I've moved....

http://geppapa.wordpress.com/

Changes

I have been blogging for almost 3 years now, all on Blogger. I have actually been importing this blog into my Word Press account for some time now and I have officially decided it's time to make the switch. So, on August 20, 2008 I have offically quit posting on Blogger and will now post exclusively on WordPress.

Go here: Life & Times

http://geppapa.wordpress.com/

Bigfoot found? Nope.

According to this article the supposed Bigfoot found this summer and put on ice by some Georgia rednecks was just a frozen rubber gorilla suit. That sticks! Now back to finding the most elusive creature on earth!

HoffSpace. You gotta be kidding me!

I am speechless, maybe you have some words......
Sign up today!

In my travels round the world I have always been surprised that no matter where I go people recognize and know me, from Europe, Australia and India to the Philippines and the Zulu Nation in South Africa. This got me thinking... I realized that while two people from two entirely different countries and backgrounds may seem to have nothing in common, the only thing they might have in common is me... So I decided to start a network where people from across the world might come together and get a conversation started over me. Where it will lead, I don't know but the world would be a better place if everyone talked a little more to each other...

So here is HoffSpace. There are videos and photos of the adventures of my life (THAT NO ONE ELSE GETS TO SEE) and also from the lives of other members. Read the discussions or start a forum on a topic that interests you. Check out Hoff TV, where I go live often. Chat with other members from around the world and make friends. Design your own home page. Add music and share your lives with others. Send me the weird, wonderful and wacky things that are happening in your life. Tell me the stories of how you are making a difference in your life and, if you need my help, ask... One man or woman CAN make a difference...

More Obama....

ht: Jonathan Herron
Hilarious!

Obama problems....

Obama on abortion:

FOR ME, THE GOAL RIGHT NOW SHOULD BE -- AND THIS IS WHERE I THINK WE CAN FIND COMMON GROUND AND BY THE WAY I HAVE NOW INSERTED THIS INTO THE DEMOCRAT PARTY PLATFORM IS HOW DO WE REDUCE THE NUMBER OF ABORTIONS BECAUSE THE FACT IS THAT ALTHOUGH WE'VE HAD A PRESIDENT WHO IS OPPOSED TO ABORTIONS OVER THE LAST EIGHT YEARS, ABORTIONS HAVE NOT GONE DOWN.

Dear Obama,
Get your facts straight:
According to the Guttmacher Institute: "In 2005, 1.21 million abortions were performed, down from 1.31 million in 2000."
Link

....Last I checked President Bush took office in 2001.

Obama on experience:

Rick Warren Q. WHICH EXISTING SUPREME COURT JUSTICE WOULD YOU NOT HAVE NOMINATED?

Obama A. THAT'S A GOOD ONE. THAT'S A GOOD ONE. I WOULD NOT HAVE NOMINATED CLARENCE THOMAS. I DON'T THINK THAT HE. I DON'T THINK THAT HE WAS A STRONG ENOUGH JURIST OR LEGAL THINKER AT THE TIME FOR THAT ELEVATION. SETTING ASIDE THE FACT THAT I PROFOUNDLY DISAGREE WITH HIS INTERPRETATION OF A LOT OF CONSTITUTION.

Basically, Justice Thomas was too inexperienced at the time of his nomination.

Dear Obama,
Aren't you a first term Senator? The least experienced of ALL major candidates for President in modern history.


Look for McCain problems soon!!

Bigfoot found? Judge for yourself.

If you have been reading Life & Times for a while you know I have a liking for Bigfoot. Well, it came out this week that a group men from Georgia found a dead Sasquatch in the woods. They took the corpse and put it on ice in a broken down freezer and eventually contacted Bigfoot guru Tom Biscardi to get some help. They had a Press Meeting yesterday (WATCH HERE) Here is a Fox News interview:

Celebration!

We have been working so hard to get our new church building ready to occupy. Well today after a ridiculous amount of hard work by our contractor we received our Certificate of Occupancy. Next Sunday (August 24th) we will have our first services. Exciting times for a church that has been portable for 11 years!!!

Periodic Table of Awesomeness

As a dude there are certain things that stir me up or qualify as awesome. You have to chuckle at some of the basic building blocks of awesomeness. Some are not very appropriate for those self-righteous ones out there, but for the most part they are funny and true.

ht: ysmarko
The whole Periodic Table of Awesomeness

Firsts: Ocean fishing and Dolphin watching

After doing some easy investigation I found out that the ocean seas would be very flat today so I took Roman out in the boat. We went out of the Jupiter Inlet and opened up the motor to go south on the coast about 7 miles. We then went out to sea and cast our lines to try and catch a fish (no dice!). We decided to go north up the coast a bit and along the way we stumbled upon a pod of dolphins. This was so crazy! I have never seen dolphins so playful and frisky in the wild. It was like watching a show at Sea World or something! They were jumping out of the water and squeaking. Roman had a blast. He calls them Miami dolphins, gotta raise 'em up right!

Strange Themed Restaurants

I love Web-Urbanist.com. Its. one of those sites that I frequent. Today they posted about strange themed restaurants. Have you been to any of these restaurants?

Buns and Guns - Beirut, Lebanon
Cannabalistic Sushi – Tokyo, Japan
Cabbages and Condoms - Bangkok, Thailand
Modern Toilet - Taipei, Taiwan
Hitler’s Cross - Mumbai, India
Maid Cafes - Tokyo, Japan
Pitch-Black Restaurant - Beijing, China
Graveyard Restaurant - Ahmadabad, India
Death Themed Restaurant - Truskavets, Ukraine
The Hellfire Club – Manchester, UK
Vampire Café - Tokyo, Japan
Hobbit House – Manila, Phillipines
Robot-Staffed Restaurant – Nuremburg, Germany
Mao-Era Red Guards Restaurant – Nanning, China
Christon Café – Tokyo, Japan

Introducing....

....some friends of mine that are relatively new to the blogging world. Lisa and James Duvall have been friends for many years. James has been a mentor and friend in ministry and is currently a worship pastor at an amazing Kingdom building church and Lisa is a witty, passionate mom and leader of women. Stop by and tell them hello!!

Bessie turns 40!

Yesterday we had a great family time as my sister Bethany turned 40. I have been prepping her for this day for many years now and it seems she got the best me and deflected all of the taunting by beating me at Guitar Hero and then confirming that beat down by beating me again! Happy birthday to the greatest sister on the planet! I love you!

Cheeeessseeeee!!!!!

Mommy went grocery shopping so the boys are chillin' playing around with Photobooth.

You gotta watch this

After losing 15 years of his life to drug abuse and prison, Richard Jensen was reborn as a 36 year old college wrestler. You must watch this inspiring yet sad ESPN mini-documentary.

WATCH HERE

Building update

As many of you know my church, Calvary Jupiter has been in the process of building our first facility for the past 14 months. It has become grueling and I feel bad for our contractor as he has been taking a lot of grief from our bored Building Inspectors. We are the only project going on in the area of our inspector so he is being very uncooperative. Any way, our move in date is approaching as you can tell by the picture. Check back soon for more updates!

Big Vision

Back in April I was challenged in my personal quiet time to think big, way bigger than what I can accomplish, but with a God sized vision. This began a work in my personal life and in my ministry life. I kept thinking about all of the students that I would see on different campuses, at the mall, just riding their bikes down the sidewalk. I then started to ask God what this meant. To make it short, He gave the simple statement: every student. That's it. So I started to pray about this and asked Him to guide me and direct me in regard to this broad vision. I shared it with staff and student leaders. every student. Without hesitation and reservation all have jumped on board with this vision. Here is the break down:

Our Mission:
We want reach every student in the Jupiter area with the love of Jesus.
Jupiter High School – 3,800 students
Dwyer High School – 2,000 students
Independence Middle School – 1,200 students
Jupiter Middle School – 1,200 students
Other schools – 1,000+ students
Total = appx. 10,000 students in Jupiter

Ministry Vision:
Our Student Ministry seeks to reach every student in the Jupiter community in the 2008-09 school year. We will do this by filtering everything we do through our 4 core values, utilizing our environments and partnering with other local churches and para-church organizations.

Now it's time to pray, fast and sacrifice. Will you join us?

Sick slides

Today we took the boys to this park that we frequent. It has the best slides ever, they are very much capable of entertaining adults as well as kiddos. Here is Roman next to one of them.

Why I like Apple

On Friday I made a Genius Bar appointment at our local Apple Store for Sunday afternoon. I have been experiencing some touch screen issues with my iPhone (original, not 3G). So today I brought it in to the Genius and without hesitation he said I'll get you a new one. So, I have a new iPhone. No too shabby eh?

Helping Granny in the yard.

Raise 'em up.

I love BBQ ans so do my boys. Evidence here of that fact.

Student Leadership

I have been the youth pastor at our church for 6 years. I love it. To be honest the past couple of years have been rather trying, as we have gone through a church split and have navigated through personal challenges at home with our adoption. I feel like this is the beginning of a new, fresh season in our church and in particular, our student ministry. With this in mind, earlier this year when I was planning out the summer schedule God put a heavy vision on my heart. That vision: reach every student in Jupiter with the love of Jesus this coming school year. That is some 12,000 students! That vision has not cooled off, but the burn is hotter. As a part of that vision I knew we had to be very deliberate this summer with our programming. Community building (Summer Tour), Getting outside of our comfort zone (Mission Camp) and now Student Leadership Training. Tonight was our first session we will have over the next 5 Wednesdays. We started tonight by defining leadership and helping our students to evaluate their weaknesses and strengths. Our guide is Denise Vanecks "Leadership 101".
Here is the upcoming schedule:
Tonight - Leadership Defined
July 30 - What Kind of Leader am I ?
August 6 - The Serving Leader
August 13 - The Communicating Leader
August 20 - The Mentoring Leader
August 23 - Campus Training

Re-introducing.....

After several months of being out of the blogging game, Jeff is back at it (here). You don't want to miss his latest post. Very interesting, yet controversial topic. Welcome back Jeff! Enjoy.

Waiting.....

We have been waiting for our new couch to be delivered for over a month. I'm sick of laying on an air-mattress in the middle of our living room. Its very uncomfortable. One good thing about the air-mattress, it makes a great wrestling mat for me and my boys!

Are you kidding me? From Deland, Fl.