I'm on to something ... or so I thought

I have been studying Revelation 6:17 and chapter 7, so I emailed my favorite end times expert KELSEY B to get her perspective on a few things.

Here's part of her response:
"It's interesting -- the KJV and NKJV say "His wrath", NASB and NIV say, "their wrath". When I look up the meaning of that word, it is typically singular, although can be plural (like "they", "themselves", etc.) Great thoughts on it though!.......


Kelsey

(So basically, Mrs. B was saying, "Nice try homeboy, you need to upgrade whatever version you're reading," In short, the little golden nugget I thought I had found was skewed a tad by the translation I was using.)


I RESPONDED WITH THE FOLLOWING:

Kelsey,

Yeah I figured maybe it was a translation issue on my part. I have the “JESUS LOVES ME PICTURE BIBLE” so it might not be a great translation for everything.
It’s a paraphrase, so pretty much the book of Revelation is summed up into the following one sentence with a picture of the world on fire... “It’s gonna suck, so get your crap together, but don’t worry, eventually it will pan out in the end ... hopefully. Oh yeah, and don’t change anything in this book or else it won’t, at least for you anyway “


John

Ed and the Age to Come

I went to pick up the kids from school today. I pulled into my parking spot, got out of the car, yelled for them to get in the car, got the kids loaded up, and started backing out, when I heard my oldest son Nick say, "Dad, stop you're gonna hit Ed."

I put on the brakes, looked through the rear window to see Ed Hackett walking his daughter to his car, completely unaware that he could have been tagged by a Subaru.

My son yelled out, "Dad, you can't hit Ed Hackett. If you hit Ed Hackett, you'll really end up low on the totem pole in the Millenial Kingdom. You think your ice cream truck job would be really bad, if you hit Ed Hackett, you'll end up shoveling holy horse poop for a thousand years!"

Now for those of you that don't know Ed, let me try to describe him by giving you this analogy. If the Lord himself came down and visited me in a dream, and said, "Son, you've kind of been an idiot most of your life, but I'm going to extend grace to you one more time. I'm going allow you to morph into anyone you want to. Choose wisely. You will take on their characteristics and live as they would."

Without hesitation folks, Ed Hackett would be in my top 5, possibly even my top 2. Simply said, Ed is one of the most kind, caring, compassionate, Holy Spirit filled, Christ-like people on the planet. He's one of those people you look at and say "I'm not sure if I'm one of God's favorite, but I'm pretty sure Ed is one of God's favorite."

Anyway, I'm glad my son got my attention today. I could just picture myself years from now shoveling horse poo poo and a big ole' angel comes up to me and says, "What did you do to deserve that?"

"I hit Ed Hackett with my Subaru."

Random Things People Have Said to Me This Week

Have you ever had someone you know say something to you to encourage you or show that they care, but it ends up coming out all wrong?

Here are some random quotes from this week:

1. "Hey John, How are ya? Have you lost weight? You look skinnier than normal." (to some of you that might be a compliment, but to a guy who has tried to bulk up all his life and get away from the whole Anorexic Gandhi vibe, it wasn't a huge confidence boost.)

2. This one came after I had just finished playing a set. "Hey, I really like what you play on the guitar. Well actually, what I meant to say was 'I like your moves', you move like a famous 70's rock star. Your guitar playing is good though."

I've actually gotten the "moves" compliment before. Someone told me once "Man you were just up there rockin'. You look just like John Mellencamp. That was cool, 'cause I like Mellencamp, but a 70's rock star??? All I could picture was Styx in glam band spandex.

Leave it to Squirrely

This past Tuesday was a beautiful, warm Autumn day. I was driving on the back roads behind the Prayer Room, making my way to Grandview Road with the windows down. It was a picture perfect day. The sun was shining through the brilliant colors in the trees. A warm breeze was blowing. It couldn't get any better than that.

As I was driving, I saw two squirrels playing in the road up ahead. They too were enjoying this incredible day. All I can tell you is that it was like a Disney movie, everything was brilliant in color and in slow motion. The squirrels seemed to be part of some new wonderful talking-animal kids movie. You know the kind that just sucks you in, where the girl dog comes running over the hills with a bow in her hair, ears flopping, and the boy dog sees the girl dog and does a double take, runs toward her, drooling out the side of his mouth, and they both spend the afternoon running through a field of daisies.

The squirrels just seemed to be dancing in mid air. I was totally mesmerized. So mesmerized in fact that I ran them over. I'm not kidding!

I've never been in a car, whether driving or riding where a squirrel was run over. Every single time, even though they seem to wait until the last second, they always, always, always get out of the way! Not this time. I was shocked and horrified at the sound of the thud. I looked in my rear view mirror to see that I had totally wiped out not one, but two squirrel lovers, who were not dancing, but mating in the middle of 113th Street.

But hey, at least they died happy.

My Job In the Millenium

Two Sunday's ago, Hal Lindhart spoke on "The Truth". One of the prayers that he prays is "God, keep me from delusional thinking and all false assurance." It was good stuff!

But it got me thinking of something that happened just a week before. I woke up and went to my 6AM set, and to be honest with you, I was in a foul mood. I was having one of those "tell everybody what you think" conversations in my head all morning. I truly felt like a beast before God. Funny thing however, an hour later, I'm feeling Jesus, I'm happy, I feel connected, I love everyone. What was the difference? Coffee, folks. One stupid cup of coffee. When I realized this, while pacing quite briskly I might add, I practically said out loud, "Oh great the little 'yes' in my spirit towards God is actually caffeine induced, that's just terrific!"

Yeah, sure Jesus, I love you, with a little help from Starbucks. So what if this is really true? The only scenario I can think of is that I will most definitely be one escaping through the flames if I keep this up. Imagine with me if you will... this conversation with the Lord as I am entering the New Jerusalem.

John- "Hi Jesus!"
Jesus- "Hi Son, you smell like smoke."
John- "I just escaped the flames didn't I."
Jesus- "Ummmm, Yeah"
John- "It was the caffeine wasn't it?"
Jesus- "Yeah, pretty much."
John- "So where do we go from here?"
Jesus- "Well I have a little something for you."
John- "Oh really, like being the lead guitar player in the celestial city? Do I get a flying V guitar? This is going to be just great!"
Jesus- "No no quite"
John- "Well what's my assignment then?"
Jesus- "You see that truck over there?"
John- "Yeah, the one that says 'Heavenly Hash' on it. You mean I'm driving an ice cream truck in the New Jerusalem?"
Jesus- "No, not exactly, you're going to be driving it OUTSIDE the New Jerusalem."
John- "Well isn't that a little dangerous, seeing that the nations are going to rage against you sometime soon?"
Jesus- "Yep, could be!"
John- "So when the nations gather, what do I do?"
Jesus- "Drive real fast."
John- "Will somebody let me in the gates of the city?"
Jesus- "Just drive around to the side, there's a delivery gate, someone will let you in there."
John- "Well how do I know someone's going to be there to let me in?"
Jesus- "Oh, they'll be someone there. The same ones are there taking deliveries every day."
John- "Well who are they?"
Jesus- "Bill Cosby, Robert Schuller, and possibly the guys from Stryper."
John- "Well does somebody ride in the truck with me?"
Jesus- "Oh yeah, I've got somebody assigned to you."
John- "Well who is it?"
Jesus- "Raffi"
John- "You mean the guy who sings little kids songs?"
Jesus- "Yep that's the one."
John- "Well what did he do to get this job?"
Jesus- "Well the little 'yes' that was in his spirit, was mostly induced by pot. The 60's weren't real kind to him."
John- "Oh great, so I'm going to have a disgruntled employee with the munchies, singing silly songs about a whale called "Baby Baluga" working for me."
Jesus- "Oh no, he's quite excited. Once he saw the truck, he hasn't stopped beaming."
John- "Well I'd be beaming too if I smoked pot my whole life, ended up in heaven, only to be driving around a truck that says 'Heavenly Hash' on the outside. You didn't tell him it was ice cream did you?"
Jesus- "Ummm, nope, gonna leave that up to you!"

So Folks, I need to make some changes, I don't want to live this dream, really I don't!

LiLi the Luchador

Now, it's no secret, we IHOP'ers don't celebrate Halloween, but should we get invited to a sweet "Hallelujah Party," Elia is going as Nacho Libre!
"Sometimes Choncho, when you are a baby, you wear stretchy pants... just for fun."

Support Raising at the 6AM's

So I'm sitting in the Prayer Room during a 6AM intercession set. In almost every Mon-Fri 6AM set, we pray for God to break-in in the marketplace. Many people working in the marketplace in Kansas City come to that set before they leave for work.

Now in this particular set, I was in the back of the room receiving ministry from the Healing Teams (I blew my wrist out playing too much this summer). Anyway, I was being soaked in prayer, listening to Marcus and Tim do what they do so well, and just receiving from the Lord when someone stood up at the mic to pray for the Marketplace people.

He said, and I quote, "Would everyone with jobs please stand up and move to the aisles."

I figured that the rest of us without jobs, were supposed to pray for these people with jobs, so I quietly walked up to one of the gentleman standing and said, "Hi, I'm an intercessory missionary, I don't have a job, but I couldn't help but notice that you do, would you consider supporting me $10.00 a month.... I'll pray for you!"

Shock and Awe

I'm not an argumentative person. In a group of people where there are many strong personalities, I tend to be the one who is quiet and introspective. I have found myself sitting in the middle of many heated discussions over the years, and have wondered how someone like myself can ever come out on top.

But I've figured out a way.

Occasionally, not often, but occasionally in a briefing or debriefing session before or after one of my sets in the prayer room, a subject will arise that causes controversy to some extent. Most debates are over minor stuff like the mechanics of the harp and bowl model, but some are over what we'll call the "grey areas". You know those things that one person might have the liberty to do in Christ, but the other person feels like is wrong, and the Bible doesn't make it really clear.

Most of the time when these discussions occur, I quietly wait for the half hour to tick by, and then leave saying nothing while everyone else is vibrating like they've had 16 shots of espresso! But alas, my melancholy friends out there, I have found a way to silence the great debaters, it's called "Shock and Awe". The next time I find myself in an IHOP debate, I'm going to wait for that well-known 20 second pause of silence, and I'm going to stand up and say the following:

"Well, at least we're not going to be here for the tribulation. Anybody wanna go get a beer? I just got the new Ozzie CD, you guys can ride with me and we can listen to it on the way, but first we have to stop by CVS, my wife just left me a message, her birth control prescription is in."

Then I will majestically walk out of the briefing room, possibly skipping and most certainly in silence. Yes, a hush will fall over the crowd. I will turn around and say, "Thank you very much Kansas City, I love you, good night."

You see folks, the key is shock and awe. Cram as much controversy as you can into one brief statement, so much controversy that no one knows what to rebut, and then make your exit.

HERO NEEDED

I have a friend who is looking to marry an IHOP'er in order to get her green card. She's not beautiful, but she's sturdy, and she has a good heart. Her name is Regina Bohlendorfer.

Regina enjoys making beer, log rolling, and pillaging small villages on the weekends. She has a side business of making burlap undergarments. She enjoys long, quiet evenings in small, damp huts listening to Enya.

Regina is a widow recently recovering from the death of her husband, some guy named Thor, apparently someone used his hammer on him. She needs a hero....and he's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight!

You can view Regina's complete profile at www.vikingbrides.com

This past June, 21 of us from the Children's Equipping Center at IHOP traveled to Colorado in 2, 12 passenger vans to do a Signs and Wonders Camp. While driving in Colorado, we spotted the above sign that said, "POINT OF INTEREST", so we decided to stop and check out the "so called" attraction. The picture below is the fascinating museum that we found, as the "POINT OF INTEREST".

Notice, the hand-painted sign that says "SEE 6 STATES". This museum claimed that if you climbed its tower you could see 6 states from this one spot. I climbed the tower, it cost me $1.00. I looked. I saw. I was pretty high off the ground and to be honest, I have no idea if I actually saw 6 states. Apparently someone erased the squiggly lines that designate the state boundaries- where one state ends and one state begins on my map.

The real interesting thing about this museum was all of the ancient western artifacts and collectibles that this old guy had. There were old bottles, arrow heads, cars, books, "artwork", dishes, clothing... it was like the Ingalls family had a yard sale and this guy bought it all! Among the artifacts were also some really freaky stuff like albino snakes or pig embryos in jars of formaldehyde. But the freakiest of them all, was the two headed calf pictured below, along with a copy of one of my favorite books!

I can think of no better picture to promote unity and world peace than this! Eat your heart out Al Gore. Everyone has a place in this world folks, even my friend Brad the Two-Headed Calf.

Dear Randy,

Please come home from vacation soon. Since you've been gone, the Prayer Room has been remodeled. Again. The stage is now all white. Completely white. So white in fact that if you gave it another go as one of Marcus' backup singers, we'd only see your shirt, that is, as long as you weren't wearing a white shirt. I hope Eddie James is the new "Misty", cause he's the only one that's gonna look good on stage. Only this would mean that now Eddie is Jesus' favorite and not Misty, but only because Jesus can't see Misty on the webcast. One thing's for sure, when the rock falls through the roof, and lands on the stage, we'll know it. Hopefully it won't land on any white people cause we won't know who died.

The new drum cage is pretty cool. Or should I say "drum condo". Yes it's as big as a house. So big in fact, UPS delivers. And I think I saw someone deliver a casserole to Joel Sorge during a set!

Oh, yeah Lou just pulled into town and him and Mike are planning world domination. This is like watching a game of "Spiritual Risk" and we're the very coveted Australia.

Love,
Your Friend, John

Angels Among Us

5 days into the fast, Randy morphs into an angel while the rest of us are struggling not to break into a serious case of Tourretts due to all the Krispy Kreme's were denying ourself. Don't get me wrong. This is totally worth it. We want God to break in, but all I can think of is if after 5 days, Randy is an angel; he's going to be a glimmering white beam of light by the end of 40.

This Offends Me and I'm A Guy!

Ladies, would you actually buy a dress in a store called "The Dress Barn?" I find the name of this store very offensive, and I'm a guy. To me associating the word "barn" with anything to do with the female gender is walking on dangerous ground. For example, saying things like "Gee honey, you know I love you, even though you're as big as a barn", or something like "Of course I can hit you from here, you're as big as a barn". Or how about, "Honey, what a lovely new fragrance, what's it called 'Essence of Barn'?" Or "Wow, you got really embarrassed when I said that, you were as red as a barn!" See what I mean?

What do the dresses look like anyway? All I can see are very large floral printed dresses with poofy sleeves, or how about some sweet one piece denim home-school mom jumpers! If they had an athletic department, I'm seeing polyester culottes, talk about spontaneous combustion!
And nightgowns? Lots of baggy flannel folks!

So guys, if you're looking for a dress for you wife, bringing one home in a box labeled "The Dress Barn", may not improve your marriage!

MOM THIS IS JUST FOR YOU! p.s. i love you dad!

This is my Dad, he calls himself the "Gospel Whistler" ... I'm not kidding either. The man can whistle any gospel tune you throw at him. Holidays are very interesting! Granted it sounds very similar to a cockatiel on LSD.

This is my Dad getting his game face on, right before he raced Quasi Modo to the top of the bell tower.

Guess who won?

Air Traffic Control

It seems since 911 that airports are getting more particular about what you can take on an airplane. Above is a glass display case full of items that you cannot take on an airplane flying out of the Kansas City Airport, please look them over carefully. Of course I was completely blind sided by these specific policies, and was quite ticked when I had to leave my chainsaw and blow torch with security. What happened to the good old days when you could safely stow your chainsaw under your seat and your blow torch in the overhead compartment? Of course, I know the real reason for these new policies, and it's not terrorism, folks. The fact of the matter is the pretzels and peanuts aren't free anymore! I've had two friends recently fly the friendly skies, and if they wanted the previously free snack items they had to pay for them. If some flight attendant told me that I had to pay a dollar for a stale bag of pretzels or annoyingly, over-salted peanuts; and I actually had a chain saw under my seat, you better believe I'd whip it out and demand a donut!

In all seriousness, do you really have to tell people not to bring these items, and what about all the things they left out... like a yak. "Sir, you're going to have to leave your yak behind" ... or a canoe. How about the all to common wood chipper! It would be much easier if they just showed you what you can take on. The glass case would simply include a fully clothed mannequin holding a magazine. There isn't that so much less confusing!

IF YOU KNEW

That JOHN LOUX had at least one, perhaps multiple, bloggable photos just sitting in iPhoto waiting for the boy to simply sit down and write his "MIND'S INNER RAMBLINGS" about said images, what would you do?

I for one might just hand cuff him to the dining room table til he BLOGS ALREADY!!
From, The Wife

Farewell From Shreveport

Folks there's a good chance that this is the last post I'll be blogging here from Shreveport. Just a few southern establishments we drove by on our stay that I wanted to share with you in closing. Most of them speak for themselves. Adios!

Cajun Daiquiris

Just look at the picture folks. Ya'll are pretty smart, you put two and two together. I'm still in shock and awe. A drive-thru Daiquiri stand? Bad day at work? Slip on by "Cajun Daiquiris" and enjoy a little drunk driving on the way home while you forget the rest of your day. I've seen it all now!

Pie Works

I was all excited when I saw this restaurant called "Pie Works". We were all ready to pull in for some good 'ole southern pie when we noticed the neon "Coors Light", "Bud Light" and various other cheap brews featured in the window display. Pie and Coffee, yes! Pie and Ice Cream, absolutely! But Pie and Beer, there just isn't enough red neck in me to go there!

Laundry Basket Tavern

Tracie and I actually did some laundry at this place called "The Laundry Basket". As an added benefit to its customers, the "Laundry Basket" has an adjacent room called "The Laundry Basket Tavern" which features a bar as well as gambling machines. So quite possibly, you can go in, throw your clothes in the wash, get drunk, loose all your money, and not have enough money to dry your clothes, all within an hour or less!

Psychic Yard Sale

Notice this particular Psychic is having a yard sale, which leaves one to wonder, "What does a Psychic sell at a yard sale?" Old readings? Other peoples readings? Totally useless facts that you already know? Semi-chipped crystal balls? Faded Tarot Cards? Chicken bones?

Round 'Em Up 'Lil Guys

During our stay in Louisiana, one of the coolest things I've gotten to do was to attend a midget rodeo. It was quite exhilarating!

News Alert: CPR Manneqin Babies Gone Wild

It's the saddest thing I've seen folks. Tonight Tracie and I wandered into a back room of the NICU at Christus Schumptus St. Mary's Hospital. Apparently we stumbled onto the aftermath of a wild party thrown by the CPR Mannequin Babies, Reggie and Jeffey. Formula cans strewn all over the floor, lullabies blaring. One of them peed on the TV, thus no picture. But the worst of it, was something one of them had written on the wall with a big fat Crayola crayon. It read, "For some good breast milk call 1-800-MY-MOM."

Hi Jesus!

How to Win Friends and Influence the Lost

Trac and I were driving behind a car today and saw this license plate. In case you can't read it, it says, "Got Christ? It's HELL without HIM."

All I've got to say is, Crap Dang and Heck Fire it's southern evangelism at its best!

Don't come any closer folks, I just ate a bean burrito!

Baby Products

NOTE TO SELF: Do not mistake this for toothpaste at 4:30AM when getting ready for the 6AM set.

"The Confession Booths" - '07 WORLD TOUR

This is my new band. Gary on the left is an amazing drummer. While Shawn on the right lays down the funky bass lines with a sweet, tasty groove. Me, I sing lead vocals and play shredding guitar.

Hospital Art

Walking into Christus Schumpert St. Mary's Hospital yesterday, this painting caught my eye. Mostly because, when walking past this quickly, you really feel like Jesus is waving to you. Not realizing that it was a painting at first, I waved back and said, "Hi Jesus"! I quickly snapped out of it and realized it was a piece of hospital art. Upon close inspection, I saw that this is the story of the men that lowered the lame man through the roof.... of their very Mexican looking hacienda. I mean, come on people, if you're going to paint a Biblical story let's at least get the shingles right. It was probably straw or mud, and not something Zorro could run across!

One more thing, and why does Jesus look like Eric Clapton?

Magic Shell

I had a brownie sundae covered in magic shell tonight. It was good, but it got me thinking. If I was captured by terrorists and given the choice of how to die, it would be this. I would ask them to dip me in a tub full of magic shell and place me in the freezer. That way when Jesus comes back, shining like the sun, destroying the anti-christ and melting everything in sight, I could have a sweet chocolatey snack on the way to getting my glorified body. Mind you, I realize that this would look a little dorky and I would be put at the back of Jesus' grand procession, probably on a unicycle with a helmet instead of a horse, but dag nabbit I'll be darn healthy. Chocolate is an anti-oxidant.

Live From Shreveport!!!!

I know you're all watching Tracie's blog for baby pictures and updates on my beautiful daugher Elia, so I thought I'd chime in and give you the random ramblings of my mind after days and days of walking the halls of Christus Schumpert St. Mary's Hospital. Yes, you got if folks, and I didn't spell that wrong!!!! This is a Catholic hospital, if that wasn't already obvious. I wanted so badly to walk up to a nun and decode the name, asking her if in English it meant "Christ Sherbert". Hey, Jesus is good and so is sherbet, so it's possible!

I saw a statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Looks kind of like Mary to me. So I thought I'd make some changes. Got the sharpest object I could find, and quickly chiseled out "Our Lady of" and replaced it with "Queen". Now it says "Queen Fatima". Found some ivy shrubbery to make a cool do for her hair, found some bling, and applied it. Queen Fatima is rockin'.

HOSPITAL FASHION

Fashion in general amuses me. But after many hours spent in hospitals over the years alot of questions have been raised in my head about hospital fashion. Take scrubs for instance. There's all kinds of scrubs. The typical green, which are the most cool. Blue scrubs which are semi-cool, royal blue that is. Comic scrubs... these are the scrubs that mostly children's nurses wear with comic characters all over them, which makes them look like the target of a drive by graffiti incident.

The scrubs that take the cake for me, however, and I had never seen before, were the brown ones. The tops are typical, but the bottoms have pockets on the sides like cargo pants, and are tapered at the bottom like something from the 80's. Keep in mind again, it's all brown, the tops and the bottoms. So for you aspiring doctors or nurses out there, beware if you deviate from the safe green or royal blue scrubs, and find yourself venturing beyond the comic graffiti scrubs, to the brown ones, no matter how good brown may look on you, that is alot of earth tone folks, and you pretty much end up looking like a walking turd.

I'm Ready For Ya Now GBF!

Ok, most of you who know me know I am a skinny guy, thus GBF week can really do a number on me. I have to actually work at gaining weight so when that 3 day little monster sneaks up on me, well he can pretty much snap me likebaby carrot. I did however have a Holy Spirit encounter last GBF!

I was wearing an already loose pair of jeans on day 3, when I heard the spirit speaking."Go into one of the side rooms, pull your pants up higher and tighten your belt."

I ignored it. Hey, I was pacing and praying and I ain't got no time to tighten no stinkin' belt, and make myself look more white than I already am! Geez! I did however noticed my pants where riding lower than I had realized, but then again, I had not been eating for 3 days so I was all but seeing blue fairies by this point.

He spoke again, "Look John, if you don't want to listen to me that's your choice, but if while you are pacing, your pants fall down around your ankles and you trip and fall in front of God TV and everyone, well you can't say I did not warn you".

I repented, hocked 'em up and tightened the old belt. I looked like a red neck farmer going to a George Strait concert in a new pair of Wranglers! So why did I listen this time to the still small voice? Because of a young lady, I'll call Debbie, to protect her identity. I really don't know Debbie, but she seems really cool. What I do know is that one day on the mic instead of singing "My heart will sing your praise" she accidentally sang, "My fart will sing your praise" or something like that. As you could imagine, that baby was posted on the briefing room white boards so all could enjoy, at Debbie's expense might I add. She must be a good sport.

So anyway, when the Holy Spirit told me to pull 'em up, I immediately realized if I didn't and they did fall down; I would be #1 and Debbie would be #2 on the all time IHOP bloopers reel. It would be very hard to de-throne me after that one so I decided to let Debbie keep her title for now.

Hijacked!!!

Ok, I've hijacked John's blog!

It's me Tracie, the wife!

Here's the deal, if you think it's been way too long since JOHN LOUX has blogged, and you think he should be doing it way more often, COMMENT NOW, and give him some motivation to blog!

I'll go first:
Reason #1: JOHN LOUX, you are the funniest man I know, make us laugh please.
Reason #2: JOHN LOUX, you are one of the deepest thinkers I know, we want to know what you're thinking.

Between Me, You, and the Fencepost

There are days when you think you're getting older, and then there are days you know you're getting older. Recently I've had some of those days. Most of the time, those realities come by means of someone in their twenties stating the date in which they were born, a date which I can remember very vividly. However, I've reached another plateau... Just the other day I was standing in our new house, which room I can't remember... another reason why I am getting older... anyway, I was standing there and I drooled. That's right folks, I just randomly drooled, long stringy drool and for no reason. This has never happened to me before, but I feel like I recovered quite well. Just another sign post on the road of life I supposed. I just quickly wiped my chin and whatever flat surface was directly below it, and moved on. I think I was in shock, because I didn't mention it to anyone for quite some time.

Tonight in the briefing room, after my 6-8PM set, granted I play the 4-6PM as well, so I had been playing for quite some time, my nose began to run. The problem was, I had no clue that it was running until my good friends Sam Gallegos and Michael Tharpe caught my attention by saying "Hey bro!" and then motioned their hand toward their nose thus indicating my dilemma. This was no flaky booger, some hardened, dry, easily-swiped-away nugget, NOPE. This was string cheeze. And I was clueless.

So folks, tonight I sit in my bed and the only thing that sounds good to me is pudding or Jello. I suddenly want to wear a bathrobe and slippers and yell angry rants out the front door at the neighborhood dogs and children passing by. I want to watch cable TV, but I don't have cable. A couple episodes of "Archie Bunker" might be nice right now. I'm thinking about pricing Rosco's, you know those little scooters for old people with the big cup holders on the side. Maybe I'll get an '01 stenciled on the side of it.

Thoughts on the New Prayer Room

Ok so we have a whole new look now. Was it as much of a shocker to you as it was to me? I am digging the new changes, but for some reason I was surprised. Not sure why cause I knew about the whole “God TV” thing, so once I connected the dots it totally made sense to me. I know a lot of people were upset at first. Some so upset that they could have blown the head off a Malibu Barbie from 20 miles away. My first 2 initial thoughts were.. “Wow this is cooler than most clubs I have played in” and “ Holy cow it looks like the interior decorator for the 'Seeker Friendly Church’s of America' just went nuts with a Visa card!" I was truly impressed with the effort towards coolness though. I only have issue with 2 things. #1 – Chelsey Huff cannot sit in the singer 4 position behind the other singers. Why? She is not done growing yet, that’s why! You can’t have one of the coolest sounding voices ever and not be seen! Plus, she’s just way to darn cute, and when people put the face with the voice, IHOP support has to go up, I mean come on! I am starting a “Free Thumbelina Campaign”! T-Shirts are coming soon. #2 The stage/ set up on the web cast looks a tad like the Late Night Show with Conan or something. That’s not bad per se but I keep waiting for a comedian to come on in between sets. I’ll get over it. Not sure if it’s saying “prophetic worship” yet, but it rocks nonetheless. Change is good and it’s good to be a part of it. Through it, all the people remain the same. Sure, we will have to get used to it not feeling like a performance with all the glam and lights but that’s ok. It will be good to work through it and have still have tender hearts when the camera’s roll. It’s good for our identities to be challenged, whether in secret or in the great wide open. Whatever color the paint is on the outside, these people are the best; and I still want to live and die right along side of them.

My new picture !

Well it’s been awhile since I have blogged so I guess I fall into the slacker category in blog world. Notice I now have a new picture! I wanted a bigger headshot so I found this sweet pouty rock’n roll picture. Cool huh? I picked this one cause I knew Josh Motlong would dig it since he has all the sweet rock star moves down. How do I know? I spent several hours with him auditioning potential FMA students and I saw him at his best, my friends! If it were not for Josh making me laugh, I would have quite possibly killed myself with thumb tacs.
Anyway, the real kicker was trying to get this stinkin thing to post! It only took us like an hour to get it to work. It was taken from a photo shoot which occurred during the filming of my first and only music video that is currently not available anywhere, including Japan. My friend Wade did the video for free since he was starting a video production company and needed some more work for his portfolio. The video was from the song “Perfect” which is on the IHOP “Take My Breath Away” CD, which is also currently not available in Japan and possibly only available on the discount racks in the IHOP bookstore.
We shot it in a 100-year-old colonial house. I don’t know who the “Colonials” were, but holy cow they sure do cool things with brick! ☺ Anyway I will post the video at some point but it could take me about 2 months since it took me 2 hrs to get this picture in.