Oops...

I recently posted about a movie I saw called "Outsourced." I loved the movie, and still recommend it for the reasons I listed in that post.

You might remember that I was also excited for the new TV show, based on the movie, starting soon on NBC. Well, that show premiered tonight and I watched it with great anticipation.

But, it was awful.

If you took time out of your day to watch that show because I recommended the movie, I'm sorry. We both wasted half an hour of our lives. The acting was poor, the writing was lame, and it was tacky-- just like I feared.

If you saw the TV show, don't let it stop you from watching the movie. And if you haven't seen the movie yet, give it a watch and let me know what you think.

Big Hit

Have you seen this video?! If you watched the ISU vs. Iowa football game, you probably did (they showed it during the game). Even so, it's worth a blog post.

They give football players mo-peds at the University of Iowa. Josh Koeppel, the second-string center on the team, was driving his in Iowa City a couple of days before the game against Iowa State. The dashboard camera on a police car caught this video of Koeppel going through an intersection. The incredible thing: he wasn't injured. Not at all. They did a full-body MRI, and found nothing out of the ordinary. He even got in the game against ISU a few days later.

(P.S. Watch his shoe fly in the air!)

God is More Astounding Than OK Go

To find out why OK Go is astounding, check out my last post.

To find out one small reason why God is infinitely more astounding than OK Go, keep reading.

Remember this post about Sam taking me to Half-Price Books? We bought six of John Piper's Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die (also titled The Passion of Jesus Christ). That was just enough, plus one extra, for each of the high school guys in our youth group to have a copy to work through during our 6:30am Thursday morning Bible studies we are starting this week. (I ask for your prayers for that, by the way!)

I thought we would try going through the book (we're also studying Hebrews) with just the guys. If it was good, I'd buy a few more copies and have Sam lead the girls through it, too. When I mentioned this off hand to our pastor, he said he had a few more copies he could give me so the girls could start studying it right away. Unfortunately, his copies plus my copies left me four copies short of what we needed for everyone to get one.

For the last two weeks, I've been looking for cheap copies online but I haven't been able to find them in bulk for a reasonable price. As I continued searching for cheap copies, I felt increasingly convicted that we need to be studying this book as an entire youth group. I kept feeling like God wanted to use this book to change my heart and my view of Him, as well has the hearts of the students in the youth group. But I still didn't have enough books, and our study starts in less than a week.

Yesterday, God blew me away. After youth group, Sam and I walked over to the main church building for congregational meeting. As we came around the south corner of the building, a woman from the church got out of her car and walked up to us.

"Do you have any use for these in the youth group?" she asked me, as she handed me FOUR copies of Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die by John Piper!!!

My jaw hung open for several seconds.

"How did you know we needed those?" I asked her.

She explained that she had no idea we needed them. In fact, she found them on a bookshelf in her home and decided to bring them to the church library where they would get some use.

"I was just going to give them to the library," she told us, "if you two hadn't come around the corner just as I was getting out of my car, I never would have thought to ask if you could use them!"

It's not astounding that the Creator of the Universe is astounding. That makes sense. Of course He is astounding. He defines astounding. He knows us and our needs. And He provides for them, big or small, according to His perfect timing and will.

God is on board with this Bible study. In truth, He is the one leading it. Please pray for me and for Sam that we will be blessed with insight and humility as God leads us to unpack the truths in Hebrews to our high schoolers. Pray also for the kids, that their hearts will be like soft clay in the Potter's hands.

Finally, praise God for His provision in the tiny details of our lives and our ministries. May He be glorified above all things in both.

OK Go is Astounding

This band, called OK Go, puts together some magnificently unique and stupendously creative music videos. Here is their latest one:



In case you've never experienced the internet before today and have never seen an OK Go music video previously, here are three of my favorites:

Outsourced

About a week and a half ago Sam and I watched a movie called "Outsourced" with my family in Clarion. We found it by accident on that new "stream-movies-for-free-through-your-Wii" program thingy that Netflix is doing. If you're like me, you've never heard of the movie before. I'd never seen a trailer or a promo.

Needless to say, I didn't expect much. It's about a guy's job at a call center getting outsourced to India, so I thought it would be funny for Sam to point out all of the movie's shortcomings since she spent two months in the country.

We were astounded not only by the accuracy of the movie, but by the funny and extremely clever writing and the excellent acting. It was fun for my family and me to get a better concept of my wife's time in India while laughing at the comedy created by the culture chasm.

Here's a trailer:


There are a two "awkward scenes" where sex is strongly implied, but neither shows anything and they are easy to skip. Other than that, I remember the movie being pretty clean. (It's such a low-budget film that Focus On the Family's "Plugged-In" doesn't even have a review of it.)

Despite skipping two scenes, this was one of the best movies I've seen in awhile. I'm excited to see that NBC has a new show based on the movie! It looks like "The Office" meets India. It will probably end up being tacky or inappropriate, but here's to hoping!

Spending Spree

Sorry it's been awhile since a real posting. Unfortunately, things haven't developed very much with our neighbors. Esther doesn't come by any more. We think her mom found out she was coming over and put a stop to it. Frank and Kevin are both around from time to time, but we haven't had a chance for any conversations.

So, instead of posting about our neighbors or a cool video, I'm going to post about my wonderful wife!

Yesterday, Sam and I took our first free Saturday in more than a month to go shopping in Des Moines. I needed a new pair of boots for work. I did a little shopping around, and ended up buying from Red Wing Boots. And I definitely recommend them.

I got some all leather, water-proof, GoreTex-lined, composite-toe boots (as opposed to steel-toe, which are heavier and get cold in the winter). It was one of those purchases that it seemed wisest to spend more money now and get a more quality product that will last several years. This is an exciting step up for me from the $6 work boots I got at Salvation Army and have been using for the past 6 months. They served me well, but it was time for them to go.

BEFORE RED WING:

 

AFTER RED WING:

In case you're in the market for some good work boots, Red Wing Boots rocks. Along with extending the 20% off State Fair discount for me, they provide free monthly boot cleaning, free laces for the life of the boots, and a good warranty.

After boot shopping, Sam took me on a surprise birthday excursion (a couple of weeks early) to Half-Price Books. I'd never been before, but her little plan was brilliant. Any time we go into a bookstore, we have to agree with a handshake that we won't spend anything. Bookstores are a budget-busting weakness for both of us!

Sam informed me that this time was different. Half-Price Books buys used books in good condition and sells them at super low prices. Most paperbacks range from $2-7 and hardcovers go for $5-10. And, once again, God blessed us with a 20% off sale! Best of all, Sam said for today only I was to be un-restrained by our budget. What an awesomely clever birthday gift! I love my wife.

Here's what I got for $45 total:

•  The Passion of Jesus Christ by John Piper (5)
  (I'll use this for a Bible study with the GABC high school guys)
• Epic by John Eldridge (2)
• What is Reformed Theology? by R.C. Sproul
• Where Your Treasure Is: What the Bible Says About Money a Bible study by James and Martha Reapsome
  (Sam and I need some help on this topic after our spending spree!)
• Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper
• The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
• To Live is Christ: Embracing the Passion of Paul by Beth Moore (this one's for Sam)
• And 3 movies for $3 each: "Gladiator," "The Recruit," and "Breach"

To end the night, Sam took me out to Texas Roadhouse. If you've never been there, you must go. I had an incredible sirloin and amazing cheesy mashed potatoes. But the best part? All you can eat shelled peanuts and soft, delicious dinner rolls for FREE!

Silent and Invisible U.S. Military Heat Ray Non-Lethal Anti-Riot Weapon

I saw this on TV a couple days ago. I thought it was fake at first, but this amazing piece of weaponry is for real. Astounding.