Highlights of 2008

I got to do some cool stuff in 2008. Here are some favorites...

Travel:

- in February visited my friend JJ in LA
- in March I lead a mission trip to Salamanca, Spain
- in April the 3F team went to New York for the Q Conference
- in July I visited friends on Nantucket Island and spent a few days in Boston
- in November I visited my Grandma in Boise, ID which is where I grew up



Favorite Books:

- Lone Survivor by Marcus Lutrell
- The Shack by William P. Young
- Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell
- Following Jesus by NT Wright


Favorite Movies:

- The Dark Knight
- James Bond: Quantum of Solace
- Ironman
- 21
- Get Smart
- Valkyrie
- The Spirit - NOT!

It's Coming!

I am super excited about the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie coming out May 1, 2009. The preview looks stinkin' cool! I am also excited that Gambit will be played by Taylor Kitsch from Friday Night Lights. Check out the trailer below and if you are interested I found a good blog site about the movie - http://wolverine-trailer.blogspot.com/

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD

Top 5

Lately I have been in conversations about movies, tv shows, bands, songs and such. So, I thought it would be cool to do a "Top 5" post. I would also like to know what everyone else's Top 5's are so if you feel like it then post yours on your blog as well. Well here we go...

Favorite Bands:
1] Coldplay
2] Dashboard Confessional
3] The Fray
4] John Mayer
5] Jimmy Eat World

Favorite Songs from those bands:
1] The Scientist by Coldplay
2] Swiss Army Romance by Dashboard Confessional
3] How to Save a Life by The Fray
4] Why Georgia by John Mayer
5] Sweetnes by Jimmy Eat World

Favorite Movies:
1] Gladiator
2] Braveheart
3] The Patriot
4] 300
5] Elf

Favorite Trilogies:
1] Star Wars [the original 3 - episodes IV,V,VI]
2] Back to the Future
3] Beverly Hills Cop
4] Indiana Jones [the original 3]
5] Rambo [the original 3]

Favorite recent/current TV shows:
1] LOST
2] 24
3] The Office
4] Seinfeld [technically this is classic but I put it here to b/c it fit!]
5] Anything on the History Channel

Favorite classic TV shows:
1] Macgyver
2] Quantum Leap
3] Cheers
4] Save by the Bell
5] Leave it to Beaver

Favorite Resturants:
1] Native New Yorker
2] PF Changs
3] BJ's Brewery
4] Tum Nuk Thai
5] Sullivan's Pier

Favorite Fast Food:
1] Chick Fil-A
2] Filaberto's [yeah that's right and it's not cat meat!]
3] Wendy's
4] Jason's Deli
5] Pirate's Fish and Chips [thanks Mitch!]

Favorite Places I've been in the World:
1] Switzerland
2] London
3] Kenya
4] Rome
5] Australia

Favorite NON-Fiction Books [other than Bible]:
1] Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
2] Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
3] Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
4] Lone Survivor by Marcus Lutrell
5] Sex God by Rob Bell

Favorite Fiction Books:
1] The Grail Quest Trilogy by Bernard Cornwell
2] Byzantium by Stephen Lawhead
3] The Shack by William P. Young
4] The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell
5] The Iron Lance by Stephen Lawhead

Lone Survivor Movie

I just found a link that discloses plans for a Lone Survivor movie! Peter Berg, who directed the Middle Eastern thriller The Kingdom, and Hancock, starring Will Smith, will direct it. It's set to come out sometime in 2009. I'm excited!

Click here for the article.

Why So Serious?

Last weekend I went and saw the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, and it was amazing! It was packed with great action and a great story line. But what took this movie over the top for me was Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker. In my opinion he played the part perfectly and was so fun to watch.

It was kind of a weird, eerie feeling to watch him, knowing he is not around anymore. I know there is a lot of talk going around about him being nominated for an Oscar, which I think he totally deserves. I think he should get "best actor." It was simply that good.

So if you haven't seen The Dark Knight then you need to go sometime soon and see it in the theater. It is an experience that is well worth the ridiculous $10 it costs to see a movie these days.

Expelled!

I recently went with my small group to see Ben Stein's documentary film, Expelled. This is a film about how scientists and professors have been expelled from their fields because they believe in "Intelligent Design." In fact, some were fired from their jobs just for mentioning "ID." Apparently in scientific academia the theory of God (or any other intelligent designer) creating the world is looked on as complete and utter ignorance. Alternatively, common evolutionary theory says that life developed naturalistically over time from mud and lightning or perhaps on the backs of crystals. Ignorance? Watch this trailer for the movie and I encourage you to go see this film soon while it is still in the theater.



This film has obviously stirred up quite a controversy, especially with evolutionist Richard Dawkins. He wrote a blog in response to Expelled on his website called, Lying for Jesus. If you were at church a few weeks ago when we covered secular humanism, Richard was the guy on the video. He says some pretty crazy stuff! So much that it just makes me sad.