SDS

My good buddy Jeff Craddock is an incredible electric guitar player, and plays in the contemporary praise band at First Baptist Simpsonville. His favorite modern Christian band is Seventh Day Slumber, and their lead singer's name is Joseph Rojas.

Check out Joseph's awesome testimony...



...and this song which tries to reach out to hurting teens...

Spoof?

I thought this was a spoof, but turns out this was a real Christian pop band from the 1980's called "Sonseed"... Wow, Contemporary Christian music sure has changed! (thank you, Lord)...

Fun

Never doubt what white paper, scissors, glue, a little creativity, and a ridonculous amount of time can do...

The Big Picture

Y'all know what Thursday night means...yes, a brand new episode of The Office! We are at commercial break, and Michael has just ungracefully broken it to Andy that his fiancee, Angela, is having an affair with Dwight. Ouch!

Earlier in the show, Michael had a good line...(well, one of many actually). He related to the camera that the CEO had asked to meet with him to discuss some "big picture" issues. Michael admitted that he had no idea at all what that meant, but that it was probably bad!

I am a firm believer in the importance of stepping back and looking at the big picture. At work, this is an important concept no matter what line of work you are in. If I do this, what will be the ramifications? What are the larger implications of this action or decision, five or ten years from now? What is REALLY important? (Of course, this is what managers like Michael are supposed to be good at!)

When Brandon and Zach were little, we would frequently have conversations similar to this:

Brian: Why are you playing Nintendo?
B/Z: Why not?
Brian: Because I told you to finish your homework! It's important that you finish your homework...
B/Z: Why?
Brian: Because if you don't, you'll get a bad grade.
B/Z: So?
Brian: So, it is important to do well in school.
B/Z: Why?
Brian: So you can get into a good college.
B/Z: Why does that matter?
Brian: So you can get a degree, and then get a good job.
B/Z: Who cares about that?
Brian: You'll care, that's who, when you're digging ditches instead of.... yada yada yada

You get the idea. Of course, I was trying to help the guys see the "bigger picture" instead of just focusing on what was easy or fun at the moment.

But it is amazing to me how many people in life fail to keep asking these kinds of questions, which seem to come so naturally to children... Once we "grow up" and get a job and have a family, we relax and think that we have discovered all that there is.

I am thankful that at age 23, God created within me a curiousity to keep asking the "bigger picture" questions... Who am I, really? Why do I exist? What happens when I die? Is this life all that there is? Why does it matter to be "good"? What did God uniquely create me to do? What should I be doing with my life? What we believe regarding the answers to these questions will in large part determine how we live out the remainder of our lives. God's answers to these questions certainly changed the course of my life.

With 2009 starting, instead of just making New Years resolutions this year, why not step back, and consider the "bigger picture" questions?

Interesting...

Have you ever seen magicians Penn and Teller?

They run perhaps the biggest magic show in Vegas... Penn Gillette is a big, brash, talkative guy, and Teller is a smaller, meek looking guy that never says anything. Does that ring a bell?

Anyhow, Penn Gillette has a pretty well-known case of potty-mouth, and is a well-known athiest, so I was surprised to see this on YouTube...

Should make us believers think about how we are doing in the area of evangelism...

Figgy Pudding?

Finally, Friday is here!

Cathy and I are just relaxing this evening, with no where to go (fortunately). So we're listening to the "holiday classics" music channel, and this guy is singing "Oh, bring me some figgy pudding, oh bring me some figgy pudding..."

Really?

Man, times must have been rough back in the day, if people were hoping to receive figgy pudding for Christmas! Now that's a lame gift.

I have some great childhood memories of Christmas gifts long ago... To be sure, little Brian Baker wasn't asking for any nasty pudding...no, this was the early 1970's, and toy companies like Mattel and Kenner were in full swing. My sibs (David, Teresa, Angela) and I got some cool toys from Santa over the years:

• Board games: Monopoly, Life, Scrabble, Clue, Risk, Yahtzee, Mouse Trap, Battleship, Stratego, Game of the States, Mad Marbles, Gnip Gnop, Facts in Five, Trouble, Super Sandwich
  
• Construction toys: Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys, Erector set, wooden building blocks...
• Cars, cars, cars!: Matchbox cars, Hot Wheels (the original 1970 ones with the redline tires!), SST cars (with the serrated T-handles and rubber flywheel), Smash-Up Derby SST cars (when they hit each other, the doors and hoods would fly off, and then you'd snap them back on), yellow metal Tonka dump truck & crane. Also, cool Hot Wheels tracks (orange track with purple connectors...) with loop-de-loops!
  
• Other: Superball, Whizzers (I remember spinning one up and sticking it in Teresa's hair...sorry!), Pick up Stix, Rubik's Cube, Mattel Basketball handheld "video game" (red LED lights, and when you scored it made the buh-DEE sound!), pop guns, Schwinn Caliente 10-speed bikes

Oddly enough, my Mom still lives in the home we all grew up in, and almost all these 1970's toys are still exactly where we left them (in the finished basement). Sometimes when I get together with the sibs at holidays, we'll break out a vintage game or two....

As fun as it was to receive these cool gifts, one of my most memorable Christmases was one where I learned to enjoy the GIVING more than the GETTING.

When Angela, my kid sister, was 3 years old, I bought her a Play-Doh Fuzzy Pumper for Christmas. This playset looked like a miniature barbershop, complete with plastic barber chairs, scissors, and little shavers. Here's how it worked: first, you would fill the barber chair with Play Doh. Second, you would take these little plastic people with holes all over their heads, and place them in the barber chair. Third, you would turn a crank, and little streams of Play Do hair would squish out of their heads. Finally, you would take your scissors and give them a haircut!

Angela loved this toy, and I loved seeing the happiness in her little eyes. It was a wonderful Christmas.

I look forward to the upcoming Christmas break (I'll be on vacation for a week and a half, woo hoo!). I look forward to spending time with my lovely wife, as well as Zach and Sarah. (Brandon and Megan, I'll miss you guys!) I hope the gifts I give bring more joy than any gifts I may receive... And I look forward to getting to see my sibs up in Virginia when I visit Mom.

Speaking of giving, I'd better get to bed...big shopping day tomorrow...

Busy

OK, I have perfectionist tendencies.

For hobbies and such, this is a good thing - it drives me toward doing things well. But for blogging, this is a bad thing - if I only have a few minutes available to blog, I end up NOT blogging, because I feel like I don't have enough time to write something worthwhile, something of substance...

Unfortunately for you, the reader, this is a day where I have decided to blog anyway, even though I don't have enough time to write something deep (I probably shouldn't have admitted that!).

So, just a few brief updates on life over the past few weeks:

• I've gotten the ole trumpet back out, and have been playing every week with the orchestra at church. There are some great players in this group, especially brass players. I had forgotten how much I enjoy traditional, classical music. I'll be playing in two of the three performances of our Christmas pageant, the first one in a few hours... The 100-member choir and 30-member orchestra are soundin pretty good, I must say!
• Went to Greensboro NC a few days ago to see a Yes concert. They are my favorite band of all time, and this year marks their 40th year of making music. True, they are old geezers now, but still some of the best musicians (and music) I have ever heard. Someone posted clips of the show on YouTube here and here...
  
• Went Christmas shopping today. Everywhere was packed and very busy, but I took my time and actually enjoyed it. (Not as much as I enjoy internet shopping though!). My sweet Cathy is kinda hard to shop for, but I think she will be pleased with today's purchases...
• Zach and Sarah are home from NGU, and I am looking forward to spending some time hanging out with them. (I missed the big shindig last night with Zach, Sarah, Dustin, and Chris due to a bluegrass gig at Table Rock state park...rats)
• Work has been crazy busy. All the IT software projects are due at the end of the year, so it is a mad scramble to finish the work. This week was one of the busiest I can remember. But soon, oh so soon, will be Christmas vacation...that will be nice.

Well, gotta run, I have about an hour to put up Christmas decorations before donning the black suit and bowtie and heading to church.

Have a nice day.