Prague Report
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Videos Galore!!
Well, we’ve been a little busy uploading some past great videos from the ABF history. Some are funny! Some are serious. Some are. . .well. . .interesting. Hope you enjoy a little trip down memory lane.
ABF Videos (for service or events) – YouTube Channel – agourabible :
- Building New Life Church – Russia
- Story Time with Dave (Christmas Promo)
- Valentine’s Dinner Promo
- Valentine’s Dinner – Part 1
- Valentine’s Dinner – Part 2
- Advent Candle Celebration – 2008
- Advent Candle Bloopers – 2008
Agape Singers Videos – YouTube Channel – abfagapesingers:
- Christmas Cafe Volunteer Promo – 2005
- Agape Mini-Tour 2005
- Agape Tour Promo – 2005
- Agape Mini-Tour – 2006
- Agape Tour – 2006
- Agape Tour “Who Am I Live” – 2006
- Agape Tour Promo “Metamorphosis” – 2007
- Agape Tour “Bus Safety Procedures” – 2007
- Agape Tour “Rolling Out” – 2007
- Agape Tour “First Concerts” – 2007
- Agape Tour “Chill Time” – 2007
- Agape Tour “More Concerts” – 2007
- Agape Tour 2008 – Part 1
- Agape Tour 2008 – Part 2
- Christmas Cafe 2008 featuring Andy Garcia & The Agape Singers “This is What Christmas Means To Me”
Well, here you go. This is everything I have found in my archives, but that’s not to say that I still haven’t uncovered everything. If you have a YouTube account, you can subscribe to each of the two channels. Hope you enjoy our little church!
Christmas Cafe
Did you miss the Christmas Cafe this year? If so, here’s a little taste of what happened. Enjoy!
Advent Bloopers=Fun
Video is a wonderful tool & sometimes you get just the right shot at just the right time, but sometimes its a process to get to your masterpiece. Welcome to the Gomez Family Bloopers. Our ABF family likes to have fun. Enjoy the movie-making process with the Gomez Family.
Advent Sunday
If you weren’t able to get to church this Sunday, you don’t have to miss this week’s Advent Candle reading. The Gomez Family takes you inside their home & shares this week’s advent blessing with you.
Are You Overscheduled?
I am very much looking forward to Family Coach, Tim Smith, speaking to us both on Sunday morning October 12, and Sunday evening October 12 for our parenting seminar.
Here is a preview of Tim’s insight:
Family Coach Tim Smith’s 15 Ways To Check If I’m Over-scheduled
Everyone needs some kind of indicator that tells them to slow down. Here is my ‘Life Speedometer’ that helps me avoid ‘speeding tickets’.
You know you are too busy when…
1. You don’t seem to have time to do the things that used to put a smile on your face.
2. You can’t remember the last time you heard your spouse laugh (and not at you!)
3. You can’t remember where you were the last time you saw your child laugh?
4. You don’t have time to read books you love.
5. You haven’t had a leisurely conversation with a close friend in months.
6. You can’t recall the last time you wrestled with your son on the carpet? Or played make-believe with your daughter?
7. You haven’t had a meal together as a family (with no interruptions) for over a week.
8. You are out more than 3 nights a week.
9. You and your spouse haven’t had a romantic getaway out of town (without the kids) for over nine months.
10. You don’t have a date night at least twice a month. (No kids)
11. Your “yes’s” outnumber your “no’s.”
12. You don’t know your wife’s favorite perfume, or store or home decorator TV show; or your husband’s favorite sports team, store or favorite TV show.
13. You spend too much money; don’t have a budget and face rising credit card debt.
14. You haven’t identified key values you want to develop in your family and character qualities in your children.
15. You don’t have time for accountability and openness with close friends who have earned the right to ask the hard questions.
Agape’s New Address
Check out Agape’s new web address: http://www.abfagapesingers.org. Check us out!
Application Questions for "Being Called A Christian"
The following are some supplemental notes to my sermon on August 3, 2008, at Agoura Bible Fellowship:
In your family of origin, what were some of the unwritten unhealthy family rules that got hardwired into your brain? Here are some common ones …
1. More money is the best source of security and importance.
2. Avoid conflict at all costs; stuff your angry feelings.
3. Men can be promiscuous, but women cannot.
4. You are not allowed to be depressed; just get over it.
5. Sarcasm is the most acceptable way to release your anger.
6. Never speak of your family’s dirty laundry in public.
7. Don’t trust people; they’ll just hurt you and let you down.
8. Other cultures or races are not as good as yours.
9. Your feelings cannot be trusted, so just ignore them.
10. You must achieve and perform well in order to be loved.
What other dysfunctional family rules would you add to this list? What other kinds of unhealthy messages did you absorb from your parents and grandparents when you were growing up?
For me, doing this is painful. I don’t want to have to look back and dig up old dirt! I don’t want to have to uncover family secrets. Can’t I just be grateful to be a new creation in Christ?
The problem is, if I never consciously grieve and bury my pain from the past, it will continue to haunt me and drag me down.
Just because we grew up in a Christian home and went to church and heard thousands of sermons does not mean that deeply entrenched negative influences of our ancestry have been eradicated from our lives. For that to happen, we must be discipled in how to allow our heavenly family identity supercede our earthly family identity.
(For more insights like these, see "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality" by Peter Scazzaro)
A Day in the Life
I had an interesting day here in the Conejo Valley today. I started out on a 4-5 mile hike through the Santa Monica Mountains, above Paramount Ranch, with our Elder Chairman Gary Rafferty. Almost two hours of incline and switchbacks made me sweat. Then I went to the office with dirty socks and dusty tennis shoes.
Then after our prayer meeting was over tonight, Karen and I went to watch the USA Olympics Water Polo team have their last stateside practice! They were using the Oaks Christian Olympic-size pool, which is only about a mile away from our home, since the team’s coach lives in Westlake Village. (Oaks is one of the best prep schools in the nation, with the children of Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, and Will Smith, being among the students.)
I feel fortunate, and thank God, for these unique opportunities. You just never know what a day might bring around here…
- Dale
