StumpTown Blog

I'm not abandoning this blog altogether, but I am officially placing it on ice for a while. If you would like to stay in touch, and I hope that you will, come find me on facebook, which I'm going to try for a while. Thanks.

Just back from Pepperdine and don't have time for a full download. Just wanted to say: 1. It was fantastic. Great time with old friends and meeting some new ones as well. 2. Malibu is still really pretty. 3. Thank you so much to all the people who supported me by attending my class. Special thanks to Tara for gathering a fantastic praise team at the last minute and to the folks who sang. It meant a lot to me. Thank you. I really enjoyed teaching this year and hope to go back next year for more of the week. I felt like my class went well, though I wasn't one of those who had to listen to me, so I'm probably not the best judge. But I feel good about it. More soon. Thank you to everyone who was praying for me. Your prayers were heard and God was with me.

My lovely (or "mactastic" if you prefer) wife has recently pointed me to a couple of fun sites I have to share. First is my favorite: http://thingsiwanttopunchintheface.blogspot.com/ It is somewhat PG-13 with language, but it is darn (I try to keep it PG) funny. Plus, I think this person might secretly be reading my mind somehow. I would say, it just seems like that because these are things that annoy everyone, but then why are there so many people who continue to do/like these things? Enjoy. Then there is this latest gem: http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/ The above mentioned punch blog links here to share her dislike for food mixtures and I need to follow up on that. Why do so many people believe that taking multiple things they like and putting them together will make something even better? Are these the same people who would drink gasoline because they figure, "hey it smells good, it probably tastes good." (Gasoline does smell good....oh it does so....stop arguing,...

Greetings all in blogland. I just got a last minute invitation to go down and speak at the Pepperdine Lectures. I now have one day to come up with a class title and about 2 weeks to come up with a class!!! Yikes. This much I know, it is going to center around our experience up here at Westside putting together our own worship CD and will seek to encourage others to try the whole thing themselves. Past that, I’m not sure yet. Since I started writing songs, I have had several powerful revelations. Perhaps the most significant is that writing songs is not as hard as you think. If you are a Christian, there is power and beauty in your faith. All you really have to do is find a way to articulate that power in your own words (it helps of some of them rhyme) and then set it to music. Still sound hard? I really don’t think it is. I don’t mean to diminish the talents of the great songwriters, just to debunk the notion that you couldn’t write a song yourself. With a little help from t...

I don't usually write things out when I am going to speak in public. I make a few scratched out notes and then just go with what comes out. So far, it has worked for me well enough. But at my Dad's memorial a couple weeks ago, I knew I couldn't get away with that. I had some things that I really wanted to say about my Dad and knew that it would be among the hardest things I have ever done. So, this time, I wrote out my remarks in part so I could read them and not really have to think and in part so if it proved too hard for me to do, someone else could read it for me. Turns out I still went off script a bit, but this is close to the remarks that I made. By the grace of God, I somehow managed to get through it and am very glad I was able to. Many of you have been reading about and praying for my Dad through this blog, though many of you could not be at the memorial. So, I thought I would post what I wrote here. It is a small snippet of the things I could have said about my f...

Just a quick post to let you know that there will be a memorial service for my Dad on Sunday, March 15 at 4:00 pm at Westside Church of Christ . All are welcome. We appreciate your prayers.

Today at 11:10am, my father's body passed away. He lived his life with God and is closer to Him now than ever. Thank you all for your prayers, they have been answered with blessings during a most difficult time. My Dad was at home with my Mom and me and my sister and went in peace. May God be with us all.

Josh is working too hard and doesn't have time to blog. I thought I would jump in and post an update about his Dad. Ron has just been to his oncologist and it appears his liver tumors have grown significantly since the last CT scan a month ago. They are too numerous to count with the largest being about 6 inches across. They all appear to be growing aggressively. There is good news in all of this and I am reaching here...so go with me. The tumors have not spread outside of the liver. The doctor felt that they were close to that spreading stage. But not yet. The liver, while compromised, IS still functioning. This is all good news. He is still able to have visitors, still able to laugh at the antics of his grandsons and still able to eat Boston Cream Pie. The most important thing here is that the doctor gave them additional resources for pain management which should significantly improve things. Kay has worked very hard to keep him comfortable and it takes all her energy to wat...

There are cards and letters and e-cards and email and online flourists and facebook tags and a trillion other (I counted) ways to send someone a note expressing some sentiment like Happy Birthday or "Good job getting out of bed this morning" or whatever. And there are another trillion (ok, I'm rounding up this time) ways to honor someone or mark some important event. But they are boring and stale. Fortunately for all of you, I come bearing fresh produce this morning just for you. My good friends Tony and Jennifer have launched a new web business that is a fantastic way to show someone you care or create lasting memories of a person, event or both. Check it out right now....seriously right now...I mean it. http://remarkabletributes.com/ I used this service to create a book for my parents to help them celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. We compiled notes and letters from friends to go along with pictures of the party we had and many of their closest friends. The...

Our new preacher Aaron, (who is a great guy and fantastic preacher, but don't tell him or he will become even harder to control...and I am all about control) stole my idea (even though I hadn't told anyone about it yet) and asked a number of people from my home congregation to share ways in which they have seen the good news of Jesus in their lives in 2008. Those who were willing are writing short essays to post on the website . My wife just went through this exercise and I have printed her essay. In other words, good news - instead of me you get my mactastic wife as guest blogger today. WARNING : Reading this story may lead to eyes watering. The song referenced is the one I wrote for Tanya and is on the new CD if you want to listen. ----------- Have you ever thought about what a child’s life must be like? Wandering in a forest of long legs. Smaller than everyone else. Bouncing like a pinball through a sea of kneecaps. At any moment, some “giant” grown-up may come along and sw...

Hello all. Sort of a hodge-podge of things today which is good since I like using the word hodge-podge whenever possible. I also enjoy donnybrook, hooligans and couscous which has the makings of a great short-story writing assignment. Find your 3 favorite words to say and make them the theme of a story. Who wouldn’t want to read a story about a donnybrook featuring some hooligans where couscous was prominently involved? Aaaak…I’ve already digressed and I hadn’t even gressed yet. Sorry. Even More Music – Check out Mike Cope’s blog today and you will discover that Mr. Cope has excellent taste in music. Thanks to Tony and Jennifer for spreading the word on our music project . If, you are reading this and going “what music project”, then welcome to my blog, it is good to have first time readers. The CD has been very well received. The amount of people who have said nice things about it to me and to others has really blown me away. Here I thought I was serving God by leading my C...

You can now hear snippets of every song at CD Baby. Check it out http://cdbaby.com/cd/westsidepraise

If you look to the left of the screen, you will find something called a widget and on the widget, you will find that the much anticipated (by me) Westside PraiseTeam CD is now available for purchase. As you may know from reading this blog, this CD is the praise team I sing with at Westside Church of Christ singing 10 original a capella praise and worship songs written by me and my good friend Jennifer Davis. I enjoy listening to the CD, but the music is really intended to be sung. So, if you are involved with a Church wherever you live (and I hope you are), I would encourage you to check out the CD and see if any of these songs migh be appropriate to use in your own worship service. All sale proceeds go back to Westside CofC. Enjoy.