Too Fast Too Furious...

"Our time presents a unique opportunity for learning by means of humor-a perceptive or incisive joke can be more meaningful than platitudes lying between two covers." -Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore

Unfortunately, I think I will soon no longer be able to update the blog from work anymore as they seem to be trying to crack down on company wide internet practices ;-( I've already been gearing up by reading a book. It doesn't pop up but it does have some pictures so it is alright to read. It's called "The Parables of Peanuts" by Robert Short. I've read the first chapter at work and it was interesting so I recommend you check it out...

Well, I don't know about the rest of you but last weekend was strangely busy for me. Many of those away at college came home last weekend and many our coming home this week; welcome back, come to young adults. It started off by a small gathering at Shawna and Jenna's on Friday where we proceeded to drink moderate amounts of beer and watch Big Daddy. We met one of the teachers, Cody or Corry or something along those lines. He followed Newman and Jenna home...

Saturday was a sleep in day and a do nothing day until I escorted Shawna to a Christmas party in the city.

Sunday Funday was also a long day away from home. I went to church as usual and the good news of Sequel being moved to 10:30 was announced. Yay! Shawna can make a service easily. Then it was off to brunch, followed by some beer shopping and finally good old young adults. I think I only spent less than 8 hours at my house that I was actually awake. All worth it...

So Karen cooked up some wonderful Fondu for us with little bits of bread and brocolli. We had a new visitor among us brought to us Emily, the letter Q and the number 3. He was really into drifting but he participated and thats what counts! We covered chapters 8 & 9 and deep sixed going to Decon Daves to look at lights...always next time. Chapter 8 was titled "The High Priest of a New Covenant," any guesses what it was about? It begins by essentially telling us why so much was said about this Melchizedek character. I took it as a way of explaining Jesus to the people in terms that they would have been familiar with. "Sometimes it's best to keep these things in the language of the layman!" -Peanuts It further went on to talk about the new covenant. "For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for after. But God found fault..."-Hebrews 8:7-8 Chapter 9 covered two topics; Worship in the earthly tabernacle and The Blood of Christ. Anybody have any thoughts or input on this, I'll be honest, I'm just guessing and makin' this stuff up as I go...

So as the Christmas holiday fast approaches many people will be taking trips out of here and/or be busy preparing for the holiday but we would like to remind you that there is still young adults to go to. We will be having it the 23rd at the Knapps still but the 30th is still somewhatin the air. The Knapps as well as Mark and Hanna will be out of town along with a maltitude of others. It was suggested that we parlay it for a week but there was concern about where I would go...

On another note, everyone got there gift summary from the church back. I was going to have a grand letter opening of mine as I put undecided for about 90% of the survey but alas, as I never made it back home during the day I wasn't able to get it and open it as young adults. So...my top 4 gifts, drum roll....Craftsmanship, Intercession, Discernment, and Healing. Amazingly Music was at the bottom of my list. Too bad they didn't have a gift of Smart A$$ as I think I would have nailed that one.

"Behave wisely towards those outside your own number; use the present opportunity to the full....Study how best to talk with each person you meet" (Col. 4:5-6). (No clue what's up with the quotes! I found them in the first chapter of the book I read at work...we'll see if I get anymore...)

Supernova & Sunday Funday...

So this last Sunday was a long day for several people and people were slow arriving so the majority of the people present were banking on the rule of seven; but alas, Dave and Jenna showed up killing that dream. We did it any ways...so in short, we are still on chapter 7 of Hebrews and instead had dinner and went through 7 questions that I believe the Dorns gave to Newman...Since nothing major happend I thought it would be an excellent time to post some pics from Supernova as well as Sunday Funday (Yea..I coined it...I think it sounds way better than SAB in the city ;) ) and Shawna finally emailed them to me...

Here is obviously some funny moment...

I think I've seen less gang signs from white people at an Eminem concert...seriously...straight out of Compton by way of Wisconsin...

Could Newman clutch that glass any tighter? She looks like a crack fiend the way she is clutching it...my Precious...
So...can anyone spot what is wrong with this picture...my glass is the fullest! This is the part of the night where I was feeling left out because Shawna and Newman were cheersing so I sat between them so I could be involved...pretencious wine...
This is from our Sunday hike along the Sunol ridge on the far side of Pleasanton. It stems for dea of doing fun things not directly related to Bible study to socialize and such...Artsy looking with the backdrop and tree...I'm the one on the right just in case you didn't know...There is another one where I put bunny ears on someone and if you flip between them quickly it looks like poor animation...
This is another of Shawna's artsy looking photos...this is just to the right 90 degrees from the previous pic. Turned out pretty sweet...

So...alas...I believe that going to the Nutcracker is off but we are working on other plans and will keep everyone posted on what we figure out to do...

So...I had a long day of doing nothing at work and am tired so I'll see many of you Sunday...Peace out...

I'll stick to the value menu...

For those of you who missed out we had yet another fun Young Adults. It actually was kicked off last Wednesday with bowling. Pretty much the usual suspects were there. Newman tried to be a responsible adult and say she wasn't going but that naturally didn't happen. We got 3 lanes since Mark and Hanna had the hook up with the bowling dude. I sucked it up the first game but managed a rally the second and swept the third. Don't let Shawna fool you, she doesn't suck that bad.

Friday night at Shawna and Jenna's was YPFF; which LeAnna guessed correctly to be Yahtzee Part For Fred. Originally this had been planned for like Saturday or something but was rescheduled as they picked about the only day that I had plans for the month. I guess without me there the acronym doesn't really work. We had frozen pizzas and beer...living the high life; just like be back at school. Again, I sucked and lost both games we played. It was a party for me and they didn't let me win once, does anyone else think that's wrong?

That brings us to Sunday as everyone did there own thing on Saturday. I think Newman and Shawna went to a movie but I'm pretty sure that they didn't invite anyone, so inconsiderette . We had another wonderful dinner at the Knapp's care of Karen. She is only 3 weeks away from completing the year without repeating a meal.

For those playing at home the question of the day was "What was the nicest thing that someone has done for you?" There was a whole variety of answers and anyone reading along can put theirs in the comments so then we can all share.

This week we forwent the usual Bible study and Hebrews 7 because we had some special guests. Don't worry though as we will continue where we left off next week so no reading ahead. We had Pastor Phil and Steve Christopher join us this week. They explained better their roles in the church and the organization of the church to some degree. In explaining Steve's presence at church functions instead of pastors, Hanna so nicely summed it up as "You're not a Happy Meal but I'll still take a small fry." Talked about Sequel some and where it is headed. Supposibly our church has somewhere just less than 1000 members where the average service is around 320 and the average member only attends twice a month. Remember, "Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true. - Homer Simpson" But statistics are easily manipulated and carry no actual intrinsic meaning. Thats about all I got before ADD started kicking in; but we did manage to be on our best behavior and keep our filters on.

No rest for the wicked...

First things first...I found my Bible! It was at the foot of my bed and one of my blankets was hanging off enough that I couldn't see it unless I got down and looked carefully...guess that could be a metaphor for alot of things.

It was a busy last week or so with Thanksgiving and all. College students back in town, schools out, teachers have meetings, and the rest of us had good old work. Oh, and if you are looking for a sugar moma or some creepy guy to brush against you or ask you to dance, go to Downtown Ollies ;)

So Sunday was the last day in November which means the end of our schinnanigins on Sundays. Whether this last one was a sucess or not...is still up for debate. For those of you who attend the 9:30 service, the plan was to pass one a little slip of paper with 1 of 5 questions of the day. It was meant to be a conversation starter when people greeted each other but that concept was somewhat overshadowed by Jeff's suggestion of sharing things we are thankful for with others...like that hasn't been overdone...

For dinner we had a delightful dish, poultry free I might add, known fondly as Newman Casserole. We also had some stuffing that Mark seemed to like more than anyone else, green beans, and some crannberries. The question of the day was describe your most memorable night...yea...you had to be there for this one...lets just say what is said at young adults stays at young adults. Got to be there if you want to be part of the circle of trust.

We picked up in Hebrews where we left off the previous week. We started at Ch 5 verse 11 which was actually incorrect as we read through until 6 but it never hurts to read things over again. I really got to start taking notes or writing the night of or something but I think the first part of what we read dealt as a reminder/warning to people against knowing God and turning away from him. Was somewhat reminiscent of the conversation that we had at Mark and Hanna's about the unforgiveable sin. The second half dealt with the certainty of God's promise. I could have this all wrong so feel free to chime in and contribute.

Now, I recieved some flack about not writing the previous week. What can I say, I was busy and I tend to avoid my computer when I'm not trying to kill time on it at work. Anyways, Dave was alittle upset that I didn't write and he wanted to really really post some information about this priest Melchizedek that we have heard...errr read some much about...nows your chance Dave. Lets see how long it takes before you post this info...

Less than 7...

So we had less than 7 people on Sunday so Newman envoked a rule that less than 7 people and we do not have a bible discuccion/reading. There was only 6 until Dave and Karen came home and found us eating pizza and watching "Too fast too furious" in their living room...

So on Sunday we did the "Whose Pew" thing which, by the way, everyone owes my and Newman big time (except Laura and Jenna) because somehow we got stuck doing the thing as everyone was conviently "out of town" or absent. People actually participated and the winner was Larry Gomez.

So with Karen not present we took the route of having pizza. As afore mentioned...attendance was minimal and we thus watch Too fast too furious and debated Paul walker and tyrese. Next on was the Bourne Identity so we naturally began to watch that. That was pretty much all that happened...oh...and Loius showed up and Jesus once again cried...

Incase you haven't checked your email, Hanna sent out an email outlining our plans for next Sunday. Guess that means her and Mark made it back from their cabin trip. Check it!

That is all...

John 11:35 or not...

So this past weekend was Supernova for the November birthdays. It was alot of fun and there was enough food left over to excuse Karen from cooking on Sunday. We all learned many things, like flatulence is funny (cough...Shawna) and that lemon liquor, vodka, and cranberry juice mixes well.

So Sunday service kicked off our November plans of which I don't need to be reminded of, was not a part of as I didn't make it to the service. So, basicly for those of you not caught up with Hanna's emails the jist is that we were going to try and sit in other peoples seats to get people to move around and meet each other. This, however, is excluded next Sunday as we would like to play a game with the congregation called "Who's Pew." Kind of a Where's Waldo type thing.

Sadly, there was running that went on Sunday but I sadly was not called.

So as afore mentioned, our dinner consisted of previously served food which was just as good the second time around.For those of you playing at home the question of the night was what punishment would you delve out to convicted murders besides capital punishment. Needless to say this brought out some interesting ideas. Word of advice don't cross Juliette or Karen; she may or may not have been involved in a brakes incident. Other ideas thrown out were using them as test subjects for medical treatment, forced labor, exporting them, and bringing back a gladiator type reality tv show. Oh...and if someone sends me the link to the Phillipino prison thriller thing then I could post it here.

So we delved deeper into the book of Hebrews, specificly chapter 3. It was actually broken into two sections: one describing Jesus as greater than Moses and the second was a warning against unbelief citing the Isrealites wandering in the desert for 40 years. Any thoughts?

So surprisingly Jesus didn't cry this week or vomit but I think Karen made Dave shed a single tear...

So, several people will be missing this next weekend. Shawna is in Seattle doing something that I assume is work related. Mark and Hanna will be gone, no clue where they will be at. Dave and Karen will be in Salt Lake visiting Rochelle. If anyone wants to send a note or anything with them I'm sure they would be glad to take it to her. Just contact Dave or Karen or possibly drop it off at their house but before Friday as they are leaving Friday morning. Young Adults is slated to still be at the Knapps as Amanda will be house sitting (house party?) and I believe pizza is on the menu.

If you take the time to read this, please leave a comment and if I get some pictures from Supernova I'll see about posing them so everyone can revel in our fun...

I finally broke down...

So, about two weeks ago Hanna was delegating responsibilities to individuals and I somehow ended up being in charge of the blog...Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen..

So last week (Oct 28th) we started Hebrews and actually read through the first two chapters. Covered many good things. Jesus did not weep but he possibly might have vommited. Seriously though, does anyone have any thoughts or a summary of what happened in those two chapters? Tieing into pastor's sermon on Sunday is 2:9 "...so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone."

On another note, supernova is slated to happen this saturday at Mark and Hanna's. It is a celebration for the birthdays in November, all two of them. You might try Hanna or Shawna or Newman if you have any questions.

We'll see if anybody actually checks the blog now...

1 Peter

We are currently exploring the book of 1 Peter. Use this posting to keep track of where we are at in the study, use as a guide for self study, and add comments and ideas related to the readings.

Prayer Requests

Have a need, or a praise? Want the support of others praying with you? Post your prayers and please pray for others who have posted.

Upcoming Events

Know of a special event, upcoming conference or gathering. Let eveyone know about it by posting the info or associated link.

Favorite Verses

Have a favorite verse, passage of inspiration? Share it with others.