Reading the Bible more in 2008

I've posted some thoughts before on trying to be a better Bible reader. Even if I were able to read the Bible 12 hours a day every day, I'm sure I would continue to find new ways of understanding passages than I ever had before, and would probably feel the need for more Bible study.

My friend Daniel suggested reading the Bible online. As a way of getting yourself to read more regularly, rather than just trying to fit it in in the mornings or evenings, why not read the Bible the same way you read most other important things in your life? I seldom have time for books that I like, but I always manage to check my e-mail.

I found something on the ESV's website where they have a variety of Bible reading plans where you can read the text online every day with a pre-prepared website, or if you're an avid blog-reader like me, you can get an RSS feed of the text sent to your blog reader daily.

Why not decide that every day before you check your e-mail, you will first read the passages for the day? Even if you don't get it every day, wouldn't you be a better person for trying it?

Here is the link to the ESV's page of Bible reading plans. You can read a little OT and a little NT. You can do OT, NT, Psalms, and Proverbs. You can read the NT only every 6 months. You can read it all chronologically. Why not pick out the plan you desire and make it your homepage?

May God bless you in 2008!

Go Micah!

The Miller Family Tree Decorating Extravaganza!

It's that time of year! Here is another special video presentation featuring our beloved supporters, the Miller family, and also featuring special guest Charlie P. I figure eventually I'm going to get myself fired with one of these, but at least I'll be laughing. :-) Merry Christmas everyone!

Mark <><

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Winter Break!

From what everyone said in class last night, it sounds like all of you are either out of classes, or will be out of classes by the time you read this post!

Isn't it amazing that the school year is already 1/2 over?

I know everyone is going to be doing different things, going different places, and enjoying different family traditions. For some, this is a hard season because of loved ones who've been lost.

I hope you all enjoy your much deserved rest from classes for a few weeks!

Mark <><

A really powerful phone call

Chris Steele sent this one in an e-mail to me, and I thought it was really powerful.

Prayers

We have a lot of people in our group needing prayers right now. We need to be praying for Hannah, who's getting ready for another dose of treatment in Colorado. We need to be praying for the Bells and the Stovalls who lost their uncle this last week. We also need to be praying for the Drake family. Things have been extremely rough for them today as Mr. Drake is really struggling to heal from the illnesses he's been facing. This has been a week filled with a lot of tears and struggles, and we need to make sure we go the extra mile to support one another during these hard times. Those of us who haven't been dealing with health problems or losses in our own families need to remember how fortunate we are.

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Bowling, Babysitting, etc.

Thanksgiving week was a great week! I was so proud of everyone showing up to help us deliver Thanksgiving baskets to families who needed a little extra help. Some of them accepted it humbly and shyly. Others seemed rather ecstatic. It felt good to spend some time practicing what we preach.

After that, we hung out at the building until Corbin was able to break into my office to get my keys (which I had locked in there accidentally). Then we went bowling until late in the evening. Everyone had a lot of fun! I didn't hear the high score, but I'm sure it wasn't anything to raise an eyebrow at.

Then on Saturday, we did babysitting for the young professionals class so they could make some important arrangements with Santa for an upcoming holiday.

Thanks to all of you who helped and participated!

Game Cancelled for Saturday

Our boys' basketball team was supposed to have their first game tomorrow (Saturday). Sadly, we have several conflicts and an injury, so we're having to reschedule. Meanwhile, pray for our injured players, and get ready for the upcoming games! I'll get a schedule on here soon.

Mark <><

Cody + Kassie + Cornbread + Kelsi + Helium = This

During our college trip, when we were at Freed, they gave each of our kids a balloon. Predictably, things got interesting.

College Tour Trip 2007

The trip was great! We had tons of fun, and I think it was an educational experience for everyone (no pun intended). Here is a picture slideshow:

Fall Fest Video Highlights

Here is the video highlight real I put together with some pictures from Richard Collins. Enjoy!

Fall Fest '07

Fall Fest was a big success! Thanks to everyone who showed up and helped. We had hundreds of people from the community, lots of games and prizes, and no problems that I know of. My personal favorite costume was Megen's Clifford outfit. She was a big hit with the little ones. Chet also makes a good clown.

SNACRIFFIC!

Many thanks to the Olivers and the Postons for hosting SNAC this week! We had a great time with pumpkin carving and Bible pictionary!

This was a rare privilege, because it's not very often that for youth activities, we encourage our kids to wield large sharp knives. (If we started doing that at camp, it could add a whole new dimension to "messy day".) Fortunately, no one lost any appendages.

College Tour Trip Coming Up!

November 1-4th, the Juniors and Seniors who have signed up will be going to tour some Christian colleges! I've been looking forward to this trip, and I hope it will be both fun and beneficial for you guys in deciding where you want to continue your education.

It really makes a difference knowing that your professors and most of your fellow students are truly committed to Jesus Christ. I loved my experience at Harding, and I made lots of memories and friendships that will last the rest of my life. I know that any of these Universities can provide you with an experience that you just can't get at a state school.

How about you guys? Is there anything you're especially wanting to accomplish with this trip?

Grace in the Old Testament

When God was giving the Israelites some instruction about how to give certain offerings, he included some things they were supposed to say:

5 Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: "My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. 7 Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. 8 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; 10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me." Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him. - Deuteronomy 26:5-10

I think we tend to view Grace as a New Testament idea, but we've got to remember that God hasn't changed! If we really look at all that God has done, we can see that all along, he is the one who gives us good gifts and goes out of his way to care for us. The Israelites were helpless to save themselves, and God could have forgotten about them and picked a new people. But as they say in this passage, he heard them, so he stretched out his hand and rescued them, then even gave them their own land!

I think we should view the Exodus as one of the first great acts of Grace in the Bible. Just like what God did for Israel, he saw us in our sin, he reached out through his Son to rescue us. And now, he's promised us a great inheritance in both this life and the world to come.

What do you think? Would that qualify as a good example of Grace?

Some good things to think about...

I got this list in an e-mail from Mr. Poppy. Thought you might like them.

1. The best way to get even is to forget...
2. Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death...
3. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts...
4. Some folks wear their halos much too tight...
5. Some marriages are made in heaven, but they ALL have to be maintained on earth....
6. Unless you can create the WHOLE universe in 5 days, Then perhaps giving "advice" to God, isn't such a good idea!
7. Sorrow looks back, wor ry looks around, and faith looks up...
8. Standing in the middle of the road is dangerous. You will get knocked down by the traffic from both ways.
9. Words are windows to the heart.
10. A skeptic is a person who when he sees the handwriting on the wall, claims it's a forgery.
11. It isn't difficult to make a mountain out of a molehill, just add a little dirt.
12. A successful marriage isn't finding the right person; it's being the right person.
13. The mighty oak tree was once a little nut that held its ground.
14. Too many people offer God prayers with claw marks all over them.
15. The tongue must be heavy, indeed, because so few people can hold it.
16. To forgive is to set the prisoner free and then discover the prisoner was you.
17. You have to wonder about humans, they think God is dead and Elvis is alive!
18. It's all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you are done.
19. You'll notice that a turtle only makes progress when it sticks out its neck...
20. If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet the water bill is higher.

The Murder has been Solved

Congratulations to Garrett, Savannah, Megen, and Cody for being the first to gather the evidence and solve the crime! Many thanks to all the good church members living here in the village who helped us make this happen. It was a really fun experience getting to adventure around the neighborhood.

Because some of you have been asking what the crime was who weren't here, here's what we learned today:

Mickey Mouse is dead.










He was murdered at Disney World.











The Jolly Green Giant apparently has a bad temper.












The Green Giant wasn't allowed on a ride because he was too tall.












To express his frustration, he trampled Mickey to death.











Crime solved.

Thanks for participating!

Know Thy Hymns

Richard Collins shared these with me, and I thought you might enjoy them.

Dentist's Hymn....................Crown Him with Many Crowns
Weatherman's Hymn..........There Shall Be Showers of Blessings
Contractor's Hymn..............The Church's One Foundation
Tailor's Hymn.......................Holy, Holy, Holy
Golfer's Hymn.....................There's a Green Hill Far Away
Politician's Hymn.................Standing on the Promises
Optometrist's Hymn............Open My Eyes That I Might See
IRS Agent's Hymn................I Surrender All
Gossip's Hymn......................Pass It On
Electrician's Hymn..............Send The Light
Shopper's Hymn...................Sweet Bye and Bye
Realtor's Hymn.....................I've Got a Mansion, Just Over the Hilltop
Massage Therapists Hymn...He Touched Me
Doctor's Hymn......................The Great Physician

And for those who speed on the highway - a few hymns:

45 mph........................................God Will Take Care of You
65 mph.......................................Nearer My God To Thee
85 mph.......................................This World Is Not My Home
95 mph........................................Lord, I'm Coming Home
100 mph.....................................Precious Memories

Give me a sense of humor, Lord
Give me the grace to see a joke,
To get some humor out of life,
And pass it on to other folk.

A Crime Has Been Committed

I can't tell you who dun it, where they dun it, why they dun it, how they dun it, or who they did it to...but we're going to find out!

Be planning to hang around Sunday afternoon Sept. 30th. This is a 5th Sunday, so we'll have potluck followed by the evening worship. That lets out around 1:30pm. We'll get things going around 2:00pm. Hopefully, by 5:00pm, a few of you will have solved the crime!

You'll do this by going around the Old Hickory Village to different members' houses who live here. They'll be giving you clues to help you solve this mystery. This will be a lot of fun, and a great way to get to know some of the people at our congregation.

Please be planning to attend! We'll finish by having dinner together at around 5:30pm.

OHYG! - FALL RETREAT '07

When?
October 5th-7th. We’ll leave around 6:00pm on Friday, Oct. 5th, and return around 11:00am (tentatively) on October 7th.

Where?
Camp Christian – 2550 Hwy 47 E. – Burns, TN 37029
http://www.campchristian.cc

What do I need to bring?
You’ll need all the basic stuff like clothes, flashlight, bathroom stuff, a sleeping bag & pillow, YOUR BIBLE, a pen/pencil and some scratch paper.

How much does it cost?
The cost will be $35.00 per person. This includes:
- OHYG! T-Shirt (Extras are $10 each)
- The cost of staying at the camp
- A snack on Friday night (eat dinner before you come), all meals on Saturday, and breakfast on Sunday.

What are we doing?
We will be having several different fun activites, games, devotionals, and classes. Use this as a weekend to recharge yourself as a Christian!

I want to come!
1. Then you MUST sign up with Mark Adams (847-2386) by Wednesday, September 26. Your $35 is due NO LATER than Sunday, Sept. 30th.

2. You must make sure that Mark has your MEDICAL RELEASE FORM.

Satan

Today in class, we talked about angels, and especially about Satan. I personally find some of the biblical descriptions of angels rather frightening. They are extremely powerful creatures. Likewise, Satan was originally a beautiful creature (Ezekiel 28:12-17), but was cast out of heaven because of his pride. He is losing, and he knows his time is short (Revelation 12:7-12). I thought these pictures were interesting. I think in general, Satan is hardly the goofy guy in a red suit.

Something about him remains beautiful to us, but his beauty is only surface deep. He looks appealing, and he makes us think that in following him, we'll find happiness and whatever we desire. But in the end, he seduces us to our doom.

I thought this one artist's picture of Satan as a devouring lion was pretty scary!

How about you guys? Based on some of the passages we read, has it changed the way you think about Satan?

If you need a refresher, I'm going to paste some passages below:

Ezekiel 28 -
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.

15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you.

Luke 10 -
18He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

Revelation 12 -
7And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."

A Presentation of the Office Staff

You're probably all wondering exactly what we do at the office on the average day. Here's a taste.

A Letter To The Youth Group...

Today, I got the following note in the mail from Wayne and Chris Gragg, and they asked me to make sure that you guys got the note contained in it. The Graggs are one of many great couples we have at church, and it was good of them to send us a nice note.

To our wonderful group of teens and their parents,

Our thanks to our teens and their parents for the nice reception you hosted for all Old Hickory grandparents last Sunday. Everything was so special--the refreshments were so good. Honoring us made us feel like a special group. We appreciate your thoughtfulness.

You are a very special group and we love and appreciate all of you. We appreciate you most for the Christian values you have. Thanks for being so involved in the activities at Old Hickory. VBS, camp, mission work, retreats, teen nights, etc. You are a great group.

In Christian love,
Wayne & Chris Gragg

Basketball

Last night we had our first guys basketball practice, and I think it went great! Allan is extremely competent as a basketball coach, and I know he's going to do a great job. Everyone hustled, and I can't wait to start watching the games. It makes me miss my old youth group days when I played church league basketball.

How are you guys feeling about it? Getting pumped?

Once again, by popular demand...

Hannah Duke and Caylin Paul found a 9th grade picture of me and a facebook Carolina picture and made this. I guess since I'm making fun of everyone else, I have to be a good sport. So at Hannah and Caylin's request, here is another dance production of OHYG!

Sometimes luchadores attack me in my office

Another FBX Video

I've been trying to load these on Youtube, but with no luck. Finally, the blogger uploader has been more cooperative. Here is the skit about Perseverance. Hope you like it!

Several Things...

First, a big thanks to everyone who came and participated in our lock in. I personally had a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoyed it, too. To my surprise, the only person I really had to keep a close eye on was Jackie Miller. Everyone else was very well behaved. It seems that most of you can't last much past 2AM, though perhaps being in school is tiring you out a bit. :-) Hannah claims she can stay up all night with no problem, so next year we'll see if she's bluffing or not.

Secondly, a big thanks to the Duke family for having us over last night for SNAC. They have an incredible place to hang out. I was also shocked to learn that Mr. Pooh is the former Memphis, TN ping pong champion. He even beat out those little Chinese guys who do nothing besides play ping pong! Needless to say, he finished me off fairly easily in the game we played. I intend to beat him eventually. Somehow.

We have a lot more important events coming up!

• September 3rd - Teen OHYG! Olympics. We'll have a series of relay games. This is on Labor Day, and should be a lot of fun.
  
  
• September 9th - Grandparents Reception. Please invite your parents to come out on Sept. 9th. I *think* the times are between 4:30-6:00pm. We want all of you guys to help serve your grandparents refreshments and let them know you love and appreciate them.
  
  
• September 23rd - Camp Reunion & Video. This will be our second SNAC for the month. We will watch the camp video, and also present the plaques to those who were honored this year. Anyone who went to camp is invited to come; not just teens.
  
  
• September 30th - Teen Murder Mystery. Officer Norris (Steele) is helping us get this together. We will all be working to solve a "murder" that will have happened right here in the Old Hickory Village! This is a 5th Sunday, so we will get started some time after the second worship service. I'll get you more details closer to time.
  

By Popular Demand...

A new dance routine brought to you by Kassie & Cody.

First week of school got you down?

Here is a special presentation from Garrett & Corbin to make sure that all of you get off to a great start this year!



(Cody & Cornbread...be very thankful that I didn't have good pictures of either of you.)

Day School!

Today is the first day of day school for little ones here at Old Hickory. This has been quite a different office experience for me. I'm used to almost complete silence. Now I'm hearing lots of new sounds. Periodically, you can hear a little one whining/crying for something. There are also little bits of "Katie! Stay in line! Brandon! This way!" (Pitter patter of little feet) mixed in here and there.

But most interesting has been the group activities. A few minutes ago I would hear something like this:

• Children sound disorderly
• Teacher says something
• Children are silent
• Teacher says something else
• Children begin stomping their feet rapidly, causing the building to shake.
• Teacher says something else.
• Children stop rumbling.
• Teacher says something.
• More feet rumbling
• (Repeat for about 5 minutes)

I really enjoy getting to see the kids here. They all have their little bags and backpacks, and you can see what a big deal this is for the moms. It brings me back memories about kindergarten. I remember all the flavored drinks in the gallon jugs that are neither fruit juice nor Kool-Aid. I remember eating lots of goldfish crackers. I remember coloring. I remember learning to read sounds with that Mr. Hat guy. I remember hating nap time. I remember one time when a kid got mad and called our teacher "stupid", and I was sure she was going to execute him for saying such an awful word (it was the worst one I knew at the time!).

What do you guys remember from your preschool/kindergarten days?

If there was anything you could bring back from your pre-school days, what would it be?

Now it's time to vote for colors!

Allllllllllrighty, then. We asked you guys to suggest what colors we should have on our new boys' basketball jerseys, and you gave us numerous responses. I'm going to let you folks vote on the colors of your choice. On the left of the blog is a poll. Please select whatever colors you think would be best and cast your vote! I listed as options the colors already suggested in your previous comments.

The voting will be open until August 30th, and then the final decision will be made!

Back to School

A lot of you guys are starting back to school! I'm in class today and so far I've already typed 13 pages of notes! Then again, I love my teacher and I love what I'm learning.

How about you guys? Are there any classes you're excited about? Are there any teachers you have that you've been looking forward to?

You're all in my prayers. I hope you guys have a great school year. Learn lots!

-Mark <><

Camp Awards 2007

Someone pointed out on an earlier post that I didn't list the people on the blog who won the camp awards...so here they are!

Craft Awards:
Clay Paul
Alayna Poston
Bowen Stovall
Keeley Capley

Team Sports:
1st Place - Michael Reed's Team
2nd Place - Chris Steele's Team
3rd place - Gary Dickens' Team

Whoopin' Stick Award: (For the staff member who most deserved a whoopin')
Colby Paul

Campers of the Year
Junior Campers:
Murry Lee
Callie Johnson

Senior Campers:
Shelby Gaines
Chet Duke

David Knight Award:
Dalton Locke

Elvis Reagan Award:
Hannah Duke

It was really hard to give out the awards this year, because there were so many more kids who really deserved to be honored for their great attitudes and participation. Even so, we can all congratulate and celebrate the job well done by these campers.

Coming Soon... OHYG! Basketball

Thanks to Alan Tucker and Cody Partlow for going the extra mile to help us get a teen boys' church league basketball team together for the upcoming season. Soon, we'll have to start having practices and such.

Naturally, we'll need to get jerseys, so I want to challenge you, O Reader, to tell me what you think about a couple of things:

1. What should be our team colors?
Red and White?
Yellow and Green?
Blue and Yellow?
Purple and Green?
Orange and White?

What do you think?

2. What shall we call ourselves? It is probably understood that Bucky will continue to be our mascot, but we can't just call ourselves the Old Hickory Beavers.
The Ravenous Rodents
The Ferocious Furballs
The Flying Hedghogs
The Biting Badgers
The Badger Claws
The Ill-Tempered Stuffed Mini Mammals
The Dunking Prairie Dogs

Or should we just carry Bucky along and not have a name?

Kidnap Breakfast 2007

This morning was our annual kidnap breakfast for the new youth group members. In honor of the annoying voice changer that Graham got at Cracker Barrel, I decided to make this an audio post...using a voice changer. Please see the video for a summary of today.

The big highlight in my opinion was chasing down Johnston Ellis who was out walking with his dad. Poor Johnston got tackled to the ground, then carried off to the big church bus. Overall, I think he liked it, though.

Camp Pictures 2007

There are now about 300 pictures from church camp available to be viewed online. You can access the church camp album by clicking here if you want to see larger versions of the images, or you can just view the slideshow above.

Diet Coke + Mentos

Everyone remember the experiment we tried at the Bells' house on the 4th this year? Or how about Cody and Cornbread's school project video? (Cody: "I'm on fire!")

I wonder if this kit would enhance the fun any?

Great Geysers Kit

Fall Creek Falls Pictures

As I start getting more pictures, I will upload them so all of us can share them. These are some of the ones that Carolina and I took; mostly on the walk down to the falls. Even though the water level is low this year, it's still a beautiful place!

If you click on the picture, it should link you to the album.

Children of Light

I thought camp this year went wonderfully. I had been scared to death, having no idea what you guys are typically used to. But everyone jumped in and made it a great week. I'm especially thankful for our 3 newest Children of Light, Graham Stovall, Garrett Bell, and Micah Musel. All three were baptized into Christ. No matter how much work it took, how many volunteers, how much sleep was lost over getting it all together, to know that this week impacted people's lives in a positive way makes it all worth it.

So how about you guys? What was your favorite part of camp? Where did you see Jesus the most in your fellow campers?

FBX - Skit # 1 - Trust Your Parents!

Here is our first FBX skit. Everyone really liked it last night.

Kats were Kool

Tonight we went to the Nashville Kats game thanks to Keaton Bell who hooked us up with some very reasonably priced tickets (as in free). The game was a really good one. They were down for most of it, but came back with two touch downs and some firm defense in the last minute, and ended up winning. And since they scored more than 50 points, we all got free tacos!

Everyone be sure to say "thanks" to Keaton for helping to make this happen, and thanks to each of you for being well behaved and cooperative. It's possible to do more cool stuff when we know we can trust you guys to be good representatives of Christ and his Church.

Coming soon...FBX!!!