Good Friday Video

Coming off of another Easter weekend I have been reflecting on my experience this year. Lent was meaningful for me this year as a tool to engage with the anticipation and preparation for worshiping our risen Lord. Our Good Friday service was yet another moving service crafted by our artists, leading us to the cross and Jesus' crucifixion. There was an unusual joy at our Easter morning services. Easter is becoming more and more meaningful to me each year, and I have my church largely to thank for this. Our church takes very seriously the task of leading our people into a deep engagement of the reality of our risen Lord and how that effects our lives. This video was played at our Good Friday services last weekend. It was really moving to me...probably the highlight of my experience this year. Alex Davis, assistant to our arts pastor, scripted and narrated it. Nate Grubbs developed the video content.



2009 Good Friday - Imago Dei Community from Kevin Rogers on Vimeo.

The Lost Art of the Benediction

I am so pleased that my church has recently committed to making benedictions a weekly, regular part of our liturgy. We have had benedictions sporadically in the past, but now they are weekly. And I am thrilled. In my Christian experience, I have rarely appreciated any aspect of Christian worship services more than the benediction. I have been recently inspired by the power of benedictions through experiencing them, discussing them in our staff and pastors' meetings, and in conversation with my friend, J.R. Briggs, who shares a similar passion for benedictions. The current issue of Leadership Journal has a decent article on benedictions if you'd like to read more.

I have offered a few benedictions over the years. I typically find an appropriate Scripture to read as the benediction. It is truly hard to beat God's own word when it comes to offering a meaningful blessing to His people. However, when asked to prepare a benediction for this past Sunday's service I chose instead write one during the service. I had an idea of where I would go with it so that I would not be at a complete loss. But I really wanted the message of that day to inform the benediction. Thankfully at our church we have a set of songs after the message, and I used that time to finalize the benediction. The message was on singleness, and viewing Christ as our highest good and truest lover, and in that light to use our singleness to serve and please God (1 Corinthians 7:8-9, 25-38). The movement asked of us is from selfish-singleness to servant-singleness.

Below is the benediction I wrote. I would love to hear your thoughts on benedictions, what you understand them to be, the role they have played in your spiritual formation (or lack thereof), and if your church integrates benedictions into worship services regularly.


Benediction for Imago Dei Community, March 1st 2009

We just sang a song blessing the name of the LORD. I invite you now to receive God's blessing upon you. We call this a benediction.

Imago Dei Community:

Because Jesus Christ is infinitely better than any human relationship
Better than any spouse or human lover
And because He does not depend on us
But has rather called us and adopted us as children
And we can therefore depend on Him...

May you go this week in the power of the resurrected Christ
May you serve this week in the name of the resurrected Christ
May you please God this week to the glory of the resurrected Christ

Amen

Vote for Braden in 2048

I was born in Australia, so I can never be President of the USA. Karen has no interest in being president. So it's on Braden's shoulders. He'll be eligible by the 2048 election (if I've done my math right, which is possible).

Photosynth

When I heard about Photosynth today on NPR, I was eager to carve out a few moments to check it out. Maybe it's because I have a love for photography, but the interview on NPR today absolutely captivated me. I finally got all my chores done for the evening, logged on to explore this fascinating new technology and...

NOOOO!!!! It only runs on Windows! This may be the first time EVER that I am bummed to be on a Mac. I love my mac. Well, I guess that's what happens when it's a Microsoft product. OK Microsoft. You got me. Or should I say you finally got on the scoreboard. I think the score is now something like 8 million to one. But at least it's not a shut out anymore. Well done.

For those of you on Macs, you can see a demo of the product in the video below where they rolled it out at the TED conference. If you're on a PC, and have updated enough software, you can check it out here. The Slate Magazine article that they referenced in the NPR interview is here. Pretty amazing stuff...

Love 'Em or Hate 'Em ... They're Back!

Personally, I love them. They've played a huge role in my story. But that's a story worthy of sharing at more length. For the sake of brevity here, I will simply ask whether you love them or hate them. And if you land in the former camp, I will include this link below so you can listen to their new single from their forthcoming album, No Line On The Horizon. Let me know what you think of it. Who? Oh, you have to know by now...

Join The Open Table

My buddy Don has a new resource out. You can check it out here, and there is a sample video below. If you know people who are curious about the Christian faith, or if you are one of those people, I would highly recommend getting your hands on this and starting an open table group.

S(AC)CRED

Our friend Chris Seay, from Ecclesia Church in Houstan, was on CNN this morning to explain Advent Conspiracy. I just checked the youtube video, and it's had over 3/4 of a million hits. Merry Christmas everyone, hope your day had some time to reflect on the baby...