Crazy Dog From The Soup.

My 300th Post!!!! Youth Group Thanksgiving Dinner

Last night we had our annual youth group thanksgiving dinner. It went off great and it was a great time of being together with each other! I am so thankful for this group of kids that I get to work with! Thank you to Sarah who did so much! I love you and Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a great bite!

Catalyst One Day

Last Thursday I was able to attend the Catalyst One Day event at Granger Community Church with my good friends Bryan Donaugh and Ryan Van Matre. It was a challenging day that has given me confidence in many areas of my life. God really worked on my heart and challenged me. Steve Fee led worship and I got my pic taken with him! He is my FAVORITE worship leader out there today...he is amazing! Also, Craig Groeschel and Andy Stanley spoke amazing things into my life! Here are some pics:

Christ in Christmas- December newsletter article

We've all heard the old rant that goes something along the lines of "don't let people take Christ out of Christmas" and all the soapboxers talking about people and what they are turning Christmas into. It bothers me that people who represent the church are often times known for what they are against and what they do not allow rather than being known for what they are for and what they are all about! I'm going to let you in on a secret...there is only one person who can take Christ out of your Christmas: It's YOU!
There are a lot of things that pull us and demand our attention during this season and too often we let them become the focus. Plays, musicals, family get-togethers, traveling to all these things and many more things that are really good parts of this season and should be priorities high on your list. However, if they are ahead of remembering the real reason behind the Christmas holiday there is only one person responsible for that. So this Christmas take the time to stop often during the madness and remember the age old story of salvation and love and sacrifice that was born in a lowly manger. Take the time to realize that God loves you so much and you are worth the sacrifice of sending His only Son to earth. Take the time to share what you have realized and come to believe about Christ. That is what Christmas is all about. Christ will never be taken out of your Christmas unless you forget what Christmas is.

Brandon Heath -

This is my prayer today...

Vacation

Hey all...Vacation was great! Here is a few tidbits:

1. We slept in (mainly Sarah) every day and then woke up and ate breakfast for lunch.

2. We went to Caribou Coffee pretty much every day and played Scrabble and Ingenious and then read some while just relaxing

3. We went and watched Fireproof. It was better than what I expected and the message is one that every married couple or couple that is thinking about getting married should hear.

4. Lake Geneva is beautiful but there isn't alot to do for the average folk

5. Sarah was getting whipped by me in Scrabble at the beginning of the week but she turned the tables at the end.

6. We did a whole bunch of nothing and it was exactly what we needed! It was nice not to have a plan or something that NEEDED to be done.

7. We celebrated my 27th birthday on Sunday and then our 3rd anniversary on Wednesday...we always have a blast together no matter what we are doing

8. We couldn't figure out how to spell that big long word from the movie Mary Poppin's ...how do you spell it?

9. Wisconsin has some weird street lights...they are on the sides rather than being overhead. Also, the streets in Lake Geneva had crazy angles and you had to pay to park...keep your cheese I'll take my basketball

10. I love doing anything and nothing as long as I'm with Sarah...

Target Lady from SNL

I love this skit!

Brooke Fraser - Shadowfeet

To all those who think that the world is ending...this song is for you. Listen to the chorus when everything is through we are found in Him! Be encouraged, God is still close by

Weekly update

Hey...just wanted to update before we ...


1. Go on vacation! We are going to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. So excited to be able to get away for a while. This is an anniversary trip disguised to look like a vacation or something... oh well...Pics to follow...

2. My birthday is coming up this sunday...and I cannot wait for my birthday present from Sarah (IU tickets to a game at Lucas Oil Stadium December 6th!).

3. Our anniversary is a week from tomorrow. 3 years already...I'm amazed at the love that God has given Sarah and I and cannot wait to see what tomorrow, let alone the rest of our lives, will bring! I love you Sarah!

4. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas so we can see the family. It is really hard when you don't live close to your family and you are in the ministry to see family that often. We miss them.

5. I'm trying to learn the piano...but it isn't nearly as easy teaching piano to yourself as it was guitar...ugh

6. I love it when you hear an old song that you haven't heard and it brings back some awesome memory that you had forgot about. Here's to old songs!

7. Do grown-ups (over 22) still make Christmas and birthday lists? Do you? I don't...but if I did I would put a new mp3 player on it...one that you can charge with a cpu rather than buying batteries all the time

8. What is up with the weather? I thought I saw snow on the ground last week and now it is in the 70's? C'mon...one or the other...don't play with me!

9. Does it seem to anyone else that time is just flying by? I cannot believe that it is November and that I'll be 27 next week! Wow...

10. IU's first exhibition game is this Friday against...Anderson University...yeah the Anderson University from Anderson, Indiana...where I grew up and graduated High School! Go IU!

Have a great rest of the week and a great week while I'm on vacation drinking lemonade

Halloween and A Walk in the Park

Meredith Andrews - You're Not Alone

Mind games

Sarah and I love watching reality tv. More truthfully, I loved it before we got married and now she likes it (i don't know if she really likes it or just watches it with me). Anyway...last night there was a challenge that required the contestants to have their hands and feet bound while holding a weight that would take them down to the floor of the ocean (12 feet where they were) and then back up. The last person to let go of their weight would win the challenge. It became quickly apparent that this was more of a mental challenge than a physical one.

It got me thinking, most of life is a mental challenge. I've had a really challenging week mentally. There are battles that wage that no one around knows is going on. Things that we are all thinking but never speak out loud. How much do we think and never ever say? Think about that...what do you think the ratio to thoughts thought vs thoughts spoken really is? We've become a somewhat transparent society in which people are who they are and can dress, act, date and live any which way they want to. Our actions aren't hard to read. But what about our thoughts?
The great baseball player and now Aflac spokesperson Yogi Berra once was quoted as saying, "90% of this game is half mental". Our minds wage wars that really never come out in our every day-walking around-going from here to there lives. Still, it affects us and it goes to the core. We deal with these things that even our closest friends and family members never now about or ever will. These things change us and change our attitudes and reactions and color our perspective on life. Yet they go unsaid. They go unspoken and seem to linger until those quiet moments in life. All that to say this:

Even though some of the largest battles that we will face never have words or letters behind them, God knows. He simply just knows and He cares.

Ezekiel 11:5
Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and he told me to say, “This is what the Lord says to the people of Israel: I know what you are saying, for I know every thought that comes into your minds.

You are not alone in your battles. The ones that people can see. The addictions that people can see. The disagreements that people can see. Almost more comforting is knowing that we are not alone in the deeper battles that no one sees. Those fears and scars that only you and God know about. You're not alone. Listen to the song I posted above and just remember that you are NOT alone in your battles spoken or not!

Family Guy Puke-A-Thon

Pumpkin Night 08 edition

Hey here are some pics from our 4th annual pumpkin carving night for the youth group. The carnivore pumpkin came in first and the joker pumpkin came in second.

Encouraging word

Romans 12:9-19 (The Message)
Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

11-13Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

14-16Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.

17-19Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."

Jellyland Update 10.27.08

1. The overnighter went well. The service was amazing! Teens really coming to grips that God LOVES them! One of the best memories I've had at Shiloh for sure.

2. We went to Lazer X in Ft. Wayne and I came in 2nd out of 37 ppl the first game and 1st of out 37 the second game! It is a blast...

3. Sarah and I went to Ft. Wayne on Thursday for a birthday haircut and dinner with the Peggster. It was good...I got an Italian leather wallet for my b -day from Peggy...she just got back from Italy...

4. October is almost over and that means November is here and November is my favorite month...hands down. My birthday, anniversary, vacation...IU basketball starts...Thanksgiving and the start of the Christmas season!

5. I restrung my guitar for the first time last week...I was worried I'd mess something up but it was good.

6. Basketball started on Tuesday night at Plymouth Wesleyan Church. I'm so thankful that they let me come and play...they also just built a new gym with maple hardwood floors! It is nice

7. I'm either tied or in first place in all four of my fantasy football leagues after this past weekend! I know...I'm a geek...deal with it

8. A couple of kids from the youth group have started playing along with me during worship. one is playing the drums and doing a great job! The other is learning guitar and he is coming along really well. It is fun to be able to play music with other people.

9. I stink at Rock Band. I cannot drum to save my life! I'm ok at the singing but I felt stupid doing it...

10. Last but most importantly....God loves us. He LOVES us! Oh how He LOVES us... don't you ever forget that!

LSU vs. USC referee

Updates

Here is an update on the Jellison's of the North:


1. Sarah started the meds for her thyroid problem! That is a big praise!

2. My hand is fully functional...finally.

3. We have an overnighter coming up this Friday. Should be a blast! I am using a lot of ! today...

4. We leave for vacation in 17 days...we are going to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for a whole lot of nothingness.

5. The leaves are amazing...especially down my favorite road here

6. There are some youth that are starting to play worship with me on Sunday nights...it is cool to see this finally happening!

7. IU had it's first practice last Friday night...granted they might be bad this year...still I will watch every game to the end and root the same as if they were the best team in the country...because they are (in my book)! lol

8. Tri-Way Theatre is closed for the season. We love this place...


9. I'm loving the song that I posted a few days ago, "How He Loves". It has this great line that says that "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us"! Wow...

10. Sarah's birthday is thursday....Happy Birthday....I love you so much

The Presidential election

I have to say, I hate politics. I rarely listen to anything that has to do with elections. However, this year has been different. There are so many different things going on and with our country where it is, this election seems to loom larger than others. So...I am not going to be a homer but I just want to say this and be done with it:


I think a lot of people are going to vote for Obama not because of what he stands for or against but because he is different. Some say a lot of people are voting for him because he is black and that sparked something in my mind. Mind you, I am not an authority on Martin Luther King , and I really don't know where he'd stand on a lot of today's issues. However I do know this: He wouldn't want people voting for Barack Obama because he is black. He said so himself.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

If you don't think people are voting for Obama because of who he is and not what he stands for check out the stevansheets.com blog about a clip from the Howard Stern Show (of all places!).

It goes both ways. If we are judging charcater by what you stand for or stand against, then Barack Obama shouldn't be allowed to represent our country. A country who was founded on Biblical principles and whose currency says in God we trust. As a Christian we aren't defined by whatever color we are...we should be defined by who we are in Christ.

He is radical in his voting, his beliefs and if he wins this election those things will be seen.

Still I know this, whoever wins in a few weeks won't change the fact that my God still reigns. He is still in control and come November 5th that won't change. (I'm off my soapbox now)

How He Loves Us - Kim Walker / Jesus Culture

all I can say is wow...