The Dirty Black Shirt, Part 2

OK, so I've established that I don't want my life to be a dirty black shirt, showing all of my shortcomings and sin for all to see.

But, I DO want my life to be a dirty black shirt.

Huh?

One of the things Jesus was criticized for was the fact that he hung around with tax collectors and sinners. One of the things present-day Christians are criticized for is "being too close to the world."

How do you:

Stay close to God while befriending the world?

Live in and not of the world?

Love the sinner, hate the sin?

I want my heart to be clean, but I also want to be involved in other people's dirt, so that God can use me to help them get rid of their own dirty shirts.

God, let me stay so close to you so that my shirts don't get dirty, but also let me stay so connected with humanity that I'm not afraid to get soiled now and then.

OK, So I'm Back (and hopefully with something to say).

My last post was from this past July 4th. It was about my dad (you can read it for yourself, it's right below this one), and after writing it, I really felt like there was nothing I could really say that would transition out of that post. I really wanted to honor my father.

I love you Dad.

Anyway, my wife and I did our little morning workout (a story in itself, I might add), and it involved a good bit of abs work. Why is this important? Hang on, I'll tell you...

This morning, I wore a black shirt. We have a white dog. Get the picture? After my sweaty body was on the floor, and the workout was finished, I noticed a lot of white dog hair, and other sundry floor items, on my shirt. It completely grossed me out.

But then, I got to thinking, "I'm no dirtier than when I wear a white shirt. It's just that the black shirt shows it up in more contrast."

And that's when this thought occurred to me: We can go through life not noticing (or not examining, or not paying attention to) our dirtiness, but then, something (or someone) comes along and it gets clearly pointed out to us.

You know, the issue that pushes you over the edge, the person that seems to have grace in every situation (and you really admire them for it), the Bible verse that pricks us as we read it, the Holy Spirit gently bidding us on to change. These are all ways God tries to speak to us, to show us our sinfulness, providing a way out, to be clean again.

God, I don't want to be a dirty shirt. Please make me clean again.

Stay tuned for more. While typing this, I had another "dirty black shirt" analogy thought.

Born on the Fourth of July

No, this post isn't about the Tom Cruise movie, nor is it about our American freedoms.

This post is about a man. A man, born July 4th, 1927, the youngest of many children, the son of a simple farmer. He grew up in Gueydan, LA, working in his father's sharecropper fields, and didn't get past the sixth grade.

He married the love of his life on November 7, 1946, a woman also of simple means. She was from Erath, LA, and they settled in the Vermilion Parish seat of Abbeville, LA.

They had five children, six including a miscarried child. Their children were quite spread out in age; their oldest was married and pregnant before their youngest was born.

This man was the hardest working man I ever met. I've seen pictures of him working in the southern Louisiana oilfields, with men who would just-as-soon rip you limb from limb as shake your hand. This man worked on the crew who cleared the way for I-10 between Lafayette and Baton Rouge (contracting Yellow Fever in the process).

This man was a business owner. He owned Ray's Auto Sales in Abbeville, a used auto parts and towing service. He was also an avid horseman and cattle farmer. Again, always working, always taking care of his business, always looking out for his animals.

This man was my father. Raymon Allen Gaspard, who died June 18, 1988, was a great man, only I didn't let him know that I thought he was. I wasn't the best son a guy could ask for. I was ungrateful, arrogant, cocky, and manipulative, and I'm so deeply sorry that I treated him with less than the absolute respect that was owed to him.

Today would be his 82nd birthday.

Dad, I miss you tremendously. I wish you were here, to see my beautiful wife, to see my wonderful girls, to know that you were a great influence on the man that I am today. Thank you for being such a great provider, example, and friend, although I would have never admitted those things to your face.

I can't wait to see you again, when we walk the streets of gold together. We have plenty of catching up to do. I just hope that I have made you half as proud as I am of you.

Happy birthday.

Happy Father's Day!

I found this little gem when I was searching for some files the other day. I had totally forgotten about it.

I did all of the gut-string acoustic parts on my 6-string bass, plus we added in a solo section, so I could show that I can play more than just root-fifth!

Anyway, hope you enjoy it. I've lost about 20 or so pounds since then (this was 2005), and we now record with audience mics (trust me...there was uproarious applause when I was done). Also, we now use in-ear monitors (I had forgotten how UGLY floor wedges are!).

I hope all you dads out there have a great Father's Day. Be good to your daughters!

Friday Funny

OK, this video has nothing to do with the relevant use of media in church, but I wanted to post it anyway.  Special thanks goes out to my good friend, fellow musician and dog lover, Scottie V., for sending this to me.  Hilarious. I needed a good laugh this morning.

Have a great weekend everyone. Please keep your leg from stealing your bones!

Friday Funny

The things we do for love...

This week's Friday Funny features none other than yours truly, otherwise known as "Beau" from The Bayou Belles and Their Beau, otherwise known as my wife's blog.

Anyway, go here to see the thing I have done because I love my wife.

Come back here to leave your comment for me, but vote on her blog.

Friday Funny

You provide the caption...

Friday Funny

Here is the third installment of our Annual Church Business Meeting spots. This time, it features our editor, Adam. This one is my personal favorite.

Also, for those of you who have inquired about the availability of the pieces for sale:  I'm in the process of encoding an uploading, and I hope to have them on our site, as well as the resellers' sites within the next week or so.

Friday Funny

OK, here's the 2nd installment of the Annual Church Business Meeting campaign. This one features my good friend, Lee, as a...well, you'll just have to watch to find out.

By the way, it was determined that the audience had a hard time seeing the text for the first spot, so we just did plain text over black for this one and the others. The final versions for sale will all be like this one, unless we come up with a better solution.

You can view the first video here.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Lurkers Beware!

OK, so I check my blog every day, and I've noticed a lot of hits. As a matter of fact, every time I do a post, my blog shows up in the "Top Lafayette Blogs," usually in the top five (so does my wife's blog, for that matter).

But here's the deal:  not many comments! Hey, in the words of every kid who's been to a Mardi Gras parade, "Throw me something, mister!"

Leave a comment for me. Anything. You hate my work. You think my blog stinks. I don't care.

But just be nice.

Have a great day everyone! I've got some pretty funny videos coming up later this week or early next week. Stay tuned...

Friday Funny

This one is perhaps, more painful than funny. You supply the caption.

The Media Director Has No Clothes

OK, interesting thing about me...

I'm used to working on good gear. When I was at Oral Roberts TV, I had great consoles with awesome monitors. At Crossroads, I've got some great cameras, editing gear, and some pretty decent audio tools (not to be confused with ProTools - ecch. I'm a Logic user).

So, what does a guy who has access to all this great stuff have as his personal gear? When I was at ORU, when people would come over to my house, they were surprised to see how low-end my home stereo was, and invariably, the conversation went somewhat like this...

"Dude, you're the Chief Audio Engineer at Oral Roberts Television.  That's your stereo!?"

"Yes. If I wanted to listen to CDs on $750K worth of gear, I would just drive to the studio."

Which brings me to my point...I just bought my first camcorder. What is it? Here it is...

It's a Crayola camcorder that records to SD card. It's the crappiest/cutest thing I've ever seen. It's for my youngest daughter, and we bought it yesterday with her $30 Wal-Mart gift card.

This thing is LITTLE ya'll. The photos don't do it justice. The camera is half the distance from the iSight camera than we are.

For a sample, visit my wife's blog. By broadcast standards, it's crappy indeed (the camera quality, not the blog), but not too bad considering how much compression goes into a typical Bloggger video. The real deal is this:  I get the pleasure of helping the Katie Mac launch her film career. Once she masters the Crayola, an ARRIFLEX D-21 will be no big deal!

Guess What I Just Did...

Friday Funny

OK, so if you've ever had a conversation with me, you probably know that I just got an iPhone, and you're wondering why I haven't posted about it yet. Well, the reason is that I've been too busy playing with my iPhone to post about it yet.

So, for now, a Friday Funny pic will have to do. Here it is:

You write the caption. I'll provide the first one:  brings new meaning to the term "going postal."

Facebooking for Dummies (like me)

OK, so I'm totally into the facebook...

I mean, I've got friends from as far away as Sri Lanka, and I want to keep in touch with all of them, and know what each and every one of them is up to, right down to the minute, to every nitty gritty detail.

So, I have a facebook account. It's totally fun, and it's great to have caught up with guys I haven't seen in as much as 20 years (yes, I'm that old).

Speaking of which (the old-ness part), do you find that when you're suggesting friends to someone, that you get confused with who knows whom (or is it the other way around?)?

My life, in a nutshell has five historical periods. Lets call them Richardian Eons:

Eon 1:  Abbeville High School (1982-1985)

Eon 2:  Jimmy Swaggart Bible College (1987-1988)

Eon 3:  University of SW Louisiana (1988-1994)

Eon 4:  The Tulsa Years (1994-2000)

Eon 5:  Back to Cajun Country (2000-Present)

So, I'm reconnecting with old friends, and when prompted to help those with a lesser number of friends along in their facebook journey, I honestly cannot remember who came from what eon! I find myself staring blankly at the thumbnail pics, wondering how the person pictured knows the friend I'm trying to help out.

I feel like George Costanza:  worlds are colliding.

Does this happen to you? Please say it does.

Friday Funny

Allright, here's this week's installment of the Friday Funny...

You write the caption.

Friday Funny

OK, so I have slacked off on posting, but I'm back with this installment of the Friday Funny.  You supply the caption.

Friday Funny

OK, I was going to post about Watermark and my new friend Ryan Howell, but I found two incredible gems that I feel compelled to share with you. Words can't possibly describe what you're about to see, but you can take a shot at it if you wish...

First up, Jesus is my friend...

glumbert - Jesus Is My Friend

Jesus is my best friend, so you won't catch me singing this. Ever.

OK, here's the next one...

I'm speechless. What say you?

Friday Funny

I found this picture yesterday on a friend's facebook page.  You write the caption...

The Olympics - and a Random Thought

OK, this post has nothing to do with anything, except perhaps how thoughts stay with us for a lifetime.

I was talking to my wife today about the Olympics (our daughters watched the Olympics all day at their grandmother's house), when I told her a deep dark secret of mine.

When I was a kid, I thought the word "gymnastics" was a dirty word, because it sounded like "nasty" to me.