Contagion

Just so you know, we have run into some difficulties with watching a movie on the 15th (primarily that it's gonna cost us an obscene amount of money for 1.5 hours). So with that said, we are still gonna break the routine up a bit. We have some ideas that may be weather dependent but stay posted. Either way it won't be what you're used to so be prepared for a little change in regards to what your concept of church is

Wow! This week has been just a whirlwind of craziness in my head. Last week was one of those weeks where you feel like you're in quicksand and can't get out. This week feels like I'm Flash Gordon (wow...dating myself here...) as I've been having idea after idea crash into my feeble little mind. I'm glad that I made it a habit early on to write down every single thing I get coming to me, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. I'm going to be bringing some of them to our leadership team on Monday so we'll see which ones survive and which ones crash and burn. Here's a sneak peek at a few of them:

• A funny (possibly lame) idea for a welcome pack (more like a TXC survival kit) for guests
• An idea to make our church a little more open source to the public where they can give us their opinion of what we're doing. Possibly give us some insight of how we can reach them more effectively. Maybe they can give us some ideas we can use, giving them some ownership
• A message series involving multiple 8' high dominos

There's more but I can't seem to get them out right now. I love these season's where you feel like the sky's the limit. Sometimes it's almost impossible to just get one creative idea generated.

Easter is in a week and a half. I'm stoked. It'll be interesting to see how many guests show up. It's gonna be hard to compete with how many showed up this Sunday. This week we go back to having a two piece band but on Easter we'll be back to 4. The interesting thing is that, even with just a guitar and drums, the guys can pull it off. It's also our first ever EASTER EGG HUNT in SilverCity (possibly SilverCity's first ever easter egg hunt but to avoid getting sued, we won't advertise that!) That will be happening in Upstream while the adults are in the gathering. Everything will start at 9:30am with a continental breakfast so come early.

Okay...that's all for now. You haven't seen my thoughts for a few days so here it is...all wrapped up into one!

Just so everyone knows, we are not going to be showing Amazing Grace @ TXC on Sunday April 15th. It's a limited release and isn't possible for us to watch it in a private showing.

However, that doesn't mean that we won't be showing a movie! We are trying to work something out to show a movie that is already in the theatre. It's a family movie and will be suitable for the whole family to watch. I want to encourage those of you whose kids have moved out to still come. What we do on Sunday's on a regular basis is awesome and I love every second of it but it's okay for us to just have some flat out fun, watch a movie and enjoy each other's company.

So whatever happens, we will still be meeting on the 15th! Rumor has it that there may be popcorn too...

Wow! that's really all I can say about yesterday. It was so nice (as is today) to have a break in the weather. For some reason this stretch of nasty weather has affected my mood in weird ways. This last week was brutal. But the sun was out and we were feeling good. As I stood at the front doors, I just kept seeing people walking up to the doors and I had no idea who they were. I thought possibly that they were confused as to when the movies started. But as they kept coming inside I was blown away by the fact that I hardly new anyone. The vibe was crazy in the lobby as people crowded around the coffee bar, fueling up for the gathering.

Inside we had gotten started already with about 4 people in the theatre. That seems to be the trend as people trail in a few minutes late. Sure enough, after the band played the newest song they wrote, hordes of people started trailing in. I actually laughed when I saw this massive line of people making their way to find a seat. We had to take down our barriers that block the upper sections so we had enough room. The band was crazy good and I felt like I was fairly coherent and my words made sense this week!:0D

The highlight for me was afterwards in the hall and lobby...No one went home! Most of everyone just stayed outside and talked. It was so loud that as I was having conversations with some of the guests I couldn't even hear what they were saying.

Quite honestly, I wasn't expecting this. We didn't advertise or have some special deal that if you invite someone you get a free trip are anything like that. What I think is happening is that as the weeks go on, people are getting more confident to invite their friends. One of the comments from a guest was "Finally, a church that isn't hokey..." I think that's just his take on things because I definitely don't think most of the other churches in the area are hokey and we definitely don't pride ourselves on that. However, it's nice to know that we aren't :0D

This week was just one more week added to the list of confirmations of God's dream coming to life. The fact that we had so many guests that don't go to church comment that they didn't think this was possible is just reassuring that what we have been listening to God as he leads us. The day that all of the Christians are happy and cozy in our little theatre and the guests are standing there scratching their heads out of confusion or alienation...is the day we close the doors to TXC.

We don't exist for ourselves! We exist for the world!

Live the mission wherever you find yourself today.

We had a very interesting discussion tonight at our UnderCurrent. Somehow we managed to get on the topic of Paul telling women that they needed to be silent in church. I made the observation that to understand what they meant, we had to understand the culture. Anyways, we started talking about women senior pastors. (For the record, I don't really have an opinion one way or the other. If a woman wants to be a senior pastor, I say go for it.) I mentioned that my observation has been that it's been very tough for women that are senior pastors to lead men. We never came to a conclusion but some of the observation were the following:

• Men have big egos and are hard to lead
• Sometimes women can feel the need to become more dominate in order to lead a man
• Trying to dominate a man doesn't work in his mind
• It takes a special kind of woman to lead a man
• If men would be better husbands and dads, we wouldn't have this problem
• To lead a man, you've got to understand how he ticks
• If you wanna lead a man, you've gotta get him on your side and make him feel good about himself (stroke his ego...he'll do whatever you want)
• Because of a man's big ego, it's easier to take criticism from a man than a woman
  
• It's easier for a man to lead a man because if there is a dispute, at least they can pound it out in the parking lot if need be
• Could it be possible that the way a marriage is set up, with the man supposed to be the leader, spills over into church as well?
• Why did Paul say that elders in the church should be men?
• Is this a cultural statement of their day or is it timeless?
  

Those were just a few snippets from our conversation. These are simply observations that we had with three couples so they are not concrete statements by any means.

I believe that women have great things to contribute and shouldn't be told to "be silent". I just think that men are very hard to lead and it takes a very wise woman to be able to do so.

Keeping in mind that this conversation was about women as senior pastors, not other pastoral roles, do you have anything to add/subtract to the conversation?

We decided that we are going to move ahead with showing a movie on Sunday, April 15 in place of what we normally do. Our intention is to show the movie "Amazing Grace" which comes out on March 23 so don't watch it! This movie will be free for the first people to show up! Once the seats are full, that's it.

It will get started @ 10am sharp. We're hoping that each of us that is a part of TXC will use this as an low risk opportunity to invite those who come with us on Easter to come back the next week too. We'll be showing a kids movie down the hall where Upstream Kids usually meets. Watch the trailer and you'll see that it's a movie with an awesome message.

Here's a question...who are the people in our world today that are equivalent to the slaves of William Wilberforce's day? What are we doing to reach them and see them set free? Are we doing anything at all?

We had an awesome lead team meeting last night as we asked a few questions of how to keep moving forward as a church. We came up with some good answers but maybe you have some even more profound thoughts. One of the questions went like this "What is one thing that you think we could be doing/do better in order to take our church to the next level?" We determined that the next level for us is to be able to survive on our own absent of outside support. This means getting people involved in ministry so that we have a sustainable pace with more people contributing to keep the raft afloat rather than the few that are making it happen right now. It means getting our giving to a place where we can pay the rent to stay in the theatre and support the ministry of pursuing our mission of re:connecting people to Jesus. So let us know what you think by leaving a comment!

This Sunday we are starting a new series and we'll be addressing some of the common lies that people believe about Jesus. This message is probably one of the toughest ones that I've had to study for as it's a loaded topic. We'll be looking at "Jesus: Good or God?" and we'll be walking through some pretty thick stuff. For some it will open up a whole new world to who Jesus is and for others it will just simply be a catalyst for their conversations with their friends, family and co-workers. Get ready for what God wants to say to you and if you know someone that is confused when it comes to Jesus, take the chance and invite them out! See you on Sunday!

Why is it so hard for us to not be defensive? For instance, remember how last week at our Sunday Gathering that I was insensitive and probably one of the hardest people to be married to? Well, I came through on that statement about 1 hour after I said it!

Sunday was Bek's Birthday. (see where this is going?) On Sunday afternoons I'm super stinkin' wasted and just want to eat and have a nap. No I didn't forget her birthday, but I forgot to say Happy Birthday as soon as I got home (okay, it was around 5-10 mins and I still hadn't said it - but I didn't forget!). For me, this is a little thing. I could care less if people said happy birthday to me...just give me money:) But for Bek, this is huge and I screwed up. It's all over now and we like each other again so there is nothing to be worried about:)

But what I found disturbing was the fact that I needed to have an excuse or 10 so that I felt better about screwing up. It was incredibly hard to just sit there and take like a man (I tried but it got the better of me) I couldn't just own up to it and accept the fact of the situation.

I think about Jesus when he was being accused of blasphemy and his accusers asked him multiple times if he was God...and he stayed silent. He didn't defend himself. He didn't try to get out of it. He knew what had to happen and he took it.

I've got a long way to go. I'm not perfect and I never claimed to be but I can't use that as an excuse either. When it comes to TXC, I admit, I have a tendency to defend it like a father defends his son when someone else is getting angry at him. I feel like God has given me a huge responsibility by giving me this vision and when someone tries to jack it, my defensive tendencies come out. And it's not that defending the vision is a bad thing (because we won't just change our direction if someone thinks it should be different), I think it's how it's defended that becomes the issue. Do I freak out? Do I degrade the person in disagreement? Or do I gently remind them about what our primary mission is without stepping over those boundaries?


It's a tough thing to learn but I have to learn it. Because it's guaranteed that there are going to be critics who think we're this or that and it's at that point that I have to learn to be silent.

I'm sure my wife will appreciate this lesson learned too!

Wow! The gift of speaking in tongues is actually going to be on T.V.?! And it's not a bashing of tongues but rather a scientific study of what goes on in the brain.

Check out the blog here and be sure to read the research write up as well from University of Pennsylvania

We got an email yesterday from a couple that's been a part of the church since one of our preview gatherings. She says this:

"...my parents really enjoyed Sunday. I love bringing people there, I know they won't be disappointed. I'm so happy to be a part of this church..."

Hearing that amps me! One of our goals from the beginning has been to give people the confidence to invite their friends, neighbors, co-workers and whoever they wanted because they know that the people the bring won't be disappointed. Sure, they may get offended by the truth of the gospel, but they won't be getting offended by how bad the music or preaching is. They won't be getting offended that someone looked at them funny cause they aren't dressed up. They won't be getting offended by someone who scolds them for bringing their coffee into the gathering. Heck, bring your popcorn!

Of course, we don't guarantee that you won't be offended. We're human and we do and say stupid things sometimes. But our ultimate goal is to remove "The Cringe Factor" so that the only thing that has the chance to offend is the gospel.

Tonight was our first ever official UnderCurrent and I have to say it went quite well. There were 4 of us and we had a good discussion around the Nooma video "Noise". We are going to be watching these videos for the next 11 weeks and it's going to be a good time.

We talked about how hard it is for us to be silent. We have a tendency to want to make excuses as to why we don't need to be silent but in the end, it's a discipline and we need to learn how to stop what we're doing and shut up. It is possible to hear God in the noise...however, if you've never heard the voice of God before and you've never taken the time to be silent, it's quite possible that you won't hear Him because you don't know what to listen for. It takes the practice of hearing God in the silence to be able to hear him in the noise.

We came to the realization that a lot of us are scared to hear the voice of God because we want to be in control of our lives. What if God tells us something that we don't want to hear? What if he hijacks our lives and ships us off to somewhere remote, never to see civilization again? What if he tells me to stop the one thing that I really love doing? And we get into this messed up place of thinking that God hates us and doesn't want the best for our lives. Of course, sometimes the best looks like the worst to us but again, we can't see the bigger picture like God can. We think that just because we're passionate about something that God is gonna take it away because "it's competing with him". This may happen...I can't say. But what I can say is that God puts passions in us. They aren't from the Devil (unless they are completely against what God says in His Word).

So we can stop. We can listen. We can be. And know that God loves us just as we are:broken, messed up and lost...but he still loves us. We don't have to perform for him. We can hear his voice telling us that it's okay and that he loves us. We can hear his voice in the silence. Turn off the noise.

Listen.

We made a decision at the very beginning of TXC that we wouldn't be confined by "what has always been done". We made a choice tonight that we would do something that only a church that meets in a theatre can do with true authenticity...watch a movie for church! The week after easter we are going to be showing a movie (which one is in the process of being discussed right now). Here's why:

#1 - Dave the worship guy is going to be away that week. This isn't the end of the world but it does create a challenge. The problem is that he's just so stinkin' good that it's hard to replace him. However, this isn't the true reason for showing the movie. What Dave's absence has forced us to do is rethink why we feel the need to have singing and a message every week. Those aren't bad by any means and we love doing what we do every week. The reality is that what we do on Sunday isn't "church". It's a gathering of the "the church" and so that gathering doesn't always have to be the same thing.

#2 - Having fun and 'letting your hair down' is a good thing. It's a good thing for us to actually enjoy being around each other. Sometimes we can get so caught up in making sure we "go to church" that we can forget that God wants us to enjoy being with each other. We also hope that with us showing the movie that those who came as guests on Easter will feel excited about joining us for the movie as well. We are also going to be trying to get the theatre to let us serve lunch of some sort. Possibly a BBQ outside if we're lucky. (We have two chefs in our midst: Our drummer and one of our pastors - Donovan. But don't tell them I told you!)


So for some of us this could be a huge stretch because we have been entrenched in the idea that we "have" to "go to church" every week and it has to be in the format that we are used to. I understand this as I'm in that boat too! But we've got to see church as something we are rather than something we do or go to and that we can still be the church and watch a movie! It's gonna be a really fun time and I don't have a clue what to expect as this is the first time I've ever done this!

We are going to be doing this for the kid's festival that is happening on Sunday, June 24th. When I heard about the festival last year I was stoked until I heard that it was on Sunday. But after thinking, talking and praying about it, we decided way back when that we would also "be the church" on this day and go to where the people were instead of wondering why they would go to the children's festival instead of "going to church". We have yet to hear back from them, but our plan is to participate in it as much as we can as a faith community. Whether it's passing out free water (cause we heard it was super hot and not much shade last year), volunteering with set up/tear down or anything else that we can be a part of, we'll do it. Because the church is called to the world and if we just sit in our comfy theatre and expect people to show up with encountering who we really are in real life, I think we're kidding ourselves. It doesn't work and it's being proven all over the world week in and week out. We have to engage with people where they are at! In conjunction with this festival we are also going to be volunteering at the Soap Box Derby on Saturday June 23. We're gonna make this a weekend deal and we invade the city with TXCers. We're hoping to get a team of people together that can make a soap box and have one of our preteens drive it in the race too!

I'm just amped about what the possibilities are for TXC in this area. On Sunday we announced that we are in the advanced dreaming phase for something huge that has to do with some crazy long term outreach in this area. We actually aren't even sure if it can happen but as when the time is right, we'll release more details. But I just love the fact that we can dream about this stuff and that we can actually be the church and bring Jesus to people instead of waiting for people to 'come to us and find Jesus'.

This really is The CrossCurrent...the place where life is meant to be lived!

Despite the fact that I slept in this morning (and felt like a total loser because I sent everyone in my phone a text that goes to TXC reminding them to set their clocks back!) and that it was pouring down rain, we had a blast at Silvercity! I absolutely love being able to be one of the pastors at TXC. One of the biggest reasons is freedom. Let me explain:

#1 - I can just be myself. What you see on the stage is who I am. I'm not really sure how to have a preacher voice. I'm not good at being fake cause as soon as I do, everything falls apart. I had an extremely funny joke for this morning but I pulled it last minute cause I don't think that telling fabricated jokes is really my thing. I may do it once in a while, but not regularly. I just love the fact that I can just do my thing and that the rest of the leadership team doesn't expect me to act a certain way

#2 - I love the music. Dave is such a skilled guitar player/vocalist that he can do songs that I would never imagine playing. I led worship at our sending church for 5+ years and I wouldn't even attempt some of the stuff that Dave does. In fact, Dave is so good, that I haven't had a craving to lead worship ONCE since starting TXC. I'm fully confident in his style and ability to lead that I never get antsy when he leads. I love the fact that my brother beats the snot out of the drums every week and every week, without fail, he gets compliments on his playing. I love the fact that we can turn it up pretty loud and people are still asking us to turn it up!

#3 - There is no dress code. This may seem like a piddly thing to some, but to me it huge. I just think that when there is an unspoken rule that pastors dress up to go to church and that if you aren't the best dressed in the room you won't get respect, people who are disconnected from Jesus and the church that are in attendance pick that stuff up. It's out in plain view. And from my standpoint, what you wear should have nothing to do with whether or not people respect you. I thought the fact that Dave wore a hat while leading worship was great. It showed him as relaxed and real.

#4 - People that are older than me are showing interest and actually enjoying themselves. (notice I didn't say "old people"!). This is so needed because they bring wisdom and a balance to our demographic. Naturally, just by our music style and the way we communicate, we cater more to young adults, young married and younger families. To be honest, I was a little nervous at first to see if people that were 20+ years older than me could follow my leadership. I'm honored that those that have stuck around are able to do that.

#5 - We love Jesus and we aren't ashamed to scream it out. I had a comment today from a first time guest that they loved how practical, real, bible based and straight to the point the message was today. I've heard comments in the past from people who say they love how the lyrics to our songs are Jesus centered and that they can really tell the band doesn't perform but rather worships. We made the call from the beginning that we would be centered around Jesus. Not self help. Not deep theological ideas that normally lead to arguments rather than positive outcomes. Jesus. Without Jesus, our faith is useless. We actually don't have a faith. The second Jesus stops being the focus, we're done. The second that we start to think that we can fix people with our own little self help remedy, we're done. It's all about Jesus and I'm stoked that we have the freedom to preach his life altering message with clarity and boldness.

The best days are yet to come and I'm stoked that I get to be in the same raft as the rest of you TXCers!

"...One person told of a lady, in her 40’s, who has always been single, sexually active, but never married. This woman is now adopting a child since she does not think she will marry, but wants a baby. Another told of lesbian lovers where a similar choice has been made, but this time there is an artificial insemination so one of them carries the child. They will be the parents of this child when it is born. Or take the couple who were married, are now divorced for financial reasons, but live together. Or the lady who has sold her womb to be a surrogate mother for another couple. Another person is given to a rabid anti-Iraq War position and spends hours fighting President Bush.

...What does that mean? Well, it is simple. If the lesbian lovers bring the child to term and raise it for four years and then both of them are converted – and come to church – will they be welcomed? And what will be our counsel to them? The same would be true for the singe woman who adopts a child . . . or the couple that is living together as divorced . . . or the pregnant woman whose baby has been sold to another. And how would we white evangelical respond if someone took a distinctly non-Republican position in a discussion? What would we do with such folks if they visited church? If they invited us over for dinner? Would we invite them into our homes and lives? Is our moralistic agenda greater than our Gospel agenda? Are we ready to get our hands dirty with seeing new life in Christ brought to maturity...?"

Read the rest here


Wow! This is pretty challenging but it's reality. I think we've had our heads in the sand for so long that we just never think about this (which is absolutely insane). For the most part, the people that come to our churches are white middle/upper class people and if we're honest, we like it that way because it's comfortable and keeps giving us what we've always known. And yet...

We are called to reach those are far from God. I think our view of people that are far from God is people that are still "normal" but all of a sudden start thinking they need God. It's not the people who are living in an obviously different lifestyle and start seeking for God. I think our tendency is to want to power trip and play the Pharisee by gatekeeping. "You can't come in here...look at you. Don't you know the Bible says 'thou shalt not stink?!' And we get this chip on our shoulders that makes us think that it's up to us to decide who in and who's out (we'd preferably like to keep the people we don't like out...) Instead of living the mission of God of reconnecting people to Him, we get caught up in our own egos.

So what are we going to do about this? Are we gonna tell the lesbians that they need to split up and destroy the only family that child has ever known? Is there room at our table? Do we actually love people or do we just say we do?

I gotta say I'm one of the luckiest guys around to have a team to work with as freakin' amazing as ours! They pour their hearts into the areas that they oversee and love TXC just as much as I do. The thing that consistently blows me away is the fact that each of them have full time jobs that they work their tails off at each week. Dave is a full time cabinet maker and oversees his own department in the company. Tina is the daycare director for Gladwin Childcare Center in Abbotsford and oversees a huge staff from day to day. Charlene works for ICBC dealing with crazy people like you and me all day long. And Donovan is a roofer risking his life each and every day just so that he can volunteer 2-3 days of the week for TXC! These people are unbelievable and ultimately they are the primary reason why TXC is where it is right now. I know with full confidence that if I had to be gone for any reason that things would run just as smooth, if not smoother, as it would had I been there. They are just that good!

So next time you see them, give them an encouraging word or 20. Maybe you can give them a secret handshake and drop them $5 or $500. They deserve it!

I'm super proud of you guys! You are the driving force behind TXC and all your hard work is paying off in huge ways. You may not feel like you do much some weeks but overall, you bust your backs making this work and I'm grateful. I love hanging out with you each week and I feel like our gifts/abilities compliment each other in ways that only God could have made happen. I look forward to the future and the places that we are headed as a team and as a church!

This week is Daylight Savings Time! Already! So move your clocks forward 1 hour this Saturday. We are gonna be going full steam ahead and are having the faith to believe that you will remember and we'll see you there at 10am sharp. We're finishing up our "Naked Truth" series and if it stays true to past messages, it promises to be a good one. If you're wanting to figure out how to get your marriage bed sheets heated up...don't sleep in!

If i wasn't one of the pastors at TXC, it would be my first choice of a church to be a part of. This is the first time in my life that I've been a part of a church that is portable. It's definitely the first time I've been in a theatre church. It's the first time I've ever loved the music every single week, without fail. It's the first time I've spoken every week and I absolutely love it! It's the first time I've ever lead an actual church staff and I'm having a blast with some of the best leaders I know.

I just can't get enough! I love the fact that I get to do life with all of the people that consider themselves a partner with TXC. I get to see the mission of God lived out in the fraser valley through a church that is, as of right now, 8 weeks old. I can't believe that God has picked me to be a part of it and I wouldn't trade it for the world. We are at the beginning of something incredible that is about to happen. Some days it kills me not being able to see what that looks like (it's the control freak in me) but it's all part of the adventure. I'm in this thing for good and I couldn't imagine it any other way!

Read this. It's written by the pastor of a church that has grown to 1800 in 1 year.

Let me know what you think.

I just finished reading the book "Under the OverPass" and I gotta say it infuriated me. Why? Let me explain...

The book is about two guys who drop out of college and live on the streets as homeless guys for 5 months in 5 different cities in the states. It's very basic as it just chronicles their journey and shows their experience as they learn what it's like to be without food and shelter. They take no money and can only eat if they panhandle or find a rescue mission. They truly become homeless except for the fact that they can get out of it at any minute.

Now, what really ticks me off is that during their journey, they encounter myriads of church people and they are all idiots, minus a few. They just look at these two guys (if they even look) in utter disgust. The ironic thing is that these guys record that when they get these looks, most times these "Christians" are toting around their Bibles and discussing loving the world!

Here's the question...

Am I one of those idiots? When I see a homeless person, what's my first reaction? "Get a job! You're just going to buy drugs with this money! I work my tail off for this and you want to beg and get me to give it to YOU?!" Ever stopped to think that a homeless person might be a stronger follower of Jesus than you? The interesting thing is that I think most of us think that if we are really "following Jesus" we'll have our crap together (as in a job, clean clothes and won't stink).

Is that it? Who have we become? Do we even know what it means to be Christians? I'm not sure. We get so caught up in "going to church" and singing our songs and dressing in our nice clothes. We have food to eat. Showers to clean ourselves with. Beds to sleep in. Heat to keep us warm. Shoes for our feet. 500 different wardrobes to choose from. Jobs that pay us. Respect from the other "civilized people in the world".

WE'VE GOT SO MUCH! And yet, our lives still revolve around us! And you know why this infuriates me the most?! I think I'm the worst.

Check out another post here that talks about Loving the poor from a distance. Is it possible to love people from a distance? To send money but to never get on their level, in the dirt and participate in their world? To drop money in the guitar case but not sitting down beside the dude and experiencing the humiliation he has to face every day. To buy a meal for someone, drop it off and run instead of taking them into the restaurant, enduring the stares that they do and listening to their story.

Just a thought...

I feel so good today. I'm not too sure why either. It's pouring rain out and nothing crazy has happened to make me feel this way. The only thing I can attribute it too is seeing the response of the people yesterday. Yes, I know, I'm not supposed to base whether or not something was a success by visible response but whatever, I'm human.

First off, this was the second week that we nailed our setup/take down without our Omega team. They have been an awesome help with getting us off the ground and they have tons of energy. However, it's been nice to see what we are capable of without them. It also gives others the opportunity to step up to the plate and pitch in, which they did. I'm so proud of our volunteers (especially the ones that show up at 7am to make the whole thing even possible!).

And then the band absolutely rocked the roof off. I couldn't believe it! This was our first Sunday using a mainstream song to back up our theme. They rocked out to "Dirty Little Secret" by the All American Rejects and for a three piece band they killed it. I'm super proud of those guys. I would put them up against any other church band any day of the week (not that it's a competition...I'm just proud of them) It's a tough go with the setup in the morning and yet they continue to show up, warm up and bring it. I mixed the sound again and I had fun. I don't really really know what I'm doing except the mixing so it's kind of a risk but I like the challenge.

Finally, I brought the message this week. Man I had fun...despite the fact that I talked my head off for 45mins. the beautiful for me was that no one complained how long it was. Next week we're gunning for an hour! This was our third week of our Naked Truth series and we talked about "Leaving the Sheets". As you can probably figure out, it was a blunt and straight forward discussion regarding not having sex with your neighbors wife/husband and enjoying the breast of your wife. You can hear the message audio here

All in all it was just a good time. We had tons of kids again in Upstream Kids.

It's always fun talking about not spilling the water of your springs in public. Fun times to be had by all this Sunday!