RED SOX!!!! World Series Champs!!!!!!!

Heck yeah baby!! The Red Sox sweep the Rockies to win their second world series trophy in 4 years. What a series… GO SOX!!!!!

Identity Crisis, part 2

Okay, as if it couldn’t get any worse!! We were in Dillard’s the other day and we came in through the women’s shoe dept. We walked in to find a christmas tree lit up right in front of the swimsuits, and when I turned to my left, there were some manikins dressed in bikini’s right in the middle of the winter coats. WHAT?!? Have we landed on the surface of the moon?? First of all, it’s weird enough to see a huge department full of swimsuits at the end of October, but then to see winter coats immediately adjacent to that… huh?…. we’re in PHOENIX, it never EVER gets cold here… EVER. We’re not even past Halloween yet… what a weird place. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the Christmas season, my good friend David and I were talking about how the first time it gets cold… out comes the Christmas music. If I had it my way it would be Christmas all year long!! I took pictures of this circus and will post them as soon as I can get them uploaded. You should have seen the looks I got from the shoe lady when I cracked out a camera and took a picture. Hehe… oh the memories we’ll take from this place.

Incredible Concert!

We got to see Bethany Dillon, Sanctus Real, and Steven Curtis Chapman last night at the Celebrity Theater here in Phoenix. As always, SCC teed it up and knocked it out of the park. Absolutely phenomenal night! This was my sixth time to see him live. He’s one of the few people that I can honestly say is better live. It was so cool to see his sons playing with him on tour. His 16 year old son Will Franklin is an incredible drummer (could he be better than Will Denton??) and his 18 year old son Caleb was on guitar and vocals. You could totally tell that these guys truly had fun playing together and you could see that SCC was so proud of his boys.

Music has always played such a huge role in my own walk, but I’m so “iffy” these days about the latest Christian band to grace a cd cover. I’ve just seen too many bands that I walk away from a concert or event with such a gross taste in my mouth. I can’t stand ego’s and arrogance… that’s another topic for another day! I appreciate Steven Curtis Chapman’s authenticity and genuine heart. I have never ever wondered whether this guy was walking with God or not. If you look at his lyrics, every song is inspired by and comes straight from the Word. I’ve been able to meet him a few times and every time it blows me away, he’s such a humble guy. There are very few people that I look up to and admire, but he’s definately one of them. I have grown up with his music and can look back and seen the times when God has used his music to help me through the different seasons of life. Last night was such a blessing and a much needed time of encouragement… good times!!

A little humor to brighten up your day!

While screaming at the tv during the Red Sox game, I saw this hilarious Orbit gum commercial. I couldn’t stop laughing. Enjoy!!

Identity Crisis

Okay. It’s no great mystery to anyone – I’m a scrooge when it comes to Halloween. I’ve never really like the day. I can’t stomach what it stands for, and I hate that we can promote this screwy day and yet not allow Easter or Christmas celebrations (but that’s another topic for another day) Every time I go in one of those Halloween stores in the mall I just get the “darkest” impressions, it’s just an evil thing. Maybe that’s just my gift of discernment… who knows. I was the kid growing up that would dress up in all black – not for a costume – but to hide and jack with the trick-or-treaters parading through the neighborhoods. Slingshots, water balloons, bb guns, eggs – you name it. We had a blast (and got in a lot of trouble!) I digress…

So I’m at the local Wal-Mart shopping for snacks tonight when I hear the faint sound of Jingle Bells coming from Isle 36. WHAT?? I began to investigate matters and realized that my ears hadn’t deceived me. There was at least 5 isles dedicated to Christmas. It’s OCTOBER 23!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? What in the world is going on?? No wonder our kids are so confused. I wonder what Sam Walton would think of this. In my house growing up we didn’t even think about Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving. What a night… Does this stuff mess with anyone else besides me???

Time to go enjoy my flavor blasted goldfish and a frosty cold Diet Coke.

Until next time sports fans…

Renovation

I was reading in Colossians late last night and came across a verse that I guess I’ve read hundreds of times, but for some reason something grabbed this time. Col. 3:9b-10 reads this way in the NASB:

“…since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being RENEWED to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.”

The word used there for “renewed” is literally “renovated” How cool is that? So, given the word junkie that I have become (I have my greek profs to thank for this!) I started digging just a little below the surface. I went and looked the word up in the trusty Webster’s dictionary. Check out the definition:

Renovate (transitive verb):
1: to restore to a former better state (as by cleaning, repairing, or rebuilding)
2: to restore to life, vigor, or activity : revive

How cool is that? I’ll write more later tonight when I have the chance to dig around and play with it in the greek. I know that sometimes preachers make too much out of the meaning of a word and even build entire sermons around them (yikes!) But there are times when you come across a word and when you dig a little you find a beauty and a depth of meaning that you often miss when you take a surface level reading of God’s Word. Another interesting fact, Noah Webster was a devout Christian. Many definitions today still make reference to Christianity. His 1828 Dictionary remains a standard. I was searching for a copy of this dictionary and came across this short description of Noah Webster.

Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language was produced during the years when the American home, church and school were established upon a Biblical and patriotic basis.

Webster, descended on his mother’s side from Pilgrim Governor, William Bradford of Plymouth Plantation, made important contributions to an American educational system which kept the nation on a Christian Constitutional course for many years.

The famous “blue-backed Speller,” his “Grammars,” and “Reader,” all contained Biblical and patriotic themes and Webster spearheaded the flood of educational volumes emphasizing Christian Constitutional values for more than a century.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the 1828 American Dictionary should contain the greatest number of Biblical definitions given in any reference volume. Webster considered “education useless without the Bible” and while he cautioned against too extensive use of the Bible in schools as “tending to irreverence,” he reiterated,

“In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed. . . . No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people. . . .”

To purchase a copy of Webster’s 1828 Dictionary Click here

New SCC Album released today – Go get it!!

What a night…

Not much sleep to be had in the Bailey Estate last night. Let me preface all of this by saying I’ve lived in some crazy places. During seminary I lived in what we affectionately called “the Gospel ghetto” I saw my house on Cops at least three times and had my truck absolutely destroyed after someone broke into it. Welcome to seminary Bryan… There were many nights when we had the cops buzzing around our neighborhood. I have seen some crazy things take place during the wee hours on the night. But I thought I was leaving all of that when I moved out here to Phoenix. We live in a pretty nice part of Phoenix, lots of fancy houses and cars… but I guess at times you forget that whether you have lots of money, or very little of it – none of us escape the problems of life. I guess in these wealthy communities the problems are masked by the fancy facades and shiny cars. Just more stuff to hide your problems behind.

I heard some yelling late last night and stepped out to investigate matters. I saw a cop hiding behind the garage as if he was looking for someone. I then noticed a police officer coming up our stairs – I thought “oh crud, this guy probably thinks I’M the bad guy” So I did what we all do – head for the peep hole in the door. Turns out he wasn’t looking for me, but started banging on our neighbors door. After several minutes of this, he finally knocked on my door and wanted to know if I knew who lived there. We have met this woman before, and knew she should be home. So he went back to beating on the door with his mag light. She finally answered and they began to talk. I figured maybe her car had been broken into and they were looking for her to tell her. They took her down stairs and I heard her ask “should I lock my door or get my keys?” They assured her everything would be okay. So now, late night has turned into early morning, and I started seeing cops everywhere. I had no idea what was going on – but I didn’t like what I was hearing and seeing. I then started hearing the police yell for this guy who lives a few doors over, telling him to come out with his hands in the air, they knew he was in there. Up to this point, I had let my wife sleep, I didn’t see a need for her to lose sleep. But when I started hearing all the yelling, I woke her up and told her to get dressed. Just as we came out onto our back porch we heard what sounded like two gunshots and then saw the swat team in full blown riot gear. CRAZY!! It freaked me out because we had no idea what had just happened. As our neighbor came back up the stairs, she said they were evacuating her because her place shared a common wall with this person the police were looking for. She said somebody had just committed suicide. Wow…

So this morning I spoke with someone who said that it was an older guy who had just gone through a divorce and the stress was too much – so he killed himself. I guess we did hear gunshots…

It just breaks my heart to realize what’s going on in our world. You don’t have to look far to find hurts. I sit wondering if I could have changed anything if I had gotten to know this guy. I saw him all the time. Really wild. I wonder sometimes if we get so busy and preoccupied with our own lives that we forget to look around and see the pain and hurt in the eyes of those we come into contact with everyday. What are we doing? What is the church doing? What am I doing? What did I do? I know this stuff happens all the time, but when it happens in your own backyard things take on a whole new perspective. Sad day around here. Crazy night. I think it’s time for a nap…

Go Red Sox!!!!

Why I love the weekend

Okay… you would think that the planets have all aligned themselves in just the right way. I can’t remember the last time there was a weekend as packed as this one. Goodness…
1. Texas Tech is having a great season (even though we gave the game to Mizzou yesterday) gotta love the Red Raiders this season. Graham Harrell for Heisman??
2. The Red Sox have come back. Looks a little like 2004. They SPANKED the Indians last night and everything is set for game 7 tonight. Go BoSox!
3. God’s team: The Dallas Cowboys is off to their best start in years. I’ve been a Cowboys fan my whole life, and it finally feels good to be one again. Cowboys are looking to teach the Vikings how to play ball.
4. My wife just happens to love football as well (what a blessing!)

It’s been one of those weekends where I don’t even want to get off the couch. I’m racking up some frequent flyer miles on my couches and I think there’s a permanent impression of my backside on one of them. Man I love this time of year!!