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Santa Cow Yes I Said Santa Cow!
2007-12-09 06:15:00
Who knew Chick-fil-A had their own version of Santa Claus, “Santa Cow.”  If you have a Chick-fil-A in your area see if they are featuring “Santa Cow” and go get your picture taken with him, it’s pretty cool. Check out this picture of my kids with “Santa Cow,” they loved it.

Jott!
2007-12-07 05:07:00
Back on 11/10 I posted (click here to check out my first post about Jott) about a new software that let’s you use the web with your voice. They have come out with quite a few new features since my first post, so here is the update. Jott now has partnered with 18 different companies in an effort to make our lives more productive and efficient. I was particularly impressed with their new partnership with Google calendar. How cool would it be for instance to be able to post an event into your Google calendar while driving down the road, all by using your voice. Here is a short letter from the Jott team in Seattle explaining some of their new features. Dear Jotters, We’ve been working hard on the official release of the Google Calendar Jott Link, and we’re happy to announce it’s finally here. Why is this cool? Because you can now create a Google Calendar event in a single step, from anywhere, simply using your voice. Just call Jott, say “Google Calendar”, and then the ...

Order of the Ancient - Chapter 8
2007-12-07 01:08:00
  Was Brent dreaming or not? Well he was definitely going to be late as usual for the Academy. This was not the day to be late, he had an orientation with the President of the Academy, Dr. Mowry. He started the orientation by stateing the three values of the Academy, Community, Compliance and Conformity. Brent automatically started to tune Dr. Mowry out and finally it was Brent’s turn for his individual personal challenge.  Brent was pretty nervous but it went well and at the end of the meeting as Dr. Mowry had his back turned towards Brent. He snuck a peak at Dr.Mowry’s computer screen and learned some pretty valuable information about himself. Could he really possibly be adopted? As Brent went to his next period on the sport fields he noticed a boy kneeling just like Jeremiah had been doing in the park. Brent had to know what was he doing. So he spoke up and asked what are you doing? The Boy wouldn’t answer him and so he asked again and still know answer. ...
More About: Order , Ancient , Chapter , Chapter 8

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!
2007-12-06 01:03:00
Well maybe not three “Let it Snow ’s”  but at least one. It has been a pretty cold day, I think the high has been in the 30’s. The local weather is saying it is going to be cold through the weekend. It is then supposed to be in the high 60’s on Monday, unbelievable. Well for today it is snowing outside the RCC offices and it is a beautiful site. I really wish it would snow 8-12 inches, that would be awesome. It would be so great to have a White Christmas. This snow makes me feel like a kid again, so check out the pictures one of the other pastors took with his iPhone.

Josiah and the Mysterious Child!
2007-12-05 06:05:00
I know I said that I was going to post today about the Order of the Ancient - Chapter 8, but this new Order of the Ancient short story released just today is to good for me to pass up. So Chapter 8 “The Troubling Truth” will have to wait until tomorrow. Karl Bastian, The Kidologist has done it again! I agree with Karl and so I am going to let a quote from him say what I want to say. “Forget the Golden Compass - Harry Potter - or boring familiar Christmas stories. Return to the high tech undercover world from the Order of the Ancient.” Josiah and the Mysterious Child tells the Christmas story in an exciting and engaging way. I am right in the middle of reading The Order of the Ancient to my family and so we took a break and I read all three chapters of Karl’s new short story tonight.   IT WAS AWESOME and it even answered a few questions for my kids about the full length novel. Not only did I order a personal copy for my family I also ordered gro...

25 Days of Christmas Music!
2007-12-04 13:22:00
I was checking Karl Bastian’s Blog and found some pretty cool songs for Christmas . If your into the big band music you’ll love these free downloads put together by his director of web operations Steve Tanner.  You can download one free song per day. Click the picture below to start downloading.
More About: Music , Christmas Music , Days

“Monday Morphosis” 6 daily habits that will change your body fo
2007-12-04 01:05:00
  Back on October 1 I blogged about Doctor Oz and today on my day off I saw him again on TV. I have been thinking a lot lately about my physical body and the fact that I am not getting any younger. The question came to my mind, what are some simple things that I can do on a daily basis to change my body for the better? I found this list on Dr. Oz’s website and thought this is simple, pratical and I could really probably do this stuff over the long term. So here is the list and I hope it will be an encouragement to you as it was to me and make it a great week. 6 everyday basics to do . . . uh, every day If you do nothing else, make these life-lengthening habits part of your daily routine: 1. Walk for 30 minutes. You can hoof it all at once, or break it into two 15-minute or three 10-minute sessions . . . just get your body moving and your heart rate going! Aim to take 10,000 steps a day — a pedometer will help you track your steps. 2. Floss and brush the teeth you ...
More About: Daily , Body , Change , Habits , Morphosis

Order of the Ancient - Chapter 7
2007-12-03 21:51:00
  The Gathering, Wow what a title for a chapter. Brent was pretty excited about finding the Gathering at the community park but was also chilled at the fact that he was not wearing his DP (DataPortal) after all it was highly illegal to be caught without your DP. Brent was following his directions to the entrance of the Gathering given to him by Jeremiah, when all of a sudden his hand was not their anymore. He panicked and of course pulled back his arm, was this the entrance that he was looking for? Soon Brent had discovered the edges of an invisible doorway, was this it? My kids at this point in our story where on the edge of their seats. They were asking questions like, what would Brent find? Where would he go? and who would be their waiting for him? So I did my usual taunting by saying I was tired and I needed to stop so that we all could go to bed. This drove them crazy and I loved it, my kids not so much so I continued reading. As Brent passed through the invisible ...
More About: Order , Ancient , Chapter , Chapter 7

A little peace and quiet this Christmas!
2007-11-29 23:38:00
I was finishing up our services for Promiseland for this weekend, when I came across a video that expresses my feelings for this season pretty well. Christmas is always such a busy time of year and sometimes all I want is just a little peace and quiet. I am not saying that I want to slow down as far as reaching out to people this Christmas which my church does very well. I am just saying that amist all the parties, shopping, gift giving, parades, decorating and just overall busyness that this time of year seams to bring with it. I could use just a little peace and quiet to focus on what this time of year is really all about and that is JESUS being born for me and everyone else.  I hope I am not the only one that feels this way? Check out the video below! WPvideo 1.10 Download!
More About: Peace , Quiet

Are we as children’s ministers in the know?
2007-11-28 23:47:00
  Are we as children’s ministers in the know on kid society? This is a question that has been bugging me ever since a conversation with my 10 year old daughter just yesterday. I was on iTunes with my wife and we saw a particular song by a group called Soulja Boy.  My Daughter spoke up and said “they have a cool dance.” Apparently they have a song called Crank That and all the kids get together on the playground and do a dance to this song. Then my 9 year old son speaks up and says “they do have a cool dance.” I had never heard of this group or this song and the positive or negative influence that it could have on my kids. Why did I not know who this group, song or dance was? I thought I was pretty up on what went on within the whole kid society. I guess Not!  This was a wake up call for me and I realized that I need to dig into more kid oriented websites, magazines and publications in general. I believe we as children’s ministers need to at l...
More About: Children , Ministers

Update on Uncle Charlie
2007-11-27 18:36:00
  I hope many of you will remember me blogging almost two weeks ago (Click here to read my first post) about Uncle Charlie . I have an update via Ryan Franks blog. He was released from the hospital Saturday night. He ended up with 14 broken ribs, a broken sternum, a broken ankle, multiple compound fractures in his guitar-strummin’ hand, and some internal injuries. He is still on pain medication and has a long road ahead of him to full recovery. Charlie lives on a very modest income and is going to need some financial assistance and here is how we can help. For the next two weeks, Kidzmatter is going to slash the price of their Worship Aid DVDs and give every penny of the proceeds to Charlie. Worship Aid normally sells for $24.95. For two weeks, you can use the coupon code charlie at checkout and save 50% on this DVD. Why not put two or three of them in the shopping cart. You and your kids will enjoy the DVD and Uncle Charlie will be blessed. Thanks for your love and support...
More About: Update

“Monday Morphosis” Don’t Be Afraid To Shake It Up!
2007-11-26 20:52:00
I am always about change and I have realized lately that I need to shake up my children’s ministry a bit in order for it to be even more effective and have even more energy, excitement and enthusiasm for the families in the community that I serve. I use a lot of technology in my children’s ministry starting with our computerized self check-in process all the way to our video dramas. I have kind of let technology take over even when I speak to the kids on a Sunday morning. I have realized that I need to get back to some of what I call the basics of children’s ministry (object lessons, puppets etc…) that are still very effective in today’s technologically minded society. I did an experiment this last Sunday in which I did a basic object lesson without the use of technology. What I found was that the kids (K-5) loved it. I normally use videos or video stills on the big screen with the use of sound effects while I speak to the kids, but the overwhe...
More About: Morphosis , Monday , Raid

Order of the Ancient - Chapter 6
2007-11-24 03:50:00
  Well Brent has been at the Academy for a little while now and believe me he is pretty settled in. In fact he is so settled in that he wants the answer to some questions he has. Brent finally couldn’t resist and he started asking Mr. Nietze his Unified World History professor a lot of questions which were by the way very honest and legitament questions.   Is there some ideas and beliefs that contradicted each other? To my surprise the answer Mr. Nietze gave him was yes. So Brent kept asking other questions and finally Mr. Nietze got so mad that he sent him to the the Assistant Dean’s (Mr. Foodes) office. It didn’t seem like to me that any of the faculty at the Academy wanted to be questioned about there beliefs or why. Brent realized that there would be no higher thinking at his new school. I love this next part of chapter 6 when it looks like Brent will finally find out what is on that lengendary third floor of the science & research building. S...
More About: Order , Ancient , Chapter , Chapter 6

Thanksgiving!
2007-11-22 00:26:00
HI EVERONE Have a great, wonderful, family oriented, thankful to God, turkey stuffing, lip smacking, couch lying, dessert tasting, eating every two hours, football watching, serving others and building relationships Thanksgiving !!!!!!! I hope your Thanksgiving Turkey turns out better than the Swedish Chefs! WPvideo 1.10 Download!
More About: Hank

What a great evening with Karl Bastian and his family!!!
2007-11-21 06:00:00
It was a great evening for my family and I to be able to have the opportunity to set down with Karl Bastian (the kidologist) and his family and just chill together. I had such a great time getting to know Karl, Sarah and Luke and I realized these guy’s are just like us they love to minister to kids and their families and they love to equip and encourage those who minister to children. As I walked away from Giuseppe’s Italian Cafe, I thought that was encouraging and equipping for me. I also realized that through Karl’s basic positive interactions (magic tricks etc…) with my kids, I really needed to pick back up some of those basic skills that I love and kids love to. So thank you Karl, Sarah and Luke for taking your time as a family to meet and encourage my family. It Was Awesome, and I look forward to a great ongoing relationship.
More About: Family , Great , Evening , T A G

“Monday Morphosis” Change your family and the families in your
2007-11-20 06:00:00
I really like the show journey man on NBC on Monday nights. As I am watching it and seeing the main character travel through time, he is spending less and less time with his family. He keeps talking about how he needs to help more people through his travels and all the time he is loosing the people that need his help the most, his family. I started thinking about my own life and ministry and wondering am I helping the people that need me the most, my family? Now before I go any further with this post, please don’t misunderstand what I am saying, I totally believe in balance and I am not saying that we shouldn’t help those families in our ministries. I do believe we in full-time ministry have a real tendency to put the ministry before our biggest ministry of all, our families. I know as well as anyone that the ministry is not a 9 to 5 job and at times it can be very demanding and I am ok with that. The Barna Group said that in 2005 44% of adults say that having a satisf...
More About: Family , Change , Morphosis , Families

Thanksgiving, what a great time to show others that we care!
2007-11-19 23:13:00
This last weekend was a very busy time for me and a lot of people at RCC. We have a lot of practical ways throughout the year that we show our community at large that we care. Thanksgiving is one of the those times and we made a big impact in the lives of 72 families here in our own  Henrico County area.  Check out the 72 Thanksgiving boxes that families from our church brought in for needy families in our community. This article was not meant as a bragging tool, but I hope it has encouraged you, honored God and has shown that we can make a difference in the lives of the families in our communities that we serve. I also hope this article has encouraged you and your ministry or even your family to get involved in your community programs and even funnel them through your church or organization. After all it really is all about making a positive impact in the lives of the people around us.
More About: Time , Show , Great , Care

Pray for Uncle Charlie!
2007-11-16 21:10:00
  I was reading Ryan Franks blog and he mentioned a very serious matter that I feel we need to pray about. Uncle Char lie a nationally known kids worship leader was in a very serious head-on collision yesterday. Charlie is okay although he has a long road ahead of him. He has some fractured ribs, a fractured sternum, and his right arm was broken in several places. I know that two out of three of our current worship songs for my children’s ministry Promiseland are done by Uncle Charlie. He has a great ministry impacting thousands of kids lives each week for God.  Two ways that we can help Charlie right now are: 1. Pray for his continued and speedy recovery and let’s get as many people praying in our families, organizations and ministries as possible. 2. Send him a letter or card of encouragement and you might even get your ministry or organization to send one to him as well. Cards can be sent to: Charlie Bancroft Upward Bound Ministries 4729 S.E. Sunnymead Drive...

Mystery $100 Million Donation!
2007-11-15 16:55:00
  Wow, Wow & Wow what could your organization or ministry accomplish for God with a donation like this. I was listening to GMA this morning as usual and I couldn’t believe my ears, you don’t hear of this kind off funding happening everyday or even every year for that matter. Check the article out at the link below. After you have checked it out, please get back on my blog and comment on what you think you would do if an anonymous donor gave you or your organization a donation like this? http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=385 4673
More About: Donation , Mystery , Million , Myst

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover!
2007-11-15 05:40:00
This month in my children’s ministry here at RCC, I am talking about how everyone is unique and that we shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. I am convinced that society say’s when your different you should be treated different. I don’t mean different in a good way, I mean different like being treated as an outcast. People (especially kids) for some weird reason are pretty gun shy of other people that are different. We don’t know what to do and how to react, so we react in a sometimes very judgemental and negative way.    The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12:4 ”There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given by the same spirit.”  Wow, this tells me that we need to be training up our kids and ourselves to first get to know people and find out what what they are all about before we start to say outcast. In fact should we ever say outcast? Did Jesus ever say outcast?   Recent studies in August 2007 by the Barna G...
More About: Judge , Book , Cover

Boys Will Be Boys!
2007-11-13 23:43:00
My Senior Pastor on occasion will give the rest of the pastoral staff articles that have really spoken to him and he wants to pass it on. The article this time was titled  “On Rallying Boys to a ‘Dangerous’ Standard of Normalcy”  and it really spoke to me as well. As I was reading the article I was reminded of an answer Dr. James Dobson gave to a parent entitled “Should Young Boys Play with Toy Guns?”  Here is the nutshell version of the answer he gave on his daily radio broadcast. Dear Selena: Little boys are naturally drawn to games like cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, and playing with toy soldiers. It’s just the way they are wired. Play that centers around themes of right and wrong and good and evil actually shows that a child is developing a moral compass inside. For years the radical feminist movement has been attempting to “feminize” boys, trying to get boys to act more like girls. These efforts are misguided...

“Monday Morphosis” 7 ways to improve your children’s mini
2007-11-12 21:45:00
Our RCC Promiseland services last Sunday ended up great, but they didn’t start out that way. So as I am reflecting on last Sunday I thought, what would be a basic list of seven things that could be done to make anyones children’s ministry services run more smoothly. 1. Don’t run your children’s ministry in a vacuum.  Many children’s ministries focus too heavily on very specific role based information. We only give the information to the people working solely in that position. I will admit this really takes a total paradigm shift in our thinking as a ministry. But we need to give more broad information to everyone in our ministries so that the regular attenders and guests can be helped by everyone that they may come into contact with, during services. 2. Determine exactly how you want your volunteers to give ”Customer Service” to those attending your services. Looking back on past children’s ministry services, I see that we...
More About: Children , Mini , Improve , Morphosis , Monday

Order of the Ancient - Chapter 5
2007-11-12 03:15:00
  “Brent’s Ascent Hover Board XL4″ Brent sure likes to walk a lot I think I need to take a lesson from Brent and start walking myself. Wow, I didn’t see this one coming. Mrs. McMann Brent’s old teacher at George Washington elementary is a part of the Remnant and her real name is Rahab. She even fixed Brent’s test so that he could get into the Academy. Brent finally got his own Hoverboard XL4 (how cool is that?) to ride to school. It was given to him by a Mrs. K from the Academy, who is that anyway? I can’t believe Brent had to have his mom get him blue jeans at a retro store, Wow jeans are now retro! Finally Brent met his soon to be mentor Jeremiah, who whould eventually train him up in the ways of the Sovereign. My kids and I finally learned what the year of purification was all about and it wasn’t a good thing at all. Brent’s DP (Data Portal) it is so cool, Brent can read interactive comic books on it, man I want one. Wh...
More About: Chapter 5 , Order , Ancient , Chapter

Jott!
2007-11-10 17:41:00
  Hi Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Jott. Jott is a really cool technology that I found this morning on my travels on the internet and here’s what it will do. You can make one phone call and Jott will transcribe this into an email, text message, create a to do list or reminder and even post this to your blog if you choose. In fact this post is a live example of what Jott can do. I recorded this post this morning and it was transcribed for you right here to read on my blog. The best part it is FREE! Click the picture below to check it out for yourself and I hope it can be a help to you. Powered by

Careful Blogging!
2007-11-09 22:14:00
Pastor Kevin our youth pastor here at RCC wrote a great post earlier today on his blog and I wanted to add my thoughts to what he was saying. The internet is a good place to share thoughts and encouraging words for others around the world. I do agree with Kevin totally when he said that he is “a bit upset.” I am a bit upset also and I believe that if one is truely following God they need to practice what they preach and what the Bible say’s and if they have a problem with a particular person or even organiztion they need to go to that person or organization and talk with them specifically an get it worked out, not to broadcast it for the whole world to hear or see on the internet. It is pretty disheartening to see blogs from people who are supposed to be following God and instead of building others up they are tearing them down. Now don’t get me wrong everyone at some point or another say’s things that are not flattering or encouraging for others....
More About: Blogging , Careful

The Golden Compass!
2007-11-08 22:14:00
  I have recieved over 10 emails during this week alone about the new movie The Golden Compass , coming to theaters on December 7. They have all been in the form of warnings from people, so it is time to say something. So instead of me doing all the research, which takes a lot of time I don’t have. I go to the source, the internet isn’t it a great thing!  I was reading Ryan Franks Blog yesterday and he had a really good article that was written by Michael and Heidi Martin, that I would highly suggest you read, just as I did. It is a 5 page article, put together very well and backed by good research. Click here to read the article.
More About: Golden Compass , The Go

Google at the Gas Pump!
2007-11-08 00:28:00
Wow, is Google really taking over? It seems like every week or so you are hearing about how Google has invented another product, is partnering with another company or has bought out another company. I know Google is pretty popular at my church among the staff. They have done it again this time at the pump. Click the picture below to check out the article for yourself. Drivers at 3,500 U.S. gas stations soon will be able to use Google maps at the pump.
More About: Pump , The G

40 Winners!
2007-11-08 00:11:00
My wife works for Chick-fil-A, and she pointed me to a site that is pretty cool, that Chick-fil-A is not really advertising. 40 people are going to win some pretty cool stuff between now and November 17. Click the picture below to check it out, you never know maybe you could be one of the winners.
More About: Winners

Those little Details!
2007-11-07 05:03:00
I have been thinking all day about the little details that really made the difference last week at our annual Fall Fest on October 31. Sure we had big details that were taken care of a while ago, but it’s those little last minute details that can really add up and become pretty big. People in general will pay a lot of attention to those big details in life, but what happens when we forget about those little details. Don’t get me wrong I definitely think we should pay close attention to the big ones and make good quality decisions in this area. So many times though it stops their and society say’s that those little details just don’t matter that’s why they are little. My Senior Pastor says all the time that he is not a detail oriented person, but he does pay attention to the little details. I like to think of it like the small, little snow ball that starts rolling down the hill. It may start out small but by the time it gets to the bottom it&rsqu...
More About: Details

Rebecca’s Crazy Life
2007-11-07 02:42:00
My wife the other morning (10/30) wrote a great post on her blog and of all times at 7AM. I told her she should start blogging early in the morning, because she spoke wisdom. The title of her post is “Should This Be Easier,” and before I steal her thunder just click on the link below and check it our for yourself. http://rebeccascrazylife.blogspot.com/
More About: Life , Crazy , Rebecca