Tag from John Dobbs

Tag from John Dobbs

My friend and fellow blogger, John Dobbs, has tagged me. He has asked that I divulge eight random facts, and meaningless!, about myself. So here goes ...

1) I put pepper on my french fries

2) I hate to shave

3) I am on a diet ... not doing so well but I am on a diet

4) I secretly envy song leaders

5) I like Sponge Bob

6) One of my favorite things to do is simply talk with friends about whatever

7) "Let It Be" is my least favorite Beatles LP

8) My three favorite people in the world are: Pamella, Rachael and Talya

9) One to grow on ... Butterfinger is my favorite candy bar ... MMs with peanuts rule ...

I am supposed to "tag" eight more people according to John. I had to think if I had eight folks who read my blog ... but here is who I came up with: Matt Dabbs, David Cook, Gary Cleveland, Red-Headed Step Child, Sherry Lollar, Sandy, Vonnie, and Steve Puckett


There I think that is eight

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Dee Andrews Interviews Stoned-Campbell

Dee Andrews Interviews the Stoned ...

Dee Andrews is a wonderful source of encouragement for people all over the world through her blog: Finding Direction: The Wind Vane Chronicles. She has taken the awful risk of doing an "interview" with me and placed it on her blog. If you are interested in what she asked and how I replied then go to:

http://deeandrews.net/


Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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My Life in (Secular) Song ...

My Life in (Secular) Song

My good friend and brother, Bobby Cohoon, has decided to make life interesting for a number of folks by forcing us to be creative. Bobby led the way by summarizing his life in a song and "tagged" me to do the same. I have thought about this (not long though) and what follows is my attempt to fulfill the request.

My life began with my birth in 1968 when the doctor told my parents You Can't Always Get What You Want (Rolling Stones). As I matured into the dating stage my motto became Ace Freely's I Am Trouble Walking but I was really a nice guy though many at the time thought I was Runnin with the Devil (Van Halen).

I came to a Crossroads (Cream) in my life and went to Bible College and was soon accused of fomenting a Revolution (Beatles) yet my teacher said I was Thick as a Brick (Jethro Tull). After being told to Come Sail Away (Styx) to a strange new sea in Florida; I spotted Pamella and thought Oh' Pretty Woman (Roy Orbison). She looked me over and said you're a Sharp Dressed Man (ZZ Top). Not wanting to be dishonest I confessed to being an Average Ordinary Guy (Joe Walsh).

Taking a risk Pamella and I married. Shortly after the honeymoon I did or said something really stupid so she warned me there would be No Sugar Tonight (Guess Who). But I looked her in the eye and whispered You're Still Beautiful to Me (Bryan Adams). We were a happy couple and soon bundles of joy arrived. But one day we could not find Rachael so we were desperately Callin All Angels (Train). We looked at Talya and just reflected that she was just a Sweet Child of Mine (Guns & Roses).

God led us into the ministry but he warned that many of the brothers have become Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd). Being the wise sage he is, my dad exhorted me to Carry On My Wayward Son (Kansas). We lived in Mississippi for a few years but were unceremoniously chased out and Pamella encouraged me Don't Look Back (Boston). So we followed the Long and Winding Road (Beatles) to Milwaukee.

We truly loved the land of beer and cheese but one day the Cloud moved off to a distant land in the Saguaro Desert. So we packed the cars and simply Roll[ed] On Down the Highway (BTO). Out here in the desert I have decided to become a Paperback Writer (Beatles). Now our lives are filled with joy and love.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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Tagged Twice.

Do you remember playing tag as a kid. There was always one person who was faster than the rest of us. If that person got tagged and was "it"; they were so fast that they suddenly tagged you right back. So I am still "it." Bill Williams is that fast. He has posted a tag with the following rules:

Here are the rules: Here is how it works: 1) Grab the book closest to you 2) Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence 3) Post the text of the following three sentences 4) Name the author and book title 5) Tag three people to do the same.

This tag is easy so I will hop right to it. The book that is nearest to me is A Theological Introduction to the Book of Psalms: The Psalms as Torah by J. Clinton McCann, Jr. When I open to page 123 and look at the fourth sentence this is what I read see, (part of an exposition of Ps 82)

"The inadequacy of such behavior is also clear in another context, in which God commands the people of Israel to 'do no injustice [awel] in judgement [misphat]' (Lev 19.15). Such behavior is grounds for the conviction of humans as well as gods, and again the rationale centers on the nature of divinity. Leviticus 19, part of the Holiness Code, is governed by the opening exhortation, 'You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy" (19.2); and the recurring motivational phrase is "I am the Lord your God" (19.4,9,12,14,etc). In short, injustice among humans and certainly among gods violates the very nature of who God is and what God wills for humanity."

Psalm 82 is certainly a powerful call to live out misphat as God's people. Certainly those who are called to assure justice (judges, politicians, etc) should have the psalm emblazoned upon their hearts.

Well who can I tag? I could be quick and tag Bill back! But no, I will not do that. How about Vonnie Phillips, Sherry Lollar (newer readers of my blog) and Dee Williams.

Shalom,
Stoned-Campbell Disciple

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Tag ... You're It

Tag ... You're It!

My good friend, and fellow blogger, Wade Tannehill recently "tagged" me on his blog. As I understand the rules of tagging you are supposed to share a few items of "interest" about yourself. Follwing Wade's example I will concentrate on trivia.

1) I have had a variety of jobs in my short life. My first job was working for Krystal's, a hamburger chain in the Southeast. Shortly thereafter, I worked for McKinny Lumber Company and made the huge sum of 4.75 dollars an hour. I worked for FMC in Orlando, Fl and made De-Icers. And I was turned down for a job because I was overqualified. And, ironically, I had an elder once tell me I was "unqualified" for a position.

2) My favorite comic book is Spider-Man. In fact, in the spirit of irrelevant factoids, I confess that I have a Spider-Man toothbrush. And I have a SpongeBob ball and bat in my office.

3) When I was a teenager I did not like preachers. Ithought you had to be dumb for that ... and besides I wanted to be the new lead guitarist for KISS. But who was I to talk about being dumb. When I was "little" I was so dumb that I picked up a jelly fish and it stung the blazes out of me. Talk about dumb!

4) I am stealing this from Wade, but it is interesting, there was a song written about me once. It was called the "Ballad of Bobby V." It is true that the head of that small Bible college I attended did take me into his office one day because he was concerned about my "influence" on the student body. He informed that I was a "guru" (I have never forgotten that word) with some on campus and thus needed to not lead them into the dark side (his thought, my image).

5) I once preached in the same pulpit that Martin Luther King Jr did. It was in the Belle Flower Missionary Baptist Church in Grenada, MS. Belle Flower is the oldest African-American church in Grenada and was a key church in the civil rights struggle for justice. The church was bombed after King preached and there are still black marks on the ceiling from the flames. It was a great honor to be asked to preach there during Black History Month.

6) Finally, I was dating another girl when I met Pamella. But as Great White sang, I was "Once Bitten, Twice Shy." But she thought she did not like me. But I asked her and the rest is history. I did not coldly "dump" ??? but we came to an understanding that we were simply not right for each other.

There you have it. Some very uninteresting and unimportant little known facts about Bobby V. I suppose that I will tag a couple of folks too: David Cook, Ancient Wanderer (who really is a good friend), Steve Pucket and Mommy Ham.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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Tidbits

Tidbits

Last week I was invited by Dee O'Neal Andrews to become a contributer to her blog called Grace Notes at http://gracenotesministries.org/. I am out of my league there with folks like Dee, John Dobbs, Patrick Mead, Bill Willaims, Greg England among others. But I consented to contribute. My first contribution was made late yesterday called Beyond the Sacred Page. I invite you to visit and bookmark this place. I am sure you will find grace wafting through the air.

I would also like to call attention to my friend Wade Tannehill's latest blog called "Before You Enter the Ministry (Part 1)." This is an excellent piece firmly rooted in historical reality. You can access this fine piece at http://wade.typepad.com/ Wade and I were friends long before there was such a thing as the World Wide Web or at least we never heard of it.

Go ahead visit Grace Notes and read Wade's essay.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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The What List

The What List?

What's Up? The Weather! Southeast Wisconsin has had (lite) snow 2x already and it is not even Halloween yet.

What's on the Coffee Table?
* Galaxies (Timothy Ferris)
* Wierd Wisconsin
* The Beatles: An Anthology

What's Spinning?
* Yuyariwai (cool Inca music)
* Best of Joe Walsh
* Tom Petty (Highway Companion)

What's in the Fire Place?
* Fire
* Smoke
* Ashes

What Pages are Turning?
* The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of the Bible (Eugene Ulrich)
* Peace (Walter Brueggemann)
* The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary (Robert Alter)
* Immanuel in Our Place: Seeing Christ in Israel's Worship (Tremper Longman III)
* The Torah's Vision of Worship (Samuel Balentine)
* Christian Mythmakers: C.S. Lewis; Madeleine L'Engle; J.R.R. Tolkien, George MacDonald; G.K. Chesterton; Dante Alighieri

What's On the Screen?
* Downfall (possibly the best war movie I have ever seen)
* Cars (finally went to see it)
* Magnificent Desolation (great film in IMAX)

What's My favorite Word?
* This is hard. It could be shalom, hesed, grace but I think my favorite word in any language is simply Abba.

Acappella - Abba Father

Great Song and Video by Acappella about my favorite Word: Abba.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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