Tuesday, May 31, 2011

My Twins Adventure With Picture People

This past Friday my wife tells me that we are taking our twins to Picture People in the mall. If you've never been it's like fast food for photography. Now we went on a Friday during the day so it wasn't busy. We had the employees full attention. Now you are about to see some really cute pictures. What you don't know is that it was a lot...let me repeat...a lot of hard work to get a few cute pictures.

I Tweeted the following after our experience..."Taking the twins to Picture People is like seeing A Walk To Remember in the theaters. Lots of crying and I'm wondering what I'm doing there." For every smile that you are about to see there was a lot of hard work at getting them to sleep. We almost threw in the towel on multiple occasions. The issue was they were tired and we kept having to move them around for new poses. It was a few minutes of crying but it felt like hours. When we were done Monica and I were slap tired. I'm so glad that we stuck it out because the following pictures turned out really cute. Enjoy...









Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day

I love Memorial Day. I get the day off from work, I normally eat at least one hot dog, and typically it's a great weekend for a Summer Movie. Truthfully I often celebrate Memorial Day without doing what it's designed to do...honor those who have given their lives for America.

So for today's blog I have two questions.
  1. What are you doing for Memorial Day?
  2. Who is one soldier that you will commit to pray for today?
Today Monica and I are going over to a friend's house for a cookout. I love hanging with friends and I'm really excited about that hot dog.

I don't personally know any soldiers who have given their lives but I know a boat load who serve our country. Today I'm praying for the guys in my Community Group who are in the military. Today I'm praying for my friends from high school that are serving our country overseas. I'm thankful for the men and woman who I know from Waters Edge who have dedicated their lives to serve our country. Today I'm thanking God for our military. Now you're up. See you in the comments.

Friday, May 27, 2011

ABC's Of Robshep.com

The following is a list, from A to Z, of robshep.com.

  • A is for Amazing Race - one of my favorite TV shows.
  • B is for Batman -my favorite superhero.
  • C is for Chipotle - by far my favorite food. I'd eat it everyday if I could. Plus Oprah said it was healthy.
  • D is for Die Hard - one of my favorite movies of all time. Catch it on TV some time to see the greatest action movie of all time. 
  • E is for Easy - I like things to be easy. If it's filled with drama or overly complicated I check out.
  • F is Farmville - not the game on Facebook! There is actually a place in VA called Farmville and it's where I met my wife.
  • G is for Gag nasty - this is my phrase of choice when talking about something gross.
  • H is for Hair - I'd like to keep mine and may or may not purchase more for my head at Hair Club for Men.
  • I is for Indiana Jones - Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my all time favorite movies!
  • J is for Jerseys - I own 8 Lakers jerseys and I do enjoy wearing them.
  • Kids - for the first time in 32 years I can say that I have kids. They are only 8 weeks old but there is two of them so that qualifies as kids. I love em! Reese and Hayden have forever changed my life!
  • L is for Lakers - I've been a fan since I was in the third grade.
  • M is for Monica - my favorite person ever.
  • N is for NeedToBreathe - my favorite band. They are working on a new album and that makes me very happy.
  • O is for Orange Julius - do you remember those? I loved them. We used to have one in our mall but it closed down.  
  • P is for PTI - Pardon The Interruption on ESPN is a very entertaining show.
  • Q is for Qi - Have you ever played Words With Friends the iPod App? I often get the letter Q in this game and my go to word is Qi. I don't have a fat clue what it means but I play it anyway.
  • R is for robshep.com - I enjoy having a blog. I appreciate you coming by and reading it.
  • S is Superheroes - I love superheroes!
  • T is for Tripp and Tyler. These two are ha-larious. Check out their newly designed website for their latest videos here
  • U is for under there - did you think under where? If so I just made you say underwear.
  • V is for visiting the Office - ok I may be cheating on this one, but every Thursday night I love to visit The Office...one of my favorite TV shows.
  • W is for Waters Edge - I love my church.
  • X is for X-Men First Class - the last two X-Men movies have been blah in my opinion. This one, which hits theaters on June 3rd, looks really good.
  • Y is for Young Life - my wife became a Christ follower through YL. Plus they have the funniest skits around.
  • Z is for Zachary Levi - the star of Chuck. I'm so glad Chuck is coming back for one last season. Love it.
All right so that is 26 things about me. Now it's your turn. Give me one fact about you that starts with the first letter of your first name. See you in the comments.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Ultimate List of Twins

They say that two is better than one. I have twins that are 8 weeks old. So two babies is better than one right? Is that why when we tell people we have twins they say things like (and I quote) "I don't know how you do it with two. One was really tough." "Oh my! Twins. One baby at a time was all that I could handle." Wait...I'm not really making my point that two is better than one.

Two is better than one even when it comes to babies. Sure it's extra hard, but it's also extra amazing. You have two times the snuggles, two times the cuteness, two times the love. With that in mind I've been thinking about the greatest twins in the history of the world. I now declare the Ultimate List of Twins...

10.  The Winklevoss twins - these guys claim that they created Facebook. They got on my radar after I saw the movie The Social Network. I think they won a lot of money and they may also be Olympic athletes. The point is that they made the list.
9. Alfred and Fallon Borden - Spoiler Alert: This set of twins was the HUGE surprise in the movie The Prestige.

8. Chip N' Dale - Are these funny Chipmunks from Disney twins? Yes, says I. They are not identical twins but neither are mine. I loved the cartoon Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers. I also used to enjoy the Chip N' Dale ice cream bars.

7. The Wonder Twins Zan and Jayna - do you remember these twins from the cartoon Super Friends? Form of a bucket of water. Form of a elephant. They would say "form of" and then he could change into any water base form and she could change into any animal. Lame. But I was a kid and they left an impression.

6. Dylan and Cole Sprouse - I first saw them when they played one kid in the Adam Sandler movie, Big Daddy. They later appeared as Ross' kid in the TV show friends. They then ended up on the Disney Channel. The fact that they have been in acting for so long and are only 16 years old helped them make the list.

5. Jenna and Barbara Bush - You may not like their dad but he was president for two terms. That's 8 years of them being in the spotlight.

4. Tiki and Ronde Barber - both were amazing football players in the NFL.

3. William and Vivian Shirtliffe - if you aren't reading ironicmom.com then I think it's safe to assume that you don't have a computer. Her blog has taken over the world and her posts about her twins William and Vivian are ha-larious.

2. Julius and Vincent Benedict - not only are these twins played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Diveto but they are also the inspiration to my, never fail to make the doctors laugh, joke. Whenever the doctors would talk about the size difference of my twins (Hayden was born weighing 7.2 lbs and Reese was 3.11 lbs) I would respond with "it's like a real life version of the movie Twins." Laughter ensued every time.
1. Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen - if you grew up watching Full House then there was no question that the Olsen twins would be number one on this list. They are millionaires, but I'm not real sure what they do today. That doesn't matter. What does matter is that they were awesome on Full House.

So what twins did I miss? Who would you have put higher or lower on the list?

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

I Want To Be Like Ludacris

I want to be like Ludacris. Not in the sense that I want to be a professional rapper and make movies in my spare time. More in the sense of doing what he does when he works on a song.

I was telling my wife that if I ever hear a song and Luda (I like to call him Luda) makes a guest appearance that song automatically becomes amazing. I would never admit to being a Justin Bieber fan but when Luda raps on Baby that song becomes amazing. Fergie does okay without the Black Eyed Peas, but add a little Luda to her song, Glamorous, and it becomes amazing. Taio Cruz has a somewhat catchy song with Break Your Heart, but when Luda breaks into a rap it becomes amazing. Jesse McCartney sings a catchy little song called, How Do You Sleep? but out of no where Luda comes on and makes it amazing.

It's my goal to make the things that I am apart of better. I hope that my marriage, my friends, my job, and even the world wide web are better because I've made a guest appearance. I am not even close to Luda status with making things that I do amazing, but I am trying.

When something isn't great it's easy to complain about it. But what if instead of complaining we pulled a Luda and made it better just by being a part of it? I once heard that it doesn't help to complain. Instead become part of the solution. If you don't like something offer something positive to make it better. I know he gets paid a lot of money so this analogy breaks down, but if Luda can make okay songs amazing why can't you make okay situations amazing? See what I'm talking about? I want to be like Ludacris.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Is Your Life Like A SUBPlus?

There is a local dinning establishment that is called SUBPlus. Ever heard of it? I thought not. Now what stands out about this sub shop is the fact that it used to be called SUBWAY. Ever heard of it? I thought so. SUBWAY is HUGE. In fact this year it has surpassed McDonald's as the restaurant with the most franchises in America. I love SUBWAY. I keep hoping that I will be like Jared and lose weight on the SUBWAY diet. Did he eat the foot long meatball sub cause it's not working for me? I kid, I kid. I get a foot long roasted chicken on wheat bread with a little bit of lettuce, onions, green peppers, and lots of sweet peppers. I digress.

Now SUBPlus stands out because it used to be SUBWAY. Instead of completely remodeling after the take over they kept everything the same. The only visible change is that they replaced WAY with Plus. It's pretty funny to drive by.

It got me thinking about my faith in God.

The Bible says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV). There are some aspects of my life where I feel like a new creation. There are other areas where I feel like I'm not that new.

According to this verse I am supposed to go from a SUBWAY to...let's say a Chipotle. Mmmm Chipotle! They kind of rhyme but they are very different restaurants. One serves subs and one serves amazing burritos. There are some areas of my life where there is a distinction like this. There are other areas where I say I'm a new creation but I'm really not that different. It's like going from SUBWAY to SUBPlus.

For years I've said that my favorite verse is the one mentioned above. I've been thinking about what it literally means to be a new creation. I'll tell you that it's not just changing a few things and hoping nobody will notice. It's having a complete overhaul because of what Jesus is doing in your life.

So what do you get at SUBWAY? What is your favorite Bible verse? Would you eat at SUBPlus? See you in the comments.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Why I Hate Jon Acuff

Everything in me wants to hate the man that is known as Jon Acuff. Who is Jon Acuff? Well, if you don't know then you are one of the few who haven't been dominated by his addictive blog. If you haven't heard of him then you my friend are about to learn about him. If you do know of him then you probably share my desire to hate Jon William Acuff. Okay, I don't know if his middle name is William but I do know that I want to hate him because...
  • He started a blog on March 21, 2008. I started my blog in April of 2008 but I'm too lazy to keep track of the exact day that it went public.
  • On the first day of his blog he had exactly 3.5 gazillion readers. On my first day of blogging I had 3.5 readers and in order to get that many I had to read my blog on 3 different computers and an iPod. Thus the half stat. Is it wrong to count your stats when you know that the 3.5 people is just you? No says I. I couldn't get my friends and family to read and I had stats to track.
  • He has a good head of hair. I'm going bald quicker than Nair on a hairy back.
  • He receives 142 thousand comments no matter what his post is about. I have to beg my friends to leave a comment.
  • He has written three books. I have a book idea that just sits on the shelf of my mind.
  • His blog has a theme. It's called "Stuff Christians Like." My blog lacks a theme.
  • Not only does he have a blog that is taking over the Internet, but he also makes time to have a second blog. Come on man...seriously?! Two blogs. The world wide web is already crowded enough. Now instead of dealing with the competition of one Jon Acuff site I have to battle two.
  • He responds to a lot of comments on his blogs. I struggle to respond to the handful of comments that I get.
  • He's a nice guy. I'm a nice guy too but compared to side hugging Jon Acuff I'm a real baddie.
  • He works for Dave Ramsey. I can't hate on him for this. Dave Ramsey is the man!
  • His creates catch phrases like Jesus Juke. I create catch phrases like Jack Hole and I'm embarrassed by it.  
  • His posts are long. I like long posts but my readers don't. People tell me to my face that I need to write shorter posts.
  • I friended him on Twitter. Some people think he's really ha-larious on Twitter. I did it just because all the cool kids were doing it. You know what that punk did? He started following me on Twitter. The nerve.
  • People tell me often that I would love his blog. Nobody ever tells him that he would even remotely be interested in skimming my blog.
  • He writes things that convict me.
The truth is that I don't hate Jon Acuff. The truth is that even if I did want to hate Jon Acuff he would win me over with his super blogging powers. The truth is I love Jon Acuff as much as I could love any person that I've never met, but I've stalked on a blog, Twitter, or at a conference. I once stood next to Jon at a conference but I didn't want to bother him. He probably would have said something funny and made me laugh. Jerk.

So do you read Jon's blog or blogs? If so what is your favorite post of his?

Friday, May 20, 2011

I Wish God Was Like Tandem Skydiving

The following post was an idea that I had for a talk at Waters Edge Church. I ended up going in a different direction but I still wanted to share this idea. Most of the pictures included in this post have never been seen before...

I wish God was like tandem skydiving. To me skydiving wasn't scary. I was attached to an instructor who has made over 8,000 successful jumps. I might have been blindly trusting the instructor but I figured that he didn't want to die. Since he was attached to me I trusted that he would do anything in his power to make sure that we landed safely on the ground. I wish I felt that same confidence with God. 

I have never seen God. When I make jumps of faith I can't physically feel God attached to my back. To take a leap of faith is way more scarier then jumping out of a plane for a tandem skydive. God doesn't give you a parachute. He doesn't talk you through each step of the process. He doesn't always guarantee that if you jump that you'll land safely on the ground.

I was encouraged by a verse that I read in the Bible this week. "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 8-9 (NIV).

In my experience it takes more faith to trust in God then it does to trust in a tandem skydiving instructor. It takes more faith but it's worth it. There are lots of times when I don't know which direction to go. There are lots of questions that I have the Bible just wasn't designed to answer. Where are all the dinasours, why is it impossible to pop all the kernals in a bag of micowavable popcorn without burning it, what was He thinking when he invented mosquitos, how many kids should I have, and what job you should take are just a few of the questions the Bible doesn't answer. There are lots of times where I am feeling led to jump, but I just don't know if I should. That's where faith comes from.

Faith is believing that God is who He says He is and then putting that belief into action. It's scary to jump when you can't see the instructor. It's scary to jump when you can't hear the instructor whispering what to do in your ear. It's scary to jump in faith, but it's worth it!
 
Pictured Above: We were in free fall for almost a minute.
Pictured Above: They tell you in the class to arch your back and tuck your legs. I would grade myself at about a C. It's hard to control what your body will do when you are falling from 12,500 feet.
Pictured Above: In the video that I was making I was supposed to be screaming. It's hard to scream with that much wind attacking your face. It ended up making some really funny pictures.

Pictured Above: I finally got my face together to fake the scream. I know someone is going to ask but the answer is "yes I wasn't scared and yes I was faking the scream." It's called acting.
Pictured Above: The instructor tells you that on your first jump your ears might pop. So...yeah...that's what's going on here.
Pictured Above: The instructor tells you that if your ears do pop to plug your nose and blow. It worked.
Pictured Above: This is the second the parachute opened. I'm amazed at how they took pictures of every second of this trip. I have a lot more that didn't get featured in this post.

Pictured Above: That's our view once the parachute opened. Crazy huh?

Pictured Above: You land sitting down. I had no idea. I though we would land running in. It was very comfortable to land.

Question: When is a time that you have had to have faith in God?

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Awkward

I read a friend's blog that inspired an idea. Today we over use the word awkward. In fact we, and when I say we I mean me as well, make everything awkward.
  • Running into someone at the grocery store and you've forgotten their name - we leave saying it's awkward.
  • Showing up to a party and not knowing very many people - we leave saying it's awkward.
  • Hanging out with people and there is silence in the conversation - we leave saying it's awkward.
  • Going to a movie by yourself - we never go because we would leave saying it's awkward.
  • Eating by yourself at a restaurant - we leave saying it's awkward.
  • A single who wants to ask another single out - will leave saying it's awkward.
  • When women talk about the birthing process to people who have never experienced it - we leave saying...wait...that is kind of awkward.
Here's my thought, is it really that awkward? I kind of feel like we've invented this awkward feeling and placed it on things that are really not that awkward. It's kind of like when a really skinny girl blurts out that she's fat. She's not really fat but for some reason she has invented a distorted thought in her mind. Awkwardness can be like that. We make situations that much more awkward because of our distorted reality.
Here are some situations that would actually be awkward...
  • Farting out loud in the middle of an important meeting at work - that's awkward.
  • Having an ex boyfriend/girlfriend run up and kiss you in front of your spouse/new boyfriend or girlfriend - that's awkward.
  • Giving a public speech and having your pants rip in a way that exposes your undergarments - that's awkward.
  • Breastfeeding your baby in the hospital only to find out that you just fed someone else's baby (this happened on the TV show The Office) - that's awkward.
  • Smacking a women on the butt because you think it's your spouse only to see her turn around and show you that she's a complete stranger - that's awkward.
  • Seeing your parents make out passionately- that's awkward.
  • Having to tell someone that you killed their dog because he drank a bottle of anti-freeze that you left out - that's awkward.
Now most of the situations above are from real life. They are awkward moments that I have experienced. Either because it happened to me or to someone I know.
The point is let's do away with the feeling of awkward when it's really not that awkward. We can make things worse when we declare that they are awkward. Instead just cowboy or cowgirl up and get through it. Don't let the distorted reality of a potentially awkward situation lead you to make the situation worse.

So what is an awkward moment that you have experienced?

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Mind Dump

My brain is constipated with random thoughts. It's time to free up some more space with another Mind Dump...
  • One of my former students put the following on Facebook, "A fart is just a joke without words." That's funny stuff. If it's true then my twins are comedians.
  • Smallville series finale was last Friday. I LOVED the first season of this show. I felt that it lost its way in the middle but the last couple of seasons have been good. Even though they totally jacked up the Superman mythos it was still an entertaining show.
  • Oh dang. I just finished the Smallville series finale. Wow! That's how you end a TV show. LOST and Seinfeld should watch Smallville and then find a way to go back in time and redo their series finales.
  • Congratulations to Matt Cannon! He won the Awesomely Bad Movie poll last week at robshep.com. If you missed it check it here. Oh and if you are not reading Matt's blog then you should. It's one of the best on the world wide web.
  • Speaking of polls...have you voted on the newest one at robshep.com? Better drivers men or women? Vote now.
  • I spoke at Waters Edge two Sundays ago. I think God used the talk. I continue to hear people say how they were challenged by it. If you are interested then you can watch it here.
  • I saw this on Twitter last week - "They're our too kinds of people in this world. People who hate the first three words of this tweet & people who didn't notice." I'm one of those that didn't notice.
  • My dad always says that a sign of a wound healing is that it itches. I don't know where he got that from but I think it's true. Whenever I have a wound and it's healing it starts to itch. Lately my head has been itching. I am hoping that the itching is a result of my balding healing. It'd be nice to grow more hairs.
  • I want Superhero diapers. No, not for me silly. For my twins. All the diapers we have include Sesame Street characters on them. No offense to them but my babies don't have a fat clue who baby Big Bird is. I know they don't know who Superman or Batman are but I do. If I'm the one who is going to know what's on the diaper then I want some superheroes. Eww eww...with villains on the inside. Babies can poo on villains. Someone needs to invent that.
  • You want to know what's scarier than skydiving? Opening a can of crescent rolls. Done both and opening crescents makes me jump every time!
  • I recently discovered Knox McCoy's blog. I've been laughing ever since. Funny stuff.
  • His blog is where I saw this funny video for the first time...
  • Now I think this is ha-larious but I hate it at the same time. DC Talk is one of my all time favorite bands. This kid doesn't do them justice.
  • Speaking of old Christian artists I listened to PFR's greatest hits the other day. Do you remember them? My wife said and I quote, "What is this the Christian version of the Beatles?" Why yes it is.
  • Blogger went down last Thursday night. It took away my post from Wednesday and it wouldn't let me post anything new on Friday. I've never had any problems with Blogger, but that one was crazy. It reminded me of the PS3 mess.
  • If you own a PS3 then you know that the entire system got hacked and it's been out for about a month. It's pretty frustrating. I've been a big PS3 fan but it makes me want to get an XBox.
  • Speaking of game systems...I just found out that they are discontinuing the Nintendo Wii. Do what? I want my money back. I like the Wii a lot. They don't produce enough quality games but I've enjoyed the system. Boo I say, boo.
  • Did you hear that Ashton Kutcher is replacing Charlie Sheen on Two and A Half Men? Is this an episode of Punk'd? I'm not sure how they are going to replace Charlie. I don't watch the show but I wonder if they will act like Ashton is Charlie's character or if they will pull a Dukes of Hazard and he will be a cousin that we have never heard about. Whew...that was a long sentence. Do you remember Coy and Vance Duke? They were just like Bo and Luke but not as good.
  • Who do you think is going to win American Idol? My favorite is Lauren. That girl can sang!
Whew...I feel better now.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Let Em Cry: Part 2

Adults cry about a lot. Now I'm not talking about crying with tears I'm talking about crying because we didn't get our way. We many not have physical tears but humans cry a lot. We cry when we have to sit in traffic. We cry when we don't get good service. We cry when people don't do what we want them to do. We adults can be very large cry babies sometimes.
One human cries loud about something being unfair and the government freaks out and makes a change. Ahem ahem...cough cough...taking prayer out of public schools. One church goer cries and the pastor does whatever they can to sooth them. It doesn't matter if the church member is being selfish. If they cry they have to be soothed...right? A teenager cries to their parents that they don't want to go to church anymore and the parent gives in to soothe them.

It's not easy to let someone cry. In fact it's unnatural. It's natural to respond to the cries, but sometimes we have to pull a Hootie (as in Hootie and Blowfish) and Let Her Cry. Always responding to the crying is natural but it's not leading. Leading is hard. Whether you are leading employees, volunteers, or a family sometimes you have to let them cry. If they are crying and it's not in the best interest of the entire organization or family then you let them cry. Eventually they will stop. The hardest part is waiting for them to stop crying!
I can't tell you how many times I've seen or I have changed something that affects a lot of people because one person cries. The problem with it is that if you react too soon you have gone back on what you think is right. Stay the course and eventually the crying will stop. I know this isn't easy. In fact I'm reminding myself of this right now. But like I've already written, eventually the crying will stop.

I made a change once to the way that we do Student Community Groups. Before I came to Waters Edge Student Groups were co-ed. I made a change and I heard weeping and gnashing of teeth. You would have though that I personally slapped every teenager that went to Waters Edge. They cried. I stayed the course. After a few months nobody cried. Now people love the way that we do Student Groups. The morale of the story is that people will cry. Stay the course, if you think it's the right move, and eventually they will stop crying.
What are your thoughts about this post? Am I on to something or am I way off?

Let Em Cry: Part 1

Babies cry. Being a new father I have discovered that babies cry a lot. They cry when they are hungry. They cry when they have filled a diaper with grossness. They cry when they are bored. They cry when they have to watch Vampire Diaries...oh wait, that's me. Recently Monica and I read that sometimes babies cry because it's simply fussy time.

Now here are a couple of observations that I've recently had about babies crying. The first is that I can't imagine waking up crying. That would be awful. The second thought is that babies scream when they cry. They really need to learn how to cry quietly like the rest of us. Even with an ugly cry most people cry rather quietly. Not babies. They scream out "WhAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Monica and I are trying to live out the principles in the book Baby Wise. One of the hardest things that this book recommends is letting your baby, or in our case babies, cry. After you have fed them, changed them, and put them to bed if they start crying then you are supposed to let them cry. Now when a baby cries it's so unnatural to not run to their rescue. Everything in us wants to make them stop crying. I think the same thing happens with adults.

To Be Continued...at 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on May 17.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Movie Review: Fast Five

I can't believe that I'm going to write this, but I loved a Fast and the Furious movie! To me the Fast and Furious series is like Bazooka Joe Gum. It looks fun but it doesn't have much flavor.

I know the movies have done well at the box office but to me they are a lot of splash and not a lot of substance. I could see liking the series if I loved cars, but I barely know how to turn on my hazards. Now I've seen all of the Fast movies except for the one in Tokyo. I feel the same about all of them. The movie franchise started as a lesser version of Point Break. It was not very original and not very memorable. Now most movie franchises don't get better over time. Especially when they get to a fifth film. Somehow the Fast series hit it's peak at number five.

If the movie Ocean's 11 had a child with The Borne series and that child became a teenager who could drive fast it would be Fast Five. It's a great action movie. It's rated PG-13 for a pointless F-bomb, action/violence, and some skimpy bikinis. I could have done without the F-bomb and the skimpy bikinis. I give it two thumbs up.
Rob's Rating System =
Two Thumbs Up - A great movie worth paying full price.
One Thumb Up - A decent attempt and worth seeing at a matinee price.
Thumb to the side - An ok film, but wait for video.
Thumb down - A stinker of a film. Don't waste your life seeing it.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Life Lessons From A Lakers Fan in 2011

It's amazing to me how many people watched the debacle known as the Lakers 2011 playoff run. The Lakers had high hopes. Two time defending champions. Phil Jackson, the winningest coach in all of sports, is retiring. He had never been swept in a series. It wasn't a good way to go out. If you didn't see it all you need to know is that they lost and they lost really bad. They lost bad in the second round of the playoffs and acted like spoiled brats.

Oh and two Lakers got suspended. It led many people to hate on the Lakers. It led many to Facebook/Tweet that if they were Lakers fans they would no longer be after that game. It was rough. But I have some thoughts that I think can apply to anyone. Whether you hate the Lakers or don't even like sports I think you can learn something from the Lakers 2011 season.
  • People are watching. I am amazed at how many non NBA fans saw the debacle of that last game. People are watching you too.
  • Don't over react. Kobe Bryant said it was a "wasted season." Andrew Bynum's dinner weighs more than the guy that he elbowed to the ground. He did it out of frustration. In my experience it's best to take a step back and not over react. Over reacting makes things worse. Keep a level head and find a solution to the problem.
  • You have to take the good and the bad in people. I am not a bandwagon fan. I love the Lakers when they win but I have to accept them when they lose. Even when they lose ugly. Same with people in our lives. Nobody is perfect. The people you love come with flaws. That means you have to take the good in people and the bad.
  • Turmoil will destroy you. There are lots of rumors of turmoil within the Lakers organization. Whether it's your job, your family, or your friends you can't be at your best if you don't deal with conflict. The Lakers had issues and they never dealt with them. When they started losing it got ugly.
  • People will hate on you. Last year when the Lakers won a lot of people hated on them. Surprising not everyone likes a winner. This year when they didn't win a lot of people hated on them. The truth is that even if you were perfect someone would crucify you. In other words not everyone is going to like you. Even if you are a good person and try your best someone is going to find fault with you. You can let it mess with you or you can dismiss it. Just know that your true fans will always be with you no matter what.
  • Don't be afraid to start over. There is a great chance that the Lakers are going to rebuild their team. They are going to start over because their goal is always to win a championship. You won't always meet your goals. If you are doing the same thing over and over again and it's not working then you are a fool. Sometimes you have to mix things up. Sometimes you have to try something new.
So what'd I miss? What's a lesson that we can learn from the Lakers 2011 season?

Thursday, May 12, 2011

My Very Own Murdoc

I have a Murdoc in my life. Do you remember Murdoc? No not this guy...
That's Murdock and he's from the A-Team. No I'm talking about this guy...


Creepy huh. The Murdoc that I speak of is from MacGyver. Well, just in case you didn't grow up in the late 80's or early 90's and or didn't watch USA in the middle 90's (I feel like MacGyver came on USA 24 hours a day in the middle of the 90's) then let me tell you about Murdoc...

Murdoc was a recurring villain on the TV show MacGyver. He would make at least one appearance every season. Now the thing about Murdoc is that he died in every episode. He was supposed to be some perfect assassin who never failed...until he met MacGyver. He would seem to have the upper hand on MacGyver for the entire episode until at the last minute MacGyver would get the upper hand and Murdoc would die. But we all knew he wasn't really dead.

I feel like I have a Murdoc in my life.  No I don't have someone who attempts to kill me on a regular basis. Instead I have a sin that attacks me on a regular basis. I go for some good time without struggling with this particular sin, but then he shows up and wreaks havoc. I wish I could say that I don't sin, but if I did I'd be a liar. Bible Break: 1 John 1:8 - If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. I now return you to our regularly scheduled blog post...

I know that I am forgiven. I know all the right answers. I just wish it wasn't my struggle. I kind of know how MacGyver feels. No matter how much Duct Tape he uses or how sharp his Swiss Army Knife is Murdoc is going to reappear. No matter what I do I will never completely defeat this sin. It will always attack. It will always be a struggle. It will always make a reappearance.

Thank God I am forgiven. Thank God I have more than Duct Tape and a Swiss Army Knife on my side. Thank God I am still loved. Thank God that no matter how many times my Murdoc comes back I will be able to send it back to where it came from.

Does anyone else have a Murdoc out there?

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

5 Random Facts

5 Random Facts about robshep.com. Here's how this works...I will give you 5 Random Facts and you give me 1 in return. Let's go...
  1. I know all the words to Hulk Hogan's theme song from the 80's.
  2. I saw the movie Aladdin 5 times in the theaters.
  3. I love Chipotle but I didn't like the first few times I went there.
  4. My favorite cartoon of all time is Batman The Animated Series. A close second is The Justice League.
  5. I was in a stage version of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
Now it's your turn. Leave a comment.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Awesomely Bad Movies: Return

Three years ago I started this blog and each year I have featured a post entitled Awesomely Bad Movies. To check out year one click here. Year two click here. And finally year three click here.

Awesomely Bad Movie = a movie that you love but when you show it your friends they are like, "do what?" It's a movie that you could watch over and over but your spouse wants to burn. It's a movie that when you tell people it's good they question all the choices you have ever made in this life. It's hard to admit that a film that you like is Awesomely Bad, but we all have them.

This year I decided to step things up and let some wicked awesome blogging supper ninjas step up to the plate and pitch their Awesomely Bad movie. Here's where you come in. Read each post, check out the authors blog, and then vote at the bottom for the most Awesomely Bad movie from the list. Voting ends at midnight tonight. Let the fun begin...

Rat Race - pitched by Ricky Anderson


I love Rat Race.

It's a loose remake of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, which I grew up watching.
Both are gems.
I laughed so hard in the theater the first time I saw it that I couldn't sit up straight.
My wife and her friend were chatting and giving me strange looks, having given up on the film ten minutes after the opening credits. John Cleese, Seth Green and Rowan Atkinson steal the show. I own this movie, but nobody is ever willing to watch it with me. I guess that makes it Awesomely Bad.
___________________

Weekend At Bernie's - pitched by Matt Cannon
Do you remember the episode of Friends where Joey reveals a secret concerning Rachel’s favorite movie? You probably don’t, but I do. This is mainly because I am a nerd whose social life resembled that of a Franciscan Monk for much of the show’s run.
In the episode, Rachel claims that her favorite movie is Dangerous Liaisons, but Joey reveals the truth: her favorite movie is really Weekend at Bernie’s. This marked the 2nd thing that Rachel and I had in common. The first? We both made certain hairstyles popular—she had “The Rachel” featured at salons everywhere and I had “The Big Ugly” featured at Rocky Top Barber Shop.

Rachel was embarrassed by her love for the most awesomely bad movie of all time. Maybe you are, too.

Maybe you don’t want to admit that you view the combination of Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman as the comedic equivalent of pimento loaf and cheese. Maybe you don’t want anyone to know that you believed Terry Kiser’s ability to literally play dead should have garnered him an Oscar. Or that after seeing his performance you and your cousin tried to replicate his mannerisms for the rest of the summer.
It’s possible that you were never a nerd or that you have since moved way past your nerdy stage. If so—congratulations! I’m happy for you. In fact, I may even join you someday. But if I do, I hope to never forget that during the summer of 1989 I first watched a movie that made me want to spend a weekend at the beach with my best friend and a dead guy.

It’s good to have a goal; Weekend at Bernie’s gave me one. That is why it gets my vote as the most awesomely bad movie of all time.
___________________

Clean Slate - pitched by Clay Morgan
Clean Slate is one of the funniest comedies from the 90s. Many people don't remember the Dana Carvey laugher which is ironic since his character suffers from a form of amnesia that causes him to lose his memory every morning. Siskel called it dismal, but what does he know. Ebert liked it. Even Siskel admitted that the eye-patch dog with depth perception issues was funny.

Another memorable scene takes place when Carvey runs on stage during a chase and is thrust into the role of keynote speaker. Pointer in hand he "describes" his recent archaeological dig by retracing the team's steps. I've mimicked that scene many times in my classrooms and no one ever gets it. And the courtroom scene is hilarious!

The cast is no joke with Kevin Pollak and James Earl Jones in supporting roles, not to mention Valeria Golino who I may have been mildly obsessed with during high school. To this day I can't even speak to women who are half Italian-half Greek for fear of being melted by their accent. Yeah, Dana Carvey totally rocked the 90s.

___________________

Kung Pow - pitched by Tyler Tarver

Kung Pow (2002): Enter the Fist is the greatest worst movie ever for the sole reason it is not bad at all. It is a plethora of comedic genius with a dash of charm and action with a clump of awesome.

It tells the story of a Chosen One, who is hunted all his life because he has been given a gift of being unparalleled in his martial arts ability. Action? Why yes, it has that too.

How was he marked? Tonguey, a little face that can talk that is located on his tongue, obviously. Comedic gold, yeah, we've struck it.

The thing that made this movie over the top like Stallone was the numerous amount of reusable situational catchphrases. My entire senior year of high school was comprised of nothing but these. English? Nah, Kung Powenese.

If I had a dollar for every time my friends and I would see each other at the end of the hall and yell "CHOSEN ONE" and the other'd respond "I'M COMING!", I'd only have around 47 dollars, but if I would've invested in Apple then, it'd be worth quite a bit.

Evil Betty? Can you think of a better full movie joke lead in to the introduction of a final fight sequence to the turn of Black Betty? No, I didn't think so scrub, you're just a guy who thinks he's fine oh no.

This movie can not be bad because it is good. Logic? Yes, and fact. If you can sit through this whole movie and never laugh then don't bother coming over to my house in the morning ever for French toast and scrambled eggs and bacon.

The only reason people might think it's bad is because of the CGI cow fight sequence, a CGI can make or break a film, luckily this film was too great to be broken, like the unbreakable Egg, or like, something that's not an egg.

So, I have one final thing to say to all you who want to make a mission of tearing down the epic masterpiece of humor and art and wonder and comedy and art: "You'll never make it. Never make it. Never make it. Never make it, never. Don't you see you can't make it?"

Monday, May 9, 2011

Interrupting Cow

Last week I filmed a video with Mr. Anderson. Mr. Anderson took a break from being awesome in the Matrix to be awesome on staff at Waters Edge Church. We work together like P Diddy and Mase in the 90's. Like Shaq and Kobe before the ugly divorce. Like Chipotle and your taste buds. The following video was to illustrate interruptions. It was for our adult Community Groups. It was ripped off inspired by Barats and Bereta. Enjoy...


Okay now if you that that was mildly amusing then you will laugh at the following. This is one of our first takes. What happens in this video was an accident. I felt bad that we had to do this video multiple times. Five to be exact. Ouch. Enjoy.



What is your favorite knock knock joke?

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mustache Day

My wife was adamant that she didn't want me doing a thing for her first Mother's Day. The guys that I work with were adamant that she didn't really feel this way and that I would be a fool if I didn't do something. What to do? What to do indeed? So instead of a card, flowers, or something Mothers Day like I decided to do a blog post. I titled this Happy Mustache Day. Enjoy.

It seems like just 5 weeks ago our twins were born (if you are new to the blog it was 5 weeks ago). They grow up so fast. Now, our twins have sweet mustaches.

I know that our son is a boy and our daughter is a girl, so it doesn't make sense that they both have sweet mustaches. My best guess is that it's a twin thing.

Our twins are growing up fast, but here's what I know. I know that they have a wicked awesome mom. I know they have a mom who makes their dad a better person. I know they have a mom who will help raise them to love Jesus.  I know they have a mom who let their dad sleep last night because he has to work all day at church. I know they have a mom who will be their biggest fan. I know they have a mom will always love them despite their sweet mustaches.

Happy Mother's I mean...Mustache Day.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Movie Review: Thor

I was out of my mind excited about Thor. I left feeling less then satisfied. Thor is one of the superheroes that makes up the super team called The Avengers. They are from Marvel Comics and in a genius move the company is releasing individual Avenger character movies that will ultimately lead up to The Avengers. The first in the series was Iron Man.

It's not fair but if this movie came out 15 years ago I probably would have loved it. Iron Man has raised the bar so high for Marvel movies that everything that doesn't meet it's standard leaves me feeling disappointed.

Thor has some good action, some really funny lines, and a stellar cast. You would think that adding all that together would equal an amazing movie. I think the problem is that the bar has just been raised to high. Thor kept my interest and was enjoyable, but it didn't leaving me wanting to tell the world to see it. It also didn't make me want to see it again. Just to put it in perspective I saw Iron Man three times in the theaters.

The good thing for me is that I wasn't a huge Thor fan going in. It's not like Superman or Batman for me. I enjoyed the movie and it's a respectable way to kick off the summer movie season. I give it one thumb up.
Rob's Rating System =
Two Thumbs Up - A great movie worth paying full price.
One Thumb Up - A decent attempt and worth seeing at a matinee price.
Thumb to the side - An ok film, but wait for video.
Thumb down - A stinker of a film. Don't waste you life seeing it. 

Friday, May 6, 2011

Top Ten Best Superhero Movies of All Time

At 7:30 PM on May the 6th I am going to see Thor. Now if you are new to the blog then you need to know that I LOVE superheroes. I didn't grow up reading Thor's comic book but I am out of my mind excited about the movie. It looks really good! Now I know that many of you could care less about movies and even less about superhero movies. Well, this is my second post of the day so enjoy the first one and skip this one. On that note it made me compile a list of the...

Top Ten Best Superhero Movies of All Time.
  1. The Dark Knight - it would be hard for anyone to argue that this is not number 1.
  2. Batman - this movie from 1989, staring Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker, still holds up in my opinion. It will forever be one of my favorite movies.
  3. Iron Man - I had no stock in Iron Man. I didn't even think the movie looked that great. I went to see it because I see almost all superhero movies. I left saying it was one of the best movies of all time.
  4. X-2. The first X-Men was a decent flick. It was good because there weren't a lot of other superhero movies at the time. It doesn't hold up that well but I still like it. The sequel on the other hand took superhero movies to a whole notha level.
  5. Batman Begins - it's crazy to think that this was the first time we had seen Batman's origin in a movie. I love this movie but what I love the most is that they hint that Joker is coming for the sequel. I love when movies set up the next film.
  6. Superman - this is the one that started it all. They didn't want to make a cheesy superhero movie so the hired A-List actors, had a big budget, and made us believe a man could fly. If you like Spiderman 1 then you need to say thank you to Superman because it parallels it.
  7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - now this may not seem like a superhero movie, but it is. The turtles started off in comics. They are mutated like X-Men, fight crime, and are awesome. I love this movie!
  8. Spiderman 2 - I think this movie is good but it still makes me mad that they took off his mask at the end. I left the theater really angry. It took me about 3 more watches on DVD before I saw how good this movie really was.
  9. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut - this movie never made it to the theaters. The director, Richard Donner, filmed 70 % of the movie and then he was fired. I liked Superman II until I saw this version of it. When Superman II came out in theaters it had a new director, added a new beginning, and finished filming the final 30%. Superman II would make this list but it's not as good as the Richard Donner Cut.
  10. Blade 2 - I never read this comic. In fact I barely knew he was a superhero. I saw him appear on a Spiderman cartoon and I thought he was kind of lame. My brother told me that this movie was legit like MC Hammer in Hammer pants. I rented it and then became a fan.
So that's my list. Who knows if this summer will bring some new favorites. Thor, Green Lantern, and Captain America all have movies coming out this summer. Can't wait! Speaking of this summer vote on the new poll at robshep.com, Most Anticipated Summer Movie.

What's your favorite Superhero movie of all time?

Party Police

Earlier this year I helped write a script for a funny video we showed at church. It's right up there with one of my all time favorites that I've been a part of. Some of the guys in my student community group were talking about it being their favorite and I realized that I never shared it on the blog. Enjoy...


The video stars Larry Enscore as the Party Police, Faith Roberts as the girl at the party, Tyler Bragg as the close talker at the party, T-Lane as the no shirt guy, and Ken Colgan as the sweet tea guy. It was written by Rob Shepherd and Phil Poteat and filmed by Dillon Tulip.

So what'd you think? What part made you laugh?

Thursday, May 5, 2011

I Believe In Hair Club For Men


I'm balding. Sometimes I think I'm healing from balding but then the wind blows and I realize that I can count the number of hairs on my head. The Bible says that God knows the number of hairs on our head. Some would say that makes me like God, but I would say that makes me a novice at comb overs.

A few years ago I saw a commercial for Hair Club For Men. I never paid attention to these commercials until I started going bald. They showed guys like me go from balding to sexy hair. I want sexy hair so I called the number at the end of the commercial. Apparently they have a free consultation. Apparently they have a store 30 minutes from my house. Apparently I am desperate because I went to this free consultation.

At the free consultation they tell you why you go bald. It's genetics and it's your mom's fault. They then tell you how they can fix your baldness. I didn't care how much it was going to cost at this point I was hooked. It costs $10,000. I changed my mind about not caring about the cost. I left this free consultation saying that I was going to save up for Hair Club For Men to give me sexy hair. That was a few years ago.

Since then I have saved up a whopping $0 for sexy hair. I believe in Hair Club For Men. I Believe that they can fix my problem. I believe in them but I'm not willing to pay the cost.

Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Many people believe in Jesus. They believe that He's God's son. They believe that He died and rose again. They believe and yet they aren't willing to pay the cost. I'm not sure that is the type of belief Jesus was talking about. Jesus talked about a belief that included dying to yourself. Jesus promised that when we believe we will become new creations. Jesus promised that when we believe it we would find how to live life to the full. I want to believe in Jesus in a way that causes me to pay the cost.

How much would you pay for good hair?

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

In My House We Celebrate The Poo

In my house we celebrate the poo. Now let me explain. Monica and I don't celebrate adult poo. In fact, in my mind Monica doesn't poo. In fact all girls everywhere don't. I think this develops when they start dating boys. You might be wondering what I think Monica does while she's in the bathroom. Well, I think she makes flowers, creates rainbows, and writes symphonies. I don't know any different because I refuse to go any where near the bathroom when my wife is in there. It kills the romance and the thought alone is gag nasty. I digress.

When my twin babies poo Monica and I celebrate with a "yay!" We do this for a couple of reasons. 1. Our son was having difficulty pooing. He went 4 full days without a poo. So when he finally did poo we celebrated. It's kind of stuck ever since. 2. Neither of us enjoy changing pooey diapers. We don't enjoy it but we celebrate it. We celebrate because this is what we asked God for. Okay, we didn't ask for changing diapers, but we did ask to get pregnant. For six years we prayed and now God answered our prayer. We would be foolish to complain about changing diapers after God answered our prayer.

In this life it's easy to be negative. Most people are. It's easy to complain about what we don't have. It's easy to complain about our job. It's easy to complain about other people. It's easy to complain but it is a slap in the face of God when we do.

"Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ""children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation." Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky...""

Stars stand out because they shine. As a Christ Follower we can't shine when we complain and argue. I don't like cleaning the poo but I choose to celebrate it. You may not like your job, your family, or your status in life, but choose to find the good in what you don't like and you will shine. In other words find a way to celebrate the poo and you will stand out from the crowd.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Most Epic Band Combinations Of All Time

So thanks to Entertainment Weekly I discovered that New Kids On the Block and The Backstreet Boys have combined to form a super group called NKOTBSB. They have a song together and my wife loves it. Now the combining of two super man bands (I refuse to call them boy bands because their average age has to be 79 years old) has me thinking. What if some other super groups combined forces? Here are some that I'd like to see...
  • Def Leppard and Guns N' Roses. Both these bands were amazing in the 80's. I'd love to see them unite.
  • Rolling Stones and Aerosmith. To tell you the truth I used to get Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler confused. They are pretty much the same man. Why not unite the two to make a super rock group.
  • U2 and the Beatles. Sure half of the Beatles are no longer with us but I'd still love to see this combo.
  • Jay Z and Eminem. To my knowledge they have never collaborated. It would be epic.
  • Carey Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. The two biggest winners from American Idol would be great together.
  • MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. I saw once that they did a concert together. Why not an album?
  • Usher and Justin Timberlake. Let's be honest they are already pretty much the same person. Well, minus the fact that they are different races. Besides that they'd are the same and they'd make some great music together.
  • The Black Eyed Peas and TobyMac. This will never happen but I'd buy it in a heartbeat if it did.
So what bands/artists would you like to see become a super group?

Monday, May 2, 2011

Inventive Ways To Make A Baby Stop Crying

I have one month under my belt as a dad of twins. My kids are awesome, but my kids are babies. Babies cry. Babies cry when something is wrong. They cry when they are hungry. They cry when they are bored. They cry when San Antonio Spurs are on TV. At least my kids do. It has nothing to do with being a HUGE Lakers fan, but I think my twins really hate the Spurs. I was trying to watch their game the other night and my son hulked out. The only thing that seemed to calm him was turning the channel. True story.

Thanks to a bumper sticker I know that you Never Shake A Baby Never Never Never. So with shaking being out (sense the satire) I have had to come up with some creative ways to stop my twins from crying. I may or may not have tried all of the below...
  • The baby whisperer. I was one time at a family member's house and they had The Pet Whisperer on their TV. I would rather flush money down the toilet then own a pet so I don't visit this channel. Since it was their house I was stuck watching it. What I saw was some dude who would whisper to dogs to get them to obey. How does this apply to babies? Well, one of the first times my kids started crying I started whispering. It worked. My wife now calls me the baby whisperer.
  • The car seat. The car seat should be renamed magic. For some reason putting a baby in a car seat magically makes them stop crying...at least for a short while.
  • The car ride. Something amazing takes place when a crying baby is placed in the magic car seat and then driven around. It's called silence. As a parent of newborn twins I don't hear a lot of silence...except when we drive around with them in the car seat. I have some friends who told me they did this late at night because they couldn't get their son to stop crying.
  • The Justin Bieber. Now the magic car seat and driving work wonders unless your baby is hungry. We found this out when we left a friend's house around a feeding time. The twins were sleeping and we thought we could make it home before they woke. Plus we had the advantage of the magic car seat and the car ride. Boy were we wrong. About .5 seconds after getting in the car my son, Hayden, woke up. We made the parental decision to speed home to feed him instead of stopping on the side of the road. I tried playing multiple songs but nothing helped...until Bieber. Justin Bieber came on and we got silence.
  • The blasting radio. If the magic car seat and the car ride aren't working and you don't have any Bieber then you can try blasting the radio. I'm not sure it really helps them to stop crying but it does make it more tolerable.
  • The barking like a dog. I think this scares them, but it does stop the crying for a few seconds.
  • The scream. This is similar to the barking like a dog but it involves you out screaming them. I don't recommend this if you have neighbors. Or if you spouse is sleeping.
  • The hand under the head. For some reason placing my hand underneath my son's head while he lies in his crib has stopped him from crying, and caused him to pass out into a deep sleep. It is funny to watch.
  • The windmill. My brother invented this technique in a late night of desperation. This is where you old the baby high in the air and then lower them making a circular motion. It worked so he taught it to me.
  • The mysterious twin switch. One day one of the twins was crying like her dog just died. We don't own a dog so I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I decided to sit her in the crib next to her brother. A funny thing happened. He looked at her, paused, and then started crying. She mysteriously stopped crying. This didn't really help my problem because now I had a different baby crying.
  • The calling on the name of Jesus. I may or may not have said in a Biblical tone "in the name of Jesus stop crying." The results have been mixed on this one.
So if you are a parent, a babysitter, or have just spent some time trying to sooth a crying baby then what inventive ways have you used to make a baby stop crying?