Baptism Picture

Here is what baptism in a parking garage looks like:

Click the picture to see more. (you have to be on Facebook)

Baptism: Plan B

I was going to try and write about our church’s 3rd baptism service last night, but Brandon beat me to it and did a much better job than I could have. Here is his post.
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I am so frustrated right now. I want so badly to describe the awesomeness that was tonight, and the only tools I have at my disposal to do so are words. Letters and syllables strung together to imply meaning are simply no match for what happened at our Baptism Service tonight. They simply won’t suffice, but they are all I have.

I go to the coolest church in the world. You may think that to be a bold claim, but you won’t after you hear the reason: we had our Baptism Service in a parking garage. It was awesome before it even started. I love the fact that our plan can get rained out, and then we can just pull up in a parking garage, set up a pool and some speakers, and dunk away. The reason I love it is because it just felt so real. It felt like family. The absurdity of being in a parking lot kept it from having any kind of “show” feel to it. Authentic as can be, with glass bottle cokes and moonpies to boot.

But that is only a minor detail compared to how incredible the rest of the night was. We got to see people who have been raised from death to new life in Jesus identify with Him in the beauty baptism. Seeing friends and family gathered around the pool in support is so amazing. So is rejoicing with wet hugs, fathers baptizing their sons, husbands baptizing their wives, and getting to baptize a great friend of mine I’ve known for years. I loved the way the roar of shouts and applause shook the parking garage after every person raised out of the water. It was a party to be reckoned with.

But by far, without comparison from parking garages or glass bottle cokes or even earth-shaking celebrations–my favorite part of a Baptism is hearing people’s stories. There is just nothing as cool as listening to someone tell their story of how they came to know Jesus and how He changed their life. Our stories are what bring us together. It is in them that we realize that we are not so different after all. “You thought that too?” You can instantly connect with someone you don’t even know just because you have heard and identified with their story. Nameless faces suddenly become brothers and sisters–children of God that are being reconciled to their Father.

May we all take more time to listen to each others’ stories–and not just at Baptisms.

iPhone Notes Sync Workaround

Disclaimer: The following post is only interesting if a) You have an iPhone, or b) You are a tech geek.

One of the few complaints I have about the iPhone now that I have some good earphones (see a few posts back) is that its “Notes” application won’t sync with a computer. I have tried using the notes for to-do lists and other things, but without being able to sync them with my computer they are not very useful. As sharp as Apple is, you would think they would have included a feature that simple in the iPhone software to begin with, but they didn’t. Well anyway, I finally figured out a sort of workaround.

First, I created a new event for today on my iPhone calendar and named it “To Do List.” Events have a field called “notes,” so I just put the items for the list in there. When I synced with my computer, the event showed up on my Outlook calendar like any other event. There I was able to edit the “To Do List,” move it to tomorrow, (when I will actually be using it) and resync it to my iPhone. Using this method I am able to create as many editable “to-do” lists or notes of any kind on either the iPhone or my computer and keep them synchronized! I have heard of people doing the same thing with a contact in their address book, but it makes more sense to me in the calendar.

PS – I have no idea if this works on Macs or not…

Thriller Video

Here is the Thriller video from the Midtown Volunteer Appreciation Night, as promised!

If you have never seen the full-length original by Michael Jackson, you should absolutely check it out. (it is slightly better than the one above)

Orlando Vacation (sort of)

I’m in Orlando this week with the Midtown staff for the Exponential conference for new churches. I’m not a big conference guy, but with guys like Tim Keller, Rick Warren, and Matt Chandler here, there should be some good words of wisdom to hear. This week should be a great time for us to be together as a staff, hanging out, dreaming, brainstorming, and just having fun. Since we are mostly volunteer or bivocational, we rarely get to all be in the same place at the same time. The ride down yesterday was great for all that, and I am looking forward to more of the same.

No computer for me this week, so blogging will be limited to the iPhone. (don’t expect too much)

The Weakest Link…

…of the entire Apple product line is the crappy little earphones that come with all of their iPod and iPhone products. I am not really sure why Apple goes to all the trouble to come up with the best personal entertainment devices in the world then packages them with earphones that have the sound quality of AM radio, but they do.

For a while now I have been searching for a decent sounding set of earbuds that are not outrageously expensive, and I finally found them. The pic (and link) is the ones for the iPhone that have the hands-free mic and a button to answer calls, pause music, or skip to the next track. Best $40 I have spent in a LONG time. They also have ones for regular iPods for $10 less, so get yourself a pair and enjoy some of that great sound that has been locked up inside your iPod with no way out since you bought it!

80’s Prom

Tonight we had our 2nd annual Midtown Volunteer Appreciation Night. Our staff put on a banquet for all the volunteers, and the theme was 80’s Prom. (and yes, my real prom was in the 80’s just in case you had a little wisecrack brewing in your mind) We had a catered meal, volunteer superlatives, an MTV world premier rap video (by Adam Gibson and Jay Hendricks) in honor of our volunteers, and even a special live performance of Michael Jackson’s Thriller dance by our staff to kick off the dance party. In 80’s lingo, it was TOTALLY AWESOME! Pictures and video to come later.

The point of all this is to try in a very small but fun way to say thank you to all of the people who volunteer tremendous amounts of their time and energy to the work that God is doing through this small, young church in Columbia. From leading a small group to setting up and breaking down on Sundays, greeting and ushering, weekly/monthly service projects, or spending countless hours making videos, we are thankful for all that you do. But more importantly, God is using you to change people’s lives. To help break addictions, heal wounds, restore relationships. To help people meet Him for the first time, or maybe grow in a deeper relationship with Him. All because you give of your time. Please don’t ever forget the eternal significance of those small efforts. And from the Midtown staff, a sincere Thank You! We love you and are thankful to be on this journey with you all!

New York Surprise

When I was in New York a couple of weeks ago, I found out something very surprising to me. As I mentioned a few posts back, I love the place and would move there in a heartbeat if I had half a reason to. Because of that I am always interested in finding out what living in the city is really like. Whenever I visit or even talk to my friends who live there I ask them lots of questions about how life is going, what all they are into, etc. So in talking to several of my friends wile I was there, I was surprised to learn that they all seemed to struggle with meeting people that they really connect with and consequently lacked good, deep friendships.

What? Are you kidding me? New York is the most densely populated city in the country. There are cool people everywhere. How is it possible that young, socially adept people have a hard time connecting with others in a place like that?

And then it hit me. The factors that create those same issues for me here in Columbia, SC are mostly independent of population size. They are cultural rather than demographic in nature. In our culture there are no really great ways for people out of college to connect with each other. The bar scene is the most available option, but is not a good environment for building real relationships. Then there are gyms and recreational sports. These at least have the benefit of a common interest, but they are still not very good environments to meet and connect with new people. Even churches are not very successful at this. Though on paper they usually have lots of ways for people to “get connected,” many people who attend regularly seem to have a hard time doing so.

I am a networker by nature. I love to meet new people and do so fairly easily. But after living in Columbia for 2 1/2 years now, I still only hang out with the people that I knew before I moved here. I have met a handful of people here and there, but for some reason none of those relationships have really grown. I can’t even imagine how difficult it is for people who are less social or shy. So I keep on… knowing that there are others like me out there…. wishing I could connect with some of them… but not really knowing how. And it is the same no matter where you live.

Decorating Tip

Here’s another random and somewhat funny thing I saw in a home during a home inspection. Talk about decorating with what you have laying around the house….

My Friend Sean….

….got one of his articles posted on Relevant, which is no surprise to me since he is a very good writer. You should check out the article here and bookmark Sean’s blog (or click the link in my “Friends” section to the right) regularly.