God of Justice

One of the values of Cherry Hills that I love is that we have a heart for missions. Many people are actively involved in serving, and 20% of our budget each year goes to missions. So, this past year we have been focusing on how to be a 50/50 church, where we're concerned as much about outside our walls as we are inside. One way we do that is to uphold this value on Sunday mornings, and several months ago we did that by showing this video of CH people serving, set to the song God of Justice by Tim Hughes.

One of our videographers, Dr. Jim Davis created this fantastic video, and I wanted to share it with you.


God of Justice from James Davis on Vimeo.

Joe Horness Part 1

We hosted guest artist Joe Horness at Cherry Hills this weekend. On Saturday, Joe taught three sessions about Engaging the Heart. The session were 1. Painting a great picture of God, 2. Building unity on your worship team, and 3. A heart after God's own heart.

I'll post some bullet point hightlights later, but I wanted to post this picture of our creative team with Joe during the Saturday intensive.

Joe's leading worship and teaching tomorrow morning at Cherry Hills and I'm excited for our congregation to hear him.

Wild Goose Chase

I just finished reading Mark Batterson's new book, Wild Goose Chase, which was released today (August 19th). This is the follow-up book to his first release, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day.

I was able to meet Mark personally at the Unplugged Conference last month, and I respect him greatly as a leader and teacher. So, when I heard he was releasing his second book, I was pretty excited.

In the introduction Batterson states, “Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something…"

Batterson goes on to discuss six reasons we don't chase the goose (Responsibilities, Routine, Assumptions, Guilt, Failure, and Fear). I found this to be an easy read that makes you think about taking risks and living dangerously for God. I'd recommend you check this book out. For more information on Wild Goose Chase, you can click here. And to order the book from Amazon, you can click here.

Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of Washington, DC’s National Community Church, widely recognized as one of America’s most innovative churches. NCC meets in movie theaters at metro stops throughout the city, as well as in a church-owned coffee house near Union Station. More than seventy percent of NCC’ers are single twentysomethings who live or work on Capitol Hill. Mark is the author of the best-selling In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and a widely read blogger (www.markbatterson.com).

Let me know if you decide to read the book, and what you think about it.

It

Last week I attended Willow Creek's Leadership Summit. For me, the best message was given by a pastor named Craig Groeshel of lifechurch.tv.

Groeshel has written his third book titled IT about why some churches have it, and some don't. While he can't define it (and neither can I), you know what I'm talking about. You have been to churches that have had it and you've known it; and you've been to church that have NOT had it, and you knew that too.

I'm half way through the book, and think it's a valuable read for the church in the vision casting process. I'd recommend picking up a copy. Let me know if you've read it already.

Rochester Christian Church

I had the privilege and honor of teaching at all 4 services at Rochester Christian Church in Rochester, Illinois this weekend.

I grew up at RCC in Jr. High and High School so it was a sort of homecoming. I love their staff and love their church. I'm always thankful to hear about churches in the area who are advancing the kingdom, and RCC is one of those.

Cornhole

If anyone has any questions about what cornhole is and the cornhole tournament that took place last weekend, I wanted to share this video with you.

Worship Arts at the Muni

We took the praise team and tech team to the Muni on Sunday night to see the Music Man and support our own Barb McNamara who is in the show. Before the show began we ate dinner together, and held the 1st Annual Worship Arts Cornhole tournament, won by Jym Gregory and Nate Roth. Some pics from the night can be found below.

Pics of the Muni

Axiom

If you're looking for a good leadership book to read this summer, Bill Hybels' new book, Axiom is fantastic.

It contains 76 leadership proverbs that he has learned over the years. Each proverb and description is only 1-3 pages long, which makes for an easy read.

I'll be reading this book over and over again, so I can add some of these proverbs to my leadership skills. You won't be dissapointed by getting this book.