My Worship Revolution

This was our third pumpkin.
A team effort by myself and Rachel.
She did most of the carving part.
All that to say:

Be safe.
Have fun.
Eat lots of sugar.
That’s all.
Lates.

Here’s what it looks like when an earthquake hits during life group:

The best part was Katie under the table.  That made me smile.  Sorry Katie, but that table is from Ikea…you’d probably be safer under a shelf.
I guess I’ve been too desensitized to earthquakes.  As everyone else ran for cover I laughed and pulled out the camera phone.

5.6.
Centered near San Jose.
About 30 seconds.
It was kinda fun.
Better earthquakes than tornadoes.
I love California.

OK, so we experimented with the brainstorm idea last week.  It went ok.  So I expect enev more participation this week.  Here we go.

For the past several years, our church has headed up "Caroling on the Wharf" here in Santa Cruz.  In the past it was an event the city had put on, which they lost funding for and we took over.  So now we partner with the community to provide this for families.  It takes place on an open area out toward the end of the wharf.  Apparently it hasn’t been a huge turnout the past couple of years.  Especially dependent on the weather here in December (it happens December 11th).  People just show up and sing some songs for an hour.  Free cider and brownies by us and a local coffee shop.

So as I was processing through our holiday activities, what we would do and not do, add and get rid of, I started thinking.  What a great opportunity for us to provide a service for our community.  Why not do more and make it more attractive to unchurched peeps.  No gospel presentation or anything.  i mean heck, we’re already singing CHRISTmas songs.  We’ll just make sure everyone who comes gets an invite to our Christmas Eve service and New Years series.

So here’s where your help can come in handy.  You’re not a church goer, or even a believer.  You get a mailer at your home or see advertising around town.

What would draw you to want to go to this event?

What activities?  What features?
I’ve got a few ideas.  You know, Santa, crafts for kids, etc.  A few more too.  But I’d love some of your thoughts.
What have you done?  What have you never done but always wanted to do?
Think big.  Don’t even worry about cost.  Have fun.  We can eliminate the stuff we can’t afford or do later.
So, any ideas?

THANKS!

Because a base was stolen in the World Series, you can get a free taco today between 2 and 5.
Click here for more info.
Enjoy!

Last week was busy.  I taught on Sunday.  More on that later.  Video for Sunday morning to edit.  And yesterday was also our annual Hillbilly Harvest Festival for the community.

It was AWESOME!!!

• Jane (our children’s ministry director) did an amazing job putting together so many of the details and making them happen.  Way to go Jane!!
• Thank you so much to all the volunteers who helped out.  Many hands make light work and we had a blast and people were great.
• Speaking of, I have to give a special shout out to those who stuck around to teardown.  You rocked!!  I looked around at all the hay, games, fences, tables, etc. when the event ended at 7 and was ready for some serious work.  We finished putting everything away and having everything cleaned up and it was only 7:35!!  Amazing!
• I haven’t had a chance to count the raffle entries yet (it is my day off) but we guesstimated somewhere between 250-300 people showed up.  I got to talk to lots of visitors, several of which came as a result of the mailers we sent out.
• And oh yeah, it definitely helped the weather was beautiful!  (Unlike today, as the thunder crashes loudly and the rain starts suddenly pouring outside.)

All in all, it was a great day and a great family community event.  Here’s some pictures, including my little Giraffe!

This past Sunday we talked about the "Boomer" Generation at CLC.  Continuing with the sharing of stories of people from each generation, we got to interview Dan Cook.  Check out his story:

Dan is awesome.
So is his family.
He’s taking us sailing soon.
Thanks Dan!!

…Thanks Megan!

What the heck?!?!  Tony Almeida CANNOT be bad!!

24 – The greatest show ever to be on television.
Alias – Rachel and I have started watching this show from the beginning.  We started about a month and a half ago.  We’re almost done with season 2 now.

This morning on the way to work I passed a general contracting company from Salinas starting to work on the road.  They looked way to focused for plain old road workers.  I wondered if maybe they are terrorists setting up a bomb system underneath the road.

Then I passed a guy with a tow truck opening a locked car on the side of the highway.  But I didn’t see the car’s owner anywhere.  I thought maybe it was a double agent with a real CIA agent in the trunk.

I have issues.
I’m hooked though.
It’s a sickness.
Help me!

I’m sure a lot of you have been hearing about the SoCal fires.  A lot of you live there.  My fam is in San Diego.  There’s been fires before.  So I didn’t think much of it.  Til my sister called tonight.

They’re fine and all, but their place is on voluntary evacuation right now.  And not far down the road it’s mandatory.  Tim’s working all night.  They have a baby.  Read here what she has to say about it.  Stop by and let her know you did.

Anyway, just thought I’d let ya know.  The fire’s getting a little too close for comfort.  If nothin else, it’s a good reminder that you never know when something could come your way unexpectedly, eh?  You never think you could be the one getting hit with any sort of evacuation…even if it will probably turn out ok (at least that’s what you always tell yourself). 
So throw up an extra prayer for them if you wouldn’t mind.
Thanks.

*UPDATE: For some of you who have asked and don’t read my sister or brother-in-laws blogs, their back in their place and doing well.  Thanks for your prayers!  I know they appreciated it.

HELP ME!

So yeah, I’m gonna try a little experiment here.  Here’s the deal.  As I’ve mentioned before, we are in the midst of a series at CLC called Generations.  We’re talking about the importance of our multigenerational makeup.  We had an intro week, then five weeks where we highlight a generation, and then we’ll have a final week to tie it all together.  2 weeks ago was about seniors, with guest speaker Earl Creps.  Yesterday was about Boomers, and Ed spoke.

This next week is what we are calling Young Adult/Career.  Age range: 25-39.  Speaking: Yours Truly.

Basically, according to Wikipedia, this is for the most part Generation X.  A lot of you who read this are in that bracket.  A lot of you aren’t.  Either way, I’d love your help.  It’s been a tough message to think through.  Especially since there’s not a clear biblical text that I’m supposed to pull from.

Some of the goal of this series is to share the value that the generation brings to the table, as well as to challenge them specifically.  So here is where you come in.  Let’s brainstorm together.
What do you think this specific generation in the church needs to hear?
What is our greatest contribution?
Where do we need to be challenged?
What are some good biblical texts to pull out for our generation?

I already have some ideas, but I’d love to hear yours.  I look forward to seeing what you think.
So leave a comment and we can see how our ideas even bounce off of each other a bit.
Too shy?  That’s cool.  You can send me an e-mail if you’d rather, too.
I can’t wait to see what we come up with.
So start sharing!