Happy New Year

Valins&Co. Holiday Video from Scott Valins on Vimeo.
[Video embeded]

See ya in 2009!

Kick Start '09

First Assembly is kicking 2009 with a few different emphasis on prayer.

- Pre-service prayer in the auditorium at 8:30 a.m. each Sunday
- Jan 4 we'll be talking about how we struggle to know if God really listens to us.
- Jan 7 is the premier of First Wednesday services. The theme this month: The Power of Prayer.
- Jan 11 we get to pray with some of our favorite missionaries- The Wests!
- Jan 16 we join the entire community in a prayer initiative called Pray for the City. We also will fill all 24 hours of this day with people praying.
- Jan 18 talk about how we are "Too Busy Not to Pray"

Wow...God is going to move in amazing ways this year. I can't wait to share all the stories.

Happy first birthday! Cooper.

Happy first birthday! Cooper.
Originally uploaded by travis spencer

Happy birthday

10 Reasons Why I’m Glad Christmas Is Over

1. 30 days of Christmas songs is too much.
2. The pine needles on the ol’ tree are getting pretty brittle.
3. Ready to launch into an exciting 2009 at First Assembly.
4. I need to quit eating all this chocolate, fudge, cookies, peanut brittle, and pumpkin pie
5. I can use my Christmas money to shop all the post-Christmas sales
6. No more moody Wal-Mart shoppers
7. Hoping the Christmas Blend Starbucks coffee goes on sale.
8. My kids won’t beg to go through the Christmas lights every time we drive toward the mall
9. My birthday is in January
10. I’m a secret elf in disguise and need to take a break.

Have a Fun ol' Christmas

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

(Joy wouldn't let me make a Christmas card with this picture. But she didn't say anything about my blog! Merry Christmas)

C. O. L. D. But I wanna see the bears.

It's gonna be cold at the Bears game tonight.
I'll be giving updates through twitter tonight.

Follow me HERE

MNF: I'll be there

I've never been to a Bears game. That all changes on Monday night.
I'm heading to Soldier's Field in Chicago with my cousin.
It's suppose to be 9 degrees that night. I better take a jacket.

It's on ESPN. Look for me.
I'm seven rows above the visitor's tunnel where the Packers will be running out.
I'll be wearing a stocking cap.

Here's a video preview of the game.
(BTW: Only Bears fans will like this video.)

family traditions?

Just curious, what family traditions do you have at Christmas?

Let the good times roll....

Artistry and Faith

I can't wait until Sunday night.
I've watched Evan create art all week getting ready for Sunday night's candlelight experience.

He wasn't painting. He wasn't sculpting.

Evan was standing in the auditorium dreaming and envisioning of how the entire candlelight experience would look, feel, and flow.

I peeked in on him yesterday and thought to myself, Evan's painting in his head. He's working on a piece of art. I appreciate his ability to see it. How he can teach and build our faith through a variety of creative expressions. It's artistry, teaching and faith intertwined.

Come Sunday to experience a night of miracles.
Come get saturated in the telling of the miracles of the Christmas story in a way that will cause your faith to rise up and become contagious.

The miracles that happened 2000 years ago were from God.
The miracles that you need in your life is from the same God.
May we experience that on Sunday evening.

Sunday @ 6:30 p.m.
First Assembly

Top pick Christmas flick?

What's your favorite Christmas movie/TV show?

Feeding the creative hunger

Sometimes you just have to get away to gather innovative and refreshing ideas.

Here's some ideas I've used in the past:

Sit in a local diner of a small town you don't go to very often.

Tour an art building.

Spend an hour driving nothing but side streets.

Take a camping chair into the woods with your journal.

Check out any live music venues.

Take virtual online tours of high-class resorts.

Netflix rare documentaries

Watch TED talks

Take my journal into a busy place, watch people, and write down observations.

Try this: http://moodstream.gettyimages.com/


What do you do to feed your creative hunger?

Great Deal

Four-Star hotel in Indy
Online booking price:$149
Priceline price: $45

Chickens and Fish for Christmas

This year we encouraged our boys to use one of their Christmas gifts to bless another family in need. We told our boys if they wanted to, they would receive one less gift this year, and in its place, we would buy a gift for a needy family.

They loved that idea.

As a family we looked through a World Vision Christmas Catalog and shopped for a family in a third world country.



Dakota picked two chickens.
Riley picked a fishing kit.

One needy family will have more eggs to feed their kids.
One family will be able to catch fish to feed their kids.

One family (The Spencers) is learning what Christmas is all about.
May Jesus be glorified this season.

Here is a video of my boys ordering the gifts:

@ First Assembly

December 07: I wish I was important.
December 21: I wish someone cared.

These will be great weeks to bring new people to First Assembly.

Parents giving the OK for alcohol at parties

East-Central Illinois survey results indicate two out of five teens (40.9%) have been to a party at a friend’s house where alcohol was served with parents’ knowledge or consent. One in six (17.6%) said his or her own parents allowed a party to include alcohol at their family’s home.

Listen...FORTY PERCENT of our local teens have been to parties where alcohol was served with parents' permission. Why is this happening?

It's time for parents to help their children make better choices. It's time for parents to know what is happening on the weekends. Its time for parents to talk to other parents about turning this statistic around.

A local coalition, Body Electric, will be revealing these statistics early in 2009. I'm working on writing out some of the findings for their report. These local statistics are quite eye-opening.
Every parent needs a copy of this report when it is released in 2009.

Sunday reflections

Sunday at First Assembly was a day of expressions!

1. Leon, Caleb and Sarah expressed their faith through water baptism. I'm so proud of these guys! God is doing great things in this family!
2. I wrapped up Express Yourself (Part 2) and talked about the different ways we can express ourselves to God. Give a listen here.
   
3. My amazing wife, Joy, spoke at our ladies Christmas dinner. She did incredible. I'm SO proud of her. The church will be begging her to start speaking on Sundays. You can listen to her talk here.
4. We (Okay, Joy and Katie) packed a lot of boxes full of a lot of great stuff for our leaders' dinner Monday night. I love our leadership team!