Unfiltered

You’ll Come
I Will Give You All My Worship (You Alone Are Worthy Of My Praise)

The rest of the time Laura and I were teaching the K-1 kids about Jesus resurrecting Lazarus.

A delightful 1928 musical comedy wrapped in a cynical, modern shell, narrated by a lonely man who doesn’t know why he’s depressed – hey let’s listen to this 2 record set of my favorite musical!

An absolutely phenomenal movie. A breath-taking, story so epic that it’s been told many times before – but never this well. It’s the epic-sized version of Up! The obvious story comparisons are Pocahontas (colors of the wind and savages) and Dances With Wolves (haven’t seen it, I’ve just read the Wikipedia summation), but the futuristic angle does a lot more by showing history repeating itself and demonstrating the evils of man.  Made me think of Watchmen with it’s hunt for a new energy source.  But it’s really about not letting anything stand in the way – doesn’t matter if it’s sentient, just cast it as a backwards savage and middle-class America will swallow it like syrup (presuming America took over the Earth and that’s went on from there – we’re here in the name of Earth, not in the name of America).

Yay Stephen Lang! I’ve loved him since he told Martin Sheen that he has no division (General Pickett in Ron Maxwell’s equally epic Gettysburg) and he is phenomenal here as the toughest, bad-assest Marine commander ever.

Sam Worthington (from the Terminator movie I never saw), Zoë Saldana (Pirates of the Caribbean 1, Center Stage, etc), Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi – everybody does a fantastic job here.

A very enjoyable movie.  Lots of star power: Sean Bean as Zeus, Catherine Keener as Percy’s mom, Steve Coogan as Hades, Pierce Brosnan as the centaur Chiron, Uma Thurman as Medusa, and Joe Pantolioni as Percy’s drunken slob of a stepfather.

I haven’t read the books, so I don’t know how it compares.  I was initially confounded at the mythology being presented to me – I’m told it’s supposed to echo Percy Jackson’s confusion, but I felt a little more confused than normal and found it harder to get my bearings in the mythology of the story.  It could be that I just ask too many damn questions about the mythology up front…

Not sure how I feel about the emphasis of the three brother gods of Greece being focused on – sure it kind of matches the patriarchal society that the mythology was founded on, but Artemis, Hera and Athena were just as big on the playing field as Zeus, Hades and Poseidon were.

I like how the gods are just as petty as the mortals, they just have unfounded power to wield and the world to screw over if they’re not happy.

I was very excited with the different Greek myths that were drawn upon (obviously in the original novel) for the story.  Things like the lotus blossoms and Persephone made me giggle with glee.

Jackson’s best friend Grover (tee hee) has some of the best lines.  The CGI used on his hybrid-ness was very well done and very impressive.  As was his little dance number in the Lotus Casino.

Summary: It’s the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson’s Greek mythology texts and into his life. And they’re not happy: Zeus’ lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Even more troubling is the sudden disappearance of Percy’s mother. As Percy finds himself caught between angry and battling gods, he and his friends embark on a cross—country adventure to catch the true lightning thief, save Percy’s mom, and unravel a mystery more powerful than the gods themselves.

Paul
Holyness (?)
Holy Moment
You’ll Come (We’ll Wait Upon The Lord)
Your Name
Thank You

Jon
Hebrews 1
1 After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets,
2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world.
3 The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
4 Thus he became so far better than the angels as he has inherited a name superior to theirs.
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you”? And in another place he says, “I will be his father and he will be my son.”
Hebrews 2
1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
2 For if the message spoken through angels proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty,
3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him,
4 while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Proverbs 8 22-31
22 The LORD created me as the beginning of his works, before his deeds of long ago.
23 From eternity I was appointed, from the beginning, from before the world existed.
24 When there were no deep oceans I was born, when there were no springs overflowing with water;
25 before the mountains were set in place – before the hills – I was born,
26 before he made the earth and its fields, or the beginning of the dust of the world.
27 When he established the heavens, I was there; when he marked out the horizon over the face of the deep,
28 when he established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep grew strong,
29 when he gave the sea his decree that the waters should not pass over his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 then I was beside him as a master craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, rejoicing before him at all times,
31 rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and delighting in its people.

Hebrews is a sermon, not a letter, to Jewish Christians in or right around Rome
Had to choose Jesus as Messiah and leave the synagogue, visit in small home churches
If Christians denounced Jesus, they would not be murdered by Nero
Is God concerned about our safety?
For our welfare?
As the goverment comes in and take things
Hebrews 1 & 2
Great we serve a God who speaks – how about a God who protects us?
We want a God who acts!
The author of Hebrews was probably just a persecuted as other Christians
Gdo has repeatedly chosen to come into relationship with human beings
When we enter a relationship, we make ourselves vulnerable
As I’ve been in relationships, I’ve realized that the other person has a will
If we want to move closer together, adjustments need to be made
Compromises will be made, but there will also be finalities that you won’t give up because they’re your’s
Are you going to accept God’s control over your life?
This book will contradict you
There is a finality to the person of Jesus Christ
Proverbs 8:22-31
4 tasks of wisdom
1. Creation of the world
2. Providential sustaining
3. Revelation of truth
4. Reconciliation of persons to the Lord
Jesus is the same as yesterday, today and forever
Hebrews says Jesus is in the middle, not just the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega
If Jesus is the finality, why should we give ourselves under his authority
H 1:3
Exodus – God is leading the children o Israel out of Egypt, cloud/pillar of fire
Death visited those who came near Mt. Sinai
Jesus is the exact character of that God
God in a bod
He wants to experience what we experience, so he moves into the neighbor
Talking about the God of the universe wanting to be in a relationship with US!
We new to adjust
God open my heart, show me what to bend and break that isn’t compatible with our relationship
To be with this Jesus who is higher than the Angela
He IS wisdom
We live in a very pluralistic society
Car bumper sticker
Coexist, tolerance, ???
Luke 10
You were there when Satan fell from Heaven???
Matthew – I keep sending you prophets and wise men
I want you to make some adjustments in how you teach
Only God has the authority to say “Amen Amen, you have heard it said…, but I say to you…”
Hebrews 2:1
Closer attention = furiously obsessed
Danger of drifting away
Hebrews is an anchor for the soul
Jesus Christ has the final say now
Jesus showed up and said I am God, place yourself under me and I will set you free
Jesus on the cross, Why are you quiet now? Why the silent treatment?
Jesus felt the silence of God that we deserve and now we can talk to God
Jesus is the final word, our authority

Paul
I’ll Trust In You (I Will Live)

The Rock Church Worship Service

You’ll Come
Cannons
Holy (The Whole Earth Is Filled With His Glory)
I’ll Let My Words Be Few
How Great Is Our God?

Mark B has malaria

Walking through the Book of Hebrews
Last 2 year have been turned upside down
He struggled with his faith and does so frequently
Keeps finding new facets of God as he turns the infinite diamond
Book of Hebrews has been an anchor
Show me what I need to change
6:19-20 Jesus is an anchor for the soul
Written to urban Christians living in a city
Very pluralistic society – lots of different beliefs
Pressed to answer: is there a better way to life than Jesus
If we’re honest, we face similar difficulties
If God is so comitted to our joy, then why is life so hard?
Why does God seem to be silent sometimes?
How can He be miles away in a minute?
Is there something I’m doing wrong?
The Book of Hebrews is chasing and pursuing me
As it presses against my heart, I fall more in love with it
The writer of Hebrews speaks of the importance of fixing your eyes on Jesus
Hebrews isn’t a letter, it’s a sermon
A lot of the theology is laid out like a sermon
Lots of Old Testament references
Without a proper understanding of the OT, you can’t understand Hebrews or Revelation for that matter (Revelation has over 500 references to the OT
William Lane – A Call To Commitment
Fire in Rome
Circus, Paltain hills (senators built ancient mansions)
Nero only returned when his own home was threatened
Lowered the price of grain, housed the homeless
Nero got on his private stage and sang of the ancient burning of Troy
Tactus writes that Nero fabricated scapegoats
When things of value are yanked away from us, how do we respond?
When possessions have been taken from us, where does our anchor lie?
What are you clinging to?
Writer of Hebrews takes out a scalpel and takes it apart
Hebrews 1:1-4
Jesus is a God who comes down and speaks to us and interacts with us
Why is the spoken word so important
Genesis 1:1 God says
Creates in our image
I want to interact, speak, fellowship with
He is my silent
Even in the midst of a faith crisis – we serve a God who speaks!!!
Creation was SPOKEN ini existence
That’s why the spoken word carries so much impact
When you think about it, we remember all the bad things said to us, but the good things bounce off a Teflon shield
Silent treatment from parents is SOO mature
From a friend, a spouse…it’s maddening and it hurts
We need to speak to someone
We serve a God who speaks – He wants to have a dialogue with us
Don’t let your hearts grow hard
What is God trying to direct us to do?
We want to be a people who listen, not with dull ears
We are raw, naked and revealed before Him
I don’t want my heart to get hard – grow in me Lord Jesus
We can’t afford to neglect Hebrews
12:25
Shouldn’t sacrifice possessions
Mark 8:34-38
10:32-35
Joyfully let your property be plundered
For you have a better possession
12:1-2
Jesus is our champion
Reminds readers of games
Parents are biggest supporter – given up everything for our kids
People gone before us to be a great crowd of witnesses for our race
Don’t give up running the race!
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
This sermon went to people being pressed by the Roman might
Don’t run from them – run for the champion Jesus Christ
Do not run for the approval of people
For the joy set before Him, HE WENT TO THE CROSS AND IT’S SHAME
I want you to run with endurance
Jesus Christ is worth following
5:7-10
Suffering and death for the right hand on God
I will pay the penalty of sin
I will spill out my perfect sacrifice before the Lord to be your High Priest
Hebrews 11 – the Hall of Faith
By faith Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, David, et al.
Rome trying to resurrect itself and it’s power
That city is passing away
You have a better city
Revelation 21:1-5
Run because it is SO worth it
Fix your eyes of Jesus and run

Come In Close

Phenomenal!!! I walked out of the theatre like. giddy fan boy!

This musical is almost tied with Urinetown as the show I’ve seen the most (I’ve seen 5 different productions of Urinetown and now 4 of Sweeney – once with Norman Large (EEEE) at Riverside Community Theatre; once with John Massey Jr directing, musical directing and starring as Sweeney at STAGEStheatre; and once at the Ahmanson with it’s Tony-award winning “artistic” rendition). Does the movie count as the fifth time? ;-D

This was hands-down one of the best large stage productions of Sweeney Todd I’ve ever seen. The set design, the lighting, the dancing, the singing, the acting – it’s all absolutely phenomenal. It’s no small wonder that the director (who has been in several productions of Sweeney as The Beadle – including the first National Tour) was able to pull this off, but even today it’s still a masterful stroke of Sondheim’s brush that this show is as rich and vibrant as it was almost 30 years ago (as evidenced on the DVD recording). The stars of the show are definitely Norman Large as Sweeney and Debbie Prutsman as Mrs. Lovett, but equal applause goes to the rest of the cast who function as Greek Chorus, assorted people of London-town, and stage hands – moving set pieces while the leads strut about giving us the play. Their vocal power and gaunt stares only enhance the dark, brooding melancholy that is Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

1 Cor 13
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit.
4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful.
6 It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth.
7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part,
10 but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways.
12 For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

CS Lewis
To love at all is to be vulnerable…give your heart to no one…in that casket safe, dark, motionless…irredeemable

To be in a relationship is to be vulnerable
Designed to love one another, designed to be vulnerable?
What Paul doesn’t say: he doesn’t say we can make the world a better place
We should not be envious
He breaks down love – it’s patient
Not what we should do, what love is
Defines love very clearly
In order to understand love we need to meet that perfect man of love, have a head-on collision with love
When we move into a relationship we are vulnerable
Tendancy of human heart is to turn away because we think we aren’t getting what we needed
Approval, gratitude, something
Love never ends
Farmer, nobleman and a king
Farmer finds abnormally large carrot
Gives it to the king purely
King rewards farmer
Nobleman tries to wheedle reward
Wicked nobleman tried to love himself
Stepping into a relationship with another human or our God we often say “what’s in it for me?”
Parents push their kids to love themselves through their kids
Trynig to make ourselves better
Why do you pray? What’s your motivation?
Answer me or adoration to just be with Him
Give your money away?
Try to put ourselves in a position of getting God to reward us
When affection/reward doesn’t come, our tendancy is to harden our hearts
We want unconditional love
When someone stops giving it to us, we don’t return the favor
This is not a checklist
Wants to point us to the one person who can give us unconditional love
Easy to be kind to kind people, to be patient with patient people
I like how I look when I’m with this person
Pointing us to the person of love
Glimpses and pictures of that person

Isaiah 49:15-16
15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? Even if mothers were to forget, I could never forget you!
16 Look, I have inscribed your name on my palms; your walls are constantly before me.

Mom’s love can reach the end of her rope
God engraves our names on His palms
Yes you gotta feel the judgement
I expect people to love me that way but I don’t love them that way
Only God can give unconditional love
2 kinds of people
1) Extremely patient and kind, can’t confront people
2) I’ll just tell that person what I don’t like about them

Dr. Ken Johnson
Exodus 24:39
Act 9:3
Revelation 1:16
Moses, Paul and John – greatest lovers
Faces so bright can’t even look at them
From being with God
This brilliant light that blocks everything else
The brilliance of love
It’s a thing you can see
Marriage is a much better investment than a house
Relationship with God is a MUCH better with investment
Saul the bounty hunter – self-proclaimed Jewish rabbi, gathering names to prosecute
Encountered love and changed to Paul
Corinth was a pork town where anything went
Corinth got two books with over 16 chapters a piece
You don’t love anybody
Needed a U turn so they could have a collision with Christ
Paul says imitate me because I’m imitating Christ
His love is living in me
We are a living mission field
When people see you they will se Christ
See the glow on your face
Character mattered
Immerse themselves in their Christ-centered love
No longer a city but a tribe of love
There was no forgiveness until Paul met Jesus
Jesus is God’s forgiveness
Are we ready to accept that God was furious with us? He had to send His son to pay the price for sin
Counseling is 95% anxiety or depression
Fear causes it
If the fear was gone, how would you change? How would your relationship, your job, your life would change?
Forgiveness is the most difficult human transaction there is
Love doesn’t keep score
A woman from Cambodia who had her parents murdered in front of her
She goes to church and is asked, don’t you want revenge?
I want revenge every day. But I think of my parents…

1 John 4:17
1) God’s will won’t conflict with his word
2) First say yes and a direction will come
3) Orient in love life
4) Responds to gratitutse
5) Always forgiving us

Jon
The opposite of love is fear
Turning back towards someone
If as a result of meeting Him and your face shines brightly there is also a heart change
Maybe I need to take the step back to that relationship
Love casts out fear

Charlie: We’ve won the coin toss and elected to receive from the Holy Spirit
Paul
40 I Will Sing A New Song
Hosana
Grateful Ones
Matt: Psalm 9:1-2, He is way better than a football team or a quarterback
Paul
Thank You
Your Love Never Fails
Be The Center

Jon
Mark B, Adam E, Jeami Duncan are going to Uganda next week to prep the summer trip
As they go, if we could raise some extra cash
Drop a check with a Uganda memo in the basket
Jeami is going to purchase land for Mercy’s Village
10 day exotic retreat in Uganda
He had something prepared, but looking at us he’d rather fly by the seat of his pants
His devotional time has been pressing on him so he’s sharing it
What are you rejoicing in?
what do you take joy in?
it hits the heartstrings
He’s yelling at us
Caps lock in an e-mail
Galatians 6:11-15
11 See what big letters I make as I write to you with my own hand!
12 Those who want to make a good showing in external matters are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.
13 For those who are circumcised do not obey the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about your flesh.
14 But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation!
John 25:25
25 There are many other things that Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
Chapter 11 to the end is about the cross
Paul launches from Gal 6 saying may I boast nothing but the cross, Im even yelling at you, the cross is important
John gave us everything we needed
The disciples went out two by two on their first ministry mission
I’m feeling really good having done this for You
You are not blessed for what you did for Me, but because your name has been written in the Book of Life
Don’t rejoice in what you see, what you have done for me
Let me ask again: what are you rejoicing in?
Most important: that we rejoice in the cross of Christ
What is your heart rooted in/rejoicing in?

Paul
How Deep The Father’s Love
Sweetly Broken
The Wonderful (Wonderous?) Cross