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Here’s the 2008 Year in Review Video:

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/2683224[/vimeo]

Blake and I have made some pretty impressive slideshows in the last few weeks.  When people see them, they ask, “Is that more of that Mac magic you are always throwing down?” 

Surprisingly, this time the answer is “no.”

It’s a web-based program Blake found called Animoto.com that allows you to upload pictures and music and then – Voila – a killer slideshow.  You have to pay to make one longer than 30 seconds (3$ a video or 30$ a year).  But if you do this sort of thing often, it’s well worth it.

Here’s another example:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wNnaYKG3b8[/youtube]

You can also download them to your computer, upload them straight to YouTube or embed them from Animoto iteself.

I love twitter.  I wont lie about it.  Not only is it a fun way to keep up with my friends and other news, but now that I sit at the end of another year, it’s a great way to take a look back.  

So here it is, my life over the last year in reverse order in 140 letters or less…

I’m dreaming of a dry Christmas. 8:14 AM Dec 20th from web

just spazzed out about getting furniture stain on my carpet. fixed with paint thinner. 5:50 PM Dec 19th from web         

Celebrating 3 years of marriage. 5:42 PM Dec 13th from txt

Driving our new car home from Southaven. 6:33 PM Nov 25th from txt

Taking a break from the misery of car shopping to enjoy the misery of TARGET. 3:07 PM Nov 21st from txt

It’s tenderness is refutable; it’s loiny-ness, debatable. 8:52 AM Nov 15thfrom txt

(more…)

I have a new internet buddy.  His name is oliver and one of his many hobbies is visiting churches and blogging about it.

Oliver is one of a few contributors for the Mississippi Atheist Blog and last Sunday he came to the Orchard in Oxford.  Here’s 99% of it (read the whole post here):

The Orchard (not to be confused with The Orchard in Tupelo) is a small Methodist church that meets in The Powerhouse, which is the community center for the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council. The sign in the front of The Powerhouse says that The Orchard is “A Church for Everyone.” That’s a pretty lofty goal once considering that “everyone” includes people from non-Christian religions as well as non-believers. (more…)

Stream the conference LIVE here.

Eric Mason and his friends from Epiphany Fellowship Church in Philly lead the evening’s session.

Some scattered notes:

Collectors want whatever they collect to arrive perfect and stay untarnished without bends, wrinkles or dents.  We should be that careful and meticulous with God’s Gospel in our churches.  

Take pains to make sure it stays in pristine condition.

(more…)

I just finished my friend Bryan’s new book called Gentle Interventions: God’s Graceful Work in Our Lives.

In the short book, he deals with a big topic: God’s grace.  The book is important for Christians because it mostly takes John Wesley’s ideas about grace and puts them in a modern context that is easy to understand.  

If you want a copy of the book, contact The Orchard in Tupelo.

a video we showed at church yesterday.  

pretty cool.  watch carefully.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsPBVNecOMo

From Granger.

Reasons and Disclaimer

From the beginning, people have asked why we didn’t put the fact that we are a Methodist church in our name, on our sign or on the front page of our website.  They had a lot of questions:

-Are you trying to hide something?

-Is this a real Methodist church?

-Do you think every new church plant should hide their denominational affiliation in order to reach new people?

The answers: No, Yes, No.

The Skinny:

Some people think that we are trying to intentionally hide the fact that we are United Methodist or that we are even a “church”.  This is not true.  We are a church. We love being a church.  Throughout human history, the Church (universal term for the gathering of believers worldwide) has been a beautiful thing.  On many occasions, it was the place of hope and peace within the communities that it was a part of.  Although the Church has fallen short at times, we still believe that the church is God’s plan for bringing his redemptive message to the world and we are honored to be a part of it.  We also believe that John Wesley’s (founder of the Methodist movement) perspectives on Scripture and community are as important and inspired today as they’ve ever been.  We enjoy the connection and support of the Methodist conference in MS and we are blessed to be able to see what God is doing in churches all throughout the state and the world.

At the same time, we also recognize the fact that in Oxford, MS, there are many people for which the Church has failed.  Many went there searching for peace and wholeness and were unable to find it.  This has been especially true for many seekers in the Bible belt.  Because of this, we are desperately trying to bring fresh ideas and a fresh face (a different name, different terminology) into the conversation about faith, with the hope that they will give pursuing a lifelong relationship with God another try. 

I don’t think that every new church should feel the need to do this.  For some communities (and it’s up to the local pastor to decide if their’s fits in this category or not), it’s actually best for a church to display a denominational affiliation more prominently as they introduce themselves there.  It all goes back to knowing the city that you are trying to reach and being willing to responsibly do what it takes to reach it.