5 Good Questions

And now it's time for...

5 Good Questions

1. Kids who cuss in movies: Funny or offensive?
2. Would You Rather...be mechanically induced to scream at the top of your lungs for an hour, or have your eyes glued shut for a day?
3. Better band U2 or Coldplay?
4. If your poo tasted like your favorite food would you eat it?
5. You are forced to sit through a Sylvester Stallone movie marathon. Love It or Loathe It?

Here's how you play. Answer the previous 5 Good Questions in the comment section. At some point in the future Rob will decide which person answered the best and declare a winner. The winner of the last 5 Good Questions is James Freeney. Click here to see his answers.

Don't Make Me ANGRY!

Anger is not a sin. Anger is a God given emotion. God gets angry. The New Testament records Jesus getting angry. The bible says, "In your anger do not sin." This implies that the emotion of anger is not wrong, but it's what you do with that emotion.

The problem with anger is that everybody gets angry at things that don't really matter. We should get angry at things like social injustice, corrupt leadership, and the fact that in the year 2009 human trafficking still exists. Instead we get angry because of referees, bad service at a restaurant, and minor changes to something we love. If you want to see anger visit a school, church, or any other establishment right after a change has been made.

The point is that God has given us anger but most of us use it on silly inconsequential matters. Here are some things that make me angry that really don't matter.

• When someone puts the Brita Water Filter back into the fridge and it's empty. It's not hard to refill it with water.
• When I bend over to pick something up and it slips through my fingers on the way back up thus making me have to bend over to pick it up again.
• Slow drivers when I'm in a hurry.
• People who litter. Wait this might be a good thing to get angry about.
• When people talk during movies.
• People who still wear fanny packs.
• When people add the letter S to words that don't need it.
• People who talk junk about their team when their team hasn't done anything worth talking junk about. For example I went to a Dallas Mavericks basketball game and the fans talked junk to me because I was wearing a Lakers jersey. Silly Mavs fans, talk junk after your franchise has won a single championship.
• The fact that the 757 (Hampton Roads, the Penninsala, Tidewater...some of the many sames for the place where I live) takes forever to get new restaurants.
• When volunteers don't do what they signed up to do and they make me confront them. I hate confrontation.
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
• When my electric razor stops on my face while I'm shaving. I got a new razor and the stupid thing won't stay charged. About once a week it stops on my face and it hurts.

As you can see there are many things that make me angry that really don't matter. Now it's your turn...what are some things that make you angry that really don't matter.

My wife is AWESOME!

There are many reasons why I love my wife. She watches SportsCenter on her own. Not only does she watch she also talks to me about it. I love that!

She is ha-larious. I think that she is underrated by most people in the comedy department. For example tonight she texted me "poor Jake, missing UNC again. He should fake a knee injury or you should kick him." Now this is funny because Jake is a HUGE UNC fan who works with me at Waters Edge. Recently he destroyed his knee while we were playing one on one basketball. The UNC game was on while we were at church so he had to miss it. I texted her back and said, "I could kick him or he could wait to watch it on DVR." She quickly replied "kick him. live is better". Funny stuff.

Anyway there are lots of reasons why I love my wife. She is really awesome. Tonight she surprised me with pizza from Marcos (the best pizza in the 757) and a slice of cookie cake. Those are two things I've been craving but because of distance (Marcos is no where close to our house) and our diet (cookie cakes are no were close to being on our diet) I haven't been able to eat them. When I came home from church she met me at the door. Gave me a hug and revealed a nice candlelight dinner. Now I know what you are thinking...that dinner doesn't sound nice enough to merit candles. Listen, some people like steak or fancy fish eggs, but I love pizza and Marcos is the best around. The point is she was thoughtful and surprised me. Like I said my wife is AWESOME!

Five Guys and Figure Skating

I love Five Guys! In this case I'm referring to the restaurant and not five dudes. One opened in Williamsburg VA a few weeks ago. Since that is the closest one to us we made the drive with some friends to experience the yummy goodness that is Five Guys.

Pictured Below: Monica showing her love for Five Guys Fries

Pictured Below: Monica and Rob...and Carlyn

Pictured Below: Carlyn, Jamey, and Courtney

After Five Guys my friend Carlyn felt the need to burn off some calories. She did this by reliving her childhood with a game she calls Figure Skating. To our enjoyment her fiance Jamey went along with this.

Pictured Below: Jamey and Carlyn practicing their ice skating routine.

Cool or Uncool

Cool or Uncool, a game at robshep.com where you decide what is cool or uncool. Here's how you play.

Step 1: Read the question below.

Step 2: Decide whether you think it is cool or uncool.

Step 3: Post your decision by leaving a comment.

Cool or Uncool? Twilight - the book and movie.

Wrestling

When I was a kid I loved Professional Wrestling. Some of my favorite wrestlers were Ricky the Dragon Steamboat, Brutus the Barber Beefcake, The Junkyard Dog, Bret the Hitman Hart, Randy Macho Man Savage, and the Ultimate Warrior. But my all time favorite was Hulk Hogan.

The thing I loved about wrestling was that is was action packed. There was never a dull moment. The wrestlers were passionate, charismatic, and energetic.

I don't watch wrestling anymore, but I did read something that made me think of the glorious days of the WWF.

Stay with me on this one...

I recently finished reading Colossians in the Bible. At the very end of the letter the author writes, "Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured."

That phrase he is always "wrestling in prayer for you" has hit me like a figure four leg lock. I don't know anything about Epaphras except that he wrestled in prayer for the people he loved. I think that you can tell a lot about yourself by what your pray for. It's easy to get apathetic and complacent. It's easy to become selfish and only care about ourselves. I pray that God gives me a desire to wrestle in prayer for others. I want to wrestle in prayer not just when someone is sick, or when I need something from God. I want to wrestle in prayer for other people to get to know God.

Waters Edge Birthday Extravaganza

Waters Edge Church has turned six years old. I love our birthday because it allows us to reflect on all that God is doing at our church. We celebrated this past Sunday with a look back at this past year. Take a look.

The celebration continued all throughout the week at the WEC office. Monday we had a cookout and a Corn Hole tournament. On Tuesday we went on a tour of our new building and then to Tuscany for some dessert/beverages. On Wednesday we celebrated with some cake and a dart tournament. Here are some pics of the birthday extravaganza.

Below: Rob, Sara, and Jake enjoy a cookout prepared by one of our volunteers.

Below: After the cookout we played some Corn Hole.

Below: Jamey was the winner of the day. Competing next to him is Bill Laws, the man behind the cookout.

Below: Karen, Stu, and Rob enjoy a ride on the WEC Party Bus.


Below: Bill (driving), Keren, Sara, and Jake on the WEC Party Bus.

Below: The WEC on their way to tour the new church building. Hardhats are required.


Below: WEC's Birthday Cake

Below: Rob throwing in the dart tournament. I tied for third. Boo.


Below: Stu showing his winning dart throwing form. He was the winner of the dart tournament.

It was a fun week of celebrating Waters Edge sixth birthday.

Rob's Rant

How do you feel about animals? The following rant may not be fair to animals because as you can read here I'm not a huge fan.

I don't have a problem with other people owning animals. Even though I think it's silly I can tolerate when people dress their pets up like humans. Even though I think it's gross I can somewhat understand why people allow pets in their bed. Even though I prefer people I can understand why someone would enjoy their companionship.

What I can't understand is why oh why would anyone bring their pet to their job. My wife Monica goes to a chiropractor who keeps his dog at his business. The dog runs all over everything. I went with her once and it did the mandatory jump on my leg and then it sniffed me. The dog then ran and jumped all over all the equipment. Maybe he was warming it up for her?

Monica had a gift card to get her nails done. She went to a new place and they had a dog running around. This dog provided great entertainment for Monica. The dog did something the owner didn't like and the owner told the dog to go to time out. So the dog walks over to a designated spot and stands on its hind legs with its back against the wall. The dog waited until the owner said the punishment was over.

Maybe some of you pet lovers can shed some light on this but why would anyone bring a pet to work? I can understand having fish, but cats and dogs need to stay at home.

Rant Over.

I NEED COUNSELING

I need to see a professional counselor.

I'm a pretty laid back guy. I don't lose my temper very easily. I get along well with people. I feel like I have a rational mind.

All of that changes when I fall asleep. When I fall asleep I become a totally different person. Last week I fell asleep on the couch watching TV. My wife (Monica) gently tried to wake me up multiple times. Each time she tried to wake me I responded like an angry drunk. I don't remember any of it, but according to her I snapped at her and yelled "leave me alone." I've never yelled at my wife. I respect her way to much.

A few weeks ago I started yelling in my sleep "GET OUT", "YOU DON'T BELONG HERE!." It woke Monica straight up and she jumped out of bed and started walking out of the room. In her sleepy state she panicked because she thought she was in the wrong bed. Once she opened the bedroom door she realized that she was at her house, and I had just gone crazy again.

I'm not a real fearful person. I don't scare easily. Yet there are many mornings when Monica tells me that during the night I sat straight up in the bed and in a panic said, "whose there...whoooose there?"

One time a few years ago I had a dream that I was laying on an airport runway. A plane was about to land so in my dream I told myself to roll out of the way. It was very realistic.
So realistic I woke up on the floor rolling around back and forth.

It happens to me when I'm exhausted, but that doesn't excuse my irrational behavior. I need to see a sleep counselor. If they exist maybe they can tell me why I become a totally different person in my sleep. In my sleep I suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, hallucinations, and anger. Does anyone else become crazy while they sleep?

Ball Buster the Game

The following video is a commercial for a game called "Ball Buster." It's from 1975. I have no idea why this game is not as big as lets say Monopoly, Checkers, or the Nintendo Wii. It has such a catchy catch phrase. See for yourself.

The Pros and Cons of Redbox

Redbox is a marvoulous company that is ruining the DVD business. On the one hand I love it but on the other I loathe it. If you're not familar with Redbox it's a big red box in or near many grocery stores, Wal-Marts, and some gas stations were you can rent DVD's for $1. Here are some pro's and con's of the Redbox.

Pros

1. It's cheap. You can't beat a $1 rental.
2. You can sign up to receive promo codes and rent for free.
3. You can return your DVD to any Redbox. That's right you can rent a DVD from one and return it to another Redbox.

Cons

1. It's cheap but you only get to keep it one day. Many people forget to return their DVD and end up paying a lot of money. I have a friend who ended up having to buy two DVD's because after a certain amount of days they make you buy it.
2. It's destroying the video store. We used to have two video stores close to our house. They both went out of business after Redbox came to town. Sure they were more expensive but I loved going to the video store.
3. There are no cashiers to help you check out. That means that you rent the DVD by yourself. In this day and age that is a bad idea. I've waited for long periods of time as parents let their kid hit the buttons and pick a DVD. If you don't have a lot of patience don't go to the Redbox.
4. They don't have a lot of old titles.
5. For some reason they carry a lot of reject movies that have similar titles to the movie you want to rent. Transmorphers instead of Transformers, Snakes on a Train instead of Snakes on a Plane. You have to be careful or you will go home with an imitation movie.

So there you have it. Some pros and cons to Redbox. I go because it's the closest DVD rental place. How do you feel about Redbox?

5 Good Questions

And now it's time for...

5 Good Questions

1. Does a Man lose his Man-Card if he enjoys listening to Kelly Clarkson?
2. Would You Rather...have people mistake you for Michael Jackson or Marilyn Manson
3. Better burrito Chipotle, Moe's, or Qdoba?
4. Who shot J.R.?
5. If you were a hot dog would you eat yourself?

Here's how you play. Answer the previous 5 Good Questions in the comment section. At some point in the future Rob will decide which person answered the best and declare a winner. The winner of the last 5 Good Questions is Jess. See her answers here.

Movie Review - Duplicity

Duplicity, the new movie starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. Duplicity is kind of a spy drama. I say kind of because the spying doesn't involve car chases, explosions, nifty gadgets, or a plot to take over the world. Julia and Clive play former spies who have decided to work together to dupe two major companies.

The movie goes back and forth only allowing you to see bits and pieces of what is really going on. It was really cool at first but thirty minutes into the movie I was bored. The actors are great and it has a somewhat interesting plot, but at the end of the film I thought...that was it. It has a similar feeling to The Mexican also starring Julia. It's similar because I wanted to like it but I don't. I give it one thumb to the side.

Rob's Rating System: Two Thumbs up = I loved it, worth paying full price, and I will own it on DVD.
One Thumb up = An OK movie, worth a matinee showing, and I may buy it on DVD if I see it in the $5 bin.
Thumb to the side = Wait and rent it. I wouldn't be mad if someone gave me this DVD, but I wouldn't buy it.
Thumbs down = I hated it, wish I wouldn't have wasted money on it, wouldn't own it on DVD.

Randomness

It's Saturday and I have a bunch of random thoughts that are wanting to spew out of my head.

• Have you seen YoVille on Facebook? I think it's a computerized version of people I know who live in a virtual town and do stuff. Apparently I have an Avatar that lives there. I don't remember being in YoVille but I see updates on my Facebok profile all the time. People keep dancing, telling jokes, racing, and beating the poo out of my Avatar.
• I sent a few messages on Facebook to a few of the people I graduated high school with. I enjoyed my time at HCHS. Looking back I wish I could have been more confident to have been myself.
• Speaking of HCHS...I went to lunch with my friend Casey. We used to play G.I. Joe when we were kids. He is now a real life G.I. Joe. His stories are crazy.
• I'm getting a new logo for the blog. If you haven't already voted click here and vote by leaving a comment.
• I have a lot of TV to watch. I haven't finished 24 or Lost. I did watch the Office because I know wherever I go someone is going to talk about it and I want to be prepared.
• March Madness is in full swing. No I didn't fill out a bracket. If I did fill out a bracket I would have UNC, Memphis, Liberty University, and the Lakers in the Final Four.
• I'm excited about church at Waters Edge tomorrow. We are celebrating our sixth birthday. God has done great things in our six short years of existence.
• I love my wife! Monica is amazing!
• I'm going to see the new Julia Roberts Clive Owen movie. I'll keep you posted on what I think about it.
• I played racquetball (does anyone know why that isn't spelled racket ball) and basketball for the first time since the infamous Jake Miller injury. I competed against my friend DP. It was a good time and nobody got hurt.
• Speaking of getting hurt...FOR THE LAST TIME IT WAS NOT MY FAULT JAKE MILLER GOT HURT! You people, and you know who you are, now have my wife saying I broke Jake.
• Just posted a new survey on the blog. Favorite American Idol Alumni.

Whew, I feel better now that I've got all that randomness out.

Vote on the New robshep.com logo

A friend of mine is designing me a new logo and banner for my blog. I like what I've seen a lot. He gave me a few options and I would love to get your vote. Leave a comment and let me know which logo you like the best.

If you need a graphic, logo, or web design contact T Fortune at fortuntw@gmail.com. He will work with you on a price.

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Option 5

Option 6

Option 7

Phantom Phone Calls

Have you ever felt a Phantom Phone Call?

I carry my cell phone in my pocket. Back in the day I used to have a case that fit nicely on my belt. That was when cell phones were the size of VCR's and they didn't fit into pockets. Today my cell phone is so small I don't notice it's there.

I keep my cell on vibrate because I don't want to disturb others.

Sometimes I feel my phone vibrate and I pull out my phone to see...nothing. That my friends is a phantom phone call. It happens to me on a weekly basis. It is the feeling of a vibrating phone letting you know you are getting a call, but in reality it's nothing at all.

Does this happen to anyone else?

5 Good Questions

And now it's time for...

5 Good Questions

1. Better cheese: Cheddar or American?
2. Would You Rather have a foot long eyelash you can never pluck, or an earlobe the size of a basketball?
3. Why do people smell their finger after they have put it in their belly button?
4. What would you eat if it was your last meal on earth?
5. Is it possible to pop all the kernels in a bag of microwave popcorn without burning it? If so how much time does it need to cook and what brand?

Here's how you play. Answer the previous 5 Good Questions in the comment section. At some point in the future Rob will decide which person answered the best and declare a winner. The winner of the last 5 Good Questions is Daniel.

Facebook the new Front Porch? Part Three

The front porch, whether it was at a store or at a house, it used to be the place where life happened. Today we have done away with the front porch. We moved from living life with people to living in crowded loneliness. We have a million friends of Facebook and yet many people still feel alone. Social networking has become the new place were we connect, but we control it so people only see what we want them to see.

Part of me wishes that we could go back to the days of living life on the front porch, sipping sweat tea, and fanning ourselves because air condition wasn't invented. Er, except for the air conditioner part. I couldn't survive without AC. I would run myself into a hard object to knock myself out so I didn't have to deal with the heat. Anyway...I wish we could go back to the days where we spent hours talking with one another instead of about one another. I wish we could go back to the time where people knew us and not just about us. I wish we could go back, but we can't.

Because we can't I say we become intentional about our connections in social networks like Facebook. I've often heard Facebook users say they love it because they can stalk people. It's easy to look at pages and not comment. It's easy to collect hundreds of friends and never talk to them. It's easy to send flair (you know who you are), play games (stop kidnapping me), and update our status (rob is blogging at www.robshep.com). It's easy but what if we used it to make meaningful, lasting connections? What if we decided to leave at least one meaningful comment a day to one of our bazillion friends. What if we used Facebook to help build community? Since Facebook is the gathering place of today what can we do to make it more personal and meaningful?

Concluded.

Facebook the new Front Porch? Part Two

Once upon a time people used to hang out on their front porch. It's where life happened. Today the front porch is long and gone. People are isolated. In my opinion that isolation has led to loneliness. We are surrounded by people but yet very few people actually know us. We hide away in our homes and we only let people see glimpses of who we really are.

Today the world wide web has become the new front porch. Whether it's Twitter, online dating services, MySpace, a Blog, or Facebook people are getting connected through the web. I don't think it's as good as the front porch because people aren't always honest online. People also have a tendency to be more bold online then they ever would be in person.

I love Facebook and I love having a blog. I feel like I've been able to create some sort of community through them. But at the end of the day if I fall I have to call out for help by typing. Back in the day if a person fell you saw it because you lived life on the front porch and it happened in front of you. When I write about falling I'm not talking about physically. I'm talking about falling in life.

There is a guy that I barely know that has asked me to pray for him via Facebook. I don't know what is going on in his life but his problems have led him to call out to me.

I heard about a person's surgery via Facebook. They had a major operation that I didn't have a fat clue about until I saw their updated status via Facebook.

I learned that a friend was divorced because they updated their Facebook status to single.

Facebook is the new front porch, and I'm thankful for it...but it's not as good.

To be continued...

Rob's Rant

The movie "Home Alone 2" is not a horrible sequel. It's not as good as the first one but it made me laugh. For some reason this movie is played on TV at least once a month every month of the year. Does this bother anyone else? If it is Christmas time then I understand playing this movie, but I've seen it on TV in July.

The local radio station that I listen to plays the songs "The Boys of Summer" and "Cruel Summer" throughout the year. I heard both of these songs in December.

Maybe it's just me but I believe that summer songs should be played in the summer and Christmas movies should be played around Christmas.

Rant over.

Facebook the new Front Porch? Part One

Once upon a time people lived in community. I've read stories about how people used to spend hours out on the front porch of their house or of the local store. This is where people hung out, got to know one another, and share life. Back then everyone knew everyone's business because you saw it happen from the front porch. Back then kids were influenced by multiple adults because they hung around the front porch. My mom has told me stories of how growing up people used to come to her parents store to hang out on the front porch. She always had someone to play with because people hung out on the front porch. Things have changed.

Today we have built fences to guard our houses from others seeing in. We took away the front porch and nobody thought about the ramifications.

You see the front porch was important because it allowed you to get to know your neighbors. Because you hung out outside you actually talked with the people that lived near you. In my neighborhood nobody hangs outside. Everyone runs from their car to their house. I barely know my neighbors names, yet alone what is going on in their life. Back then people in relationship influenced kids. Today people in a TV influences kids.

I think that people crave the front porch in life. In my opinion that is one reason why Facebook is so BIG. I hear people say all the time that they love Facebook because it is a window into people's lives. It's the new front porch if you will. Facebook allows us to see what other people are doing, but it also allows us to talk to people even though they don't live in our neighborhood. It's a gathering place where life happens.

To be continued...

Cool or Uncool

Cool or Uncool, a game at robshep.com where you decide what is cool or uncool. Here's how you play.

Step 1: Read the question below.

Step 2: Decide whether you think it is cool or uncool.

Step 3: Post your decision by leaving a comment.

Cool or Uncool? Pastors cussing during a sermon.

My Brother

My brother.

My brother was born today. He is four years younger than I am. People often mistake us for twins.

OK no one ever mistakes us for twins. In fact most people ask if he was adopted, and if we have anything in common?

My brother is one of my favorite people in the world. We may look nothing alike but we have a lot in common. For example...he works in the sewers and I used to love Ninja Turtles who lived in the sewers. He has lots of tattoos and I downloaded the song tattoo by Jordan Sparks (for my wife of course). He is at least 6 ft. tall and before I get done growing I'm going to be 6'3" (ever since I was in middle school and had dreams of being a basketball player I've been praying that God would make me tall. I believe God still works miracles and so I'm waiting on Him.) We both married teachers who work together at the same school. We both love comic book movies, video games, and we both still collect action figures.

My brother is one of the few people who can consistently make me laugh out loud. I praise God that we are not only brothers but we are great friends. Happy Birthday Jon.

PS: my brother in law did a great blog post on Jon's birthday and the coincidence of his birth date being the most famous verse in the Bible.

5 Good Questions

And now it's time for...

5 Good Questions

1. Would You Rather sing in front of a large audience or give a speech in front of a large audience?
2. It's the most important meal of the day. What is it and did you eat it?
3. NSYNC or New Kids On The Block?
4. Who is your celebrity crush?
5. Facebook's new layout...love it or loath it?

Here's how you play. Answer the previous 5 Good Questions in the comment section. At some point in the future Rob will decide which person answered the best and declare a winner.

The Unpardonable Sin

Most things are forgivable, but this was not only inexcusable it was unforgivable.

A little while ago my in-laws came over from VA Beach to hang out with us. When they walked in they told an awful story. What you are about to read is unacceptable, unfathomable, and should be illegal in all 50 states (and most major countries).

My in-laws drove to Burger King and tried to order a Whopper combo meal. The person that spoke to them through the little drive-thru box said they were out of Whoppers. But wait there's more! Not only was Burger King out of the Whopper they had no beef. Are you KIDDING me!

It would be forgivable if McDonald's, or Wendy's ran out of beef. Neither of those have the words Burger in their name and neither of them claim to be the King of Burgers. Now to make matters worse the person working the drive through said, "all we have is chicken." They went to Burger King and the only thing they could buy was chicken. Something is wrong with that. Something should be done. Someone should be fired. That my friends is an unpardonable sin.

Cool or Uncool

Cool or Uncool, a game at robshep.com where you decide what is cool or uncool. Here's how you play.

Step 1: Read the question below.

Step 2: Decide whether you think it is cool or uncool.

Step 3: Post your decision by leaving a comment.

Cool or Uncool: Guys wearing a button down shirt with no undershirt? That means you can see a patch of chest hair.

Movie Review - Madea Goes to Jail

A few years ago some friends of mine got into watching plays on DVD. These weren't Broadway plays, no they were plays staring a BIG African American man playing an old woman called Madea. That was when I was first introduced to Tyler Perry (creator and star of the Madea franchise). Since then Tyler Perry has gone on to make multiple movies, create two hit TV shows, and basically rule the world.

Madea goes to Jail is Tyler Perry's newest movie staring his ha-larious alter ego Madea. There are two reasons why I go to see a Madea film. One: Madea makes me laugh. Two: The message of the films is always uplifting and points towards a relationship with God. It's as if Tyler Perry has created the character of Madea as a way to relate to people. It makes his message come off a lot less preachy then other films with a God message. For this movie the main theme is forgiveness. It's a great message that many people need to hear.

The movie was entertaining and it had a good message. If you haven't already seen it and really like the Madea franchise I would go see it for a matinee. For everyone else I give it a thumb to the side.

Rob's Rating System: Two Thumbs up = I loved it, worth paying full price, and I will own it on DVD. One Thumb up = An OK movie, worth a matinee showing, and I may buy it on DVD if I see it in the $5 bin. Thumb to the side = Wait and rent it. I wouldn't be mad if someone gave me this DVD, but I wouldn't buy it. Thumbs down = I hated it, wish I wouldn't have wasted money on it, wouldn't own it on DVD.

They Paved Paradise & They Put Up A Parking Lot...and the birds preferred it

Every year when it starts to get warm the same thing happens at my house. I open my front door and two birds fly...no scratch that dart out of the basket on my front door. It scares the pee out of me. They hover for a few seconds a few feet away like they are tough. They stare at me with their beady little eyes. This is intimidating. The birds either want to see if I'm going to leave or they are laughing at the bird bath that I just created when I peed myself. Normally I pretend to be tough and I stand my ground. After a few moments they fly into the woods. It's happened to both Monica (my lovely wife) and me at least once each year. No matter who it happens to the results are the same...they scare us silly. For some reason every year a bird will try to make a nest in the basket on our front door. Here is a picture of the basket.

It happened to me this week. I have to remove the basket for a day so the birds will go shack up somewhere else and forget about the basket. The thing that I don't understand is why they pick the fake flowers in my basket over the forest that is right outside my door. They could have any tree they want. Here is a pic of the view from my doorstep.

Sometimes in life we want what we can't have. Many times I find myself yearning for something new when I miss out on the forest that is around me. Whether it is having a conversation with someone and wishing I was a part of another conversation happening a few feet away, or wanting some new form of entertainment when my house is full of things to do. How come we are never satisfied with what we have? It's only after you lose what you love that realize how much you truly loved it. I don't know why birds try to nest in the basket on my door when there is an entire forest a few feet away. Maybe it's because it is different, or newer than the trees that have been around for years. Maybe it's because it's unlike what all the other birds have. Or maybe it's just because they like to scare me. Whatever the reason I find myself relating to those birds. Maybe one day I'll learn to appreciate what I have.

No Blog This Morning

So I was writing a blog this morning and I ran out of time. For those of you who read robshep.com in the morning I apologize. The new blog should be up by 1:00 PM today.

In the meantime I heard a joke on Trip Crosby's blog that I thought I would share with you.

What is the difference between mashed potatoes and pea soup?

Answer: Everybody can mash potatoes but not everybody can pee soup.

Get it?

See you back at 1:00 PM.

Today's blog is brought to you by the letter S

Most of the time I really like the letter S. It's the first letter to my last name. It's also the centerpiece for Superman's symbol. Without S sports would simply be port, space would pace, and Shaq would haq. It's a very important letter.

Lately though the letter S has been getting on my nerves. You see too many people add it to words when it has no business being added. A few examples...

• At Waters Edge Church our Kid's ministry is called Kid Kraze. All most everyone says Kids Kraze. No matter how many times we correct them people still add an S.
• Certain people I know add the letter S to everything. To them it's not the Duke Blue Devils it's the Duke's Blue Devils. It's not Wal-Mart it's Wal-Marts. It's Krogers instead of Kroger.
• I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say Sonics when it is simply Sonic.

So today whether you are going shopping, sipping some coffee, or shooting hoops think about the letter S. It's important and that's why today's blog is brought to us by the letter S...just use it responsibly.

Randomness

So I have a bunch of random thoughts that I have to get out of my head.

• My body hates Daylight Saving Time! I don't know what the deal is but yesterday I felt like I could close my eyes and fall asleep at any point in the day. I woke up today and I don't feel any better.
• Jake Miller, Director of Preschoolers and Kids at WEC, hurt himself playing basketball. You can read about it here. For some reason all day long people at church were blaming me. I didn't do it!
• Twitter is taking over the world. It was featured in Entertainment Weekly, and other news programs this week. Apparently it's the new Facebook.
• Speaking of Twitter, my mom recently signed up for it and started following me. How cool is that!
• Continuing the Twitter theme...Terrace Crawford is a networking ninja. I met him through the blog world and now he is a local youth pastor at Crossroads Community Church. I went to his Twitter page and he has 1,612 followers. I have 54.
• My wife and I are going on a date this week. We are going to eat pizza at Marcos and then go see Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail.
• My friend has agreed to make robshep.com look more pretty. I can't wait to see the changes.
• Monica, my wife, surprised me with the new U2 album. I like it. I don't feel like it has any anthems on it like most of there albums have, but it is a solid album.
• Waters Edge Church was sick yesterday! When I say sick I mean wicked AWESOME! I feel like God spoke to a lot of people yesterday. The music was phenomenal. The band covered the Fray's You Found Me, and we did a drama throughout the song. It was powerful. Lead pastor Stu Hodges was on his A game. His talk was on not allowing pain and suffering to destroy you. He hit it out of the park. You can listen to the talk here.
• I ate a Big Jack Daddy Burger at Buffalo Wild Wings on Saturday. I went there with some of the students from my Student Community Group. It was a great burger but I haven't been hungry since. I think the burger clones it's self as I digest it. I'm serious. I had a Slim-Fast for dinner and another one for breakfast the next morning because I was still full.

Whew, it feels good to get all that randomness out of my system.

Felicia Barton after American Idol

My friend Jamey received this email from Loren Barton, Felicia Barton's husband. I was really disappointed with the results of American Idol. It was good to read that she handled things so well.

I thought you might like to know how Felicia is doing at this point. From the first time I talked to her last night (after the show), I have been in awe of the peace, strength and poise that she has exhibited...in the face of rejection. I am so blown away by this woman that I have the honor of calling my wife and best friend. She is truly remarkable! I also think that ‘getting the boot’ back in January (and living with that reality for a month) really prepared us, in a unique way, to handle this disappointment and to be able to rise above it and look forward, with great expectations. One big difference, however, between last time and this time is amazing...Felicia has now had the opportunity to do exactly what she had longed to do...she sang for millions of people, live, on American Idol! And she knocked it out of the park! The judges sang her praises, the Idol staff and executives would not stop talking about her beauty and presence on stage, and now people all over America are speaking out, outraged that the judges passed Felicia over, for the Wild Card Show!

But you know what? Felicia said it best, Tuesday night, to Paula Abdul...”Everything happens for a reason.” Well said, baby. We believe that with all of our hearts. This journey has been hand-crafted for us by Someone who knows us and loves us. Our hearts are very full right now.

So...we’re looking forward to celebrating Felicia’s birthday, tomorrow, here in L.A.! We’re looking forward to getting home to Virginia Beach to see our friends and family. We’re looking forward to celebrating Malachi’s 2nd birthday on Tuesday!! We’re looking forward to taking a week off! And...we’re looking forward to a long and successful music career for Felicia! Through this journey, so many terrific doors have been opened to us, and we have had the privilege of forging relationships with more than a few incredible, new friends...each of whom is excited about helping to launch her career! ...more on that when the time is right!In the meantime...please download Felicia’s Idol performance of “No One” from the iTunes Music Store (just $.99)! We purchased it last night, and she sounds simply amazing!! I’m sure it will be a new favorite in your iPod!God bless you. We’ll keep you up to date on what to expect next!

Loren Barton

The Truth Part One

The truth is way too many people lie.

This fact causes most of us to not trust others. Whether it's car dealers, pastors, or politicians most of us are skeptical when it comes to people telling the truth. In fact a new person has to earn our trust before we will give it. People lie to make a story better. People lie to get out of trouble. People lie and don't think about the fact that they just lied.

A student once lied to me while we were hanging out. He said that George Lucas was currently making three new Star Wars movies. I subscribe to Entertainment Weekly. I try to keep up with movie and pop culture news. If that was true I think I would know about it. The dumb thing is that he lied about something that was pointless. He should have thought about the fact that even if I hadn't heard the news I could easily go home and search the Internet and find out if there was any truth to what he said. When I called him on it he stuck by his story and told more lies.

It just seems like everyone is lying. How do teach someone not to lie? To Be Continued...

The Truth Part Two

Everybody lies, or so it seems. Because of this it makes it hard to trust anyone.

This week I took my car into the dealership to get an oil change. I had a coupon. I've tried really hard to take care of my car. Whenever there is a scheduled maintenance due to miles I take it in. I want my car to last. I normally take it into the dealership because I have coupons or because they do a good job at keeping track of what needs to be done to my car. The problem is whenever I go in for a simple oil change they call me with 8 other things that "need" to happen. They word it in a way that makes me feel like my life is in danger for driving my car on the road. I don't know anything about cars so I normally trust them. The problem is the issues they come up with always cost hundreds of dollars. My car only has 59 thousand miles on it and they treat it like it's a clunker. I want to trust the dealership, but my heart keeps yelling at me that they are taking me for a sucker.

I'm going to bring my car to a friend of mine to have him look at it. He is a great friend and I trust him. I should just bring my car to him in the first place but I don't want to take advantage of his kindness.

The funny thing is my friend could tell me the same things the car dealership tells me and I wouldn't think twice about it. He is in the same business. The difference is I know I can trust him. I know he won't take advantage of my naivete.

To Be Continued...

The Truth Part Three

There are times when we talk and I don't think we think about what we are saying. For example as a kid whenever I would have a squirt gun some kid would always say, "don't get me wet my mom will get mad at me." That is a great line to get you out of being wet, but it's not true. The truth is the kids mom might get mad at me for being a jerk and squirting her kid with my super soaker water gun. Have you ever heard someone say, "I'm not a liar." Question: how many times do you have to tell a lie to be a liar? It's funny to me what people will lie about. People lie about their weight. People lie about why they missed work. People lie about liking some one's cooking when in reality the food tastes gag nasty. Many times we lie to ourselves. We justify our actions saying things like, I'll start the diet tomorrow, or this will be the last time I do _______.

It just seems like everyone lies about everything. The question is how do we stop lying?

The Truth Part Four

I don't really have any answers to this series of posts. It does bother me that lying is so prevalent. It bothers me because it causes people to not trust others. For example almost every time I speak in Big Church (Sunday mornings to the whole church) someone will question a story that I tell. In fact their exact words are something like did you make that story up, or is that story true? They may not mean to but what they are implying is that as a pastor I would stand up on a stage and lie to make a point.

I think one of the only ways I can win others trust is to be trustworthy. Over time people will trust me because they know me. My goal is to become like my friend who works on cars (The Truth Part Two). I trust him because I know him. Even though a lot of other people in his business are liars, I trust him because I know him.

When I was growing up in church my pastor used to always say this prayer from the Bible, "may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your site, oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. For some reason that stuck with me. It's a prayer that I pray often. I want my words to please God. Because God is truth I want to represent Him with my words. Therefore my words have to be truthful. Just something to think about.

Concluded.

Pop Quiz

The following is not meant to be gross. I may or may not have experienced both of these scenarios and I'm curious to know how others would handle them.

Pop quiz hotshot:

You are alone in your office and you pass gas. The second you do someone storms in your office and starts to talk to you. You know they have to smell it. What do you do?

You walk into a co-workers office and it smells like they just farted. What do you do? What do you do?

The "pop quiz hotshot" line and the line "what do you do" repeated were inspired by the classic movie Speed.

Debate

Let's have a healthy debate. Do you download music? If so do you pay for it?

The question is...

Is downloading music for free wrong or not a big deal because so many sites offer it?

Let the debate begin.

Crazy People

I have a hard time dealing with crazy people. I am around people all the time. I think I do a good job at relating to almost anyone. In fact when I first meet a person I try to find a common ground. Whether it's sports, movies/TV, religion, pop culture, food, or simply life I try to find something in common with whoever I talk to. There is one thing that I have a hard time relating to. I have a difficult time dealing with crazy.

Last night I went to a meeting for The Big Dream at Waters Edge Church. It was held at a local coffeehouse/restaurant called Tuscany's. Tuscany's was nice enough to close early so we could have our meeting. I arrived a few minutes early and started talking with a friend of mine who happens to manage Tuscany. At the entrance sat a guy who had crazy written all over him. My friend was trying to gently persuade him to leave because they were closing early to the public. He didn't budge. My friend started talking with me. Midway through the conversation my friend turned to him and said she would be with him in one minute. He took that to mean...please interrupt and tell a crazy story. He started talking about his mom who was a great Christian. He then said she died. Now you have to understand this guy, for some reason, was carrying a paddle. It was a big paddle. A paddle like you see at fraternities. He held up this huge paddle and said he carried it around for his dead mom. I don't do well with crazy so I started to look for a way out of the conversation. The next thing I heard was the word murder.

Luckily my friend noticed that I don't do well with crazy and she said "Rob can you help me move some things over here". I quickly walked with her to the other side of the restaurant. I need to do a better job relating to crazy.

This (dramtic Ryan Seacrest Pause) is American Idol

If you are a regular reader of robshep.com then you know I'm a fan of American Idol. I'm pretty excited about tonight's show. You see tonight Felicia Barton will take the stage. I'm hoping she tears it up tonight. I know she can sing, but so much of this show is song selection. Anyway, if you watch the show and like her performance, vote for her.

Here is another email from Felicia's husband Loren.

Greetings my friend.

The dream is becoming a reality! We couldn’t be more grateful or more excited. THANK YOU to all of you who are planning to WATCH and VOTE. I thoroughly enjoyed this great article (about Felicia) in the Virginia Pilot, and I thought that you might like to read it, as well. Just click this link to check it out! http://hamptonroads.com/2009/03/felicia-barton-our-next-american-idol

Maybe someone could let them know that Felicia was not the “youth parson” or “youth pastor” at Freedom Fellowship...she was, however, the music director/ lead singer for the last 6 years, or so. ...just to set the record straight... :) I hope you all have a terrific week. Let’s all plan celebration parties for Wednesday night!!! In the meantime, a friend of ours has built a great fan site for Felicia. Check it out! http://feliciabartonforamericanidol.com/

Awesomely Bad Movies Part Deux

Awesomely Bad Movies are movies that you think are awesome, but deep down you know they are bad. It's the type of movie you love but when you show it to your friends they say you are crazy for liking it. Whether it's "The Sixth Man", "Blankman", or "Superman IV" there are a lot of movies out there that are bad, but people still love them...you know who you are.

Here are some of my favorite Awesomely Bad Movies

• Gremlins
• American Ninja
• The Last Dragon
• Cloak and Dagger
• A Goofy Movie

What are some of your favorite Awesomely Bad Movies?

Never Ending Story

The Never Ending Story...a story written by you. Here's how it works. I'll start the story and you continue it in the comment section of the blog. It should be fun.

Once upon a time I walked outside to find...