review of my band

Creative Loafing covered the festival we just played, and they wrote a little review of our set which I found pretty entertaining.



"The night was getting late, and I was getting tired, having been back and forth between the two venues several times on a half-healed broken toe, so I decided to swing by New World to catch one final local act before hitting the road: Alexander & the Grapes (pictured below). Lead singer/guitarist Alexander Charos looked the part of mountain man with his thick, gnarly beard, well-worn plaid shirt and cowboy boots, his emo-twangy vocals paired with the band’s easy-going roots rock. Bassist Tom Dicks brought the good-natured bounciness to his low-end frequencies and looked like he’d just got back from summer vacation with his youthful appearance — sloppy tee-shirt, boat shoes (no socks, of course), and a tendency to smile goofily while staring off into space. Drummer Philip Charos (the younger underage brother of Alexander) played with lively enthusiasm and grinned all throughout, wearing the blissed-out expression of a person perfectly in his element, his dark curls and dressy casual attire (white collared shirt and tie) reminding me of Tom Everett Scott’s stick-wielding character in That Thing You Do. And support guitarist Chase Swan played electric guitar but was best when he was drawing out the long, lazy sliding notes from his lap steel, adding a nice texture to the band’s countrified leanings."

yikes

Change

I hear a lot of people praying for God to do something powerful in America.

But I feel like I hear God asking us to do something powerful in America.

LETS LOVE ONE ANOTHER :)

so good

televangalist

lyrics to a song i wrote today:

you say you've got the answer
well ask yourself
is this something you deserve
more than someone else
you say you're a prophet
speaking for God to man
but if God is love
why is there a gun in your hand?

televangelist, stop telling me
how to exist, i don't want to be
your prize, another trophy
for you to wave around
you keep running your mouth waging wars
but this isn't what i was looking for
i'll just wait till someone with more
love comes around

the blind are leading the blind
into a fancy house
but Jesus is out on the street
and he's crying out
"I never knew you seer,
get away from me,
I never knew you healer,
do you even recognize me?"

i feel like crying out to God
and i don't want your help
i feel like crying out to God
for help

turning

Ezekiel 33:11-17
"And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: 'Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?' Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

"And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins. Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. Again, though I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.

Bless This Mess

A very thought provoking song.

God bless the man who stumbles
God bless the man who falls
God bless the man who yields to temptation

God bless the woman who suffers
God bless the woman who weeps
God bless the children trying her patience

Trouble getting over it
Is what you're in for
So pour yourself another
'Cause it'll take a steady pair of hands

Holy or unholy ghost
Well now I can't tell, but either way you cut it
You should get some distance if you plan to take a stand

God bless the house divided
God bless the weeds in the wheat
God bless the lamp hid under a bushel

I discovered hell to be the poison in the well
So I tried to warn the others of the curse
But then my body turned on me
I dreamt that for eternity
My family would burn
Then I awoke with a wicked thirst

By my baby's yellow bed I kissed her forehead and rubbed her little tummy
Wondered if she'd soon despise the smell of the booze on my breath like her mom
And it makes me want to be a better man
After another drink

God bless the man at the crossroads
God bless the woman who still can't sleep
God bless the history that doesn't repeat

For richer or poorer

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

"He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

Philipians 4:11-13

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

When I read this verse in Philipians I usually focus on the part that speaks about being content in hardships, but more and more I'm finding the other half of the verse very interesting.

Paul says he's learned "the secret of facing plenty". Could this be a harder than facing hard times? I don't know if it is, but in 2 Cor. 12 it says "His power is perfected in our weakness". Is it possible that it is easier to follow Christ when things are difficult? Or do we face the same temptations whether we are rich or poor, just in different ways? Last week we took in a friend for a couple days who has been making some wrong choices and he's ended up on the street. One thing he told me really touched me. He said "since I've been on the street I've really seen God providing me with everything", and I have felt the same in those situations.

But in abundance we face complacency, greed, gluttony, laziness, and just an overall abuse of our abundance.

How is abundance affecting you?

I pray that we can learn the secret of facing plenty.

here's a little side tangent in the same vein, its one of my favorite stories:

Loving God, Loving Earth

Caring for the earth is something that has been heavy on my mind for the past few weeks, and I feel that its a vital part of being a follower of Jesus that is so overlooked. Me and my fiance recently took up gardening, and for me it has really opened my eyes. Watching something you put in the ground transform into a plant and then produce food for me was just amazing. It really opened my eyes to the beauty, order, and mystery of the Earth and of God. When people used to grow their food that had to put a lot of hope in God for their produce, and they could really see his hand at work. Today everything is so accessible, we don't have a clue where our food comes from, and we miss out on much of the beauty of God.

I am really falling in love with everything about our planet, it truly is beautiful. When I look at the ocean, or a tree, or an animal, I see God in it. I see the wisdom and purpose in it, and it comforts me because it makes me see the purpose and wisdom in myself. This is something I don't want to lose. I want my children to exprience the earth in the way he created it, and to the best of my ability I want to abstain from things that are destroying it and partake in the redemption of all creation!

something i read today:

"The most important idea found in Scripture for taking care of the Earth is "shalom" (in Hebrew) or "eirene" (in Greek). Often these words are translated as "peace" in English. Yet the word "peace" as we use it and understand it in everyday language fails to fully capture the total meaning of "shalom" or "eirene."

In addition to the absence of conflict, "shalom" and "eirene" carry a sense of well-being, health and wholeness. These words call for a peace that includes right relationships on all levels of being - in our hearts, in our families, among nations, between classes, between races and also with the Earth. Justice is central to a world built in "shalom" and "eirene."

In connection to the environment, not only are we simply not to "hurt" the Earth, we are to empower and work toward its well-being, balance and health. An alive and vibrant ecological system is central to the full vision of "shalom" and "eirene" for the world (Isaiah 55:12, Romans 8:19-21). When we recycle, compost or plant a xeriscape yard, we are doing holy work.

We fail to understand what is required in our relationship to the Earth because we have focused too long on one verse in Genesis that says we should dominate and subdue the Earth (Genesis 1:28). This verse leads to a domination/submission way of being.

Rather, there are many more references to God's vision of "shalom" and "eirene." In God's vision, we are to see humanity and the Earth as partners, cooperating to bring about greater well-being and health than we currently can imagine. "