Currently Watching Glory Road (Widescreen Edition) By Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Austin Nichols, Jon Voight, Evan Jones see related

free bread

if you know me, i'm quite a tortured soul. or at least that's what my wife tells me.  i don't think i'm one of those true artistic types but nonetheless an emotional, tortured soul that gets influenced by so many exterior things like music and movies. seriously, i can let my whole day be dictated by the type of music i listen to in the morning.  anyways, that's not really what I wanted to write about in this brief meandering thought of mine.  btw, my wife also tells me that I don't really have the gift of teaching b/c I don't communicate clearly and my thoughts are always moving to tangents or can be really convoluted.  I was a bit offended at first but after processing through what she was saying, I kind of agree.  Oh well....there's always drama where I just have to follow a certain script.  Hmmm....I think someone in that tortured world will be able to share in my madness.

well, what I really wanted to share is that today I got a chance to roam around the city of Chatsworth and visit local businesses to ask them to sponsor our Harvest Festival event.  of course many people rejected this wonderful offer to give a donation for this community outreach event but there were some that were very receptive.  in the midst of going around and talking to all these people, I just began to see how isolated I have been in my little secluded island.  i work at the church office working like a busy bee and right now preparing for harvest festival.  but i rarely go out much to just get to know the people in our community, in our neighborhood.  so recently i decided that our church should join the chamber of commerce and also I want to make an effort to get to know some of the local businesses and the owners by name.  today i met an owner of an italian deli. his name is Giovanni and I told him about Harvest Festival on top of ordering a small pastrami sandwich.  When I told him I was from a local church, he told me to wait so he could show me a photo of a mutual friend.  He had recently come back from Italy about 2 weeks ago and had a photo of the Pope.  it felt like I met a new friend although he was probably my father's age.  Before I left, he gave me some free bread to go which I didn't want to take but he insisted.  He's a real Italian with  a real Italian accent and when a real Italian gives you bread, you take it.  I took some of the bread and as I was going around some of the other businesses, I began to share the bread.  First with a local locksmith and then an owner of a mailbox/packaging store.  There was much laughter and conversation.  I don't know...as I was physically sharing bread with them, I felt like I was sharing the love of Christ with them.  as Christians we have this living bread to share with others.  Bread that won't go stale and can satiate our deepest hunger. Oh no...I'm venturing into the preaching/teaching unknown which is not part of my spiritual gifting according to my wife.  (a bit of sarcasm here. but oh well, my wife never reads my xanga anyways. but if you do christina, i love you very much and next time I won't forget to throw out the trash)

Currently Reading The Barbarian Way: Unleash the Untamed Faith Within By Erwin Raphael McManus see related

where did time go?

Currently Listening Neon Bible By Arcade Fire see related

music and lyrics

discovering old and new music

i'm discovering some old and new music.  i don't know why but i'm starting to really appreciate more music now than before.  i notice that in the most stressful and hectic times, I like to listen to more music from my cd collection and on the radio.  with a plethora of music out there, i guess you need to have a discerning ear.  the same goes with books too since you can read a book a week and never even finish 1% of the books that have been published by the Library of Congress.  so here are some albums, songs, artists that have touched a deep chord with me lately.  i dare not to write any reviews or criticisms at this time because i'm still in the process of digesting it myself.  perhaps whoever reads this will find something that resonates with them and maybe we can have a discussion someday or maybe we can write our own music after being inspired by these eclectic artists.

The Police: yes they are having a reunion tour.  i used to listen to them in the 80s and just recently before i found out they were reuniting for some concerts, i've been listening to their oldies like "So Lonely" and "Don't Stay So Close To Me".  The Best of Police is a must.  Sting is an incredible songwriter, bass player, a true artist. But it's their drummer Mr. Copeland that just makes their songs that much better.

Corelli: I remember listening to this Baroque composer in my musicology class at UCLA.  I forgot the name of my professor but he was one amazing organist.  A very nice man I must say as well.  Anyways, he introduced me to Baroque music and I fell in love with Bach, Vivaldi, and a lesser known composer named Corelli.  I heard his Christmas Concerto and was floored by the beauty of baroque.

United (Hillsong Youth Band): I know we sing a lot of Hillsong and United songs at our church and there is a reason why we do.  Some people criticize their music as being shallow because of their simple lyrics, their anthemic rock sound, and the sheer amount of CD's they produce.  Their two main worship leaders and songwriters, Joel Houston and Marty Sampson are prolific songwriters and are anointed leaders.  I've been listening again to their two olders CD's "More Than Life" and "Look to You" as well as the newer CD "United We Stand". I have to admit that initially many of their songs sounded repetitive and like a remix of their older songs.  But after listening to it for months and even years now, i'm beginning to really appreciate the depth, difference, and raw passion in their songs.  So i've decided not to compare United with other worship albums from Passion, Soul Survivor, or Vineyard but to appreciate and accept them for what they are. When we sing many of their songs at church, we can't deny that many of their songs resonate not only with the youth but with all generations.  So you can expect our church and churches around the world continuing to sing songs from United.

ok...i'll have to continue this later because i'm pretty exhausted and there is a lot of preparation for Easter.peace.

Currently Listening Live At Stubbs By Matisyahu see related

i need a break. so i had this strange dream where i was being chased by these menacing things. i can't describe it because it wasn't a person or an animal, but some thing.  anyways, i was running for my life like these creatures were going to catch up with me any second but i was somehow tapped out of this dream by someone.  when i woke up, my heart was literally beating 50mph and it took awhile for it to go back to its normal state. anyways, i was always curious whether you could die from a bad dream. i guess that's called a nightmare. okay, i wonder if there are any cases of people dying from a nightmare. i would suppose that their dream was so terrifying that they could have gotten a heart attack or something.  also, i've been also told that i sometimes stop breathing while sleeping. if there are any doctors in the xanga world, is this a bad thing?  okay...must go back to studies.