Hard at work?

I stopped playing rock band for a few seconds to take this picture. Sunday night youth is great and our leaders make it even better. Check out this picture of Steve (vocals), Caleb (drums), and Finley (guitar). Steve took the extra time and used his gaming expertise to get all of the youth rocking out in between volley ball games, ping pong, and soda. Thanks Steve.

Caleb's Blog

If my blog dose not keep you entertained you can always check out Caleb's Blog. Caleb is one of our many great leader's at Central Community and a vital part of our youth ministries team. Check out Caleb's Blog.

New Starbucks: It's Open

Pictured: The New Starbucks and my iced mocha. A short walk from the office.

Another Day Off?

Today I went surfing and then visited my grandmother in the hospital. Surf was good and I had a nice visit with my grandmother.

Hockey!

Steph and I went to a Hockey game last night. What fun. The Ducks played the Kings and won in a shoot out. Pretty fun.

New Starbucks Update #28

Well, this Friday March 28th you should join me for an iced mocha at the new Starbucks on Arlington and Streeter. Why? Because it will be open for business! Thats right Friday is opening day.

2008 Baptism

Weekend Service Info//

Things are looking good for our weekend services at Central Community. Check out the details below:

Good Friday- March 21st
-12 n00n
-7:00 pm

Saturday- March 22nd
-Transitions (Saturday Night Service) Canceled

Easter Sunday- March 23rd
-8:45 am (in main auditorium)
-10:30 am (outside in our park)

Sunday Night Youth Canceled- Go eat another piece of ham and finish it off with a few peeps

From the past.

Over the last month I have had the urge to do something different, something out of the ordinary. As I worked around our church campus this morning I was thinking about things I have done that haven't exactly been part of my college degree guide or job requirements. Things that you could never be prepared for or instructed on in a classroom. An image came to mind that I have not thought about for a while.

We had just arrived in Kitale, Kenya. We went to the local market and bought bread and milk. Then we headed into the main dump on the outside of town to meet up with local street children. We were astonished (more like scared and uneasy) by the crowd of children who were gathered in the dump. Zac, Jordan, and I stayed in the car while Phil got out and met up with some of the children to organize the crowd. The dump quickly turned into more of an amphitheater and we all jumped out of the van and began feeding the children, once everyone had been fed Phil looked at me and said, "are you ready to speak?". I stood up in the middle of the crowd, and began to share with the children about finding hope in Jesus. Everything I said was translated in swahili by one of our friends from town. It was a surreal experience. A few days before I had been with all of the youth from our church in Riverside, California; and what seemed liked moments later I was in a dump in Kitale, Kenya. After sharing with the street children we said our goodbyes and went out into the town for the rest of the day.

I still have the image engraved in my mind of all of the children in the dump, some with glue bottles to their noses and others locked to my every move. The colors of the dirt, Mount Elgon in the background, and the amazing opportunities God has given me to teach and share about His only son.

Accept,
John Denton

Check out www.glueboys.com for more information about our work in Kenya.

Outdoor Fun

My girlfriend Stephanie works for this online company that has two different online stores. Plumbers Surplus and Outdoor Pros. Outdoor pros is a new startup and on Friday night we celebrated the launch of the site. Everyone dressed up in outdoor attire, we ate outside, and they made some kind of funny promo video for the site. All in all a good time.

New Starbucks Update!

The new Starbucks located a block from the church is almost open. Like very almost open. I am giving it less than a week. The signs are up and it is even listed on the Starbucks website as coming soon!

Check it:
Arlington & Streeter, Riverside
5130 Arlington Avenue
Riverside, California 92504
951-509-2673

	Drive Through Window
	Coming Soon

Straight from the world wide web. It is no longer a neighborhood myth; from fiction to fact (if it is on the web it must be true).

Spring Break

These days my spring breaks are just like any other week. There was a time when spring break represented freedom, no class for a week. Four years ago on spring break two friends and I ventured into Baja to surf and explore. We camped at Punta Cabra (the point of the crazy mythical three headed goat) for a few days, then continued down to 'the wall' Punta Rosarito. I was very familiar with Punta Cabra but had never been to 'the wall'. Once we arrived, after hours on dirt roads, it was like something out of a science fiction movie. It looked as if we had left baja all together and landed on the moon. The surf was insane so we surfed until our food was gone and then headed home. Its hard to forget such a great week; it would be great if we had a national spring break holiday. A week just for camping and spending time with friends.

Wishing I were camping with Friends,
John

Pictured is Ben, Ian, and me around the campfire with our tent on the right in the background at Punta Cabra (note the big point).

Thoughts on Idol

After last night I am pretty sure either Amanda or Kristy are going home. Amanda either forgot the lyrics or just felt like mumbling her entire song and well Kristy should have gone home a few weeks ago for obvious reasons. I am sticking with Jason Castro for now, he is good week after week and seems to keep it somewhat interesting. My only complaint is that he should change his vocal up sometimes. Interesting... If you are not a fan of American Idol sorry.

rattle snake, porpoise, and sun burn

My day off was a little more adventurous than normal. I surf liked always but today brought along a friend. Zac is zany and always seems to have crazy encounters; today was no different. Walking in to surf Zac spotted a rattle snake super close to him and jumped a mile, we looked at it for a while then gave a few others a chance. The surf was fun partially because the weather was amazing and the water was beautiful. On the beach we watched porpoise swim around under the water in the waves (pretty cool sight). Now I am sitting around my house sunburned and tired.

John

Sorry about the lack of pictures. My current phone does not have a camera. I will have an iphone soon enough!

My top 10 excuses for not blogging this week:

Blog readers need answers and here they are.

10. My high tech blogging photo taking amazing cell phone busted into a million pieces
9. I have had a rather busy week
8. Spanish Class started
7. Guitar hero is too much fun
6. My ipod touch is low on batteries
5. I have been in mexico for a few days
4. Last Friday I spent time with my cousin Phil and friends
3. During the week I was locked down with stuff
2. My cousin Phil got married!
1. I forgot the internet even existed (and am now trying to re-discover it by paying bills online, posting junk on craiglist, and writing my blog!)

oh Steve