FaithBasedBlog.com

From KSAT:

The local Chronicle also filed a report from the San Antonio paper. Not sure what to make of this poor reporter's assignment:

Even in the men's room, AT&T custodian Donald Fuqua, 47, sensed something special.

"I can tell the Holy Spirit is here," Fuqua said. "When you see people come together, it's the way they look. You can see it in their face. He's alive today."

There's also some "playing to stereotype" reporting in the article (emphasis mine):

He said his aim isn't to compete with churches, but "to plant a seed of hope" for those facing economic woes, ill health and other troubles.

His smile never faltered when asked by reporters about critics who decry his feel-good sermons as "Christianity lite" that depart from strict biblical teachings.

Osteen said he tries to inspire people to do what's right, to give them hope and help them cope with problems. He also said his message is aimed, in large part, to people who otherwise have limited exposure to religion.

The upbeat theme clearly resonated with spectators like Mary L. Dickinson, 72, who drove from Laredo despite four herniated vertebrae and an ailing leg

I'm not sure I should have expected better from a reporter who works out of the men's room. I'm curious that if the reporter's characterization that a message of hope was primarily aimed at those in need of "health and wealth", you'd think there might be some aspect of an actual quote that should be included. And while it's by no means off limits to highlight an interview with someone who drove a ways to worship or that might even have a health issue, it should be pointed out there do exist a fair number of people who are perfectly ambulatory in attendance. Shocking though that may be to some.

I contemplated the trip to San An, but it looked like most of the organized trips out there were overnight stays and I was looking forward to some rest & relaxation on Sunday anyway. One of the groups that reported from their journey noted that they couldn't even get in since they failed to get tickets in advance.

Interesting book that popped up on my radar. If you're absolutely unlike me and prefer something not in the heavy, nonfiction category, this sounds like it might be interesting.

The Sunday Brunch Diaries Norma L. Jarrett. Broadway/Harlem Moon, $12.95 paper (302p) ISBN 978-0-7679-2143-5

Channeling Tyler Perry's tragicomic sensibility (there is even a Madea figure), Jarrett delivers the goods in this light, entertaining follow-up to Sunday Brunch. Five women, all lawyers and longtime friends, live the good life--both materially and spiritually--in Houston. Capri is an NBA wife who isn't thrilled with the limelight; Lexi is a newlywed; Jewel is dealing with "baby mama drama"; Angel has just begun attending Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church; and Jermane struggles to help her husband deal with a professional and personal crisis. While tragic circumstances ensue, Jarrett keeps the humor coming and always emphasizes God's power to redeem even the worst situations. Jarrett definitely does not disappoint readers who enjoy escaping into a world of beautiful people who wear designer clothes, eat at fashionable restaurants and live in luxury homes. While this novel is arguably by, for and about black women, a much wider audience is sure to delight in getting to know this fun group of Christian characters. (Sept. 9)

[Amazon]

Well, it looks like the computer issues from last night carried over to my work PC over the weekend. That, and I decided to alter my weekend schedule in a way that meant I might not capture all three services. Instead, I got one - Sunday 8:30. Adding insult to injury, there's some hiccups in the video of the special from the weekend. So in my effort to plod through it all, I give the video a couple of tries on the surgery table. No luck there. So this week, close your eyes and pretend you're there.

The audio here has a hiccup or two as well, but it's less annoying (and headache-inducing) than the video. Enjoy it and know that both Michael and Fiona looked fantastic.

One sidenote to mention from the night. Here's a screencap of the special:

Notice anything new? Like the lyrics underneath, maybe? It took all of one week from me whining about the lack of lyrics for the special to actually getting them placed on the big screen. That's got to be a record. It's also frightening to think that people actually read this blog. Thanks to all responsible, though. Since these are typically songs we don't know from repetition, my hunch is that this might get people more into the song (and hence, more into worship).

Funny thing happened on the way to church ... well, actually it happened at church. But nobody ever says the line "Funny thing happened after I arrived at _____." Setting up the video on the third floor for a movie night, I notice I've got no audio out of the PC. Not the end of the world for the night, but I decide to see if there's a known cure that might lead to me learning a new trick or two about the massive snake of wires in the AV booth.

Rescue Roger, who's bailed me out of any number of AV setup headaches arrives on his own. I give him the overview and tell him what little I've done to try and repair the status thus far. Upon taking the speaker line out of the PC, we note that there's no audio coming from the PC. That's a bad thing if you want audio at all. Rescue Roger tries a few things. I let him off the hook since we don't necessarily need PC audio for our room this night all that much. We're both about to resign ourselves to defeat on this, then R.R. plugs the speaker back where it was in the first place. Presto. PC Audio.

Lesson for the day: If something is not working as it should on your PC, do the following (in order of preferred action):

a) do nothing, come back in 20 minutes and see if it magically works on its own
b) fiddle with it until it works
c) unplug and then plug back in whatever is pluggable/unpluggable (this is really a variation of b ... just simpler)
d) reboot the computer

I usually go with a) at work - d) when I know my PC has been worked to death and needs a reset. But there tends to be a bit of learning to do at church in the form of a few extra devices to contend with. So I'm not averse to learning a new trick or two. Still, it doesn't take long before the wisdom of a final option makes sense:

e) adapt to the reality that you are limited by what the PC allows you to do.

And if that's just too frustrating to deal with, pick up some reading material and get away from the computer.

Seriously, though, one of these days, I'm going to have to learn the ways of Rescue Roger when it comes to healing audio/video equipment.

Just about the most awesome thing on the internet today. Footage of the Altar Boys reunion show at Cornerstone in 2000.

» Eugene Peterson's latest in his spiritual theology series, "Tell It Slant." Due Oct. 15th, this is probably the most eagerly awaited book I see on my short-term horizon. Reading the first three books in this series was a blast and Peterson is a fantastic read. There's an audio series available that offers a preview of the book. I'd be a little more tempted if the pricetag was a shade lower. Then again, I'll most likely cave and give it a listen anyway. One drawback I found to Peterson's series is that they take a while to ease into, but once you're in, it's hard to put the book down.

» Yet another Rob Bell book: Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile. Again, there's audio if that helps. I'm trying to remember if I've previously downloaded this before. Kinda sad when the memory slips like that. Either way, the book is out Oct. 1 and I'll be sure to pick up a copy. So long as I remember.

» I've previously mentioned the promise of new tunes by Lincoln Brewster. But the first tune, "Today is the Day", is already available for download if you care to pick it up.

» No idea when Chris Tomlin has new product out, but he's already got a new tune for sale - "Jesus Messiah".

All that aside, I think I'm settling my upcoming books of the month as follows:

Jesus Brand Spirituality: He Wants His Religion Back (Ken Wilson)
Thanks to Ken shamelessly plugging his wares after I noted my appreciation of his series of lectures at Vineyard-Ann Arbor. I don't exactly consider it "shameless" when the product is good.

Acts for Everyone, Part 1
I tend to vacillate on which of Wright's commentaries to pick up next. Thus far, I'm rationalizing this as not caving in to buying his Luke commentary until I've gotten all of Greg Boyd's sermons on Luke. But this is the next best thing. There's still an occasional temptation to pick up the Prison Letters edition instead ... or to head over to nonfiction and pick up something there for a change of pace. But so far, I'm doing good to stick with this plan for a solid week. That's like a record for me.

Two random thoughts that finally clicked for me last night while waiting for the service to get started.

Thought #1: Lakewood's 3-yr anniversary arrives in the middle of next month.

Thought #2: The speaking schedule at Lakewood's website still lists "TBD" for July 12-13

Ya think there might be something special in store for that? No idea why I never thought about putting those two thoughts together. Guess I was just thinking they were maybe lining up another John Maxwell-caliber guest speaker for us and had to wait for things to get finalized.

Who knows ... maybe they are and nobody's saying much about it. Not that anyone should be disappointed if Joel just kicks off another three-part sermon on what food we can and can't eat again ;-)

Actually, the reason it probably clicked for me is that I realized I've got three rather significant anniversaries coming up during the summer. My "Lakewood-iversary" which coincides with the anniversary for moving into the current digs. My blog-iversary for my first blog in August. And the blog-iversary for this lil blog in September. All pretty much a month apart from each other. I'm not sure that I'm into big celebratory moments or anything, so the range of celebration will probably run anywhere from me posting a picture of a party hat to sleeping late each day. Don't say you weren't warned!

UPDATE: Thanks to commenter Ndidi for putting names to the voices ...

Do I have some video clips from Wednesday to share, or what? I can't say enough good things about Wednesday's praise & worship, but I'll try to unpack at least a few dozen kind words here. Between getting the chance to see what Michael Mellett can do up front, seeing some of the ensemble singers get a moment to show their talent, and finally - FINALLY - getting a nice little showcase moment for Randy Allison on the sax, it was a very special treat for what I can only presume is a fair portion of the regular attendees that enjoy all of the musical talent we get to listen to.

Now, sadly, I have no names for two of the ensemble singers that get some run here. I meant to nag any of the ensemble/band members that I know on my way out, but never quite got the chance (well, unless I wanted to interrupt Fiona's conversation ... which I didn't). So I'm appealing to the readership to help me out with names yet again.

First up is the first song of the night, where we got a taste of things to come in the form of sharing the spotlight on stage. UPDATE: Silvanus J. LaToison is the ensemble singer here.

Then, there's Randy's extended sax solo toward the second half of "How Great Is Our God." I think he could have strung this out for another five minutes or so and those in attendance would still have been applauding it.

Last up is a lead-in from one of the ensemble singers, in this case, kicking off "God He Reigns" ...

UPDATE: Elizabeth Varughese is the ensemble singer here.

Again: Names, people ... I need names! UPDATE: Nevermind, I'm now content ;-)

» FaithWorld: Some U.S. atheists seem to be confused, Pew survey shows

There seems to be some confusion among self-described U.S. atheists, at least according to the second part of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life's monumental "U.S. Religious Landscape Survey" that was issued today.

It found that 92 percent of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit, with 71 percent of those surveyed saying they were "absolutely certain" on this score.

Curiously, more than one fifth -- 21 percent -- of those who counted themselves as atheists said they believed in God while eight percent expressed absolute certainty about this state of affairs.

I'm not sure which side of this is most comical to me: that 8% of atheists are absolutely certain that there's a God, or that the rest are sorta on the fence about it while still describing themselves as atheists.

Granted, I don't think the bulk of the pollable public really invests a lot of time in wrestling with the deeper philosophical aspects of the terminology that the poll-ees often ask of them.

Just fiddling with a new toy to see what happens to my content when dumped into tag-cloud format. Hey, it's at least an interesting time killer for me.

Seeing Michael W. Smith is as close to going to Branson as I'll likely ever experience without crossing the Missouri state border. It seemed like everyone who was looking for an alternative to an R-rated movie on Friday night was at Lakewood. Like ... from the ages of 7 to 70. And it looked like they were all getting into it except for the one row of kids in front of me, all of whom fell asleep two songs in.

The mob scene was certainly not as bad as was feared. I arrived by 6pm and folks were lining up at all the 2nd floor entrances, but it wasn't terribly bad. By 6:30, the concourse was by no means as claustrophobic as it was for the last Hillsong show. Come to think of it, I also didn't see busloads of church groups depositing kids at Lakewood's doorstep. Guess that's the difference between Sunday night and Friday night.

Had I wanted to force my way in, I could have gotten a onesie seat up at the front section. But since I didn't view myself as a big enough MWS fan to warrant that sort of behavior, I meandered back toward the sound booth. I arrive, I sit down, I patiently allow various groups to obtain seats further toward the middle of our row. I'm at something like the fifth seat from the end. As the others settle past me, they arrive in groups of 2 or 5. Minutes later - after they've all arrived - they depart one-by-one to the restroom. This is the most brutal form of brutality imaginable to a guy looking to kill 45 minutes of dead time sitting near the end of a row. I don't think I ever made it past two sentences before hearing the faint echo of one more bladder-strained individual offering their "Excuse me's" to get past the dwindling number of us still seated. Naturally, they all returned one-by-one as well. I swear, I think I've finally got abs of steel from my Friday night workout. Feel free to check back in about 50 years and I'm sure my most lasting memory from this concert will be that everyone had to go to the bathroom 45 seconds apart from someone else. That and maybe that nobody else in my section knew how to clap in time to any song performed.

So there was, in fact, a concert, also. A little personal history here. I own all of one Michael W. Smith CD - "Go West Young Man." I remember when I bought it, the guy at the record store took one look and said that the guy on the cover looked like George Michael. Realizing he was spot-on in his analysis, I did some quick rationalization of how much it meant to have the full CD just to get one song - "Place in This World." I really could have used itunes back then. So I'm not the biggest, baddest MWS fan who can recite endless trivia tidbits of his musicianship, ministry, or favorite fast food menu item. Don't bother going head-to-head with me on such matters when it comes to Stryper or Whitecross, though. You'll be trapped in a month long lecture series.

Still, I know the guy's got some chops and he's no slouch, and I'm willing to guess he's a very genuine guy whose efforts should be rewarded with as large a crowd as possible singing along to whatever songs he's singing these days. To my regret, neither "Place in This World" nor "Go West Young Man" were among them. Drats. For better or worse, though, his setlist is a bit more populated by Hillsong material that I've become accustomed to.

The highlight of the night is one simple, brief moment. "Mighty to Save" ... not the most unusual song in the world for someone like Smith to belt out, but I think this earns high marks for the camera work. There's a point where the chorus seems to go on like forever

Shine Your light and
Let the whole world see
We're singing
For the glory of the risen King

And the cameras are just trolling around, picking up so many of the choir folks that I know and love. Singing. For the whole world to (ultimately) see. For the glory of the risen King. I obviously have no idea how the finished product will end up, but I've got to think someone would be making a huge mistake to not use that type of footage for the DVD.

Sure, there were several other great moments to report. Guest spots with Israel Houghton (in English) and the Spanish worship leader who's name always seems to escape me (in Spanish ... natch); Aimee Beard, Stephan Jackson and Dos Mellett's on the background vox. Christa Black on guitar, vocals, and violin (note: every female on stage had red hair. That automatically pushes this event up the ranks on my all-time list right there. Oh, and we should seriously look into what it'd take to get Christa back for another guest appearance. Dibs on picking her up at the airport!). MWS offering a 36-hour old song that at least has the distinction of being written in Houston. I'm not sure why - mixing, my seating choice - but it seemed like I picked up a lot of Stephan Jackson from the background vocalists. No complaints there - he's good.

Anyway, that pretty much sums up Friday night.

One Sunday Special this weekend, brought to you by the Woelfel Trio ...

As highly as I think of Michael's singing voice, I kinda wish the video & music team would consider putting lyrics up on the screens for his specials. It's not quite the same vocal clarity you get from most of the others. Whatsmore, I think Michael's voice is pretty well suited for this song as I much prefer it over the original Matthew West version.

Oh, and since these kids now seem to be travelling as a trio for moments like these, who do I nag to see that some name recognition goes to Michael's sisters?

No doubt swept up in her excitement of Saturday night, Victoria sorta forgets a detail from Friday night ...

Sunday morning, she spoke about the renewing our minds. You gotta love that.

I'm guessing that there's a certain level at which even Michael W. Smith can appreciate the mistake. I doubt he'd want folks to remember the concert from Friday because of Michael W. Smith. Even though it should be noted that he led one great service. More on that later.

Just got the dead-tree version of this on my desk. The writeup is available here.

(Via Rachel)

Well, well ... welcome Cindy Cruse Ratcliff to the internet!

If you sign up for her mailing list, you can get a free download of "Love So Amazing." Sounds like a fair deal. Rachel also hints at an upcoming solo album, which sounds like a fair deal for all the time we've gone without her voice on Wednesday nights. Look for this to be a very busy year for music coming out of Lakewood.

Cross-posting this review of the Jonny Lang/Dave Barnes concert Thursday night. Both artists fill an odd niche of Christian music that isn't necessarily "Christian music". See this review of Barnes' latest CD for an overview of what I might be talking about there.

------------------------
Just back from catching Jonny Lang and Dave Barnes in concert. And aside from some of the buggy quirks of the Verizon, it definitely met expectations.

Coupla critical notes up front. Maybe it's just me, but I thought Barnes' 40-something minute set was a tad too short. Maybe I'm of that opinion because he left out "Nothing Fancy" from the list, opting for the more Office-friendly ballad of "On a Night Like This." Likewise, Lang omitted some of his early secondary hits/cult faves like "Missing Your Love" and "When I Come To You."

All that said, I'm pretty sure the crowd just wanted to see the kid rip it up on guitar. And on that score, he didn't seem to leave anyone disappointed. I tend to be a bit more appreciative of guitar players that are a bit looser on stage than Lang, but there's no doubt he's got enough talent to take in live. Never imagined Lang's tone coming from a Les Paul, but he seemed to play that for about half the night. And after enjoying his latest gospel-tinged CD, it was incredible to finally get to hear some of those songs live. Oddly, I suppose, one of the draws of Lang to me is his voice. From his first album on, it always struck me as a bit unnatural that someone so young could sing the way he does. The guitar work, though, is a huge bonus.

Barnes definitely managed to impress. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't have his latest album for download, so I'll have to wait and pick up some of those songs when they ultimately get added. But he managed to represent some of his earlier work rather well in the set, so I'm not hurting for new tunes based on some favorites picked out at the show (Someday, Sarah was definitely a great, upbeat number). It's not entirely clear to me whether Barnes is aiming for a category more like that of Lang or that of a more mainstream Chris Tomlin (Tomlin's producer did Barnes' latest release) or Third Day. Either way, he's one to check out if you get a chance. Just might be nice to know he's got a solid niche that'll keep him recording albums for many years to come.

A glimpse of what we've got in store this Friday ...

It was certainly entertaining by my count to have the stage setup the way it was Wednesday night. Much of the band is right up front and seemingly more a part of worship. Only drawbacks were that everyone's favorite horn section was stashed back in the far corner and the percussionist area was pretty well hidden behind the new location for the drum kit.

Be that as it may, there was some great song selection for the night and Israel always seems to be the surest to break from the routine that we sometimes find ourselves in. I think I was commanded to address/pray with those seated around me more than any Marcos Witt sermon ever. Seeing a service with Israel & Stephen leading the way was also a treat that I don't recall offhand whether we've gotten to see before.

Be sure to make an excuse to catch the concert on Friday. You might find yourself on a DVD later this year.

Tonight ... one of those Wednesdays that I really look forward to. It's a night of praise and worship at Lakewood and the last hot stock tip I've got is that Michael W. Smith stops by.

With any luck, it'll look and sound a lot like this ...

Just kidding ... partially.

Be sure to arrive late on Friday so that I can get there early and have a great spot in line for several hours and work on any lingering claustrophobia I might be dealing with.

A little sermoneering for the lull. I'm still backloaded with a lot of stuff to listen to and precious little time to absorb it all. But with titles like these, it's hard to resist the urge to share:

From Scum of the Earth Church (luv that name!), comes the best sermon title of the year:

» "Subverting The Zombie Empire" (mp3)

There's even a great reference to one of my favorite movies - Shaun of the Dead. So naturally, that's high on my recommended list.

Lastly, there's a sermon I lucked out on picking up from Joshua House in Columbus, OH.

» "Jesus Brand Spirituality: He Wants His Religion Back" (mp3)

This one obviously spoke to the Greg Boyd fan in me, so I went back and did a little research. The pastor (Ken Wilson) mentioned he's from the Ann Arbor, MI version of Vineyard Church, and as luck would have it, this sermon was the distillation of a five-part series he and Charles Park delivered in Ann Arbor. And this is where I'm at right now - smack dab in the middle of this series. Still, they're also high on the recommended list.

» He Wants His Religion Back - Jesus is our Center (Ken Wilson) [mp3]
» He Wants His Religion Back - The Gospel is our Message (Ken Wison) [mp3]
» A Church for Your City: Reclaiming the Jesus Brand (Charles Park) [mp3]
» He Wants His Religion Back - The Bible is our Book (Ken Wilson) [mp3]
» He Wants His Religion Back - Love is our AIM (Ken Wilson) [mp3]

Where Greg Boyd began in 2004 with his Cross & Sword series to deconstruct much of the existing faith & politics understanding in the church and followed up more recently with his Beautiful Mess series to build up a more Christ-centered alternative, Wilson seems to capture a little of both sides in this series. Since I've already read Boyd's book, listened to the sermons several times over and even ordered the DVDs to take them in one more time, it's refreshing to hear another take on how this course gets charted.

And speaking of Boyd ...

There's a two-part Q&A with him and Paul Eddy discussing some of the New Age concepts that are getting a new popularlization via Eckhart Tolle's book, "The New Earth" (thanks, Oprah!). Boyd's written review of the book is here. I've yet to spin it through my MP3 player, but Boyd and Eddy are a great team to listen to. For proof, I'll recommend a listenening of their Q&A on Spiritual Warfare (mp3).

With all of that, plus the usual hectic workload, plus the minor semblence of a social life ... you might imagine why I've had too little time for blogging lately.

Wanna be on the next Israel & New Breed CD? Here's how.

The latest & greatest ... complete with a witty Joel Osteen quip at the end:

If you want a version of the song you can carry around with you, here's the MP3 via Amazon. Enjoy!

... with all due apologies to the lyrics from "Amazing Grace"

OK, just lost about 15 minutes of time figuring out why I didn't have the previous performance of Da'Dra doing "Thanks for Staying" ... only to realize that it was before I switched over to the current video service.