Christmas Decorating for Downtown Helena

This last Sunday, we partnered with local businesses and Downtown Helena to usher in the Christmas season a little early.

We called it Christmas Decorating & Coffee Downtown.

Encounter's group of nearly 22 people came out to help put up Christmas wreaths and decorate street lamps in Downtown Helena. What an awesome turn out!

We had about three groups climbing ladders, fluffing the wreathes (there were some expert "fluffers" there), and snipping cable ties along Last Chance Gulch! After it was all done, we took a little time to share some coffee and fun conversation at Starbucks.

Why do we do it? For us, it's just another way to be a burning bush for our community — to be a church not just IN Helena, but FOR Helena. It's our way to make an impact in our community by giving ourselves away.


View the Picasa slideshow here
View the photos on Facebook here

The 2008 Christmas Vacation Saga

We're in California now staying at Andrea's parent home. They are always so gracious to let us stay here when we visit - we are so thankful. But boy, what a trip down.

If you haven't been following our Facebook updates and Twitters, our van broke down in a snow storm in Idaho just about 300 miles out of Helena on Christmas Day.


A little better conditions than the snow storm our van stalled in

We were sitting in a snow bank with not a car in sight and we didn't know if we would get it re-started. I was a little nervous about that, but after about 30 minutes we got the van started and we limped to the town of Dubois, Idaho with about half power from our engine and the engine light on.

When we finally got to Pocatello, Idaho, we figured it would be wise to stay the night and have the van checked the next day. We got a discount at the hotel because of our sad story :-)


Us, stuck in motel in Pocatello on Christmas Day


Only place open on Christmas + lots of people = 3 hours at Denny's

After a few hours at the Dodge dealer on Friday, we found out that the parts we needed for the van wouldn't be there until the following Tuesday. After much calling to friends in Helena for mechanical advice, we weighed our options and then decided it would cost the same renting a car and continuing to California rather than staying in a motel in Pocatello all vacation. :-)


The car next to ours at the Dodge dealership - Pocatello got a lot of snow

We got a late start on Friday, and drove through the night to Fontana, California arriving about 7:00am. Whew! Andrea and I were tired.


Approaching Las Vegas about 3am - 34 degrees

Anyway, we're here in California now. Saturday, we took it easy and went to Vince's Spaghetti - hands down, the best spaghetti in the world.

We saw Andrea's grandmother in an Poway (San Diego) hospital yesterday. She is looking good, but has a logn road to recovery of she's ever going to get out of the hospital again.


Us and Andrea's grandpa visiting Grandma

Also, we visited the famed Killer Pizza from Mars restaurant in Escondido before we headed back up to Rancho Cucamonga. By the way, the Chargers killed the Broncos!


Fun photos from "Killer Pizza"

Today, we're gonna see several friends at Chili's and El Torrito. We're really looking forward to seeing them.

Tomorrow, we're going see my Mom. She has some major blockage in arteries through her neck and had two strokes in last two months. She lost sight in left eye first time - then during a medical procedure to determine the extent of the blockage, she had another stroke loosing some usage of her left hand.

We've gotta be back in Pocatello on Friday to turn in our rental and we're praying our van will be fixed. Funny thing - wasn't even a mechanical problem with the van - just the "computer." But it still cost us more than $1K with the rental and all.


Our rental - the "mini" version of our Dodge Grand Caravan

After all, we're still actually in a good mood. It was just a little set-back. We know that somehow through all of this, God has a plan. Can't see it yet, but we know things could have been worse. It's been a blessing to see family and friends and we definitely feel a bit refreshed.

This will be a Christmas to remember for years to come. And looking forward to 2009, we know it will be equally challenging and rewarding as we move forward to plant Encounter Church in Helena.


We could use all your prayers and thoughts - and we're looking to connect with many of you who don't yet know what Encounter is all about. Feel free to contact us and we'll get together to talk about it.

Have a blessed Christmas and hopeful New Year!

We'll be adding all of the photos of our trip here.

Let It Snow...

Lots of snow, very cold, at the Powell abode.

Decorations or God's Light?

Amazing Christmas display with 176 channels and 45,000 lights! The show is so popular that it requires a crew of 3 people to manage the traffic. Very cool.



Many of us put up Christmas lights or have neighbors that do. While the light strung on homes or in our front yards may seem commonplace, they are still reserved for the Advent season.

As we see them, be reminded that they can be more than just pretty decorations. May they serve as symbols of God's great love, given to us through His son Jesus Christ - the great light of this world.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Negative 1 degrees here in Helena today. Brrr.

Christmas Worship 2008

We finished up two Christmas Eve services this evening. It was beautiful – a reflective, candlelight atmosphere singing Christmas carols accompanied by violin, cello, and piano.

As we usually do, we ended the evening singing Silent Night in the dark as we slowly lit candle after candle to slowly fill the room - representing the light Jesus brings to our lives. Both the 4:30pm and 5:30pm services were packed.

I also wanted to share a little from our morning services last Sunday. We aimed to refresh the way we look at Christmas and the carols we sing. A fun part of the service was when we had a congregation led sing-a-long of The 12 Days of Christmas.

Many people don't know that there is much Christian symbolism hidden in the song. It is a good deal more than just a repetitive melody with a list of strange gifts. "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was written in England to help young Catholic Christians learn the tenets of their faith when it was illegal to be found with any literature of their faith.

The "true love" mentioned in the song doesn't refer to an earthly suitor, but to God Himself. The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The rest of the gifts are outlined at the end of this post.

This last Sunday, we divided up the people in twelve groups - then each group was responsible for singing the part of the song that mentioned their group number. Second service was out-of-control! It was crazy and very fun. The group really took their sections to heart with dancing, bird motions, and an impromptu solo! See the photos...


9 Ladies Dancing


2 Turtle Doves

5 Golden Rings

Other symbolism of The Twelve Days of Christmas:

• 2 Turtle Doves - The Old and New Testaments (Heb. 8:6-13)
• 3 French Hens - Faith, Hope and Love (1 Cor. 13:13; 1 Thess. 5:8)
• 4 Calling Birds - The Four Gospels
• 5 Golden Rings - The Torah (first five books of the Old Testament)
• 6 Geese A-laying - The six days of creation (Gen. 1)
• 7 Swans A-swimming - The seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:8-10)
• 8 Maids A-milking - The eight beatitudes (Matt. 5:3:-11)
• 9 Ladies Dancing - The nine fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23)
• 10 Lords A-leaping - The ten commandments (Ex. 20; Deut. 5:6-21)
• 11 Pipers Piping - The eleven faithful apostles
• 12 Drummers Drumming - The twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed

Well, that's it for this late Christmas Eve. On another note, we leave early tomorrow morning for California. That's right - vacation. That means no blogging for a couple weeks. Our wish to you? Have a blessed Christmas and New Year!

Beyond Just Doing Church...

How cool would it be that so many people WANT to go to your church that you need to have tickets for your Christmas services because space is limited? These guys must be doing something right.

Sometimes I think we need to move beyond just doing church, beyond church politics, beyond trying to please people before God, beyond our routine. God desires His Church to be much more fruitful than it is.

Any thoughts?

12 Days of Christmas Video

As I've been preparing Christmas carols for our worship services at Hannaford this December, I've focused in on the 12 Days of Christmas. While I'll share some more info on the origins of the songs in a later post, I do want to share with you a well-done and humorous version from YouTube:

Christmas Recap from 2006

As December is upon us, I just want to recap a couple of great Christmas posts from last year. Enjoy!

The Other Christmas Season - A funny video about "Black Friday."

The Anticipation & Hope of Christmas - A look at the season of Advent. We're lighting Advent candles again this year at church – same themes, different dates.

Just In Time For Easter...

...It's The Greatest Action Story Ever Told! Too funny. Please don't email me and tell me how blasphemous this is. "Don't worry, He'll be back."

Final Entry for 2006?

We're capping off the blogging year with some new photos in the e|Photo Gallery.

• First off, we've got a new featured photo (see right). It's a photo of the house exterior decorated for Christmas time.
• We've got photos of the Children's Christmas Musical at church today. Both Andrik and Kellin were involved. Kellin had small solo and Andrik played a non-speaking role as Joseph.
• There is also a collection of photos from September to December called Winter Potpourri 2006. These include Andrik's birthday, Halloween, and the kid's school Christmas programs. There are also a couple movies.
• Finally, we will soon have part two of Andrea's trip to Minnesota (If it doesn't come up, check back again later). There are quite a few photos and they were all taken with the digital camera.

BTW, this may be our last real post before vacation and we don't plan on posting until we get back. Have a meaningful Christmas and a hopeful New Year!

Christmas Vacation, Literally

At this point, what I am really looking forward to is our Christmas vacation. You know when it starts? You guessed it - Christmas Day.

We are leaving Christmas morning for California. We plan on being in SoCal for six days, then driving up to see a friend in Sacramento (that's you, Len). Finally, we are going over to visit with some more friends in Reno, NV (that's you, Bill).

We are looking forward to seeing family & friends, eating great food (El Torito, Vince's, and Chilis - here we come!), and getting in some good shopping.

Please pray for safe driving and a time of refreshment for us.

Wake Up And Smell Christmas!

I know, I know. It's been about two weeks. Where have I been? Just busy with work and stuff.

• We're singing Christmas Carols each Sunday through December and I've taken the initiative to re-notate all our Christmas Band Charts. I found some great new arrangements last year, but they were very busy to look at - hard to follow in a worship service environment.
• We've also been lighting the candles in the Advent Wreath each Sunday. It's been quite a blessing to have different families or couples contribute.
• I've been meeting and rehearsing with several musicians to prepare for some featured music.
• Pastor John and I drive up to Great Falls on Wednesday to pick up some stage lights and also tour three different churches there. We're looking how local churches have installed stage lighting and auditorium sound.
• Andrik's Middle School Choir had their Christmas performance a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, Kellin got lost in the auditorium and we all had a little scare. We found him, though. (Photos should be coming soon.)
• Kellin also had his Christmas Program. I really enjoied the first grader songs. (Photos also coming soon.)
• Tomorrow is the Children's Christmas Musical at Hannaford. Kellin has a small solo and has been doing great in practice. Andrik will be Joseph in the Youth Group's Little Drummer Boy drama skit.
  
• This coming week before Christmas, I need to plan for 6 worship services. But really only three different Orders of Worship.

Well, Christmas is here!

The Anticipation & Hope of Christmas

This year at Hannaford, I've suggested we celebrate anticipation and Hope of Christmas through the lighting of Advent candles and scripture each week. I got a few odd looks as if to say, "Isn't that some type of Roman Catholic ritual" Of course it is not. A great many church in America do celebrate the Advent season through the lighting of candles and recitation of scripture.

After getting the go-ahead, I began looking into how we might observe Advent. Much to my surprise, there is really no one way. I found that some use four candles, some use five. Some use three purple and one rose candle, and other use a different combination. I also found that for different people, the candles represent different things.

There is the Names of Christ Advent. For some there are the Prophesy, Bethlehem, Shepherd, Angel, and Christ candles for Advent. Also, there is the Waiting, Dreaming, Healing, Promise, and Christ Advent.

Regardless of the particular tradition, the observance of Advent candle lighting seems an important one for worshiping congregations. It helps foster the anticipation of Christmas, not simply for the giving and getting of gifts, but the anticipation of the coming of Christ.

The word 'Advent' itself, is defined as “The arrival of something or someone important or awaited.” An important aspect of observing Advent is to connect the experiences of ancient God-followers with ours today. Using the themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, and Light, we will attempt to look back to those who anticipated Jesus' coming as well as hope for His coming return.

• HOPE in Christ (December 3) - Like God's people centuries ago, we also look forward with HOPE and anticipation to the coming of the Christ.
• PEACE in Christ (December 10) - Through long generations, God prepared a way in our world for the coming of His Son, and is still bringing peace to darkened lives. Jesus is our Peace, Jesus. – The Prince of peace.
• JOY in Christ (December 17) - We know that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the angels brought "good news of a great joy, which shall be to all people." The good news of Jesus' birth and the promise of peace are still "tidings of great joy" for us today…not only because Christ came, but also because He is still here.
• LOVE of Christ (December 24) - We ask God to give us such love and wonder, that with shepherds and wise men and pilgrims unknown, we may come to adore the holy child, the promised King; and with our gifts worship him, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
• LIGHT of the World (Christmas Eve) - Christ has made God known to us, and He makes us known to God. He can make the darkness and the despair of our lives shine like day. He is the Light of the world, the dawning of a new day.

It is my prayer all people would experience the anticipation and hope of Christ this Christmas season; that you and I, like generations before, would find hope, peace, joy, and love through Jesus, who is the Light of the world.

Hannaford Videos on YouTube

Just a quick note to let you know that I've created a YouTube account and started uploading the videos I've produced for Hannaford Street Bible Church. Feel free to stop by at youtube.com/hsbcarts.

Powell Winter 2006

From Christmas 2005 and our drive down to California in January, to the kids' recent AWANA races - this photo gallery has it all from Winter 2006. Check out these 23 photos now! There is a one YouTube movie link (check the photo captions).

Christmas Controversy?

Should we have Christmas Day worship services? I would have to say that I am falling in the "no" category, feeling that God wants us to honor Christ with our families in Christmas Day.

Our church has been celebrating Advent and Christmas all month long and three very special Christmas Eve services planned specifically for the purpose of allowing our church body to gather together to honor and celebrate the incarnation of our Lord and Savior.

Personally, this will be the first Christmas Morning in 13 years that I will not spend with my family. Where is the point when "church" actually hinders the relationship of a Christ-honoring family? Check out these comments from the web that further express my opinion.

(For the source of these comment and a variety of responses on the controversy, go to Church Marketing Sucks. Be sure to chime in on the conversation here with your comments.)

When I was younger, our focus as disciples was to keep Him in the right place, enthroned in our hearts, and to live peaceably with others, to share His love and to demonstrate what an impact He makes in our own lives. That also helped us to remember that Christmas and much of the traditions that we have built up about this season are just that: traditions. And, as traditions go, they become entrenched in community practice and sometimes they get revised, transformed and even enriched by much newer practices. Whatever the practice, usually underlying principles linger. For Christmas, what undergirds it, is that it is a joyful time, a wonderful time of community, sharing, celebration, renewal, relationships and family. It is a time to be charitable, to give, to love and to remember. And, if people, communities and churches remember this, then I think they are celebrating the season, and we ought to give them grace to do so in the way they seek.

Christmas morning is the one day a year that should be reserved for the family! Yes, it is a holy day. Yes, it is the day that we celebrate the birth of our Savior. But there is something very sacred and Christ honoring about setting aside this day as a unique day in the life of a family- a day not filled with activity and stress, but a day to relax, enjoy the blessings of God and spend time with family!

I am on staff at a church about 150 people. We are not doing a service on Christmas Day but it appears that the reason we approached it was different. We looked at it from this angle: what as a church is our driving focus for Christmas this year. As a church we are promoting families and anything that we can do that develop the relationship we are doing. That is the reason we decided to not a Christmas morning service. It would be detrimental (sp?) to where the church is going.

My biggest complaint about the coverage of this is that many of the reports make it sound as if worship starts and ends at the church door. We are not having Christmas services this year but mainly because we never have a Christmas service. But like many evangelical churches we teach that worship of God is a constant and ongoing thing. Therefore we have been sending the message that although we will not be worshiping God as a community of believers on Christmas day that we will be worshiping Him throughout the day as we spend time with family and friends.

I wonder if Colossians 2 speaks to this issue at all... "So don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new-moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules were only shadows of the real thing, Christ himself." (Col 2:16-17 NLT)

Consider Mark 2:27 (NIV) "Then he [Jesus] said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.'"

I really don't understand why everyone's getting bent out of shape about this now. It's not like we're not celebrating Christ's birth in church in all the preceding weeks or even on Christmas Day.

I agree that family should come before Church, and also that God should come before family (all of these are not exclusive - one or the other, mind you).

For somebody who worships only one day a week, it might seem that they are being robbed of that chance since the church doors are locked, or that the pastor has a "paid" day/week off. For those of us who worship 7 days a week, we recognize that all we really have is a change of venue.

Jesus preached in the temple as well as taught on the sea-shore, He ministered at funerals, and weddings, and fellowshipped with friends and family. He even worshiped alone in secret, and instructed us to do the same.

When we stand before the Judge at the end of time, we will not be asked if we had perfect attendance every Sunday, or observed His Birth and Death on their appropriate days; He will ask if we fed the hungry, clothed the naked, encouraged the desperate, and loved our neighbor.

For the source of these comment and a variety of responses on the controversy, go to Church Marketing Sucks. Be sure to chime in on the conversation here with your comments.

Andrik's Science Project

It just seems that all the things Andrik does in school, I didn't do until I was older. I remember him having homework in Kindergarten, book reports in first grade, and now a science fair project in fourth grade. I didn't do one until I was in Junior High - and even then, my dad did most of the work :-o

Well, Andrik's project, specially chosen by Mom and Dad and agreed upon by Andrik, was to drop water balloons from different heights and then to measure the splatter. I could explain the whole thing to you, but you know how much I love photos!

OK! OK! Time For A Big Update...

1. We moved all out stuff from the truck to storage with the help of quite a few guys from Hannaford. With that, we were able to get a few comforts for the rental. I was also able to get to my books so I finished my 4th and 5th assignments for class this week. All I have left for this block is about 30 pages of reading logs in the next two weeks.
2. We finally received the call we've been waiting for. Although we lowered the price on our house in Rialto, we got an offer at the full, new asking price. The buyer seems to be good and wanted to start escrow immediately. This releases us to move forward on our plans up here.
3. We also made an offer on one of the homes (Nickname: Big Blue New). We really liked the newness and size of the home. The only drawbacks to us were the price (just at the top of what we can afford) and the fact that it needs some work for sprinklers, landscaping, etc. We're not sure we afford to add what it needs. For that reason, we offered about 3K less than the asking price hoping that it might be accepted. It wasn't. At that point we considered offering the full price. 3K isn't that much, but would require us to finance and we're not sure we could afford the monthly budget.
4. After some prayer and consideration, we have decided to make an offer on a home that is asking about 5k less than the other (Nickname: Blue Columns). It is a very nice house with only a few drawback as well. It has about 600 less square feel (one less bedroom) and the back yard is right on the interstate. On the plus side, it is already landscaped, has underground sprinklers, and is in a better neighborhood. It is ready for move in with no work to be done or money spent. We've decided that the back yard is large enough and we can plant trees or eventually add a larger fence. We also decided that we'll deal with the smaller home. After all, it's still about 500 square
5. Lastly, we've posted some photos of this Sunday's Western Roundup at Hannaford. Youth Pastor Brad Ives spoke sharing about the prodigal son and about coming home. As I've helped him prepare the PowerPoint this week, Andrea and I couldn't help but think about settling in at our new home. It's great here and we know that God has called us here, but change is change. It's hard to feel settled. I've mentioned to several that in the past 6 years of our life, God has continued to remind us that we don't find true comfort and security in worldly positions, places, or people, but only in Him.
   
   I've felt secure in a five-year corporate graphics position at PDV, but then God called me to leave that and follow his calling into ministry. We placed our finances in His hands and he provided freelance and consultant work for three years while we served at FBC. Again, we've moved to a different state without a home to go to and with all our money wrapped up in our home. We have very little cash and things are very tight. He has provided for us through family and the church.
   
   Andrea and I feel very insecure. We have no real home to call our home and we are without most of our creature comforts. We literally feel as though we pitched our tent in this place for a short time and have been waiting for God to move us on. At the same time, we are still working on my office at Hannaford so I have felt without a home there as well. Finally, we have been especially concerned about our financial situation until we actually sell our home. Today, we have about $5 in our checking account.
   
   So today in worship Brad talked about "coming home." We realize that our true home is in the arms of God. All these things and concerns are only the decorations. God wants us to find our security and be settled in Him. I think He just wanted to remind us again before we get settled here. Thank you God. We're home!