New Video: The Mitt Romney Big Bird Controversy

The Trojanpear has a new video on Youtube called the Mitt Romney/Big Bird Controversy. Now, while this may sound like a political video where I spout an opinion about the situation, it is not. This video was inspired by the comments made by Mr. Romney about cutting funding to PBS, most notably Big Bird, during the debates. It reminded me of an old recording I had of me, my sister, and a friend interviewing some of the things we had around the house. Of course, one of the things was a Big Bird stuffed pull string toy. What made it so funny was that my friend had such quick retorts to everything Big Bird said which was not much. For some reason Big Bird was only saying three phrases the entire time even though there was more he could say. We finally got him to say one more phrase before my sister got angry and took him away.

This video marks the first appearance of my longtime friend, Dan the Dragon. He may make more appearances in future videos, so be on the lookout for him.

I hope you watch this video and enjoy it. I will be working on another soon. You can suscribe to The Trojanpear's channel on youtube as well as liking the facebook page or following me on twitter. You can also follow me on my blog. I enjoy hearing from you and what you think. It encouages me to keep going and try harder to get better.

Blessings.

New Trojanpear's Book Club on Youtube

As promised, The Trojanpear has uploaded a new "Book Club" video today. It is the first in some time and this one promises to be the first in a continuing line of book club videos at the beginning of every month. My book of the month for November is:

The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember by Fred Rogers

This short book of quotes and sayings from Mr. Rogers is the perfect book to pick up and read. It may be best read in daily readings one quote at a time. Just sit down, read a passage, and reflect on that passage for the day. In the video, I go over my personal favorites from the book. My top fourteen list will likely be different from your list of favorites mainly because there are so many to choose from. I hope you pick up this book and learn about the man who was our "neighbor." Also watch the video on youtube as I pay my respects to Mr. Rogers and Mr. Rogers neighborhood. Mr. Rogers was a great man who ministered to generations of children.

It's such a good feeling, to know your alive,
It's such a happy feeling, your growing inside,
And when you wake up ready to say, I think I'll make a snappy new day(Snap, Snap)
It's such a good feeling, a very good feeling,
To know that I'll be back when the day is new,
And I'll have more ideas for you,
And you'll have things you'll want to talk about,
I will too.

Blessings read-a-sauruses!

Trojanpear's Halloween Party on Youtube

Well, as secheduled, I uploaded the new Trojanpear video today on the Halloween party I went to last Friday. You can see the video on youtube or you can download it from twitter or facebook. It is easily one of my favorite videos. I think this is because I try so many new things in this video which I never attempted before.

Now, I am working on my next video which will be ready soon as well. It is my next video in the "Book Club" series. I will highlight a book for the month of November. I also want to do another video for the election coming up. Godzilla's 59th birthday is also around the corner. I would like to do something for that as well. Let's not forget about the fact I need to post a new Monster Movie Tournament episode soon. So much in so little time. I am worried about how good these will be with there being so little time to prepare, but if they work out like the Halloween video, I will be happy.

Until next time.

Blessings and Happy Halloween!

Church Halloween Party

I just got back from my church's first halloween party. It was fun. Some of us dressed in costumes such as yours truly. I was the Grand Wizard from the Worst Witch as you can see here.

My sister was there with me and she was kind of her own character. She was a reviewer from Channel Awesome. She was a mix between the Nostalgia Chick and Lupa if I remember correctly. Here is her picture.

My friend Will was the "Master of Ceremony" for this party. He was dressed as Rorschach from the Watchmen. This is a picture of him.

This party was a huge success considering it almost didn't happen. It was originally scheduled for Friday, but had to be postponed. Because it was on Saturday night, we could not party very long since we had to be ready for service on Sunday. That meant less food, only one movie, and I did not get any footage of the "Dancing Baptists" which I was looking so forward to putting in my video for Halloween. Maybe next year.

The video I made for the party, called Trojanpear's Halloween Party, will be uploaded to youtube on Halloween, probably around 5pm. So look out for it. You can subscribe to my youtube channel to keep track. You can also stay informed by liking my facebook page, following me on twitter, or following my blog. Also, comment and rate to let me know what you think. There are many options, so take advantage of them.

Got to get ready now for Sunday Service and Sunday School. Until next time.

Blessings

Many Changes/Upgrades

First, it was the logo.

Next, was the cover art which included the the different images representing each category.

Now, come the changes, the additions, the upgrades.

These last few days have been busy. Not just with this, but with all the other projects I have had to do that have nothing to do with The Trojanpear videos. Having said that, I want to explain exclusively about what you can expect to see from The Trojanpear if you have not seen it already.

You already know about the logo, and you can see the cover art pictured above. I have already proceeded to place these images everywhere appropriate such as this bolg and youtube. I am also plastering them on all the new outlets I have created. There are two: Facebook and Twitter.

I have been using a facebook account previously for my own personal use, but felt that I needed a page that would represent The Trojanpear. I will probably use that page more often than my personal page, so if you haven't already done so, you may want to go to www.facebook.com/TheTrojanpear and like the page to get all the updates.

Don't have facebook? Maybe you have twitter instead. Or maybe you have both. That's great because I also have a twitter account. This is the first time I have ever used twitter, so it may take some getting used to. You can follow me on twitter.com/TheTrojanpear.

I plan on making another video soon. I have two videos that I really want to do, but I have to get started soon or it will be too late. I may also do a special short on a church Halloween party I will be attending. It was originally scheduled for tonight, but was postponed for tomorrow.

What do you think of all the new features/changes? I want to also come up with an intro/theme for my videos, but I am not there yet. Suggestions or assistance is always helpful.

Until next time everyone,

Blessings.

New Logo?

A possible logo for the trojanpear? What do you think?

Take Action!

I attended my church's monthly business meeting tonight. In this meeting, something was about to happen that I knew wasn't right. I originally thought that I could wait to bring it up between now and the next meeting because I belived that there was going to be no vote this month, but when I realized there was going to be a vote and no one else noticed what I noticed, I took action. I first made sure that my suspicions were correct by asking questions. When I found out I was right, I pointed out the issue and when the leaders realized what I was trying to tell them, they quickly explained and postponed the vote until all issues would be corrected. Why do I bring this up? Because I want to encourage everyone out there to be informed and when you know or believe something is not right and no one else is saying anything, you need to step up and take action. It does not matter if they are the leaders and you are just one person, sometimes the leaders make mistakes and you need to try to correct those mistakes or issues. I have learned this important lesson in the last four years of being involved in groups, committees, and meetings. I can recall several important decisions that were made during that time and I had opportunities to say something but I did not. I trusted that my leaders knew better and kept my mouth shut. Each and every time I did, I now look back on each one and wish I would have said something or done something different. It might not have changed people's minds in some cases, but at least I would be able to look back and say, "At least I stepped up and took action." Tonight I can say that and it prevented a major issue going forward. Are there times when you feel you could have stepped up and took action for something you knew was important but didn't? Do you regret those times? Well, don't. God gives us these experiences for a reason: to learn from your mistakes and not keep repeating them. So don't be intimidated. Take action!

New NPA Episode Coming to YouTube

I am happy to say that aftermany months, I have finally completed the latest episode of the Nintendo Power Adventure. It will be downloaded to YouTube soon after this post is completed. In the video, I preview the first edition of The Nintendo Fun Club News which is the magazine series that was released before the Nintendo Power series was created. Since the issue is so short(only six pages) I am able to cover every section of the magazine around seventeen minutes. I may not be quite as in depth in the future since each issue gets longer, but I will try to make sure all key parts are discussed. I welcome your thoughts and questions about the video. Please let me know by commenting here or on the video comment section on youtube or you can email me as my email is available. In the next episode, I plan on covering the games that were featured in the first issue: Super Mario Bros., Excitebike, and Hogan's Alley as well as a bonus game: Duck Hunt. A new Monster Movie Tournament is on the way as well as other projects. Can't wait to hear your predictions on who will win in the second round. So long for now and remember... to enjoy the adventure.

Changes Coming!

I'm back! After months of inactivity, your friendly neighborhood mailman, The Trojanpear is ready to deliver everyone some more videos of The Monster Movie Tournament, The Nintendo Power Adventure, Trojanpear's Book Club and many more. I began my return with a new Monster Movie Tournament video where I spent a lot of time trying to catch up on matchups in the first round of the second play-in tournament. I also show off a few new tricks I have up my sleeve since my last video. I then re-posted my first Trojanpear Presents video Crypt Keeper at the Beach. In this version, I fixed the audio problems I had in the original video. Now I am working on updates to my youtube channel and adding new features that will improve the enjoyment, entrtainment, and involvement of my increasing base of followers. One project I am working on is to come up with a image or logo to be featured as my trademark. If you have any ideas or suggestions, comment or email me at trojanpear@yahoo.com and give me your thoughts or ideas. I would love the feedback. Thanks for reading! Don't forget towatch my videos on youtube.com by Trojanpear.

New Video Posted!

Yesterday I posted my latest video on youtube. It was the second video in the Trojanpear's Book Club series. This time I review The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. It is a shorter video and a more basic review than my last video on the Bunnicula series. I did this book at this time because of the Easter holiday and felt that this would be appropriate since I have already been working on this book. I hint at the end of the video that my next book review will be on a series of four books that was originally a trilogy, but was so long that the series had to expand to a fourth book. The last book itself is a really long book. What is the series? Let me know what you think.

Easter, Work, and Other Events

This has been a busy week for me. This is mostly due to work where I have had to deliver mail on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday this week. Monday I delivered route 11 which is part of Veteran's Parkway, Old Moon Road, and Moon Road. Tuesday I delivered my regular route 6 which is Columbus Park Crossing, North Stadium Drive, and Arbor Ridge. I did it again Saturday. Wednesday I delivered express mail to the 31909 section. Thursday I delivered to the block around Williams Rd, Fortson Rd, Double Churches Rd, and Lloyd Rd.
In the sports world, I have had time to watch a little of the Masters where today my guy Phil Mickelson surged his way back into contention at the Masters in what looks to be a very exciting 4th round tomorrow. The Braves lost on opening day, which was disapointing especially since they did what they always do best, fail to score runs.
Easter is almost here. As exiting as that prospect is, there have been some great events that have happened leading up to Easter Sunday. First, there was an Easter Party at the church today. Even though I was working and could not attend, I did get to see the pictures of the event and it looks like it went well. It was especially exciting to see three churches working together to make this event happen. It is like I said, its "Three churches. One mission." The night before I went to a Good Friday Service called Friday Night Fire lead by our two partner churches. I was glad that I chose to go because the Lord was at work in that building that night. I was able to see some interesting things that I needed to see from a diferent perspective. It also helped me get an idea of what our church is lacking and some of the things that I could expect to see when we begin our contemporary service later this year.
I hope and pray everyone has a great Easter Sunday. Remember why it is that we celebrate Easter, and celebrate with joy the opportunity to worship on Sunday.

Kentucky Wins!

Kentucky won the National Championship! That means my prediction was right and I just completed my best bracket of all time. Just call me the mystic messanger. :)
Now that basketball is over since Balor won the Women's Championship last night, it's time to move on to the next big event: Baseball's opening day! ... or the Masters! ... or Easter! All are happening at the same time relatively. Which event are you looking forward to most. I enjoy watching the Braves on opening day and Phil Mickelson competing at the Masters, but I always look forward to worshipping on Easter Sunday when we remember the most imoprtant day in history when Jesus rose from the dead after paying the ultimate price for our sins giving us the oppertunity to spend our eternity in heaven.

NCAA = Brilliant! NIT = Ouch :(

It has been several days since my last post and the tournament has taken two very different routes. In the NIT, Minnesota and Stanford won, and then Stanford beat Minnesota after I predicted Minnesota to win that game. Stanford won the NIT and I wrapped up my NIT by going 0-3 in the last three games going 20-11 overall with 44 points. All I can say is ouch.
The NCAA tournament is going much better for me. After getting three out of four of the teams correct in the final four, both Kentucky and Kansas won to put both of my championship game teams in the championship game for the first time ever! I went 2-0 giving me 20 more points. I have Kentucky winning it all, and their win would cap my best predicting of the NCAA tournament ever.

How has your tournament went?

Hunger Games Impresses

I went to see the movie Hunger Games last night. Let me first say that I have not read the book(s) by Suzanne Collins. This is important because I believe your experience will greatly differ depending on whether you read the book first or not. For those who read the book, the movie will be judged by how well it relates to the book. I actually think a movie that is watched before reading the book will be more fairly reviewed because it is not a comparison, but is judged on its own merits and flaws.
I first became interested in watching the movie when I heard that it made $155 million in it first weekend. That is amazing for a movie that is released before the summer season. I new that was a record in that category, but it was also a record for a non-sequel as well. It was also the third highest amount for opening weekend all-time. It also shocked me that this movie was from Lionsgate. This little company is known for the Saw series as one of its greatest successes. I never expected Lionsgate to be able to get a movie of the caliber of the Hunger Games, but they did. Good for them.
I was not sure what to expect from the movie as I have not seen much about the movie, but I knew that with Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role, the movie had a chance of being good.

Jennifer is a academy award nominated actress for her role in Winter's Bone who lost to Sandra Bullock (why?). Jennifer did not let me down in her performance. She was brilliant with a cast that was equally impressive. The movie itself was engaging from the very beginning. I was tense and nervous for the characters early on as the movie was very dark in the beginning with the selection process for the Hunger Games. Dark moments stayed with the movie at times throughout. One of the real nervous moments is when the games began and the characters became very scared for their lives as they got ready for thier first action. The best thing about this movie is that it does not take the deaths of the characters lightly as in many movies of this type, and in that respect does an excellent job of delivering the message that I belive they were trying to send.
After watching the movie, I and my sister both said that we would have to read the book now. I think that I will not read the second book until the second movie comes out, so I can experience the movie the same way I did for the first one. A very good movie and a great cast lead by an excellent performance by Jennifer Lawrence, I give the Hunger Games an A+.

Have you seen the Hunger Games? What did you think? I would love to hear from someone who read the book first and explain what they thought of the movie.

The Final Four

And now...

Representing the South and the SEC... Kentucky!

Represnting the East and the Big Ten... Ohio State!

Representing the West and the Big East... Louisville!

Representing the Midwest and the Big Twelve... Kansas!

Another perfect day yesterday of predictions going 2-0 with 16 points awarded. This offically gave me three of the four teams that I predicted to be in the final four from the beginning. Later this week I will give my predictions on who wins in the final four, but if you want to know right now, you can look up my bracket which I posted back when march madness first began. For now let me give my picks for tomorrow's NIT final four matchups.

Washington over Minnesota
Umass over Stanford*

*No points awarded as Miss St lost to Umass.

My next post will not be about basketball. I will be post my review of the Hunger Games which came out this weekend. As always, I encourage you to follow my blog and comment frequently. I enjoy the responses.

Elite Eight Part 2

After another undefeated day, where Louisville beat my Florida Gators and Ohio State beat Syracuse in a game where I receive no points, I look to today's machups which will give me either three teams in the final four, two, or one. I went 2-0 with eight points. Today's predictions will set up next week's final four machups. Here they are:

Kentucky over Baylor
Kansas over North Carolina

Results tomorrow. I have church meetings today, so not much time to spend blogging. Don't forget to check out my new youtube video.

Elite Eight Begins... and A New Video on Youtube Too!

Today begins the elite eight and the matchup I am interested most in seeing is the one between my Florida Gators and the team I picked to go to the final four, Lousiville.
Speaking of picks, I went undefeated yesterday, that's right, a perfect 4-0. While Baylor's win did not give me any points, the other three winners: North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky provided me with six points each for a total of 18 points. My record stands at 44-16 with 108 points.
Here are my predictions for today's matchups:

Louisville over Florida (I will be rooting for Florida)
Ohio St over Syracuse*

*No points awarded as I had FSU in the final four.

I will as always post the results and make predictions on tomorrow's matchups.
I have posted my newest video and video series last night. The series, Trojanpear's Book Club, is about my desire to read and review the books in my collection. I will do this about once every month. This video is on the Bunnicula Series: Bunnicula, Howliday Inn, The Celery Stalks at Midnight, Nighty Nightmare, Return to Howliday Inn, Bunnicula Strikes Again, and Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allen Crow. Check it out and subscribe to get updated on every new video I make as well as comment and like the video.

Sweet Sixteen Continued

Yesterday, I went 2-2. What was great about it was that the two games I won were the two important games to me that day. Louisville beats Michigan State to give me a win in the only game that was for points yesterday, and Florida beats Marquette as my Gators make it to the elite eight. Syracuse and Ohio State will face off in the east which will prove to be a good match-up.

Again, my score was 2-2, 6 points.

Today's predictions for the NCAA tournament:

North Carolina over Ohio
Kansas over NC State
Kentucky over Indiana
Baylor over Xavier*

*No points since UNLV lost.

I will post results and have new predictions tomorrow. Look out for my new youtube video coming soon.

Get Ready for the Sweet Sixteen

With no points on the line last night, I saw the NIT finalize it's final four teams in its tournament. Minnesota did exactly what I thought it would do and Stanford proved they were a force to be reckoned with as they get ready for Umass on March 27th. My record was 1-1, but again I had no points on the line since Washington is the only team left on my NIT bracket. Now with the NIT off for the next few days, we can get back to the NCAA tournament as the sweet sixteen matchups begin today. Here are today's predictions:

NCAA:
Wisconsin over Syracuse*
Cincy over Ohio St*
Louisville over Michigan St
Florida over Marquette*

*No points awarded since original teams lost.

Be back tomorrow with results and more predictions!

NIT Continues

Two NIT games last night, two more tonight. No surprise Washington won last night, but I shocked by Drexel's loss to Umass after Drexel was playing like the better team in the first half. Now, tonight we will find out who the last two teams are. Here is my record and predictions for tonight.

NIT: 1-1, 8 points

Minnesota over Middle Tennessee*
Nevada over Stanford*

* No points awarded.

I'll be back tomorrow with the results.

By the way, Tebow to the Jets? Why did it have to be the Jets? Why couldn't it have been Jacksonville? :(

March Madness Prediction Recap

The first two rounds are complete in the NCAA tournament and NIT tournament. I have three of my final four teams still alive in the NCAA tournament and one in the NIT tournament. Since the NIT is continuing today, I will go ahead and say that I think that Minnesota and Drexel are the two best teams in the tounament and should make it to the title game if Washington doesn't get in Minnesota's way. In the NCAA, I still like Kentucky and Louisville. Kansas has given me concern especially with NC State as their next opponent. NC State could make it to the final four. With FSU and Vandy out in the East, Cincy and Wisconsin have emerged as contenders. I like Wisconsin as the fourth team in the final four.
Here is my record from yesterday and my overall score so far:

NIT: 2-1, 4 points*

*Stanford beat Illinois St which was not an original pick.

Overall NIT: 18-6, 38 points

Overall NCAA: 38-14, 84 points

The third round of the NIT begins today, so here are my predictions:

NIT:
Drexel over Umass*
Washington over Oregon

*No points since Umass beat Miss St.

That's all for today. I will post results and predictions which will wrap up the NIT final four tomorrow.

March Madness Tournament Down to 16

It was a wild weekend, but now things are starting to come together. FSU losing to Cincinnati was the worst loss of the tournament so far for me. Kansas, Kentucky, and Louisville are all still in it as well as my Florida Gators. Let's look at my record yesterday:

NCAA: 6-2, 16 points*

*No points for Xavier and Florida predictions.

NIT: 3-0, 8 points*

*No points for Nevada prediction.

There are actually three NIT games today which will complete the second round. Here are my predictions in those games.

Tennessee over Middle Tennessee
Minnesota over Miami
Stanford over Illinois St*

*Originally had Ole Miss over Stanford so no points will be awarded.

I will post my overall recap after the games have been played. Until then the madness continues...

March Madness and New Video

Sorry I missed a few days but between work and a new video I have not had time to update my predictions.

First, a recap of my predictions from Friday and Saturday.

Friday:

NCAA: 11-5, 20 points*

*I picked South Florida to win after they beat Cal which was my original choice to beat Temple.

NIT: 1-0, 4 points

Saturday:

NCAA: 5-3, 16 points*

* I picked Baylor to win over Colorado, but originally had UNLV beating Baylor.

NIT: 1-0, 0 points*

Umass was my choice to beat Seton Hall after Umass beat Miss St, my projected champions.

Here are today's predictions:

NCAA:
Xavier over Lehigh*
Michigan St over St Louis
Florida over Norfolk St*
FSU over Cincy
South Florida over Ohio*
NC State over Georgetown
North Carolina over Creighton
Kansas over Perdue

NIT:
Drexel over UNI
Oregon over Iowa
Nevada over Bucknell*

*No points will be awarded since my original picks have already lost.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, I have posted a new video to youtube. It is the second video in the monster movie tournament. In it, I recap the past month in which I watched the four matchups in the first play-in tournament. The movies were:

1. Atragon vs 8. The Giant Claw
2. Varan the Unbelievable vs 7. Gamera Super Monster
3. Dinosaurus! vs 6. Legend of the Dinosaurs
4. Gamera vs Monster X vs 5. Inframan

If you want to continue to be updated with my latest blog postings, then follow me by clicking the link on the right of my blog page. If you want to be updated with my latest videos, click subscribe on the top of the video on youtube. On both you may be asked to create an account if you don't have one, but it is free to do and only takes a few minutes. I ask this only because I want to know if I have any regular followers to my blogs or videos since I have not gotten any comments to any video or blog. So, if you would like me to continue doing these things, please comment, follow, or subscribe to let me know your out there.

The Tournament Launches into High Gear

The second round of the NCAA tournament has begun. This is when the tournament really starts. Sixteen games are played today. Through the first twelve games I was undefeated on the day until Iowa State beat UConn. A minor loss in that respect as I have Kentucky winning in the next round. Two of my final four teams played and both won. A good start overall. UNLV loss hurts a lot though.

Record: Today: 14-2, 16-4 overall, 30 points

Tomorrows Predictions:

NCAA:
Xavier over Notre Dame
Duke over Lehigh
Michigan St over LIU Brooklyn
Memphis over St Louis
Florida over Virginia
Missouri over Norfolk St
Cincy over Texas
FSU over St Bonaventure
North Carolina over Vermont
Creighton over Alabama
South Florida over Temple*
Michigan over Ohio
NC St over SDSU
Georgetown over Belmont
St Mary's over Perdue
Kansas over Detroit

*Game will not count for points since I picked Cal to win and they already lost.

NIT:
Washington over Northwestern

More Madness tomorrow along with my new youtube video on the Monster Movie Tournament.

March Madness First Round Part 2

Tonight was not as good a night for me as last night. With Arizona and Ole Miss losing their NIT games, one forth of my bracket is done. In the NCAA Tournament bracket, Cal's loss hurts into the sweet sixteen. Let's hope things go better in the second round tomorrow.

Record:

NCAA: Today: 1-1, Overall: 2-2, 2 points

NIT: Today: 3-4, Overall: 11-5, 22 points

Predictions for Tomorrow:

NCAA:
Kentucky over WKU
UConn over Iowa St
VCU over Wichita St
Indiana over New Mexico St
UNLV over Colorado
Baylor over SDSU
New Mexico over Long Beach St
Louisville over Davidson
Murray St over Colorado St
Marquette over BYU
Syracuse over UNC-Ashville
Kansas St over Southern Miss
Vandy over Harvard
Wisconsin over Montana
Gonzaga over West Virginia
Ohio St over Loyola

NIT:
None Scheduled

Now the real action begins! Good luck everyone!

March Madness First Night

The first night of march madness has concluded and I have mixed feeling about how I did. If you read my previous blog, you saw my predictions for tonight. Overall, I did well, but I lost one game in the NIT where I thought the losing team Mississippi State would win it all. This happened in last years NIT tournamnet, but unlike last year, it was the only bad loss I had all night.

Here is my overall record and total points so far:

NCAA Tournament: 1-1, 1 point

NIT Tournament: 8-1, 16 points

Now for day 2's games:

NCAA Tournament:
Vermont over Lamar
California over South Florida

NIT Tournament:
Minnesota over La Salle
Drexel over UCF
St Joseph's over UNI
Valparaiso over Miami
Arizona over Bucknell
Nevada over Oral Roberts
Ole Miss over Illinois St

Let's see how things go tomorrow!

March Madness

The 2012 NCAA Tounament and NIT Tournament brackets are now set. It's now time to make predictions for the tournament.
I began filling out brackets since I was in high school. My first year I filled out a bracket because several students and teachers started a friendly competition to see who would be the best at predicting winners. I wanted to participate even though I was not as familiar with NCAA basketball as I am today. I did well the first weekend. So well, in fact that I was in second at the time. People were impressed and even though I did not do as well in later rounds, this helped promote the image that most of my classmates thought of me as a guy who knew and understood sports.
The scoring system begins with one point per win in the first round and increasing evenly in each successive round. I also am doing the NIT tournament which will start with two points in the first round and increase evenly each round. I have posted my complete brackets for each tournament, but I will go over each prediction every day there is a matchup and note my point standings on each after each day of matchups.

Tuesday's Games:
NCAA:
Western Kentucky over Miss Valley St
Iona over BYU

NIT:
Miss St over UMass
Seton Hall over Stoney Brook
Iowa over Dayton
Tenn over Savannah St
Northwestern over Akron
Middle Tenn over Marshall
Oregon over LSU
Wash over Texas-Arlington
Stanford over Cleveland St

Good Luck to all!

Cup of Coffee, A Slice of Pie, and Doughnuts

I suppose you noticed that I have been watching my favorite show again. Most normal people watch their favorite show on T.V. when it comes on during its designated time slot each week with commercials or without if your show is on a network like HBO. I don't do this. I find it difficult to sit down at a designated time each week to watch a show on TV that may or may not be a new episode. If I watch shows with any regularity, it is on DVD. This means I do not keep up to date with any of the shows that people like to talk about afterwards "around the water cooler." I will watch new and old shows that I have never seen before every once and a while, watching several episodes at a time without commercial interruption on my time.
A few years ago, I was asked to try this show that I had heard about on commercials in 1990. As a kid I did not bother to try the show, but I became intriuged over the years. The show had a two hour pilot that we watched first which was directed by one of the shows creators known for directing many movies, although I had never heard of him at the time. His name was David Lynch and the show was Twin Peaks, a strange, dark mystery with a lot of quirkiness. It was not until about the forth episode that I realized I was hooked and the show not only is one of my favorites, it is my favorite show of all time. I have also become a fan of David Lynch movies although I have not seen many of his movies so far. I still have not had the chance to watch all of the show yet, but I at least know who killed Laura Palmer.

What's your favorite show all-time or current? How do you watch TV shows? Are there many that you will sit down to watch or are you more like me? Are you familiar with Twin Peaks? Do you enjoy it like I do or do you have issues with it? I would love to hear your responses.

Super Tuesday

Another day of election chaos. Newt Gingrich won Georgia. Big surprise there. Actually it was a surprise that Newt even had to campaign in Georgia. Even though Newt lives in Virginia, he claimed Georgia as his home state and got his only victory of the night. His current state Virginia he did not receive one vote since he and Rick Santorum could not get their names on the ballot. Mitt Romney won there. He also won Vermont, Massachusetts, Ohio, Idaho, and Alaska. Rick Santorum won Tennessee, Oklahoma, and North Dakota. Ron Paul won no states and puts him at 0 for 23 so far. It is now clear that both Ron and Newt are no longer viable candidates, and this race will come down to either Rick or Mitt. I believe Mitt will win, but this race is still interesting. I believe Rick will win most of the states that will be voting this month.

Who do you think will win? How long will the primary season last? Whatever happens I hope that you excercise your right to vote.

The Last Few Days

I have missed the last few days of blogging because I have been very busy. I worked three consecutive days at the post office, as well as working on my spring cleaning. I completed several jobs around the church, house, and yard. I also spent time at church for worship and Sunday School. I have been also watching shows and movies with my sister since she is on Spring Break this week. College sure has Spring Break early in the year. One of the shows we watched was my all-time favorite show Twin Peaks. I don't drink coffee, but if I did, it would be because of this show. Finally, I am working on my next video which is a book review series. I hope to have it posted by the end of the week.

I also hope to continue my regular blogging tomorrow. What are your thoughts?

Spring Cleaning

Spring is almost here. Actually, it already feels like Spring here. Anyway, with the start of Spring, many people get into the habit of Spring cleaning. I have gotten into this habit. During the month of March, I will be cleaning my room, parts of our house, working on the yard, and in the church. Today was the beginning of this massive cleanup for me.
It began with a much overdue cleaning of my car. I cleaned out the trash and other stuff I did not need in my car, vacuumed the floor, polished the interior, and washed the exterior. Boy that car was dirty!
I went to church after finishing the car and began working on my Sunday School office. There was some trash, and many things that I put aside for our church yard sale on March 30th and 31st. I did everything but dust and wipe the area which I will do later this week. I have had requests for our cleanup crew to work on cleaning Sunday School classrooms, shampooing the carpets, and clearing the back yard area where an old unused playground is. We hope to get all this done before the new contemporary service starts which will hopefully be sooner rather than later. Our evangelism leader printed out new business cards today to be given out as an invitation to come to the new service. The card is the main picture for today's blog.

What are your plans for Spring cleaning this year? My plans are heavy this year, and I plan on completing most of it by the end of March. Can I get it done? We will see...

The Nintendo Power Adventure Series

Today I posted a new video to Youtube called the Nintendo Power Adventure: Episode 1: Getting Started. In this new series, I will explore and re-live the experience of being a gamer as a devoted member of Nintendo Power or as it was called in the beginning, the Nintendo Fun Club. In this first episode, I receive my membership to the Nintendo Fun Club complete with letter, first issue of the Nintendo Fun Club News, and coupons for free scorepads and a strategy book called How to Win at Super Mario Bros. In the next episode, I will go through the first issue and will go through about an issue a month. The bigger the issue, the less I will be able to cover in one month, but I do expect to complete this issue in the next episode. Check out the video by looking up trojanpear on youtube.com.

Were you a Nintendo Power fan? Were you a member of the Nintendo Fun Club? What are some of your memories of video game experiences?

My Thoughts on the 2012 Oscars

I just finished watching the oscars and I want to share a few things:

First, Billy Crystal did a wonderful job hosting the oscars and the overall show itself was probably the best one I have seen since I started watching the oscars when Billy Crystal last hosted. The theme about paying tribute to the theater was very appropriate and well done.

This was probably my best year predicting award winners as I correctly predicted 17 of the 24 winners and I was really surprised by only one winner, Hugo when it won the first award for cinematography. I picked Tree of Life and thought that War Horse was the second choice with Hugo a distant third. I personally felt that War Horse was the best, but after winning a previous cinematography award, I believed Tree of Life would win.

I was confused several times by the oscars logic in awarding winners in some of the categories. Once Hugo won for cinematography, I knew I would be wrong and Hugo would win for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects. It still surprises me that there would be a rout in these categories when there was no evidence that there was going to be one. War Horse and Rise of the Planet of the Apes traditionally would win the respective categories and were poised to do so by previous award wins. Makeup went to Iron Lady over Harry Potter because it fits the tradition of previous oscar winners, but then it goes against its tradition and just selects the better movie in editing with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo over The Artist. A complete head scratcher to me was choosing Undefeated over Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory in Best Documentary. I was not surprised because it had been getting a lot of news coverage in the last few days, but I still do not understand how the oscars have in the last few years failed to to give the award to the movie that was clearly the best in the Documentary category.

Finally, the best actress award was given to Meryl Streep over Viola Davis in the greatest travesty of the night. Not to say Meryl's performance was not worthy or that I was surprised, but I believe this was wrong because it seemed like this was Viola's night and she was robbed of her moment. Meryl had this happen to her when Sandra Bullock won for her role in the Blind Side a few years ago. The voters fell for the trap that Meryl has ONLY won twice in her 17 nominations and her last win was for Sophie's Choice many years ago. I felt Viola was not only the best, but she also would have had a lot more to bring to the show with her acceptance speech. When Meryl's name was called, you could see her say, "NOO!!" because she wanted Viola to win as well. What made it harder for me to understand was that earlier George Clooney lost the actor award to Jean Dujardin when I felt Clooney was the best, but I did not pick him because I judge the acting category by two criteria: momentum and winning the SAG award. Clooney had both against him and I ended up with the right choice. Viola had won the SAG award and I felt had enough momentum to win. Obviously, I was wrong but this isn't the first time this happened. Alan Arkin beat Eddie Murphy for Supporting Actor years ago even though Murphy won at all the previous awards ceremonies. The oscars wanted to give Arkin his first award for all his years he came up short.

What are your thoughts about the oscars? I enjoyed this year and look forward to the next year. Good night and good luck.

Academy Award Predictions

With Sunday bringing the 84th Academy Awards I thought I would go ahead and make my picks today. I have enjoyed watching the oscars for several years now and my whole family gets involved in the selection process. So, here are my picks in all 24 categories with some explainations in certain categories.

Best Picture: The Artist
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin
(This was the most difficult major category for me. I believe that deep down George Clooney will win, but my two most reliable predictors in this category lead me to predict otherwise.)
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer
Best Actress: Viola Davis
(Another difficult category where Meryl Streep could win, but I feel confident in this pick.)
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer
Best Animated Picture: Rango
(I saw this one. It deserves to win.)
Best Art Direction: Hugo
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life
(I liked the War Horse better, but this movie is good as well.)
Best Costume Design: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Best Documentary: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Best Documentary Short: Saving Face
(These categories are always a coin toss, but it was either this or The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom for me.)
Best Editing: The Artist
Best Foriegn Language Film: A Separation
Best Make-up: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2
(I am going against what I think is what the Oscar voters consider best make-up. Iron Lady is more their style, but Potter deserves one award and this award is it.)
Best Score: The Artist
Best Song: Man or Muppet
(There were only 2 categories, so I have a 50-50 shot.)
Best Animated Short: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Best Short Film: The Shore
(I have also heard a lot of buzz about Raju as well.)
Best Sound Editing: War Horse
(Hugo is also a strong contender.)
Best Sound Mixing: Hugo
Best Visual Effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
(Hugo is also a strong container, but this category has to go to the Rise of the Planet of the Apes.)
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Decendants
Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris
(Even though Woody Allen probably will not be there.)

What are your predictions for the Oscars this Sunday? We'll find out how I did this Sunday. Until then, make your picks. Who ya got?

February Fellowship

Tonight was our Sunday School group's monthly fellowship, and this month we went to Jason's Deli. The first fellowship we had seven attendees and tonight we had twelve. We had a great time and will have another fellowship next month.
This is something that is very simple to plan and we plan to do it every month. We can make the event as large or small as we feel. Since we are just starting, we are taking it small with restaurants. The goal is to plan the next one as soon as the current one ends and finalize it by the end of the month. We also set the same date and time for the fellowships every month to help people who work plan to attend by taking the day off in advance. We invite all class members and prospects. This is a great inreach and outreach activity since it can be easier to connect people through fellowship than in church. Though we have not been successful with prospects yet, it still has brought great excitement to our class and other classes who are interested in starting this as well.

Does your class or group have monthly fellowships? Has your class or group had a fellowship recently? Maybe it's time to start. Invite every member and every prospect to your fellowships every month.

Club VBS Prep

I opened the administrators guide to the club VBS packet today. I have thought much about VBS for our church this year. It would be our first in three years. I knew that we would want to progress into the VBS world slowly because of our lack of experience and resourses. I am glad we chose the club VBS format because we can go as large or as small as we need to based on our amount of volunteers. I am thinking it will be more of a Backyard Bible Club this year and expand in the future.
There are many things that need to be done and I think that we may want some of the money that we raise in our yard sale next month should go to VBS. Our biggest holdup in the planning process is the selection of a date to hold VBS because the New York Mission Trip Team has not set a date for their summer trip. We do not want both of the events to overlap, especially because of the size of the church.Hopefully, once we have our date, some serious planning can begin. Until then, I'll just get familiar with the guide book and put a few minor plans into effect.

Is your church conducting a VBS? Has it ever done a Club VBS? I would love to hear how club VBS worked for you.

Witness and Testimony Month Week 3

We continued our witness and testimony month in our Sunday School class today. We had our third class member give their testimony today at the beginning of class. I always enjoy listening to other testimonies because they are all so different to me.
The witnessing topic or tool we discussed today was using tracts. I happened to have some left over from our last interim pastor to give to the class. Tracts are very useful in leading a person to Christ if you are trying to show them how to become a Christ follower or if you are just giving them away. You can find tracts in several places, but the ones I was using were from Lifeway.
Have you used tracts before? What are some things you could share that would be useful for someone who has never witnessed using a tract?

The People Rebel

Well, this may seemlike a continuation of yesterday's blog, but that is because I read the continuation of the story in Numbers. This time in Numbers Chapter 16, the people are upset at what has happened and are looking to point the blame at Moses. They approach him and tell him what they don't like about his leadership. They are ready to remove Moses from his role until God shows them that they are wrong. He causes the earth to swallow up those who opposed Moses. Then, instead of realizing the error of their ways, the people rebel against Moses again because of what happened to the people who died earlier.
You can think, as I did, why are these people so stupid to oppose Moses when he is clearly on the Lord's side, but I see the same things happening today. Churches go through divisions all the time because people have such strong convictions against what their leader or leaders are doing that they begin to oppose the leader for poor reasons. Now, some opposition is reasonable if the leadership has done something unacceptable such as commit a sinful act worth of removal. This is not what I am refering to. I am talking about changing buildings, services, leadership structures, or anything that is not on God's priority list, but ours. Remember to keep perspective focused on the things that will matter more to God and trust that your leaders are doing what they believe God is leading them to do.
If you want to tell a preacher how to preach then preach. If you want to tell leaders how to lead then lead. If you want to tell teacher how to teach, then teach. If you are not in these positions, then you should not oppose your leaders. If you believe that someone needs to start a project or fill a position then maybe God is telling you to do it yourself instead of complaining about leaders who are not doing anything about it. We oppose leaders because sometimes we don't like what God wants to do so in reality we oppose God.
What do you think? Can we be for God while opposing his appointed leader especially if that person has committed no wrong against God? Or are we really against God because we don't like what He has revealed to us?

40 Years. Really?

I read today in the book of Numbers chapter 14 how the people rebeled against God through their leader Moses. First, angry leaders who did not like what Moses wanted them to do told the people why they were opposed to it, then the people began to murmur and complain. They even suggested getting rid of Moses and starting over with a new leader who would do what they thought best. God punished those people by keeping them out of the promised land until all the troublemakers died in the wilderness. It would be 40 years before the people would be able to see the promised land.
This reminds me of stroies that I have heard of churches that struggle for years, and suddenly it all comes together without a leadership change. John Osteen struggled to grow Lakewood for many years and it suddenly grew and now is lead by his son Joel as one of the biggest churches in America. Many new churches grow fast, but many of the older churches that for some reason have struggled after growing early on begin to see rapid growth not with new pastors, but with committed pastors who stick with the churches long enough to see the renewed growth. Why?
My theory is that new churches are built through the work of the man God called to start the church, the pastor. The first people involved with the church are supporters of the pastor because they not only believe that he is the person who was called by God to lead them, but also that the pastor will lead the people to do what God wants them to do. Older churches had that pastor many years ago, and when he left, the man or men who replaced him could never compare to the pastor who lead them for all those years successfully. It then changed from the pastor leading the church to do God's work to the people who were lead by the former pastor to do what they collectively believed was God's work.
What I am trying to say is that pastors of older churches are not trusted to lead, or if a pastor asks the congregation to do something such as pray or visit or write a testimony the people do not treat it as an important assignment. Instead, they get upset when the pastor suggests something new or different even though there is nothing Biblically wrong. It might actually help to advance God's Kingdom, but that doesn't matter because it will never work, they say. So starts the grumblings as in Numbers 14. The next thing to happen is people start to cry for a new leader and start over again... and again... and again... and again until there is no one left because the church has closed its doors. If the leader sticks with it long enough; though, those people will either leave or pass away to where he will have a new group of people who trust his leadership or the next leader and the begin to see growth.
Now if you say, "I would never have done what those people did to Moses by disrespecting his leadership!" Look at your relationship with your pastor. Are you treating him with the respect and trust that a man of God deserves? Are you open and available to the things he wants you to do whether through the church of in your personal life? Or do you debate his decisions? Question his leadership? Grumble against him? Silently wish you had a new pastor who would make things the way they were in the past? If you can't trust your pastor, what makes you any better than the people who opposed Moses?
I have stuggled with this myself, but by reading God's Word, He reveals to us the things we are doing wrong in our lives whether they are sinful or things that keep us from doing the work that He has called us to do. God revealed this to me today, it was so important that I felt like sharing it with everyone. I hope this helps you in your daily walk with the Lord. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments if you have any. A final request: Thank your pastor for all that he does for you, for the church, and for accepting the call to lead the church.

*Thank you, Pastor Mike for all you do. - Waldrop Memorial Baptist Church

The Monster Movie Tournament

Today, I offically began the Monster Movie Tournament. You can watch my video explaining the tournament on You Tube. It's called "The Monster Movie Tournament" located on Trojanpear's channel.
This tournament is about watching movies, not Dracula or the Mummy, but Godzilla, Gamera, dinosaurs and other giant monsters. There is a 68 movie tournament with two play-in tournaments, a 16 and 8 movie tournament. Today marked the beginning of the 8 movie play-in tournament. The match-ups are listed in the bracket above, ranked according to my judgement of how well known the movies are or if many people have watched the movie.
The game goes like this: take your first match-up and watch the higher ranked movie first. After you watch it, score it as a basketball score. I consider 70 to 79 an average score. Watch the second movie the next day and score it. Compare the two scores. The higher score wins.
I will be completing the first round over the course of the next month. At that time I will report the results of the first round and move on to the next round. I also predicted which movies I believed would win and how confident I was in their victory. The predicted winners are: Inframan, Atragon, Varan, and Legend of the Dinosaurs.

Will you play the tournament? What were your outcomes? Were they what you expected? Who do you think will win and who should win?
Check out my video on you tube for more explanation of the tournament.

Wednesday Night at Waldrop

This Wednesday evening, Waldrop was all about missions and prayer. Our Fellowship dinner tonight was provided as a fundraiser for the youth and to help with costs for our mission team going to New York this summer. Then our regular prayer meeting started with its normal music and prayer for those on the prayer list, but afterwards we listened to a special speaker from The Voice of the Martyrs. He provided everyone with a magazine that included a prayer map for all the perscuted countries that we need to remember during our prayertime. He offered subscriptions to the magazine and I signed up. He also gave away bracelets to remind us to pray for China while talking about the Chinese persecution. Despite the persecution, he said that China is leading thousands to Christ every day. Praise the Lord! He also provided everyone a copy of the book Tortured for Christ. In addition to all the freebees he also had a collection of books he was selling for a reduced price to any interested. Tonight, I will be praying for China and the other persecuted countries mentioned tonight.

Missions is so important in our prayer life and should be important in our own lives, but so many of us do not even think about it until someone reminds us about it. Why is missions so hard for us? We don't pray or act enough for missions. I have been on two mission trips and done some local work, but I always have felt that I have not prayed nearly enough. There is also more that I could have done. God commands us ALL to do missions. What can we do to improve our mission focus?

Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere - in Jeruselem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everybody enjoyed it. I also hope everyone got their gifts in time because I was out delivering everyone's last minute gifts that they sent via express mail. I know people were shipping and ordering stuff late for Valentine's Day because I picked up about 100 boxes Saturday which contained poems in a bottle with teddy bears. I understand they cost about 40 dollars plus shipping. When I showed this to my supervisor she said, "Oh my God!" At least the post office is making some good money from this.
Today we normally have a heavy load of express mail that needs to be delivered, but today was way more than normal. Most zip codes had a 33% increase today. That means there must have been a lot of people ordering gifts at the last minute. I also found that most people were home to sign for their express mail. To all those who ordered for Valentine's Day, I would like to thank you on behalf of the post office for your business.

Valentine's Day was just another day for me, but what about you? How was your Valentine's Day? Did something special or memorable happen today?

Dinner at Longhorn

Today, we had my birthday dinner celebration. Now, for those who don't know, my birthday was January 21st. It took us a little while to get everybody available at the right time, particularly because we don't like to eat out on weekends. It finally gave me a chance to use my gift card. We had been planning to go to Longhorn to celbrate my birthday, but with all the delays, I thought we would end up waiting until the new one opened. Of course, the new Longhorn seems to be taking forever just to finish the parking lot, so who knows when it would finally open.
We decided to go to Longhorn for the first time in a long while. I had enjoyed my one and only time at Longhorn with a Sunday School group; however, my parents did not enjoy it the last time they went which is why I haven't been in a while. Some things have changed since the last time I went there, but that shouldn't be a surprise.
The lighting was much better than at Bonefish, the last place we went. The server was also very good. The only thing was that she took a little while bringing our drinks. The bread they provided was the most basic bread I have ever seen at these pricey resturaunts. It was basically toasted wheat bread with butter on the side. It was still better than the bread at Bonefish though. We ordered an appetizer called the Texas Tonion. This was probably the best part of the entire meal; of course, I do enjoy bloomin onions and this was pretty close to that. The salads were good as well, but I mistakenly got French dressing instead of Thousand Island so it was not as good as it could have been. The main course for me was grilled shrimp with fries and I substituted the rice for Macaroni and Cheese. The shrimp were excellent and the fries were great as well. The mac and cheese... well, I was not really pleased with it. I could taste ham in it which was a huge mark against it and it just wasn't what I expected. The worst part was that it cost extra to get the mac and cheese. Next time I will get something else.
To grade my experience:

Service: A-
Environment: A
Drinks: A
Bread: C
Salad: B-
Appetizer: A+
Main Course: A
Side 1 (Fries): A-
Side 2 (Mac and Cheese): D

Overall: B

By the way the place was rated 87/B which is not a very good rating considering most places have A ratings, but I could not tell why it would have the rating since we do not get the reports in our paper any more.

Have you ever been to Longhorn? What was your expirience like? Was it like mine? Better? Worse? Post your comments. I would love to see what your responses are.

Witness and Testimony Month Week 2

I look forward to Sunday mornings. My whole week revolves around Sunday morning when I get up and go to church. Every Sunday, I try to do my best to provide everyone who comes to church a pleasurable experience. I do all these things and every once and a while someone gives me a reson to believe that all these things I organize are worth while. One of those moments happened today when our Sunday School teacher Will Burgan gave his testimony today.
This was special to me because it was such a well developed testimony even though he has most of it written down on a paper I provided the class last week. You see, our Sunday School class is observing Witness and Testimony Month by having members give testimonies every week. I gave my testimony last week and asked Will to give his this week. We also have a volunteer for next week. The goal is to get everyone to write out their testimony and practice sharing it to others. I did it first so as not to put pressure on everyone else the first week. I also gave everyone a paper to help them set up their testimony and write it down. The paper also provided directions for marking their own Bibles. Today I went over that in more detail by providing them with old marked Bibles in the King James Version. I found them very useful and at the very least a good model for leading a person to Christ.
Witness and testimony month will continue next week with more witnessing tools and another testimony from another class member. I have found this to be a great blessing to see others grow by writing and sharing their testimony. You might want to write and share your testimony too if you haven't already done so.

The Postman vs the Teacher

I am a mailman. I used to be a teacher. I went to college to be a high school math teacher and spent three years teaching high school kids. Now I deliver mail. If you ask me, I think I am more gifted at teaching, but I love being the mailman. I was praised by my supervisor who said that she wished she had ten others like me. That made me feel good. It was not the firsttime I have been praised as a mail carrier or even the only time that day. I never got complimented like that as a teacher. The schools were more worried about management of the classroom than if the teacher could actually teach well. As a mailman, I may not be the best in my ability, but I have proven myself to be hard working, reliable, efficient, and one who doesn't complain. I think this is what is wrong with the world today. Many people complain and don't give their best because they should be paid more or treated better. I think I am treated well and don't care what others think. Give your best and don't be a complainer. Just do your job.

Which job do you think would be better? What are your thoughts about working hardM LetKs discuss.

New Video

Today I posted my first video on Youtube as Trojanpear. The video is about a book I wrote in second grade. I wrote and illustrated a book called The Crypt Keeper at the Beach. It is about a character known as the Crypt Keeper who spends his summer at the beach. The Crypt Keeper is from the TV show Tales from the Crypt which I watched around the time I made this book. My mom helped me get this story written and she did most of the color illustrations. My second grade teacher, Ms. Scranton, put my story in book format, so she was basically my publisher.

I hope you take time to watch the video. I would like to know your thoughts.
Did you ever write a book as a kid? Were there illustrations?
Maybe I will write another story someday...

The Sabbath

While reading my daily scripture passages for reading the Bible in one year, I read a passage from Leviticus which deals with something most people are familiar with. The passage is from Leviticus 23:3.

"There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the Lord."

I have long wondered how we could obey the command to "observe the Sabbath." Work is something we all have to do everyday, and if not us, then someone else will. Then I read this passage from Leviticus 23:7.

"On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work."

This passage is decribing the Lord's Feast of Unleavened Bread, but it brought to light in me an understanding about the Sabbath as we observe it today. Our Sabbath is Sunday, the first day of the week. We hold weekly Worship services or "sacred assemblies" and many of us do no regular work on Sunday. I as a postman do not work on Sunday and try not to do any major projects that day, but as a Sunday School Director, I always found myself working hard at church. The work I do for the church on Sunday is not regular work. It is not dishonoring the Sabbath. Making simple meals on Sunday is not real work, but making large meals is. Services such as hospital, police, and fire services are not regular work because they are essential for our protection and well being, but some things that they do are not needed on the Sabbath. I applaud places that are not open for business on Sundays such as Chick-fil-a, schools, mail delivery, and some small businesses. They understand their services are not essential and that it is more important to "observe the Sabbath."

I spend my Sundays by going to Sunday School and Sunday Worship, taking a nap, and generally not doing any "regular work." One area I can improve is to eat minor meals and not go out on Sunday. Church potlucks are okay because all the work can be done Saturday night so that it is ready to go Sunday.

What are your thoughts about the Sabbath? How do you "observe the Sabbath and keep it holy?