Sex God Book Tour

From Nooma.com:

Friends of NOOMA,

We wanted to let you know that we are going to be a part of an upcoming book tour for Rob Bell and his new book, Sex God. In several different cities across the US, we’ll be premiering NOOMA 015 You during the months of February and March. In addition to the NOOMA, Rob will be hosting Q&A sessions in these cities near local universities.

Even though this is not a NOOMA sponsored premiere, we thought you would want to know about these events. If you are interested in checking it out, more information about the tour can be found on www.NOOMA.com or www.sexgodtour.com .

*UPDATE*

"Praying With The Church, January, 2007" has been updated.

Walk the Line

We recently held a Small Group Leader training session at our church, and one of the ideas that we rolled out was using movies as discussion starters. I realize that for some of you that may not seem like rocket science but it was a very energizing session for most of our group. As a teaser for the idea, we watched a clip from “Walk the Line”; it was the scene where Johnny Cash was asked if he was dying and could sing one song, what would it be. That scene is so powerful, and we spent almost 20 minutes generating and capturing ideas, thoughts, comments, questions, etc. from just that one scene. Really good stuff!

In closing out our training session, we spent some time brainstorming a list of movies that fit the description of what my friend Jennifer calls “God haunted.” A partial list of what we came up with was Elizabethtown; An Unfinished Life; The Truman Show; The Matrix; and O Brother Where Art Thou (which shouldn’t surprise you if you know me at all!). Before we closed, our youth leader was stoked to share a web resource, and I threw out www.hollywoodjesus.com as well. As I said, it was a really great time of stretching and encouragement among our small group leaders.

But after the class, I spent some more time rolling around “Walk the Line.” And not even so much about the movie, exactly, but rather, about the idea of walking a line. How every day, we live in a tension between being in the world, but not of the world. How do we reach the world if we don’t go to the world? And how do we go to the world without becoming like the world? Is there a balance point? Is it a thin line that we walk?

And if you really want to smoke your brain, watch the scene in the movie that I mentioned above, and honestly ask yourself about your passions. What gets you out of bed in the morning? What is that one thing that God put you here on this earth to do? Can you look in the mirror and say that you’re doing it? Wow. I’m feeling the tension between knowing and doing – I can actually sense that I’m getting a little tense – just as I sit here typing.

Let me close with this thought: That the tension we feel in this life is a good thing. It reminds us that we’re alive, and that we are growing more and more into the person that God desires us to be. Jesus lived in tension, as he loved a world that rejected him enough to die for it. He was revered as a teacher, and scourged as a blasphemer. He was worshipped as a king, and spit upon by those that rejected him.

And daily, he walked the line. May we answer his call to follow.

MSN’s Artist of the Year 2006

The David Crowder Band has beat out INXS, Prince, Christina Aguilera and Kenny Chesney to win the title of MSN's Artist of the Year for 2006.

Who says the keytar is dead? Ya, we're diggin' Dave.

Death By Meeting

Mark Batterson posted some excellent thoughts today on Meeting Effectiveness. The whole post is certainly worth taking a look at, but in particular, here are his 5 Keys:

#1 Start Every Meeting by Sharing Wins! This puts you in a positive frame of mind. Don't under celebrate what God is doing!

#2 Do an occasional Offsite Meeting: Change of Pace + Change of Place = Change of Perspective

#3 Don't talk corporately about what can be handled individually! If you talk about something that not everybody needs to know about you're wasting their time. And the larger your staff the more time you're wasting!

#4 Cut Your Agenda in Half. The more you talk about the less you accomplish!

#5 Make sure everything you talk about lands on a to-do list. Make sure someone is responsible for everything you talk about or it'll end up on the next meeting agenda and cause twice the frustration!

The Racquetball Trick

Doh! Check out his mad skills . . .

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gXLSikl8xSk

Final Destination - Grand Rapids

I posted a few weeks ago about the road trip that Mark Hardman, Guy Mundy and I took to see Rob Bell deliver the "Everything Is Spiritual" teaching in Grand Rapids, MI. I just got a couple of pix from that trip that I thought I'd throw at you.

Three tired, slightly goofy guys.

Rob Bell, before blowing our minds.

ONE

I was talking with a friend last night, and he mentioned the white bracelet I wear on my wrist. He said he had clicked the link on my blog and checked out the ONE Campaign, and wanted to order some bracelets. A very simple way for money to be raised to respond to a very serious issue -- global poverty. It's almost second nature for us to say, "What difference can one person make, anyway?" Here's what I am starting to believe. When one person locks arms with one other person, they are stronger. When those two lock arms with others, the chain grows. But it all begins with ONE.

I'm going to give my friend a bracelet, but I also want to encourage him -- and you -- to visit the home of the ONE Campaign. Check out who has signed on in support -- look past the famous actors and actresses to the organizations. And give a thought to signing the Declaration yourself, and ordering some bracelets or T-shirts. Order knowing that the money will go to Make Poverty History.

It's the power of One.

Manifesto for 2007

Mark Batterson is the pastor at National Community Church in Washington, DC. His blog, evotional.com, is a great place to catch a glimpse of what goes through the head of a leader of a progressive church.

Mark also recently released a book entitled In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day. For more about the book, check here. I've read it, and have been impacted by it as have several folks that I know personally. Batterson just wrapped up a sermon series based on the themes in his book, and in concluding, posted what he calls his (and hopefully ours as well!) Manifesto for 2007. I thought it was worth sharing -- enjoy!

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Grab life by the mane. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!

The Way I See It #185

"A valuable lesson I've learned from making music is to never let anyone intimidate me. Every student, celebrity, CEO and math teacher in the world has experienced love, loneliness, fear and embarassment at some point. To understand this is to level an often very lopsided playing field."

~ Anna Nalick, singer-songwriter

I was sitting in the Bedford, IN Starbucks, sipping a Cinnamon Dolce Latte, as I watched my daughter Michaela and her friend Madison drinking their hot chocolates. What was so interesting to watch were their creations. They had pads of paper and began by designing clothes, and soon moved on to drawing the homes that they would live in with their families some day. Creativity was hanging heavy in the air, to be sure! Reading Anna Nalick's words led me to realize that neither of these two girls were intimidated, nor did they seem constrained in their drawing. They were "letting it fly" and to them, it was all good. No one was drawing boxes around them in an effort to constrain them. No one asked them to stay in the lines, because they were creating their own lines. My bud Guy Mundy is always pointing me back to Ralph Waldo Emerson, who speaks of a "mute music" that only some can hear. Two little girls were making music tonight, and didn't care if anyone but them heard it. It was a beautiful concert, and I was glad to have a front row seat.

But I thought a little deeper about the quote on my cup, and realized that love, loneliness, fear and embarassment are all parts of the human experience. We all share these things - and more - in common, on some level, at some time, to some degree. Nalick's consideration of this sharedness that we all experience helped her to create passionately. You can tell when people are doing that, I think. When their passions overflow, and can't be contained any longer, and manifest themselves in creativity. That is the magic of art I suppose.

I'm learning to see passionate creativity - the creativity that overflowed into Creation when God breathed - in His people. It's hard, because my first reaction is to typically not want to engage other people. But I can't be intimidated either, and must celebrate what makes them "them." And in doing so, maybe I will be making some mute music, and maybe it will be a concert played before a God who finds great joy in the fusion of the physical and the spiritual that I am becoming.

That's The Way I See It, anyway.

Feed the Hungry

By now, I'm sure you've seen the stories running on CNN of military helicopters performing "hay drops" to the thousands of stranded cattle in the Colorado area. Taking care of God's creation is a noble thing, so please don't hear me knock these efforts. I mean, you all know I love steak, right? But a small voice inside of me wants to ask, "Why do we efficiently and quickly respond to stranded cattle, while Katrina left people - human beings - in desperate conditions while we figured out who should respond and how they should do it?"




Makes me scratch my head a little.

Fighting Fat With Faith

While I don't totally agree with this guys article, it is interesting that even in an age of elliptical machines and treadmills, some people realize that we are not in this alone. There is more than a physical hunger in our world!

Praying With the Church, January 2007

As an elder of Tulip Street Christian Church, I have the privilege of praying for God’s people who gather there, as well as for needs in our community as they arise. I want to begin posting these concerns monthly (updating the post for each month as requests are received), and ask that as you read them, you would join with the great cloud of witnesses that comprise the Kingdom, and make these prayers your own. Simply mouthing the words “Lord, hear our prayers” will be our collective offering of unity under the name of Jesus. May we pray boldly . . .

Deb Brothers – Mark Lindsey has bile duct problems. Lord, hear our prayers.
Mary Callahan – Jolen Yeary and Mariah- Mariah is doing better but Mom, Talea, now has a serious health problem. Lord, hear our prayers.
Ken Delaney – His daughters’ salvation. Lord, hear our prayers.
John Ferrell – My family, especially my grandfather. Also, the Dale Foddrel family (house fire took the life of his wife). Lord, hear our prayers.
Sally Miller – Bobbi Shank is an elementary teacher at Eastern Greene who is undergoing radiation 5 days a week for a brain tumor. Lord, hear our prayers.
Danny Powell – My mom, Mary Powell. Lord, hear our prayers.
Brooke Roll – Josh Roll to come to church. Lord, hear our prayers.
Georgia Slaughter – Richard Reed, who is in the final stages of lung cancer. Lord, hear our prayers.
Bob Thayer – My daughter, Barbara; My daughter Charlotte and her family. Lord, hear our prayers.
Angie Williams – God is Good! Lord, hear our prayers.
Susie Hamilton - Jack Leary, heart attack – surgery; doing OK now; Mary Jane Hamilton – pacemaker installed and doing well; Mildred Slinker is very ill; Connie Mathews battling cancer. Beverly Hartwig had open heart surgery (now in critical condition). Lord, hear our prayers.
Mark Hardman - Mary Lou Harris & Cindy Zajac – cancer in both cases. Lord, hear our prayers.
Jeanna Hill – Our entire family’s spirits to be lifted. A praise: My Dad was baptized last week! Lord, hear our prayers.

Janet Tummers - Our oldest son Michael is leaving for basic training; he will be gone 19 weeks. Please pray for him as well as his wife; they have a 2 ½ yr old and are expecting their 2nd child in May. Lord, hear our prayers.

Bob Zile - Alexander with the chicken pox. Lord, hear our prayers.

Kim Chastain - College students traveling this week. Lord, hear our prayers.

Dawn Lee - Derek – suppose to be leaving Afghanistan end of Feb – maybe March. Please pray for God’s continual protection. Lord, hear our prayers.

Meredith Thacker - Baby is due soon, but is breech and needs to turn - Update: The baby has turned! Lord, hear our prayers.

Samantha Johnson -- My family. Lord, hear our prayers.

Alleen Recker - Donna Conley. Lord, hear our prayers.

Theresa Banks - Sylvia Jewell. Lord, hear our prayers.

Ashlee Bush - the Dale Foddrel family (house fire took the life of his wife). Lord, hear our prayers.

Jodi Mundy - That the Holy Spirit would open hearts and touch lives at the Ladies Dinner on Friday night. Lord, hear our prayers.

Blaize Edwards - His father is in the hospital. Lord, hear our prayers.

Dale Holt - His mother is ill, and in a weakened condition. Lord, hear our prayers.

Luke Kimmel - Next steps in mission/ministry work. Lord, hear our prayers.

Happy New Year!

Wow. It kinda stuns me a bit to type this: "2007." Seems pretty weird to me. Ya know when you're a kid, and an old dude says, "You just wait -- before you know it, you'll be _____ (fill in the blank with graduated, married, a parent, retired, etc.). Well, I'm at a place in my life where I can say that I fully agree with the prophecies of the old dude. Time is flying by like crazy. Again, wow.

Mark Waltz, on his excellent blog, posted 20 Ways to Look for God in '07. His list is pretty awesome, and I want to encourage you to lay hold of it and make it your own. It may need tweaked a bit here and there to reflect your current station in life, but capture the essence of what he's getting at, and I promise that 2007 will be a year full of life in Christ for you.

That's the best resolution that any of us could make, or need to make, when we strip it all down to what's truly important -- May 2007 be a year full of life in Christ for each of us!

Happy New Year!

Michael