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the gathering roadtrip

so i headed out for a road trip with some of my students last nite to an event in north canton hosted by a Kingdom ally – Joel Daniel Harris. i intentionally asked a few students who are prospective leaders in our student ministry.  the evening was billed as a…

night for middle school and high school students to come together for worship, to meet new people on a similar journey in Christ, to pray for one another, and to connect with God. Joining youth from across NE Ohio, The Gathering is an opportunity to have a night of worship to remind us that we are not alone but are joining in this journey with Christ together, no matter our church.

one cool aspect while waiting to enter was "photo boothes" with photographers snapping fun pictures like this one of our team: in front - Maddie & Sara and back row, Mitch, me and Jamie.

The theme was “Who Are You?” and  Joel and his team did a great job of making the evening an amazing time.  for the students i took it was a good investment of time.  All three were really encouraged by the time of worship and teaching.  the biggest surprise and blessing for me was these three students answering the challenging question for the night…who are you in Christ.  Two of the students responded “leader”.  in both cases i know these students have  the capacity and i’ve been trying for awhile to encourage them to step up and lean into that calling.  last night was a huge confirmation.

another area youth pastor tim beck and his students made this video as a set up for the message.

and here’s a nice little wrap up.

The Gathering happens regularly…you can find out more about it at facebook.com/330gathering

2011 buh bye!

with the new year just a few days away…always enjoy the good work of the folks at jib-jab to put ithe past year in perspective…enjoy.  praying 2012 is blessed!

best nativity set

so my pal marko’s website blew up this week after he blogged on the 27 worst nativity sets….literally tens of thousands of folks stopped by to see some really bad nativity ideas (his blog post even made it to the home page of the huffington post today).

that said i think i’ve stumbled on a really creative nativity set that (disclsoure: I received a free outdoor nativity set to review and keep in exchange for a blog post) was sent to me by andrew brown at outdoor nativity sets that you might want to consider.

truthfully i’ve been looking for a number of years for some kind of a weather resistant CHRISTtmas display beyond the typical plastic or painted plywood types.  this product i think is worth consideration. its cut from marine grade plastic to withstand the weather conditions for years and has a simple design…and incredibly easy and quick to setup. here’s a vlog on what the set looks like and my thoughts.

i was not only impressed by the outdoor nativity but also by the mission of this family owned manufacturing company in central Florida that primarily builds for the marine industry.  its impressive that because of the downturn in the economy the owners sought to find another niche in the market place to maintain gainful employment for their employees.  According to the letter i got from Andrew Brown….

the nativity project has saved 8-10 jobs last year alone and was the best selling Outdoor CHRISTmas Decoration on Amazon.  So instead of layoffs we were working overtime!

that concept alone is enough to truly consider sprucing up your neighborhood with a cool image of what CHRISTmas time is all about reminding all about one of those cool nicknames of Jesus…Emmanuel- God is with us.

night time look at the outdoor nativity at our house.

So Outdoor Nativity has a truly unique product and some other items worth checking out….please visit their online store here.

 

in addition to the Outdoor Nativity Sets let me put a plug in for my friend and Kingdom Ally, Chip Richter.  Lot’s of fun traditional CHRISTmas music on his cd from last year.  (if you watch the video above you’ll hear his rendition of Jose Feliciano’s Feliz Navidad).   You can sample the entire album and download it as mp3′s via his online store hereUPDATE: Chip says CD Baby is currently out of stock! More have been shipped to them but in the meantime if you want to contact him directly for a CD for Christmas e-mail him here

 

Social Media Relevance

Michael Hyatt posted this quote from Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki on his blog…

If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.

Grasping the idea of change in our culture and world is made even more aware by this new and revised video on the impact of the social media revolution via the folks at http://www.socialnomics.net .  Getting our minds around this firehose of information is critical.  its the world we live in.  i love the tension provided by the amazing soundtrack.  the world is indeed a very small place.    ht len sweet

red tails – protect the heavens

on this Veteran’s Day…we give tribute to those in uniform who have and continue to valiantly serve our country.  the stories that have been told and retold of those who gave of their full measure for our freedoms.  so while watching the Quicken Loan Aircraft Carrier Classic which in itself is another cool tribute and amazing and cool thing.   But some how i had missed this… a new movie soon to be released.   WOW!  to think that George Lucas has been working on this tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American combat pilots during World War II since 1988. well done. january 20th can’t come quick enough.

“at all cost we protect the heavens”

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