Celebrating a Quarter Century of Excellence

Happy Birthday, Sarah!


What's a big brother for if he can't post a weird picture of his sister on his blog for her birthday?


Also, I don't know if I ever officially apologized for it, but I'm sorry I made you eat Play-Doh. Hopefully this makes it up to you.

Old Friends

I became aware of the band Caedmon's Call during high school when they had several songs on the local Christian music station. Although pop-savvy, they had a folksy sound and honest lyrics that made them stand out in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) scene. I saw them in concert the first time nine years ago, during the fall of my freshmen year of college. At that time the band had been together for seven years, but only experienced "mainstream" success with two albums. They were young. They were talented. They were rock stars.

Within a couple of years, the band joined the already declining worship-band-wagon and recorded several albums that did not impress me musically or lyrically. Gone were their roots of guitar-driven introspection and hope, replaced by simple chord loops and repeated choruses. As much as I'd always enjoyed their music, I just couldn't get into their new watered-down CCM pop. Like many, I blamed this on their parting ways with talented band member and songwriter, Derek Webb, who decided to pursue a solo career and audiences of less than a dozen members. On that point, if nothing else, I can relate to him.

In the years that followed, Caedmon's Call released four studio albums and two "greatest hits" discs, all hits, but none of them worth listening to. Derek Webb released four studio albums, all of which sounded fantastic even if they never cracked the Billboard charts.

Fast forward to 2007.

After years of traveling their own musical paths, Caedmon's Call reunited with Derek Webb for their new album, "Overdressed," and the ensuing tour, including their stop in Chicago on Saturday. Derek Webb opened for his old-and-current band-mates, then joined them for a two hour set consisting of many old songs, many new songs, and (thankfully) only handful from in between. In 1999, the band was playing to some of the biggest crowds they'd ever seen, filling auditoriums like college gymnasium where I first saw them. Now nine years later, they were again playing a sold-out show, though the venue this time probably only held 300 people. In an ironic twist, I imagine this was one of the biggest audiences Derek Webb has entertained during his solo career, but one of the smallest as a member of his old band.

They put on a great show. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, reminiscing about the old times and catching up with what they've been doing since. After many years apart, it was good to see them all again.

Derek Webb

Cliff Young

Danielle Young

Andrew Osenga

Knocking on Heaven's Door

Most of you, my loyal readers, will remember the previous trouble I have had with the United States Postal Service. Today, I had a couple of much more pleasant encounters with them.

This morning, I went to the post office to apply for a US Passport. Having completed my taxes about two months ago, the fact that today was April 15 meant nothing to me until I arrived at the building at 9:00am. The line was not yet out the door, but was still 15 people long despite having four stations open. Fortunately for me, the passport window was at the opposite end of the building with no line. I slinked past all of the frustrated customers and stood patiently until one of the employees came over to help me, well ahead of many of the other customers. It felt very Calvinist, seeing the powers that be choose to extend grace to me while others suffered. I had my picture taken, filled out a few forms, paid my fees, and left before most of the people in line had even moved.

My other pleasant encounter has come with some of the "humorous" mail I have been receiving at home. I thought I'd hit the jackpot last week when we received a generic mailer from Red Man addressed to the "Adult Smokeless Tobacco User" in our household. I thought maybe I'd send that one back with a note saying that he doesn't live here. I couldn't do that with today's mail, however. It's addressee?

"Jesus (or Current Resident)."

Coming soon to a blog near you

About four years ago, I was but a lowly supervisor (read: only employee) for a coffee shop in Evanston. During the summer months, I would routinely have half an hour between serving customers. Realizing that I could only wash the tables and clean the espresso machine so many times, I took it upon myself to keep a book and notepad on-hand to pass the time.

One afternoon, alone with my thoughts, I began to meditate on the way that God often parallels the spiritual world, which we cannot see, with things in the physical world, which we can readily observe. Jesus himself often taught in parables so that his disciples and followers could learn truths about His kingdom from the things with which they were already familiar. Scripture is still the best source for knowledge of God, but I believe that in His creativity He ordered the world in a way that we could also learn about Him and the spiritual realm.

I filled the front and back of a sheet of paper with thoughts about the parallels between birth, growth and maturity in the physical and spiritual realms. Jesus spoke of being "born" again. Several authors in the New Testament exhort believers to become "mature." From what I observed, every major stage of human development can also convey some lesson in our spiritual growth. In the weeks that come, I plan to explore this subject in depth.

1173 Words

Allison is pregnant! We found out just before Easter, and Allie has had a couple of doctor's visits since then to confirm that everything is coming along well. We're obviously very excited about the news, and thinking through everything we need to do to prepare. Allison is picking out strollers and high chairs, and I'm trying to make sure we can afford it all.

FAQ:
Due date: middle of November (hard to pin down, somewhere between 11/7 and 11/18)

Boy or Girl: We won't be able to find out until the end of June. Yes, we will be finding out.

Name: Nahum Jeremiah for a boy, Naomi Jezebel for a girl, Sam until we know for sure
[EDITOR'S NOTE: These names were intended as a joke, but my sense of humor just before midnight is not as sharp as I would like to believe. Apparently these names were slightly too plausible to be considered humorous, and most of my readers understandably took me seriously. I don't have anything against anyone named Nahum, Jeremiah, Naomi, or Jezebel, but we won't be using those for baby names. See the comments section if you still have any questions. The real names we are using are locked in a time delay safe that, coincidentally, is set to open in about 7 months. Also, because all of this is written inside these little bracket thingies, I don't have to update the word count for the title of this post.]

Health: Mom and baby are doing fine so far

Work: Allie will be taking time off around the birth, and will return to work at the beginning of next year. One distinct advantage of taking care of children professionally is that she will be able to take our child with her to work when she returns.

Happy Meal Grace

Tonight I observed several children eating Happy Meals. I should qualify that statement by saying that they eventually ate their Happy Meals, but spent the first 20 minutes of dinner playing with the "prizes" inside. As I watched the food grow cold and the children's fascination with the plastic trinkets, my mind drifted to the grace of our God.

In many ways, I treat God's grace like the prize in a Happy Meal. The first time it appeared, it was a big deal. It was a surprise- something unexpected and wonderful accompanying my daily sustenance. Here in the midst of the ordinary was something so completely unique and exciting that everything else stopped while I tore open the packaging and explored its every facet. As I began to see this reward as the pattern, however, my surprise turned to expectation, and I began to believe that I deserved it. Lack of expectation led to complacency, and complacency led to boredom. Before long, what I once considered to be of the highest value was discarded, and perhaps worse, I outgrew my sense of wonderment at it all.

Lord, forgive me for looking at your grace as a cheap pleasure, only to be used and forgotten. Help me to receive it like a child and to continually be excited by its newness.