You know, I'm not quite sure how to start this post. I don't have a singular subject, like foreign policy or something like that. I guess I'll break it down.

Politics
I'm still firmly behind Ron Paul. I contributed to the campaign again for the MLK money bomb. There's the possibility of a brokered convention, and I really think it's just as important for the message to get out there as anything. He placed 2nd in Nevada and 2nd in Louisiana. There was some funny business going on there, and he may have done even better than that. I read that he was polling decently in Georgia too.

I got a polling call last night and happily answered their questions to make sure they knew I was Republican and voting for Paul and that the Iraq War was the main reason. Though it was a hard choice between that and the economy. I think the President will have a greater influence on the war than the economy anyways though.

I was talking with Jamie and how many paradigm shifts I've gone through in the last few years. In religion with the historical Jesus stuff, Emerging church, etc. In politics with moving towards libertarianism. Becoming interested in the process, in the economy. I saw Al Sharpton on TV yesterday talking about redistributing the country's money. Jamie can't understand how you get to that place where you're for that. I am not for that, but I understand the worldview that gets you there. My worldview has changed. I voted for Bush in 2000, I voted Libertarian in 2004. I was convinced by the campaign of misinformation that lead us into the war in Iraq. But over the past few years, my worldview has changed. When you view things in the proper perspective, you see how we've gotten where we are in the Middle East, etc. We have got to stop imposing our will on the rest of the world. I've become disillusioned with the 2 parties, I see all this talk of change, the new generation of leaders. The new Camelot and I all I can think of is "meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

The Weekend
We went and saw the Foo Fighters at the FedEx Forum on Friday night. Haven't seen them in about 8 years, but it was a great show. The sound was pretty bad for the first part of the show, you couldn't hear much but drums and fuzz. It did improve, but it wasn't as good as it could be. You could tell the band was tight though. The best part was the acoustic set in the back later in the show. The sound was great for that part of the show. I like volume as much as the next guy, but not at the sake of fidelity. Still... it was a good show. Their latest album was one of my favorites from last year. It's hard to believe they've been playing as long as they have.

So left the Forum, went home and returned 10 hours later for the Memphis vs Gonzaga game. It as the first Memphis game I'd been to. People in Memphis are basketball crazy, I guess since their football program has never really reached the heights that other regional programs have. And this year, with the Tigers at #1, they're especially basketball crazy. Was a good atmosphere.. the place was packed.

Church
So some of the folks at the church (Collierville Methodist) found my blog and they asked me to give some ideas for the Vineyard service at the church. Where will this go? I don't know. The service has come a long way from when we first visited it in 2003, but I think it's time to take the next step and make some investments in improvments. The church is in the early fund-raising phase of a capital campaign to address some of the space issues, but for now the service meets in the 1 court gym. There are around 400 people in there each Sunday and because it's a gym, the whole thing has to be set-up each week, which limits some of what they can do. Because it's a gym, the lighting in the room is awful. And I'm not talking about some big rock and roll lightshow. I just mean basic lighting. Anyways, we'll see what happens from here. I guess it's time for us to join the church. I teach Sunday school, and may be taking a more active role in the worship, yet I'm not even a member.