Archive for the Family happenings category
What is happening?
Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 6:26 AM by David Zavadil
We have been busy here in Northern Ireland. Ballyloughan Presbyterian Church hosted a 5x5 soccer outreach last night. I refereed 5 games and gave a brief gospel presentation. The ministry here is going well, though there is the constant feeling of oppression.
While I am here, I am reading "The Shack." I am not too impressed at this point. I will post a full review when I am finished.
Stay tuned for more.
Posted in Commentary (RSS), Family happenings (RSS)
Greetings from Northern Ireland
Posted on Monday, July 21, 2008 at 3:35 AM by David Zavadil
Hello from the City of the Seven Towers, Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Our team arrived late but safely on Saturday. Enjoyed a wonderful day of worship on Sunday with our brothers and sisters from Hillside Community Church. I preached a message from 2 Tim 4:21, "come before winter." The people had never heard a 1st person sermon before. It was a blessed day of worship and fellowship.
Today we begin the hands on ministry. As I write this, a team mate and I are headed to the sporting goods store to pick up need materials. at 10:45 am GMT, we head to the pitch to pick up glass, needles and assorted trash. After lunch we head back up for children's ministry. This year we will be hosting VBS at two different sites. Pray for us as this will be a first.
Pray for us during the week. Sleep is at a premium and there is much work for the Lord to be done.
Posted in Family happenings (RSS), Ministry (RSS)
Prince Caspian; The Movie
Posted on Monday, May 19, 2008 at 1:17 PM by David Zavadil
My family and I went and saw "Prince Caspian" this past Friday night. I am always scared of sequels, especial after the likes of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Rocky V." (Boy did I just date myself bigtime?) Caspian turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I will say up front, it was by far a more violent film than was "the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." I would not send my young children alone, go as a family.
The film is the classic good versus bad story. The spiritual content focuses more on the personal faith and decision making of the characters than a broad gospel or biblical picture. Lucy deals with peer pressure verses obedience to Aslan. Peter struggles with self as much as the pressure of others, taking a very self reliant and prideful posture throughout much of the movie. One thing that surprised me was the movie makers portrayed the older Pevensies as "too old" to believe. This came across at times as saying belief in Aslan or in our case God was limited to children and at some point you will out grow it. I was pleased that Peter and Susan returned to their earlier belief before the end of the movie. There is one brilliantly done scene with allusions to the parting of the Red Sea.
I am intentionally being a bit vague with this review. I think "Prince Caspian" is a movie you need to go and see. Despite the violence (medievel war type violence), it is a movie the whole family should see together. There are many lessons that can be learned, making this a great movie to discuss after seeing. I give this movie a four and a half out of five stars.
Posted in Commentary (RSS), Family happenings (RSS)
Comments Restored
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 3:28 PM by David Zavadil
I have restored the comments on this blog. It is a new account so all of the previous comments, including the spam have been deleted. I plan on writing more and moderating the comments tighter. I pray that at some time this site will be used by people around the world for edification and growth.
Edited on: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 4:03 PMPosted in Bible Study (RSS), Books (RSS), Commentary (RSS), Family happenings (RSS), Fear of God (RSS), Just For Fun (RSS), Locarb (RSS), Ministry (RSS), Mortification (RSS), Psalm 119 (RSS), Puritans (RSS), Stupid Movie Quotes (RSS), The Church (RSS), TNT (RSS)
Update and some fun
Posted on Monday, May 05, 2008 at 3:25 PM by David Zavadil
I looked up and the entire month of April had disappeared. It has been ages since my last post. I have had such good intentions, but have just not been able to get things done. In April we hosted our Annual Mission's Conference. Dr. Elias Medieros, RTS , was our Keynote speaker. It was fantastic. The messages can be found on the EPC website.
About a week after my last post, I was called by the doctor's office. My liver enzymes were abnormally high. I went in for some additional blood work and found the pancreatic levels were high too. The doctor was amazed though, as I had not symptoms with all the markers pointing toward pancreatitis. After 5 weeks of blood work and an ultrasound of my insides, my levels are back down near normal and still no symptoms. The whole thing was wierd, but kept me pretty self focused for a few weeks.
My family are big Alabama football fans. #1 son will be attending the Capstone in the fall, with aspirations of writing or broadcasting AL football. One song that means much to us is "Sweet Home Alabama." The Jolly Blogger pointed me toward this exciting, yet strange rendition of the Skynard favorite.
Edited on: Sunday, May 11, 2008 3:14 PMPosted in Family happenings (RSS), Just For Fun (RSS), Locarb (RSS)
TNT Update
Posted on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 5:16 PM by David Zavadil
The first week of November I began the TNT workout. My goal was to lose weight and lower my cholesterol. Yesterday I had my blood work done. I have officially a net loss of 17.5 pounds, according to my records. I said net loss becuase I have built some muscle, adding some weight. The more exciting new was that my cholesterol came down drastically. My total numbers went down from 217 to 178 and my ratio went from 5.2 to 3.7. While I realize that most who read this will go, "Huh?" Trust me, this is good news.
Posted in Family happenings (RSS), Locarb (RSS), TNT (RSS)
Comments Spammed
Posted on Sunday, March 23, 2008 at 6:27 PM by David Zavadil
My comments were spammed recently so I have eliminated them until I can find a better system.
Posted in Bible Study (RSS), Books (RSS), Commentary (RSS), Family happenings (RSS), Fear of God (RSS), Just For Fun (RSS), Locarb (RSS), Ministry (RSS), Mortification (RSS), Psalm 119 (RSS), Puritans (RSS), Stupid Movie Quotes (RSS), The Church (RSS), TNT (RSS)
Seeds of Hope
Posted on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 3:57 PM by David Zavadil
I haven't been writing much recently. I have been really busy and just have not slowed down enough to jot anything down or read. I do want to take a moment to share with you about a mission opportunity our fmily is involved at EPC.
We are preparing to take a team to Ballymena, Norhern Ireland for ten days of ministry. What makes this trip exciting for me, personally, is that my entire family will be joining me. My wife and younger children, 12 and 15, have never been on a mission project overseas. I am excited they will be joining the team.
During our time in Ballymena, we will be working along side of the Ballyloughan Presbyterian Church and Hillside Community Church. We will be participating in VBS, sports outreach, evangelism and community service projects in the Dunclug, Dunvale, and Millfield housing estates (in American English, they are called projects). Most of the people we will be ministering to are unchurched. Drug abuse is rampant in these estates among people living from paycheck to paycheck. Many immigrants and travelers (gypsies) live in these estates, making this an international opportunity.
Pray for our family and team as we prepare to go. We each have to raise $2000 for the trip. Please pray that the Lord will provide all of the monies needed. Pray for the hearts of the people of Ballymena. Pray for boldness to proclaim the gospel clearly. Pray about being a part of our support team. If God moves you to support our effort, you can contact me through this link Email David Zavadil.
Edited on: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 4:03 PMPosted in Family happenings (RSS), Ministry (RSS)
What has been happening?
Posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 12:20 PM by David Zavadil
I noticed that my last entry was on the 6th. Where has the month gone? We have been very busy at Eastminster Presbyterian Church. We began our revamped Sunday School and have doubled our average attendance since the new beginning. I currently have 5 adults in our inquirer's class and am excited about the new possiblities.
The last week in January I had lunch with Pastor Kim of Eden Korean Presbyterian Church. They meet in our Chapel on Sundays. Pastor Kim asked if they could move their worship time to coincide with ours. He expressed concern that some of their children speak better English than the parents and would appreciate being involved in our Sunday School. We are now having joint Sunday School classes with adult classes in English and Korean and the kids and youth all meeting together. Our next joint venture is to begin ESL classes in the spring/summer season.
Our IT elder and I have been busy trying to upgrade the church website to Joomla 1.5. This has proven a bigger undertaking than we first thought. I hope to have the site up and ready by next week sometime.
February 17 - 20, 2008 we held our FIRST Evangelism and Apologetics Conference. Attendance was good, with three times the participants for the evangelism class than we had planned to have. Clete Hux with Apologetics Resource Center was our Keynote speaker. He taught on world views during the week, enlightening us on the Postmodernism, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses and the Word of Faith Movement. It was a great time, too bad Clete was fighting the flu the entire time.
This last week we have all been dealing with that same flu bug. Over half of the congregation was out sick last week with the flu and various other ailments. Many more have fallin ill this week. Sickness is running rampant through our body.
For those that might be interested. I am down 20 lbs and only about 5 pounds from my target weight. I am feeling better and stronger than at any time in my life. I really encourage everyone to watch what they eat.
Pray for us. Easter is coming, one of the busiest seasons in the church. Pray for the physical health of our congregation. Pray that God will give me the words to say on Sundays.
Posted in Family happenings (RSS), Locarb (RSS), Ministry (RSS)
Internet Protection Update
Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 11:45 AM by David Zavadil
For those of you who have a network at home or the office, I have found a new resource that allows you to configure your router to filter the internet. Unless you have direct access to the router's configuration program, you can't circumvent the filter ( as far as I have been able to determine). Check out Open DNS
Posted in Family happenings (RSS), Ministry (RSS), The Church (RSS)
Internet Protection
Posted on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 4:24 PM by David Zavadil
I attended a pastors meeting about an upcoming conference in our area. The Restoring Sexual Purity Seminar will be held at New Covenant PCA in Virginia Beach Virginia on Feb. 1,2, 2008. During the meeting I shared of a cd I had created for our congregation with numerous internet filters and accountability software. Here are some links to some of these pieces of software.
k9 Web Protection (This filter is free for both windows and mac users, you must register for an install code)
Dansguardian (This filter is free for windows, linux and mac. For the mac check out DGComplete These take some computer knowledge to set up!)
x3Watch (This has both a free and for pay version in both windoze and mac. It is accountability software, not a filter)
Covenant Eyes (This is an accountability software. It is not free.)
Safe Eyes (This is a filter program for windows or mac. It is not free.)
BSafe (This is a multipurpose filter program for windows. It is not free.)
These are just a few of the products that are out there. You can learn more by checking out Filter Review online.
Posted in Family happenings (RSS), Ministry (RSS), The Church (RSS)
My pants are falling off!
Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 at 11:03 AM by David Zavadil
A quick update on my Diet and workout plan. The love handles are disappearing and my pants are too big. I feel like one of the kids now, sagging all the time. I would post progress pictures, but I do not want to scare anyone. Never thought eating right and doing exercise could be so much fun.
Posted in Family happenings (RSS), Locarb (RSS), TNT (RSS)
My Son's Percussion Performance
Posted on Tuesday, December 18, 2007 at 10:50 AM by David Zavadil
Edited on: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 10:52 AMPosted in Family happenings (RSS), Just For Fun (RSS)
Me? Weights?Exercise? Who are You kidding?
Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 at 11:27 AM by David Zavadil
It is hard to believe, that skinny guy is on a diet. Actually, I WAS skinny/fat so not only am I on a diet but doing weight training and resistance workouts. Yes, I have joined the ranks of The Jollyblogger and am watching carbs. One of our Elders and I are working through the TNT workout . I am lo carb, and working out. It has not been easy, my last workout was in 9th grade (graduated 26 years ago, you do the math), but I am loving the results. I had gained about 50 pounds since college. I have lost ten in fat thus far, replaced some in muscle weight and have lost about two inches around the waist in my first five weeks of the plan. I have become a TNT Activist and a lo carb officianado. I feel healthier, have more energy, am sleeping sounder and am starting to look, fit. My new goal... abs by summer time.
Edited on: Monday, December 17, 2007 11:49 AMPosted in Family happenings (RSS)
I have not Disappeared
Posted on Thursday, November 08, 2007 at 2:01 PM by David Zavadil
I have not dropped off the face of the planet. My wife and I to a belated and much needed break and went to Williamsburg for a few days. We have been upgrading our internet access at the Church as well as preparing for a Congregational meeting and Officer Training. All of this busyness has kept me from writing for a few days. I hope to have a new installment on the Fear of God up on Monday, or before.
Be sure to check out the latest give away at Challies
dot com 
Posted in Family happenings (RSS)
Correction to My Testimony
Posted on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 9:15 AM by David Zavadil
My parents were up last weekend. My mother said she had a bone to pick with me about my blog. I thought, "uh oh, I have gone and made her mad." She then shared that I had a fact wrong, we didn't stop going to church because of the gas crisis. I said, "oh really? That is how I remember the time." She said "No. We had gone to Christmas Eve mass. We had set aside $50 to buy Christmas presents. It came time for the offering and we gave a little bit to the offering, saving the last $50 for presents." (I never realized my parents were last minute shoppers) "After the offering, the priest began to speak and told the congregation that unless they gave an additional $50 each they would all go to hell." My parents got up at that point and left. I have to admit, that twist on my life is a lot more exciting than higher gas prices. I wish I had known earlier as it just increases the respect I have for my parents. I pray that the Church will never be a place for that kind of abuse.Posted in Family happenings (RSS)