Scott Bonnell's Secret Discovery

Any guesses what Scott has just discovered?

The Weekend

It was the best of weekends, it was the worst of weekends, it was the weekend of reunions with old friends, it was the weekend of realizing friendships change, it was the weekend of staying up late, it was the weekend of getting up early, it was the weekend of parties, it was the weekend of watching football, it was the weekend of fun & games, it was the weekend of raw honesty, it was the weekend of dance, it was the weekend of uhhh dance, - in short, the weekend has left me dazed and confused.

Face to Face with Flying Fish

Ultimate Christmas Lights

Griffin Tiger Band

The snare solo at the beginning is Josh.

Who Said Being a Preacher is Easy?

Hey Paul, in light of our conversation...take a look at this.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Proclamation

[New York, 3 October 1789]

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

Amber Alert for Calyn Reber

There's been an Ambert Alert bulletin posted for Calyn Reber. It seems Calyn hasn't been seen on blogspot since, November 19th She seems to have left some sort of numberic coded message which police are working to crack. If you've seen Calyn please notify bloglines immediately.


Police Sketch of Calyn Reber

Involuntary - Voluntary Bodily Functions

Is there a word for bodily functions that are both voluntary and involuntary? For example breathing. For the last two days I've had to make myself take deep breaths or I find myself short of breath. So I need to tell my body to involuntarily take deeper breaths. Maybe I need a yoga class.

My Lunch Date

Have you ever wanted the opportunity to make a public address announcement correcting something that's just been broadcast for the world to hear? That's how I felt today when I picked up a friend for lunch. My friend works at the Sherriff's office. I told the lady behind the desk who I came to see. She asked me what the purpose of my visit was and I told her we were going to lunch. That is when she dials my friend and says loudly enough for everyone in the office to hear (as well as the waiting area), 'Ian, your lunch date is here.' Every eye in the place suddenly turned my way. I wanted to scream, 'we're just friends'. But I didn't. I just stood there looking as macho as I possibly could. No this was not a date. This was going to lunch with an old friend.

Anyway, lunch was good. We had a very masculine, manly type discussion about football and his upcoming job with a NASCAAR. He's got a friend that can hook me up with Devil Ray's vs. Yankee tickets next baseball season. We talked about that and several other very manly topics. Not once did we even mention how we feel about anything.

We Had Fun, yea?

Happy Birthday Rachel. The Wirgau's have quite the fun house. Between motor scotter, foosball, ping pong, tire swings, trampolines, knock-out and of course carpet ball there is never a dull moment.

Youth ministry tip of the day: Never tell a parent how great their student did on a retreat unless you are absolutely sure. They probably know more than you do about what thier student did on the retrat. That's all I'm going to say about that.

The Last Christian Generation

Josh McDowell Gets Up Close & Personal with Pastor John

Pastor John, Reid & Myself went to a luncheon today featuring Josh McDowell. I've heard Josh speak on several occasions but today seemed especially urgent. His major point was that the only way to teach convictions to students is in the context of relationships built on unfailing love.

Josh has a scary book coming out in March. It's called, 'The Last Christian Generation'. Here's the really scary part...He's not talking about this generation of youth. He's talking about their parents. I guess if his dire prediction comes to pass than we will be the first generation of youth pastors & parents to have failed. Of course it is NOT too late. Let's get busy being obedient and make disciples of all people...Especially those who are in danger of being the first non-Christian generation in America.

If you'd like to hear Josh he'll be in Tallahassee twice in 2006. On January 31st he'll be at Killearn United Methodist speaking to parents of students. On March 4th he'll be back speaking to students at Northwoods. Anyone who wishes to do something about 'last Christian generation' should put a big highlight mark on each of those dates.


tags: God Youth Ministry Josh McDowell

Habits

Ground Rules: The 1st player of this "game" starts with the topic "5 weird habits of yourself" and people who get tagged need to write a blog/xanga entry about their 5 weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "You are tagged" in their blog/xanga and tell them to read yours.

1. Beginning every public statement with...alllllllright!
2. Putting an h as the second letter of any word beginning with S. This is particularly embarrassing when saying things like, 'My feet hurt. I need to sit.' But it did lead to a mission trip theme when we went to Maine. Remember, "Don't Be Shellfish".
3. Going way overboard with revenge on people who sneak out through their windows on retreats.
4. Going to really late movies on Wednesday nights whether or not there is anything worth seeing or not.
5. Purposely mispronouncing people's names just to get on their nerves.
6. Adding extra habits the tag game. Everyone needs at least six Habits.

and the winners are...Scott, Paul, Lori, Daniel & Ian

Face to Face

Inside the Tent of Meeting, the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Exodus 33:11

That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to him and never stop trusting him. 15This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. 16So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it. Hebrews 4:14-16

tags: God

Failure?

Here's something weird...go to google.com and google the word failure. What's the number one link?

Weird eh?

Don't look at me I'm not a google programmer!

Huge Responsibility

But if ayone causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose faith, it would be better for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck. Matthew 18:6

Life is a huge responsibility. God help us.

He Tried to Tell Us

God's Rules of Order

Robert's Rules of Order is an excellent tool for conducting business meetings. It covers about every scenario you could imagine and gives everyone an equal voice. I hope we are equally committed to using God's Word as the only tool for conducting our lives. When we ignore God's law bad things happen.

So if you need to know how to conduct a meeting check this out, RuleOnLine .

If you need to know how to conduct your life than here is a great resource...
God's Rules of Order

Great Harvest

We celebrated a great harvest in '05. I hope your harvest was good as well.

Drew & His Friends Celebrating Another Great Harvest