Sacred Digital: Chuckk Gerwig

I LOVE LOST, and it's coming back. Elevation will be hosting some LOST Locales Jan. 31st - we'll invite people to homes around town to watch the season start up in community around the plasma screens!

hehehe. Trunk Monkey makes me laugh out loud.

Oh yeah...Please pray for Elevation as we prepare to officially launch into weekly services in 11 days! - Sunday Jan. 27th.

On the iPod: "Transatlanticism" (Death Cab for Cutie)

We officially launch Elevation - one week from tomorrow. After next Sunday I'll be back into weekly teaching ministry again. I realize that much of my joy and ministry-energy comes from the weekly task of spending time with Jesus in His Word preparing to communicate it to the Body and then coming on Sunday to share what He said to me during the week. I am wired for this and feel His joy when I am doing this. I haven't had the privilege and duty of weekly teaching since September so this will be good for the soul!

Prayer Answered: We needed a part time Administrative Assistant for Elevation and one of our Core-Dreamers; Melissa Boose has been hired to fill the role! Melissa is a wonderful gifted minister with a great heart and sweet personality, Elevation is doubly blessed to have her! Thanks to God for every good and perfect gift!

Pray for the Spences , the Booses and the Gerwigs as we prepare for launch, the enemy has been very active in making our lives very difficult as we start this new dealio! Something is brewing.

On The Pod:

"This Desert Life" (Counting Crows)

HUGE thanks go out to Randy Boose: Elevator, website designer, husband of Melissa and all-around generous humanoid for designing and building a great Elevation website is his " spare time" at no cost to us. Randy your rock it bruttha!

Go see our brand spankin new ELEVATION WEBSITE HERE. Our website address is www.elevationSC.org (sc for Santa Cruz of course). Visit us regularly for news, media, bios, what we believe and all thing Elevation.

Right now you can listen to the audio podcasts of our first 2 TestDrive sermons: "Mining for Meat" and "MeteorStrike:Incarnate!"...and get all the latest scuttlebutt.

In the future expect online art projects, free ministry resources to use in house churches and church plants and VIDEO podcasts of all Sunday night services along with many other surprises.

Here we go.

We launch into weekly services at Elevation THIS SUNDAY 6:30-8pm in Area 51 (the Santa Cruz Bible Church Student Center). If you're local come celebrate with us at the beginning of the chaos.

Omar is getting the high-energy worship brewing and I'm working on the first message for our launch series - Tattoo: Marked for Life. Come visit our tattoo-parlor themed worship space and hear about the indelible agape of the Master. The brownie bar is being baked, the coffee is being brewed, and there will be signups for our LOST Parties... hmmm what's that??? ...happening next week in the four East Santa Cruz, West Santa Cruz, Felton and Scotts Valley locations.

We'll be going out to pizza later for AfterHours community building time.

Pray for us as we endeavor to love, worship, laugh, pray and engage this town in fresh ways.

On the iPod

"Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" (Foo Fighters)

The missing link in most Christian communities is…COMMUNITY.

• In our light-speed mach5 world it’s difficult to find time to just chill with others

.• It’s hard to get to know people in a church because most church services don’t have tons of space for hanging out and talking to other humans.

• Once a church community gets fairly big it’s really hard to get a chance to ask the pastor and worship leader questions or even to get to know them.

• There’s not enough laughter, smiles and play in the world.

• Most gatherings of Christians happen on church campuses or in private homes where people who aren’t Christian can never see how Christian community looks and feels. Christians enjoying life together in public places is a winsome thing indeed!

SO: Every week after Elevation Worship Services end at 8pm I, Worship Lead; Omar Spence and other Elevators will be going out on the town (‘cause our town ROCKS)!

We’ll be chillin’ with anyone and everyone who wants a bite to eat, something to drink, wants to find out how to get involved at Elevation or wants to get to know others in our Elevation community. Maybe you would like to discuss the sermon, or wonder what we believe or why we do what we do. Afterhours is your place to ask questions, make comments, give us input and more that that - make some friends.

Most AfterHours shindigs will happen out on the town so we can comfortably invite others into the fun and where not yet Christian folks can observe Christians having a great time together. For people with kids some in home AfterHours hang-times may crop up to better serve families.

If you;re attending elevation : Live a little, laugh more, become part of Elevation - come to AfterHours. Remember, getting your homework done or getting to work feeling fresh on Monday morning are both highly overrated!

More info on Elevation Ideals @ OUR WEBSITE

After months and months of praying, planning, laughing, crying, hoping, dreaming and getting kicked in the teeth by Hell over and over - tomorrow we launch Elevation.

Pray along with me that we will be a blessing to people and that God will be pleased, lean back on His throne and smile larger than the sky.

6:30-8pm Sunday on the morrow in Area 51.

On the iPod:


"Magic" (Bruce Springsteen)