Nashville

Well, our post-Christmas Christmas in Nashville has been lots of fun. We seem to have brought some CA weather with us... 63 and sunny today.

Here's the family present:

I think a bunch of us are heading over to the Opryland Hotel this evening to check out all the lights and decorations... should be nice.

We'll drive back to Mom's place on Thursday and fly back to Oakland Saturday. Before that we plan to get Mom's new computer set up and her cable connection up and running.

Enjoy your time with family!!

Merry Christmas!!

I Love this picture of Kaleb when we did Christmas at Thanksgiving... Thanksmas. :)

I gotta admit that as Randy and I were running up the paved road toward Black Diamond Mines in the fog this morning, I wasn't thinking of Christmas. We met a couple walking down the road with their dog, and they wished us a Merry Christmas... I thought, "Oh, it is Christmas tomorrow, isn't it?!?" I think it seems less "Christmassy" this year because we didn't decorate. There's just something about hanging onto the roof while delicately balanced on a ladder and trying to string lights that puts one in the Christmas spirit.

Well... seeing moms and siblings and nephews and nieces over the next few days will change all that. Even though our kids enjoying time with their in-laws this year, we'll be with family with whom we've shared many, many Christmas experiences... and we're looking forward to it.

We also will likely get to see some old friends while we're in Cabot... at least those who are in town. That will be nice too.

Well, tonight we head to Oakland for a Park and Sleep deal at a hotel... not many more dollars than leaving our car at a regular lot, and they'll shuttle us to the airport early in the morning and watch our car while we're gone. It'll be nice to get away... I love traveling with Virginia. And, Leslie and her folks will keep our house in good shape while we're gone. It's also comforting that Art (Antioch PD) is a neighbor and friend.

May not get to blog for a few days, so MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all!!

Christmas, A Longer Perspective

I subscribe to GracEmail by Edward Fudge, and for today's blog I wanted to share his thoughts in today's GracEmail... probably because they really spoke to me.

(gracEmail) CHRISTMAS -- PROPHECY FULFILLED - Edward Fudge - Dec 22, 2005

This Christmas I am impressed anew that we are seeing biblical prophecy fulfilled before our eyes. Not the kind of prophetic fulfillment about which the sensationalists talk and write best-seller books for the gullible masses -- about Middle-eastern conflict and geopolitics and world banks and bar codes at the supermarkets. No, something far more solid and biblical than any of that! God's word to Isaiah 2,700 years ago has come to pass: "The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope."

All you have to do is turn on the radio, or go to a mall. You will discover that throughout the Gentile world, in word and in song, people of all nations are celebrating the birth of the Jewish Messiah, the Light to the Nations, the descendant of Abraham through whom the whole world is blessed! "I make you a covenant mediator for people, and a light to the nations," God said to Isaiah concerning the Messiah (42:6-7). "Arise! Shine! For your light arrives! The splendor of the LORD shines on you!" (Isa. 60:1) "Nations come to your light, kings to your bright light. Look all around you!" (Isa. 60:3). And so they have come -- from the first Christmas, when Magi came from the East, until this very day!

This little e-mail message is traveling at lightning speed around the world -- across North, Central and South America, throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, to the British Isles and islands in the Atlantic and Pacific, to the Near East and Far East and the Pacific Rim, to countries predominantly Moslem and Hindu and Shinto and Buddhist and animistic and communist and theoretically Christian. To a world that once sat in great darkness, whose inhabitants worshipped sticks and stones, or the sun and moon, or forces of nature. A world which once did not know the Creator, did not enjoy covenant with him, did not hope in his promises. But today, in every one of these places, people are serving God's Messiah, the Christ-child, who became a man and died for our sins and rose again, who is coming again one day to establish peace forever!

Have a blessed Christmas, my friends! May his Presence gently hover above the presents, and "may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 15:13).

Copyright 2005 by Edward Fudge. Permission hereby granted to reprint this gracEmail in its entirety without change, with credit given and not for financial profit. Visit our multimedia website at www.EdwardFudge.com

Merry Chr... er... Happy Hol... er... Seasons Greetings

This is a great time of the year... in many ways... family, giving, all that music, remembering the birth of Jesus and how He impacts all of us, time off work... oh, did I mention family.

From the time I was a teen in the 60's I remember people bemoaning the increasing commercialization of Christmas... that Jesus was being crowded out by our secular society. I could see that was true, but, interestingly enough, back then in Churches of Christ, we pretty much ignored the Christmas from a religious standpoint for two reasons: 1) nobody knew when Jesus was born, so how could we just pick a day God hadn't authorized, and 2) since God didn't command such a celebration, we dare not get involved. We didn't want to risk the fires of hell by singing "Joy to the World" in December. Instead, back then we majored in the family aspect, sent cards with Santa and Rudolph but no Jesus or angels, hit all the sales, and threw Holiday Parties for the youth group, but nothing that smacked of "Christmas"... except, of course, for we closet rebels.

I thought it was ridiculous back then, so I am thrilled that our fellowship has matured to the point that we can talk about and thank God for his miraculous entrance into our world... even if we still don't know for sure when Jesus was born.

Which brings me (in a rambling sort of way) to the current controversy about "Merry Christmas" vs "Happy Holidays" for Christians. Sigh.... get over yourselves, people. If you want to get technical about it, those of us with non-Catholic roots maybe shouldn't say Merry holiday" used to be "holy day." And we probably don't even want to get into the fact that Christmas on December 25 was a convenient Christian replacement for a pagan holiday after the Roman Empire legalized Christianity and it became the dominant religion, do we?!?

Seems to me that how you treat people, how thankful you are, and what's in your heart is probably WAY MORE IMPORTANT than what words you use to characterize this time of the year. Somehow, I have a much easier time seeing a 21st century Jesus giving to the poor, enjoying family, and being with his friends than getting involved in this useless debate.

Soooo... as the day approaches... Happy Holidays... Season's Greetings... Merry Christmas!!

Automatic

The button, he reminded me, is automatic... you need only to fully depress it once, and the window goes all the way down. It's important to remember that to save wear and tear on the internal electronics of the window.

The friendly guy from the glass company showed up about 30 minutes later than he had estimated, but he knew what he was doing. He took the door apart and installed the new window glass... and it all worked when he was done. I was really thankful, even if it did cost me a few bucks. I need to drive the car tomorrow, and it's supposed to be raining.

Sooo... today I worked from home, catching up on email and getting a good start on a draft of a program for the Pepperdine Lectures in May. Jerry Rushford asked us to form an East Bay Praise Team from the Tri-Valley and Eastside congregations to lead worship in Stauffer Chapel the Friday morning of Lectures



and in Elkins Auditorium Friday afternoon.










The group has been together once for a picture and to sing together informally. It will be fun... and I now have a beginning from which to prepare.

Making Time for a Baby

As Jarrod closed our service this morning he reminded us how much a new baby changes the life of a family... how we all make time in our lives for that new baby. Then he simply asked us to think about the extent to which we have made time for Jesus in our lives. It's a question worth wrestling with... just how is my life different because of a relationship with Jesus.

Our worship time today was a reminder of just how important a question it is. We sang songs about Jesus; the praise team sang Mary, Did You Know and Welcome to Our World; Jenny and Reuben and Tom were great as Mary and Joseph and Simeon. And our kids and youth group and Harbour Lights Preschool kids all sang. The "cute factor" of the preschool kids was more than bright enough to obscure a few minor production flaws. The most important thing is that each of us was reminded again that God loves so much that He became one of us... WOW!

Shattered

Randy and I met out at the Stewartsville trailhead to run back into the Black Diamond Regional Preserve. It was a chilly and foggy 41 degrees with a slight breeze, and we ran for about 80 minutes. I didn't feel particularly strong this morning, so we ran pretty slow and stayed off the tougher hills. When we got back to the cars, I was a bit stiff and looking forward to a hot shower back at the house. As I walked between my car and Randy's, I noticed broken glass on the ground that I didn't remember seeing when we pulled up. As my eyes slowly turned toward the driver's door, I realized that my window was no longer in one piece, but shattered into a million pieces... some on the ground and most all over the inside of the car.

Amazingly enough, they didn't take registration or any other documents... they left my keys (I had my car key with me) that had been under the seat... all they took was a bag from the trunk with a small tool kid, a first aid kit and an old flashlight. The didn't even get the nice big mag light under the front sheet. Soooooo.... it definitely could have been worse.

I called the police to report it and get a number to give insurance and cleaned up the car. I'll call my State Farm agent Monday... although I have a feeling the repair will be slightly less than the deductible... we'll see.

I guess the Camry is probably happy... she gets the Honda's spot in the garage... at least until she's repaired.

Divine Voices and Friends

Tonight Virginia and I had our 2nd Christmas cultural outing tonight. We attended the Deer Valley High School Winter Choral Music Program... mostly to hear Josh Spainhower sing as a member of DV's acappella group, Divine Voices. Well, Josh and his group were really fabulous, but we were pleasantly surprised by the other groups as well. The numbers of talented students in the program's several choirs, their energy and enthusiasm, and their obvious love and respect for their Director, Mrs. Henderson, all speak of a vocal music program that is well-conceived, well-run, and most likely well-supported by the administration.

Our kids enjoyed a marvelous vocal music program at Dulles High School when we lived in the Houston area, but since coming to the Bay Area, we had heard that the schools here were so underfunded in the arts that most of the programs had fallen on hard times. If underfunding is the case, Mrs Henderson and DVHS are doing a great job with what they have, and the 200+ kids in the DV vocal music program are indeed blessed by a wonderful leader.

The Story

This Sunday we've invited the Harbour Lights Christian Preschool kids and parents to join us for a special look at the Christmas Story. Our preschool age kids will join the HL kids in a couple of songs; and our elementary kids and youth group will also sing in addition to a couple of "specials" by the praise team. We'll use "story telling" and a monologue or two as well as a few costumes. It will be a fun way to highlight that age-old story of the birth of Jesus.

Tonight was our final rehearsal... first one with lights; it was a little rough in spots, but the tech guys will finalize their details early Sunday, and we'll be good to go. I love this time of year and creative ways of retelling The Story. I'll leave you with a couple of images we'll be using.



This one's from Heartlight.













I found this cool angel pic online.

Memorial

Today Eastside hosted the memorial service for Mike Truitt, a former member and and longtime police officer here in Antioch. After 26+ years on the force, Mike retired last spring. In June he was diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer. He died December 8.

Today Mike's family and the Antioch PD did a wonderful job of highlighting the caring and loving man he was to those in his life. It was obvious that he loved his job as an officer and was good with people he met in the community. Even some members of his family who do not get along with each other set aside their differences today in order to honor Mike and his life.

In Romans 8 Paul writes "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Today Mike's brothers talked about how, in the last few months as the cancer ravaged his body, Mike turned his heart and mind back toward God. Certainly cancer is a horrible reality in this life, but it seems that God is able to take advantage of even this disease to draw someone back to Him.

Thank you, Father, for loving each one of us through all the trials of this fallen world... for your mercy and your grace.

And the Show Goes On

When our kids were in Jr High... and particularly in High School, we loved going to their various productions... band... theater... choir concerts... half-time shows... dinner theater... and so on. It was a wonderful time for us, and we especially enjoyed the times when we got to share the performances with family or friends from church or the neighborhood. Perhaps the culmination was Jeremy's senior year when they did Tommy for their musical, and Jennifer flew in from college in Virginia to attend a performance. The show was so good... perhaps the best high school production I've ever seen... that the other high schools in the area brought their theater and music kids... even the Houston High School of Performing and Visual Arts. If you want to see it sometime, we have this home movie....... OK, OK...

Well, back to my original train of thought. Tonight we attended a Christmas show at Tabernacle Christian School where some of our kids from church attend. It was a 7th and 8th grade production, and one of our kids from church, Sam Spainhower, had the lead role. It was really fun to be able to share in the performance and the family's joy and the fun of the evening. We enjoyed it so much, that we're heading to another show Thursday night at Deer Valley High School.

Tomorrow night is our final rehearsal for our Christmas program Sunday. We need to fine tune (no pun intended) some of the songs, but I think it's coming together well, and I'm confident that God will be glorified and all of us will be encouraged as we look once again at the story of Jesus.

Perspective

This week we experienced a loss at church. Somehow... nobody's sure just how it happened... we totally lost all the powerpoint song files we had been upgrading and adding graphics to over the last year or more. We also lost all our worship ppt files for this year. Did we have current versions backed up somewhere... no... and shame on me for that. Will we survive... of course... and as we rebuild the files, we'll back things up more faithfully this time... just in case.

Now to the perspective part. The other day I got an email off the Christian Education Association list serve from a Children's Minister whose dad is an elder at the Thomas Street Church of Christ in Altus, Oklahoma. As she wrote, the building was fully involved in fire, and the firefighters had to mostly just watch because the hydrants were frozen. The main building burned totally to the ground, but the family center survived with only some smoke damage. Bible class teachers lost up to 40 years of material... the ministry and support staff lost everything. Thankfully nobody was hurt. I guess losing some ppt files is... well... small stuff... I had a friend who always said, "Don't sweat the small stuff." I think he's right.

One more thing... tonight on Nightline, they'll be talking to mothers who lost their sons in Iraq.

For Granted

Yesterday I hopped in the car and drove to Dublin to spend some time with a few other ministers from the greater Bay area. I really felt blessed by my time with them. Not sure how this particualr group ot together originally... some drive pretty far and there are others in the area who don't participate, but it seems that God has created a meaningful community from some pretty diverse individuals.

Because of travel and other commitments, Tuesday was the first gathering I have attended this fall. As is often the case, I didn't realize how much I had missed being with those guys until I was with them again. Our number was relatively small Tuesday, and we didn't have any sort of formal presentation, so we were able to give more time to simply sharing some things that are happening with us personally and professionally. As we talked and shared, I had the sense that "just the right group" had gathered this day, and I was thankful I was with them.

Celebrating Betty's Life

Sunday was a really good day all around. Worship with our church family is always enriching, but yesterday was extra special... could really feel the Spirit's presence. Jarrod talked about the 2nd coming.

At 3:00 in the afternoon about 130 of us gathered to celebrate the life of a wonderful Christian lady i've mentioned before... Betty Welch. Her family joined with church family and friends throughout the years to just thank God for her and her influence... and... in Betty's own words... to "have fun." I won't write more, but the image below captures a little of her personality. God bless!

Mission Christmas Dinner

More than a few years ago a man named Jim Clites started a ministry serving the homeless and the poor of Antioch and east Contra Costa County. He came to call them simply his friends, and to them he became simply Pastor Jim. One of the events he dreamed of and eventually planned was a Christmas party for folks who never had one. The first one was put on for a handful of his friends with the help of a few volunteers, but that was only the beginning. Over the years the event has grown to the point that it is now held at the Fair Grounds the first Saturday in December, and 200 or more volunteers from a dozen or more churches throw a huge dinner and party for approaching 1000 friends.

Last year we at Eastside were marginally involved for the first time by providing some Bibles and some cash for food. This year we rolled up our sleeves and jumped right in. In addition to Bibles and cash, our members contributed a bunch of toys to be given to the kids, cooked turkeys, and served as the cleanup crew after the event wound down this afternoon. Some of our folks even spent the day and helped out in a variety of ways.

It was a great day with lots of food and music and presents for kids and adults... and even a raffle for some big gifts. I'll never forget the faces of the kids whose tickets won the bikes!

Dee, the energy-filled lady who is the main organizer and communicator for Mission Christmas throughout the year, sent a thank you email to all the volunteers this afternoon. Here's a quote:

I heard that one gal who won the basket of towels and bathroom things was so thrilled because she lives in a tent and needed all of the items. She even said the hair dryer was great to use at a place where she showers and cleans up. I am so thankful she won that prize and to see her face.

This is one of those times when it's not important what our theology is or where we stand on any of a variety of issues. This is one of those times when it's important to just act like Jesus. I'm so proud of our Eastside volunteers... can't wait until next year!!

Rainy Season

I love the Happy California Cows commercial where the cows all run panicky from a puffy cloud, and one of them says, "I hate the rainy season!" I think it's one of the most clever in the whole series. Well... the real rainy season has begun as of yesterday. A big storm has moved in off the Pacific, dropping rain all over the Bay Area and Valley, and depositing several feet of snow in the Sierras. The resorts are loving it. Last year we had quite a bit of rain about a month earlier, and people were skiing by early November. We haven't been here long enough to know for sure, but I think this year is closer to normal. Soon the hills will change from this "golden" color to.......














something more like this green. It happens slowly over the next coupld of months, but, trust me, by February, the hills will be luch and beautiful.

In the mean time, we'll try to enjoy the "rainy season" and hope the skiiers and snow boarders appreciate the white stuff.