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I've moved on. I've graduated.

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or if you prefer, http://www.themudpuppy.com/

UPDATE YOUR LINKS ALREADY!!

Discover

"I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

Martin Luther King Jr., June 23, 1963

ugh...

Come Together

Mac brought it all home when they ran back on stage for their encore. "Do you mind if we do a little church up in here?" followed by a powerful and aerobic rendition of Come Together. The whole place wrapped arm in arm, jumping up and down (being quite undignified if I might say so), all affirming that we've got to come together.

This wasn't my first Third Day concert and it won't be the last, but this one was probably the best. Third Day and their music and their inspiring lyrics were the catalyst to pushing my life off the sidelines and into the game.

Sunday night we were witness to a great show and lead in amazing worship. As someone else mentioned to me last night, we met God again face to face and it was AWESOME! It all started with the crazy David Crowder Band and his fancy Key-Tar. David has such a heart for worship and can bring a room into unified praise while at the same time reminding us not to take ourselves too seriously. I love that guy! After a brief intermission where Tai reminded us that there is a world out there that seriously needs our help, Third Day burst onto stage with "There's a light at the end of this tunnel."

It's impossible to say what the "highlight" of the night was because quite honestly there were no let downs. They mixed a few songs from their new album with some all time greats. A couple of notables were the renditions of Blessed Assurance, Thief, and Mac's story of his 6 year old daughter who asked Jesus to come into her life. Mac said he was so happy but wondered if she really knew what she was saying. Does she really know what Jesus did for her. Then he said that God spoke to him and said, "Mac!, you don't even really know what I've done for you!" Man, that was powerful!

You know, I was wrong, there was one highlight. Spending time with Tonia, Chris, Kelly, John, Dan, Justin, Doug and Sue was amazing. I can't wait until March 16 when we'll be joined by over 30 more friends for another wonderful night of worship with Casting Crowns & Nicole Nordeman.

Playing Favorites

Favorite Book (The Bible is not a book, it's a compilation of books)
Favorite Movie
Favorite Food
Favorite Album (CD, 8-track, whatever)
Favorite Song
Favorite TV show

Not one of us?

"Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us."

"Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.

Mark 9:38-40

Prayer Excercise

I've been diving into the study of prayer recently. I've listened to quite a few people talk on the subject and I'm in the middle of a good book on prayer as well.

First I have a couple questions. No need to answer these unless you feel compelled. Just a few questions to make us think.
• Have you ever fallen asleep while you were praying?
• Have you ever burped or farted while you were praying?
• Have you ever prayed while using the restroom?
• Have you ever daydreamed while you were praying?
• Who do you pray to?
• Is your prayer mostly requests or praise?
• Have you ever prayed out loud by yourself?
• Have you ever prayed without words?
• Do you say the exact same phrase in every single prayer?
• Is the language in your prayer one that you don't use regularly?

Now here's a little excercise that just might have you pulling your hair out. The next few times you say a prayer try not to once mention the words "be with" or "bless" in the entire prayer. Let me know how it goes.

Happy Valentines Baby

Shaylinn Marie Drouillard
6 lbs 5 oz - 17.5"

Congratulations Melissa and Justin!

Love Dove

Chocolate always loves you back.

The Visceral God

Do you experience God with only your mind? Do you know him on only one plane? Why wouldn't you use the senses he made you with to experience him more fully.

Taste. Smell. See. Hear. Touch. They're all there for a reason. We were designed intelligently and intentionally. Know that He's all around you, available to all the senses. He's also available at a visceral level. Down in your guts. That unmeasurable feeling you get when you're driving to work in the morning and you see the most beautiful sunrise and you feel as though you're in the presence of God. That's not just a feeling. That's being wide awake and fully alive.

Experience the fullness of God today.

Salvation is Here

My current favorite song! Although this is by Hillsong, the version I'm listening to is off of the Passion06 album. Lead by the Passion Band (David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman).

Artist: Hillsong United
Album(s): Look To You (2005), God He Reigns (2005)

God above all the world in motion
God above all my hopes and fears
And I don't care what the world throws at me now
I'm gonna be alright

Hear the sounds of the generations
Making loud our freedom song
All in all that the world would know Your name
It's gonna be alright

Cause I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
Salvation is here

Salvation is here
Salvation is here and He lives in me
Salvation is here
Salvation that died just to set me free
Salvation is here
Salvation is here and He lives in me
Salvation is here
Cause You are alive and You live in me

I Can Feel It

Artist: Third Day
Album: Wherever You Are

I seek the silence through the chaos and the noise
That's when I'm listening; I want to hear Your voice
Sometimes it softly speaks, a whisper on the wind
Sometimes it's louder when Your Spirit rushes in

I can feel it all around me
I can feel it all around me

I keep on searching for Your presence in this place
I see your hand at work, I feel Your touch of grace
Sometimes it falls like rain upon this thirsty land
Sometimes You gently stir the heart of every man

I can feel it
I can feel it
I can feel Your heartbeat

I pray You'd send Your presence down,
Send it down
Fill us with Your Spirit now

The New Three

Monday Night Football will have a new broadcast team when it debuts on ESPN in 2006. Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser will man the booth and Suzy Kolber and Michelle Tafoya will be the sideline reporters. You might know Tony from the Pardon The Interuption (PTI) show one ESPN daily @ 5:30pm. (You can also listen to him on XM radio channel 152 daily from 11am.) Tony is my man! This will be so much better than the failed Dennis Miller experiment. Tony actually has a history in sports and Mike Tirico is a class act. Suzy and Michelle are two of the best and as for Joe, well, I'm sure we'll see a few more clips of his busted leg.

Mr. Girly-Man

I was invited to play basketball last night and since I'm trying to reconnect with this old friend I gladly accepted. Both of us are much older than the last time we played basketball and when we got to the gym there were about 14 high school kids ready to run some full court.

I really did think I was in decent enough shape to run with them. Boy was I wrong. After gutting out the entire first game (0-1, two bad passes, 1 steal, 2 horrible dribbling displays) I got a drink and sat down and tried to regain my breath for THIRTY FREAKING MINUTES! Seriously, it was hard to breath. I didn't even go back out there the next time I had an opportunity. This desk job is killing me. That or the getting older thing. Regardless, I am so not in shape. I need to work out.

A Bus, A King & A Leather Recliner

One of the best Superbowls ever. The weird thing is that the game wasn't the best one I've seen this year and the ads were just so-so.

So what made it so great? Well, for starters I live close to Detroit so that was cool. I'm a designer by trade and I really liked the XL logo. (And the fact that it was billed as Extra Large.) Half of the Seahawks are Christians and aren't afraid to say it. I love The Bus! Pittsburgh was the first logo and NFL team that I ever knew. Jeff and Heather can throw one crazy party. There were over 30 people there with food, drinks, laughter, rows of couches, and a projection screen television that took up an entire wall and surround sound tackling. Jeff even gave me the optimal position on the optimal couch for optimal viewing pleasure! I think the only thing that would have made it better would have been if the BHG* had made an appearance. Next year we'll make that a priority.

For those interested in viewing the advertisements once again, or happened to miss them last night Click here to watch them all. Which one was your favorite? Least favorite? Why?

*BHG- Big Honkin Grill

Better Than Starbucks

“We believe life itself with Jesus Christ is more important than what we do on the field,” .... “We want to make sure our focus is on more than this game. We have a bigger calling.” –Shaun Alexander

You wouldn't think this would upset me, but man I was really wanting to root for the Steelers on this one. My thanks to Tonia for sharing a story she heard about Shawn Alexander (Seattle Seahawks Running Back & League MVP). I guess Shawn was having dinner in Detroit earlier this week and noticed a group of 4 guys saying a prayer before they ate. When he was done eating he came up and told the guys he really appreciated what they did there in public. He went on to tell them that over half of the Seahawks were Christians and that they are really hoping for a win Sunday so they can proclaim their faith to the whole world on the biggest stage. After that all the guys at the table and all the guys Shawn was with got in a group and said a prayer together.

Why didn't I know this before last night?