Created as a video bumper for a church doing a sermon called “Revolution: Christian History in America.”

Happy 4th of July!

Art fractals by Jennifer Nottingham. Music Snippets: “Revolution” by Jars of Clay.  Used here for demonstration purposes only.  Total video clip length: 1minute, 20 seconds.

Recorded at the cool place I sometimes go to pray.

Click to listen: Friday Audio Update - 06-27-2008

Highfalutin’ sounding words to follow…

“Do you preach verse by verse through the Bible? Do you preach topical sermons? Do you preach expository sermons? Do you preach ‘practical messages?’ Do you preach word studies? Do you preach biblical character studies?”

Obviously, these are questions that are only asked by Christians, because most people who are not Christ followers don’t know what any of those expressions mean and don’t really care. I mean, let’s be honest. They would never visit a church for the first time because they first asked those questions. …I just wanted to mention that upfront.

But here’s my answer to all of these kinds of questions: Yes, but not exclusively.

And here’s why. We simply are not going to hang all of our theology, methodology and identity on ONE “Bible Study Method.”

“Bible study method?” you may be asking, “I thought we were talking about  preaching…”

Yes, I thought we were, too.  That’s why I wouldn’t limit preaching to a “Bible study method.”  Call them “Bible Preaching Methods,” if you like.  You say tomato. Whatever.  I’m talking about communicating “out loud” the truth of Scripture to a gathering of people. 

I’m not saying, of course, that God won’t speak through any one of these methods, but that’s kind of the point. Frankly, whenever I hear of a church making a public statement that identifies them as a “one kind of sermon” church, I think that it’s kind of odd.

(Take a deep breath and brace yourself before reading the next sentence.)

If we hold to only one way of preaching, I think we run the danger of having an oversimplified and small view of Scripture itself.

…Easy, now. Let me explain. What I’m trying to say is that by leaning on only one way of communicating Scripture, we are revealing a dependence on a system of study and delivery more than on the power of the proclamation of God’s Word itself.

In other words, it’s like saying that the Bible only works and is only powerful in this one way of proclaiming it - which is  a statement that Scripture doesn’t make about itself.

I’m not saying that anything goes.  I’m just saying that the commands, “Therefore, go and preach this message verse by verse,” or “Therefore go and preach this message by subject matter in a systematic way” are nowhere to be found in Scripture. It’s just never limited in such a way.

To be clear, Compass Church will be a church of the Bible, but we will not be a church of a “Bible study method.” Our view of Scripture is much higher than that.

Sometimes it will be “verse by verse” through a single passage; sometimes it will be a topical message. One weekend may feature a specific doctrine, another may feature lessons learned from the life of an individual in Scripture. Sometimes we will deal exclusively with an issue that just needs to be addressed and what God’s Word has to say about it.  Still another may be an entire message from one word in the Bible.

The point is, we will use a variety of Bible study/preaching methods for communicating to people the powerful, life changing truth of the Bible.

Now “how” we deliver these messages is a different subject entirely…

Ongoing General disclaimer: The purpose of this post is merely to clarify the kind of church Compass Church is going to be. I’m not trying to slam any church or what God is doing in other places.  But if you are a Christian who is interested in Compass, it’s just important that you know this stuff upfront.

We’re still in Oklahoma, and I will probably not be doing a “Friday Audio Update” or a “Friday Flick” post.  I probably will be Twittering, however.

We’re having a great time with family we rarely get to see.  The Davis Families from Oklahoma and Tennessee, the Rud Family from Alaska, and the Leckies from Texas are all staying in one house for about a week.   19 people in one house = a loud house!

The 19 of us at the lake today:

By the way, it was pretty fun when all 19 of us walked into this place and ordered some pizza.  (There’s probably a post coming when I get back that’s just about this place.  Wow.)

See you next week.

Lame Leadership Law 2: The Law of the Stone Tablets - Never change the plan. Even if it’s not working. In fact, if it’s not working, keep at it. Do it harder. Do more of it. Tell yourself that eventually it will produce a result that achieves the vision.

Download the 31 Refutably Irrefutable Laws of Lame Leadership

A 3 minute (or less) weekly audio update on the start of Compass Church and what’s up with the Leckie Family.

Click to Listen: Friday Audio Update - 6-13-2008

Scene from a place I often go to pray. Do you have a place like that?

To send us a prayer request or to let us know that you will pray for us at least once a week, drop us a line at prayerteam@compasswired.com.

Custom Inflatable sign samples here.

Happy Weekend!

The chick who cuts what’s left of my hair sure is hot.

I’m just sayin’.

Those who know me well have probably wondered why I haven’t mentioned this movie already. But then again, they may just be sick of hearing about it from me, and are glad I haven’t.

But seriously, if you were to ask me what my favorite movie of all time would be, I would tell you, “I don’t really know.” But I would follow that up by saying that “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” would definitely be in my top 10. And it’s a great movie for a summertime Friday Night Flick…

There are so many things I’d like to tell you about this flick, but frankly, it’d just take too long. The stunts, the background, the cast, particular scenes - I just couldn’t do it. Suffice it to say that it was the inspiration for the dramatic musical production Leona and I created a few years ago called, “One Mad Christmas.” That should tell you something, right there.

Now here are some things to keep in mind about this movie:

• You must watch it in a “wide screen” version. Really. It’s not optional.

• This is a long movie that includes an intermission. It moves along at a steady pace, however, so fear not.

• I personally like the longest version of this movie, but you may have trouble finding it.

• If you have kiddos, it’s important to know that there are some fight scenes and a couple of curse words like “h-e-double hockey sticks.”

• There’s a scene that includes a 60’s chick in a 60’s bikini. Just so you know.

• It includes an “all star cast” and cameos galore from the biggest names in comedy at the time. You may or may not recognize them, but if you do, it will greatly add to the fun of watching it.

• Do not confuse this movie with the movie, “Rat Race.” I haven’t seen that flick, but my understanding is, there is no comparison.

• Jonathan Winters single handedly destroys a gas station in one scene. With gas prices as they are today, I just thought I’d mention that.

• You can find better reviews/thoughts about this movie on the web, and here’s a good example.

• Proverbs 23:4-5 and Proverb 10:22 are good verses to read after watching this movie.

Here’s a “fan made trailer” I found on YouTube that I think captures the flavor of the movie pretty well:

One more thing. “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” premiered in 1963, but believe it or not, there is actually a sequel to this movie in the works. It’s hard for me to imagine it being anything but terrible, but here’s hoping…

Well, from the looks of this post, it seems I took too long, anyway. But as always, if you watch it because you read about it in a “Friday Flicks” feature, I’d love to hear about it.

As promised, here’s the long version of the video from Matthew’s Graduation Night. I’m posting it for friends, family and people with extra time on their hands. It’s over 14 minutes long.

And in case you were wondering, Matthew is very cool with us uploading this. In fact, he wanted to send it to some of his friends, also.

Time really rocks on. Enjoy.

I know I haven’t talked about this, yet, but Matthew’s graduation night was awesome. We had friends and family all over the place, great snacks, fun conversations, and a video of Matthew that I put together scrolling in the background.

It was great to hang out with my brother Bill and his wife, Debra, my brother Kenny and his wife, Angela, and my niece, Sarah,her husband Rik and their sweet little baby girl, Piper. Leona’s parents were there and some of our close friends from Compass Church 1.0 also joined us for the night. Dan & Cassandra, Ricky & Kim, and the one and only Chris Roberson all were there. It was a blast.

Every year, from the time my kids were in Kindergarten, I have recorded a short video of each of them on their first day of school. The video we had looping was a compilation of those video clips of Matthew. It was weird watching him grow up right before my eyes on the video. Here’s a very short version that now includes footage of him getting his diploma.

People told me this all along - that your kids grow up really fast. And people were right.

A long version (about 14 minutes) of the video we showed that night will be posted soon, mostly at the request of friends and family.