Merry Christmas Everyone!

Well, it is a bit after midnight and the daughter is asleep, all the gifts are wrapped, the food has been put away, and it is looking like I am heading to bed myself. But before I do I wanted to send a big Merry Christmas to you all and to wish you the best as you celebrate the greatest gift - the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ!

I also thought that it might be time for some laughter so from one of my all time favorite shows I give you laughter!

Enjoy your Christmas day!

Christmas Greatings...

 

LED ZEPPELIN REUNION TOUR...

Of all the concerts I could have gone to see this year I think this would have been the one. I'm hoping it will kick start a new tour, but who knows. Plant is already scheduled to tour with Allison Krause. Anyways, I have already heard some amazing audio clips from last nights concert and it sounds incredible. For those of you who have been reliving the past and maybe even still the present here are some photos and the set list from the evening! Oh and yes they did play Stairway To Heaven!

Led Zeppelin Reunion Tour Set List:

Good Times Bad Times
Ramble On
Black Dog
In My Time of Dying
For Your Life (never played live before!)
Trampled Underfoot
Nobody’s Fault But Mine
No Quarter
Since I’ve Been Loving You
Dazed and Confused
Stairway to Heaven
The Song Remains the Same
Misty Mountain Hop
Kashmir
Whole Lotta Love
Rock And Roll

SEMI-PRO...

I know everyone including myself has been crazy busy lately so I thought something to pause and rest from the business was in order. Now I don't know about you, but for some reason I can't stop laughing when I see/watch Will Ferrell. Anyways, he has a new movie coming out called SEMI-PRO in which he is involved in semi-pro basket ball from like the 70's. I'm sure it will be classic WF and if I wasn't sure of that before. Now having seen this I'm sure it will be like all the others. Here is a short clip to tease you with.

Enjoy!

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

If you like this then check out The Work Of The People

Emergent Church movement PBS Religion and Ethics News Weekly

This was done a while back, but thought it was well done. You can see the second part of this which is a more focused conversation with/about Brian McLaren by going to this link. PBS.

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap...

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I know mine was wonderful! I have so much to be thankful for. I am blessed to have an incredible wife and one amazing little girl, and roof over my head, a job that I love, a community that is welcoming, health, the list goes on and on. What a blessing!

For thanksgiving the Sclafani Family including my mom and dad headed over to the Gasper's House [which is Jen's sisters family: Kristin, Kevin, Matthew, Grace, and Charlotte and also included Kevin's parents Ken and Karen]. We had an incredible time of fun, laughter, fellowship, amazing food, music played by Matthew on the piano, games made by Matthew, watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving just to name some of the good times.

The next day Jen and the Gasper's went downtown to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and welcomed Santa Clause to town [I had a couple of clients to meet with]. This was Glady's first parade and first Starbucks Hot Chocolate - she loved them both! They also got free Top Pot Donuts which is pretty cool too.

On Saturday, we hung out at the house, I enjoyed some amazingly beautiful blue sky while sitting on my favorite leather seat with my little girl as we soaked up the sun. Then we got the house ready for some guests and enjoyed an evening with the Leffel's [sorry I forgot to take pictures]. We enjoyed great conversations, kids playing together, stories of Jer's trip to China, and some good home cooked Italian food! This was a great night!

And then there was Sunday again with a gorgeous day. We hung out again, and then went for a walk with Glady. This time though, Glady wanted to bring her baby and stroller along. I was thinking I was going to end up carrying this all around, but she went almost three blocks totally pushing this stroller around, checking up on her cabbage patch kid, giving it a bottle, and just having a blast! Man was it cute! After that we came home for some more hot chocolate, then my parents came over for some Glady time and Jen and I worked out in the yard. When my parents left, Glady took her nap, Jen and I got ready for Church and soon were off to CC. It was a great end to a wonderful weekend!

I put some pictures for you all to see. I was reminded of many things that I am thankful for and one of those was all of you who faithfully check out this blog. Your friendship means a great deal to me! May you continue to experience all of life's blessings as we step further into the holiday season!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bono commentary...

Interesting commentary on a new song coming out by U2. It will be coming with the re.release of Joshua Tree. It is pretty cool to hear him share about the meaning of the song in the midst of him singing it.

Hope you enjoy...

The God's Aren't Angry...

So a week or so ago I had the opportunity to go hear Rob Bell at the Moore Theater. The tour is called The God's Aren't Angry. I've been meaning to write about it, but struggled with knowing what to say. I read this article on Relevant about it and thought it summed it up pretty well. So I'm posting it for you all to read. Overall, it was a great night and very much worth my time. He is a very gifted communicator.

here it is...

As we came up to the theater, my friends and I were quickly looking at all of the different kinds of people walking toward the front doors. The Wiltern is a classic Victorian-style theater in the heart of Los Angeles. Typically, on any given night, you might hear Silverchair, As I Lay Dying or The Decemberists playing at the venue, but tonight, everyone came for a different kind of event. Two twentysomething guys with long hair and army jackets walked by us laughing as we reached the doors; we saw an elderly couple with canes looking for their seats as we got to the back stairs; a group of suit-and-tie businessmen were sitting in the row behind us; and a bunch of teenage kids played in the aisles as we waited for the show to start. As we sat in our seats, the only clue to what was going to happen that night was the music of Sigur Ros playing over the speakers and a large stone altar on the otherwise blank stage.

The scene looked more like a concert, or a maybe a play, but we were all there to listen to the words of one man: Rob Bell.

Rob Bell is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Mich. He is the author of Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith(Zondervan) and Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality (Zondervan), and he is featured in the series of spiritual short films called NOOMA. Currently Bell is on his “The Gods Aren't Angry" tour, subtitled “How humans invented religion to make themselves feel better.” Proceeds from the event go to benefit a microfinance project in Africa. RELEVANT recently talked with Bell about the tour and the idea to sponsor a community-building project overseas.


“For me everything is about content,” Bell said. “Everything is about substance. So there’s no point in doing a tour until there’s something worth saying every night for a month. My wife and I and family, we’re committed to living as simply as we can, so I—I don’t need more money or anything—I’m committed to using whatever voice I have to raise awareness for those who have no voice. And the Turame microfinance project, where we’re giving all of the tour profits, has been rated one of the better microfinance projects in Africa.”

Bell began the evening with no introduction, announcements or opening comments, and addressed the audience as a man telling a story. He asked us all to imagine the first people at the dawn of time—how they would have looked at their environment and how they would have imagined the forces that controlled their world. Slowly, this idea of forces beyond us—people would have evolved this thought into the idea of energies, or gods who “made things happen.” So then, to keep those forces “on your side” and to keep them “happy,” society would begin to try to appease those forces through the offering of gifts and sacrifices. But because the gods were far away, humanity was left in the dark. Because the gods were silent, you never knew where you stood.

The strength of Bell’s style as a writer and speaker is his ability to apply big ideas, cultural analogies and personal stories into dynamic illustrations of scriptural principles. It’s this way of delivering his message that has made Bell one of the most exciting leaders in the up-and-coming church, and especially engaging at the evening’s event.

In a world of sensory overload and multimedia presentations, the straightforward approach was refreshing. Bell explained that the idea is to keep it simple. “I walk out and talk for an hour and a half, and then I walk off,” he said. “So it’s a pretty simple format. You come, sit, listen, go home.”

Bell continued in his analogy and offered that with the beginning story of Abraham, a new way of thinking about God emerged—a God who is above all of the other energies, a God who speaks to humanity, a God who lets you know where you stand. He said that as Christians, we sometimes tap into this ancient idea that God is angry. If things are going wrong, then we must do more to appease Him. If things are going well, then we must do more to continue the blessing. But, Bell explained, Jesus came to do away with the old sacrificial system. Hebrews 10:10 says, “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (TNIV). The truth, as Rob so eloquently points out, is that “you don’t have to live this way anymore.”

Bell continued the narrative, telling us how God broke through the silence and offered another alternative. He offered His Son to be the last payment and final “work” in restoring the relationship. Rob commented that the only one remaining sacrifice that is to be made is the one where we lay ourselves down on the altar. In Romans 12:1 Paul writes, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship.”

The worship of God is brought to fullness in our living for Him; the disciplines, the worship songs, the mission projects—all of that should just be the outward expression of our love, not our obligation, Bell explained.

Bell closed the night by telling stories of people he had come across in his ministry. They were stories of hope, stories of pain and stories of people who reached out and became like Christ to a broken world—in fact, it felt a lot like an ending to one of his videos. Bell ended his benediction with these words: "May you remember that God is love.” The truth is that we are all free from trying to make God love us … He already loves us.

About the author
Name: David Kenney With Jesse Carey

Android...

So I have been in need of a new cell phone for quite some time. I have a few friends that have iphone's that I covet, but can't front the cash and extra monthly payment. So I am trying to be patient for the google phone. And today thanks to my all knowing tech friend Beau, I can see what is in store, and I must say that I like it!

Here is a clip to see for yourself!

fyi...

Two different organizations that I love have recently joined forces in order to better dive into the idea of theology and culture. If you are looking for some great thought provoking reads I suggest you check it out...

TheOtherJournal

Live Chicken Runs Loose At University Village

So it is Halloween and Jen got a little crafty on Glady and made this really cute chicken outfit. We went to the U. Village for some trick or treating. What a blast! So many people, so many outfits, so much candy, it was just so fun!

From there Jen and Glady hit up the Hanson house for a great party with Sclafani style paninis, wine, other great eats, then hit the neighborhood for some more treats!

I took a group of students to a haunted corn field maze with a crazy chainsaw guy! I love having access to a church van!

All in all I must say it was a great Halloween!

Here are some pictures from our little Halloween outing to the Village!

Enjoy!

NOTE: As of 7pm November 1st - Make sure to scroll down to see all 8 pictures. The last 4 that were missing are back in full effect!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weekend...

What a great weekend the Sclafani family had. This was the weekend of the All Church Retreat for the church that now both Jen and I work/serve - Calvary Chapel Seattle. It was up at the always wonderful Lakeside Bible Camp. The weather was gorgeous, the food [thanks Kevin] was tasty, the worship was moving [thanks Marc] the fellowship was beautiful, the soccer was muddy, the prayer times were awesome, but the stories were incredible. You see this year our church has gone through much change especially with moving into a new building within a new neighborhood/community. So we planned the retreat around rest and telling stories.

The 3 sessions were basically like this - stories of remembering our church's past with cool video clips of past pastors sharing the ups and downs of CC's history along with shared story from those who have been around for a while. We even had a giant timeline that stretched the length of the chapel with space to add our own stories from the past on it. Second session was Saturday night in which we went deep into our present situations in which people shared with boldness, honesty, and heart about the joys and suffering that is current in the lives of our church seasoned with much prayer and worship. The last session was on the future that we are not merely to be inward and us focused, but that we are called to be present in our community and culture. It was a time of dreaming, praying, and hope that was motivated out of the wonderful testimonies of Gods faithfulness in our past and present.

Besides the fact that we didn't sleep much and the likes we had a blast! Glady loved the camp, the ferry rides, and we even went to a pumpkin patch/petting zoo/ghost town on the island that she also loved. Below you will find some pictures from the weekend mostly of Glady :)

I hope you all had a great weekend too!

Oh, and thanks for reading and for all your comments!

I can't tell you what a blessing it is to me!

peace,

r

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wake up...

I don't know how you all are with waking up in the morning, but I'm not great at it. I usually can get up and start moving but it is with great reluctance. Glady on the other hand wakes up most every time with joy and smiles! As it is Monday again, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of what that looks like...

Enjoy!

 

This is the look I get when ever Glady wakes up! I love it!

 

Bed-head never looked so good!

Interesting Interview w/ Rob Bell...

On November 11, 2007 I'm going to be at the Moore Theater listening to Rob Bell. Here is an interesting interview that he recently did through The Door

click here to read it RBInterview

Interesting LA Times Article...

Here's an interesting story from the Los Angeles Times that I got from Relevant about how some Christian, Jewish and Muslim scholars are meeting to discuss and reconcile "problematic" scriptures and religious texts. According to the story, the meeting is an attempt to add context to passages that seemingly put one religion over another and could be perceived as hostile toward other faiths...

Songs For a Revolution of Hope, Vol. 1 Intro

Along with Brian McLaren's new book is this album of worship done alongside with Tracy Howe and Aaron Strumple and all the members of Harp 46. I think it will be an interesting project. I pre-ordered it so I will have it soon. I'll try to follow up and let you know how it is.

A Vision of Students Today

This is an interesting look into the culture of our students!

Monday's with Glady...

So every Monday I get the wonderful blessing of having the whole day with my baby girl. So in honor of Monday's here are some new pictures of Glady. I look at these and it reminds me again of this video that I posted a week or so ago. These pictures remind me of the glory of God that is seen in His creation. I know that I am biased, but I don't need any commercial, movie, magazine, etc. to define beauty for me. I see it every day all around me and this little lady and my wife are just a few of many reminders to me of how good God is and how blessed I am.

Have a great Monday all!