What is Advent Conspiracy?

Advent Conspiracy Challenge

Christmas can [still] change the world!! The story of Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love. So, what happened? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists. And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas? What if Christmas became a world-changing event again? www.adventconspiracy.org

Skyline is adopting the Advent Conspiracy mission this Christmas Season:
Worship Fully ~ Spend Less ~ Give More ~ Love All

We have also accepted a challenge to raise $60,000 to provide clean drinking water to Sierra Leone. What you and I take for granted-- that we can walk over to the sink and out comes a glass of water ready to drink & that is not going to make us sick... those in Africa may have to walk many miles to get. The "cleanest" of water, most of us would never dream of drinking. What could you cut back on or sacrifice this Christmas season? What if you gave that money you saved to help save the life of another? Please consider helping us reach this goal!! Donations can be made to Skyline and are tax deductable. If you would like to donate I would be happy to pick it up from you. No amount is too small. For more information on Skyline visit http://www.skylineokc.com For more information on the water pumps we are raising money for check out this video:




Here is the link to the message at Skyline the Sunday of 11/29/09:
www.skylineokc.podbean.com/2009/11/29/sunday-conversation-2009-11-29-skylineokccom/


Just a few facts from the message...
$18 billion would solve the world wide food crisis
$10 billion would solve the world wide water crisis (every 15 seconds a child dies without clean water)
$5 billion would educate every child in the world
That's a total of $33 billion
Each year in America:
$450 billion is spent on Christmas
$20 billion is spent on ice cream
$18 billion is spent on make up
$10 billion is spent on perfume & cologne
$5 billion is spent on Halloween candy

Where are our priorities? God has blessed us to bless others. I'm not saying give up all these things, but how can you cut back on them so that another may have a clean drink of water each day? If we spent half on Christmas alone, and gave the other half -- this would cover all these things almost 7 times!!


Live simply, so that others may simply live!!

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.
~ Matthew 25:37-40'

Update on Sorie

Sorie, 12, lives in Sierra Leone and was burned horribly in an accident early in 2008. After a team from Oklahoma City met Sorie, they were moved with compassion to help him recover and lead a normal life. This is their story.

The Tapestry Project

www.thetapestryproject.org

EVE Ministries

Oh How He Loves Us!!

Consume Me From the Inside Out

Enough~Chris Tomlin

All of You is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough

You are my supply
My breath of life
And still more awesome than I know
You are my reward
worth living for
And still more awesome than I know

All of You is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough

You're my sacrifice
Of greatest price
And still more awesome than I know
You're my coming King
You are everything
And still more awesome than I know

More than all I want
More than all I need
You are more than enough for me
More than all I know
More than all I can say
You are more than enough for me

Pushing Back Darkness

Please read below from my friend Shanna. Most of you know that I have been working with a couple of ministires that help support this Orphanage. Please take time to check out this blog and be in prayer for how God is moving in Sierra Leone. Please feel free to repost and share however you can. We want the world to know of all the great things going on and how others can help if they feel led.

From Shanna:

There is a new blog you MUST read. Missionaries traveling to an orphanage in Sierra Leone, Africa with 4HIM will be blogging while on their trip. The first blogger is my friend Crystal. I will be the blogger for the next trip. You must read this...you must!
In fact, I am asking each of you for a personal favor. After you read the blog, will you please help us promote it. Either by emailing your peeps, or facebooking or twittering or yelling it from a mountain top :) The purpose of the blog is to help raise awareness for a group of children orphaned by a terrible civil war. May you be drawn closer to the heart of God as read the posts! Thank you for your help.

Oh...and leave a comment so we know you're reading :)

http://pushingbackdarkness.com/

In His Love,
Shanna

The Surving Church as Single Scorecard

Taken from http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2009/06/550-surviving-church-as-single.html

1. Your church doesn't have a singles ministry. = + 1 point

2. Your church has a singles ministry but it's combined with the college ministry which creates opportunities for conversations like this:Student: "My roommate bought a microwave for our dorm room. I love being a Freshman!"Single: "My 401K is underperforming." = +2 points

3. Your church has a singles ministry but it's a triad that combines college, single adults and divorce recovery. = + 3 points

4. Your church has a singles ministry but it's the dreaded quad, combining college, single adults, divorce recovery and retired widowers that refuse to move to Florida. = +4 points

5. Someone pays you the world's most backhanded compliment, "I just don't understand how someone as great as you isn't married yet." = +1 point

6. Someone told you, “If you stop looking for love you’ll find it.” 2 points for each time you’ve heard that.

7. At church, people give you weird looks if you refuse to sit in the “singles” section of the sanctuary. = +1 point

8. When people introduce you, they say, “This is Matt, my single friend.” = +2 points

9. When people introduce you they feel compelled to list out your accomplishments, “This is Sally, my single friend who owns her own home, drives a luxury sedan and has a very, very stable job.” = +3 points

10. Your friends that have been married for 15 minutes act like they suddenly don’t remember anything about dating and therefore can't give you any advice. “It’s been so long since I dated, things have changed so much. I’m just out of that whole scene.” + 2 points

11. People are constantly volunteering you for things because, “you’re single, you’ve got so much free time.” = +1 point

12. People at church act a little surprised when they ask you, “How are you doing?” and you respond with, “Things are great right now. I love my life!” = +1 point

13. Married friends try to live vicariously through you, asking questions like, “What did you do this weekend? Road trip? I bet you went on some crazy cool, singles road trip, right?” = +2 points

14. Someone you just met for the first time said a sentence like this to you, “If you want to get married, you need to ______.” = +2 points

15. Whenever married friends call you at noon on a Saturday, they start the conversation by saying, “Did I just wake you up?” = +3 points

16. You assume that if you don’t get engaged by final exams of your senior year in college you'll never get married. = -2 points

17. You’ve secretly always wanted your own cat but are afraid that ownership of a single kitten will become some sort of gateway drug to becoming “the cat lady.” = - 2 points

18. You’ve ever given an impassioned, enraged monologue on the injustice that men who are single get to age gracefully and be considered “bachelors” while women are instantly judged as “crazy cat ladies.” = – 3 points

19. You’ve got a “don’t perpetuate the cat lady stereotype,” monologue locked and loaded at all times and have already stopped reading this post so you can put it in the comments section. = - 5 points

20. Someone has quoted the “it’s not good for man to be alone” Bible verse to you. = +2 points

21. When friends invite you to their church they start the invite by listing both the quantity and hotness of the singles that go there. = +1 point

22. That friend was named Jon Acuff and he said, “No one in Atlanta should ever involuntarily remain single with so many awesome single people at North Point Community Church.” (I've said this a lot. My bad.) = + 3 points

23. Your married friends tip toe around you during February because they think you're too delicate to handle the completely made up holiday, Valentine’s Day. = +1 point

24. You are too delicate to handle Valentine’s Day and have been known to describe it with a rich tapestry of words no Christian should even know exist, never mind actually say out loud. = + 1 point

25. The person that leads the singles ministry at your church got married in 1964. = +10 points for each decade they’ve been married

26. Someone told you, "Maybe you need to focus on being more like a Proverbs 31 woman." = 2 points for each time it wasn't sincere encouragement

27. You didn't know you were supposed to be unhappy as a single adult until you went to church and found the singles ministry to be akin to a support group. = +3 points

28. Upon hearing that you went on a first date with someone, your single friends at church stop inviting you to the single events because "you're in a relationship already." = +2 points

29. Upon hearing that you went on two dates, your married friends at church start telling you, "I'll be praying that this is the one!" = + 3 points

30. Your best friend of 15 years gets married and then suddenly acts like a magical gap has opened up between you and decides that until you get married too you can't be close again because you just don't understand each other anymore. = +3 points

31. To justify giving a four week marriage sermon series to a congregation that is 60% single, the pastor throws out one blanket statement like this at the beginning of the series, "And you single people listen up to this too, this well serve you well when you get married too." = +2 points

32. You set your alarm to "not going to church today" after the first week of the marriage sermon series. = - 2 points

33. The only time your married friends invite you over is when they need a babysitter. = +3 points

34. Someone throws the "Paul was never married" card on you. = +2 points

35. Friends assume that the only qualification that matters to you when it comes to finding a date is that she's available and set you up with people you have nothing in common with. = +2 points

36. You've ever said the rhyme, "I'm a bachelor til’ the rapture." = - 1 point

37. During a prayer at church celebrating wedding anniversaries, the person praying says a special prayer for all the people that are still single and lonely. (True story) = +1 point

38. You have a friend that feels like creating a dating profile on eHarmony is a sign that you might not be trusting God enough to provide a soul mate. = + 1 point

39. You've developed highly sensitive, "They're about to throw the bouquet" radar and know exactly when to leave a wedding. = +2 points

40. Instead of saying that you're "single" your friends describe you as "Not married yet." = +2 points

Blood Type

It's a Wednesday night and you are at a church prayer meeting when somebody runs in from the parking lot yelling, "Turn on a radio, turn on a radio!" And while the church listens to a little transistor radio with a microphone stuck up to it, the announcement is made: "Two women are lying in a Long Island hospital dying from'mystery' flu." Within hours it seems, this thing just sweeps across the country. People are working around the clock trying to find an antidote. Nothing is working! California, Oregon, Arizona, Georgia, Minnesota, Massachusetts. It's as though it's just sweeping in from the borders. And then, all of a sudden, the news comes out. The code has been broken. A cure can be found.. A vaccine can be made. It's going to take the blood of somebody who hasn't been infected. And so, all through the country, through all those channels of emergency broadcasting, they ask you to do one simple thing: Go to your downtown hospital and have your blood type taken. That's all we ask of you. When you hear the sirens go off in your neighborhood, please make your way quickly, quietly, and safely to the hospitals...

Sure enough, when you and your family get down there late on that Friday night, there is a long line, and they've got nurses and doctors coming out and pricking fingers and taking blood and putting labels on it. Your wife and your kids are out there, and they take your blood type and they say, "Wait here in the parking lot and if we call your name, you can be dismissed and go home." You stand around, scared, with your neighbors, wondering what in the world is going on and if this is the end of the world. Suddenly a young man comes running out of the hospital screaming. He's yelling a name and waving a clipboard. What? He yells it again! And your son tugs on your jacket and says, "Daddy, that's me." Before you know it, they have grabbed your boy. Wait a minute!Hold on! And they say, "It's okay, his blood is clean. His blood is pure. We want to make sure he doesn't have the disease. We think he has got the right type." Five tense minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses, crying and hugging one another... some are even laughing. It's the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week, and an old doctor walks up to you and says, "Thank you, sir. Your son's blood type is perfect. It's clean, it is pure, and we can make the vaccine." As the word begins to spread all across that parking lot full of folks, people are screaming and praying and laughing and crying.

Then the gray-haired doctor pulls you and your wife aside and says, "May we see you for moment? We didn't realize that the donor would be a minor and we need you to sign a consent form." You begin to sign and then you see that the number of pints of blood to be taken has been left blank. "H-how many pints?" you ask. And that is when the old doctor's smile fades and he says, "We had no idea it would be a little child. We weren't prepared. I'm sorry sir, we need it all!" "But but ... You don't understand." "We are talking about the world here... Please sign. We need it all!" "But can't you give him a transfusion?" "If we had clean blood we would. Can you sign? Would you sign?" In numb silence, you do. Then they say, "Would you like to have a moment with him before we begin?" Can you walk back? Can you walk back to that room where he sits on a table saying, "Daddy? Mommy? What's going on?" Can you take his hands and say, Son, your mommy and I love you, and we would never ever let anything happen to you that didn't just have to be. Do you understand that?" And when that old doctor comes back in and says, "I'm sorry, we've GOT to get started! People all over the world are dying. Can you leave?"

Can you walk out while he is saying, "Daddy? Mommy? Daddy?" "Why, why have you forsaken me?" And then next week, when they have the ceremony to honor your son some folks sleep through it. Some folks don't even come because they go to the lake or the seashore. Some folks come with a pretentious smile and just "pretend" to care. Would you want to jump up and say, "MY SON DIED FOR YOU! DON'T YOU CARE?" Is that what GOD wants to say? "MY SON DIED FOR YOU. DON'T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I CARE?" "FATHER, Seeing it from YOUR eyes breaks our hearts. Maybe now we can begin to comprehend the great Love YOU have for us."

Oasis/The Fixx-How it All Began

http://www.myspace.com/thefixxokc

The Tapestry Project

http://www.thetapestryproject.org

Get Your Own Dirt

God is sitting in heaven when a scientist says to Him,
"Lord, we don't need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing. In other words, we can now do what you did in the ‘beginning'."

"Oh, is that so? Tell me..." replies God.

"Well", says the scientist, "we can take dirt and form it into the likeness of you and breathe life into it, thus creating man."

"Well, that's interesting.. Show Me. "

So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil.

"Oh no, no, no..." interrupts God. "Get your own dirt."

Why does my prescription take so long to fill?

Ever wonder? Check out this blog. I promise this guy's story is more the rule and not the exception. Seriously! You wonder why I don't work at the pharmacy full time?!

http://drugmonkey.blogspot.com/2006/08/i-realize-today-ive-done-you.html

The Silent Sermon

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the preacher decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The preacher found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his preacher's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. The preacher made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the preacher took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The preacher glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow,once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it. As the preacher reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, 'Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday.' We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.

No Dogs Allowed

A dog had followed his owner to school. His owner was a fourth grader at a public elementary school. However, when the bell rang, the dog sidled inside the building and made it all the way to the child's classroom before a teacher noticed and shooed him outside, closing the door behind him. The dog sat down, whimpered and stared at the closed doors. Then God appeared beside the dog, patted his head, and said, 'Don't feel bad fella'...they won't let ME in either'.

Brennin Hunt's in Ellen's Bathroom Concert Contest!!

http://ellen.warnerbros.com/polls/bathroomconcertseries/index.php

Please go vote for Brennin's video to win!! It does take a little bit for the page to load the first time, but the reload doesn't take too long. Vote as many times as you want. Thanks for your help!!

Brennin's entry:

Ellen's response:

simple advice to survive a complex world

• Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.
• Pray.
• Go to bed on time.
• Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
• Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.
• Delegate tasks to capable others.
• Simplify and unclutter your life.
• Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)
• Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.
• Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.
• Take one day at a time.
• Separate worries from concerns . If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety . If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it.
• Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
• Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.
• K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.
• Do something for the Kid in You everyday.
• Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.
• Get enough rest.
• Eat right.
• Get organized so everything has its place.
• Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.
• Write down thoughts and inspirations.
• Every day, find time to be alone.
• Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray.
• Make friends with Godly people.
• Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.
• Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good 'Thank you Jesus .'
• Laugh.
• Laugh some more!
• Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.
• Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
• Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).
• Sit on your ego.
• Talk less; listen more.
• Slow down.
• Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
• Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU.

a world we were not created for

So many conversations recently, with so many different people. Discontentment with a certain area of life. Why Lord? Why me? I don't understand. Yesterday was eye opening, life changing. Such an easy concept, why has it not made sense before? Same "conversation", slightly different approach. "Light bulb moment". Twice in one day... ok, Lord. You are speaking... I am listening.

10am LifeChurch.tv-SOKC. Tracey and I sat in the experience room. Unlike any other day, Pastor Craig full of his comedic stories...then bam... a profound statement and a room of silence. True[ish] week 2: As long as your happy. Today's funny story a fish out of water... put him on a beach... vacation time... sunglasses...a corona...and a playfish magazine...[oh yes! he really said that!!] is the fish happy? NO! He's out of the water he was created for. He's not where he belongs. The longer he stays away... he will begin to die. And then bam... we on earth are like the fish out of water. If we are basing our happiness on the things of this world, we will never find it. People think: better possessions + peaceful circumstances + thrilling experiences + right relationships + the perfect appearance = happiness. But... Nothing of this world will make us happy b/c we were not created for this world. We both look at each other... WOW!! I've never thought of it quite that way. I've always known, it's not the "things" that make you happy. But I've always limited those "things" to actual material objects. I certain can and have done without a lot of things that most think they can't do without. But have honestly never grasped the idea that relationships and peace are also "things". It's ok, to have wants and desires. & there will be times when God blesses us with material things, relationships, a peaceful life. But when we place these things before Him, true happiness and contentment will never be obtained. We must place our happiness in HIM, the ONE we were created for. All other blessings are a bonus.

Later in the day, I was reading a blog posted by my sweet friend Sarah. The morning's revelations were reenforced so perfectly by her words...

"There deep in the Word (both written and living) I find comfort that great warriors of Christ are simply human at times and only reside wholly in Him when we briefly escape our bindings. But the truth is blaringly clear: He brought the opportunity down from heaven and inserted it here in the middle of this world; the world we will never belong to, the world we were not intended for. He finds us here every day and seeks to give the Divinity of walking with Him….and, daily, this world blinds the eyes of many to seeing it. Nothing before Him!!! I say it again….Nothing Before Him!!!"

Wow!! So profound!! I leave you with a verse I found today. One that pretty much sums it all up:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge cloud of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ~ Hebrews 12:1 NLT

What Do I Know of Holy?

by Addison Road

I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all No
If You touched my face would I know You?
Looked into my eyes could I behold You?

What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

I guess I thought that I had figured You out
I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about
How You were mighty to save
Those were only empty words on a page
Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be
The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees

What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?
And a God who gave life "its" name?
What do I know of Holy?
Of the One who the angels praise?
All creation knows Your name
On earth and heaven above
What do I know of this love?

What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of Holy?