Me again..

A few more things....

On Sammy Sosa going to the Orioles: Why? Why sign a 36 year-old ex-slugger? Mr. Sosa was once a force to be reckoned with. But now? I don't think so. I would think that his best days are behind him (98 - 01). Can he hit more home runs than Rafael Palmeiro? Perhaps. But is he worth the money? No. My dad said that it was a good publicity ploy to draw attention away from the Washington Nationals. And the thing is, I wouldn't put that past Peter Angelos. So while Sammy may be coming to Charm City, he alone will not get the birds out of fourth place. Oh for the days when Curt Schilling was still an Oriole...

Today is National Bubblewrap Appreciation Day. Have your popped a bubble?

Here's an interesting movie titled Gunner Palace. Watch the soldiers swim in Sadam Hussein's pool!

And we might see 40 degrees by the end of the week!!

A Potpurri of stuff

Funny picture here.

Now for one of the oddest and saddest things I've had to read about. There's a semi-pro basketball team down in Nashville known as the Nashville Rhythm. No problems there, right? Well the owner is a "self-made" pop star/entrepreneur named Sally Anthony. During their game on Saturday night, Anthony came down from the stands and demanded that her coach pull one of their players from the court. This is during the game mind you. She verbally abused her coach and made quite a scene. You can read more here (there's a better article on washingtonpost.com, but you have to be registered to read it there).

Kudos to my Maryland Terrapins who beat Georgia Tech last night for their second consecutive ACC win against a ranked opponent. Extra special kudos to the Messiah College men's basketball team who beat Lebanon Valley Saturday night for the first time in five years.

I read this great quote from Thomas Merton over the weekend. Unfortunately, I don't remember what it was. I'll try and post it tonight.

Million Dollar Baby wants your money

It's been a while since I've had a movie to review. But now I have one. Today I went to go see Million Dollar Baby. "MDB" if you don't know, is a story about a female boxer, who gets a well-known trainer to train her and turn her into a fighter. I liked this movie a lot. And not just because I like Hilary Swank. I'm not a big fan of most dramas, but I was drawn to this movie because of Hilary, Morgan Freeman, and Clint Eastwood. I think Clint was outstanding in this picture, playing the role of trainer Frankie Dunn. The movie clocked in at over two hours long, but it didn't seem like it. Swank played the self-made boxer, Maggie. The relationship that developed between Maggie and Frankie was very believable and really helped to carry the movie. From Frankie's family problems, to Maggie's family problems, the two were kindred spirits, which carried through to the movie's conclusion. This movie, up for several Oscars, will definitely take a few trophys home next month. I would recommend this movie (as long as a little blood doesnt scare you). I'm giving it a "10."

"Christian Bloggers"

So as I've been at this thing for the past two-thirds of a year, I've finally discovered the "Christian Blogosphere." What's that you say, there's an alternate reality for Christian bloggers? I guess. My springboard for exploration was The Evangelical Outpost. There are apparently quite a few out there. Lots of Christians who also blog. Or are they bloggers who happen to be Christians? Hmmmm... Of course, Christian blogs will be considered inferior to secular blogs because they're just trying to copy it and "Jesus-fy it. Heaven forbid if Christians try to be original....

This is for Mike H.

Poor Ed Rendell, all he knows is cheesesteaks.

It's 5:00 somewhere....

Here's some Pirates of the Caribbean 2 movie news. They've cast someone as 'ol "Bootstraps" Turner. Bootstraps is, of course, the father of Will Turner. I can't remember how to spell his name or pronounce it, but you'll recognize his face. Read more here.

Earlier this week I posted a new resume to Monster.com. My resume is searchable, which means employers can find my name as well as my email address regarding job openings. I've already received too many emails for sales postions. When I'm looking through the junk mail in my inbox, I can usually pick out the junk based on the email address. So I got this email and the subject was "Resume Response." But the email address started "mr.king@...." Yeah, I'll get right on that Mr. King.

For my soccer-loving friends: I figured out how the USSF resolved it's contract issue with the national team players. This is an atrocity. Maybe if we were playing in Europe, but we're playing teams like Guatemala! Ay yi yi. I'm sure some suckers with money to kill with sign up.
Disclaimer: I've never really been a fan of the US National team to begin with, so you should take the prior paragraph with that grain of salt.

On the telly

Last week, PBS started a three part series entitled Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State. I have to say that it's been very interesting to watch. It's a Ken Burns-style documentary featuring actual conversation from letters, minutes, etc, along with interviews with former Nazi soldiers and prisoners. I've learned a lot watching the series. For instance, the first gas chamber was a small room with all the doors and windows heavily taped. They ran a hose from the room to the tailpipe of a truck. They just revved the engine and killed the Russian prisoners via carbon monoxide. Horrifying stuff, but interesting nonetheless. I'm watching now, and German leaders actually installed a brothel in Auschwitz to help motivate some of the prisoners in the camp. Weird...

And did anyone watch Alias tonight? Talk about weird.

Movies I'd like to see soon..

Million Dollar Baby
Hotel Rwanda
National Treasure
In Good Company

Also, speaking of movies, the Razzie nominations came out yesterday. You can see specifics here. They actually nominated many of the Republican politicians in the movie Farenheit 9/11 for worst actor/actress awards. Yet, Farenheit 9/11 was not nominated in the "Worst Movie of the Year" category. I sent an email to the guy in charge of the Razzies inquiring about this "injustice." Movies in the WMOTY categories like Catwoman and Alexander had 13 nominations between them. The other three movies in this category had seven nominations total. If you're going to bash my President, go ahead, but try to be consistent.

If I hear anything back, I'll post it here.

Oh the horror!

Yesterday, the U2 pre-sale started for their Spring US tour and Summer European tour. In a word, it was a disaster. All the paid-subscribers of U2.com (of which I am a member), were given a code to use to purchase tickets before they went on sale to the general public this Saturday. Things didn't go very smoothly. Ticketmaster ground to a halt, codes didn't work, and ticket availability if you got through, was scarce. You can read more here.

I decided not to queue up for tickets this time because I didn't have the money and I am expecting a Fall US tour, following their European outing. So I'm hoping things get all worked out by that time. Hoping...

Rolling Stone has a change of heart

Two weeks ago, they decided not to run the Zondervan. Now, they've decided to run it. Read it here.

T.O. is talkin' spiritual

Found this from Mr. Terrell Owens:

While attending the 76ers' game yesterday, Owens said: "What a lot of people don't realize is that I've been doing a lot of rehab on my own, a lot of healing on my own, but spiritually God is healing me and I'm way ahead of where a lot of people expect me to be, even the doctor. He's even shocked at what he's seen. Spiritually I've been healed and I believe that I'll be out there on that field Sunday, regardless of what anyone says."

Things that make you go hmmmmm....

Here's a link to some pics from the Passion Conference in Nashville.

For lack of a better option, I'm picking the Patriots to win the Super Bowl. I'm not rooting for them, but I think they'll win.

General musings

I'm currently reading Praise Habit: Finding God in Sushi and Sunsets, by David Crowder. It's a good book, and I would recommend it. But he suggested an idea in the book that I am hoping to take on later this year. His idea, is to go through the book of Psalms, and rewrite the Psalms in your own words. It helps you get a better idea of David's heart, as well as making the Psalms personal.

And while I'm talking about the Psalms, my next book is A Heart Like His: Intimate reflections on the life of David, by Beth Moore. This could be the year of the Psalm for me. We shall see.

If anybody watched any of the AFC playoff games over the past few weeks, you saw the promo for the CBS show "NUMB3RS." I decided to watch it last night and I thought it was pretty good. The head elf from The Santa Clause is in it along with the guy from Northern Exposure, and the girl who played the producer on Sports Night (except I think her hair was a lighter brown then). I might watch it again, if I happen to be home at ten o'clock on Friday night. That's a bad night for tv. The one person I know who watches Friday night shows actually tapes them and watches them later. They should just show movies on Friday nights. But people get paid big money in the programming department to determine that Friday night was the best night for this show. Who wants to bet it gets a new timeslot if it returns next fall?

U2 in the US this Spring

NORTH AMERICA DATES AND TICKETING INFORMATION

March 28th San Diego, CA - Sports Arena
April 1st Anaheim, CA - Arrowhead Pond
April 5th Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center
April 9th San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
April 14th Phoenix, AZ - Glendale Arena
April 20th Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
April 24th Seattle, WA - Key Arena
April 28th Vancouver, BC - General Motors Place
May 7th & May 9th Chicago, IL - United Center
May 14 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
May 17 & May 18 East Rutherford, NJ - Continental Airlines Arena
May 21 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
May 24 & May 26 Boston, MA - Fleet Center

Snowy Saturday

It snowed today. I figured about six inches, although the numbers seemed to vary greatly around the midstate. Ironically enough, the first big snow of the season came under all the conditions that I required. It came on a weekend, and I didn't have to be anywhere. So with the exception of a grocery run to Wal-Mart, I stayed home all day.

I was watching the Washington Wizards play the Indiana Pacers tonight and I realized that Steve Blake, Laron Profit, and Juan Dixon were all on the Wizards roster. All of them are graduates of the University of Maryland. And that's how it should be. I think the NBA should make a rule that states a certain percentage of a team's players come from colleges within maybe a 200-mile radius of that team's city.

I heard a great compliment over the weekend. Somebody called their friend "precious cargo" and those around her were admonished to take care of her. And I said to myself these things: 1) Wow, I've never heard that before, and 2) Wow, that's also really cool.

Last night some friends and I went to see an improv group going by the name of Mission Improvable, who were performing at Lebanon Valley College. I enjoyed myself early on, but as the night progressed, it appeared these guys were opening for Robin Williams. Bad things man.... And it didn't help that the students were offering lots of vulgar suggestions. I know, I know...what did I expect from college students...

And while I'm talking about comedy, I would like to say that I think it takes a lot more effort to do clean comedy, then to do crappy comedy (both literally and figuratively). I could be wrong, but I don't think so. I've seen clean improv stuff and it was very funny. So it can be done. But why be risky, when you can get the guaranteed laughs with the toilet and sex humor.

Saturday's weather forecast

I just got yelled at

For talking on my cell phone at the Messiah College Library. Taking a call from one of my blog readers no less. Perhaps this privilege is only reserved for people who actually give money during the phone-a-thon. =)

A hard thing to do

My mum recently got me a prayer journal where I could write out my prayers and each entry also has a spot for "how God answered this prayer."

So last night I wrote a prayer for my marital future. And I included how I would like to get married and I also prayed for my future wife. I also prayed for the flip side. And I prayed that if God didn't want me to be married, that he reveal that to me in the very near future. That's the hard and scary thing. Cuz I don't know if I really want to know that. I mean I would like to know, but I don't wanna know. Know what I'm sayin'?

So I'll keep you posted, but be advised that I'll be prayin' for a lady until I hear otherwise.

Bad Giant

Okay. So I went grocery shopping with my sister on Monday night (for clarity, she was the one shopping, and I just came along to help). "Simply Orange" orange juice was on sale at Giant, three for $5.00, so she wanted to get some. But alas, there was a big empty space in the dairy section where the Simply Orange should have been. So I say to my sister, no problem, I was going to stop by Giant before work on Tuesday morning, so when I stop by again, I'll get the juice after it's been restocked overnight (i think that was a run-on sentence). Tuesday morning, a little before 7:30 am, I am again in the dairy section and again, I find myself staring at the same big empty space that was there last night. Which was odd. So I thought to myself, "okay, over lunch today I'll go pick up some juice at the Giant in Middletown." Went to the Giant in Middletown. Same big empty space. So now I'm thinking, what's up with this? After work, the Giant on Trindle Road. Same big empty space. Giant on Simpson Ferry in Mechanicsburg. Same big empty space. AND a sign that said that due to production issues, availability of Simply Orange would be greatly reduced. And they apologized for any inconvience. Okay Giant, if you knew that supply would be reduced, why didn't you pull the ad before Sunday? You had to have known because in theory, the juice was in your warehouse before it went out to the stores. So boo on you Giant. However, I suppose if you print your ads a week ahead of time, you may not have known for some reason. But still boo on you for not ensuring an extra supply of this delicious orange juice. Now my nieces will have to drink some other brand of orange juice. This is why I do 95% of my grocery shopping at Wal-mart (the remaining five consists of BJ's (2%), Weis (2%) and Giant (1%).

In other food related news, the former Chi-Chi's on Union Deposit Road is being renovated and will reopen later this year as a Ruby Tuesday.

Poor Rolling Stone

So our friends over at Zondervan are releasing a new Bible next month titled Today's New International Version. In order to promote it, they are putting full page ads in several glossies, both mainstream and Christian. Well, apparently the folks at Rolling Stone do not want religious advertising in their magazine. Despite the fact that they sold the ad-space last year to Zondervan. This is both sad and silly. Maybe RS feels like this ad will cause their readership decline to continue. Or maybe their communists. Read the article here.

Where I talk about television

There is a television show that premiered last year on ABC that I have gotten hooked on. It is not Desperate Housewives. It is Extreme Home Makeover. It's a great show. For those of you unfamiliar with the premise, a team of builders and designers take a needy family, destroy their old house and build a new house in it's place, all in seven days. For instance, on Sunday's episode, there was a Compton family who were living in a shack of a house with a grown son in a wheelchair, due to a gang shooting. They tore down the old house, and not only built a house for the family, but also built a smaller house in the backyard for the son. It's a show that does a fine job at tugging at my heart-strings.

It's awesome the way that people are willing to help other people out. There's a lot of negative stuff going in our world today, but people are trying to make a difference. Obviously, Habitat for Humanity doesn't get near the exposure that this television show gets, but they do good work too, perhaps even better work than this television show, cuz this show can only do one house a week. The Harrisburg chapter of Habitat is currently working on six houses right now! That's good stuff right there.

Doe and Jerry's caught on fire last night. I don't know how much damage they took, but I hope they can get back on their feet soon.

If I had a house....

I would have these bad boys:
Laundry room madness

This song has been in my head the last two weeks.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

I'm a wild, and crazy guy

What does a wild and crazy guy like me do over the weekend? I'll tell you, in one paragraph. Friday night, went to the Pennsylvania Farm Show with some friends. Saturday morning, became a member of the "Fighting Fairies," and participated in a dodgeball tournament on said team. Saturday afternoon, watched some football. Did nothing Saturday night. Sunday watched some more footballl and lunch at my parents'. Oh, and I did a lot of thinkin'.

Unfortunately, my boy Peyton had no luck with the Patriots on Sunday. The Patriots had the better record, and the Patriots won. The Colts could have won, but that required them catching passes, which they chose not too. So now it's the Pats and the Steelers. I'll still stay with my original picks from several weeks ago. Steelers over the Pats, and Falcons over the Eagles.

Anybody want to go see a presidential inauguration? I have some golden tickets. I'm serious, they're golden. And they're real cheap.

Dollars, Euros, and Yen

I've blogged about money here before. About how I'm not rich monetarily, but I am rich in other ways (friends, family, i have a job, etc...). Well I was listening to a message that John Ortberg gave at his church this past Sunday, and he was talking about money. And he gave this great line: "ownership is a myth, stewardship is the reality." And I thought, wow, that is so true. How often do we build up treasures here on earth for our own good? And more directly for me, why do I pine and agonize about my ability NOT to be able to build up treasures here on earth?

I don't live comfortably, but I survive. But sometimes I don't feel like that's enough. I want to survive comfortably. But maybe that's not where God wants me at the moment. I know that God will bless me in this lifetime, but perhaps not with everything that I want. But I know that when I die, anything I had in this life will pale in comparison to my heavenly riches.

But in the meantime, I need to be a good steward of what I have been given.

Note: If there are any sugar-mama's out there, feel free to drop me a line =)

From my devotional

My Faith Commitment

What is the quality of my faith commitment? Is there movement and development? Is it alive and growing? Faith is a real personal relationship with Jesus of Nazareth. Like any human love affair, it can never be static, exhausted, terminal, settled. When Scripture, Eucharist, and ministry become routine, they are moribund. When the Father's love is taken for granted, we paint him into a corner and rob him of the opportunity to love us in new and suprising ways. Then faith begins to shrivel and shrink. When I become so spiritually sophisticated that "Abba" is old hat, then the Father has been had, Jesus has been tamed, the Spirit has been domesticated, and the Pentecostal fire has been extinguished. Evangelical faith is the antithesis of cozy, comfortable piety. Faith means you want growing intimacy with Jesus Christ. Cost what it may, you want to want nothing else. The moment I conclude that I can now cope with the awesome love of God, I am dead. I could more easily contain the Gulf of Mexico in a shot glass, than I can comprehend the wild, uncontainable love of God.

If our faith is going to be criticized, let it be for the right reasons. Not because we are too emotional but because we are not emotional enough. Not because our passions are so powerful but because they are so puny. Not because we are too affectionate, but because we lack a deep, passionate, undivided love or the person of Jesus Christ.

Mark your calendars

People!! Passion 2006 is coming back to Nashville next January!!!! Please consider coming down. Most of the folks who read this can only volunteer, but it's still a good time and you can worship by serving. If you're under 26 for some reason, consider attending as a student. I'll be devoting one blog a month to promoting this opportunity.

Slow day

Trouble in Venice. Apparently their water levels are running lower than normal, resulting in canals that are impassable by boat. Read here.

Had lunch today at Fuddruckers, courtesy of the boss. That's a dynamite restaurant, but not so much for vegetarians.

I think I may try and build some links into my blog. I'm not sure what the code would be, but I'm going to try it.

That is all.

A Foggy January Morning

I like Ben Rothliesberger. Look at what he did.

Check out Groundhogchase.com. That's some funny groundhog shenanigans.

I like sleep.

I was thinking while I was praying on my way in to work this morning. And I was thinking that I am very blessed to have Christian parents. I know other people who aren't so fortunate, and I pray for them. But I feel superbly (is that a word?) blessed.

Here's an interesting article about new ways people are doing funerals. I like the brown package idea the best.

And in "He's got a lot of nerve" news, Ed Rendell has given himself a raise in 2005 of roughly $11,000. Last year he made around $144,000, and this year he'll be making $155,000. Nice, eh? Plus I'm sure he gets something for sittin' around in Philly and talking about the Eagles every Sunday.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is showing this weekend at Messiah.

And it looks like you snow-lovers may get some measurable snow next week...

This is a big rock that doesn't belong on the road.

And finally, an interesting little article by Neil Cavuto on the Fox News website.

Public Service Announcement

This is courtesy of our friends at the Pennsylvania ACLU. It's recommended that you laminate your copy and keep an extra copy in your glove compartment, just in case.

It must be the money!

Here's a link to a little calculator that calculates how much money you make every second or so. You can also select some famous people and see how long it takes you to make what they make in a minute.

I slept pretty darn well last night. I don't even think I woke up during the night. And that's a good thing.

I'm excited, yet a little sad for this week. It looks like this will be the end of our late fall temperatures for a while. Next week looks to be rather cold. Maybe you snow men and women will finally get your snow. I was talking to my oldest niece last night and I said that I didn't want snow. She proceeded to tell me that she had been praying to Jesus for snow. So now I suppose I want it to snow.

Help me out

Is Sheryl Crow still dating Lance Armstrong? She won a People's Choice Award tonight for "best remake" for The First Cut is the Deepest. And she didn't thank Lance in her acceptance speech.

In other entertainment news, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston have called it quits. I guess five years was long enough.

And how bout my boy Peyton Manning? He absolutely lit up the Broncos. Hopefully he can continue his success against those New England Patriots.

Taking offense

D'ya ever take offense to something that you shouldn't? I know I do. I think it's because I personalize a lot of stuff, and maybe some of that stuff shouldn't be personalized. But I end up continually processing it in my mind, looking at it from every conceivable angle, and I eventually over-analyze it. Maybe there's a valid reason why he didn't return my email. Maybe she didn't know I was waiting to talk to her when she left. Maybe he really wasn't talking about my hair. But those aren't the first conclusions that I come to.

And then when do you say to someone "hey, I was offended?" Some stuff seems so petty that I'm almost ashamed to mention it, for fear that people will see me as petty (which I would hope is not the case). I think I'm just sensitive, but sensitivity is not something that this world readily recognizes.

Show me the money!!

Okay. So I was thinkin'. If we're shellin' out all this cash for the tsunami relief effort, I had a thought. Why couldn't we have a fundraising effort for the people of Appalachia? These are some of the poorest, if not the poorest people in America, but they get no attention. Perhaps Appalachia needs an earthquake to get some relief. And if that's the case, that is sad. There is nothing wrong with helping out people in other countries, but people, don't forget about the people who live in this country, and sometimes even right down the street!!

I was also thinking to myself, how much would it cost to buy fresh groceries on a daily basis. Ya know, back in the day, we didn't have microwaves and freezers, so everything had to be fresh. So what's the number one preservative used in frozen and canned foods? Salt my friends, salt. The same salt which contributes to high blood pressure. I don't have high blood pressure, but we all could use less sodium in our diets. Hmmmmmm.... I think the fresh meat would probably be the back-breaker. I think being a butcher must have been good money back in the day.

Ewww..

Have you seen the 2005 Jetta? It looks very un-VW like. Now it looks very similiar to a Saturn Ion. Look for yourself.

Anybody see Alias last night? That Arvin Sloane keeps popping up in the most unexpected places...

And as the football playoffs start this weekend, I wanted to get my picks in. I'm pickin' Atlanta and Philly in the NFC Championship game, and Indy and Pittsburgh in the AFC game. The Eagles will again not make it to the Super Bowl and while I would like to see my man Peyton in the Super Bowl, I don't think they put up points against the Steelers defense. So that would put the Falcons and the Steelers in the Super Bowl. Defense wins games, and offense sells tickets, so I'm pickin' the Steelers 24-10. But the Redskins are going all the way next year!!!

And finally, I can't decide whether this is more ridiculous or sad. The mayor of San Francisco and his wife are getting a divorce. You can read about it here. Their joint statement makes for pretty sorry reading. I'm so sorry that their marriage got in the way of their careers. Maybe they should have thought of that BEFORE THEY GOT MARRIED!!

My last four days in letter form..

Dear Blog,

The last four days have been awesome. If you didn't know, Sunday I flew down to Nashville to volunteer with the Passion '05 conference which was put on by 268 Generation. Almost 11,000 college kids gathered in Nashville to make His name known. Here's the vision statement:

The heartbeat of Passion is the glory of God—specifically, a generation of students living radically for His name and campuses across the nation awakening to His fame. But, if we're honest, phrases like "living for His glory" can easily lose their meaning, a concept that on any given day is detached from the reality of our lives. Words are cheap. Life is hard. Making our lives count for what matters most is a worthy goal, but a serious proposition and a concept that must be thoroughly absorbed if our lives are going to be shaped by and for His renown.

That's why Passion is returning to our roots, again hosting a four-day gathering January 2-5, 2005 in Nashville, TN, as thousands of students merge from all across the nation to sink their hearts into the confession of Isaiah 26:8 and what it means to live all of life for the glory of God.

Most people have connected with Passion through one of the OneDay gatherings, the Passion Experience Tour or a worship CD, but all of these expressions of the Passion vision were born out of Passion's first three conferences in 1997-1999. Those four-day gatherings united over 18,000 college students with the desire to see God magnified in their lives, their campuses and throughout the earth. The domino effect of their lives has spawned a movement that has circled the globe and touched the lives of millions of people.

The beauty of Passion 05 is that not only will students worship together in an arena packed with thousands of faces representing campuses from every corner of the nation, they will have the chance to sit and process what God is doing in their lives with a small group of 8-12 students they connect with through the smaller community groups that make up the fabric of the conference.

What a way to start the year... and the rest of your life! Come together with your generation. Encounter God. Process truth. Join the movement for His renown.

I had an awesome time. I don't want to get into the beautiful details of everything that went on, so I'll just give you a general overview. If you want specific details, I will be estatic to share them with you.

The days consisted of community groups (of 800-1,000 kids) in the mornings and evenings, along with main sessions for everybody that also took place in the morning and evening. In the afternoon, there were breakout sessions, led by various folks. And I would like to say for the record, that the worship during this conference was awesome. I feel certain that I got a glimpse of heaven over the past couple of days. Worship sessions led by Charlie Hall, Matt Redman, David Crowder, and Chris Tomlin, left me wanting more. Blog, it was so awesome worshipping in a corporate setting with 11,000 other people. There were times when the worship leader wanted to stop, but the students wouldn't, so they had to either keep going, or start playing the next song immediately.

And I got a lot personally out of this time. I've felt encouraged to get a better grasp and understanding of why I believe what I believe. I've also been encouraged to develop what David Crowder calls a Praise Habit. In a nutshell, a Praise Habit is a way to keep worship real and relevant in your life by not just settling for the same old daily devotional routine.

So Blog, I had a great time. It left a sweet, sweet taste in my mouth and I anxiously await the opportunity to volunteer at the next Passion event.

Always,

Stephen

Can't stop the partyin'

So I was watching and readin' about the way the world had adjusted their new years eve celebrations to account for the Tsunami tragedy last week (you can read some of the stuff here). And I tried to find what the US did during it's celebrations. I couldn't find anything. What's up with that? If anyone knows of something that was done to remember the tragedy, please shoot me a link or somethin'.

Also on my mind. I'm currently watching the Fiesta Bowl, where Pittsburgh is playing the University of Utah. Both of the head coaches have already announced their intentions to leave their schools after the game. So here's what I'm wondering: Why do they want to leave? Urban Meyer has been at Utah for all of two years. And now he's already gone to coach the Florida Gators. Two freakin' years. How the heck are you supposed to build a recruiting base if you only stick around for two years? I suspect Mr. Meyer has a deep-seated yearning for success and he feels that moving to Florida might help him be successful. Which I suppose would imply that he hasn't already been successful. Hmmmm. I guess I really expect people, coaches in particular, to be loyal to their schools. I'm so naieve.
So how long will Urban be at Florida? I give him another two years.

And kudos to the Texas Longhorns, who turned out the lights on Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Hook 'em Horns!