LukeDooley.com

So I’m obviously up way too late, but let’s ignore that for now. I’m sitting in my basement tearing up a Pages document for a deadline I have tomorrow, when I realize that I’m no longer writing… I’m worshiping!

This Hillsong tune shuffled through the iTunes that I love. This caused me to escape the randomness of shuffle, and listen to a few of my favorite Hillsong tracks.

DANG! I’m worshiping for real now… at 12:30 am… and now I’m blogging about it at 12:50 am. I’m not sure exactly why, but a couple of these songs took me back to a time when I was in college. Every Wednesday night we used to attend this college event called Crossroads at the big Baptist church in town. I vividly remember worshiping in a big way in this really cool environment (very cool “Mini Taft Theater” type room) with a bunch of my peers.

Anyway, I’m actually not a big fan of Hillsong’s entire catalog, but I feel confident in saying that if you don’t have the following songs in your playlist, you are missing out!

Came to the Rescue
Mighty to Save
From the Inside Out
Salvation is Here

Sitting here watching American Idol with my beautiful wife Jenessa. She loves the show… I watch it for the first few weeks to see the car crashes (terrible auditions), and then become ambivalent.

Tonight though something awesome happened, and I’m not sure anyone noticed.

It happened just before one of the auditions, while the hosts were asking the performer some questions about their lives. This time usually goes by rather innocently, but not this time….

Mid contestant answer, Paula Abudl lets out a giant sneeze and Simon without missing a beat calls her a “Disgusting Little Pig”.

Basically he went Alec Baldwin on her on national TV and it was hilarious… I laughed… I hope you did too!

I think we forget sometimes the celebrities are real people, who deal with crap, just like you and me.

Then something like what happened this week with Heath Ledger happens and we remember that their lives are just as big of a mess (or bigger) than ours.

I have some thoughts about Heath Ledger’s death… just some ponderings.

It’s really sad. I don’t understand how anyone can get to the place of suicide (assuming that’s what’s happened, although it’s not yet official)… let alone someone like Mr. Ledger. Someone who seemingly has the world at their fingertips: Young, Beautiful, Talented, Wealthy, Successful, Respected, etc… Plus the fact that apparently he was a loving father to his daughter Matilda.

This is a guy who was an Academy Award nominee, someone who was beginning to break out of playing the typical teen heartthrob role (10 Things I Hate About You, A Knights Tale), and was beginning to play more mature and eclectic roles (i.e… Brokeback Mountain, Monsters Ball, The Dark Knight).

It’s really just very sad. He was already receiving outstanding reviews for his upcoming role as The Joker in the 2nd installment of the Christian Bale as Batman remakes.

You have to wonder if somehow he became so immersed in the role of The Joker that it somehow affected who he was at the core. There’s no doubt that The Joker is an intense character which requires the actor to fully devote himself to being this self described “freak”. This may be a long shot, but you have to wonder if it played a role in his sad fate.

Regardless, I’m looking forward to seeing him portray The Joker in what for me is the most anticipated movie of 2008. It will be interesting to see how/if his death impacts the marketing, and box office success of the film. Check the trailer out here:

Nothing in the entire world could better sum up everything that you need to know about me. Just watch… this is truly a piece of art! (YouTube video embedded for all you RSS readers).

Here goes utter randomness…

1.) I re-watched the episode with John Mayer for the 5th time or so tonight. I love High Definition DVR! Seriouhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifsly… 11:00 at night, I turn my surround sound up to 52 (loud), throw my feet up, and stare at the screen while John Mayer does what he does. There should be more shows like ACLimits… it’s a great show. I have the encore of Coldplay’s 2005 performance set to record tomorrow night. Can’t wait to enjoy that in a similar fashion!

2.) Watched a terrible movie with Jenessa tonight. We went to the $1 video machine at Kroger. I love this machine… it’s enabled me to watch more movies than ever before. Well, as occasionally happens, tonight there were none of the films that we had on our list to view. So, already being there, we compromised and rented some movie called “Eastern Promises” with Viggo Mortenson. Not a good flick… not recommended.

3.) John Mayer stuck up for Ashlee Simpson’s sister… read his blog here.

4.) I really want to go see Cloverfield tomorrow night. I’ve read multiple reviews along the lines of: “A movie that actually lived up to the hype… go see it in a crowded theater”. .

5.) Pitchers and Catchers Report on February 16th. Ahh… the fresh optimism that spring training brings.

Two years ago today a group of people stood in the lobby of a high school unsure of what would happen next. All the prep work was done, all the gear was set up, all the signs were out, the band had sound checked, and all systems were “GO”! So we waited…

Waited to see who would show up. Waited to see how many would show up. Waited to see if anyone would show up!

I’ll never forget that feeling as the clocked slid towards 10:30. The first few began to trickle in the lobby, everyone had their best smiling face and firm handshake ready for action. If I recall correctly the clock got somewhere near 10:15 when I began walking towards the front doors to check out the scene… It was awesome! Cars were pouring in the parking lot, people walking up the sidewalk, and piling into the doors of the high school.

The crowd was bigger than anyone could have expected (after all, we’d read all the books, heard & lived all the horror stories…). It was a great day, everything went off without a hitch (except for the part about the entire band being muted as they began the first song). But still… what would happen after that? After all, it was the first day.

Well, 730 days later, it’s pretty obvious what happened. God happened… Faith happened… People happened… Church happened!

And it’s still happening today… all of it!

Countless stories to tell!

Stories of redemption, connection, grace, community, sacrifice, servanthood and teamwork.

Stories of lives restored. Stories of hope discovered. Stories of marriages healed. Stories of families made whole.

Stories of salvation. Stories of baptism.

Countless stories. Stories of a church that was born. A church that is making an impact in West Chester & Liberty Township. A church that is bringing God’s redemptive story right where it’s needed: HERE… where the lost and broken are.

These are just the first two years of the story. I’m happy to say that I’ll be here doing my part to make sure the story continues. I’m not naive, I know it’s bigger than me… but I have my part in the story, and I plan on playing my part for a long time. How about you?