Cause Turkey Bowl

Today we instituted the first annual mid high Cause Turkey Bowl. The final score was 91-84 (no joke!) with the game being decided in OT. Thanks to Steve and Eric for being the referees, as well as Ashley and her crew of girls for taking pictures and being insightful commentators. There were no broken bones and only a few broken egos (If you get a chance ask Dave Hudson what it was like to get juked big time by Austin).

8th grade paintball day

The 8th graders went to Camp Tadmor for some good ole' paintballin' fun earlier this month. I forgot to post these sooner. Better late than never...

Just one more reason to give thanks

As we have officially entered the holiday season, first starting with Thanksgiving, slowly proceding to Christmas, and concluding with the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day (I don't want to sound presumptuous out of fear that these words might come back to haunt me...but I am hopeful...go Beavs!). In light of all the thanks that will be given this week don't forget to give thanks for your salvation. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8) I didn't deserve it. You didn't deserve it. But thank God I'm saved.

With that in mind, the following video is the testimony of Ergun Caner. He is now the President and Dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, VA. Before coming to Christ he was a devout Muslim. The video is about 25 minutes long and is encouraging in a few different ways:

1.) It's always encouraging to hear stories of salvation

2.) It's a great reminder of what our salvation entails; past, present, and future

3.) It's a story of how one anonymous high school student has been able to impact thousands of people by reaching one lost soul.

How Great is Our God!

A few of the home groups have watched a very moving message by Louie Giglio entitled "How Great is Our God." In case you missed that week, or aren't a part a home group, and want to watch it, I have posted the video below. It's broken up into 5 parts and runs a little over 40 minutes. You'll want to watch it in its entirety. Enjoy!

Barn Bash Video

High School Barn Bash

Howdy! We got together with the Crossroad and Careers groups last night for a swell time of eatin', singin', line dancin' and Gospel presentin'. Below are some pictures and of the festivities.

High School "No-Ball"

What: The High School "No-Ball" is an alternative activity for those who don't want to go to the Snowball Dance.

When: Saturday December 6th from 6:30 PM - 1:00 AM

Activities: We will have a semi-formal dinner at the church with some live entertainment and a guest speaker. Following that we will head up to the Lloyd Center Ice Rink for some broom ball.

Attire: Semi-formal for the dinner portion of the evening. Long pants and tennis shoes are required for the broom ball. There will be time to change at the church prior to leaving if you wish to do so.

Cost: $25 per person. Tickets can be purchased at Cause or through the church office

Dates: Guys and gals will attend this together but we do not want you to "ask someone" to the no-ball.

Questions?: Contact Dan

Promotional video:

It's been a while...

Yes, it has been a few days, weeks, but not quite months since I last posted. Here are some photos of our Mid High Farm Night from last night. It got a little crazy, messy, gross, disgusting, but overall under control and quite fun. The pig slop game has now become a yearly tradition and our creativity/"how-can-we-top-this?" department is already hard at work coming up with ideas for next year's pig slop game.

A new year!

As we begin a new year in the Cause this next week I wanted to make sure that there were some key dates you were all aware of:

Sunday September 7th - Move-up Sunday

Tuesday September 9th - Sprague Breakfast Club begins at the Mitchell's - 6:20 AM (check the church website for directions)

Wednesday September 10th - High School Cause REUNION at the church - 7:00-8:30

Wednesday September 17th - High School Home Groups begin (check the church website for locations)

Same night - Mid High midweek Cause begins at the church - 7:00-8:30

Thursday September 18th - Steak Time (a Bible study for 11th and 12th grade guys) Meets in Dan's office at the church - 3:00-4:30 

Friday September 19th - South Salem Breakfast Club begins at the Holt's - 6:20 AM (Check the church website for directions)

Sunday September 28th - Mid High Silver Creek Falls Hike after church (more info to come)

Friday October 3rd - Senior All Night Extravaganza

Wednesday November 5th - High School Barn Bash

Cause travel tip for the day...

Your bags go on the conveyer belt...you go on the plane!

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - An elderly woman misunderstood instructions while checking in at Sweden's main airport and was whisked down a baggage shoot after she placed herself instead of her luggage on the belt, media reported Wednesday. The 78-year-old woman, who was not named, was preparing to fly from Stockholm's Arlanda airport to Germany on Tuesday when she lay down on an unmanned baggage belt in the belief she was following check-in instructions, the Upsala Nya Tidning local daily reported on its website. She was quickly swept off to the baggage handling centre, where staff members helped get her back on her feet. The woman suffered no serious injury and caught her flight as planned.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/swedenairportoffbeat;_ylt=AmFtNge7ZUN2fUNJsexVisbtiBIF

Monday Thoughts: Life transformation and bathroom remodeling

So I've been thinking quite a bit about this whole growth thing in light of studying for yesterday's message and there is one more thought that I had to add to what was already shared. Obviously growth is important for any believer but Scripture also talks about transformation. Romans 12:2 says that we are to not "be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The marks of maturity in our lives (i.e. discernment, boldness, diligence, faithfulness, etc.) are the ways in which growth is demonstrated in our lives. But the process of growth is called transformation. The way Paul writes that phrase "be transformed" is in such a way that something else is doing the transforming to the individual. The hardest part to come to grips with is that I can't transform my own life. It is when I submit my life to the Word of God and the Spirit of God that the process of transformation takes place and the marks of growth can then be seen in how my life is lived. I don't change myself...He changes me. It's kind of like my bathroom (as I have mentioned recently). As you can see in the pictures below there is a vast difference between what it looked like before and what it looks like after. The thing I want you to key in on is the fact that the bathroom couldn't remodel itself. Someone else (me) had to do the work. It just sat there and let me pound away, scrape, cut, and shape it until it was finished. In the same way God has to be the One to transform and "remodel" our lives. Philippians 1:6 says, "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." Our entire saved life is one long remodel job. Are you letting Him transform you?

Before:

After:

Beach Olympics 2007

As many have requested, here is the Beach Olympics video from last summer. I am currently in the process of putting the video together from this summer's B.O. event. Enjoy! Oh, and yes, that is me running after the giant ball...

Beach Olympics 2008

What a difference from last year! A day at the beach just isn't the same without rain, is it? Below are some pictures from the second annual Cause Beach Olympics. The team that took home the gold medal was the Moses Mafia Militia. There have been many requests to post the video from last year's B.O. so I will do so when I finish this year's video and post them together.