I got into watching the Next Great American Band. We even went to a taping of it earlier in the season. It was cool to see real bands with real musical talent rise from various levels of anonymity through the show. It was also great to see such diverse groups make it deep into the finals. Their was bluegrass, gospel, big band, country, rock, emo, pop, funk and more. Some of the bands had struggled for years to make it in the music business, while others had literally just begun with very little experience. My favorites throughout were Denver and the Mile High Orchestra and the Clark Brothers. Both bands were full of believers and used the show as an opportunity to shine some light into the darkness in subtle but meaningful ways.
Last night was the finale and I was so thrilled to see The Clark Brothers win it all. They have a vulnerable authenticity combined with an unflinching passion. Their background as a traveling family doing music for big tent revivals in the South is like a storybook. But, their love for the Lord and their commitment to their faith was evident throughout the show without being preachy or phony or annoying. One of the best moments was captured in the photo below. It was taken just seconds after they were announced as the winners. They didn’t jump up or thump their chests or scream – they spontaneously and in unison fell prostrate. It was their natural reaction to being overwhelmed and it just seemed to fit the moment so well.
To top it off, the Christmas “medley” (I hate that word, so I felt urged to put it in quotes) was actually really good. Ricky Minor put it together and it featured all the different bands mashed up and combined into a bunch of little super groups doing Christmas songs. Each song fit so well and featured each performer perfectly. It managed to not feel overproduced or cheesy somehow – it just felt joyous. And now for the obligatory please comment on my blog questions… Did you manage to catch the show? What did you think of it? Who was your favorite band?
Last week I ran tech for a memorial service. The lady’s name was Erleen. She was 76 years old. Tonight, I did the service for her husband Jack. He was also 76 and had suffered for years from muscular dystrophy. They both served the Lord so faithfully – Erleen in the preschool here at Calvary and Jack as an usher on Sundays. They held on together for so long and there was obviously so much love between the two of them as related in story after story by their family and friends.
It’s a beautiful grace that God allowed Jack to stay around just long enough to be there for Erleen. It’s a small example of how life can sometimes be hard, but God is always good.
I’m such a lousy sick person. I really don’t deal with it well. I woke up Tuesday with razor blades in my throat and at some point between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, my head filled with snot and the throbbing hasn’t stopped since.
Of course, it’s all my fault. On Sunday night, my beautiful wife and I sat on the shore in Newport Harbor watching the Christmas Boat Parade. Then, on Monday I ran sound for Fountain Valley’s Sounds of the Seasons until almost 11 pm. Two long nights in a row without enough rest turned into the perfect recipe for a very sick me.
I took Tuesday off and tried to rest up, which only put me further behind at work and made today that much harder to keep up. Working at a church and getting sick the week before Christmas is like working for H & R Block and getting sick in April. There’s not much you can do about it, because there’s just too much to do. If you’re one of the people who has had to put up with me for the last couple days… I apologize. I wish I didn’t have to be around me, too.
Filed under: Ordinary Life
I got to hang out with some friends of mine last Saturday night and just spend some good, quality man time while our wives were at the movies. We ordered pizza and wings, watched 300 on a big flat screen and played video games. I don’t get to do that nearly often enough. And, oh yeah… 300 is pretty overrated. It was alright, but nothing near the amazing, jaw-dropping, testosterone-pumping epic that people make it out to be. The sweeping appeal of Madden is sort of beyond me, too. The trivial entertainment of the night did manage to create a venue for some serious discussions, though. I was glad for that as well. I’m recognizing the value of my friendships more lately and I hope I can do more things like Saturday night in the future.
Filed under: Finding God in the Ordinary
Last night, a couple hours after I wrote my last post I found out some great news. No, great isn’t a big enough description. How about phenomenal, faith-confirming, God-moving, tear-causing kind of news.
Leslie comes to Calvary to help out with an event I was doing last night and she hands me an envelope from our mortgage company. I begin reading all the details and fine print expecting one more problem being added to the pile, when she finally says flip it over and look at this part…. It was a huge refund check. Our mortgage company had charged us too much and our escrow account had grown too large. So, we got a check back for almost $1600. Plus, they decreased our future payments by about $130 a month.
Wow.
God is so good and I’m so glad that He is looking out for us and providing for us and stretching our faith and causing us to rely on Him. In big ways and small ways, through the ups and the downs – I hope I always recognize when God is at work in my life. And, I pray you see God at work in your life, too.
Filed under: Finding God in the Ordinary
Three weeks ago my computer dies. Then, the main shut off valve to our home breaks Thanksgiving weeekend. Now our water heater has sprung a leak and needs to be replaced. These are expenses you don’t plan for. These are problems that chew up valuable time. These are things that just seem to pile one on top of the other and bring you to your knees leaving you feeling helpless, ignorant and overwhelmed. Is it ever really possible to get ahead of the curve? I need a couple extra thousand dollars to cover this latest round of issues. I’m frustrated… but I know God is still in control and I trust that He’ll sustain us through one storm after the next.
This past weekend was a great start to the Christmas season. After a trip to Trader Joes we drove past a tree lot and decided to make a u-turn to go back and check it out. It was way too pricey, but now we were on a mission. The next lot had much better prices and great service. So, we headed home with a tree tied to the roof of Leslie’s little Honda.
Then, we spent all morning Saturday cleaning and decorating for Christmas. Our place now looks like a snowman convention with an invading horde of gnomes and bears trying to infiltrate the ranks. It’s a real Behrns Christmas. Later that night we did some of our last Christmas shopping and came home to make Christmas cookies and watch TV by the fire.
Finally, after a great morning at church on Sunday we went to lunch with my family. (sidenote: What’s the deal with automatic gratuities on a party of 6, especially when the service is terrible?) Anyway, later that afternoon Leslie and I headed out to Disneyland and had an amazing time. Two random teenage girls gave us their fastpass to Soarin and then we road the monorail from Downtown to Tomorrowland. Along the way we heard they were having the Candlelight Service that night by the train station. It was really amazing to see a worship service with choir, orchestra and scripture reading by Jane Seymour right in the middle of Disneyland. After that we met up with Leslie’s family and saw Enchanted. A surprisingly good movie. Overall, it was a fantastic weekend and it’s definitely beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. What Christmas type things have you done so far?
