This Guy Falls Down

Heads up for January

Don't forget, January's Book of the Month selection will be Johnny Cash's autobiography CASH. I read it a while back, and I can safely say that it's a must read. So when you go to the mall to return your unwanted gifts (do they take fruitcake?), be sure to pick up a copy.

On another note, has anyone seen the movie yet? I'm ashamed to say I haven't. Let me know what you thought about it...

Merry Christmas!

Hope you have a great holiday. Just for fun, I thought I'd post the letter we sent our fans. In case you're not familiar with the band, we refer to our "super fans" as "Gomers" after Hosea's wife...

To Our Third Day Family,

Sometimes I feel like Charlie Brown during Christmas season. It's hard to look around at the scrambling and the commercialism and the TRAFFIC and not shout at the top of my lungs: "IS THERE ANYBODY HERE WHO KNOWS WHAT CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT?!"

But thankfully we all have Linuses in our lives. Friends, family members, sometimes even ourselves. We are reminded of how God broke through all of the hustle and bustle of the day and began his work in the most unlikely of places. We take a step back and then take stock of all of the blessings God has heaved on us.

I had a Linus moment of sorts a couple of weeks ago when the Third Day guys, along with our wives and children, got together to celebrate Christmas. Because of our rapidly expanding families, that's a bit more of a production than it used to be. With 13 children among us, things can quickly start looking like an episode of the Romper Room. At one point, we had all of the kid's gathered around a table making gingerbread houses. Later, we went outside and took a picture together. Later still, we were gathered in front of a fireplace singing Christmas carols. It felt like a family gathering. And a family it is. God has taken five single guys from different places, with different backgrounds, and made us brothers. So when we get together, it's just like a big Christmas family gathering.

Speaking of family, it has also been amazing to witness the Gomer community develop over the last few years. We may joke and call you guys "psycho fans" from time to time, but it has definitely evolved into an extended family of sorts. It is truly a great thing to be able to literally travel the globe and see people we know, whether we have met them in person before or not. You guys have shown your hearts in a big way by reaching out to others through World Vision, Habitat for Humanity, and DATA. People all around the world have been touched by your generosity. Next year should be especially interesting as we focus our partnership with World Vision to children in Northern Uganda forced to become soldiers. The need there is great, but God's love is greater. We can't wait to see what God is going to do through the Gomers in 2006!

So in the middle of all of the hustle and bustle this Christmas season, look for those Linus moments. Think about those who are less fortunate. Pray for peace on earth. But most of all, remember that it's all about Jesus. "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

Merry Christmas,

Mark Lee and the guys

Brock Gill on The Discovery Channel today

Don't forget to watch The Discovery Channel today at 1 EST to see my friend Brock Gill's show about the miracles of Jesus. Brock was also recently featured in a nice Associated Press article. Check it out here.

The longest night of the year

"The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world." - John 1:9 (NIV)

As I was driving around doing some Christmas shopping today, I saw a sign in front of a church advertising a "longest night" service. It got me thinking about the Incarnation. We focus so much on shopping and presents and the like this time of year that we forget the most amazing thing that has ever happened. God became man. Santa Claus is pretty cool, and even the Nativity scenes you see this time of year point the way, but that's what I take with me at Christmas time. Whatever we're going through we can look to Christ and know that he has shared in our pain and suffering.

I know that Jesus wasn't really born this time of year. But the fact that it's the longest night of the year that we celebrate the Light that was Jesus coming into the world gives me great hope.

(To those of you who live in the southern hemisphere, come back and read this in six months. The message still applies!)

My favorite Mother Teresa quote

Something about that last post reminded me of this quote from Mother Teresa someone shared with me a while back. (And yes, she was (gasp!) a Catholic):

"People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, at it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, if the final analysis it is between you and God;

It was never between you and them anyway."

Proud to be a Corrupt Christian

One of my first posts on this blog was about Third Day being a featured artist on a site called "Corrupt Christianity". I posted it as a joke, but today I was looking up some information about one of my favorite authors, Brennan Manning, and that site came up. Now, I'm just mad. Not in a "you don't like my band so I don't like you" kind of way. I think that site is far more dangerous than that.

I guess I'm a corrupt Christian, by their standards, and I'm proud of it. I'm proud to be associated with the likes of Michael W. Smith, Max Lucado, Rich Mullins, Brennan Manning, Richard Foster, C.S. Lewis, Mother Teresa, and Billy Graham.

I have several friends who are Catholics, and I love them. My band has played at several Catholic events, and I am proud of that. Yes, I grew up in a Methodist church, and no, I will not renounce their beliefs, or whatever you have asked me to do. Yes, I play in a band with four guys who grew up in denominations other than Methodist. Yes, I currently attend a Baptist church, and I love it. My church has guitars and basses and (gasp!) drums. They practice what you refer to as "new worship" and it's wonderful.

One of my favorite authors is C.S. Lewis, and the book you quote as being New Age or evil or whatever is probably my favorite. Another of my favorite authors is that "ecumenical" Max Lucado. What do you mean by "ecumenical", anyway? I haven't heard anyone utter the term in a sentence since about 1975, and if you're referring to denominations putting aside their differences and working together to perform Christ's work on earth, then I'm all about it. If you're talking about being all about Jesus and what he did on the cross but not getting into petty arguments with other Christians because we underline different verses in our Bibles, then I'm guilty as charged.

No, my band Nuclear Hoedown wasn't an "anti-war protesting band", but what if we were? Is promoting peace un-Biblical? I serve a Prince of Peace, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life telling other people about him. If that makes me corrupt, please sign me up. I am a corrupt Christian.

To quote from Zig Ziglar, another "corrupt" Christian whom I admire: "Nobody's ever built a statue in honor of a critic."

Society for the Protection and Preservation of Fruitcake

There are some classic disputes which take place around Christmas time. Is it OK to use the "X-Mas" abbreviation? Is it "you'll go down in history, like George Washington", or "you'll go down in history, like Columbus"? Re-gift or no?

But there's probably nothing quite as polarizing as fruitcake. In the interest of shedding light on the much maligned dish, there actually exists a Society for the Protection and Preservation of Fruitcake. Swing by there site and brush up on your fruitcake knowledge so you can sound intelligent when you make fun of fruitcake.

Just don't send me any. I just might re-gift it right back to you.

The All New Brock Gill.com

If you haven't been to master illusionist Brock Gill's web site lately, give it a look. He's done a great job of incorporating the latest version of Flash to dazzling results. But you'd expect nothing less than dazzling from an illusionist, right?

TiVO ALERT: Brock will be featured as part of a show entitled "The Miracles of Jesus" on The Discovery Channel. The show airs December 24th at 1PM EST. Be sure to tune in!

CD's of the year

Well, another year is almost in the can, so what better way to put '05 to bed than to talk about some great things that happened this year? I'll start it off with music:

1. Wilco, Kicking Television: I'll be honest - I'm not a huge fan of live CD's. But it was great to see that these guys did one. Paste Magazine nailed it when they said that the current lineup is probably the one which will someday be remembered as everyone's favorite.


2. Coldplay, X&Y: I said when I first heard this that I couldn't hear a single. This has been a classic case of an album getting under your skin and not going anywhere. "Fix You" is simply astonishing...


3. Bob Dylan, No Direction Home: This disc contains what I consider to be the definitive versions of some of Dylan's best known songs.


4. John Davis, John Davis: Excellent solo debut from former Superdrag frontman.


5. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, Cold Roses: Adams did a great job of reminding us why we love him as we conitnue to scratch our heads at his lack of superstardom. As an added bonus, he forged some new Garcia territory on this one.


6. Athlete, Tourist: I discovered this one, via my friend Nigel, while travelling in the UK. There are a couple of great tracks on here, "Half Life" and "Wires", which are worth the cost of admission.


7. Ray Lamontagne, Trouble: Every now and again, you hear a voice and it sounds like you've known them all your life.


8. Beck, Guero: 2005 had Beck in a good mood again, and in rare form.


9. Oasis, Don't Believe the Truth Oasis traded in the attitude (some of it, anyway) for some great melodies.


10. Mat Kearney, Bullet: I saw Mat perform live in Nashville a while back, and was instantly hooked...

Disagree? Did I leave someone out? Chime in below and let me know what you think...

The American Dream Project

As I was channel surfing the other night, I came across the American Dream Project on the local PBS affiliate. In a nutshell, the American Dream Project is aimed at students and young professionals in an attempt to help them create the kind of life they want. It sounds kind of New Agey, but it's really not. It's simply an encouragement to make sure you are consciously making the important decisions about work, home, and relationships and not stumbling into them, which is so often the case. They have high aspirations for the project, as they call it the "Fourth American Revolution". Nothing I can say here will really explain it properly so I encourage you to check out the website. Interesting stuff.