July 2007

Message: a Conversation with Bono

Worship set:
“Love the Lord” by Lincoln Brewster (All To You….Live)
“Our Love Is Loud” by David Crowder Band (Can You Hear Us?)
“Friend of God” by Michael Gungor and Israel Houghton (various arrangements)

today was awesome. we showed the video interview that bill hybels did with bono for the leadership summit ‘06. i was so glad that our people got to hear the simple, pure, christian faith of bono and the motivation behind all of his tireless work for justice around the world.

i have to admit, i too, in the past, have been guilty of chalking bono’s faith up to some pseudo-christian, hodge-podge spirituality. if that’s your impression, you’ve got to check out this DVD. but he’s the real deal. he came across as very genuine. very challenging interview.

makes me proud of what our church is doing through our DRIVE journey. bringing the tangible good news of the resurrection of jesus to people at home and around the world, and helping to usher in the kingdom of god in a big way in small places. things like this.

one more thing about the service today…..the turningpointe students (high schoolers) were freshly back from a week of camp at CIY. They were en masse taking up a good portion of the center section seats. obviously pumped up and ready to worship. they lead worship today as much as me and the band did, no doubt! their enthusiasm was contagious!

….in short, was great fun. i was glad to see so many people participating in the various creative outlets that were offered. painting, sculpture, a bean mosaic, graffiti wall, poetry, and of course music. i suspect that god stretched some people out of familiar patterns and methods of worshipping him. and that was the goal - connecting the created with the Creator….

speaking of music, nathan fancher and band did a great job leading worship. i always enjoy playing with those guys. inspiring. chris and the turningpointe students did a great job as well.

this was a first experiment in this type of environment for crosspointe. i hope we’ll do it again.

i hope to post some pictures and maybe even video soon.

crosspointe church is in our first year of a 3 year financial and spiritual journey called DRIVE. among other initiatives, we are partnering with the haitian children’s home in jacmel. we are providing monthly support for the 20 kids that live there.

this week, our lead pastor, jonathan, and associate pastor, steve and his wife kristi, are visiting the home. they are building relationships, and dreaming about more specific ways for crosspointe to partner with them.

a very cool story….the guys ended up having to stay at a nearby hotel instead of at the home as they had originally planned. they worked it out with the staff at the hotel to close down the pool for a morning and allow the 20 kids from the orphanage to experience their first EVER pool party. such a small thing that we take for granted here, but an amazing gift and joy for the kids. you can see some pictures here.

again, i love our church.

series: rethink
message: rethinking you

worship set:
“all over the world” by matt redman (passion ‘05: how great is our god)
“let the praises ring” by lincoln brewster (all to you…live)
“sing to the king” by billy foote (no recording)

communion:
“jesus paid it all” by kristian stanfill (passion ‘06: everything glorious)

not really, but i did have an interesting thought today while scrubbing my choppers.

i had already brushed my teeth once so as to avoid knocking darby out when i picked her up out of her crib. about an hour later, as i was getting ready to leave to meet my friend chris, i decided to brush again because i noticed some nasty crap on my teeth.

the thought occured to me that i have made it a habit to brush my teeth regularly because i’ve decided that it’s important to my health. i like my teeth and i want to have them stay in my head for as long as possible. i’ve tried several different methods of teeth brushing over the years - both to keep it fresh, but also to find the method that is most effective for me at removing any unwanted colors from my teeth. colors are great, but when it comes to teeth, i’ll choose white every time.

were i ever to get into a philisophical debate about the importance of teeth brushing i would defend it vehemently.

hang with me….

brushing my teeth has become routine, which isn’t all bad. we make many important things part of a routine.

the problem comes when it becomes so routine that i do it mindlessly, forgetting the compelling reason that i made it become habit in the first place. before long, i have no intensity in my brushing. i’m thinking about something else while mindlessly whipping the brush around my mouth aimlessly. no thought of whether or not i’m getting that nasty plaque out of there.

i guess all i’m trying to say is that every once in awhile you need to get back in touch with the purpose of brushing your teeth. to be reminded of its importance to your overall health.

“when you have tomsitis, every time you see a child you want to give them a pair of shoes.” –Blake Mycoskie, founder of Tom’s Shoes

what a ridiculously simple idea….for every pair of shoes bought, a pair is given to a child in need.

check out the 2 minute promo video.

awesome. my wife, c.c., has already picked out a pair for her and a pair for darby. i’m wondering if i can pull off the striped ones.

we need more creativity and initiative like this in the kingdom. bravo, blake!

(ht: jon mcclarnon)

series: rethink
message: rethinking the church

worship music set:
“majestic” by lincoln brewster (all to you…live)
“all because of jesus” by steve fee (burn for you)
“glorious one” by steve fee (northpoint live)
“everlasting god” by lincoln brewster (let the praises ring: best of…)

chris mills and the band led worship today. way to go guys! my fellow pastors will appreciate this: i was able to drive to the church and attend with my wife and daughter today! she made it 20 minutes in her toddler room before a complete meltdown.

message thoughts: rethinking the church. not about a place or a weekly event, but rather a people or a group (ekklesia) that’s marked by their common mission to follow jesus’ example. to live the way of jesus. steve challenged us each to consider the question, “what does you mean when you think about becoming a member of a church? what are you joining?”

“flow” in worship is hard to define. it’s one of those things you don’t notice until it’s not there.

thematic flow

the guys at community christian church in illinois talk about the “big idea”. at the end of the service, what’s the one simple and practical thing that you want people to take with them when they leave? the “one thing”. worship and programming should start by relating to where people are, move them to a place where they’re ready to hear the one thing. ideally, the music, programming, message, etc. all work together to inspire and motivate someone to act on the one thing.

musical flow

is each song in a different key, or are you able to string two or more songs together in the same key for seamless musical transitions? how different is the tempo between the current song and the next one? do we have to downshift too abruptly? what’s the emotional impact of this song, and does the next song begin in a tone that honors that moment?

when thematic flow and musical flow clash Read the rest of this entry »

wow…this is one of the saddest and most beautiful things i’ve seen in awhile…..

this is the young@heart chorus. the soloist is Fred Knittle, who suffers from congestive heart failure. this song was intended to be a duet between Fred and another chorus member, Bob Salvini. sadly, Bob died of a heart attack and it was left to Fred to carry the song on his own.

first of all, the song itself touched something emotionally in me the very first time i heard it. even though i don’t know coldplay’s intended specific meaning of the song, it expresses pain, regret, longing and hope in a powerful and beautiful way.

but then adding in the story of fred and bob and watching this chorus of elderly people putting their heart into the song just caps it off.

enjoy…..

Watch the video here.

i recently took a risk and introduced a worship song that our creative team had reservations about. the main concern was that the song was a little “young” stylistically for our crowd. with that in mind, we decided to give it a go anyway. honestly, i thought that people might be a bit hesitant, but that they’d come around. well….you win some, you lose some, right? Read the rest of this entry »

series: rethink
message: rethinking the man upstairs

“we are hungry” by brad kilman (hodge-podge arrangement)
“the time has come” by hillsong united (united we stand)
“o praise him” by david crowder band (illuminate)
“how great thou art” traditional hymn

so….if you have trouble continuing to believe in God it may be because the god that was passed on to you doesn’t really exist. wow, steve really helped us chase down where we get our picture of god, most often referred to as “the man upstairs,” then gave us permission to throw that picture out in favor of Yahweh (I am what I am). good stuff. i like my church. i like that i like my church.

Generous Artist

…according to the personal dna test. i have to say it was a very interesting test. some of the questions are similar to other personality tests i’ve taken in the past. but the format was cool - sliders, plotting a point on two axis-es (axi?), etc.

read more about my profile here

take the test!

(HT: anne jackson)

i’m just recently becoming aware of writer, blogger, anne jackson. she’s got guts to write so openly about her life and experiences. in addition to writing articles for relevant magazine, church marketing sucks and several other online publications, she blogs at www.flowerdust.net, where you can get a good view into her brain. i’ve found several thought-provoking posts there recently.

anne’s currently writing a book, “mad church disease”. besides being a brilliant title, it looks as though it will be one of those books that opens the door on an often ignored topic in christian leadership circles - the effects of ministry burnout on leaders and families. the effects are subtle at first, but if left unchecked can become devastating.

the coolest part is how she’s going about writing the book. before ever going to a publisher, she’s hoping to demonstrate to them how important this topic is - not just to herself, but to other church and ministry leaders.

so here’s where we come in. whether you are involved in vocational church ministry, or you are a spouse or family member of someone in vocational ministry, you can fill out an anonymous online survey. the results will be used to help shape the content of the book, but also to sell the idea to potential publishers.

if you’re interested in checking it all out and possibly participating, you can read more by clicking on the banner above.

guest speaker: craig gross, founder of xxxchurch.com

“i am free” by desperation band (from the rooftops)
“salvation is here” by hillsong united (look to you)

performance song - “what i’ve done” by linkin park (minutes to midnight)