Blog Name: Meditations of the Heart
Blog URL: http://engagetheculture.blogspot.com/
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Location: Raleigh
Blog Summary: These are thoughts, meditations, ponderings, or realizations that have pressed upon my mind and heart through my daily Bible devotions, sermons I have heard, or class/social discussions. I hope that you might be encouraged and blessed from them.
This blog has been active since:
Post: The Wedding Planner and being Missional / May 8, 2008
The Wedding Planner and being Missional
Lately I've been reading a great book called "Breaking the Missional Code" by Ed Stetzer and David Putman. The point the authors are trying to make is that we here in America need to live in our communities as missionaries do overseas. No, you don't have to build a grass hut in suburbia and go without running water or toiletries. (That's not how most missionaries live either). The point is to live with intentionality.
When missionaries go overseas they are placed into a whole new context of living, a whole new culture. They learn the customs, language, and culture of the people they are trying to reach with the Gospel. They build purposeful relationships with those in that culture and find ways to present the Gospel to them within their context. They make connections that draw them to Christ.
When I left my little town in GA to move to seminary I contemplated the questions that Stetzer and Putman raise in their book. Why don't I live like missionaries do? Why is there a difference between the way they live for Christ and the way I live for Christ? Simply put, I think it is because we are in our comfort zones. We live in the same town we grew up in (or something similar to it), know most of the people around us, only associate with those who go to our church, it is all about ME.
Most do not live outside of their comfort zone. Missionaries have no choices. If they don't like the food, they starve. If they don't connect with people, they don't spread the Gospel. They live mostly out of their comfort familiarities for the sake of the Gospel. If we don't like the food, we don't go to that restaurant. If we don't connect with our city, we seclude ourselves to our "church friends".
I was watching The Wedding Planner recently(yes, I'm a guy, yes, I watched it, and yes, I liked it) and was convicted by a part of the movie. Can you believe it?! I was convicted by a secular movie!! Jennifer Lopez's character loves to play scrabble. She is even apart of a scrabble club. Later in the movie she reveals that she loves scrabble because her parents moved to America and didn't know how to speak English and so they joined a scrabble club to learn the language.
This convicted me for two reasons. 1. There are social avenues to meet the lost and connect with the culture around me that I don't even know exist because I'm too caught up in my own little world and comfort zone to even seek them out. 2. I have a friend from India that has been in America for a little over a year. He is involved in many social networks and events to try to make friends. I've been in Raleigh for almost 4 years and probably don't know half of the places and people he does only being in Raleigh for 6 months.
This is the reason I named my blog Engage the Culture. No, we don't live in a 3rd world nation, but our culture in America is vast and ever changing and we need to realize that in order to reach our cities for the Gospel we need to quit living for ourselves and begin living for Christ and engaging the culture so that many might come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
I definitely do not do things right but this is where my heart burns. I desperately want to see people come to Christ. The way I've been living has not been the most fruitful way. It might be time for a change. Time to begin living as a missionary among my own country. This is being Missional, this is engaging the culture.
Are you up for a change too?!
Bridal Shower Games
Blog Name: Christmas Wedding-2008
Blog URL: http://navillus99.blogspot.com/
RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~fc/ChristmasWedding-2008
Location:
Blog Summary: Welcome to "Mickey and Minnie's" Wedding Blog. We are ordinary people who love Weddings. We offer advice and tell our story. If you are planning a Wedding, good luck. If you are Married, Congrats. If you just like reading about Weddings, Welcome.
This blog has been active since: Feb 2008
Post: Bridal Shower Games / February 28, 2008
Bridal Shower Games
The Wedding Planning process can take up a life of it own. It would be a great thing if Bridal showers were a process for relieving the pent up stress of the Planning process. With some of these simple steps it can be a fun and happy day. Make sure you include some Bridal Shower Games to loosen up the atmosphere and help the Bride relax. These are some sample game ideas, or you could do your own.
Bridal Pictionary - Give each person a paperplate, some crayons and a blindfold! Have each person make their best attempt at drawing a picture of what they think the bride will look like on her wedding day. Make the picture as detailed as possible with veil, train, jewelry, etc.
Give everyone 2 minutes or so and let the bride-to-be select which drawing is a close resemblance. Winner gets a prize. The pictures will be hilarious and the bride can keep them to look back on for years of laughter.
Bathroom Tissue Fashion Show - Select teams of 2 parties each and give each team 2 rolls of bathroom tissue. Each team is responsible for designing a wedding gown made of tissue and one person from each team must strut their stuff on the runway of sorts.
Accessories are allowed (earrings, bouquet, headpiece) but they all have to be made out of tissue. Play some lively music for the big reveal. The most creative team wins!
Who Knows Me Best - The bride-to-be can work on this one with the hostess ahead of time to choose several questions that only those in the know will have the answers to. The more outrageous the questions, the more laughter resounds. Answers can be in a multiple choice format to help participants along a bit if you like. By the end of this game, everyone will know the bride-to-be a bit more than before.
Make up your own. As you see it isn't that hard, just combine two things, The Bride and any game. If the bride likes scrabble you could do Wedding Scrabble and only Wedding words are allowed. The options are limitless.
Wedding Reception Games
Wedding Reception Games - More Unique Ideas
by Mindy Makuta
There doesn't seem to be any end to the number of games that can be invented or borrowed, to play at a wedding reception. Here are a few more ideas for the bride, groom or their attendants looking to add a bit of extra fun to the upcoming event.
What's my line? - This is a variation of the TV game show where you try to guess what the contestant does for a living. We're not really pitting your family against your friends in this game but you do need to have 2 sets of players where one set does not know much about the other set. Pre-select one friend and one family member as volunteers. These persons should each have an unusual job or profession.
For the first round, have the volunteer friend come up front or on stage. Have the rest of your guests, who don't know him/her, ask up to 10 questions to determine what that person does. If possible, don't let the same guest ask more than one eliminating question. If this round ends without the right answer, then have the friend explain what they do.
For the next round, have the volunteer family member come up and the guests that don't know him/her get to participate. If this round ends without the right answer, then have the family member explain what they do.
If someone does guess the occupation, then an appropriate prize might be a wizard's hat or a Ouija board game.
Name that tune - the DJ or orchestra plays a few bars of a song that is fairly common but not on the official reception play list. Be sure to play some tunes for the younger guests and some for the older guests. The winner of each round dances with the bride or groom.
Guess the ingredients - You will need your caterer's permission and assistance for this game. Pick 1, 2, or 3 menu items that are being served at the reception. Have the caterer write down the ingredient list for them. Hand out paper and pencils to your guests and instruct them to write what they think is in each of the foods.
Guests with the closest guesses for each item win an appropriate prize like a set of gourmet spices, sauces, etc. Your DJ or someone in the wedding party can act as the judge/announcer.
Does the band know this song? - like "stump the band" on David Letterman - a good DJ can make this very funny. Your guests volunteer obscure song titles to the band or DJ. The band/DJ can either attempt to play the real song by that name or fake it. If the band doesn't get it right, the guest has to sing at least a few bars of the real song.
How Many Words? - Give a paper and pencil to each guest. Take the names of the bride and groom and write them in large letters on an easel or white board. See how many words the guests can create from the letters in their names in a set time limit.
For example MelissaJohn gives the words: mesa, josh, missal, noses.... Score based on the number of words, or use Boggle scoring where 4 letter words are 1 point, 5 letter words are 2 points, etc. If children are playing then you may allow 3 letter words at ½ point, etc.
If there is a wordsmith in the wedding party, that person can check the guests' word lists for non-words and tally the scores. Otherwise, guests can score themselves. In the case of a tie, offer "we're married" with a 2 minute time limit as the tie breaker. Present an appropriate prize to the winner like a Boggle or Scrabble game with a hand written note of accomplishment from the bride and groom.
Copyright 2008 by Mindy Makuta. Mindy and her husband own a small resort in Lyons, Colorado where they host outdoor weddings and family reunions. For more ideas on what to do at a wedding reception, see weddingsandromance.com/wedding-reception-activities on her web-site which covers topics of concern for before, during and after the wedding. They also publish http://www.168colorado.com, a site that helps plan Colorado vacations, including referrals for where to stay and what to do when you get there.
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