I’d like to introduce something I’m very excited about: BetheNOW.com

In the words of my friend and the brainchild of this entire project, Nate Beaird, Be the NOW is focused in three areas:

How/where can I physically help people in my city?
How/where can I help people online financially, or help raise funds?
Stories of the Church stepping up the challenge to love people in powerful ways.

Some sweet screen shots after the jump

The site is built on the awesomeness of Standard Theme. From the great basics of ST we’ve gone a few steps further in creating what we think is a pretty killer site for a couple of “n00bs” to WordPress; especially when stacked up against some of the titans in the WordPress world.

We also took the sage advice of integrating with Facebook. I personally love that our Facebook page shares a lot with our site- and I’m not just talking about looks. Facebook pages are about community. Be the NOW is about community. It just makes sense that they go together.

As we move forward in this enterprise, please pray with us. If you have a story of how your local church, or a local church, is stepping up- let us know about it!

One more thing: this isn’t JUST about water! Jesus offers Living Water to those that ask Him to be their Forgiver and Leader, and as believers and His messengers, we get to offer that same Living Water to our world. Water is life- we can’t survive without it. So, in short, Be the NOW is about offering life.

You’re not the Past.
You’re not the Future.
You’re the NOW.

Ready? Set. Go!

I like blogs, so I checked it.

It made me want to be a better man. Seriously.

Not a better man in a half-ass kinda way. A better man in a I’m gonna kick-ass and take names kinda way.

I’m going to blockquote the entire post. BUT, please go read the post on Todd’s blog as well. There’s gold nuggets over there.

The BEST marriage post ever after the jump.

(this post is ‘Rated R’ for sexual content. If you’re a religious person, or uptight in general you won’t like this post. Don’t read it. If your marriage needs help, read on…)

[PICTURE OF ADVIL]

Been livin’ on the stuff.

Got one of those killer sinus infections. Just hit me out of nowhere this week. When I get this kind of sick I just pop advil cold and sinus and ignore it.

Almost not working this one’s so bad.

But…

It got me thinking.

See, it’s not just me who’s sick. A whole bunch of people we know are sick and what’s sick about them is their marriage.

Sick marriages.

All around us.

In fact, my wife is feeling downright spooked by it, so numerous are the broken and breaking marriages within our circle of friends.

The sickness has got me thinking, see, you can’t take advil for a sick marriage. People try, they attempt to medicate their unhappiness with all sorts of different ‘drugs’, but ultimately the kind of sickness that results in a broken or breaking marriage is the kind of sickness that can’t be mastered by a painkiller.

A broken or breaking marriage requires radical surgery.

And, ideally, you want to be doing preventative maintenance well before you fall ill. So, knowing this is a bit off topic for this here blog, I figured I’d hit you with some bullet points to consider that might help you keep your marriage healthy.

(My qualifications for dispensing such advice? 13 years married, very happily so. Parents 40 years married very happily so. Both sets of grandparents, happily married ’till their deaths on one side and 60+ years and counting on the other side. Brothers and sisters, happily married. Cousins, happily married. Wife, certified pre-marital counsellor)

Good enough?

Alright. The points…

(in no particular order)

-You have to screw (I use the other word in our face-to-face sessions but seeing as this is the internet, I’ll be polite) each others brains out. If you stop screwing (and I do mean screwing–enough of this ‘making love’ silliness, you need to HIT IT) each others brains out you’re headed for trouble. This is universally true. Every single broken up or breaking marriage I know of they’re down to once a month or something crazy like that. Our norm is three to four times a week and–for the record–we’re neither nymphomaniacs nor 19 year olds.

-If you start keeping score (“Well, I did it last week and you never do it…”) you’ve both lost. Period.

-Selflessness is a two way street. Unless you’re both laying your lives down for each other you’re in trouble. Selfishness is THE marriage killer. Practically this means you do what she wants (sacrificing what you want) and she does what you want (sacrificing what she wants) and you both get cared for. If you stop working this equation each and every single frickin’ day, you’re doomed.

(did I mention the ‘screwing each other’s brains out’ part?)

-You need to date, each other. Take her out. Dress up for him. Work at it.

-Red wine and a hot tub will do wonders for your sex life AND your social life.

-Sit beside each other, even if you’re working on different things.

-Stay sexy. Guys and Gals. If you ‘let yourself go’ you’re saying “I don’t care what you think…” which equals ‘contempt’ and contempt is another MAJOR marriage killer.

-Discover their ‘hot buttons’ and cater to them. Does he like a clean house? Clean the frickin’ house. Does she like to get things done? Get off your ass and get things done. All the time, every day of every week for the rest of your lives.

(did I mention the ‘screw each other’s brains out’ part?)

-Talk. All the time. Over breakfast, on the phone, at night, in bed. Have long conversations about nothing in particular. Listen to each other. Look into her eyes. She’s pretty, isn’t she? See? You were starting to forget.

-Dance. I don’t care if you grew up Pentecostal like me, you need to take her dancing. Girls love to dance. Dance with her.

-The second it crosses your mind to call her, do it. Act on your kind impulses and overcome your nasty ones.

-Watch your tongue. You never get an angry word back. The tongue is one of the most destructive weapons we have at our disposal. If you speak kindly to each other it’ll go a long way, trust me.

-Remember what my friend’s mom (holler at your boy “Seer”!) said in her speech at his wedding. “Your spouse is not your enemy.” Often you’re going to want to lash out, and since your spouse is the nearest available target you’re going to lash out at them. Don’t do it. They’re not your enemy, they’re supposed to be your best friend.

-Stop going to ‘guys night’ and ‘gals night’ except once in a while. If this is more than once a month it’s too much. Guys need to grow up and stop hanging out with their ‘buddies’ and go home and hang out with (and screw) their wives. If you’re a boy in a man’s body you need to stop it, grow up, get some courage, grow some balls, and love your wife. If you’re a girl who loves going to those stupid ‘chatty’ women’s groups where all they do is complain about their husbands, you need to stop it, go home, find your husband and take your clothes off.

-Shower together every morning. It’s good to have to ‘share’ the water, share the soap, pass each other the toothpaste, and see each other naked at the start of every single day. Did you notice how pretty her nipples are? See? You were beginning to forget weren’t you?

-Do whatever it takes to spend time together. You should always be saying ‘no’ to other social engagements because you need to get home to your wife ’cause you LOVE her. If you’re away from her more than you’re with her you’ve got BIG problems.

-Resist the urge to go to sleep at different times. You know why.

-If she doesn’t like your family, either fix it, or tell your family to stop being stupid. If you can’t and they won’t you leave them and cleave to her. If you can’t stand her family, fix it, or tell them to stop being stupid. If either of you picks your family over each other you’re doomed.

-If you’re a person of faith you need to express that faith together. If you go to church and he doesn’t you’ve got problems. If you’re a man, stop being stupid, and go to church with her. If you hate your church, find one that doesn’t suck where you can get involved and make a difference. Every good church loves getting ‘with it’ men involved. Trust me. The only kind of ‘good church’ is a church that preaches about Jesus from the Bible with authority. If your church doesn’t believe in the authority of scripture and doesn’t preach about Jesus it’s not a good church and it’s going to, ultimately, be of NO use to you. Only Jesus will do.

-You (dudes) work your ass off and you (gals) work your ass off and stop telling your spouse to get to work. Lead by example. Work your ass off.

-Shine. If you’re a dude, shave, work out, dress nice, make sure you smell nice. When a girl walks into a room she loves it when the other girls in the room notice her man. It makes her feel like she made a good ‘catch’. You men need to be men that other men would follow and other women use as an example of what they’d like to find.

-Shine. If you’re a gal, dress up, do your hair, shave your body, stay fit, do whatever it takes to keep your man physically interested in you. If you ‘let yourself go’ you’re in trouble. I know that’s not a popular thing to say but it’s the truth.

-Laziness will kill you, and your marriage.

Alright, I have to get back to work now.

Homework…

Go buy a bottle or red wine, go home and…

(you know the rest)

T

Did that just rock your face off?

If it didn’t, go back and read it again.

And if it still doesn’t move you, check your pulse, cause you’re probably dead.

My fav parts after the jump. (Spoiler alert.)

What’s your favorite part?

Mine? A toss up between the piano drop and the massive umbrella drop.

I haven’t researched this, but I’ve heard that this only took two takes. (That explains the paint on the guys at least.)

Any other Rube Goldberg machine’s that you like? Do share!

I designed the Western Oregon Adventures logo as well as creating a custom website for Dustin (pictured at left) and his partners.

If you’re looking for a great hunting experience, check out WOA!

I want to know more from a production standpoint. Was this a single take or multiple?
It flows very well and appears seamless. I’ll have to watch it a few more times to see if there are any glitches.

Your take?

Collide does more than just be relevant- the articles are authentic, because the people writing them are living it! If you haven’t checked out Collide yet- do it now. Well, maybe not now- but in a bit after you enter to win a one year subscription!

How to enter the hook-up opportunity after the jump!

Hook yourself up!
1. Click the green Twitter button at the top and RT this post.
2. Comment below on how being authentic is more important than being relevant and include a link to your Tweet.
3. Subscribe to this blog via RSS and then email me with “SendMeCOLLIDE” on the subject line.
4. Complete by Monday, February 15 @ Midnight (MTN).

Let’s do this!

This took place at the Newark airport during the lock down after the security breech there.

Recently I traveled to The Frigid North with my family, and nothing reminds me how much I love traveling like spending more time in airports than I’d like to. (Of course I being sarcastic here; I love traveling, but road trips are better.)

For those of you that don’t know who Josh Wilson is, check him out. And for a more in depth take on this amazing event, check out what Pete Wilson has to say.

And what about you? Got any traveling dislikes?
~NickShoe