Draw from the Well

Friday Links 8/5/2011

• Have you heard of Grouptune? One weekly deal of Christian tunes. I like it!
• New music I'm digging these days: The Civil Wars, Hillsong's Aftermath, and Jeremy Riddle!
• Learn to love the Taste of Water. Hmmm. But Diet Coke is so tasty!
• This is cool: Matchbox Car City - Metropolis II
• Holy cow - this will knock your socks off:  Visualization of the US Debt!

Six Books in Six Weeks

(Get the tune of "videos killed the radio star" in your head...)

Reading blogs killed my book reading.  And that makes me sad.

I love to read.  There was a time when I read a book per week, sometimes more than one.  (Sigh...missing simpler times.)

I still read, but my reading has shifted from books to the computer.  Now, this isn't entirely bad...how did we do life before google?  I am more well read, more quickly than ever before.  Sometimes I fear I just can't fit one more piece of information into my already stuffed brain.

However, I note two trends from my blog reading escapades:  1) I read for shorter bursts.  2) I read more shallowly.

There is a time and a place for short and sweet.  But I've noticed it comes at a price - I've lost the spiritual and intellectual muscles to ruminate on deep things (the one exception to this is in my devotional times...I'm just deep with them.) 

I can't think of the last book I've read that rocked my world.  This could be because authors are becoming less profound, but I suspect my problem is that I have not allowed myself to be immersed in the depth of the profound things out there.

Blogs can be intellectual junk food.  Food, but lacking in the nutritional value of other types of food.

As a young Christian I remember laboring under the likes of Lewis, Spurgeon, and Law.  There have been books that have literally caused me to fling them across the room because they seared my soul with conviction (Larry Crabb often does this to me.)  I miss the days when I kept a dictionary beside my bed because the books I were reading forced me to look up a word I didn't know one every page. 

I'm pretty sure that I haven't arrived to my spiritual maturity, so that's not the problem.

As I have reviewed my life, I know that there is some good content  that I am receiving, but I still feel soft and flabby....I need to go back to a simpler, more natural training schedule.

(Cue that scene from Rocky IV where Rock goes to Russia to train for his big fight and he's pushing around longs and running in snow...here's help if you need it.)

Enter - Six books in Six Weeks.

Since I am currently participating in a six week media fast (with extra homework please) I've already turned off the t.v. and the blogs (hurts just a little) (uh...writing my own is okay - I just don't read other peoples) why not put some reading in there.  So my goal is to read a book each week.

Here are my books:

The Blessed Life by Robert Morris (on the spiritual practice of tithing)

The Divine Mentor by Wayne Cordeiro (learning to feed yourself through your relationship with Jesus alone)

When Heaven Invades Earth by Bill Johnson (a practical Guide to a life of miracles)

The Blue Parakeet by Scot McKnight (rethinking how to read the Bible)

A Renegade's Guide to God by David Foster (not sure all that this book is about...looks interesting.)

Doctrineby Mark Driscoll &  Gerry Breshears (because everyone should eat their vegetables)

Bonus Book:  I had decided that I wanted to learn more about Cambodia as a way to keep the Cambodia Missions team before me while they were on mission, so I'm also reading the following:

When Broken Glass Floatsby Chanrithy Him (wee bit depressing, but then sometimes history is like that.

So there you have it.  I'm almost finished with The Blessed Life and well into When Broken Glass Floats.  I can feel my mind muscles getting strong with every log toss!

 

Love Language

This brought delight into my day, so I just had to share it with you! 

Two of my favorite things: a kinetic text video and a rant about using language well.

This is so my philosophy, of not just language, but life: it's better to use or do something rather  than get so caught up in worrying about if you are properly using or doing something that it keeps you from actually using, doing, saying, writing, or living at all!

My house might not always be spotless...but I will let you in nevertheless (I value relationship over my pride!)

My blogs might have spelling errors or incomplete thoughts...but I will share with you what I'm thinking (I value authentic freshness over perfected profundity!)

My expertise in kayaking, scrap booking, playing guitar, or whatever little hobby I'm dabbling in falls short of expert level...yet I welcome you to join me in the fun anyway.

Want to read more? Full essay "Don't Mind Your Language" is here.

HT: Life Hacker

More Living Water Bloggers...

Add these folks to your list:

Pastor Shane Rogers has finally started blogging.  Get prepared to hear some good stuff from this guy!

Wendy Lund has a blog, which is chronicling, among other things, her publishing a children's book.  Wendy and her husband Larry are part of our Creative Arts team: Wendy sings and Larry plays bass.  Check our her journey!

Who else is blogging?  Let me know!

Didn't catch the other LW bloggers?  See here and here.

More Living Water Bloggers

A few weeks ago I told you who on staff blogs.  (You can find out here.)

However, there are several avid Living Water bloggers who are not on staff. I love reading their stuff as well.  You might want to check them out.

Fawn Cobler - Pastor Jon's wife blogs her observations about life, parenting, and God.

Robin Bailey - A Year With Chickens - Robin and her family love simplicity, animals, and God.  She has a great perspective on pursuing life in it's basic forms.  Her observations are insightful and delightful.  And they have chickens.

Matt Wimberly - Pastor Tim's third son.  Matt is an up and coming writer.  I appreciate his honest frankness.  As he graduates from high school and steps further into life, he is a passionate voice for his generation.

More young voices to check out:

Ryan Williams: Son of Crossroads Campus Pastor Eric Williams and gifted piano player.

Liz Thornton: active youth leader.

Mackenzie Crabbe: Daughter of Jason and Molly Crabbe, CM Leaders, and a budding worship leader.

Are you blogging and I don't know about it?  I'd love to - let me know!

Spread the Reading Virus with Booksneeze

I love books.  And I love free.  So when a friend emailed me info about www.booksneeze.com I was intrigued.

Basically Booksneeze is a site where they will give you a free copy of a book to review in exchange for a review on your blog and a commercial website, like www.amazon.com.

I've also been wanting to do more book reviews in general (along with more reading!)

This morning I ordered my first free book for review.  I'm excited!

If you are into christian books; if you are into free; if you are into reviews - you may want to check out Booksneeze!

Also - if you have a blog and I don't seem to know about it - drop me a line!

Social Media Revolution

Just in case you doubt.

Social Media at Living Water - A Guide to Who & What

The number one comment I get from people who attend Living Water has to do with connecting with the staff.  Let's face it, we are a big church filled with people who hop from service to service depending on what's happening on their weekend.  One church - three locations, five services each weekend...it can be difficult to feel connected and to actually connect with people. 

It is possible to connect with people face to face, but it takes intentionality.  So I encourage you to be persistent and don't give up.  But also, I encourage you to embrace new ways of connectingthat, while they are not a replacement for face to face communication (which is hugely important!), they can help to augment that sense of connection.

The second area I hope will get fostered is dialog.  In addition to being a big church, it can also be difficult to find places to "talk back.".  I think some of these mediums are great for getting information, but also for joining the conversation.

[Am I not connected with you?  Befriend me here or follow me here. Let's begin a conversation!]

Here are three mediums of connection for you to consider:  blogs, facebook, and twitter.

Blogs provide a periodic (usually weekly) installment of updates and thoughts on numerous topics of interest.  You can interact with blog posts by making comments on them.

Here's who blogs among the Living Water staff:

Obviously me - Draw from the Well

Jon Cobler - Pastor

Tim Wimberly - Regal Campus Pastor

Jake Broeker - Pastor of Administration

Cody Chapman - Jr High Pastor

Eric Williams - Crossroads Campus Pastor

Facebook is the fastest growing social media format around.  It does lots of things but is mainly centered around answering the questions "What am I doing now?" (called a status update).  There are too many people on facebook to make mention, but I do direct you to the Living Water Facebook page here. [Disclaimer: there are somethings I love about facebook and somethings I loathe, keep that in mind.]

Twitter is a more instant and frequent type of communication.  You will get a feel for what is happening "right now" all in 140 characters.  Twitter is a great tool if you have a smartphone or an iphone, but it works from your computer as well! People often tie their twitter account in with their facebook account so both are updated at the same time.  But if you don't like some of the features of facebook, twitter will still give you the feeling of connection without the annoying games.

Here's who twitters among the Living Water staff:

Jon Cobler

Tim Wimberly

Jake Broeker

Terry Fisher- Oly High Campus Pastor

Cody Chapman

Shane Rogers - Pastor of 242 & Generation United

Daniel Hunt - SH Pastor

Cheri Sanderson - Director of Worship Arts

Joy Broeker - Director of Service Production

 

Let me know if I missed anyone (it's definitely possible!)

Also, being the early adopter that I am, I've been experimenting with www.foursquare.com.   See here. I can't decide if it will be a winner or not.  Thoughts?

Living Water Monday Morning Recap 4/24 &25

For some time I've been wanting to reenter the blogging world in a meaningful way.  One thing I've always thought helpful was doing a weekend recap.  People much smarter than I have been doing these for a long time (you can see examples here, here, and here) so this is nothing new. 

However, I'm excited and feel challenged to remind myself of the great things God is doing in our midst at Living Water.  I'm also in the mode of "know thyself" for success - so while some people do their recaps on Sunday night, I know that Monday morning works much better for me.

Ta da - welcome to the first edition of Living Water Monday Morning Recaps!

Here are some thoughts from this weekend:

• I produced the services both Saturday 5 p.m. and Sun @ 10 a.m. So much happens behind the scenes! Thank you to everyone who makes things happen in facilities set up, sound, and video. You all are unsung heroes!
• Flexibility was the key, as Saturday service was extended by about an 30 minutes. God bless our Children's Ministry - you guys are troopers!
• I was actually video directing the Q&A portion of the service from the switching room. (Only made one mistake when I hit a wrong button!)
• Walid Shoebat has so much spirit and conviction. Agree or disagree - he is thought provoking.
• Two big take aways for me: 1) do you live by tradition or the text (read:Bible) 2) always ask: "where in the Bible does it say that?"
• I love baptisms!  Did you know that our Director of Facilities (who is also a licensed pastor), Dan was baptizing on Saturday?  I LOVE that about Living Water.  Who was it that reminded us recently: "God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called!"
• We made some changes at the Oly High Campus.  Another huge shout out to our set up & tech teams - even little changes add extra work - but big pay offs.   Thanks for the sacrifices.
• Change #1:  We made the room smaller by using pipe/drape.  Hello?? Did you feel the difference?  I know some of you may not have "loved" the change, but that strange feeling you were feeling was a combination of community, unity, and connectivity.  It's hard not to be an island, but oh so much better (John Donne would be proud!)
• Change #2:  The message this weekend was play via DVD.  Good: picture quality was 100% better than our cameras. People where engaged.  Extra time for worship and ministry. (And by extra I mean 10 minutes!) Bad: line of site and angle issues - some people had sore necks.
• We did "verbal shout outs" at Oly High this weekend.  More on this later.
• Had lunch with two dear friends.  Discovered amazing Vietnamese crispy noodles.  Yummy.  Talked on the phone with another friend for 1 hour (and I dislike the phone.)  Lesson learned:  be intentional about connecting to friends.
• Spent some time with my nephew, whom I love so much.  Kids grow up fast!

What's rattling in my brain for this week:

• Wednesday is our last scheduled Encounter Night: 7 pm Boulevard Campus Sanctuary.
• I really, really want to go kayaking. Seriously.

Look Who's Blogging Now!

 

It's Jake Broeker!

Jake is Living Water's guru of all things green: making budgets balance and keeping us in the black.  In his spare time he leads the First Impressions team keeping all of us safe and happy on the weekends.  Jake is full of vision and passion for helping Living Water to be a bright light in the midst of our community. 

One of the following trivial facts about Jake is actually true: 

a) He was captain of his high school synchronized swimming team

b) He's a vegan who does yoga two hours per day

c) Jake and I graduated from the same high school.

Finally Jake, who has a ton of great things to say, has made it to the blogesphere.  Check out his new digs here.

I enjoy Jake as a co-worker and friend and look forward to all the great insights that he will bring.  I'm proud to add him to my blogroll.