Man - what a great day yesterday was! I'd been pumped & looking forward to the worship time for a good month - ever since Phillip had asked me to fill in for him leading worship on that day. It was so much fun! I told the guys in the praise team/band that it was such a privilege to even be asked to lead worship at Gladeville & then to be able to play with such a high caliber of musicians just topped it all off!

I think it really hit me during the third, and final, service. I was in the middle of the worship set & was remembering how it had felt 2 1/2 years ago when I led worship in a large worship setting the last time. I was used to leading worship in the 6 1/2 years I was in Kansas, as I was the worship leader & student pastor. The last Sunday we were in Coffeyville I can still remember walking off of the stage wondering if I would ever be in a position to lead worship like that again.

Because of the direction that God has taken us, I really never expected to be able to have that privilege again. What a blessing to be given this opportunity at GBC!

Okay, let me preface this by saying that I'm not a morality policeman typically when it comes to television, movies, media, etc. I think most people are smart enough for themselves to make up their minds about what they should/shouldn't watch/listen to, etc. I'm basically a morality policeman when it comes to my children. So, part of this opinion is based on the fact of protecting your own children. The other part is purely reactionary thoughts...

We like to watch TV. We don't do it necessarily that often - in fact, one of the reasons we love TiVo so much is because it affords us the ability to watch what we want, when we want. Each year we 'try out' a few new shows if we feel like they are worth watching. One such series that premiered this fall that we didn't initially watch was Heroes on NBC. We began to hear good things about it, however, and decided to download the first few episodes to watch & see if we wanted to start watching it.

We did just that - watching the pilot episode this weekend. Very intriguing series. I'm a hook for pretty much anything science fiction & still love the idea of superheroes/comics, etc. depicted on the small screen or big screen. So Heroes appeared to be right up my alley. We were hooked by the story from the first episode. Then came the second episode.

Continue reading "Must Not See TV" »

Here are the links from our Voices conversation on Erwin McManus, pastor of Mosaic in Los Angeles:

• "Diversity: Far More Than You Can Imagine" article
• "Cultivating Creativity" article
• Catalyst Monthly eNewsletter (where articles came from
• Mosaic in LA (church where Erwin pastors)
• Mosiac Podcasts

Story about Jason McElwain, the autistic basketball player mentioned in the "Cultivating Creativity" article by Erwin McManus (as told during halftime of one of the 06 NBA Finals games):

Ha! Great new Mac ad speaking to the fact of the ease of video editing on a Mac vs. a PC (following-up with my post from last week)...

As promised, here are the links to the various Mark Driscoll blog posts, as well as misc Mars Hill Church links:

• "Vintage Jesus" blog post
• "Father, Son, Spirit... or... Rock, Paper, Scissors" blog post
• The Resurgence
• Mars Hill Church
• Mars Hill Church Media Library (links to podcasts)

This takes me back to my days on the drum line in high school...

I've had a Mac for right at 8 months now. Being a technology kind of guy I've heard over the years Mac people spouting how much better, how much easier their Macs were compared to our PC counterparts. Honestly, I didn't take much stock in those arguments & chalked them up to a marketing ploy.

Let me just say this: I was wrong!

Now, before you jump ship too quickly I think PCs are okay - especially for those who are totally immersed in the business PC world. However, if you have a choice & you're looking for a great, easy to use, works out of the box, does what I want kind of computer - Mac is definetely the way to go. I'm already planning on replacing my home PC with a Mac in the future.

To give just one example...

I've been around video editing & production for over a decade now. I've got an associate's degree in television technology & production and have been dabbling in multimedia throughout my adult life. Video production on a PC has been a great source of pain over that time. Mac? Simple. Really simple.

Continue reading "PC: The Bane of Video Editing" »

Have I ever told you how sweet my children are?

Si recently worked very hard to write Chris and I a note in code. I was instructed to hold it up to the mirror to read it. It said: "Thank you for taking good care of me all the years. I love you, Si" He's 8. He has the concept of what 'caring for' means and some concept of caring for someone over time and he is thankful... and he's only 8. Amazing to me. Precious.

On the way home one night we stopped by Wal-Mart. I was going to run in to pick up a couple of things we needed while Chris and the kids waited in the van. "No, Mom," Micah protested, "I want to buy something with my birthday gift card." He still had some money on it from last winter and Chris and I tried to explain that I was only going to run in and run out - he could shop some other time. "No, Mom. I want to buy something for you. I want to buy you some flowers." "Honey," I started, "you don't need to spend your birthday money on me. That money was given to you for you to spend..." "Please, Mom?" he pleaded. I look at Chris and and he whispers, "If he wants to spend his money on you, let him." We both sense an important moment here. "Alright - let's go." We hopped out of the van, went straight inside and made a beeline (excuse the pun) for the flowers close to the front door. He picked out some pink alstroemeria lilies that were on 'manager's discount', we grabbed our other items and headed for checkout. He beamed. I melted. We got in the van. More beaming. The next day at home I mentioned again how much I liked the flowers he had bought me. He replied, "Yeah, well, girls like pink. And girls like flowers. So I knew you'd like these." He was right.

It's been awhile since I posted any new music recommendations. I've gotten several pre-releases that are really good. The first is the debut album by Brandon Heath entitled "Don't Get Comfortable." Excellent album! I especially like "Steady Now," "Simple Man," & "I'm Not Who I Was" (my favorite). Check him out...

• Official Artist Site (brandonheath.net)
• Brandon Heath MySpace (myspace.com/brandonheath)

Another good album I've been listening to lately is "Twentysomething" by Jamie Cullum. This was a purchase for me, which should say something since I don't buy a lot of albums nowadays. This is the debut release from Jamie, a throwback mix of pop & jazz from the UK singer/songwriter. He actually has a newer album out, but I liked the mixture on his first album & it got such great reviews I thought I'd grab it instead. Check him out...

• Official Artist Site (jamiecullum.com)
• Jamie Cullum MySpace (myspace.com/jamiecullum)