Donald Miller Prays at the DNC

Last night, Donald Miller prayed at the Democratic National Convention. Here’s the video below… take a look at it and let us know what you think about it. (p.s. the sound cuts out on part of it… not sure why)

You can read Donald Miller’s prayer in its entirety at www.donaldmillerwords.com

Love for Media? Love for People?

I love creating media that moves people emotionally, and challenges them spiritually. I love creating media that makes people ask the most difficult questions of life. And I love creating media that offers the true life of Christ.

My problem is this: It’s so easy to forget that good media is simply a tool - that it’s spiritually neutral. There is no such thing as “Christian media” - there’s only the message we infuse into that media. That message will make it Christian, or not. Our media is impotent if not created with the target of people in its scope.

Truth is, I can find myself aiming at all sorts of alternative targets with the media I create at Floodgate. I aim at making money for our company. I aim at impressing people with talent (and secretly hoping that I’m validated in some way by it). I aim at a spot in the top ten of WorshipHouse or Sermonspice.

Crap.

Jesus came to save. He came to save people. He used illustrations from the Palestine countryside and the Jewish landscape to communicate to people. Those illustrations were mostly about the Kingdom of God. The media Christ used was always a tool for understanding, or for further confusion or confrontation (he wasn’t actually too concerned if the religious elite didn’t understand or embrace him). People were his endgame, and media was the means.

Do we love our media more than the people we serve with it?

I gotta be ready to answer that question when I walk into the office tomorrow morning.

Echo Church Media Conference 2008

Here we are at day three of the 2008 Echo Church Media Conference in Dallas, Texas.

This is the first year that this event has been put on. And even though this first year of the conference might be considered “smaller” then other conferences around the country, it is BY FAR one of the best if not THE BEST conference i have attended.

The team behind Echo really has their act together. Typically at conferences there is a disconnect between exhibitors and attendees due to placement of the exhibitors in some out of the way venue labeled “exhibitor tent” and many attendees never make it by and miss out on great resources. The team here at Echo coordinated everything so that the only way into the keynote sessions was to pass through the exhibitors area. It allowed us so many more opportunities to connect with Pastors, church leaders, and media creators than ever before. It was amazing just listening to the stories these individuals. All the successes, hurts and questions were just awesome. It really fostered a real sense of us all being in this “thing” together.

Echo also excelled in their pre-conference labs, great breakout and keynote sessions. Tons of relevant discussions on the use of media and computers in the church and ministry in general. I couldn’t believe the amazing list of Keynote speakers… one after the other. Names like Donald Miller, Brad Abare, Matthew Paul Turner and Mark Batterson, to name a few. I can’t tell you when the last time was that i felt so encouraged as to the role of story and arts in the body of Christ.

One final thing i would be remiss in not mentioning is the FOOD. I have never been to a conference where the food has just been so amazing! I mean come on, the quality of food at the conference is something that can impact your entire mood… this guys now it and hit the mark.

So, as we get closer to the end of the conference, i can only hope the Echo team knows how amazing they have done and feel encouraged at the success of the conference… encouraged enough to do it again next year and for many years to come, i hope.

If you missed it this year, don’t make the same mistake next year. Do yourself a favor and keep checking back at http://www.echoconference.com and pray they do it all again next year!

They’re Coming Back to Church

Fall is here, and the people in our churches are returning from their summer breaks. Every year, there is great potential for evangelism during this season. With that in mind, we’re highlighting some media pieces that will help you take full advantage of this seasonal shift.

Anytime 82 - Thousands of churches purchased our “Easter 82″ evangelistic video. “Anytime 82″ is the same version of that video, but for use any time of the year. Check it out here.

The Life Saving Station - For a more serious video on the holiness of our evangelistic efforts, check out this video here.

Welcome to Our Church - Once visitors are inside of your doors, this video dares you to tell them the truth about your church.

Check out ALL of our evangelistic videos here.

Make sure and check out the Free Resources, too. There’s some great stuff there.

Prayer?

I have been thinking a lot about prayer lately… what it is… what it’s for. During my time of pondering something crossed my mind.

Now I’m gonna share my thought with you and preface it with the fact that’s it’s just a thought. It’s a part of processing.

When we pray to God and “ask Him for things” - like the job we want, our family member’s safety, patience, etc. - what does it imply if we don’t get those things? We often say that it wasn’t in God’s plan, or that he closed the door when it has to do with things like a job, a raise, etc. But what about the family member or friend’s safety? What if our sister or daughter or mother is hurt? Raped? Even killed? Was that part of “the plan”? Were our prayers wasted? If He were to keep them “safe” by keeping the perpetrator away, then didn’t He just get in the middle of freewill?

Back to the “new job” idea. Let’s say we did get the job. Does that mean that God forced someone’s hand to chose us? Again, would He be taking an individual’s freedom of choice to pick who they wanted for the job, in order to “bless us”?

It’s all kinda left me a bit confused and even a tad overwhelmed (did I just use the word “tad”?).

I guess that’s all. I suppose what I’ll do for now is pray that God reveals more of His character to me. Hopefully, that will lead me to a better understanding of what this prayer thing is all about.

Now for those of you who made it to the end of this rambling, you may be confused or angry at me. But please know that for me, writing these things out helps me process my life, and my attempts to grow closer in my relationship with God. By putting it out here for everyone to read, I’m inviting you into community and relationship with me. I’m just another one of God’s children, trying to “figure things out” this side of eternity.

-jrowe

The Quench Project

The Quench Project is a collective effort among Christian filmmakers to save lives by building clean water wells in Africa. These filmmakers have each donated one (or more) of their finest media pieces to the formation of a compilation DVD. This DVD is currently being sold to local churches for use in their worship services. 100% of all sales will be donated monthly to Living Water International. Let’s say that again - by purchasing this, you’re building a well in Africa.  Not only will you save lives, but you’ll own the best deal anywhere on church media.

To go to The Quench Project website, click here.

To purchase The Quench Project, click here.