TOPIC: Shielding my eyes from the light...

Had an interesting "A-ha!" moment at the Ichthus Music Festival...it occurred while we were standing listening to one of the speakers (we couldn't sit - too muddy)...as usual, I was located on the left side of the field as I faced the stage, which meant that the late afternoon sun was in my eyes (I haven't yet learned to go to the other side of the field)...and as I was trying to listen to and watch the speaker, I had to shield my eyes from the sun, because it was getting quite uncomfortable glaring in my eyes...made me think about the fact that Jesus said that he was the light of the world...I wondered how many times I had "shielded my eyes" from Jesus because his presence was making me uncomfortable...the closer and closer we get to Jesus, the more and more aware we become of the darkness in our own lives, and it is tempting to try and shy away from that light shining in trying to remove the darkness...try to not shield your eyes from the light...the outcome is worth the uncomfortableness...

TOPIC: Ichthus, continued...

More Fitzie Awards to dole out...

Thankless Job Award: tie, between the police officers who did their best to keep traffic moving and to keep people from getting hit by cars, and the guys who were sucking poo out of the porta-pots..."We're Number One in the Number Two Business"...

Coolest Merch Available: Trucker cap sold by John Rueben that said, "Oh look, another trucker cap...John Rueben"...not to mention the fact that it was in the hottest pink imaginable...

Biggest Surprise: The 35th Anniversary Celebration was way cool...they started by showing a banner from the very first Ichthus and introducing the wife of the recently departed founder of Ichthus, Bob Lyons...then they shot off fireworks while playing lots of great music over the sound system...very exciting, and surprisingly, very worshipful...

Must go put together a talk for tonight's junior high youth meeting...have a great day...

TOPIC: Ichthus Music Festival...

Well, it's day 1 1/2 of recuperation time from the Ichthus Music Festival...I feel sorry for the six kids that went with us that had to go to school the next day...but not so sorry that I'm not enjoying my time off...this morning, I ate Pop-Tarts, drank coffee, and watched Malcolm in the Middle and Arrested Development that I taped on Sunday...I don't know why Arrested Development is getting horrible ratings...very funny show...anyway, back to Ichthus...it's nice that it's not raining outside and that there is no mud on my feet...it's nice that I don't have to put garbage bags on my feet before getting in a car...needless to say, it was a little messy in Kentucky over the weekend...cars were getting stuck all over the festival; people were mudsliding; and the traffic got so bad that the state threatened to shut the festival down because cars were lining the streets heading into the campground...I just hope that it doesn't give the festival a black eye...they do a great job and the only negative feedback I have ever heard about Ichthus is the weather (unlike Cornerstone)...

It's time to give out the first annual Fitzie Awards for Ichthus:

Show of the Year: tobyMac, hands down...I was telling my wife that one of the things I really like about tobyMac's shows is that it never sounds like one of his albums...you know what I'm talking about; some bands in concert, well, you could have heard the same thing if you had just listened to their CD...not tobyMac...he really mixes things up, and his concerts are just as creative as his CDs...as always, lots of energy, including a breakdancing male backup singer/dancer who did a backflip off of the speaker stack...they did a great medley of old school funk/disco/r&b stuff...the other male backup singer dancer did an amazing human beatbox...the female singer had pipes like you wouldn't believe...all in all a great show...

Runner-Up: For All The Drifters...not only are they better musicians than many of the other bigger bands - like Relient K and Pillar (sorry Emily) - but they also mentioned me on stage...very cool...thanks JT...

Most Deafening Performance: tie between Pillar (for whatever reason, they were about 20 decibels louder than the other hardcore band Kutless) and Mike Bickle, the speaker on Saturday night...I guess he didn't realize that you don't have to yell to have your voice amplified; that's what a microphone is for...

Biggest Disappointment: tie between the weather (lots of rain and mud) and Hannah puking and having to miss her fave band, Switchfoot...poor thing...

Funniest Moment: had to be Emily getting her finger stuck in a bottle of spicy water, Ale-8-1...

Best Speaker: Big Poppa, Rick Grigsby (heh-heh-heh...)...he made us laugh, he made us cry, but more importantly, he showed us how we could worship God even when we don't understand or like what God is allowing to happen to us...

I'm sure more awards will come to me, but I must go bake bread now...do me a favor and look around to see where you see God today...