Shout Out!

Shout Out to Kelley Hubbard down in the HH (Hilton Head)
Kelley sent me an email saying she watch the videos at TrueNorth.com and let me know that the Tan Man still is wild and crazy. This is a relief....I thought I might had toned down a bit after the whole marriage thing. Thanks for the reminder K Dawg.

Also...I have changed the setting were ANYONE can leave a comment! So please leave a note for Betsy or Walter - we would love to hear from all our fam and friends floating out there is cyber space!

Inspirational Story

If you haven't seen this story, you have been living under a rock. Senior, Jason McElwain who is autistic and the team manager/trainer scores twenty points on senior night.
His family has been approached by 10 or more movie companies wanting to film his story.
This even got ME a little choked up! Click here to watch this amazing story!

Married Pro

At truenorth we are in a series called: The Real World. The Real World is all about relationships (friendships, dating, marriage, family, etc) . This past week Steve headed out of town with his wife and left the church in my hands (yes very scary!). Click here (www.truenorthchurch.com) to watch the video from this week's sermon "Real Vibes." It is about being single and finding that one true mate.

As the title suggest - I am old married pro now. Betsy and I just celebrated our 6 month anniversary. It is all down hill from here...that is what I have heard!

Also while on the TNC website check out the announcement video from this past week. I got to meet Toby Mac and he gives me a hand with the annoucements!

2006 Olympics

USA...USA....USA.....USA......USA.....USA.....USA

Betsy and I are spending this Saturday Night watching the 2006 Olympics. Can't say that I am huge Olympics fan, but Betsy is. So here we are watching away!

So life has been somewhat back to normal around TrueNorth. Tomorrow I am preaching on relationships - that is exciting. We are planning on three services in a couple weeks. We have been cracking 1000 the past three weeks. That is crazy because TNC just had its 18 month birthday - churches aren't SUPPOSED to grow that stickin' fast. What can you say - God is good!

Thursday Night I (Walt) got to meet and film with Toby Mac. You can check out the announcement on the TrueNorth church homepage. Toby a cool cat! He didn't say anything about a new DC Talk album coming.

USA.....USA.....USA.....USA....USA.....USA

You've Just been slammed

Due to popular demand. My weekly announcements for the church are now on the website. Go to www.truenorthchurch.com and one of the slides on left will say Announcements. Click on the link and you will see some EXCITING News. This week we have Chris Tomlin, Lou Giglio and Matt Redman - see them with the TrueNorth Band.

Winter Retreat 2006

The Tanner's (Betsy/Walt) and the kids from Element Student Ministry just got back from our first big trip together. We took 50 students up to Sugar Mountain for a little ski action. The stats where against us. With all those students on the slopes I was sure to lose one to the hospital. Our only incident was a middle girl, Stephanie, busted her nose and got blood on the pretty white snow. So we beat the system this time.
I (Walt) believe this trip was my last snowboarding experience. I am hanging up the snowboard and reaching to the old faithful skis. I have determined that I don't board enough to stay good. It takes me half the day, and my entire thresh hold of pain to get back into the grove to only do it one year later. Skis are like riding a bike. You always know how to work those babies! Yes Norie I am sure that makes you sad!

Hard two weeks.

This past two weeks have been very long and turbulent. In the past two weeks our church, TrueNorth Church, has seen two back to back tragedies. Two weeks ago we received news that two young boys (4 & 7) in our church were killed by their father - who also then took his own life. Their mother had recently separated from their father and has been an active part in the TrueNorth Family. So this tragic news not only hit our local community, but our church fellowship as well. After a very moving candle light vigil, funeral , and special Sunday service where we dealt with the questions we had for God - we thought we were ready to move forward.

Later that Sunday night we got a call that one of the guys in our student praise band had been killed in a car accident with another boy. This effected more of my students (high school). Again the same questions came up: How? Why? Does God care?

These past two weeks we have had an up front stage to tell others how we as Christians can get through these hard times. Our pastor, Steve Davis, was on the News several times sharing about our church and they even put my ugly mug on the screen to talk about our candle light service. After the double murder and suicide we had counselors on hand and God opened up his arms to bring over 1100 people to come hear gospel. AMAZING. Yes that is our largest crowd ever. We continue to look at how God can use these tragedies to bring people to his saving knowledge.

Please pray for the Young family, Kotz family and Katsings family. And TrueNorth Church as we are smack dab in the middle of a Storm of Life!

The Kids

Here is the much anticipated pic of Chloe.

Chloe and Bowden remain peaceful sisters in the Tanner household. Bowden too often forgets that she is MUCH larger than Chloe and smacks her with her big ol' paw.

Montana Outting

Our trip to Montana was a good one. We enjoyed spending time with my (Betsy) brother, Ben, my sister-in-law, Ginger, and my two nephews, Blaine and Cade. Ben works on a ranch in Melville, Montana. He is a true cowboy! Everyone asks if it is cold out there, and the answer is yes. But, the temperatures were pretty mild. The highs most days were in the low 40s (normally the highs are in the 20s). The ranch did not have any snow or get any snow the whole time we were there. But, we did get to see snow when we took a trip to the nearby mountains and when we went snowmobiling (you can see some pictures by clicking on the link). We went snowmobiling in West Yellowstone. This was a first time experience for Walt and I and we had a lot of fun! It was hard to leave the family on our final night in Montana knowing we won't see them again for a long time, but we are very glad for the opportunity to spend a few days in beautiful Montana.

2000 lbs of Stuff

First entry in 2006! Betsy and I have tons to report to everyone. We have had an enjoyable, busy, amazing, and stressful couple of weeks. A lot has gone on. We have been in several states and been around thousands of people and been on a roller coaster of emotions. In the next couple of days we will be filling you in with all the stories and experiences - we even have pictures. Stay tuned for more details! Happy new year.

Top Ten Things you don't want to hear from Santa

10. Hey kid the Easter Bunny got run over by a car
9. How about an extreme makeover for Christmas? You need one!
8. Who needs an Ipod when you have socks.
7. Sparky didn't run away last christmas. I sat on him while I was delivering presents.
6. When was the last time you brushed your teeth.
5. The North Pole is on strike - it's clothes for all the boys and girls.
4. Aren't you the guy I caught playing with his sister's dolls last year.
3. Smile or that elf will break your legs.
2. Xbox 360, who do you think you are the pope!
1. Sorry kid - I had mexican for lunch.

Family Photo

Well if we were doing a Christmas Card this would be the best we would come up with.
Justin took this pic this year at the Tanner Thanksgiving Fest.
As you can see Miss Bowden is bigger than Bets and Myself!

Merry Christmas to all!
And to all a Good Night.

Leftovers

Believe it or not - TrueNorth let me speak again and even put it on the web.
Check out: www.truenorthchurch.com to see the sermon called "Leftovers"

Kitten

I am now the proud owner of a cute kitten named Chloe. After begging Walt for few weeks to let me have a kitten, he finally gave in last Saturday. My timing was probably not the best since I am in the middle of my law school exams and since Walt and I will be gone for 2 weeks after Christmas. Oh well. I have learned a few things about cats this past week. First, they do not always smell good. I am greatful that she inherently knows how to use a litter box, but I am not a big fan of cleaning it out. Second, cats (even little kittens) do not cuddle on command. Although she lets me pick her up and pet her, she will quickly jump out of my arms. I imagined studying peacefully and having my little kitten curled up in my lap. She will only come in my lap if she wants to. I guess that is the nature of a cat. When I get a digital picture, I will post it. Maybe this cat will teach me some life lessons (like patience and you don't always get what you expect).

Christmas Trees

Hard to believe that it is already stinkin' Decemeber. Now I know that a lot of folks have the idea that since it is Decemeber it is time to put up Christmas Trees. BACK THE TROLLY TRAIN UP!
Before we get all crazy with this Christmas Tree talk, we need to remember to celebrate an important day in US History - Decemeber 7th. Before we go half hazardly throwing up trees and decorations, we need to remember the day that started WWII, yes Pearl Harbor Day. The day that will "forever live infamy."
The second reason Decemeber 7th is important is because of a little known man's birthday, Walt Tanner! With that said. We still sit with no decorations and tree untill the celebration of Dec 7th!

Proud Wife

I meant to write this post a while back, but better late then never. I just wanted to write that I am so proud of my husband. He put a link to his sermon that he preached a few weeks ago. His sermon was excellent. He was thought provoking, God-honoring, and funny! A lot of people came up to him after church and told him what a good job he did. Also, one thing that I think is really important is that the week after Walt preached I continued to think about what he preached on. I thought about how to implement Holiness to Obedience in my life. I am proud to be married to such a wonderful man!!

Erwin McManus Quote

If you have noticed I have added "Walt's Bookshelf" to give a glimpse of books I am currently or recently read. As you can tell I am fan of Erwin McManus right now. "Barbarian Way" is an Excellent book that every Christian should read. I am almost done with "Seizing your Define Moment." In my most recent sermon at TrueNorth I quoted McManus from Seizing your define Moment." Check this quote out and chew on it a little while. It might make you think! Dangerous I know - but worth the risk.

"We have put so much emphasis on avoiding evil that we have become virtually blind to the endless opportunities for doing good. We have defined holiness through what we separate ourselves from rather than what we give ourselves to. I am convinced the great tragedy is not the sins that we commit, but the life that we fail to live." Erwin McManus pg. 34

This is where the point from H2O came from: Holiness is more than the ABSENCE of sin, it is the development into the character of Christ.

Internet Debut

Check out: www.truenorthchurch.com to see Walt Tanner's preaching debut at TrueNorth Church this past Sunday, October 30, 2005

Element Student Ministry

Some folks have been asking about our student ministry here in North Augusta. Our new student ministry name at TrueNorth is: Element Student Ministry. The students have quickly accepted this new ministry name very fast. We have two logoes. One for high school and the "e" is the middle school logo.

We have two two services on Wednesday Nights. Our middle school service is at 6.15pm and we are currently running around 55 students. The high school service is at 7.15 pm and it is currently averaging around 65 students. This is unusual for most student ministries. Usually the MS service is more highly attended. Kids who can figure em' out.

Our four purposes are: ENGAGE a lost a culture - ENCOUNTER a real atmosphere - EVOLVE in our relationship with Christ - EXALT God with our lives. We have just finished the "Welcome to the Planet" Series by Doug Fields and Saddleback. So we have introduced our students to these ideas. Well that's it. Stay tuned for more updates with Element Student Ministry.

What is a "blog"?

Quote of the day:
Ian Wilson wrote, "what's the deal with 'blogs' anyways. are we really to lazy to pronounce the 'w' and the 'e'?"
My wife who is SUPER SMART says, "We Blog. That doesn't make sense."
If you don't know - as my wife apparently doesn't. "Blog" is short for "Web Log."