The SHINE Blog

How To Be In The Band

I’m in a trial this week, so very busy, and we didn’t have any blank CDs Sunday to record Pastor Charles’ sermon to post, so I’ll quickly post the following video… Enjoy!

April 22nd, 2008 Posted by Brian Beasley | Contemporary Worship Service, Personal Prattle | no comments

Our Very Own Worship Service

Since we couldn’t make it to church this morning due to the snow, my wife recruited our two daughters to help “create” a worship service for the family. They picked out two hymns for us to sing and we did a devotion from a VeggieTales devotional book that we have used from time to time. Then, to close our service, my 8 year old read a prayer that she had written for the service.

“Dear Lord, we are gathered here today because the roads were blocked by ice and snow. But we still found a way to thank you and praise you. So Lord, thank you for forgiving us and giving your one and only son to die for us! Amen.”

Reminded me quickly of Matthew 18:3: “And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Amen, indeed.

January 20th, 2008 Posted by Brian Beasley | Personal Prattle | no comments

The Five Love Languages

My wife and I just finished reading this book by Dr. Gary Chapman and I highly recommend it. In the book, Dr. Chapman sets out five love languages:

1. Words of Affirmation: compliments and affirming words
2. Quality Time: focused attention from your spouse
3. Acts of Service: ironing clothes, cooking dinner, etc.
4. Receiving Gifts: regardless of value - it’s truly the thought that counts
5. Physical Touch: holding hands, backrubs, and more

The bottom line is that people feel more loved when “spoken to” in their particular love language. For example, it may mean a great deal to one person when his spouse does the laundry for him or her, while getting a gift may not mean as much. For others, it could be the complete opposite. Learning your spouse’s love language enables you to understand what it takes to make him or her feel loved and vice versa. Dr. Chapman calls this “filling up their love tank.”
As I said, I highly recommend this book and I know my wife would agree. This is one of those books that if you are married, you will certainly see yourself in some of the pages. This was the first book I completed off of my reading list for the year.

January 8th, 2008 Posted by Brian Beasley | Personal Prattle | no comments

What I’m Reading This Year

As many of you know, I listen to James MacDonald’s podcast, “Walk in the Word,” on a fairly regular basis. While surfing his website, I found a suggested reading list. For 2008, I decided to try to read the books for year one of his five year reading schedule.

If you would like to check out the list, click here.

January 5th, 2008 Posted by Brian Beasley | Personal Prattle | one comment

Looking For Something To Do This Christmas?

In case you’re looking for something special to do this Christmas, Kevin recommends that you go see Beautiful Star: An Appalachian Nativity. This is a wonderful musical telling of the story of Christmas that starts all the way back in Genesis with the Fall of Man.

It is running at Triad Stage through December 23rd. Check it out!

December 15th, 2007 Posted by Brian Beasley | Personal Prattle | no comments

Do You Hate Christmas Shopping?

When I am doing my lessons for Sunday School or SHINE, I often come across stories or anecdotes that I can’t use in my upcoming lesson that nevertheless I want to share. 

Here’s one about two men who were next door neighbors and decided to go sailing while their wives went Christmas shopping.  While they were out in the boat, a terrible storm arose.  The sea became very choppy and they had a difficult time keeping the boat under control.  As they steered toward land, they hit a sandbar and the boat grounded.  They both jumped out of the boat and began to push and shove with all their might to get the boat back into the water.  As the waves bounced him against the side of the boat, and his hair was blowing wildly in the wind, one of the men said with a smile on his face, “It sure beats Christmas shopping, doesn’t it?”

This story sums up how I feel about Christmas shopping, but I’ve found the perfect solution:  my wife does it all.  Thanks Jeana!

By the way, my SHINE lesson this week is on the Wise Men.  It features a top 10 list that you don’t want to miss.

December 7th, 2007 Posted by Brian Beasley | Personal Prattle | no comments

Finally - Something Good On TV!

Jeana and I were channel surfing last night looking for something to watch when we stumbled across a channel we hadn’t noticed before.  I had already made her watch The Grinch (which we had recorded on our DVR for the kids) and was threatening to make her watch Rudolph or Shrek the Halls (are you kidding me?) when she took the remote from me.  Anyway, we turned to the “Gospel Music Channel” (#130 on Time Warner Digital Cable in Greensboro).  They show contemporary Christian music videos and feature a different type of music every night.  Pretty cool - and something I thought we should have had a long time ago.  Apparently, “gospel” is defined by this network as all Christian music.  Where I grew up and live now, “gospel” is a much more specific kind of music.  But check it out!

December 5th, 2007 Posted by Brian Beasley | Personal Prattle, Religious Ramblings | no comments

Sorry For The Delay…

Sorry if you’ve tried to access the SHINE blog in the last few days. I think it went down for no apparent reason on Wednesday night or Thanksgiving morning and I’ve been trying to fix the problem in the little time I had between shoving turkey down my throat, leaving town, coming back again, and a full day at church yesterday.

I’ve learned a little more about advanced web databases now. It’s funny how you learn the most about something when it’s broke and you’re trying to fix it. The only things I know about cars concern the things that I’ve had break or stop working over the years. Guess that falls into the same category as the fact that if you take a test with 10 questions and get 9 of them right, the one you will remember the most in the future is the one you got wrong. (Maybe that’s why I’m so smart )

I will try to post last night’s SHINE lesson on Gideon tonight sometime…

November 26th, 2007 Posted by Brian Beasley | Personal Prattle | no comments