Sometimes Stuff Happens

Rain. Flooding.
Sump pumps going out.
Teammates trying to salvage basements and homes.

But wait... the team is finally together and all the pieces are coming together for our Saturday evening gathering.

One of our never failing iMacs fails.
Drops dead. No power.
Apparently a common thing with the new silver iMacs.
This happens 25 minutes prior to our start.

Grab a computer from the office.
Already has the software we need to run on it.
Good. Very good.
Doesn't have any of the lyrics for the songs we're doing.
Bad. Very bad.

Searching and typing and formatting and working to get it all in place.

A few typos and pagination items but ready just in time for our start.

God is good.

I'm blessed me with a great team that is able to work under pressure to make things happen when they need to. The sign of a great team - to stay cool when the heat is on.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Peace.

Music Setlist 09.06.08 and 09.07.08

Here's our music setlist from this last weekend (with links to purchase the original recordings from the artists listed):

Makes Me Wonder - Maroon 5 (instrumental)
Today Is The Day - Lincoln Brewster
Let Me Sing - Todd Fields (not available in iTunes)
Center - Charlie Hall
Whatever You're Doing - Sanctus Real
I Give You My Heart / Center - Amanda and Mike

What songs have you enjoyed lately in your local house of worship?

What Motivates U?

That question changes depending on what it is we face, what it is that we are doing. Most of the time it's something that excites you and drives you to do whatever it is you are doing.

Other times it's what is needed to begin the task at all.

This is the case for me and working out.

Now don't get me wrong, I love playing sports and doing things that require exercise. I don't mind working hard physically if it means also doing something enjoyable in the process.

For example, I love to play football, baseball, softball, racquetball, and the like, but I hate just lifting weights or running. I ran track when I was younger and would rather do short sprints or even run hurdles than to just run long distance.

Enough about me :) What motivates you to exercise, to work out, to stay in shape (or get in shape)?

Back To School

So my kids started full-time back to school this morning. My wife and I homeschool our kids (mostly my wife to be honest... she's brilliant). They've been doing math, reading and science over the summer but now they kick into full gear. I have very smart kids, bu they also get overwhelmed a bit with the beginning of school - which is funny since they never really stop.

Unfortunately, my wife gets a little overwhelmed as well.

This is the same woman who also hasn't stopped schooling them and who mentors other homeschooling parents through tough times of schooling their kids.

I love all of them very much and am confident they can accomplish the tasks they have ahead of them. They just have to beat the mental game part. The tasks aren't really changing, but the mindset has changed.

Do you do this? Do you find yourself stressing or getting frustrated about a project or a task, only to find it's more of a mental challenge than anything?

Music Setlist 08.30.08 and 08.31.08

We had Taylor Phelan out the Orchard last weekend to lead us during some of our worship time. He did an excellent job and has a great voice! Dang! We did have a lot of fun hanging out in downtown Chicago - eating food and taking pictures.

Though I have to say he made me feel a bit older considering the guy is only 19!

Here's our music setlist from this last weekend (with links to purchase the original recordings from the artists listed):

Stranger Things Have Happened - Foo Fighters (instrumental)
Awesome Is The Lord Most High - Chris Tomlin
Marvelous Light - Charlie Hall
How He Loves - Kim Walker
Wholly Yours - David Crowder Band
Light - Shawn Mcdonald

How was your weekend? If you were at the Orchard, let me know what you thought of the worship experience with Taylor - I'd like to pass those on to him.

Peace.

Downtown Chicago

This last weekend, we had a guest worship leader in town who stayed with my family and I. Taylor had never been to Chicago before so of course we had to have him check out a variety of the great food around here. We also tried to give him a small glimpse of this great city.

Here's a few of the pictures we snapped (yes, believe it or not, I took a few of these myself - though my wife's are the best).

Enjoy!

New Blog Banner

Used one of the photos my wife took of me and my kids to create a new banner for the blog.

Let me know what you think.

Stage Pics: From the Current Becoming Series

Becoming... everyone is becoming something, who are you becoming?

This has been a great series so far and we've been able to expand creatively with some decor and elements that we haven't done in some time.

Here are a few of my favorite set pics from the last couple of weeks along with a link to the rest on Picasa (photos by Dan Andersen).

Thoughts?

Music Setlist 08.23.08 and 08.24.08

This last weekend, was a tough one for me and some of the staff. Many of you have visited here and know that I lost one of my best friends. While we grieved and celebrated his life, we also continued to do what my friend Todd did... lead other's in a growing relationship with Jesus.

I am very proud of my arts team! While they grieved along with me, they continued to move forward, not only in honor of Todd, but in praise to God. Thank you again to all of you for your prayers, care and support - it has brought strength to all those involved.

So this last weekend was the second week in our series BECOMING. We explored silence and talked about meditating on scripture. You can download Scott's message here.

From a creative standpoint, we used the song In Your Presence, by Jeremy Camp, but rearranged it with some different layers including strings, cello, congas, acoustic guitar and a bluesy-electric lead. We had each layer come in individually then half way through, the musicians began to stop playing (one by one) and walk off the stage. There was some tenseness in the room, which was great! We transitioned from there into a short piece on silence where we led our crowd through a time of silent meditation using only our screens.

The cool part about having the musicians leave one by one is that it gave us a way to lead into the silence in a dramatic way. We ended with Jess on the cello which was amazing! Something in the back of my mind which was later also pointed out by another artist, is that it also showed how important each piece, each musician, is to the group. We did not have anyone on the drums. When each person stopped playing and walked off the stage, that missing piece was felt in a big way. God is awesome in how he uses creative elements to reach people on many different levels.

Here's our music setlist from the weekend (with links for you to purchase them from iTunes):

Belief - John Mayer (instrumental)
Salvation is Here - Hillsong United
Everlasting God - Lincoln Brewster
Center - Charlie Hall
In Your Presence - Jeremy Camp (same song prior to message and after)

Peace.

Great Posts About Todd

There are a lot of things happening right now and I'm trying not to have every blog post or twitter be about my friend Todd. That's hard to do, as he had a big impact on me and many, many others.

I'm looking for stories... stories about Todd. Moments of influence, of encouragement. Times of strength and inspiration. I would love to be able to pass these stories on to Paula and her boys.

My wife shared a couple on her blog.

If you have others or links to other blogs that share things about Todd, would you please post those?

Thanks everyone.