Vanity, vanity, all is vanity

The writer of Ecclesiastes was one of the most wealthy men ever to live. He speaks of how "I withheld nothing from my eyes." This guy literally had everything that he ever wanted. Everything he saw, he gave himself, and yet, his conclusion about self-pleasure, about living wisely, about the fact that our lives in general leave little impact on the world, about life its-self is that all was vanity. Literally everything was simply fleeting, or "like a vapor," pleasing for a short time but ultimately unsatisfying. This is what we have been talking about in our small group lately and I was fortunate enough today to have a student direct me to the testimony of a guy who is a modern day equivalent of the Ecclesiastes author. I could attempt to qualify that statement, but the video below does a much better job.



Praise God that he is still saving those who are lost, and giving hope and strength to the weary. When we finally arrive at the point where we find our identity in Him rather than the fleeting pleasures of this world, we get fulfillment, satisfaction, and peace greater than anything this world can afford. Thanks for the reminder "Head."

Too much TV

I am not a huge fan of most of the shows that contain judges these days. America's Got Talent...actually no most of them don't but are convinced they do. American Idol? No more Simon this year and a talk show host who pretends to know something about music? Not so much. However, Laura and I have been watching a newer show on NBC called "The Sing Off." The program is an amazing showcase of acapella talent from across the U.S. Every song on the show is sung completely absent of instruments (other than the human voice of course). I have been VERY impressed with the singing from every group. It's on twice a week and is an hour well spent.

Now, onto the commercials. The majority of the commercials in Bloomington-Normal are local commercials that range from the terrible carpet salesman to the used car guy that uses a computer synthesizer to talk like a chipmunk to the pawn shop that remakes classic rock songs using their own lyrics... pretty bad stuff. That's why when I see a good commercial, the kind that makes me laugh, I find it absolutely necessary to share. Consider this the first post of many to come, featuring my favorite recent picks.

The first commercial that I found hilarious is the new AT&T commercial advertising their mobile network's reliability and speed. The commercial is great because it presents a situation that we can all relate to... putting our foot in our mouth. The actors perfectly fit the part of the typical office staff and the situation plays out fairly close to what would happen in real life. I loved it!



The second commercial that left me wishing I still had my DVR was the Kevin Bacon commercial for the Logitech wireless keyboard along with Google TV. It took me a while to figure out if the guy posing as Kevin Bacon's biggest fan was actually him or just someone that looked really similar. He does such an amazing job of playing the part that it was difficult to determine. I die laughing every time he crosses his finger at the end of the commercial. Great acting Kevin. Bravo.

Baby Buddies

Tonight was the first meeting of Graham and Maddox, who are scheduled to be future best buddies. Maddox is the son of our good friends Matt and Amy Horine who are in our small group Bible study which meets every Tuesday night. Maddox was born almost three weeks before Graham was, but the difference in size of the babies was unbelievable. It seems inconceivable that in just three weeks time a baby can grow that much!

Although Graham and Maddox are the only babies that are currently attending small group, every other couple, four other couples in total, are also expecting. Surprised? So were most of us. This last summer, Matt and Amy were the first to announce they were expecting. We followed them with our announcement two weeks later, then Zach and Karissa, Jake and Melissa, Rachel and Jordan, and FINALLY Ben and Caitlin! It was almost a joke by the time everyone had given their announcements. There must be something in the water down here.

We are so thankful for the amazing christian friends that the Lord has provided us and I can say with confidence that our small group has been the catalyst to starting most of the relationships we share today. Church on Sunday's and mid week services are great don't get me wrong, but I truly believe that small groups are a necessary part of every church. The reason I say this is that a large purpose of the church is to promote and facilitate the close fellowship of believers. Meeting once or twice a week in a large congregation and only giving at max 20-30 seconds of time to "meet and greet" does not accomplish that purpose. By participating in a small group, you allow people to connect on a much more personal level and promote interaction, openness, and accountability. Any of you who have been a part of one would readily agree I'm sure.

If you aren't a part of a small group Bible study, or your church doesn't have them...start one. Pick one day a week or one day every other week that you can meet for an hour or so, study the word, share prayer requests, and then just hang out. You will be amazed at the insights you are able to gain into God's word by hearing others perspectives and at the deep relationships that are formed when you connect with other believers on a spiritual AND social level.

Well enough of my ranting, the wife and baby are both sleeping and its about time I do the same. Until next time.

A Picture is worth...

As you might have seen at the bottom of our thanksgiving post, our friend Summer Knobloch is an amazing children's photographer. We were so excited to have her over for our first photo shoot with our brand new baby yesterday! This picture is just one of the photos that she uploaded to her blog as our little sneak peek. You can check out some of the other pictures she took by visiting the links above.

I could make this post extremely long and share all the details about the photo shoot and how we had to crank the house temperature to 79 degrees to keep the baby comfortable while he was nakie, or the hour and a half it took me to find the black v-neck shirt I hadn't worn since the beginning of summer, or the fact that we waited for 2 hours for Graham to fall asleep (he didn't) but for now, I'll just leave you with this picture and the promise of more to come. Christmas cards coming soon!