The Bible...interactive and beautiful

I've read my share of online Bible but LifeChurch's new Bible Reader is amazing. Head on over there and check it out...I am.

NT Wright

I love chewing on some good theological thought. I have yet to read NT Wright but plan on it soon. And here's why...he tackles some of the most important questions of the faith with rigorous honesty. Here's a bit from his book on biblical authority from friend's blog. Looking forward to some good reading soon.

Easter at Four Corners

OK...a little late (a trend I have made fashionable as of late) but Easter at Four Corners was amazing! We began a new series called "Align" about some of the critical choices we all can make to transform our lives. Ben talked about how the risen Jesus offers us the chance to transform the way we do life in our job, families, and relationships. All of it wrapped in a hilarious 80's motif with songs each week (this week was "Everyone is Working for the Weekend" by Loverboy) and a montage of various 80's TV Shows, commercials and what not.

We also had another helicopter drop but handled it very differently when it came to marketing. We did NO outside marketing...no newspaper, no radio, no press releases like we did with the Halloween event. Instead we asked our people to live out one of Four Corners values...invite and invest. And did they ever...over 740 people showed up! It was our largest service ever! Better than that though were the amount of people back this week to attend again. God is doing something!

Review :: Rocket Science

I was disappointed...as a lover of indie film there can be a fine line to being a "indie" film and declaring it. This film screams "I'm an indie film!". It has ambitions the likes of "Little Miss Sunshine" or "Juno" (indie's everyone has seen and have actually made money) but draws too much attention to its own contrived quirkiness both in characters and situations. This can at times, as I found in "Juno", be accepted through suspension of disbelief but I never really bought the uber-intelligent speak coming out of the mouths of the kids and the over-the-top behavior of the adults (especially the mom).

As so-called indie films become more mainstream in terms of distribution and actual audience, the challenge will become, as with current "blockbuster" films, to not fall into formulas. This film seemed as to aware of the standard indie elements...accordion-laced soundtrack, overly quirky characters, time-lapsed editing techniques, and, of course, depressing modern existentialist themes of "life is nothing more than what you make it...".

Rockin' the 80's

I will not be running for a political office anytime soon but if I were this photo would surely be the end of me. It's actually an outtake from our photo shoot for our upcoming Easter series "ALIGN" where we're using the 80's and the infamous Rubik's Cube as a device. If you're in the area for Easter, drop by.

Great Music :: Leeland's new album

I have been listening a ton to Leeland's new album "Opposite Way". Some amazing lyrics and music...listen a song HERE.

Total surrender...

I was reading Oswald Chambers this morning and thought this passage was worth sharing:

"We have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself. It is like saying, "No, Lord, I don't want you; I want myself. But I do want You to clean me and fill me with your Holy Spirit. I want to be on display in Your showcase so I can say, 'This is what God has done for me.' " Gaining heaven, being delivered from sin, and being made useful to God are things that should never even be a consideration in real surrender. Genuine total surrender is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself."

- My Utmost for His Highest (March 12)

David Mamet: "No longer a brain dead liberal..."

If you are interested in politics or even the current discourse in America about the role and scope government should play in our lives, STOP right now and read Mamet's article. If you need to be convinced why this debate (either liberal, independent or conservative) is important...read below for a snippet.

David Mamet, acclaimed writer and director of both stage and screen, wrote an intriguing piece for the Village Voice. As I read the article and have witnessed lately, the art of true debate without breaking down into heated rhetoric between the conservative and liberal is lost. Maybe those days may come again...this is definitely worth a read. Here's a sample:

"What about the role of government? Well, in the abstract, coming from my time and background, I thought it was a rather good thing, but tallying up the ledger in those things which affect me and in those things I observe, I am hard-pressed to see an instance where the intervention of the government led to much beyond sorrow.

But if the government is not to intervene, how will we, mere human beings, work it all out?

I wondered and read, and it occurred to me that I knew the answer, and here it is: We just seem to. How do I know? From experience. I referred to my own—take away the director from the staged play and what do you get? Usually a diminution of strife, a shorter rehearsal period, and a better production." (read the rest HERE)

Jesus Unplugged

We just started a short 2-week series called "Jesus Unplugged" as we get ready for Easter at Four Corners Church. Yesterday was an exciting day although we had 12 inches of snow on the ground, started 2-services and sprung forward an hour...people came out.

Ben presented the Gospel message of Jesus in some of the clearest terms I have ever heard and several people (especially one) decided yesterday was the day to become Jesus followers. If you have a chance listen or watch the message.

Follow the evidence wherever it leads...

My brother sent me the trailer for the upcoming documentary from Ben Stein. You know him best as the monotone teacher telling us about Vodoo Economics in "Ferris Bueller" but his accomplishments run much more intellectual than that.

Through his life and intellectual pursuits he has seen a seemingly contradictory trend emerge...freedom of speech in the field of science being eradicated. "Expelled" tells the story of professors and scientists who have dared to challenge Neo-Darwinism in academia. I'm excited for a film like this to come out. People celebrate the films of Michael Moore because they challenge the authorities around us so to see their response to this will be interesting.

I AM LEGEND (alternative ending rocks!)

If you were like me you thought Will Smith's "I Am Legend" was good but could have been much better. So much to the joy of this film geek comes the alternate ending...the ending that should have been. Don't wait...watch it HERE.

Life Groups...WHEW!

I haven't posted in a while...its been a wild ride these past 2 weeks! Since taking over Life Groups in the summer of 2007 I have been trying to gather together significant momentum to make our Life Groups an amazing place to find community.

So, that being said, we had our first ever "Get in a Group" event where we heavily promoted to the entire church to get connected in a Life Group. Over 115 people of all ages and types signed up to get in a group...it was awesome! You can see some of the group we offered HERE.

I'm finding the most difficult thing about the event is making sure actually get in the group...signing up is one thing but showing up is another. I have 3 amazing Life Group Coaches working with our leaders in leadership and spiritual development. And the momentum seems to be there now and we'll see where is leads...