The Charlotte Observer has been running a reader response story based on Hemingway’s six-word story (For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn.). The Observer asked for readers to send in their story, limited to six words. Today, the paper posted some of the responses on their website.

I wondered if I would be able to limit mine to six words. So, I took 10 minutes and came up with a few. All are good contenders.

1. Clarity found, partially at age thirty-three.
2. Hope is for those without grace.
3. Grace erases guilt for fresh starts.
4. God’s love will be there always.
5. Loved, lost, will try again soon.
6. Tried it my way, didn’t work.
7. Finding peace with Christ, my blessing.
8. Love is a verb. Give selflessly.
9. To love unabashedly is the goal.

I like the first one a lot. There’s some good imagery in that one. The second one I stole from a TV show. The third is for a brother who asked me once, “what if there are no second chances?”. Four is a reminder to me, family and friends. Five sums up the last 10 years for me. Six is my current realization, and a difficult one to accept. Seven brings me comfort. Eight reminds me to stay humble. Nine remains a question, for now.

Editors Note: (whoa, this was deep. time to go out and have some fun now. TGI FRIDAY!!!)

I’ve written about Blue Merle before. It’s about time I gave you some samples…

Blue Merle - Places

And this bartender is selling a lie
That all of these travelers are buying
Cause everyone’s looking for something to find
But bars, they ain’t nothing but places you hide
They ain’t nothing but places to hide

Blue Merle - Part of Your History

I always knew that you do great things
I didn’t ever want to slow you down
I was there when you learned to use your wings
And I saw you leave the ground
The time spent in your sweet arms
Was the best time that I’ve known
Maybe the reason I was here at all was to see you carry on

We’ve all seen the commercials. But, what does it really mean to “act like men”? I think that it has something to do with fulfilling your biblical duties. Not many people enjoy hearing what they are doing wrong, or being called out, or being told that they need to step up. But, I really feel God is calling on Godly men to step up, be manly, be unashamed, and to be bold. Speak the truth, and live life abundantly.

Many people will not like this sermon. But, if you put your personal feelings aside, this sermon speaks to the heart of the issues me and my friends are going thru. For us, the message of God is not being spoken, the leaders are not speaking the whole truth (or at least we are all desiring for more), and in return nobody is empassioned about anything. It’s time to start taking the challenge of listening to the whole truth. The FULLNESS of the Gospel. Not just the parts that make you feel comfortable. (Continue reading…)

I went to see the band Angels & Airwaves play last week at a local club. If you don’t know anything about them, it’s a band led by the former front man of Blink 182, Tom Delong. I’m not saying Angels & Airwaves (AVA, for short) is a christian band by any means. But, if you know anything about the roots of Blink or Tom Delong, you know he has a Christian background and is clearly trying to let this good influence rub off in his AVA music.

In fact, Tom says this specifically in a few of his interviews.

“I was born and raised Christian. My mom was an extremely conservative Christian and I very much have those roots in my life. “I’m extremely spiritual and I have my own ideas of what happens when you die and how we’re all connected. “I think that will play some part in what this band’s about.”

(Continue reading…)

I had a huge super bowl party at my house about 10 days ago. It was a smashing success. Over 70 people showed up, and we devoured over 15 lbs of shrimp, two kegs, 10 pizzas, countless snacks, and played many games of ping pong.

Before all the people arrived, I toured the house with my video camera to snap what the home looks like when it’s all clean. (Continue reading…)