Friday, June 30, 2006

"We are the Champions................"



Well, the softball season officially ended for our guys on Tuesday night and they are all truly CHAMPIONS. They played the best game ever and the fans were out in great number to support them! An award was given to Sumner Life Loyal Fans for their awesome support for our team this season! It was an amazing night. We screamed, we danced...........Thanks for an awesome season guys! We are so proud of you! Now what in the world are we going to do on Tuesday nights...........!?

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Volleyball, Softball.....Sports, Sports, Sports....




Hey everyone, tonight is our last softball game! Come out and see our team finish their Softball Season with a bang! Trust me, we will all have a blast no matter what! Volleyball in the sand.........great exercise for sure! It has been so much fun! My friend Ke'o made a magnificent cross court dive this past Sunday...everyone was very impressed! Aloha! :-)

Monday, June 26, 2006

The Palace Girls...............




Once again we had an awesome Girls night! Cindy hosted this one and the pool in the backyard was great fun! Coco the wonder dog got right in the middle of it all and there was a huge sugar buzz from all of the candy! Everyone passed out on the floor during the movie, didn't even make it half way through! You girls are great!

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

"A Battle to Fight: The Enemy"

I just wanted to share with you some things that I have been learning from reading "Wild at Heart", just like I shared when I was reading "Captivating". I have been in the refiners fire, as I 'm sure you all have too, and now I know more about the enemies attacks (see the quote at the bottom by William Gurnall-when silver is refined in the refiners fire, it is not ready, or perfected until the refiner can see His (God's) image in the silver (the silver being me and you). Thus when the enemy see's His (God's) image in you, the attacks are on). I quoted directly from the book from this point forward and it is amazing, eye opening knowledge and confirmation about how the enemy works.

In Chapter 8 there is a section called "The Devil". Since we all have recently studied on "Know Your Enemy", it was a great addition to this teaching John is talking about an incident that happened between him and Stasi: "My wife and I were driving home the other day from an afternoon out and running a bit late to get to our son's last soccer game of the season. I was in the driver's seat and we were enjoying a lingering conversation about some dreams we have for the future. After several minutes we realized that we were caught in a traffic jam that was going nowhere. Precious moments slipped by as tension mounted in the car. In an effort to be helpful, Stasi suggessted an alternate route." "If you take a right here and go up to First Street, we can cut over and take about five minutes off the drive." "I was ready to divorce her. I'm serious. In about 20 seconds I was ready for separation. If the judge had been in the car, I'd have signed the papers right there. Good grief--over a comment about my driving? Is that all that was going on in that moment?"

"I sat at the wheel silent and steaming. On the outside, I looked cool, inside, here is what was happening: Geez, doesn't she think I know how to get there? I hate it when she does that. Then another voice says, She always does that. And I say (internally--the whole dialogue took place internally, in the blink of an eye), Yeah, she does...she's always saying stuff like that. I hate that about her. A feeling of accusation and anger and self-righteousness sweeps over me. Then the voice says, John, this is never going to change, and I say, This is never going to change, and the voice says, You know, John, there are a lot of women out there who would be deeply grateful to have you as their man, and I think; Yeah--there are a lot of women out there........You get the picture. Change the characters and the setting and the very same thing has happend to you. Only, you probably thought the whole thing was your own mess."

"The devil no doubt has a place in our theology; but is he a category we even think about in the daily events of our lives? Has it ever crossed your mind that not every thought that crosses your mind comes from you? What I experienced in the midst of traffic that day happens all the time in marriages, in ministries, in any relationship. We are being lied to all the time. Yet we never stop to say, "Wait a minute...who else is speaking here? Where are those ideas coming from? Where are those feelings coming from?" If you read the saints from every age before the Modern Era--that pride-filled age of reason, science, and technology we all were thoroughly educated in--you'll find that they take the devil very seriously indeed. As Paul says, "We are not unaware of his schemes." (2Cor 2:11). But we, the enlightened, have a much more commonsense approach to things. We look for a psychological or physical or even political explanation for every trouble we meet.

Who caused the Chaldeans to steal Job's herds and kill his servants? Satan, clearly (Job 1:12, 17). Yet do we even give him a passing thought when we hear of terrorism today? Who kept the poor woman bent over for eighteen years, the one Jesus healed on the Sabbath? Satan, clearly (Luke 13:16). But do we consider him when we are having a headache that keeps us from praying or reading Scripture? Who moved Anania and Sapphira to lie to the apostles? Satan again (Acts 5:3). But do we really see his hand behind a fallout or schism in ministry? Who was behind that brutal assault on your own strength, those wounds you've taken? As William Gurnall said, "It is the image of God reflected in you that so enrages hell, it is this at which the demons hurl their mightiest weapons." There is a whole lot more going on behind the scenes of our lives than most of us have been led to believe."

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

PLAY BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Hey everyone! Meet us at the Softball game tonight to support our Sensational Sumner Lifers (we never really named the team:-) Wear your baseball hats, bring your noise makers, and put on your best cheering voice! The guys are goin' to the playoffs! Their holding nothing back............their fierce, their ready, they can taste the victory! Will this be the night that we play "We Are the Champions!" Oh Yea! Besides, you don't want to miss the "battle of the boomboxes." See you there!

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Youth Spaghetti Dinner-Huge Success!





Hey everyone.....the fundraiser spaghetti dinner was a huge success and a blast! We had over 17 youth participate in serving and performing. The food was great, and we have some "stellar" talent in the group! From a dance team of 3 that took us down memory lane with songs from every era, to duets, magic tricks, skits, and "Ode to Spaghetti" which included interperative dance! It was classic! A Great time was had by all Photo #1 me and part of the dance team, #2 say's "I'm thinkin' Arby's" #3 Chelsea and Ciara doing "Beauty for Ashes" and #4 why it's "Samson and Delilah" and "Ode to Spaghetti" boy! If you didn't get to be there you missed a great night!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

'It's a Wonderful Life' Most Inspiring Film


This is one of my very favorites! It has my vote!

George Bailey's brother proclaimed him the richest man in Bedford Falls. Now the story of the despondent businessman, who got a chance to see how ugly the world would be without him, has been proclaimed the most inspiring American movie.
Frank Capra's “It’s A Wonderful Life”, starring James Stewart as the disillusioned George, led the American Family Institute's list of inspirational films revealed Wednesday in the group's annual top-100 TV special that aired on CBS.
"We all connect to that story. We may not all connect to the story of a fighter from Philadelphia or a singing family in the Austrian Alps," said the TV special's producer, Bob Gazzale, referring to two other films on the list, “Rocky” and “The Sound of Music.”
"But there's no way to get away from the inspiring story of George Bailey. It relates to us all."
The 1946 classic "It's a Wonderful Life" is the story of a man who dreamed of escaping his dreary town and making a mark in the world. Circumstance traps George Bailey in tiny Bedford Falls, where he runs his family's penny-ante building and loan and battles the town's miserly overlord.
One Christmas Eve, facing scandal and criminal charges after his uncle misplaces $8,000, George is driven to attempt suicide, but an angel steps in to show him all the good he's done and what a harsher place the world would be without him.
As family and friends rally to his rescue, George learns to embrace the life he thought he loathed and receives a heartfelt toast from his sibling: "To my big brother George — the richest man in town."

Steven Spielberg's “Schindler’s List” starring Liam Neeson as a German businessman who saves his Jewish workers from extermination by the Nazis, was No. 3.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

The View from the Cheering Section!


We have the best cheering section ever! This is the view from the "stands" as we watch our awesome Men's Softball team! I think our Cheering section will take first place for "Most Supportive, Most Fun, Best Music Ever!" Which reminds me, now the 3rd team has decided to bring out their Boom Box and play for their team! It is now a battle of the boom boxes! We just might have to set up the church PA System for the playoffs and "blast" them out of there! By the way, if you look in the backround, in the dugout, laying down, is our new mascot.......Super Sumner Sammy (#4). The crowd was chanting "Put #4 in the game, put #4 in the game!" You got to come and see for yourself!

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Me and My Guy!

......and what a guy he is! That's my Mr. Lincoln getting a plane ride and just "hangin' around"!

Thursday, June 08, 2006

A Call to Purity Psalm 51:10

For the past 2 weeks this scripture has been in my heart and has been part of my prayer. David said "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." KJV "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." NIV Some of you may know about the Pure Life Revolution (www.pureliferevolution.net) What a time we are living in. There is so much coming at us on a daily basis, and these guys have been standing outside the Hustler store on Church street, silently praying for themselves, the church, this city, this country. A repentance and prayer movement, a stand for purity and justice, starting with us....the church. I pass by them every afternoon on my way home from work, I pray for them and those that are going into that store. I spoke with them today and told them we were praying for them and were thankful for what they were doing. But it has to go farther than that. It is no accident that we were born for such a time as this. As we heard on Wednesday night, you are not an accident. The Potter has formed you, for such a time as this. To be an amazing witness and light to a world without Jesus, as only we can be. It's easy to go with the flow; float downstream with most everyone else; go the way of least resistance. But it takes guts to take a stand for Jesus, for God's word, and love them that are lost and be an example that they can follow. 1 Corinthians 11:1 "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." NIV I just wanted to share - I love you guys

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Lights, Camera, Action! Softball Rocks!





In honor of 6/6/06, Mike and Jeremy proudly displayed their team shirts! Here are some shots from last night. The games were great! The guys are playing better and better every game! We were actually ahead 2 to 0 until the 4th inning of our second game! Chaz on the Pitcher mound, Matt on the move, JJ off and running to first and the guys coming in to..... Batter Up! We rocked to Queen, Journey, The Darkness, and of course..........Chuck Norris! Softball games will never be the same now that Sumner Life is there! The other teams brought their version of a Boom Box and some songs..........which pales in comparison to ours I might add! We set the standard and forged the trail! And our guys have the best cheering section ever!

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Take me out to the Ball Game

OK, You all have to come out to our Softball game tonight! Matt man and I (mostly him) worked on a whole new "Game CD" that you don't want to miss. For those of you that don't know what I'm talkin' about, we don't have just ordinary softball games! No way! We carefully choreograph everything! Like a wonderfully executed Fireworks show (yeah, right!)You have to experience it to know what we're talkin' 'bout! This pic is what you look like after you've been working on a CD for 4 hours! :-o