Wii Sports Resort

If you have a Nintendo Wii then go out and buy Wii Sports Resort. If you don't have a Wii go out and buy one and then buy Wii Sports Resort. It's a blast! One of the most fun games I've played in years. I got it for my birthday in August and I still love it.

New Smell

Your house has a distinct smell to it. You probably noticed this smell when you first moved in, but after time you became accustomed to the smell. You probably notice everyone else's house smell and everyone else notices yours.

Not too far away from me is a town with a paper mill. It's the worst smell ever. It smells like butt musk that died. Apparently the people in this town have become numb to the smell and they don't notice it. Whenever I drive through the smell smacks me in the face.

It's easy to become accustomed to the smells of our life. Each of us give off an aroma that is either pleasing to be around or it just stinks. It's easy to become accustomed to the smells that we put off. Worry, anger, bitterness leave a horrible stench, but often we don't notice because we are used to them. Similarly joy, patience, and love can freshen up a room. If your life has grown stale then add something that will freshen up the smell of your life.

Baby Dances to Beyonce

Have you seen this video? I believe it's from New Zealand. A Father video taped his baby watching and then dancing to Beyonce's video, Single Ladies. Check it out and let the laughter ensue.

The Lions Win!!!

Last year the Detroit Lions went defeated. That means they lost every game they played. In fact they had lost 19 straight games going back to 2007. That all changed when they defeated the Washington Redskins on Sunday. For the Lions it was like winning a playoff game. For the Redskins it probably means their coach is going to be fired.

I can't prove this but from my perspective winning and losing is a mindset. There are certain teams that have a winning mindset and they win. Think Yankees, Lakers, and Steelers. There are other teams that seem to have a losing mindset. Think Cubs, Clippers, and Lions. For one losing isn't an option. Even when they have a few off seasons you know it just a matter of time before they are competing again. For the other it's a huge win if they make the playoffs. Sure hard work, money, and a few lucky breaks make a difference but some teams just have a winning mindset. They won't settle for anything less then the best.

I wonder if a winning mindset factors in life outside of sports. Are some people great because they don't settle for anything less? Do some people assume the role of the lovable loser continually missing out on greatness? Are people destined to greatness because they refuse to lose at work, at marriage, and at life? Just a thought I had this morning as I watched the highlights of the Lions snapping their 19 game losing streak.

Be Careful Where You DUMP

One thing that is sure to make me giggle is watching people carry around a bag of dog poo. This happens often in my neighborhood. A dog owner walks their dog and after the dog dumps they pick up the mess. The owner is left carrying a bag of poo while the dog walks happily along.

When life hits us hard it helps to dump our issues on other people. It helps to tell someone about our fears, worries, sins, and regrets. It helps us to lighten our burden load. I think it's healthy to dump our problems from time to time. We need other people to listen to us, pray for us, and be there when we are broken.

The problem is that when we dump our problems on someone else they are left carrying our crap. I assume it's easy to pick up dog poo because the dog owner has been shown so much love by the dog. It becomes easier to handle when someone dumps their problems on you if they have shown you love. Make sure that you love, support, and bring something positive to the people you dump on. Your dump may stink but it will be easier for them to carry if you've brought love to their life.

Internalize the message

Have you ever heard a message at church and thought "oh I wish so and so was here to hear this." Or been at church and thought "this is good for the person sitting next to me. I hope they get it!"

Sometimes it's hard to internalize the message. Even if you think the message does apply to you it's hard to internalize it. It's hard to think about it so much it causes you to change your actions.

It's so hard that I ask God to speak to my heart before I go to church. Whether I'm visiting a church, or listening to my pastor I want God to speak to me. I want to internalize the message. Even if the talk is on something I think I'm already doing I want God to speak to my heart. I want God to speak to my heart in a way that causes me to think so much I can't help but act on what I'm thinking about.

Vs.

Vs. - a challenge at robshep.com where you decide the outcome.

On this weeks Vs...

Better comedy Wayne's World vs. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

100 Calorie Packs Pros and Cons

Have you ever had a 100 calorie snack pack? Here are the pros and cons of the 100 calorie snacks.

Pros

• They are only 100 Calories
• They taste the same as regular snacks.
• More and more of your favorite snacks are becoming 100 calories
• Hostess makes 100 calorie Twinkies, and cupcakes
• Did I say they taste the same! They are amazing!

Cons

• Can anyone just eat one snack pack? They are so good I end up eating 600 calories worth of 100 calorie snack packs.

Onesie

Life is complicated. Everyday we are faced with far too many choices. When eating out you have to decide where to eat. For my wife and I it goes something like this... 10 minutes of I don't care where we eat where do you want to eat and then finally we decide. Once you get to the restaurant you have a bazillion more choices. Besides the taste of the food this one reason why I love Chipotle. It's simple with not a lot of choices.

The choices don't stop with food. We have decide if we are going to work out or not, we have to plan our week, make decisions at work, and decide which TV shows to watch live or DVR. Too many choices. I think this is why so many people are stressed out in life. Too many choices.

I think to simplify life adults should consider wearing a onesie. You know the pajamas that you step in to? The ones with the attached footies. Think about how simpler life would be if when getting ready you didn't have to think about matching your shirt with your pants. You wouldn't have to worry about matching your shoes with your belt. You wouldn't have to worry about what to wear, you simply zip up that onesie and you are good to go for the day. They could even make summer onesies that were just the shirt and shorts attached. Sounds like a great idea. I say make life simpler and wear a onesie!

PS: I actually don't think adults should wear onesies. The thought of it is funny to me so I thought I would post about it.

How to do deal with problem people

I hate confrontation. I'm a board certified people pleaser. When conflict arises I have been known to run the other way. The problem is that being a leader and a pastor I've had to learn to deal with confrontation. It's not always perfect but here are some things that I have learned to do when dealing with problem people.

• Ask for advice from an outsider. They may see the situation a little differently then you.
• At the same time don't mask asking for advice with gossip. If you are not going to talk to the problem person then don't talk to someone else about them. If you genuinely want help then ask the right person and then go confront the problem person.
• Don't put off the confrontation. If I wait to do it I will end up talking myself out of it and the problem will never get dealt with. It may be healthy to calm down but the person should be talked to within 24 hours of the offense.
• Don't attack the person you are confronting. Let them know that you appreciate them. You appreciate what they bring to the table.
• When you bring up the issue at hand be specific. Don't beat around the bush. They will appreciate it more if you respectfully tell them what the situation is.
• Ask for their opinion of the situation. Maybe they are acting out or causing a problem because of something else going on in their life. It doesn't excuse their behavior but it may bring clarity to you.
• Help them come up with an action plan to change their behavior.

I believe that confrontation is like a root canal. It's painful but at the end of the procedure it helps solve the problem. Avoiding it, or pretending it doesn't exist just makes the problem worse. Deal with the problem person directly and respectfully and the majority of the time you can help a problem person change the problem.

Vs.

Vs. - a challenge at robshep.com where you decide the outcome.

On this weeks Vs...

Strawberry Jelly vs. Grape Jelly

Annoy Yourself

I have a theory. There's no scientific proof behind it, but it's something that I've observed. Here it is. Are you ready?

I don't think that a person can annoy themselves. Now I do think a person can get annoyed with their own actions. You say something dumb, you mess up at your job, you drop the ball and you get annoyed. But that is different then being annoying and knowing it.

A year ago I was hanging out with a group of people. I was having a blast. I was laughing, joking, and being thoroughly entertaining...or so I thought. When we left my wife, Monica, informed me that multiple people were annoyed with my behavior. In fact one person even said Rob has never annoyed me before but tonight he got on my nerves. I was clueless.

Because we can't control other people's feelings it's impossible to annoy ourselves. I've been in many situations where an annoying person was at their best and they never stopped to say, "wow I'm a annoying." It's just a theory, but I've never experienced an annoying person who realized it.

Candy Corn

Ahh the Fall. Leaves changing, cooler weather, and candy corn. I always know it's fall when candy corn starts appearing on shelves in the store and then in my house. Luckily for me candy corn is not much of a temptation. I don't like them. My wife on the other hand loves them. They seem to be one of those things that people aren't impartial too. Either they love them or they don't. So my question for you is...

Candy Corn, love it or loathe it?

The Water Cooler

Water Cooler (wa·ter cool·er): a device that dispenses cooled drinking water and often serves as a focal point in a workplace where colleagues meet and talk about popular culture.

Do you ever feel left out because you don't have much to add to the conversation around the water cooler? Here are some highlights from pop culture to keep you in the loop.

• The VMA's (Video Music Awards) were last night on MTV.
• Everyone will be talking about Kanye West. He interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech to point out that Beyonce's video is one of the best video's of all time. It was Kanye being Kanye, but it was shocking.
• Poor Taylor Swift looked shocked. Beyonce looked more shocked. Taylor Swift is only 19 years old. She beat out some heavy hitters including Beyonce.
• Beyonce is a top shelf person. Later in the night she won for video of the year and asked Taylor Swift to come back onto the stage to give her speech.
• Kanye was booed for the rest of the night whenever his name was mentioned.
• Football season started. Some highlights from the weekend were...
• Brett Favre came out of retirement for a second time. This time he's playing for the Vikings. They won. Cowboys and Giants won. Eagles won but their quarter back Donovan McNabb got injured. Mike Vick plays for the Eagles but he is not eligible to play after week three, so he won't be filling in for McNabb.
• The number one movie at the box office is Tyler Perry's "I Can Do Bad All By Myself." I haven't seen this Madea movie yet, but I plan on it. I love the title.
• Whitney Houston is back and Oprah is interviewing her today and tomorrow.
• American Idol has a new judge to replace Paula Abdul. Abdul's vacancy is being filled by...Ellen DeGeneres. She will be fun on the show.

That should be enough to keep you in the loop. Until next time robshep signing off...

One: A Student Experience

This past Wednesday Waters Edge hosted One: A Student Experience. I shared earlier this week that I was excited and nervous about the event. I prayed that God would draw Students to Himself and I believe he answered my prayer. 240 Students showed up to One. The Students were challenge to pray one prayer to change their world. At the end of the night the vast majority of Students came to the front of the stage, knelt on their knees, and prayed that God would bless them so they could change the world for Him. It was taken from Jacob's wrestling match with God found in Genesis. Here are some pics from the night.

Pictured Above: Students enter and are greeted by Student Leaders,

Chick-Fil-A nuggets, and pretzel bites.

Pictured Above: A stilt walker greets Students as the arrive.

Pictured Above: Students pour into the auditorium

which was playing songs with the number one featured in them.

Pictured Above: Lead Pastor Stu Hodges doing his segment

where he gave away products that featured the number One.

In this picture Stu is giving away a number 1 combo meal from Taco Bell.

Pictured Above: The grand prize was one ride on the Waters Edge Party bus

with five friends of your choice and me.

Pictured Above: The Waters Edge band leading us to worship

Pictured Above: Rob's presentation about one prayer

that could change your life forever.

Pictured Above: Stu draws the net and asks Students

if they will be the one to make a difference for God.

Pictured Above: The service ended with Students on their knees

singing "In my life be lifted high, in my world be lifted high, in our love be lifted high."

Pictured Above: Students on their knees.

Pictured Above and below: At the very end of the night Students

were dismissed to small groups.

Pictured Above: Kaylin and Kaylee showing their dad their best rock moves.

There was no music playing, almost everyone had left,

and I don't think they realized he took the pic.

One

One is a powerful number. Think about it, if you have six zeroes what do you have? You have nothing, zilch, zero. But if you add a one to the front of those six zeroes you get 1,000,000. Think about all the things that you only get to do once. You only turn 16 once. You only have one first kiss. They say you never forget your first kiss, so I say make sure it's with someone you love. The goal when a person falls in love is to only get married once. One marriage is one wedding, which leads to one honeymoon, which leads to one happily ever after.

One is so powerful because it's both simple and complicated. It's simple because it's just one.
But it's complicated because often one is comprised of a lot of different ones. Let me explain. The Beatles were a great band. The band was four individuals who were good at what they did. On their own they were good, but together the four of them formed one band and they were great. Or how about this...your body is comprised of many different parts but they come together to form one body. Separate your body parts and you couldn't function. If you were just a butt you would stink. But add your butt to your body and hopefully no one thinks you stink. The Bible says that God is three persons and yet one. It also says when a couple gets married they become one. Two individuals become one. One is complicated.

As humans a lot of times our goal becomes to be number one. We want to be the best. Whether it's sports teams or sales number one is the goal. God created us as individuals but our greatness lies in our ability to be one with others. To love as one. To work as one. To be a bunch of different ones that make up...one. The ultimate goal is to be one. One with God. One with our spouse. One with our team. I'm very thankful that my oneness is made up of a lot of different ones. I am at my greatest when I am working as one with others. When everything comes together it forms one. When everything falls apart it's a sign that something wasn't willing to be one.

One: A Student Experience

I'm amped for One: A Student Experience tonight at Waters Edge. It's a one time event to kick off the school year. Our entire Sunday production team is going to be there. Full band, tech crew, stage hands, and Lead Pastor Stu Hodges. We've never done anything like this just for Students. I'm fired up about it!

At the same time I'm pretty nervous. I don't know how many Students are going to come. I don't know if they will engage in worship. We are doing more worship then we do on Sundays at Waters Edge. I don't want this to just be an event. I want God to move. A lot of work has been put into tonight and my prayer is that God draws Students to Himself. I'm praying God uses the words I say, the songs we sing, and the segment that we will do to rock students worlds. If you remember pray that God moves in students lives tonight.

Classic

How do you define a classic? The term is thrown around pretty loosely. This past weekend I was hanging out and someone mentioned that the movie "Ten Things I Hate About You" was a classic. It's a decent film. I bought it for $5. I don't know if I would say it's a classic, but to this person it was.

I've come to define classic as something that you don't get tired of. No matter how many times you've seen the movie it still holds up. No matter how many times you've listened to a song you still love it. No matter how many times you've drank a Coke it still tastes amazing...it's still classic. There are lots of movies, songs, and soft drinks that are great for a while but over time they just don't hold up. If it stands the test of time then it's a classic. For me that includes the original Indiana Jones, G.I. Joe the cartoon, and the album Jesus Freak by dc Talk.

Brain Dump

My brain feels constipated with thoughts. I need to get them out. The following is a brain dump of all the random stuff going on in my head.

• I had a great weekend. One of my best friends from middle school/high school was in town from GA. It was fun hanging with him and his family.
• I'm currently using a shampoo that is supposed to prevent hair loss. It's supposed to make the hair on my head grow thicker and make sure I don't go bald. Every time I use it I do wonder what kind of affect it has on my back. I mean, I wash it off my head and it has to touch my back. My fear is that it won't work on my head but my back will grow a mullet.
• My wife is a teacher and kids go back to school on Tuesday. She is an amazing teacher!
• This Wednesday is One: A Student Experience at Waters Edge. It's for 6-12 grade students. We are kicking off the school year with a one time event. I'm really excited about it!
• I've really been enjoying reading the book "Deadly Viper Character Assassination." It's def a guys book, complete with ninja references and pictures. The book is about developing character and protecting yourself from the things that try to kill it. SportsCenter is celebrating 30 years. Wow! I'm older than SportsCenter.
• I'm still loving the NeedtoBreathe CD. I have only taken it out of my CD player once since I bought it. I took it out to listen to an older NeedtoBreathe CD and then I put it right back in.

Obedience Part 2

Here's the point, Abraham obeyed and God provided a miracle. I'm already circumcised so I don't think that is what God is telling me to do. I do think that God is saying that the more I'm willing to obey the greater I will see Him work in my life. God gave Abraham a HUGE promise, that at 99 years old and with a really old wife he would become a father. But Abraham had to obey before he saw God's miracle.

Here's where this gets practical. God promises that if we pray He will capture our thoughts and protect us from worry and anxiety. When anxiety is consuming a person could it be because they aren't willing to obey and pray to God before worry sets in?

God promises to bless us when we give a percentage of our income back to Him. This is hard for anyone who has money, but if you want to receive God's promise you have to be willing to obey.

God promises that the words in the Bible will not come back void. That means that if we read and study the Bible it will make a difference in our life.

God promises to forgive us for our sins when we forgive others who have hurt us. This is something that is really hard to do. It's hard to forgive people when they hurt you, but if you care about having God move in your life then you have to be willing to forgive.

God gives us promises but in order to receive them they take a HUGE amount of faith, and the willingness to obey.

Obedience

I read something yesterday that has my brain stirring with thought. I think that the level we are willing to obey God is linked to the level in which God is going to use us.

Here's what has me thinking this. I read yesterday about Abraham and how God promised him that he would have a child. Currently my wife and I are on our fifth year of trying to have a baby and I find hope in Abraham's story. Abraham was 99 years old when God told him he was going to have a son. Right after God tells him this God establishes a covenant with Abraham. Now don't zone out, this is crazy. God says that Abraham has to circumcise himself in order to establish a covenant. What! Abraham had to preform surgery on himself before he received what God promised.

Abraham was 99 years old and God told him to take a sharp blade and cut off part of his... you know. Abraham must have really trusted God to go through with this. But wait there's more. God tells Abraham to circumcise every male that is a part of his family. Can you imagine being one of his guy servants when you hear what God said. "YOU WANT TO CUT OFF PART OF MY WHAT?"

To Be Continued...

Vs.

Vs. - a challenge at robshep.com where you decide the outcome. On this weeks Vs.
Wal-Mart vs. Target.

If you had to pick one to shop at who would win?

People of Wal-Mart

Have you every been to Wal-Mart and noticed that someone was wearing a costume, but it was their real outfit? Wal-Mart seems to attract characters. There is now a website dedicated to what people wear when they go to Wal-Mart. It's called peopleofwalmart and it's a pretty funny site.

Who are these people

The Final Destination was the number one movie at the box office. It made 28 million over the weekend. Seriously? This is the trazillionth (I made that word up and it means way too many) sequel to Final Destination. I've never seen one of these films. Are they good? Who is going to see them? I'm not busting on anyone who has seen them, I just don't know anyone who has. Someone is because 28 million is a big opening and like I said they have made a bunch of sequels to this film. Anyone out there in cyber land seen one of Final Destination films? If so let me know if it's worth the rent.

Making Out

I would love to know your thoughts about making out.

Maybe I'm legalistic about this. Maybe I'm old school. Maybe I live in a dream land. I believe that making out should be reserved for people who are in love. Before I was married I wanted to save my first kiss for my future wife. It was just my opinion that kiss is not just a kiss. A kiss is something special that you share with someone you care about.

Now when I started dating Monica I couldn't resist and we kissed. It was a couple of months into our relationship and I was in love. Monica was my first kiss. I've heard people say you need to practice before you get married. I don't know, maybe I just want to practice with someone I love. I waited 22 years before I ever kissed a girl on the lips. It was worth the wait.

I'd love to know your thoughts. Making out - no big deal or big deal?