Oh man. How long was I out? What? 7 months?! Wow. I should NOT have eaten that marked-down Turducken! I guess Turducken is only good for so long. Well, live and learn.

At any rate, the Transformers website is cranking back into production. Sorry for the delay, but...life happens, y'know? I'll try to keep the big wheels turning!

I've updated the Images section with all of the pictures from our Summer '05 shindigs. I also went back and re-compressed the earlier pix and thus was able to add a few extra shots, so check it out now, right about now.

In the coming week we'll get the Events section rolling again, too. We've got quite a bit of stuff we want to cram in before the end of the year, so don't go filling up every bit of your schedule...leave some for us.

Of course, the best place to get the skin on what's coming up, or "going down", as the kids say, is to come to class! It's a treasure trove of event discussion. And you never know when we might squeeze in a little B-I-B-L-E lesson! It's better than fresh Turducken!

As a public service, here are the times again:

Nor’Easter
03/23/05

Ahhh, Easter. What a wonderful time of year. The snow is starting to melt in the north, the flowers are starting to bloom in the south, and the sun is staying out longer and longer. Before we know it, the Easter Bunny will be making his way, hippity-hopping from house to house delivering his baskets of candy and joy to all good boys and girls. Well, actually I think bad kids will get them too. The Easter Bunny is pretty forgiving. In fact, as I understand it, the Easter Bunny operates within a “do-as-thou-wilt” set of theological parameters. This means that there really is no subjective definition of “right” and “wrong”...just what’s right for me, and what’s right for you and what’s right for all the other boys and girls. I guess that’s why that ol’ bunny is so doggone cute! He doesn’t go around judging us for our sins...oops! I forgot, they’re not called “sins” anymore. I think “spiritual faux pas” is the PC term. I’ll have to look it up in the Book of Cadbury.

Anyway, as I was saying, Eastertime is such a wonderful time of the year!I’m not sure where the holiday originated, but I think it had something to do with that island with all the big-headed statues on it: Easter Island. You know the one I mean. No one knows who carved those big heads or what they mean and that’s probably why the original meaning of the Easter holiday has been lost to mankind.

Of course we shouldn’t forget that Easter also has a connection of some kind to Jesus. That’s important to remember when it’s time for the office Easter party.

Why, I was just looking online last night for a costume to wear and came across a bunch of great Jesus outfits! There’s the “classic” Jesus (1) where he’s got kind of a “Fonz” thing going on (“Aaaaaaaaaaayy”). Then, there’s the “bald/blond” variant (2). I even saw one for a child...of the ADULT Jesus (3)! I’m pretty open minded, but I have to admit that last one weirded me out a little bit. But, then I reminded myself that it’s all in good Eastertime fun! I mean, you can’t really blame retailers for taking advantage of the cash cow that is the Easter holiday, can you? No one complains about the commercialism of Christmas, and that’s just another secular holiday like Easter, right? I think I first realized just how lucrative these pseudo-religious holidays could be when I was in a Christian bookstore and saw a piggy bank that said “Jesus Saves” on the side of it. Get it? Isn’t that great?

Well, anyway, I just wanted to say that however you choose to spend your free day off (Great Friday, if you ask me!), I hope you enjoy it. Take time to reflect on just how great a gift chocolate has been to the world (especially in bunny form!). Just remember to spread the Good News: Peeps are 50% off on Monday! 

Spring Broke
02/22/05
So, anyway, a number of you are going to start gearing up for a little thing called Spring Break in the next few weeks. Some of you will be going on CRAZY trips to blow off steam. Some will be undertaking a mini-missions trip. Both noble pursuits, and I hope you enjoy your choose-your-own-adventure. Just watch out for old man Satan. Anytime we have big plans we’re excited about, you can be pretty sure Mr. S is cooking up some scheme to trip us up and make us forget Who we belong to and Who we follow. His

 tricks can be just as effective, whether we’re playing volleyball in Miami Beach, or witnessing to a group of kids in NY. He’ll hit you when you least expect it and where you’re least prepared for him. Just keep your eyes open, that’s all I’m saying. And pray for one another and yourself. Have a GREAT Spring Break!

02/15/05

We’ve been talking about evangelism lately, and how it’s not just bringing the Gospel to people who have never heard it before, but also helping those who have heard but not understood it. I know there are a ton of unreached people groups, and we have to get to them. But sometimes I worry that if we focus only on the unreached, and we are not in a position today to go to them, we think, “well, there’s nothing for me to do right now. But one day God will put me in a position to go to Tibet, and then I’ll work really hard.”

But what about those all around us every day that have heard about Jesus and have decided that they don’t want to have anything to do with Him or His nutty followers? They may have a body of evidence for why they have come to this conclusion that seems good to them. But isn’t the REAL REASON that they just haven’t understood it yet? Isn’t it safe to say that if one really understood that accepting Jesus is a “trade up”, and that one really isn’t losing anything of importance, that he would jump at the opportunity? If you knew you could really not only live forever, but live forever in utter happiness, peace, joy and hope...wouldn’t you want to? Wouldn’t anyone? If somebody says, “well, I don’t really dig the idea of floating around on a cloud playing a harp for all eternity,” you can be reasonably sure that they haven’t “gotten it” yet. And I think most people that reject the gospel really just haven’t “gotten it” yet. They don’t UNDERSTAND. Helping them to understand is what evangelism is ALL ABOUT, whether this is the first time they’ve heard the good news or the 27th time.

This life can be confusing, which is why we have all kinds of dumbed-down instructions to help get us through it. Don’t be offended by the term “dumbed-down”. If one is dumb it may, in fact,  be very helpful to have a dumbed-down version of the rules to follow. And, I am afraid that many of us humans (me, especially) are dumb. Which is why I thank God for coming down from His glory to our level to save us. Reach out to your “neighbor” in the same dumb, loving way! ;-)

Hurray for V.D.!
02/08/05

Next week is Valentine’s Day...ahhh! What a magical day, indeed. Did you ever stop to wonder why it is that we associate the wonderful notion of LOVE with the heart? We all do it. You’ve got your sweetie in your arms and you look deeply into (opposite gender)’s eyes and say, “I love you...with all my heart.” Why the heart? And we Christians have our own version of this: “Would you like to accept Jesus ...into your...heart?” Into my heart? What does Jesus want with my left ventricle?  The reason we say “heart” is that in western civilization the heart is the “seat of the emotions.” That’s why we say “you broke my heart” or “he really put his heart into it.” Anyone know what the seat of the emotions was in the Old Testament? You guessed it: The bowels. That’d really change some of our modern love songs: “I left my bowels in San Francisco...”, “Don’t tell my bowels, my achey-breakey bowels…”, etc. The truth is that Jesus is just about as interested in getting into your heart as he is your bowels. What he wants is the center of your life, the seat of your emotions. He wants all of you, not just your blood-pumping muscle. Remember that Love (in the Christian sense) isn’t a feeling, it’s an act. You make the choice to love someone, and that choice isn’t supposed to change based on feelings. Feelings come and go and change all the time. Real love is NOTHING like that. Be thankful that God’s perfect love is in no way related to whether or not we have “earned” it, nor can we do anything to lose God’s love. And that love extends to everyone you can think of—from that sweet, little old lady to the major jerk who just cut you off in traffic (sorry if that was me!) to Adolf Hitler. Sometimes it’s hard for us to think of God’s love extending to EVERYONE the same way, but let’s just be thankful that it does. There is NOTHING that you can do to distance yourself from God to the point that He doesn’t want you back. Now, take a deep breath, and remember that God asks us to have that same level of love. Wow. I’ve got some work to do. I hope you all have a great Valentine’s  Day. And I mean that with all my heart!

Pride Goeth Before Us All
02/03/05

I’ve been thinking a lot about PRIDE lately. I’m afraid it’s like this big brute on our backs from which we can’t shake free. Many times we don’t even know it’s there, strangling us. C.S. Lewis calls pride the “Great Sin”, not because it’s any worse in God’s eyes, but because he believes it’s what leads to all other sin. Pride is what made the devil the devil. Pride is the “complete anti-God state of mind,” according to Lewis. A GREEDY man might want a lot of money...more than he needs. But a PRIDEFUL man isn’t content until he has MORE money than the next man. His focus isn’t on the money, but on himself. It’s said that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but that’s not true. People are proud of be RICHER, MORE CLEVER, or BETTER LOOKING than their fellow man. It’s the COMPARISON that counts. What’s scariest to me is that ABSTAINING from other sin can lead to the sin of pride! This is something we Christians can easily be guilty of: Let’s see...I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t fornicate, I give to the poor and tithe, I love my neighbor, I read my bible. These are all good things, and what a good man I must be to have done them. Certainly God must think very highly of me. The devil LOVES IT when we replace the sin of greed or lust or hatred with the sin of pride. He’s more than happy to see us cured of the flu, if he can turn around and give us cancer. See, the problem is that, the more pride we have, the more we dislike it in others and the less we are aware of it in ourselves. I need to focus more on God and less on myself. In fact, it’s better if I just forget about myself altogether!

This Present Darkness
01/30/05

Don’t forget to remember to read your Bible as often as you possibly can! Each day I’m reminded that I’ve got the Devil on my back. I’m reminded each day because he hits me where I’m weakest every single day. If ever there was a poster child for a strong work ethic, it’s Satan, man! That dude does not take a coffee break. He is on the job, 25/8. Staying scripturally well-read is one of our best means of defense against this un-relenting force. I think some Christians like to compare Satan to “Dracula” - just hold up a cross or some holy water and he runs away screaming. Guess again. Take Job for example. Job was the “Holiest Man On Campus” (HMOC), but Satan was allowed to do just about anything he wanted to Job. The only thing that sustained Job was his knowledge of and trust in God. Stay close to the Word, hide it in your heart and your head and you will have a much better chance against this incredible foe!

Road Closed Ahead
01/20/05

As we move further into 2005, be thinking of any way that you, as an individual, and we, as a class, can reach out in creative new ways to those around us—friends, co-workers, classmates, family members. The Reach and Mission Teams are going to be thinking hard about this, but I hope all of us (whether we’re on these teams, or not) are always looking for new ways we can increase our effectiveness. Becoming complacent in our mission is a serious problem that can hinder us. We must always strive to reach that next level. Remember, we will never reach perfection in this world, but at the same time we must be satisfied with nothing BUT perfection. That means we’ve got work to do. Good intentions won’t cut it. We all know that good intentions pave the road that this guy’s on! Let’s not take that road! In the immortal words of dcTalk, “Luv is a Verb”...let’s take some action!

As the Transformers continue to grow (not just in number, but also in height) we will continue to create new opportunities to help one another, have fun with one another, and reach out to our community. As such, we are creating two new teams to TCB (that's, "Take Care o' Business"): The Reach Team and the Ministry Team.

The Reach Team will have the responsibility of approaching visitors to our class and making sure they are introduced and feel welcome. They will also follow up with a phone call when appropriate. They will also work with the rest of the class to come up with FELLOWSHIP (to use a church term) opportunities - cookouts, Carowinds, scrap-booking, etc.

The Ministry Team will look for opportunities to reach out and help our fellow man - nursing home/hospital visitation, volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House, provide rides for the Salem Pregnancy Center, etc.

It is my sincere hope that at a minimum we can schedule at least ONE Fellowship Thing and ONE Ministry Thing every other month. So, in January we do a Fellowship thing, in February we do a Ministry thing, in March we do a Fellowship thing, etc. I would like us to put a calendar together for the year so we can all plan accordingly. More info in class.

If you’re like millions of others around the world, you’ve picked out a New Year’s Resolution. Be it quitting smoking, losing weight, getting in shape, doing better at school/work, or learning some sweet Karate moves, it’s something you resolve to do in 2005 to better yourself. What I challenge you to do this year (in addition to your resolution) is to pick a New Year’s REVOLUTION! This is something you’re going to start doing or start doing BETTER to impact the world around you for the Kingdom of God! Maybe you need to be in the Word more. Maybe you need to be in the church more. Maybe you need to step out and let God use you in a specific way that you’ve been reluctant give over to Him. Maybe you need to pack your bags and go to East Asia! Whatever “it” may be, Pick it, Stick to It, Pray about It, and have a friend hold you Accountable to It. 2005 is the year that God is going to move mountains with you! Believe it!

Take time, as Christmas and the end of the year draw near, to think about where God has brought you and where you ought to go from here. God always gives you the choice...ironically, the tough part isn't so much FINDING our choices as it is MAKING our choice. This year, this week, today...MAKE YOUR CHOICE!

I know we're getting close to the Christmas deadline, and shopping is getting crazy. No one hates the mall at this time of year more than me! I'd just as soon drink hot candle wax as go to the mall at this time of year. But amidst the holiday hustle & bustle (what is "bustle", anyway?), let's not forget the true meaning of Christmas: Jesus Christ, who came to die that we might live...not that we might take advantage of a 2-for-1 sale. Think about it, won't you? Thankyou.

Also, don't forget the upcoming Christmas party.

The 1st Annual Black Friday Cookout went over well I think. Pretty sure everybody got enough to eat and then some. Even those Boca Burgers looked (kinda) good (sorta). Chris drank a Jar's worth of pickle-remnant juice - IOU $1, dude. Team 1 dominated (once again) at Catchphrase. Thanks to everyone who hung out with us. Special mention goes out to Jordan Googe and Corey Mounce, the last two to leave at 2am! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about.

Check the Images page for visual input.

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11/15/04
News Flash! SINGLES SUNDAY is this Sunday! Check the Events page for more details.

P.S. Halo 2 rules. I beat it Friday night, and it is awesome. That is all.
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Don't forget, HALO 2 comes out November 9th! I've already taken November 10th off from work. I suggest you do the same and get ready for the upcoming inaugural HALO 2 tournament. Oh Yeah.
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10/26/04
How-diddily-doodily, neighborino! The Transformers site is just getting started. It's late, and I'm tired, so I'm going to post this incoherent babble for right now. Perhaps I'll think of something much more profound to post here in the near future. In the meantime, poke around the site for some upcoming event information and some past event photo journalism.

Back soon with more updates.

Hakuna Matata, baby!
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