Penzeys Somebody asked me last week where I got all the weird spices that I use when I cook. That's easy: Penseys (Perkins 2 doors down from Cook & Love across the street from where Kid Davis used to be). It's the only place to get spices. I've been buying from them for 15 years. I can't remember where I heard about them, must have been in a food magazine. Every time I read about a place like this, I always wonder "How good can it possibly be?" You... Read More

Stacking Chairs We were stacking chairs after Wednesday night dinner last week and I was in a hurry to get it done. One of the guys helping was watching me and asked "Mack, How many chairs have you stacked before?".. I said "Can you tell?" … "Yeah I can tell." … "Let's just say I've had a lot of practice" … Before we moved in to the main sanctuary in 2008 we used to setup 2000 chairs every Saturday afternoon... Read More

Hold Everything We've had several big concerts at Hope. Some actually sold out, all 5000 seats. When bands do this they bring all of their own stuff. Even though we have lots of lights and a big fancy sound system, they still use only their own equipment. Mostly because places don't usually have lights and good sound systems. And because they already have the whole show setup with their equipment and they know what to expect. No surprises…. So... Read More

The "L" For a Memphis boy the idea of getting on a mass transit train that appears to have no driver is a little scary. The "L" in Chicago is way different than anything here. There really is a driver up there somewhere, you just can't see him, at least I never did. If you want to get off, you can't go up to the front and tell the guy to let you off. When I was growing up we rode the city bus to school every day. My Dad rode it all the way... Read More