More Student Super Bowl Commercials

Is this an And1 Mix Tape???

Awake and Alive -or- Is that a Chocolate Chip Cookie or Oatmeal Raisin?

Another Super Bowl Commercial from Our Contest and Random Stuff

This video was done by one of our Middle School groups. As you can tell I think they had WAY too much fun filming this!

I'll be posting other commercials from our students' commercial contest at Rel Community. Here are some other things that I hope make you laugh, brighten your day or grow you in some way:

VINCE LOMBARDI
For those of you who might not know the Super Bowl trophy is named the Lombardi Trophy after former coach Vince Lombardi. As crazy as it might sounds, someone with the same name was arrested on Super Bowl Sunday for shoplifting. He doesn't look too happy does he?

WORLDVIEW 101
A friend of mine who is currently a teacher in Bolivia sent me this website, and looks like a really informative and valuable tool. It has tons of information and articles about pretty much everything. If you are a Christian who wants to go a little deeper in their knowledge of God or other worldviews, this would be a great resource.

MARRIED IN MINISTRY
Whether you are in full time ministry, its something you are pursuing, or you just want to know more about what life in ministry is like, I came across a blog interview that has some great insights as to what it is like for the wife of a full-time minister. The interview is with Lauren Chandler who is married to Matt Chandler who is the Lead Minister at Village Church in Texas.

Things I've Been Reading

Well there was a little longer between blog post than I would like, but a lot of great stuff has been going on the past few weeks that has either kept me away form the computer or kept me pretty busy. Right after Christmas, I had the awesome opportunity to go on a Cruise with Alicia's family that was so much fun. Once we got home, a last minute plan turned into reality, and my Dad and some of my friends to a van load down to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. We drove there and back in the course of 48 hours, but it was TOTALLY worth it.  Then finally, our Middle School Sunday Morning Group was going through a series our leader Yuri came up with called Carrots and Donuts: The Civil War Within, that focused on the struggle we have as Christians to give up certain things to go on the adventure God has for us. As a part of that our group was challenged to give up something that we spend a lot of time doing. I chose the internet, so for a week I was out of commission, but now I have some time to pass along some things to you for your perusal.

Here are some links of things I've seen or read recently. Hopefully some of them brighten your day, challenge you, or just make you laugh:

Shane Claiborne on Prayer
This is an article from Relevant Magazine. It talks about the power of prayer as a community. 

Stop Reading Your Bible
This is a link to a blog from a Youth Group that decided to stop reading their Bibles for a month. I know that sounds crazy and well, unbiblical, but check out what they are doing. It's pretty interesting.

Radical By David Platt
One of my friends at Nagel Middle School recommended this book to me. I got in on my IPOD and I have listened to the first few chapters and its been really solid. It not only challenges your thought process on what God is doing in your life, but it also challenges you to think about what God's purpose is for the church.

Inside a Moment in Time
This is something that ESPN put together on their website. It has everyone's perspective on the Eli Manning to David Tyree catch from Super Bowl XLII. Not only does it tell you some pretty cool things about the play itself, it also shows you how much work, effort, and chance went into one of the greatest plays of all-time.

The Empire Farts Back
Yeah ok so this one isn't serious at all. Still, embrace this video. Click on the link and enjoy fart after fart. It's pretty interesting what someone can do with some editing of Star Wars and a fart machine. You'll love the Yoda sequence too!

Super Bowl Commercial Videos

Our Student Ministry had a commercial contest with our students this year. All of our students got involved and did a great job. It was a lot of fun. Maybe over the next few weeks I'll upload some of the commercials the students came up with to share with everyone. I think you'll be impressed.

Year in Review: Part 1

January
Bigger Picture: Barack Obama becomes the 44th President of the United States. We all stopped to watch. Then everyone stopped chanting, "Yes We Can!" and started wondering, "Can He?"

In My World: The Buckeyes lost a heart-breaker to Texas (I could cry right now just thinking about it). I also read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Solid Book.

In Student Ministry: We found out that Brian Roberts wasn't the worlds best skier. I am sure something spiritual happened, but Brian almost dying his first time down the mountain kind of qualifies right?

February
Bigger Picture: Everyone was very very unhappy when the Pittsburgh Steelers did this...

I still don't believe in Steelers fans. They are either non-human or just confused about football. Anyways they barely won and Ben Rothlisberger went to Disney world.

On a whole it wasn't a good month for sports either. Everyone found out that A-Rod did Steroids and Michael Phelps got suspended for another kind of drug use.

In My World: I had a question for the Forest Hills School District. When I called to ask, they put me right through to the Superintendent John Patzwald. I was so shocked and surprised by their amazing service that I immediately voted for every School Levy in Anderson Township for the next 20 years.

Alicia and I went to Montgomery Inn and it was good. We also got to talk a lot about the future, having kids (No, not right now, but we can still be excited right?), and how blessed we were to have each other.

In Student Ministry:Dixie Hazelbaker and the rest of the Rel Community Group Leaders put on an awesome Super Bowl Party. My favorite moments were Kyle Bianco and Company's Halftime Dance and this commercial


March
Bigger Picture: People all around the globe celebrated Earth Hour by turning off all unnecessary lights and electronics for an hour on March 28th. An hour later they all turned their computers on and blogged about it while they caught up on their TV shows.

Terrell Owens signed with the Buffalo Bills and everyone all of a sudden realized that he wasn't relevant anymore.

In My World: The Buckeyes got upset early from the NCAA Tournament by Siena. That hurt. I also read Mission Black List Number 1 which was a Interrogators account of how we caught Saddam Hussein. Incredibly interesting book.

In Student Ministry: We had an awesome High School Retreat that focused on what makes us, well us. Not only was it a blast, but we also had some great time to reflect and think about how we want people to remember us. We learned from Epehesians 4:10-16 that God has a plan for each one of us.And who can forget the Hug Chug Contest?

Great Article in the Paper today

I read an awesome column by Paul Daugherty today from cincinnati.com click on this link to check it out yourself:

Who You Are is What Counts

Paul shares a story that has just been put into a book about a guy who goes from being a 7th grade teacher to playing in the Super Bowl in the course of 7 weeks. The crazy thing is that its totally true. On top of that, winning the Super bowl is not even the point of the story. The book is written by author Jeffrey Marx and is about Brian Kinchen who won the Super Bowl with the 2003 Patriots. Here is an excerpt from Daugherty's column that explains more what the book is about-

The Long Snapper’s weight comes from the other game Kinchen plays, the one with his spirit. He joins the Pats thinking a return to the game will validate his life. He leaves after the Super Bowl with a new definition of success. It’s not at all what he believed it to be. Said Marx Monday, “We as a society have arrived at some fairly destructive definitions of what it means to be a successful man: How much money you have, what car you drive, how big your house is. This book is an exploration of the real differences between success and significance.’’

I have not yet read this book, but I am definitely going to check it out. I have read another book by Marx that goes along the same lines. Its entitled Seasons of Life and is about a former Baltimore Colt player who goes on to be a minister. The book focuses on what it truly means to be a man. I loved it. I know several High School Football coaches who use the book with their players every year. I think it also reminds us of the role we all play in the Kingdom of God.

We all have tasks that we do here on earth. We have hobbies and passions too. However that isn't what we are truly doing. I have heard a professor describe tasks, sports, hobbies etc as a bunch of head fakes. We play sports because they are fun, but they teach us character. We do a task to get things done or make money, but we learn valuable lessons along the way. What Marx has said several times in Seasons of Life, and Daugherty references in his column is pretty much the same thing. When we start getting our identity or meaning from a headfake (sports, job, hobby) we are truly missing out.

I am going to try to track down this new book, because it looks pretty good. Below I have included links to both of Marx's books I have mentioned. Go buy them form amazon and read through them yourself or with your son or a group of guys. Too many of us get so wrapped up in the task that it becomes who we are. The task isn't what matters. To borrow a phrase from Paul Daugherty, "Its who we are that counts."

Seasons in Life by Jeffrey Marx

The Long Snapper by Jeffrey Marx