I Have Come To A Conclusion

So last week I said that I would get back to you when I decided if the gift of homebrewed beer is just an ordinary gift or if it is spiritual. Well, I have made a decision so I am getting back to you.



OK, so leaving you hanging with that question was kind of unnecessary. The answer is: of course it is spiritual. One might ask how I know that or what bit of information lead me to that conclusion. That's easy...homebrewed beer, as discussed last week, is a spiritual gift. it is so for the same reason everything else in this world is...everything is spiritual. And for what it is worth, nothing is spiritual. Think about that for a minute...

15 Gallons and not an ounce for me

As many of you may know, I have an excellent hobby that I have enjoyed for several years now. I make beer at home...also called, "homebrewing". I also occasionally make wine but I make way more beer than wine. I have made some relatively unusual beers like Blueberry Wheat Beer, Peach Wheat, Strawberry Pilsner and a Chocolate Stout. I have also made some very usual beers like an American Lager, Mexican Style Lager, Irish Red Ale, Brown Ale and a German Pilsner.

So many lessons of life can be learned by seeing and understanding the really cool intricacies of brewing. For example, really small changes or decisions can create major differences in the finished product. If you fail to clean a single spoon or if you allow a single bacteria to get inside the beer it can cause you to have to poor out every drop of it and start over. But you can't be scared of that...you have to branch out and be fun, adventurous and even a bit creative. You can't brew and be scared of what may go wrong...at least not if you want to have fun and enjoy the hobby. It is better to not take yourself too seriously and play to win rather than playing not to lose. See how cool that lesson is...and all from brewing beer!

There is a more specific lesson...or maybe manifestation is a better word...happening in my brewing world right now. I currently have 15 gallons fermenting. A Trappist Style Belgian Ale is in the earliest stages of yeast being hyperactive (which is a really good thing). A Strawberry Pilsner just started secondary fermentation and is really active as well thanks to the sugar in the strawberries I added two nights ago. A Mexican Lager is almost finished with secondary fermentation...the yeast has all settled at the bottom and it is ready for bottling any day now.

There are 5 gallons in each batch for a grand total of 15 gallons of beer. For those of you who don't care to do the math, that is well over 150 12-ounce bottles of beer or over 6 cases of beer. What is really cool to me is that I will probably not drink the first bottle of those brews. It seems that some people really enjoy the beer I make and as such, have requested that I make them some.

The Mex. Lager is going to a Horse Farm in North Alabama so my friends there can have something refreshing to enjoy after a long day of work and fun. The Strawberry Pilsner is what I like to call Cana Beer...as in the the location where Jesus turned water into wine. My friend Tyler is getting married next month and that beer will be served at his reception. The Trappist Style Ale is for a friend of mine that recently found out his wife is unexpectedly pregnant. It is a huge surprise as they already have 2 small kids...and she is prego with twins!!! That's enough to make anyone drink.

So anyway, I have been reflecting on how we can use our gifts to bless other people...maybe for a special event like a wedding or maybe just for a daily reminder. I have spiritual gifts and gifts that I just enjoy giving that aren't necessarily spiritual. I can't figure out which category to put the homebrewed beer in yet. When I figure it out, I will report back to you.

Ecclesiology and Hooters

After reading the title you may be expecting a play on words or you may be thoroughly convinced that I have lost my mind...if you weren't before now. But you should understand the title to be exactly what I mean to talk about today.



I love Buffalo Wings! I like the spice and I like the chicken. Until several months ago I firmly believed that Hooters had the best wings in town. Since I love wings and since I thought the best wings in town were at Hooters guess were I would go for a lunch once or twice per week? Right, Hooters. For what its worth, this isn't a fact that is a new revelation to my wife so erase any thoughts you may have of me sneaking off under the cover of darkness to indulge in one of my favorite lunches. In fact, Brook has often joined me for meals at Hooters...She really gets the fact that is revealed in a less than subtle way that is printed on the back of the shirts worn by the Hooters' Girls..."Delightfully Tacky Yet Unrefined".

So anyway, about 4 or 5 months ago I found another place in town that has bigger and better wings than Hooters and that effectively ended my lunches from Hooters. By the way, if you live in my area and wish to sample these little boned-pieces of love, affection and acceptance otherwise known as awesome buffalo wings...you can find them at On Tap. But anyway, this past Tuesday I headed toward On Tap, as the Lord intended, since Tuesday is "half off wings day" at On Tap. Unfortunately there was a wreck that prevented me from making it to On Tap so I had to turn around and find something else to do for lunch. My mouth was watering for wings so I was limited in my choices. So back to Hooters I go.

So I walk in Hooters and see a familiar face behind the bar. It is the same bartender/waitress that use to take my order. She sees me and says something like "long time, no see"...except cooler and I say hello. Her face instantly becomes serious and she says "Look!" Which seems to be a universal word when used in that way meaning, pay attention, I have to ask/tell you something. She continues, "I told my boyfriend what we talked about several times when you were in here and he didn't really think it was possible. I told him that the next time you came in I would ask you more about it and even see if we could come sometime." It was at this time that i remember having a remarkably deep conversation with her on several occasions about ecclesiology and what we were attempting to be about as a community of believers.

Like so many people, she nor her boyfriend feel welcome or at home in traditional churches but she really desires a faith community...some place where faith seems to intersect her life as well as the lives of those around her in a lasting, meaningful and relevant way. She went on to tell me that her boyfriend said he would like to try something like what we do because it sounded weird and different. I just smiled...understanding that anytime a community of faith in the Bible-belt is called weird or different it is likely a good thing. As a Hooter's Girl I imagine that she has plenty of people ask for her number so i wasn't about to go down that road...so I turned the tables on her, I mean , why stop being weird and different now? I gave her my number and told her we would love to fellowship with her and her boyfriend any time that they are ready to hangout with us. I told her the only rule we have is that we love and we insist that people belong...way before or maybe if they never believe. She smiled...understanding that we are living out exactly what she has been hungry for.

Speaking of being hungry and Hooters and Jesus...if Jesus walked the Earth today and was culturally relevant, would he say something like, "Man does not live by buffalo wings alone..."? I would like to think so.

the truth...or at least my truth

Brook wrote some thing about our relationship on her blog. Unfortunately, she has some things skewed just a bit. It is only appropriate that I correct her fabrications and confabulations. Her original post appears below in black. I will do any editing in Red. Sorry Brook but the truth must be told :-)

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This is kind of like the 25 things - except there are pre-decided questions and it's about you and your spouse, not just you. Come on, play along - inquiring minds want to know! ;-)

♥ What are your middle names?
Brook and Blake (we both go by our middle names too). (Our first names are Randy and Miranda, and we are both named after our dads who are both named Randy. Both of our mom's middle names are Lynn). TRUE…and how cool is this?!?!

♥ How long have you been together?
9 years Also true

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
24 hours…technically it was one week. We met on February 22 and our first date was the following week.

♥ Who asked who out?
Blake asked me Very True. I would have been blind and insane not to ask her out.

♥ How old are each of you?
Blake is 33 and I am 28. True

♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most?
Mine, since they live in town. True, though we don’t see any of our siblings very often…or as often as I would like.

♥ Do you have any children together?
Yes, three sons Very much so

♥ What about pets?
Reagan (Old English mastiff), Meredith (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel), Fontana (Simese Himalayan), and 2 goldfish named Shark and Whale True again

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
having opposite interests and likes and dislikes. It's really sacrificial for us just to have fun together sometimes I would say this is true as well

♥ Did you go to the same school?
technically UAB, but not at the same time True…because I’m old!

♥ Are you from the same home town?
No We are from the same state though

♥ Who is the smartest?
Depends on the subject. He covers the left brain subjects, I take care of the right OK, I'm not going to argue this...it is way too sticky. I will say that Brook is incredibly intelligent. However, when it is to her benefit she can pretend that she is as dumb as a bag of hair.

♥ Who is the most sensitive?
hmmm...that's a tough one. I am usually more emotional about things, but Blake is more easily offended than me Brook is a drama-queen. The question wasn't who is more easily offended...however, if it had been the answer would have been the same...Brook.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
La Spada, Highlands Bar and Grill, and Surin as a couple
La Spada, Baha Burger, Pablos, Mellow Mushroom, and Indigo Joe's as a family True

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
either Bonaire or Banff, Canada Actually Hawaii would the furthest distance…but who is counting?

♥ Who has the craziest exes?
Blake I think answering this question would require a less ambiguous definition of “crazy”…though in reality it would likely still be me

♥ Who has the worst temper?
Blake's is probably the worst, but I have only ever seen it once and it was in our first year of marriage. Mine is vicious, though, and it comes to visit usually every month or so My temper is absolutely outrageous but Brook’s temper will be seen early and often. You have to really try to piss me off enough to see mine and even then you probably won't see it…or just hurt one of my boys…then you have immediate and serious issues. I win the quality aspect of this but Brook beats me out by a landslide on quantity.

♥ Who does the cooking?
I am the regular, but you would rather eat Blake's cooking. He actually enjoys it. I do love cooking…but Brook is a good cook too.

♥ Who is more social?
Umm... probably Blake umm…it probably depends on if being social means hanging out with closer friends or being a social butterfly

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
Me!! Absolutely true. I am the antithesis of a neat freak. I'm not a slob, I just don't care that much about "neat"

♥ Who is the more stubborn?
That's a toss up depending on the subject again I am way more stubborn…hands down. And I refuse to budge on that point. I am more stubborn.

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
We usually wake up around the same time, but that's a new thing. Traditionally it has been Blake That's true if by “traditionally” she means 5 out of 7 mornings…I am almost always up first.

♥ Where was your first date?
We started at Purple Onion off of Lakeshore (he was like 45 minutes late, I can't believe I waited), and then we drove around and talked the rest of the night. We talked about getting married that night. I was late because I volunteered at a church event and someone didn’t pick up their kid until late. We did talk about marriage thought that night…how cool.

♥ Who has the bigger family?
Blake by just a few I don’t feel like counting right now…but probably true.

♥ Do you get flowers often?
yes, but I buy them for myself. No one knows what I like better than me. I married the only woman in the world who told me that she would rather not receive chocolate, flowers and jewelry. Don’t worry though, she goes and buys what she wants.

♥ How do you spend the holidays?
Running around like crazy trying to see all our families! Pretty much true…except to be more candid we run around doing a ton of things with me bitching and moaning about being busy and running around doing things. Nothing says, “Happy Birthday Jesus” like driving up and down the interstate system. The holiday season alone is reason enough to never get a divorce. I refuse to make the boys hop-scotch the state of Alabama because their parents couldn't keep it between the ditches. But I digress.

♥ Who is more jealous?
Blake Blake Blake! Absolutely false. Brook has a skewed idea of jealous. I am way more protective but not more jealous.

♥ How long did it take to get serious?
It was love at first sight, so like 5 minutes if that long

♥ Who eats more?
I actually think I do, but I rarely see Blake eat since he is usually at work. I know he VERY rarely eats the food I cook, so there ya go. You will have to forgive Brook. She is mental. Occasionally her tendency to leave the road of reality and fall into some alternate universe leads to statements like this one. You can look at us and tell that I eat way more than her maybe even twice as much…end of discussion.

♥ Who does/ did the laundry?
I do the laundry. Blake is not allowed in the laundry room. I don’t touch the laundry at all…true enough. However, I did manage to do my own wash for 7 years before I met Brook. I am more than capable and I really like to do laundry…folding excluded.

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
Blake I am not sure about that…Brook rocks with photo-shop type stuff.

♥ Who drives when you are together?
Blake. He doesn't let me drive. I don't blame him. :) Good Lord, the fact that I am sitting here and am able to move my hands enough to type is proof that I drive…no exceptions. The only reason she is allowed to haul the kids around is because we own a Volvo…essentially a small tank that is impervious to missiles, bombings and the occasional car, tree, neighborhood kid and animal Brook will hit. If only Volvo could engneer some tires that don't destroy my lawn when Brook misses the driveway.

So there you have it…The Truth…at least my version of it :-)

SM Lockridge

This is the audio of the famous speech wherein SM Lockridge speaks for 6 minutes about who Jesus is to him. Many would agree with him. This has always been inspirational to me. Hope you enjoy.

Revolution...Again?

I am sick of the government making decisions for me. Moreover, I am tired of the government mandating that I give them money that I have made in spite of their absurd regulations on almost every industry in the country and then spending it in ways that make me sick to even consider.
For example, despite what people want to say about our government providing healthcare to those around the world, they are also making sure that our tax dollar financially supports abortions around the world as well. So my tax dollar helps pay for the killing of a child in another country...our founding fathers must be spinning in their graves.

So how else does the government shaft us with taxes? I'm glad you asked. Here is a list of just some of the taxes we have to pay:

Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax (Fed)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration T ax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes...does anyone think it is time for The American Revolution part 2?

Siran Stacy's Story

If you have a few minutes and wish to be challenged and inspired...this link is for you. Warning: don't start this link without tissue handy.

http://www.finebaum.com/media/archives/show/20090216_PFRN_Hour1.mp3

Where is Robin Williams?

I am enjoying Obama's Presidency...in a weird sort of way. Other than Obama and Congress trying literally screw us for generations yet to be born with this spending bill and other than thinking that one of the first acts of his presidency needed to be the funding of abortions in other countries and other than...you get the idea...

I know the media and Obama supporters will be as hesitant to admit that Obama is flawed as I was to admit the same about Bush but I must continue on the "call a spade, a spade" thought...

In an interview George W. Bush said "I'm the decider". Apparently George was caught up in the moment and failed to realize that "decider" is not a word. Let W. make up a word or say something stupid, redundant or otherwise funny and the Hollywood-types and other media people went nuts. A few days after Bush said "Decider", Robin Williams appeared on a late night show, Letterman or Leno or something, and was wearing a t-shirt that said, "I'm the decider". It was funny and people got a laugh.

If Williams is going to be consistent and fair...which I doubt as that would mean he isn't biased at all...he will now have 2 new t-shirts made. One would simply have about a thousands "uh, uh, um, uh" lines on it. I am as sick of hearing Obama say "uh" and "um" as I was of hearing Bush laugh at his own statements. Both behaviors get under my skin. The second shirt would have the following on "The NUMBERS don't reveal NUMERICAL STATISTICS". He said it and I heard it.

So is Bush and idiot and now Obama has already started doing the same thing? I don't think so. I think it was in the interest of the "left" to portray Bush as a moron. The fact that you won't hear the media discuss Obama's equally moronic statement is because it is in their interest to make Obama look good. The problem with this is that a certain journalistic integrity is expected and we should all understand by now that "journalism" and "integrity" have little in common these days. If you don't believe that, I suggest that you hold your breath until you hear the media laugh about Obama sounding like an idiot. God luck with that.

Family Genealogy

Since this past summer I have been compiling a rather vast family tree. In one branch of my family I have traced back 11 generations to "Thomas Wakefield" who was born in Maryland in 1618. Another branch leads back to Scotland and the year 1628. William Waldrop was born then and he would go on to be Knighted by King Charles and received a land grant from England in the new world...We know the part of the "new World" in which he settled as Virginia.

Going through my family history has been interesting and has revealed some things to me. Some of the things are pretty obvious and others aren't. I think the more evident facts still help keep things in perspective. Here are some of my observations thus far:

1. The most obvious and yet profound observation is that most of the people in my family tree are DEAD. I have over 300 people on my family tree website and only a very small percentage of them are alive. This is a good reminder to me that death is something we all have in our future. It should be respected but not feared. The fact that one day our time in this world will end also reminds me to make days, hours and even minutes count. Even the times when the kids are driving you nuts, or your spouse doesn't seem to get you or whatever...those times are really sacred as well.


2. It has also been interesting to see how culture has changed. Some changes seem to be due to technological and/or medical advances. For example, the more recent families don't seem to have 10-15 kids. It is also interesting to see how certain social norms seem to migrate over time. If you heard of a 14 or 15 year old female getting married today, there is an assumption of pregnancy and extreme dysfunction. Seeing marriages at those ages years ago wasn't really terribly unusual. For the record, the youngest age I can find in my families past to get married is 11...she had her first child at age 12. That leads to my next observation.


3. Solomon says in the book of Ecclesiastes, "there is nothing new under the sun". I have heard and believed that by and large girls have started developing much quicker. Puberty seems to happen sooner for young people these days and menopause and andropause seem to hit people earlier as well. As it would seem though, my 12 year old relative gave birth to a child. I assume she was probably pregnant at age 11 which obviously means that she had hit puberty early. Don't get me wrong, I don't really care when my relatives first developed armpit hair or acne. I do think it is wise to look at any social, spiritual or familial issue through a broad lense. We must understand that this current generation doesn't exist in a vacuum. We are a product of people and events that have lived and died way before we ever came on the scene.


4. Statistically my great-grandchildren will not know my full legal name. How many of you know your paternal, great-grandfather's first middle and last name? I imagine some of you do but the large majority of you do not. I was at a men's retreat once that featured Gordon Dalbey. By the way, should you ever have a chance to spend some time with Dalbey I highly suggest you do so. I digress...he said "a tree with no roots, dies". That really stuck with me since I have been interested in the people who lead to me. It especially sticks with me now as I attempt to think of some way I can impact positively those who will never even know my name.

I guess I could go on for a while but those things are the 4 biggest observations that stand out to me thus far. Have a good Tuesday.

So what now?

All we heard about during Bush's last 2 years was the horrible war crimes and torture tactics used by mean Americans. After we begin to see some "truth" about people and things I wonder if those so opposed to the "attrocities" of the Americans? It seems that those who blindly tossed out some of the most venomous rhetoric during Bush's administration now have to recant those statements...when under oath. They knew better...do we know better now?

Leon Panetta...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/06/panetta-retracts-statement-detainee-rendition/

Or what about the people who claim the people held in Gitmo are not criminals and if freed they will go about their peaceful lives? Seriously?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,489473,00.html


Let's call it both ways if we are going to call it at all.