Sermon on the mount

The Bible Is Not A Pop Song

/ Alex Doriot / 5 Comments

aHR0cCUzQSUyRiUyRmRvd25sb2FkYm94LnRvJTJGdXBsb2FkcyUyRnBvc3RzJTJGMjAxNC0wOCUyRjE0MDk0MzQxODhfZmptbnltLmpwZw==Counting Crows are not the best band you’ll ever hear.

They’re not the best band of the 90s. Adam Duritz is not the best lyricist. He doesn’t have the best voice. His band is not comprised of the best musicians.

That being said, Counting Crows are the best “drive your car down the highway trying to figure out why the girl left you and what’s wrong with your life and what to do about it all” band.

Something about cruising down the freeway listening to “August And Everything After” makes pain and heartbreak a little easier to understand.

To put it simply, the music of Counting Crows has a way of making you feel a little better about the things that make you sad. Continue reading →

What You’re Missing By Missing The Reference

/ Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

I know a few serial movie memorizers. It’s kind of a generational thing. Our parents didn’t have the chance to watch and rewatch their favorite movies on demand like we do.

Since now anyone can watch the Austin Powers Trilogy every night before they go to bed, movie quotes have become their own sort of lexicon. To twenty-somethings (especially males), learning to quote movies is an essential foreign language.

I don’t memorize movies well. I watch a lot of movies. I enjoy them. But I don’t rewatch a lot of them. And I don’t ingrain the dialogue to my brain. (Not judging those who do – in fact I’m often jealous of them.)

I’ve got a handful of go to movie quotes. But they’re not that original. I usually end up sounding like the recent slew of news anchors profiled on Conan who all thought they were being quite clever covering the news of Mike Myers’ new addition: Continue reading →

Take A Full Measure

/ Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

Mike The Cleaner Ehrmantraut is the best character from “Breaking Bad”.

Mike is a “cleaner” – a mysterious man who plays every side in the crime world, taking care of business for the highest bidder. He says only what needs to be said – no more, no less. He always puts business first.

Mike meets his match when he stumbles across Walter White in the show’s second season. While Mike always uses logic and sensibility in his criminal pursuits, Walter is reckless and dangerous. Worst of all, Walt is full of hubris.

At many points during “Breaking Bad” Walter has a chance to escape from his life of crime and the constant fear for his life that comes with it. But Walter, knowing he should seek safety, refuses to leave so easily. He can’t help but keep stacking the odds against himself. Continue reading →

10 Things I Learned At Big Stuf 2013

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

IMG_2360You’re never too old to learn something from youth camp.

Last week I took my students from The Hill Baptist Church of Augusta, GA to Big Stuf camp in Panama City Beach, FL. Together with about 1500 other students we laughed, sang, and learned together about God’s Reality.

This is the 25th year of Big Stuf. Each summer founder Lanny Donoho and a crew of speakers, musicians, magicians, acrobats, and comedians have come together to proclaim the crazy things God wants to do in the lives of students. Here’s a few things I took away from the main session speakers Jamey Dickens and Jon Acuff: Continue reading →