I was looking over some of the videos from the past years and I saw this one.  Does anyone remember what we used it for?  i remember shooting it, but I can’t for the life of me remember where we shot it.  The part with Victoria walking down the hall kind of sums it up, so was there more of a talk afterwards?

The other night Eden and I were going through a couple of more recent youth videos and she saw this one and wanted to play it.  She thought it was so silly and wondered why everyone was wearing those silly clothes. She loved the earrings though.

no matter what we used it for it is a classic.

I went and got a couple of Transformers with the idea that we would talk about the way that they were a fine toy in their vehicle state, but they are so much better when they are transformed and you can play with them in a couple of different ways.  I thought that it would be fun to have the object lesson of me then transforming them up front during the talk.  Before the service I tried transforming them to get an idea about how long it would take to make the change.  It took way longer than I thought it would. I gave them to one of our great youth workers and she too took a long time. Plan B was to turn it into a bit where we would time the a couple of kids to see who could transform the the fastest.

After a couple of minutes of the students fumbling with the toys, we gave it up and put the illustration out of its missury.  Oh well better luck next time.  The two transformers now have found a place on my shelf as a reminder that the best thought out plans go bad and we just have to work though it.  doh’

I think that I have found my niche.  After this teaching series about who Jesus isn’t I have developed a love for all things Tacky when it comes to faith.  We have used various toys and objects to talk about how Jesus goes beyond our expectations. 

In the process of doing so I have found a ton of funny, odd and at times heretical toys and nick-knacks that I have come to want. 

Jesus band-aids are just the beginning.  What pastor could be without a Jesus actions figure with real walk on water gliding action (rollers on his feet).  Or a bobble-head Jesus, buddy Jesus, Jesus is my Homeboy shirt, toast press of Jesus… the list goes on. 

if I see something that is a couple of bucks I am going to pick it up and find a place for it in my office.  I think it will bring a simple elegance to the clutter of my nook. 

This weekend when I needed to wash a couple of dishes at church I ran into the this bottle of Dawn.  Well it was Dawn at one time and now I am guessing it is a mixture of a couple of different detergents.  The picture doesn’t do the brown colored soap justice.  In reality it looks more like a poorly brewed beer than dish soap.

Some times being made clean is very unappealing. Think about trying to give medicine to an infant.  As we look to advent, the manger and beyond to the cross my heart always sinks a bit about the messy way God has given up everything so that we may be made clean. 

We had a great time as a family this weekends going trick or treating at sesame Street Place.  There were all kinds of wonderful things to see and do and tons of kids dressed up like the fav little characters from mainly TV shows.

Eden went as Bell from Beauty and the Beast after about 2 days of debate.

In light of the trip I thought it would be  nice to share a little Muppet spoof of the old spice commercial staring Grover.  I thought it was great. Sit back and enjoy.

Last week we moved from Frederick to Brunswick.  This week we have annual conference.  Our days have been filled with packing and unpacking boxes.  As of late we have been in sessions doing the business of the church, worship and ordination practice.

Tomorrow (Friday) Katie and I will be ordained as full Elders in the UMC.  hopefully after all of this we will be able to resume some normalcy before the hecticness of the summer hits us.

I will be posting more, and more regularly very soon.

Be God’s

The folks at Livechurch.tv are a really great resource, and so when I saw that they had put out a Bible app I was all over it.  Best part is that it is…that’s right free.  There are a ton of different versions of the bible you can reference and a wide array of languages.  You can get the full library if you are connected to the web (wi-fi or 3g), but you can also download a number of the translations to your device.  It also has daily reading plans that you can follow, comments and discusions and customization.  The app is available for just about everything out there iphone, andriod phones, palm, your web browser and the list goes on.

I am finally posting about it because a couple of days ago I realized that one of the versions I can download to my Ipod is the New Living Translation which has become one of my favorite’s to teach from for youth group and classes where poeple are getting into scripture for the first time. Also, I am going to be upgrading my phone soon and this app would be compatible with most options so i am excited about that too.

Check it out, there is nothing to lose…did I mention it is free.  Go to youversion.com to get your hands on it.

Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.

I couldn’t help think about how our joy is stolen.  What takes our laughs?  Are our lives more boring or are we just taking ourselves too seriously?  Why do we allow the sun to set on our laughter?

Perhaps we need to reclaim the childlike joy we encounter in the simplest things in life. Take joy in slowing down and playing outside, being silly just for the sake of being silly.  Laugh out loud rather than holding it in.

I just thought this “Snapple Real Fact” was a bit depressing.

As I was getting ready for worship today I was flitting back and forth from my office as I usually do.  I find my time on Sunday mornings split between unlocking the building, setting up the media stuff, communion elements, wrangling Eden (when she is with me), being asked  questions, making up answers, remembering where the rope to my robe went…the list goes on.

Usually I am focused and determined to check off the next thing that is on my list.  But something stopped me in my tracks when i went into my office and saw a 2 little pieces of heaven sitting on my desk. They were the most beautiful things I had ever seen before 8:30 on a Sunday morning…

Two count them Two OREO cookies bathed in fudge made their way on to my desk on this beautiful fall day.  All morning I plotted what their fate would be.  Then Finally I made my decision.  One would be the fuel i needed to get through our 11:00 service because I am always in need of some sustenance for our 3rd service of the day.  Goldfish are the typical offering to quench my 10:55 hunger, but my salty friends were put on hold for one that was oh so sweeter.

Thanks to the sugar packed pick-me-up I was going strong after the morning services.  And in fact I felt so good that i ate the second fudge covered delight without a second thought.  If you think about it, it would have been rude of me to take such a gem home to my wife who can’t eat them anyway. It was the gentlemanly thing to do.

Thanks Amber for the great start for my day.