I guess this is going to be a week of video.

My own backstory for Wednesday night is that I was dead tired and procrastinating heading out to church ... as if a convenient excuse would come along and prevent me from doing so. No luck, so to speak. I make it out anyway, a little late, but still alive. The first video is nice just for the point of seeing Wendell Burton performing for larger audiences:

The second clip from Wednesday has another bit of backstory. My first introduction to Lakewood was via a member back in early 1990-something. I recall them telling me how the church was pretty equally populated by whites, blacks, & Hispanics alike. I thought at the time maybe that was a bit of an overdone point - too good to be true.

The signifigance of that is due to those of us in the south growing up in many still-segregated environments during the 70s and 80s. John Osteen started his church in 1959. He grew the church during the most tumultuous time possible to be situated in a black part of town with an upscale white suburban subdivision going up nearby. That Lakewood Church stands as a fairly evenly-represented congregation (and let's not forget our Asian friends, shall we!) is nothing short of a miracle. It might be one thing to spawn a church in the 80s or 90s that accomplishes this, but 1959?

Dr. Paul Osteen gave some wonderful insight into his father's character from that period of time that I think stands on it's own in light of that bit of history: