I've noticed that the term "hero" has started to be thrown around again. Heroes of comedy on Comedy Central. Someone doing stand-up can be considered a hero? I've heard it all over sports again the last few weeks. I guess I don't really care, just noticed it.

I managed to cut myself with a sponge today. I was taking my morning shower and using that little puff ball thingy when all of a sudden, "OUCH!" I look down and lo and behold I'm bleeding from where I was scrubbing myself. A sponge made me bleed. What does that say about me? What does that say about the sponge? What does that say about society? Does God care that I was cut by a sponge? What about...

Before I forget: The Packers sucked it up on Sunday. The defense played very well, but the offense forgot to wake up. Favre had 6 ints. There were 2 fumbles. 8 total turnovers. I honestly don't remember EVER seeing a game with that many turnovers. Oh, well...they had a good season and will be back next year. They MUST aqcuire a veteran receiver. As much as I can't stand him, Cris Carter is looking good about now. Trade Dorsey to the Vikes for Carter. hehe Anyway, they'll be back to beat the Bears a few more times next year... :-)

Isn't it cool how shocking Jesus is? He was prophisied continually but the Jews kept conjuring up their own ideas of what he'd be like. I was just imagining when Jesus read the passage from Isaiah in the temple, rolled up the scroll and gave it back, then sat down and said, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." "Uh...yeah. And? Help us out here, JC. You certainly don't mean YOU are the fulfillment, right?" The Suffering Servant, how utterly opposite of what they had imagined. Strangely, we're shocked even today to think about Him that way. We know it's true (many do, at least) but it...doesn't fit the way we want it to. I can only say, Thank You, Jesus, for suffering for me.

I'm looking forward to the new David Crowder Band cd, too. Found a bunch of live stuff online and it's super sweet.

Tim Hughes' new worshipcd is awesome. Very Matt Redman-ish. My hands raised themselves while I listened and was drawn to worship. That was nice. :-)

Wow. I just had some slimy advertising people call the church and call me an a**hole for not wanting their services. The guy was talking so fast I couldn't even understand him and when I asked, "What is this even for?" he just said, "advertising." I asked if we ordered this or signed up for it and he said no, so I said we didn't want it. His next sarcastic line was, "Have a blessed day, a**hole." He KNOWS he's talking to a youth pastor at a church and still felt good saying that. Interesting. If I knew who the heck it was, I'd call the BBB on them. Oh, well...

"Am I really that pre-diddly-ictable?" - Ned "Steady Neddy" Flanders

Wow, a month to the day since I last wrote. A busy month, too. Alex (Julie's brother) got married on Dec. 29th and it went really well. I was an usher and (no offense) I got the feeling that ushers are completely useless. It's rare that people even understand what an usher does. Anywho...the wedding was beautiful and I got to emcee the reception. Alex and Erin will be an awesome couple.

Then we went to Florida (Disney World specifically) the first week of Jan. What a blast! The whole clan was there (9 of us!) and we hit all four parks at DWorld. Epcot was my favorite, followed by Animal Kingdom, Magic Kindom, and MGM. It was my first time there so I was like a little kid. :-) When we were at the Animal Kingdom, it POURED all day. Nothing more funny than THOUSANDS of people wearing the same poncho. hehehe We managed to have a spectacular day despite the weather. In fact, the weather was terrible nearly the whole time. Incredibly cold for Florida (30 over night, 45-50 during the day) and it showed on the news. I'll never forget, "Experts say blankets keep you warm. Use them and keep your heat down...you'll thank yourself at the end of the month when your bill comes!" Hilarious. The airports were fine and our flights were great. Security didn't seem a whole lot tighter to me, but that's just me, I guess.

So we've been back for a week and it's been...interesting. At first it was really hard because we had just been with our awesome fam for a week and now we were back in our "regular lives." But then I had a though: You can't enjoy a vacation if you don't have that "regular life." Why would you appreciate a break if your whole life is one big break? So, we're back in the swing of things and it's going fine. Especially since the Packers whooped the 49ers. Sweet relief. Rams next week. I hope they can win. If not, play a respectable game. We'll see, I guess.

I'm reading a new book called, "The Godbearing Life: The Art of Soul Tending for Youth Ministry" by Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster. Holy junk...long enough title!? I just realized that. The point is, it's a great book. If you're in youth ministry, get it. I'm through chapter 2 and am already changed. Nothing revolutionary, really, just right. Moving from program oriented ministry to relational/incarnational ministry. Very old concept (Paul and Timothy) and yet it's been lost in our fireworks and crying ideals. Really "tending the souls" of young people. So, I'm being revitalized in my ministry and my personal life. That's exciting.

Well...there's an update. Enjoy and I'll continue to write more frequently. :-)