Faithout update

Just wanted to let everyone know that we have 16 people on faithout.com now. I'm excited about us all getting on it and getting many more of our church members involved on this site.

Caledonia vs Columbus (softball showdown)

As the crisp prestorm winds gathered up the dirt forming tiny tornados on the field in Columbus, the all too familiar yellow ball began popping into leather gloves. Caledonia and Columbus were warming up for a 7 inning nail biter. Stephanie Hopper played second base and left field. Cara would pinch run in the sixth and Allyson (the daughter of our own Noahs ark preschool comestible coordinator) would be responsible for the first 3 runs scored in the game. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Patrick and I both sat and watched as the temperature dropped steadily. i was proud of my long sleeves, Patrick was ashamed of his short ones. Colby Hopper was content to steal our drinks and food and scream in our ears just as we had calmed down from the last time he'd done so.
Steph got a hit her first time up and reached base 3 out of four times (correct me if i'm wrong about that). She also scored the winning run in an eight to nine slugfest (hurting her knee in the process). Perhaps one of the best parts of this story was a fan who really enjoyed the game. He had a mental disability but was so happy to be there. It made me happy to hear him talk to the pitchers and refs. I realized how much we need to cherish the times God has given us while we have them because, just like the red clay blown by the gusts of wind, they are only with us for moments but paint pictures that last a lifetime.

Anthony Hatchett Baptism

Anthony Hatchett gave his life to Christ in baptism Sunday. We are proud to call him a brother in Christ.

Alliemarie Brooks Baptism

Just wanted to let you know that Alliemarie Brooks gave her life to Christ in baptism Wednesday night! Welcome to the body of Christ.

Girl Talk

This is a segment taken off of plugged in online. "Girls today are under what Dr. Stephen Hinshaw considers unprecedented levels of stress. In his book The Triple Bind, Hinshaw says that 20% of girls ages 10-19 experience episodes of major depression, 10% try to kill themselves, and 5% have an eating disorder. Girls' rates of aggression and self-mutilation both appear to be on the rise as well. "It all goes back to expectations," says one girl quoted in the book. "First of all they are impossible, and second of all, we don't know what they are." [today.msnbc.com, 2/10/09 stats]

Jaden Bennett Baptism

Jaden bennett was baptized tonight. Thanks to all who were able to come. Leave him a comment here

Jordan West's Baptism

Jordan West was baptized last night when we got back from Winterfest. Leave him a comment

WINTERFEST

Thank you for all of the prayers you lifted up for us while we were in Gatlinburg over the weekend. It was a great experience and I will do my best to give you the rundown. Please comment with any of your memories or takeaways.

We all met at the church around five thirty. All of us but our bus driver that is. He didn't show up until about six forty five. was getting a little worried when the original driver denied any knowledge of meeting me las Wednesday and shaking my hand. I was afraid they had cancelled and just didn't tell me. But he drove in and all was right with the world again as 50 of our 54 member group piled into the bus for a 10 hour bus adventure culmanating (not sure how its spelled but it means "finishing up with") a minor wreck in the hotel parking lot.
We unpacked, had dinner, and then met under the gaze of our rally possum (bet you never thought you'd read that in a sentence) to be herded with the other 6500 of 13000 total teenagers into the convention center. I went in a little early through a side door to take care of a faulty pass and was allowed to go into the convention center a tad early so i saved three rows of seats for us. As I was standing there the flood of humanity swept through the auditorium. I told a few people that we were trying to hold our seats and many were doing the same thing so they were happy to allow us our section. One group however wasn't really excited about it. I asked him if he minded if I kept three rows and he replied, "no, I don't mind" and then proceeded to seat his teens there anyway. I thought I was over that, but I guess not (where is my L-2 today). Anyway, I moved back a couple of rows and we all were together for one of the best opening sessions I can remember.
Chris Seidman open the session up and then Jeff Walling had an interview with him. The stage was designed like a science lab and they broke down the elements of Christianity into two basic parts taken from the greatest command... love. These two parts were L-1 (Love God) and L-2 (Love Others). The opening night focus was L-1. After they spoke, a mad scientist made a coke bottle bomb using aluminum foil and hydrochloric acid and talked about what happened when two elements were mixed together. After a few minutes the bottle expanded and exploded (awesome!!!) and we discussed the power of mixing L-1 with L-2 and the explosive power of the gospel. This message would serve to set the stage for our weekend.
We left the conference hall and returned to our hotel for late night devotional. We had the whole third floor of our hotel so we were able to just meet in the hallway. After some great singing someone with the habit of speaking for a realllllllyyyyy long time spoke for a reallllllly long time and we were off to our beds (or maybe just bedrooms) Ben Goodwin is much more sanitary than any one could imagine him to be. Also he has quite a gag reflex. (I will leave it at that)

Day 2 - Earl Arndt, who is always a servant, practiced some L-2 by driving into Pigeon Forge and picking up 6 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts for us so that we could have a healthy breakfast. After eating we had until 12:15 to hang out and get lunch. I'm really interested to hear some of your stories from this time frame. For instance I know some of you had an interesting tram driver in Ober Gatlinburg. My family and I ate at Bubba Gumps and answered trivia about Forrest Gump and Sponge Bob. (they have really intense waiters). All of us gathered beneath the possum beacon and were lost in the throngs of people. We began singing silly songs and I was treated to a shock from an electrified pack of gum Zach Ferguson got me with. I then, of course had to get others. After getting in and finding our seats we were treated to the comedy of Taylor mason (i will have some of his videos on the sidebar of this blog) He is a vintriloquist (once again poorly spelled but i mean to say he talks through puppets without moving his mouth) who has really perfected his art form. i can still feel the beady eyes of Paco as he stared at Wes and joked about his father being an uncatchable UT football. Don't even get me started talking about Romeo. Maddie Bennett really got wrapped up in the act and the worship afterwards. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to hold your daughter in your arms as she sings her heart out to God. Jeff walling then spoke and brought up some girls from Tennessee who have started a girl's ministry called "Real Girls" (the link is on the sidebar under links). And a young man who started collecting change at his school and is working to abolish slavery in other countries. Jeff also interviewed a jewish rabbi who converted to christianity. He explained the passover meal in ways that will forever change my understanding of the last supper and communion.
After that we had evening free time where we ate dinner and played lazer-tag. Macy and Emily beat me and rubbed it in pretty harshly I must say. Then I took on all comers in Air hockey. I rule the perferated (hole-filled) fake ice field! Tinsley did come close to beating me and my win did result from some trickery against him. We then rallied beneath the possum once more (who was blessed by Casey Cowart with a new outfit meant to add femininity which was significantly overpowered by the possum's masculine fortitude... and tailwhip action) and made our way into the convention center. Worship was really powerful and the drama team was amazing. The mad scientist worked with fire and Jef Walling brought us another message focusing on L-2 (Love others). We then went back to our hotel for a devotional in which Vint and Edna offered some opportunities and insights. Our guys and girls split because the "Real Girls" ministry agreed to come and speak with our girls. As the girls had their time (which I'd really love to get some comments on) the guys had a really powerful time of confession and discussion. We then went back to our rooms and at two am it began to snow.

A slideshow for our group is on faithout if you want to see all the pics

Day -3 Earl once again delivered the doughnuts and we loaded the bus before going to the convention center. The snow was really falling down and as you would guess we were rapidly picking it back up again in a compacted rounder form. Mo Mcnabb has no mercy. After the white brutality was quelled (quieted... i think. I just put these words in here so Don Cole can understand what I'm writing about) we went to our morning worship. Being a part of the worlds largest Church of Christ service is always cool! We looked at some stories of Christian martyrs (people who have died for the cause of christianity) and Jeff talked about the birth of his son (bloody lizard). Communion was really special. Then we returned to the bus for a group picture and more snow induced violence. 2 meals and 5 movies later we pulled into the church building where the most marvelous thing happened.... Jordan West was baptized. I'd say it was a good trip. Write in and let me know what you thought.

Happy Birthday Tinsley

Tinsley Brooks is 13 today! Happy birthday!

Caption of the week

Take a look as this pic and tell us what you think is going on with Amy and Paul.

Shout Out To the Worship Ministry

Hey everybody, I have yet to post to the blog, so I thought I'd get on here and share a little about the Worship Ministry. I can't even begin to express how much I have enjoyed leading this ministry and how far everyone in the ministry has come when it comes to learning the songs and their parts in the songs. Last week we finally decided on a name for our ministry and that name is "Unified" (props to Brandi for that name). Hopefully we can get some t-shirts made pretty soon.

We are pumped to be leading worship in West Point, March 1st and we will be furiously working on those songs in the next few weeks. Worship in song is such a powerful tool and it has always had such a huge impact on me and hopefully through this ministry we can impact others as well, at least that is our goal.

I really appreciate how eager those in this ministry are to learn new songs and even new ways of singing old songs even though it can get really repetitive some nights. Thanks to all the adults who have helped me, you just don't realize how much easier on me you have made this. Anyways, look forward to learning more songs and leading worship with you. Now let's go to Winterfest and sing our hearts out.

Matt

Out of the Park

Stephanie Hopper hit two home runs in one game last week. I can barely do that in a video game. Way to go Steph

New sister in Christ

Casey Champion gave her life to Jesus last night in baptism. Congratulations Casey!

Sinner Stage

Hey Guys! Sinner stage here! Just a reminder, We will be Performing for SNL in the youth room this Sunday night.  We are so excited to present these skits for everyone!  These are some of the best skits we have done so far.  We hope everyone will come support our ministry, and don't forget the Worship ministry as well.  also, keep inviting your friends. SNL is a great time to share our ministries with them.  hope to see you all there!

Caption of the week

Check out this photo of Will West and Tyler wheat and let us know what is on Will's mind by leaving a comment.

Prayer Request

Emily and Matthew's Grandfather, Bob Hickman, is having his kidney removed Friday morning at 8 am in Birmingham. please keep him in your prayers.

Prayer Request

Alliemarie has a great uncle that had to return to the hospital and has asked that we keep him in our prayers

A Christian Facebook?

At SNL Sunday night we talked about a possible facebook alternative. There are many pros and cons to both myspace and facebook. I will try to list some here. If you think of others, please put them in the comment section.
Pros:
- You can put out all the info about you and your friends in one easy access place. Pictures, videos, personal notes are easy for any of your friends to get to. They no longer have to ask you for copies of stuff cause they can get it from facebook.
- conversations are easy to have with friends over long distances and your friends can still feel like they are sharing in your experiences even if they didn't get to be there because they can see and read about many of the things that are going on. they can even comment on them along with others
- People can catch a glimpse of who a person is quickly by looking at their profile. If the profile lies, then their 300 friends will call them on it. (It's our own personal ad campaign)
- you can really share the music and things that you like with lots of people.
- you can meet new friends with similar interests
- not just anybody can look at your profile

Cons
- People sometimes use it to prove how popular they are
- People's feelings can get hurt
- There are so many little extra badges and drinks and little games that if you have too many friends it can drive you nuts
- Impostors can easily get your info by pretending to be someone you know. Then they can find out all about you
- Sometimes you are accidently exposed to things you don't want to be exposed to (language, pictures, posts)

I'm not asking you to drop your facebook or myspace account. That's up to you to decide if you need to. i do want to offer you something new. Basically this is just like facebook but with a Christian slant. Profanity and improper photos aren't allowed. Give this a look and see what you think. Comment and let me know. The link is in the links section of the blog. Or you can type in www.faithout.com.

* CREATED MY PROFILE. PRETTY GOOD SO FAR

Happy Birthday Alliemarie

Today is Alliemarie's Birthday. wish her a happy one

Winterfest

Continue to check out the blog as your Winterfest information headquarters. Remember we decided no on the concert. Brandon, you will get your ten dollars back. There is a link to Winterfest's main site on the right side of this blog. Click it for more info. Thank you to all who turned in your deposits and full payments. We will now be able to pay for our hotel. I know you are all wondering about your rooms. so here we go. The first name is the chaperone. I'm sure these will change. Earl and Beverly Arndt and Don and Edna Cole will also be with us. Remember, we head out at 6am Friday morning. That means be there by 5:45( ewww) AM

* We will have a meeting for all chaperones and attendees Wed the 18th after church

Room 1 Bus Driver
Room 2 Pam West, Jordan West
Room 3 Vint, Zach, Mo,
Room 4 Samantha, Heather, Amber
Room 5 Matt W, Jared, Patrick, Matt C
Room 6 Amy C, Alliemarie, Casey, Jennifer
Room 7 Deborah, Jasmine, Emily C, Macie
Room 8 Teresa, Katyln, Mallory,
Room 9 Sacha, Carlee, Anna, Kaitlan
Room 10 Leslie, Stephanie, Lenora, Emily E
Room 11 Paul, Eben, Tyler H, Ben,
Room 12 Bruce, Nate, logan, Ethan
Room 13 Allen, Brent, Tyler W, Matt F,
Room 14 Sara, Brandi, Jaden, Maddie
Room 15 Wes Pumphrey, Jimmy, Brandon, Tinsley

Happy Birthday Ethan Brauer

Birthday wishes go out to Ethan Brauer. Leave him a comment and wish him a good one.

Give Me an A

Congratulations go out to Jasmine Lindsey who's team placed fourth in a cheerleading competition last week in Tuscaloosa

Can't seem to get away

People seeking to advertise during the superbowl this year payed a cool 3 million dollars for 30 seconds of exposure. If you think about it. We really get Billy for a bargain. He gives us way more than thirty seconds. I'm amazed they were willing to pay that much during a recession market. I guess these companies really believe that any exposure, even if it is brief, will influence those being exposed. They put their money where their mouth is by paying massive sums to advertise to what is one of the most massive audiences gathered together at one time.
So what did these companies do? Did they spend those hundred thousand dollar seconds trying to explain exactly what their product was? Nope. They punched a koala in the face, removed a woman's clothing with the amazing power of a tortilla chip, or even better, hurled a snowglobe at a boss and an employee out of a window. They tried their best to make their product appear fun, desirable, even sexy. We don't really need to know what the product really is as long as we know that it can make us happy, popular or brave. Advertisers know that they only need a few seconds with us. they know those seconds don't even have to be informative if they can find a way to make those seconds memorable.
How do you make something memorable? The easiest way is through shock. The problem is, the more we have been shocked, the less shockable we are in the future. So now the bar must be raised. So, as you and your family are watching a show that is clean, you must be prepared to change the channel away from the commercials that aren't
Our adversary runs the greatest advertising campaign in existence. he has always known that any product is easy to sell once it has been dressed with the right attitude. In the hands of the snake a fruit becomes a symbol of wisdom power and freedom in the garden despite our Father telling us eating it will lead to death. If Satan can just get an audience with us for a single precious second, he can change us for a lifetime.
Exposure... We believe a thing will be exciting and discover that wrapped in that blanket of excitement is a barbed hook of enslavement. Take your cell phone for instance. We polled you to see how often you are giving and receiving text messages. Let me throw out a way that the technology is being twisted. "According to researchers at Rochester Technology of Institute almost one-third of teens in grades 10-12 have sent or received sexual content. For children in grades 4-6, that number is one in ten." In a report from the associated press, "This month in Greensburg, Pa., three high school girls who sent seminude photos and four male students who received them were all hit with child pornography charges. And in Newark, Ohio, a 15-year-old high school girl faced similar charges for sending her own racy cellphone photos to classmates." Notice that just by having the image on the phone, whether you sent it or not, you can face charges. Excitement leading to enslavement.
Chances are, you've been exposed. Chances are, you have exposed others. You heard that it was exciting harmless flirtatious fun. Don't eat that fruit.
This is where you may want to comment anonymously. Let us know if this going on in your school. Has anyone sent you a sext message or tried to share one they got with you? How hard is it not to be exposed?

That Superbowl was Da Bomb

Last night we all went to David and BJ Hill's house for some fellowship and football. I must say congrats to Matthew Chaffin and Brandon Williams who are the two biggest steeler fans I know. We had a blast. Great food. Great people. What more can you ask for. Oh, I know, how about hot sauce?
Proverbs 16:18 tells us,"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." During our half-time devotional, we shared an experience from the past. On my first youth group mission trip a young man named cameron, who felt that because of his ethnic heritage he could endure all things hot and spicy, almost ended my career in youth ministry. He swallowed a hot sauce called "Da Bomb". The after affects were not in the least bit manly. It was more like begging for mom and pleading for a hospital. For me, it was the realization that sometimes people suffer, not because satan exists but because intelligence doesn't. I learned that manliness is not measured by how much you can out do your neighbor. So every year we celebrate this epiphany by reliving it in a smaller, much more humorous way.
A friend of mine sent me a bottle of that hot sauce as a joke and Last night some brave people felt that they were tough enough to endure what cameron could not. So Stephanie, Emily, Brent, Morgan, Jared, Anthony, and Patrick all lined up to endure what has brought so much joy for so long. (editors note. These sauces are impossibly hot and cannot be effectively described with words. Although a thousand tiny ninjas assaulting the tongue with firebrands does come fairly close. And yes, i have experienced them all first hand. I would never allow someone to try something I have no first hand knowledge of)
So with a BB sized drop on everyones chip (except emily because she couldn't taste hers) we embarked on a mission in heat. Morgan McNabb bit first, chewed once, and then deposited his mouth under the faucet. Brent Pyle turned red like in a cartoon and emily continued to chew (amazing! i figured she got a faulty drop so she ate another). Anthony wasted no time in expressing his emotion and found an ice cube to deposit on his tongue. Somehow during the commotion I rubbed my nose and had forgotten the cardinal rule of this hot sauce. Don't get it on you! My nose began to run and burn with every exhalation. Stephanie said, wow! and never flinched (girl's are tougher than boys. Sad but true) Emily's Nervous system finally began to react and her eyes began to water as sweat broke out on Jared's face. She went to the kitchen, got a paper towel, and after wetting it, placed the towel in her mouth (interesting method) Nathan Allen kept trying to pour sugar on people's tongues to stop the heat. Allen home remedy I guess. And Anna steady took pictures of people when they weren't looking. The only dirty deed of the night was Nathan Allen touching Cody on the face. Interested to see what became of that. Cody, let me know. Everyone cooled down and bruce watched Bruce perform while i remembered an snl with persimons ans another with sour gum. Why is that stuff funny?
We settled back down and watched the Steelers pull off the win in one of the better superbowls I have seen. Thank you to the Hills and all who came for a wonderful evening we will not soon forget. i will have pictures soon.