Give me a break.

Today, President Elect Obama announced that Pastor Rick Warren would deliver the Invocation at his Inauguration on January 20th, 2009. This decision has sparked outrage from the gay and lesbian community because of Warren's views on gay rights and marriage and his support of Proposition 8. The Obama party made it clear when the choice of Warren was announced that Warren and Obama disagreed on the issue of homosexuality. Yet people are pissed. What's the big deal? People need to grow up.

First of all, President Obama, himself, said that he defined marriage as one man and one woman but I don't hear people complaining about that. Also, Obama has chosen a pastor who supports homosexuality and gay marriage to deliver the Benediction. There will even be a gay and lesbian band participating in the events but I don't see conservatives coming on CNN and whining about it.

Is there a double standard being set? I think so. Obama has said that he wants to unite the country and in order to do so he needs to include, both, people he agrees with and people he disagrees with. But now that he has chosen someone he disagrees with about homosexuality, its a bad choice. I don't see people throwing such a big hissy fit over the fact that Obama has picked REPUBLICANS for his cabinet. Come on people. If we want a united country, we have to accept the fact that we are going to disagree with people. But does that mean that we shouldn't associate with those people? NO.

I am almost certain that the people who are arguing/whining about the selection of Warren would consider themselves open minded and accepting people. But I think by their opposition to Warren, they are showing that they are open minded and accepting ONLY to the people who agree with them. That's hypocrisy.

I don't agree with President Obama on some things but I do agree with him on some. I personally think this is a great move towards unity, Obama extending his hand to a conservative evangelical pastor. It is a great thing that he is classy enough to associate and work with people whom he disagrees. That's called diversity and I thought that's one of the main things the gay and lesbian community wanted. Warren is not being sworn in that day, so give me a break.

P.S.- Don't take this as a complete blast on liberals. There are things I can blast conservatives for and probably will. As far as politics go, I'm neither republican or democrat. So please do not take this rant as a endorsement of one party over the other.

Silence = Hate. Wisdom from an atheist.

I was amazed by this video. When Penn (who is a famous magician and outspoken atheist) began to tell the story I thought he was going to bash this guy he spoke with but I was surprised at what he said.



I have to admit this was a bit of an eye opener for me. I had to ask myself this hard but important question that I will leave for you......

How much do you hate?

Hanging on Every Word

When it comes to Jesus, Christians believe that He is God. That He is Lord over all. That He lived a perfect/sinless life. With these being key beliefs about Jesus, I have noticed that many Christians, including myself, simply do not listen to everything Jesus said. We like to take the things we like to hear about love and peace and use them as common cliches. But when Jesus says something that is a little hard to swallow we start dissecting it and trying to figure out "what Jesus really meant to say." Or there is the problem of apathy towards the words of Christ. We hear or read something He said but don't understand it so we just forget about it and don't care instead of trying to understand that the Messiah meant. We listen to Jesus when we understand Him or like what He says but then tune Him out when the message is hard or we just don't understand.

Recently I have noticed that there is one group of people that ALWAYS listened to Jesus, the Pharisees. They couldn't stand Jesus. They believed He was demonic. They absolutely hated Him. They hated him because He told people that they were wrong. He embarrassed them. He challenged them. But they still listened to Him. They hung on every word He said because they hated Him. They listened carefully, in an attempt to trap Him in His words if He misspoke. They understood what Jesus meant when He used phrases like "I Am," and when He said that He had the power to forgive sins. They knew what "I Am" meant. They knew that only God had the power to forgive sins and when Jesus said that, He was referring to Himself as God. They listened to Jesus. They understood what He was saying and they murdered Him because of it.

If we call ourselves Christians, people who are trying to be like Christ. People who follow Christ. People who LOVE Christ. Shouldn't we listen and try to understand EVERYTHING He says? The Pharisees did and they HATED Him.

Check two off the reading list

Over the last year or so I have found enjoyment in something that I have always hated....reading. Although, finishing books in a timely manner is something I have yet to accomplish. I recently finished the following two books and I highly recommend them
.
Blue Like Jazz- I thought this was very thought provoking. Although, I don't agree with some of the things Donald Miller has to say, he made a lot of great points and his writing style makes the time fly as you read this book. Blue Like Jazz definitely makes you think the Christian faith in a new way.


Vintage Jesus- For anyone who wants to know more about Jesus, this is the book for you. In the book, Mark Driscoll tackles 12 commonly asked questions about Jesus. This book definitely made my adoration of Christ grow. Vintage Jesus is for believers and non-believers, anyone who wants to take a closer look at the man who split the calendar and has made the biggest impact on history.

Next on the list:

Growing Up While the World Grows Down

This past weekend I was blowing leaves into the woods next to my house. I kept looking at the woods and it dawned on me just how small they were. This stretch of trees used to be like a forest to me when I was younger. I would play in those woods all the time and it just seemed like I could get lost in there. These woods even contained my favorite climbing tree but it was chopped down years ago. Although, I'm sure that there is no way that tree would be able to hold me if it were still standing.

But these woods made me think about how the world and everything in it just seems to get smaller and smaller as I time goes by. I remember when I used to only come up to my mom's hip and I would look up at her and think, I'm never going to be that tall. Now, my mom looks up at me. There is also this cord that hangs down in our garage that you pull to manually control the garage door. This certain red cord used to seem so far out of reach. My friend John and I used to try to jump and touch it but we failed time after time. Now, this cord hits me on the head if I walk right under it. Another friend of mine, was telling me the other day that he was talking to a guy in one of his classes and the guy he had never met before ended up being the cousin of my girlfriend's room mate. He told me he never realized how the small the world was.

When you put things in perspective, its a small world after all. The older we get, the bigger we get, and the more experiences we have, the world gets smaller and smaller. However, this principle does not apply to God. The closer I get to Him and the more I learn about Him, He gets bigger and bigger. When I was younger and didn't know much about God and was far away from Him, God seemed so simple. He just seemed like this old man who sat in heaven and gave us these ten rules to live by and that's all folks. But the more I read about Him, my previous thoughts fade away and I get this clearer view of a God who is so Big, Powerful, Amazing, etc. that I can't help but be amazed by and worship.

Realizing how small I am and how small the world I live in is and then realizing how Big God is, I can't help but feel some what insignificant. Then I remember what He has done for us. He, being so big and powerful, stooped down to our level. He left His throne in heaven and came to this small blue dot in the universe to show us how much He loves us.

So as the woods next to my house seem to shrink with time, God is magnified as I draw closer to Him and by this I am amazed.

Advent Conspiracy

I thought this was pretty cool and self explanatory.

Stupidity in the Highest

If you are a Sports Center junkie like me or if you don't live under a rock, then you have probably heard about New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress and his recent display of stupidity. Plax was being escorted to the VIP section of a club this past weekend and on the way, he some how fumbled his gun and shot himself in the leg. Reminds me of a certain scene in that movie with Eminem, "8 Mile." However, his stupidity does not end with shooting himself. If I heard correctly, he used to have the correct permits to carry a concealed weapon but they expired and he did not renew them. So because he did not renew his concealed weapon licence, he now faces felony gun charges which, if convicted, will put him in prison for a minimum of three and a half years. Move over Michael Vick, here comes a cell mate. Good job Plaxico, maybe Santa will bring you a brain this year for Christmas.

And for your viewing pleasure, here is another example of what NOT to do with a gun.

Password changes and more things that contain crack.

Don't you hate when you have to change your password after a certain period of time and then you keep typing in your old password out of habit. Yeah, me too.

And as promised more things to add to the list of Things That Contain Crack......

• Cheerwine- Amazing. I hear they have Cheerwine milkshakes at the cookout in Salisbury, the birth place of Cheerwine. No not Cheerwine floats like they have everywhere, Cheerwine milkshakes. There's a difference.
• Queso Dip from Mexican Restaurants and the chips that go with it.
• Homemade Banana Pudding. That's why people don't make it all the time because they can't afford the crack to put in it.

That's all for now folks.

Thanksgiving

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever." - Psalm 136:1

Happy belated Thanksgiving. I hope you all had a good holiday, spent quality time with friends and family, ate good food, watched football, and, most importantly, thought about all you had to be thankful for.

I've been thinking lately, we live in a time where it seems like there isn't much to be thankful for. The economy sucks, we just had an election so you might be upset about that, there is genocide and war going on, things like the terrorist attacks in India, and other more personal things that don't make the news. Just watching the news or reading the newspaper, one might think whats the point of a holiday like Thanksgiving when there seems like there is nothing to be thankful for.

But whether you know it or not, there is A LOT to be thankful for and if we aren't careful to pause and think about our many blessings, we can get lost in a sea of bad news that floods the airwaves. Think about all of the little things. You are breathing right now. Every breath is something we should be thankful for. It's something we are so used to doing, we do it automatically, in our sleep but we have to do it to live. Think about that and take a big deep breath.

Also, think about what you should be thankful for right now. If you are reading this, your eyes are working, you probably had some sort of education, you have access to a computer, and on top of that, Internet access. All of these things are things that most people, including myself, take for granted. But there are millions of people who wish they could have these things.

This post isn't meant to be a soap box. I'm not trying to tell those who are going through a hard time to suck it up. This is just a reminder to those who may think that they don't have much to be thankful for. I know I find a lot of comfort when I think about all that I have to be thankful for. However, the most important thing we should remember is what the verse at the beginning of this post says. God's love endures forever. He loves us even though we don't deserve it. He doesn't have to love us but He does. So if you're down this holiday season remember God loves us. God is outside of our circumstances. Just because there is pain and turmoil in the world doesn't mean God has gone away. He still exists and He still loves. So lets all give thanks for all of our blessings.

Don't Play with Knives

Did any of your parents ever tell you not to play with knives or other sharp materials? Well apparently mine didn't or maybe they did and I just didn't listen. Probably the latter. Any way, by extreme luck and/or skill a picture was taken at the exact moment I closed a knife on my finger. Don't worry I didn't get hurt. I just made a funny face.

And for the two of you that actually read this I am sorry for boring you. I have been lazy and haven't felt like writing but I'll get on it. I promise. Also check out Michael Wilson's Video Blog for a cool video we made for a dear friend.

Things That Contain Crack

I am starting a list of things that I believe contain crack because they are just so delightful and addicting. Please feel free to submit suggestions for items to be added to the Things That Contain Crack list.

First up are a few sauces that I know contain crack because I can never get enough.

1. Chick-Fil-A sauce. Its amazing. I actually have some extra in my fridge right now.

2. Zax sauce from Zaxby's. Its good on everything. Chicken, fries, the bread they give you, or just by itself.

3. White sauce from Japan Express or Shrimp Sauce for all of you who haven't had Japan Express.

To be continued.....

Halloween and Dancing Politicians

Anyone check out ESPN2 on Halloween night? In case you missed it...App State, Wofford, SLAUGHTER. The excitement wasn't just on the field. Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain were in attendance as well as Caribou Barbie, Sarah Palin.

There was also a dance competition between Obama and McCain. Check out my sweet old man dance moves starting at 3:23 and please disregard Bill Clinton's obscene gesture. He's just jealous because I dance better.



Then, just when you thought things couldn't get any better....this happened

SNOW

So in case you were wondering why I transferred to App, here's one reason....

the weather. It snowed in October. I don't know if I have ever seen snow this early before. Its supposed to be a bad winter up here. Bring on the snow.

Back off government, we got this one.

Recently, The Michael Wilson wrote about a very true statement that a pastor made. The pastor said that the welfare system in America should be obsolete because the church should be attacking the need in the community so fiercely that it rendered government assistance unnecessary. How amazing would that be? What has happened to the Church when it comes to taking care of the poor? This is one of the things the early Church was known for. Roman Emperor Julian, like other Emperors, tried to put and end to Christianity. He built really nice temples in order to lure people away from the Church, however his plan failed. In a letter he wrote that the reason Christianity was thriving was because, "the impious Galileans (Christians) support both their own poor and ours as well." Wow. The Christians were not only taking care of the people within the Church but even the unbelievers. Welfare was not needed because the Christians had it covered. Imagine what people would say about Christians if that were true today. Imagine how many people would come to faith in Christ because of the love that His people were showing the world. My question is, what happened? Why aren't we like the early Church? In Acts 2:45, we see that the early Christians "began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need."
Also, J.D. Greear recently tackled the topic of "I'm not a Christian because the church is responsible for so much injustice." In his sermon, he noted that in James 2, if we see the suffering of others and are not moved to act then our faith is dead. The Church is doing some great things to help those in need. My Church in Durham, Greystone, has a ministry called 2nd Mile that provides food, clothes, financial assistance, and spiritual counseling to those in need. The Summit Church, in Durham is also doing a lot to help those in need with their Hope for Durham campaign during the summer and their efforts with a local elementary school. All over the country and the world the Church is doing a lot of great things. But I believe we can do better. I believe that if we came together as one like the early Church in Acts, we could take care of ALL of the poor in Jesus' name and we could tell the government, "Take a rest we got this one."

Random

Just had Japan Express for dinner. I think the put crack in their white sauce. Its addicting. Does any one else want to join a drumline after watching Drumline? Its on right now and I really wish I wasn't white and had rhythm so I could play drums. Also, to cap off a day of not doing anything productive, Dougie Fresh and I are getting ready to go see "W". Speaking of politics, when I was at Erin's today her dad was watching some old time western channel. They were playing this show called Maverick, which they turned into a movie with Mel Gibson. The movie isn't too bad. Anyway, this dude Maverick was running for like State Senator back in the wild wild west. They kept calling him Senator Maverick. Then the next show was called The Rifleman, I think. He had a cool gun but the funny thing was that his name was McCain. Coincidence that a show about a Senator named Maverick was on followed by a show about a gun shooter named McCain? Maybe or maybe they are trying to send a subliminal message. If John McCain decides to travel by horse rather than Air Force 1 and if he could shoot a gun like that he would have my vote.

State of the Union, part 2

Economy. Unless you live under a rock, I guarantee you have heard or read that world a million times over the last several weeks. So many questions have been thrown out there: Who's to blame? How long will this last? How much will it cost me? What about my money? And the list goes on and on. Let me first say this, all of this finger pointing reminds me of the Garden of Eden, when God asked Adam and Eve about their sin. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. We, as the American people need to stop pointing the finger at the government and the corporation. Sure they had something to do with it. But guess what? The government and these big corporations are run by people, just like you and me. In a democratic and capitalist society the government is run by the citizens and people start businesses and run them to earn a living. So its OUR fault for getting to greedy. We can't depend on the government for EVERYTHING unless we want a communist government. We as the American people need to stop caring so much about ourselves. All I hear these days are ME, ME, ME. Put other people first. Live within your means. All of these economic problems we face come down to one main cause, greed. That's why Jesus said no one can love God and money at the same time and why in 1 Timothy it says the LOVE of MONEY is the root of all kinds of evil. And by taking a look around, its very true. Stop pointing the finger and look at yourselves and ask when is the last time I cared about someone else other than myself.

I know our country is going through a hard time, financially speaking but its a hard time compared to what we are USED to. Look at other countries. They are so much worse off than we are. But again it goes back to our greed. Put it in perspective. It could be so much worse. Read Jenn's blog to get some stats and put things in a better perspective and realize....things aren't so bad after all.

State of the Union

The election is officially like 20 something days away, even though I get to vote on campus starting on the 20th, and I am already sick of it. I am sick of politicians lying to us. I am sick of them pretending to be so much better than each other when they aren't. They are all shady. I'm tired of them, all of them. Obama, Biden, McCain, and Palin. The only thing that is getting me through this is SNL and their impressions of Sarah Palin. I am also planning on having some fun myself by being John McCain for Halloween, IF I can find a McCain mask while I'm home for Fall Break. If I can find it, Erin is going to be the lovely Sarah Palin. Look for us on ESPN2 on Halloween Night. If not, I'll settle for my Mexican costume, complete with a sombrero and poncho. Anyways, back to politics. I think the dumbest/funniest thing is listening to people talk about the debates and debating over who won. Of course, you are going to say that your candidate won because you agree with them. Plus, how does a candidate when a debate when they lie? I remember the day after the VP debate, I read a couple of articles where they checked the facts from the two candidates and BOTH of them lied. This irritates the crap out of me. We are trusting these people to run the country and presumably do a better job than whats going on now but all we get are lies. We deserve better. The number one thing I hate though is that this whole voting process deserves a little bit of faith in who you are voting for. You are putting faith in this person that they will do what they have promised. I, personally, have a problem putting my faith in these people. I don't know if I can trust them and I don't see how any one else in their right mind can say that they fully trust McCain or Obama. Some may say, well if that's how you feel, don't vote but I am thankful that I have the right to vote and the right to speak my mind. We are very fortunate to have that right and there are millions of people all over the world who have no say whatsoever in their country. So, I will vote and who ever wins I will respect and call my President.

P.S.- I know this is a fairly "Debbie Downer" post but I am not down in the dumps because no matter how this election goes, the most important thing to me will not be affected, my faith in Christ. And to those who say America is going to hell in a hand basket because of who wins the election, let me leave you with these wise words from Hillsong United, "Politics will not decide if we should rise and be YOUR hands and feet."

Tag. I'm it.

Ok so I have never heard of this tagging thing until now. Here are the rules:

* Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

* Share 7 little known facts about yourself on your blog.

* Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I was tagged by Jenn.

1. I used to eat butter by itself, by the slice.

2. I used to be terrified by E.T. This caused me to sleep facing the wall so I wouldn't see him in my room.

3. In middle school I was in honors chorus.

4. I would rather eat the batter for cakes and brownies instead of actually baking them.

5. When I was like 8, I had a shower interupted by a phone call from Mr. You Might be a Redneck, Jeff Foxworthy.

6. My favorite stuffed animal growing up was a bear named Edward.

7. I almost got in a fight playing Upward Basketball. I was a troubled youth.

I do not have many friends that blog and most of the ones I do know have already been tagged so 7 people is not possible. However, I will tag one person who is cool enough to equal 7 people.....The Michael Wilson.

Two Year Anniversary

Two years ago I tricked Erin into going out with me. So in honor of that glorious day here are a few reasons why I love her......













Her big, beautiful smile that lights up a room or an Mac computer monitor.










That look she gives me when I do something stupid. (Which is quite often.)













The way she can be just as goofy as me.










The way she gave up her allegiance to Northern and became a Riverside fan. It's no longer "knight time."













And finally, the fact that she would be smokin' hot no matter what year she was born.

I love you Erin, even though you are probably going to kill me after you see this. Happy 2 years.

Every Christian a Missionary?

Preface: This is not coming from an expert or someone who is the best at this topic. We can all do better, especially me.

Yesterday I was bored and decided to look up some of my professors on www.ratemyprofessors.com. I had heard about the site before but have never had an interest in using it until my sociology professor pulled the site up on the first day of class and showed us his profile. He then rated himself and left a comment. After I read through all of his comments I decided to check out some of my professors from Southeastern. Looking through the list of professors I saw a well known professor's name, who I had heard many good things about, on the list. So I checked out all of the comments. Surprisingly, there were quite a few people that left some quite critical comments. However, one comment stuck in my mind. The disgruntled student said that he was tired of being told that he should be a missionary and that every Christian should be a missionary. For those of you who have never been to Southeastern in Wake Forest, NC, there is a huge emphasis on missions. There are special days in chapel to focus on missions, there are missions classes, there's a missions center, there's numerous opportunities to go on mission trips during breaks, and there are even missions majors where you get a degree and then go serve on the missions field for two or three years. No one can spend a good amount of time on Southeastern's campus without seeing or hearing something about missions. Back to the comment left on this professor's profile. Should every Christian be a missionary? According to this guy, whom I'm assuming was at Southeastern to become a head pastor at his church back at home, no. In his thinking some Christians should just be pastors, some Sunday school teachers, some choir members, and some missionaries. So who is right? Should every Christian be a missionary or should only a select few that are brave enough and "called" to go be missionaries?

Every Christian should be a missionary. However, I am not saying that every Christian should go live in a foreign country for a year or two. I believe we have the wrong idea about missions. Missions is not just going overseas. Missions can be done in our everyday lives at work, next door, at school, etc.. Every Christian should live missional lives. I first learned about this concept from Mark Driscoll, the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. He points out how many times Jesus uses the word "sent" in the Gospel of John. Jesus always said that he was "sent" to earth for a purpose/mission. He didn't just come here to chill and go to Sunday school. If we call ourselves Christians, we should be trying to be like Jesus since that's what the word Christian means. Since Jesus was "sent" on a mission, we are "sent" on a mission too. What exactly is that mission? To make disciples as Jesus says in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He also gives us the same command in Acts right before he ascended back into Heaven. The command to make disciples was his last message to His disciples, so I'm pretty sure its is of the utmost importance. So to the guy who was upset that he was told to be a missionary, I'm sorry but it's not just the professors at seminaries who are saying this. Jesus said it. No you don't have to go overseas but you can be a missionary any where you go. Jesus was and we should be striving to be like Him.

Michael Phelps

Did anyone see Saturday Night Live with Michael Phelps last Saturday? If yes, I'm sorry. If no, don't bother. Hey Mikie, here's a little advice: stay in the pool and swim. Don't do anymore acting. You aren't funny. Yes, you captured the eye of the entire world this summer by winning 8 gold medals and by making everyone else drink your wake but please stay in the water. I was expecting you to be funny but I'm sorry you need to work on your personality. Take some lessons from Peyton Manning, he's funny. Any way, I was thoroughly disappointed Saturday night. To start things off the USC vs. Ohio State game wasn't a game and to make things worse SNL and Michael Phelps wasn't funny, except for the opening scene with Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. Whoever did Palin, good job. You are the only one with talent on SNL anymore. They should just show reruns instead of new episodes. They could save a lot of money by not paying bad actors. Wow, is that mean to say? Anyways Michael Phelps you are the man but only in the water and SNL you need to get new people or bring back the old ones.

Constitution Day

How many of you knew there was a day set aside to recognize the Constitution? I didn't until yesterday. I guess you learn new stuff in college and since I am in a American Politics and Government class and a Criminal Justice class, the Constitution is eventually going to come up. I was just thinking though...what if you hated the Constitution and wanted to protest the Constitution on Constitution Day? Instead of protesting it you would actually be celebrating it because the Constitution gives you permission to do that. Funny how things work out. So, I guess if you don't like the Constitution and you want to do something about it the only thing you can do with out celebrating it...is not do anything at all. Weird.

Oh yea for the two of you that actually read this I apologize that I am boring and lazy and rarely post. I just got a good idea today so maybe I'll have something inspiring and life changing to post soon. But I have to face the facts...I will never be as opinionated and interesting as The Michael Wilson.

September 11, 2001

It seems like just yesterday that I was sitting in my 8th grade English class at Brogden when I found out about the attacks on the World Trade Centers. During lunch I kept hearing that people were going home because the world was coming to an end or something like that but I didn't think anything of it. I just thought some people were scared since our school had its second bomb threat in a week that day. Weird that we had a bomb threat on the same day as the worst attack on American soil happened. I can still remember my teacher telling us what had happened and none of it really sank in with me. It didn't really hit home until I got home and started watching the news with my mom and brother. I was almost sick to stomach. I couldn't believe that there were people out there sick enough to do this. Even though that was a horrible day, I believe that it showed the best of America. There were men and women risking their lives for complete strangers. Some of which paid the ultimate price with their lives. Americans were united that day. We put aside our differences and stood tall. We showed the rest of the world how resilient we can be and that we will not let other people's hatred for us bring us down. Why can't we always be like that? It seems so ironic to call this place the United States of America now because we are so divided. And the leaders and especially the future leaders (cough cough presidential nominees) are not helping. All of this mud slinging is really making me sick. I wish they spent more time putting action behind their words rather than writing jokes about the other person to get laughs at their respective National Conventions. Grow up. We are better than that and I expect better from people who are trying to become the President of this country. But enough about politics. Remember what happened seven years ago and how triumphant this country came out of that situation. Thank you to all who risked their lives that day for other people. Thank you to all of those who are still serving this country and risk their lives everyday for people you don't know. We should all learn a lesson from these people and put others before ourselves. Just like Jesus said, if you want to be first you have to be last and if you want to be great you must become a servant.

That's a NoNo all you PoPo

College football season is here. Instead of seeing my Appalachian State Mountaineers crush Jacksonville by a final score of 56-7, I went with my friend and his family to see ECU destroy West Virginia. Amazing game and it would have been an amazing celebration if it weren't for the Police. When your football team starts the season off by beating the #18 team and then dominates the #8 team in the nation, you should be allowed to storm the field when you are not used to that kind of success. Instead, the cops were tackling students, throwing punches, and just being complete jerks. I mean come on, do you really think 30 something officers can hold back a couple thousand students? Security was informed that if the students tried to rush the field that law enforcement should try to deter them by making themselves visible and if that failed they were to just back off and let it happen. I guess making yourself visible means throwing punches at someone who is already on the ground as you will see here. Let the students celebrate. Here's another video for your viewing pleasure.

"I wanted to do Hood Rat stuff with my friends."

No words can describe this. Just watch.

Better Late Than Never

Forgive me for being so inconsistent with my postings. I should take some lessons from The Michael Wilson. Any way, earlier this month my big bro brought his family to North Cackalacky for the first time. Pretty fun and eventful with 5 extra people in the house. During the week we ventured down to Carolina Beach. Here are some pictures:

My brother Chris, his wife Toni, and their Boys.

My nephew Simon. No we are not holding him over the balcony like Michael Jackson did to his kid.
Grandma and Grandson.

Father and Son.
I watched the sunrise for the first time. One of the coolest things I've ever seen.
Crab hunting with my nephews Noah and Ben.

Who would have thought that alligator tastes like sausage.

One thing I learned during this week: I am no where near ready to be a parent. I am content with being the cool uncle who gets to play with the kids and then give them back to the parents when the kids aren't happy. Kudos to all you parents out there. Don't let anyone tell you your job is easy.

Rain Rain Go Away and the First Day of Class

Today was the first day of classes and despite the fact that it was raining and my umbrella didn't want to work, it was a pretty good day. No homework yet, so that's always a plus. However, I still can't figure out how to log on to my wireless network. My laptop is very simple when it comes to logging on to non-secured networks but this IBM ThinkVantage Access Connections(yea I just called you out IBM) program makes things so freakin complicated. Why can't I just click on the link and then put in the password and BAM I have wireless Internet? Oh well, at least I have a long Ethernet cable. So if you come over don't trip over it. Oh yeah, one of the reasons I came up here was for the weather but I didn't sign up for this crappy rain.

P.S.- The apartment is almost completely put together. I just gotta get rid of some boxes and then I'll post pictures.

P.P.S.- The Elevation kick-off was pretty sweet. Around 200 people showed up, music was good, Pastor Clay's message was on point, and my old school Mom liked it. So if Momma likes it you know its good and if you have no clue what Elevation is read the previous post.

Elevation

This week has been a little hectic with trying to get ready to move to Boone. I didn't know I had so much junk to get together. But I'm looking forward to getting up to Boone and I am also excited about something else that is going on this weekend which I will be returning to Durham for. On Sunday the 24th, my church is starting a new contemporary worship service called Elevation. It won't be your usual church experience. Most people think of church as a boring ritual that you have to dress up for to make God and your parents happy. You have to wake up early, go to an out of date looking building and be all quiet and serious, and sing really boring songs which are hard to understand because they are straight from the 1700's. Elevation, will be quite the opposite. Casual dress (I'll be there in tennis shoes and with my shirt un-tucked. Scandalous for church I know. Just don't tell my mom.), LOUD music, and a pretty sweet building with chairs instead of pews. They are in the process of putting the very very final touches on the building which as undergone an Extreme Makeover Home Edition type renovations. There will also be coffee and some delicious snacks which I caught a peak at today. So maybe you've been to church before and didn't like it, never been to church, want to try something new, etc.. Come check it out at Grey Stone this Sunday, August 24th at 12:30 p.m. (yay for sleeping in). The service will be in the Family Life Center located behind the church and across the parking lot. For more information check out www.gsdurham.com or www.elevationdurham.com. Oh yeah you might need to know where Grey Stone is if you are interested: 2601 Hillsborough Rd., Durham, NC. (Right across the street from Loco Pops.) Come and experience Jesus and church in a new way.


.

Olympics, Part 2

Congrats to Michael Phelps to beings the greatest Olympic champion of all time. Its been a while since one athlete has captivated as many people as Phelps has this past week. Seriously, this dude is a freak of nature with his flexible shoulders, size 10000 shoes, and double jointed ankles. The dude was born to swim. Sadly, the swimming events are over so now my focus switches to basketball. Anyone see that beat down we gave to Spain? Its weird to see NBA players actually playing defense. Who would of thought that when you play defense you win?

I only caught the end of the Opening Ceremonies so I missed all the cool stuff. I heard there was some pretty cool stuff with boxes going on. But I am disgusted to hear about what China did to a little girl with an amazing singing voice. For those who don't know, there was a little girl that was supposed to sing but her face was deemed "not suitable." So what did China do? They found a "prettier" girl to lip sync to the "ugly" girl's voice. First of all, what kind of message does that send to little girls? You aren't pretty enough to do this or that. That is a load of crap. Secondly, get over yourself China. Stop trying to make yourself look good when you have the spotlight on you and then be shady and corrupt behind closed doors. Just in case you want to read the article click here.

The Olympics

Have you ever realized that swimming and gymnastics are only exciting every 4 years? It's funny how swimmers and gymnasts get no love outside of the Olympics. Watching these two events got me thinking...who ever said gymnastics and swimming were for girls? These gymnast dudes are the freakin ripped. They gotta be pound for pound the strongest athletes there. Then there's the swimmers. Who cares if they have to shave their legs? Michael Phelps is the man and the U.S. swimmers showed up the trash talking Frenchies. Go Freedom Fries!!! I have to admit I hate the time difference, I'd love to watch the greatest coach in the world, Coach K, lead the best basketball players to gold but their games come on at freakin 8 in the morning. Oh well, Go USA.

Battle of the Champions

One of the many reasons I'm excited to be going to App State is the fact that they have a football team, unlike my previous two schools. However, App State doesn't just have a football team, the Mountaineers are freaking awesome. Can you say three back to back National Championships? Yeah, yeah I know most people say it doesn't matter since they play in the FCS and not the BCS but they still beat Michigan and even a couple years ago they gave LSU a pretty tight game. Later this month ASU will travel down to Baton Rouge again to take on the LSU Tigers. This game will put last year's BCS National Champion against last year's FCS National Champion. Not only will it be the battle of the National Champions but LSU will be looking to not become like Michigan and App State is out to prove that they aren't a fluke.



Now if I could just get my hand on some tickets.

Pure Stupidity

So last night a few of us were hanging out playing Phase 10 and watching TV for a somewhat kind of bachelor party. Yes, Phase 10 is what all the cool kids do for bachelor parties. While playing the greatest card game ever, we were watching some extreme video show on Spike TV. The clip started off showing someone with a pair of pliers pinching and stretching out some dude's nipple. Then the barrel of an air rifle came into view, aimed directly at the nipple. The commentator announced that this extremely bright young man wanted to save money on getting his nipple pierced so he decided to shoot a hole through it. Bad idea. At first it appeared to have worked so he proceeded to put in the nipple ring but then he realized through all of the blood that was pouring out that they had missed his nipple and shot through his chest instead. Bravo Stupid, Bravo. I think we should require IQ tests for anyone buying an air rifle or bb gun.

P.S.- I tried to find this exact video but was unsuccessful. However, here is another idiot doing something similar with a much less powerful gun. No blood involved in this one but you get the point.

The Dark Knight

Two words....HOLY CRAP. Here's some advice: If you have 8 bucks or 6.50 if you have a college ID(I have 4 so if you need one let me know), go see this movie. I thought Heath Ledger was going to be in this movie but I never saw him. Some people say he was the Joker but they are liars. Batman= best hero ever. Superman and Spiderman need to take notes.

What's in a name?

Have you ever thought about your name? Where it came from? What it means? Who you are named after? Why your parents chose that name?

I didn't really think about my name until I hit middle school. At that point in time I didn't really like it. Actually, it wasn't really the name it was the spelling. My parents chose to spell my name with the "ph" way instead of the "v" way because Stephen is spelled with a "ph" in the Bible. the spelling didn't make much sense to me since I graduated hooked on phonics with flying colors. I mean come on "ph" makes a "ffffff" sound not a "vvvv" sound. My phonics defying name caused some embarrassment on the first day of school when teachers would call the role and mistakenly call me Stefan. I even head a substitute call me Stephanie one time. I look back and laugh now but at the time I just wished my parents would have just picked the normal spelling: Steven.

But after learning about the man whom I am named after, I take much pride in my name. Stephen is a man whom Scripture says was full of grace, power, wisdom, and the Holy Spirit. He was a man that did many great things in the name of Jesus. After being brought before the Council on false charges, Stephen rips the Pharisees a new one with his 51 verse oral roundhouse kick to the face. Although, he knew that he faced certain death with the words he spoke, Stephen held nothing back. The crowd was outraged and Stephen's execution was certain but he did not try to back down or tell them that they had just been Punk'd. He knew he had told the truth and did what was right. Stephen, then turned his eyes to heaven where he saw Jesus STANDING at the right hand of the Father. If I am not mistaking, this is the only place where Jesus is noted to be standing at the right hand of God. Every other time He is sitting. It is as if Jesus is giving Stephen a standing ovation for taking a stand for Him. Stephen was then rushed by the crowd and taken out of the city to be stoned. No, not Cheech and Chong and Snoop D-O- double G stoned but stoned as in having large rocks dropped on you to smash you to death. even with jagged rocks slamming and crushing him Stephen's faith in Christ does not diminish as shown when he prays, "Lord, do not hold this against them."



Stephen is someone I strive to be like. Not to say look at me, look what I can do but so that people can see Christ. I wish I had Stephen's wisdom and knowledge that is displayed in his sermon. The dude knew his stuff. I wish I had his boldness; so many times I have backed down or remained silent in the face of persecution. Stephen is a great example of someone we should all strive to be like. Knowing his story no longer makes me wish my name was spelled with a "V." I am thankful my parents gave me this name. I am proud of name even though I am rarely called by it and more commonly referred to as Stevo. Jesus set the ultimate example of how I strive to live but Stephen is another example for me who shows me what is true Christ follower looks like. Stephen was the first Christian martyr and because of my name I am now living in the shadow of a martyr.