josh garrels

Two excellent videos of artist, Josh Garrels, whose albums don't spend much time out of my cd player. Great message, great sound, great voice. Enjoy.

it's friday.......

Just a post regarding the past post entitled "good friday". Rachel has done the research regarding the sermon titled "It's Friday But, Sundays Comin'" and has discovered that the original pastor who wrote & delivered the sermon was Marshall L. Shepard, Sr., pastor of Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in West Philadelphia. Sadly, everything on the internet credits Dr. Anthony Campolo who did write a book on the sermon, oddly enough, gaining public credit for the sermon with no known declaration that this is someone else's work.

Below is the email response from Tony Campolo's assistant:

Rachel,

When I "Googled" the topic, I found some of this, and then I made a call and
got the rest of it! "Tony Campolo preaches a sermon taken from an elderly black pastor, the
late Marshall L. Shepard, Sr., pastor of Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in West
Philadelphia. "It's Friday, but Sunday's Comin'" is the title of the sermon."

James Warren
Executive Assistant to Dr. Anthony Campolo, Bart Campolo and Shane

Looks like the cat is out of the bag. Have a good weekend everyone.

natura

Yesterday, I was able to "check out" of civilization for a few hours and go on a 9 mile hike in the surrounding woods of the Kittitas valley. I love being out in nature, I feel the closest to God when I am totally alone surrounded by his creation. The raw nature that I find in the untamed hills surrounding our home also quenches my need for adventure. I'm never sure if I'll step on a rattlesnake, be stalked by a mountain lion, or maybe surprise a sleeping elk or deer.......perhaps a slumbering bear!?! As I meander back down the trail, in the gray twilight of the night, my spirit was calm and quiet, ready to start a new week.
The top two pic's are of Mt. Stuart in the Cascade mountain range. The next one is of Mt. Rainer as the sun was beginning to set to her right. The last one is a random picture of a lone tree on a hill. I'm growing a strong affinity to lone trees. Not sure where to go with that thought. Anyway, have a good week.

good friday

It's Friday. Jesus is arrested in the garden where He was praying. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. The disciples are hiding and Peter's denying that he knows the Lord. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is standing before the high priest of Israel, silent as a lamb before the slaughter. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is beaten, mocked, and spit upon. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Those Roman soldiers are flogging our Lord with a leather scourge that has bits of bones and glass and metal, tearing at his flesh. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. The Son of man stands firm as they press the crown of thorns down into his brow. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. See Him walking to Calvary, the blood dripping from His body. See the cross crashing down on His back as He stumbles beneath the load. It's Friday; but Sunday's a coming.

It's Friday. See those Roman soldiers driving the nails into the feet and hands of my Lord. Hear my Jesus cry, "Father, forgive them." It's Friday; but Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, bloody and dying. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. The sky grows dark, the earth begins to tremble, and He who knew no sin became sin for us. Holy God who will not abide with sin pours out His wrath on that perfect sacrificial lamb who cries out, "My God, My God. Why hast thou forsaken me?" What a horrible cry. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. And at the moment of Jesus' death, the veil of the Temple that separates sinful man from Holy God was torn from the top to the bottom because Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, heaven is weeping and hell is partying. But that's because it's Friday, and they don't know it, but Sunday's a coming.

And on that horrible day 2000 years ago, Jesus the Christ, the Lord of glory, the only begotten Son of God, the only perfect man died on the cross of Calvary. Satan thought that he had won the victory. Surely he had destroyed the Son of God. Finally he had disproved the prophecy God had uttered in the Garden and the one who was to crush his head had been destroyed. But that was Friday.

Now it's Sunday. And just about dawn on that first day of the week, there was a great earthquake. But that wasn't the only thing that was shaking because now it's Sunday. And the angel of the Lord is coming down out of heaven and rolling the stone away from the door of the tomb. Yes, it's Sunday, and the angel of the Lord is sitting on that stone and the guards posted at the tomb to keep the body from disappearing were shaking in their boots because it's Sunday, and the lamb that was silent before the slaughter is now the resurrected lion from the tribe of Judah, for He is not here, the angel says. He is risen indeed.

It's Sunday, and the crucified/resurrected Christ has defeated death, hell, sin and the grave. It's Sunday. And now everything has changed. It's the age of grace, God's grace poured out on all who would look to that crucified lamb of Calvary. Grace freely given to all who would believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary was buried and rose again. All because it's Sunday.

- Pastor Marshall L. Shepard, Sr.

unnamed

This is just a post with no real theme, perhaps a photographic cyclothymic trip. So enjoy, or don't, I guess it depends on where you're at on the swing of things.

cash

The MAN. 'Nuff said, watch for yourselves.
"Hurt":

"Ring of Fire":

"San Quentin":

"Jackson":

to wander

A pretty meaningless post really. Just found this website where you can map out all the places that you have visited in the U.S. and globally.



This map shows my global travels, primarily thanks to my two deployments in the United States Navy. Right now, I'd settle to go anywhere with sunshine. The Kittitas valley has been covered in freezing fog for the last week. No sunshine and frost on every single exposed surface, which gives some very pretty pictures. I'll have to post some soon. Good night.

snobbery in the key of R

Most of the time, I am able to restrain my urge to use this space as a soapbox to spout my highly opinionated views about music. But, as I read over my latest copy of PASTE magazine last night I was excited to see 3 separate albums soon to be released by artists I have greatly enjoyed over the years. So, this post only serves as a small interruption in your daily lives to go out and buy some good music to accompany you on your travels.
2007 is starting out musically on a very good foot!! Enjoy.

mlk

On the eve of Martin Luther King, Jr. day, I thought I would post an excerpt from one of his many influential speeches. After skimming my copy of " A Call To Conscience", I settled on a highlighted section from his speech entitled "Beyond Vietnam" from April 4th 1967.

Like RFK, many of Dr. King's speeches are still very poignant and valid so many years after being given. Please give time to reflect on the words of the past and help them guide us into the future.

"A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of South America and say, "This is not just." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.

A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood. "

moving pictures - 03

This will be quick. Just got back from the cinema. Saw the movie "Blood Diamond". Great story. Great topic. Mildly cheesy token love affair. Well worth everyone's time and $8. Go see it. I'm tired but will write more later...I haven't fully digested this movie yet.

Addendum:
First, let me say that this addition in no way holds any spoilers for those that haven't see the film. I have two reflections/questions after letting this picture sink in for a week.

1. During the scene of Freetown being overrun by the rebels did anyone else get a glimpse into what Kigali, Rwanda must of looked like during the chaos that ensued that first night of the Rwandan genocide? The madness, drunken soldiers, bonfires, and packs of roving men armed with AK-47's and machetes.

2. I found it hard to watch yet, felt I needed to be an observer during the indoctrination of the young boys into the rebel army. I wonder if this is how Joseph Kony warps the minds of the young children he kidnaps in the middle of the night in Northern Uganda. Does he crank up the rap music and the juvenile egos by passing around weed, beer, and handing out machine guns, then send them out to do his killing and raping?

Keep in mind that while the story in the movie is fictional. Blood diamonds, refugees, and child soldiers from Sierra Leone all happened. Rwanda happened. And child soldiers in Northern Uganda is still happening.

birdy nam nam

4 French dj's, 4 turntables.......

AND A MICROPHONE.

photoxpressions 07 - blue period

As winter crept into the valley of Whispering Pines, it has swept away the color and left us with shades of whites & blues. We've seen two snowstorms, one day without power, and numerous little dusting's of snow since Thanksgiving. I've also had the pleasure of experiencing freezing fog, something of an oddity, which lives here in the valley during winter mornings and livens up my morning commutes to the office.
Rae says that the valley reminds her of Narnia under the White Witch's rule. I am reminiscence of Picasso during his "Blue Period", which has inspired these pictures and this post. All pic's shot with "cyanotype color setting" on the trusty Nikon.

UN

In yesterday's Washington Post, Secretary General, Kofi Annan detailed his 5 lessons learned through his experience with the United Nations. Below is an excerpt dealing with what I feel is the most important lesson:

"How can states hold each other to account? Only through multilateral institutions. So my final lesson is that those institutions must be organized in a fair and democratic way, giving the poor and the weak some influence over the actions of the rich and the strong.

Developing countries should have a stronger voice in international financial institutions, whose decisions can mean life or death for their people. New permanent or long-term members should be added to the U.N. Security Council, whose current membership reflects the reality of 1945, not of today.

No less important, all the Security Council's members must accept the responsibility that comes with their privilege. The council is not a stage for acting out national interests. It is the management committee of our fledgling global security system.

More than ever, Americans, like the rest of humanity, need a functioning global system. Experience has shown, time and again, that the system works poorly when the United States remains aloof but it functions much better when there is farsighted U.S. leadership.

That gives American leaders of today and tomorrow a great responsibility. The American people must see that they live up to it."

This is just another, of the numerous, global observations of the United States global "war/blunder on Terror". I'm trying very hard to not be anti-administration but, each day my frustration level rises with the mire our military is stuck in both Iraq & Afghanistan. Our global spread of "democrazy" gives me flashbacks of President Johnson in the late 1960's dealing with the Vietnam conflict.

Read the entire article here.

gangsta amish

Just a quick post of a very funny video that my sister tipped me off to while she was out visiting Whispering Pines.

photoxpressions 06 - fatherhood

Daily it sinks in, the magnitude of responsibility that has been endowed upon Rae & I with this new gift. As I hold my child in my two hands, totally dependent on her parents, I am able to gain a small glimpse through Christ's eyes, to mankind's true relationship with God. It also amazes me that, at two in the morning, I can feel such extreme emotions; fatigue, love, frustration, anxiety - all at the same time as I try to quiet and console my daughter.

photoxpressions 05 - WA living

Greetings from Whispering Pines. Just a lazy Sunday afternoon here as I look out at the intermittent rain showers rolling in from the north. I was planning to go hiking this afternoon but 35-40 mph wind gusts and a temperature of 37 degrees kept me inside. Yeah, I'm a pansy like that. Instead, I decided to browse through some pictures from our first 3 months here in Washington, which is what prompted this post. The first 2 pictures are from Manastash Ridge a few weeks ago. The blue sky with the cool clouds is from our weekend trip to Spokane, WA earlier this month. The fence post pic is from an unnamed trail, on the opposing, north side of the Kittitas valley. Second to last is a shot of the original Starbuck's in Seattle at Pike Place Market. And lastly is the pooch, Lance, lazily sunning in our living room here at Whispering Pines.
Have a good week. If you have a second check this out, a great concert that Rae & I have been absorbing this past week.

justice

From the book of Micah, Chapter 6, Verse 8: He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? [from the ESV version of The Bible].

This was a reminder that drop-kicked me in service yesterday. That regardless of how daunting and frustrating it can be to see so much pain & hurt in this world, we as Christian's must continue to seek out and do justice (even in areas that our government blatantly overlooks). We must do this in a kind & merciful way; and we must continue to walk humbly. Something we Americans are lacking in......after all the Manifest Destiny we've gorged ourselves on.

invisible children

This weekend was the 2nd annual Ellensburg Film Festival. I only caught one film, "Invisible Children", which I've been wanting to see for quite a while.
The story is told from the view point of 3 high school guys who, after graduating, decide to leave the comforts of America and travel to Sudan, Africa. They go in search of adventure and the hopes of capturing it all on film.
On arriving in Sudan, they find a virtual wasteland devoid of excitement and humankind. The boy's continue to search for an exciting story and when they begin to think to only "cool" thing they have on tape is the killing of a "gigantic snake", they go on a trip to Gulu, Uganda.
In Gulu, they met the children of the Acholi tribe who have grown up in the 17 year war which, still has no visible endpoint. The rebels who are trying to overthrow the government, The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), drive into the refugee camps at night and abduct the children, ages 8-12, to bolster their troop ranks. You may ask why those ages of children. The answer is coldly logical and sadistic: #1, these children can be easily terrorized into fighting with an indoctrination of beatings and murder of their fellow kids. #2, children that age are big enough to carry automatic rifles and machetes to continue the murder and rape which plagues Uganda & Sudan.
Each night the children of Gulu make a "night commute" from their villages & refugee camps to the surrounding hospitals and town centers to sleep in relative safety. In these sites the children are not at as much of a risk of being abducted by the LRA. This war has been going on for 17+ years with minimal outcry and no media coverage in the United States. In the film one local priest states "If a bomb goes off in Israel the whole world knows about it. If children are killed & abducted in Africa it does not even make the news in America." The priest was referencing a killing of 40+ children who were studying to be priests at his school in Uganda.
The story this movie tells sickens and saddens me; it saddens me that here is another example of tragedy in Africa which it getting minimal outcry in the world and it sickens me that again our country wants little to do with aiding and stopping these crimes against humanity!! (read this) WHY? Because it's happening yet again in "black Africa"? (see posts: speak up and truth in humor)
At the end of the movie the filmmakers ask the viewers for 3 things: Talent, Time, Money, in that order. So, I ask you to take the time to sign the "Children Should Never Be Soldiers Declaration" and send a message to President Bush and your representing member of Congress. Please send a one time gift to the Children of War Center or sponsor the Gulu Community both of which are in Gulu, Uganda and in need of your money. Then, read more about the conflict and use your talent to spread awareness and help end this tragedy. Please help.

moving pictures - 02

"Water" is a somber and interesting movie set in the late 1930's, in India, with Gandhi's rise to power set as the backdrop. Water tells the story of a 8 year old girl who is now a widow and must live a life of poverty apart from normal society according to Hindu law. Go here for the trailer.

"The Fog of War" gives an insider look at Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara during the Vietnam War. This is well worth 90 minutes of your time. McNamara's wit is still sharp at 83 years of age with a great amount of wisdom to pass on. President Bush and his hawks (Rumsfeld & Cheney especially) would do well to heed the "11 lessons" Mr. McNamara has for us in this film.

moving pictures - 01

This is the beggining of a new line of posts regarding cinema.

Tonight, Rae and I saw "Little Miss Sunshine"; which I highly recommend.
A few of the previews looked quite intersting as well so I'll pass the links on to the void:

- "Catch A Fire"

- "The Last King Of Scotland"