Ragamuffin Ramblings

Our second song of the season comes from inspirational songwriter Chris Rice. "Welcome to Our World" echoes humanity's yearning—a quiet, constant yearning—for the Messiah. Rice's poignant lyrics serve as a reminder of God's redemptive work through the gift of his son Jesus Christ. But this song is not simply about Christ's coming; rather, it is about why Christ has come. Rice describes the infant Christ this way:

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born, unto us is born

This song reminds us that the story of Christmas does not end with the cradle, but with the cross. Meditate on this truth as you listen to the song below.

First off, I apologize. This blog has remained dormant for much too long. Thankfully, however, the holiday season has granted me some spare time to update this blog.

And now, since Thanksgiving is behind us and the Christmas season is at hand, I have decided to create a new set of posts called Songs of the Season. Each week, I will post two Christmas songs (one song on Mondays and one song on Fridays) that, I hope, will put you in the Christmas spirit and remind you of "the old, old story of the power of death undone by an infant born of glory."

This week's offering comes from the brand new Christmas album (appropriately titled Christmas) by husband-and-wife songwriting duo Jill Phillips and Andy Gullahorn. Gullahorn's soothing guitar playing sets the perfect tone for Christina Rossetti's famous lyrics.

The song, though unfamiliar to some, will lead you into the Christmas season by reminding you that even in the bleak midwinter, there is hope in the person of Jesus Christ.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy.

This is the impact that Toy Story had on me as a child. I distinctly remember sitting in the movie theater as the film unfolded, enthralled with the story of these fiercely loyal toys. Something about them resonated with me. Maybe it was their tenacity. Maybe it was their humor. Or maybe, just maybe, it was their unwavering devotion to one another and to their owner, Andy.

Four years later, Toy Story 2 was released, and you cannot imagine my numerous concerns prior to viewing the film. As a ten year-old, I was still very attached to Woody, Buzz, and the gang. 'What if this new movie ruins these characters forever?' I worried. To my relief, Toy Story 2 did just the opposite. It expanded the characters—gave them depth. The film took our playtime heroes on new and exciting adventures while still remaining faithful to the original film. That's a tall order these days, but the folks at Pixar seem to accomplish this task with ease.

I won't spoil the ending of the movie for you, but I will say this: Pixar closes the curtain on the Toy Story saga with class. Honestly, if you had asked me before viewing the film what the perfect ending for Toy Story 3 would be, I wouldn't have been able to give you an answer. But the folks as Pixar hit the nail on the head. They continue to confound my expectations and churn out good, solid, compelling stories.

Can Pixar make a bad movie? Well, they haven't yet.

RATING: 5 (out of 5)

It seems that my zealous effort to record (and distribute) a full-length album of cover songs was...well...illegal. Without securing the copyrights for the individual songs, I am not allowed to distribute covers of popular songs.

But do not fear! More music is here! (Well, not here, but on the way.)

A brand-new album of ORIGINAL songs is in the works, with a tentative release date sometime around December 1st. But you may be saying to yourself, "Gee, December 1st is a LOOOONG time away."

Again, do not fear! Podcasts are here! (Well, again, not here, but on the way.) Weekly podcasts will be coming very soon to wet your whistle until the album is released! Brace yourself, Internet fans. You ain't seen nothin' yet!

This past May, I became in the Interim Minister of Music at Mt. Freedom Baptist Church in Wilmore, Kentucky. Since then, I've started up a blog for the music ministry at Mt. Freedom. I'd like to invite all of you to visit www.mtfreedom.blogspot.com... a blog entitled The Music of Mt. Freedom. Posts on this blog cover a wide range of topics such as: the state of worship in the church today, the hymns versus praise songs debate, and song highlights from previous worship services at Mt. Freedom. Check in each week and become a part of the dialogue by adding your own comments!

Beginning Thoughts
Ah, soccer. Or should I say... football? Or is it... futbol? Well, let's not worry about semantics just yet. For now, let's just call it soccer. We are in America after all!

I felt it was appropriate to begin my MythBustin' series with this subject as the FIFA World Cup is now in full swing. Thousands, nay, millions of people have been glued to their television sets, watching this international spectacle unfold (in high definition, I might add).

But many believe soccer to be a "mind-numbing bore and that any reasonable person would rather be playing it than watching it." (Dan Rydell, Sports Night)

So is this myth true? Is soccer cool? Let's take a look at the evidence.

Evidence in Favor
The only evidence I can find that soccer is even remotely cool is the fact that everyone likes it. Well, ok, not everyone, but a vast majority of the international community eats, sleeps, and breathes soccer. They start riots when their favorite team loses and when their favorite team... wins. Hmm... I've never understood that part.

Anyway, the point is this: Because lots of people like it, it must be cool. But can that argument hold water?

Not really... and here's why. First of all, the "if everyone else was jumping off a cliff" argument comes to mind. Obviously I'm being a little bit facetious here, but you get the point. Second, let's take a look at the top four highest grossing movies worldwide of 2007. This should give us a peek at the types of movies that lots of people like. They are, in this order: (1) Spider-Man 3, (2) Shrek the Third, (3) Transformers, and (4) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

Oh dear.

This goes to show us that just because lots of people like something doesn't make it cool.

Well, we have to throw that out as insufficient evidence. And, since that was the only evidence we had in favor of this myth, let's move on to the evidence AGAINST this myth.

Evidence Against
Since I don't have sufficient space on my blog to outline all of the evidence against soccer's supposed coolness, I will simply list these two pieces of evidence.

(1) The score: It was hard to hunt up reliable data, but according to majorleaguesoccertalk.com, the average number of goals for a winning team in a Major League Soccer game in 2009 was 1.69, and the average number of goals for a losing team was 0.67. Dan Rydell of Sports Night sums up his feelings this way:

Conclusion
Well, the evidence is overwhelming. This myth is...



Note: The purpose of this post is to do one thing: entertain. Don't twist yourself all up in a knot over my dislike of soccer. Think of me as Stephen Colbert... only not as funny.