Here I go. It’s Thursday night, I’m leaving first thing tomorrow morning for college…and another chapter will have begun. Craziness. I’ll be out of contact for a while. Peace, my brothers! And sisters!

The music is complete! Here is the song list.

I Hate Columbus Day
I’m A Lemur (Feat. Scott Stapp)
Money Issue (Feat. Bill McCartney)
Daylight Saving Time Waltz (Feat. Lawrence Groban, Hillbilly Hank, and Scott Stapp)
Number Song, The (Feat. Carl Marley)

(Yes, we realize there are only five songs on the six-song album.)

So I’m heading out in…heavens, four days. How more surreal could it be? Definitely looking forward to it, but it’ll be pretty weird, for sure.

So we’re all moved in…mostly. Boxes are everywhere inside and outside, stuff in places and all that…but it’s all good.

In other news, I finished Leviticus. Holy man. I have to be remarkably honest…I didn’t fully read everything. Many of the chapters were remarkably similar and not, in my opinion, remarkably important to read at this point in my life. Once at college doing OT history classes, I’m going to want to read all of it, but realistically, I don’t think that learning about every single sacrificial sin offering and how to perform it is mandatory right now. I read through some of the other chapters about immorality and stuff like that, but generally, it wasn’t too detailed.

And now…Numbers. Joy. I think this one will be a good breezing one, too.

Other than that, I have a great story about my new bike. I’ll update on that later.

Brian! Battle of teh Bloggers! Srsly!

On my return from my trip to the United States from ministry in Russia, I decided that I needed to stop reading Christian literature. Of course not for forever, silly! But I determined that until I have read the Bible cover to cover I had no business reading anything else. Thus I began reading, some days more diligently and fervently than others. My study Bible had a 365-day reading plan, but it cut out large portions of books and chapters, and I couldn’t have that.

As of today, I’m at the first chapter of Leviticus, but I am determining to continue reading as much as I can and I plan to finish by mid- to late-September.

Here are a few of my favorite selections from Genesis and Exodus. Emphasis added by myself.

Genesis 1:1 - “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (I love this verse more and more every time I read it. “In the beginning, GOD”. It helps me to remember who this whole story is really about.)

Genesis 3:15 - “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.” (The very first prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ, made by God himself. Amazing.)

A note about Abraham: Several times over Abraham visits a nation and tells them that Sarah is his sister because he’s scared that if he tells them that she’s his wife, they’ll kill him to take her since she was apparently quite beautiful. The first time you’d think Abraham would learn his lesson and understand that God is taking care of him, and yet he continues to do it even after he speaks with the Lord and after everything God has done for him. Nothing’s new under the sun, I guess…reminds me a bit of how we live now. Instead of just trusting God, we try to help Him along a bit. Remarkably, his son Isaac later does the exact same thing. Ridiculous.

Oh, and Jacob was a snake. For the record.

Genesis 34 is a great chapter.

Exodus 3:13-14 - “Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (God is I Am…no beginning, no end. Always is. I love this name for God.)

I’ve also determined to climb Mt. Sinai one day.

Exodus 33:11 - “Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.” (I love this.)

Certainly there’s more to both Genesis and Exodus, but that just means you need to go read them for yourself. As for me, I’m starting Leviticus. Hey, God put it there for a reason. So I’m going to read it.

Got punched in the gut by my mother today.

Good thing my abs are so amazing.

I just learned of Anberlin’s new album coming out in the end of September.

I nearly died.

Plus I have an orange stuffed fish next to me. Crazy.

So as I’m packing, I turn on one of my Pandora stations that plays Demon Hunter and artists similar to that…so I’ve got bands like Demon Hunter, Mudvayne, Diecast…all those guys going on. Not very quiet or easy listening, really. So I’m cleaning up, my adrenaline slightly boosted by the vein-popping and gut wrenching melodies, when I have a strange craving. I walk into my room, switch stations to my Bob Marley (and similar) station, and start up some peaceful reggae.

The difference was amazingly hilarious. I loved it.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Paso Robles, CA: Following the international success of smash hits such as The Valentine’s Day Album and The Christmas Album, Cory and Jesse Miller have finally begun work on their follow-up album.

“We just thought it was time,” says Cory, who sings most of the duo’s work and does much of the lyric writing. “It’s been, what, three years since our last album? Our fans have waited long enough.”

Jesse, the composer and producer, agrees. “I had been dabbling with ideas for a while, but something always kept us from taking that next step. Then one day we just looked at each other and we knew it was time to get back to work.”

The brothers have crafted the humor album technique to perfection. While both write many of the songs together, the bulk of the lyrics are from the younger brother Cory, while the music is overwhelmingly written and performed by Jesse. This next album is titled, “The Superfluous Six Song Summer CD,” and will feature music from around the world, from Madagascar to Western Europe to Southern Americana to Jamaica and more. The great range of music “just sounded funny,” according to Cory. Unlike the previous albums, this record sees the brothers more on equal footing, with Jesse writing more lyrics and actually singing, and Cory helping much with the music and production.

Their last release, The Christmas Album (2005), featured two guests, Brian Bridges and the popular Manservant. Anticipation is high for the discovery of the guest artists on the Summer CD. When asked, the brothers were elusive. “What we will say is that there are several world-class musicians and artists who have agreed to be a part of this record, and we’re very excited to have them.”

The one name they mentioned was that of Ian Rhodes, the English rock star and keyboardist, who has apparently been asked to write a song for this album. “We’re very pleased to bring Ian onboard for this record,” says Jesse. They say they are very excited about the other guests, including at least one other celebrity surprise guest.

True to form, the album will be released very soon, as the Miller bros never take more than two weeks to write and record their albums. “It’s gonna be good!” Cory said. “Mark your calendar!”

-Jesta Flash