Where do you get your power?

Here's the latest installment...more on it later. I just wanted to post it so you could at least see the magic that happens when a husband and wife argue...

Where in the world is God

So the task was to answer or reveal the topic of the day. "Where in the world is God?" As we discussed it, we came to the Ephesians 5:1 verse. "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children." The first idea would have worked. It involved a different kind of imitation. James had the idea, but it would have taken quite a bit longer to shoot...or so we thought. James, (he's the guy on the left) and I were ready to go with this idea, but got a bit stuck somewhere in the middle of the shoot. We sat there for 23 minutes without doing anything productive...just making bad jokes and trying to figure out how not to look ridiculous on camera. But, things actually worked out. The ideas came and after 47+ minutes of tape, this is the result. I was worried because of the time between a few of the takes. In fact, if you notice, you might see a magic trick with a red suburban in the background. Oh well, sometimes movie flubs happen. I'd love to hear your comments.

The Face of Christ

My goal was to answer the question, "where in the world is Jesus?" Some would say that's not too difficult. But alas, those 'some' have no idea. I was browsing www.flickr.com and came across some stunning images. Stories that were told through the visible creases and scars permanently woven onto these sometimes sad faces. These images spoke volumes without saying a word.

The song we chose was from Chris Rice. Face of christ. The ideas came down to the Matthew 25:31-40 Passage (you can read it here - http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2025:%2031-40&version=31 ) "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

This is my finished product. Special Thanks goes to Photographers Tom Stone for his homeless images and also to Ramesh Jai Gulabrai.

Where in the world is Jesus?

As I wracked my brain trying to come up with the script for this piece, I was reminded, yet again, that sometimes funny things don't just come easy for me. The idea evolved many times while in the scripting process. I'm not sure if this was the most effective ending, but it flows with what we were thinking.
The premise: Where in the World is Jesus? Some people haven't found him because they might not know where to look. But, Just because you might not see him, doesn't mean he isn't there. Easy enough, yeah?

One idea that my wife came up with (she doesn't realize it, but she really is brilliantly funny sometimes) is to have the wife search for something that was on the menu...something her friend told her about., something she just had to try. She searches but doesn't see it on the menu. Then her husband would talk about the grail and the search for Jesus and then she'd say, "oh, I remember what it is I want. I want a FROSTY." but there was the problem...It really does accurately depict what happens when you look for something, but in the wrong place...but it doesn't allow us to have a good 'slap shot' at the end. It would have changed to 'The frosty! Wendy's has it, Sonic Doesn't!" Which is still very funny, however, it thoroughly blows up our initial premise.

So, when I talked to Brian and Cristy we came up with this idea. It is still very funny...these two are wonderful friends of ours and really were born to do this. They are so comfortable in front of the camera. We talked about how to end it...and I've always thought that certain words were funny. No offense to any of you 'clevelandians,' but the word 'cleveland' is just a funny word. Like dradle and 'wal mart'...well that last one was two words, the first word 'wal' somewhat funny independantly of the other, but together very funny. But I digress. We ended up with a fun quick piece that kicked off our Sunday morning.

By the way, that's my daughter in the back seat...she did great! I'd love to hear any comments that you might have.

Why Humor?

June is always a busy month...at least it has been for the last few years. We're trying to find ways to reach people where they are. One way is comedy. An originator of the Group Theater in the early 1900's, Harold Clurman, said this. " Truth is like castor oil: the taste is bitter and people don’t like it; so you make them laugh, and when their mouths are open, you pour it in."

This has been my philosophy for quite some time now. I think that God grants his children certain gifts that are meant only to complement his creation. My gift happens to be humor. Of course, don't ask my wife how funny I am or she'll tell you the truth.

So, how are we implementing this humor in Worship? Simple. We prime the pump if you will...We get people ready to listen by breaking down any barrier that might be there. This first Sunday we asked the question, "where in the world is Jesus?" The beginning clip was what you see below. I think it's pretty funny. James, my good friend on the left, (I'm on the right), and I worked on this and his ideas were pretty good. I wish I could show you all the dialoge that led up to this final take, but it would take a while. It's nice to be able to spoof popular culture and utilize it for our own purposes. Enjoy. By the way, I'd love to hear your comments.

Junity

So, I'm working on Southeast's annual JUNITY Services. It's an exciting venture into the unusual, but also a bit intimidating when it comes to trying to hit everyone on some level. Our focus is UNITY in JUNE. Trying to bring everyone together and learn a bit about the basics of our faith. So, in June, we attempt to answer the questions of where in the world is "the Bible, Jesus, God and The Holy Spirit?" These are four Sundays filled with Drama, Video, Music and Teaching.

We began a few months ago planning the activities involved in each service, but still, the actual implementation of said activities continues to be a 'down to the wire' process complete with script changes, personnel issues etc. But, week one is completed, with little to no real issues. Week two...well, that's in 5 days, so we'll see.

What makes this process fun for a Church of Christ is the collaborative effort involved. Churches should be focused on such things on a normal basis but, with all of the tedious day-to-day activities, the mystique of the process becomes lost in translation. At times we begin to focus on things other than the main worship experience so, inevitably the worship time suffers from the status-quo. Of course, many people like the status-quo. They find comfort in it.

I've promoted the thought that Jesus didn't come to make us comfortable. He came to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Seriously, as American Christians who strive for comfort in every aspect of our lives, why should be expect it on Sunday morning? Think about it, we want comfort in our homes, our cars, restaurants, movie theaters, desk chairs, shoes, toilet paper, shaving razors, hair care products, sensitive tooth paste, you name it...it all boils down to comfort. Sometimes I think that Americans are just greedy. We're used to something, so we begin to expect it.

I think that as a Church of Christ...a place that strives to be like Jesus Christ, (we actually sometimes strive to be more like Paul than Jesus) we should realize that the only thing we should really expect is Suffering. But alas, we come to church and sometimes complain when it's too hot or too cold or when the service is a bit unusual we begin to feel neglected, when in actuality, we are feeling uncomfortable.

So, our goal in June is to teach the basics of our faith, but in a small way, we hope to make the comfortable, really uncomfortable while hoping that those who have come to escape the institutionalism of Christianity find a small sense of peace and meaning. We don't ask for much right? We just ask for a realization of unity in June...or Junity.