Thanks for visiting robshep.com. I’m currently in Russia and taking the week off from blogging. New posts will magically appear here starting on Monday, June 24.

In the mean time if you just need a fix check out some of these older posts that you might have missed.

• Click here to read my very first post from April 21, 2008. This is embarrassing for me to look back at.
• Click here to read a time where a Wal-Mart employee called me Brad Pitt. It was glorious.
• Click here to read my first official movie review on the blog.
• Click here to see a post called Video Monday. It was a series of posts that I used to do featuring a funny video. This one still makes me laugh.
• Click here to read the first ever Mind Dump. Back then it didn’t have it’s own graphic.

What are you looking forward to this week?

Father’s Day is this Sunday. Not only that but I started my Men’s Only group at Next Level Church this week. Add to that the fact that I’m a guy and you get a post about men.

Men are good for…

• Killing spiders
• Killing ants
• Killing roaches
• Killing bugs
• Fixing things
• Mowing lawns
• Eating bacon
• Finding solutions to problems

Men are known for…

• Being really wimpy when they are sick
• Loving sex
• Eating lots of food
• Loving bacon!
• Farting. All people fart but let’s be honest women don’t have the same stereotype about flatulence as the men do.
• Having nips but not knowing what purpose they serve

Men like…

• Action movies
• Laughing at farts
• Eating bacon
• To chase the woman that they love. The harder a woman is to get the more a guy likes to chase her.
• To be chased back once they’ve caught their love. Guys love to chase but most guys have a fragile ego. It’s nice to know that your wife is attracted to you.
• Shawshank Redemption. I’ve never met a guy who didn’t like this movie.
• The smell of fruity things. Fruity candles, perfumes, scratch and sniff stickers are a great way to get a guys attention.
• Not complicating things. Men are simple creatures. We give simple solutions. We like simplicity.

Men don’t…

• Admit to crying. Even when a guy is caught crying he will say “I’m not a cryer” just to make sure everyone knows this is a freak accident and won’t happen again. 
• Wear clothes that look good but hurt. Women often wear clothes that kill their body simply because they look good. Not a dude.
• Watch Lifetime
• Look good in skimpy swim wear aka speedos
• Throw away leftover bacon
• Talk about their feelings very often
• Do drama. Men get mad, fight, then are cool. It’s not overly dramatic.
• Ask other guys to go to the bathroom with them
• Like trying on clothes. We know our size and we will take our chances. We will never try on clothes just to try on clothes. That’s just ludicrous.
• Make the duck-face on purpose in an attempt to look good 

Things Men would do if women didn’t exist…

• Wear socks with sandals. Some try even with women existing but they either don’t have a wife or she’s out of town
• Order take out every night
• Only do laundry once a month. If it doesn’t smell re-wear
• Make decisions without fear of being corrected
• Eat bacon for every meal

Men aren’t typically known for loving Jesus. Sure there have been some great men of God but go to any church in America and you will find a lot more women than men. Women are awesome like that. So I say if you are a guy who goes to church be the type of guy that models what it’s like to be a man for Jesus. Let’s lead our wives and kids to Jesus. Let’s show the world that’s it’s great being a man who is sold out for Jesus and loves bacon.

I know a little bit about Mother Russia.

• I know we won the Cold War
• I know it snows every day
• I know that every Russian is incredibly strong and has hairy shins 
• I know that every single Russian knows how to do this ridiculously difficult dance move
• 
• I know that their favorite color is red 
• I know that they don’t believe in miracles 
• I know that they found a way to ruin some of my favorite movie franchises 
• I know their military walks in 90 degree angles 
• I know their action figures all fit inside one another 
• I know they love McDonald’s like Americans do but their drive through is for tanks 
• I know that all their presidents are required to get a tattoo on their head 

Okay, maybe I don’t know all that much about Russia. And maybe what I’ve learned is completely wrong.

What I do know is that…

• There are a lot of orphans.
• Alcoholism is a widespread epidemic, which contributes greatly to this growing crisis.
• Russia is a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking.
• Orphaned girls are especially susceptible to prostitution and sex trafficking because of their vulnerability and lack of resources.
• Graduating and leaving the orphanage is the most critical point in an orphan’s life. Through institutionalization they have learned to be dependent on others and are unprepared for life as an adult.
• Many turn to alcohol, drugs, and prostitution because they are completely unprepared to manage simple life tasks. Without guidance or accountability the statistics are not promising.

This Friday I leave with a team of 9 from Next Level Church to go to Mother Russia.

Our leader Kevin Harrison is not pictured

We will be working with Children’s HopeChest.  HopeChest Ministry Centers provide community programs for orphans, which offers life skills training, trafficking prevention services, mentorship, and many other key components to fostering a productive member of society.

The goal is to help orphans become independent adults and know the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we can help strengthen and encourage the orphanage, then it will be better equipped to foster independent adults long after we leave.

I’m really excited about the trip but I’m also going to miss my family like crazy. While I’m gone would you commit to pray for our team? Pray that God would move. Pray for safety. Pray for our families while we are gone.

Oh one more thing that I know as soon as our plane lands I’m playing this song from Rocky IV

I can’t believe I’m going to Russia this week!

Last week I did a post dedicated to the glorious 80′s. It got me thinking of other decades that I was a part of. I was a teen in the 90′s. It was a great decade to go through puberty in. Here’s the 90′s the way that I saw it. You might could relate if…

You felt like this group of teens were your classmates

You loved and still know the words to the theme song for this show

And this one

And this one

You remember that people treated these as more valuable than gold

This movie blew your mind

And you saw this 3 times in the theater

And this movie made you cry hard but you were too cool to admit it

You loved this movie and know that this scene is where the subliminal message “Good teenagers take off your clothes” is found

This became one of your all time favorite movies

Whenever someone says “what do you want to do tonight?” You think, “The same thing we do every night Pinky, try to take over the world.

And you still say “Homie don’t play that.”

And “Dang Gena”

Bought this album and LOVED it!

And unfortunately this one

This was the greatest album you’d ever heard and you bought it for all of your friends for a Christmas present in 1995

You were one of the few who enjoyed Crystal Pepsi…it was clear!

You had one of these and battled your friends with it

You were too cool to admit that you liked this show but were thankful that you had an older sister who watched it every week

You were too old to admit liking this but were thankful you had an younger brother who did

The first time you heard TGIF it was in reference to the greatest night of TV each week

In 1991 Magic Johnson retiring from the NBA due to the HIV virus was one of the saddest days of your young life

This high schooler would skip college to join your favorite team

Your favorite player at the time signed with your favorite team

This guy won a lot and became the most popular athlete in the world

You remember the whole world stopping to watch this

You owned a HYPERCOLOR shirt

You remember all the cool kids wore pumps

You got really good at this video game

And this game

You didn’t think video game graphics could get any better than this system

You stayed up late every week night to watch this

You remember when it was okay to say this

And this

And this

You remember that you had to do this before you could surf the web

You remember when you would hear this it was a really big deal

You remember talking on this was a REALLY big deal

You had one of these

The 90′s was a great decade!

What was your favorite thing about the 90′s?

I love my life. I’m richly blessed by people. The last few weeks we’ve been so blessed. I say thank you and it’s from the bottom of my heart but sometimes I don’t know if people really know how grateful I am. Sometimes saying thanks is not enough. For those moments I’m thankful I have a blog. I’d like to thank…

• Steve Roberts for giving us a lawn mower. I left my last one at our house when we sold it. Steve left a comment on my blog and then gave me a great mower. I used it yesterday. Awesome!
• Jimmy Williams for being wicked awesome. Jimmy is the most outgoing introvert I’ve ever met. I love talking to Jimmy. He not only gave us one of those converter boxes to help us get a few TV channels (no cable for this guy) he also put up all the blinds in our house. This is how our room looked before he came over.
• 
• Mim (my mom) for leaving great comments on the blog every day, buying us a toilet and then a nicer toilet seat because the reviews online weren’t great for the one that came with our toilet, and for all the awesome snacks you bought me to take for Russia.
• Joan Penn Bastian for giving us a statue that looks eerily like my kids, cleaning our house before we moved in, and buying a boat load of cleaning supplies.
• Michelle Martin and Crystal Carter for organizing a giftcard plant for a house warming gift! That was amazing and a HUGE blessing!
• The Deans, Lauren Blankenship & Timmy (don’t know his last name yet), Daniel Dun Moody, Ed & Amber Amezcua, Jeremy and Carmelita and a few others who gave but didn’t put their name on the gift cards for our gift card tree.
• Courtney Hornsby and Kyle Martin for giving us four new light fixtures and new hardware for our kitchen cabinets.
• Irvin, Kay, Scott, Ellie, Randal, Philip, R Weaver, Deedie, Karen, Susan B, Beth, Shay, Daniel, Crystal, and Dr. Simpson for leaving great reviews of my book.
• Jason Etheridge for hooking up the lights that Courtney and Kyle bought us. Oh and he also hooked up our washer and dryer and let me borrow a drill so I could pretend to be handy.
• Eric and Stacy Froyen for being the most giving and amazing people we know. I still remember the first time your forced yourself into Monica’s life. She asked me if Stacy was okay because she wanted to bring her stuff during her mandatory pregnancy bed rest. Little did she know that you guys would become such a HUGE part of our lives. Thanks for loving our kids and us so well!
• Dan Peters for being an amazing realtor and finding our home. Also the note you gave us at closing made me and Monica tear up. You don’t throw out compliments so what you said meant the world to me!
• Jamey Menser for installing our new toilet! You’ve managed to install and then use every toilet we have ever bought.
• Carlyn Menser for seeing that we needed a toilet installed and suggesting that Jamey come by to do it.
• Stu Hodges for the phone call congratulating me on my book. I don’t know if I’ll ever delete that message.
• Mark Brownell for well…you name it he did it. Your work ethic inspires me! Thanks for being the best father in law ever.
• Ed and Amber Amezcua for painting like professionals. Our house would look like poo if you two didn’t love us so much.
• Nancy and Tim Wall for coming on your day off to clean. Nancy cleaned so amazingly that the movers were impressed with her. They also helped paint and came to clean on multiple other occasions.
• Stephen and Brooke Haggerty for bringing us an amazing meal last week. Monica and I worked ourselves nearly to death on the house each night last week. It was great to not have to worry about dinner and it was slap your mamma good.
• Nicole Shepherd for watching our kids so Monica could get work done at the house. We love being close to you and Jon!
• Everyone who gave to get me to Russia! Your gift made it possible for me to serve God in Mother Russia!
• Jon for loving movies as much as I do so I will have someone to go see all the movies this summer with.
• Debbie Houff for paying for my shot so I don’t get the bubonic plague in Russia.
• Randal and Charlie Nelson for speaking my love language of words of affirmation on a regular basis. I greatly appreciate your kind words each and every week.
• Everyone who leaves a comment on my blog! I love comments and I greatly appreciate you taking a moment to leave your voice on a post.
• The owners at Next Level. We are owners not spectators! For being a little church we sure are making some noise of Jesus. I love being your pastor!
• Dodi for putting on the best puppet show in the history of puppet shows for my kids. They love “Dodo.”
• Did (my dad) for opening some boxes after the move and for being my biggest fan as a pastor.
• Monica for loving me incredibly well. Your love makes me. I know the last few weeks have been crazy with everything but somehow you make crazy amazing. I love you.

Now the only problem with a post like this is the fear of leaving someone off. Please know it’s not because I don’t greatly appreciate what you do. It’s because I’m human and slap tired from a very busy weekend. Thanks for showing me grace.

Who would you like to thank? Leave a name in the comments and tell us why. 

We might have had the same childhood if…

Whenever you see a rebel flag you think of The Dukes of Hazard and not the Civil War

You have great memories of Michael Jackson and he looked like this

You went to school with someone who dressed like Michael Jackson and it wasn’t weird or Halloween

This movie scared the mess out of you

You weren’t aloud to see this because it was too scary

This movie made you cry

This movie made you think you could fly and want to spray bullies in the face with a squirt gun filled with pee

You had one of these

Or one of these

And some of these

A whole bunch of these

You always wanted this but it was way too expensive

Watched this

And this

And this

Loved This!

And this

Watched this every day after school

Ate this

And this

And this

Making milkshakes in the microwave made you feel like the Jetsons

You think of video games this is the first thing that comes to mind

This was where you discovered a suicide drink where you put all the fountain drinks in your cup

You were literally blown away by this

And this

This made you fall in love with basketball

When something goes right you think “I love it when a plan comes together”

You spent hours practicing the crane kick but never used it on anyone

You remember being fined for not rewinding a movie

This was the coolest car you’d ever seen

You can name all of these

When you think of the President you think of Ronald Reagan

The 80′s were a great decade to be a kid in. If you grew up like I did you’d agree.

What is your favorite decade?

Jon Acuff is great. He’s a blogger, author, and master of social media. He somehow has sucker punched time and finds a way to post online 26 hours a day.

There are times after I’ve checked all my social media outlets where I think…

“Where can I go from Jon Acuff? Where can I flee from your online presence? If I go up to the Facebooks, you are there; if I make my bed to show the Pinterest…oh wait…I don’t do Pinterest but if I did, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, Jon’s already “sucker punched” it to death, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will beat me to a Tweet.”

Oh…and he has two blogs that dominate the world wide web.

I try to post on all my social media outlets but I’m lucky if I can get two good Tweets, a Facebook post that is not just a post about my blog, and an Instagram picture that is of something other than food. I envy Jon’s social media skills.

One of my favorite things about Jon is being able to spend time with him. He’s so busy that we don’t get to hang out a lot, but when we do it’s always a great experience. Now granted our hang out is usually with 10,000 other people at a conference, he’s speaking while I’m sitting in the stands, and he doesn’t have a fat clue who I am, but I still feel like we hung out and it was fun.

If you happen to be a member of my church then you should know he gets an assist. I read his book Quitter and it helped me process a lot in regards to pursuing my dream of church planting.

Recently I’ve seen some criticism thrown towards Jon. His audience continues to grow and the bigger the audience the bigger the target. Jon gets it. He throws grace, love, and the occasional snarky response back to some of the critics.

Now whether or not you have a fat clue who Jon Acuff is I think we can learn something from his critics.

It is far easier to be a critic than a director. In Hollywood directors make things. They take risks. They have something to show for their work. Movie critics don’t create anything original or new. They simply critique.

I don’t know about you but I’d rather be a director than a critic. It’s easy to be a critic. It takes no effort. You simply critique someone else’s work. It’s far easier to critique someone’s material than to come up with your own.

It’s easier to critique someone else’s parenting than to direct your own family.

It’s easier to critique someone else’s work than to direct your own.

It’s easier to critique someone else’s blog post than to direct your own.

It’s easier to critique someone else’s church than direct your own.

It’s easier to be a critic than a director. Critics don’t make squat. It’s difficult to direct.

The next time you think to offer a criticism ask yourself…

• Is it beneficial? Telling someone they “stink” doesn’t benefit anyone. Telling someone a way to potentially improve is directing.
• Do I have room to talk? A critic who has never made anything has no authority to critique.
• If someone was giving me this same critique how would I want them to deliver it? Then when you critique deliver it the way you’d want it delivered to you.

As for Jon I follow him on social media because I think he’s brilliant. As a blogger, author, Tweeter, Facebooker, and Instagramer I completely respect the directing that Jon does on a daily basis. I hope he doesn’t allow the critics to speak into his life. I hope that you and I will spend more time directing than critiquing.

This is not a criticism but Jon Acuff makes my head look GIGANTOR!

Do you follow Jon Acuff on social media? What is the easiest thing for you to critique? 

If I ruled the world this is how it would be. You might not like it, but that’s because you aren’t me…

I’m glad that I don’t rule the world. I like knowing that someone greater than me is in charge. With that being said there are still times where I think about how I would run things if I did rule the world. For example the Post Office.

The only place that the workers seem to be more miserable working at then the local post office is the DMV. I’d like to change the whole experience.

• First off Chick-fil-A would take control of all Post Offices from the U.S. government. Let’s be honest…our government is AWESOME and our Country is Awesome but government employees aren’t always awesome. Government jobs don’t seem to produce raving fans. Chick-fil-A does. Even if you don’t love their food you can’t argue that their customer service is top shelf. Oh and if you don’t like their food you might need to go to the doctor because your taste buds are broke. I kid, I kid. Let CFA take over and people will be lining up to get into the post office. Oh wait. 
• People line up at the post office because it’s really slow. Like if there is more than 3 people in line you might as well drive the package or letter to it’s destination and hand deliver it because you will get it there faster. Let’s change that. If I ruled the world you would be in and out in less than five minutes or you’d get something free. Like a book of stamps with your face on it.
• Daily flash mobs. Who doesn’t love a great flash mob? The answer? Nobody. It would be exciting to visit the post office if you knew there was a chance to see a flash mob.
• Drive thru. Since CFA is running the post office they would know how to do a great drive thru. Nothing makes having to wait in a long line better like being able to stay in your car. Nothing.
• Conveyor belts that will automatically put together your letter or package. I get really excited to watch a donut go down the conveyor belt at Krispy Kreme. Just imagine how exciting it would be to watch a package put together.
• Since it’s run by CFA they will also serve food while you are waiting in line. I know I’d love to go to the post office if I got a free sample of chicken and sweet tea and a cookies and cream milkshake. Hey this is if I ruled the world right? I’d like a milkshake at the post office. That’d make me happy.
• Now as far as carrying the mail they need to make it fun. Like Pike Place Market in Seattle. You know, the place where they throw the fish. You don’t know? Watch this… http://youtu.be/qHbc9JNhx3E

If you ruled the world what would you change about the post office?