Favorites of 2012

This is a random list of my favorite things over the year of 2012. I waited till the 21st because I didn't want to waste my time if the world ended.

Apps:
Figure. - This app is so in depth for being a .99 app. You can create loops on the fly, even if you have no musical background, just select a key and time signature and you are off to being the next Jazzy Jeff. Seriously worth every cent.

Pitfall! - Surprisingly I have very few Iphone games, I just end up not ever playing them. But Pitfall is like an upgraded version of Temple Run and is a lot more fun. Great game for the bathroom (don't act like you're above that).

Albums:
A Creation Liturgy: Gungor
Michael Gungor is an amazing musician and writer. All around he is just legit. This is a live album that they recorded out on the road at different places which makes it even cooler. It's good. Get it.

Rehearsals: The Digital Age
I have wore this LP out. Every song is good. Their rendition of All Sons and Daughters song 'All the Poor and Powerless' is not just good, it's moving. I can't wait for more of their music to come out.

The Peace of Wild Things: Paper Route
I have no idea why this band is not huge. So talented with not just junky pop rock, but so much depth in their music. Paper Route has been one of my favorite bands for a long time and if you haven't heard their stuff, just grab any album, they are all good.

The Reckoning: Needtobreathe
Even though this album came out in 2011 I am including it because I didn't get into it until 2012. This is my favorite Rock album over the past year hands down. So good. I can put it on and listen straight thru and not have to skip anything. Listen to the title track to get a good feel for the album.

Night Visions: Imagine Dragons
I saw a video of them playing their first single acoustic and beating their feet and slapping their legs for the beat, I was sold. Just a good band, and I haven't heard a song I don't like yet. Here is the video I was talking about-

I could write about music a lot more, so I will just give a quick list and move on... Lovesick- Glorious Unseen, Forever Reign- Hillsong Chapel, Babel- Mumford and Sons, The 2nd Law- Muse. Okay I'll stop.

Movies:
Lawless is my favorite movie of the year. I think Shia LeBeouf and Tom Hardy nailed this movie. When it was over I was disappointed that there wasn't more. Skyfall is the newest Bond movie and a gritty version of him, I loved it. The Dark Knight Rises, epic and left with a cliff hanger, Batman done right. I am not a scary movie guy really but Cabin in the Woods kept me guessing till the end and was just a solid movie.

Connecticut Tragedy.

I can not even imagine the number of blogs/articles/tweets ect. that have been written about the small town of Newton, Connecticut in the past week. The heartache that these families are feeling right now I cannot even pretend to know about.

It is sad to say, but for me, students death, shootings and even mass killings have almost become routine. To give some background to this: I remember being called into the gym as an 8th grader to be told about how one of our schools 6th graders had killed himself, people cried, people asked why, then a few weeks later it was forgotten. Then towards the end of my freshman year we had another assembly about the shootings at Columbine High school, people cried, people asked why, then a couple weeks later it was done. Then my Junior year, 6 of kids from my high school died in a car accident, and in the same school year another of my classmates drown in a canoeing accident. Our school is a small one, just under 400 people so needless to say it was a huge shock to everyone in the school and our community. I remember it making national news at the time as well, but even this with time has been mostly forgotten. Then as a Senior at Liberty, the news of the Virginia Tech Massacre spread through our classes like fire.  Three months later I moved to Blacksburg Virginia.  Death, in sudden unexpected ways, whether by accident or on purpose has become almost expected. I am not numb to this per-say, just not as shocked any more by the depravity of human nature, or at the fragility of life. 

Obviously the situation in Connecticut is a bit different because of the age of the kids, because none of them even got a chance at living their lives. Their lives were literally stolen from them, and thats what breaks our hearts and hurts us so much. It probably has effected me even more because I am a father now and can not imagine losing my daughter.

This tragedy has really made me look at the Christmas story a tad different. Jesus was born into a dark dark world. He was born outside in a stable. I know you know this, just stop and think about America and think about the last person you know that was born outside, not because they ran out of time to get to the hospital, but because no one cared, it just doesn't happen. Jesus was born into a society where a king could decided to mass murder infants under the age of 2, under a government that had no opposition, because they were to scared to do anything because 5 years before Christs' birth 2000 Jewish rebels had been crucified and left hanging on a long road between cities in Galilee.
Jesus was born in a dark world, in fact that is the reason he came. The world was broken and had no hope. Christs' birth set things in motion for a kingdom where there is no darkness or evil, a kingdom with Him living and ruling. Christ birth is the definition of hope.

This event is heartbreaking, sad and just mindless. As a believer I know that the world currently is in a terrible state, but Christ coming as a baby shifted time and space and has given the entire world hope. 
I pray for the town, students, faculty and family of Newton, Connecticut and I pray that you experience  hope in the midst of your grief.

Thessalonians 2:16 & 17
¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts andestablish them in every good work and word.