TRUST or BUST

That was the theme of our staff retreat this past couple of days. We met at the Skyview Ranch (Awesome place!) in Millersburg, Ohio for a little rest and relaxation and a whole lot of team building activities. It was an opportunity for our team to explore what the "next level" might look like as we learn to trust each other more. Most of our activities helped us to understand how to work as a team... and to realize the importance of the role that each individual plays on that team... but one reoccurring theme throughout the retreat was... TRUST. We had to learn how to let go of our own control and let the team around us carry us through many of the situations... LITERALLY!

Why is that so hard for us to do? Why do we feel like we have to do it all ourselves? It is true with our relationship with God as well. Why is it so hard to let go and fall back into the arms of God... or the people on our team? It is impossible to accomplish anything as a team... as a band... as a family... in a marriage... in a church... in life... without TRUST. It is the foundation of relationships. And yet we tend to struggle with letting go... with believing that the people surrounding us will support us... or is it that they won't let us down? Well... I believe that (on many levels) the NewPointe staff was able to break through some of those barriers and really start to build "next level" trust on our team. There is no telling what all we can accomplish as a team when our foundation is TRUST.

Here are a few photos from the retreat:


























































































































































































































































Well... it was a great couple of days filled with fun and games... solid team building activities... an amazing campfire (more like an inferno!)... great talks... horseback riding... trips down a 30ft high zip line... volleyball with a humogo monstrous (heavy) ball (our bodies are still paying for that one)... and most of all... some great "hang time" with our teammates. Fun was had by all!

this is my favorite photo of them all. It pretty much sums up the two days:

This Weekend @ NewPointe: Set List

OK... so things have been pretty crazy for the past couple of weeks (Innovate Conference last week... Staff Retreat this week) that I just keep forgetting to post the weekend set-list. People keep asking "What was the name of that song... ?" or "Who sings...?"... so I like to keep up with each weeks list. Sorry about the lack of information. So... here's last weeks set list:

"Sing Sing Sing" (band opener) - Chris Tomlin

"Live Like You Were Dying" - Tim McGraw

"Here Is Our King" - David Crowder Band

"From The Inside Out" - Hillsong United

"Life Means So Much" - Brandon Heath

This weekend, we are on week 2 of our new message series called One Month To Live. You can expect to hear:

"This Is Your Life" - Switchfoot

"Happy Day" - Tim Hughes

"Everlasting God" - Chris Tomlin

"How You Live" - Point of Grace

I hope you are planning on joining us. We will also have more folks getting baptized with great testimony videos this week! It's just going to be another amazing weekend at NewPointe! See you there!

INNOVATE: Day TWO

It's the end of the second day of the INNOVATE conference and the highlight of the day was Steven Furtick from Elevate Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. He "brought it"... STRONG!

Steven talked about how we (so often) give up on our dreams and what God has called us to. He said that we forget God's promise... and forfeit the pay-off... because we fade in the process. He said that "the process is the training ground... the process IS the point." I came away from his talk energized and motivated. Now... that was worth the admission.

Here are a few photos from day TWO:

The worship was an amazing experience!
















































































While we were there... I had the opportunity to catch up with a couple of old friends (Wes Feldner and Matt Groves) from Grove City Nazarene... AND eat lunch at my all-time favorite restaurant (Famous Daves BBQ) at the same time.

Wes and Matt were just kids when I was on staff at Grove City Naz (12 years ago. Man... does that ever make me feel old). They are now the Creative Director and Technical Director at GCCN.

This is pretty cool: As a part of the conference... there was a video competition that these guys entered a couple of their videos into. There were 65 entries in the contest... and only 21 videos made the cut and were featured at the film festival competition on Thursday night. Well... out of the 21 of the best videos submitted from all over the country... Wes and Matt won first place! Their video was pretty amazing. They are a couple of extremely creative guys.

Well... that's it from INNOVATE '08. We had a great time at Granger Community Church and are bringing some pretty amazing creative ideas and resources back to NewPointe with us.

INNOVATE: Day ONE

Hey... I am at the INNOVATE conference at Granger Community Church for a couple of days. Today was a great day. There worship was amazing... their lights and video were "off the hook"... and the teaching has been strong so far. Here are a couple photos from day one:

The worship rocked! LOUD! It was AWESOME!






















This is their FOH mixing area with a STUDER digital console. NICE!






















My favorite speaker today was Shawn Wood from SeaCoast Church.
Topic: Brand Schizophrenia
























Tonight... we visited The University of Notre Dame... which is 10 minutes from Granger. We ate at a restaurant on campus called Legends. Here are some photos from our visit to Notre Dame:
























The stadium. Rudy... Rudy... Rudy!























Lou Holtz statue at the stadium.





























John Bunn with Touchdown Jesus.






























That's it for today... more tomorrow from INNOVATE!

Thanks... To Ike

We got absolutely pounded by the remnants of "Ike" last night. When we got up this morning... trees were down everywhere... houses were damaged... signs were blown away. We were without power for several hours last night. Thousands of homes in this area are still without power tonight... and may not be back up and running for up to 2 weeks! What a storm!

Brandon was home yesterday for a visit... and ended up spending the night because of the storm... which was just fine with us.

So last night... we played candlelight UNO and flashlight ping pong.





The power and internet was back up and running at our house today... but the church was still without internet all day. So... the Weekend Design Team met in our kitchen this afternoon. It was a nice change of pace. We got a lot done... and had a great time planning for the "One Month To Live" series.

Then... Brandon called to tell us that MVNU's power was still out... and that classes had been canceled for up to 9 days. So he turned right around and came back home... with 8 of his friends.

These are 5 of the 8 friends who came home with Brandon.











So we have a basement full of college kids on laptops. They are having a great time. They are fed... they have air conditioning... they all have a place to sleep... and the best part is... we get to have Brandon home a little longer! All thanks to... Ike?

This Weekend @ NewPointe: Set List

I forgot to post the set list from the services this morning at NewPointe. Here you go:

"The Noise We Make" - Passion Band

"Let God Arise" - Chris Tomlin

"How Great Is Our God/ How Great Thou Art" - Chris Tomlin

"Give Me Your Eyes" - Brandon Heath

Next weekend, we kick off a new series called One Month To Live. I am so excited about this new series. Make plans to be here every weekend!

Married Life LIVE

Hey... if you are married... and you missed Married Life LIVE last night... you missed one incredible night! We had an absolute BLAST! I mean... where else can you go to spend a night out with your wife/husband... and enjoy an amazing meal... hear a live BAND play some of your favorite tunes... share an evening with a room full of your favorite married couples in the world... have the chance to win some pretty "off the hook" prizes... hear an incredible message that is guaranteed to strengthen your marriage... and all of that... without your kids! WOW... what a deal! And WOW... what a night! The theme for the evening was FIREPROOF... and it was HOT! Here are a few photos from the evening:

The 2 dancing firemen















Celeste and a contestant having a little fun with "Stump the Band"

















Yes... that's yours truly gettin funky with some Ohio Players - FIRE. What you can't see... are the bell bottoms and the zebra skin platform shoes.






















John Bunn was our speaker for the evening... and he made a pretty memorable entrance.















Our amazing hosts for the evening... Celeste and Dave.


















The real stars of the night... our amazing volunteers. Here are just a few of them. Without these guys... MLL could never happen. Thanks, guys! You're the best!
















Don't miss the next Married Life LIVE! It will be on Saturday night, November the 15th. Be sure to get your tickets early!

Random Stuf: Life Has Been Busy

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted anything on my BLOG (except for the stupid music video yesterday). WOW... where does time go? Well... here are a few random fun things to catch everyone up on Stuf:

Random Stuf #1: OK... so I thought I was OK with my only son going off to college... but I am missing him like crazy! Brandon is having a great time at MVNU. He is making friends and enjoying his classes... so dad is extremely happy for him.

...but I still miss him.

Brandon auditioned for the chapel worship team the other night. He was just going to play guitar and drums for the audition... but somehow they had heard that he also sings. So they asked him to play and sing something for them. Then they proceeded to ask him to be one of their campus worship leaders. I think he is pretty jazzed about that.

It's all pretty amazing to me... considering he was pretty much exclusively an instrumentalist... until this past summer. Get this... April and I heard him sing (by himself) for the first time at our August '08 First Wednesday service. Yes... last month!

The coolest thing about all of this: When he was 10 years old... Brandon told me that God had called him to be a worship leader. All these years I've watched him work so hard to become the musician that he is today... but I've always wondered when he was going to actually open his mouth and sing. All I can say is... God is faithful!

Random Stuf #2: When you can't get to the beach... you just have to improvise... right? Even though the food is not all that amazing... when we get to Canton... we love to eat on the patio at Cheeseburger in Paradise. I think it has something to do with being surrounded by palm trees. Ahhh... it's almost like being there. Except for the fact that THERE'S NO WATER IN SIGHT... AND THE PALM TREES ARE PLASTIC!

Random Stuf #3: I can't wait until tomorrow night! Married Life LIVE is going to be amazing! You may just hear music by REO Speedwagon, The Doors, The Trammps, Warren Barfield, Ohio Players and Jerry Lee Lewis. WOW! What an eclectic collection of bands... right? Well, you've just gotta be there to see what we're up to.

HINT: It is gonna be HOT!

Oh yeah... and we'll be home in time for the Ohio State vs. USC game. What a deal! GO BUCKS!

Random Stuf #4: Here's what's new on my iPOD right now:

Krystal Meyers - Make Some Noise
Decemberadio - Satisfied
Chris Tomlin - Hello
Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Ayeisha Woods - Love Like This
Sugarland - Love On The Inside
Superchick - Rock What You've Got
Leona Lewis - Spirit
Hillsong - This Is Our God

There are some great new tunes out there. These are just a few of the albums that I have downloaded lately. If you are looking for new stuf to listen to... check 'em out!

Random Stuf #5: My Fantasy Baseball team is getting absolutely slammed this week... and it's play-off time!!! The image to the left is a snap shot of the regular season standings. I am "ChinMusic"... in second place... right? I was there all season long. I was never in first place (John "All-Beef Patties" Bunn has been there all season)... never dropped below second place. So what is going on here??? Jeter... A-Rod... come on guys! Pick it up! This is when it counts!

Really... I'm OK.


More Random Stuf to come!

Coming soon to NewPointe... NOT

There are some pretty unbelievable "church" videos circulating out there right now. Dave Mast passed this one along today. Pretty funny stuff (pretty sad too). Check it out:





For another hilarious video that is circulating... check out John Bunn's blog. Funny stuf