Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Our Kids Are AWESOME!!!

Sunday night's performance of the musical was great! What is even more impressive, they only had four days for learning the whole thing! I have seen programs with months of practice nowhere near the equal to the performance given by the PVS kids!

Having worked for some time in the children's department, this really comes as no surprise. The kids are so well-versed (both literally and figuratively) and are truly becoming the spiritual champions of tomorrow! I invite you all to take the opportunity to sit in on a regular Sunday School or AWANA session and see what I mean. You will truly be blown away at their spiritual maturity and application of biblical principles.

Parents, thank you for your dedication and faithfulness in the training of your children. Thank you for letting us be a part of their growth. Mark and Chris, thank you for your leadership and vision that carry the ministry to the next level. And, thank you PVS for dedicating yourselves to a ministry that impacts lives now and into the future.

Brian

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

What's happenin SOON!

Hey,
Been a while since the last post. Just some info for you...
Starting Wednesday July 25th...

Thursday: PIZZA at Treasure Island Pizza. Starts at 5:00. Come by with the fam and have a ball.

Friday: Gross Games for the kids at Music Camp

Sunday: Evening Service Estherordinary Faith Musical from Music Camp

Wednesday August 1st: AWANA Celebration. Outdoor games that'll get you wet, gross and even grosser. Don't wear your AWANA STUFF!

Wednesday August 8th: First AWANA Club meeting. Come with all your AWANA ON.

Don't miss the opportunities for fun... but also don't miss the opportunities to teach your kids commitment. When you make the family commitment that Sunday is God's Day, and you make it a priority to be at Sunday School and Church, you teach a valuable lesson. No matter the circumstance "we serve God and worship." My Dad committed our family to organize our schedule around church. I'm a better man for it.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Is Transformers for the transformed?

Focus on the Family's Plugged in Review <-- good Christian Review of the movie. I agree with his presentation on the moral issues of the film. I was set to write all that, but why waste internet space? Here's a few of my thoughts.

I saw Transformers today. I had mixed feelings about the movie from my nerd side to start with. I grew up when Transformers ruled the toy aisles and the afternoon toons, so I like my Transformers old skool (come to my office and I'll introduce you to Optimus Prime and his pals the way they should look). As the movie rumors and info began making news last year I really was disappointed with the choice of director (Michael Bay, his film style gives me a headache in more ways than one) AND with the designs of the robots.

So nerd side and children's minister side (I'm a big guy, I have many sides) had a conversation on the way home from the movie. (My brother was driving and I was holding the tropical fish he bought after the movie... next door at the fish store) Nerd side: Man the effects were cool, I'm not sure the designs were great, but did ya see when Rachet was blowin' up that badguy? OH the effects were some of the best I've ever seen. Honestly! So realistic and natural looking. Children's Minister side: Yeah yeah, realistic? How unrealistic a portrayal of teen relationships, parent relationships and dialog. BLUH. Come on, if you can't make a movie with kids characters without bringing up non kid themes then GET SOME CREATIVITY.

I use Transformers toys as illustrations for Bible stuff with our kids. It's great to use them to talk about Good vs Evil, Hidden talents, Hidden dangers, and that kinda stuff. The good guys battle the badguys in the film, the subtlety of it's great effects shows some hidden talents of the director... but its the hidden dangers of some adult themes that kill it. Would I recommend this movie to my kids? No. A flat no. I hate it say it. The nerd is saying "BUT THE EFFECTS..." But, I can't say "excuse the offensive stuff and take your 10 year old." It's PG-13 for a reason (and I'd hold back the 13 year olds as well).

Here's a little Visual Basic Code to keep in mind:

For N$ = "Number of kids to camp in '08."
For C$ = "Chris"

If Val(N$) >= 50 Then
C$.ShavedHead = True
End If

So start recruiting today!

--Ted

Well, it's been a week but all the photographs are now available for viewing online. You can also order prints for yourself if you like. The images are cropped to best fit 4x6" prints. Unless you want more than one copy for each kid that went on the trip, don't order the group photo that is shown on the 'main' page--the kids are going to get a 5x7" copy of that.

To view the photographs, click this link:
http://pvsbc.shutterfly.com

Remember that the password for this site is different because it contains photographs from several PVS activities. If you don't know the password, send me an e-mail at: tedb3rd (at) earthlink (dot) net.

Sorry it took so long to get the photos online. When I came into work last Monday morning after being away for a week, I had all the stuff from when I was gone. Plus, the building was struck by lightning at some point over the weekend so we lost all our computers, phone system, voicemail, alarm system, alarm keypads, air conditioning, thermostats, copier server, all our computer networking hardware, and our computer wall projector. We had repairmen in all week having to physically replace the hardware--they even had to tear out some of the motion detectors in the halls. I would also like to add that the one piece of electronic equipment that was not damaged, the fax machine, was the only equipment that was NOT plugged in via a surge protector--go figure!

--Ted

Monday, July 2, 2007

A week off...

It's the fourth. Time to reflect on our freedoms, time to be thankful for sacrifice and time to enjoy some family time. Mel and I are going to see my Dad. It's kinda neat seeing Jake playing in the same backyard I did growing up.

Make sure you've signed up your 1st - 5th graders for Music Camp July 23rd - 27th. It's gonna be a great time of music and praise. Kids will be learning a musical that they'll perform 29th. Don't miss out on this new summer program!