| [..who i am..] |
|---|
| I am trying to be the best husband to Jessica and father to Connor I can possibly be. In the daytime (and after they go to sleep) I am the Innovative Creative Arts Pastor at Powell Church in Knoxville, TN. I love songwriting, creating stupid videos, apple computers, and pie. |
| [..blogs that i read..] |
| journey to claire |
| real live preacher |
| bill wolf |
| cult of mac |
| adam mayfield |
| bob carlton |
| adam feldman |
| futility closet |
| jeph hurst |
| jason edelen |
| jon reid |
| church marketing sucks |
| kem meyer |
| anthony coppedge |
| betsy wolf |
| mark nelson |
| multi-site arts |
| [..graphic & video resources..] |
| sxc.hu |
| igniter media |
| sermon spice |
| highway video |
| worship house |
| digital juice |
| church marketing lab |
| [..music & artists..] |
| gregadkinsmusic.com |
| greg on Myspace |
| new city cafe |
| bill mallonee |
| the innocence mission |
| andrew peterson |
| andrew osenga |
| over the rhine |
| nickel creek |
| david wilcox |
| rich mullins |
| hem |
| andy gullahorn |
| jill phillips |
| arthur alligood |
| dave potts |
| [..my so called music career..] |
|
| [..52 songs in 52 weeks..] |
|
| [..where i serve..] |
| powell church |
| [..disclaimer..] |
| I am on staff at Powell Church in Knoxville, TN but the opinions, thoughts, comments, and humor on this page are solely my own. Wade in at your own risk and be warned, I'm a bit of a goofball. |
| [..my site feed..] |
| RSS |
| [..archive..] |
Latest Reads...
"Searching for God Knows What" by Donald Miller
"Speaking my Mind" by Tony Campolo
"The Gospel According to Disney" by Mark Pinsky
"Paul for Everyone" by Tom Wright
"A Generous Orthodoxy" by Brian McLaren
Some comments on the above. The new Donald Miller picks up about where "Blue Like Jazz" left off... funny but profound... light reading but deep thinking. I have to qualify my raves for Miller here... he and I see the world in much the same way and I agree already with many of his viewpoints. That said, he is such a gifted writer and in my opinion, in 20 years, we will talking about him as one of the great Christian authors of this century so far. That may be optimistic but we'll see. I am not far into this book yet... just got it in the mail today but so far, it's great.
The Campolo book is great if you like Tony's stuff. We're reading this in our Tuesday morning discussion group "Eyes Wide Open" right now. We just had our first discussion on it last week and it was a great talk. Tony can push the envelope pretty far sometimes but I really respect the way he does that in a humble way, always reminding the reader that he is not the be all end all. If you're looking for some progressive thoughts on such topics as just war theory, women in ministry, homosexuality, and other hot button issues, check out this book.
The Gospel According to Disney is pretty good but I didn't enjoy it as much as The Gospel According to the Simpsons. Probably because I'm not as interested in Disney stuff as I am the Simpsons. Still, there are some interesting insights here and Pinsky is gifted at finding the holy in unusual places. Worth a read if you're a Disney fan.
Paul for Everyone is basically a commentary on 4 of Paul's letters, written by the brilliant Tom Wright. This has a definite British perspective which is quite refreshing. Not necessarily a great book for casual reading, but if you're looking for some fresh commentary on Paul's letters, this book takes some interesting angles on things I hadn't thought of before. Enjoyed it.
McLaren's new one is interesting... I'm starting to find his stuff to be hit or miss. I guess the problem is that I regard his book "A New Kind of Christian" to be among the most influential books I've ever read... I suppose everything else is destined to fall a bit short. This one has it's moments for sure. Several of the chapters are worth the price of the book, but this one also tended to bore me a bit too. But, he covers a lot of ground in this one and perhaps that is okay. The parts I liked, I liked a lot. The parts I didn't, I tended to just have to push through. Your mileage may vary.
What good books have you been reading?
Failure... sort of
I am abandoning the 52 songs project for the time being. Thank you to everyone who has been so encouraging and helpful throughout... I appreciate every word. I say failure sort of because I actually am finished... I've written through to the end. It's just the recording that I've been slow on and I just don't have the time right now to work on it. To do so right now would mean to sacrifice time with my family and I'm not willing to do that anymore. I will eventually record the last 6 songs and when I do, I will post them for folks to listen to. I just don't know when that will be. The project was supposed to end the second week of October... I'm pretty sure it won't be before then.So, it's failure only in the sense that I won't have this all available for public consumption in the allotted 52 weeks. It doesn't bother me though... I'm over it already. Honestly, it feels like a bit of a weight lifted, to be free of the self-imposed demands of the project.
Home from Soliton
First things first... the true highlight of the trip was that I saw Fonzie play softball. Everything else comes in a distant second. If you want to see a bunch of really great pictures, check out
Jon Reid's excellent collection of pictures from Soliton. I didn't take as many pictures as I hoped to but Jon was a freak with his camera and I'm grateful for it. Here are some random thoughts and observations from my experiences in California...Lesson #1 - Hospitality. They fed us dinner every night at Soliton and I was so amazed at the artistry, passion, and flat out WORSHIP that went into the preparation of food. I always thought we did meals right down here in the south... man... we could learn a few things from the good folks at the Bridge communities. They gave us their absolute best and it was incredible. Made us feel so welcomed and important. It really hit me pretty hard that for all the programs, studies, and events I am a part of at church, the best outreach is probably just opening my home and sharing a really great meal with people. I guess I knew that already but this was a great reminder.
LanguageI learned some new lingo in California... some good stuff. For example... if I said to you "I'm very excited to have you staying at my house for a week." the California translation would be "I'm stoked that you have come to do life in my space." Also... "Let's all join hands for prayer" becomes "Hey, grab some skin." Good stuff.
Conference highlights... - Spencer Burke's workshop on "Salvation - opt in or opt out and other heresies I think I believe." Spencer basically took the position that almost everyone is going to heaven, regardless of faith. Now, I disagree with that but his arguments were compelling and fresh and it really stirred up some heated, passionate debate. I don't think Spencer really believed everything he said... I think he was playing devil's advocate but it was 90 minutes of the more interesting conversation we had. Erwin McManus was also a highlight, sharing stories of how he kind of "tricks" people into coming to his church by telling them it's a party and they should come. David Ruis leading worship was also an unexpected surprise... I was counting on "Every Move I Make" over and over until I puked but it was very, very good (and fortunately, that song didn't make an appearance).
Movies!We watched several movies and the one I would recommend the highest is Napoleon Dynamite. You MUST SEE THIS MOVIE. Absolutely hilarious... I think this is one that people will be quoting for years. My favorite line? "I caught you a delicious bass." Also saw Donnie Darko (what the crap is this about???), Garden State, and Hero.
Malibu Also got to spend a great day at Pepperdine University in Malibu with Adam Baron. What a spectacularly beautiful place... Adam is kind of a modern day Forrest Gump in that he seems to have a lot of brushes with greatness. He knows Frederick Buechner personally and has crossed paths with all kinds of noteable people. Just while we were with him for 24 hours we ran into the entire cast of Happy Days and also Juliette Lewis. Adam is a great guy... if you're reading this Adam, you should blog!
More thoughts later... gotta go to work!
Hills that is...
So the fish out of water have arrived. Me and my pasty white skin feels a bit out of place among all these California types but I'm sure I'll find my way over the course of the next week. Spent today in Santa Barbara walking around downtown... it's a beautiful place with a great downtown area. I'm writing now from the Bridge Communities in Ventura... very very cool place. The least churchy church I've ever been inside and I'm sure they wouldn't call themselves a church at all. I'll try to take some pictures. Amazing use of art and creativity in creating a very comfortable space for worship here. Lots of artist / ultra creative types running around... still feel a bit out of place and not sure why. I know in a lot of ways I am an "ultra creative" type but for whatever reason, I never feel as "cool" as the stereotype. Oh, because I'm not. But that's my issue to get over this week before I retreat back to the deep south. :) Seriously though, I do feel like a fish out of water here big time and my hope is that it doesn't interfere with my ability to learn / contribute to the conversation here this week. I'm also missing my family a good deal... hard to be away from my wife and son for this long.I'll update often this week. I'm sure my mind will be filled up with lots of things that I'll need to exhale...
California... now that's postmodern!
Heading off to Ventura, CA for the Soliton Sessions first thing Monday morning. Quite excited... looking forward to meeting some of the names behind the blogs I've enjoyed reading over the past year. Anyway, I don't have a laptop but I'll blog if I can get on a computer while I'm out there. I'm guessing that won't be a problem. Everyone is so cool out there, they just walk around with their Powerbooks and I think the entire state is a WIFI hotspot. Right?In other news, last night, I went to see Weird Al Yankovic in concert. It ruled on every level. It was a very fun night with lots of costume changes and great use of video (including the entire audience reciting in unison with Stanley Spudowski "drink from the FIREHOSE!!!"). Great fun! I recommend it. Er, if you like Weird Al.
