Because I’m in a giving mood I’ve reduced my rates for Airport pick-up’s until January.

If you’re in need of a pick-up from an airport after the winter break e-mail me: will(at)willyoungband.com.

Special Rates effective until 1/9/2007

From Tampa International: $15
From St. Pete/Clearwater International: $20
From Orlando International: $15
From Sanford International: $20

Merry Christmas.

Found this on alilbit’s blog.

Scenarios from 1973 & 2006

This is scary because of how close to the truth it may be.

Jack pulls into school parking lot with rifle in gun rack. 1973 - Vice Principal comes over, takes a look at Jack’s rifle, goes to his car and gets his to show Jack. 2006 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.
++++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school. 1973 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends Nobody goes to jail, nobody arrested, nobody expelled. 2006 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Jeffrey won’t be still in class, disrupts other students. 1973 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by Principal. Sits still in class. 2006 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his father’s car and his Dad gives him a whipping 1973 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman. 2006 - Billy’s Dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. Billy’s sister is told by state psychologist that she remembers being abused herself and their Dad goes to prison. Billy’s mom has affair with psychologist.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some headache medicine to school. 1973 - Mark shares headache medicine with Principal out on the smoking dock. 2006 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Mary turns up pregnant. 1973 - 5 High School Boys leave town. Mary does her senior year at a special school for expectant mothers. 2006 - Middle School Counselor calls Planned Parenthood, who notifies the ACLU. Mary is driven to the next state over and gets an abortion without her parent’s consent or knowledge. Mary given condoms and told to be more careful next time.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Pedro fails high school English. 1973: Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college. 2006: Pedro’s cause is taken up by state Democratic Party. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro’s English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he can’t speak English.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed. 1973 - Ants die. 2006 - BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Johnny’s Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary, hugs him to comfort him. 1973 - In a short time Johnny feels better and goes on playing. 2006 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison.

Some words from Bono and the guys:

The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There’s no room
No space to rent in this town

You’re out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you’re not moving anywhere

You thought you’d found a friend
To take you out of this place
Someone you could lend a hand
In return for grace

It’s a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It’s a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away

You’re on the road
But you’ve got no destination
You’re in the mud
In the maze of her imagination

You love this town
Even if that doesn’t ring true
You’ve been all over
And it’s been all over you

It’s a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
It’s a beautiful day

Touch me
Take me to that other place
Teach me
I know I’m not a hopeless case

See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out

It was a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
Beautiful day

Touch me
Take me to that other place
Reach me
I know I’m not a hopeless case

What you don’t have you don’t need it now
What you don’t know you can feel it somehow
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
Don’t need it now
Was a beautiful day

I stole this from Kenny.

You might be a Floridian if…

“Down South” means Key West

“Panhandling” means going to Pensacola.

You think no-one over 70 should be allowed to drive.

Flip-flops are everyday wear.

Shoes are for business meetings and church.

No, wait, flip flops are good for church too

Socks are only for bowling

Orange juice from concentrate makes you vomit

Tap water makes you vomit

Sweet tea can be served at any meal.

An alligator once walked through your neighborhood.

You smirk when a game show’s “Grand Prize” is a trip to Florida.

You measure distance in minutes.

You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.

You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.

You never use an umbrella because you know the rain will be over in
five minutes

All the local festivals are named after a fruit.

A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.

A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store,
but everything to do with shade.

Your winter coat is made of denim

You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites

You’re younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65

You know the four seasons really are: almost summer, summer,
not summer but really hot, and Christmas.

It’s not “pop.” It’s “soda” or “coke.”

Anything under 70 is chilly.

You’ve hosted a hurricane party.

You go to a theme park for an afternoon, and know when to get on the
best rides.

You pass on the right and honk at the elderly.

You understand the futility of exterminating cockroaches.

You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee, Withlacoochee, Okahumpka and
Loxahatchee.

You understand why it’s better to have a friend with a boat than have a
boat yourself.

You’ve driven through Yeehaw Junction.

Bumper stickers on the pickup in front of you include various fish, the
NRA and a confederate flag.

You were 8 before you realized they made houses without pools.

You were 12 when you first met someone who couldn’t swim.

You’ve worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas.

You know what the “stingray shuffle” is and why it’s important!

You could swim before you could read

You have to drive north to get to The South

You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.

Every other house had blue roofs in 2004-2005

You’ve gotten out of school early on Halloween to trick or treat before it got dark

You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn’t worth waking up for.

You dread lovebug season.

You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren’t Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances…but Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.

You know what a snowbird is and you hate them.

You know why flamingos are pink.

You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.

You were twelve before you ever saw snow or you still haven’t.

News Flash: Most of the Christian artists that you’re hearing on your radio DID NOT START on Christian radio.

I am an avid fan of music. I love it, it often times expresses emotions that I am unable to express on my own. I listen to all types of music. Now, I’m not too into music that is God bashing, but I don’t neccesarily always listen to Christian music.

What irriatates me, is folks out there who somehow think my walk is destroyed by listening to non-Christian music. Listen folks, Natasha Bedingfield, The Fray, Carrie Underwood, and that’s just the three that are getting the most play right now…do you know where they got their start….DING DING DING…THE SECULAR WORLD. Ohhhhhhh surprised?

So what I like the Dixie Chicks, U2, Dashboard Confessional, Something Corporate, Bob Marley and the Wailers, James Blunt, Blue October, Modest Mouse, Goo Goo Dolls, Foo Fighters, Brand New, and others.

I also like Third Day, David Crowder Band, Audio Adrenaline, The Newsboys, Rebecca St. James, Jars of Clay, Casting Crowns, Todd Agnew, Derek Webb, and Chris Tomlin.

Am I any less of a human being because I listen to music that sings about God, and music that doesn’t?

Does that fact lesson the liklihood that I’m going to get to Heaven?

If God hates secular music so much, why doesn’t He bless more DECENT Christian muscians with the ability to make their music public?

You see folks, I have a problem with you if you think that because I don’t listen to Christian music all the time that I’m not right with God.

Leave your self-righteous, judgements to yourself.

Jay Bakker (the son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker) planted a church in New York City, and they also have a church in Atlanta, and Charlotte. The churches motto:

As Christians…

…we are sorry for being self-righteous, judgmental bastards.

The Church is comprised of folks who’ve been screwed by “the church” in the past. Those who’ve been shunned, and told their going to hell as a result of a past. It’s filled with 20somethings who grew up like the poor kids in Jesus Camp and realized that the way they were living for Christ wasn’t right.

Take a look at this:

Are we defending Christ or Christianity? Will enforcing the ideals of a pre-packaged Christian lifestyle help people feel the love of Christ? Do we believe that our lifestyles hold more truths than Jesus? Are we trying to drive people to Christianity or lead them to Christ? (taken from: http://www.revolutionnyc.com)

and this…

Religion Kills

Religion is a false perception of holiness that focuses on law and kills the true message of Christ. Jesus had much to say about the religious who put the law before his true message.

“…How terrible it will be for you experts of religious law! For you crush people beneath impossible religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.” Luke 11:46

“How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you ignore the important things of the law- justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the most important things. Blind Guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat; then you swallow a camel.” Matthew 23:23-24

Jesus came and declared that the most important law was “You must love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37.39) Religion ignores the reasons behind this being the most important commandment and only focuses on the exterior and works as a way to get close to God. It is religion that not only kills the true message of hope Christ taught but also has held back the lost from understanding the true meaning of Christianity. (taken from: http://www.revolutionnyc.com)

Everyday, I have this overwhelming Jesus desire to plant a church. I don’t talk about it much, because God is working out the details, but after hearing about Revolution, and listening to what they do…I feel even more strongly like God is telling me to go spread the gospel, using words if neccesary.

Carpe Diem

First for those of you that may not be fimiliar with the Jesus Camp film please watch this trailer:
Yesterday for a better part of the day Kenny (my roommate) insisted on me attending the viewing of Jesus Camp I on the other hand was intent on staying at home and playing my new Nascar 2007 video game, as typically I am disgusted, bored, or mordified by movies that contain Jesus’ name in the title. Usually it’s just a bad Hollywood ploy to appeal to what has become a large scale market in our society. However, once he showed me the trailer I knew I had to go.

I have a ton to say about the film, however I value my job, and therefore I will NOT be posting ANYTHING on my blog about it. Unfortuntely where I work and attend school there are a ton of close-minded individuals who believe that anyone who has anything to say that goes against the Charismatic Evangelicalism mindset is wrong and they like to do everything they can to expose them as a God hating individual. I love my God by the way.

Bottom line: It’s a good, HONEST film that anyone who follows Christ needs to go see.

If you want more, give me a shout and I’ll be more than happy to discuss the film with you, but after thinking and believe it or not praying about it, my ranting on here about the movie would only end up in my demise. If you’d like to read up on the film or see if it’s playing near you visit http://www.jesuscampthemovie.com.

Carpe Diem

So, I woke up at 9:30 am this morning determined to work on my final paper for my Comp II class. The funny thing is I knew it wouldn’t take that long because I already had like 8 pages of it written from a previous paper and the assignment was to merge that paper into this new one. Yet for some reason I could not get motivated enough to work on it. I took advantage of every possible thing I could use to distract myself from the trivial task of writing that paper.

Why?

Just because, I really didn’t care about that paper. I mean I cared about the topic I was writing about, but I lacked the motivation to actually write the stinkin paper. I eventually started the paper at about 2:00 pm and wouldn’t you know it, it only took a whopping 30 minutes to complete.

It’s amazing how distracted we can get. I’ve been sitting on my computer since 9:30 am this morning doing everything possible to distract myself from the task at hand (writing my paper). When in all actuality I could have wrote the paper, been done by 10 am and then did something else useful. (By the way, once I complete this blog entry I’m going to go read for an hour or so, just cause I feel absolutely horrible about sitting in front of the radiation screen for so long)

I don’t know, you know I really try hard not to complain too much. (My regular readers are laughing out lout right now) I like to think of what I have to say not so much as complaints, but challenges to better the world (including myself). Unfortunately we live in a culture that is bent on distracting us from what really matters. It’s no wonder the world is obese, depressed, late and broke.

To the church: It’s time to stop screwing around and start getting with the program. Stop lying to yourself and others. Stop being so stinkin fake. Stop gossipping. Stop thinking you know everything. Stop getting so distracted. So you’re unhappy with the church…FIX IT…after all you ARE THE CHURCH.

To our spiritual leaders: Stop blaming everyone but yourself. MySpace isn’t the reason everyone is distracted, they’re distracted because your irrelevant messages leave them craving more. They’re distracted because you’ve lost your focus on biblical teachings (Interesting piece of useless information: of 250 females polled in an independent study in 2005, 200 claimed an intimate relationship with the Creator, yet they’re active users of Ortho-Tri-Cyclen {the birth control pill}…I’m pretty sure that information makes God cringe). They’re distracted because you stop caring about them. They’re distracted because some where, some how your focus became programs instead of people. They’re distracted because all the seeker sensitive frilly, fu-fu, Willow Creek stuff has gotten old. They’re distracted because the church is more concerned with being purpose driven than people driven. They’re distracted because you’ve made God into a caring barbie doll, and when things go wrong they can’t understand why their barbie doll didn’t stop it.

The bottom line: It’s time for a change. I don’t know if the emerging church movement has it figured out, I’m sure the house church movement has it figured out. It’s time to get back to the basics. Start cracking out the Bible and start bringing it folks. It really is that easy.

Carpe Diem.

Note to all:

If when looking for a new home you look out your living room window and not more than a stones throw away there are rail road tracks you may want to look at other places before committing to that one.

Otherwise, two, three, or doing orange juice season sometimes FIVE days a week you could be rudely awakened by a nice loud TOOT TOOT, and your home shaking so much that I’m sure it compares to an earthquake.

Just some friendly advice from your neighborhood uncle.

– Uncle Will

Some reason this is my prayer as of late:

A thousand times I've failedStill Your mercy remains And should I stumble againI'm caught in Your graceEverlastingYour light will shine when all else fadesNever endingYour glory goes beyond all fame

Your will above all elseMy purpose remainsThe art of losing myselfIn bringing You praiseEverlastingYour light will shine when all else fadesNever endingYour glory goes beyond all fame

In my heart and my soulLord I give You controlConsume me from the inside outLord let justice and praiseBecome my embraceTo love you from the inside out

EverlastingYour light will shine when all else fadesNever endingYour glory goes beyond all fameAnd the cry of my heartIs to bring You praiseFrom the inside outLord my soul cries out

What would happen if I truly put His will above all else and make my purpose the art of losing myself in bringing Him praise? What if I truly let His light shine when all else fades and remembered His glory goes beyond all fame?

I tell ya, a lot would be different that's for sure.

So…depending on where you go you can hear Christmas music already. Actually most places started playing it after Halloween. What more do you expect from our consumer driven society? Man, we’ve been so exploited. Everything is about a market share, and who has the largest. Of course during the holidays toy manufacturers and electronic manufacturers have the largest share. Here’s something that may shock you, out of all the markets out there guess which one has the SMALLEST market share of all of them during the holiday season. That is the market for Bibles.

Interesting, is it not? Then I got to thinking about it…I can not recall EVER seeing a commercial for a Bible and I watch a lot of TBN and CTN. Of course I really shouldn’t complain the American consumer market has exploited everything they possibly can about my faith in Jesus Christ. Why now I can have the Jesus action figure, Jesus tennis shoes, Jesus t-shirts, Jesus music, Jesus movies, and there’s even a company based out of California who is about to put out for the first time ever a hair dye that…you guessed it is the same color (or so they believe) as Jesus’ hair!

It is no longer amazing to me why spreading the good, HONEST, news is so hard. Mainly because Jesus is the world’s next Clark Kent.

I apologize for my ranting.
The holidays make me extremely depressed.
Like more than you can imagine. On top of the typical holiday depression factors I add some more of my own, like not helping but to wonder what Christ feels about the fact that we’ve taken one of the single most important days in the history of Christianity and turned it into green and red garland, and 6 foot trees with sparkling lights. That’s why I’m glad my family stopped doing gifts and we just spend time together as a family on Christmas, though our belief systems may be slightly different, I know that we’re bringing great joy to my Creator, and theirs too (whether they know it or not) by simply loving each other and being in each others presence.

In other news I think I’ve figured out why that one particular individual at work that I really dread having to have anything to do with drives me so insane. It’s because every time she speaks I hear Paula White. Don’t get me wrong, Paula White has a thriving ministry and she probably does great things for God, however like many other televangelists Paula’s ministry is not my cup of tea. Something about it just doesn’t click with me. As for her personality perhaps it’s her southern draw (which is odd, cause typically southern draws melt me), but I’m pretty sure that lady at work who I tolerate because my job requires it drives me nuts because she reminds me too much of Paula White.
LISTEN…all you naysayers who are looking for a reason to say I’m goin to hell for what I believe…I love both Paula White, and the person at work. They are both my sisters in Christ and they are doing His work. Neither of them are my “friends” and I tolerate them for a variety of reasons. So if you’re thinking of replying and telling me how I’m not being Christ like, save it…I’m truly not in the mood.

You know it is amazing what happens when folks are challenged to see things from a different perspective. When they finally decide to step outside their box and realize hey, maybe I should use this doctrine of free will that the Maker has blessed me with and start researching things in His word and seeing how they fit into my belief system, or making them fit into my belief system.

I’ll close with this.

I know a guy, a pastor friend of mine (yeah I have quite a few of those) who for the longest time drove me up the wall and back. You see he was a worship pastor (was being the key word) and he was so caught up in the act of worship that he totally lost sight of what it was he was doing (leading folks to the thrown of God in worship…a quite serious responsibility). I mean I would say to him, how are your worship services goin, and he’d proceed to tell me about the Sunday when his drummer busted a head, and his bassist broke a string, and one of the wireless mic’s batteries went dead and how it just made the whole thing horrible. Or how the Senior (pastor) made him hold open auditions to form a worship team and how it upset him because he knew he had “pulled every useful resource possible” when he came to the church. You know him and I had quite our fair share of argubates, finally (and I don’t want to take any credit, but just so you know I prayed extensively for that ministry and for God to just do something that would change his heart) a year and a half into that ministry he quit. He ended up planting a church on the other side of the world, and worship at his church is what the worshiper makes it. It’s not about the show, or the lights, or whether or not it sounds good. It’s about a true encounter with the spirit. The spirit hit him so hard, that his worship team, doesn’t even have a mid-week rehearsal. They get together an two hours earlier on Sunday, they spend ONE hour in prayer seeking guidance from the Creator on what they should even do on the stage that Sunday then they spend the second hour to run through the songs. He’s the same friend who gave me my “Praise Prayer” worship concept. (When I was the Children’s Worship leader at Oasis I used it with the kids and there wasn’t a time when I didn’t see the holy spirit touch those kids) One Sunday every month, they don’t even do worship songs, they just spend time in worship PRAISING our God for everything He’s done. It’s a time of prayer where no one asks for anything, they simply PRAISE God…something we should do more of.

What’s my point in all that?

We’re nearing graduation time. A plethora of our students will leave to go out into the field. Some of them will have authentic encounters with the spirit leading their congregations to the same encounters and others will become “Worship Directors” who write scripts for their Sunday morning service, have multiple practices and “takes”. All I ask is this: PRAY. The Creator of the universe, from what I’ve read in HIS WORD, and from what I’ve experienced doesn’t really care about the show, or whether it even sounds good (that’s not to say He wants you to deliberately not perform well…it just means if a string breaks, or someone’s out of tune, He’s not cringing) He just cares that you are there. ALL OF YOU (Mind, Heart, Body, etc.).

Carpe Diem

Oh yeah…Happy Thanksgiving.