voltron vehicle opening video

Just to prove I'm not crazy...very few people remember this one, and it's pretty much the same opening dialog with different video footage. I wish they would put this one on as well as lion force!

GO VOLTRON FORCE!!!

Ahhh...childhood memories!

Remember this golden gem from our childhood?

"Activate interlock, Dynotherms connected, Infracells up...megathrusters are go...GO VOLTRON FORCE!"

I love it! And now I can relive it every morning on the cartoon network, it's on early so thank God for DVR's!!!

"Form feet and legs...form arms and body...and I'll form, THE HEAD!!!"

Anyone else remember vehicle Voltron? It wasn't as popular, but I always thought it was cool...and actually if I remember right it was on long before Lion Force Voltron.

In Touch with my inner child as always,
-Matt

I hate goodbyes...

The title says it all, I hate goodbyes...Plain and simple, they suck. There is no way to avoid it, and because that word seems so "permanent" to me I tried to stop saying it when Megan and I were dating. We wouldn't say "goodbye" we would say "see you soon," acknowledging that even though we were a thousand miles apart we would see each other again soon. I even try to say it with people that I see on a regular basis, but a lot of times I'll say "see you in a bit," which used to upset some of my friends because they knew it would be a long time before we would see each other again.

So I have gotten pretty good at avoiding the word goodbye, until yesterday. When I dropped my folks off at the airport I said goodbye-I didn't do it intentionally, it just came out that way. I know I'll see them again in three weeks for Christmas, but it still stunk having to say goodbye and I was even angrier at myself for using that phrase. I wonder if it was a subliminal way of admitting how hard it is each time they leave. I have always been close to my family, as is Megan with hers. When we made the decision to move here almost 2 years ago it was not an easy decision. There are times when I hate the fact that we are so far apart...I wasn't able to say goodbye to my grandma one last time before she died, my parents aren't getting any younger (but I don't anticipate them going anywhere any time soon), and my baby niece is growing up and I miss getting to see all of her "firsts" since she is the first grandchild for our family cell.

I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that we were called to be here and God reaffirmed that call in October, but there are times when it is tough to be so far away. There are times when the enemy sweeps in and I catch myself questioning God, I know I shouldn't but it is hard not to sometimes. So pray for me, as the holidays are one of those times...We only have a limited amount of time with family, we have to balance between the two, and then it seems to end and before we know it we are saying "see you soon" again knowing that it might me as much as six months before we do see each other again.

God is good though, and it is in these times that He stretches us most and pulls us closer to Him. I don't know about you, but I am glad that he didn't say "goodbye" after He ascended into heaven...He is coming back, He hasn't left us, and there will be a time when we are all together forever if we know Him. I think that is one of the things that helps me to hold on during these tough times because I know that He didn't say goodbye, but rather "see you soon." I look forward to the time I get to spend with family, no matter how short of a time it is, and I look forward to the day that we get to see Jesus again as well.

Just a little sentimental rant...Any ideas to help with the time apart with family?

Comic Book Christianity...

From www.msn.com:
X-Men's Dave Cockrum Dies at 63Nov 28, 6:01 PM EST
The Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Comic book illustrator Dave Cockrum, who in the 1970s overhauled the X-Men and helped popularize the relatively obscure Marvel Comics title into a publishing sensation and eventually a major film franchise, died Sunday. He was 63.
In his Superman pajamas and with his Batman blanket, Cockrum died in his favorite chair at his home in Belton, S.C., early Sunday morning. He had suffered a long battle with diabetes and related complications, his wife, Paty, said Tuesday.
At Cockrum's request, there will be no public services and his body will be cremated, according to Cox Funeral Home. His ashes will be spread on his property.
At Marvel Comics, Cockrum and writer Len Wein were handed the X-Men. The comic had been created in 1963 as a group of young outcasts enrolled in an academy for mutants, but the premise failed to capture fans.
Cockrum and Wein took the existing comic, added their own heroes and published "Giant-Size X-Men No. 1" in 1975. Many signature characters Cockrum designed and co-created — such as Storm, Mystique, Nightcrawler and Colossus — went on to become part of the "X-Men" films starring Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry.
Cockrum received no movie royalties, said family friend Clifford Meth, who organized efforts to help Cockrum and his family during his protracted medical care.
"Dave saw the movie and he cried — not because he was bitter," Meth said. "He cried because his characters were on screen and they were living."
Cockrum was born in Pendleton, Ore., the son of an Air Force officer. He set aside his interest in art while serving in Vietnam for the U.S. Navy. He moved to New York after leaving the service and got his big break in the early 1970s, drawing the Legion of Super-Heroes for DC Comics before moving to Marvel.
In January 2004, Cockrum moved to South Carolina after being hospitalized for bacterial pneumonia. As his diabetes progressed, his drawings became limited. His last drawing was a sketch for a fan, who attended a small comic book convention in Greenville, Paty Cockrum said.
Meth said Cockrum, who will be cremated in a Green Lantern shirt, will be remembered as "a comic incarnate."
"He had a genuine love for comics and for science fiction and for fantasy, and he lived in it," Meth said. "He loved his work."

Those of you that know me well know that I have always been a comic book junkie, specifically for X-Men and really for the whole Marvel Universe. So when I saw the headline "X-Men writer dies in his Superman pajamas" I knew I had to read the article. Here is a man who helped to make the greatest comic books what they were today. He wasn't just associated with the X-Men, but even was a part of making the greatest DC comics happen as well. What caught my attention though was the part of the article that talked about they way he was when he died-"under his Batman blanket and in his Superman pajamas." Now that may seem a little bit funny, but here was a man that was dedicated to his life's work. Even after retiring he stayed connected to the comic book world. He even cried when he saw his characters come to life on the big screenNotnot because he wasn't getting paid, but because they were alive. What would it be like if we had the same dedication to Jesus. How many times are we guilty of Sunday and Wednesday Christianity or just simply being satisfied with status quo Christianity. God wants us to be totally dedicated to Him. Now I am not saying go out and get your "Jesus is my homebotshirtirt and your Jesus bobblehead to show your devotion, but we can take a lesson learned from this man in the fact that if someone can be so devoted to what they did as a career what can we do if we are totally devoted to Christ? It's just something to think about. Jesus gave His all for us, can't we do the same for him?
Just thinkin...
-Matt

The Goal for the week...

So the goal for the rest of the week...DON'T GAIN ANY WEIGHT. I finished the first phase of the Fat Smash diet...Almost. I just decided that it was going to be too difficult to manage that type of diet until after the first of the year, BUT I did learn a lot last week. I like the idea of eating healthier. Although it is tough to stomach a salad sometimes I honestly felt ALOT better last week than I have felt in a long time and the day that I finally did go back to eating the old way (well an adjusted version of the old way-less bad stuff, but still the old way) I felt COMPLETELY different. So what I have decided is to continue eating the adjusted new way with less meat and fats and more vegetables and healthier proteins with less carbs altogether. I have done well so far and my goal is to make it through Thanksgiving the same way and NOT gain any weight. I am planning on hitting the gym extra hard tomorrow morning just to give myself a little more wiggle room. So here's what I learned-less carbs, more healthy protein, more fruits and vegetables, and skip the caffeine if at all possible. I lost four pounds last week, so that is good for me. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!
-Matt

For the Michigan fans...part 2

There ya have it folks...Buckeyes win again!

Is a rematch in order? I'm still not sure they deserve it, but hey if it happens it's one more chance for the Buckeyes to prove they are number one! Odds are they will drop with 2 more weeks of football left with the other teams. We'll see. Thanks everyone for being good sports and having fun about this!!! GO BUCKEYES!!!

For the Michigan fans...

Thought ya'll might appreciate these images...

You know you fear it...

Prepare to lose...AGAIN!!!Smart kid!!!

Good Dog!!!

Show me the money...

Did anyone else see this show last night? I just happened to catch it out of curiosity because it is being hosted by the "shat" and so I thought it might be worth watching. The premise of the game is deal or no deal meets jeopardy. There are 13 girls who do a rather cheesy dance to the theme music of the show (complete with synchronized claps) and who also hold various dollar amounts. You get the chance to answer some trivia questions (which most seemed pretty easy in my opinion) and then you pick a dancer who then reveals a dollar amount or the "killer card." If you answer right you get the dollar amount ranging from 20k-250k. You get to answer as many questions as possible until you get either 6 right or wrong with your dollar amounts going up or down depending on if you are right. If you get the killer card you either get it right or have to answer the "killer" question which means either you are still in with the same amount of money or leave with nothing. Last night one guy left with a ridiculous amount of money (500K if I remember right) and another left with nothing thanks to the killer card (good move on the editors part). All in all the game show is okay, but the pace is slow and the cheese factor is a little too high for my taste but check it out and see what you think. It premiers next Wednesday the 22nd.

Fat Smash Fever...

So Meg and I started a new diet yesterday...Called the "fat smash diet" which is put out by Dr. Ian of "Celebrity Fit Club" fame. I bought the book after my "free diet advice" from Dr. Ian earlier this year (you can find the post in the archives). After reading it I thought it might be worth a try. So after slowly cleaning out the fridge of all the "bad" stuff we started yesterday phase 1-detox. For the next nine days I am allowed all the fruits and vegetables I want, and honestly several other things that make this diet doable...The hardest part...NO MEAT, NO COFFEE, and NO DIET COKE! It was kinda hard yesterday having lunch with the teens who so nicely enjoyed their triple cheese bacon cheeseburger and 7 oz ribeye in front of me (Thanks Brian and Ashley)...Me I had a nice plain salad with a little light ranch. So needless to say I was hungry most of the day yesterday but honestly I think I felt better last night than I have felt in a long time. I seemed to have more energy and I wasn't dragging in the evening. Maybe there is something to this. So the battle continues....

Michigan vs. Ohio State PROMO

It truly is...THE GAME!!! GO BUCKS! BEAT MICHIGAN!!!

Ohio State Buckeye Football - Past and Present

GO BUCKS!!!

What's God trying to tell me???

So I walked outside this morning and I got a message from the Lord. You may think I am joking....But I promise He spoke LOUD AND CLEAR. I looked up at the beautiful sky and there it was plain as day...

The message???

God was telling me that I can save a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico!!!

WOW! I never knew God was in the insurance business. This was actually courtesy of the Geico sky typers team (www.skytyping.com) who are in town for the big Blue Angels homecoming air show this weekend (the final show before the angels head to Top Gun to train for the winter months). I thought it was funny though. They were actually advertising the show all above us for miles (you can see the previous geicos from before). It was fun to see and I can't wait to see them this weekend at the show. Hope you got a smile out of this one! Be blessed! And remember-don't let Jesus catch you ridin' dirty!

Jesus "Ridin' Dirty"

If you were to visit my friends Dan and Angie in dangieland (http://dangieland.blogspot.com), you could find their post from awhile back about church signs. We all know they are annoying and a bit overboard most of the time. I have been guilty of such sayings as "Tired of DQ? Try our Sundays" as I was in charge of the church sign at my last church (it was one of those "other duties as assigned things from my job description). However, as I was driving through Pensacola the other night I saw what I think was the king of all corny church signs. If you aren't familiar with the song "ridin' dirty" by chamillionaire that is where they got it...I think. The song is a foul rap song, but popular and so I guess the church was wanting to be culturally relevant. I understand the importance of being culturally relevant, but this is ridiculous. Here it is...Living proof...
I laughed out loud. Props to the church for being this bold, but I still think it is funny...I think I'll change our sign to say "Jesus wants me to be white and nerdy" to quote the Weird al parody of the song.

Will Ferrell is The Phantom of the Opera

Thanks to Josh Griffin for posting this on his blog http://simplyyouthministry.blogspot.com I had to steal it though and put it up here...classic Will Ferrell-He never ceases to amaze me

Don't forget to vote!

So if you are old enough and registered, don't forget to go vote tomorrow. It is our privilege as Americans to be able to do this, so don't miss your chance. Whether you are Democrat, Republican, party or no party, in support of Bush or not...GO DO IT IF YOU CAN! If you don't vote you don't have a voice so if you can tomorrow don't forget to do it!
-Matt

Perhaps the funniest sign I have ever seen...

So I am in Jacksonville with the teens for our Extreme Days fall retreat (district qualifier for regional TNT@TNU). Jacksonville is funny, and perhaps the funniest thing I have seen for a long time is the sign of a restaurant right off I95 and University Boulevard. We have driven by it each day, but I am afraid to try it...But for your laughing pleasure I introduce you to perhaps the most unique Chinese take out restaurant...Ying's...

Sweet and sour chicken...$3.95, Schechzwan chicken-$4.95, Egg Fu Yung-$5.00, laughter ensued from looking at the sign...PRICELESS!

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone...

Anyone else have a problem being motivated on cloudy, dreary, cool days? I got up this morning for the Bible study I lead at one of the middle schools with every intention of going to the gym afterwards...Instead I went back to the house and slept for an hour. Now I am sitting here in the office struggling just to stay awake and be motivated. Anyone else get this way when the sun doesn't seem to want to come out?

Thoughts on community...

I had the privilege of speaking this Sunday morning for the whole church. After a lot of wrestling with what to say and how to say it I decided to share some thoughts on community. I decided to write a bit of a hybrid post from my notes for today's blog. The premise of the message was the importance of taking a "community health exam" just as you would a physical. Here are the thoughts...

It's important for us as Christians to occasionally check ourselves on areas of our Christian walk just as we would when we go to the doctor for our annual physicals. We read in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 that we are a part of the body of Christ, and as churches, youth ministries, and communities of faith we are "bodies" of Christ and our health as a spiritual body is just as important as our physical health...If not more. One area that I think we sometimes fall short is the area of community. So how are we doing in the area of community? How is our spiritual health? (insert your church here, but please understand this was for my church, but I think the principles apply to all churches). Here is how we find out where we stand and how to improve our community health:

1. It's personal (how are you doing as an individual?)

• Do you know Christ as your personal savior? Have you surrendered your life to him? If not why not? He gave us everything, can't we give Him something?
• Do you give to Him? I am not talking just about tithe...Everything we have is His. Do we live our lives seeing the blessings that He has given us or do we hoard what we have and pretend that we are the ones who are responsible for all we have. In addition to this, do we offer Him our time? There are 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. What if we were to simply offer the Lord 10% of our time each day-it's not that much time, are we so busy that we can't offer Him some of our day?
• Do we serve Him? He has blessed every single one of us with some type of talent or gift. He made us unique and we have SOMETHING to offer Him whether we're 6 months old, 6 years old, 16, or 60 we can serve Him in some capacity. What are you doing for the Lord right now?

2. It's outreach (How are you with others?)

• How willing are you to help those who are in need. I know I have become cynical over the years of ministry about helping those who ask for money, be it at our church or on the street. Every once in awhile though the Lord prompts me to give and I try to listen to what He is saying and then do my part to meet the need. I am not saying give money to every homeless person you meet, but are you listening for the Lord's voice when it comes to meeting the needs of others? What are you going to do to help those in need during the upcoming winter when giving goes down? What role can you play in helping those who need help during the winter and holiday season? There is something you can offer I promise, begin asking what God would have you do to help this holiday season.
• How do you treat those who come through the doors of your church? This is a big one and I still struggle with this, both as a pastor and as an individual. How do we treat strangers and first time visitors? Do we make them feel welcome? Do we make sure they feel like they are a part of our ministry or do we just stay around those who we are comfortable with and pass off a welcome hand shake as enough? I know there are people from my ministry time who have come as a visitor to the churches/youth ministries I have served in who came once and never came back because they weren't made to feel welcome. Are we attending churches who are full of cliques and close cell friendship groups who don't like outsiders or are we attending churches that reach out to visitors and make sure that EVERYONE feels welcome?

3. It's corporate (How are we with each other?)

• Do we make an effort to step outside our friendship/ministry circles or are we segmented as churches? Do people look at the various ministries as entities in and of themselves or a part of the greater ministry?
• How do we talk about each other? Do we live out Proverbs 27:17 being like "iron sharpening iron" or do we "dull" our churches' ministries because we tear each other down with gossip, harsh criticisms, and lack of support?
• How do we support each other? Do we support our leadership, our lay members, our teens and children? Do we pray for them, encourage them, find ways to serve them?

If we are going to be effective as communities of faith we need to find ways to encourage and support one another. Even if we don't agree with the way everything is done we need to support and encourage each other. We are all part of the same team...We can do so much more if we work together instead of against each other.

So how are we doing in these areas? Those are my thoughts on community. Take your own personal "community health" check up.

So what do you think?

-Matt