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As I write this, Kurt Warner is speaking in Arizona and announcing his retirement. For football fans, especially fans of the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals, this is a bittersweet day. It’s sad to see Warner retiring, but it’s great to see him leave the game healthy and on his own time.

On the football side of things, Warner has had an incredible story. He wasn’t highly recruited out of high school. He didn’t immediately break into the NFL. In fact, after college, he found himself stocking shelves at a grocery store to make money. When he couldn’t make it in the NFL, Warner started with the Arena League. He then became the backup in St. Louis. After a season-ending injury to Trent Green, Warner was given the role of starter in 1999 for the St. Louis Rams. While no one expected greatness out of him, Warner went on to win the MVP that year and lead the Rams to a Super Bowl victory. In his career, Warner won 2 NFL MVPs, a Super Bowl, a Super Bowl MVP, and has the 3 highest passing games in Super Bowl history.

Unless you’ve lived in St. Louis or Phoenix, it’s difficult to understand exactly what Warner has meant to those teams and towns. Even though he hasn’t played for St. Louis since 2003, he is still beloved and followed. In fact today’s press conference is being shown on TV in St. Louis and heard on all St. Louis sports radio stations. Maybe this sounds obsessive, but as a fan, I have 2 Kurt Warner plaques in my living room, 2 Kurt Warner Christmas ornaments, 1 Kurt Warner Rams jersey, and 1 Kurt Warner Cardinals jersey. That’s how much of an impact he’s made.

Perhaps the reason he is so beloved is because of what he has done off the field. He has created the “First Things First” Foundation, a charity dedicated to impacting lives by promoting Christian values. He has started the “Winter Warm-Up” which collects coats for the homeless. Kurt and his wife give scholarships to teenagers and young adults looking to go on service-based mission trips. He has also helped flood victims in Iowa, as well as many other things involving charities. And when Warner left a town, he didn’t forget about the charities. He continues to go back to St. Louis and Iowa to do charity work for the community.

Maybe the thing that stands out about Warner the most is how outspoken he has been about his faith. While this may bother some, those who have been around him (both Christians and non-Christians) have said he is the finest man they have ever met. After winning the Super Bowl, before Warner would even talk about the game, he made sure he gave all the glory to God. Being lucky enough to hear Warner speak/preach, I can tell you he believes what he says. In his interviews and press conferences, he makes sure to give glory where glory is due. In fact, in most press conferences, Warner can be seen carrying his Bible to the podium. Today is no exception. He’s always been confident in his abilities, but he’s always made sure to tell where that confidence and those abilities come from.

Warner opened today’s press conference by saying, “The Bible is filled with a bunch of stories about average, ordinary people, where God came in and did something extraordinary in their lives.” He then remarked that God took an ordinary person like him and did something incredible in his life.

Thank you Kurt for letting tag along on your incredible ride!

The Bachelor makes me feel insecure. As a bachelor myself, it seems like it shouldn’t or wouldn’t, but it does. Is it crazy that some reality-TV show could make me feel this way? Maybe. But I think the power that lies behind it is deeper than we actually think.

Although I’m not a fan of The Bachelor and do not watch it regularly, I’ve seen and read enough about it to know the premise, the controversies, the proposals, the fighting, the breakups, etc. And no matter how ridiculous I think the show can be, it still makes me feel insecure.

You see, the guys they get for The Bachelor aren’t anything like me. In fact, the guys they find aren’t like most of us. Through their ultra-selective profiling and filtering, ABC finds the most attractive, charming, and financially secure (aka rich) men to headline the show.

While the the “bachelors” not only have looks and money, they’re also given an inexhaustible budget for their dates. If they want to fly a girl to an exotic island for the weekend, they can do it. If they want to take a girl hiking in the Grand Canyon, they can do it. If they want to sent up a romantic dinner on the beach with champagne and expensive food, they can do it. Why? Because when the cameras are off, ABC sets it all up for them. In fact, I doubt the people on the show have to do much thinking at all. Everything is already laid out for them.

So maybe you can start to see where my insecurities come in. This picture that we paint as “reality,” features a rich GQ model who can make any girl’s dream come true, simply because he has a budget that has been given to him by a network. Sadly, we look at this and call it “romance.”

Some women may read this and argue that their love for the show has nothing to do with the good looks of the bachelor, his charm (how much of a factor is ABC’s editing in this factor?), or his money. Maybe. But I’ve heard men put up similar arguments and say they only go to Hooters because of the wings, or only watch Baywatch because they love David Hasselhoff’s acting.

Do you remember the show Average Joe? Probably not because it was canceled after a short time on TV. It was a show much like The Bachelor, only it featured one beautiful person to be “won,” and all of the “competitors” were average people. Like I said, it didn’t last. Even so, at the end of the first 2 seasons, the “beautiful” person had their choice of an “average joe” or a model…and the shallow models won out both times.

Still, some might argue that romance is the key factor. However, how real is the romance? After all, most of the men on the show kiss several women within hours of each other. And then you have the hot tub visits, the overnight stays, and yada yada yada. If you want a taste of reality, consider this: Out of the 13 seasons, only 1 couple from the show is still together…and they even broke up for about a year.

So maybe now you can see my insecurity. I’m not good looking like the guys on the show. I don’t have a successful career and lots of money. I don’t have a network paying for exotic expensive dates or paying for roses that I can give out each week. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that that is what so many women are craving. They’re craving that false sense of romance they see on TV for 1 hour a week. They’re craving a good-looking guy who has charm and lots of money. They’re craving romance that seems perfected and utopian through the screen of their TV. They’re craving something that really isn’t reality at all.

Let me offer this apology to women on behalf of men. I’m sorry if we’ve ever made you feel inadequate when we see a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition on the shelves. I’m sorry if we’ve lied and spent time at restaurants simply because of the waitresses and not the food. I’m sorry if we’ve stared at the opposite sex in a way that has made you feel uncomfortable or insecure. We’re guilty of this too. And we’re without excuse.

Now I seem to know how you feel. And maybe that’s why The Bachelor makes me feel so insecure.

This post is a plea. Maybe by now you’re sick of hearing coverage about Haiti. Maybe you’re tired of seeing all of the Facebook statuses, tweets, CNN headlines, commercials asking you to text to donate $10 to the Red Cross. But the truth is, this is still a major problem. The earthquake in Haiti was only the beginning of the problems.

The people that survived the quake are now facing starvation because there is no food. Gas prices are now around $14/gallon. Think about that for a minute…the people in Haiti survive on less than $2 per day and now gas prices are $14/gallon.

In addition, people are hurt and there are not enough doctors or medical supplies to meet these needs. This is a serious serious issue.

My friend Ryan Akers has close connections with Mountain Faith Mission in Haiti. Both him and his father have been over to the country and interacted, worshiped, and fellowshipped with the people. These same people, including children at an orphanage, are now facing possible death if they do not get the supplies they need.

Here’s what Ryan wrote recently on his blog: http://run4haiti.wordpress.com/

This past week has been a big distraction for me, simply because I work with a mission that’s involved in Haiti. I can only imagine, and definitely pray for those, who are living in the midst of this nightmare.

I am truly heart-broken. My mind stays so distracted by Haiti that I feel useless in other areas. Presently, there’s about 4-5 Americans with MFM who are emailing and strategizing the best way to be very effective on the central plateau. The earthquake has happened, damaged buildings horribly, and killed numerous people. That seems bad enough, but now, as the email from yesterday proclaimed, the food supplies are being slowly shut up. There is simply not enough coming in, and what is, seems to be staying in Port-au-Prince.

That’s simply put. Here’s my way of telling you what I’m trying to say. If you are a Christian, and you have not given to this effort, then you need to. I don’t care if it’s thru MFM or some other organization, but you should be giving. It’s Biblical to give. It’s Christ-like to give.

We’re assessing how the best way to go about getting things to the people is. Honestly, there’s no simple way to do it. Roads are blocked. Air is blocked. Ports are shut down. We’re working hard to contact, make connections, and trying to get stuff down to our people. Some thoughts are to fly in to an airport in the north if at all possible. Other thoughts are to find somewhere above the compound on the mountain to have a brave soul land a plane with supplies. Other thoughts are to mobilize a truck to head to the Dominican to buy food. In truth, all of these are super difficult. Fuel is scarce. Food is scarce.

Please donate. And please pray. Pray for open doors.

Here’s what is happening. People are dying. People are dying from injuries. People are dying from hunger. People are dying from basic things that you can easily access as you read this. Think this is a guilt trip? Maybe it is. But the point is…you should be involved. I don’t care if you mail a check, donate on PayPal, or work with a local group to organize a fundraiser to give. Just do something. Move, work. In the name of Christ, look at the faces of the children in our mission. Do it for them. Feed them. Be moved by these scenes. Don’t be disconnected. Team with MFM and let’s further the kingdom.

Please do what you can to help the Mountain Faith Mission of Haiti or some other organization in Haiti. These men and women and children need your help. Even just $5 can go a long way. Put yourself in their scenario. Imagine you were not hurt by the earthquake but everything you had was destroyed. While things might initially seem okay, imagine if you had no food and there was no promise of food on its way. Now add to that injuries, disease, the death of loved ones, etc and that’s a fraction of what the people in Haiti are dealing with.

If you can give anything at all, here is the website for  Mountain Faith Mission: http://www.mountainfaithmission.com/

Ryan has set the site up to accept PayPal donations. You can also send a check. PayPal has verified the site as a non-profit organization so your donation is secure. Simply click on the “Donate” tab on the web site.

Please help!

Now that the new year is well on its way, hopefully many of you have picked up a book or two and started reading. I’ve made it my goal to finish 24 books this year. Do you have a reading list in place for 2010? If not, do you have a few books that you plan to read or want to read? Here is my tentative list with more to be added later:

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer (Completed)
Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller (Currently Reading)
The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum (Currently Reading)
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence (Started Reading…Need to pick it back up)
Forgotten God by Francis Chan
The Gospel-Driven Life by Michael Horton
The Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum
SuperFreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Batman: Year One by Frank Miller
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
Something by John Grisham

As you can probably see, I’m trying to read different things from different genres. I’m hoping that will open my mind and creativity.

What are you reading?

Here’s a list of 10 Sporting Events I Want to Attend. Some of them are very specific and some are very generic. If there are things that would make your list, add a comment and let me know what that would be.

10. A basketball game at Madison Square Garden
I’d love to be there for the Coaches vs. Cancer college basketball tourney or even a Knicks game. Just want to sit in that building.

9. See LeBron James play in person
At some point I want to go to a Cavs game. Or who knows…maybe in a couple years that will mean attending a Knicks game…at Madison Square Garden…hmm… By the way, Kobe was a close second. Not a Kobe fan, but he’s an incredible player.

8. A major college football rivalry
I got to attend an Oklahoma-Oklahoma St. game at OU years ago, but I was working the game for the first half. Long story. Anyway, I want to attend a major rivalry game where the stadium is rocking and team pride is at an all time high.

7. The Olympics
Winter or summer…doesn’t matter. Just want to attend an event.

6. Yankees-Red Sox game (particularly at Fenway)
If I can’t see these 2 teams play, I’d at least like to see a game at Fenway and new Yankee Stadium.

5. Cardinals-Cubs series at Wrigley Field
I’ve seen plenty in St. Louis and they’re amazing. Before they tear Wrigley down, I’d love to attend a weekend series between my Cards and the baby bears.

4. North Carolina-Duke game at the Dean Dome
Greatest rivalry in college sports. The Tar Heels are my favorite team in college sports. It doesn’t get much better than this!

3. World Series
If the Cardinals are playing, this might jump to number 1. If not, it actually might move to 5 or 6. Therefore, I tried to find a median. I’ve been to an NLCS game, but not the World Series.

2. Final Four and NCAA Championship Game
Since you usually get tickets for both, I’d love to attend the 2 Final Four games and then the National Championship game. If the outcome is like 2009, it only makes it sweeter!

1. Super Bowl
This is perhaps the most prolific event in all of sports and maybe the number 1 sporting even in the world (the Olympics and World Cup would be at the top too). No matter who is playing, the Super Bowl is always incredible. If it happens to be your team…simply amazing!

With the devastating earthquake that took place yesterday in Haiti, something desperately needs to be done. For those of us who can’t go, we can give and we can pray.

USAToday.com has a site you can visit that lists the different organizations that are collecting money for relief efforts. This money goes toward food, water, shelter, temporary housing, medicine, etc. You can visit that site by clicking here.

Do something about this problem. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and one of the least developed countries in the world. Even at their best, they have nothing compared to those of us in the United States. Now they’re really facing disaster. If you can give a gift of $5, $10, $15 or more, please do. And no matter what, please pray for this issue.

As my friend Ryan Akers mentioned earlier today, it’s really sad that it takes something this catastrophic to get people to take action, but maybe this will cause people to take action.

If you’re looking to pray specifically, pray for the Mountain Faith Mission and orphanage. Since communication lines have been shut down, there has been no word from them since the earthquake.

Today I’m starting my first day of P90X. I never thought an exercise program in a box could have so many components. Since receiving the kit (through Craigslist) last week, I have had to buy dumbbells, resistance bands, a door attachment for resistance bands, an extra resistance band kit that I now have to return, and a yoga mat.

Alas, I think I am now ready to begin. I fast forwarded through the first workout a couple nights ago just to get an idea of what I would be doing. From what I can see, it’s going to kick my tail!

However, I need to do this and I want to do this. Like most people, I hate going to the gym. I don’t mind it once I get there, but actually getting there is a task in itself. Plus, the gym always seems like a place of intimidation. It doesn’t help that the equipment in the gym at my apartment complex keeps breaking. That kind of limits what you can do.

So starting today, I begin my 90 day journey. I’m hoping to give it all I’ve got and come out on the other side feeling better, looking better, and maybe being a little sore.

A “fun” component of the program is taking a before and after picture. Don’t worry. I won’t be posting either online.

Well, here we go…

Have you noticed the words that come out of a Christian’s mouth when he or she wants to add emphasis? They’re not the typical “four letter” words we’re used to hearing. Typically, the “f-bomb” isn’t included in the mix.

However, it seems Christians have their own sets of words. They’re not necessarily “cuss” words…but they’re our own set of cuss words. What am I referring to?

Ever said “That sucks!”? How about “That’s a load of crap!”? Ever tell someone you’re really “p*ssed off”? I’m guilty.

Whether or not we think those words are wrong, the truth is some of them offend others and we know that. However, we say them anyway. We could debate that “words are just words” and “words aren’t inherently evil” all day. But have you stopped to take the time to think about the connotation behind a word like “sucks”? When you say something “sucks” or tell someone they “suck,” what are you really saying? Sure, you may have your own interpretation, but think about what the connotation that the word came out of.

We often throw around our Christian cuss words like “sucks” and “crap” and “OMG” and “freakin’” without even thinking about it. It’s almost become second nature for us to say things like that. Sometimes we do it because we want to sound cool or rebellious…without really going all the way and saying the “bad” words.

What do our words say about us?

Ephesians 4:29 makes it very clear that no unwholesome speech should come out of our mouths. Rather, we should build one another up so that we may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 5:4 tells us there should be no filth, foolish talk, or crude joking. Those things are out of place.

As Christians, is our speech any different than the rest of the world? It may be different in spelling, but is it truly any different in meaning?

Last year I came up with 21 resolutions for 2009. Only about 18 were realistic. I was able to accomplish about 11 of them. This year I thought I would give it another shot. Some of these aren’t serious, but I’m hoping they’re attainable. As you can see, some are just plain fun. This list is more about what I would like to accomplish in 2010 rather than resolutions…but oh well, here goes (in no particular order):

1. Complete 90 straight days of P90X.
I recently bought the program on Craigslist from a guy who got it and decided he didn’t want to do it. I’m making it my goal to complete the system at least once and try to lose weight, add muscle, and tone up.

2. Read 24 books.
Last year my goal was 12-15 and I made it through 18, including the entire Harry Potter series. This year I’m going for 24.

3. Avoid all Twilight movies.
Yuck.

4. Attend a midnight showing of a movie.
I’ve only done this once (The Dark Knight). I’d love to do it again for Toy Story 3…if they have midnight showing for kids’ movies.

5. Lead 1 person to Christ.
The number may sound small, but you have to start somewhere.

6. Get published in a publication outside of Randall House.

7. Play Mario Kart online with at least 10 friends at once.
Interested?

8. Watch every DVD I own that I haven’t seen yet.
People are amazed at the amount of DVDs I have that I’ve never seen. I have a habit of buying great movies that are $2 at a used bookstore and never watching them. Time to change that.

9. Finish The Chronicles of Narnia.
I think I’ve read the first book 3 times and stopped the second book soon after. Maybe this year I can persevere.

10. Buy a 5-shelf bookcase and organize my DVDs.

11. Pay off 1 student loan.

12. Win over 100 tickets at 1 game at Dave and Busters.
I’m awful at those games. But I will beat you in basketball!

13. Consistently read the Bible and find a reading plan that helps me do it.

14. Beat 1 video game.
I’m not good at video games.

15. Serve others more

16. Attempt the Blazin’ Challenge at Buffalo Wild Wings
…and live to tell about it.

17. Give more money and stuff away than I ever have before.
Money is just temporary and stuff is just stuff.

Over the past couple of weeks, so many people have been praying for my family and offering up words of encouragement. I’ve tried to get back to some through text and Facebook but I know I’ve missed some. So first off, let me say thank you to everyone for their prayers for my family. The past few weeks have been rough, but your prayers have made a tremendous difference. Also, thank you for all the help with transportation, food, cards, etc. The love has been overwhelming!

Let me try to give a quick background and update for this who are wondering:

On December 20 my dad went to Urgent Care because of what he thought was a rapidly spreading rash below his belly button. When the doctor saw it, she immediately sent him to the ER by ambulance. What he thought was a rash turned out to be a serious infection. When my dad got to the ER, they told him about the severity of the infection and told him the infection and the needed surgery could very well be life-threatening. As we found out later, it was a staph infection (MRSA). The doctor thought they might have to cut out a major section of skin and then go back and do skin grafts later on, which would be incredibly dangerous and would involve an incredibly long recovery. They put him in ICU.

Thankfully, the doctor decided to put my dad on antibiotics and see what happened. However, if the infection spread in the least bit, he was going to do surgery immediately. Thankfully, the infection did not spread through Sunday night. The doctor decided to wait another 24 hours. As time progressed, the antibiotics seemed to kick in and begin to work. The redness seemed to go down and the area began to slowly get smaller.

On Monday afternoon, the doctors decided there was no flesh-eating bacteria in the infection and they felt the infection would not be fatal. After a couple days, my dad was moved to a regular room. The infection continued to get better and finally, the surgeon came in and drained the infection. This was very painful for my dad because he had to cut on infected skin. I’ll leave out the gory details but basically he stuck his finger down in the wound and pulled out a lot of the junk in there. Yes, still gory. At that point, gauze had to be packed inside the wound so it could heal from the inside out. This meant it had to be pulled out and packed again 2-3 times a day to get all of the infection out.

If you have not been through this, it is EXTREMELY PAINFUL. I had to endure it in high school. What my dad had was much worse. My dad was in the hospital for 10 days total but got to come home with a pic line in place on December 29. Since then, he has been getting antibiotics through an IV and my mom has been replacing the gauze in the wound a couple times a day. Yes, he says it’s still painful.

Thankfully, the doctor took the pic line out today and said my dad can take oral antibiotics. He’s happy with the progess that’s being made and they expect a full recovery. My dad is itching to go back to work on Monday.

Once again, thank you to everyone for everything. I’d ask that you still continue in your prayers because there is still a little ways to go in this. But God has been faithful through all of this and we have truly felt his love and peace as well as the love of others around us.

As a sidenote, I’d really appreciate it if people would bring exercise equipment instead of food next time. There was not one bad dish or dessert. It was all delicious and therefore has caused me to gain 15 lbs in the last week.