Life with The Swell Guy!

Everyday

 
A lot has been made the past few weeks about Harold Camping's prediction that Jesus was returning for Judgment Day last Saturday, May 21at 6pm EST. News Flash...it did not happen. In a blog post a week or two previous to that date I commented that we would be at the beach with friends at that exact time. If it had been the "big day" I can not imagine being in better company.

That aside, I spend enough time talking about the damage the church has done by not showing and demonstrating what it really looks like to follow Jesus Christ. I'm not spending time on that in this post other than simply say behavior such as this prediction and it's sensationalized publicity is embarrassing to many Christ-followers. It does not help. My Jesus invited people into relationship with him through kindness and love, not fear.

More importantly, I wanted to say this. You do not need to fear or worry about the return of Jesus. His spirit is here now. As he announced, he is building his kingdom on earth and we are encouraged to join him in that work. It is an invitation based on authentic love. My Jesus...and your Jesus is here everyday bidding us to be part of his plan. In essence, we are invited to come away with him to be part of something bigger. Something wild.

Everyday we get a choice. One of them is choosing to join what Christ is up to. Yes, the bible speaks of a day when Christ physically returns to join a new heaven and earth. I still don't quite understand all the details, but until then as long as I am on this earth I am excited that Christ is here everyday.

Everyday. For me. For you.

The Piggly Wiggly continues to amaze me.

Memorial Day Weekend. Time to roll down the windows.

 

It's a rainy morning. We are going to need some Double Dream Hands.

Yes, you heard me. Now, if I only had T Bish on film to demonstrate his rumored awesome Double Dream Hands skills. I guess the original will do. Sigh. Crank it down!

I'm a lucky guy. I married a Beach Angel.

 

You may never suffer from the devastating effects of Monkey Butt again.

 
The other day we were with friends and they asked if I used Anti Monkey Butt Powder when I ride a bike. Evidently they had recently discovered the product on display and the bottle mentioned it was good for cyclists. I told them that I was more of a chamois creme guy,but I did know the product of which they spoke. I gave a bottle purchased from Tractor Supply to a good friend several years ago with a note saying this was supurb protection for those days when someone was finding that last nerve and you are about ready to show your back side.

Anyway, I had only ever seen the one original product until the other day. I happened to walk by a display and noticed the pink bottles of Lady Anti Monkey Butt. Wow. Again, wow. I guess the ladies must purchase this stuff for themselves because I know few guys who do dumb stuff, but I cannot imagine any guy going home and saying "Baby, I got you some Lady Anti Monkey Butt Powder for those days when you just are feeling a little chaffed". True.

Postscript:  Check the sweet videos at this product link. Beware The Monkey!

Have a smooth weekend.

Silence

Go to the chamber orchestra event and clap robustly at the end.

Go to a rock concert and chant before the group even comes on stage. Then cheer wildly at the end to bring the group back on stage for an encore (even though they saved a big number for an encore anyway).

Look at art, paintings or photos, from an acclaimed master and comment that they were an amazing artist even before you understand the message they were attempting to communicate. If they are famous they must be great, right?

And so it is at church. It seems too easy to learn to say and do the right things...the expected things. Are we clapping and raising our hands at the right time? Are we responding with the appropriate action? Is our verbal response on point? Are we fooling ourselves by not admitting that many things we have learned to say and do have a lot more to do with the modern church community or expectations and not so much to do with Jesus words, biblical instruction, or the early new testament church? Are we understanding or just acting like we understand?

None of the things above are wrong when the response is authentic and real. I'll submit that many times when truth is revealed in worship, and I include teaching as part of worship, an appropriate response is profound silence. When we fully understand the cross and Christ's sufferings for our benefit it is hard to do anything outside of speechless awe.

We believers tend to call what we do on Sunday "Worship Service" or "Sunday Service". I'm not trying to split hairs, but it is simply "Worship". It is our time to raise & celebrate the name of Jesus Christ through prayer, praise, teaching and singing. It prepares our hearts and minds so that we can go out and live a life of service. The "Service" part comes later when we go out for that life. 

I'm OK with the shouting and the amens, but I find the more powerful the message, the quieter I become. There are times after some messages I find myself working it out quietly in prayer and meditation for days. These are the deep teachings that prompt a changed life.

Singing, dancing, shouting, clapping, and cheering are all good as we work at living out the words of Christ. It is simply my prayer that we continually learn to be real and genuine in our worship and our service. And I believe that sometimes calls for silence in our worship. Speechless, awe-filled, humble silence.

Waxing for Men is Painless.

For some time I have considered purchasing a turntable every time I see old vinyl records at a flea market, yard sale, or in record stores that resell vintage goods. I actually did a little research and found that a decent turntable can be had for a modest amount of scratch, but I continued to hesitate in the vein that we have been working for several years to simplify our life and I was unsure if I wanted to own another "thing".  I was finally pushed over the edge in the last few weeks.

Tim, one of the other managers in our company, recalled that I had mentioned an interest in vinyl records. He scooped up a healthy stack of LPs at his community yard sale thinking it was stuff that I may enjoy. I'll tell you that he found some very good records. It is a nice mix of funk, r&b, and classic rock with a little folk stuff thrown in. Although some of the records have a bit of some cover wear, the actual records were well kept by the owner and are in pristine condition.

Thanks to our fine friends on the internet I was able to place an order and my turntable arrived just in time for this past weekend. Now, it just so happens that Denine was away over the weekend and I had a punch list of stuff I wanted to do around the house. How good can it be to spin a few disks loudly while you work around the house? It only took a few minutes to get setup and spinning disks.  

Now, I am not sure, but I think it must be a guy thing. There is something about dropping a needle in the groove and hearing a little crackle & pop as analog music fills a room. And for some reason, it all sounds a little richer and deeper. 

Most of you who know me are aware that I am a bit of a music junkie with a wide range of tastes. Many days I load up a digital play list that will run for hours of whatever I feel like hearing. I typically listen to stuff that has a common thread, but ...but, there is something special about the 22.5 to 25 minutes per side on an standard 33 rpm vinyl record. Do you ever remember just putting on a side and laying flat on your back to soak up those minutes just listening to the music?

The musicians and producers understood what it meant to fill up one side of a record. They could elect to use a bunch of cuts that radio ready at a few minutes per song much as we have these days, but they could dare to fill up half to almost all or even all of a side with a single extended song. I remember talking about those long cuts when I was a school kid.

We may all have bought the 45s that featured the latest radio hit, but we respected album rock and "the long cut".  We debated if the artist was being indulgent or fully exploring the tune. Those discussions about actual music seemed way more interesting that the patter on MTV or other cable outlets about someone's reality life.

So, I'm a guy. I've missed you record player. I've missed you LP. Welcome back. I'll try not to mess up our friendship this time. As Reverend Al Green said, "Let's Stay Together".

PS: As I wrote this, a then unknown George Thorogood and The Destroyers put out their debut album and tore it up. Yes, tore it up.

Classic Monday. Still Current. Enjoy.