A guy I sort of know (from internet communication only) is a pastor in Georgia. He’s a pretty intense guy, and so every Sunday night he writes his “Sunday Evening Mind Dump” on his blog. Each Sunday night, he just lists a bunch of random thoughts, in an effort to clear out his brain after the busiest day of the week for those of us in the ministry biz.

Well, even though I’m not nearly as intense as the Georgia guy is, I like his idea, but I don’t want to steal his title. So I think “Sunday Night Decompression” is going to become a regular feature here on the old blog. Here then, are several random thoughts, which have nothing to do with each other, but are taking up space in my brain…

It was too hot this week, and too hot this morning. I finally decided it was OK to wear shorts to church on Sunday morning, even though I’m up front. Fortunately, no one ran screaming out of the building because of my white legs. Since no one was hurt or blinded by the reflection, I may have to do this more often. By the way – I’m not buying into that Global Warming thing; my theory is that today’s heat had something to with the fact that it’s August.

If you’ve never had the chance to teach/speak/preach or whatever you call it, in a small gathering on a Sunday night, with your daughter and her new possible boyfriend sitting there, let me tell you – there’s nothing quite like that experience. I’ll probably like him ultimately. But I doubt if I’ll ever admit it. Right now I like making him nervous and watching him squirm. 

**Oh yeah – the guy comes from a great family, has a good job, and is starting a pre-med program at Cal State Fullerton this week. It’s going to take all the dad skills I can muster to continue to not like him – but I’m going to give it my best shot. If you have a daughter, you’ll understand.

Speaking of Sunday nights, our Sunday night gathering, “The Aftermath,” was fun tonight. If you’re in the area, check it out. The visiting band was not bad – they had their ups and downs, but when they played the Lifehouse song “Everything,” it was amazing. And there was an artist there named Shin, who I’m not sure is a Christian yet, but seems to be genuinely seeking God and who really enjoyed just being in the environment, painting a great abstract picture. These Sunday night things can really be a lot of work, but I really believe the effort is worthwhile.

Speaking of the Church, this morning some really smart, creative people decided to take our cool, professional coffee cart out of the lobby and put it on the sidewalk in front of the church. Very cool idea, and it attracted a lot of attention.

This is one of those weeks, which happens 3-4 times a year, when I get to be musical director for the City of Torrance Youth Theater production. It keeps the nights busy, but it’s going to be a fun week, playing with four other musicians who I love like family, and doing something that’s good for the community. If you’re reading this and you live in the South Bay area, come see “Bye Bye Birdie” at the Armstrong Theater, on Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Saturday night, or Sunday afternoon. For more info, contact me.

Summer stinks as far as TV goes. I don’t know why we even bother.

Wednesday night, I officially finished Biola University.

I didn’t watch High School Musical II.

A friend of my daughter’s just got back from Diabetes Camp. She goes every year and it sounds like a great thing, but I’m wondering – do other diseases have their own camps? Is there an Athlete’s Foot Camp? Or a Migraine Camp? Or a Lou Gherig’s Disease Camp? Or, as my wife wants to know, a Chronic Pain Camp? Maybe we could start that one – we could rent a place in the mountains and charge people a lot of money to come and hang out with other people in pain. I think we may be on to something here.