Turn Your Radio On....

Today has been an excellent day! We got to spend time with all the kids as we celebrated Terri’s birthday and the Colts played an exceptional game beating the always tough Pittsburgh Steelers.

For my post today, I thought that you might enjoy a laugh. I know that I can sure use one.

This video features an outrageously funny exchange between Mark Lowery and Bill Gaither. Oh yeah, and the song is excellent as well. I remember doing this song with my gospel group, "The Sons of Jubal," and I always thought that this was one of our better numbers.

Go ahead, take a few moments and watch the video, I think you will be glad you did!
Blessings

Don't forget the Terri...

Today is a special day around our house. Terri, our youngest, (excluding Odie) is turning 26 years old. I have to admit, that I am beginning to feel older all the time. Not only is Terri a quarter of a century old, but that means that next October I will turn a half century old. (I am not sure that looking at things that way is especially helpful.)

I still think of Terri when she was just a little thing, she may have been small, but she certainly didn’t hesitate to tell anyone who would listen exactly how things were, especially as she saw them. I think that everyone thought that she would have made an excellent lawyer, (she always loved to argue) except for she would never have tolerated the lawyer jokes.

Terri always had a way of wearing her mom and dad down. She would ask for something and we would say no. She would ask again and we would say no again, she continued to ask, day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out (usually it didn’t take that long) eventually wearing us down to the point that we would inevitably give in. It’s a good thing that Ben wasn’t that way or we might have gone broke.

Probably one of my favorite Terri stories happened when we were getting ready to leave the house one day and Terri was playing down in the basement. I closed the door, turned off the light and suddenly I heard this voice coming from the other side of the door saying, “Don’t forget the Terri.” Well, on this special day, all I can say is that Terri has always been unforgettable and one thing is for certain, she will never have to worry about being left behind.

Happy Birthday Terri!

Blessings

"Star Wars" - an a capella tribute to John Williams

Oh my goodness! I know that there are those who will say that I have lost my mind, and there are those of you that know that I did that a long time ago, but I think this is TOTALLY AWESOME. Of course Star Wars is my all time favorite movie, (It was also Karen’s and my first date) and, John Williams is my favorite composer. This young man is absolutely wonderful and even though I know that this will have only a limited appeal to some of you, (I know who you are)I know that a few of you will love this as much as I do. (and I know who you are as well)

So those of you that are wondering right now, “What are you thinking?” I apologize, and for those of you who are going “How cool is that?” Yeah, I know, You gotta Love John Williams and Star Wars!

Blessings

I'll Have to Blog About That...

I wanted to take a moment today to mark a milestone. There have now been over 1000 visits to my blog since I first started on August 12th. I have to admit that 1000 in less than three months is very humbling. I hope that those of you who read through this on a regular basis are finding something, at least from time to time, beneficial, inspirational, or at the very least humorous ( in some sick sort of way).

One interesting thing that I receive as a part of my blog, is a report on how people have been referred to, or found their way to my blog. I can’t believe how many people do a simple Google search for something and find their way to "Koinonia in Connexion" from all around the world. So far people searching for “Hymn of Promise” and “Sole Fide” (by faith alone) are two of the most popular. (apparantly a lot of people know what "Sole Fide" means) Another common way that people have found their way is by searching “Man with White Horse.” That is interesting because several of those visitors have come from Asia, so I am curious what they may be specifically looking for.

The most remarkable, however, has to be the searches relating to Barry Manilow. Oh my goodness, I can’t believe how many people have Google searched the words “I love Barry Manilow.” And “When October Goes,” and found their way to my blog. I’ll have to tell Karen that Barry must still be hot! LOL (Isn’t that a bit scary?)

So here is my list of the Top Ten Things I have learned about blogging since August.

10. Be careful what I write, people are reading and some are even paying attention. ( I know, I find it hard to believe as well)
9. When I write about theological issues, expect someone to disagree.
8. Be careful of using too many big words, or obscure references such as “Cecil B. DeMille"
7. Be sure to make a reference to Terri as often as possible.
6. People love dogs, so write about them often.
5. When writing, don’t whine so much!
4. When writing, don’t whine so much!
3. Be careful not to repeat myself.
2. Some people like my taste in music, but not everyone!
( I know, I don’t understand that one either)

And the number 1 thing that I have learned about blogging,

1. If I want a lot of people to read my blog, put Barry Manilow in the title!

Blessings

“Fear not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.”

Yesterday I gave my major sermon for homiletics class. I have to admit that it went much better than my earlier mini sermons that I told you about. As a matter of fact, I am not sure that I could have done any better. I do have to tell you something funny that happend. During the sermon, I described how when I think about the image of God parting the Red Sea, I can’t help but imagine Charlton Heston in the movie “The Ten Commandments,”
I picture him with his back to the sea saying to the Israelites, “Fear not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” “The Lord of Hosts will do battle for us, behold God’s mighty hands, then he stretches out his staff and the waters part.” I then added as a moment of humor, “You’ve got to love Cecil B. DeMille.”

After the sermon we have the joy (pain) of standing in front of the class and hearing the comments, critiques and criticisms. One of the 20 something women said that she didn’t understand my reference to Cecil something or other and that I should be careful using a reference that not everyone would understand. Oh my goodness! I couldn’t believe that someone didn’t know who Cecil B DeMille was. I just laughed, looked at her and said Wow, do I ever feel old.

At that point the rest of the class erupted into laughter and started giving her a hard time about not knowing who he was. So at least, that made me feel a little bit better, and the instructor, who is not all that old himself said that I could normally feel pretty safe with a reference like that one, and besides, I figured that if you have to explain the joke, it kind of takes the fun out of it.

Anyway, I am glad that I can chalk one more thing off my list to do. Only 4597 more things to go!

Blessings

Hope For The Future...

I have to admit that with the election looming tomorrow, I have been a little apprehensive about the outcome. I wonder what the future will bring. Will the country make the right choice? I have seen two things today that have helped me put things into perspective. The first is the top ten predictions no matter who wins the election, and the second is this awesome video that Teresa sent to me. These girls are all sisters between the ages of 5 and 9 and this was performed at a Texas Tech basketball game on February 9th. When we have young people like these, singing the National Anthem with such passion, it is hard not to believe that the best years of the United States are still in front of us, despite who may or may not win the election tomorrow.

Enjoy the song and don’t forget to vote!
(If you don’t vote, you can’t complain)

Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election
By Molly Hoffman

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of the people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon the people.
8. There will still be room at the cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.

Amen

I LOVE BARRY MANILOW!.... naaaaaaaa

Things are continuing to stay very hectic around here. Yesterday was spent, for the most part, in preparation for today, and today was a very busy All Saints Sunday. On my last post I promised to share with you my favorite Barry Manilow Concert story. (Actually I think it is my only Barry Manilow concert story)

Karen and I had received free lawn seating tickets to Deer Creek (It’s now the Verizon Center) to see Barry. This wasn’t our first Barry Manilow concert, so we had a pretty good idea what to expect, although it was our first time to go to Deer Creek. Of course, we arrived even before they opened the gate in order to get the best possible first come first served lawn seats. After picking out just the right spot to put down our blanket we decided to wander around a little bit and check out what Deer Creek had to offer.

After about thirty minutes we found our way back to our blanket and I noticed that there was a young couple who had located right next to us. Now as someone who understands the etiquette of male to male conversation, especially at a venue such as a Barry Manilow concert, I was careful to keep the conversation with the young man next to me to the level of …….. Silence.

After a little while, his wife (girlfriend, or significant other) got up and left, followed shortly after by Karen getting up and leaving. This of course left the most difficult and awkward of male bonding moments, do you speak or just continue to ignore each other. Of course, in case you are wondering, the same protocols of silence exist in the men’s room as were being honored in the concert venue.

Now, there is one type of communication that is acceptable in this type of environment, and that is the male to male commiseration over being subjected to such an emasculating event. I don’t think that Tim the Tool Man would approve of a Barry Manilow concert. So, sensing that the moment was right for such communication, I turned to the young man and said, “It looks like I’m not the only one who was drug here this evening.” I was of course expecting the typical male response of, “You got that right!”

Instead, by the expression on his face, you would have thought that I shot an arrow clear through his heart. With a shocked and disappointed look on his face he simply looked at me in disbelief and said, “Oh no! I love Barry Manilow.” Now it was my turn to have the shocked and disappointed look on my face. I realized in that moment that I was being punished for violating one of the Man Laws, and that there was only one course of action available to me and that was to turn around and not look at him the rest of the night. I realize that there may have been other recourse's available to me under Man Law, but I really am not interested in violence, besides he would have probably beaten me up.

Anyway, I thought that it was important to tell you this story, since I was concerned about what you may have thought of my last post admitting that I actually like Barry. However, let me say in conclusion for those of you men who may be single, if you are interested in finding a significant other, let me recommend a Barry Manilow concert. There is at least a 3 to 1 ratio of women over men, and 99% of them will be disappointed that they weren’t selected to go up on stage and sing with Barry, that could just possibly be your opening.

Good Luck and be sure to remember to follow the correct male communication protocols.

Blessings

PS: I might also recommend the above T-shirt. My guess is that it might just do the trick for you!