A different perspective

I said this before but I love podcasts. As I was working late Saturday night, I was spending a little quality time with Francis Chan & Co. One particular message stood out. It is from a couple of years ago, and its the events that lead up to and followed Christ's death on the cross.
One of the first things that jumped out at me was I was reminded that the God of the Universe, who created us, loves us, and sacrificed his own son so that we could have fellowship with him. He did all of that, and sometimes all we do is walk into church and lack any joy on our faces.
Another thing was the reaction of the Roman Centurion. Take a look at it in Luke 23: 44 -47.

44It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

47The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man."

Who was this centurion? Was he one of the soldiers just a few verses earlier gambling over his clothes and mocking him? It doesn't matter. What matters was his response when he realized that God's son had just died on the cross and he was a part of it. He praised God.

He praised God?

How could he, of all people, do that?

I really don't know. It really only matters that somewhere, somehow, he got it.

Sunday morning, I had a rough time even wanting to go to church. I forced myself to go to Connection. I was sitting there was the first song was playing, my mind revisited parts of the message I listened to as I worked.

Wow.

Who am I to call myself a Christian and not want to go to church?(Granted, a vacation sounds good right now) Why do I so flippantly take for granted Christ's sacrifice?

I don't know, but I'm glad I went to church. I needed to hear that message from Cornerstone, and I needed to hear the message from Dave, Christy, and Derry.

Pop quiz hotshot...

What is the next best thing to Peyton Manning beating the Patriots? How about little Bro...Sweet Victory

Aaargh!!

There are few things that make me want to throw something at the t.v. "Response" to the State of the Union falls in that category.

Cloverbucks

Went and watched Cloverfield after church. It was different. It made people in the theatre angry. I thought it was genius.

Stopped by Starbucks to get a drink. I handed the girl my card and said I thought it had 80 cents left on it. She told me there was 81, and left one cent on there. I stood there dumbfounded for a while. Now I'm going to look like a jerk for trying to redeem my card with a balance of one cent.

Fire

So, I decided to head downtown to take some pics of the fire. Its funny what happens to you when you hold a big camera. As I was talking to the one of Nappanee's finest, a guy gave the officer and myself a coffee. One of the firefighters asked me if I was with a paper and asked about the pics I was taking. Other people asked me s well if I worked for a paper. I must have been professional-looking today.

Welcome to the Blogging world

I would like to take the time to get the word out on a new arrival to the blogging world. This gentleman is a Senior @ The Crossing, and works for me as a part of the NMC facilities team. May I present to you, Dustin Eby.You can find him here.

A Tuesday of Firsts

So, this past Tuesday was an interesting day. As you probably know, it is my day off of work. There were three things that transpired on this day that were firsts for me. In chronologically reverse order, they are:

1. McDonald's Sweet Tea
Everybody is raving about it, as well as this guy. Yes, I'm even slower to realize it that he was, but I finally tried it. It is definitely sweet. The last time I had some good sweet tea was down in Florida at this place. Even though it was only several times, I miss going there.

2. Purchasing my first pair of snow pants
Yes, I have had snow pants before, but I'm pretty sure my parents bought them for me back when I was younger, and when winter-time consisted of digging caves in snow drifts, being towed with my cousins on a sled behind my uncle's truck through the fields, and walking down to the nearby gravel pit to go sledding there. Hopefully I will get to try them out on the slopes somewhere up North this winter.

3. I fought the Law... and the Law won.
Well, I gone and done it. After driving for more than 11 years, I finally gone and done it. After driving the same stretch of road, one learns the places to pass slow vehicles, semis, etc. What happens when Jeff tries to pass a not-so-slow semi and don't return to a reasonable speed? My first ever speeding ticket. Well, here's to another 11 years of good driving.

One positive note about the Writer's Strike

We don't have to put up with any new crappy episodes of SNL.

The downside is that they continually play the episodes with Jake Gyllenhaal and Peyton Manning over and over and over and over and over again.

What I'm Reading/Watching/Listening to

Derry Prenkert has this segment on his blog every now and then, and its always pretty interesting on the selections. Well, here it goes.

What I'm Reading:
An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems by Glenn Beck
I must be getting older because I'm listening to more talk radio. And i like it. Glenn Beck has a radio show and also has a t.v. show on CNN Headline News. Sure he talks about politics, but he also talks but everything else. And he's funny.
Anyways he wrote this book explaining how we solve everything from "Global Warming" to Online Dating. And there's more... I just haven't got to it yet.





What I'm Watching:
Let the humiliation begin...
Sweet Home Alabama
That's right, I own this movie.
And I like it.













What I'm listening to:
Everlasting God by Brenton Brown

Sometimes scrubbing the Aux Gym floor makes me fall asleep. Honestly, I think I've sleepwalked several times. To stay awake(and reduce the chances of someone scaring me) its always good to play some music. It's been awhile since I've listened to this, and its still good stuff.

An old favorite revisited.

Come with me to a simpler time. A time of staying up late on a Saturday night, not caring about getting enough sleep because I didn't care all too much about church. A time when SNL was actually good. Also on was Hercules:The Legendary Series, and Xena: The Warrior Princess were on. Also was this little show:


And now its back on t.v.


Ah, I love it.

Its a bird!... Its a plane!...

... What was it? Not even 20 minutes ago I walked out to my Jeep, and in the Southern Sky was quite a spectacle.

For about seven seconds there was a an object streaking across the sky. It broke up as it traveled East. Was it an obsolete satellite? Or was it just a meteoroid/meteor/meteorite?

An embarrassing moment with Heidi

I love my jeep. Since I purchased it in July, I've been looking for the opportunities to fully enjoy the feature that Jeeps are known for... four wheel drive. The recent snowstorms have finally given me the chances to have some real fun.

Lets just say I have a nice open area close by. With the two recent major snows we got, I have been tickled to to death with going where I would've been stuck with my previous vehicles.

Unlike most people out there, I realize that having a 4x4 is not the end all of the problems of winter driving. It helps with traction, but where there is ice, you can still slide just like anyone else.

You see where this is going by now, right?

I was driving down up 7 after lunch yesterday, which the snow had partially choked up. A car was coming from the opposite way, so i decided to be courteous and give up some clear driving space. A little bit in some of the higher snow decided to pull me off the road... right into a ditch.

Like the title, it was embarrassing. It seem like every truck in Nappanee drove by. Eventlually a couple of good hearted gentlemen pulled me out, with the help of my own tow strap.

Why am I still wearing my nametag?

Ah, three dee why see. Maybe I'll post something more on it, but for now... What happens when Jeff goes jousting? Find out here:

Improvise

It has been said that necessity is the mother of all invention. So, may I present to you this: What do you do when you have to wrap presents and cut paper, only to have forgotten you broke off one of the handles of the scissors? Simple. Just take said instrument, an old "together" carabiner from 3DYC, and some duct tape, and wha-la...

A yearly event turned competition

On to bigger and better things...

Over a year ago, I had the privilege of meeting Dan the Graphics man, through the Derry Prenkert. This guy loves to go fishing, so that alone makes him cool. This fall, we participated in a Fantasy Football league, in which he crushed everyone. Apparently, he's slightly competitive when it comes to certain things.

For the last three years or so, I would take time off from drinking caffeinated pop, lasting about three months. The other day, Dan and I got onto the subject of refraining from this vice. Next thing you know, it has turned into a contest of who can go the longest without drinking any pop whatsoever. The winner gets the pure joy and satisfaction of victory over his foe.

So starting January 2nd, 2008, it is on. Anyone else dare to partake in this contest?

No Guitar Hero here.

I was listening to talk radio today(like I do most days), and heard this story. Merry Christmas, son!

I have forsaken my first love.

Contrary to what the title suggests, this is not a post about spiritual things... or is it? We shall see.

I must confess, I have been unfaithful. I don't exactly remember when I first fell in love, I think it was way back when life was simpler. Way back when Sunday nights held the routine of popcorn and ice cream while watching MacGyver. I think my father is responsible for introducing me, but it was so long ago. We shared many great memories... numerous vacations, went to ballgames, and spent everyday life together. There were times where we were separated, but it made the the times together all the more sweeter. Life was great, until about three weeks ago.

Two people, that I shall not name, led me astray with an unspeakable mistress. On a dare, I spent a few minutes with her, and I haven't been the same. There is something alluring about this new attraction, yet so very wrong at the same time. In the end, I think it was meant to be. My parents warned me that this would happen, and they themselves are examples to this dark occurrence.

I suppose it would be impolite to not say goodbye.It was a good run.

But now, here we go...

Time to embrace the season

Its that time of year again. I've been accused of being a Grinch on more than one occasion, so here you go...

My Grinch name is:

Grouchygrinch Jerkypants

Discover your Grinch name here...

The Family