I would like to take a moment to thank all 100,000 visitors to this site. I know there are many options out there, so we really appreciate you coming to visit us. I would also like to take a moment to share with everyone this letter of thanks we have written to CBC:

Dear City Bible Church,

It looks like we have reached another milestone: 100,000 unique visitors. And we just want to say thank you for your continued un-support of our site. Because of the way you try to control everyone, you've driven our site to new levels and have inspired us to continue mocking you for all you do…so…thank you.

It appears, based on Frank's last sermon, that your church will be ending sooner than ours…that is unfortunate…but don't worry, even after you are gone we will still find ways to make fun of you. The blog must go on.

So, congratulations to us…and don't stop telling yourself …"All press is good press"…

- The City Business Church Team

Let's raise a glass and toast to the next 100,000 visitors…or if you wish, you can try to "stop, stand in the gap, build a hedge and turn the tide. Can I hear an amen?"

"Amen!"

Due to the overwhelming success of our blog, we exceeded our monthly bandwidth yesterday. (I had to look up "bandwidth" on wikipedia to even know what that meant.)

Amazingly, we're averaging about a 10% increase in readership every month. (You people really need to get a life.) 

And since our blog hosting service is given to us by a generous benefactor, we're kind of just going with the flow. So if this increase in readership keeps up, expect us to be dark in March as well. (And then I'm going to Vegas.)

Anyway… I thought about asking for contributions to help keep the site going, but…

A) That's kind of lame.

B) It's kind of hypocritical, since we rip on CBC for always asking for money. 

and C) I would just spend it on beer anyway, so what's the point.

As always, thanks for reading. And please stop mentioning the blog to your friends, we can't afford the popularity.  

Yes… provided He decides to die nearby.

Film director, James Cameron believes he has found where Christ was buried.

And the locals are excited.

Local residents said they were pleased with the attention the tomb has drawn.

"It will mean our house prices will go up because Christians will want to live here," one woman said.

It's not as good as an ocean view or a quality school system, but it's certainly better than a nearby powerplant.

And if only Christ had died in North Portland, my parents would be millionaires. 

(H/T: Popsurfing)

Some thoughts while we wait for Lakisha Jones to win American Idol…

As you may have noticed, my blogging has dropped off a little. This is for a couple of reasons. One, it actually takes a fair amount of effort to run a blog and I kind of got burnt out.

Second, and more importantly, my boss has asked me to start a blog for the company that I work for, and this project is currently taking up most of my "blogging" time.  

So while I'll continue to maintain City Business Church, I imagine the number of posts will slow down.

It's been an absolutely entertaining couple of years. Although I do get frustrated at times, I've loved all the discussions.  And just when I feel that all our hard work is going un-noticed, the Lord will bless the blog with a comment like this from Derek:

Wow…thanks for all the info folks. I’ve officially stepped off the CBC wagon.

I’ve only heard a few of Judah’s messages, and they don’t seem to be “that” off the wall for a High School crowd. But the lack of substance and not being theologically rooted does bother me, especially if he is going to be in a position to influence other upcoming leaders.

Heh. Our work here is done.

Anyway, thanks again for all the love. And consider this post an open thread to discuss anything you want… such as the chances of the Trailblazers making the playoffs (never gonna happen)… why the TV show Scrubs has done more for racial harmony than the Oreo Cookie, or why the new album from Toby Mac is actually pretty good….

I just want to wish my brother JP a happy 28th birthday. With seven kids in our family, we rarely aknowledge birthdays. (There are just too many of them).  So this will have to suffice.

After one year on this new blog format, our blog has reached almost 85,000 unique visitors.

And we're averaging almost 20,000 unique hits a month.

It's good to know you all are as bored at work as I am.

…good times… …good times…

I have decided to add another blogger to this blog. Bascially because having others contribute to the blog gives the site a more well-rounded feel. And it also keeps me from getting completely burnt out, which is nice.

The blogger is going by the name Diogenes. And here is why he picked the name. From Wikipedia:

"Diogenes, a celibate and a beggar who made his home in the streets of Athens, made a virtue out of extreme poverty." "His was a relentless campaign to "debunk" social values and institutions." "Unlike the other citizens of Athens, he avoided earthly pleasures.

This attitude was grounded in a great disdain for what he perceived as the folly, pretence, vanity, social climbing, self-deception, and artificiality of much human conduct."  

And the best part:  "He used to stroll through the Agora at full daylight with a torch (or, as legend sometimes has it, a lantern). When asked what he was doing, he would answer, "I am just looking for an honest man." Diogenes looked for an honest man, and reputedly found nothing but rascals and scoundrels." 

I guess I am looking for honest pastors and honest churches, but I keep finding scoundrels. (Note: I do know several pastors who are wonderful men, I am proud to call them my friends. They are just so RARE!)

Should be fun.

I know this blog is supposed to be about Religion and how much I struggle with bitternes and hate my pastor. But I don't get paid to run this blog, so I'm going to post something completely unrelated. Something that is near and dear to my heart: Television.

I love TV. And more importantly, I love sitcoms. There is something about sitting down for a half an hour and laughing at stupid jokes that makes me happy. And for my money, the most underatted sitcom of this millennium is Scrubs.

This is likely the last season for Scrubs. However, they are apparently going to end the series on a high note. Next Tuesday they will be doing the entire show as a musical. I caught an advance preview of two of the songs on YouTube and totally laughed.  The songs are hilarious and I want to share them with you.

Everything Comes Down to Poo

Guy Love

While the legal team of Damazio, Estes and Louman might not be able to kill this blog, comment spam definitely has a good chance. As a result, we installed a couple of safegaurds in the comment section to help reduce spam. It makes commenting a little more difficult, but keeps me from spending all my time deleting comments about poker, porn and pills.

Thanks again to everyone who reads and comments. Your participation is what makes this blog popular and is what makes these new safegaurds necessary. Thank you, so much.

Here's hoping that 2007 is as successful a year as 2006. God has indeed blessed this blog.

In the past, I've received a few requests to post a picture of myself. Sadly, I am the most un-photogenic person in the world, and in many pictures bear a striking resemblance to Jabba the Hut. However, at our company Christmas party yesterday, I took a reasonable picture with my co-worker. So here you are. I'm the guy in the Santa Hat. 

And yes, that is my 3/4 full beer at the bottom. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Holiday Cake was available. And much like my mother, I loves me some cake. However, I still had my beer to drink, prompting the following picture taken by my boss with his cell phone. Notice what I'm cradling in my left arm.  It's a DC trick.