What A Difference A Year Makes

Posted on by

I was reading this entry tonight and getting teary-eyed. All I can say is this:

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 8:37-39

A year ago, I never imagined that I would actually be happy again. Thank you Lord.

SuperBowl Commercial Observations

Posted on by

Some observations about the commercials (separate from the list of good commercials):

  • Why are there so many Levitra commercials? Is the NFL really all that concerned with sexual performance? (Note that I’m being polite about this because it’s a family blog.)

  • Why do they show the Levitra commercials but refrain from showing commercials that matter? Do we really need to hear about erectile dysfunction more than how screwed up our country is? Granted, they showed an anti-smoking ad; but CBS also claimed that they couldn’t show ads for special interest groups. Perhaps Al Franken should include them in his sequel to Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.

    • SuperBowl Commercials

    Posted on by

    The good ones so far… (being continually updated)

  • The Pepsi one with the bears

  • The Dodge Hemi one

  • The Sierra Mist commercial with the bagpipers (which was wrong on so many levels but really funny)

  • The Budweiser commercial with the donkey wanting to be a Clydesdale (loved the hair extensions on the legs)

  • Pepsi commercial with the kids convicted of downloading music

  • The Linux commercial from IBM

  • The VISA beach volleyball commercial (Kerri Walsh is a friend of a friend)

  • The Chevy commerical with the kids with the soap in their mouths

  • The LAYS commercial

  • The BIG buffed NFL guys singing “Tomorrow” from “Annie”

  • The QuitPlan ad where the plane bombs the truck carrying cigarettes

  • The Budweiser designated driver commercial

  • Mastercard using the Simpsons

  • Nextel and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

  • Jimi Hendrix and Pepsi

  • Subway — duuuuuuuuude

    • “If Only…” Friday Five

    Posted on by

    You have just won one million dollars:

    1. Who do you call first?
    My parents or Jon’s parents

    2. What is the first thing you buy for yourself?
    I’d pay off our student loans and any other debt before buying anything. Then, I’d probably buy a car.

    3. What is the first thing you buy for someone else?
    Maybe would pay off the mortgages for my parents and in-laws.

    4. Do you give any away? If yes, to whom?
    Our churches, various charities like Union Station Foundation, Save the Children, Habitat for Humanity, start a fund for the poor in our part of Minnesota, donate to AIDS research, AIDS education, create scholarships for women MTS students at my seminary…

    5. Do you invest any? If so, how?
    Not sure. I’d have to talk to a financial planner.

    Faith Statements

    Posted on by

    Part of the Confirmation tradition at the churches is that the kids have to write faith statements. There’s a specific format (mostly to help the kids write it):

    Paragraph 1: Your Baptism: what happened and what brought you to this place?
    Paragraphs 2-4: Looking at the Apostle’s Creed, explain what you believe about the Father (Paragraph 2), Son (Paragraph 3), and Holy Spirit (Paragraph 4).
    Paragraph 5: How do you live out your life as a Christian?
    Paragraph 6: How are you connected to the Body of Christ?

    I get to start reading these in March and I’m wondering if *I* could write a statement like this. Religion and faith are notoriously hard things to talk openly about in our society and I might have to write something like that for the faith section of my personal website.

    Anyone want to take the challenge my confirmands are getting and write one too? Post your answers (and links) in the comments.