Well, it doesn't look like much has gone to plan lately. I order an end-of-year bounty from Amazon, only to realize that Joel Hunter's "New Kind of Conservative" isn't yet in stock. So that's holding up my new MP3 player, which I'm looking forward to breaking in. Four GB instead of my clunky, cheap one GB player. Smaller, sleeker ... Sansa! How can I go wrong. So I cancel that book (for now) and pick up Randall Balmer's "Thy Kingdom Come," which is still on topic. I'm hoping to simply add the book to the part of my order that's in drydock. No dice. And Amazon added a new trick to their bag: I went ahead and got the Study Guides to the Eugene Peterson series ... and they shipped one and only one of them early to me. Nevermind that I always prefer my stuff arrive in one bundle.

Whatever. I picked up the DVD of Rob Bell's "Everything is Spiritual" at the Lakewood bookstore (YouTube preview here), also. I can't recommend that thing enough. Bell is an entertaining read. He's fascinating to listen to. But he's even better in person ... or, in this case, on film. I'm thoroughly kicking myself for skipping his Houston stop a few years back. I picked it up over a week ago, and started to watch it that night after church. About 15 minutes in, I decided that I needed to be a lot less tired and weary to really appreciate this fully. So I shelved it and just recently managed to find the time to take it in. I like to think I'm making up for that delay - and the missed Houston visit - by virtue of finally picking up a paperback copy of "Velvet Elvis." I've pretty much inhaled the first 60-something pages in one night of (re-)reading. I'm loving it even more this time around.

Adding insult to injury, I realize that I left home and office both without setting my webcast recorder to catch the Saturday service. I try and tell myself it's no big deal - I'll just clip some video of folks with ties on from the Sunday service (ties = evil!). Israel introduces us to one of my favorite tunes from his Deeper Level CD, "I Know Who I Am." I thought everyone did an awesome job of it. I thoroughly loved soaking that tune in. And now I'm told they'll do a different song for the Sunday special.

It's been that kinda month (or two).

Fear not for me ... I'll survive.

SIDENOTE: Time ran a pretty decent article on Rob Bell back in December. Well worth a read.