Olive Garden

"So I took her to the garden, where I guess they grow the olives."

That's a line from an old rap song I like about a guy who takes a girl on a date to -- guess where? Well, I guess I kind of gave it away in the subject heading, didn't I? Anyway, we're going there tomorrow night, Friday, and it's such a fun place to go as a group, we really hope you'll join us.

We're meeting at the campus house at 6pm to carpool there. If you need directions to the campus house, just look on the right side of your screen.

And feel free to bring a friend with you.

Again, 6pm Friday, at the campus house.

Hope you can join us.
Steve

76 and Sunny -- Cookout Anyone?

This Friday at 6pm it is supposed to be 76 degrees and 0% chance of rain. Sounds like a good time for a cookout. As it happens, we have one planned!

Come join us for some grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, fries, mac & cheese, Boston Creme Cake, and more.

We're gonna have croquet and volleyball available for those interested in playing, too. But mostly this is just a chance for you to come hang out with some of your new friends at CCVT and get to know them a little better, and maybe make some new friends, too.

So feel free to bring some friends along, but please come join us at 6pm Friday at the campus house. And remember, this is totally free, of course.

If you need directions to the campus house, just look on the right side of your screen.

Hope to see you there.
Steve

Guys' Gel Groups Kick Off Tonight!

Hey guys,

Hope you are getting a chance to enjoy the great weather out there this afternoon.

Hope you are planning on joining us for our first Guys' Gel Group of the semester, too. We are kicking it off tonight (and meeting every Monday night) at 7:30pm at the campus house.

This semester we'll be studying the parables of Jesus, but as many of you know, Gel Group is about much more than just learning some more things about the Bible. What good is more information about the Bible if we are not applying what we already know to our lives? What is most important is that we live out the kind of lives God wants us to, and one of the best things we can do to help ourselves do that is have some good solid friends who are trying to do the same thing, so we can support each other and help each other stay on track.

The Bible says, "Bad company corrupts good character." The opposite is also true: Good company promotes good character. When we take the time to invest in building good friendships with other guys who are trying to follow God, we will not only avoid some of the bad influences we otherwise might have surrounded ourselves with, we will also find that we are picking up some great attributes from the character strengths of they guys we hang out with. That is what I know can happen through Guys Gel Group, and I want you to be a part of it.

I hope you will make time in your busy schedule to be a part of Guys' Gel Group, not only because I believe it will be an even bigger blessing for you than you expected, but also because the other guys in the group need what God can give them through you. If you can feasibly make it on Monday nights, I encourage you to pray and ask God if he would like to use you to be a blessing to some other guys through this group, and be blessed yourself, too.

By the way, if you have some female friends who would be interested in something like this, too, our Girls' Gel Group meets every Sunday night at 7pm at the campus house. They are more than welcome to join the girls then.

Hope to see you tonight.

Steve

Golf Balls, Staples, and Hoola-Hoops

Ever built a "railroad track" for a marble using only staples and erasers? When was the last time you were able to stack three golf balls on top of each other, with nothing but the table supporting them? Think you can blow a soap bubble through a hoola-hoop 15 feet away? If so, you may have a good shot at becoming the next champion of CCVT's Minute-to-Win-It inspired games.

Come try your hand at these incredibly fun and quirky, yet challenging, games.

And don't forget you get to "Build Your Own Pizza" with your choice of pineapple, bacon, mushrooms, black olives, pepperoni, and Canadian bacon, whole grain or regular crust; and don't worry, we haven't forgotten the pizza sauce or cheese. Whatever you want on your pizza, that's what you can have tonight at CCVT. And of course, this is all FREE!

So come join us, and bring some friends with you.

It all starts at 7pm tonight (Sept. 10) at CCVT's campus house.

If you need directions to our campus house, just look on the right side of the screen.

Hope to see you tonight.
Steve

Food, Fun, Worship and Prayer, More Food and Fellowship, Bible Study and Friends, and the List Goes On

Here's a heads up about some upcoming events we wanted you to know about so that you can plan ahead to be a part of them:

Sept. 10, Friday, 7pm -- Build Your Own Pizza Night
We will have the pizza crusts ready for you to flatten out yourself and put whatever sauce, cheese, and toppings you want on your own pizza. While those are baking we'll play some fun games we have planned that I'm pretty sure you have never played before.

Sept. 12, Sunday, 11am -- Oasis Worship

Sept. 12, Sunday, after Oasis -- Free Homemade Dinner

Sept. 12, Sunday, 7pm -- Girls' Gel Group (small group Bible study)

Sept. 13, Monday, 7:30pm -- Guys' Gel Group Kickoff (small group Bible study)

Sept. 14, Tuesday, 5:30pm -- Worship Team meeting

Sept. 17, Friday, 4:45pm -- Core Group Team meeting (CCVT's student leadership team)

Sept. 17, Friday, 6pm -- Cookout, and volleyball or croquette, etc.

Sept. 19, Sunday, 11am -- Oasis Worship

Sept. 19, Sunday, 7pm -- Girls' Gel Group (small group Bible study)

Sept. 20, Monday, 7:30pm -- Guys' Gel Group (small group Bible study)

Sept. 21, Tuesday, 5:30pm -- Worship Team meeting

All of these events take place at the campus house, as usual.

Be sure to mark these on your calendar and invite your friends to come with you.

Hope to see you Friday.
Steve

Did You Feel That?

You can almost feel it in the air -- the tension, the suspense, the anticipation of tonight's game against Boise State. Hokies everywhere are looking forward to what will surely be one of the most important games of the entire season tonight. We know we've got a team loaded with talent this year, but we're all eager to see just how very good they can be, and we're hoping they will show the world tonight on national television that they are even better than anyone dared hope for.

Watching this game tonight is going to be fun for anyone interested in Hokies football. But watching it on an 84 inch big screen with a bunch of fellow fans cheering and celebrating every time the Hokies make a big play is just going to make it even more exciting. I think it's going to be a night to remember -- the night a very special year in Hokies football history began.

So don't miss out on sharing this special moment with us. Join us at the campus house at about 8pm tonight for our football party and cheer the Hokies on to victory with us.

We'll be enjoying some delicious "football food" while we watch the game -- Apple Dumplings, Bojangles, pizza pockets, cookies, etc., even some Gatorade to, like, "be there" with our team.

It's going to be a lot of fun, so bring yourself and bring your friends, too.

Remember, our campus house is right on the edge of campus by most of the dorms, over by the Washington Street tennis courts -- probably closer than most of your classes if you live on campus. If you need directions, they are on the right side of this screen.

Hope to see you tonight at 8pm.

Steve

Friday Night Fun

Don't forget this Friday night, Sept. 3, we are getting together to go out to eat and then play a mean round of mini-golf.

OK, so maybe "mean" and "mini-golf" don't really go together, but the point is, we're going to have a lot of laughs playing that version of golf that often makes the experienced golfers look like beginners, and the novices look like pros. That's part of what makes it so much fun.

We are meeting at the campus house (directions on the right side of your screen in the side bar) at 5pm.

Originally we were going to golf first and go out to eat afterward, but given the heat, we are switching the order and eating first in air conditioned comfort, then mini-golfing when the weather is going to be a perfect mid-70s. Nice.

The golf will cost $5. (It's normally $6, but we'll be getting the group discount. Yipee!)
Check out how pretty the course is: www.coxgolf.com/Putt-a-Round.htm

We'll decide where to eat based on what everyone is in the mood for tomorrow, but it will be someplace around downtown Blacksburg since the golf course is just outside of town on Price's Fork Rd. No sense driving all the way out to the mall and back.

We hope to see you here whether this is your first time at CCVT or you've been here 5 years. We want to welcome you to CCVT and make this a "home away from home" like it has become for us. So please come join us even if you've never been before. And feel free to bring a friend!

Recap:
Friday 5pm
At the campus house
$5 for mini-golf plus money for supper

Hope to see you then!

Steve