TUESDAY TIDBITS...Friday Style!

Hi all,
It has been a busy week so I thought I'd get my weekly tidbits to you when I had the chance. Enjoy the Morsels!
Steve

CULTURE TODAY ARTICLE OF THE WEEK - The New Good Night Kiss
OK, This article (more like a website about a book but with video) makes me seek. For all you parents and families please take a moment and learn about the new phenomenon amongst middle class white teenage girls in America. I think this will shock some of you! TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN....FOR THEIR SAKE...TALK TO THEM!

LINK OF THE WEEK - http://www.lgdtxtr.com/
for all of you out there who don't have a clue how to text or what is being communicated in a text message, here is a link to a site that does text translating into proper English. Do they have a site for Canadian to American...could sure use the help on occasion?!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - Winston Churchill
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."

SCRIPTURE OF THE WEEK - Matthew 18:10 (The Message)
"Watch that you don't treat a single one of these childlike believers arrogantly. You realize, don't you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?"
OK...I've been asked an awful lot about guardian angels and such...does this verse indicate that there are such beings? and it isn't just a "Message" translation several refer to angels as well. That said, do we all have angels? are they just for while we are children or while we are adults also? Lots of thoughts, would love to hear some feedback.

NEICSC CAMP FORMS - If you still need camp forms they are available at the church office or website as well as the camp website . Need to have them in by June 1st in order to qualify for the Early Bird rate as well as scholarship from the church.

MEMORIAL DAY!


Memorial Day or weekend is upon us and I have come to realize in my time here in the states, that this celebration is to be so much more than a simple three-day weekend that marks the beginning of summer. To many people, especially the nation's thousands of combat veterans, this day, which has a history stretching back all the way to the Civil War, is an important reminder of those who died in the service of their country. If you're looking for further information about Memorial Day check out http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html or even http://www.usmemorialday.org/
May we never forget the sacrifice the men and woman across the branches of the US Armed Forces gave in order to ensure our freedom. Thank you all those who have served or are currently serving.
Being Canadian, I can't help but remember all those who served as part of Canada's military in order to ensure those same freedoms enjoyed in the US. A very special "Thank You" to my Uncle George who has served in the Canadian Army for as long as I can remember. Thank you for your many years of sacrifice and service.
God Bless,
Steve

INTERESTING ARTICLES

Hi all,
I came across the following articles and thought they may be of interest to some of you. I got them from cpyu.org, a Christian culture site.
Enjoy!
Steve

Article 1 - Faith Leaders Struggle to Define Spiritual Maturity

Article 2 - Teenage Girls Sinking Under the Pressure to be Perfect

Article 3 - Cyberbulling Effects Half of US Teens

TUESDAY TIDBITS!

Hi all,

I hope you all have had the opportunity to enjoy your Mother's Day this past weekend. I trust you spoiled those moms nearest and dearest to you...at least called anyway!

Just to catch you up, it has been a busy past couple of weeks with the ending of our Prime Time Student Ministry for the summer, our thank you dinner for all our Prime Time Volunteers and know we hit Graduation season here in Iowa. The parties started this past weekend and continue through Sunday, with the culmination being the WCHS Graduation Ceremony on Sunday afternoon beginning at 2pm in Jeff gym. Also, this Wednesday WCHS is hosting their annual awards ceremony, dinner and Baccalaureate service. we are excited about his for a few reasons. First, one of our seniors at WCCOC is Lydia Sinnett and she will be 1 of 2 students speaking at the Baccalaureate service followed by myself. I consider it a real privilege to speak and am looking forward to it. And that's not all our church praise team has been asked to lead the worship time at the service. we are all excited about being involved in this years celebration.

TIDBITS ANYONE?!

VERSE OF THE WEEK - James 1:27 (The Message)
Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK - "THE MALE SOPRANO"
Click on the title above or click here to see Britain's Got Talent performer Greg Pritchard perform. You'll amazed at what you hear from this "ROCKER?!"

LINK OF THE WEEK - Webster City Church of Christ
Finally! Our church website is up and running! You can click on the link above or here to be taken to our site. Vic has done a wonderful job getting all the information from our staff and volunteers onto the site. Thanks Vic!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK -
"Faith is a living and unshakable confidence. a belief in God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake." -- Martin Luther

Later EH!
Steve

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!


To all the Mom's out there...THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO! Below is a short clip that may put a smile on your face today or maybe even give you that AAAAAWWWW! moment of the day.

I know it is a little early, but on behalf of sons everywhere,

Thank You & God Bless!


Steve

DOES YOUR CHURCH HAVE A BOARD - THEN YOU SHOULD READ THIS!!

Afternoon Everybody,

I just came across a couple of articles talking about church boards and some of the issues churches face in the midst of having them. The first is"Turn Your Church Board Into a Strategic Asset." The second is "How to Manage a Micro-Managing Board." Both were found on www.churchsolutionsmag.com and I highly recommend their website as an asset for plenty of ministry questions.

let me know what you think.

Later EH!
Steve

MONDAY MORNING TIDBITS

Hi All,

Sorry I didn't make it into "Blogworld" for my weekly Monday Morning Tidbits. It was simply that kind of a week, but today we are back and better then ever. EVEN A LITTLE LONGER THEN NORMAL...sorry about that!

Last week I had the privilege to take 5 of my current youth sponsors to Chicago and Willow Creek Church in order to attend their annual SHIFT student leader conference. Be watching for main session as well breakout session notes in the future. We had a phenomenal time learning, talking, daydreaming and even behaving like the students we lead on a weekly basis...enough said! All I have to say is I found out grass can't grow on a playground...take it for what it is worth! LOL!

This past Sunday was great. We got to celebrate our HS graduates of whom we had 6 this year. The list included Ashley Brakin, Shane Klaver, Josh Laird, Alison Miller, Lydia Mae Sinnett & Nate Treibel. Along with our HS Grads we also have 2 graduating from college. Lindsey Doolittle from Ozark Christian College and Donna Anderson from Iowa State University. CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ALL! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!

This past Wednesday was our last night of our Wednesday night student program known as Prime Time. We had a lot of great fun giving away our incentive program prizes, our class end of year parties and not to mention showing out students a PowerPoint presentation about our summer camp program. Speaking of camp he camp registration forms you need to sign your students up for camp will be available on our website this week. Both the Camper Registration form as well as the Camper Health form must be completed and signed by a staff member at WCCOC by June 1 2009 in order to receive the %50 discount we offer our students who go to camp. Be watching our website for the link or email me at wccocassociate@wmtel.net and I will send them to you.

TIDBITS ANYONE?!

VERSE OF THE WEEK - You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It's your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation."
(Matthew 12:34-37)

VIDEO OF THE WEEK - I'm a sucker for a good prank...this one fits the bill. Enjoy "The Kissing Prank."
VIDEO OF THE WEEK EXTRA!!!: Showed the video located at the bottom of this post in church on Sunday for our graduates.

LINK OF THE WEEK - A way to memorize scripture while at you computer desk is "Verse Minder." Check it out here.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - "I want to know God's thoughts... the rest are details."
Albert Einstein

Later EH!
Steve



MONDAY MORNING TIDBITS...PM EDITION

Hi all,

We hope you have all had a marvelous weekend. Amy and I had an Amazing time over in Cedar Rapids, IA at the "Marriage Experiment" conference hosted by Northbrook Baptist Church along with speakers Gary and Barbra Rosberg who, by the way will be hosting a "Date with a Purpose" evening on June 18th in Des Moines. It was a marvelous experience for us and we totally recommend everyone attend a marriage conference every couple of years in order to encourage both of you in your marriage. They are a great way to open up lines of communication and conversation between husband and wife. A great day for us, for sure!

TIDBITS ANYONE?!

1) VERSE(s) OF THE WEEK - Matthew 14:22 - 23
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone...

2) VIDEO OF THE WEEK - 2 for the price of 1 this week compliments of Britain Got Talent.
Video 1 is for all you closet Micheal Jackson fans. Video 2 is simply awesome.

Later EH!
Steve

HAPPY TAX DAY!


Wishing you all a Happy Tax Day! I know it isn't an official holiday and those of you who are in Canada have already filed, but I can still wish you a great day. That said, I realize that this day will not be so happy for some as it is for others, but I will remind you that "this is a day that the Lord has made and we shall rejoice in it." From BIG REFUND to LARGE PAY-INS and all that is in between, may you be blessed you have called upon the Lord this day and those to come.
Later EH!
Steve

MONDAY MORNING TIDBITS

HAPPY EASTER - Hope you all got to have a great Easter with your loved ones. To all our family we didn't get to see yesterday, "We miss you and look forward to seeing you all again soon." We had an awesome worship service yesterday! Mark and the praise team did a phenomenal job leading us and Ray spoke the word with clarity and relavence while examinining the details of Jesus' Resurrection. GREAT JOB BY ALL!

Here are you TIDBITS
1) Showed these 2 videos in our service yesterday and thought some of you may like to see them. Just click on their title, download if you like but most of all they are great reminders of not only Easter but forever and always what Christ has done for us and what we are now called to be and do! First up was "EASTER DRAWING" and our second video was entitled, "IT IS FINISHED."

2) VIDEO OF THE WEEK - RAPPING FLIGHT ATTENDANT

3) VERSE OF THE WEEK - Matthew 10:5-8 (The Message)
Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge:
"Don't begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously."

Later EH!
Steve

OH WHAT A NIGHT!

WOW! We had our largest attendance ever yesterday at our weekly youth group night known as Prime Time! It runs ages 3 through grade 12 and we had 142 students on campus for our Easter event last night. AWESOME! Amazing what God is doing through our volunteer staff as well as all the students that continue to invite their friends. Thank you to everyone who makes this night possible. Your sacrifice of time and energy for the sake of these students is making a difference! Thanks for all you do.

Later Eh!
Steve

CONVERT & SAVE YOU TUBE VIDEOS

In case any of you are interested in downloading or saving YouTube videos onto your ipod or pcu, here is a link to TUBESOCK that works great at it for a minimal price tag. ENJOY!

LATER EH!!
Steve

GREAT QUOTE

"If your church is serious about reaching the unchurched, you must be willing to put up with people who have a lot of problems…Fishing is often messy and smelly. Many churches want the fish they catch to be already scaled, gutted, cleaned, and cooked. That is why they never reach anyone." - Rick Warren

Later EH!
Steve

MARRIAGE CONFERENCE

Hi all,

One of the things our pastor told us when we got married (actually we were in premarital counseling) was to invest in each other by occasionally attending a marriage conference. We asked, WHY?! Ray's response, "Marriage conferences are not simply a marriage saving place, they are a place where you can go, learn, share, communicate and enjoy each other away from the stresses of life." I'll always remember those words.

That said, I thought I would throw out there a couple of links to some better known marriage conferences and give you all an opportunity to participate if you wish. All of these events have different dates and locations. Be watching for an event in your area or spoil your spouse and take them on an extended weekend.


FAMILY LIFE'S "WEEKEND TO REMEMBER" CONFERENCE
(Friday Evening thru Sunday noon event)


THE GREAT MARRIAGE EXPERIENCE with Gary and Barb Rosberg
(1 day Seminar)

CELEBRATE YOUR MARRIAGE
(Various Events and Speakers)

"A GROWING MARRIAGE" CONFERENCE by Dr. Gary Chapman
(1 Day Seminar)


REMEMBER...YOU NEED TO INVEST IN ONE ANOTHER!

God Bless,
Steve

VACATION 2009 - FLORIDA (part 2)















Next up was Thursday and that meant a trip over to Tampa where we stayed at The Embassy Suites (pictured above) after earlier in the evening watching the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightening play in the first NHL game either of us had seen in person. It was amazing...Loved every minute of it. Even ran across lots of folks from the maritimes as well as a friend from the PEI.
Speaking of the Maritimes, Friday saw us travel South to Pompano Beach where my grandparents Nan and Pop, a.k.a. Jack and Frances Williams (pictured above) spend a few months every winter. We loved being able to visit with them. They are great folks and we loved every minute we had with them.
Saturday meant home to Iowa. As you can see, we had a great time while we were on VA-K as Amy likes to say, holiday for all the Canadians out there.
Later Eh!
Steve

VACATION 2009 - FLORIDA


Just got back from our vacation to Florida so I thought I would post a few pics and links of the trip. Our first 5 nights were spent at The Fountains, a BlueGreen Resort in Orlando (pictured to the left). It was amazing and we loved every minute of it.

While in Orlando we went to Universal Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom and of course we got lots of shopping done, just to fill in the downtime!

No pics of the trip as of yet since we still don't have a digital camera...waiting for the film to get developed!

Shopping stops included Prime Outlets International and Orlando Premium Outlets. Mom, you would love these places! We also stopped at golf stores, clothing stores and even a flea market as we came across them and they tweaked our interest.

More to come!
Later Eh!
Steve

MARRIAGE - WHAT IS IT?

Lately marriage has been under attack, be it Satan trying to destroy married couples or the very definition of marriage as being between a man and woman. Our media has done nothing of substance to help marriage as has been all to eager to support homosexual marriage. Take Newsweek Magazine for example. They included an article entitled "Our Mutual Joy" in their Dec. 15 edition that greatly condemns the Bible, it's authority, value and insight into today's issues. Not to mention taking biblical text and using them out of context and incorrectly to support a liberal view of life...a very common trend in the world around us.

Please take time to read this response by Focus on the Family senior vice president Tom Minnery as he allows those of a trusted biblical background to respond to the accusations made in the Newsweek article.

HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES!



All I have to say is WOW! I don't often let my Canadian heritage be known...okay not true, but I can't help saying that the hockey game Canada had against Russia in the semi-final of the World Junior hockey tournament was awesome! It was a back and forth game, that saw Canada tie the game with less then 5 seconds left in the 3rd period! Both teams went scoreless through the sudden death overtime period which led them to a shootout where Canada outlasted the Russians. IT WAS AMAZING...I found myself on the edge of my chair for the last 20 minutes of action as well as the shootout! AWESOME! Can't wait for the gold medal game on Monday against Sweden. My poor wife is finally getting a taste of the passion Canadians have for hockey since this is the first time we have had the World Juniors available here in Iowa. I'll let you know how it all ends up!

Later Eh!