My Photography Website

Oculus Photo Studio is finally online. To check out my new website you can go here. To join the Oculus Facebook page, go here.

Evernote, A Truly Great App

I am not quick to convert to a new app, but I've got to say this is a great app (thanks Derek). I now use Evernote to take notes, keep task lists, log photo shoot locations, catalog sermon illustrations, etc.... It has almost completely eliminated my use of word processing programs and has given me the ability to access all of these documents from any device (web, phone, laptop, etc..). See here why "Webby" named Evernote the best productivity app of the year in 2011.

Erasing Hell by Francis Chan

A good video by Francis Chan on a recent controversy and new book.

Risk Averse Christianity

In this video Alan Hirsch challenges us to consider how the gospel calls us to risk and how middle class American Christianity resists this very calling. This is definitely a thought provoking video.

Alan Hirsch - Are You Stuck In A Rut? from Verge Network on Vimeo.

Teenage Boys

From Mark Driscoll's Facebook today. It is so true that this explains jr. high boys. Not sure if some guy's brains ever fully develop in this regard.

G.O.S.P.E.L.

One of the clearest 5 minute explanations of the Christian Gospel I've ever seen. Great art.


G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.

(HT: Z)

Protests Intensify in Madison

Crazy times here in Madison as 16 schools are now closed tomorrow because teachers are all "walking out" so they can go and protest against Governor Scott Walker's proposal to end collective bargaining with teacher's unions. This and his budget, which will greatly cut government employee benefits, have sparked a lot of controversy. This video reflects tonight's protest in the capital which will be followed by an even greater wave of protest tomorrow.



It would not be appropriate for me to express my personal views on this issue in this medium, but two things have troubled me as I've reflected on the last two days...

1. Are people willing to pray for and honor those who are their appointed government leaders? Even ones with which they disagree? Romans 13:1 and 1 Peter 2:13-17 definitely admonishes us in this regard. Certainly it is acceptable and healthy for people to protest, but I am concerned that the tone of these protests is becoming increasingly hostile and is representative of a growing lack of respect in our nation for those in authority.

2. The holocaust of babies being killed every day through abortion in our nation is unthinkable, yet where are the masses of people gathering in our courthouses and capitals protesting these horrors? One could call such a rally, yet the response would pale in comparison. I am not suggesting these kinds of rallies would be the most fruitful means by which to save the lives of the unborn, but I am deeply saddened by the contrast.

Packer Nation: A Win for the Economy

One thing a Packer win did for Wisconsin was to insure a boost in the economy. One of my employers Dick's Sports has seen a significant increase in sales compared to last year at this time. Here is a pic from my shift at 1 pm on Monday. By 3 pm we were packing up the tables with shirts and hats completely sold out. No worries.... NFC Champion supplies are still available online and Superbowl apparel is quickly on its way! Now's a great time to be a Packer fan!

Rebelling Against the American Dream

David Platt tells CNN why his church rebelled against the American dream. A worthwhile read.

Madison #1 for Men

The purpose of this blog is not to just post stats on our new home in Madison, but my friend Nile who lives in one of the worst cities for men (Saint Louis) just brought it to my attention that Madison just ranked as the #1 best city for men based on 30 measurable categories by Men's Health Magazine. Not sure I feel like any more of a man living here, but I certainly appreciate Madison as a great place to live and strategic place for a Gospel movement of churches, which of course, is the reason we are here.

BEST CITIES:

1 Madison, Wis.
2 Fargo, N.D.
3 Plano, Texas
4 Burlington, VT
5 San Jose, Calif.
6 Lincoln, Neb.
7 Austin, Texas
8 Aurora, Colo.
9 Virginia Beach, Va.
10 Seattle

WORST CITIES:

91 Toledo, Ohio
92 New Orleans
93 Charleston, WV
94 Baltimore
95 St. Petersburg, Fla.
96 Memphis, Tenn.
97 Detroit
98 Birmingham, Ala.
99 Philadelphia
100 St. Louis

Madison Ranked #2 at Rock

Madison was recently ranked by Songkick as the #2 place in the nation to see a rock concert. The calculation is based on the number of rock concerts per capita. The only city higher was Austin, which further substantiates claim that Madison is the Austin of the north. So, if you want to rock, come to Madison.

Using the Family Dashboard

On the Resurgence website Dustin Neeley posted the following tool for families. It was written to a group of guys who are Pastors in the A29 movement, but it is a helpful tool for anyone trying to keep family life in check.

Our Family Gauges

1. The speedometer. This is the “pacing” question: are we moving at a healthy pace that we can sustain, or are we running in the red? We can’t just monitor the things from ministry that directly include us, but we must also factor in the other things that make life what it is: soccer, gymnastics, the kids’ school, health, marriage, money, and home repairs. Never make this pace assessment alone. Men are not typically emotionally intuitive and can be blind to the relational redlining occurring. If you don’t believe me, just ask your wife. She will tell you the real truth.

2. The RPMs. This is the stress question. How hard are we pushing to make this thing go? Are we shifting gears smoothly in our relationships or are we “grinding the gears” like a 16-year-old driving a stick shift for the first time with a critical Dad in the passenger seat? Do Mom and Dad need more time together—alone? Is more time or energy needed with a particular child? You can usually “listen to the engine” through the tone of the conversations taking place at home to monitor the stress level.

3. The gas gauge. This is the margin question. Every ministry family I know is strapped for time and often other resources. The families that go the distance are the ones that have enough gas in their tank for the long haul. They are consciously and consistently refueling through weekly days off: “Date Nights,” “Daddy Dates,” vacations, and daily spiritual tune-ups to keep the engine running more efficiently. Again, if you want to know exactly how much gas is really in the family or marriage tank, ask your wife. She knows.

New Nielsen Jazz Release

Zach Nielsen, one of the guys on the team I am planting The Vine Church with, recently released the jazz trio CD, "Songs in a Minor Key". It is a fantastic recording of both jazz standards as well as several original tunes. Zach is already making a splash in the music community here in Madison and will undoubtedly grow in his popularity within the Madison jazz scene. Below is some background by Zach on this new project. Be sure to click the iTunes and Amazon link to hear samples of all his songs.

I am pleased to announce my first official jazz release. It's a five song EP called “Songs in a Minor Key”. This recording took place this past spring in Albuquerque, NM with some of the best musicians the city has to offer. It is far from perfect (what jazz recording is?) but I think you’ll find some rich moments throughout that will peek your interest and engage your ear.

Recording jazz is a very different process than my pop/rock recording experience in the past. In jazz, all the musicians play together and we do a few takes and simply choose the best one of three or fours takes. With a rock recording you usually analyze every square inch of the recording and slave over all the minutiae. Not so with jazz. We attempt to capture a performance that is rich with energy and life but perfection is not the goal. Communication, interaction, and artistic expression are the goals and I think those goals were met in these short recording sessions.

For some, jazz is esoteric and obtuse. To the unacclimated, it can sound like random noise that is challenging to listen to for extended periods of time. For that reason I recorded a couple songs that most people will recognize. The recording kicks off with my arrangement of Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” and later on you'll find The Police’s famous hit, “Message In A Bottle”. In my experience, if people hear a simple melody that they recognize it greatly increases their enjoyment and overall listening experience. I hope that is the case for you as you encounter this recording.

The remaining three tracks are jazz standards from many decades ago. First, “Nardis” is a Miles Davis tune made famous by one of my piano heros, Bill Evans. Second, there is a lesser known Wayne Shorter tune that I learned back in college called, “Black Nile” and finally another jazz standard called, “Beautiful Love”.

I am excited to release this recording today and if you would be willing, please pass this info along to anyone you might think would appreciate it.

It can be purchased exclusively on iTunes and AmazonMP3. Take a moment and click over to either site and listen to some clips. If you would be willing, pass the links along via the various mediums of social media (Facebook, Email, Twitter, Blogs, etc). Here are the links you would need to share:

AmazonMP3

iTunes

Recording Credits:
Zach Nielsen - Piano
Michael Glynn - Bass
Ian Byrd - Drums on Come As You Are and Message in a Bottle
Arnoldo Acosta - Drums on Black Nile, Nardis, and Beautiful Love
Chris Saiers - Audio Engineer
Mike Mulliniks - Mixing Engineer
Bryan Lopez - Cover Design
Ben Moore - Photography

Thanks to Fernando Ortega for letting me use his piano!

Our First Public Gathering

Today The Vine had its first public gathering as a church. It was a sweet time of fellowship and worship. Below are a few pictures from the service and below that a video of the event. If you're reading this on Facebook, you can watch the video by clicking here.

Exciting Day at The Vine

Today at The Vine we had our second and final morning gathering with our core team of four families. This evening we followed with our final social and informational meeting for those interested in joining The Vine. Below are a few pics from both events. Next week we will start gathering together on Sunday mornings (location TBA) and we'll be launching our City Groups in September. Things are rolling forward and we're delighted, by God's grace, to be along for the ride. We appreciate your prayers!

New Vine Site

We recently launched our new church website for those in the community of Madison desiring to learn more about The Vine Church. Be sure to take a few minutes to check it out. On it we will be regularly posting information regarding upcoming events related to the church. We are deeply indebted to Dan Van Oss for graciously volunteering his time to design this site for us.

Parkview Commissioning

Parkview Church has been an amazing church home for us over the last eleven years. We have learned so much and grown to love the people as our own family. Though we miss Iowa City and Parkview, we appreciate that they are continuing to play a strategic role in our support and encouragement. The following is the video of of our prayer commissioning in the 3rd service on May 30. Needless to say, this was very meaningful to me and Nate as we prepared to plant The Vine Church. If you don’t see the video below, you can view it here.

Why Plant with the EFCA?

Several weeks ago I wrote a blog post on our Vine Church support site regarding why we are excited to have our church plant in Madison associated with the Evangelical Free Church of America. Yesterday that post was republished as the featured story on the Reach National website of the EFCA. You can read the post here.

Jesus, Leadership, Tri-perspectivalism

A lot of guys these days talk about the offices of Christ as seen in the scriptures and how these offices are reflected in the church. These offices of Christ are prophet, priest, and king. The term for this construct that was coined by theologian John Frame is "tri-perspectivalism." 

This tool has been very helpful in understanding the different styles of leadership within the church. One example in our church planting team (The Vine Church in Madison) is that I am predominately King, Zach prophet, and Nate priest. As with any assessment tool, every individual has a mixture of qualities from the numerous categories. Nonetheless, this can be a helpful tool when it comes to understanding our strengths and weaknesses, as well as surrounding us with people who are complimentary in gift and ability. This is one of the reasons the body of Christ requires a diversity of gifts to be healthy and why the church is best lead by a plurality of elders. 

Here's a helpful chart that clarifies tri-perspectivalism in leadership. Here are some resources from Timmy Brister on the topic.

(HT: JTaylor)

Verizon iPhone

Is Verzon getting the iPhone? I've been asking that question for years. When I become a church planter I will be losing access to our Blackberry Enterprise Server meaning I'm either heading to Google's Droid phone or the iPhone. Here's the latest news which originated from the Wall Street Journal. If this is legit, I'm going to be a very happy camper.



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