Adoleo Worship Night

Last Friday around 500 people packed into the Englert theater for a night of worship. 

The Anthem band kicked it off (their main event will be on November 11th at Cornerstone in Ames), then Adoleo played the rest of the night. 

Some highlights included Voices of Soul gospel choir that joined us for an epic set of worship and Ally leading "Savior", which included crowd participation in a video project. 

I was sitting around thinking about how to include the crowd in the song. So I pulled 15 volunteers from the crowd with iPhones, and asked them to film the experience. I let four of them up on stage to get closer shots. We'll see at the beginning of November (the video deadline) whether or not that was a good idea. Here's a shot at the end of "Savior"...

I'm so proud of the Adoleo team, who has spent countless hours writing, recording, producing, worshiping, and praying- this was one of those late Monday night rehearsals at an empty coffee shop...

It's easier to use someone else's music that's tried and true, and there are good reasons most churches do that. But there's also something about giving our people their own voice with original music written by people in the church. It ignites latent creative juices, and energizes the people of God when they see writers using their gifts to encourage the body of Christ.

At the end of the day, most of the songs will not get beyond our church walls (if we had them), but the offering is not for man, but God.

Thus the name, Adoleo. ("I offer a sacrifice of worship")

Immersed!

It was a privilege to baptize my two friends, Grant and Joe. They just started attending Salt Company last year (chasing some girls) and I asked them if they would be interested in studying the Bible over the summer. Within a few months, both made decisions to follow Jesus.

Here are their stories, along with a few others dunked in obedience to Christ...



Grant had never been to church, and Joe grew up in church. Both had different paths to understanding their need for Jesus, but ended up getting dunked in the same pool.

Mike! What a cool story! He's been working in the prison system for the last 25+ years. He took me on a tour of the women's prison in Mitchelville and Oakdale, a men's prison in Coralville. Both were eye opening. I thank God for a new ambassador in that arena...

Baptisms - Oct 16th 2011 from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

Again we say with boldness, "To God Alone Be Glory!"

Veritas and TSC Fall Kickoffs

Year two is underway! Here are some snapshots of what God is doing in our midst. In chronological order...

Veritas staff retreat.

Veritas service on Sunday.

Our study of Judges this month is stretching the limits of our teaching ability. This book is dark, yet its darkness points to the light of the gospel.

The nature of ministry in a transient town like Iowa City is saying good bye to people you come to love in a short time. Nathan rolled in to town the same time we did last fall, not knowing anything about Veritas. He ended up playing a critical role in planting the church, as he led one of our connection groups and became a friend and mentor to so many. He will be greatly missed.

This is our weekly reminder that we are not as strong as we think we are... Monday morning prayer at 7 am. "Prayer is that slender nerve that moves the muscle of omnipotence" - Martin Tupper

Last night before TSC started in our new venue, the Englert Theater

Jeff preaches to the audience of 202. The big difference between locations from this year and last is that in the bar we only had room to shrink. It was packed from the beginning. This year, there's room to grow! 300 more seats on floor and balcony

The Adoleo CDs came in this morning!!!! The website is up with the latest information. You can also find all the chord charts available for free under the "store" tab... www.adoleomusic.com

Psalm 40:5 is the only possible way to end this blog entry...

"Many O LORD, my God are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you. Were I to speak and tell of them they would be too many to declare."

SDG.

Adoleo... Released TODAY!

I don't usually resort to all CAPS (and exclamation point!). But I will today...

I'm proud to announce the release of Adoleo's first album, "This Hope."

Here's where you can purchase it:

Amazon (Click here) You can get the digital copy for $7.99

Itunes: $9.99

Kunaki (Click here) Order your hard copy for $10

We will also have them available tonight at Salt Company in Iowa City (Englert Theater, 8pm) or at Veritas on Sunday.

They will also be available on Thursday in Ames at the (free) Anthem/Phil Wickham concert, or at the Cornerstone Resource Center.

A Prayer (for the great grandchildren)

The timing of capturing Grandma Marge's prayer could not have been better as I was preparing to teach on Judges 1-2 at Veritas. Judges 2:10 is probably the saddest verse in the Bible... what is worse than the next generation missing God? I used this video as an example for what we hope to be about as a church. There are over 30,000 young people about to converge on Iowa City this week...

God, help us to make it difficult for them to escape your mercy. Give us this kind of passion to pass on authentic faith to all who are to come.

Adoleo... it's coming!

Our first album is finished and set to release August 23rd. Here's a sampler...

Thanks, Boatman's, for the use of your pasture for the video and photo shoot. The video to "This Hope" should be out in two weeks.

Veritas in the Marriott

We made our third big move as a church.

Last summer we started with some informal gatherings in a family's basement, moved to potlucks at random parks, then officially launched Veritas church on September 12 in Hotel Vetro.

In less than 9 months from our launch date, we have outgrown the space at Vetro and yesterday we had our first service in the Marriott. I LOVED it!

Clint gathered his setup crew of about 20 at 6 a.m...

Jeff quickly took over and started giving orders, from everything big (new truss system to hang speakers, lights, etc)...
... to the smallest details of tri-folding the programs. To his credit, he had his work cut out for him here, though, teaching the football player how to get it done, "C'mon, Forgy, nice and straight..."
In addition to the better accessibility (right off I-80/1st Ave), more parking, bigger room with better acoustics, easier load in... we have coffee!!!!! And the best part of waking up is that it wasn't Folgers in my cup (Folgers, I'm still bitter you didn't pick Ryan Seiler and Clint Robinson's jingle for your commercial)
I preached for the 3rd time in a row, which is unusual for us, as we have a "team preaching" approach. I'm excited for Jeff to get back in the saddle next week, but the timing of Joshua 3-4 was perfect for helping us keep our focus on Christ. It's about the Israelites crossing the Jordan river by the powerful work of God, and it happened "so that all peoples on earth will know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever." (4:24)

We feel His presence with us, just like the Israelites. "The Narratives: Modern Truth, in Ancient Stories" is our series title, and fitting... The biggest theme I've seen in studying through Joshua is how clearly God is the main character. He is great and greatly to be praised.

To God be the glory for providing amazing spaces for us to meet in and for drawing more and more people to Christ. Lead on, O King Eternal...

It was- IS- worth it

Before we came to Iowa City, people would say, "If you go and only one person comes to know Jesus because of it... it would be worth it." I know that's a nice Christian thing to say, but I thought, "If only one person comes to Jesus... we should stay in Ames!"

But as Lance Allgood watched his friend Nick get baptized, he told me later, "If it was just for Nick, it WAS worth it!"

Below you can watch Nick's (and 6 other) baptism. But by God's grace he is not the only one...

Baptisms - May 1, 2011 from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

Some people from Veritas helped us host a graduation party for Jarryd Cole on Saturday. He's persevered through so much during his time at Iowa (3 coaching changes and multiple injuries). This past year God has done some cool things in his life, and it was fun to celebrate his strong finish to a great career at Iowa.

Once again, we say with gratitude and awe... Soli Deo Gloria

The Psalm Project and Anthem

I have to commend the Psalm Project blog to you, especially to all of you aspiring songwriters and artists out there. Here's a little background.

In 2006, I started this event called "Anthem." My vision was simple: young people gathering for a night of extended worship and prayer. Nothing revolutionary. But my hope was that through this God would draw out the talent in our youth and college ministries, causing students to aspire to write and create music for God's glory. I was a frustrated youth pastor, who often watched the most gifted musicians sit in the back and scoff at our worship team, who basically just covered the Big 3 (Crowder, Tomlin, United...). The mockers in the back were so eager to throw their instruments and voices in the mud of idolatry.

There's obviously nothing wrong with using mainstream songs for corporate worship, but I wanted to create our own worship culture. I thought we might get more buy in from students. What would it be like for kids, teenagers and college students to grow up dreaming of writing Anthem songs? Not for fame or career, but as an overflow of their passion for Jesus Christ and personal time spent with Him.

Anthem has recently multiplied- the movement in Ames is still strong (April 29th, 8pm at Cornerstone auditorium), but we've also started an Anthem team in Iowa City. Some amazing young talent has quickly emerged here- so much that we're recording an album this May! But one of the highlights from the last Anthem for me was during our prayer time before practice...

Here's where the Psalm Project ties into this Anthem rant

One of our new female vocalists and songwriters, Brianna Goodman, shared about being at the very first Anthem back in the Fall of 2006. She recalled being more into athletics at the time, with no thought of ever being a musician. Well, God has lit her heart on fire for Christ, and has given her the gift to express it. People like me (who don't have the writing gift) are so glad when God inspires gifted people! We get to use their songs to inspire our own worship.

That's why the Psalm Project gets me stoked and a little choked up (though I'm sure not as much as her mom, dad, and aunt :)... many of you know the Goodmans and Erin Burmeister).

Well, here's the link for Bri and Lauren's Psalm Project blog, with some YouTubes embedded. I'm sure you'll hear a song or two on the new Anthem album...

Just a quick P.S.... many of those scoffers in the back row of youth group have since given their lives to Christ. Alex Register plays electric in the Anthem (Ames) band. And others have come to help us plant Veritas in Iowa City (Jamie, Jack). Thanks Travis Pierce- it's never in vain 1 Cor. 15:58. SDG.

Veritas Kids- Thankful Dance!

The apple doesn't fall far from the apple tree... Sorry Arant boys, you got your dance moves from dad.

Untitled from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

Jesus the "Drunk" and other random happenings

Yesterday at Veritas... Thune rocked Philippians 2:19-30. I never made the connection of how Paul uses Epaphroditus as another example of verse 4, "look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

We had two baptisms yesterday- 2 very cool testimonies and the visual of God's work among us. There is nothing better on earth than a changed life. All the world revolutions and the toppling of every evil empire in the history of the world cannot compare to the awakening of a single soul.

This was a little controversial...

We surveyed campus with the questions...

- If Jesus asked to go with you on your spring break trip, what would you tell him?

- In the Bible, why do you think they called Jesus a "drunk"?

- To you, who is Jesus and do you think his teachings are relevant to college students?

Going into this talk, I really wanted to get the pulse of the average U of I student on this issue. The results were interesting. Most people (even Christians) didn't know Jesus was called a drunk. A common response was, "I went to Catholic church growing up- I'm over the whole Jesus thing." or "He wouldn't want to be with us on spring break if he knew what we were doing."

This overwhelming response confirmed something I've thought a lot about in planting this church, "What exactly have people rejected- Jesus or Religion?" That's nothing revolutionary, but it is when you think about the stewardship we have of deconstructing past biases against Jesus, and incarnating the Jesus who came into the world to love and save sinners.

As to the flyer- the cheap photoshopped Jesus with a college T and bottle may be thought provoking or sacrilegious, I'm not sure. But our point was to confront the idea, "Who have you rejected? Who does the Bible say Jesus is and what he is like?"

For those of you who are wondering where and why Jesus is called a drunk... Matthew 11. In the text, he's called a drunk for 2 reasons: 1) He drank alcohol 2) He spent time with people who drank... a lot. I never really heard that in Sunday school. Jesus' point is that self-righteous people will never be happy, regardless of the lengths God goes to rescue people.

Back to earth... (below)

With the snow thawing, the kids pulled these (important) flags out of the yard. They must've been worried for my safety. You can never be too safe on the road. It's not just scooters that need flags...
I wonder how many times I've referred to myself as an "idiot" on this blog. Justifiably so. At least I remembered all the kids...
This week influenza is making its rounds. I've been sick for 4 days and still laid up. Cameron is being a trooper here, trying to keep Beck entertained with "Diary of a Wimpy Kid."

This is a very safe position. You just can't teach that in driver's ed.

Back to my movie watching... in the queue right now- The Pacific (disc 2)

Vacation, Naked Barbies, and Sex Talks

It was a long, cold January. And a challenging one for us, so I did what I haven't done in 11 years of marriage...

I took Leatha (without kids!) on a vacation. It was a week of sun, ocean, reading and relaxing. I was working my way through Leviticus and didn't expect it to be the oasis for my soul that it was. Leviticus 25 reminded me that it's my pride that keeps me from not resting. Workaholism is another manifestation of self-reliance and idolatry. God seemed to think there needed to be a rhythm to rest- 1/7 days, 1/7 years, 1/50 years, and a few extended vacation/parties in between.

I almost didn't post anything about our vacation because it's easy for people cooped up their rooms reading this to struggle with jealousy and perhaps get the wrong idea ("Why can't I...?"). At least that's what goes through my mind on occasion. But I went ahead and posted this because I think in general we need to hear that it's not a sign of weakness to rest...
There was something really funny that happened on the trip- you can read about it (click here for iloveshelling.com). There was a popular shelling blogger that stumbled upon me stumbling upon this treasure on my first ever shelling exploration... (Don't get distracted by my muscles- I'm getting ready for a body building competition)
This sums up the last day of our trip, "Awesome...best day of the year"
Here's downtown Chicago from our plane. I was singing Rich Mullins in my mind, "We are not as strong as we think we are."
Last night Troy Nesbitt came to speak to Salt Company in the bar. The topic- "Sex". As always, he did an awesome job. You can find it here (it should be up sometime today on the saltiowacity.com website- click media). I also just finished listening to the brilliant Peter Kreeft on the topic of "Sex in Heaven". This is exercise and worship for the mind. Here's Troy at the Blue Moose...
I guess my kids could've used a sex talk. This is our junk drawer. At least someone colored a (Janet Jackson) bra on Barbie. She's getting ready for a half time show or something.

Troy joined us for our "Elders in Training" meeting this morning. Here's Troy in all his glory at 5:45 a.m. Troy is in a competition with a Cornerstone staff guy to see who will cave first on getting a hair cut. I guess we'll all get an idea of what Samson looked like (minus the muscles)

Here are the elders in training, minus Jeff Allgood and me (L to Rt: Jeff Thune, Aaron Hill, Dave Graber, Eric Bodin, Dale Mullikin, Rod Reinertson) on our first retreat.

Only 16 days between blog posts. I'm getting back on track to my 5x/week pace!

Difference between college and community

These two promo videos for connection groups illustrate the difference between ministry to college students and community people.

The first was made by one of our students, Andrew Lubinus. Lance had to do some editing because apparently there were some inappropriate graphic elements that weren't suitable for Salt Company. Andrew and his roommates feel like the art has been compromised. But it still shows the brilliance of college students with sharp minds and some time on their hands.

Andrew, if you're out there, send me the original and I'll post it.

The second video starts automatically, so you may need to pause it...

This next video was made in response to some smack talk from Jeff Thune, claiming he had the best connection group. They've got like 10 young married couples in their group. It would seem that numbers speak for themselves, but this smaller group took it personally.

Truth be told, I think it was me who put those words in Jeff's mouth. It was an innocent attempt to stir the pot to get people in a competition to have the best group.

Ours is the best.

More on that later...

Thanks to our supporters!

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

It happened- it is happening!

A church has been planted and is growing in Iowa City. Thanks to all of you who have contributed so generously to this work.

The Veritas / Salt Year-End Recap :: Dec 2010 from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

Anthem in a Bar

Our first Anthem in Iowa City was...

The pictures will do better than words. It was a "tavern" transformed into a temple, and for those who were there, I think it will be one of those "I was there" moments.

It's hard to say how many people were there. I would guess between 300-500. Below you can see there is an upper level that was a few rows deep with people.

At the end, I pulled up Carson Gardner, who is a sophomore in high school from the Ames area, to lead "You deserve" and Justan Spaid to sing "We are not the same", which is a song he helped write. The atmosphere was electric.

This Anthem was a nice change of pace for the band because there was a lot less emphasis on the production side. Because there was a business above the bar, we did a "quiet" run through of the set sitting in a circle. As it turns out, we may do that more often because we weren't as worn out for the actual event.

The bar became "Beth El"... house of God.

Here's the set list. Notice all the question marks at the bottom. We weren't sure how long the set was going to be, but we knew we had to be done by 9:45. Iowa City used to allow anyone 19 and older into the bars, until this summer...

I wanted to thank all of you who came down from Ames. There were probably 100 of you that made the trek down to join us for worship. Thanks for your continued prayers and support. This is just the beginning.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Sabino, everybody wantin mo

Thanks to Jeff Thune's hidden talent, Sabino got quite the intro on the retreat...

Sabino on the Dance Floor from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

Another "First Ever"... TSC IC Retreat

About 80 of us went to a hotel in Davenport for our first TSC Iowa City retreat. A ton of prayer and expectation went into this (if you were one of those people- God bless you!)- and God acted powerfully on our behalf.

Paul Sabino, who I consider a life friend and dear brother, was our speaker. Paul is one of the most gifted Bible teachers you will ever meet. But more than that, he is a servant, who not only poured out his life from the stage, but spent hours meeting one on one with students. All of this amidst one of his busiest seasons of ministry... thanks for serving us, Paul!

Paul spoke on the life of Joseph, and he challenged us to consider our brokenness and trials as a stewardship from God. Deep wounds mean deep healing. It was a weekend of confession, healing, and salvation.

A couple Chinese students gave their lives to Jesus, and there were a few others who are really considering taking the step of repentance and faith.

I asked Sharon if she was a follower of Jesus, "Yes, for one hour." She said, "I've tried all these years to trust myself. But I fail so often. I can't forgive. I fall short. How can I trust myself anymore?"
There are so many stories that wouldn't be appropriate to share here, but where God broke in to some very dark, demonic places to bring the light of Christ and his good news of salvation. Paul felt redirected from what he had originally planned to bring these messages from the life of Joseph, which were talks he had never given. It was obvious that God was in this. We can't be messengers of healing unless we are healed. It would be hard for a doctor with gangrene infested hands to do surgery on someone else.

The retreat ended with "How he loves", a song that summarizes our retreat...

"He is jealous for me. Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree, bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy. When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory and I realize just how beautiful you are and how great your affections are for me... "

I just ran into Frank here at the library, who was on the retreat. He said, "I can't stop thinking about how much God loves me."

I think we will point back to this retreat as a defining moment for our ministry. Thanks again to all of you who have been praying.

Jeff and I bolted back Sunday morning for our Veritas connection group kickoff. We were displaced from our usual meeting place, so we used it as an opportunity to get people connected in these smaller communities in people's homes. We had amazing brunch grub (this sweet pecan casserole was ridiculously good) and there were about 80 people in the groups.

This casserole is making me hungry. Especially since my stomach is telling me it's 12:30 not 11:30 (I still love "fall back" time). Off to Short's for the best burger in town...

My life

I'm just checking in with some pictures from the last couple weeks. These are some snapshots into my world...

Anthem was a couple weeks ago in Ames. It rocked. The new CD has some killer songs on it, and it really inspired young people to give Christ all their worship. This picture was from the acoustic set in the middle of Anthem. Mark your calendars for November 17th... the first ever Anthem in Iowa City!

For the first time in 11 years of marriage, Leatha and I have a consistent date night (Thanks to Carrie and Mikaela). This was taken in the Ped Mall in Iowa City- we enjoyed the piano skills of fro-man.
Makai got the Sharpie permanent marker and decided to turn himself into Spider-Man.
The whole crew together...
Cameron, our little artist.
Beck
Reminder from Ava, "No Texting"
Mint in the tape deck, nobs pulled off... who knows what kid did it? Probably Makai, but maybe Jett.
I took our staff to Davenport for a morning of time alone with God. I decided to spend some time walking through the Casino, letting my heart get broken. The crowd was mostly over 60- people who cash their social security checks then waste away in front of the slot machines.
I took the boys hunting for rocks. Ghetto.
Jeff and I had a meeting in Ames about starting a church planting network here in the Midwest. One of the guys attending let us jump in his plane since Iowa City was on his way. It offered some amazing aerial views- the fall colors were beautiful from the sky!
Jeff started a group called the "Gentleman's Academy." The thinking behind it is that most young men are boys with arm pit hair, and there are so many things they need to be taught... how to be gentlemen. So this week, we taught them how to change oil, all while sporting our navy blazers.
We went out with the Thune's the other night and ended up meeting a homeless guy, Willie, who took us to his house- under the bridge.
One interesting thing is that homeless people still tend to be very proud- in this case, Willie didn't want to stay in the homeless shelter because they made him "check in and tell them what he did during the day."
Well, there you have it- a few snapshots into my life for the last couple weeks.