This is our Middle School Crew we took skiing last weekend. It snowed all day! The slopes were packed, but BEAUTIFUL skiing!

And Walt was right...

A month ago I posted about USC's highly recruited class. I mentioned that USC always seems to get great athelets, but they just "don't act right." I also said they will do alright if they can keep them out of jail. Well looks like Spurrier didn't listen and let his highly recruit quarterback get arrested Saturday Night down at Five Points. The ol' ball coach knows how to pick em'!

Word on the street was that 19 year old Steven Garcia got wasted, then got into a fight behind a bar, and then bowed up at police officer. Steven was one of the most sought out QBs in the nation. Apparently not the sharpest tool in the tool shed! Maybe we will get a showdown this year between the freshmen Garia(USC)and Korn (CU).

PS: If he ends up killing us over the next four years. I am sure I will hear about it from the USC dogs! I will just claim he needs to be in JAIL!

Chicks Gone WILD!!

This is Betsy again. I am in a blogging mode tonight (probably proscrastinating from studying). This weekend was our chicks' retreat, "Chicks Gone Wild." I would love to write all about it, but I have been told that "what happens at a chicks retreat stays at the chicks retreat." I will say that our speaker, Lisa Harper, was excellent. I was reminded that God takes great pleasure in seeing his children do what they are passionate about. It does not matter how much recognition or success we get on this earth, God smiles when his chicks (and the guys too) live for him. Jill and Andy Phillips led worship through music, which was beautiful. We laughed, cried, created, and thoroughly enjoyed real community! There are some really wild chicks at TrueNorth Church, and I love it!!!

Super Size Me

Walt and I just watched "Super Size Me" (this is Betsy by the way). That is the documentary where a guy named Morgan went on a McDonald's diet for 30 days. All he ate for 30 days straight was Micky D's. He ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner at McDonald's and if they ever asked him if he wanted to supersize it, he had to say yes. He gained 25 pounds, his cholesterol went from approx 165 to 240, and his liver turned to fat. His doctors were telling him he was extremely sick, but he finishd his "experiment."

What was the point? Fastfood damages your body. A couple of teenage girls sued McDonald's because they were obese and the judge threw out the lawsuit because they could not prove that eating fast food was the cause of their injuries. Well, fast food does cause extreme injury (in case you didn't know that).

A great documentary--everyone should watch it. I am not eating McDonald's again for a LONG time and I think I will stay clear of all fast food for a while (except for Chick-fil-A, which I love). I guess I will think more about what I put in my body.

Random Thoughts

* I got out of Jury Duty because they settled all the cases. And I was getting pumped about putting someone in Jail.
* We went skiing a couple weeks ago with the High School kids. I chose to ski for the first time in a couple years, instead of snowboarding. Watching some of these other people snowboards made me realize I am NOT that bad of a snowboarder.
* Getting a Loan has more hoops than a hoola hoop factory!
* The Jack Bauer power hour is putting me to sleep. For heaven sakes Jack save the cheerleader, save the world - WAIT wrong show.
* If you aren't watching Studio 60 (NBC Monday - 10pm) you are missing the most creative, best writing on TV. "I have the animal kingdom axis of evil under my stage - a viper, a ferret, and a coyote."
* Oh dear heavens, I messed up my neck this week working out. Don't over estimate the importance of your spine. It's valuable.
* Finally made it to August in my reading through the bible.
* We just finished our flag football season. My team went 1-3-1 for the year. It was a blast. I am sure the Ben Gay stock shot up around the Augusta area.

College Football Signing Day

Signing Day has come and gone. The Tigers didn't do as well as we did last year. But I think we got a good class of guys. We had the 22nd best signing day. Everyone above of us is a good football school and there aren't that many surprises, except two. One is UNC and their new coach Butch Davis bringing in the 15th ranked class. Not too bad for a Bball school. The second was Illinois (21st). Ron Zook is not a great coach, but he is a great recruiter! We are soon to forget that it is his recruits who just won the national title - that will make Steve smile!

NOW it is hard to swallow that USC had the 7th best in the country. Spurrier is too a great recruiter, but so was Lou Holtz. USC can bring them in, but often they "don't act right." Many of their great players get in trouble, have acamedic issues, or steal pictures of them selves and get caught. I will give credit to Tommy and the Clemson staff. They at least get guys who can act right. They aren't the smartest sometimes, but we do have one of the highest graduation rates in the country.

I am also pumped about new running back/special teams coach Andre' Powell. He comes from UNC and has coach the likes of Tiki Barber and Willie Parker. This will be great for the Duo in the Clemson backfield - Davis and Spiller.

Go Tigers!

Super Bowl XLI

Finally Payton has gotten the monkey off his back. The strange thing is that I believe (could be wrong) didn't Steve Young remove his monkey from his back down in Miami? I have rooted for the Colts since my Clemson days of watching NFL with da boys. Many years I have heard the Colts will choke. They can't finish and come up short on the big games. NOT THIS YEAR BABY.

Another thing. I don't know of a classier team. Dungy. Payton. Harrison. These guys are the model atheletes. I would take these guys on my team anyday.

Sorry to Da Bears fans and nation. This includes my brother, Justin, who lives in Chicago and is a huge fan. Sexy Rexy (PTI reference) couldn't pull it off.

NOW OFF to Jury Duty in the morning.

SOLD!!!!

Take a look at the house Betsy and I have signed a contract on. Closing on Feb. 22:

COLTS WIN!!! COLTS WINN!!!

Two minutes ago Payton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts broke the back of the dynasty of the New England Patriots. Payton, who many said couldn't finish a big game, drove his offense down the throats of the Patriots' D. And the wonderboy Tom Brady who had ice flowing through his veins CHOKED and threw the INT.

I told Betsy at the beginning of the 4th quarter that whoever made the one mistake would lose, and Brady did with 23 seconds left. With that INT the Colts put the nail in the coffin and made history with coming back from the largest deficit (18 points) in play-off history.

What a game!

Jack is Back

The first four hours of 24 are over, and I am left floored. Jack has been in a Chinese torture camp for a year and a half. He comes back to the USA and terrorists are now running things! But here comes Jack to save us.

In four hours: Jack has taken a "bite" out of crime - killing a man with just his teeth; he saved the life of one of the most influential terriosts in the world; killed his partner in crime, Curtis, and saw a nuclear bomb go off in LA! I wonder if Jack Bauer ever says, "Man it is going to be another one of THOSE DAYS!"

Six Miles

It is offical. I have cracked the 5 mile mark in my Half Marthon Training. Sunday was my first long run for the training. The quest...six miles. The longest prior to this was five miles about five years ago. Thinking I would probably die, I left my will with Betsy and Bowden and set out on the adventure.

I am here to let you know I survived. I must be in better shape than I thought. I finished and felt great. Of course I sandbagged a bit, averaging a little under a ten minute mile.

Orginally I was all set for the Georgia Half Marathon on March 25th. But TrueNorth is having a big day that day, so I am going to have to head to Nashville in April. Which is cool with me. A couple more weeks to get ready!

Shot Spotter

CRAZY! Didn't even know this techonology had been invented. Boston has just add the Shot Spotter technology to their "gun filled areas." Click here to learn more. Shot Spotter is a system that tells police when a shot has been fired 3 seconds after the triggered is pulled. They can tell within 10 feet where a gun has been fired.

Unlike "Minority Report" where the police are there BEFORE the crime occurs, this allows police to be their within minutes of a crime.

Apparently Charleston has this system as well. Crimals be WARNED!

Boxer Night

The fun part of being a youth minister is just making up things to see who will actually do it. One of those ideas was Boxer Night. This past Wednesday at Element we kicked of 2007 with a fun night of come in your favorite boxers. We had great number of students who wore their boxers on the outside of their clothes. It was great. Since our theme was boxers, I had to invent some games centered around boxers. My favorite and i think most creative was a game called "Smell my Boxers." The volunteers where blind folded and then I held up boxers that "smelled" and they had to figure what was in there....mustard, peanut butter, and maple syrup. Fun Times were had by all.

Betsy Being Swore In...

Here is Mrs. Betsy Buchanan Tanner being sworn in by Judge Dickert and Judge Annis making her an offical lawyer in the state of Georgia. This has taken 12 years of school. 4 years of undergrad at Furman. 3 year of masters at Georgia. Passing the Georgia Bar. AND NOW she is going for the South Carolina Bar and next....THE WORLD!

Context

Last year in January 2006 one of my resolutions was to read through the ENTIRE bible. I have started this many many times, but have NEVER actually finished. Some people say I am ADD but what do they know...they don't know me. There was this one time I was in a store....wait...back to the Bible. (that might have confused some people-others laughed)

It is now 2007, and I have not finished the bible. But I have not given up. Currently I am in the month of JULY! Yes a little behind. Hey when you don't do it for a couple days, it adds up fast.

Now the meaning of the title: CONTEXT
The Old Testament is a struggle sometimes. Most of us who read the Word focus on the New Testament. Seriously, when you read the genealogy from Adam's house cat it can suck the life right out of you. I have just finished Deuteronomy. WOW. I guess I never realized how much the New Testament referenced back to the book of the Law. This was what the Religious were fighting for and Jesus was trying to break. Rob Bell talks a lot about this - knowing the context of the Bible. We read something Jesus says and try to fit it into our lives. Instead of reading it, looking at the audience He is speaking to, and then learning how POWERFUL His words were.

For Example: Deut. 22:13-20 talks about Laws of Sexual Morality. Verse 20 talks that if a woman is found not to be a virgin then she is to be dragged into the streets and stoned. Orders from God. It is in the Law He gave Moses. Taught for thousands of years. Everyone knew these rules. No if ands or butts. Jewish society was built on laws like this. Do something wrong - punished.

In John 8 Jesus comes into a situation where an unmarried woman is found in a sexual act and dragged (thanks Professor Gene) into the streets. This was not to say - we forgive you, but to kill her! Why? Because that was the law. Jesus steps in and says, "Yeah without sin, cast the first stone." (little KJV for you). The Law has past - a new sheriff is in town!

CONTEXT made this lesson of grace so much more powerful. Actually reading Moses Law and then remembering how Paul says the Law was the Tutor - the teacher (Christ) is now here - no need for the tutor!

"Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." eph. 3:24-25

Since our last blog...

* we have been to Gvegas and back two times celebrating the holidays with the family.
* we opened all our Christmas presents!
* we grieved the loss of James Brown.
* we grieved the loss of our 38th President-Gerald Ford.
* we grieved the loss of the Clemson Tigers in the Music "Crap" Bowl!
* we did not grieve the loss of Saddam Hussein.
* Betsy has been sworn in (not at) and is an official lawyer in Georgia.
* Walt has been cleaning people's junk up for the new "simplify" series at church.
* we finally printed ALL of our digital pictures and made some new albums.
* Betsy is now studying for the South Carolina bar.
* we have watched: Monster House, Little Miss Sunshine, Season 4 of 24, and The Lake House - thanks to Netflixs.
* we have taken down our Christmas Tree.
* Walt has started working out again.
* Betsy still works out and can kick Walt's butt.
* Betsy has learned how to put songs on an ipod!
* we have gone to Columbia Museum of Art to see a Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit. For those who don't know, he was an architiect..and Betsy asked - yes he is dead!

And that's it. This will be the last blog till 2007. See ya next year in the funny papers.

Christmas Picture

It took all morning, 30 pictures, but we er' done! Email em' to TARGET and BOOM you got Christmas cards in an hour. MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE TANNERS.

Made: episode four

Here is the final video of the Jim Bob Cooter made story. This was a great series. Special thanks to Landon Jones who played Cooter. And a huge thank you to Lance Jones who played Thomas Fitzgarld the III (coach). We can't forget the Element Production Staff (camera, editing, director, lighting, key grip, and donuts)....Walt Tanner.

Made: episode three

Sorry for the late post. Was a busy week in Charlotte!
Enjoy.

Youth Specialties 06'

WOW! what a great three days. as our current conference guru at TNC (Mike Fielder) will tell you CONFERENCES will pump you up. this year for me wasn't so much the "speakers" it was more the atmosphere and opening up the gates of ideas for ministry. for me the best thing about the weekend for my soul was to laugh! youth specialties does a great job of bringing in CLEAN and FUNNY comedians and acts. i have not laughed so hard in years! to me laughter is a what keeps your heart young. i love to laugh, and every once in a while make others laugh, esp. Chuck! besty made me laugh so hard at the weirdest restaurant ever, that I spit my drink out across the table onto Betsy. the music was amazing as well - Starfield rocks! They did a great job both with ENERGY and WORSHIP. WOW.

Ok simple break down of speakers, bands, breakouts...limited to a few words. no one is interested in seeing my whole NOTEBOOK of notes:

SPEAKERS:
Kenda Creasy Dean (professor at Princeton)
excellent communicator, main point: listen to the students- guide the students. got a lot out of her message.
Tony Campolo (author, professor in Philly)
don't agree with Tony on lots of stuff, amazing heart, ok talk.
Phillip Yancy (author)
alright talk, didn't get much from ol' Phillip. great writer.
Chris Hill (from the Potter's House - TD JAKES CHURCH)
WOW...what energy. He is a black preacher and brought the word with amazing passion. Student Pastor with with thousands of students in urban context. great message of not being the light, but point others towards THE LIGHT (Christ).
Phil Vischer (creator of Veggie Tales -voices of most)
talked about rise and fall of Big Ideas (went bankrupt three years ago.) both bets and i did not agree with his message: wait on God until you have no dreams or ambitions. then God will tell you. as a fan of erwin mcmanus - and God - they both say GO! i believe God gave us dreams, passions, and ambition. yes we need to place those on the altar and never place them before God. sure God my allow your dream or passion to fail - but it may mean He wants you to move on to something else...not that your dream or passion was bad. Use our gifts to reach the world! Don't wait for an email, txt message or letter - our Father is the great designer. he builds us with a dna to go and change the world!
(sorry got a little caught up in that one.)
Ray Vander Lann (high school teacher, college/seminary professor, jewish scholar)
amazing lesson on being a disciple. thoughs who don't like to learn, might not agree. he is a teacher. this got me VERY VERY pumped about heading on a trip with him as the "Rabbi."

Stay tuned for breakouts and music (this entry had been WAY LONG!)