Knock, Knock (Im moving!)

“Knock, Knock”

“Who’s there?”

“California”

“California, who?”

“Alan you’re moving to California!”

Or at least it went down some thing like that. That said I am finally moving to Los Angeles (specifically Burbank) at the very end of February(28th or 29th). I have known about the move to California for about a week now and I have sat down to write this about 50 times, its hard saying good bye. So many of you mean a lot to me and I am not quite sure how to express that other than to say, I love you. I love you and I will miss all of you, I am not the greatest at keeping in touch. If any one has moved from me they know that. I am sorry to the ones I have not kept in touch with. Feel free to contact me any time I would love to tell you how I am doing. I want to do a party before I leave I am not sure how to work that out so if you have ideas let me know. God is doing a lot of things right now in my life and I need a lot of prayer, every thing from no job to trying, to keep a brand new relationship going and healthy, to a safe ride out there.

Top Albums 10 of 2007

I know it’s a little late to be publishing a Top 10 List of 2007 But here it is better late than never.

Top Albums 10 of 2007

1. Thrice Alchemy Index I & II
2. Emery - I am Only a Man
3. Anberlin - Cites
4. The Wedding - Polarity
5. August Burns Red - Messengers
6. Chasing Victory - Fiends
7. As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us
8. As Cites Burn - Come Now Sleep Tie Dustin Kensrue - Please Come Home
9. Haste the Day - Pressure the Hinges
10. Paramour – Riot!

Honorable mention (11-20)

11. Receiving the End of Sirens - The Earth Sings mi fa mi
12. Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light
13. Linkin Park - Minuets to Midnight
14. Maylene and the Sons of disaster – II
15. Killswitch Engage - As Daylight Dies
16. Demon Hunter - Storm the Gates of Hell
17. The Devil Wears Prada - Plagues
18. Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
19. Tegan and Sara - The Con
20. Oh Sleeper – When I Am God (This Church Is Unsound!)

Most disappointing

1. Mae - Singularity
2. Waking Ashland - The Well
3. Mainstay - Become Who You Are
4. Kids in the Way – Love Hate Masquerade
5. Becoming the Archetype - The Physics of Fire
6. Coheed and Cambria – No World For tomorrow
7. 12 Gauge Valentine - Shock Value
8. Jeremy Camp – Beyond Measure

Man I was late to the party but man I loved it

1. At The Drive In – The Relationship of Command
2. Thrice (their entire back catalog)
3. The Police (their entire back catalog)
4. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
5. The White Stripes (their entire back catalog)
6. Brand New – The Devil and God are raging Inside of Me
7. The Receiving End of Sirens – Between the Heart and the Synapses
8. Wolf Mother – S/T
9. Jimmy Eat World - Futures (and back catalog)

Kind of a let down

1. Classic Case - Losing at Life
2. The Fold Secrets keep you sick
3. Project 86 Rival factions

Most hyped bands on the forums (weather they disserved it or not)

1. Say Anything
2. Emery
3. Thrice
4. Brand new
5. Linkin Park
6. Paramour
7. Coheed and Cambria

Albums I regret missing

1. Dilinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
2. Still Remains – The Serpent
3. Evergreen Terrace - Wolf biker
4. Chiodos - Bone Palace Ballet
5. Foo Fighters - Echoes Silence Patience and Grace
6. Radio Head – In Rainbows
7. Stray Light Run – The Needles The Spaces

Out of left field awards

1. Murder By Death
2. Bjork
3. Under the Influence of Giants
4. Horse the Band
5. Reggie and The Full Effect

Guilty pleasures

Kelly Clarkson (and yea ok a little jordan sparks)

Bonjovi

Singing random boy Band songs

Audioslave

News Boys - Love, Liberty Disco

Albums I am lookin forward to in 08

Thrice Alchemy Index vol. 3 and 4

Secret and Whisper – White Whale

The Ivory Line

Number One Gun – The North Pole Project

Copeland - ????

We Shot the Moon -???

UnderOath - ???

Offspring -???

My Chemical Romance -????

Trenches - ??????

Meg and Dia - ????

The Eternal Son Shine

Oh Light were may you be
Oh Day you are gone from this hour
The over cast blocks your glory
Distance impossible to perceive
Color impossible to see
Sorrow floods my day
Water is the plight of my feet
Grey is my prison
Destruction is near
I can hear it crash

Curse the light the clouds say
Curse the light for the Sun has been untrue
Sun come quick
Sun Come quick to my despair

Gorgeous Son you were there all the time
Glory veiled but never burnt out
Your warmth is never too far
Your glory dries the tears that engulfs my eyes

Blazing Sun when will your merciful ray cease to shine
Blazing glory in its fullness shown
What an ash I would be
Great Light you see it all
Great light you see the clouds
And say it is good for the rain to come
Greater than me
Bigger than me
Swallowed up in you I am

The Gospel

This is what I believe and is the core of what I believe. I have listened to this clip 5 or 6 times and it never gets old.

Responsiblity? What's that?

I read a great article on Desiring God the other day about more and more adults putting off growing up well into their late 20’s and early 30’s. I don’t think this is a good thing. Funny enough my friend Chris Barksdale had some similar thoughts on this article. Its some thing I noticed while I was in college. I am catching my self far too often my self caught up in being stuck in the same cycle. I am in the middle of repenting of this in my life right now (Yea, I am a loser still living at home). Far too many college kids are putting off responsibility in the name of education. Sure college is fun but far too often I find it only pushing people to mature in certain areas of life and is not very holistic in how it matures a person.
There are a couple of things I have noticed as the piece talks about one is the putting off of financial responsibility and just plain responsibility by spending 5+ years doing school. We rely on mom and dad or the government with loans to pay for school, room, and board. This, honestly, just not build a great foundation for financial responsibility later on in life and sets many people to be in debt for the rest of their lives.
The other major point is the putting off of marriage. Marriage (I am told) is a maturing process I often got this myth told to me you have to be super mature before you marry. You do need a certain amount of maturity but you gain so much in the process. I find my self more and more encouraging young dudes in college to find wives while they can now. There are many reasons why you see the premarital sex number so high and why everyone and their mom has to deal with porn these days and in part it is to blame on how long the average person is waiting till they get married. We were not designed for the most part to be single into our late 20’s. Listen I am all for people becoming smarter, and being educated. But as a good pastor friend of mine put it "Don’t let schooling get in the way of your education".


Album(s) of the moment: Watisha Wa – Eager Seas and Thrice - Alchemy Index Vol. 2 Water

Job Update

Hey guys, I thought I would update some of you on my current job situation. For those that may not know I am trying to move to Hollywood, CA to help and be apart of a church plant while going to seminary in September. I have been trying to get a job out there sense just before I graduated this past August. I have visited out there twice looking for a job already, with at best, mild success both times for interviews. The second time I went out to Hollywood I went to interview with AT&T. I had not heard any thing back from them in a while (I interviewed in the middle of Sep). Well yesterday I got a call back from their HR saying they need me to update some information on their website because they just switched databases and systems, for lack of a better word, human resource requisition (that sounds really official sounding, If you ever get a job in where your job is to give jobs names remember, I came up with that one.) But I would be disappointed if that’s all they wanted, but they wanted to talk to me after I update the info. This is definitely good, but I know I could be reading things wrong so I am not going to go get my hopes really high. I need times where I receive a little encouragement. And regardless of how things turn out I am still set to move there in Jan. So please be in prayer for me in that this job works out. I am really interested in the position.

A Blogger In The Ambulence

Lately I have been listening to allot of Thrice. One of the songs that has struck me is the title track off The Artist In The Ambulance disk. The song is about ones failures and desires to be more than just a bunch of empty talk to his listeners. He wants to actually reach out with his art and make a difference in their lives. (read the lyrics here) I kind of understand where he is coming from I want this blog to up lift you and hopefully mean some thing to you. I want to be the blogger in the ambulance.

I have been thinking about resurrecting this thing for a while now. I have thought and thought about what I want to put up here. Do I make it a deeply personal journal? Do I just do a bunch of music reviews? Do I write a bunch of post about what I think of issues facing Christianity? How about issues in this culture we live in? It could be so many things. I think honestly for right now I will just try to post on a regular basis, and honestly I hope its most of those things. I don't want you to watch me vomit all over this thing so I don't think it will be deeply personal but I do want to open up a little more on this blog. I don't know who has read this in the past or will in the future but I know me and I'll be a changing. But this I do know I want to be a pointer to Jesus that I know will always remain the same as long as his hand of grace is upon me.