Back In Business

After more than a year I'm getting the itch to write again. This time it's not short stories, screenplays or books. It's simply articles. I've written in the past for Relevant Magazine and Campus Crosswalk. So, check back in a few days and I may have a link to a new article.

One more thing, I added a new blog link. Check Phillip McCart out, he's got some great insights into student ministry.

See You At The Pole

Today, all across the country, students met at their local school's flagpole to pray at an event called See You At The Pole. I went to Buchanan High School and watched students come together of their own accord and pray for their schools and friends. God is good! I think BHS had about 150-200 students, Clovis North (the new school in town) had just under 100. It felt good to see students like Andrew Balch, Taylan Bennett and Kaleb Smith join in the circle. If you've never seen this sight in person, you should watch next year. It's good!

Twenty-Six Years Old

On Sunday, the 23rd, I turned 26-years-old! We had a little party at the Solberg house. It was great. Lots of family and a few close friends. Eric, Jamie, Paul and Jenn. Here's some pictures from our fellowship.

Random Picture From The Scott-Calhoun Wedding

technorati tags:micah, erica, foster, calhoun, scott, wedding, picture

Concert Crazy

Chris Tomlin is coming to Fresno and we're going to the concert. Last time I saw him was about a year ago at Great America. It was THE best worship experience I've ever had. His songs resonate with what my spirit knows is true. The concert is Nov. 3rd (Sat.) @ Warnor's Theater. Get your tickets here.

We are also going to see Casting Crowns, Leeland and John Waller @ The Big Fresno Fair on Oct. 3rd (Wed.). We'll be there with Paul and Jenn Haugen. You can get your tickets here.

technorati tags:chris, tomlin, casting, crowns, leeland, john, waller, big, fresno, fair, paul, jenn, haugen

Buckhead Church & Baghdad Schools

Recently I posted about a church in Georgia that challenged their congregation to donate school supplies for kids in Baghdad. They did one announcement, one email, and one blog post and this was the response they got...

You can check out their blog post here.

God is good!

technorati tags:buckhead, church, baghdad, georgia, iraq, school, supplies, kids, donate

Podcast Reaches Over 1000 hits!

The Turnpike podcast has now reached over 1,000 hits. The intended audience is parents of teens that attend our ministry, however we've reached a much larger demographic than that. People from Europe, North America, South America and Australia have found the podcast and downloaded it. Pretty crazy. You can check it out by clicking here or scrolling to the very bottom of this page and clicking on one of the podcast episodes.

technorati tags:podcast, new, harvest, church, turnpike, student, ministries, 1000, europe, south, america, north, australia, download

The Rosenthal Family Needs Your Prayers

Our Pastor of Community Life needs your prayers. Kelly Rosenthal and his family are on an emotional rollercoaster. Please read his latest blog entry and put him on your prayer list and your church's prayer list.

technorati tags:prayer, kelly, rosenthal, family, pastor, community, life, list, new, harvest, church

Other wii Pictures

Paul has finally posted his version of our battle. Check it out here.

technorati tags:paul, haugen, wii, blog, post

Hope is a gift and YOU have the power to give it!

I've recently started reading the official church blog of Buckhead Church in the ATL (AT). Last Sunday, September 16th, they challenged their church to gather school supplies and raise money to provide help for kids in Baghdad that have nothing. They just did a series on stewardship and felt that they shouldn't waste the momentum that had been built up. You can read about the challenge and follow up at the two following links:

Buckhead Church Blog: From Buckhead to Baghdad

Buckhead Church Blog: From Buckhead to Baghdad, Part

My challenge to you is to get on board with someone doing something great to change the world for Christ. You can jump on the Buckhead bandwagon or choose something else, but please give.

In Fresno on Oct. 6th there's something called "Light the Night Walk" to raise support, awareness and money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Participants can walk with a red balloon or a white balloon (white is reserved for cancer survivors). If you live in Fresno, that's one way to give.

No matter where you live, there are hundreds of opportunities for you to volunteer or raise money for a worthy cause. You can order a pair of shoes from Tom's Shoes and the company will automatically match your purchase with a gift to a child somewhere in the world who can not afford a shoes.

You can pledge to give $30-35 a month to make sure one child somewhere in the world, usually a third world country, will eat, get education and be introduced to Jesus through your genorosity until they are old enough to care for themselves. (World Vision and Compassion International)

(Pictures from Mission Mexico '06)

My birthday is this coming Sunday, September 23rd. I'll be 26-years-old! If you intend on sending me a card or gift, I'd like you to do something different. Don't give me anything but an email or comment that says, "I decided to take my twenty bucks and give it to a charity." Or something along those lines. That's one of the best gifts I can get. Give my gift to someone in real poverty, someone without hope, someone who needs to be filled with the joy of the Lord.

God bless you and remember that hope is a gift and YOU have the power to give it!

technorati tags:mission, mexico, tom's, shoes, compassion, international, world, vision, light, the, night, fresno, ca, birthday, gift, hope, give, baghdad, buckhead, church

More Wii Madness

Check out what I came across today...any challengers? Jason?

LucasArts to Unleash the Force on the Wii in Spring 2008

Star Wars™: The Force Unleashed™ Coming to Nintendo's Platform with Exclusive Duel Mode

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Sept. 18, 2007 - LucasArts today revealed that Star Wars™: The Force Unleashed™ will come to the Wii™ home videogame system from Nintendo next spring, offering owners the unique chance to live out their Jedi fantasies by wielding the Wii Remote™ as a lightsaber while using the Nunchuk™ controller to torment foes with their Force™ powers.

The Force Unleashed casts players as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice" and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The game's expansive story is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi - and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

The Wii version, in development by Krome Studios, will also add an exclusive duel mode in which players can compete head-to-head with their friends to determine the ultimate Jedi Master.

"The Wii is a great platform for The Force Unleashed, because the console's motion-oriented controllers really bring the game to life," said Jim Ward, President of LucasArts. "We've worked hard to make the Wii version of the game unique in order to truly let you unleash the Force."

technorati tags:wii, lucas, arts, star, wars, remote

J Mac - The Stuff of Legends

Remember this?

technorati tags:jason, mcelwain, basketball, legend, autism, hope, love, faith

Wii, Wii, Wii...all the way home.

This past Friday, Erica and I went to Game Stop to purchase a gift card for her cousin's birthday, Bobby (10-years-old). We went in and I had been viewing a video about the Wii earlier in the week on another blog. We both gravitated to the wall with the Wii and the games. We went in with the intention of buying a gift card and came out with the card + a Wii! We're counting it for our birthdays!

Here's some pictures of Erica and Jenn (Paul's wife) playing a racing game and boxing. Enjoy!

Paul will have his pictures up soon on his blog.

technorati tags:paul, jenn, erica, micah, foster, haugen, wii, nintendo, video, games, racing, boxing, cooper

Small Groups Galore!

Recently we've had an influx of volunteers that has helped us to create more and more small groups for students to plug into. Here are some pictures of our small groups in action on Sundays. A picture is worth a thousand words right? Maybe more! Here are some goals for our small groups by the time we get into our new building (sometime this winter)...

We want four small groups per grade, two male and two female. Therefore we want 24 groups! In each group we want two leaders...that's 48 leaders! Also in each group we want 8-10 students...that's 192-240 students! Can we do it? No. But if God wants to He can!

technorati tags:small, groups, new, harvest, church, turnpike, catalyst, god, jesus, spirit, love, faith, hope, clovis, west, high, school, plant, goals

Jericho, KS - Season 2

Jericho, incase you missed it, was the best show on television last year. CBS pulled it off the air after it's season finale, which was a nail-biter. One of the key phrases used in the season-finale with "nuts." In order to understand it, you'd have to watch the finale, if you want to click here. Basically, the term was used to say, we're not going without a fight.

Fans of Jericho picked up this terminology and used it to send a message to CBS executives. They sent thousands of pounds of peanutes from nutsonline.com to the excutives with notes that said, "Nuts to you CBS!" Meaning, you can't take our show without a fight. Suprisingly the executives decided to give the show another shot. They rearranged their summer schedule to re-show the first season. The second season is about to start up again!

You can read about the crazy fan campaign to save the show here.

I never thought fans of a tv show could mobilize together like this. Imagine what the church could do together if we would mobilize.

Psalm 119:9

"How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your (God's) word."

Sounds pretty simple to me.

technorati tags:pure, simple, jesus, word, of, God

Over the Weekend

Our friends Nic & Kylee Bryson and Ryan & Kelly Loftis came to visit us over the weekend. We took it really easy. Introduced "Teddy" to "Cooper"...watched Balls of Fury (not recommended)...bbq'd kabobs...and it was a great time. Thanks for coming to visit guys! Hopefully we can come visit you in your own environment soon. Kelly, thanks for singing on Sunday...want the mp3? Jk.

technorati tags:nic, kylee, bryson, ryan, kelly, loftis, friends, labor, day, weekend, vacation

Re:action

We are getting ready to launch an entirely new ministry targeting college-aged people (18-24). There has been somewhat of a lull in attendance from this age group and they've been needing something completely tailored for them. Now, with the help of it's new leader Greg Zuffelato, this ministry is about to launch.

First we'll work on building a community within a core group of people, then build leadership roles into that core and do a full launch with the second semester of Fresno State in January.

This will also allow us to iron out some bugs and make sure we all know exactly what we're doing and what our involvement will be.

The basic principle behind the name is this Re = Ripple Effect. Every ripple effect starts with a single action. We want these students to perform actions for Christ that cause ripple effects that can build into a tsunami of God's grace and love for college-aged people in the Fresno/Clovis area. I'm excited.

technorati tags:ripple, effect, butterfly, effect, re:action, reaction, new, harvest, church, fresno, state, city, college, university, clovis, students, greg, zuffelato

Soccer Season

It's soccer season! We're out at the Fresno City College soccer game. It might be too hot to start the season in my opinion.