Yesterday, I clearly explained a situation we now have on our hands due to a cancelled Summer tour. If you missed it, I’d highly recommend you read that first, before reading this. You can do that by clicking here. For those of you who already know what’s going on, and came back here today to pitch in and help out, THANK YOU!!! I’ll jump straight to the point…
For the next 30 days, I’m offering free shows! Is there a catch? Of course! Isn’t there always? ;-) Keep reading… READ ALL
If I were really honest with you, I’d have to confess that I hate asking for help. I’m serious. I’m not a good receiver, and asking others for help has always been really hard on my pride. You see, my personal life has always paralleled my vocation. I’m an illusionist, and I have a tendency to live an illusion. I’ve struggled my entire life with maintaining and managing perceptions, doing my best to control and manipulate how others perceive me. If you’re good at that, it’s pretty simple to fake it, and leave others with whatever impression you want that person to have of you…humble, nice, kind, or even wealthy, popular, or successful. Let’s just say that traits like authenticity, and transparency, have never been strengths for me. Until… READ ALL
What do you make of a huge statue of Jesus getting struck by lightening? I mean, if God is in control of that flashing light from the sky, why would he allow it to happen to a statue of his only son? Definitely stirs up conversation, huh?
That’s what happened recently in Ohio. I’ve driven by this statue what seems like hundreds of times while traveling that stretch of interstate on tour. Here’s what the news article had to say:
MONROE, Ohio – A six-story statue of Jesus Christ was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, leaving only a blackened steel skeleton and pieces of foam that were scooped up by curious onlookers Tuesday.
The “King of Kings” statue, one of southwest Ohio’s most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.
The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m. Monday, Monroe police dispatchers said.
The sculpture, about 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained Tuesday.
You can read the whole article here, on Yahoo! News.
Apparently, the statue cost about $400,000 to construct. Maybe it was allowed to be struck by lightening because God might not be cool with wasting a whopping $400k on concrete? For the record, I have no idea. Just wondering. I’m also not saying that God always causes natural disasters. But I’m not sure how you could deny that certainly “allows” them. Again, I’m just wondering…
They’re also already making plans to rebuild it, wasting that kind of money, plus more, all over again. I mean, I’m not God, so I won’t pretend to know or always understand what he does, or why he allows certain things to happen, but I do know of a whole list of better uses for a few hundred thousand dollars.
And, I’m not the only one. A lot of them are a book called the Bible….maybe this church should read it. If they do, they might learn a lot about Jesus, the guy they’re making statues of, and in the process, how he encouraged us to live.
What do you think?
If you follow my wife or I on Twitter or Facebook, you’ve likely heard about all the vehicle problems we’ve been having lately. We tour in a Toy Hauler. It’s like a moving truck + tour bus + RV. We definitely got the “lemon”. We’ve had nothing but problems, very few of which the manufacturers have dealt with. We keep getting shrugged off by both Chevrolet, (the makers of the chassis, cab, and engine), and Gulfstream, (the company who converted and built it out). It’s been an absolute nightmare for the full four years we’ve owned it.
Anyway…we had an event in Arkansas last night at Harding University, and it was out of commission. We couldn’t make repairs over the weekend, so we ended up renting a vehicle to get us to Arkansas and back. Tried to find a cargo van, but couldn’t. And every rental car company in Nashville was out of SUV’s. So, we rented one of these…and yes, I drove it with pride: READ ALL
My generation has lost one of it’s privileges, but not because someone took it away. We simply fail to do it, and therefore miss out on the joy and pleasure that comes from giving it. What is it?
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I’m totally apathetic today. I was yesterday, too. Does that ever happen to you?
Kinda like this?
It’s weird. I’m usually incredibly positive and have a great attitude. And honestly, my last few days have been amazing. I don’t even have a good, valid reason to be apathetic. I allow myself to get distracted, lose focus, and focus on the garbage. Garbage like getting screwed by people from my past. Garbage like us still having a house for sale, because the buyers backed out last second for no valid reason. Stuff like that. Eventually, if you dwell on the negative stuff, it makes you frustrated. And I think frustration can very easily breed carelessness. Which reminds me… READ ALL
Hi Friends,
We’ve loved seeing and meeting so many amazing people over the past month on our variety show tour, “Sens de Vie.” We have one weekend left! This weekend, (as you can see on our Tour Schedule), we’ll be in Crawfordsville, IN, Muskegon, MI, and Eldora, IA. We can’t wait! But we really, REALLY need your help…I have a HUGE request. READ ALL
Back in January, I performed for a group of about 5,000 teenagers at a conference called TCTC. Let me simply say that in live performances, especially if performing for kids or teenagers, you never know what’s going to happen. Enjoy one of the most painful moments I’ve ever experienced while performing live on stage… READ ALL
This past weekend, we had the honor of partnering with 88.3, a radio station based in Springfield, MO. They did a Valentine’s Day event for their listeners, and we had an absolute blast performing for a PACKED house. It was a really, really fun event for us, and is probably the 4th or 5th radio station we’ve partnered with here in the U.S.
This morning, my assistant Beth got the following email in her inbox from Ben Birdsong, the Station Manager. It was completely unsolicited, and 100% unexpected: READ ALL
I’m struggling to process my thoughts on self-image, and how God feels about it. Will you join the conversation and help me figure it out? Or at least make some progress?
[Facebook users click here to watch the video. Facebook doesn't not embed videos when automatically importing these notes from my blog.]
What do YOU think? READ ALL
