Miniature Golf after the Quiz Meet

On Saturday, after the quiz meet, quizzers are invited to go up to the Shelton Sports Center to play a little miniature golf (i.e. mini-golf, putt-putt, etc.) with their teammates and the Essex Fells team. A van will transport quizzers up to the site at about 1 PM, and then back between 4 and 5 PM. Please bring $6 for your turn on the putting green. (Please bring extra if you want any food from the snack bar or any souvenirs from the pro shop.)

Where: Shelton Sports Center (directions)
When: Saturday, December 3 from 1 PM to about 4:30 PM
Cost: $6 per quizzer to mini-golf

Quiz Meet this Weekend!

When: Saturday, December 3rd
Where: Calvary EFC in Trumbull, CT
What time: 9am-1:00pm

The whole family is invited to come and see what Bible Quizzing is all about. Come watch our teens quiz and then join us for pizza, soda and chips around Noontime. Cost for lunch is $5 per person.

You can download the handout as a PDF or PowerPoint file.

Bible Denied to Guantanamo Inmate

It appears that while every inmate is given a copy of the Quran in Guantanamo Bay, the same consideration is not given to those inmates requesting Bibles. Is this a case of discrimination, or a reasonable restriction?

Saifullah Paracha, a 58-year-old former Pakistani businessmen with reputed ties to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, has been in U.S. custody since 2003. Like the other inmates at Guantanamo, he has a copy of the Quran. But he also wants an English translation of the King James Version of the Bible.
Paracha believes that because the Bible is one of the scriptures accepted in Islam, he is entitled to a copy to read in his small wire-mesh cell. But after his lawyer shipped him a Bible, along with two volumes of Shakespeare, prison officials confiscated the package.
Paracha's American lawyer filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, demanding that Paracha be given the Bible and copies of Hamlet and Julius Caesar. The government responded that certain books are kept from prisoners because they could "incite" them.

Thanksgiving Redux

The Bible Game is on store shelves

We had talked about it a few months back, so I was happy to see that The Bible Game is now available and on the store shelves. The picture below was taken at Wal-Mart, but it can be found at most of the major retailers for a reasonable price.

The reviews are not ecstatic (click here is you have no idea what that word means) but are not bad overall. Basically seems like a fun set of mini-games with loose affiliations with Bible stories. The game is available for PS2, XBox, and GBA.

Romans 10 Study Guide is served!

The Family Study Guide for ROMANS TEN is on the table, piping hot, with extra gravy. Dig in, and be sure to pay special attention to the sample questions, as this will be our first week which includes THE CHALLENGE for those wishing to try out for a Varsity spot.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Challenge Rules Revisited

Reminder to quizzers that there is no practice tonight so that you can attend the Thanksgiving Eve service with your family.

But next week will be the first week of THE CHALLENGE. Quizzers on the JV Team will have a chance to challenge anyone on the Varsity Team for a chance to take their place. There will be definite advantages given to those working hard on the Varsity Team, so you will not want to miss your chance to step up in that world. Here is a short version of the rules:

• Any JV team member may challenge any Varsity team member.
• The challenge will consist of a 5 question quiz.
• The first quizzer to 3 questions right, wins. No bonus questions.
• If the JV member wins, they move up to Varsity, and the challenged person will move down to JV.
• If the Varsity member wins, they are given one week of immunity from challenges

Pictures from the Weekend Quiz Meet

This Saturday's quiz meet was well covered by both the Chesners and our correspondents, Josh R and Kim. Click on any of the pictures below to visit the Flickr site and relive all the memories.

Psst! I have a secret to tell you!

It is someone's birthday. I can't tell you who, but I will say this person is closely associated with Quiz Team. Someone you all know. Someone I know very well, and whom Jim might call a coworker. Well, that is all the clues I can give you for now.

Leave this mysterious someone your birthday wishes in the comments below!

Spirit = Life!

Fayology has up a brief but interesting thought on the role of the Holy Spirit for believers

Why is it that the Spirit leads to life? Because the major characteristic of the Spirit is life! Christ died to make life available, but the Spirit is the active agent who confirms life in the Christian.

Romans 8 still has a lot more to teach us, even though we are now moving onto Romans 10. Be looking for more reflections on past chapters to come!

Keep on keeping on!

Keep on praying and you WILL get an answer. But don't forget that "No" and "Not now" are definitely answers.

Directions to the Bonfire

While all of us know the Taylors by now, we realized that not all of us know where they live for the big bonfire tomorrow. To see the location on a map, or to get directions from Google Maps, click on the picture below.

Plans for this Weekend

This will be a review week. Please review Romans 1-9, with an emphasis on 5-9. Feel free to browse the Family Study Guides to aid in your review.

Reminders for this weekend

• 7:00 AM on Saturday: Leave for Essex Fells
• 3:30 PM on Saturday: Return to church
• 3:31 PM on Saturday: Go to the Taylor's House for the Bonfire
• 8:00 PM on Saturday: Parents pick up quizzers at the Taylor's house
• Cost for Pizza at the Quiz Meet: $4.00
• Cost for Gas and Hot Dogs at the Bonfire: $0.00

See you Saturday morning!

3 Wise Men DVD is NOT a religious tale

A week or two back, I noticed a new Christmas DVD out there called "The 3 Wise Men (Los Reyes Magos)" which looked like a Christmas tale with a good religious message. After all, what could be better than telling the tale of the first men to recognize the significance of Christmas without an angelic choir? Well, according to Plugged In Online appearances can be decieving..

I hoped that, at the very least, the magi would arrive at the manger in a climactic scene of reverent awe that acknowledged the true reason for the season. No such luck. Handing off gifts is an afterthought. Squandering a chance to honor the One whose time-splitting entrance into humanity they exploit to sell this story, the filmmakers show about 20 seconds of the magi walking into a blinding glow as if they were Richard Dreyfuss boarding the alien mothership in Close Encounters. What about the receiver of those coveted gifts? We never see Jesus. No Mary and Joseph. No shepherds. And not a single word about the significance of the child. His birth has been reduced to a marketing hook. A spiritual bait-and-switch.

Buyer beware. If only Disney had learned the lessons of PRINCE OF EGYPT.

Foxtrot on God and man

Teen Daily Devotional

Teens looking for a little bit of Bible wisdom may want to check out The Teen Daily Devotional Ministry - run by Campus Crusade - which gives a new thought every day to deepen your walk with God... or sometimes just to encouage. Today's thought is Taking the Blindfold Off.

Extra-Biblical Evidence for Goliath

A recent find may provide evidence that Goliath - the Philistine giant killed by David with his sling - is more than just a matter of faith. Of course, most of us never doubted this, but it is nice to see some extra-biblical evidence, as well.

"It can be suggested that in 10th-9th century [before the Common Era] Philistine Gath, names quite similar, and possibly identical, to Goliath were in use," said Prof. Meir. "This chronological context from which the inscription was found is only about 100 years after the time of David according to the standard biblical chronology. Thus, this appears to provide evidence that the biblical story of Goliath is, in fact, based on a clear cultural realia [signifying the objects of a local culture] from, more or less, the time which is depicted in the biblical text," he explained.

Each time scripture is challenged, it comes up as true and reliable. Let's keep those archeologists busy!

Ah, the question of priorities

Happy Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day - a day to remember those who gave their blood, sweat, and lives for our freedom. Take some time today to consider those who fought in the many wars our nation have taken part in, including those in Iraq now.

To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nation.

Thank God for those who have served, and are serving now.

Romans 9 Study Guide is born!

The Family Study Guide for ROMANS NINE is in the crib and ready for your preusal. This week, our guide devotional writer is Pastor Dave, so be ready for a pop quiz during church on Sunday!

Extra points will be given to the first quizzer who can identify the baby pictured above. Clue: Her parents do not attend our church at present, but her grandparents do!

Never tell me the odds!

Martin Luther's 95 Theses

Jim brought up Luther's 95 Theses last week, so I thought quizzers might be interested to get a little more info on the historic documents and Luther himself. Here is a little collection of links.

• The actual text, translated to English
• A website with some historical context
• A quickie overview of the event
• An image of the actual document

Without Luther, there would have been no Evangelical Free Church and certainly no EFCA Bible Quizzing.

The Sound WAS Rocked!

According to early reports, Rock the Sound was a HUGE success. Newsboys, et. al., put on a great show for all involved and brought the gospel of Christ to Bridgeport.

Thanks to Special J for the great picture of the event!

"Three Wishes" might be Reality TV worth watching

It is rare that I would choose to post anything about TV here, but this story on the new "Three Wishes" program on NBC makes it sound like it may be worth a watch. The review is from Plugged In Online which is a media review website run by Focus on the Family.

The fact is, Three Wishes is all about helping people in need. When a young couple’s dairy farm is lost to a fire, the show goes above and beyond the wife’s meager wish to “get a little help.” Instead, they get a day off at a nearby amusement park and a new, massive, state-of-the-art dairy farm. Similarly, when a high school senior is involved in a debilitating car accident shortly before graduating, producers fulfill the family’s wish to see the now wheelchair-bound girl receive her diploma by bringing in hundreds of classmates and friends for a makeup ceremony. As if that weren’t enough, she receives intense physical therapy and, with some helping hands and a thunderous ovation from the crowd, actually walks to accept her certificate.

The new show stars Amy Grant, as well.

REVIEW: Veggie Tales, Lord of the Beans

RATING (out of 5, 5=best): 3.5

STORY: Common "Flobbit", Todo Baggy-Pants is given the gift of a magic bean by his rich uncle Billboy. Todo sets off on a whimsical adventure with a cast of Tolkien-esque Veggie Tales characters to find out why he was given this gift, and what it was intended to be used for. Along the way, we faced sinister sporks, raspberry trees, and a a mysterious figure that has been ravished by the power of the bean.

THE SHORT REVIEW: Good film, but definitely not one of the best Veggie Tales stories. Suffers from weak writing.

THE LONG REVIEW: "Lord of the Beans" is a shameless parody/homage/ripoff of the current Lord of the Rings mania generated by the recent movies, and attempts to simplify the story into a form that is accessible even to young children. Somewhat comparable to the Muppet attempts to retell classic stories in such movies as "Muppet Christmas Carol" and "Muppet Treasure Island", it maintains the same strengths as other VT stories - fun stories kids will love with just enough inside jokes to keep parents/adults/teenage siblings entertained. The one-joke "Elvish Impersonator" silly song in the middle is the most blatant example of this.

The strengths of this VT story are (1) the careful Tolkien references and (2) the fact that only 1 scene (the birthday party) really depends on having seen/read the Lord of the Rings story beforehand to get the jokes. There are weaknesses, as well, unfortunately. The story is uneven, with some scenes being extreme parodies of the original, right down to line-by-line take-offs, while other scenes are such complete departures from the original that it feels like you are in a completely unrelated world. It can be confusing, especially if you are doing something else while watching the DVD or have short attention spans (which probably covers most of the potential viewers). Another rewrite to avoid both extremes would have been very helpful.

Still, a mediocre Veggie Tales is still better than most of the rest of the stuff out there. It is a good story, and worth your time. But if you can borrow a friend's copy, you probably don't need to own it yourself.

Don't forget the FATHER!

This is an interesting article on a topic from Romans 8. The author asks the question of whether sometimes we are modern evangelical Christians forget about the *FATHER* part of the Trinity when talking about God. It is something I have noticed among even folks at our church who tend to become "Christ-centered" to such a point that we forget that you can't have a "Son" without a "Father". (Yes, I know all are eternal and none came from the other, per se.)

Take a look. Post here whatever thoughts this may stir for you.

Romans 8 Study Guide has hatched

The Family Study Guide for ROMANS EIGHT is out of its shell and ready to be handled with care. This week's little bundle of joy was written by Ron Fay, former quizzer and doctoral student of New Testament Greek,

Pop-Quiz: The Apostle Paul

Think you are a master of Bible quizzing? Have Romans memorized from 1:1 to 7:25? Do you eat Greek for breakfast, and chow down on Pauline theology for lunch with a side of Early Church History?

Or just want to see how much you know about the Apostle Paul, despite your less-than-stellar studying?

Either way, we have got the quiz for you. Click here to see how well you know the author of Romans.

What is "All Saints Day"?

Ever since the establishment of Halloween as the center of the Candy Companies sales calendar, we have forgotten that the scary holiday comes right before a "holy holiday" called "All Saints Day." What is it? For the Protestant church, the short answer is that it is a day to remember the martyrs of the church, and the sacrifice they willingly gave for their Lord. For a somewhat longer answer, this link may be helpful.