Tell 'em how we gonna come (CRUNK) Tell 'em why they don't want none (CRUNK) Tell 'em why they better run (CRUNK) CRUNK CRUNK crunk Stand up and get crunk (CRUNK) Stand up and get crunk (CRUNK)
Here we come to get you (you better get crunk) Here we come to get you (a little bit more crunk) Here we come to get you (you better get crunk) Here we come to get you (a little bit more crunk)
Charlee took some video last night of the trip home after our big win. More to come.
You've got to kinda watch out, especially with the little ones, ya know? But leave it to my wife to talk about the historicity of the floats. Good job baby.
Note: I never imagined I would be writing a joint post on both the Saints victory over the Vikings and the earthquake in Haiti. I've been meaning to write my Haiti post for some time, but after the Saints victory, it all clicked together for me. I was going to write two posts, but I think it would have been repetitive.
Who Dat and Heaven
Sunday was a big night for the city of New Orleans. I watched the game with my brothers and sisters at Vintage NOLA and had an experience that I had not ever had in my entire life: the experience of an entire city celebrating. Everyone and I mean every.single.person. was celebrating the Saint's victory in some way. Here is how we celebrated at Vintage.
It was like that all over the city. At 12:30 when I went to bed there was a guy walking down the street with a trumpet playing "When the Saints Go Marching In" I know it was a real trumpet, because he messed up twice. Now, I'm not going to go pointing myself out in the video, but I am dancing along with everyone else. There was a huge surge of emotion when the kick was good. I cheered and roared at that moment for the Saints victory more than I cheered and roared at the following events:
My high school graduation
My college graduation
LSU's 2003 National Campionship
LSU's 2008 National Championship
My engagement to Charlee
My wedding
The birth of my daughter
It's a historical fact that I did not cheer and roar at those events like I did when the kick split the uprights. You can ask the people that were there with me at the events. You can even look at the video of my engagement to Charlee. I am not saying that I felt less excitement or emotion at these events. I can assure you they were moments of some of the greatest joy and satisfaction I have ever experienced, and I can assure you that the emotions I felt at many of these events were deeper and better than the emotions I felt at the Saint's victory. (In fact, I started playing the video of my engagement in the background while I was typing the last sentence. Only the audio was playing, and when it got to the part where the banner dropped, I had a flurry of butterflies in my stomach. That was a wonderful wonderful night.)
But the Saint's victory was unique. It was unique for the surge of emotion. It was unique for the historical precedent. And it was unique, because I walked out of the building and celebrated with an entire city full of people (minus the Vikings...ouch) who were all celebrating at the same time. Then a thought came upon me. I thought to myself, "How wonderful will the new Kingdom be?" If I can feel this way about celebrating a football game -something shallow and in the scope of eternity, meaningless- with a city full of people, how deafening will be the roar and cheers and emotions of the new Kingdom? We couldn't hear ourselves think for the roar and excitement of seeing the ball split the uprights. How much will we cheer and roar with perfect voices and celebrate when we, a people as numerous as the stars in the heavens, behold with perfect eyes the Son of God -the Lamb exalted above all thrones and rulers?
1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. -Rev. 20:1-5
Hope and Haiti
Haiti. Wow. Charlee and I have been following the coverage. Our hearts break for the families shattered and the babies left orphaned. I cannot provide you with any information that you probably do not already know or with any that you're not already numb to. Haiti is broken. Some people have actually said that it is permanently broken -that we really should not try too hard to get Haiti back on its feet from a rebuilding standpoint. I do not know the current figure, but at one point Americans were giving something like $1.3 million per minute to Haitian relief. That is wonderful, and I thank God for showing mercy in that area.
Help and humanitarian aid will continue to pour into the country, into a situation that for so many is hopeless. These things will help to heal the wounds that have been opened in Haiti, but they ultimately cannot undo what has been done. Haiti is broken.
I can offer bandages to cover the wounds. I can take an orphan into my home. However, I cannot offer anything in myself that will fix Haiti. But Jesus can. Jesus is coming, and he today invites all Haitians, indeed all the world, to live in a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, a Kingdom that will not be moved. People are looking around them, and their families are dead. Their bodies are bruised and broken.
Their homes are rubble. There is nothing left for them in this world, and all the aid that the US and the EU can offer cannot undo the tragedy. This life is now an endless sea of pain for them. For these people Jesus offers a family, a home in a everlasting Kingdom, and the endless joys and pleasures of a good King who is worthy of all worship and praise. We can shower Haiti with food, water, doctors, money, and construction. These things are all good an necessary. But the only true hope for the Haitian people is the good news of Jesus, come to save the world from sin, Satan, and death. And coming again to rule forever in the New Kingdom, a place of everlasting life and joy that will not be shaken.
3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." 5And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." -Rev. 21:3-5
*All photos taken from the Boston Globe. They have done an amazing job of covering the earthquake. The videos are from Rob Wilton and Dennis LaGorio respectively.
This year was a very polarizing year for me cinematically. There were a lot of movies that I loved and a lot that I hated. There were not many in between.
10. Julie and Julia -This one really surprised me. It takes a lot for a movie about cooking through a cookbook to succeed. And this one has it all. It was fun to watch, and I was captivated by both story lines. 9. Terminator Salvation -I've permanently suspended my disbelief with time travel movies. Lost is the only time travel concept that I have seen that seems plausible. However, Terminator 3 was a good effort at fixing the time loop problem. Lots of people did not like Salvation. I think that the steady pacing and the effects kept the story moving along enough to disguise its flaws. 8. The Bros Bloom -I guess I just have to admit it: I like Rian Johnson's writing. I think the guy could write a movie about sun dried tomatoes, and I would think it was the best movie ever. If you like a movie where every line can be hung on the wall as a quote, you'll enjoy this caper flick. 7. Away We Go -If you can get past the opening scene, this movie is excellent. I suspected that John Krasinski could break out of The Office and pull off a role like this, but I never imagined that Maya Rudolph had this in her. 6. Taken -Is the plot terribly deep? No. But the movie makes a promise, and then it delivers. You took my daughter. Now I'm going to take her back and kill you. 5. Star Trek -This movie will likely polarize Trekkies, but I think a fresh start for the franchise is just what was needed. They picked the right actors too. I was waiting for Spock to saw someone's head off with his finger the whole time. 4. Gran Torino -Clint Eastwood's deconstruction of Dirty Harry. This movie is a hit. I never realized what a good actor Eastwood is until I saw him write and direct. He's not just a caged beast that they unleash to play a role and then put back in a box. He's very smart. 3. Up -I cried twice during this movie, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Beautiful film with a beautiful story. I really could have made 1-3 a three way tie. Oddly enough Up and Grand Torino are back to back on my list. That makes me think of a Youtube video I saw a while back. Check it out.
2. Inglourious Basterds -Terrantino's best film since Pulp Fiction. Yeah I said it. The dialogue is incredible, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. 1. District 9 -Go watch this movie and take a stab at what the budget was. The best movie of the year was made for a tenth of the cost of Avatar. If you have not seen District 9, go see it. The most spectacular thing about the movie is the aliens' eyes. You can see the soul of a person in them, and it only makes it that much more horrendous when the South Africans cannot.
There were a lot of movies this year that I was really disappointed in. Here are the highlights, er lowlights.
2009 Hall of Shame Avatar -This movie is breathtakingly gorgeous. You can see the sweat glands on the Na'vi faces. The scenery looks real. They also were able to fix that weird thing that tends to happen when real actors interact with CG characters. Based solely upon visuals, this was the best movie of the year. BUT...it's Pocahontas. No, really. It's Disney's Pocahontas. Total rip off. If you took Pocahontas and added in Fern Gully and some Iraq war jabs, you've got Avatar. Don't believe me? Look at this (SPOILER ALERT): Revolutionary Road -"We had a second child to prove the first one wasn't an accident." This movie was a downward spiral of suck. Anyone who loves their marriage and wants to fight for it should stay away. This is just an tragic exercise in bad solutions to marital problems. X-Men Origins: Wolverine -Disaster from start to finish. What serious Wolverine fan could love this movie? Have any of the writers ever picked up a comic book? And don't get me started on the CG...it looks like a fifth grade science project.
Al Mohler gives the best summation of Oral Roberts' life and ministry:
I am thankful for every sinner who came to know the Gospel of Christ through the preaching of Oral Roberts, and I heard him preach about salvation in ways that were true and powerful. But I can only lament the prosperity theology that he leaves in his long shadow.
From one of the most honest pro-choice articles I have read:
And then there was Harris, who wrote about performing an abortion on a woman who was 23 weeks along and then immediately running to deliver a premature baby of 23 to 24 weeks. "I thought to myself how bizarre it was that I could have legally dismembered this fetus-now-newborn if it were inside its mother’s uterus," she writes, "but that the same kind of violence against it now would be illegal, and unspeakable."
When life does not begin at conception, the question of when it does begin becomes a big gray blur. I once took a class with a guy that said abortion should be legal up to age 26. After all, that is when the brain is fully formed. Only then, he claimed, are you completely human.
When I was a younger, thinner, adolescent, bleach blonde (awful I know) teenager, I would have conversations with my pastor during which I would rail about the silliness, injustice, and unbiblical nature of the church's practices. And I would go on and on about how I wanted to do church like it was done in the New Testament --like the early church did it. You see, at some point church got off track (probably around the time that Rome adopted Christianity). It's how we got the crusades and the protestant-Catholic wars of the reformation and the coldness of hyper-calvinism and the arrogance of Manifest Destiny and the closed-mindedness of fundamentalism and the scattershot of denominationalism and ...Baptist deacons! I thought I was humble and revolutionary (Pop Evangelical culture told me to be that way after all), but little did I know, my view was quite arrogant for several reasons.
1. I falsely assumed that church had been done wrongly for almost 2000 years. You can look at history one of two ways. Either it's chaotic, and God has said how things should be done, and we are stuck until we can get it right, or God has been doing something in the earth for 2000 (much more than that actually) years. In my youth I looked at history and the events that have happened and assumed that since God hates sin, then he has hated everything that has gone on for the last 2000 years. I don't think that any more. God is telling a story, and He's been working for 2000 years through sinful men who trusted in Him for righteousness. God has been working, and it's not always pretty, because we're sinful, but he has absolutely been weaving history for His glory and our good.
2. I falsely assumed that there is only one way of doing church. Acts 2:42-47 is definitely the biblical in method for doing church in my mind. I took that description of the authentic expression of church to be very narrow rather than thinking that its proper application is actually very broad. A church in China is going to look very different culturally than a church in Georgia, and that's great as long as both are doing Acts 2:42-47. My mistake was assuming that a church in 1998 had to look culturally like a church in 60 AD. There is more than one way to accomplish what was going on in Acts. God has made it that way so that all peoples can worship and glorify him in the culture and time that they live in --in the culture and time that He has placed them in.
3. I falsely assumed that I was special. Let me throw down some Tyler Durden right here. "Listen up, maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else." Now I'm not trying to get into a discussion about the Imago Dei here. I understand the value of the image of God, but the same image of God that I possess is the same one that all men possess. I am not special. It's arrogant to assume that I am the one individual in 2000 years that has figured out how to do church rightly. Other guys have come before God countless times with broken hearts and read the Bible. God has told them to do things, and they have obeyed. We're all sinners an we've all gotten it wrong, but in obedience to Christ, we've all gotten it right. I'm not special. If God wants to make me a Billy Graham or a nameless faceless guy who is forgotten immediately by everyone after he dies, that's God's business not mine. My job is to be faithful. He gives the ideas. He gives the strategies. He gives the words. He gives the grace.
I say all these things, because there are guys out there who are like I was. Don't assume that there's just one way of doing things. Just because you do "simple church" or have a $200 million building doesn't mean you've got the market cornered. Don't assume that you're the only one who has it right. Don't assume that church history has nothing to teach you. God is telling a really big story. Let's play our part and look at the whole story. Maybe he put Nicaea and Calvin and Luther and Fundamentalism in history for a reason. Let's rely upon Him and his Word.
"My love of consistency with my own doctrinal views is not great enough to allow me knowingly to alter a single text of Scripture. I have great respect for orthodoxy, but my reverence for inspiration is far greater. I would sooner a hundred times over appear to be inconsistent with myself than be inconsistent with the word of God."
My last post was October 5 and it was a contest entry. It has been a while. So, what's new? Charlee and I are getting settled into the new place. Anyone who has moved knows that moving is a bit like salvation. It's a one time event and an ongoing process that never really ends until you move out. (I'm sure I'll get an email for that one.) We've been enjoying the Quarter and have met lots of wonderful people. It's an exciting place to live.
We've met Heidi and Dana, the super nice owners of Gallery 713. It's a gallery on Royal St. (Can you guess the address?) The have lots of interesting paintings and art from talented artists. You can check them out on their site and on Facebook or just walk by and buy some awesome art.
This is Tanya and Dorise. They perform in front of Cafe Du Monde on Sundays. I'm planning on grabbing up their albums as soon as I can get a chance. They are awesome!
We've seen lots of other interesting things on the river side. Here's a wedding in Jackson Square.
And a performance after the Saint's big win over the Giants.
We've eaten at lots of different places and look forward to getting to know the waiters, managers, and owners of our favorite spots. Here's a gyro from Ali Baba. Even though chicken shawarma is generally my favorite, I recommend the lamb. It really shines.
Now when it comes to burgers, there's a tough choice to be made. Clover Grill, Port of Call, and Yo-Momma's all excel in their own way. This is my favorite burger at Clover Grill, the bleu cheese jalapeno burger.
We get caught by the rain and have to take shelter all the time, but I think it only makes our adventures more fun. And the rain cools everything off. There's nothing more pleasant than a walk through the Quarter with a really light drizzle.
Here's some guitar stuff *tear* I'm trying to get rid of. Once again, if you're on Facebook/Unifyer click out to the original post to see everything in its right place.
Ibanez Soundgear 200 Bass Guitar -$125 Click here for all the specs. Great condition. Sells for $200 new. I'm selling it with the gig bag for $125.
Crate BX100 Bass Amp -$200 Click here for reviews. You'll see that most people bought it used for $300. I was $400 when it came out. I only want $200. Works great. A few cosmetic flaws. 15 inch speaker; 100 watts. It's a real work horse. Click here for a big picture of the control panel.
Schecter C-1 Classic Electric Guitar -$550 Click here for specs. Guitar new costs $800. Case was $100. I put strap locks on it and speed knobs, so that's another $25. It has a blemish where the paint chipped. That's why I'm getting rid of it for only $550. It's tough for me to sell this guitar at any price, but the truth is I haven't picked it up since February of 08. I'm hanging on to my acoustic though. Amelie loves it when I play.
Line6 Vetta II 2x12 300W Guitar Amp w/ Foot controller- $1500 Amp is here for $1700 new. Foot Board is here for $400 new. You can check out all of the specs at Musician's Friend. Line6 released this amp a number of years ago, and they have kept upgrading it with new features. It's an awesome amp, and I think it will fool you into believing you are playing on some great classic amps.
Big Pedal Board with SignalFlex Power Supply -$25 Pretty self-explanatory. This thing is big. I would guess 18x36. You can velcro your pedals to it. I know some people screw them down. I am sure that would work too.
*If you're on Facebook or Unifyer and you want to see this post in its proper context with correct formatting and pictures, hit the link to read the original post.
With our move to a smaller place in the French Quarter comes the need/desire to get rid of a lot of our stuff. I decided I would put up a list of everything that has to go. A lot of stuff is heading for the donation box, but some things we're trying to sell. Let me know if you're interested. With most things I really just want a fair offer. I'm going to be making multiple posts, because I have pictures and descriptions for some things, but other things won't come out until later.
30 in. Panasonic Widescreen HD TV- SOLD-One of the first to come out. Had HDMI and component connections. It's quirky in that it doesn't want to work right all the time. Sometimes the picture goes out though you can hear the sounds and see the channel number/menu. What happened is that when I brought it up to the apartment, I made it up two flights of stairs by myself. I set it on our carpeted floor and it tipped over. It made a loose connection inside the TV and so the picture goes out if it's not sitting just the right way. If someone knows anything about electronics, this is an easy fix. I don't have the back to the remote.
Glass TV stand $40 -Two large pieces of tempered glass on a metal frame. Looks nice. Holds your TV, stereo, etc. See pic above.
Philps 5.1 Surround Sound System & DVD Player SOLD-Paid a pretty penny for this one back in college. 3 front speakers, 2 surround sound speakers, sub woofer, and head unit with built in DVD player. Works Great. Once again missing the remote back. If I find it while moving, it's yours.
Nintendo Wii $450 OBO -Here's the rundown of what's included: Nintendo Wii System Wii Stand Power supply Sensor bar Sensor bar stand Video cable 2 Wiimotes 2 nunchucks 2 grips Wii Guitar Hero 3 controller Wii racing wheel Wii Sports Wii Play Super Smash Bros. Brawl Warioland Shake Guitar Hero III Mario Kart Wii Animal Crossing: City Folk Lego Batman
26 in. Sylvania Standard Def. Stereo TV $50 -Regular old TV. No problems. RF input, RCA inputs, remote control.
Small Black TV Stand $15 -Pressed wood, magnetic doors, $15, and it's all yours.
2 Matching End Tables $50 for the pair -Self explanatory. Look at the pic. That's what you get.
Black Table with 4 Matching Chairs $50 -I'll throw in the place mats if you buy it.
There's more coming. I just have to stop being lazy and take the pictures.
Perhaps this aversion to message-driven popular music developed because it is difficult to find a mainstream Christian artist with a serious theological idea in their head, and even more so to find one in the business of jostling listeners into the electric fence of their comfort zones.
I don't really feel the need to elaborate. It's hard to venture outside of the "worship genre" and find much that is aesthetically AND theologically appealing. And often times the "worship genre" music gains my ear purely because its theological appeal greatly outweighs its lack of artistic value (with notable exceptions like David Crowder...Playing worship with a guitar hero controller...Sweet!).
Paul said if Christ ain't resurrect then we wasted our lives. Well that implies that our life's built around Jesus being alive. -Lecrae
I thought this morning after hearing these lyrics from Lecrae, "What a gamble my life is!" My whole world --my universe-- hangs around one idea --that God could resurrect Jesus from the dead. In the church when I was a child and even into my teens, a lot of people were quick to tell me all about how Jesus died to take my place and forgive my sins. What a wonderfully blessed truth! But, although I heard the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead (especially around Easter), I was never really told why this was important. It seemed as though Jesus going up to heaven to be with God spiritually after his death would be just as good as if he went in bodily form. Thankfully scripture is not ambiguous about this. The apostle Paul writes:
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
For the Christian all of life is a gamble. We are called to give up our affections, possessions, heritage, relationships, allegiances, money, and time as representatives and heralds of the Kingdom of God while we are on the Earth in the hope that God can raise us from the dead just as he raised Christ. Truly, if Christ is not resurrected, then we have wasted our lives. It is a massive gamble. However, I do not feel as though it is a gamble. I have assurance in Christ from the Bible that I will dwell with him bodily forever --that my death and whatever circumstances I will face in proclaiming the name of Jesus are not my end. Do you have that assurance? Are you willing to take the gamble?
A: Well there are several reasons why. The first is that I believe that Jesus wants me (and my wife and my daughter) there. We came to this decision through much prayer, scripture, counseling, and the reading of a fewgoodbooks. We want to do ministry in New Orleans for as long as God has us here. If that is for our entire lives, we are more than happy. This brings me to the second reason. It's hard to identify with people when you aren't a part of their lives. There's nothing wrong with living on seminary campus. It's great if God is equipping you to go into missions or another part of the country, but if God has placed you in the city to love the city for the long term, then you have to look at whether on-campus living does you any good. Maybe you will decide that it does. That's great! Third, I'm not getting out of seminary any time soon. I'm working full time to support my family and go to school. I've got 4+ years of classes left until I get my M. Div. All that living on campus is going to do is make us (us in particular not necessarily anyone else who lives on campus) more scared of anything outside of the gates. We don't want to be those people.
Q: But it's dangerous... A: Well that's not a question, but ok. I live in New Orleans. It's a major city, and major cities have crime. That's why major cities need Jesus. Jesus transforms men's hearts and with them their culture. And if you're talking about the French Quarter in particular, I would have to say that there are plenty of places outside the Quarter that are much more dangerous than the Quarter itself. The safest place for us to be is in the center of God's will --even if it costs us our stuff or our lives to be there.
Q: But isn't it expensive? A: Yes. Yes it is. Even the tiniest efficiency cannot be had for less than $650 a month. We cannot afford 2 bedrooms in the quarter, so we're looking to move into an efficiency or a very cheap 1 bedroom. Our housing at the seminary is secure, so we can afford to sit and wait until God brings us the right thing We've been checking out a lot of apartments over the last month. We trust God to get us there in his timing.
Q: How will all of your stuff fit into a small space like that? A: It won't! So we're going to get rid of it. We're taking what we need to the French Quarter and getting rid of the rest. We've got so much to get rid of! I'll be posting a big list soon with everything that is up for grabs. Maybe you can find something you're looking for on the cheap. We're definitely getting rid of our TVs and the vast majority of our DVDs --along with a lot of furniture.
Q: What about parking? A: Yes. Parking is crazy in the quarter. Some people pay for spots. The cheap spots are more than $150 a month! Getting rid of my car is going to help us tremendously. This is why I want to find a place closer to Canal than Esplanade so that I can grab the Jefferson bus to go to work on the days that Charlee needs the car.
Q: What do you need? A: First of all, we need prayer. We're facing a little housing discrimination from those building owners, building managers, and realtors whose opinion it is that children shouldn't be raised in the French quarter. We consider this a spiritual battle, so we would ask you to boldly approach the throne of grace on our behalf. We desperately need your prayer for us on this and many other things that go along with ministry in the French Quarter. We need endurance and humility. We want to serve Jesus. We want to give our lives. We want to be made low that he might be lifted up in the French Quarter as the shining jewel of the universe that he is. Second, if you have any connections or know any property owners in the Quarter that would cut us a break, let us know. God has given people connections and relationships to be a blessing to others. We trust him to move hearts.
Centre for the Arts is an arts school in New Roads Louisiana run by Mike and Tiffany Phelps. It started in the church and has gone para-church. Their slogan is "Creative arts from a creative God". Their interest is in glorifying God by bringing excellence in the arts to New Roads and the world.Check them out at www.centreforthearts.org
I'm a 25 year old guy from rural Louisiana currently living on Bourbon St. in New Orleans with my wife, the breath-takingly beautiful Mrs. Charlee Meche, and with my daughter Amelie. I graduated from LSU in 2006 with a degree in philosophy, and I currently attend NOBTS. I play a little guitar and a lot of Mac. But none of that really matters when compared to this fact: I love Jesus -the shining jewel of the universe.
