Some weeks, you just can't win

Pictures from Ground Zero Trip

Well, I was stuck in bed with the flu, but the rest of the team made it out to Ground Zero in NYC after the quiz meet yesterday. Head Coach Jim got some nice pics of the event.

So... How did the meet itself go?

Masks within Masks

Missions Mania

This week is the Missions Festival Week at Calvary Church. While quizzers are in New Jersey and NYC on Saturday their parents have a great opportunity to go to the Missions Brunch. The Theme is "Around the World in 80 Minutes". There will be great food and video presentations including a recap of last year's missions trips including the Slovakia trip that some of our quizzers went on. Everyone is invited even if they haven't previously signed up. There will be plenty of food, so encourage your families to attend.

Place: Calvary EFC in Trumbull, CT
Time: 9am-10:30am
Cost : Suggested donation of $3 per person, Max $6 per family

Review week for Romans 1 - 7

Please remember that this week is a review week before a quiz meet. There is no additional Family Study Guide, but you can review all the ones that have come before here. Or you can feel free to read all 7 chapters again here.

Final Details for Ground Zero Trip

This Saturday will not only be a Quiz Meet in Essex Fell, NJ, but also a trip afterwards to Ground Zero in New York City. We will be taking the Path Train to get there and back, and then will drive home from New Jersey. Please be at the church promptly by 7 AM. Every minute we are late, means less time in NYC.

Quick Details
Departure: Saturday, October 29, 2005 at 7:00 AM from Calvary EFC in Trumbull
Cost: $10 for pizza lunch and path train, $10 for dinner in NYC. Additional money for souvenirs.
Return: Aproximately 8 PM, Saturday Night

The Unbound Bible

Last week's special tool was the Online Parallel Bible. Not bad. This week, we have The Unbound Bible which basically takes the Online Bible idea and brings it to the next level. What about bringing in not only English translations, but also those of other foreign languages? What about bringing in not only modern translations, but also ancient translations? What about throwing in the ancient greek and the "textus receptus"?

Very cool. Though perhaps more than most of us have time to really make use of.

ROCK THE SOUND makes the New York Times!

It is not often that a Christian concert gets wide-spread media attention, but Rock the Sound has managed to score a full-page story in the New York Times! This speaks well of the event and probably means that you will see a lot more teens there when the Youth Group goes on November 5 than you might have expected!

THE band has won a Grammy Award, sold three million albums and plays in arenas packed with thousands of screaming fans. But if your weekend pursuits do not include church or a youth group, you probably have never heard of Audio Adrenaline.
The band is one of four Christian rock acts that will be performing at the Arena at Harbor Yard on Nov. 5 in Bridgeport. The concert, organized by the nonprofit organization Rock the Sound, is an effort to build a market for contemporary Christian music in a region where it has traditionally struggled.

Remember that the New York Times requires registration to view their articles. You may wish to ask your parents to sign in for you, if you want to read the article.

Considering a Christian College?

Whether you go to a public school, a private school, or are home schooled, chances are you will be thinking about college in a time period ranging from 4 years to... well... the end of this sentence. When it does come to mind you may want to consider a Christian college.

What is a "Christian College"? Well, it is a private liberal-arts college dedicated to glorifying God and helping to deepen the faith of its students. It is a quality education like any other, but in a safe community of students and faculty who love the Lord. It does not mean you won't be challenged, it does not mean you will not find those with some different beliefs, but it means you will find a place where you can grow in both your education and your faith.

FYI, your coaches went to Houghton College and LeTourneau University.

Fayology is the study of.... what again?

In the interest of keeping up with quiz teamers emeriti (emeritus means "Retired but retaining an honorary title corresponding to that held immediately before retirement", emeriti is plural), you may want to check out this new site maintained by Ron Fay. Ron is a former quizzer, current PhD student at TEDS (the official divinity school for the EFCA), and an occasional writer for the Family study guides.

For those who do not know, TEDS (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is part of Trinity International University, where several other former quiz teamers are now freshman.

Here's a Vow That is Kept

Silver Ring Thing Pics are ONLINE!

I know at least one Quiz Teamer went to the SILVER RING THING because he is now appearing in pictures on their home page! Click here to see all the pics taken at the event.

There are no Chesner brother pictures, because (1) we couldn't make it due to other commitments and (2) they wouldn't let anyone but the "official" photographer take any pics.

Romans 7 Study Guide is served!

The Family Study Guide for ROMANS SEVEN is piping hot and fresh out of the oven. This week's treat was fixed and baked by Head Coach Jim Brake!

Romans 6 Wisdom

"God Bloggers" Meet

You may or may not be aware of it, but right now you are reading a "blog." The term became quite the rage in 2004, when "bloggers" were credited with having great effect on the presidential campaign. "Blog" is short for "weblog" (don't ask me why), which is a site offering news and commentary from the world wide web in a running diary-style format.

A group of "christian bloggers" got together this past week to discuss how blogging could be effectively used for activism, evangelism, and a general "salt and light" influence on the world. Those of us running THE QUIZZERS PAD were not invited, but I am sure we will be next year when the organizers see the huge impact we are having on the quizzing world.

Not Ready for Prime Time

Online Parallel Bible

For our version of Bible Quizzing, we only use the New International Version of the bible. But sometimes it can be useful to see what other translators did in their attempt to render the original Greek into English. The Online Parallel Bible can be a good tool for making these comparisons, especially when you are most curious to see the original intent of the Greek writer. Consider just a few examples from Romans 1:1.

ASV: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called 'to be' an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,"
Darby: "Paul, bondman of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, separated to God's glad tidings,"
YLT: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, having been separated to the good news of God --"

Just remember that these other translations are not valid for quizzing. If you were to pick out a keyword from the ASV and try to pass it off during a quiz, it is not going to work.

Summer Missions Pics

You may or may not have noticed, but the new CSM team has up some nice pictures from the Slovakia Missions Trip which several quiz teamers went on. Come on in and take a look!

Is there such a thing as a VIRTUAL talent?

Family Study Guide for Romans 6 is Ready

The Family Study Guide for ROMANS 6 is online and ready for your perusal. Remember, if you have any special requests for features to add to these study guides, drop me a note

The Church Responds to the Pakistani Earthquake

Wondering how Christian organizations are responding to the Pakistani earthquake, when they are already extended so far helping in Iraq, in the hurricane-torn portions of the South, and elsewhere? It turns out they didn't miss a beat.

If we are God's hands on this Earth, it is important that we maintain our ability and willingness to act whenever, wherever we are needed.

Pssst! Have you seen the new CSM website?

I am not normally one to toot my own horn, but... TOOT! TOOT! Why not wander over to the Calvary Student Ministries website today, and check out the new design that the humble Nomad worked with the sponsors to design and implement. It is branded around the new t-shirts for this year's Youth Group, and includes a few new tricks. There is even a CSM Chat area that is similar to the Quiz Team chat.

If you have ideas for how to improve that site (or this one), post it below in the comments area.

It Is Always the Details That Get You!

Chapter 5 Theology

JUSTIFICATION: The childhood ditty to explain justification is “just as if I had never sinned”. The depth of justification is much more than even that definition because as well as being accepted as if not guilty, it ignores the reality that we actually are guilty! Let me give a modern example from everyday life to explain the concept. Let’s say your mother was driving you to school. She is in a hurry and without realizing it, exceeds the speed limit. For those of you who aren’t following me, you are running late and she is speeding. Of course, this scenario is only hypothetical :). Oh well, I digress, so back to our story. Mom then gets pulled over by one of our friendly Trumbull Police officers who informs her that she was speeding. There is no question at this point that Mom is guilty of breaking the law and has been caught. The policeman, who has caught her, is legally correct, based upon the law, to give her a ticket. The policeman has three options at this point. He could give her a ticket, he could give her a warning, or he could let her go without a ticket or warning “as if she hadn’t been caught speeding”. Do you see where I’m going here? The concept of justification in our example is in option number 3. In option 3, Mom, who was guilty and caught, is not only forgiven of her lawbreaking, but also, and here is the key, treated as if she had never broken the law.

I don’t want to complicate the issue at this point, but let me make one more point before closing. In our story about speed demon Mom, I told you that the police officer had three options. He actually had a fourth option. At the point she was caught, he could also have given Mom a ticket, which she deserves for breaking the law, and then paid the ticket himself. Of course, this assumes that the officer had not broken the speed limit, been found guilty of speeding, or owed a fine himself. If he was guilty and owed a fine, he couldn’t pay Mom’s ticket until he first paid his. This concept of paying someone else’s debt that you don’t owe is commonly referred to as “Substitutionary Atonement”. "Substitutionary" meaning in place of someone else, like a substitute teacher is in place of the regular teacher, and "atonement" meaning to make payment of a debt to avert punishment. This is precisely what Christ did for us on the cross. He was willing to die spiritually and be separate from the Father in our place forever. He paid a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay. We deserve separation, but while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Hope this helps. See you all on Wednesday at 7:00.

Coach

SMS Bible?!

While I am not part of the "text messaging" culture that uses their cell phone as a replacement for AOL Instant Messenger, I do enjoy the ability to send short messages to family when I am running late at work. I would not generally think of it as an evangelistic tool. But it appears the Bible society is taking seriously their commitment to bring the bible to every language by translating the Bible into text message lingo!

Each verse is translated into 'SMS Language' - the full Contemporary English Version (CEV) with a modern twist! True meaning and order of words retained - 100% faithful to original text...The purpose of this program is to provide a tool to the Christian community which will assist and encourage engagement with the Word of God.

They even provide a free downloadable program to send selected passages. Fair Warning: I have not tried this myself, so I can only vouch that it does indeed come from the Bible Society website. I have no idea how stable the program is, itself, or how easy to use.

South Street Sea Harbor Thingy

If anyone is wonder what a trip to South Street Seaport is like, this site and a few pictures may be worth more than 1000 words. It may not be a tobyMac concert, but it is pretty cool.

Family Study Guide for Romans 5 is Online

Are you ready for the return of the Family Study Guides? I hope so, as here is the one for ROMANS 5.

NYC trip on Saturday October 29'th 2005

We will be taking a sight seeing trip into NYC following the next monthly practice in Essex Fells, NJ. After quizzing and lunch on October 29'th we and several other Quiz Teams will be going into the city guided by Jerry Ortu (Toni's dad) who works for the Path Train.

Our tentative plan is as follows:
We will be driving from Essex Fells to Harrison, NJ (right off Rt 280) to catch the Path train which will take us directly to Ground Zero. After seeing Ground Zero we will walk to South St. Seaport to see the harbor. At the harbor there is sight seeing and several shops to visit. We will then catch a bite to eat before heading back to the Path Train to take us back to Harrison to our vans.

We will leave Trumbull like usual at 7 am and will not be back until later that evening probably around 7 or 8 pm. I'm not sure of the cost but as soon as I know what the cost associated with the train or Seaport is I will post it.

South Street Seaport Museum
212-748-8600
www.southstseaport.org

Who Wants To Be a Bible Scholar?

Okay, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" is last year's craze and this years has-been. But still, it can be fun to play around with the old model. Check out this page for a version of that game which takes on your knowledge of Romans, including facts, keywords, key concepts, and even historical questions. You can not truly claim to have studied this book, if you don't know at least *MOST* of these answers.

And no, you can't call up Jim for your "phone a friend" lifeline.

Pictures from Quiz Meet Are Online!

The pictures from this past weekend's quiz meet are online and ready for viewing! You can view Mark's pictures here or Matt's pictures here.

And don't forget to vote below for your favorite team picture: Colin or Haylee's!

It's Your Choice: Which Team Picture Is Best

Those who attended the quiz meet yesterday know that we took a team picture, and remember that one shot was taken by Colin and one by Haylee of Essex Fells. Well, now is your chance to vote on your favorite! Do you like best...


Haylee's Pic

...or...


Colin's Pic

Click on each picture to see a larger version. Place your votes below in the Comments section (click on the Comments link) and we'll tally up the votes and announce a winner!

Essex Fells EFC a.k.a. Calvary Church

Parents may be interested to know the location of the first quiz meet of the year which we are attending today. It is in Essex Fells, NJ and also goes by the name Calvary Evangelical Free Church. You can view their home page here and you can view a map of the church's location here.