Picture site

This is the link to Mr. Jones and Mr. Wingos pictures

http://s280.photobucket.com/albums/kk161/christchoir/

Chaperone Parody Lyrics

Your myspace is so dear to you
Your facebook tells us what you do
You're the cryberspace generation.

Your gum is smacking all day long,
Your Red Bull keeps you going strong
You're a sugar generation

It's to our dismay
That you've gone astray
Please do what we say
Our hearts cannot stay silent.

And we'll be the parent generation
Trying to live in your strange world OH LORD!!!
Your strange world OH LORD~
We're full of rules and regulations
Shouting about your revelations LORD
Your revelations LORD!

Cell phones take up all your time
Please teach me how to use mine
Your a texting generation

The way you sing to God above
Makes our hearts all swell with love
Your a Christian generation

It's so fun to play
On tour with you each day
That we just have to say
Our hearts cannot stay silent

And we'll be the parent generation
Trying to live in your strange world OH LORD!!!
Your strange world OH LORD~
We're full of rules and regulations
Shouting about your revelations LORD
Your revelations LORD!!!!

Chelsea and Elizabeth 6-6-08

For us, choir tour was a week filled with Red Bull drinking late at night and running late in the morning. We were definately always the last ones on the bus. I guess you could say this was the first time we really got to hang out like this. It was definately worth it. While Alex and Joy were trying to catch some Z's were bouncing off the walls and hyper ventalating from laughter. Even though we had our bad moods we never let our differences get between us. God was evident on this trip. There was nothing that got in the way. Both of us were eager to get home but deep down inside would love to go back to where it's easy to be with God. Posey gave a homeless guy a cheeseburger, definately the good deed for the week. :) Even though he probably would have rather had some money. Through the heat and the sleepiness, we managed to get by, with Christ on our side! Even though Posey thought I was insane! I became convinced that I jsut had to be a whale trainer at Sea World! Where no dream is impossible! Shamu! Shamu! We're both seniors now and can't believer we only have one more tour to go! But we will definately make the best of what we've got! We met new people and made new friends. I had my choir tour romance and she just say there and laughed. We got some great farmers tans and ate some amazing cajun food! Posey had her first real cajun food and I had it for the millionth time! We don't regret this trip one bit. Not singing at the top of our lungs on the bus or anything. God blessed us and that ain't ever gonna stop!
Let the good times roll :)
-Chelsea Brock

Amanda's Great Adventure

So we're coming to an end on choir tour, and I'm finally blogging. :) I'm not really sure what I should say, so here is a bunch of random stuff for you!

Many times it seems that whenever we go on a trip for Christ we have way too many lows as opposed to highs. For example: people getting sick; lost luggage; stinky bus lavatories; buses breaking down; singing in a 100 degrees gym with no air conditioning; concert time confusion; sore muscles from being cooped up on a bus for hours on end; leaving things at hotels; etc... At this point I think it's safe to say that we are pretty much all sick of traveling. However, we have not let the lows distract us from the highs. At St. Timothy on the Northshore UMC East Campus, we had our service day and we got so much work done that the lady in charge was in tears of amazement and appreciation. I was with the sanding crew, so I was in a dust mask around mold, dust, and mildew all morning and afternoon, but it was worth it. Another definite high was singing in concerts and just watching the audience smile and sing along with us at every single place we went. When we went to the Alamo and the Riverwalk Monday night, there were about four or five sightseeing groups walking together, and as we passed this one couple the man said we looked like a bunch of angels dressed in white (we were wearing our white choir polos). Tuesday we went to Sea World all day in 101 degree weather. We rode rides, saw shows, and interacted with the dolphins. :) Kelsey Bartlow and I have decided that we are the broken people on tour... Kelsey's iPod broke I think the first or second day we were traveling, and my camera broke at Sea World and deleted all of my pictures. =( We also bother get randomly hit in the head or where ever by ourselves or other people. Today we went to sing at Poydras Home (a retirement home). Then we got on a ferry to go to our "Mystery Destination." We ended up going to Mardi Gras World, which is where they design and make all of the props and floats for Mardi Gras. They gave us a tour, let us try on Mardi Gras costumes, and gave us King Cake. :) After that we got back on the ferry, got in our sightseeing groups, and walked around Jackson Square; then we sang on the steps in Jackson Square. Now we're about to go Rock'n'Bowl then come back for the talent show!! :)

P.S. Title by Morgan Taylor

God is Good All the Time!

Hello friends, family, and all in between. We are currently departing St. Andrews UMC of Baton Rouge, LA and all I can say at the moment is that OUR GOD IS INCREDIBLE! Tonight has truly given us an amazing opportunity to fellowship and worship with an awesome group of Brothers and Sisters of all ages in Christ. After spending all day on the bus, we arrived at St. Andrews. I was amongst the first off the bus, for I am on the prayer team and we were circling up. Immediately, we were greated by an enthusiastic, extremely welcoming youth group. We were fed with Louisiana's finest cuisine...Jambalaya, green beans, rolls, salad, and an array of deliciously scrumptious desserts. Afterwards with rotund bellies and tight pants we performed for their congregation. It was undeniably our best performance EVER! Not only were we musically on target with our dynamic crecendos, flawless drama, and graceful dancing, but it is safe to say that the Holy Spirit's presence was felt by everyone. We battled sore throats and exhaustion but we sang our hearts out for HIM. I was so touched when I looked out into the audience and saw how many people had been moved to tears. There were quite a number of women dabbing their eyes, as well as a few older men, one teenage boy, and a stunned youth group. Upon reflection, I am reminded of a skit early in our musical. In it Breanna Thackerson and Morgan Taylor talk about worship tools. They name a Bible, a songbook, a prayer journal, a soup ladle, a paintbrush, a passport, and a cell phone and explain how they can all be acts of worship. Then Breanna explains how we can use our bodies as living sacrifices to God. And that's exactly what we did tonight. It was so indescribable. To be used by the Holy Spirit to fellowship, praise, and worship with believers in His presence is what we are put on earth to do. And doing the right thing is the best feeling ever!
God is Good All the Time!
Megan Hurley

It's the Overflow of our Forgiving Soul

WOW GOD IS COMPLETELY AMAZING!

It is so crazy the power of a simple smile. From a random girl sitting in the front row to my best friend Emily, their smiles nearly brought me to tears, except I was about to go on stage for drama. This one girl kept smiling through our whole performance it was such a blessing. It reminded me how important this tour is. Lucky for me I get to go backstage during drama so I see everyone singing specifically, Emily Edwards caught my eye she had the biggest smile on her face, truly meaning every word that came out of her mouth. That about took me over the edge. It brought me back to the 8th grade when I first truly got to know Emily at the Back to School Retreat. She was a fear bounded girl who had just been set free by the Lord. Seeing her today revealed to me how much the two of us have grown in our Christian faith and with each other. If it wasn't for her I would not have some of the courage I do have today. I can't wait to see what God will do with us. Everyone really stepped it up tonight from Rachel Bond and Noah singing their hearts out during their solos to AJ letting God speak through him during his dramas. I can't explain how much this has moved me, but I'm just so thankful for everyone in this choir being filled with God's glory. Thank goodness for God's joy!

With Love,

Rachel Botts

The Prayer Team is my Favorite Part

Four Days down and four to go! We have spent the last 2 ½ days in Texas and now here I am sitting in the lobby waiting for the busses and preparing to leave this state and head back to Louisiana so we can party it up in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. It’s been an interesting adventure for the C.H.R.I.S.T. Choir in Texas. It started as we made our way to the small (and flat) city of Beaumont, TX. Here we came to a very nice looking church. We sang to a couple of local youth groups and they fed us dinner. The people at the church said that they had never filled up their choir loft until we came. From that church we made our way from Beaumont to the city of Houston. (Another flat city) I must admit, this trip has us spending A LOT of our time in the bus. I truly feel like we have spent more time on the bus than anything else. We are quickly starting to run out of things to talk about and games to save us from boredom. But, I guess as long as we remember we are traveling for the sake of Christ than it is o.k. with me. Anyway, we spent the night in Houston and in the morning we went to a children’s home/ranch called Boys and Girls Country. We came to smuggle out polygamist kids and take them back to their families. Just Kidding. Although, as we entered the ranch we were closely followed by news and cameras because many of the kids from the polygamist raid were staying there and we arrived the same day that many were being taken back to their families. Anyway, our rail job was to do what we do best and sing. This was a very interesting performance for us. We started out like we always do with the prayer team. The twelve of us got off the bus and prayed together. To be honest, this is always my favorite part. All of us pray together for a single cause and we know that God is listening and answering us. It’s always neat to see afterward how God works through our performance after we pray because he ALWAYS does. Most of the time we don’t know if and how our musical is impacting people but with all of us gathered together for the sake of Christ we know that he is there and moving. This performance was especially special because as the kids knew every song we sang it didn’t feel like we were witnessing to them but rather that we were worshiping with them. It was suffocating hot and we were in a non air-conditioned gym that trapped in the heat which made it worse. But was we worshiped together all complaints about the heat went away and we were able to just sing, dance, and connect with the kids. After we sang we had the chance to talk and mingle with the kids there. After we finished we loaded up the bus and took another LONG bus ride to San Antonio (yes, it is flat too). This was a fun city as we saw the Alamo, walked the river walk, and even visited Sea World. It was especially neat since our bus driver lives in San Antonio and he was excited as he told us all about the city and the places around it. Now, as we leave San Antonio I am excited about what is in store for us in Louisiana.

>David<

Alamo and More

Hey this is Brooke Burcham. I am typing to you from the Alamo Café. Yesterday, we as a choir got to go to the Alamo and the River Walk. There really isn’t much to the Alamo. Basically, it is a building that has been there for a really long time that modern day people decide not to destroy because it holds sentimental values to the people of Texas; in reality it was really interesting. We got to walk around and see the history of Texas. I am really happy we went even if it took like 5 minutes to walk though the whole thing; the Alamo is a sacred place for the Texans because it was the place were the Republic of Texas took a stand for their state. Another thing, I don’t think we were ever that quiet since this trip started that is saying something because we really can cause a scene with like 100 people all in white shirts coming off of two charter buses. All in all, I am happy to be able to see some of the history that makes not only Texas but also the United States, and at least I can say I have been there. The next thing we did was walk down the River Walk. That was pretty cool but mostly the River Walk was restaurants that we have been to before like the Hard Rock Café or the Rainforest Café. There were a few authentic Texan restaurant called The Republic of Texas and it was a good burger place. There are some shops but if you ever need to find a restaurant in San Antonio go to the River Walk and you have restaurant galore. The highlight of the evening had to be the boat ride around the River Walk. Think about this, three boats full of people all wearing white polo’s, waving and yelling at every person they see while you are trying to enjoy your dinner with the view. FUN RIGHT? Totally, the people eating were waving back, yelling and even asking us where we are from (so beware the Texans might storm Alabama. I can’t wait to see that. In one corner Texas Cowboys and in the other Alabama Hunters. I am joking) The people at the River Walk were really nice and rarely did I see a person stare at us like we were crazy. The atmosphere around there is totally laid back and people love to yell and wave at 100 people in white polo’s. (BOAT THREE IS THE BEST!!!)
Today, we went to Sea World and guess what? There are a total of 2 roller coasters, 1 rapids ride, and 2 log flumes. Amazing isn’t it. My group went to see two shows, the dolphin show, Viva, and the killer whale show, Shamu. Both were pretty cheesy, but they were amazing to teach these animals to do the jumping and flipping is pretty cool. Well, I have to go get on the bus. So this is Brooke Signing off, (I always wanted to do that). I will end with this. Peace Bye Holla Holla.
I’m Brooke Burcham

Day 4- He Never Lets Go

This morning was pretty much amazing. We sang at Boys and Girls Country and I could not have been more excited. As the children poured into the gym where we were performing, I immediately felt that God gave us the opportunity to make a difference in their lives. Each person went through something that changed them forever and being in Boys and Girls Country is probably not where many of them pictured themselves growing up. I felt the presence of our Father and I wanted to let those kids know that He never lets go and whatever they were going through would eventually come to pass. I have my own personal experiences where I felt I was all alone and no one would understand what I was going through, but I was wrong because I found out that our God is always there and He will never leave our side.
I’ve had the best time on choir tour and I can’t wait for what else lies ahead. I’m going to continue praising God and spreading his word. I’ll blog some more later. :]
-Ashley Burrell

It is all worth it even if there is just one

So. Were sitting here on the bus on our way to spend the night in Houston. Fun. We just sang to like 13 people but I guess its all worth it even if it’s just one. The other day was our service day. Tj martin and I pressure washed a ton yesterday. Like two sides of a building that had tons of mold on them, much of their playground equipment, some railings, part of a deck, their patio furniture, and a few other things. It was worth it when we stood back and looked at our clean stuff that was once mildewed and moldy. It was even better when our supervisors looked at it and just smiled and said ‘thank you.’ We’ve already ministered to so many people it’s unbelievable. This evening at Wesley umc a girl walked by the sanctuary out in the foyer, did a double-take, and sat down to listen. Its just stuff like that that makes us realize why we’re here. Well mrs. mary-lynn’s battery has like 30 seconds left on it so I’ll have to sign off of here. I’ll write later. Tyler nay

On the Road Again.....

So right now I am on a bus in the middle of nowhere…just kidding! Actually we are just leaving Belmont, Texas and we are on our way to Houston. It is day 3 of our 8 day CHRIST Choir tour, and there has already been a lot of traveling and singing involved! It’s safe to say that we have already spent over 16 hours on a bus and have sung three concerts in 24 hours. For the rest of the trip, we’re not spending more than a day at a certain location. From Houston to San Antonio to Baton Rouge to finally reaching New Orleans, it is going to be quite a ride, and I’m excited to see what God has in store of us! He has already brought us safely this far and I know that He will guide us the rest of the way. Of course, God also has a sense of humor, and he usually reveals that side throughout the tour. The “busyness” of this tour has been incomparable to any other tour, but that just provides more opportunity to spread God’s word. On Saturday, we had our Service Day project, which was to help rebuild this church that had been falling apart the past couple of years. In six hours, we landscaped, painted, ripped carpet, scraped up old paint, swept walls (I know it sounds weird, but it was hard work!), washed windows, and moved furniture. We were all sore and (very) sweaty, but the look on the church owners’ faces when they saw all the hard work we accomplished was definitely worth the hard work. Right now it’s dark outside, and I can barely see the road, but I know that God has us in his hand and I can’t wait to see what is coming this week. J I’m now going to hand off the computer to Mrs. Mary Lynn, where she has a countless list of eager choir kids ready to blog! Keep us in your prayers, and see you all in a week! J

Amazing Service Day!

5.31.08

What’s good? I love blogging. I’m such a stupid nerd. Anyhow, today was something I don’t think I was prepared for. It was definitely stinkin amazing because it was a service day that I would’ve never expected. From what good ole country boy pasta dutch had to say concerning the work that was ahead of us, I knew that there was no way we couldn’t get anything done unless we were completely focused on what we were doing and who we were doing it for. It really seemed like the focus was truly there this year with people never giving up after hours of sweat and hard, dedicated work. I loved the passion that everyone had to work with as well, awesome job choir!!! Dude it was so wild. The one thing that I remembered from today was when I was trying to shovel under this tree and I was leaning up against this window and it broke. Wonderful, right? Of course that happened to one of us, and it was just me today. Kelsey is forcing me off of this thing. Off for the night, keep it up gang!!!
Blessings,
Ahh Jota

Random Musings but more to come

Well hello there everybody. This is Emilia Bedilia…or Emily Edwards. Anywho, I love choir tour so much. Like I can’t get over how much I love this youth group and these people. It’s basically the highlight of my summer! Today was work day and it was hardcore-lemme tell ya. I pressure washed walls after my super easy job of distributing water bottles. Ok so morgy- Morgan Taylor just walked up and is going to help me blog. So I don’t know what to blog about…um I really want everyone to get into singing. Like I really hope we can get into it in the choir loft so that the people in the audience can get something from it too. That has just been on my mind…we are practicing for our talent show skit right now and all the other people in the act are gonna be mad at me cuz im blogging instead. Sarah Sanger just walked up and she smells good. So im sure Jesus is gonna show up on this trip and I cant wait for him to work in huge and obvious ways! Im sorry this blog is kinda pointless but when something awesome happens I will for sure be blogging again to let you know about it J
Love ya
Emily

God Can Use a Monster Truck, bulldozer kind of guy

What a day. WHAT! A! DAY! That would be today, um… May the thirty-first. Yes. That one. So, we basically tore up the yard of a church and rebuilt it. Here’s the story, the scoop, the WAY low down on the situation. When I awoke I was dragged forth from bed to take a short, cold shower and then almost instantly I was dragged into the mean, cruel world of gardening work. This whoever may be reading, is no manly task. None WHATSOEVER! I’m more of a monster truck, bulldozer kind of guy. But anyway, after spending… I’d say around A REALLY LONG TIME tearing the mean nature away so it didn’t choke the wanted nature, I got a five second meal to attempt to re-energize. I cannot honestly say it didn’t help. After a ham, turkey, and roast beef sandwich I was ready to go. And man did I go! Not potty mind you. I was a machine out there (along with all my yard-work buddies), as we killed ants, speedily spread these little brown twig things everywhere (it’s name escapes me), and went so far as to almost move bushes around in order to make room for this miniscule fountain. It was a BEAUTIMUS fountain though. I again cannot deny it. And finally, after many tears and joyful smiles, we were done. WHAT A DAY! *fwoof* That was a mouthful…

An unnamed individual

It Only Takes a Spark to Get a Fire Going

5/31/08

As C.H.R.I.S.T. Choir set up for their first performance of the trip, I noticed that there weren’t many people in the congregation of the church we were singing at. As 5:30, and worship service time came around, there were less people in the audience then there were in our choir. I’m so used to Asbury’s huge congregation that this was a shock to me.
We began singing and a few members of the audience caught my eye. There was a woman and her family sitting in the middle of the sanctuary. The woman sang along with every single word to all of our songs. She smiled, and she looked truly happy to be in our presence. Her smile never faded, and she was even smiling as she walked out of the building. It was evident that Christ was working, or had already worked, in her life.
There was another little girl who caught my attention. She couldn’t have been more than 5. Her dad picked her up and held her above everyone else’s heads so that she could see our choir. She looked at us, and on the reprise of “Made To Worship” she began to wave her hand, like the adults do in contemporary worship. God is going to work through that girl in incredible ways, I can already tell. The few people of that small church were obviously strong in their faith. Hopefully the C.H.R.I.S.T. Choir lit a fire in someone’s heart of the congregation, even though many had already been lit.

- Elizabeth Larsen

How God Can Use a Simple Game

5/31/08

As I sit here, the CHRIST Choir, all 95 of us, is playing “Never Have I Ever.” (Well, 92 are playing. I’m right here, obviously, and someone didn’t want to play. :P ) When I first learned of our game choice, I couldn’t help but think “How?!?”
I mean, there are 95 of us. And have you played “Never Have I Ever”? It involves running. A lot of running. As in, you barely have to catch your breath before you’re probably going to start running around again. And with 95 people, there are bound to be someone injured. (Don’t worry, parents, we’re not going to kill ourselves!) Surprisingly, after playing the game for 20 minutes, no one has been injured. Sure, there have been a few overzealous people who overshot their chair by a long shot, but other than that, I have to confess that I’m actually pretty confident that everyone in this room will walk out of here safe and out of breath from having a good time.
It’s odd. Something so simple can bring such an insight. Then again, I guess that’s why we go on choir tour isn’t it? To meet new people and let God work in ways we never imagined. To me, this game represents how despite all of our worries, things will work out. We will be able to pull up that stubborn carpet, we will be able pick that stubborn weed, no one will be injured during our trip, and we will reach someone in Christ, no matter how small we think our job is. It’s just a matter of how. It may be a smile; it may be a simple “Hi!”; it may be through one of the Drama Team’s skits. All we have to do is pray that God will work through us in ways we will never imagine. We may be just teenagers, but we can make a difference.

-Rachel Gosnell

Welcome to Tour 2008

Can you believe it has been almost a year since C.H.R.I.S.T. choir went on the "Mystery Tour"? Well here we are again, finalizing plans, learning music, practicing drama, and getting excited about what God has in store for us on Tour 2008. Off to New Orleans and San Antonio our prayer is that no matter where God takes us that He will use us to Glorify Him! Please do pray for us....... pray that we will GET WHY we are going and that we will TRUST God to show us the way.

Don't forget to check in often as we will post while on tour. We would love comments back. To do so you must get a Goggle account. Here is the link for getting an account; https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount
Then you can go to the blog and sign in. You do not need to log in to see the blog only to leave comments.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, Happy Birthday to my daughter Rachel and Happy Blogging!

Mary Lynn