Almost the Final, Survivor Challenge Update

Even though last night marked the end of our Survivor Challenge, I am still waiting for the scores from all of the teams. 

Last night was a wet and enjoyable night!  Thank you Benji for pouring a whole coffee can of water down my poncho!  I really appreciate. 

After a wonderful meal prepared by Bill Lamachia (Chicken Parmesan) we welcomed several new guests, mostly coming from Putnam County.  Although I graduated from Nitro High School, I still have nothing but love for those of you representing the Dots and Generals. 

After worship and the lesson stemming from 1 Timothy 4.12 on “Breaking the rope that hold’s us down” (more on this later) we had an excellent challenge in the Water Cup Relay.  The object of the challenge was for all of the teams to line up in a single file line behind an empty coffee and three plastic cups with holes punched in them.  At the other end of the field, nearly 20 yards away, was a cooler full of water.  The first person in line for each team had to grab one plastic cup, race to the cooler full of water, fill-up their cup, run with it over their head, and pour whatever water was left inot the coffee can.  Whoever had the most water in the coffee can after 15 minutes was the winner.   

Last nights winner was team Azul, with all the other teams tying for second. 

After the final scores are tabulated, it looks as if the Flaming Flamingos and Independents will be battling for the top nod and a team party. 

Then, one individual winner will be selected to win a $100 gift certificate.  The individual winner does not have to be a part of the winning team but they had to earn the most points throughout the past 6 weeks. 

The final results will be posted sometime towards the end of this week or the beginning of next. 

So I encourage you to check back later. 

Are we not allowing our kids to grow up?

Back in January of this year I posted a blog titled, “Are our kids growing up to fast?”    In a general gist, I dealt with the issue of allowing our children certain priviledges without them having an adequate maturity level to handle them.  For example, purchasing them a car and allowing them to drive or allowing them to spend a lot of unsupervised time with a member of the opposite sex in a dating relationship.   

Over the past several weeks I have been considering a similar topic with a twist, “Are we not allowing our kids grow up?”  At first glance this question may seem as if it is posed only to parent(s) and guardian(s).  However, this question is much deeper than that and has many more implications than just for the family.  The answer to this question concerns teachers, church leaders, youth workers, public and private schools, YMCAs, Boys and Girls Clubs, and churches to just name a few. 

What do you think?  Are we not allowing our kids to grow up?  Are we creating an environment that encourages their maturation, independence, and productivity or are we creating an environment that futher extends their childhood years of dependency, leisure, and laziness to the point that many believe they will earn a living as a professional Middle School student?

                                                                      

Some argue, such as Robert Esptein in his book titled, The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen said that…

Survivor Challenge Update

For those of you keeping up to date on the scores, here they are after 4 weeks:

Flaming Flamingos with 208

Independents with 157.5 (missing week 3 scores)

Larouch (formerly the Indecisives) with 136

Azul with 131 (missing week 3 scores)

So it looks like the Flaming Flamingos have take a strong lead; however, we are still waiting to get the scores from week three from team Independents and team Azul. 

For the other two teams that have fallen behind, no need to worry, a strong week or two with a lot of guests would put you right in the thick of things. 

Thanks for all of those that have been participating.  I hope this has been a fun and challenging month.  We may run with it for a couple of more weeks. 

For our challenge this upcoming week Justin Lamachia has something up his sleeve (major kudos to Justin for brainstorming the Strobe Light Dodgeball game). 

Lord willing see you all Sunday or Wednesday.

 

Survivor Challenge Photos

Here are some photos taken from our Survivor Challenge two weeks ago.  For those of you seeing these for the first time, the four different teams are represented by four different colors.  Also, two weeks ago we played a game of Strobe Light Dodgeball that had some barriers set-up in the middle of the room. 

I hope that you enjoy the pictures. 

Survivor Challenge Update

Greetings all!

At the moment I have only 2 score totals turned in.  With that being said, the Flaming Flamingos had 75 points from last week, while the Indecisive came in at 27 points. 

We are still waiting to hear from team Azul and INDEPENDENTS. 

This week our challenge will be a game of Ultimate Frisbee.  We will have 2 games going on simultaneously and the winner of those games will play each other while the lose of the first 2 games will play each other. 

Wish you all the best and may the LORD further empower and encourage you as you serve as His shinning light in a world of darkness.  Don’t be afraid to take big steps by the grace of God in connecting with your friends and acquaintances for the purpose of connecting with God through Jesus Christ!

Lord willing see you Wednesday evening.

Survivor Challenge Update

Last week we marched forward in our Survivor Series as we addressed “Outshine” from Philippians 2.12-13 and discussed the importance of taking personal responsibility in working out our salvation by dependinig upon the power of God at work within us to do so. 

Afterwards, we played an exciting game of Strobelight Dodgeball.  Major kudos to Jeremiah, Christian, Justin, and Ethan for setting everything up.  If I forgot anyone, please forgive me. 

For those of you that have been participating in the Survivor Challenge, here is an update on the point standings of each team.

Last week, the Independents came in first with a total of 60 points. 

In second place the Flaming Flamingos came out strong with 55 points.

Tied for fourth place is team Azul and The Indecisives with 41. 

Here are the cumulative team leaders after two weeks of competition:

Independents with 91.5

Azul with 81

Flaming Flamingos with 77

Indecisives with 57 

What I am most encouraged about is that we had 4 first time visitors last week and 7 overall.  Way to go gang!  May we see many more not only visit, but many come to Jesus Christ during this time and commit their lives to Him, His body, and to serving Him. 

For those of you that are participating, how are you enjoying the teams and challenges?  Is there anything in particular that you would like to see? 

Tomorrow night’s challenge will have some physically challenging elements, but will require team work and some mental exertion.  Be prepared to think it through to victory!

Lord willing see you tomorrow night.

Principles on How to Teach our Children from Deuteronomy 6.4-9

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to teach on Multigenerational Faithfulness.  During this time we looked at the role of the family, and in particular the fathers, in teaching and passing on the faith to their children.  We discovered through Deuteronomy 6 and just a few other passages, that the family is to bear the primary role and responsibility of passing on the faith to their children.  Therefore, the church, the government (i.e. public schools), and/or private schools, are to serve as secondary means and not primary.  This means that these different organizations are to serve as support mechanisms for the family.  For example, if the church provides a Sunday School for children and youth, the parents are to ensure that their children and youth are doing the required work, not the church staff.  Moreover, if students are dropping out of school at break neck speeds, which they are dropping below 59% in 17 of the largest 50 cities (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,344190,00.html), it is their parents and/or legal guardians responsibility to ensure that their child is doing their assigned work, attending classes, and fulfilling other obligations and not the governments.  That’s another story for another day.

Moving on, this past Sunday I told the congregation that I would provide the remainder of my notes for the message via my blog.  The following two items will address what it means to “teach” and what we are supposed to teach our children.

building up others instead of ourselves

At some point in time I wrote about building each other up while gathering together.  What I was trying to get across at that point in time was the simple truth that when we gather together for the worship of God, say a Wednesday evening or Sunday morning, that we must look beyond our needs and interests to others.  That we must move beyond American consumerism and how things benefit me to how we can serve someone else.

This morning, as my family and I were reading through our passage in 1 Corinthians 10-11, I was reminded of this truth once again.  In fact, we read in chapter 10.23-24, and 31 that “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable.  All things are lawful, but not all things build up.  Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor…Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 

What Paul is trying to say that all things are lawful for us to do, but not all things that we do are actually profitable for us to do or build us up or others.  Not only is this the case, he reminds the people who received his letter to not seek out after their own needs, their own interests, or their own desires, but to seek out the good of your neighbor.  Who is your neighbor?  In a Biblical sense, our neighbors are everybody.  Finally, everything that we do must not be done for our own honor and self, but for the glory of God. 

Ask yourselves these questions: “Am I more concerned about my own good or the good of my neighbor?,” “Am I more concerned about myself and honor rather than God and His glory?,” “Are my actions profitable and do they build up others or is what I do more about me, myself, and I?” 

Remember, I am not promoting Nike and saying, “Just Do It.”  We must always keep in front of us the grace of God that empowers us to live the life that He has called us to live.  We cannot have the Christian community that God desires for us to have apart from what He has done for us in Christ Jesus. 

weekly update

Recently we have had the privilege of having Pastor Keith Cobb speak at our Wednesday evening gatherings.  Personally, I have enjoyed listening to him talk about loving and fearing God.  I’m looking forward to what he will bring next week!

Since Pastor has come out to speak, we have gotten away from our usual routine, but that is O.K.  For those of you that look forward to the small group time, we will be moving back to them in a couple of weeks. 

Last week we had the opportunity of using our new nerf finger blasters that we purchased through www.recfx.com.  It seems as if they went over well with the group and I spoke with a couple of people that enjoyed using them.  If you are reading this, did you like the finger blasters? 

This week we took advantage of the weather outside and played some kickball.  After I kicked the ball, I ran around the bases without my shoes on, but what took the cake as the most memorable moment was Michael Perrow’s expertise base running.  After kicking the ball, Michael ran towards third base instead of first.  Whoops! 

Outside of the miscellaneous activity that has been taking place, I had the opportunity to meet some new people and hang-out at McDonald’s.  In the future I look forward to spending more time outside of the church building making new friends, following-up with old one’s, and seeing many come to Jesus Christ.     

Remember, this coming Wednesday will be our last time gathering together for March.  Since public schools are going on Spring Break so are we for the 26th of March. 

Also, get ready for our new series “Survivor,” which kick’s off on the 2nd of April.

I would like to hear from you about some of your memories from March.  When you get the chance, why don’t you let me know what is going on. 

irregular book of the month

At the beginning of this year I said that I would read and report back on a book about culture, youth issues, contemporary trends, and parenting to name a few.  Well, so far I have just posted on one book and not that extensively.  For this month, which makes me two out of three, I have decided to read Neal Gabler’s Life, the Movie: How Entertainment Conqured Reality. 

Currently I have read just the first chapter, which was well worth the cost of the book (even considering that I got it used for less than $1!).  Since I have just begun reading the book I cannot personally provide a full synopsis on it, but let me share with you from the front cover so that you will better understand what this book is about.

And I quote, “Starting in the nineteenth-century America with the theatrics of the popular stage and the sensations of the popular press, Gabler traces the phenomenal rise of Entertainment as it challenges high culture.  He also shows how entertainment…