"Finally Home" by Mercy Me

This is a great video. I love Mercy Me and they have a great new song...



Jim

Cadbury Eyebrows

I saw this on YouTube and Corey Mann's blog and it cracked me up. Check it out.

Jim

View it HERE.

Blown away... AGAIN!!!

Over the weekend, we (a group of 6 high school students and 5 adults who are headed to Santiago, Dominican Republic over Spring Break) hosted a Chili Dinner/Student Auction Fundraiser.

Part of our hope was to get the congregation of FVCC energized about our upcoming trip. And part of our hope was that we would raise some funds to help us go on the trip.

You can check out a picture HERE.

I blogged last week (HERE) about being impressed with the number that signed up. I had no idea how good God would be in this situation. Everything from the weekend was finally counted up yesterday. That included the money from the dinner, other donations, student auction payments, loose cash that was placed in our water jug collection bin and other cash and checks collected independently by the students...

And the total came to: $6246!!!!!

I couldn't and still can't believe it!!! It put us over the top. It put us over the top by about $500 and we still have some checks coming that have been received but haven't been processed. It was really an impressive weekend.

We have 192 people at the Chili Dinner and most of the students went for $100 or more. It was really a great weekend and it's great to be fully funded for the trip 2 months early.

Just thought I'd take a moment and share!

Jim

Great Night Last Night!!!

We had a great Chili Dinner last night. The unofficial numbers aren't in... much less the official numbers.

But...
The worship center was full the whole night. Initial reports were that just on door take and donations (not counting the student auction and other donations) that we raised about $1500. There are several other things that need to go into that. So we won't know official numbers until Monday.

But I do know this: It was a great!!!

Folks are excited and we're getting closer to being fully funded!!!!

Jim

The Sanctity of Life...

Several years ago, I marched in the "Right to Life" march on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade in Washington D.C. The "Right to Life" march is a pro-life, peaceful march at the Nation's capital to oppose legislation that legalizes abortion.

It was a great experience. I had never participated in something like that before and it was really quite an experience. Especially seeing all the different groups of Christians come together as one for a common cause.

Yesterday was the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. And last night I was reminded about the march as Fox News in Chicago reported on the march.

I was saddened today to hear that President Obama officially lifted the ban on federal funding for abortions around the world. (See HERE for a link to the story.)

When are we as a country going to wake up to the reality that we are murdering millions of babies every year? And now providing funding for millions more to be murdered?

36 years now killing an innocent life has been promoted in this country as a choice... and now we are encouraging others around the world to join us.

Jim

How Rick Warren wrote his prayer for President Obama's Inauguration

Man!!! I wish I could go.

If you can, you should. It's awesome. And everyone who knows Saddleback knows that Doug is the brains behind it.

Enjoy

Jim

Check it out HERE!

Back to class...

It's back to class for me today.

Today begins another semester of 6 hours at Lincoln Christian Seminary. I'm taking a required "Turning Points in Systematic Theology" class with a prof that I had last semester, Dr. Castelein. I'm also doing an Independent Study with my adviser in Restoration (Church) History. So, it should be an interesting semester.

But I'm sure... like every semester... right now I'm excited about the semester. Give me about 45 minutes and I'll be thinking "what did I get myself into?" again!

Jim

Blown away...

By the generosity of God's people!!!

This weekend we received close to $2850 in donations for our upcoming Dominican Republic trip!!!

I am totally blown away!!

So, if you're coloring along with me, that takes us to close to 59%!!!

That's awesome. And our big fundraiser is coming up this Friday night. It's a Chili Dinner/Student Service Auction/Family Game Night. And we have 204 people signed up for that already!!!

Awesome!

Jim

Boring?

Someone a while back turned me onto Seth Godin's blog. Seth writes about marketing and business strategies. For me, there are quite a few crossovers for marketing (Starbucks for instance) and Youth Ministry.

This morning, I was reading his post on boringness. (You'll find it HERE.) There are a couple of things in there that got me thinking. So, I printed it out to think about it over the course of the day.

Here's what got me thinking:
"If people aren't discussing your products, your services, your cause, your movement or your career, there's a reason. The reason is that you're boring... You don't get unboring for free. Remarkable costs time and money and effort, but most of all, remarkable costs a willingness to be wrong. Remarkable is a choice."

Some of the questions that I'm thinking about... obviously no answers here/yet...

• Are we boring?
  
• Are people talking abou our student ministry and we aren't hearing it?
• Are we boring?
• If so, what can we do about it?
• How do we make that choice to be 'unboring'?
• What is involved in making that choice?
• What is the difference on that occasion between hype and health? (I can draw a crowd with free pizza or free Starbucks, but does that draw the right kind of crowd and will they stay if there isn't something 'hype-worthy' to stick around for?)
• Are we boring?

Again... Just questions...
Maybe later I'll post answers... if I find some...

Jim

-15!!

There is a real solid chance that this is the coldest temps that I
have ever experienced...and I'm not outside yet.

D.R. Short Term Missions Trip Interviews

Here is a little video that we showed this weekend in our worship services about our upcoming Dominican Republic Trip for our high school ministry.

Enjoy.

Here it is as well.

Jim

Hanging with the podcast crew...

Hanging with the PDYM Podcast crew...

I've missed THIS. Check it out.

Jim

So much time @ Starbucks...

Since we don't have Internet at home yet (and probably not for at least a month)...



I spend so much time at Starbucks. Most of it is using their free Wifi. And it's funny to me how I feel when I show up and someone is sitting at the table that I usually sit at.

Just thought I'd share.

Jim

P.S.: Welcome to Jim's randomness if you aren't familiar...

Dominican Republic for Spring Break

We're currently working on a missions trip with our high school students.

Those of you who are FVCC members will be familiar. Those of you who aren't, aren't. For those who aren't, we are planning to take 6 high school students and 5 adult leaders to the Dominican Republic for a Spring Break Missions Trip. I've wanted to do a student ministry missions trip for a while. But the time has never been right. This year, the pieces fell into place and we're currently making plans. We had a little meeting this afternoon and I'm really excited for the trip and these students. They are full of great ideas, enthusiasm and motivation.

In years past, FVCC has taken trips to the DR. But they haven't for some time. And I don't know for certain if anyone has ever done an International Student Ministry Missions Trip.

We've got a fundraiser coming up on January 23rd (Chili Dinner, Family Game Night and Silent Student Service Auction) and they are coming up with most of the ideas. It's great to sit back, provide some direction and watch them go.

They are working hard at raising the funds to go. The trip is costing (airfare, trip, food and accommodations) about $1650. They are expected to help raise the $13,750 required for the trip expenses. At this point, they have already helped raise 30% (a little over $4,000) without any major fundraisers.

In fact, one of the students started a blog about her adventures. It's here:
Paige's blog!!

It's exciting to see what God can and will do. The trip is being bathed in prayer and everyone is very excited. We're even working on a little promo video. But what amazes me are the raw ideas and enthusiasm that comes out of each and every meeting.

Way to go guys!!! Alyssa, Brittany, Dylan, Elisabeth, Kaithryn, and Paige (along with myself, Cheryl, Glen, Emily and Jackie). Pray for us. We're going to need it!!!

Jim

Happy 2009

Hey all...

I thought I would drop a quick line on here and let everyone know that I'm still around.

And more importantly, wish everyone a Happy New Year!!!

I'm still working on a list of resolutions for the new year... so once those 4 or 5 things are solidified in my mind, I'll post them here. But chances are that one will have to do with weight (doesn't it always) and one with reading (again... usually there) and one about spending time on the computer (although this has been better since we haven't had Internet at home).

But I want to take a second and:

Wish you all a Happy 2009! May this year be a blessed year for you!

Jim