Commander in Chief

According to most conservative news sites and radio shows no one likes ABC's "Commander in Chief".  I, on the contrary, really enjoy the show, and am looking forward to the new episode tonight.  I am a big fan of NBC's "West Wing" (have been for a while), and was hoping that Commander in Cheif could be it's succesor (although, I'm not sure that is going to happen, the West Wing was a brilliant show respected by both sides of the aisle for its quality of drama, and I'm not seeing the same type of quality yet on CIC).  

Am I the only one who likes this show (actually, I'm not, 10.5 million viewers watched the last episode)?

Not so lucky, Bucky

Well, the results are in, and the Buckster has left the building.  Is it just me, or after watching the end video for each contestant who gets kicked off (the one with slow motion shots and the song "Bad Day") you feel bad for he/she.  Just an observation (they try to guilt you into voting). 

So next week we have Rod Stewart.  Sounds fun.  My guess is that this will be an amazing night for Taylor. Since the song choices are pop standards Taylor could go with something soulful and take all.  It's a possibility that next weeks show could be really good.  My guess is that Bucky fans will trend toward Kellie, some could go to Chris, but Bucky was 90% country and 10% rock.  Let's all hope for good song choice.

p.s. Did anyone feel really bad for Elliott and his "hometown" video sharing every single health problem he ever had?  I don't think he was crying out of sentimental reasons, but out of reasons of embarrasment.  Poor Eliott.

I'm Just Not Sure

I'm just not sure the American Idol producers know what we want to hear. Maybe there is some producer who is a closet Queen fan and really wanted to do a Queen theme night. I thought most of the performances were okay. My favorite was Taylor, just for sheer performance value, but even he sounded a little odd. The hope for next week is that someone stellar would stand out, the last three weeks have been flat.

My pick for bottom 3:
Ace, Bucky, Katherine

My guess is that Ace will go home. His arrangement of We Will Rock you was cool, but his performance was less than amusing. Did he really think he could do a rock tune of that magnitude. Can't you just see it now...the Backstreet Boy's next single--We Will Rock You. blah.

Song Choice, Song Choice, Song Choice

WARNING: THIS POST COULD SPOIL THE SURPRISE OF AMERICAN IDOL TONIGHT, AND IT ALSO COULD MAKE YOU LAUGH HYSTERICALLY. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Here are the song choices for our contestants tonight. I'm just not sure about Kellie Pickler and Bohemian Rhapsody...yikes. Oh, and Bucky...no.

•Ace Young, We Will Rock You: "I urbanized the verses a little, just by riding on (the notes). I put a little R&B soul on it. When we were done, they said, 'That sounds like a record.' "

•Bucky Covington, Fat Bottomed Girls: "Yes, we all love the fat-bottomed girls."

•Chris Daughtry, Innuendo: "It's a relatively unknown song. It just had a mixture of a dark feel and a positive message. And I just found out they've never performed this live."

•Elliott Yamin, Somebody to Love: "I was drawn to the passionate emotion of the song. I heard a lot of soul in it."

•Katharine McPhee, Who Wants to Live Forever: "How could (this) not be fun? We're working with so many different legends."

•Kellie Pickler, Bohemian Rhapsody: "We only have 1 minute and 30 seconds, and the song is really long. Having to cut so many pieces is really hard to memorize, because I'm not singing the song as it's originally played."

•Paris Bennett, The Show Must Go On: "Being with the band was a big experience to me, never being with a rock band before. I was able to pick a song that fits me, that's still rocky."

•Taylor Hicks, Crazy Little Thing Called Love: "You listen to a Queen song, it's really melodic and very powerful, and the dynamics (are) really cool."

The Music of Queen

Out of all the musicians, bands, and superstars this world has to offer the producers at Americal Idol decided to use the music of "Queen" for this weeks theme. Interesting choice? Fun choice? Terribly ridiculous choice? I guess we will see tonight. My only concern is that someone will try to outdo Constantine's epic version of Bohemian Rhapsody from last year, those are tough shoes to fill. My picks for tonight's best performers: Chris, Taylor, Paris

Oh, and remember to vote, we all know what happened last time.

Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday, the day that followers of Christ all over the world celebrate that God came into this world, wrapped himself in humanity, and lived a human life. It is because he came that followers all over the world can say "If the son has set you free, you are free indeed".



God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.

John 3:17

This Weekend at Northview

This weekend at Northview we are doing part 1 of our series iDefy...iCame (Palm Sunday). This weekend is going to be incredible. Every element of our worship experience is going to point to the fact that the Son of God came to this earth, wrapped himself in flesh, and lived a human life. What an amazing God. The video below is one element of this week that I thought I would share. It is a video piece designed to accent the beautiful story told in the song "Why" by Nicole Nordeman. Enjoy this Easter season. The reason this season exists is how we know Jesus Christ is the redeemer and savior of the world.



Mark 11

The Triumphal Entry

1As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2"Go into that village over there," he told them, "and as soon as you enter it, you will see a colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, `The Lord needs it and will return it soon.' "
4The two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street, tied outside a house. 5As they were untying it, some bystanders demanded, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" 6They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were permitted to take it. 7Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it, and he sat on it.

8Many in the crowd spread their coats on the road ahead of Jesus, and others cut leafy branches in the fields and spread them along the way. 9He was in the center of the procession, and the crowds all around him were shouting,


"Praise God![a]
Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

10
Bless the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Praise God in highest heaven!"[b]
11So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. He looked around carefully at everything, and then he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he went out to Bethany with the twelve disciples.

Mandisa We'll Miss You

Tonight America voted off Mandisa.  I could say a lot of things, but the only thing I'm going to say is that America voted off the best singer on American Idol.  She'll be missed.

This has showed me that it may be time to start voting, because my guess is that the majority of those who watched American Idol last night would not have voted off Mandisa, so it was left up to only those who had the gumption to vote. Shame on me.

Oh, and, the music of Queen? Give me a break.

Goodbye Ace

Ace will leave American Idol tonight. That is my final analysis.

Bottom 3:
Ace, Taylor, Elliot

Headline: Apple Achieves World Domination

Apple is apparently moving towards world domination with their latest surprise.  Windows on a Mac.  Many people who have to use Windows due to business technologies, but miss the elegance and simplicity of the Mac can now rejoice.  Smart people out there at Apple.

The Worst They've Ever Had

For that last 2 weeks American Idol performances have been consistently in the dumps.  From the first note tonight I could tell this was going to be another let down.  

The biggest disappointment of the night was Taylor Hicks.  Taylor is probably my favorite contestant (out of any season), and I think he could still do very well, but tonight was a terrible night for him, but my guess is that he'll be back next week like a storm.  




We all know Mandisa and Paris can sing, but they didn't show their strengths tonight.  



Katharine has always been boring to me, but she gave us a little more tonight, no mistaking she has a great voice, just not the X factor.



Elliott was good, but forgettable, use the voice dude, don't listen to Kenny Rogers (the author of boredom).  



Even though Kellie isn't a favorite of mine, she did pretty well tonight.  



Ace has got to go, period (could someone remind him that the Backstreet Boys went out with the trash in 1999).  



And then there is Bucky, he's like the fly you continue to try to swat, but it just keeps flying away by an inch. My fear is that he has done that tonight, he wasn't good, but he may be good enough for that mystery fan base of his (who really votes for Bucky?).  



Chris was the star of the show in my opinion, he showed that he can sing and not just yell. Good song choice as well.

So that leaves the question, who will be voted off tomorrow?  If it was based purely on the performances tonight I think Taylor would be gone (I hate to say it), but I think he has enough of a fan base to be safe (I'm in that fan base). My guess is Ace or Elliot. They are both somewhat forgettable.  Who knows, what do you think?


Taylor why, oh why.

Easter at Northview

This Easter at Northview Community Church (where I work as the Creative Arts Pastor) we are doing a series titled iDefy. I won't give you all the details here, you can go to northviewcc.com for that, but I thought I would show you a promo piece I created for this series. Because of the wonderful technology that is YouTube, you can view it right here. Let me know what you think. Also, be watching this blog because I'm going to be a mad blogger these coming weeks of American Idol. Peace.

Back to Blogger

Okay, so I moved my blog to Apple's iWeb, and I loved it, but there was one thing...no comments. How was I supposed to know if you were reading or responding to anything I was saying? Well, I believe that blogs are meant to be interactive, so I decided to go back to Blogger, I chose a new look as well, something simple, bright, and cool. Let's let the blogging games begin again. Hopefully I'll post more often now that I know people are actually reading. Peace.

It's Been Awhile

I know I haven't posted in a month, and I'm truly sorry, but life has been busy as of late. I will update you on all the happenings of this month soon, but before I do that I want to wish you a Merry Christmas! Enjoy family, and friends, and enjoy this break.

Also, happy Hanukkah for all my Jewish friends
Happy Kwanza to my African friends (David in Johannesburg)
Happy Festivus to all my friends who are Seinfeld fans.

Tommy

World Aids Day

Today is World AIDS Day, and we never get any good news about the AIDS/HIV fight so I thought I would share some.

The ONE campaign was started last year to ask Americans to use their voice to influence the government to step up the fight against AIDS/HIV. So far, because of the response of the American citizens, 350,000 people are alive because America decided to use some of their resources to change something. I love hearing good news. Although we must continue to do more, this is a great first step.

Wonderful Quote

Silence is the very presence of God---always there. But activity hides it. We need to leave activity long enough to discover the Presence---then we can return to activity with it.


-M. Basil Pennington



This is a truth we all need to hear. Sometimes I wonder if our time spent doing nothing but communing with God should be tithed the same as our money.

Tommy

The Christmas Season

The Christmas Season has begun. As you know I am the Creative Arts guy at Northview, and our Creative meeting today completely focused on Christmas worship experience. To be honest, as a worship leader, the Christmas season is not my favorite time of year. Don't get me wrong, I love singing Christmas carols and the traditions of Christmas are beautiful, but it is extremely difficult to jump modes for a month to totally divulge your energy on completely different music, creative elements, etc. I will say though, that as a creative director the Christmas season is full of color, symbolism, and life that can connect on many levels, so I am excited about what is to come. Also, Northview is revamping its podcast to include video starting this week, so you can listen to the message and see the speaker all at the same time. Technology rocks.

p.s. here is a picture of me and my dog (it's not the best picture of me, great of the dog), it's also Emily's dog, and she also took this photograph. She is an amazing photographer and an amazing person :) check out www.emilyborah.com

Tommy

The Chronicles of Bethlehem

Check out northviewcc.com to see the next series at Northview. It's called The Chronicles of Bethlehem (The Search For The King). We decided to take a different look at the Christmas story this year, and follow the steps of the different seekers of the Christ child (shepherds, wisemen, etc) and apply truths from their stories. It will be an interesting study. Also, $5 for the first person who tells me what movie the promo music comes from (hint: it's not Chronicles of Narnia). God bless!

Tommy

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving day. Take this day and completely rest from the ongoing week that you usually partake in. Enjoy family, friends, and God. God bless.

p.s. did you know that the Seperatists who formed the Plymouth Colony actually observed Thanksgiving day as a fast not a feast?

Vinmergent

Great Podcast/Blog. He'll make you mad, sad, happy, and he'll make you think.

Silence

This is an old column I wrote over a year ago, but I think it's appropriate given the looming holiday season is approaching.

Elisha stood on the mountain waiting to hear from God. I can imagine Elisha's heart jumping as he heard the mighty windstorm approach. The wind was so harsh that the scriptures say rocks were torn loose. I can also imagine Elisha's heart sinking as he realizes that God is not to be found in this violent gale. Then an earthquake makes an approach. Elisha's heart jumps at the thought that God may be in this earthquake. The anticipation of an encounter with his creator must have been nerve-racking. After the earthquake was over Elisha stood alone. Suddenly there was a fire. At this point, he had to believe that the fire must be God. God had used fire many times before to speak, so clearly it was him, right? After the smoke cleared the area Elisha stood--alone. Then a whisper. The scriptures describe this whisper as gentle?, so gentle in fact that Elisha had to move towards it to understand it. This is when Elisha met God.

This story is full of truth. Not just a principle to live by, not just a compass to guide, but a truth to shape us. We are to be silent. We are to wait. We are to listen. It is hard as a human to do this. This is not just a 21st century problem. This is a problem that we find time and again through the living story we call the Bible. We can't blame our inability to decipher the whisper of God on TV, cell phones, internet, etc. That is the easy way out. The problem is internal, not external. We must shape our inner core to be silent at all times. This is when we are worshipping him most fully---when we are silent on the inside.



Silence is the very presence of God---always there. But activity hides it. We need to leave activity long enough to discover the Presence---then we can return to activity with it.
-M. Basil Pennington


Tommy

P.S. Check out the new Blog/Podcast from Vinmergent. You won't agree with everything, but he'll make you think. Click on the title of this post to go to the website.

Pat Robertson Please Apologize

For those of you who keep up with news in the world you most likely have heard about the ballot intiative in Dover, PA that was just rejected. The ballot was a voting initiative to keep or not keep "Intelligent Design" in the curriculum of the local public schools. The votes were tallied and the community voted to not teach Intelligent Design in public schools. You may or may not agree with this, but I hope as a follower of Christ you will join me in asking Pat Robertson to apologize to this community. Shortly after the voting was tallied Mr. Robertson commented on his nationally syndicated TV show the 700 Club. His words were pointed directly to this community

"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God. You just rejected him from your city..."

Great Album

I don't usually do shameless plugs for anything in particular, but I think this is deserving. Kevin Max is one of my favorite artists (he used to be in a little Christian band called DcTalk). His music is creative in the vain of the Killers, U2, etc. Check it out. Great stuff. (click on the title of this post to purchase)

Wonderful Weekend

Me and Brack Mosshart (percussionist) had a great weekend in the Ozarks leading worship for 6-12th graders. We were also privileged to be working with a guy from South Africa named Derek who lead us in teaching. Wonderful weekend, great weather. I will post pics later. God bless.

I'm Gone

Well, this weekend I am leading worship with my friend and percussionist Brack Mosshart near Arkansas. I will miss my church family, but will enjoy the change of scenery. Enjoy God this weekend in a way you haven't before. God bless!

My Favorite Hymn

This is my favorite hymn. It was written by Francis of Assisi in 1225. The musical score was written the year of 1623. One of my favorite modern arrangements is by the David Crowder Band. God bless you on this beautiful day.




All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam!

O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou rushing wind that art so strong
Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice,
Ye lights of evening, find a voice!

O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One!

O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Beautiful Scripture

This is a beautiful scripture from a rather unknown book of the Bible. I was reminded of this verse today by a friend. God bless.

For the Lord is the One who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his every thought. He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads the mountains under his feet. The Lord God Almighty is his name!

-Amos 4:13

What Else Do I Do

Well, last posting I told you and showed you what I do as far as being a worship leader. I am also responsible for all the media for worship experience at Northview. Click on the title of this post to see some examples of my work. This sampling is only from the month of October, I will try to post previous months soon. A lot of these videos can be used in devotionals. God bless!

Tommy

What I Do

Well, I just realized the other day that I've never really shared what I do with myself during the week. Most of your know I'm the Creative Arts Pastor at Northview Community Church, but what does that mean? Well, first of all I lead worship on most weekends, here are some pics:

I have many other responsibilities including lots of media (video,etc), and I will upload some samples of that stuff later. God bless!

Gorgeous Week

This week has had absolutely marvelous weather. Every day has been in the mid to upper 60's. Beautiful.

In political news, Harriet Meirs is not going to the be the next Supreme Court Justice. I'm sure she is a nice lady (she looked like she would bring a tray of cookies to every Judicial event), but come on Bush, where are her credentials? I'm not saying she wasn't qualified (being the aid to the most powerful man in the world would be a good resume topper), but I believe the American people are looking for someone to go into the court who is ready to make changes, ready to stand for something, she didn't seem that way. Anyway, I hope his next nominee will unify our country, not divide it further. God bless!

Where Have I Been

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while, I want to start back up, but if you are blogger you understand that you have to get in a groove, and if you get off the groove it's hard to get back. Well, I'm trying to start the groove again. As you may or may not know who I am, I will reacquaint myself with you. My name is Tommy Bailey, and I am the Creative Arts Pastor at Northview Community Church. My respobsibilities are to musical worship, media, and overall artistic direction of weekend worship experiences. It's a very rewarding calling, and I love what I do. I also have a wonderful girlfriend named Emily.


Life is good, and I love the cold weather. God bless.

Once Again- A Delay

I apolgize again for the delay of Emergingshow.com . September 13th. That is the day is all begins again (that was cheesy)

Emergingshow.com

Hurrican Katrina

Click on the title of this post to donate to the American Red Cross disaster relief fund. The Mayor of New Orleans today issued an SOS stating that "we have no more resources". Please join with me as we help part of our family in need.

Tommy

Outraged

I know I said that I wasn't going to post until September 6th, but my outrage got the better of me.

A fellow follower of Christ, Pat Robertson, called for the assasination of Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez. Being a major leader in the Christian community (especially evangelical), Pat has the ear of many of the Bible belt. It is a sad day when such a leader calls for death. I would hope that the Christian community will rise up and ask that Pat Robertson apologize for his words that are so contrary to Christ's ("Peter, put away the sword"). Everyone makes mistakes, and the Christian community will extend grace to Mr. Robertson, but I pray that he will fix what he has broken.

p.s. In no way do I support Hugo Chavez, he is a man that does not need to be in power, but assisination is never the call of a follower of Christ.

Emergingshow.com- Formerly Known As....

Yes, the hibernation is over. The podcast will be resuming SEPTEMBER 6, 2005!

The podcast formerly known as "The Emerging Show", will now simply be called "Emergingshow.com". The format will be very similar to the previous format, but will hopefully include more interaction with guests, users, etc. The show had over 5000 individual listeners before the summer began, and with the advent of the iTunes Music Store now including podcasting, we are expecting a much bigger response. God bless you all for waiting patiently. See you on September 6.

Emergingshow.com Team

New Videos

I am giving the message tomorrow at Northview, and here is a video that is part of the message. Let me know what you think. God bless.

p.s. you will need QuickTime to view it.

Tommy

G8 Summit

Today I will ask everyone who reads this blog and listens to the Emerging Show to say a prayer today for those leaders who are meeting at the G8 Summit. They have a chance to enact a saving grace upon the continent of Africa--one true sense of the word salvation. God bless.

Tommy

1600

With the advent of Podcasting on iTunes, it has opened doors to many podcasters to a whole new audience. Since iTunes released it's podcast software we have had over 1600 individual listeners to the Emerging Show, and these are old shows! I can't wait to begin the new shows starting in about a month! God bless!

Tommy

iTunes Test

This is an old podcast to test out the iTunes podcast directory. God bless.

Tommy

Independence Day

Happy Independence Day. Enjoy this day, and be safe.

Tommy

iTunes and Podcasting

Hey Guys,
Just to let you know, iTunes just released a new update that incorporates podcasting directly into the software. When the Emerging Show starts up again you will be able to get all the podcasts directly loaded to your iTunes and/or to your iPod (if you have one). Go ahead and go to the iTunes music store if you have the new version and subscribe for free to the Emerging Show! God bless!

Tommy

Far To Long

Well, it has been far to long since I have posted. I am sorry.

Today is my birthday, and I woke up to breakfast and a new digital camera from my girlfriend. Could it get any better?

I promise I will start updating again soon, the summer is almost over. God bless.

Tommy

This Summer

This summer is proving to be one of the fullest summers ever. Life is speeding by at the speed of sound.

Due to my hectic schedule during the summer, The Emerging Show with be postponed until the end of this summer season. I will try to post a few podcast between now and then, but there will be no schedule until the end. I know you understand. God bless!!

p.s. I will still post to this blog as much as I can.

Tommy Bailey

Emerging Show Will Go On

Just a reminder that The Emerging Show does still exist, but it has not been on an active schedule for the last 2 weeks. It will resume shortly. I know you all understand (around 2500 hundred individual listeners to the last podcast) that life gets busy sometimes. God bless!

p.s. be sure to check out the "Make Poverty History" website. Click on the banner at the top of this page. So many good things are being done through this orginization, and others like it trying to clear poverty in the worlds poorest countries. Did you reallize that 30,000 (that's 3 a second) people die every single day because of poverty. Check out the website, and get involved.

Tommy

My Life So Far

Life the past 2 weeks have been a buzz of activity. Last week, I was asked to lead Northview in worship and teaching all by myself (with violin help from the mast violinist Houston). I had a wonderful time, and I think I learned more than I taught. It was a fun week, and a great weekend of worshp with my church family.

Before the weekend my sister had her 18th birthday party. I got her cigarettes and an iTunes gift card. Pretty good brother, huh.

This week I am having a great time creating and dreaming, but am having a difficult time picking out songs (usually a long process for me, but this week has been unusually long. Most of the time I have to take a whole day to process the flow of worship through music.)

This is a quick glance at life so far, I will update you with some more creative pics. God bless.

Tommy

I Will Post Soon

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, I will post very soon. God bless!

Tommy

And The American Idol Is...

I was almost wrong with my leanings toward Bo Bice. I am not
concerned whatsoever with the career of Bo, he will be a star. I am
so happy for Carrie, and I have to be honest that I am proud that she
is from Oklahoma (except for the fact that when they talk about her
hometown they seem to show only the biggest of "hicks". To the rest
of the world--Not all Oklahomans are hicks!) God bless.

Tommy

What Happened

I have to be honest, I really didn't think any of them did their best yesterday. I have to admit that as a musician I must empathize with the fact that it is impossible to do your best after tirelessly singing and learning songs at the rapid pace that they are forced to. So, with that said, I have to say I favor Bo, although, I think he only has a slight edge (he performed "Vehicle" brilliantly). I guess we will see what happens tonight.

Tommy

Who Will Win

Tonight Bo and Carrie have their final performance before American Idol 2005 finally ends (didn't it seem like it was longer this year?). I have a personal favorite, but I think they both have a shot. It will be an interesting night.

Of all the performances I have seen, I believe Bo is a much better showman, and he did prove that he can sing last week when he did an a capella tune. Carrie does have a star quality about her, and she has an excellent voice, and she is from Oklahoma...

p.s. my favorite is Bo (although, I'm not sure how he will have any credibility in the rock and roll world if he wins, I mean come on, Mick Jagger wouldn't be Mick Jagger if he would have won American Bandstand, but we shall see)

Tommy

More Photos

Here are some photos from part of my weekend in Nashville (click on the title of the post). On Sunday afternoon we took a trip to Nachez Trace and found trail tucked away in the woods. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and the photos don't do it justice. God bless.

Tommy

Spider

I just walked into the men's restroom at Northview and saw this. If
you don't know me well let me inform you that I am more afraid of
spiders than any other creature on this earth. The picture doesn't
really give much perspective, but it is aprox. 2.5-3 inches long (no
exaggeration)

My Last Day In Nashville

I am leaving tomorrow morning to head back home to Oklahoma City. I will soon post photos from the conference, and also talk about some of the conversations that arising in the "emerging" church arena. In the meantime (sorry I always promise pictures and nevery deliver) I have posted some creative pictures that I took randomly, click on the title of this post to go there. God bless.

Tommy

Some Photos

If you click on the title of this post you can look at some random shots from the Emerging Church conference and random shots from Nashville. I've had an aboslutely wonderful/refreshing/renewing/insightful/exciting time at this conference. Today I went to a seminar with Brian McLaren on scripture, and let me tell you, it made me see the scriptures in an absolutely fresh way. I am excited. Now I realize that it's always easy to get pumped up at a conference because of the excitement in the air and the energy of having everyone there for one purpose (like youth camps, hehe), but I can honestly say that this week has had a great impact on me, and the faith community I am a part of that will be added to the story of my life.

On a side note, I was able to meet Richard Foster, and Brian McLaren today...my 2 favorites, they seemed very genuine. Also, the prayer chapel, labyrith, and various worship experiences were probably the most beautiful part of my weekend. I will have plenty of photographs from all those. All the photos I have so far are all from my cameraphone. There will be better photos from my friend who has a professional grade camera. Thanks Thad.

God bless.

Posting Will Happen

I am sorry it is taking so long to post all my pics. I will do it as soon as I get them all in order (there are hundreds. Peace.

Tommy

Emerging Church Conference Day 3

Amazing. That's the best word I can come up with for my experience so far. I will post tons of pictures tonight for you. I will also go into more depth about the seminars I attended. I am going to a Richard Foster seminar in about 20 minutes (probably the writer that has helped me grow the most). Yesterday I had 2 seminars, one with Brian McLaren (I can't explain how wonderful this seminar was), and LeRon Shultz (not exageratting...probably the most intelligent man I ever heard speak, but it wasn't so "heady" that is wasn't understandable).

Every night at around 7:00pm there is a general session, and instead of bringing in another lecturer, the staff of Emergent thought it would be more beneficial to have a message of blessing at the end of each day to decompress from the days seminars and workshops. The "blesser" was a lady by the name of Phyllis Tickle. I have to admit when she got up I instantly put a stereotype around her (she's probably around 85 years old), but when she started speaking it was like listening the words of Christ from Christ in person. I will talk more about her later. Amazing.

At the end of each general session you are able to go to 1 of 3 worship experiences off campus. Last night I went to a Taize worship experience at Christ Cathedral Church (one of the most beautiful churches you have ever seen). It was so intensly beautiful words can't describe it. You can click on the title of this post for a link to the Taize community in France. Refreshing would be a good adjective, but that is only one slice of the pie. Tonight I will be going to a liturgical/postmodern worship experience at a Presbyterian church downtown, I'm very excited. I wish you all could be here. I will post pictures tonight. God bless.

Emerging Church Conference Day 2

This morning we finished our Critical Concerns course on "emerging" worship, and what that means to the body of Christ. We looked at practicle examples of how different methodologies are being used to express worship (I have many ideas to use back home). We looked at practicle ways of growing a church that expresses worship in a variety of ways.

One of the things I enjoyed about Dan Kimball was his experiential attitude toward teaching. There were many times when he had us draw, sculpt, listen, and see differnet ideas that he was talking about. It was a great course. The ironic thing was that a lot of the practics that he was talking about are already being implemented at my church (not all--I hope to add some), but it seemed that he put into words what I have been reading, thinking, and praying about myself. I said this ever since I moved to OKC and started working in a church plant, I believe many of us are seing that God is moving in the hearts of those all around the world in new and fresh ways, and I am excited about what is to come. I'll post later on today. God bless!

Tommy

An Amazing Conference

The Emerging Conference started off with a bang. I did 2 courses today, one with the pioneer of video sattelite churches, and one with the writer of Emerging Culture, and Emerging Worship--Dan Kimball. The course was 5 hours today and 5 hours tomorrow, and then the actual conference begins with worshops by Sally Morgenthaller (an amazing author on worship), Richard Foster (the author that has most influenced my life), Brian McLaren (my favorite author right now), etc.

Today's course was basically an intro into how we as a culture are moving from a modern mindset to a postmoder mindset. What was taught today I basically already new, but was interested in the more in depth discussions we had on this topic. Again, the highlight of my day was the Labryinth, you need to check it out online from my last post. God bless, and emaiil me with your thoughts.

Tommy

First Day At Emerging Church Conference

I arrived at the Emerging Church conference at the beautiful Renaissance Hotel in downtown Nashville. It is an absolutely gorgeous day down here, and the people are as nice as ever. After registration you had the option of perusing the bookstore (pictures to come soon) or visit the labyrinth (which I was really looking forward to). I have never experienced a labyrinth before, only read about them, they are very similar to something we already do at Northview Community Church in OKC called Dwell. The labyrinth is very hard to explain and the picture I have posted doesn't do it justice. I have linked the title of this post to a website that presents an online version of the same labyrinth that I experienced this morning. I have to say that it was one of the most beautiful experiences I have ever done.

When you walk into the room you are handed an iPod-type of device. When you put the headphones on a speaker guides you with scripture and various other readings as you walk through the stations of the labyrinth. Like I said before, I can't really explain it, you have to experience it. Go to the website and check it out, make sure you have about an hour of time to spend with God---without any distractions. I will post again tonight. God bless!

Tommy

This Week

This week I will be in Nashville, TN for the annual Emerging Church convention. Rather than producing a show I am going to upload pictures and a synopsis every evening of the topics we discussed at the conference. God bless!

New Photos

Click on the title of this post to see some new photos that I took over that last few weeks. I am not a photographer, just a creative eye. You'll know who I am if you are driving around OKC because I'm the guy that pulls over to take a picture of just about anything (including trash cans, cool colored barrels, etc.). I hope you enjoy them.

The Emerging Show- Part 2

I am continuing my series on the Celebration of Discipline this week. I am talking specifically about prayer. The short amount of time does not allow me to go into the full depth and scope of all that prayer is. I recommend picking up Richard Foster's book Celebration of Discipline. God bless!!

Tommy

The Emerging Show May 9, 2005- Part 1

The Emerging Show for this week Part 1 is available. The show is taking off. Last week the show alone had 1400 listeners, yes I said 1400. Every week is growing. I am excited about the future. We are adding a new segment to each podcast that will be for sponsors (listen for this weeks sponsor). If you would like to be a sponsor please email me. God bless you all!

Tommy

New Relevant Magazine

I don't usually rant about magazine articles, but I just read an
article that interviewed one of my favorite artists, Moby. This is
one of the best articles that I have read in Relevant magazine. You
should read it whether or not you like Moby. Great stuff.

Tommy

The Emerging Show Response

Due to the enormous amount of response from last week's Part 2 of the Emerging Show, I am going to leave it up one more week. Just this particular Podcast has hit 946 listeners. I will come back next week with both Part 1 and Part 2. I will continue my series on the Disciplines of the Faith. God bless you guys!

Tommy

p.s. If you haven't listened to it yet, you can click on the "MP3 2" link on the left.

Halleluiah

America finally is making sense.

Cool Tree

I saw this cool tree in a field all by itself, so I stopped and took
a picture of it. Pretty cool.

The Emerging Show

The Emerging Show will only have one part this week. We will release on Wednesday.

By the way. With all totals in, the Emerging show was listened to by 714 listeners last week alone. Wow. God bless.

Tommy

Sitting At Borders Music

I am working at Borders Books and Music today (using their internet and cafe) and in the midst of iPod toting, laptop carying, book reading types, there is an old woman who is humming loud enough for the whole cafe to hear her. I have been sitting next to her for half an hour, and she is loud. I'm not sure she even knows that she is humming. I would take a picture for you, but I think everyone, including her, would know what I'm doing. Funny.

Beautiful Day

It has been a wonderful day for me today. Meeting with God this morning with my church was amazing, and the rest of the day was very peaceful. I am excited about where God is going to take me this week. I personally have been blown away by the response of the Emerging Show. This week we have reached 640 listeners. Amazing. I am excited about continuing the dialogue of the emerging generation. God bless you!

Tommy

Worship

This morning allow yourself to be consumed by the creator of the universe. Don't settle for just an emotional high. Pray for a meeting with the Holy God of heaven. Enjoy him today. God bless.

Tommy

p.s. the Emerging show has reached over 500 listeners to this weeks show.