No, we aren’t, (for now, anyway) but my good buddy, fellow Web designer, and pastor of The Well in Philadelphia, Todd Heistand and his wife are. Please stop over to their Web site where they have posted about the adoption, read their story, consider chipping in…

Peace.

I’ve had the fortune of possessing B Collision for a couple of days now. Let me tell you that it would definitely be worth the $9 you’d spend to get it. There are a couple new recordings on it, as well as some “acoustic” (really just stripped down) recordings of songs from A Collision (get it? A Collision, B Collision?)

In light of the Psalms series we’ve been doing at Stonebrook, it’s very poignant, especially in light of the last two messages on Psalms of Lament. Check it out.

You can currently order it at Grassroots Music for $8.97.

A quote from a book about church music and those who create it, but I think it applies to any area of art/work/trade. Thought I’d share…

“…the difference between an amateur and a professional is that a professional never stops learning. If by a professional [song writer] we mean one who takes their craft seriously and who wants to push it as far as it can go, then we should learn all we can, whenever we can.

Otherwise all we’ll ever be is amateurs, dabbling at the edges, and never seeing how far we can swim.

The most fundamental thing in improving your technique is to listen to and learn from others you admire. Talk to other [song writers] about their craft. Share ideas and inspiration. Examine their work and try to understand how they do it.”

Nick Page, And now let’s enter into a time of nonsense. Pg. 68

update: Not exactly coincidentally, Tim Borseth gave a message on Psalm 55 at Stonebrook Community Church. Check it out.

(At Stonebrook Community Church, we have been doing a series on The Psalms. Last week I posted a reflection on Psalm 137, and “Spiritual Exhaling” at RockWorship.com. This article is a continuation on that thought, helping me to process the Psalm and the example David gives us in it. It is also posted at Rockworship.com -Matt)

Your wife of twenty-five years leaves you for another man. Your company, which you built with your blood, sweat, and tears, fires you. Your most trusted friends turn on you and admit they had been playing with you, the secret brunt of a cruel several year joke. Your king, surrogate father, and trusted confidante “turns to the dark side” and sets out to kill you. Your son tries to kill you, sleeps with your wife, takes your kingdom, defames your name, tries to blot out your existence. Your disciple, with whom you have shared the most precious secrets any human being has ever known, kisses you…

Betrayal. The worst feeling a human can endure. It is the reason trust is such a dangerous thing. Betrayal leaves us naked, exposed, vulnerable, utterly unhinged and disoriented. One’s perception of reality has just been ripped to shreds. Things you knew you knew for sure; one of the few things you would bank on; something you knew you could count on when all else fails; worse someone you knew you could count on when all else fails changes completely. Ripping your heart out, and with it your stomach, guts, and breath; tearing a whole in the very fabric of your soul. [...]

Brad Barret let me speak with him last Sunday at Stonebrook Community Church on Psalms of Lament.

You can listen to the message here.

I posted the notes from my portion of this message over at Rockworship.com.