Lost Returns Tonight

With the writers' strike continuing well into this year, television has really suffered. Tonight, however, a glimmer of hope comes. The fourth season of Lost is on tonight and I am really looking forward to it. With no 24 in sight, Lost is my favorite show on now. Part of that reason is that Lost had the most shocking and well-written ending last year of any show.

If you are not a fan of the show, ITunes has a recap of the first three seasons. It was free for a while - don't know if it still is.

If you are a fan, you might interested in this article of 48 pending questions on the show.

Random Quote

_____"It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them."

Mark Twain

List of Redeeming Films

Each year Christianity Today releases a list of the 10 films that they find to be the most redeeming films of the previous year. That does not mean that the films are Christian or clean. It simply means that the film have an element of redemption in their stories.

To see their list click here. Yet again, the only movie I have seen on the list is Ratatouille. I would love to see several others on the list. What about you - which of these films have you seen? Is there another movie you think should be on the list?

Happy 50th Lego!

My son Eli has officially become a fan of the Lego blocks. In the last few weeks we have built Star Wars ships, Mars Mission vehicles, and City Rescue Cars. This afternoon, Lego celebrated its 50th anniversary. Here is a timeline of some events in the Lego era. It is amazing to me to see some of the works that people have done using Lego blocks. For instance, this blog post shows some work by a man who is a self-proclaimed Lego artist.

My son's 5th birthday is coming close and I am sure that Lego's will be part of the celebration. I just wondered if someone can figure out how to keep Luke from playing with Eli's blocks just to bother him.

Is America a Post-Christian Nation?

One of my classes for this semester centers on church planting. Today I ran across a site that showed some startling statistics about the state of the church in America today. While I have seen many of these statistics in other places, seeing them together definitely raises some questions.

Take a look at the video called Post Christian Church Planting.

What reactions do you have to these numbers and quotes?

Random Quote

_ "It is my opinion that art lost its creative urge the moment it was separated from worship."

Ingmar Bergman

Oscar Nominations

Oscar nominations were announced this morning (For a complete list, click here). As usual, I have not seen a single one of the "Best Picture" nominees. In fact, the only movie I have seen that is nominated at all is Rataouille. So, what about you? Have you seen any of the films? What do you think should have been nominated? Do you even care?

Random Quote

_____"Never give great responsibility to someone who cannot live without it."

George Shultz, former Secretary of State

Playing Golf in January

I ran across an article in Fortune about the next big thing on the Internet - World Golf Tour. Right now this website based game is only in a demo mode where you play a closest to the pin challenge for 9 holes.

The website promises more courses and full games when the site goes live later this year. In fact, they are claiming that you will be able to play foursomes with friends around the world on some of the greatest courses in golf (including Pinehurst and Kiawah). With big sponsors like TaylorMade and the PGA Tour, it looks like this might be something worth looking out for in the near future.

If you are interested check out the site for World Golf Tour.

Excuses, Excuses

A story from CNN.com this morning lists some off the wall excuses that people give for missing work.

My personal favorites include:

While at a circus, a tiger urinated on the employee's ear, causing an ear infection.

An employee was upset because his favorite American Idol contestant was voted off.

An employee said he wasn't feeling well and wanted to rest up for the company's holiday party that night.

For the rest of the list, go here.

You Tube Friday

This week started another season of American Idol. With the writers' strike ongoing, television programming is very limited. While I wait for the return of Lost, I will be watching America's talent search.

The early part of the show always features a mix of good auditions with tragic ones. While this week did not seem to have any showstoppers with good performances, there was an inspiring song in the other category.

Conjunctivitis Delay

I apologize for the lack of posts this week. Susan and I were both diagnosed with conjunctivitis on Monday. While that sounds like we are both on our death beds, it actually means that we have "pink eye." We are starting to improve and you can expect more posts to follow.

Random Quote

"We will have eternity to celebrate the victories, but only a few hours before sunset to win them."

Amy Carmichael, Irish missionary to India (1867-1951)

Glaus for Rolen

It appears the Cardinals are on the verge of sending Scott Rolen to the Blue Jays for Troy Glaus. Aside from Glaus' mention in the HGH issue, I think this is a great move for the Cards. You can see stories about the trade at ESPN and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. There is also an instant analysis of the trade by Jeff Gordon of the STL Post-Dispatch.

YouTube Friday

Another video from Tim Hawkins. I especially like the part in the second half of the clip about the games boys make up. And I give my apologies to Chuck E. Cheese on the front end.

Spider-Man

Apparently, this is the man that will be leading the Vols' offense this coming year. His name is Dave Clawson and the article from Knoxville News-Sentinel talks about accomplishments. All I know is that it appears his last name sounds a lot like former quarterbacks at UT.

Another note: It appears that Urban Meyer is not excited about our hire for RB Coach. Two articles (here and here) mention Meyer's disposition when he heard of the move.

Running from God (Jonah Part 1)

Last Sunday, I started a series of sermons called "God in Pursuit" based on the book of Jonah. In the first sermon, we talk about listening for God to speak and then obeying his voice.

To listen, just click play.

Three for Two

Are the Vols about to add an Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks Coach, and former high school All-American 5-star Quarterback all at once? It seems that the Vols have interviewed the OC and QBC from Michigan. And apparently, their highly regarded quarterback Ryan Mallett may follow suit.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel article talks of the father speaking of the possibility.

I don't know if the Michigan guys are the answer. If you were to compare UT to one program in college football - the best comparison would probably be Michigan (Both are usually higher rated than they show - both can choke in big games - both have problems with biggest rivals - both have/had coaches living off a National Championship from several years ago). So, I don't know that this is the hire I would prefer.

What about you? Do you think the Michigan guys are the way to go?

Random Quote

"When wealth is lost, nothing is lost. When health is lost, something is lost. When character is lost, all is lost."

Dr. Billy Graham

Wednesday Video - Cletus Take the Reel