True Bravery

Today is the 67th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Midway. It was true bravery on display. As I am not a historian, There is a link to a well-written summary of the battle here. Please read it and think about the men who gave their lives, not only in this battle on 4-6 June 1942, but for all of the men and women who've made the ultimate sacrifice for our country before and since.



Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests of June 5th, 1989. Below is the "Tank Man." He stood in the path of an oncoming tank. When it stopped, he spoke with the tank driver and was ultimately taken away by two Chinese officials. We don't know what eventually became of him, but he is remembered as one who helped change history.


There are lessons to be learned here.

A group working together, focused on one goal can accomplish great things. Jesus plead for His church to have unity, to be as one body. This body changed the world.

However, one man can change the world through his example. I believe Jesus taught that, as well.

A little faith, a little bravery, and great things happen.

---Jeff

God Is Good

God is good.

I can slander Him.
I can question His authority.
I can give His credit to someone else.
But none of that changes the fact that

God is good.

And He doesn't change.
His love, His grace, His peace, His joy,
His kingdom, His Shalom is not a moving target.
If I miss the mark, it's not His fault.
It is I who need to adjust my windage,
my sight alignment, and point of impact.

God is good.


---Jeff

Remember The Troops On Memorial Day

It's been a good day today. We've relaxed, played Wii Madden 2008, stuffed ourselves twice and generally fellowshipped and enjoyed each others' company. We did all of this while others are fighting and dying for us in the mountains of Afghanistan and in the sands of Iraq.

Please pause at least for a moment to reflect on what these proud warriors are doing for us now. Reflect on what the brave fighters of our past have done for us. Think about what future conflicts will cost.

And pray for all of them.

Semper Fi to my USMC brethren.

Carry on the good fight, my brothers and sisters in all of our armed forces.

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

---Jeff

Drinkin' the Raider Nation Kool-Aid

I was in a rather raucous mood today, reading about my Oakland Raiders in the blogosphere and on UseNet and on the message boards--taking in all of the negative comments, flak and general flotsam and jetsam when I came upon a post asking for a positive take on the Raiders' offseason and chances for a winning season in 2009.

"Self," said I, "you need to write an exhortation to the Raider Nation, one that moves the Nation's faithful to positive digs and to break the chains of the oppressive mediots who only serve to drag us down."

So I sat down to write an exegesis of whimsy, an ode to the famous Raider Nation Preacher commercial a few years back. Here it T.I. IS:

"And comes the hour when the ENTIRE nation shall rise with one voice, exclaiming the praises of the victorious on the field, waxing eloquent in boisterous fashion, spying the multiple playoff wins of the vaunted Silver-and-Black and the vanquishing of its foes and getting to the task of relishing the Super Bowl trophies to come!

We are victorious!

We are champions!

We are the RAIDERS!!!!!!!

Where, oh death, is thy victory? Where, oh death, is thy sting?

We who have languished in the deserted wastelands of loss and losing seasons have seen the mountaintop. We have seen the river. We have seen the valley. We are well nigh upon the land of milk and honey! Let us cross, not with the trepidation of the fearful nor the weak, yet with the confidence and yea, the fearsomeness of true victors coming to claim our rightful place atop the league!

Let the church say amen, yes, and amen...

Hallelujah, Halle Berry, Hallelujah."

Yeah, I'm down with the sickness. That Raider Nation Kool-Aid beckons...

---Jeff

Baby birdssssss!!!!

I got a chance to see a pretty cool event and take some pics yesterday: Poppa bird feedin' his chickzzzzz... ;^)


The babies are asleep, but the first one wakes up, ready for chow.

Feed us, daddyyyy!!!!!!!

Ahhhh, much better. Yummmmmm...

The Music Boat

First Day went on a Music Boat cruise a couple of weeks ago, and I thought I'd share some videos and photos from the event.

Mike Williams caught us on video at the concert in Lakeland, Florida the Sunday before the cruise. Here's two videos: one is a montage of the entire concert, and one is a clip of Kyle's vocal percussion solo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgi5QTH6vik&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qi7E1Y0gMk&feature=related

Here's a couple of pics from stage from the same concert:


Actually, the last was as we were walking out, but they seemed to enjoy themselves.

We got to perform three times on the boat--said boat is pictured here for your viewing pleasure:



Here's some stage and audience pics from our concert around the dance floor--I don't know who thought it was cool to have an acappella group sing in front of a dance floor, but here we are in all of our glory...


Hey! You're facing the wrong way! The audience is THATAWAY!!!!!! ;^) Bruce and Tim are the only guys facing the audience, including me...

Here's an audience shot, while we performed. The guy in the center with the blue striped shirt and khaki pants was absolutely killin' me. I think he was enjoying himself.


Oh, by the way, the private beach was wonderful.

One of the great perks of this cruise was that we got to meet some really good people and see and hear some outstanding music. I was initially against taking band pics for feelin' like a groupie, but I was "ordered" to bring some back via a friend's phone call about halfway through the cruise. The next pic is of a Christian metal band called Pillar. I'd never heard 'em or of 'em before, but we met them in the hotel lobby before we went on the boat--these are great guys! Very personable.

And this is Taylor, their drummer. He shared our flight back to Memphis. It was a blast!


...And a glorious time was had by all!

---Jeff

First Bloom 2009

I took this shot a few weeks ago, and the rose bush has since exploded in vibrant color, but I wanted to post this shot to mark the event.