Brrrrrrr! How to be warm in cold weather.

One of the little waterfalls in my creek behind my house.


It's cold on Bear Hollow! I wish you could see my creek in person. It is so beautiful.


It was cold Sunday morning too, but we had over 1,000 people in worship. Even when it is cold outside the warmth of family and friends meeting together to sing praises to our God and Savior makes it worth getting out in the cold.


And the music was hot Sunday! I mean that in a good way. I have had many people tell me how much they enjoyed the service Sunday. I have to spread the warm feeling around because the reason it was so good was because we have a great band (Michelle, Ryan, Tommy, Tommy, Greg, Mike, Debbie and Gena were on this week) a great sound and tech crew, (can't happen without them) so a big thanks to Scott, Tony, Chuck, Austin, Perry, Kevin, Linda and all the camera men.

Can you see the water running under the ice? So gorgeous!


Well... there you have it. A great way to warm up on a cold day is to spend time with your church family worshipping together. My second choice would be big bon fire with s'mores! But that's another post.

Newsboys - He Reigns

Sunday's Anthem - He Reigns!
Youth and Children who know the song can join us. They'll have to meet us back in the choir room. Spread the word. See you Sunday!

Hallelujah! He reigns!

Apologetics

I guess the first thing that pops into most heads when they hear the word "apologetics" is how they would love for their spouse to use apologetics when they forget to take out the trash or when they say something tacky about their mother-in-law.

But actually, that's not what apologetics is. Here's what Merriam-Webster says

"Main Entry:
apol·o·get·ics
1 : systematic argumentative discourse in defense (as of a doctrine)

2 : a branch of theology devoted to the defense of the divine origin and authority of Christianity"

Wait! Before you nod off or click onto the next site, here's why I mention this. I just started reading a good book on apologetics. (stay with me!) The nice thing about it is that you don't have to be a theologian to understand it!

I've never been a fan of those books "herding cats for dummies" or "brushing your dogs teeth for dummies" or any of those "for dummies" books. I think the title is rather insulting! But this book is written in a very easy to read format (and has a lot of pictures) and has some wonderful information in it.

The book is titled Holman QuickSource guide to Christan Apologetics.

Have you ever wanted to know why you believe what you believe? Have you ever talked to someone and they said, "well, that's OK for you to believe but I think something else" and your only defense was, "well, I know it's true because I feel so good about it." Not too helpful! This book gives you the REASONS why we believe what we believe.

Some of the things covered in the book:

• Does God Exist? The Cosmological Argument
• Does God Exist? The Moral Argument
• Which God Exists? (there are several opinions, you know)
• Where did the New Testament Come From?
• Is the New Testament Reliable?
• Is Jesus the Only Way?

and more...

The book is published by Holman Reference (a division of LifeWay Christian Resources) so I"m sure you can pick one up at the LifeWay store.

What does this have to do with music or worship?

Read a little of this book and then perhaps the next time we sing Because We Believe you'll sing with a new understanding. The Apostle Paul said it this way,

1Co 14:15 - Show Context
So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

Get your mind involved in your faith! This book could be a good start.

Portuguese Irregular Verbs

I have been studying Portuguese since before my first (and only - so far) trip to Brazil a few years ago. The Tennessee Baptist Men's Chorale went there on a mission trip in 2004. I really enjoy the language and it gives my brain something new and interesting to work on. (brains will rot if you don't use them, you know) This August I will be leading a group from our church on an evangelism follow up mission trip to Rio de Janiero. (contact me or Bro. Paul if you want information on how you can join in on this trip)

In preparing for the trip, I have been listening to my Portuguese CDs (Pimsleur's Portuguese 3) and I just bought Rosetta Stone's Language study program (it's realllly cool) on Ebay and while I was searching on Ebay I saw a book - only $1.96 buy it now - called Portuguese Irregular Verbs. Portuguese has several Irregular verbs - and like English they are the really important verbs that you use all the time - to be, to have, to go, to hear. The book was listed next to several other books: 501 Portuguese Verbs and Portuguese Verbs and Grammar. Since it was less than $5 even including the shipping I bought it. (and of course was very proud of myself for getting such a good deal)

It came today.

It ends up that this book has nothing to do with Portuguese grammar. It's a short novel! I skimmed through it. It seems the story is about a company that printed way too many copies of a book actually titled and about irregular Portuguese verbs,(hmmm, I can't imagine why there aren't thousands of people wanting a book like that) so they were going to try to change the cover of the book to say Portuguese Irrigated Herbs and put them on bookshelves in model homes to get rid of them...

Ha, ha, ha. Well, I guess the joke is on me for not researching a little more before I clicked "buy now". Anyone want to read a short novel before I try to resell it on Ebay or Amazon?

AWANA Pastor Look-alike Night

Tonight was a fun night in AWANA - I suppose they all are, but this one was a lot of fun for me. It was Pastor Look-alike night. They could try to look like any of the pastors. There were a lot of children with beards and goatees. Some had white hair. I saw one or two in a Terry Brown style sweater. And I had several of the children look like me! I have a few pictures on my cell phone of me with some of the children, but I don't know how to get them off of my phone.

Fortunately Hayden's mom took a picture of me and Hayden. Isn't he adorable? (He's the one on the left.)

I didn't get a picture of all of the pastor look-alikes, but I did get these.

BTK Bonus Rehearsal - Feb. 2

Bro. Larry talked about the commercials that offer you something and then say, "But wait! There's more!" Well, I have exciting news for all of you who like those extra items. We're having an extra rehearsal for Bow the Knee! You love Wednesday nights, (we had 74 in rehearsal last week!) and it's always a joy to sing on Sunday mornings, but wait! There's more!

We're having an extra rehearsal - a bonus rehearsal - more rehearsal for your dollar - on Saturday, February 2. And... to make it even more appealing (and to keep from tying up your entire day) we're meeting at 9:00 (with coffee and donuts at 8:38). We'll end by 11:11. This will help us finish up learning Bow the Knee so we can start staging it the next Wednesday. We'll have a sign-up sheet for childcare for those families who need it.

Put Feb. 2 on your calendar and I'll see you then.

Sunday's Music (Jan. 13, 2008)

Wow! Already the second Sunday of '08! My how time flies... I remember everyone being in a huge panic about all the computers in the world stopping and planes crashing and great weeping and gnashing of teeth when we were going form the 1900's to the 2000's.

But I have distracted myself. Sunday's anthem - Reach the World. Here's a picture of the trio singing at Christmas.