We’ve got Minnesota right where we want ’em. The Wild outplayed the Stars in Saturday’s Game One up and down the ice for the entirety of all three periods. They out-skated us and out-hit us, they won every face off and beat us to every loose puck, they out-shot us, out-fought us, out-hustled us, out-goalied us, and killed us on special teams. It was Game One. Again. For the eighth time in the Stars’ past ten playoff series. We’ve got ’em right where we want ’em.
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Coconut Cream Dr Pepper is back and it’s just as wonderful as I remembered! It’s been a couple of years since Dr Pepper first gave us this glorious option and then took it away almost as soon as it arrived–I didn’t realize how seriously they were using the phrase “limited edition.” For almost two years now I’ve been lamenting its demise and begging for its return. It’s back now–for how long, I don’t know–and it is still, by far, the very best of the many different flavored Dr Peppers. The coconut flavor is really strong–you smell it before your first sip and it lingers even after you swallow. It smells like summer and it tastes even better. And, yes, we are stocked up at Stanglin Manor.
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I have just ordered a book based on a review by D.J. Bulls in Restoration Quarterly, and I’m planning to read it before the end of the week. The book is called Sing Loud, Die Happy: An Exploration of How God’s Gift of Song is Meant to Change Us. The title is intriguing enough, yes? The author, Jim Thompson, surveys the entirety of Scripture to present a comprehensive case for the paramount priority of singing for the individual disciple of Jesus and for his gathered church. According to D.J., Thompson explores the whole of Church history and encourages us to reinvest in singing. He also quotes from a variety of historical Church and music figures, including Aristotle, Martin Luther, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Bono. Here’s a quote from the book:
“We do not sing in worship to reflect our moods any more than our sermons should reflect our pet theories on the Gospel. Rather, quite bluntly, we sing in an effort to take us away from what we think and draw us toward what we ought to think, feel, and experience. We sing to create a mood more than to reflect one.”
And, from the last chapter, a list of ten encouragements for all of us:
1 – Sing with your family.
2 – Be a part of a church that enjoys singing and whose singing reflects the variety of song found in Scripture.
3 – Join a church where the song leaders aren’t trying to be faddish Christian celebrities but are shepherding people by inviting them into the transformative power of singing together.
4 – Learn and sing along to new music.
5 – Remember and sing along to old music.
6 – Look at people when you sing.
7 – Sing when you don’t feel like it.
8 – If you can’t sing with your lips, sing with your soul.
9 – Gather some friends for a sing-along.
10 – Sing with people different from you.
Singing is not only what we do; as children of God and followers of Christ Jesus, it is an important part of who we are.
Peace,
Allan
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