Peasant Princess...

I have heard from our good friends Marty and Becky Moseley that the "Peasant Princess" series by pastor Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church is life altering. Once you are done reading this blog (provided that you are married) and you are somebody who has not heard this series, go to itunes and podcast it or google it and you will find it on the web. LISTEN TO IT!!! It is amazing and I have only listened to one and a half sermons.

It is based on the book Song of Solomon. It is an amazingly passionate book and one that all of us married ones need to pay special attention to. As I listen to the message I can't help but wonder who would be crazy enough to listen and then not implement the directions for our married lives that this series goes through. It speaks to so many areas and if you struggle in any of the areas, and we all will somewhere, listen and follow wise counsel and bring your marriage to a place it has never been. It is literally blowing my mind!!!

We as men need to be doting almost to the point of nausea over our wives. We need to uphold our wife as a precious child of God that He has entrusted us as her husband to take care of!!!

How can we as men or women withhold ourselves sexually, spiritually, emotionally, or anything else from our spouse? We need to be all in and live our marriages the way that God intended them to be! A marriage is a gift from God. It is not always easy and sometimes we go through some pretty harsh things, but God will bring you through.

I feel like going on for so much more, so all I can say is check it out!!! Please!!! It is amazing!!!

Rachael, I love you and pray that I can live as your husband the way that God has set me to be. You are such a precious gift and more precious then I can express in words. You are an amazing wife, mother, and you are my best friend. I am so blessed by you everyday of our life!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

More to follow as I get further into the series!!!

Newsboys...Michael Tait and more!!!

Oh world of blogging, I have been away for so long. I wanted to write, I just didn't. So here I am. I will write again!!!

Rachael and I had the opportunity to go see the Newsboys in concert at the convention center here good ol' Redding, CA. Our friends Burney and Holly Hetzel from church blessed us with tickets for the show. They had three tickets and said we could do whatever we wanted with the third ticket. We took our friend Krista with us, which was cool because she is a big Newsboys fan. The tickets were great. We were in the front row of the balcony section. We had a perfect view of the bands and no heads to look though or over during the show. Perfect!!!

Three bands opened up before the Newsboys performed. The three bands were Bread of Stone, VOTA, and Decemberadio. All three bands were great. Sometimes opening acts can be disappointing and you wish the main show would start. Not this concert. Bread of Stone is a new band and they were great. They rocked hard, but also had some great slower tracks. VOTA and Decemberadio are both played on Air 1 all the time. VOTA was awesome. They put on an enery packed performance. They are from Nebraska (I thought Jess would like that!) and they play great music. Finally, Decemberadio. If you like rock, Decemberadio is the band for you. They sang a song called Gasoline (YouTube it) that was one of the better Christian rock songs I have heard. Let me say again that all these bands were great and I would see any one of them in concert again if I have the chance. After they were done playing, the big show started!

For those of you who have not heard, the Newsboys lead singer Peter Furler stepped out of the band a few weeks ago. They replaced him with Michael Tait who was previously part of a little known group called DC Talk!!! At first I did not know what to think of Michael Tait fronting the band. How would it sound, how would the energy of the show be, and many other thoughts raced through my head. Let me be the first to tell you that the show was awesome. Michael Tait rocked the Newsboys. Michael Tait is a Newsboy!!! He has amazing vocals and all the Newsboys songs were awesome. He made them his own for sure. The energy of the show was amazing too. They all rocked the house. Duncan, their drummer, rocked the drums and played an awesome solo. He also played part of one of the songs on his in air, sideways, rotating drum set. They even rocked out tow DC Talk songs. They were "In the Light" and "Jesus Freak"!!! They were both great and Jesus Freak gave me goosebumps. It took me back to when I was a Jr Higher!!! They played in the Hands of God, Something Beautiful, Wherever we go, and many more Newsboys hits throughout the show. I walked away from the show very glad that I was able to be there. The Newsboys had a lot of really cool stage props. Bright lights, Big Screens, Catwalk, and more. All made for a great live show. I would definitely pay to see them and see Michael Tait fronting. Way to go Newsboys!!!

The show was fun. I had a great time spending time with my wife and Krista. They had a lot of fun and it will be something for us to reminisce about years on down the road!!!

Crushing some hearts...in this case I am okay with it!!!

I know that I am about to crush some of your hearts with my sentiments in this blog. For that I am kind of sorry. Not very sorry, because of my feelings, but kind of sorry! I want to dive into the realm of the ridiculous cult of "The Bachelor". My first thought on the show is, "what junk!!!" We are a reality show driven culture when it comes to watching the television. I am okay with some and not fond of others, but for me "The Bachelor" takes the cake.

I wish I had the late Don Lafontaine(movie trailer announcer guy) do a spot for me. "One man, fifty women, one desire, TRUE LOVE!!! He must fall in love with one, even though he will love many. The girls are sweet, driven, and all in love!!! That's right, this season, fifty women will all love one man. This is no fairy tale...it's The Bachelor!!!" Blaaaaah!!!!!!!!!

I mean come on. A show where all the girls fall in love with one man. What a joke. When I think of the show I wonder what kind of message we are sending to our the younger generation. It's easy to fall in love. Go on a television show and find what you are looking for. Please!!!! My lovely wife, which I am still madly in love with despite the fact that she loves the show, is hooked. It drives me crazy, but she is. I know there is lots of drama and people love to pick their favorites, but I just don't see it. Then we have the fact that most of the time the person getting dumped is the next seasons star. They were madly in love and will do it all over again and fall even more in love. Excuse me while I gag!!!

Now this is in all true fun, but I cannot stand the show. So to those of you who watch the show that I know, I am sorry for hating with a passion your Bachelor(ette) shows! It is a piece of me that will never die. You will still watch the show even after reading this, and I am okay with that. I will pray for you!!! LOL.

Peace, Love, and Happiness!