That whole 2012 thing is so last year. If you wanna see a cool prediction, check this out.

My Facebook status yesterday noted that This Train was possibly “getting the band back together”. It’s looking more and more like that’s a probability, rather than just a quote from the Blues Brothers.

Well, now they’ve launched a MySpace page that indicates further reality of this monumental circumstance. (And, apparently, they know nothing about how to design a MySpace page, as this one is legible and not a full-scale assault on the optic nerve.)  On that page is the proof that they aren’t just playing with my emotions:

This Train formed around 1993 in Chicago, IL. Played and recorded heavily until about 2000…then everything went black…where did they go? Mark was heard saying they split up due to “creative indifferences.” Jordan did wish for a hiatus to “follow his dreams”, which he darn sure did…too bad the mighty Cobra thought ‘hiatus’ was the ancient Japanese poetry…and exclusively spoke in the 5-7-5 form for nearly 6 years. But all of that is behind us now…the guys have been talking again and discovered they might want to take another whack at recording and playing shows…they’ve started writing…stick around and see what happens…because they have no idea what’s gonna happen next…just taking the ride.

For those who may be unfamiliar with This Train, you have been missing out. Prepare to be schooled.

First a few baseline facts:

• Mark Robertson, front-man and principal writer for the band, was a Ragamuffin (the band behind the late, great Rich Mullins) and in the subsequent Ragamuffin Band that brought about the vision of the last Rich album (after his death) and recorded one other album of a similar nature.
• This Train opened for Rich on a couple of tours, and also for the Ragamuffin Band later.

This Train (particularly through Mark’s writing) has the ability to mix the sacred with the ludicrous, and sometimes in the same song.  One example would be “The Longest Goodbye”, a song about the rapture and longing for (our eternal) home — but that includes a reference to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Perhaps the best (or at least, most memorable to me) example is the title cut of their second album, Mimes of the Old West (which you can hear on their MySpace page).  I had the opportunity to ask Mark if that song was a metaphor for the early Church or if it was simply about the mimes of the old West.  His answer gave some interesting back-story on the song, but essentially, it boiled down to “yes”.

I realized, in retrospect, that any other answer would have disappointed me.

Go check out the MySpace page — they’ve got 8 of their songs up there (including a cover of Rich’s “Screen Door”). Even if you’re a long-time fan of the band, there’s no such thing as hearing their songs too much.

(No, he’s not in jail.  “free” as an adjective, not a verb.)

Gayle Erwin is a teacher and author.  Although he isn’t officially a part of the Calvary Chapel movement, he’s been involved with them for many years.

I was talking about him today with a friend and noted that he has the Max Lucado-like gift of painting a Bible story very vividly, shrinking the time and distance between the reader/listener and the actual events.

I wandered over to his website and noticed that he now has many messages and most (all?) of his (audio)books as free mp3s.  I’m sure Gayle wouldn’t mind if you bought something, too, but wanted to give folks the heads-up.

Tim Hawkins sings about the yummy goodness that is Chick-Fil-A.

As a Georgia Tech alumnus, I find this video to be beyond awesome.  If any of the following apply to you, you’ve gotta see this video:

• you went to Georgia Tech, even for a week
• you know someone who went there
• you went to any college where the guy/girl ratio was way off  (especially if it wasn’t in your favor)
• you like to see white guys do hip-hop well
• you want a laugh

When I was at GT (back in the 80s, when dinosaurs roamed the earth), the ratio was 4 guys for every girl.  It’s a bit better now, but it will always stink.

Check out the band’s site, too.  More GT goodness there.  Hilarity ensues.

HT to Sandee (of the great election thoughts)

Just in case:

• you haven’t gotten an ESV Study Bible yet (I haven’t)
• you’re interested in getting one (I am)
• you still shop brick-n-mortar stores occasionally (I do)
• you don’t mind shopping the chain stores (there aren’t any mom-n-pop stores left around here)
• there’s a Lifeway store near you (like the one just around the corner from my local On the Border restaurant - yummmmm)

Lifeway is having a sale on November 14-15, which includes the hardback edition of the ESV Study Bible for $24.99 (MSRP is $50.*).

Granted, you can get it now online and do almost as well.  But if you’ve waited this long (like I have), what’s another couple weeks?

* Tax, tag, and title are extra. Dealer retains rebate. Your mileage may vary. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.

I want one of these and I don’t even hunt.

HT: Ken Davis

Uber-blogger and Canadian Tim Challies gives his perspective on Sarah Palin and the hub-bub surrounding her.  He looks at the issues both from a political standpoint and from a Christian standpoint.

Most of it is serious, however, my favorite part (at the end of a long week) was when he characterized Palin as being “undoubtedly a better shot than Dick Cheney!”

(Don’t bother with the comments — they start out with the clown that trolls Tim’s and JT’s sites, and probably don’t get any better.  Tim often attracts commenters that disagree with him, but on the rare occasions that he goes poltiical, things go really weird.)