Three Weeks, Two Prospectives and A Question of the Week

Hello! It has been over three weeks since we last met and we have so much to catch up on! I don't have a lot of time so let me try to catch you up on the last twenty seven days of my life as quickly as possible.

• Avalon was incredible! Made some new friends through the process ( Cathy Freeman and Chris Kelly with Spirit 102.3, Greg Long with Avalon) and watched our church do a tremendous job in helping with the event.
• Mad Prop's to Cathy Killion for all her hard work on the Avalon show! She was my hostess and really went out of her way to take care of the group.
  
• Christmas services FREAKING ROCKED! Jana Gorham had almost thirty people in the orchestra this year and as usual they were incredible, the Choir was bigger and better than ever, Brittany Bolt sang her guts out and rocked our faces off and as always the band was awesome. This had to be the best Christmas service EVER in our church.
  
• Christmas Eve services were great as well. We did some things a little different but somehow throwing acoustic worship, Charlie Brown, a live nativity, the Christmas story read by grandpa Tom, communion and candle lighting in to one service worked!
  
• Mad Props to my boy Mitch who managed to focus his attention to leading worship on one of the hardest days in his life.
• Christmas at the Tibbles was awesome! I will always love Christmas morning with my kids more than any other day of the year! This year was awesome... there were nice lessons learned by my youngest. More on this later...
• In-laws came to our place for Christmas #2. It was nice...
• Spent more time with my grandparents in two days than all of 2008 combined. I love them so much. They are great examples to us in all aspects of their lives.
• Had a great Christmas with my small group. I am so appreciative of them and their love for us and each other. Its great to be a part of a group where we are "Tim and April".
• I somehow ended up catching a cold that turned into a fever and sore throat... I hate being sick. Then again, who doesn't?
• Our Church Basketball League starts up soon... I am uber excited about this. I'm not a great player but I love basketball to a fault.

So that's my life over the past three and a half weeks. Sorry we were not able to connect. What's that you ask? What are my feelings on Rick Warren praying for the inauguration? Funny you should ask! What amazes me is the two opposing views of this prayer.
1. The "Liberal Left" is ticked at Obama for inviting a "gay hating", "anti-abortion", "narrow-minded conservative" to be a part of his inauguration. It's funny to me because Obama is doing what he said he would do. Did these people think that he would unite only the Americans who agreed with them?
2. The "Conservative Right" is ticked at Warren because he has accepted the invitation to participate in Obama's inauguration. This is funny to me because Warren is doing exactly what he is supposed to do as a Christian. Does this group think that Warren should stand up and call Obama a "hypocritical", "gay loving", "baby-killing" heathen like a lot of other so called Christian leaders? Isn't Warren doing exactly what the rest of us should be doing... praying for Obama?

It was great to see you again! Lets meet up tomorrow. I would like to share my 2009 New Year's Resolutions. Before you go let me give you my question of the week:

What is your top resolution for 2009?

See you tomorrow!

Christmas With Avalon

When it comes to Avalon, the premier vocal group in Christian music, there is much
to know:
• Five successful studio projects, a remix album, two RIAA-certified gold records
• 19 No. 1 radio hits, 14 of which were featured on a single album, Testify to Love:
The Very Best of Avalon, a feat only an elite few artists have accomplished
• 20 Dove nominations; three Dove Awards
• Two Grammy nominations
• A 2002 American Music Award for Contemporary Inspirational Music

The "Christmas with Avalon" tour is coming to First Christian Church of Owasso on December 18th and 19th at 7:00 PM. You can get your tickets now at www.itickets.com or by calling the church office at 918.272.9551.



Tickets are only $12.00 in advance and $15.00 at the door. We have kept the ticket prices low becuase we are asking all who attend to bring a new or gently used coat to donate to Gyles Coates for Kids. Make your plans now to be a part of this incredible night and help bring warmth to someone in need this Christmas season. I hope to see you there!

Face of Jesus Manifests on Washburn Guitar

Oriinally Posted by Scott Thorn | MLive.com December 02, 2008 10:45AM

Okay, I've seen the face of Jesus appear on toast, crepes, window panes...but now a guitar?

Ludington music store employee Jeff Hoyer noticed it after others commented on it

November 28, 2008: Ludington Daily News: "The reason that I didn't discover it when I was setting the guitar up, is when you look at it from this angle (from the neck down) the face disappears, which is proof that it cannot have been faked, that it is actually in the grain, because if it were airbrushed in there, or somehow faked, no matter what angle you looked at it, it would still be there," Hoyer said.

Hoyer then explained the process of making such a guitar.

The guitar has spalta maple front, sides and back and was made was through a process called bookmatching, Hoyer said.

Bookmatching means a piece of wood was and cut down the middle and opened up like a book, so that the patterns in the wood grain are mirror images.

"So basically what happens is half of that face was in this half and when they open it up like a book it's a mirror image of the other side of the face," he said.

When asked if he had ever come across anything quite as mystical as this Jesus guitar in his life, Hoyer had this to say.

December 2, 2008: MusicRadar: "I've been here for 27 years and I've never seen anything close to that... the face is so clear," shop employee Jeff Hoyer told the Ludington News. It reminded me, and a couple of other people, of the Shroud of Turin and we know who that was."

"It also reminds me of my brother, he's a biker."