Hats and Panty Hose...

Ok, kind of a weird title for a church youth group blog post, but that sums up the craziness of our Trek night tonight.

Sure we had some over indulgence at the Trek store, but I won't name any names. But we also had some pretty crazy hats that showed up for crazy hat night. Let's see, we had a duct tape hat, a fuzzy green hat, a pair of bunny ears, cowboy hats, a weird hat with a duck on it (maybe the craziest of all), a Santa hat, a statue of liberty crown, a bicycle helmet, etc. Definitely some weird stuff in there. Well, you be the judge, take a look at the picture.

In addition, we (well actually I, *evil laugh*) decided to play a game that involved a head covering. The 8th graders played this game last year and I think it was their favorite game; or NOT! But the 7th graders had not yet played this wonderful game (wonderful if you're a leader and don't have to play). Maybe the word embarassing is a better way to describe it.

While this game may have had it origins elsewhere, my first exposure to it was in Ukraine during the summer of 2005. Basically you pull panty hose over your head and the other end left hanging has some sort of weight in it (not dangerous weight though - we used a pair of socks). The two or three or however many contestants line up against one another and on "GO" they start swinging their heads to get their panty hose moving. The point is to get your hose caught in your opponents hose and then pull his/her hose off his/her head. No hands can be used. It is kind of hard to explain...maybe these pictures will help! Well....I thought it was fun. It is really good when it is really hot outside and the people playing have been sweating and then you put it on over your head and the smell almost knocks you over - NICE!!

By the way, not to be overlooked in our night was Mr. M's council time on assurance. As a believer, I don't have to wonder if I will end up in heaven one day - I CAN KNOW, I CAN BE ASSURED! If I have trusted Christ as my Savior, I am sealed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives in me and He is a pledge, deposit, or guarantee that one day I will be spending eternity with God. By the way, that guarantee is way more significant then that gurantee mentioned that the Cubs would win the World Series. I mean come on... :)

And remember our verse in our Compass Point: "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand." John 10:27-29 (NIV)

WOW!! Those words should give great hope to the believer and should give us assurance and security in our relationship with Christ. Stand on it. It doesn't make complete sense in man's mind, and that is why so many humans (even Christians) struggle with this truth. But God's Word makes it clear, and that is where we must stand - on His Word! I could keep going and start preaching, but I'll stop there. Enough said!

Journey/Trek Quizzing

After all the waiting and practicing, the Journey/Trek Quizzing Competition is upon us this Saturday, March 3. The competition will take place at Elgin Evangelical Free Church in Elgin (makes sense, huh). This is the same location as last year.

Speaking of last year, these pictures are of our groups who quizzed last year. The First Place JV team and the Journey Team. You all look so young; my how you've changed in a year!

Although the actual competition does not start until 9:30 a.m., our quiz teams need to be there to register at 9:00 a.m. So we will be meeting at CBC at 7:50 a.m. and leaving shortly thereafter.

Quizzers should bring their study material with them to study on the drive up and at the church while we wait for the quizzing to begin. Quizzers, please also remember to dress appropriately. Guys should wear slacks, a collared shirt and a tie. Girls should wear either a long dress, a long skirt and blouse, or dress pants and a blouse.

Parents/Spectators are also asked to dress up for this event.

We also may plan to stop for a fast foodish type lunch on the way home depending on what time it is when we start the road trip home.

See ya Saturday!

Crazy Hats and the Store...

A reminder to all of you Trekies that tonight at Trek will be having our Trek Store and Crazy Hat Night. So come prepared.

At the Trek Store you can use Trek bucks (earned by completing verses and units) to buy different types of items including pop, candy, notebooks, pens and SHARPIES!! Only crazed sharpie addicts really care about buying sharpies, but we do have a few of those...Hmmmm!

As far as the hats, feel free to express yourself. I know some of you who are Cubs fans will wear a White Sox hat for crazy hat night and some of you White Sox fans will wear Cubs hats. Whatever floats your boat.

So, just a reminder on those two things. Hope to see you tonight!

White and Dirty...

No I didn't say "White and Nerdy" like the song by Weird Al. I said "white and dirty".

We have had a pretty decent amount of snow this winter. Although most any amount of snow is a decent amount for a boy from the South like me, it seems like we have had even a decent amount of snow for you tried and true Midwesterners.

In the book of Isaiah we read these words:
“Come now, and let us reason together”, says the LORD, “though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18, NIV)

As we are reminded of this passage of Scripture, we should have a new thought process when we see the snow undisturbed (like in the picture to the right of my backyard). Of course not all snow is pure white. The disturbed snow from cars and snow plows is very nasty and dirty (as you can also see from the picture on the left). But they didn't have cars and snow plows when the Bible was written (although obviously many things can disturb the snow). But when we read in Scripture that though our sins were as scarlet, they will be as white as snow it is talking about the pure, undisturbed snow. What a beautiful picture we have of what Christ did for us falling right in front of our eyes.

So if you don't already think about this verse when you see the pure, white snow begin thinking about it from now on. God has been faithful to give us a beautiful picture of what He has done with our sin right before our very eyes. And our response...it can only be "Thank You Lord".

Happy Birthday Josh...

A very happy birthday goes out to Josh Winton. He turns 13 years old today. Welcome to the crazy life of a teenager, Josh. Hope you have a great birthday. I am very thankful to the Lord for you!

Amazing Grace...

When you hear the words "Amazing Grace", most of the time you think of the hymn by that title that was written by John Newton in 1773. This hymn has become one of, if not the most popular hymn of all time.

However, there is now a new movie coming out by that same title - "Amazing Grace." Maybe you have heard of it. It actually was released yesterday, February 23rd.

This movie relates the true story of William Wilberforce's 20 year fight to abolish the British slave trade, which he won in 1807. One of the reasons for the title of the movie is that the movie includes John Newton in it as somewhat of a mentor of Wilberforce. John Newton actually was a slave trader for some time before his conversion and even for a little while after his conversion before he committed himself to full time ministry as a pastor. It was at this time that he penned the words that we sing today. He penned them to use as part of his sermon.

The movie is rated PG. You can watch a preview be clicking here. To check out a review of the movie go to Plugged In.

Although this movie is not a "Christian movie", the Christian should be reminded that only by the amazing grace of God were we freed from the slave market of sin. Sin, which was once our master, is not our master any longer. We have a new master - Jesus Christ.

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:34-36 (NIV)

Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. Galatians 4:7 (NIV)

This film may be a good opportunity to talk about Christ with your friends. Take the historic story of William Wilbeforce and talk about how Christ freed us from slavery as well.

I'd love to hear your "reviews" if you have seen it.

Valentine's Dinner recap...

We had a great time at our Valentine's Dinner last Saturday night for parents and grandparents of our youth who helped with the dinner. Basically the food was cooked by, the music played by, the night hosted by, the photographs taken by and the people waited on by our youth. Oh yeah, don't forget that they also setup and cleaned up (including many dishes). They did a great job!!

Thankfully despite my efforts to burn down the church, we only had some smokiness in the room for about 20 minutes or so. (ok, maybe 30 or 40 minutes - and it was a bit colder in the dining room due to the fans used to get rid of the smoke - SORRY!)

So here are some pics from the event for your enjoyment.

Thanks for everyone's hard work! It was a great night and everyone did a great job!

Upcoming Event Reminders...

Hello CBC youth!

Just a couple of reminders about things coming up this weekend that you may need to know.

First of all, on Friday (23rd) we will be having our monthly Worldview Night at CBC. This month we will continue with our study entitled re:View Discern Culture. Know Truth. This study is put out by Cedarville University. We covered the first two sessions in January and I hope to cover at least the next 2 this month. Worldview Night starts at 6:00 p.m. and ends at 9:00 p.m. This includes about 30 minutes to an hour of time to play games and enjoy snacks together after the study. So if you can come, please bring a snack to share if you are able.

The second thing to be aware of is on Saturday (24th). This is quizzing practice (I can see how excited you all are) for those participating in either Journey or Trek quizzing next week (March 3rd). Since this will be our final practice before the big event it is important that you try to be there. Practice is from 9:00-10:30 a.m. at CBC.

So, that is what is going on this weekend for you youthies. Hope to see you at one or both of these things.

Keep your focus on the Lord this week (and all weeks) and stay in His Word! It is important for your spiritual growth just as much as physical food is for our physical growth. Consume it!

Super Comments at the Super Bowl...

Let me be the first to extend my deepest sympathy to all of you Bears' fans on the defeat of your team in the Super Bowl on Sunday night. I don't know how it feels to lose the Super Bowl since my team has never been there, but I do know how it feels to lose to YOUR team in the NFC Championship game and I know it stinks. At this point the solace you take is in saying to yourself, "Well, at least we made it to the Super Bowl" but I know that doesn't really help that much.

While I was pulling for the Bears to win for many at CBC and another friend of mine outside the CBC body who is a big Bears fan, I must admit that I was not torn up over the loss and I didn't mind seeing the Colts win the Super Bowl. I heard all the trash talk that "Colts" stood for "Can Only Lose The Superbowl" even though Super Bowl is two words and "Colts" doesn't end with a "B". I mean with that thinking, "Bears" must stand for "Bad, Especially At Raining Superbowls". In the end, the game was really not that exciting overall and the play of the Bears team as a whole was pretty bad (not just Rex Grossman).

But I must say that what I really appreciated most about the Colts win was the focus of their Owner and Head Coach after the game. During one of the greatest moments of their lives when all the attention was on them and they could have said how great their team was and they were, the first thing Colts owner Jim Irsay did was focus on those who had lost their lives and homes in the storms that hit just north of Orlando, FL on Thursday and then give glory to God for the Super Bowl win. Irsay is a professing Christian, and so is his head coach Tony Dungy who made mulitple mentions of the Lord. And when asked about being the first African American head coach to win a Super Bowl, Dungy said this,

“I’m proud to be the first African-American coach to win this, but again, more than anything, Lovie Smith and I are not only African-Americans but also Christian coaches, showing you can do it the Lord’s way. We’re more proud of that.”

I am certainly not saying that the reason the Colts won the Super Bowl was because their owner was a Christian and their head coach was a Christian. And of course I am sure that there are people on their team who are not Christians and people on the Bears team who are Christians (Lovie Smith according to Dungy). But what I am saying is that I appreciated the focus of these men. In an entertainment and sports world where we hear so much about all the "me" focus of high paid entertainers and athletes, it is nice to see something different. In his post game press conference, Dungy even mentioned that this isn't the biggest thing in the world - referring to winning a Super Bowl. He recognized that winning a football game was not the most important thing.

So, as much as I was pulling for the Bears to win, I must say thanks to Irsay and Dungy for focusing first where we all should be focusing first. Thanks for giving the glory to God when you could have taken the glory yourself. And thanks for being a role model in a world that seriously needs them.

So bears fans, I'm sorry...but I hope you stay tuned long enough to hear the comments of these men after the game. For a more complete story on Jim Irsay's faith you can go to http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=24865 . To read more on Tony Dungy's focus you can go to http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_63714.asp . Also on Dungy's faith, you can read the first part of this article - http://www.juiceenewsdaily.com/index.php/2005/12/30/tony-dungy-faith-in-christ-will-get-me-through/ .

And by the way Bears fans...there is always next year - for the Saints too!

Breakfast...

Well, I am glad to know that there is at least 1 person coming to this blog frequently to see what is going on. And for that 1 person (Jessica), I apologize for my inconsistent posting. I must say that posting on my blog is not something that I think about too frequently but I do know the frustration of checking a blog frequently and finding that nothing has been updated since like October 2006 (Elisa).

One of the reasons I don't blog too frequently is that I don't really think I have much to say or that anyone cares all that much what I might say. But since you, Jess, even care what I eat for breakfast I will tell you. This morning I had a very nice bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch with 2% reduced fat milk. In addition I had a small glass of applejuice which helped me to swallow my daily vitamin. I know that is really interesting and thanks for asking and thanks for your comments.

I will try to do better with posts. Of course I must do a Super Bowl post so stay tuned...