Short Story

Today, on Twitter (please, stop throwing things), I decided to write a snippet of a story. Not really a short story, just a kind of evocative moment from a story. The challenge being that Twitter only lets you post 140 characters tops.

So I wrote a little bit about Rusty, a farmer, who's surprised to see it rain.

Here's what I (after about a dozen revisions) came up with:

Stepping down, gingerly, his boots send up a cloud of dust to mimic the grey draped on the horizon. He shades his eyes with his hand: "Hm."

You should try it! It's fun. And if you don't have a Twitter (snobs), you can just limit yourself manually. (Leave your story as a comment to this post, or link to it so I can read it.)

Sermon Video (April 26 2009):

The verse for this week's video was very short, thankfully, I got a little help brainstorming some ideas for interpreting the theme from my friend Ryan Hollister.

In talking with him, it came out that I might want to try taking this video into edgier territory. I then thought of the music that my friend Joel Clarkson sent to me that I thought I wouldn't be able to use in a sermon video. However, with this new direction, it fit perfectly.

I'm proud of the result. Thanks to all who helped!



Other notes: I switched fonts for this one. I hope to do that a little more from now on (I also switched from regular 'text' to 'outlined text', which I was too lazy/didn't have enough time to do before. I'm liking the direction things are going here. Now, I just need to keep my friend Joel busy with his music-making, so I continually have new material to draw from!

The song, by the way, is called "Panic", and obviously, it's by Joel Clarkson.

The North Country

Other Songs

To me this is weird...

My school is now following Jeffrey Overstreet on Twitter.

?

The only way they possibly could have found out about him is through my account. It's weird because it's like two of my sort-of friends meet each other through me and then like each other better than me.

Sad face.

I know, of course this isn't the case. But it's still weird to me.

Have you noticed that people are beginning to write the phrase "no one" as one word: "noone?"

Does that look awkward to you? What do you think?

An Answer to My Own Question

Here is a wonderfully hopeful song (from an artist I'm coming to appreciate and be grateful for more and more):



Grab your ticket and your suitcase
Thunder's rolling down the tracks
You don't know where you're goin'
But you know you won't be back
Darlin' if you're weary
Lay your head upon my chest
We'll take what we can carry
And we'll leave the rest

Big Wheels rolling through fields
Where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams

I will provide for you
And I'll stand by your side
You'll need a good companion for
This part of the ride
Leave behind your sorrows
Let this day be the last
Tomorrow there'll be sunshine
And all this darkness past

Big wheels roll through fields
Where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams

This train
Carries saints and sinners
This train
Carries losers and winners
This Train
Carries whores and gamblers
This Train
Carries lost souls
This Train
Dreams will not be thwarted
This Train
Faith will be rewarded
This Train
Hear the steel wheels singin'
This Train
Bells of freedom ringin'
This Train
Carries broken-hearted
This Train
Thieves and sweet souls departed
This Train
Carries fools and kings
This Train
All aboard

This Train
Dreams will not be thwarted
This Train
Faith will be rewarded
This Train
Hear the steel wheels singin'
This Train

The strangest thing you've seen in while...

... is the video for Over the Rhine's "Desperate for Love."
Definitely not what I pictured, but a lovely video none-the-less.

What's your favorite Gospel song?

This time of year is a good time to remember the beauty of the Gospel story.

I was recently reminded that Over the Rhine's "Trumpet Child" is a beautiful retelling of the Gospel.

What's your favorite Gospel song? It can be any genre, just let it be a song that communicates the Gospel to your heart.

The lyrics to a few of my favorites are below. I'll post more as I think of them.

The Trumpet Child (Over the Rhine)

The trumpet child will blow his horn
Will blast the sky till it’s reborn
With Gabriel’s power and Satchmo’s grace
He will surprise the human race

The trumpet he will use to blow
Is being fashioned out of fire
The mouthpiece is a glowing coal
The bell a burst of wild desire

The trumpet child will riff on love
Thelonious notes from up above
He’ll improvise a kingdom come
Accompanied by a different drum

The trumpet child will banquet here
Until the lost are truly found
A thousand days, a thousand years
Nobody knows for sure how long

The rich forget about their gold
The meek and mild are strangely bold
A lion lies beside a lamb
And licks a murderer’s outstretched hand

The trumpet child will lift a glass
His bride now leaning in at last
His final aim to fill with joy
The earth that man all but destroyed

All Because Of You (U2)

I was born a child of grace
Nothing else about the place
Everything was ugly but your beautiful face
And it left me no illusion

I saw you in the curve of the moon
In the shadow cast across my room
You heard me in my tune
When I just heard confusion

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am, I am

I like the sound of my own voice
I didn't give anyone else a choice
An intellectual tortoise
Racing with your bullet train

Some people get squashed crossing the tracks
Some people got high rises on their backs
I'm not broke but you can see the cracks
You can make me perfect again

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am, I am

I'm alive
I'm being born
I just arrived, I'm at the door
Of the place I started out from
And I want back inside

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am

Some thoughts for you, from... everyone.

“Well, the stars, they have all gone,
and I’m glad you’ve come along”
—Nick Cave

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.”
— G. K. Chesterton, “On Chasing After One’s Hat”

“What the biblical revelation tells us, a revelation that is summed up and completed in Jesus, is that we can’t become more like Jesus (more pleasing or acceptable to God) by becoming less human, less physical, less emotional, less involved with our families, less associated with socially or morally undesirable people. We don’t become more spiritual by becoming less human.”
—Eugene H. Peterson, Tell It Slant

“One more day
is another day away
from the girl
from the Red River shore.”
—Bob Dylan

Double Feature

Pull up a chair, pop the popcorn and grab your locator-compass: Here the last two episodes of the second season of Wanted! Thank you, everyone for your support!

Enjoy!

Beautiful

(More images here.)

(Calls this home.)

We're Wrapped!

The final episode of Wanted! Season Two is in the can.

We're done.

It's been a long, crazy, tiring ride, and I can't believe it's over, but it is.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this series! I'm very proud of what we've done.

And now it's time to sleep.