Archive - November, 2008

Thanksgiving 2008 in Mexico City

November 28, 2008 in Family, Fun stuff with 2 Comments

We were outnumbered in our house yesterday by Mexicans because we invited some friends over to share the festivities with us.

The youth pastor of our church and his family were there. A music professor from the seminary and their family was there. Jon and Nicolle, the interns from Huntington who are here until December, were there.

It was a great Thanksgiving. It’s always fun to share family traditions with spiritual family. Since we’re far away from “home”, we enjoy trying to create the same atmosphere here as if we were in Florida. I think we achieved that yesterday.

We had a few little kids over for ThanksgivingOf course, the honored guest was the turkey (imported from the country of Chile). Janell did a wonderful job cooking everything, and we all had that too full and tired to move feeling at the end of the day while watching the football games.

The kids had a great time, too, although the house took a beating because of it. There were toys everywhere. Luckily, we stayed on top of cleaning up, so the evening wasn’t too terribly full of washing dishes.

I am thankful that we can have this tradition even living here in Mexico. I love sharing something that is 100% American with people from another culture. It’s pretty fun for everyone…except the turkey.

Full of Thanks = Thankful

November 26, 2008 in Miscellaneous with 0 Comments


VloMo Day 26 – Full of Thanks = Thankful from Dennis on Vimeo.

Happy Thanksgiving! Here are a few things I’m thankful for. Hope you have a great day!

VIDEO: Playing in the Walker

November 26, 2008 in Ben, Family, Nathan, Video with 0 Comments

The other day I was at work, and I opened my email to a surprise. It was an email from Janell. I love getting email from her, especially when they have pictures of the kids in them.

When Janell emailed me the pictures of them playing, the email said, “I don’t know who likes it more, but the crying has stopped (for now).”

See the video here on Vimeo.

Using My iPhone to Improve My Spiritual Life

November 26, 2008 in features, Personal Growth, Technology with 2 Comments

I recently purchased a used 1st generation iPhone, and since then it has become an extension of my arm. In fact, I think I might be addicted. But I could stop using it anytime I want. Really, I could. I’m not addicted.

Seriously, though, I have learned to use my iPhone to help me in my spiritual life. Here are 5 ways I’m using it to improve my walk with God:

  1. Note taking: I take notes in church and in chapel on my iPhone. Everyone thinks I’m just text messaging someone (or twittering), but the truth is I really have been taking notes. Then I email my notes to myself and file them in a folder listed “sermon notes” in my gmail. Since gmail is easily searchable, I can always look for a certain topic or passage.

    I also use it to take notes in my personal Bible study time. Then I email it and file it away.

  2. Devotion alarm: The Calendar application is set to remind me everyday that it is time to do my devotions. That’s pretty easy to do on any cell phone, but it helps me to actually DO IT if I schedule it.

    I’m also thinking about setting an alarm to beep every hour to remember to pray for certain missionaries. I haven’t done this yet, but it might help me specifically pray for certain friends of mine who are serving in other countries.

  3. Praying for my contacts: I’ve begun to go through the contact list that is in my iphone (synced with my google contacts with nuevasync). I pray for a letter a day, and by the end of the month, I’ve prayed for everyone that is in my contact list.

    I also use the facebook app to pray for my facebook friends alphabetically.

  4. Youversion: I read and bookmark Bible verses in Youversion. Although I like to use the full Youversion website even more than the mobile version, it helps me as I can scroll through various versions of the Bible.
  5. Worship: The iphone is also an iPod, so I use it to listen to worship music during my time with God. Mark Batterson talks about having a worship playlist to help you wake up. It’s a great idea.

Bonus: You can also listen to podcasts and view sermons on the iphone. I haven’t tried this yet due to lack of time to actually listen to or watch anything, but I can see how this would help improve your spiritual life.

Any other ideas for using your iPhone or iPod touch to improve your spiritual health?

Oh…by the way, you can get a free iPhone here. My friend has signed up and gotten TONS of free stuff from this site. Check it out.

Japanese Tom Hanks in Mexico City

November 24, 2008 in Fun stuff, Mexico City with 1 Comment


Did you see this Japanese man who is living in the Mexico City airport? I’m going to the airport a lot in December, so I’m hoping to meet him. Watch the video to see more about the story.

Barack Obama, Passion, and Youth Ministry

November 19, 2008 in Church, features, Youth Ministry with 0 Comments

I recently quoted President Felipe Calderon as saying, “Hope must be offered to young people who don’t believe in anything.”

The President has a point. But it’s not that young people don’t believe in anything. Many of them don’t believe in the things we wished they would believe in (especially institutions such as the government or the church).

In the following video, we interviewed some young people about what they believe about God and the church. I think you’ll find their responses interesting.

Young people, when they do believe in something, believe in it with all their hearts. We all remember the picture of the Chinese young person opposing the government and putting himself in the way of a row of tanks.

There are young (and old) people in Mexico who believe in the Virgin of Guadalupe enough to crawl on their knees towards her image so that their sins can be forgiven. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. They have a conviction that goes beyond what the church usually thinks they have.

Sure, apathy rules the day, but young people are capable of being passionate. I think it was one of the most interesting things about the recent election in the United States.

Young people drove the campaign of Barack Obama. They were his supporters from the beginning. They latched on to the tools he was using to drive his campaign. He was definitely targeting them, and their enthusiasm and passion helped him arrive at the White House. He is a young person’s President.

Young people can be passionate. It’s our job to help them become passionate about the correct things. We need to present them with a Jesus that is worth being passionate about. After all, he’s much more relevant than any political party or presidential candidate. He’s the real change we need.

So, this post begs the question…”How do you instill passion into your young people?”

(Thumbnail photo: BarackObama on flickr)

VIDEO: Ben eating Cereal

November 18, 2008 in Ben, Family, Video with 0 Comments

We are desperate to get Benjamin to sleep a little more at night. The night before last night, he had a great night sleeping, so we felt good. We had given him a little cereal before to try to get him to sleep a little longer, and it seemed to work.

So, last night, we tried again. I’m not sure he liked the cereal or not. He was eating it. You be the judge.

Well, it didn’t help him sleep. Oh well. At least we got to use his new high chair.

See the video on Vimeo if you can’t see it here.

Page 1 of 3123»