Gratitude Gone Viral

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.  Luke 12:48

We have so many blessings it is difficult to talk about being thankful without being trite.   In fact, it is a huge understatement to say we are blessed.  We talk about it, we see it, we live in it, we mean it, we have a four day weekend off work to celebrate it. Bottom line, we are totally, completely and inextricably blessed and therefore must be thankful.

Gratitude should be our response to a multitude of blessing. Our attitude of gratitude should lead us to helping each other; not just an emotional though or pause or prayer of placation we annually offer.  We need to share our blessings with others.  It is easy to share with friends, but there are others who need blessing as well.  Often it is tempting to concentrate on what we don’t have instead of what we do have, but in Christ, we have everything we need even though we may not have everything we want.  Generosity is easier when we remember the source of our blessing…Christ.

For this reason, we need to respond from our abundance with generosity toward others.  We are blessed to be a blessing.  Since this is true, we need to see every blessing we receive as not only something to be thankful for but as an opportunity to bless someone else.  God blesses us so we may pass that blessing along.  We need to be a river of blessing that flows in and out, and not a dam that blocks it up.

There are many opportunities for is to reach out with our thankful generosity and help others.  We often look to programs or other people to take the lead in responding but there are lots of additional and probably little known opportunity for rogue responses of thanksgiving. You can do something now, today.  Why wait?

Its time to give! Look around and count 10 things you are thankful for today and how you can use simply one of them as an opportunity to bless one person within two hours of reading this.  I bet you can.  I bet a message to a friend or a random act of kindness to a stranger or a gift of generosity can be easier than you think.  Remember, it all begins with thanksgiving.

If you would rather drink your feast this year, here is an idea (no, its not an alcoholic beverage add) -----> Jones Soda 

The price of chivalry $329.42

Thats the exact price. How do i know?  Read on. But i do have to say everyones price is different. 

I thought id pay a high price for chilvery but it turns out it wasnt a high dollar amount.  The more expensive price for me was not paying the dollar amount earlier. 

The door lock on the passengers side of my vehicle broke and that was the beginning of my chilvary challenges. All of a sudden i was unable to open the door for my wife and daughter.  No big I thought, that part is probably expensive and the Jones family can live without it; my girls are independent AND...we have a keyless remote; I click, they enter.

Things were fine, we were living by the rules of the remote and I tried to tell myself it was all good because the money I saved was offset by a small inconvenience.


But then, it got worse. 

The keyless remote stopped working on the passengers side too.  Now, the only way to open the locked passenger door was to enter the drivers side and reach over to open the passengers side from the inside (when did they stop putting key locks on the passenger side).  Still, i couple of seconds was all that it took and I was still saving money.  But deep inside I knew I was vicariously teaching my daughter bad chivalry (and probably how to be a cheapskate instead of frugal....but thats another story).  Even in the rain this problem was overcome by a 5 second delay, I go first, passengers later, no prob.

The plot thickens

We went out to eat with several couples.  After the meal, we all in the parking lot after a late departure and several couples were parked near us.  Since we dinned late, the parking lot was virtually empty.  Everyone went to their cars, and in my heart of hearts I heard a collision; it was my cheap-ness running smack into the middle of my chivalry (and probably pride). Ya, deep in my heart I knew this accident was inevitable, I knew I was not being frugal but cheap but more so lazy (who wants to take the care to the repair shop). The crash occured and I thought everyone would see and hear it.  So (I thought) Everyone was looking at us...to see if I was going to let my wife in first and be chivalrous man or be that "fend for yourself, because your are strong and its 2012, I dont treat women like princesses guy".  So I did the only thing I could do....I walked my wife to the passenger side of the car, grabbed her and kissed her like I meant it..  Yep, I covered by chivalry sins with faux flirtation.

Time for a fix.  Time to come clean.  Time to fess up and drop the cash and do what is really right.  No more bad modeling or fake justification or excuses to keep away from the repair shop.  Time to man up and fix this problem.

I still dont know why I finally fixed the door for them or me...probably the principle.

I dropped the cash; best 300 bucks I spent in a while.  It felt good.  Good to do what is right.  Good to open the door for my girls.  Good to feel like a (chivalrous) man.  Good to model for my family.  But mostly good to show my daughter that only good and Godly men open doors for ladies and treat them like princesses.

Why Say Goodbye?

In general, people don't like goodbyes.  “Later”, “see ya” or other euphemisms are usually more heard than “Goodbye”.  Shakespeare coined the phrase parting is such sweet sorrow, but really? C’mon Bill.  Here is the quote in context...

Even though saying goodbye is as normal as hello, we dont like to end things.  Ya, goodbye is not permanent but it does signify that we are stopping something.  

Is goodbye sweet?  Is it sorrowful?  Is it both or neither?  Saying goodbye to a bad habit and saying goodbye to your kids for a long work trip are sweet and sorrowful but only in that order.

Goodbye to the the heat.  Goodbye to Summer.  Goodbye to long hours and longer days.  Goodbye to seasonal acquaintances, throngs of people bees and mosquitoes.  It seems that parting is more sorrow than sweet because of our fond memories.

But saying goodbye to something means saying hello to others.

Hello to the FutureThere is a great big world out there with lots of new people to meet, things, to do, books to read or write and so on.  We cannot embrace the past too much or we forget were in the present but making plans for the future.

Hello the the Next ChapterA chapter must be finished before a new one can begin.  Time to turn the page and see what God has next.  The next chapter could be better than the last.

Hello to Fall, Holidays, Winter and MoreFootball, new classes, new challenges at work, new friends, new halloween costumes (ha) Thanksgiving feast, Christmans and NEW Years all await, hello.

Hello to New FriendsWe all need new friends new influences and new experiences.  People have a wonderful way of providing so much layer to an otherwise controlled life.  Old friends are a must but new ones are a blessing.

Hello to New GrowthUltimately, we need to grow and change (saying goodbye) is part of that process.  There are some things we must say goodbye to and some things we would rather not but unless we say goodbye to some, we may not be able to say hello to others.

Embrace the Goodbye.

In closing enjoy the rest of the quote as a parting salve.

Juliet:

'Tis almost morning, I would have thee gone—

And yet no farther than a wan-ton's bird,

That lets it hop a little from his hand,

Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves,

And with a silken thread plucks it back again,

So loving-jealous of his liberty.

Romeo:

I would I were thy bird.

Juliet:

Sweet, so would I,

Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.

Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,

That I shall say good night till it be morrow.

Romeo And Juliet Act 2, scene 2 

Bonus Material....

Water Church

Waterchurch.

Early in the Summer my friend Dave Busch, the CEO of Hawaiian Falls waterparks asked me what it would be like to do an event at the waterparks with emphasis on church people bringing their friends who dont know Christ and do it for FREE.

That is like offering a high school football team an all you can eat buffet.  I jumped at the chance.  I started calling friends around the area and my friend Brian Bradford from Horizons Church in The Colony started working his contacts with his local network group and before you know it we had a date, some partners and a vision.

We printed 1000 tickets and distributed them through our local network of 12 churches.  We had three more join us and a total of 8 churches ended up participitating in the event.

We did not know what to expect....What would God do?  How many people would attend?  Would the church respond?  Would there be salvations, baptisims or people in attendance?

Below, the video documents the incredible kingdom event.  We had over 2,200 people show up, over 100 respond to a first time or closer walk with Christ and over 100 baptisms in the wave pool.

Yep, waterchurch!

Calvary Christian Center, The Colony
Church of the Apostles, Coppell
Horizons Church
First Baptist
New Generations Church
Mill Valley Fellowship
Crystal Church
Bent Tree, The Colony

How to Become an Overnight Success

Overnight Success Takes Years

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. Galatians 6:7

What is success?  Great question. Before we can talk about it with any clarity we must define it.  If we ask most people to answer with little thought, I suspect the answers largely deal with finance and popularity.  If one could answer with some level of thinking, answers like goal achievement, happiness, family, freedom or quality of life would likely surface. Yet ultimately, the answer is pretty subjective.

Disclaimer;  success is easy to define, it means achievement; or to accomplish something.  Most people think of success as a lifetime achievement or ultimate success and not the little things that happen everyday like, I successfully dropped the kids off and made it to the office by 8:30.  Still both are success but this article will focus with the former, ultimate achievement type success.

So now that we are dealing with ultimate success; that indeed does intersect with happiness and quality of life.  Our focus here is more than just the theory of ultimate success but how servant leaders are motivated to ultimately succeed.

Things that make for great substitutes for success, yet are not; Fame and fortune, happiness and; Quality of life.  Lets not get them mixed up.


ONLY TWO TYPES OF SUCCESS
Inherently, I believe there are only 2 types of success; who you are and what you do.  I sometimes think of them as internal success (who I am) and external success (what I do).  To only have one type of success is, IMHO, only half of success, a shortcut at best.  It is difficult to have ultimate success without internal and external elements;

Internal success is who we are; it is both nature and nurture.  Internal success includes our very DNA, our family lineage, education, self worth, life experience, etc.  It is spiritual.  Our internal success sometimes takes a while as it cultivates, as it ebbs and flows.  Sometimes it takes a lifetime to cultivate this and it is aways difficult; the best things in life always are.

External success is more easliy seen.  It is easy to assume that this is the only part of success.  We see the evidence of people striving for this type of success only and just as quickly as they “make it” they fail.  That is because without internal success, external success will never last.

A marriage made in heaven is when a wise person seeks with their whole heart to find internal success with no regard to external success because they know that is a by product of it.  

Intrinsic motivation happens when one learns that internal and external success are the one two punch of ultimate success.  True motivation happens when the realization of internal plus external success is about being successful long term, eternally.


Here are the options for success.  Only the last option allows for Ultimate Success.

PRIORITY EFFECT

No Internal or External success Selfishness, lack of motivation, no life

External but no Internal Short lived, no substance

Internal but no External Powerful, wise but selfish, stagnant, no influence

External before Internal Showy, frustrated and very difficult to build internal

Internal then External The sweet spot, this is how it is done

Pay the price of success.  Anything worth having is worth working for, especially success.  Work now, serve now, give now; cultivate your inner man, where success spawns.  Play it forward, sew your seeds and in due time they will grow. 

The (not so) Trivial Pursuit

Do you play the game?  Relationships are not a game but they should be a priorital pursuit.

“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” – Charles “Tremendous” Jones


I”v been thinking lately of the power of relationships.  Relationships are a powerful force and often difficult to define, analyze or substantiate.  Its a good thing we get to talk about building healthy relationships instead of some other more complicated aspect of them.

Some people are born extraverts and built for many surface relationships, while others gravitate toward fewer people in their life but cultivate depth...A Servant Leader Builds Healthy Relationships.

1.  Find out who you want to build relationships withMake a top 10 list of the things that make for the best relationships.  This could be anything from someone who is a giver to someone that is tall.  You get to pick whatever you think makes a great relationship and use that to help you decide who has those qualities.  Once you create that, list 3 people with the most qualities on your list.

2.  Pursue upward relationshipsIf you want to have a happy divorce free marriage, here is how to do that, maintain friendships with happy married couples.  If you want to make lots of money, here is how to do that... become friends with people who make more money than you (infact you can determine your annual salary by finding the average salary of your closest 5 friends).  The point here is that you can maintain status quo by maintaining current relationship status or you can make friends with peole who are better than you.  Yes, that means you will become a better person too.

3.  Flesh and blood is best but there are other waysSome of my best friends are authors and speakers who have yet to have the privilidge of meeting me.  But they are still friends that influence my life.  Sometimes i need a friend to listen, sometimes i need my friends to instruct me.  Sometimes i need a friend with skin on sometimes I dont.

4.  Be thankfulWhen i become friends with new and interesting people, i try to think them.  A quick email or text message saying how i appreciate their friendship them.  Last night I spent time wiht a mentor/friend and after hearing some INCREDIBLE things he is doing (finishing his third book and entering his documentary about a 12 year old African girl who walks 8 miles a day to provide water for her family) I just told him how much more i appreciated his friendship because of the awesome things he is doing for God.  Hey, I’ve even been known to send starbucks cards to new friends. Oh, and birthday messages for my friends are a must!

5.  Stay in TouchYou ever heard the phrase, “out of sight, out of mind”?  Well its, true.  I’ve found out that when I take responsibility to keep in touch with friends we usually stay in touch.  Of course there are those who endeavor to stay in touch with me too; either way, friends stay connected.  A personal monthly email, txt message or call is all it takes.  Time over coffee is cool too, if you can find it.

6.  Be a healthy relationshiper Not all friendships are created equal.  some of my friends are lights years ahead of me in terms of career, finance or just plain better people than me.  Some are not quite there yet, but I choose friends of all types.  Yes, I encourage upward pursuit of friends, but just remember there are those who see you as an upward pursuit; find time for them too.

So, there it is, a not-complete guide to build healthy relationships.  Here is a little secret that makes it all work....make the development and maintenance of healthy friendship one of your top priorities every day!

Smart People Listen

What are words for, when no one listens anymore?  --Missing Persons

Do you ever feel like everyone is speaking and no one has time to listen?

Words are a positive creative force.  Think about it, one good comment can make your day, likewise, one bad comment can ruin it. God spoke the entire universe into existence, talk about the power of words.
Words are all around us but do we listen?  We can listen but do we hear?  Here is the deal...Smart people seek positive input: they find good influences, they listen and they get smarter.


I found an intriguing article at www.amoeblog.com by Billy Jam referencing a survey about what music people with hi SAT scores listen to. It is totally worth the read! (read it here) For the record, I've listened to U2 since i was 16.


Here are some additional thoughts about smart people an listening.

*  Smart people see the need for positive input – they know they need something beyond themselves.

*  Smart people find the target - you have to know what you are shooting at, in this case you need to find who you want to speak into your life.

*   Smart people makes it a priority - if seeking positive input is important, it must be made a priority.

*   Smart people listen - having someone to speak into your life means not just having them talk, but you need to listen.

*  And lastly, Smart people respond - having all the info available, knowing the need for outside encouragement, having the right person to speak into your life, making it a priority also takes a servant leaders response.  This requires asking the tough questions.

1. Are you tough enough?
2. Are you still enough?
3. Are you ready

A smart person listens; a really smart person listens to the right things. A really really smart person finds the right people saying the right things and listens well.

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry James 1:19

The Art of Apologizing

This is obviously an email forward but way too funny.

It is also a great illustration of mis-managed communications.  Make sure you scroll to the bottom for the pictures.  Greatness.

The Art of Apologizing

His Apology letter Hi Sweetheart, I am sorry about getting into an argument about putting up the Christmas lights. I guess that sometimes I feel like you are pushing me too hard when you want something. I realize that I was wrong and I am apologizing for being such a hard-headed guy. All I want is for you to be happy and be able to enjoy the holiday season. Nothing brightens the Christmas spirit like Christmas lights!  I took the time to hang the lights for you today and now I will be off to the hockey rink. Again, I am very sorry for the way I acted yesterday. I'll be home later. Love you, Brad Her response  Hi Honey,  Thank you for your heart-felt apology. I don't often get an apology from you, and I truly appreciate it. I, too, felt bad about the argument and wanted to apologize. I realize that I can sometimes be a little pushy. I will try to respect your feelings from now on. Thank you for taking the time to hang the Christmas lights for me. It really means a lot. In the spirit of giving, I washed your truck for you and now I am off to the mall. I love you too! Barbara

Watch Your Tongue

The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. Proverbs 18:21

Lemons.... Did your mouth get watery and did you salivate?

Taste is good, but your mouth is good for other things.....

Its not so much what your tongue tastes but what it says that is important. Taste is passive while talk is active; it takes way more energy to talk than taste.  Positive talk requires more effort than negative talk.  Maybe we should make our talk more purposeful.

I’ve always thought is kinda cool that when God created the universe, He spoke it into existence.  He used speech to create something so vast, so intricate, so loving, so creative and so positive.  He spoke things into existence.  Literally, from nothing came something...through the power of speech.

I dont think we have the power of speech to form kingdoms but I know we have the power of speech to change lives, to encourage each other, to make a difference!

Here are some thoughts for us to use to be more purposeful and intentional with our tongues.

1.  Make your speech more calculated

2.  Be more positive

3.  Learn new words

4.  Say something positive each day

5.  Give 2 compliments each day

Closing thought..... We all have one tongue and two ears; I think God wants us to listen more than we speak.

Network & Peer Connectivity Event May 10th

If you are a Leader or Pastor who works with Kids, Tweens or Teens, you NEED to know this....Networking and Peer Learning makes you better, keeps you in ministry longer and makes you more creative.


You like that?

Here is a FREE event you need to be at.  You may win a FREE iPad or FREE tickets to Hawaiian Falls or more......


Holla to Rawd@PureGroup.org to RSVP or questions

Change is inevitable, except in vending machines.

"I am the LORD, and I do not change.” Malachi 3:6

“Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” Lamentations 3:23

Yep, its one of those things that happens not when you least expect it but when you least want it.  When crazy change is all around us we look to Him who never changes.  Our stresses come and go.   We are up and down, things change for the good, things change for the bad, they always change…. But He doesn’t.  He never does.  He always was and always will be.  He is constant; we are not, we are finite, He is God and never changes.

Since change is here to stay, how do we deal with it?  It is better to learn to anticipate and adapt to change than to try to resist or alter it.  Flexibility is essential and helps one adapt with change.  However, if change is such a constant, how do we remain flexible but not lose sight of who we are or what we do?  Here are some quick thoughts to help us deal with things when they are not what we think they should be.

1.    Have the attitude of change.  Another way to say this is to change your attitude and welcome change.  Attitudes are not always easy to change but they are more valuable to us if we do.  Attitude is either your best friend or worst enemy so it makes sense to do whatever it takes to change our attitude for the good.

2.    Have good boundaries - since we know change is coming, build boundaries in your personal life to absorb them.  If we plan back to back to back, we allow little room for change, response or adaptation.  This should apply to work tasks, long term planning, family life and spiritual growth among others. 

3.    Be an optimist – Henry Ford said, “Think you can or think you can’t, either way you are right.”  Think right, think positive, think do it, get it done.  The “can do” attitude no matter the task is the person who gets the job done.  Strive to be the “can do” attitude person.

4.    Embrace it - find creative ways to like change.  Sometimes if you continue to push against something and it doesn’t move, you might ask if you need to pull. 

In the end, when it is all said and done, our problems will be gone.  Change will take place and things will be different; and depending on our choices, change should be for the better.  But we have confidence in this.  "I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end," says the Lord God. "I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One." Revelation 1:8

Sanitizing the Sacred

Thanks to my friend and guest blogger today.  Great post!

Sanitizing the Sacred

By Gary Zelesky

Matt, 15:33 After Jesus had taken him aside from the crowd; he stuck his fingers in the man's ears. Then he spit and put it on the man's tongue.

Matt. 16:23Jesus took him by the hand and led him out of the village, where he spit into the man's eyes

John 9:6 After Jesus said this, he spit on the ground. He made some mud and smeared it on the man's eyes.

The Jesus I have come to know over the past 42 years was a man’s man; He was never predictable, seldom on time, hanging out with the wrong kind of people, didn’t always tell his parents where he was going and apparently liked to spit.

He was a carpenter most of his life and knew the touch of wood and what it was like to feel the pain of the hammer and the nail. He worked in a dirty carpenters shop making stuff out of wood with his father Joseph. He lived at home until he was 30 years of age and yet took on the full responsibility of a man when he turned 13.

When he went to church he hung out with the old guys having no problem talking to them about the things that mattered and they listened to him.

When he decided to start his church he chooses 12 dudes many who never went to church and put a thief in charge of the money. Apparently he lacked insight! Most of the time his guys didn’t have a clue what Jesus was even talking about but his only requirement of them was to follow! I guess he knew guys liked it simple.

What if Jesus were to plant a church today?

He better have a non-spitting leadership team.  He better know the right target audience he will be reaching out to and never spit. He must know what acceptable behavior is and never spit. And he must never hang around those who do spit or he could become a spitter too.

I find it a bit ironic that what we find as gross and disgusting Jesus used as a healing anointing oil. I fear that men have lost the power of the Holy Spirit and the adventure of living the Christian life because they are no longer allowed just to be men. We can no longer spit! Many Christian men are bored with their lives because it has become ruled by a feminist approach to being a man!

I not saying that men become the chauvinistic pigs that ruled the church years ago but what I am saying is that we have so sanitized the sacred that we have replaced the power of the Holy Spirit for the sophistication of acceptability. My heart is broken!

A Presidential Attitude

Attitude

And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you (Ephesians 4:23-24)

In light of presidents day, this is a good one.

Attitude is almost everything and a good attitude often means a great smile.  Anyone can smile on a good day.  An old adage but true.  Its way more difficult to smile on a day when you got too little sleep, woke up late for a meeting, forgot to iron your clothes, rush to the office late and then realize its Saturday, yep, much more difficult.  We all have bad days and will have some in the future but the good news is, a bad day doesnt have to mean a bad attitude.  Attitude is so important and because its indirectly affected, probably overlooked way more than it should be.  Attitude is our best friend or worst enemy.

Since presidents day is approaching I think of one of Americas greatest presidents, Honest Abe.  This guy had justifiable reason for having a bad attitude but history doesnt record that.  It does record his trials and triumphs and we all celebrate his ultimate triumph of freedom and equality. Below is a tough track record, but untimatly, we remember him as one or the best leaders in history and certainly one of the best presidents of the US.

Lincoln's Attitude
Your attitude is communicated to others in three ways,—7 percent by words, 38 percent by tone of voice and 55 percent in non-verbal ways, such as posture. 

Those who have the most to overcome in life are often the ones who make the most of it. People usually consider Abraham Lincoln one of the top 5 of the best presidents of all time. Look at some of his many obstacles. 

If anyone had a "reason" to have a bad attitude, it was Lincoln.

* He had to work to support his family after they were forced out of their home. 1816 
* His mother died. 1818 
* Failed in business. 1831 
* Was defeated for legislature. 1832 
* Lost his job and couldn't get into law school. 1832 
* Declared bankruptcy, and spent the next 17 years of his life paying off the money 
he borrowed from friends to start his business. 1833 
* Was defeated for legislature again. 1834 
* Was engaged to be married, but his sweetheart died and his heart was broken. 1835 
* Had a nervous breakdown and spent the next six months in bed. 1836 
* Was defeated in becoming the speaker of the state legislature. 1838 
* Was defeated in becoming elector. 1840 
* Was defeated for Congress 1843 
* Was defeated for Congress. 1846 
* Was defeated for Congress again. 1848 
* Was rejected for the job of Land Officer in his home state. 1849 
* Was defeated for Senate. 1854 
* Was defeated for Vice-President -- got less than 100 votes. 1856 
* Was defeated for Senate for the third time. 1858 
* Was elected President of the United States. 1860

Next time you feel like you have more reason to frown than smile just remember, its easier to act your self into feeling than feel your way into acting. 

Make it a great day!

Top 10's of 2011 - Music Releases

Regardless if they were released in 2011 or not, i got em in 2011

U2 - Duals
Some stuff you have hear of, most you havent but all the songs are with U2 and someone else.  My fave is Where the Streets Have No Name/Amazing Grace (U2 and the Soweto Gospel Choir) and I've always loved Miss Sarajevo (Passengers and Luciano Pavarotti).


Asteroid Galaxy Tour - Fruit
I first heard this band on a Heineken commercial then on an indie compilation.  Once I got the music I was hooked.  Good, different and worthy of multiple listens.  Fruit was originally released in 2009 but I guess the underground from Denmark to Dallas took awhile.  Indie bands, sheesh.


Portugal the Man - In the Mountain in the Cloud 
Heard them in the background many times and never paid much attention til my friend Scott Sorgea sent me a link to "So American".  I still cant get enough.


Adele - 21
Cant say enough so I'll say little.  If you actually have been under a rock, get this recording.


Civil Wars - Barton Hallow
Simple, whiny, beautiful.  So melodic and harmonic and did I say whiny.  I guess I like that.


Mumford & Sons - Sigh no More
Thank Justin La Fond for the recommendation.  Part folk, part Irish sounding (although they are another Danish band) and part psychedelic cool (but more folk harmonies and feel good toe stamps than anything else).

Evanescence - Evanescence

The fourth release in twice as many years is saying were here for a while.  I loved them in 2003 and thought their cool goth/rock/power vocal with a pinch of bubble-gum might grow tired but I was wrong.  I bit more maturity here but the same old Evanescence.

Beatles - Abbey Road
Stop making fun.  I know this was released in 1969, I just got it.  Been loving it for years and just came to the party.  I want you is still so creepy and cool.

Mutemath - Odd Soul
Thanks again Justin.  From a city know for everything rock, good old NOLA rock never sounded so good.

Florence and the Machine - Ceremonials

I'm intrigued with FATM but also uneasy.  More vocals than I like but the music makes up for it.