This Weekend @ NewPointe: Set List

This is the music that you can expect to hear this weekend @ NewPointe as we continue the XCELR8 Series:

"We Are Family" - Sister Sledge

"Sing Sing Sing" - Chris Tomlin

"Let Me Sing" - Eddie Kirkland

"Everlasting God" - Chris Tomlin

"Never Let Go" - Matt Redman

If you can't actually be at NewPointe this Sunday morning... you can always watch the services LIVE on-line. Check it out (right here) at 9:00 and 11:00 AM.

A Public Service Announcement

In light of the upcoming analog to digital TV conversion that I am sure you have all heard about... I just wanted to pass along some important information that I came across on youtube. Knowing how it will effect many folks who read my BLOG... I just thought that it was my responsibility to share these helpful instructions. So... pay close attention... and good luck:

This Weekend @ NewPointe: Set-list

The new series (XCELR8) is off to a great start! Last weekend we had amazing services at NewPointe... inspite of the snow and cold. I didn't get the set-list up for last week... but we did "Free Ride" (Edgar Winter), "Everything To Me" (Planetshakers), "All I Need" (Charlie Hall) and
"Steps of Faith" (Mark Roach).

Here is the music that you can expect to hear this weekend @ NewPointe as we continue the XCELR8 Series:

"Maximum Velocity" - Brandon Bunnelle (original)

"Heart of Worship" - Matt Redman

"Amazed" - Jared Anderson

"Today Is The Day" - Lincoln Brewster

If you can't actually be at NewPointe this Sunday morning... you can always watch the services LIVE on-line. Check it out (right here) at 9:00 and 11:00 on Sunday morning! See you there!

A Snowy Morning at Wall House Coffee

As you probably already know by now... John Bunn and I meet at Wall House Coffee (in Sugarcreek) every Thursday morning to "brainstorm" upcoming events at NewPointe. Our primary focus this morning was our next Married Life LIVE (which is coming up on Valentine's Day - February the 14th). The theme this time around is "It's How You Play The Game". You got it... it's a SPORTS theme.

All I've got to say is... GET YOUR TICKETS NOW. It is going to be a fun, fun night!


There was a team of creative folks who gathered on Monday night to get the ball rolling on the brainstorming process for Married Life LIVE. They came up with a lot of great ideas. John and I sort of "fine tuned" some of those great ideas this morning... and also come up with a few ideas of our own.

I am pretty excited about one of the elements that we came up with. It is a video (that I am going to have the opportunity to direct) called "Marriage Referee". We came up with the concept and actually started to write the script for the video this morning. You can already imagine where that concept is headed... but you'll just have to be there to see the final product. We also came up with a new twist to the over all "flow" of the evening as well (It's something that we have never tried at a Married Life LIVE before). Again... you'll just have to be there to see what that's all about.

As I sit here... I am reminded of why I love being at this coffee shop to "create". There are so many cool colors, textures and architectural nuances in this place that stimulate creativity (No sterile white walls or office furniture). I just believe that your surroundings have a lot to do with how creative you are. All of your senses are heightened in a place like this. There is the smell of coffee, the bright colors and lighting, the warmth of a fireplace, the taste of great food and coffees, the sound of the coffee machines and smooth jazz music in the background... and a MacBook Pro under your fingertips. As far as a creativity goes... it just doesn't get any better than that... does it? If you aren't feeling very creative... or stuck in a rut... try changing your creative space. Here are a few pics that I took this morning.

Creative Exercise #6: What Day Is It?

OK... so here is another creative exercise from the book, "Caffeine For The Creative Mind" by Stefan Mamaw and Wendy Lee Oldfield. The book is a collection of 250 exercises to help "wake up your brain". Remember... the only way that this is going to work is if YOU PARTICIPATE. So... each time I post an exercise... YOU have to play along... OK? If you are just joining us... you can go back and do the first 5 to catch up if you'd like. Some of the exercises will seem a little silly at first... but they are designed to get you to think outside of the box.

Here is the idea behind this exercise:

Our week of seven days was adopted in Rome about 400 AD. The names of each of the days of the week are generally associated with Roman Mythology. Well... it's time that they receive a name make-over.

So here is your mission (should you choose to accept it):

Rename the seven days of the week. They can all be associated with a theme, or they can all have different meanings. They can be as long or short as you like... but they all must end with the suffix "day" (like they do now). Got it?

So I gave it a shot. I thought that I might rename the days of the week based on my weekly creative schedule... and this is what I came up with:

Sunday is now God'sday
Monday is now Meetingday
Tuesday is now Prepday
Wednesday is now Rehearsalday
Thursday is now Tweekday
Friday is now Lastday
Saturday is now Playday

and the eighth day of the week (That I can never seem to find) Writeday

OK... your turn. Feel free to post your ideas in a comment below.

This Weekend @ NewPointe: Set List

WOW... I am really behind on posting set-lists... so I am just going to start with this weekend. Here is the music that you can expect to hear this weekend @ NewPointe:

"Get This Party Started" - KidStuf (We'll have the whole KidStuf gang on stage for this one!)

"O Praise Him" - The David Crowder* Band

"Glorious One" - Steve Fee

"From The Inside Out" - Hillsong United

"Stained Glass Masquerade" - Casting Crowns

If you can't actually be at NewPointe on Sunday morning... you can always watch the services LIVE on-line. Check it out (right here) at 9:00 and 11:00 on Sunday morning! See you there!

Pass It On

Yesterday morning... a few of our creative team members had the opportunity to speak with a class from Central Christian High School (Kidron, Ohio) about our creative process at NewPointe. These guys and gals are actually studying Service Programming at their school. Over the past few weeks... they have been visiting large, growing churches and interviewing their creative teams. What a great idea! Man, I would have given anything to have had this kind of experience when I was a high school student.

We encouraged them to:

• Dream big. (Just go for it!)

• Be intentional. (Give the crowd one main idea to leave with)
  

• Make that one main idea "sticky" (unforgettable).
  

• Stay focused on their main objective (Create environments the make it easy for people to connect with God).
  

• Value the team.
  

• Go for excellence every time (Excellence: doing the best you can with what you have).

• Always evaluate and continue to improve on what you are currently doing.

• And HAVE FUN with creativity...

(along with a lot of other great stuf... of course).

As we shared and talked about "Why we do what we do at NewPointe"... it (once again) made me grateful to to be a part of a church that is courageous enough to speak the language of the culture... to connect people with God... even when it risks being misunderstood.




I also got to do something yesterday that I am extremely passionate about: Passing on ideas, concepts, and resources to help the next generation succeed at reaching the world for Christ. That's what it's all about... right?

Man, I love my job!

Christmas Eve 2008 @ NewPointe

OK... so it's been almost a month since I last posted anything on my BLOG. Well... the past 4 or 5 weeks have just been a blur. WOW! So much has happened. I am going to try to get caught up on all of that... but for now... I am just going to share a few videos from our big Christmas Eve services here at NewPointe. What a night! There were around 4200 folks who came out over 3 services to experience a NewPointe Christmas Eve. They came ready to worship... and they came ready to hear from God.

This first song was our opener for the service. It is a Tran Siberian Orchestra song called "Christmas In Sarajevo". We got the arrangement from Lincoln Brewster's church.



The second song is one that I actually finished writing at 3:30 on Christmas Eve morning (Nothing like a little last minute inspiration... huh?) It is a very simple song... with a simple message. Christ came into our world because of our need for a Savior... and all of your needs can be met in Him... on a night just like tonight.



This last song was our closer. It is an arrangement of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" that we found from Lifechurch.tv. What an amazing way to close a very powerful evening.