Month: March 2008

  • Illumination: Who does that?

    Hmmm“I’ve read that passage 10 times in my life, heard several messages in church, but never understood what God was trying to teach me until your message. Thank you.”

    This is something that most Bible teachers and pastors hear from time to time. It’s meant as a compliment to the preacher… and it is. It is a compliment to preparation, creativity, and delivery. When I receive that compliment it always helps validate the hours of work that go into everything from simple lessons to the most complex sermon to a weekly youth group talk. But the primary compliment goes to God. When I hear that comment I know that the Holy Spirit has done something in that person’s life.

    Here is the definition of illumination I learned in college:

    The Illumination of the Bible (also relates to pneumatology) That supernatural help of the Holy Spirit which enables man to understand and comprehend the meaning of God’s revelation.

    Illumination has two aspects as it relates to us. First for unbelievers, illumination is the Holy Spirit helping the person to understand God’s truths for the purposes of salvation. Practically, this is what makes the difference between someone who has heard the gospel message 20x’s and not responded and responding to the 21st time. Second for believers, illumination is the action of the Holy Spirit when you understand God’s revelation to you. (99% of the time that revelation is the Bible)

    Practically, what does illumination look like or feel like? (more…)

  • Fast weeks and Slow weeks

    Why is it that weeks like this go by so fast? And why is it weeks when nothing notable happens seem to take forever? Wouldn’t it be better if it were visa versa?

    I know I’d like to stop and smell the roses a little more during good times… and I kind of wish those non-notable moments would just fly by.

  • God of This City

    Here’s the video I sent out with our weekly email update. Seriously, if you aren’t a part of a local church and you are looking to connect somewhere… this Sunday is a great place to jump on board.

  • The new signs are here!

    church signI can’t even say how long we’ve worked on this. We started talking about new signs for the church about a year ago. And I think we went through 40-50 revisions. So, here is what one side looks like.

    Best part, within 2 hours of them being installed I already received a phone call asking about our kids ministry. The signs work!

  • The Heart of Worship

    On Sunday I mentioned that I got chills during our rehearsal as Jimmy began practicing with a new vocalist. I thought I’d back that up with this clip from our worship service. This new person is going to add so much to what we’re doing! I’m totally excited… here’s a sample of why.

  • Airborne Doesn’t Prevent the Common Cold

    Airborne SettlementTeachers swear by this product. It’s their secret weapon. Parents who found out about this secret weapon made it popular. What is it? It is Airborne. It prevents the common cold… or so people who took it swore.

    The claim has always been that Airborne kept you from getting sick. I’ve heard friends say, “I feel a cold coming on, I need to take an Airborne before bed.” It turns out Airborne is nothing more than well-packaged and expensive Vitamin C.

    On the one hand, this was brilliant marketing. Here’s a marketing tip: People will always pay a premium for a secret weapon. Because it seems exclusive to a population, in this case teachers, people don’t mind paying more. On the other, it was false advertising. It turned out Airborne didn’t prevent the common cold. While it’s perfectly acceptable to trick people into believing that more expensive paper gets your resume` to the top of the pile or that buying premium bottled water is somehow more refreshing than normal bottled water, the FDA has rules for labeling health products. Oops!

    If you got suckered by Airborne you can go to this site to learn about the settlement. Essentially, you can get your money back.

  • 3 common responses to Megachurches

    There are a lot of responses to megachurches. You know, these are the really big churches in our country… some of them with more than 10,000 weekly attendees.

    One thing I’ve noticed is that Christians have a fascination with these places. Willow Creek, Saddleback, North Point,  Lakewood, etc. It seems as though everyone has an opinion about successful churches. I think we can shorten these responses to 3 categories:

    1. Ignore completely.  Nothing interesting to look at or think about.
    2. Accuse of wrong-doing. To be that successful they must have made a deal with the devil like the old movie Crossroads.
    3. Principlize all that they do.  To get results like they do, we have to make principles out of all that they do.

    What do you think? Are there more responses to this that I’m missing?

  • Heat Wave!

    It’s currently 43.3 degrees and rising at our house. According to the weather forecasts it’s going to stay this warm all day, with rain coming after lunch.

    It will be nice to see the roof and maybe some of the landscaping in the back yard. Let’s hope this warm up is the beginning of winter breaking here. I think we have had continuous snow on the ground since November. It’s time for a thaw.  

  • Chills

    Today we have a new female vocalist in church for the first time. During their first song, Joyous Light, the harmonies made it seem as though she had sung with Jimmy her whole life. I don’t think I’ve ever had chills like that run down my spine during a rehearsal.

    If you are here in the area. 9 & 11. Get here.

  • Saturday Tunes

    saturday tunesThe most common phrase heard in our community this week has been, “I’m ready for Spring.” I totally agree. We’re looking to get a mini-preview of Spring later this weekend and the thermometer climbs above 40. With dreams of growing grass and blossoming flowers, here are the next 10 tunes I’ll be listening to. As always, I’m just hitting the random button in iTunes and this is what comes up. No cheating, ratings included.

    1. The Face of Love by Santus Real ****
    2. Thief in the Night by Leeland ****
    3. The Color Song by David Crowder Band ***
    4. Rain Down by David Crowder Band **
    5. You Alone by David Crowder Band ****
    6. All That Matter by Addison Road ***** (coming out 3/18)
    7. Rockin’ in the Mall by Dakota Motor Company **
    8. Make a Joyful Noise/I Will Not be Silent by David Crowder Band *****
    9. Can’t Give Up Now by Mary Mary ***
    10. What Can I Give You by Collective Soul ****

    It seems iTunes is on a tear with David Crowder stuff. Kind of odd on that one.