Mary

This Sunday at Celebration Champions Church we will be starting our Christmas series. 'Tis the season!

Every Sunday through the end of the year we will learn more about a person or group that played a significant role in the Bethlehem Christmas story. This Sunday we will learn more about Mary, whose role as the mother of our Lord was a lot more difficult and scandalous and controversial than most people ever imagine or believe or understand.

God can and does work wonders through unmarried, pregnant, junior high-age girls.

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Still

Exodus 14:14 (TNIV) - "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Psalm 46:10 (TNIV) - "Be still, and know that I am God ...."

Zechariah 2:13 (TNIV) - "Be still before the Lord, all people ...."

Is it possible for you to be still?

Or does your own sense of speed, movement, efficiency, self-reliance, and self-suffiency prevent stillness in your life?

God works wonders ... when you are simply still.

Be still.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Psalm 95:2 (TNIV) - "Let us come before Him with THANKSGIVING and extol Him with music and song."

Psalm 100:4 (TNIV) - "Enter His gates with THANKSGIVING and His courts with praise; GIVE THANKS to Him and praise His name."

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Salvation Army

Today we travelled over to the Salvation Army headquarters in nearby Kissimmee, Florida, USA, and we donated several hundred pounds of food for their food pantry as part of our Celebration Champions Church Thanksgiving Food Drive.

We particularly want to thank Juan Carlos, Carolina, and Ricardo of Roma's Quick Cafe in Celebration for doing such a fantastic job in leading the food drive.

We were greatly blessed today by being able to bless others!

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Thanksgiving Video Teaching

The Celebration Champions Church video teaching about thanksgiving is now on Vimeo and YouTube. Be sure to check it out. Do you have an attitude of gratitude? Or are you just a Gimme Guy or a Gimme Girl?

http://www.vimeo.com/17099323

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op-6C1ZI1PE

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JFK

Today is the 47th anniversary of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

Last April my wife, Dorcas, and I were in Dallas, and we visited the Sixth Floor Museum, located on the sixth floor of the former Texas School Book Depository building. That is the building and the floor where the U.S. government alleged that Lee Harvey Oswald hid and shot President Kennedy as the presidential motorcade slowly passed through Dealey Plaza.

The Sixth Floor Museum is a compelling place to visit, especially for someone such as myself who grew up in the Boston area, surrounded by the Kennedy legacy.

Our Sixth Floor Museum visit also gave me pause for spiritual thought about the JFK assassination. JFK was a young man, just 46 years old, when he died. I'm 45 now. JFK was energetic and charismatic and captivated the entire world during his time in the White House. But then it all ended very quickly and very violently one sunny Friday afternoon in Dallas. I often wonder what JFK's last thoughts were in the final seconds before he was killed.

In Psalm 39:4-5 (TNIV), David sings, "Show me, Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure."

JFK's life's end happened 47 years ago today and, 47 years later, it still stands a good lesson to all of us about how fleeting life truly is.

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Thankful

On Sunday at Celebration Champions Church I will be sharing the story of an armed, attempted kidnapping against me five years ago in Lima, Peru, in July of 2005. The attempted kidnapping failed, but I was left with a broken right arm, and I had to wear a large, heavy, plaster cast for a couple of months. Since I am right-handed, I quickly had to learn how to do everything left-handed for many months. Not being able to use my right arm quickly made me thankful for it. I still have the plaster cast as a reminder.

What are you thankful for?

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Faith & Deeds - Video Teaching

We have filmed a Celebration Champions Church video teaching on Faith & Deeds. Here are the links on Vimeo and YouTube. Check 'em out!

http://www.vimeo.com/16869673

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CSrfagapTA

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Facing The Giants This Saturday

Join us this Saturday night at 7:30 P.M. at the Thai Thani Restaurant Function Center, 600 Market Street, Celebration, Florida 34747, as we feature the movie "Facing The Giants." The movie is the story of a high school football team and its coach, and the challenges they face one season. It's a great movie and it's family-friendly and it's free to attend! After the movie we'll have free Thai food appetizers for everyone to enjoy. Invite your family and friends!

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Thanksgiving Food Drive

Celebration Champions Church is partnering with our friends at Roma's Quick Cafe in Celebration on a Thanksgiving Food Drive to benefit needy families in Central Florida.

Together we are collecting non-perishable food items to distribute to needy area families in order to help ensure that they have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Please help us to help others! If you live in Central Florida, please bring your donation of non-perishable food items to Roma's Quick Cafe, 1180 Celebration Blvd., Celebration, Florida 34747, between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM through November 24. You also may call the Celebration Champions Church office at 321-443-7855 to arrange for pick-up of your items.

If you are not in Central Florida but would like to support this Thanksgiving Food Project, then please send a check or money order to Celebration Champions Church, 660 Celebration Avenue, Suite 170-210, Celebration, Florida 34747. Your donation is fully tax deductible, and 100% of your donation will go toward the purchase of Thanksgiving food items for the neediest families in our area.

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Preach

Always preach as if it was your last sermon.

One day it will be.

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Veterans Day Parade

On Saturday morning there will be a Veterans Day Parade in Celebration, Florida, USA, as part of Celebration's Founders Day Weekend.

We here at Celebration Champions Church will be marching in the parade. Since we have just recently started out as a new church in town, the parade presents us with a great opportunity to introduce ourselves to the community.

Always be on the lookout for similar, local, festive events or parades as opportunities to introduce your church or ministry to the local community. It can make for a very friendly introduction and a very positive first impression for your church or ministry.

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Video Teaching On Taming The Tongue

We have posted our latest Celebration Champions Church video teaching about taming the tongue on both Vimeo and YouTube. Check it out! Here are the two links:

http://www.vimeo.com/16631276

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqfZ4CKqYMM

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Neutral

American civil rights leader and Baptist pastor Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once remarked:

"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict."

Jesus was never neutral. He enraged the Pharisees and other religious leaders of the day by pointing out their hypocrisy and inconsistency. He used their words and their practices against them. He hung out with a crowd that the religious leaders condemned. He told his disciples in Matthew 10:22, "Everyone will hate you because of me ...." His lack of neutrality eventually landed Jesus on a wooden cross.

Neutrality is the opposite of courage.

Jesus was never neutral.

Are you?

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Young & Old

Pastor, author, and professor Dr. Tony Campolo once remarked:

"A person is as young as their dreams and as old as their cynicism."

So how young or old are you?

Always make sure that your dreams trump your cynicism.

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Favoritism

Check out our latest Celebration Champions Church video teaching on favoritism, available on both Vimeo and YouTube. Here are the links:

http://www.vimeo.com/16476623

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5W_VDrqrBE

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Facing The Giants

On Saturday night, November 20, 2010, we will be showing "Facing The Giants" at 7:30 P.M. at the Thai Thani Restaurant Function Center in Celebration, Florida, USA. If you're in Central Florida on November 20, then come and join us. The movie is free, so invite your family and friends, too!

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Taming The Tongue

If man can tame lions, tigers, bears, elephants, and anacondas, why can't he tame his tongue?

That's what we're going to discuss this Sunday at Celebration Champions Church in Celebration, Florida, USA. Join us if you're in Central Florida!

(By the way, I've held a 20-foot-long anaconda on my shoulders during a mission trip to the Amazon jungle in Peru. The anaconda had been tamed. That's why I'm still here to post this blog.)

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The Day After

So how do you feel today?

If you're a Republican in the USA, then you probably feel pretty good.

If you're a Democrat in the USA, then you probably feel pretty bad.

But remember this: no matter your political leanings, God has established the political authority that has been voted both in and out of office.

Romans 13:1 - TNIV - "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established."

Titus 3:1 - TNIV - "Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good ...."

(By the way, Republicans, don't shout "Amen!" too gloatfully today. I gave the exact same message to you back in 2008 after Barack Obama was elected President.)

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Politics

Today is Election Day in the USA. It's important to remember the following truths on this day:

1. Jesus was not a Republican. Or a Democrat.

2. Jesus transcends partisan politics.

3. Beware of anyone who tells you differently - especially if he or she is a pastor.

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Halloween Outreach

Last night was Halloween, and here at Celebration Champions Church we made a decision to shine some light into the darkness.

The streets of Celebration, Florida, USA, were filled with tons of trick-or-treaters, both young and old and locals as well as out-of-towners, and so we passed out hundreds of Celebration Champions Church promotional cards along with Halloween candy. No one refused a card. We hope to see a big payoff on our Halloween investment, starting right away this Sunday!

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