Sacred Digital: Chuckk Gerwig

Shazam : The Miracles of Jesus is off and running as of last Sunday. Here's a peek at the superhero theme environment the Environment Team has cooked up for the series. Well done once again team!

Here's a great blog post from Dan Kimball about that evil worldly instrument... the pipe organ! Worth a read.

On the iPod: Led Zeppelin-In Through the Out Door & Vampire Weekend-Vampire Weekend

Special thanks go out to my pal Smittie for updating and fixing the Chuckk Gerwig webpage. It now has links to my blog here, to Sacred Ink (my Tattoo art project), to my internet video series, to the Elevation Santa Cruz webpage and to my weekly podcasts at iTunes.

Some say that when you die you instantly lose 21 grams of weight, presumably it's your soul... I'm not so convinced. I just read an interesting blog entry by David Byrne the uber-gifted 21 grams behind the band, Talking Heads. In the blog he muses about art, machines and the soul. Here's a thought on the 21 grams of soul theory ... The eternal spiritual element of us is the IMmaterial part of the us and since it is not matter would possess no material wieght...

On the iPod: Talking Heads - Fear of Music

Ahhhh another glorious day away on Harleys! Saturday morning Omar and I got on our bikes, loaded up our wives and headed out to the 61st Annual Hollister Motorcycle Rally. This is what gentlemen pastor types look like on a day away.

At one point we were walking down the road and I heard someone shouting over a bullhorn. It was these fellows...

As they shouted to the crowd about God's love (and a really hot Hell) Omar and I began to ask onlookers what they were experiencing. One guy said he wished they'd stop and that "people knew where to find it if people want it", a Christian lady mentioned how it seemed condemning, some yelled "shut up", a few mocked them. I spoke to a guy from the Hells Angel's motorcycle club who just seemed baffled by it - he wasn't the only one, several people looked really confused by the message. The only person who said it was good was a youth pastor I spoke with who said "you've got to be bold" tersely. I ran into some Christian friends of mine at one point and they said "you aren't here with these guys are you?" (yes, when pigs fly).

Overall it tasted pretty bitter on the palate of almost every Homo Sapien within earshot. I'll bet these guys really feel like they are doing the loving thing deep down inside. I kept thinking how much more powerful their "ministry to bikers" would have been if they had stayed home and helped their neighbor fix their motorcycle as an act of love and a bridge of ongoing friendship. It is possible to use the Gospel to negate the Gospel. Incarnation doesn't usually require a bullhorn.

This is what you get when your 17 year old daughter "warms up" a big 1" thick steak in the microwave for 10 minutes. A ultra-flat crispy flesh cookie... and a house that smells like the alley behind a Texas smoke house.

Worshipfacilities.com tends to focus on mega-church meeting spaces BUT there's something extra cool on their site right now - Las Vegas' Grace Point (a portable) Church.

Volunteers can do amazing things, check out what Grace Point Church's unpaid staff does every week in a rented school building. To see the Grace Point video: follow this Link, look for media and hit "Grace Point". Never underestimate what people can do without a building of their own, without a giant paid techstaff, and without fear!

Riffworks now offers a free online music collaboration tool that you should check out

Here's the official marketing jive : "Create, Collab, Cast: RiffWorks T4 -RiffWorks T4 is a free edition of RiffWorks guitar recording software that includes looped recording, automatic track creation, InstantDrummer, effects, song posting, online collaboration, and a “Quick Start” tutorial in 14 languages."

Now worship leaders can work with their bands to write songs and exchange musical ideas free globally; gotta love that internet thing...

On the iPod: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Baby 81 - check this Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Video out-and this video too. To listen correctly this music needs to be played hellishly loud. Note: not all songs may suitable for all listeners so some track deletions may be necessary for some listeners...then set your car stereo volume to stun and break the speed limit while screaming the lyrics outloud.

Last Sunday we celebrated Elevation's 6 month anniversary as a ministry. During our worship time we asked folks to write notes of encouragement to our Elder Board for having the courage to launch Elevation during a very difficult economic season in our church. Below are the notes they wrote - very encouraging and humbling!

Today Andrea and I celebrate 27 of marriage. Not the mere survival of the species; a thriving growing friendship and big love affair. Ahhhh bliss. It CAN be done. I love my wife.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-92) was England's best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. He was a brilliant speaker, a man with a deep conservative understanding of Scripture and a Baptist. He was also a big-time cigar smoker - notice the burning sungrown figurado in his hand in the picture above. Read all about it at this link... Spurgeon and Cigars

My favorite part of this webpage is the final letter at the bottom of the page from a man named W. M. Hutchings, penned October, 1874 - proving things never change...nothing is new under the big glowing orb in the sky.