Today was to be the renewal of the iPod Devotional Series. But a sick canine friend makes a trip to the vet today’s priority (nothing life threatening). So please be patient with another gently read preview. Regular readers of these humble ramblings remember a daring effort called the iPod devotional series. It was daring because I would hit the random shuffle feature and write about whatever song came up in the sequence. Because of my weird music tastes the concept was fraught with potential peril. My marginal integrity was challenged when a song by Toby Keith appeared on the screen but I gave it a shot. Today’s song is called Watching You by country singer Rodney Atkins. The song is reminiscent of a very poignant song by the late Harry Chapin called Cat’s in the Cradle. That song piled guilt on a lot of Dad’s in the 80’s, myself included. Atkin’s song recalls his shock when his little boy drops a mild expletive
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Next week we restart the iPod Devotional Series. To give you a hint of things to come here is a sampler from the last round. Today’s edition of “As the iPod Turns” lands us on a song by Percy Sledge. I loved Motown music as a teen and I still do. My secret desire was to perform as the bass singer with the Temptations. Remember the song “Papa was a Rolling Stone”?  I wanted to be the guy that said “and that ain’t right” in that deep, deep bass voice. But my lack of talent, dancing ability, and the general composition of the group precluded that dream from becoming reality. The tune that came up today is a classic. “When a Man Loves a Woman” reached number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the R&B charts in 1966. The song was number 54 in the 500 best songs of all time in a poll by Rolling Stone Magazine. Anyone who has ever been in
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One of the more popular series in the storied history of “Bad Christians” was the iPod Devotional Series. The idea was to take my iPod device, hit the shuffle feature and then write about whatever song popped up. It was a fun and well received series but then I got distracted by a shiny object and it faded away. So I am pleased to announce that the iPod Devotional Series will return in September. Here is a sample of one the devotionals from last year to (hopefully) whet your appetite. Today’s song that the iPod shufled to is Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts.   Earlier I wrote a very personal blog earlier featuring another song by Rascal Flatts called Skin. The song dealt with a young girl’s cancer, losing her hair, and going to the prom. It brought out the tissue inventory because Joni and I had to address that issue (not going to the prom…losing her hair) during her breast cancer journey. Today’s
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(WARNING TO THE HUMOR IMPAIRED – The following post may offend some. If you are easily irritated or have a tendency to email nasty comments to blog writers please do not continue. Thank you). Recently God has been sending me a consistent message. Get out of your comfort bunker. Give up control and trust Me. I happened to stumble onto a parody of a beloved poem called “Footprints in the Sand”. The original poem was written in 1936 by Mary Stevenson. It told a beautiful story of how God carries you through the hard times. If you somehow missed the original version you can click here to read it (be warned that there are annoying surf sound effects at the site). But a guy named Sam Glen apparently was getting the same voicemails from God that I have been receiving. Glen did a little rewrite of the beloved poem reminding all of us that just leaving a “mark” is not good enough. One night I had a wondrous
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Michael Vick was somber as he asked forgiveness and admitted his mistakes. His comments were brief. “I made a mistake of using bad judgment and making bad decisions. Those things just can’t happen. Dogfighting is a terrible thing, and I do reject it.”  He singled out NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Blank, coach Bobby Petrino and his teammates for personal apologies, saying “I was not honest and forthright in our discussions.” He also apologized to “all the young kids out there for my immature acts and what I did — and what I did was very immature. So that means I need to grow up.” Most of the media reports dropped the following comments from their summaries of the statement. “I’m upset with myself, and, you know, through this situation I found Jesus and asked him for forgiveness and turned my life over to God. “ The blogosphere is filled with comments that Vick is merely trying to save his backside and that he is
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One of the most predictable events of being a Christian in Texas happens every summer when we hit a sweltering heat wave. The temperature climbed above one-hundred degrees last week and, sure enough, there it was. A local church had put this cheery message on the sign out front.  (Note: Not the real sign. This was re-created at www.churchsigngenerator.com. You can have some fun at that site.) Apparently God got out of the book business and moved into signboards. I am sure that at least a few readers of these humble ramblings remember a song by Five Man Electrical Band. The song was called “Signs” and it told about some warnings that dared to tell us what to do. Sign Sign everywhere a sign Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign I remember the opening part of the song quite well. And the sign said long haired freaky people need not apply So I
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A preacher was walking down a dirt road one day and came upon a man with a mule pulling a wagon load of two-by-fours.  The mule had stopped and refused to move.  The man was yelling and pulling on the mules’ reigns trying to get him to move.  The man was angry and was using foul language.  The preacher came up to the man and said, “If you want one of God’s creatures to do what you want him to do, you must treat him with love and kindness”.  The man then told the preacher, “If you can do any better, than you are welcome to try”. With this the preacher went to the rear of the wagon, pulled off a two-by-four board and walked to the front of the mule and looked the mule in the eye. The preacher took a mighty swing with the two-by-four,  hitting the mule up the side of the head. The man in shock said, “I thought you must treat
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