Dr. Clayton Oliphint
8/8/2010
August 9, 2010
August 2, 2010
July 26, 2010
July 16, 2010
Music Makers 2010 is HERE!!
This Sunday, the Music Ministries of FUMCR will present the Music Makers Summer Musical -- Survivor: Babylon.
Music Makers is a week-long music camp for children in grades 2-7. However, this camp is not like others because during this week, the children learn a full musical production to perform during the 9:45 and 11:00 a.m. hours of worship the following Sunday. The children learn the music, choreography, speaking parts and movements from start to finish during the week. No preparation is given to the children before showing up the first day of Music Makers! The set construction and props are prepared during this week, as well.
This will be the 8th performance of Music Makers at FUMCR. Under the direction of Mike Lightfoot, Producer Kim O'Neil, and the many other staff members and laity volunteers that donate a very busy week, the children this year will be performing Survivor: Babylon which covers the biblical story of King Nebuchadnezzar and the Fiery Furnace!
While putting the production together is a priority during this week, the leaders of Music Makers insist that involving the children in learning the biblical story that their production is based on is of the highest importance. During the week, in between singing and acting rehearsal, prop and set construction, and SNACK TIME the children have learning sessions to dig deeper into the biblical story. Ms. O'Neil says it is wonderful to see the kids create a real sense of community during the week and begin to commit pieces of our biblical history to not just their memory but their heart, as well.
We encourage you to join FUMCR in celebrating our Summer Dream as the children of our church (there are over 200 participating this year!!) help us share in this amazing story of courage and faith!
This is a very, very short clip of the 2009 Music Makers peformance...
Music Makers is a week-long music camp for children in grades 2-7. However, this camp is not like others because during this week, the children learn a full musical production to perform during the 9:45 and 11:00 a.m. hours of worship the following Sunday. The children learn the music, choreography, speaking parts and movements from start to finish during the week. No preparation is given to the children before showing up the first day of Music Makers! The set construction and props are prepared during this week, as well.
This will be the 8th performance of Music Makers at FUMCR. Under the direction of Mike Lightfoot, Producer Kim O'Neil, and the many other staff members and laity volunteers that donate a very busy week, the children this year will be performing Survivor: Babylon which covers the biblical story of King Nebuchadnezzar and the Fiery Furnace!
While putting the production together is a priority during this week, the leaders of Music Makers insist that involving the children in learning the biblical story that their production is based on is of the highest importance. During the week, in between singing and acting rehearsal, prop and set construction, and SNACK TIME the children have learning sessions to dig deeper into the biblical story. Ms. O'Neil says it is wonderful to see the kids create a real sense of community during the week and begin to commit pieces of our biblical history to not just their memory but their heart, as well.
We encourage you to join FUMCR in celebrating our Summer Dream as the children of our church (there are over 200 participating this year!!) help us share in this amazing story of courage and faith!
This is a very, very short clip of the 2009 Music Makers peformance...
July 14, 2010
Rivals...
PC vs MAC
Xbox vs. Playstation vs. Wii
Texas vs. Texas A&M
iPhone vs Android
Pepsi vs Coca Cola
I am sure you could list a bunch of other rivals throughout life. And the list could get really personal for me. My high school’s biggest Rival was the Fayetteville Bulldogs. Every year our game was billed as the battle of the Dogs. It was a week filled with tons of trash talking and us vs them statements. I wasn’t friends with any of them. However, my first week of college, I meet several of them, and discovered we had a lot in common. We became great friends.
It is crazy, but any rivalry is going to lead to winner vs loser attitudes which clouds our judgment.
I remember 100’s of commercials growing up about how x number of people choose coke over Pepsi in taste test. I remember taste tests being held in grocery stores, at the state fair, and other venues. Everyone had a preference. You were either with them or against them. Who is the winner in your book?
Pepsi or Coke, PC or Mac, or Texas or Texas A&M.
As Debra talked about in her Sermon on Sunday, “us” vs “them” has been around since the beginning of time. It is recorded throughout our biblical history. What I find profoundly challenging is that “us” vs “them” or “winner” and “loser” attitudes might be part of human nature, but it is not what God intends. In fact, Jesus came into the world to teach of a different reality. A world in which there is no partiality, no winners or losers, but a world where every knee will bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus is Lord. We are all children of God, we are all family, we are all part of “us”, and there is no “them”.
I think the challenge for us is to begin to see or dream of the unity we have in God, father, son, and spirit. Think about it.
Can you imagine what it might be if we didn’t talk about others as “them”, and ourselves as “us”?
Can you imagine what it would be like if we saw our neighbor not as them, but as us?
Can you imagine Aggies and Longhorns living in harmony?
Seriously what if we stopped talking about the other Christians, or the other churches, and we started talking about the body of Christ, about our brothers and sisters in Christ? What if we didn’t see others in the world, but saw brothers and sisters?
What rivalry do you need to let go for the sake of the Gospel?
*Today's post was written by Rev. Rodney Whitfield, Associate Pastor
July 12, 2010
July 8, 2010
Connecting the Dots...
It's easy to dream. The hard part is often figuring out how to get there.
-- Quote from my father when I couldn't decide on my post-graduation plans.
So far this summer, we have concentrated quite a bit on our dreams for our lives and future. But, have you considered the dreams that others have for you? I'm talking about the dreams your parents had for you, or the dreams that your friends or mentors had for you?
I remember when I was trying to decide whether or not I was going to attend college after my high school graduation. I remember trying to feel my parents out for what I should do. I really didn't have a good idea of where I wanted to end up, so I thought doing whatever would make them happy would be the best bet. But when I asked them what I should do, they said: I don't know, what do you think?
That wasn't very helpful. And I know they didn't say this because they really didn't have any idea... they had their dreams for me. But they wanted me to figure out my dreams and work to see our dreams merge together.
Many times we don't follow the paths that others dream for us. Many times we may not be sure of ourselves that we can accomplish what others (including God) has in mind for our lives. We may feel scared. We may feel full of questions.
Steve Jobs (founder and CEO of Apple) addressed a dimension of this question in his commencement address to the Class of 2005 at Stanford University. He acknowledges that we may not immediately accomplish what others have dreamed for us, but we shouldn't diminish our experiences in the meantime. How are life experiences connect to realize our dreams may be very different than what we or others originally intend.
How will you connect the dots to realize the dreams that God has for you?
-- Quote from my father when I couldn't decide on my post-graduation plans.
So far this summer, we have concentrated quite a bit on our dreams for our lives and future. But, have you considered the dreams that others have for you? I'm talking about the dreams your parents had for you, or the dreams that your friends or mentors had for you?
I remember when I was trying to decide whether or not I was going to attend college after my high school graduation. I remember trying to feel my parents out for what I should do. I really didn't have a good idea of where I wanted to end up, so I thought doing whatever would make them happy would be the best bet. But when I asked them what I should do, they said: I don't know, what do you think?
That wasn't very helpful. And I know they didn't say this because they really didn't have any idea... they had their dreams for me. But they wanted me to figure out my dreams and work to see our dreams merge together.
Many times we don't follow the paths that others dream for us. Many times we may not be sure of ourselves that we can accomplish what others (including God) has in mind for our lives. We may feel scared. We may feel full of questions.
Steve Jobs (founder and CEO of Apple) addressed a dimension of this question in his commencement address to the Class of 2005 at Stanford University. He acknowledges that we may not immediately accomplish what others have dreamed for us, but we shouldn't diminish our experiences in the meantime. How are life experiences connect to realize our dreams may be very different than what we or others originally intend.
How will you connect the dots to realize the dreams that God has for you?
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