Last Sunday, on March 7th, we witnessed and celebrated the baptisms of 20 of our brothers and sisters! From our homegroup Connie, Mike, Gary, James, and Cindy got baptized!  Congratulations!

Here’s some pics from the day:

Connie and Emily, with Sheri running to congratulate someone else...

Cindy, thinking, "is this really a coconut?" Indeed it was, a first for baptism gifts in the genre of fruit...

Joe, James and Ray ...

Mike with his giant blue card from his friends ...

... and last but not least, Gary!

Congratulations everyone!!!

On Friday, Feb. 26th, the guys had a brothers-only bible study at Sable Pointe, and learned about the ins and outs of Christian Manhood.  It was a sweet time of fellowship and learning, and just good old bonding with the bros.

Don't worry. No one got hurt in the taking of this photo. Everyone had a good time, or at least Joe did.

I’ve been on a hymn-kick lately (evidence: the play count on my “hymns mix” playlist), and wanted to give a plug for a few albums I have (re)discovered lately.  My musical tastes range, but I always come back to hymns.  They just don’t write lyrics like they used to…

I’m recommending the three albums I have been listening to the most.

1. Ginny Owens’ latest album Say Amen: Hymns and Songs of Faith, released in October 2009.  I think her album is the most varied in terms of arrangements.  A couple of soulful, jazzy songs (”Say Amen”); gospel choir sound (”Home in Me”); some more choral and meditative (”Beautiful Savior”); and other styles I can’t quite describe.  My personal favorite hymns on this album are “Do Not Pass Me By (Prayer of Bartimaeus)” and “Be Thou My Vision.”

2. Jadon Lavik’s Roots Run Deep, released in February 2008.  Love the acoustic guitar feel.  If you’re familiar with his other work, it’s consistent in the lilting, slightly bluesy/jazz feel (”Wondrous Love” is a perfect example).  He does venture into piano arrangements, such as the lovely “I Need Thee.”  A very ‘amazing’ rendition of “Amazing Grace.”  And one of my favorites on this album is his version of “Turn Your Eyes.”

*Not on this album, but a song that’s been stuck in my head lately is “Surrender” from his 2009 album The Road Acoustic (also highly recommended).

3.  Chris Rice’s Peace Like a River: The Hymns Project, going waaaaay back to October 2007.  I love Chris Rice’s musicality, similar in ways to Ginny Owens (maybe that’s why I like them both so much?).  They have actually collaborated on various Rocketown Records projects.

A lot of variety in styles on this album as well, though the overall feeling is airy.  Maybe ethereal?  Heavenly?  Not sure if it makes sense, but maybe if you give it a listen, you’ll know what I mean.  What would a Chris Rice vocal project be without a lot of tight harmonies!  I especially like “Before the Throne of God Above” and “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go.”  You might recognize the version of “Rock of Ages” since we’ve sung it at church.  And just to throw in something different, I’d like to highlight “O Freedom.”

Check out any or all of the above albums and let me know what you think!  I hope you’ll be blessed by the hymns.  I’m always looking for good hymn albums, so let me know if you have any recommendations as well.  What are you listening to these days?  Are posts like these useful at all to you?  Leave a comment!

This past Valentine’s, we all had a great experience of being that special valentine to some grandmas and grandpas in 2 different convalescent homes that we visited. The sophomores ventured to the Marina Garden Nursing Center in Alameda, while the rest of our group went to Willow Tree Nursing Center in Oakland. All of us will agree that this was the deepest expression of love we could give to anyone on this day when so  many people are thinking only of romantic, Sees Candy love. There were no Sees Candy for us… but the Friday before, we prepared these beautiful potpourri bags to give as gifts!

They smelled so good, we had to stop a grandma from eating one of the pieces… note to selves, no potpourri next year!

We had our very own Tim and Gary give a message about the love of God that completes the missing piece.

…and the rest of us practiced some songs to sing (This World is Not My Home, Love of God, Worship You) and talked to the residents. We may not have great talent, but there was a lot of love in the room on that day. At Marina Garden, the Cantonese speakers were a treat, speaking and translating to the residents who were so thankful to hear their native tongue.

We came out just glowing and thankful to have the opportunity to love those who may have been forgotten on this day of love… And we’re looking forward to going back on some regular visits. Especially with our Cantonese speakers – but no potpourri next time!

This past Saturday was a busy day for all of us involved in Interhigh as we geared up for another jam-packed day!  About 160 mentees joined us at Northloop for a time of engaging in God’s word, delving into issues relevant to youth, prayer, and fellowship.  We even had visitors come all the way from a church in Fresno!

The first session started off with a presentation on “Mind over Media.”   We discussed the overwhelming presence of media in today’s society.  In smaller groups, we shared a little bit about our own experience with media’s negative influence and discussed ways to guard our hearts against its harmful nature by filling our time meaningfully with God’s word, memorizing scripture, or picking up a hobby.

James presenting the “Mind over Media” powerpoint.

Here's a picture of our discussion group. Note the seriousness of our faces.

Following the first session, we broke for dinner and GAMES!  Led by our respective Interhigh Gamemaster, we played a Jeopardy-like game of challenges and laughed as mentors and mentees alike did pretty ridiculous tasks for points.

Exhibit A:

Pretty intense

Exhibit B:

stretch...just...a...little...bit...more...

After filling our stomachs with food and much laughter, we settled down and prepared for a more serious message.  Pastor Will gave a short message about true love and how God is the only source of true, unconditional love, contrary to the Valentine card messages and popular romantic films we see.  It was a timely message for all of us as Valentine’s Day is just around the corner.  At the end of the message, Pastor Will challenged us to participate in the Valentine’s Day of Compassion and to show God’s love to people otherwise forgotten on this day.

Pastor Will giving the message on "True Love"

We ended the night with a time of sharing in smaller groups and a chance to pray over each other’s prayer requests.  It’s been so amazing to see how God is working within this Interhigh ministry and I can’t wait for the next Interhigh Monthly!!

We had a blast this past Friday with our Koinonia Spring Welcome Night!  The praise, the slideshow, and the thought-provoking message on King David delivered by Lem really made the night complete, showing our many new friends that came to check us out what Koinonia is all about. It wasn’t that long ago, but just in case you forgot, here are some pictures to refresh your memory!

After the welcome night, our homegroup went to Dana House for a time of fellowship while we ate our bentos.

After we finished our bentos, we played a couple of serious, intense and hilarious rounds of Scattergories!

The lawyer in everyone came out when it was time to object other team’s answers or defend one’s own. (Are “ice skates” toys?  Are “blinds” things you use to decorate your house?  And most controversially, is a “bento” something that comes in a pair or set?!?  You decide…)

I think people would agree with me that the highlight of the game was when Tiffany quickly stopped Tim from challenging with a “no no no~”

[Sadly, this moment was not captured digitally, as everyone was shrieking with laughter!]

To end the night we celebrated January Birthdays…

…and took our traditional Dana House living room group pictures! (both normal and silly…can you guess which is which?)

Join us for this coming Friday! No doubt it will be awesome!!

As most people know, we had our church wide Winter Retreat 2010 only one week ago.  We’re so thankful for the 33 new brothers and sisters who committed their lives to Christ, as well as the opportunity for many of us to make other significant vows and oaths to God.  Since it was such an amazing time, why not take another look back down memory lane?

We heard soul-striking messages on the “almost guys” like Saul, Samson, the Rich Young Ruler, and Pilate. We even took time to write out what we would say to Saul and Samson in the midst of their troubles.  It was a wake-up call, as we were writing to the Samson and Saul in each of us.

We were also blessed by the many testimonies given by the directors/”elders” of our church, as they shared parts of their journey with God and how they came to develop a more personal relationship with Him.  It was also great to hear about the “Samson class” and the many “When I was in college, I…”

In addition to all the spiritual food, we had times of fellowship over some hotel-quality physical food too!

Chris tries to convince the camera: “I’m not addicted!”

Zach’s culinary rendition of the God-sized void in one’s heart.

The Frosh Dudes

The Frosh Dudettes

The retreat was a time of serious reflection and uncontrollable laughter, but most importantly it was a time where our entire church came together as one body to grow closer to God.  Until next year!

Hey everyone! We’re kicking off the new semester with our Koinonia Spring Welcome Night this Friday 6:30pm at 2050 VLSB. Check out this hilarious trailer..

See you there!

First, I’d like to Welcome back all the students! Thus begins the spring semester with a week of relentless rain.

Due to bad weather the snow trip was cancelled, but that did not deter us from planning another activity just as fun. Because it had been raining all weekend, the ground was nice and muddy, perfect for some mud football action! After Sunday service, we all decided to make a pact to come out the next day and commit to not backing down from this challenge.

I am THERE!

On MLK Day, we started with a hearty brunch, a DT Lite time, and off to Godfrey Park for the main event. Here is a picture of the guys before the game:

Here is a picture AFTER the game:

Any challengers…?