David Miller

Just a few of my favorite posts from some of my favorite blogs of 2010. Enjoy!

• More Than Dodgeball

“Adults Are Better … Students Are Best”

This is Luke. He spoke recently at our Life Groups Praise & Worship nights.

He did a great job, especially considering he’s a sophomore in our high school ministry. As I was reflecting on all that he did, I began to think about how other students are involved in our ministry on a regular basis. This weekend, students will help teach the message. Every weekend, students lead the music and play in the band. Without fail, our Shake It ministry team is there to setup, tear down and greet at every service. Lights? Run by students. Sound? Students. The cameras are run by students, too. This weekend we even did a song that was written by a student – and it was awesome!

Continue reading at http://bit.ly/i3Efa6

• Blain Hogan

“Happy Friday Dance Party”

As some of you know, for the last few Friday’s I’ve been holding a Happy Friday Dance Party. It has been great fun, but the truth is it’s lonely without you and I don’t want to dance alone.

So, here’s the big question: Will you join me!?!?

Contine reading at http://bit.ly/bgVuel

HAPPY FRIDAY DANCE PARTY #4 from blaine hogan on Vimeo.

“Back it Up”

“Do you have any Scripture to back that up?”

I find that to be one of the most irritating questions on the planet.

Do I have a disdain for Scripture? Hardly. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t find myself immersed in it in some fashion.

The question irks me because most of the times, the people asking want to prove a point. They want to trip you up. Nab you. “Ah-ha!” They say when you come up empty in your Scripture memory banks. They seem to believe that the Holy Scriptures are nothing more than a reference book, with all the right answers to life neatly cataloged in a easily-referenced index.

Continue reading at  http://bit.ly/hOxhul

• Cole NeSmith

“The Woman Prophet”

It seems like the Church might never find a clear answer to the question, “What role should women play in the church?”  I’ve been reading and discussing this, as well as many other gender issues, over the last several months, and I wanted to continue the discussion here—with ministry leaders.  A foundational verse for my understanding has been Acts 2:17:

“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.’”

In many circles, I’m considered a liberal for even suggesting that women have and should utilize their spiritual gifts. There are many that engage in this conversation that would reference 1 Timothy 2:11-12 in order to prevent women from using their gifts.

Continue reading at http://bit.ly/hXtPkN

• Eugene Cho

“Maybe it’s Not Supposed to Feel Right”

As I’m writing this, I’m on an airplane en route to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It’s a long flight starting from Seattle and making stops in Chicago and Fort Lauderdale before arriving in Haiti early Friday morning. I’ll write about thepurpose of the trip to Haiti in my next entry.

But I wanted to share a bit with my blog community about the ongoing tension of balance, priorities, schedules, focus, goals, joy, etc.

Minhee and I have started three organization in the past 9 years – Quest, Q Cafe, and One Day’s Wages. Not small things but ventures that have required a great amount of time, commitment, sacrifice, energy, funds, courage, stupidity, prayers, and collaboration.

On top of that, my marriage and my family are very important to me. Not just important on paper or for the sake of sermons but important for my heart and soul. Having said that, I don’t want to hold marriage or family as idolatries in my life. Or in other words, my desire to serve God certainly includes my identities as husband and father but is not encompassed by only these two things.

Marriage is not my God. Family is not my God. They are some of the means by which God expresses His love for me and means by which I serve and honor Him but they are not my gods.

Continue reading at http://bit.ly/aK0p8s

Interesting post found at bcd3blog.wordpress.com

Declared ‘unfit for church services’ in France and later embraced by U.S. abolitionists, the song continues to inspire.

The strange and fascinating story of “O Holy Night” began in France, yet eventually made its way around the world. This seemingly simple song, inspired by a request from a clergyman, would not only become one of the most beloved anthems of all time, it would mark a technological revolution that would forever change the way people were introduced to music.

In 1847, Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure was the commissionaire of wines in a small French town. Known more for his poetry than his church attendance, it probably shocked Placide when his parish priest asked the commissionaire to pen a poem for Christmas mass. Nevertheless, the poet was honored to share his talents with the church.

In a dusty coach traveling down a bumpy road to France’s capital city, Placide Cappeau considered the priest’s request. Using the gospel of Luke as his guide, Cappeau imagined witnessing the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Thoughts of being present on the blessed night inspired him. By the time he arrived in Paris, “Cantique de Noel” had been completed.

Moved by his own work, Cappeau decided that his “Cantique de Noel” was not just a poem, but a song in need of a master musician’s hand. Not musically inclined himself, the poet turned to one of his friends, Adolphe-Charles Adam, for help.

The son of a well-known classical musician, Adam had studied in the Paris conservatoire. His talent and fame brought requests to write works for orchestras and ballets all over the world. Yet the lyrics that his friend Cappeau gave him must have challenged the composer in a fashion unlike anything he received from London, Berlin, or St. Petersburg.

As a man of Jewish ancestry, for Adam the words of “Cantique de Noel” represented a day he didn’t celebrate and a man he did not view as the son of God. Nevertheless, Adam quickly went to work, attempting to marry an original score to Cappeau’s beautiful words. The finished work of Adam pleased both poet and priest. The song was performed just three weeks later at a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve

Initially, “Cantique de Noel” was wholeheartedly accepted by the church in France and the song quickly found its way into various Catholic Christmas services. But when Placide Cappeau walked away from the church and became a part of the socialist movement, and church leaders discovered that Adam was a Jew, the song–which had quickly grown to be one of the most beloved Christmas songs in France–was suddenly and uniformly denounced by the church. The heads of the French Catholic church of the time deemed “Cantique de Noel” as unfit for church services because of its lack of musical taste and “total absence of the spirit of religion.” Yet even as the church tried to bury the Christmas song, the French people continued to sing it, and a decade later a reclusive American writer brought it to a whole new audience halfway around the world.

Not only did this American writer–John Sullivan Dwight–feel that this wonderful Christmas song needed to be introduced to America, he saw something else in the song that moved him beyond the story of the birth of Christ. An ardent abolitionist, Dwight strongly identified with the lines of the third verse: “Truly he taught us to love one another; his law is love and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother; and in his name all oppression shall cease.” The text supported Dwight’s own view of slavery in the South. Published in his magazine, Dwight’s English translation of “O Holy Night” quickly found favor in America, especially in the North during the Civil War.

Back in France, even though the song had been banned from the church for almost two decades, many commoners still sang “Cantique de Noel” at home. Legend has it that on Christmas Eve 1871, in the midst of fierce fighting between the armies of Germany and France, during the Franco-Prussian War, a French soldier suddenly jumped out of his muddy trench. Both sides stared at the seemingly crazed man. Boldly standing with no weapon in his hand or at his side, he lifted his eyes to the heavens and sang, “Minuit, Chretiens, c’est l’heure solennelle ou L’Homme Dieu descendit jusqu’a nous,” the beginning of “Cantique de Noel.”

After completing all three verses, a German infantryman climbed out his hiding place and answered with, “Vom Himmel noch, da komm’ ich her. Ich bring’ euch gute neue Mar, Der guten Mar bring’ ich so viel, Davon ich sing’n und sagen will,” the beginning of Martin Luther’s robust “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come.”

The story goes that the fighting stopped for the next twenty-four hours while the men on both sides observed a temporary peace in honor of Christmas day. Perhaps this story had a part in the French church once again embracing “Cantique de Noel” in holiday services.

… Continue reading at Bernard DeLoach’s blog

…  as told by the children of St Paul’s Church.

True Thanksgiving from thElement Student Ministry on Vimeo.

What does true thanksgiving look like?
Psalms 111

Online campuses should make this happen. Very cool.

I connect with God through music.

From time to time I’ll feature bands and worship leaders, both well known and those flying under the radar, who are drawing The Church to the feet of Jesus.

This week: Switchfoot. Growing up in Sand Diego, Switchfoot was a huge part of my high school experience. I listened to The Legend of Chin on repeat for months. Their new album, Hello Hurricane came out in 2009 and has been the soundtrack for many long drives.

Check out their video for “Mess of Me” below…

Holden Heights Revitalization Project from whatsyourstatus.com on Vimeo.

Throughout the end of 2010 through 2011, Discovery Church we’ll be working with the City of Orlando, Orange County and One Heart, Many Hands to help make essential repairs to many homes in the Holden Heights neighborhood of Orlando.

During this long term project, we’ll be working alongside homeowners and getting to know them in the process. Here are three of those homeowners’ stories.

thElement high school students will be serving December 11.

“If you haven’t signed up yet, visit the lobby or the website and pick a date to serve. You don’t need to be a home improvement expert. We have team leaders on site that will assign tasks and tools according to each person’s ability. All you need is some sturdy shoes, work gloves and a willing heart!” – LoveWorks team

Francis Chan address stepping down from Cornerstone Simi Valley, what’s next for him and his family, and his new video series, BASIC.

Such a solid interview.