Do you ever have one of those days when you are walking and U2’s song “Beautiful Day” would be the perfect theme song for your life? That’s me today. It is 75+ degrees today here in Bellingham! The above pic is from Boulevard Park on the southside. It’s very popular for college students. I never go there, but this is what a beautiful day looks like there (I go to Padden generally). What a perfect song for a perfect day! 

What’s your theme song lately?

Well, I recently bought Fruity Loops XXL, and I’ve been pretty busy trying to figure it out. With my new toy, I’ve haven’t been blogging. Sorry. I promise that I’ll be back tomorrow to tell you about my new adventures as a supa-doopa produca…or my failings.

Well, to all the ladies, Mothers or Not, happy mothers day. Cynthia and I went to our different parents houses and visited. My mom’s dog lost its eye. Her dog looks like this now:

gross.

How was your Dia de las Madres?

I watch Monsters Inc.  What do you when you are tossing and turning?

I’ve been meaning to talk about this movie, the Namesake, for a while (below is the trailer). I saw it a few weeks back, netflixing it on the whim, and I was not disappointed. This movie is about second generation families. It shows the dysfunction that forms between parents from the “old country” and their children who are raised in American Pop Culture and the importance of finding your identity and how you fit into where/who you are. I am not from a second generation (My mom and dad were born and raised in the United States), but my wife’s mother grew up in Mexicali, Mexico. I get to sit on the sidelines and watch some of these second generation happenings first hand.

This movie is definitely worth a watch. If you have Netflix or Blockbuster, put it in your queue. The Namesake will give you a glimpse into another life that most of us are not used to. I’d love to hear also from people who are from second generation families and what they thought.

PS - If you haven’t seen August Rush, keep it that way. It was awful.

At RCC, we use the Lectionary. We go through the three years of various scriptures set out and repeat when we finish. We build some of our sermon series around them. It’s really interesting, but it seems so foreign to the evangelical church. What do you do at your church for sermons? How do you preach?

In 2003, before we planted Roosevelt Community Church, we were Cornwall at the Club - a Video Venue planted in the Roosevelt Neighborhood, the highest populated and highest crime area in Bellingham, WA. Five years later, we find that the crime has gone down. Is it the church’s presence that caused this? I think we have a little to do with it, but really I think a bigger part is the fact that they have raised rent on low income housing and chased out a lot of the drug dealers. I rejoice but also lament this fact. I am so glad as crime is being pushed out, but also the marginal and forgotten are pushed out as well.

The above quote and title for this post came from Baron yesterday as he, cameron, and I met over some Yaki Soba on Northwest Rd. across from Yeagers. We talked about how a lot of crime had gone down in the Roosevelt Neighborhood, but simply moved across town and added to the Birchwood Neighborhood. Some people call this area the “Wood Hood”. Part of our language at RCC is the idea that a Neighborhood without a Neighbor is simply a Hood. This is why we are Chasing the Darkness. This is who we are as RCC - this is part of our mission in being In, For and With a Community.

This is common knowledge at RCC, but I am really excited because in October 2008, we will begin a service plant and in the process begin Northwest Community Church (NCC): In, For, and With the Birchwood and Columbia Community. We will meet in St. Paul’s Academy on Northwest Rd, which lies directly on the border of the two neighborhoods. This is very exciting and scary for us, because we just planted RCC last easter. The thing is, we will simply rely on God and continue to chase the darkness.

So, I couldn’t put a picture on here because it is copywritten, but a guy drove through the front window at Bakerviews Starbucks here in Bellingham. 

Earlier I asked about people who come to this blog - who they are/what they do. In doing this, we met pastors and various worship leaders in the church. If you read my About Me tab above, you will find out that I am a worship leader here in beautiful Bellingham, WA. My job is to point people in the direction of Jesus and lead them in worshipping Him. I do this by any means necessary. What I mean, is that I try to use many different ways.

A few of these different avenues that I’ve used is leading prayers from the Book of Common Prayer on sundays (we are not a traditional church by any means), I’ve posted videos on YouTube of worship within Roosevelt Community CHurch, I send out a newsletter to encourage and educate the artists that I serve with, I encourage painting, poetry, and photography to emerge and lead us in story, and I help publish devotional journals which are written by our congregation. Among these many things, I also lead the musical part of our sunday service.

So if you are a worship leader/creative arts director/worship pastor what is expected of you? What expectations does your boss/pastor/leader have set up for you? What ways are you doing this?

If you you are the boss/pastor/leader, what do you expect of your worship leader/creative arts director/worship pastor? What do you expect on a typical sunday?