Woooooo!

Years ago I used to watch Professional Wrestling. There was this wrestler named Rick Fair that used to always holler WOOOOOO! He would yell it to fire up the crowd. He would yell it after he Flair chopped someone. He would yell it after he talked junk. It was a great way to celebrate.

Today I feel like yelling WOOOOOO! At 7:00 AM our staff at WEC and a team of volunteers met to set up, train, and then run through our ground breaking service. WHOOOOOO! I love our volunteers! Tomorrow is going to be a great day. Let me just tell you...don't be late! Phil Poteat and the Waters Edge Band are going to melt your face off...and that is a great thing! WOOOOOO! I'm serious the opening of the service is wicked awesome! WOOOOOO!

I left at 1:00 PM and even though I was beat tired I have some adrenaline pumping for tomorrow. Check out http://bigdreamupdates.blogspot.com/ for the latest updates and wicked cool pictures of tomorrows set up! WOOOOOO!

Here's what I'm excited about...over 50 people are going to get baptized tomorrow! WOOOOOO! We are on the land for our first service! WOOOOOO! Many people are going to become Christ Followers! WOOOOOO! I can't wait! WOOOOOO!

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Who turned out the lights?


If you were writing the caption what would you write?

Free Chick-Fil-A

FYI - Next Monday (Labor Day) you can get free Chick-Fil-A strips simply by wearing your favorite football team logo. Here's what the official web page says, Visit any participating Chick-fil-A restaurant wearing your favorite football team’s attire or logo on Labor Day, Sept. 1, 2008, from 10:30 a.m. until close and get one free order of our new Chick-n-Strips (3-count). Limit one order per person while supplies last.

There you go. Gotta love the Chick-Fil-A! Enjoy!

Mr. Wilson

I get up to go the YMCA to workout at 5:45 in the morning. I'm used to it being dark, and quiet. The last few weeks I have been greeted with a voice from somewhere close. This voice sometimes laughs, sometimes yells, sometimes says a sentence or two, but never says more than that. The first time I heard it I nearly screamed out loud because it startled me so bad.

On Monday I was greeted to an evil laugh...it was loud! Last week when I was coming home I was greeted with one word statements like WHAT, NO, and WHY. After a few days of this I finally tracked down the mysterious voice. It's my new neighbor that lives behind me. I can't see her because all the houses in my neighborhood have large wooden fences in the backyard.

I think my neighbor is talking on the phone. I don't know why anyone would want to talk on the phone at 5:45 AM, but I think she does. Maybe she knows people in a different time zone and that is why she talks that early...or maybe she can see me and just likes to mess with me. Every time I hear her I think to myself "seriously?" I mean who talks on the phone at 5:45 in the morning? She has a loud phone voice and I'm just saying it scares me when all I hear is a loud voice coming at me. Why can't I get a neighbor like Mr. Wilson from Home Improvement?

The Cross

Yesterday I had a conversation with a pastoral counselor. He is kind of a mix between a pastor and a professional counselor...hence the name pastoral counselor. I'm not sure exactly what the difference is between him and a Christian counselor. I do know that he said the words pissed off a lot. That is one of those phrases that depending on what church circles you run it is either looked at as cool and edgy or crossing the line. Maybe saying that phrase is the difference between him and a Christian counselor.

He said a great line to me that has been sticking in my head ever since our conversation. He said that "when someone experiences pain they either take it to the cross or they act out". His point was that when humans go through a difficult situation they either react by acting out...throwing a temper tantrum, over eating, crying, cutting, doing drugs etc, or they take their problem to the cross. He didn't elaborate at what it means to take your problem to the cross, but I think he meant that we give our concern, anxiety, issue over to God. I think His point was that in order to find healing we can either act out and try to deal with our problem on our own or we can find healing by bringing our issues to God. Psalm 68:19 says, "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens".

Bright Beginnings

Today the staff at WEC has the great privilege to help out the YMCA and their Bright Beginnings program. It's a great program! The idea is to supply disadvantaged children with new school supplies and clothes. It was started by a parent in Richmond VA. She came up with the idea after finishing her shopping with her kids. If your interested in helping out in the future contact your local YMCA. There are multiple ways to help. You can donate money - $150 sends one child on a shopping trip for two fall outfits, underwear, socks, shoes and a sweater or jacket. Another way to help out is to donate a back pack filled with school supplies. The third way to help out is to volunteer your time to go shopping with one of the kids. That's what I get to do this morning! I'm excited about taking a kid shopping. Maybe I'm naive because I've never done it before, but at this point I'm excited. I'm really excited about the fact that we are able to help these kids out. This is a great program!

Video Monday

This is one of the best lip sync performances I've ever seen. I love that she turns on and off the lights to the beat of the song.

Sunday Reflections

Yesterday at WEC was a good day. Overall I would give it a A-. It was not our best day but I think there were some strong elements.

• Worship started with Not to Us by Chris Tomlin and went into the chorus of Here is our King by David Crowder. It is a mix that we found from the Northpoint Live CD.
• Meredith May did a good job with the welcome. I think during one service she said in your card is a chair. She meant to say in your chair is a card. She told me about it after one of the evening welcomes. Pretty funny stuff. The card was about our ground breaking service next week. It's going to be AWESOME! Speaking of the ground breaking service the end of the day ended with a video of Stu in a helicopter over our new land. Very cool stuff.
• Worship then continued with Everlasting God as preformed by Lincoln Brewster. The set ended with Holy Yours by David Crowder. It seemed like this set engaged the crowd. The band was phenomenal as usual.
• I gave the talk today. You can listen to it here. The talk concluded the series The Bod and God and I talked about the most powerful part of your body. I started the day wishing I could have the 9:30 service back. On Saturday night I had to change a story from my talk and I thought I replaced it with an equal amount of info, but I was wrong. With about 15 minutes left in the service I had completed my entire talk except for the closing challenge/prayer. I add libbed for about 12 of the those minutes and then concluded with the closing challenge/prayer. I don't think anyone noticed and I had a few people tell me that God spoke to them during that talk. It just shows that God has the ability to speak to people anytime the Bible is taught. In between the first and second service I switched some things up and added a story to the beginning of my talk. I felt good about the 10:55 and 4:45 (Servers Service). The 6:00 PM service was my best one of the day. I felt like I was the most passionate during this service. It also helped that the 6:00 PM service was so engaged. They were there ready to listen.
• Stu was gone for the day but he made a funny appearance in a workout video. His outfit in the video received the biggest response...it was ha-larious.
• That's it for this week see you next time.

To copy or not to copy part 3

I know that the majority of you reading don't care about this mini series I've been writing but I just saw this post online about the new direction Warner Bro's is going and I had to comment. WB's who owns the rights to all the DC super hero's...Batman, Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, recently commented on the new direction they are going to take their movies.

"Like the recent Batman sequel -- which has become the highest-grossing film of the year thus far -- Mr. Robinov wants his next pack of superhero movies to be bathed in the same brooding tone as "The Dark Knight." Creatively, he sees exploring the evil side to characters as the key to unlocking some of Warner Bros.' DC properties. "We're going to try to go dark to the extent that the characters allow it," he says. That goes for the company's Superman franchise as well."

Do you see what I mean? Instead of taking a risk and making new movies with great characters WB's wants to make more movies like the Dark Knight but with other super hero's. Bad idea my friend...bad idea. My advice is to take a risk and make something new.

To Copy or Not to Copy Part 2

As I mentioned in an earlier post...there doesn't seem to be a formula out there for how to make a HUGE movie. If you look at the top five movies of all time...Titanic, The Dark Knight, Star Wars, Shrek 2, and E.T. they don't have a lot in common. In fact I can only think of two major things they have in common.

The first thing they have in common is they are character driven movies. That is they are movies with characters that we care about. I know that doesn't seem profound but most movies I go to today are special effects driven or gag or gross out humor driven or just a bunch of pretty people doing pretty people things. When you make a movie with great characters it attracts people.

The second thing that I think all of these movies have in common is risk. Today movies seem to be based off formulas. You find a formula and you stick with it. You have the romantic comedy, the action movie, the grown men acting like teenagers staring Will Ferrell movie etc. To make a truly great movie it involves the risk of breaking the formula. This is why sequels rarely work. When you start making a sequel all the sudden you starting to fall into the formula and it is hard to compete with the original that was so great.

Titanic was a huge risk. It was really expensive to make, it was 3 hours long, and it was about a story that we all know how it is going to end...the boat sinks. But James Cameron took a familiar story and threw in a love story and killer special affects. There is no way anyone in Hollywood knew that movie was going to be as big as it was. It didn't fit any formula.

Star Wars was totally unlike anything else at the time. It was a HUGE risk. In fact George Lucas didn't know if he was ever going to be able to make the sequels. Today we don't think about what a risk Star Wars was at the time but back in the late 70's it was a crazy risk.

The Shrek series was a risk. The movie didn't star a cute cuddly character...it starred an ogre. To top it all off it made fun of Disney and fairy tale movies and it was PG. Now all cartoons push the envelope a little to make sure they are PG, but not before Shrek.

E.T. was a big risk. Aliens were portrayed as evil creatures who took over the earth until Steven Spielberg made them kinda cute creatures that like Reese's Pieces.

I know this is long so for those of you still reading here is the pay off. I think we can all learn a lesson from these great movies and that is take a risk. Today most movies will follow the formula and try to copy what was successful. The Matrix led to action movies slowing down fight scenes where everyone wears leather, but the first movie was a risk that everyone tried to copy. Why? Because it's easy and safe. It is almost guaranteed that if you follow a formula you won't have to suffer defeat. There is nothing wrong with building on the success of others, but there is something energizing about taking a risk and seeing what happens.

I'm afraid of failure, but every time I take a risk it is worth it. I either learn what not to do or the risk pays off. Either way I'm learning and life is exciting. I think too many people are unhappy with their life because they are simply going through the motions and following the formula. Break the mold and do something that is a risk. You may fail, but you can learn something from failing. It's got to be better than sticking with the formula and watching your life pass you by.

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Mom! Our swimming pool stinks!


If you were writing a caption for this pic what would it be?

Sunday's talk

I just finished up writing the talk for this Sunday at WEC. This talk took a really long time to develop. I spent a lot of time praying for the right direction. I feel like I went the way that God wanted me to and I'm praying that everyone who attends WEC this week will be ready to hear what God has to say.

Old Pizza

So, I have a question for you. How old is too old to eat leftover pizza? I ate some that was from last Friday night. So far I've not had any digestive problems. The crust was a little crunchy but I've got to say that Papa John's holds up incredibly well.

Crazy Love

I'm currently reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. In it he quotes Tim Kizziar..."Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter."

Wow! Slap my face with that quote!

Speaking this Sunday

This Sunday I'm speaking at WEC. I appreciate any prayer support you can give me. Pray that I would listen to the direction God wants me to go. Pray that everyone that attends WEC on Sunday would be ready to hear what God wants them to hear.

Whenever I speak I ask for prayer. It's not that I'm nervous it's the fact that what I am doing is spiritual. Speaking or preaching at church is different than giving a speech. Whenever I speak I have the chance to help people connect to God. That is a HUGE deal! I don't ever want to try to speak without God's leading.

Why White People...Why?

I can't speak for other races because I have never been another race. So far in my life I have always been a white boy. There is something about a lot of white people that I just don't get. I don't know why this is but white people have a hard time remembering where their bruises come from. Here's the thing I get bruises on me and I have no idea what caused them. Last week I got what looked to be a burn mark on my finger and I don't have a fat clue what it is from. My friends say it was a bug bite, but it bruised and leaked puss unlike any bite I've ever had. I'm interested to know if anyone has a theory as to why white people bruise and don't remember it. If it leaves a mark it should be worth remembering...you know?

Date night

Last night Monica and I had a date night. We went out to dinner and then to Barnes and Noble to pick up Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. Mark is one of my favorite authors and bloggers!

We then made our way over to the Jonas Brothers Concert! It was AWESOME! Just joking about that one. I prefer my boy bands a little older and that is why I'm going with my wife to see the New Kids On the Block in September. Don't judge me...I'm going with the wife.

Anyway I highly recommend every couple have a regular date night. Monica and I get so busy that we don't have a lot of nights like last night. I love spending time with just her. It gives us a chance to connect, laugh, talk and fall more in love. A date night is essential, but it won't happen if you don't plan it.

Catalyst

I just received my tickets to Catalyst Conference in ATL! Holla! It's October 8-10! I can't wait for this conference. Every year this conference challenges me, draws me closer to God, and allows me to hang out with some of my favorite people in the world...aka Chad Johnson!

Catalyst is a conference for next generation leaders, but it applies to everyone. If you own a business, work at a business, are in ministry as a paid staff member or just a volunteer then I recommend attending this conference. I don't get paid to plug Catalyst it just comes naturally to me. I have been six times and every year I leave feeling challenged, refreshed, and motivated. I can't wait to go! If you are going or are interested in going let me know. I would love to see you there!

30 Days of Birthday

So if you have been keeping track 30 gifts for 30 days unofficially ended on the 12th gift. I didn't post about it but the 13th gift was a wicked awesome set of drinking glasses with the posters for the 4 Indiana Jones movies. Yes it includes the 4th movie and no I did not break the glass as soon as I saw it. I'm still a little bitter about that movie, and I probably will never drink out of that glass, but it is a part of the set.

Anyway here's what happened. I received a wicked awesome TV for my birthday and Monica and I decided that gift counts for more than 30. In fact everyday that I look at that TV it is a gift. Every time I watch a movie on the TV I receive a gift. Every time...you get the point. So 30 gifts in 30 days officially ended on my 30th birthday. It was a great ride and it helped make this birthday the best birthday of my life! Pressure's on for Monica's birthday...dun dun duhhh.

To copy or not copy...that is the question

I was talking with a good friend of mine about The Dark Knight and all of the records it has broken at the Box Office. Currently there is only one record left to break and that is the biggest box office of all time. Currently Titanic holds the record at $600 million dollars. The Dark Knight is currently at $471 million.


My friend mentioned how interesting it is that sometimes an event or movie will take place and it just seems to connect with the masses. He then questioned why that happens and answered with "I guess they have people to study that type of thing".


I don't know if they do have people to study that type of thing or not, but I do know that there are no formulas that guarantee a HUGE movie. I mean think about...what is The Dark Knight's formula? Reboot a dead franchise about a man who dresses up like a Bat and call it Batman Begins. The character is 70 years old and has been in numerous movies, TV shows, and comics. Follow that successful reboot up with a sequel and cast one of the guys from Brokeback Mountain to play the Joker. Have that star accidentally overdose on prescription drugs a few months before the movie comes out and walla you have a successful movie.

There doesn't seem to be a formula out there for how to make a HUGE movie. If you look at the top five movies of all time...Titanic, The Dark Knight, Star Wars, Shrek 2, and E.T. they don't have a lot in common. In fact I can only think of two major things they have in common.

To be continued...

What do you think they have in common? Leave a comment

Video Monday

This week's video is a parody of The Dark Knight. Thank you Jacob Holland for showing me this video. It made me laugh out loud.

Sunday Reflections

Yesterday was a great day at Waters Edge. We are in week three of our series titled "The Bod and God". I feel like overall this year has been the strongest year for series at WEC. The Bod and God is no exception. Here are some highlights...

• I don't know if anyone gets tired of me writing this but I love our band at WEC. It's not just that they are talented musicians (they are all really talented)...for me it's more than that. During each of the services the band doesn't just preform they worship themselves. The set was really strong. It started with Let God Arise by Chris Tomlin, Salvation is Here by Hillsong United and Inside Out by Hillsong United. In my opinion yesterday would have been a home run just because of the worship set...but there was more.
• I was back doing the welcome. It's been a few weeks since I have done a welcome because of vacation and volunteer trainings. It was great to be back! During the welcome I intro'd a video about our Ground Breaking Celebration. If you missed the video then check it out here. Make sure you pay close attention to all of the details.

• Thanks Phil for the video! This was a fun video to show at church. It was great to be on the stage and watch the crowd's reaction. Most everyone enjoyed the surprise, but some guy did yell at me in one of the services. I think I scared the poo out of him.
• Stu rock'd the talk! The end of the talk was masterfully done! You can listen to the talk by clicking here.
• For more insight on Sunday's services at WEC make sure you check out www.philopedia.com .

What do you think this is

Question: What do you think this is? Comment and let me know what you think.

Six Flags...Maryland

On my birthday Monica and I went to Six Flags in Maryland with two of our favorite people. We all declared it the best worst day of our lives. Here's what that means. We had a blast. We laughed really hard. We had fun. It was a great day. Here's where the worst part comes in.

Six Flags in Maryland is a dump. I know that I am spoiled by having Busch Gardens so close (rated number one cleanliest theme park for like 10 years in a row), but what we experienced at Six Flags was amazingly bad.

Multiple rides had broken down seats. It doesn't make you feel very safe when the seat next to you has caution tape tied to it. This was the case for most of the rides we went on.

There were multiple rides that were broken all together.

I stepped in gum 3 different times. I have never stepped in gum at Busch.

Everything in the park needed a fresh coat of paint.

Every ride was operated by a teenager. Now don't get me wrong I love teenagers, but most of the time there was not an adult in site. We saw employees giving out Flash passes (no this is not a pass to see someone lift up their shirt and flash you...it's a ticket to skip to the front of the line and pick whatever seat you want...they cost money). The employees took a long time to do everything. We waited for every ride and it wasn't because of long lines. Nobody was at the park, but still we waited!

The sad thing is that the park has some great rides. If they would clean it up, keep it clean, and raise their standard of excellence then it would be a great park. I hope that whoever takes over Busch Gardens keeps it clean and continues to run the park with excellence.

Volunteers

I have a hard time recruiting volunteers. It's not that there aren't people out their to volunteer their time, it's just that I have a difficult time asking. For some reason I have it lodged in my mind that in ministry the paid staff should do all of the work. I have a difficult time delegating anyway, but to ask a volunteer to do something is hard for me.

A few years ago I heard a talk from Andy Stanley about playing to your strengths. The basic idea is that every person is gifted to do something, but no one is gifted to do all things. When we don't ask for help we are robing others from using their gifts. I remember Andy saying that there is someone out there who loves doing what you hate to do. Find that person and then work on what you love doing.

This past Wednesday night we did a Thrift Store Prom (everyone buys an outfit from the thrift store and wears it to the prom. We had a DJ, played a game to decide King and Queen, ate dessert and hung out.) It was a Student event and it was AWESOME! Here's what made it so good...I didn't plan it. Tab Hodges (our pastor's wife) took the reigns and rock'd it. Her planning, creativity, and thriftiness amazes me. Our students loved the event! Planning stuff like this stresses me out because I am not gifted to do it. Tab on the other hand is very gifted to plan parties, wedding showers, Bar Mitzvahs...you name it. I was reminded again at the Prom about the power of allowing others to use their gifts. Thanks Tab for all the hard work you did!

I turned 30

Today I turned 30 and it is AWESOME! I recommend everyone of you reading to turn 30. I love it! This has been by far my best birthday of my life. Amazing!

Last night we had a Student Event (more on that to come in a future blog). I got home around 10:30 PM and to my surprise were some great friends at the house. They yelled something but I couldn't make it out because I was staring at my new gift. Monica saved to get me 42 inch LCD flat screen TV. Are you kidding me? This is my dream gift. I didn't think I would ever get a flat screen. My parents and siblings helped with the purchase. I was in shock. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. Seriously...shock. And I may or may not have pooped my pants.

Today we are going to Six Flags in Maryland with some good friends. They bought Monica and I tickets for my birthday. What a fun day! I can't recommend turning 30 enough. It's the best!

What Songs Should I Download???

So, like I mentioned a few posts ago I received an itunes gift card for my birthday. Now the question is what songs should I download. I'm looking for some good new music or good old music. What are your suggestions?

To give you some sort of idea of music I like here are some of the most recent songs that I have downloaded...

• Every Rose Has It's Thorn by Poison
• Girl You Know It's True made famous by Milli Vanilli
• Hollywood's Not America by Ferras
• Believe by The Bravery
• Say by John Mayer

30 Days of Birthday

Gift 12: My 12th gift for 30 gifts in 30 Days for my 30th birthday was season one of the animated cartoon series Batman Beyond. It's from the same people who made Batman The Animated Series, Superman The Animated Series, and The Justice League of America. I never had a chance to watch this toon, so I'm pretty excited to check it out. I love receiving TV shows because it feels like you get your money's worth. It takes me forever to watch an entire series so it feels like it is worth the cost. Especially when you are patient and wait for the TV series to go on sale!

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Are you watching the Olympics? The highlights of the men's freestyle swimming relay has been all over the news. If I didn't see the highlights of this incredible race for myself I would have no idea what this picture represents. It was an amazing race! Go America!

If I had to write a caption without knowing what just happened my caption would read...

"WHERE'S MY SHIRT!!!!"

What would your caption read?

30 Days of Birthday

Gift 11: My 11th gift for 30 gifts in 3o days for my 30th birthday was a new framed picture of me and Monica at the Lakers game in LA. It's a great picture from our seats and the Lakers court is right behind us. Very thoughtful gift! I love having a new picture for my office. The ones that are currently on my desk are from when we were dating and our first year of marriage. I like them because I am thinner and have more hair, but it was definitely time to upgrade. Great gift!

Video Monday

When I was in middle school I rode this ride and it was the scariest moment of my life. They offer you a expensive video at horrible quality, but my experience was so scary I had to buy it.



In case you didn't know that wasn't me in the video. I really have been on that ride and it is scary! I can't imagine slipping through the seat like he did. Thank God for double chins.

30 Days of Birthday

Gift 10: My 1oth gift for 30 gifts in 30 days for my 30th birthday was a new Superman ornament. It looks like he is flying out of the pages of a comic book. I love it!

Death to my twenties

Today is my last day in my twenties. How cool is that!

Olympics

The Olympics are on and everyone is watching. I couldn't believe how many people were talking to me about the Olympics yesterday. I haven't had a lot of time to watch TV, so I haven't watched a single second of the Olympic games. After hearing so many people talk about it I had to tune in last night.

Last night I watched part of the U.S. girls gymnastic team do flips and twists that should be impossible to do. It was impressive. It made me wonder out loud if I had a professional trainer if I could ever do what they were doing. Monica (my wife) laughed and said no! I don't know though...if I dedicated myself 100%, had an amazing coach, and did nothing but train I think I might have a shot on U.S. girls Olympic gymnastic team...Not (oh yes I did just bring Not back)!

Sunday Reflections

The services at Waters Edge yesterday were bangerrang (yes that word is from the movie Hook and yes I am trying to bring it back)! Here are some highlights...

• Worship - great worship set. We started off the service with All because of Jesus by Steve Fee. That led to Mighty to Save by Hillsong United. Our final worship song for the day was God of this City from the Passion album and preformed by Chris Tomlin. Our band is amazing! Seriously...AMAZING!



• We are in the second week of our series entitled The Bod and God. For a behind the scenes right off the stage worship confessional by Phil Poteat click here.



• We showed a video to promote our upcoming ground breaking service. This is a huge announcement! Aug. 31 Waters Edge Church will have a ground breaking service on our land! Holla! The video that Phil did was incredible. I told Stu that I think we should show it every week at church. For those of you who aren't at Waters Edge here it is...
  
  



• My dad did a segment at the beginning of Stu's talk. He said that Stu was going to take care of the God part of the series, but he was going to take care of the bod part. He played the role of Fredrick the geriatric fitness instructor. He led us in doing strenuous tasks like touching our head, and then touching our knees. He really found his stride when he led us all to eat our peas. My favorite part of the segment was when he looked out into the crowd and asked someone in the front row..."what's wrong with you you don't like your peas?" It was a spontaneous line that he used in the first service, but it made us all laugh so he added it to the rest of the services. He ended the routine with leading us in the clapper. Clap on (clap clap) Clap off (clap clap) Clap on Clap off the clapper (clap clap). It made me laugh out loud. My dad did a great job. I heard lots of comments all morning.



• Stu did a great job with the talk. It was a difficult talk for him to do. In fact he changed up his topic after writing a good portion of the talk. He really felt like God was leading him to say what je ended up saying. It was powerful, challenging, and included the line..."in essence you are raping Jesus." It was a great talk and if you weren't there I encourage you to listen to it by clicking here.

30 Days of Birthday

Gift 9: My 9th gift for 30 gifts in 30 days was the boxed set for the movies The Karate Kid. I personally love The Karate Kid. I don't care what anyone says the first movie is a classic. The second movie is a decent sequel and the third movie has it's moments, but overall it's not the best. I've been wanting this box set for a while, but the problem was that until recently they always sold it with the fourth Karate Kid which was titled the Next Karate Kid. That movie is awful. It stars Oscar winner Hillary Swank, before she won the golden statue. I would rank that movie up there with the worst sequels of all time. I'm talking Batman and Robin, Speed Two, Rocky V, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Home Alone 3 - 16. Just awful. Anyway it was a great gift for me. Monica doesn't think she has seen The first Karate Kid, so I'm asking her nicely to watch it with me. It's not her type of film, but I did go see the Traveling Pants movie with her...she owes me.

30 Days of Birthday

Gift 8: My 8th gift from Monica for 30 days of gifts for my 30th birthday was a Itunes gift card. I absolutely love receiving these! It's great because I can download songs whenever I want to. I love music, but I don't like buying a CD unless I know a lot of songs on the CD or it's from a band I trust. I will try to keep you updated on what I download with this card.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 Review

Guest Blogger: Monica Shepherd

Many of you have already judged this movie based solely on the title. I don’t blame you; however, it was a sweet story with a happy ending. Using Rob’s scale (he’s too manly to review this movie), I gave it “thumbs to the side”. I’ve attached Rob’s rating system at the bottom to refresh your memory.

Here are the reasons I enjoyed this movie. It was clean, focused on the importance of friendships, and my husband took me to see if for a date night. Most men would say no to this movie, but my husband loves me and is confident in his masculinity. The movie follows four best friends from high school to college, highlighting dating, family, and friendship ups and downs. I think I’m drawn to these movies because I have four best friends from high school (Shima, Erika, Britt, and Marie) who have enriched my life, challenged me, and supported me through everything. We are spread out all over the country, but we keep in touch and would drop anything to help each other. They are each unique, beautiful, full of class, and know how to enjoy life. If someone made a movie about us, it would have a cooler title than “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and we would probably make more money.

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

This means a lot

Tonight I was checking my email and I received a great email from some friends from long ago. Years ago I worked at a little Baptist Church in Newport News VA. I only worked there for 7 months, but it was a great experience in my life (I was the interim youth pastor which basically means I was a long term sub after the youth pastor left and until the church hired the guy they wanted.)

The email was from a couple who worked with the students while I was at the church. For ten years they went through the struggle of infertility. God led them to adopt a beautiful girl who is now a huge part of their life. They sent great pictures of their daughter at Disney.

Through the years Monica and I have been very open about our desire to have kids and the process that we have gone through. We receive lots of kind words and advice, but the best thing that anyone can say to us is that they are praying for us. Tonight I was moved by the email that I read because my friends shared how they pray for us with their daughter every night. That's amazing! I haven't talked to them in 9 years and yet they are praying for us. They have never even met Monica and yet they are praying for us. It's easy to doubt God's love for us when He doesn't answer prayers, but it's just as easy to embrace His love when people represent Him well. Tonight my friends represented God well. I felt great love from that email tonight. Thank you Bill and Lisa!

30 Days of Birthday

Gift 7: My seventh gift for 30 gifts in 30 days for my 30th birthday was a set of Star Wars stamps framed. It features stamps from all six movies. I don't care if I am a nerd...I like it a lot. Now I just have to find a place to hang it.

Vacation Tips

My vacation is over and Monica (my wife) and I were talking about how we had a nice vacation, but we didn't break the bank. With the economy being what it is here are some tips to save money on your next vacay.

1. Vacation with another couple. It helps if this is a couple that you like. Instead of having to pay for a place to stay and gas to get there we just paid for gas. The other couple paid for the place to stay. This also helps because the other couple provides someone to hang out with so you don't always have to spend money doing something.

2. Buy groceries. We bought things like cereal, Mt. Dew, and some essential snacks. We also bought stuff to cook one dinner. That way we didn't have to eat every meal out. It's cheaper and it can be healthier.

3. Set a budget before you go. Monica and I knew how much money we could spend. It meant that we had to say no to some things, but we prioritized and did the things we really wanted to do.

4. Resist the temptation to buy crap. When you go to a place like Myrtle Beach the streets are lined with stores with BIG flashing lights. They suck you in like a tractor beam...at least they suck me in. Monica and I don't buy stuff from those stores. We normally go on vacation and buy one thing...a magnet. We spend a few bucks so we can have a souvenir, but we stop it at that.

5. Go to a place with a pool or beach. Since we had both we didn't feel the urge to go out and spend money on entertainment.

6. Bring entertainment with you. I brought the Wii, and some DVD's. Both of these gave us something to do, but it didn't cost a thing.

7. Bring a gift card. If you ever get a gift card to a restaurant try to save it for your next vacation. We had one for Outback and we were able to eat great and not spend a dime of our own money.

8. Drive somewhere relatively close. We only had to fill the tank two times.

9. Research before you go. Monica does a great job at this. Before every trip she does some research in books and on the Internet. She finds out all the great things to do and then prices them out. We knew we wanted to go parasailing and so we made that a priority. Monica wrote down multiple numbers for places to go and we went with the cheapest company. This helps you budget before you go because you know how much everything is going to cost.

10. Plan ahead. The truth is that taking a vacation is going to cost money. If you don't plan ahead you will either not be able to go or go into debt over it. Plan a few months in advance and you should be able to have a nice vacay but not break the bank.

30 Days of Birthday

Gift 6: The Office Season 1. If you know me you know that this show makes me laugh. It should make you laugh too. I don't know how Monica keeps coming up with this many great gifts for me. This is the best birthday ever and it's not even my birthday yet!

Guest Blogger...Kyle Walker

Kyle Walker guest blogging for Rob Shepherd.
I got that sick feeling in my stomach, turned to my friend Jonathan and said "Oh this is not good." The following is the retracing of the moments right before those words slipped out of my mouth:I watched her take her shirt off, only to reveal a pin-striped shirt underneath- a referee.

Before that she sat down to put on her basketball shoes.
Before that she walked into the gym.
Before that I was relieved because I didn't think I would have to see her again.
Before that I thought, "People like you."?
Before that she said to me as I got out of the car, "Excuse me sir- I thought you would have seen my blinker. I had my blinker on the entire time. I thought you were going to run me off the road!" I tried to be apologetic and polite. But she kept on. And I kept nodding and listening. "You were driving dangerously. You need to slow down. We are both trying to get to the same place- I don't understand people like you."
Before that she rolled down her window in the parking lot.
Before that I got really nervous.
Before that I saw her pull up in the parking lot.
Before that I got out of my car.
Before that I tried to lose her behind me because I realized I had just probably really ticked someone off.
Before that I saw the SUV turn right- right behind me.
Before that I passed the SUV.
Before that I thought that the person in front of me must be lost.
Before that I was wondering what the car in front of me was doing. It had it's right blinker on, but was not in the turning lane.
Before that I noticed that it was going really really slow. I began to think that this person must either be really old or must be really lost.
Before that I exited off of the Highway within the flow of traffic. I am not a tailgater- I am a good driver.
Before that I was in a hurry. I had to be there before tip-off for our basketball game. In a nutshell: I accidentally ticked off a lady in traffic. She followed me to tell me about it. I tried to play a basketball game and forget about it. She wouldn't let me forget about it, because she was refereeing our game. Like I said, "Oh this is not good."

30 Days of Birthday

Gift 5: Crazy Love (the book) by Francis Chan. I've been looking forward to reading this book ever since I heard Chan was writing it. Francis is one of my favorite preachers in the whole wide world!

Myrtle Beach

So, my vacation to Myrtle is almost over. We leave tomorrow morning. It's been a great vacation. Here are some thoughts about the trip.

Best idea: Going Parasailing.
Worst idea: Watching Shark Week on the Discovery Channel before going in the ocean.

Most peaceful moment: Floating around the lazy river at the resort we are staying at.
Most stressful moment: Driving on feeder roads. If you don't know what I'm talking about then praise God. They are scary roads.

Best discovery of the week: My skin discovering the sun. Dang I'm white.
Worst discovery of the week: My skin discovering the sun. Dang I'm now more multi-colored...but still pretty white.

Favorite Moment: Dinner at Outback with Monica for our anniversary
Least Favorite Moment: Hearing a little girl tell her friend she just peed in the pool.

Other notable mentions: Playing Mario Kart with Monica, hanging out with our friends Matt and Amy, and having wireless Internet.

Guest Blogger...Dan Peters

So recently a good friend from WEC underwent emergency surgery. He was doubled over in pain and crying in the hospital (or so I've heard, I don't go to hospitals unless someone is for sure dying, they make me queasy). He's a man's man. Works in construction and does extreme sports, not the kind of guy who cries over nothing.

His Appendix was going bad and they had to remove it. He's the second guy this year that I know of from WEC to have his appendix removed because it was going / had gone bad (ruptured). Not sure how long ago Jamey Menser (staff member of WEC) had his out, but he also doesn't have his. All these friends, losing organs... the only thing I can think of in common between them is Krispy Kreme donuts. This isn't scientific proof, but I still have mine and I prefer Dunkin Donuts... Next time you reach for the Krispy Kreme at WEC, you might want to think twice.

I'm just saying, do you still have your appendix, is a Krispy Kreme donut really worth the risk? Have you tried a Boston Creme donut from Dunkin Donuts?

DP
Guest blogger on Robshep.com

Disclaimer: Neither Rob Shepherd, Robshep.com or WEC endorse this blog posting. DP does not own shares in Krispy Kreme, but has contemplated purchasing shares of Dunkin Donuts.

30 Days of Birthday

Gift 4:
My 4th gift for 30 gifts in 30 days for my 30th b-day was a Raiders of the Lost Ark Indiana Jones ornament. It is wicked awesome. It also helps ease the pain in my soul from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Krystal Scull.

Video Monday

OK, this is funny. I watched this video a few times and it still makes me laugh.

Guest Blogger...Monica Shepherd

7 years is a really long time. Over that period of time you can birth a child and watch them grow into a second grader. The 7 Years War was kind of big deal- apparently that took 7 years too. The Tasmanian Tiger only has a life span of 7 years and there is a myth that says it takes 7 years for a piece of gum to digest after you swallow it! 7 years can also fly! This year is the 7th anniversary of September 11th, Wikipedia was founded 7 years ago, the Ravens won their first Superbowl 7 years ago, and Bush was elected President in 2001. Rob and I got married 7 years ago today and that was by far the greatest event of 2001. It seems like a really long time (in an amazing way), but it has flown by.

Let me tell you what it is like being married to the greatest man I've ever met besides Jesus. Rob is my best friend. He is considerate, charming, funny, sweet, loves the Lord, thoughtful, romantic, creative, smart, handsome....the list goes on. Since he would never write about himself this way, I thought I would take this opportunity to sing his praises. He leaves me notes around the house, packs my lunch for school, bakes better cookies than me, does housework, gets to know my students, makes me laugh out loud, loves my friends, and makes me want to be a better person. If you would like the full list of why I love Rob contact me.

I praise God for the last 7 years and can't wait for many, many more to come. Some days I think that life can't get much better than this, but Rob reminds me daily that it can. Hopefully our marriage will out live the 80 year life expectancy of a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo.

7 Years

It's hard for me to imagine my life 7 years ago. It's not that I don't have memories...it's just that those memories don't include my wife Monica. Seriously, 7 years ago doesn't seem like that long, but I feel like I've known Monica my whole life. Technically I have known Monica for 9 years. One year of friendship (she loved me) and half a year of dating (she really loved me) and then our marriage began (I can't keep her hands off me). It's hard to put into words what Monica means to me. She is my best friend, the love of my life, and the greatest person I know. She makes me laugh. She puts up with my stupidity. She goes to Lakers games with me and watches super hero movies. She puts up with the other love of my life...my blog. Monica doesn't nag me. She let's me be me, but at the same time I am always challenged to be a better person because of her.

The past two years I have watched her gracefully go through a miscarriage and a failed attempt to become pregnant with infertility treatment. I have seen other girls go through similar struggles and become bitter at life, but not Monica. Monica celebrates when others get pregnant. When asked if it is a struggle for her she talks about how much she loves being married. I have heard her say on more than one occasion that she is so thankful for our marriage that if that is all God ever gives her she will consider herself blessed. I don't deserve that kind of love.

Today is my 7th anniversary and I praise God for that. I can honestly say that I am more in love with Monica today then I was 7 years ago. I pray that I can love her the way that Jesus loves us...unconditionally, selflessly, and passionately. I seriously do pray that on a weekly basis. She makes it easy to love her and I can't wait to experience the rest of my life with her.

Do what?

Imagine the scenario. You're at the Wal-Mart and you have just waited 20 minutes in one of only two lines available. It's hot outside and so you are wearing flip flops (or the inappropriately titled thongs for you feet). As you put your groceries in your car you feel something wet brush across your feet. You don't think anything about it until it happens again. At this point you think a dog is licking your feet. You bend down and look under your car when to your surprise it's not a dog licking your foot...it's a man baby. Seriously, a grown man. I just saw on Headline News a man licked a woman's foot as she put her groceries in her car at Wal-Mart. How sick is that?

30 Days of Birthday

Day 3:
Today Monica surprised me with a great gift! You might not know this but I am a budding magician. Right now I know two magic card tricks. It's not quite sawing someone in half, but it still blows people's minds (at least in my mind their minds are blown). So, Monica bought me a new magic trick. Just get ready because Robdini has a new magic trick! I can't wait to show the world.

Exposed Pastor

Today, on vacation, we visited Barefoot Community Church. The church has renovated a movie theater for their building. The venue is really cool, and we really enjoyed the service. Today they started something BIG. For the next four weeks the pastor is going to be live all day everyday via web cam. You can check it out at www.exposedpastor.com. I love going to other churches and checking out what God is doing.

Guest Blogger... Phil Poteat

So, it's Sunday night and Phil is Philling in for Rob's "Sunday Reflections." Check out Phil's blog at www.philopedia.com

I'm totally exhausted which it one sign that it was a GREAT day! Stu rocked the house with the opening sermon in the series "The Bod and God" with a little help from his friend "Walker the Workout Guy" (Aka Nik Long) I thought it was very funny bit, probably my favorite moment was at the end when Nik took off his drenched head band and wrung the "sweat" into his mouth it was G-R-O-S-S! Stu's Sermon was excellent as always, he set up the series and gave a great plug for our folks to take action by getting baptized in a few weeks, all in all a very engaging and thought provoking sermon. And the whole blue light thing had me pretty paranoid driving home tonight looking out for police cars. (if you don't know what I'm talking about, listen to Stu's Sermon here)

Worship went really well today! We opened the day with "All to You" by Lincoln Brewster, came back after the welcome with "Happy Day" by Tim Hughes and closed out the worship set with "From the Inside Out" from Hillsong. This song was new today and I have to say that the band really knocked it out of the park. All three crowds responded strongest to this song and the band really let loose in worship to this Song. If you missed it, I'm sure we'll bring it back again soon!

Stu opened the welcome via video on our property. On Tuesday, Stu had the privilege of knocking down the last 2 trees in the clearing of our land. It was a really exciting moment.

Well that's it from me. It's been a privilege talking to you on robshep.com have a great night!!!

Guest Bloggers...Courtney and Lindsey

Hanson Brothers vs. the Jonas Brothers…Think about It.

When Rob asked us to be guest speakers for his blog (a great honor I am told), we thought we’d take this opportunity to do something for the greater good. Because we have this opportunity, we thought we’d shed some light on the similarities between Hanson and Jonas, and hopefully gain some cool Hanson fans in the process.
1. The similarity that all members of the two bands are brothers is obvious. Only a trained fan, however, would notice that both bands have a sexy member, a goofy member, and a slightly less attractive member. Altogether, Hanson’s hottie quotient outweighs that of Jonas, at least for now.
2. Oprah has compared both of the bands to The Beatles.
3. Both have strong Christian roots and talk/have talked about it in the infancy of their careers. Jonas Bros.’ promise rings are always a hot topic. Hanson continues to do so, but Taylor’s pregnant girlfriend scandal in 2002 still makes headlines (at least in Courtney’s Hanson newsletter).
4. Both bands most likely use Pantene Pro-V products, and relatedly, have incredible and enviable hair.
5. Guys may publicly loathe them (take Kyle Hornsby for example as we were writing this), but secretly love their music or at least their effects on the ladies.
The Jonas Brothers, in our opinion, have a long way to go before they “outcool” Hanson. The Hanson brothers have ten albums under their belt, and continue to make girls cry/bellow at their concerts (although most that behave this way are likely of the unemployed variety). What’s cooler is that Hanson has invested a ton of money/time/effort in helping fight poverty and disease in Africa, and who doesn’t love that? Enjoy the new and improved Hanson, we’re sure you will!!
Courtney and Lindsey

Video:

30 Days of Birthday

My second gift from my wife Monica, for 30 gifts in 30 days for my 30th birthday was a rechargeable docking station for two Nintendo Wii remotes. We go through some batteries, so this is a great gift. Here is a pic of the first present Monica gave me...a t-shirt with http://www.robshep.com/. How cool is that?

Guest Blogger...Dillon Tulip

So I was a little hesitant to write this mainly because I've never wrote a blog before but I figured I would give it a try. So a couple of days ago one of my friends came over and we figured we would longboard (for those who don?t know the longboard I'm talking about is a longboard skateboard) over to the dare elementary area. We have done this a couple of times when we get bored. So on our way over there nothing really exciting happening so we decided to go over to our friend's house. When we get there we found out they weren't home and wouldn't be home for an hour, so we decided to go over to the Bargain Box to see if they had anything to do for an hour. We got bored of that in like 10 minutes so we just left and rode until our friend got home. So after we're done hanging out we start to head back to the house.

On our way home it seemed like there was no one on Dare road at all. But then a cop drives by us going the opposite way, so I gave the cop a head nod and she waves back. So like 1 minute later I turn around to see where my friend is and he is getting pulled over by the cop on his longboard, when I see this all going on I pull off into the Rite-Aid parking lot and wait. A couple minutes later he gets back on his board and starts riding again, so I get back on my board and start riding again to. I turned around again and the cop pulled off into the Rite-Aid parking lot and waited until he rode by again. I was laughing pretty hard when I saw this happening. After she was done talking to him he picked up his board and starting walking towards me, I asked him what happened and apparently it's illegal to skateboard in Yorktown?!?! Later on when we asked someone if this was real and he had no idea about this law, we came to a conclusion that the cop was just trying to catch us "riding dirty". So the moral of this whole story is not to ride down Dare rd. riding a longboard when there is no one on the street next to a cop.

Guest Blogger...My Dad

I love being a Dad. Some people are sad when their kids are grown and out of the house.While I understand this because I really enjoyed watching them growing up, I feel especially blessed to be able to enjoy them and their accomplishments as adults. Rob's great work in ministry at Waters Edge Church. My son Jon who is the family version of Iron Man and daughter Sarah who had followed in the family tradition of all the women in our family by being in education. I am triple blessed in their choices of spouses. Our family has multiplied and in addition have 2 of the greatest grand children the world. So I love being a part of their lives and am much richer for it! While I may be growing older, my wife Marcia and I feel these are the best years ever.
Robert E. Shepherd

30 Days of Birthday

So today is my first day of 30 days celebrating my birthday. Monica is giving me one gift everyday for 30 days. Today I received a t-shirt that says...dun dun duuuuuu


http://www.robshep.com/. That's right, Monica made a his and her t-shirt publicising my blog. I love her! I can't wait for my second gift!

Guest Blogger...Matt Kuchera

Well typically all I would say is what is up Machine Heads, but seeing as how this is not THE MACHINE and you are not visiting my blog, I am a guest of this website. So instead let me start by stating what a privilege it is to be picked for a guest blog for Robshep.com. For starts, this is one of my favorite blogs to read, I mean I love it. Rob is a good buddy of mine, and his content always keeps me entertained. Another thing, and I bet you didn’t know this, I started my blog because of Robshep.com. I thought to myself what a cool way to let the world into my head(although scary it may be).

So I’m going to call you sports fans, and sticking with the theme of Robshep.com celebrating his birthday soon, I want to dive into the whole age issue. Everybody ages differently, women mature faster than men, the average age of a united states citizen is about 77 years of age. Those are all things said about age. I want to touch on my favorite thing about age, it doesn’t matter. I don’t segregate, discriminate, separate, or congregate with any one age group. I love kids and seniors, men and women, middle age and teenage people. Society is notorious for their grouping people by their age. I think that it is hog wash.

Robshep.com is turning 30 years of age. And some would say that it is an old age, a turn of the life page, and in some respects it is. Relatively to me, he is older, chronologically it is older than me, however Rob is my friend. We have a lot of the same interests and we have a similar level of maturity(not to be confused with our different personalities). God created us to be different, to be individuals, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t have a friend that is 64(forty years older than me). Life experience might separate our understanding of certain situations, time undoubtedly adds insight via hindsight. Chew on this though sports fans, Michael Kevin Kearney went to college at age six, a 78 year old woman can graduate college in the same class. There are two ends of the chronological spectrum, yet they are at the same level of life.

Bottom line sports fans, I don’t classify people by age, race, or sex. Are you genuine, do you have an open mind, can you love other people? Can you joke? Can you take a joke? Do you love movies? Are you a fan of silly stuff? Do you like to act like a kid sometimes? Can you love GOD? If you can answer yes to these questions, you can be my friend. I can definitely hang out with you, and we could be good buddies. That’s all I have for now friends. FIN

Off to Myrtle

Today Monica and I are off to Myrtle Beach South Caroline. I can't wait to get there. For our trip, Monica picked out some new glasses for me. What do you think?