The Golden Compass Revisited

I mentioned in an earlier post that I would let you know more about the book The Golden Compass after I had read it. You may recall I said there was a good possibility that I would read it long after the movie was released. I finished the book last night.

As far as the movie is concerned, it may be somewhat of a moot point. It has been out for a month or so now and received only fair reviews. Most critics say that the movie gets lost in the details and special effects. It has been panned as "over-reaching" in an attempt to cover every aspect of the book. The viewers have voted with their pocketbooks as well. As of yet, it has not even reclaimed the money it took to make it. Speculation is that there will be no sequel.

I would not count Hollowood out though. And beyond that, video sales in three months may put it way over the top. Which brings me back to the purpose of this post... the content of the book.

I wanted to read this book and see what the hubbub was all about. As a piece of literature, I found it well written and engrossing. It has a very good pace, similar in style to that of the Harry Potter series. No section is too long and it leaves you wanting more each time. It was an enjoyable read.

As to the accusations of anti-Christian themes, I would say there is some merit. Philip Pullman, the author, has been associated with comments ascribing the purpose of the book (and series) to be the gentle corruption of the church in the mind of young people. If there is truth to this, I would say this book certainly plants a seed for that root.

A strong tool for this, I believe, is the constant use of the singular term "daemon." In the series, every human is endowed with an animal form that encompasses their essence, or spirit. It cannot be separate from them without pain and eventual death. These animals speak to the human and the major part of the storyline revolves around them. It is the near constant use of the word daemon that slowly rankles my skin. I, as most other Christians, have strong negative feelings associated with the term demon. Pullman uses this term as an object of affection, something to be desired. He makes his daemons extremely attractive and lovable. By itself, this is not something to damn the book (pardon the pun), but I believe it is somewhat insidious by its repetitive nature.

The book takes place in an alternate universe, a common theme among science fiction and fantasy writers, which allows Pullman great leeway in his factual reporting. He uses this tool to make corrections to what he sees as an an ineffectual church system. The story takes place in the mid 19th century, after the last Pope, Pope John Calvin (which is a statement unto itself), has been deposed and the Catholic church has been replaced by an intellectual/scientific oriented organization called the Magesterium. They are set up as the villain throughout the book. The church is the bad guy, or at least one of the bad guys (there are several).

Again, this alone is not so bad. In some ways I even agree. The problem comes in that there are so many small jabs at Christianity throughout the book, you feel like you've been sucker punched when you hit the last fifteen pages.

It is here, in the last chapter of the book, that Pullman's true nature seems to rise to the top. I'll not reveal the ending, in case some of you wish to read the book, but the actions taken in the final few moments and the conversation that is recorded between the two major "bad guys" takes away any doubt as to Pullman's intentions. In all honesty, I was prepared to write a review basically saying, "what's the big deal?" until I read the final chapter.

Yes, it takes place in an alternate reality. Yes, the church that is so lambasted in the end was a replacement for the church that we know. But it does not feel that way. He even goes as far as re-writing and quoting scripture to fit his alternate reality and twisting theology to take away any personal responsibility for sin.

Final tally: A good read for a mature, intellectual and grounded believer. A dangerous read for non-believers (who would not catch most of the subtlety anyway). I would not recommend it for children (Pullman's stated target).

I can only imagine what books two and three are like. I have heard they are not as veiled as the first. I will not be reading them. ~Gary

Dan Fogelberg 1951-2007

I was saddened to learn that one of my lifelong musical idols died this past week. I remember my first experience with Fogelberg's music. It was a Jr. High ski trip to Ruidoso, NM and someone brought a homemade compilation tape that included the song Lahaina Luna. I was fascinated by the sound of the song, an instrumental tune from the mostly instrumental album Twin Sons of Different Mothers.

I returned home from the trip determined to find another album by this guy named Fogelburg. I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of his albums contained singing as well. Even better, he was an amazing guitarist. And as I investigated even further, I found that he played the majority of the instruments on his albums. I was hooked.

I had already been involved in guitar lessons under Dave Branson for several years. I found that Fogelberg's finger-picking style was a great match for the style that Dave had started me on. I began learning as many Fogelberg songs as I could. I became somewhat of a Fogelberg junkie.

I even remember a night in college on a quartet tour in California. Robert Hinds and I had the Greatest Hits LP (that's a vinyl record for you young-un's) and we were playing it backwards ala Beatles backward masking style. Sure enough, during the song Power of Gold, we could clearly hear Fogelburg say, “Oooh, you can sleep with anyone, sweet Melinda is the one.” Scandalous. He wasn't saying that when the album was going forward. Like I said, Fogelberg junkie.

It's 30 years later and I am still playing his stuff. He made a big impact on me. I would like to think that wherever he is now, he is still playing. Unfortunately, I never saw any evidence that he ever found the true Inspiration for playing. Such a loss...

Get a Job... Pt. 2

OK... I did.

Thanks to God, I have finally been offered a job. After five months of searching and countless false leads and dead ends, God has opened a door and I intend to step through it.

Mission Health is a non-profit adult day care that specializes in Alzheimer's patients (although the client list is much wider). The current Executive Director is stepping down on January 1. I have been offered this position. I have not officially signed the contract yet, but it's the weekend now, followed by Christmas eve. I will probably turn it in after Christmas. I begin working Jan 1.

I'm sure I will have much more to say about the new position. It will be a steep learning curve for me, I'm sure. My job is almost completely administration. The health stuff is handled by the people who know how to do health stuff. I'm sure I will certainly lend a hand, but that will not be my main area. I handle human resource, fund-raising, marketing, board functions, etc. It will be a change from my usual music-centered job, but I am looking forward to it.

I will continue to pursue music. I don't believe I have a choice in that. Some interesting things are beginning to crop up in that area. You probably read earlier that I had a chance to lead worship recently at New Life Church in Odessa. I am joining them again for a Christmas Eve service, along with some other players. I would say we have a definite "Eagles" sound. Should be lots of fun. And if God blesses us, at least a two of us may continue to play together doing the coffee house thing. But I will let you know more about that when it happens.

For now, Merry Christmas to all and God bless us everyone.

Still Going...

Many people have been asking about my job search and how things are going. I have intentionally not commented much about it in this blog. I figure that the ins and outs of a job search are not the best thing to discuss in a public forum. I figure a potential employer probably doesn't need to know about how many people have turned you down, or how many other jobs you are considering. I know if I were considering hiring someone, I would certainly do some searching online to learn more about them.

So, I will say that there are some possibilities coming up that, if the Lord wills, could be a good fit. I'll let you know when something comes up.

I am returning to worship leading this week. I get to lead at New Life Church in Odessa for their Tuesday night Thanksgiving service. And I get to play again. Pull out the old guitar and dust it off. I am really looking forward to playing and worshiping again. Honestly, I have not been excited about a worship service for months. I hope you can understand why. If not, well... that's another blog entry. Probably another book.

More later. God bless.

The Golden Compass

I've seen previews of this movie coming soon, starring Nicole Kidman. I even bought the book for my son, thinking that this was another "Narnia" type movie and book series. He has not read the book yet. Turns out this is a good thing.

I received an email from a friend recently. It reads as such, "This atheistic author's avowed goal is to "kill God in the minds of children". The author hated C.S. Lewis and wanted to UNDO what C.S. Lewis did in the Chronicles of Narnia. His trilogy has sold over fifteen million copies globally. Spread the word and boycott the movie. Read the article below. Its scary."

I'll leave the boycott issue up to you. But the email pointed to the Snopes site, which is a website dedicated to urban myths and legends. you may visit the site which is located here, but I'll quote some of the site.

"The Golden Compass, a fantasy film starring Nicole Kidman that is scheduled to be released into theaters on 7 December 2007, has been drawing fire from concerned Christians. The film is based on Northern Lights (released in the U.S. as The Golden Compass), the first offering in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy of children's books, a series that follows the adventures of a streetwise girl who travels through multiple worlds populated by witches, armor-plated bears, and sinister ecclesiastical assassins to defeat the oppressive forces of a senile God.

The series' author, Philip Pullman, is an avowed atheist who has averred that "I don't profess any religion; I don't think it's possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words 'spiritual' or 'spirituality.'" Critics of Pullman's books point to the strong anti-religion and anti-God themes they incorporate, and although literary works are subject to a variety of interpretations, Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview with The Sydney Morning Herald that "My books are about killing God." (Conservative British columnist Peter Hitchens labeled Pullman "The Most Dangerous Author in Britain" and described him as the writer "the atheists would have been praying for, if atheists prayed.")"

The article quotes several emails that are circulating. The following are quotes from some of those emails:

"The movie has been dumbed down to fool kids and their parents in the hope that they will buy his trilogy where in the end the children kill God and everyone can do as they please. Nicole Kidman stars in the movie so it will probably be advertised a lot. This is just a friendly warning that you sure won't hear on the regular TV."

"What I thought was important to communicate is what part of the agenda is for making this picture. This movie is a watered down version of the first book, which is the least offensive of the three books. The second book of the trilogy is THE SUBTLE KNIFE and the third book is THE AMBER SPYGLASS. Each book gets worse and worse regarding Pullman's hatred of God. In the trilogy, a young girl becomes enmeshed in an epic struggle against a nefarious Church known as the Magisterium. Another character, an ex-nun, describes Christianity as 'a very powerful and convincing mistake.' As I understand it, in the last book, a boy and girl are depicted representing Adam and Eve and they kill God, who at times is called YAHWEH."

I have the book and plan to read it. I will let you know what I find out, unless the movie comes out before I get it read, which is a distinct possibility.

Laugh #1

Did you hear about the dyslexic devil-worshiper?

He sold his soul to Santa.

Dust

Over the past few days, I've found myself in a cycle of depression, anger and confusion. I am told this is normal in my circumstance (loosing my job, for those of you who have not read down further). I've caught myself blaming God, then feeling guilty for thinking those thoughts, then blaming myself, then feeling stupid.

Then I'm usually hungry. Some things never change.

I ran across two things in the past few hours that helped. The first is a song by an artist/producer named Joe Beck. It may not mean much to you, but it helped set my perspective a little clearer. Here's a verse and a chorus:

You magnify my helplessness
That I might see Your faithfulness
I stand in awe because of who You are
Creator of my heart, O God

The Mystery of You in words
When Heaven's mercy kissed the earth
The price completely paid by You alone
I fall before Your throne and I cry

I am dust
I am frail
I am weak
I fail
You are God
You are King
Over all the universe You reign
And I stand amazed that You could truly love
This dust

Then this morning I picked up a book that I was reading and had set aside for a while, Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline. I vaguely remembered that where I left off had seemed something that I wasn't catching. The importance of it had not settled into me. So I opened up the dog-eared page and looked at the title of the section where I had quit reading.

The Dark Night of the Soul.

It seemed a little more appropriate now. I quote Foster:

What does the dark night of the soul involve? We may have a sense of dryness, aloneness, even lostness. Any overdependence on the emotional life is stripped away... The dark night is one of the ways God brings us into a hush, a stillness so that He may work an inner transformation on the soul... When God lovingly draws us into a dark night of the soul, there is often a temptation to seek release from it and to blame everyone and everything for our inner dullness... Be grateful that God is lovingly drawing you away from every distraction so that you can see him clearly. Rather than chafing and fighting, become still and wait."

And so I quietly wait. I am dust.

Burning Rubber

Austin was out on his new bike the other day. We were at Grande Stadium and he was breaking it in. In the process, he left some serious tread marks. Take a look...

Get a Job...

Well, that's what I'm trying to do. I've not posted much here about my job search, or for that matter why I'm even needing a new job. I think I'll continue my self-imposed silence on the situation at GCR.

But as far as jobs are concerned, thus far I have been approaching the search with the thought that I am open to whatever is out there and that God will lead me to the right position. I have even caught myself thinking "just get a job that pays. You can pursue your passion on your off-time." I am beginning to rethink that.

This morning a new acquaintance recommended a book to me. Maybe you've heard of 48 Days to the Work You Love. It is highly recommended by Dave Ramsey (although he is not the new acquaintance I mentioned). The book was released this year (2007) and is written by Dan Miller. I have only read the introduction and first chapter and it's really gotten me to thinking already.

Here is a quote from the first chapter... "Perhaps we can create a definition of work that includes more than just completing duties for a paycheck. What if we were able to create a model for work that included work, play, leisure, and spiritual components? Would it be unreasonable to expect to find fulfilling, enjoyable, spiritually significant, income producing work?" According to Miller, the obvious answer is a resounding "no, it's not unreasonable!"

I truly believe I was in this situation when I worked for Acappella Ministries. I felt the same at Christ Family Fellowship in Corpus Christi. I believe I would have come to feel this at Golf Course Road, given time. And now, I need to pray and believe that it can happen again here in Midland. I certainly do not want to settle for a "job."

Lord, give me the faith and patience to see what you've laid before me. Or at least to make the best out of the situation if I pick the wrong thing. Is that a contradiction in faith? *sigh*

Pitch Pipecast: Episode 10

The new Pipecast is up. Episode 10 features Eric Gwin, solo a cappella artist. You can find it at PitchPipePro.com or, as always, download it direct from this link. Hope you enjoy it.

Nearer My God to Thee

Dave Gerhart pointed me to a fabulous video that I want to share with you. As you know if you've read this blog any at all, I love good a capella music. I do a podcast dedicated to it. Here is one that falls right square into that category.

This is a group from BYU called Vocal Point. The video is of them competing at the ICCA Quarterfinals this past February of 2007. As you will see, it is a fabulous arrangement of Nearer My God to Thee (done by James Stevens) and garnered them 1st place. Enjoy...

Pitch Pipecast: Episode 9

I have just posted the most recent episode of the Pipecast. Chris Lindsey of Watershed Worship makes an appearance. We talk about their trip to South Africa, their recent run-in with Mandisa, and their latest album entitled "I Know You Love Me."

You can catch it at PitchPipePro.com or as always you can download it right here directly from this link.

Another Change

I began this blog in early October of '06 partly as an attempt to chronicle a life change. I was searching for a new job. It seems this blog is still needed for that purpose.

Nine days ago I was called into the Executive Minister's office and let go. I was told that my reason for dismissal was that I am "not a good fit for this church." I've done nothing wrong, other than (in their opinion) not having the skill set to lead the church in worship as effectively as has been done in the past here at GCR.

I do not feel that this public forum is the proper place to air my grievances about this, so I will not elaborate at this time. Sherri and I are understandably shocked and hurt. The only thing I will say about this is that it is a shame that I have never really been able to let them see the real me. I have tried to tailor my style of worship leading to fit a package that they were desiring. I was never able to move the church to a point that I could feel free to cut loose and lead the way I would like (which in my opinion this church needs badly... a new and refreshed approach to worship). Maybe this in itself is a sign that I am not a fit. The elders have been gracious to give me a long period in which to find new employment.

I have committed to my children that we will not be moving. The change from Corpus Christi to Midland was devastating to my kids. It has taken them, Ashley especially, months to recover their smile. It has only been in the past few weeks that I have seen them return to normal. I'll not mess that up again. Also, my wife has just begun teaching in the Midland school system. She is working with special needs children in a local Jr. High. So unless God throws us a really big curve ball, we are staying in Midland for the foreseeable future.

Please pray for our family as we enter this new period in our lives. Pray that I will be directed to the job I am supposed to have and have the wisdom to recognize it. Sherri and I still firmly believe, even through all the troubles of the change, that we were supposed to move to Midland. God made it pretty clear. It turns out that GCR was just the tool to bring us here. So now we wait on God to show us the real reason.

Lord, illuminate us.

Pre vs. Post

My son begged not to have his hair cut for the summer because he wanted to "wear a ponytail." I don't think he realized that naturally curly hair is hard to put in a ponytail.

Anyway, here is Austin before 4:00 PM this afternoon.



And here is Austin after 4:30 PM this afternoon.



Same kid? You tell me. The eyes seem similar. I think I remember them from before the bangs.

Rice Noodles

This is a strange entry.

For the past couple of weeks, our family has been on an exclusion diet. One of those diets where you cut back down to one basic food group that cleans out your system and then you start adding things back in one thing at a time. That way you can see if there is a certain kind of food that gives you troubles.

Anyway, this past week my wife cooked rice noodles. Sort of like angel hair pasta, only made from rice. I recall eating this before when I was in Kungming, China at a restaurant called "Over Bridge Rice Noodles." Great place to eat. But I digress...

So she cooks these noodles and no one in the house likes them but me. I was out of the house at the time and they got shoved to the side before I could get at them. So they left this big pot of rice noodles sitting out for the afternoon. Dry (drained of water).

By the time I got home, they were still edible, just very cold. So they sat there for a while because we just didn't get around to throwing them away. By that evening, we assumed they would be pretty bad and starting to turn green. Not so. These noodles still seemed fresh. They also seemed rather bouncy.

Turns out rice noodles take on an elastic nature when left to the elements. They begin to look somewhat like those small rubber bands you put on your braces. Only these are long.

They are still sitting in that pot by the sink. It's turned into a family experiment now. Every time we go by, we grab a handful and drop it back into the pot to watch it bounce. Three days and still bouncing. Still looks fresh. Not gonna eat it though...

Bouncy trouncy flouncy pouncy fun fun fun fun fun.

Stream Light

As many of the readers of my blog are aware, Stream in the Desert is an annual event that Golf Course Rd Church has hosted for many years now. Due to the massive amount of construction happening on our campus, there will not be a Stream for 2007 (rather obvious, since we are past the usual date).

Fortunately, we have an opportunity to help people scratch that itch for a great worship event. On Saturday evening September 15, Golf Course Rd Church will be offering Stream Light. Ken Young will be leading this free worship event. For those of you who have been to Stream before, this will be a 2-hour mini-Stream... something like a creek. Not as big, but still flowing.

So if you live in West Texas or Eastern New Mexico, plan to join us Saturday, Sept. 15 from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. It should be a great evening of praise and worship.

GCR Day at the Ballpark

They're not going to invite us back.

Some of you may recall a post this past Easter about the snow fiasco at the Ballpark. Every year we host "Easter at the Ballpark," a city-wide worship service at the AA Midlands Rockhounds ball park. And this year it snowed on Easter. The event was canceled, as was the game.

So to make up for it, the Rockhounds set up GCR Night this past Sunday night. We sold tickets at half price to our church. About 4:00, we started getting light rain.

We made it to the bottom of the 2nd inning and then the bottom dropped out. Noah showed up. I actually saw an ark in left field.

But I bought a hat!

Pitch Pipecast: Episode 8

I have just posted #8 of the Pipecast. It's a conversation with Josh Wheeler of Legacy. They are a new-yet-not-new group out of Lubbock, TX. I included some songs from their new self-titled release which came out last week.

You can catch that podcast at pitchpipepro.com or download it directly using this link.

Enjoy!

Oxymoron

This past Sunday our minister used a few oxymorons to make a point in his sermon. Here are a few of them with my most favorite at the end.

Jumbo Shrimp.

Civil Litigation.

Fairly Accurate.

Negative Growth.

Nothing Much.

Pure Evil.

Short Sermons.

And my most favorite had to do with a bit of software many people know...

Microsoft Works.

There you go Lana, how 'bout that one?

Holy is the Lord

A friend turned me on to this YouTube video today. Someone (user name is gregmuzac) has taken the song Holy is the Lord from Andrew Peterson and set it footage taken mostly from TNT's movie about the life of Abraham. It is a fabulous video. Well worth seeing. And here it is...

Microshaft Hat Pt.2

You may have seen one of my earlier posts entitled "Microshaft Hat." I'm not supposed to hate anyone, so hat is one letter short. Anyway, I'd sworn to myself that I was not going to buy another Windows machine. I have a Mac Pro at my office and I love it.

And then my son's computer went on the fritz. Yes, it was running XP, but it was also glitchy when dual booted with Kubuntu. It's a 7 year old white box so it was time. I wanted to give him my computer and get me a Mac. But the money was just not there yet. I can't drop a grand or so.

Then I found a good deal ($330) on an Emachine at Best Buy. Running Vista of all things. I had to have something since school starts soon and my son needs a computer for his work. So, he got my 10 month old Dell and I am writing this from a new Vista Emachine.

AAAAARGH!

Now I need to start saving money for a Macbook. Everyone needs a laptop. Right? I need to start working on an angle to justify that one...

Pitch Pipecast Episode 7 (Acafest Special)

Episode 7 of the Pitch Pipecast is now available. Recorded live at Acafest 2007 in Nashville, it features a round table discussion with several artists: Brian Wiersma of Vocal Union, Danice Sweet of Revival, Lanier Stevens of Sounds of Glory, Robin Brannon of Acappella and Melissa Lancaster of Durant.

You can find it at PitchPipePro.com or as always, you can download it directly from this link.

Movie Review: Evan Almighty

The Conservative Mostly Bald Guy strikes again! This time the object of his attention is the new Steve Carrell movie Evan Almighty. If you want to skip to the end, he (me) gives it 4 out of 5 baldies. Now go watch and find out what else he says...

Pitch Pipecast Episode 6

The new Pipecast is up! This week I interviewed Wes McKinzie, former bass for AVB and current director of New Reign at Oklahoma Christian University. You can take a look at this Pipecast and previous Pipes at PitchPipePro.com. Or as always, you can download the episode direct from this link. Enjoy!

Acafest Podcast

Acafest is almost upon us. I am looking forward to seeing many old friends. I had intended to take a little handheld recorder with me and do some interviewing for the Pitch Pipecast. While that will still happen, another opportunity has presented itself.

I mentioned to Byron (the director) how fun it would be to host and record a round table discussion at Acafest. Before I knew what had happened, I find out it's happening. Twice.

On Thursday and Friday night at 10:00 P.M. I will host an open mike roundtable discussion with many of the artists who will be present at Acafest. This will be considered a late-night event (read: post-schedule printing and after the last event of the night) and each evening will be recorded for broadcast on the Pitch Pipecast. It will happen onstage in the Allen Arena where the evening's concert will have just concluded.

So if you are going to Acafest, mark this down on your schedule. If not, look for it in the coming weeks on the Pipecast. Should be a lot of fun.

Real Passion

This past Sunday, our Pulpit Minister delivered one of those sermons that just leaves you saying, "wow." We had initially planned this Sunday's theme around the idea that God has given us our passion and we should return it to him, or at least honor him with our passions. The text came from Col. 3:23-24, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

About Thursday afternoon, I found out that Ronnie had taken a slightly different direction with this idea. What came out of it was a barn-burner of a sermon. If you have 20 minutes, I would suggest giving it a listen. This is one of those sermons every preacher wished he could preach and not have to worry about repercussions. You can hear it by clicking this link. Enjoy...

Pitch Pipecast Episode 5

The newest Pipecast is now available. It is an interview with Gary Miller of the Vocal Union as we preview their new release, Just Like the Old Days. The album will be available in late June, but you get to hear six songs from the album early... and only on the Pipecast!

You can find the Pipecast (and previous post as well) at PitchPipePro.com, or you can download the file directly from this link. I hope you enjoy this sneak peak preview of the new VU album.

Miscellaneous Ramblings & Tony Brown

Today is Friday and I am at work. I am the Friday MOD (Minister on Duty) for this week. That means I had yesterday off. I spent the day setting up our new above-ground Intex swimming pool. I am amazed at the quality of these pools. We had an in-ground pool back in Corpus and the kids took serious advantage of it. But here in Midland we have nada.

Anyway, this is a 12x24 above ground with ladder, pump and all the accoutrement. My kids were so excited about it that they were in the pool when it had about an inch of water in it. They spent the next 5 hours in the pool as it filled (it took 10 hours, but they were worn out). And today my son proudly wears the trophy his marathon swim earned... he is red as a brick and can hardly move. That's two weeks in a row he's had a bad burn. Last week he got lobsterfied in the mountains. I think he's learned a painful lesson.

I just received an advance pre-release copy of Vocal Union's new album Just Like the Old Days. This is good stuff. I will be doing a Pipecast very soon featuring the music from the album with Gary Miller adding color commentary. I'll save my comments for then.

I've heard from Tony Brown of AVB and Watershed fame. He is currently searching for a position as a worship minister. I know the feeling of needing a job and not knowing where to look. If anyone reading this blog can point Tony toward a ministry position, please drop him a line at "tonybrown3 at mac dot com" (I printed out the email instead of writing it in normal form so spambots won't pick it up, hopefully).

Speaking of Worship Ministers, I've read on Keith Lancaster's blog that he and his son Anthony are now co-leaders at Farragut Church of Christ in Knoxville, TN. I think that's fabulous. I only hope that I can someday give my son on-the-job ministry training like that.

Enough for today. Have a good one...

Of Water and Reunions

I am back from vacation. My family spent the week in Glorieta, NM at the Glorieta Conference Center. We had a family reunion scheduled for the last half of the week, so we went in a few days early and had some fun family time.

It was not overly restful. As most family reunions go, this one was packed with stuff and very little sleep. We came home from our vacation needing a vacation to recover. Such is life.

Ashley, my 13-yr old daughter, was baptized on Saturday, June 9, in Glorieta. We knew this was going to happen, but I did not contact the conference center until Friday night to find out about using their baptistery. Here's is the actual conversation as best I remember it...

"Hi, one of the people in our group would like to be baptized tomorrow and I need to see about using your baptistery. Who do I need to see about that?"

"I"m sorry sir, we don't have one."

"Excuse me?"

"We don't have a baptistery on campus."

*pause*

"You mean this is the largest Baptist encampment in the southwestern United States and you don't have a baptistery?"

"No sir..." pause... "I guess I ought to put that on the suggestion list."

"I would think so..."

So I spent Saturday morning driving around Glorieta and Pecos looking for a church that might be open and allow us to use their baptistery. We ended up just down the road at a little church building that seats about 100 if they all hold their breath, the Glorieta Baptist Church. The water was pumped in that afternoon at our request and was straight out of the mountain. It was so cold we walked in and lost our breath. Ashley will never forget her baptism. She came out white as snow and blue as ice.

Speaking of reunions, for those of you still reading, I have another one coming up soon. July 5-7 are the dates for Acafest 2007, the International Acappella Christian Music Festival. I will be teaching a few classes during this week. The event will culminate on Saturday evening with the 25th Anniversary Reunion Concert of the group Acappella.

For those of you unaware, Acappella is a singing group I used to travel with. For eleven years.

Anyway, I am not completely sure of the entire line-up, but I do know who I'll be singing with. Keith Lancaster and Rodney Britt will certainly sing together, and I will get to sing with my brothers, Wayburn Dean, George Pendergrass and Duane Adams. I'm looking forward to it, although at this point I have absolutely no idea what we are singing. That should be interesting...

Connor Brown

This has been a tough week. I have not posted anything mainly because I did not know what to say about it all. Many of you may already be familiar with this story, but for those who are not... Tod Brown is the Executive Minister at Golf Course Rd Church where I am the Worship Minister. This past Monday, Memorial Day, he and his family were heading back from Brownwood where they had spent the holiday. No one is quite sure how it happened, but somehow the suburban hit the culvert and flipped and rolled.

Their oldest daughter, Bailey, was severely injured and has since undergone several surgical procedures. She has a very long way to go in recovery. The saddest part is that their 13-year old middle son, Connor, did not survive the wreck. He was thrown from the car when it started flipping and then was hit by the car itself. I will not go into details here.

The family has not been able to return to Midland until Bailey could travel. This evening (Sunday) they held visitation at the church gym for everyone to express their love. Hundreds of people lined up to love on the Browns. Not only Golf Course folks, but people from all over the country. I met a man from Focus on the Family. Several folks from Nashville have come down. And tomorrow at the funeral we expect many more people from outside of Midland. The Brown family has touched many people.

I will share more later about this amazing family. I even wrote a song for them. I hope to share that with you sometime soon as well. Keep Tod and Lee Ann Brown in your prayers along with their children Bailey, Hutton, and Reagan as they continue to deal with the loss of Connor.

Pitch Pipecast: Episode 4

Episode 4 of the Pipecast is now online. I had a great conversation with Jordan House of Acappella. You can find the Pitch Pipecast at pitchpipepro.com, or you can download the file directly from this link.

Pitch Pipecast: Episode 3

I have posted the 2nd half of the interview with Alan Beard of True Lift Ministries. You can find it at pitchpipepro.com. You'll also hear news about Rescue Ministries, Acafest, and a preview of episode 4 (I feel like George Lucas).

Or, as always, you can download the Pipecast right now directly with this link.

Excelsior!

Pitch Pipecast: Episode 2

I have just posted episode 2 of the Pitch Pipecast. I had a great conversation with Alan Beard of True Lift Ministries in Thousand Oaks, CA. Since 2003, Alan and Jeremy Johnson have joined forces to deliver a truly excellent singing ministry. True Lift has released five albums, three of which are excellent renditions of old and cherished hymns. Our conversation was right at 30 minutes, so I decided to make this Pipecast a 2-parter.

As always, you can find the Pipecast at pitchpipepro.com. Or, you can download the podcast directly from this link. Enjoy!

~Gary

Ashley of Narnia

Here's a picture of my daughter, Ashley. We're not sure, but we think she may have been one of the Ice Queen's dwarves in the Chronicles of Narnia. Either that or maybe she's actually Stumpy or Bumpy from Snow White. Or maybe she's related to the Amish folk from central Missouri where my Mom's side of the family comes from.

Or maybe she went a little haywire with her ponytails on the last day of school.

Nah.... I vote for Stumpy.

Doolittle Rant

In my opinion, the best singer of the past several seasons was voted off American Idol tonight. The two who are left, Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks, are good singers, but they can't even touch Melinda Doolittle's heels. She stands so far above them it is laughable.

It's just another example of the lack of talent in the music industry effecting what America thinks real talent should be. The label execs have foisted so much garbage on us that we think it smells good, and anything that doesn't smell like what they throw at us must not be good either. So real talent, like Melinda Doolittle, gets tossed aside in favor of a cute 17-year old and a beat boxer who can't quite stay in tune.

It's a shame, and everyone on that show knew it. You could tell by the look on their faces. So now they can take the winner and mold him/her to look like all the other stuff out there. That's okay. Let Melinda do her own thing. Her talent will shine through whatever she does.

On the same topic, someone should vote Ryan Seacrest off the show. I'm really getting tired of his elementary antics and jabs toward Simon.

My girl's off the show. On to 24 and Heroes.

Pitch Pipecast Launch

I am using this particular entry to announce the launch of my new podcast, or in this case a pipecast. Starting today you can catch the Pitch Pipecast on a somewhat regular basis. There is a large and devoted core fan base out there for Christian a cappella music. My new podcast will deliver news, reviews and interviews of the artists who do this music well.

Eventually my own URL (pitchpipepro.com), will point to the site. But for now you can listen in at http://pitchpipecast.libsyn.com. UPDATE: The URL pitchpipepro.com now works for the new podcast home.

If all goes well, it should be available on iTunes within the next couple of weeks. Or you can listen to it right here:

Pitch Pipecast: Episode #1

There's a lot to come. I hope you enjoy it. ~Gary

GCR Missions: India

Here is an update we are showing this weekend on the work in Northeast India. I had the chance to shoot and edit this video. Our normal AV guy (who is amazing) is snowed under with tons of other things. So it falls to me.

For those of you who are familiar with the work GCR supports, this is about Gary Tate and Joe Crabtree. They reference the continued work of Dimbeswar Burman, Shyam Salam, and Dr. Tarun Mahanta.

The Price of a Ride

A few months ago, when the price of gasoline rose dramatically, there was a great outcry from the masses... so much that Congress jumped into the middle of it. Prices dropped back down.

Up to now I have believed the pundits when they stammer on about supply and demand, etc. But once again, just as vacation time rolls around, prices have jumped. Here's an article from the Santa Monica Mirror that will certainly make your conspiracy radar jump. And another from the Salem News. And yet another from the Arizona Daily Star. I could go on. Google is my friend.

All I know is that it cost my wife $35 to fill her tank in her small economy car. I'm living in the heart of oil country. You can't throw a rock in this town without hitting an oil exec and we are paying $2.95 per gallon. My feelings for the oil industry are approaching my level of ire for Microshaft. UPDATE: As of May 13, gas is now $3.09.

But then I guess I shouldn't bite the hand that feeds me (he shakes his head in slight frustration).

Movie Reviews on YouTube

As you can see from the previous post, I have already reviewed The Last Mimzy on this site. I got to thinking about it and decided to check YouTube for movie reviews from a conservative viewpoint. I found very little.

I plan to do video reviews of movies from this point on. Included below for your viewing pleasure is the first movie review by The Conservative Mostly Bald Guy. And yes, it is pretty much a video rehash of my earlier post on The Last Mimzy, but you gotta start somewhere. Enjoy.

Movie Review: The Last Mimzy

For anyone who's been around the Internet for a while and may have dropped by my site on Geocities way back in the last century, you would know that I kept a pretty exhaustive movie review section going. I thought I would start that up again here on my blog. I don't see near as many movies as I used to, but I can still comment on what I see from time to time.

I believe I will start with a movie I saw this afternoon. My children and I went to see The Last Mimzy. This PG rated film is based on the book "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett and was released by New Line Cinema. At first blush it is a delightful film, full of family values, adventure, drama and sci-fi. The fact that the tagline to the movie says "The future is trying to tell us something" should give you a clue to the nature of the movie.

When I tried to describe the feel of the movie to my wife afterwards, the closest I could come was, "It was like a modern-day Escape From Witch Mountain... but with a different storyline." It was certainly much better than Witch Mountain, but you come away with the same kind of feeling. Mimzy includes all manner of Witch Mountainy things... two kids trying to pull off an incredible feat with the help of "otherworldy" powers, older people who don't understand and try to stop them, glimpses of something out there that's not quite normal, etc.

That's as far as I will go with the comparisons because Mimzy is a much better movie overall and I don't want to drag it down. The plot involves time travel and some great sci-fi. In that regard, it is 90 minutes of engrossing fun. My 11 and 13 yr old were highly involved.

I have two problems with the movie. The first is that it is pretty heavily immersed in New Age thought. You'll find heavy doses of ESP, psychokinesis, Saganism, Indigo Children, Tibetan transcendentalism, reincarnation, and much more. It is woven skillfully into the story and often pays a major part. If you have small kids watching this movie, it will probably require some deprogramming afterwards.

Secondly, on a higher level this movie takes a pretty good swipe at the Bush administration and current policy, as well as giving a boost to Al Gore and his wild hair end-of-the-world theories. Every movie needs an antagonist. Here, they have chosen the Dept. of Homeland Defense. During one scene, Homeland Defense breaks into the house and captures the entire family. When challenged about a warrant, they reply that it is not needed under the Patriot Act. It's a well orchestrated jab at Bush's anti-terror efforts. Thank you Hollywood.

And as far as the Gore stuff is concerned, the basis of the entire movie revolves around the idea that we are polluting ourselves into the end of the world as we know it and something drastic must be done. There's even a scene in a science class that would make Mr. Gore proud.

Overall I would give this 3.5 stars out of 5. The kids will enjoy it. Parents will as well, if you can rise above the baggage.

Easter at the Snowpark

For several years now Golf Course Rd Church has held Easter at the Ballpark. It's a big city-wide Easter Service held at Citibank Ballpark where the Midlands Rockhounds play (AA Oakland A's team). We average about 4000 each year. So tomorrow is Easter. We've been praying for sunny skies and 70 degrees.

Here's a picture of what we got. It was coming down in potato chip size flakes when I took this picture. Needless to say, we will not be at the Ballpark tomorrow. If it keeps this up, we may not have many at all at church.

We've been in Midland five months now and it's snowed 3 or 4 times. Two of them were pretty good with nice ground cover. This is like being back in Tennessee, minus the trees, rolling hills and humidity. I saw this in Corpus only once while I was there, and that was a rare event for the city. This is kinda fun...

Los Mejores de la Final Four

I know mostly nothing about basketball. For me, soccer is life. But the office staff at GCR did the March Madness bracket competition thing, and so I joined in. The winner at the end would get his or her meal paid for at a restaurant of their choosing.

Again, knowing nothing about basketball, I opted for a little help. I went to ESPN.com and did a little research. They had 10 different journalist give their predictions for the brackets. I spent 30 minutes and averaged out their results. What came out were my picks for the entire bracket of 64.

And today I got to pick the meal because I won, thank you very much. We went to Abuelo's where I ordered Los Mejores de la Casa... bacon wrapped fillet mignon and honkin' big shrimp stuffed with cheese and jalapeños and wrapped in bacon. I also had Raspberry tea and chili con queso for everyone at the table. $27 worth of winnings. Thank you Florida State!

Joyful Worship Pt.2

Here is pt. 2 of the Sunday bulletin series I am doing. This is the unprinted version. I am going to remove the "Maybe this" paragraph for print. This is sort of like the deleted scenes version. Once again, kudos to my friend Dan Morris for help on this topic.

* * *
So what is worship? How do we approach worship? Is it something that can be defined? Let’s take a quick look at history.

The Israelites had been crying out in captivity for 400 years. No response. Within a very short period of time, God makes himself known powerfully. Plague after plague strikes their captors. Release comes. Millions line up and march out of Egypt. They find themselves trapped against the Red Sea, only to see it lifted out of the way. Finally, they stand before the mountain of God, covered in fire, thunder, and lightning. The earth trembles.

What would it have been like to be there? They were instructed to erect a fence so that not even an animal would touch a single stone of the mountain. God was going to descend upon it in full view of the people and they had three days to prepare. Four hundred years of silence and now you have 72 hours to get ready. How do you approach holiness and not be changed forever? What do you say in the presence of Jehovah?

Maybe this… “Why don’t they sing that tambourine song they used to sing? I really liked it when Miriam sang that song. Why don’t they sing old songs like that again?” Or maybe, “ I wish Aaron would lead worship. I don’t really like it when Moses leads worship. Too slow. I’d just as soon go home.” How about, “All this smoke and fire and trembling, that’s too formal. I like a relaxed atmosphere. Why does it have to be so formal?” Or possibly, “Three days to get ready for worship? Doesn’t he know we have things to do? If he talks that long, I’m out’a here.”

Would you say something like that in the presence of Jehovah? And today, what do we say in the presence of the Holy? We may not have a mountain of fire, but He is here nonetheless. God has descended upon us in full view. As we worship together, God inhabits our praise. The spiritual foundations of the earth tremble as the worship of his people is lifted high. The “how” of worship takes a distant second place to the “why.” Could it be that part of true worship is in understanding His presence and reverence at the awe of his majesty?

Oh God, we come seeking your presence, your mercy and your power. Help us to have eyes that see you and hearts that reverence your holiness. May our worship honor you and you alone.

Spiritual Intimacy

I spent a good part of last weekend at the Zoe Conference in Lubbock. I was glad to go. Even though I lived in Tennessee for 15 years, I never cashed in on the opportunity to go to the Zoe event in Nashville. I intended to a couple of times, but something always came up.

It was a refreshing experience. The worship was wonderful and I got to reconnect with lots of old friends. Growing up in Lubbock, I saw a lot of people from my youth. I also got to connect with folks from my old road life, like Nathan Tillotson, Brian Randolph, Randy Gill and Jeff Walling.

While the worship was great and the messages were moving (get the CD of Jeff speaking about being "closer"), it was the small group experience where I was most challenged. I participated in the worship leaders small group, which was led by Brandon Thomas of Zoe and Rich Smith of Levi Ministries.

Rich is an amazing young man. It is obvious that the Holy Spirit has done some powerful work in his life. I'd love to know more about his background (which apparently includes some serious work), but his humility seemed to keep most of it behind him. That's cool.

Anyway, he gave me one of those "aha" moments. I have talked about John 17
many times over the course of my life. For years, it was a centerpiece of Acappella's ministry. Vs. 20-21 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."

I've preached the unity of believers from that passage many times. It's an important message. Unfortunately, I've worked that passage so much that I missed another important element. He prays not only for unity of believers, but for unity of them with HIM. The lesson I took away from this day:

We have whatever level of intimacy with God as we will pursue, even up to the level that Jesus had with God.

I've always strived for a closer walk with God. I don't think I ever realized that I've put boundaries on that. It was certainly unintentional, but there nonetheless. Who am I to say that I can only come so close to God and no closer when Jesus himself prayed that we would be one with him as he was with God?

Again I say, "aha!" Excuse me... I have more pursuing to do. ~Gary

Ser Cris Mission Update

Tim Neale and I put together a mission update on the efforts in Campo Grande, Brazil. The preaching school there is called Ser Cris. If you are interested, I've added it here from my YouTube account.

A Range Mint (say it fast and altogether)

I suppose it's time to begin another new foray into the wilderness. This one's not so wild though. I've been arranging music for a while now. So it's not so new.

When I was in college, I spent a lot of time arranging vocal music for a new group we had formed called "Best Friends." Most of the stuff I did was luck of the draw, at best. I was more interested in following the rules of theory that were being pounded into me daily than I was in putting out good music.

But, fortune favors the foolish I suppose. Most of the arrangements worked out. I believe they were even using some of them still up to about 5 years ago. 15 year shelf life is not bad for a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants piece of music.

Later, I spent 15 years working with Acappella Ministries and did a TON of arranging there. Unfortunately most of it never made it to paper. But my ear was being perfected during that time.

Sometime around 2002 (I think), an old friend from Tyler approached me to do some arranging for his LTC choir. At this point, I was able to combine the skills of theory with the experience of the studio. Now I could do arranging and know what I was putting on paper as I was doing it. I could hear it before it went to the page. I had the arrangement done before the writing.

I could finally understand the quote by Mozart from the 1984 movie Amadeus, "It's all right here in my noodle. The rest is just scribbling. Scribbling and bibbling, bibbling and scribbling."

I have done more than 20 songs for Chuck, my friend in Tyler. And I seem to be knocking them out pretty regularly here in Midland. He and his wife Lisa have been encouraging me to publish my arrangements for years now. I suppose it's time.

So, sometime in the next six months I hope to be making my stuff available. Look for more information coming soon. For now, I've got to figure out how to go about this legally, easily and still make it worth the effort. I'm certainly no Mozart, but maybe God can use me to help other singing groups out there.

Joyful Worship Pt. 1

Here is an article that I wrote for Family Matters, our weekly Sunday bulletin. It is the first in a series that I will be writing. I'll post each one here as they come up. Kudos to my friend Dan Morris. I got a wealth of material from his sermon of the same title.

Somewhat recently, the National Constitution Center surveyed American teenagers. The intent was to discern their level of knowledge and understanding of the Constitution and our history. The results were very interesting.

They found that only 41% could name all three branches of the government, but 50% could name all three stooges. 74% knew that Bart Simpson was from Springfield, Illinois but only 12% knew that Abraham Lincoln grew up there. 75% knew what city laid claim to the zip code 90210, but only 25% could name the city where the Constitution was written. A surprisingly high 74% knew the name of the Vice-President, but 90% knew the names of the stars in the movie Titanic.

This prompted the director of the National Constitution Center to comment, “…the Constitution does not work by itself. It depends on active and informed citizens.”

The same can be said of our worship. We need active and informed people who understand worship. How can we make it work if we don’t know what it is? Most of us would not do very well in a survey that describes and defines worship. This is a sobering thought when you realize that the Bible tells us we are created to worship. We are worshipful beings. What does that mean? Have we lost that identity?

Over the next few months, we will explore the meaning of “joyful worship.” Who are we worshiping? Why do we do it? When do we worship? And how? Let us pray that God will lead us to a better understanding of the meaning behind “worshiping in spirit and truth.”

Re-Construction Pt. 2

Here is a layout of the new worship center floor plan. I had to keep it somewhat small so that it would be easy to download.

Notice that this arrangement seats 1323 people comfortably. Our current seating is 1100, and when full it is uncomfortable at best. As far as actual design is concerned, this is an older drawing and some things have changed. But overall, this is pretty close.

All of the seating on the floor (the inner circle) will be movable. I will post more pictures later with alternate seating plans. The upper tiers will be theater seating. The north tier will also be movable so that it can be transformed into a stage.

Sound will be flown over the stage with circular rigging. Stage lights will be placed on bars throughout the room and aimed accordingly. Six hi-def video screens will extend from the ceiling, two on the east and west sides, and one on the north and south.

One of the neatest things I see about this room is in the flow of traffic. There are four main entrances into the room. As you enter, you are coming in beside the raised tier seating. This means that the first chance you will get to choose a seat is after you've already moved halfway to the stage. No more sneaking into the back row. If you want the back row, you have to double back and go up the steps. The flow of traffic will automatically push you toward the front of the room!

The new layout also frees up some space for new classrooms. We will gain nine new classrooms overall. Two of them will be quite big. You can see them in the lower corners of this image. Another set of rooms that I am excited about: in the upper right top of this image you see three rooms side by side - the video suite, the recording studio, and the sound booth/green room. The possibilities are endless....

Because of the nature of the room, it does not allow for a baptistery. We have solved that by building a family-styled living water area in the upper left portion of the picture. A nature-themed running water pool will be just above ground level and open to the massive atrium area in the west wing. Everyone can gather together and witness the baptisms that will surely come. I can't wait.

More later....

Re-Construction Pt. 1

Last Oct 14, I blogged about going out to Midland to be a part of the initial talks concerning the refit of the worship center at GCR. This morning, three months later, it all came to fruition. We presented the new plan for the worship center to the church during class time today. It was an impressive presentation. I can say that because I had very little to do with it. Ok, nothing to do with it.

The re-do of the center will give us a state-of-the-art facility, easily one the of the best in Midland and I believe in West Texas. We wanted a facility that worked well not only for us, but for future generations. Visionary people put a stake in the ground in the countryside of Midland County 40+ years ago with a vision for a grace-oriented church. The facility that was built to house that church was far-sighted and has lasted well. We want to do the same thing for our children’s children. I believe this new plan is just that.

Our new facility will be “in the round.” When the family gathers for supper, we gather around a table and see each other’s faces. Church should be the same way. 80% of the seats in the new building will be within 60 ft of the stage. As we experience worship, we will experience each other… not the back of someone’s head.

I will post pictures at a later time, but they will show that this new facility will be extremely flexible. While the upper tier seating will be permanent with theatre-style chairs, the lower section will be individual chairs. These can be placed in any fashion. The stage will be movable as well. It can be moved to the north end of the floor to provide a tiered stage for weddings while the floor can be fixed with a center aisle. Perfect for weddings. The north end tier can be cleared in combination with the moved stage to provide a very big stage, easily large enough for the Midland Symphony. Or the floor can be cleared and set with tables to seat 200+ people for banquets… banquets with a state-of-the-art sound and video system.

I’ll tell you more later, but here’s one little goodie. All the flat surfaces of the room will be painted white. The trim around each surface will be lined with multicolor LEDs that will wash the wall with color. From the control room, we will be able to choose from 19 million different shades of color. The walls can change colors with the touch of a switch. Wedding planners may now get in line…

Snowstorm Nostorm

I've not posted in a few days. That's because I've A) not really had much to say or 2). was busy messing with the massive snow storm we didn't have. It's was nuts. I didn't shovel 5 inches of snow off my driveway. Our city sort of came to a stand-still on Thursday night, after everyone had gone to the store and bought everything that was there.

The grocery stores reported that sales on Thursday and Friday were larger than the entire Christmas season. And then it was all a non-event. Today it's 50 degrees. I may still try and shovel a little more snow just for the fun of it. We didn't make this real big snow man. Life size and everything. Our neighbors front yard is sloped at a 30 degree angle and we didn't sled down it.

All in all, lots of fun.

Enough for today. GO COLTS!

Homecoming and Arranging

Homecoming is a little over a month away. Homecoming for Lubbock Christian University.

I was in the graduating class of '86, the last class to walk the stage under the LCC moniker. Problem was, I still needed 4 hours of foreign language when I did the graduation ceremony. It took me a year to finish a Spanish correspondence course from UT. By the time I had done it, I was booted back to the class of '87 and my diploma arrived with the wrong major. It said LCC, but wrong major. So I contacted them and they sent a replacement with the correct major, but it now said LCU.

So, I have a diploma from LCC for a Bachelor of Science, and a diploma from LCU for a Bachelor of Music Education.

Anyway, I will be making the trek up to Lubbock for that weekend. They've asked me to lead worship at the Alumni Chapel. I assume that means sans guitar. Not that I'm using it anymore...

On that note, pun intended, I have been adding new arrangements to our praise team portfolio. If you've read any of my earlier posts, you may have seen the discussion over the new song of the month and the problems with licensing. We have forged ahead, just without recording. Just so you'll know (and in case you are interested in seeing it), the first song we added was Everlasting God by Brenton Brown. It went very well. The arrangement works great for church and it's been well received. This Wednesday we introduce I Will Boast by Paul Baloche. I'll let you know how it goes.

The British Are Coming

I usually blog about church, music or family. So here's something different. How about Beck & Posh?

For those of you who do not follow the world of football (otherwise known as soccer), David Beckham has been one of the best players in the world for the past decade. He is unquestionably the most well known and paparazzi-hounded footballer out there (or so it seems). And it appears he is coming to our shores this summer.

In 1992, Beckham started at age 17 with Manchester United in the FA Premier League. His skill continued to increase, playing a lead role in the clubs Treble Win of 1999 - winning the League Cup, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. Beckham captained the English Internationals for six years and spent his most recent time, three years, in Spain with Real Madrid.

He has an absolutely amazing ability to place free kicks where he wants them, usually where the defense think he cannot reach. His style inspired the recent movie "Bend It Like Beckham."

So why spend so much time talking about David Beckham? It was announced today that he has been signed by the L.A. Galaxy and will start playing with them this coming August. This is huge for American soccer. MLS recently cleared the way for this to happen by allowing each team in the league to recruit one player of international status that would be paid separately from the team's allotted salary cap. Beckham was the first to be called up.

He came at a high price... $250 million for 5 years. He is now the second highest payed athlete in the U.S., which is amazing considering it's in a sport that is unknown to the majority of Americans. His presence on the team will undoubtedly sell out stadiums across America. A high-profile player like Beck will make a major difference in how football/soccer is perceived over here.

It will also open up the possibility of others following his lead. I just read that FC Dallas is in talks with Edgar Davids, the Dutch international who came to fame with Ajax and is currently playing for Tottenham Hotspur. The transfer window for MLS is right now. I suspect we will see other player transfers coming to light very soon.

It looks like American soccer is about to ramp it up another notch. Or rather, several notches. Cool by me. Oh, another note of interest... the current trend of international clubs touring America in their off-season could actually mean that Beckham's first appearance as a Galaxy member might be against Chelsea FC. There's a bit of irony in that...

UPDATE: Ramon Calderon has said he will not play Beckham again. He will continue to train with Real, but will not play. That means he may put Beckham on loan to another club until August. Is there a chance that he will be here in time to start with LA in April? hmm....

A Real Character

We've just begun a new series at GCR. It's a six-week series entitled "A Real Character." We are examining Godly character traits as exhibited through different characters in the Bible. The first week dealt with endurance as shown through Noah.

Our production team put our collective heads together (which is tough since we all have big heads anyway) and came up with what I think is a pretty "novel" idea. We decided to present the series in a graphic novel/comic book style. Every piece of print, artwork, and stage set is done "Frank Millerish."

What makes this so much easier is a program that came pre-installed on my Mac called "Comic Life." This fabulous program is available from Plasq and you can find out more about it on their site.

Take a look at the link below. It will lead you to a PDF of the first weeks comic book. I hope you like it. It came out of my computer, but it was a team effort.

http://homepage.mac.com/garymoyers/comiclife/

And for those of you who try to copy and paste and delete the last part of the URL to find my dot Mac homepage, I have not created it yet. Sorry...

Wade in the Water

My son, Austin, was baptized this past Sunday. I was fortunate enough to be the one to do it. What a day!

Both Austin and Ashley have been to many churches over the years, hundreds I would say. Every Sunday they would be in a new bible class in a new city. The poor teacher never had any clue who they were. And most teachers saw it as an opportunity to save someones soul. My children have prayed Jesus into their heart more times than any of us can remember.

Because of that, I have not pushed them to take that final step of baptism. I knew it would come soon enough. I found out the other day that he really wanted to be baptized in the ocean at Corpus Christi. I guess I missed that one. But one water is as wet as another.

My son's new spiritual birthday is New Year's Eve, the same day as my mother's physical birthday. I am so proud of that boy. I will post a video of the baptism some time this week....