• Music Wars Rage!

    pump organ | instrument of the devil

    For as long as I’ve been going to church I’ve had to hear about “music wars” in the church. Contemporary music was never an issue for me as I hated the music at the old Presbyterian church I went to from 5th grade through 10th grade. Seriously, half of the words in the hymns meant nothing to me. It was just music to be sung. (Nothing against the music director, who is still there!) Later in high school I went to a church which sung more contemporary hymns and some praise music… and the terms “worship” and “music” finally connected to my emotions. 

    There is a great post about music wars by Dan Kimball on his blog. He writes, “It is fascinating how our own personal choices and preferences dictates what we feel is appropriate worship or not.” Certainly at Romeo that was a word I learned to hate… “appropriate.” In my eyes, if it was meant or used to honor and/or worship God’s name it was appropriate!

    He also illustrates the churches most controversial instrument, the organ! It seems the standby of worship we all grew up with was once battled over in a music war of its own. 

    Also included in this excellent reflection on hymn favorites. Check out what was said about the hymn, “What a Friend I’ve Found in Jesus.” This letter comes from 1890.

    “What is wrong with the inspiring hymns with which we grew up? When I go to church, it is to worship God, not to be distracted with learning a new hymn.  Last Sunday’s was particularly unnerving.  The tune was un-singable and the new harmonies were quite distorting.“

    Check out the rest of his post, it’s intriguing and centering on the core of the music war issue.

  • GPS Joys

    Kristen and I got the TomTom 130 a couple weeks ago. Essentially, I got it because I stink at directions and with a little more travel in my life and a new city to figure out… I thought it was well worth the money.

    So over the last week or so I’ve been looking for excuses to put it to the test. Of course, that’s pretty tough for a guy who works out of his guest room!

    But tonight I had a real opportunity to see what it could do. And let me tell you, it passed with flying colors. We went to the fireworks display in St. Clair tonight. And when the fireworks end about 100,000 people head to their cars to try to head west to where they live. 

    After we finally got to the car and out of the parking lot I pressed the “home” button and the GPS routed the fastest way home for us. The only problem was that there were hundreds of cars going nowhere. So, GPS screen in front of me I started to improvise. A side street here and back track there and I was starting to wiggle past traffic. 

    My favorite GPS move of the night was when the route lead my down an alley marked “dead end.” While the alley was indeed a dead end there was an open, unmarked driveway into the back of a school parking lot that dumped us onto a main road. Not the recommended route for commuting, but it definitely got the job done in a pinch. 

    When we saw this little trick open up Kristen and I both laughed knowing we had just saved ourselves 20-30 minutes of frustration. 

    For someone like me who is famous for getting lost, the TomTom 130 is well worth the $130.

  • Skillz

  • Pick a head shot

    It seems I have to put a headshot on everything. So tonight Kristen and I laughed a lot and took some photos around the yard of my mug. So, tell me the headshot you think I should put on all the various social networks in my life. Leave a comment and tell me which one you like.

  • The Evangelical Swing

    democrat republicanWith just a few months left until the general election the talking heads are busy hypothesizing about minutia. Of course the truth is that both the McCain and Obama campaigns are largely on hiatus. They are fund raising and building networks while Americans enjoy the summer.

    I think the media is doing their best to keep this race interesting. In fact, most people believe it will be a blowout. I think we’re talking Bush vs. Dukakis numbers for Obama in November. Bush won 80% of the electorate in 1988 and I think Obama may win more than that.

    Here’s why I’m predicting a landslide. (Please note, I’m not “endorsing a candidate.” Truth is, I’m voting for GW Bush. He bought my vote again!)

    • The pendulum is swinging. The more McCain tries to appeal to conservatives the more the swing voters realize he’s not their guy. Americans wants a more liberal president… McCain is pandering to the wrong people.
    • Abortion means nothing in this cycle. Pro-life people, like myself, recognize that if Bush couldn’t move legislation on abortion no one can. Plus, both candidates are pro-choice so we are left to pick the less of two evils.
    • Obama owns the green crowd. Green is the biggest marketing term of the year. McCain is big oil and Obama is big green.
    • It’s an age thing. You’ve got a young candidate talking about change and an old candidate saying “stay the course.” Which message appeals to voters under 30? Have you seen the numbers from the primaries? People under 30 will vote in 2008.
    • Obama has a recession proof message. The worse the economy looks the more he can say, “Do you want to keep doing what we’re doing? Then stay republican!“
    • Obama owns the web. I’ve long said that the candidate who masters the web in 2008 will take the White House. Look at McCain’s website and then look at Obama’s.
    • Obama owns the unions. Let’s face it. In states like Michigan, New York, and Ohio that matters.
    • Young evangelicals are disavowing the politics of James Dobson. Check out this site, jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com. In fact, I said the same thing on March 17th, 2007. He’s not my guy, hasn’t been my guy for a long time. While Dobson isn’t endorsing McCain just yet, it’s not like Dobson is going to endorse Obama!

    In 2000 and 2004, the media said that evangelicals like me elected George W. Bush as president. It’s my prediction that a massive shift will happen in 2008 as young evangelical voters decide they are ready to cease single issue voting. And the truth is, once you get to non-abortion issues that evangelicals care about… the pendulum will shift.

  • Brave things

    brave heartToday we booked everything for our upcoming trip to San Diego. That’s right, I said “we.” The whole family is making the trip out to check out houses and get excited about the move. We leave in less than two weeks and will be gone for 8 days. After that it’ll be less than 2 weeks until we fly out to move “for good.”

    Megan (7) has started to feel what is happening. She told mommy today, “This is a brave things we are doing together.” I think that that may have come from a conversation she and I had on Saturday. I told her, as we worked together, that this was probably the last time we’d be trimming these bushes. She shot back at me, “Yeah, we’re moving and we’ll never come back here again!”

    The word “never” lead to a discussion about God’s sense of humor and how God was laughing at our move to California. Just a couple of months ago we joked that “We’d never live in California again, we just don’t like it. It’s not for us!” Who is laughing now? I think God is. He has a funny way of rewarding my “never” with a “Oh yeah?”

    I believe God calls us to recklessly follow Him. I don’t mean we are called as Christians to be fools. But I think we are called to have “stupid faith.” God wants us to put faith in Him beyond logical fact.

    And the McLane family is learning exactly how that works. We’re taking a major step of faith. We’re leaving the security of people we love. We’ve walked away from a job we loved. We’re leaving the perfect house on the perfect street. And why? Well… because daddy (me) is pretty sure God has called us to leave.

    That’s why we can look at these tough few weeks ahead with a smile through the tears. You better believe there will be tears as we pack the truck and watch it head down Bailey Street. We’ll hug one another as this chapter of our life departs for the next one.

    I know that the kids are sad. I know Kristen is sad. And I know that life will never quite be the same for all of us… because daddy is pretty sure God has called us to leave Romeo.

    Where do you go when you’re entering times like this? I run to the classics. I think of Moses. I think of Joshua. I think I don’t want to be Jonah. I want to look into God’s eyes (figuratively, of course) and say… “It’s a crazy plan, but I will wrecklessly follow You.”

    Everyone in our house is more brave than I am. Let’s be blunt about that. For me, there is little fearGun Show because I’m not stretching myself as much as they are. I know what San Diego is like and I know where I will work. I don’t have to start at a brand new school. I don’t have to find all new friends. I don’t have to find a job. But Kristen and the kids do. Heck, even Stoney and Lovely (our dog and cat) are more brave than I am. You don’t see me getting in the cargo area of a plane.

    We’re brave together. I like that about what Megan said. To be honest, it’s a good thing to be brave together. I want to take big, bold, crazy steps of faith together as a family. God has proven Himself to me over and over… I know I can trust in Him. And I love teaching that to my kids.

  • Blog issues

    Just a quick note to those who have noticed some blog issues lately. There was a corrupt database that deleted a couple of my posts and a few comments. I’m really sorry about that and I hope the issue is fully fixed.

    Thanks to Matt over at BlueHost for correcting the problem.

  • What if all the traffics lights went away?

  • Online Car Buying Stinks

    fast eddyKristen and I are in need of a car. We haven’t completely decided on the model, but we are fairly certain our new car in San Diego will either be a compact car that gets good gas mileage or a hybrid. 

    Since we’ve not bought a car in over 10 years I was expecting that the car buying industry was a little different. 

    It isn’t. Not a thing has changed. You can find limited information online. You certainly aren’t invited to do most of the transaction online. And overall I think car dealers websites stink. It’s as if car dealerships have no idea that people regularly buy things over the internet simply to avoid the unpleasant “Fast Eddie” experience.

    In my ideal world I would test drive the 5-6 cars we are interested in a single location, then negotiate and purchase my car online. The only time I’d have to walk into a showroom filled with stale coffee, ugly ties, and worn out office furniture would be to pick up my keys, sign some stuff, and tell them to take that license plate cover off.

    But I live in a fantasy world. There is no way I’m going to be able to buy my new car without hearing “I need to talk to my manager” followed by “Can I get you a coke?” 

    Hey Fast Eddie. You’re fired homie. 

  • Romeo Photos, June 28th

    Megan and I took a walk today around the block. Here are some photos I snapped. 

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