Jordan Rippy

Tonight, Kristin and I drank the getting-into-shape kool aid. We signed up for a membership at our local YMCA. Should make for quite the interesting adventure. Any gym membership nightmares or success stories out there?

This week’s Sacred vs. Secular examines the lives of two pre-teen blonds with cartoon counterparts. On the sacred side we have McGee and Me. A show that features Nick, a young suburban boy who faces moral quandary’s concerning honesty and integrity. Whenever Nick finds himself in a moral dilemma out comes McGee, his cartoon conscious. Nick often disregards McGee’s advice and is forced to learn morality the hard way.

On the secular side we have Lizzie McGuire, a self-conscious middle schooler who deals with the issues every normal teenager faces. McGuire’s thoughts are are played out by her cartoon “twin” barring the same name.

You guys know what to do. Vote for the “Mc-G” that has most affected you. Sacred or Secular? The choice is yours!

I recently finished reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. The book is Bell’s attempt at articulating what a Christian worldview should look like. I really liked it. I appreciate his historical approach to the life of Jesus, as well as his emphasis on life here on earth, rather than just eternity. Here are some take-aways from the book:

• “For a Christian, Jesus’ teachings aren’t to be followed because they are a nice way to live a moral life. They are to be followed because they are the best possible insight into how the world really works.”
• “Christian = Noun. A person. A person who follows Jesus. A person living in tune with ultimate reality, God. A way of life centered around a person who lives.”
• “A church is a community of people who are learning how to be certain kinds of people wherever they find themselves, so they can do whatever it is they do “in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
• “Missions then is less about the transportation of God from one place to another and more about the identification of a God who is already there.”
• “Shalom is the presence of the goodness of God. It’s the presence of wholeness, completeness.”
• “Your job is relentless pursuit of who God made you to be. And anything else you do is sin and you need to repent of it.”
• “Sabbath is taking a day a week to remind myself that I did not make the world and that it will continue to exist without my efforts.”
• “We cannot earn what we always had. What we can do is trust that what God keeps insisting is true about us is actually true.”
• “For Jesus, this new kind of life in him is not about escaping this world but about making it a better place, here and now.”
• “The goal isn’t escaping this world but making this world the kind of place God can come to.”
• “We cannot live independently of the world God has placed us in.”

Read it. It’ll be good for you. If you’ve already read it I’d love to hear what you thought.

I’m introducing a weekly series of posts called Sacred vs. Secular. These posts will be similar to my post about Carmen vs. Rocky. Anyway, today’s Sacred vs. Secular is Testamints vs. Mentos.

As we all know, Mentos is the fresh maker. But you may not know a lot about the Christian way to freshen…Testamints. Testamints are the Christian answer to bad breath. That’s right. Mentos may be able to refresh your breath, but only Testamints can refresh your Spirit too. With their telling slogan, “Pass the Word”, Testamint wrappers contain Bible verses such as John 3:16 or Jeremiah 29:11. We all know that bad breath is often a result of an equally bad spiritual life…

Now it’s up to you. Use the “comments” section to vote for the Sacred or the Secular. Testamints or Mentos. It’s up to you.

Calm down, it’s Mona Vie. It’s a health beverage made from the Brazilian acai berry. It’s tastetacular and good for you! Two onces twice daily and you get a crazy boost of antioxidants. This is one of the only health supplements I’ve taken that seems to really work. You should try it.

Kristin and I finally had some extra time after the big move, so we decided to finish the 24 series. Season six was quite enjoyable. I always enjoy how characters from previous seasons come into play. This season was a bit different in that the major plot issue is resolved well before the end of the season. I have to say that the fifth season is still my favorite. I’m interested to see what they decide to do for season 7 (if the writer’s strike ends). Here are some observations from season 6:

• Jack gives himself an amazing haircut at the very beginning of the season.
• Jack is remarkably strong after spending several years as a POW.
• 24 always depicts the president and the vice president as being at odds.
• I’d really like to know more about Jack’s hand…
• Morris is a beast for continuing to work out his shift after having a drill blazed through his shoulder.
• The similarities in the Palmer presidencies are striking.
• The Bauer family is Jacked (Pun intended).
• The Buchannan’s rock.
• CTU can do more with the average cell phone than I can do with all of my technical devices put together.

These are just some basic observations. I’m sure some of you major 24ers will add to the list. Also, Kristin and I have recently become addicted to Heroes. What a great show.

As many of you know Kristin and I have been in need of a second car for quite some time. Kristin totaled her car shortly before our wedding in March and we’ve been sharing a car ever since. This worked for us while we were in Lakeland since she worked where I went to school. However, the difficulties of having only one car were multiplied when we moved to Sarasota last week. I’m working at the church and Kristin is staying at home.

We have been praying that God would either point us to just the right car or supply one for us. Sunady morning I got an e-mail from my Nana, who just got a new car. We were thinking about purchasing her 1998 Toyota Camry. Her e-mail informed us that she felt like God told her to give us her car. We were thrilled to say the least! We went and picked it up on Tuesday. It’s in great condition and runs well! It has already been a huge blessing to have two cars. The amazing part is that someone had come up to Kristin at church on Saturday night and told her that he felt like someone was going to give us a car…God is good. Speaking of church…Our church met in a field last week. A field. More on that later.