Letter to a Former Ministry.

Rough Draft of letter I sent to my last ministry - heard they will be celebrating 40yrs the end of this month.

Dear Church Family,

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:3 says “I thank my God every time I remember you.” I take that verse to heart when I remember the fine people at Cary Christian Church. Valerie, the children, and I would like to send our greetings and congratulations on your 40th Celebration of the Church.

We think of the people there as family. We had a GREAT 5 year ministry there in which it caused me to grow, stretch, and to be challenged. As the youth & family minister there – it has helped me on the journey which God has called. Our children, Kendra, Nicole and Brian grew up at Cary from Infants to now starting in elementary school. Valerie and I bought our first home while there. You celebrated in our joys and were there in the heartaches too of Valerie losing her dad to a brain tumor.

When we think of Cary Christian – we think of Jesus. God’s blessings on you on your 40th and may you be Found Faithful until our Lord comes again.

Serving Jesus,

Gerrard R. Fess
Former Staff of Cary 2003-08.

Top Ten Things you can do on Youthworker Appreciation Day!

Today: Sept 6th is YouthWorker Appreciation Day. Here are some things you can do:

1. Write an encouraging note to a fellow youthworker.
2. Send him or her a free subscription to the Journal of Student Ministries.
3. Offer to buy them some resources for their own personal library. (Goto the Christian bookstore to do this today)
4. Give them a gift card to their favorite place. (Tickets to sporting events works too)
5. Offer to babysit their kids.
6. Buy that ever so important office knickknack for their office or home.
7. Have all the students sign a banner or card telling them how important they are to the ministry at the church.
8. FREE Food.
9. Ask what they may need. Get involved in their lives. Share your story and how important and valued they are to you.
10. Write on others' blogs on what you did. (Even tell Marko
Make it a surprise and dream Big!

Our youthworkers love God and love those students. Let's show them that We love them too!!

5 Things I would Do to Change the NHL

So over at Puck Daddy blog
they have different sports and hockey personalities writing on 5 ways they'd change the NHL ... so here are mine.

1. Fire Gary Bettman
there is even a website
dedicated to do so. Fact is even with some of the recent improvements of the "NEW" NHL - the current commish has lost respect from the fans, players, and well some of the ownership doesn't even know or understand the direction the NHL is going. (The Coolest Game on ICE) The commish has made this rich and vast history sport into a mockery and well for the NHL to make up for things like the lockout, expansions, Free agency out of control, Hockey hard to find on the networks ... and well disrespect from the Union ... Gary needs to go.

2. Turn the Winter Classic idea to the Stanley Cup Champions versus All-stars. Having the Winter Classic and the recent all-star game (almost a joke now and wondering why?) The Winter Classic needs to embrace the different venues and also make the Break ..worth it.

3. Bring back the Canada Cup. (The World Cup is for "football fans" (aka soccer) and have the PR department do a good job to promote the whole North American rivalry. Canada versus the US. That's what people want to see. From the winter olympics to the Canada Cup.

4. Less Games. More Action. Every team should face each other at least 2x. and in each division maybe 3x. Make the current schedule between 60-72 games. A long season makes the prolonged "losers" offering no hope.

5. Add more Goons. Celebrate the history of the NHL. Don't insult the current and loyal fans you have. Change even the names of the divisions to the old names. Quit trying to win new fans while losing some of your loyal fan base. Further expansion to KC, and Vegas is almost insulting is you can't get the support for current teams you have. Adding more goons - brings more action, more thrill, and well more Canadian viewership (where alot of the revenue comes from) for the game. Celebrate NHL's VAST history. The oldest Trophy to be awarded. The most unique trophy. And well ... Get a new franchise to Hamilton. (It is afterall only commonsense)