9/20/07 We had and interesting discussion today at the coffee house. I had mentioned that I had heard that Rush Limbaugh is now calling Moslum terrorists "Islamofascists" and the more I thought about it, the more I agreed with him. I am not a Rush fan, but do listen to him occasionally on my car radio as I travel around town. My complaint is that no so called "moderate" moslums, those who say they are peaceful and believe that jihad is a personal struggle against sin and not a religious struggll to convert the world by force, ever, as far as I know, publically condemn the terrorists. They are silent, deafeningly silent.

9/17/07 A great open mike. Not well attended, but we had some really good musicians perform.

9/15/07 Dale Moore gave a concert tonight at the coffee house. He is pastor and worship leader at Jubilee church here in Cullman. It was a really good program, very inspirational and worshipful. It was also very poorly attended, we had less than 20 people there. I think most people were watching the Alabama/Arkansas game. Shows where our priorities are. Dale is a very talented musician and songwriter and has a gift for worship.

9/15/07 I am becoming very impressed with the younger generation, those in their late teens, 20's, and early thirties. I have seen something in many of them that I haven't really seen in young Americans in a long time, maybe since I was a teen in the 1950's, before the cultural revolution of the 1960's brought its stunning changes. Many in this generation appear to be rejecting the gross materialism, hedonism and narcissism of the baby boomer generation which came just ahead of them and are still caught up in the emptiness of chasing "the American dream". Many even seem to want to return to the civility of that former time as well. I see a real spiritual hunger in this generation that is expressing itself in a rejection of formal authoritarian religion and its many superstar leaders and extravagant programs, as well as its many forms of legalism and are beginning a grass roots revolution to return to a more basic expression of the values and life of Jesus. The business, politics and infighting of church turns them off as does the message that focuses on self and what we can get from God. They want to seriously make a difference in the world through relational or experiencial witnessing and not through the normal evangelistic methods promoted by the churches through programs, campaigns and such. They seem to want to get down and dirty with the world. I think 9/11 has become their Pearl Harbor and has shaped their world view more than I had thought. I have had young people tell me this and compared 9/11 to Pearl Harbor, one stating that they will remember it 50 years from now just like we do Dec 7th. It has awakened something in them that America has not seen in a long time. Something that I think they will need in order to survive all of the new challenges of life that no other generation has had to face. I am becoming more confident that they will survive and succeed. I had a young man thank me today for my service during Viet Nam, this is what got me thinking about this. I don't know how he found out I was even there, but he was genuine. I think seeing their generation go to war and knowing some who went and some who died or were wounded has also affected them more than I had thought. Many of them are patriotic, a lost virtue in America. We will be a stronger country, able to meet the daunting challenges of the future, if the majority of young people are like those I have been meeting recently.