New Christian Tshirt Company

I found this site through a link on a blog I was reading. T-shirts with speaking in tongues on it! I'm not sure what to think about this! You must see for yourself. http://www.holyghosttees.com/ -chris

Genna's snow walk video

A day in the snow!

We looked out the window the first morning of this new year and BEHOLD, 8 inches of snow fell overnight! The above picture is the front of our house (our front yard is evidently the best place to put shoveled snow). So, we got Genna ready to play in the snow for a bit while I cleaned off the car.

She got her boots and hat on and was ready to go!

Helping Daddy shovel some snow. Our first walk in the snow.

YIA 2007

It's hard to believe that we've been singing at Youth In Action in Kansas City for six years now. Every year, from Dec 27th to Dec. 30th, we've jumped on a plane and lead worship at this youth conference of 350 teens. To be honest, at first, I was not crazy about taking off to sing somewhere right after Christmas. I had to cut the already slim time with my family in half to sing at this event. But now, though it's still pretty hectic and busy time, I look forward to it. My brothers in Watershed ARE family to me and this is a chance to spend the holidays with my family.

And I get to catch up with many of you who come. There are teens I see every year, and I get to see how they have grown spiritually, what decisions they are making, what career they are deciding on. And I always plug Nashville and Lipscomb just a bit ;).

Anyway, I am finally getting a chance to rest after such a busy couple of months. I am halfway through the novel The Kite Runner and loving every page. It's a must-read (so far) for those who love a good story.

And finally, we got a cute pic of Genna looking out the window on the plane. I just couldn't resist!

Love you all and Happy New Year!

CAST PIC

Ok, one more shot. It's of the entire cast, band, set designers, tech crew, carolers, and seamstresses.

Imagine Christmas

Sorry it's been so long. It's been a busy month with Christmas with family and a full blown musical production! Our church put on a Willow Creek production called Imagine Christmas. We had a full band, soloists, acting, and dancers of all ages. Our violinist was from the Rochester Symphony Orchestra! Here are a few pics from the show. Though we were exhausted after the final performance, we did have an awesome time. Now that the show is over and Christmas is out of the way, Vicki, Genna, and I are having to pack up and head to Kansas City for a youth conference called YOUTH IN ACTION. Looking forward to seeing our friends out there. peace. -chris

A Christian theme throughout Harry Potter?

A couple of weeks ago, there was a great discussion on Josh Graves' blog about the Harry Potter series. Should we let our children read them? Should we support it as Christians? My answer has been always been an enthusiastic "YES"! Anyway, this article has been buzzing around blogs and emails, so I thought I'd follow suit and share it as well. Especially now, in light of the press we've read about Dumbledore being gay, this adds yet another layer to the HP series.

Quote taken from MTV.com:

That was the plan from the start, Rowling told reporters during a press conference at the beginning of her Open Book Tour on Monday. It wasn't because she was afraid of inserting religion into a children's story. Rather, she was afraid that introducing religion (specifically Christianity) would give too much away to fans who might then see the parallels.

"To me [the religious parallels have] always been obvious," she said. "But I never wanted to talk too openly about it because I thought it might show people who just wanted the story where we were going."

Indeed, at its most simplistic, Harry's final tale can in some respects be boiled down to a resurrection story, with Harry venturing to a heavenly way station of sorts after getting hit with a killing curse in Chapter 35, only to shortly return.

But if she was worried about tipping her hand narratively in the earlier books, she clearly wasn't by the time Harry visits his parents' graves in Chapter 16 of "Deathly Hallows," titled "Godric's Hollow." On his parents' tombstone he reads the quote "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death," while on another tombstone (that of Dumbledore's mother and sister) he reads, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

While Rowling said that "Hogwarts is a multifaith school," these quotes, of course, are distinctly Christian. The second is a direct quote of Jesus from Matthew 6:19, the first from 1 Corinthians 15:26. As Hermione tells Harry shortly after he sees the graves, his parents' message means "living beyond death. Living after death." It is one of the central foundations of resurrection theology.

Are any of these things going to change someone's opinions about reading the series? Likely not. Most people have already made up their minds about them. But I will say that it easily nudges people to engage each other. To talk and interact and wrestle with these themes. It's exactly what the parables and the stories within the Bible challenge us to do.