Today my wife and I took her grandparents to the Billy Graham Library here in Charlotte North Carolina. Her grandparents are from New York and they are down here in Charlotte visiting for Christmas.
Her grandfather is a retired Pastor from rural upstate New York and they have both been looking forward to visiting and touring the Billy Graham Library on this trip to Charlotte.

It is really not a library though. It is like a memorial or something… or like a tour of the life and ministry of Billy Graham. You don’t really know what to expect when you visit but it is a whole experience.

It is located here in Charlotte off of the Billy Graham Parkway because Billy Graham grew up right here in Charlotte, North Carolina! In fact, at the Billy Graham Library there is also the actual original home that Billy Graham grew up in. It is there with much of the original furniture, etc…
They moved it from Park Road just a couple miles down the road.

The tour is quite an experience! There are several different theater rooms with videos of Billy Graham playing.
My favorite part are all the glass display cases with all kinds of “artifacts” from the life of Billy Graham. From a $5 from then President Richard Nixon for a forgotten offering to an autographed Carolina Panthers helmet with a note from Jerry Richardson, there are really cool things to see.

My favorite was a handwritten poem about Billy Graham from Bono when he was visiting their home.

I think whether you are a retired pastor from New York or a 30 year old banker living in Charlotte that you will really enjoy touring this Billy Graham Library.

Billy Graham. Ruth Bell Graham. Park Road. Billy Graham Parkway. Mordecai Ham.

(This is part five of an ongoing series here on My Charlotte Home Team called “You should live in Charlotte, North Carolina”. The series began back at the end of November. The series is ALL ABOUT Charlotte. I will try to include a lot of things you maybe did not know about Charlotte. But of course there will be a lot of things you already know. Much of these facts and information were obtained from real estate statistics and other informative websites. Enjoy!)

If you are from Charlotte, you already know that a native of Charlotte is called a Charlottean. Apparently I am one of only a few original Charlotteans. When people find out I was born here and grew up here they are shocked to know it because the city has grown so fast that almost no one who lives here is originally from Charlotte.

Here are some interesting notes and awards about Charlotte, North Carolina.

In 2008, Charlotte won the award of “Best Place to Live in America” by www.relocate-america.com in its annual ranking. This award were based on several factors such as employment opportunities, crime rates, and housing affordability.
Charlotte was also named #8 of the 100 “Best Places to Live and Launch” by CNNMoney.com. These cities were picked for their vibrant lifestyles and opportunities for new businesses. That is a pretty prestigious award from CNN! High praise for our great city of Charlotte.

Don’t you want to live in the best Place to live in America?

CNN. UNCC. Charlotte North Carolina. Best Place to Live.

I have written before about how I love Starbucks and like hanging out and doing some work in Starbucks.

I especially like this Starbucks in uptown Charlotte. I love just watching the city go by for hours as I work.

This Starbucks is so diverse. People of every ethnicity, social class, and color are in this Starbucks throughout the day.

And this Starbucks has the most comfortable chairs.

The view is really great at this Starbucks in uptown Charlotte too. I am looking out at the intersection of Trade and Tryon Street. There is what I think is definitely the biggest Christmas tree I have ever seen in person glimmering just outside. It has to be at least fifty feet tall? I am bad with estimating that sort of thing, but it is REALLY big with lit up Christmas reindeer all around it. It is lit up with Christmas lights that flicker and sparkle on and off constantly. It is really beautiful to look at.

Plus there is the building just across and diagonal from Starbucks that looks like it is just a big flat mirror. It is beautiful reflecting all the lights and the Bank of America building which is directly across from where I am sitting.

I tell my wife every time we come over I-277 and get a great look at the whole city - “Our city is getting more and more beautiful all the time.” I’m referring to when it’s dark at night and all the big buildings are lit up. There are more and more being built all the time.

This is definitely my favorite Starbucks. It is a great place to be and enjoy everything about the great city of Charlotte, North Carolina!

Starbucks. Charlotte. Coffee. Lights. Christmas Lights. Christmas tree. Bank of America.

Today is the day after Christmas. This day is the biggest “returns and exchanges” days of the year.

Everyone is busy going to the malls and all different kinds of stores to return and/ or exchange their Christmas gifts they just received yesterday. They are exchanging their gifts at the store for a different size that actually fits or for a different color that they actually like, etc…

OR they may be returning the gift all together in order to get the cash to buy something completely different from a completely different store!

Either way, there are THOUSANDS of people out and about in Charlotte today at all different stores and it is probably insanely crowded out there right now!

Not only is it the biggest exchange and return day of the year, but the retailers also want to turn it into the next biggest shopping day of the year!

A few of the local news stations were talking about it on the news today in Charlotte. All the stores in the malls and around town are slashing their prices dramatically. It sounds like the sales are even bigger than the day after Thanksgiving sales! Many shoppers said “EVERYTHING” was 50% off!

Retailers are saying they are hoping everyone is coming shopping to complete their wish lists and are ready to buy a lot of great deals.

Also, retailers are banking on the fact that everyone will want to use their gift cards right away and spend a lot of money with those.
They are counting on this weekend to help them show a profit for the year instead of a loss.

I would hate to be out at Northlake Mall or Concord Mills Mall here in Charlotte today!

Shopping Malls. Northlake Mall. Southpark Mall. Carolina Place Mall. Concord Mills Mall. Birkdale Village. Charlotte North Carolina. Returns and exchanges. shopping. Gift Cards.

This is what Christmas is all about in Charlotte North Carolina and all over the world. In yesterday’s post I explained why we celebrate Christmas from my perspective. Today I said I was just going to post that first Christmas story from the Bible’s perspective. Enjoy!

Luke 2
1And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Merry Christmas from the Charlotte Home Team!

Christmas. The Bible. Jesus. God. Luke 2.

Tomorrow is Christmas day in Charlotte and everywhere around the world.

It is no secret that our celebration of the Christmas holiday has been commercialized and stolen away from what it was originally meant to celebrate.
Tomorrow (in most homes in America) Christmas will be all about opening presents and worshiping money and stuff.

But the first Christmas was all about worshiping a baby named Jesus. He was the Messiah who had finally come to save the world. He was God in the flesh!

It was a big deal. Poor shepherds came to visit this baby and worship him. Then they left glorifying God and telling everyone about the peace this Messiah would bring!
Wise men/ Magi came from a LONG way away (maybe China) to worship Him and bring Him gifts. Their journey probably took them around two years to get to see Jesus and bring Him those famous expensive gifts.

Ever since, everyone in between the poor shepherds and the rich wise men have worshiped Jesus with whatever they have - whether it be their voices or extravagant possessions.

That is why Christmas is a celebration. Christmas changed the world! God came to be with humans on earth. He became a human Himself.

He had to. Because we (people) had messed things up with God. In fact the whole human race and the whole creation was off kilter from what God had originally created it to be. Someone had to fix it. God had to fix it. That’s what Jesus came to do!

That little baby born on Christmas came to renew, restore, redeem, FIX all of the whole creation! When people put their faith in Jesus as God… when they believe in Him and follow Him He changes their lives and He changes the world!

There is no better time to believe in Jesus than at Christmas whether you live in Charlotte North Carolina or in Bethlehem.

Tomorrow (on Christmas) I will post the Bible’s version of Christmas from Luke 2.

Christmas. Christmas Eve. Charlotte North Carolina. Charlotte. presents. consumerism.

I have already written about GroupOn here in Charlotte North Carolina and how amazing of a deal it can be and how much money you can save on just about any range of things.

Today I am just writing about all the coupons in Charlotte in general.

Christmas is coming up and we could all use some coupons in order to buy some Christmas presents, right? Exactly. Every little bit helps! I have found so many coupons to use!

For example, I saved so much money yesterday using coupons. I had at least three different coupons for $15 dollars off any purchase at three different stores at Northlake Mall. Well, actually one of the stores was at Concord Mills Mall just down the road.

These are just coupons that these stores send in the mail! You should really stay on the lookout for these coupons! I basically went to these three different stores and got $45 dollars worth of free gifts! That’s not a bad deal!

New York and Company is the women’s clothing store in Concord Mills Mall here in Charlotte, North Carolina. I used their coupon for $15 off ANY purchase and bought something absolutely free! Not a bad deal at all.

And at Express there were a few gifts I was going to buy anyway, even without the coupon. So the coupon was also for $30 dollars off a $75 purchase. I had already picked out $50 worth of gifts. Of course I might as well buy something else for $25 (which is what I did) and I got that last item absolutely free! Actually, they paid me $5 dollars to buy that last item!

So, look out for the coupons when you are buying gifts this year! And use all the free ones you can in order to save some money!

Coupons. Charlotte. North Carolina. Northlake Mall. Shopping. Discounts. New York and Company. Victoria’s Secret. Express.

You may be one of the 12 million American’s that’s in trouble with your home today. If so, then don’t despair, there are so many plans available thru the government today that you should be able to hold onto your home.

The new plan that has just rolled out in the past few months is called Making Home Affordable plan, or HAMP for short. How it works: if you house payments are more then 31% of your take home pay then you qualify. That’s it, just have to prove your income and tell your servicer everything you know about yourself. Next they will set you up on a trial payment plan, probably for 3 months up to 6 months. Make these payments on time and your loan will be permanently adjusted to fix your current income.
Well you say I’m unemployed and don’t have any extra money, that’s OK to. Part of the HAMP program if a forbearance that will allow you to not make any payments for a predetermined time, maybe a few months, maybe a year. But your lender and the government wants to work something out for you.
You can also sell your home for much less then you owe. It could be you purchased your home in 2007 at the top of the market and now you home is only worth 40% of what you paid. With a 100% loan back in 2007 that means you have 40% + negative equity in your home. So how could you sell, well your lender knows this also, or will once you fall behind on your loan. So the lender will allow you to sell your home short of what you owe, thus the tern short sale. The reason the lender will accept less the full amount owed is because once your home is foreclosed it will lose another 20 to 25% of its value and of course the lender is on the hook for this additional loss.
Short sales have become the mainstay of real estate in the past 5 years across the US. First in Florida and California, then Arizona and it spread to the Carolina’s the past 2 years. About 35 to 40% of our real estate market is now short sales. So it’s a pretty big thing, right. If you add in the foreclosures we may be at 60% of the market or higher some type of distressed sale.
Our local Multiple Listing Service is trying to make it easy to trac, but only the past few months and many listing are not marked distressed.
Short sales are not only a great way to sell your home when you owe too much, but short sales are great deal if you have a little flexibility and time before you buy.
I’ve included a list of all the mortgage companies and loan servicers working with the HAMP program as of today. Hopefully this list includes your mortgage company, but if not check with me or your servicer and they may of opted in to this government program.
Name Web Site Phone Service Address Fax
Allstate Mortgage Loans & Investments, Inc. http://www.allstateocala.com/ 866-351-0200 P.O. 1201,
Crystal River, FL 34423 352-351-4557
American Eagle Federal Credit Union www.americaneagle.org 800-842-0145 417 Main Street,
East Hartford, CT 06118
860-291-6374
American Home Mortage Servicing, Inc. www.ahmsi3.com 877-304-3100 Attn: HAMP Processing
1525 S. Beltline Road Coppell,
TX 75019
866-452-1837
AMS Servicing, LLC www.ams-servicing.com 866-919-5608 3374 Walden Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14043 716-204-3875
Aurora Loan Services LLC https://www.myauroraloan.com/ 800-550-0508 P.O. Box 1706
2617 College Park
Scottsbluff, NE 69363-1706 866-517-7975
Bank of America, N.A. www.bankofamerica.com/mha/ 800-669-0102 MHA Escalations Unit
P.O. Box 941408
Simi Valley, CA
93094-1408 1-866-261-6472
Bank United http://www.bankunited.com/display.asp?navid=&id=117 877-779-2265
Bay Federal Credit Union
http://www.bayfed.com/lo/mortgage.html 888-422-9333 3333 Clares Street
Capitola, CA 95010 831-479-6027
Bay Gulf Credit Union
http://www.baygulf.com 800-275-4229 3202 W. Waters Ave, Tampa, FL 33614
CTampa, FL 33614 813-932-3470
Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC www.bayviewloanservicing.com 800-457-5105 Attn: Specialized Asset Management
4425 Ponce De Leon Blvd.,
5TH Floor
Coral Gables, FL 33146 305-646-9943 or
877-360-9593
CCO Mortgage
www.ccomortgage.com
800-234-6002 10561 Telegraph Road
Glen Allen, VA 23059 888-777-1631
Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC www.carringtonms.com
888-267-2417 Attention: Home Retention
P.O. Box 54285
Irvine, CA 92619-4285 877-267-1331
Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union www.cfefcu.com 800-771-9411 P.O. Box 958471
Lake Mary, Florida 32795-9814
Attn: Real Estate - HAMP Team 407-893-5727
Central Jersey Federal Credit Union www.cjfcu.org 732-634-0600 380 Berry St
Woodbridge NJ 07095 732-726-8709
Community Bank & Trust Company www.combk.com 125 N. State Street, Clarks Summit, PA 18411
CitiMortgage, Inc. www.mortgagehelp.citi.com 866-915-9417 Citi Ham Trial Agreements
NTSB 1680,
680 Colwell Blvd Irving, TX 75039 866-989-1356
Citizens First Wholesale Mortgage Co. https://www.cfwmortgage.com/ 800-477-1086 560 Fieldcrest Drive
The Villages, FL 32162 352-753-4482
Countrywide Home Loans Servicing LP http://my.countrywide.com/media/hasp.html 800-669-6607 Bank of America Home Loans
MHA Escalations Unit
P.O. Box 941408
Simi Valley, CA 93094-1408 1-866-261-6472
CUC Mortgage Corporation www.cucmortgage.com 800-342-4998 P.O. Box 12670
Albany, NY 12212 N/A
DuPage Credit Union www.dupagecu.com 800-323-2611 Attn: Alternative Loan Solutions
P O Box 3930
Naperville, IL 60567 630-305-6030
EMC Mortgage Corporation http://www.emcmortgagecorp.com 800-723-3004 Regular Mail
Chase/EMC Fulfillment Center
PO Box 293150
Lewisville, TX 75029

Overnight Mail
Chase/EMC Fulfillment Center
2780 Lake Vista Drive
Lewisville, TX 75067 917-849-2677
Farmers State Bank https://farmersstate-oh.com 800-350-2844 11 S. Main St.,
P.O.Box 801,
West Salem, OH 44287 419-853-4730
Fidelity Homestead Savings Bank http://www.fidelityhomestead.com 800-220-2497 201 St. Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA
New Orleans, LA 504-569-3537
First Bank http://www.firstbanks.com 800-760-2265 Attn: HAMP
2030 Sea Level Drive, Ste. 200
Ketchikan, AK 99901 907-228-4421
First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Port Angeles https://www.ourfirstfed.com/home/home 800-800-1577 Attn: Collection Department
PO Box 351
Port Angeles, WA 98362 360-457-5194
First Keystone Bank http://www.firstkeystonebankonline.com 610-892-5163 22 West State Street
Media, PA 19063 610-892-5122
Franklin Credit Management Corporation
http://www.franklincredit.com/
800-255-5897 Attn: Loss Mitigation
101 Hudson Street 25th Floor
Jersey City, NJ 07302 201-839-4545
Glass City Federal Credit Union www.glasscityfcu.com 800-837-3595 1340 Arrowhead Drive
Maumee, OH 43537 419-887-1099
Glenview State Bank www.gsb.com 847-729-1900 800 Waukegan Road,
Glenview, IL 60025 847-832-0175
GMAC Mortgage LLC www.gmacmortgage.com 800-766-4622 2711 North Haskell Ave.,
Suite 900 Dallas, TX 75204 866-709-4744
Great Lakes Credit Union www.glcu.com
800-442-3488
Green Tree Servicing LLC www.gtservicing.com
800-643-0202 7360 S Kyrene Road T214
Tempe, AZ 85283 877-265-9717
Harleysville National Bank & Trust Company http://truebridge.harleysvillebank.com/hnb/home.php?b=24541143-0 888-462-2100 483 Main Street, P.O. Box 195
Harleysville, PA 19438 215-256-4903
Hartford Savings Bank http://www.hartfordsavingsbank.com 800-844-3812 1400 Schauer Drive,
Hartford,WI 53027 262-670-0459
Hillsdale County National Bank www.countynationalbank.com 1-517-439-6121 One South Howell Street
Hillsdale, MI 49242 1-517-437-3151
HomEq Servicing www.homeq.com 877-867-7378 P.O. Box 160248
Sacramento, CA 95816-0248 866- 554-5325
Home Financing Center Inc. www.homefinancingcenter.com 305-777-1171 806 S. Douglas Rd., Suite 580
Coral Gables, FL 33134 305-777-9819
HomeStar Bank and Financial Services www.homestarbank.com 815-468-2265 3 Diversatech Dr.,
Manteno, IL 60950 815-468-2378
Home Loan Services, Inc. www.viewmyloan.com 800-622-5035 Loan Services P.O. Box 1838
Pittsburgh, PA 15230-1838 412-499-3400
Horicon Bank www.horiconbank.com 920-485-3080 ext.7310 326 E Lake Street, PO 126
Horicon, WI 53032 920-485-3059
IBM Southeast Employees Federal Credit Union www.ibmsecu.org 800-873-5100 Attn: Mortgage Modifications
PO Box 2850
Kennesaw GA 30156 678-797-6329
IC Federal Credit Union http://www.iccreditunion.org 800-799-5685 Attn: Judy Kaddy
300 Bemis Road
Fitchburg, MA 01420 978-343-4949
Idaho Housing and Finance Association www.ihfa.org 565 W. Myrtle Street Boise, ID 83702
J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, NA http://mortgage.chase.com/pages/shared/gateway.jsp 866-282-5682 Regular Mail:
PO Box 469030
Glendale, CO 80246

Overnight Mail
Attn: Chase Fulfillment Center
4500 Cherry Creek Drive South
Suite 410
Glendale, CO 80246 866-282-5682
Lake City Bank www.lakecitybank.com
888-522-2265 ATTN: Candy Littl
PO BOX 1387
Warsaw, IN 46581-1387 e 574-267-9128
Lake National Bank www.lakenationalbank.com
440-205-8100
PO Box 1048
Mentor, Ohio
44061-1048 N/A
Litton Loan Servicing www.littonloan.com 800-247-9727 4828 Loop Central Drive
Houston, TX 77081 713-793-4923
Los Alamos National Bank www.lanb.com 800-684-5262 PO Box 60
Los Alamos NM 87544 505-663-4053
Marix Servicing, LLC www.marixservicing.com 623-249-2241 1925 W. Pinnacle Peak Road
Phoeniz, Ax 623-249-2070
Members Mortgage Company, Inc www.membersmortgage.com 800-316-9790 10 Cedar Street, Suite 11
Woburn, MA 01801 781-376-9452
Mission Federal Credit Union www.missionfcu.org 800-500-6328 PO Box 919023
San Diego, CA 92121
Attn: Loss Mitigation 858-546-2058
Metropolitan National Bank https://www.metbank.com/default.asp
866-796-3876 Attn: Mortgage Department
P.O. Box 8010
Little Rock, AR 72203 501-907-8709
MorEquity, Inc. www.morequity.com 800-628-9324 1) PO Box 3788
Evansville IN 47736-9984
2) 601 NW Second Street,
Evansville IN 47708 812-475-7074
Mortgage Center, LLC www.mortgagecuso.com 866-856-3750 20300 Civic Center Dr, # 403
Southfield, MI 48076 248-799-8556
Mortgage Clearing Corporation www.mortgageclearing.com 800-727-9043
National City Bank www.nationalcitymortgage.com 1-800-523-8654 3232 Newmark Drive
Miamisburg, OH 45342 937-910-4009
Nationstar Mortgage LLC www.nationstarmtg.com 888-850-9398 Attn: HAMP
350 Highland Drive
Lewisville, TX 75067
214-488-1993
Oakland Municipal Credit Union www.omcu.com 510-637-6600 250 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza Suite 6301
Oakland , CA 94612 510-238-5227
Ocwen Financial Corporation, Inc. www.ocwen.com 800-746-2936 16661 Worthington Rd STE 100,
West Palm Beach, FL 33409 407-737-6174
OneWest Bank www.owb.com/mymortgage 800-781-7399 Indymac - 1, 2900 Esperanza Crossing
Austin, TX 78758 866-235-2366
ORNL Federal Credit Union www.ornlfcu.com/ 800-676-5328 221 S. Rutgers Avenue Oak Ridge, TN 37830 865-481-5810
PennyMac Loan Services, LLC www.pnmac.com/index.php 866-545-9070 Attn: Karen Denton 27001 Aguora Road, Suite 350
Calabasas, CA 91301
Attn: Karen Denton 818-224-7510
PNC Bank, National Association www.pnc.com 888-762-2265 3232 Newmark Drive
Miamisburg, OH 45342 937-910-4009
Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union www.purdueefcu.org 800-627-3328 P.O. Box 1950
West Layette IN 47996-1950 765-497-7477
Q lending, Inc. www.qlending.com 1-517-439-6121 1 Corporate Drive,
Suite 360
Lake Zurich, IL 60047 847-574-7658
Quantum Servicing Corporation www.quantum-servicing.com 813-371-0254 6302 E. MLK Blvd.,
Suite 300
Tampa, FL 33619 203-447-8001
RG Mortgage Corporation
www.rgmortgage.com/mortgage
888-264-4674 PO Box 362394
San Juan, PR. 00936-2394 787-756-2845
Residential Credit Solutions 800-737-1192 4282 North Freeway
Fort Worth TX 76137 888-775-7250
RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corporation www.rpmservicing.com/ 877-426-8805 P.O. Box 19409
Charlotte, NC 28219-9409 888-364-5558
Saxon Mortgage Services www.saxononline.com 800-594-8422 Saxon Attention: Home Preservation HMP Documentation Department 4708 Mercantile Drive
North Fort Worth, TX 76137 888-240-1885
Schools Financial Credit Union www.schools.org 800-962-0990 C/O Real Estate Department 1485 Response Rd Suite 126
Sacramento CA, 95815 916-569-2047
SEFCU
www.sefcu.com
800-727-3328 700 Patroon Creek Blvd
Albany, NY 12206 518-464-5213
Select Portfolio Servicing www.spservicing.com 888-818-6032 PO BOX:65250
Salt Lake City, UT 84165-0250
3815 S. West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84107 1-801-293-3936
Servis One Inc.,dba BSI Financial Services, Inc www.bsifinancial.com 800-327-7861 Attn: HAMP Department
P.O. Box 517, 314 S. Franklin Street,
Titusville, PA 16354 814-217-1366
ShoreBank www.sbk.com 800-905-7725 Attn: Kenisha Davis
3401 South King Drive,
Chicago, IL 60466 773-420-4501
Silver State Schools Credit Union www.silverstatecu.com 800-357-9654 Attn: Kenisha Davis
4221 S. McLeod Drive,
Las Vegas, NV 89121 702-697-8095
Spirit of Alaska Federal Credit Union www.spiritofak.com 800-478-1949 Attn: Kenisha Davis
1417 Gillam Way, Fairbanks,
AK 99701 907-459-5980
Stanford Federal Credit Union www.sfcu.org 888-723-7328 Attn: Tram Le
1860 Embarcadero Road
Palo Alto, CA 94303 866-743-3151
Sterling Savings Bank www.sterlingsavingsbank.com 800-772-7791 Attn: Tram Le
111 N. Wall,
Spokane, WA 99201 509-624-8038/td>
Technology Credit Union www.techcu.com 800-553-0880 2010 N First Street
San Jose, CA 95131
Attn: LAD 408-453-8742
The Bryn Mawr Trust Company www.bmtc.com 610-687-4268 801 Lancaster Ave.,
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 610-526-5450
The Golden 1 Credit Union www.techcu.com 800-553-0880 8945 Cal Center Drive
Sacramento, CA 95826 408-453-8742
United Bank Mortgage Corporation
www.unitedbankofmichigan.com
800-968-1990
900 East Paris SE, Grand Rapids MI 49546
616-559-4631
U.S. Bank National Association www.usbank.com 888-831-7524 P.O. BOX 20005
OWENSBORO, KY 42304-0005 N/A
Vantium Capital, Inc. http://www.acqura.net 866-660-5804 6500 International Parkway Suite 1500
Plano, Tx 75093 972-444-3356
Verity Credit Union http://www.veritycu.com 800-444-4589 11027 Meridian Ave. N#102,
Seattle, WA 98133 206-361-5300
Wachovia Mortgage, FSB www.wachovia.com 800-922-4684 1000 Blue Gentian Road Suite 300 Eagan MN 55121 1-866-359-7363
Wachovia Bank, NA www.wachovia.com 800-922-4684 1000 Blue Gentian Road Suite 300 Eagan MN 55121 1-866-359-7363
Wells Fargo Bank, NA www.wellsfargo.com/homeassist 800-678-7986 1000 Blue Gentian Road Suite 300 X9999-01N Eagan MN 55121
Eagan MN 55121 866-359-7363
Wescom Central Credit Union www.wescom.org 888-493-7266 5601 E. La Palma Avenue Anaheim, CA 92807 626-535-1357
Wilshire Credit Corporation https://www.wcc.ml.com 888-502-0100 PO Box 8517
Portland, Oregon 97207-8517 888-917-1050
Yadkin Valley Bank www.yadkinvalleybank.com 336-259-6252 PO Box 96
Pfafftown, NC 27040 336-922-9896

We have been talking about Advent Conspiracy in the last few posts.
Yesterday I explained that the four main ideas of Advent Conspiracy are:
Worship Fully
Spend Less
Give More
Love All

Here is the big way we are trying to live out the Advent Conspiracy this year in Charlotte North Carolina (and around the world).
We are aware that unclean water is the BIGGEST killer in the world. Not having clean water kills more people than anything else! And around one billion people on our planet do not have access to clean drinking water. So they get diseases and die.
5,000 CHILDREN under the age of five die every day because of drinking unclean water. That is one child every fifteen seconds dying from unclean water.

Advent Conspiracy partners with an organization called Living Water International. Living Water specializes in building clean water wells in villages that have no clean water and helping the villagers keep the well running and maintained.

They can build a well for only around $5,000 in most parts of the world and rebuild a non working well for only $3,000. This is not a lot of money for saving lives.

Actually it would only take $10 billion dollars to give every single person on earth clean water! I know that sounds like a lot, but Americans alone spend $450 billion on Christmas every single year! That is insane to me. Just in our country we spend 45 times more money on Christmas gifts than it would take to give everyone in the whole world clean water.

So what if we spent money a little different at Christmas.

Advent Conspiracy. Christmas. CNN. CNN Headline News. Churches. Living Water International.

Yesterday I was writing about Advent Conspiracy getting a lot of coverage on CNN Headline News and Yahoo and things like that, but we never talked about what Advent Conspiracy actually IS.

Advent Conspiracy was started by three pastors (who we talked about in the last post) in 2006. It is a movement that is seeking to be a conspiracy during the advent season. The Advent season is the four weeks leading up to Christmas.

It is such a conspiracy because it is going against what the normal perception of Christmas is here in the West. Much of Christmas here in the West is completely overtaken by consumerism!
But Christmas is really a celebration of Jesus being born. We are remembering and celebrating one of the greatest things that ever happened in our world = when God Himself became a man and came to earth so He could later die to save us!

But we have reduced that amazing celebration to a stack of presents that we usually spend too much money on and go in to debt to buy.

Advent Conspiracy suggests a different and more “radical” way of celebrating Christmas! It is built on four major ideas:
Worship Fully
Spend Less
Give More
Love All

And everyone who is a part of Advent Conspiracy are telling you that if we can practice these four things and live out the Advent Conspiracy then Christmas CAN still change the world… just like it did 2,000 years ago when Jesus came that first Christmas!

In the next (and probably final post) about Advent Conspiracy I will explain how those four things work out practically.

Advent Conspiracy. Christmas. CNN. CNN Headline News. Churches.