"King" Hooker

I'm a guitar player and I have been at it for a long time. I consider myself to be fairly proficient- at least as a rhythm player- but sometimes I just have to remind myself that trying harder doesn't always translate into "better." My favorite blues artist has always been and will always be John Lee Hooker. He may not be the most technically gifted guitar player but, as this video demonstrates, many times less is more. Speed and the number of notes played can never be a substitute for artistic vision; and John Lee Hooker has that in spades. You can talk about B.B. King, Clapton, Stevie Ray and Muddy Waters all day long (and I love all these guys) but to me the King of the Blues is John Lee Hooker, case closed.

The Warrior

I first accepted Christ's offer of a new life in the fall of 1991 but, like many others, the seed fell onto a rocky path and sprang up quickly. When the sun came out, however, it began to shrivel up and then the weeds came up and began to choke the shriveled plant. The Lord, in His infinite mercy, never gave up on me, though, and, within a few years, brought Bev into my life and one night on my way home to Sandusky from Clyde I listened to this song. By the end of the song, I had rededicated my life to Christ and have never looked back in 12 years. Needless to say Mylon and this song, The Warrior, hold a very special place in my heart.

Your choice

I was reading some passages from Joshua today as part of a daily reading thing I do through Ginghamsburg Church and this passage from Joshua 23 really hit me right between the eyes: 23:14,15 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. ¹⁵ But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (TNIV)

That's putting the choice right out there on the table isn't it? It immediately reminded me of one of my all time favorite Bob Dylan songs, You Gotta Serve Somebody (click on the Slow Train Coming album cover link to hear the recorded version of the song)

Al Franken????

Does anyone care LESS than I do about whether Al Franken makes it into the Senate as the Senator from Minnesota? I don't think it's possible to care less than I do. I just read an article in the Wall Street Journal about how he is "studying the issues" in his down time while waiting for the dispute over the election results to be worked out (after a recount, Franken holds a slim 225 vote lead.) Franken says that his would be a vote for the stimulus package, if only he were allowed to vote. He adds, sagely, that he would, however, "push for measures to assure that the money would be spent wisely." How responsible! What a guy. He goes on to say that he has given no thought as to what he might do if his opponent ultimately prevails. I hope he's not contemplating a return to comedy- we need one more bad comedian even less than we need another bad senator.

Somebody once told me that I looked like Al Franken and I was highly offended- not because he's ugly (I realize I'm no George Clooney) but because he's an idiot.

What is going on out there in Minnesota? Remember that this is the same state that elected Jesse "The Body" Ventura to the office of Governor a while back. BREAKING NEWS: Anoka County just found more than a dozen ballots that were not counted in the recount! Big surprise...I wonder if the ink is dry.

I posted this video on my Facebook page a while ago. I'm not much of a "Facebooker" so I don't think many people got to see it. I want to post it again here because I think EVERYONE needs to see it. I first saw it at the Willow Creek Association Leadership Summit last August and it blew me away. If this doesn't fill you with "Holy Discontent" nothing will. Let's get fired up and ask God to SEND US! P.S. Watch it in full screen.

Truths drawn from the fast

Now that my 21 day fast is over, I have been looking back and trying to determine what exactly I have learned from the experience.

I guess, first and foremost, I learned how much of my life is driven by my fleshly wants, cravings and desires. Only rarely was I physically hungry at any time during the fast- most notably the last two days- but what was driving me to distraction were the intense cravings I experienced for breads, chips and peanut butter; all of which are things I certainly don't need for survival. I realize that I have to look into my heart and determine, through prayer, what it is that I lack and what need I am trying to fulfill through eating these things and why that need is so important to me. God provides all we need to sustain life, and life abundant; as long as we are driven by cravings, whether they be food, sex, drugs/alcohol, T.V., material things etc., we are distancing ourselves from God and His will for our lives.

As I headed into the last two days of the fast, I was ready for it just to be over. My fleshly body was telling me that I had no more to gain from finishing out the last two days and that my hunger was blocking any further communication with God. My spirit, however, was calling a different tune and I was led to No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton.
Chapter 6 is titled "Asceticism and Sacrifice"
and I thought that would be a good place to start. Here are a few excerpts from what I found: "The spirit of man must first subject itself to grace and then it can bring the flesh in subjection both to grace and to itself. Grace inspires us with no desire except to do the will of God, no matter what His will may be, no matter whether it be pleasing or unpleasant to our own nature." Romans 8:13 "if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."

"It is one thing to live in the flesh, and quite another to live according to the flesh. The second case makes the flesh an end in itself."

"It gives great glory to God for a person to live in this world using and appreciating the good things of life without care, without anxiety, and without inordinate passion. In order to know and love God through His gifts, we have to use them as if we used them not- and yet we have to use them." See (1Corinthians 7:29-31)

"The man who loves God more than himself is indifferent to the impact of things in his own life. He considers things only in relation to God's glory and God's will... But he is no more indifferent to the value of things in themselves than he is indifferent to God. He loves them in the same act with which he loves God. That is: he loves them in the act by which he has renounced them, and in that love by renouncing them he has regained them on a higher level."

"The virtue that is sufficiently resolute to pay the price of self-denial will eventually taste greater pleasure in the things it has renounced than could ever be enjoyed by the sinner who clings to those same things as desperately as if they were his god."

This is some profound stuff, I know, but this concept has had a great impact on me and given me much to pray and study about as I move forward after this fast. ALL things are a gift from God, and only when we are able to sacrificially give them up to Him, can we accept them back as His gift to us and truly appreciate and enjoy them. I've got a long way to go but this fast has given me a goal to strive for.