.)

Rex Hall, Shawn Puryear, Bridgett Flynn

Meredith Wallace, Al Jackson

Good Morning

Ah, nothing like starting the morning to Pink Floyd's Brain Damage coming over the airwaves and the sun coming up over Florence Blvd.



Of course, there's nothing like having the roads re-paved in Decatur on Hwy 20 during rush hour when you're late for a meeting. But a little bit of Billy Idol's Eyes Without a Face always helps.



And, the obligatory sky pictures.

Nothing to say

Not my best pictures, but thought they were worth sharing.

click for full size; the second picture is sized for wallpaper

Barbeque

Just wanted to mention a restaurant we visited a couple weeks ago on our way home from Atlanta. This sounds like an ad, but I promise they're not paying me for this.

We stopped at Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q in Birmingham, though they have a number of other locations in the South. It's an excellent little barbeque place with a massive menu and some great food. Their Queso Dip with jalapenos was excellent, as was their Buffalo Chicken Tenders. It's too bad they don't have any places closer to Florence, but maybe that will change. We have every other restaurant here. Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area. Their butts are smokin'.

I also had to pick up some hot sauce with my name on it.

Radical

Quote of the Day

If we were to set out to establish a religion in polar opposition to the Beatitudes Jesus taught, it would look strikingly similar to the pop Christianity that has taken over the airwaves of North America.
-Tony Campolo

Thanks to Preacher Mike

Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter

Am I obsessed with the church sign thing or is there just too much material out there to let it rest?

I was driving through town the other day and had to get a shot of this one.

Global warming is nothing compared to Hell

No subtlety here. We're definitely preoccupied with who's going where.

Double Whammy.

Of course, when I doubled back to get that first picture, I had to take one of the reverse side, too. That looks familiar. Maybe "If you think this is hot..." is a little more subtle, but it's not much better. I guess we've got more in common than our Baptist brothers than we thought.

Is this the good news we're trying to share with the world?

Go everywhere and announce the Message of God's good
news to one and all.
-Jesus

When did this become "God's good news"? I thought Jesus was the Good News - not the fact that lots of people are going to Hell. Maybe I'm wrong.

Get right, or get left!

Photos in Traffic

I took this picture on the way to work. Now, I know Alabama fans can be serious, but isn't this taking a bit too far?


Yes - you read it right; it says SHULUV.

I took this picture on the way home.



The cars didn't look like they were in too good of shape, but it didn't look like anyone was seroiusly injured.

Sunrises

Had to get to work early yesterday, so I caught some sunrise pictures on the way.

Click on them to enlarge to wallpaper size.

Who wants reality TV?

I finally get reality shows. After years of making fun of Survivor, American Idol, and the many, many others, I think I finally get a glimpse of the popularity. I just completed a mini-marathon of the first three episodes of Who Wants To Be a Superhero? and I can see now how easy it is to get caught up in the game. Who's going to win? Who's getting eliminated next? Though on this show, it's more like being voted out of the secret headquarters.

But Stan Lee put an interesting spin on this. Testing things like courage, honesty, compassion, self-sacrifice; indicating that it's what's on the inside that makes a superhero. The winner (or rather their superhero) gets their own comic book and Sci Fi channel movie. Pretty tempting, in my opinion, even compared to that million-dollar Survivor prize. If you're into reality shows, or into comic books or superheroes, check it out; the show is pretty interesting. It's got a few more weeks and appears on Thursday nights on Sci Fi (9/8 C).

Clouds

Click for a full-sized view.

Tuscumbia Lights

Caught these on the way home Wednesday night.




I liked the placement of the telephone pole on this one.

OK, so it's a bit doctored. I blurred the telephone pole so that it wasn't quite as recognizable as a telephone pole. Feel free to snag it as wallpaper. Or to forward it to your friends in the those fun e-mails that end with, "Jesus doesn't love you if you don't forward this e-mail to everyone you know."

(Both pictures are 1024 x 768.)

The Journey

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Signs, Signs, Everywhere There's Signs...

From the You're Going to Hell Church Sign Collection:



Snapped this Saturday afternoon.

Thanks for the segueway, Clarissa!

I Saw the Sign...

I think I see some of the point of this sign - God wants us to be proactive, and not be couch potatoes. And I'm a procrastinator by heart, so it hits me.

But on the other side, I think this is another negative aspect of our culture creeping in to our relationship with God.

It's this whole, do-it-yourself, pull-youself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps, I-can-do-it mentality. Now I do believe that if we are followers of Jesus that we would want to be proactive and continually do good, and for these kinds of things, God does say, "Don't wait."

But sometimes our God-helps-those-who-helps-themselves ideals get in the way of God's work. Sometimes, God does say, "Wait."

I know that can be a difficult thing to know, but there are times when He's telling us that what He has in store for us isn't immediate. He's pretty clear that His timing is not our timing.

In fact, I can almost hear Abraham and Sarah talking to each other about this very thing.

Well, Abraham, it's been 10 years - don't you think maybe He's waiting on us to do something?

In my experience, that's one of the hardest things - knowing when to wait on Him, and knowing when we are supposed to take action. I think that's when we are to be still and quiet, and listen for Him, and ask for His guidance. Something that we've done a poor job of in the past, in my opinion.

Plus, doesn't this just sound like a high school cheer?

Two, four, six, eight,
Who do we appreciate?

God says, "Don't wait,"
Satan says, "Procrastinate!"

Advice for the Day

Do you have an on-line network marketing business? Do you want to reach out to hundreds, maybe thousands of people who want to make a comfortable living from their living room in this hi-tech world? Well, my suggestion would be to not advertise via a crappy, largely illegible homemade sign in your yard on Highway 72 outside Rogersville, AL.


Doesn't it just scream technology?

My second suggestion would be to not call my friend Mark. He hates that...