college stadiums.

Foxsports.com just posted this little photo gallery of the 10 toughest places to play in college football…check it out here. No surprise for me that it was dominated by SEC teams…including the “hedges.”

40 day fast collage.

Here is a cool collage of all the organizations discussed and represented in the 40 day fast. I plan to keep the links up of the fellow bloggers for a little while longer so you can check them out if you missed any…very happy to be involved with this!

august online special!

We are running a little online special in our store…would appreciate you taking advantage of this phenomenal opportunity!!

third day.

I thought I should mention that I’ve been listening to Third Day’s new album, “Revelation,” a lot this week and have also been following their busy release week. On Tuesday night, they performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno…very unusual and neat for a christian artist, then went on to perform “secret shows” on the west coast. These guys have an incredible team behind them and do things the right way. You can follow the band this week on this cool page.

As for the album, I give *****!! Very good work…flawless production and a big sound…very rockin’ but in the way your parents would approve of, you know.

chloe holleman.

Our manager, April, and her husband, Greg, are in the long process of adopting and are getting closer and closer each day. They are raising money to complete the financial aspect of the adoption and are still needing help. April started a blog for their journey to parenthood…go check it out here.

They are so close to being able to go get her but before they can, the money must be paid. I just thought I would highlight their blog and send you guys there so you read their story and pray for them during all this. April has been a huge blessing to our ministry and I personally am ready for them to complete this mission because I know how much it means to their family. And, if you feel led to give, I can tell you first hand that it will be very appreciated and you will be blessed for it.

msn.com’s 10 artists who should quit.

This little article was posted on the msn.com music page of 10 artists they think should give it up and stop making music (in no particular order)…my opinion is also included:

1. Madonna - agree
2. The Black Crowes - disagree and I’m sure this guy would as well.
3. The Who - disagree…some greats have earned the right to keep going.
4. Ray Davies - not familiar so I guess I’ll agree.
5. Joni Mitchell - again not very familiar so again I’ll agree
6. Bryan Adams - disagree
7. The Rolling Stones - disagree because of the jack ($$) they are still making!!
8. Elton John - agree but I love his music.
9. Carly Simon - agree…she has a big mouth.
10. Def Leppard - agree…never was much of a fan.

I probably just opened myself up for some ridiculing so bring it on.

i’m an olympic athlete.

Apparently, according to this article I am similar to an olympic athlete??!?!??!??!!!

I will say, however, I don’t burn that many calories when I play…I try to stay under control.

Thanks to Adam for finding this.

40 day fast.

This will be my contribution blog to the 40 day fast. My blogging partner today is Annie. Go check out her blog here. A very special thank you to the Inspired to Action folks for letting me be a part of this!

A few years ago, we had the opportunity to go with a church group to Atlanta, GA to be a part of a weekend in downtown working with Church on the Streets. Church on the Streets is a ministry to the homeless of Atlanta. Atlanta is within the top five cities in America with the largest homeless population. Church on the Street ministers to the homeless by feeding and clothing them, offering spiritual direction, connecting them with local churches, providing pastoral care, and much more.

Our weekend started by working and cleaning at a homeless shelter where we met many of the staff members as well as the tenants. Something that is important to remember is these shelters are emptied every morning and then opened up every evening. So, while they provide a place to sleep…it is not a place to live. To say this was a humbling experience is a huge understatement. I have been in Atlanta many, many times but had never seen first hand what a huge need there was.

As for me, the biggest and most important part of our weekend was the Saturday night worship service. Church on the Streets basically opens their doors for a worship service for anyone on the streets who wants to come. Before worship started, we handed out clothes to well over 300 people. Then came the worship service followed by supper for all who attended. In a small chapel, we crammed all 300 people and had church. This service will be something forever etched in my memory, and I will never forget it. I stood there in the middle of people singing, dancing and praising God…99% of which, were homeless…the other 1% was the staff and volunteers. I cannot explain to you the impact this one night had on my life. The most memorable moment for me was the prayer time. I watched a man stand with many others and pray “Thank You Lord for Your mercy…Thank You Lord for being so good to me…for blessing me!” WOW!! Here was a man who had no home, had no idea where his next meal would come from or where he would sleep that night, and he was thanking God for His mercy on his life. I was blown away and have never forgotten it. Whenever I am stressed about trivial things like paint color, what clothes to wear, where to eat…I think of this moment and hopefully pipe myself down and realize where I am and where I could be.

Church on the Streets is a wonderful place to volunteer and makes a great mission weekend for any group. Get everyone involved! Collect clothes, bottled water or whatever you can think of, and go be a blessing to someone who needs it. For more information on how you can volunteer or take your group to Atlanta and work with Church on the Streets, click here.

You can also help by giving to this wonderful ministry to enable them to keep doing a wonderful work of God. This ministry operates and survives solely on the donations of individuals, groups, churches and organizations that partner with them to support their work. Click here to help.

One day with this ministry can be life changing for you and hopefully a homeless person who needs ministered to. Please pray for Church on the Streets and how you may help.

election 08.

I have been finding a few neat things on Aaron’s blog here lately…Here is a very good site that covers any and all faith/religious topics discussed by both presidential candidates. VERY INTERESTING!! This is stuff we as Christians need to know in a very important election.

Go check it out here.

the dark knight.

I am going to start off this post with a very simple and bold statement:

The Dark Knight is the best Batman movie ever. Period.

As I said in the previous post, I won’t spoil the movie for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. But, I will say that it lived up to all the hype in my opinion. I will now make another simple, yet bold, statement:

Heath Ledger is the best Joker ever. In my opinion.

I promise I am not saying that because he is now deceased…some people are, however. I really thought he was great and I’ll say again that I really prefer this “dark knight” story line of Batman Begins and this movie…it’s much more real looking. The action was great. The movie looked awesome, if your a fan of a fine recorded film…I am. The story never stopped. It just kept moving along and kept you deep in. There are some surprises and those are very welcomed. As Ashley just said to me, “there are only so many ways to say it was good and go see it” so…it was good, go see it. I did find out something cool…this was filmed last summer in Chicago while we were there seeing The Cubies…wish I would have known.

This will be my last post about Batman for a while…I think.

words.

I found this site on another blog where you put in your RSS feed and it gives you the most recently used words in your posts…so apparently I have talked about Batman a lot.

batman.

The new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight”, is upon us. I thought that I was going to get to see it on Wednesday night before the rest of the movie viewing world on Friday but sadly wound up being shot down. It was like my buddy, Josh, got my hopes all up like…”you can go with us to the movie!”…and, then just took them away like…”no, you can’t.” It was not cool but I hope to see it this weekend if the wife will oblige.

My favorite Batman movie to date is the first Batman which featured my favorite Batman character, Michael Keaton. Val Kilmer as OK as Batman although he did commit a cardinal sin…he smiled while in the Batman suit. George Clooney was a disgrace to the character. Whoever thought it was a good idea to have him should have had a few more brain storming sessions. In ER=good…In Batman=bad. I am liking this new Christian Bale guy as Batman…pretty raw. I am also enjoying The Dark Knight story line of the most recent Batman movies and can’t wait to see the late Heath Ledger as the Joker. So, hopefully, off to the movies I go tomorrow night…I’ll let you know how it goes but won’t spoil the movie like some do.

Who was your favorite Batman actor?

first ever video.

I just have to share Four Days Late’s very first ever music video for our current single, “Glorious King”. We are very proud of this!!

Hopefully you’ll be seeing this soon on the Gospel Music Channel!!

the all-star game.

So, I just stayed up very late watching the All Star Game and am sad that the National League lost…again. I got to tell you though, they kinda deserved it. I promise I am not being partial here but I am going to have to agree with my dad and ask…

Why in the world did Brian McCann not get into the game until the 15th inning?

I mean, he didn’t even hit. There were a few at-bats he missed out on…and, he could have popped one over that short porch in right field at any time….weird. Anywho, the pre-game stuff was awesome with lots of hall of famers and such…good stuff. I love baseball.