Jared Johnson’s Lifestream

If you don't have anything going on tonight, head over to Ebenezers Coffeehouse on Capitol Hill (2nd St & F St NE) for a screening of the documentary film, At the End of Slavery. It will be shown at 8:30pm in the lower-level performance space.

Narrated by actor Danny Glover, At the End of Slavery: The Battle for Justice in our Time takes you inside the violent and ugly business of modern-day slavery — the buying and selling of human beings — from the brothels of the Philippines to the brick kilns of India. 

Undercover footage and first-person testimony from former slaves and respected experts expose the enormity of the crime — but a remarkable strategy and the courage of today's abolitionists offer hope for a final end to this brutal trade.

-- Text from http://attheendofslavery.com/

View the At the End of Slavery Trailer

For your information, I love the song "God's Gonna Cut you Down" (played in the film's trailer) from the Man in Black, Mr. Johnny Cash.

For more information see: http://attheendofslavery.com/

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The rock group Switchfoot released a new album this week, and the second track is song called "Mess of Me." The song's chorus declares:

I've made a mess of me I wanna get back the rest of me 
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my life alive 
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna reverse this tragedy 
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my life alive 
The rest of my life alive! 

Lately, I have been contemplating on a passage from the Bible that says:

For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.  --http://read.ly/Eph2.10.NLT

The song "Mess of Me" is a personal reminder that when I try to order my own life I tend to make a mess of it. I inevitably turn my focus toward financial gain and prestige, instead of focusing on the "good things" I was created to do.

A mash-up of the song lyric and the passage makes me picture a "masterpiece" of sculpture, like Michelangelo's David, shattered and scattered across the floor in little shards of marble. It was created anew as a spectacular piece of art and now it is reduced to a pile of rubble. I would hate to get to the end of my life and say, "I have made a mess of me, and I wish I would have spent my life alive." The amazing thing is God continuously gives me the opportunity to live the life he created for me. I don't have that kind of patience!

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Work has been made more enjoyable today because of three new albums on LaLa.com today: Switchfoot, Wale, and Dashboard Confessional.

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Jessica and I went to U2's 360° Tour show at FedEx Field on Tuesday night. We tailgated with friends before the show and played a serious game of Cornhole in the gray parking lot. The set for this show was gigantic. We sat up in the 400 level, but we still had a good view thanks to the 360° video screen. 

Muse was the opening act. I enjoyed them, but the people around us did not seem very into that part of the show.

                   

Click here to download:

U2_360_Tour.zip (5646 KB)

U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

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Click here to download:

Labor_Day_Brunch_With_The_Beat.zip (482 KB)

Jessica and I drove to Cleveland to spend Labor Day weekend with her parents. We had a fun time seeing family and eating a lot of good food. I had my first Japanese hibachi experience at Otani restaurant with Jessica's grandparents.
 
We capped the weekend with a Labor Day brunch out in the backyard with The Beatles serving as our soundtrack.

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