an oldie but a goodie

I found this exploring my blog site, an old post back in the days of waiting for season six. If Jack Bauer were to write a book, this could be the cover. No doubt.

Movie Reveiw : Shooter

This was my first veture out to the movies since X-men 3. It has been awhile since I did this, but Lance and Tom were adamant about going to see a movie with me. Thank you guys, it was so fun.

I enjoyed this testosterone surge of a man flic very much. A movie about a sniper, with lots of head shots, and things that blow up. Hard to lose there. It actually had a pretty good story as well though.

A marksman (Wahlberg) living in exile is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the president. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, he goes on the run to track the real killer and find out who exactly set him up, and why.

I give it 4 out of 5.

Ted Nugent and David Crowder*Band Recording

this is nugent laying down some wicked guitar tracks for the newest David Crowder*Band CD coming in September. I cannot wait until this day.

Youth Ministry

Some days y job is really hard. People don't listen and I watch them make bad mistakes that I advised against. I plead with people to make Christ the center of their lives because it is the best way of life, and then watch some make self the focus of their life. The Apostle Paul describes being a pastor like a woman in labor, but it does not end, because you are always laboring to see Christ come to be a reality for people. Fun.

Well today is not one of those days. I just got this e-mail:

Hi Tom!

Thanks for contacting ***** about coming to Youth Group. He's been making some bad choices lately but wants to get back on track. We just keep loving him and praying...a lot! He said that you emailed him that you didn't care where he'd been just where he's going.

That little statement meant a lot to him. You do make a difference.

Need I say more. This is also on top of being a hard frustrating job, a very rewarding one when you get feedback like this.

Movie Reveiw: The Prestige

Another great movie with another great message. I loved this movie immensely, and I watched it twice, once to see it, and another to see it with the end in mind.

It is a mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences. From the time that they first met as young magicians on the rise, Robert Angier and Alfred Borden were competitors. However, their friendly competition evolves into a bitter rivalry making them fierce enemies-for-life and consequently jeopardizing the lives of everyone around them.

This was an amazing movie with a great message and an amazing ending. I figured this movie out about three quarters of the way through, but it didn’t matter because it was done so well. One of my favorite movies this year, possibly decade. And who doesn’t love good ol’ David Bowie?

Movie Reveiw: Stranger than Fiction

My apologies to the American public, but I am not a big Will Ferrell fan. Actually, I am not a fan at all. I have no desire to see all his movies. I think he is pretty funny and all, but I am not the guy to rush out and see his new movie. But this was one of the best films I have ever seen. Most definitely the best this year to date.

It is hard to describe this movie without giving away much. Karen Effiel is an author writing her latest novel about an isolated man named Harold Crick. What she doesn't know is that her fictionalized character is real. The real Harold Crick is an IRS agent who has lived a dull existence and one day begins to hear Karen's voice as she narrates what she puts on paper to what Harold has and is doing. Because of this Harold enlists the help of a literary professor to find out what is happening and ends up changing things about his life including beginning a relationship with his IRS client, a government-hating bakery owner named Ana Pascal. Harold, however, finds trouble when he hears that Karen plans to kill him. This movie has deep meaning and a powerful message, and it is just dang good. Watch it ASAP.

NO FREAKIN WAY!!

alright, I have always loved the DavidCrowder*Band. Well they are recording their new album remedy right now as we speak (well as you read) and they ran into Ted Nugent! I just read on David Crowder's blog (yes I am a dork and read his blog daily) that "The Nuge" Ted Nugent himself is laying down a guitar track on the new David Crowder Album!! No Freakin Way! You can go and read about it all here:

http://www.xanga.com/emprise34/579603654/mmmmvenison.html

God's Pie

wow. ain't we just like that? Thanks to Josh G for this video.

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS!!

Well our doctor has just set a date. Kara is gestational diabetic, and he wants to deliver the baby early. Really early. We have an amnio scheduled for April 10th, if the baby is developed as it should, we will have a c-section on either Thursday hte 12th or Friday the 13th (yeah, friday the 13th). That gives us 22 days left till the baby's arrival. Oh My.

Daddy's boy

Recently a change has been happening, Isaac has been turning into a Daddy's boy. It has been great fun. As soon as I get home, he takes my hand and pulls me into his room saying, "play basketball!" And today we went to the store, just me and him. It was fun. I like this change, and the timing is great too, with the baby only 20 some days away, it will be an easier transition for him if he accepts my attention as well as his mama's.

Musicals are here

I have been in youth ministry for a while now. That means that I have seen every musical known to man. I really don't like musicals, breaking into song and dance is not really my thing. But I must say that I am beginning to enjoy watching the youth do them. We went to see Oklahoma last weekend, and we saw Music Man this weekend, and it was pretty fun. To see kids who are shy and reserved sing and dance with abandon is pretty entertaining.

Thanks for the good show.

Bauer, the super hero

Yes, Jack Bauer is even awesome on Guitar, as seen here on American Music Supply's magazine cover. Rock on Jack!

No Smoking Please

My grandmother sent me this picture of a new smoking section in this building.

Help The Police

What you let your kids experience in the media matters. You can take the example here by this fella and do some editing of your own. Thanks to noel h bringing my attention to this fantastic video.

Credit Cards Suck

Kara and I are in a financial class at church. I am realizing how undisciplined I am in money, and how much I need to get a hold of this area of my life. One of the cool things that we learned this week was that when a credit card sends you a application with a prepaid envelope, you tear up the application and mail it back to them on their dime. Pretty soon they stop sending them.

Also if you pay an extra $125 a month on your mortgage, you can cut your loan length in half! From 30 to 15 years! Wow! With a $100,000 house mortgage, at the end of 30 years you end up paying more than $300,000 for it, if you don't refinance and spend the equity. Also if you finance a car, you end up paying 3X the amount of the actual price in the end! So if you pay off your car, then pay your car payment into an account and COLLECT interest instead of pay it, you can buy a car flat out!

I am loving this class, and I hope to be in control of our money at the end of it.

Hub Renovations begin!

Our your room, which is actually now a cafe since we out grew it, is being renovated. The youth before us redid this room and it was cool for a while, but it is dated, and it is time for renovations. For the next month we are renovating this room, and I'll post some pics so yuo can see how it is all coming. I am really excited to see everyone get together and help, even Isaac.

demo

Lance and Tom really wanted to rip down this mini wall, so we did. I looks great now. We are ripping down two more next week. Yee Haw.

after the mountain dew color

we put primer on all the walls, good bye city, good bye mountain dew color, goodbye baptist dividers.

mountain dew paint

there is a mountain dew colored trim on this window. I didn't know mountain dew made paint until i saw this. It is now white with primer.

Baptist Dividers

I am so glad to remove "baptist dividers" from any room. They are the accordion walls that fold up that are found in many Baptist churches.

More brick wall

yeah, still working on the wall.

The old Hub

This is a picture of the old hub. It was cool for a while, but it got dated.

The Brick Wall Wall Paper

This brick wall was tenacious! It took 2 1/2 hours to take down. Tom, Kylie, Rachel, Amy, Kara, Abby, Amy, and myself worked on this wall. Man it felt good to get down though.

Just have faith

I almost wet myself after reading the bottom print. Its weird how people now a days just make up something and believe it out of no where. They base it on, "well its what i feel in my heart." Bull crap. That's called a cult. When someone makes something up and believes it, its called a cult, no matter how sincere you "feel" if you don't base what you believe on something with authority, like the Bible, you are starting your own cult.

The moral of the story is, it doesn't matter how sincere you are, if it isn't true, it is false.

Apples are yummy

He has been loving apples lately. He looked at te bowl of apples and said, "eat it."

Isaac in a big boy chair

Isaac sat at the table in a real chair the other day.

Still madly in love

I smile just like my Dad.

Isaac and his Nana

Isaac's Nana came to visit while we went to the marriage conference. Here he is watching pooh bear. He loves his nana.

That's a big scarf

Isaac also tried on his this huge scarf while he talked with his Nana.

bonjour

Isaac was trying on Kara's hat, he looked french.

The Miracle Thaw

We went thrift store shopping today in Grand Rapids, and I found this as seen on tv wonder for $2. I got it home to test it out. It works! I started with an ice cube, it melted in 3 minutes!

Upon finding out that I did not get ripped off, I opened the freezer and started pulling things out of the freezer. I thawed macaroni and cheese leftovers, a frozen pea, another ice cube, and a shrimp.

This thing is a miracle of science! You run it under hot water for 20-30 seconds and then put your frozen item on the tray and watch it thaw out. It never gets hot or even warm, I am not sure how it works but it does and fast too.