Albuquerque

I saw Weird Al Yankovic in concert last night. It was the second time I have seen him live. I dragged Christy along with me this time and she actually enjoyed it - don't let her tell you any different.

I know it might sound crazy, but in the realm of "concert production", Al's show is in the top 3 of the best produced concerts that I have ever attended. Even if you aren't a huge fan of Al, you wouldn't be able to walk away from his show disappointed. It is quite a spectacle.








Of course, it helped that I had amazing seats. We were in the 9th row. When Al came out into the crowd for one of the songs, we were separated from him by just 8 people.








Christy's favorite song of the night was Amish Paradise. I, on the other hand, have a hard time narrowing it down. I love the old stuff (Fat, Eat It) because it reminds me of being a kid and sitting around listening to Weird Al on vinyl and cassette tape. I also love the stuff that he put out when I was a teen. Especially his parody of Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. And, I must admit, his newest polka medley that he opens the show with is one of the funniest things I have ever heard.

It was a great night. And, in case you were wondering, the other two concerts that fall into my top 3 best productions category are...(drum roll please)...dc talk - Welcome To The Freak Show Tour and Garth Brooks' mid-nineties tour. Man, did I pick 3 completely different genres or what?

Dude, Where's My Trailer?

I love being a part of a "mobile" church. Some people might think that's crazy. I actually enjoy most of it. I think there are advantages to meeting in the local school cafe-teria-nasium, movie theater, or whatever other building is available.

There are disadvantages, too.

Nearly everything our church owns is stored in a trailer that is towed to and from the school we meet at every Sunday. This trailer is packed full of sound equipment, video equipment, communion supplies, etc. It's quite convenient.

But, every once in awhile, I hear about a church trailer that has been stolen. Whenever a news story like this comes up, I always think, "Wow, that would stink. What would I do?"

I hope I wouldn't react like this guy.

Look, I am sure he's a great guy. He might be a great minister, a great church planter, a great husband, and a great father. I have no idea. I don't know him.

But, his reaction is...crazy! Actually, I'm thinking that it's a joke. It is a joke, right? Please tell me it's a joke. He's probably one of those guys that if you knew him, you would read his blog and laugh hysterically because you know how sarcastic he's being.

OK, I've convinced myself that this whole thing is a set-up. That makes me feel better.

Sooners

Last week, Christy and I traveled to Bartlesville, Oklahoma (where the wind goes sweeping over the plains). We had three reasons for making the trip. In fact, on a side note, with gas prices being what they are, I now require myself to have at least three reasons before I go anywhere.

Anyway, we had three really good reasons for traveling to O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A.

Reason #1 - Christy spent her elementary years in Bartlesville, OK. For a long time now she has been dying to go back. More than once Christy has been to my "hometowns" (Osage, IA and Clinton, IL). So, it was about time that I visited hers. After about two seconds I was annoyed by her running commentary on everything that we passed.

"Look, Johnny Smith used to live there."
"I used to ride my bike there."
"That's the pool I used to swim in."
"One day Suzy threw up by that tree."

Then I realized, I do the same thing - BIG TIME - when we are in my towns. I vowed to never do that again - to anyone - EVER.

It was actually really fun for her to see the places and people again. And, honestly, it is fun to see the places and meet the people from your spouse's past.

Reason #2 - This is one of those "Small World" moments. My youth minister growing up in Clinton, IL - David Mabon - is now the senior minister at the church in Bartlesville where Christy's family used to attend. Weird.

I hadn't seen the Mabon family in a very long time. They offered to house us and feed us for the entire time we were there! We had a blast. The kids are all grown up and very cool. Dave and his wife Carol are still awesome to be around. And Carol totally hooked Christy and I up with some awesome meals and snacks.

We sat around and talked about the good old days forever.

Reason #3 - The Voice Of The Martyrs. This organization is based in Bartlesville. We went to Bartlesville to attend VOM's Persecuted Church Conference.

Christy and I both agree that this was the best conference we've ever attended. It was amazing to listen to people from all over the world speak about the persecution that is happening in the countries where they serve. There were speakers from the Middle East (Israel, Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Iran), Columbia, North Korea, China, Bangladesh, and Romania. The stories that these men and women had to tell were both shocking and inspiring. The whole event was truly eye opening.

I know in today's world of a billion conferences, it's probably unrealistic to think that most Christians would choose to go to the VOM conference. Most would rather go to a conference that will help them with whatever field of ministry they are interested in. They will choose to go to a worship conference, a church planting conference, a youth ministry conference, or a leadership conference. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Obviously, all of those events are beneficial. But I really do believe that every follower of Jesus would be profoundly changed if they attended the VOM conference. It's a definite change of pace from all of those other events - I believe it's an important and necessary change of pace.

The Face Of The Earth

No, I didn't fall off of it. But, my 3 month blogging hiatus has come to an end.

Coming soon are thoughts on The Voice Of The Martyrs, the NACC, and Summer 2008 in general.

I'm on the edge of my seat just thinking about it!