Time to "Shoot 'em Up"

"The best way to describe it is as if you sat a thirteen-year-old down with a bowl of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream covered in Nestle Quik and pixie sticks, then let him wash it down with Jolt Cola and had him watch about a half-dozen John Woo movies. Then you asked him to write his own screenplay afterwards. THIS is the movie that kid would try to explain to his mother afterwards."

- a reviewer on Ain't It Cool after watching the upcoming movie "Shoot 'Em Up" (Sept 7)

Four Corners Church :: Sunday, August 26th

Series Message: God is...listening
In this series we chat about the characteristics of God and how they relate to us in our practical life.

Music Set:
Strong Tower - Kutless
Here is our King - David Crowder
Thank You for hearing me - David Crowder
Let the Praises ring - Lincoln Brewster

Special Elements:
"Note to my girlfriend" (rap) by Adam "MC Till" Hayden
Clip from "Nacho Libre"

Click how you feel

I just added a fun new widget by Post Reach for the Blog as a beta test. At the end of every blog is a "quick comment" bar...just click it to let me know what you think. Try it and let me know what you think.

If church were a coffee shop?

There are currently over 2,200 church plants in the United States.

Imagine this: Take all the churches in America and make them coffee shops. Now think about this...if you are thinking about opening a new coffee shop on a street already occupied by four others, would you? Sure, your coffee is a little different blend than the other guys but it's still coffee.

Imagine this: People in your neighborhood are fish in your "local pond". If you are thinking about fishing at this pond already occupied by six other fishermen, would you? I went to a local parade on Saturday morning and was hit up by more than 6 churches with everything from tracts to free water. I couldn't help but ask, is this "pond" is being overfished?

I know people need Jesus...that's why I do what I do. But is there a threshold? Is there a point of "market" saturation?

I wonder if the current (and most likely future) trend of church planting is a sustainable practice for us as Christians to engage. Sure...current churches don't meet the needs of many areas and that's why plants move in.
My church is a church plant and there were plenty of other churches in the area.

BUT does it take what could be a "centralized" place for community impact and dilute the it? Could I have people in my neighborhood that could be united to impact our streets for Christ separated only by the fact that we aren't "together" on Sundays? Does the minutia of theological difference between me and the Methodist, Baptist and Nazarene down the street cause us to forfeit potential tidal waves of spiritual impact for the ripples currently lapping our shores?

Four Corners is a church plant and there were plenty of other churches in the area...and therein lies the rub. How does this current revelation about churches and my experience line up? Not sure...but it's making me think.

Death by mediocrity

"Not innovating is more dangerous than innovating. The opposite of innovation is not death; it's mediocrity. In fact, death--or a near-death experience--might be a better outcome than mediocrity because people are forced to rebuild or move on. By contrast, people can cling to mediocrity indefinitely."

- Guy Kawasaki

Perry Noble's "5 Gut Check Questions"

I have enjoyed reading NewSpring Church's pastor's blog for quite some time. Perry Noble has a great post about the "5 Gut Check Questions" he asks himself as a leader and I thought they were worth posting:

1. Am I Listening To The Voice of God?

2. Am I Taking Risks?

3. Am I Understanding How Big God Is?

4. Am I Surrounding Myself With The Right People?

5. Am I Giving It My Best?


Read more about the details of each on his blog.

Killing the Overhead Projector Mentality

For years I grew up reading lyrics for our youth service on an overhead projector. It was pleasant enough unless the "overhead assistant" sneezed or bumped the projector and then, collectively, the room suffered motion sickness. There was also the strange boredom of the medium...it was often anti-climatic such as "Hey, look at this picture..." and then a slightly out-of-focus photo would jerk on the screen and we would stare...waiting for something to happen.

Times have changed...kind of. Many churches now have projectors yet still have the overhead projector mentality. They simply project the same static images with new technology, and though if may be bigger and brighter, the mentality has not changed.

In an article in "Christianity Today", Jay Delp talks about this in great detail. Why should we evolve and engage moving beyond the overhead?

"The effective creation and seamless projection of music, imagery, and full-motion video can move the human spirit."

I think we're missing a huge window of opportunity to not only share the greatest story ever told but also tell it in such a way that it's unforgettable and deeply moving. Let's take it to the next level.

Our prayers for the Reider Family

I just found out this morning that Gaile Reider, the mother of our worship leader, Andy Reider, passed away from a long battle with cancer. This woman radiated with the love of God...every time I saw her I could not help but smile. Our prayers are with their family as they go through this difficult time.

10 Movies Hollywood should but won't make

Cracked.com has a fascinating list about the movies Hollywood should but will never make.

Personally I would love to see the 3 novels written as sequels to the original Star Wars movies. As long as George Lucas surrendered his writer's scribe and director's lens for a producers credit like he did in Empire Strikes Back...the best of the three. If you haven't read the novels by Hugo Award winning sci-fi author Timothy Zahn, check them out... Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command.

The Powell Principles of Leadership

General Collin Powell spoke at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit this year. His words and his wisdom are profound. (Thanks Dave Ferguson and Ben Hodges)

1. Great Leadership will be hard
• Prepare to be lonely
• Prepare to disappoint people
• Check your ego at the door
• Reward your best performers, get rid of the worst performers

2. Great Leadership is about followers
• Only people get things done
• Leaders promote a clash of ideas
• Maintain an open door
• Probe the organization

3. Great Leadership always has a great motivation
• Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier
• Things always look better in the morning
• Fit no stereotypes

Dave Ferguson's blog goes into much greater details on each principle.

Utilizing the Web to communicate

Everyone knows the Web is the place more and more people go to get their information. At Four Corners we may not be on the cutting edge but we definitely utilize the Web as much as possible.

We currently offer our messages for download, on our official podcast through iTunes and via our media player. We also offer our messages via videocast through Google Video. It's good to offer our materials but it's better to see them being actually downloaded, watched and listened to.

Here are our latest stats:
Total Message downloads :: 17,000
Total Videocasts watched (since Easter 2007) :: 1,400
Total Podcast hits :: 27,000
Total Website visits :: 50,000

MUSIC :: Steve Fee Rocks!

I'm always on the prowl for new music and lately I've not found much in the way of decent worship music I would love to see us perform at Four Corners...but then I stumbled on Steve Fee and his band.

Lee McDermott, the worship leader of NewSpring Church, blogs all the time on his Virb account. He also posts the set lists from every Sunday (very helpful for us newbies). I kept seeing Steve Fee's name show up in the set list and checked him out. He's the real deal...literally a whole album that's worth listening to. I love "All Because of Jesus", "Broadcast" and "Burn for You".