The Work of the People have some good stuff on their site. Check out this one from yesterday:

Perhaps the quote that stood out the most to me was this:

Most of the churches and religious things I’ve been to was not about sharing my “stuff” with, it was really about making sure my “stuff” was presentable enough.

Considering the quote (or paraphrase) from Bonheoffer he made shortly after the above statement, would we really “freak out” if “real sinners” came to our churches? Or, if all of us who are already there were to open up? Do we make “real sinners” - at least the ones who don’t have the standard church-goer facade - feel welcome, loved and part of a family, or do we make them feel that they need to keep their “unpresentable” sin to themselves?

I’m excited, as usual, about the college football season kicking off this week. I don’t know what games are scheduled this first week, but I do know Tennessee-California are playing Saturday so I look forward to kicking off the season with a good game (hopefully better than their game last year, which was over pretty quickly.)

As for the Arkansas Razorbacks, I think they should have another solid year. After 10 wins last year, I think they’re in position to approach that again. I believe they will win all of their home games, with Auburn the most likely to steal a win at Fayetteville. Road games of note are LSU, Tennessee and Alabama. I don’t see them winning in Baton Rouge for a number of reasons, but primarily because LSU will be the better team. Tennesee will also be tough, as the Vols were embarrassed in the first half at Fayetteville last year. Plus, it’s hard for the Hogs to win in Knoxville - which they’ve only done once since joining the SEC, I believe, and that was their first visit in 1992.

As for Alabama, I keep hearing media-type folks say that, despite having their new and much heralded coach, that this team still has a lot of work to do. I have no idea how close to the truth that is, but no road game in the SEC has ever been easy for the Hogs. In their favor, Arkansas has been quite successful in Tuscaloosa since joining the SEC - I believe they are 3-4 at Bryant-Denny. However, this being the first SEC game for Alabama with Satan Saban on the sideline, I have to think they’ll be at their best (whatever that may be.)

So, in the end, I think Arkansas will lose all three of those road games (Alabama, Tennessee, LSU), but Alabama might be their best shot at a win. I think they will win at Ole Miss. Auburn and South Carolina should be a test at home, but I’m going to go with wins in those games as well. That would put them at 9-3, which would be another great year for the Hogs. That’s probably optimistic, but - and this is key - if everyone can stay healthy and out of prison, they should be in position to get 9 wins.

Despite the beginning of the college football season, I won’t get into full-on football mode for another two weeks, because today my favorite tennis grand slam, the U.S. Open, begins in New York. Obviously, Roger Federer has ruled the tennis world when it comes to men’s tennis. He is attempting his fourth straight U.S. Open title, coming off of his fifth straight Wimbledon. However, I’m predicting that Federer will not win the Open this year.

Rafael Nadal has clearly closed the gap. The three-time French champion played well against Federer at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2006, and looked as though he might end Federer’s Wimbledon streak this year with a fantastic match, before falling short in the fifth set. But, Nadal is also not my pick to win.

Andy Roddick’s lone grand slam title came in New York four years ago, but he continues to play inconsistently at times, and can’t seem to get over the Federer hurdle, either. Roddick has the skills to win it all, but I just have no faith in him.

I’m going with Novak Djokovic, who has impressed me every time I’ve seen him play this year (which, granted, is only a handful of times.) He’s played some great tennis, and I believe the U.S. Open may be his coming out party, his first grand slam title. I also admit that I’m leaning towards him because I’d like to see someone besides Federer or Nadal win. I like both Federer and Nadal, and am becoming more and more of a Nadal fan each with each grand slam. But, I’ve also enjoyed Djokovic’s play and demeanor, and I want to see him win this time around. So, he’s my pick.

Like the Hogs record, that may be a bit optimistic, but regardless, I look forward to another great U.S. Open, which always provides a lot of great tennis and great moments. Plus, I love the fact that it’s on in the evening - unlike other grand slams - so I’ll get to watch a lot of it, and probably get less sleep than I need over the coming two weeks since matches often run late into the evening.

Speaking of tennis, I’m about to start reading James Blake’s book, Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life. The book chronicles Blake’s upbringing and tennis career, including his net-post collision a few years ago that fractured a neck vertebrae, his bout with shingles, and his return to tennis in 2004. I’ve always liked Blake and look forward to reading his story.

I also just finished Don Yeager’s book It’s Not About the Truth: The Untold Story of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case and the Lives It Shattered. I enjoyed this and may post more about some of it later (suffice to say now that Mike Nifong is even a bigger <deleted> than I realized.) It’s really an amazing story. Much of it was played out in the press, but there’s even more to it and it’s an absolute tragedy that this went beyond the first few weeks. I was reminded often of the West Memphis Three case (see Mara Leveritt’s Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three.)

Fortunately, unlike the WM3 case, the truth eventually was made known, charges were dropped and the accused were declared innocent. Hopefully, the same will some day happen for the WM3.

Albums new to my collection, courtesy of eMusic and iTunes…

The topic our teaching minister addressed at our church gathering on Sunday was confession. During our time together, we huddled several times in small groups to discuss topics presented. The final time - just after he delivered his message - was a time of confession and prayer.

I did not grow up in a church where a great deal of confession was done. Sure, there were confessions - someone would respond at the end of a service and ask for prayers. But generally, the confession was some variation of “I want to do better” or “I’ve done things that I need forgiveness for.” Usually vague or generic, nothing specific. (And that’s understandable, to some degree, in a large gathering.)

Confessing that we have sin in our lives is easy because, well, we all have it and we all know it, so we might as well confess it. Confessing with very much specificity is another matter altogether. I’m sure there are a multitude of reasons we usually avoid it. A few that come to mind are shame, the feeling of “being the only one” who struggles with a particular sin, lack of community and really knowing (and being known by) those in our church families, concerned about our reputation, what others will think of us. We likely try too hard to appear that we have it all together, when very few of us, if any, really do.

As I spoke to the few in my group Sunday morning, I mentioned the thing that has most troubled me over the last nine years or so. In 1998, at a most unfortunate time, it seemed to me later, I began to question seriously - for this first time ever, I believe - if God was indeed real after all. I say unfortunate because it would be just over a year later that our first child was born, and the last thing I wanted was to be a dad that struggled with his faith while trying to teach his kids to live out that very faith. It was indeed a troubling time for me, because it was the first time I’d ever considered an answer that was different from what I’d always been taught and believed. Faith began to become increasingly difficult. Nine years later, it doesn’t often seem any easier.

My three older siblings all have - at least in my eyes - a much greater faith than I. But my sister closest to me in age (three years older than I) has an amazing, seemingly unshakable faith. It doesn’t seem that anything that happens in this life diminishes her faith, and that it grows stronger with each passing year. I marvel at her great example of faith.

I always assumed while I was growing up that faith would continue to get easier as I grew older. I’ve found that, on many days, the opposite is in fact the reality for me. Put simply: some days, it’s just hard to believe. Difficultly dealing with sin, injustice seemingly everywhere I look, the suffering of the innocent (especially children), ever-increasing scientific knowledge which explains things previously thought miraculous, wars and violence, the huge chasm between the life Jesus led and the life many Christians live (with myself at the top of the list), and many other things all raise the questions again and again. What is real? What is truth? How do I reconcile what I believe with what I see?

I wrote about this some last year in the context of discussing prayer, as I began reading Philip Yancey’s book on prayer. I’ve always loved Yancey’s writing because, despite being a long-time Christian, he still writes from somewhat of a skeptical angle. He expresses doubt and questions things unlike other Christian writers or speakers. I like that, because I often have similar thoughts and questions, all of which seem absent among most Christians I know, or at least (like myself, I suppose) they don’t make them public. He made a statement in one of his other books that “doubt and faith must coexist.” I liked that, because that pretty much described my life.

I sat in a small group Sunday listening to others, debating whether or not my confession would be something along the lines of this post, or something a little more “acceptable” (at least in the eyes of some.) The thought of being the only one to doubt whether or not there was anything to all of this or not was, to say the least, an unwelcome feeling. However, to my surprise, another person in the group voiced the same thoughts I was mulling over at the time. I was, in fact, not alone. And, that made it easier for me, once they finished, to take up where they’d left off and voice my own struggles with faith and doubt.

Confession has largely been missing in my 40 years of church experience. I was glad for the opportunity that was given our church this past week to experience a time of confession to and prayer for one another. Opportunities such as this one have been few and far between. It can be a little unsettling and even frightening to open up in such a way, but it can also be very helpful, especially when you find out that you’re not alone.

I don’t want this to sound like I’m on the verge of giving it all up. Far, far from it. But it is a daily struggle, and whatever I may write here about faith and spiritual matters, know that it doesn’t come easy. I do believe, but must daily fight off unbelief in order to do so.

If you are interested in my previous thoughts while reading Yancey’s book last fall, they are here:

• Is anybody out there?
• Leveling with God
• Unanswered prayer

Seems like every time I read about someone doing a Wordpress upgrade, it’s never a good experience. Perhaps that’s because nobody posts about upgrades that go smooth. Well, that’s what happened for me. I’d never upgraded, and decided to do so recently. It went fine, with the only issue being that a plugin or two no longer worked.

I’d been wanting to change templates anyway and add/modify/remove various plugins, so I decided to just keep this site down for a while until I found something new and modified it to my liking. It’s not the ideal, and it’s not even significantly different from my last one (I had to stay with 3-columns), but it will do. If I really had the time, I’d like to create one from scratch, but I don’t have the time and am probably not creative enough to do so anyway. So, this is what it will be for a while. I’m still making a few changes here and there, including still evaluating some plugins and doing something about the image at the top (either replacing it or removing it), but it’s in decent enough shape to open back up, so to speak.

School started back up for my daughter last Wednesday. She’s now in third grade, which just doesn’t seem possible. Resuming our school schedule means a number of things for our family, but the most unfortunate for me is rising early again. I’ve enjoyed sleeping in as much as an extra hour some days and going in to work a little later. No more, as I drive my daughter each morning. This morning was the first Monday, and it actually went better than I thought. Although, I didn’t sleep well last night and I started feeling the effects mid-afternoon.

That reminds me: an update on my summer reading - I’ve done a miserable job. I posted a few months ago regarding the books I hoped to read over the summer. Unfortunately, work has picked up for me significantly during the last few months as I began working on a couple of big projects, and so extra hours and just general mental fatigue curbed my desire to read as often. Of the nine books I had on the list, I’ve only finished three of them, and those were the ones I was partially through at the time I posted. I did, however, read one additional book (Hemant Mehta’s I Sold My Soul On eBay : Viewing Faith through an Atheist’s Eyes), and plan to comment on that in the near future. The lack of time has also contributed to less frequent posting here, and that will likely be the norm at least until the end of the year.

Instead of reading, I’ve been finding myself more inclined to watch a little television when I have a few minutes at home. I have been digging the USA Network this summer. The new episodes of Monk have been entertaining as usual, but as much as I love the show, I feel it has probably run it’s course. I still like watching it, but it doesn’t seem like there’s much more they can do. I’ve also enjoyed watching the second season of Psych as well, which airs after Monk on Fridays. I didn’t watch much of it last year, but have really loved it this year. I’ll have to check out season one. And, of course, as I mentioned before, I really like Jeffrey Donovan’s new series, Burn Notice. Apparently, it’s been renewed for a second season, so I was glad to see that.

These days I’m also spending some time learning new music as well. My wife and I began singing with our church’s worship team the past two weeks. We had done so for a number of years at previous churches, but it was Fall 2004 when I last sang with our worship team in Huntsville. I decided to take a break for a while, and then not long after that I started looking for a job and ended up back here in Arkansas and at an instrumental church. So, I have really enjoyed the acappella worship team experience again, after having a three year break.

And, speaking of music, I’m ecstatic that the new Josh Ritter disc - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter - is due out tomorrow. Get it.

Haven’t posted one of these in a while, so this is mostly from July with a couple of leftovers from June, too. My eMusic downloads are refreshing next week, so before the list grows even longer, here’s what I’ve been listening to lately…

Neon Bible - Arcade Fire

I read that Arcade Fire is “what pop would sound like in the 1800’s.” The album contains quite an array of instruments, including a fair amount of pipe organ. It’s probably not for everyone and I don’t find myself wanting to listen to it every day, but overall is very good. Favorite tracks at the moment include “Keep The Car Running”, “Intervention” and “(Antichrist Television Blues)”.

Hello Starling - Josh Ritter

I’ve already mentioned this album in a previous post, but it’s worth mentioning again. If I were choosing an “album of the month”, this would probably be it for July, as it’s the one I just keep coming back to for another listen. (And check out clips of his newest due next month at joshritter.com.) Favorite tracks at the moment include “Kathleen”, “Wings” and “Snow Is Gone”.

We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions - Bruce Springsteen

I’d had this album on my “to buy” list for over a year. I’ve listened to Springsteen sporadically over the years, and this is certainly not typical - none of the songs are his, but rather folk songs of Pete Seeger. It was definitely worth the wait, but I wish I’d gotten it sooner. Outstanding. Favorite tracks at the moment include “Old Dan Tucker”, “O Mary Don’t You Weep” and “John Henry”.

Better Questions - Todd Agnew

Memphis native Agnew delivers another disc of thought-provoking songs, although musically, I’m not sure I’m as fond of the songs as his previous work. However, I’ve only listened to it a handful of times at this point, and it might grow on me. If you’re looking for something different than the status quo from the CCM world, Agnew is a good choice. He’s not Rich Mullins, but he may be as close as there is these days. Favorite tracks at the moment include “If You Wanted Me”, “Funny” and “On A Corner In Memphis”.

Cassadaga - Bright Eyes

I first heard Bright Eyes on one of my DishTV digital music channels a few months ago. Vocalist Conor Oberst has one of those shaky sounding voices that I always like. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be called - indie rock, alt-country, folk-rock, or what (I’ve seen it described as these and more) - but I call it very good. Favorite tracks at the moment include “Four Winds”, “Soul Singer In A Session Band” and “Classic Cars”.

The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me - Brand New

It was a few months after getting Deja Entendu (eMusic) before I downloaded this more recent release from iTunes. Again, worth the wait. This is a great rock album. I really like Jesse Lacey’s voice and songwriting. Most likely a top 10 for me this year. It also might have the best album cover, too. Favorite tracks at the moment include “Millstone”, “Jesus Christ” and “Not The Sun”.

Five Score and Seven Years Ago - Relient K

Pop punk considered by some to be “Christian rock.” These guys have been around for nearly 10 years, and they still look like they’re in junior high. And, granted, that’s probably where most of their fans spend their days. Regardless, I think this is their best album in six years, and probably their best yet. Favorite tracks at the moment include “The Best Thing”, “Forgiven” and “Deathbed”.

So Divided - …And They Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

This album has not gotten a lot of great reviews from what I can tell. Often it’s compared to their previous works (which I’ve yet to hear, but they are on eMusic), so perhaps it’s a lesser work than what they’re already done. But, I have enjoyed it. Not as much now as I did when I first got it - I grew a little tired of it quicker than most - but there’s still some good stuff here. Favorite tracks at the moment include “Stand In Silence”, “Wasted State of Mind” and “Naked Sun”.

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - Spoon

I liked Gimme Fiction a lot. Sometimes, I think this new disc is better. Sometimes, I think maybe not quite. Either way, it’s another very good collection of songs, and if you’re into Spoon, you’ll want to get it. (And it is available on eMusic, by the way.) Favorite tracks at the moment include “The Ghost of You Lingers”, “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” and “The Underdog”.

Twin Cinema - The New Pornographers

Possibly named after a phrase used by Jimmy Swaggart (”music is the new pornography”), TNP is largely made up of artists from other bands. This is a fun album full of power pop and I look forward to hearing more from TNP (on Aug 21, in fact, when their next release is due out.) Favorite tracks at the moment include “Twin Cinemas”, “Use It” and “Sing Me Spanish Techno”.

Dovetail - Storyhill

I first heard a song from this folk duo’s newest disc, but it was unavailable on eMusic. So, I checked out this older title that was available, and I’m really liking it as well. It sounds like it could be something from the early 70’s, a lot of acoustic guitar and harmonies. Pretty good stuff. Favorite tracks at the moment include “Seven Sisters”, “What Was Wrong” and “Soon”.

Cities - Anberlin

Another “Christian rock” band, which I debated buying this for a few months until I eventually found a cheap (and brand new) copy on eBay. It’s gotten a lot of great reviews, but I wasn’t sure how much I would like it based on the clips. I can only say this - I like it, and there are a some really good songs, but it’s not really blown me away as a whole. Favorite tracks at the moment include “Godspeed”, “Adelaide” and “The Unwinding Cable Car”.

That’s it. That’s the list.

* As a side note, I’m not crazy about the single “Our Great God.” I love the song, and I loved the original recording a few years back by the song’s writers, Fernando Ortega and Thrid Day’s Mac Powell. However, Agnew’s version, singing with Rebecca St. James, just pales in comparison. It’s not necessarily bad, but the original is so much better. The reason I put it as the song to feature here is that it was all I could find on youTube right now (probably because it’s the first single.)