My Worship Revolution

Here’s the final PSA from our Office series. The message by Christina Walker was on "How to Survive Your Boss." Enjoy.

Had our sonogram appointment to find out the big news yesterday. Since we decided not to wait, we also decided to make it a little bit more special of a surprise for us. So we had the nurse put the sonogram that told us the sex in a sealed envelope, and then we went to a dinner together on the water down at the Pike.  That idea came from my friend Ryan Sharp.
I added a profile picture here too. So, with no further ado, it’s a…

boy!

Do you have any background in general construction? If so, Jon Gaw is looking for people to hire for his construction business. If you don’t know, Jon is an attender at Revolution who led our Youth Group for the past couple of years. If you are interested, e-mail Jon or call him at 562.843.8566.

Today I went to the gym for the first time in many months. My new “personal trainer” is Elliot and he just started this lifting and workout program called Cross Fit. It’s designed somewhat around olympic power lifting and I guess it’s supposed to make you the most fit by being well rounded or something.

Elliot is PSYCHO!! I thought I was gonna throw up 2/3 of the way through the warm up!! That’s all I did by the way. This thing is insane. The warm up alone is 15 seconds on each side of this squat stretch first. Then with an olympic bar you do 5 shrugs, 5 arm raise to 90 degrees, 5 lifts over your head, 5 overhead with a jump and squat, and 10 squats. Then you do 10-15 bicycle situps, 10 back extensions, 10 pull-ups, and 10 dips…then do it all 2 more times!! That’s not a warm up, that a stinkin workout!

Anyway, my quads hurt the most, but I think I’ll be feelin it everywhere tomorrow. I think I’ll have to work up to finishing a warm up. We’re supposed to do this routine of 3 days work then 1 day rest. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow. If I am actually able to stick with this, I better get ripped or somethin.

In just a couple of weeks, the very contraversial movie, The Da Vinci Code comes out. I kinda read the book. Rachel and I got the book on CD and listened to it on the way to and from Lake Tahoe a few years ago for our honeymoon. Wow, really well written, gripping book. Really heretical and untrue as well.
There are a lot of ways that this story is a major attack on Christianity, espescially because so many people seem to want to take it as truth. While lots of Christians are encouraging others to boycott the movie completely, I personally plan to see it. I want to see it so I can talk to people about it. So I can know what our culture is hearing about Jesus, however untrue it may be. And, as bad as this may sound to some people out there, it may even be slightly entertaining. I guess if it weren’t, it wouldn’t be such an issue, eh?
I get regular e-mails from a site called To The Source that produces articles on current issues from a christian perspective (not sure how I started getting them, but this was an unsolicited subscriptionl I actually have ended up enjoying). This week they had a great article that highlights some of the discrepancies in Dan Brown’s research and writing of the book.
Specifically it deals with his writings about Constantine, the Knights Templar, the Priory of Sion, and Leonardo da Vinci himself. Some of that may not make sense if you don’t know the story line, but I’d encourage you to take a few minutes and check out the article here. It’s really not too long or difficult to digest. Let me know what you think.
If you don’t read that, I’d encourage you to check out something if you get the chance so you have some extra knowledge of the issue. I have a feeling it might come up around a couple of watercoolers.

Check out this past weeks PSA about dealing with difficult people in the workplace.

[via Jamie]

Last night we saw the movie United 93. For anybody who hasn’t heard about this movie (I suppose that’s possible), it’s the story of the fourth plane that was highjacked on 9/11 and crashed in Pennsylvania as a result of the courage of it’s passengers. Wow, it was an intense movie. Some of the acting was below par, but for someone a bit picky about that, it was still overshadowed by the story.
At times I was surprised at the emotions that the movie evoked in me. I knew it would be impactful, but I was still surprised. I went to New York 3 weeks after the event to do ministry in the city. That experience was one of the most amazing weeks of my life, and this movie brought back memories of that. The smell of smoke in the air for miles. The ash that would cover my clothes, 3 weeks after the event. Praying with people and seeing people on their knees at the edge of ground zero sobbing.
After the movie ended, it was kinda like you weren’t sure how to respond. We all just kinda sat there in the silence as you digested what you just saw. You could hear people here and there sniffling as they were moved by what they saw.
In my opinion, this movie was a great way to honor the people who died that day and their families. It’s a great way to be reminded of what happened, and be able to see it from another perspective. I would definitely reccomend the movie if you want something to move you and really make you think. Definitely not a movie for pure entertainment.
Check out the trailer here.

I mentioned the other day that I was gonna pimp a couple of the teams this week that could use some more people.  So I’ll do that today.  And I’ll just lumo two teams into one for these purposes. 
Every weekend at Revolution there is a LOT that has to be put up on Sunday morning and then it all has to come down following the 11am service.  As much as it would be nice to have some magic phrase that would just make it all appear (and disappear for that matter), it takes people.  And the more people that lend a hand, the faster it goes and the more fun we have together!
So if you love early mornings, we’d love to have you to help us out with setting stuff up on Sunday mornings.  Come in early, go to first service, and the rest of the sabbath is still left.  On the other hand, if you have trouble draggin your lifeless body into the shower at early hours (like myself), you can come to second service, throw everything in a bunch of boxes afterward and go grab some lunch with everyone.
Anyway, you get the point.  I know some people worry about touching all the technical stuff, but don’t sweat it.  It’s really not all that scary and we can show you how to do it.  If you want to just come and check it out sometime before you "join" any teams, no problem.  Just e-mail me for more info.  See you there!

Today I had a great time grabbin coffee with David Trigueros from Bethany Church and talking about worship and creative arts ministries within our churches.  For me, talking with other guys like that always helps me to receive more vision and excitement from God and for the ministries we’re doing here.  I love the creativity and the creative abilities that we have in our community.
There have been times that I have told other friends about the creative people we have here, and they are often surprised by the number of artists we have around.  I think a lot of that has to do with the style of our church, our worship, and the fact that communicating God’s truths through creative means is just a huge value for us.
When I got to the office after hanging with David, I read (at MMI blog) this article by Erwin Mcmanus, founding pastor of Mosaic Church.  I thought it was a great writing on the idea of "Cultivating Creativity" within the church.  I went ahead and reposted it here for you to read.  It’s not super short, but I thought it was well worth the read.  Enjoy.

[from Catalyst Monthly]  Erwin McManus writes:  This past week I was in Atlanta and I heard a couple of stories that brought to the forefront of my mind how difficult and how critical it is for us to be able to identify, nurture, and maximize human talent. Talking to one of the staff members of an organization I was working with, I learned that a couple of years ago while they were interviewing students who work on their staff, they had turned down a young woman who evidently lacked the skills to make their creative team. Her name was Kelly Clarkson. Yeah, the Kelly Clarkson. Even Simon, Paula and Randy couldn’t miss this one. Kind of funny how in one context you might be the American Idol and in another an All American Reject.

At the same time I heard about this kid who evidently is autistic and had been sadly underestimated. Ball boy for his high school basketball team who was never considered a potential candidate to actually suit up and play. As I heard it, it was the last game of the year so he was invited to suit up and he took the floor with just a few minutes left in the game. His first shot was an air ball, which is what was expected of him. Who would ever have guessed that after the air ball he would hit six three-pointers in a row including one at the buzzer. Was it just dumb luck or was that always in him?

When people come to Mosaic and experience one of our gatherings there are usually two diametrically opposed responses: 1) “This was wonderful,” and 2) “We could never do this.” The conclusion, of course, is that we’re in LA, the epicenter of talent. We have an unfair advantage due to our location or more specifically our proximity to Hollywood. It’s not said quite so bluntly, but what they really mean is, “Humans aren’t all that talented where we come from.”

I’ll concede that LA has an extraordinarily high ratio of artisans but in spite of that I think there is a real misconception. You can drive around LA and visit maybe even a thousand different kinds of churches and find an overwhelming dearth of creative expression. Just because you’re in LA doesn’t mean your gatherings are going to be brimming with innovation. Our experiences are filled with beauty, artistry, and creativity because of something we value. But it’s more than a value, it’s a value system. We have a different view of humanity. We are convinced that every human being is creative, that each of us has a unique contribution to make. Sometimes that creative spirit does nothing but lays dormant within us. Sometimes it requires a new environment to awaken the creative spirit. But perhaps more importantly than all that is that for us to accomplish all that we have on our hearts we actually need everyone and we need the best of them. The same people who use the lack of human resources as their excuse for a lack of creativity always seem to have exactly what they really need or at least really want.

For example, every church, no matter where they’re located, seems to have someone teaching the Bible, even if their not near a university where teachers seem to gather in mass. Its amazing how even in obscure towns in Montana, in isolated communities in Idaho and pretty much every single church in the South you’ve got your piano player. Are they all strangely located near a conservatory? If that were not strange enough, churches that have failed to reach a new person in decades still have an organist. Last time I checked there are not an overwhelming number of organists out there. On the scale of things they’re pretty rare. It’s amazing how when a church has an organ they have an organist. In other words you pretty much find what you need. The reason our churches can’t find creative people is because we don’t need them. The reason other churches seem to be unfairly stacked with human talent, is because their talent is valued.

Somewhere on the Statue of Liberty are written these words: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” An invitation for the world to join us in the pursuit of great dreams and great lives. I have a feeling the same extraordinary cultural phenomenon that resulted in the USA becoming a breeding ground for innovation, entrepreneurialism, and invention can be true for the church. If your dream is big enough and if your burden is great enough you’ll be surprised who you draw and what you draw out of them. If you don’t want them, over here at Mosaic we’ll take them, every one of them. Even the ones you think have nothing to offer. You know, those “no talents”.

I was once told by a room full of leaders—Christian leaders by the way—that I was going to waste my life investing in wannabes. They just couldn’t see that they were actually gonnabees. I think the problem is that many of us want people as finished products when the core of spiritual leadership needs to be cultivators of human potential.