MATTHEW JOHN BELL

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New blog / CGEN site Something Fruity: love / joy / peace Back to the Basics Updates Coming Fun with my iSight More insomnia I have serious problems! (or) I'm called to be a m... Encounter 11 30 05 / Recap I really got a kick out of this Encounter 11 16 05 / Recap

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Web This Blog

New blog / CGEN site
Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Hello all, We have created a new CGEN web site that will hopefully go live in the next few days. From now on I will be combining my blog with that site. You can visit http://destinychurch.cc/_cgen for all future updates.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 3/11/2008 09:55:00 AM, ,

Something Fruity: love / joy / peace
Thursday, October 11, 2007

Tonight we kicked off a new series titled Something Fruity. Over the next three weeks we'll be looking at the nine different aspects of the Fruit of the Spirit. In the first session we learned that the Fruity of the Spirit is one thing. There aren't nine different fruits to pick and choose from, depending on which we like best. If you look at Galatians 5:22-23 we see that the language used when talking about the Fruit is singular and not plural. All aspects of the Fruit should be visible in the life of someone who has an active relationship with Jesus. Tonight we covered love, joy, and peace. As we seen in 1 Corinthians 13, the very core of love is unselfishness, putting the needs of others before your own. And Romans 15:13 shows us the only way to have true joy & peace in the midst of troubled times is to trust in the Lord. + Message Notes

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/11/2007 01:32:00 AM, ,

Back to the Basics
Monday, September 24, 2007

Here are my message notes for our three part series titled Back to the Basics. In this series, we looked at three areas that should be prevalent in every believer's life. And just as there are three primary colors, there are three areas we have to get right in order to reach our full potential. + Message Notes Basic 1: Relationship with God Basic 2: Planted in God's House Basic 3: Outreach + Podcast links (The first week was not recorded) Basic 2: Planted in God's House Basic 3: Outreach

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 9/24/2007 09:50:00 PM, ,

Updates Coming

Hey world, This is just a quick post to let you know that more frequent and meaningful posts on youth ministry, my life, and some other randomness will be coming your way shortly. Just a little FYI ...

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 9/24/2007 09:41:00 PM, ,

Fun with my iSight
Friday, February 24, 2006

I was playing around on iChat tonight on my PowerBook + iSight and new iMac with built in iSight. Came up with some fun stuff. You can check out a few more at my flickr site. Good times.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 2/24/2006 02:03:00 AM, ,

More insomnia
Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Been up since two Don't know what to do I read the Bible And that was great But it's five 'till five And getting late So I thought I'd write a poem But don't like the way it's goin' So now I'm done

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 1/31/2006 05:59:00 AM, ,

I have serious problems! (or) I'm called to be a missionary in Japan.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005

There is really no other way to look at it. How else can you explain the fact that I've been laying in bed for two hours and am still wide awake. FYI: It's 6:45P in Japan right now. Feels about right. I have got to get my sleeping habits (if you want to call them that) under control. Right now, I just go and go until I can't keep my eyes open, then I just fall asleep wherever I am. If it's 3P or 3A, it really doesn't make much of a difference. So thats my #1 new years resolution, to get my internal sleep clock straightened out and keep it that way. It's getting close to 4A and I'm not even almost sleepy. I've got to be at prayer at 7:30A tomorrow morning. I want to be at prayer. I need to be at prayer. God I hope I can wake up! So I'm just laying in bed (Actually I sleep on the floor. Don't really like beds.), and I feel like I'm just wasting time. So I decided since it's been almost a full month since I've blogged I'd hit this up. I sincerely apologize for letting this blog run cold for so long. December has been a whirlwind of a month. I remember thinking about posting on the topic of how I wasn't ready for Christmas yet. About how I hadn't had proper time this year to get into the Christmas spirit. Well, too late for that. I remember wanting to do a post to recap The Red Airplanes concert we held on December 14. Seems too late for that too. It was awesome though! It seems too late for a lot of things. January is here. We only have 4 days of 2005 left to squeeze in all those things we said we were going to get done this year. I think I only have about 50 books of the Bible left. Let's see, I think thats about 12.5 / day. I don't think it's going to happen. 2005, where did you go? If I had to put a term to this year, it would have to be "Total Insanity". Maybe a better term would be "Chaos". The year started off pretty slow. At the time I didn't realize it, seemed to be going at a pretty good clip to me. Little did I realize how fast things would accelerate midway through the year! Even though a lot of times it feels like I'm just trying to keep my head above the water, I wouldn't change it. No way. 2005, where did you go? Honestly, the last six months are a complete blur. I'm sitting here tripping out over the fact that the year is gone. Another year, another entire year, totally gone. I don't feel like it's been wasted at all, I'm just amazed. At the rate things are going, I know I feel like I'm going to wake up tomorrow and be 50. Time is such a bizarre thing. One one hand it feels like I'm going through life at a million miles per hour, with the sands just slipping through my fingers, and and in the process I'm just trying to make a dent in this world for Jesus. But on the other hand, it seems as though certain areas of my life are just crawling along. I don't talk on here much about my relationships (or lack there of). In fact, I don't think I have ever touched the topic, but when you come to the close of a year, you start to think about all kinds of crazy things. For instance. Will this be the last time I have a Christmas or New Years a single man? WIll I have to be dealing with in-laws and their Christmas celebrations in 2006. I honestly don't think so, because I just don't see much of anything on the horizon in that area. But you never know. At the beginning of 2005, I had no clue that I would be where I am today. You never know. I mean, eventually I think I will probably get married. I mean, sooner or later it's bound to happen. So as each year passes by, the chances that this next year may be the year increase. It's just the way it is. (I'm probably going to look back on this post in about 5 years, still single, and think "Yeah right!") I'm so excited about 2006. I love new years. Not the day, but the new year. I just love it. Christmas if my favorite day and time of year, but I think there would be a lot less excitement for me if a new year wasn't around the corner. A new year. What an amazing thing. Everyone alive gets one. For me it's a new start. The opportunity to improve upon some of the things I wasn't so great at in 2005. A chance to start over fresh. I just love the idea. Maybe 2005 was your worst year ever. Good news, it's almost over! And 2006 doesn't have to be anything like 2005. 2006 is yours to do with whatever you please. Make it count for something bigger than yourself! So goodbye 2005. It's seems as though we hardly knew thee. You were good to me, but I'm not sad to see you go. 2006 ... bring it on!

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 12/28/2005 04:21:00 AM, ,

Encounter 11 30 05 / Recap
Friday, December 02, 2005

Wow, it's been an eternity since I've blogged. To all my millions of faithful readers out there, I humbly apologize. It's taken me some time to get back into the swing of things after my little illness which led right into the Thanksgiving holiday with no Encounter service. It seems like it's been forever since I've been productive! This week I was back into the swing of things. Destiny Insanity™ at it's finest :-D. Wednesday was just one of those days. You know, when you just feel ... off? Seemed like I just couldn't get ahead. I was behind all day, all the way up until we started service ... about five minutes late (a rarity). All went well once we got things going. Had a handful of brand new people. It's always a blast to get to see who shows up and then have the opportunity to meet them. Lots and lots of fun. A bunch of people have the flu. I guess it's going around. I had a bunch of people cover their mouth, cough, shake my hand, and then when I asked about how they were doing they would say "I feel horrible. I think I have the flu." Thanks to everyone who blessed me with that! ;-) I talked this week about the age old battle between Jesus Christ and Santa Clause.

I compared and contrasted the two using this list I found online (link). I added my own contribution to the list. It's the point I consider one of the biggest difference between the them ... Santa keeps a list of everything you've done wrong all year but Jesus completely forgets your sins as soon as you repent (Isaiah 43:25). How cool is that? Very cool indeed. I then made the point that a lot of us have a Santa Clause view of / relationship with Jesus. We think Jesus is just up there watching us, waiting for us to make a mistake (I used this funny little video clip to illustrate that). Or that we only go to God when we need something. Next week I'm going to be talking about Jesus' words. What they mean, and how we can live them out in our daily lives. Hoe you all have a wonderful weekend! Be safe. + Link to message notes + Link to message audio (.mp3 or podcast)

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 12/02/2005 05:58:00 PM, ,

I really got a kick out of this
Wednesday, November 23, 2005

I hope you do to.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 11/23/2005 01:35:00 PM, ,

Encounter 11 16 05 / Recap
Thursday, November 17, 2005

So tonight was great. It felt so good to be back at church. I had been gone for an entire week. Amazing how time flies. I just love all of our kids and being around them is the most fun ever. I love Wednesdays! On my health situation, I am feeling about 1,000% better, if thats even possible. Today was the first day I had no soreness in my throat at all and my neck is doing much, much better. Thanks to all who have been praying for me. I truly have been healed. So tonight we had about 8-10 first time guests to CGEN. Good stuff. A lot of kids who have been coming to CGEN for a while went out and got their friends for the first time. Our BRING drive is really paying off. I'm sure the free iPod has something to do with it too. The Café was a big hit tonight. Amanda Rodz is doing such a top notch job. It's great. Here are some pics of what the lounge area looks like after the re-model. It's funny. I have gotten so many compliments on how good it looks, and even offers from people for me to come decorate their homes! But the funniest part is that I've never done an ounce of decorating in my life. I was praying to God that when I bought all this furniture, rugs, chairs and all the stuff that it just didn't come out looking like garbage. Haha, whatever works I guess. Amanda and Cassaundra helped me out a bunch too, so I can't take all the credit. But it's just something that I find amusing. So in my message tonight I used my recent illness as an illustration and talked about How to be a "Stiff Necked" Christian. I used 1 Corinthians 15:58 as my main text (Steadfast / Unmovable = Stiff necked) . I brought 10 students on stage and spring the question on them "What do you believe?" Before we can be stiff necked, we need to know what we believe. If we don't, what are we going to be standing for? What are we going to be stiff necked about? I had a lot of fun with the students and their answers. I gave them 30 seconds to think and we played the "Think Music" from Jeopardy while they were coming up with their answers. Good times. Tonight is one of those nights I wish we had on video because, while the audio is great, it would just be that much greater seeing it live and in living color. We had a total of 86 in the house tonight. A fine group of students thats for sure. I hope to see all of you next week! + Link to message notes + Link to message audio (.mp3 or podcast)

Technorati Tags: CGEN Café, Encounter, iPod

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 11/17/2005 01:16:00 AM, ,

So I ended up in the hospital ...
Monday, November 14, 2005

I said I was going to go to the doctor tonight, and I did. I went to a med. clinic. Waited forever. The doctor takes one look at me and says I have meningitis and that I needed to go to straight to the ER for a spinal tap. So anyway, I spent the evening in the hospital, naked, waiting around mostly. I don't get why as soon as you get to a hospital the first thing they have you do is take all your clothes off. It's so wild. All they ended up doing was taking blood (which really hurts by the way!) and doing some tests on that. I definitely could have left my clothes on! Anyway, I'm home now, no spinal tap, my neck is still pretty sore. The doctor at the hospital said that I wasn't showing any of the other symptoms of meningitis, headaches or vomiting, that I need to go right back for some more tests. Basically I'm just going to watch my neck real close and if I have any other problems go back in for some more tests. Thanks again for all your prayers.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 11/14/2005 01:15:00 AM, ,

Pray for me
Sunday, November 13, 2005

I can't move my neck. I haven't been able to move my neck since Friday. Thursday it was really sore and stiff. But when I woke up Friday, it was worse, and if I move it just the slightest bit, I am in tons of pain. I'm going to the doctor in a little bit. I can't even drive. I went for 1/2 of the first service today, but thats about as much as I could stand being out of bed in the wild. So if you're wondering what I've been doing this weekend ... I have been laying in a bed with my iPod. Thats it. I don't know what I'm going to do come Wednesday if I'm not feeling significantly better. Pray for me and have a good week.

Technorati Tags: iPod, sick, neck

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 11/13/2005 05:50:00 PM, ,

Encounter 11 9 05 / Recap
Friday, November 11, 2005

Sorry for my scarcity of posts recently. I've just been out of the groove so to speak. Wednesday was great. We had a good group out, even though there was another event that pulled a good 30 or so of our core folks. This week we launched the new CGEN Café. We had a lot of people working behind the scenes on this to pull it off. Three people who worked extra hard and that deserve an extra pat on back are Amanda & Aaron Rodriguez and Cassaundra Fernandez. These folks really stepped it up a notch and got in there and got it done. If you missed it this last week, I encourage you to come and check it out this week. We open CGEN Café at 6:30. Just enough time for you to come get that frappuccino & cinnamon roll and say hello to all your friends before Encounter starts. We also re-decorated what I'm calling the "lounge". We spent a lot of time getting everything just right and top notch and I couldn't be happier with the results. I'll post some pics first thing next week. It's really looking cool in there. A great vibe. Another new thing I introduced this week is something we're calling "BRING drive + Free iPod". The person who brings the most guests between November 9 and December 14 will receive a free iPod nano of their choosing. We're really excited about this and can't wait to see who wins. The third new thing I introduced this week was our Christmas concert / bash that we're throwing on Thursday December 15. We're bringing in our good friends The Red Airplanes (web, myspace) to come and have some fun. We'll also have some other opening acts and we are presently in the works putting those together. We'll also be awarding the winner of the Bring Drive with his / her brand new iPod nano. Anyhoo, lots of new stuff going on at CGEN these days. I don't think I forgot anything. No message notes this time. Be safe and have a fun weekend.

+ Link to message audio (.mp3 or podcast)

Technorati Tags: CGEN Café, Encounter, iPod, The Red Airplanes

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 11/11/2005 11:15:00 PM, ,

I hate being sick + MUTE MATH pics

I've been sick all week. It started off Monday with a mild sore throat. Tuesday the sore throat had gotten noticeably worse. By Wednesday I couldn't swallow without intense pain. On top of that whatever this thing is had started to spread into my left ear. And it's only gotten worse Thursday and today. I haven't hardly eaten anything because every time I swallow it's like someone is sticking an ice pick in down my throat and into my left ear. I wanted to go to the doctor, but my mom left out of town and she had the insurance cards. Grr. On top of all of that I've got an incredible crick in my neck. I can't hardly move it without it telling me "No, don't do that." If I'm not feeling noticeably better tomorrow, I am going to seek professional help. Despite my failing body, I still managed to get out to the MUTE MATH concert in Austin on Tuesday night. It was a great show. They totally rocked the house and made all the other bands look like complete jokes! MUTE MATH is amazing and if you ever have the chance to see them live, do whatever you have to do, because it is worth it. As promised I've uploaded the pics from the show. Enjoy and stay healthy. + Link to gig pics

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 11/11/2005 10:41:00 PM, ,

I'm MUTE MATHin it tonight
Tuesday, November 08, 2005

So, I've decided to go ahead and go for it. Thats right. I'm heading up to Austin today round 4PM to catch the MUTE MATH show. My good buddy Michelle T. has hooked me up big time and gotten me on "the list", which means I get in free with maybe even a backstage pass! Who knows. I'll probably be posting some pictures later on tonight. I usually would be pretty excited, but the past few days I've had a really bad sore throat and today it's crept into my ears. So now I've got like this ear acheage going on. Hopefully some of it will clear up before the show. Another thing thats keeping me from getting really super totally excited is we're launching the new CGEN Café tomorrow night -- which is going to be totally rad by the way -- and I've got a bunch of furniture to put together and a foyer to decorate by tomorrow night. Aww well, we'll get it done. See you at MUTE MATH tonight and Encounter on Wednesday.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 11/08/2005 11:43:00 AM, ,

To MUTE MATH or not to MUTE MATH?
Saturday, November 05, 2005

I don't know. MUTE MATH is coming this Tuesday to Austin. I had previously thought I wasn't going to go, but now I find that 1/2 the youth group will be there. So now I feel like I have a reason to go, other than just for me seeing a good show. I don't know ... what do you think?

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 11/05/2005 01:20:00 AM, ,

Encounter 11 2 05 / Recap
Thursday, November 03, 2005

Man, last night was awesome. We had 93+ students in the house and we just had a total blast. GOD is really doing some awesome things. We had a lot more people out on time tonight. Go figure! Maybe it's the time change. Whatever it was, it was cool. After last week, I decided to just fast every Wednesday. It makes a difference. A real difference. A tangible difference. There is something that happens when you say "GOD, I can't do it on my own. I've got nothing and I'm relying on you 100%." He honors that. He shows up. Yesterday was kind of a crazy day. I had planned to focus on my message all day and just really invest time into that to make it top notch, but with a long staff meeting taking a chunk of the morning, constant interruptions during the afternoon, and other different things (not youth related) that had to be set up or torn down before the service ... I found myself at 3:30 with my day gone, a 5:00 sound check quickly approaching, and a message untouched. What to do ... I sit down to write out some thoughts. I've been working out the general direction I wanted to go for the past week or so, so it was just time to get it on paper. I hear ... "Go pray." What? Are you serious? I've got to get this message together. I'll pray later at 6:30 the scheduled prayer time. "Go pray." Okay, okay. I decided to walk around the building and pray a bit. As soon as I got out there I felt like, and this will sound totally nutty, I needed to do a prayer walk around the building seven times. I was like, "Seriously, I've got to get this together for tonight. This is going to take some time. I haven't eaten anything all day! I'm going to pass out. And on top of that everyone is going to think I'm totally nuts when they see me pacing outside around the building." So I finish the 1st lap and think to myself "why not?" So I had a great time of prayer walking around the building, binding, loosing, building hedges - all that great stuff. It took a good 45 minutes. And it was well worth it. I got back into my office about 4:15 and everything just fell together nicely. Printed up my message notes at 4:59 and hit practice at 5:00. Everything just fell into place superbly. And it's all GOD. Worship was amazing. We're totally getting into GOD's presence every time. Kids are entering in. You can actually hear them singing. How amazing is that? We had a great time of prayer ministry at the conclusion of worship (something I'm praying will continue to grow). Moved onto our guest routine. Accept that there is nothing routine about it. We had at least 11 first time guests to CGEN this week. On top of all the returning guests from the past few weeks. It's really starting to fill up in there. Praise GOD! It's all Him. We bring all of our guests up front, hit the music, and the rest of the kids come up, walk through the line and introduce themselves. I absolutely love this time of the service. Actually, I think this is my favorite time of the week. I love walking through the line and shaking these peoples hands, many for the first time. It's great. After guests, we had a new fellow, Corey, play an amazing drum solo during the offering. Really blew me away. Did a great job. This was his 2nd week to CGEN. For the message this week I continued the Raising the Bar series. This week's topic: Purity in Relationships part 2 / Hearts (get the podcast). I had ten or so girls volunteer and line up on stage and I went down the line "dating" each one of them. Giving each one a piece of my heart along the way. Of course we had a killer presentation going to just drive the point home. You can check out the slides from the presentation here (they're just not as cool without the transitions). So I had fun with the ladies on stage. I really took a lot longer than I had originally planned, but it went well. I finished up my message and gave an opportunity for salvation. At least four people made first time commitments for Christ. It possibly could have been more, but those are the ones who came and told me afterwards. Three of those four were first time guests. I'm so excited for them! Anyway, I could write about this all day, but I've got to get the bulletin done for Sunday. Have a great night and a safe weekend! + Link to message notes + Link to message audio (.mp3 or podcast) + Link to presentation slides

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 11/03/2005 04:39:00 PM, ,

Encounter 11 2 05 Podcast

The podcast is up for this week's Encounter message. The audio quality isn't so great. We had some technical difficulties. So I apologize for that. You can subscribe in iTunes by clicking this link. Subscription is free. Or you can just download the .mp3 here. Enjoy.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 11/03/2005 01:20:00 PM, ,

Encounter Podcast Update
Tuesday, November 01, 2005

The podcast has now been added to the iTunes directory. What does that mean? All you have to do to subscribe to the Encounter podcast is click this link. Or, if you're the kind of person who likes to do things manually, you can search for CGEN in the iTunes Music Store and then click the Subscribe icon when it finds the podcast. As of this writing, searching for CGEN only brings up our podcast.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 11/01/2005 05:58:00 PM, ,

Encounter Podcast
Monday, October 31, 2005

Okay, I think this is totally cool. Not because it's a recording of me speaking, but because I'm a computer nerd and I just think things like this are cool. I spent a good portion of Saturday afternoon figuring out this whole podcast phenomenon. I've known what podcasts are, and even have subscribed to a few good ones, but I didn't know how to publish my own. Well, Saturday I finally made myself sit down and learn something new. And I'm here to announce that CGEN now has a live podcast feed ... feeds.feedburner.com/cgenencounterpodcast What does this mean? Well if you use iTunes (free download), you never have to bother to go download the weekly Encounter message. It'll automatically download it for you and stick it on your iPod. I think thats so cool. Here's a little tutorial to get you started. 1. Launch iTunes. 2. Click the Advanced menu and navigate to Subscribe to Podcast... 3. Paste in the link I provided into the box. 4. You're done. It's that easy. Have fun.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/31/2005 03:44:00 PM, ,

Encounter 10 26 05 / Recap
Friday, October 28, 2005

Hola, Last night was great. We had a lot of people out, but still had a great group. Justin did a really great job leading worship. I think that was his first time leading worship at all. Pretty amazing stuff. The Photo Booth wasn't as big of a hit as I thought it would be. I guess I underestimated the girl's mortal fear of having their faces distorted a million different ways. I'll set it up again next week though. We'll see what we can do to incorporate it somehow into what's going down. I'll try and get some photos that were taken Wednesday up tomorrow sometime. I know I promised that this week we'd finish off of purity and move on to raising the bar in something else, but as I got more into preparing the message I realized that I needed two weeks to cover relationships. I broke it down into two categories. Week 1 (last night), was What We Do in Relationships. And I used our hands to represent that. Next week will be What We Give in Relationships and thats our hearts. I'm using lots of images of hands and hearts to illustrate what I'm talking about. So in addition to my message notes and audio, I've created a web gallery with the slides from the message that you can following along with, check out, or whatever. Alright folks. Thats it for me tonight. Have a great Friday and a save weekend. Oh, and Happy Birthday Heather! Total Attendance: 71 -- Last week we had a bunch of college students show up, some of which weren't back this week. So while our total attendance was down, we actually had more kids under 18 than the previous week. A good thing. + Link to message notes + Link to message audio + Link to presentation slides

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/28/2005 12:59:00 AM, ,

Tonight At Encounter
Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Hey everyone, hope you're all doing well. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up about tomorrow night. We're going to have a new face leading worship this week. While in no way is he new to CGEN, Justin Engler (from Abandon) hasn't -- as far as I can remember, which is pretty far -- ever led worship for us. So, this will be something new for him, and something new for us. New things all around. On top of that, I'm going to be finishing up the Sub-series on Purity with the Sub-sub topic of Relationships. If that sounds confusing ... don't worry, it is. Sorry. Our current multi-week series, as you might recall is "Raising the Bar" and the past few weeks has been raising your bar of Purity with a different focus each week. Sheesh. Next week we'll move off of Purity, I promise. Also, depending on how the day goes and if there's time, I'm gong to try my best to get some sort of Photo Booth setup going so we can all have tons of fun with that. If you recall that's the computer program that takes crazy pictures of your face. I'm excited about tomorrow night. It'll be new. It'll be fresh. We'll (hopefully) have some crazy fun with some insane pictures. But most important of all, we're going to have a great chance to meet with God. Hope to see you all.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/26/2005 03:00:00 AM, ,

Insanity: Round Two
Saturday, October 22, 2005

Well, they had the new iPods at the Apple store last night. You know, the one's with video. But they didn't have any out on display! And they wouldn't get them out for us either. They said we had to come back tomorrow. Sigh ... Well towards the end of work today Michael said he wanted to go back out there today to pick up some presents for my dad's birthday (today). I said, sweet ... we can check out the new iPods. Anyway, the new iPods are cool and worth checking out, but this post isn't about new iPods ... it's about the additional pictures we took on the new iMac. So check them out and just try and not laugh real hard ... + Link to more distorto pics

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/22/2005 01:02:00 AM, ,

Insanity at the Apple store
Friday, October 21, 2005

Once a week I get together w/ a couple of guys that God has really laid on my heart. It's like a small group, but really it's smaller than a small group. I call it my Nano Group. We always have a great time. Share a verse or two, have some prayer, but mostly just have a lot of fun and build relationships. Well tonight I picked my group up and went to Bill Miller's for some great food. After we ate we had our talk time there. When we were done the guys weren't ready to go home so we headed on over to La Cantera (its a new fun mall). Well of course we found our way into the new Apple store. How could we not? Lo and behold they had two new iMacs on display ... you know, the one's w/ the built in iSight video camera. Well, the new iMacs come w/ this cool little piece of software that only Apple could write (well really, it's so simple ... anyone could write it, but only Apple could would do it, and do it right). The software is called Photo Booth, and well, basically it's just like a Photo Booth you'd see at your amusement park or whatever. But imagine that you could have unlimited photos forever, and that you could get these crazy effects on there. Now you're getting the idea. We stood there for about thirty minutes just taking picture after picture. We were all laughing so hard. I've never ever laughed that hard in all my life. It hurt. Then, Michael showed up randomly w/ his Nano Group and then it just got nuts! Seriously, this was one of the most fun nights I've ever had. I'll remember it for the rest of my life. The coolest thing is that the Apple store employees love it when you have fun on the computers. I mean, we were making a big ruckus in there. They would come by every now and again to see the crazy photos. And people in the store were coming by too. It was a great time. So, if you're ever looking for something fun to do, I highly suggest you get a group of your friends together, head down to the nearest Apple store, find a new iMac and open Photo Booth. Hours upon hours of good wholesome fun. If they would of had one in stock I would probably be typing this on a brand new iMac G5. Oh well. By the way. We're setting something like this up in the youth room next week. We'll stick some of the best photos up on the projector and web. It'll be a blast! Oh, and you can check out some of the best photos that we took here. You gotta check them out!

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/21/2005 12:03:00 AM, ,

Nesty Hair
Thursday, October 20, 2005

So last night I talked about purity in our thought lives. One illustration I brought was something my grandpa John Bell used to say. Imagine birds are like thoughts for a second. He would say "A bird can fly over your head, but you don't have to let it build a nest." A lot of times we can't control what pops into our heads or what we may see flipping the channels or browsing the web, but what we can control is whether or not we dwell on those things. If we allow those thoughts to fester in our mind they'll build a nest and it will gradually start to effect your life. Thats why it's so important that our thought lives remain pure. In case you weren't there, here's the image I used to drive the point home. Yes that's me. And those have to be the smallest seagulls I've ever seen. Thanks Micah. (click for full size)

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/20/2005 12:03:00 PM, ,

Encounter 10 19 05 / Recap

Hey hey hey, Encounter was great tonight. I really had a blast. Things are definitely starting to click. I know it seems like I'm saying that every week, but each Wednesday that goes by has been better than the previous. And that's cool. And I'm excited. We had a great group of kids out tonight. A lot of new faces, and thats really what I'm so excited about. I feel like our core group of kids is really stepping it up and making an effort to go out during the week and BRING their friends back to Encounter. It's great. I'm not even sure how many first time guests we had tonight, but I would say it was at least 10. Continuing the Raising the Bar series, this weeks topic was purity in our thought lives. Something that even I need to be reminded of from time to time. Tonight was the 3rd week w/ me speaking from the stage rather than down on the floor and I'm definitely getting more comfortable with that. At first it was real weird, but now I think it's working better, especially since the place is really filling up. Here are my message notes from tonight. I've had the series topics laid out for about a month. So I've known for a while that tonight was going to be purity in your thought life. Today before I started really getting into nailing down my outline I started flipping through every little teenager's black book on sex and dating by Blaine Bartel. I found a section entitled 3 Ways To Guard Your Thought Life. I was like "dude". So three of my 4 points tonight were directly from this book. What a great resource. I highly recommend his little black book series to anyone in youth ministry. Also, something new we did this week was record the message! So if you want to hear it again, or weren't there this week, check it out. You can download it by clicking the link is at the bottom of this post. Just a little FYI for everyone ... We're going to be launching the new CGEN Café on November 9. Everyone thats working on this is really excited. We're going to have a lot of cool stuff. I don't want to give it all away just yet, but I'll be letting more out as it develops. So stay tuned on that ... One thing I'm hoping the new CGEN Café will do is get people there a bit earlier. When we started tonight we had about 15 kids there. I was starting to freak out a bit, wondering if anyone was coming this week. By the time we finished worship the place was almost packed out. I'm definitely going to be tweaking somethings out the next few weeks to try and solve this. Anyway, like I said, I had a really great time tonight. I really is an honor to be able to be doing this. I having the time of my life. I can't wait until next week. I hope to see you all again soon. It's going to be great. Total attendance: 85+ + Link to message notes + Link to message audio

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/20/2005 02:04:00 AM, ,

There's only one ...
Sunday, October 16, 2005

... Walker Texas Ranger. Okay, so I'm watching this Walker Texas Ranger movie (in HD non the less) on CBS tonight. It's like watching a train wreck. It's so horrific, but you can't look away. The acting is SO bad. I mean, it's indescribable. The action scenes are a mix of Texas Karate Judo Matrix style. It's insane. And I'm not even talking about Norris yet. This guy is off the charts. Seriously, off the charts. I'm sure this thing is going to be in reruns and if you ever have the chance to tun in ... DO!

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/16/2005 10:23:00 PM, ,

Vacation Video Clip
Friday, October 14, 2005

So I get asked a lot -- and I mean a lot -- what we do for two whole weeks in Kerville, TX on our annual Bell Family Holiday. And while I always try to explain it, I never seem to get the point across. I say things like, "You know, it's just a time to kick back and not really do anything. We're so busy though out the year. It's just a time for us to be us and invest in our family. Get a little closer, and have some fun." But no one really seems to get it 100%. So I came across this little video today from this past year. I think it communicates the idea of what a Bell Family Holiday is all about a lot better than I could ever do verbally. So, consider yourself informed.

Clip Link

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/14/2005 01:00:00 AM, ,

Encounter 10 12 05 / Recap

Hey folks, Last night was great. I really enjoyed it. The Presence was defiantly in the place. It was a fasting day which gives me extra time because I don't have to eat lunch -- although staff meeting went pretty long planning for the 23rd, so that pretty much canceled that out. But it's all good. The CGEN staff is getting used to being where they need to be on time. We're getting into a good routine -- me included. I'm getting a better idea of where I need to be preparedness wise throughout a Wednesday. A lot less running around trying to cram things in. It's feelin' good. SIDENOTE: While the youth ministry is going along real well, I'm focusing on it a lot. And I feel my other three areas of responsibility (publishing, IT, and live sound / projection) are slacking a bit. I'm having a real hard time focusing on everything. I'm forgetting things like crazy, even though I'm trying to do a better job of taking notes in meetings, keeping up w/ my calendar, and do reminders and stuff like that. So I really don't know what to do right now, but we'll get it figured out. So yeah, tonight was great. Here are my notes from my message. I'm getting a bit more comfortable with that as well. All in all, I think everything CGEN related is really looking up. We're working on a lot of great things behind the scenes right now that you're not going to want to miss. I'll be making some announcements about that stuff here in the not so distant future. It's going to be great. See you guys next week! Students in attendance: 43 College age in attendance: 22 Parents in attendance: 2 Total attendance: 67 + Link to message notes

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/14/2005 12:44:00 AM, ,

and here is another
Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Seriously, you gotta check these out ... Pure insanity

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/11/2005 05:55:00 PM, ,

Fun Video

Hey kiddos ... Ryan sent this my way today. I thought I'd share it with everyone. You really gotta check this one out ... Click for some bball insanity

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/11/2005 05:42:00 PM, ,

Bill Gates Goes to College
Friday, October 07, 2005

So I came across this little gem of a movie today. The quality isn't that great, and it's a little hard to hear, but Napoleon fans & Microsoft haters should defiantly check this one out.

+ Movie Link

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/07/2005 09:33:00 AM, ,

Dude, it's like 50º outside!!!!!

I'm flipping out. It's been sooooo hot outside lately. I think we were still in the 100's last week. I was starting to really get upset. I mean, this is OCTOBER!! So anyway, I'm really excited. I love cool weather. The cool weather always brings with it the best things. Monday Night Football, taking drives for no reason w/ your windows down, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and great times w/ the family. I don't know. Something just comes alive inside me when it's cooler outside. I was ready to get out the Christmas tree last night. Now if I just had a window in here to open ...

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/07/2005 09:12:00 AM, ,

Encounter 10 5 05 / Recap
Thursday, October 06, 2005

So we had a really good turn out tonight. I've been meaning to assign someone to take a head count so we can keep track of such things, but I keep forgetting. Next week though. This week we had at least 8 new people who have never been to a CGEN event. You guys really took up the V.21 Challenge to BRING a friend. That's awesome! I'm really excited about what's going on in CGEN. One of the things I've been working real hard on is the atmosphere at Encounter. I think it's really starting to pay off. My prayer is that when you walk in on a Wednesday evening, you'll be able to just feel the love of God all over. I think we're getting there. I want to give props to the leadership team. They're playing a HUGE role in making that a reality. You guys are awesome! This week I started the Raising The Bar series. The first topic in the series is Purity. We'll be spending a few weeks on Purity. I didn't do a great job of time management speaking this week and only had time to hit the 1st point under Purity, Purity in our Motives (Hearts). Doing a recap of the previous weeks message is really eating into the time. However, I feel that repetition is so important if anything is going to really sink in. I think I just really need to work on time management in the future. Afterwards the atmosphere was real cool. Lot's of people hanging out having a good time. That's what it's really all about for me. Having a place where young people can come, hang out, have a good time, and leave knowing they're loved. And not too far off we're going to re-launch the CGEN café. We're working really hard behind the scenes to make this a top notch production. You won't want to miss it. And trust me when I say this ... it's gonna be HUGE.

+ Link to message notes

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/06/2005 02:04:00 AM, ,

New series at Encounter: Raising the Bar
Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Just a little FYI: I'm starting a new series on Wednesday nights titled Raising the Bar. The theme of the series can pretty much be summed up by the statement "Being the best you can be. Doing the best you can do." Let's be honest, we all have areas in our lives where we're coming up short. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of who we are and who we're called to be. The bottom line is that God didn't send His Son to die on the cross, shed His blood and deliver us from a lifestyle of sin and bondage, so that we could be 2nd rate people who don't give Him our all. Now is the time to step it up. It's time to raise the bar! This week's topic: Purity. I hope to see you there ...

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/04/2005 11:42:00 PM, ,

HUGE zit

So, for some reason my face decided to all fifteen years old. I've been getting this huge pimple all week. I can feel it coming in, but it's taking forever. I'm starting to think it's going to be one of those that never really develop all the way, but just get red and big ones. So we'll just have to see. Just thought I'd share that w/ everyone. Peace.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/04/2005 11:07:00 PM, ,

Bizaro
Saturday, October 01, 2005

So I'm house sitting for my grandmother while she's out of town at her 50th HS reunion. She's been gone almost 2 weeks and comes back Monday night. Well, she's got this cat that has to be let out at 5:30 a.m. No big deal, you just let it out and go back to bed. Well, today I wake up and I was having a hard time breathing. I didn't think much of it. I let the animals out and go home to get a shower, get dressed and go to work. Well after I got home it just kept getting worse and worse until I finally just had to lay down. I tried to go back to sleep, but had a real hard time with that. Which is totally weird. I eventually fell asleep. I woke up about 3 hrs later. I was still a little wheezy and short of breath all day. I guess it was an allergic reaction to the cat or an asthma attack or something. Who knows.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 10/01/2005 02:21:00 AM, ,

Abbreviated Encounter Recap.
Friday, September 30, 2005

Seriously. I can't believe I just lost that post ... oh well. That's life I guess. Maybe I'll try and recreate it tomorrow. But as was stated in that lost post, I don't have much time as it is right now. It's hard enough to find time to blog. Much less so when your posts disappear right before your eyes! Anyway. If you want a recap on this Wednesday here it is extremely condensed. Everything is going great. Everyone is doing a top notch job. From the greeting team to the tech crew. Everyone is getting in and pulling their weight. I'm excited about that. I don't feel like I'm pulling teeth with my volunteers. How refreshing!! I continued with Speak Out again this week. I was going to move onto Raising the Bar, but I Monday I found an acrostic in Ten Rules of Youth Ministry and Why Oneighty Breaks Them All by Blaine Bartel. I felt it fit in real well with what I talked about last week and where I'm wanting to take the group. So I decided to go w/ that. I challenged the kids to BRING one friend to Encounter (more on that name later, it was in the previous post) next week. The acrostic goes like this: Begin to pray for them. Remember to plan. Invite them to come. Never give up. Get their commitment. Good stuff. I think it went real well. I'm anticipating growth in the group. It's gonna be good folks. It's gonna be good.

+ Link to message notes

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 9/30/2005 01:44:00 AM, ,

Abreviated Encounter Recap.

Seriously. I can't believe I just lost that post ... oh well. That's life I guess. Maybe I'll try and recreate it tomorrow. But as was stated in that lost post, I don't have much time as it is right now. It's hard enough to find time to blog. Much less so when your posts disappear right before your eyes! Anyway. If you want a recap on this Wednesday here it is extremely condensed. Everything is going great. Everyone is doing a top notch job. From the greeting team to the tech crew. Everyone is getting in and pulling their weight. I'm excited about that. I don't feel like I'm pulling teeth with my volunteers. How refreshing!! I continued with Speak Out again this week. I was going to move onto Raising the Bar, but I Monday I found an acrostic in Ten Rules of Youth Ministry and Why Oneighty Breaks Them All by Blaine Bartel. I felt it fit in real well with what I talked about last week and where I'm wanting to take the group. So I decided to go w/ that. I challenged the kids to BRING one friend to Encounter (more on that name later, it was in the previous post) next week. The acrostic goes like this:
Begin to pray for them.
Remember to plan.
Invite them to come.
Never give up.
Get their commitment.
Good stuff. I think it went real well. I'm anticipating growth in the group. It's gonna be good folks. It's gonna be good.

+ Link to message notes

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 9/30/2005 12:44:00 AM, ,

Okay, I'm never using this program again!

I've been using ecto to write and publish my blog lately. But for some reason the program just crashed in the middle of the post I had been writing for the past hour! I'm pizzed to say the least. Oh, I'm so tired. I can't re-write it. Man, I really liked this program!!!!!!! adios ecto ... you're now in the trash. Rescue Is Coming (B Walk Down Stairs) from the album "A Collision" by David Crowder Band

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 9/30/2005 12:29:00 AM, ,

Quiet Time Tips
Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Hey folks, if you're venturing in here for the 1st time because of tonight's blurb, I just want to extend a big "Welcome to my blog" your way. I hope to keep this little space updated and relevant to not only what's going on my world, but also to use it as a bit of an extension of what's going on Wednesdays at CGEN. So I told you guys that I would have some quiet time tips, and here they are.

1. Pick a time that works for you. I recommend the mornings. You know, start the day off right. Chances are if you try to do it before bed, it won't happen. Another time that may work for you is just before you start your home.
2. Find a quiet place. Seems obvious, but it's a must. Find a place free from cell phone, computer, tv ... even music. Get rid of anything that could distract you from hearing God's voice.
3. Think about what you're reading. Don't let yourself check out when you're reading the Bible. Keep your mind engaged. Underline and highlight.
4. Talk to God. Also, take a few minutes and to let Him talk to you.
5. Keep a journal. Jot down things that really speak to you. You'll be glad you did.

Okay people. That should be enough to at least get you started. If you have more ideas, you can post what's working for you in the comments section ... Peace. Happy Is A Yuppie Word from the album "Nothing Is Sound" by Switchfoot + Link to message notes

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 9/21/2005 10:51:00 PM, ,

So it's official ... again.
Thursday, September 15, 2005

Wow, what an amazing youth service we had tonight. It was to be the last service w/ the Velas being 100% the youth pastors. They presented me to the group tonight and it should be down hill here from here. The transition should be complete by October 1. So for those of you keeping score at home, thats two presentations down and one this Sunday to go. I'm so excited ... This whole Youth Pastor deal is so out of the blue. it really amazes me how God's plan all comes together. It is so wild. Anyhoo, Worship tonight was amazing ... absolutely amazing. Things had kind of gotten a bit off in that area for several reasons (I won't bore you with them here). So I talked to the team and asked Aaron to lead the next few services with just him and an acoustic guitar. Kind of going for a more intimate setting and not so ROCK N ROLL!!! The atmosphere in the place was amazing from the get go. The whole leadership team had been fasting all day. SIDENOTE: While we were on our annual Bell Family Holiday, the leadership decided to fast the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. I'll be honest, I wasn't too jazzed about the whole idea when I heard it, but I was wrong. I believe fasting is paying off HUGE. Now I'm the biggest fan of this whole fasting gig. It really is making a difference. We started off w/ about 30 min of power packed prayer for the youth and then a good 20 min of just greetin and hangin out. Aaron did a superb job of leading in worship. Really top notch. I'm so grateful that he went along w/ the idea to lay the band thing down for a season. He easily could have made a fuss. But there was none of that. After about a good fifteen minutes of worship, Rick really kicked it into high gear. This resulted in a 90% response to the altar, and about 100% of those respondents making commitments to either full time ministry or missions work. WOW ... so huge. During this time I was able to have some one-on-one time with someone God has really laid on my heart. Deep stuff. Amazing times. Seriously, I think this was the best CGEN youth service in a long long time. I'm praying that the commitments made tonight will last a lifetime.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 9/15/2005 12:06:00 AM, ,

So it's official ...
Monday, September 12, 2005

Tonight was the kick off of the new Destiny Church. The "ignition" if you will. And this brings with it a lot of changes in DC land. A lot of new philosophy about how we do things. Why we do things. How we do things. A lot of new vision about the future and what not. I'm excited. Another big change that I'm just super excited about, is my new role as ... dare I even say it ... Youth Pastor. I'm still having to get used to the whole idea. It's pretty nutty when I think about it, but I know its the right direction for my life, for CGEN, and Destiny. I really believe this. God is doing some really awesome new things in DC land. I just feel so privileged (and extremely humbled) to be thrown right in to the mix. When I think of all the great Godly examples around me that I can follow, and learn from I know I am amazingly blessed. I count it an honor to be able to work along side people like Doug Pitman, Rick Vela, Joe Rhors, and Terry Sisneros. It's totally going to be a blast ...

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 9/12/2005 12:39:00 AM, ,

Back on track ...
Saturday, September 10, 2005

... I hope anyway. I really want to start posting more regularly. It's something that I'm really going to start making an effort to do. I know all you avid readers out there are just dying for some new content. Hopefully I won't disappoint ...

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 9/10/2005 01:41:00 AM, ,

Hi Jennifer
Monday, May 30, 2005

I think you're pretty :)

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 5/30/2005 05:32:00 PM, ,

The week in review
Thursday, February 10, 2005

Okay, I know I haven't really posted in forever ... and for those of you who are waiting (crickets ... [no one]) this will tide you over hopefully. Here are some things I've seen the past week. Tonight I went to see Manhattan Red. They had their stuff down and I enjoyed it. RockerRube ... I love watching him play the bass. Good job chap. Want to know why I hate Windows ... Because I see crap like this after I spend a Saturday at school working on my 3D modeling project all day! Also, this week was apparently the week of the fro. Check out these people I was fortunate enough to get a peek ( and pic :-D ) of this week. I loved this guy so much I had to post two pics of his. And finally I came across this little nugget sometime during the past week. I love the internet, where else can you get so much enjoyment from watching someone else who you don't even know be humiliated over and over??

goodnight

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 2/10/2005 01:46:00 AM, ,

A new post!
Saturday, February 05, 2005

Yea. It's another beautiful Saturday morning ... and I'm in class. Break is over. Back to work.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 2/05/2005 10:28:00 AM, ,

A thought
Tuesday, January 25, 2005

The past is altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 1/25/2005 09:40:00 PM, ,

Insane week
Friday, January 21, 2005

This past week was Missions Conference 05, which means that we pretty much don't sleep starting Thursday of the following weekend. Almost every night we had someone over until after 1am, sometimes later and we would have to be back at church the following day before 9am. Add going to school, #2 having a car wreck, and my grandfather passing away to the mix and you'll understand why it was a little extra crazy this year. I just got back from the viewing. It's such a surreal experience. It's like I wasn't really there. I dunno, its just weird. Grandpa looked really good, they did a good job on him. I have the honor of being of of the pall bearers tomorrow for the funeral and also praying The Lord's Prayer at the close of the service. I loved Gpa so much, its hard to believe he's gone. He went into the hospital Sunday morning, but I didn't really think it was anything too serious. I was so busy w/ missions conf stuff that I didn't make the time to go visit him. This I regret. He wasn't related to me by blood. He and my Gma married when I was about a year old. So I never knew any different, not until I was like 13. That show's how much he loved my brothers and I, as if we were his own. Really, we were. He was a great man.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 1/21/2005 06:46:00 PM, ,

Quote of the month
Friday, January 14, 2005

I was going to say "quote of the night" but then I realized I would never update this thing every night. Anyway ... onto the quote >> But then I have it wrong ... I have it wrong and I've been wrong before, so thats not to say I'm wrong now, and I obviously am.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 1/14/2005 01:03:00 AM, ,

Cut my hair today
Monday, January 03, 2005

Yup, I cut my hair today. It had gotten pretty long and was really starting to drive me nuts. It's pretty short now. New years eve was pretty sweet. We went to IBC and stood on the top of their main building. IBC is located on one of the highest points in the city and so you could really see everyone going nuts w/ all their fireworks. We were really shocked because you're not supposed to shoot them off in the city limits. Really ... it was the most awesome show ever. I'm really excited about '05. I know it's going to be the best year ever. I'm actually going to read my Bible through this year! You should do the same.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 1/03/2005 11:06:00 PM, ,

Long day today
Friday, December 31, 2004

Long day today. I'm in a reflective mood. Not much could bother me right now (other than my brother starting to shoot baskets in the other room). Cue the baskets ... I started today off by waking up at 5am to be at prayer by six. I don't know what it is about EMP, but if someone needs a ride from me or I have to open up, I can't sleep. I wake up all night, it's weird. After prayer, #3 and I went to Taco Cabanna where this employee thought he needed to talk to us about something. We're still not quite sure what he was talking about. All I did was ask him for some cilantro and then he had this big long story. None of it made much sense. Something about 2 guys 2 trucks, he lives in Kerville and he said "what is this world coming to?" about five times. I didn't have an answer for him. All I asked for was some cilantro, but I enjoyed the conversation much better. #3 came w/ me to work today. People always ask what I work on. Well if you want to know you can take a look at http://destinychurch.cc/new03. That's what I'm working on at the moment. #3 and I went to lunch around 2.30 and ended up at chick-fil-a. I like that restaurant, they have some sweet sweet tea and the foods not 1/2 bad either. While we were there I hear this strange lady talking over my shoulder from the booth over my left shoulder. She says something like this in a real loud old lady voice "You know what the trouble is about being sixty and being in love w/ Rock and Roll? If I would have known I was going to live to be sixty I would have taken care of this body a lot better. I could strangle Bob Dylan right about now, even with my arthritis. And boy it sure does hurt on a rainy day like today. This comment has been brought to you by Pepsi" I thought she was on the phone or whatever so I looked at #3 and started laughing. Little did I know she wasn't on the phone but was talking to us. She probably wasn't too happy about me laughing at her. Oh well ... that was nuts. I got to take dad to get his car from the shop. I'm out of school right now and don't get to drive my car much, so that was a fun trip. After that it was studio session with our favorite band Abandon. This one dude I hadn't seen or talked to in a long time showed up w/ his new cd for me to check out in the middle of what we were doing. He dropped it off and it was good to see him. His cd actually sound really good, much better than I thought it would. I've heard my fair share of small studio projects, but I was pleasantly surprised. Here's a shot of where I was tonight.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 12/31/2004 01:50:00 AM, ,

untitled
Thursday, December 30, 2004

I got on the computer about 30 min ago to post, but forgot to. I started browsing other web sites. After I got off I remembered why I got on in the 1st place. So I'm laying in bed posting this from my PowerBook :-D. I'm not feeling so great. I think its allergies, but I don't want to get a shot. My mom's given me some steroid nose spray or something. We'll see how that goes. For the purpose of this blog I'm going to refrain from mentioning anyone's names. I think that would be best as some people would probably prefer not being talked about. Tonight I heard something I needed to hear and that was good. Someone else told me tonight "I wish I could spend a day in your head. Just to see how smart you are." I thought that was nice, but I told them they would be disappointed b/c I'm not all that smart. Also, I have a feeling thats not the reason they wanted to anyway. Tonight I told myself "you just gotta let it go" several times when I realized that I tell myself that often. Then I wondered if thats normal. Then I thought maybe thats why other people get mad about stuff and get bitter or w/e. Then thought maybe I shouldn't even have to tell myself to let it go. I think thats where I want to be where nothing can bother me. But ... I think that as long as I care about things I'm going to have a hard time getting there. I have to be at work to open up at 6.00am tomorrow. I hope I make it.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 12/30/2004 01:34:00 AM, ,

SUPERmatt dc
Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Hey, if anyone out there works for AOL or knows someone who does, maybe you could help me out. Last semester while in school I was logged into AIM (SUPERmatt dc) and kept receiving strange messages that said that someone had just signed on at another location. Fearing someone had gained access to another computer that had my stored password, I changed the password there at school, but by the time I had made it home had seemed to forget it. This really stunk. I've gone through AOL's provided password retrieval service, but they email your password to the email account you used to register your screen name. Seeing as how that was about 10 years ago, I have no idea what email address I was using then. In the meantime I've created SUPERmatt pb, but I'd really like my old screen name back. So, if you got the hookups help a brother out.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 12/28/2004 09:12:00 PM, ,

Ok ok

So there isn't anything really here right now. I'm going to try and update this w/ stuff at least once a week, even thought no one will ever ever read it.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 12/28/2004 01:57:00 AM, ,

What video game character are you?

I am a Light Cycle. I drive fast, I turn fast, I do everything fast. I even breakfast. I tend to confuse people with my sudden changes of heart. Sometimes I even confuse myself, which tends to cause problems. What Video Game Character Are You? Take the quiz and post a comment letting me know ... do it.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 12/28/2004 01:22:00 AM, ,

Hello World
Sunday, December 05, 2004

Hey, just checking this out. My cat is too. I don't really know what to do w/ this space. Aww well ... I'll figure something out.

posted by MATTHEW JOHN BELL @ 12/05/2004 01:36:00 AM, ,

© 2006 MATTHEW JOHN BELL