MacGyver

Goodness. I’m so thankful y’all are safe. Talk to someone. A professional. Make sure your kids do to. If you want to talk more about that, give me a shout.

Yes! I found myself in awe of some of the people involved. I found myself in tears several times listening to them - that despite everything they’ve been through they not only had their faith intact - but were thriving. Some of those bonus episodes left me so hopeful. There’s a saying that I love - and use often, and it’s “as churches were going to disappoint you. And when we do - don’t leave. Because if you leave you’re going to miss the Spirit shining through and filling in those cracks.” I think we’re witness to that here. The Spirit is still at work. That’s the whole crux of it to me. If I can take the liberty of preaching the gospel - salvation comes to communities. I need my people. My family needs our people. It’s one thing when things are going great in our lives - faith is pretty easy the. But life is hard sometimes - and that’s when a local faith community is so important. Sometimes you need someone who can prop you up. Sometime you need someone who can believe for you for a while. And maybe sometimes I can be that person for someone else. I believe in a new heavens and new earth. But I also fully believe that eternity starts today - and that we can participate in it starting today. Despite the brokenness - the beauty can still shine through. All that to say - let me offer encouragement on that journey. Glad you enjoyed the podcast. You must’ve been listening in your sleep - that was a commitment.

It’s the chick-fil-a of gas stations

Individual stall rooms. White noise generators. I’ve never been in one where there hasn’t been at least one person in there cleaning. Their restrooms are obviously a choice that they’ve looked at from a business perspective and said, “yeah do more of that.” And then they’ve taken that same dynamic and applied it every to literally every single thing on the property.

I'll say this, too. I bet there's not a Pilot, Flying-J, Loves, or local Citgo manager that doesn't rethink their life choices when they see a "coming soon" sign go up within a 20 mile radius of them of any major interstate. I bet they update their resumes, too. Buc-ee's seems to pay better than about anybody out there. I stopped at the one in Crossville recently and a lady at the pump beside me came out with an application. She told her husband/partner that she could better than triple what she was making at their local gas station just 25 miles from there.

My wife hates crowds. Hates them. Not because she’s got any type of social anxiety, but just because she does not like dealing with the hassle of large groups of people all congregated in one space. But she’ll do Buc-ee because you could eat off the floor in the bathrooms and you don’t have to wait. As to the brisket sandwich - other than why y’all are getting chopped instead of sliced - it’s a decent sandwich. But, I put it in a different category. I don’t put it in best or cheapest brisket sandwich I’ve ever had category - even though I’ve had far worse brisket. I’m putting it in the category of “gas station food that won’t kill you because they’re turning 500 of them an hour.”

Klaxon is an underused word.

I'm going to do something I rarely do - because I seldom think it's particularly helpful. But, this guy's junk is out there and available for anyone who wants to look a little bit. And, for anyone who cares to look - it's not like his politics were particularly hard to figure out: Here's the gear he was killed in - note the Right Wing Death Squad patch in the middle: And, if there's any question as to why we usually don't post manifestos - here's a sample of his that references the Covenant shooting here in Nashville: I'm not going to post the links to his page - because frankly I'm not the least bit interested in sending traffic to sites like that - but that and his YouTube are available to anyone who really wants to find it.

I'm to old for the purity culture movement - but I had that same reaction. His story is interesting because he was literally at a far end of a spectrum (although one that seemed completely normal to a lot of well meaning folks at the time) and when his belief system came apart he had nothing left to hang onto. He lost his marriage, his faith, all of it. It's heartbreaking. I hope that whatever his next act looks like - he surrounds himself with some voices that can speak truth. Somewhere in those first series of episode, someone said of Driscoll that his "charisma outpaced his character" and allowed him to find success before he was ready to handle it. That really resonated with me.

Great deals on both of those.

My children can vouch for it - not that they're particularly discerning connoisseurs. They do make a good brisket sandwich. I bet they go through 100 lbs of brisket an hour in there.

I was in grad school in Seattle and lived in Ballard as Mars Hill was getting started. It broke my heart when it imploded in on itself. Some of the bonus episodes give testament to how much God is still at work picking up the pieces. It’s a cautionary tale for sure - and one we can all learn from. But man. God remains. I was impressed that the host and others were honest about their own influences as well.

Half and half salt and brown sugar - maybe with a touch of teriyaki sauce is my go to . Brining overnight at least will really take it to another level. Also, if you’re going to put it on the smoker, after you rinse it - it’s really worth it to let it sit on the counter for an hour or so to form a pellicle - sort of a tacky layer the smoke adheres to and seals the moisture inside the fish. And of course - watch your temperature. You’re going a lot lower with salmon.

Well, as long as we’re posting neighborhood birds - this guy was driving my bird dog nuts the other day.

Thanks for giving me a name for these. I've seen a ton of them on my daily walks with my dog over the last couple of weeks. They're pretty.

A couple of more recommendations now that I'm not on mobile. 1. Floodlines by The Atlantic. This is an in depth examination of everything that went wrong in Hurricane Katrina. The whole series is worth it - but there are two episodes that really stand out. First, the episode with Lieutenant General Russell Honorè is outstanding. Second, the last episode where they interview the FEMA Director at the time - the infamous Michael ("Brownie") Brown is worth a listen. 2. In Plain Sight: Lady Bird Johnson. If you're a history buff - or even if you're not - I cannot recommend this podcast enough. The premise - a journalist was doing research in the Johnson Presidential Library and came across 123 hours of recorded audio diaries made by Lady Bird Johnson that no one had ever really documented. She was her husband's closest confidant - and it is a first hand look straight into the White House. While there is some light narration to tie everything together - this podcast is more or less Lady Bird Johnson in her own words. It goes from LBJ's time in the Senate, to Dealey Plaza, to the White House, to their ranch in Texas, and covers everything from the war in Vietnam to the assassinations of the '60's. It's really an amazing first hand look. 3. The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill by Christianity Today - covers as the title states the meteoric rise of the Mars Hill Church and celebrity pastor Mark Driscoll. If you're a Christian in America today - you've been influenced whether you realize it or not by celebrity pastors and the mega church movement. If you’ve been a part of an Acts 29 network church, or if you just wonder, “how did we get here?” this podcast is for you This podcast looks at the good and bad of the movement and church and the people who built and enabled it. It's really a testament to what happens when we put a person between us and Jesus. That's probably 30 hours of listening - even though the first two are quite bingeable - so @-boatman- take note Let me know what you think.

I forget what part of the state you’re in, but for what it’s worth, I’ve had nothing but good experiences with the Kia dealership in Murfreesboro when it comes to servicing my wife’s truck and feel like they’ve been square with me every time. I drive a little bit to get there - because unfortunately that absolutely has not been the case with any of the Greenway dealerships around Nashville.

As someone who’s read a bunch of manifestos over the years professionally, I can say what I’m about to say with absolute certainty. Whatever it is that anyone is hoping to find in the shooter’s writings - you're going to be disappointed. You’re not going to understand it - because there’s nothing to be logically understood. You’re not going to find a reason - because the reason was this person was terribly broken in a way that we don’t - and can’t understand. The manifesto is a red herring - allowing politicians to distract people by calling for their release. There are a lot of reasons not to release it. One, like @Snaveba mentioned above - they contain a lot of truly graphic stuff that serves no public good by its release - and may take the trauma victims have suffered and make it worse. Look at what Sandy Hook parents have had to deal with for the last decade, and you’ll understand why they don’t want it released. But second, and more importantly we don’t release manifestos because there are broken people out there who that stuff *does* inspire.

He lost a run off bid for Circuit Judge back in December. He’s still DA for now - I think he’s got a year left on his term. He’s cost the state of Mississippi a bunch of money. I hope this is his last term in office.

I enjoyed them - but you really had to commit to listen - and then listen to the episode with the intro in mind. It all came back to the overarching story he had to tell. I took them I n a, “nothing new under the sun” sort of way. I wonder if for some people it would have been helpful to be able to listen to the intros at the end after they had heard they had heard the episode? One of my favorite things about that podcast was some of the music that he went and hunted down. I’ve enjoyed listening to some of it after the podcast ended.

If you had told me at the beginning of season 2 that I was going to listen to approximately 20 hours of in depth history of everything George Jones - I don’t know that I would have committed to it - even knowing how much I enjoyed season 1. I really enjoyed the entirety of the second season.

I can hear that theme music in my head as I type this. I’m glad you got to enjoy it in its resolved form - even if it took 4 days It was brutal when it first came out waiting a week until the next episode. We all grew up that way - how quickly things have changed. They’re working on a third season as we speak. The team got laid off by Minnesota Public Radio a while back - but someone brought the whole team over - maybe the New Yorker? I imagine that was the most significant work any of them will do in their careers - but I’ll sure be glad to see new episodes.

FWIW, I don't know what's driving the current outrage - but Brazil has had stringent gun control for at least the last couple of decades. All guns have to be registered. Minimum age to purchase is 25. There are fees for registration (part of Bolsonaro's executive order reduced that fee some) and there is a limit on the amount of ammunition you could buy - something like 50 rounds/year. I think Bolsonaro's order lifted that somewhat too. Brazilians basically have no codified rights to self defense. Just zooming out on the timeline some.

Let me recommend to you the current season of Embedded, titled Taking Cover: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510311/embedded I know some of y'all might be dismissive of it because it's produced by NPR. I really encourage you to look past that and give it a listen. It's produced by Embedded reporters - who as the name suggests - have reported from various war zones for the entirety of the last 20 years. Tom Bowman, one of the co-hosts of this podcast was in a convoy that was attacked in Helmand Province in 2016 when photographer Dave Gilkey was killed. At its core, this story is about doing right by the memories of two Marines and their Iraqi interpreter who were killed in what would come to be known as the First Battle of Fallujah on April 12, 2004. There is a definite twist in the plot line of the podcast - and when you hear it it puts a lot of stuff into perspective. It's an ugly story. It's hard to listen to. But, at the end of the day, all the twists fade into the background. It's a deeply reported podcast about bringing truth to the families of the 2/1 Marines out of Pendleton who died that day. Note to add, this podcast probably wasn’t good for my PTSD. I found myself so angry at times and in tears moments later. The last 22 and a half years have been really tough. Be kind to yourself - and listen insofar as you feel it’s healthy.

Neat.