FOUND: 3 Winterfest Pics

Easter Foto

For the past three Easter Sundays, we [the Atwood Family] have gone to the beach after church. This year as we headed down the winding two lane road to Jekyll Island, Michal said to stop and take a picture of Cora with the flowers. We stopped the car, got our photo-happy daughter out and told her to smile. Those pictures came out good. But in this one I told her, just smell the flowers.

There are plenty of times in our life when we need to go fast. When people need to see you, hear from you, talk to you. When you need to do something for someone. Get something. It gets hetic. And if we are not careful, hetic-ness becomes the language and currency or our lives. And those that suffer? Our family.

Stop the fast moving car! Step outside with the kids. Listen to your spouse. Take a picture. Enjoy life! I mean, isn't that why Jesus came to earth in the first place? So that we may have life and have it more abundantly? The Message version says: "[Jesus] came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of." (John 10.10)

...Oh, and you know I couldn't leave out the most obvious cliche... SMELL THE FLOWERS!

Take An Inventory

Since we have been talking about how wonderfully made we are, we should take time to fidn out what God put inside of us. Take an inventory. The following are some links to sites that test your skills, personality and such. Take them with a grain of salt.

• Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Short little quiz with 10 questions. Extrovert means you generally prefer the company of others and are unreserved when compared to an introvert who is more of an inward person.
• The Bible Personality Test has 25 questions and then breaks down in percentage between four persoanlities: The director, the cheerleader, the investigator and the caregiver.
• The Personality Test by Dr. Gary Smalley is rather lengthy but it is cool to find out if you are the captian, the social director, the steward or the navigator.
  

LOYC May Newsletter

Click on image to enlarge.

Teen Talent Adjudicator Comments In

So I got the Teen Talent Comments from the judges in the mail today. Since BGOT10 is on hiatus for the next two Mondays, I thought I'd post the comments here online. One thing I have to say, the comments were a lot shorter and nicer than last times. I don't know if it means we were better, you be the judge.

• Love the outfits! Great use of props- you guys are GOOD! (Adjudicator: Shannon Casola)
  
• Good song. Great outfits. Have fun!! Smile! You guys have great moves- but they're not together. You look good! Great job. (Adjudicator: Stefanie Black)
• Good Job- Make sure everybody acts into it the whole time & keep it up! (Adjudicator: Unable to read name)

Moooooooo...vies

So the summer blockbuster movie season is upon us. Actually, it's a lot of hyped up movies that the industry creates the illusion that we must see. It's summer time: YOU MUST SEE BIG BANGS! FLYING SUPERHEROES! EPIC (Just a fancy word for long) MOVIES! Here is a very short sample of things coming out. And a disclaimer: This list is just to alert you to what's coming out and give my humble, subtle opinion on them. By no means is it an endorsement of the movies. And another reason for doing this? Make you alert of what's coming. You the teen heading to the theater and you the parent handing them the cash to go.

• Superman Returns: So the guy who gave us two X-Men movies and "The Usual Suspects" is doing a little bit of tinkering with the Superman movies. Bryan Singer liked the first two Superman movies and didn't care much for the other ones that followed. So this one takes place after Superman Two. The flying superhero is coming back to earth after five years of absences. Sound good? Sound shaky? The hype is all over this one. It pretty much garuantees to be huge. Want to read a good article on "Why We Love Superheroes" by the Focus On The Family? Click here. [RT]
  
• MI3: Who is tired of the Tom Cruise thing? Who has a twinge of concern for Katie Holmes? Mission Impossible and Mission Impossible 2 were entertaining. Number three with Hoffman looks good. But... TOM? Is my money going towards Tom's craziness fund? Want a professional run down. Go to Rotten Tomatoes [RT] (warning: spoiler alert). Do you want to want the break down on violence, curse words, sexual scenes and much much more? A great site to check out is Kids In Mind [KIM]. (They do not have MI3 on there yet, but most movies that have come out or are coming out are on there.)
• X-Men: The Last Stand: So does anyone watch these movies and see the symbolic struggle? Any hidden meanings? Read this article based on the first movie by a Christian company called "Christian Spolight On Entertianment." They point out that the first movie was intended for the comic book fans and not children who looking for entertainment. I would strongly add that that is even more true of the second and probably this third installment. The article also gives a fair and balanced review with some positive aspects of the movie. Another good site to look at for movies comes from Focus On The Family called Plugged In Online. [RT]
• The Da Vince Code: So should I not mention this movie? Should the church just act ignorant of what is going on in the world? The movie is coming out. The book is a bestseller. What I don't get is that this is a work of FICTION. Non-truth. And people's faith are being set off balance. People are question Jesus, God... The media waxes over the fact that this thriller is nothing more than a glorified Michael Crichton novel with theological ties. FICTION, folks. I mean when I read Jurassic Park I thought, yes of coarse there's an island out there with pre-historic animals. We should not be silent. We should talk. Inform yourself. Research. God is real. And He don't lie. Jesus is real. And He died for my sins and rose again. The Bible is real. And it encourages me everyday. Nuff said. No links.

:[Operation]:

I know you remember the game. The anxiety it creates as you try your hardest to remove the funny bone. One foul move and you get buzzed. You wanted to be a doctor! If you can win at Operation, of course you can get through twelve years of medical schooling!

Let's use this pasty white, big bellied man as a stand in for ourselves. When you open up that yellow box, you take all the little white plactic pieces and make sure they ar ein the right place before the game starts. Starting tonight, we are going to take an inventory of what God has placed inside us. We are all pre-programmed by the master programmer. God has downloaded certain traits, skills, talents and attitudes. But many times, we want to be someone else. We don't understand what God has given us or why He gave it to us. Why is their butterflies in our stomach? A charley horse in our thighs? An ice cream cone in our brain?

Let's take an inventory of who we are. Let's see what are our strengths. Our weaknesses. AND-- Embrace the person God made! Be happy with who God created. You are designed to specific, non-reproducible measurements. In the thousands of years before you, and in those to come... NO ONE HAS BEEN, IS, OR WILL BE LIKE YOU. God wants it that way. God wants you the way you are.

I'll end with Psalms 139:13-15. The Message version reads...

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.

I thank you, High God--you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration--what a creation!

You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Questions? Comments? Click away.

More Teen Talent Pictures

The Brayley's took lotsa pictures during Teen Talent and I thought I'd share a few with you.

Two New Favorites

I go through favorite songs like I go through favorite ice cream flavors. First it was Nutty Coconut and then Chocolate Mousse and now it's that truffle In Paradise. But I digress... My two new favorite worship songs are below. (I mean, I just hear a bit and I am already pushing my way to see God.)

• To Worship I Live By Israel Houghton. When we start singing "Oh, oh oh ohhhhhh" I instinctively go to the part in scripture that says that when we don't know what we should pray for "Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." And the Spirit does this in our weakness. How awesome to know that we don't have to have the right words all the time. Sometimes, if we are not careful, it's as if we try to come up with the best, most eloquent word combination possible to enter into His presence. But God doesn't need a password. He just wants a heart turned to Him. And He loves a soul that knows we are vulnerable and limited without Him.
• Wonderful Maker By Newsong. Julian Drive sang this at Sonfest in Orlando, FL. The part I love the best? "How majestic your whisper..." Think about it. He tells us in Psalms to be still and know that He is God. And if we discipline ourselves enough to stop moving so much... we could actually hear His whisper.
  

Summer is just around the corner...

Click on it to get the South Georgia Youth Camp Application.

:[How Marvelous]:

Let's play the association game. I'll mention something and you tell me what comes to mind first. Okay? Here we go... I'll put my initial response in paranthesis.

• Reality TV? (I'd have to say BIG BROTHER. Die hard fan of the summer show and Julie Chen.)
• Movie? (Just cuz it's the next one I am waiting for... I'd say X-MEN)
• Phone? (Hate it.)
• Lunch? (Quiznos)
• Fun? (Beach)
• Boring? (Couch.)

Okay, one more... EASTER? Let's be real. When Easter strolls in, we think of eggs, chocolate, bunnies, chocolate bunnies, baskets, green grass, spring time, and we can't forget the yellow , marshmallow chick PEEPS. What is sad and distrubing is that many times our first thought isn't Jesus and the cross.

Just like everything else associated with Easter has a meaning, it is symbolic, so is the cross. Green grass in baskets? Freshness, a brand new start. Eggs? Little bunnies? All bring to mind newness. Starting over. The beginning of something.

So does the cross. In so much more of a poignant illustration. We usually see the cross as the end to Jesus' life. But we can add to that, the beginning of our new life. Becuase of what He chose to do 2,000 odd years ago, we are giving the chance, the choice to begin anew. To start over. Freshness.

And who would do such a thing? Who would die for not only his contempraries, but also those before him and more importantly to us, future generations? The word states that "very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5.7-8)

So Christ, being above reproach, became the thing His Father in heaven hated-- SIN. And in so doing, on the cross, He was left alone to die for our sins. To give us a fresh start. And why do this? One of the reasons... because we are his friends. I know you thought I was going to say to bring humanity back inline with God. To become the bridge between mankind and God. (And those are important, obvious reasons.) But in the book of John, Jesus is talking about love and says "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15.13) How awesome that he decided to die on the cross for me, for you, for the walmart cashier, the PE instructor, the housewife, the lesbian sophomore, the rapist, the pentecostal preacher, the nun, the Asian fisherman off the coast Hong Kong, the shop owner in Canada and every one in between.

He did it so we could have the choice to be his friend. He has already extended the invitation of friendship. Of salvation. Of eternal life. All we have to do accept his offer. Romans 10.9 lets us know that " if [we] confess with [our] mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in [our] heart that God raised him from the dead, [we] will be saved." Accept his friendship. This Easter look pass the pastel colored eggs, the creamy filled bunnies and the marshmallow peeps. Look pass the world's gimmicks and see the cross. See the door He has opened for us and go through it.

The Shoe Factory

Want to design your own Nike shoe? Click here and you'll be on your way. Color combinations galore. Pretty neat how you can view the shoe from all angles. You can even personalize your shoe!! The biggie? Paying for the final product. This is what Ms. Michal designed for herself.

Beautiful People

I know I am blessed with a group of beautiful teens but the gravity of this truth becomes greater when I see the smile, the pair of eyes and a pose. Each gleam, hairstyle, frown, expression has intertwined with it a backstory, a hurt, a victory, a heart, a safe guard. Each one represents a life being lived to the best of their knowledge. And I am blessed to be given the opportunity and honor to teach, guide, help, befriend and love them all.

Dog Art

While wasting some time in Knoxville, TN, I came across several doggie statues. Each had a different theme. Thought, if you wasting some time on this blog page, why not check out the Dog Art.

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This one was in front of a cafe. Blue bricks and a wooden jacket. What does that mean? Discuss.

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This one was in front of an old visitor center by the river. It is a little more abstract then the other ones with paint strokes all over the body.

• This one had the strongest connection to it's location. It was in front of a bank and it's body depicts hands holding money. Nothing to discuss.
  

The Dome

Took a group of committed youngin's to TEEN TALENT this past weekend. Had a good time with them. It's amazing the different, rich personalities you can have and still jive together as a group. They did their best on "Boogie Bounce" and although some were sad we didn't stay for the award ceremony (too, too late) I think we all had fun. A few brief notes: Light skinned rapper Jo-Izzy has skills. Get the three red coverall girls together and you got mayhem. Lil' Lyd knows she will be missed and she will never find another cool bald-headed youth pastor. Good job BGOT10!

i am speechless...

Okay... this has nothing to do with LOYC. It is my brother, Kenneth Atwood Castro. We have not spoken for about 6 months or so, and we just started back up again. He sent me his my space page... He produced a song. A Christian Reggeaton song. And to quote Elaine Benis from Seinfled: "I am speechless, I am without speech." Check it out: The first song is called Mi Dedicacion which means My Dedication. Then listen to "The Startoff." I'm saying, this is my brother! Leave comments.

coming soon

It's coming back... LOGOSOLOGY. It's gonna be different this time. It's going to better this time. It's going to be rewarding this time. If you are in the 8th, 9th and 10th grade then get with Pastor Jesse immediately. Find out what's it all about. Starts soon.

:[you better work]: Pt. 2

Here are four simple tips for working. And since the WORD says in "WHATEVER" we do, that means these four tips are not just for a paying job. It's not just for babysitting, mowing the yard, flipping burgers, sweeping the floor, running a cash register, designing a poster or prescribing medication... it is also for cleaning your room, writing an essay, helping in church or volunteering at the YMCA.

1. BE ON TIME There is a reason for schedules. They need you at that time. Be on time! In fact, be five minutes early. And if you are going to be late-- CALL. This shows professionalism, excellence. Working as a roleplayer in FLETC (Federal Law Enforcement Training Center) we would have to be at different locations at specific times. If you were late, you would be holding up a whole class of Border Patrol agents or ATF students or CIA trainees. You would make their teacher mad, the students late and your boss upset. If you were late to a role, you would be fired! To many people were counting on you to be on time!

2. FOLLOW THE RULES When making a Double Whopper with cheese, there is a certain procedure. You first place the bottom bun with the two patties and cheese in the microwave and push #1. After the microwave beeps, you take it and put everything else on the burger, close it up and slide it in the bin. If you make the burger first and then place it in the microwave, you'll have hot soggy lettuce and tomatoes. If you don't put it in the microwave you'll have cold cheese. If you don't follow the rules, you'll do it wrong! Follow the guidelines, the rules, the directions your boss gives you. It shows you are dependable, responsible. Do not cut corners. Do it right!

3. DRESS APPROPRIATELY Each job has a dress code. Don't bend it. If you are required to wear a uniform make sure it is clean and worn properly. While working at Rack Room Shoes, I had to wear a tie, dress pants and dress shoes every day. That was part of the dress code. I didn't like it. Standing up for 8 hours in dress shoes is not fun. Especially when the pain is no longer just at your feet, but it has crept up to your knees. But since I worked there, I had to dress appropriately. I know that in some places, you must wear there clothing while on the job. If you work at the GAP they sure don't won't you sporting American Eagle shirts. And if you are working at HOT TOPIC, they don't want you looking like Martha Stewart. Find out what is expected of you when it comes to dress, and then adhere to it.

4. BE KIND This will get you far. Kindness is being polite. Not participating in gossip or backstabbing. Being pleasant to work with. I am not saying kiss rear ends or having a plastic smile on your face. I am saying, do your best to be a good person at work. You are representing yourself and God. When I worked at Central Supply and receiving in Arstrong, the other three guys knew I went to church and knew I was involved in Youth Ministry. One day, one dude, his name was Trey, pushed the subject of hypocrisy so far that I went over board. We had words and the outcome was not pretty. I felt bad. The next day, I went to him and apologized. It was very hard to do. But I had to show that although I messed up, and we all do, that I still was trying to be Christ-like.


I know it's just four simple rules. I know books have been published about work ethics and long lists have been writen on work tips. But I thought, If you just start off with these four simple rules, you will be on your way to making sure that in "whatever you do, you work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." [Colossians 3.23]

my first job

My first job was a summer work program in Killeen, TX. I was called by the agency to mow an elderly woman's yard. She had the lawn mower and gasoline, all she needed was someone to work.

I got up on Saturday morning and since she lived in the neighborhood next to ours, I walked over. It was probably a twenty minute walk and when I got to the house, the grass was jungle like. I knocked on the door and the frail woman opened the door. She showed me where everything was and I began to mow my first lawn.

As I went back and forth in the front yard, I began thinking... How much am I going to get paid for this? I didn't ask, she didn't say, it wasn't mentioned. I looked at my watch. If it took me an hour to do this job, what would be a fair rate? Then I began on the back yard. The grass was taller, the yard was bigger.

My mind was obsessed with how much I was going to be paid. $50? Was that good enough? You have to remember I was a pre-teen. I knew nothing about the money, the worth of what I was doing.

Finally, when I was done I placed everything back and knocked on her door. She opened the door, gave a quick look without stepping from her porch and thanked me. She handed me a ten dollar bill. I looked at the ten and thought... "WHAT!" I looked at her and said, "Ma'am, it'll be twenty dollars." I was pretty proud of myself because I usually didn't speak my mind. But I had been thinking about this for an hour and twenty minutes. The lady scoffed under her breath and seemed to struggle with doubling my pay. She finally went inside and exchanged my ten dollar bill with a twenty.

I walked away thinking I had won. My first job-- A success. But the lady never called again. And as I headed for home, I thought that next time, I had to communicate with my employer. If we had talked beforehand about the pay, then there would have been no surprises. I also wouldn't have obsessed about how much I was going to be paid and would have concentrated more on the job at hand.

Communicate! Talk, Talk, Talk. Ask questions! If you don't know, ask. If you don't understand, ask. If it's not clear, ask. If you are going to be late, call. If you are going to be absent, let them know ahead of time. If there is a problem, let them know. Don't keep your mouth shut, and then grumble. Be respectful, be specific and be succinct. Communicate!

A little bit of Cora in my life...

Let me brag on my baby girl for just one bit. She started soccer practice last Saturday. She loves her shoes, her socks, her shorts, the ball, running, playing with her cousin... We have the video, and it's great. The coach has received PCS orders so I am going to pitch in and assist a parent. 3 year olds running around and me yelling "NO HANDS!" Life is grand.

Look at that smile! I mean c'mon... Youth Ministry is great, but Family Ministry is awesome.

The B-Day Cake

Found this foto... thank you for the birthday cake!