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this has been a strange weekend.

let’s start with the obvious, i don’t need to tell anyone that easter was this weekend, do i? the most important three days in the entire christian calendar. our entire faith is based on the events that happened on these three days. in these three days, jesus showed us a love and grace that i will never be able to fully comprehend.

yet, in the midst of all these emotions… i somehow find myself getting lost in my own problems. i do not mean to belittle the, complications — for lack of a better word, in my life right now, it just was the worst possible time for me to succumb to selfishness. i do long for a time in life where life wasn’t so complicated, but at what cost?

it’s quarter after eleven in the evening now, and now that things have cooled down… now that i’m not quite as stressed about putting the absolute best service possible together for the thousands upon thousands who walked through cedarcreek’s doors today, now that i’m not quite as caught up in all the drama… i can look back and say “wow, i wouldn’t trade it all for the world.” it brings me back to a thought that sam melden put in my head over six months ago, that there are really only two ways to live… “me for me, or me for you.”

i mean seriously, i can’t fathom a better job. i can’t fathom a better faith. i can’t fathom a better love.

it’s easy to lose focus in ministry. sometimes it’s really easy to forget the balance between “work” and “church” when you work for a church. it seems like every time i get out of whack, all i have to do is wait a little while and i am reminded… reminded why it is we do what we do.

hundreds of people… HUNDREDS gave their life to christ for the first time this weekend at cedarcreek. if only a few of them actually follow through and commit to an authentic and real relationship, then it was all worth it.

below, you’ll find what i am referring to as “easter in seven.” it is a condensed version of the easter 2008 services at cedarcreek.tv perrysburg campus. give it a look, comment… whatever.

some technical stuff for those of you that care… this is direct feed from our switcher and soundboard. therefore, you will not often see the actual band. i assure you though, this is our musicians. not that many of you would think otherwise, because the audio mix isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. still, you’ll get an idea of what our easter services were all about this year. i am running switchers and directing video in all of what you are about to watch.

today we launched the toledo campus of cedarcreek.tv. it’s been a long journey, one that i have times been a big part of, but for the most part i’ve been able to observe from the outside. it’s a weird thing, having our original campus being in a suburb, and now launching a campus within the city. there is so much opportunity to reach people, we’ve been hard-pressed to remain patient during the construction process.

last night there were two soft opening services. these were really meant for our volunteers, and a chance for us to do a run-through along with the live video from our perrysburg campus (via streambox). everything went well, so today was the big day.

nearly twelve hundred people attended the two services tonight at the toledo campus. god is good! multiple first-time commitments to christ tonight at the toledo campus. god is good! the streambox (live video over internet) worked. god is good!

it’s hard to not be excited for what the future is going to hold at cedarcreek. i believe god is going to continue doing huge things through the church, all of our campuses, especially over at the toledo campus. it’s so great to have that place launched finally after so much work, but we don’t have long to rest! it’s almost time to start thinking about our fourth campus!

but for now, it’s all i need, to know that god is good.

i’m sure i’ll have some pictures of services actually happening at toledo soon, but for now, here are some pictures i took on friday. as per usual, there are a lot more pictures than i’ve linked here. you can view the whole set on my flickr by clicking here.

i’ll be back tomorrow with the recap of the weekend services.

a few months back, i had a crazy friday that i dubbed “politics-friday.” it was a crazy day, where i posted five different times stating where i stand on certain political issues. one of which, was abortion. i talked about how in my heart, i am pro-life, but i struggle with the wild hypothetical’s (rape, incest).

i still feel the same way.

it’s no secret that am supporting barack obama. working at a evangelical church that averages around seven thousand people in attendance every weekend, i get asked a lot how i can call myself a christian and support someone who does not want to make abortion illegal.

well, i read this post on one of my favorite new blogs the other day, and i must say that from here on out, i’m just going to direct people to that entry. it is quite possibly the most well-written explanation on why a christian can vote for obama and not feel guilty, at least in regards to the abortion issue. if you have other issues with obama, that’s just fine…. this is just one issue. here’s a portion of his post, but be sure to visit to check out the rest.

My purpose in endorsing Obama publicly is simply to give comfort to other Christ-followers who wish to vote for a pro-choice candidate. For so many, this is the singular issue in determining a candidate. I felt that way myself for so long, but today I am no longer handcuffed by this issue. Here are a few reasons why.

Pro-choice ≠ Pro-abortion. It’s ignorant for anyone to think that a pro-choice individual is pro-abortion. Although I hold the stance that all abortions should be banned, the issue is extremely complicated. I can’t think of anybody that is actually a proponent of abortion. And that includes Barack Obama.

It’s Political. This issue is just another way to garner votes on either side. Don’t get sucked into the trap. Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., John McCain, Mitt Romney. They all changed their opinions on this issue. Do you think it had anything to do with them running for office?

Other Issues. Are there no other issues in the world today? Do no other issues effect lives? I believe that there are quite a few “life altering” issues that sit on the presidents plate. To narrow it to one is shortsighted. Life may begin at conception, but it doesn’t end at birth.

No Options. If you vote strictly pro-life, all you need to do is show up on a cold day in November, close your eyes, and vote Republican. There is no need for you to follow politics, debates, news, read books. Your decision has already been made.

Nothing Has Changed. When was Roe vs. Wade again? Have we ever had a majority Republican Senate and House with a sitting Republican president? Why hasn’t the law changed? Do you really think their stance even makes a difference?

George W. Bush. For starters he said up front that he didn’t think America was ready for a law banning abortion so he wasn’t going to pursue it. He also believes that abortions should be allowed in the case of incest, rape, and harm to the mother. That isn’t a very consistent stance if you are valuing ALL life. Like I said, it’s a complicated issue.

Adoption. I personally feel like a hypocrite for criticizing pro-choice individuals, all the while not offering an alternative to those mothers who need assistance. If Christ-followers would talk less and adopt more, this wouldn’t be the issue it currently is.

the church where i work, we’re gifted with a passionate and driven high school pastor. he’s a great teacher (when he has the opportunity) on the weekend services, additionally he is generally just an amazing leader. his name is ben snyder, and he recently challenged his high school students with the same challenge (different dates) i am about to issue to all of you who read this blog, and all of you who are finding this site from facebook or myspace.

how much are we missing in our lives, in our families lives, our friends lives, our spiritual lives… by paying ridiculous amounts of attention to our plethora of electronic devices? we live in the “noisiest” time in the history of the world. we have so many things competing for our attention, it’s no wonder that we have trouble relating to people, and to our faith.

i’m not going to sit here and tell you that these things are “evil,” because i honestly don’t believe that. however, i do believe in the value of disconnecting, or “fasting” every once in a while. if for no other reason than to prepare for an inevitable giant e.m.p. (electromagnetic pulse) going off someday that destroys all the worlds electronic devices, thus thrusting tom cruise into becoming the leader of the planet alongside xenu, the alien founder of scientology that populated the earth through volcanoes.

so anyway — for seven days, beginning monday, march seventeenth and continuing through sunday, march twenty-third i will be unplugging, and i hope many, many people join me.

what does this mean? no television. no email. no blogging (this includes guest blogs). no twittering (this is the most painful). no facebook. no myspace. no flickr. no youtube. no ipod. no internet. no computer. no texting. no phone calls.

one week to focus all of my time and energy on my faith, my family, my friends. seven days of listening, reading, growing.

now, the rules are this; obviously we all have responsibilities, be it work, school, whatever… that require you to use a phone and various forms of communication. this challenge applies to every thing OUTSIDE of your work/school day. this will look different for everyone. for example, i have a job where i sort of need to be on call, so if something happens and my boss calls me at eight pm on a tuesday night, i’m still going to answer it. however, the first thing i’ll ask is if it can be put off till the next regular working day. so you’re just going to have to be diligent on your own… nobody is going to babysit you here.

everyone get it?

that high school pastor i was talking about, put together a video about the high school challenge, so the dates are different, but the idea is the same. watch this two minute video below to see what i believe this to be so important. he can say it much better than i can.

so, who’s coming with me? don’t make me do this alone! leave a comment below, let’s do this together!

when we visited the edmond campus, we sat through the entire service and watched the message. senior pastor craig groeschel absolutely brought the thunder. by far and away one of the better messages on the church i’ve heard. if the following quote doesn’t grab you, i don’t know what will… the whole message is worthwhile (and embedded after the quote).

“…and let me just say, to those of you who are self-centered and small-minded and say ‘this church is too big for me,’ don’t come back. I mean, get your whining butt out of here. Seriously. Let me just say this to you as well, when you go to a small church that meets your needs, make sure they’re not reaching people for Jesus. Make sure they’re not, because if they are they’re going to grow too and they’ll be too big for your self-centered little butt again! Oh yeah, welcome to LIfeChurch, we want to make you feel comfortable and happy with yourself. You know, I’m serious… quit your self-centered whining. Do you think that the Church exists for you? No, you’re the Church. You’re the Church. As long as there is someone who doesn’t know Christ, don’t ever say any church, any where is too big.”

wow.

yeah, just… wow.

what a weekend. eleven straight services at the perrysburg campus, where i directed and ran switchers. three services out at our whitehouse campus, for a total of fourteen services in three days. it was a marathon to be sure, but oh so incredibly worth it.

first, the numbers…

i really believe a live remote broadcast from the local cbs affliate in town helped our attendance quite a bit. the total attendance (every man woman and child who was not volunteering or on staff) for the entire weekend at both campuses was 16,464. this absolutely shattered our wildest dreams, and previous record attendance set at last years christmas, which was 13,300. our 4:00pm service on monday the 24th was by far and away our best-ever attended single service, with a total attendance of 2,300… in a 1,400 seat auditorium! we had every single space in the church that was set aside for overlow; the chapel, south atrium, classroom 201… filled with people, and even a room that wasn’t meant for overflow, the jr. high ministry room had people in it.

the biggest number of the weekend though, is 928. 928 people stood up at the end of the service, acknowledging a commitment to christ following a salvation prayer led by our senior pastor lee powell. that’s 928 reasons to believe that all the stress, anxiety, and crap that’s been going on for the last month leading up to this was absolutely and one hundred percent completely worth it. i am absolutely in awe of what god has done, and is continuing to do through a bunch of broken and silly people here at cedarcreek, including myself.

a very special thanks to trent austin and the music team down at lifechurch.tv, who graciously helped us cover a couple of songs they did for their christmas service last year. we changed up christmas, which appeared to be a cardinal sin at cedarcreek in the months leading up to it, but i think the overwhelming majority were very much in favor of the new package.

the band was amazing, the teaching was amazing, the volunteers were all amazing, and i may be biased, but my live video team did an amazing job and it was such an honor serving with them for three days.

now, i couldn’t do this post without including some serious media, so here you go. a few pictures (all of which can be found on my flickr page), and a video of our performance of little drummer boy. enjoy!

i’ve been thinking a lot about christmas lately. obviously, i have my reasons; it’s my job, i have a lot of responsibility at christmas-time, figuring out how to afford christmas presents for everyone, ecstatic that i was at least able to get my wife something for christmas for the first time in our three-year (thus far) marriage, so on and so forth.

in the midst of all this, i’ve spent some (little) time wondering why i’m so worried about all these things, and not really at all thinking about what christmas is (really) all about. i am trying very hard not to type “the reason for the season,” but seeing as how i just did… oh well, it’s out there.

seriously though, all my time spent thinking about christmas is spent on all the worldly, consumer-driven aspects of it. even in regards to my job, i worry about making everything perfect for the services… not to honor god, but to try and make sure the twelve to fifteen thousand people who will attend services at cedarcreek.tv loves it.

i recently heard about this thing rick mckinley (one of my favorite pastor’s in the whole wide world) started out at his church (imago dei) and it finally got my headed in the right direction. he started a group with some other pastors and his wife called “advent conspiracy.” the basic idea of the group is restoring christmas to what it really needs to be. taking the focus off the consumerism, and putting it more into worship and loving our neighbor. now that’s something i can get behind.

i read an article yesterday on beliefnet.com (believe me, this is not normal), and the opening of the article was enough for me to get sold out on the cause:

The Christmas contradiction gives Pastor Rick McKinley a headache.

Americans will spend about $475 billion this year on gifts, decorations and parties that many won’t even remember next year. They will run themselves ragged — shopping, wrapping and celebrating. And some won’t pay off their Christmas debt until March, if they’re lucky.

“We celebrate Jesus’ birthday by giving ourselves presents,” McKinley says. “We don’t give him anything.”

…and then this from the adventconspiracy.org website:

Advent Conspiracy is an international movement restoring the scandal of Christmas by worshipping Jesus through compassion, not consumption.Christ tends to get overlooked at Christmas. Let’s be honest. December comes and you think, “OK, this is the year.” This time you’ll swear you’ll slow down and take it all in. Make the most with family. Help the needy. Zero in on what it really means to be a Christ follower during this holy season.

the bus/train has already left the station this year. there isn’t much i can do to change what’s already been set in motion, but next year… next year i anticipate a few conversations with friends, family, and co-workers about starting a “new” tradition at christmas. i mean honestly, wouldn’t christmas be that much more of an amazing time if we took all that stress that comes directly from the consumerism aspect of it, and replaced it with the things that truly matters? a saving gift from our amazing god, spending time with our family, laughing with friends, and instead of giving our finances away in the forms of presents that:

a.) nobody really needs, and
b.) a lot of times end up in the re-gift pile in a closet

instead lets give those resources to those in the world who are victims of nothing else other than a curse of longitude and latitude. give it away to those who’ve fell on some hard times in your local community. what an amazing and completely (un)original idea. i don’t think that when god had the amazing coming of christ in mind, he wanted us to celebrate it in the way we currently do.

listen, i don’t want to get all “holier than thou.” really, if it’s your thing to overspend on friends/family/grandkids/pets (please no)/whatever… then that’s fine for you. don’t get me wrong, i would hope that you’ll come around eventually… but for me, i think it’s time for a change. i hope i can talk my own family and friends into as well… but if not, well… we’ll see

this weekend at cedarcreek, we brought in a couple very special guests to perform and speak at each of our weekend services. patrick henry hughes, and his father patrick john hughes both agreed to come out for the weekend and share their amazing story.

patrick henry hughes was born without eyes, unable to extend his limbs, obviously unable to walk. over time, he taught himself how to play piano (and very well) as well as trumpet. he is now on the university of louisville marching band. how? his dad… his dad pushes him in his wheel chair. it really, really is an amazing story and you really should take some time to at the very least watch this six-ish minute video that espn did on them.

but, the real magic happened this weekend at cedarcreek. i’m not just saying that either. find some time, click this link to go to the cedarcreek video page, and make sure you click on 111807 in the video player to watch the interview with the hughes’.

there was a lot of talk about gratitude, being grateful for the blessings in our lives instead of focusing on the difficult situations.

what are you grateful for this thanksgiving season?

i will post a list of things i am grateful for either tomorrow or wednesday… it should be lengthly!