Coffee Breath

Top Five Things I Love about Church Camp!

Just got back from a week of camp in Kentucky at White Mills Christian Camp.  It was a High School week and my bro was the Dean (program director).  I was the evening speaker and the theme of the week was, "Unbowed".  For me, nothing impacts your walk as a kid or student like church camp. NOTHING!  I know so many people who made a decision for Christ or were called into the ministry at church camp...it's an amazing experience.  I leave for another week coming up this next Sunday, to Camp Allendale for Corey's week!
#5 - Your whole family can go!  My family went with me this past week and it was awesome!
#4 - You get away from TV, Video Games, Internet, iPods, Cellphones, all the noise and distractions.
#3 - Camp Food, everyone need the bloaty, gassy, feeling you get from camp food!
#2 - QT; most weeks have Quiet Time built into the schedule.  Let's face it, most people don't!  You get devo's based on the week's theme and spend a good amount of time in your bible and praying!
#1 - Worship:  Camp worship is simply awesome!  I watched 118 high school students, raise their hands and pour out their hearts to God last week!  ("Mosteller" Rocked!!!)

What are you favorite things about Church Camp?

Good video...

Voice is a little annoying (says my wife), but I thought what he had to say was powerful!

Hangs in the Balance

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ambient Intimacy?

I didn't coin the phrase...it's from a Twitter Book that I received at a workshop this past week.  I've written on the subject of Twitter before, but wanted to share something about social networking that I always knew was there, but didn't know how to say it.  That is, until I came across the term "ambient intimacy."  Facebook, Twitter, even blogs are all ways that we can connect with others.  They hear things about us (what we had for lunch, who we are spending time with, how our day is going), they see pictures (of us, our kids, places we've been) and soon they can know more about us, get closer to us in a way that wasn't really possible just a few years ago.  I would encourage those who are on Facebook to Twitter, and those who Twitter to Facebook...try it for a few weeks, have fun with it!  But in case you don't believe me, here's a screen shot off from my mom's Facebook talking to my wife's mom, just so you know...I'm not making this stuff up!

On the Farm

We traveled over to Lia's parents home in Rush Co. today. Check out this list: family, 2 friends, golf cart rides, hot dogs, fresh fruit, fishing, pond swimming, paddleboat, mud, sprinkler, tire swing, hummingbirds, Lucky the dog, Winkler burgers, live cows, porch swing, GREAT DAY filled with memories!

"Prayer Coach" - Blog 1

 The L.E.A.D. Team at WRCC (Tim, Phil, Tammy, Derek & Me) are reading this book called, "Prayer Coach" by James L. Nicodem.  I wanted to take the time and spend about 4-5 blogs sharing with you some of the things that struck me from the book.  The whole point of the book is simple, to get the reader (ie. me) to pray more!  The book really talks about 3 things concerning prayer:  Patterns, Promptings & Passion.  Patterns are simple routines that help launch you into times of praying, Promptings is being sensitive to the Holy Spirit leading you to pray & Passion...well, passion is best explained by a quote from the book:  "If we're more apt to yawn than to weep when we pray, something is definitely wrong."
It discusses some obstacles to our prayers, such as, failure to plan, lack of purity, lack of peace (1 Peter 3:7 & Matt. 5:23-24), no passion...I could go on!  My desire is to NOT just read a book, but write down an action plan for my own prayer life.  Steps that I will take to remove obstacles and grow in my relationship with God!

LeBron speaks

I know a lot of people who just stay away from professional sports and stick with the College ranks!  I can really understand that; the purity of College Football & College Basketball (despite the occasional NCAA violation!) is refreshing to say the least.  I always like to watch any kind of athlete, college or pro, in the middle of victory or defeat.  How will they respond?  What will they say helped them to the top?  Or, what will be the cause of their loss?  We just celebrated another season of Upward Sports (Soccer, this time around).  Upward has taught both of my older children so much!  About the sports they've been involved in, teamwork and sportsmanship (Gold Star, right!!?).  I love the Gold Star and what it stands for, that despite a loss, you still shake hands, the competition was fierce, but a game is a game and being a good sport means something at any level!  In fact, the stakes are higher when there is more on the line!
  LeBron is LeBron, a fantastic player and athlete!  "King James" makes great commercials for ESPN!  He's amazing to watch!  But after Saturday night's loss he had this to say:
“It’s hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them,” he said. “I’m a winner. It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them. That doesn’t make sense to me. I’m a competitor. That’s what I do. It doesn’t make sense for me to go over and shake somebody’s hand.”
   I'm glad my little boy won't be reading what LeBron had to say...no Gold Star for you LeBron.

I love this commercial!

This commercial has intrigued me since I saw it!  I wanted to know how they made it...thanks YouTube! (not really, but that's where the video is from!)  It's a little lengthy, but at the end they give you some stats on what they used to make it and the timing.  Here you go!

Striken' & Spiken'

This year's summer men's event!!!

Lala

I had a friend tell me about a really cool website called "Lala".  It's like iTunes for your web browser!  Seriously, when you sign up you get 50 credits to add songs to your playlist, I used my to listen to the new, brand spankin' new Hillsong United album!  Now I can play it in my browser and enjoy all the time!  After that, you can add songs for just 10 cents!!  You can even connect it to your iTunes and play the songs you have on there!  Lots to mess with, Check it out!  If you like or love music and are a little cheap...it's pretty sweet.  Thanks MM! (no, not the candy...although...)