I really wanted our church and youth group to do this, but it just never happened. At least now we know it would be okay.

The NFL will allow church groups to show the Super Bowl on large-screen televisions, reversing a policy that drew criticism from elected officials.

In a letter to U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league will no longer object to "live showings -- regardless of screen size -- of the Super Bowl" by religious organizations, The Washington Post reported.

An earlier story in The Post about church groups canceling Super Bowl parties over fear of legal action by the NFL led to protest by some lawmakers and conservative leaders.

At the center of the issue is an NFL policy which holds that organizations showing public viewings of its games on televisions larger than 55 inches violate the league's copyright. Sports bars are exempt from the policy, but last year, the NFL sent letters to two church groups, advising them of the rule, according to The Post.

In its letter to Hatch, the NFL said it would not object to big-screen viewings in churches as long as they are free and held on premises that the church uses on a "routine and customary" basis, according to the report.

Hatch said in a prepared statement that he was grateful that the NFL made the exception.

"Many families want to enjoy the Super Bowl in a group atmosphere -- but obviously aren't going to take their kids to a sports bar," he said, according to The Post.

Steve Holley, executive pastor of Immanuel Bible Church in Springfield, Va., which canceled its big-screen Super Bowl party this year over the policy, was also pleased by the change.

"[The NFL] decided to set aside profit for community spirit," Holley said, according to The Post. "I'm encouraged by that."

One year we did this and had several video game systems going as well. That was a lot of fun. And don't forget the wings!

Report: NFL OKs churches showing Super Bowl on big screens

Stay blessed...john

Now, you know me (perhaps), and you know I'm not one to criticize others. But the latest Southwest Airlines episode will have to be an exception. I don't know the whole story; I don't believe I care to. But just on the surface, it would seem the rest of us don't realize the world revolves around people like the two young ladies who were supposedly banned for life from the airline.

And! I don't like to call anyone names. So, I'll let you read this quote and you can.

“I think they were just discriminating against [us] because we were young decent-looking girls," Williams told TampaBays10.com. "I mean, (this is where I fall out of my office chair laughing) nobody else on the plane looked like us except us . [The flight attendants] were like older ladies. We were younger. Who knows, they could have been just jealous of us because we were younger.”

I'm done being critical--even though I think this is an example of what is wrong with our culture.

Southwest Calls ‘Too Pretty’ Coeds’ Claim ‘Simply Not True’

Stay blessed...john

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stay blessed...john

Boys II Men are my favorite, and Brian McKnight is a very good vocalist and musician. Here both of them are having a good time with a great song (one of my favorites). Does anyone have a copy of the original from Cooley High? I'm not sure our local video store (yes, just one) would have that movie so I could record it that way. Anyways, enjoy.



Song Video



Stay blessed...john

I've been arranging things for the 30 Hour Famine; it's coming this Friday! In that process I have had to go into our storage room. I thought I would show you what I did with some of the excess I found.


Now, we'll have fun putting that all back Saturday evening. Stay blessed...john

Our church is looking to finish paying off the Fellowship Hall within the next year and a half or so. I wonder if there's anything like this lying around our campus we could get a couple of bucks for. Of course, my other thought is...I can't even hang stuff on my walls!

Dwindling donations to the Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park have prompted its high-profile pastor, Mac Hammond, to put his private business jet on the market.

Church spokesman the Rev. Brian Sullivan says Living Word has also cut its hour long Sunday morning television broadcast to 30 minutes to save money.

He says the church has fallen $40,000 to $70,000 short of its weekly budget in recent weeks. Sullivan says the church is adjusting its budget accordingly.

The remainder of the article can be read here:Financial Woes Force Church To Sell Private Jet

See, having the stuff is not the blessing (unless the next owner gets a really good deal :)). Being blessed beyond belief is more about this:

Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Now, you understand what I mean when I tell you to stay blessed...john

For those who look forward to seminars and Annual Conference...because you get to stay in hotels.

This is something that has come to mind over recent weeks. No, not the value of this blog. But the value of each our contributions to the Church.

I'm thankful for all those people who have decided to contribute their energy, time, creativity, skills, insights, opinions (careful) and work. Even beyond that it takes a lot, I believe, for someone to be willing to just try something new. Someone tried a pre-school in our church. Look what happened there. Someone tried to use their computer skills to maintain a newsletter. Someone tried to get women from the community together for fellowship and study. Look at that result.

Right now people are trying to jump start the men in our church. Others are trying to organize others to see our church's future. Some are trying to figure out how to get more people involved in the life of the church.

And still others are just doing what they believe God has called them to do. I love hearing how those things are going. I love hearing how those activities have touched others. So, whatever you're doing, Praise God! Thanks.

There are those who think what they have to contribute wouldn't fit into the ministry of a church. BLAH! I'm sure I've shared this with you--though perhaps in another forum. You all might recall the Prayer Pencil Principle.

I can remember going to church one time and wanting to fill out a church card in the pews (you know you have them, too). I didn't have a pen and neither did Gloria, and the one in the pew was totally blunt--useless. If all someone can do is sharpen a pencil in a pew, then as far as I'm concerned that is just as valid a ministry as anything else we've talked about. I'm not going anywhere with this other than trying to encourage you to believe your part in ministry:

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(II Corinthians 5:16-21)

Stay blessed...john

We've launched our youth group's (Generation X) new website. It's called What Monkeys Can't Do.

Of course, it's a place for our youth group members and friends can hook up and share stuff, but it's also a place where you (yes YOU, where YOU are) can send your youth members without having to worry about what they might see. It's also fun for me because it'll give me a chance to post more immature things than I would here. For example:



And just to keep the good news coming....I have just heard the crow of our church rooster. It seems he has returned! I hadn't seen or heard from him in a while, but we can all rest at ease; he is okay. He just crowed three times; I hope that doesn't mean anything.

Stay blessed...john (that's What Monkeys Can't Do)