Word on the Street

January 3rd is Movie Night @ Wellshire. We will be showing Disney's Up on 2 screens. It will be screened for the teens and adults in the Chapel and in the Youth Suite for the children. Youth and sponsors will supervise the children in the Youth Suite. Popcorn will be provided. Donations are encouraged and will go toward the Youth Guatemala Mission Trip.

2009, Year of the App(le)

There's an app for that. It's become a familiar refrain. 2009 was the first year in which the evangelical "there's a verse for that," was finally surpassed by another phrase as a save-the-day-slogan of choice. In fact, some experts estimate that by June of 2009, the number of apps surpassed the number of Chuck Norris jokes in existance. (To which Apple responded by creating a Chuck Norris app that deletes any Ninja apps running on your smart phone and cannot ever be deleted)

Need to level a bookshelf or straighten a picture? There's an app for that. Need to quote your favorite philosopher or movie? There's an app for that. Need to find where you parked your car before you went into the mall? There's an app for that.

So, if you're a smart phone-toting Christian, what apps should you not be without? Here are my top picks in no specific order...

Holy Bible - There's a verse for that. No really, there is. Always. This free app is a winner for portable scriptures. It has many translations included and even has a split screen function if you're a student (or your pastor uses Greek a lot to impress, er, teach you) to see the Greek and English simultaneously.

iRecycle - This program, by Earth911 is a great app for every believer trying to do their part to take care of God's creation. You plug in your location and what you're looking to recycle (cell phones, car batteries, tires, an unwanted sibbling or Tiger Woods paraphernalia) and it lists all the nearby locations. It also has a listing of all local green events.

Pandora - This free music program is great for anyone, secular or Christian. Based on the music genome project, it tailors a radio station to your own taste. Simply plug in an artist, song or genre and it will play songs that are similar. You give the thumbs up or down to each new song played and it becomes more personalized with each feedback response. Disappointed you can't find more Christian music in a genre other than the 80's soft rock playing on your local Christian station? Plug in a song or artist that fits your taste and find yourself listening to music you'll never find on the radio. And it's cheaper and more portable than XM, as long as you're not terribly fundamentalist: it is named after a story from Greek mythology.

Shazam - Also in the music genre of apps... a never-fail name that tune app. Turn it on and press the tag button to capture a song playing at a restaurant, on the radio or in a movie. With just a few seconds of play, it'll search the net and find the song and all info. Besides, this one's just fun to say.

GCalendar - There are several good free calendar programs out there, but if you're anything like me, your schedule is busy, and it's easy to overcommit or miss an important meeting if you don't have your calendar on you at all times. This app syncs with your google calendar (if you're not using google calendar, start, immediately!) You don't have to log in every time you use it and you can use it to get to your google reader (to catch up on my blog) or your google docs, etc.

CardStar - Yes, this is a [free] consumer program. I include this not because I want to encourage you to consume more, but to save money when you do. Scripture encourages thrifty behavior because a thrifty person is better equipped to help those in need. This program allows you to store the barcodes of all your discount cards. You type the number in and it is displayed as a picture. Many, if not most, scanners can read this barcode (like Blockbuster, Barnes & Noble), and if they can't (like many grocery stores), the cashier can simply punch in your code. This way, you never have to remember your discount card for that one time a year you go to Hallmark or SuperCuts, if you're at all like me.

JustLight - And God said, "let there be light," "I am the light of the world," "thy word is a lamp unto a feet and a light unto my path," "this little light of mine..." Ok, ok, so the point is, sometimes you just need a light. This program is nothing but a bright white light that stays on until you turn it off, so you don't have to keep tapping it. Great for seeing your choir music at a candlelight service or caroling, changing your oil or finding your wife's hairbrush behind the sock drawer. I mean, if it comes up.

The Christmas Story

This is a video captured by one of our youth of this year's dramatic reading of the Christmas Story.

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Making a Difference

From Bob Britt to the youth:

On behalf of the entire Hunger Task Force please convey a big thanks to all of the youth who partnered with us this past weekend. The attitude and energy they brought to the project certainly made everything go a bit easier and much quicker than our estimated schedule and timeline.

Just in case you hadn't heard; food boxes were packed and delivered to 120 families comprised of 546 persons. That was approximately an 18% increase over last year. Including the fruit and produce, over 8,000 lbs. of food were given out.

Again thank you and Merry Christmas to one and all.

Bob Britt
On behalf of Wellshire's Hunger Task Force

It's not easy being Green...

Confession time. i'm an enironmentalist. It's hard for me not to be one. i grew up with parents and grandparents who recycled even when they had to drive across town to do it. i was a Boy Scout. The idea of preserving the beauty and health of the outdoors was hammered into me at every opportunity. And most importantly, i am a Christian. i own a "green Bible," printed on recyled paper with soy ink and all the verses about creation are in green letters. It also has good Bible studies and lessons. It's a good reminder that much of the story told in Scripture is the story of God's people in an amazing creation, given in trust to his people to care for and protect.

i occasionally catch the Colbert Report. i caught an old one the other day. Colbert had a great guest in the middle of the show. This guy who writes for the Green Lantern (click on the link to see an article comparing the envrionmental benefits of soy v. milk). His column discusses choices people make every day to try and be more "green." He discussed an important issue, looking deeper than surface level questions on how to be envrionmentally friendly.

Paper or plastic? Well, on the surface, paper, right? Plastic never bio-degrades, strangles sea turtles, etc. Well, yes and no. First off, while paper can be recycled, it often isn't and depletes our forests. It also takes more energy in production to make a paper bag than a plastic one and more energy and fuel are expelled in transporting paper bags (which weigh more) to stores.
Now, he didn't discuss your own reusable bags like the one Ashley made and our canvas sacks, but he had about 3 minutes on the show.

He also gave a good rule of thumb that i need to pass on to my misguided eco-cousin, Katie. i've told Ashley before that for gas mileage in the summer, she should put the windows down around town, but it improves it on the highway to put them up and use the A/C. This seems common sense to Ashley and i. The wind resistance on the highway is too high to leave the windows down and lower gas mileage means bad for the environment. The rule of thumb is 45mph. Anything over that and you save by rolling up the windows and turning on that A/C. Anything under and you might as well go for the windows.

He wrapped up by talking about CFL's, the cute little energy efficient bulbs my dad was hating on for so long. Everyone is screaming about mercury. He said your only real concern is if you break one and then lick it. But Steven put him in his place and said, "well it's hard not to want to! They look like soft-serve ice cream!"

i compiled a list of articles that may pique your interest...

All of these have lots of links and charts if you question how they arrive at particular conclusions
Rolling down the Windows v. Using the A/C in the car
Hand washing v. Using the Dishwasher
Being green on st. Patty's: Cans v. Bottles
Obama v. Clinton v. McCain on Environmental plans (least biased article i've read on all the candidates)
CFL's v. Incandescent Bulbs (by far the best article i've read on the green bulbs, read THIS one if no other article)

If any of these spark you or you have your own question, ask the Green Lantern:
ask.the.lantern@gmail.com

Word on the Street

The word on the street is that many exciting things are on the horizon for the young people of Wellshire. Confirmed by reliable sources:

December 20th - Free Pizza at Beau Jo's for returning college-age young people after the second live nativity. Proceeds benefit the Youth mission trip to Guatemala.

ANY Wellshire member or friend who brings a flier about Guatemala to Beau Jo's will have 20% of their bill put towards the mission trip.

December 24th - Christmas Eve services at 4pm, 6pm and 11pm. College students will be helping to lead worship by lighting candles for the whole congregation. We need college-agers at all 3 services.

December 25th - Christmas is scheduled for the 25th this year.

January 3rd - Movie night at the church. A kid's film will be shown downstairs in the youth suite and a film for young adults and adults will be shown upstairs. Popcorn will be served. Donations will be taken to fund the youth mission trip to Guatemala.

June 11-20th - Youth go to Guatemala.

Any questions? Want to help? Contact Brian, the Associate Pastor of Youth & Young Adults at the church or on Facebook.

A New Home

This is the new home of my blog. Yes, it retains the same title. If you're new, welcome. If you're old readers, welcome back.

This blog will be different from my old one. i don't intend to keep people up to date on my family and personal life. This blog will focus on keeping people up to date with Wellshire and the Youth Group, as well as tackle current day issues in the news and world, as well as the occasional review of music and film. This will be somewhere between a bulletin board, an op-ed and a review column. The main theme will be combatting ignorance, whether about Wellshire, the world or culture. Welcome.