Christmas Star

I have been really bad about posting blogs. But this one should make up for all of them, because this video is truly awesome!



Staring TVC Youth
Special appearance by Kim Thomas
Directed by Peter Carlson
Written by Peter Carlson & Sean Savacool
Filmed by Peter Carlson & James Harrington
Edited by Winston Hearn

You can also view and share this video on UTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEcOSyEabro

The 2007 & 2006 Christmas videos can be scene on this blog as well.
http://tvcyouth.blogspot.com/2007/12/its-christmas-check-out-these-videos.html

Continue to Reflect

This week, continue to reflect on creating justice. Remember that you are not too young. God has called you. Read 1 Timothy 4:12.

Pray by asking God this week how you can join the fight against injustice.

Journal about what you are seeing, hearing, and feeling about God's call to create justice for the oppressed.
1) What resources - however small or large - can you offer to God in the fight to create justice for oppressed people?
2) How do you feel about considering a career in law enforcement or diplomatic relations or some other work to pursue justice? Does that idea generate dread or excitement in you?
3) What could keep you from raising $1,000 to help rescue someone from forced prostitution?
4)What could you do to overcome those obstacles?

Oppression Links and Challenge

Wow! I can not believe how long it has been since I last posted a blog. So, this blog does not have any fancy photos to go along with it, but I wanted to at least try to get it going again.

Being we have been talking about oppression and injustice, I thought I would post a little something for you to think about.

First, I wanted to list some websites that you may want to check out. All of these websites are for great organizations that are seeking to aid with the ending of corruption and injustice.

African Leadership - www.africanleadership.org
Compassion International - www.compassion.com
International Justice Mission - www.ijm.org
Invisible Children - www.invisiblechildren.com
One - www.one.org
World Vision - www.worldvision.org

Next, I want to pose a challenge for you this week:
Interview someone who fights injustice in law enforcement, a community organization, or has a ministry to oppressed people. Find someone in your community or get the e-mail address of someone and conduct an internet interview.

Find out:
- How they got started.
- What their challenges are.
- What keeps them going when times are hard.

Bring your interview to Bible study next week.

Seen you soon!

- Peter

Lake Day 2008

So, I know it took me a little while to get this posted. The summer has been very busy, but a lot of fun. So, below are the photos from Lake Day '08! What a blast! We headed out to Center Hill Lake again. Joe and Janice Meyers, in the usual awesomeness, brought out their water skis and inner-tubes. We loaded up the double decker pontoon and topped it off with a jet-ski. I know I at least paid for all the fun the following week with my blistering sun burn and my saddle sores from riding the jet ski all day.

Enjoy the slideshow!

- peter

Becomming Devo #3

Read Galatians 5:16-18.

Can you relate to what Paul is saying here? Do you ever feel like there is a war going on in your heart and mind? If you’re like every other Christian in the world, you are constantly faced with a choice: Do you listen to the Holy Spirit—who lives in you—or that other voice that leads you to do things you know are wrong? Paul calls that voice your sin nature. Let’s face it . . . no matter how long you’ve been a follower of Christ, you still have a part of you that leans towards sin. Unfortunately, this is your spiritual inheritance from Adam and Eve. (Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re thinking, “Thanks, a lot you two . . .”)

Read Galatians 5:19-21.

Just in case you were unsure, Paul outlines some of what the sinful nature looks like. This list isn’t very pretty, is it? Keep in mind that Paul was writing to the Galatians. Their culture was pretty raunchy. Among other things, there was no real push for people to be sexually moral. So Paul had to help these Galatians who had become Christians understand what a Christian did and didn’t do. Even though it was written 2,000 years ago, the list is still pretty relevant today, isn’t it?

So, Paul tells you what to avoid. But what does he say you should strive for? Read on . . .

Read Galatians 5:22-25.

This is good stuff. These attributes—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—are literally a sign of God in you. Paul calls these attributes the “fruit of the Spirit.” Just as an apple tree produces apples, you will produce these fruits if you have the Holy Spirit in you. Look at your life. Do you see these attributes in action? If not, maybe
you need to spend some time focusing on how you can put yourself in a position to let the Spirit lead you. Pray that the Holy Spirit will be so active in you that others can’t help but see fruit.

The way you live your life is incredibly important. You can show the world through your actions that God lives in you and that you serve Him.

Becoming Devo #2

Read Philippians 3:7-14

Take a minute to think about something: what things are important to you? What do you spend most of your time doing? Stop reading this, and think for a moment. Don’t start reading again until you have an answer . . .

Got your answer? Good. What was it? Sports or school? Music or family? Your job? A car? Maybe a girlfriend or boyfriend? Chances are, whatever you identified as important to you probably takes up a lot of your time and energy. We are devoted to those things that are important to us. Can you say the same for your spiritual life?

Ouch. Touched a sore subject, huh? Well, never fear. Help is on the way.

Take a moment to read Philippians 3:7–8. Pay attention to verse 8. Can you, like Paul, say that everything else pales in comparison to the greatness of getting to know Jesus? If not, well . . . why not? Do you think it is unreasonable to devote yourself that deeply to Christ? Paul didn’t think so. In fact, he said he had “lost all things” for Jesus’ sake. Paul literally let everything else fall by the wayside. His devotion to Jesus was the number one priority in his life.

Paul painted an incredible picture of his goals. Read verses 9–11. Verse 10 is flat-out amazing. Paul longed to intimately know every detail about Christ! He wanted to live in such a way that he knew firsthand the power of the resurrected Christ. He wanted to know what it meant to suffer for the name of Christ. He was not afraid to die because he knew he would live in heaven.

Here, we see something pretty cool about Paul. After all he had done and all he had been through, he still wasn’t as close to God as he wanted to be. Read verses 12–14. Do you understand what Paul was saying? Paul wanted to know everything about Christ and what
it meant to follow Him, but Paul admitted he wasn’t there yet. He hadn’t attained the level of devotion and familiarity he desired. But he pressed on. He committed to getting close to Christ no matter the cost.

What will it cost you to commit to this kind of devotion? God has given you so much! How can you give back to Him? If you are willing, talk to God today about helping you become the kind of committed follower Paul wrote about. Ask God for the strength to press on toward the goal He has set for you. Trust that God will be faithful to His Word.

Becoming Devo #1

Read Ephesians 2:1-10

Here’s something interesting to think about:
In God’s great plan for the world, He decided to create you. He didn’t have to, but He did. He created you because of His immeasurable love for you. Yet, even though God loved you, there was a great distance between you and Him.

You see, God is perfect. And you were a sinner in need of saving. Read Ephesians 2:1–5. What does it say you used to be? Dead to your sins. What does it say you used to do? Live among the disobedient and gratify your sinful cravings. This is who you used to be . . .

That’s the cool thing. Verses 4 and 5 say that because God loved you, He made you alive in Christ. Even though you were still a sinner, God provided a way to Him. Because of His grace,
God sent Jesus to conquer sin so you might have a relationship with God. Amazing!

Keep going. Read verses 6–7. You see, it wasn’t enough for God to simply improve your life here on earth. Verse 6 says God has a place for you in heaven with Him! God wants to lavish you with good things. He can do this because He gave you new life through Christ. You are no longer a slave to sin; you are a new creation through Jesus Christ!

What is behind this amazing plan, this incredible gift? Simple. God’s grace. Read verses 8–10. God saved you from the punishment of sin because of His grace. If you have faith that Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross and rose from the dead to save you from your sins, then you receive the salvation God made available to you. This salvation is only through grace. No one can earn God’s love.

Verse 10 makes a pretty strong statement: You see, God made you to be a special tool, an instrument of His will. God planned all along that you would be a messenger of the good news
of Christ and that you would bring life to a dying world. Ask yourself today if you are pleased with your spiritual life. Are you growing like you want to? Are you being used by God? Go to
God in prayer. Thank Him for creating you, for saving you, and for promising to use you. Devote some time to thinking about how you can be of better use to God.

Ichthus 08

This past weekend we went on our annual youth retreat to Ichthus Festival in Wimore, KY. The bands and seminars were great! Speaker Justin Lookadoo had a guy skydive over the crowd during his seminar; Caleb Bislow talked about being an unusual soldier for Christ; David Crowder played one of his songs on a Guitar Hero controller; and the list goes on.

Despite the severe rainstorm that hit us on Friday, the weather was far better than last year. With hotels near by and a laundry mat to dry out our sleeping bags, we had nothing to fear.

Our meals were great! Katherine made a grilled cheese sandwich one afternoon.

Wesley and Peter: Just too cool.

"Let's take pictures of each other."

Watching concerts in the sun.

Chick-fil-A Cows rock out with Family Force Five.

Happy Birthday Benji!

Tha Gang!

fun... smelly, but fun! i especially liked the part where we got rained out and went to a hotel.
-megan

How Not To Be A Fool

Over the last three weeks we learned how not to be a fool. We learned to ask a very important question: "What is the wise thing to do?" In every invitation, opportunity, and relationship, this question will direct you better than the question, "Is it right or wrong to...?"

Why? When we ask ourself if it is right or wrong to do something, we tend to follow our feelings and emotions rather than what is truly wise. So, in light of your PAST experience, your CURRENT circumstances, and your FUTURE hopes and dreams, what is the WISE thing to do?

Last week I skimmed over a few benefits to wisdom. Here are the scriptures that support those benefits. See if you can figure out what the benefits are.

Proverbs 1:1-5 & 8:15
Proverbs 9:11
Proverbs 11:30
Proverbs 14:24
Proverbs 21:20
Proverbs 14:35

- Peter

A Night With Caspian

TVC Youth hit the opening night of Prince Caspian.

The evening began with pizza at Pizza Perfect.

The theater even had a throne waiting for our three Narnian queens.

i'm not only a tree hugger. i AM a tree!
-megan

Youth Worship Sunday

This week TVC Youth did an excellent job of leading worship at all three Sunday services!

I do not have photos of the actual worship service, but Steven Leiweke snapped this photo at our Saturday rehearsal.

Thanks go out to Megan, Amy, William, Emily, Bella, Tori, Trinity, and Wesley for greeting, playing music, reading scripture and leading prayer.

Narnia is Near!

It's only a couple days until the movie premiere of Prince Caspian. Here are a few video clips to get your ready.

The New Trailer
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Interview with Douglas Gresham #4
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Switchfoot Video from Prince Caspian Soundtrack
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All About Jack

Who is Jack and who is this old guy?

Those close to C.S. Lewis called him Jack. If you want to know more about C.S. Lewis (AKA: Jack) and the Chronicles of Narnia, you should hear about them from someone very close to him. The old guy above is Jack's step-son Douglas Gresham. Here are some links to videos where Douglas Gresham answers questions from Prince Caspian Fans.

Video 1
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Video 2
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Video 3
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Journey Back to Narnia

Wow! Is anyone else's head hurting from all the information we have been learning from "Prince Caspian?"

For those who missed tonight's lesson, we talked about many different topics. We read chapters 5 & 6 this week. Chapter 6 leads the Old Narnians into war. They realized it might be "quite possible that they might win a war and quite certain that they must wage one."

Read this chapter, if you have not, and read Ephisians 6:10-20. In spiritual terms, what do you think is the difference between picking a fight and waging a war? Why must we wage war?

Chapter 7 has the start of the war. Read this chapter on your own and see what "deeper insight" you can pull from this chapter. Next week I will ask each of you for one thing you found.

If you want to see some behind the scenes clips from the movie, check out this video showing some of the battle scenes.

Check out the Journey Back to Narnia clip here.


- peter

TVC Youth Up All Night Part 2

Cara took a few photos at TVC Youth Up All Night. Most of these are from the city-wide game we played called "Secret Agent."

Amy accomplished her first mission by approaching Creepy Coffee Shop Man.

Disclaimer: Creepy Coffee Shop Man is really Creepy TVC Worship Team Bass Player.

The girls read the clues.

The Girls call the agent headquarters.

Blake's team is on the prowl.

Up All Night

A Couple weeks ago we stayed up all night. The evening started with a scavenger hunt-type game called Secret Agent. Cara Donahue took photos of this, so I will tell you about it once Cara posts her photos. After a couple hours of running around town playing this game, we headed down to Franklin for a little cosmic bowling and video games. As you can see, everyone played with his or her own style.

We grabbed some pizza from Mafiaoza’s at 2:30 in the morning and headed back to the church for some eats, some board games, and a couple rounds of the classic youth all-nighter game, Sardines. I am proud to say that when I hid, no one found me.

The event ended as we watched the sun rise while eating Hot Nows at Krispy Kreme. What a night!

Dance, Dance, Revolution!

Amy had great bowling form

Aidan knows how to rock out.

Jordan has his own style.

Cara is hard-core.

Blake has his own style as well.

Acts 2

I keep finding it interesting that throughout our current Sunday youth study, “Another World is Possible,” we keep falling back to Acts 2.

In this chapter we see the apostles forming the first church (group of Christians). The first couple weeks of our study looked at poverty. When we looked at Acts 2, we focused on verses 44-47. These verses talk about how the early church would take care of those in need so that they “had all things in common.”

Last week, by no plan of our study, we participated in The Village Chapel’s potluck dinner. We remembered Act 2:42. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Each Sunday we listen to teaching and we pray, but this last Sunday we also hung out with each other (fellowship) and ate (breaking of bread). These were the four things the early Christians dedicated their lives to!

Now as I prepare for my lesson this week, I find myself going back to Acts 2. You will have to attend TVC Youth Bible Study to find out why it is coming up again.

The most interesting thing is the lesson is called “Another World is Possible.” It’s a title that sounds like its telling us we can do something entirely new. Yet as we study, we realize it is a plan that has already been made. I guess over time, we have just forgotten the plan.

- Peter

Frustration

I was soooo frustrated last week. My internet was not working properly. I felt a bit stranded as I was having a hard time sending and receiving emails. I couldn’t do research or go shopping from the convenience of my office chair. I tried posting last week’s blog entry as I was continuously rejected. (If you look below this entry you will see I finally posted it.)

After my internet was working again, I calmed down and realized how silly my frustration was. We have been in the middle of a study on poverty. I was reminded that people around the world travel miles a day on foot just to get water or work very hard to obtain food for the day. Here I am annoyed that I can not post a journal entry for everyone to read. Crazier yet, I was annoyed by the thought that I may actually have to go to the library to look up some information or use the telephone or postal service instead of using my email.

I hope our current study has inspired you to take a look at your life and rethink the way you think and act. I know it has for me. I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion this past week. I have posted some of the scripture and quotes we talked about in case you would like to look back at them.

- Peter

“We can not understand the poor until we understand what poverty is like.”
– Mother Teresa

“In the poor we see Jesus in his most distressing disguises.”
– Mother Theresa

“If someone steals a person's cloths we call them a thief. But shouldn’t we give the same name to the person who could cloth the naked, but doesn’t.”
- Basil the Great

“There is enough for the world’s need, but there is not enough for the world’s greed.
- Gandhi

“The tragedy is not that the rich don’t care for the poor. The tragedy is that the rich do not know the poor.”
– Shane Claiborne

Matthew 25:31-46
1st John 3:16-18
I Corinthians 13:13

Do Not Feel Guilty

The idea is not to feel guilty but to feel inspired. What does this mean?

Last Sunday we learned a lot about poverty. We learned God did not create poverty but humans did. We learned 20% of people in the world own 80% of the stuff in the world. We learned 3,500 children die per day from starvation. We learned that the homeless are not just drunks and drug addicts but different people facing different difficult situations. We learned that Jesus was homeless and spent much of his time with the poor. If this doesn’t seem like enough, we learned a lot more.

We know that God provides for everyone. It is our duty to share what God has provided for us. There is enough “stuff” in the world for everyone. Please don’t feel guilty. Feel inspired! Think about what you can do. Give a bit of your time. Give a bit of your money. Give a bit of your love. After all, are any of these things truly yours? I am looking forward to our study this next week so that I may feel even more inspired! See you then.

Here is a photo of Ruth, Katrina, and Angelo giving a bit of there time and love at the last Parking Lot Ministry in East Nashville.

New Year's Resolution

It’s that time of year again. The time to make a new year’s resolution. Many times it can seem a bit lame to do this. Probably because we know we will end up breaking our resolutions or never even begin to follow one. However, I still feel it is a good tradition to have.

I usually pick out one thing to change or pursue and I may do it for a month. This year my resolution is to blog more. I am horrible about blogging. Maybe because the blogging craze hit the high-schools and colleges after I had already finished my schooling. I used to look at MySpace regularly, but this was primarily when I was single and in a band. Now that I am married and no longer in a band, I log into my MySpace account about once every other month. So, don’t bother writing me there.

Now I maintain this blog. As you can see, I might post on it once a month. Whitney has a blog for our photography studio and tries to get me to write more on there. So, I am going to try to make the commitment to blog more. Hopefully it lasts longer than a few weeks.

If we tend to break or not follow our new year’s resolutions, what is the point of this tradition? I think it is just a monumental mark for us to remember that there are things in our lives that we need to change. One great scripture that sticks out to me is Romans 12:2. It says to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is.” If we want to change something about us, we must allow God to “transform” and “renew” us. If your new year’s resolution is a big task, ask God to help you with it. Maybe this task is something that’s even talked about in this verse. Change your thought process. Think the way Christ would think. Do not act or think the way the rest of the world does. What a resolution that would be!

What’s your resolution? Send it to me. If you are a member of TVC Youth, I’ll post it on this blog. By doing this, you will actually be helping me with my resolution! Let’s all help each other out this next year by encouraging each other to renew our minds daily. Maybe we can even see how the other resolutions are coming along.

- Peter