9.27.2007

Lending Library

I'm officially announcing the the youth ministries lending library. I've been thinking of this for some time. I've never been happy with my options for getting new and great music to youth to hear and not wind up just freely distributing it. Not looking to debate that issue...
Here's what I've decided: I will make available a list the discs available (most likely on the website). Youth will check out the disc.
I have set up a listening station for our after school program. It is getting some use.
I'll also be posting the library catalog here.

9.26.2007

I love...

I was thining about updating the post where I mentioned I could live without my iPod. I still assert I can live with or without my 80 gig iPod. But if it were 160 gigs...it might be indespensible!

9.20.2007

There is nothing new...

Exceprts from an article written by Will Willimon in 1995. I appreciated it's relevance to our current situation today and I repost some of it to to promote thought.



I’m a mainline-liberal-Protestant-Methodist-type Christian. I know we’re soft on Scripture. Norman Vincent Peale has exercised a more powerful effect on our preaching than St. Paul. Listen to us on Sunday, and Leo Buscaglia or Mr. Rogers’s Neighborhood may come to mind before you think of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.
Do you know how disillusioning it has been for me to realize that many of these selfproclaimed biblical preachers now sound more like liberal mainliners than liberal mainliners? At the very time those of us in the mainline, old-line, sidelined were repenting of our pop psychological pap and rediscovering the joy of disciplined biblical preaching, these "biblical preachers" were becoming "user friendly" and "inclusive," taking their homiletical cues from the "felt needs" of us "boomers" and "busters" rather than the excruciating demands of the Bible.
I know why they do this. After all, we mainline-liberal-experiential-expressionists played this game before the conservative-evangelical-reformed-orthodox got there. It all starts with American Christians wanting to be helpful to the present order, to be relevant (as the present order defines relevance). We so want to be invited to lunch at the White House or at least be interviewed on “Good Morning America.” So we adjust our language to the demands of the market, begin with the world and its current infatuations rather than the Word and its peculiar judgments on our infatuations.
Pat Robertson has become Jesse Jackson. Randall Terry of the Nineties is Bill Coffin of the Sixties. And the average American knows no answer to human longing or moral deviation other than legislation.
Again, I ought to know. We played this game before any Religious Right types were invited to the White House. Some time ago I told Jerry Falwell to his face that I had nothing against him except that he talked like a Methodist. A Methodist circa 1960. Jerry was not amused.
When you have to come to a Methodist for a biblical sermon, that’s pitiful.

9.15.2007

God 101

I'm sitting in my office waiting for Rob Byers to arrive. I met Rob almost 14 years ago. He is one of the most unique people I've ever met. Hands down, he is the greatest example of unselfishly serving God that I have met.
Rob has several ministries. The one he will share in our service is one of light and color. Simply amazing!

Rob does these presentations pretty much anytime, anywhere. God calls and he goes.
You need to ask me some time about Rob. They are good stories.
But most of all Rob has a great gift he uses for God.

Update: Rob painted for our contemporary worship the next day. A tremendous blessing. Check him out.

9.09.2007

Worship Imagery

I left worship today simply in awe of God. I know all credit goes to God for arranging the service in such a way it would speak meaningfully to me. However, Todd does does his fair share to help me get to that place. BUt his is because Todd consistantly is working to create in the room a true sense of worship.

Pastor Carol preached from Jeremiah 18. She ran a youtube clip while preaching. I had seen the clip at least five times in the last 12 hours trying to figure out how to get a quality image. I failed. Todd ran it from youtube.

I mentioned the things that grabbed near the end of service. My hope was to show a genuine response from me and encourage others to do the same. Here's what grabbed me:

The images of the clay being stretched in the youtube clip. How easily it yeilded. How slow I can be to respond. I may not be called to explore unexplored areas like Merriweather Lewis, but God does demand that we grow. What a great image. How painful for the clay.

Todd followed talking about lifting our hands as a sign of our need for mercy. I remembered seeing Mike Warnke in 1989. He did a bit name "Did I do good Daddy?". The moment that I have never forgotten was that of Warnke playing a child, hurting and wrong. He raised his arms up and said, "Daddy, hold me." A powerful moment. Todd tapped into that sentiment today before leading us in "From The Rooftops" (not the Desperation Band song...a Todd Wright? I'm Stumped.).

My brain gets easily side tracked. While singing "From The Rooftops" the thought of the song "Tradition" popped into my head. I attribute this to (1)the word rooftop and (2) Todd mentioning breaking out and worshiping God. Needless to say lots of great stuff in regards to the law and grace...yada yada yada.


It was a good morning.

9.04.2007

I gotta admit...

I'm not a fan of pranks, games or jokes that make a "victim" of anyone. I do appreciate a well thought out scheme. I just haven't yet decided if the scheme targeted football fass of me.

I gotta admit this is funny:

I gotta get a new ministry model...


iTodd

Todd recently posted about his dad's mp3 player and looked at some pros and cons of the iPod.
I was given my iPod as an early father's day present this year. Sure, I love the convenience of having 5000 songs with me at all time. But I gotta tell ya, I still prefer Windows Media Player over iTunes. I've had 2 gigs of storage on my smartphone for years. WMP is easier to navigate. With iTunes, I've experienced lock ups, errors in connecting, massive management of my library to be functional for me. Yeah, I know that some of this has been the fact I'm an idiot. You click the "sink only the selected playlist" button and iTunes will remove everything but 4 Non Blondes "What's Up" and "Beauitful" sung Christina Aguilera, written by Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes (another story).
I just want to prepare you for the inevitable shift that will occur. I faced the horrific reality in 1993. The year I moved from Apple to PC.
Brace yourself. You too may be standing face to face with this fact: as stinkin’ cool as Apple is, others will find ways to eat into their market share. Apple is smart enough to say, “this is who we are”. Apple knows it can’t compete with Adobe Photoshop. They can not do it better. They don’t try.The advantage the other guys have is Microsoft. Although Bill Gates doesn’t play well with others the door is open for anyone to stand on the shoulders of the Microsoft giant. I happen to like this fact. Microsoft has been forced over the years to innovate and improve (yeah, yeah sometimes it was a judge that made them do it). Don’t get me wrong. At this moment I want a Mac Power Book. I sit here frustrated with my IBM ThinkCentre (see the “re”? it’s artsy too!). But, life was good before my iPod. I’m pretty sure I’d live a quality life without it.