Stuff I looked at this week (formerly known as My Influences)

This is all about full disclosure, so here goes.
I don't really want to write this right now. I just really want to get it done before Sunday.
One day, these weekly blog entries will be awesome. Maybe. If I keep doing them.
For now, I figure,if I'm gonna do them, I'm gonna go with regularly. After I get that down, I'll get to consistent, and then readable, and then sort of worth reading, and then good.

This week, it's just regular. Git'r'done.

So here it is:

I finished Matthew this week. I am starting back at the beginning, and in about twenty-eight days, I hope to have a cute little zine filled with my study notes that I can give you. It'll be swell.

For my message, I leaned a lot on E-Sword this week. Yup. Mostly I read the Bible, found linked passages, did a couple word searches and studies (most notably on "see", "blind", "sight", and "look"), and read a couple words of a Matthew Henry commentary about Bartimeus the Blind Beggar, or "BBB" as his friends knew him.

I'm almost finished "This Beautiful Mess". It's a nice read. It's a warm and fuzzy read. It's got some good insights into practically expressing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read the book. Or ask me. I'll probably have more to say about this book net week.

One more thing, actually. This is one of those, "story of our churches" books. It seems like every happenin' church out there has one. This one's about Imago Dei. To be honest, these stories kind of make me want to write a book myself. But I am writing a book. A couple of them. The book on community might end up being like this.

Speaking of Community, I watched it last weekend with Kate. It was a great episode. It was filmed in the style of a mockumentary. Yeah. ha. It was a mock mockumentary. That's so meta. What a brilliant show, though. Abed, a character on the show, became the director for the show. Not the actor playing Abed. Abed himself. Brilliant.

Whatever.

We also watched Smallville. It was garbage. Yet, we will watch it again . . .

Next week I'll write more about Smallvill;e, and about how much psuedo-Biblical-but-not stuff bugs me . . . it was like they were trying to do a parody of bad evangelical Christian apocalyptic fiction, and then doing a bad job of it. blech.

Seriously. One character on the show (after noting that someone has an Omega branded on their skull) actually says,

"It's like the Mark of the Beast, like in the book of Revelations, in the Bible!"

Thanks for spelling it out for us, genius. Cuz we're stupid. Couldn't see the reference you were smacking us over the head with, there. And by the way, Revelation isn't pluralized.

um . . .

I read the latest issue of "Walking Dead" this week. Thanks Joshua. Love this series. Robert Kirkman is a genius. Have I said that?

I read Seinlanguage by Jerry Seinfeld this week. It's very nineties. I'm also very nineties, so I think Seinfeld is awesome. I'd watch him over Mitch Hedberg any day.

I also read this article about how to answer the 64 toughest interview questions. Read it if you're looking for a job.

mmmmmmmmm.... anything else?

Music!

This is why I'm tired. I'm an old person, with kids, and I went to a punk show this week? It didn't start until ten, and didn't end until after 2am. Don't these people have to work in the morning? Sheesh.

I'm crotchety right now.

It was awesome, actually. The Whiskey Wagon played. They really, really impressed me. They're a local banjo mandolin and harmonica playing punk band. Just the thing I like. The lead singer wore a toque. Awesome. Starting off with Amazing Grace kind of got me started off on the right foot, too. Because I'm a pastor. I totally go for stuff like that. I'm easy like that.

Seriously though, they were talented, and a lot of fun. I'll definitely go out of my way to intentionally see them again.

The Mahones were the headliners. They're excellent. I've seen them twice in Lethbridge. They're a little more folky than the Dropkick Murphys, but totally in that vein. In fact they recently opened for Dropkick. I've seen Dropkick Murphys live as well, and I like the Mahones better. But I didn't stay for them. Cuz I'm old. And crotchety.

The Mahones are on the "The Fighter" soundtrack. The Popes covered them.

I've been listening to a lot of Larry Norman right now. 'll write about it next week.