Snowfest 2007 - Frankenmuth

This past weekend Angie and I went to snowfest with Pam and James. Finally it was a cold weekend for Snowfest, the past couple years all the sculptures were melting. We all had a great time enjoying the sights and company of each other. We even had a good old snowball fight :) We ended up at our favorite hang out...mom and dad's house to play games. A couple of the pictures below reminded me of some of my friends so that's why they are included.


Kelly this picture is for you. Since you just love your Super Mario, I thought this was just perfect for you . :)

Jenny and Josh, this is for you. I know Star Wars is a big hit in your household, so enjoy.

PS. Jenny I'm working with your sister tomorrow with one of the kids I work with. I didn't know that she was working in our organization, or did I and I just forgot??

This picure reminds me of the old hockey days at Immanuel. If you played or watched you will know what I mean!!

Having Fun in & out of the Snow!!

So I went cross country skiing this weekend with my friend Angie. We went to Chippewa Nature Center in near Midland. It was a beautiful sunny day and the snow was just perfect. It was pretty cold, but the skiing warmed us up. This was Angie's first experience skiing, so she fell a few times, but then again, I also fell a few times. I got a great video of her falling, but I'm not sure how to post videos yet.













We also had some fun after skiing as you can see. This is much harder than it looks!!

Bridegrooms, Patches and Wineskins?

So in reading through the Bible I'm into Mark. I read an OT book then a NT book... So in Mark 2:18-22 Jesus answers some questions about fasting. My question is what does verses 21-22 have to do with 18-20?? Please help!

Interesting Verse

I've begun reading through the Bible this year and have already come across several good passages/verses. Here is a verse that recently stuck out to me.

Psalm 11:7
For the Lord is righteous,
He loves justice;
Upright men will see His face.

Video??

Does anyone know how to upload a video from my phone/computer??

Righteousness

Ben Glupker was in town during New Year's weekend and I told him that I miss having deep conversations with him about biblical topics. He's back in Kentucky now, so I though I would pose a question from my reading in Genesis to the bloggers (if Ben had a blog he could participate).
So I'm reading about Abraham and Lot in Genesis 18-20. Abraham had three visitors. According to the text it appears that one was the Lord and two were angels. Abraham pleads for Sodom asking the Lord six times if He would save Sodom if there were only at the end ten righteous people. Abraham must have know that there were not many righteous people in Sodom and most likely was trying to save Lot and his family.
So when the angels go Sodom they don't find ten righteous people, but they do get Lot and his wife and two daughters out of the city. Then they destroy the city.

Okay, here's my question. Did the Lord get Lot and his family out of Sodom because they were righteous? The reason for this question is that if you read on about Lot and his family several unrighteous acting things happen to them. Lot's wife disobeys God's words shortly after leaving the city and turns to a pillar of salt. Lot's daughters commit incestuous acts with their father shortly after leaving the city. Lot gets drunk to allow this. So again were Lot and his family spared because they were righteous? Or was it Abraham's righteousness that spared them? Or was it something else.

I'm looking for some opinions on this topic. I know this is not my normal blog style, but I'm enjoying the challenges that God is sending to my thoughts through His Word.

Interesting Thought

So a lot of us set goals or New Year's resolutions for this next year for ourselves. I have not done this for a while due to usually breaking them right away and also knowing that I don't need a new year to make a goal. But this year I did make a couple.
One, like Kelly, is to read through the Bible. I've never completely read through the Bible. I have a good plan this year that allows a reflection day every 7th day, which falls on Sunday. This is good so that I can focus on Pastor Mark's message.
Anyway today I was reading in Genesis 15-17. I noticed something interesting. God credited Abraham as righteous for believing that he would have a son and many descendants. Abraham then had a son with Hagar, not God's plan. He failed God, but after 13 years God came back to Abraham and made a covenant with him and Sarah had a boy named Issac.
God knew that Abraham was his man, even though Abraham questioned God, laughed at what God was telling him, went against God's plan and had a child with Hagar. God most definitely believes in second chances. Abraham was a righteous man, who still made mistakes.
I read this and think that God is a great God who cares for even me. Even though I don't always do the right things. God will be there to continue "His" work in and through me.