deeper

there is so much in me, i feel like i could bust. so many songs waiting to come out, so much desire and hope for my wife & girls, so much more praise and worship, so many things i need to do. it's so frustrating to know there is so much more but not know quite how to work it all out or where or when or...

Anne Giminez from Rock Church stirred it all up last Sunday night. i was doing so good at keeping my head down and just serving and not really thinking about my "calling" but then she spoke on calling and i had to start thinking.

i know i'm called for music and worship, i'm just not seeing the full outworking of that right now. don't get me wrong, i'm happy to have the opportunity to serve and sing and play and lead. but there's a deeper groaning. something else i'm to be doing that i'm not.

so i wait. listening. serving. learning. trusting.

simplicity

We saw an interesting play last weekend - The Boys Next Door. it was about 4 mentally challenged guys living together. the money line was by their counselor who checks in with them - "i change, the world changes, they don't change." everything was so simple, so basic for them.

i write that to create a huge opposite picture of how government works in recent times. Everything is an emergency and there is crisis upon crisis upon crisis. it's almost like the thinking is "if we hit them with everything at once with amps set on 11 we're bound to get some of it past them."

it's numbing and after a while i don't think we even recognize a true crisis. we're so jaded and caloused to a life where all news is "BREAKING" or tv is non-stop cliff-hangers or movies are a 2 hour blast of sound, adventure, explosions, stunts and action. How do we even sleep anymore?

Gary Skinner from Watoto Church in Uganda was at our church last weekend talking about the need for reaching out to HIV/AIDS orphans, child soldiers and the misplaced victims of a decades long war. there was no bright red banners or tears or cries for "the world will end." he is just an amazing man serving an Amazing God telling a story of need in a very needy part of the world. the simplicity of the presentation was more powerful than walls of sound and screams of need.

after the great & powerful wind, earthquake & fire there came a gentle whisper. are we too busy, too numb, too deaf to hear the still small voice that calls us to a simple faith? James 1:27 says: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

confession time

OK, bit of brutal, heart-on-the-sleeve honesty here.

these have been 3 or 4 of the toughest years of my life yet God is still amazing and i'm truly in awe of Him.

We came back to the states after a couple of years of Bible college @ Hillsong with huge plans and dreams to take all this vision and faith and life and bloom wherever we planted. Wave Church is an amazing church with ties to Hillsong and is truly a world-changing church so we planted there.

But then life hit. Vision and faith and life are hard things to keep fresh without hard work and diligence. i have a tendency to get caught up in the day-to-day and you can't keep a Kingdom perspective easily when focusing on all the mundane daily details. don't get me wrong, those are important, but not as important.

i've heard that we are moving forward faith to faith. i thot that meant life was an incline - it was hard but you keep moving up and up to the next level. i'm finding my life is more like stairs with some that take some serious scaling to get up and others that go on for miles until the next one up comes. yes, i'm moving forward, but sometimes it's uphill in peanut butter.

my greatest fear is mediocrity and right now i feel like i'm fighting that big time. it's easy for me to see potential and greatness in all those around me - in creative, in my cell, my friends and family and especially Brook and the girls. i'm just not feeling it in me. and right now i'm fighting to trump my feelings with my faith. i AM more than a conquerer. i AM the head and not the tail. greater is He that IS in me than he that's in the world.

i'm thinking it's pride. i'm not where i think i should be and so it plays on me. i don't have the tight friends like i've had in the past and it plays on me. i'm not contributing as much as i would love to and it plays on me. i, i , i, me, me, me...you'd think i'd be waaaaaay past all this by now, but i guess another trip around the desert is needed to work this out.

ok, time to read and renew my mind and think on things above...

Can 2010 come fast enough?

i heard interesting commentary yesterday about ditching any congress-person who voted yes for raising taxes to get us out of this slump; anyone who voted for the TARP; anyone who voted for the Cap and Tax bill; anyone who votes for this Health Care monster...i think i'm liking that philosophy.

These are all things that we were/are told HAVE to be passed yesterday or the consequences will be so harmful to America and the world...yet reports are coming in now that we might not be as bad off if they hadn't passed the "stimulus" pkg...hmmmm.

i'm tired of lifelong politicians who only want power and prestige and don't really care about what their constituents want or what is best for the country. we're starting to see polls that say 54-56% of Americans don't think government should run healthcare. but government seems laser-locked on passing some sort of legislation for it.

can we get back to a hands-off approach for a while? let Americans do what we do. when given freedom to choose, we do pretty well. let us choose what kind of cars we want, what we want to do for schooling our kids, what we want to do with our money, what doctor we want to go to, who we want to govern us. between the media and government, most of those choices are being made for us.

Patrick Henry said “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.”

Summertime

i love summer. i love the heat and humidity and storms and sunshine and mowing and grilling and yardwork.

summer is a strange time in the church. it's a time of vacations and long daylight hours which tend to cut down on attendance. but it's also a time of camps and conferences which add to the spiritual level.

my church, Wave Church, always has a summer offensive where we set a goal for number of decisions for Christ in the summer months. when other churches back off, we go forward - i love that!!

we also have our Wave Conference Aug 5-7th. do what you can to be here. it's going to be Amazing! Ed Young, Jentezen Franklin, Joel Houston, Steve Kelly...you don't want to miss it.

i love summer!!

Idol Thots 2Ap09

i really truly thought Anoop would be gone before Megan. I thought all those who voted for Taylor Hicks to be the American Idol would keep Megan on. She pretty much knew that it was her night to go and seemed almost relieved. Her attitude had gotten a bit weird and almost flippant over the last few weeks. I really like the uniqueness of her voice and think there is a place for her in biz, she just needs some good management to guide and direct her.

The results show are starting to really disturb me. The hokey sing-along, the latest hot performer, the faux drama of the "judge's save" is all a bit to ratings driven for me. i don't mind the "older" idols coming back to sing, but they could make this thing a 15 minute show if they really wanted to.

Next week is Songs from Your Birth Year - so pretty much 80's night. i love the 80's.

Idol Thots 1Ap09

I'm officially calling last night's American Idol "Hair Night" after all the different hair styles. It was Top Downloads night and it doesn't get anymore wide open than that.

OK, let's do a little recap:
Anoop sang Usher's "Caught Up." If it wasn't for his funky grimace, i was totally bored. It looked like he was smelling something funky all thru the song. it was a little flat and the song itself didn't go anywhere. the judges called it safe, an utter mess and a wannabe.

Megan started the Hair Night portion with some funky braids going all over her head and chose Bob Marley/Lauren Hill's "Turn Your Lights Down Low." Wow, another boring performance. she just stood center stage at the mic and until the last tiny bit when she started adding some runs, it was BORING! i'm still a Megan fan, but she really needs to pick it up if she gets the chance.

Danny finally officially started the show with Rascal Flatts "What Hurts the Most." Danny had been in Wisconsin for a few days for his grandfather's funeral, but i appreciate the fact that didn't come up in his pre-performance interview or tape. He pretty much nailed the song. Great voice, great energy, great passion. a bit flat in a few places, but overall very strong.

Allison continued the Hair Night with some kind of wild teasing and retro bow thing and a brighter shade of fushia than normal. She choose "Don't Speak" by No Doubt and even pulled out her "axe" for the beginning of the song. She went a bit flat and got kinda shouty, but still has "chops." she took serious heat for her outfit but the judges didn't say much about her performances

Scott kept Hair Night alive with a rockin 80's mullet and black collarless leather jacket. He got to perform one of his idol's - Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are." OK...top downloads?? His piano playing was great, vocal was better than he has been lately. i thot the song was terribly slow and dragging but the judges loved it and heaped praise on him.

Matt took on The Fray's "You Found Me" and tried way too hard. The guy is talented but that trip to the bottom three last week really got to him and it was hard to watch him try so hard. the judges called it "forced", "sound alike" and "put on." he also rocked some poofier hair to participate in Hair Night.

Lil followed with the big diva "I Surrender" by Celine Dion. She kept the Hair Night going with a little flat bob. Flat and trying too hard. the judges called it "safe", "wedding" and "old fashioned."

And Hair Night continued with a great Eddie Munster do sported by Adam Lambert. He did a fun version of Wild Cherry's "Play that Funky Music." it was fun but a bit shouty. Paula compared him to Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler. i wish he wouldn't go right to the rock scream thing but it was a great arrangement of a classic party song.

Kris finished up the night with a bang! He did a very current version of "Ain't no Sunshine When She's Gone" that i loved. His voice was so on - every note was solid and he even played piano this week. Simon called it "confident, clever and cool."

Top perfomances: Kris, Adam and Danny
Bottom: Anoop, Megan, Matt or possibly Lil

Thots?

Idol Thots 31Mar09

Idol should be VERY interesting tonight. According to unnamed sources, tonights theme is Top Downloads - can it get anymore wide-open than that? Just a quick glance at iTunes Top Songs gives you Taylor Swift, Birdman, Jamie Foxx, Britney Spears, Paramore, Beyonce, Kanye, Katy Perry, LIl Wayne, Rascal Flatts...wow!

So, it's pretty much picking the perfect song and nailing it. no pressure. Hopefully we'll hear some new arrangements and takes on songs we know.

I'd love for Megan to come out and do something very instrumentally sparse. last week, her rehersal tape with Smokey with just a piano was far better than her real performance with the full band.

will Lil go diva belter? will Danny go Nickleback? will Kris go totally accoustic? will Allison go Pink? will Matt go back to Coldplay? will Scott stay AC? will Anoop go back to the lip-sync in the mirror performance with some Ne-Yo? you know Adam's going to do something totally different - Katy Perry?

This will be a week where song choice and "artistry" will be more important than ever. Just make sure you hit that high A.

thots?

Idol Thots 27Mar09

Different kind of results show last night. not only did we get the extremely painful group sing, we got Ruben, Smokey/Joss Stone AND Stevie! WOW!

i was a little creeped out by Joss's dancing and Smokey's wide-open eyes. i decided i'd like to hear Smokey and Tony Bennett sing together, as long as Tony doesn't dance and squirm around like Joss did.

Matt in the bottom three???? he looked so freaked and flustered by this. i thot for sure he would be the first sent back to the couch, but no, Scott was safe.

But in the end, i think Michael knew he was going. And...he seemed okay with it. he really enjoyed his journey video at the end and that was cool. he just seems so grounded and so thankful for what he attained - GREAT attitude!

so...i'm still thinking Scott, Annop, Lil, Megan and Matt will be the next to go. that would leave Kris, Allison, Danny and Adam to duke it out.

thots?

Idol Thots 26Mar09

Motown night one day later. i was pleasantly surprised by this show. They chose some songs that were not your norms and i liked that.

Let's get started. i'll go in order from worst to first from what i thought of the performances last night.

Michael got the pre-performance interview, some kind-yet-generic words from Smokey Robinson and then came out and turned in a very bland performance. Smokey tried to get him to feel the song and lay it out there yet there he was smiling as he warbled "please stay" to his leaving girl. i figured out that he makes me nervous when he sings. he just doesn't seem comfortable and you never know where he's going vocally.

Megan sang For Once in My Life and i'm glad it was only once. she did so much better with just the piano in front of Smokey. she should've stripped the song down and just had a piano and sparse lighting and given it that smokey jazz bar treatment. instead, it was a fast, furious, shouty "train wreck" as Randy called it. i'm a Megan fan, but not that performance.

Scott stayed at the piano and stayed with the all AC AM radio hits. He started You Can't Hurry Love waaay slow and then sped up. he had the bg vocals there at the piano with him and they blew him away when they sang with him. they made his voice sound very thin. Simon called it "cheap" - i agree.

Lil went old-school with Heatwave. she looked the part and sang it ok and kept it pretty much a redo of the original. the judges hounded her for just running through the song and not giving herself room for any "moments" and that was so true. i expected a big Diana Ross song with plenty of room to be the diva, but...no.

i almost fell asleep as Anoop sang Oooh Baby Baby. i thought Anoop might fall asleep as well. he looked bored and didn't have a great connection. he wasn't bad vocally, just not spot on.

Matt started the show off with a bang with Let's Get it On. his vocal wasn't maybe as good as Anoop but he connected with the song and it made all the difference. he is a solid performer with good energy and keeps getting better and better. the judges used words like "comfortable", "solid" and "tasteful."

Kris did an amazing job with How Sweet It Is. i was scared he would make it all James Taylor, but he did an amazing Kris version with some very cool phrasing that was fun, playful and strong. i'm like this guy more and more.

Danny rocked Get Ready with some great vocals but freakish dancing. good phrasing, great energy...he really has a gift of getting the crowd involved and turning up the energy level.

Allison continues to blow me away. She OWNED Pappa Was a Rolling Stone. She totally carries a song and doesn't get carried by it. Randy summed it up - "Blazing hot!"

Adam totally surprised me and created a great moment. He kept Tracks of My Tears so tender and sweet. did i just say those words? no makeup, no nail polish, suit, accoustic band - WOW! he showed so much control in his vocal and performance. i was amazed.

Bottom three: Michael, Megan and Scott but Lil is not totally safe.

thots?

Idol Thots 19March09

Alexis? really? are you serious? i admit, Tuesday's "Jolene" wasn't her strongest performance, but she was waaaaay better than Michael and Scott. i don't think she was top 3 or 4, but top 10 should've been a no brainer.

this season seems a lot more produced to me than past seasons. the judges especially seem overly fake. all that whispering and cat-fighting and "will they save?" stuff is un-needed in my book. it really feels un-reality. the judges are just play-acting a prewritten role and trying to manufacture drama for ratings.

i think i would find it a lot more interesting if the contestants sang and the judges offered TRUE feedback - good and bad - and let America decide what to do with the contestant's performance and the judge's feedback. now i don't know if Simon is telling the truth or just trying to sway the show for ratings.

next week, Motown! i was trying to think if anyone would struggle but don't really think so. Megan and Scott came to mind, but there are enough varied styles and performers that i'm sure there is something for everyone. Megan could totally rock one of those old girlgroup songs. Scott will make anything sound like AM radio and of course, it doesn't matter what the theme is for Adam...

Thots?

Idol Thots 18Mar09

Wow. here i was expecting a lot of cheese and trainwrecks and it turned out to be a pretty good show.

Let me get this out of the way to start with - judges, please talk to the contestants! this bickering isn't getting it for me. wasting time, nothing helpful - stop it. and contestants, limit the talk back. the judges are professionals who are offering you pointers and tips - listen. it only makes you look bad when you argue back.

ok, on with the show.

i figured Michael would do well with a country theme and he didn't let me down. not a lot of variety or places to go with the melody with that song, but he got all the 10 million words in. he did seem a bit over-focused on getting them all in. all in all a good but not overly-memorable performance.

Allison rocks! when you close your eyes, she does not sound 16 at all. she also is so comfortable on the stage and is getting better in the interviews. Solid performance.

i wasn't so sure when Kris started how this was going to go, but he nailed a pure, tender performance. there wasn't anything really grabbing but he did get big praise from Simon.

Lil let me down. i'm a Lil fan, but this was pretty average. she was pitchy and didn't do anything different with the song. she seemed uncomfortable and i was bored.

Adam. i had to go run an errand and missed this one. but when i got home, both my younger daughters said just one word - "Weird" - and it was. i watched it back and thought his vocals were on but the whole Cash rocks the Casbah in a steamy moan-fest is going to be pretty polarizing for average America. love it or hate it, it was memorable.

Scott was boring. his vocals were cracking a bit throughout. the arrangement was pretty good, but it was pretty much plain toast and lukewarm milk to me.

i'm an Alexis fan, but this wasn't her best performance. it didn't quite get to the emotional level it could have. "Jolene" is a song about losing her man, but i don't think she quite got there. she sang it well but...

Danny soared on "Jesus Take the Wheel" and except for Simon ragging on his jacket, got great praise from the judges. He has a great take on dynamics, taking us on a ride with the song - something a lot of the other performers didn't do tonight.

Anoop really surprised me. i was hoping for some more cheese. i wanted him to do a song like Michael did and go over-the-top on the "dancing" but no, he kept it really controlled and safe on a great song choice.

Megan gets the trooper of the night award. Flu couldn't keep her down, she nailed an amazing performance that was so old retro, it was cool.

Matt's song was good, but nothing that captured you. his vocals seems a bit unsure. the song flowed well and built and went somewhere, but it wasn't on par with some of the others.

Top perfromances:Allison, Danny, Anoop, Megan

Bottom three: Scott, Lil and Alexis...maybe Adam depending on the number of people he didn't offend.

thots? opinions?

Idol Thots 17Mar

Grand Ole Opry Night - yee haw!

i hope this doesn't turn in to sappy ballad night. on one hand it has boring written all over it. please, Adam and Allison, do something upbeat, fun, rowdy...you get my meaning. Maybe Anoop will do some of his "sweet" moves if he goes upbeat. maybe.

i'm thinking Michael is going to be in his element tonight. he keeps saying he's not country, but you know he's going to soar on a nice ballad. i'm also thinking Kris will have a great night with guitar in hand. Adam should be ok as long as he keeps the rock screams out. Lil and Danny should be ok as well.

i think they can all sing country, it will all come down to song choice and performance. i'm hoping some go out on a limb and just have fun - i'm thinking Chekize's Beatles bluegrass from last year - i loved that. Come on Idols, give us fun. give us borderline hokey. just don't put us to sleep.

i don't know enough about the Grand Ole Opry song list to guess songs, but if you have ideas, please share.

Idol Thots 12Mar09

ok morbid admission: during the Idol's opening song, i was watching Scott and how the other Idols helped him move around the stage and not really hearing the song. They did a great job keeping things easy for him and having the others help him.

So...Jasmine and Jorge...i agree but seriously thought Anoop would go instead of Jasmine tonight. 3 or 4 more and then we're down to a serious competition.

Judges Save - not quite the ring of Jesus Saves. So if the judges don't agree with who is voted out, they can bring them back for another week. But only once. Game changer - possibly? How far could Michael Johns have gone? or Daughtry? or Constantine? We'll see how this works out.

One thing that is going to make me snicker every week is the goodbye song - Motley Crue's Home Sweet Home sung by Carrie Underwood. Maybe it's just me, but i get mental pics of the tour of old, pickled rockers and Ms. Underwood.

Did America get it right? What about the judges save? What about the buh-bye song?

thots?

Idol Thots 11Mar09

Wow - Michael Jackson night wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be. Anoop didn't let me down, though.

Top performers last night (in order of appearance):
Lil Rounds - what a great way to start off the show. she put a little blusey spin on The Way You Make Me Feel and i thot she rocked it. The judges gave her good remarks (except for her outfit)

Danny Gokey - OK, when Seacrest said he was singing PYT, i truly thot OH NO! But he nailed it - great energy, got the crowd into it, great vocal. The only complaint was the dancing. Paula even said she could see him in the finals.

Allison Aliheta - there is no way she sounded 16 years old. she nailed a nice slow rock version of Give In to Me. She seemed comfortable and had a great performance. She really won the judges over even more.

Megan Corkrey - funky little version of Rockin' Robin. She didn't really seem to bring the full Megan in until the last third of the song, but it was great.

Adam Lambert - it was like Axl Rose sings MJ's Black or White, only really well. Adam received MAJOR props and i think it was Kara who said he should be recording now. The dude can sing but the intro video was a bit cold with his family, not the warm fuzzies like the others.

Middlers (in order of strength):
Matt Giraud - he brings a strong, intense vocal to whatever he sings and was solid behind the piano.

Alexis Grace - Dirty Diana was a song she could've totally oversang, but i thot she showed great restraint and screamed when she needed and pulled it way back at just the right times. It was a bit odd to see Tinker Bell singing that song, though.

Kris Allen - The big notes were a bit under and he got a little carried away with some of the free form stuff. He can play the guitar, but not sure what i thot about him playing on Remember the Time.

Jasmine Murray - very nice, safe version of I'll Be There. it was good and bad all at the same time. pretty good vocal but a bit under for parts of the song. showed poise and good stage presence but was a bit robotic.

Bottom of the Bunch (in order of strength):
Jorge Nunez - very schmoozy version of Never Can Say Goodbye (nonono) which got a lot of "didn't feel it", "wrong song" feed back. for the most emotional contestant, not very emotional.

Michael Sarver - Safe, boring, pitchy version of You're Not Alone. The judges heaped praise but i must have heard a different song than they did.

Scott MacIntyre - it was Chicago does MJ - keep those AM radio hits coming... i think it was Kara who said "it was not real dynamic" and Simon added "safe and old fashioned" - i totally agree.

Anoop Desai - Just Beat It. it was sooooo kaoroke and a few of the judges repeated that word. It was like someone more lightweight than Michael was trying to act like Michael being tough. It was pretty much what i expected and i loved it.

They are sending TWO home tonight and i'm thinking...Anoop and Jorge. But any of the bottom 5 are possibilities.

thots?

correction on the prevous post

Scott should do a very schmaltzy, AM radio version of The Girl is Mine.

Ebony and Ivory was done by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.

Sorry.

Idol Thots 10Mar09

Michael Jackson night tonight on Idol tonight - oh the possibilities...

Will Scott play and sing Ebony and Ivory?
Will Anoop sing and dance to Bad, Beat It or Gotta be Startin' Something? please!!
What in the world will Megan sing?
Will Kris bring back Man in the Mirror?
Will Adam sing Dirty Diana?
Will anyone resurect David Cook's brilliant emo Billy Jean?
Will there be new takes or will they just try to copy the original? Can you copy the original and be successful?

I'm thinking there will be a lot of older songs and Jackson 5 stuff. The more recent songs are all extremely produced and well known and would be a bear to try to pull off live unless you did a Chris Cornell/David Cook and changed them up.

what do you think they will sing?

Presidential Ping Pong

Has anyone else noted the overuse of the teleprompter by President Obama? He uses the thing for EVERYTHING!. i've worked the prompter before, read off of one and have an understanding about public speaking. i feel like i have a bit of background with this.

can he not pause in the middle of the room? can they not put a big screen in the back of the room for him to read off of? whenever he makes a speech, announces a new cabinet member or makes any kind of remarks, it looks like he's watching ping pong from center table. back and forth and back and forth. you always have a side shot of his face and now news photographers are complaining that the paddles block others who may be standing with him or the president himself from photo opportunities.

i know he has to get the words just right, that every word he says is parsed and vetted, but can he not put a few words to memory as he switches from side-to-side and talk to the people sitting in the middle of the room? The whole purpose of teleprompters is to keep the speaker from looking down and up and down and up, but you still need to refocus you eyes and look at those you are speaking to from time to time for maximum effectiveness.

the past few times the president has spoken, it's been shorter statements - intros to new cabinet nominees, open the healthcare forum, a short statement on stem cell research. these don't seem to warrant teleprompter, it seems like some notecards would do. for a president touted as a great orator, i see him more as a great reader.

Idol Thots 6March

Finally...we're done with Tati-DRAMA. i wanted to skip over her performance and comments, but the girls wanted to watch. i think it's like having to look at a car wreck.

Jasmine, Matt and Megan - i'm excited with the three wildcards the judges picked. I've liked all of these guys from the beginning. the more i hear Jasmine, the more i can tell she's 17. she's going to be shown up really quick in the upcoming weeks. she's one who sound good when you hear just her, but if she sings after Lil or Danny or Adam, she's going to sound like a teenage singer.

Anoop - no way. last night he looked like a guy singing Bobby Brown in front of a mirrow. it was so karaoke. "I got to get my shirt flick and my wink in" "Did i just sing a curse word? HeeHeeHee"

i'm thinking the first four of five to go will be (in no particular order):
Anoop, Jorge, Jasmine, Michael and Scott. Adam could go quick if middle America is disgusted with his web pics and over-the-top perfomances. The dude can sing, but not sure how the rest of the country will react to his lifestyle.

I'm amazed at the amount of worship leaders/team members in the top 13 - Danny and Michael are worship leaders at their churches. Kris is on his worship team. Matt played drums at his church in Michigan but not sure where he stands now. Lil thanked God in not just a passing way. i'm trying to find out any other info on Christians and Idol.

thots? opinions?

Idol Thots 5March

What a crazy Idol this is turning out to be. I think this is the year of the sympathy vote. Some of these people can really sing and have a chance, but others...?

Danny Gokey lost his wife, Lil Rounds and Alexis Grace have small kids, Michael Sarver is working family man, Scott MacIntyre is legally blind, Jorge Nunez has an accent and cried, Allison Iraheta is 16...

Danny, Lil, Alexis and Allison can really sing. Michael, Scott and Jorge are good but not American Idol finalists. It seems like ratings totally won over pure talent. i give you Tatiana as a wildcard as my prime example.

They skipped right over some brilliant talent for the wildcards. Felicia, Kristen, Ju'Not and maybe even Nathaniel should've got another shot.

I'm excited for Jasmine, Rickey, Megan, Matt and Jesse. I'm scared the judges will continue the ratings-above-all and put Tatiana in - YIKES!!

Tonight's show should be interesting.

Thots? opinions?

Idol Thots 4March

Cheese, cheese and more cheese.

Could Tuesday night's Idol show have been anymore cheesier? Norm Gentle should've been on this show.

Von, Nathaniel, Kristen, Alex and Scott all cheesed it up pretty good. Von and Nathaniel aren't bad singers, they are just so much musical theater. Nathaniel tackling Meat Loaf was also pretty funny to me. No comparison to the range and power in the original.

Arianna, Kendall and Taylor just totally fell short. They had no energy or umph in their safe performances.

Lil, Felicia, Jorge and Ju'Not all blew me away. Lil Rounds should have a recording contract right now - she is amazing! Felicia did a great job and coming out and not totally overdoing it to prove herself. Jorge did ok, but added a great passion which was lacking in some of the other performances. Ju'Not was brilliant with his take on Delilah. This is one of my daughter's favorite songs so i've heard it about a billion times. Ju'Not's take was so controlled and amazing.

My picks to go to Top 12:
Lil - for sure
Jorge or Ju'Not - Scott could pick up the sympathy vote
Felicia - but you can't rule out country vote Kendall or memorable Nathaniel

thoughts?

Idol Thots 27Feb

the final 12 are turning into quite a group. and the wildcard will be very interesting.

Allison is young and a bit shy in interviews, but that girl can sing. i'm thinking she's going to be one who goes far in the competition.

Kris, pretty good, has had some good performances, nothing "stand out" though which could hurt.

Adam is going to be the love/hate guy of this season. kinda like Taylor Hicks. people will love him or loathe him. (heh heh, i got to use the word "loathe")

in watching the preview for the final group next week, i realized i had never really seen 3 or 4 of those people. time to do a little research...

Idol Thots 26Feb

Man, was last night's Idol dry and safe or what? With the exception of 2, maybe 3, it seemed like everyone played it really safe.

Adam Lambert and Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentle both came out with a bang and were totally out there. Adam did a fresh take on the Rolling Stones' classic "Satisfaction" and he's going to be one of those guys who people either love or hate. He has an amazing range and is quite a performer, but is a bit over-the-top at time. i see him going thru easily tonight.

The other standout performer was Nick Mitchell performing as his alter-ego Norman Gentle. This guy totally cracks me up. Shiny shirt, red sweatbands, huge glasses...and singing Dream Girls...how could he go wrong? i really like this guy, but this is the wrong stage for his style. The scary thing is he is memorable and could grab votes and go through.

Mishavonna Henson and Allison Iraheta were the two girls who seemed a step ahead of the others. They didn't come out and really wow, but were solid and showed some great voices.

Megan Corkey has a shot of going though because of the quirkiness factor. She has a great throw-back voice and style and the judges had nothing but praise for her.

The other guys were pretty much safe and unmemorable. Kris Allen could possible get a big bump from the teenage girl vote. He's a pretty good singer, just not breakout. Kai Kalama and Matt Breitzke were way too safe...and boring.

I had high hopes for Matt Giraud, Jessie Langseth and Jasmine Murray. Jessie did ok making "Bette Davis Eyes" a little soulful and bluesey. Matt struggled with a terrible song choice. "Viva la Viva" is not a singing competition song. Jasmine was flat and had no energy and seemed scared and unsure as the first one out of the box.

One other mention - Jeanine Vailes had seen no screen time and came out and totally oversang Maroon 5 to try to make up for it.

Going Through Tonight: Adam for the guys, Mishavonna/Allison/Megan are a toss up for the girls. Nick/Norm (chuckle, chuckle) or possibly Kris could pick up the third spot if one of the girls doesn't.

Thots??

just die

Psalm 116:12-16
How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.
I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

i read this the other night and was totally caught off guard by that last verse. i was into the lifting the cup of salvation and fulfilling my vows and the Lord's goodness. and then...God likes it when His people die???

and then...the thinking began. "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." "He must increase, but I must decrease."

i heard it said that dead men don't worry about being embarrassed or hurt. they don't seek their own gain. uh, yeah, they're dead.

this is probably the hardest lesson that i'm still learning. i just wish i could learn it and move on, but for some reason i keep coming around this mountain. my silly pride or sense of entitlement or personal fulfillment rise up and i have to beat them back down. and it always happens just when i think i'm getting somewhere.

just die. no matter what i'm doing or who i'm serving or where i'm at, just die. God sees and considers it something of value. just die. i'm building equity in Heaven.

Why do we do anything?

I came across some sermon notes from Robert Fergusson of Hillsong Church from a talk he gave after he had journeyed to Antarctica.

**Anything of worth:
1. takes time
2. costs a great deal
3. changes your life

12 motivators:
1. Why not?
2. Because it's there - discover, find out about something unknown
3. Follow the footsteps of a hero - live a life to be followed. Have a hero and be a hero
4. Believe in the poetry of exploration - Ps 84:5 - pilgramage
5. Meet the fourth man - fiery furnace - chance for an adventure
6. Fulfill a dream
7. Rite of passage - new vantage point
8. Don't live a vicarious life - your experience not a second hand experience
9. Ambition
10. Soul food - not for your body or spirit but for your will, emotions and thinking
11. Missions - promote the Gospel
12. Be an achiever - run with the big dogs

Waiting

The best is yet to come.

i love this statement. it promises better days ahead. no matter how bad or how good life is today, it will be even better.

my question is "when?"

everytime i think i'm getting "it" i seem to go around the mountain again for another life lesson. i've heard "God must be preparing you for something really big to work on you so much." maybe i'm just more messed up than i thought.

i know God can work in a moment. i'm clinging to that. Moses raised his staff and the Red Sea parted in a moment. Jesus blessed the 5 loaves and 2 fish in a moment and the disciples served 5,000. a leper was restored in a moment. disciples were called and followed in a moment.

i've had my share of moments. but it feels like i'm operating on a calendar now. week turns into week turns into month turns into year.

just be faithful. just serve. just die to self. it's a hard road to have been a significant contributor and then be shuffled to the back.

just be faithful. just serve. just die to self.