zach and i made a dumb video to promote a college-age cookout i’m hosting this weekend. it’s called the “school’s out for summer” cookout. totally stole the idea from my friends over at fusion church. very funny people. if you live in the northeast suburbs of atl, you should def check them out.

again, the video is dumb…so knowing that in advance, enjoy.

join the creative community over at ragamuffin soul.

who’s your favorite washed up rock star?

…and asked you how your church is doing what would you say?

go check out the big discussssssion over at ragamuffin soul.

we’re putting on a couple of big cookouts for the age groups that i lead. i wanted something a little better than sending out an e-vite, so zach and i recorded some stupid videos to tell people about them. here’s the one we made for the 20-something group. their cookout is on friday the 13th in june.

check out the rest of the discussssssion over at ragamuffin soul.

happy wednesday, everybody. (it seems that there are only five of you, and four out of five of you stay updated through a feed reader…see here if you wonder what in the world i’m talking about…) a new feature of wednesday worship posts will be the previous sunday’s set list. on sunday, may 18 we sang the following songs:

everyday – as recorded by lincoln brewster
holy is the lord – as recorded by chris tomlin
i surrender all – as recorded by brian littrell (yeah he’s the ex-backstreet boy)

(**side note, every one of these songs was guitar-driven. that’s how i roll.)

please enjoy this week’s musical worship offering: let me sing, by todd fields of north point community church. this song wasn’t really my fav when i first heard it at catalyst convention last year, but it has grown on me. we’re gonna teach it to the church this sunday. if you’re a blog reader AND you go to my church, then you have the distinct privilege of being ahead of the pack and in the know… here you go.

i’ll work a few quick hits on the last several days into this wednesday worship post. it has been a crazy week.

1. gretchen and i drove to atl, packed, cleaned, connected with friends, signed over power of attorney to sell our townhome, drove back to marion, rented a storage facility, and returned to work/life in a matter of 54 hours. w00t. i’m totally beat. i may not fully recover for a few days.

2. everyone in my band will get to meet “tired adam” at practice tonight. “tired adam” is generally less friendly, less tolerant of dumb jokes, less willing to be flexible…just an all-around stand-up guy. anybody would be both honored and lucky to get to meet him…hopefully he doesn’t scare off any of the talent 2-nite.

3. a guy i know wrote a post on his blog that not only strongly contradicts many things i have learned about ministering to un-churched, post-modern, de-churched, normal people…but does so in a very pointed and critical way. also, it’s worth noting that he disabled comments on just that post. i haven’t really figured out whether it makes me mad or just sad…more mad i think. i’m still considering whether or not to post a response. i probably won’t, mostly because he seems to have drawn the “battle lines” in a very aggressive place, and i don’t think it will edify anybody to get in a spitting match. if you’re a person who prays, you could pray for me on this one. preciate cha.

4. my tired body didn’t handle a lunch of hunan beef very well this afternoon. i’ve had an upset stomach pretty much the rest of the day.

5. on the other hand, i really enjoyed the company i shared [staff] lunch with. probably a fair enough trade-off. they’re not the slickest-suavest staff around, but they’re fun to work with.

6. don’t know if i mentioned how tired i am. so, yeah, i’m pretty tired.

7. last friday evening we finally got over to mount vernon to see some of my college friends. i love those dudes, and it was good to reconnect finally. (we’ve been in ohio for over a month, and it was the first chance i’d had to see them.)

8. the sale and closing of our house seems to be moving along and approaching rapidly. …but it still can’t come soon enough. we love that house and the neighborhood and the city and all that, but that mortgage has been such an albatross around our necks… when i hear for sure that the sale has closed and we no longer own it, i might plant a big, wet kiss on the first person i see…hopefully gretchen will be close by, because i don’t want a lawsuit on my hands for frenching a complete stranger…

9. stopped by the fusion church office yesterday on the way out of town. those guys (and gals) are rock stars. i loved my time working there, and i remember it fondly. i don’t claim to know or understand god’s plan, but i do feel like i have some insight into the past few months’ events. i feel very strongly that we are where we’re supposed to be here in marion. and if tony hadn’t had to lay me off, then i probably would never have left, even though i was working outside outside of my gift set and passion. so there you go. as gretchen said yesterday, “god is not an idiot.” wise words from the woman god gave me.

10. i miss my daughter. she’s staying with her grandparents until friday, and that might just be a couple days too long for my taste. i’ll admit, though, that the past three days would’ve been a hundred times harder with her. but i still miss her.

have a great day.

don’t you wish your wife loved you as much as mine loves me?!

1. really great service on sunday. i think that a lot of people connect with god in a very real way. very cool.

2. i stuck a mute math song into the prelude music, and i got really good comments on it. old(er) dudes love mute math when they hear them…they just have no idea who they are.

3. i gotta give a report at board meeting tonight. if i could do nothing but write reports, budgets, and schedules, boy i’ll tell ya, i would be in heaven…because i’d have died already…of boredom and self-loathing.

4. pastor riley taught us about samson and delilah yesterday. we were going to use this as a transitional video, but we were afraid that there would have to be a serious transition just to introduce the transitional video…which is supposed to act as a transition into the message…anyway, it didn’t work out, but it would’ve been funny.

5. we want our own house, our own space. we absolutely love living with dave and nancy, but it’s getting to be time. they just have so much nice stuff that ella could so easily ruin! that’s really my only issue, actually. they’ve really taken us in like family, and we love them. but ella is a destructive force to be reckoned with, seeking to destroy everything in her path.

6. dave and nancy’s house phones have songs that play when they ring. but if you’re sitting in earshot of two phones, you can hear that they are playing different songs…it’s pretty funny.

7. we went with our ohio family to mothers’ day dinner on sunday at the country club! i took care of feeding and entertaining ella so that gretch could focus on stuffing her face. the prime rib was the best thing there. really good. good times…

8. why…why…why…delilah?! (see number 4.)

9. i help with the student ministries band on sunday evenings. it’s tough getting in there after a long morning, but it’s pretty awesome, too. i don’t want to make them mad or insult them or anything, but i do want to push them. i think i’m gonna push them pretty hard. they have the potential to really rock if they’ll come along with the pushing.

10. ella decided that last night was the night to wake up at 2:30 and not go all the way back to sleep until about 5:15. gretchen and i each got up a couple of times, taking turns trying to calm her down and get her to go to sleep. when she finally crashed, g and i had each been up for at least an hour and a half. the only diff is that my girls are both still asleep as i write this, and i am…not…zzzzzz–snort! what?

11. one of my friends came home from college with dreadlocks on his head. his mom called him a hypocrite. i don’t really know how a hairstyle can make you a hypocrite, unless you’ve always said things like, “i’ll never have that hairstyle, because it’s wrong.” if you’ve always said that, and then you come home with that very hairstyle, maybe you’re a hypocrite. it’s pretty sad, actually, because i think this dude is closer to christ than he’s ever been, dreadlocks or not (he also has a nose ring…gasp). and he would love nothing more than to be able to talk through some of the things god is teaching him and dialog with his parents about the way it’s affecting his goals and vision for his life, but mom can’t see or hear anything but the dreads. that sucks.

12. off to work. gotta pick this week’s music, pick next week’s music, chart any music that i need to change, upload any new resources to my website, finish the paperwork on my credentials situation (nazarene denomination stuff), verify that the singers this week are in fact going to be there, notify my band of this week’s music, write my report for board meeting, find a transitional video for this week (that won’t require a transition of its own), finish my essay for my bible college application (yeah, i’m going to bible college), and find time for lunch and dinner…

here i go.

the secret bathroom at church at “stuff christians like”

not just a “small church problem” at phillip’s blog

hilarious, embarrassing gym story at “ragamuffin soul”

you’re welcome.

1. the music could have been better, but not with a volunteer band and that short of a practice. my team knocked it out of the park. i am proud of the way they stepped up and made this sunday of transition so powerful.

2. a couple of my friends are newly expecting, and i’m praying for them that all goes well. what a stressful time for both of them.

3. only one neg comment on yesterday’s worship service. so either that means that only one person had anything neg to say or that only one person had the nerve to say what they were really thinking! who knows? i guess i’ll prob find out over the next several weeks.

4. pastor powell will be gone this next sunday, and i found out that we’re bringing in joe noonen to speak in his stead. man, am i pumped. joe noonen is one of the coolest, most transparent, genuine men i know. i’m eager to hear what he has to say. (hopefully i haven’t talked him up too much…)

5. had lunch with kevin hord today. that guy is a trip. and skyline chili was a delightful choice.

6. we’re not changing our cell phones over until we get a permanent address. so if you live in marion and i give you an atlanta phone number, i’m not lying.

7. the choir sounded amazing yesterday, especially the second song. pastor jerry does an outstanding job with them. he’s also been great helping me get acclimated to where things are and how things work. quality.

8. found out today that pastor brent is the camp director for the high school camp this year. that’s a lot of work…not a job i envy, but he’ll do awesome.

9. gretchen and i are now leaning toward renting a home for several months to a year before purchasing anything. that way we can spend the money that would be going to the government in taxes on paying down our debt. that’s how you get out of debt, you know…by paying it down.

10. i gotta get a skateboard. there’s a decent skate park right across the street from the church…i can see it out my window. and there are always anywhere from 10 to 50 people over there skating, hanging out, and listening to some crunk music. i went over there and watched for a while the other day, but i felt like an old, weird, stalker guy. they were nice enough, but i know they felt the same way. gotta get a skateboard (and some pads…).

11. my wife went to trader joe’s grocery store in columbus today. i don’t know what she bought, but i think it might include some delicious imported cheese! w00t!

12. the staff i work on comes across as serious…but they are some crazy dudes. it’s pretty sick working here.

1. we visited a few friends in delaware and columbus today. nice to see them again, and we were shocked by how quickly we were able to buzz down to the city…that drive used to seem so long until we got used to living in big, spread-out atlanta!

2. we looked at another house today. but we’re so picky. i wouldn’t be surprised if we never found another house that we would/could buy. everything we like carries a big price tag.

3. i love my wife. she is wonderful.

4. my daughter has to be the most wonderful child on the face of the earth. she’s so easy compared to some of my friends’ children…it’s not really fair, but i guess you only complain about something like that when the unfairness is stacked in the other guy’s favor…

5. got a kick out of this guy and these guys. i don’t know that i would be able to go through with it…especially with a logo like this.

6. big day tomorrow. leading worship for the first time in marion as a staff member. (led a few times in the distant past, but mostly for the student-age services and whatnot.) musically, a few of the folks are in for a bit of a shock, but most everybody will dig it (i hope ) we’re also doing a lot more stuff with media shout (a presentation software, like powerpoint on steroids) than they’ve done in the past, in an attempt to smoothen things out and reduce the number of moving parts during the service. we’ll see how that goes. i’ll try to post a full report tomorrow.

good night. sleep tight.

1. constantly compare yourself to other artists.

2. talk to your family about what you do and expect them to cheer you on.

3. base the success of your entire career on one project.

4. stick to what you know.

5. undervalue your expertise.

6. let money dictate what you do.

7. bow to societal pressures.

8. only do work that your family would love.

9. do whatever the client/customer/gallery owner/patron/investor asks.

10. set unachievable/overwhelming goals. to be accomplished by tomorrow.

number five is the one that really struck me. i have trouble with that. which one applies to you?